AN: I'm going to cue in the scene, but you should listen to "Warm Shadow" by Fink when reading this. It makes the whole thing seem way more epic :)

"Try the lock again. Maybe you're not twisting it hard enough."

"I'm trying here, but the damn thing is stuck! I think there's something blocking the door from the other side!"

"Do you think it's a person?"

"Could be – who knows?"

What a bunch of buffoons. This clearly doesn't seem like the smart, sophisticated, evil hunter group that Kyle had been describing to me earlier in the week; not if they can't even get through a locked door. I've got a chair leaned up against the handle, but that probably isn't going to last long. If they've got the weapons, then it's only going to be a matter of time before…

"Blow it."

"What, are you serious?! What happened to taking this place over?!"

"It won't matter if we can't get in, now will it? Just shoot the lock and we'll bust it open!"

Narrowing my eyes, I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down; holding my pistol out in front of me and getting prepared for whatever it is I meet on the other side. I've got a little bit of cover from behind this couch, but it won't matter if they storm inside. I'll just have to make every shot count.

Whatever you're doing up there, Lilly and Jane, you better do it fast! Who knows how long we'll be able to endure out here before we get overwhelmed?

Small, wooden splinters go flying off the door frame as the bad guys shoot a few times at the door, and I have to shield my eyes from getting any of the sawdust in them. Clearing my throat, I quickly regain my position and wait patiently as they try body checking the door inwards.

Come and get me, you sons of…

As soon as I see a hand reaching inside, I fire directly at the man's fingers twice as he howls in agony; unable to do anything as his hand is blown to pieces trying to reach inside. Bloody bits of finger are scattered on the floor as he retreats, but it's not too long before more of these guys slam into the doorway and start knocking over the chair that I placed in front. I'm shaking a little bit in anticipation – partly because of what I'm going to do if they break in, but also because I'm almost certain that they have us surrounding on all sides of the house. There's a wall behind me that shields me from getting shot in the back, but this isn't going to go well.

If only there was a way that we could lose them!

"We've got a hell of a lot more firepower than you do!" yells a booming voice from the other side of the door, but I steel my nerves and say nothing. No use in letting them know exactly where I am right now. "Any more gunfire from you, and we'll come back at you with twice the force! Put your fucking gun down if you want to live!"

Fat chance, I think to myself, not swayed by his commands as I shuffle to the left a little bit. As soon as I let my guard down, I know damn well that they'll shoot me to pieces anyways. I won't give them that satisfaction – I don't plan on dying today.

A few more kicks to the front (and now extremely rickety) door, and the chair unfortunately collapses behind it. The men pause for a few seconds before kicking it open and holding their guns out in front of them.

I've decided to go stealthy a little bit and hide myself behind the couch – Duck would be so proud of me!

"Check your corners…" somebody whispers, as I see the shadows dancing upon the hardwood floor. Thank god that they haven't noticed me yet… "You can make this easy on yourself, whoever you are! Just come out with your hands in the air! I promise no harm will come to ya, as long as you do what we ask!"

Making sure that my breathing is as quiet as possible, I keep my head down and wait until a few of them start to head into the kitchen. The loud thumps of their boots shake the floor as they march further into the house, and as much as I'd love to fulfill Lilly's request about keeping them all out, it's just not feasible this time. Trying to shoot them all at once would be suicide.

Sometimes it's better to have the element of surprise on your side – I find it goes by much more smoothly that way.

"Man, would you look at this place?" a voice quietly echoes from the kitchen. "Totally intact, and they've got enough guns to last for years out here!"

"Yeah, well they're ours now. Put 'em in the bag and scrounge up the rounds together. Remember – we're not alone."

Oh shit… I totally forgot that we still had a huge stash of guns sitting in the kitchen! God damn it, this isn't going to go well! I need to do something!

Lilly and Jane need to do something!

Clenching a small fist, I angrily grit my teeth together and hold my pistol in front of me. This is either going to go really well, or really, really badly. Here's hoping that scenario one happens instead…

Crawling underneath the sofa, I pull myself up on the other side and aim my gun right at the back of a man's head.

BAM!

Once he goes down in a dead heap, his buddy turns around and fires right above my head; shattering a picture frame into a million pieces.

