The dead aren't the worst things to fear. The living are the real monsters in this cruel, unforgiving world. Clementine knew that was true. She had witnessed so much at such a young age. She was only eleven and she still had a whole life ahead of her... If she survived long enough to see tomorrow's sunrise, and the sunrise after that.
Clementine had lost everything and everyone. Everyone she once knew was now dead, leaving her on her own, to stand alone and face the world head on. The cabin group were all dead, she was quite aware of that, each one killed by the living, one was even killed by her own hand. Carlos... Clementine thought sadly, his face flashed through her mind.
Sarah sobbed sadly as Carver's grip on the teenagers hair tightened, the cold barrel of his pistol pressed into the back of her head. "It's just a small favour, Clem. All I want you to do is put a knife through that traitors skull, is that too much to ask?" He questioned, gesturing over at Carlos with a small nod.
"Please stop" Clementine begged, staring sadly at Sarah as she cried. "Just- don't hurt her"
"I won't... But if you don't do what I want then I'm afraid that my gun might go off and you don't want that, do you?"
"Don't hurt my dad" Sarah whimpered.
"I- I can't kill Carlos!" Clementine exclaimed.
"Well, I suppose poor Sarah's fate is sealed" Carver commented, his finger hovering over the trigger.
"No!" Carlos cried. "Clem, just do what he says!" Carlos begged the eleven year old.
"Don't shoot!" Clementine shouted and with great relief she watched as Carver took his finger away from the trigger "I'll-I'll do it" she stuttered.
"Good" Carver responded simply "Get too it then" he commanded.
Clementine sniffed softly, tears forming in her eyes as she picked up the rusted knife and wandered over to Carlos. The doctor knelt there in the centre of the room, his hands tied up in rope and his face battered and bruised. He lifted his head as she approached him, tears trickling down his black and blue cheeks.
"Carlos, I-" Clementine began.
"Hurry up!" Carver ordered whilst interrupting her "We haven't got all day" he muttered under his breath.
"Look after Sarah for me" Carlos pleaded, showing concern for his daughter.
"I will, I promise" Clementine responded, tears beginning to flow as she lifted the knife above her head, the sliver blade glistening in the artificial light.
"Thank you..." He replied gratefully while lowering his head and bracing himself for the inevitable.
Clementine's hand shook violently and her arm dropped to her side, a sob caught in her throat. She lifted her arm once again, her shaking hand became steady "I'm sorry" she whispered an apology before bringing the knife down on Carlos' head. The cold metal blade met with his forehead, the rusted knife slicing through his skin and cutting into his brain, his skull cracked and his body went slack.
"NO!" Sarah screamed.
Blood trickled from the hole in Carlos' head, the crimson red liquid running down into his eyes, an expression of sadness written on his face. Clementine's grip on the knife's handle loosened as she took a step back, watching as Carlos' body fell limply to the ground, colliding with the cold concrete floor.
Clementine glanced down at her blood soaked hands and then slowly turned towards Carver "Let Sarah go" she demanded breathlessly. And then it happened. She couldn't have prevented it. She couldn't have stopped it. All she could do was watch in horror as Carver squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, the bullet tore through the back of Sarah's head, blood spraying out of the front.
"NO!" Clementine screamed, watching as Carver let go of Sarah's hair and pushed her corpse onto the ground. Clementine collapsed onto her knees and stared at the two blood soaked corpses which littered the floor. "Why...?" She whimpered softly.
Carver didn't answer.
Clementine blinked hard, fighting back tears as she trudged through the winter storm and wading through the deep snow. Carlos wasn't the first to die, and he wasn't the last. It would never stop, it would never be over. Everyone dies eventually. All Carlos wanted was to protect his daugter and he ended up dead because of it. The last thing Sarah saw was her best friend killing her father, the thought of that putting an invisible weight on Clementine's shoulders.
People Clementine loved and cared about, like Lee and her parents and Christa and Omid had all tried to protect her at some stage, to sheild her from the apocalyptic world, or the old one she once knew. They too were now all dead. Clementine lowered her head sadly, the reoccurring thought of Lee crossed her mind.
The recoil from the security guards gun was fierce as a shot rang out. Lee's body now lie still, his head leaning slightly to the right and his eyes wide open and glazed over with his legs stretched out in front of him as he sat there, hand cuffed to the radiator.
