Episode 1: The Fallen Rise- Sadness and Sickness
Clementine had to chose who to run to... who to save first... the decision was at hand.
Vaughn the father and leader? Or Maree the daughter and medic?
(?) You chose to save Maree.
With a heavy heart, Clementine ran over to the struggling Maree, knife in hand... everything sped back up as she heard the young woman's pleas. "Clem no! Help him! Help my dad!"
"RYA!" The twelve-year-old grunted as she dove Michael's knife into the walker's skull.
The lurker fell limp and silent, signaling that Clem's attack had worked, and the girl's life was saved. Maree pushed the walker off of her, and she took her own knife back that was out of her reach earlier. Then the two of them looked back at Vaughn, who was still managing by himself until...
"RAHHH! HAAA! HAA-!" Vaughn screamed in horrible agony when his lurker abandoned any attempt to bite down on his neck and instead dug its dead fingers and hands into his stomach.
"DADDY NO!"
"Oh my god! Vaughn!" Clementine and Maree ran to him in a split second, but before Maree could stab the walker herself, the lurker had tugged out a handful of his intestines and got the first bite. With all the writhing and bleeding, Maree raged against the walker that had done the deed and stabbed it in the back of the neck, and threw it off of her father. "No... NO!"
Vaughn was in a state of shock, but he had only about a minute of life left before he would bleed out. But due to bloody circumstances, that minute would be the worst suffering of his life. Barely even to form words. "...M-mar... I..."
"No! No. No. No! You can't! You can't leave me, please daddy...je t'aime..." Bawling uncontrollably, the young Haitian daughter coddled over her father's dying body. "Clementine... we have to do something... He's in pain, I-I don't know! I can't do anything! I can't fix this!"
Clementine knew exactly what it had to come to. "We... we can end the pain for him, Maree. ...You can do it."
Maree sobbed. "...I-I can't... Oh god... no... please..." Clem then looked back at the dying man who had always been kind to her, kind to everyone.
[KILL HIM YOURSELF]
[HAVE MAREE DO IT]
Clementine approached the grieving daughter with her knife in hand. "Step back Maree, I'll... I'll put him to rest."
Her breath hitched on her words, but she understood that it needed to be done, so that Vaughn wouldn't have to suffer anymore. He of all people didn't deserve this. Maree silently nodded and kissed her father's forehead one last time. "Au revoir... je t'aime..."
His last breathes were upon Vaughn, he only wished he could say those words back to his daughter before he had to go, but he was just physically incapable of forming words. And then Vaughn's eyes traveled from Maree to Clementine as she held the knife, aimed right for his head. Clementine somberly stated. "...I'm sorry."
With all of the twelve year old's might, she stabbed the metal blade easily through Vaughn's left eyeball and then deep into his brain. His suffering had ceased but his daughter cried out in grief. "NO! *sob* *sob* "
(?) Maree will remember this.
Clementine pulled the knife back out and realized that Vaughn, the leader of Wellington, was now dead before them, sprawled out on the floor in his own tent. Had the little girl made the right choice? What was going to happen now? And why in the holy hell were there walkers here in the first place? So many questions were left unanswered...
"What's going on in here?!" Someone had barged into the tent, seeing as what all the commotion was about. Fortunately it was a familiar face, and it turned out to be Dusty. "Clem, Maree, what? ...Oh no... oh fuck no..."
Dusty had sadly spotted Vaughn's corpse behind Clem and a bawling Maree beside her. His eyes had inspected the room, and he was able to put two and two together with the dead walkers in here as well. The young man approached them. "What happened?! Clem?"
"There were walkers attacking! I couldn't save them both!" Clementine tried to explain, but he was cut off by Maree.
"You could have saved him! Why did you come after me!? You could have helped him, Clementine!" She gave a distraught look at the young girl and then to Dusty who responded with one of guilt. "We needed him! We needed him to lead us..." She then took a deep breathe. " *sob* *sob* *sob* "
"Maree!" Dusty had quickly come up behind her and pulled her into a tight hug so that she would scream and cry into his shoulder instead. "Shh... shhh... It's okay, it's okay... he's in a better place now, alright? Just... it'll be okay."
Her muffled voice replied. "No... no..."
Clementine felt horrible for her loss, but it was done and that was that. Nothing would change it. Oddly enough however, when her eyes scanned over the dead walkers that were attacking them, they seemed very familiar. The corpses both seemed fresh, and their faces had spider tattoos. She gasped. "Wait, I know these people..."
"What? You know them? The walkers?" Dusty questioned her as he still held Maree in an embrace.
"I saw them this morning, right before I met you." Clementine explained to him. "They didn't look friendly, but they were coughing a lot."
"Coughing? Oh Jesus... Clem, look at their eyes." Dusty pointed out.
Yes indeed, both pairs of eyes from the dead walkers were black and bleeding from their already rotten sockets. Whatever these people had, it wasn't good, something that would make eyes bleed, something that extreme would be the cause of a disease, something terrible that had perhaps made these men die here. "They were sick..."
"Sick... What the hell then? What makes people sick like this?" Dusty stood up while he propped up Maree and they stepped away from the dead bodies cautiously. "Clementine, w-we need to tell someone, we gotta get the coun-!"
"Clementine!" Kenny had busted into the tent like he owned the place, and he advanced on the twelve year old and grabbed her hand forcibly. "Come on, you gotta get outta here, now!"
"Kenny I-!" She was interrupted when Kenny didn't want to waste any more time, and he picked up the girl in his arms, bridal-style.. "What are you doing?!"
"You gotta trust me darlin', let's go." Kenny responded as he quickly carried Clementine out of Vaughn's tent, leaving Dusty and Maree behind with one another.
The sun had gone down below the horizon now, and it was the start of a clear evening with the full moon out and about. As Kenny and Clementine passed the tents of confused residents, wondering what all the commotion was about, the two of them internally remembered and connected what happened just now to the suspicious activities of their work day. A duffel bag full of medication that Xavier didn't want anyone to know about...
"Kenny! You don't have to carry me!" Clementine objected, but it didn't really matter since they already arrived at Kenny's medium-sized green tent which was conveniently next to Clementine's. "Put me down."
"Alright sorry." The one-eyed man apologized. "But I had to find ya and get ya outta there."
From inside Kenny's tent, Clementine could hear Alvin Junior cries for companionship. "AJ-!" Clem was about to check on him but Kenny stopped her.
"No Clem, no. It's too risky." He clasped her shoulder firmly so that she was prevented to enter, but it only left the girl even more confused.
"What? Why Kenny?" The twelve year old inquired.
Kenny looked around them to see if anyone would be close enough to hear them, there wasn't anyone around so that was good enough for him. He crouched down to her level. "Clem, the reason why you didn't see me and Alvie at dinner is 'cause I saw two guys coughing up blood in their food. ...Guys that had them tattoos. They were sick Clem... I know it. They were real sick and I wanted to protect AJ. And we can't see him till we know we ain't sick like them."
"You mean we're sick too? Kenny? Sick with what?" Clem questioned starting to feel a rise of anxiety.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but it's something bad, real bad, you saw them same folks back in Vaughn's tent..." Kenny frowned at the thought of a virus that could spread and turn them all into walkers within day. "We might already have it... How are you feelin'? You got a fever?"
"Kenny... I'm fine." Little did he know though, Clem did a self-diagnosis of herself. Was she feeling hot? Was she coughing too? She didn't think so.
"You sure? Here, lemme see your forehead." Kenny put the back of his burly hand on Clem's face to check for a fever. To his relief... "You feel okay." He pulled his hand back and checked himself. "...Listen Clem, listen to me okay? You remember that Xavier's got them meds that could save lives, save yours and AJ's... He's gotta be hoardin' them for his buddies. Clem, we gotta put ourselves first and make sure we get some. ...Ain't no way in hell that bag will be enough to keep everyone in Wellington healthy..."
"But what about everyone else? If they get sick won't they die and turn into walkers too?" Clementine asked. "Isn't there another way to help them?"
"Screw everyone else, you two are the only ones I care about." Kenny declared to her. "It's been a good run, but we'll leave Wellington all together if we have too. ...But not without medicine to keep you and Alvie breathin'. ...So I hate askin' you to do this and it might be real dangerous, it ain't right but I have to watch over AJ from out here, Clem. ...You're quicker, you can hide better than me, so I'm just askin' ya to go to Xavier's place and get that medicine, just enough for us. Two people and a baby."
"We have to tell the others, we have to warn people Kenny." Clementine pleaded the bearded man in the more virtuous direction, to give everyone a fighting chance.
Kenny retorted as he stood back up. "Then this whole place will be fuckin' chaos, a damn shit storm where nobody ain't gonna get anything. Clem... think about Alvin, think about us, this is the only way we can make sure that we can't get sick like those other guys. So please, I'm beggin' ya, go on and do this, for us."
Clementine had to comply, these were things she had never faced before, so as if she were lost in the dark, Kenny was there to guide her and learn from this experience. She just needed enough medicine to combat this bug for them. Christa told her long ago that antibiotics and other drugs were invaluable when it came to getting sick. Because who wants to die in the apocalypse because of catching the flu? "Okay Kenny, I'll do my best."
"I know you will darlin'. Thank you." Kenny gratefully stated as they exchanged one more best of luck glances before Clementine went off.
Clementine innocently asked around as to where Xavier actually was, because he was a superior and he wouldn't exactly have a regular tent. Clem however found out that Xavier held up at the same old Wellington police station that she was in earlier this morning. Still armed with only a knife, she deduced that her objective would be on the second floor. There were steel bars on the windows, so the front door would still be her only option for entry. Sneak in and sneak out, that was the plan. "I have to stay as quiet as I can..." She whispered to herself.
Clementine tip-toed to the front door and hid off to the side of the entrance so that she could peek around the side. No one was fortunately present, the front desk was unattended, so he must have gone home. The twelve year old though spotted the stairs that were off adjacent to the desk, and that was where she needed to go. She let herself in and was about to make it to the stairs when she heard footsteps.
Clementine held her breathe as she instinctively hid behind the front desk, and a guard with a flashlight came around the corner. He had a radio on hand and he spoke into it. "Thought I heard something..."
Clem had to peek up to see if it was clear, but she ducked back down just before the guard's flashlight would have shined on her. She had to be patient, wait him out if he had too. The guard then moved his way to the front doors with his back to Clem. "Ain't no one getting in here, sir."
Looks like she had an opening, Clem turned herself around and stayed crouched down as she made her way to the stairs with relative ease. After the short climb, Clem was on the second floor: where all the cops would have their meetings and desks, looked like a run down office. but that was when Clementine heard a voice coming from the Captain's private quarters in the far right corner of the squad room. "What?! What the hell happened?!"
There was no mistaking it, that was Xavier, Clem could see him through the window of the office door, bellowing into his walkie-talkie. Clementine the Ninja continued her infiltration and she stood by the wall next to the door to listen in on what he had to say...
"Vaughn's dead?! That's impossible! That's..." Xavier paused and realized what had happened. "Those motherfucking imbeciles died while they were waiting for him? I knew they were sick... but I thought they had more time. God help us, this could be worst than I realized... the fucking walker virus wasn't bad enough, now we got this goddamn super flu!?" Another pause from the response on the radio. "Okay... I'll be right there, we'll get an announcement going first thing in the morning..." He sighed. "...I hope I made the right decision. Just a little order amid the chaos... I only wanted to talk to him on my terms! But it looks like I have to take matters into my own hands..."
Xavier had stopped talking, and Clementine could hear footsteps coming towards the door. She hid, right behind where the door swung open on her, and Xavier strode out. He conveniently left his office door open for Clem. He was already down the stairs when the little girl let herself in, closing the door behind her for privacy.
His office was quite bare, there was a large cabinet for his coat perhaps, a large oaken desk, a matching chair, and a window to look out onto the settlement. He had a lantern that provided the only light in here, so it had cast long and ominous shadows all along the room. That duffel bag had to be in here, or Clem would be in trouble. "Gotta work fast."
Clem picked the only logical place she thought he could hide something like this, so she opened the cabinet first. Lo and behold, there it was: the bag of meds that they needed, she only needed a little bit to save a baby, herself, and Kenny right? No one will miss it...
"...It's not safe out there without a gun anymore." Xavier muttered to himself from afar. "I better get used to that now..."
"-!" Clem gasped. Xavier was coming back for his gun, and she was out in the open in the middle of his office. She had to hide or do something! Not enough time to find his gun and defend herself. In the ensuing panic, she realized she had to hide, that was her only valid option.
[HIDE UNDER DESK]
[HIDE IN CABINET]
Clementine quickly hid inside the cabinet where the duffel bag full of medicine resided, and she closed the doors behind her just enough so that she could see what was going on through the crack in between.
She slowed and controlled her breathing as she watched Xavier enter his office again, looking around suspiciously. She guessed he thought he might have heard something. He took his time as he made his way to his desk and tugged opened a drawer where his pistol was. He cocked it... *Click* arming it.
Suddenly, his head shot under the desk and searched the area. Good thing Clem didn't hide there... but then.
Xavier growled towards the cabinet. "...You closed my door."
*BANG!*
Clementine yelped as she slammed herself into the back of the wooden cabinet. She avoided the bullet by mere inches, but now there was a hole in the door. The light from the lantern shined through, making it look like a spotlight on Clementine's face before he pulled the cabinet doors open, revealing her.
The still greasy Xavier looked down on a frightened Clementine with his gun pointed at her. "I didn't want any visitors tonight, little one..."
End- Episode 1- The Fallen Rise...
Next time on The Walking Dead (Season Three Episode 2- The Perils Ahead)
Kenny approached Clementine with Alvin Junior in his arms. "Clem... I don't trust any of these folks, and if you ask me we're better off without any of them." He had a look of regret on his face then stared down at AJ. "Wellington might be done..."
Dusty sighed as he and Clementine were looking off into the distance. "Did you save Maree just because I asked you to look for her? Because, dammit, this wasn't what I had in mind. ...I, I shouldn't have put that on you. If I were only there just a little sooner, maybe we could have saved Vaughn too..."
"This isn't your fault, Dusty..." Clem assured him.
"We really need to find your friends, Clem." Michael stated to her. "Because we won't survive out here on our own. No supplies, no nothing. We made it this far, but that can change at any second..."
Xavier spoke to the remaining citizens of the camp from behind a podium to make this emergency announcement. "There is no cause for panic. Now, I know that some of you are sad to hear the loss of some of our beloved members of our community... but you all have my word. This a place where we can work together and call a sanctuary in a world gone wrong, where you can sleep easy at night and live fearless productive lives. This settlement is our legacy, and I promise all of you, with my life, that Wellington is still safe..."
Connection- Would you have introduced yourselves to Lucas?
Feud- Between Dusty and Wayne, whose side would you have taken?
Restraint- Would you have tasered Wayne with the stun gun?
Secrecy- Would you have opened the duffel bag yourself?
Fidelity- Would you have saved Vaughn or Maree?
A/N- Review what you would've done, try and guess what will happen next. And stay tuned for Episode 2, starting September 16th! :)