Note: If anyone was confused as to when this is, it is four years after the events that occurred in 'No Going Back'. Thus, Clementine would be 15, and AJ would be 4. Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy the first chapter of The Last Survivor.

Thunderheads boiled angrily above, threatening to give way and let loose the storm that was so ominously foreboded. And, far away, lightning crackled, alighting the sky with a pale white light. Below, in the vast woods, two bodies were on the run.

These people had lived through the zombie apocalypse because they were not like others. They were not like normal people. They were smarter, stronger. They were survivors.

Noticeably enough, the pair was quite young. The girl was Clementine and, visibly, she was at most fifteen years of age. Her skin was noticeably lighter than the boy's, but not by much. Her dark brown hair was held back in pigtails and pinned down by a battered pale violet and white baseball cap. In her left hand she held a hatchet—a small one. It had black and yellow hilt with a sharp, silver blade. Out of her back pocket jutted the handle of what looked to be a pistol. At her side was a much smaller boy, one who could hardly even be five years old. Alvin Junior, though he had been affectionately called "AJ" most of his short life. He had much darker skin than the girl and eyes that were a very dark brown. For clothing, he wore a simple olive green vest and rather patchy jeans. He kept in stride with Clementine though it was very apparent that he was growing weary.

"Clem…" Alvin tried, his voice meek and broken between his panting. He slowed considerably and, after a moment, Clementine did too until the both of them had stopped completely.

"AJ, we can't stop here." She told him, though her voice was noticeably worn as well. She cast a quick and fearful look over one shoulder, as if to make sure they were not being followed. "Not until we're out of the woods."

"I'm so tired." AJ whimpered, reaching up to wipe at a smear of dirt on his cheek. It had now noticeably begun to rain. Little, at first, then slightly more palpable. "We've been going for so long. Can't we just stop for a moment? Just for a little rest?"

Clementine looked slightly torn. Her olive-green gaze drifted to the woods that surrounded them and, after some uncertain silence, she relented. Her shoulders relaxed slightly from their tightened stage and she looked to Alvin. "Just a moment, alright?"

A relieved expression crossed the young boy's face and, with a heaving sigh, he plopped down on the wet ground with an 'oomph!' A great sigh came from him, causing his small shoulders to rise and fall heavily. His gaze drifted up to Clementine gratefully but, at this point, she was not looking at him. Instead, Clementine kept her careful watch on the woods, in case anything were to sneak up on them. The woods, of course, being a dangerous place at this time. Anything could be out here, alive or dead.
The rain kept on falling.

Clementine knelt down, allowing herself a heavy sigh. No matter how strong either of them pretended to be at times they were only human. In the past few days it had been particularly hard. With the population of survivors slowly dwindling and the walkers slowly increasing it had become harder and harder to find anywhere safe. The walkers were everywhere. Four years, as best Clementine could assume, had passed since the events with Jane and Kenny's death. And, since then, things had only been far lonelier.

But it had not all been terribly bad. Clementine was not completely alone. AJ was a sweet kid, who tried to keep light in situations like this. He was young, of course, so he did not quite know the true severity of everything. But he was intelligent. He knew well enough when his life was in danger. Like Alvin, Clementine supposed.

Clementine's gaze lifted from the ground for a moment and drifted out to the woods beyond. Nothing yet. There was just a cold and frigid wind that would occasionally rustle the branches and boughs on the trees, causing her to flinch in fear.

"Clementine?"
Clementine looked over at AJ, who was still sitting down on the cold earth. He had his arms crossed over his chest in an attempt for warmth. His gaze was locked on Clementine.

"Yeah?"

Alvin's lips pursed slightly. "Why can't we stay in one place for a little longer?"

Clementine gave something of a slight reluctant smile, standing up on her own and extending a hand downwards to Alvin to help him up as well. As he took it, and she aided him to his feet, she responded: "You know why, AJ. We gotta keep moving. It's just not safe."

"Yeah…I know." Alvin admitted in a small voice. He dusted off his vest with the palm of his hand, though his face still retained a brooding look. "It's just…it would be nice, wouldn't it?"

