7:15 PM
Art [Clementine]
Clementine had since drifted to sleep. Face lying against the floor, where no semblance of comfort could be found. Her whole body felt weak, only a light push away from falling apart. Besides the aches and bruises from before, every finger had gone numb, namely her toes in the foot left exposed. Clem's biker jacket was like a napkin to the gusts of wind verging on turning into ice. And by nightfall, the cold had become too much to bear.
The teen's eyes shot open next to the wooden tiles, followed by the rest of her body, all jolting awake in a flash. It was freezing. Clem's stomach rumbled hard, and no matter how much she tried to roll over on the floor, that evening appetite wouldn't let her fall back asleep. From her backpack, the girl pulled a sandwich a couple hours away from becoming spoiled; still, somehow, making her mouth water. Halfway through her lunch, in the midst of the darkness outside, the window flashed twice in quick succession, before turning dim again. Clementine's head swung in its direction, surprise overtaking her expression. On her knees, she stared out the window for minutes until the trees flickered again, light reflecting on the glass.
"Wake up!" The girl whispered as loudly as she could, eyes glued to the window. She waited for Lydia and Jenny to open their eyes, a mixture of worry and joy in Clementine's.
"Flashlights."
She looked back at the blonde, Clem's hands rested on her tighs. "What do we do?"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
It felt as though she had had been drifting in and out of consciousness all night. Cold daggers pierced her whole body every time she started to nod off, prohibiting her from falling asleep for too long. The teen held her arms in her hands, teeth literally beginning to chatter. How long had it been? Lydia's sense of time was disoriented. At this point, she was begging for the sun to rise, and that didn't look like it was happening anytime soon.
After hours of silence, Clementine's voice came as a sudden shock, causing the girl to jolt slightly. Still drowsy, she rolled over, rubbing her eyes. "What now?" She spoke softly, her voice quite dozy from the pounding headache derived from lack of sleep. Whatever reason she had for nagging her. It better have been good.
"Flashlights."
Lydia's eyes shot all the way open, feeling a surge of energy run through her core. The news was energizing, to say the least. "Where?!" She whispered back curiously as Clementine directed her to the source of the light.
Without haste, the girl peeked through the window. Indeed, far off into the distance, there were lights. Carl… Andrea? Is that you? Lydia pondered, the thought of getting their attention was swiftly shut down by the horde still prevalent below, barely having moved an inch. What if it wasn't them? Only a few months back, they'd run into that group Carl had always warned them about, coupled with the fact that any noise they made would have the infected below start banging against the watchtower again. Did they really want to deal with that for the rest of the night?
She sighed out, slinking back down in a sitting position. Not at all liking what she was about to propose, but there was little choice.
"Nothing." She spoke after letting the silence linger, much less excitedly now as she stared down at her feet. The carrot that was dangling over her nose, Lydia refused to bite. Knowing the risks, it just wasn't worth it.
"Same plan. Wait it out until the morning."
Art [Clementine]
Clementine frowned with a brow raised and forming an arc, locking eyes with the blonde. A shrug had her shoulders jumping before her back met the wall, confusion written in the girl's gaze.
"You'd rather sit around and wait?" Clem asked through a sneer, looking discouraged by the suggestion.
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Did Clementine have an 'off' switch? God, she was really starting to doubt that she did. Lydia was huddled in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees yet again. This time, she hadn't been bothered to even cast the other girl a glance. Her eyes bolted to her feet like glue. She was exhausted… not to mention cold, hungry, and fed up. The dead already wanted them gone, she didn't want to add the living to that list, especially if the owners of those flashlights weren't friendly.
"And what would you rather do, huh? Get us killed?" She bit back.
Art [Clementine]
She had to fight hard not to roll her eyes. Though as hard as she tried, they still felt all too close to the ceiling. You'd think slowly turning into human ice-cream all night long would make staying cool easier. Whoever thought that, hadn't met Lydia.
"Me and you. We can come up with a distraction. Right?" Clementine proposed, forcing a spew of confidence that she didn't truly have. "... Shoot our way out if we have to. I'm good with a gun." Jenny wasn't. Lest we forget. Oh, and Lydia? That one didn't trust her to tie her own shoelaces, much less hold her own in a fight. Not that the feeling wasn't mutual. The whole idea put a fright on her. Clem fought to voice the rest, knowing what answer to expect. Eventually she quieted down altogether.
