This guy had to be a ghost – either that, or Clementine had just completely lost her mind. How was this possible? Lee had told her that he was killed, sacrificing himself so that he, Christa and Omid could escape. Lee said there was no way that he could've made it out of that back alley, not with all those walkers closing in on him.

So how the hell was Kenny standing right in front of them?

"Surprised to see me, Clem?" Kenny asked with a smirk, tipping his trademark hat in her direction as he threw the walker off to the side. Kenny looked… different, and not in a good way. From what Clementine could see, it looked like he hadn't eaten in a while, as he was a lot skinnier and his shirt bagged over his body. His hair had grown a little bit longer than what she remembered, and he had huge bags under his eyes. All in all, Kenny looked exhausted.

"But you… you were killed! By walkers! How…" Clementine stumbled over her words, completely surprised to see anybody from her previous group still alive.

Kenny shook his head sadly and scratched his head with the ball cap. Clearly Kenny survived, but he didn't make it out without serious mental repercussions.

"Ben fell onto a gate-looking thing, and there was nothing we could do," he started, folding his arms over his chest. "I shut the gate on Lee so he could get out of there, and then I had to shoot Ben…"

Clementine nodded. It was hard to accept, especially after everything they went through together, but she'd heard about that over a year ago now. "How did you escape?" she asked.

"I knocked a few of them in the forehead with my gun, and when I saw the opening I just ran. I couldn't even go back to see if anyone else made it out alive. By the way…"

A shake of her head gave Kenny the answer that he hadn't been hoping for. The man buried his face in his hands and trembled slightly. "Omid and Christa were killed by bandits that raided our camp in the night. And Lee… he was going to turn, so I had to shoot him…"

"God's sakes," Kenny sighed, still shaking his head in disbelief. "I thought for sure he was gonna make it. He was one tough son of a bitch, that's for sure. Couldn't have asked for a better guy,"

As Kenny looked back to the two of them, he frowned slightly, pointing to Daryl with his pistol, who hadn't lowered his crossbow since they came across each other. "Is this guy with you, Clem?"

"Yeah," she replied, introducing him, "this is Daryl. He found me in the woods and took me into his camp."

"So, you got a thing for kidnapping little girls, man? Why don't you put down your stupid little toy and answer me like a man?"

Daryl's grip on the bow tightened, and venomously he responded, "Keep talking like that old man, and I'll put two arrows straight through your eyeballs,"

"Please! Stop, both of you!" Clementine pleaded, and reluctantly Daryl did as she asked. Kenny, however, his eyes like a hawk, kept his weapon pointed at Daryl, clearly not trusting him at all. "Kenny, please! You too!"

Tension in the air would've been an understatement at that moment. It seemed that both men were willing to tear the other one to pieces if it came to that, and the only thing keeping them from trying was the girl standing between them.

"I find it hard to believe that she came with you willingly. And even if she did, what kind of a fuckin' role model are you, anyway? Letting a ten year old girl drive a car!"

"Daryl saved my life, Kenny," she interjected, getting slightly annoyed. Didn't Kenny know her well enough to trust her judgement? "I got attacked by walkers, and I was all by myself. We went back to the prison and stayed there for a little while."

"So why aren't you there now then?"

Clementine glanced sadly to the ground, still haunted by the events at the prison. It was a pretty traumatic event for everyone – well, if anyone else was still alive that is. Neither of them had a clue.

"We got attacked by some pretty messed up people," Daryl began, giving Kenny a glare that could burn right through his soul. "Walkers infested the place, the fences and the walls collapsed, and we all got split up. Not sure if anyone else made it out alive. Clem and I ran out and have been on the road ever since."

There was a pause for a little bit, and Clementine was worried that Kenny wasn't going to believe them. She had realized after that whole barn incident where he smashed the racist guy's face in with a salt lick that Kenny had begun to distance himself from the rest of the group. And after his family died, things only got worse.

Finally, he relented and put his pistol back into its holster. "Alright. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, only 'cause you're with Clementine. But I swear to God – you try anything, and I won't hesitate to put you in the ground. Got it?"

"I think we'll take our business elsewhere, big shot," he replied, starting to turn down the road with Clementine beside him.

Kenny looked furious from Clementine's perspective. His fists were clenched and he was marching over to the redneck in a blind rage. Immediately he grabbed onto Daryl's shoulder and started yelling about how stupid his plan was.