Clementine could only give a meager shrug. He was right, unfortunately. It would always be a pleasant idea to stay in one place…for a while. But Clementine hadn't really had a 'home' since, well, since the Motor Inn six years ago with Lee and the others. And that had not even lasted more than a few months…

All was silent as she was momentarily lost in her small reverie about her old friends that had passed on through the past few years. They were all, well, gone. But she could not waste time dwelling about in the past. Alvin needed her here right now.

The woods were silent as she looked back up, her olive gaze flitting around cautiously. She knew it was never good to stay in one place…The woods were quite dark. It would be hard to notice anything, really. Yet a sudden blur of movement caught Clementine's attention, and she squinted to see it better. It was clear—there was a walker in the woods. It was many leagues away, yet did not seem to take notice of them. It dragged itself about aimlessly, its pale milky eyes staring sightlessly before it. Then, when Clementine held her breath and lifted the hatchet she still gripped slightly, the walker turned and fixated its gaze on the pair of them. Almost lazily, it began to drag its way over to them, with something like a hungry groan.

"AJ!-" Her startled cry was cut short as a blur of light from behind the walker caught her attention and, before it could react, a swift movement bludgeoned it over the head and the walker crumpled.
Olive eyes wide, Clementine lurched forward in a heartbeat, snatching up AJ's hand and giving him a small tug.

"What was that?" AJ asked with wide brown eyes, as he stumbled along after Clementine. She had gotten the both of them to their feet now, and began to make her way through the woods again. Their feet sent up splashes of mud, spattering their already filthy attire.

"I…I don't know." Clementine admitted, and the pair drew further into the quickly darkening woods. It could not have been another walker, for that she already knew. The dead did not kill their own, which could only mean they were not alone. Clementine knew that other survivors were just as, if not more, dangerous than the dead. She was not going to stick around and find out just who else was lurking in these woods.

They had gone on for, perhaps, a quarter of an hour before their pace had noticeably slowed. AJ was tired and, panting heavily; he looked up with wide, pleading brown eyes. Clementine slowed down a few paces, but didn't her tight grip loosen or falter from his. Her fingers curled around the handle of the hatchet she held.

Clementine suddenly visibly stiffened to the audible noise of leaves being trampled over, not the sound of a normal humans light-footedness. It sounded like dragging. Walkers. But that was impossible—hadn't they long outrun them?

"AJ, stay close." Clementine directed in a firm voice, sticking out a hand to halt the boy from taking another step. And, frightened, he did not argue. Instead, he soundlessly slipped behind Clementine and peered out fearfully at the woods that still surrounded them.

But there was nothing there.

Everything was silent.

Everything was calm.

Clementine's breathing slowed slightly and, with a quick intake of breath, she looked over her shoulder to tread back the way they had come.

Without warning, an ashen face loomed up in her vision, just in front of her. It was a walker, with bulging bluish eyes, rotting gray skin and falling-apart hair. It was inches from Clementine, teeth bared, dripping with saliva, blood and—

Clementine let out a wild cry and brought her hatchet up with a sudden burst of energy. It connected to the bottom of the walker's jaw with a satisfying thop! and sent it stumbling away. Clementine could feel its blood, wet and warm, spatter the front of her gray sweater. But she did not hesitate to wipe it off or recover from the suddenness of it and, instead, whirled around to face the boy who had been cowering a few feet away.

"Don't just stand there!" Clementine barked, glaring at him. "Run!"

Alvin's eyes widened with an unimaginable terror and, in the spur of the moment, he spun on a heel and bolted down opposite to the way they had come.

Clementine risked a quick glance towards the walker she'd downed and, after a few heartbeats; she whipped around and fled after him. Her footsteps sent up splashes of mud and rain water, spattering her clothing and making it almost impossible to see ahead. She saw a figure vaguely ahead and could only assume it was Alvin, fleeing as though hell were on his heels. And, in a stupid way, it was.

"Grah!" Something lurched out from the woods and suddenly, before Clementine could react, it slammed into her full-force and the both of them fell to the ground. Clementine could scent the utter reek of it before she actually caught view of what it was and immediately knew that a walker had grabbed her. The force was enough to make her head fall back and strike the frozen earth floor, hard. Hard enough that it made her quite dizzy and her vision blurred, as she struggled to free herself from the walker.

