(Author's note: Next chapter should be the last one for episode 1, and should definitely be posted before episode 4 of TWDG Season 2 comes out! Hurrah!)


Clementine watches, wide-eyed, as Bill curses under his breath and stands up from his chair. The leader runs a hand through his brown hair and grabs a small gun from one of the desk cabinets. "How many did you see? We got any wounded?"

"I-I'm not sure. I think I saw Luke take someone over to Carlos-" Carlos was Sarah's dad and also one of the camp's doctors. Sarah spoke of him all the time, and had told Clementine story after story of her dad's heroic deeds: helping Sarah whenever she took a tumble, taking care of their old dog when it got hurt, patching up injured survivors…

"Shit. I'll be right there. Bill out." Bill releases the button to his radio and slips it into his pocket, beginning to make his way out the door. He stops when he realizes that she's still sitting there, confused and anxious over what had been said over the radio. "Head back to the yard and get someone to shut the gate. You'll be safe there until we get this sorted out."

She nods, trying to appear less troubled than she really feels. Bill runs out of the room and down the stairs, heading towards the door that leads to the wall. Clementine picks up her own pace, not wanting to get caught by any walkers that could possibly break in without a weapon. Not after the damn comic store earlier that day.

So focused on heading back to the others, she doesn't notice Luke until it's too late. She crashes into his side and nearly sends both of them crashing to the floor.

"Sorry-"

"Shit, sorry-"

They both apologize at the same time. Clementine notices that Luke appears out of breath and even a bit sweaty in this often-chilly springtime weather. He was probably running when I bumped into him like an idiot, Clementine thinks. She then notices what he's holding in his arm; or, to be more precise, who.

"Is that… Is that Jake?" Clementine asks, bringing a hand up to her mouth in shock. Jake looks pale, much paler than usual. His bangs, normally resting flat on his forehead, cover his closed eyes as he lays his head on Luke's chest and groans.

Luke winces and looks around them before whispering, "Yeah. I gotta take him to Carlos."

"What happened?!" She asks, her voice shaking as she puts two and two together. Bill had told the guard over the radio that someone had been injured when the herd had broken in. But why had Jake even been at the wall? How did he get hurt in the first place? And most importantly, how bad was it?

"We ain't got time! I'll tell ya after we get him to Carlos, okay?" Luke says.

He begins to hurry over to where the first aid station must be, not protesting as Clementine hurries to catch up so they're practically sprinting side-by-side. By the time they get to the designated medical site, the former customer's support area of the store, they're both panting in exhaustion.

Sarah's dad is a tall, stern-faced man, who apparently always seemed to wear flannel shirts, to the displeasure of his daughter. He had probably been informed by another guard about the herd since he was already prepared to treat any wounded persons as they walked in. "Lay him down on that table over there." He demands, snapping on some gloves and pulling out a box of medical supplies from one of the cabinets by the wall.

Luke gently places Jake on the table, which the doctor had covered with a soft white bed sheet. Carlos nudges Luke to the side and nods at him gratefully. "I got it from here."

The younger man backs away, nearly bumping into Clementine, who had been standing beside him and trying to get a peak at her friend. "What happened to him?" Clementine asks once again, demanding an answer this time.

He sighs and runs a hand through his messy hair. "The kid was hangin' out at the comic store, even though I specifically told y'all to stay outta there. Some lurkers managed to break in again and I heard him scream and went runnin' after him. And then I took him here as fast as I could."

Clementine places her head in her hands and groans in exasperation. "Dammit, Jake…" She mutters, cursing her new friend for his stupid ideas and rash actions. Of course he would go back to his favorite spot, even after being told not to head back there anymore. Of course he would risk getting himself attacked over Iron-Man and Spider-Man and Invincible, when he could have been having dinner with his family or Victor or any of the other kids…

"Luke, get over here…" Carlos hisses, backing away from the boy lying on the bed and shaking his head.

Clementine follows Luke over to Carlos's side. Carlos notices her there with a disapproving look but does nothing to make her leave. "What's wrong, doc?" Luke asks.

The doctor purses his lips before lifting up Jake's shirt, revealing a bloody, painful-looking bite just above his hip.

She swears she can feel all the air exit her lungs; her heart stops beating and then picks up in rhythm right after, strong enough to burst through her chest in a bloody mess. But no matter how hard she tries, she can't look away, can't even force herself to close her eyes. Jake…

Luke covers his eyes with one of his hands and paces around beside Carlos. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What're we gonna do here?"

"I don't know. We've never had a bite victim before…especially not one this…" Carlos trails off, glancing down at his bloody hands in disgust before yanking them off.

After tossing the dirty gloves in a small wastebasket, he turns back to Luke and shrugs, looking as helpless as they all feel. "I need to talk to his parents. And Bill. Do you know where they are?"

"They're probably all out at the wall tryin' to get control of this herd. Bill said that wall would be enough to keep 'em out..."

"He can't promise us everything, Luke. Those…things are uncontrollable."

Clementine finds herself unable to keep up with their conversation, too focused on her friend's pale skin, the curse that had just placed on him and his family and – oh God, Jessica… Oh no.

"He has a sister. She's probably looking for him right now." She mumbles, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso.

"Shit…" Luke sighs, running a hand down his face.

"Do you know where she is?" Carlos asks.

She shrugs. "I-I don't know. She might be in her…home, I guess. Room? But I've never been there." Clementine feels more useless than ever, watching one of her new friends die right in front of her eyes and not being able to help, not knowing where any of his family could be, not being there in the first place to stop him from doing something so stupidand reckless.

