Standing up with some difficulty, Clementine stares, panting, at the dog agonizing in front of her. Its small body pierced by several metal stakes from the destroyed tent.

The girl's eyes looked at the scene with a certain pain and even regret. She could not blame the dog for trying to eat. It was obvious that he was hungry, she understood his desperation.

She just didn't want it to end this way.

Grabbing the pocketknife she found in that abandoned camp, she slowly approaches the animal and kneels in front of him, feeling a lump forming in her throat as she heard the dog's cries.

"I'm sorry." She said in a choked voice, closing her eyes as she plunged her knife into the dog's neck and ended his suffering.

As she pulled the blade back, she stared at the red that ran down the floor and dripped from her pocket knife. A color she had grown accustomed to over the years, it no longer bothered her.

Getting up, she looks at the dog once more before starting to walk through the forest. Her arm was bleeding and hurt like hell. With each step she took she felt her body grow weaker. The few beans he had eaten were not enough to give him much energy, and what she had she spent getting rid of the dog.

Her vision began to blur and she was forced to sit with her back propped up on a rock as her legs weakened. What little noise around her was muffled, drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat.

But amidst the pounding, she heard nearby grunts, and forced herself to look around. A walker was advancing toward her with slow, staggering steps. Only one, but in the state she was in, Clementine felt real fear as he approached.

The girl forced herself to stand up and looked around quickly. There were other walkers nearby but they didn't seem to notice her. Not yet, at least.

Focusing her eyes on a tree ahead, Clementine walks as fast as she can with her pocket knife in hand. Getting behind the tree, she turns and waits for the walker to get close enough, using the tree as an obstacle to the corpse.

As soon as she had the chance, she grunted as she kicked the walker's leg a few times until she managed to knock him down, making it easy for her to sink her pocket knife into that body's skull.

She breathed heavily a few times, feeling her strength drain from the simple movements she made. Her legs were no longer strong enough to stand up, and it seemed as if her body was getting heavier and heavier.

Footsteps were heard behind her. Her dulled instincts screamed and she turned around, her eyes widening as she saw another walker approaching.

Her hand clenched the pocket knife as she saw that she could not get up. Desperation was growing in her chest and she tried to brace herself as much as she could. But before the walker could throw himself on her, an arrow hit the rotten skull and the body fell to the ground.

The girl stared at the corpse for a few moments, until two shadows appeared in her line of sight.

Arms lifted her body, and she heard two muffled voices say something she couldn't really make out, feeling the cold wind against her body soon after and the slight swaying of the arms that held her, evidencing that whoever was carrying her had started to run.

The girl, despite her situation, tensed up and clutched her pocket knife tightly. She didn't know those voices, and there was no chance that those two people were Omid and Christa. They had been attacked and most likely captured, or even killed, by those men the night before.

Just the thought of that being the case made a lump form in her throat, but she pushed those thoughts aside. She had other things to worry about at the moment.

"Hey, girl. Are you still alive?" A male voice asked, now a little more audible, and the girl closed her eyes for a few moments. From the voice, it must have been a young man.

"... I think so." She answered faintly, feeling the man move again a few moments later.

"Who... are you?" She asked, raising her head and looking at the two men. The man carrying her indeed appeared to be young, perhaps a little over twenty. He had straight brown hair and a scruffy beard, amber eyes.

The other was older, already with white strands on his head and a dark beard. Eyes also dark and some rough lines on his face.

"Well, I'm Luke. This here is Pete." The man carrying her said, and the older man nodded to her with a small friendly smile.

Clementine stared at them for a while.

"What were you doing here? Alone?" Pete asked, and the girl bowed her head.

After what happened in Savannah, she was extremely careful about revealing information. She didn't want to go through any similar situation, especially with the few people left by her side.

"...We were attacked. I got lost while running away." She said, fighting the weakness in her own body. She didn't want to put her head down and not see what those men were doing.

"Did they say what they were after? Bandits?" Luke asked, and Clementine stared at his face. He was trying to look impassive, but she could notice a slight nervousness in his voice, and even in his shoulders that tensed almost imperceptibly. Same thing with Pete.

"...Common bandits, I guess. Maybe they were just after food. Where are you taking me?" She asked, wriggling a little in Luke's arms.

