Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clementine sighed as she stared at the holographic chess board, thinking over her moves carefully. Her eye slowly wandered to her C.A.B., when her hand was smacked. "No cheating." The girl huffed, looking at the boy sitting cockily in front of her. "I'm going to beat you this time. I swear it Aasim." She stated. Her best friend and adopted brother burst into laughter, holding his sides. "Win, as if! It's 501 to 0!" He laughed. Clementine glared. "That's an exaggeration," Clem stated.

Aasim leaned forward, tapping a finger down on the holographic chess table, "Cortana, what is the score between Clementine and Aasim?". "Aasim has a score of 501 against Clementine, and Clementine has yet to score." A female voice spoke from the holographic chess board. There was a smug grin on his face as she scowled. "I hate you." She spoke. "Heh." He smirked.

Clementine was about to make her move when her mother's voice echoed through the house. "Hurry up you two, your going to be late on your first day!" Diana shouted. "Oh crap!" They exclaimed, scrambling to grab their things. They rushed around the living room, picking up their things frantically. Missing the first day would be horrible! "Where's my backpack?!" Clementine shouted, looking around in panic. Her C.A.B. blinked for a second before she heard a beeping noise come from the corner of the room. "There it is." She swooped up her backpack, heading outside after Aasim. "About time hoover." He said, walking ahead of her. She pouted, elbowing him. "Hey, careful this uniform has to be perfect." He scowled, patting down his outfit again. "You've cleaned it like ten times in the past two days, you probably did more damage than me." She commented, frowning a bit as she looked at the outfit.

'ALPHA' was brandished proudly over the left side of his chest. The black and white uniform displaying he was training to join ALPHA security, to help protect and enforce the One Child act.

"Are you sure you don't want to just join their science division? Your super smart, plus it's safer." Clementine spoke. "I can handle it, Clementine, I've been training for this my entire life." He stated. She grimaced, glancing at the large fiberglass building that was coming up. "I know, but still, it's super dangerous. You just graduated and now you're trying to join ALPHA." Clem spoke. "You can't talk me out of this Clementine, I need to do this." Aasim spoked, and soon both of them stopped as they stood before the entrance of ALPHA. She glanced at him with her wide amber eyes, a safe sigh leaving her lips. "Nothing I say will stop you, will it?" She asked. "Sorry hoover, I'm doing this." He said.

She frowned, standing on her toes to give him a hug. There was no hesitation, Aasim immediately hugged her back. "Be careful," Clementine whispered. Aasim gave her a gentle squeeze, "I'm just training hoover, don't worry.". Eventually, he let go, walking into the large building, the guards scanning his C.A.B. Watching him go, she slowly walked to school, a small sigh leaving her throat. "Watch out!" A girl flew by her, hair whipping back in a blur of orange. "Holy shit." Clementine murmured, watching the girl fly off on a hoverboard. Rude much?

Muttering to herself, she gently rubbed the faded scar on her chin and approached the Sector 1 school. "Hold out your wrist." The guard spoke. Clementine held out her C.A.B. allowing the guard to scan it. Her C.A.B. lit up, her information appearing as the device projected a screen. 'Clementine Settman, age: 16. Code: 011022. Address: Upper wards Sector 1.'. The guard glazed over the information, before gesturing the girl inside. Letting out a sigh, she stepped into the school, making her way immediately to the balcony. The girl stood by the edge, amber eyes staring at the four sectors.

The pristine white buildings, fiberglass skyscrapers, and holographic screens displayed everywhere was the area of sector 1, the prettiest and most advanced sector. Flying hoverboards and vehicles. Artificial intelligence on your wrist to help with whatever you needed. It was the home of ALPHA, where the security was strongest, and where they put most of their technology improvement into. It made sense why sector 1 was considered the crown jewel. Technology advanced beyond all capabilities and all it's people healthy.

Sector 2 wasn't that much different, but the technology was not as advanced there. People preferred it less, relying on more of the older methods. It was a nice area none the less. This was where the more agriculture side of the community was. Having more nature and beauty. Hell, there was a ton of animals there too. It was pretty rare to see animals around, as robot dogs and cats had become the norm. It was also where all the medical and scientific research went. Being the source of all the communities food, you needed to know how to create healthy food and animals.

Sector 3 was a lot less advanced than 1 and 2, but it was liveable at least. Plus, nothing could be as bad as sector 4. The least advanced of all sectors, and the most dangerous. ALPHA security is sent there nearly every day to deal with the sector, as it was where Offborns hid most often. That entire area was in complete carnage. People stealing, fighting, and killing for survival.

A nervous lump welled in Clementine's throat. She prayed they wouldn't send Aasim there when he finally got his position in the security detail. The two had sparred, but hearing about all the death and carnage that those revolutions caused. Why couldn't they just see that all this damage they were doing would lead to nothing? It only got more people hurt. Clementine sighed, why were people so hellbent on protecting the offborns? They were violent. The law was made to protect the world and conserve resources. By taking valuable resources for someone breaking the law by existing they put the rest of them in danger.

"Ain't as fun when there's only two of us is there?" Clementine turned around, seeing Minerva approaching, her fiery orange hair held back in a beautiful fish net braid. Even in the sector 1 regulated uniforms, she looked the best. Guess being the daughter to the leader of ALPHA does that. Minerva walked over, standing on the balcony beside her. She glanced around the area, before holding up her wrist, "C.A.B, display sectors map.". A small hologram appeared, high lighting each building of the sectors that they could see. Clementine glanced over, a small smile tugging at her lips. It was a small tradition they did. One the first day of school, all of them would walk to the balcony, pull up a map and say how they'd make the world better for everyone. The three of them did it for a long time, but this would be the first year they'd be doing it without Aasim.

Giving out a small sigh, Clementine leaned over, tapping the hologram. "In sector 2, I'd make the hospital better. It's 2038 and people are still getting sick." Clementine stated. "Would you make it available to all sectors?" Minerva asked. Clementine glanced down as far as she could, needing to squint in order see the dirty sections of sector 4. She thought a moment, before nodding "Yeah, I would." She spoke. "Really? I thought you hated the whole Offborn rebellion thing." Minerva commented. Their C.A.B.'s beeped as class was starting, and they headed inside. "I don't know, I guess it's a bit much to completely cut off a sector?" Clementine spoke. The ginger huffed as they approached class, the door sliding open as they entered. "Yeah, just don't let Aasim or my dad hear you say that," Minerva stated. Clem gave her a smile, "Don't worry, that's all I'll mention of it.".

Funny how when you think back to words you only a day ago, they seem like the complete opposite of what you believe now.

Chapter Text

Clementine hummed to herself as she walked home. Her C.A.B. beeped, a message appearing on the screen. "Light drizzle commencing in seven minutes." Cortana's voice spoke. "Thank you Cortana, but I want to walk in the rain today." Clementine spoke, humming to herself as she walked home. Just as her C.A.B. had mentioned, a faint drizzle began to fall from the sky. A faint smile tugged on her lips as she walked home in the rain. As much of their lives that were controlled by ALPHA and technology, these rare moments of letting nature take control was interesting.

Arriving to her home, she scanned her C.A.B., watching the door slide open. Sighing to herself, she walked inside the home. A faint thudding echoed through her home, making her scoff a little. Walking into the living room, she looked at the TV. "Cortana, display gym camera." She ordered, tossing her backpack onto the couch. The holographic screen changed feeds, displaying the gym feed. Just as she suspected, Aasim had returned home early, punching at the punching bag. Rolling her eyes, she walked into the kitchen. Humming to herself, she walked into the kitchen Holding up her C.A.B., she tapped the screen, watching as the fridge opened. A small robot whizzed past her, catching a water bottle and apple as they popped out of the fridge. A smile grew on Clementine's face as the small robot whizzed by her, heading downstairs.

Not even two minutes later, her C.A.B. began ringing. Chuckling, Clementine accepted the call, a hologram of her brother projecting on the screen. "Leave it to you to bug me while i'm training." He huffed, rubbing sweat off his brow. "All you do is train or study now Aasim. You hardly eat." She stated. "That is a lie." He scoffed. She folded her arms over her chest, raising a brow. Aasim scowled, before letting out a sigh of defeat. "So are you coming up or am I coming down?" Clementine asked. Aasim let out a chuckle, shaking his head, "Get down here.". And with that he hung up.

Taking her homework from her bag, she made her way downstairs, entering the gym. Walking past the pool, she spotted how the water looked a faint purple and pink gradient. Guess Aasim took a swim before starting his daily work out routine. The thudding noises grew louder the further she walked, and soon she found him punching away at the punching bag. With each swing the holographic screen would display how strong he hit it, and determine his position. Clem bit her lip as blips of red would appear every now and the. It was some sort of warning sign showing his position would hurt him if he didn't fix it.

Another thing that worried her was how his eyes would squint every now and then, and often his breathing would rapidly drop. "When was the last time you took your medicine?" Clementine asked, sitting on the bench parallel to him. "I'm fine." He hissed out, struggling. Stepping over, she turned off the punching bag, looking at him.

"When was the last time you took your pills?" She demanded this time. He was a taken a back by the firmness in her voice, and he sighed sitting down. "I ran out a while back." Aasim stated. Clem gaped, glaring at him. "What the heck, Aasim why didn't you go and get some more? Mom works at the sector 2 hospital, you can get them easy." Clementine explained. Aasim opened his mouth, but closed it, scowling. "I don't have time for this. I need to focus on practice." Getting back up, he made his way to the punching bag, making sure the bandages on his hands were wrapped up tight. "Aasim, you-", "Clem, I need to focus." He stated. She stood still for a moment, before clenching his fist. "Fine, have fun practicing." Picking her stuff up, she stormed off to her room. Aasim watched her go, sighing heavily as he shaked his head. Combing his hair back with his hand, he turned his focus back to the punching bag, starting to wail on it.

"Freaking jerk." Clementine murmured, sitting on her bed, looking at her homework. Swiping through the pad, she grimaced. Good lord she hated math. Guess it being the first day of school didn't matter to the teacher, after all they gave everyone several pages of work. Normally she'd ask Aasim for help, but he was gone being a dick. "Well, let's see how Minerva knows what's the answers." Clementine murmured, calling her friend on her C.A.B.

After a long excruciating several hours of homework, her parents returned home, calling for dinner. "Thak god." She breathed out, putting the pad down and climbing off her bed. Wasting no time, she made her way down stairs, finding her parents and Aasim already in the kitchen. "What're we eating today?" She squeezed past Aasim, leaning over to grab a couple of utensils. "Cortana suggested some new quick recipes." Ed explained, standing besides the stove, checking the temp. "He means chicken noodles." Diana stated, making her husband scoff. "It's more than that!" He stated, offended. Aasim leaned over, looking at the pot of noodles. "As in bits of ham and slives of green onions." Aasim commented. "Will you two scram?!" Ed shouted, shooing his wife and son off.

All three of them sat down, snickering as Ed passed out the bowls. With all the food out, Ed sat down at the head of the table, folding his hands together bowing his head. They had two prayers before their meals, one their family normally said, and the one Aasim had grown up with before being taken in. Ed and Diana saw no reason to take out his culture when adopting him into their family. Once the prayers were done, they all began digging into their food.

As any parent would, they began asking out their kids days. "So, what was it like at ALPHA?" Ed asked, slurping up some noodles. "Manners Ed." Diana scoffed. Clementine giggled a bit, before turning to see what Aasim had to say, she was slightly more calm about the argument, but it annoyed her still how he wasn't taking care of himself properly. Aasim paused a moment, before looking up to his family. "They...actually recommend us not to share what happens while training, it's a safety procaution." Aasim explained, poking at his food. "I guess that makes sense." Ed said, eating more noodles. "It seems kind of weird." Clementine spoke out. "Clementine, ALPHA does everything in their power to protect us from Offborns and their supporters. Their the reason we're so advanced. Think back to how the world was 30 years ago." Diana exclaimed. "I wasn't even born yet." Clem softly spoke. "Exactly, we wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for ALPHA, the world would have run out of resources for us." Ed commented, "I'm an engineer, I've heard how insane it gets.".

The family spoke about little things, until something caught their attention. "Cortana, switch living room screen into kitchen." Ed called out. Not even a second later, a hologram appeared at the end of the table, making them all look over. It was an emergency news broadcast, showing ALPHA enforcers fighting against more Offborn rebels. "Seems like there's a never ending supply of them" Ed murmured. "How many have they killed?" Aasim grumbled, watching several ALPHA members fall dead. Clementine noticed the blank expression on his face, but she knew well enough that he was seething. He hated Offborns and all those who supported them with a passin, them killing his parents only solidified that hatred. "Aasim if you need to go upstairs-" Diana began. "It's fine." Aasim simply said, watching with the other three.

It was a struggle, but soon the Offborns were outmatched, but at least ten ALPHA members were killed in attempts to protect the other sectors. "More of them keep dying and you might be promoted really fast Aasim." Ed spoke. Aasim stared at the screen, resting his hands on his chin. "I guess your right."

Chapter Text

Several weeks later.

Clementine softly hummed to herself as she walked through the market district of sector 1. School had gone by quickly, allowing Clem to quickly head into the market district and buy some food for dinner. "All this advanced technology and we still have to go shopping." The girl thought to herself as she purchased some spices. Checking the time on her C.A.B., the girl sighed softly. "About three hours until anyone gets home." She frowned. Aasim called saying he had to go to a meeting for all the recruits, and their parents were working late. The rebellion was fighting harder every day, making the hospital packed withinjured civilians and soldiers. Some resulted in sabotaged the systems in the upper sectors, leaving her dad busy on repairing them. Couldn't they see they were just making it worse for themselves?

