CHAPTER 2

It had been over an hour since the duo's little break. Since then, the sky had darkened to the point where Clementine and Kenny had to stagger around, almost blind. It didn't help that snow had started to cascade from the dark sky and that the wind stung even greater than before.

Clementine looked over at Kenny and frowned. He had taken his coat off to wrap AJ in. He was shivering fiercely in just a T-shirt, but he didn't complain. Her eyes drifted down to where he was stabbed by Jane. She could tell it was hurting him, because he kept randomly shifting the bag to his elbow to grasp the bloody area. She didn't understand why Kenny was afraid to tell her anything. She could tell he was trying not to worry her, but it was pointless. Growing up during the apocalypse makes you very observant.

She then gazed down at the infant in her arms. He was sleeping so peacefully amid all the chaos. They had run into a few walkers earlier, and yet still this baby managed to sleep through it all. He looked so warm and snug in Kenny's coat. Clementine did enjoy holding him. However, although she would never admit it, her arms were growing stiff and tired from cradling him. Kenny's already carrying a bad wound and two heavy supply bags; he didn't need to throw a baby into the mix.

"Look over there, darlin'!" Kenny yelled excitedly. She followed his gaze to a small wooden cabin. It was hard to make out, and she was thankful that Kenny was able to spot it. Funny the man with one-eye could see better than her.

Kenny's loud voice caused AJ to stir in Clementine's arms. He wailed, upset from being woken up. Clementine wished that Kenny would learn to just be quiet sometimes. Being noisy like that can attract walkers, especially when being loud causes a baby to cry even louder.

"Shit. I'm sorry for bein' so loud, Clem." Kenny apologized, answering her thoughts.

Clementine tried to calm him down by humming and making funny faces. It wasn't working very well; the little guy was pissed.

"It's okay," the girl replied. "You just have to be more careful."

Kenny chuckled. The little girl was giving the grown man advice. Hell, that little girl was more competent than most adults anyway. Suddenly, he heard rustling from a few feet away. Walkers. He cursed and set down his bags.

"Gimme your gun Clem. Watch Alvie. I'll take care o' them."

Clementine quickly grabbed her gun from her back pocket. She gave it to Kenny.

"We don't have too many bullets left." She warned him as he went off.

She rocked AJ as Kenny took care of things. She remembered something her mom used to sing her when she was little. It seemed so long ago. She almost cried when she tried to picture her parents and realized she forgot little details. What was that thing dad used to tell her everyday before work? What color were her mother's eyes? Her parents faces would someday fade completely from her memory, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Now what was the name of that lullaby? She remembered the words, but she couldn't recall its name. "The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn," kept running through her head. She started to sing, but realized she forgot the tune also. Saddened, she decided to just console the child instead.

"Shhh, it's alright. It'll be okay. Kenny will get the walkers and we can go to that house over there. See? It might even be warm in there. Shh. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." she whispered to the infant in her most soothing voice.

Multiple yards away from the gentle yet somber scene, Kenny wrestled with a few walkers. He had Clem's pistol, but he didn't want to use a gun to attract more trouble. He wished he had took Jane's knife, but he thought it was in bad taste. Yeah, like murdering the girl wasn't in bad taste.

Instead, he was bashing their skulls in with a big tree branch he found. It wasn't the best method, but he knew if he was cautious he could keep the upper hand. Whether he liked it or not, he knew he had to stay safe for Clementine and Alvie. He couldn't continue with his recklessness.

Kenny slammed the last remaining of the four walkers in the skull with as much force as he could muster.

"Take that, ya fucker.", he retorted.

It was now wriggling on the wet ground, continuing it's relentless growls. He lifted his left leg as high as he could, and stomped it down onto the walker's head, crushing it. Pain rushed through him and he fell over.

"FUCK!" he yelled, groaning. He didn't think he was capable of getting up. He could make out the sound of footsteps bounding towards him. Kenny didn't want Clem to worry, but now she had to. Now she'll be looking after him and fussing over his injury, when really he should be looking after her.

Clementine heard her guardian swear and turned her head just in time to see him fall to the ground, clutching his abdomen. She sprinted over to him, being careful to not drop the infant. His face looked very pale all of a sudden, and blood was seeping all over his shirt.

"Kenny! Are you okay?," she questioned, suddenly fearful. She crouched down in the snow and in the process got her clothes wet. She no longer cared about the cold, not in the slightest.

"I'll live," he groaned. He tried to sit up, but he fell back down. His entire body was tingling against the damp snow.

"We have to get to the house over there. It's not very far away. Maybe we got some medical supplies from Edith. I can stitch you up in there," the young girl quivered. I can't let someone else die, she thought. She held her hand out to the older man, even though she knew it wouldn't help much.

Kenny saw Clem's concerned face, and it filled him with guilt. If she would have just gone to Wellington, she wouldn't be freezing and she wouldn't be driving herself crazy with worry over a man who doesn't deserve it. When the girl held out her small hand, he grasped it with his much larger one and with the extra help he was surprisingly able to get himself standing.

"Are you going to be okay?" Clementine asked.

Kenny tried to stifle a groan. However, noticing Clementine's dubious expression, he decided it was no use lying to the girl. She saw right through him.

"It hurts like fuckin' hell, but I think I'll manage." he confessed, forcing a smile.

"Okay. I'll get the supplies and you can hold AJ. We need to get you inside." the girl ordered.

Before Kenny could respond, she thrusted the infant into his arms, and marched her way to the two supply bags. She braced herself for picking them up and grasped the handles tightly. Kenny was talking to her in the distance, but she ignored him to focus on the task at hand. On the count of three, she hoisted the two large bags. She was shocked that Kenny supported their weight for all those hours. She stopped tuning Kenny out.

