In the Willows

Chapter Three: Who Are You?

You walk out into the courtyard with Clementine holding you up. You spot your bike and check for any damage.

"How is it?" asks Clementine.

You slowly take a knee observing the bike, "Just some body damage and some to the frame. I was worried the fuel pump, or the engine would be destroyed."

You stand up and pull out the Ruger 10/22 Charger from the side bags and check over it. You put it back and go over to the ammo can on the other side. You open it up and pull out a Ruger LCR .357 and a Glock 27 .40 cal.

"Got anymore hiding in there?"

You shake your head no.

"Oh, well-"

"What guns do you have here?"

Clementine is taken aback by the question, looking at you in confusion.

"You don't have to tell me. Sorry, just a typical question I ask when I go to a settlement."

"Why ask?"

"You have no idea how many people I've ran into that don't know how to fire or even load a weapon. One of the things I do is teach basic marksmanship and tactics so settlements can protect themselves."

Clementine relaxes, "We have three M1 Carbines and four AK-47s. Also a few 9mm handguns, a bow, and AJ's S&W Model 36."

You nod your head and pull out a few boxes of ammo and hand it to Clementine.

"You don't have to do that."

"I insist."

Clementine takes the rounds from you and looks up at you, "Why do you care about others so much? You travel around doing this, but why?"

You look down at the ground contemplating on what to say. Deciding on what to say, you look back up at her meeting her glowing orbs of sunshine.

"I've hurt people, too many to count." you raise your hands up not noticing they're shaking slightly, "I want to change what these do to people. I want to help as many people as I can before I can't anymore."

Clementine doesn't break eye contact for one second as you spoke. She takes your hands and puts them down.

"That's an honorable thing to do Y/N, but how long will that last? One of these days you're gonna grow tired and want to settle down sometime."

"Maybe, but that day hasn't come yet."

She grabs your hand and places it around her, "What about here?"

"What about here?"

"Settling down here. You're not much older than me, so why do what you do?"

"I can ask the same for you. You're a survivor, I can see it, but you stay here with these people who can barely handle a rifle."

"I've traveled a lot myself and done some things I never want to do again. Here though, I can have peace. No more searching, no more hiding."

"All things come to an end."

"Not all things."

We both look at AJ calling us over.

"C'mon! Dinner is ready!" he yells.

"You hungry?"

"If there's enough to spare."

She scoffs, "Please, we have enough to feed all of us for a year minimum."

"You stocked up then?"

She ponders for a moment, "We have plenty of supplies, fortified walls, plumbing, hot water- "