Walking Dead Game Collection

"Locked"

Title: Locked
Characters: Clementine, Kenny, Sarah, Luke, Nick, Rebecca, Alvin, Sarita
Summary: When Clem and Kenny are finally reunited, Clem tells Kenny about being locked in the shed during her first night with the cabin group.
Author's Note: Swearing inside!
Requested By: Anonymous
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In an instant she had thrown herself into his arms.
The moment their eyes locked she had lunged towards him, arms out like a bird and eyes as wide as the sky. Feeling his arms wrap around her back, feeling her being tugged deeper into the protective warmth of his chest, feeling his beard scruff against her hat; it all felt like home.
At least, it did. Until a cough from behind them shattered their reality. Briefly interrupting the awe of finding each other yet again in such a broken world.
"Uhm," Luke stepped forwards lifting a finger, as if trying to steal attention from the embrace. "Clem, you know this guy?"
Her head had just left the fabric of his chest, ready to turn and respond, but she had only gotten the word "yeah" out before she was cut off.
"The name's Kenny."
Luke stared, bewildered at the male before him. Somehow the man who had been pointing a gun at his forehead a mere minute ago was now expecting that they refer to him by name.
He cleared his throat bitterly. "So Clem, you know Kenny?" He strained the word, locking eyes with the male as he spoke. A glare of daggers shot back in return.
"Yeah, Kenny was with me in my old group."
Despite feeling his rage swelling, it diminished as Kenny heard the child speak about their previous group. The previous life he had. The one he had before it had been cruelty ripped away.
"Oh." Luke's voice raised with interest, his eyes snagging against the somewhat proud stature Kenny displayed before him. A hand against the child's shoulder as if she was his prized possession. The thought made his brows furrow together with discontent. Even worry.
Kenny's eyes scanned the group, his eyes racing against each figure standing before him. His eyes squinted against each, relaxing before taking on the next one as if scanning their character and motives like a machine. His gaze had a way of getting people to squirm under it. Clearly his method was too effective, as gentle murmurs of continuing on their way passed amongst the group. Kenny could feel his chest throw him into action.
"Clem," He began, arms folding over his chest. "Would you vouch for these people?"
Clementine turned, fully facing him with her back to the rest of her so-called; 'new team'. "What?"
"Would you vouch for these people." He repeated, more stern. "You trust them. Can I? Can you vouch for them?"
The child, suddenly feeling a weight chucked upon her shoulders, turned to gaze upon the group behind her. It seemed as if Luke, Sarah and Nick were the only ones capturing the essence of their conversation as the rest of the crew was quietly bickering back and forth on which way to turn and where to rest.
Watching the way the three looked at her, with concerned hope for their future, she gave a small smile before returning to lock eyes with Kenny. "Yeah, I vouch for them."
Sarah, out of the corner of her eye, could see Luke's shoulders relax as a small smile formed on his face.
Kenny's expression remained still and focused, potentially even questioning the phrase. If that was the case, however, he didn't acknowledge it aloud. "Okay. If that's how you feel, then come on inside. All of y'all." He could feel his chest tightened at the words, but spoke them anyway.
Clementine may have been a child, but she wasn't a moron. She knew if they were going to try and stir up anything that was unnecessary.
After hesitating until Kenny swung the front door open and glared at all of them in disbelief, the group slowly made their way inside, Clementine leading in hopes of starting the truth-train that would rapidly need to build. She nodded to her crew, hoping to reassure them that this wasn't a mistake, and continued.
She slowed however when Sarah poked her shoulder sweetly in hopes of gaining her attention. She hated trying to steal her gaze from someone or something else. Her greatest fear was Clementine growing irritated with her. "Clem?"
Clementine's gaze shifted, slowly to a halt and allowing other members of the group to pass her to speak with her friend.
"So, how did you gain their trust?"
Confused, the raven-haired child raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we didn't know you had an old group. How did you gain their trust like you got ours?" Her eyes seemed worried. As if another questione lingered beneath the surface.
Prodding into deep waters, Clementine dared to ask. "Sarah, what are you asking?"
She shifted nervously from foot to foot, shyly adjusting the glasses on her nose as an attempt to regain confidence. "I mean," Her voice was soft and hesitated. "Did you need to do the shack lock-in thing twice?"
Clementine's mouth gaped, realization dawning upon her.
Oh.
That's what she wanted to know.
She didn't want to know how she gained the trust of others or even if her past group had given her the time of day. She wanted to know if she had endured the same pain with both groups as they had forced her to do with theirs.
A part of that warmed her heart; knowing that Sarah cared about her treatment prior to them meeting. She genuinely cared about her in every sense of the word. That filled her heart with a kind of joy considering what a new addition she was.
Before she could answer a voice boomed behind them. "Shack lock-in?"
Kenny.
He stepped out, removing his hand from the door and allowing it to close beside him. "What shack lock-in? What did they make you do?"
Clementine, without needing to look at Sarah, knew she was tensing under Kenny's gaze. Many people did; it wasn't uncommon. Still, she felt a bubble of anxiety rise in her stomach at the need to now explain. There was no way around it now. He wouldn't drop it.
"It's just something I needed to do to prove my loyalty to the group. It's not a big deal." She replied quietly, stepping forwards more.
The rest of the group had made their way closer to the door now, but stood silently waiting for the door to be opened to them once more. As of that moment, they weren't sure if they were still welcomed inside.
"What did they make you do, Clem?" His voice was cold and stern, as if shooting ice from his harsh gaze towards her. Although, despite the fear that continued to cook inside of her, she knew his anger wasn't directed towards her. Which, while bringing a slight bit of comfort, still wrecked her with anxiety regarding the rest of her group.
