The girl lightly wielded the machete in her hands, enjoying the good feeling that her weapon gave her, as well as killing her nostalgia for having been separated from her for so long.

Every now and then she focused on the dirt road she was walking on, taking a quick glance at Pete beside her.

He was walking with a rifle in his hands and seemed to be humming a tune.

The girl's gaze fell on the gun in the older man's hands. Rifles, shotguns, machine guns, they were good guns, and very powerful, but from her own experience, she didn't like them so much, they were too noisy and the ammo seemed to run out faster than she expected. They were also much heavier and harder for her to control.

Although rifles were great for hunting.

Pete noticed the girl's gaze, and turned around with a small smile.

Pete- Has anyone ever taught you how to shoot?

He asked, probably regretting it soon after doing so, the girl would not have survived this long without someone teaching her.

Clementine- Yes, some time ago.

She answered short, but kind.

Pete- Sure, it's important these days. It was with a pistol, right? The recoil from this rifle would probably knock you out easily.

The girl remembered the day she had picked up a shotgun, it had been hard just holding the gun in her arms.

Pete-how old are you?

He looked at her.

Clementine-... I don't know... eleven?

She answered/questioned, she hadn't worried about her age anymore, in a long time, it wasn't really something important.

Pete - You haven't been keeping track have you? Well, I can't say I blame you, I don't think anyone celebrates birthdays these days.

He said, looking around as he heard some footsteps approaching.

Nick - Why didn't you wait?

The young man asked a little breathlessly.

Pete - Because you know where the river is, and I wanted to get to know a little more about our new "friend" here.

He replied lightly, ignoring Nick's slightly irritated tone.

Nick- Okay, so I'm so disposable that I'm not even worthy of your patience?

He said with an annoyed expression, reminding Clementine slightly of Larry, because of how easily he could get angry.

Pete-I didn't say that! Can't you just act like an adult for once, Nick?

The older man replied with a hard expression, causing Nick to roll his eyes and walk past him, walking further toward the river.

Pete - Where are you going?

Nick- I know where the fucking river is!

Clementine just looked confused at the whole thing, it hadn't been a serious enough conversation for them to get that way.

"They care more about arguing than surviving."

She thought, remembering Rebecca and being surprised at how they had survived for so long with a group like that.

Pete - He's a good-hearted boy, but he got his mother's temper.

The old man sighed.

"He won't survive long with that attitude."

Clementine-... He should stop being so angry and worry about more important things.

She said simply, walking back down the dirt path, ignoring Pete's gaze.

It didn't take long before they reached the river, running to the shore after a shout from Nick, their eyes widening as they saw bodies strewn about the place.

There weren't many, but they were preserved enough to know that they had died a short time ago.

Pete- Jesus Christ... who would do something like this?

He asked in a whisper, stooping down to the body of a man lying further ahead, with part of his body still in the water.

Nick: Think, you're Carver, what do you do?

Clementine looked at him, this being the second time she had heard about this "Carver".

Clementine- Who is he? And why would he do that?

She asked, looking at Nick, who looked hesitant for a moment and turned away from the girl.

"You don't want to answer, do you? Maybe they did something to this Carver guy...did they try to kill him?"

She thought, glancing quickly at Pete.

"No, he's not the type to kill in cold blood..."

Pete stood up, walking toward the other bodies further ahead.

Pete- All of them have been shot, the bodies are full of holes.

He said, looking at another body on the ground.

Nick- We have to get out of here!

He said, walking away from one of the bodies and walking back to the dirt road.

Pete - Stop for a minute and think about this, son. We have to check out the rest.

He walked across a small part of the river to the small patch of land on the other side, making Nick look at him in disbelief.

Nick-what? Why?!

Clementine - I agree with Nick, this isn't looking very good, and whoever did this might be nearby, the blood on some of the bodies is still fresh.

The girl said, getting up after checking the body of a woman with a bullet in her head, walking to the side and looking at a wound, apparently from a cut, on the neck of a blond man, with a broken glasses just in front of his arm.

Pete- Calm down and think about it. Maybe one of them is alive, and can be cooperative enough to tell us who did this.

Nick: That doesn't make sense, we already know who did this.

Pete- We have to do it now.

He turned, walking towards a nearby body.

Clementine sighed, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. It was then that her eyes focused on a specific body not far away.

It was a woman, apparently, because of her short stature.

Clementine walked over to the body, crouching down and lightly touching the dead woman's clothes.

"That's Carley's jacket, the bloodstains are in the same places."

She thought, moving the body toward her, looking at the woman's face.

"That's not Carley."

A groan of pain, followed by a gunshot, caught Clementine's attention, and she turned to Pete quickly.

