⊱ 16 ~ ❝ fantasyland ❞ ⊰
〖season two, episode nine〗

Clementine hadn't realized she had fallen asleep, curled up on the foot of the bed Beth was resting in until she woke up to the sound of the door creaking open.

It was so quiet it was hard not to just fall asleep ⎯⎯ the complete and utter stillness of the whole room made it feel like a moment frozen in time. As if Clementine had stepped into one of the many framed photos on the wall and decided to sit in the memory alone. Alone, because, Beth wasn't any more present than she was hours before.

Carl was the cause of the door awaking Clementine from her slumber. She immediately sat up, squinting her eyes as she tried to adjust to the darkness of the bedroom and the hallway light seeping in through the slowly opening door.

"What?" She croaked, reaching up to rub at her tired eyes. Carl had yet to actually say anything or announce his presence with his words, but the shadow of his sheriff's hat was unmistakable.

"Patricia made dinner . . . Dale's looking for you."

A low grumble vibrated against her closed lips as she swung her legs over the footboard and slowly slid off the bed to follow Carl out. Behind her, she slowly clicked the door shut ⎯⎯ not wanting the lit-up hallway to disturb whatever state Beth was in at that moment. Whether that was sleeping or staring numbly at the ceiling like she was when Clementine fell asleep.

Dale walked around the corner, eyebrows raising with a relieved sigh. "There you are. You hungry?" He asked, looking between both children waving gently for them to lead the way into the dining room down the hall.

Still trying to wake up, Clementine was too tired to answer. She just blinked slowly, turning away and following Carl. He was nodding, making it clear that he was definitely ready to go eat some dinner.

Out in the dining room, people gathered around to sit at the table. Clementine stood around for a second, deciding where to sit when Andrea and Shane walked into the house together.

"They should've been back by now." Andrea declared, looking over her shoulder at Shane to ensure he heard her.

He nodded, rubbing his hands together as if he had just washed them. "Yeah. They just got holed up somewhere." It was meant to be reassuring as he sat down at one end of the table, next to T-Dog and a temporarily empty seat.

Clementine sat down at the opposite end of the table, as far as she could get from the man. "Maybe someone should-a gone to help them." She said under her breath, glaring down the length of the table at Shane Walsh.

With a plate in his hand, Dale both physically and verbally interjected as he placed the small plate of food in front of her. "Clementine, let's not do this now." His use of now giving her a little hope that she would still have time to tell him about what had happened in the RV, and just how terrified she was being around Shane.

All she needed was two seconds alone with Dale to tell him about it all ⎯⎯ but with Beth collapsing, Hershel running off, and then Rick and Glenn leaving . . . she hadn't gotten the chance to. She hadn't even been around him since he walked her back to the farmhouse with Carl, until that moment.

She was once told the dinner table was not the place for arguments, so probably wouldn't have said any more than she had. Even if Shane wasn't present, she definitely would have waited to rehash everything with Dale when it was just the two of them.

When Dale asked her to hold off on what she had to say about the situation ⎯⎯ trying his best to grace Shane with a moment of peace . . . it didn't matter. Shane didn't care. He had become accustomed to ignoring the girl. He'd come to know that whatever she had to say to him wouldn't be all that kind, and while no insult a child would fire his way could actually hurt . . . he stopped listening to anything she said in the first place.

"We'll ⎯⎯ we'll head out first thing in the morning," Shane said, swiftly turning the conversation away from her subtle anger. "Thank you." He nodded to Patricia as she set down a bowl of fresh lettuce beside him. "Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a ⎯⎯"

"No cussing in the house." Patricia quickly cut him off, a stern look overtaking her face as she moved down the table toward Clementine.

"Sorry . . ."

Clem forced the corners of her lips up into a smile at the woman as she passed her a cup of water, but she was awfully happy to hear someone else get annoyed with Shane even if it was something so small and silly. "Thank you." She said quietly, lifting the cup to her lips and drinking a good amount of it.

"Lori, dinner."

Maggie sat up straighter in her seat when Carol called out down the hall toward Beth's room ⎯⎯ assuming she had to of been in there with her or one of the other few rooms. "She's not in there."

