Chapter Text
When he thought about it, he had rarely ever really dreamt anything. Most of the time, his sleep was accompanied by complete darkness, which he thought was simply due to the exhaustion with which he went to bed every night. His mind could no longer expend the energy to think up any fancy stories. This time, however, he found himself in a pond, which seemed strange to him.
Marlon felt the clear, cold water brush around his legs, reaching up to his knees. Every now and then he saw a few water plants being pressed against his boots by the light waves, only to disappear again immediately afterwards. Did fish live in this pond? It looked strangely familiar to him, perhaps this pond existed outside the safe zone? He had had to steadily reduce the size of the safe zone in recent years, so he could no longer remember everything that was in the former areas.
Slowly, he turned around a little as he raised his head and scouted the surroundings. The water was cold, but it did not seem to get his trousers and shoes wet. Since it was a dream, however, that didn't bother him; he wasn't sure if he was really in full control in this dream anyway. Most of the time when he went into the land of dreams, it was relatively unspectacular, his head couldn't bring itself to think up any wild stories. And he didn't want to, because that way he couldn't have nightmares. Simple darkness was his favourite.
Even if this forest did give him a warm feeling in his chest. He felt light, relaxed, one could almost say carefree. The large deciduous trees let through a few long rays of sunlight, which made the water of the pond glisten and ensured that the forest floor was embellished by a play of lights. The musty smell of wood and moss was familiar, he almost didn't notice it anymore, even if it seemed more intense here than in the real world. Somewhere in the distance he could also hear a few birds chirping.
A peaceful scene that he could rarely enjoy in his everyday life. The forest in which Marlon and the rest of his protégés lived was in itself a quiet and protected place where one could let one's soul dangle. If there wasn't a horde of walkers roaming between the trees. But the children were coping quite well with that by now. Nobody went out alone, and no, when Marlon went out with Rosie, he was by no means alone. That dog was family to him, she would break any walker's jaw for him and it was the same the other way around.
Marlon missed the times he had stolen away with Louis to look for dens in the forest or build huts out of branches. The last time had been long ago and the knowledge that it would never be like this again pricked his chest. Still, he felt safe here, this place seemed to radiate a comforting warmth that he liked.
He began to move out of the water and sat down on the shore. Still his clothes were completely dry, so he was glad. Wet clothes were never nice. Bending one leg slightly and resting his hands on the soft grass, the boy let his gaze wander over the glistening pond and the opposite bank. This place seemed so familiar to him, but... it just wouldn't come to him.
Oh well, he could just enjoy himself for a while, at least in his dreams. He slowly lowered himself onto the grass with his back and placed his hands under his head to cushion it a little. No wind was blowing, there was a pleasant summer warmth and the steady lapping of the pond had something hypnotic about it.
He could fall asleep in this dream. If it weren't for this strange taste. Marlon had just closed his eyes for a moment when he felt something liquid on his tongue. At first he thought it was just his own spit, but this came out of nowhere, it seemed. And the taste... that was blood. Immediately he opened his bright blue eyes and spat on the ground beside him. Red.
"Shit, what the-?!" But before he could have said anything else, an incredible pain drilled into his head. Primarily the left side of his forehead, as if a nail were being driven into it and the blood was spreading under his skin like a swarm of bees. He put his right hand to his head and contorted his face in pain before he had to spit out again. Where did the blood come from?
Carefully, Marlon tried to stand up, but he collapsed on his first attempt. His eyes went black, dizziness overcame him and the birds gradually fell silent as the darkness took over. The feeling of suffocation brought him to a state of panic and he tried with all his might to move or at least to get the blood out of his throat. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a voice that reminded him of one of the worst days of his life, even if that memory was just threatening to be torn into darkness with him. It was melodic, speaking in a kind of soporific chant, and if he hadn't known to whom that voice belonged, he would have almost given in to fatigue.
"It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, Marlon, remember?"
He hadn't expected a dream like that. However, he hadn't expected to wake up on a red-stained pillow either. Marlon gradually blinked more and more until he finally opened his eyes. There it was again, that taste. And with it came the realisation that this was no longer part of the dream, but reality. Marlon, however, already knew the sequence of events. He had had a nightly nosebleed for the first time five years ago. Even though it didn't happen often, two or three times a year at most, it was always scary to wake up with that taste.
The blood had run from his nose to the back of his throat, which is why he could taste it and stupidly swallowed it. Hopefully it hadn't been too much or his stomach wouldn't be able to take it. It was still running out of his nose and even though it was actually long too late, Marlon rose and searched in the drawers of his desk for tissues. When he finally found an unused one, he held it under his left nostril because it was only bleeding from there.
With that, the horror finally subsided. Yes, he was used to it by now, but it was still unpleasant to wake up in a small pool of blood. He sat down in his big armchair and looked over at the now rather red mattress. Great. He might as well go and clean it. A glance outside revealed that it must still be very early, the sun was just beginning to rise. In the summer it came earlier, but that only made it harder to get a good night's sleep. You couldn't even see the sun's rays, only the sky seemed to get a little brighter in the distance.
Marlon winced violently as something wet touched his hand, but then smiled slightly when he saw Rosie licking the back of it. A soft squeak came from her, but Marlon put his hand on her large head reassuringly. Apparently he had woken her, which he was immediately sorry for, after all she too did a lot for the safety of the school and deserved her sleep. "It's all right, my girl. I'll put that right away, I'm fine. Just a bit of a nosebleed." The dog still didn't leave his side, further proof of her unwavering loyalty, which he was very glad to have. Having her by his side was a blessing in these times.
Marlon tried to sit up as straight as possible so that the blood wouldn't run back down his throat or drip in streams from his nose. He probably had to change the handkerchief soon, it could take a while before it stopped. Why did it have to be on this particular night? The dream he'd had had actually been quite nice until real events had affected him.
It's a sin to kill a mockingbird... To kill a mockingbird... Yes, he knew the old book, the adults had told him about it. It was only read in the higher grades. And actually, he shouldn't have thought anything at the last words of this voice, which was far too familiar to him. After all, it had only been a dream. But that it had to be Sophie, of all people, who whispered these words into his ear.... She could have saved herself the trouble. He knew he had fucked up, big time. But what else was he supposed to do? They would have taken over the whole school in the worst case. And he certainly didn't want to end up like that. In some asylum for kidnapped children. Well, Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth had seemed like that to him sometimes, but even there he had still felt like a human being. He didn't even want to know what monsters people could become if they had spent years out there on the run. The children here had it comparatively good, they had walls to protect them. And a family.
The headache set in from the blood loss and Marlon began to massage his left temple a little, causing Rosie to put on a worried look. "Sshh... I'll be fine. You know how it is." God, how he loved that dog. If he'd let her, she'd probably squat on his lap all the time and let him cuddle her through. But unfortunately she was a bit too heavy for that. Even though he really liked to cuddle her.
Rosie rested her head on his thigh, her amber eyes searching his gaze. Marlon scratched her behind the ears, then briefly took the handkerchief away from his nose to check how much blood he had now lost. The cloth was dripping wet and had turned a dark red. Still that much? Marlon carefully tried to stroke his finger along under his nose. It still turned a little red, but it had become less. The headache remained for the time being, but he knew that it would soon subside, so his heart also calmed down again.
There was nothing to fear. Nevertheless, this dream made him think. In the back of his mind, the twins' voices still haunted him. He saw their faces in his mind's eye and did not know how to deal with them. Tense, he tried to keep his eyes open as long as he could, just so he wouldn't have to look at them again. The way they had screamed for him and Brody.... Holding out their hands for them, pleading for help....
