Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

61. Hard Truths

"Why?" asked a furious Sarah. "Why have you been lying to me?"

Clementine turned away from Sarah. "Your dad told me and Christa to," she answered in a quiet voice.

"He wouldn't—" Sarah stopped mid-sentence, then grew angrier. "Of course he did," she said through clenched teeth. "It's not bad enough he lies to me, he tells everyone else to lie to me too." Clem turned back towards Sarah. "Well, my dad isn't here right now, so I want you to tell me the truth."

"About what?"

"Everything. Everything he made you lie to me about. Was it true what Mr. Carver said? Did my dad, just leave you to die?"

Clem sighed. "It's true."

"Oh God," gasped Sarah. "Why?"

"He thought my dog bite was a walker bite, so he had Nick lock me in the shed, and said I had to stay there all night."

"That's... that's why you wanted me to help you. Because you knew my dad wouldn't," realized Sarah. "What about the man Nick and Pete buried? You knew him didn't you? Was he your dad?"

"His name was Omid." Sarah went wide-eyed with horror. "Nick shot him because he was looking at your dad with a rifle scope, and thought he was going to shoot him."

"That's why your mom was so mad all the time. That's why she was pointing a gun at him at the lodge. And my dad was pointing one right back, he... he was really going to shoot her," realized a disgusted Sarah.

"He probably did let people die. I used to hear things when I lived here. I'd hear Mr. Carver talk about tragic losses in the morning, and when I'd ask my dad if there was anything he could have done, he'd always tell me he did everything he could. That was probably a lie too.

"I'd hear other things too. I'd hear gunshots, and people yelling and screaming, and anytime I'd ask him about it, he always told me it was nothing to worry about. That it was just lurkers.

"I heard your mom that first night in the cabin, yelling and banging on the wall, and when I asked him about that, he said she was just having a hard time. When I asked him what's wrong with her, he said he didn't know. That was lie. So was him saying you and your mom were letting us stay at that cabin too. They were forcing you, weren't they?" Clem nodded weakly.

"He's... he's probably been lying to me my whole life," realized a furious Sarah. "He'd lied to me about stupid stuff like Santa or the tooth fairy, and he lied about all these terrible things he did. He probably lied about my mom too. Maybe she never died, maybe she left him, or maybe he killed her!"

"Sarah," called Clem, alarmed by Sarah's outrage.

"Maybe he lied about the sun blowing up too. Maybe it'll just explode tomorrow and kill us all!"

"Sarah!" said Clem, frightened by Sarah's rambling. "Calm down."

"My... my dad's a bad person," realized a devastated Sarah.

"Sarah, your dad—"

"You can't say that you don't think he's a bad person, after what he did to you and your mom. I still remember that night. You were cold and wet and muddy and bleeding and scared, and you knew he didn't even care."

"He... he cares about you Sarah," spoke Clem in an uneasy voice. "He was just trying to protect you."

"That doesn't make it right. You can't just do terrible things and say it's okay because you want to protect someone."

Clementine sighed and thought to herself, trying to think of a way to reassure the older girl. "Sarah, I used to know a man who killed someone, before things changed."