Disclaimer: So I got into Walking Dead during may of 2019, and sometime recently, a thought occured to me that I could make my own version of the Walking Dead video game series. I won't say what exactly I changed, as I want you all to see for yourself. But I think you'll find this story to be quite enjoyable.

The Legend of Clementine

Season one Episode one: A New Day

A freeway was shown with a police car zooming by, following the speed limit, but still going a bit faster than the other cars. When the inside of the car was shown, a black man in a blue shirt and light brown pants was seen handcuffed and sitting rather calmly. You'd almost think the handcuffs didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was in a police car. Truth be told, he was a good man deep down. He just made a mistake that would result in his life being destroyed. But little did he know that he would face something that no one would expect.

Then, an elderly police officer was shown in the front seat, looking into the rearview mirror and coming to a conclusion. "Well I reckon you didn't do it then."

The guy in the backseat looked at the officer and decided he might as well say something. "Does it really matter?"

"Nah, not much." The officer replied, knowing that his business came before his thoughts. "Y'know, I've driven a buncha fellas down to this prison. Lord knows how many. Usually is 'bout now I get the 'I didn't do it.'"

"And what do YOU say?"

"I say, 'Yep. I know ya didn't.'"

The radio then came on to state something. "We've got what looks like a 10-91E near Peachtree Exit of 285. All cars asked to keep on the lookout for a 91V in the area."

The officer decided to continue the conversation, feeling the guy in the back could use some lightening up. "I followed your case a little. You bein a Macon boy and all."

The guy felt it wouldn't hurt to ask what he wanted to ask, seeing as the officer was quite friendly. "You're from Macon then."

The officer smiled, glad Lee was showing an interest in his life. "Yep. Came up to Atlanta to be a city cop in the seventies. Always wanted to work a murder case, like that senatorial mess you got yourself mixed up in, with all due respect. A real shame, that is. Hell, the whole family used to be regulars at your folks' drugstore right in downtown. Still there?"

"Sure is."

"Good."

The radio then came on again to give another warning. "Be advised of medical personnel on route to Hartsfield, various 10's and 20's coming in."

The officer decided to continue the conversation, finding it to be quite interesting. "I got a nephew up at UGA. You teach there long?"

"Going on my sixth year."

"You meet your wife in Athens?" The guy started to look distressed, which led the cop to say something else. "Regardless, could be you married the wrong woman." The guy was about to say something, but decided to keep his mouth shut, not seeing much in talking right now as the officer told another story. "I'm driving this man once, h-he was the worst one. He wouldn't stop going on about how he didn't do it. He was an older fella. Big, soft eyes behind a pair of smart folk glasses, and he's just wailing back there, says it wasn't him. Crying and snotting all over, right where you're sitting."

Another call came up, but the officer turned the radio off to tell another story. "Then before long he starts kicking the back of the seat, li-like a fussy baby on an airplane. And I tell him he's gotta stop, that's government property, and I'll be forced to zap him otherwise. So he stops, and having exhausted all his options, he starts crying out for his Mama. "Mama, it's all a big mistake! It wasn't me"

"So did he do it?

"They caught the fucker red-handed! Stabbin' his wife, cutting her up as the boys came through the door! He sits in my car screaming bloody murder that it wasn't him! I think he actually believed it himself. It goes to show, people will up and go mad when they believe their life is over. Oh, I got another good one for ya. This one's a little bit less depressing and a bit more hilarious if I do say so." The guy saw something in the road as the cop spotted something.

"In the road!" The car hit whatever was in the road and went into the forest, falling over and rolling, knocking both the guy and the cop out.

Five minutes later.

When the guy woke up, he saw that the car was totaled, making him concerned about what'd happened. He tried to get up, but struggled due to a damaged leg. He went to kick the window open, doing so with his working leg, and got out just fine. He saw that the officer was down and walked over to him to see if he was okay. "Hey. You okay?" The officer remained silent as the guy walked over to him, leading to the guy seeing the handcuff keys and going to grab them, only for the officer to awaken as some undead being. "Holy shit!"