It had been a whole year now. And it still hurt like hell to have to remember it. Marlon had loved the two twins as much as he loved everyone here, they were his family, the last support he had left. Of course there were some gradations, Louis was still his best friend, Brody was his second-in-command and so it went on, but he had no one he held such a grudge against that he would willingly give them away. Never.
That's why it hurt all the more now to have to live with these feelings of guilt. Try as he might, he just couldn't forget. The way Tenn had looked at him when Brody and he came back without his two sisters. That grief, the shock, the disappointment.... it was amazing how long Marlon had kept it up now, lying to his friends' faces without batting an eyelid. That's what fear had done to him, the fear of torture, pain. And the fear of disappointment. If the others found out what he had done, then.... they would chase him away or even kill him, depending on how great they considered the danger he posed. And he could never live with seeing that damned disappointment on their faces, not again.
Suddenly he heard a soft knocking that made him wince completely. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings. He had even forgotten to keep scratching Rosie behind the ear. "Marlon? Are you awake yet? Can I come in?" That was Clementine's voice.
Oh great, inconvenient. Briefly, he looked again at the bloody cloth he was still holding under his nose before sighing softly. What was the big deal. It was just a little nosebleed, nothing that would kill him and thus nothing that would weaken him in his role in any way. In fact, only Louis knew about it, he had been there the first night it happened. Had calmed him down and talked him through it. What would he do without that crazy guy?
"Yes, I'm awake, wait a minute." Maybe he should at least put on a T-shirt. He didn't think twice and took the black one with the three skulls on the back that he had stolen from his father. At least he had wanted to take something of his parents with him to boarding school, after all, it wasn't just their fault that he had ended up here. At least that's what he always told himself. No, his parents they were... it was complicated.
Quickly grabbing another tissue from the drawer and settling back into his chair, Rosie seemed to understand that he had everything under control and with one last searching look she settled into her designated seat. By now Clem was known to her, so she hadn't struck up immediately.
"Now. What's up?" Clementine opened the ornate wooden door of the office after a moment's hesitation and stuck her head through. "Are you all right? I hope I didn't get you wa- Is that blood?" The girl's almost yellow glowing eyes widened a little as she saw the new cloth turn red quite quickly too.
Marlon remained calm and dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand. "Yes, that happens sometimes, it's not so bad. Is something wrong? You're up early." Clementine seemed sceptical, but obviously his answer was enough for her to slowly calm down. She blinked slightly a few times before closing the door behind her and stepping closer to his desk. "I wanted to ask you something. About the safe zone. And about yesterday."
Without meaning to, his eyebrows drew together into a scowl. Ah, yes, there was something. Last night, Louis, Violet, AJ and Clementine had brought back a whole load of food they'd found when they left the safe zone. And it had saved his ass on the one hand, but it had also put him in a very unfortunate position. Because now the kids had grown to believe that they should leave the safe zone after all, because there seemed to be plenty of prey out there. He didn't like that at all and actually found it nice not to have to think about it for a moment. That's what the nosebleed had been good for, to distract him.
His light blue eyes met her yellow ones directly and she seemed to realise that she had better choose her words wisely now. However, Clementine was not someone who was easily intimidated, he realised that by now, so after a sigh he leaned back and rested the back of his head against the large back of the chair. The blood in his nose was barely running, which was why he was no longer in danger of swallowing it. "Ask what you want to ask."
She put one hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly. "Well, I've talked to some of the others. Most of them are in favour of extending the safe zone again. Actually, I wasn't planning on being ordered to do that, but I get to give you the good news now that they want to ask you to go further out into the forest." "Figures.",he grumbled and closed his eyes. "So?" "No." "Excuse me?" "I said no. The safe zone is there for a reason and the others know it very well. I will not let your behaviour get my people killed."
Clementine didn't seem to like that at all. Maybe he should have thought a bit about what he was saying himself, but his head hurt, thinking wasn't his strong point right now. "By my behaviour? I don't know how much brain just leaked out of your nose, but I got you more food than you've probably had in total for the last few months!" "And I saved your life, so we're even. I owe you nothing, absolutely nothing. You're here in our school, in our home, and if you don't play by my rules, it's going to be a damn short stay for you!"
"You'd rather starve than take a small risk? Make the patrols bigger, more people, more loot." "And more people to get killed. And less people to protect the school." Clementine crossed her arms defiantly and returned his sombre gaze. "Look, I know it's hard to look after such a large group, especially after you've suffered losses. But you can see for yourself that it won't work for much longer with the current strategy. We should strengthen the walls, build secret passages, just in case, make the school safer with traps. Anyway, it's a mystery to me why you haven't come up with this idea long ago."
She winced as Marlon slammed his clenched fist on the table with the red handkerchief and glared angrily at her. "Don't tell me what to do! You've caused enough trouble already, how much effort do you think it took me to calm Brody down?! If we just stay in the safe zone, we'll be fine, that's how it worked last year and the years before that! And whoever crosses the borders the next time, they're in for a real treat! We have to work together here and take care of our own safety, not rush out mindlessly hoping to find something!"
His voice was muffled as he didn't want to wake the others, but he struggled to keep it down as he was seething inside. If she thought she was such a good leader, then she should run this place, she'd see where it got her!
Clementine had that look again that annoyed him so much, that stubborn, defiant and contemptuous look. But it disappeared immediately when she heard a loud growl. Her gaze darted to the side, but Marlon kept her in his field of vision. He knew exactly who was growling and why. Rosie had raised her head and noticed that her master was not exactly pleased about the early visit. She sensed his tension and then expressed her own anger at Clementine talking to him like that. Not that Rosie even understood what exactly was being talked about, for if she had, she would surely have noticed that Clementine had some good points. The mere fact that her master was unhappy was enough to make Rosie growl.
"Rosie, calm down. I have everything under control." He reached a hand towards the dog without taking his eyes off Clementine, signalling her to calm down. If she barked, the others would surely wake up and that would only raise questions.
Clementine obviously still had some respect for Rosie. She kept quiet for a while, not taking her eyes off the animal. This gave Marlon a chance to collect himself and think of a strategy for this conversation. Appropriate would probably be an apology. He was aware that he had just become unjustly upset. But he still had to get his point across.
Slowly, he stroked his finger along under his red-rimmed nose and felt some blood again, so with another sigh, he held the cloth under his nose once more. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got so... so mad. It's just hard to take care of all this while looking out for both safety and resources."
Clementine still didn't relax her shoulders, but her breathing calmed at least. "Yes, I understand that. But you see there is less food than you thought. What are you going to do in winter when the animals are holed up? Eat slugs?" "Very funny. I'll think of something, I've always found something so far." "By chance or because you thought of it yourself?" "A bit of both. I'm not stupid, you know." "I didn't say you were."
Rosie took one last look at Marlon, who gestured with his hand for her to calm down and lie back down. That let Clementine catch her breath a little. Dogs really weren't her thing. She had only just started to make friends with Rosie yesterday. There was a short silence between the two of them, which was sorely needed, otherwise Marlon would probably forget himself on her right away. The nightmare, the voices, the images in his head, yesterday's fight with Brody and then this too. All a bit much for maybe seven hours.
He stroked the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and squinted tightly before Clementine spoke up again. "Marlon, I have no intention of telling you what to do in any way. I want to help. And I have ideas about how to make the school safer. I have ideas for a new safe zone, another one that brings in more loot but is just as safe as the old one. The only question is whether you want to listen to them."
And there was the problem. He didn't want to hear about it at all. If he expanded the safe zone, bad things would happen again. He didn't need that at all right now. But making the school safer sounded very tempting, unfortunately. Maybe his ego played a part in it somewhere. He had made this school what it was now, he had kept these kids safe - at least most of the time. And he didn't want some stranger to interfere with that.
