Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help.


Clementine had become a lot more anxious. Molly couldn't miss how clingy the young girl seemed. The little girl stayed glued to Molly's side, holding Molly's hand on every trip, no matter where they went.

Molly wondered if the traumatic experience a few months ago, had caused the child's sudden change in behavior.

Some days it seemed like the child was lost in thought. Almost in a trance like state and it was hard to snap her out of it.

Molly noticed Clementine was starting to look a bit tired as they walked. The woman let out a sigh, "Let's take a break."

"I'm okay..." Clementine said. "I can keep going."

Molly shook her head. "It's alright, Clem. No need to push yourself."

Clementine frowned before nodding.

Molly made sure the area was safe before the two of them stopped.

Clementine sat down beside a tree, lost in thought. She kept thinking about her former guardian... She had gotten him killed, and she would never forgive herself for that.

That was an experience that changed her for life.

Now with her birthday approaching fast, she couldn't help but think about Lee. She had lost the man two days after her ninth birthday, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Molly looked to the silent child, wondering what the little girl was thinking. "You okay?"

Clementine didn't respond.

Molly furrowed her brows, "Clem?"

Clementine jumped, locking eyes with the woman. "Y-Yes?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Molly asked again.

Clementine slowly gave a small nod. "I guess..."

"Guess?" Molly repeated.

Clementine simply shrugged in response.

"Alright then, kid." Molly said.

Clementine said nothing as the woman started searching through their bag.

"So... You hungry?" Molly asked, already pulling a can of beans from the bag.

"A little." Clementine said.

"Just a little? Come on, I bet you're starving. We haven't eaten all day." Molly said.

Clementine once again shrugged.

Molly sighed. She used a knife to open the can before offering it to Clementine.

Clementine accepted the can, "Thank you."

"No problem, kiddo." Molly said.

Clementine started to slowly eat the food. She didn't have much of an appetite. She had too much on her mind to be hungry. After only a couple bites, she offered the can back to Molly.

Molly took the can, looking the child over. "Okay Clem. Fess up. What's eating you?"

"What?" Clementine asked.

"You've been off for a while. Tell me what's wrong." Molly urged. She could tell something was definitely bothering the young girl for a while.

"Nothing..." Clementine claimed.

"Oh, come on. You're an open book." Molly said. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"I... My birthday's coming." Clementine mumbled. "If it didn't already pass…" It was hard to keep track of time when they were constantly on the road, focusing on survival.

"And?" Molly asked.

Clementine was quiet for a while.

"Clementine?" Molly called.

"Lee... Lee died two days after my birthday." Clementine said.

Molly's eyes widened.

"I miss him..." Clementine choked on her words, holding back a sob.

"Clem... I'm so sorry..." Molly said gently, her voice full of sympathy for the little girl.

"It's my fault he's gone. It's all my fault." Clementine said, whimpering a bit.

"Clementine, don't say that. It's not your fault." Molly said.

"It is..." Clementine sniffled. "If I never talked to that man, Lee would still be here. I should've never believed him. I was stupid."

"Clementine, stop being so hard on yourself. Lee wouldn't want you to blame yourself. That man took advantage of you. It wasn't your fault." Molly said.

Clementine just frowned, tears falling from her eyes.

"Don't blame yourself..." Molly placed the can down and hugged the crying child.

"I thought... maybe he was telling the truth... I just missed mommy and daddy so much and I thought maybe I could go find them and we could all get on the boat together..." Clementine said.

"It's not your fault, kid…" Molly said, rubbing the child's back.

Clementine sobbed in the woman's arms for a few moments.

Molly rubbed her back, comforting her the best she could.

Several moments passed before the little girl finally calmed down a bit feeling exhausted from her crying.

"Are you okay?" Molly asked the girl.

Clementine gave a tiny nod.

"You sure?" Molly questioned.

"I think so..." Clementine said, rubbing her tears away. "I'm just kind of tired now..."