The guy ran back to where the car was and saw the shotgun, picking it up and trying to put in the ammo. When he did though, he dropped it, and picked it up again just before the officer came to him. The guy's heart was racing as he aimed the shotgun at the officer's head and shot his head off. This was shocking for the guy, as he'd never seen anything like this before. He couldn't worry about that now however, so he got up to find some help.

While the guy was walking, he saw more undead beings, unsure of what to feel of it other than fear. He went as fast as he could, trying to escape the beings, and eventually came across a fence. He climbed over it, and saw a house, walking up to it to see if he could find any help in it. He then decided to try the treehouse first to see if anyone was in it. "Hello!? Is anyone in there!?" No one responded, so the guy decided to go to the house. Little did he know however, that there was more to the treehouse than what was initially thought.

The guy went into the house and walked around to see if he could get some help for his leg wound. "Hello!? I'm not here to rob you or anything! I just need some treatment for my leg here!"

Just then, the answering machine came on, leading to the guy looking at it and listening to it. "Clementine? Sweetie? If you can hear me, your dad and I won't be able to make it back. Call the police. That's 9-1-1. Goodbye sweetie. We love you. And whatever you do, don't come to Savanah." The emotion in the mother's voice was clearly tragic. The guy knew the daughter still had to be here somewhere, he just had to find out where. Just then, the guy found a walkie talkie and picked it up. He wondered why it was just lying here and decided to press the button, only to get the voice of a little girl from the other end.

"Talk." The guy was surprised to hear this voice on the other end, knowing it had to be the daughter. The girl sounded somewhat cold, which was understandable since a stranger had just entered her house, but it also sounded like she was giving him a chance to explain himself. "I've never seen you before. What's your name?"

The guy felt he could talk to the girl about who he was, since she wasn't coming after him just yet. "I'm Lee."

"From the news report?" The girl replied, indicating that she knew what'd happened. "Didn't expect to bump into YOU by this hour. Or any hour." Just then, the treehouse door was opened up with a blonde girl wearing a baseball hat and a white tank top, along with red shorts coming out and looking down at Lee. "I was hiding in my treehouse for a couple days. It's pretty cramped, but it's better than turning."

"That's smart." Lee replied as he entered the kitchen, finding that Clementine was quite intelligent for someone her age. Just then, Clementine noticed someone behind Lee. "How old are you?"

"About the amount of times you'll be bit if you don't look behind you!" Clementine warned Lee, leading to Lee looking behind himself and getting grabbed by an undead being. This freaked Lee out, but he was able to smash the undead being's head into a counter and run off. He fell just before he left the kitchen however, and while he was able to get back up, he was only barely able to avoid the undead being. Clementine saw that Lee needed help and put on a determined look, running back into her treehouse and coming out with a hammer.

Clementine jumped down from the treehouse and slid down the ladder, running over to where Lee was just as he got trapped. Lee was able to keep the walker above him with Clementine opening the door and smashing the being's head to the side with the hammer. The being fell to the side and Clementine smashed it's head in five more times to make sure it was dead, and then she let the emotion of killing an undead being sink in. Once it was gone, she smiled and looked at Lee as she spoke. "Nice to meet ya my criminal friend. I'm eight by the way."

Lee was a bit surprised by the fact that Clementine knew about her past, but smiled as he kneeled down to her. "That was impressive, taking care of that thing just now."

"I'm a black belt in karate. I know, surprising, but I was a natural born fighter." Clementine replied, and then she handed Lee the hammer. "And if you're here to rob us I'll kick your ass" Lee raised an eyebrow as Clementine winked to him, indicating that it was just a joke. "Anyway, that undead thing was my babysitter Sandra. She was watching me before everything went to hell, and I guess she got infected. I was waiting for someone else to come as my guardian, so you picked a good time to break and enter."

Lee chuckled a bit, having a feeling Clementine would be a bit of a challenge to look after. "Well you're more than welcome to have me as your guardian. Someone has to look after you." Clementine smiled and held her hand out for a fist bump, which Lee happily accepted. "We should leave before it gets dark. We can't be too sure how dangerous these things are by then."