"I mean, we can't just wait. Can we? Just wait around?" She sighed. "What if no one comes?"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
At this point, Lydia was lost. Her eyes were glazed over with a doe-eyed and spaced out expression. Not unlike the ones groaning outside, it was almost as though she was lifeless in the face… sapped of all spirit. The girl had been holding out hope that the cluster of roamers would just leave by morning, but she was kidding herself. Lydia had been around these types of things for most of her life, and judging by how it was still looking out there, she was highly doubtful anything would be clearing out soon. In fact, the noise this horde was generating would probably attract more by then.
Her main concern was the cold. It already felt like she was a literal human ice block up here, enough to make the girl question herself in regard to if they could even make it through the night. If the cold didn't get them, then hunger soon would. Their food situation wasn't exactly bright either…
Sitting up here and waiting to die… this display of weakness would've gotten her a harsh beating back then. It'd be considered pitiful. Death would be deserved if one was afraid of the infected, for a hopeless fool that couldn't adjust to the 'harsh reality of nature', as they used to put it. Maybe in this case, they were right.
Silence filled the room as Lydia considered Clementine's words, letting them linger in the air. She didn't move from the corner, rubbing her face as she sighed out into both of her palms.
"If you two wanna go down into that clusterfuck together, then be my guest! I'd love to see how that turns out." The last thing Lydia needed was to get bogged down out there and put at risk. Charging headfirst towards a herd and being expected to watch out for Jenny? Fuck. That. The idea was a death sentence in of itself.
Dot [Jenny]
Hours dragged by at a snail's pace, and Jenny found herself slowly calming down. The cold had become the biggest concern, and the light rumble in her stomach made it hard to concentrate on anything else, so when Clementine spoke up about trying to escape, Jenny found herself both hesitant and desperate to leave this place.
As the other two girls argued, once more, Jenny thought about something Clementine had said earlier, about a radio. That might've been their only chance.
She found the radio in question sitting on some observer's desk lined up with a window, overlooking the forest beyond. From here, you could just about see the mountaintops surrounding the valley, and a trail that led back towards Jackson. Of course, that trail didn't really matter, given they were… trapped. But the radio was the most important thing there.
Definitely busted, but if it had a few key components still working, she might be able to get it functioning again. Maybe. The idea of, at least, trying to do something instead of continuing to sit there and allow herself to sink further into those horrible memories plaguing her was worth the effort.
"I, uhm, might be able to fix this," Jenny spoke quietly, mainly towards Clementine near her. "If they have any–" She rummaged through the contents on the desk, only managing to find one measly screwdriver. Not exactly a repair kit. "Okay… might be difficult, but worth a shot."
"At least, we might be able to send out a S.O.S. Or... make a distraction to get the infected away." Though even she knew that was probably overachieving. Without spare sets of components to work with, this was like repairing a plastic doll and expecting it to sing.
She glanced towards Clem, her hands shaking. "Hand me your flashlight?"
Art [Clementine]
It hadn't even crossed her mind, not for Clem. Tinkering with that radio all night, that'd get them nowhere if she had anything to do with it. But Jenny was different.
Clementine didn't hesitate to do as asked. In one of her backpack pockets, it stuck out in all its rusty glory. Clem's flashlight was so old she couldn't remember who it was that got it for her. "Go nuts." Just hope it doesn't melt on the table... That settled, Clem would've been happy go back to her nap. But still, her eyes trailed, and before long she was peeking behind Jenny's shoulder. "Does that work?"
"You didn't just see that in a movie, right?"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Lydia sat firm, reluctant on moving an inch from her huddled position in the corner. Quiet she remained, yet in bewilderment at how pointless this all seemed right now. We're fucked. As if false hope can help us now…
"Ugh…" A harsh grunt pushed through her lips; the girl quite frankly annoyed at all the talking. If they were going to freeze up here, then the least they could do was give her some peace and quiet to freak out alone.
"A S.O.S?" Lydia chuckled, mostly in amusement at the lunacy. "Seriously?" She deadpanned, starting to think these people were denser than they were letting on. "Even if it does work, there's no way they're gonna clear all of the dead in time before we starve." The girl pointed out, although Lydia suspected she was wasting her breath.
Art [Clementine]
Clementine's jaw twitched, but her frown was hidden well away. For the first time in her stupid life, she felt too tired to be mad. "Don't listen to her."