BAM!

He goes down from a bullet to the throat as he collapses onto another guy behind him; falling like bowling pins as I shoot twice more into two more men.

BAM! BAM!

Four down so far… but there's still a ton to go.

"SHOOT HER FUCKING BRAINS OUT!" somebody screeches, but I shoot that guy twice – one in the thigh and one in the chest – before he goes down and tries to crawl away to safety. Bits of couch are torn up as somebody with a machine gun fires towards me, but somehow I manage to avoid all of it after the fighting slows to a halt.

My ears are ringing like crazy as I hear some muffled voices shouting out, then some more gunshots I think, but it quickly stops again as I lay flat on the floor and try to stop this pounding in my head. My senses are reacting like crazy, and I find it difficult to move around (not that it was easy to before with my legs the way they were).

Looking upwards, I groggily see a mean-looking dude with a shotgun pointed right at my face. He's saying something to me, but I can't quite make it out as I slowly lower my gaze back downwards. I'm actually pretty surprised that he hasn't shot me yet, as my hearing slowly comes back to me.

"DROP IT!" Jane shouts, aiming an assault rifle directly at the man as Lilly comes down behind her – Kyle in her firm grip as she holds a knife dangerously close to his neck. "Put your fucking gun on the floor! Do it right now, or else Lilly's gonna gut your friend right in front of you! There's no need for anymore of this!"

"You're not exactly in a position to make demands," one of the men states calmly, aiming his pistol at Jane from the other side as the shotgun lowers closer to my head. This guy must be the leader of their little group. "But you've got a point – there's already enough volence been done here, courtesy of your little friend in the corner."

Jane looks worriedly over at me, but I just silently nod towards her to let her know that I'm alright. I'm scared, but other than that I'm perfectly okay. Not a bullet wound on me.

I can't say the same for the rest of these guys.

"Let her go and get out, and we'll give Kyle back to you with no problems," Jane says, not putting her gun away in case something happens. "Nobody else needs to get hurt."

"You've killed four of our guys," the leader replies in a neutral tone. "You'll have to do better than that, I'm afraid."

"Six! They killed six!" Kyle shouts out, crying out in pain as Lilly roughly knees him in the back. "Tino… and Martinez… they killed…"

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Lilly spits, holding the knife even closer to his neck as she draws some blood from his skin.

The standoff goes on for another ten seconds or so, with both sides unwavering as I sit on the floor and wait – either for my execution or for my salvation. The suspense along is enough to kill me, and you could cut through the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter. Jane looks about ready to tear their heads off; especially the bastard with the shotgun over my head, and Lilly would be more than willing to go down to the wire in order to protect us.

Sighing deeply, the leader of these guys puts his pistol back into his pocket and whistles for the rest of his men to stand down. There's quite a whack of them outside as well, and it's almost like a party in here with all the people standing around.

"Keep an eye on her, Henry," the leader says, looking down upon me with distrust. "Don't let her get out of your sight. If she runs, kill her."

"Over my dead body," Lilly snaps, not releasing Kyle as her grip becomes more forceful. Kyle looks like he's about ready to cry, and even I can't help but feel slightly bad for the kid. We treated him like crap for quite some time.

"The name's Derek, by the way," the leader introduces, though it makes no difference to any of us. All we know is that he was a part of the little evil syndicate thing they had going on with Papa John and Sandro, which automatically puts him as bad in my books. "How's about we talk somewhere less… hostile? I'm willing to be open about negotiations this time around."

Henry roughly yanks me upwards by the collar of my shirt and shoves me against the wall, and Jane looks upon me with hesitation. We both know how badly this will end if we don't give them what they want, so reluctantly she sighs and nods; heading towards the kitchen with a grimace. Lilly follows in behind her with Kyle still in her grasp, but when I try to go as well I'm shoved back to the wall.

"Not you," Henry chastises, glaring at me sharply as if he's trying to scare me into submission. "You stay out here where I can see ya. No more shootin' up the place, ya hear?"

"Don't tell me what to do!" I retort, but I fall silent as Jane shakes her head at me.