Nick- Pete!

He shouted, looking at the older man, who was propped up on his knees as he gasped slightly.

Pete-I'm fine! I just lost my balance.

He shouted back, but Clementine saw, clear as day, the bite on the older man's heel, and the desperation in his gaze that grew slowly in his chest.

Nick also shouted, and another shot echoed through the forest.

Clementine looked around, watching the zombies that were approaching through the trees.

"Idiots... they could kill them without firing their guns."

She thought, half irritated, of course she would be, she was much better off than the day before, but she was still wounded, the last thing she needed was to take unnecessary risks.

Pete - I'm out of ammo!

he shouted, taking a few disoriented steps backwards.

Nick- Then get over here, I'll cover you!

Pete - Both of you, run over here now!

Nick- Come on!

The boy shouted back, shooting at a few more zombies coming out of the forest.

"Damn it Nick! Stop shooting... actually, you should have plenty of ammo...".

The girl thought, running towards Pete, who was holding a zombie that had fallen on top of him.

Grabbing her machete, she stabs the zombie in the head, helping Pete to his feet.

Pete- NICK!

He shouted, limping over the edge and looking at the boy. As soon as Nick saw that Pete was on his feet, he turned around and ran, shooting backwards as he ran, probably trying to attract as many of them as he could.

Clementine- We have to go!

The girl said, watching a small group of undead approaching her. She wasn't worried about the zombies, she knew how to deal with them, and she wasn't as weak as the day before, the problem was Pete, he needed help as soon as possible.

They both turned and began to run, moving away from the group of undead.

Clementine watched from the front of the van the amount of zombies walking through the forest, there were more of them than she was used to seeing, the shots must have attracted more of them.

But still, it wasn't impossible to get past them, they were dumb, they would forget about the two of them in no time, they just had to wait for an opportunity, and they could get out of there.

She turned to Pete, looking at the recent bite on his heel.

Pete - What is it? Does that scare you?

He asked in a tired voice, still a little breathless.

Clementine- No. What do you want to do?

She asked, and he looked at her confused.

Pete-What do you mean?

Clementine-What do you want to do about the bite?

Pete... I...

He was silent, not finding the right words to say, or maybe he didn't even know what he wanted himself.

Clementine - I can help you cut your leg off, you know?

She said, taking the machete from behind her, and looking strangely at Pete, who was a little startled by the girl.

Pete- Hey, what? Woah woah woah woah, easy there girl. This is not like cutting off a zombie's head.

Clementine- I know it's not, but are you just gonna leave that bite there? You're going to die if you don't get it out soon.

Pete- The feeling of hurting something alive is different, you...

Clementine- Pete! I've killed before, several times.

The confession made Pete's eyes widen, and he looked at Clementine incredulous, surprised, and even frightened by the girl's neutral tone, as if something of that magnitude was no big deal.

Clementine- Cutting someone's leg off, it's no big deal.

Pete-... We don't even know if it will work... it's been a few minutes, maybe more, since I was bitten.

Clementine- And you're just going to give up without trying? Do you want to die here? Do you want to abandon Nick? Luke?

Pete- No... But if it doesn't work, I'm going to die anyway... the difference is that I'll die in pain if you try to bite my leg off

Clementine- ...What do you have to lose? You will die anyway.

One of the things that irritated Clementine deeply was when a person simply decided to give up, without even trying to do something.

Not because she thought that life was something beautiful and valuable, or that everyone deserved to stay alive, but because, giving up because it's hard was for weak people. Not only her, but everyone in her group has already starved, almost died of thirst, almost been killed by bandits, lost everything they had due to a storm, but they decided to keep going, they didn't give up because it was hard.

Not only that, but Lee didn't give up on her when he was abandoned, shot, or when he almost died several times, what honor would she give to his memory if she simply decided to give up.

She was angry with Pete for thinking that way not because she liked him, but for the fact that he wasn't honoring the people who loved him, and they didn't deserve that coming from him.

Even though she didn't like some of those people, she still thought it was unfair to them.

Pete looked confused for a while, hesitant, afraid, and even a little shocked.

He never imagined that he would hear those words coming from the mouth of an eleven-year-old girl, and even more so directed at him.

Until he closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath.

Pete-... Okay... Damn, let's cut this shit out.

He said decisively, ripping part of his pants off.

Clementine- As soon as I cut it off, we'll bandage your leg as much as we can, I'll leave and run back to the cabin, hopefully we'll get back here in time to help you.

She said, looking around for something to bandage Pete's leg with.

Pete- Are you going out alone? With all those zombies out there?

Clementine-I can take care of myself.

She said, positioning her machete over Pete's leg, who closed his eyes, preparing for what was to come.