Dusk was falling over the woods. Clementine stumbled aimlessly, holding her bitten arm and fighting the waves of cold and pain flowing over her body. A feeling of desperation began to overcome her. Nobody was around for miles, she was hungry, hurt, and cold, and she felt like she had just killed a friend. A few stinging tears prickled in her eyes. She blinked them away quickly, but her feelings of isolation threatened to overwhelm her.
She curled up by a rock and took deep breaths, trying to think of a strategy. Her vision became fuzzy and her breathing shallow. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she became aware of the growling of walkers. Clementine mustered her last bit of strength and stumbled away as fast as she could. However, her shambling steps proved too slow for the walkers, as one grabbed her and toppled her to the ground. Running on a burst of adrenaline, Clementine held off the walker's rotting face, its stench filling her nostrils. Eyes wide, she had the fleeting thought that this may be the last sight she'll ever see.
Suddenly, the walker's head was struck clean off its neck and fell harmlessly to Clementine's side. Confused and struggling to focus her vision, Clementine glanced around to see a man looming over her with a machete. Bandits? Arrows took out two more walkers behind him, and Clementine heard a voice yell, "I'm out. Grab her and let's go!"
"Come on, we gotta get," the first man said, and Clementine felt herself be pulled into the air by two strong arms. She struggled to remain conscious as the man carrying her sprinted away from the walkers.
After a few minutes of running, the men slowed and stopped, breathing heavily. "I think… I think we're safe," the older man panted out. "Yeah… yeah, we're good," agreed the other. Their attention turned to the girl nodding off in his arms. "Hey, are you alright?"
Clementine's heart pounded in her chest and she struggled to compose herself. She didn't want to come across as weak to the bandits. "I can walk," she managed to choke out.
The man holding her snorted. "Really? Because you didn't seem to be doin' so well back there."
Clementine scowled up at him. He chuckled at her expression. "You really can't argue with that, can you?"
The older man's face wrinkled with concern. "What are you doin' out here?" he asked.
"Yeah, where are the, uh…. The people you're with?" asks the man carrying Clementine. "You didn't make it all this way on your own, did you?"
"I… got lost," Clementine answered. It's probably better to make them think someone's gonna come looking for me, she reasoned.
"Listen, I don't want them thinking we're doin' anything here but tryin' to help you," the older man told her. Clementine raised her eyebrows skeptically, but nevertheless felt a bit reassured. "You see how this could be… misconstrued," he continued.
"Yeah, I do," Clementine said pointedly.
After a pause, the younger man introduced himself. "I'm Luke, and that's Pete."
"Hi. I'm Clementine," she said, her expression guarded. She still wasn't sure how she felt about being so helpless around two strange men.
"It's nice to meet you," Luke smiled down at her. "For now, we're gonna take you back to our group, ok? We have a doctor with us, and you look like you could use some- OH SHIT-" Looking down at Clementine, Luke noticed the blood from the dog bite soaking through her sleeve and dropped her flat on her back. Clementine let out a cry as her weight crushed her arm, and she cradled it protectively.
"She's… she's been bit, man. FUCK!" Luke exclaimed as he held his head in his hands and paced. "Fuck fuck fuck… what are we gonna do here?"
Clementine looked up at him from the ground, struggling to stay calm in spite of the anger welling up inside her. The sheer unfairness of the situation put a lump in her throat. "No! It was a dog!"
"I didn't see any dog, Clementine," Pete said slowly, looking her up and down.
"Come on. Look, we just saw you with those lurkers back there," Luke said, still pacing.
"No, look at it!" Clementine offered. She struggled to keep her voice steady.
"Yeah, and have you sink your teeth into Pete's neck? No way," Luke scoffed.
Pete turned and raised his eyebrow. "My neck? Why'm I the one?"
"'Cause I don't know a dog bite from a mosquito bite from a lurker bite, man," Luke said, his eyes wide.
Clementine glared up at him from the ground. "It's not," she hissed. Luke turned away from her and folded his arms, his brow furrowed. Pete stood firmly. He seemed to be deep in thought.
After a long moment, Pete's face relaxed. "Hm. Alright. Let's see it," he declared.
Luke whirled around, concerned. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, watch yourself," he warned Pete. Clementine shot him another dirty look. Luke glared back down at her.
"Hey, don't look at me like that!" he said defensively. "You're the one that's bit here, okay?" He turned around again, his arms still crossed.
Pete kneeled next to Clementine and gently pulled up the sleeve of her wounded arm, revealing the bloody bite mark. Clementine winced as pain shot through her body. "See?" she said, watching Pete's face carefully. Pete stared hard at the bite. Luke looked too, turning around slightly to see what Pete thought. "Is it, uh… is it like she says?" he asked hesitantly.
"Hmmm," Pete exhales. "Well, could be a dog. Hard to say." His eyes moved to Clementine's. "So where'd this dog go?" he questioned. "The one that did this."
Clementine stared him right back with a stony expression. "I killed it," she answered. Luke's eyes widened in shock.
"What? Really? A dog shows up and bites you and you just kill it?" he asked incredulously. Pete gave him a disapproving look.
"What would you have done?" he asked.
"I don't know!" Luke exclaimed.
"It attacked me," Clementine said with an edge in her voice.
"Still! You don't…" Luke's expression softened. "You don't kill dogs."
Pete turned back to Clementine, his face serious. "Clementine?"
Clementine looked back. "Yes?"
"You tellin' us the truth?"
Clementine looked him dead in the eyes. "What do you think?" she asked him. Her voice was calm, but her golden eyes burned with indignation.
Pete held her gaze for a moment before looking down and shaking his head, a small smile on his lips. "Hmmph. Alright. That's good enough for me."
"Well, what else was she gonna say?" Luke scoffed.
"I've got a good bullshit detector, Luke. That's why you can never beat me at poker," Pete chuckled. He helped Clementine stand and started to walk down the path again as Luke looked on skeptically.
"You don't always beat me at… Alright, but how can you be sure?" he asked.
Pete looked at him disapprovingly. "Well, I'm sure I ain't willing to leave a hurt girl in the woods to die when we got a doctor with us that can make a call. We can have Carlos take a look at it first."
Luke's eyes darted back and forth between Pete and Clementine. "Nick ain't gonna like this…" he cautioned. "Not with what happened to-"
Pete's eyes glinted dangerously. "You don't have to remind me of that, boy," he said. Luke's gaze shifted downward apologetically.
"Right. Sorry, sir," he said softly. Pete clapped him on the shoulder before continuing down the path. Luke followed close behind. Looking ahead, Clementine noticed a small cabin through the trees in a clearing just ahead. She took a few shaky steps toward Luke and Pete. They turned to look at her when they realized she was lagging behind. Pete's face creased with concern. "Clementine, you feelin' all right?" he asked her.
Clementine tried to shake the heaviness off her limbs. "I'm… fine," she choked out. "just… tired…" The edges of her vision were getting fuzzy.
Luke looked at her disdainfully. "Well, you better be fine, because I'm not carryin' you anymore with that bite on your arm."
His voice seemed so far away… Clementine tried to sound confident through the fog. "Don't worry… about…" Her voice faded and the world around her seemed to spin. She vaguely heard Luke swear before the ground came up to meet her and the world turned to black.