Clementine was nervous. Even that was an understatement for how she felt. She had to tell someone who may as well be a complete stranger something extremely personal. Her chest felt tight, yet she felt somewhat calm.
"You don't have to tell me if you aren't comfortable, it's x ok" Sam smiled, seeing the 12-year-old's face drastically change. He wasn't one to force an explanation, despite being a father himself, and seeing the girl looking almost distraught was enough for him to realize the severity of what he had just said.
"N-No, its OK. It might help me move on if I talk about him…" Clem sighed, adjusting her back against the cold steel of the truck.
"Oh, was he your father or something?" Sam questioned, shifting to face the girl.
"Yeah, you could say that" Clem sadly smiled, stroking AJ's head. The infant gurgled slightly, grabbing a hold of Clem's finger and attempting to chew on it. Sam watched with a smile at the loving bond the two obviously shared as Clementine delved into her story.
"Why can't I come too?" A young Clementine questioned of her mother Diana as the latter packed a large black suitcase full of clothes and toiletries.
"I'm sorry Clementine, but this isn't a trip we can take you on. Your father and I are going to Savannah on business. Daddy is going to a meeting and I'm going to be filling in at the hospital in the city. Don't worry, we'll only be gone 2 weeks, and in the meantime, we got Sandra to come watch you" Diane smiled, zipping the heavy luggage and placing it on the ground.
"Oh…" Clementine's downtrodden reply hurt Diana. Instinctively, Diana bent down and clutched the young girl, pulling her off the ground and hugging her.
"Don't be like that baby, it'll be fine. We'll call you before bed every night, Ok?" Diana smiled, her attempts to comfort the girl working, albeit slowly.
"Okay…" Clementine wriggled in Diana's grip, obviously wanting to be put down. Once she was placed back down on solid ground, she ran off to her room, shutting the door. Diana watched on sadly, oblivious to her husband walking up beside her.
"What's wrong honey?" Ed smiled, hugging his wife.
"Its Clementine. She was really disappointed to hear she couldn't come along with us to Savannah" Ed looked over at his daughter's room, then a thought struck him.
"Hang on, I have an idea" Ed smirked, moving past his wife into their large master bedroom. Ignoring the extra bag he was supposed to pack, he moved to the closet and swung it open, searching through. His hand brushed against a small box, which he pulled out and opened up. Inside sat large amounts of baseball memorabilia.
"What are you doing? Isn't that your dad's baseball memorabilia?" Diana frowned, watching as her husband searched through the contents.
"Clem loved watching baseball with Dad when he was still with us. So I thought it might make her day if I gave her Dad's favorite baseball cap. To borrow, of course" Ed smiled sadly, running his hand over the worn material. He shut the lid and placed the box back in the closet, hat still in hand.
"I'm sure she'll be very happy about it" Diana smiled, moving to the other side of the bed and beginning to place Ed's clothes in his suitcase. Instead of interrupting, he moved out of the room and walked quietly down the hall, approaching the small flower-covered door belonging to his daughter. He stood rigid for a moment before knocking quietly on the door, peeking it open slightly.
"Clem, honey. Can I come in?" There was no response for a few moments before a small hum from inside allowed him to enter. Ed slowly opened the door and spotted his daughter on the ground colouring in on the ground.
"Hey, your mother told me you were a bit upset" Ed explained, sitting down on the floor next to his daughter.
"Uh-huh…" Clementine's saddened response broke Ed's heart, though he pushed that to the side as he spoke again.
"Well, maybe this'll help you cheer up a bit" Clementine looked over confused as Ed revealed the hat he had hidden behind his back.
"Isn't that Grandpa's hat?" Clem innocently questioned, putting the crayon she was using down.
"It is, but maybe wearing it while we're gone might help you relax. You can borrow it until we get back" Ed smiled, handing the hat to the girl. It took a moment before she shakily took the hat and inspected it.
"Y'know, for only being 8, you are one of the smartest little girls I've ever seen" Clementine looked up and smiled, resizing the hat and donning it.