"It's alright, Clem," she hushes quietly, folding her arms across her chest as she glares at Henry. "But if you so much as lay one of your fat fucking fingers on her again, I'll chop your balls off and feed 'em to the walkers. I'm not kidding."

"Feisty one, ain't she?" Henry chuckles, but releasing his hand from my shoulder as Derek motions for him to do so. "We shouldn't be listening to a damn word they say, Derek. They shouldn't have the right to speak!"

"We can be the better people here, Henry. We can't lose control of our humanity," Derek advises, making me wonder what his game is here. What could he possibly have to gain from doing this?

Lilly clears her throat before they step inside, motioning towards the rest of the armed men before Jane nods and glares sharply at them.

"Everyone else needs to leave," she demands, showing that maybe she can be a leader out here even though she doesn't believe it herself. She's got the qualities to be one, but she just doesn't quite have the self-confidence in her just yet. "I don't like the idea of you assholes looting around our place while we're here. You can have one other person, but everyone else needs to either go home or wait outside."

"Fair enough," Derek acknowledges, snapping his fingers as his followers reluctantly walk back out the front; glowering over towards me as they drag their dead out with them. I hear a few gunshots coming from outside, but that's most likely just to prevent the dead guys from turning – nothing to worry about. "But she waits out here with Henry. That's the deal."

I really want to protest, not at all liking the idea of being stuck in a room with this bull-headed jerkface, but I opt not to as Henry goes over to the other side of the room.

"Be careful…" I whisper to Jane and Lilly, as they both nod and head inside with Derek.

Something tells me that these so called negotiations are going to be a little bit more than unfair.

….

Jane's POV

"Sit down and don't move," Lilly orders, practically tossing the shithead into the chair as Kyle gasps and clutches his throat in relief. I had half a mind to slit his throat when we were upstairs and toss his lifeless body out the window for his buddies to see, but that would've just put Clementine in grave danger.

But holy fucking shit… she took down four men armed to the teeth at twelve years old! I know that I sure as hell didn't teach her how to do that, and I'm pretty sure that Lilly didn't either.

There's almost no denying it now – Clementine's gonna outlast us all.

"So," Derek begins, folding his hands together on the table as he smirks towards Kyle, "I expect that they've been courteous to you since you've been staying here, Kyle? Plenty of food, a nice, warm bed? You know, some of that good, old southern hospitality?"

"We gave him food," I bite back sharply, folding my arms across my chest as I recall what he was about to do to Clementine. "That was being generous enough. It was way more than he deserved."

"Bullshit! You people are fucking parasites!" Kyle roars pathetically, slamming his fist on the table in aggravation. "They locked me in a fucking cellar with walkers right below me, and didn't even give me the time of day! You've got to believe me, Derek! They're monsters!"

"What do you want from me, kid? Would you like me to wipe your ass for you, too?!" he asks sarcastically, smacking the guy across the back of the head. "Jesus, come back to me when you actually grow a pair! They gave you food, Kyle – that's more than most people would've given you under the circumstances."

This guy's smart, I'll give him that much at least. Smart, but still a complete asshole. I can't let myself forget about the fact that he and the rest of his group were responsible for murdering hundreds, and enslaving hundreds more into this sick, twisted business deal. It's always important to keep in mind who the real enemies are.

He and the rest of his crew are definitely near the top of my list.

"What's it gonna take to reach a deal?" Lilly breaks the ice, wanting to get right to the point and get these dickheads out of here as fast as possible. That's one of the things that I lo… like about her – her ability to think on the fly and deal with the situation at hand.

Man, where did that come from?

"Right down to business, eh? I like that," Derek nods with a smug look on his face, forgetting about Kyle for a brief moment as he turns to the two of us. "Hmm, let's see… well, for starters, you three need to surrender – no exceptions. An immediate ceasefire from you three, with no strings attached."

I already don't like where this is going. Lilly seems as though she's going to pop a gasket herself.

"Second," he continues, either oblivious to our reactions or just trying to egg us on, "we get Houston Hills, along with everything inside of it. You've got not claim over the land, and it was stated in one of our contracts before all of this happened that we'd be the next in line to obtain the house, should anything happen to the previous owner. We'll give you a bagful of supplies and let you be on your way."

