Chapter 2

Philip sat in silence as he ate, he didn't like beans, their texture made him gag, but his stomach wasn't complaining. Walter seemed like a nice man, he spoke to Philip as he prepared dinner, politics was the topic, not very interesting if you asked Philip, but Walter was enthusiastic enough for the both of them.

Matthew kept to himself, other than a sarcastic comment here and there, he was an emt before the walkers were everywhere. Speaking of which, Philip couldn't decide whether or not he liked the term, they certainly did walk, but then again, so does everyone.

Sarita was very nice, her sweetness could give anyone a toothache. He hadn't really spoken with her, but he did hear her mention that she wanted to get a tree, with it being around Christmas and all.

Kenny was… weird. He was the only one other than himself with a southern accent. He was thoughtful, more so than anyone else there, his smile was honest, but there was something below it that was a puzzle to Philip, one he would solve later. His false enthusiasm was contagious, if you see him smile you would soon do the same.

Kenny took a bowl from Walter and sat with the boy, who had resigned himself to his silence.

"Anythin' interest you other than history" history was the only events Philip remembered, of course he would delve into it. "I like livin', that's a lot of fun" the boy said, though with much less sarcasm than you would expect "it's my only hobby, really"

Philip thought for a moment, that wasn't necessarily true. He liked music, he remembered songs too, mostly rock'n'roll and Pink Floyd, he was pretty sure his parents were hippies.

"... Music, I like music" Kenny hummed thoughtfully, seemingly deciding to change the subject

"Well, if you wanna come, I'm going huntin' tomorrow, we need some protein"

"Beans are protein" Walter and Matthew had joined the two. "Sarita's washing up, she'll join us in a moment."

Philip nodded to no one in particular. "Sure, I'll go hunting."

--POV CHANGE--

Robert stood at Carver's side, gazing through a window. Carver, who was stroking his beard, spoke first. "You know what I see out there?" Robert knew that the question wasn't meant to be answered, Carver continued "I see sheep, those meant to be led, by someone strong like me, and, I thought, you." Carver turned towards the younger man.

"You know what I see in you now?" another rhetorical question "I see a broken, desperate man, grasping onto anything he can" Robert couldn't take it "But, my brother-" "is being searched for" Carver interrupted. "We're looking for him, just like we're looking for Rebecca, Carlos, Pete, Luke, the kid… Alvin. I know you're worried for your brother, but if your grief gets in the way of this community, then… we may need a permanent replacement" Carver turned back to the window "you can leave now, have Troy take your place for a while, if you wanna look for your brother, go, but don't expect to be welcomed back if you do"

Robert left the office, he was deep in thought as he stumbled down the stairs, he knew he couldn't leave, this group was the only chance he had to survive, for his brother to survive.

--POV CHANGE, a Month Later--

Clementine walked shakily through the woods, cradling her injured arm. Walkers stormed around her, but she kept her pace. Suddenly a walker collapsed on top of her, she struggled against it, but she was losing strength, she was about to give out when an arrow pierced the skull of her attacker, and two voices shouted into the night. Walkers dropped one by one as her saviors made their way towards Clementine.

"I'm out, grab her, let's go" ordered a graying man, to which the younger one nodded. "Come on kid, we gotta get"

The younger man cradled Clementine in his arms, sprinting after the older of the two.

When they finally came to a stop Clementine's head felt a little clearer. The older man shook his head, panting between words he said "I think… I think we're safe" the younger one looked around before nodding "yeah… yeah we're good"

Clementine, getting annoyed of being carried, spoke up "Can I walk now?" The one carrying her raised an eyebrow "Can you? 'Cause last time I saw you could barely crawl away from that lurker back there. Look you're in bad shape kid" they continued toward an unknown destination, Clementine still being carried.

The leaves crunched softly, birds chirped in the distance, as if nothing bad had ever happened.

"What are ya doin' out here?" The question was asked by the older one, but before she could answer the younger one asked another question. "Where are the, uh… the people you're with. There's no way you made it this long on your own" the older one interjected as well "I don't want them thinkin' we're doin' anything but tryin' to help you.

Clementine thought on it a moment "I'm alone, at least now I am anyways, everyone else is gone" even if Christa was still alive, Clementine doubted she would want anything to do with her. Ever since Omid died things had been strained between them, and after what happened with the baby… Christa probably only took care of her out of decency.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. My name's Luke, by the way, he's Pete." he nodded toward the older man.

"I'm Clementine" Pete turned toward the young girl and smiled "well, it's nice to meet you, Clementine" the younger man looked down to smile at her as well, when his eyes suddenly widened.

Without a warning, Clementine could feel the ground rise quickly as she fell. "What the hell?!" she could hear the older man yell. "She's… she's bit" the older man frowned in a new realization "Fuck"

Clementine's worry grew as she tried to explain "No! it was a dog!" she said frantically. Pete sighed "I didn't see any dog, Clementine" they looked unconvinced, though they seemed reasonable. Luke started again "Come on, kid. Look, we just saw you with those lurkers back there!" the older man shook his head "I can't remember the last time I saw a dog." the younger one frowned with a sudden realisation. "So what do we do now?"

They had to believe her "It was a dog, I swear!"

"Swearing doesn't make something so" Clementine was losing her cool, big time. "No! No, just look at it please, I'm telling the truth, just look at it, please!"

"Yeah, and have you sink your teeth into Pete's neck? Now way" the older one appeared hurt.

"My neck? Why am I the one?"

" 'Cause I don't know a dog bite from a mosquito from a lurker bite, man"

'Really?'

"No, it was really a dog! please believe me"

"Look, I want to, kid… but I gotta believe my own two eyes first… and I didn't see no dog around." Luke seemed genuine. but what does that matter?

Clementine said nothing, there was nothing she could say. Pete gazed at his feet.

"Hmm… alright, let's see it" worry sprouted on the younger man's face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… watch yourself." Clementine glared daggers. "Hey, don't look at me like that! You're the one who's bit here, okay?"

When Pete rolled up her sleeve, Clementine nearly felt smug. "See?"

The younger man shuffled "is it uh… is it like she says?"

"Hmm… well, could be a dog. Hard to say. So, where did this 'dog' go, the one that did this" at least he seems willing to believe her.

"Now what… what does this matter, Pete? Seriously."

"I wanna know how believable her story is" Well, she was always told honesty was the best policy.

"I… I killed it '' or technically those barbs killed it, though she could have put it out of its misery.

Luke didn't take that well "What? Really?! A dog shows up and bites you and you just kill it." Pete, being Luke's voice of reason it seems, interjected "What would you have done?"

Luke appeared disheartened "I don't know, you just don't… you don't kill dogs."

Pete spoke up again "Clementine? You tellin' us the truth? You look me in the eyes when you answer" 'not a very reliable method, but okay.' She looked him in the eyes.

"Yes…"