Nevertheless, he was aware that he probably had no other choice. So he thought for a moment and then nodded very slightly. "We can talk about the measures in the school. But the safe zone is off limits. It stays that way." "Marlon, that-" "I said, that's the way it stays. Not now, please." "Then when do you want to talk about it? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? A week from now? Winter is coming and-" "I know! I know, damn it. Give me a day, I need to think about it."
She certainly wasn't satisfied, he could tell. He had his head propped up on his other hand now as he caught the rest of the blood. His gaze went rather blank now, however, as exhaustion set in. No sensible sleep again, a nosebleed, and then Clementine standing in front of him on behalf of all the rest to try and talk some sense into him. Great.
But to his surprise, no backtalk came. Instead, Clementine looked at the cupboard behind him and now seemed a little more relaxed again. "Good. I didn't want to put you under any more stress, really. But it's an important issue that should be addressed. I'm sorry if I've caused you any inconvenience." Oh yes, and how she had. But Marlon shook his head ever so slightly. "It's all right. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Right now... It's not easy to take care of all this, and yesterday.... let's just say it threw a few things off." "I see. Say... Are you still playing this?"
Marlon raised his head slightly questioningly and then followed Clementine's outstretched arm pointing to the cupboard behind him. "What do you mean?" The cupboard contained a number of board games, old and newer. But what stood out in particular was a silver poker case. "Oh. Not really. On quiet days sometimes, but just Louis, Violet and me. Sometimes Mitch." "You're never too old for a few quiet games. I just hope maybe they can distract AJ a little. He's... Growing up in a world that doesn't want him. That doesn't want any of us."
He heard Clementine sigh softly and her expression turned a little sombre. Exhaustion. Marlon knew more about that than anyone. He'd gotten maybe three nights of proper sleep in the last week, if that, and that night had been for shit anyway. At least he wasn't bleeding anymore and could throw the tissues in the bin under the desk. "That's a pretty apt description..."
"And you look like you've settled into this world pretty well. Now you look like a real warrior." He raised his head again a little, but still had to be slow about it, after all, not every single vein had settled down properly yet. "Huh?" "You look like you've just been attacked by a walker. Because of the blood, I mean." She tapped the side of her own neck. Marlon hadn't thought about it at all, he'd been lying in the pool of blood all night.... He turned around, looked at his face in the glass of the cupboard and gave an annoyed groan. "Shit. I look like I just got dragged through the chopper."
"Do you mean your hairstyle or the blood on your face?" He gave Clementine a threatening look. "I look fine. When the blood's gone. But I'll take care of that later, it's dry now anyway." "Are you really going to walk around like that? I can help you if you need anything." "I need a drink..." At that Clementine seemed to brighten up and become sceptical at the same time. He wasn't surprised, after all, he wouldn't actually be old enough to drink alcohol yet. And it was very unlikely that the adults here had left any alcohol. To make the confusion disappear from her face, he replied, "That was just a figure of speech. I've never had a drink. Although I could certainly use it sometime."
"I can understand that. Does this nosebleed thing happen often?" "No, not really. But when it does, I always look like I've been in a fight." "Can't argue with that."
There was silence for a brief moment before Marlon looked out the window. The balcony door was closed because otherwise it got too cold for him at night, but he wanted to let some fresh air in, especially for his head. When he let the wind in, it was cool but nice and he could dare to breathe through his nose again. The crusted blood made that a little difficult, but at least now he wasn't in danger of swallowing it.
"It's still quite early. Why are you up already?",he asked Clem, turning to face her, resting his hands on the window sill. Clementine relaxed her shoulders and put her left hand in her trouser pocket. "I think for the same reason you are. Nightmare." The blond boy raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?" "Just a guess. Is it true?" "...Well, sort of."
Her yellow eyes fixed on his and the fresh air that now flew towards her too made her black curls blow up slightly. He too felt the longer hairs on his neck curl and tickle him from time to time, but that was alright. The wind was one of those few signs that they were still alive and that this world was not completely finished. Nature was alive as usual.
"What were you dreaming about?",Clementine then asked, curiosity written all over her face. Marlon could imagine that she wanted to find out as much information as possible about the kids at the school, because she didn't know these kids well enough yet to be sure that nothing would happen to her here. But that was a rather... more intimate question, not something one normally asked. He found it interesting, though, even if he by no means wanted to talk about what it was like in his head when night fell. For a moment he was silent, eyeing Clem as if he could find the answer to the background of this question in her eyes. It really seemed to be just pure curiosity.
And Marlon had to admit that he himself was also interested in finding out more about her and AJ. After all, he wanted to know who he had taken in. After Louis had ended the card game prematurely two days ago with his stupid question, they hadn't been able to find out too much about Clementine. She had had an adult who had taught her to shoot, Lee was the man's name as far as Marlon remembered. She had once eaten a human leg, if it wasn't meant as a joke (it didn't sound like a joke to Marlon at all). And she had once met a boy who had awakened some kind of feelings in her. The latter was not for Marlon, that had been clear to him as soon as he had taken over the school.
Love made him vulnerable and weak, and besides, as a leader he was not allowed to commit himself and favour people. And... it was too intimate for him. Not that he was ashamed of any part of himself, but he didn't like being touched suddenly at all, for example. And the way he had observed it with Violet and Minerva, it could happen. And - what was there to discuss, anyway? Love was dirt and simply not the real thing for him. So he let it go and tried to live up to his role as leader.
"I have an idea." Instead of answering Clementine's question directly, he stepped to the cabinet behind the desk and opened the glass door. He carefully took out the silver poker case and placed it on the armchair before closing the door again and pointing to the case. "We'll play for it." He had always been a fan of gambling and poker was one of his favourite. Clementine probably didn't know it, but he really didn't mind a quiet game. "I don't know... the last game-" "I know, but Louis was there. Believe me, I know when I'm going too far."
He put a hand to his chest and looked honestly at Clementine. She took her time with an answer, but finally nodded. "All right, then. It's still early, AJ's asleep.... I guess I have a little time before we have to work, huh?" "Don't worry, when it starts I'll let you know. After almost 10 years, there's a routine in there eventually. Inner alarm clock and all."
"But maybe you should wash off the blood first..." "Oh, yeah, good idea." It had rained last night, so the bucket he had on the balcony was well filled. He quickly washed his face and took the bed sheet that was full of blood to put in the bucket. That should do for now. Now fresh again and more awake due to the coldness of the water, Marlon took the suitcase and a few handkerchiefs outside just in case.
Marlon had set up the poker game quite quickly on the balcony. He didn't feel like playing in the room because it was still too dark there, too. But above all, it would also be more relaxing outside with the cool air. The suitcase used to belong to one of the teachers, Aasim had found it but didn't know what to do with it. Louis and Marlon had then taught themselves the rules using the instructions. But sometimes they also played a bit of freestyle.
Clementine sat down opposite him at the old, white, but already quite worn garden table that Marlon had dragged upstairs quite a while ago. It was just nice to be able to sit outside in the morning or evening, with a view of the school and a good view of the forest. But most of all, he loved watching the sunrise. It showed him that he was still here, alive, and still not bitten.
"So, how do you play this?" Marlon gave the deck a riffle shuffle before handing Clementine two cards face down and laying two down himself as well. "It's very simple. We each get two cards, plus four different coloured stacks of chips. The red ones are worth five, the white ones ten, the blue ones fifteen and the green ones twenty." "Twenty... what?" "Um... twenty something. Louis and I always play with dollars for fun, I wasn't sure you'd want to. We can also do twenty rabbits, twenty trees, twenty Louis..." "Oh God, no. That would be terrible!",she laughed and Marlon had to grin. "Yes, it definitely would be. So we'll just stick to twenty something?" The girl nodded. "Fine by me. What next?"