He looked somewhat peaceful, if you ignored his head and the way he was positioned it almost seemed like he was just resting or maybe even fast asleep. But the illusion was shattered when Clementine met eyes with the bullet hole in the side of his head, a dark crimson red liquid slowly oozing out of the fracture and spilling into his left eyeball.
Clementine's stomach churned as she lowered the gun, tears still forming in her eyes and glistening on her red, puffy, cheeks. She sniffed sadly, a sob caught in her throat as she turned away and moved towards the door. It didn't have to end this way. Lee didn't have to die. Why did this god forsaken world take him from her after everything they had been through?
She would miss him dearly. But as long as he was in her memories he would never die, Lee would live on forever in Clementine's thoughts... And in her heart.
The walker blood that soaked her yellow dress caused her damp clothes to cling to her skin, the smell that wafted up her nostrils was unbearable. Clementine listened to the sound of walkers outside, and the sound of the metal shutter rattling in the cold autumn wind.
Clementine glanced over her shoulder at Lee, catching sight of his body once more made her psychically sick. Clementine choked up, tear drops rolling from her eyes and dripping onto the cold tile floor. She turned her head away and pulled her hat down over her eyes, hiding her face before she fled the scene.
No matter what, Clementine would live on, she would survive, not just for herself but for Lee's sake. It's what he would have wanted. But bottled up deep inside, a small part of her wished that she had died in that jewellery store along with Lee. A part of her did indeed die with him.
Clementine wasn't sure if the water droplets streaming from her eyes were tears of saddness or just her eyes watering from the harsh winter wind. Maybe it was both. She felt the cold metal pistol press against her back as she trudged through the snow. I wish I had another clip, I'm almost out of bullets. She thought to herself as her num hands gripped the rifle that she carried limply.
Clementine had a tough time shooting a rifle because the recoil was so fierce but she couldn't let this perfectly good weapon go to waste. She would get stronger. Eventually. Clementine quickly glanced over her shoulder when she heard the sound of movement coming from close by. A walker maybe? She couldn't know for sure. Her pace quickened as she waded deeper into the snow, the blanket of white coming up to her waist. Clementine had to practically throw herself out of the deep hole she was trapped in only to sink deeper.
She huffed, her breath visible as she paused, lowering herself into the ground as she met eyes with a walker. The undead corpse was being battered by the wind, the sheer force knocking it off balance as it swayed and stumbled through the blizzard, making faint groaning sounds. It's hold body was stiff, it's joint uncooperative as it struggled to stay standing before finally falling. But the walker didn't give up. They never give up. Clementine watched as the rotting corpse stood up once again, it's buckled knees cracking as it forced itself to keep moving in search of flesh.
Clementine let out a deep sigh as she aimed the rifle at the walkers head, the figure was slightly unclear because of the snow flakes. Don't they ever stop? she questioned. Should I take the shot? she also asked. No. It wasn't worth the noise, she could easily avoid it. Clementine lowered the rifle and kept moving through the snow. Her only goal was Wellington. She needed to get there. The only people that she knew of which had survived Carver had been Luke and Rebecca's child. The last time she saw Luke they were heading there so that's where he must be. She was going to get to Wellington or die trying. Clementine preferred the former statement that's for sure.
Clementine grabbed the front of her hat and pulled it down over eyes, before taking the hood of her coat and pulling that over her hat. Lowering her head she began to feel the inside of her mouth with her tongue. She almost immediately found a bleeding cut on her inside cheek. Clementine spat blood, the red liquid leaving a metallic taste in her mouth.
Carver. Clementine hated the man who went by that name. She may have escaped his camp alive but she had been damaged, both mentally and psychically. Her face stung, her lip was cut, her nose was broken, she also had a black eye along with some bruised ribs. All she wanted was to get as far away from that mad man as possible but of course, it wasn't as easy as that. Now that she had left the camp Carver and his followers would hunt her down like she was a wild animal that needed to be tamed. But Clementine wasn't too keen on going back and she would do everything in her power to stop them from capturing her.
The eleven year old breathed a sigh of relief as the heavy snow fall began to ease off and instead the snow flakes began to drift gently down from the dark grey sky. The little girl walked past several trees and down a small hill towards a stream which was covered in a sheet of ice. Kneeling down by the frozen water, Clementine took a hatchet from her belt and swung the blade at the ice, breaking a few holes and allowing the water to clean the blood soaked weapon. The rifle was placed down next to her as she collected some of the fresh water in a bottle.