"Well, we have a doctor with us. Our group isn't far away now, and you look like you could- oh shit!" Luke stopped walking almost immediately and nearly let go of Clementine, who leaned on his shoulder until she put her feet on the ground, avoiding a fall that would probably be very painful.

"What? Whats wrong?" Pete asked, standing right next to Luke, who moved a few steps away from the girl.

"She...she's bitten, man! Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck, what are we gonna do here?" he started pacing back and forth with his hands on his head in clear nervousness, making Clementine sigh slightly being under Pete's analytical gaze.

"It's not a walker bite. It's a dog bite." She tried to argue, pulling up the sleeve of her blouse and exposing the wound on her forearm.

"I didn't see any dog, kid. I can't even remember the last time I saw a dog." Pete said, putting his hands on his waist.

"Come on, girl. Look, we just saw you with that Lurker back there!" Luke said, somewhat agitated, causing the girl to arch an eyebrow.

"Does that look like a walker bite to you?" she asked with her forearm exposed, making Luke laugh in nervousness.

"What? You think I'm going to approach you so you can sink your teeth into my neck?! No way! I can't tell the difference between a dog bite, and a mosquito bite, and a Lurker bite, man!" Luke said, standing back and crossing his arms.

From the way he acted, Clementine could tell he had a bad history with biting. Hmpf, she could understand.

Her golden eyes soon focused on Pete, who continued to look at her with analytical eyes. Until he sighed and moved closer.

"Okay, let's see."

"Whoa, whoa, watch it man." Luke said, and Clementine, again, arched an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that. You're the one who's bitten here." He crossed his arms.

She thought about replying, but just stayed put.

Pete knelt beside her and stared at the bite for a few moments, muttering something.

"So...is it like she said?" Luke asked.

"... The bite is pretty wide. It could be from a dog. Carlos can tell. So where did this dog go?" Pete asked.

"Really, Pete? And what does that matter?" Luke asked, crossing his arms.

"I just want to know how believable her story is."

"I killed it." She said, a bit of regret in her voice as she remembered the animal.

"Really? A dog shows up and bites you and you kill it?" Luke said.

"What would you do in her place?" Pete asked, turning around and looking at the young man.

"I... I don't know!"

" It attacked me." Clementine said.

"Still. You...you don't kill dogs."

"You say that... because you're an adult. Look at my size. A dog could kill me." She said in a weak voice, and Luke stared at her for a while, until he looked away and scratched the back of his neck with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Pete stared into her eyes for a while, and despite the clear discomfort, the girl did the same, until the man let out a nasal laugh and straightened his posture while still kneeling.

"What's your name?" he asked, still without looking away.

"...Clementine."

"Okay, Clementine. Let's get you to our doctor and he can take a look at that arm of yours." Pete said, getting up and turning to Luke.

"What? Really? How can you be sure she's telling the truth?" Luke asked.

"I'm sure I'm not going to leave an injured little girl in the woods alone to die when we have a doctor who can take a look at her. Not to mention I have a pretty good bullshit detector, which is why you never beat me at poker." Pete replied, nodding to Clementine before starting to walk the walk.

"You don't always beat me at... Argh, okay, fine. But Nick's not going to be happy." Luke said, standing right next to Pete.

"Hmph, at what point is that kid happy lately?" Pete said, receiving a simple sigh from Luke as an answer, who was soon silent.

They walked for a while, until they spotted a large cabin up ahead.

Clementine struggled to keep walking, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her arm.

"Clementine. Are you okay?" Pete asked, turning toward her and moving a few steps closer when he saw the way she was walking.

"I... I'm gonna be." She said weakly, taking a few more weak steps forward.

"Oh, you'd better. Because I'm not carrying you around with that bite on your arm." Luke said, although he, like Pete, was moving closer to the girl.

Clementine stopped walking and blinked slowly a few times, until her vision began to dim and her body was pulled to the ground.

"Oh, shit." She could hear Luke muttering and arms holding her body just before her vision went dark.

Muffled noises were coming from her surroundings, and the girl muttered softly as voices began to get louder and louder. Among them was Pete's voice.

Even in her state, she tensed up to hear different voices this close together. Being surrounded by strangers with guns, in the condition she was in, was certainly not a very good situation.

She opened her eyes slowly, running her gaze around the people around her.