Walking around, she looked up in surprise to see a young boy wandering around. His dirty uniform stood out to her, making her look confused. "What the hell?" Clementine asked, watching the boy. He glanced around, peaking out from a corner of the buiding, before swiftly making his way around the different shops. How did someone get their uniform so dirty in sector 1? She bit her lip nervously, before preparing to follow the boy. What could he possibly be doing here? Raising a brow the girl made her way through the district, following hte boy carefully. Glancing at her C.A.B. again, she made sure to keep track of time. Perople were weary when you were late.

A few moments passed, and her eyes widened seeing the boy grab some things off the vendor's table when they weren't looking. What the hell? The boy rushed out through the crowds, trying to vanish with the people. "Hey, get back here!" Clementine shouted, chasing after the boy. They boy frantically gasped, running as fast as his short legs would take him. Damnit, the one time she wished she could ride a hover board, it'd make running through crowds so much easier!

The boy ran as fast as he could, when suddenly he was cornered by two ALPHA security guards. "What are you doing kid?" One asked, looking him over. The boy froze up, eyes widening as Clementine caught up to them. "T-There you are...! I, I got lost and..!" The boy frantically exclaimed, eyes wide. What was he talking about? Clem went to tell the officers he wasn't her brother, but she saw the look in his eyes.

"There you are goofball, I thought I lost you. Sorry sir, you know how kids are, running around wild and stuff when their bored." She nervously spoke, gesturing to his dirty uniform. The guard looked him over, before sighing. "Keep an eye on him, don't need any more mix ups like that." He looked at the boy, who forced a smike. Staring long and hard, they finally left, letting both of them sigh in relief.

Glancing over, the boy relaxed seeing the guard leave. "Thanks, I know you didn't have to do that but that's, really." The young boy said. Clementine sighed, crouching down to the boys height to try and give him some advice. "Your welcome, but next time, don't steal please." She pointed as the supplies on him, "The next person might not be so forgiving.". He slowly nodded, staring at the floor. Clementine huffed, glancing around. Checking her C.A.B. real quick, she saw she still had plenty time to head home. "Come on kid, let's get you home." She said, standing up. The boy beamed, grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks, come on! I know a short cut!" Not waiting any second, he took her hand, running through the district. A surprised gasp left her as he dragged her along after him. This was one way to make a boring day fun.

Following him, she bit her lip as they travelled into the second sector. Every so often she felt faint tremors, confusing the girl. "How far do you live?" She nervously asked, having never left her sector. The boy glanced around, before finally spotting a figure. "I live farther, but I recognize him." Letting go of her hand, he ran up to a cloaked figure, grinning. Slowly following, she watched as the figure turned around to face the boy, a faint smile growing on their faces. "AJ, your okay." He spoke, crouching down to the boys height, "Where'd you run off to?". "I was getting what we needed." The boy, AJ as the older boy said, explained. The older boy chuckled, looking up to see who he came with, and froze. Clem looked at him, noticing he appeared to be her age, and Asian. A look of horror on his face as he saw her. Clementine was left confused, and before she could ask she took the boy, running off. "Bye....I guess..?" Clementine sighed.

Her C.A.B. suddenly beeped, making her gasp as she looked at the time. How was she already out of time?! "Mom and dad are going to be so pissed!" She started running, not noticing someone watching her as she ran.

Running home, she rushed through the doors. "Sorry I'm late." Clementine walked into the home, confused finding the living room empty. "What?" Looking around, she entered the home, gasping in surprise as a hologram appeared on the wall. "We're going to be out late Clementine. Don't wait up." The message ended, letting the girl sigh in defeat. Guess it was just her. Shaking her head, she made her way upstairs, shocked hearing a noise. "Who's there?" She asked, cautiously wandering through the halls, holding her C.A.B. up in case she needed call for help. Moving through the room, she spotted a shadow coming from Aasim's room. Leaning against the wall, she held her breath, thinking back to the sparing matches she had with Aasim. Don't be afraid, and do whatever it takes to keep yourself alive.

"WHO'S THERE?!" She swung open the door, holding her water bottle. Aasim screamed in panic, dropping a box he was holding. "AASIM?!" Clem gaped. "Clem what the hell?!" Aasim swore, crouching down to pick up everything that had fallen from the box, "Ever heard of knocking?". "Sorry." Clem breathed out, moving to help him pick it up. The contents of the box surprised her though. A new suit? Was this a gun?! "Aasim what is all of this?" She asked. He seemed hesitant to speak for a moment, before talking, "There was a bombing in sector three, killed a bunch of people and ALPHA security. Some Offborn protest or something." Aasim spoke, and Clementine felt her heart instantly drop.

"You got moved outside...didn't you?" She asked, making him nod.

Chapter Text

"This suit like the real deal alright." Clementine spoke, looking him over in his new uniform. Aasim hummed to himself a bit, looking at himself in the mirror. Clicking his tongue a bit, Aasim patted down certain areas of the uniform, making sure the light gray sweater didn't poof out to much. "Where's the body armor? I've seen officers covered head to toe." Clem stated, making her brother laugh. "Only security officers going past sector 1 are given armor, in case rebels pass through." Aasim explained, patting down the creases in his sleeves. She looked amused at him, "Your spending more time than I do in front of the mirror.". Clem stood on her toes behind him, sticking her tongue out at the mirror. "I do not!" He scoffed, nudging her away. "Sure." Clem swiped his hair left, making him gasp in annoyance. "Do you know how long it takes me to do my hair?" He stated, groaning at the smirk on her face, "Your so annoying.".

Clementine chuckled, sitting on his bed, watching him gel his hair back. "You put so much effort into looking good for this role. It's so weird." She mused. "Good work and good impressions will get me where I want to be." Aasim spoke. She looked him over, staring at the uniform, remembering her earlier interaction. "Have you ever thought that...maybe not everyone out of sector 1 isn't as bad as they say they are?" She asked. Aasim flinched slightly, not looking away as he made sure his uniform looked nice. "Sector 2 and 3 aren't so bad. I mean sure, sector 3 prefers to stay more...retro, but their okay still." Aasim said. "No...I mean sector 4." Clem spoke out.

Aasim suddenly stopped, turning to his sister. Clem was surprised, she couldn't read the expression on his face. "What...?" Aasim asked, staring at his sister. "It's just...maybe their not that bad." Her voice quivered, hesitant on her words. Aasim stared at her, scoffing a bit as he shook his head. "Clementine, sweet naive Clem. There are no good people in sector 4, their either Offborns or support the rebellion, hell fight it." Aasim stated. "Still-" She frozen sligtly as he placed both his hands on his shoulders, looking at her sadly. "Clem...you know...as much as I do, they don't want to save families, they want to take them apart." Clementine frowned at his words, seeing the heartache that he kept deep down.

How could she not know? Before they became siblings, they were neighbors. They'd walk to school every mourning as his parents dropped them off on the way to work. Working hard in the fight on sector 4. Then one fateful night.. her parents come home, giving them the horrible news. His parents were killed. They wasted no second, but the death of his parents solidified his pure hatred for anyone in that cursed sector.

"I'm sorry Aasim... I know how rought this is on you." She stood up, wrapping her arms around her brother. He flinched for a moment, before slowly wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay it's just... it still hurts to think about." He whispered out. She ran her finger through his hair, not caring if he'd fuss over it later. "I know..i'm sorry, for being naive. I don't know what it's like out there." Clementine said. "And I hope you never will." With that he patted her back, moving to make sure he had everything ready. Giving him a small wave, she left his room, frowning. "Sorry Aasim, but I need to know more about that kid."

The moment the rest of her family fell asleep, the girl bursted into action. It was roughly 10pm, thank god it was friday. Packing some food, water, and other various items, she tossing her bag onto her back. "Alright, let's just hope I don't get caught." Clem murmured, slipping out of her room and heading outside. If she got caught, her parents would kill her. And if her parents didn't kill her, then Aasim definetly would.

Taking a breath, she started running through the streets, praying no one would see her. Moving around, she pulled a map up on her C.A.B. "What's the closest route to sector 4?" She asked, going wide eyed as a red warning appeared on the screen. "Area not permitted to civilians under the ALPHA code." Her C.A.B. warned her. Huffing, Clementine spoke again, "Give me the quickest route to sector 3.". The holographic map pended for a moment, before a red trail was mapped out, leading her through the sectors. "Good." She smiled, following the path.

A chill ran down the girls spine as she past the border for sector 1. She had never actually left her sector, god, why was she doing this? For some little kid she caught stealing from the district. "What are you doing Clementine?" The girl grimaced, traveling around. ALPHA guards patrolled the area, making her travel around carefully. She knew the security would only get tighter the farther she went. "This better be worth it." She whispered to herself, sneaking around the second district, taking the fastest way through. No need staying here longer than she needed. What was she even looking for? Some slim evidence at least one person in the last sector was nice? How not all of them wanted to kill ALPHA and innocents from the upper sectors.

She grew more nervous the farther she went, finally entering sector 3. Many of the houses were being rebuilt, trying to match the modern and prestine style of the higher sectors glass houses. They were pretty, but not that private. Thank god for Cortana, she could tint the windows where you can see outside, but no one can see the insides of the house. "At least their upgrading, wonder what the likelihood of this making it down to sector 4 will be." Clementine spoke as she weaved through some houses. She passed through some contruction lots, and finallty saw it. The broken down sign of sector 4. She prayed it wasn't as bad as she thought, but no, it was much worse than the news made it out to be.

Buildings had giant holes in them from explosions, old blood stains trapped on the concrete, a faint soot covering everyone, and every so often wild dogs would run through the streets. "Oh my god..." Clementine gasped, never seeing a real animal before. All she had ever seen was robot dogs, and cats. Hell, Minerva had a robotic parrot. Her amber eyes widened in shock, seeing the dog. "Woah..." She breathed out, standing up. Clem slowlyu moved forward, approaching one of them. Before she could, a loud aggressive bark was heard, making her freeze up. The girl flipped around, eyes wide in terror seeing a large muscular dog behind her. The dog growled, walking towards her slowly. "N-Nice doggy, I'm not going to hurt you." Shit, they didn't activate to your voice, this was the real thing! And she never encountered the realthing. Clementine continued backing up, failing to notice the hole behind her. A scream left her lip as she tripped over her own foot, falling back.

The girl yelped as she hit a steel beam, before tumbling off it and landing hard on the ground. "Ugh, shit..!" Clementine exclaimed, gasping in pain, "Fuck, fuck!". Even the hover board didn't hurt this much. Pushing herself up with one arm, she sat herself down. Clementine shivered, feeling a small inch of water hit her. Did she land in sewer, because if so, ew. Using her C.A.B., she grimaced, looking herself over.

Her knee was skidded to hell, her arm looked broken, and her clean white sector 4 uniform was stained with dirt and blood. "Jesus..." She swore at the sight, gasping as she heard movement around her. Looking around, her amber eyes widened seeing someone running through the water. "Who's there?!" She shouted, looking around in terror. It was painful to stand, but she did it, and the light of her C.A.B. caught a figure. "W-Who's there..?" The girl asked, completely terrified. The figure paused for a moment, before slowly walking forward. Clementine backed up, about to run when she saw two figures behind her. Raising her C.A.B., she shined the light on the figures, gasping to see two kids looking her age, one a blonde girl, and one a darker boy with dreaded hair in a ponytail. "Holy shit she has a C.A.B." The boy with dreaded hair spoke. "She's from the upper sectors?" A gravely voice asked. "Is she a spy?!" A frantic voice shouted. "She can't stay if she is! We need to get rid of her or something!" A boy shouted. "Wait, please-" Clementine tried to defend herself.

"It's her!" A familiar voice caught her attention, and she turned to see the young boy from the market district running to her, "She's the one I was talking about!". Coming into her light, she saw it was the boy, AJ. "AJ, this is who you were talking about?" A girl with a southern accent asked. "I thought you were joking." The boy with dreads stated. "Well, if she helped AJ, maybe she can't be that bad." A female voice spoke. How many people were here? "Wait, who are all you people?" She asked.

'We are the Offborns" Clementine went wide eyed, seeing the cloaked boy from before enter her light, standing before her.

Chapter Text

Clementine stared wide eyed at all the kids around her. "All of you, you're offborns?" She asked. "We don't like the word, but it's true." The dreaded boy spoke, "Though not all of us are Offborns, we were just...born in the rong sector or ended up here for the wrong reasons.". This made her frown, it seemed the area where the unwanted people were sent. The video feeds never mentioned this.

The girl with the southern accent noticed her injuries, grimacing. "That must've been a nasty fall. Why not come and sit fer a sec so I can patch ya up." The southern girl spoke. "I...thanks..." It hurt to much to deny any help. "We're really helping?" The gravely voice asked. "If we don't...we'll look as bad as they make us out to be." The cloaked boy spoke, leading the way. Clementine hesitated for a moment, before following, to her surprise, the boy with the dreaded hair walked besides her without any fear. "Names Louis, or Lou for short if you prefer." He said, a smile on his freckled face.

