Chapter 7

"Move," Ellie whispered.

The two hurried down the stairs and across the living room as quickly and quietly as they could. They found Sarah standing with her back against the wall and looking around the corner down the short hallway towards the front door. When Ellie and Clem reached her, her head snapped around to look at them with eyes wide with fear.

"That's not Luke," Sarah whispered, as if that wasn't already obvious. She looked around the corner again and through the window set in the front door at the man now standing outside. She jerked her head back almost immediately and pressed her back flat against the wall, her face even paler than before. "I think I know him," she squeaked, her body trembling with fear.

"Who is he?" Clementine asked.

Before they could get an answer out of Sarah, three loud knocks came from the door followed shortly by a male voice calling out, "hello, is anyone home?"

"He can't see me," Sarah whispered. She was breathing faster now, and her breaths came out wheezing and labored. "If he does, he'll…he'll…" They never found out what Sarah thought the man would do if he saw her. Her hands flew to her throat. She gasped for air and her eyes grew wide in rising panic. "I…I can't breathe…I ca…I can't breathe."

Ellie gently took hold of Sarah's shoulders, pulled her away from the corner and whispered slowly, "Sarah look at me. Look at me. We're not going to let anything happen to you. Now try to take a deep breath and calm down." Ellie took a long deep breath and slowly let it out then gestured for Sarah to follow her lead.

Whiles Ellie was helping Sarah get control of her breathing, Clementine's mind was racing through the information Sarah had given them. If Sarah was right and the man knew her, then that meant that he was a member of Carver's community. Clementine had already seen enough of Carver's handywork by the stream to know that that made this man very dangerous.

Clementine peered around the corner to get a look at the intruder. The window in the door was only big enough to show the man's head and shoulders. His features were difficult to make out through the colored glass, though Clementine thought it looked like he had a mustache, but she couldn't be sure. This also made it hard to tell how old he was. What she could tell however was that the man was about as tall and broad shouldered as Carlos. She saw the man's left shoulder rise slightly and the next second the door vibrated as he once again knocked at it three times.

Clementine quickly considered the idea of killing him right now when he was still unaware of their presence. Ellie could shoot him through the window and blow his brains out no problem with her rifle. But if the man had friends hiding in the woods out of sight his death could trigger a fire fight. Clementine had already seen the devastating firepower Carver's men had at their disposal. Since Ellie was the only one in the cabin with a loaded weapon – one Clementine couldn't reliably use because of the powerful recoil – and since Clementine had never used a real bow in her life Ellie would be the only one able to fight with any efficiency. In short, they would be ridiculously out gunned. The only outcome she could see from that scenario was the three of them dead or captured.

"Hello," the man called out again.

They could try to hide. No, that wouldn't work, the cabin hardly had any place that could hide all three of them together and if they scattered, he'd find them one by one eventually. Clementine felt her heart rate increase, she needed to make a choice now. Whiles the stranger had so far only knocked and called out, Clementine knew he would eventually try to open the door and find it unlocked. She silently cursed the fact that they hadn't thought of locking the doors after the others had left.

Her eyes moved down from the window to the lock. Locking the door now would make it blindingly obvious to the stranger that someone was in the house, but perhaps it would be enough to dissuade him from trying to enter, after all, he had no idea if they were well armed or not or how many of them there were. It was a plan, not a good one in her mind but it was the only one she got that might avoid shots being fired.

With her mind set on her task, Clementine stepped out from behind the corner. She quietly moved towards the door. She kept her eyes on the window as she moved, hoping that the man would have more difficulty seeing in through the glass then she had seeing out.

"Okay…okay…. I'm okay," Clem heard Sarah whisper from behind the corner, her breathing sounded like it was under her control again. "What should we do?"

"We'll deal with this. Go and hide," Ellie whispered in answer.

"Hide! Where?"

"Anywhere, just hide quickly."

By then Clem had reached the door and was stretching out her hand towards the lock. She had thankfully seen no sign that the man had noticed her. Her fingers were mere inches away from the handle when it suddenly turned, and the door opened inwards. Clementine jerked her hand back on reflex and took a step backwards. She looked up with fearful eyes and for the first time saw the intruder clearly.

The man looked to be about the same age as Carlos, with brown gray hair that was surprisingly well-kept considering their environment. His mustache was also neatly trimmed, although the same couldn't be said for the stubbles on his jaw and cheeks which hadn't been shaved for at least two weeks if Clementine was any judge. The man was dressed in blue jeans and a brown coat with a hood that had dirty white fur trimming. His face broke into a warm friendly smile when his brown eyes saw her through the now half open door.