"Thanks Dad!" Clem jumped up, running over and hugging Ed. He smiled and hugged the girl back. A sudden knock at the door startled Ed as Clementine released him.
"I wonder who that could be…" Clementine grabbed Ed's hand as he walked out of the room, following as he moved to the front door and swinging it open. On the other side was a young girl, around 16 years old standing on the other side.
"Hey Sandra. Thanks for watching Clementine on such short notice" Ed smiled as he unlocked the screen door and allowed the teenager to enter the house. He was confused as to why she was so early but he didn't mind.
"No problem Ed. I'm happy to watch her anytime" Sandra shook Ed's hand as she entered the home, then picked up Clementine and hugged her.
"Oh, hello Sandra. I didn't realize you were arriving so early. I thought you said you were getting here at 4?" Diana smiled, walking over and hugging the teenager.
"Oh, I got off work early today. Boss got sick and since I'm only a casual, I cant run the store on my own. So I helped him pack up and shut early" Clementine's smile was bigger than normal as she continued to hug her teenage babysitter.
"Well, you're here early so we might leave a bit earlier. We might be able to beat the traffic and get out there before dark" Ed took the extra bag off his wife as the two stood at the door.
"You know the rules, Clementine. Listen to what Sandra says, and don't misbehave. If you're good, we'll bring you something back from Savannah" Diana walked over and took Clementine from Sandra, clutching her tightly.
"I know. I'll be good, I promise!" Ed watched happily as the scene unfolded, before his phone began blaring in his pocket. Sighing, he begrudgingly grabbed the device out and answered.
"Hello? Yes, I know. Yes, I'm aware we have the meeting. We're leaving soon. Ok, bye" Ed slid the phone back into his pocket, then grabbed his bag.
"We should head out soon" Ed reminded his wife.
"You're right. We'll see you in 2 weeks, ok baby girl?" Diana gently placed Clementine back on the ground, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Ok… Bye Mom, Bye Dad" Clem followed as her parents left the front door, watching them pack the bulky luggage in the back of their car. She waved as the two drove off, before she felt Sandra's hand on her shoulder.
"C'mon kiddo, you hungry? I'll order a pizza" Sandra offered, leading the girl back inside.
"Ok!" Clementine smiled, following Sandra back into the house.
"So that's the last time you saw them, huh?" Sam listened with intent, soaking up every word of the girls story.
"Mhmm" Clementine nodded sadly, hugging AJ close to her.
"Well, ill admit kid, you have me hooked. What happened next?" Clementine felt a tear beginning to form in her eye, which she wiped away before Sam noticed it.
"Well, after that, for the next few days Me and Sandra played games and watched TV together. Then, my mom called from Savannah. We were both confused but Sandra answered the phone anyways" Clementine explained, diving back into her story.
"Hey Diana, what's up?" Sandra answered, holding a can of cola and sipping it.
"Hey Sandra. We had a bit of an incident in Savannah, so we're gonna be a few days late. Some crazy guy dressed like a zombie or something bit Ed. I think it was some sort of prank but we're in ER just in case" Sandra heard Diana sigh through the receiver.
"Oh, ok. I hope he feels ok, wouldn't want anything happening to Ed. He's an awesome guy" Sandra looked over and saw Clementine had fallen asleep on the sofa, snoring softly.
"Well, I'd better get going. Thank you so much again for watching our baby girl, and I promise, we'll be back before your summer break" Diana promised, hearing someone behind her calling her name.
"No rush. If Ed isn't any better, I can always go a few days late" Sandra smiled, downing the last of her can.
"You really are a saint, Sandra. I'll call you with any ne-" Diana's last word rang as the phone line died unexpectedly. Sandra looked at the phone, shrugging and putting the phone back on the receiver. After throwing the now empty can into the bin across the room, Sandra moved back into the living room and went to pick up Clementine, only to hear a loud thudding against the thick wooden front door. Thinking someone was there, she moved across the room and used the peephole to look out at who was knocking. A man was standing there, slouching over and growling lowly to himself. Fearing the worst, Sandra creaked the door open slightly.