Pete was to her left, arms around his waist as he discussed something with a young man, dark straight hair with a cap. He was tall, very tall, but in contrast, he was quite thin.

Next to him was a man just as tall as the previous one, dark skinned and stocky. He was already a little older by his wrinkles and the white hairs in his beard. And despite his size, he seemed to be quite friendly. Even his voice was gentle.

Beside him, a pregnant woman with a rigid and irritated expression. Arms crossed. Curly brown hair.

"She already told us that she was attacked and got lost from the group. Then she was attacked and bitten by a dog." Pete said, and she looked at him for a few moments, moving slowly.

Her body was still tired, but at least she had more energy than before.

"What? And you just believed her? You should have put her out of her misery right there. Dog bite my ass." The woman said, her tone matching her stern expression.

"I took a look. It really could be a dog bite. Carlos can take a look and let us know for sure. If she really is infected, we'll drop her back in the woods and that's it." Pete said, returning the woman's stern look and crossing his arms.

Clementine shook her head and began to move, groaning loudly as she felt a sharp wave of pain run down her arm. Her moan did not go unnoticed by the people around her, and soon, a gunshot hit the ground right next to her hand, causing the girl to widen her eyes and instinctively move away.

As she looked forward, her eyes faced that of the man in the cap who was holding the rifle.

" Keep your finger off the trigger, boy! Are you crazy?! You could have hurt someone here!" Pete grunted, taking the rifle from the man's hands and glaring at him in irritation.

"Whoa! Whoa! What the fuck?!" Luke yelled as he exited the cabin, running toward the group.

"You idiot! Any lurker in miles away heard that shot!" The woman scolded.

"You're the one who's telling me to shoot her!" The man replied.

"Clementine, are you okay?" Luke asked, standing next to her, who was already getting up with some difficulty.

"... My hand is still in one piece... Yes, I think so. But if you guys don't want me here, you could have just said so, you know?" She arched an eyebrow, running her eyes through the people there, stopping momentarily at the man who had just left the cabin and was approaching quietly.

"We have a doctor, he'll take a look at you, okay? And what the hell is wrong with you people? She's just a kid, okay? And she's scared!" Luke scolded them.

"We're all scared, Luke. Don't pull that shit on us." The woman replied, still with an annoyed expression.

"You're all scared but you don't see me shooting at you because of that, do you?

"Let me take a look." The man who had just approached said, interrupting the small discussion that was sure to take place among the group and kneeling down in front of Clementine.

She looked at him fearfully for a while, until she extended her arm toward him.

The man, Carlos, if she was not mistaken, stood for a while observing the wound.

" Gosh, it got you good." The doctor said, arching an eyebrow as he examined the wound.

"That's not how we do things, man. If you get bitten, you get put down. End of story, I'm not going through that again!" The man in the cap said, staring at Luke.

"No one is suggesting that. If it really is a lurker bite, we'll take her back to the forest. I guess you, Nick, must have heard Pete say that earlier, huh? We all learned from that." Luke replied.

"Yeah, right. We're dealing with a fucking lurker here!" The woman said.

"Oh come on, she weighs as much as a bag of flowers. I guess if she really turns, an adult could immobilize a little girl." Pete said.

Clementine ran her eyes around, sighing at the discussion in front of her that she wasn't really in the mood to listen to. Glancing around, she saw a girl peek through the door, but just ignored her.

"Look... I just want to clean the wound and then I'll leave. I am not your responsibility." She said to the doctor, but loud enough for the others to hear.

"And where exactly do you plan to go?" Carlos asked, staring at her for a few moments.

"Anywhere far away," she replied.

"Forget it kid, you wouldn't last five feet." The man in the cap said, and Clementine arched an eyebrow.

"But like I said, I'm not your responsibility. I thank Pete and Luke for bringing me along to help, but if things continue this way, I'd better leave. I don't want to cause any trouble." She said with a soft voice, but still staring into the eyes of the man who shot her.

They didn't look like bad people, but looks can be deceiving. And at that moment, part of her wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible.

The man seemed to stare at her in irritation for a while, but the girl looked away.

"Look, whatever it is, a bite or not, at the end of the day, she's just a kid. Whatever the ending is, we'll deal with it. I'll take responsibility." Pete said, crossing his arms and watching Carlos stand up.

"So, what do you think?" Luke asked.