"That's alright. You can take a nap, Clem." Molly told the girl.

"Thanks..." Clementine said with a small yawn. "I'm sorry… I just miss Lee and my parents, so much…"

"I know you do. I miss my family too." Molly said.

"You do?" Clementine asked.

"Of course." Molly said.

Clementine raised a brow, "But you're not crying… Is it because grown up don't cry?"

"Grown-ups cry. Everyone cries." Molly said.

"You don't cry." Clementine said.

"What makes you say that?" Molly questioned.

"I've never seen you cry before." Clementine said.

"Just because you've never seen me doesn't mean I don't cry." Molly said. "I've shed my fair share of tears."

"Really?" The child asked.

"Really." Molly said.

Clementine sniffled a bit before asking quietly, "...What was your family like?"

"They were nice." Molly shrugged. "My parents were cool. My sister and I were pretty close, despite the age difference. I'm quite a bit older than her. Ten years to be exact."

"Ten years?"

"That's right. But we were still inseparable." Molly said.

"That's good." Clementine smiled.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, I was a daddy's girl. I've always been such a tom-boy. Was never into dolls or the frilly shit my mom wanted to put me in." Molly said.

Clementine cringed a bit at the swear. "Swear..."

Molly chuckled slightly before continuing her story, "Dad was a hunter. And I was much more interested in that. Mom wanted me to be more girly, tried to put me in dresses and crap, but that just wasn't who I was. My dad took me on my first hunting trip when I was ten. He taught me how to use a gun, even though my mother didn't like it. The man was old fashion, he thought everyone needed to know how to fend for themselves. He continuously encouraged me to use a gun. And once my sister was old enough he taught her too."

"Is that why you know how to survive so well?" Clementine asked.

"I guess so." Molly replied, her chest sinking a bit as she thought about her family. "My dad took me camping, fishing... He was a man who loved the outdoors. Anything to do with nature really... He thought that were you were out there in the wilderness, you should survive on what you find. We'd pack up the essentials and hunt for the main course... he believed that you live off nature not store bought products when camping. Dad thought it was important to know how to survive in the wild. He said you couldn't call yourself a hunter otherwise."

"So… What happened to all of them?" Clementine asked.

"Our family had planned to go on a camping trip. It was a rare occasion because mom never really agreed to go. The day we were supposed to leave, Maya wasn't feeling well. She told us to go without her. I decided to stay home, and mom and dad could use the time for a date…" Molly said. "That was the same day the world went to shit. When we saw the news, I called to make sure they were okay. They told me they were just about to come home. They didn't… When we heard people were in Crawford, we went there to search for them, but we never found them."

Clementine frowned. "My parents went on a trip too… They never came home… But I saw them in Savannah as walkers…"

"I'm sorry, Clem…" Molly said.

"I'm sorry too…" Clementine replied. "What happened to your sister?"

"She was sick… She needs this medicine for her illness… When things at Crawford got bad, they stopped giving her the medicine… and… she took a turn for the worse."

"I'm so sorry, Molly…" Clementine frowned, feeling bad for the woman.

"It's not your fault." Molly said. "Anyway… Try to get some rest… We're going to get back on the road soon."

"Okay…" Clementine nodded, laying down.

They were silent for a while before the young girl spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure..." Molly said.

Clementine paused for a slight moment before asking, "…Remember the last group we met?"

"Of course." Molly said.

"...If I tell you something, promise you won't be angry." Clementine suddenly seemed nervous.

Molly noticed and responded, "I promise..."

Clementine frowned, averting her gaze. "It's not a good thing... It's really bad..."

"Talk to me, Clem. You won't be in trouble." Molly reassured the child.

Clementine swallowed nervously. "When we were back at the house... I... Umm... Josh touched my... my pee-pee..."

Molly looked confused for a moment. "What?"

"He touched me..." Clementine trailed her hand to her crotch. "Right here."

Molly looked horrified at that. "He what?!"

Clementine flinched. "Are... Are you mad?"

