Legless, But Alive | TWDG Season 5 Fanfic

Again, We Rise

The cold, bitter air whipped through my hair, my nose and ears numb. I never wanted to feel this again. The last time I had felt the brutal sensations of winter.. I try to push that thought out of my mind. This wouldn't be like last time. Everyone is going to get out alive.. Right? My back ached. He had gotten so heavy over the years.. Too heavy. My stub of a leg was screaming out in agony. I just.. I just had to find the others. I.. I had to...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a new day, the sun shining through the cracked and dusty window. Clementine yawned as she opened her eyes, blinking to adjust to the light. She groaned and pulled herself up. The bed creaked under her weight. Her eyes swept across the room: AJ had already left. Her hat had disappeared from its usual spot on their dresser as well.. Had he taken it with him? Clem pushed her light covers aside and sat up fully. She reached for her crutches, laying casually against the metal post of the bed frame. Funny, she had always wanted a bunk bed when she was AJ's age. The irony in only getting one years after the world went to shit made her smile. She thought back to her mother's repetitive, frustrated expression anytime she asked. Pulling herself up lazily, Clem balanced with the crutches on the ground. She was improving.. At least, that's what she thought. It was hard to say. At least she wasn't falling as much. She made her way over to the door, the legs of her tools scraping against the worn wood of the floor.

    Stepping out of the abstractly decorated room, which had only gotten stronger over the past weeks, Clem was greeted with the sounds of hurried footsteps. They seemed to be drawing extremely close. She turned, startled, to see AJ and Willy bounding down the hall. AJ held a stack of blankets that were far too big for his little body, while Willy wielded a large duffel bag with some unknown content. Willy waved to Clem, but kept jogging. AJ couldn't see over his pile, and bumped right into Clem with a howl. All the scattered fabrics were sprawled out on the floor in a split second, Clementine tumbling with them. Her crutches hit the floor with a clang as she tumbled onto her behind, laughing. "Watch it, goofball." AJ had fallen forward, face first into a collection of soft, but smelly, covers. He pulled his face from the pile and shook his head, fixing his hair. "Sorry, Clem!" He gave an apologetic smile. How could she stay mad at that face? "It's fine kiddo, just give me a hand up." He nodded and rushed forward, helping her up. She balanced herself against the wall as he handed her the crutches. "Where were you running to anyway?"  He shrugged. "Ruby said that it's going to get cold, so we need more of these so she could sew and keep us warm..  But said we had to wash them first. What is sew, Clem?" She chuckled. "It's called sewing. You.." She tried to think. "Remember how I have that scar on my arm? And it has a weird pattern?" AJ nodded attentively as he picked up the sheets. "Well, it's like that but with cloth. You use string and a pointy thing to put stuff together." He nodded, his expression still coming off a bit lost. "Ah, okay." The description seemed to be enough for him. "Also, where's my hat?" AJ smiled. "It's a surprise!" Clementine considered inquiring further, but decided against it. With that, the two headed out to the courtyard.

The doors shut behind them as AJ helped Clem down the steps. Realistically, she had gotten the hang of moving with her handicap soon after the incident, but she knew he liked to feel helpful. It had only been two months or so..  What month was it now, Clem wondered? How long had it been? It must be late October. Funny, she still remembered her birthday. She would be 17 soon. No point in celebrating, though. Birthdays were a thing of the past. They had bigger fish to fry. Winter was approaching, after all. Aasim, Louis, and Violet had ventured back to the train station the day before to retrieve more food. They collected the last of what was there. Clementine silently thanked the walker couple for feeding everyone thus far. Their demise had kept them from starving. She thought back to what Tenn used to say. Maybe they were in a better place. Anyhow, their luck seemed to be running out. Hopefully there wouldn't be much snow, and the children would still be able to head out on scavenging trips. Usually it was the same rotation of people.. no longer including Clem. Fair enough.