Mitch had sat down at a table, instantly getting to work on his bomb. Louis and Violet seemed to be bickering at the front entrance. And right as they started getting more in depth in their slightly agitated conversation, Clementine and AJ walked outside. They had a short conversation before Tenn waved to AJ, must be his turn for lookout. AJ runs off towards the tower as Clem makes her way to Violet and Louis, although Louis leaves before she gets a chance to talk with him.

You look back over at Mitch who seemed to be struggling, so being the good friend you were, you walked over and sat down next to him. You were willing to help. "Whatcha doin'?" He looks up, a smile on his face. "Testing it. I need to know if it'll go off or not. Well, light. And no, it won't kill anybody.. before I know if it can go off." You watch him mess with it for a second before mumbling 'Shit.' You raise a brow and watch him grab the igniter out of his pocket, setting it down next to the bomb. "Do ya want me to-"

You pause as Clementine comes over, "What're you doing?" You grin, "We're finding out if it'll go off." She gave you a slightly worried look, "It can't kill anyone yet no worries." Her face still looked concerned but nodded anyways. "Our whole plan rests on that little thing." She points at the device, "If they get in, I'll need you to set off the bomb while I distract them." Mitch gave her a cocky smirk, "Expect the unexpected."

"Yeah, something like that." It sounded like a good part of the plan. Blow people up, no kids stolen, and you all win. At least That's what'll hopefully happen. "I read that on one of those school inspirational posters. School used to have them everywhere." You groan, "I fucking despise those posters, it's so annoying! You remember the golden rule?" Mitch and Clem both nod, "Kindergarten had them." Clem confirms, "Hate that old thing. The people who read it ended up beating people up. Treat people the way you want to be treated, apparently like trash from what I recall." Mitch chuckles.

"Soon as things went to shit I tore em all down." He picks up the igniter, "Our lord and savior." Clementine laughs at your statement while Mitch tries to focus on lighting the bomb. "Stupid shit." He says after the igniter doesn't work a few times. "Could one of you? My hands fucked up from messing with it all day." Hasn't been that long Mitch. You feel a smile appear on your face from thinking about it. "I'll do it." Clem says, grabbing the igniter and putting it over the bomb. After a few attempts, it eventually lights.

"Stand back." Mitch says as Clem backs away. You and Mitch both get up and back up as well, he put a arm out in front of you just in case. You nudge him with a smirk, you notice his face turn a little red before you all notice the bomb didn't go off. "Fucking shit." He grumbles, walking back over to the table. You and Clem do the same. "If it doesn't work.. Fucking shit!" He exclaims, catching a few people's attention but they quickly went back to what they were doing. At this point, 'fucking shit' is his catchphrase. "I'm sure it'll work Mitch. Keep on trying it." You lightly pat his shoulder, "It's not like I got all the time in the world to play scientist and figure this shit out!" You roll your eyes as he angrily pushes your hand off, "Well you got us, and we'll help you figure it out. That reduces the time taken to make it work. We'll get it in no time." He sighs, putting a hand on his forehead, "I just need time. I'll figure this out soon." You shrug, kind of proud that he's trying to manage his anger more. Maybe you should do the same.. eh, nah. "Alone. Time." You let out a breath of defeat, so much for helping. "We got it, we'll leave you alone." Clementine says, temporarily pulling off her hat to scratch her scalp. Come to think of it, was it summer? It felt a lot warmer now rather than a few days ago when it was just a little bit cold. Wasn't too bad, hence why you didn't want to wear a jacket.

"Thanks though, for helping. Both of you." He gives a genuine smile, one that you'd like to see more often. Clem nudged you, noticing you were staring at him for maybe a bit too long. He seemed to notice that too since he now looked at you slightly confused, maybe slightly interested at the same time and his already big ego seemed to have doubled. "No problem dude. I'll catch you later." He waves bye to you both and sits back down at the table, getting back to work. Although his smile didn't fade away. You even noticed him glance at you a few times out of the corner of his eye as you walked away.

"Well.. I'm just checking up on people and everything." Clem says, looking around. "Violet asked me to. Wanted to make sure everything going the way it's planned." You nod, "I have nothing to do anyway, I guess I'll accompany you." She nods and you follow her around. She took notice of the mainly burnt building and the rumble and started to talk to herself about it. "They didn't from what I heard. They didn't bother to rebuild it since they would need a bunch of resources and they already used them making the lookout tower." She nods, resuming her walk around the courtyard. You following her still until she noticed Louis and walked over to him. They seemed to be having a heart to heart talk and you didn't want to interrupt them so you walked off.

