Reviews!

Rebloxic: They're a little young in this for that kind of stuff, but in the game? Totally. Do you think they would've gotten together if Riley hadn't died?

Aqua: Yep, had to be done lol! And yeah, you too :D

Emilyrose727: Yeah, Clem's kind of going nuts unfortunately, and I thought it'd be kinda cool to see how a younger Ellie and Riley would play out in this. Also (cue Dragon Ball Z references) YOU'RE OVER 300!

Salient Spring: You've just given me an awful, terrible idea ;) This is gonna be fun lol

Guest: Yeah, definitely not going to happen in this thing – I'll tell you exactly how old they are in a bit.

Clemmyclue19: Clem's getting a pretty serious case of schizophrenia – I'm not entirely sure how it works, but from what I've heard you get voices in your head that tell you what to do. Seeing things that aren't there could also be a factor, I'm not sure.

VictoriaSW: We'll see about that ;) For now though, I don't think Clem's really on board of trying to save two little kids. Maybe she'll change her mind!

Galen: Yep, I'm a big fat liar! You should never trust a damn word I say lol thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

Ashes2ashes: Seems pretty ironic doesn't it? Especially considering that Clem's only 12 herself lol.

Alright, here's the next chapter!

"DID YOU FIND ANYTHING YET?!"

Hearing panicked whimpers and the frantic shuffling of footsteps rummaging around the restaurant floor, I'm going to take that as a no. Jesus Christ, this is what I get for trying to do the right thing, isn't it? A couple of stupid kids who don't know what the hell they've gotten themselves mixed up into!

Setting my bag of tricks down onto a dining table, I quickly reload my pistol while keeping an eye on the part of the room where we came in. If something's not done soon, then we're gonna get trapped in here with a bunch of walkers. That'll be game, set and match, folks.

Fortunately, I don't plan on dying today.

"You think because you're a little girl, you can just get people killed and no one will care?!"

"Get the hell out, Kenny…" I whisper violently, shaking my head and trying my best to focus on the task at hand. Trying to shoot every one of these guys is just going to draw every single walker in the downtown core towards us, and not only do I not have enough bullets to deal with them all (even with those I picked up), but how long will it be before Ellie or Riley freak out and run out into the street?

"This thing's too heavy!" I hear shouting coming from the kitchen, as I sprint over to where the girls are desperately trying to drag a box full of old cutlery, dishes and soap bottles. It'll have to do, so I quickly step in between the two of them and grasp an end of the cardboard box.

Hopefully the stupid thing won't just rip when I try to drag it across the floor…

"On three, we're gonna drag it over there! Ready?" I ask, not really waiting for an answer as I start counting down. "Three, two, one, go!"

A lot of the weight is getting dragged by me, but thankfully neither of the two are getting in the way as we pull the box forward; sliding it until we get within a few feet of the door. At this point, I simply tell them to step back as I push the box into place; falling backwards onto the floor as a walker jumps me by surprise.

"Crap…" I mutter, shooting the walker in the head and picking myself back up. Behind me, Riley and Ellie are holding onto each other for dear life as they quiver in fear – of me or the walkers I'm not too sure, but right now I couldn't really care less. "We can't stay here, you two! Are you listening?!"

"Y-you… k-k-killed…" Ellie stutters, shakily pointing to the dead body over by the box. I huff out a sigh and roll my eyes, annoyed by their ignorance to what's going on around them.

I'm about to say something else, but I'm interrupted as two of the walkers claw through the glass; their growls only tuned out by Riley and Ellie's shrill screams as the dead snap their jaws and try to reach out for us. On the other side, walkers are starting to get the same idea, as they try their best to get at their three course meal.

We're completely surrounded on all sides.

"I can't believe this!" I groan in frustration, though right now I'm actually pretty frightened myself. What the hell are we supposed to…

…the skylight. Jane, you're a certifiable genius!

"Up there!" I point, hurrying them along as I shoot the glass window on the ceiling and shield myself from the falling shards. Next, I tap impatiently on one of the tables in an attempt to get them to move faster. "Get going! I'm not gonna be monster chow waiting for you kids!"

