Legless, But Alive | TWDG Season 5 Fanfic

Dust and Disarray

Lou had set the flashlight on top of a box, illuminating a fraction of the room. Cobwebs adorned the ceiling, and the dust was so thick that the kids left faint footprints where they stood. Violet knelt down, running a finger along the floor, and looking to see the buildup of time's sand. "Shit.. sometimes I forget how long it's been." Louis nodded, and waved them over. Clem frowned. "I don't know how we're gonna get through all this stuff.." AJ was crouched besides Louis, cutting open a worn cardboard box with the crafting knife from Sophie's old art supplies. "We'll probably get more done if we do it in pairs." Clem said, looking to Vi. "Yeah, alright." The two made their way across the room, still close enough to the flashlight to see. Clementine awkwardly shifted to the ground, taking a seat. Vi ran her hand down a tower of boxes pensively, before grabbing the top one and putting it in front of her. She pulled out her usual cleaver, gently slicing at the old cardboard, and pulled the top open. "I'll go around and find the boxes that are most likely not to be full of shit, can you..?" She said, looking to the box, then back to Clem. She nodded. "Yeah, I'll take a look." Violet walked off to the opposite wall, and Clem peeled open the box. She started laughing, pulling out a thick book off of the stack residing inside. Everyone looked over to her, as she dramatically read off the title, a smirk painted across her face. "Ericson Academy Yearbook : 2002 - 2003.. This'll be fun." Clementine began flipping through the tattered pages before Violet could lunge, and Lou got up to come see with AJ and the flashlight. "Let's see.." Violet crossed her arms across her chest, Louis stopping her from taking the book. "Louis was 9, go check his class first. He was with Aasim, Marlon, and Sophie." Her tone noticeably changed on the second name. The group eagerly watched, and Clem nodded, sifting through pages of nameless faces, until finally finding it. "Got it!" She ran a finger over the names, finally finding Louis. She chuckled. "You're so small.." He frowned playfully. Vi laughed. "He was really fucking short until, like, maybe a few years ago." AJ looked to Louis. "Really? You were short?" He nodded, and shrugged, motioning for Clem to pass him the book. He flipped a page or two forward, landing on a separate page of classes. The school apparently wasn't as populated as Clementine had previously insinuated, based on the compact nature of the yearbook. Every page was painted with meticulously shot photos of kids in painfully tight collars or itchy dresses. She looked down the rows of faces, to find a small Brody and Omar staring back at her, Violet on the opposite end of the page. They were all headshots, toothy smiles and squinted eyes watching her. She laughed a bit seeing Violet. Her hair was longer, and her face more full and plump. She was making a monotonous facial expression, clearly staring off into space. Clem giggled and ripped out the page. AJ looked at her puzzled. "What'd you do that for?" Violet asked, trying to snatch it back. Clem folded it and put it in her back pocket. "I'm hanging it on my wall." Louis laughed, and Violet flipped them both off, fighting a smile. Louis put the book near the stairs, and motioned to it. He scribbled onto his chalkboard, and directed the light to it: throwing the rest of the room into an unsettling dark so that his writing was visible. 'This is the pile for stuff to take.' Everyone nodded, and continued on in their search.

Time in the attic seemed to fly by. Every here and there, something would be found and initiate a dialogue, but otherwise the atmosphere was pretty focused. Louis at one point let out a dramatic gasp, grabbing the attention of the group. Clem and Vi perked up nervously, but relaxed at the sound of AJ's laughter. He dragged out a large chest full of old theater props: Crowns, capes, wands, that sorta thing. All of it was pretty goofy. Violet grabbed a fake sword, plopping a plastic tiara on Clem's head, and swung her styrofoam weapon with pride. "I'll protect the queen!" She said sarcastically, before shoving the sword between Lou's arm and chest to give the effect of impalement. AJ didn't seem to like that part, and the group dispersed again.

Not long after, Violet sat down with Clem. "This shit's really heavy, I'm already tired." Clementine laughed. "You could probably weave a blanket with all those cobwebs if you want to take a nap." She shrugged, smiling, and leaned against the wall beside her. Clem continued to go through a box, eventually shoving it aside. "What's in that one?" Vi asked, glancing down to it, then back up to meet Clem's gaze. She groaned. "Just some paint." She smiled. "We could paint the walls in the dorms, do some mural shit." Clem thought for a moment, looking over to the paint. Could be fun. Violet had described paintings on the walls when Sophie lived there, and how it brightened up the room. Maybe it would provide a similar result. She smiled, looking over at her. "Let's do it." Vi smiled back, kissing her cheek. "Cool, I'll find some brushes in the supplies.. I can make a run to the art classroom while you guys are gone." She got up to continue moving stuff, and Clem went back to mechanically opening the boxes.

