twdg oneshots (very original)

Wish It Wasn't You

This was my entry in r/TWDGFanfic's Anniversary Contest (theme: tragedy)

It won the contest!

Enjoy

"Sorry, kid, but no, I have a job for you." Clementine grunted in her weakened state. "I need you to get back to your room, I need you to sleep in your bed, and have friends, and grow tall. Taller than I ever was, I hope."

AJ couldn't look at her. He didn't want to. He stares at the barn floor, not wanting to look at her pale skin, the tiredness in her face, or the bite mark on her leg.

"I need you to live, AJ. For me. That's your job now."

The stench of the walker guts stung his nose and eyes, yet that was nothing compared to the deep pain in his heart.

"Okay, Clem. That's my job." he says, a tear trickling from the corner of his eye onto his cheek. Dozens of walkers groaned in unison, their prey just out of reach.

"Last rule..." Clem recalls.

"No...no..." AJ chokes out, gripping the handle of the axe in his hands as he looks down once more.

"What do we do if I get bit?" Clementine asks, a hint of sadness in her voice. AJ doesn't respond, tears starting to stream down his face as he cries.

"Are you gonna make me say it?" Clementine pleads. Her eyes were practically begging him not to make her say it. She leans forward a bit, groaning at the strain even this small action made on her body. AJ continues his sniffling.

"Fine." she says. She leans back, her back hitting the hay bale with a thud. She sighs deeply. "AJ... you have to kill me."

AJ's eyes widen in shock, his face wet with tears.

"Don't let me become one of them." she pleads. "Be a good boy. Kill me."

AJ shakes his head slowly. "No..." he pleads one last time. Clementine gives him a look, a look he knows all too well. There was no convincing her otherwise.

With a tear-stained face and an aching heart, AJ slowly raises the axe above his head. His arms tremble heavily, giving Clementine one last look over, while she's still alive. Clementine puts her head down, closing her eyes, bracing for impact.

AJ turns his head away, and before he can ponder his decision any further, he swings the axe down with a swish. He cringes as he hears the sickening crunch of the axe. AJ staggers back, looking at what he'd done. Clementine laid on the ground, motionless, the axe embedded deep into her skull.

He yanks out the axe with a grunt, and drops it to the ground. He looks her over, an overwhelming sadness taking over his body. His mentor, his protector, the person most dearest to his heart, reduced to just another corpse.

He runs over to her body, collapsing to the ground as he wraps his arms around her body, sobbing.

"No... no... please... this c-can't... b-be h-h-happening..." he muffles in between sobs. He looks up at her, all semblance of life now drained from her face, her body slowly becoming colder.

The growls of the walkers all around him rip him back to reality and shake him from his sobbing. He slowly stands up and picks up the axe, throwing it above on top of the hay bale. Before he climbs up and leaves the barn, he turns to her one last time.

"I'll miss you."

...

AJ slowly put one foot in front of the other, seemingly on autopilot. He had escaped the barn unharmed, and he now slowly made his way back to the school. Each step that took him further from her hurt more than the last, but he knew he had to make it back to the school. It was her final wish after all.