You Saved Us

Clem sat in the steps of the school's admin building, her crutches leaning against the stone railing on her left, and to her right laid Rosie. Clem looked down at her with a smile and treated her to a head scratch. Rosie thanked her with an affectionate lick on the hand. Clem giggled and directed her gaze out onto the courtyard.

AJ and Tenn were sitting on the ground, papers, colored pencils, and some wood surrounding them. AJ sat on his knees as he bent over his piece of paper with a green colored pencil in hand. He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he slowly scribbled on the paper.

Clem chuckled to herself. He used to make that same face when she was showing him how to use a gun. She's glad he could use his concentration on something a little more appropriate for a boy his age. Tenn laid on his stomach as he doodled on his own paper. He looked over at AJ's and smiled as he pointed to something the younger boy had drawn. AJ broke his concentration to smile at Tenn and respond to him.

"It's so nice to see them be able to act like kids." She thought to herself.

Mitch and Willy were sitting on the couch. Mitch was analyzing a piece of sheet metal they had gotten from the raider's supplies while Willy was practicing his carving on a chunk of wood. He tilted his head as he observed his carving progress with an unsure expression.

"Well, he is getting better. The wood actually somewhat resembles a knife this time." She snickered to herself.

Ruby, Aasim, Violet, Omar, and James were sitting at the picnic table talking with one another. What were they discussing? Clem wasn't too sure, but she was really happy to see James getting along well with the others. She had to admit she was pretty shocked to see James at the school's gates earlier that morning. She didn't expect him to take her up on her offer to come to the school, especially after that while situation with Lily...

Ugh. That woman's name was enough to make her blood boil.

She shook her head gently to dispel the negative thoughts threatening to cloud her content mood.

This was his first time visiting since that whole mess. She was relieved to see he made it out of that cave unharmed.

Clem smiled to herself. It was so refreshing to feel happy and content after so many years of living on the run.

She allowed her eyes to wander over the courtyard once more until they landed on the...graveyard.

She immediately felt her smile fall as distraught slowly creeped over her happy mindset.

Louis...

The optimist who managed to give her a new outlook on life. The dork who was able to make her laugh. The musician who wrote a song for her...

Something. Something. A word that would play over and over in her mind.

"There had to have been something I could've done to save him. I...I could've been faster, or stronger...I could've- "

"Hey, Clem." Violet's voice interrupted her internal rant. She jumped and quickly threw on a smile as Violet walked up to her.

"Oh, hey Vi." She replied, trying her best to steady her voice.

"Everything alright?" she asked as she sat next to her on the steps.

Clem hesitated for a moment. "Yeah." she nodded.

Violet rested her arms on her knees and leaned on them, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Are you sure?"  

Clem felt her already unstable smile falter. She directed her gaze back to the graveyard as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Violet followed the direction of Clem's gaze and felt her heart ache.

"I think about him, too." She admitted softly without taking her eyes off his cross. Clem nodded as the tears came.

"I wish I...I could've done something..." she whispered.

Violet turned her head to look at her. "Clem...Clem look at me."

Clem kept her head low but turned her head enough to not completely face Violet, but was still able to see her out of her peripheral vision.

"I wasn't there, but from what Tenn told me about that whole mess on the bridge, there was absolutely nothing you could've done. "

Clem shook her head in denial. "But I could've." She choked out through tears, "If I would've told...If I just..." she sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She took a shaky breath before continuing.

"This always happens...people die because of me."

"That's not true- "

"It is! Marlon, Brody, Louis...and so many others I know have died because of me! It's all my fault! It's always my fault!"

"Clementine." Violet interrupted sternly. She reached out and firmly grasped her shoulder. Clem squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head. She sniffled as more tears fell into her lap.

"Clem," Violet spoke in a softer voice, "you can't blame yourself for all that. I know you may feel like you have to, but you don't. Because honestly, if you hadn't come along, we all would've been way worse off. We never would have found out about the raiders until too late. We all would've either been killed or stolen from our home to be made into soldiers." Violet lowered her gaze to the ground shivered as she thought of what their current reality could've been. She looked back up at Clem and smiled

"You saved us, Clementine. And we can't thank you enough for that."

A smile slowly formed on Clem's face. She sat up and wiped away the remaining tears before looking Violet in the eyes.

"Thank you, Violet."

Violet smiled nodded her head in response.