Chapter Text
This whole rescue mission was really stupid.
Sometimes, Violet honestly couldn’t understand Marlon. One second he was nagging on and on about shrinking down their already narrow safe zone further due to some ‘potential threats’, the next second there was a giant explosion and he was immediately calling a team to go out and investigate near the train station, which was undoubtedly located way beyond the said safe zone.
Okay, to be fair, Violet figured Marlon was probably just trying to be cautious and wanted to make sure whoever caused that explosion wasn’t a threat to the school. The fact that they found a girl and a small kid barely conscious in a totalled car that got flipped upside down was just a surprise to them all. So naturally, this pure investigation gig turned into a rescue mission in a matter of seconds, despite the fact that more and more walkers drawn by the loud noise were starting to close in on them, which was just a real nuisance.
And it wasn’t that Violet was some cold-hearted bitch that would just leave people there to die when she could’ve help them, it was just… inconvenient. She had already gone out fishing with Brody earlier that day and endured an irritating amount of awkward conversations and now she was out in the woods again, busy getting her cleaver out of a walker’s skull in time to bash it into another. So yeah, in her defence, it was more than well-justified that this whole situation kind of made her a bit grumpier than usual.
“Violet! Go get the girl out of the car! The gas is leaking! It might explode again!” Marlon yelled at her, and in a smooth motion, drew another arrow from his quiver and shot it into a hobbling walker’s head nearby with great precision.
Violet grunted quietly, booting the walker she just took down in the head before turning in Marlon’s direction to get a quick glance.
Things weren’t looking good. The guys managed to get the little kid out first through the broken car window, since it was a lot easier given his small size. Louis was carrying him while Marlon and Mitch were currently trying to clear a way back to the school in front of them.
“Go Violet, I’ll cover you!” Aasim called out, starting to move closer to her while shooting a few walkers on his way.
Violet sighed, turning back around and quickly running over to the driver’s side of the car. The window was already smashed during the crash, presumably. She crouched down to peer inside and froze for a second. Because the girl in the driver’s seat looked really young. A teenager, to be more precise, like her.
A sharp crack from somewhere inside the car snapped Violet out of her daze, signalling that she didn’t have much time to get this girl out before they both got blown into pieces.
“Shit.” Violet cursed under her breath, reaching over and trying to pull the girl out through the car window. However, something seemed to be hindering her efforts.
Frowning, Violet waved away the smoke from in front her face and inspected more closely to see what the problem was. And it didn’t even take her two seconds to realise that the girl was still secured by her seatbelt.
“God, fucking seatbelt…” Violet grumbled irritatingly and tried to think of a quick solution. The girl seemed completely knocked out from the accident with blood all over her face and there was not enough space for Violet to reach inside and release the seatbelt either. So with another heavy sigh, Violet drew out her cleaver again and started to cut the belt off, hoping the quality of that seatbelt wasn’t as great as it was probably advised.
“Yo Violet! Would you mind picking up your fucking pace?!” Mitch seethed through ragged breaths, having joined Aasim to fight off walkers a few feet away from her. “In case you didn’t notice, there are more and more walkers by the second!”
“Shut the fuck up, Mitch! I’m trying my best here!” Violet snapped back, starting to get extremely frustrated with this ridiculously durable belt. Funny sometimes the things that were supposed to protect you can also end up killing you, right?
“A… AJ…”
The sudden weak groan from the girl startled Violet a little. AJ… was it that little boy’s name? Violet wondered, glancing at the young brunette who started to struggle in her seat before opening her mouth to reply.
“Hey, AJ’s safe. We got him out. And you are gonna be okay, too. Just… stay still. I’m trying to get you out of this stupid seatbelt.” Violet said, quickening her cutting pace since she could hear more cracking noise from inside the car.
“Vi! We’ve got to leave! Hurry the fuck up!” Marlon yelled again, urgency evident in his voice.