Marlon pointed to the stack of cards he still held in his hand. "In the first round, we'll both place the basic bet, which is ten, so two red chips or one white chip, you can choose. Then the first three cards are turned over. Your goal is to make a high hand with a total of five cards. Wait, here." He handed her a small piece of paper from the case, on which were drawn all the cards. "These are the possible combinations. The one at the bottom is the lowest possible, which is the simple high card. Further up are the rare but more powerful combinations. Just leave that next to you, we still have time."
The sun hadn't even moved over the trees yet, so yes, there was still some time to learn. Clementine listened to him carefully and even if there was anything she didn't understand, she definitely didn't let on. "After the first three cards are turned over, we do bets again. Check means you don't raise and you don't surrender. You can also give up or just raise your bet as you like. The fourth card is turned over and if no one has given up by then, the last one is turned over. With a maximum of five cards from those on the table and those you have in your hand, you have to make a hand that beats the value of my hand. All clear so far?"
"I think so. I guess I'll have to ask again from time to time." "That's okay, it's your first round. Oh, after each round the winner gets to ask the loser a question." That seemed a little unfair in and of itself, after all he knew what he was doing here while Clementine was playing the game for the first time. But Marlon pointed to the stack of cards in his hand. "It's largely a game of chance. So make me give up or beat me in the showdown, then you get to ask your question. It's not as hard as it seems and who knows how lucky I'll be today?"
Clementine nodded curtly, supporting the weight of her upper body on one forearm as she picked up the cards with her other hand. "Would it be all right if you showed me exactly how this works first?" "Sure." Marlon looked at his own cards, memorised them and then placed them face down in front of him. "Now we'll place the basic bet, two red chips or one white." He placed a white chip a little further in the middle of the table, Clementine following suit. Then he turned up three cards from the deck. "You can keep looking at your cards to see if you have anything that matches yet. We now have here a two of clubs, a king of spades and a queen of spades. Not bad for a high hand."
Clementine studied the cards carefully and tilted her head slightly. "Okay, let's say I have anything now..." She looked at her cheat sheet for a moment and then back at the three face-up cards. "There's nothing more than two pair going on, right?" "Or three of a kind, assuming you had a pair already in your hand.",Marlon added, but then let her ask further. "Alright, so you can't go higher than three of a kind... if I already had one now, I could go higher, right?" "You could. Would be tactically unwise though." "Why?" "If you go too high too soon, I'll know you've got something good and I'll fold." "Oh, right."
The boy thought for a moment and then smirked. "Unless you're bluffing." Clementine lifted her head and looked at him with a curious smile. "I can do that?" "Sure, it's risky though. Louis likes to bluff quite a bit, so unless you play better than he does, I won't miss a con like that." "Don't be so sure, I'm not Louis." "I guess you're right."
They both checked the cards they had in their hands again. Marlon already saw a chance with himself, with a seven of diamonds and a queen of diamonds he had at least a pair. "If you have something good, you can already raise. But it would be better to bet only one or two more chips first. After all, you want me to call." He himself would check for now. Clementine brushed her hand lightly over her lips, but then put her cards back down. "Check." "Check.",Marlon repeated and turned up the next card.
A heart joker. Hmm. This could get interesting. Unfortunately for him, no straight was an option, it now depended on what Clementine had. "If I raise you two red chips now, will you call?" Marlon looked at his opponent a little confused and tilted his head. Actually, one didn't ask that, but it was a practice round for now. And there he was honest. For now. Slowly, he shook his head. "No." "Why not?" The girl with the yellow eyes fixed him with interest and Marlon understood that she merely wanted to find out how he played. He would be honest about that too. "There are already three high face cards. The chances of you having something good, is pretty high. Bluffing here would be very unwise anyway, because you can't be sure I don't have something good too."
That was obviously enough of an answer for her, as she leaned back with her arms crossed. "Wouldn't have thought you such a safe player." "Oh, that's still obvious stuff.",he replied modestly and when no one bet a chip, he revealed the last card. A ten of diamonds. This could be a close call now. If Clementine had an ace, she had a straight and would beat him with it. However, Marlon didn't think she was stupid. He had seen yesterday and the day before that she was more than capable of looking after herself. She could think strategically and she would probably be able to do that here too. So he kept silent and glanced at Clementine.
She didn't seem to want to raise either, so Marlon then picked up his two cards. "Now then. Showdown." He laid down his seven and queen of diamonds, while Clementine responded with a three of diamonds and a seven of hearts. "I suppose you won with that pair of queens." "Yes, but it was good that you stuck with it to the end.",he praised, looking at the cards on the table in front of him. "If you don't raise, you don't fold." "Isn't that logical?" "Not to Louis." "Okay, you're setting the bar really low with that one too."
They both laughed quietly before Clementine collected the cards and shuffled them. She didn't know the riffle shuffle, but Marlon could teach her that later if she wanted to learn it. "Let's get started then, huh?" "Good, so we'll play for the whole thing now?" "Absolutely. This seems like a game for the head for once. And there's no harm in getting to know each other a bit. A shepherd has to know his sheep, after all." The sarcasm in Clem's voice was unmistakable and Marlon snorted softly at her words. Shepherd, yeah right. Sometimes he felt more like a completely overwhelmed father.
She dealt him two cards, which he looked at directly for a moment. Three of diamonds and nine of hearts. Oh well. He had had better cards, but maybe he could do something with them. Clementine also looked at hers and dropped two red chips in the middle of the table. Marlon placed another white chip and watched as his counterpart turned over the first three cards. Six of clubs, queen of spades and seven of hearts. This could be a straight for him if he was lucky, but Marlon didn't really want to test it out.
He glanced at Clementine, who was staring straight at him. Ohh, she was really getting serious. Her yellow eyes sparkled challengingly and Marlon felt the corner of his left mouth twitch up a little. He liked challenging opponents. At least as far as games of chance were concerned. "Check." "Check."
The fourth card was a ten of diamonds. That looked even better than he would have thought. However, he was missing the eight to have a straight. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So he put two red chips in the middle and waited for Clementine's reaction. She thought for a second before deciding to follow his example.
The fifth and last card was laid - nine of diamonds. That didn't give him a straight, but it did give him a pair. Should be enough, Clem had not gone higher after all. So now he took a risk and laid three white chips. Clementine followed again, never taking her eyes off him, like a predator watching its prey, ready to pounce when an opportunity presented itself.
"Sure you want to go?",Marlon asked with a smirk, which Clementine returned. "Quite sure." "Well then." They both revealed their cards and after comparing hers with his, it was clear that he had won. "Very close. I must have been lucky there." "But we both have nine as our highest card. Does it come down to the second card then?" "Exactly, and my three beats your two. As I said, very close race."
He collected his winnings, took the cards back, shuffled them well and then laid them down beside him. Clementine's eyebrow twitched a little in confusion, but she then seemed to remember that he was allowed to ask her a question. "If anything offends you, let me know right away." "Sure." "So, why is AJ with you now? You two aren't related, how did you end up wandering around alone with him?"
This question seemed to make her a little uncomfortable as Clementine took her time answering. Marlon briefly feared that he might have already crossed the line and was about to reassure her again that she didn't have to answer about topics that were too hard, when she lifted her gaze from her chips and looked him straight in the eye.
"I was in a group. Got into it more or less by accident. Anyway... some things didn't go the way they were supposed to. AJ's mum gave birth to him on an observation deck after we escaped from a warehouse. There was a guy who... who killed like a maniac just to show off his power." That sounded bad... Obviously the apocalypse had rotted some brains that were supposed to control a living body, not one that was already dead. The children of this school had had it comparatively easy.
