Chapter Text
“Hi, Alvin,” Carver greeted with a vicious smirk as he hauled the heavyset man to his feet, beginning to drag him towards the broken window where his soldier had been killed.
Clementine felt numb as the others shouted for Carver to stop.
Rebecca reached out for her husband, only to have the guy in the camouflage jacket stick his gun in her face, forcing her back.
Just a few feet away, Walter was dead on the floor, blood pooling around his head, eyes blank.
He was so nice to me. He saved Nick even after what happened to Matthew, and now…
It was all just so wrong.
“You remember George, Alvin?” Carver asked as he marched his hostage forwards. “I remember a man who was your friend, named George. And I remember how you killed him in cold blood. All because… what? You didn’t like me?”
“Please, stop this!” Sarita begged, shaking her head. “You don’t have to do this!”
“Oh, Walter…” Nick moaned, staring at his body on the floor.
“You could’ve just said something,” Carver continued, like he didn’t even hear any of it. Like it was nothing to him. “Could’ve… well, you could’ve been civil about it.”
“Ain’t nothing civil ‘bout you,” Alvin hissed as Carver pressed his revolver into his temple.
“Get down here now, or this guy gets a bullet just like the last one!” Carver yelled to whoever was outside shooting.
Kenny, Luke… please help us.
For a few awful seconds, there was only silence. It felt like everyone in the room was holding their breath, even Carver’s people.
“Ain’t that a shame,” Carver finally said, sounding disturbingly pleased at the lack of response.
Bang!
Clementine yelped and flinched at the gunshot as Sarah screamed, but…
It wasn’t Carver who’d fired. And it was his body that sprawled to the floor, revolver clattering out of his hand as Alvin jumped away from him.
Again there was silence, everyone united in staring at his prone corpse. Like any moment, he’d get up and keep tormenting them like nothing had happened.
But he didn’t.
There was a bullet hole, right where his right eye had been. Carver was still.
“Is he really..?” Camouflage Jacket breathed, shaking his head. “No way!”
“This-this isn’t happening…” Bonnie gasped, eyes wide.
“Screw this!” the former yelled suddenly, lowering his gun and sprinting for the front doors.
“Troy, don’t!” Bonnie told him, remaining in cover, but it was too late as he threw the door open and ran outside.
Just a few seconds later, there was another gunshot, and Clementine could hear Troy scream for just a second before it cut off.
“It’s just me,” Bonnie muttered, looking even paler than before. She threw her AK-47 to the floor, stepping out into the open before getting down on her knees with her hands behind her head. “I-I surrender! Please, I’m begging you, don’t shoot!”
Once again Clementine was stunned, but for a completely different reason than before.
Was… was it over? Were they safe?
One by one, the group began getting to their feet, looking at one another with uncertainty in their eyes as Bonnie stayed on her knees.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Carlos did his best to comfort his daughter with his hands still tied behind him as she nuzzled into his chest. “We’re okay. It’s over.”
It felt like an eternity before those doors opened again. It was Kenny.
He had his rifle held in one hand, while the other clutched a bloodied knife that told Clementine he’d made sure Troy wouldn’t turn.
Kenny put away the knife and raised the rifle in Bonnie’s direction. “You even try to move, I will end you. Understand?”
Bonnie nodded fervently. “Yes, I understand. I… I’m not a threat.”
That only made Kenny scowl, but he turned from her briefly to untie Nick’s hands. “Get the others untied, would you? I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Nick hurried to obey, untying all of them one by one. Clementine sighed in relief once the rope was removed from around her wrists.
With that done, Nick ran outside to grab the guns Carver had forced them to drop, while the rest of them were left to take in what had just happened.
“Alvin,” Rebecca hugged her husband tightly, nearly sobbing. “Oh, thank God.”
“I’m here, baby,” Alvin rubbed her back gently, head resting on her shoulder. “And I ain’t going anywhere, I promise.”
“Kenny,” Sarita smiled brightly, and he took his attention off Bonnie for a second to receive a kiss. “You saved us.”
“Not all of us,” Kenny sighed, and then his face twisted in anger. “You little rat!”
Kenny moved closer to Bonnie, aiming his gun at her head as she cowered. By now Nick was back inside, handing people their weapons.
“Walter showed you kindness, gave you food, and this is how you pay him back? I oughta kill you just for that!”
“Wait, please! I-”
“Don’t!”
Everyone’s attention turned back to the doors to see Luke standing there. He jogged over, a mixture of relief and shock on his face.
“Luke, thank God,” Nick patted him on the back, and Luke gave him a weak smile before turning to Kenny.
“What are you going on about?” Kenny scowled. “Where even were you?”
“I got distracted with some lurkers, lost my rifle,” Luke explained. “By the time I saw what was happening, there was nothing I could do but wait for an opportunity.”
“Yeah? Well while you were ‘waiting for an opportunity’, I handled the whole situation.”
“And I am very grateful for that,” Luke told him, sincerity in his voice. He glanced at Carver, like he still couldn’t believe it was real. “But that does not mean I’m okay with you doing this.”
