- They're taking Javi!

Mariana's worried voice echoed through Clementine's ears, and she cursed softly as she saw Javi and the others being taken to the compound.

There were too many people there for her to try anything, and there were no zombies around. Not around there, anyway.

She ran her eyes through the surrounding buildings, and as soon as she found a specific place, she took the girl's hand and ran towards the nearest alley.

She positioned herself in front of the door of a building and tried to open it. When she saw that the door was locked, she started kicking the wooden structure until she finally broke the lock and could enter the place.

Clementine took the machete from her back and looked around, the place was abandoned, dusty and messy, there didn't seem to be any zombies around, not even a decomposing body. At least, not on that floor.

- What are we going to do?

Mariana asked behind her, looking down the abandoned corridor ahead.

- Find a way to get in there.

Clementine replied, walking with brisk steps toward the stairs.

Every door she passed by, every floor she climbed, she saw nothing but dust, this place was literally abandoned, not even a corpse, not even a zombie. Nothing.

Which meant that either no one had died in there in the years that had passed since it all began, or the bodies that had been there for some time had been removed.

And she believed more in the second option, since there were some bloodstains in a few parts of the corridor.

Upon reaching a floor high enough, the two girls entered an apartment with a direct view of the interior of the compound.

Clementine checked to see if the place was secure enough, and once she was sure of that, she walked to one of the windows and looked at the camp.

The place seemed to be as large as she had heard. Dozens of people walked inside calmly, guards made their rounds on a few platforms surrounding the walls and gates. Due to the size of the community, many guards were assigned to keep watch, and all had rifles and/or shotguns in hand.

"Lots of people, very well armed... but, apart from the guards, people don't seem to be armed." - She thought, focusing her eyes on a characteristic eye-catching white blouse.

Javi was not the best example of stealth, not with a blouse like that.

She arched an eyebrow, curious and intrigued to see that he seemed to talk " friendly" to one of the men inside.

There were no guns pointed in his direction, they placed their hands on each other's shoulders, as if they had met before.

Either this was all an act by Javi, who was trying to make some friendship in there, or he really knew this guy.

- Is that Javi?

Mariana's voice caught her attention, and she turned her head slightly to the side, looking at the girl, very curious yet concerned. She was looking almost glumly in Javi's direction, but Clementine had the slight impression that the girl was not looking directly at him.

- I guess so.

She answered simply, making a short mental route to the back of the compound. Maybe it wasn't as protected as the front, or maybe it had some way in that the guards hadn't paid attention to.

The problem, is that both paths to the back of that camp contained guards patrolling the streets. Maybe this was the reason there were no zombies around.

- Let's go around the right side of the compound. Let's go to the back and hopefully we will find some way in. We still have a few hours of daylight left, so maybe we can get in at night.

Clementine explained, turning away from the window and walking out of the apartment, starting down the stairs with Mariana right behind her.

- What do we do once we get inside?

the girl asked, sighing slightly at having to go down all those flights of stairs that took a long time to climb.

- Let's try to find some people we know. As I said, my group is also there ... I hope. If things go smoothly, we'll move around hidden there, if not, we'll find a place to stay hidden for a while.

Clementine said, that wasn't really the smartest plan she ever thought up, but she needed to see what the inside of the community was like.

She already knew that there were guards everywhere, but she had to know which route they used the most.

As they left the building, both girls ducked as they heard some muffled voices approaching from the street ahead.

Clementine peeked around the corner of the building to see two armed men talking shrilly while on their rounds. They were walking down the open street without much concern, which only made her more certain that there were no zombies around. Or even other people.

They walked down the alley just after the men had passed. Clementine looked both ways before running down the street to the alley ahead, where she tried to follow the mental route she took.

She could kill one of those guards and ask questions to the other, but they were too open and too close to the main gates, and she had already found the perfect place to ask a short question without being interrupted.

They walked through the alleys for a few more minutes, cutting their way inside some buildings and stores whenever they could.

Clementine looked around to see that she had arrived in the exact area she had marked on her mental map. To the right of the camp, on a street hidden by some houses and stores, where she saw two people making rounds through the window of that apartment she was in earlier.

- Have you killed before?

She asked softly, looking at Mari beside her, who arched an eyebrow.

- Not people.

She answered in a whisper, looking at the two guards who were chatting quietly ahead of her, though they were watching the road.

Clementine nodded to the girl and the two of them walked crouched to the left, hiding behind a dumpster on the side street, waiting for the guards to approach.

- I'm telling you, man, they're still there.

The voice of one of the guards became clearer, and his footsteps more audible. Clementine grabbed her machete again from her back as she waited for the right moment.

- Okay, don't give me that. Do you really think NASA still exists? The government was annihilated when this shit started.

The other guard's voice echoed, this time a little louder than the first, and Clementine leaned forward slightly, watching the two guards continue to walk straight ahead as they talked.

She stepped out from behind the dumpster and snuck up behind them slowly.

