"It was one of those fine little love stories that can make you smile in your sleep at night."

Chapter 5

This is bad ... Clementine thought, staring unhappily out the window as she washed dishes. I'm probably just going through a phase. It's perfectly understandable, after all I've been through. She bit her lip as she watched Luke put away some tools while talking with Pete, who'd woken up from his beauty sleep and was walking around with a mug of tea. Something he said made Luke throw his head back and laugh into the sun, the sight making the corner of her lips curve upwards involuntarily. This is really bad...

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear when Sarah had entered the room, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "What do you keep looking at?"

"Gah!" Clementine flinched, the pan slipping out of her grip and splashing soapy water over herself. She threw her a glare. "What? Nothing!"

"You've been scrubbing that pan for ten whole minutes. It can't be that dirty." Sarah followed her line of sight, grinning irritatingly wide. "Ohhhhh."

"N-no, no, I wasn't-"

"Enjoying the view?" She finished for her, crossing her arms.

Clementine choked out a mortified laugh. "Wha-what view? I just happened to look up, and..."

"He's is pretty cute," Sarah admitted, "but he's like, in college, so that'd be super creepy. But not for you."

She blushed furiously. "Who?"

"Pete," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "Who do you think?"

"You have a crush on Pete?"

"No! Ugh, fine, just be that way."

Clementine tried to think of a clever comeback when—to her acute despair—Luke and Pete walked through the kitchen door. "... So I'm thinking we can check on the traps on our way back, hopefully bring some dinner home with us."

Pete responded with a yawn, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Luke smirked. "Oh sorry, am I boring you?"

The older man pressed his lips together in a thin smile. "If you must know, I'm curious as to why you didn't get Nick to go with you instead of me."

"Well, I would, it's just ... he's a little off right now. There's a lot on his mind, I don't want to ..."

Sighing, Pete's brows knitting in an understanding concern. "I know, you're right, I see it too. That boy's in a world o' hurt and doesn't want anyone to know. But the simple fact is that my sleep schedule's completely topsey-turvy. My bedtime's when most of you are gettin' up. I won't be any use to ya half baked."

Luke sighed. "All right, next time I see him I'll ask if he can take your place."

"That's prolly for the best." Pete said, pulling up a chair at the table and slurping at his tea. Luke turned to the girls, who were both trying to look uninterested in their presence. He jerked his thumb out the door. "Hey, you guys want to come see something cool I found?"

"I'm sure Clem would," Sarah suggested breezily. Clementine raised panicked eyes to her, then to Luke. Sarah smiled slyly, nudging her away from the sink with a hip bump. "I can finish these, go on and take a break."

"Thanks, Sarah." Clementine said through gritted teeth, following Luke out the door.

Staring at her feet, Clementine tried to convince herself she was overreacting, given the circumstances. Being one of her rescuers certainly went a long way. Whatever feelings she had would likely fade away in time. Now was just a bad time to start getting stupid over some guy she'd just met.

He led her to the shed, one door already propped open with a brick, where she paused with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, I think I'm plenty acquainted with this place, thanks."

He glanced at her apologetically. "No doubt about that, but just trust me on this." She pressed her lips together, stepping inside. An odd muddy cluster of dry grass and gray down sat atop the table where she'd stitched up her arm (which began to itch curiously as she entered.) Luke held one finger to his lips, then motioned for her to look closer. She leaned over the mud pile, letting out a small gasp. One teeny tiny ball of pink and gray fluff lay between three crimson-speckled eggs. Together they watched it peep up, opening it's wide yellow beak in hearty chirps.

"Wow," She breathed, a huge grin spreading over her face.

"Aren't they somethin'?" Luke beamed. "I've seen a couple of barn swallows around the house, but I'm surprised there's a nest so deep in these parts. They don't usually hang out in the woods unless it's not safe for them in the more populated areas." He caught the bemused expression on Clementine's face, explaining, "I grew up in a small town, they're pretty common around farms. There was a nest outside Nick's bedroom window when we were in middle school. He used to love that sort of thing."

"You're kidding." It was hard to picture the broody guy who'd nearly shot her gushing over baby birds the way she was doing now.

"Nope, he even named a few of them. Not that he'd ever remember which one was which. Anyway, this little guy's home got shaken loose from it's place under the overhang outside, maybe last night when that walker busted through. You wanna help me put him back?"

Clementine nodded. As if she could say no.