"Hello? Are you ok, sir?" Sandra asked quietly, waiting for a reaction. Instead, the slouched figure tried to grab her through the door. Squealing, Sandra slammed the door shut, cutting off two of the rotten looking figures. The smell of death and decay wafted through the house as Sandra struggled not to gag as she ran over and grabbed Clementine in her arms, waking the younger girl in the process.
"mmm… Sandra? What's going on?" Clementine questioned sleepily, stretching out in the teenager's grip.
"Clem, go up to your room now, and get your backpack. Put some drawing stuff in there then get back down here. GO!" Sandra ordered, grabbing her duffle bag and dumping the contents out onto the sofa, pocketing her mobile phone. As Clementine confusedly watched Sandra, she decided not to question her instructions and ran upstairs, leaving Sandra alone. With the now empty bag in hand, Sandra ran straight to the small kitchen, dumping food and water alike into the bag, filling it to the brim before zipping it up and hauling the hefty bag over her shoulder. As soon as she stepped out of the kitchen, Clementine came bounding down with her own bag, Ed's 'D' cap placed atop her head.
"Come here kiddo, lets go" Sandra hastily grabbed Clementine's hand, running to the back door. She threw the door open and stepped out. The sounds of gunshots rang out around them, yet Sandra ignored them and ran down the stairs, across the yard to a large oak tree with an even larger treehouse sitting high in the branches. A small yet fairly sturdy rope ladder hung off the top, which Sandra grabbed onto and clambered up, Clementine hanging off her shoulders. Once up, the ladder was hastily pulled back up and hidden away inside.
"Sandra, why are we hiding up here? What's going on?" Clementine fearfully asked, clutching the older girl and visibly shaking. Sandra didn't initially respond, peeking out of their wooden escape towards the highway. Police cars and riot vans sped past, heading away towards the massive city of Atlanta.
"Sandra, is something happening? Are we in danger?" Clementine asked a bit louder, her voice almost giving out.
"No Clem, we'll be fine. We have food and water, and we have a nice comfy treehouse. I think there's something happening in the city, so we're gonna camp out up here in case whatever is happening goes south" Sandra explained, still peeking out and noticing the person who had been at their door lumbering down the street, despite the blood spilling out of where his fingers used to be.
"Hiding away in the treehouse? Smart, I have to say" Sam complimented, shifting his grip on Jen.
"It worked for a while, until we ran out of food" Clementine sighed shakily, breaking open past wounds for the first time in years
"So what happened then?" Sam noticed Jen shifting a bit in his grasp, then falling back asleep.
"Next? Next is when I lost Sandra"
"Do you have to go out?" Sandra glanced back towards the young girl, who was sitting in the middle of the floor drawing.
"I don't like leaving you alone Clementine, but we used the last of the food I packed this morning, not to mention our water is running out. I'm going to take the bag and go inside, see if I can find any food I left behind when we raced up here" Sandra smiled, lifting the now empty bag onto her shoulder.
"Ok… Be careful" Clementine looked down back to her drawing as Sandra swung the door open and dropped down to the ground. The thin wooden door swung shut, leaving Clementine with minimal light from the small window behind her. No sound could be heard, save from the crayon scribbling against the slips of paper. A crash resonated from inside, causing Clementine to drop her crayon and remain completely silent. No noise came, until a scream rang out. Clementine jumped up and peeked out of the door, and saw Sandra struggling against someone in the kitchen, before that person pushed against her and bit into her shoulder, before digging their hands into Sandra's stomach. In fear, Clem slammed the door shut and retreated to the other side of the treehouse. Clutching herself, Clementine sat silently in the corner, tears beginning to run down her face.
"Sandra died? Sorry you had to go through that kiddo. And at 8 years old, too. Now that I think of it, its hard to believe its already been 4 years of this shit, huh?" Clementine nodded, noticing Kenny as he stood up and stretched his back out, before moving quietly across the vehicle and sitting down in front of Sam and Clementine.
