That morning, I headed to see Marlon, but heard barking coming from the headmaster’s office. I ran in and found Clementine and AJ backing away from Rosie. I rushed forward, Marlon also hearing the commotion and running in.
Y/n: Hey, hey, Rosie. Come on, girl. Over here.
Rosie runs over to me leaving the others alone.
Marlon: You said dogs brought back bad memories. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were so scared of them. But I swear, Rosie’s not as frightening as she seems.
He whistles her over from me.
Marlon: Sit, girl.
Rosie sits.
Marlon: See? She’s harmless. She just needs to get to know you, is all.
I walked forward, I offered a hand out.
Y/n: Here. I’ll show you. Do you trust me?
Clementine hesitates a minute, but then puts her hand in mine. I slowly pull it down to Rosie’s face.
Y/n: Get down to her level. Let her get your scent. It’s okay. She’s not gonna hurt you.
Rosie sniffs her hand for a second and then licks it affectionately.
Y/n: There you go. Now, whistle and tell her to lie down.
Clementine whistles.
Clementine: Lie down, Rosie.
Rosie bounds towards her bed in the corner and lies down.
AJ: That’s so cool.
Marlon: See? She really is harmless.
Clementine: Yeah. That was...pretty cool.
The girl sent me a smile and I turned red slightly, but gave a goofy grin back.
Marlon: And now Rosie will recognise you. She’s really well-trained. She was the headmaster’s dog back when this place was still functional. But when the world went to shit, he bailed. All the other adults did. Left us behind to fend for ourselves.
Clementine: Wow. What a dick.
Y/n: You got that right. But now it’s just us kids. And we’d like it if you and AJ were a part of that. You’re both capable, and we need all the help we can get.
Marlon: Here… This is the current state of our plan for gathering food.
He brings out a hand-drawn map and shows it to Clementine. I remembered drawing that with Tenn after numerous walks around the perimeter.
Marlon: We are starting to run short. It’s getting harder and harder to feed everyone in this school.
Y/n: Marlon… We could just expand the safe zo-
Marlon: No. No… We can’t.
Clementine points to the greenhouse on the map.
Clementine: The greenhouse…
Marlon: Ah, yeah. Uh, don’t get too excited about that one. We used to maintain it real well. Had plenty of vegetables growing. But it became overgrown, upkeep was impossible. Yeah, we, uh, we keep away from that now.
I glared at Marlon knowing he was lying. He didn’t want anyone going back there because it was overrun with walkers, not plants. Also the fact that the only adult that had stayed died there didn’t help anything.
Clementine then looks at the forest.
Clementine: I didn’t realise how much forest surrounds this place.
Marlon: It’s how we’ve kept ourselves from unwanted attention for so long. Well… For the most part, anyway.
That confused me, from what I know of we’ve never had any issues with the outside. Was there something Marlon wasn’t telling me?
Distracting me, Clementine points to the train station.
Clementine: That’s the train station. There was a whole stash of food under the floorboards.
Marlon: Oh, where you crashed your car? Pretty sure that place is a lost cause. There was a hell of a lot of smoke coming from it when we found you two. Walkers flooded in there after all the noise you made.
Y/n: Also, the noise we made.
Next, the girl pointed to the road that led out of the school and forest.
Marlon: That’s the only road that leads in and out of Ericson. If you go off it, you’ll eventually end up in the valley. We used to have signs that led people to the school, but…
Y/n: Marlon took them down with some help from the rest of the kids. We didn’t want people just coming across us easily.
Clem then looks to the hunting area.
Clementine: What’s the trap area?
Marlon: Hunting grounds, more or less. Louis built some traps out there to catch game. He and Aasim are set to go check them today.
Clementine looks at me with a doubtful expression, but I nod in return.
Y/n: I know, I know. Not everyday you get to see a Louis out in the wild, it’s really going to be a sight to see.
Clem looks at the river.
Clementine: What’s out there?