"It doesn't look like a lurker bite to me." He said, noting Luke and Pete's smiles, and to Clementine's relief.

"However, there is blood on her body. From what I heard, you guys found her near some lurkers, right?" He asked, turning to Clementine. "The wound... was it before or after you met with these Lurkers?" He asked her.

"Before."

"Then there is a chance that some drop of blood fell into the wound and you are infected. I'm not going to spend valuable supplies on someone infected. The most I can do now is clean the wound." He said, turning to her again and pulling a glass from his pocket.

Gently, he took the girl's arm and poured some of the liquid on her wound. The pain was immediate, and Clementine bit her lip as she felt the burning on her forearm.

"Really? Aren't you at least going to give me something to cover it up?" Clementine said, watching Carlos move a few steps away.

"How will we know if she's infected or not?" The man next to Luke asked.

"There's only one way. We wait. We can put her in the shed for the night." Carlos said, to the girl's disbelief.

"Wait, did you hear me? You're not even going to let me cover the wound? You know that walker's bite isn't the only bite that kills, right? And my arm could very well become infected in the meantime." She asked, facing Carlos, who just looked at her with a certain indifference.

"The girl is in bad shape, Carlos." Luke said.

"We have plenty in the bathroom, we can use some of our supplies to-"

"Alvin! Quiet!"

"Oh, yeah, sure...we can't do anything."

"If you're really not infected, I'll clean the wound again and take care of your arm in the morning. Don't take it to heart, you survived all this time, you must understand. Better safe than sorry." Carlos said, turning and walking back to the hut.

Clementine stared at his back for a while, until she sighed in defeat. Well, considering that they are complete strangers, she got more help than she had expected.

Luke waved to her, and with seemingly no choice, the girl followed him.

"Hey, I, ahm... I'm sorry we have to do this, but... well, it's the best thing for everyone. At least it will make the others more comfortable." Luke said, looking at her with a certain amount of regret.

"I can't say I don't understand, everything about the walkers is risky, I know. But, come on, at least something to cover. It doesn't necessarily have to be a bandage. I think, doctor or not, everyone knows that leaving a wound like this exposed is not a very smart idea." She said in a soft voice, she wasn't really angry with them, she understood the caution. But that didn't stop her from being worried.

Her life was at risk there. And if they don't want to help her, she will have to do things her way. Something the girl was really not in the mood for. Pete and Luke seemed nice.

"Oh, I wish I could, I really do. But I can't just take our stuff. We are a group, everything is talked about. And unfortunately, most of us agree on that." Luke said, still looking at her certain sympathy.

The girl sighed as she approached the shed. Again, she understood that. But they should also understand that she would not stand still with an injury like that on her arm.

She entered the empty shed and watched as Luke closed the doors. From the look on his face, he didn't want to do that, but it was too soon to look at him with exactly friendly eyes.

"Why are we doing this? It's fucking dumb." She heard that man's voice, what was his name? Nick? And she rolled her eyes.

"For God's sake, man. You heard Carlos, she wasn't bitten. If it were up to me, she'd be in the cabin."

" Oh, yeah? That would be even dumber."

"Grow up."

The footsteps of the two men moved away, and Clementine looked around. She started reaching for everything she could in there, from the tools in the box in the corner of the shed, to the various things on the tables, but she couldn't find anything she could use to cover her wound, and her blood-covered blouse wasn't exactly a good alternative.

The girl stared at the line on the table, arching an eyebrow. "I can use that to do a stitch... argh, I really didn't want to do that."

The girl sighs as she focuses her eyes on a hammer hanging next to other tools above the table where the line was. There was a hole nailed in the corner of the shed, previously hidden by the toolbox.

It had only been a few minutes since she had been placed there, she couldn't leave yet.

With hammer in hand, she sits down next to the nailed hole and waits for a while. "That's a lot of people for me to go unnoticed, especially if it's now." She muttered to herself, putting her head against the wall and closing her eyes, letting the memories of recent events run through her mind.

Since leaving Savannah, she had never been alone. In fact, ever since she had met Lee, she had never been alone. And for the first time, the silence that had accompanied it frightened her.