They circled around the back where he stopped next to the nearest tree. "That's where it goes." He said, pointing to where the two halves of the roof met. A new shelf made from a sawn off end of a two-by-four had been nailed just below the eave to form a triangle. He flashed her an intrepid look, lacing his fingers together at knee level. She looked at the thick branch above her head, putting two and two together. "This place has hot running water, but no ladder?"

"Don't worry. If you get stuck, I'll call the fire department." He offered, biting the tip of his tongue between his teeth in a wry grin.

"We'll see about that." She hopped up to the branch and pulled her legs up, flipping right side up with a little effort. He golf clapped for her. "You're a natural. Wait there just a sec."

He came back out with the nest, going, "Shh shh shh, chill out little dude." He carefully lifted the nest to her. "Careful the little guy doesn't jump out."

She leaned as far out as she could without losing her balance, gently wedging the nest back into place. With a flourish, she said, "Tada!"

"Nice. Now let's give them some space for a while, before the parents come back."

She jumped down, admiring what their team effort had accomplished. "I never would have thought I'd be doing something like this after yesterday."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets."It was touch and go there for a while, yeah. Everyone's just on edge since we—uh, since Nick's mom passed away. But the way I see it, not being able to move on can make us blind to some pretty cool things."

"I can think of a few people who'd disagree with you." Clementine said, recalling the twisted frowns on the faces of certain people from the Motor Inn. It had been all about survival then, and eventually caution devolved into paranoia. Bitter words were said and actions that couldn't be taken back traveled with them for far longer than desired.

"I'm just saying, if we close ourselves off, and don't take a chance on people, then we're not doing much more than just existing ... that goes both ways, too."

"Sometimes it's not worth the risk." She said without thinking, immediately cursing herself.

"No, I know what you mean." He was quiet for a moment, pausing to stoop down and pick a starry little flower. "But you'll never know unless you do. If you change your mind though ..." He tucked the flower behind her ear, smiling in approval. "Let me know."

She watched him lope back to the house, slack-jawed and rooted in place. As soon as she heard the door click shut she snapped out of it. "Wait ... what were we talking about?" She asked no one in particular, wondering if they'd been talking about different things.

He had a reasonable point. Even after her acidic introduction to this new group, leaving was a gamble that held little reward. Wellington had always been a shot in the dark, and now it held little appeal without her friend. She had become good at moving on, but not so much at letting go. She played with the flower, unable to hold back a smile. I'm going to have to do something nice for Sarah.

"Let's go, Nick!" Luke called from the trail, his breath freezing in little clouds. "You can put your make-up on when we get in the boat!"

Nick, still on the cabin porch, took a break from fiddling with his jacket zipper to flip him the bird, which only made his friend laugh. They were all still a little rough around the edges, having scraped breakfast off their plates not more than a few minutes before. As much as she would love to stay warm and curled up on the couch, Clementine was eager to take a ride on the boat. True, she'd have felt more comfortable if it was Pete going with them, all hard feelings for Nick aside, but this was the first time in years that she felt confident things would swing in their favor.

It was a cool steely blue morning they breathed in, walking through crisp dead leaves covered in a thin layer of frost. The path they followed was little more than a deer trail, winding through so much shrubbery and hidden obstacles she would have gotten hopelessly lost if it weren't for Luke leading the way, clearing the underbrush away with his machete.

Her hand drifted to the simple hammer bobbing against her hip, wishing for a sidearm with a bit more range. As far as she knew, they only carried two firearms: Nick's hunting rifle and a handgun secured in Luke's waistband. The majority of the group had flat out refused to loan her the use of a gun, though frankly she'd be surprised if they hadn't. They were there as a last resort, seeing how the noise was a worse enemy than any walker they put down. Still, the extra insurance would be nice.

"Almost there!" She looked up to see their destination, an impressively spacious body of water with hazy mist rolling above the surface. Across the lake they could see mountains forming a blue wall in the far-flung distance, the tops just barely crowned gold with sunshine.

The boat, however, was not what she was expecting. She frowned and tipped her head to one side as the fiberglass squeaked under a crayon-blue tarp, tethered to a partially rotted away dock. More than a few spiders skittered away when Luke threw the tarp back, revealing little more than a drab, four-seater dinghy. Nick noticed her less than impressed expression and said, "What were you expecting, a yacht party?"

Clementine sucked air through her teeth. "It doesn't look like there are enough happy thoughts in the world to make that thing run."

"And unfortunately for us, we're fresh out of pixie dust," Luke frowned as he dug through his backpack, pulling out a red canister with a grimace. "I guess we'll just have to use this lame-ass fuel I brought."

Nick clicked his tongue. "Bummer."

