Two days later, on our sixth day without Clementine, we were fighting to hold onto any last shred of hope. Travis and I were feeling drained, the lack of food and water beginning to take its toll on us. I could feel myself becoming more snappy and easily provoked into irritation. My mind sometimes cast itself back to Henry and I would be so filled with anger that I couldn't speak. I still couldn't comprehend how anyone could behave like that, but it wasn't the first time we'd had to deal with cannibalism.

It had started to snow again in the early morning and I felt like I would freeze if we didn't get out of the woods soon or find shelter of some kind. The wet snow was sticking onto my exposed skin and melting through my clothes, making me shiver constantly as we walked.

"Do you think we'll find shelter?" I hoped.

"We'd be lucky," Travis frowned. "Maybe we could camp under the trees again and light a fire to improve the warmth."

"Alright."

"How about we walk until sunset? It won't be long. Then we'll settle down for the night."

I hummed in agreement. We had no idea where we were going anymore and I didn't think we would find the little girl any longer. As we walked, I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"What's that?"

I unfolded it and studied the picture of Clementine and I that she had drawn. There was a lump in my throat as I thought about the young girl, wondering where she was.

"We're never gonna find her," I mumbled.

"Hey, don't think like that. Clem's learned from the best on how to survive, I've seen how she watches you whenever you have to hunt or kill walkers."

"She does?"

"All the time."

I felt a small smile tug on my mouth and folded the picture, returning it back to the safety of my pocket. Maybe I had underestimated her.

We made a fire and sat on a clear patch of ground that wasn't covered in snow. The view from where we sat was actually one of the most beautiful sights I had seen for a long time. There was a clearing in the trees that meant we could see the sun setting across the woods.

I turned to the side, looking at Travis' face glowing in the orange light. It emphasised the scar on his eye, though he'd seemed unaffected by it now.

"The other day," I began, looking back at the sunset. "When you said that I was scared of losing you, you were right."

Travis tilted his head slightly. "But you won't have to lose me."

"But after seeing Omid and Christa... Then how easily we've lost Clem. Lee was another example of how you can turn your back for one minute and it can all be over. I don't think I can go through that again."

"I know, Marcey."

"But I've also been thinking... What a terrible thing it would be if we pretended we didn't feel anything and something happened to one of us. I don't want it to be like that."

Travis gave a little smile as he turned back to watching the sunset. We sat in a comfortable silence, his hand placed over mine, both unusually relaxed.

After a while I stood and brushed my jeans down to rid of dirt, then went to the fire to make the flames rise. We'd caught a fox to eat and I was starving, so I hoped it would cook much quicker than it was.

Poking at the orange flickers of flame, I felt as though I was being watched. A small smile grew on my face as I glanced over at Travis- only the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared when I realised he was still admiring the sunset in the distance.

My body tensed and I stopped tending to the fire, instead looking around and hoping I wouldn't find something until a flash of movement made me rise to my feet and swipe the gun in my hands.

"Come out," I demanded, aiming it in the direction of the movement. I wasn't entirely sure if it was a walker or an animal, but I couldn't take any chances anymore.

"Okay."

The voice made my eyebrows raise. It was small and quiet, almost shy like a child. For a second my heart skipped a beat as I thought it might have been Clementine. Instead, an anonymous girl emerged. She had long brown hair tied back into a ponytail, with golden eyes and a pale complexion.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Ashleigh."

This girl was smart, I decided, since she knew only to talk when answering a question. It was a trick I guessed she'd been trained to do with whoever her group was.

"Where's your group?"

I sensed Travis approach and the movement of Ashleigh's eyes confirmed it.

"Dead."

My hand faltered holding the gun. Another kid who'd witnessed more pain than they should. I lowered the gun slowly, keeping my finger resting upon the trigger for an emergency. At my removal of the threat, the young girl visibly calmed and spoke more.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Ashleigh explained. "I was trying to see whether you were good people or bandits... you're not bandits, are you?"

"No, we're not," Travis assured her. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen, I think. I mean, that's if my birthday has passed yet. I've lost track of the days."

I shared a look with Travis and he knew immediately what I was thinking. I couldn't let this girl go away alone when she was young and had no group. I'd go crazy if someone did that to Clementine.

"You can stay with us, if you want. We're not much but we can hunt and we can defend ourselves," Travis suggested to Ashleigh.

The younger girl smiled at the offer and nodded her head. "I'd like that, thank you."

I welcomed Ashleigh to sit beside the fire with Travis and I while we talked. Since he didn't seem to have a bad feeling about this girl and neither did I, we were both put at ease about the situation.

"So your group... Would you mind me asking what happened?" I asked as politely as I could.

Ashleigh stared into the flames and shrugged. "There were just four of us, including me. I was the youngest and I guess that's why I'm still alive- because they always tried to protect me. About a week ago, maybe two, I went with Fred to try hunting but when we got back..."

I waited patiently as she took a breath, her voice starting to shake.

"Georgie and Pat were dead and all our supplies were gone. Georgie had been like a sister to me and then she was just gone... It was a recent kill, Fred told me. He thought the killer had fled when we were almost back, so maybe they heard us or something."

I gave a knowing glance to Travis. It must have been Henry that did that to her group.

"I'm really sorry about that," I apologised.

"It's okay. As for Fred, we got attacked by a bunch of roamers a couple days ago and he sacrificed himself so I could escape. I kinda think... it was because he lost hope in surviving and didn't want to see me die like the others? He'd already seen it happen to his own kid. Maybe it was some sort of redemption thing," Ashleigh stared into the distance with narrowed eyes while she thought about her own ideas. A frown was settled on her face, then she directed a question to Travis and I. "What about you guys?"

I bit my lip and Travis cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"You don't have to say," Ashleigh mumbled.

"Uh, no it's fine. We were just a big group for a while... but I guess different things took different people until there were just a few of us. Now it's just us two," I sighed. "And... And a little girl who we're trying to find."

"A little girl?"

I took the picture from my pocket and showed it to Ashleigh, who then spoke boldly.

"I'll help you find her," she decided. "It's scary out here alone."

I smiled at the young girl, feeling the hope come back to me. If this girl had made it alone for a few days then Clem could too, and the three of us together could find her. I just knew we could.

Another stranger in the woods? I must admit, i kinda love writing new characters into stuff.

Once again, I thank all of you readers so much for the constant support you have given to this story. Whenever I get a little email about a new follower, favourite or review, I feel so happy and that's all thanks to you!

I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a little review! I love seeing what you guys think is going to happen, and with the introduction of Ashleigh I'm intrigued as to what you think her significance is to the story. Thank you!