Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.
Finally chapter 4 is out. Sorry for the delay, but it's been so busy around the holidays. I doubt I'll meet my goal of finishing before the next game come out since it should be releasing within the next few days. Oh well. God bless you all!
"Come on we shouldn't be out in the open too long." Said Lilly from the front of the group.
"I think Christa should rest a bit." Omid argued.
"For Pete's sake Omid. We've only been walking for a half hour. I'm fine!"
"Still I think…"
"I can walk all day if I have too." Christa interrupted sharply.
"All right." Omid stated.
"Why don't you scout ahead? See what's beyond this hill." She urged him.
"You sure you'll be all right without me?" He asked.
Christa smiled both slightly annoyed and flattered by the amount of attention he was giving her.
"I'll manage." She replied.
Omid nodded and ran ahead to the top of the hill.
Christa let out a long sigh after he departed "What am I going to do with him?" She asked herself.
"Ah they're all like that with the first child." Said Katjaa as she walked up to the much taller woman.
"Really? They all treat you like you're an invalid who can't do the simplest of tasks?" Christa asked.
"Pretty much. You should have seen Kenny when I was pregnant with Duck. He was a mess, overreacting to every little thing. He even wanted to stop fishing all together so he could be with me every waking moment….." Katjaa stopped midsentence and Christa noticed the slightest hint of sadness showing up on the woman's face.
"Don't worry Katjaa. I'm sure we'll find them." She assured her.
Katjaa gave her a weak smile. "I know we will." She replied.
"Hey guys!" Omid called from above.
"You're gonna want to see this."
The field was…. Pretty clear. Which was good most likely as the young girl walked slowly over the brown grass. The temperature felt around fifty degrees Fahrenheit and there was a light chill in the air. However Clementine felt none of this. She simply felt free. Free from crazy Steve and his band of misfits. For now anyway. In truth she hadn't gone very far, but she had been walking all night so she did put some distance between them. Hopefully they wouldn't look for her, though she seriously doubted that since seven was Steve's lucky number and he would do nearly anything to make sure the group didn't drop below that.
Still it was nice to feel the wind in her short hair again, as she made her way to what appeared to be a nearby city. There was still quite some distance between her and the buildings. It would probably be another half hour before she reached them. Every step she took brought her closer to wanting to rest. She had gone about two days without a good sleep. Her body was ready to give out, but her mind kept her focused on the task at hand. The houses ahead of her were bound to be better shelters than sleeping out in the open. Once she reached the town she could find a nice small room and catch at least a few hours before evening set in and the dead came out in vast numbers.
Speaking of which, ahead of her stood a sole walker in the brown grass. Clementine froze. Looking ahead, she saw it wasn't moving much. Its right leg was little more than bone, and both its arms were missing. As it struggled to make its way across the meadow, Clementine couldn't help but feel sorry for it.
She began once again to make her way closer to both the town and the limping walker. As she did, it turned around and began to slowly trot towards her.
She kept her pace, unafraid. Now just ten yards away from where she would be predator stood, she took out the hammer that Kyle had provided her with after they slaughtered the family of four. Just about five yards away, the walker's right leg gave way and broke in two, sending its owner stumbling on the ground. That didn't stop it from trying to obtain its meal however. Clementine now stood right above him. His moans were weaker than most of the others she had come across. He reached out to grab her, but didn't seem to have the strength to do it. Clementine raised her hammer, not wanting to prolong its suffering. She brought the hammer down, smashing his head open and smearing some of its blood on her clothes. The walker ceased moving or moaning and simply lay there, now fully dead.
She pulled the hammer out of the walker and went to place it back in her backpack, but just then she noticed something. In front of her something else was moving. However its movements were better coordinated than the walker she had just killed and it also held what appeared to be a rifle….. which was currently pointed at her.
"Don't move." He warned her.
Clementine let the hammer drop from her hand and raised both of them up.
"Please…" She pleaded. "Don't shoot."
"I said don't move!" He nearly yelled.
Clementine felt fear drive up her spine, as he got closer.
"I mean you no harm…" She tried to convince him. "Please…."
*Bang*
His gun went off and Clementine felt blood splatter all over her body. She screamed, and immediately fell to the ground.