"Yeah, I was just in there," Clementine confirmed when Carol looked at Maggie confused.

"Where is she?" Dale immediately asked, looking around at all the faces of the people in the dining room, seeing not a single soul had any clue.

Shane realized the same thing at the same time. "Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" He asked leaning his forearms on the table ⎯⎯ still trying to chew the food he had already managed to start eating.

"This afternoon."

Anyone could have felt the tension in the room start to fill the empty spaces that Lori was not filling. Clementine could feel it at least and she set down her cup immediately.

Now that she was thinking about it, she hadn't seen Lori since going into the bedroom with Beth. But, she also hadn't seen anyone since going in there. The difference was that Lori would have gone to look for her long before dinner. She would have checked up on Beth at the very least, but no.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl," Andrea explained, glancing around at those seated at the table, hoping her information would give some sort of answer.

It gave no answers. Nobody had answers. If anything, what Andrea knew caused a little bit more panic to seep into everyone. Even more so when Dale spoke his thoughts out loud. "She went after them?"

"She didn't say that."

Clem stood up out of her chair, looking worriedly at Dale who just gently set his hand atop her shoulder. Trying to de-escalate what he could see was her internal worry beginning to manifest within her.

"Nobody panic. Gonna be around here somewhere."

• ───────────────── •

Standing close to Carl, Clem just looked at him ⎯⎯ burying her feelings on the matter by worrying about him. He didn't look scared. Clem was surprised by that fact. She was worried, as per usual, but worried nonetheless for Lori's well-being while Carl was so far pretty calm. 

Dale and Andrea stood with both of them. They had just finished checking everyone's tent for the woman that could not be found.

Finally, Shane and T-Dog returned from their searches, both lacking the presence of Lori Grimes. "She's not at the barn," Shane announced breathlessly, his walk across the farmland having tired him out.

"I checked the yards," T told them all, glancing at the others standing around . . . also noticing none of them had found Lori.

Carl's face twisted with worry. The reality of it all beginning to settle in, and Clementine quickly reached out, placing her hand on his arm comfortingly. "Well, where is she?"

From the opposite side of the farm ⎯⎯ in the direction, Daryl's minicamp was created for him and only him . . . Carol approached, also taking deep breaths from her lengthy trek. "She asked Daryl to go into town. Must've gone herself."

A gasp flew from Carl's mouth at the sound of his mother going out on her own. Without telling anyone. He covered his mouth with his hand as his eyes welled up with tears, but immediately turned on his heel to get away from them all.

Clementine didn't spare a glance back at the adults around the area before she quickly followed Carl all the way to the farmhouse. He hurried into the living room, his face screwed with worry as he turned sat down on a chair, and started to cry.

"Carl?" She called out, making sure he knew she was with him, but he gave little inclination that he cared she was present. "Please don't cry . . . it's going to be okay." It came out before she could let herself doubt it ⎯⎯ but once it was out she regretted saying it. Her ability to overthink any situation made Lori's leaving seem like one confirmed death sentence for the woman, but she wouldn't let Carl know that.

Sniffles came from Carl as he smeared the tears away, looking out the window to see a car driving away hastily. The sight immediately caused him to choke up for a second. "My dad left and my mom . . . now Shane." He sputtered, squeezing his eyes shut and blinking them open again trying to stop the tears.

Once she had the chance to let her intrusive and negative thoughts burrow their way into the circumstances at hand ⎯⎯ it was much harder to give a positive response to Carl's spiraling emotions. "It's . . . it's going to be okay." She repeated herself, hoping the words sounded as authentic as they did the first time around. "Lori would never leave and not come back," Clem reassured the best she could, awkwardly pinching the fabric of her jeans where the seam was on the sides of her thighs.

She doubted any of her words would be anything of substance to him. After all, when Clementine had been in states of worry, fear, and sadness ⎯⎯ positive pep talks only ended up annoying her most of the time. But, Carl seemed to relax a little at Clementine's false confidence. And that was enough to make her a little calmer as well.

• ───────────────── •

Carl sped out the front door of the farmhouse the second he caught sight of headlights. It was the same vehicle Shane left in ⎯⎯ and if there was one thing everyone knew about Shane, it was that he would not return without what he left for . . . and the it in question, was Lori.