Violet came outside and looked around a few seconds later. You took notice of her and jogged over to her. She sat down on one of the steps, you joined her. "How's everything?" She smiles, "I boarded up the back hallway and the place looks pretty much fortified. There's no way the raiders are going to beat us." You still had doubts though. "What if they do end up winning though? I'm just testing the possibilities." She shakes her head, "They won't. Everyone's on edge, including you and me. But trust me, nothings gonna happen." She reminded you of last night with Mitch. He said the same thing although he sounded more confident. You trusted them both, so you decided to not say anything more and nodded. You turn, watching Clem come over. "How is everyone? Okay or.. a total fucking mess?" Violet asks, not moving from her sitting position. You decided to stay seated too. Clem sat down on the other side of Violet.

"They're ready for this." Clem says, she looked proud. "Really?" Violets questions, to be fair everyone was kinda dumb a while ago and didn't know what to do. They improved a lot from last time though. You just hoped you yourself were ready. "Really. Everyone's eager to get the fight over with." Truth be told, you're opinion changed, you'd now rather it happen now than even more later.

The three of you turn as the door opens, Aasim and Willy walking outside, "Because your idea is boring and stupid!" Willy exclaims with a pout, "Oh IM being stupid? You're the one who can't even think straight, if you could hear yourself-" Violet got fed up after only two seconds, to be honest you were too, "GUYS! What the fuck?!" She yells standing up, you and Clem did the same. Her shouting got the attention of Louis, Tenn, and AJ. Though only Louis started making his way over to the five of you. "Violet told us to work on the traps together but Aasim won't listen to anything I say!" He complains, you look over to Aasim for more context. "That doesn't mean you have to scream at each other." Louis cuts in, "Stay out of this." Aasim says looking at him then looking around at all of you, "I have an idea for duffel bags filled with bricks. We drop them on the raiders, IF they get to the administration building." He then looks back at Willy, "Willy here wants to use a giant, idiotic swinging log to take out one raider at most. It's completely stupid!" Willy looked furious, "You're stupid!"
"You're being childish!"
"I'm not! I'm trying to help!" At least he was trying. But to be fair bricks seemed like a better idea since you could all take out more than one person. "So then help! And stop arguing!" You're putting fuel to the fire Aasim. Clementine finally breaks up the fight by sharing her thoughts, "Aasim is right. We should use his brick trap. It sounds more practical." You held your hand out for a fist bump to which she happily accepted.

"Mines practical too!" Willy was like a toddler throwing a tantrum. You almost wanted to be like one of those mothers and offer him sweets so he'd stop. But unfortunately you didn't have any. "No it isn't!" Aasim argues back, "It's exactly the kind of thing a child would think of!" You were going to loose your mind over this, but for once so you didn't get all pissed off, you let them argue. "Especially a child who has no idea what he's up against." And that did it for Willy. You cover your mouth as Willy punches Aasim in the stomach. Hey, at least it wasn't in the balls. Now that would hurt. "What the shit?!" Violet says, finally speaking. Aasim wheezes a bit for air. And as he slouches and one of his hands grabs his knees as his other is clutching his stomach, Willy runs off. You wanted to go after him but Aasim looked in pain. "Dude you okay?" Louis says looking at Aasim, "Yeah. Fine. Shit!" He huffs walking away to find a place to sit.

"Christ. We'll all kill each other before the raiders get a fuckin' chance." Violet sighs. Maybe you guys weren't ready. "Right, what we need is something to break the tension." Please don't be a card game. Louis walks over to Aasim with the three of you following him. "Hey buddy how's it hangin'?" Louis says to Aasim who looked pissed off already by his presence, "Dude fuck off." The four of you sit down on the couches, "Come on, sulking in the corner isn't gonna help us fight off the raiders. Or turn that frown upside down."
"You get more annoying everyday." You snicker, you had to agree with Aasim there. "Regardless, I've come up with a plan to make everybody feel better." Once again, please don't be cards. "And that plan is a game!" He shows the cards, "Goddamit!" You screech, ending up making most of them laugh. "I was hoping it didn't have to come to this torture." Louis rolled his eyes playfully, "I'm sure you'll survive." You notice AJ and Tenn walking over, hopefully Mitch will join too. "Uh we haven't played a game in weeks, since that night with Marlon." Violet says, crossing her arms. "I mean.. if you want to go ask Ruby to come play I don't mind waiting." Louis suggests, making Aasim scowl, but you could see the blush on his face from the torch light. Wait when did it get so dark? You looked up, apparently it turned night really fast. Goddamn. "Shut up dude! I swear to god." Aasim answers fast. You smirk at Clementine who gives you the same action. You couldn't wait for this game. You sit up from your slouching position, seeing if Mitch was still at the table, and he was.

