The Smiths ApprenticesFriendly reminder: This story takes place during and after the events of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead Issue #129, if you haven't read it yet, please do so (although it's not that important, it is highly advised to do so). It is also advised to play/watch Telltale Games' The Walking Dead: Video Game as there will be elements taken from that too. I do NOT own the "The Walking Dead" comics, neither do I own the "The Walking Dead: Video Game". In this oneshot, Carl and Clementine are approximately 11-12 years old. Thank you for your consideration and have funreading!======================================================Carl Grimes' POV:"Get a gun, but don't fire there could be more in the area," my dad commanded as he shakily got offthecart, "Cover me just in case"."Okay," I replied. I jumped down and checked if my gun was loaded, although I'd already done that a dozen times before we left for the Hilltop."Carl, you ready?" Dad asked, leaning on the side of the cart to keep him from falling over. After all those years, he still wasn't that steady on his legs, hence the walking-cane. You can't really blame him for it though, he can barely put any strength on his right leg."Ready," I exclaimed. There were 4 roamers who werehobbling towards us and more could come from out of the forest any second, but my dad didn't seem to care. He grabbed his axe in his onlyrealand approached one of them. Meanwhile, I ran around to horses to join him. He shoved the axe into its head, right between its eyes, but instead of pulling the axe back out, the roamer pulled him with it as it fell."Dad!" I yelled anxiously."Don't fire! I've got this!" He yelled back. It was getting too dangerous for my liking, my dad always overestimated himself and this wasn't his time to change apparently. He finally removed his axe from the roamer's head and proceeded to tackle another roamer near him."Dad!" I yelled again as I ran towards him."Stay back, Carl!" He instructed, but this was getting too much out of hand, I had to do something. Dad killed the tackled roamer but couldn't get his axe out of it yet again. Two more undead left. Another one was getting close to him, too close. He was defenceless without his axe. I had to do it this time. I'd played along for too long already. I shot the roamer, making my dad dodge a bit as a reflex. Afterwards, I shot the other one as well."Sorry, dad. They were getting too close. I couldn't risk it," I said with less regret than intended."I saw. Sorry to scare you like that. I thought I could handle them... It's been a while for me," he replied with a sigh, "That was close".I grabbed his walking-cane and handed it over to him as I tried to get him up. Suddenly we heard a horse running towards us. It was one of us, a guard on horseback who wassupposedto secure the area. He stopped next to my dad."I'm sorry mister this area should have been clear and Mr. Grimes?! Oh God! I'm so sorry!" He said, clearly shocked that it was my dad."Don't apologise. Tell me why your zone wasn't clear," my dad instructed coldly."I'd just come through here, but I didn't see anything. When I heard the shots " He explained as if he were afraid that my dad was going to kill him."Get off your horse," dad commanded with a tone of anger in his voice."Yes sir, Mr. Grimes. I'm very sorry " The guard started as he got off his horse."You're going tolieto me now?!" My dad shouted when he slapped the guard with his walking-cane. I hadn't seen my dad that angry a lot before, not to say seldom. "Your zone was not clear! So this road was not safe! You coverfivemiles!Five! That should take you no time at all to patrol! This road is amain artery it's our only trade route between the communities, your job is to keep it safe! If you can't do that, then what good are you?! Peoplekillfor these jobs. I don't know how you got it but you damn well know howhardit was to get! You can't fuck this up it's not allowed! It's too important! My son and I could havedied!" Dad shouted, he never stopped shouting. I forgot that he could be like that sometimes, that he could really get angry with someone or at leastthismuch."I'm sorry, Mr. Grimes. I was distracted. I wasn't as diligent as I should have been... It won't happen again," he tried to defend himself, clearly frightened."I need yournameand where youlive"."It's Benjamin, sir. I live in the Kingdom"."Thiswillbe reported. If it happens again, you will be reassigned. This better be your first report," my dad threatened."It is sir. And it'll be my last". Dad nodded, turned around and went back to the cart. I did the same. We both were ready to get back in