Her hands balled into fists hoping to combat her doubts about speaking out. She could feel everyone's eyes piercing holes into her back.
"They put me in a shack overnight. To see how I reacted."
"She looked bitten, the-" Luke quickly cut in, but it seemed to be no use. The damage was already done.
Kenny's fists gripped the collar of Luke's shirt, squeezing it so tightly as if the remove the colour hiding within the fabric. Immediately he swung the male into the wall of the building, his back smacking violently against the wooden exterior, erupting a gasp from the group.
"You did what to her?"
"Hey!" Luke wailed, his desperation leaping over the anger that dwelled in Kenny's throat. "It wasn't my idea, okay? I wasn't in favour of it either!"
Kenny, still holding the male in his grasp, turned to face the child. "Did they leave you alone in there? What the hell did they do to you? Why?" His voice was loud; almost wailing at this point, his rage peaking.
"It wasn't Luke's idea, he was against it! Let him go!" She pleaded, ignoring the question he was hurling so quickly and so violently.
He tossed Luke to the side, allowing him to stumble against the wall but regain balance almost instantly. His reflexes had quicked in their new world. All of theirs had.
"Then who's idea was it? Huh?" His voice was belting, ringing through the silent night air. The group tensed, the presence of danger lingering close by hanging over their heads and suffocating them.
They needed to end this as quickly as possible as to make the least amount of noise. It was clear that he wasn't willing to rationalize, so the only way they could force him to keep his head on was to speak the truth.
So that's what they did.
"It was my idea." Carlos grumbled, stepping forwards.
Kenny scoffed, ready to spit at his feet. His eyes burned with rage, showing no mercy. Nothing but cold blood raced through every inch of his presence on the deck. Every single cell in his body burned with rage. There was no holding back.
"She was bitten by a dog but we all thought it was a walker bite. For our safety and for the safety of the group, we thought it would be best to leave her in the shack - just outside of the house - to see if she changed overnight."
Kenny spat at the ground beside him.
"You bastards, what in God's name were you-"
Clementine stepped in his path, stopping him from resuming his rage walk. Her hands reached out, colliding with his chest as he barrelled forwards. "They let me in after an hour or two, I wasn't in there all night! Kenny!" Her voice was pleading and desperate, a hopeful attempt to get the male to listen.
He stopped in his tracks. His eyes still locked to Carlos's despite his voice addressing the child before him. "Why did they stop part-way through?"
Clementine hesitated.
"They changed their minds." She breathed. "Luke convinced them. He had tried from the beginning." Her head nodded towards the male leaning against the wall, arms crossed and hunched over as he attempted to wrangled together the thoughts milling in his mind.
She didn't need to talk about the walker breaking in.
That could be left out for another day.
Or never.
Kenny's body relaxed, losing the threatening stature he had before.
"They were only looking out for themselves so now they can keep us all safe. It's fine, Kenny."
There was silence.
It hung over the group like cotton, filling the air with a sense of blindness and confusion. It was choking to sit in. Until, finally, Kenny moved.
His made his way to the door, throwing it open and starting inside, waving behind him for the others to follow. This time, he wasn't about to hold the door. The group slowly made their way inside and up the stairs, eyeing the new location cautiously. Kenny immediately made his way over to a woman in blue, talking quietly and allowing her to nod her head in understanding with every passing sentence.
Then, he slowly turned back to the group.
"The kids can go upstairs and find a room to sleep in." He gave, although small, a warm smile towards Clementine. "You guys need some rest." Clementine gave Kenny a kind smile back; a warm one filled with one thanks and understanding. She was sure to hide the nerves she felt for her crew deep within and, after a while, allowed Sarah to tug at her sleeve to follow her to the stairs - finally ripping her away from the gaze of the father-figure she had missed so much.
Just as they had vanished into the upper halls, Kenny's gaze fell, a hazy darkness bellowing over them as he shot daggers at the adults standing before him. "Y'all can sleep in the lobby. Where we can watch you."
"Are you fucking serious?" Nick retorted, whipping around to glare at the audacity he had. "There are windows everywhere. We're sitting ducks in here."
Kenny's gaze turned 5 shades darker and colder despite everyone in the room thinking it was impossible. "Now you can see how it feels. Being a sitting duck in an observation deck? Sounds like a blast, huh?" He spat back bitterly, allowing his gaze to tint itself with a smudge of pride underneath. Regardless of hoping to stress them for the night, he knew they were safe. He made sure of it every night. If it wasn't he ever would have picked the location.
"Some blankets are in the back. Good luck looking for pillows, those are rarities down here."
Rebecca groaned, holding her back in agony. The idea of needing to sleep on something that wasn't a bed in her condition pained her. "Seriously? That's all you can give us?"
Kenny turned to them, shooting a warning gaze amongst them. "The other option is the hardwood floor. I'm sure Clementine can tell you about how nice that is to rest on."
The group fell silent once more, the truth of their actions suddenly smacking each of them like bricks upon bricks of guilt; building a castle of lies and betrayal.
Before he could move to gather his things, a hand reached out and roughly grasped Luke's shoulder, halting him from his motions and forcing him to turn.
"Not you." Kenny's voice was gravely and low, his head downcast to avoid the gaze of the others making their way into the back room to find their supplies for the night. Luke's gaze widened at his tone.
"You can go upstairs and pick a room."
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Original Link: http://thatglitterygeek.tumblr.com/post/148387115262/walking-dead-game-fanfiction-locked