A new Dawn (Clementine x Louis)

Chapter Thirty-Five - "Supply Run"

They bumped into Javi right as they were about to leave, he was surprised but happy to see Louis on his feet already.
"It's good to see you bud.", the man said and gave the teenager a friendly hug.
"Good to see you too.", Louis replied, he patted the mans shoulder with a grin, his mood was as good as ever. When Javier looked down and saw him with Chairles in his hand and Clem with Marlon's old bow over her shoulder, he raised his eyebrow, confusion written onto his face.
"Uhm, where are you two going?"
Clem stepped forward and pulled out a small piece of paper, names of different items were written down onto it with great hurry.
"We're going for a quick supply run, we've got some things that we need here and Louis can get a little bit of fresh air on the way.", she explained calmly, her voice didn't show any signs of a lie.
"Okay, just stay safe out there, the shootings have attracted hordes of muertos that stray around here, try to avoid them by any chance.", the baseball player mentioned and scratched the back of his head.
Clementine could see that he didn't think that it was a good idea to get outside of the camp but he knew that he couldn't stop them from doing so, he knew that Clem and Louis would go even if he ordered not to. She nodded and promised to be careful, Louis and her said goodbye and after Javi walked away they continued to make their way over the marsh land that surrounded the battlefield.

The sun was at its peak when they reached the old road that lead to a small town between the enemy lines. Clem had been there once already while Louis was still unconscious, she had needed the fresh air and the loneliness for once, the cold environment of the trenches made her feel even more hopeless than she had been already. The thoughts about these two days came back to her mind, the feelings she had experienced had been awful, the constant fear to loose Louis, the grief about her not being able to save him and the guilt. Even though everyone was telling her that she didn't do any wrong she still couldn't stop thinking about Clinton Barnes and his evil grin before he died, she should have gone for the head to make sure he was really dead.
Louis saw her face and instantly knew what she was thinking about.
"Clemster, how many times do I have to tell you this, it is not your fault I got shot! Quit thinking about it, it's the same situation I have been in after you got bit.", he told her with vigor.
Clementine looked at the ground, the black street underneath her feet had deep cracks with plants growing out of them.
"I know but... this moment is trapped inside my mind, I can still see your shocked face and the pool of blood around your wound. And this mad smile of Barnes..."
A sudden silence took over her, the depression had stolen her voice, the awful images repeating over and over inside her head. Louis got closer to her side and grabbed her small warm hand with, he signalized his presence with gentle strokes over the back of it.
"I know Clem, I have some memories that are pretty similar. Some of them reach back to a few weeks after the beginning, the time where no one knew what was happening..."
His eyes glassed over a bit, he wallowed in memories of his past, it was apparent that they weren't good, Clem saw how his face twitched for a split second. She tried to comfort him and therefore started to caress his finger stump, drawing small circles around it with gentle motions.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna, the past can hurt even now...", she suggested, the girl couldn't bear to see him without humor, she was too accustomed to it.
"It's okay, I can talk about it but I just realized how many people we lost back at the school.", he answered with a low voice.

His girlfriend remembered the time before they attacked the raiders, they all had a small talk about this.
"Ruby said you lost thirty-four people..."
"We did. I didn't even know all of them, there were so many of us once..."
He looked at Clem and gave her a weak smile, he would be in her shoes now.
"Remember our first night in Richmond, the one where you told me 'bout you and Gabe?"
Clem's cheeks blushed a little but, the small dirt spots on her skin got more contrast but it didn't do any bad to her beauty.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"I had a crush on a girl too, her name was Stephanie. She and I... we had crushes on each other and even though we both knew we didn't talk about it. She and I were the first ones to kill a walker and we were a pretty good team but... she survived five years before... you know.", Louis related, his gaze turned to the horizon behind the treeline in front of them.
Clem wanted to know more about it but she didn't want to pressure him. The boy never talked much about his past and everything he told her about it was precious to his girl.
"What happened?", she asked gently, her hand was still stroking his.
"We went out hunting, looked for food 'cause our supplies were getting low. The safe zone was enormous back then, it ranged to a small farm nearby where we got most of our food from. I was just like always, joking and not taking the matter seriously and she was a little like you, the same strong character, focused on what was best for the group. Steph was second in command before Brody because everyone liked her, even Violet had some kind of connection with her. Anyways, we went to the small farm to see if anything was there to eat and while she looked through one of the barns I decided to search the house..."
A short second of silence arose when he stopped talking, Clem heard the pain in his voice.
"I can still hear her screaming, you know? A walker had snuck up on her and bit her straight in the neck before I could help. She even managed to kill it before I arrived but she died anyways, drowned in her own blood. Her last words were a confession that she loved me, I didn't even get to answer her..."
A ray of light fell on his face, it was reflected by small tears in the corners of his eyes. Clem stopped and hugged him, the story had almost broken her heart, the same thing had almost happened to her and Gabe, she could understand all of Louis' feelings right now.
"I'm sorry Lou, I shouldn't have asked.", she whispered before he pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"You can't save all people Clem, this happens all the time and we can't prevent it. And I know you better than anyone else does, you charge yourself guilty for everything that happens, but you are not. Your heart is just too big and you try to help people all the time but this is something you can't influence. Nothing of this is your fault so stop blaming yourself..."

They stood there on the road embraced in their tight hug for almost five minutes, the time didn't seem to pass until they heard a loud explosion in the distance, it came from the direction the were headed for.
"What was that?!", Clem called out in surprise, her eyes widened as she saw a small column of smoke over the camp side.
"I don't know but look!", Louis retorted and pointed towards the road ahead, a loud bang came from the spot and the humming of an engine got louder.
There was literally no time to react when she realized what this meant, a car was coming at them in full speed, the armored vehicle would crush her and Louis if they didn't do anything.
"Get out of the way!", she yelled and jumped towards the boy next to her and ripped him from the road, they lost balance and fell onto the median strip of the street.
The Humvee stopped right next to them with screeching brakes and the back door was opened.
"Come with us if you want to live!", the woman on the back seat called and stretched out her hand.
Louis' face got pale as he revealed her identity to Clementine.
"Sophie?"