but not before dad reminded the guard of his duty again."Don't forget... If what we'veallworked so hard and sacrificed somuchto build is going to work... The road needs to be safe. If we can't protectthisroad... It all falls apart. Your job is quite possible themostimportant job these days.Remember that".We got back in the cart, just in time to see the guard shakily get on his horse again and ride off, only he didn't have a bad leg. My dad must've really frightened him, he deserved it though. Everything we've worked so hard for these 2 years could fall apart ten times easier than it was to build it up. After our little delay, dad gave me a smirk."Do you understand why I had to do that?" He asked."Yes, he brought the communities and us in danger," I said, he nodded and ordered the horses to move once again, "What's going to happen to him now?""I'll send Jesus to the Kingdom to tell Ezekiel about him, if he's got time at least. I might just do it myself actually, I haven't been there a lot lately"."How do you think they're doing?""Ezekiel might not be the best leader and his "king" status might be a bit off, but the people love him, they'd do anything for the man. He's got a lot of good advisors around him, they wouldn't let it peril. The trade has been going well, they don't have a lack of anything anymore and we don't either. We really built something here and we're not going to let that fall, not even by certain guards," we both chuckled, "And who am I kidding, they've still got Michonne".I hadn't seen Michonne in ages, she came around to visit us once in a while after the Negan was defeated, but that hasn't happened in a while now. I hope she's okay, the people from the Kingdom would've told us if she wasn't, but still. She was a good friend, not like Mum is now, but still. I miss her. Her, Maggie, Glenn, Abraham, Tyreese, Dale, Hershel,... even Sophia. I wonder how she's doing. I guess that I'll see her soon though, if she stopped not wanting to see me ever again at least. I didn't have something with her like I have with Anna now not that Anna knows about that but still. She was a good friend, the only one of my age I had. Talking about Anna, I guess my dad must've forgotten that we were eating before the roamers came. It doesn't bother me though, he almost made me talk about her. I figured it was good that he'd forgotten, so I didn't open the letter she gave me either. I wonder what's in it. She might be a little older than me, but that doesn't mean that she can't love me back, right? I mean, she showed me her breasts, Mikey and the other guys were there too but "What's wrong, you're so quiet all of a sudden?" Dad wondered."It's nothing. Is the Hilltop much further?" I asked. I hadn't been there since the attack and I wasn't too good at remembering roads in first place."We should be there in another hour or 2, something like that. If we don't getdelayedanymore," I nodded and got lost in my thoughts again. At first I only heard the footsteps of the horses, but then everything went blank. I don't know if I fell asleep or just lost myself in my thoughts, but the first thing I heard afterwards was my dad."Carl? Are you there?" He asked jokingly."Sorry, what?" I was still not really there yet."I said, we're here," he said with a grin on his face. I looked up and saw the same old wall that stood there 2 years ago. Nothing seemed to had changed since then, there were just more houses towering over the wall and it looked a bit bigger. I thought that I recognised one of the guards on the wall, but I wasn't sure. It had been so long ago. We approached the gate and the guard yelled at us."Who goes there?""Rick Grimes and my son Carl," dad replied."Welcome to the Hilltop, Mr. Grimes, Maggie will receive you soon," he said and he motioned for the gates to be opened. My dad nodded and we entered the Colony. Some of the people looked confused, the others looked very happy. I guess they didn't see the leader of the communities every day. They really didn't though, dad spent a lot of time on rebuilding Alexandria after the Saviours attacked with their grenades. You can't say that he did a bad job though, the Safe-Zone is even better than the prison, better than the neighbourhood we were in prior to the apocalypse. Mum would've liked to see this my real mum , Judith too probably. I still couldn't believe that my dad agreed to bring me here, to serve as an apprentice of Earl, the blacksmith. I heard "Hello Mr. Grimes" everywhere, but I didn't pay attention to the people much, I was just looking for Sophia. I didn't see her by the time we got to the centre of the Colony. Maggie was arguing with somebody as she