After a couple tries, the motor sputtered to life, sparking an eruption of tiny birds from the nearest trees. The sound didn't instill any more confidence, but it was too late for second thoughts. The three of them squeezed in (while she half thought it would sink from their collective weight), proving the dinghy was sturdier than it looked. "Hold on."

The boat carried them away from the shore at a steady pace. Clementine dipped her fingers into the water, watching the wake ripple behind them as they left the familiar behind and into heavier fog. After about an hour the novelty wore off, and her light zip up (loaned to her by Sarah) did little to keep out the wind. She tucked her head to her chest as she hugged herself to hoard whatever warmth she could retain.

"Here," She felt something warm drape itself over her back. She looked up to see Luke placing his jacket over her shoulders. "You look pathetic."

"And here I thought I looked good this morning," She mumbled, tugging it closer around her. "Won't you be ..."

He shook his head with a crooked smile. "Nah, I tend to run hot. You could use it more than me."

Clementine came up with half a dozen suggestive comebacks, knowing she'd never bring herself to use any of them, until the moment passed.

They drifted around a sunken sailboat, the dirty off-white sail wafting in the current. Moments later the dilapidated remains of a ghostly harbor emerged into view. The boardwalk had long since broken apart on itself and jutted out from the water like vertebrae. They turned straight into a bobbing dock still mostly intact and sticking out from a concrete hut built into the embankment. A dirt trail disappeared into a white tree line.

Clementine climbed out as Nick tethered the boat, stretching her limbs and back. Not much could be seen through the fog, but there was no sounds movement, not even an errant bird in the leaves or critter in the bushes. She squinting at something half-visible in the distance, further down the embankment.

Luke shook out the map. "So the ranger station is only a quarter-mile up this hill. There should be markers along the way, so we can't get lost. Keep an eye out for any facilities that might still have—"

"Guys ..." She pointed to the three figures hanging from a tree, swaying gently from the odd spasm. Or rather, what was left of them. Their lower halves had been devoured clean off, splayed in piles underneath their dangling broken spines.

Luke and Nick exchanged horrified looks. "What ... the fuck?"

"Do you think it's a warning?" Clementine asked. "I mean, why else would they still be uh, you know, not actually dead?"

"Sooo," Nick began, sitting on the edge of the dock and fiddling with the rope. "I'm gonna be the first one to suggest we might be out of our depth here, and there's no shame in high-tailing it back home."

"Do we have enough fuel to make a second trip?" Clementine asked, daring to hope. Luke shook his head, unable to tear his eyes off the hanged corpses. "There's barely enough for the ride back."

"Well I'm sorry, but that's just wrong on so many—" Nick stopped abruptly, hearing an unearthly shriek pierce from deep into the trees. A chill ran down Clementine's spine and she gripped her hammer for comfort. Luke hand had flown up to the handle of his machete, scanning the trees for the source.

Nick paled, dropping his backpack back into the boat. "Nope. Fuck that. I quit."

"Jesus, if that wasn't eerie as all hell," Luke muttered, no less alarmed as he stuffed the map into his back pocket.

"What was that?" Clementine asked, bewildered. Whatever it was wailed again, the sound like nails dragging across a mile of chalkboard, followed by a short staccato of gunfire. "I think that's someone who needs help!"

"Nick, dammit, get your shit together," He hissed, beckoning impatiently. Nick simply wobbled on the boat with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. "Hell no, I'm serious, man. Fuck. That."

"We don't have time for this, Nick! Get your ass over here!"

"Shh!"

"Don't—" Luke looked beside himself, jabbing a finger at him. "Don't you fucking shush me, man."

"You guys are ridiculous!" Clementine hissed, throwing her bag over her shoulder and creeping up the hill.

Luke yanked his friend out of the boat, swinging his bag over his back. "Wait, Clem! What if it's a trap?"

She spread her arms out. "What if it's not? Maybe can help, or at least find out what's happening. Do you really want to go back home empty handed?"

He ran his fingers through his hair with a defeated scowl. "All right, but the second things get out of hand, I'm dragging your ass back here whether you like it or not."

Just to humor him, she huffed a dramatic, "Fine!" She got no further than a few steps when he called her name again.

"What?" She snapped, looking back to see Luke offer out the handgun, grip first. "Just in case, we'll cover your six."

She flexed her fingers around the grip, gauging it's weight and looking down the sights. It was a single action, reasonably comfortable size for her small hands, and best of all, a full clip plus one in the chamber. "Now we're talking." She flicked the safety off and lead the two men into the fog.