"Please," she whined, shading her eyes from the blinding sun that was beating down on her. She had been walking for miles, days now, with no food or water. Her body was beginning to break down with every step she took.
She kept her eyes closed as she practically dragged her feet, not caring if she lived or died at this point.
She let out a laugh, "don't be silly."
Her brain was on autopilot, reality weaving with memories, creating scenarios in her mind to which she responded to physically.
As delusional as she was, she managed to open her eyes. Everything was blurry. She could make out slight movement off in the distance. Short figures running around. Were they children? No, couldn't be.
There was a large yellow sign in the shape of an arrow. She rubbed her eyes to try and make out what it said.
"Motel?" she questioned in disbelief. Was it real? Or had her mind been playing tricks on her?
She continued to approach it, picking up her pace to reach it faster.
"Fuck!" she fell to her knees. Her lungs were burning as if she ran a mile when she merely walked a few feet. She panted with her head hanging just above the pavement.
"Just sleep. Just for a minute," she placed her face on the heated tar, her breath deep as she closed her eyes.
xxx
"Mom, dad!"a small boy ran to his parents in fear, followed by a girl who looked about the same age.
"What is it, Duck?" the father dropped his tools, looking to the boy.
"Clementine, are you alright? What's going on?" another man rushed over to check on the little girl.
"There's someone in the road!" she pointed, a worried look on her face.
"Someone? You mean, someone who's alive?" the boy's father asked.
"I heard them say something. They were walking and just fell," she explained.
The man with Clementine sighed, "alright..you and Duck go stay with Katjaa, Kenny and I will check it out," he said with a look on his face, "you and I need to have a talk later."
He patted the top of Clementine's hat and followed Kenny to grab a weapon.
"You think it's just a walker, Lee?" Kenny asked him.
"I don't know. She said they spoke, so we should find out."
They walked through the space, an opening that could have only been made by the children.
"Clem and Duck are sneaky little ones," Lee mumbled.
"There," Kenny raised his gun, him and Lee approaching the body with caution.
"It's a girl."
"Is it? Or is it just another walker? I ain't waitin' around to find out," Kenny pushed her body over with his foot, a small groan coming from her mouth.
Lee slowly moved his hand to her throat, pressing two fingers to her.
"She has a pulse," he said, lowering his guard a bit.
"For how long? That's the question," Kenny scoffed.
"Is she going to be alright?" Clementine's voice peeped from behind them.
"What are you doing out here? I told you to stay by Duck and Katjaa," Lee turned to her.
"I know..I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if she was ok," she looked to her feet, getting another sigh from Lee.
"We don't really know right now. Maybe Katjaa will take a look at her," Lee said, looking to Kenny for confirmation.
"If she raises even a single red flag, I won't hesitate to shoot," Kenny explained.
Lee carried the unconscious girl into the safety of their walls, immediately taking her to Katjaa to be looked at.
Lee escorted Clementine to a spot outside where they could chat. He kneeled down in front of her, a look on his face that said 'you know what I'm about to say.'
"So, wanna tell me why you and Duck thought it was a good idea to go outside the perimeter?"
She looked down, moving dirt around with her foot.
"We were looking for bugs," she admitted.
"Any bugs you find out there can be found in here. You need to stay within the border. It's for your safety. You understand that, right? What if there was someone out there who had a weapon? What if a walker got you?"
She frowned, "I'm sorry."
"Ask me first next time, alright?" Lee smiled.
She nodded her head and hugged him.
"Can we check on the lady now?" she asked, eager to see her.
"Why are you so concerned with her?" Lee wondered, giving a small laugh.
"I-I don't know. It would be nice to have another girl around. One who might play with me," she looked to the left, pointing out that none of the women here are too interested in playing.
"Kenny and I have to make sure she isn't a threat, then we can figure that out afterwards," Lee stood, tapping her shoulder.
"Why don't you go find Duck and I'll let you know when you can see her."
He walked into the room where Katjaa and Kenny were observing the girl.
"Anything?" he asked them.
"Well, she is very dehydrated. Who knows how long she's gone without water or food," katjaa said.
"And we found this in her pocket. She kept her driver's license for some reason," Kenny lifted the plastic card to his face, "name's Kate, around 24 or 25 years old and she's far away from home. "
"All we can do is let her rest and leave her some food and water for when, and if, she wakes up," Katjaa explained.
"What are we gonna tell the rest of the group?" Lee asked, concerned that the girl will stir up some fear in everyone.
"We all know priss-ass Lilly will have something to say," Kenny added, "especially if we're giving our food and water to some stranger."
"None of us would've gotten this far without the help of strangers, we can't forget that," Lee said.
There was a violent knock on the door, "Katjaa, Kenny, Lee? You guys in there?"
"Speak of the devil's spawn," Kenny rolled his eyes.
"I got it," Lee sighed, opening the door to a woman with arms crossed and hips angled.
"What's this I hear about a dead girl?"
"Lilly, she's not dead. Duck and Clementine spotted her-"
"What are we, some kind of orphanage for survivors? We barely have enough food to last us the month, we can't afford another mouth to feed," she went off.
"Is there ever a time when you keep your damn mouth shut?" Kenny spat.
"Yeah, when things are taken care of the way they should be," Lilly gritted her teeth.
"That's enough from both of you. The girl isn't even conscious. We don't know if she will be anytime soon," Lee assured.
A loud coughing came from outside, grabbing Lilly's attention immediately.
"We're not done with this discussion," she said before rushing out the door.
The tension in the room left alongside Lilly, making everyone sigh in relief. Katjaa continued to examine Kate, making sure she didn't miss anything important, while Lee and Kenny stepped out to continue working on various things around the inn.