Marlon: Ah, that’s where we fish --
Y/n: -- Or try to fish --
Marlon: -- Right, yes, thank you, Y/n. We’ve got a shack for storage right here…
He points to a structure beside the river, showing it to Clementine.
Marlon: Right along the river. It’s secure, mostly. Get the occasional walker or two come by. Vi and Brody should be heading out there in a bit.
Clementine nods in understanding and Marlon then points to the red lines that surrounded the whole map.
Marlon: One more thing… see these red lines?
Clementine: Yeah.
Y/n: That’s the safe zone.
Marlon: It’s been getting smaller over the years, and food’s become more scarce.
Clementine: So why not go outside it?
Marlon: We can’t. Whenever someone goes outside the safe zone, bad shit happens. People die or disappear.
I nodded, solomonely. I remembered all those people we’d lost and… Minnie and Sophie…
Marlon: I just… We could really use the help, Clementine. Taking care of these kids, it’s not easy. I’m worried that if we don’t figure something out, if… if we don’t fix our food situation… We can’t lose anyone else. We’ve already lost so much. Friends, siblings… I can’t let another kid die. It could break us.
Clementine: I get it. I know how it feels to lose a friend.
Marlon: Yeah, well, multiply that by thirty and you’ll know how I feel.
Clementine: What?
Y/n: Marlon! Calm down.
Marlon: Ah, shit. Sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off like a dick.
I stepped forward as Marlon took some deep breaths.
Y/n: He’s telling the truth. It’s just a lot… Everyone’s counting on him to step up. Be the leader they need him to be. I try to be there for him, help where I can, but… You and AJ are two more mouths to feed. But maybe you can help us to feed the rest.
Clementine nodded, seeming more accepting when hearing it from me.
Clementine: So what do you need from us?
Marlon stopped leaning his head on the desk, having calmed down.
Marlon: Louis and Aasim are heading to the hunting grounds, looking for rabbits. Well, Aasim will, anyway. Louis… I just hope he shows up, if I’m really honest.
Y/n: Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he does.
Marlon: Thanks, Y/n/n. Violet and Brody are going upriver to do some spearfishing. Hopefully those two get along long enough to get some work done. Both teams could use some extra hands.
Y/n: Yeah, and I’ll go with whatever team you don’t go with.
Clementine smiled, thankful that her decision didn’t mean a disadvantage for the other choice. She then looked at AJ.
Clementine: Let’s go do some hunting.
AJ: Yeah!
Marlon: Take this.
He passed the map over to Clementine.
Marlon: I don’t want you gettin’ lost.
Clementine: Thanks.
Marlon: We need all hands on deck if we’re going to find any more food. Just remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you to come back home in one piece.
AJ: So that means we can stay?
Marlon: What, did you think we were gonna throw you out?
AJ: Maybe.
Y/n: I mean, you did say --
The blonde boy clapped his hands together, interrupting me.
Marlon: -- Well, as long as we got enough to eat, you’re both welcome here.
Y/n: Yeah! Go get ‘em, AJ!
I high-fived the boy, making him beam and run out of the office.
Clementine: Alright. I better get going.
Marlon: Yeah, Y/n will accompany you. See you guys around.
I walked out with Clementine.
Y/n: So, are you enjoying it here?
Clementine: Yeah. Thanks for letting us stay, by the way. I know Marlon was so up for it, but I’m guessing it was you who changed his mind.
I rubbed the back of my neck, going red slightly.
Y/n: Heh. Yeah, well, there’s no need to thank me. You proved yourselves. Marlon woud have been stupid to let you guys go.
Clementine gave me a warm smile and I returned it.
Clementine: We better hurry up, AJ has probably gotten to the gate already.
Y/n: But the gate’s that way.
I pointed to the way we were going.
Y/n: And AJ went that way --
I pointed behind us.
Clementine: Oh…
Y/n: You should probably go get him.
Clementine: Yeah, probably.
She rushed back the way we’d come, calling out his name, making me chuckle slightly.
A/n
Hey, sorry for little to no updates for this book, but be ready for some more because i've been writing a lot more for this story. So... yay! Hope you liked this chapter!