Chapter 3: Clementine

Clementine was at a loss when she opened the door from the jewelry store to the alley. It was like being in a trance, her brain working on auto pilot. She stepped outside, taking some time to look around yet somehow not caring if there was anything waiting at the end or not. The coast was clear and she moved back out into the flow of walkers on the street. She kept to the side walk, trying her best to keep away from the undead that went past on the street. A few came disturbingly close, and it took everything for her not to run. They shuffled and swayed, sometimes staring down at her, trying to figure out if she was edible or not.

She ducked down a side street trying to escape the overwhelming numbers, but there were just as many on the next street as there were previous. The only thing keeping her alive was the gore and blood smeared over her dress.

It took a while but eventually she entered a familiar neighborhood and found the same house they had lived in the past day. Immediately her heart sank. She could tell before she could even spot the front door that the house was overrun with walkers. Nothing good there. And what of her friends? Before she could take time to dwell on their fates, a walker bumps against her with a stifled snarl. Clementine ducked and scuttled away. Her fear of being caught by one of those things temporarily trumped any growing sorrow, contemplating the fate of her friends.

Leave Savannah. Find the others. Survive.

But where were the others? Definitely not in the house, they may not even be in the city. Or alive for that matter.

It was by pure chance that Clementine turned around to look up at the sky. In the dark she thought she saw a silhouette, turned away, and then did a double take. On the roof of the house across the street she saw a person on the roof, standing up, and looking back down at her. A penetrating chill ran through Clementine at that moment. For some reason the sight of this dark figure whom she couldn't identify, was more foreboding than the hundreds of walkers on the street.

Then the figure waved and Clementine realized that whoever it was, they were obviously in a massive heap of trouble.

She looked down at the yard and her heart sank. It was over flowing with walkers, most of the windows were broken and the front door ripped from the hinges as the dead had furiously pushed their way inside. Urgently she waved back, letting the person know that she was among the living. Though Clementine had to wonder what the person was thinking at that moment, seeing her down in the throng of walkers and not getting attacked.

The houses on the street were close together but not close enough. And the ground below had to have twenty walkers shambling around at least. They were trapped, somehow Clementine had to help.

It took some time but eventually she found a house holding just what she needed. A large green lawn mower sat idle in one of the sheds but that wasn't the only thing inside. A walker was slouched over in the seat. It didn't see her enter, and she figured the blood on her dress hide her smell. From what she could see, the man sitting in the seat had been shot in the chest and probably died here.

Nervously she circled around the mower trying to think of a way to get the creature to move. Quietly she placed her gun down on a shelf next to her and quickly traced the room with her eyes. She needed to find a key.

Luckily enough the key was easy enough to spot hanging on the wall at the back of the shed. She grabbed it and also grabbed a rake that sat alone in the back corner. Turning back to the slouching walker she poked it with the end of the rake, making sure to keep her distance. It jerked suddenly with a scratchy snort, lifting its head. It almost looked as if it had been asleep.

Clementine dashed back to the front of the shed, watchful for anything that may creep up behind her and continued harassing the ghoul with the rake.

It moaned and tried to reach for the girl but put too much weight on one side causing it to fall sideways to the shed floor. Clementine continued to poke at it, encouraging it to leave the vehicle so that she could use the key. For a few seconds the walker flailed, grabbing for the end of the rake before finally pushing itself up on its hands and knees to shuffle towards the girl.

Clementine suddenly realized that she wouldn't know what to do with the walker once it got closer. Maybe now that she had its direct attention it would still attack her despite her camouflage.

There was a shelf on the wall with a screw driver pointing out over the edge. Quickly Clementine reached for it and gripped the handle tightly. The Walker reached for her one final time, nearly all the way out of the shed. It turned its head up to face the girl with glassy eyes, its mouth cracked open gnawing at the air. Clementine dropped the rake and gripped the screwdriver in both hands, and with everything she could muster brought the tip down into the walker's eye. She grit her teeth and made sure it went all the way down to the handle.

The walker twitched slightly before going slack. Then Clementine grabbed her gun and the key to the lawn mower and climbed into the seat. Finding the ignition and sliding in the key was easy enough. Though Clementine only had a slight knowledge of how driving worked, she felt oddly comfortable behind the wheel of the bulky green lawn mower. It reminded her of the times she went to Chuck E. Cheese with her parents. She'd waste half of her tokens on Skee Ball and the other half on the racing games. She was much better at the racing games. So at least she understood the concept of pedals and steering wheels.

