Please follow and review thanks! *Language has been either censored or removed completely*

Clementine slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying half-submerged on the edge of a river; the sun partially blocked by the clouds. She coughed a bit as she stood.

"Hello?" She called out.

No one answered; she remembered last night, Christa had been caught by some bandits and Clementine had distracted one of them. She remembered a gunshot and hoped that Christa was okay. She wandered down the bank, looking for any sign of her friend. She didn't know how far she had drifted. Everything looked the same, trees, endless trees in every direction. She came across what looked like a Boy Scout canoe. It was empty and drifted upside-down in the water. She sighed and moved on. She came across an old, broken deck. She jumped for it and missed. She tried again and snagged it with both hands. After a bit of struggling, she pulled herself up. She found a trail that led off into the woods, it looked like a pretty well travelled path,

"maybe someone is here." She said to herself.

She started off down the trail.

She shivered as a cold wind blew through, chilling her to the bone. She was starving, freezing, and exhausted. She needed to find shelter, soon. She heard something rustling in the bushes ahead of her. She gasped and tensed up. When nothing came hurtling through the brush to get her, she grew curious. She crept around the mess of bushes and saw a dog sniffing at the ground, it's back to her. It suddenly turned and saw her. The dog bared its teeth and growled when she came close.

"It's okay boy, it's okay." She said soothingly.

The dog calmed down and wagged its tail when it realized she wasn't a threat. It barked happily and she smiled,

"Where's your owner boy?"

Suddenly, Clementine heard twigs cracking and took cover in the bushes. From her hiding spot, she saw a teenager dressed in a jean coat and blue jeans come running out of the bushes,

"What is it Sam? You find something?"

The dog barked and walked over to Clementine's hiding spot and stuck his head in. The boy knelt and peered into bushes,

"Hi!" He said calmly.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, come on out."

She hesitated, should she trust him? She sighed, it's not like she had much of a choice anyway. She stood and raised her hands. He looked her over,

"You look like you've been through a lot. Where's your group?"

Clementine lowered her hands and said,"I was with my friend Christa, but we got attacked."

The teen knelt down and pet the dog,"Well I'm sorry to here that. So, your alone now?"

She nodded. He stood back up,

"Well, I've got a camp set up not too far from here. Come on, I'll take you there."

She hesitated,

"I don't know him. What if he's with those bandits?"

"Where's your group?" She asked.

He sighed,"Honestly, I don't know. Me and my family were separated about two months ago. Haven't seen them since."

Clementine nodded, but was still not sure if she could trust him. He could be lying, but he could be telling the truth.

She studied him for a few moments, then said,"okay."

The teen smiled,

"Name's Kendall."

He gestured to the dog,

"and this is Sam."

She smiled back,"my name is Clementine."

Kendall extended his hand to her,"Well very nice to meet you Clementine."

She shook his hand, then they headed off into the woods.

The woods were silent as Kendall, Sam, and Clementine made their way down a trail. Clementine examined Kendall as they walked. He was almost a foot taller than her and had short, dark brown hair. He wore a pair of glasses and had a nice smile. He carried a blue pack pack that had a handle sticking out of it. She noticed a pistol sticking out the back of his pants and a large knife in a sheath on his side. Just then he spoke,

"So Clementine, who were you with before?"

She looked up at him, confused,"What?"

He stopped and turned to her,"There's no way that you and just one friend survived this long. What happened to the rest of your group?"

She looked down,"My parents left me at home with a baby sitter, and they never came back."

Kendall's expression seemed to soften as she continued,

"my sitter turned and I hid in my tree house. Then a man found me, we met up with other survivors and tried to make it, but it didn't work."

Kendall listened quietly then said,"well, I'm sorry to hear that."

She smiled a little bit,"his name was Lee, he taught me how to survive. He taught me how to shoot a gun."

Kendall stood in silence for a few moments, then asked,"what, uh, happened to him?"

Clementine sighed," I was stupid. A man said he had my parents, I believed him. He locked me in a room and Lee got bit."

She looked up at Kendall,"he died, trying to save me."

A single tear came from her eye and she wiped it away with her sleeve. Sam started to emit a low growl.

Kendall grabbed Sam's collar,"what is it boy?"

Sam's growl grew louder. Kendall made a hand motion and Sam stopped. He made another motion with his hand and Sam lied down.

He turned to Clementine,"something's moving around up ahead, stay here."

