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the-delta-42 · 4 months ago

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The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if the Cabin group found Ericson’s instead of the Ski Lodge?

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Ericson

What if the Cabin group found Ericson’s instead of the Ski Lodge? Prompt Submitted by Worker72 on AO3

Clementine looked at the Cabin as they walked back past it, the group she was with had bumped into another group, headed by Kenny. They told them that they’d encountered a group led by a guy called Carver. So, they ended up back tracking, Kenny suggested that they stay off the paths, so that they would be a bit harder to spot at a distance.

“Y’know, a truck would be good right about now.” Huffed Luke, glancing up at Clementine and Kenny, “How’s the path ahead, Clem?”

“Clear, like a path.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Scowled Nick, getting a sigh from Matthew.

“I hate to be that guy, but can you watch the language?”

“How are you supposed to watch words?” Asked Clementine, looking back at them, “You can’t see words.”

“She’s got a point.” Said Rebecca, getting a small smile from Clementine.

“Besides, I don’t think anyone would want to fuck with us.” Clementine got a swat from Kenny.

“Language.”

“What?” Clementine frowned, “You can swear, why can’t I?”

“Because you’re a little girl.” Said Kenny, looking down at her, “You need to be eighteen before you can swear, smoke, drink and have a boyfriend.”

“But I need to drink.” Said Clementine, “Christa said I’d get dehydrated if I don’t.”

“I meant alcohol.”

“Oh.” Clementine was silent, “Is moonshine alcohol?”

The group came to a sudden stop, with Clementine walking a few feet ahead of them before noticing, “What?”

“Where did you find moonshine?” Demanded Kenny, as Luke frowned.

“Clem, that shed you took us to, where Nick was, what was it?” Asked Luke, giving Nick a suspicious look.

Clementine looked down and mumbled something, as Luke and Kenny slowly turned and looked at Nick.

“You gave her moonshine?”

“You gave a fucking child moonshine?!”

“Clem, was that what you meant by ‘he got drunk’?” Luke looked back at Clementine, who gave a guilty nod, “Right, Nick, gimme the gun.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re immature, now give me the gun.”

Nick looked unhappy about it, but handed Luke his rifle.

Clementine tried not to move when she heard someone walking through their camp. If they were here, then it meant that whoever was on watch was either dead or asleep. A shadow stopped over her, then a hand covered her mouth.

“Wake up, don’t make a sound.” A familiar voice whispered in her ear.

Clementine’s eyes widened, before she flipped over, “Christa!”

Christa shushed Clementine, looking around, “Did they hurt you?”

Clementine shook her head, “They’re not the guys that attacked us.”

“How are you sure?” Demanded Christa, “They could be part of a larger group.”

Clementine was prevented from refuting that by Kenny creeping up to them and putting his gun to Christa’s head.

“Kenny, it’s Christa!” Rushed Clementine, making both adults stiffen. Christa slowly turned and looked up at Kenny.

Kenny suddenly scowled and spun in his heel.

“What happened to Luke?” Asked Clementine, making Christa look at her.

“What?”

“The guy on watch, what happened to him?” Pressed Clementine, looking around.

“He walked off.” Said Christa, before they heard Kenny yell.

Everyone suddenly woke up, as Kenny stormed back into the camp and Luke hurried after him, hastily pulling his trousers up.

“Okay, push.” Clementine winced at how loud Rebecca was screaming. They had found an old store that, thankfully, was mostly empty of Walkers. Clementine, Christa and Luke dealt with them, there was a Walker that almost got Christa, but Clementine kicked its leg. It was surprisingly effective, Clementine dealt with the other Walkers she came across the same way. There were some working vehicles nearby, so Kenny had roped Luke and Nick into fix up an RV.

Glancing as Christa, Clementine saw the woman staring out into the distance, “Are… are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Clementine looked down and nodded. Christa looked at her, before wrapping and arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, “Get some sleep, Clem.”

AJ cooed up at Rebecca, they’d gotten the RV working, even if it was still a bit cramped on space.

“Tell me about this Carver guy.” Said Christa, looking around at them, “Clementine mentioned you were running from him.”