Their voices were enough to wake the dead, literally. Clementine wouldn't be surprised if a whole herd of walkers came by after hearing all the racket that was going on. She made a move to try and stop them, but suddenly yelped in pain and grasped her arm.

Immediately Daryl stopped paying attention to Kenny and focused on Clementine, whose sleeve was becoming soaked in blood. How she didn't notice this before was beyond him, but there was no time to lose. "Where's your camp?" Daryl asked harshly, letting Clementine rest an arm on his shoulder while Kenny did the same for the other side.

Kicking the ground in frustration, Kenny shook his head and sighed. "It's five miles in that direction. Come on, I'll show you the way."

By the time the three of them arrived at the location, Clementine's arm was beginning to swell. She wouldn't let either of the two of them touch it, and she just kept it hidden underneath her sleeve. Daryl knew that it would get infected if left unchecked, and that was something that neither of them could afford right now. He didn't think he could take losing any more of the people that were closest to him.

The camp itself wasn't much to look at, even though it sat across from a beautiful lakeside view. There were a few tents sprawled out around a campfire that sat in the middle, and what appeared to be some old coolers and other supplies scattered nearby. A small cabin sat farther away from the rest of the place, all wooden and from the looks of things it must've been abandoned before these people moved in. What appeared to be a small fishing shed of some sort was situated out near the lake as well. Daryl could tell these people weren't too thrilled about Kenny bringing in two newcomers judging by the disgusted looks on some of their faces.

"What the fuck, Ken? You were supposed to be bringing back some supplies, not two more mouths to feed!" yelled a very angry and very much pregnant lady.

"Yeah, Rebecca? Well what the hell did you want me to do, leave them out on the road to die?!"

A younger looking man came to her defense with his arms folded over his chest. "Better they die out there than here! When they turn, it's on your ass – not ours!"

"What the hell are you tal – oh my God…"

Kenny stepped back and looked at Clementine's arm in horror. She had lifted up her sleeve to reveal a massive, deep wound gushing into her forearm, and from everyone else's perspective (except Daryl) it looked like she had been bitten by a walker. Daryl was irate – how could these dumbasses not see that it was from the car? And even if she was bitten, you don't put down a little girl while she's still alive!

As one of the group members started to pull out a rifle from behind his back, Daryl charged forward and knocked him to the ground, sending everyone else on edge. Those that had weapons were now switching their aim between Clementine and Daryl, with Kenny still looking at her arm in horror.

"It… it can't be… not you too, Clem…"

"It's not! I'm not bitten – OUCH! Geez… somebody needs to get me something for this before it gets infected! Please!" she burst out, trying to convince this group of random people to spare her life. So far their decision was pretty obvious.

"You even think about hurting her, and I'm putting every last one of you in the ground!" Daryl threatened, pointing a knife close to the guy's neck.

Another young-looking fellow put his hands up in defense. "There's no need for any of this. We've got a doctor here, he can take a look at your injuries –"

"That's not your call, Luke!" Rebecca yelled, indignant.

Luke shook his head sadly and turned to the older man standing beside him. "Come on, Pete. Back me up here. You know this isn't how we do things!"

Time seemed to stand still before Pete spoke, as I he was mulling over the fate of the two lives standing before him. He gave a hardened look over at Daryl, who relented and put his knife back in his pocket, and then turned towards Clementine with a softer expression.

"Do you know this man?" he asked first, surprising Clementine as he pointed towards Daryl.

"Yes."

"Are you under any kind of duress with him? I mean, is he putting you in danger at all?"

"Aren't we always in danger nowadays? But no, he's my friend. We've been looking out for each other." Suddenly, Daryl noticed, Clementine seemed to be a lot more mature in that instant. He was sure that it was due to everything she'd been through, but right then it seemed like she was becoming more independent than he'd ever seen her before.

Pete nodded slightly and bent down to her level to ask his final question, with Clementine practically bursting from anxiety.

"Did you get bitten by a walker?"

Clementine gave him a stern expression (even though inside she was burning with emotions), and showed him the wound.

"No."

Pete studied the opening carefully, but refrained from touching it in case she actually was bitten. He stayed that way for a few moments before sighing and giving Clementine a small grin. Pete then turned to face the rest of the group as he announced his opinion.