"You'll be fine...you'll be fine..." She whispered, closing her eyes again. Now alone, her mind was playing tricks on her. A walker looking at her from behind that table, a corpse emerging from inside that barrel. Thin, icy fingernails scratching at the door of the shed, grunts echoing right next to her ears, but there was nothing there.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to focus on her memories and ignore the things her brain was creating.

Omid and Christa, the first thing that came to her mind. She hoped they were all right. Although they were not the same and they had their problems, they went out of their way to take care of her in those years, she had a lot to thank them for.

But while she hoped to see them again, she was not stupid. The reality was that the chances of them being unharmed were low. They could be as badly injured as she was, or even worse.

She sighed once more. Despite the situation, and the pain in her chest, she didn't feel as if she was going to cry. She felt confused, in fact, wondering what she would do if they were dead.

"Stop being so negative. It's not like it's certain that they're dead." She shook her head, startling herself slightly at the sound of thunder.

She hadn't even noticed when it had started to rain.

Getting out of there was not difficult. It was night and raining, the noise coming from everywhere confused the walkers, not to mention the many shadows created by the lightning, so walking to the cabin was just as easy.

She approached the nearest window. She would take a look inside the place and look for a viable entrance before doing anything else.

As soon as she approached, she ducked as she heard the voice of that woman from before and the man next to her, Alvin.

"Makes me feel like a fucking idiot when we're not on the same page." The woman's voice, still, was irritated. From the looks of it, an argument.

"We ARE on the same page!"

"No, out there we weren't. Not about the girl! I saw you soften up."

"What do you want me to do, Rebecca? Put a bullet in her head? For God's sake, she's a child!"

"I want you to think of our family first!"

"I do, that's all I do! But, Bec, even though our family is a priority, it doesn't mean that the rest of the world has lost its value! Jesus, I don't shoot little girls! And the way you are, you're not acting much different from Carver! Do you realize that?"

"What the fuck did you say?!"

"Exactly what you heard! It's not because our family is a priority that I'm going to shoot every survivor we find out there. It's not because you're pregnant that I'm just going to say that everyone else in the world is working with that maniac. That's not the way it is!"

The place was silent for a while, and Clementine leaned her body slightly to the side, watching the two inside that room.

Alvin was sitting on the bed, and his wife, Rebecca, was staring at him with an incredulous expression, until she grumbled loudly and turned around, leaving the room without saying a word.

Alvin stared at the ground and sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

Clementine stared at him for a while. He had defended the action of helping her when she was not around, which meant that he followed his morals. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

But was it worth the risk?

"I don't want to have to steal. I'd better at least try to ask for help." She thought, and taking a deep breath, she gives the window three light knocks.

Alvin raised his head, and widened his eyes in pure surprise to see her there. The man stood up, only now did the girl realize how much taller he was. Alvin looked back as he walked, and soon, opened the window.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked in a hurried tone, having more concern than anger in his expression.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but, I need help. I can't leave my arm like this." She said low, in a gentle voice. He didn't yell, which, coming from a stranger, was remarkable.

"Me? No, I'm sorry, but, I, I can't do anything. It was a group decision." He said in nervousness, dropping his expression of false anger and looking at her with a certain sympathy.

"Please. That's not a walker bite, but that doesn't mean I'm safe. The wound could still get infected, I could still be in bad shape for it." She argued.

"Have you lost your mind? I mean, I understand, girl, I really do. But you can't be here. You have to get out of here. Go back to the shed and wait until tomorrow, I won't tell anyone about this." He said, looking back a few times.

"Look, I understand your concern, but you must also understand mine. I'm not going to risk getting an infection. I'm not asking for much, just something to cover the wound and a needle, that's all. I don't mind waiting until tomorrow. Please..." She said in a flawed voice, lowering her head slightly, but noticing the man's sympathetic look.

"... Don't cry."

"I'm not gonna cry, I'm just... I'm just tired." She said, hugging her own arm against her body.

Alvin stared at her for a while, until he sighed.

"You... you're not with Carver...?" He asked, and she looked at him with a grimace.

"No... who is that?"

"Oh, no, no one, relax. Look, I'm screwed if anyone finds out about this, okay? We don't have many bandages, but I can find something." He said, walking away and closing the window.

Clementine bent down and began to look around while she waited. The weather was even colder with that rain, heavier than the night before. But strange enough, with her arm like that, she didn't even seem to feel it.

Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw some walkers in the forest and she stood alert, though she thought it unlikely that they would approach her.

The sound of the door closing caught her attention, and she turned to Alvin who was opening the window.

"Here, I found something. They should serve as bandages, and I found a needle in the bathroom." He said, handing her a small roll of cloth with small flower designs down its length and a needle. The girl nodded and took it, storing it in her pocket.

"And, well, I picked up a juice box. I know it's not much, but, you're still in bad shape." He said, handing her the juice box.

Clementine looked at him in genuine surprise, before taking the juice box from his hand and staring at it for a while.

"Thank you. I will repay you, somehow." She said, turning her gaze to Alvin, who just smiled slightly.

"No need, girl, really. Now you need to go, if my wife catches you here, we're both screwed."

He said, not waiting for an answer and then quickly closing the window. Just before he walked away, Clementine could still hear Carlos' voice from behind the door.

"Alvin, meet me in the kitchen in five minutes."

She looked out the window for a few more moments, before turning and walking away.

"The wound has already been cleaned...now comes the fun part." She sighed as she walked back to the shed.

Once she arrived, she walked to the center and placed things on the table. Thread, needle, bandages. Her eyes ran through the items as her mind raced through her memories.

"Come on...just the way Christa showed." She muttered to herself, putting the thread on the needle and resting her arm on the table.

First, she picked up the juice box and drank all its contents first, thanking Alvin once again for his help.

Taking a deep breath, she takes the needle and focuses her eyes on her arm. As soon as she pierced the wound with the needle, the sharp pain that coursed through her arm made the girl groan loudly in pain, slamming her fist against the table and breathing heavily.

She still had a long way to go.

Taking a few more deep breaths, she continued to stitch her own arm, biting her lower lip to control her moans of pain, which occasionally escaped through her mouth.

In the end, she no longer had the strength to moan. Sweat dripped down her hot face, and tears threatened to run from the corner of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

Her gaze fell on her arm. It wasn't her best work, but it was good enough.

Picking up the bandages, she quickly tried to bandage her arm, accidentally dropping the hammer on the table.

As soon as she finished, she turned and crouched down to pick up the hammer, that's when she heard the distinctive grunts of a walker. Her whole body tensed and she stood up quickly when she saw the corpse throw itself into the hole, grabbing her leg.

The girl let out an alarmed scream and leaned on the table beside her, pulling her leg as hard as she could while trying to kick the walker with the other.

However, as the table swayed, she fell to the floor, the hole opened even wider, and the walker crawled onto her body, holding her by the head and trying to bite her neck.

Using her legs, Clementine gritted her teeth as she pushed the corpse away from her, and as soon as she could, she hit the body's head with her hammer.

Blood dripped onto her clothes, running down her arm. With each hammering, the walker's skull sank deeper, and more blood came out, until Clementine pushed him aside and smashed his head with another blow, dropping the hammer soon after.

The adrenaline was leaving her body and she took a deep breath, only now realizing that the shed doors were opened.

"Holy shit..." She heard Luke's voice, and turned to him, running her eyes around the people there.

Pete and Nick were holding rifles, while Alvin stood next to Rebecca with a machete.

"Are you okay? The shed should be safe."

Pete asked, walking a few steps toward them, focusing his eyes on the hole through which the walker crawled.

"Do you believe me now? I'm not infected. I never have been." She said in a hoarse voice, glancing down at the body of the walker lying on the ground.

"Did you patch yourself up?" Luke asked, looking down at her bandaged arm.

"Where did you get those things?" Nick asked, walking a few steps toward her.

" Did she steal from us?" Rebecca asked with some bitterness in her voice.

"That doesn't change anything. She didn't do anything to us." Pete said.

"Yes, I did. I wasn't going to leave my arm like that. You gave me no choice."

"You could have just walked away." Rebecca said.

"I'm not going to apologize. I didn't want to appeal to stealing, but leaving a wound like that uncovered is stupid, and you know it." Clementine said with a firm voice, but no anger in her tone, as she pointed to the blood dripping from the body beside her.

"Bring her inside. I'll take a look." Carlos said, turning and walking toward the cabin.

The others did the same, and Clementine even earned a nod from Pete before he walked away.

"Are you hungry?" Luke asked as she approached, and she just responded with a nod.