As they wandered deeper into the sewers, it slowly turned into a mini town looking area, fires, strange cloth houses, you name it. It all looked so...old. Louis chuckled at her face, "Welcome to the old world, we do what we can with what we got.". "Bascially what Louis said." AJ commented, running up to walk with them. Clem gave a small smile, grimacing from the pain. "Hey, there's worse things than broken arms." Louis commented, shrugging his arms-arm?! Her mouth dropped seeing the missing limb. "Get used to it, a lot of us are... yeah." Louis grimaced, tugged up his jacket. In the light she got a better look at him.

Louis' dark hair was tied back in a draided pony tail, a dark green cloth resting on his head. In front of his brown eyes were a set of glasses, which was surprising, most people got a lense, or used holograms to help. Then again, this was the lower sector, and she wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't easy to access. Even so, they actually were doing really well with the technology they had. Well, well wouldn't be a good word. Considering a bunch of them looked like...they were missing limbs. Louis especially, considering how his left sleeve sagged, she could assume nothing was there to support it. Just, damn...

The boy seemed extremely chipper despite his situation, looking at her, "I best introduce everyone else since they won't.". Louis cleared his throat before starting to point at different kids around them, "Violet, she's our legendary badass." he pointed at a girl with blonde hair that had the ends dyed purple. Glancing around, he pointed to a tall boy in dark blue hoodie, "That's Mitch, our demolitions expert. Need something blown up, he's your man.". Louis pointed to a girl with firey red hair, the tips dyed crimson, "She's Sophie, and by god she is a badass with tech. She can make anything out of nothing, and Sophie can hack pretty much anything." Louis boasted, a dorky grin on his face when he spoke about her. Sophie looked back, winking. Clementine smiled, giving a small wave, but paused, her face looked super familiar. The girl looked away again, making Clementine sigh.

"Where are we going?" She asked. "You're gonna get checked up on by Alex and Ruby." Louis explained, the southern girl from earlier waved. James led them into a large tent, where the several makeshift beds were laid out. On the center bed was a red headed girl, and standing besides her was a boy that looked much older than the rest. "Gotta be careful Brody, we only have so many supplies." The older boy spoke gently, wrapping up the red head injured leg. She grimaced, before nodding, "Thanks Alex.". They both looked up noticing the others. "Goddamnit." the older boy tsked seeing Clementine's injuries. Making sure the redhead was okay, he stood up, approaching Clementine. "You can trust Alex, here's our main doctor here, well one of them, Paul's been gone a while." James explained.

Gulping a bit, the girl moved to one of the beds, sitting down. A shiver ran down her spine, as she noticed a bunch of them staring at her. Alex noticed too, folding his arms over his chest, "If your not going to help, get out.". That weeded out more than half of them, making Clementine relax. Now all that remained were Alex, Louis, AJ, and James. Alex got to work on treating her, while their leader decided to start asking questions. "How did you get here?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips. "I snuck in, then a dog scared me, making me fall into the hole." Clementine explained. Louis and AJ busted into laughter, getting a glare from Alex. "What? I've never seen a real dog before, I didn't think there were any left!" She exclaimed. Louis snickered, speaking once he finally calmed down, "That would be Rosie, our outside watch and the sweetest girl ever.". "Sweet, sure." Clem remarked to herself.

James glanced at her, shaking her head, "She can't stay.". "Obviously not, I have a home and family." Clementine commented. Alex looked up, turning to James, "James, if we let her go you know she could easily go back and rat us out right?". When he turned, her amber eyes widened seeing the code on the back of his neck. '030215'.

"Some of you really are from the sectors." Clem breathed out, completely caught off guard by this sudden reveal. Alex flinched, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Just because you weren't born an Offborn doesn't make you safe.". The bitterness in his tone made her bite her lip, had she offended him? Deciding to keep her mouth shut, she let the older boy work. And good lord was it agony, especially when he had to set some bones back into place. "Ugh, shit!" She cried out, swearing louder when it snapped back into place. Louis covered AJ's ears, trying not to look. Finally he was done, making her take a whimpering breath. "Mom and dad are going to lose it when they see this." She swore softly, cradling her arm. "At least the fall didn't kill you, because that was just rough." Louis remarked, getting a side eyed glare from her, "What? That was probably the least graceful way I've seen anyone enter. D- at most.". "Louis, shut up." Alex groaned.

Inspecting his work, Alex stood up, turning to James, who nodded. "Louis, AJ, why not...look around with her? We're going to talk to the others." Not asking for a reply, the two boys left. "Their friendly." Clementine murmured. "Their nice, I promise." AJ said, walking out of the tent with them. Clem hissed, looking at her bandaged arm. "It'll heal with time, trust me." Louis said, walking with her through the camp. "Yours didn't." She spoke without thinking, her eyes widening in terror upon realizing what she said, "Oh my gosh I am so so sorry.". Louis tried laughing it off, but she could see the pain in his eyes, "It's okay, people ask about it a lot.". "No they don't." AJ commented. "Okay you little goof, why not make like a leaf and scram?" Louis asked. AJ stuck his tongue out, before running off to play with some of the other kids.

"He's cute." She chuckled. "When he wants to be." Louis smirked. The two of them walked for a while, and the more she looked, the more she thought. This didn't look like the video feeds at all. Things looked, calm down here. The streets were quiet when she entered too, hardly any guards in sight except ones protecting the border around the sector. This put so many confusing thoughts in her head.

Louis glanced at her, thinking, "Ever seen Jaws? Or Forest Gump?". She raised a brow, that was probably the most confusing thing he's said all day. "What are you talking about? What are those weird names?" She questioned. His mouth dropped instantly, eyes wide. "You've never seen any of the jaws movies?" He questioned, eyes wide. His mouth dropped more somehow when she shook her head. "Holy shit, let me see you C.A.B." Louis quickly said. Clementine hesitated for a moment, before holding out her wrist. Louis took her arm gently, tapping at the screen. To her surprise, the screen was warped and bugging out. "What did you do to it?" She asked panciked. "Nothing, the signal down here is crap, we are underground after all." Louis explained.

He looked around for a moment, before smirking, getting an idea. "Come on." He walked ahead a bit, pushing aside some wood planks. Clementine flinched as he pulled out a old hover board, it was clearly a few models outdated, and barely looked functional. "Are you trying to kill me?" She gaped. "Hey, don't let appearances fool you, this baby works great." Louis said, as he climbed onto the hover board, a vibrate teal light leaving it the second he stepped onto it. She grimaced, rubbing the scar over her chin. Louis looked at her, holding out his hand, "Come on, it's not all that bad if you know how to use it." He spoke. Clem looked at him, thinking.

Something about the way he acted made her trust him, like he'd do no wrong to her.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the hover board with him, clinging to his waist for support. Louis smiled, pressing his foot down on a button, and her eyes widen as restraints clamped around their ankles, holding them in. "This isn't on the newer models?" Clem breathed out as the hover board started floating, and eventually soaring through the air. "Yeah, Sophie added them so no one fell off." He explained. "Wish that was around when I got mine." Clementine murmured, rubbing her chin.

Louis flew them up to one of the higher areas of the community, before landing. He picked the hover boardup, walking to a small area of items. Clem looked at it surprised. There was an old wooden piano, a desk, a few disk and vinyl covers spread around. A large carpet rested on the floor for the area. Louis kicked off his boots, stepping onto the carpet. "Take your shoes off in the Louis sanctum." He spoke. She cracked a grin, "Louis sanctum?". Taking off her shoes, she moved to sit besides him on the carpet. "It's where I go when I need me time." Louis explained, leaning over and tapping her C.A.B. This time it worked. The hologram popped up, and after a few minutes of searching he found files for some old movies. "What are we watching?" She asked. "Let's watch Guardians of the Galaxy, it's a classic." Louis explained, selecting the movie, grinning as it began playing on the hologram. "When was it made?" She asked. "2014." Louis explained. "Woah." Clem's mouth dropped, "That's old.". Louis chuckled, watching the movie with her.

It was amusing for him to watch her reaction to the movie, he'd chuckle every now and then at her reactions. "You okay?" He snickered, patting her back. "You jerk, I thought Groot was going to stay dead!" She pouted, punching his arm. Louis snickered, patting her head. "If I told you what was going to happen I would've spoiled it for you." Louis remarked. She pouted, looking away from him. Louis softly sighed, before getting an idea, holding out her arm, she began typing away at the small screen of her C.A.B. It was a bit difficult and slow considering he only had one arm, but he got it done.

A beautiful light filled the room, and Clementine's eyes widened seeing vibrate blues, purples, and pinks be projected. "What is that..?" She gasped out. "It's the galaxy." He adjusted her wrist a bit, before laying down. She looked at him, before laying down as well. The girl laid down, completely mesmerized by the beautiful lights of the galaxy. Even if it wasn't actually there, it was beautiful. There was a faint feeling on her finger tips, and she glancing to see Louis slowly moving his hand to hers. She smiled, taking her hand. A faint chuckle left her as he tensed up from this, causing a blush to gow on her face. Smiling at Louis, she turned her focus back to the hologram, staring at it with him besides her.

Maybe the world down here wasn't as bad as they made it out to be.

Chapter Text

Much to everyone's surprise, they had decided Clementine could leave. The girl grunted as she was forced to the surface with Louis' help. He looked at her, sighing softly. "I...it was nice meeting you." He smiled. "It was nice meeting you too." She smiled back, and started walking off. Louis grinned, flying back down to the base on his hover board. God, he was falling so hard for her. Blushing heavily, he headed to his tent, wondering when he'd see her again. He passed by Violet, excusing himself knowing she was about to scavenge. Entering the tent, Louis collapsed onto his bed, a huge grin on his face as he thought of her.

Clementine rushed home, praying her parents weren't awake. Thankfully, they weren't. Unfortunately, it was much worse. The moment she stepped inside she noticed a light from downstairs, making her cringe a bit. Shit. The girl slowly tip toed from the front door, when her C.A.B. began beeping. "Oh crap, no no!" Clem gasped in horror, slapping at it. She finally shut it off, and when she looked up the light from downstairs was off.

Oh no.

With a burst of adrenaline, she bolted to her room, paying no mind to her injuries. Throwing her backpack onto the chair, she felt her heartbeat quicken as the footsteps got closer. Kicking her shoes across her floor, she dove onto her bed, pulling the sheets over her body just her door slid open. A figure peaked in, glancing around for few moments. Clem held her breath, doing her best to pretend she was asleep. The figure gave one last once over, before leaving. She couldn't even see who it was as she was trying to act asleep. Not wanting to risk anything, she adjusted the sheets and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come easy to her.

"I hate..." Clem couldn't even finish her sentence as she let out a large yawn. She rubbed her eyes, looking at her reflection, watching a bunch of icons appear on the mirror. "Let's hope make up can cover this up." She grimaced at the injuries. Sighing, the girl opened up her drawer, taking all the make up supplies she had out. Here goes nothing.

Stepping out of her room, she grimaced. "I forgot how much I hated make up." Clementine huffed out, walking out of her room and heading to the kitchen. Thank god for no school, there was no way she could get away with the make up around Minerva. Entering the kitchen, she frowned seeing her parents were out. It was nothing new, but still, it had become a lot more frequent.

Her eyes widened hearing a snoring sound, making her turn. "What the..?" Clem rose a brow, seeing Aasim fast asleep at the table. Why did she have the feeling this was going to become a hobby? "What time did you go to sleep?" Clementine murmured, poking him. He hardly reacted, snoring away. Wow, this was so not Aasim. Falling asleep at the table, let alone in his uniform. "You think he'd learn his lesson by now." She rolled her eyes. He spent so much time making sure he was doing things perfectly, that he forgot to perfectly take care of his body. Tsking, Clem walked to the fridge, grabbing the juice carton. Skimming the fridge, she found nothing else she wanted, and closed he door. Moving over to the cabinets, she grabbed the juice carton, pouring juice into the cup.

A noise behind her made her tense, quickly turning around. Thankfully it was just Aasim. Relaxing she sighed softly. There would always be that fear that somehow, someway, someone would find out she sneaked out of sector 1 and met up with some Offborns. It was a scary thought.

"Want some?" She asked once he was more away. Aasim groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Unless it's coffee, I want none of it." He spoke. Smirking, she turned to the coffee brewer. "Cortana, black coffee." She spoke, watching the coffee machine activate, "To think dad hated that thing when we first go it.". "Being an engineer was gonna get him hooked to it, no matter how bad it taste. Not that it taste bad." He spoke, stretching. Putting the carton away, Clementine walked over to the table, sitting across from her brother. A sigh left his lips as the coffee machine dinged. "Praise the machine." Aasim got up, walking over. He took a mug, filling it up with the dark liquid. Pulling his cup away, sipping at it, relaxing.

"Better?" Clem teased. "Shut up." Aasim rolled his eyes, drinking more of his coffee. Letting out a relieved sigh, he walked over, sitting besides her. The holographic TV appeared, making Clem raise a brow. "It knows you so well." She spoke. "Well being a part of the security team, I have to be up to date on everything with Offborns in sector 4." Aasim explained. She frowned a bit, "Don't you think it's a bit unfair to generalize the entire sector because of some Offborns in there?".

Shit, she just had to get started.