"She still managed to carry AJ halfway down the path that was supposed to take us to a town. It was winter, the snow was pretty high and we hardly had any warm clothes. She... She didn't make it. I... I..." The expression in her eyes changed and grief at the loss shimmered in her eyes. Marlon gritted his teeth and openly showed the pity he felt. He could guess the rest of the story. And the outcome of the story was not pretty either. "...And you took AJ in then, when the group fell apart? Or did they die?" "Partly, partly.",the girl replied, sighing softly and straightening up a bit. "Let's keep playing."
Marlon nodded and handed her two cards. He himself had a king of clubs and a deuce of hearts. The king was quite good, let's see what he could do with it. They both placed the base bet and he turned over the first three cards. The second card was a king of spades, which was good, but the third card was an ace of diamonds. He had to be careful. Marlon gave Clementine a scrutinising look before he raised with two white chips. To his surprise, Clementine raised and added another white chip. "Oh, really?" Her yellow eyes met his blue ones. "We're playing for something here, after all. So yes, really." Sure, neither of them really wanted to give out their secrets now, to that extent she was right. But Marlon had been asked bad questions before, so he should be able to take hers. After all, he had played with Louis and Violet for ten years. Violet in particular had some nasty questions.
Marlon went for the bid and raised himself to even the bet. Then he revealed the fourth card. A five of spades... So they both had a pair of fives, the first card had been a five of diamonds. And Clementine raised again by two chips, but this time two blue ones. Marlon raised his eyebrows and stared at the stones. "Don't get cocky." "Are we playing or gambling?" Her confident grin made him suspicious. But something inside him drove him to bet two blue chips as well. Maybe it was his ego. Maybe curiosity. Or stupidity.
The last card was an eight of diamonds. Neither of them raised again, which is why it came to a showdown. And it was as he had feared. Clementine won with a pair of fives and a pair of aces. "Ha, won!" "True enough, well done. So, what do you want to know?" Marlon was not a bad loser; he was, in his opinion, too old for that by now. Besides, in his position, he couldn't afford to freak out over a game. That would be embarrassing.
He let Clementine draw the chips to her and put the cards back in a pile for her to shuffle. After she had done the latter, she looked at him expectantly. "Speaking of our past. Why did you come to this school? It wasn't an ordinary boarding school, if I understand correctly."
An awkward question, Marlon really didn't like to think about it, but he had learned to halfway push the memories to the back of his mind. When he heard the others' stories, however, his seemed rather dull and mainstream, so he tried all the harder to just not worry about it anymore. He avoided her eyes briefly, but then returned his gaze to her face. "In a nutshell, my parents split up when I was five." Actually, that should explain a lot, but it was predictable that Clementine would not rest. He could see worry in her face, which only increased the oppressive feeling in his chest. "No one killed anyone, don't worry. They... they just argued a lot and the divorce didn't go very well, even if it didn't go to court. What came after that, that was the bad part."
"...May I know?",she asked cautiously and Marlon inwardly thanked her for not bombarding him with enquiries straight away. "It's nothing really spectacular. My father had a new one very quickly, my mother took a few years longer. I'm sure I could still have got along with her husband somehow, it was my father's wife who was the problem." When he thought of that disgusting witch's face, he could vomit in a stream right now. His father's face, and his mother's too, had faded over the 10 years he hadn't seen them. He didn't have many memories of them, but the bad ones, they were still present. There were no beatings, there were no kicks, nothing was done to him physically. It was the words that had hurt. And that was exactly why he still had that stupid grimace very clearly in his mind. He could strangle her for that. Somewhere he hoped she was still out there, because now he was bigger and stronger. And he would use that strength when it mattered.
Clementine listened to him attentively and that was... good. Yes, it was quite good to have someone listening to him. He hadn't talked about it for years, only Louis knew the whole story, he had been the only one who had listened, the only one where an opportunity had arisen to tell everything in peace. It might be the same with Clem. But Marlon was wary. She was a stranger he had only known for three days. He certainly wouldn't come clean with everything today, but.... He could tell a little bit.
"I went to my father's every other weekend. There was this whore, of course. And she hated me, from the first moment. I really tried, for my father's sake, he never did anything to me, after all. But, uh... I've heard it's common with divorced parents. The new ones can't stand the kids and vice versa, then the biggest shit you can imagine arises. Well, there were arguments between her and me when my father went shopping or something. And she blamed me every damn time."
Marlon felt that unbridled rage coming up in him again that he was trying so desperately to keep under control. It had come from that horrible woman in the first place. Clementine seemed to notice that something was brewing. "I think I understand. I'm sorry about that, I really am. She treated you unfairly and you didn't let that get to you at some point, I take it?" Marlon nodded, daring to look her in the face again. "It does something to you when someone tells you to your face that you're to blame for all this shit. Being told you're to blame for your parents' unhappiness and they'd still be together if it wasn't for you.... I was maybe eight at the time, or nine already.... I don't know. But she got it back twice as hard."
Clementine's mine darkened and she nodded resolutely. "That's right. They get what they deserve." Marlon agreed with her wholeheartedly on that. However, he now turned his gaze back to the cards beside Clementine.
With a nod, Clementine picked up the cards and handed him two. He looked at them briefly and then put them down again. Ten of diamonds, seven of diamonds. Maybe a flush? The bets were made and the first three cards unfortunately disappointed him a little. At least he had a pair of sevens left, so he could do something with that. Marlon bet a white chip and Clementine followed. The fourth card was unspectacular, an eight of clubs, so both stayed with the bet they had already placed. The last card was also nothing Marlon could do anything with. His only fear was that Clementine might have two spades in her hand, which would give her a flush.
At the showdown, however, it turned out that this was not the case. Marlon won with a pair of sevens, Clementine lost with a pair of fours that she had in her hand. "Too bad, I really had hopes when I saw that pair," she muttered, but then looked at Marlon expectantly. That's right, it was his turn to ask a question. Talking about that horrible witch from his past had distracted him a little. But he regained his composure immediately and collected both the chips and the cards.
Hm... there were many things he could ask. Thoughtfully, he eyed the table in front of him before lifting his gaze again. "Speaking of unpleasant topics -" Clementine raised an eyebrow sceptically, but Marlon would not fuss like Louis. "Are you afraid of dying?"
That was a question he didn't even have to ask himself anymore. He wasn't afraid of dying. The fear of it had been exorcised from him years ago when everyone had started shuffling around again after death. One was still dead, dead, dead as a doornail. The end. And he didn't want to die, but being afraid of it eventually didn't get you anywhere. He was clearly more afraid of Louis or another kid at school biting the dust before him. And that had already happened. More children had died than were still alive in the school. He was just lucky that they hadn't grown so close together then. If one died now... Tenn... Brody... Mitch... Violet.... He wouldn't be able to take it anymore. He could barely stand not being able to see the twins anymore. No, he couldn't bear it at all.
Clementine snapped him out of his thoughts when he noticed her staring at him. "I think we both know the answer." He'd never seen her up close like that before and he had to say he understood what Louis saw in her. She was strong willed, knew what she wanted and how to get it too. In that respect, she was not very different from Marlon. Even if he had denied himself some respect lately. He had had no other choice and this one misstep... it would certainly not undo the rest of his deeds. Would it?
Her piercing yellow eyes were interesting, he had never seen such a colour. His own were a pale blue, most of the time at least. Because when light shone on them at the right angle, they looked like icy lakes where lightning had just struck. Sophie had said once when they had been talking about who had the most beautiful eyes. Brody had won, but hey, at least he hadn't come last. And right now it seemed to him that these completely different eyes shared the knowledge of one truth.