"Yeah, that's smart." Clementine agreed, and then she walked into the kitchen to see what they could get. "I'll see what I can bring with us in my pack. No one knows how long we'll be out there for." Lee was glad that Clementine was treating her with kindness. Although he found the suicide joke to be a bit much, he was grateful to be treated with respect from Clementine, despite her knowing of his misdeed.

Clementine had just finished packing all her stuff as she and Lee went into the backyard to execute their plan. "Okay Lee. Let's roll." Lee and Clementine walked off with Clementine staarting a conversation. "I wish my parents were the ones walking with me, but you'll do. You seem like someone I can get along with."

"I hope so." Lee chuckled a bit as he and Clementine left the backyard with Lee seeing someone and hiding. Clementine was confused by this, but shrugged and hid as well.

A guy in a police uniform sensed Lee and Clementine nearby and called over to them. "Hey! Who's over there!?" Clementine revealed herself, leading to the guy calming down and moving his hand away from his gun. "Crap. Sorry. Thought you were a threat for a second."

"It's cool. (Signals Lee to come out) Anyone can be in this." Lee comes out with Clementine laughing a bit. "Dude, you're taking orders from an eight year old? Get some parenting skills."

Lee saw the guy next to him, and he looked like someone who wasn't doing all that well, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. "I'm Chet."

Clementine waved to Chet with the other guy speaking up. "I'm Shawn. We shouldn't be out in the open like this. We'll clear the way, and then we'll take you and your daughter to my family's farm. (Clementine gives a blunt look) You should be safe there."

"I'm not her dad, I'm..." Lee tried to think of what to say, knowing that the wrong words could lead to trouble. He then found that Shawn was trustworthy, and decided to just be honest with him, seeing that he was down to earth. "Just some guy."

"Just some guy." Shawn repeated, and Lee nodded in response, with Shawn seeing no problem with helping them. "Mind if I ask what your names are?"

"I'm Lee, and this is Clementine." Clementine gave a peace sign to Shawn, who smiled at her as Lee continued. "That offer sure does sound like a good one."

"So we're on the same page then." Clementine replied, and then an undead being was shown behind them, leading to Lee and Clementine turning around upon seeing Shawn's concerned look. "Let's hope you guys know how to form a bulldozer!"

Lee and Clementine ran over to the car Shawn started pushing and pushed it with him as more undead beings suddenly appeared with Lee making a response. "Does that work?" Clementine nodded with a proud smile as everyone got into the truck.

Shawn got into the dirver's seat, and Lee sat next to him, leaving Clementine and Chet in the back. Shawn looked at Lee before taking off, grateful for the help on the pathway. "For just 'some guy', you sure helped save some lives today." Lee smiled back at Shawn, who hit the gas pedal and headed off.

As nighttime rolled around, the farm Shawn mentioned was revealed as he drove up with Lee, Clementine and Chet. When they got there, Chet got out so he could head home. "Hey Shawn, I'm a run on home. My mama's gonna be in a snit."

"No sweat man. I'll catch you tomorrow night." Shawn responded, and then he got out with Lee as Clementine hopped out from the back of the truck. The two of them waved goodbye to Chet, who smiled as he walked off and waved back at them, leading to an elderly guy wearing a similarly colored suit to Shawn came out the front door.

The guy saw Shawn and smiled with joy at the sight of him being okay. "Thank God you're okay."

"I was worried it'd be bad here too." Shawn hugged his father, glad that the two of them were safe after what happened.

The father and son ended the hug, ready for whatever came next. "Been quiet as usual the past couple days. Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gone lame but that ain't nothing new."

"I wouldn't have made it back without Chet."

"Well I'm glad you took him with you then."

The guy noticed Lee and Clementine with Lee commenting on Shawn. "Your boy's a lifesaver."

"Glad he could be of help to somebody." The guy then decided to let Lee and Clementine stay for a bit, feeling it couldn't hurt. "So it's just you and your daughter then."

"Oh, he's not her dad. He's just some guy who found her alone." Shawn corrected, leading to the guy getting suspicious.

The guy kneeled down to where Clementine was to speak with her directly, but didn't get hostile or anything. "Do you know this man?"