Conversation dwindled from there on. Louis scored a few big boxes of linens, and Vi some extra bowls and utensils. Other finds included some new clothes, dusty, barred soap, and two board games. AJ was really excited about them, despite having no clue how they worked. They brought down an old chess board for Aasim, though it was missing a few pieces, and lots of random scraps to burn to keep warm. The pile grew and grew until the hatch down was barely visible. Clementine was shocked by the amount of stuff they had found. It's astounding, she thought to herself. So much of what life used to be is still here.. Just hiding. Like a museum. A smelly, gross museum. At long last, they found what they were looking for. A deflated soccer ball: sitting besides a basketball and some baseball equipment. Their objective was nearly forgotten. Clem acknowledged that the baseball bats could serve as good weaponry, so they took them as well. After all their intense searching ceased, and the kids were happy with their finds, the monstrous heap had grown so tall that it towered to the nearest ceiling beam.
Vi meticulously made her way around it, and climbed down first to help Clem: taking her crutches. AJ followed quickly behind. Once safely down, she sat idly with him by the side as the other two carefully got everything down. "That was fun!" AJ said, a smile on his face. Clementine nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda like scavenging." He thought for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, but more fun." Within a few minutes, Violet ushered AJ off to get the others to help them carry stuff. They could use the extra hands. Once he left the room, Vi approached her, smiling. "Clem, I found something upstairs for AJ." She raised an eyebrow, curious. "I know it's not much, but I heard you talking about it earlier.." She pulled a stuffed monkey from behind her back, and despite its worn, matted fur and missing eye, Clem knew that he'd love it. She smiled wide, reaching for it, and hugging Vi. Well.. more fell into Vi. Hugs were still rough. "Thanks, he'll love it." Violet laughed lightly, wrinkling her nose. "Maybe get Ruby to give it a bath first.."
It took the kids roughly two hours to get everything down and into the main yard, even with everyone pitching in. The sun was high in the sky above them. Time had really flown by.. Clem was glad to see the light of day outside that cramped room. Room was an overstatement, she thought to herself. With scattered shit all over the tables, Clem decided it would be best to get everything in order before heading to the train station. She wanted to bring Ruby and Louis to get the rest of the group acquainted. Both agreed that they would go, but keep their guards up. She couldn't blame them. After all that had happened, how could they not? AJ also insisted on coming. He said he wanted to try to tire swing there, too, to see if it swung higher than theirs. Deep down, they both knew he was only going to meet the little girl. All the kids had started organizing the findings. Broken down piles had begun to form: one of clothes, one of weapons, one of linens, the list went on. Clem wanted to see how it was going, and decided to approach Ruby working with the clothes first. She hobbled over, and scanned the varieties of colorful articles gently laid out. "Hey, sugar." She said, folding over one final shirt. Clem ran her hand over some of the fabrics. "Anything that would fit me or AJ?" She asked, curious. Ruby pursed her lips in thought, looking across the table. "That sweater there ain't the prettiest but.. I bet it would fit if you pinned it in the back." Clem raised an eyebrow. "You got pins?" She chuckled in reply, looking away. "I can improvise." She shrugged. "Whatever works, I guess. What about AJ?" Ruby immediately grabbed a little yellow jacket: in surprisingly good condition for something that was sitting in a reverse basement for nearly a decade. "I had found this earlier and thought of the little fella. It looks just about his size. Tenn used to wear it in the winter months when we went out in the snow. It's a bit early in the season, but I'd say we can use it in a few weeks." Clementine nodded again. "I'm sure he'll love it."
Ruby went back to her business, and Clem proceeded over to the table that Louis and AJ were positioned at. Judging by the content of the picnic table, the two had gotten the job to take out all the random fun stuff. She smiled, but decided not to approach. She'd let them have their fun. AJ and Louis had become pretty tight as of late. She was glad that they had both been able to find some comfort in each other. Aasim and Omar were sawing away at old chair legs to make some new firewood for that night's dinner, and Willy was just fidgeting with the new weapons. He had mentioned wanting to put some of the barbed wire on the baseball bat, but Clem wasn't really sure if any of the kids felt secure enough to take it down from the walls. She knew she probably should talk with everyone, yet felt far too drained. It was odd.. she had never really had to worry about overdoing it socially, considering her immense amounts of solitude over the years: but now she found herself needing breaks to be alone more and more often. It was nothing personal, of course, she loved all her friends. Sometimes it was just.. a lot.
Clem decided to retreat to her dorm before it was time to venture out of the safe zone to visit Javier. She had mixed feelings on the interactions that they had had so far since they reunited. She knew she should be upset over what he did to AJ and Aasim, but deep down she was just glad he was alive. Opening the door to their dorm room, Clem felt around in her bag to grab the fairy lights she had snatched in the Christmas decorations from storage. She looked around, trying to decide on a location. Feeling out their length, Clem decided to string them across the top bunks of the two adjacent beds. It was a bit of a struggle, but she finally finished, and stood back to admire her handiwork. Despite nearly falling a few times, it was a job well done. She remembered the page that rested in her pocket, and fished it out. It had gotten a bit wrinkled, but otherwise it was intact. She smoothed it out on their desk before hanging it below the clock that had stopped ticking a long time ago. AJ burst through the door excitedly. "Clem, c'mon! Everyone's ready to go!" He paused and looked at the new decor. "I like what you put on the beds!" She nodded. "Yeah, I think it looks pretty cool." He went over to his bed and grabbed his disco broccoli toy. "Can we bring this with us? I wanna show.. Mar.. Mary.. Maria.." Clem laughed. "Mariana. And sure, kiddo." He smiled wide and popped it into Clem's bag. "C'mon, let's go!"