Author's Notes:
Hey! So, I'm back with chapter two! I'm sorry there was a bit of a wait for this one, but I promise it wasn't for lack of trying. There was a lot that had to happen in this chapter and I really wanted to get it right. This story will differ in some fundamental parts from the games and there was a lot of setup that had to be done for those changes to work. So, I hope that my effort is evident in the product that I've put out and I hope you guys enjoy it! See you at the bottom!
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Chapter Two: Stranded, Starved
Clementine held her walkie-talkie to her chest as she huddled in the corner of the treehouse, her breaths unsteady as the monsters beneath her only continued to screech. She covered her ears as best as she could, but she couldn't escape the sounds.
The monsters continued to groan to no end, their nails dragging against the base of the tree. Blood-curdling screams pierced the air throughout the entire day, always followed by a cascade of gunshots, but as the sun crept toward the horizon, the screams grew distant and the gunshots grew few and farther between.
Still, the moans and groans remained. It was as if she was totally and completely alone in this world, trapped with the monsters beneath her. Still panicked, she stuffed her walkie in her pocket, pushed open the treehouse door, and peered over the edge of the wooden platform.
Her head felt light as she laid eyes on the monsters beneath her. She froze in place as she stared into their lifeless yellow eyes, her skin crawled as she saw their rotting skin, and her heart dropped when she saw their wounds.
There were four monsters and each seemed more disgusting than the last. First, she saw an arm with a deep, rotting bite mark. Then, a chunk missing from a woman's shoulder. Then, a hole in a man's stomach, leaking with blood as his intestines hung out. But worst of all was the one she saw last. It was a child. A boy not much older than herself, or at least it used to be.
His face didn't even look like it used to be human. His nose was missing, leaving only the hole in his skull visible. His cheek was completely ripped away, leaving his upper and lower jaws disconnected. But worse yet was the fact that the top of his head was nearly completely eaten away, leaving a crater as deep as the top of his head to his left eyebrow.
Again, Clem's breaths grew unsteady, her heart racing as the monsters clawed at the tree. Just by staring at them, she couldn't surmise what had happened to them or what they were, but there was one thing she knew for sure, she didn't want to know what would happen if they got her.
In a panic, she pulled herself away from the ledge, pulling her treehouse door shut behind her as she returned to her corner, trembling with every scratch against the tree and every moan.
Her eyes widened as she dug herself as far into the corner as she could, and as the boards beneath her creaked, she couldn't help but scream, causing the monsters' moans to only grow louder.
She dug her fingers into her hair and pulled, holding her hands over her ears once more only to meet the same unfortunate result. The monsters' cries pierced her ears to the point that she couldn't even remember the sound of silence anymore.
She laid down on her side, digging her ear into her shoulder, but still couldn't escape the sounds. She cried, but her sobs only earned her more of the same terror.
Minutes passed as she rolled in puddles of her own tears, then hours, until finally, the moon became the neighborhood's sole illuminator, save for distant fires in all directions.
Clementine had run out of tears and of course, the monsters still wouldn't leave her alone. As seconds continued to tick away, she laid on her back, staring at the night sky through the cracks in her treehouse ceiling.
Her stomach grew angry, rumbling every thirty seconds, a cruel reminder of the long day that had passed since she had last eaten. Still, with the monsters so close, it wasn't like she could go anywhere to find food.
She held her hand against her stomach as the ravenous monsters beneath scratched at the tree, waiting for their meal to finally come.
For two hours, the vicious cycle continued. Her stomach rumbled, the monster's heard it, and they moaned. Several times, Clementine tried to let her tired eyes win, but every time she grew close to falling asleep, the monsters woke her.
She grew frustrated but knew that she needed to stay silent. So, again, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the noises, but just as she opened her eyes once more, she heard a familiar sound.
The gate into her backyard creaked open slowly. It was too quiet for the monsters to notice, but having lived in the home for as long as she'd lived, she could have recognized it ten times out of ten.
Without making a sound, Clementine crawled to the treehouse door and peered outside. Her eyes widened as she set her eyes on an unfamiliar man, sneaking around in the darkness.
It was a particularly dark night, so she couldn't tell what was in his hands, but she could tell he was holding something. She watched as he made his way up her porch stairs before peering through her back door.