"You've got a crush on Ruby?" Violet inquires. Her voice sounded sickeningly sweet, scary. "I saw it coming from a while ago." Aasim gives you a small nervous glance before AJ and Tenn make it over to you all. "What are we playing?" AJ looks around at everyone, "Truth or dare!" Louis says messing with the stack of cards. Oh now you had to get Mitch to play. You wanted to torture him with dares. "You don't use cards in truth or dare." Violet says, uninterested. "You do in this version. Everyone draws, highest card gets to ask, lowest card has to answer." Louis paused, looking around, "Mitch! Come over here!" Mitch stopped what he was doing noticing everyone was staring at him. True he did have to finish the bomb, but you did feel he needed a break. He let out a stressed out sound and got up, walking over and sitting down next to you. "There we go, suppose Omar, Willy, and Ruby aren't playing. Ah well." Louis states, picking a card and passes the stack down the formed circle.

Violet let's out a small joyous sound, "This should be good. Let's see.." She ponders, "Truth. Marry, Fuck, Kill." Tenn instantly jumps in, "Vi." He scolds, she rolls her eyes, "Fine! Marry, FLIP, Kill. Ruby, Y/n, or.. James that guy who saved you." You raised a brow. You didn't want to find out which one you'd be, but you were also curious. It seemed Mitch was to from the look on his face. "Oh god." Clem shakes her head, "Gotta answer, thems the rules." Clem sighs, "Let's see.. I would marry.. Ruby." Ooo, good choice. "Oo watch out Aasim. She's totally gonna swoop in and ruin your dream." You chuckle, "You gotta admit, Clem's a way better catch than you." Violet says, you couldn't tell if she was really joking or not, "I would flip.." Everyone starts chanting, including you and surprisingly Mitch, "Flip flip flip!" Clem gave an embarrassed smile before having to think a bit too long about her choice. "Y/n." Mitch didn't seem to like that answer, he visibly frowned. Damnnn, "Hey, I can still pull! Take that Vi!" She rolls her eyes, "To be fair James is gay and I'm not into him." Isn't the last option to kill him? HOMOPHO- She didn't know him that well anyway probably, it hadn't been a full 24 hours since they knew each other. Plus she didn't spend 2 weeks stuck in a school with him like she did with all of you. You shrugged, "Looks like you're quite the catch huh?" Louis looks at you. You notice Mitch nod slightly, it seemed to go I noticed by everyone except you and somehow Vi, who smiled noticing. You could feel your face heat up but you could always blame it on the fire.

"So that means your killing.." Louis starts, his sentence was finished by Vi, "Boy from the woods!" Rip James, lived a longish life. "This is amazing." Tenn says happily enjoying this already. "I'll try to shed a tear for the poor boy none of us met, who's probably just a figment of Clem's imagination." AJ spoke up after him, "No he's not. I met him." Right, James basically saved the kid. "Well, now he's dead. Poor dude." Louis then starts up a whole new subject, "Well this is great! It's a nice break from thinking about homicidal assholes sneaking into our homes to kidnap us." If you had a drink right then you probably would've said cheers. "Not if you bring it up." Violet points out, "On to round two." Louis says, passing the cards out once again.

"I win!" Clem says proudly, "And poor Aasim loses." Louis says and looks at him. "Definitely a dare." God this is getting good. "Aa-okay. Do your worst." He looked a bit nervous. "You have to ask Ruby.. for a kiss." Hell yeah! You pump your fist in the air. Mitch grabs your hand and puts it back down, going back to focusing on the scene before him. "Seriously?!" Aasim raises his voice a bit. "The most legitimate of dares." Louis says, his voice deepening a small bit for that. Aasim gets up, leaving all of you to turn and watch as he goes to Ruby. "This is gonna be good." Mitch laughs, silencing himself as everyone watches the scene unfold. Ruby smacked him, making everyone laugh and quickly sit back normally. Aasim walks back over sitting down, "Well I think we've all learned something about our good friend Aasim today. Mainly that he has no romantic charm whatsoever." Everyone starts laughing again, Aasim looked hella embarrassed, who wouldn't be? But it was still so funny. "Shut up." He mutters, looking away. "Look sharp yall it's time for round three!" Louis says mocking a southern accent. Once again the cards are passed around.

