Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Clementine released a huff before she placed a finger to her lips in a gesture that the teenage girl needed to stay quiet.
"You're not supposed to be in here." The girl said as Clementine closed the door.
"Your people didn't give me a choice." Clementine said. "I just want to find my stuff and then I'll leave. You and your group will never see me again."
"But my dad will be really upset with me if I help you. I'm not allowed to talk to you." The girl said.
Clementine sighed and she said, "I understand that, but I can't leave without my stuff, and your people have everything I need to survive in here somewhere."
"I didn't see them bring anything in here." The girl said.
Clementine released a groan and she felt like smacking her palm against her head. "Not in this room. I mean in the cabin." Clementine hissed.
The teenager jumped back from the younger girl's harsh tone and she started to shake. "O-O-Okay… Okay… just, please don't hurt me."
Clementine breathed out a sigh and she said, "Sorry but I'm under a lot of stress right now. Your group was very hostile towards me out there and I'm scared that they're going to find me in here and kill me. But if I don't have anything when I go out there, I would die in a matter of hours."
The girl looked down and frowned. "Okay. I understand." The girl said. "I'll take you to where we keep all of our supplies. I know where that is."
"Okay… thank you." Clementine said with a tang of relief in her voice. Finally, she was catching a break.
The girl led Clementine out of the room and led her to a closet door near the end of the hallway. The teenager opened the door which revealed several rolls of bandages, two bottles of disinfectant, a first-aid kit, several rounds of ammunition, some baby supplies, a knife, a gun, and a backpack. The last three items belonged to Clementine.
Clementine grabbed her backpack first and checked it to make sure that everything was inside. Thankfully, the cabin group didn't take anything out of her backpack. She placed the backpack on and checked her gun next. There was still a full clip in it. She holstered the gun and grabbed her knife next. She was good to go.
Clementine turned to Sarah and said, "Thanks."
"Yeah… so what now?" The teenager whispered.
"I leave and that's it." Clementine said.
"Well, wait. You don't have to leave. We can be best friends. Just give my group time to trust you." The girl said.
Clementine shook her head and she said, "Two of them want me dead, and the rest wouldn't care if a walker grabbed me and chomped down on my neck."
"But… I care." The girl said. "Can't you give them a chance?"
Clementine shook her head and started to walk toward the stairs. The girl grabbed onto Clementine's arm but Clementine brought up her knife to where it was almost against the girl's neck. The girl trembled in fear and her eyes grew wide. Her body shook in fear as Clementine looked to the girl with a scowl. "Let go of my arm." Clementine said in a cold tone of voice.
The girl released Clementine's arm and Clementine withdrew the blade. She turned around and headed for the stairs. As she headed down the stairs, she could hear the teenager whimper. "She's too weak." Clementine muttered as she approached the room with the trapdoor. She opened the door and closed it before she headed back under the house. From there, it was a straight shot. All she had to do was dart for the woods once she reached the lattice.
Clementine crawled closer and closer to the lattice and she readied herself to sprint for the woods. After a couple of huffs to get ready, Clementine ran for the woods with relief finally washing over her. She would never have to go back to those people ever again.
It had been a while since Clementine had seen the cabin, and it only seemed to get darker outside. She had her flashlight out and she looked around for somewhere to spend the night. She could hear the distant moans of the walkers as she continued her trek. They were a good distance off by the sounds of their moaning, but Clementine didn't want to risk it. She had to find shelter in some form or another.
She turned the flashlight beam and saw the wooden door of a building. Her eyes widened and a small smile crept on her lips. Finally, she found shelter. She approached the wooden doors and she shined the flashlight onto the building. Clementine opened the door and shined the flashlight inside. She had to make sure that she was alone in the building.
She checked behind all of the shelving while doing her best to remain quiet. It was odd that the building was abandoned. She noticed that the shelves were full of glass jars and there was some odd device in the corner. Nevertheless, the rest of the small building appeared to be safe.