"Well, I trust her judgement. If she says she isn't bitten, then she isn't bitten."

Luke and Daryl looked relieved, but Rebecca and the guy on the ground (whose name turned out to be Nick) weren't pleased.

"How do you know she's not lying?! You ain't the doctor here, Uncle Pete! What happens if we let her into the house, then she turns and eats us alive if we sleep?"

"It won't come to that," Luke reasoned, clearly getting frustrated that these two (plus a guy named Alvin who had heard the noise and come rushing out of one of the tents) were so paranoid about all this.

"Even if something does happen, we can take care of it. We've dealt with worse things than a little girl coming back as a biter before,"

"She ain't bitten! What's it gonna take for you people to understand that?!"

As they argued, Clementine noticed Kenny slowly start to walk away towards the lake, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. He'd had it pretty rough the last few years, and she thought that hearing about Lee's death and the possibility of her dying too must've been sending him over the edge. He sat along the shoreline and didn't turn back.

Their arguments were getting nowhere. There were three sides going on at once: Clementine and Daryl saying that she's not bitten but that they both needed medical supplies, Pete and Luke trying their best to believe them but not swaying for either side, along with Rebecca and Nick saying either to kill them or send them on their way. Clementine was getting pretty dizzy, too, which didn't help matters in any way.

"Enough!" everyone stopped what they were doing as they saw an Italian-looking man step out of the cabin and make his way towards Clementine. He addressed her wound with a sharp eye, and Clementine could tell right away that this was the doctor they had mentioned.

As all this was going on, Kenny sat alone on the shore, his face buried in his hands. A light breeze ran along the water's edge, and suddenly some ripples started to form in the middle of the lake. The ripples turned to slight splashes, but he didn't even notice. The man was distraught, ripped apart from the inside.

It was very unfortunate that he didn't notice what was going on.

"So, what is it Carlos? Is she bitten?" Nick asked, nervously shifting his feet back and forth.

The doctor paused before turning back to the group to announce his conclusions. "Well, she seems stable for now," he began, frowning at Daryl and Clementine, "but we can't know for sure. We'll stick her in the shed for the night and see what happens. If she's burning up with a fever in the morning, we'll know she's turning and we'll deal with it. If not, we'll stitch her up in the morning and send them on their way."

"You can't be fuckin' serious," Daryl spat, "she needs medicine now! She needs antibiotics and a bandage, not for you to stick her in a fuckin' box! What the hell's wrong with you people?!"

"You people aren't our concern," Carlos warned, trying to sound forceful but not having much of an effect.

Daryl stood protectively in front of his companion. "You ain't putting her in there. Just give us the supplies and we'll go."

"Carlos…" Pete tried to reason, but Nick and Rebecca hushed him, allowing no room for argument. Pete and Luke shook their heads sadly, and allowed them to continue.

"If she lives, we'll know she wasn't bitten. If she dies, then-"

"You're not putting a little girl in there. Don't even think about it," Daryl threatened, pointing his crossbow directly at Carlos' face.

"It wouldn't be a smart move to shoot the only doctor around for miles in the face," Carlos warned, and reluctantly Daryl lowered his weapon.

Daryl Dixon looked down at the girl standing behind him, and saw that she was nodding, as if this was the only way they'd do anything about it. He sighed, then walked back towards the shed with the little girl in tow.

"Wait a minute, where's he going?!" Rebecca shouted behind him.

An icy-cold glare met Rebecca as Daryl replied, "If you bitches are gonna out her in there, I'm not leaving. No exceptions, understand?"

Luke and Pete pushed their way through to the two of them, and walked towards the shed to unlock the door. It was getting pretty late out, but Kenny still was sitting out by the lake alone.

"I'm so sorry about this," Luke tried to say, but Daryl cut him off.

"No you're not. If you really were, you would've done something."

They suddenly looked pretty guilty, and made a hasty retreat back to their campsite after they shut the door behind them. Alone in the dark, Daryl and Clementine sunk to the floor against the walls of the shed, completely exhausted.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the lake, several low moans were starting to make their way to the surface, but once again Kenny didn't notice. He simply stared at his reflection in the murky liquid and sighed.

In the darkness of the lake, a grotesque, mangled hand plunged its way above the water.