There was a tense silence, before Luke sighed, “Carver was the leader of a group we were in. He was alright, at the start, but then get… I dunno, changed. Started going on about survival of the fittest and all that. He… raped… some people. Pete found out and we split off. He’s been looking for us ever since.”

“Is he likely to follow us?” Asked Christa, as Clementine went up front with Kenny.

“I dunno, maybe.” Shrugged Luke, “We don’t know how far he might go.”

“Is he likely to follow us to Wellington?” Asked Sarita, as Matthew and Sarah played go fish.

“If we can get that far.” Muttered Nick, as Kenny drove around a pile of cars.

The RV spluttered to a stop outside an abandoned station. Sighing, Kenny got up, “Welp, that’s the RV busted.”

“Seriously?” Asked Christa, as Carlos checked on Rebecca and AJ, “Did that battery you found die already?”

Kenny shook his head, “Nope, the clutch and radiator. Things I can’t easily or quickly fix.”

“What now?” Asked Luke, as Clementine and Sarah were led out of the RV by Sarita.

“We walk.” Shrugged Kenny, “I mean, what else can we do?”

The rest of the group had just stepped off the RV when an arrow pierced one of the RV’s tyres.

Clementine frowned at the arrow, before she looked at the origin point for it. Spotting something move, Clementine grabbed a hunting knife and bolted towards the trees.

“Clementine!” Luke and Christa took off after her, just as Clementine jumped at something and knocked them to the group. Clementine started punching the person with the bow and didn’t see a chair leg coming towards her head, but Luke grabbing the owner’s wrist stopped them.

Christa wrapped an arm around Clementine’s midsection and hauled her off the person.

“Okay, what the fuck…” Kenny trailed off, before looking at them, “you’re kids.”

The two kids, looking to be a couple years older than Clementine, glared at them.

“What the fuck?” Swore Nick, as Clementine kicked her beating victim in the face.

“Marlon!” Yelled the boy with the chair leg, struggling against Luke’s grip.

“Clementine.” Christa reprimanded Clementine, giving her a look.

Clarissa frowned as Marlon and Louis led a group of people into the school. Especially since Marlon had bruises forming on his face.

“What happened?” Demanded Clarissa, striding past Ruby and Brody.

“Your kids shot at us.” Said a man in a flannel shirt, gesturing to a small girl, “And, Clementine’s got a short fuse.”

“I think you can just say she’s short.” Clarissa sent Justin a disapproving look.

Clarissa frowned, before nodding, looking around and freezing at the sight of a woman with a baby, “You’re not raiders.”

“You don’t know that!” Argued Mitch, as Violet joined them.

“What raiders carry a newborn baby?” Asked Clarissa, before looking back at the group, “I suppose some introductions are in order.”

The man in the flannel nodded, introducing himself as Carlos, a doctor, his daughter Sarah, Luke, Nick, Clementine, Alvin, Rebecca and their son Alvin Jr, AJ for short, Christa, Kenny, Sarita, Walter and Matthew.

Luke and Nick were good hunters and trackers, which could help them gather food. Alvin and Kenny were decent mechanics, Sarita, Christa, Rebecca and Matthew were guards/supply runners for their previous groups. Walter was a good cook, something Omar took to be a good thing. Clementine, while a bit abrasive, managed to gel with Minerva and Mitch, with Clementine developing an almost sibling-like bond with the latter. Sarah was an anxiety ridden mess, but Clarissa was set on teaching the girl how to patch people up, asking Ruby to help teach her.

Clarissa bit back a wince as Clementine and Mitch wrestled over Clementine’s hat. Then Clementine let out a gasp and grabbed her left arm, “Fuck.”

Clarissa’s eyebrows shot into her hair as Clementine’s arm started bleeding profusely, “What happened?”

“Clem got bit by a dog a few weeks back,” Explained Luke, “We… mistook it as a Lurker bite. Didn’t immediately treat it. By the time Pete and I managed to convince everyone that she would’ve shown more bite victim signs, she’d broken out, patched herself up and killed a Lurker.”

Clarissa blinked, before rolling Clementine’s sleeve up. Examining it, Clarissa gestured for Ruby to come over.