The fear of death was reserved for the weak. The fear of losing people... that's what made a leader, because with that came the desire to do everything possible to protect those people. "I'm just afraid of coming back as a walker. That's all. I don't want anyone to die by my will-less hand." "So that's what this revolver is for." That seemed to catch Clementine a little off guard, at least that was what her expression showed. "Or is it your knife?" "What do you mean?" "To finish it off. If necessary."
Marlon pulled a sharp, thin kitchen knife from his sleeve, which he kept there in a small sheath, already somewhat torn. It was attached to the underside of his left sleeve; when he opened the button at the bottom with his finger, the knife fell directly into his hand. "Something like this. I don't use it in combat, that's why it's still sharp. It's for protecting the kids here. If I ever get bitten. I'll just... I'll just jam this thing in my head. Or make sure someone does before I turn."
Clementine looked at the knife for a while before pulling her own out of her pocket. "Actually, I only want to use this weapon to defend myself. But..." Slowly she ran her index and middle fingers over the blade. "I don't know if I could finish it myself.... I don't think so. Not with a knife. With a revolver... That would be something else, but even that I would only do in an emergency."
"You mean a bite isn't an emergency?",Marlon inquired, tucking his knife back into his sleeve. Clementine shook her head. "Yes, of course it is. But you can cut the bite off. You don't have to end it right away." Marlon narrowed his eyes a little and then blinked before looking back at the cards beside him. "We tried. A couple of times, actually. But it never worked." "It only works if you do it early enough. Otherwise the infection spreads too far." "I know. We've just never been fast enough."
Wordlessly, Marlon took out the cards, gave them a riffle shuffle and dealt them back to him and Clementine. The mood had suddenly become rather sombre, so Marlon was thinking of the best way to lighten it. Maybe a joke, some silly line. Louis was much better at it than he was, that was for sure.
Clementine took the task from him, though, and smirked slightly before saying, "Didn't think I'd meet someone with such a serious look on their face at a school just now." What? Marlon raised an eyebrow, but then smirked himself. "Oh, really? Well, someone has to face facts around here." "I guess so. Which Brody seems like a reliable proxy to me. Except for... her panic attacks."
She was probably right about that, having Brody as a right-hand woman had come in handy early on. She was smart, had good ideas and was affectionate with the others to boot. He could rely on her. At least... for the most part. She had kept the secret about Sophie and Minerva, up to this point. Even though they had a rather uncomfortable conversation last night, he had eventually silenced her. Thankfully. He really hadn't wanted to force Brody's hand; after all, he didn't want any of this any more than she did. But it was for the greater good. At least that's what he told himself.
"She's good, definitely. Keeps this crazy bunch together and raises morale.",he told her and looked at his two cards. A quick glance to the right at the horizon revealed that it was soon time to get ready and call the others. But they could still play a few rounds. His cards were an eight of clubs and a queen of spades. Average hand, not too good, not too bad. The first three cards were not the world, only the ace he had to watch out for. And when Clementine raised three red chips, he knew he was on thin ice.
He thought about it for a while, because after the last question, it was a bit too risky for him. Clementine went straight for it, just like Louis the day before yesterday. That was... not so good for him. However, he didn't want to be a spoilsport either, so he called. The next card was an ace again. If Clementine went even higher now, it was actually the death sentence for him. He was no match for three aces. However, Clementine remained silent and stared at his hands, waiting to see what he did. Marlon, however, tapped the table with his index finger, said "check" and Clementine followed.
The last thing to be revealed was a four of diamonds. Apart from the ace pair, there really wasn't much to go on. Marlon looked over at Clementine, checking to see if she would make a move, but her hands stayed where they were. Then it came to the showdown. Marlon was already expecting to be flattened by a triple ace, but surprisingly Marlon won again with a kicker. His eight beat Clementine's six, both had had a queen in their hand.
Astonished, Marlon looked at the cards, then at Clementine. "Why did you go so high when the ace came?" She shrugged with a smile. "I thought I'd test how far out you'd go. The question is more why you went when you had nothing." Marlon smirked and shrugged his shoulders too. "I didn't want to be a killjoy. Besides, this is your first round of poker, so..."
He probably shouldn't have said that. Clementine folded her arms and leaned back. "Oh, and so that's why you would have given me a big win if I had anything good? Come on, Marlon, I'm not five years old anymore." Marlon scratched the back of his head sheepishly and avoided her gaze for a moment. "I guess you're right about that. I was just trying to be nice..." "Then stop it and play me into the ground if you have to."
She didn't have to tell him twice. If she wanted to play, he would play. Poker was one of his favourite games, luckily they weren't really playing for money here. "Then get ready to be quizzed." "We'll see about that."
Clementine collected the cards and shuffled them before placing them beside her and looking at Marlon again expectantly. "So, ask." "Alright, let's have a nicer question. If you had one wish, what would you wish for? And apart from what we all wish for."
For no more undead to wander the world was clear. Tensely, Marlon leaned forward a little and eyed his counterpart, while Clementine seemed to loosen up a little and thoughtfully put a thumb and forefinger to her chin. "Hmm... I think I would like Lee not to go to prison. He may have done bad things, but he was far from being a bad person."
This piqued the curiosity of the boy sitting opposite her and he raised an eyebrow. "What was his crime?" "One question, Marlon. You already asked three questions in a row at the war game.",Clementine reminded him and Marlon leaned back a little, smiling. "Sorry. Just too curious, I guess."
She dealt four cards again and the bets were placed. This round, however, got a lot more interesting. The first three cards that were turned up were already advantageous to him. A pair of kings. Marlon gave Clementine a look, scrutinising, but she only returned it. "You do the honours." "Well then." He reached for five red chips and two blue. Clementine seemed unimpressed by this. She called and placed the same number of chips in the middle of the table.
The next card was a jack. Now it was Clementine who raised. She put an additional two blue chips and two green, which Marlon did the same. "So we're going to go all in, huh?" "We wanted to play, then we play." "Confidence, huh. Just make sure it doesn't catch up with you." "You'd better watch out that your caution doesn't become your downfall.",she teased with a grin and Marlon shook his head gently.
The last card was a four of diamonds. Hm, one more diamond and Marlon would have had a flush. But the pair of kings was also OK. In the end, they both still put three white chips each in the middle. Whoever won now, they won a whole chunk of chips. Clementine seemed like she couldn't wait and put both her cards on the table in front of her. "Not bad, eh?"
Damn, she had two pairs, a pair of jacks and a pair of deuces. He couldn't compete with that with just a pair of kings. That was a lot of chips he had to give away there.... "Ha, won!" "True enough. Well played." "Well, if that's your idea of a real game, I guess this is going to be too easy for me after all." "Watch your mouth." Marlon put on a mischievous grin. She was lucky this game wasn't really about anything. Otherwise his mood would be quite different.
Not that he was a sore loser.... But he did prefer to win. Clementine pulled the chips towards her and Marlon collected the cards to shuffle them again and then lay them beside him. Yep, Clementine had now accumulated a pretty pile. But Marlon knew ways and means to work back this loss.
Now he was the one looking at the girl expectantly. "So, what do you want to know?" Clementine seemed to think for a moment, obviously her victory had distracted her so much that she almost forgot to ask a question. "Well, since we're trying to lighten the mood.... What was your first impression of me and AJ?"
The question was humane, Marlon didn't have to think long. He leaned on his forearms and looked her calmly in the eye, the tension from the question earlier had eased a little. "You two have seen a lot in your lives. You're stubborn, he's stubborn too, cautious and ready for action." Briefly summarising his first impression, he thought back to his first real encounter with Clementine. How she had held the knife to Tenn's neck.... Marlon didn't regret (yet) not letting go of the arrow, but he still felt the adrenaline in his veins and the urge to just shoot her to protect his friend.
