The house was empty of walkers, except one that was found in the attic. We didn't want to talk about it. The walker was a small boy, sickly thin and shockingly resembling Duck. I avoided any ideas in my head of Duck being one of the undead and trying to kill people. The thought of it broke my heart.

Lee buried the kid outside in the same grave as the dog. I was glad he got a burial, and at least it was with something loved. I pushed away the images in my head of the dead people I knew wandering around the streets where I once lived. I tried to forget the pictures planted in my brain of my dog as the walkers got her, and the noises that rang in my ears, becoming a permanent feature in my memories. I blocked the mentally generated thoughts of the things I had not seen but knew to have happened; Carley's abandoned corpse being devoured on a roadside, Larry being destroyed in a cannibal home, Mark desperately crying for our help, and my parents as the monsters they'd tried to keep me safe from.

Everything was too much for me. I wasn't sure how I was coping, how anybody was coping. Maybe we weren't. Everyone was probably dying inside, wishing for the end of the apocalypse to come sooner, dreaming of normality being restored. But that wouldn't happen.

"Hey! Hey!" Lee yelled outside.

I ran outside, my leg feeling improved since being cleaned and rested. Other members of the group joined.

"Who are you? What the hell do you want from us?!" Lee shouted out to nothing through the fence.

"Lee, what's happening?" I walked closer.

"I saw someone standing there by the fence. Watching us."

"A walker?" Ben wondered.

"No, too fast," Lee walked back to the rest of us. "Took off like a bat out of hell when I spotted him."

"Was it a man or a woman?" Christa quizzed.

Lee shrugged. "Didn't get a good enough look."

"Why would it matter?" Travis asked.

"It could have been the voice on the radio," I realised.

"Exactly," Christa nodded.

The door opened to the house and a man with sad eyes and a miserable face walked out.

"Kenny?" I reached a hand out slowly.

"I'm fine," the man answered. "Just... I'm fine. What's all the ruckus?"

"Lee spotted a guy outside the gate," Travis told him.

"What? Who?" Kenny seemed worried and a little surprised.

"I can't be sure. They took off before I could get a good enough look."

"I don't like this one bit. Not one bit," Ben shook his head, his voice trembling a little.

"Me either. Walkers are one thing, but the thought of someone out there actually stalking us..." Christa agreed.

"All right, that's it!" Kenny snapped, his voice getting stronger and more authoritative. "We've stuck around here long enough. It's time to get back on track, time to get down the river and find ourselves a boat."

"I don't know if Omid's well enough to move yet," Christa said. "Marceline shouldn't be putting too much stress on her leg either."

I shot Christa a glare before thinking about the fact she was probably right. I did need to rest my leg and recover, because otherwise it could get worse and then I really would be a waste of energy to the group. Thankfully, Christa didn't see my face.

Kenny looked angry but then sighed when he saw me shift my weight off my injured leg. "We'll move out when the boat is ready, so you'll have to get healed before then."

"You wouldn't have to wait for me," I stated. "If I can't keep up with everybody else then you have to go without me. Rules of survival, right?"

"We're not going anywhere without you," Travis replied, his voice loud.

"Travis is right, Marceline. We can't leave you behind," Lee smiled a little.

"Okay," I responded, although I was determined to keep my own idea that I would be left behind if needs be. "Go get that boat then."

Kenny smiled. "What are we waiting for?"

"I'll go get my stuff," Ben went to move back into the house before Kenny stopped him.

"No, Ben. You'll only slow us down. Lee and I can go scout the river while the rest of you get ready to move out. You stay behind."

"Wait, can't I come?" Clementine pleaded, suddenly appearing. "My mom and dad can't be far now, maybe we can look for them on the way to the river!"

"Clementine, honey, I think it'd be best if you stayed behind with everybody else and help get ready to move out," Lee told her.

"You said I'm supposed to always stay close to you!" Clementine complained to him.

"I know, it's just this once. Sometimes we have to put aside what we want for the good of the group. Hey, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"Okay," Clementine sounded defeated and disappointed.

"Clem, you can help search the house one last time for supplies with Travis, Ben and I?" I suggested.

She nodded.

"Daylight's burning," Kenny stated. "Gonna go grab my gear, then we'll head out."

