Walkers were all converging on the gas station from the explosion that they heard. The good news is that the explosion managed to kill the walkers at the station, including the abomination, and the walkers that were stunned by the explosion were picked off by the cabin group. The bad news ... the explosion had attracted most of the walkers in Savannah. They were reminded of this when they heard multiple screams in the distance.
The screams of Abominations.
Carlos glanced around nervously
"We have to go NOW!" he said frantically
Luke and Nick ran to Clementines broken and motionless form. Nick readied his gun in-case a few walkers or abominations managed to get there early while Luke picked Clementine up bridal style.
"I got Clem, LETS GO!" Luke shouted as they sprinted as far as they could from the site that would likely attract all of the undead in the city.
"Where the hell are we going!?" Alvin questioned as he ran, Rebecca only being able to keep up because of Alvin half carrying her.
"Anywhere but there," Carlos answered, "we need to find a place where we can look over Clementine."
Nick pointed up ahead.
"THERE!" he shouted as he shot down a walker emerging from underneath a car.
Up ahead from them stood a medium sized diner, the windows looked to be boarded up and still in good condition. The double doors looked pretty sturdy, and could be blocked and supported once they were inside.
Carlos ran ahead as fast as he could and, when he reached the doors, he slammed into them making the doors fly open.
Carlos turned around and fear quickly made its way on his facial expression. Seemingly endless waves of walkers were quickly gaining ground on them as the group ran as fast as they could to the diner.
Carlos recovered quickly when he saw that the group had made it to him, although he was still fearful.
"Get her in here now!" Carlos bellowed in his panic.
Luke was the first to make it in, then Alvin made it in helping Rebecca along the way as Sarah followed them in as well while Nick and Carlos held the walkers at bay. When everyone else made it in, they followed, quickly shutting the door.
"BAR THE DOOR!" Luke yelled when he realized the doors alone would not stop the walkers
Alvin and Nick rushed to the double doors and held them closed as walkers pummeled against them.
Sarah managed to find a walking cane in one of the dining booths that she quickly, albeit a bit nervously, handed the cane to Alvin who then quickly shoved the cane in between the door handles.
They all stepped back cautiously as the walkers outside kept up their assault on the doors, but fortunately, they held steadfast.
Eventually the walkers got bored and, slowly, started to dissipate from the doors, leaving only a few left outside the doors.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief until they heard Luke let out a sniffle. They turned to be greeted by Luke, who had navigated to the back of the diner, standing over Clementine, who he had laid down on a table.
The group all suddenly remembered Clementines situation and warily, but anxiously, approached to inspect her.
"Her face was covered with scratches, no doubt the Abomination's doing, with many burn marks covering her arms, legs, and a few on her stomach where her clothes were burned away in small patches. Her hat was gone (most likely thrown from the explosion and, no doubt, destroyed), she was pale and still unconscious, but none of these came close to the worst injury.
On her left leg, near her ankle, ... was a bite mark.
The blood seemed to have clotted now but her leg, all the way down to her ankle, was covered in blood that had dried just a bit.
Time seemed to have stopped as the group processed what they were seeing and started to reflect on the time they had with Clementine.
Carlos knew he had been rough with Clementine, even when she had joined the group, but he was just being protective of her. She had quickly earned her way into the group and Carlos started to see her as one of his own. Even when he caught Sarah and Clementine going off in the woods to play games and he scolded her, he was doing it because he was worried for both Sarah and Clementine. He loved Clementine like a daughter ... like Sarah.
Sarah had liked Clementine from the start. She immediately wanted to be her friend. She often worried that her clueless and naive behavior would drive Clementine away from her. But then Clementine showed her that she had nothing to worry about and often played small pranks on the rest of the group with her or just played regular kid games like tag and hide-and-seek. Clem was Sarah's best friend.
Nick had been taken aback when he first saw her, as there was hardly a single living kid around other than Sarah. When he saw her dog bite though, he had wanted to save her. He didn't want to kill her but he hadn't wanted to see a little girl turn, it might have done him in after his mothers demise. He apologized and quickly started to admire the girl for her kindness and determination then that admiration turned to brotherly love toward her. He regretted not telling her how much she meant to him, being as how he had a hard time of showing his emotions. Nick had seen Clementine as a sister.
Alvin had, like Sarah, liked Clementine from the start. But when he saw the bite, he had been conflicted. He hadn't wanted her to suffer the pain of turning but her pleading had made him think twice on what was the truth. So he didn't know what to say when they put her in their shed. He regretted not stepping up and standing up for her. He didn't get to talk to her much but he wouldn't hesitate to lay down his life for her. Like Carlos, Alvin considered Clementine his daughter.
