Tristan was right, the group indeed had company. Two ghostly figures walking through the thick fog which still hadn't lifted. Tristan searched out the window to try and see who it was, but the fog was too much, he couldn't see anything. "Looks like they're headed this way," he pointed out as the two strangers continued their way to the small rest stop. Christa, Clem, and Abilene all readied their weapons. They did not want another John/Dalton situation.
"Walkers?" Abilene asked.
Tristan shook his head. "Survivors." He could tell by the way they walked upright, and one of them was holding a gun. You could see the shadow of it on the ground.
"Be ready," Christa warned.
The two figures walked closer, and they were indeed human. It was two men, and the group couldn't make out the words they were speaking. When they got close enough, Tristan pointed his gun at them and yelled out.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Tristan, what the hell are you doing?" Abilene hissed quietly.
He turned around to face her, "I'm making sure these people aren't going to hurt us." He then turned back to the window. "Put your weapons down, or I'll shoot!" He threatened, still pointing his gun at the two figures as they approached slowly.
"Don't shoot!" one of the men said and began to lower his gun.
"Who are you?" Tristan demanded to know again.
The two men stepped closer, eventually emerging from the fog. One of them looked to be of Mexican descent, the other one Indian. "Look, we're just trying to find a shelter away from the fog," the first man explained. "My name's Ricardo, and this is Dean. We're not here to hurt no one."
Tristan lowered his weapon, and so did Clementine, but Christa and Abilene were not taking any chances. They continued to point their weapons as Ricardo and Dean slowly walked inside with their hands where they could see them.
"Are you sure you didn't come to steal our supplies?" Christa inquired in a suspicious tone. She still wasn't one to trust immediately, even after all this time.
"No, no ma'am," Dean shook his head.
"Well, this shelter's taken," Christa replied bitterly. "So you're going to have to find a place somewhere else." Clementine wasn't surprised at all by Christa's tone. No way was she going to let two new strangers bunk with her group.
On one hand, Clementine didn't want to send them out into the fog with the walkers. But on the other hand, she didn't want to trust people so easily. She tried to think of what Lee would do, but she was at a loss.
"Maybe someone could stay up, and watch them?" Clementine suggested, tugging on Abilene's sweater.
Abilene looked down at the little girl and seemed to consider it. She hadn't said no to any of Clem's decisions thus far, but she didn't really know what to do in their current situation. Eventually, she sighed and lowered her firearm. "Fine. But whoever stays up needs to watch them carefully."
Christa grunted, and lowered her gun as well. "Clem, why do you always have to do this?" she scolded.
"We can't just leave them out in the fog," Clementine defended. "If it was us out there, wouldn't you want someone to let us in?" she retorted. But Christa ignored her nonetheless. It was clear that the two girls had their differences.
"Thank you," Dean said. "If the fog clears we'll be gone by morning," he added. "But until then we'll try not to cause you any harm."
"Good," Christa spat. "Because I'm tired and I would like to get some rest."
"You mind taking watch?" Tristan asked Abilene.
She shook her head. "I'm fine. You guys go on and get some sleep."
So much for being able to sleep peacefully, Clementine thought as she lay back down in the fetal position. Although she felt that there was no need to add more people to their group, it would still be wrong to just leave them out in the fog. She felt like Lee would have done the same thing or at least something similar, so she hoped that he was proud.
Her eyes closed, but she felt as though she only slept for a few minutes when she was awakened by the sounds of Abilene's shrill screams. Clem thought it was a bad dream at first, but the screaming grew louder so she jumped up, waking from the sound.
It had woken Christa and Tristan up too, and what they saw left them at a complete loss of words.
"Oh my God..." Tristan was the first to speak, his hand over his mouth. He looked like he was going to be sick.
Abilene's throat was slashed, and she was gargling from the blood. A shelf had been knocked over, and a door slammed. The two men had escaped. Clementine's eyes filled with tears.
"Ab...Abilene..." she managed to squeak out, taking a few steps forward.
Christa turned and retched violently in the corner. "We have to find those fuckers," she spat, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
"It's no use," Tristan replied. "They're probably long gone by now." Clementine didn't say a word though. The only thing she could think about was how this was her fault. She wanted those men to stay, and now look what happened. Another one of her friends was dead and there was nothing she could do about it. She just wanted to cry really, to let out all this pent up frustration.
Clem couldn't keep her eyes off Abilene's dead body, and she realized that the older woman would turn into a walker soon.
She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands to avoid breaking down in front of Christa and Tristan. "We...we can't let her turn," she pointed out.
Christa clenched and unclenched her fists. No doubt she was sick and damn tired of death by now. Her eyes squeezed shut, she muttered almost dangerously, "One of you do it, then. I'm sick of this shit."
Tristan sighed and took a final look at Abilene, and placed a gentle hand on Clem's back. This was a little surprising, because rarely ever had he been affectionate towards anyone, much less Clementine. "I'll do it, Clem."
Clementine nodded and sniffled, not really in the mood to argue. The ten-year-old decided not to look, despite all she had seen by this point. A gunshot was heard, meaning now that Abilene's brain was destroyed, and she would not reanimate. Clem felt so cold, so dirty. All she wanted to do was collapse to the ground in scream in anger and sadness, but she knew that neither Lee or her mother and father would want that.
"Let's get moving," Christa said numbly. "At least the fog let up." She walked out of the rest stop with Tristan following behind. Clementine took one last look at Abilene before following her remaining group members.
Where would they go now? Were they even any closer to Wellington?
Clem's stomach growled, but she ignored it, deciding that now wouldn't be the best time to bring up food. She just wanted to get as far away from that rest stop as soon as possible.
Tristan was muttering angry obscenities to himself. He had clearly known Abilene the longest out of anyone, so no doubt that he was upset. Clementine decided that it was probably best to leave him alone for the time being.
She walked slowly behind Christa and Tristan, dragging her feet. How many more death would she have to witness before it was finally her turn?
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I'm really gonna miss Abilene. Review, please?