Molly quickly forced herself to lower her voice. "No... No, Clem. I'm not mad. Can you explain what happened?"

Clementine nodded. "We were playing hide and seek, and Evette and I... walked in on Josh. He was doing... I don't know... He was touching his thingy..."

Molly frowned, "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because, I thought I would be in trouble..." Clementine said.

"You need to tell me about stuff like this." Molly said sternly.

"I'm sorry..." Clementine said.

"What happened after you walked in on him?" Molly asked.

"He yelled at us and we left. We went back to playing, but the next day he told me come in his room. He said if I showed him my pee-pee then he would show me his..." Clementine explained.

"Did you?" Molly asked the child.

Clementine shook her head. "No... I was going to, but he touched me and I got scared..."

"Oh, Clem..." Molly sighed.

"Sorry..." Clementine lowered her head, looking guilty.

"It's not your fault... I should've been paying more attention..." Molly said. "I'm just glad nothing else happened to you."

"Like what?" Clementine asked curiously.

Molly didn't answer.

"What else could've happened?" Clementine asked.

Molly hesitated before speaking, "I guess you need to know eventually..."

"Know about what?" Clementine questioned.

"Know about sex..." Molly said.

Clementine drew her brows together at the new word. "Sex? What's sex?"

Molly spent the next half hour explaining to the little girl about the birds and bees.

Once she finished her explanation, Molly asked the girl, "Do you understand?"

"Yes... I think so..." Clementine said. "Did Josh want to do sex with me?"

"I don't know... But you shouldn't let anyone touch your private area." Molly said. "You're way too young. Sex is a thing adults do when they're in love."

"Okay..." Clementine said. "Umm... What about you?"

"What?" Molly asked.

"Have you done sex?" Clementine asked.

"That doesn't matter, Clem. What matters is that you don't do it until you're an adult... And no one should ever touch you without permission."

"Oh... Okay, Molly." Clementine said. "Was that what you meant when you said those prisoners could do worse to me?"

Molly didn't want to lie to the child… Therefore, she was honest. She nodded.

"That's scary..." Clementine mumbled, shuddering a bit.

"It's alright. I want you to be aware of it, not scared of it. And know you never have to do anything you don't want to." Molly said. "Got it?"

"Yes..." Clementine said.

"Good." Molly said. "If you ever need to ask or tell me something, I want you to know you can talk to me."

"Okay... Thanks Molly." Clementine said, although she felt a bit awkward about the new information she just heard.

"Of course, kid." Molly said. "So... How are you holding up otherwise?"

"Okay... Kind of..." Clementine said.

"Yeah... I know what you mean." Molly agreed.

Clementine let out a sigh. "I just... I didn't know the world could be so shitty."

Molly's eyes widened while Clementine gasped, realizing what she said.

The child began to stammer, "I... I... That was because of you..."

"Nope. You said it." Molly said with a chuckle. "It was only a matter of time anyway."

Clementine pouted. "I can't believe I said that."

"It's not a big deal." Molly shrugged.

"Yes, it is. It's a really big deal." Clementine said. "I said a swear... I'm going to have to clean my mouth out now."

Molly laughed some more. "You're overreacting. I'm telling now, those swears will slip more often than you think. Might as well get used to it."

Clementine pouted even more. "I'll never say a bad word again."

"We'll see..." Molly simply replied with a smirk. She knew kids picked up what they heard, and she was also well aware that her language was far from clean. She would give it a few months before she started hearing Clementine swear on a regular basis.

Red faced and upset with herself for swearing, Clementine started throwing Molly a lecture about why she shouldn't use bad words.

Molly just rolled her eyes, and pretended to listen to the kid. It was nice to see, Clementine was feeling less stressed after talking. Maybe the child just needed to get those things off her chest.

Still, Molly couldn't help but feel a bit like a failure after hearing what happened with Josh… She vowed that she would be a guardian. No one would lay a finger on Clementine. Not if she could help it.