“God! I’m trying Marlon! Just—” Luckily, the belt finally snapped in two after another slash of her cleaver, causing the brunette to drop to the roof of the car with another painful groan.
“Oof, sorry…” Violet mumbled, putting back her cleaver and beginning to drag the girl out of this ticking time bomb as fast as possible. She could smell the gas as more smoke billowed out from under the hood. “Aasim! A hand!” She yelled through clenched teeth, finally managing to get this girl out promptly with Aasim’s help.
She slumped back onto the ground for a brief moment to catch her breath, watching Aasim carry the girl on his back and prepare to run back to the school. Just as she was about to jump up and follow suit, something inside the car caught her attention.
It was an old worn-out baseball cap with a capital “D” barely attached to the front. There were blood stains and holes scattering all over this blue and white cap, silently indicating the countless battles and the cruel fates it might have witnessed throughout the years with its owner.
Violet hesitated, debating inwardly over whether she should go and retrieve that cap for the girl she just extricated. It was odd, to keep such a raggedy cap purely for protection or style, and it wasn’t like it would be helpful during a combat either. Most of the time, wearing a cap would probably only cause more inconvenience and discomfort, in Violet’s opinion. So, it must be out of some sort of sentimental reasons. Perhaps a gift from a friend? A loved one? Or simply just something from home to remember how life used to be?
“Violet! What the hell are you doing?! We have to go! NOW!” Marlon urged again loudly, starting to retreat to the road back to the school with the others after finally clearing the way temporarily.
“Fuck, I’m so going to regret this…” Violet muttered, lunging forward and grabbing the cap from inside the car in one swift motion, and while she was at it, she also saw the girl’s backpack perched next to the dashboard. Rolling her eyes, she also snatched up the bag because why not? She was already crazy enough risking being blown up to rescue a baseball cap, she might as well save the girl’s other supplies too.
“Vi!!!”
“I’m coming I’m coming! Geez!!!” Violet barked out, quickly scrambling onto her feet with the girl’s belongings clutched close to her chest and sprinted away from the car to join the group, dodging a few walkers on her way.
They didn’t even manage to run a mile before they heard another explosion. Even louder than the first time, which undeniably would make the woods swarm with walkers for the next few weeks.
So, like she said. So. Fucking. Inconvenient.
This boy, AJ, was a feisty little fighter. Violet would give him that. In the span of approximately 3 hours, he had managed to stomp on Louis’ foot (twice), elbow Marlon right in his crotch, bite Ruby’s finger, break one of Omar’s bowls, and scare off Willy merely by his death stares.
So, in a nutshell, Violet liked him already.
She was currently chilling in her usual spot, sitting high up on top of the wall and watching her friends try to calm AJ down in the yard with great amusement. The boy didn’t seem to like when people approached him from behind, she observed, since whoever did that were always the one that got hurt.
“How about this, little man, if you come with me, I’ll play something on the piano for you, yeah?” Louis suggested, artfully dodging another one of AJ’s swings at him when he was trying to grab the boy.
AJ stopped in his tracks, knitting his brows together incredulously. “What’s a… piano?” He asked.
“Aw man, you don’t know what a piano is? You are totally missing out, little dude! Come on, I’ll gladly show you! But you have to promise not to attack me again, okay?”
AJ hesitated, biting his bottom lip. “But Clem…”
“She just needs some rest now. Marlon will make sure that she’ll come find you as soon as she wakes up, right Marlon?”
“Yep,” Marlon nodded, gesturing towards the dorm building, “We’ve got Tenn there to look after her, and I’ll go check up on her myself now. You can go with Louis, it’s okay.”
AJ eyed the two and seemed to really ponder over the idea. “Alright.” He nodded, and then scoffed when Louis held out his hand for him to take, “I’m not a baby.”
“Um… okay, no hand holding. Got it.” Louis cleared his throat awkwardly, retrieving his hand. “Let’s go then.” And with that, he disappeared into the admin building with AJ in tow.