was carrying a toddler."I told you I need Tamiflu, not this!" She shouted at the other person angrily."A bit busy?" Dad asked with a chuckle."Excu Rick? Carl?" Maggie said happily. She walked up to our cart and helped dad down, after which she hugged him with one arm, her son sitting on the other. I went off the cart as well and stood there, looking for Sophia, but she wasn't there."He's grown a lot, hasn't he?" My dad pointed out."Yeah, he's been growing like a cabbage lately. I think he's getting the flu, but this arsehole here doesn't know how to read," she said as she looked at the man angrily. She then noticed me and hugged me as well."How have you guys been? How are things going at Alexandria?""We're fine, it's really working out there. You should come visit us once," dad stated."I would, but it's a mess here. People want to build more houses, the wall needs to get expanded, blah blah blah... Seriously Rick, how did you cope with this from the start on?" she looked really overworked. Dad chuckled."You should lay low for a while, let the other people care about those business," I said."I really should, but to be fair, my people seem to be smarter than me, they don't want to do it," she explained with a laugh. "However, what brings you here? Problems with the Kingdom?""No, everything's fine. I wanted to see if Earl would want to take Carl here as his apprentice and teach him a couple of things"."We can go ask him now, if you want to," she offered."Sounds good," dad said. Maggie lead us through various rows of houses, they all looked the same, but the Colony in general looked really nice. They seemed to have improved the houses since last time, which was really necessary. She really built something here, Maggie. It wasn't like Alexandria, but it did look like something more bearable than before, it looked like a neighbourhood from before the apocalypse. It felt really good knowing that, because I was surely going to live there for at least a while. After walking for some time, we stopped at an open house. Smoke rose from the chimney, touching the sky before it vanished; various tools and weapons lay on a table and in the back of the house, two people were beating on metal with a hammer. As we got closer we saw that they were Earl and someone else whom I didn't recognise. A girl, a bit smaller than me. She had black, short hair folded into two knots. Her purple shirt was soaked in sweat and covered in dirt, not like Earl's was any better though. She was really beautiful, well, I could only see her back but still. Wait, what am I saying? Anna is waiting for me back at the Safe-Zone. Is she? I haven't even read her letter yet. I guess I'll do that later, I have to focus on this now. Maggie tapped Earl on the back and motioned for him to stop forging."How can I help you today, Maggie?" He asked with a smile on his face."We've got some visitors for you," she said. She moved a bit to let him have a better look at us."Rick? Carl? What are you guys doing here, it's been ages! Lost another limb?" Earl asked jokingly. Dad chuckled."Not this time. My son here would like to become a smith later, so we came up here to ask if you'd be willing to mentor him for some time," dad explained."Of course, it'd be an honour. I'm quite experienced with having apprentices as you can see," he said as he motioned towards the girl next to him. "Clementine, tell them how great I am at tutoring people," he smirked. So that's her name, huh? Clementine. Carl, stop..."You're great, Earl," she said with a soft voice, the voice of an angel. She turned around now. Her front was even more beautiful. Wow, that sounds weird. Way to go, Grimes... But her face was so cute, she was really cute in general. But,yet again, my thoughts got interrupted by my dad."Hello, Earth to Carl?""Sorry, what?" I asked confused."I said, 'We'll come back tomorrow for your first day'. Come one, Maggie is going to guide us to our house," I nodded and we exited the blacksmith. Maggie was talking some more about the Hilltop, explaining what function each house had, but the only thing I could think of was Clementine. God Carl, would you stop yet?"Stop what?" My dad asked. Did I really say that out loud? I did apparently, he was looking at me, waiting for a response."Nothing," I said, trying to brush it off. But my dad's always been really persistent."Anna?" He kept on talking to my regret."It'snothing,dad," I insisted."Stop arguing, boys. We're almost there," Maggie said, causing dad to rethink whatever he was about to say. He just let it go and looked around again, trying not to trip as he's walking.Eventually we stopped at a little house, it even looked