I slowly trudged through the pearly snow, not having gotten any rest in days. Aj, who I now considered a little brother, grasped my hand tightly and asked,
"Clemmy, where are we going?" I smiled sweetly at him and racked my brain, trying figure out what to tell him. I stopped, and placed my hand on Kenny's, (now Aj's) ragged old trucker cap, and said,
"For now, all we're trying to find is a place we'll be safe in for a couple of days, maybe find some food there. Okay, Aj?"
Aj nodded, and I slowly stood up to start walking. After we had gotten into wellington, Kenny would go on little expeditions outside the wall. He would go all the time, even if he didn't like who he was paired up with. Then, two years after we arrived I would go with him and his group to look for supplies. We came across a few survivors one day, and invited them back to wellington. They turned on us about halfway back, and … Kenny got shot. But he did not die in vain. We killed one of theirs in return. I couldn't...stop shooting him. After that, I took it upon myself to protect Aj the way I was protected. Wellington fell apart a year ago,and Aj and I ended up right where we are now. Searching.
When I came out of my thoughts, I started to notice what looked like a watch tower in the distance.
"Do you see that Aj?" I asked the five year old. He stood on his tip-toes and exclaimed, "Yeah! I see it Clemmy, I see it!" the small boy jumped around in joy, his gray hoodie bouncing along with him. We quickly made our way to the tower, stopping only to make sure we weren't attracting any walkers.
When we finally made it to the tower, we were stopped in our tracks. At the base, there were dozens of walkers. All of them mindlessly pacing around, but never straying too far. Then, something occurred to me. Why, would dozens of walkers be surrounding a tower, but not leaving it ?
"Someone is up there!" I whispered to Aj.
"So?"
"So we don't know if they are a threat to us. We might need to just forget this place Aj." Aj hung his head and then looked at me again. This time, there was a determination in his eyes I had never seen before.
"We can't just leave it, Clemmy! It's almost night time and It's right there!The place you were talking about earlier is There!" Aj pleaded, pointing at the tower. I looked away from him and at the tower. I thought of what might happen if the people there were bad. If the walkers were to get Aj or I. Then, I looked back to Aj and the fire roaring in his little brown eyes.
"Alright," I whispered, " If we're gonna do this, you better be on my tail the entire way through, got it?" Aj nodded, and I gave him a pistol in case things went wrong.
"You know how to use it?" He nodded.
I crouched down among the brush and when I saw an opening in the walkers, we ran. All of a sudden, A shot rang out from the tower. Aj and i stopped in our tracks, taking cover from any hungry walkers. We waited a few seconds and heard another shot, two, three,four.
"What the HELL are you two doing?," a voice shouted from inside the tower, " Can't you see i'm covering you two? RUN!" Aj and I ran as fast as we could, but the shots didn't distract ALL of the walkers. A slobbering, old walker with yellow eyes, and slavering jaws came down on top of me.
"CLEMMY!" Aj screeched. He stopped dead in his tracks, and started to run back over to me, his gun drawn.
"AJ, NO, GET INSIDE, NOW! RUN!" I screamed. As the walker continued to attempt to rip out my throat, I tried to reach the knife I had strapped to my belt. Only one hand was keeping the walker from having dinner, and each time I tried to reach my knife, it seemed like the walker weighed another few pounds than it actually did. Just as I was about to grab my knife , I heard another gun shot. Only seconds later the walker's head exploded into a million peices. Blood, Brains,And flesh flew everywhere, including my face, and clothes. I got up as quick as I could, my body aching and my consciousness fading with every forced step. Come on, you can do it just a few more steps, I thought.
Before I knew it, I was at the base of the tower, and my hand was on the door knob. I pulled the door and… Nothing. I pulled again, and again, and still the door wouldn't budge!
What!, I thought, How the hell did Aj get in there! Did he even make it in?
I was in full panic mode now. What if he's dead, what if he got shot, what if a walker got him! Aj was now the only thing I had left to live for! If he was gone what was I supposed to do! I started Banging on the door as hard as I could, screaming,
" AJ! AJ ARE YOU IN THERE? ARE YOU OKAY?" Sure, it was probably one of the dumbest things I could do while surrounded by walkers, but what would you do if someone you've managed to keep alive since birth was potentially in danger?
"OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE!" I yelled. I tried to open it three more times but to no avail. I leaned against the door, and sunk down to the ground. If this is how I'm gonna die, i'm gonna do it for Alvin. I swiftly pulled out my gun and shot the walkers closest to me. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Blood flew everywhere,as I stood up and continued to shoot.
Rage took me over as I thought of everybody I had lost because of these, these eradicators! everybody I cared about was DEAD and it was because of THEM!
Lee,BLAM,Mom,BLAM,Dad,BLAM,KennyBLAM,Jane,BLAM,Duck,BLAM,Luke, BLAM, and even more that THAT!
"HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE!" I screamed, not realizing i had said it out loud. I wasn't protecting anyone anymore. I was on a spree. SO angry, and so grief stricken, that I didn't realize what I was doing. By now, I had run out of bullets and pulled out my hunting knife slashing through the skulls of the walkers, and even smashing them, dead or not. I continued to plow down walkers, when I heard a door open.
"HEY! COME ON, GET IN HERE!" an unfamiliar voice called me to the door of the tower. I turned and bolted for the door; the adrenaline still pulsing through my veins.
As soon as I got inside I turned around and slammed the door shut, then turned and pinned the boy who opened the door to the wall. I glared deep into his eyes and growled, "Where is Alvin?" The boy shifted and muttered, "Alvin?" I Put my Blood spattered knife to the boy's throat, and fear lit his eyes like fireworks used to light the sky.
" I-I Don't know Alvin," The boy said as I pushed my knife harder to his throat," B- BUT, if Alvin is the little boy that came in here, then he's safe!" I looked at the boy more intensely, debating on whether or not I should trust him.
"Clemmy," a small voice asked, " are you okay?" I immediately dropped my knife, rushed over to the small boy, and bearhugged him, falling to my knees in the process.
"O-Oh my god," I whispered as my tears fell onto the boy's jacket , " I-I thought you didn't make it through. Oh thank god!" Aj hugged me back and didn't say anything. He didn't have to. I wondered if he had seen the horror I created outside, and asked
" You... didn't see what I did out there, did you?"
"no…" He slowly replied. I just looked at him and smiled a small, sad, smile and said, "Good… good."
"He might not have seen what you did, but I saw." The boy who I had pinned to the wall was now rubbing his neck where I had held my knife. I slowly stood up, with Aj grasping my side.
"I-i'm really sorry about pulling my knife on you like that." I apologized, suddenly lightheaded. The boy just shrugged and said , " It's better that you actually killing me. What i'm concerned about is what the hell happened out there." He gestured towards the door. I hung my head and shakily replied, " I-I'll explain it all later, I just… I wanted… h-him to be…" Suddenly my knees buckled and I fell to the cement floor.
" WOAH, are you okay?" The boy asked, concern clouding his eyes.
" Clemmy? What's wrong, are you hurt?" Aj panicked, as he knelt down next to me.
I looked at their blurry silhouettes and replied,
"I-i'm not bitten, I-i just haven't slept in a while." It was true. Every night Aj and I had to sleep outside, I stayed up. I felt like I had to. I'm too afraid of what could happen if I let my guard down. I looked at Aj and the boy, and slowly tried to pull myself up. Aj saw what I was trying to do, and started to push me up.
" No, Aj, you don't have to do that. Its okay." I wheezed.
" No! I'm going to help you!" He retorted. I slowly got up enough to lean against the wall, disgusted at how weak I had just gotten.
The boy curiously looked on at me, eyeing my condition.
"Do you think you can make it up the stairs?" He asked. I glared at him and dragged my feet over to the stairs. When I looked up to see how high it was, I mentally banged my head on the wall.
" God…" I sighed. I knew I would have a hard time getting up the stairs but, I'm not gonna turn into a vulnerable little baby. Not in front of a stranger. I suppose if he wanted to kill me and Aj he would have, but i'm not going to trust anybody I just met. Not after Kenny.
We had gotten about halfway up the stairs, and so far I was able to walk okay on my own. Only problem was the amount of breathing I had to do. Every time I took a big breath, my head felt lighter. This meant I had to take shorter, shallower breaths, so I didn't pass out. Talking wasn't a smart move either, but I had to say something. Silence means people are thinking, and sometimes, that's a bad thing.
"So," I panted, " What's your name?"
" You shouldn't be wasting your breath." The boy calmly stated.
I narrowed my eyes, " Then you won't be getting our names."
" I already know your name, Clementine."
I stopping walking, and eyed Aj, who gave a nervous glance and smile in my direction. I rolled my eyes and continued to haul myself up the stairs. Aj slowly shifted his steps and walked next to me.
"His name is Blake. At least that's what he told me when I got in here." He whispered, low enough for Blake to not hear. I nodded my appreciation. Then, out of nowhere, my body convulsed with terrible coughs. I couldn't catch my breath and the gasps for air only made it worse! I immediately collapsed onto the stairs, as my body continued to convulse.
"Holy c-cra…" was all I could manage to spit out. I saw Blake quickly turn around, and Aj yelp. The shaking stopped and I kept trying to catch my breath but I couldn't! I remained kneeled on the stairs, with Aj's small hand on my back, and him repeating,
"Clem, are you okay, are you okay,?"
The next thing I knew, I was being picked up by Blake and rushed up the stairs. After that, I kept fading in and out of consciousness.