Everyone looks at each others cards, you and Clementine end up tying for last while Louis has the winning card. "I've got it. We've been hard on poor Aasim here, teasing him about sweet Ruby. Seems only fair we mercilessly tease someone else about unrequited love. So, guys, anyone here you like-like." You and Clem look at each other, already seeming to know each other's answer. "Seriously? Like-like? What are you, six?"
"Seven, thank you." You believe it. "Yeah. I've definitely got feelings for someone." Clem confirms, "Same here, believe it or not." Louis seemed interested to know, "Oh ho! Who is it?" The question was directed to both of you, and yet you both denied it. It was one question per ask.

"They could like anyone. Mitch, Ruby, Aasim." You held your breath when Violet said Mitch first, but then she continued with the list and you felt fine. It just scared the shit out of you that she might've already knew. To be honest she probably already did.

The cards are passed around again, this time with Aasim winning, and Tennessee losing. "What was something you never told anyone because you were afraid they'd make fun of you?" Short and simple. "You got this." Louis says, trying to encourage him. "I um.. I think.. I think walkers won't be around forever. They'll go away someday. Cause the world goes in cycles right? Ice Age, Stone Age, um.. some other ages. So it's like that, this age will end and another one will start." You could pick out a few of the sorrow filled looks from most people. "An age without walkers." Clementine says, "It'll be better." Tenn nervously looks around. You missed when humanity was normal. But you didn't miss some of the time before the apocalypse started, when your parents left you. They were never coming back, you understood that a long time ago once Gracie and Tamara started taking care of you.

"That's.. really beautiful Tenn. I never thought of it that way." Clem smiles at him. Tenn looked happy with her answer. Although AJ looked upset. "What's wrong AJ?" Tenn asks looking at the kid. I.. I just don't know what it's like. All of you do. But I don't. I don't remember a time before monsters." The kid never knew his parents and he was born in the middle of an apocalypse, you couldn't help but feel bad for him. "You know what, little dude? It's okay that you don't. Believe me, the world that was before this one was pretty shitty." Louis and Clem share a glance, you smile at the two and then looked at Violet. She looked disappointed. You'd figured it out not too long ago (When Violet was sounding so desperate for Clem to stay) Violet had feelings for Clem as well as Louis did, although Clem seemed to have fallen for Louis. Poor Vi.

"And that feels like a good place to call it." Sadly you never got to dare Mitch to do something stupid. Everyone nods and stands up, "We should finish up our work anyway. It's getting dark." Mitch agrees, "I still have to finish the bomb." You and him exchange goodbyes and he walks off. So does Tenn and Aasim. Ruby comes over right after they leave. "You're on lookout?" Violet asks her when she gets close enough, "Yep. Clementines got it after me." AJ looked up at her, "Can I come?" Ruby smiles and looks at him, "Of course you can, little guy." You're glad she's warmed up to him. She did in fact become good friends with the kid. Clementine nods, signaling that he could follow her. He got up and jogged towards Ruby who starts walking. Once they're both out of view, Louis gestures his head towards Aasim that had walked up to Willy, who sat on the front steps. Aasim offered the kid to help him with the trap, which he accepted and apologized for hitting Aasim in the stomach. Aasim easily forgave him, saying it was a good punch. You, Clem, Violet, and Louis seemed happy knowing they were cool with each other again. "I'm headed to the bell tower. I want to check out our defenses on the back wall before bed." Violet says, getting up and stretching. "Need help?" Clem asks, "Sure. If you want." Violet looked happy with the offer. "You could always help me instead. I am on piano duty." The three of you gave him a look, "What? I gotta get some practice in before one of you decides to chop it into firewood. I've got a project I wanna try, but I need a second person." The two walk different paths, Clementine had to decide who she wanted to spend her time with.

You looked at her as she watched the two leave. She settled with Louis, running to catch up with him. Poor Violet. You decided to jog after her. She turned around smiling, seemingly to have been expecting Clementine. But her face didn't falter, she still gave you a smile instead. Although she did look sad about Clem deciding to go with Louis.

The walk to the bell tower was silent until you both reached the doors. She opened the door, letting you walk in before she shut it using just one hand. The large bell was on the floor and the place looked like hell, but Violet seemed to know her way. "You good?" She looks at you and gives you a nod, "You know I like her right?" You stayed silent as she starts to walk up the remaining stairs that were still in tact. "I could tell that you knew." She lets out a shaky breath, "I was hoping she'd want to spend at least a little time with me. But I'm glad you decided to join me rather than leaving me bored out of my mind instead." She gave you a small smile.

