Author's Note: Ok, so I'm writing this like a fifth of the way into the chapter, but I already know this one's gonna take some time. I assume it will be a bit late and I apologize in advance, but this chapter will be largely used as a bridge, getting to know the new Clementine, adjusting to the new circumstances, and advancing the plot. Either way, I hope you enjoy this slightly different chapter.

Season 2: Chapter 2

Trapped:

…

There are a lot of things that people would do to survive. Lines become blurred over time as the world dives deeper and deeper into hell. Clementine herself had done some things she knew she wouldn't do if there weren't dead people walking around, but this was a lot to handle.

The horde was incomprehensibly dense, full of scores of walkers on a scale she hadn't imagined, nor had she wanted to imagine this many of them at once.

She kept her eyes trained on the person she identified in the fray, utterly bewildered at the circumstances she found herself in. The woman was buried with the dead, even covered in their innards. Clementine understood why it would work, but weren't there much less horrible ways to survive? The woman, as she appeared to be, although the gunk combined with the short hair made it hard to tell, walked with the walkers. They didn't try to eat her, didn't push her around, they didn't even seem to notice her.

She was alive, actively surviving. A day ago, she reminisced about the people who didn't "have what it takes" to survive in this world, and now, she was questioning if she, herself did. She hadn't seen anyone do something so extreme to survive, well except eating people that was.

She cringed at what she saw. It made her want to throw up, but she never stopped watching. She wasn't sure why, but she never wanted to look away, like she admired the stranger. The only issue was, she didn't even know who the person was, and she would have to survive the horde below her if she ever wanted to meet her.

The situation was grim, possibly grimmer than she had ever experienced, and now, it was time to find a way out of it.

The roof she was on was lonely, an island among other islands surrounded by waters full of predatory fish. The other roofs were too far to jump to, and all ground around the building was covered in walkers, not to mention the inside of the store, which was also entirely full of the undead.

How had they made such a mistake, after so long in this world how had they managed to make such a colossal, detrimental, clueless mistake?

They had been so careful for so long and now this. She was going to make it out, there had to be a way. Lee was still behind her, tending to Carley. She had been lucky that there was a car around before, lucky that it had a battery, lucky she had good aim. Now that luck had run out.

From atop the roof, Clementine saw nothing of relevance. There was of course that mysterious woman, but Clementine had lost track of her, and now all they had was the relative safety of the roof.

"You see anything," Carley asked, seeming calmer than moments ago.

Clementine took one last look over the edge before finally leaving it and heading to the middle of the roof. She shook her head as she sat down against a ventilation unit and fastened her signature hat.

"Then what?" Carley asked, more to Lee than anyone else.

"I guess we just have to wait it out, we're lucky that summer's over because this could be a lot worse," Lee said, looking for a silver lining.

Clementine's shoulders slumped, she knew there was no way out, even still though she always believed in Lee. He always had the answers. Not this time.

"Should I get the tent out?" Clementine asked.

"No need, we can just sleep outside tonight, not like they can get up here. Unless they learn how to climb ladders that is." Lee remarked.

Not exactly a comforting sentiment.

…

It was getting pretty cold. Hours had passed. It was dark now and usually, they would have gone off to bed, but the constant growling below them accompanied with more than occasional gunfire made sleep less than possible.

Clementine had tried to give her blanket to Carley, but she refused. She looked very cold, shivering constantly, but she tried to hide it to make Clem feel better. It was times like these that she wished she wasn't a kid. Carley clearly needed the blanket more than Clementine did, regardless, she resigned herself to sleep soon after that.

…

The next morning was relatively peaceful, vastly contrasted to the night before, there was no gunfire, only the quiet moaning of the walkers. They must have forgotten they were up there, otherwise, there was no way they would have been this quiet. Clementine didn't dare to look over the edge and risk all of the walkers noticing her again, but the sounds of walkers were still there, albeit quiet, but Clementine was used to this, she could tell when there were walkers around most of the time now.

This was very concerning though. Even if she didn't actually look over the edge, she could tell they were still there and most likely hadn't even moved. Sure, they had food, but in all honesty, she was worried about other things right now.

…

The next day came and went, nothing had changed. Carley was starting to struggle with the cold and eventually even accepted Clementine's blanket. She looked ill. Her nose was red and her eyes shared that color.

She should have taken the blanket before. It was most likely just a cold, but in these times, that wasn't as easy to get over as it used to be. They had some meds, but Clementine wasn't sure if they were the right kind, if they were expired, or even if there was enough to help her. It was a problem to pay attention to.

