Chapter 5- We're Staying

- Clementine's POV

"He's gonna let us stay, right?" AJ asked me as we walked up to Marlon's office to talk. Many thoughts clouded my mind as we walked up the steps. Would Marlon and the school kids really let us stay? This was their home, and us showing up could potentially mean both good or bad. I had no idea what they thought of us the day before, so I decided that me and AJ would go up to talk about how long they were able to stay, if at all. "Right?" AJ repeated the last word, now less sure of himself as I snapped out of my thoughts. "I guess we're gonna find out. Let's go find his office." I said to him, trying not to give false hope to the boy, but also trying to keep my own hopes up. We reached the top of the stairs and started searching for the room. "Are you two looking for something? Someone?" A young voice asked from behind, making me jump slightly. I turn and see a boy of maybe twelve, looking back at me. "Oh, hey, uh... Tenn. Yeah, actually, I was hoping you'd know where Marlon's office is?" I questioned him. "It's right over there. Hey, AJ." Tennessee pointed and greeted AJ politely. "Hey, Tenn" He said back, smiling. I guess they're best buds now. "Thanks, Tenn! See you around!" I  thanked him kindly and walked with AJ up to the door. "Marlon? You in there? We need to talk." I said, rapping lightly on the door. When I opened the door however, a face I didn't expect greeted me, and not in the way I'd hoped.

I saw in front of me a large, muscular dog, chewing to bits a bone on the floor. She looked up to me and growled. Not something I ever thought I'd hear again, and definitely something I didn't want to hear. We'd met before, when we were out clearing walkers on the first day. She scared the living sh*t out of me. She approached, her ears low and her eyes set on mine. I felt an emptiness in the pit of my stomach as I backed up, one arm reaching over AJ in a protective stance, the other ready on my knife. "Stay back." I said as confidently as I could, trying to intimidate the dog, but it was no use. The words came out as a mere shriek of terror.

"Clem! AJ!" Sounded like an alarm in my head, but the words didn't register. The dog watched my every move, making me even more lightheaded. She watched me like a hawk, as if just waiting for the moment for me to f**k up. But then Marlon walked in. "Rosie, girl, shh. It's okay, Rosie." He said calmly as he pet the dog's head, the tension in her position relaxing. "You okay? You look really pale, Clem" he looked at me in a concerned way. "Hm? Oh, uh, yeah, I'll.. I'll be okay." I said, slightly shaking my head. He looked at me, obviously doubting me. "I... had a bad experience with a dog once." I added on, looking back at the dog. "Well, maybe Rosie here can help you get over that? I mean, only if you want..." Marlon made his way closer to me, that dog, Rosie, right behind. Standing silently, I tried to make up my mind. Marlon then decided to grab my hand, making me reach out to Rosie. I wanted to not be afraid. I didn't want to be afraid of anything, but a dog was one of the things I was most scared of. Before I knew it, I felt a warm, wet sensation on my hand. I looked down in surprise, realizing that this dog had just licked me instead of bitten off my hand. "Now all you gotta do is whistle and tell her to lay down." He spoke quietly from the side. I did as instructed and felt... relieved that it turned out.

"So, now that we conquered your fear, what did you wanna talk about?" He asked as he strode over behind the desk, putting his palms down on it. "I wanted to talk about, uh... If we can stay here." Walking closer, I said the words carefully. He nodded in contemplation and looked around the room. "Are you two capable people? Actually, nevermind. That was a stupid question. How could you have gotten this far if you weren't..." He chuckled at the question. Regardless, I nodded to him, assuring him that we can take care of ourselves. "What I mean is, could you two pull your weight in the school if you could stay? Hunting, fishing, patrols, lookout shifts, things like that." Marlon inquired me. "Definitely. We've made it this far. If anything, it would be easier than running all the time." I answered back. I had only now realized how much I wanted to stay. The people were nice, there was usually food on the table, at least once a day, beds, organized shifts, and it wasn't like a prison.

"Well, you two might be extra mouths to feed, but maybe you're useful mouths to feed. You can stay. For now, at least. We'll see how this goes. Welcome." He said, making my heart leap for joy. AJ almost started jumping up and down from excitement. "Thank you, Marlon. It means a lot to us." I nodded, smiling. We then proceeded to work out plans for hunting and fishing. I decided to go hunting with Aasim and Louis, since I was definitely better with a bow and arrow than with a spear. After our talk, we went back to our room to grab supplies and I decided to have a short talk with AJ. "We get to stay, Clem!" His smile stretched from ear to ear as he bounced around happily when I shut the door. "Yeah, we do, AJ. Listen though, there's one thing I need you to do for me, okay?" I caught his attention as I crouched down to his level. "I need you to at least try to be nice to everyone here, okay? We want to be on their good side. Can you do that for me?" I asked in a serious tone. He nodded in understanding, but quickly went back to his excited smiling. I chuckled a little as we went out to the courtyard.

"Everybody ready?" Aasim asked as me and AJ approached him and Louis. "Yup." I replied as he turned and opened the gate. It was then that I realized how awkward it would be between me and Louis, considering what had happened the night before. As we walked out to the hunting grounds, Aasim started talking to me. "Hunting grounds aren't that much further. Oh yeah, by the way, we have traps set up out here, to catch rabbits, walkers, or really anything. Just watch where you step. If you see a ribbon on a tree, there's a trap nearby." He said, pointing to a tree trunk which had a ribbon tied around it. "Psh, please. I think I can handle myself." Louis joked. "I'm basically a ninja. Skilled in the craft of martial arts." He continued as Aasim rolled his eyes, looking back in front of him. I tried not to laugh, but, despite my best efforts, I couldn't contain a giggle. "Oh, you too? I thought I was the only one" I replied, smiling as I took on a fake ninja stance. He looked at me and laughed. That laugh... It made me get butterflies in my stomach. Apparently, this was not as awkward as I thought it would be. "Me too" AJ said, mimicking me in my stance. "Just, stop." Aasim half pleaded in annoyance. It was going to be a long hunting trip for him.

Hey guys! So, as far as I can tell, I'm continuing this fanfiction. I will also be making my publishing schedule more official now. Every Saturday, I will be publishing 1-2 chapters, depending on school, homework, etc. But I hope you enjoy and please, feel free to give me suggestions for future chapters. I'd like some suggestions... Thanks for reading!