"Too bad we weren't there to sign that contract – that's not happening," I refuse, not backing down just because they have more people than we do. "We got this house fair and square."

"You slaughtered the previous owners in cold blood and stole the property from them. You'd probably get the electric chair if that thing was still around," Derek replies, his face revealing a twinge of resentment towards us as his eyebrow twitches. "Besides, we've got you all surrounded. Do you really think that you can shoot your way out of this one?"

"Four of your guys just got taken out by a twelve year old girl. You do the math."

Falling silent for a few seconds, Derek pauses in order to collect his thoughts. Stealing a quick glance over at Lilly, she shrugs and pretty much tells me that she doesn't know what else we can do. We don't exactly have the same leverage that we did beforehand, not now that Kyle's sitting right beside his boss. Maybe if I keep pressuring him with suggestions, then he'll cave and let us go off scott-free.

Or, maybe he'll just order his little shit stains to come in here and finish the job. One way or the other, we'll be ready.

"I don't think you ladies realize the severity of your situation," Derek tells us darkly, glowering upon us as he raises his head back up to face us. The man's pretty intimidating when he wants to be, but nobody – and I mean nobody – is more intimidating than Lilly. She's even scared me a few times, and that doesn't happen very often. "My man Henry in there still has his gun, and – "

"You promised us!" Lilly roars, her eyes fierce and deadly as she stands up and slams her fist on the table in rage. "You lying son of a bitch! You told us she'd be safe!"

"I promised no such thing," he responds with a shrug, his hand deep in his pocket as Lilly reluctantly sits back down. "Did you honestly think that you'd have any power here? We've got enough weapons out there to blow this entire place up twice."

"You're bluffing," I accuse, trying to squirm our way out of potential danger as he chuckles mirthlessly.

"I wouldn't want to test that theory, if I were you. The odds aren't exactly in your favour," he states, calm as ever as he places his hands in his lap. "We haven't done that yet, though. We're not monsters – we're survivors. Monsters kill without remorse and don't even blink an eye at violence; monsters kill for fun. We're not like you three."

"You're garbage that enslaves people for sport and supplies," Lilly remarks bitterly, reminding me of the prison and all of that nonsense that occurred there. "You people might talk a big game; about how you're all humane and justifiable, but at the end of the day you're cowards. You take people who've got nothing left and force them to do your dirty work."

"That's pretty big talk for somebody like you. If I recall correctly, you three butchered the prison, killed everyone inside of Houston Hills, and then killed half a dozen of my men," he counts off of his fingers, and he smirks wickedly as I realize that he's got a bit of a point. We're not exactly good people ourselves – you can't be out here, really. "We're not so different, you and I. That's why I've got another idea in mind – a better idea, for both parties."

Looking over at my good friend, the both of us are weary as we start to listen to whatever self-absorbed plan he's cooked up this time.

"We'll leave the house… but so will you," he pitches, which confuses the living hell out of me. Why would he want to do that? "You two will come and join us back at our base – we're well armed, well stocked with supplies and can fend off the dead pretty easily. We need marksmen like you two among our ranks."

"What about Clementine?" I ask, shocked that I'm even willing to consider this option. Derek remains quiet for a few seconds, which pisses me off as I snap my fingers to get his attention. "Look at me, damn it! What about fucking Clementine?!"

"The girl will be set free," he answers, not caring at all about her well-being in the slightest. "There's no way that she could join our numbers, not with how she killed four of our own right in front of us. She'll be better off wandering by herself."

"She'll die out there!" Lilly retorts, as I lower my shocked gaze to the table. This… this can't be it… "That's not happening! Clem's got more balls than all of your crew put together, and she doesn't deserve to just get tossed aside like a piece of trash! Jane, back me up here!"

"…can you guarantee that she'll get a shot?"

"JANE?! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"We can give her a bag of supplies and two of the guns," Derek agrees, nodding as he looks towards the door that leads out to the hallway. "But that's it – the rest is ours, and rightfully so."

Closing my eyes tightly, I grit my teeth together so hard that I feel as though they might shatter in my mouth. With an extremely heavy heart, I swear under my breath and reluctantly nod in agreement.