- I saw it, man. Black helicopters that occasionally pass through uninhabited places. I saw it with my own eyes. They must not pass through here because they know there is a community.

The other guard said, and as soon as he finished speaking, Clementine stabbed his machete hard into the back of his head. Taking advantage of the fright, the girl kicked the other guard in the leg as hard as she could, making him groan slightly in pain and go to his knees.

Clementine took the machete from the back of the man's head and threw herself at the other, knocking him to the ground and pressing her machete to his throat.

- Get his weapons.

she said to Mari. The girl looked slightly hesitant at the body of the guard beside her, but soon did as Clementine asked.

She took the rifle from the man's hands and placed it on her back, then she took his pistol and knife, placing both on her waist.

- I have some questions to ask, and you will answer them if you want to stay alive. For every answer that I don't like, or that you refuse to tell me, I will break one of your fingers until I decide that you are no longer useful, understand?

Clementine said softly, looking to the side just before she stood up.

She placed her foot over the man's mouth and stabbed him in the thigh with her machete. An assurance that he wouldn't run away, he couldn't get very far with a wounded leg.

As soon as the man stopped screaming, she took her foot off his mouth and started dragging him to one of the abandoned stores next to them.

Mariana looked at her with a grimace, clearly bothered, but said nothing, just followed her.

As soon as they reached the store, Clementine threw him to the ground and crouched down beside him, looking at him seriously.

- A man with a child and a woman were brought here a few days ago, where are they?

She asked coldly, looking deep into the man's frightened and slightly desperate eyes, staring at him as if he were her prey, and with a sign of superiority, following his every move.

- I-I don't know exactly... I'm just a guard, I barely have contact with the prisoners.

He answered, and Clementine shook her head. She took his hand and pulled one of his fingers back with force.

The sound of breaking bone made Mariana frown, and the man yelp slightly in pain.

- You still have nineteen fingers to break, do you really want to feel this pain nineteen more times? I'm telling you, tell me what I want to know, and you live.

She repeated, staring deep into the man's eyes again, now panting and a little more afraid than before.

- Look, I'm telling you... I don't know where the prisoners are taken exactly, we have several cells in there. The prisoners who have committed minor offenses are forced to work on the fields, cleaning, that sort of thing. The others are expelled or executed, and each one stays in different regions of the community.

He explained in a tearful tone, holding his hand and looking ruefully at his leg, where blood was running down its length.

- What minor offenses? And where are they taken?

She asked again, looking at the blood dripping from the man's leg. He wouldn't die from it, but it wouldn't be good for that wound to remain open.

- Theft, for example. If someone from the community steals, that person is expelled, but if it is someone from outside, they are forced to work. They stay at the back of the community, near the planting fields. They usually don't stay long, and depending on the situation, they are even invited to stay in the community.

The man said, looking fearfully at Clementine.

- Bigger crimes, like murder for example, are more severe.A person from the community is executed, if it's an outsider, some specific people discuss why the person killed, and they are just thrown out after a while... but it depends. They stay further north in the community, near the entrance, which is where there are more guards.

He explained, swallowing some saliva as he groaned slightly in pain.

- And what do they do when they catch someone with children? A baby, for example?

She asked again, ripping part of his shirt, scaring him a little more.

- I-I don't know... they are taken somewhere safe, and raised with other orphaned children. I don't know where it is... I don't know...

He said with some desperation, looking at the machete in Clementine's hand with a certain fear in his eyes.

Clementine stared at him for a while, perhaps trying to make sure he was telling the truth.

Mariana looked at her a little tense, seriously thinking that the girl would kill a man in that state. But, she was relieved to see Clementine place the torn part of the man's clothing around his bloodied thigh.

- It wasn't so hard, was it? I told you you'd live.

She said, wiping her bloody machete on the man's clothes and stood up, arching an eyebrow at the confused look he sent her.

-Do you know anything about the arena?

She asked again, this time reaching for the pistol at her waist and pointing it at the man, who widened his eyes and placed his trembling hands in front of his face.

- W-what? What arena? What are you talking about?

he asked with some desperation, and Clementine tucked the gun back into her waistband.

- You just got a second chance. You got involved with some horrible people without even knowing it, and because of that, you were almost killed.

Clementine said, taking the rifle from Mariana's back and putting it in her own, turning and walking out of the abandoned store.

Mariana looked at the man one last time with some pity, but then turned and ran after Clementine.

The man looked at the girls leaving the place, still panting. And after a while, he just lay back down and sighed with relief.

Clementine crouched down and picked up the other guard's weapons from the floor. He had the same things as the other, a rifle, a pistol and a knife.

She handed the rifle and the pistol to Mariana, who put it on her back without really knowing what to do with a weapon of that size.

The knife, on the other hand, she crouched down and put in the side of her sneaker, covering it with the bottom of her pants; it was always good to have a hidden weapon close by.

