A/N: Hi guys, Q here. I decided to bring this story back. I apologize for taking it off in the first place. I'll try not to do that from now on. So, once again, The FancyPsychopath gets credit for the idea of younger Clementine. And disclaimer time…
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Gunfire erupted in downtown Atlanta, as the Marine tried to help his allies to contain the overwhelming herd of psychopathic cannibals that were quickly nicknamed by his fellow officers as walkers. The Marine himself, Zack, continued to fire as another Marine kept yelling, "Don't let them bit or scratch you or you'll get sick." In fact, several of the Marines were now in the medical tents behind the military line for being bit or scratched early on in the reoccupation of the city. Suddenly, Zack's own gun jammed and he cursed under his breath. He tried to fix the problem with his assault rifle, but to no avail. One of the walkers was getting closer to him to which he quickly drew his military issued knife and stabbed the creature in the skull.
"Nice going." One of the other privates praised as Zach withdrew the blade from the walker's skull.
"Thanks." Zack said.
Suddenly, there was a loud scream from behind them as a walker wearing a Marine uniform ripped out an artery from an unfortunate private's neck. "Shit they're behind us!" One of the older Marines exclaimed.
Zach quickly went in with his knife and stabbed the once Marine ally turned walker. He looked up and his eyes widened. The entire medical facility was overran! Walkers wearing Marine uniforms and doctor scrubs approached the outflanked Marines. Zach growled and he exclaimed, "We're outflanked. The medical facility is overran! We have to retreat!"
"Get a hold of yourself soldier!" The corporal shouted not noticing the overran medical facility. "We've lost too many men to-AAAHHHHHH!" Suddenly the corporal was bit on the neck and was killed gruesomely as the walker tore out his artery.
"Shit, we need more firepower!" One of the older Marine shouted as he fired at the deceased corporal and the walker that killed him. The Marine looked to Zach and shouted, "Griffith, we need help over here!"
Zach shook his head as he looked around to see that they were being surrounded. He quickly knifed another walker and ran away from the formation. "Griffith!" The Marines shouted but they quickly went back to firing at the walkers that were surrounding them.
Two Days Later
The vehicle finally ran out of gas as the deserter, Zach, huffed. "Dammit!" Zach shouted angrily as he pounded the steering wheel with his fists. He huffed to calm down and he looked around the area. He was in a suburban area outside of Atlanta. He huffed as he reminded himself of how stupid he was for leaving the military outpost in Atlanta. His life as a Marine was over; hell his life as a free man was over. He also had a few stray tears upon thinking of what happened to him after he left his unit and went to his home to retrieve his loving wife, Amaya, but when he got home, he found her as a walker. He sighed and grabbed his backpack and looked inside to check his supplies. He didn't have much food left, so he had to get out of his vehicle and search for food in the nearby houses.
The nearest house was a modest home by the looks of it. He approached the home with his hand over his katana, which was given to him by Amaya's father. In order for Zach to be accepted into the family, Amaya's father demanded that Zach would have decent skill with using the weapon. As Amaya would explain it, 'He was very traditional.' After a couple years of training, Amaya's father gave him the sword as acceptance to the family. The katana itself was strapped onto his military issued backpack on the right side, which was where Zach's dominant hand was.
He approached the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Zach then saw a gate that blocked off the backyard from the front yard and went to it. He examined the gate with intrigue and even pushed on it. It creaked open to his surprise and he said, "How about that? Not locked." He pushed the gate further to allow him to enter the backyard. He looked around the fenced-in yard and noticed a pool, a child's tea party setup, a wagon, and a treehouse. "Good word, is there a kid mixed up in all of this?" Zach asked sadly. He shook his head to refocus and decided to go up to the back porch steps to get inside the house.
He opened the sliding door and looked around the house interior. He noticed an answering machine flashing on a stand, the television screen was blurred with no reception, and there was pool of blood that came from the kitchen. Inside the kitchen was more blood and the house appeared to have been ransacked and destroyed with item scattered everywhere and a small table was laying on its side in the kitchen. "In and out, Zachery. In and out." Zach said to himself to build up his courage.