“What are you doing?” Demanded Kenny, as Ruby crouched down, bringing Sarah with her, next to Clementine.

“Okay, what’s the first thing we do?” Asked Clarissa, having Ruby examine the wound.

“Clean it.” Said Ruby, making Clementine wrench her arm free.

“No.” Clementine tried to scoot away.

Frowning, Clarissa looked at Carlos, “Did she clean it when she stitched herself up?”

Carlos nodded, “Poured the bottle onto it, ended up dropping it.”

Clarissa sighed, “Okay, Clementine, when you cleaned it yourself, you did it wrong. Ruby.”

Ruby reached out and, with surprising gentleness, firmly held Clementine’s injured arm. Clarissa took the peroxide from her pocket and pressed the top of bottle to some cloth, “This is going to sting.”

Clarissa pressed the soaked cloth into the wound.

“Motherfu—”

Clementine, sulking, sucked on the lollipop Ms. Martin gave her. Clementine didn’t want to call her Clarissa. She was in the ‘watchtower’ even though she didn’t think a platform with a roof could be called a tower.

“Still sulkin’ about your arm?” Asked Luke, dropping down next to her.

“No.” Lied Clementine, “She took my gun.”

“She didn’t want to aggravate your arm while it healed.” Said Luke, looking around, “Kenny, Nick, Christa and me are gonna clear out some of the infested areas, so everything has a set place.”

Clementine nodded, rolling the sweet over her tongue, “Is that dog still there?”

Luke looked down, “Nope, looks like Rosie’s gone.”

Clementine let out a sigh, before looking at Luke, “Can I have a gun?”

“No.”

“Hmph.” Clementine glared out into the forest.

“You know,” Luke looked up at Nick, “I think Carver’s given up on us.”

Luke rolled his eyes and went back to skinning the animal, they managed to find one that didn’t have bite marks on it roaming around, and with the long-life food in the canteen and fully stocked pantry, they had enough to last them a while, even if they weren’t rationing it out.

They heard some unsteady notes being played on the piano, as well as Minerva singing to someone. In the music room, Clementine tried not to wince as Louis clumsily pressed the piano keys. Louis looked nervous, wilting slightly when Justin scoffed at him.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Sneered Justin, “You fucking suck.”

“Then why don’t you play?” Asked Clementine, flatly, “If you think you can do better, prove it.”

Justin sneered at her, only for Marlon to clear his throat, “Justin, she fights dirty.”

Justin huffed, while a girl, Erin, started laughing, “Ooh, Justin got told.”

Justin just scowled and glared at Clementine.

Everything was hectic. The adults were having them gather in the dorms, AJ being left with Clementine and Sarah, some of Carver’s people had turned up at the gate. Two of the people, a girl a couple years older than Clementine and a boy the same age, Becca and Gill, was put with them. Clementine, after making sure AJ was safe, snuck out of the dorms.

Kenny didn’t know what to think of Vince and his group, Vince brought weapons with him, Kenny adjusted the scope on his rifle, keeping an eye out for anyone else coming for them. Meanwhile, Vince had Russell, Wyatt, Shel and Mike guard all the entrances into the grounds. Jane, Bonnie, Randy and Patricia were with Luke and Nick. Carlos and some others were set up in an office, in case they had any serious injuries.

“So,” Vince looked at Jane, “what’s the plan?”

“We fight.” Shrugged Vince, “What else can we do?”

Carver arrived, with another group, smaller than theirs. They’d received few injuries, Luke, Nick and Mike were shot, Rebecca was stabbed, Alvin and Matthew had been killed, and some of the kids, including Clementine and AJ, were taken.

“We gotta find ‘em.” Said Kenny, waving Carlos away from his destroyed eye, “That woman he was with, her name’s Lilly. She’s crazy.”

“What’s the point?” Scoffed Jane, “Getting them back would be a waste of time.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Snarled Rebecca, glaring at Jane.

“We don’t know where they’re being kept, we don’t know if they’re being kept alive, and we don’t know how we’ll get them back.” Listed Jane, “Just cut them loose.”

Jane seemed unbothered by the combined glares of the group.

