"What the fuck do you mean?!" I screamed, pushing past him and running down the stairs, barely managing not to fall.
"Clem? Clem where are you?" I panicked.
Ben stared at me with big eyes. I turned to him, grabbing the collar of his jacket and shoving him into a wall. I'd become surprisingly strong during the apocalypse.
"You were meant to be watching her!" I spat. "What the fuck were you doing? She could be out there now getting ripped apart by walkers, she could have been found by the man on the walkie talkie, she could be dead!"
"I'm sorry, I-"
"We don't have time for your shit excuses! We have to find her," I released him from my grip and rushed to the door, flinging it open and being confronted by face of Kenny and... Clementine?
"Kenny, you found her, thank God," I calmed.
"She found us, more like," Kenny smiled. "Christ, Marcey, you look like you've seen a ghost. Did something happen?"
"No," I shook my head. "Clem, you scared the life out of me."
"Sorry."
"It's okay, just... don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay."
I smiled at her and she skipped away to see Christa and Omid.
"Where's Lee?" I asked Kenny. Someone stepped into my sight, a girl in red with blonde hair. "And... who's this?"
"This is Molly. And Lee got separated from us when some walkers attacked, so now we're just waiting for him to get back. Don't worry about him."
I nodded, then looked at Molly and back to Kenny. "Nobody got bit?"
"No, everyone is good. Now let us in, it's not exactly enjoyable waiting out here."
I moved aside so the man and woman could enter in the house. Molly scanned her eyes around straight away.
"You've checked the whole house, right?" She clarified.
"It's all checked. We've just finished with the bathroom and guest room," I told her.
"Mind if I check again? Can't risk leaving any good supplies behind."
"Go ahead," Kenny said before walking away.
Molly looked at me before moving away into a different room.
"I don't feel like we should be trusting her this quickly," Travis whispered to me. "She could be with the radio guy, she might want to attack us and we're just inviting us in here where Clem is. That's not really safe, right?"
"I know. I think the same," I sighed. "But I trust Kenny."
Ben was still stood against the wall, his eyebrows drawn together and an angered look on his face.
I ignored him and walked out of the room to investigate what Molly was doing.
The woman was moving tables out of the way and looking behind them, thoroughly searching every inch of the house.
"So... You're alone?" I tried not to sound like I was interrogating her, but my attempt failed and she narrowed her eyes at me.
"Yes," she responded. "And you are?"
"Marceline."
"Hm. Interesting name."
"Thanks."
"You don't trust me then?" She smirked.
"I've only just met you. It's dangerous to trust those you don't know these days," my mind flashed back to the incident with the cannibals.
"Then how did you end up with all of these people?"
I didn't have an answer.
"Relax," her smile turned friendly. "Come help search the kitchen?"
"Sure," I smiled back. In a way, I was glad she defended herself how she did. It made me feel like I could trust her.
We went to the kitchen and she began opening the cupboards. I sat on the counter and looked in the drawer, finding a knife and deciding to keep it for a weapon.
"How long have you guys been in this place?" Molly wondered.
"Not long," I shrugged, staring ahead at where Travis sat in the other room, packing the backpack with the items we'd found as well as my hoodie which I forgot I'd dropped during my screaming match at Ben.
"It's not safe to stay anywhere too long," she replied.
"Clementine? Clem?"
I jumped off the counter and grinned when I saw the voice's owner. "Lee!"
"Marcey," he smiled back. "Molly?"
"Oh, hey," she stopped looking in the cupboard. "You made it back."
A man stood with Lee raised his eyebrow. "Who's this?"
"He didn't tell you about me?" Molly walked forward, radiating confidence. "I'm the one who saved his ass back at the river. Who's the fossil?"
"This is Vernon, he's a doctor. He helped me get back here after we got separated," Lee stated.
"I'm Marceline," I greeted the stranger.
"I think you have something that belongs to me," Molly put a hand on her hip.
Lee passed the woman a weapon back before she walked away into a different room.
"Lee, thank God you're back," Christa ran down the stairs.
"Christa, what's wrong?"
"It's Omid, he's gotten worse. Much worse."
Lee turned to the doctor. "We have a man wounded, and Marceline here has hurt her leg."
