Lee spectated from a small distance away, he watched on as Clementine controlled the small fire she had created; blowing softly on the blaze before tossing another bunch of kindle that they had managed to salvage onto it. It began to roar into life and a smile crept onto his face, the aging man was overcome by fulfillment. The girl he had been taking care of for the past four and a half years was now ready.

Lee remembered their first encounter well, how could he forget? He had just woken up from the accident, leg aching and his throat demanding water. Lee had barely survived his run-in with the reanimated police officer that was meant to be taking the convicted murderer to his solitude.

He never made it there.

Instead, he was bashing a poor girls skull in with a claw hammer, handed to him by a frightened little girl. Perhaps it wasn't the best first impression, but she seemed grateful to see someone that wasn't a monster.

This girl was terrified, hurting and all alone.

Now here she was, tending to a growing fire with ease. A small switchblade in her left boot, which was covered in dried blood and long forgotten mud stains. A gun hung neglected in her holster. She had taken off her various jackets, discarding them as she was so close to the warmth of the fire. She now donned a beige cotton u-neck shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbow. She adorned her signature blue and white cap, the trademark 'B' etched into the front. It was tattered and badly in need of stitching, but Clementine held onto it dearly for all these years. It was all she had of her parents.

Clementine was thirteen now. She was beginning the long and tedious road to womanhood.

Gone were the days of blatant innocence and looking up to Lee as her guardian saviour, she was now clearly independent and totally fearless. In many cases, she was looking after him now. He remembered her round face, her adorable smile, pure eyes that could melt stone. Clem now possessed a pair of intense green emeralds. Her facial features were strong, she wore a game face that screamed not to mess with her. Her voice had evolved from harmonious to having to a deeper pitch, a slight gravelly edge to it. She was still Clementine, but she had grown up so much. She still retained aspects of her personality; Clem was still light hearted and curious in their downtime, she still liked to draw whenever she could, and even though she would never dare admit it, she loved Lees' hugs.

She was the only thing worth living for in this world, long ago did Lee establish that this girl was his surrogate daughter. Lee never had children, but he always wanted to. The apocalypse and his wife cheating on him, not in that order, had firmly put a halt on any plans of having a family, as well as the fact that Lee wasn't getting any younger, he was forty one now. Clementine was the best second chance he could have.

But he was washed with a feeling of achievement. His goal was to protect a little girl and make sure she survives at any cost, and now the realization was that he had succeeded in doing this. Clem was now fully able to take care of herself, she didn't need him to look after her anymore.

"What are you looking at, old man?"

Lee hadn't realized he was staring as he was distracted with his thoughts. Wearing a playful smile on her face and a raised eyebrow, she loved throwing witty jabs at him, particularly about his more senile appearance that was developing slowly on him. A few grey hairs and some noticeable wrinkles were beginning to show on his face, and Clem wasn't beyond jeering him over it, with good intentions of course.

"Old man? I don't feel a day over twenty." Lee grinned back at her. She shot him an amused look.

"Twenty? Push that up to fifty if you want to be accurate."

Lee chuckled at her quick thinking as she sat down on the soft grass beside him. The sun was setting gently behind the grassy hill in the near distance, and it wasn't often that they could stop and savour the true beauties the world still had to offer. Even though humanity was put to the sword, the world still went on as it did before; the sun rose every morning, the birds sang their songs, the tulips still sprouted and beckoned to be admired. The wondrous pallet of colours in the fading sky above them didn't reflect on the atrocities that were occurring on the surface.

"It's peaceful almost, isn't it? Clem commented softly, gazing at the receding ball of citrusy light. She was as taken aback as he was. Lee was glad that she also appreciated the small things in life.

"Reminds me of the old times." Lee admitted, always having time to watch such an unappreciated show that Mother Nature put on every evening. He glanced over at Clem and noticed the slight sadness in her eyes. She missed the 'old days', she missed her parents.

They sat in comfortable silence, each to their own thoughts, but each knowing what the other was thinking. Lee knew that Clem was thinking of cherished times with her mom and dad while Clem knew Lee was worrying about her. He was able to read her like a book.

"You know, I'm proud of you Clem."

The teenager looked over at him, thinking it odd for him to say that at this time. What had she done for him to be proud about?

"How so?"

Lee paused briefly, trying to sum up the mountain of thoughts in his head.

"I remember when I first met you, how small you were back then. Now look at you." Lee gestured towards the girl. "You're gonna outgrow me at this rate."

"Maybe you're just shrinking." Clementine shrugged jokingly. Lee let out a small laugh, she was certainly ruthless.

"But seriously Clem, you make me proud. Growing up during all this must be tough. I can't imagine what it's like. But you've shown everyone that you're strong, you've shown me that you're fully capable of looking after yourself." Lee explained as Clem listened intently, feeling a little bit confused.

"You're strong Clem. You're a survivor. And I want you to know that I'm proud of you." Lee hoped that Clem hadn't developed an intolerance to serious topics like this now that she was coming into her teenage years. He just hoped the girl would understand what he thought.

Clem seemed speechless almost as she rummaged around in her head for an appropriate response. She didn't really expect Lee to just come out with that, but she felt... She didn't know how she felt about that.

Grateful. She felt grateful that he was here with her.

"Well... I um- t-thanks Lee." Clem managed to scrape together the tongue-tied reply.

Silence washed back over the pair as they listened to the fire crackle and hiss. The sun had now disappeared behind the hill, leaving them in the fading darkness. Lee sighed deeply as he threw another few sticks of wood onto the ember. He would be keeping watch tonight, which was a strenuous task to say the least.

He felt Clementines' head rest against his shoulder as she slid over to him. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her in a comforting fashion, the two sat there, glad the other was there with them.

"Hey, remember back in the RV all that time ago?" Clem asked, breaking the moment of peace. Lee remembered it well. It was a low point in a life full of low points. Carley was recently killed, Lilly thrown out of the group for her actions and Duck was discovered to be bit. Not fond memories for either of them.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Remember when I woke up during the night because of a nightmare, and you promised that you would never leave me?" Clem recalled. It felt so long ago now. But he remembered.

"Yeah, I did."

"I'm still holding you to that."

Lee smiled warmly as he swore for what felt like the billionth time that he would always protect this girl with his life.

"I'm a man of my word. Like the way I won't tell anyone you still secretly love my hugs."

Clementine glanced up at him, a smirk creeping onto her face.

"Touché."

Please let me know what you thought of it. I always love feedback as it helps me a bunch in improving my writing and whether or not you like this kind of thing or not. Might write some more things like this, possibly something to do with Lee and Carley, if anyone would want to read it.

Thanks so much for reading!

Have a great day.