Actually turning the thing on was a different matter. She turned the key and the mower roared to life. It was so loud that it completely drowned out the ever present moaning on the street.

Clementine looked down, found a pedal and pressed it. The sudden forward motion of the mower took her by surprise but she didn't stop. She turned the wheel slightly in an effort to not catch the dead one laying in front of the shed but she felt a bump and heard a nasty shredding sound, she probably ran over it's hand or something.

The response of the walkers on the street and in front of the house was immediate. She had to quickly move the mower out before they could catch up. Frustrated, Clementine realized there was no way to go any faster but she had a head start on the shuffling horde which would have to be good enough. Ahead, a few walkers were trickling out of the front yards, blocking her path.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to make it all the way down to the other end of the street, once she was as close as she could stand to be near the walkers, she ditched the mower scurried into a nearby yard. She was lucky that the noise seemed to be more attractive to them than she was. It took a few detours and squeezing between iron fence bars before she made back to the house the mysterious person was trapped on.

The roof was clear and Clementine suddenly felt cold. Where did he go? Did he escape after she had drawn the walkers away? Or maybe he was still trapped inside the house? She gripped her gun tighter and started across the street. She would have to be ready to shoot or run, or both depending on what she saw beyond the threshold.

She made it up to the brown woven welcome mat covered in dirt and bloody foot prints. The inside was completely dark leaving no way of knowing what lurked in the shadows.

Suddenly a figure stepped into the door way. Clementine stopped mid step with quaking knees but her gun was ready. She immediately pointed her at the person's head which got a quick response.

"Woah woah, kid, don't shoot! I'm o.k.!" Clementine took a few steps back as the person stepped out into the available light, lowering her gun and focusing on her face.

"It's...you." Clementine realized she couldn't put a name to the face.

"Yeah, it's Molly." The young woman clarified as she glanced down the street at the hundred walkers still crowded around the running mower. "And it looks like you just saved my ass."

"W-what are you doing here?" Clementine asked. The last she remembered, Molly had left the area, having little intention of joining a group of volatile and disorganized survivors. Clementine looked in the same direction and saw that some of the ghouls had finally given up on the machine and had turned back around, shuffling aimlessly. They hadn't been spotted yet thanks to the darkness but the street wasn't safe, neither was the entire neighborhood.

Then Clementine felt Molly's hand clamp down on her shoulder. She looked up to see the young wearing a grim expression.

"Come on, lets get out of here."

They made it to a library, one of Molly's many hide aways in the city.

"It's best to not keep all of your eggs in one basket, as they say." She explained lightly as they both climbed the stairs leading up to the library storage area. It contained what Clementine thought any library attic might contain. Books and lots of them. But along with that was Molly's belongings, what few there were. Most of it was canned foods and other non perishables,flashlights, first aid kits, a hand held and desk top radio, and several packs of un opened batteries just to name what Clementine could see on the surface. It was clear to her that Molly did well for herself on her own.

Molly seemed to pick up on Clementine's astonishment and smiled.

"You're impressed?"

The girl nodded absently and wondered aloud "Why a library?"

"So I wouldn't get bored of course." She picked up a carton of instant ramen and a bottle of water. "You hungry?"

"Yeah...a little."

Molly dumped the contents into a small pot and set it on a hot plate. It would take a few minutes which would be enough time to talk and get an understanding of the situation.

But it wasn't an entirely easy thing to do. To talk about the loses. Clementine just stood awkwardly with sagging shoulders, it took Molly coaxing her to sit down before she actually felt comfortable doing so.

"So..." Molly thought she should choose her next words carefully but lacking the tact she could only speak honest words. "What happened?"

Clementine sighed deeply, focusing in on her feet. "I don't know. Nothing good." Slowly she retold recent events to Molly, or at least what she knew which much wasn't Her abduction, being trapped in the same hotel her parents were supposed to stay at before the world ended, Lee saving her from the stranger all the way up to the most painful part. It was still too recent for Clementine to retell without the strikingly painful sensation of loss clawing into her stomach.

"I'm- I'm sorry, I just, I just can't..." She stammered and wiped her eyes which were already over flowing with tears. It hurt too much to talk about Lee and why he wasn't with her any more. Molly seemed to understand and let the conversation drop off albiet to a point of awkwardness. Realizing she didn't have any appropriate words of wisdom after she'd spent so much time alone.