However after a few moments she realized she was not wounded and the blood was not her own. She rose slowly and looking to her left, saw another walker. Its head too was split open, but not by a hammer.
"You okay?" Asked the young boy who had just saved her from the walker.
He reached out his hand to help her up, and Clementine gladly accepted.
"I think so. Thanks." She quietly replied.
"No problem," he answered back. "So what's a young girl like you doing out here all alone?" He asked.
"Young? You're one to talk. You don't look much older than me." Replied Clementine.
"I'm probably not, but I'm certainly better equipped, and obviously better trained." He boasted.
"Don't bet on that." She snapped back.
"Whatever, I don't have time to argue. I should get back, been hunting all night and found nothing." He said as he turned to head toward the city.
Clementine remained where she stood not sure of what to do in this situation. The young boy stopped suddenly and looked back at her.
"You coming?" He asked.
"Oh, yes." She replied as she went to catch up with him.
As she gave him a look over, she realized he couldn't have been much older than she. He did seem to handle his weapon slightly better than she did hers. Like her was from one of those back of woods families she had seen on her dad's old westerns.
"So what's your name?" He asked as the two continued heading toward the buildings.
"Clementine." She replied.
"Like the song?" He asked. She nodded.
"What's yours?" She asked back.
"Well the group I was with called me shooter since I hardly ever miss with this thing." He said as he pointed to his rifle. "But since they're not around anymore I guess I can revert back to the name my mother gave me." He stated.
"Which was?" Clementine asked.
"Adam."
"So you're from Macon too?" Asked Vince as he Lee and Molly searched for any kind of wildlife.
"Born and raised." Lee answered back.
"Nice. Well you said I looked familiar. Maybe we bumped into each other a few times." Vince stated.
"I doubt it. I've been away from home for a while. I worked at UGA so I moved a while back."
"Oh, well maybe it's something else then." Said Vince.
"Maybe." Replied Lee.
"Maybe you two went to school together or something." Suggested Molly from behind.
"I doubt that as well, I would definitely remember a bla… er…. Afric….. uhh…" Vince stuttered.
"You can say it. You didn't have too many black friends I'm guessing." Said Lee.
"Yeah, I mean I had a few, but not much."
"Well I can't say I knew too many Asians either. In fact the only Asian Macon local I have ever met I met after the plague began." He stated.
"Hmm, nothing like an outbreak to bring the nations together." Said Vince.
Vince checked the nearby shrub for signs of anything living, while Lee looked at the tree tops to see if there were any birds around. There were none, no animals whatsoever. Lee wondered if they too had been affected by everything that had happened. From what they had seen animals wouldn't come back after dying, but that'd didn't mean they were completely immune. Perhaps they still got sick or in some way were impaired by the infection.
At any rate it had been a good while since Lee had seen any wildlife.
"So you said your last name was Everett?" Asked Vince.
"Yeah, why?"
"Are you related to the Everett's who owned that drug store in the center of town?" He asked.
"They were my parents." Answered Lee.
"Oh, we're? I'm sorry, they were nice people." Said Vince.
"I know. They were." Answered Lee.
"Well I've shopped there more than a few times. Perhaps that's where we ran into each other." Stated Vince.
"Maybe. It doesn't look like anything's out here." Lee said changing the subject. "Perhaps we should head back."
"No argument here." Said Molly.
"Sure. Just a give me minute I have to ah….." Vince started to say.
"You have to relieve yourself?" Asked Molly.
"Was trying to be subtle." Vince replied.
"Don't worry about that." She stated. "No need to bother with pleasantries just because I'm here."
"All right be right back." Said Vince as he disappeared in the brush.
Molly walked up beside Lee once he left.
"These new guys seem all right." She said.
"Yeah. Pretty rare nowadays." Replied Lee.
"Yeah." She agreed.
Lee looked over to the young blonde. She was always attractive, but at this moment it was as if the Sunlight shone exactly on her. It was like a movie. Everything went in slow motion for a while as Lee took a moment to enjoy the view.
"Earth to Lee." Molly said breaking him out of his stupor.
"Oh… Sorry, just…"
"Staring at me, again I might add." She said.
"Sorry…."
"Don't be, it's not exactly a bad thing to have a well built, mature gentlemen admiring my beauty." She jokingly replied.
