AN: Okay, just before I start I want to thank everyone in the reviews section – you guys have been wonderful for this, and I truly appreciate the time you've taken to read this thing. It means so much, you have no idea!

ALSO, I'd like to personally thank spiderclone, Rayne Arianna Maranochi and kesarkuch for the ideas. You've got me back on track with this thing, and I've finally got a general idea of where I want this story to go. Hopefully you'll like where I'm taking this!

…..

"Please tell me we're almost there, guys?" Jane complains as she stretches her arms up and yawns; getting all of the cracks out of her back as she twists it about. "I'm not so sure that I can handle another bout of open fields and long stretches of road."

"I thought you were the athletic one?" I joke casually, not quite as bummed out as I was over a week ago.

"Back in high school, maybe. But that was a long time ago now."

"Both of you keep it down… we're probably not alone out here…" Lilly mentions, gesturing to a walker that's eating something out of the back seat of a run-down car. You can hear it ripping the flesh apart from something, but I just hope that it was dead before getting eaten. That's one of the worst ways to go.

We've been travelling for close to two weeks now – Lilly, Jane and I. Just as we said we would, the three of us left North Carolina in the dust and travelled south until we got over the Georgia State line. It's been relatively smooth sailing thus far (except for one unfortunate incident of Lilly getting the flu… that slowed us down for a couple of days). My head's held a little bit higher since that whole incident, yet there's always that shroud of guilt planted in the pit of my stomach.

Other than that, however, things are actually starting to look up a little bit. Any walkers that we've come across have been dealt with safely, and the fighting's started to die down a little bit. It's still a bit of a cold war between Jane and Lilly in the sense that they try not to speak to each other, but at least no guns have been drawn. I thought for sure that they'd try to kill each other by now.

"Look there!" Jane calls out after we've passed the walker, pointing to the horizon where we can see some tall buildings towering behind some residential areas. "Is that where we're headed?"

"That's Atlanta, so yes," Lilly chips in, "and not a moment too soon."

"You can say that again," I comment as the straps on my backpack dig into my shoulders. My feet have got blisters on top of blisters, my back has been aching since this morning and my hands have become calloused after long periods of rigorous activity. Yeah, I could use a place to lay low for a little while.

And I know exactly where to go.

"Do you think we could… stop by my old house for a little bit?" I ask, not too keen on the idea of just marching straight through the downtown area at the moment. "It shouldn't be more than an hour to walk there, and there might still be something we can use?"

Jane sees right through me and knows that the only reason I want to go back there is because… well, it's my home. My childhood home, and it means something to me. It's unlikely that we'll ever get the chance to visit Atlanta again, so I want to capitalize on this opportunity.

"That might be a good place to spend the night," Jane agrees as Lilly stops to wait for us impatiently.

"Lead on, then," Lilly remarks tiredly, with the circles under her eyes becoming even more noticeable than usual. Sometimes it doesn't even seem like she's there… in spirit, I mean. It's as if the old feisty, ambitious, quick-to-anger Lilly has been replaced by a robotic, emotionless version of herself.

She's still quite quick to anger, though.

…..

Riviera Street… Marcone Street… Ah, here we are! Ventura Avenue, and my home is just up on the right. Two stories of wooden magic, that's what my dad used to call this place. My parents bought it a little while before I was born, and it was really the only home I ever knew.

The paint's already starting to peel off the side after a while of negligence, and the door handle is starting to rust, but other than that my house looks almost untouched.

It's weird though… it's as if I'm a stranger in this place now.

"Looks like this part of the city didn't get messed with too much," Jane comments, walking with her hands in her pockets as I sprint to the side where the iron gate is still intact. It makes a cringe-worthy screeching sound as I push it forwards, and I grin sheepishly as Lilly and Jane walk up behind me.

"Let's bring all the walkers to us, why don't we?" Lilly sarcastically says, walking into the backyard as Jane follows in behind. I shut the gate quickly and follow them along.

The grass is at least two feet long now after a couple years'-worth of not cutting it, and the pool has turned dark green… Sigh… there's a body floating in the pool…

"I hope that he got here after you left," Jane says as I nod sadly. You can hear the flies swerving around the corpse as it decays in the water; a bullet hole protruding from its head.

"Just leave him," I tell the women with a shrug. "There's nothing really we can do about it now."

Lilly makes her way up the deck while Jane walks over to investigate the treehouse, so I follow her over to that stupid, wooden construct.

"I hated this thing," I remark with a short laugh, climbing up the ladder and opening the entrance hatch. Poking my head inside, I sigh in relief when I see that there are only loose stacks of paper sitting on the floor, along with an opened box of crayons. At least there's a sign that nobody's been lurking around this place.

"Jaime used to want one of these when she was growing up," Jane admits with a sad smile. "Our dad tried to build one in the summer, but he barely even knew how to hammer a nail. It never got finished, and Jaime got over trying to play in one constantly. Instead, we had four loose boards hammered together with the pointy end of the nails sticking out for over a year. The thing was a deathtrap."

