I jolted awake screaming. The nightmare was still fresh in my mind. The image of a long lost friend's eyes still stood clear in my thoughts. Sweat trickled down my back- my t-shirt was soaked! I sat upright shivering, with tears streaming down my face.
"Ellie!" Clem burst upright and turned my head gently to look at her. Her big hazel eyes were filled with concern. She lifted her hand to the corner of my eye and gently wiped away my tears.
"It's okay it's okay, it was just a nightmare." I looked down and shook my head. That was a lie. It wasn't just a nightmare, it was much, much worse. Clementine wrapped her arms around me, and ran her fingers through my messy hair. She cradled me there and hummed a quiet tune.
"Go back to sleep, it's alright now." She planted a soft kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes and listened to her soothing hum, and the darkness of sleep consumed me.
I woke up and Clementine was no longer beside me. I sat upright and yawned. My long, auburn hair covered my face and was full of knots. I pulled myself off the mattress and looked into the broken mirror hanging on the wall. I was a mess. My freckly cheeks had cuts and scratches on them. I didn't know what from, but I was guessing I had scratched myself last night. I detangled the knots in my hair with my fingers and pulled it back into my usual ponytail. I changed from my cold t-shirt, which was now cold from the dried sweat, and pulled my jeans on over my under shorts, along with my black-and-white sneakers. I climbed down the ladder and noticed Clem wasn't around.
"Clem?" I called out. No answer. That was strange.
"Clem!" I called out once again, more loudly this time. Still no answer. Where had that girl gone?
"Clem!" I screeched out. I grabbed my bag off the sofa and jumped out of the entrance of the tree house.
I analyzed the muddy ground for foot prints. I spotted small prints leading into the deep woods. I ran my finger against the print. It was hours old. Worry flushed through me. I can't lose her. I can't afford to lose someone again. I wiped my muddy hand against the leg of my pants, and ran into the woods following the tracks. What was she thinking? I picked up my pace.
"CLEM!" I shouted through the dark woods.
"Where the fuck are you?!" I was getting more worried by the minute. I began thinking of why she would leave me. Did I do something? Did I say something wrong? Did I- It hit me. She wouldn't leave unless she needed to lead someone or something away. I jogged to a slow stop. I heard muffled yelling and screaming. I pulled out my bow, and listened closer.
"You won't get away with th-"
"And how are you planning to stop-"
"She'll com-" Clementine. I kept walking, following the tracks as the conversation got louder. I came across a small, shabby cabin. I sneaked to the window at the side, and took a peak. I saw the younger girl tied to a chair, and a man with a whip stood there smirking. My mouth dropped, and I let out a gasp. It must have been a loud gasp because both Clem and the man turned my way. I heard the horrible laugh of the man.
"So there's another… This should be fun." Not this again. I remembered the horrible memories stored in the back of my mind of David. But this was worse. He had the one I loved, and I would stop at nothing to save her.
"Hey fuck face!" I yelled and jumped up to look in the window. My bow was drawn, but the only thing sitting in the room was the chair, and Clem's baseball cap sat on top of it. I sprinted around to the door and tried opening it. Shit. It was locked. I used all my strength and kicked the door open. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. The cabin was empty. I walked over to Clem's hat and stuffed it in my bag. Where could they possibly be hiding? I walked slowly through the cabin, the floor creaking under my feet.
A book case and a mattress laid in the corner. I kicked aside the mattress and found a secret opening in the floor. I took a breath and jumped down. I hit the bottom of the hole. A long tunnel was in front of me.
"LET ME THE FUCK GO!" I heard Clementine screaming, and immediately ran through the tunnel.
"Quit your squirming little girl! And would you shut the fuck- OW! Alright that's it!" I sped up, running through the tunnel and finally came across the man, and Clem. She was tied up and in the corner. Duct tape covered her mouth. She looked at me with fear in her eyes.
"Never knew you were smart enough to find us..." The man smirked.
"Shut the fuck up you psychopath." I drew my knife from my pocket. He pounced on me, and nailed me to the ground. He pinned my hands above my head and it took all my strength to push him up. His breath reeked of liquor. I straddled him and held the knife to his neck.
"You're not going to do it." He said, his voice cracking.
"I will put an end to this right now. You hear me?" I put more pressure on his neck, and a prick of blood dropped out. He just laid there chuckling at me. It was sickening. I was enraged. Who did this guy think he was? What the fuck was he thinking?
"Tell me what the fuck you were going to do with her." He stayed silent. "Fucking tell me!" I spat out at him. The man coughed.
"I just wanted some fun…" He was now talking hoarsely. "And we still can have some fun."
"You fucking disgust me. And I will put an end to you. I won't feel guilty. I won't have any shame." Sweat trickled down the side of the man's face.
