We left the building now to be exposed to the sight of a dozen walkers that lingered around the land. I prayed that we would get past them. The sound of a metal bar hitting a person made me flinch.
"That's not the Kenny I know in there," Sarita stated, her voice sounding distraught and scared. "I wish... I thought I could save him."
I looked at her sadly, wondering then what the man had been like in the time we had lost one another.
"You can't save everyone," I told her, Travis' words echoing in my head.
Kenny, Rebecca and Travis came back to us, and Sarita tried to speak but Kenny refused.
"No, no. I'm-I'm- I'm alright. Come on, we got enough to worry about."
Travis and I stared at each other for a long second before he put his arms around me in a hug. I tried to avoid the fresh blood on his clothing.
"Man," Nick panicked. "We're never gonna make it through this."
"You kiddin' me?" Luke asked him. "If Clem can handle it, you can."
I thought it was a bit of an unfair comparison, and Clementine's raised eyebrow showed me that she thought so too.
Some walkers had spotted us nearby, and Travis now carried the metal bar used to kill Carver so hit one over the head. Luke killed another with his own weapon, but I didn't expect to see Clementine do the same with an axe. Everything was different now.
"You guys better hurry up and get to smearing if you wanna live," Jane said as she spread walker guts upon her clothes.
My nose wrinkled at the disgusting smell that almost made me sick. Clementine had now began to cut open the walker that she had defeated.
"Or you can die here," Jane continued. "Doesn't matter to me. Do it quick."
"Ugh!" Sarah complained, pulling a disgusted face.
"This is so gross," I muttered. "I hope we don't have to do this again."
"Me too," Sarah agreed.
Clem quickly started to put the blood on her clothes while Sarah watched in horror.
I moved to the other walker and crouched down at the body.
"Marce, we need to hurry," Travis urged, having just covered himself in the guts.
I plunged my hands into the stomach and could have screamed at how gross it was. Never again did I want to witness a walker being cut open to put its guts on my clothes.
"We ain't got all day here, everybody ready?" Kenny rushed. "They're almost on us."
"What in the actual fuck is goin' on here?!"
I spun at the sound of a new voice, immediately seeing Troy with his gun heading towards us.
"What is this sick shit? Someone say somethin' before I start- hey, hey, hey, hey!"
I noticed Luke trying to pick up a gun.
Jane stood, speaking calmly. "Troy, we talked about this."
As she walked closer to him, he backed up, now looking shy and guilty. I raised an eyebrow and turned to Travis.
I felt my body freeze as the walker groans got closer and soon were passing us, now heading to Troy. A gunshut almost made me jump, and then I could hear the shouts of shock and the walker groans got louder as they now targetted their prey.
"Come on," Jane said as she walked back to us. "Don't make any noise, got it? They might hear something they don't like. And for fuck's sake, walk! Act like you belong and you will belong."
We began to go through the crowd of walkers. My eyes darted between the point of freedom, various walkers, Clementine, Kenny, Travis, Rebecca, Sarah...
"It's okay," Travis reassured as he was by my side.
"Clem's all the way ahead," I worried, seeing that we'd become slightly separated and she was now with Carlos and Sarah. I couldn't lose her again.
"She'll be fine."
Travis' hand held onto mine and we continued to step lightly past the monsters, my heart racing.
"Dad!"
Now I saw walkers spring upon Carlos, who was clutching his neck. His bleeding neck. This plan wasn't going to work- the walkers knew we were human!
They swarmed around Sarah and Clementine, but before I could run I felt Travis grab my arm and hold me back. At this point, Sarah was crying frantically in the trauma of seeing her father be eaten alive.
Bonnie began firing her gun and calling to Sarah for her to calm down. We had all ended up apart at the worst possible time.
I saw Clementine fall to the floor, I saw Sarita get grabbed by walkers, I saw Sarah dart away into the forest. Then Clementine chopped Sarita's arm off.
Travis and I were at a loss of what to do. The walkers found who was human because of the screaming, but we were still safe for now. I couldn't leave them in that situation, but I had no weapon anymore and would be entirely useless.