It didn't take long for Clementine to follow after him, but the screen door slamming shut right behind Carl forced her a few paces behind. Both were running as fast as they could. Lori was in their sights and nothing could have slowed Carl's adrenaline-fueled momentum to make sure his mother was all right.

The rest of the adults, with the exception of Maggie, Patricia, and Daryl, all crowded around the woman to do the same. To check up on Lori, and ensure that she was not harmed ⎯⎯ but something was off.

Clementine, with her vision bouncing around from her thumping feet, did not miss the way Lori rushed at Shane and began shoving him backward angrily. While Clem had no idea what the reason was at that moment to start hitting Shane, she wouldn't have ever second-guessed the reaction when it was him at the receiving end of it.

Whatever it was Lori was truly upset about didn't have a chance to hit the two children's ears. Once they were within earshot, though, they heard Shane loud and clear.

"Hey! Now look. First things first . . . I gotta ⎯⎯ I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?"

Breathless gasps of air rushed in and out of Clementine's lips as her feet crashed into the grass and she broke her sprint by digging her heels into the dirt. "What baby?" She sputtered, her chest heaving up and down from the quick sprint. Not critically thinking about the details of Lori and a baby being intertwined as one unit. Well, not until Carl spoke, at least.

"You're having a baby?" Dumbstruck by the revelation, his mouth parted in a shocked expression. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Clem's eyes darted between Carl and Lori, and then the rest of them looked possibly just as perplexed ⎯⎯ but more so by Carl having found out the way he did. The reality finally dawned on her that Lori was in fact pregnant. The baby in question was inside Lori's stomach, and it was what needed to be checked on.

"Oh." She muttered, her realization verbalizing on the tip of her tongue. Not that audible to anyone else but her.

• ───────────────── •

Crowded on the couch sat Lori, Carl, and then Clementine on the end. Then there was Andrea and Dale sitting in two chairs against the wall, who had just given Lori a cup of water and some paper towels.

"Thank you," Lori said to them, folding the paper towel and gently pressing at her head to see if it was still bleeding. She turned to Carl apologetically. "Hey. I am so sorry, that I left without telling you."

"It's okay. I wasn't scared. When's dad getting back?"

Clem tried not to gawk at Carl when he said it ⎯⎯ instead glancing out of the corner of her eye and pretending to look more at the carpet spread across the floor. Scared was exactly how she would have described his reaction to Lori going missing. She saw him firsthand gasp in fear at the sound of her leaving to town. Saw him start to cry when all three of the main parental figures in his life were no longer on the farm.

But, even after it all, he still chose to tell his mother he wasn't scared. Whether that was for his sake or her's, it was brave. If Carl wanted his mom to believe he wasn't worried for her safety, so be it.

"Let's hope soon."

Carl looked down before looking back up at his mother, a suppressed smile fighting against his lips. "I wanna be there when you tell him about the baby."

Lori tensed a bit at his words, having to break the news that he was the only one not to know of the Grimes family. "Oh, love, he already knows. We were just trying to find the right time to tell you."

He nodded understandingly as questions began to run to the forefront of his mind. A baby. There was so much he didn't know. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Turning on the couch to face her son more comfortably, her lips quirked up in a smile at the gentle question. "Well, we won't know that until it's born."

"Will I be able to feel it?" He asked another question, reaching out to touch his mother's belly just to find out for himself if he could already.

Clem looked over Carl's shoulder, looking at his hand on Lori's belly and wondering if he could feel anything. A baby sounded so exciting it was hard for her to not spring about a dozen questions on the woman as well.

The smile grew wider at her son's determination to know everything. "Not for a while. You must have a lot of questions, huh?" Lori asked, looking back over her shoulder in a glance toward Dale and Andrea, saying the next few words more quietly. "We never . . . had the talk. I guess we forgot."

She couldn't contain her questions any longer. Especially after a new much more relevant one rushed out her lips. "What talk?" Clem asked looking a bit confused as she turned to Carl for information but he didn't look all that sure either.