"Then just fucking do it already!" I leaned into him, knife still pressing on his neck.
"You won't touch my girl again. Ever." I stabbed the knife deep into his throat. He choked for a few seconds, and finally, silence. It was brutal really. Maybe a bit too brutal? Nope. I could be as brutal as I needed to be, to keep Clementine safe.
I got up, kneeled down to Clem and untied her, removing the tape from her mouth.
"Ah fuck." She said, wincing in pain. I pulled her into my arms.
"The fuck were you thinking Clem?"
"I was thinking of keeping us safe…" I cradled her in my arms for a few moments and pulled away to look at her, my hands holding her face.
"You scared the shit out of me!"
"I- I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to get all worried-"I planted my lips to her forehead, and then to her lips. I felt her tense up, but then she relaxed, kissing me back. After a while I pulled away. I didn't want to, but it could be any time now for the man to turn. I stood up and offered her my hand. She grabbed it and I helped her up.
"Let's get outta here." I said, leading her down the tunnel. I wondered if the man had dug it out by hand, or if whoever lived here before shit went down used it as a hiding place. It didn't matter anymore though, the only thing that mattered was Clementine was safe with me. We exited the cabin and walked through the thick woods. It was a nice day, the sun was shining and I could hear some birds chirping. Silence passed between us until Clem spoke up.
"So I'm your girl huh?" My face heated up.
"Well- I- No… I mean yes. Yes I guess you are!" I looked over at her and she had a grin on her face. "I mean if you… would like to be."
"Y'know being your girl wouldn't be such a bad thing." I stopped walking and turned around to her. She was close to me, I leaned down to her, because she was only a bit taller than my chest. I moved my face close to her.
"Then I guess…" I said softly, "You're my girl." Before I could do it myself, she closed the space between our faces, lips pressing to mine once again. I closed my eyes, and butterflies shot up through my stomach. We pulled away at the same time, and I smiled like an idiot.
"Almost forgot!" I took off my bag and pulled out Clem's old baseball cap out, and placed it on her head. She adjusted it and smiled.
"Thanks I almost didn't notice it was gone!" I smirked at her and grabbed her hand.
"Let's get moving." Hand in hand we walked back to our little camp. I kept asking myself how I could have deserved someone like her, I didn't think I'd ever know.
When we got back to our camp, Clem sat herself down on the small log and played with her lighter, while I inspected our camp. No infected had passed through in a while, in fact it had been weeks since our last encounter with one anywhere near the tree. I tugged on the rope with cans attached to it. The alarm-thing was still in good shape. I remembered when Joel taught me this technique back when we were travelling together. I still wondered if he was alright, where he was… he couldn't be dead could he? Then it hit me. I pretty much abandoned Joel when Tommy's was overrun. Guilt consumed me. There was no way I could find him now, even if he was alive.
I needed to do something to take my mind off of it, so I picked up some fire wood from the little pile Clem and I had collected, and brought it over to our fire pit. I placed it in the middle.
"Can you light that?" I asked. "I'm gonna go get a can of food."
"Sure" Clem answered. She kneeled down beside the pit and flicked on her lighter. I walked over to our ladder and picked it up. We had finished the construction of our ladder a few days ago, which was good. Now I didn't need to boost Clem every time I wanted to get in. I propped it up against the trunk of the tree and climbed up. I went over to where the food was, and grabbed a can, then grabbed my sweater off of the floor and pulled it on over my head. The sweater was a little big on me, considering I had a small-ish frame.
A few moments later I came back out of the tree house. The darkness of the night was only dawning upon us, but the stars shone bright. The fire Clem made was small, but it was good enough for me. I sat next to Clem and pulled out my pocket knife. It had been my mom's before she died. I remembered back to when Marlene gave it to me when I was with Riley. I popped off the lid of the can with the blade.
"Damn, beans again." I sighed at the sight of the beans in the can.
"Jesus, how many beans did this guy eat?"
"I'm guessing he had a LOT of gas." Clem giggled at my stupid joke. I placed the can on the ground close to the fire to heat up, and Clem rested her head on my shoulder. She was shivering. I don't blame her, she was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt.
"Wait a sec." I stood up and removed my slightly large sweater, and handed it to her.
"Aren't you going to be cold?" She asked hesitantly taking the sweater from me.
"Nah. After all, I have you to keep me warm don't I?" She smiled and pulled the sweater over top of her shirt.
"This is huge!" Her arms were too short for the sleeves and it hung down to the middle of her thighs. I couldn't help but laugh, it was cute.
"I find it kinda cute on you actually." I sat back down next to her. I looked over to her and noticed her blushing. I put my arm around her and pulled her into me. Back when I saved her, I promised myself I wouldn't get too attached to her, but it was too late, I had broken my promise. I planted a light kiss on her forehead and we watched the fire in silence.