Already inside the cabin, the girl watched Carlos analyze her arm, sitting in a chair in the kitchen. Beside her, Nick was leaning on the wall, and Luke stood with his arms crossed, waiting.

"How is she?" Luke asked after a while.

"Her suturing skills need to improve a bit. But she's fine." Carlos said, and Clementine watched with some interest as Nick left the kitchen at a hurried pace, but could tell his slightly embarrassed expression.

"So she's not infected?"

"No, if she were, her fever would have shown by now and her temperature would be through the roof. And the wound is not infected. She's fine." Carlos said, turning and walking to the sink to wipe the blood from his hand as Luke walked out of the kitchen, probably after Nick by the look on his face.

Clementine analyzed her arm with a small smile. Something less to worry about now. She knew her situation was somewhat... worrisome, but there wasn't much she could do in that state.

And walking around without even knowing where she was going in the middle of the night was not really an option.

"You didn't talk to my daughter..." Carlos spoke up after a while, and Clementine stared at him a little curious. Was that a question or a statement?

"I didn't even know you had a daughter." She said, remembering that little girl she had seen earlier, but hadn't even thought of her after that.

"Good. But still, I don't like what you did one bit. My daughter is not like you." He said seriously, like a warning.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But once you've been around her for a while you'll know what I'm talking about. If she knew how bad the world really is, she'd... she would just break." He said, looking out the window.

Clementine arched an eyebrow as she stared at him. She still didn't understand exactly what he meant, but she had some suspicions.

'If she only knew how bad the world really is,' that sentence made it sound as if he had hidden her away and just hushed up the things that happened around her.

"She's my little girl. She is all I have and I would ask you to stay away from her. But since we don't know exactly how long you will stay, I just ask you to understand." He turned to her, walking toward the door.

"...Okay, fine. It's none of my business anyway."

She said, and he stopped right next to her, looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Rebecca was worried that you are working with someone. That your showing up here wasn't just something accidental. Personally, I don't think that's the case. But I've learned not to believe strangers. And I have this strange feeling that you're not entirely trustworthy." He said, just before he left the kitchen.

Clementine stared at the floor for a while, digesting his words. She couldn't blame him, she herself didn't trust any of them one hundred percent, despite the help. At most, she had a good impression on Pete, Luke and Alvin.

"Hey, I brought some food." Speak of the devil, the girl turns to Luke, and walks with him to the table.

It was hard to stop her eyes from sparkling at the sight of hot food again. Especially a full bowl. It had been a while.

"That's going to leave a hell of a scar." He said, looking at her arm.

"Better than losing it. And it doesn't bother me." She replied, momentarily stopping eating.

"You can say that again. Scars are way cooler than stumps." He said with a smile, watching her eat for a while longer.

He looked a little conflicted, as if he wanted to start a conversation but didn't know how.

The door opened, and Clementine's eyes fell on Nick, who was approaching at a slow pace with his head slightly down. He looked embarrassed.

"Hey, look, I... I just wanted to apologize. For... well, for being a jerk out there and... for almost shooting you." He said, scratching the back of his neck and looking away in nervousness. Clementine looked at him and smiled slightly.

"Nick has been known to lose control sometimes. Don't hold it against him."

"Relax. I understand. You just didn't want anything to happen to your group. I confess that you... ahm, crossed the line a bit, but... it's okay." She said in a soft tone, watching him sit down in the chair next to her.

"I didn't mean to be so harsh, it's just... well, I've had a bad experience with biting before."

"Nick lost his mother. We took care of someone who was bitten and... well, it kind of happened." Luke said.

"It was my fault."

"It wasn't anyone's fault. We thought we could control it, but we couldn't and... well, she was there and she was attacked. The rest you can probably imagine." Luke said, lowering his gaze slightly to the ground.

Clementine alternated her gaze between the two of them. She understood his reasons, but she didn't understand why he would reveal so much to a complete stranger. Not that she minded, it was nice to hear an apology and not curses being thrown in her direction for a change.

"Anyway, I hope you understand." Nick said.

"I understand, yes. Don't worry..." She said, watching him smile slightly and stand up, leaving the kitchen looking lighter.

"So, since you're practically alone...what do you plan to do?" Luke asked after a while, and Clementine bowed her head slightly, thoughtfully.

That was what was bothering her.

