Clementine sat on our little sofa, staring out into the rainy forest. Not a word was said between us, and the only sounds to be heard was the rain hitting the window, and the sound of me rummaging through our food supply.
Weeks had passed since we moved into the tree house. Nights were getting shorter and cooler, and our food supply was running low. What seemed like an infinite amount of food ran out quicker than we thought. I sorted through our small pile of potato chips and cans.
"Well that leaves us with four bags of chips, and 5 cans of food." Clementine was huddled in the corner of the sofa, staring at the small pile I had made.
"And the apples will stop growing soon." She said with a sigh.
"We're going to need to start doing runs. Y'know, for food and stuff. We're going to need to start hunting, too."
"I don't know how to hunt." Clem stared out through the window. I was starting to wonder what was on her mind. She had never been this quiet before.
"And that's why, I'm gonna teach you to use my bow." She looked back over to me, and a little bit of sparkle was back in her eyes. She let out a small breath of laughter.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow "What's so funny?"
"Nothing! I've just always found your bow super cool! That's all!"
I couldn't help but giggle. Clem was just being her cute self, and that was something I loved about her. She could always turn the smallest, stupidest thing into something silly.
"You're such a fuckin' dork" I said with a sigh.
"Well, I have been living with you. Where do you think I get it from?" She leaned back down onto the arm of the sofa, kicked up her feet, and pulled a comic out from under her.
"Yeah, well you're still a dork." I looked back at our supply of food and pulled out an apple I had picked yesterday.
"You want one?" I asked holding it out towards her. She didn't even look away from her comic, and held out her hand for me to toss it to her.
"Thanks" she said, biting into the apple. I pulled one out for myself, and sat down on the sofa next to her. I felt her small body lean into mine. This had become some sort of routine for us. I'd sit down, and she'd lean right into me. Not that I was upset about it. I mean, I always felt a spark of joy with her near me. Even the smallest touch from her, whether it was a high five, or a hug, it put butterflies in my stomach.
Over the past few weeks, a lot of work had been done to our tree house. We found a stack of wood planks behind the bush under the tree. We patched up the leaks in the roof we had discovered after the first rainfall, and we had even started working on a ladder to climb into the tree with. We had also found some extra rope that had most likely been used for the bridge to the apple tree. We attached our empty cans and bags to it and tied it around the perimeter of our little camp. It was kind of like an alarm if a walker or infected was trying to pass through. It's only gone off once or twice, so that was a good indicator that the area was safe, and I could protect Clem even better.
"So what now?" I asked, finishing off my apple.
"I guess we could find something to do after the rain clears up."
"Yeah ill teach you how to set snares and maybe-" Gunshots went off in the distance.
"Holy shit! Did you hear that too?!" Clem said nervously. I jumped off the sofa and ran to my bag. I grabbed my rifle and tossed it to her, and I took my bow for myself.
"Get upstairs, and stay low. You can snipe if you need to. I'll sneak to the apple tree and check it out." Clem nodded and scurried upstairs. I grabbed the binoculars from my bag and opened the door. Wind and rain blew through my hair as I made my way across the bridge. We hadn't heard any gunshots in this area except for ours. When I go to the platform around the apple tree, I ducked and pulled out my binoculars.
I couldn't see anything other than the trees swaying in the wind. This isn't going to work. I needed an alternate decision. I needed to be above the trees. I turned around and eyed the big apple tree. I jumped and grabbed ahold of one of the branches. The slippery bark was hard to keep ahold of, but I managed. I pulled myself up and planted my foot on the branch. Okay it's just a short climb up from here. I pulled myself up through all the branches, and the wind nearly made me fly off a few times. I had finally made it to the top. Leaves and branches crisscrossed all around me.
I pulled out my binoculars once again. The view was much clearer from up here. I peeked through the binoculars and looked to where the gunshots had come from. I didn't see anything unusual- Never mind. In the far distance, I saw two people running through an open field. I adjusted my binoculars to get a closer look. One was a woman, and one was a younger girl. Both were dark skinned and were running for their lives. Not too far behind them were two runners. I don't blame them for running. I remembered that horrible experience I had at the mall years and years ago. Running away from dozens of infected. It was all coming back to me again. I didn't want to remember how I lost my best friend that day. But I couldn't fight my thoughts.
"Ellie?" I opened my eyes. Clementine's voice called out from under me. The rain had cleared out and blue sky was just peeking through the clouds.
"Oh shit I didn't fall asleep did I?"
"You must have. I was getting worried. Why'd you hang around out here so long? It's been hours."
"I don't know I just- I don't know."
The bark was damp from the rain, and still a bit slippery. I eased my way down the tree slowly. I hadn't told Clem about the day I was bitten, or how I had lost Riley. I made my way to the ledge of the tree, and fell into her arms. I bent down and buried myself into the crook of her neck. I felt her arms wrap around me
"Shh it's okay now Ellie." She said calmly. I couldn't help myself. Tears started forming in my eyes. Oh how lost I'd be without her. She made everything okay.
She pulled away and looked into my eyes. My eyes fluttered to her lips and then back onto her strong stare. I wanted to kiss her- Oh how badly I wanted to kiss her. But I didn't even know if she felt the same way. Clem grabbed my hand.
"Let's get inside and tell me what you saw." I nodded. She led me across the bridge and in the door. She was acting like the older mature one, even though I was probably around 17 and she was only a small 15 year old- or fourteen. She looked way younger than she probably was. We never even kept track of our age. That kind of thing wasn't even important anymore. Clem sat me down on the small sofa, and sat right next to me, not letting go of the grip she had on my hand.
"Well?" She said with a firm, but soft tone.
"I saw two women just running away from some infected. They must have run out of ammo or something." She nodded.
"I wish we could have helped them. But they were too far away. My bow would never shoot that far."
"Yeah, I get it."
A moment of awkward silence passed between us. We weren't even looking at each other, but somehow, when I looked back up to her, our eyes met once again. I bit my lip and let out a sigh. I thought I should tell her about Riley, but what was the point? The past was the past. Even if she deserved to know, it didn't matter anymore. I mean, of course it mattered. I just knew that there was nothing I could do to get her back. I still had her pendant in my bag. It was the only piece I had left of her.
"I need to show you something." I said standing up and breaking our hands apart. I walked over to my bag and unzipped it. I reached far down inside until I felt the metal chain around my fingers, and pulled it out.
"What are you doing with a firefly pendant?" She asked seeming concerned.
"You deserve to know how I was bitten." I held the pendant firmly in my hand and looked at the name engraved into it. I told her about the first time I met Riley. How she beat up those kids pushing me around when I got off that bus. How her and I went to the mall, the carousel… I smiled thinking of her. I told her how Riley got bit saving me from that damn infected, and how we pledged to just 'lose our minds together'.
"I had no idea..." she said with a sigh.
"I know, I should have told you earlier… That's why I was in the tree for so long. I was just thinking of her... and-" Her face was moving closer to mine. I felt her breath as she moved closer. My cheeks heated up. I felt her lips softly press onto mine. I closed my eyes and leaned into her. Butterflies swarmed in my belly, I felt the feeling I had learned to forget.
After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled away.
"I won't ever leave you." She said looking at me. "And I will always be there for you, you understand?"
I nodded.
"Thank you."