Dried tears, and thin air...

The night was over, the tears dried, the air was thin, there was tension, not between the
three of them, but in general, they were in a misery, they hadn't have much food left,
neither they had much water or beverages, nothing that would keep them alive for too long.

She was snoring a little the tears on her cheek were dried, when she woke up,
she saw Omid and Christa were up already.
"So w-what now?" Clementine asked shyly.
"Well..." Omid answered her, not knowing what to say.
"We'll work something out, don't worry" Christa tried to calm the kid down, without success.
Clementine: "Lee told us to meet by the train didn't he? W-why don't we take the train?"
Her voice was a mixture of upset and excited.
Christa: "Because we don't know what's ahead"
Omid: "What else is there to do? Follow this lonesome road to nowhere?" His voice had
the usual tone.
Christa: "I don't know, what if we run out of fuel?"
Omid: "It's our best bet, isn't it?"
Clementine: "No matter what Lee said, it always saved our group, even before we met you, he told us to meet up at the train, so that's what we do, we take the train."
Christa: "Clem, honey... look... I know you miss Lee, I feel with you, believe me I really, really do, but that doesn't make all his words true, the train is a huge risk..."
Omid interrupted: "But think of it, Kenny was right, Lee is the smartest one of us"
Christa:"But..."
Omid: "Look, we can't sit on our asse-"
Clementine: "Swear" she smiled a little.
Omid: "Buts, is that better?" he grinned
Clementine nodded.
Omid continued: "...we can't sit on our buts waiting for miracles to happen, we need to do something, look we gotta take our chances, it's better than nothing, isn't it? Believe me I got a good feeling on this"
Christa: "Well..."
Clementine: "Do I get a vote too?"
Christa: "Sure you do, you are a part of this group sweetheart, what's your vote?"
Clementine: "I trust Lee, I know he was right, I vote we take the train!" she cheered.
Christa: "Alright... what's there to lose? We're going on a train ride..." she sighed.

Having decided what they're up to do, they gathered whatever was left at the gas station and took it with them.

The train was not far away from the gas station, so they arrived within the same hour.

They were really close now, they could see it in full detail, but there was one problem, there always was, had felt strange if there wasn't – The horde came back, the train was overrun with them, there were so many they couldn't even count, they had this one, Clem's Glock it wouldn't be enough, it only would draw attention to them and get them killed, they had to think now. They were looking at the train's front, so they moved a little around it, without getting closer, just as they thought – the boxcar had some of them laying in there, but the drivers cabin was empty, if they got there without too much attention, they would be golden again.
Christa:"Why's it never easy?"
Omid:"Would be nice once in a while wouldn't it?"
Christa:"Yeah..." she sighed.
Clementine:"I know how we gonna get in there!" she had a proud feeling inside, she was useful again, she didn't realize that without them they would've died back in the meat locker
she considered herself a burden to the group, though she wasn't, but helping once more, that cheered her up, she knew Lee would be proud of her.
She continued: "Lee is saving us again!"
Christa:"Clem..."
Clementine:"No, listen!"
Christa:"Okay sweetie we should at least listen"
Clementine:"See my clothes?"
Omid:"Full of beans..."
Clementine:"No! Not that" she sounded a little annoyed by now, as if they wouldn't take her serious.
Omid:"Dried blood?"
Clementine:"Walker blood, it was Lee's idea, he rubbed me in with that stuff-"
Christa:"Why would he-"
Omid:"Let me guess... it keeps of those stupid crawlies?"
Clementine:"Yes!"
Christa:"Now we only need to separate one walker from the horde, and kill him quietly."
Omid:"Anybody got anything sharp, or hard, or heavy?"
Clementine:"My gun is heavy!"
Omid:"Should work out..., mind borrowing it too me?"
She hesitated a little, it wasn't Lee's Glock, but she pretended it to be, after all, it was the
last thing he gave to her besides advice of course.
She handed it to Omid, but didn't let go, she said: "but take good care of it it's Lee's"
Her voice had a pleasing tone, after that she released her hand from it.
Omid:"I will girl" he nodded towards her.
Christa, held in for a moment, she was so incredibly sorry for the girl, she saw the pain in her eyes, she saw what this girl went trough, she asked herself why things had to happen that way, was it destiny? Coincidence? For all she knew, she had to try and keep things calm, both of them Omid and Clem looked up to her as the peacemaker and keeper, she
was a calm and warm mother figure for Clem and an understanding girlfriend to Omid.
Everyone had his particular role in this little group, Christa's role is just mentioned above, Omid is the funny guy he makes people laugh, that keeps them motivated, Clementine is one of the very last good and pure things in this world, she keeps the spirit up, and is a
good listener, her pureness though, it gets more tainted with every single day, Lee had done what he could to prevent that, he meant good, but it was foolish, like Chuck said, the walkers don't care if you're a kid, if you're a boy or girl, if you're smart or dumb, you're alive - or not.