"You ready to climb?" God you missed climbing things. It's all you did when you were younger. Climb trees, the counters, shelves, short brick walls, anything you could. "Hell yes I am!" Violet starts climbing. A piece of metal almost makes her fall, you instantly put your arms out to catch her if she did. "Oops." She says, she still kept her footing and grip steady on the wall though. "Glad you ain't a chicken." She says as you start climbing, "Now I'm thinking about chicken nuggets. Do you remember those?" Obviously, "Best thing I've ever had." You continue climbing after her, avoiding the metal piece that Violet almost fell because of. "I'd give an eyeball for a chicken nugget right now!" So would you, it beats stew everyday for the past few weeks.

Violet jumps to a part of the stairs peeking out, you follow her, making it without any problems. Well if you did have a problem you'd probably fall to your death but eh. You walk up the stairs, following Violet to a place on the balcony. The surroundings looked beautiful with the fire lighting the place up. Minus the total wreck of the place, it looked nice.

"Place looks secure as hell and ready for anything." You say looking all over the place. "Clem made it happen, Couldn't have done it without her. Glad she was able to stay." You nod, agreeing with her. She walks away from the part of the balcony you were both situated at.

"You're not busy are you?" You shake your head, "Nah, that's partly why I decided to join you. I wanted to spend some time with you." She smiles, "I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang out, guess I got my answer." You both walk to another part of the bell tower, it was almost like a bridge. "Pretty." You say looking at the glowing moon. "Sometimes I need the quiet. Just to get away for a while."

"I feel you." You both sit down on the ending bridge, "Know any constellations?" You shake your head, you never got to learn them. "If I remember right, everyone's born under a special sign right? It determines your personality." You giggle a bit, "From what I learned apparently that's astrology, not astronomy." She shrugs, "Whatever let's just make up our own rules, signs, what it says about you. Not like anyone remembers the old way." She looks up towards the sky, as do you. "There! See! It's a fish." You took a bit of time to notice but once you do you point at it. "Now it needs a personality.. Bright, pretty, good with other people, Always moving, tons of energy. Sound like anyone we know?" You think for a second, "AJ? It doesn't remind me of Tenn or Willy." She lets out a 'hm.' Sound. "..It reminds me of Minnie." You visibly grimace at the mention.

"Let's keep going. I spy with my eye, a knife. See it?" You nod, noticing the faint outline of a knife in the stars. "This ones easy, smart, clean, vicious, dependable, someone you want with you in a fight. Doesn't take crap from anyone, gets shit done." You pause and look over at her, "Reminds me of you.. and maybe a bit of Mitch. You're both all those in one." You hear a faint laugh come from her, "I thought it reminded me of you and Ruby. Ruby's sweet yes, but don't let that sweet demeanor fool you. And then you're personality is just like that. Cool, doesn't take shit for an answer, I think that's what makes us good friends. Since it reminds us of each other and I really enjoy that." You give her a smile, "Like you, I'm not a whole social butterfly. Yet I became friends with you right when I came here. I'd say we're a cool team." You hold your hand out for a high five. She smiles and completes the action. "So.. Mitch huh?" She starts but you cut her off with a small glare. Yeah she knew. She laughs and looks back towards the sky.

"Alright, I found a bird." She points to the stars, now telling you that she in fact did not find a real bird. "Birds are free. It could go anywhere it wanted to. Up and up and up and never come back." She starts to rant a little bit after, "You wish it was you?" She goes quiet before nodding, "I can't help but imagine what it would be like to be weightless." She looks at you for a minute, "Sorry. I don't mean to talk so much." You shake your head, letting her know it was fine. "I've watched people leave before. Family, friends. They never came back. For some reason Clementine came back. Remind me to ask her why later." You give her a thumbs up, "I will. But I think she came back because this place is home now. For all of us it has been. Guess it's just got that effect on people." She chuckles and focuses her gaze on the courtyard.

"Vi? N/n? Where'd you guys go?" You and Violet look at each other and then back towards the courtyard. "I guess they're just checking in. Let's go." Violet nods and you follow her back down the tower. "Can't wait to get some sleep tonight." You mutter as you both enter the courtyard. You look up, noticing Clem and AJ on the tower. "Me neither." She rubs her eyes tiredly. "Think this is the most I've stayed up in weeks."

You look around at everybody, noticing everyone was in fact outside and looked just about ready to turn in for the night. Until Clementine and AJ climbed down the tower and came over.