A/N: Okay so thank you all for continuing to read and support this story!
Obsessed naruhina fangirl- Thanks for the review and as a matter of fact I do have a fairly simple topic to discuss. How old do you think each character is? I'll give my predictions as we know Clementine is 11 and Sarah is 15, but I'll give my predictions on the rest (these ages will also crop up in the story itself)
Vince, 31. Wyatt, 23. Eddie, 22. Russell, 20. Bonnie, 27. Shel, 24. Stephanie, 20. Kenny, 43. Sarita, 38. Luke, 23. Nick, 21. Rebecca, 36. Jane, 21. Mike, 29. Carver, 43. Troy, 30. Tavia, 39. Well those are my predictions, let me know your own.
bigblackduck- There are grammar problems however when Nick said "I've known that man for 20 years" to me it may as well have been "I've known that man my whole life". I do believe Nick is actually this young for a number of reasons as he is referred to as "kid" by even Luke. I imagine Luke is slightly older than Nick who probably sees Luke as this big brother figure. Also Nick was with his mother and uncle when the apocalypse started. So I could imagine him as a sulky teen with his paternal figures when it started and as two years have passed his now in his very early 20's.
AquaDestinysEmbrace- Thanks for the review! and I'm really enjoying your story so far!
XXXWOLFLOVERXXX- Liking your reviews! I'm glad you pointed that the community wouldn't be stupid enough to fully despise the pen group after seeing a few of them break down over it. Hearing your reviews always help me think about how other people perceive Clementine's (and the pen group's) actions. So keep reviewing!
apathy- I liked that you pointed out Russell who I've been leaving absent deliberately up to this point, where he will play his part. Rest assured Clementine and her group still have a long way to proceed in planning and scheming against Carver.
and finally Rebloxic... thanks as always! So I'll get back to business...
"Are they any walkers nearby?" Sarah asked Nick timidly as they stepped out into open plain that surrounded the high fences of the trailer park, peering ahead Nick could not make out any stumbling walkers. He shook his breath and (both taking deep breaths) they lunged out into the open and crept up to the trailer park, looking above Nick could see that the trailer park was indeed "Parker's run"
"Parker's run... we passed here the last time we escaped" Nick told Sarah who nodded her head as memories of their first escape came flooding back to them "But we only passed it, we didn't go inside. Maybe they'll be supplies for us inside" Sarah informed him optimistically as she peered past the meshed silver wire into the trailer park.
"Let's hope there are just supplies in there waiting for us" Nick added as he tried to get a grip with his thin fingers as he attempted to hoist himself up the fence. To his dismay he merely tumbled down and landed shakily on his feet.
"Were not getting over this, we'll have to find a way around" He told Sarah who nodded as Nick pulled his glass shard from where it lay in the man's (well his) backpack, Sarah also shakily pulled her pistol from her pocket...
"Use your knife for now, only use the gun if you absolutely have too, we don't want to attract more walkers" He instructed her as she replaced her gun with her small knife. As small as it was it was in good condition and had a very sharp blade. Even with Sarah's limited strength she would be able to easily impale something or somebody with it.
"Let's go" Nick said as he looked ahead for an opening in the fence, Sarah remained close to him, remaining aligned to the tall man's shadow as they walked on. As (through her blurry vision) she kept a nervous hand on the fence to keep her balance as she squinted to try and make out the green blots that made up the treeline to the forest. Thankfully she saw nothing move, or nothing of an different colouring to the forest emerge from it. So they were alone... for now...
Rounding a corner Nick's eyes found a welcome site.
"Hallelujah, an opening!" he exclaimed to the sky as the ripped fence bent and buckled, leaving one small opening ahead of the pair , he approached it and ducked down "Ladies first" he told Sarah who had to also bend down, to slowly pass through the small opening. Placing the bag of meds through first she followed suite before turning back to Nick who was already through the opening and was about to stand up...
When he felt something tug him back.
Surprised he fell back with an "Oof!" as he found that the bandages around his shoulder had caught on the twisted wire in the opening, with a muffled "Oh for fuck sake's..." he tugged on his shoulder to find that his bandage remained wrapped around the fence... well he was stuck like a fly... and to make matters worse his rifle had also fallen from his grip and was out of reach...
He turned to Sarah, who wasn't looking at him, she was gazing ahead in horror and Nick knew why, because the familiar groans of the walkers met his ears, turning around he barely suppressed a scream as three walkers were nearly upon him as Sarah backed away from the scene in panic as Nick tugged desperately at his shoulder and tried repeatedly to rip himself free, but no avail... by this point the walkers were closing in as Nick's heart hammered in chest.
"Sarah do something!" He begged of her as he tried in vain to pry himself free, but it was no use... the walkers were almost upon him. Seeing this Sarah couldn't utter a single syllable, she couldn't scream in fear for his life. Instead she felt her world spin as she didn't see Nick on that fence about to be devoured, she saw her father...