"Clementine, we are not having this talk again. It's not just Offborns, that entire sector is a disaster, even if we removed the Offborns it's a fucking mess." Aasim stated. Clementine sighed, there was no point in trying. It was power washed into his brain. It had been for all of them when they grew up. Hell, it was her mind set until she actually met some of them. That moment with Louis... it was still a great memory. A faint smile tugged at her cheeks, and unfortunately Aasim noticed. "What's got you so giddy?" He asked. Crap, Clementine think of something. Her mouth hung open as her brain completely flat lined. Aasim stared at her for a moment, before slowly looking at the hologram. "Okayyyy." Aasim murmured. Wow, she looked like a complete dumbass. Which she probably sounded like.

Sipping at her juice, she slowly looked at him. "So...what have you been up to lately?" She asked. It felt like they hardly had time to speak recently. It felt like that with all her family. "I can't tell you about work, you already know that." Aasim stated. Of course, stupid ALPHA. "Fine, tell me about what you do at home then." She huffed out. "Train, catch up on rules." Aasim spoke. "Wow, I knew you were boring but this is a whole new level Aasim." Clem scoffed, suddenly getting a idea, "Hey, Metra festival is tomorrow, we should go.". Aasim's eyes widened. "What? You want to go?" He asked. "Did I stutter?" She scoffed. "Clem, I can't, I'm way to busy.".

Ignoring him, she typed on her C.A.B., a devilish grin on her face. "Clem no-" Aasim began. "And three tickets to the Metra festival have been ordered!" Clem cheered. Aasim groaned, shaking his head. "I hate you." He groaned. "It'll be fun." She grinned.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe you made me come." Aasim huffed out. "Come on Aasim, have fun for once." Minerva commented. Clem scoffed, "We both know that's not likely to happen." Clementine stated. Aasim scowled at the two, folding his arms over his chest. "Aw don't be so grumpy Aasim. You might find that special lady here~" Minerva teased, nudging him with her elbows, a huge grin on her face. He gaped, appalled by her statement. "You two are children!" He exclaimed, making both girls burst into laughter.

Eventually the car made it to the festival, and all three climbed out. "Thanks Doug." Minerva said to her driver, watching him drive off, "Doug is such a nice guy.". "Well knowing who your dad is he has too." Aasim remarked. "Hey, be nice to him." Minerva spoke. Clem had to admit. She was extremely jealous. Being extremely rich during this time must be great. Though looking at her best friend made her think of something. Sophie looked a lot like her.

Clementine was about to say something, when she spotted a familiar figure wandering through the crowds. Four to be exact. "Oh shit..." Clem breathed out. "Hey, language." Aasim stated. "Is something wrong, Clem?" Minerva asked, her voice holding a worried tone. Clem nervously gulped, shaking her head. "No, no it's fine." Clem looked around, "I'll be right back.". Before either of them could ask, Clem began maneuvering her way through the crowd. Alongside the walls some shows began, various people displaying their gorgeous neon art. Vibrant blues, pinks, and purples surrounded her. As much as she wanted to enjoy these designs, she was more focused on these odd festival goers.

Finally finding them, she approached them, grabbing one of their arms. The blonde turned around, glaring at her. "Ouch, what are you-" They stopped, going wide eyed. "Violet, you oka- Clem?" Louis gaped. Clem looked at the four, grimacing. Violet, Louis, Sophie, and Mitch were here. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked. "Enjoying the Metra festival." Sophie said. "You guys can't be here, it's sector 1." Clem grimaced. Mitch glared, stepping in front of Clementine, making her nervously let go of Violet's arm. "Why? You going to say anything?" Mitch's voice had a threatening tone, making her flinch. "Mitch back off." Louis said. Violet glared at the boy. "Louis, she's one of them." Violet snapped at him, making Louis flinch. "Guys, let's just keep going." Sophie stated, looking sadly at Clementine.

Violet glared at Clementine, and Sophie took her hand. "Come on Vi, we gotta go." Sophie spoke with a softness in her voice. The blonde girl relaxed from the touch, sighing heavily. "Come on guys." Keeping her hand in Sophie's, the four left. "Wait-" Clementine frowned, as the four vanished in the crowds. She sighed heavily to herself, moving back to find the other two.

Looking at the vibrant lights, and endless technology at the festival put a pit in her stomach. Her heart ached, and she bit at her lip anxiously. They were flourishing, getting the best of the best. Meanwhile, any community below them got the scraps of what was left. Sector 1 and 2 had excellent health. Yet she found so many children missing body parts in sector 4. Frowning to herself, she walked up to some of the shops, looking at what they were selling. Man, she was taking these things for granted. Looking at the latest model of the C.A.B., she glanced at the device on her wrist. Her hand trembled slightly, staring at the device on her wrist. She looked around, her heart beat quickening. Amber eyes flicked back and forth as she looked at all the vibrant lights around her.

They were having such a luxury while the people below them were suffering. People from the higher sectors had to leave their homes to actually help them. The people of sector 3 being forcefully removed from their homes so their land could be updated to the 'perfect' standard. ALPHA was taking it upon themselves to fix these sectors, not caring who was hurt.

"Oh my god..." Clementine gasped out, starting to run through the crowds. She ran and ran, the noise around her blurring. Her heart hammered on her chest. Why was it like this? Why was.. Clementine let out a yelp as she ran into someone. "I-I'm sorry..." She panted out, pushing herself up. Seeing who it was made her flinch. "James..?" Clem nervously asked. The leader of the Offborns glanced at her silently, then looked away. Clem pushed herself up, panting nervously. "Wh-Why are you here?" She asked. "Need to get my people out, they're here." James breathed out. Clem prepared to ask who, when a bunch of shouting caught her attention.

Turning around, the girls eyes widened seeing an all to familiar woman walking through the crowds. Senator Ophelia Wilson. The leader and creator of ALPHA. "We need to get the others out." She turned around, gaping as James was gone already. How the hell?! Glancing around the crowds, she spotted the four wandering around. Oh no. If they got caught... they couldn't be spotted.

Her heart hammered. 'Don't do it.' the girl wandered to a shop, pulling her hood up. 'You hardly know them.' making sure the shop owner wasn't looking, she opened the back panel of the hoverboard. 'THIS IS A MISTAKE' looking at the wires, she began pulling them apart one by one. 'STOP' thank god for Minnie being an experimental kid. 'STOP IT' Clementine closed the back panel, turning on the hoverboard.

She sprinted off as fast as she could, her heart hammering violently as a loud explosion went off. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the panicked screams. Pulling her hoodie down, she glanced back, not seeing any of the others. "Please be safe." She thought. While running, Clem ran into Aasim and Minerva. Both were extremely worried, but were too focused on getting away from the fires to notice. "Let's get out of here." Aasim tugged her arm, guiding her through the crowds. Clementine hesitantly nodded, gulping.

Please, let this be worth it.

Chapter Text

"What have I done..?" Clementine thought while watching the news. Over 100 people got hurt at the festival. Things weren't looking good. In fact, her actions did exactly the opposite of what she wanted. Media wasted no time blaming the explosion on the Offborns and the people of sector 4. The leader of ALPHA sent some of her men there to...teach them a lesson.

How did things get so bad?

Turning off the TV, Clementine got up, walking to her room. Shuffling to her bed, she flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. She wanted to help them for some reason, but every time she did it went wrong. "What the hell is wrong with me..?" Clementine grimaced, laying on her side. The girl closed her eyes hoping to get some sleep. Of course that didn't happen though. Her night was full of tossing and turning. "Fuck this." Grumbling, she pushed her off the bed, making her way to the kitchen. Maybe a late night sip of tea or snack would help her relax.

Entering the kitchen, she was surprised to find Aasim sitting at the table with a drink in his hand. "How foreboding of you Aasim." Clementine spoke, entering the kitchen. He looked up, and even in the dark she noticed the bags under his eyes. "Can't sleep?" Aasim asked. Clem softly shook her head, walking to the fridge and looking at what they had. Glancing at Aasim, she looked at the glass in his hand.

"I didn't know you drink." Clementine said, coming over with a cup and a carton of orange juice. Her brother simply shrugged, resting his head on his hands. She frowned, leaning over and patting his shoulder. Aasim looked up silently, giving a small smile.

For a moment, no words were spoken, there was just a silence between the. Even without the words though, they could understand how the other felt. Well, in a sense. Aasim didn't know she knew some Offborns.

Eventually Aasim stood up, holding his glass. "I'm gonna go to my room. Try to get some sleep, you got school tomorrow." Aasim stated, getting up to leave. He paused for a moment, looking as if he was going to say something. "...night." Clementine frowned, watching him walk off and head to his room. "Night..." She sighed softly, hanging her head low. Maybe going back to school was just what she needed to get back on track. Worry only about petty drama at school and keeping good grades. "Cortana, turn off the light." She sighed out, staying seated as the lights in the kitchen went out.

Clementine rubbed her tired eyes, approaching the school. She did her best to hide her limp. A grimace would appear with every step she took, making her swear. "It's been a few days, I should be better." Clem swore softly. Her mother being a nurse was a worry to her at first. Thankfully she was so busy dealing with wound ALPHA men that she wasn't home much. It was saddening at first, but it was better than explaining her injuries to her mother. Continuing her way to school, she got in line to enter, making sure her C.A.B. was on. Waiting, she noticed a strangely familiar figure wandering about. Oh no.

Glancing around, Clementine quickly walked over to the figure, and her suspicions were confirmed. Louis. He turned to her, looking relieved. "Clem, I-" Louis gasped as she grabbed his arm, yanking him behind a wall, "Hey, hey careful I only got one!". Making sure no one was listening, Clem focused on the boy in front of her. "What are you doing here Louis?! You can't be here..!" Clem exclaimed, glancing around anxiously. "I had to Clem, I...we need your help." Louis pleaded.

This caught her off guard. "You need my help? Louis I can't." Clementine stated. "I understand how risky this is for your but...please Clem, we haven't seen Violet since the festival." Louis spoke, "Please, Clem.". The girl looked at him, frowning as she glanced back at the school. She couldn't keep doing this. "I can't help you...I-I'm sorry, it was a one time thing." She turned, about to walk off.

"I-I know y-you helped up back at the festival. Please Clem, I can't do this alone. I shouldn't even be out here, James will lose his mind." Louis explained, making her pause. Why would he freak if one of their people were missing. "Louis, what do you mean?" She asked. "I... We have a rule. If someone's gone for more than 12 hours without any updates, we aren't to search for them. That's our rule because we can't afford to lose anyone. Please...Clem she's one of my best friends. I can't just leave her, what if she's hurt or worse." Louis looked at her pleadingly, making her heart ache. "I..." Her words caught in her throat.

She couldn't be serious about this...could she..?

Biting her lip, Clem took a heavy inhale. "Let's go find Violet." She said, a determined look on her face. Louis' frown vanished, a smile on his face. Her amber eyes widened as he pulled out a hoverboard. "Ready for a ride?" He asked, climbing on and holding out a hand. Oh, she was so going to regret this later. Tossing her school bag into a rubbing tin, she nodded, taking his hand. "Hold on tight." Louis stepped on one of the buttons, and the board began hovering. Leaning forward, Clementine let out a gasp as the board flew forward, quickly traveling down the streets. It was just helping him look for Violet, it would be fine.

Chapter Text

Clementine held onto Louis' waist as he led the hoverboard around, keeping a good grip so she didn't fall off. As they went, she began to notice a tall building coming closer. "Louis?" She asked. He didn't reply, remaining silent. A concerned look grew on her face, and she flinched seeing the others standing near the back of the building, of course from a very far and safe distance. "Louis, why are we at the ALPHA base?" She frantically asked, her concern growing as he landed the board. Clem stepped off, watching him put the board away. "About time you got her." Mitch scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"Louis?" She looked at him wide eyed. The boy frowned, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry Clementine...I knew you wouldn't agree to come if we told you the truth." Louis frowned. Clem felt her heart break, staring at him. "I trusted you...I, I can't stay here." Clem turned to leave, when Mitch and Sophie yanked her back, "Let me go!". The orange haired girl looked at her panicked, "Clementine please..! It's not all a lie, they have Vi, I know it! I can't get us in though, my hacking isn't good enough!" Sophie begged.

The tone of her voice broke her heart, making her frown. She looked at the group before her, grimacing a bit. "I...fine...but after this, I don't want anything to do with any of you again! I want out of all of this, no more visiting or helping!" Clementine exclaimed, "I just want my life back in order..!".

Everyone tensed at her yelling, staring at her surprised. Louis flinched at her tone, but slowly nodded, looking away from her. Clem almost felt bad, but she couldn't do this anymore. The rest looked at her, before nodding. "Once Vi's out of there, you won't have to worry about us ever again...it will... it will be like we never existed.." Sophie softly spoke. "That's how most people think we should be at least..." Omar grimaced.

Finally moving, the group moved closer to the base, noting the heavy security. "How are we going to get in?" Brody asked. Glancing around, Clementine was able to crane her neck enough to look at the rooftops of the building. Jesus, who designed this place. Sure the reflective glass was pretty, but still this was just unnecessary. It was also odd to her how this was just bothering her. Things you notice when you're actively trying to break into ALPHA. "What about the roof?" Clementine asked, pointing to a helicopter flying in from the north. "What are they doing with helicopters?" Mitch breathed out. "Probably dropping off supplies to their men i'm guessing. The roof might be super guarded, it's not a good idea." Brody explained. "Plus, there's a ton of security cameras up there, we can't take them all out without anyone noticing." Louis commented.