…

It was the fourth morning on the roof that saw the mental fortitude of the three finally start to fade. They had food for another week, maybe two if it came to it, but with things the way they were, it was more of a guarantee than anything else.

Clementine had felt hopeless before, but this was something new to her. She had never been in a situation that she had such little control over, one that she saw absolutely no way out of, worst of all, one that she had been led into by someone she trusted.

This wasn't to say she would have blamed Lee for this, but he was always right and for him to suddenly be so detrimentally wrong about something was a new experience. When Clementine looked over at Lee, she saw an expression that made a lot of sense. He was clearly guilty, but even worse was the fact that even he was losing hope.

She sat near the edge of the roof with her arms around her knees, fighting the urge to just empty the group's ammo into the crowd. She knew it wouldn't work, even if they had perfect aim. Surely the noise would attract whoever was in the town, and they had guns too.

Clementine buried herself into her knees and muttered some unintelligible words when suddenly she heard some shifting on the roof ahead of her. She raised her head and immediately saw the problem. Lee looked shocked, Carley looked terrified. Clementine saw what they were looking at, or rather, who. It was due to this fact that she wasn't worried. It was an odd comfort to see the person's face. A woman, cleaner than last time Clementine had seen her, although she still had intestines sprawled over her shoulders. She wore a yellow leather jacket and some tight jeans. She looked fierce, calm, and smart, exactly what Clementine aspired to be.

The woman didn't say a word at first, obviously not trying to alert the walkers below, but what she did next was far more surprising. As if she had been hiding it before, she pulled a dilapidated body from the ladder. It hit the ground with a lifeless thud. When it hit, the face of the thing looked as if it was staring at Clementine, far from a comforting feeling. Clementine was repulsed, but after a few seconds, she understood.

It was so clear now. They would make it off of the roof. That much Clementine was sure of, they wouldn't even be harmed, physically at least. Lee and Carley appeared to be less understanding.

It was when the lady pulled a hatchet from her pocket and thrust it into the walker that they seemed the most at their wit's end. Lee drew his weapon, Carley hid behind him, and the woman surprised Clementine again. She didn't even flinch. She didn't even acknowledge that Lee had a gun on her. She was so quiet, so calm despite the circumstances.

Clementine only wondered if she herself was capable of being so collected. Clementine felt more at comfort just being in the woman's company as if her being there assured her safety completely. She loved Lee, she knew Lee would sooner die than allow her to, but she didn't want Lee to die, she felt more that Lee was safer now. It was an almost unfamiliar feeling, one she hadn't felt since that day. She wouldn't think of that anymore, it always just made things worse.

Forcing Clementine to refocus herself, the woman slowly and angrily tilted her head up at Lee, who still had his gun trained on. Her eyes spoke volumes while she didn't. Lee still didn't budge. The woman shook her head and went back to cutting up the body. She sliced and gashed at the body until lots of guts were visible and accessible.

Lee and Carley still looked confused. The woman looked at the two then at Clementine. Reading the child's face, she snapped her fingers and pointed at the body, signaling Clem to come over.

She took the first step, earning a disapproving look from Lee. She still continued though. She knew it had to be done if they were to survive.

When Clementine got to the woman, Lee finally lowered his gun, instead of using it, he opted to walk closer. The woman reached into the body with a gushy sound following. That sound was almost enough to do it, luckily her breakfast stayed inside her. It was even worse when the woman didn't ask for permission or anything. She just started spreading the blood all over Clementine, on her face, all over her clothes, everywhere.

She felt disgusting, but she knew it would work. And she wanted to get off of the roof more than she wanted to be clean. Lee almost yelled at the woman but caught himself at the last second.

He chanced a whisper, "What the hell are you doing to her?"

The woman glared back at Lee, eventually whispering back, "For her, you mean? I'm getting you idiots off this roof."

Lee was about to snap back at the woman, but Clementine reassured him, "It's okay Lee, I don't want to be stuck up here any longer."

Lee gave no wordy response, instead, he gave a confused face at her indifference and looked to Carley.

"Do you want to do this?" He asked.

She took a moment before answering, "There's no other choice."

Lee reluctantly followed directions, first smearing the camouflaging substance onto Carley, then himself all the while worrying about what would happen once they got off of the roof. He had none of the confidence that Clementine had with this plan.

With the woman leading, the group climbed down the ladder with Lee going second. He helped the two ladies down and faced the horde with disdain. They were definitely still there, and they were definitely not moving.