Rebecca had once been wary of her and tried to hate Clem (being as how Carver was after them made her paranoid), but with how nice and selfless she was, it was hard to NOT get attached to her and she quickly grew on Rebecca. She regretted all of her coldness toward her. She didn't see Clementine as a little girl, she saw her as an equal, an adult, ... a true friend ... and when the baby came, an older sister to her child.
Luke ... he felt an instant connection with Clementine when he found her pinned under that walker in the forest, about ready to pass out. He wasn't proud of his reaction when he found her dog bite, he regretted that as well as throwing her in their shed to possibly bleed out. He made sure though that she knew he was on her side. Once she had forgiven everyone, Clementine and Luke became inseparable. They would be telling jokes to each other all the time as well as teasing one another on their mistakes. Luke would tease her about her age while Clem would tease him about his corny jokes and clumsiness. Luke always wanted a sister ... and Clementine was happy to oblige.
Carlos seemed to snap out of his thoughts first and quickly commanded someone to look around and make sure the entire place was safe before taking his place by Clementines side to tend to her injuries.
"We don't want any stray lurkers to get the jump on us." Carlos explained.
Sarah stood by her dad if he needed anything while Luke remained by Clementines side, opposite of Carlos, clutching his "little sisters" hand. Alvin made sure Rebecca was comfortable while he grabbed his gun. Nick was about to follow but Alvin gave him an encouraging pat on the back.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine man, this place ain't that big."
Nick reluctantly let him go and scout out the diner while he stood by Sarah.
"What are we going to do?" Rebecca whispered in sadness as she looked at Clementines bite mark.
Nick glanced at Clementines bloody leg as her form remained motionless and pale.
"I think you know what we gotta do..." Nick responded with tears in his eyes, glancing at his pistol on the counter.
Luke looked up with anger at Nick.
"NO!" he semi-yelled.
Carlos examined the bite mark while the two argued back and forth.
"Do you think I want to kill her!?" Nick asked harshly.
"She's bitten man ... she as much family to me as you and as much as we wish there's something, ANYTHING that can be done ... we both know nothing can be done except taking off her leg and, in her state, she wouldn't survive that." he finished as he closed his eyes and looked down.
Carlos finished inspecting the bite mark and seemed confused.
"This is...," Carlos said while narrowing his eyes in concentration, "strange."
This earned everybody's attention as Luke was the first to respond.
"What do you mean?"
Carlos seemed as confused as they were, "I've examined a bite mark before and they had shown a clear sign of infection ... but ..."
"But what?" Rebecca asked just as Alvin returned after scouting the diner.
"There IS no infection here or even any sign that there will be." Carlos stated perplexed.
Everyone seemed to be happy at this, but were still confused.
"How is that possible?" Alvin asked.
"I have a theory," Carlos started after a few minutes of thinking, "that new type of lurker bit her and I think that, if my theory is correct, that type of lurker had a certain immune system that combated the infection but it failed. It still held off the infection, but not completely."
At everyone's confused expressions, he continued.
"I think that they were only turned partially, which would mean that they would retain some of their human qualities, which would explain how they are able to run and their veins that glow as a result of the infection mixing with their blood. It also means that they haven't developed certain characteristics that a regular lurker has."
Luke seemed to realize where he was going with his hypothesis.
"So," Luke started, "those things haven't developed the ability to turn someone."
Carlos nodded as a smile made its way onto his face as well as the others.
"Exactly, Clementine should be fine as long as she gets some rest." Carlos announced as he wrapped up her bite wound.
Sarah practically tackled Carlos in a hug, which he returned after he regained his bearings. Alvin shared a smile with Rebecca and hugged her while she covered her mouth in shock and happiness. Luke squeezed Clementines hand slightly and placed a brotherly kiss on her forehead with a big smile on his face as Nick gave a sigh of relief with a soft smile forming on his face now that Clementine wouldn't turn.
"She has a sprained arm though and that will need to be put in a sling and other than her burns, that's all the serious injuries she has." Carlos said after he separated from his daughter.
They all nodded and then spread out across the diner, waiting in anticipation for Clementines awakening from her comatose state
AN: I'm back! But I may be delaying the next chapter as well. I have even more work this week than last (Got three papers to type, discussion boards, and more :[) so there is a chance that the update could be delayed an extra week again :(. But fear not, I will NOT abandon this story. I just need you all to be patient with me. Thanks so much for your continued support! BE SURE TO LEAVE A REVIEW! THEY GIVE ME ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP ROLLING THESE OUT. And if I'm not mistaken, I've hit 2,000 views! HOLY SHIT! As I said before, THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!