The two girls looked curiously at the community, slightly surprised by all the work those people had done with the place.

It wasn't one of the most beautiful places they had ever had, but besides being very safe due to those reinforced walls, it had many people, and places that resembled stores.

- Is that a bar?

Sarah asked, looking at a specific spot further ahead, and Clementine arched an eyebrow when she saw some people sitting at some tables, drinking and talking to each other.

- This place looks pretty... 'cool'?

The girl said again, looking at some of the people watching them around, slightly annoyed by the many curious glances that followed them.

- Better than outside, anyway.

Clementine said, missing her machete as she noticed some people staring at them.

She clicked her tongue softly when she saw that there was no other way out of the place, the only way into the community was through the front gates, apparently.

Which was good for the people who lived there, and bad for the two girls who had just arrived.

- Okay, you can stay here for a while, I'll have someone check on you in a bit. I don't think I need to say this, but stay cool, don't cause any trouble or I will throw you out myself.

Tripp said, opening the door of a "house" and looking seriously at them, who just nodded.

- Don't let yourselves be intimidated by the people here. Most of them are decent people... at least decent enough.

He said, before turning and walking towards the bar ahead.

Clementine stared at the man's back for a while, turned and looked around once more before entering the small room.

Sarah stood further ahead, checking on the two beds while Clementine closed the door, analyzing the room.

It wasn't the nicest place she had ever stayed, that was for sure, but at least there were beds, which was already much better than the cold, uncomfortable forest floor.

- This place is a dump. But at least it's safe.

Sarah said, laying down on one of the beds and running her hand over her face, sighing tiredly.

Clementine lay down on the other bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering what they were going to do from now on. She didn't know if it was luck or fate that they had found this community, but whatever it was, it was a start.

- What do we do now? Do they know where their camp is?

Sarah asked after a few minutes of silence, turning her face and looking at Clementine.

- No, they don't know anything, apparently. Maybe there is someone who does, it's a relatively large community, and depending on how long we can stay, we can ask around. At least, for now.

She said with a sigh, removing her hat from her head and running her hand through her hair, which was already starting to grow long again.

- In case nobody knows anything, we just have to wait for those guys to attack again, and force one of them to talk. It may sound simple, but it will be complicated, to say the least.

She said, and her golden eyes looked at the photo that had fallen out of her hat, and she sighed again.

She still had the picture of Lee, where he was smiling in front of his parents' pharmacy before all this happened.

He looked younger in that picture, a little happier at least, despite the fake smile he had on his face. She remembered when he said that his relationship with his family was not going so well.

She rarely took that picture from inside her hat. Maybe she was afraid of losing it, or afraid of spoiling it.

The girl closed her eyes and let the memories flood her mind for a while. She smiled humorlessly as she remembered her aversion to the idea of killing, and that she hated to see Lee do it.

If her younger version saw her now, she would surely be terrified.

She opened her eyes again, and the color of her gold stared at the bloodstains still present on her cap.

In a way, Lee was still with her. It was his blood that stained her hat, one of the reasons she never took it off her head, or lent it to anyone.

Of course, that, and the fact that it was the only thing she had of her father, whom she had long since forgotten his face. She could only remember him in his reanimated form, dead, his organs exposed, tied to a chair.

Same thing with Lee, although she could remember him as he really was, most of her thoughts about him were of how he looked the last time she saw him.

Without an eye, without an arm, bloodied, pale, weak... it was hard to believe he was still alive... or not, she couldn't tell if he still had a heart beating in his chest, or if he had ended up with a bullet in his head after all those years.

She didn't know which was worse, believing he was dead, or knowing he was alive and not being able to meet him.

She smiled as she remembered how she had scolded him every time he had said a swear word. And today, she was one of the foul-mouthed people in the group. Ironic.

Her smile widened, becoming nostalgic and sad as she remembered when she first learned to swim.

It was rare for her to have moments like those, when she had the opportunity to lie on a bed and relax for a while. In those moments she allowed herself to go back in time for a bit, to relive memories long past.

Unfortunately, these moments never lasted long.

The door of the room was opened, and a woman carrying a tray of food entered the room, alternating her gaze between the two girls with a slight smile on her face.

- Hi, I'm Eleanor. Tripp asked me to bring you some food, and see if you need any medical attention.

The woman said, placing the tray on the table in front of Sarah's bed. The two girls stood up and looked at the food for a moment, slightly surprised to see so much.

- We're fine, considering... Thank you for the food.

Clementine said, standing up and taking a full bowl. She didn't care what it was, it smelled good, so she just started eating.

- Okay then, if you need anything, I'll be in the hospital wing to the left as soon as you walk out the door, I'm there most of the time. Tripp will come here in the morning, discuss some things in case you decide to stay. You can take a walk around the community when you're done.

The woman said, waving to the two girls before leaving the room, closing the door soon after.

- Well, here's our chance.

Sarah said, sitting back down on her bed and eating from the contents of the bowl, as fast as Clementine.