She felt her heart skip a beat as the man scanned from side to side, knowing that Sandra was probably still inside the house. Without hesitation, she crawled to the corner of her treehouse and retrieved her hammer, but as she crawled back to the treehouse door, she quickly realized there was nothing she could do to help.
Still, she held the hammer close, watching with anxious eyes as the man reared back his arm. He slammed his weapon forward, but it merely bounced off of the glass, hitting him in the nose as it bounced back.
Almost immediately, she heard the monsters beneath her begin to moan. The bad man turned to face the sounds, but clearly couldn't see the monsters in the dark. He backpedaled, scanning from side to side to no avail.
Having been in the dark for hours, Clementine could see every one of the four monsters. She watched them walk up the steps to the porch, and slowly, the bad man must have seen them too.
"What the fuck," the man muttered.
The monsters continued to approach, only moaning and groaning more loudly with every step. Again, the man backed himself into a wall, but the monsters kept coming. He turned to the wooden railing of the porch, but before he could get his leg over the beams, the monsters got too close.
The man climbed down from the railing and kicked the monsters away, which worked for a moment, but in the next, the other three monsters continued to approach, swinging their decomposing arms as he fought for his life.
He swung his wrench, which Clementine could finally see, but only managed to hit the female monster in the arm, which didn't even look like it hurt.
"Fuck," the man shouted, continuing to frantically swing his wrench.
He missed every time, the monsters growing closer until, finally, the child dug its teeth into the man's leg.
He screamed, wincing in pain before finally throwing himself over the edge of the porch.
He dug his fingers into the lawn's short grass, pulling himself forward as his blood spilled behind him leaving a trail, but with every foot he traveled, the monsters grew exponentially closer.
Clementine watched with fearful eyes as the monsters finally reached him, immediately piling on top of him and ripping him apart. They ripped through his clothes without effort, and worse than that, they ripped through his flesh with equal ease.
Clementine's head grew light, but she couldn't force herself to look away. Blood, flesh, organs. All she saw was red spilling from the man's body and into the mouths of the famished beasts.
She felt her body begin to tremble as the monsters continued to rip the man's flesh away to the point that she could see even what his bones protected. Finally, she forced herself to look away, her breaths uneven, but before she could even completely gather herself, her attention was pulled in another direction.
BOOM
An explosion in the distance. Clementine's gaze snapped in its direction and within seconds, she could see smoke billowing in the distance. Within seconds, she watched as the four monsters sauntered out of the backyard through the gate.
Her eyes fell on the burglar's body. She hyperventilated as she scanned the body. The blood. The intestines. Parts of a body that she wouldn't have even known existed stretched across the yard, a trail of the man's blood leading toward the gate from which the monsters had only just left.
Her head grew light as she stared at the distant fire in the forest, her knees growing weak as she panicked. Blood trickled from her nose. Her eyelids grew heavy. And finally, she collapsed, face first into the treehouse floor.
The world went completely dark.
She heard nothing.
She saw nothing.
There was nothing.
But herself.
She looked down and saw her hands and feet, so she knew she was there, but there was nothing beneath her—no ground or platform, and yet she still stood.
Her eyes were wide with confusion, only worsened when she glanced in all directions only to see the same thing, or rather, nothing.
Slowly, she heard the sound that she was begrudgingly growing too used to, the faint, horrifying groans of the monsters that had terrorized her for hours.
Eventually, she could see them in the distance. She stepped back, but after only one step, she heard the same sounds from behind her, only closer, and when she turned, she could see the monsters walking toward her with the same ravenous expression she remembered.
She heard the moans again in a different direction and surely enough, the same, only once again, the monsters had grown closer. She turned away and tried to run, but as soon as she blinked, the same happened again, more monsters, even closer.
She reached for her walkie-talkie in her pocket, but there was nothing there.
Her body quickly began to tremble, the moans and groans only growing louder with every second until, finally, she screamed.
All went silent as her eyes blinked open.
Her body felt hot, her brow was sweaty, and as they had only seconds prior, her hands continued to tremble, but as she scanned from side to side, she was greeted with an impossible sight.
Sunlight beamed down on her through a small gap in the dark, cloudy sky, already near the horizon as she lay at the edge of the wooden platform.
