The Light at the End of a Tunnel

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or any of its characters

Update 8/7/17: ALTERNATE VERSION OF STORY ON WATTPAD MRSHYGUY45 user/MRSHYGUY45

Chapter 2: New Faces Part 1

Clementine found herself a little drowsy at the moment. Sure, they were going 70 mph, but she rarely had any sleep after the bandits attacked her. The man, Daryl, seemed in a faze as he drove his bike, he hadn't said anything since they left. Usually, a nice guy would try to start a conversation with her.

Maybe she was wrong about him.

The little girl looked at the woods they drove next to, noticing a few walkers emerging from the trees. What happened to this world? She remembered when people were walking on the sidewalks, talking to each other, instead of screaming and running down them.

"Where did you stay when all this happened?" Daryl finally decided to pop a question.

Clementine blinked a few times, trying to wake herself up to answer. "Um, I stayed in my treehouse for a few days before Lee found me. His leg was pretty bad because he was in an accident when he looked for help. Then we stayed in a drug store and met a few people, then a motor inn, a dairy farm, but those people were evil. They ate people."

"Sick." Clementine heard Daryl spit out.

Clem nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Then we left the motor inn after bandits attacked. We lost a few people on the way, one of them were left behind." Daryl wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. "So, we found an abandoned train on the tracks."

Daryl couldn't help but chuckle, "A train, huh? Damn, some transportation. No worrying about gas, no walkers, and they go fast as hell. The train does make a lot of noise though, I'll tell you that." He glanced back at the little girl and smiled, in which she returned. "Please, continue your story."

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, we stopped in Atlanta because one of our group members thought there were boats there."

Before Clem could finish, the youngest Dixon brother cut her off again. "Boats? Nah, I bet there were none left. They all taken after news spread about the walkers first appearing." Clem couldn't help but hang her head. Daryl looked at her before his eyes went wide and frowned. "Oh, I-I'm sorry."

"There were no boats. Then, someone said they had my parents and he took me from my group."

"Now that's fucked up!" He exclaimed, slowing the bike down a bit to rant. "See, now what can he accomplish from kidnapping a sweet, little girl?"

"Let me finish." Clementine harshly commanded, making Daryl quiet. "Anyway, Lee, the man who looked after me after all this started, saved me from him. Bad news…" She couldn't help but sniffle when the words couldn't slip out.

Then the sniffles turned into a quiet sob.

Daryl's mouth opened to say something, but nothing spilled out. He knows that feeling, losing someone you were close to: Family and friends. He missed Merle hell of a lot, even if he was a complete dick most of the time. But he was family! His brother for God's sake!

"…He was bit?" He couldn't help but ask. Man, he sure felt like a complete douchebag now. However, he didn't get a response, only the soft sobbing from the little girl. "Aw, crap. Look, I'm sorry for asking."

Clementine wiped the tears off of her face, "No, it's okay."

"So, is that why you're on your own?"

The little girl shook her head, "No. A couple named Chirsta and Omid looked after me for a while. They were part of our group when we reached Atlanta." Daryl nodded before turning a corner. "Our camp was raided by bandits….they were killed and I ran. That's when you found me…Thanks again."

The young redneck cracked a smile when she said this. "Aw, shucks. You makin' me blush." Clementine couldn't help but laugh as the bike slowed down and approached a gate where a man stood there. Daryl nodded at him, and the gate was opened.

"Daryl." The man walked up to him, "About time you came. Started to get worried." He then focused at Clementine with a surprised look on his face. "And who might this little girl be?"

The two got off the bike and Daryl patted the girl on her shoulder, "This, right here, is Clementine. I found her in the woods after her camp was raided. Don't worry, she's a sweet little thing….kinda." Clementine shot Daryl a playful scowl. "Clementine, this is Rick."

Rick bent down to her height and smiled, "Hey there, Clementine. Don't worry I won't bite."

"Hey." Clem shyly waved at the man.

"We're happy to have you here." Rick says before standing back up and patting the girl on the head. "Come on, let's show you around." He gestured for the little girl to follow, but she hesitated for a moment and stood in her place next to Daryl.

"Hold on, Rick." Daryl's gruff voice stopped everyone from doing anything. The sheriff glanced at him, confusion written on his face. The Dixon brother stared at Rick, as if in a threatening way. "Bah! Just kidding!" Rick and, surprisingly, Clementine rolled their eyes at him. "What? It was a joke."