She looked around and remembered her mind map, walking down a deserted street ahead while looking to the side of the community.

After some walking, the two girls finally reached the back of the compound. They looked around, and since they found no other way through, they were forced to enter a small building up ahead.

Clementine looked inside, stabbing her machete into the head of a lone zombie that was lying on a counter.

Both girls climbed the stairs to the top floor and approached the window ahead.

Their eyes widened as they saw the huge herd that was on the street ahead, just behind the building.

The entire street was infested with dead people, who were walking in practically the same place, bumping into each other.

Right in front of the horde was the community wall, where a small part of it was destroyed and there was a truck right in front of the hole, preventing the dead from entering.

Clementine watched that "entrance" with narrowed eyes.

The only thing keeping those zombies from entering the community was a truck.

- We can get under it, if we sneak through there... there will probably be guards around... but I don't see any other way in.

Clementine said loudly, looking at Mariana, who was staring at her as if she were crazy.

- And how are we going to get in there? I don't know if you've noticed, but the street is full of muertos.

The girl said, and Clementine arched an eyebrow.

"Muertos?"

- Simple. Let's walk past them.

She said simply, and walked downstairs, heading toward the zombie she had just killed.

She opened its stomach and picked up its organs, rubbing them over her body with a disgusted grimace.

It seemed that the longer it went on, the stinkier the "muertos" got.

- What the... what? Why?

Mariana asked, indignant. Clementine looked at her, mildly amused by the girl's frown.

- When you cover yourself with their guts, you hide your smell.

She replied, picking up a fist of rotten organs and walking towards Mariana, who widened her eyes and moved a few steps away.

- You're kidding, right?

She asked, horrified to see Clementine just smile and walk closer and closer with that thing in hand.

(...)

Mariana still couldn't believe she was doing something so crazy, and honestly, she was scared to death. Every time she looked around, all she could see were the rotten, dead faces of the zombies so close to her.

But she had to admit that she was surprised, they really weren't attacking them.

She just hoped they would get to that truck soon.

The girl looked at Clementine beside her, surprised by her unchanged face, which seemed to be used to doing something like this.

After some time walking among the dead, the two girls finally reached the truck.

There was a small concrete wall just in front of the vehicle, which was the reason the zombies hadn't crawled over it by now.

She looked between the small gap between the truck and the wall. It was too small a space to fit a body in there, but large enough for both she and Mariana to sneak under the truck with some difficulty.

She helped Mariana go first, looking behind her and making sure her movements didn't draw any unwanted attention.

Once the girl had made it, she followed, groaning slightly at the small effort she had made.

- I can't believe that worked.

Mariana said softly, looking at the legs of the people ahead, probably the guards.

Many people were walking around, there was no way the girls could get out of there, not at that moment.

They waited down there for a long time. So long that Clementine could only see an opening to get out of there when it was already dark.

She looked at Mariana, who looked as tired of being there as she was, and nodded.

When she saw that the guards had moved far enough away, she crawled to the side, to the front of the truck.

She stuck her head out first, looking around and making sure it was safe enough to get out.

Clementine slowly stood up, taking Mariana's hand and helping the girl up as well.

Her golden eyes scanned the place with some haste, and she ran to the left of the truck, following the mental map she made when she saw the planting site.

If that man was telling the truth, then there was a good chance that Kenny and Carley were trapped there.

The two girls hid behind a container as they saw some guards patrolling ahead.

Clementine arched an eyebrow as she saw a woman and a man look around, before they entered a building a few meters away.

When it was safe enough, they came out of the small hiding place and ran down the deserted street, lit by the light of a few electric poles.

If it weren't for the situation they were in, Clementine would be very surprised by the electricity.

They ran for a while, sneaking through doorways and small hiding places near the walls.

They came to an open place a short time later, the planting place to their left, and some buildings to their right.

If they were anywhere, it would be there.

The two girls began to walk through the empty place, until a few footsteps and some muffled voices were heard approaching.

Clementine looked to the side and took Mari's hand, entering through the door of one of the buildings right next to them.

As soon as she entered, she bumped into a guard, who looked at the two girls with wide, surprised eyes.

In a snap, he tried to reach for his gun, but Clementine was quicker and threw herself at him, preventing him from reaching for his rifle while she herself tried to reach for her machete.

However, the guard recovered quickly and held her tightly by the shoulders, throwing her to the ground and standing over her, pressing on her neck.

He tried to scream as he heard the voices of the guards outside the building, but Mariana was quicker and hit him on the side of the head with the butt of her pistol.

The grip on Clementine's neck weakened, she turned her body to the side and reached for her machete, stabbing it into the man's throat soon after, not bothering with the warm blood that stained her hand.

She pulled the blade back and stabbed it into the man's head, wiping the blood on her machete on his clothes shortly after.

- Clem?

She heard her name and looked up, sighing with relief and softening her expression as she saw Kenny staring at her in surprise from behind the bars of an iron door ahead.