Clementine x Male reader : We Are Monsters

Chapter 57

A few minutes after AJ and Curtis both woke up, you headed out with the bare minimum in terms of weaponry. Just Lydia's machete, and your SIG which definitely needed that clean you gave it earlier. The barrel and the breech were both filled with residues of gunpowder and grease, and you noticed that a few pieces and springs of the inner loading system were a little rustied. You tried your best to clean it, but it seems obvious that after firing hundreds if not thousands of bullets for years without that much of a regular cleaning, your gun will most likely jam more and more as time goes on, until it simply stops firing.

Not wanting to think about that, you started to walk along the tree line with Curtis jogging by your side. As usually, sometimes he'd wander off to follow a scent or just take a quick piss on a few trees. You located a few spots where the vegetation was less dense, and thus thought that someone wanting to sneak up on you would take those paths. You mentally marked those spots, and looked around them to see where you could hang the traps and whatever metallic object you'll use as alarms.

Methodically, you examined each yard of the clearing's perimeter. It had been an hour that you started, and you covered maybe a quarter of the tree line. Progressively, as you noticed more and more possible paths a raider could take, you stopped mentally marking the spots you'd had to rig and signified them with an "X" on the tree trunks near those spots.

Clementine did join you a little bit later, holding AJ by her right hand and the Mossberg by her left hand. She took a quick look at your cheek, then looked down and cleared her throat.

- You need help ? she asked. Oh, and I brought you this.

She handed you the Mossberg, and you shouldered it with a shrug while adjusting the rope you had tied around the handle and the barrel. The knots were still holding up, but the rope was a little frayed. Nothing bad, but still another thing to look out for. 

You thanked her with a nod, then you both started to walk along the tree line while locating any possible spot that fit your criteria for danger. AJ was following you, wondering what you were doing. Whenever he was tired to walk, you'd grab him from underneath his armpits and easily take him in your arms. He wasn't scared of you, and even wrapped his little arms around his neck to balance himself better and relieve some of the weight on your arms.

Whenever you'd carry him around for a bit, you'd notice Clementine watching you from the corner of your field of view. She'd take a quick look at you, probably to make sure you weren't going to drop AJ by accident or do anything stupid like holding him with only one arm or something. It never happened, and you could swear that you saw her smile a bit when you'd turn to her quickly before her face turned back to a cold mask in the blink of an eye.

With Clem's help, you managed to scan the entire tree line by the time it was noon. You located a total of nineteen spots you'd imperatively have to rig, and seven that you could rig, just in case. You can already feel that'll need a lot of sticks, rope and cans to complete. The main center of attention is rope. There is a comfortable amount in the hangar of the summer camp, but will it be enough ? You already started to think which spots you could spare to rig, in case the rope wasn't in large enough quantities, and thought about a few tripwire designs that would use as little rope as possible.

To be fair, you spent more time with AJ in your arms than not since Clementine joined you. You didn't really mind, he was really sweet. You tried to interact with him to get a few words out of him, but he didn't really understand what you were trying to say and just smiled at you. He poked you in the face a few times and laughed, and you smiled at him to encourage him to keep going.

You've really grown to like this kid. He's innocent, pretty light-hearted, and of course has those cute features such as nice chunky cheeks, his messy hair, his few teeth, and his sparkly brown eyes.