"What's going on over here?" Kenny yawned, moving to take AJ from Clementine. She obliged, handing the infant to Kenny.
"Nothing much. Clem and I were just chatting" Sam shrugged, stroking Jen's hair.
"Really? About what?" Kenny enquired, stroking AJ's growing hair.
"You might as well listen in. I was just getting to the part when Lee showed up" Clementine offered, noticing Kenny look over in interest.
"Huh, OK. Tell away kiddo" Both Kenny and Sam looked over at Clementine as she began her story again.
Clementine clutched her stomach slightly in pain. In the two days Sandra had been gone, Clementine had not eaten anything. There were 2 granola bars in the corner, which Clementine refused to eat until Sandra came back up. She had abandoned drawing, instead opting to simply sit in the corner, sleep when her body forced her to, and simply watch the door, waiting for Sandra to come back up.
Another painful gurgle ripped through the girls stomach, almost forcing her to throw up. Her eyes glanced back to the two bars in the corner, tempting her.
"I'm sure Sandra wont mind if I have one…" Clementine stood up, moving across the small space and grabbing one of the granola bars and ripping the packaging open, engulfing the entire thing and instinctively grabbing the second bar out of pure hunger. Before she even realized what she was doing, the other bar was gone as well, leaving only two empty wrappers in the corner. Sighing in relief, Clementine looked over to the window, glancing out. Many of the monsters, like what hurt Sandra, were stumbling around aimlessly running into each other. Turning away, Clementine went to try drawing again now that she had a full stomach, before the sound of something crashing rang out behind her. She ran back to the window and noticed a police car had crashed directly into a tree, and a police officer was being dragged out of the car by the monsters. His screams echoed out, yet the mindless monsters didn't react, digging into his flesh and ripping his organs out, eating them as if they were a delectable treat. Clem gagged at the sight, hiding back inside the confines of the lastructure and trying not to vomit. After a few minutes of almost puking, another sound rang out. The sound of glass shattering, and then someone groaning in pain. Thinking someone was hurt, Clementine crawled over to the wooden door and threw the rope ladder down, clambering down and landing on her feet. She scurried quietly over to the fence to a weak spot and lifted the board, climbing through and sliding the board back into place. Quietly, Clementine snuck along the hill behind her house until a gunshot rang out close by. Clementine ran forward, eventually spotting an injured man hobbling towards the hill. He must have spotted her as he looked directly at her and called out.
"HELLO! I'M A BIT HURT, CAN YOU HELP ME?" The voice shouted in a deep voice. Clementine was about to respond when more of the monsters came pouring out of the forest. In fear, Clementine ran away, back to the fence and climbed through, scrambling up the rope ladder and practically threw her tiny form into the tree-house, hoisting the ladder up behind her. The only sound she could hear was the growling of the monsters, until a grunt startled her. Peeking out, the same man she had seen before had climbed the fence, dropping painfully to the ground and staring at the fence keeping the rotting corpses from him. After regaining his thoughts, the next course of action was to seek help for the large wound on his leg. Grunting, the injured man lifted himself up and hobbled towards the sliding glass door, and banged on the door.
"HELLO? I DON'T MEAN YOU ANY HARM, I JUST NEED SOME HELP" The man hollered, grabbing the door handle. To his surprise, the door was unlocked, and he gently pulled it open slightly.
"Im coming in! Don't shoot!" The man calmly slid the door open and stepped inside. However, instead of a family trembling or men with guns, there was nothing. Blood covered the floor, and majority of the furniture was trashed.
"Jesus, what happened…" Clementine heard the man mutter, losing sight of him. Fearfully, Clementine glanced at the hammer sitting next to the door. Her Dad had left it in there when they built the treehouse a few weeks ago. Looking out again, Clementine saw the injured man staring out the window. Behind him, the drawer with her dad's walkie talkie was open, and the device was missing. Remembering the Walkie Talkie, Clementine grabbed the second handset and held it up to her mouth, whispering into the receiver.