Christa:"Now to separate ONE of those things..."
Omid:"Can't we throw a rock or... something?" he grinned a little.
Christa:"No, it would attract just more of those, it would at least be tree of them up our a...
eh... you know."
Clementine:"I'm still rubbed in with the guts, w-what if I go there and pull one by the hand?"
Christa:"NO! Forget that, right now."
Clementine:"You said I'm a part of the group, and as a part of it I gotta pull my weight!"
Christa:"Do you even know what that means?"
Clementine remembered Lee's words in her head:"It means being useful, like you are"
Clementine:"It means being useful..."
Christa:"You are, look, without you we wouldn't even have a plan."
Clementine smiled, she liked being useful, she really enjoyed that.
Omid:"Yeah girl, you've done your share of work for today, let the adults handle this,"
Clementine:"There's no other way..., I'll be fine, Lee is watching me."
Christa:"No, there is absolutely no way I will let you do that."
Omid now had a rather serious look on his face too:"Me neither."
Clementine wasn't dumb she knew they wouldn't let her wander off, but she had another plan, she was smart just like Lee had been, she now was the smart part of the group, she
saw obvious things adults didn't see. From her parents she learned: once they argue, they don't realize what she does, they simply are too busy for that. She had to get them to argue, by the looks of it that wouldn't be easy.

Omid:"So what now?"
Christa:"The hell do I know..."
Omid:"Something wrong honey?"
Christa:"No, it's fine I ju-"
Omid:"Stop acting I know it, you're pregnant..."
Christa:"No, I'm not, you-"
Omid:"I know you for too long to dig that, hon'"
That was Clem's chance, she had to do it now or never.
She was scared, but she felt Lee watching her, maybe this was just pretend, but it gave her the assurance and confidence she needed so very badly. She felt him holding her, like on
the way from the jewelry store, she was close to the first group of walkers.
Like expected they didn't recognize her.
It were 3 walkers standing there, two more close by. She moved close and suddenly one was suspicious, he couldn't smell the dried blood through the beans, he was on her, and she froze. Was that it? Was this one mistake, this wrong choice her end? Would it go that fast in this world? Had her short life come to a bloody end? The seconds passed like hours, she
saw the walkers face coming, she was frozen to the core.
Omid grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away, her knight in shining armor, he was reliable, even though he was a funny guy, he could damn well look out for Christa and Clem, he had promised Lee to do so, he kept his promise, if it wasn't for him, Clementine would be dead, extinguished from this earth... not there anymore. The more one thinks

about death, the more he asks himself what happens after that, to the humanity it's known how the brain works, but what about our feelings? Do we have a soul? And if yes is it released from the body once it dies, if it does, is it earthbound? Is it dwelling on our earth forever? Is it released into some sort of purgatory, from where it goes to heaven or hell? Or does it die with the body? We don't know, that makes death mysterious, is Lee completely vanished? Is he dwelling through the apocalypse? Is he in heaven, chatting with Clementine's parents, just waiting for her to join them? We don't know, for all we know, we were just about to ask the same question about Clem, if Omid hadn't interfered, he saved a live today, or has he damned another pour soul to stay in this world and suffer on?

He grabbed her and put her on his left shoulder, with the other hand he held Clem's gun, he pointed it at the walker, but didn't shoot, they made their way back, slowly, slow as the walkers, he knew shooting was the last thing they'd do, make their last stand, if they'd go to hell they'd damn well take some of those walkers with them.