She sat up slowly, wiping the sweat from her brow and peering over the edge of the platform.
Sure enough, nothing had changed. The burglar's body remained in the same position as the night before, the back gate was open, and in the distance, she could see the same billowing smoke, only the smoke had grown lighter.
Her stomach rumbled as she sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the platform, but what was worse was the thirst. Her lips were painfully dry, as was her mouth, and her head felt impossibly light.
She could barely turn her head without getting dizzy, let alone find any actual solution for her problem, but seeing no other option, her eyes landed on the treehouse ladder.
Without further delay, she climbed down, gripping each rung of the ladder as tightly as she could until finally, her feet touched the ground. Her knees felt heavy as she took her first step since a full day before.
She fell to her knee, holding herself up by her arm. Her body felt hot, but somehow she wasn't sweating, even as the sun broke through the clouds, shining down on her intensely. She blinked as her vision blurred, her eyes finally landing on her mother's hose, coiled up only mere feet away.
She crawled forward, leaning left and right as her balance struggled until finally, she reached forward, gripping the faucet handle.
She twisted it as hard as she could, but only after putting her entire body into it did it finally turn. She nearly tipped over as the hose finally turned on, but managed to maintain her balance in time to pull the tip of the hose toward her face.
The water spewed out wildly, splashing onto her clothes and face. As quickly as she could, she pointed the hose to her mouth, gulping water down faster than her throat could handle. She coughed as she choked on the water, but couldn't force herself to pull away more than a couple of inches, leaning her head back as the fluid of life streamed into her stomach.
Her throat ached as she swallowed, but the ecstasy she felt with every sip was more than worth it. She sighed with contentment as she let the hose fall to the ground, and in mere seconds, the pressure of the water faded into nothing.
She tilted her head with confusion, reaching down and lifting the hose to her face.
She pushed the hose to her face, staring down the nozzle, but didn't see anything that would explain the sudden loss of pressure.
She turned to the hose handle and twisted it further, but no more than a couple of extra drops came from the hose.
With a sigh, she finally let the hose fall to the grass beneath her, getting to her feet and turning away. At least she had gotten a good amount to drink. In fact, she felt a lot better now. Her head and throat were still hurting, but at least her head didn't feel as light anymore and she could see what was in front of her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before finally turning to her house's back door. She didn't move for several seconds, hesitant to go back inside as she hadn't heard a sound from Sandra in hours.
What if the monsters were inside? What if Sandra wasn't even there anymore?
No. She had to go. She had to know for sure. One way or another, she needed to go back inside.
She took a few steps forward, reaching the bottom stair on her porch before she heard something strange, a rustle from her yard.
She turned her head slowly, her eyes landing on the disgusting corpse of the man that had tried to break into her home.
His finger twitched.
Clementine's eyes widened as she turned back to her treehouse, breaking into a full sprint and climbing her ladder as quickly as she could.
She reached the top faster than ever before, immediately shuffling into the treehouse and peering through a small crack in the floor.
The man's body continued to twitch.
Was it possible that he was still alive?
She resisted the urge to call out, unsure if her voice even had the power to reach the man after going so long without water.
Her body trembled as the man's eyes blinked open. They were nothing like what they were before. They weren't white like hers or Sandra's, but yellow, lifeless—like the monsters that had terrorized her the night before.
Slowly but surely, the man pushed off of the floor, his organs spilling from his chest. He glanced downward, dropping to the floor in an instant and shoveling his own innards into his mouth, blood splashing around with every bite he took.
Clementine's stomach ached as she felt vomit creep up her throat. She blocked her mouth with her hand, desperate to remain silent.
Still, she crawled away, unable to bear what she saw any longer. Slowly, the reality of what had happened to the monster hit her.
He was dead. She was sure of it, but he came back. He came back as one of the very same monsters that killed him. Her head spun as the implications of this fact came to her.
Not only did he come back to life, every one of those monsters from before had to.
Every single one of them had died and come back to life. All of the screams that she had been hearing for hours, the death and the pain, it all meant one thing. More monsters.
They were everywhere. They had to be. She couldn't have dreamt to count how many screams she'd heard.
She nearly lost control of her breath as she watched the poor burglar stumble from her yard. What did this mean? Why was all of this happening? How was she supposed to survive like this? And worst of all, where was her family?