Jay was running on reserves. Her fingers kept twitching, hard... the sloppy hands and the shallow breaths; she looked paler than the snow. It was hard to watch, crossed arms and all. Clem couldn't stop wondering if Jenny got any sleep. I've got to get us home. "Do you need help? Anything... I'm your gal." It wasn't the forced smile that did it... everything about Clementine spelled concern. And all she did - all she could do, was sit still and watch.
How right was Lydia, really...?
Dot [Jenny]
Jenny didn't really bother answering Lydia's comment, knowing that the blonde was probably - definitely - right. But they didn't have the luxury of falling into hopelessness, right? They needed to get out of there, somehow. If she managed to fix this radio, then that would be a solid first step.
As Clementine offered to help, she held out the flashlight for Clementine to hold, at least until Jenny could pry the radio open. She took the screwdriver and took out whatever screws she could find before placing the end of it into the radio, prying the back off. Inside, the green circuit boards glistened in the light. With how cold it was, she'd be surprised if the thing wasn't destroyed from ice and moisture.
"I do this all the time," she replied finally, quietly. "Usually with more… stuff, to work with."
As she began to pry the circuit board out, she glanced towards her friend. "What do you think our odds are? Of getting out, I mean."
"I mean- you… and Lydia, are the experts. Given, y'know…" She scratched at her arm idly, forcing herself back to work.
Art [Clementine]
Clem didn't give Jenny an inch. "We promised, didn't we?" The girl asked, sliding close until only Jay could hear. "Best friends forever? That ring a bell?"
What were the odds of cracking a smile in their situation? Honestly. Clementine thought she had to be going crazy, leaning her backside against the table and grinning like a tool. "If we get mauled down there, then that's totally a breach in contract."
For the one second she could afford to, Clem's voice had turned stern. As if willpower could make it real. "I'd never let that happen."
Dot [Jenny]
Being somewhere between reassured and terrified had to be the weirdest feeling she'd ever felt. Hearing it from Clementine, though, she had to put some merit to it. They'd be smart, right? Figure this out. Even if the radio idea didn't work.
So, Jenny gave the shorter girl a lopsided smile, returning to working on the radio. "For once, a legally binding contract is actually a good thing."
The radio was in really bad shape. The antenna was still in good shape, at least, but that didn't mean they'd be able to send or receive anything. After a few minutes had gone by, she gave Clementine a sideways glance, frowning. "Any other ideas? Just… so we're not banking everything on this piece of plastic?"
So much for being useful…
LadyLedge [Lydia]
The radio was a piece of junk, the result being what most would expect. Lydia didn't feel the need to say much, but the incessant rattling on about best friends and contracts made her want to laugh, mainly because it was starting to get on her nerves. Spite, in regard to how soon Clementine had been able to make friends after just getting back, she couldn't stop herself from feeling it along with just a tad of envy no matter how hard she tried. If it was anyone else then Lydia was certain she wouldn't have given a shit, which only frustrated her more.
It was obvious that Jenny was clueless about anything else that didn't involve mechanical jargon or whatever, and now she was trusting the 'experts', as she called them. All Lydia had to do was imagine the three of them trying to escape in the massive herd below to realize their already slim chances of survival. Every scenario she ran in her head didn't end well.
"Expert advice," Lydia intervened. "'Sitting down, shutting the fuck up, and not trying to get yourself killed' is a thing." Lydia was getting pissed off now, growing tired of their persistence. "Unless you wanna ruin your contract." She mocked, biting back the urge to say more.
Art [Clementine]
Clem didn't waste a moment to glower at the girl. But more important: against Lydia's wishes, her mouth kept running. "What if we get the ones down near the ladder? Just those." Four or five, then. They kept coming and going as sounds grew louder and distant. Now felt as good a time as any. "If we're quick, we can outrun the rest, or whoever else shows. I cover Jay, and... you cover us."
"Or you can stay and starve on your own. That's just my expert advice," Clementine hissed, flashing her fangs.
LadyLedge [Lydia]
It never failed to amaze Lydia at how quickly she felt like punching Clementine within mere seconds of talking to her. It didn't take much for Lydia to light up like a fuse, which seemed imminent at this point.
"Do you guys even know what it takes to get through a fucking herd?" She growled, eyes razor sharp as her brow furrowed. "I don't wanna get myself chomped just because your daddies are expecting you home soon." Lydia bit back, still unconvinced that they'd be able to handle what was down there.
