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All was fine, until the sun had begun to dip into the sky. At that point, Clementine started feeling a bit uneasy. She wasn't comfortable walking through the woods in the dark. Not to mention she was in an unfamiliar territory and she was super worried about getting lost.
Clementine found herself jumping at every little sound. The woods always intimidated her during the day, but at night it was a complete nightmare.
She was completely lost and had no idea what to do. She stood there a while wonder where she was, but it was making it worse. The longer she stood there, the more confused she became and the more confused she got, the more scared it made her.
She finally picked a random direction and started walking the trail.
She tried to think happy thoughts, but that was more of a struggle then it ever had been for the little girl.
The child wrapped her arms around herself and continued her walk forward.
She was in desperate need of some sleep. She didn't know how much longer she could continue walking. She let out a yawn, while rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Every noise she heard was starting to make her paranoid. She quickly looked around, she didn't see anything. She tried to reassure herself that she was fine. That the noises were nothing more than her mind playing tricks on her.
She tried to convince herself that she was overreacting, but it was hard when she was scared. Her fear was playing with her head. She kept on thinking about what ifs.
She would hold her breath every time she heard a rustling of leaves or a croak from a frog. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, like she had been running.
She tried to relax, but her body stayed tensed up. She was on red alert right then.
No matter how far she walked the area looked the same. Trees with moss, pinecones and grass. Her head was starting to spin. She felt like she was going in circles, although she had been certain that she wasn't. Her gut told her to just keep going and she'd make it out eventually. And she trusts her instincts, having nothing else to go off of.
She suddenly heard a rustling, followed shortly by something jumping from a bush.
She nearly jumped out her skin. Her heart rate picked up even more and she let out a tiny yelp of fear.
She quickly calmed her racing heart as she realized it was only a squirrel.
"Relax." She muttered to herself. "You're going to be fine."
She tried to think of what Lee would say if he had been there with her. Probably something along the lines of, "Don't worry, sweet pea. I'm here with you."
She sniffed before scolding herself. "Enough...You can't think about that now."
She was a sensitive kid, even she knew that. She hated seeing people being bullied at her school. She would always befriend the victim, not caring if the older kids would turn on her too. The child was extremely affectionate and sweet, it couldn't be helped. She had always been that way, but right now she knew she had to be brave. She couldn't cry. Besides, no one was there to comfort her if she did.
She deer went through. She grew a bit curious, as well as nervous. Being a nine-year-old girl, who was terrified, in alone out in the middle of the woods, she wondered if she should try and find out what had gotten the deer all worked up.
After a few moments, her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she slowly and quietly made her way towards the bushes that the deer had run from.
As she walked deeper into the woods, it was then that she realized her mistake.
She stood startled and shocked for a moment. There was a walker on the ground, Clementine had no idea how long she stared at the thing before noticing it was gnawing on something. From her angle she could clearly see it was eating some poor unfortunate creature, but it was hard to make out what animal it was.
The moonlight gave the walker an Eerie glow. Clementine felt goosebumps run up and down her arm, and her stomach turned.
Clementine's eyes widened in horror. She felt sick at the sight and nearly vomited.
With a slow gulp, she started to back away, the crunching of the grass beneath her little feet, made her pause for a moment, and right when she was about to flee a twig snapped beneath her feet. The walker immediately looked up, and she locked eyes with the monster.
Now with its attention on her, the walker started to rise. It barely had made it to its feet before Clementine took off, retreating back onto the other path.
The child ran as fast as her legs would allow. She kept sprinting for a long while. She sped down the unkept trail in the wood. Eventually she slowed down. Nearly collapsing, she panted breathlessly.
She hadn't even considered finding her way back. She was started to get nervous again. She couldn't go back anyway. The train was a no go. She had to get out of Savannah.
By this point she knew at the very least, she had lost the walker. She was safe for the time being.
She sighed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She needed food. She needed to rest.
She decided that if she could fall asleep, she wouldn't have to worry about hunger for the night.
She hunkered down against a big tree thinking she should wait it out until morning.
Once again, sleep was hard to find. She would doze off for only short periods of time before her eyes would snap open. She found herself tossing and turning all night. She couldn't sleep. She would have countless amounts of nightmares every time she managed to fall asleep. And when she would wake up, she'd been drenched in sweat even though it was freezing cold outside.
She wakes up wanting to scream, but she'd stop herself. She knew that screaming could cause her life. She didn't plan on dying. Not anytime soon.
Morning light soon came around and Clementine was still leaned against the large tree, although now she was wide awake.