"Making fun of my age are we?" Said Lee focusing on the word "mature."
"Oh come on, you're not that old." She said.
"Too old for you apparently." Stated Lee.
After saying this he noticed a slight change in Molly's demeanor. She appeared to be in deep thought all of a sudden.
"Hey Molly." Lee said causing her attention to focus back on him.
"Yeah?" She responded.
"Why did you leave our group?" He asked.
"Not this again." She replied.
"Well you never really were clear on why you left." He said.
"Why are you so interested in that?" She asked back.
"Just wondering. I mean you left because you claim you did better on your own, but then you join me the next day. Doesn't make much sense."
"I found you knocking on death's door. I couldn't just leave you behind." She stated.
"But you didn't have to continue with me. You could have gone off on your own." Said Lee.
"Oh would you prefer it if I had. Is that it? You want me gone?"
"No, of course not. Just odd you say you work better on your own, but then you spend two months with me trying to find Clementine and the rest of my group."
Molly went quiet for a few seconds after that. Lee could tell he had hit some kind of wall she put over herself. He didn't want to offend or upset her, but this question had been in the back of his mind ever since she rescued him back in Savannah.
"Well I…." Molly started to say before Vince made his way back to the two.
"Hey guys." He said. "Sorry I took so long…"
There was a slight awkward silence for a few seconds.
"So…." Vince stated breaking the silence. "What'd I miss?"
"What happened here?" Asked Katjaa as the group made its way across the city.
"The same thing that happened in Atlanta." Replied Lilly.
The way the others stared at her caused her to realize they had no idea what she was talking about.
"Before I left Warner Robins there was an order sent out to most of the pilots. Those first few days were frantic. Choppers and Jets were swarming across cities, scanning to see how wide the infection had spread."
Lilly paused for a moment as she noticed a small teddy bear. It was being held by a very small skeletal figure. Most likely the previous owner. She reached down and grabbed the bear, which was completely covered in soot.
"After two days most of the cities were deemed un-savable and ordered to be… er.. neutralized for all the good it did."
"So they just bombed these places without regard for possible survivors?" Asked Omid.
"The government thinks first of containment. The risk of killing innocents wasn't high on their priority list." Replied Lilly.
"So you think anything survived this?" Asked Travis.
Lilly looked at the small teddy bear in her hand. "Well this did, so it's possible. We should do a quick search."
"Yeah, but let's not stay too long." Warned Christa. "I don't like cities."
"Oh don't worry hun." Replied Omid. "From the looks of it, there ain't nothing living around here."
"Here we are. Home sweet home." Said Adam as the two arrived to the bottom of a small apartment complex. There was not door. Simply a large opening, and a small wooden fence which he and Clementine had climbed over. The fence went around the entire complex. It actually reminded her of the one they had back in the motor inn, minus all the furniture.
"Over here is where I keep my supplies." He said as he pointed to a set of large cardboard boxes. Inside each was a different set of equipment. One contained packs of ammo. The other the guns which went with them, and the other contained….small rectangular bags.
"Those are MRE's." Stated Adam as he grabbed two and handed one of them to Clementine. "But I call them dinner most of the time."
"Where'd you get all this stuff?" She asked as she cut open her MRE with the knife he provided.
"I'm not quite sure. Most of this was here when I arrived." He said.
"You've live here by yourself?" She asked surprised.
"Now I do." Said Adam as he rested his sniper rifle against the wall and opened his own MRE.
"There was three others when I got here. They took me in and showed me how to hunt." He stated.
Clementine sat across from him as the two ate their Meal Ready to Eat.
"What happened to them?" She asked though deep down she pretty much knew.
"It was two weeks ago I think." Adam began. "They were out hunting while I was here guarding the supplies. I didn't think it too strange when they didn't return that night. Brian who was our leader always said if we found ourselves too far from the camp, to make it back before dark, we should simply find somewhere safe and stay there until the next morning."
Adam stood up and walked over to another box in the corner which Clementine had failed to notice previously. Out of it he grabbed five large pieces of firewood and placed then in between the two.
"It wasn't until the next day came and I still didn't see them that I began to worry." He went on as he got the wood in position to make a fire.