Dot [Jenny]
"Well, we have to do something," Jenny said, glancing towards the blonde across the room. The very idea of going out into that herd had her terrified, but it was better than dying here, right? Her dad would want her to fight, to find a way to survive. This had to be it.
Finally giving up on the radio, she turned towards the other two girls, letting out a frustrated, stressed sigh. "What about burning something? Fire should get their attention, right?"
"Get them distracted, make a beeline for the woods." She looked towards Clementine for confirmation, the flicker in her eyes giving away the terror she felt.
Art [Clementine]
She nodded back, boasting assurance. "Just leave it to me, okay? I'll get us home."
Her eyes bounced between each of the four solid walls, every tile above and below. Burning something sounded promising, only Clem couldn't put a finger on what. Abandoned might've been wishful thinking; that place looked untouched since before she was a babe in arms. Screeching rust and all, it couldn't but feed into her fears... stuff like the thought of infected wearing it down with enough force. That wasn't a thing, was it? Bringing down a whole tower... Please don't bring any Bloaters...
Clem felt stuck like she hadn't too often. It was that cell all over again - waiting idly to get killed by something. Jenny's looks, the anxious and hopeful ones, begged for a plan to take shape, and Clementine would have been damned not to answer. Lydia might've been too proud to say it, but she and Jay were both counting on her. Same way Lee was, somewhere, hoping she'd come back home safe.
And Ellie'd be pissed if she died like this.
The baseball-capped one had her match box in hand, straight out of her backpack - and short of a smoking habit, dustier than a good book abandoned in an attic. Clem lit a match on her first try, testing the flame's strength against the wind that wouldn't halt. This had to work. It had before.
"Give me that jacket back?"
Dot [Jenny]
Clementine looked towards her with expecting eyes, holding out a hand. Jenny, shivering, begrudgingly unzipped the jacket, handing it over. At least she still had another one underneath it.
Would this really work? It was her idea, sure, but, as she looked out that window again, seeing crowds of infected beneath the tower, she found herself terrified of even trying. One slip-up, one outstretching hand she didn't see in time, and it'd all be over. She'd end up just like that guy back on the trail.
She exchanged glances with Lydia, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she leaned against the wall, silently coaxing herself to prepare for the mess they were about to jump into. She'd need to be strong for this, as strong as she pretended to be, back behind walls.
"It's gonna be okay," she whispered to herself, a hand falling to the knife attached to her belt, as if trying to remember where it would be when she needed it. An eye trailed to the window again, darting back in an instant. "Fuck."
LadyLedge [Lydia]
The continuous disregard of Lydia's comments wasn't in short supply from the duo. At this point, she was just about ready to give up, sit there, and let them concoct whatever screwed up plan they had in mind. So that's exactly what she did, realizing that what the 'aggressive' kid said clearly didn't matter anymore... Not to Jenny, a girl she barely hung out with, and who Lydia suspected of actively talking crap about her when she wasn't nearby. Then there was Clementine, the entitled outsider she almost tore apart once, and given the opportunity, wanted to again. Fact of the matter was… these were people that would never take her side. Hoping they would was foolish.
Then again, so was hoping they wouldn't starve or freeze up here. As both girls discussed an escape, a realization slowly began to sink in. Soon she would actually be alone up here. Was that a situation she really wanted to risk because of pride?
She tried hard to seem as disinterested as possible, given how opposed she was to all of this. However, curious eyes couldn't help but fan over towards the match Clementine held in her hand. It didn't take long to guess what she had in mind.
Fire as a distraction wasn't the worst idea, Lydia had to admit. More so, she was surprised that Clementine could even think to come up with something like that. The blonde would've reluctantly been on board with the plan, had it not been for one thing…
"W- Wait." The anxious girl broke her silence, hauling herself up from the ground in a hurry. Standing now, the wary girl's gaze swapped between both of the trapped survivors. Too late to back out now.
"If I come with…" Lydia made sure not to commit just yet, because there were still a few things she wasn't sure of. Someone here was obviously freaking out the most, and that was the person she sent a finger flying towards. "First, Jenny tells us she's one hundred percent ready to do this." Lydia stated, deeming that if anything fucked up happened, then at least she wouldn't have to feel responsible.
"Because it doesn't look like it to me."
Art [Clementine]
Clementine tapped her tongue before stuffing out the match with humid fingers. After that song and dance, the fire could wait.
"Knock it off," she spat. Jay's flower jacket felt bound under her arm, held tight by a fist. "She doesn't have to do anything."