Clementine was tired but she had to make sure that the door was secured. She went over to a nearby crate and tried to push it toward the door. It was heavy which meant that even if someone or something was able to push the crate out of the way during the night, it would cause enough noise to wake her up.
Clementine pushed the box in front of the two door and huffed. "Finally… I can some rest." Clementine said. She walked over to be between two of the shelves and she laid down. She was exhausted, but at least, she found somewhere to sleep for the night.
Morning
Clementine's eyes fluttered open as she looked at the window. The sun's rays pierced through the window and it illuminated the entire building that Clementine was in. She got up and headed to the doors to start on another day of walking toward Wellington. She grunted as she pushed the heavy crate just far enough so she could open the door. She stood upright and headed outside to see if there was anything nearby that she could eat.
She needed to find food, but she had a good idea where to go first. She could smell the familiar scent of water nearby. Fish wasn't her favorite thing to eat, but it was better than nothing. She followed the scent of the water as she looked around for walkers or humans. However, she didn't see anyone or anything.
She got closer and closer to the river but she stopped with wide eyes aimed at the river. "Oh my gosh…" Clementine muttered when she saw the river in sight. There were bodies everywhere. Clementine approached the bodies and she started to hyperventilate. This scared her… there weren't many things that scared the child anymore… but the massacre and the bodies sent her stress and anxiety to a whole new level. She shook her head from her thoughts and she looked around to see if the people responsible for the massacre were still around.
She shook her head in a gesture that she didn't want to find out if the people behind the massacre were still around and bolted for the woods. Her stomach wasn't growling anymore. The horrors that she saw at the river… took the apocalypse to a whole new level. She has seen evil people doing the worst things imaginable, but never on a scale that big. It was new and horrifying.
Clementine finally stopped and she looked back to see if anyone was chasing her. Thankfully, she couldn't hear any rustling of leaves or anything else that would indicate that someone was chasing her. However, she heard leaves rustling coming from the opposite direction. "Shoot." Clementine whispered as she turned her head back. She looked around for somewhere to hide and she quickly hid behind a tree.
Clementine remained hidden as the footsteps got closer. By the sounds of the footsteps, the person didn't seem to be very big or tall. It sounded like a child's footsteps. More than likely, it was someone who was the same age as her. The footsteps stopped and a few seconds went by until she could hear whimpering.
Clementine took a peek to see who was nearby and she was surprised to see a boy who appeared to be the same age as her. The boy had his eyes closed and he had tears falling down his face. For the first time in a long time, Clementine felt sympathy. She remembered that she was the same way when she lost Lee and her parents on the same day.
However, she was brought out of her thoughts when the boy yelled out. She looked to the boy to see him on the ground with a walker trying to kill him. The boy struggled with the creature as Clementine came out from cover and stabbed the walker in the skull. She pushed the dead creature away and looked back to the boy. He appeared to be surprised by the fact that she came out of nowhere and saved him. However, Clementine was also surprised by what she did. She kept asking herself why she would risk her life and blow her cover for some boy.
The boy stood on his own two feet and he said, "Um… thank you."
Clementine looked away but the boy continued, "Cool hat."
Clementine looked to the boy and she smiled. However, she stopped herself and wondered what was wrong with her. She didn't smile much anymore and it felt so weird to do so. "I… um… thanks. It belonged to my dad." Clementine said.
"I'm Gil." The boy said as he brought his hand out to introduce himself.
"I… I can't…" Clementine said as she looked away and tried to walk away from the boy. However, Gil followed her. "I can't look after you… you'll just die like everyone else."
"Then teach me… teach me how to survive." Gil said. "I just lost my family. I'm done sitting on the sidelines. Show me how to survive."
Clementine looked back to Gil with a surprised stare. She wasn't expecting the boy to be so persistent. It reminded her so much of herself when she was first on her own. She had no one to teach her, but she did have Lee's teachings fresh in her mind. All she had to do was expand on them. His persistence and wanting to survive is the main reason why Clementine considered teaching him as opposed to the girl back at the cabin. Plus, she was surrounded by a hostile group. There was nothing Clementine could do except leave. "Okay." Clementine said. However, her stomach interrupted her with a growl. She blushed a bit and she said, "Sorry. I haven't eaten anything for a long time."
