Clementine X Male Reader Season 4

Chapter 35: Here We Go

Y/N POV

The Delta kills a walker near their boat. I drag it into the forest.

Ruby: Ugh. I guess we're really doing this.

Carley: Only the team blending in with the walkers need to cover themselves.

Ruby: Now we just need your walker friend to--

AJ: He's here!

Ruby: Good Lord.

James stands near our group, wearing his mask.

James: Uh... hello.

Clem: Guys, this is James.

AJ: He's my friend.

Tenn: He's... uh...

Willy: So. Cool! How do you get the skin like that?

James: Oh, I, um... Clementine, Y/N?

Willy: Can I try it on?

James: That's not a good idea.

Willy: Come on, please?

Y/N: Willy, stay focused. Now isn't the time for this. We can ask questions later.

Willy: Yeah. Right... sorry. I'm focused.

Willy: Oh, and sorry I tried to shoot you that one time. Your mask looks so real.

Violet: I, uh... hey. Hey there, James. Sorry about Willy.

James: Um, Clementine, Y/N could I speak to you two alone? For a moment?

Clem: Good idea. Hold tight.

Vi pulls Tenn aside.

Violet: Hey, Tenn, can you come talk for a sec? There's something I have to tell you.

James, me and Clem walk away from our group.

James: The walkers. They'll be here in a little while. You can join them as they pass through the trees. The noise from the boat will draw them toward the water.

Clem: Then we can get on board and save our friends.

James: Your friends are... different. Open-minded. Accepting.

James: Maybe one day you'll both be the same.

Y/N: Jesus Christ...

Clem elbows me in the ribs.

James takes off his mask.

James: Listen, Clementine, Y/N. I need to talk to you two. About AJ.

Clem: What do you mean?

James: The Whisperers were my... family... from a young age. In that time, I witnessed a lot of death and suffering. Eventually, I became the cause of it. Weakness was considered a poison. And I believed in that. Fiercely. So much so, that when another boy expressed sympathy for our enemy before an attack... I slit his throat. I didn't talk to him. Didn't consider who he was. What he felt. Honestly, I don't even remember his name. All I knew was someone like him would only slow us down. That was enough of a reason for me.

Clem: You killed someone innocent? A child? That's horrible.

James: I know that now. But then? I didn't care. It had to be done.

James: After he died, I kept hearing his words in my head: "Those people are like us, just on a different path." I stopped killing after that. I changed. But no one else did. When AJ told me he killed someone, it reminded me of them. Of myself.

James: When he said it was the right thing to do.

James: Taking life like that, from a young age... it breaks something inside you.