Instead, he glanced past his mother, looking over at Dale for the answers. He was smart. He must know exactly what Lori was talking about.

The only talk Clementine was ever given was that of periods ⎯⎯ which only really happened because she had been snooping through her parent's bathroom cabinets and came across pads and tampons. Didn't take her long at all to demand to know what they were for. Which, Marie Holloway was happy to tell her. Her daughter was smart . . . better to tell her all she could then before it actually happened. Plenty of girls started their periods very early.

So far, Clementine was lucky on that front.

Whatever this infamous talk was, Clementine doubted it had anything to do with that if Carl needed to be told about it. He was a boy, and she came to the crushing realization that boys did not have to go through that process, long ago.

Dale's eyes widened a little when Carl chose to look at him. "Don't look at me. That's your father's job." He said, pinching his opposite hand's fingertips subconsciously.

"I wanna know . . . who's gonna tell me?" Clem questioned. Suddenly feeling left out by the idea of being the only one not to know. If it was Rick's job to tell his son, who would tell her things her father was supposed to tell her?

A beat passed where nobody said anything. Dale's expression grew more uncomfortable, so Clem averted her piercing stare to Lori.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. We would never leave you out." Lori confirmed, reaching past her son to gently graze Clementine's knee. "Never have to worry about that."

Clem nodded subtly, more so to herself than to Lori. Relieved to know that Lori had her back in that sense ⎯⎯ even if it was a supposed conversation Carl needed to have with Rick before anyone else.

She smiled, letting the details she didn't know of fade into the silence and thinking back to the baby. "I used to ⎯⎯ to beg my . . . my mom for a little sister." The words were like sandpaper on her throat, coming out slow and hesitant, but a smile remained on her lips. It was pure happiness to hear a baby was on the horizon of their future. A baby. Speaking of her mother out loud was weird, but the bubble of joy in her chest overruled that feeling for the time being.

A look of thought passed over Carl's face at the mention of a little sister. He turned to Clementine, eyes squinting a little as he let her words sink in before returning his eyes to his mother. "If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?"

The mentioning of Sophia Peletier had Lori looking astonished. Maybe it was her not knowing what to say. Maybe it was the fact Sophia had only just been confirmed dead less than twenty-four hours ago ⎯⎯ could have been Lori just not wanting to name her child after her friend's dead daughter that had her falling utterly silent. Nobody would ever truly know.

But it didn't stay quiet for long, Clementine had more questions and it seemed Lori was in need of a subject change anyway. "How long?" Clem asked, giddy with excitement as she scooted closer to Carl and Lori. She was the youngest in her family and in the current group, she was still the youngest. To have a baby around sounded like a dream come true. Perhaps then people would take her more seriously.

Lori smiled again, the shocked face fading away and being replaced with relief that a baby was not a looming dread for anyone. "I'm not too sure, sweetheart. Can't be that far along, or I'd be showing more. Should've seen how big I got with Carl."

A grin widened on Carl's face at his mother's words. Immediately trying to picture his mother with a big belly as she had said. His eyes moved elsewhere at the sight of movement in the doorway, glancing over the back of the couch at who had appeared.

"Hey, dude. Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew."

"Big brother Carl. Pretty cool, huh?" He stated proudly in response to Shane's apologies, flicking the brim of his sheriff's hat.

Despite Shane's presence looming over them ⎯⎯ Clem couldn't keep her smile at bay. Carl's joy was easily rubbing off on her, and his cheeky grin was far too contagious not to reflect it. It was peaceful.

"I say that's very cool." Shane laughed softly at Carl's confidence, nodding in agreement with him. He reached his hand up, scratching his head momentarily as he stuttered over his words. "You ⎯⎯ uh ⎯⎯ you mind if I talk to your mom a sec? Hmm?"

"How about a little later after she's had some rest?" Andrea asked, peering around Dale who had stood up the second Shane made his presence clear.

Clem didn't immediately clock the tension. Not until after Andrea spoke up for Lori. That was when Clem looked harder at the battered woman. It wasn't just the bruises and cuts on her face ⎯⎯ there was a scowl too. One not directed at anyone . . . actually, fully targetted toward the wall. 