5 crawlies were following them, too many for hand to hand combat, he had to think, before they arrived back where Christa had waited for them, it were like 30 seconds, 30 seconds of time this man had to figure out how to smash their heads in, they head to trap them, or separate them, to pick off one by one, but how, they only had one weapon, one blunt weapon, it were 5 of them, they would chew through Omid like a hot blade would glide through a chunk of butter.

Omid was a movie fan, so he thought: "If only we had a silencer..." but he dropped the thought, knowing this was not he time, then the gas station came back into his mind, the roof was low and flat, and could be climbed actually, but it was far away, what if they just shot the 5 of them right there, quickly rubbed them selves in with their guts and slowly walked upon the horde, which would head their way then?
No... they couldn't cut their chests open, they needed something sharp, or a bone saw, but they hadn't.

The road they followed from the gas station to the train had a forest on the right and left side, now Omid had an idea: "how easy was it to trip over a tree stump? Exactly, once they fall, we can drop heavy shit on their heads!" he thought, and smirked, having his ridiculously big eyes spread open. He needed Christa to find rocks in the forest once they got there.

Clementine was still frozen, it was a shock for her, a near-death experience, she never thought it could happen so fast, one, ONE, wrong choice and that's it, this world had no mercy, it didn't forgive mistakes, you had to be smart about what you did, another lesson
she would never forget. She had wanted to be like Lee, go and fix whatever problem they had, that's what she saw Lee like, for her, he never made mistakes, he always had done everything right, but the truth was different, Lee did mess up some things too, but Clem didn't see that, she only saw the good in people unless the bad was overwhelming, that was just a childish trait, one thing Lee admired about her, he was a convicted murderer after all. After all the good he had done, he had killed a man coldblooded.
Clem knew, he had told her, he had always been honest with her, he couldn't lie when looking into her big, sweet eyes, hell... who could? He wanted her to trust him with her life, so he figured he would need to trust her with his secrets, that made their bond stronger.
Clementine thought: "Dad always said murderers are bad people, that they should be
locked away for ever, but..." She understood much, but not how such a good man could be
a murderer it bothered her. "No, I don't care what Lee did before, the man he killed was a bad man, Lee told me, he always told me the truth, I don't care if he was a murderer, he was... he... h-" She started crying, his death was not too long ago, why didn't she cry about her parents' death? Because she did already, she cried almost every night back when the group was complete, quietly of course, no one noticed, not even Lee, he was always tired, and with him around she always was strong, she had shed uncountable tears for her parents, now she did for Lee. She kind of arranged herself with them missing, they weren't there the last 3 months, Lee was, he was the last beacon of hope for her, this beacon was extinct now.

Omid: "Christa, hon', follow me in the woods, and watch your steps!" he yelled.
Christa: "What are you up to?" she yelled back.
Omid: "We gon' make them trip over and then we'll drop heavy shit on their heads, that's what I'm up to!"
Christa: "What should I do?"
Omid: "find a heavy rock, and wait until one falls!"
Christa: "Okay, please! Be careful!"
Omid walked into the woods, and there two of them tripped right at the first stump, Christa had found a rock, and dropped it on one's head, but the other one grabbed her leg.
Christa screamed: "Omid, Omid! It has my leg!"
Omid drew his gun, he was aware of the consequences, but he'd rather risk all their lives, than letting anyone die, he would've done the same for Clem, this time there was no pulling Christa away, he had 3 walkers left on his back, a little girl on his left shoulder and in his left hand, and a gun in his right. He shot the walker, that had Christa's leg and was just
about to bite. Then he fired two shots at the 3 walkers in front of him and 2 dropped down dead. The last one he kicked in the rotten stomach, knocked him flat, he walked upon it and stomped on its head until it didn't budge. It was brutal, but necessary to save bullets, they had 13 left now. 1 was fired when Omid scared Clem back at the gas station, 3 were just fired. Omid and Christa's guns were empty, so they had left them behind at the gas station, which wasn't exactly smart.

Christa:"Ufffff... that was..."
Omid:"Close..."
He realized what he had just done, he saved two lives today.
But they just jumped out of the frying pan, right into the fire. The shots had alerted the horde so they had to figure out how to gut those walkers... fast.

Author's note: thanks if you are still reading my little story,
I enjoy writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it, if there is
anything you want to say please leave a review, and if you
want more, please stay tuned, because there will be more.
-thanks!