"My group is still out there. Hopefully, maybe they're not dead. I... I'd like to meet them again."

"Well, you can stay here for a while, you know? Until this wound heals and you've revised your plans." Luke offered, and the girl stared at him for a while.

For a stranger, he was kind. Too kind, and she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Maybe that was just his nature, but she had learned that sweet words and kind smiles could be dangerous. A family of cannibals who were eaten alive, and a stranger who said he was with his parents. Two situations in her life that she would never forget.

"... I appreciate it. But are you sure? I mean, I am a stranger. And not everyone here seems to like me."

"Yes, I'm sure. I would never forgive myself for letting a little girl go out there alone, especially when she's hurt. Besides, I don't have a problem with you here. Neither do Pete and Nick, even though Nick has been a pain in the ass."

"What about that woman, Rebecca?"

"Well, she'll have to deal with it."

The girl looked at him analytically for a while, he didn't seem to be lying, nor hiding some malicious intent.

She sighed. She wouldn't get very far at that point, she would have to stay there for the night anyway.

"So, where are your parents? If you don't mind me asking."

Clementine stopped the spoon a few inches from her mouth, and her eyes fixed on the table. Of all the questions, there was the question that, deep down, she didn't want him to ask. She lowered the spoon slowly, her eyes still staring at the table.

"I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's just, you're so young, I didn't think you lasted all this time alone. I mean, you patched up your own arm, maybe, you made it." Luke said, stumbling over his own words as he saw the girl's condition. Clearly he had touched on a sensitive subject.

"They died." She said simply, after a while, looking down at the food in her bowl.

"Oh, um... that's tough. I lost my folks, too. Right after all this started."

She looked at him for only a few moments, before looking away.

"Hey, I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, it's just... I just wanted to know a little more about you."

She sighed.

"It's okay. They left, went on a trip to Savannah and never came back. We went there to find them, but they were already dead." She replied, shaking her head and eating some more of her food.

"Wow. I'm... I'm sorry. Did you go with the group you are in now?"

"No. I was in another one. A bigger one. But the people who are with me now were part of that group."

"Oh, hm... in a way, you were lucky. You had several people to take care of you. That's great." He said, and although she knew he was just trying to cheer her up, it had just the opposite effect.

It hurt, and she did her best not to let him notice.

Although, from his expression, he did notice.

"I hate to interrupt. But I'm keeping my guard up, and I can't keep from noticing that we're lit up like a beacon in the middle of the woods." Pete said after entering the kitchen, and Clementine mentally thanked him.

She didn't want to have that conversation right now. She didn't even feel ready, she barely talked about the past when she was with Omid and Christa. And even if she had taken a liking to Luke, they were still strangers.

"Yeah, time to close the eyes anyway." Luke said, getting up.

"Finish eating and come to me, I'll show you where you'll sleep. In the morning, we're going fishing. A couple of fish for dinner? Hm, that would be great." Pete said, smiling slightly at Clementine, who nodded in his direction.

The two men left the kitchen, and the girl hurried to finish eating. She wouldn't turn down a night's sleep, no way.

"Oh, you're still here." Rebecca's voice caught her attention, and Clementine controlled herself not to sigh.

She watched Rebecca walk to the sink and begin washing her hands. She thought that everything would be fine if she didn't say anything, so she just went back to eating.

"I wouldn't be comfortable if I were you." Rebecca said after a while, and Clementine stared at her.

"What? Who...?"

"Don't pull that shit on me. I'm not my husband." Rebecca said with some hostility, approaching in short strides.

"Well, excuse me, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"... Yes, you do."

"No, I don't. And I'd rather stay ignorant. Look, I have no problem with you. And if you don't like me, just ignore me. It'll be better for both of us. I haven't done anything to deserve all this hostility." Clementine said as gently as she could.

She had lived with Christa long enough to train her patience, although she felt a little frustrated. She left one angry woman to end up next to another.

"...You got what you wanted. Now leave." Rebecca said, not making the slightest effort to hide her displeasure, and this time, Clementine didn't hide her sigh of displeasure.

"Yeah, yeah, right. I'm sorry if you don't like me, my bad." She said with some irony, giving little thought to the woman's angry face, and just concentrating on her food.

Though she couldn't control her smile as she watched Rebecca walk away at an angry pace and leave the kitchen.