But, at least for Clementine, it was obvious that the annoyed look was for Shane when it hadn't been there prior to him showing up. It was a reasonable enough assumption that whatever Lori was mad at Shane about then was the same thing she was angry enough about to try and go at Shane when she first got back. 

Whether she was still just as mad or not didn't mean all that much to Shane it seemed. He didn't quite care about Andrea's suggestion to let the woman be for the time being. No, he never did manage to back off when it was necessary. "Lori, I had to get you back here. You wouldn't have come otherwise. How about you ⎯⎯ how about you just hear me out, please? It's okay.

Clementine grabbed the back framing of the couch to turn and face him, her eyebrows brought together in a serious expression. She couldn't stand being around him. Not a single apology had left his lips after his . . . well, tantrum, in the RV.

There had been about a thousand different times when Clementine had reacted with her emotions. In fact, it was pretty much the only way she knew how to respond. Only after all her feelings had stuffed inside of her for so long that they just came pouring out in any way possible. But, she couldn't remember ever being truly mean to someone that wasn't a part of what she was mad about, and that was exactly what he did.

"How about you just go? We were talking . . . and you're interrupting." She said, waving her hand in annoyance to gesture to the five of them who had been sitting peacefully in the room before he arrived.

"Clementine." Lori cooed softly, reaching out once more to brush the girl's knee and pull her attention away from Shane. She turned to Carl, using her other hand to rub his shoulder. "Will you give me a minute?"

Carl nodded, quick to obey his mother's wishes and Shane reached out to squeeze Carl's other shoulder. "Thanks, bud."

On the other hand, Clementine was not as quick to get up. She stayed put for an extra second just to look at Shane, weighing her options. But, Dale looked at her, holding out his hand for her to come and she gave in.

A thankful soft smile curled into Lori's lips, directed at both Dale and Clementine. Clem stood and walked over to Dale. It was hard to tear her eyes away from Lori. Silently willing the woman to change her mind. Tell Shane he should be the one to leave and that whatever he wanted to talk about was not worth her time.

Lori didn't. She forced her lips to turn up a little more at the girl as she took Dale's hand and left the room right behind Carl and Andrea.

"Shouldn't leave her with him. He's moronic." She grumbled up to Dale.

His eyebrows raised slightly ⎯⎯ a tad shocked by the word she had used, but choosing to focus more on calming her down. "Lori is a strong woman. She can handle herself."

• ───────────────── •

It was morning. Shane, Andrea, Daryl, and T-Dog were making a plan to go out and find the missing trio. All together, it made it the perfect time to pull Dale away and tell him. Even better with Shane not being on the farm at all.

Clem peaked into her tent, swiping up her glasses, putting on her jacket, and tucking her little rock in the pocket. She'd tell Dale, the others would return with Rick, Glenn, and Hershel, Beth would have her father back and get the help she needs ⎯⎯ everything was going to be fine.

There wasn't an exact outcome Clementine was hoping for to come from telling Dale how Shane had treated her . . . but she trusted Dale enough to understand at the very least. She trusted T, Lori, Rick, and Carl even ⎯⎯ but the difference was that Rick, Lori, and Carl had a different kind of connection with Shane. One that was founded long before walkers were a thing. On the other hand, T seemed to have a level of respect for Shane that Clem could not get behind. Therefore, Dale was the safest option to vent out all her feelings.

She just needed to find him.

He was mid-conversation with Andrea and she didn't look all the happy about the discussion. "You can't possibly believe that," Dale muttered, shocked by whatever Andrea had said.

Clem approached, fisting her hand around the rock in her pocket and shoving her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she tilted her head up at the both of them. "Dale? Can I talk to you?" The hesitant tone of voice, nervous to interrupt what looked like a heated discussion, almost went completely unnoticed.

It was Andrea who glanced down at Clementine, acknowledging her presence before meeting Dale's stare again to respond. "I do."

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to bite down on, looking back and forth between the two when Andrea just walked away. Dale didn't have the chance to continue whatever conversation they were having or make his point, but his gaze followed Andrea as she approached the three men packing the back of the green car to leave.