"My leg is fine, Lee," I mumbled.
"Could you take a look at Omid?" Christa asked the doctor. "You have to help us. Please."
Vernon looked at her in the eyes, deciding on his answer. "I'll see what I can do. Take me to him."
I let the trio go and check on Omid while I went back to Travis.
"Want your hoodie?" He asked. I realised that in my frantic race to find Clementine, I had dropped it on the floor.
"No, keep it in the bag. I don't really need it right now."
We stayed silent for a few long minutes.
"Where's Ben? I should probably apologise for being so horrible earlier."
"He's in the other room with Kenny," he answered, moving his head in the direction I was to go.
I smiled and went through the doorway where I saw the two males. They were sat on the sofa and turned to face me as I approached, Kenny giving me a bubbly smile whereas I received a glare from Ben.
"Hey, guys-" I cut off, noticing the bottle in Kenny's hand. "You're drinking?"
"Kenny?" Lee entered the room.
"Oh, hey! You made it back. Good job. Good job," the drunken man slurred.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lee snapped.
"What does it look like?" He took another gulp of the alcohol.
"Where'd you get the bottle?"
"Found it," Kenny replied in a singsong tone.
"Kenny, put the bottle down. This isn't the time for drinking," I said.
"What the fuck were you thinking letting Kenny get like this?" Lee asked Ben like he was stupid.
"Hey man, I tried, but he gave me a look like he was gonna rip my face off. He won't listen to you, you think he was gonna listen to me?" Ben defended.
"To hell with you!" Kenny shouted.
"Getting wasted's not gonna help anyone," Lee snarled.
"Yeah, well what is?" Kenny raised his arms. "We are fucked!"
He sat down and continued his speech. "Molly said there's not a single boat left in Savannah, no way out. We got walkers all around us, that crazy fuck on the radio messin' with us...hell, if now ain't the time for a drink."
Kenny leaned to Ben and passed him the bottle. The boy went to take it until he felt my eyes burning into him, then refused it.
"Now, has anyone seen Clementine?"
I shook my head. "She went to see Christa and Omid earlier but I've not seen her since. I'll help you look."
"I'm gonna check outside first," Lee sighed. "I'll come get everyone if I don't find her there."
I nodded and let the man leave.
"Ben?" I asked.
"Yeah?" He spoke in a monotonous way.
"I'm sorry."
I walked out of the room and back to where Travis was, sitting down on the sofa next to him with a thump.
I covered my face with my hands and found myself wrapped in his arms.
"Hey, what's up?" He brushed my hair with one hand.
I leaned into his arms and remained silent. "Kenny couldn't find a boat. There are none in Savannah."
"Oh," Travis sighed. "What now?"
"We haven't got a plan. Kenny is in there getting drunk, Clementine keeps vanishing, Omid is really sick, we have nowhere left to go. Our only option is to just leave the cities behind now and travel to the countryside."
"If we even made it that far," he whispered, sadness heavy in his voice.
I buried my face, hugging him back. "Do you think we could? Go somewhere new, I mean."
"If that's what you wanted to do."
"We'd have to discuss it with the group first and figure out where to go," I said.
"Well I'd follow you wherever you want to go," he comforted then paused, deciding to add in another sentence. "In the least creepy way."
I giggled, letting go of him and leaning back into the sofa.
"We've got a boat!" Clementine proudly sang, skipping into the room.
My mouth dropped as I saw the little girl, suddenly returning from her disappearance. "What did you say?"
"There was a boat outside, and Kenny is going to look at it. Ben is helping."
"I should go help, too. I used to go out with my grandpa on his boat, you know," Travis smiled. "He lived by a lake."
"Go help," I pushed him off the sofa and he ruffled my hair before leaving.
"Did the boat look like it'd work?" I asked Clem.
She smiled and nodded back.
"That's amazing. Our luck might have just turned for the better."
Good or dreadful so far? Be honest!
I don't want to be writing chapters that people find boring. So let me know what you're thinking! Do you like Marceline? How about Travis still being alive, is that a bad decision? I want to know what your opinion is!
I'll be extremely grateful for reviews, even if they're just predictions about what is going to happen to the rest of the story... What will happen to Marceline?
Thank you again for reading this far, you are wonderful.
