Clementine x Male reader : We Are Monsters

Chapter 58

It was pretty hard to make it through the entire night without yielding to the temptation of just gambling on the odds of any danger coming by this night and going to sleep, but you did it. You had to slap yourself a few times when everything seemed so distant you thought you were already dreaming, but you always found comfort in watching Clem and AJ sleeping. It might be creepy and all, but it was keeping you awake, and what was keeping you awake was keeping them safe. 

Most of the time, you fiddled with the Mossberg and kept training on your reloading skills in the worst possible conditions. You also paced around the cabin a lot, but fearing to make too much noise and wake them up, you often strolled around outside, the cold wind in your face waking you up a little bit every time.

It was very dark, but the Moon was making just enough light for you to navigate around the camp, without straying too much from the cabins though. Once, towards the end of the night, you were feeling so tired you feared that you'd just collapse in the middle of the camp and never find the strength to go back to the cabin. So, you managed to stagger your way to the little pond, kneeled by the reeds, and plunged your face in the cold water.

You stayed like that for maybe ten seconds, then stood back up with a deep breath of relief. The cold water running down your face and neck all the way into your clothes pulled you back to reality right away, for sure. Cursing, you stood back up and patted the dirt off your jeans while thrilling as some water ran down your entire back and chest. With the wind, the water on your face seemed even colder.

Finding a new strength in your soul, you hurried back to the cabin to wipe your face off and warm up a bit. For the next hour, your brain was so traumatized by the sudden cold and alert that you barely felt tired at all. You were probably at 80 % of your capacities, enough to end a threat if need be. You didn't leave the cabin much after that episode, as the Moon had finally disappeared behind the mountains, telling you that the night was still going to last for two or three hours. 

So, just in case Clem or AJ woke up early, you didn't want them to think that you left them or that you weren't a responsible night watchman. Instead, you sat on a chair with your feet kicked up on the table, rocking back and forth to keep yourself awake, the Mossberg across your lap. The last hours always seemed to stretch out forever, and it was very hard to keep yourself focused on anything once the cold water lost its effect. But, as usual, just taking a look over to Clem and AJ did the trick.

Somehow, you completely lost touch with reality. The world seemed to only exist within this little cabin, and outside there was just... nothing. Minutes were seconds, hours were days, and seconds seemed endless. However, even though your brain had already gave its all the last hours and was now just going haywire with lots of shapes and lights slipping across your field of view, you managed to pull through those last hours by regularly looking over to the bed. You found that Clementine was really pretty, but you were so tired you always forgot about that the next minute and kept being amazed by that fact whenever you'd look at her.

You probably fell asleep without realizing it, as it seemed to you that you just blinked for a second, and that in that second with your eyes closed, the night had vanished to let a weak and cold light shine on the camp. The sun was nowhere to be seen yet, blocked by the mountains and barely showing above the horizon.

Stunned by what felt like a sudden time skip, you looked around the cabin while blinking a lot, your heavy eyelids struggling to stay opened. Your eyes were crusty too. Clementine and AJ were still sleeping peacefully, breathing in and out regularly. You tried to figure if you did fall asleep for a few hours or no, but highly doubted that as the Mossberg was still in your hands, and you were still standing on two legs of the chair, leaning back with your feet on the table.