"He's the reason I won't starve to death." Clementine answered, getting a smile out of Lee with Clementine introducing herself. "I'm Clementine. Hershel, is it? Shawn mentioned you on the way here."

Hershel nodded in response as Lee introduced himself. "I'm Lee." Hershel saw Lee's leg and Lee commented on it when he noticed. "Yeah, it's not doin so good."

Hershel was glad he had the supplies to help Lee, knowing it would be a good idea. " I can help you out. Shawn, run on in and check on your sister. You, take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I have." Clementine smiled as he looked at Lee, glad that his leg was going to get the proper care it needed.

Hershel was tending to Lee's leg with Clementine leaning on the fence with her arms crossed. Clementine didn't mind waiting for Lee to get patched up, as she knew this wasn't something to take lightly, or to rush. Hershel then asked how Lee got his leg damaged in the first place. "How did this happen?"

Lee thought for a moment, and then came to the conclusion that he could tell the truth without much worry. "Car accident. I was heading out of Atlanta, and a cop was driving me."

"That's awful nice of him." Hershel replied, and then he'd just finished patching up Lee's leg. House is full up with mine. We've got another displaced family of three sleeping in the barn. You and your daughter are welcome to rest there, when we're done here." Hershel then turned to Clementine, amazed that he managed to survive this long on her own. "I can't imagine what you've been through Clementine."

"I'm looking after her while I help her look for her parents." Lee explained, though, he had to admit that he didn't have a location. "I think they're in Savannah. We'll start that journey by getting to Macon."

Clementine became worried about Lee, not knowing how far he'd get, even with his leg patched up. Shawn then came out with a proposition. "Hey dad. I've been thinking. I heard some crazy...(Shawn looks at Clementine, who nods to him, indicating that it's okay) shit on the radio earlier, and I don't think anyone knows how big it is yet."

Clementine takes a liking to the idea with Hershel making his reply. "Stuff like that doesn't happen around here Shawn."

Clementine decided to speak up, knowing that the incident with her babysitter would help. "My babysitter Sandra became one of those things." Hershel and Shawn looked at Clementine, who looked concerned about the safety of the farm. "She was really cool, and deserved better than what happened to her. I know it's not much to say how big the situation is, but I don't think we should take any risks. "

Hershel thought for a moment and stood up, needing to consider this offer. "I'll think about it. Not too sure if I should take advice from a kid I just met. (Clementine nods in understanding) You and Lee can stay in the barn for the night. We have another family in there as well."

"Thanks Hershel." Lee responded, and Hershel smiled as he entered the house with Shawn. Lee stood up and walked over to Clementine, walking over to the barn with her.

Lee and Clementine were in the barn as Clementine noticed a funky smell that caught her attention. "Smells bad in here. You know what I mean, right?"

"Shit." Lee replied after a few seconds, and Clementine snickered upon the sound of it and gave a sly look to Lee, who chuckled a bit. "Sorry. I shouldn't talk like that."

Clementine laughed a bit as she then thought about her parents, missing them a lot. "I miss my parents. I hope we find them soon." Clementine lied down, wondering how long it would take for them to get to Savannah. "Hey Lee. Do you know how far away Savannah is? It's gotta be somewhere. Maybe close to that Macon place you mentioned."

Lee wasn't sure how far away Savannah was, but he felt it wouldn't hurt to respond to Clementine's question. She deserved to know what he felt about the situation. "I'm not sure. But I'll make sure we find your parents when we're there. Until then, I'll look after you."

Clementine smiled upon hearing that, knowing Lee was someone worth trusting. "We can look out for each other. I know I'm a lot younger than you, but you never know when I'll be able to get you out of a jam." Lee and Clementine looked at each other with smiles with Clementine then laying down. "Goodnight Lee."

"Goodnight Clementine." Lee lied down and went to sleep, hearing the voices of his wife in his head. Clementine noticed his worried look before she went to bed, hoping he was okay. She knew something was bothering Lee, and knew she had to help him with it. For now though, she decided to go to bed, feeling that would be the best option.