quite nice. We said goodbye to Maggie and got to our rooms, luckily we both had a separate one. I reached for the bag I took with me and took Anna's letter out of it. I held my breath for a moment, hoping that it was going to be one of those romantic, clich love letters; but then again, I was hoping that it wasn't too. Thoughts were flying through my head again, happy and sad ones. I didn't let them get the best of me and opened the letter anyway. Curiously, I read every single word that was written on it.Dear CarlI've been trying to say this in person, but the countless times I tried, I couldn't do it. I heard that you were leaving so I'm doing it this way instead. This is really awkward, for me too, but it must be said. Carl, I know that you love me. I've known it since we started going to school together, before I showed my breasts to everyone. The thing is, Carl, I love you too, but not like that. You're a good friend, you've always been, but that's where it ends. We were trying to keep this a secret from everyone but we're dating, Mikey and me. I'm really sorry that it has to go like this, I truly am, but there's no other way. We're happy, Mikey and II hope that, one day, you'll be as happy with someone as we are.Love,AnnaI didn't know what to do, what to feel. One way, my heart was shattered into a million pieces, but the other, I was relieved? How could I be? I just got rejected, I just found out that my best friend's dating my crush. Then, a familiar face popped up in my mind, Clementine. I felt happy for some reason, although I pretty much had every reason not to be. Before I became even more unnatural, I decided to call it a day. I stripped up until my underwear and covered myself with sheets, not thinking about anything or was I thinking too much for my mind to process it all?Clementine's POV:"You can go now, hon. You did well," Earl said, giving me a pat on the shoulder."I've been lucky to have such a great tutor," I stated jokingly."Oh stop it, you're making me blush," he said as he covered his cheeks. "Seriously though, you should go. I might be arrested for child labour otherwise"."It's not like there are any cops here anyway"."Well, now there is at least one. Didn't you know him?" Earl asked."Who?" I replied confused."Rick Grimes, the guy Maggie brought in earlier," he explained."Is he a cop?" I wondered. To be honest, the only person I noticed was "my son here". Whatever his name was, he's definitely going in the cute people list. He was so intriguing. He probably was about my age, a bit taller than me and he had long black hair (long for a boy at least), but the most intriguing part was his right eye what was left of it at least. A huge scar covered most of his face there, he tried to hide it with sunglasses which only had one glass in them, as if he was embarrassed about it. In a weird kind of way, he kind of looked like Kenny, as in they both covered up their eye and had black hair."Honey, are you okay?" Earl interrupted my thoughts."Yeah, sorry. What did you say?" I asked, not trying to be suspicious."Well, whatever it is that you're dreaming of. Either cherish it deeply or throw it away immediately. Now go, you've been here stuck with me for long enough," he pointed at the door with a grin on his face."Will do. See you tomorrow, goodbye!" I yelled back as I left the smithy. It was quite dark already when I went home. "How long had I been there?" I thought as I walked through the dark rows of houses. I knew that these were good people and all that, but it still send shivers down my spine. I quickly ran back to my house and got in my bed. It was so quiet, as usual. I had been alone for ages already. I was so lucky to be found by those guards from the Hilltop that day, otherwise I wouldn't be here now. I was really stupid to use my gun in that drug store, it wasn't that clear after all. Then again, if I hadn't used it, the guards wouldn't have found me and brought me to this beautiful community. Who knew that people could've actually made this happen again, to have a life and be safe, knowing that the walkers can't hurt them. Lee would've liked this place, that's for sure.