Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The Walking Dead Game
The two threw themselves over the tall, wooden fence into the familiar yard, the place where the story truly began. The young girl landed lightly on the soft grass, but, Lee, however, was not so graceful. He landed with a thud and scrambled quickly away in in complete fright.
After a long moment of silence, he spoke at last, panting, "what the hell were those things?!"
"Walkers, and they're dangerous. Almost impossible to kill." By now, the idea of this strange universe being her new reality was now starting to be etched into her brain, letting all the fear and helplessness that she knew was to come strain her emotions. She spoke softly with a monotone, "destroy the brain. That's the only way."
He stared up at young teen standing in front of him, watching her body language. She looked scared, as if she knew what was happening, but could do nothing about it. Like he was walking straight into a trap hidden in the undergrowth, waiting to snap and end the very life that had mistakenly stepped in it, and she was the bystander, watching in remorse.
"Hey," he called gently to her, "what's your name?"
"Michelle Rymes," she answered, finally looking at him.
"How do you know so much about this? Do you know what's going on?"
"Nobody really knows how it started," she said, purposely avoiding the first question. "and we should get moving. We don't want to wait around for too long."
"Yeah, we need to find some help."
"We could use this," Michelle said, holding up a shovel that stood against the house. Lee led the way up the back patio steps to the glass sliding door that opened to a dining room. He knocked loudly, calling out for help to the people who Michelle knew were already dead, while the teen leaned against the railing, keeping her eyes fixed on the treehouse. She wondered if the little girl was up there, if she had really been surviving for days on her own, or if she already knew they were there.
"I don't think anybody's home," Lee stated, jumping her out of her thoughts. He hesitated for another moment before finally deciding to go in. Michelle took one last glance up at the child's playhouse before following.
"Looks like these people need more help than we do..." He commented quietly when the two had fully stepped inside.
Michelle held her weapon up at ready, worrying that the creature would appear sooner. "Watch out for walkers," she advised.
"It looks like nothing's here, we're safe for now, I think."
"Looks can be deceiving..." She muttered back after he had already walked out of earshot. The house was in the exact same condition that it was in in the game, toppled furniture, blood-soaked floors, and even the repetitive beeping of the blinking answering machine. The only difference was the thick smell of death that clung to the air, for it was something you could not experience during gameplay.
Michelle walked to the kitchen, stepping sideways to avoid the large pool of blood blocking the entrance. She noted the irregular, sloppy, red footprints that trailed off into dining room area, making her heart race in knowing that same monster was somewhere in the house and could make its appearance at any second. She continued further into the kitchen and got the walkie-talkie out of the drawer.
"What are you doing?" Lee asked from the other room, startling her.
"Wha-what do you mean?"
"You can't just go through people's stuff like that!"
"Oh, now he thinks it's wrong," she thought, wanting desperately to roll her eyes. "I was just looking for anything useful..."
"Still ain't right."
As she left the kitchen, she saw what Lee had been looking at from the minute they has come in, the coloring book, a sign that an innocent child was experiencing this nightmare. Clementine. Lee moved to the living room and pressed the button on the machine and the voice of Clementine's mother rang out. At first, the woman's voice was so light and carefree that she proved to be completely unaware of the horrible fate herself and her husband would soon endure. Michelle knew she would not be able to bare to hear the poor lady in distress, so she decided to look at the tree house once more through the kitchen window, where she saw Clementine's little face peaking out at last. She smiled at the little girl, though she knew the girl could not to see her through the glare on the glass and Michelle's shorter stature.
Suddenly, her tiny voice sounded out from the walkie-talkie, and Michelle tossed it over to Lee to take the conversation with the young child. Although, Michelle was excited to meet her, she was now on edge because she knew a nanosecond after the characters' talk was over, the zombiefied Sandra would appear. She stood close to Lee and held the shovel up in defense, earning yet another confused glance from the history professor. Trying her best to regulate her breathing, she focused on her surroundings, curious to know where exactly the walker had been hiding the entire time they were in the house. As Lee disappeared behind the wall of the kitchen, Michelle stayed put and watched, ready.
"Okay, Michelle stay calm," she said softly to herself, attempting to calm her nerves, "everything will be okay, it's just like in the game. You know what to do, just hit it in the head, and it'll go down easy." She heard a quiet creek, and the door to what looked like the basement began to inch open. Michelle stayed perfectly still, ignoring every fiber of her being screaming for her to run. She was nervous, yet confident that she could do this on her own, after all, she would have to learn sometime.
Her feelings changed the second that door had fully opened for she was finally able to get a closer look at the monster. The blood froze in her veins and all of that built-up confidence faded in an instant. The monster was realistic, as well, but like nothing she had ever imagined, even worse than the incredible make-up done in the TV series she loved to watch. The skin was pealing off of its face, revealing the bloody skull underneath. Its neck had been torn apart with bubbles of fresh, red liquid and flies coming in and out. It seemed like it had no blood left in its undead body, for most of it had poured out from its jugular vein and covered the entire side of the corpse. Slow, raspy breaths came from deep in its throat, splattering droplets of blood from the large wound on the neck, and seeped out from its mouth.
Then, it looked at her. Pools of white stared into her. Soulless and hungry. Michelle found herself frozen where she stood. Unable to move and unable say a word, while Lee was still by the window talking to the girl, completely unaware of the danger she was in. It growled and lunged at her, pinning her down on the hardwood floor. It snapped at her throat, but missed by inches. Breaking herself out of her trance, she was able to keep the creature away by wedging the tip of her shovel into its chest. It grabbed and pulled on the girl's hair while she wheezed and gasped for air, trying with all her might to cry out for help.
She opened her mouth once more in an attempt to scream, but the sound that did come was not from her. She was confused, yet to occupied with the predator to care. She felt her muscles begin to go weak from the lack of oxygen and the inhuman strength atop of her. She felt the world around her begin to grow dark, so calming and comforting, welcoming her into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness. She heard a splatter and an animal cry out in pain. It was the last thing she heard before everything went black.