“Anyway,” Vince got their attention, “we need to plan this out, we can’t just charge in there, guns blazing.”

Clementine glared up at Lilly, she’d hoped that they wouldn’t meet again, but now they were standing on opposite sides of a cage. Lilly, obviously seeing that trying to appeal to Clementine was getting her nowhere, decided to speak, “Where’s Lee?”

Clementine froze, as Lilly continued to speak, “I mean, you were practically glued to him at the Motel. What happened? Did he and Kenny fall out? Did he get shot?” Lilly gave Clementine a smirk, “Did you get him killed?”

Clementine stiffened up and swallowed.

“Oh,” Lilly’s smirk widened, “did you get him bit? Let me guess, where was it? His arm? I’m assuming he bled to death.” Lilly’s smirk turned into a malicious grin, “How many people have you gotten killed, Clementine?”

Clementine tried to speak, but found she was unable to.

“Ben’s not with you, so you must’ve gotten him killed too, the same goes for Katjaa and Duck.” Lilly continued to talk, “I wonder how Kenny put up with you. Walking bad luck, I guess that’s what you are.”

“Y-you’re wrong.” Choked Clementine, making Lilly scoff.

“What?” Sneered Lilly, “Trying to deny murdering people?”

“You murdered Carley.”

Lilly scowled, before an unpleasant smirk formed on her face, “I wonder what she’s say about you now, huh? Maybe you think you're some tough bitch? Like nothing can hurt you, but you're just a scared little girl. Maybe that’s what she’d think of you. Maybe that’s what you know about yourself.”

Clementine felt her throat grow tight, before Lilly gave her a final smirk and sauntered away. Clementine unconsciously backed into the wall of her cell and slid down on it until she was sitting on the floor.

“Clementine?” Minerva tried to get Clementine’s attention, “Clem!”

“Who’s Lee?” Asked Violet, “To you, I mean.”

“H-he,” Clementine’s voice was thick, “He looked after me when it started. L-lilly’s right, I-I did get him killed.”

“Did he blame you for it?” Asked Violet, as Clementine slowly regained composure.

“N-no, he didn’t.”

“Then you shouldn’t blame yourself.” Shrugged Violet, “Lilly’s words don’t mean anything.”

Clementine swallowed and nodded, “R-right. We need to get out of here.”

“Why don’t we just wait for them to get us?” Asked Becca, sitting up.

“Because they don’t know where we are.” Stated Aasim, “Then there’s AJ, wherever that Carver guy took him.”

Clementine, frowning at the gate. Walking up to it, she pulled on it and pushed it. The gate swung open, as the others all pushed on their gates.

“All of them were unlocked.” Said Minerva, dumbly.

Kenny brought Chairles down on Carver’s head, “Where.The.Fuck.Are.They?!”

Carver just laughed at him, before Kenny broke through his skull and killed him. Kenny snarled, “Fucker.”

Meanwhile, Clementine, having sent Aasim, Violet, Minerva and Becca off, looked for AJ. Finding a gun and a ton of bullets, Clementine snuck around. Spotting a man walking around, Clementine steeled herself and imagined him as a Walker. The man was dead in an instant. Clementine continued to pretend the people were Walkers, until she finally found AJ, with Lilly standing beside him.

Lilly looked up and froze as the sight of Clementine, “Clementine? How’d you get out?”

“The doors were unlocked.” Said Clementine, “I thought about what you said.”

Lilly’s face curled into a sneer, “Oh?”

“You’re wrong.” Stated Clementine, “We went to Savannah, I let myself be convinced that my parents were still alive. They weren’t. But, I’ve moved past that, I’ve made my peace with it. But you, your dad was already dead and you had the gall to call Lee and Kenny monsters.”

“He could’ve been saved.”

“His heart stopped and he wasn’t breathing!” Yelled Clementine, “He was dead, and your stupidity almost got us locked in a meat locker with a Walker. He had to be put down. But Carley, we were on the side of the road, and you shot her. You fucking shot her because she wasn’t scared of you. And neither am I, not anymore.”

“Clementine, don’t do something you’ll regret.” Clementine thought she heard a nervous twinge in Lilly’s voice.

