𝕒𝕝𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕛𝕣 .

                — “ i was too young to remember much .. ” says the boy. he brings his index finger up to his lip while he thinks. “ from what i remember, it was pretty nice.. ” face lowers when he remembered why exactly he was there. “ it was never as . . . good . . . as when i’m with clem, though. i didn’t know anyone at the ranch. ”

The Intellectual is the ultimate dinner-party guest. Engaging questions and thoughtful debate are their trademarks.

                 — aj was nervous to approach the man & ask . . . but the boy needed to know if his suspicions were true. was he kenny? - the man who clementine had spoken about time and time before? ; who lost his family, his loved ones .. who once held aj in his arms when he was just a newborn baby. the little boy slowly walked up to the man with his head faced down. aj poked his back. aj and clementine had been on their own for so long .. being worried was an unfamiliar feeling. but the boy was almost certain this was the man clem had spoken about in the past. “ um . . . excuse me? ” he looked upwards. he held his fingers in front of him & fidgeted with them. “ are you .. is your name kenny? do you know clementine? ”

                  — aj wasn’t supposed to roam this far from the camp . . but the sight of a large & very rusty head of a train had caught his attention. it was so big + old and so . . . cool ! the little boy knew trying to climb it was probably not the best idea & so  he decided to just stand close enough to it and just admire it ( and touch it ). he had been so wrapped up in checking out the train that he’d been there for an HOUR. it wasn’t until aj heard ruffling behind him did he snap back to his senses. the boy turned & immediately took out his weapon - which was his gun. “ who’s there? ” shouted the youngster.

               — brows furrow in confusion. “ a . . . playground. ” the young boy repeated. he had followed close behind clementine as she walked towards the --- thing. it gave him a bad feeling in his tummy. he pulled back a little. “ you’re sure it’s safe, clem? ” he trusted her ; of course he did. but he’d never seen anything like this before so it made sense ( to him, at least ) that he was a little nervous.

             —  the boy was saddened by the question. he knew they didn’t mean any harm by asking but it brought up memories aj would much rather leave in the past. he had tried to atone for what he’d done ... he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. “ i--- marlon was threatening everyone . . . waving the gun around. ” the corners of his eyebrows upturned. gaze lowers to the ground. “ i thought it was the right thing to do. i thought i was protecting everyone. ” after all, aj had been brought up in this apocalyptic word & was taught to kill monsters. “ and . . i never thought it was a good idea.. shooting him ..” it was like clementine had said . . . shooting & killing people isn’t something to be liked. and aj didn’t. but he was willing to do whatever it took to protect those he loved & cared for.

              — aj hummed, fiddling with his gun. “ no more bullets. ” the little boy glanced up at the other. “ do you have any? ” he hoped they did . . . even 1 or 2 ; anything was better than nothing. especially when it came to something that could potentially save his life.