"But… you're a kid, too…"

"Well, I sure don't act like one," I reaffirm, watching as Riley hesitantly tries to go up first. "You've gotta jump! I can't throw you up there!"

"I'm… ugh… trying!" Riley retorts, jumping up a few times until she finally manages to grasp onto the ledge. I nearly smack myself on the forehead when I realize just how little upper body strength they really have, and watch as Riley dangles from the ledge. "I'm stuck!"

"Just gimme a minute!" I holler, constantly keeping a second eye trained on the windows to make sure nobody's snuck in just yet.

When I look upon Ellie, all small and defenseless, something inside of me… I don't even know why, but something inside of me wants to help her. Maybe it's the fact that she reminds me of what I used to be back when all of this stuff first started, but did Lee give up on me when he saw how weak and incapable I was? No, he stuck around and tried to protect me until his dying breaths.

This is hardly the same thing right now, but I let out a groan and reluctantly dig into my pocket; pulling out the pocket knife and holding it out in front of the young girl (still sheathed, of course). She looks at me as though I've lost my damn mind.

Hopefully I haven't gone that far just yet, Ellie…

"This is for protection, okay?" I tell her, slowing my words down a little bit to make what I'm saying crystal clear. "If one of those walkers – "

"Huh?!'

"…the bad guys," I explain, hopefully getting the message across as I place a firm hand on her shoulder. "This is only if you don't have anything else to keep yourself safe. It's not a toy, get that? So don't go swinging it around or anything! Just keep it with you and follow my lead!"

She reluctantly accepts the object; holding it in her hands as if it's a bomb waiting to go off. You can tell that she's terrified – they both are – but the only way to live is to overcome that fear, think on your feet and keep yourself safe. Safety's one of the most important virtues to have these days, if not the most important.

Remembering that Riley's still holding on for dear life, I tell Ellie to let me know if anyone's coming as I grab a hold of the girl's shoes.

"I'm gonna push you, but you need to pull yourself up!" I call out, seeing Riley quickly nod as I try my best to shove her as high as I can. Once she gets some leverage, she successfully manages to pull the rest of the way onto the roof, safe and sound.

Glancing back over at Ellie, I point up towards the ceiling as I place the straps of my backpack upon my shoulders. There's no way that I'll be able to carry the rifles with me, so I simply toss them onto the roof and listen as Riley gasps in shock. I'm surprised that she didn't just kick them back down into the hole with the way things have been going today.

"You're up next, Ellie!" I yell, feeling like punching a wall when she frantically shakes her head. "WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT! WHAT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?!"

"STOP YELLING AT ME!" she whimpers, tears forming in her eyes as Riley pokes her head in to see what's taking us so long. This has definitely not been my day, that's for sure.

Seeing as how my words aren't going to change her mind right now (and add that to the fact that they'd probably run off if I went last), I grunt and prepare to jump up myself. It takes a few tries due to my stupid height, but I finally manage to grasp the ledge and yank myself out of harm's way.

Here comes the difficult part… who knew that kids could be such a pain in the ass?

"ELLIE!" Riley cries, reaching her hand through the hole in the ceiling as I stand and watch the scene unfold. Memories suddenly come flooding back to me, but I can't exactly place where this had come from…

Sarah.

The same damn thing that happened to her… is about to happen to Ellie. Sarah had no will left to go on, Jane told me so right from the start. Her Dad was dead and no matter what we couldn't get her to move. Jane couldn't, Luke couldn't, and I couldn't.

So I left her to die.

"You left your sister?" Luke asked in disbelief, following the trail along with Jane as I followed close behind.

"I dragged my sister across four states, and she wanted me to end it so badly," she explained, this story enhanced later when she opened up to me at Houston Hills. "So one night, we got cornered by a pack of walkers that we couldn't avoid, and the only way out was the roof. I couldn't drag her; couldn't throw her! So… I gave her what she wanted."

Rubbing my forehead, I try to get the craziness out as I look upon the scared, desperate forms of Ellie and Riley. What if I was in their position, and they had to try and save me? What if I was the scared, little girl who just wanted to play with her friends and see their parents while not having to worry about monsters trying to attack you?