"Let's go, Clem," Travis said and we walked inside the house.


Ben didn't really want to take part in the search for supplies.

"Watch Clem while we go check the bathroom?" I asked him, knowing he felt as useless as I did and that wasn't a good thing.

He nodded.

Travis sighed and we went upstairs towards the bathroom.

"What's up with him?" I pulled a handle on a cabinet, rattling it but not opening it. It was locked.

"I don't know. I think he's annoyed that he's got to stay here instead of helping with the boat," Travis shrugged. "I found a key."

"Try it on this door," I instructed.

Travis put the key in the lock and twisted it, successfully opening the door and looking inside.

"Nothing of much use here," he inspected. "Oh, toothpaste! There's also a packet of four brushes unopened."

I took the objects from his hands and smiled happily. "That's a relief. Only four though, and I don't think sharing them sounds particularly nice."

"We could keep it a secret," he suggested, a sly smile appearing on his face.

"Travis," I told him off, hitting him over the head lightly with the toothbrush packet. "We can check with the others what to do. Anything else in there?"

"Uhhh," he pulled out a bottle of mouthwash. "Yes!"

"This is great," I beamed. "Fancy leaving all of this stuff here. Thank you, previous home owners."

Travis chuckled and began looking again. "There's also a packet of band-aids and a can of deodorant."

"We should take all of this, it'll be useful."

He agreed, passing me the items and closing the cabinet again.

We did a final sweep of the bathroom, hoping to find something else. We didn't.

"Let's check around for bedrooms," I tried a door handle, opening it. "We could find a backpack to carry this all in and maybe even some new clothes."

I stepped into the room cautiously. It was dark, the window covered with boards. I flicked the light with a giggle, knowing it wouldn't work.

"Worth a check."

I made my way to a dresser, opening a drawer and finding clothes inside. The first few items were small, child sized, so I presumed I was in the boy's bedroom that had been found earlier. I felt a bit wrong to be taking his belongings.

"Travis, will any of this fit people?" I threw some items of clothing out of the drawer and onto the bed.

My friend held up the items individually, examining their size.

"There's some jeans here," he picked them up. "I guess Clem could grow into them. Everything else looks far too big, more like adult clothes."

"Maybe this isn't the boy's room and was just a guest room or something," I supposed.

"It's likely," he agreed. "You could fit into this t-shirt, I think?"

I looked at the black top and took it from him, looking down at my own t-shirt which was destroyed from the months of wearing it and ruining it. "I'll be glad to get rid of this disgusting thing."

"There's a skirt, too."

"Impractical," I continued my search. "Look under the bed?"

Travis did while I closed the drawer and stood on the tips of my toes to reach a shelf. I wasn't very tall, but I wasn't short either. I was more of the average height for my age. The person who set up the shelf must have been a giant, I decided. I tried to lift myself up onto the drawers to gain some height.

"There's a backpack down here!" Travis exclaimed happily, pulling it out from the bed. "What on earth are you doing? Let me."

I pulled a face as Travis stretched up to the shelf being taller than me.

"I could do it," I muttered.

"Do you want to?" He asked, moving away from the shelf.

"Well it doesn't matter now because you can reach," I shrugged.

Travis groaned, and before I knew it I was being lifted off the ground and held up.

"You know, you look a lot lighter than you are," he struggled as I looked on the shelf, finding nothing but a thick coat of dust and a brown teddy bear.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. "You can let me down now."

Travis put me back on the floor and brushed his hair back with one hand, passing the backpack to me at the same time.

"This will be good for our supplies. I think we're done here, don't you?"

"Yeah," Travis agreed. "Let's go check on Ben."

"I'm gonna change my shirt," I headed towards the bathroom. "I'll meet you down there, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled, disappearing from my sight.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and took off my red hoodie, which had definitely seen better days. I took my top off and caught sight of my body in the mirror, immediately gasping. The lack of food had started making my bones visible where they shouldn't have been, my skin looked even more pale than my face did, and I had various bruises formed from the fights with walkers, falls and bumps over the past few months.

A loud hammering on the door made me jump. "Just a second!" I pulled the black shirt over my head and hooked the hoodie over my arm.

The door kept knocking so I flung it open, faced with Travis who looked worried.

"Clementine's gone!"