He went through the cupboards and pantries quickly looking for any food. The result of his search gave him a couple boxes of animal crackers, a large can of peaches, a can of beans, a box of granola bars, and finally a hand-held radio. He exited the kitchen with most of the newly found supplies in his backpack, but he looked at the last item he found with intrigue and confusion. "Why would this be in a cupboard?" Zach asked as he looked over the device.
The answering machine sounded with a loud ring. Zach jumped slightly but huffed upon seeing the device. "Alright, what do you got for me?" Zach asked the machine as he pressed play.
"You have three new messages." The machine stated. "Message one left at five-forty-three p.m."
Suddenly the voice of a slightly older woman could be heard on the answering machine. She sounded to be in her early thirties. "Hey Sandra, this is Diana, we're still in Savannah. Ed had a little incident with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine and I promise, we'll be back before the end of your spring break."
The answering machine was heard again with its monotone sound, "Message two left at eleven-nineteen p.m."
"Finally!" Diana exclaimed, "I don't know if you tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know if you're safe." Zach was visibly saddened at the fear and sadness of the woman on the other end of the phone and was almost reluctant to hear the third message.
"Message three left at six-fifty-one a.m." The monotone answering machine sounded.
"Clementine?" Diana cried desperately as the sound of sirens could be heard in background. "Baby, if you can hear this call the police. That's nine-one-one. And we love you… we love you… we lov-" Diana's voice stopped and the beep of the machine sounded ending the message.
Zach sighed and said, "Shit, what has this world come to? And to think that I'm a part of it now."
He then noticed a picture frame that sat on the stand with the answering machine and looked at it. It showed a couple in their thirties with what appeared to be a young girl sitting in front of them. "Hello?" The hand-held radio came to life with the sound of a young girl's voice.
Zack looked to the radio and pressed down on the button, "Hello?" Zach asked into the speaker of the radio
"You need to be quiet." A young girl's voice said.
"I'm not a monster." Zach said.
"That's good." The girl chimed.
"Are you Clementine?" Zach asked.
"Yeah." The girl replied. "How do you know who I am?"
"I saw it on a finger painting and took a guess." Zach lied. He knew it from Diana's desperate pleas from the answering machine. However, it wasn't a complete lie because he did eye a child's finger painting which had Clementine's name written on the bottom. "By the way, you did a good job on that painting." Zach praised.
"Thanks, it was a lot fun to do." The girl chimed.
"You don't sound that old. How old are you?" Zach asked.
"I'm five, but I'll be six in a few months." Clementine chimed in. "How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-six." Zach said.
"Okay…" Clementine said. "What's your name?"
"I'm Zachery Griffith. But everyone calls me Zach." Zach said. "However, mother will usually call me Zachery when I'm in trouble, which happens a lot." He could hear the young five year old at the other end giggle at his comment and Zach continued, "Are you safe?"
"I'm outside in my treehouse. They can't get in." Clementine said. Zach went over to the window that looked out to the treehouse while avoiding the pool of blood.
He stood in front of the window and chuckled, "That's smart."
"See?" Clementine exclaimed. "Can you see me? I can see you through the window." Clementine waved to Zach as she opened up the door to the treehouse.
Zach waved to her with a smile, but suddenly the girl screamed in horror and retreated back inside. Zach immediately whipped around and was staring face-to-face with a walker. It sniffed him questioningly but he shook his head and placed his hands on the counter to kick the creature a few feet from him with both legs. It landed on the fallen table with a growl as Zach drew his katana. The creature growled at him but he quickly responded with a strong slash to its skull. It fell to the ground dead and Zach quickly sheathed his sword. He went past the pool of blood and saw the young girl with a hammer in her hands at the screen door. She looked at him with wide eyes and he approached the door with his hands raised up. He opened the screen door and crouched down in front of her. "Hi, I'm Zach." Zach greeted her.
"H-Hi" The girl responded shakily. "Is Sandra still here?"
"No." Zach said as he shook his head. "I… put her out of her misery. She's not hurting anymore." Zach had to choose his words carefully as to not frighten the five year old but at the same time not overwhelm her with large vocabulary. He looked to her sadly and asked, "You've been all by yourself through this?"
"Yeah, I want my parents to come home now?" Clementine said as she placed the hammer on the ground.