"Killing one in order to save many is a part of survival," Carver taunts in my ears, trying his best to control my mind as he enters my subconscious. "It's one of the tougher decisions that a weaker person couldn't make."

Not this time, Carver. I'm better than you could ever be, and I'll prove it to you!

"Ellie, you have to trust us!" I tell her, a bit less hostile than I was before. There's still a sense of urgency however, and this is only furthered along when the walkers' growls get louder and more intense. "Give me your hand! Please!"

After getting an encouraging nod from her friend, Ellie steps up on the table, quickly places the switchblade into her pants pocket and starts looking really uneasy. When I realize that the walkers must be breaking through, I tell her to pick up the pace as she tries her best to jump – getting increasingly discouraged as she simply brushes fingertips with us.

"Leave the weak for the walkers," Carver snaps, shaking his head in disapproval. "You know better than anyone, Clementine – the weak have to be flushed out from the strong in order to survive."

"SHUT UP!" I bellow, startling the two girls as they look upon me with confusion. Shaking my head out of this stupor, I grit my teeth together and angrily kick the roof in frustration. "I wasn't talking to you! Now take my hand, you've gotta reach!"

It feels almost as if my arms have grown an extra foot long as Ellie finally gets a good grip on my hand, so with Riley's help, we quickly pull her upwards to temporary safety just in time – a walker was about five seconds away from attacking her, and all of this would've been for nothing. Stopping for a little while to catch our breaths, I take my hat off for just a second and rub my hand through my dark, curly locks; desperately trying to rid myself of these voices. I just need to keep convincing myself that they aren't real; that these people are dead and that I'm on my own with these two kids.

"That… was close…" I wheeze, perking my head up to look at our surroundings. The walkers are far too dumb to get up here, but staying on top of a roof while they all wait at the bottom isn't exactly the position that I'd want to be in. "So, umm… are you guys alright?"

Sitting up and glancing over at my tiny companions (not that I really should be talking about people being short), I deeply sigh before placing my hat back atop my head. They're not talking – definitely not after all of that scary stuff that just went down. Maybe I came off a little strong, but sometimes you've got to be firm in order for the message to truly stick in your brain.

Still, I haven't exactly started off on the right foot with these two, now have I?

"Well… I'm Clementine. Nice to meet you, I guess," I attempt, pulling off a half smile to try and relax them a little bit, but the walkers have made them more than a little restless I believe. Realizing that nothing's gonna work, my smile falters as I pull myself to my feet and look down off the roof.

Six walkers has now turned to at least a dozen, and that's not even including those that are inside the restaurant – not great odds for us, I'd wager.

"Let's look for something we can use," I suggest, pointing up to an outdoor patio that's a little bit higher than where we're at now. It'll probably be a bit chilly, but at least we'd have a roof covering our heads. There are worse places we could be. "We can camp up there tonight. It's getting pretty dark, and it's not safe to travel out there at night."

Looking at each other, Riley's the first one to stand up as she hesitantly wanders up beside me. I'm thinking that I've just shot Ellie's confidence levels to shreds.

"What can we use?"

"I dunno… Is there like a ladder or something around?" I ask, though not liking our chances – all that I can see on this roof are old bricks and tennis balls that bored kids probably chucked up here back in the day. Out of boredom, I pick up a brick and chuck it at a walker; watching as they fall over from the impact. "Well, this is wonderful…"

"…maybe we could… give someone a boost?" Ellie suggests, causing Riley and I to look back at her. She's got her hands in her pockets and seems kind of unsure of herself as she shrugs her shoulders, but I scratch my chin and give her a nod. That might actually work… or we could end up with a broken leg if things go south. Either way, though, it's worth a shot – I don't want to stay here for any longer than I need to.

Luckily for us the buildings seem to be attached to each other, so I won't have to worry about falling over when trying to do this – I can just lean my back against the brick wall to keep my balance.

"Ellie, how about you go first?" I suggest, seeing as how this was her idea in the first place. Folding my hands together, I bend my back slightly as she places her foot in my hands. With a lot of strain, I try my best to push her up as high as I can manage – thank god she's as light as a feather, otherwise I would've been screwed. She crawls over the ledge and then reappears a second later; holding her hand out as Riley prepares to go next.