"H-Hello?" Clementine stuttered through the handset. She could see the man jump slightly, before grasping the walkie talkie and clicking it on.
"Hello? Who's there?" The deep voice rung through, rattling her slightly.
"You need to be quiet, or the monsters will hear you" Clementine warned, opening the door and peeking out.
"Where are you? Are you safe?" The man asked, looking out the window.
"I'm up in my treehouse. The monsters cant get to me up here. Can you see me? I can see you" Clementine asked, staring straight at the man speaking to her.
"Yeah, I can" The man smiled, waving to her. Before she could respond, one of the monsters began approaching the unsuspecting man. In fear, she squeaked and retreated back into the treehouse. The loud snarling of the monster rang out even from within the house. Clementine sat still for a moment in fear, before realizing just how lonely she was.
"No, I wont leave him! I'll help him, and he can help me find my parents" Clementine with a sudden burst of courage grasped the hammer, before swinging the door open and throwing the hammer to the ground. Not bothering with the ladder, Clementine leapt down and landed awkwardly, before jumping up and grabbing the hammer. With the weighty tool now in hand, the child ran to the stairs, running up the wooden stairs and opening the door as the man struggled with the monster on top of him.
"Here!" Clementine squeaked, holding the hammer out to him. He turned with a pained look, before taking the hammer and bringing it down on the monsters head, forcing it to the ground. 3 more bludgeoning slugs cracked the skull and spread brain matter across the carpeted floor. Clementine watched in horror, the only words coming out of her mouth was "Ew". Puffing, the man turned back to Clementine, standing up and moving towards her, before crouching in front of her.
"Hey there. What's your name?" The man asked politely, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"M-My name is Clementine" Clementine fearfully replied, looking away.
"Hello Clementine. I'm Lee. Where are you parents?"
"T-They're in Savannah… I just want them to come home…" Clementine replied, tears threatening to show themselves.
"I don't think they're coming back for a while" Lee broke the news to the young girl, noticing her facial features change drastically.
"Oh…" Clem looked down at her feet.
"Ill tell you what, come with me, we'll go find somewhere safe, then we'll find your parents. Ok?" Clem looked up, smiling.
"Ok! But somewhere close, right?" Clementine stepped back as Lee lumbered out of the door, closing the glass behind him.
"Of course. C'mon, lets go" Lee smiled, taking the young girls hand.
"So that's how Lee found you? You saved his ass?" Kenny chuckled, looking around the truck.
"Yeah. After that, we found Shawn and Chet, and they took us to the farm where we met you. After that, you know the rest" Clementine concluded, stretching slightly in the confines of the truck.
"Anything else important about him?" Sam asked purely out of curiosity.
"Aside from the fact that he got bitten, but still persevered and tracked down Clementine, saved her and gave her the essential tools to survive? Not that I can think of" Kenny explained with a hint of sarcasm.
"Woah, no need to get aggressive. I was just asking, jeez" Sam looked away, still stroking Jen's hair.
"Sorry, just in a bit of a bad mood. I get snappy when I'm tired" Kenny apologized, looking over at their new companion.
"You also snore really loud" Clementine giggled, watching as Kenny turned back to her with a grin on his face.
"I do not. I never snore" Kenny tried to defend himself, yet it didn't work, due to Lily piping in from the front.
"She's right Kenny, you do snore. Remember who slept in a room directly next to you" Lily chuckled, earning a glare from Kenny.
"She's right, even Lee would say some nights that he could hear you even across the motel" Clementine's giggles turned into full laughs, even Lily chuckling from the front added to the whole ordeal.
"Alright Alright, I get it. Apparently I snore" Kenny chuckled, glancing down as AJ woke up and gurgled happily at Kenny.
"Well, you guys may as well wake everyone. We're almost out of gas" Lily noted, looking at the almost empty fuel gauge.
"Clem, you wanna get on that? The two of us kinda have kids" Kenny shrugged, motioning to the rest of the trucks occupants.