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Lydia's head snapped towards the ball-capped kid in an instant, amazed at the gall on that girl, and not in a good way. Everything she proposed for their own safety, the bitch had some kind of rebuttal for. Lydia honestly figured she was starting to do it on purpose now, just to spite her. Clementine was one more smart comment away from getting throttled, because the blonde had just about had it with her.
"Fuck you, Clementine." She growled, squinting her eyes. "You've only been here for like, what? Two months? So don't even think that gives you the right to spout orders at me."
Art [Clementine]
The three words widened her eyes. Clem's chest burned hot like it was loaded with something volatile. Before long, the girl's gaze had turned narrow, and her voice loud and high-pitched. "I said knock it off!"
Dot [Jenny]
And just like that, the atmosphere in that watchtower was heated once more, and not in the way Jenny would've liked. Instead, as Lydia made it clear she didn't trust her to tie her own shoes at that moment, let alone do what they were about to do, her and Clementine began shouting at each other. The fighting was uncomfortably familiar, but she had to stop it. Whoever was out there, with those flashlights, they wouldn't be there for long. They had to act, scared out of their minds or not.
"Hey!" She snapped, throwing a glare their way that'd maybe rival Clementine's. "I know you two hate each other and all, but Jesus. If we're getting out of here, we need to work together, okay?" Now's not the time to freak out, Jen. "We can do this," she breathed. "I can do this." Her voice grew stronger, strained. She focused on Lydia finally, adding, "So, are you coming with us or not?"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Lydia's teeth ground against each other as feral ideas flushed through her mind, most involved lunging across the room and grabbing hold of the shrieking girl's throat. Now infuriated, she took a step forward, only to be halted by Jenny's sharp intervention, practically getting in between the two before she could advance. I'm gonna cave her face in one day, I swear it.
Nostrils flared, Lydia had to control her breathing as Jenny tried to get her attention. The inexperienced teen maintained a degree of confidence, which the former Whisperer still called bullshit on. But what other choice was there?
"Just try to keep up, and don't get in my way." The blonde finally spoke, still riled up, she brushed shoulders with the machinist. Lydia stopped just short of the door which led outside towards the scaffolding, turning to face the two girls for one final comment.
"Because if one of you fucks up out there, don't expect me to come running." Lydia was blunt, making direct eye contact with Clementine when she said it. Obviously it went double, probably triple, for her. Finally, she made her way towards the ladder, intent on waiting until the all-clear was given.
Art [Clementine]
"I don't," Clementine answered, and left it at that.
Both the girl's arms dug inside the backpack she had since forever, flowery stickers and all, before they pulled from it every little thing she could find until the pack turned weightless. It didn't seem fair to Clem that she had to burn her own stuff to get Lydia out of there, but by the time her pursed lips made way for a sigh, Clem reckoned it wasn't worth starting a third argument over. A gas mask lay next to her alongside a book almost too ravaged to be readable. She glanced at Lydia with a pained look in her eyes. "Hold this for me, okay?" And you better not lose any of it.
Another match she lit, and there it stayed between two fingers as she mulled over all the things she could light on fire, and all the more, the things she really wasn't cool with burning into a pile of ashes - which happened to be most of them. Not that she'd have much choice in the end, anyway. Screw it.
Clem held Jenny's jacket on one hand, away from all her things, so she could light it on fire with the other. A final glance she shot at the two girls, with its smidge of confidence restored. "When I say go, we go. Alright?" Once she was sure Jenny was ready to hussle, Clem shoved the jacket inside the purple backpack. It glowed into a small orange ball of fire, and when Clementine crawled to where the ladder was, she held it over the swarm of infected until her fingers couldn't stand the heat anymore. Burn, you jerks...!
The flaming backpack fell on top of them and did what it could. A walker stumbled to the ground, caught ablaze, while the Runners around him scattered in what had to be confusion. This was their opening. "Go!"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Lydia teetered on the edge of the scaffold as she waited for the flaming object to be dropped. Without haste, Clementine sent it spiralling right down to the horde below.
A roamer was caught by the falling object as its clothes caught afire, which managed to elicit some semblance of a hopeful gaze from the blonde. The infected below writhed and screeched in confusion. That source of light being the perfect distraction they needed to slip away.
It was do or die now. Pure adrenaline overrode everything as the three of them scrambled down the ladder. Breaking out into a sprint for the tree line, it was almost like a race… who won was just dependent on stamina. Them. Or the infected. Their only source of light was the moon… and the fire they were aiming to leave behind.