And she was here again. Standing there watching as he helplessly got devoured. And she did nothing.
Nothing.
Her father was dead because of her, she had a hammer in her hand, why hand't she used it?
She had weapons, why wasn't she using them?
"SARAH!" Nick now screamed causing her to jolt back into the present as the nearest walker was feet away from Nick's neck. Sarah knew what would happen to him. He would just be another person she had killed... because she was frozen...
No, no more. No!
Diving into her pocket as white hot fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins her hands rested around the hilt of her pistol, zipping it from her pocket she didn't have time to remember all of Clementine's instructions, expect for one. Which was to aim down the muzzle of the gun as through her vision she aimed (with a half clenched eye) at the walker's head.
"She fucked up..." Carver's taunting voice rang through her head.
"No... not this time" she thought as she took a deep breath.
"You broke our promise, you promised me you'd come back" Came Clementine's misty voice as Sarah gripped the gun harder.
"No... I will come back!"
"You never got to listen to the rest of my story" came Clementine's sad tone ripping through her skull.
"No! I will!"
"Nick will die because of you!"
"NO!"
"YOU ARE BOTH GOING TO DIE!"
"NOOOOO!" Sarah defining thought became a scream, as she pulled down on the trigger, as the surprisingly loud BANG! Made her eardrums tingle in pain yet she heard the sound of the bullet tearing through flesh, without stopping (and in a panicked state) she pulled down on the trigger... again and again... and again... aiming blindly towards the approaching walkers as each BANG made her ears hurt even more. Yet she couldn't stop... as panic overtook her body.
Aim... and shoot! Aim... and shoot! Was the only thought that ran through her mind, as she fired too quickly. However when the moans were silenced she refrained from firing another bullet as she glanced ahead to see three walkers lying on the floor. As Nick store at her in awe, out of the five bullets she had fired, two had penetrated the skulls of the approaching walkers. One had nestled itself in a walker's knee sending it to the floor. While the other two had left to bullet holes in the trailer behind them.
Sarah blinked as Nick took advantage of the situation, he lifted his large foot to crush the skull of the crawling walker that still approached him, feeling it's skull crack and the blood ooze out of the walker's head Nick (once again) tried to push himself free of the gate. (Of course now that the danger had passed) is when he finally (with a loud rip) came free.
Panting he stared down at the corpses in front of him, Lifting the bin bag of meds from the mangled bodies he turned to glance sideways at a shocked looking Sarah who dropped the gun to the ground beside her as she began to sob quietly.
She didn't say anything as Nick approached her, even when he nudged her leg and muttered "Sarah..." she didn't respond. Slightly worried Nick prepared to say something else too her (as he picked up his own rifle from the ground)... before she spoke up herself.
"I... It reminded me of what happened to dad" she sobbed as Nick bent down slightly to meet her at eye level "Me too kid, but you did well. Although we'll have to work on your aim in future" he joked but Sarah remained sobbing, as she wiped her eyes and murmured "I didn't like using that gun... it was really loud"
"I know... but you did it, You killed some moving walkers, Your dad would be proud" he told her as she look up at him with watery globes as she sniffed and tried to hold back her tears "It was... s-scary... I d-didn't think a-about it I just..." she blubbered.
"You did what you had too and it worked. Just stay calmer next time and try not to waste as many bullets" he informed her as she wiped away the last of her tears. As Nick beamed down at her "Look, you saved my life, so stop crying... that's a good thing!" he encouraged her patting her shoulder as her tears ceased and she managed to cast Nick back a shy smile that showcased a growing confidence.
To Sarah it happened so fast. One minute they were checking a fence in silence with no walkers around and the next she was shooting them at point blank range as three descended on Nick. How they had gotten themselves in such mortal peril in such a short space of time and in such an unexpected way she would never know.
But this was the world now. Things didn't occur the way she liked, in this cold, cruel world deaths and dangers came too fast. Reggie, Becca, her father... and just then it was nearly Nick. Usually she had trouble processing these things, but now she was beginning to understand that she had to think fast and act fast if she wanted to save her friends and herself...
And as for Nick... well he was relived to be alive and even more relived that Sarah had finally proven her worth. She was a poor shooter sure, but that was her first time shooting and she had saved his life. She wasn't an ally he could trust with everything but the rust that developed on her survival skills was slowly fading... the gears were turning in Sarah's head.
She was beginning to function in this world.
"You've still got one bullet, so use it very wisely" Nick told her handing her deadly silver pistol back to her, as Sarah pocketed it quietly, yet they barely gotten a second of breathing time before a series of groans caught Nick's attention, he looked up to find a herd of walkers stumbling towards them. No doubt they had heard Sarah's gunshots...
"Shit!" Nick bellowed, as Sarah once again found herself panicking at the sheer number of walkers descending upon them. They had no guts to shield themselves with this time as the previous layer had come off due to the snow and rain they had walked through and there was no time to smear themselves with that gunk again, there was only one option left for them.