Where was every single person she knew and loved? Were they all gone? Had they all died and become monsters like the man that tried to break into her house? What about her mother and father? She knew her father was strong, but they were so far now. How would she ever be able to get back to them, especially when she was stranded in her treehouse, doomed to starve before she would gather the courage to climb down once more?
Again, she pulled on the loose strands of her messy hair, her body shaking with fear.
Again, her head felt light, but it was nothing like before. It was nothing that a simple sip of water could help. Her breathing grew rapid and short and she quickly lost control, falling to her side. Her hat toppled from her head as tears quickly gathered in her eyes.
Did this mean…
Was there really a chance that…
No, she told herself. Her parents were okay. Her father was strong. He would keep her mother safe. Still, she couldn't keep herself from imagining the worst.
What if she never got to see them again?
What if she was really, truly, totally alone with these horrible monsters?
Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to fight away the negative thoughts, rain dripping against the treehouse roof. She felt weak, her resolve dissolving with every drop. Her vision blurred as drops of rain dripped through the cracked treehouse ceiling, mixing with the tears in her eyes.
She lost control, breaking down as she lay on the floor. Her eyes continued to spill out, her vision blurred as she stared off into space, her mind anywhere but with her.
Hours passed, her tears unending even when she cried herself to sleep, her body shivering as the rain continued to pour down.
The night slowly passed, taking the clouds with them as the sun finally rose once again.
Clementine laid down on her back, staring through the crack in her ceiling as she clung her walkie-talkie to her chest.
Her eyes were red, irritated after an entire night of crying. Her eyes ached, making it painful to keep them open, but it wasn't like she could put herself back to sleep.
She sighed, sitting up slowly. She turned to her side, staring at her father's hat before finally picking it up and placing it on her head.
Her face fell, her head aching as she sniffled. She placed her palm against her forehead, shocked to feel such intense heat.
She pulled her hand away, her eyes wide as she quickly realized that she'd gotten herself sick after a night in the rain. She should have known. Her mother always told her that would happen.
Again, she sighed before finally pushing her treehouse door open.
It was sunny out, much brighter than the day before, and thankfully, her yard was still empty. For once, she caught a break.
Her eyes lingered on the back gate, which even now remained wide open.
She knew she had to do something, but as she reached her foot toward the first wrung of the ladder, she hesitated.
Images of what she'd seen the night before flashed through her mind—the flesh ripping away from the burglar's body. She was terrified that the same would happen to her, but she refused to pull her foot away from the ladder.
She thought of her parents. She imagined seeing them again. She longed for the safety she felt when they were around and she knew she couldn't let herself back down. She knew she couldn't put this off. She pushed her foot down, descending from the treehouse as quickly as her body would allow.
The second she hit the ground, he kicked off, sprinting toward the back gate and pushing it shut. Her heart raced, snot trickling from her nose. Her head still ached. She was still sick. She was still hungry. But she did it.
She bent over, placing her hands on her knees. Her breath was short, but she was thrilled to have-
BANG
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Author's note:
So, there's chapter two, done and dusted. I know it took a while to write and I know that the timeline is a bit messy, but there were a few things that I wanted to change about the original story, and that required some decisions to be made. It took me a while to be pleased with what I had, but here I am. I think it turned out well and I'm really excited to write the next chapter. I don't have a lot more to say, so I'll just say this… Thank you! The Walking Dead game hasn't had a new game in years and the fanbase is dwindling, but the first chapter still got some really decent attention and I couldn't be more pleased about it. So, again, thank you for giving this story a chance, and thank you for coming back for chapter two. I only hope that I haven't disappointed as I have a really fun story here and I can't wait to show you what I have in mind. This story will be different from the game, so strap in, it's gonna be a fun ride.
Other than that, I just wanna ask that you guys leave a review/comment depending on what site you're reading this on. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated as it helps me mold the story. Even just telling me what you liked/didn't like would help me make this story better, so, again, I would really appreciate it.
That's all I've got, so, as usual, I hope you enjoyed, I hope you have a good morning/evening/night, and I hope to see you again soon!
~ lucash21
P.S. Follow me on Instagram lucashtwd for story updates and posts for chapter releases!