"I grabbed my rifle and went searching for them, but only found Susan." Adam took a lighter from his pocket and some paper. He wrapped the paper around the log in the center and lit it before continuing.
"She told me they thought they had struck gold." He said. "They stumbled into what she called an old bomb shelter. She said there was, enough food and weapons to last for months to come."
He went silent for a few seconds. This had obviously affected him deeply on an emotional level. Though he seemed willing to talk about it.
"However since it was nearly nightfall they decided to stay there. They weren't the only one's there though. Susan said that night she was awoken by Brian's screams. When she awoke she saw him struggling with someone else. It was Charles, the third member of the group. She ran to help him and upon freeing him from Charles' grasp noticed that he was bleeding from his neck. Looking back she saw that Charles was not himself. He had become a walker overnight. Though that wasn't all that had changed. His neck apparently was swollen beyond belief. At that moment she noticed a few hornets's hovering above where he had slept. He was deadly allergic to those things. One must have gotten him that night. Brian held him back and told Susan to run, which she did after realizing he was bitten. However his initial screams had caused a few more nearby walkers to take notice. I don't know the whole story, but eventually one of them got her."
Adam wiped a tear which had made its way down his cheek.
"She died a few minutes later in my arms." He said. "I made sure she didn't come back."
"I'm sorry." Said Clementine when he stopped talking.
"Thank you." He replied. "So what happened to your group?" He asked.
"How do you know I was with a group?" She asked back.
"Please a little girl like you. No way you made it this far along by yourself."
"Your one to talk, we're probably the same age."
"Exactly. I didn't make it this far alone either. So once again, what happened to the people you were with?"
Clementine thought for a moment. Should she talk about her original group or the people she had recently fled from? Maybe both.
"Well first I sheltered with this group at a motor inn, but that fell through and we fled to Savannah. I… got separated from them after that." She said not wanting to go into any real details.
"Then I ended up with another group, but most of them were crazy."
"Crazy how?" Adam Asked.
"Psycho killers crazy." She responded. "So I ran away."
"Interesting." Adam commented. "Well I'm tired" He said as he picked up one of the sleeping bags next to him and threw it at Clementine. He then picked up one and rolled it out for himself.
"Wait, shouldn't one of us stay up and keep watch or something?" She asked.
"Oh don't worry about that." Said Adam. "This thing will let us know if anything comes within fifty feet." He stated as he pointed to a rather large green metal box with a circle in the middle. The circle had a lot of mini circles inside and some type of digital needle spinning clockwise.
"It's radar." Adam said. "Brian stripped it from a naval vessel. It beeps and shows dots on the screen to signal any trespassers nearby."
This made her feel a little better. She was an extremely light sleeper so even the slightest sound would spring her awake. She placed her backpack down and rolled out the sleeping bag he had provided her.
"Well good night Clementine or good afternoon I guess." He said as he rolled up in his sleeping bag.
"Good night." Clem replied back. Though in truth it was only about two o'clock in the afternoon.
"You were a murderer before this all began?" Asked Vince to Lee.
"Not something I brag about." Lee replied.
"Kind of coincidental." Vince replied.
"How?"
"Well I was one as well."
"What?!"
"Oh great I now have two homicidal maniacs to watch out for." Molly sarcastically stated.
"I was actually on a prison bus when the dead first attacked." Said Vince ignoring Molly's statement.
"I was on my way to prison too, but in a police car." Replied Lee.
"Hmm. You said I looked familiar to you." Stated Vince. "Maybe we met in-between trials or something?" He asked.
"Maybe." Said Lee as the three nearly reached the camp. Upon getting closer Lee noticed something odd. They had left Wyatt alone, but upon observation. Lee noticed there was another body currently with next to him.
"Hey guys! Thank God you're back!" Wyatt shouted as they got close.
"Who's your friend?" Asked Molly.
"hmphmhmhmphmpmhpmhmph." Was all Lee heard in response from the person kneeling next to Wyatt, as there was a small bag over his head. Lee also noticed that his or her hands were tied behind his or her back.
"Found this one trying to steal our food when I went to take a leak. Luckily I caught him before he could get anything." Answered Wyatt.
"What's with the bag?" Asked Lee.