By the time that Riley manages to get up to the patio deck of the apartment, my arms feel like gelatin – squishy and with no strength left in them. The two of them giggle as I make a mock exhausted face (a good sign for once), but I still need to get up there somehow.

"Could you build an elevator or something?" I whine, smirking as I take a few steps back. Getting a running start, I sprint towards the wall and kick off; reaching out for their arms as they catch me (thank god). The three of us collapse onto our backs as we try to catch our breaths – silently agreeing that we'll never do something like this again if we can help it.

But now I'm left with an entirely new problem – what are we supposed to do now? Do I just send them off on their own, or should I talk to them about maybe coming back with me?

I'll have to ask what it is they plan on doing in a little while. For now, though, I just need to focus on what I've been doing for the last three years or so now – survival. Opening the door open, I hold out my gun and decide to check out the floor before venturing further inside.

…

"Eyes open," I tell them, making sure that Ellie and Riley are sticking close behind me. "If you see anything suspicious, just holler."

"It's so dark in here!" Ellie exclaims, sticking to Riley like glue as she holds her switchblade carefully in her hand. "This place is scary!"

"We've gotta check everywhere if we're going to stay here tonight," I advise, opening up a closet to find it completely empty. "Looks like it's clear over here. Do you guys see anything?"

"Nope, just spiders."

Sighing, I place my gun back into my pocket before stretching my arms up wide and yawning softly. Running away and fighting for your life makes you more tired than you might think, and right now I'm completely zapped of energy.

Clearing the counter of useless junk that the previous owners must've left behind, I place my bag on top of it and start going through my stash of weaponry. Riley keeps the door propped open with a brick to allow some light in – at least until it gets dark – as Ellie quietly watches me work. I reckon that neither of them have really been around guns that much, but Riley seemed to be a little less nervous around them than Ellie was.

Silently opening the bag up and checking the guns over, I occasionally glance up to see Ellie and Riley conversing with each other. My mind starts to wander as they continue to talk about typical kids' stuff – games they've been playing, who their favourite super heroes are, and something about a comic called "Savage Starlight" I think she called it. I'll admit, it's sometimes nice to see people not worrying about the walkers, but not when we're knee-deep in them and have people who don't know what the hell they're doing.

…nope, not gonna get involved. I don't have a responsibility to these two girls – we just met, and we're still practically strangers to one another.

I'm so deep in thought that I don't notice a walker stalking up close to me.

"OH SHIT!" I swear unintentionally, falling to the floor as the walker lands on top of me and tries to snap its gross-looking jaws around my scrawny neck. I won't be able to hold it at bay for much longer, and it doesn't help that my gun's too far away from me to reach. Knowing fully well that Ellie and Riley won't be able to shoot a gun, I'm frantically trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

What shocks me is when Ellie takes her switchblade out and stabs the walker a few times in the head. It doesn't kill the thing, but it slows the monster down and gives me an opening to shove it off. Weakened, the thing retches back as it quietly snarls at us, but I put it down with the dropped pistol before it can do any real damage.

I hear the clang of something being thrown to the ground, and I watch as Ellie simply stands there; flabbergasted that she was able to do that to a walker without even thinking about it.

"Oh man… thanks…" I nod, breathing heavily as we stare at the dead body in disbelief. "Where did this thing even come from? I thought the coast was clear!"

With Ellie still too shocked to do anything, and Riley trying to calm her down, I walk around the room to find out exactly where our friend was hiding this whole time. It doesn't take long for me to figure out this mystery, and I step into the bathroom to find a disheartening and really sad sight.

"Where'd you go?" I hear Riley call out, but I don't answer right away. All that I know is that they really shouldn't be allowed inside the bathroom, lest they see the noose wrapped around the shower rod with blood stains all along the wall. In the mirror it reads I'm sorry in bloody letters, making me question why he'd do this to himself. There are quite a few reasons, even more so these days, but I don't ever want to go to that level of desperation. If I can survive while still feeling the effects of my parents and Lee's deaths, then I can survive anything.