- Just be careful, I don't feel very comfortable being without my weapons.

Clementine said, turning the bowl over in her mouth, finishing eating.

Sarah just nodded at her and stood up, leaving the room.

Clementine sighed slightly as she put the bowl back on the table. She picked up the picture and put her cap back on her head, leaving the room soon after.

She looked around, seeing Sarah walking towards the hospital wing, probably going to talk to that woman.

Clementine turned and walked in the opposite direction, heading for the bar ahead.

As she entered, a few stares fell on her, surprised to see a girl as young as her in a place like this, perhaps.

She just ignored these stares, getting slightly irritated at being stared at so intensely by some people. The girl walked over to the counter, where Francine was sitting and talking about something with the man in front of her.

- Oh that's rare, a girl walking in my bar? Are you lost, Miss?

The man asked, leaning back on the counter and looking at Clementine. Francine turned around as well, and smiled slightly at her.

- What's up girl, getting to know a little more of the community, huh?

The woman asked amiably, picking up the glass in front of her and taking a sip.

- Yeah, it's... it's a pretty nice place, except for all the staring at me. What's wrong with these people?

Clementine asked, staring back at one of the men staring at her, who, as soon as he realized he was being watched, looked away.

The man laughed lightly, and Francine gave a nasal laugh.

- Oh, don't worry about them, they're just surprised to see a child in a place like this. I'm Conrad.

He introduced himself, taking a bottle of drink and pouring the liquid into Francine's glass.

- I'm Francine... I'm afraid Tripp didn't ask your name, huh?

she said, taking a sip of her drink shortly after.

- No, he didn't. I'm Clementine.

The girl said, sitting down next to the woman and looking around, stopping her gaze momentarily at a man with some guns around his feet, talking about something with a woman right next to the bar.

" Is he selling guns?" - She asked mentally, watching the woman hand the man some things, while the man handed her a pistol.

- So, what are you doing in my bar? If you're after a drink, I'm sorry, but even though we're in an apocalypse, I'm not going to help get a girl your age drunk, or addicted to alcohol, like many people here.

Conrad said, taking a cloth beside him and starting to dry some freshly washed glasses.

- No, I am here for information. The marked people, I need to know where their camp is.

She said, looking again at the man, who had a slight, curious expression on his face.

- Your group was kidnapped, right? A question, out of curiosity. What are you going to do when you know where their camp is?

The woman asked, looking at Clementine curiously, and with a spark of doubt in her gaze, which Clementine ignored.

- Go there, find a way in, find my friends, join them if I have to, get my friends out. That's at best, I can't make a plan right now without seeing what their community is like.

She replied, leaning on the counter as she ran her eyes down the bottles of drinks.

She never understood how people liked to drink, it was horrible, bitter and burned the throat.

- Just the two of you? Against an entire community?

Conrad asked, clearly underestimating that plan. Clementine knew it was far from perfect, but as she herself had said, she couldn't create a plan without more information.

- Depending on how things go there, it's entirely possible. A very large community tends to have many blind spots.

She answered simply, ignoring the looks on both their faces. It was obvious that they doubted that she would be able to do anything, it had always been that way. Which, for her, was great. The more people underestimated her, the better chance she had of staying alive.

- If you are saying. I think it's crazy.

Conrad said, pouring some of the drink into a glass and handing it to a woman next to him.

- And what would you do? Your whole group was captured, you were the only one left, what would you do?

Clementine asked, not caring about his answer, she was just curious to see how other people reacted to the same situation.

Conrad stopped what he was doing and put on a thoughtful expression.

- I don't know what you would do Conrad, but just like our friend here, I would try to find my group again.

Francine said after Conrad had been silent for a while, finishing her drink and putting the glass slightly to one side.

- Okay, okay, I'm sorry.

He said, going back to drying some glasses.

- Do you know anyone who might know where their camp is?

Clementine asked, getting up from her chair, ready to leave if they didn't have an answer.

- That guy might know.

Francine said, pointing to the man next to her, the same man who had sold a pistol to a woman a few minutes ago.

- He is a bit of a pain in the ass, nobody here likes him, but we have to admit that he gets some valuable things. Maybe he knows something.

Conrad said, giving a slight frown to the man, who was oblivious to their conversation.

Clementine looked at him with an arched eyebrow and walked over to him, looking at the assorted weapons he had there.

- This is no place for you, girl, do you even know how to use a gun?

The man asked in an attempt to mock Clementine, who just rolled her eyes as she looked at him with a certain amount of scorn.

- I hear that you may have some answers to my questions.

She said, focusing her eyes on a modified pistol. The barrel was detailed in gold. Interesting.

- Information huh... won't come for free.

He said, taking an ammunition box from the side and reloading a gun mag.

Clementine looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

- What?

she asked, and the man gave her a cynical look.

- Information can be valuable these days, and not for free. Do you have anything interesting to trade?

he said, picking up a rifle from the ground and putting the magazine he had just loaded into it.