"Hello there," he greeted, his voice deep and gravelly.

His friendly manner shocked her. Clementine had expected him to pull a gun on her the moment he saw her, but he didn't. His body language was relaxed and not threatening at all. Had Sarah been wrong? Was this man perhaps not one of Carver's men at all but just a drifting survivor? Then a thought struck her, he might just be playing it safe for now until he had more information on what he was up against. If so, then that could work to her advantage. If he was willing to talk then she could use that to buy herself and the others time to find a way out of this situation.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Clementine asked.

She tried to hide the fear she felt at facing this man without the comfort of a weapon to defend herself with. She still had her knife in her pocket – for all the good that short blade would do – and Ellie's gun tucked into the back of her pants, but it had no bullets and was useless in this situation. Or was it? An idea struck her at that moment, maybe she could bluff her way through this. If she told him she was armed she might be able to scare him off or at the very least put him on guard enough so that he wouldn't try to enter.

"I have a gun," she warned, praying that he wouldn't call her bluff.

"Smart girl," the man said, showing no outward appearance of concern at the mention of the weapon. Either he didn't take her threat seriously, was very confident in his ability to handle her or he was a good actor. "To tell you the truth, I'd be worried if you didn't have one. It's dangerous out here in the woods. But I'm not a bad guy, honey. I promise you that. I'm, Well, I'm your neighbor."

"Neighbor?" Clementine repeated dubiously. Her eyebrows furrowed.

Carlos and the others had lived in the cabin for quite a while now and they hadn't told them anything about ever encountering another group in the immediate area. The man was clearly lying. Adding that together with what Sarah had told them, Clementine was now certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was one of Carver's men.

"That's right. My family and I are set up a way down river," the man continued, not knowing that she had seen through his lies and friendly façade. He raised his right arm and gestured in the direction of the woods. "I'm kinda surprise we haven't run into each other until now. What's your name?"

Clementine didn't answer. In truth she barely heard the man's question; she was too preoccupied eying the revolver strapped to the man's hip. She felt a lump form in her throat and the beating of her heart increased into a hammering. He could kill her right this instance if he wanted to and there wouldn't be a damn thing she could do to stop him. If he did, he would be free to enter the house and try to kill Ellie and Sarah as well.

When it became apparent to him that Clementine wasn't going to answer his question he said, "it's alright, you can talk to me. I'm not gonna bite you," and gave her another friendly smile.

Clementine met his friendliness with stoic silence. After several seconds the man realized that she wasn't going to tell him her name. If he was annoyed by her lack of response, he didn't show it.

"Do you mind if I come in?" The man asked. Not waiting for an answer from her, stretching out his hand towards the door.

"Yes," she answered bluntly.

She grabbed the door with both hands and tried to slam it shut in the man's face. She had almost managed to get it closed when it suddenly stopped. Putting her entire body into it, Clementine tried to force it the last few inches, but it refused to budge. From the other side of the door she heard the man let out a low sigh before he pushed the door back open with ridiculous ease. Clementine was forced to take several steps back to avoid falling.

"I'm sorry to disturb you like this. I need only a couple of minutes of your time," The man said, his tone no longer friendly but businesslike.

He walked through the open door and into the hallway, forcing Clementine to back up even further into the house. He wasn't smiling anymore, and his posture had also changed. He was on guard now, his right hand hovered by the handle of his revolver, ready to draw it at the first sign of an attack. But the change in his character that struck her the most was his eyes. He was staring at her now as if judging her worth, like she wasn't a person to him at all, but a thing to either be used or discarded.

Despite the heart pounding fear Clementine felt towards the man approaching her, she stopped her backwards retreat and stood her ground. Larger, stronger and armed with a gun, he was intimidating as all hell, but she couldn't and wouldn't let him get any further into the house. When he saw that she wouldn't back any further he thankfully stopped.

"Get out of my house!" Clementine shouted fiercely. She glared defiantly up at him, her hands balling into fists.

"I will," he replied, smiling in amusement at her anger. "But I have a few questions I was hoping you could answer first."

