A/N: This is my first TWDG fic, so be gentle? This features an older!Clem (about 18 years old), and in this universe, she was about 15 when the apocalypse started. I've also altered the dialog and took out a few, minor things, I hope no one is bothered by it. Anyways, have fun and enjoy.

The small fire hisses, crackles, and pops as Christa tends to it. The small weasel we had caught is kind of cooking on a ragtag spit we made over the fire, but it was nowhere near done.

My stomach growls loudly and I cover it with my arms, leaning over and exhaling loudly. "Christa, I'm so hungry." I whine.

Christa looks up at me, unamused. "You should be doing this, Clementine, not me. Catching game, tending a fire... These are things you need to know how to do. If you don't..." Her voice trails off leaving the last word unsaid.

If I don't want to die, I think morbidly. If I don't want to end up like Carly, and Duck, and Katjaa, and Ben, and Kenny, and Omid and Lee. My heart twists when I think about Lee. The man who risked his life to save me every day since the start of the apocalypse. The man who died because I was stupid enough to think my parents could still be alive. The man who was bitten and told me to shoot him.

"I miss Lee," I sadly admit. Christa looks up at me, pity evident in her eyes. "I'm sure you do." I miss Lee like she misses Omid, and maybe to a greater extent, her lost child. My eyes flicker to her now-flat stomach and an even deeper sadness threatens to pull me in.

She stands up suddenly. "I'm going to go look for more firewood. Would you mind looking for something around here to keep the flame going? I won't be gone for long." I nod and she leaves. I stand up and go to my backpack. I rummage around, looking for my Zippo. My fingers touch the torn edge of a picture. I let out a deep breath and pull it out. It's the picture of Lee that we took from the pharmacy back in the beginning. I put it back in my pack and grab my lighter. I circle the fire, spotting a small log. I set it aflame and add it to the fire.

"I told you, I'm all alone! I don't have a group!" I hear Christa's voice yell. I jump up and run in the direction of her voice. I spot her between some trees, being attacked by a gaggle of men. I pick up a nearby rock and throw it at one of the men. "Christa, run!" I scream, making my escape as well. One of the men is chasing after me. I hide behind a tree and try to make a silent escape when he spots me.

"You little bitch!" He yells. He follows me to an end of the forest, only a few feet away from a deep river. He picks me up and groans, hot in my ear, "Hm, you're really pretty. It's a damn fucking shame that I'm gonna have to kill you." He rubs his thumbs across my lips. I open my mouth and bite down as hard as I possibly can. Blood, hot and thick, splurts into my mouth as he tosses me on the ground. I hear a walker approach from behind the man. I push him back and into the walkers arms. Before I can blink, the walker has bitten into the man.

A small snapping of twigs catches my attention. I look around and notice that a small gang of walkers has surrounded me. My pulse quickens and fear makes my body its home. I try to run past one walker, only to turn into another, and another, and another. The world starts to spin around me. I step back and I lose my footing, falling into the river. My head is knocked harshly onto one of the large rock. I can faintly feel the cold touch of death as my vision goes black.

To my surprise, I wake up.

Holy shit, I think, I'm alive.

I stand up quickly, causing my head to throb. I make my way to... Well, I'm not exactly sure where, I realize. The riverbank that I washed up on was an obvious dead end, so I headed into the nearby forest. There was a man-made trail heading deeper into the lush green earth. I warily follow the trail, making sure that I was taking everything in, the sights and sounds, so that I couldn't be taken by surprise. However, a low growl managed to catch me off guard. Behind a big bush, there stood a dog, scrawny and yellow. I read the tag on his collar.

"Where are your owners, Sam?" I ask. Hopefully, not nearby. The dog growls, but doesn't do much else. Whatever, I could use an attack dog if someone tries to attack me. I continue onto the trail, Sam following closely behind, growling at this and that.

We come upon an abandoned campground. There were two tents, both were badly torn apart, a large white van, a barbecue pit, and a metal trash barrel. I walk over to the barbecue, hoping to find some food. But there was nothing. My stomach growls louder than I sigh, which is pretty damn loud. I hear Sam barking and I walk over to investigate, or at least shut him up. The sound would no doubt attract walkers. He is barking at a mostly dead walker that was tied up to a tree. My eyes, however, land upon a perfectly useful knife that sticks out of the walker's shoulder. I reach for it, but the walker almost gets me. Sam's barking intensifies.