"Clementine!" She heard, off in the distance.

Clementine threw up her hands in a last defense, gripping the walker's jaw with one hand and the other on its shoulder. She propped her knees between them so that the walker's jaws were away from her face, and so that she did not have to stare into its dead eyes. Her hatchet had apparently slid some feet away in the fall and, as she wildly looked around, Clementine could see it lying just out of reach. If only she could just…grab it.

"Help me!"

"Alvin!" Clementine gasped. The walker's jaws clacked shut, an inch away from her face. Clementine stifled a yelp and, in a last effort, she jerked forward and grabbed the hilt of the hatchet. She kicked out wildly, striking the walker in the chest and knocking it away from her for the moment being. This gave Clementine just enough time to scramble up and, before the walker could recover, lunge forward and slam the hatchet forth into its skull. A spatter of blood went up and the walker's jaw went slack, showing clear sign that life had left its decaying body.

Clementine grabbed the hilt and gave a firm tug, ripping it clean from the walker's skull. Now, without anything to hold it back, the corpse fell forward lifelessly and hit the ground, sending up a splash of rain water. But Clementine had no time to clean the blood from herself, nor from her hatchet. She immediately whipped around and peered up the forest trail, to where Alvin had gone. Dots clouded the corners of her vision but, through the haze, she could see clearly. Alvin was standing midway up the path, glancing at her in horror. And, just behind him, a man. Not a walker—he moved far too quickly and with purpose to be a walker. And as Clementine watched helplessly on, the man seized a stricken Alvin and lifted him partially off the ground. Clementine saw Alvin's mouth open, saw his hands lash out at the man, and then he was pulled into the woods.

He was gone.

"Alvin?"

The rain pattered against the cover of trees, and the night hummed on.

"Where are you?" Clementine lifted a hand to cover her mouth in horror. No—no. He could not just be gone. Not like that. Who had that been? What would they want with a little boy? Clementine was horrified and she lurched forward, in an attempt to sprint after them.

But she did not get far. There was a grumbling noise behind her and she could not react fast enough as a walker's hand clutched her shoulder, almost ripping her off of her feet. In a hollow voice Clementine cried out, reaching back to grab at the walker's hand in an attempt to rip herself free. But to no avail—as the walker's grip seemed to be as strong as steel. That, or Clementine was just very, very weak at this point. She could do nothing as the walker pulled at her, dragging a struggling Clementine through the cover of trees. In the struggle Clementine's grip had loosened upon her hatchet and it fell from her grip, splashing upon the rain-saturated earth. Clementine stared helplessly after it—her only memoir of Luke. Gone. Just like he was.

"Alv—" The walker gave another last jerk and they broke through the cover of trees. Clementine twisted sharply, in an attempt to free herself. She was not going to get bitten—not when Alvin was still out there.

But apparently that did not matter.

The ground fell away from her feet before she could react and she was falling. Her body struck something, hard, and she rolled several feet down a seeming hill before coming to a stop. An immense pain struck her square in the chest, as though she'd been struck with a very hard object. And she knew what that felt like—she'd been hit with the butt of a gun square in the stomach before.

Clementine's vision blurred, worse than before. She weakly lifted her head to see the walker she'd been struggling with, impaled upon a jagged rock a few feet away. And, further up, there was a hill. It was clear to Clementine now that they had struggled so hard that they had fallen off the hill and down here. Up above, she could vaguely see the shapes of walkers still milling about. And, past them, lights. They shone boldly through the gaps in the trees, shining upon the rocks below. They hesitated on Clementine for a moment then, once several seconds passed, moved away.

"Who are you…?" Clementine croaked. She felt something wet dabble down her chin and, without thinking, reached up and touched her jaw. When she pulled her hand back she could see her fingers smudged slightly in a dark substance. Blood?

AJ…Clementine thought weakly. Then the lights faded out and Clementine's head fell back. She stared up at the cloud-covered sky for a moment and then her eyes closed on their own. Her head swam once, then everything went black.

I'll find you.