His eyes moved quickly from left to right taking in the interior of the cabin. Clementine wasn't sure if Ellie and Sarah were still around the corner behind her, she hadn't heard any movement from the two since before the man opened the door. If they were still there, she was sure that the man wouldn't be able to see them from his current position. After a few tense seconds the man was seemingly satisfied with not seeing or hearing anyone and his posture relaxed slightly. He inspected the few pictures and the fish trophy that hung on the wall.

"This is a nice place," he commented. He turned away from the wall and focused all his attention back on Clementine once more. "Is there anyone else around?"

Clementine folded her arms across her chest. She had no intention of answering his question and was instead about to tell him again to get the hell out. Her lips had barely parted to form the words when she heard sounds of movement coming from behind her. The man's eyes snapped away from her to the source of the noise and he reached for his gun. His fingers had closed around the handle and had just started to pull it out of its holster when his entire body suddenly froze like a deer caught in headlights.

"Try it and I'll blow your fucking head off," Ellie's voice growled from behind Clementine.

Clem looked back over her left shoulder and saw to her relief that Ellie was looking out from behind the corner, her rifle set against her shoulder and the barrel aimed straight at the man's chest. Turning back, Clementine drew her own gun and aimed it at the man. The gun may not have been loaded but it still felt reassuring to hold it in her hands. She immediately took two steps back and one to the right so that Ellie had a clearer shot at the man and so that she was out of his reach in case he tried to grab her.

"Easy there," The man said. His eyes moved between the two weapons now aimed at him. "There is no need for this to get bloody, I just wanted to ask a few questions then I'll leave you two in peace."

The man showed no outward expression of fear or anger at being held at gunpoint, which was unusual. In Clementine's experience most people often displayed anger, nervousness or outright terror at being trapped in such a dangerous situation. Despite having the upper hand on him, the man's calm composure combined with the calculating look he gave the girls made Clementine feel uneasy.

"You're not going anywhere," Ellie said. "Put the gun on the floor and kick it over. Slowly."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly and for a second Clementine thought that he was going to try to attack. His eyes moved between the two one more time before he nodded and slowly pulled the revolver out of its holster, placed it on the floor and sent it towards them with a light kick. It skidded to a halt right next to Ellie's shoe.

"Good, now put your hands up," Ellie commanded.

The man did as he was told and slowly raised his hands to head height. The hallway was so narrow that his arms almost touched the walls as he raised them.

"Get the gun," Ellie said.

Keeping her gun pointed at the man, Clementine sidled over to Ellie and crouched down and retrieved the weapon. When she had it, she tucked Ellie's gun into the back of her pants so that she had both hands free to inspect her new weapon. The revolver had a few scratches on the barrel and the markings on the handle was worn out but otherwise it looked to be in good condition. She swung out the cylinder and found that all six chambers had a cartridge in it. She pulled out every one of them to see if any of them were spent, none was. She quickly reinserted them again and swung the cylinder back into place and aimed the gun at its former owner.

"It's fully loaded," she said.

"Good," Ellie said. "Now, who the fuck are you and how many of your buddies are waiting out there?"

"The name's George," the man answered calmly, "and there is no one waiting out there. I'm alone."

Clementine raised an eyebrow at this. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the windows in the living room to see if anyone was trying to out flank them but saw no one. Neither did she see or hear anyone through the open door. Was he telling the truth? Could he really have come out here alone? It wasn't impossible she supposed. The forest was big, Carver could have split up his group to cover more ground. She dearly hoped he was telling the truth, but highly doubted it, and so apparently did Ellie.

"You seriously expect us to believe that you didn't bring anyone with you as backup?"

"I didn't, although I'm starting to regret that now," George answered, the corners of his mouth twitched upward. "I didn't come here to start a fight; I'm just out looking for some of my friends. Seven of them to be exact. They've been gone a long while and I'm worried they might have gotten lost. I was hoping that you'd seen 'em."

"The only people we've seen around here are bandits," Ellie lied.

"I suspect that from your point of view everyone's a bandit," he said with an understanding tone. "I don't blame you. It's hard to tell the difference between who's good and who's bad, but like I told your friend, I'm not a bad man. I'm just out looking for my people. A couple of farm boys and an old man. A Spanish guy and his daughter. She's a quiet girl, about your age." His face split into a wide smile and his voice shifted to one of amusement, "and a big black guy and a pretty little pregnant lady."

As he described the members of the cabin group – for his descriptions was to accurate to be any others – Clementine kept her face stoic. George looked at her intently the entire time he spoke of them, no doubt looking for a reaction. She didn't know why he had singled her out of the two, maybe he thought she had less self-control then Ellie and would give something away. She met his gaze head on and did not blink.