He handed her his knife and drew his gun. He crouched and made his way around the corner and out of sight. Clementine gripped the knife tighter and looked around. She didn't see anything moving so she crouched and started to pet Sam. He didn't make a noise as she pet him. She thought this was strange.

"He must be trained to be quiet." She thought.

Suddenly she heard shouting coming from the direction Kendall had just gone. She peered through the trees. She couldn't see anything but she could hear voices.

"Come on Sam." She whispered.

He seemed to understand her and stood. They made their way around the turn in the trail. It weaved it's way through the brush. She turned another corner and saw Kendall confronting two men. He had his gun pointed at them. One of them had gray hair and a crossbow and the other had longer brown hair and a pistol, a machete was strapped to his back.

"What do you want!" Kendall demanded.

The men had their weapons raised,"Calm down boy, we're not gonna hurt you."

"Then lower your weapons." Kendall said.

His voice was solid, if it came to it, he'd probably fight them.

"How about you lay down yours." The younger man said.

Kendall didn't move. Sam started growling and baring his teeth. Clementine grabbed a hold of his collar and tried Kendall's hand motion. Sam didn't pay any attention to her and his growl grew louder. The older man lowered his weapon, surprising the younger man,

"What the heck Uncle Pete! What if he's working for Carver."

"Who's Carver?" Kendall asked.

The men didn't answer him. The older man, apparently his name was Pete, started to walk slowly towards Kendall,

"it's okay son, just give me the gun."

Kendall didn't move,"stay right there." He said with a low voice.

Clementine heard bushes rustling and turned around. A walker was crashing through the bushes, coming right at her. She cried out and dropped the knife as the walker knocked her down. Her left arm hit the knife and the blade cut deeply into her arm. She cried out as blood started to leak from the wound. Sam jumped back and bit the walker's shoulder. The walker ignored the dog as it tried to rip out Clementine's throat.

"Clementine!" Kendall shouted.

He turned and sprinted toward the walker. With a grunt, he kicked the walker in the head. It landed on its side next to Clementine, blood seeping out of the wound in its head. Clementine backed away from the walker as Kendall took aim *BANG* the walker's head exploded as the bullet shattered it's skull and brain. Clementine looked down at her arm and saw a deep, ugly gash. Kendall knelt and inspected the wound,

"you all right Clementine?"

She bit back a few tears as the pain started to grow,

"it hurts really bad."

He opened his back pack and pulled out a water bottle,

"This is gonna sting." He said quietly.

He poured the water on her wound and she stifled a scream. And hit the ground with her other fist. He rummaged in his pack and pulled out a small roll of bandages and wrapped the wound. When he was done he helped Clementine up. The two men were staring at them. Kendall picked the knife up and slid it into his sheath.

"Holy (explicit)" the younger man exclaimed.

Kendall glared at him,

"don't use that kind of language." He demanded.

The older man looked him and Clementine over.

"Well it seems like you two look out for each other."

Kendall narrowed his eyes,"who are you."

The older man smiled,"name's Pete and this is Luke."

The younger man lowered his gun, and stared hard at Kendall,"I don't know Uncle Pete, are you sure we can trust them?"

Clementine shivered and held her arms as a gust of wind blew by. Kendall noticed and took off his coat and put it around her. She wrapped it tightly around her and smiled at him.

Pete smiled,"they don't look like much trouble. You kids have a group?"

Kendall shook his head,"No, we don't."

Luke glared at him, obviously not believing him.

"There's no way you two survived out here on your own."

He stepped up to Kendall and Clementine realized that Kendall was taller than she thought. He stood a bit taller than Luke. Luke got right in Kendall's face and said,

"how do we know your not working for Carver?"

Kendall didn't back down,"I don't even know who that is."

Luke studied him for several seconds then stepped back,

"what do you think Uncle Pete?"

Pete walked up to Kendall,"Son, are you working for a man named Carver?"

"No"Kendall replied.

Pete studied him then said,"okay, that's good enough for me."

He stepped back and looked at Sam,"that your dog?"

Kendall nodded.

"What's his name?"

"It's Sam" Kendall replied.

Pete knelt and let the dog sniff his hand, then pet him. Pete stood and gestured down the trail,

"we've got a place set up down the trail. Your welcome to stay with us."

Kendall turned to Clementine,"What do you think Clem?"

She thought for a moment then said,"we need a group Kendall. We should at least check it out."

Kendall nodded,"yeah, besides your wound might need stitches."

He turned back to Pete and Luke,"alright, lead the way."