Trying to ignore the fact that I and I alone can see Lee sitting on the edge of the bathtub with folded hands and a smirk, I close my eyes and shut the door behind me; making sure that I've settled down before venturing back.

"Let's set up camp here for tonight," I suggest, grabbing a couple of used pillows and tossing them towards Riley. One look at Ellie tells me that she's still more than a little bit traumatized. "I think we all need to have a little talk."

…

Riley and I have been chatting amongst ourselves (well, mostly me) for a while now, but Ellie hasn't come inside yet; opting instead to stay out on the patio and keep to herself for a bit. I've managed to get some pretty useful information out of Riley, but I still haven't asked the hard-hitting questions.

Turns out that Riley's seven years old and Ellie's six, and the two of them have been staying together for a while out in Houston. Back in that alley was their first real walker scare, as apparently they haven't had any real trouble with them up until this point. From the looks of things, they've got the mindset of an average seven and six year old – always wanting to have fun, go on adventures and do all the other stuff that your average young kid would do.

I've tried to be as to-the-point and simple as possible when explaining my background, only offering little tidbits of information instead of troubling them with everything that's happened.

"I wanted to ask the both of you," I tell them quietly, watching as Ellie finally decides to come in after it gets too chilly outdoors. "What uhh… what were you guys planning on doing? Was there anybody with you before? Do you guys have a place to stay?"

As soon as I ask who's with them, Ellie's eyes light up as Riley seems to have a memory jogged.

"My Mom should still be out there!" Ellie proclaims, breaking my heart as I see the hope twinkling inside of her. This is gonna suck… "There were some big, scary guys with guns that came into the fishing store with us, so Mom told us to run… But maybe she's still back there! Can we go look?"

"I… don't think that'd be a good idea. She probably wanted to, umm… keep you safe, you know?" I explain, making this stuff up as I go along in the hopes that she might buy it. "I was in that store you talked about… and… I didn't see anyone. Sorry."

"Oh…" she remarks sadly, the hope suddenly diminishing as she looks to the floor.

I don't feel great about lying to her, and a part of me wants to just hand her the note and get all of this right out in the open, but the girl's broken enough as it is. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't exactly helped her wellbeing since I met her a few hours ago, but telling her that her Mom's dead? How the hell would I ever explain something like that?

Biting my tongue and keeping tight-lipped about the letter, I decide to go back to what I was asking before about having a place to go. After giving it some thought, the both of them shrug their shoulders before telling me that they don't really know what they're doing out here – they just wanted to go exploring and see the city.

Well, you've seen it now – are you happy with what you've got? 'Cause the world out there is a shit storm that you really don't want to be caught in the middle of.

"Umm… why are you all by yourself?" Riley asks, causing me to fall quiet as I scrape some dust off my jeans. "Do you have any friends with you? Where are your Mom and Dad?"

"…they died."

When neither of them really seem to know what to say to that, I roll over to my side and try to adjust the pillow comfortably underneath my head. Talking about my parents just reminds me of Savannah and all of the horrors that it brought, so I wasn't surprised about how short I was with them just now. I hate talking about them for that very reason, as it brings up a whole slew of bad memories that I try to forget but never can. Their deaths have been permanently etched into my head.

Realizing that I may have been a bit unfair to the girls just now, I roll over slightly before making an offer for them.

"I'm with a bunch of other people over at the Houston Space Center – it's not too far from here, and I'm heading back there in the morning," I explain, still unsure of why I agreed to stay in the first place. "If you want, you two can come with me. It's your choice."

They say nothing for a time, which to me means that they're just gonna think about it and get back to me. Either that, or they're both planning to smother me with a pillow in my sleep – whichever works for them – so I close my eyes and try to get some much-needed shuteye.

"…is it safe there?"

No, is my immediate first reaction, as images of people getting dissected and operated on are still very much fresh in my mind. Nightmares of people getting experimented on and being given horrible chemicals have occurred every night since I made that discovery, and I haven't been able to sleep soundly since then.

"I don't even know anymore," I answer truthfully, turning over and shutting my eyes before they can question me further.