"Dale?" Impossibly more quiet than the first time, she repeated herself and tried to step in front of him where he could see but the height difference had him easily looking straight over her. "Dale!" She shouted that time, grabbing his arm and tugging.

In his own world, he practically jolted with surprise and looked down at her, eyes wide. Clementine had never yelled at him before, but he had seen her yell at others so many times by now that the only shocking part was that it was his name. "Sorry, Clementine. What is it?"

"I gotta tell you somethin'." She quickly lowered her voice again, not particularly enjoying raising it at Dale. "Can I⎯⎯"

The familiar sound of a car driving on the dirt road all the way from the farmhouse to the main road was suddenly heard. Clem turned to see, expecting to see the green car driving away ⎯⎯ not the red truck returning speedily. Quickly, she looked back at Dale, moments away from finishing her sentence and asking him to please sit down with her where Shane wasn't in hearing distance.

No words left her lips, she could see it on Dale's face that he was officially distracted before his feet even started moving along with the rest of them to meet the red truck up by the house. A frown twisted into her features as he moved past her, following everyone else up to the house.

It started to look like she just wasn't meant to tell him. Perhaps it was an experience she was meant to hold onto for the rest of her life. Which didn't sound all that hard when she was fairly certain her life wouldn't last all that long.

She begrudgingly followed after the rest of them, smiling a little at Carl's rejoiced reaction to finally having his father back within reach. Relief overwhelmed any other feeling Clem was experiencing. Pure relief for the safety of everyone.

In a moment where people were surrounded by those they loved. Rick and his family. Hershel reuniting with his farm and his people . . . Clem wanted to be by the people she loved. At least one of them. She walked up beside T-Dog, standing between him and Andrea ⎯⎯ glancing past the woman at Dale who was just taking it all in.

Unexpectedly, she didn't need to tell him. It would be fine. Everything would be fine. If she told him, it would just cause more distress where it all of a sudden didn't seem necessary. There wasn't any reason.

All the while Rick and Lori were exchanging a whispered discussion, Clem just watched ⎯⎯ unable to actually hear any of the words, but content enough to see the reunion and not think too hard on any of the underlying emotions.

"Who the hell is that?" T questioned out loud, raising his hand to point at the red truck to make sure everyone else knew exactly what he was talking about.

Clementine leaned in front of Andrea, pushing up on the tip toes of her dirty sneakers, and peered into the truck windshield.

Someone sat in the back seat with a cloth covering their eyes. Their head lolling backward against the backseat. Creepy. It looked very creepy. What looked like a man was sitting in the backseat of the truck Rick, Hershel, and Glenn just returned in ⎯⎯ blindfolded.

"That's Randall," Glenn responded monotonely, lacking any enthusiasm or positive nature to the man being within their vicinity. If Glenn wasn't happy, something was definitely off about the guy.

Clem instinctively gripped onto T-Dog's free hand hanging loose at his side. "Why's his eyes covered like that?" Her voice was low in a whisper as if she was scared of the blindfolded man ⎯⎯ Randall, hearing her from that distance. Looking away didn't feel like an option. If she did he might appear right in front of her like a horror movie . . . and that was something she could not handle.

"I dunno, froggy," T said, squeezing her hand gently before loosening his grip and taking a step toward the truck along with Andrea and Dale. Clem happily released his hand, not wanting to step any closer.

If T wanted to get a close-up look, she was not going to go along with him.

• ───────────────── •

Everyone gathered around the dining table to discuss the man's purpose of being brought to the farm. Who he was and especially how on earth they came across him. A long discussion of a group coming across and eventually attacking the three of them.

"We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out . . . if he lived that long." Rick insisted, lowering his head at his last few words.

"It's gotten bad in town."

A nervous shiver wracked through Clementine's shoulders. Bad. That meant walkers. Walkers were potentially everywhere and Clem had been completely surrounded by them enough times to know she didn't want to be out there again.

T saw the movement in her from where he stood behind her chair, leaning on the back of it, and reached down to gently rub her shoulder comfortingly. 

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked, clearly unsure of Randall being on the farm, where they had found safety.