"Well, I'm not so sure that she was missing out on much," I tell her as memories of the first few days of the outbreak come back to me. Lilly finishes up checking around the deck to come stand with us. "This is where I first met Lee. I was hiding out from walkers in there for two days until he found me."

"That's pretty lucky then," Lilly comments as she places one hand on her hip. I nod in response.

"I'd be dead if it weren't for him," I sigh sadly, shaking my head and turning away from the treehouse. "Anyway, forget about it. The door might still be unlocked if you want to head on inside."

As Lilly goes to open the sliding door, she immediately yelps and steps backwards; pulling out her gun and aiming it shakily inside. Unfazed by this, I walk into my home and try to ignore the foul odour while making my way to the kitchen.

"What the fuck?! That thing scared the shit out of me!" Lilly comments, staring wide-eyed at the deceased body on the floor right near the back carpet. The blood stains are permanently etched into the tiles surrounding it.

"That was my babysitter."

Jane gives me a weird look, but I shrug my shoulders as I place my pack onto the kitchen counter and help Lilly drag the corpse outside. I think that Sandra needs some sunshine for a change – her skin's kind of decayed and rotten a little bit.

Just another normal day in the apocalypse, I suppose.

…..

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" I roar, causing Jane to rush into my room as I kick the closet door angrily. I turn towards her and fold my arms across my chest. "Somebody came in here and jacked all my clothes! They didn't even leave a sweater!"

Once Jane realizes that nothing's on fire or that a walker hasn't climbed in through my wonder, she chuckles places her hand over her face in amusement.

"Only you would get upset about something like that," she jokes with a smirk, shoving my shoulder playfully as she examines my room. Some scavengers (more like vultures) barged into my room and had the audacity to take my stuff! Not even a scrap is left in here, and I was totally going to bring out a jacket or something that was too big for me before, but would've fit perfectly now. So much for that, jack asses!

"Yeah?" I challenge, pouting up at her as she continues to find this incredibly hilarious. "Well how would you like it if you found out somebody was looting around in your room?"

"I'd probably be pretty pissed… if I actually had a room."

"What do you mean?" I ask inquisitively, following Jane into my parents' room as we see Lilly digging around for any potential supplies. There's not a whole lot in here, either, except for an old photo album that I pick up. I leave Dad's old high school yearbook underneath the bed, as well as Mom's doctoral diploma. Thankfully this stuff at least has remained untouched.

"Let's just say that my parents and I had a… disagreement… when I was in my senior year."

"You got kicked out?"

"Pretty much," Jane shrugs, not going into any more detail as she glances at Lilly before taking a seat on the bed. As for myself, I lean against the wall and start flipping through the pages; letting out shaky breaths as I see my whole family within the album. We look so happy and stress-free… Why can't things just go back to the way they were?

"You've been at that for the last twenty minutes," Jane comments, but I look up to see that it's Lilly she's talking to. "There's nothing left, Lilly. Give it a rest."

"Can't ever be too careful…" she mumbles as Jane studies her for a moment with her head coked to the side.

Then she says something that confuses me and enrages Lilly.

"I think you've got a bit of OCD."

"Fuck you," she spits, not turning around in her quest to find one thing of value left in this house. But this place, like a whole bunch of others, is bone dry. "You're just trying to insult me again, but it won't work. You're so full of shit, Jane!"

"I'm not trying to bug you this time, though! Honest!" she claims, raising her hands in defense even though Lilly's got her back turned towards her. I give her a questioning stare as she catches my glance. "It's when you go over every little detail constantly, or can't leave a room without having everything in perfect order. Things like that."

"I DO NOT HAVE OCD!" Lilly lashes out, rage painted on her face as she walks out of the closet with some kind of brown sweater with cool-looking designs on it. "Here, Clem. I found this in the back corner… figured you should have it."

"It's a poncho," Jane comments as I note the zigzag patterns going across the middle. "Think of it as a big blanket with sleeves. Did your parents ever go to Mexico, Clem?"

"Maybe once when I was little," I respond uncertainly. Scratch that off as another trip my parents went on without me… not that I'm complaining, of course. I mean, the last trip they went on was… sigh.

I pull the light brown poncho over my head without taking the ball cap off, causing my head to get stuck for a second humorously as I pop out of it. This thing's certainly a lot more comfortable than the ski jacket was, but it smells kind of musty. It's not hard to see why though, what with it being stuck in the closet for over two years.

"Now you're really looking like a tourist," Jane jokes, running her hand along my sleeve as I go to put the album back underneath the bed. As much as I'd like to bring these with me, it just wouldn't be convenient carrying a big, old book around with me all the time. Better to just leave it where it belongs.

"Well, we're not trying to make a fashion statement here. As long as it's warm enough and can't get grabbed too easily," Lilly says sternly, to which I give her a thumbs up to let her know that I'm all set.

"Buzzkill…"

"Anyways," Lilly interrupts, pretending to ignore Jane's comment, "let's head downstairs and eat some grub. I'm starving, and there's a can of peaches in my pack with our name on it. After that, I'll finish searching the ground floor and take first watch."