Clementine was spooked by a group of ravens that came flapping out of the safety of their tree and flew off into the sky. Puzzled by the startled birds, Clementine glanced around with confusion only to notice the cause. Standing on the hillside was Carver and his followers, two men holding guns to be exact. The three were staring down at her, watching eerily silent from afar. Once Carver realised his presence was known he called out to her.
"There doesn't have to be any trouble, darlin', all I want is for you to be safe. So why don't you make things easy and come over here?"
No. Clementine felt like screaming that word at the top of her lungs but instead she remained silent and reached for her rifle cautiously. Fumbling around she managed to attach the hatchet to her belt before finally taking hold of the rifle. Quick as a flash, Clementine jumped to her feet and went sprinting across the ice and towards the trees on the other side of the stream. Carver ordered his men to take aim and fire at will. His followers did so, lifting their assault rifles and firing at Clementine.
The eleven year old slipped on the ice, her whole body collided with the thick sheet. She lie there for a brief moment, the sound of gun shots and bullets ringing in her ears as she struggled to get up. Clementine got to her feet once again and ran to the other side of the stream, making contact with solid ground. But she wasn't out of the woods yet. Both literally and metaphorically.
Clementine ran for cover only for one of the bullets to get a direct hit. The piece of lead ripping through her leg caused the little girl to scream in agony and collapse to the ground once again. Clementine glanced down at her leg, blood oozing from the bullet wound. Her vision blurred, the world around her became hazy as she began to feel faint.
Clementine blinked hard, managing to push away the feeling of faintness and forcing herself to stand. Sharp shooting pains rushed up her leg, it almost felt like it was on fire and that her skin was burning. Noticing that Carver and his men were approaching, Clementine quickly ducked behind a tree, clucthcing her injured leg tightly.
"Where are you?! Come out!" One of the three yelled.
Carver grimaced, and reached for his pistol which was in its holder "Spilt up and cover more ground. Find her!" He instructed his followers.
Clementine held the rifle close to her chest before aiming at one of Carver's men, staring down the barrel of the gun she wrapped her finger around the trigger and squeezed it. The rifle fired, the recoil caused Clem to stumble back from her position, but she manged to stay balanced. Watching from her cover, she noticed the man she had shot at was now on the ground, choking on his own blood as a bullet was lodged in his neck.
"Holy fuck!" The other man carrying an assault rifle cried as he ran towards his comrades dead body "You little shit!" He yelled, even though he was unaware of her location. "You're gonna regret that!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Clementine limp-ran through the trees and as far away from Carver she could get.
A harsh blizzard was raging once again as Clementine trudged towards the ruins of an old house. Part of the roof was still intact along with a stone wall, and another crumbling one. However, the rest of the building seemed to have collapsed in on itself, leaving nothing but rubble. Clementine scrambled over the broken wall and slumped down in the ruins, taking shelter underneath the remaining roof.
Clementine hugged herself, embracing her own body heat, the bullet lodged in her leg causing intense pain. Letting out a deep sigh and with her breath visible, she shrugged off her back pack and unzipped it. Rummaging around inside she dragged a first aid kit out and opened it up. There wasn't much inside, most of the medical supplies had been used, the only things that were left were wet wipes, which wouldn't be much use to her, and a needle along with some medicine.
The little girl grimaced "Dang it" she murmured crossly, muttering under her breath as she removed her damp gloves. Once they were off, she lifted her num shaking hands and unzipped her coat, revealing the purple shirt she was wearing. Clementine ripped off part of her shirt and placed the small purple rag close by before leaning down and with great difficultly, removing the bullet from her leg.
Once it was out, she took the needle and medicine out of the first aid kit "This should help with the pain" she told herself out loud. "Probably" she muttered before inserting the needle into her veins and injecting the fluid into her system. Clementine Then picked up the purple rag and tied it around the bleeding wound. As soon as the rag was tightened around her leg it was soaked in blood, causing it to turn red.
The eleven year old sighed once again and leant her head back against the wall, draping her coat across her body like a blanket. Blinking hard, she curled up into a tight ball and drifted off into sleep.
Tomorrow would be a new day.