Before anyone could give a direct response to Andrea, Hershel walked into the dining room, wiping his bloodied hands clean with a washcloth. They had put him in a shed around the back of the farmhouse, and Hershel had been tending to his injuries. "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way," Rick announced, using the information Hershel had just given to answer Andrea finally.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?"

Clem had so much to say but settled on biting at her thumbnail. It was a heavy conversation. Someone's life was probably on the line for any decision they made ⎯⎯ and Clementine didn't think sending someone out to die was a good choice. She also didn't think it was safe to have him on the farm if his people tried to kill three of them, but being part of that decision felt too hard to stomach.

"He'll have a fighting chance."

"Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are." Shane argued, leaning back against the window frame behind him.

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat."

Shane all but rolled his eyes. "Not a threat. How many of them were there?" He asked, his voice dripping with a condescending tone. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking for him?"

"They left him for dead. No one is looking." Rick said, exasperated by the insinuation.

"We should still post a guard." T offered quietly, not trying to pick sides, but leaning more toward Clementine's unvoiced opinion of not quite liking either option.

Hershel spoke up, trying to alleviate some of the stress intertwining the group in a tense discussion of right or wrong and what the guy deserved or not. "He's out cold right now . . . will be for hours."

"You know what?" Shane grinned slightly, more angered annoyance in the expression than actual amusement. "I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." He scoffed dramatically, resting his hand on the gun tucked in his belt loop as he rounded the dining table to leave the room in some sort of dramatic exit. "Look at this, folks ⎯⎯ we back in fantasyland."

Clem hid her limit of silence ⎯⎯ when it came down to Shane it was just so much harder for her to shut her mouth, but the truth was he was a hypocrite for being the one to always tell her to keep quiet. "Since we're in fantasyland . . . why don't you learn to keep your mouth shut while you do that?" Quipped the girl, attempting to push her chair back so she could stand but with T leaning his weight on it and then reaching his arm out to block her exit, she didn't move. Subtly caging her in her seat and keeping her contained.

Shane let out another scoff, continuing his speedy walk out of the dining room, muttering under his breath. "Oh, I'm the one that needs to keep my mouth shut ⎯⎯"

"You know we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet." Hershel declared angrily, cutting Shane off mid-sentence and pointing at him despite Shane having not turned to face him until after his hand lowered back to his side. Shane glanced over his shoulder, looking at Hershel as if he was surprised the man was speaking to him at that moment. "Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all ⎯⎯ this is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

For once, Shane fell completely silent as the older man basically scolded him like a child for his misbehavior . . . and Clementine had never appreciated someone more in so long.

Finally. Finally, she screamed inside. It was beginning to look like only her and occasionally Dale had the balls to call the grown man out on his bull shit. Which was growing harder by the day when Clementine was becoming more fearful than anything else of Shane Walsh. Most often her ability to say it exactly how it was, had nothing to do with courage and all to do with her lack of a filter.

But ⎯⎯ nonetheless, finally.

Someone else was putting the man in his place. And she hoped he would be glued in that spot forever. A spot where realization hit that he had been the one to cause almost every problem since stepping foot onto this farm.

Clem knew it. Dale knew it. And Hershel seemed to know it. It was just Shane's turn to become self-aware.

Hershel waved between him and Shane with a gentle, fluid motion of his open hand. "So do us both a favor, as the child said ⎯⎯ keep your mouth shut."

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〈〈 𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒 𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄 〉〉

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Episode nine. BE SO FUCKING FOR REAL. WHAT DO U MEAN I'M ALMOST DONE WITH SEASON TWO? WHAT DO YOU MEAN DALE LITERALLY DIES SOON? I can't take it, and it's kind of relieving that I'm too busy to write consistently, because idk if I'm ready for Clementine to say bye to Dale. I don't know if I'm ready for season two to end, because YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN SEASON THREE. LIKE I CANT I CANT. someone hold my hand, I'm mentally ill and unnaturally attached to characters that die in the first like 5 seasons.

Next chapter is very short, I'm sorry, but Clem is only a part of one canon scene so I did my best, but the whole focal point of that chapter was always meant to be a scene that doesn't originally exist in the first place.

Fanfic Editing Account: thinn.skinned.wp

Editing Account: rheeedit