Clementine, however, seemed to take his words with humour. "I can only return that." "Your first impression of me was that I was stubborn?" "Absolutely. And ready for the real thing. I have no doubt I would have taken an arrow in the face if I hadn't thrown the knife away." Marlon smirked. "You can be sure I would have hit." "I've seen you shoot, so I'll just make sure you never have a reason to aim at me again." "Good idea."
Marlon dealt another round of cards, glancing briefly through the door back into the office. Rosie had reclined in front of the desk, obviously needing a change of pace. She still had her sleeping place from when everything was fine, but it had become too small at some point and Marlon had cut off the fabric at the sides so she could stretch out. It was better for her back. Sometimes she slept in bed with him, but he had made it clear that she couldn't do that every night. As much as he loved that dog, he slept better when he was alone on the mattress.
The next round didn't go well for Marlon again. He had a nine and a ten in his hand, so he actually had quite good cards. But unfortunately the hoped-for straight did not come. He was beaten by Clementine with a high card, her jack-card was a bit too strong. With a sigh, he let her collect the cards and sat back, hands placed at the back of his head. "You seem to be running out of luck." Clementine gave him a teasing look and put the stack of cards back beside her.
After all, they hadn't bet too much this round. "Seems like it. But I'll get it back eventually." "Yeah yeah, sure." "Don't get cocky." "Things are going well for me so far, aren't they?" He shook his head slightly and looked back at Clem. "Your question?" "Okay, um... So, Violet was with Minerva." Marlon's stomach did a few gyrations at the mention of that name and dinner from yesterday almost came back to him. He hated being reminded of Minerva and Sophie, but the only thing that could show he was uncomfortable was his expression darkening a little.
"Yes. Was that your question?" "No. Aasim seems to like Ruby. Louis has never had a relationship and Mitch doesn't strike me as someone who gives a damn about relationships. The rest are too young to be thinking about anything like that yet. That leaves you and Brody. With Brody, I could see a relationship, but what about you?" Marlon raised an eyebrow questioningly and seemed surprisingly calm at this rather intimate question.
"What, me and Brody-?" "No no, I mean in general. Whether you've ever had your eye on anyone." He didn't have to think twice about that. "No." "You really haven't?" "Never. Can't afford to, either. It would only lead to chaos if I favoured anyone here." Clementine leaned forward a little. "What about Louis?" "Me and Louis?!" "No, for God's sake, I mean you favour him."
Marlon snorted softly and avoided her gaze. "Maybe I wrap him up in cotton wool a bit too much, it's true.... But he's my best friend. And he does what he's told. Most of the time, anyway."
For a brief moment there was silence between them. The birds had woken up and started chirping happily, while it was now light enough to really call it morning. Marlon looked down over the railing of the balcony and saw that Aasim had already gone back into the school building. Instead, Willy was now standing on guard. It was good to know that the children knew whose turn it was and that in the meantime everything worked more or less as he imagined it. He no longer had to stay awake every night and make sure that everyone took their shift. Three hours of sleep was simply too little.
Marlon finally regained his composure and smiled a little. "He truly asked yesterday if I could put you on his shift." Clementine turned her head to him again and raised an eyebrow, though the corner of her left mouth twitched as well. "He did, did he?" "Mmm. Has his eye on you." The girl's gaze darkened a little again, but Marlon was silent about that. "He strikes me as someone who keeps an eye on every other girl." "I know. But this time it seems more serious. I've rarely seen him look so dreamy." "Okay, now you're exaggerating." "No, I'm serious. Louis has actually always been down to earth, he's lazy, still trying to enjoy life somehow, but he doesn't have his head in the clouds. Let's put it this way, he usually answers immediately when I ask him something."
Clementine began to reshuffle the cards with a slight blush on her face, which elicited a chuckle from Marlon. "Believe me, we'd all be happy if he had someone to motivate him to do some work." "I can imagine that. But... I don't think I'm the right person for that." That was... a little unexpected, he had to admit. Marlon tilted his head and asked, "Why?"
She shook her head, which he understood immediately and so he let it go. Love, could be very complicated and Louis, unfortunately, had a way of wishing for too much too quickly. That was another reason why Marlon preferred to stay away from it, it was just unnecessarily complicated and he didn't have time for such bullshit.
When Clementine handed him the cards, however, he suddenly looked her in the eye with a threatening expression. "But I'm warning you. Don't play with him. If you don't want anything from him, that's perfectly fine. But then be honest with him. Otherwise you'll have me to deal with." Clementine returned his look a little startled for a moment, but almost immediately calmed down and became serious as well. "I wasn't going to play with his feelings, so keep the knife where it is.",she grumbled and nodded towards his arm.
The blond boy nodded curtly and then looked at his cards. "Two more rounds. Agreed?" "Yup." "Good." In his hand he had a seven and a queen, which looked good. Clementine, however, seemed a little more reluctant this round. She went along with his bets but didn't make any of her own and just looked over at him, checking to see how he was doing.
In the end, Marlon won with two pairs, Clementine herself actually had only one king as a high card. Marlon didn't mind much though, she knew how the game went now, so he didn't ask if that had been her intention. He pulled the chips and the cards towards him to shuffle them again and then lay them down next to him. Now it was his turn again with a question. Maybe he should take an easier question, even though it was clear that they would not pity each other. Whoever didn't want to answer one question would be asked another.
Slowly, he leaned back a little and felt his back loosen. Unfortunately, he had a rather impractical sleeping position, which had not really done his back any good. But he was simply afraid of someone attacking him, so his belly was protected as best he could. Hm. No, she could take a lot, he'd seen that at the last card game. "You said earlier you'd had a nightmare. What was it about? Is it always the same one or different ones?"
The yellow eyes of the girl sitting opposite him suddenly looked sad and unsettled. Marlon's features softened and he showed a hint of pity in the pale blue eyes, after all, he could imagine that this was not exactly an easy subject. Clementine started talking about her dream a short time later, "It was about Kenny." Marlon tilted his head questioningly, but kept the cautious expression on his face. "A friend. After I met Lee... After Lee died, I moved on with two other members of our group. We thought Kenny was dead, he had given his life so Christa could make it. However, after I was separated from her and her husband, I met him again. Only for him to sacrifice himself for me and AJ a few years later..."
This man seemed to really mean a lot to Clementine. For a time, Mrs Martin had probably been something similar to Marlon. She had helped him keep the school as safe as possible, had helped him perfect his shooting skills, but most importantly, she had helped him get his wrath under control. If he hadn't had her... he didn't even want to think about how many people he would have killed out of fear and anger. Now she was dead. So it went on in this world, people lived, people died like flies. So much for superior being.
"Anyway... His death wasn't pretty. He was just teaching me how to drive, I was pretty good too. But when a walker got in our way, I panicked. I jerked the wheel, hit a tree, and Kenny... Kenny went through the windscreen."
Marlon gritted his teeth and felt his throat tighten a little. That... that sounded terrible. She must have been blaming herself for it, hence the dream. He was about to say something when he noticed tears forming in Clementine's eyes and immediately he felt guilty. He shouldn't have asked, after all he had known it was a nightmare. But Clementine shook her head slightly.
"The dream wasn't about that. I don't remember all the details, but.... I dreamt about you." That made his ears prick up. "About us?" "Mmm. The school was on fire. Kids were running through the school hallways trying to lock the doors instead of getting out. I looked for AJ, but couldn't find him anywhere. Louis came towards me, I asked him where AJ was, but he... he couldn't answer me. He was missing his tongue." Marlon's eyes widened in shock and he leaned forward a little again. If Louis ever lost his tongue.... he wouldn't know how to cope. His best friend did nothing but talk, if he suddenly went mute....