"Oh, causes them to be distorted, can't think clearly, or formulate a plan of attack." Wyatt stated.
"So what are we going to do with him?" Asked Vince.
"Well let's talk to him first. He's probably just hungry I mean look how skinny he is." Said Lee.
Just then the body fell over to the ground, and the bag covering the, would be thief's head rose up slightly, not enough to reveal his face however.
"Please….." He begged. "Don't kill me!"
Wait a second? Thought Lee. That high pitched ladies voice, The way he pitifully begged for mercy. Only one person matched that criteria. Lee lifted the back, but immediately stepped back when he realized who it was.
"It's not possible." Said Lee in shock.
Molly walked next to him to see who it was he was staring at. She gave him a small smile. "Apparently it is."
"I'll cut it myself." Clementine said.
With that she raised the gun and pointed it right at Lee's head.
*bang*
The tears began to flow. She closed her eyes and just remained that way for a few moments. She had just killed the very person who had been taking care of her all these months. What made matters worse was that it was her fault he had been bitten in the first place. Why hadn't she listened to him? Why did she trust the stranger?
As she reopened her eyes, she noticed something odd. There was a bullet hole through the wall. Looking to the left she saw Lee's head had plopped down on top of the heater, causing her shot to miss completely. She raised the gun once more to his head, before hearing the loud moans of multiple walkers nearing the store. They were banging on the gate which she had shut right after she entered. The shot must have sent them off. She didn't think they could break through, but there was still the back door. If walkers started getting in from there, then she would be trapped. She had to hurry and she couldn't risk making any more noise.
*beep*
She had told Lee she wouldn't let him turn. However she was not about to let him die in vain either. If she didn't survive then everything that led up to this point would have been meaningless.
*beep*
She ran for the door, but not before taking one last look at Lee. He seemed at peace. His face even had a hint of a smile. It was as though he simply fell asleep.
*beep* *beep* *beep*
Clementine awoke. It was the same dream, night after night. She rarely got a good sleep. However this time the dream added some kind of beeping sound effect which she had never heard before.
*beep* *beep* *beep*
Wait a second! That sound was real. Suddenly a hand covered her mouth.
"Shhh." Adam said as he pointed to the radar device. It currently had a bunch of blips on the screen every time the needle in the middle passed over a certain area.
She nodded as she realized what it meant. He then removed his hand from her mouth and grabbing his rifle walked to the wall on the other side of the entrance.
Clementine grabber her hand gun and did the same.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
The noise grew louder and the blips grew larger on the screen. Clementine assumed this meant whatever was out there was getting closer.
"How many?" She whispered to Adam.
"I don't know," He responded "They're too clustered."
The noise was almost constant now as the blips continued to draw closer to the center of the circle.
"What is that?" Asked a voice from the distance.
"Oh crap." Adam whispered. "It's live people."
"Sometimes that's not a bad thing." Said Clementine.
"Yeah, but sometimes they're worse than the dead." He replied.
Clementine nodded. What he said was true.
"Sounds like an alarm system or something." Said another voice. A woman this time.
"It's coming from over here." Said yet another voice though she couldn't tell whether it was a woman or a man.
She however could tell when multiple boots hit the ground after leaping over the fence.
Adam raised his rifle and looked over to Clem, who raised her handgun above her head to show she was ready.
The people passed in-between the two youngsters. Too focused on the beeping device to notice them.
"Looks like some kind of radar system." Said one of them in a voice which Clementine recognized instantly.
"Freeze!" Shouted Adam as he cocked his bolt action rifle.
The group in front of her turned around to face them. For a few moments they all just looked in awe at each other.
"Um you know these people?" Asked Adam, but Clementine wasn't listening to him. It was as if her body had shut down upon the sight of so many familiar faces. It wasn't until they all unanimously shouted "Clementine!?" That she finally took a moment to…. breath.
Thanks to all who read this far. Quite the predicament. The main question being who found Clementine? Was it Lilly's group? Carley's group? Or even Crazy Steve's group. I mean she hadn't traveled too far from where they were spending the night. Perhaps they caught up with her. Also who is the person that attempted to rob Lee's group? Those of you who remember who Adam is should realize how much danger Clementine is in if he finds out what she did. All this should be answered soon enough. God bless you all!