"Ok" Clementine nodded, standing up. She made her rounds waking the rest of the occupants up, save for the other kids, right as the truck began spluttering and slowing down, until it died completely and stopped.
"End of the line folks. Everyone out" Lilly hollered from the front, taking the keys and hiding them behind the seat. Winter stood up and stretched first, before lifting the door and engulfing the group in the evening light.
"We should camp here for the night, then leave first light tomorrow. It's too dangerous to try and travel at night" Kris mentioned as he stretched out and jumped out of the truck.
"He's right. We can set up a fire and camp here" Randy commented, stepping out of the truck with a drowsy Gill. Everyone else followed suite, save for Kenny, who was moving the boxes to the door of the truck to be taken out by the others. Clementine had AJ cradled in her arms, tickling the infant and getting loud happy gurgles out of him.
"He's really cute" Clementine almost jumped, turning and seeing the young girl Sam had, Jen, standing behind her. Noticing her surprise, Jen immediately ran up and hugged Clementine, almost crushing AJ.
"Oh, did I scare you? I'm sorry!" Clementine glanced down at the slightly distraught young girl, then back over to Sam, who smiled and turned to continue helping Kenny and Kris.
"I'll be back in a few. I'm going to go see if I can find any wildlife in the area" Jake appeared from around the truck, a rifle with a large black barrel hanging off his shoulder. On his hip hung a machete no-one else had noticed before, as well as a pair of binoculars and a small pouch.
"The fuck Jake, where did you find that shit?" Kris questioned amusedly, crossing his arms.
"Well, the machete was in front of the truck, as well as the binoculars. The pouch I found at the gas station, and the rifle is yours, dipshit" Kris glanced over and noticed the large extension on the rifle.
"Wait, that is my rifle! Where the hell was that, I thought we left it at Howes?" Kris questioned again, now curious more than anything.
"It was in the front. You dropped it on the roof, and I threw it in the truck after I went up there as we were packing the supplies" Jake shrugged, taking the strap off and handing the hefty rifle back to Kris, but instead of grasping the weapon, Kris pushed it back to Jake. His friend looked at him skeptically, earning a simple shrug from Kris.
"What? I'm not going hunting, you are. Might as well keep yourself hidden and catch a good meal" Jake simply looked at Kris, smirking. He re-holstered the rifle and moved away towards the forest, disappearing in almost an instant. After a moment of watching the forest, Kenny sighed and grabbed his own handgun and a knife and followed Jake into the spanning forest.
"Where's Kenny going? He's gonna get himself killed" Winter questioned, unloading another box with Kris.
"He used to go hunting with Lee and Mark when we were back at the motor inn. He'll be fine" Lilly shrugged, watching the forests for walkers.
"Hey Clem, why don't you take the other pair of binoculars and watch for walkers? Ill help you get on top of the truck so you can see" Winter offered, throwing the second pair of binoculars to Clementine.
"I can get up on my own" Clem argued, moving to the truck.
"Really? Ok Miss Monkey, show me" Winter smirked, walking to watch Clementine climb the truck. Smirking, Clementine took a few steps back and sprinted towards the truck. She planted on the front wheel and used her momentum to push herself on top of the bonnet, then clambered up the front and stood atop the large bed of the truck. Winter was in awe, mainly because the way Clementine clumsily climbed like that reminded her of the only other kid who would hang out with her.
"It cant be a coincidence. She ran exactly like Molly. Maybe… maybe she knows what happened to her" Winter was snapped out of her trance by a can hitting her in the gut. Without even realizing, her hand went straight to her gut and she doubled over in pain
"Winter, you still with us?" Kris bent down next to her, throwing the can to Lily before placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good. You just surprised me, is all" Winter coughed, sucking large amounts of air back into her body.
"Ok, if you say so. Sorry for hitting you in the gut, I was aiming in front of you to get your attention" Kris apologized, helping the teen back to her feet. Before Winter could respond a gunshot rang out, startling the group. Clementine, having been watching up the road for walkers, instantly spun around and looked through the forest as a second gunshot rang out. Multiple followed, and they sounded as though they were getting closer.