Most surprising of all to him must've been the fact that the walkers didn't even turn to face him. They didn't even notice them. He was amazed, horrified, and frustrated that he hadn't known about this before.

The woman quickly motioned for the trio to follow her as she dipped into the crowd with slow, even steps. With a heavy heart, they followed, each holding someone's hands. Lee still led, Clementine was close behind him, holding both his hand and Carley's, who hung back.

As they entered the horde, there was no reaction from the dead. With every step, they trapped themselves further in harm's way. They had no idea where the woman was taking them, nor did they know if they trusted her. Lee debated breaking off and separating with the woman, but when he looked back at the two women, he understood they had to give it a try. Especially with the state Carley was in.

The moans and growls of the crowd were horrifying, like at any second they could slip up and all this time would have been for nothing. It was a living nightmare. They'd had this conversation before, they didn't want to become walkers, no matter what, they didn't want that. They had to face their biggest fear to make it out of there and it was a tall task to say the least.

The streets were so full of them that they couldn't even see where they were anymore. All they saw was the mysterious woman and each other. They had to place every ounce of their trust in each other and this stranger.

Clementine looked back at Carley, she looked pale, struggling to walk, it was the worst thing that could happen right now. She looked like she was about to collapse, so much so in fact that Clementine moved to catch her, which she was fortunate to do because the woman actually did start to fall. Lee looked back in terror, thankful that Clementine was able to catch the woman. Slowly, he made his way toward the two, balancing Carley on his shoulder. Clementine let the woman off of her, but as Lee lifted her, the woman gagged. The stranger looked back as the worst happened. Carley was throwing up.

Violently, loudly, Carley's breakfast came out of her and alerted everything around her. Clementine's eyes opened wide. The walkers started to turn and face her as they groaned. The mysterious woman even looked shocked. Clementine looked around for something to take the attention of the walkers, but she found nothing, she couldn't see anything.

The woman failed to find something as well. In the end, Lee was the one to act. He did the only thing he could, he picked up Carley and ran. Clementine sprinted behind him and the woman followed. They just ran, through the crowd, over some as they preyed to live another day. Carley looked even worse in Lee's hands and now they were even more worried. The woman finally spoke at full volume, "Follow me, I know somewhere safe!"

There was no apprehension this time, the group just followed her with no resistance. Pushing through the crowd was difficult, almost impossible at times. Clementine had an easier time due to her size, but even then it was difficult.

Not to mention the stench. Rancid and unavoidable, the smell crept into their noses and nearly made them follow Carley's actions. The smell only furthered the thought that the next step could be their last, especially now that improvisation was a factor.

Ducking and weaving through the crowd, Clementine found a good rhythm, the problem was that her older companions did not. At some point, Clementine lost them, she couldn't even find them, turning around multiple times. The only person she saw was, of course, that woman.

The woman saw Clem and understood what she was doing. She urged the girl to follow her, almost in a pleading fashion. Clementine remained determined, she had confidence behind her. She needed it to pay off this time.

There was a moment that particularly stuck out to her, when the gap was closing between her and the woman, the woman lunged forward and squeezed Clem's arm, trying to pull her out of the crowd by force rather than choice. Still, Clementine stayed strong, those few extra seconds she bought had probably saved three lives. Barreling through the crowd were the parents of the unborn child, Lee having Carley's arm wrapped over his shoulder.

Clementine grabbed Lee's hand and allowed herself to be pulled in by the woman and finally, she fell butt-first into a dark room. As soon as the other two adults were inside, the woman pulled down the door.

…

There were a few fleeting moments in the dark, adrenaline still flowing and the heat of the action still very much inside of them. It was dark, even when she squinted she couldn't see. She heard clunking, likely from the woman trying to navigate the impossibly dark room. Eventually, there was light. Fiery, dull, but a light nonetheless.

Clementine looked around fervorously until she found the two, huddled up against a wall. It seemed like Carley was breathing alright, but she still had the unmistakable pale tint to her usually vibrant complexion.

"The hell is wrong with you people?" The woman spoke again.

"Us? You tried to leave us!" Lee yelled back.

Clementine calmly walked over and sat next to the two and watched as the argument ensued.

"Maybe if you told me she was sick before I decided to help you, we would have been fine, especially now that we're all trapped," The woman explained.

"We didn't ask you to come," Lee remarked.

There was a tense silence, Lee not meeting the woman's eyes, too focused on Carley.