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Carl Grimes' POV:"Dad, why didn't you wake me up?! It's my first day and I'malreadyalmost late!" I yelled at my dad as looked at my watch with sleepy eyes. 8:43 dammit. I put some clothes on and walked into the living room, still trying to rub the sleepiness from my eyes. "Dad?" I murmured, but he wasn't there. He probably just went for a walk or something. I decided to get some cereals in the kitchen, that's where I spotted a paper on the table.Went to help Maggie with her duties. Don't be late on your first day.DadWell thanks dad. Because of you I almostdidget late on my first day. I quickly ate all of the cereals, prepared some lunch for noon and left for Earl's. People on the street were staring at my eye what was left of it , but I just kept on walking, not paying attention to any of the "ew"s and "huh?"s. When I got there, I heard someone beating metal with a hammer or something like that and smoke already came from the chimney. Maybe I did get late after all. I went to the back of the blacksmith and saw that Earl and Clementine were already working there."I'm sorry, am I late?" I asked, trying to not look suspicious."Nah, you're just on time," Earl started. "Now, what could we have you do?""The first thing you made me do was to pour metal in a rectangle shape and just polish it with a hammer," Clementine stated."Ah, yes. We " Earl tried to say, but he was interrupted by Maggie who just entered the smithy."Earl, could you deliver some hoes to the new houses?" She asked."What happened to Ian doing deliveries?" Earl protested."He's sick, the flu or something like that".Earl sighed, but said yes anyway, "Fine, I'll do your dirty work. Clementine, could you show Carl how to do the cuboid thing?""Sure," she said with a smile on her face, her voice as soft as ever before. Dammit Grimes, stop thinking about her. You should be heartbroken about Anna."Okay, I'll be back soon. Please don't get yourselves killed," he pleaded jokingly."Bye, Earl," Clementine and I said simultaneously. Earl picked the bag of hoes up and followed Maggie to the exit."I guess you're stuck with me then," Clementine said."I guess. Oh, I'm Carl by the way, I don't think I introduced myself so," I said awkwardly."Clementine, but you can call me Clem if you want to," she chuckled. "Okay, let's see what you've got,Carl," she playfully said as she motioned for me to follow her. She lead me to the fire pit where she gave me a pair of gloves and an apron. Afterwards, she took this kind of structure and commanded me to help her with getting it over the pit, it was really heavy. Then, she instructed me to put some iron ingots in a wooden bucket and to hang it on the structure from before so that the iron could melt. I figured that she was staring at my eye while we were waiting, even though I had my sunglasses on."What are you looking at?" I asked, trying not to sound rude, but rather friendly instead."Huh, what? Nothing..." She tried to convince me."You're really bad at lying, you know," we both chuckled. After what seemed like forever but probably was more like 2 minutes , I started about it again, "Was it my eye?""Maybe..." She said with her cute voice. I could see that it made her really curious."Would you like to see it?" I offered her. She nodded and I put my sunglasses down. She tried to examine it from a distance, but started to rub her neck right after."Can I Uhm, touch it?" She cautiously asked."Ye- Yeah, sure," I said awkwardly. I wanted her to get close though, I wanted to hold her, but I knew that I couldn't. I wanted to hug that cute little body and stroke her beautiful hair. I wanted to drown in her eyes while she drowned in mine. I wanted to kiss her and feel her soft lips moving against mine, synchronically with mine. I was really hard for me to not hug her al of a sudden when she came closer. I looked at her hand as she reached for my eye."Wouldn't it hurt if I were to touch it?" She asked worryingly."It used to, but it happened 2 years ago so I barely feel a thing now," I explained. She nodded and stroke my scar."It's harder than you'd think"."I know, it makes it feel kinda weird to wash it," I said with a chuckle. Right after that, I heard a small bang. Out of reflexes, I stepped forward, making me stumble over Clementine and pulling her to the ground with me. She was partially lying on my chest, which both of us didn't seem to mind. Wait what, both of us? The drowning in each other's eyes moment I was dreaming about really happened. It didn't last long, but it seemed to last forever. Eventually, we both got up and for some reason pretended that it never happened."It was a just a bubble. We'll have to start pouring now though, we don't want it to boil and spat all over the place," I picked the extended arm tool up and cautiously removed the bucket from the fire. "Okay good, now come over here and start pouring it on this end only, it'll spread itself," she instructed and so I did. Soon after, Earl returned and Clementine went back to her job. We didn't have much time to talk to our or at least my regret. Don't get me wrong, Earl is a great man, really fun yet so wise. I enjoyed talking to him too, he just wasn't Clementine.A couple of hours later, my shift was over. I said goodbye to Earl and walked Clementine to her place. We talked some more on the way. Nothing too seriously, just trying to get to know each other. Although we never actually talked about what happened at Earl's, it was the only thing that came into my mind every time I saw her.