- And what would this "interesting thing" be?

- Anything useful, or things for one's own pleasure, like a pack of cigarettes for example, a lighter, batteries, among various other things.

- And how much is information worth?

- Ah, it depends, what do you want to know?

- Where is the camp of those marked people?

she asked, and the man looked at her as if she were crazy. A cynical smile was born on his lips.

- I don't know why anyone would want to know, especially such a young girl. I know where it is, well, at least from what I've heard, I don't know if it's true or not. Since I'm feeling nice today, I'll trade you this information for two packs of cigarettes, if not, bring me something interesting and I'll see if it's worth trading or not.

He said, taking another magazine from the gun beside him and starting to reload, this time with pistol bullets.

Clementine took a deep breath with that, and turned around, walking out of the bar.

"Where the fuck am I going to find cigarette packs?" - She asked mentally, watching Sarah walk toward her further on.

- What did you find?

Clementine asked, looking up at the sky, surprised to see that it was already getting dark. The day had certainly gone by quickly.

- Nothing very useful, just some suspicions that these men have more than one camp, which might make sense if we put that "arena" in question.

Sarah said, crossing her arms and looking around.

- There is a guy who might know where it is, but he wants two packs of cigarettes in exchange for the information.

Clementine said, putting her hands on her waist.

- What do you mean "might know"?

Sarah asked, looking at her slightly confused.

- He doesn't know exactly, he has never been there, the only thing he knows is from what he has heard. In other words, the information might not be true. But, since he only wants packs of cigarettes, I thought I would at least consider the idea.

She said, and Sarah got a thoughtful expression for a few moments.

- Luke started smoking a while ago.

She said and Clementine arched an eyebrow, she couldn't remember ever seeing Luke smoke.

- Yeah, he didn't show it. It was right after Jane left, and I saw it, and he asked me to keep it a secret. He only smokes when he is on watch, and asked me to carry the cigarettes so he wouldn't smoke all the time. There might still be some left in my backpack.

She explained, turning and walking towards her "room/house".

They entered, and Sarah took her backpack, checking inside.

After a while, she took a pack of cigarettes out of her bag, handing it to Clementine.

- It's not complete, there are only eighteen cigarettes in there.

Sarah said, and Clementine sighed slightly. The man had said two packs, that would be forty cigarettes.

- Do you have any batteries? Our flashlights have been broken for a long time.

Clementine asked, opening her backpack and looking inside. A snap echoed in her mind.

She closed her backpack again and crouched down, reaching for the pocket knife she had hidden in her sneaker. She had had that knife for a long time, ever since she found it stuck in the arm of a zombie tied to a tree.

- I only have two.

Sarah said, handing the two batteries to Clementine, who put them in her pocket, along with her other things.

- Well, let's go.

She said, leaving the room again and going back to the bar.

Sarah looked around curiously, ignoring the many stares she was getting.

Clementine stopped right in front of the man, who looked at her suggestively.

- So fast, what's up?

He asked, placing the shotgun that was on his lap on the ground beside him.

Clementine took the pack of cigarettes, the batteries and the pocket knife, handing them to him, who looked at the objects analytically.

He put the batteries in his pocket and took one of the cigarettes, lighting it soon after. Then he analyzed the pocket knife in his hand, also putting it in his pocket.

- The blade is a little dull, but still quite useful. Okay, I guess that goes. Richmond, I heard one of them say they were heading back to Richmond, it's quite far from here. Apparently they have two places, a community with people who have no idea of the atrocities that go on behind every search for supplies, and a place further away, perfect for sick people. That's what I heard.

He replied, taking a generous drag on his cigarette.

- The community in Richmond has laws, a small "government" inside, it even has a prison. The other place is more secret, I have no idea where it is, but from what I have heard, they take people who have done something against them, be it killing one of their members or whatever, and throw them into an arena to fight, something like entertainment for madmen.

He finished explaining, letting out the smoke from his lungs and went back to his work.

Sarah and Clementine looked at each other, and both turned and walked out of the bar.

- What do we do? If we ask around, we can find our way to Richmond.

Sarah asked, looking at Clementine.

- Either way, we need a vehicle. They have trucks, cars, and like that man said, it's a long way. We can't walk there. It would probably take too long.

Clementine said, running her hand over her neck as she sighed wearily.

-It's not like there are any cars in good condition lying around, and Tripp doesn't look like he would give up one of the vehicles to us...

Sarah mentioned, putting her hands on her waist.

- But, we have to look for one, even if it's a car falling apart.

Clementine said, walking back to the room they were in.

- What about that dump? I doubt it will have anything useful, but we saw some abandoned cars there, so there might be some that still work, although it's a very small chance.

Sarah suggested, jumping onto the bed in front of them and sighing.

Clementine arched an eyebrow at the suggestion. It wasn't a bad idea, they had no other place in mind anyway.

- Yeah... that might be a start.

she said, lying down on her bed and closing her eyes.