"I don't know exactly how you got it into the school, but you were there too, with a horse. And that horse, um... I don't think you ever read the Bible, but-" "Yes, I did. But only the important parts." "Well, do the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mean anything to you?" "Mmm." "The black horse. The Hunger. Or the plague, as the case may be." "Oh."
What symbolism her dreams worked with.... His own seemed rather blunt, but he was glad of that. "Anyway, you kept everyone in the building, no one was allowed out, even though the fire was starting to take our breath away. I tried to find a way out, to climb out over the roof, but everything was barred there too. Until, well... Kenny came. He ripped our way out with an axe, knocked a huge hole in the back wall of the school." Marlon raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. That hole really used to be there." Clementine managed to smile slightly. "Inspiration from reality." Then she continued, "All that followed was the school going up in flames. And just when we had managed to escape into the forest.... That's when Kenny was caught by Walkers.... Like... like that time."
If he hadn't known better, he might have thought he had to take her in his arms right away, but Clementine bravely held back her tears, as expected. He wasn't sure he could do that. But a small smirk spread across his face. "A horse wouldn't be bad at all. If it doesn't exactly starve us." Clementine lifted her gaze again and blinked away her tears. "I suppose that's true. But I haven't seen one for years." "There aren't any around here either, I'm afraid. Well, Rosie is quite enough for me. It's too early for me to become a rider of the apocalypse." "Can you ride?" "A little. We used to have a couple of horses on my father's farm, but.... well. He had to sell a lot after the divorce." "Hm, too bad."
"Let's start the last round then." Marlon dealt the cards again and looked at the two in his hand. A nine and a ten. Not bad again, maybe this time it would work out with a straight. Even at the first turn up, however, Clementine began to go higher. Marlon, however, pushed the chips back to her. "What, scared?" "Quite the opposite. We both go all-in in the last phase. Winner takes all." That seemed to rekindle her fire and the memories of the bad dream faded into the background.
The next card was turned up and Marlon straightened his shoulders, barely noticeable. This could be a heart flush. If he still had a heart in his hand, but unfortunately only Clementine could get the flush. Too bad. And the last card was indeed the fourth heart. She would only need one heart to beat him, but Marlon had already accepted his fate, because he truly had nothing in his hand.
"All in." He pushed all of his remaining chips into the middle. "All-in." Clementine did the same. Then the cards were turned over. There it was, the flush. Clementine grinned broadly and gave Marlon a teasing look. "I guess I won that one." "You did, congratulations." He was already taking out the silver case and began sorting the chips by suit. Then he collected the cards and carefully put them in a small packet. "You may ask the last question."
She waited until he had put the case back down beside him and could look at her, then she asked her question, "Speaking of dreams. What were you dreaming about? Must have caused quite a few if it gave you nosebleeds."
He should have seen the question coming. Then why did it catch him so off guard? Shit, he could already feel the air being squeezed out of him. Clementine lost her grin immediately and made a worried face, but waited to see what he would say. But nothing came. For a longer time, Marlon remained silent. He tried to weigh how much he could tell before he got himself into trouble. But after thinking for a while, he came to the conclusion that it didn't really make any difference. He could tell the dream in its entirety without running the risk of giving himself away.
So he took a deep breath and began to tell: "It was about the twins. Was quite affected by the nosebleed. I was at a pond in the forest, which is outside the Safe Zone, I think it should still be there. Anyway, at some point I laid down on the bank until the blood almost choked me. I tried to spit it out, but it kept coming. And then... then I heard Sophie. She, uh... she reminded me of an old book I found in the office... I never completely read it, but it's about slavery and racism. Anyway, she said 'It's a sin to kill a mockingbird'. A phrase that has some symbolic meaning there." By now it was getting difficult to speak.
He could remember that night clearly, when he and Brody came back alone, without the twins. Without Tenn's sisters... He could have shot himself for what he had done. But instead he told himself it was the only solution. And he still did. It was the only way he could keep his wits about him.
"Our guilt really hates us. But if it helps... I don't think the twins really blame you. You and Brody, you weren't supposed to get eaten too. You did everything you could." Marlon raised his eyes again and looked at Clementine, who was looking at the table with a sad expression in her eyes. "Mhm...",he agreed quietly. "I had hoped that after almost a year it would get easier, but.... I guess it never will." "No. I guess we'll just have to live with that now. We don't have a choice."
The wind had picked up a little, carrying the smell of food over to them. True, there was no need to hunt this morning, Clementine, AJ, Louis and Violet had brought a decent pile of food last night. There was finally something other than rabbit meat in broth. He could do with a bit of vegetables, even though Marlon was quite fond of meat.
But that was now also the point at which it was probably time to stop. Slowly he rose and handed his fist to Clementine. "Good game today." She bumped her fist against his before rising and looking at him with a cheeky grin. "Indeed. You're miserable at this game." He snorted softly and boxed her shoulder. "I let you win." "Yeah yeah, sure. Ow..."
The sound of the river still in her ear, Clementine came running back to the school with a bucket of fish and AJ by her side. She had decided today to help Mitch check the traps and then do some spearfishing. While Mitch was still closing the gate behind them, Clem was suddenly tapped on the shoulder by someone. Brody's clear blue eyes showed fear and uncertainty, which alerted Clementine.
"Brody, are you all right?" "Will you come with me for a minute, please? I need to talk to you."
The air seemed to crackle with tension, but Clementine nodded before putting down the fish bucket and following. Brody led her to one of the back corners of the courtyard, where no one could see them. It wasn't that Clementine didn't trust the girl, but it made her sceptical. "So, what's up?" Brody looked around tensely again for a moment, but then grabbed Clementine by the shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. "Clem, you're in danger. You and AJ, both of you."
Her trembling voice clearly showed the fear she felt, but Clementine did her best to stay calm, maybe it would transfer to Brody. "What do you mean? What's threatening us?" "It's Marlon." "Marlon?" "Mmm. You need to get out of here before-"
A hand suddenly came to rest on the redhead's shoulder. "What are you hiding back here for? Dinner's coming up." Clementine looked the taller boy straight in the pale blue eyes. With the expression he had on his face, they looked like they were made of ice and it sent a shiver down Clem's spine.
Brody had tensed up when she had felt his hand and heard his voice. She said nothing, which seemed to make Marlon suspicious. "What's going on?" "Nothing, Marlon. We were just talking about the walkers we ran into at noon today. You know, the ones by the river." "Ah. They won't bother us anymore. So, are you coming?" Brody immediately turned and walked past him, leaving Marlon confused.
"Seriously, what's going on?" The moment their eyes met again felt like it was in slow motion. Yellow met blue, fire met ice, and with that, the prisoner met the prison guard. Clementine could literally feel his tension, but she herself also clenched her hands into fists. Marlon's eyes narrowed a little, which made his look even more suspicious, while Clementine expressed her own suspicion well too.
This morning they had been playing cards together and quizzing each other, now they were facing each other like two predators just waiting to get their claws into each other's throats. And if Brody was right, if Marlon really was a threat to her and AJ, then she knew exactly which predator would emerge victorious. You don't take a little brother away from a big sister, that was a sure death sentence.
Marlon reared up in front of Clementine, not taking his eyes off her for a second. He seemed to have similar thoughts, he looked like a wolf who had just been threatened to wipe out his pack. But Clementine did not take a step back. "What did Brody say, Clementine?"
She even took another step towards him until their bodies were almost touching. "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, Marlon. Remember?" With that, she walked past him, grabbed the bucket of fish and took it to Omar without another word to the boy. And he let her go.
She would protect AJ. No matter what this morning was, no matter how much heart she had shown him. When push came to shove, he would bleed. And not Clementine.