The teen was only just able to make it out of the clearing, the trees acting as a defense from the line of sight of the infected back on the open field. Lydia pushed into the treeline as fast as her legs would allow her to. Her calves burned, feet perilously grappling for traction on the ground. Her breath left her in short bursts, lungs screaming for more oxygen.
Lydia checked behind her, expecting to see Clementine as the culprit to the footsteps she was hearing, gaining on her. To her dismay, the gurgling became all too apparent, clearly the distraction hadn't been enough for one of the Runners, who had caught on and followed her into the brush. It was dark, but she could make out its twisted figure and movements.
The panicked girl turned her head to look in front of her again, only to be met with a loud thwack as a tree branch jutting out smacked her right in the mouth. The girl cried out in pain, eyes squeezing shut and already beginning to water. Cold iron was the first thing she tasted in her mouth before being sent off balance from the collision. She tumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, landing on her stomach. Lydia only had time to roll over on her back before the Runner pounced on top of her. Teeth gritted, she held it by the throat as it clawed and gnashed its teeth at her. A powerless struggle as the injured teen tried to push and kick at it, to no avail.
Dot [Jenny]
Terrifying. That summed up every single thought and feeling Jenny had as she followed Clementine and Lydia into the fray, her heart thump-thump-thumping at a speed liable to kill her. Yet, underneath all that terror, exhilaration rose to the surface. They were fucking doing it! The three of them, making their own escape, and just barely getting out of the crowd without getting grabbed on the way.
Trees filled her sight, and piles of snow that proved difficult to circumvent as they grew larger. The trail wasn't too far, they just had to keep running, and hope that entire horde doesn't follow them all the way back home.
Jenny kept close to Clementine, as much as she could given the ballcapped girl's insane speed, and as Lydia let out a cry in the distance, ahead of them, that concentration was suddenly broken. Jenny's heels skidding in the snow, she tried to pinpoint where the girl's voice was coming from.
She turned towards Clem, nearby, calling out. "Clem…?!" A part of her wanted to run after Lydia's voice, but she knew better. If Lydia was in trouble, as amusing as it'd be, she'd need someone who can actually do something.
Art [Clementine]
Behind Lydia she'd followed, covering the older girl's back with her revolver in hand - rifle strapped to her shoulder, leaping behind her as she sprinted. Infected growled louder and louder as the fire consumed what was left of them, attracting twice as many. The light grew wilder and uncontrollable. Dark as it were, Jay was the one thing Clem could keep from being blind to.
Walkers circled the long dark ahead in packs, fire reflecting in their empty eyes. Clementine swiveled past one after the other, avoiding lunges and grabs. Whichever dared to get too close to her and Jenny had its brains scattered through the grass. Clem made sure of it. "We're close. Almost there!"
"...Lydia!" She shouted at the void.
Clem's sock dug into the mud to halt her momentum. The girl's eyes, looking over the pitch-black fields, they stretched wide, and her head whirled around as fast as a spinning top on ice.
Sometimes it sneaks up on you, but it always comes: Your one chance to prove you're not as bad as everyone says. Just the one. For once in her life, Clem thought it wasn't worth taking it. She would've loved to see Lydia get chomped like bacon.
But her hand moved, like it or not. And when it did, the gun came with it. Clementine pulled the trigger only to hear the gun click and feel her belly go cold. "Shit. Oh shit!" The shorter, younger girl with the missing shoe only had the benefit of freezing for a second. One more and she wouldn't make it in time. Clem ran back, tossing the revolver back to its holster. Her arms felt the weight, even in the heat of it, but she raised it over her head and smacked the runner across the head with the stock of her rifle. The thing got up, ignoring the nasty hole in its skull. Clementine bashed it again, and a third time. Scarlet goo ran down her chin and trickled down her hair. Clem had to hold a whimper. Her head was still spinning, but she reached for Lydia with her free hand. "Get up! I got you!"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
She could barely see. Darkness swallowed her eyes, the hot breath of the infected brushed against her ear, about to seal the deal with a timely chomp. Lydia was already breathless from running, and could feel her grip on the aggressor slowly but surely faltering, her vision still blurry from the water in her eyes. In her final moments, at the very least, she could tell herself that she tried to get away… she tried.