“I won’t.” Said Clementine, before squeezing the trigger.

“This way.” Said Aasim, as they ran up to the school’s gates, “Guys!”

The gates swung open, and Shel rushed out and grabbed Becca, “Oh, thank god.”

Luke frowned, “Where’re Clem and AJ?”

“She went looking for him.” Answered Aasim, “They were keeping us in some train cars.”

Kenny looked down at them, before nodding. He hadn’t gotten two feet away, when they saw a massive herd of Walkers.

“Shit,” Cursed Luke, “Everyone, inside. Now.”

Kenny, reluctantly, followed them back into the school. Looking around, Kenny swallowed, before moving over to a couch. He sat down, with Sarita joining him.

“She’ll be fine, Ken.” Whispered Sarita, “She’s a survivor, like you said.”

Kenny let out a shallow sigh, wincing as he ran a hand down his face, “I can’t lose her, not again.”

Sarita sighed, giving him a gentle kiss, “She’ll be fine, she’s smart.”

On top of the watchtower, Nick spotted something amongst the Walkers. It appeared to be another Walker, but it was wearing Clementine’s hat, and it was hunched over, like it was shielding something. Freezing as he caught sight of the Walker’s face. Clementine looked gaunt and sickly, something happened to her left leg, and she was limping through the Walkers. Nick realised, with a sudden jolt, that Clementine was holding AJ.

“Guys!” Yelled Nick, looking down, “Clem’s back, and she’s hurt.”

Kenny, hearing this, got up and rushed to the gate, his eye landing on Clementine. As soon as she was close enough, Kenny pulled the gate opened and pulled Clementine inside.

“Clem,” Gasped Luke, looking at her, “What happened?”

Clementine was covered head to toe in Walker blood and guts, Kenny crouched down and looked at Clementine’s face, freezing when he saw Clementine crying.

“I-I had to.” Choked Clementine, “I had to.”

Luke stiffening, snatched AJ from her and checked him over, “He’s fine.”

“Clem,” Asked Kenny, “What did you have to do?”

“I-I had to kill Lilly.” Choked Clementine, “She, she would’ve come after us.”

Kenny sighed, “Thank god you’re safe.”

Clementine looked down, before pulling her left trouser leg up, revealing a crescent shaped bite mark on her leg.

“No.” Said Kenny, shaking his head, “No!”

“Kenny?” Clementine’s voice was small, “I don’t feel good.”

Clementine pitched forwards, making Kenny catch her.

“Infirmary. Now.” Ordered Clarissa, directing Kenny to her ‘new-ish’ work station. Quickly clearing a table, Clarissa started to tourniquet Clementine’s leg. Kenny was ushered out by Carlos, losing sight of Clementine when the door shut.

Kenny silently worked on the school bus Louis had found. Glancing back at the graves, Kenny spotted Mitch putting Clementine’s hat on one of the graves. Swallowing, Kenny went back to working on the bus.

“Kenny?” Christa’s voice reached his ears, “You alright?”

“Me?” Kenny let out a scoff, “I’m fucking fantastic.”

Christa gave Kenny a half-hearted glare, before looking around, “Still thinking of going to Wellington?”

“Nope.” Answered Kenny, “I mean, we basically got what we were looking for here. It’s nice, hearing kids again.”

Christa let out a sigh, “Do you think Lee’s looking down at us?”

“I hope not,” Chuckled Kenny, “I’ve done some things that I’d prefer remain private.”

Christa sighed, “I hope Rebecca recovers soon, AJ is a nightmare.”

“Nah, he just knows who he likes.” Dismissed Kenny, stepping away from the bus, “I think I’ll call it a day with this.”

Christa nodded, “Yeah, Walter and Omar have finished dinner.”

“That’s nice.” Said Kenny, “Who’s taking the soup up?”

“Brody’s already volunteered herself.” Shrugged Christa, “They’ve saved you a seat.”

Kenny nodded, spotting a couple of crutches resting against the table, and not too far away was Clementine, laughing at something Louis said.

Ericson might not be Wellington, but it had everything they needed.

Next Story: What if AJ wasn’t at McCarroll Ranch?

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