Looking around again, Clementine noticed a area where trucks were driving in. "What about the loading garage? All of us can jump into a car, maybe have someone in a disguise." Clementine offered. Sophie peaked over, looking long and hard. "That could work. I know a worker here, the guy owes me a favor." Sophie explained. "How did you get an ALPHA soldier to owe you a favor?" Louis asked, completely surprised. "You don't want to know. Anyway, I can ask, but we won't get a favor from him again." She stated.

Checking around on last time, she noticed a grate not far from them, grimacing. "There's always the sewer system." She suggested. "Great, more sewers." Omar scoffed. "ALPHA has their own water system, I heard about it at school. It shouldn't be guarded." Clementine explained. "It'll take to long though, and we could get lost." Mitch remarked, "It's a stupid go.".

The others looked at each other, then to Clementine. "Alright, where do you think we should go Clem?" Brody asked. Her eyes widened. "You guys wanted me to pick?" She questioned. "Yes, now hurry up and pick dammit." Mitch snapped, getting elbowed by Louis. "Pick carefully Clem." Sophie stated. Okay, no pressure.

There were three options. Rooftops, loading garage, and water way. The rooftops could be useful, Sophie could probably hack into one of the computers and take control. As useful as it could be there were a ton of risk though, guards and cameras all over most likely. The loading garage would have a lot of guards, but it could be the chance to get some good supplies. The safest option seemed to be the water way. It was also probably the longest one too.

"Well Clem?" Brody asked. Looking up, Clem nodded, "We're going through the loading garage.". "If your sure." Louis grimaced. "Should I call in that favor?" Sophie asked. "Yes, it'll make it easier to get in." Clementine responded. Nodding, Sophie pulled out a walkie-talkie, making a call.

It took a while to get everything in order, but thankfully it worked. The group hid in the back of the truck, staying silent as they possibly could. Brody hesitantly peaked out from her spot, shuddering seeing them enter the area of the base. The truck stopped as the guards questioned the driver. Shit, shit. They were all sitting anxiously. Any wrong move could end with them all dead. Clementine felt her heart beat quicken, struggling to keep quiet.

Mitch glanced around, before leaning forward and opening the metal box beside him. "What are you doing..?" Brody gasped out. Mitch ignored her, looking in, and a smirk grew on his face. "Jack pot." Mitch pulled out two ALPHA handguns, observing them. "They are chipped yet. We can use them." Sophie grinned, slowly crawling forward and grabbing one. "Are you guys seriously stealing ALPHA weapons?" Clementine scowled. "Gotta protect ourselves, of course." Mitch scoffed, passing out one to each of the members. Louis held the gun in his only hand, shaking his head a bit.

Clem sat silently, when suddenly the gun was held out to her. She looked at him, surprised. "I....I can't really use it with one arm. It's probably better if you take it, to protect yourself you know." Louis stated. Clementine stared at the gun for a moment, before finally taking it. "This doesn't make us even for you lying to me." She stated, not looking him in the eyes. He sighed, looking at her. "I know it doesn't...Clem, I-" Before he could finish his words the driver caught their attention.

"Get ready kids, your in the hornets nest now." The man explained as he pulled into the loading dock. Holy shit, this was it.

Chapter Text

"Let's do this." Mitch climbed out of the truck, slowly glancing around. The loading dock had a few people wandering around, but thankfully there wasn't that big of a number. Louis peaked out from behind a crate, raising a brow. "What's the plan?" He whispered. "Save Violet, mess some ALPHA shit up, easy." Mitch scoffed. The orange haired girl beside him elbowed him, glaring. "We'll wait for the guards to switch shifts, then we'll go from there." Sophie explained, glancing around. Clem tugged her hood up nervously, feeling extremely anxious. Who knows what would happen if she was caught?

Much to her relief, the guards started switching out. "Quick, let's go!" They all ran through the loading docks, entering a bright white hallway. "Ugh, what is with all these bright colors?" Omar groaned. "They believe white is a sign of purity, a way to future." Clementine explained. How horribly true it was. Nearly every building in sector 1 was white or made of glass. The horrible truth that ALPHA and the people believed. They were pure, because they were removing the unwanted. The offborns and people of sector 4.

The thought alone made Clementine's stomach twist. She hated it. Why did she have to find out about them? Her life was perfectly fine before all of this.

Eventually the slowed down, and Sophie pulled out a tablet. "What are you doing?" Clem asked. Sophie did a shushing noise, tapping at the screen. A cheer left her as the cameras around them lowered. "Nice one Soph." Mitch smirked. "How much time do we have left?" Omar questioned, glancing around to make sure no one was near. Sophie slid the tablet into her bag, leading the way, "Ten at most.". "That's nowhere near enough time!" Clem exclaimed. "That's what you think." Sophie responded, running down the hall until they arrived at the security office.

Clementine glanced around, raising a brow. "Where are all the guards?" She asked. "There." Louis pointed to a screen, and Clem gaped. Marlon was riding on a motorcycle, driving through the streets of sector 1, being chased by ALPHA soldiers. "Wow." Clem gaped, blinking in surprise. "Marlon got skill." Louis chuckled, but stopped remembering she was mad at him. The girl silently looked away, staring at the floor.

Sophie approached the console of the security office, working away. Her focus seemed unbreakable, her fingers moving extremely fast on the holographic keyboard. The others moved up, seeing what she was doing. Various files played, until one caught their eyes.

"There!" Omar pointed, making Sophie quickly select a video, their eyes widening. It was the video feed of few soldiers chasing after Violet. "Play it." Sophie clicked on it immediately, her heart hammering in fear.

Violet panted, running as fast as her legs would take her. "Get back here!" A woman shouted. The blonde girl weaved through the crowds, blood running down her nose. "Shit, shit..." Violet gasped out, looking around frantically. "There!" The same woman shouted. Her eyes widened, and she began running again, her legs aching and lungs burning. "Don't let her get away!" A soldier yelled. Seeing no other way around, she ran into building, pushing her way upstairs. Ignoring the angry pedestrians, she weaved through the crowds. Damnit, why wouldn't they let up! They've been at this since the festival.

Scrambling up the three floors, Violet swung a door open, her heart hammering as she found herself on the rooftops. "No... no shit..!" Violet swore, holding her hands to her head in panic. Where would she go..?! Where could she go?! Biting her lip, she looked around for any other way, when she noticed a rooftop nearby. "This is insane..." The blonde whispered, pausing as she heard the soldiers rushing up the stairs. No time to stop.

Taking a deep breath, Violet backed up, getting ready to run. She had to live, for Sophie and the others. Releasing the breath, she bursted forward, running as fast as her body would take her. Nearing the edge, she brought her knees down, pushing herself up with all the force she could. She flung forward, nearing the edge of the buildin-BANG!

Violet screamed as she crashed onto the other roof, a fresh bullet wound in her chest. The girl whimpered, glancing back, seeing a single officer standing at the doorway of the rooftops. Turning back forward, she began crawling away as fast as she could, pulling her injured body along the rooftops. If there was a dumpster down there, she could land in it and keep moving..! The officer silently stared at her, before walking up to her. Violet grunted in pain, pulling herself along faster, practically clawing at the material to pull herself along. The soldier got closer to her, and Violet glanced back, thrusting her leg back. The soldier yelled, swearing angrily from the force. She neared the edge, ready to flip herself off the roof, when the soldier yanked her back by the hair.

"L-let me go you fucker...!" Violet shouted as she was dragged away, before flinching as a cold metal was pressed against her head. No. Wide gray-green eyes looked over, seeing the gun pointed at her head. No- BANG!

The video feed cut out, leaving the others horrified. "Vi..." Brody shook her head, whimpering heavily. Omar stared silently at the screens in shock, before glancing at Sophie. Her hands trembled from being clenched, tears running down her blank expression. "So much for the rescue mission..." Louis softly muttered, staring at the floor. Clem looked at the group sadly, at a loss for words. "I'm..." Before she could finish her sentence, an alarm went off, making them all look up in panic.

"I thought you said we had ten minutes!" Louis exclaimed. Sophie scowled, attaching her tablet to the system of the security feeds. "Sophie, we gotta go!" Brody pleaded. The orange haired girl made no movement, making Mitch swear. He rushed forward, pushing whatever he could in front of the door. Clem watched as Omar and Louis rushed to help him, the girl moving over panicked. "Sophie please, we need to go! I know I haven't known you long, but Violet would want you to live!" Clementine exclaimed. Sophie sat silently, staring at the holograms as tears ran down her cheeks. The others looked at each other, not knowing what to say. "We need to go..." Brody gasped out, starting to panic. Mitch grimaced, seeing Sophie wasn't moving.

"We gotta go." Pulling down a filing cabinet, Mitch stood on it, breaking the vents open, "Come on.". Brody wasted no time, getting into the vents with Mitch's help. "Come on..!" She called out. Omar and Louis rushed over, while Clem stood still, looking at Sophie silently. "We can't leave her." And she rushed over to the girl.

Louis pleaded for her to follow, but she ignored him. "We got to go!" She shouted. Sophie shook her head, and Clem swore. Raising her hand, she smacked her in the face. Sophie tensed, looking at Clementine shocked. "W-What the hell..?" Sophie breathed out. "Come on!" Clem yanked her up, pulling her to the vent. The orange haired girl yanked free, grabbing the tablet, giving Clem a tearful look. She frowned, watching Sophie run over and climb up. Clementine was about to climb up, when Mitch started crawling through. "W-What about me..?!" She gasped out as the door was being rammed into. "Your from sector 1, you can handle getting caught." He hissed out, crawling through. "Guys, please..!" Clementine shouted, trembling as the door was nearly knocked off.

"Come on!" She looked up in panic, seeing Louis leaning down over the edge, holding out his only hand. Biting her lip, she saw no other choice. Clem grunted, jumping up as high as she could. Her finger tips grazed his, making them both swear. "Come on Clem, just a little more!" Louis shouted, giving her a concerned look. She grimaced, jumping up again, him nearly getting a grip on her. "I can't..!" Clem exclaimed. "Yes you can, one more big jump!" The boy pleaded.

The door was nearly down, and Clem bit her lip, jumping up again. Louis let out a pained grunt, catching a grip on her. Pulling her up best her could without falling, he lifted her to the edge of the vent. A gasp of relief left her as she pulled herself up, panting heavily. "Louis, you saved me..!" She exclaimed. "Consider it payback for lying." Louis frowned slightly. "Come on!" Brody shouted from the end of the vent. The two of them began crawling through the grates, until they made it to the edge. Clementine hoped down, and Louis joined her. "Oh great, you got her." Mitch scoffed, making Louis glare. "What the fuck, Mitch?" He asked. "You don't have to do that, I can handle MYSELF." Clementine stated, glaring at Mitch, Her glared right back at her, but they were interrupted by yelling not far.

They had to keep going, NOW! "Sophie, we need a distraction!" Louis exclaimed. The girl pulled out her tablet, typing at the screen. The lights began flickering, making Mitch groan. "Thanks for making it hard on us!" He shouted. "Shut up asshole, I got a map right here!" Sophie led them through the base, using her directions. "He's still there, we get to the loading bay and we're safe!" She explained.

Only a few halls away from the loading bay, the door suddenly shut, cutting Louis and Clem off from the others. "Sophie!" Louis shouted. The rest of them turned around, shocked seeing them separated. "What happened?!" Omar exclaimed. "It's an emergency shut down, their trying to lock us in!" Sophie gasped out. "That's the least of their problems." Brody gasped out, making Clem turn around. In the flickering black lights she saw a figure standing at the end of the hallway, clutching a weapon. Her throat tightened in horror realizing who it was.

"Aasim..?"

Aasim glared at the two of them, the lights flickering off, and in the pitch black darkness that weapon turned on, revealing itself to be an E.E.L. Her father worked on the older prototypes. It was an ALPHA only weapon, that would give a paralyzing shock. The bright electric blue light made her freeze her eyes wide in absolute terror.

"Sophie, get that door open!" Clementine screamed as he got closer.

Chapter Text

Clementine trembled, staring at the figure down the hallway. No way. No fucking way. Eyes wide in fear, she turned around, hitting the door. “Open the door!” Louis frantically shouted. Clem turned around, scared. She couldn’t say anything with Aasim there! If he recognized her, it was game over!

Smacking her fist into the door, she swore. “We can’t get it open!” Brody exclaimed. Clementine looked behind her tensing, seeing him swing the E.E.L. at them. Tackling Louis, the two barely avoided being hit. “Just run!” Louis shouted, scrambling to his feet. The others looked over worried, but eventually ran.

Looking at her brother scared, she gasped as a hand took hers. “Come on!” Louis shouted, she numbly nodded and they ran, his grip tight on her hand. The two of them ran, running as fast as their legs would move.

How did things get like this? The thought haunted her, how had they gotten here?

Pushing back the thought, she gasped as Aasim caught up with them, tackling Louis to the ground with a feral yell. “Louis!” The girl couldn’t help but scream, covering her mouth in shock. Louis struggled, hitting Aasim in the face. Aasim let out a pained yell, blood running down his nose. The boy glared, swiping the blood of his nose. Clem flinched watching her brother tackle Louis, gripping the E.E.L.

The girl stood tense, amber eyes wide as the blue electricity crackled in the flickering light. The two boys struggled, Louis struggling more due to his missing arm. His eyes darted over to her, wide and pleading.

Shit.