Clementine was the one to break the silence, perhaps to Lee's dismay, "Thank you," she said. The woman glanced back at Clementine with a confused expression. Lee continued to look into Carley's eyes. She was awake, but unspeaking, alive, but unmoving, not bit, but terribly sick.

"What's wrong with her," The woman asked in a timid tone.

Lee took a deep breath before looking back at the woman and answering, "Could be anything, not bit though. It was a cold night, she woke up sick," he explained.

"I might have something for that, but she wasn't bit, right?" The woman offered.

"No," Lee said in a dismissive tone as if angered by the idea.

Clementine watched it all go down, the woman reached into her bag, Carley swallowed the pills. It was as simple as that, she only hoped that Carley would feel better soon, she hadn't seen her so sick before.

The woman kept glancing at Clementine, she pretended not to notice, but it only made her wonder, what was the woman thinking?

"What's her name," the woman asked Lee, referring to Clementine.

Lee looked to the girl, then back to the woman, "What's yours?"

The woman didn't take long to give her answer, "Jane."

Clementine took the opportunity to answer for herself, unsure if Lee would, but she saw no reason not to, "Clementine," she said in a quiet, nervous tone.

"I'm Lee and this is Carley, in case you were wondering," Lee added in a dejected tone.

After a short time of quiet, Carley was finally able to muster some words, "I'm gonna take a nap, don't worry, I'm not dead yet," earning a concerned look from Lee and conflicting expressions from the other two spectators in the room.

True to her word, Carley closed her eyes and dozed off. Lee laid her down on his lap and sighed.

"What's the plan?" Lee asked.

Jane looked at Lee with another confused expression, "What do you want, an itinerary? I don't know, we're kind of trapped at the given moment."

Lee silently looked to the ceiling. This was going to be a while.

…

Hours passed, eventually Lee joined Carley in slumber and Clementine followed suit. When they woke, nothing much had changed, in fact Clem wasn't sure if the woman even blinked the night before, she hadn't moved an inch and she was already awake before her.

Lee had been too, she was actually woken up by the two talking.

"Could we just head back into it?" Lee asked.

"The smell might have worn off, I'm not sure," Jane explained.

"Is there any other way out of here?" Lee wondered.

"Unless you want to send her through the vents, then no," the woman dismissed.

"I can-" Clem started.

"No." Lee interrupted, he wasn't going to let her take that kind of risk.

Clementine hushed herself, she wasn't going to defy Lee this time, especially after last time, it just wasn't worth the hassle.

"Then no, no other way out," the woman remarked in a sassy tone.

After a brief silence, Lee would ask another question, "Where were we gonna go before… you know…"

"Before the woman ruined it? I was gonna drop you off with a community down at the Howes down the road, they've got it good, but now, I don't know," Jane explained.

Howes? They've got it good, Clementine had often wondered if a place like that existed, but she always doubted it, people didn't have what it took to make a place like that in a world like this, right? Every group she'd seen had fallen apart quickly, even the cannibals at the dairy, how could a group survive at a Howes and actually "have it good"?

"Wait, did you say you would drop us off?" Clementine wondered aloud.

"Umm… yeah," the woman said.

"Why wouldn't you come with us?" Clementine asked.

Jane looked around the room looking for an excuse but found none. She took a second, sighed, then explained, "I don't- I don't get along with people very well if you couldn't tell. There's nothing particularly wrong with the community, at least that I've seen from the outside, but I just…"

She paused.

In a moment of understanding, Lee interjected "We get it, we've been alone for a long time too."

"Well you don't make that obvious, apart from shooting the car, you guys weren't very smart from what I saw," the woman snapped back.

She looked at Clementine, her anger subsided a bit, "It was you, wasn't it?"

Clementine nodded.

She took that information and mulled it over. It was quiet for a while after that, but at some point, Jane got up and fiddled around with something in a box and pulled it out. She held it in her hand where they couldn't see it for a moment, contemplating. She thought hard for several minutes, but with a deep breath, she ultimately made her decision. She held it out in front of the group, a grenade.

"Look, I know I seem a bit harsh, but I want to help you guys get out of here, for the girl's sake. As soon as the woman, Carley, was it? As soon as she wakes up, I think we make a break for it."

Lee looked at the thing like it was the holy grail, eyes practically sparkling as he inspected the thing. "You've had this the whole time?"

"Well you had those guns the whole time and never thought to just shoot back, now you don't, so I figure it's best to use these things while we still can," Jane sassed.

"Fine, but we need to wait until Carley is feeling better, alright?" Lee offered.