"Very well – glad we could come to an understanding," Derek acknowledges, standing up along with Kyle as they prepare to exit the kitchen. "We'll give you twenty minutes, and then we're off."

As soon as they exit the kitchen, Lilly's almost immediately on my ass about the decision. I can't exactly blame her this time, either.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?!" Lilly berates, unable to believe what I just agreed to. I still can't believe it myself, to tell the truth. "You're fucking crazy! How could you do this, Jane?!"

"There wasn't any god damn choice!"

"There's ALWAYS a choice!"

"Yeah? Well if there is, then I don't fucking see it!" I yell, wanting nothing more than to cry when I realize that we still have to talk to Clementine after all of this. "God damn it… she… she can make it, Lilly! She just… she just has to! She's smart, and she's a survivor – we've seen it before!"

"Derek just sentenced her to death…" Lilly breathes out, running her hands through her hair in exasperation, "and you agreed to it. I hope you're fucking proud of yourself, Jane…"

"Go to hell," I bite back, snarling my words even though I don't really mean it. The gravity of the situation is just getting too much for my head to spin around. "This is her only chance – it's either this, or they'll kill her. Who's to say that they wouldn't kill us as well?"

"…how the hell are we gonna tell this to her…"

"I… I don't know," I admit, sagging back in my seat as I groan and rub my face tiredly. This can't be happening, and I'd do anything at all to prevent it, but it is. Clementine needs to leave us… this could possibly be the very last time that we see her.

I'm going to lose a sister again.

…..

Clem's POV

"No…" I shake my head, unwilling and unable to believe that this is happening as tears start to well up in my eyes. "I'm not leaving! No! We stay together, like always!"

"You can't, Clem," Jane responds sadly, probably not wanting this to happen as much as I do. But if that's the case, then why is she doing it?! Did the past year mean nothing to her?! To either of them?! "You can't get tied down to anyone, remember? Get too attached and a piece of you breaks off… This is the only way."

"Why…"

"You're gonna live, Clem. I know that you will. You're gonna outlast us all, remember?" Jane tells me, but I don't believe her anymore. I've had enough of her lies – Jane and Lilly are sending me off knowing that I won't last a minute out there on my own.

I've had more than enough.

"Fine…" I shrug off her grasp, which only seems to sadden Jane even more as Lilly stands there silently. "I don't need this! You want me to go so badly? Fine! I'll… I'll leave! I can find my own way! I don't need you, not anymore! So just go! LEAVE!"

My words cut deep, I can tell, as I sprint with the bag of supplies right past her and Lilly. I hear Derek tell somebody to follow me, and then I hear Lilly's screams following afterwards, but I'm too saddened to turn back around. I can't go back… there's no going back now.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shriek to Kyle as he casually walks behind me; no doubt pissed off that he has to follow me around. I'd shoot him right in the head, but all that would do is attract unwanted attention right now.

I've got other plans for him…

Knowing that I won't last a minute out in the hot, desert-like area that surrounds us, I head back into the cellar and hide in the shadows – waiting for Kyle to inevitably follow me downstairs.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Kyle taunts as my eyes focus on the open trap door that Jane had left open. I know now what she intended by doing that…

It's a last resort; an escape route that we could possibly use in order to get away from these assholes.

But this time it's just me… I've been tossed aside carelessly, and nobody would give a damn if I lived or died. Maybe it's just the grief and frustration talking, but that's how I feel right now.

AN: Cue "Warm Shadow" music!

Quickly and quietly making my way over, I cringe as I see that some walkers are still reaching upwards through the hole. Don't these things ever quit?!

I lay in waiting; acting patiently as my prey comes down the ladder.

…

Jane's POV

Lilly and I are restrained from behind as we're put on a forced march through hell – out of Houston Hills and out onto the stone driveway where everyone else is waiting. They don't want us to join them! They'd probably rather see both of our heads on a spike!

But that's not what's completely broken me inside. No… what's shattered my soul and spirit into a million tiny pieces is the way that Clementine left. Don't go like this, is what I kept saying in my head, but I couldn't force the words out of my mouth. It would be too final, and there would be too much crushing grief for me to bear. I just left a part of my family in there… again… and she might never come back. I'd wanted to avoid this all along – ever since that overwhelming fear of what she would say after I tricked Kenny into thinking the baby was dead.