As the three of us slowly make our way down the stairs, Jane nudges me in the ribs before whispering something to me.

"She's totally got OCD…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, JANE!"

…..

The next morning, after saying my final goodbyes to the house and in a sense my parents as well, the three of us head back out after not really finding anything useful. So far this trip to Atlanta has been a total bust, but even Lilly admitted that it was nice to be able to sleep in a bed again. A night in a home without power still kicks the crap out of sleeping outside.

The only way out of Atlanta and over to Alabama is to go through the downtown core, which honestly is the very last place we want to go. I never got the chance to see it fully for myself, but Atlanta was one of the first places to fall, and was named a stage nine catastrophe shortly afterwards. Whatever that means.

"Look for a car if you can," Lilly tells us as we tiptoe our way through the congested back alleyways of this dump. "It'd be a hell of a lot easier to travel in one of those."

"You really think that people haven't tried that already? Gee, you sure are a certifiable genius," Jane hisses as I tell the both of them to be quiet. There are walkers loitering out into the main street that would love nothing more than to eat us for breakfast.

"We have to cross here…" I note nervously, as the alleyway ends right where another street going across begins. "Should we just try to book it over?"

"Now hold on for just a minute – think about it. We want less noise, not more," Lilly says as she pokes her head around the corner for a closer look. "I say we take out the fellow over by those garbage cans… QUIETLY. Don't use your gun unless you absolutely have to."

"Guys…" Jane whispers, but neither Lilly or I hear her as we get set to move across.

"Ready?" Lilly asks me as I nod. She puts up three fingers before starting to count down, when all of a sudden…

"Guys!" Jane whispers more urgently, tapping me rapidly on the shoulder to get my attention. "We've got company!"

Turning around, I stifle back a gasp as a big group of at least twelve walkers stumble towards us mindlessly. It'll only be a matter of time before we're caught.

"Forget about silent! We've gotta move!" I say to them as the three of us sprint out into the street and attract almost every walker's attention within a 100 foot radius. The groans and howls of hungry walkers encapsulate us as we glance about in shock.

"I'm not dying today!" Lilly announces as the three of us stand back to back with each other; each one of us creating a circle of death as we fire off rounds into the encroaching walkers. "We need to create an opening! Keep shooting!"

But there are way too many of these things now; more than were at Howe's, and more than I've ever seen in my entire life. If there are such things as miracles, then now would be an especially good time for one.

And it comes in the form of some gunshots from Molly, as well as some other kid that I don't recognize.

I haven't seen Molly in years, but thankfully she seems to recognize me as she fires a bullet into two of the walkers' brains. Her and her friend are up on the roof right now, as the boy fires in the opposite direction at something. I'm not exactly sure what it is.

"Go! Up the ladder, hurry! I'll cover you!" Molly yells out, getting no complaint from the three of us as we make our way to where she pointed out. Just for good measure, Lilly stabs the walker sitting over by the garbage can before rejoining us at the ladder. A car alarm echoes throughout the area, which should give us a little bit of time until these things give us the chomp. Molly must've taught her friend about the noise thing…

This feels eerily similar to the Savannah situation, except this time none of us make it up the ladder. The entire thing collapses as Jane just barely pulls me out of the way in time. Nodding my thanks, I look up towards Molly as she instructs me to meet us at one of the doorways downstairs. When I ask if she's crazy, she ignores me and disappears out of my sight.

"Molly!" I call out, but get no reply as the walkers try to clamber over the fallen ladder.

"That thing won't hold them for very long," Lilly says as she shoots another walker in the brain. "Your friend better not be bullshitting us, Clementine!"

"I guess we'll find out!" Jane replies as the three of us scoot on down the alley until we reach the apartment door. Lilly bangs on it incessantly as the walkers make their way over to us – thank god they're slow.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! NOW!" Lilly bellows as Jane and I try to hold our ground. We shoot our guns until the bullets in the chambers run out, and then we back up until we bump into Lilly.

Molly finally reaches the ground level before quickly ushering us inside. In the mad scramble for safety, Jane accidentally knocks me flat on my back out on the pavement as she and Lilly frightfully call out my name. A walker is almost upon me as I sit there absolutely defenseless; fearing that I'll befall the same fate as countless others did before me.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, the boy that Molly was with chops the thing's head off with some kind of… sword, by the looks of it? The blade bleeds crimson as he helps me stand, and I rush into the apartment just in time as Molly shuts and locks the door behind me.

"That… was too god damn close…" Jane pants, bending down to my level exhaustedly. "Are you alright, Clem?"

"Yeah… yeah, I think so. Thanks to Molly and this guy," I acknowledge, giving Molly a curt nod and a smile as I turn towards the boy. He's about a head taller than me, kind of dark skin with whitish-grey pants and a plain white t-shirt. He looks friendly enough, I suppose. "Thanks, Mr…"

"The name's Etrius," he replies, shrugging it off as he stands next to Molly. "And yeah, don't mention it."