That was when the Runner, the same one that had been violently gnashing its teeth, threatening to sink those rotten fangs into her neck at any moment, was promptly dispatched. Blood shooting down her chin, Lydia scurried backwards, eyes widening to see the culprit behind the stock of the gun… standing over her.
Clementine?
"Get up, I got you!" The baseball capped girl yelled, coercing her to get back on her feet. The olive branch of opportunity had been extended to her, and a stunned Lydia sat there with wide eyes, staring at that hand much longer than she really should've been. Another grumble from a nearby roamer snapped her out of her frozen disbelief. In that split second, nothing else mattered but getting out; self-preservation. So Lydia quickly accepted Clementine's help, using the last bit of energy she had to reach up and take her hand, pushing onward.
Dot [Jenny]
Jenny watched as Clementine sprinted through the snow, narrowly saving Lydia from the runner that had her pinned, while the more inexperienced girl kept her distance, in case the runner managed to break out of Clementine's grip and run straight for her. That was, however, not the case, as the infected found the butt of Clementine's rifle bashing against its head.
In the midst of the runner's screams and Clementine and Lydia's panicked shouts, something snagged on Jenny's jacket sleeve, pulling her hand towards it. With a shriek, her eyes found a walker grabbing her hand, and she tried shoving it away. The undead asshole didn't care, though, biting its teeth into her sleeve with enough force to send shockwaves of pain throughout her arm. Out of desperation, she kicked its leg, sending it falling backwards, and nearly taking her with it. It let go of her hand, growling viciously as it tried to push itself back up.
"Clem!" She screamed out the girl's name, stepping away from the walker before breaking out into a full sprint towards the other two girls. Anything to get something between her and it.
Through the pain in her wrist, and the anxiety seizing her breath, she didn't notice the blood trail she was leaving behind.
Art [Clementine]
Her heart was beating hard, just short of taking an upswing out of her chest. Clementine pushed forward with Lydia and they never looked back.
The trees made for a maze with no exit. She didn't see the trail anymore. Clem had a moment's rest once the walkers grew quiet and the ache of her knees caught up to her. The lack of breath only made her head jerk faster when Jenny called for her.
Clementine's fingers stumbled toward the flashlight strapped to her thigh, flubbing every motion. Snow lit up ahead, and more trees, but there was nothing else. "Jay!?" Marching in the direction of the sound, she let Lydia out of sight. When that thought arrived - when Clem knew she'd left her friend alone, her jaw quivered and her pace grew. "Jenny!"
Two sets of steps matched her speed, opposite to Clem. They grew closer in a panic... and one of them wasn't Jenny. Clementine still clutched at the rifle with one arm, and her clasp only became harder. She set down the flashlight and waited. It only took a second for Clem to spot the shoes highlighted above the white, through one passageway of light. The girl raised her rifle, held her breath, and hovered her finger over a trigger sticky with blood. Clementine fired when another pair of feet limped past the flashlight in front of her. The sound of a cushioned fall brought out the silence.
Breathing had never felt so easy after that.
She felt Jenny's exhales next to her, and when more footsteps flared up in her ears, Clementine pulled the lever and aimed a second shot at the violent roars of an infected. The runner collapsed so close it made the girl leap... its cold, limp hand grasped at her sock and left damp marks, tinging it the same color that bathed the snow. More were coming, and she knew more were well on their way. She only had time to pick up her flashlight and grab Jenny by the arm.
Lydia waited by a pond that split the forest into two. Clementine's boot left craters behind in the snow, and when it finally settled still, she knew what relief felt like. "We're okay," Clem uttered in awe - or shock, as it were. Drenched in blood and sweat, she'd never looked so scared and agitated. Not in front of Lydia or anyone else. Clementine hadn't even let Jenny go, though they'd stopped running so long ago.
When Clem pulled her hand away from hers, it was the first thing she felt: the pouring. Her palm drowned in a red so dark, she couldn't make out any other color. Drops trickled down her fingers only just long enough for Clementine to know it wasn't from any infected she'd killed. She stared at it with glossy eyes, too afraid to move them elsewhere.
The hand covered her mouth, before long. When she saw it, Clem only saw fit to cry.
LadyLedge [Lydia]
Lydia's chest wound up like a knot, her dry throat gasping for stupid amounts of air. The exhausted girl took a few wobbly steps forward, before tumbling into the ground. Knees breaking her fall, they violently scraped against whatever muck and grime was under the snow. Everything above the neck throbbed, and the taste of blood was still fresh in her mouth, gushing out of the young teen's lip and down her chin like an out of control tap.