"I'm sorry." She finally said before walking over to the hot plate. At least she could give the girl a meal.

"Dinner's ready. Here you go, kid."

"Thank you." Clementine accepted the ramen and ate it with a lot more relish than she thought she had. She practically inhaled it. Of course it had been days since she had anything to eat that wasn't split six or seven ways. As the night dragged on Clementine and Molly discussed their situation and how Savannah was progressively becoming a much less habitable place to live.

"I have to leave. ", Clementine said. "There's nothing here for me now."

"Did you lose everyone?" Molly remembered at least six other people were with her.

"N-no. There are still four. But I don't know where they are. They weren't at the house."

"That area is overrun."

"I know...I hope they got away."

"Speaking of being overrun...Clementine you were down on the street surrounded by those things. But you weren't even attacked." Molly gazed at the young girl with a keen interest, her eyes resting on her dress.

"You didn't..."

"This makes it harder for them to not notice you." Clementine said with a lot more spirit to her voice. Probably because she was telling Molly something she knew would be important.

"Back at the hotel,Lee covered me with the blood of one of them. And we were quiet. They didn't bother us."

Molly leaned back in her chair, hand up to her chin with a look that said 'Why didn't I think of that?'

"Well shit," she muttered. "I guess that's one way of getting around."

"It isn't perfect." Clementine quickly clarified. "Like I said you have to be quiet, any noise will get them to notice you again. And sometimes they might try to swipe at you if you're standing too close." She grimaced. "And it smells awful."

"Yeah I picked up on that." Molly said with a smile. Over the past few months she had gotten used to the smell of rotting corpses. How could she have imagined that their insides would smell so much worse! When Clementine was eating, Molly had to step out into the corridor just to get a few breaths of fresh air. But like everything else she would adapt.

"So you wanna get out of this place?" Molly asked.

Clementine nodded. "Somehow, yes."

Molly turned around and peeked through the blinds of a window showing her the street below. Completely deserted, at least that's how it appeared in the darkness. She could hear them even from the library attic. She could hear them everywhere, and it was starting to drive her crazy.

Maybe Molly felt a sudden stint of depression after she separated from Lee and others. While out on another scavenging trip, the nearby houses, many still locked tight, were too tantalizing to pass over. But she had been careless to spend the night in a place so close to a moving swarm which got her trapped and it only got worse from there. With no way to escape Molly anticipated her end until Clementine showed up like a completely impractical but greatly appreciated miracle. The young woman sat, deep in thought, pulled the picture of her sister out of her pocket still wishing she was really there, alive and well.

At least she never became a walker.

Clementine was right, there was nothing left in Savannah worth staying for. The undead population was too dense; any attempt to try and live in the city for much longer would be suicide. Law of averages dictated that Molly would mess up again. And she may not get a second chance.

"Then I guess I'm your ticket out of here."

"You'll come with me?" Clementine asked feeling relief swelling up in her chest.

"I'm not one to make promises to anybody," said Molly. "But I'm starting to see that this town is done for and we need to get out, quick."

"When and how?" Clementine asked.

"Hmmm..." Molly stood up and began digging through a small pile of junk until she came across a note pad and a pencil, she quickly scribbled down some notes. "We're going to need some things. I'll have to check some of my other stashes but we should definitely leave by tomorrow night."

One of the more pressing needs was going to be transportation. Molly didn't know much about hot wiring, maybe there would be a book about that down in the library. Either way they would need to be lucky. Lucky and careful.

"I remember you're pretty good with your gun so between the both of us, we can get out of this place."

For a few fleeting moments Clementine felt oddly suspended. Not because she actively wanted to stay in this place, no of course not. But it felt like the life she knew was finally, officially, irreversibly over. She knew that eventually she would suffer whatever emotional turmoil that came out of this in the future, but at this point she clung to survival like a life raft.

Lee gave up everything to save her and she couldn't let him down. And for the sake of her parents who she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to.

"Yeah I think so too!" Clementine finally responded trying to force cheer into her voice. But it didn't sound convening. Molly seemed to catch on and decided to leave the subject alone for now.

"Lay down and get some sleep, Clem. We have a big day tomorrow."

An: Molly joins Clementine in the escape from Savannah. Maybe luck will be on their side. Maybe not. Please read and review! Tell me what you don't like or like. It helps me to write better.