"What? You going to cry?" The girl taunted as she stared down at a very disturbed Clementine.
Clementine reached up, past her neck and grabbed the older girl by her hair; she pulled her head down before cocking her own head back then slamming it into the older girl's nose.
"Agh...!" The girl gasped, dropping the hat, stumbling back, holding her now reddish face. "You... you just..." She said, hands shaking.
"Only... the strong will survive..." Clementine repeated, her head twitching to the side.
She rushed the girl, reaching low and wrapping her thin arms around the girl's left leg before directing force to the right; the girl fell back, hitting her head on the shelf.
"I told you... but, you just wouldn't listen..." Clementine told her as she hopped onto her chest, knocking the wind out of her.
"Shel...!" She let out before her throat was clenched, blocking her airway.
"Shut the fuck up. Unless you can fight me off; you're done." Clementine told her, glaring and showing teeth as she reached for a can on the shelf beside her.
"NO!" She let out weakly before grabbing Clementine's right arm, which was holding the can, and desperately pulling on the left one to free her throat. "Get... off!" She demanded before managing to toss Clem off and into the shelf to the left.
Clementine's side ached from the collision.
She got up and turned to run but, Clem grabbed her ankle, bringing her down yet again.
"Die!" Clementine hissed before grabbing the can and standing over her.
She lifted her hand defensively, Clem grabbed it, moving it out of the way before chucking the can down, hitting the girl straight in the left temple. She stopped moving after the blow; her eyes glazed over. Blood dripping from an open wound on the side of her head. After a couple of moments, the girl began jerking and shaking on the ground below her.
"I... warned... you..." Clementine let out, pointing down at the girl; she growled and breathed heavily like some kind of wild animal.
One of her pigtails came undone during the struggle. Luckily, Clem could fix her hair but, how is she going to fix this. This girl was clearly hurt and could possibly die or report the assault. If she survives; then it's back in another cage for Clementine. What if someone saw her?
She checked both sides of the walkway between the shelves; no-one was around right now. Clementine looked on the shelves beside her for anything that could help her; several concrete bags were stacked on the lowest shelf near her feet; a few were empty. She grabbed an empty one and laid it down in front of the shaking, puking, and possibly, choking girl. She grabbed the girl's legs and pulled them inside the large bag. She began pushing on the girl for close to a minute until she was completely hidden inside the strong, cardboard-like bag.
"Has anyone seen Bill? We got a situation up at the front that needs his attention." A man asked on the other side of the shelf.
"Shit." Clem whispered as she rolled the girl in the bag towards the shelf with the other concrete bags and hid her there.
She quickly picked up her hat and placed it back where it belonged, on her head. She began working with her hair in an attempt to fix it.
"I think Bill's in the green-house or something. Check over there if it's some sort of emergency." Another man, whose voice sounded lazier and more relaxed answered.
Clementine felt more secure but, still on edge. How is she going to get an entire body out of a ware-house full of people? What if the girl turns before she can dispose of her? The two men turned down the isle where the fight occurred; chatting away as they made their way towards her. Clem bowed her head, hoping they wouldn't notice her or try to start some sort of 'hey you're the girl who killed that one guy' conversation. With her head down, her heart stopped at the sight below her feet, blood. A small, maybe, half a foot in diameter puddle of blood laid in plain sight.
"Hey, how much longer do you think it'll be until this 'herd' rolls past?" The calm bearded man wearing glasses asked the older man beside him whom also had glasses.
"I don't know, Wyatt; I'm just the damn mechanic. Not a fortune teller." The man with short, snow-white hair barked back.
Out of desperation, Clementine stood on the blood, hoping to hide it as best she could.
"Stan; it was hypothetical. Know what that means? Gosh!" Wyatt returned.
"Want my guess? A few days; like before. Will that get you to shut up?" Stan asked just as they passed Clementine.
"Hey, kid." Wyatt greeted her briefly; he didn't stop to talk as Clem had feared.
After they passed, Clementine lifted her left foot and pulled off her shoe, then the right one. She hid them behind a stack of food cans on the shelf behind her before pulling the girl's new 'body-bag' out from the opposite shelf and down the isle. She moved as fast as she could, walking backwards as she pulled the bag. Once she reached the end of the isle she double checked both sides before dragging the bag any further. She made her way to the door she used when delivering nails to... Kenny, yesterday... The wooden barricades outside collapsed after the heard hit so, it was just one toss outside and the problem is as good as gone, for now.
"Sorry about this... whoever you are but, I'm not going back into the pen." Clementine whispered as she reached the door.
She dropped the bag and turned to face the door. A metal bar was constructed to fortify it further; she turned it and slowly and quietly pulled it inward. She turned towards the bag and lifted it.
"Urrghh... Just... get out of my life already..." She said as she laid the possible corpse against the door before she kicked open the door and pushed the body outside.
"...Raaaauuuggghhhh..." A walker growled as the body flopped outside.
The girl's head and upper torso were exposed at this point; the momentum from the dumping accomplished this. After the deed was finished, she pulled the door shut and brought the bar back in place; securing the door once more. She slumped against the wall beside the door, relieved.
"Phew..."
This feeling faded when she noticed a toddler standing before her. It was a light-skinned boy with short brown hair and a white shirt with blue sleeves, also wearing a small pair of blue jeans. Clementine gulped. At this point, she was praying that the child was too young to understand what he just saw.
"You don't go outside, weirdo!" The boy informed her with a giggle.
Clem exhaled, relieved. "You're right, I'm sorry bout that. Go find your mommy; she's probably looking for you."
The child stared up at her with his wide, curious eyes. "Okay." He said before turning and walking awkwardly away.