"Anyway," Rick started as Clem followed him around the yard. "We recently found this prison a month ago. There's only a handful of us, we lost some trying to clear this place out." His face then dropped as he said this.

Clementine didn't know this as she turned around to face Daryl, who was a few steps behind them. "I thought you said there was a lot of people?" The redneck only shrugged in response.

"You know, I have a boy about your age here." Rick looked down at the girl, a small smile curved on his lips. "Yeah, his name is Carl. In fact, he should be out here." He then placed a hand over his eyes as he scanned the area for his son.

Daryl caught up to them, "You might want to be careful around Carl." He warned, earning a confused look from the girl. "Poor kid had to shoot his mom." She nodded. Yeah, she knew this feeling. Sad, Anger, and sorrow. She had to shoot Lee too, someone close to her. "Just don't mention it to him."

"We all lost someone close." Clementine sighed, making Daryl stare at her before nodding in agreement.

Rick waved his hand in the air, "I see him." She heard him say to himself.

A boy about her age ran up to them, wearing a sheriff hat and a brown vest with blue eyes and brown hair. "Hey, Dad." He greeted his father before looking at Daryl. "Daryl." His eyes then averted at Clementine, who simply stared at him. "Who's this?"

"Carl, this is Clementine." Rick introduced. "She's going to be staying with us for a while."

Said boy looked at the girl that stood in front of him, scanning her for a bit. He didn't know how long he has been staring, because Clementine let out an annoyed sigh. "It's not polite to stare." She then giggled as she witnessed the boy's reaction.

Carl couldn't help but blush, "Yeah, sorry." His apology then earned a laugh from Daryl. "Um, that why you called me out here? Just to say 'hi'?" His voice went from embarrassment to annoyance in a second. Rick must've noticed because he sighed and wiped his forehead.

"Uh, no." He shook his head at his son, "I was hoping you could show her around, you know, introduce her to the others?"

"Why can't you do it?"

"Me and Daryl are gonna work on the yard…" He then turned to face the redneck, "…right, Daryl?" The young Dixon brother nodded.

Carl looked up at his father, then back at Clementine. "Come on." He gestured at Clementine to follow, which she obliged.

They walked in silence for the most part, staring at the ground or at the prison in general. Clementine wasn't feeling bothered by this, but was kind of mad at Carl for not showing her the gardens and what not, even though she didn't really like gardening.

Carl, however, thought of a way to start a conversation with her; but about what? 'Aw, man. Come on, Carl, just say something…Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?!' He was fighting himself for a bit before sighing.

"C-Cool hat." He blurted out, facing Clementine with a small smile.

Clem nodded, "Thanks." Carl turned the other way and cursed at himself for being so stupid.

He opened one of the doors to the entrance of the prison and stepped inside. The first thing Clem breathed in was dust, just old dust. She let out a small cough but continued to follow the boy.

"We sleep here, most of the time." Carl pointed at the not-so empty cells, "I sleep in here." He pointed at a bunk that had a messy bed and a few comic books laying on top of it.

"Why, hello there." An elderly voice chuckled from behind them. Clem thought she saw a ghost for a minute, this man looked very familiar. He had a white beard and walked with stretcher on one of his arms. "I haven't seen you in a long time, little missy."

Clem took a step forward, "Hershel?"

Said man nodded. "Still alive and kicking, heh."

"I'm sorry for what happened to your son." She apologized while looking down. Even though she didn't cause his death or had nothing to do with it, she still felt as if it was her fault, somehow. Carl rose an eyebrow at this, but chose to ask questions later.

Hershel frowned, "Now you know that wasn't your fault, Clementine, It was nobody's. After all, Lee did try to save him." His smile grew yet again, but frowned again when he saw Clementine's face drop. "Where is he anyway?"

Before Clem could answer, Carl asked "Who's Lee? Your Dad?"

"No." She replied, not looking at him. "He was…a friend who looked after me."

"Oh, Clem, I'm sorry." He patted the girl on the shoulder. The room was silent before Hershel stood up, "The others should be in another block. Come on, I'll show you around."

Carl watched as the two walked away, wondering how she had met Hershel before. He hadn't noticed Daryl walked up from behind him and let out a single chuckle. "It's best if you don't ask too many questions." He warned before walking past him.

"In a way, she's kinda like you. What a perfect match you two would make."

Wait, what?

Author: Just a heads up, I'll be using Daryl and Carl (obviously) for most of this story, since Daryl is one of my favorite characters and Carl because, well, he's a main character in this story.

Should I introduce Carver later in this story? Yes? No? Major villain role?