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Clementine's POV:Another day, another opportunity to see Carl. If only Earl wasn't around so much, then again, it's his house. I really wanted to kiss him so bad when we were standing close to each other yesterday, but what if he didn't love me back? I mean, we'd only known each other for 2 days, but he could've still loved me, right? I loved him... Why does this have to be so frustrating? I kept my hair short Lee, but what was I supposed to do now?! After some internal debates, I decided to let it go and leave for Earl's. What's a better way to fight frustration than to be around the source the whole day? Ugh, I should really talk to him in private, without Earl or it being dark outside. Even though I had Carl to protect me, I was still scared when he walked me home, making me unable to have a normal conversation and to listen properly to what he was saying. Oh screw it, Carl here I come!Walking through the same streets as always bordered by the same houses to get to the same house where the same person already was and the same personnot. However, this time it was different. Earl was already there as always , but this time someone else was there too, someonenot welcome. Across the blacksmith, Greg was standing in the street. He was known for his stalking and weird behaviour, yet everyone was too afraid to tell Maggie. I wasn't scared of him, my fear took place for hatred a long time ago. I wasn't going to involve Maggie or anyone else though, I was going to take care of my own problems. I was hoping that he was just walking to somewhere and coincidently passed the blacksmith, but my hopes made place for sad facts. Greg stood there, staring at me."What do you want, Greg?" I said rudely."Just you," he replied with an evil grin on his face. It did frighten me a bit to be honest."And I want ice cream, I guess we'll both be disappointed then," I taunted."Wewill be disappointed?" He creepily asked as he walked towards me."Yeahwe, now fuck off Greg," I commanded while walking closer to the wall. He pushed me against it and started shouting."Is it because of the kid with the fucked up face?! He doesn't love you, I do!" I tried to get out of his grip but he kept pushing me against the wall."Stop, you're hurting me!" I cried out in pain."It's what you deserve for being a stupid whore!" He yelled at me."Earl!" I yelled, but he couldn't hear me."Yell as much as you want, stupid bitch! No one's gonna hear you! They don't love you, I do!" He kept on saying how much he loved me. My head hit the wall and I started to feel really dizzy, but he kept on pushing me. Suddenly, I heard a muffled voice."Let her go," someone commanded. Greg turned me around and stood behind me. I was dazzled by the sunlight at first, but then I saw who stood there."C Carl?" I asked, although it took me a lot of effort to say anything. He had his gun in his hands and was aiming for Greg."It's going to be okay Clem," he tried to reassure me."Itwillbe onceyou've left," Greg snarled at him."I'm not going anywhere. Let. Her. Go," Carl responded."Or what?" Greg teased him."Or I'll shoot you," he said coldly. That made Greg rethink his strategy."Fine," he sighed, "if I can't have her, no one can!" he declared. He took his knife out of its sheath and swiftly ran it through my throat. An awful pain came from the wound and I started to get dizzy again, but worse than before. I elbowed Greg and fell on the ground. I vaguely heard a shot and felt drips of blood spatting on my face. With the last energy I had, I crawled back to the wall to sit upwards and lean against it. Carl ran over to me with tears in his eyes. He tried to apply pressure to the wound and said some words I couldn't even hear. Then, something unexpected happened, he planted his soft, sweet lips against mine. He kissed me. All this time I was just staring right in front of me, but now I looked at Carl."Clementine, I love you," he said while sobbing."I I love you too," I said, my last words. After that, everything went black, I didn't feel anything anymore. I could only barely hear."Cl Clem?" I heard Carl say. That was the last thing I can remember. Did I die? Did I pass out? I don't know... The only thing I know is that I love Carl and that he loves me.