Bonnie looked between Kenny and Luke, but didn’t say anything. That was probably smart.
“And what else are we supposed to do? She got Walter killed. Helped that lunatic Carver find us. Are we supposed to just let her go?”
“Actually, yeah,” Luke said, surprising Clementine.
“Luke,” Clementine said. “Why? She could-”
“It makes sense, just… let me talk to her.”
After a moment of hesitation, Clementine nodded. Kenny just crossed his arms.
“Bonnie, look at me,” Lue said firmly.
She did, eyes wide and pleading.
“If we let you go, you do not say anything about us, got it? That you found us, or where we are, anything like that. Tell everyone back at Howe’s that lurkers got the others, or-or bandits, or anything that is not us. Got it?”
“Yes, I understand,” Bonnie nodded frantically. “I won’t say a word about y’all, I promise.”
The red head glanced over at Walter’s body, sorrow written all over her face.
“Luke, I-”
“Yeah?” Luke glared at her.
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. None of it.”
“I…” Luke’s face softened, and he sighed. “I know, Bonnie. I know.”
Kenny shook his head at the exchange, but lowered his rifle. “Fine, then. You’d better hope she doesn’t snitch on us, or it’s on your head.”
“I trust her,” Luke told him as Bonnie got to her feet slowly.
“Thank you, Luke,” Bonnie bowed her head. “Thank you so much.”
“Me and Nick can march her out a-ways, make sure she goes on her way,” Luke said to everyone.
When no one disagreed, Luke looked at Nick, who nodded at him.
As the three of them left, Bonnie looked back, and Clementine was the one who made eye contact with her.
Clementine narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Bonnie sighed and turned away.
She got Walter killed. I don’t really care how she feels right now. I just hope Luke is right that she won’t tell anyone.
“Are… are your fingers..?” Sarah began, staring at her father’s hand where Carver had broken three of his fingers.
“I’ll be fine, sweetie,” Carlos soothed, though he winced a little bit, as though suddenly remembering that he was in pain. “I just won’t be able to use this hand properly for a while. I’ll be fine.”
“Not all of us will be,” Kenny said lowly, staring at Walter’s body. He cursed loudly, echoing how they all felt.
“Oh, Walt…” Sarita sighed mournfully. “He was always so kind, letting us stay here, being so welcoming.”
“And it finally caught up with him,” Kenny growled, though his face was more sad than angry.
“What… what about Matthew?”
As Sarita spoke, it was obvious she already had an idea in her mind.
“Oh, I think I can guess…” Kenny trailed off, glaring at Carver’s corpse on the floor.
“Oh no,” Sarita held a hand over her face.
It was a good thing Nick wasn’t here, or he might’ve given it away.
Clementine felt guilty just thinking about it, but with Walter dead, the secret of what happened to Matthew… died with him. At least for now.
They’d have to say something eventually. It was the right thing to do. Just… maybe when things had calmed down.
“So… what now?” Alvin asked. “All this time, we’ve just been thinking about getting away from Carver. With him gone…”
“Our top priority, aside from immediate safety, is a place for Rebecca to have her child,” Carlos said authoritatively, getting a nod from the pregnant woman.
“I really don’t think I’m in any shape to travel anymore,” Rebecca sighed, placing a hand on her large stomach.
“At this moment, and especially if we can get that transformer fixed…” Carlos hesitated for a moment. “This ski lodge would fulfill both those needs quite nicely.”
It would. It was warm, and had lots of supplies, and it was far away from the biggest walker herds.
With Carver gone… maybe they could all stay here. With Kenny.
“I wouldn’t mind the company,” Sarita said, glancing at Kenny. “Is that alright with you, dear? It’s just, with Matthew and Walter both gone, it would be nice to-”
For a moment Kenny looked like he wanted to argue. Then his gaze settled on Clementine, who gave her very best puppy-dog eyes.
Please, Kenny. You already wanted me to stay, why not everyone else?
“...Fine,” Kenny finally said, giving in. “We… we could use good people around here.”
“They’re good,” Clementine spoke up. “I promise.”
Just a little… dumb sometimes.
That got a slight smile out of Kenny. “Well, with an endorsement like that, how can I say no?”
“Thank you,” Carlos said sincerely with Sarah snuggled into his side. “We appreciate it.”
“We’ll pull our weight, don’t you worry,” Alvin chimed in, wrapping an arm around Rebecca’s shoulders.
Not everything was okay. Walter was still dead, the electricity was gone, and they still had to worry about Rebecca’s baby.
But even with all that, Clementine actually felt like they might be alright for once. She had Kenny back, Carver couldn’t hurt them anymore, and they were in a safe place where they wouldn’t have to worry about starving or freezing.
It was more than Clementine had been able to count on for a long time.
Things could still go wrong, and they probably would. But for the moment, Clementine was content.
(She wouldn’t find out for a while, but all of it was possible thanks to Kenny sneezing just as he pulled the trigger, changing the angle of his shot by a tiny amount. Without that, well, who knows what would’ve happened?)