Chapter 35: Fishing

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You're walking down a trail down to the river with Clem, Pete, and Nick, but he's taking a piss right now. You and Clem are lagging behind a bit, but you notice that Clem glances at you from time to time, it's kinda weird, but you don't really want that on your mind right now.

You wince, it still kinda hurts to walk, but it's bearable.

Clem: You okay?

You: I'm all good.

Clem: Do you need to lean on me again?

You: I think I'm alright. Besides; I need to get used to this.

Pete: How ya guys holding up? I heard you two got an earful from Rebecca last night. Once she gets going, there's no bringing her back. Her bark's worse than her bite.

You: Well, my bites are worse than my barks. Clementine's seen the way I bark at people.

Clem: Yeah, he can get really scary.

Pete: You ever yell at Clementine?

You: Wouldn't even dream of it.

Pete: 'Atta boy.

You walk across a bridge that's made of a wooden door. You catch up with Pete.

Clem: How far are these fish traps?

Pete: It ain't much further.

You and Clem look at Pete's rifle and Pete notices.

Pete: Anyone teach you two how to shoot? By that I mean taught proper. Any idiot with a finger can shoot.

You: My dad taught me with his revolver. You say pulling out your revolver.

Pete: Colt python. Nice piece.

You: Thanks.

Pete: What about you, Clementine? He says stepping through a gap in an electric fence.

Clem: Y/N and our dad taught us how.

Pete: YOU taught her?

You: I taught her a lot of stuff. You say stepping through the gap in the electric fence.

Pete: Damn. How good of a shot are you?

You: Me? Oh, I'm a certified crack shot.

Pete: Man, I wish Nick was like that. He ain't that much of a shooter. Nick was about your age first time I took him huntin'. Came across this beautiful 13-point buck just standin' there on the ridgeline. He says stopping in his tracks. The boy takes the rifle...lines up the shot just like I taught him he says aiming the rifle; demonstrating what Nick was doing...then I hear him start whinin'. He says lowering his gun and looking at you and Clem
He turns to me and he says, "I can't do it. I can't shoot it, Uncle Pete. Please don't make me shoot it."

You: Can't really blame him; killing something isn't the funnest thing.

Pete: I get that.

Nick catches up to the group.

Nick: Hey! Why didn't you wait?

Pete: You want us standin' around while you piss on a tree? You know where the river is, boy.

You all continue walking.

Pete: Anyway, so I grab the gun out of his hand before this big buck runs off when BANG! The gun fires. Boy nearly gut shot me. And of course the buck gets away.

Nick: What're you goin' and tellin' them this shit for?

Pete stops walking and turns to Nick.

Pete: 'Cause you almost blew his face off yesterday. Seems relevant. Tryin' to let them know it's nothin' personal with you.

Nick: Why are you always giving me a hard time?

Pete: Because you're always givin' everyone else a hard time.

Nick: I apologized already. They accepted.

Pete: Okay, well, I didn't know that.

Clem: Let's just get to the river.

You: Yeah, we don't have to talk about this.

Nick: You're always trying to embarrass me.

Pete: You're doing a good enough job of that on your own.

Nick walks away from the group, he bumps into Pete while doing so.

Pete: Leavin' us again?

Nick: I know where the fucking river is!

You, Clem, and Pete watch him walk away in silence. You look at Pete.

Pete: So anyway...I found that buck later that season. Shot it right in the neck. Brought it up to my sister's, figurin' she'd want to freeze some of the meat... Nick didn't speak to me for weeks. Sometimes you gotta play a role...even if it means people you love hate you for it. He says turning back to look at where Nick went off.

You: He doesn't hate you. He's just going through loss.

Pete: That was a while ago...

You: When my parents died, I was quiet; didn't talk much. Maybe he hasn't gotten over it yet because you haven't been helping him.

Pete: ...Yeah, maybe you're right.

Nick: UNCLE PETE!

You all run towards the river.

You make it to the river to see a massacre.

You: Christ...

A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but I really didn't want to get sloppy and ruin the whole "at least one chapter a day" thing. The next chapter will be a combination of the ending of episode one and the start of episode two.

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