Walking Dead Game Collection 2

"Stress Fest"

Title: Stress Fest
Characters: Clementine, Marlon, AJ, Ruby, Aasim
Summary: Marlon, stressed about raiders, begins to have a breakdown. Clem comforts him through it all and makes a promise with him to help protect the school. In the process, they open up to each other.
Author's Note: I'm actually so happy with how this one turned out awe it's so cute
Requested By: Anonymous
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"Where is he?"

"Probably off somewhere with Rosie."

Clementine only caught snippets of Ruby and Aasim's conversation and, even though her and AJ had been at Ericson for a matter of days, she could tell that the two were annoyed. She could also tell, just based on their tone, that they were speaking about Marlon; Ericson's leader.

"Ugh."

Aasim reached out, settling a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Let's get to work. He'll be upset if we don't finish up here by the time he comes back. We need to raise the fences."

Ruby sighed, loudly and irritably, before following his lead and making her way around the back of the school to chop wood. Despite their obvious irritation, Clementine felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she turned her attention to Ericson's front doors. Was this common behaviour for Marlon? Did he normally vanish without a word?

She had a bad feeling about it and, despite her better judgment, made her way inside the school.

She was still getting used to Ericson's layout, both the grounds and the school itself. As she wandered, searching for a way to locate his room, she peeked in through door after door, searching for signs of life.

Admittedly, she had no idea where she was. She also had no idea where Marlon's room was, or if she was even on the right floor, but that didn't matter when she stumbled across the large, wooden, double doors with scuffling coming from inside.

She froze, eyeing the door cautiously. Her brows furrowed, her arms reached out, and she pressed her ear to the surface. She listened for any sign of life and jumped when there was another slam, the scuffling of footsteps, and deep breathing. That was a red flag if Clem had ever heard one.

She didn't like the sounds of that. Not at all.

She knocked, and waited, on edge at the prospect of not getting a response. If that was the case, she knew it was a walker or — even worse — an intruder. There was more scuffling, and her heart wedged itself in her throat. "Hello?" She asked, her words coming out muffled and weak.

The scuffling of footsteps stopped, the frantic slamming and fumbled halted, but the frantic, deep breathing continued. So, Clem closed her eyes, removed her axe from her back pocket, and silently counted to three.

When she thrust open the door, her arm raised and scouring for a target, she was met with a snarl. Not from a walker, and definitely not from an intruder, but from Rosie.

Clementine froze.

She couldn't spot anyone else in the room, only Rosie pulling herself to her feet. She was baring her teeth, drool seeping out of the corners of her mouth, her eyes frantic and trained only to the girl challenging her.

Clem's heart lodged itself in her throat. She very obviously looked like a threat and Rosie was trained to eliminate threats. At that moment, Clementine felt like this was it; this would be her end. How poetic that it was her biggest fear — a dog — that was going to take her down. But then, a voice.

"Rosie, please." It was strained and muffled. The voice sounded nasally, breathless, weak, but Clementine could immediately tell who it was. It was the only person who could ever take decent control over the dog.