Well, show’s over. Violet thought, letting out a puff of air. She adjusted her position and lied down on her back with her arms folded under her head, frowning when her stomach started to growl a little.
After they got back, Aasim, Mitch and Brody were sent out hunting again, even though it was almost dusk. Omar said the food was nowhere near enough to feed them all today, especially since she and Brody didn’t have any luck with the fish traps this morning. Ruby was immediately preoccupied with treating the newly rescued. Fortunately, AJ only got a few minor scratches, but the girl took a pretty nasty hit on the head, which was why she was still resting in one of the dorm rooms after Ruby patched her up.
Clementine. Violet learnt that was her name apparently. And just to be clear, she only knew that because AJ wouldn’t stop asking for her or talking about how badass this Clementine was, not because she was eavesdropping or some creep that went through the girl’s belongings. She only opened the backpack to put that baseball cap in before shoving the bag to Marlon for him to return it to the girl later. And although she was starting to get a little annoyed when AJ rambled on and on about Clementine, she couldn’t help but become curious, too. If what AJ said was true, that they were on the road all by themselves this whole time, then there must be something about this Clementine. Because surviving out there all alone was nothing like living here inside walls with a group. It must be tough as hell and she wondered what kind of traumatic experiences those two might have gone through over the years to get this far.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a low whistle from Tenn. Sitting back up, she was just in time to see Marlon walk out of the dorm building with Clementine beside him. They stood there talking for a brief moment before both strolling into the yard and heading towards the admin building.
Violet couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath when Clementine walked close enough for her to see her face. Because now, free of any blood from the accident, Clementine looked… unbelievably beautiful, even with that bandage wrapped around her forehead and her blood-stained jacket. And there was indeed something so compelling about Clementine that made it almost impossible for Violet to tear her gaze away from the brunette.
Ever since the outbreak, they had picked up a few other kids every now and then, every single one of them looking timid, fidgety, scared even when they first walked across this school yard and greeted the others. But not Clementine. She was calm, collected, guarded, and yet also had a natural warmth to her that would draw people to her like a magnet. Violet continued to stare at the brunette closely, watching Clementine greet Willy and then stand there listening to Marlon give her some sort of orientation to the school. After Marlon ran off to deal with Willy, Violet noticed Clementine started to scan the area with her eyes with sharp alert before making any further moves.
Cautious and observant. Violet nodded in approval and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a small smile starting to tug at the corner of her lips. No wonder they survived this long by themselves.
She was a little caught off guard when Clementine’s eyes suddenly snapped up to her and their gaze collided. And for a split second, there was something indescribable flashing in those hazel orbs that Violet couldn’t quite decipher. With a slightly arched eyebrow, Violet managed to maintain their elongated eye contact for a few seconds longer before looking away first, trying not to think too much about the strange tingle that ran down her spine or the sudden fluttering of her heart.
She waited until she saw Clementine start moving again in her peripheral vision to turn her full attention back to the brunette again, her lower lip unconsciously caught between her teeth as she watched Clementine disappear into the admin building.
Intrigued.
Yeah, she was definitely intrigued by Clementine.
Violet was lying on one of the beds in Tenn’s dorm, mindlessly watching Tenn sketching yet another picture, with a candle lit on the corner of his small desk. After failing to fall asleep in her own room, she had decided to come to Tenn’s room to hang out, knowing the boy would always stay up late to finish some of his drawings.
Today was an eventful day. Probably the most eventful and exhausting day she’d had in a long time. Turned out Willy found that the hunting party was actually trapped outside the gate and needed them to help clear the way. Therefore, having to go out in the woods for the third time in a day put her in such a grouchy mood that she didn’t even bother to acknowledge Clementine and introduce herself when the brunette approached her. Well, now that she thought about it, that might come off as a little bit rude, but whatever, Louis introduced her on her behalf anyways.