Gil smiled to her and he took off his backpack. "Here, I got some soup in my backpack. It's still good." He brought out a can of soup and gave it to the girl. Clementine's eyes widened upon seeing the soup. Gil offered the soup to her, and she accepted it.
"Thanks… okay. Let's get started." Clementine said. "My name's Clementine, but you can call me Clem."
"It's nice to meet you." Gil said.
Clementine gestured the boy to follow her. She looked around for any twigs or sticks to make a fire. However, she was coming up empty handed. There were very few sticks in the area. "Alright, I guess we'll have to eat this cold. I'm not finding anything to start a fire."
Gil shrugged and said, "Better cold than nothing."
"Definitely." Clementine said. She went over to a nearby log and sat down with Gil sitting next to her. Clementine got her knife out and cleaned it before she stabbed the aluminum can with it. Like yesterday, she cut the weak aluminum with her knife.
"I guess I should get a knife." Gil said.
"Absolutely." Clementine said. "A knife can save your life on more than one occasion. Do you have anything to protect yourself with?" She finished the cut and she pulled the lid off. She looked back up to Gil and saw him shake his head.
"Here." Clementine said as she offered the handle of her knife to the boy.
"Are you sure?" Gil asked. "What about you?"
"I got a hammer from last night. So, I'll be good." Clementine said.
Gil smiled to Clementine and accepted the knife. "Thanks Clem." Gil said.
"Well, you wanted to learn." Clementine said as she took a handful of the soup and ate it. She offered some to Gil but he shook his head.
"You need it. You look like you haven't eaten in a while." Gil said with a worried look on his face.
"Thanks Gil. I did have some beans yesterday and then I got attacked. So that was my last meal." Clementine said.
"What attacked you?" Gil asked.
"A dog." Clementine said.
"Whoa… really? I haven't seen a dog for a long time." Gil said.
"Yeah… I found some food in this camp where the dog was. I opened up the can and the dog went toward me and wanted me to give it some food. So, I did. It snapped the can out of my hand and I was stupid enough to grab it back. And that's when it bit me." Clementine explained.
"How are you feeling? I mean it probably hurts." Gil said.
"It does, but it's getting better. I had to disinfect it, stitch it up, and bandage it." Clementine said as she continued to eat the soup.
"Whoa, hold on… you stitched up your own wound?" Gil asked with shock in his eyes. Clementine nodded and Gil smiled. "That is so cool. I mean it does suck that you had to do that, but man… you're the toughest girl I've ever met." It was after the boy said this that he started to blush. Clementine smirked upon seeing how the boy admired her toughness. It felt weird. She almost felt like she was with Duck again, but this boy was more calm and kind to her than what Duck was.
"Thanks Gil. I think you're… really fun to hang out with." Clementine said with a smile. She felt… different. This has never happened before. She has talked to people in the past, but Gil was so different. He was care-free and relaxed which made her feel relaxed. He wasn't like other people. He didn't bog her down with hundreds of questions like where she was from and who was she with. Instead, his warm personality made her open up to him.
She continued to eat from the can of soup as she thought to herself. Gil will die just like everyone else that got too close to her. She knew it was going to happen. It already happened to so many people. She didn't want to get away from him, but it was better for him to be alive and without her than being dead. She would have to get away from him as soon as she taught him mostly everything she knew. That was the only way that he would have a chance to live.
"Hey, you alright?" Gil asked. "You look kind of conflicted."
"I… I'm fine." Clementine said. She finished off the can of soup and wiped her hand with her pants. "Okay, come on. There's a lot I need to teach you." She got off the log and chucked the empty can away.
"Lead the way." Gil said as he got off the log as well.
…To be continued.
A/N: I bet you weren't expecting Gil to make an appearance. Now, just because I don't usually do the relationship between Gil and Clementine, doesn't mean I hate it. I just think it's a little lacking in development as opposed to some of the other OCXClem relationships on FanFiction.