"Marceline?" Travis asked, sticking his head out of the tent. His face fell when he saw what was happening, his hands shooting up beside his head in defence. "We have nothing. Don't hurt her, please."

My breathing felt like it had stopped, yet my heart was steady in its beating. I'd trained myself to be calm in situations like this. Panic got you killed.

"You were gonna steal from me?" The stranger demanded.

"We haven't eaten anything for days, please don't shoot her. We were only going to take one can."

"Travis," I whispered, my eyes widening. I didn't want my life to end like this, and if he carried on talking like that I would certainly be shot. I couldn't leave Clem out there alone.

The gun moved away from my back and I let out a breath I'd been holding.

"I'm sorry to alarm you like that," the person apologised.

I moved quickly to Travis' side, turning around to look at the person that threatened me.

It was a young man, not much older than Travis and I. He had short blond hair and blue eyes that were piercing into mine.

"It's nice to meet more survivors. I thought I was the only one."

I smiled, feeling slightly more relaxed as they seemed genuine- and they weren't aiming a gun at me.

"I was just about to open a can of beans," he told us. "You're welcome to have some, too; you're probably starved."

"Thank you," I replied. "That's really kind of you." Perhaps not the words I'd expected to say to someone who had just been prepared to kill me.

The man shrugged, then began to relight the flames on the burnt-out fire to cook the food. I looked at Travis, who was smiling at me.

"I'm Henry," the man introduced.

"Travis," my friend greeted. "And this is Marceline."

"Cute name."

I blushed and Henry chuckled before grabbing one of the can of beans from the tent. He opened it with a knife and punctured two holes through the top sides on the can. He thread a thin rope though them and tied either end to sticks, making the can hang over the fire. It probably wasn't the best way to cook the beans, but I definitely thought it was inventive.

Henry sat on the floor beside the fire and I did too.

"So are you guys alone, or is there a group?"

"Just us," Travis informed him, sitting down beside me. "We had a group but... shit happens."

The man nodded his head knowingly.

"Are you alone, too?" I wondered.

"Been by myself for a couple months, I'd guess. The last people I was with... it didn't work out. People have their differences and there's conflicting ideas, know what I mean?"

I remembered all of the drama that had occurred between Kenny and Ben. "Yeah, I know."

"Have you been camping here long?" Travis inquired.

Henry tapped his chin. "Three days, maybe four. I don't really count."

"How did you manage to get all that food?"

I hit Travis on the arm slightly, finding his many questions to be rude. Henry just laughed it off.

"Lots of searching! I just collect it, even if I don't need it at the time. You never know how long it'll before you find more food, right?"

"Right," Travis answered.

Henry smiled and took the beans down from the fire, moving them quickly to place it on the floor. "Burns your hands doing this. I don't recommend it."

I giggled, watching Henry pull the lid from the can completely. Travis seemed to watch me curiously.

"It's not very nice manners eating this," Henry chuckled. "But you've got to use your hands."

I shrugged.

Henry offered me the can of beans first, and I politely took a small handful to eat. Travis took some next, then Henry. I was so happy to be eating food again.

"If you guys don't have anywhere else to stay, you're very welcome to stay with me here."

"Thank you, Henry," I smiled. "Though we were looking for a member of the group. She's just a little girl, wears a cap and a purple shirt. I need to find her."

"I'm sorry you got split up," he said. "I'd love to help you find her. It's not safe in the woods for people to be alone, especially not little girls."

I looked down to the floor and Travis put his arm around me. I didn't want to think of what danger Clementine might have been in.

"Your help would really be appreciated," Travis accepted.

"Let's get searching then, shall we?" Henry proposed.

I stood up and nodded my head. "Let's find Clementine."

We helped Henry pack up the tent and supplies before the three of us set off to locate Clementine.

We were wandering through the woods, all wanting to know more about each other.

"So how long have you two known one another?" Henry as me first.

"Since the first year," Travis answered. "We met when my teacher got his leg caught in a bear trap. One of my classmates and I got away, thanks to Marcey and her group."

I knew the memory was sad for Travis to reflect on. He wanted to save his teacher so badly and we just left him. The Travis I knew now was so much different from the one back then.

"You guys seem to have a good friendship," Henry observed. "It's nice seeing a guy and girl just be friends."

"Well-" I began, but was cut off by Travis.

"She's not just my friend."

"Oh?" Henry half-smiled, clearly wanting to know more.

"We've been through a hell of a lot together. I don't see her as just my friend now."

"Family?"

Travis glanced at me, then back to the man. He said nothing.

"Go on, Trav. What were you gonna say?" I urged.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled, so I just lightly punched his arm and began to laugh.

"Hey, look here."

Henry crouched to the ground and pointed up close to a marking in the dirt. It was a small letter 'C', which immediately caught my attention.

"Did you have a plan for if you got split?" Henry enquired. "I know some groups write their initials or a symbol to say where they've been. Kind of like the Hansel and Gretel story."

"Interesting comparison," I said. "We didn't discuss that though. Do you think it's Clementine?"

"My guess says yes," Travis smiled. "We're gonna find her, Marce."

I hugged Travis in happiness, then we began walking again. I knew we would find Clementine soon.

But when we followed the path through the forest, we found nothing but a few walkers who were roaming around aimlessly. I didn't want to give up the search for Clementine, but all I could think about was that we could be looking in the entirely wrong place. I had no idea where Clem was, and she probably had no idea where I was. She might have been dead for all I knew. No, I couldn't think that way. Clem had to be alive.

We didn't find her that day. The woods became dark and eerie, making us stop to camp for the night.

"I can keep watch," Travis offered. "I'm not too tired."

"You kept watch last! You need to rest," I stated.

"Marcey-"

"No. Sleep."

"I can watch," Henry offered. "I have slept a lot."

I wasn't sure about having Henry in control of our safety while we slept, but I was getting so drained of energy that I was in no mood to say no. Henry leaned against a tree while Travis lay down near me. I shut my eyes, though couldn't sleep. I stayed like that for a few minutes until the light snores belonging to Travis made me feel more comfortable. It was still not enough to help me sleep, so I rolled over and opened my eyes.

"Can't sleep?" Henry asked upon realising I wasn't asleep.

I sat up, shaking my head. "I'm tired but I'm just so worried about Clementine. She might be sleeping alone in the woods right now."

"We'll find her," Henry assured with determination in his voice.

I brushed my hair from my face and rubbed my tired eyes. When I opened them, Henry was watching me with a small smile.

"What?"

"I'm just curious about you and Travis. There's really nothing going on with you two?"

I blushed and let out a small laugh. "I don't know anymore... I thought so a while ago but..." My voice drifted off.

"I get it," Henry said. "You lose a lot of people in this world now. It's difficult to meet people and confess how you feel when there's always a risk of losing them suddenly."

I thought about his words. That was how I felt, I'd just never thought about it properly. Seeing how it ended for Christa and Omid gave me enough evidence why relationships weren't good in the apocalypse.

"He likes you, though."

I looked over to Travis' sleeping form. "It'd be better for the both of us if he didn't."

Henry didn't respond or give any acknowledgement of my answer so we sat in a few long seconds of a comfortable silence.

"You should get to sleep," he stated suddenly. "We've got a long day ahead of us.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Goodnight, Henry."

I lay back down and faced Travis, though he'd turned in his sleep so I could no longer see his face. I let out a sigh before closing my eyes. I prayed that we would find Clementine soon, before the tiredness consumed my mind and I drifted into my dreams.

Thank you for continuing with the reading, and big thanks especially to glynnismta, paradoxilla and 20- you guys motivate me to keep publishing this, so I owe you the biggest thank you.