Violet had to admit that she was a little impressed by Clementine’s fighting skills. She caught a few glimpses of the girl from time to time during the fight. Clementine’s dagger gleamed in the orange glow of the sunset, each thrust precise, quick and deadly. She weaved in and out through the herd of undead with such poise and confidence, like she had done it for a million times; like this whole thing– shoving her blade into walkers’ skulls one after another– couldn’t be any more normal. And if Violet herself wasn’t busy killing walkers too, she would honestly watch Clementine like this all day.
After reuniting with the hunting group and managing to clear out a safe passage back to the school together, Violet was just started to feel a little relieved that the day was finally over, then Louis had to come and ruin it by babbling about grading their performance (also, not that she cared, but how dare he gave her a B-minus?! What the hell?!). It was annoying enough that she had to listen to Louis’ dumb cinematic cheering every time he killed off a walker (or in his words, “school” a walker), now he still wouldn’t shut up and even begin to unabashedly flirt with Clementine, which was seriously getting on Violet’s last nerve.
Violet let out an exasperated groan and quickened her pace, wanting to walk ahead and get away from the two, but Clementine’s voice stopped her.
“Umm, you kicked ass, Violet. A-plus.”
And there it was again. The strange tingle that ran through her body like a light electric shock.
Violet could feel Clementine’s gaze on her, so she glanced at the smiling brunette for a brief second. “I know.” She replied, her lips curling upwards into a small smile too. And somehow, weirdly, her previous irritation and exhaustion all faded away in an instant.
Violet sighed, rolling onto her side to face the paint chipped wall in Tenn’s room. She didn’t seem to get her mind off of Clementine no matter how hard she tried, which was so unlike her. She tried to force herself to sleep when she went back to her own room after the card game, but whenever she closed her eyes, all she saw was just fragments of those beautiful amber and honey orbs.
God, those eyes… now that Violet had seen them in close proximity, she couldn’t help but become a little mesmerized. Clementine’s eyes were a brilliant hazel. The perfect swirls of golden brown spread out to a darker boarder, edged with a smooth dark forest green. When she was joking and laughing, they were warm, vivid, and sparkled with exhilaration that would make everyone around her smile. When she was downcast and disheartened, they seemed to grow dim and dark too, like every time she talked about that man named Lee during their card game earlier. Most of the time, those firm eyes were filled with nothing but unassailable composure and determination, but Violet also caught a tinge of sadness carefully hidden behind. When Clementine walked away from the card game after Louis asked that stupid question, Violet almost went after her, wanting to comfort her and tell her that everything would be okay, even though they both knew no one could make that promise these days. But she’d still like to try. She’d still like to try her best to wipe that deep sorrow away from Clementine’s face.
However, she immediately caught herself before she even stood up from the table. What the hell was wrong with her?! They had just met, and besides, she wasn’t actually in any place to talk about how to deal with sad memories or grief either. Nowadays, everyone had their own sad stories, everyone was heartbroken in some sort. And perhaps, there just wasn’t anything they could do about it anymore, and it was just pointless, trying to fix a broken heart.
With a firm shake of her head to get rid of all her thoughts, Violet sat up straight from the bed. Apparently she wouldn’t have any luck getting some sleep in Tenn’s dorm room either, so she might as well actually hang out with the boy for a while.
“Hey Tenn, so uh… AJ was playing with you after dinner, right? Did… did he tell you anything about him or… or Clementine? Like where they’re from, or what happened to them?” She asked.
Tenn turned around in his chair to face Violet, “No, he didn’t mention anything like that… Why?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing. I’m just… curious.”
Tenn studied Violet’s face for a while, before opening his mouth, “You like them, don’t you?”
Violet blinked, letting out a nervous laugh, “I… well, I don’t hate them.”
“Hmm… okay.” Tenn hummed, turning back around and soon started to dig in his paintbox as if he was looking for something.
“Vi, can you get me some more art supplies from Soph’s room? I don’t think I have enough colour to finish this drawing.”
