Things That Are Lost: Season 3

Chapter 12: Final Preparations.

2 Weeks Later.

Clem walks over to the map, and marks the next defense on it. She looks over at AJ, who's sleeping soundly. Then she looks at Sarah, who's out cold on the top bunk, which now has a mattress, pillow, and blanket. Clem smiles at the sight of them, and gets in the bottom bunk under Sarah. She closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

Later that night, Clem is awoken by a screaming AJ. She quickly sits up and looks over to AJ's bed, finding him missing. "AJ? Where are you?" She gets out and looks to the top bunk. "Sarah, you know where-" She stops when she sees that Sarah is missing too.

Clem walks over and exits the dorm room. She steps out into the hallway, just as a horse walks past her and turns the corner, it looking over at her just before it walks out of sight. She shakes her head and walks down the hall. "AJ? Sarah?" She calls when she turns the corner.

At the end of the hall, the doors are glowing red. Clem backs up in fear at the sight of this, before she looks and sees the horse on the ground, dying. She starts walking towards the doors, eventually jogging as AJ's cries get louder as she gets closer. Sarah's own screams join in with AJ's as well. "Sarah! AJ!" Clem calls as she reaches the doors, leaves flying through the broken parts of the glass. She opens the door and steps through, red light blinding her the whole time as the screams get even louder.

Clem then jolts upward, awake, back in her bed, and panting heavily. She looks over and sees AJ kneeling on the desk, on top of the map, with a knife in his hand. "You we're having a nightmare." AJ says. "Same one you used to have all the time. About what happened at the ranch." "I-I'll be okay. Just give me a minute." Clem turns her attention to AJ's knife. "Hey. What do you have there? Did you have a bad dream, too? You've been having them a lot lately."

"I feel safer like this. Not sleeping. I want to stay up forever. I probably could. Like 18 days. If I tried hard." "I've never seen that knife before. Did you make it?" AJ nods. "When?" "I dunno, while you and Sarah were busy." "It must've taken days." "I couldn't stop thinking about it until I made it." AJ then gasps in pain and grabs his side. Clem gets up from her bed. "Here, let me help you back to bed." "No."

Clem pauses before she slowly sits back down. "You don't have to keep checking on me. You always say, be tough. So I am. You say, be strong. So I will." "We raised you to be strong, not stupid." "I'm not!" "Shutting people put when they're trying to help you? That's stupid." AJ looks down. "Please, don't call me stupid." He dangles his legs over the end of the desk and looks over to Clem. "I'm sorry you had to do the hard work. To atone me." He jumps to the floor. "I'm gonna help you more. So you don't have to do everything."

AJ starts walking to the door. "Where are you going?" "On patrol." "Patrol..." "For danger." AJ raises his knife. "I don't love the idea, but okay. Go ahead. Be careful." "Okay, I will. I'll guard you both real good." Clem smiles. "I'll sleep better knowing you're watching out for us." AJ smiles and leaves the room.

Clem lays back in her bed. "Finally. I thought he'd never leave." Sarah says from the top bunk. "Oh shut up." "It's not like he's gonna find much." "I know, but it's the thought that counts." "We are raising one weird kid." "Well, his parents are two woman, one of whom is missing an eye and is half insane." "You make it sound like a bad thing." Sarah says with a laugh. "Just go to bed." "Way ahead of you." Sarah says before she turns to her side. "Night, Clem." "Night, Sarah."

The next morning, the two walk out to the courtyard, now surrounded in wooden barriers, flipped picnic tables, and walker heads on pikes. The other kids are all busy working while Tenn runs over to the lookout tower, and Mitch messes with a bomb at a picnic table.

AJ runs over to them while yawning. "You ready to work today, kiddo?" Sarah asks him. "I know you were up late." "Yeah. I went round the school eight times last night on patrol." "Find anything?" "No danger. I just found a turtle that I thought we could keep. But, it was dead, and had bugs inside, and I thought, never mind. It's my turn to be lookout." And with that, AJ runs over to the lookout tower to join Tenn.