Arvo, Bonnie, and Mike
I always found it baffling about what this trio did in S2 E5, and I hadn't thought to ask about it until I replayed it just today. Are there anyone who can give a solid argument to justify their actions when it came to leaving the group? I usually try to sympathise with those who are commonly misunderstood or "hated" but this scenario proves to be difficult and perhaps even unrealistic.
I get that they felt bad for Arvo, and weren't exactly fans of Kenny, and Jane, but they were taking all the supplies and leaving Clementine and AJ to die basically. They didn't even approach Clem or take AJ, they just decided they were going to leave. And they're not even that bad people. Arvo's emotions and actions make sense, but Mike and Bonnie are pretty good people. It seems like they're doing a total 180 when they decide to make that decision.
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I'm pretty sure Mike and Bonnie(and, to a lesser degree, Arvo) were meant to have genuinely turned over a new leaf or at most given in to their true friendly natures and the betrayal, while leaving a bit to be desired in terms of execution, was (hopefully) really banking on "OOC Serious Business". As Clementine and Kenny points out in the truck, people do crazy things when their scared: Jane, Bonnie, and Mike feeling nervous around him after spending so much time around Carver is understandable. The fact that neither wanted another Carver and for Kenny to come after them is makes their decision that much more understandable and a little more sympathetic. It was clear that the scene was meant to show just how much in a hurry those three were to get away that they forgot some pretty obvious details. If you listen closely while sneaking up on them, Mike mentions that he forgot to look for the keys and assumes that Kenny must have them, to which Arvo suggests that Mike wire it(not so different?
). So its pretty clear they didn't think this through very well.
Bonnie definitely seemed to have been sincere when she said that she didn't want to be against Clementine again and it is proven should she be on good terms when Arvo shoot Clementine, as she gets upset with Mike and states that she never wanted any of that to happen. Also, and I know I brought this up already, but they seemed to be in a huge hurry at the time so who knows if she was under the impression that they were intending to leave Clementine when they got caught. So, for all we know, any betrayal of Clementine was never on the table as far as she knew.
Arvo was essentially a prisoner of war at that point; his group had been wiped out for the most part and Arvo himself was clearly in no mood to fight back. Plus, enemy or not, getting payback for the payback was not worth letting Kenny go psycho again and kill someone. So, their decision to take him with them when they decided to just leave the group made sense, because Kenny had already beaten the boy into a pulp for being sick of his shit, so who's to say he wouldn't just up and kill him for any trivial reason. Then again, considering that Arvo has a reason to hate most of the abandoned, I can see him giving a mighty fuck you to them. Was it explicitly stated that they were taking the baby food as well? I can understand him leaving Clementine, Kenny, and Jane to be hungry, but I doubt that sentiment extended to the baby. After all, it was the main motivator for him trying to call things off and stand up to Buricko so no one would get shot.
Part of me would like to think that getting away from Kenny was such a high priority that when they saw the opportunity presented, they just collected Arvo and his things and got ready to get out of there without really taking the time to think about asking Clementine if she wants to come. At least Mike would've been happy to take her along (though it could raise the question of why didn't he have Bonnie go break the news to her just ahead of time) but Arvo would've been too paranoid/spiteful/relunctant to allow her to come with. The fact that she likely still has feelings for Kenny, not to mention the fact that Arvo would be uncomfortable around either one probably exacerbated that negligence. Another small issue is that taking AJ would require them to have the truck ready to go should he start crying and thus alert Kenny and/or Jane. And even then, it could easily be seen by either one of those two as them kidnapping the baby, which could cause them to track them down.
Leaving Clementine, AJ, and Jane to die may not have been their intention, but they can't really say that since they got caught in a compromising position with Clementine pointing a gun at them. Her not even bringing AJ up (if I remember my "Unintentionally Sympathetic" research correctly) doesn't really give her much leeway to convince them that their wrong for wanting to leave. It might just be fanon on my part, but I would think at least Mike would be conflicted if she did. Though the fact that we're meant to assume the three of them were taking all of Arvo's supplies that they could grab, potentially leaving all four without most of the supplies and by extension endangering the baby, admittedly would've been a serious dick move on their part but I sincerely doubt that was the exact plan at the time given how sullen they seem about Clementine seeing them like that. Also, I'm sure Kenny and Jane would've mentioned whether they took all of the food and supplies or not. Assuming they didn't just get too distracted by talking shit to each other, anyway.
I really hate invoking the whole lazy plot point trope, I brought up in the recent Bonnie thread that the implication that Mike, Arvo, and Bonnie were apparently taking all of the supplies was just a surefire way of keeping people from sympathizing with them and making their decision wrong.
I believe there are quite a few discussions and opinions on this topic. You may want to read Better to Sleep's recent post on Bonnie's thought process on leaving. You can chalk it up to poorly thought-out writing though. Jane and Kenny didn't come into conflict until Episode 5, and likely wouldn't have had the rest of the group remained to be a buffer. Jane thought Kenny was a douche, but she certainly didn't want to fight him. Kenny didn't trust Jane, but he certainly didn't want to kill her. To exacerbate their negative qualities and put them in direct conflict with each other, Luke, Bonnie, and Mike had to be written out of the story. It was easy enough with Mike, considering he was an unnecessary character who got pretty much no development for the entire game. Honestly, he should have died in the Russian ambush. I don't see why Luke had to die and Bonnie's actions were a surprise and screwed up her redemption arc. The final choice should have been between going to Wellington with Kenny, returning to Howe's with Luke, Bonnie, and the baby, or going with Jane, sans the knife fight. I think the game lacked any real direction and a lot of decisions were made on the fly.