What the fuck was she supposed to do..?! Aasim was her brother for fucks sakes! But Louis, Louis was her friend. Sure he lied to her, but...but. Biting her lip, she moved to grab something. Her entire body went rigid hearing a yell, making her turn to see Aasim successfully shock Louis.

“NO!” Picking up a broken pipe from when the boys crashed, she reeled her arms back. Sorry Aasim. Swinging it, she struck the boy in the head, knocking him off Louis. Her heart ached, but she had no choice.

Rushing over to Louis, helping him up. Clementine grunted, nearly falling over from Louis’ weight, “Hold on Louis, i’m going to get us out of here.”. The boy weakly grunted, the energy drained from him. Shit, those things were dangerous. A weak groan caught her attention, making her frown as she turned around, seeing blood running down Aasim’s face. “I’m sorry.” She whispered, grimacing.

Glancing back again, she said fuck it, picking up the E.E.L., and looping it to her pants. Keeping a firm grip on Louis, the girl ran fast as she could. Christ, how long were these alarms going to last?!

Heading to the stairs, Clementine grunted at the strain of weight, fuck! “Louis, come on please!” She begged, only getting a weak whine as a reply. Biting her lip, she looked around for something, anything! “Hold on…” She just barely guided him into a storage closet.

Checking to make sure it was secure, she leaned him against the wall, frowning. There was no physical damage, shit. She couldn’t believe Aasim really attacked them. Shaking her head, she sat in front of Louis. There was no way she could keep going. Not with him like this.

Facing him, she frowned, looking him right in the eyes. “Louis, you gotta walk please.” She begged, “I can’t...I can’t keep carrying you!”. Louis weakly grunted, raising his head lightly. “Please, try to get up.” Clem pleaded. The boy grunted weakly, and pushed his body up with his only arm, struggling. He was nearly up in a crouching position, when he fell on his knees. “Fuck..!” he grunted. The boy looked at Clem weakly, and struggling again. Same result as last time, shit they didn’t have time.

“Clementine, Louis!” Clementine’s C.A.B. flashed to life with a call from Sophie, and the girl did not hesitate to answer. “Sophie, did you guys find a way out?” Clem frantically asked. “Yeah, but our window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller! We need you guys here, now!” Sophie exclaimed.

Her statement made Clem looked back in fear, seeing how exhausted Louis was. “How much time do we have to get to you?!” Clementine asked. “At least three minutes, maybe less!” Sophie remarked.

“Clementine.. Go.” A weak voice wheezed, breaking her heart. Turning, she looked the weak boy in the eyes. “Louis, I can’t leave you… I can’t..!” She exclaimed, sitting in front of him. “Yes you can...you need to get out. If they find out who you are…” Louis grimaced, not wanting to think of what they’d do to her if they found out who she was. Heavy footsteps could be heard in the distance, making Clementine grimace. No, please.

Soft skin went over her hands, making her look up slowly, seeing Louis place his only hand on hers. “Clem, please go. I can’t… I can’t watch someone else important to me get hurt.”. In her stunned state, Louis leaned over, kissing her. Clem sniffed, kissing him back.

After a moment, they pulled apart. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you I like you, but you know… considering you hate me for lying and shit...I wouldn’t put it past you to say no even if it was…. A good situation.” Louis wheezed, breaking her heart entirely.

Sniffling, Clementine wrapped her arms around him tightly, squeezing him in her embrace. Letting go, Clem shook her head furiously, “I never hated you idiot..! I was mad yeah, but that’s because you lied to me. I mean...this is the fucking ALPHA BASE!”. Her cries were halted hearing the steps get closer, “But I never hated you…”.

“That’s reassuring...but..you still need to run, run while you can.”

As much as it pained her, she knew he was right. Struggling to not break down in tears, Clementine pulled out the E.E.L., holding it out to him. “Take down any of those fuckers you see.” She bitterly remarked. Louis nodded, taking it. Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, the girl stood up, running out of the halls.

“There they are!” Gunfire rang behind her, but the girl dared not look back. Pushing her legs as fast as she could, heading to where Sophie had called them to go.

Sophie was about to exit through the grate, when she spotted Clementine. A concerned look crossed her features seeing the other missing. Clem merely frowned, running over. The look on her face was enough, making her grimace. Shaking her head, Sophie leapt down the grate, Clem following her. Using her C.A.B., the two girls ran through the bases waterways, moving as fast as their legs would take them.

It was a miracle no one had fainted while running, all of them eventually making it out to a small clearing in the ruins of Sector 3. Brody frowned, looking around, “They lead all over, to every sector.”. “Then we can’t stay here long.” Omar voiced, folding his arms over his chest, and the others nodded in agreement.

Doing a headcount, Brody noticed they were one member short. “Where’s Louis?” This caught everyone’s attention. A heavy wave of guilt hit Clementine, making her frown. “He made sure I got out.” She whispered. Mitch scowled, “Of course the sector brat gets out, but our friend gets left behind.”. Sophie glared, stepping in front of Clementine, “Enough of your shit Mitch, we lost fucking Violet! Do you not remember that? With Louis gone, we can’t turn on each other!”.

“This is exactly why I told you not to go.” They all gasped, turning around to see James. Shit.

The Offborn leader had an angered look knitted on his features, stepping on the gravel to approach them. “You know the rules. When someone’s taken, we don’t go after them.” James stated. “Fuck the rules, if we hadn’t listened sooner, Vi might be alive!” Sophie snapped. “The rules are meant to keep us safe. Because of all of you, Marlon is nearly dead and Louis had been taken.” Without raising his voice, they could all feel the anger in him just from his tone. “Don’t get mad at them, please.” Clem begged, snapping his focus to her.

He scowled, stepping forward, to face her. “You.” His height towered over her. Clem let out a startled gasp as James’ pulled out a hacked ALPHA gun, pointing it at her head. “James?’ Omar gaped. “What the fuck?!” Sophie glared. “Pull the trigger.” Mitch exclaimed, folding his arms over his chest.

Clementine trembled in fear, staring at the boy and the gun he had focused on her. James stared how down, “You’ve taken so much from me already. I won’t have you take my people too. If I ever see you again, I will kill you.”.

Gathering his people, James left, the others reluctantly following. Clem stood stunned, not knowing what to say or do.

What did he mean she had taken so much from him..?

Unable to get answers, Clementine turned, walking home in defeat.

Chapter Text

Clementine started walking home. The cold breeze making her uncomfortable. She had to ditch her jacket, it’d make her less noticeable. Slowly lifting her C.A.B., the girl hoped there would be some sort of message from the others. Nothing. Frowning, she turned off the watch, continuing to walk. She wanted to check on the others, but James words came back to her, making her grimaced.

She flinched as a car drove past her, making her hide her face instinctively. She was only in sector 2 now, but there was no point in risking herself being spotted. Quickening her pace, she just wanted to get home as fast as she could.

“Just my luck.” Clem grumbled as it began raining. Man she wished she kept her jacket. Grimacing, she moved faster, hugging herself in attempts to calm her chill. It felt like everything was against her now. This is what she got for helping them.

“I don’t mean that.” She stopped, frowning. Taking a deep breath, Clem thought back. Were they going to be okay? Was… was Louis going to be okay? Being stuck there as an Offborn was a scary thought. God, she was so worried about him… Him asking her to run still haunted her. Fuck, she shouldn’t have run.

What if I had stayed?

A sad sigh left her as Clementine finally entered sector 1. Back to her...normal life. Frowning, she kept walking. Her C.A.B. suddenly beeped, grimacing at the caller. ‘Big Bro’ she glared, hanging up. She couldn’t deal with him, not after everything. Not after fucking attacking her and Louis!

Her C.A.B. vibrated once again, making her angrily slap the scream. “Get a fucking clue, I don’t want to talk to you!” She hissed out loud. Anger rose as the C.A.B. vibrated once more. Fed up with this, she turned off the C.A.B., allowing her to finally walk in silence. If he somehow managed to call her again, she’d pick up just to cuss him out.

He never did pick up though.

Eventually getting home, the exhaustion finally hit her. Guess the adrenalin had finally worn off. Groaning, Clem dragged her feet forward. All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and forget the world around her. Opening her room door manually, Clem made at least two steps before finally collapsing onto her bed. Pulling the sheets over her head, she closed her eyes, letting sleep come.

“Clementine.. Go.” A weak voice wheezed, breaking her heart. Turning, she looked the weak boy in the eyes. “Louis, I can’t leave you… I can’t..!” She exclaimed, sitting in front of him. “Yes you can...you need to get out. If they find out who you are…” Louis grimaced.

The girl shot up from her bed, gasping frantically as she heard something thud. What the hell?! Pushing the sheets off of her, Clem climbed out of bed. What was that? Tapping her C.A.B. screen, a light turned on, filling the dark house. Searching her room, her amber eyes eventually fell on a pair of sharp scissors. “Try me now bitch.” Clem whispered to herself, walking through the hall slowly.

Another thud was heard deeper in the home, along with a crash. Her door silently slid open, letting Clementine look around outside, she didn’t see anyone around. Keeping the scissors in her grip, she started moving around, using her C.A.B. light to guide her.

More thuds could be heard down the hall as she entered the living room. “Who’s there?” She questioned, trying to hide any fear in her. Sure, she had a brother who was in ALPHA, Assim, but that didn’t mean she was exactly skilled for fight or flight. Although, she did knock him out.

Shining the light around, the girl’s stomach dropped seeing blood on the white tile floor. “Oh my god…” A shaky hand covered her mouth as she slowly approached it. She kept her distance, not wanting to step in it. It’d be worse if she tracked it down.

All composure had vanished, and with a quivering breath, Clementine walked deeper into the home. Much to her horror though, there was more of it. “God, what...what happened here…?” Clementine could barely utter out the words, starting to move around the home. How much blood how this person lost? Did some random injured person break into their house? No, the wasn’t possible, only people that...that lived inside….Oh no.

“Mom?! Mom, Dad?!” Clementine screamed out, running faster. Oh god, the blood was becoming more frequent the farther she went. Eventually the trail led into the bathroom. The light was on, and the door was slightly ajar. With shaky steps, she stepped into the room, gagging seeing blood on the doorknob. “Jesus.” She gasped at the smell. She was never one for blood, hence why she shot down every conversation where her mother brought up her becoming a doctor.

The girl held her breath, planted her hand on the door. Fear gripped her, terrified of what would be behind this door. Leaning a bit closer, Clementine could hear water running, along with faint swearing and whispering. Closing her eyes for a moment, Clementine whispered to herself, before opening the door.

A horrified gasp left her, amber eyes wide in absolute terror. “AASIM?!” The girl cried out.

Aasim let out a startled gasp, tripping over himself, and falling onto the tile floor. A surprise horror took over Clem as she looked at her brother. He looked worse than when she left him. “Aasim, what happened to you..?!” Her voice quivered as she gave him a once over.

Aasim looked absolutely horrible, and that was the nice way of saying it. His naturally slicked back hair was sticking out everywhere, some even matted to his forehead from sweat and the blood on his forehead. Seeing how nasty the cut was, and how the blood just crusted over made her feel horrible. Brown eyes darted around panicked, as if afraid to look at her. Something about them terrified her, like she was looking at someone unhinged. Deep bags rested under his eyes, worse than before. His chest had risen and fallen quickly, his breathing quick and unnatural.

The most terrifying of all the issues was...was his missing ring finger. “Oh my god, Aasim!” She was beside him in a flash, completely ignoring her previous anger, ‘“Aasim, Aasim, look at me! Who did this to you?!”. Soft whispers left him, making her grimace.

This wasn’t working. Looking at him, two ideas came to her. A good one across the face could help...or make things worse. No, no she shouldn’t slap him, not while he was this hysterical.

Placing two hands on his shoulders, Clem spoke gently. “If you want me to help you Aasim, you need to tell me what happened. Soft whimpers left him, Aasim shaking his head. She grimaced, putting a hand under his chin, tilting it up gently so he would face her. “Aasim, please...all I want to do it help you. Please...just let me help you.” Her voice quivered as she spoke.

Fuck, this was still her brother. God, as crazy as he was at the base, this was her big brother! Her family!

A whimper left Aasim, and he finally looked her in the eyes. “ALPHA….” He rasped out, trembling at the world alone. A chill ran down her spine, “W-What about ALPHA? Did they cut off your finger Aasim?!”. Looking at her terrified, he spoke words that would haunt her forever.

“They wanted to keep their people loyal…”

Chapter Text

“Oh god, Aasim.” She rushed over to her brother without thinking. Her heart ached as he flinched at this motion. Frowning, she inched back a little, holding her hands up. “I won’t hurt you Aasim… I promise…” She frowned, slowly moving her hand. Aasim kept his front up, shaking his head. “Hey, it’s hoover, remember..?” Clem gently gestured to the scar on her chin, giving him a weak smile.

Looking at the scar, he relaxed. “Now please, let me help you,” Clementine said. There was a moment of silence before he slowly nodded.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Clem helped him off the ground, sitting him on the toilet. “Wait here.” Glancing around the bathroom, she pulled off a towel off the rack, handing it to him. Thankfully he wasn’t shaken enough to not know what to do. Taking the towel in trembling hands, he pressed it against the bloody wound. God, how was he still awake..?

Shaking her head, Clem glanced around, searching for something to suture the wound. She bit down on her on her lip as she grabbed the needle and thread,

this was going to suck.