Luke rubs his chin. "I think I might be able to find her, this place ain't that big anyway."

"Luke." Carlos says, practically glaring at Clementine now. "She should go."

Clementine narrows her eyes right back at him, unafraid. "I'm staying. I'm not letting him be alone during this."

"It's not safe for you here. He could turn at any moment!" The doctor retorts. She can't help but see his point – she remembers when Lee brought back that man, Ben's old teacher, with no leg. He had turned only minutes later and would have nearly killed Katjaa and Lee if it weren't for Carley stepping in. But she also assumes that the time it takes for someone to turn into a walker varies from person to person. Christa had told her that Lee had made it nearly a day, had pushed himself and cut off his own arm to give himself all the time he so desperately needed to save her.

The younger man moves so he's between them, spreading his arms out in an effort to reduce the tension. "Carlos, it's alright. Clem can stay here and I'll go find-"

"You're this Clementine?" Carlos asks, his eyes widening in momentary surprise.

She groans, cursing the other kids for their gossipy ways. "Yeah, I am."

Carlos gives her a suspicious look, icy enough to give her chills. "My daughter has told me a lot about you." By his tone, this isn't a good thing.

"Can we focus on the bitten boy here, please?" Luke cuts in, frustrated.

She nods, deciding to forget about the doctor and his odd dislike for her at the moment, and turns to Luke. "Her name's Jessica. She's a few years older than him, about fifteen. Uhh…she has dark hair, really long, and she's, well, Asian."

Luke hums in confirmation. "Okay, I got it. I'll be back." He pats her shoulder and meets her eyes as he finishes, "And…be safe, alright? I know he-he's your friend, but you can't stop what's gonna happen to him."

Clementine sighs and looks away. "Yeah, I know. I do. I've…I've been through this before." When Luke opens his mouth to ask her to clarify, she rolls her eyes and shoves his chest. "Go find her!"

He rushes off without another word, leaving Clementine and Carlos standing across from each other in a frigid silence. Carlos appears as if he's about to say something when the door slams open and reveals one of the guards she doesn't know the name of leaning on Tisha, another guard (and part-time volunteer teacher as well).

Carlos goes to help her immediately, taking the injured man from Tisha's side and heading towards another table across from Jake. "What happened? Is he bitten?"

Tisha says, "I don't know-"

"I tripped tryna get away from those damn things and – augh," The man groans as Carlos helps him onto the table, digging his fists into his eyes in pain. "I think I twisted it, my ankle-"

As Carlos rolls up one of the legs of the man's pants, Clementine grabs a fold-up chair from the corner of the room and sets it next to where Jake lay, ignoring the adults as they continued to talk by her side. When she looks at him, she can't help but picture Duck, a boy from what felt like so long ago who had also been her friend before he got bitten. In almost the same area, too, she thinks, reaching a hand out to hover over the area where Jake had gotten hurt. Duck's had been a little higher up. Seeing his wound back then had nearly made her vomit, from disgust and fear and just overwhelming loss.

Because that was the day they had lost everything. Carley and Lilly and then Katjaa and Duck. Their group had been falling apart at the seams for a while; even Clementine knew that to be true at her young age, despite how much she wished and wished every night before she fell asleep that Kenny and Lilly would just get along and stop acting like children her age or even younger. A deal with some bandits that spiraled out of control had only sped up the inevitable split. But Duck had done nothing wrong. He didn't deserve to get bitten, to die at such a young age, to leave her alone in a world full of adults and monsters and take his mother, peaceful and hopeful Katjaa, with him.

And Jake certainly didn't deserve to have the same fate bestowed on him. Jake reminded her of Duck in so many ways: his hyperactivity, his jokes, his laughter, his love of comic books and boyish things. She didn't want to add his death to their list of similarities.

She moves her hand down from Jake's bite mark to hold his hand, only to pull away a second later when the boy begins to cough.

Clementine scoots her chair back quick enough to almost tip it over and says, her voice shaking, "Jake… Are you alive?"

Jake continues to cough, painful little sobs working his way out of his throat. She moves closer to him once more, glad to know that he hadn't turned – not yet – but less than happy to see how much he was suffering. She reaches out to grab his hand again, wincing as he squeezes her fingers tightly.

"What-what's going on?! What's happ-happening to me?" Jake chokes out once his hacking dies down. His forehead is shiny with sweat and tears stream down his face, leaving his eyes puffy and red.

She looks away, catching sight of Carlos working on the injured man Tisha had brought in a few minutes ago. Tisha, meanwhile, has her walkie-talkie by her ear. The room is silent enough for Clementine to easily be able to hear what is being said over the radio: more wounded – a few bitten – almost under control –

Clementine turns back to Jake upon hearing him cough again, cringing as she notices the blood now staining his lips. She rolls the sleeve of her blue sweater up over her free hand and wipes the blood off gently.

"You…you're sick. Really sick." Clementine murmurs, finding herself unable to break the bad news to him.

"Where're my mom and dad? Jess?" He says, his words slurring together.

She sighs and looks over at the door. Still no sign of Luke and Jess or his parents. "She'll be here soon, okay? For now… I'm here." Jake closes his eyes and begins to cough again, droplets of red splashing over his and her clothes. She feels eyes burning into the side of her head and turns to see Carlos staring at her and Jake, a concerned look in his eyes. Clementine returns his stare before shaking her head and focusing back on her friend.

"I'm here."