"-and there might be some bad folks in there. Walkers too. It ain't safe for you, Clem." he begged.

"I can handle it, Kenny. You need to rest. You're hurt." Clementine remarked. The words came out calm and cool, despite her inner panic. His injury looked bad, really bad. Well, she couldn't actually see the wound, but she knew that the blood wasn't a good sign.

Kenny tried to butt in, but she didn't care. She was not letting him convince her otherwise. The man needed to get to shelter, and quick. I can't waste another minute, she thought to herself. Overwrought, Clementine jogged in the direction of the cabin, ignoring his protests. She knew he wouldn't be able to catch up to her. She just had to make sure it was safe as soon as possible. Already, the supply bags were causing her arms to burn.

"CLEM! GET BACK HERE!" the man bellowed. He forced himself to move forwards despite the intense agony that shot through him with each step. She was acting insane! She didn't even get her gun back!

Clementine heard Kenny yelling behind her. His words were thick with fear and his voice was shaking. She ignored him, reminding herself that what she was doing was in his best interest. She made it to the cabin, and she listened at the door, and was greeted with the pleasant sound of silence. She kept her ear on the door for a few more moments just to be safe. Once satisfied, she slowly pushed the front door open.

Inside, she saw what used to be a rather quaint living room. It had a plush and soft looking couch that was rather torn up, a small coffee table, an empty fireplace, a few dusty paintings, and broken objects littering the floor. She crossed the threshold and dropped the heavy sacks on the ground. Good riddance, she mused. She slowly stepped across the wooden floor to the center of the room. Clementine then noticed the far wall was plastered with blood.

She crept across the floor, being careful to avoid the broken glass. Some kind of struggle must have gone down here. It didn't seem to be that big of a deal to the child, because struggles are rather commonplace nowadays. Clementine remained close to the wall to prevent being seen by any inhabitants of the house. She paused before crossing the archway. Kenny's yells didn't sound as distant, for she could now make out his words if she strained hard enough. He must be exerting himself greatly. She hoped her endeavors didn't do more harm than good.

She took a deep breath, and crossed into the next room. Suddenly, she heard low growls close by. Her eyes darted around. After a moment, she spotted the assailant. However, it was too late. The walker lunged at her and knocked her small body to the cold wooden floor. She yelped in surprise. It's teeth were inches from her face. She tried to push the creature off of her, but to no avail. She simply wasn't strong enough.

Clementine felt it's rank breath on her face as she reached into the pocket for her gun. Her fingers grasped air. Her heart dropped as she remembered that she gave her only weapon to Kenny.

The girl called out for help. She continued to struggle with the walker that was on top of her. Luckily for Clem, it appeared to have been a teenage girl. She knew if it was an adult she would have already been a goner. Her eyes spotted a large shard of glass a few inches away. Again, she pushed against the walker as hard as she could with one hand and with the other grabbed the make-shift weapon.

Clementine realized that her next move was risky. However, the small girl's strength was wavering. If she didn't act soon, the walker would gain the upper hand. She pushed forward with all her body weight, and stabbed the zombie in the eye. Blood oozed from it's lifeless eye as it continued to growl. As she went to stab it again, she kicked it in the gut, causing it to fall off of her.

"KENNY! HELP!" she cried out.

The glass cut her hand, but that was the least of her worries. The walker was blocking her only known escape. She didn't want to bound through the rest of the house, especially after making all that noise. Both walkers and people could hear her and could be coming after her. She slowly backed up as the walker began to get off the floor.

"KENNY!", she cried once more.

She continued to back up, never removing her eyes from the walker. It was closing in on her. She tripped over something and fell to the ground once more.

"CLEM!"

She felt relieved as she heard Kenny's voice from right outside the house. She yelled that she was inside as she picked up what she fell on. She felt sick when she discovered it was just a baseball. She couldn't defend herself with a toy.

The walker lunged at her, and Clementine's heart stopped. She knew there was no way she could dodge it's attack. As she sat there, anticipating the bite, a shot rang out and the walker collapsed limply onto her body.

She glanced up, shocked, to see Kenny standing back, AJ cradled in one arm, pistol in the opposite hand. His eyes were flashing with a wide array of emotions. He shakily lowered the gun, and haphazardly ran towards Clementine.

He pushed the walker off of the girl, and crouched down to hug her. Clementine accepted his embrace, thankful. She didn't want to let go of the man. She felt stupid, so stupid. She was just trying to help, but she almost got herself killed. She was always so careful, and she just dived into a poorly thought out plan.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?," he yelled, still embracing the child.

"This is my fault Kenny. I'm sorry." she replied.

"You outta be more careful, Clem. I thought I lost ya." His voice softened considerably after hearing the guilt in her voice.

Kenny had been so terrified as he made his way to the house. He had tried to run, but he couldn't. Instead, he staggered slowly towards the house until he found this burst of energy and strength. He had thought he lost another child. He could never go through that again; the second time would literally kill him.

He backed away from the child, and suddenly the pain was back in his gut. It had dissipated for a few moments, but it must have just been an adrenaline rush.

Clementine tried to explain her actions. "I'm so sorry Kenny. I was just trying to help. I-I panicked and-"

Kenny interrupted her. "I know darlin'. You just can't go-"

Kenny cut himself off as the room began to spin. Black dots danced in his vision, and he looked down and saw blood rushing out of his wound. He attempted to stagger forward, hand applying pressure to his wound. He felt himself completely losing balance.

"TAKE ALVIE!" he commanded, as he crashed to the floor, unconscious.