"You're strong Clementine… You can do anything." The dying foster father whispered. Clementine looked in shock as his eyes opened and closed. Tears streamed down the little girl's face, making the man feel terrible. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save you…" He whispered. "Clem," "Yes?" She whispered. "Sweet pea, I'm not gonna make it. We both know that, but you are." He looked down at the handcuff, chaining him the heater. "Clem, you're-you're gonna have to shoot me baby." "What?! NO!" She cried. "It's the only way; you and I both know that it would be worse the other way. Please." He closed his eyes again, this time for much longer than he should have. "O-ok… I'll try." She whimpered. Clementine got up from where she was sitting and pulled out her gun hesitantly. Her arms fell to her sides. She burst out crying. "I-I can't do this to you…" She said between sobs. "Yes, yes you can. You are so strong, and so brave." He said. She nodded and raised the gun. "Clementine… before this is all over." He paused to take a slow breath "I want you to know that, that you were my daughter throughout all of this. And I wanted to say that, I will miss you so much. Clementine, I love you. I love you so much. You will rule the world, sweet pea. I love you, and I will miss you." He said. "I-I love you too." Clementine said. "I will miss you… dad." She said. He smiled, and Clementine aimed the gun at his head. She looked away, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger.
I will miss you so much Lee.
Eight Years Later
Clementine's POV
The cold wind howled as Clementine limped through the forest. Leaves crunched as she walked through the piles of twigs and dead grass. AJ walked alongside her, and held Clementine's hand quietly. "I don't like the cold…" He whimpered. Clementine couldn't blame him. She barely had anything to keep him warm.
She looked around for a place to rest. There were nothing but trees all around them, and she heard no sounds of animals that could be used as food. The wood around them was wet, so there wasn't much they could do. "Oh well, I should probably make the most of it." She sighed.
Clementine stopped AJ, and picked up some nearby twigs. "Hey AJ, do you know how you can help me?" Clem asked. AJ looked up with excitement. "Can you help me find some wood for a fire? They would look like this." She said and held up the twigs. "Of course I can sis!" He replied.
She smiled as he ran around nearby, grabbing and dropping twigs for their fire. Suddenly, clementine heard a noise. She froze in her placed, and looked around quickly. AJ didn't notice Clementine's reaction, and continued to pick up twigs.
Clementine suddenly heard a groan in the distance, followed by unsteady footsteps. Clementine looked in the direction of the noise and saw someone wobbling towards her. No, it was something.
"Walkers…" She muttered under her breath. Clementine looked quickly over at Aj, who was looking up a tree. He was so short, that the tree must've looked like it went on for infinity to him. Clem looked back over at the walker. There were two now.
"Shit…" She mumbled. Clementine grabbed a steak knife out of her pocket and approached the walkers slowly. They noticed her presence and reached out, trying to grab her. Clementine stepped out of the way and kicked the first walker in the knee with her sneaker. It fell face first into the ground with a thug! She jabbed the knife into the back of its head, the corpse going limp.
She noticed the second walker, which looked like what would have been a female. It growled at her, and lunged slowly forward. Clementine grabbed the walker by its arm and yanked it to the ground. Clementine stomped as hard as she could onto its skull, making it crack open and pour out blood and some brain.
"Eww." She said blandly. She heard fast footsteps and turned around. Aj looked at her with scared eyes. "Are, are the gone?" he whispered.
Clementine smiled to calm him down. She knelt down so she was able to speak to him at eye level. She rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, you're safe. What can I say? I've learned from the best."
Aj smiled, and handed over the twigs. "Thanks sweet pea." Clementine said. "Huh? There was supposed to be more…" He trailed off and turned around. There was a trail of fallen sticks behind him. Clementine couldn't help but giggle.
There small moment of bonding was quickly interrupted by the sound of more moaning. Clementine looked at Aj, who had fear in his innocent eyes. She turned around to see an oncoming heard of walkers.
"Where the hell did they come from?" She asked herself out loud. She looked down at Aj, who was starting to cry. Clementine pulled him close. "It's ok. We will survive." She said. Clementine saw him nod.
Clementine looked down at the two dead walkers. She knelt down, and pulled out her steak knife. "We can't run. We need a disguise." She stabbed the walker in the back and pulled down, creating a giant wound. She dipped her hands in and pulled out the first organ that she felt. She handed it to Aj. "Here." She said. "To mask your scent."
Aj nodded and used the organ like a soapy sponge to get blood all over him. Clementine did the same. "Man, you are the zombie apocalypse king!" She said quickly. Clementine smeared blood on Aj's back. "There we go. We are in the clear." Clementine said.
Aj let out a sigh of relief. Clementine looked around. "We could use this environment…" She said. She and Aj walked over to a nearby tree and Clementine knelt down. She motioned for Aj to climb onto her back. She felt the gain of weight, and grabbed the closest branch. Clementine hoisted herself and Aj up, high into the tree, where they were safe.
"On second thought, I think we should skip the fire idea for tonight" Clementine said. She and Aj laid up high in the branches all night, eventually falling asleep. The walkers passed by, without even a glance up. The tension had come and passed. Another day survived.