Immediately, the blonde scrambled over to the nearest water source she spotted, which happened to be an undisturbed pond. Noticing it was only lightly frozen on the top, Lydia slammed her fist into the brittle ice, hard enough for it to break and open way to the fresh liquid below. She scooped it up into her hands, the ice-cold water burning her palms as she used it to rinse out her mouth, quenching what seemed to be an unquenchable thirst.
How the actual fuck they had managed to get out of there... Lydia had no clue. To even be sitting here, still alive. It baffled, and embarrassed her, all the same. So much that she couldn't bear to pass a second glance towards the ball-capped girl. Not like Lydia would even know what to say to her at this point.
She hoisted herself up, using a nearby tree as support. Lumbering over to where both girls were, stopping just short behind Clementine, who seemed to be flipping out over something.
Her eyes drifted down towards Jenny's wrist… which was mangled, and littered with blood. She'd seen enough of them to know exactly what this was. As Clementine sobbed next to her, Lydia stood, silent. Eyes barely widening as she realized.
No way...
"Oh..." Lydia's hands fell to her hips, averting her gaze to the ground in disappointment. She was bit, and this was not an ideal situation at all. Not to mention horrible timing.
"For fuck sakes, Jenny..." She quietly huffed out, disbelief written all over her face, absolutely stunned at how she'd managed to let herself get snapped like that. Still, there was time that remained to do something about it, a tactic Jenny would've known from what they taught in school, and something Lydia had learned long before that. Now the question was... did Jenny have the guts to do it?
Art [Clementine]
"Don't fucking say anything...!"
Clementine couldn't hold a word back. The tears running down her eyes didn't let up, though it was all but anger welled in them.
"I'll - This is your fault," she cried, smearing Lydia's collar with Jay's blood. "It's your fault!"
LadyLedge [Lydia]
"My fault."
Lydia couldn't believe what she was hearing, the comment left her stunned, wide-eyed as she glared down at the shorter girl who'd grabbed her by the collar. However, the initial confusion was soon to fade, frown lines appearing on her brow.
"My fault?!" She screamed this time, shoving Clementine back, hard. "I didn't ask for you to jump in back there. I told you she wasn't ready!" Lydia argued, she had enough shit to carry every day, and she definitely didn't need this either.
"She got bit because of a plan you supported, you stupid bitch."
Dot [Jenny]
For what felt like an eternity, everything that was happening around her ceased to exist. Clementine's stare, amidst the tears staining her cheeks in thick rivers, led Jenny to look at her hand. The blood had soaked through her jacket, making a dark patch that was almost black in the dead of night. Instinctively, she pulled back her sleeve, watching with distant eyes as blood flowed down her wrist and dripped in thick clumps into the snow in front of her feet. She rubbed at it, wiping away the blood, but more and more kept coming. Eventually, through panicked breaths, she managed to see it. The indentation marks of teeth, and the ripped skin left behind.
Her heart had stopped, or at least, it felt like it. All those years she'd spent terrified of the outside world, terrified of ending up like everyone else she'd seen die, terrified of leaving her parents and friends behind, terrified of the monster she knew she'd become when she died. Terror had a way of keeping you smart, of hiding behind the thickest walls you could find until a time comes when even they couldn't protect you. Yet, all it took was a single second, a single lapse in her concentration, and it was over. Just like that. Boom, you're dead.
Maybe it wasn't all that smart, after all.
She couldn't bring herself to cry, or scream in agony as the pain she'd felt earlier made itself known in ways she'd never experienced before. The world spun, faster than she could keep up with, and keeping herself upright proved to be as difficult as walking on the sun. She stumbled, her uninjured hand reaching out to stop her, colliding with the trunk of a tree nearby. Her eyes never left her wrist, though, mesmerized in horror.
Words failed her, half mumblings that were nothing more than a syllable here, and a stuttered breath there. It took the other two girls's screaming to bring her back, like a boomerang that went out too far, and landed right back in the thick of it.
Whatever they'd been saying, though, was overshadowed by what came next: a flashlight clicked on, basking them in its glow from behind. She quickly slid up her sleeve, pressing her hand into a pocket as tightly as she could muster, trying to stop the bleeding. Anything to keep it from being discovered yet. What the fuck are we going to do…? The voice that reached her ears was deep, one that clearly didn't belong to anyone in jackson. The smile on his face was evident even without seeing him.
"Well, hello there."