"Hopefully that's sooner than later," Jane agreed.

Clementine looked at Carley with hopeful excitement. It wasn't often that she caught a break like this. Now the only matter was Carley's health.

…

They sat there, hours, waiting for Carley to wake up. It was beginning to worry Clementine, but after a while, she finally woke. It wasn't sudden, but gradual, slow. Her eyes came open with a great yawn. As she got her bearings, she noticed everyone staring at her. She looked better than before, she was less pale, her breathing was clear, and she didn't look terrible.

"Yeah, so I guess I'm not dead," Carley said in a joking tone.

Lee squeezed her in a hug and Clementine smiled. Even Jane seemed happy to see Carley was doing better. They were gonna do it. They were gonna get out of there. Then… They had a conversation ahead of them.

It didn't take long for Lee and Jane to explain the situation to Jane. It was a good plan, or at least Carley thought so. Just before they left, Lee knelt down in front of Clementine and reached into his back holster, pulling out a weapon for the girl, their only remaining gun.

She initially didn't take it, but it didn't seem much like an option. Lee was insistent that she was the one to have the gun. It was a moment of admission, Lee hadn't trusted her back in the store. Clementine didn't remember the last time Lee admitted that he himself was in the wrong, and he didn't say it this time either, but as the proverb went, actions speak louder than words.

She took the weapon nervously, but when it was in her hands and she saw everyone in the room looking so proudly at her, she felt emotions she hadn't felt in a long time. She lunged at Lee, hugging him tightly.

In a hushed tone, only loud enough for him to hear, she said, "Thank you." If there were any lingering emotions from the fight back at the store, they were gone, transformed into something new. One last time, Clementine held the gun in her hands, staring at the thing, she was going to prove Lee right, she knew she would.

She cocked the gun back and checked the barrel, it was loaded. She put the safety on and put it in her holster.

Jane stood in front of their single exit. They all stood, ready to push out, covered in guts and blood that was apparently expired, whatever that meant.

She looked at the group with a questioning expression, her body asked "Are you ready?" And they all answered with an equal amount of words, they were ready.

With a swift pull of a rope, the door came up, revealing the challenge ahead. They weren't full of fear now, but readiness, readiness to do what was necessary. The walkers saw them and growled violently. With haste, Jane pulled the pin from the grenade and tossed it into the crowd as far as she could. As expected it took a few seconds, the walkers got fairly close, but when the loud explosive went off, their attention was completely taken. As the walker closest to them turned away, they exhaled, all they had to do was get there now.

"Lead the way," Lee said to Jane. She nodded and ran off down the street. Lee made Carley go next in their line so if something happened, they would have an easier time noticing. At full speed, the group sprinted down the road, there were still walkers ahead, but with swift knifework, they were nothing serious. Body after body fell as they made their way up the street.

Working in tandem, Lee pushed forward with a combat knife, trusting Clementine to keep the walkers off of his side. She was glad to be trusted in such a way, and she wouldn't disappoint. She rattled off rounds whenever one got close, not even missing a single shot. Her accuracy was undeniable. When she could see a walker's face, she shot between the eyes. When she saw the side of their head, she shot right in the ear. She was a force.

Lee didn't even have to look to his side. Jane and Lee pushed forward as Carley did her best to stay safe. They were marching. The effect of the grenade was gone, but they were moving. The walkers weren't even getting close, either moving too slow to catch up, or being eviscerated by the group. They had never been so efficient.

They developed a harmonic rhythm, finding themselves never stopping. Clementine was even able to reload without the flow being thrown off. They had killed so many by the time it was over, they had never seen anything like it.

As they made their way out of the crowd, they had another large one on their tail, they looked ahead, there it was, walled off and clearly guarded. There was a feeling that came with the place, as if it, itself, was watching as they fought their way toward, Howes. It stood proud, with people on the roof looking down as the group emerged from the crowd.

Wordlessly, the group sprinted to what looked like the only entrance to the place.

…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, this took a long ass time to write, and it was especially hard to find time to write it. Admittedly, I didn't do anything last weekend, but I needed a break. This chapter was almost entirely written in between classes at school, now I'm on a two-week break from school so maybe I can write more. I have a pretty complete idea for how I want this season to go and how I want the next one to go, so I'm pretty excited to get that moving, I just have to not rush it for maximum effect. Either way, I hope the next chapter is done sooner than the last and I hope this one was worth the wait, especially with Jane coming along and Clementine earning new privileges. Badass Clem is in development people! Either way, thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon!