Author's Notes: Hey! So, I'll just hurry up and address the elephant in the room. I was gone a long time from this fandom. I'm fully aware that this was probably very disappointing, especially for those of you who seemed to love my other TWDG story titled "Actions Have Consequences" but there's nothing that could've been done. I've had a lot going on and have a short attention span, so finding time (or even motivation) to write has been difficult. So, with that being said, I have some exciting ideas for this story that I can't wait to write and can't wait to have you guys read. So, please, enjoy!
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Chapter One: Fireworks
The cool, early spring breeze danced through the air, flowing through the forests, foliage, and houses that littered the outskirts of Atlanta, all crammed together beside the highway. One could always hear cars zipping by, more often going toward the city than away, but that day something seemed different.
From the moment the sun had climbed over the horizon, and even before, families seemed to be leaving the city, their belongings packed inside and above their cars. This was confusing, even to a girl as mature and wise as eight-year-old Clementine, who made her way through the first half of first grade without a hitch.
She watched from her upstairs bedroom window, tilting her head with confusion as each car passed. She figured that this just meant that there were a lot of families going on vacation but never recalled seeing so many people leaving, let alone with as much as they carried with them.
"Sandra," Clementine gleefully called as she tiredly sauntered from her room and down the stairs. Her babysitter sat in the same place she had the day before, as well as the day before that, and the day before that one too. Sandra never really said much. She didn't even really do much. All she ever seemed to do was lay on the couch, twisting her finger around the wires of the house's telephone, talking to whoever she chose to that day. Most days, she would be gossiping with her girlfriends, but some days, and that day, she was talking to a boy, which was totally gross.
Clementine waited as patiently as she could manage, standing in front of Sandra as she held her finger out.
Eventually, her babysitter said her goodbyes to whichever boy she was talking to and sat up, meeting Clementine with impatient eyes.
"Okay," she sighed, "What do you need?"
A knot formed in Clementine's throat. She was sorry to cause Sandra such annoyance.
"I- I was just-" she stammered, struggling to find the courage to ask her question.
"Come on," Sandra commanded impatiently.
Clementine's face fell, but finally, she got her question out.
"Do you know why there're so many cars driving out of the city?"
Sandra scoffed. "Well- They're probably just going to the beach or something. I know that's where I'd be going."
Clementine nodded, but as she thought back to what she saw, it still didn't make much sense. Why would that many people be going to the beach? And why were they bringing so much? She remembered seeing a car carrying a bunch of jugs of water on top of it. Did they really need that much water just for the beach?
After a couple seconds, Sandra finally peeled herself away from the couch, making her way to the kitchen with a slight grin. As Clementine raised her head, she was surprised to be greeted with a smile.
"You want something to eat," she asked.
Clementine nodded, her usual smile returning as she walked to the table, gracefully intertwining her fingers in front of her.
Minutes passed. Sandra flashed Clementine the occasional grin, and once she finished her food, she began to feel fatigued.
She let out a deep yawn as she walked back up the stairs, stretching her arms high above her head. Having kept the same nightly ritual for as long as she could walk, Clementine quickly got herself to bed.
Shower, brush teeth, then change into pajamas. It was simple really, and within twenty minutes, she finished all three legs of her nightly race, crossing the finish line by tucking herself into bed. With a deep sigh, she let herself sink into her soft mattress.
She felt her eyes slowly close themselves, but every time she managed to nearly put herself to sleep, she heard what she could only assume were fireworks. Some came in bursts while others were isolated, leaving a several-minute period before she would hear another.
Even as tired as she was, she couldn't overlook just how strange this all was. The Fourth of July was four months away. Not to mention the fact that the fireworks all seemed to be different distances away, and even as she stared out of her window, she couldn't spot a single one of them. Surely this just meant that they were coming from a different direction. Being in a forest meant that sometimes it was hard to pinpoint exactly where a sound was coming from, so the explanation was enough to put her mind at ease.
Still, the fireworks seemed to have no end, exploding in the latest hours of the night and even into the morning.
The sun crept into the sky and Clementine had still yet to put herself to sleep. Eventually, she accepted that she wouldn't be able to rest, as the loud bangs of fireworks somehow continued, even as their beauty was surely being lost in the light of day.
With a yawn, Clementine managed to roll out of bed, her eyes immediately falling on her open closet. Inside was a combination of a yellow striped shirt and a tan dress, an outfit that her mother had often praised, commenting that it brought out her bright, hazel eyes.
With a smile, she trudged her way to the closet, hopping to pull the hangers off of the valet rod that held up her clothes. Her body woke up slowly as she pulled her shirt and dress on, and by the time she pulled her shorts up and put on her favorite hat, she felt awake enough to tackle the day… or at least to go downstairs and get something to eat.
However, just as she reached for her doorknob, a blood-curdling scream pierced through the air. The girl's eyes widened, and as quickly as she could, she raced down the stairs, a horrific sight ahead of her.
Sandra stood at the sliding back door of the house, pushing against the handle as hard as she could as a group of dirty, bloody men and women pounded on the door. Her breath nearly escaped her lungs as she absorbed the spectacle.
After a few seconds, Sandra turned to her, her voice desperate.
"Clem," she shouted, "Please, help me! I-"
Clementine froze as all sounds in the room seemed to vanish, leaving only a faint ringing in her ears. She saw her babysitter's mouth moving, but no matter what, she couldn't understand what she was saying, nor could she manage to force herself to move.
Sandra turned back to the door and locked it as quickly as she could, backing away as she struggled to breathe. She stared at the seemingly injured people as they began to pound against the sliding door before once again turning to Clementine.
She ran to the child, gripping her by her shoulders. Clementine watched with confusion, staring into Sandra's eyes as her mouth continued to move when suddenly, her hearing seemed to return.
"... Clementine, we need to get out of here, now," she rushed out, trembling as Clementine finally managed to make her legs move. Practically hyperventilating, Clementine nodded.
Sandra nodded, turning to the door and frantically shoving it open. She grabbed Clementine's hand and took a hurried step out, but immediately turned back. Clementine had barely set foot outside the door, but in the short moment that she had, she saw hundreds of people in either direction, each looking as bad or worse as the men on her back porch.
"Shit," Sandra muttered as she slammed the door shut, locking it once more.
Clementine glared at the woman for her foul language, but before she could voice her concerns, the woman ran into the kitchen, nearly slipping on the tiled floor.
She rifled through the kitchen drawers and pulled out the biggest knife she could find, quickly making her way to the back door. Clementine walked to the kitchen and picked up a walkie-talkie that her father had forgotten.
She put it to her mouth and spoke into it as her babysitter stared at the door, her body trembling.
"Mommy," Clementine called, "Sandra is scaring me."
Sandra turned to face the girl and yanked the walkie out of her hands, clipping it to her pants. Once again, she knelt down, gripping Clementine by the shoulders.
"Clementine," she addressed in the calmest voice she could manage, "We're in some real trouble here."
She glanced to the back window before meeting Clementine's panicked eyes once more.
"Did- Did we do something wrong? Did you have another boy over?"
Sandra shook her head, nervously chuckling.
"No, Clementine," she explained, pointing to the sliding door, "Those people over there—they want to break into the house and hurt us."
Clementine's eyes widened, her breaths growing more sporadic with every second. "Why," she asked, tears filling her eyes.
"I- It's hard to explain, but I promise I will. We just-"
She paused, getting to her feet and facing the door.
"... We just need to protect ourselves. We need to go out there and get rid of them."
Clementine turned to the door, then back to Sandra.
"What if- What if I went and talked to them? Maybe they'd just go away."
She walked toward the door, but Sandra quickly yanked the girl back by her shirt collar.
"They won't, Clem," Sandra rushed out, sighing as she tried to think of an explanation.
"I- I already asked them, but they're not nice. They'll hurt you if you get too close."
"But why," Clementine shouted in return, "Why do they want to hurt us?"
Sandra's face fell. She shook her head. "I don't know," she remarked, her tone dejected.
Clementine stared at the door with confusion. Her mind wandered as she searched for any possible reason for people to be trying to hurt her and Sandra, but failed to find one that made any sense.
Finally, Clementine's eyes returned to her flustered babysitter.
"What should we do," she asked as the men continued to pound on her back door. Sandra nodded, ruffling Clementine's hair with a slight smirk.
"I need you to go upstairs and lock your door. I'll come and get you once it's over."
Clementine nodded, and with a push from Sandra, she climbed the stairs, darted to her room, slammed the door shut, and locked it behind her.
The second she locked the door, she planted her ear against it, listening intently. For two full minutes, all she heard was the same pounding as before. She was sure that the door would crack open any second.
The pounding only became louder as time passed, reaching a crescendo before being replaced by loud groans for only a second before she heard Sandra scream, slamming the door shut once more.
Clementine raced to her door and down the stairs in an instant, but before she even made it all the way down the stairs, Sandra screamed once more.
"GO BACK UPSTAIRS," she shouted. Clementine froze in place, aching to disobey Sandra's orders, but before she could convince herself, Sandra shouted once more.
"IT'S NOT SAFE HERE! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! GO- CLIMB THROUGH A WINDOW AND RUN!"
Clementine's body buzzed as she fought against her mind. She wanted to go downstairs. She wanted to help Sandra. She wanted to get the men to go away, but Sandra only continued to urge her otherwise.
"RUN! RUN AS FAR AS YOU CAN!"
She winced, shaking her head as she darted up the stairs and into her room, her breath scarce.
She slammed her door shut, her body still shaking as she stared at her closed window. She turned to her closet, tossing piles of disorganized clothes aside until she uncovered her personal walkie-talkie.
Clementine lifted her walkie-talkie to her mouth, shouting as she held its button down.
"MOMMY, PLEASE- COME HOME!"
Seconds passed with no response, but she continued waiting, knowing that her mother would respond. She had promised that she would keep her walkie close at all times. She promised that she would answer. She promised that she wouldn't leave Clementine alone, but second after second, minute after minute, call after call, there was no response. There was no voice on the other side. There was nobody who could help her. She was alone.
Her body began to tremble as the reality that she would have to find help elsewhere set in. She climbed atop her bed and struggled to force her often-jammed window, only getting it a couple of inches open. Still, she was small. She could crawl through if she tried hard enough, she knew it.
Immediately, the groans of the men at the back door filled the air. She reached back through the window and grabbed her walkie-talkie, but as she crawled out, she hit the window with her head, causing it to slam shut behind her.
She rubbed the back of her head as she stared at the closed window. She tried to lift it open once more, but of course, it was stuck.
She peered over the edge of the roof, the sight of the angry men immediately scaring her away. She pinned her back against the wall behind her, gasping for air as she tried to hide.
"Mom-" Clementine muttered as she stared at her walkie-talkie. She couldn't help her body's seemingly endless trembling. She stood frozen in place, a fresh smell of smoke filling her lungs.
She heard screams across her neighborhood in every direction, even from the forest. The sounds of fireworks from the night before returned, only now that she was standing outside, they didn't sound like any fireworks she'd heard before.
They were much louder—much stronger. Still, she couldn't see any pretty lights. Instead, she saw smoke billowing from houses all around her, the usual peaceful silence destroyed, replaced by the most terrifying cries she had ever heard.
Only then did the possibility that the sounds she was hearing weren't fireworks, but something else instead. The thought made her knees weak. Goosebumps shot up her arms as she searched from side to side, seeing no safe place to search for the help that Sandra so desperately needed.
She scoffed with frustration, turning back to her window and trying to force it open once more. She pushed with all of her strength but couldn't manage to move it more than an inch before it got stuck.
Still, she didn't give up, pushing with every muscle in her body. The window seemed like it was going to budge, but just as she finally got it to move, a loud bang blasted through the air.
She lost her balance, slipping from her roof. Her fall was mostly broken by her grassy lawn, but as she laid on her back, writhing, the men at the back door turned to her, groaning loudly.
Clementine groaned painfully as she rolled herself over, getting to her feet.
"Please, don't hurt me," Clementine cried, but the men only continued to approach her, blood seeping from their mouths.
Clementine whimpered to herself, glancing from side to side frantically. Her gaze landed on her treehouse, and just before the men could reach her, she darted around them, jumping onto her treehouse's ladder and racing to the top.
The men chased her to the base of the tree, even nearly pulling her shoe off before she could climb the ladder, but she managed to escape by the skin of her teeth.
She gasped for air as she stared down at the groaning and growling men, her eyes widening as she finally got a good look at them for the first time.
Their clothes were in tatters. Their skin was rotted, torn apart in some places with blood spilling from wounds all over. Their eyes were blank, overtaken by a rotten yellow hue, leaving only their beady pupils uncovered.
They didn't even look like they were humans. They were like animals, drooling as they stared down their next meal.
Clementine whimpered as she crawled into the treehouse, closing her eyes and pulling her hair as she tried to wake herself from the horrible nightmare that she was inside of, but no matter what she did, she continued to hear the moans of the animals beneath her. Her breaths grew unsteady as she stared at the wall across from her, panicking as she heard louder and louder cries nearby.
She heard the familiar voices as they were snuffed out. She heard the horror—the pain. She heard what she knew now to be guns firing all around her and hoped that whoever had them would come and save her—that her parents would come and save her, but minutes passed and the monsters below her only continued to scratch at her tree.
She scanned from side to side, her eyes landing on the same hammer her father had used to build the treehouse and immediately she crawled toward it, holding it in her hands and pinning it to her chest as her eyes overflowed with tears.
It was true. She was completely alone with her only hope being that the "fireworks" would come to her rescue.
Author's Notes: Hey all! So, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story! As you can see, it will be from Clementine's point of view and even though I made this chapter with my goal being to emulate what we had only heard stories of in the games, this fanfiction will take a few different directions than the game did, excluding some characters and driving the plot forward in ways that would have been very interesting to see in the games. Of course, I can't tell you what I mean now, but it will all make sense soon! Either way, I plan on taking my time with this story, so the next chapter may be a while, but I do have an Instagram page that you guys can follow if you want updates or want to ask me questions, so, follow me lucashtwd!
I hope I see you all again soon!
~ lucash21