"Haven't seen anyone like that," Ellie lied again.

"Well, that's a shame," George said, breaking off his staring match with Clementine. Although he sounded disappointed, Clem wasn't sure if he bought Ellie's lie or not. "Well then, since you clearly don't know anything, there is no reason for me to take up anymore of your time."

He took a short step backwards and had started to lower his arms when Ellie spoke in a deadly tone, "you're not going anywhere."

Several tense seconds followed her words in which George and Ellie eyed each other. George must have recognized that Ellie was deadly serious with her threat because he raised his arms again. His mouth set into a frown and he glared at Ellie with undisguised irritation.

"He's starting to get angry."

This was both good and bad. Good because things weren't going as he had planned and bad because he could be getting desperate. People were always more dangerous when they were desperate, there was no telling what they would be willing to do to try to save themselves.

"So, what's the plan then red?" George asked, his tone disdainful. "Am I supposed to stand here until my arms tire and my legs give out? Or are you going to shoot me?"

"You'll stay put until we say otherwise," Ellie answered heatedly. "And if you call me red again, I will blow your fucking kneecap off."

Clementine glanced sideways at her friend. Ellie looked like she wanted nothing more than to shoot George dead right there on the spot. Clementine herself was starting to wonder if it wouldn't be the best course of action. So long as he was alive, he was a threat to them. She had been against killing him at first since he could have friends with him, but they had so far seen neither hide nor hair of anyone else. George himself had even said he was alone. If he was telling the truth, then killing him would eliminate the possible threat of him escaping and informing Carver of their position. On the other hand, if they kept him alive, they might be able to get some information out of him about Carver's whereabouts when the others got back.

"Then what should I call you?" The man asked, seemingly unfaced by her coldness. His tone was calm again. "You never gave me your name even though I gave you mine. Neither did your friend before she tried to slam the door in my face. Didn't your parents ever teach you it's rude not to introduce yourself?"

"Didn't your parents ever teach you it's rude to force your way into others home's?" Clementine countered.

"Touché." George chuckled. "Well then. Since you won't give me your names and don't want to be called nicknames, I guess I'll just have to come up with names for you." His mouth formed into a self-satisfying smile. "How about Sarah and Rebecca? Those are good names don't you think?"

Despite her best attempt to keep her face stoic, Clementine could feel her left eyebrow twitch when she heard the names he gave them. Was he trying to provoke a reaction from them? Or had he somehow figured out that the group lived here and wanted to rub it in their faces?

"No, we haven't given him anything that could reveal that we know them. He can't have figured it out. He's still fishing for information, trying to get a reaction from us."

"Check the closet," Ellie said. "See if we have any ropes to tie this fucker up."

Clem nodded, turned, and headed for the door under the stairs. The door creaked slightly when she opened it. The closet was mostly empty with only a few cardboard boxes – several of which was stacked on one another – a pair of old boots, a jacket and several backpacks that had to belong to the group. The thing that drew her attention the most however was the hatch on the floor that could only lead to the underside of the house.

"Didn't Sarah say she found the gun under the house?" Since Carlos didn't even like the idea of his daughter leaving the house Clementine couldn't see him ever letting her crawl around under it. This hatch was the only way she could have done it without him knowing. "If she had told me about this hatch before I would have suggested that we use it to hide." Whether that would have led to a better outcome then the one they had was irrelevant now.

She was about to head inside to check the boxes when the sound of tearing wood made her snap her head in the direction of the hallway. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw that George had in her moment of absence reach out with his left hand and in one fluid motion grabbed a hold of the fish ornament, torn it from the wall and hurled it at Ellie.

Ellie cried out in pain when the ornament collided with her head. The rifle in her hands let out a deafening bang that made Clementine's ears ring so bad that she didn't even hear George's grunt of pain. The combination of both George's and Ellie's own movement threw off the shot, so rather than hit George in the chest where Ellie had been aiming, the bullet tore through the left shoulder of George's jacket and grazed the skin beneath.

With one hand pressed against her forehead, Ellie staggered backwards, lost her balance and fell. The rifle slipped from her grip and clattered to the floor followed less than a second later by its owner. By that time Clementine had her weapon raised, George was already in motion. Using the opening he had created; he turned on his heel and ran for the door.