Violet frowned. She hadn’t been back in that room for a while. “Are you sure you need it now, buddy? Can’t we wait till tomorrow morning so you can go get it yourself?”
“Please Vi? I really want to finish this drawing tonight.”
With a sigh, Violet stood up from the bed. “Fine, I’ll go get it. Be back in a bit.”
“You’re welcome, Vi.” Tenn grinned as Violet shuffled toward the door reluctantly.
“What? Aren’t you supposed to say thank you?” Violet was confused, but she brushed it off and left to go to Sophie’s room down the hall.
The second she pushed the door open, she immediately understood why Tenn was asking her to come here. Marlon set Clementine and AJ in this room and no one even bothered to tell her about it. Great.
Shit, that little rascal! Violet scolded inside, awkwardly asking for the art supplies that Tenn sent her to get. Knowing Tenn probably was just trying to give her an excuse to come here and didn’t actually need those coloured pencils, she told AJ to keep them since the boy seemed to quite enjoy painting too. But Clementine insisted AJ should give them back, so the least she could do was to let AJ finish the picture he was currently drawing.
While waiting, Violet wandered around the small dorm room casually, smiling when she recalled some of the happy times she spent here. Without even realising, she began to tell Clementine about the twins, about how this room used to look like, about the crazy sleepovers they used to have here. However, it wasn’t long before the bad memories started to creep in, along with the familiar anger, guilt and sadness that used to keep her up countless nights. So she clenched her jaw and hardened her features, leaving out all the painful details and ending the conversations hastily.
Clementine seemed to sense that, so she didn’t make further comments or ask any more questions either. They just sat quietly on opposite beds in the room, with the only sound in the room being AJ’s pencil scratching across the paper.
“Marlon told me you were the one that saved all our stuff from the wreck.” Clementine finally broke the silence after a while.
“Oh,” Violet looked up at the brunette, shrugging, “Yeah… it was me.”
“Well, thank you.” Clementine smiled. She reached out and picked up the baseball cap sitting on the bed beside her, fingertips skimming over one of the faded blood stains. “Especially for this. Thank you.”
Violet fixed her gaze on Clementine, noticing the same sadness emerging in those golden-brown eyes again, just like during the card game when the brunette mentioned Lee. Perhaps this cap had something to do with him… with his death even.
“No problem.” Violet replied softly, biting down on her lips. “Hey, are… are you okay? I mean the game earlier, I’m sure Louis didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll tell him to watch his mouth from now on. He’s just this giant idiot, he didn’t know—”
“I’m okay, Violet.” Clementine chuckled lightly and looked up, the usual sparks back in her eyes. “Thanks though, for making sure I’m okay. And for telling me those stories earlier. To be honest, I thought you hated me before.”
Violet was suddenly blushing, “Yeah, s-sorry about that. I know I was basically a bitch to you when we first met.”
“Hmm, you were kind of mean to me, but all is forgiven. You are actually very sweet.”
Violet gulped in horror upon hearing that, “Oh my god! I’m so not sweet! Please take that back!”
Clementine laughed, “Too late, sweet Violet, you’ve revealed your true self and I can’t take it back now.”
Violet groaned, “Ugh, then I’m taking my apology back! I’m totally going to hate you from now on.”
“Well, I—” Unfortunately, their playful banter was cut off by AJ’s yell of triumph.
“I’m an artist now, Clem!”
Clementine smirked at Violet, before standing up from the bed and going to check out AJ’s first painting ever.
Violet followed suit and walked over to the desk too, starting to pack up the box with AJ’s help. She could feel Clementine’s eyes on her the whole time and for some reason, it started to make her crazy nervous.
When she was finally done, she glanced up at Clementine. Under the dim illumination of the candlelight, the soft glimmer in those dazzling hazel eyes made Violet’s heart skip a beat involuntarily.
“I should be getting back.” She said rather abruptly, rushing over to the door and with a quick “see ya”, she basically fled the room without even waiting for Clementine’s reply.
God, what the hell was going on with her?!