 “Remember when you wanted a bird?”  She asks, slowly she moved the bloody towel away from his grasp. Aasim nodded slowly, grimacing at the blood staining the towel, “What kind of bird would you want? If you could have a bird?”  

Aasim cracks a tiny smile, but it then vanishes when she started to suture his wound, his body twitching a bit. Shit, that wasn’t good. He had to stay still for this.

“Well?” She questioned, raising a sassy brow that she had gotten from him. His chapped lips parted, barely whispering a word. Clem tilted her head, “I didn’t hear what you said.”. “H-hummingbird…” Hummingbird? Interesting. “Why a hummingbird?” She asks curiously. Aasim frowns, shrugging his shoulders a bit softly he whispers, “They’re just...so pretty, they can fly anywhere. Be free.”. A frown tugged at her lips, her hand shaking lightly as she continued sewing the injury.

Keep them loyal.

Fuck, this was all her fault. They had to have known it was her that was there, that helped the Offborns. And they made her fucking brother suffer for it. “Almost done, Aasim.” She reassured, her heart aching at the blank look that crossed his features. Guilt stabbed at her heart again, letting out a shaky sigh she finished sewing up the injury.

“Now for bandages.” Turning around, she quickly grabs the bandages and turns back around to face him.  “Okay, what’s your favorite TV show?” She tilts her head to the side curiously, her heart clenched when Aasim slowly shook his head and looked away.

Good job, Clem. Good job.

Thinking over another question, she held his hand gently, continuing to bandage the wound. She actually couldn’t think of one, so she did something else. Being gentle with his hand, Clementine began to hum. His eyes widened as he stared down at her.

A slight smile tugs at her lips as she continued to hum, this was the song his mother used to sing to him. Though Clementine didn't remember the words, she remembered the tune. She continued to hum as she finished bandaging his wound.

“Y-you remember the s-song?” Aasim’s voice wavered a bit as spoke. She nods and sets the bandages to the side, “Why wouldn’t I? You’re mom used to be my baby sitter.”.
Aasim pursed his lips, shaking his head. Her heart clenched as his hand twitched a bit.

You did this to him.

“And done.” She took the scissors from the kit, cutting off the excess bandage, and taping it into place. Aasim silently looked at his hand, grimacing. God he looked horrible.

“Come on, let’s...get you in some new clothes.” Clem held out a hand to her brother as she stood up. Aasim looked at her silently, before finally taking her hand. Relieved that he took it, she started leading him out of the bathroom, letting him lean on her when he needed to.

Keeping a gentle grip on his hand, Clementine led him to his room. “Do you want help or..?” She asked. Aasim looked at her, closing the door to his room. That answered her question.

Letting him get dressed, she sat in the hall, looking at her C.A.B.. Huffing silently, she switched it on, grimacing at the missed calls. Please, don’t be the calls for what she thought they were. God… she couldn’t even begin to imagine what he went through. Shaking her head, it was done. Swiping through the messages, she frowned, seeing a familiar file. With a sad sigh, Clementine clicked onto it.

The galaxy hologram lit up the hallways, making her smile weakly. She was so shocked when he first showed it to her, she even asked him to save it into her C.A.B.. Even after several times seeing it, it looked amazing. A frown tugged on her lips as she stared at it. “Please be okay Louis.” She softly begged, turning the hologram off.

She hadn’t known Louis long, but goddamn he had managed to work himself into her heart. His stupid smile, kind heart, and overall cheery nature despite the world around him. Louis was a great friend to her. Hell, she was starting to find herself attracted to him. A flush covered her cheeks, making a small smile grow on her face.

Please let him be safe...Please let him be safe.

The door behind her slid open, making her look over. “I don’t think I’ve seen you out of uniform in ages.” She said, getting up from the ground. The boy scowled at her, and she noticed his odd discomfort being in normal clothes. “You look like a nerd Aasim.” She smirked. “Fuck off.” Aasim scowled.

Ignoring his resting bitch face, Clem looked down the hall.  “Why don’t you go wait in the living room? I’ll clean up a little.” Clementine said. Aasim hesitantly glanced at the blood staining the wall and floor. “Y-Yeah, no point in freaking out mom and dad.” He softly spoke. Giving his uninjured hand a gentle squeeze. Aasim gave her a strained smile before leaving.

“Alright, clean up time.” She softly huffed, heading back into the bathroom. It was where all the cleaning products were, and where the most blood was. God, she was not excited for this at all.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she tugged some gloves on and go to work. “Ugh, how can it stain tile?” Clem groaned, scrubbing at the floor violently, “Come on!”. Now she easily could have had on of the robots clean up the blood, but the amounts it’d clean up would worry someone. Probably someone she didn’t want to notice it.

An agonizing half our passed, and she was finally done with the bathroom. “How much blood is in a fucking human body?!” Clem grunted, shaking her head furiously. “Looks like you having fun.” A startled gasp left Clem, making her quickly turn around, finding Aasim leaning against the doorway with a cup of scotch.

“Still drinking that crap?” Clementine groaned. “Still bickering to me about it?” Aasim scoffed, sipping the drink. Clem glared, throwing one of the few clean rags in the room at him. “Hey!” Aasim exclaimed. “Sucks to suck bro.” Clem shot back.

Getting up, she tossed the bloody gloves and rags into the trash can. “I’ll deal with it later, let’s hope mom and dad come home late.” Clementine huffed, wiping her hands off. Aasim shrugged, heading back to the living room. Clem put the cleaning supplies away, following her brother.

“Step aside!” The girl flopped onto the couch. Aasim hissed out a swear as his drink nearly splashed onto his shirt from Clem jumping onto the couch. The girl stuck out her tongue, leaning over to grab the remote. “What are you picking?” Aasim asked. The girl silently shrugged, turning on the first thing that came on. Putting the remote down, she adjusted her seat, leaning her body against Aasim’s. He glanced at her, sighing softly. “Love you hoover.” Aasim said.

“I...love you too big bro.”

Chapter Text

Clementine was the first to wake up surprisingly. The girl stretched, letting out a loud yawn. Aasim softly snored on the bed, completely dozed off. A small smile creeped on her face, the girl kissed his forehead. “Rest well big bro.” She said.

The amber eyed girl got up, sighing softly to see the home was still empty. “At least this’ll make cleaning a lot easier.” Adjusting her bun, Clementine got ready to clean up.

Cleaning up the bathroom wasn’t fun, and cleaning the halls wasn’t fun either. “I should make Aasim clean this next time.” She muttered under her breath, scrubbing furiously. Her hands gripped the sponge tightly, when she heard something. A faint chirping noise. Wait, she had heard it before. The ALPHA signal on C.A.B.s when you’re getting called or messaged.

Putting down her brush, the girl moved her way down the hall, peaking over. Aasim was now sitting up, a hologram of Senator Wilson appearing from his C.A.B. Clementine felt her heartbeat quicken, it was that bitch!

“S-Senator Wilson...I didn’t expect to hear back from you so soon, ma’am.” Aasim hesitantly said, grimacing lightly. The woman huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “Get your uniform on this instant. The Offborn base has been finally located. We barely managed to squeeze it out of the one we caught.” Wilston stated.

Clementine felt her blood run cold, they found it? Getting up to her feet, Clementine slowly made her way to her room, being as quiet as she could be. Shit, she had to warn them.

“You’ve taken so much from me already. I won’t have you take my people too. If I ever see you again, I will kill you.” James’ words clung to her, but Clementine knew this was the only way to make things right.

She had to do this.

Pushing open her closet door, Clementine looked around. Everything was pristine white, bright colors to represent their ‘pure’ sector. She clenched her fist down, tearing a hoodie off of the hangar, opening her desk drawer wide open.

Aasim hung up the call, walking into his room. He silently glanced down at his injured hand, before shaking his head. No time to dwell, he had a job to do. Sliding his closet door open, Aasim took out his uniform.

Clementine grunted, opening her window wide open, slipping one of her mom’s surgical mask on. Taking the jacket, she hung it on the window sill, before starting to spray paint it dark blue. Sophie had given her some of her spray cans a while ago. Picking up a purple color, Clem drew lines along the sleeves.Taking out a teal, Clementine drew the Offborn symbol onto the back of the hoodie.

Aasim clicked his armor parts together, fastening them snugly to his body. Black leather gloves smoothly covered his hands almost perfectly, minus the missing ring finger. He leaned down, tightening the show strings on his boots. All set up, his wandered onto the E.E.L. That damned Offborn took it, and nearly used it on him when he found him. The boy scowled, picking up the E.E.L., flicking it on, watching the crackle of lightning emit from the rod. It was time to end this once, and for all.

A soft cough left her as she slipped the hoodie on, groaning softly at the smell. She’d get over it soon enough. Closing her closet door, Clementine looked at herself in the mirror. The dark hoodie hung loose on her figure, black sports gloves from school, gray sweatpants, and a pair of old boots. Nothing too formal, but she wouldn’t need it to be.

Sneaking past Aasim’s room, the girl headed into the garage. It was still in here, she knew it. Pushing some boxes around, she finally found it.

Her old hoverboard.

Picking the device up, she dusted it off quickly. Thankfully, Louis’ model wasn’t too off, letting her know what to do to turn it on. Despite the many years of being unused, the battery still worked. It didn’t have much juice left in it, but if she took some shortcuts, she’d be able to get there faster.

“Hold on guys, I’m coming.” She breathed out, strapping herself onto the hoverboard. Clementine thought breaking into ALPHA was crazy enough, but interfering with one of her missions? It was too late to stop though, she wasn’t going to just give up.

The wind beat against her face as she flew through the air, her hair dragging back in the strong winds. “Come on, can’t you go faster you stupid thing?!” The girl exclaimed, stomping onto the control again. It boosted forward, but just barely. Clem felt her heartbeat pick up.

What if she didn’t get to them in time?

No! “I can’t think like this.” The girl stated, determined, she had to get to them in time.

Familiar terrain caught her attention, making her relax. Using her hoverboard to lower herself was a lot less painful than falling. Good thing Rosie wasn’t there to scare her down. Lowering herself down, Clem dropped the hoverboard onto the ground. Alright legs, don’t fail now. Using all the strength she could afford, she ran as fast as she could down the dark tunnels, her heart beating violently against her chest.

“GUYS!” Everyone looked up startled to hear Clementine. “Clem?” AJ gasped, looking up from the fireplace. The other kids looked over surprised, making Clem gasp in relief, she made it. “Look, there’s something I have to-” Her words were cut off to the sound of a gun clicking behind her, making her flinch.

“I warned you, Clementine. If I ever saw you again, I’d kill you. I don’t intend to break that promise.” James’ voice sent chills down her spine. Shit. She attempted to look back, but tensed feeling the cold metal get placed against her head.

James wrapped his finger around the trigger, ready to shoot when AJ ran up. “James, wait!” He pleaded. The leader glared, looking down at the younger boy. “You can’t just shoot her, Clem has helped us so much!” AJ stated, “You can’t kill her please!”. “She’s from Sector 1! Her knowing where we are is a danger enough!” James exclaimed.

“That’s why I’m here! ALPHA knows where your base is, and wants to kill all of you!” Clementine blurted out. A collective gasp of horror left the group, everyone seemed horrified. Various murmurs and whispers echoing in the hall.

James never lowered the gun, “How do you know this?”. His voice was laced with venom, making her shudder. “My….my brother works for ALPHA.” Clem confessed, her breath hitching lightly.

There was a moment of silence, and Clementine closed her eyes, expecting her final moments.

But nothing happened. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes again, looking back to see James putting away his weapon. The two made eye contact for a moment, as if James was making sure she wasn’t lying to him.

Several moments passed, and James narrowed his eyes, raising his left hand up suddenly, holding up three fingers. Everyone started rushing around the camp, grabbing all their things. “What did you do?” Clem nervously asked. “Evacuation.” He explained. A breath of relief left her, thinking things were going to be okay.

That’s when everything shook, the roof crumbling above them. Clementine and James made eye contact, both knowing the dreaded truth.

They’ve been found.

Chapter Text

“No, they’re here..!” Clementine gasped in absolute horror, her eyes wide in horror. James loudly swore, clenching his fist furiously.

Stepping onto a set of crates, he held his hands up to his mouth, cupping them together. “Forget the things people, move it, now!” James demanded. Clementine stood besides him, watching the people run around frantically, rushing to the other end of the community.

A small group rushed up to them; Omar, Sophie, Ruby, Alex, Brody, and Mitch. “Holy shit, Clementine?!” Brody gaped. A weak smile grew on her face seeing most of the others there. “Hey guys…” She breathed out, gasping softly as the floor shook once more, “It’s amazing to see all of you, but we need to go!”. The others nodded, looking to James.

James looked back to the entrance of their community. “Mitch, set off the C4’s. Don’t make it easy for them to get in.” James demanded. The brunette smirked, pulling a detonator out of his pockets.

“Are we far enough from them!?” Brody exclaimed. “Only one way to find out.” Mitch pressed the button, another shake running through the group. “MITCH!” Brody scowled. “What? Worked didn’t it?!” Mitch responded.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP AND MOVE!”

They all flinched, running quickly. “How long do we have?!” Omar called out. “A couple of minutes.” Mitch tensed as the ground shook, more explosions ringing, “Make that one!”. Shit, they had gotten through that easily?! Clementine clung to AJ’s hand, running as fast she could. She glanced back, gasping seeing lights behind them. How were they getting through so fast. “Damn, they got more stuff that we thought!” Mitch growled out, helping Brody run.