Clementine walked towards the mop in the corner of the ware-house before running back to the blood-stain she left by the shelf. She began mopping it up in circles until the floor appeared clean again. She then reached behind the cans and pulled her shoes out from behind them. She walked back to the bucket and dropped the mop inside of it. The shoes were going to have to be replaced but, for now she was going to have to wash them as best she could. She dropped the shoes inside the blue plastic bucket as well.
"Becca? You in here?" A woman with a light blue shirt and blue jeans called into the ware-house.
'Becca' is that her name?
"Becca! Stop hiding, I'm serious." The woman called out in a care-free manner. "Okay, if you don't want your birthday present!"
She wasn't going to get a response. Not now. Not after what transpired. And Becca wasn't going to get a birthday present either. Clementine knew she deserved to die; she just knew it. She would have killed her instead. There was no other choice but, still, they'd never understand. She grinned as the woman's tone shifted from calm to worry.
"Becca, please! You're starting to make me worry! Please just come out!" The woman kept trying. "Becca, you come out right this instant!"
"Shel, what's wrong?" A man asked.
That confirms it; that girl is Becca. The girl called out for this, 'Shel' woman to come to her aid but, she didn't. She couldn't. Clementine's name was nearly cleared but, these shoes and this bucket would determine if she can make it through all of this.
"Hey! You!" Shel called to her.
Clementine's eyes widened and she turned and faced the worried woman who approached her; she had some-what short brown hair though, her bangs stretched close to her eyebrows. She shared a spitting resemblance to Becca who was, now being digested by a hoard of hungry dead people just outside.
"Shel! Slow down! Just tell me what's wrong." An Asian man with a short-trimmed black beard and semi-long hair pleaded.
"It's Becca, Vince! I can't find her; I think something's happened to her." She told him, crossing her arms.
"It's a big place, Shel. Besides, she's growing up; becoming more responsible. You can't have her on a leash forever." Vince reasoned.
Shel shut her eyes and shook her head, "I still have to find her." She took a deep breath and got down on her knees in front of Clementine with worry in her eyes, "Listen, have you seen my sister? Her name is Becca, she's got brown hair, and pretty brown eyes like mine..." Shel began describing.
"Shel-"
"She's got a funny little nose like mine-She's about a foot taller then you-She's the best go-fish player between these walls..." Tears began flowing out of her eyes; her mouth began quivering, "And she can play the guitar like a pro without trying... please tell me you've seen this girl today. PLEASE." Shel begged, placing her hands on Clementine's shoulders.
"Shel..." Vince said out of concern.
"I did see her." Clementine answered honestly.
Shel's head snapped up, her eyes wide and hopeful, "Where? When? Show me, please." Shel stood back up.
"I think I saw her go this way... She looked really sad or maybe just tired." Clementine began walking towards the stairs leading to the roof-top.
A few moments later. Clementine pushed the door open and held it open for Shel and Vince.
"Becca? Becca you out here?!" Shel called out, jogging around the rooftop.
"Thanks for the help, kid." Vince said.
She nodded up at him with a deceiving smile.
"This just doesn't make sense..." Shel cried into her hands.
Vince approached and wrapped his arm around her, "It's okay, Shel. She'll be sharing a can of peaches with you tonight like she always does. I know Becca, okay?"
Clementine approached the edge of the roof, above where she left Becca. She looked down, seeing a mangled and half devoured corpse below her; organs and bones showing. The walkers seemed to have stopped feasting on her; most likely because she grew too cold. She could tell Shel, or let her live in uncertainty. It's not safe to alert everyone of a killer but, maybe she did a good job of making it look like a suicide. NO. Not until those shoes were taken care of, and the bucket was dumped.
"I hope you find her; try inside the green-house. Maybe she's sleeping." Clementine suggested or rather foreshadowed.
Shel nodded.
Some minutes later, Clementine returned to the bucket and pulled her shoes out from it. Water poured out from them and into the bucket. Luckily, there was so little blood that it blended with the water. She sighed a sigh of relief.
"BEEEECCCCAAAAA! NOOOOOO!" Shel screamed from the roof above.
Clementine rolled her eyes, dropping her shoes before she ran back up the stairs and onto the roof. Several other survivors stood around Shel, some looking down at the body below. All began quietly conversing among each-other.
"What the hell happened?"
"Looks like a suicide."
"Poor thing."
"We should have been watching her."
Shel was held back from the ledge. Her cries rang out to the heavens. Her face red and damp.
Clementine felt a slight grin begin to form on her face but, turned away to avoid showing the others. She felt different. She felt powerful; as if she had the power to take away any life she felt deserving. She felt like a god. Part of her felt guilty but, after the fight, after Kenny, that part of her had gotten much smaller; maybe Bill knew this would happen. Maybe this was a test to prove that she can handle all the dirty work.
"Hey! You guys, this was no suicide." Tavia announced as she joined the crown on the roof.
Clementine felt a chill run up her spine. She froze in place as the crowd grew shocked and angry.
"What?" Shel asked in disbelief. "You think someone murdered her?! Oh god!"
"I found this can by the shelves inside." She informed the crowd as she raised a bloody, dented can above her head.
Clementine frowned under her hat as she looked away from the rest of the group. They don't have any evidence to prove she did it but, she may very well be questioned since a number of people saw her in the area at the time; she even led them outside to find the body. This murder is probably the first and it happened as soon as she was accepted into the camp. She began preparing what to tell them if they question in the future; 'I stepped in some walker blood. That's why I put my shoes in the bucket.'
For the next couple of weeks, things are going to be much more difficult.
Author's Note: I warned you guys :) Thanks for reading.
Oy! You gonna leave a review or what?