"Shit, not more bandits…" Sam sighed, readying his rifle as Jerome did the same. A line of assorted firearms were aimed directly at the forest as Jake and Kenny ran out, both struggling to hold up a large deer. A single, red hole in its forehead confirmed it was dead, but Kris couldn't help but act a little suspicious.
"Goddamn this fucker can run" Kenny huffed, shifting the weight of the hulking animal on his shoulder, not noticing the row of guns pointed at him.
"You're telling me. I need to grease the bolt on this thing, it got stuck 4 times while we were chasing him down" Jake grunted, barely holding up the back end of the deer. Kenny shifted his eyes down as he adjusted his grip, before looking up and seeing the row of guns pointed directly at him.
"The fuck?!" Kenny hollered, almost dropping the carcass.
"Kenny? What was with all the gunshots? We thought something had happened, you idiot!" Kris called back, lowering his gun as the others did the same.
"Jake's rifle kept jamming, and I didn't exactly want to wait for him to fix it, or this here deer would've gotten away. Thankfully, he ran right towards you guys" Kenny explained, moving with Jake as the two carried the deer to the back of the truck and dumped it on the bed. The truck shifted slightly, causing Clementine to lose her balance. She dropped the binoculars and tried to grab onto the side of the truck, but her hands slipped off the side and instead she fell off, trying desperately to find something to cushion her fall. Being the closest, Jake ran and dove forward, catching Clementine and slamming hard into the pavement. Small shards of gravel tried to cut into Jake's arm, however surprisingly nothing pierced the skin.
"T-Thanks" Clementine coughed, standing up and leaning against the truck. Jake slowly rose as well, rubbing his arms and cracking his back.
"Clementine? The hell were you doing on top of the truck?" Clementine turned and saw Kenny approach her, crouching down to her height.
"Don't get up her, It was my idea. She wasn't doing anything of importance and I didn't want walkers creeping up on us, so I gave her my binoculars and she climbed up the truck to watch for any stragglers" Winter intervened.
"Bit irresponsible for you to put the 12-year-old on top of a truck, don't you think?" Kenny asked skeptically, standing back up.
"Yes, and if everyone else wasn't trying to unpack the truck, I would've done it myself" Winter shrugged. Before Kenny could get another word in, a groan broke through as dozens of walkers poured out of the forest, approaching quickly. One latched onto Jerome, who screamed and flailed, managing to plant his foot on the walker's chest and pry it off him. Everyone else had already taken their respective weapons and began hacking, slicing and stabbing any walker that got close. Bodies began piling up heavily, and the stench of decay picked up heavily, yet no-one slowed down. The only people not fighting were the children, who were hiding behind Clementine and Winter, pointing out any walkers going unnoticed to everyone else. Anyone that got too close that the other group members couldn't get to were quickly eliminated by a bullet from the now smoking handgun held by Clementine. Eventually, the walkers were dispatched, and the group moved back towards the back where the children were cowering. A collective sigh of relief swept the entire group, and their minds went straight to food. Their last few cans were saved for the walk to Savannah, meaning any other food they would have to find themselves. Thankfully, the size of the deer would mean they would have plenty of food for the night, and whatever they didn't eat they could bag and snack on. Thinking ahead, Kris began giving out instructions to the group.
"Ok, Sam. You, Jerome and Maria are on firewood. We have a big deer here so big chunks of wood would be very helpful right now. Clem, you and Winter look for some big rocks we can use the enclose the fire. Kenny, you and Jake are on skinning. Lilly, you, me and Randy can go make sure the area is secure" Everyone nodded and moved to do their respective tasks, aside from Patricia.
"I'll watch the kids if you don't mind. I'm really not much for manual labour" Kris nodded, then watched as Patricia led Gill and the other two children off to the front of the truck to find some way to entertain them.
"This definitely isn't a permanent solution, setting up big fires at night for food. We really need to get a move on and get to Savannah, find someplace to set up permanently" Lily pointed out as the three moved to check the roads and the scrub for any more walkers.
