The Walking Dead: Return to Paradise

Chapter Eight: A New Arrangement

Clementine leaned against the edge of the watchtower, scanning the forest only to see nothing again. The thick coating of snow on the ground made it easier to see things that didn't blend in. Walkers and by extension, other people, would stick out like a sore thumb. The snow had also covered the courtyard and necessitated moving the couches under cover on the porch of the admin building. Most of the picnic tables were overturned to form makeshift barricades, coupled with various sharpened sticks.
The situation was all too familiar, not two months ago they had been waiting for a different group of raiders to attack. Since the two men showed up at the gate the previous week, they hadn't seen anything suspicious, which only heightened tensions further. Louis had been doing his best to keep people calm with various games but despite his efforts, everyone was still on edge.
"Hey Clem, it's my turn on watch."
Asim stood at the bottom of the ladder, bow in hand. Clementine climbed down and started towards where Violet, AJ, Minnie and Tenn were talking.
"Hey guys." She said, leaning on the flipped table and pulling the hood down from her thick winter coat.
"Did you see anything out there?" Minnie asked.
Clem shook her head.
"Nothing, a few walkers crossing way up ahead, but that's it."
"Shit." Minnie muttered, glancing down at the head of the axe she was holding.
Violet tapped the leather sheath of her kukri that hung from her belt, producing a repetitive, dull thud.
"Fuck all this waiting, I hated it last time and I hate it now." She spat.
"Swear." AJ scolded.
Violet stifled a laugh, Clem smiled at her and AJ stood by, confused as to what was so funny.
Louis trudged through the snow, resting 'chairles' on his shoulder.
"I'm gonna head out and do some scouting." He informed them.
Louis paused and looked Clementine up and down.
"New hairstyle, huh? I like it." He said before making his way out the gate.
Minnie hoisted her axe into her shoulder.
"I'm gonna go finish the firewood I started chopping. Let me know if something happens." She walked off towards the pile of logs leaving Clem, Violet and AJ alone.
"What can I do, Clem? I wanna help." The boy piped up, enthusiastically.
Clementine knelt down to his level.
"I need you to go and make sure everyone's got their jobs covered. You can help them if they need it."
AJ nodded and left the area in search of someone to help.
"So what do we do?" Violet asked.
Clementine glanced over at the rifle that was propped up against the makeshift cover.
"Has anyone taught you how to shoot?"
"I've shot a gun before, a long time ago."
"Well that settles it, I'm going to teach you." Clem smiled warmly, picking up the gun and working the bolt. She ejected the ammo and placed it down on the table.
"We can't afford to use up the ammo we have, but I can still teach you the technique."
She handed the rifle to Violet, moving to her side.
"Okay first, keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're ready to shoot."
"Got it." Violet moved her finger onto the outside of the guard, resting it on the wood furniture.
"Now, see that switch next to the bolt?"
"Yep."
"That's the safety, push it up and the gun is ready to fire."
Violet followed her directions, holding the gun low halfway up her torso. Clem stepped towards her and placed one hand on her elbow and shoulder.
"You wanna hold it like this..."
She gently guided Violet's arms into the proper position, her head almost rested on Violet's shoulder. She could feel the heat emanating from the blonde girl's face.
"Okay, line up the sights so the one at the front is between the back ones. When you're ready to shoot, take a deep breath then empty your lungs. When they're totally empty, squeeze the trigger smoothly."
Violet followed her instructions, the click of the trigger was unfortunately the only feedback she would receive from the gun. The ammo they had could be counted on one hand and they needed it if the raiders showed up.
"I guess I can pretend I hit it." Violet said with a chuckle.
They continued practicing the technique until Violet felt certain she could replicate it in a real fight. Clementine handed her the bullets and showed her how to properly load the gun before placing it back down against the table. They killed time for the next half hour, walking around the school grounds checking the defences.
"Where's Louis? He should be back by now." Clem asked as they got back to the courtyard.
"I don't know, hopefully he just got delayed or something." Violet said, trying to stay optimistic despite her growing concern.
Clementine had a similar feeling of dread in he pit of her stomach, weighing her down.
Shouldn't have let him go alone, that was fucking stupid.
Asim suddenly jolted upright in the watchtower, he reached for his bow and nocked an arrow.
"Guys, they're here!" He shouted.
Clementine took the bow off her back and readied it, everyone dropped what they were doing and began preparing for a fight. Minnie came running over with her axe, AJ stood next to Clem and checked the ammo in his gun and Violet gripped the handle of her kukri.
Clementine could see the approaching group through the bars of the gate, there were at least ten of them to her count, although there could have been more, her view was partially obstructed by the trees.
"Don't come any closer." Asim yelled at them, doing his best to be intimidating.
The group were all well armed, most of them carried shotguns and pistols, some carried machetes and baseball bats. Louis walked at the front of the group, held at gunpoint.
"I'm afraid I need to. We've got some things to talk about." The man holding Louis announced.
He was tall and lean with a shaggy mop of brown hair, intermingled with the odd grey patch. He kept the muzzle of his shotgun levelled with the back of Louis' head as he spoke.
"Let me tell you why I'm here; one of my people was killed, we thought the dead got him. Until a few days ago that is."
Clementine's heart sank, the only thought going through her head was that if Louis died, it would be entirely her fault.
"We found him in the woods. He was face up, buried in the snow. We probably wouldn't have found him if it wasn't for the arrows sticking out of his body. His head came back but his body didn't, I guess the arrow must have severed his spine or something, nasty business." The man shook his head, as if recounting the memory disgusted him.
"Anyway," he continued, "a couple of my guys found this place and asked you if you knew where our man went, this was before we found him of course. We deduced that one of you killed him, you're the only people in the area and you all use bows."
While he had been talking, the man and his group slowly got closer to the gate
Asim aimed his bow at them.
"Let him go." He ordered.
"I intend to, just as soon as we find Paul's killer. All I need you to do is let us in, then we can all talk things through calmly." The man's voice contained no trace of anger, he was perfectly patient. That was what scared Clementine the most.
"Don't do it." Louis said before receiving a hard poke with the muzzle of a shotgun.
Asim looked around frantically, as if trying to find a nonexistent answer somewhere among the trees.
"I..I can't.." he stammered.
"I'll make it easy for you, if you don't open the gate by the count of ten, I'll kill your friend." The man said, shoving Louis forward for everyone to see through the gate.
Clementine drew her bowstring back and aimed at the man through the bars.
"No!" She shouted, quickly walking towards the gate to get a better shot.
"Fuck them, don't do it!" Louis shouted at her.
"One...Two..." the man began counting.
Clem assessed the situation outside, if she fired her bow they were guaranteed to kill Louis no matter what. He didn't have any chance getting out of there alive.
"Three....Four...Five."
If she let them in, Louis would have some cover and they could lure them into the traps in the admin building.
"Six..."
"Alright! I'll let you in, just don't hurt him." She lowered her bow and approached the gate, wrenching up the large metal latch. The hinges shrieked as she pulled it open, the raiders poured in and Clementine backed up to rejoin the group.
"Thank you. Now, let's talk." The man said.