The Walking Dead A New Frontier: Six Years Later

Epilogue

Clementine rolled out of bed and sat on the edge. Her bare foot brushed a shell casing on the ground from the week prior, she sighed and placed it on the nightstand. The house was still a mess, there were bullet holes everywhere and dried bloodstains all over the floor. Clem strapped her prosthetic leg on and made her way to the kitchen, AJ was sitting on the couch reading his book.
"Morning, goofball." She smiled.
"Hey, Clem." He turned around and gave her a small wave.
She got herself something to eat, the bowl sitting on the table informed her that AJ had helped himself earlier. Clem reached up to the top cupboard to get a bowl and winced in pain, clutching her side. Her ribs were almost certainly broken, she swore under her breath.
"I can still hear you." AJ said.
Clem laughed, causing another brief spike of pain in her ribs.

Clementine walked through the door to the hospital room, Gabe was sitting up in bed reading.
"Hey." He said after noticing her enter the room.
"Hey." She replied back, crossing the room and kissing him on the cheek.
"How are you feeling?" Clem asked.
"Like I got shot in the head." He chuckled.
Clem pulled up a chair and sat by his side.
"Okay, fair enough. You're pretty lucky at the very least."
"I don't feel it." He pressed his hand lightly against the bandage that was wrapped over his wound.
"Hate to break it to you, but that's gonna scar up." She said, the corner of her lip curling upwards into a half smile.
"We'll be matching then." Gabe laughed.
Clem also laughed for a moment before her ribs let her know how they felt about his joke.
Ow, shit.
"So, are you about ready to go?" She asked.
"Definitely, I'm going crazy being stuck in this room."
He got changed into the clothes he had been admitted in, there was still dried blood on the collar of his shirt. They walked out of the hospital and back to Clementine's house. Gabe took a seat on the couch, Clem joined him.
"Clem?" Gabe started.
She looked at him in anticipation of his question.
"I was in there for a week and my dad didn't come to see me. What happened to him?"
Clementine could hear the shakiness in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Gabe..." she said softly, placing her hand on top of his.
Gabe lowered his gaze, he sighed deeply.
"Fuck..." he muttered.
"I was with him when...," she trailed off, "he told me to tell you he was proud of you."
Gabe scrunched his eyes shut and tears rolled down his cheeks.
"He saved me, right when the shooting started he pushed me out of the line of fire. Your dad and I weren't exactly on the best terms but you were right, he's not a bad guy."
Gabe wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, she let him have all the time he needed.
Once he had composed himself, Gabe noticed the half packed rucksack that was laying by the door.
"What's that about?" He asked, pointing at it.
Clementine bit her lip and sighed. She didn't want to make Gabe feel worse, but she had to tell him.
"AJ and I are...going for a while."
Gabe was lost for words.
"I know some friends over in West Virginia holed up in a school. I can't just leave them alone out there while I'm here, they deserve this safety too. We're bringing them back here with us, I don't know how long we'll be gone." She said solemnly. Gabe's face changed from saddened to determined.
"I'm coming with you." He stated as if it were a fact.
"Gabe..." she began.
"Clementine, I'm coming with you."
She sighed, it was clear he wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Okay, go get packed."

Clementine threw her pack into the back seat of the car, Javi had given her the keys to one of the vehicles in the lockup. She triple checked their food and water supplies and made sure they had bullets. She stashed the hunting rifle in the trunk and slammed it shut. Clem got into the drivers side and closed the door, AJ was telling Gabe all about his book. She smiled and fished through the centre compartment, finding a cassette. On the label, scrawled in permanent marker, it read 'Bone Machine'.
She gave an intrigued hm and popped the tape in. The music began playing and she looked over at Gabe and AJ.
"Next stop, Ericsson." She smiled.
Clementine shifted the car into first gear and drove out the gates of Richmond and out onto the open road.