"There's nowhere I can think of in the city we can hole up. If we're finding somewhere to stay, I say we choose somewhere outside the city limits, where there'll be less walkers" Randy agreed, walking down the road and scanning the foliage around them.
"Speaking of Savannah, why were you so dead set on getting there?" Kris questioned, still watching for any signs of movement.
"Do you want me to be honest? I didn't have any initial plans to go near Savannah. I sort of just sprouted out Savannah since I remembered a dying survivor tell me there's a safe haven down there. If I had any other ideas, I would be heading somewhere else, but there was a massive herd heading towards us. Bigger than anything I've ever seen. I knew we needed to get out of the area, since the damn things basically spanned together for miles" Randy explained, slightly ashamed.
"So we basically have no plan, no idea what we're doing, going off a pipe dream from a dead man?" Kris accused, stopping in his tracks.
"I know it was irresponsible, but I had my family to protect. Not to mention, your group seemed to be decent people, and I didn't want to see any of you get hurt, especially young Clementine. It's really not often you see a little girl like her around here" Randy explained hurriedly, looking down to the ground.
"I understand, but Savannah? We're going right out of our way here man. Beside, Howe's could've worked. If we holed up and kept down, the walkers would've wandered straight past" Kris pointed out, turning back and walking towards the truck as the other two followed next to him.
"I know, but I was thinking in the moment. We've suffered through herds before, and there's only so much one person can handle" Randy sighed in defeat. Any respect or trust he had was right out the window.
"That's a fair call, but next time, try talking first about the matter instead of jumping straight to run like hell, ok?" Randy nodded as the three continued on to the truck. After another few moments, they arrived and saw Kenny and Jake had finished skinning the deer and had already gotten it roasting over the large fire underneath.
"Nothings in the area, and if nothing goes wrong, this baby should be ready to eat by nightfall" Kenny explained, prodding the fire and feeding a few extra logs in.
"Well, unless I can't read, there's a large Ski Resort down this highway we can stay in for a few days before we make it to Savannah" Patricia noted as she randomly appeared from the front of the truck with Gill, Jen and Sarah in tow.
"Ski resort? No, absolutely not" Kenny piped in from the fire.
"Why the hell not Kenny? We're gonna freeze out here if we don't find someplace to sleep" Randy refuted, defending his wife.
"Because unlike you people, I know that place. And I know that the body of one of my close friends is probably still rotting away in there" Kenny snapped darkly, tending to the fire. Nobody tried to interject again, and instead sighed and turned away. No words were spoken, the only sound being the fire quietly crackling in the background. Silence filled the void, until it was broken by a meek voice.
"Kenny, I know Walter was your friend, and I know you lost a lot because of Luke and his group, but we have AJ, and Sam's kids, and me to think of. We're kids Kenny, and unlike you, we cant survive in the cold for weeks on end. If the ski resort can provide some shelter for us from the cold, cant we put the past aside for a while and just stay there for just a night? I know a few places on the way we can find more shelter until we make it to Savannah" Kenny simply turned and glared at Clementine. Had she been your innocent 8-year-old self, Clementine would've slunk away apologizing. But now, she was hardened, and returned the glare with one made of pure ice.
"Fine. But you lot are helping me bury Walter" Kenny grumbled, poking at the roasting deer.
"I think that's a fair trade. In any case, we get some winks before the deer is roasted. Once we eat, we'll pack what we don't eat and take it with us" Kris suggested, yawning.
"You guys get some sleep. I'll stay awake and watch the deer, make sure we don't burn it" Kenny offered, throwing the charred stick into the fire and retrieving a new one from the pile.
"I'll sit up with you for a while. I can't sleep this early anyways" Sam shrugged, moving over and sitting next to Kenny on the pavement.
"Sounds good. The rest of you, get some sleep. We've got a long walk ahead of us" Everyone else nodded and moved back into the truck for the last time, falling asleep quickly.
*A.N.
There's nothing important I really need to include here, so enjoy your day :3