"I think that might be a while, you know?" Zach said.
"Oh…" The five year old said as she looked down sadly.
Zach wrapped his hands around her small frail ones and said, "Hey listen, I'm going to do whatever I can to help you until… things can work themselves out, okay?"
Clementine smiled at the man's kindness and asked, "Wh-What should we do now?"
"We're going to need to get you some clothes for the upcoming fall and winter and some toys to entertain you." Zach said. "Can you show me your room?"
"Yeah, it's this way." Clementine exclaimed as she started to drag Zach. However Zach planted his feet and stopped the girl. She looked back confused by his action and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Um… I kind of got rid of your babysitter in a really… terrible-looking way." Zach said. He had to be honest with her. He didn't want her to see the gruesome scene of Sandra with her brain sliced open. "Could I carry you to the stairs and could you please close your eyes so that you don't see Sandra?"
"I…I don't know." Clementine said. Despite how kind Zach was, he was still a stranger to Clementine.
"It will be very quick." Zach said.
Clementine contemplated for a couple of seconds until she smiled and said, "Okay." Zach smiled back and picked up the young child. He was surprised by how light she was. He knew that she looked light but she practically weighed as much as a three year old toddler. As she was instructed, Clementine closed her eyes, and as he promised, Zach placed her on the ground once he reached the stairs. "Come on." Clementine said excited to show her room. Zach followed her and went upstairs with her.
She went to one of the doors and turned the doorknob with her small hands and opened it to reveal her room. The room itself had purple bedding, wallpaper, and carpeting. As for the toys, it reflected both worlds of a tomboy and a girly girl, with Legos at one corner of the room and a toy house in the other. The room appeared to be relatively untouched by all of the chaos as there wasn't a drop of blood anywhere. "See? Do you like my room?" Clementine asked.
"Yeah, it looks really nice." Zach said. "Is purple your favorite color?"
"Yup." Clementine chirped.
"Okay. Do you have a backpack so I can put some of your things in?" Zach asked. Clementine nodded and she pointed to a blue backpack that hung from one of the posts of the bedframe. He picked up the backpack which was weighed down by school supplies. He emptied it and looked to Clementine and asked, "Where does your mom keep your fall and winter clothes at?"
"I think in here." Clementine said as she opened one of the drawers to a dresser. "Yup."
Zach went over to the drawer and started put some clothes in the backpack along with a blanket. After he finished, Zach looked to Clementine and asked, "What's one of your favorite things to do?"
"I like to draw and color. Mommy and daddy say I spend too much time drawing and coloring, but I like it." Clementine chimed.
"Alright, good." Zach said with a smile. He then eyed the desk at the adjacent corner to him and he went to it. He placed a couple of coloring books and a drawing pad in the backpack. He then unzipped another flap and placed a twenty-four pack of crayon, three sharpened pencil and a hand sharpener in it. He zipped up the flap and looked to the five year old again.
She was now looking at a plush toy on her bed and asked with pleading eyes, "Can I take my lion with me, please?" She hugged said toy as she stared at Zach.
"How can I say no to that face?" Zach said. "Yeah, put him inside."
"Yes!" Clementine cheered, but there was still room for one more thing in her backpack so Zach wouldn't have said no anyway.
He zipped up the backpack and asked, "You ready to go?"
"I…" Clementine said sadly as she looked around the room sadly. "I-I live here. It's hard to say good-bye."
"I know, sweetie, but we're not safe here. We need to find some form of shelter." Zach said.
Clementine nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm ready." Zach smiled and he got up. He left the room with the girl by his side holding his hand as he carried her backpack. She looked back to her room, one last time almost reluctant to leave it and looked forward again. They descended the stairs and Zack repeated the process of carrying her across the house so she would avoid seeing Sandra.
Zach placed her on the ground and she held his hand again. Zach smiled to her as they went to the gate. "I think I can siphon some gas from these other vehicles to refill my-" Zach started to explain as he reached the gate. However, he was interrupted as he eyed two young men, who were a couple of years younger than him, trying to push a couple of cars out of the way for their vehicle to get through. Their vehicle appeared to be a red and white truck which must have been an older model due to the dried mud and small amount rust on the body.