Gunfire rang behind them, making Clementine panic. Would they make it out of here alive? Was her warning too late? “Keep moving, and don’t look-AUGH!” The group tensed, hearing a pained cry.

A pained grunt left James, straining to push himself up. One of the bullets had torn through his lower abdomen. “James!” Brody exclaimed, about to run forward. He held up a hand to stop her, looking back. A startled gasp left him seeing the ALPHA soldiers running over.

“Dammit, all of you go now!” He shouted. The others flinched, hesitantly looking at each other. With a sorrowful look, the group ran. Clem was about to follow, when a small hand clung to hers. “Clem, we can’t leave him!” AJ pleaded.

Amber eyes made contact with dark ones, an internal struggle tearing through her.

What does she do?

Biting her lip, she ran forward. “What the hell are you doing?!” James exclaimed, as he was lifted off of the ground. Clementine leaned him against her, glaring, “Saving your ass!”. James scowled, but didn’t fight back as they ran.

Clem ran as fast as she could with the Offborn leader leaning against her. James glanced around, before pointing. “There, that door, go in!” He shouted, pointing to a door, hidden well behind some rubble. Had he not pointed it out, she wouldn’t have noticed it. Making sure AJ followed, she rushed inside the room, closing it behind her.

“Woah…” AJ gasped, making her look surprised. Her eyes widened in surprise, seeing papers scattering all over the room, some even hammered in.

Aiding James, she helped him sit, giving her the chance to look around. “What is all of this stuff?” She questioned, starting to walk around. James grimaced at his injury, before looking up. His fist clenched up in anger, it shaking lightly. He pushed himself over, walking up to stand beside her. His brows knitted together in anger, and she noticed his fist shaking. “What is all of this?” Clem asked again.

Dark eyes stared at the papers scattered along the room. “My future taken from me.” He hissed out, pulling down his sleeve, making Clem go wide eyed.

Tattooed onto his wrist in dark ink was ‘011021’.

Her eyes widened, staring at him startled. That date...was one day before her birthday. Same sector, same year, one day sooner. “H-How..?” Clem gaped.

Before James could answer, the ground shook again, making them tense. “They’re coming. We’re running out of time.” He looked at AJ, “Take AJ and run. I’d only slow you two down. Get out of here. If we both make it out of here alive, I promise to tell you everything I know.”.

Wow, that had to be one of the most reassuring things he ever said to her. Nodding, she took AJ’s hand in hers, releasing a nervous breath. “Ready?” She asked. The young boy nodded, “Fuck yeah.”.

Clementine swung the door wide open, glancing around. Seeing the coast was clear, the girl started running, pushing herself forward. She needed to get AJ out of here. There was no where they could go, but they’re odds were better outside. They would stop at every corner, checking for anyone. There was no one in the immediate area, but she could hear the faint screaming and gun fire.

Don’t let anyone be dead please.

Keeping a secure grip on AJ’s hand, the two began to run as fast as they could. AJ glanced behind them, gasping in relief. Clementine felt her boots pound violently against the stone floors, her eyes widening feeling a strange chill. “Holy shit, AJ, that’s rain! I know it, it was supposed to start raining earlier today, we’re nearing an exit!” Clementine exclaimed, a sense of hope running through her.

Holy shit, they were going to make it! They were going to make it!

They neared the end of the tunnel, seeing a large open patch above them. If they found a way to climb up, they would be safe! She was about to take another step forward, when a gun clicked behind them. Her blood went cold, her body tensing up. AJ gave her a concerned look upon seeing her go still.

I can’t move.

“Try to move, and I’ll blow your head clean off.” No….no, why did it have to be him. Why him of all people. She struggled to hold back a whimper, the tears burning the corner of her eyes. Why did it have be Aasim?

“Turn around, slowly, with your hands up.” Holy shit, she didn’t realize how good he was at his job. Normally Clementine would be proud of her brother, but right now, she really wish he wasn’t a perfectionist. Closing her eyes slowly, Clementine turned around, her body trembling slightly as she rose her hands up. Aasim stared her down, his aim never wavering.

“Remove your mask and take off your hood.” He demanded.

Aasim, please…

“Did I fucking stutter?!” Aasim shouted, making her flinch. Fuck, she hated seeing her brother like this. On opposite sides as him.

A shaky breath left her, the girl removing her mask, and pulling down her hoodie at the same time. With a whimper, she opened her eyes, the tears running fully. Aasim stared her dead in the eyes, mouth agape. Clenching his gun tightly, a wave of emotions hit him all at once.

The worst ones was the feeling of heartbreak though.

“Clementine…?” He asked, trembling slightly. Clem put a hesitant arm in front of AJ, looking her brother in the eyes, her heart beat picking up. “Aasim...let us leave please...he’s only 6, he’s just a child.” Clementine pleaded, letting AJ cling to her arm, “Please…”. Aasim stared at her, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks, “It was you at ALPHA, you were with that offborn boy…”.

Her heart felt as if it would tear into two, the tears staining her tan cheeks. “Aasim, please, just let us go. AJ doesn’t deserve this, he’s a little kid dammit!” Clementine begged. None of the offborn’s deserved this. To be hunted to extinction like some wild animals for something they could not control.

There was a moment of silence, and Clementine had prayed Aasim would listen to reason. He stared down at the ground, shaking his head. A soft smile grew on her face, but it fell when he lifted his head back up, and she saw the look on his face.

The light from the outside illuminated his face perfectly, showing the look of pure fury on his face.

“I can’t let you LEAVE.”

Chapter Text

Clementine felt her blood run cold, staring at her brother. “Aasim..?” Her voice quivered as he raised the gun. Christ, how had it come to this…?

“Hey, Clem better watch it!” The young girl gasped, ducking into cover as a laser beam blasted past her. There was a familiar giggle from afar, making her grin. “Aasim, no fair!” She yelled. “All’s fair in love and war!”

His aim did not waver, a grimace growing on his face. “If you give up the boy, I’ll let you off with cell time.” He stated.

“Aasim, what the hell?! He’s a little boy! No, i’m sorry, but I won’t let you or your people take him away!” She exclaimed. His dark eyes felt like knives slicing into her, and she hated it. “Please, let us go…” Clementine pleaded, hoping to get through to her brother, “We’re family. We help each other.”.

Aasim stared at the ground silently, grimacing. He lifted his head back, a look of absolute heartache on his face. “If we’re family...then where were you when I was calling..?” His voice croaked slightly, “Where were you then?! Where were you when I needed you?! I called you for hours and you never picked UP!”.

Her heart shattered hearing his voice cracking, speaking out about the accident. “I’m sorry Aasim, I should’ve-”.

There was no room to talk. He lifted the gun up, glaring at her, finger tight on the trigger. “Get out of the way, this is not a discussion!” Aasim exclaimed.

Shit, there was no coming out of this. Grimacing heavily, she realized this was the only way they could get out. Ducking down quickly, she picked up a rock, swinging it into Aasim’s knee. He let out a shocked cry, falling to the ground. “AJ, RUN!” Clementine shouted, looking back at the young boy. He let out a startled gasp, before running off, hurrying to the end.

Clem went to follow him, when she fell forward. Looking back startled, she saw Aasim grabbing onto her ankle. Aasim grunted, pushing himself off the wet stone. “Back off!” She exclaimed, kicking his hand.

“SHIT!” Aasim cried out, clutching his injured hand. Getting off her, Clementine took initiative, rushing forward. The older sibling looked over, watching her run. His heart tore in two different directions, him reaching for his gun only to realize it was out of grasp. “FUCK!” Aasim cried out, glaring in the direction she took off running. With an angered growl, he ran after her.

“I’m way faster than you!” Aasim chuckled as the two raced home from school.

Clementine blew a loose strand of hair from her face, loudly scoffing. “That’s only because you have longer legs!” Clementine huffedout, struggling to catch up to her older brother. He merely laughed, keeping his distance.

“AUGH!” They both fell to the ground as Aasim tackled her down, the two struggling in each other’s grip. “I don’t want to fight you!” Clem begged, straining in his grasp, trying to get herself free. Looking around, she spotted the rock on the floor from before. Reaching out for it, she managed to grasp it with her fingers. She swung, and in the struggle he moved.

A agonizing scream left him, Aasim falling off of her. She gasped in horror, covering her mouth as he was on on all fours. Blood streamed down the left side of his face, his hands clasped firmly against his face. Heavy breathing left him as his uncovered eye stared at her in absolute shock.

Chills ran down her spine as she stared at him, amber eyes wide in absolute horror. She looked down to her hands, seeing the blood staining them. The rock fell from her gasp, tears running down her cheeks.

“What have I done…?” The words were barely above a whisper, her entire body shaken.

Distant yells and gunfire caught her attention, making her flinch. “I’m sorry…” Clementine grimaced, turning around and running.

Hurrying out after AJ, the two of them ran as fast as they could. “Come on!” She shouted to the boy. He tensed up, snapping out of it long enough for him to latch onto Clementine’s hand. Keeping a firm grip, the two ran as fast as they could. Feet pounding against the stone grounds as they ran as fast as their legs would take them. Amber eyes darted around frantically, searching around for any sign where safe.

Much to her relief, a small area was parted, sheltered by rocks. “Come on buddy.” Nudging him forward, the two crawled into the space. Wedged in as far as they could be, she gently held him close. Both breathed softly, not wanting to risk being spotted.

Several ALPHA soldiers ran outside, glancing around. “Where did they go?” One asked, looking around. Heavy labored breathing was heard behind them, turning around to see Aasim limping forward. He had torn the fabric of his light gray sweater, bounding it around his forehead and eye. His fist trembled, digging his nails into the flesh of his palm as her looked around.

Where the fuck was she?!

Seething in rage, Aasim slammed his fist into a part of the rock wall, screaming in anger. His hand trembled as he removed it from the stone, glaring at the indent on the stone. “Find them, none of them are allowed to ESCAPE!” Aasim yelled, facing the other men. Some soldier flinched, rushing off while others glared. “You heard me, move it! Find them! Leave the girl and boy for me!”.

Once they were all gone, he fished something out of his C.A.B., removing a tattered paper. It was a slightly worn down photo of the two of them...the night he was accepted into ALPHA. Real photos were rare, and they had only gotten it due to their father finding it in his work.

“Alright, everyone say cheese!” Ed announced, and Clementine practically leapt into Aasim’s arms, making the brother laugh. The two siblings posed together, letting their father take the photo, their smiles radiating as the flash went off.

His hands trembled, and he tore the picture into pieces. Clementine betrayed ALPHA, she betrayed their family, she betrayed their people...but worst of all...she betrayed him.

“If you won’t stop...then neither will I.” Aasim growled out, moving forward.

Clementine waited for Aasim to vanish, before picking up AJ and running. They had to get out of there, they needed to find the others.

Chapter Text

Aasim sat in the medical wind, his body lightly trembling as he waited. Waiting was always the worst part. Not only had the mission been a critical failure, but Clementine had defected into one of them as well.

Senator Wilson would be furious. God, the idea of what she would do scared him. Would she take another finger? Or his other eye? The doctor said it was far too damaged, and had to remove hit.

His hands curled up into fist, his body suddenly going still as the doors of his room slid wide open. The echoing of hills sent immediate dread through him, the boy hesitantly looking up, recognizing the figure entering immediately.

An exaggerated groan left the Senator, rubbing her temples as she looking down at the soldier. “Report.”

Aasim tensed at her sudden request, forcing himself to speak despite his fear.

“W-We infiltrated the Offborn base. Our sources were right, it was hidden within the ruins of sector 4, in that crater patch. We successfully captured over a dozen of them, but most of their population had escaped.” Aasim spoke, it taking all of his will to steady his voice.

The senator rose a brow at him, tilting his head up and looking at his injured face. “Did one of those savages do this to you?” She questioned.

His breathing suddenly stopped, looking at her. He couldn’t just lie...plus, Clementine had already...already betrayed the. “My sister, Clementine, civilian 011022, she was with them. Defended one of the and attacked me. She escaped after injuring my eyes in the fight.” There was venom in his voice as he spoke, his fist trembling at his sides. Senator Wilson noticed immediately, smirking as a plan formed in her head.

“I failed you and the ALPHA, I accept whatever punishment I am given.”

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head, you aren’t in trouble.” Senator Wilson spoke, making him look up shocked, “Don’t worry so much. You did better than most soldiers have at this point. Getting into the base, surviving might I add. Also still trying to capture the run away Offborns when you were critically injured! You have quite the dedication. If anything, I’d say you deserve a reward.”.

Aasim looked at her stunned, and Senator Wilson pulled out a strange looking device from her pocket, “Show me your C.A.B.”. Not hesitating, he held out his wrist to her, and the woman got straight to work. She pressed a button on his C.A.B., and attached the part to it. To his surprise a black material spread from it, covering his body like armor.

“What is this..?”

“Microbots, one of our strongest armors for our best ranks, lietanuants. From now on you will be out on the field and commanding troops. I need someone devoted and skilled to deal with the vermin, and I know you will have no problem doing this.” She smirked, folding her hands together.

Aasim stared at the new black armor covering his body, and looked up, anger in his features. “I’ll do it.”.

The Senator smirked, “Good, our doctors will be scheduled to assign you an ECHO eye, it will assist you.” and with that she left, smirking proudly to herself. This war was going to end finally under her law.