I guess that karma's come back to bite me in the ass, hasn't it?

Lilly thrashes about violently as she's held back by two men, but I don't even put up a fight. What's the point? All it's going to do is waste my energy.

Looking up at Derek's smug face, I glance back down to the ground; utterly defeated for the first time in a very, very long time.

Clem's gone… and this time I can't bring her back.

"Burn it down," Derek orders, and even then I can't force myself to question why he's doing something. I'm just too damn tired.

Too tired of losing people; too tired of fighting.

All I ever do is push onwards – what's the point anymore?

…..

Clem's POV

"I can't wait to string my hands around your little, fucking neck…" Kyle rants, looking around the cellar for any trace of me. I won't let this bastard touch me. "I've hated your guts ever since I laid eyes on you, Clem. You're a worthless, spineless waste of space, and I'm going to put you down once and for all. I'd probably be doing this world a service."

What is it that he told me once? Shoot me on the side of the road and leave him for the walkers?

…maybe he should get a taste of his own medicine. My plan is going along pretty nicely so far.

Just a little bit closer, you piece of crap…

Once Kyle slowly walks over towards my location, a loaded gun in hand and a small cut across his neck from Lilly cutting him, I aim my pistol while still hiding behind the trap door. Almost there…

"Ha! Found you, you little bitch!" Kyle proclaims, reaching out and smacking me across the head; knocking off my hat in the process

NOBODY touches the hat!

Walking around the door and not really thinking anything of it, Kyle hurries towards me as hits me twice more, leaving me with three big red marks on my cheeks as my hatred for this guy burns fiercely in my eyes.

"Aww, what are you gonna do? Cry?" he taunts, kicking me in the stomach as I keel over on the floor. "Come on, Clem! Aren't you gonna fight back? There ain't nobody around to save you this time, so you'd best be trying yourself! Still nothing? Hmph, you're even more of a coward than I thought!"

With that, he picks me up by the scruff of my shirt, pins me to the wall and clutches my throat tightly; trying his best to strangle me to death as I start to panic.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," he whispers, not noticing that my gun's still in my hand. "This is for everything you've done to me! I'll be sure to give Lilly and Jane your regards when I head back to them! I'll – "

The gun goes off as I shoot him three times in the leg, causing him to lose his grasp on me as I gasp for air. My throat's definitely sore, but that's nothing compared to my burning hatred for Kyle. After struggling to regain my breath, I stand up and loom over top of the man.

"No mercy… remember?"

"Please…" he begs, showing his true colours once again as he clutches his bullet wounds in pure agony. "Oh god… please just… leave me! I swear that I won't do anything to you! I… I give you my word!"

"I don't care what you promise," I tell him quietly, no emotion in my voice as I shoot him in the hip. His screams get louder as I continue to lose control. "You're already dead, as far as I care."

Getting a wicked glint in my eye, I drag him painfully by the leg over to the trap door – he desperately begs me not to do this as he realizes what I'm about to do.

"PLEASE DON'T! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! ANYTHING!"

"Goodbye… Kyle…" I tell him simply, shoving him into the hole and watching as he screams in pain and fear. The walkers do their job well enough, and a part of my sanity breaks as I watch him get absolutely ripped apart; limb from limb. His stomach is gouged out as the walkers feast upon his intestines, and he utters one final scream before his throat is torn out from its correct position. The blood and guts make me want to throw up enough as it is, but… the severity of my actions hits me like a brick wall.

Realizing that there's truly no going back the way that I came, I wait until the walkers are all preoccupied with eating Kyle before making my final decision.

With a loud gulp, I throw my legs over the edge and jump down into the depths below.

AN: And that's the end of book one! I hope you guys are enjoying this, and as for the future chapters here's how it's going to go. There'll be two different adventures going on: Lilly and Jane's story, along with Clementine's story. You'll know which one it is when you start to read it, so that won't be a problem. All I can tell you is that it'll hopefully be epic, awesome and satisfying (again, hopefully lol).

Anyways, hope you've enjoyed so far and please drop a review! They're always appreciated!

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