"Aw man!" One of the men exclaimed.
"I ain't ever going to get to mama at this rate." His stocky ally said.
"This sucks." The first man complained.
"It's hot dish night." The stocky man said.
"Let's ask these guys for a lift." Zach said as he talked to the young girl. "You want to do that?"
"I-I don't know. I don't want to sleep in the treehouse tonight, but I don't know if I should leave. What if my parents come home?" Clementine said.
Zach crouched down to her eye level and held both of her hands supportively with a kind smile. "I won't leave you." Zach said. "How about we go somewhere safe for the night that's close?"
Clementine smiled and said, "Yeah, that's a good idea."
Zach nodded and he got back up. He and Clementine proceeded to open the gate. However, the gate's loud creak alerted the two men to their presence and they jumped up seeing them. "Holy shit, man! Please don't eat us." The stocky man exclaimed.
"Relax. We're not going to hurt you." Zach said.
"Phew." The young man said. "I thought you and the little one were both going to give us the chomp."
"We need help. My truck is completely out of gas and I need to get her to safety." Zach said as he indicated to Clementine.
"Are you trying to get out of here? Because you should be." The young man said. "Those things are all over the damn place. I haven't seen anything as gnarly as this neighborhood since downtown Atlanta, fifteen miles back." Zach looked down sadly at the mention of his former outpost which didn't go unnoticed by the young man. "Are you okay?"
Zach shook his head to refocus and said, "Yeah, I'm fine." He then extended his hand and said, "Zach Griffith."
"I'm Shawn. Shawn Greene." The young man said as he shook Zach's hand. He then eyed the young five year old and asked, "What's this one's name?"
"This is Clementine." Zach introduced the young girl.
The stocky man squatted down and smiled to Clementine and introduced himself. "I'm Chet."
Clementine smiled at the stocky man as her form of hello and Shawn continued, "We shouldn't be out in the open like this. How about you help us clear the way and we can take you and your daughter out of here and down to my family's farm. It should be safer there."
"I'm not her dad." Zach said. "I'm just some guy who found her."
"Just some guy?" Shawn asked. "She's alone?" He looked to her as she looked up to Zach and held onto his hand with both of her small ones. Shawn looked up to Zach and continued, "Let's get going. Staying put for too long is a mistake."
Zach nodded and he looked to Clementine. She nodded in confirmation that she would go to the farm. "Alright, let's do this." Zach said. Suddenly the four could hear growls and snarls coming in all directions.
"Them monsters are coming! We got to go!" Chet exclaimed.
Shawn placed his hands on a wrecked car as Chet looked on to see several walkers heading for them. "Zach come on, help me push." Shawn said. Zach placed Clementine's backpack on the ground and placed his hands on the vehicle. Together, he and Shawn pushed the car out of the truck's way. However, when Shawn stopped to catch his breath, Zach continued to push the car and huffed as soon as he pushed it completely out of the way. He then ran over and grabbed Clementine's backpack and he and Clementine followed Chet. Chet took the truck bed as his seat, allowing Clementine and Zach to have the passenger seat.
They got in as Shawn started up the truck and shot off from the scene. He slammed the car that they had moved and drove along the curb in his haste, but they escaped the deathtrap suburb. "For just some guy, you seemed to have saved a lot of lives today." Shawn remarked as he hit a couple of roadblocks.
The drive to Shawn's house took the remainder of the evening and into nighttime. He drove past a large cornfield and neared a farmhouse. He entered into a fenced in area and said, "We're here." He, Zach and Clementine exited the vehicle as Chet climbed out of the truck bed.
"Hey Shawn… I'm going to go on home. My mama's going to be in a snit." Chet said.
"No sweat man, I'll catch you tomorrow night." Shawn replied.
"It was nice to meet you both." Chet said to Zach and Clementine and headed home.
Zach looked down to Clementine who was looking especially tired due to the trip and the lateness of night. Granted, it was only ten in the evening, but she was still five years old. Clementine yawned and Zach asked, "You tired?" Clementine nodded and Zach continued, "You want me to pick you up so you can sleep a little."
Clementine looked to Zach with a smile and nodded. With that Zach picked up the small five year old.
