So this will probably be longer than ten chapters, but oh well. XD

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Quickly and quietly, Abilene snuck out her bedroom door with Clementine tailing behind her. They didn't want John or Dalton to notice them as they silently approached.

But only one thing was going through Clem's mind: Were Christa and Tristan safe? Had they already made their escape to safety, or were they just hiding out from these so called bandits? Clem hoped that it wasn't the latter of the two.

"What's your plan?" Clementine whispered to Abilene as they hid behind a rather large pile of garbage. The older woman seemed to be thinking hard, that was clear.

"One of us needs to distract them," Abilene decided. "Here's what I'll do. I'll sneak up on one of their people and kill them if I have to with my spear. You run over behind that tree..." she pointed at a large tree that would cover Clementine's small frame completely, "...and wait for me. If you see Christa or Tristan, you just stay where you are. Don't move for any reason, you hear me?"

"But what about you?" Clem couldn't help but inquire. "What if they kill you?"

"Don't worry about me, Clem. I can handle myself pretty well. Just please follow my instructions," Abilene replied.

Clementine nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

"You ready?" Abilene asked, looking down at the little girl.

Clementine nodded. "I think so."

"Alright," Abilene said. "Let's go." She then took off running out in front of John and Dalton, distracting them so Clementine could run and hide behind the tree. "John! Dalton!" Abilene yelled once she was standing out in front of them.

Clementine took that as her cue to run and hide behind the tree. She was extremely scared at the moment, and a part of her was trying to look to see where Christa was at. She wanted the older woman to be okay, and she wanted Abilene to be okay too.

"Why the hell are you doing this?" Abilene yelled to John and Dalton. Clementine wondered the same thing too. Why were they turning on a group that was so good to them? This situation honestly made her think of Ben, but he was just a kid, and he didn't know any better. John and Dalton were two perfectly capable adults. Maybe Christa was right about these people...

But neither man replied, just continued to fire shots. Clementine's golden eyes darted around in search for Christa, but she was nowhere to be found. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she suddenly heard gunshots from all around. There was nowhere else to hide, and the little girl had no other choice than to be right out in the open, completely defenseless.

Clem let out a shriek as a bullet whizzed past her. She knew that she would be shot if she stayed where she was. She thought about climbing the tree, albeit she wasn't that physically strong.

"You might as well give up now!" an unfamiliar male's voice screamed out. "There's more of us than you!"

"Fuck you!" Abilene hollered.

Clementine knew things were about to end up badly, and it only confirmed her thoughts when Abilene began firing bullets left and right, shooting a few of the bandits in the legs. "Dammit!" one of them yelled out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Clem saw someone coming up behind her, and she was a little bit relieved when she saw it was Christa, yielding a pistol in her dominant hand. Clem was glad that she hadn't run off to save herself. Where was Tristan though?

"Christa!" Clem yelled out.

"Stay down, Clem!" the older woman ordered. But Clementine honestly didn't know where to hide. It was an all out shootout now between the two groups, and everything was exposed in the open.

"Where's Tristan?" Clementine whispered.

"Somewhere around here," Christa responded, pointing her firearm all around. "I just want to know what the fuck is going on." A bullet whizzed by her head, barely missing her. Clementine's heart pounded, and she clenched her small fists.

Just when they thought things couldn't get worse, loud groaning noises could be heard from a corner. Christa only shot a couple of the walkers down with her pistol, since she didn't want to waste any more ammunition than necessary. John was still shooting all around and yelling, not even realizing his coming fate. Clementine gasped in shock as a walker grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back, chomping into his neck.

John began to scream in agony, trying to pull the walker off of him. Dalton quickly shot the walker and bolted in the other direction of the woods.

He didn't get too far, however, because Christa aimed her pistol and shot him in the back, sending him down. He scrambled up and continued running, but more slowly now. Dalton and John were both goners, it seemed like.

Clementine heard walker groans a little closer to her now, and she turned. Two of them were heading straight for Abilene.

Without thinking, Clem immediately screamed out: "ABILENE, WATCH OUT!"

Abilene heard her warning and whipped around. Jumping back, she shot both of the walkers right before they could get to her.

Clementine sighed in relief, thankful that nothing had happened to Abilene. "Thanks, Clem," Abilene said to the little girl.

"Is everyone okay?" Tristan asked as he came out from nowhere.

"I think so," Christa nodded. "But what the fuck was that?" she asked, confused.

"Hell if I know," Tristan grumbled. "They were with us for so long, and they betrayed us like this? I can't fuckin' believe it."

Abilene pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, leaning against the tree. "I always knew that something was up with Dalton, ever since I joined this group. But John? I want to know if Dalton put him in this."

"This place isn't safe," Christa announced, maybe a little more firmly than intended. "It's too dangerous. We were almost killed just now!"

"Christa!" Clementine said a little harshly. "These people took us in, gave us food and a place to sleep...we owe them," the little girl finished.

"Not our lives!" Christa yelled in reply. "We need to get out of here, Clementine. We're better off on our own." But Clementine knew that that was not the case. She and Christa were hopeless as a group with no communication or respect between the two. She knew Christa was the adult though, so she'd have to listen to the older woman either way.

"No," Clementine shook her head. "I want to stay with Abilene and Tristan, or they can come with us."

Christa tried to speak, but Clementine continued. "Christa, we barely survived when it was just the two of us. We're all we've got left! We've done better this entire week than we have since..." She was silent, almost afraid to even mention Omid or Genevieve by name. Clementine sighed. "The least we can do is at least let them stay with us, and be grateful for what they've done." By this point the ten-year-old was nearly begging.

There was a very reluctant look on Christa's face, like she still didn't want Abilene or Tristan near them, but eventually she came up with her decision.

"Fine, have it your way," Christa almost spat.

"I think we should leave," Tristan decided. "I think Christa has a point, it ain't safe here. What do you think, Abilene? It's up to you."

Abilene nodded, "I think we should go."

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