"Shh," I hush Sam, "It's okay. He can't reach us. Plus, we're smarter than them. We're smarter than all of them." I look around and grab a decent sized chunk of wood. I bash it repeatedly into the walkers head, blood and brains splattering everywhere, until he is no longer alive. I pull the knife out and clean it on my shirt, grateful that at least some good came out of this venture.

I go back to scavenging the campsite, examining the trash. I notice something... Could it be..? I reach my hand in and pull it out. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" I cry out. It was a can of beans. Hey, food is food.

I sit down and stab the can with my brand new knife several times until it can be pried open. Oh, thank God, the beans were still good. I was so happy, I could almost cry. I stick my fingers in the can, scoop some beans onto my fingers, and shove them in my mouth. After eating a few fingerfuls of beans, I hear Sam begin to whine.

"Oh, you poor thing. You're probably hungry to, huh?" I go to dump some beans out for him, but Sam taking the entire can and begins to wolf the rest of the food down. "Hey!" I cry out, "Don't eat it all!"

I go to take the can back, but he chomps down onto my arm and, holy shit, does it hurt. I cry out in pain and he shakes his head, digging his canines deeper into my arm. I punch him with my right arm, repeatedly, but he doesn't let go. I grab a nearby rock and hit him with it. He finally lets go, but he immediately lunges at me. I lift my legs and kick him as hard as I can, and he flies backwards, over the log I was sitting on, and a sickening piercing sound fills my ears. I stand and go to check on the furry traitor. I gasp when I see him.

His body has been pierced in several places by the tent poles that held up one of the tents. He was whining, his legs moving, as though he were trying to escape, but I think even he knew his efforts were futile. I grip my knife and lean down. I could't be mad at him, the poor thing. He was just hungry, running on pure animal instinct. The least I could do was put him out of his misery. "Sorry." I whisper, before putting Sam down. I walk away, the campsite held nothing else for me.

I made my way deeper and deeper into the forest. My arm began to throb and I began to feel dizzy. My vision began to blur and I couldn't walk for much longer. I sat down behind a tree, hoping that I wouldn't be found by a walker. But you can't avoid the inevitable. I hear the groan of a walker nearby and push myself off of the tree. I move as quickly as I can forward, but I can feel the walker behind me. I fall down and he topples on top of me. I grab his arms and try to keep him away from me. My struggle seemed like it was hopeless.

Then, I hear a gunshot, and the walker falls on me, completely lifeless. Another walker hobbles towards me, but this one is shot with an arrow. A man scoops me up into his arms and begins to run.

"C'mon, Pete." I look over and notice that I have two saviors. An older man with white hair, I guess, Pete, and... I look at the man holding me.

Oh wow... My heart flutters and I quickly scold myself. The guy holding me was just so good looking. He had lush brown hair and big brown eyes, but he was also rugged. "Are you okay?" He asks me.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Pete asks, "You didn't seem okay back there. You damn near got eaten."

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just-" I wince when my savior grips me tighter, my bite wound from Sam sending waves of pain throughout my body.

"Are you o- Oh, fuck!" My savior looks down and harshly drops me, I land hard on my ass. "Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, man!" He says, "She's been bitten!"

"What? No, I haven't!" I cry out, "It was a dog!"

Pete kneels down next to me. "We didn't see no dog out there, miss."

"Clementine," I reply, "My name is Clementine. And there was a dog, I swear."

"Mhm," The other guy says, "And what happened to this dog?" A hint of annoyance in his voice.

I narrow my eyes at him. "I killed him."

His eyes widened, "You killed him?! Why would you do that? You don't just kill a dog!"

"Luke, calm down." Pete orders.

Luke frowns, "You don't just kill a dog, man."

Pete turns his attention to me. "Clementine," He began, "Look at me in my eyes and tell me that there was a dog there."

I look at him, staring straight into his eyes. "There was a dog."

Pete nods, "That's good enough for me."

Luke looks at Pete incredulously. "Seriously? You believe her?"

"Luke, I have a pretty damn good bullshit detector. That's why you can never beat me at poker." Pete grins, "Besides, I'm not about to let this young lady die out here when we have a doctor that can help her out."

Luke rolls his eyes. "Fine, but I'm not carrying her."

I push myself off the ground, trying to keep myself up and steady. "Don't worry about it." I say, but I lose my standing, my vision blurring, and before I knew it, I had hit the ground once more.

*** End of Chapter One ***

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