Shawn chuckled and said, "I know that you said you weren't her dad, but you're really good with her."
Suddenly, the door to the farm house opened up and an older man looked to Shawn with relief spreading across his features. "Thank goodness, you're okay." The older man said.
The older man descended from the stairs and approached Shawn. "I wouldn't have made it without Chet." Shawn said.
"Well, I'm glad that you took him with you then." The older man remarked. He then turned to Zach and Clementine and said, "You've brought a couple of guests."
"You're boy is a lifesaver." Zach said as he started to rock Clementine in his arms.
"Glad that he could be of some use to someone." The older man said. Shawn rolled his eyes in response and the older man continued, "So, it's just you and your daughter then."
"Oh, not his daughter." Shawn said. "He's… well just some guy who found her all alone."
The older man hummed in suspicion and asked, "Are you going to be capable of taking good care of a little girl? I mean children are a completely different story compared to a dog or a cat."
"I know." Zach said. "I'm not going to lie. I have no experience with kids, but I'm going to do the best I can for her."
"No joke?" Shawn asked. "You have no experience with kids?"
"None." Zach replied.
"You could have fooled me." Shawn continued. "You gave her some food and water on the way up here and you even played a couple of games with her to keep her from getting bored."
The older man smiled upon hearing what Zach did and looked to Shawn, "Shawn go on in and check with your sister."
"Yes sir." Shawn said and he went up onto the porch and went inside.
The older man looked back to Zach and said, "I can tell you're good with her. My name's Herschel Greene."
"I'm Zach. Zachery Griffith." Zach responded.
"There's a family sleeping in the barn. That's where you and that little one can sleep." Herschel explained. "The house is full of mine, otherwise I would have let you sleep in there tonight."
"That's fine." Zach replied. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Herschel said and he went inside his house.
Zach proceeded to head to the barn. The small five year old didn't stir a bit, showing how tired she must have been. Zach approached the barn mentally sighed as he saw the barn door shut. Thankfully, Shawn came over and opened the barn door.
"Thanks." Zach whispered.
"No problem." Shawn whispered back. "Listen, could you help me fortify the fence tomorrow? My dad wouldn't understand. He thinks that what happens in the city, stays in the city. I want protect him and my family, but I can't do it alone."
"I'll do what I can." Zach whispered.
"Thanks." Shawn whispered. "I'll close the door for you. There are a couple of sleeping bags in there for you and her."
Zach nodded and he proceeded to enter the barn. He approached the two sleeping bags as Shawn closed the door. Zach adjusted his right arm from the position of being across the small child's back to holding her upper back and head. He then began to crouch down and lowered her gently onto the sleeping bag. He smiled to see that she was still asleep. He then grabbed her backpack and pulled out her stuffed lion toy and a blanket. He placed the toy close to her arms and placed the blanket over her, tucking her in to make sure she wouldn't get cold through the course of the night. It was a decent temperature right now, being in the seventies, but he wanted to make sure she was warm.
Zach took off his backpack and laid down on the sleeping bag. He took off his wedding band and looked at it. He stared off distantly as every bit of regret kept pouring through him. He then looked to Clementine and whispered, "You're all I have left. Without you… I'll just go over the edge." He finally drifted off to sleep but only for a short period of time. He was haunted by the images of the day that he became a deserter. He shot up as he recalled the ear-piercing scream of his corporal. He huffed hard trying to forget the day that he abandoned his unit. He finally was able to calm down again and he laid back down. He drifted off to sleep, thinking of the particular jam he was in.
Nobody else knows what he is, but he honestly wants to keep it that way. The fewer people who know, the better.
…To be continued.
A/N: Well this is chapter one and if you are all interested here is the description on Zach since he is an OC:
At the beginning of the outbreak, Zach wore the typically issued combat utility uniform that is offered to Marines. However, two days later, he is still wearing his combat boots and green, brown, and black trousers, but he is now wearing a black t-shirt. His hair is black, he has green eyes, and is Caucasian. As stated he is twenty-six and he is very lean, yet slightly shorter than Lee, being at six-foot.
Clementine is wearing the same thing as she wore in season 1 episode 1, but in a smaller size since she is five in this as opposed to eight in the game.
