Ericson's Containment Facility

Chapter 6

Clementine had been awake, along with Brody, for an hour during never-ending night.Officers were yet to call but Clem could feel the air transitioning from freezing night to chilly dawn.She had been out on the road for years, after so long she had learnt skills like that.Most people did.

Clementine rests on Brody's bed along with the other girl.Brody and Clem were leaning their backs against the wall beside her bed, using their thin, brown blankets to provide some kind of warmth.They didn't do much.

Above them was Violet, quietly snoring in her sleep- probably dreaming of her beloved Minnie as she so often did ( Of course, she'd never tell anybody about that).
Speaking of Minnie, she slept fitfully across the room- on the bottom bunk, beneath where Clementine would usually sleep.

The silence was unbearable.

The orange sighed, before quietly mumbling her mind's question

"I wonder how AJ's doing.."

Clementine spoke absently, looming in her thoughts.
Brody coughed awkwardly, nervous energy striking her nerves.

"I-I don't know.He's fine, I'm sure."

"I hope so...He doesn't really get on well without me around.He's...tough to deal with."

Brody remained unusually silent, running a hand over her mousy brown hair.

"Hey Brody..Whats up?You seem...Quiet." Clementine questioned, taking her silence suspiciously, as she usually struggled to shut her mouth; blabbering about non-existent road trips and daydreams.

Brody just laughed awkwardly, about to reply when Violet's harsh voice rang out "Can you guys be quiet? Some of us wanna catch a few winks before those dipshits wake us up."

"Sorry Vi" Brody quickly replied, tapping the bottom of Violet's bunk lightly with the top of her finger.The quiet ring of metal echoed in the room.Then, Violet commented

"Not all of us can sleep through a hurricane."

Brody snorted at Violet's note.The two had plenty of stories of Minnie, and her tendency to sleep through major events.Even Clementine clucked with amusement from the joke, some of the stories they had were quite absurd.

"Anyways.Night losers." Violet called out quietly, the sound of her bed creaking as she turned onto her other side.The purple girl always insulted her friends, that was how they knew she loved them, in her own weird, insult-driven way.It was the norm.

Brody sighed, praying that Clementine forgot the previous conversation.

Unfortunately, she hadn't.

But she decided to let it slide for now.

"I think I'll try and sleep too...Night Brody."

"Night." Brody replied to the orange, apathy laced her tone as she internally stressed about the argument from the previous night.How long were they going to keep such a personal secret from Clementine? Was she even capable of keeping such a secret from Clem?It would break Clem's heart knowing Brody kept it from her, but Marlon insisted it's for the best, and everyone else agreed with it, how could she not?

It kept her awake for the next few hours.

Until the sun broke the darkness,
and officers broke the silence.

~~~

During the warm mid-day sunlight, Clementine puffed out a sigh at the tiring work.Most of the materials had been moved, but that didn't stop the officer's from giving them work.The group of workers had to then go and carry raw materials from the drop off point to the main material warehouse.It was while doing this tiring job that Clementine saw Louis carrying his load on the opposite side of the warehouse.Sure, officer's would probably punish her if she drifted away from her work, but she simply couldn't keep carrying the heavy wood and stone without a break.Plus, what better reason would she have other than to talk to Louis?