As Clementine was blocked from my view, I scanned my eyes for anyone else of the group. Luke, Nick and Rebecca were together, until suddenly the two men ran away and left the pregnant woman alone and terrified.
"We need to get to Rebecca," I whispered.
Travis nodded and we walked slowly, dodging in between walkers. With the slow pace we were moving at, Rebecca was getting further away and more blocked by monsters, but I was determined not to leave her alone. I knew Clementine was with Kenny now and that was better than her being by herself.
Quicker than I could blink, a walker grabbed onto my shoulder and pulled me backwards. In my fall, I narrowly missed its teeth that would have ended my life. Travis spun, hitting the walker over the head and then pushing it off me before helping me back to my feet. Thankfully, it hadn't drawn the attention of any others but it made the pain I felt even worse.
When we got back to Rebecca, I was relieved to find Clementine with her.
"I... I can't do this alone," I heard Rebecca cry.
"You're not alone," I spoke.
Clementine and Rebecca looked up to Travis and I, both smiling.
"We can get out if we stick together," she paused as her face looked tense.
"Rebecca?" I panicked.
"I'm glad you're here," she told us all.
"I'll stick with you," Clementine told her.
"Thank you."
I looked at the walkers that were still going towards the store, which meant some were still heading in our direction. "We need to get back to the others out past those trees."
"Maybe they're thinning out somewhere. Do you see any openings?" Rebecca questioned.
Clementine moved to look for an opening, then started shuffling ahead. The three of us followed but a walker blocked her path and we tried to go back to where we were safe.
In an instant, Clementine let out a little cry in fright. I spun to see what it was, finding Jane staring at her with irritation on her face.
"Jane," I began. "It's good you-"
"Stop," she whispered. "Relax. You need to walk slowly, you'll be fine."
Rebecca had panic all over her face and I looked at her with a small smile.
"We can do this, Rebecca. Come on."
Rebecca nodded but I could sense her fear as the five of us began to walk. Jane turned around slowly to us.
"We can't clump together like this, it's better if we spread out."
"I'll stay with Rebecca," I offered. "Travis and Clem, you can go ahead."
Clementine looked up at me with a frightened face. "Be careful."
"You too," I smiled.
Travis and Clem moved away in a different direction to Jane, but Rebecca wouldn't move.
"Come on, Rebecca."
"I can't do this."
"Please," I begged. "We need to get out of here now."
Rebecca was still frozen on the spot, her face full of anxiety. Her breathing was heavy and I began to wonder what I would have to do if she didn't hurry up soon.
"We'll have to push through that cluster of walkers," a voice suddenly said, surprising me.
I turned to see Jane stood by us again, though not looking very impressed.
"There's so many," Rebecca commented with a shaking voice.
"We'll make a cow catcher," Jane responded like it was obvious.
I raised an eyebrow while the woman observed some walkers then pointed one out.
"I'm gonna get on the far side of her. I need you to get her attention."
Before I could say any more, Jane moved away and I was left staring at the walker.
I didn't know what to do, so scanned the floor around me. I picked up a small stone and aimed it at the walker's head before throwing it, drawing its attention to Rebecca and I.
As the walker approached with a sickly groan, Jane ran behind it, slicing off its jaw in a swift motion.
"Not gonna bite anyone now, are ya?" Jane taunted it.
"What now?" I asked.
"Follow me," she said, holding the walker up in front of her. "Stay close; if you fall behind I can't come back for you."
Rebecca went before me and I stayed at the back of our line. The jawless walker now cleared the path for us of other walkers, though I felt like their hands were reaching out for me every few seconds. As we reached the trees, Jane threw the walker down and killed it. Travis and Clementine waited there for us. I glanced back to the walkers and the people trying to defend the hardware store. I tried to spot any more of the group, but found nobody.
"Let's get out of here," Travis commanded. "No need to stay longer than we have."
"Yeah," I muttered. "Let's go."