With a breath she herself to her feet. Her body ached slightly, but it wasn't too bad that she couldn't shrug it off. She stretched out her back a bit, feeling uncomfortable, having slept against a tree.
Her stomach was so empty it felt as if someone was punching her over and over. She needed to find some food. She'd never felt so hungry in her entire life.
She stumbled forward, her own feet carrying her as if by some sort a reflex.
"You're going to be fine." She said weakly to herself.
She continued to reassure herself that she was going to make it out of the woods, trying to keep herself calm. All the while she was searching for something to eat. Anything; nuts, berries, anything that wouldn't kill her. She needed water too.
The wind was blowing harshly. Clementine thought she would surely catch a cold if she slept outside tonight.
She wanders forward, aimlessly, no specific direction.
She wondered if this was how animals felt, not having a home and having to find just about anywhere to lay their head at night.
She couldn't help, but feel bad thinking of the time Sandra told her not to touch the baby raccoon, that they had found in her tree house, because he was a "stray".
She wondered if people would say the same about her. She could only imagine, "don't touch her, she's a stray." Clementine frowned a bit, muttering quietly, "Don't touch her, she'll get you killed."
She shook her head, telling herself to stop thinking those thought. That Lee would be upset if he heard her speak that way.
As she was thinking to herself, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.
Suddenly she felt a wetness on her foot, startling her out of her thoughts. She pulled her foot back, uttering a small "Ew."
She took a deep breath, ready to see something horrifying. She looked down, only to see a river. Her eyes widened as she saw the water. She wanted to squeal in excitement. The child had to pinch herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming.
She took a quick check to be sure there were no walkers around. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she dashed forward towards the bank to the river.
She scooped up water into her little hands, wetting her face. The splashing of cold water in her face, helps to wake her up. Before cupping her hands once again and allowing the water to fill them. She drank up the water quickly, quenching her thirst.
As she finished with her drinking, she took another look around. Her eyes widened and she beamed as she spotted at bush, cover with red berries.
She approached the bush and picked up one of the berries. She slowly and hesitantly bit at the berry, hoping it wouldn't be poisonous. A sweet taste filled her mouth and she sighed. She began to gobble the berries down one by one.
Feeling quite rejuvenated, she thought of a plan. "If I follow this river...It'll probably lead me out of these woods." She decided.
She did exactly that, but had no such luck on getting out.
Clementine's spirits didn't dimmer as she continued her trot along the river-line. She was nearly skipping with excitement as she looks into the clear blue water. She wonders if maybe she'd be able to catch a fish or two. Her mouth watered at the thought of a real meal. It had been forever since she had one.
She briefly remembered at the St Johns farm, and felt her stomach turn. She shudders at the thought of that "dinner", and being thrown into the meat locker.
She quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Stop." She knew thinking like that would only make her sad.
She looked through the water for a bit, when she thought she saw a fish swimming around in the water. She spends about twenty minutes trying to catch the fish. With numerous, attempts she was growing disappointed. After a few more futile tries she gave a huff and stopped trying. She honestly didn't even know if she had actually truly seen the fish or if her sleep deprived mind was just playing tricks on her, but it didn't matter. The feeling of
Disappointment didn't last too long, as Clementine was happy that she at least had found those berries. She was sure to count her blessings because she had been thinking she was going to die of starvation.
Feet aching and body still feeling a bit weak, she decided it wouldn't hurt to take a day off. She could settle there for the night, or at least close by.
With that thought she soon settled herself down against a nearby tree. She was just going to take it easy today. Fighting all those walkers the day before had taken a lot out of the little girl.
She rested against the tree, feeling oddly comfortable.
She spent a while drawing with a stick in the dirt, trying to entertain herself as any child would. She had written her name several times, drawn many hearts and stars.
After that she gathered a bunch of nearby twigs, rocks and sticks. She attempted to shape them into the design on a house. Letting out a few small giggles as she worked on her little project.
Once she grew bored of that, she left the sticks close by, figuring that when it got late she could try to use them for a fire.
She leaned back against the tree and she listened to the sound of the morning birds. She had no concept of the time, but she assumed it was sometime in the early afternoon.
She found herself idly chewing on grass as time went on. It wasn't a good flavor, but the child figure if the animals could handle she could. Besides the chewing had soothed her hunger a little as she was able to convince herself that she was eating something.
It was awfully quiet and she was feeling content. She couldn't hear any walkers, nor could she hear any mean people.
She sighed from her place, feeling her little eyes droop a bit.
It wasn't long before she drifted off into and exhausted sleep. Surprisingly dreamless.