"RUN!" Nick yelled the obvious as Sarah followed suite, getting her knife at the ready knowing that one bullet was only going to serve no good what-so-ever. (and only draw more walkers towards them) instead she pulled out her knife as she ran after Nick twisting and turning through the narrow corridors between the trailers...
It was no good, the moaning was all around them. Sooner they both knew they'd be cornered in this tight space. Looking up Nick saw the easy option out of this mess.
"Here! Go up!" Nick shouted to Sarah as he used his hands to lift her off the ground and the roof of one the trailers, she scurried up as Nick lifted the heavy bags of meds to her. She tugged it up and looked down at Nick extending a hand "Come on!" she squealed as Nick as the walkers began to close in on both sides.
He gripped her hand and tugged himself up, Sarah felt her whole body tense as his weight was too much for her too handle, however using his leg strength Nick propelled himself upwards and used his own arms to push himself to the roof of the trailer. Once again they had barely gotten their breath when (yet again) a new threat emerged.
"I HEARD GUNSHOTS FROM OVER HERE!" Came a gruff voice from nearby as several other malice filled voices answered to him as more gunfire rang through the air.
"They aren't the Russians! Fuck! How many mother-fucking bandits are there in this forest!" Nick exclaimed in rage, yet by the sounds these bandits made sent Nick's hair on the back of his neck on end. They clearly weren't looking to recruit new members, they were looking for people to rob and kill no doubt.
"What do we do!? They have guns and they'll see us up here!" Sarah babbled gazing wildly around her as she looked in the direction of the bandits voices. Nick saw the answer on the trailer a few feet away.
"OVER HERE!" He yelled hastily as Sarah followed him, jumping over the small space between the trailer was no problem for either of them (even with the meds weighing them down) they both landed safely on the next trailer as Nick approached the closed skylight on the roof, he tried stomping on it to make the glass crack yet this had no effect.
"Fuck... fuck... fuck...!" he was muttering as he turned back behind him to see walkers near the opening he had gotten stuck on getting shot down by unseen bandits who getting closer every second...
BANG!
Alarmed, he turned around to see Sarah had used her last bullet on the closed skylight, the single bullet had broken the glass and with a final kick the glass cracked and shattered, leaving an opening in the top of the trailer, thankfully the gunfire of the unseen bandits attracted the walkers attention more than the single shot from Sarah.
There was no time, Sarah ducked through the available hole in the roof and into the darkness below, Nick turned to see the first bandit emerge through the opening, he didn't waste a single second. He fell through the hole after Sarah, praying the bandits hadn't heard the gunshot or even managed to glance at him for a second. All he knew was that he was now in a dust covered trailer that had clearly been abandoned for some time.
"Get down" Nick hissed to Sarah as they did, Nick peered through the gloomy trailer, there was a simple double bed, a small bathroom and a kitchen area. A few supplies may been lurking in the drawers by the bed and the cabinets in the kitchen area, but other than that the place looked bare. Although Nick was relived to see the door to the trailer had been barricaded a long time ago with a few wooden planks...
Yet he and Sarah crouched down low by the windows as they heard the bandits stomp past outside, shouting crude phrases at each other as the pair tensed up in their hiding place.
"... I heard it around here!" One of them was yelling.
"There's nobody around! So can it asshole!" Came the snarl of a woman.
"She's right Steve, there's nobody around, whoever it was must have done a runner" came another male voice.
The man labelled "Steve" cursed in response before they wondered off, Nick stared up nervously at the open skylight, they had wondered off but these bandits weren't gone, no doubt they were lingering nearby...
"They want to hurt us don't they?" Sarah inquired of a still heavily breathing Nick who nodded.
"Yeah, so we've got to stay quiet" he lectured to her as she nodded. She wasn't that stupid she knew not to scream when a group of evil people were nearby. She may have toughened up but she still wanted to avoid conflict wherever possible.
"Nice thinking back there, that's the second time you saved our asses today" Nick complimented Sarah as she gave another shy smile.
"Well you did tell me to use it very wisely" she told him as she sat back, despite the position they were she couldn't help but get a big headed at all she had done today. She may have messed up in the past... but today for once she had stopped talking... she had stopped crying and actually done something. In the past she was afraid of doing things in case she got someone hurt, but now she realised it was better to do something, then do nothing at all.
With these thoughts in mind, Sarah remained beaming into nothingness as she imagined herself as superman... saving everyone... however these giddy thoughts soon died out as she gazed around the dark trailer around her, and at a silent Nick.
"So... now what?" she asked uncertainly, she had grown to trust Nick, as the capable grown up who knew what to do next.
"I dunno... we wait for them to clear out and get ourselves back to the others. Hell, look around and see if you can find anything" Nick told her glad of something to do. Sarah began to comb through the supposedly empty trailer...
They were trapped, but their morale was high.
That was more than what could be said for Clementine and the others back at Howard's Hardware, as the day flew by...