Clementine squeezed the trigger and the muzzle erupted with a bang. But her aim had been rushed and her shot missed, the bullet burrowing itself into the wall. By the time she was ready to fire again George was already through the door and out of sight. Cursing, Clementine gave chase, jumping over Ellie, who lay on her side clutching her injured head in her hands and hissing curses.

By the time Clementine was outside the man had almost reached the edge of the forest. He was sprinting at full speed, seemingly unperturbed by his wounded shoulder. Clementine took aim and fired two shots. The grass ahead of George exploded upwards when the first bullet flew past his head and tore into the earth. Whiles her first shot had been a miss, the second one tore into George's right shoulder and sent blood spurting out onto the ground.

The pain as well as the impact sent him stumbling and he collided with a tree at the edge of the clearing. Clementine took aim to fire again, this time for his back in the area of the heart. George pushed himself off the tree just in time to avoid death and hurried into the forest. Using the thick trees as cover he was quickly out of Clementine's line of sight.

Clementine stared down the sight of her gun at the spot where George had disappeared and felt despairs cold hand grip her. She had failed, she had let him get away. George would run back to Carver and tell him where they are. Carver would gather his group and bring everything he had down upon the cabin and kill everyone. It would be a one-sided massacre and it would all be her fault. Clementine suddenly felt very weak, like her body had been sapped of all strength. Slowly, she lowered her arms and leaned herself against the doorframe.

The faces of all the people she had known and cared about that had died because of her flashed in front of her eyes. Lee, Kenny and Ben who had all sacrificed themselves in Savannah to save her because she had been stupid enough to believe the stranger. Omid who had been shot by that girl in that restroom because Clementine had carelessly left her gun. Crista, who might be dead now because Clementine had tried to help her escape by throwing rocks at the bandits holding her at gun point. So many people dead all because of her mistakes and now more people would die because of her.

She was snapped out of her gloomy thoughts by a loud string of curses coming from inside the cabin. Remembering that her friend had been hurt, Clementine pushed herself off the doorframe and hurried back inside. She found Ellie sitting with her back against the wall, her elbow on her knees and her left hand pressed against her forehead. When Clementine reached her, she saw blood running down Ellie's face from beneath her hand. The older girl groggily looked up at her and blinked several times as if trying to clear her vision.

"Ellie! How bad is it?" Clementine asked.

"Head hurts. Room's spinning," Ellie answered and let out a painful groan. "Did you get the chickenshit? Is he dead?"

Clementine looked down at the floor, unable to bring herself to make eye contact. "No, He got away."

"Shit! God fucking dam-" Ellie let out a gasp of pain and pressed both her hands against her head.

"Here, let me see."

Clementine reached out and gently pulled Ellie's hands away from the wound so she could get a better look. Her face twisted into a grimace at the sight that met her. The trophy had left an ugly red gash in the middle of Ellie's forehead. The area around the gash was already swelling and changing color. With nothing holding it back anymore, fresh blood pumped out from the open wound and quickly ran down into Ellie's eyebrows and onto the bridge of her freckled nose. Clementine quickly pressed Ellie's hands back over the wound.

"How does it look?" Ellie asked.

"It looks bad," Sarah's trembling voice came from behind Clementine.

Clem looked over her shoulder and saw Sarah standing half hidden in the doorway to Alvin and Rebecca's room. Her right hand was gripping the frame of the doorway so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Clementine was surprised to see that she had come out of hiding without being told it was clear and even more surprised at how silently she had moved; Clementine hadn't heard her at all.

"How bad?" Ellie asked.

"I'm not sure. It might need stitches," Clementine answered.

The gash wasn't very wide, but the swelling might rip it wider. Clementine wasn't sure what she should do, she had never been trained in what to do with a head injury like this. Carlos was the doctor; he would know. Clementine decided then that the best thing to do was probably to bind up the wound to stop the bleeding and wait until he returned.

"Sarah, watch her for me," Clementine said. She got to her feet and ran towards the stairs. "I need to go upstairs and get something for the wound."

"I…I…" Sarah stuttered in response.

Clementine took the stairs two steps at a time. She entered Sarah's room and found Ellie's bag where she had left it the day before. She pulled it open and shoved her hand inside and pulled the medical bag out with such force that several other things came out with it. Clementine didn't spare so much as a glance at the items she had accidently dispersed onto the floor but hurried out the room and back down the stairs.

Sarah was sitting on her knees next to Ellie and was pressing a piece of cloth against the wound. She was panting for air as if she had run a mile and her eyes were transfixed on the fabric that was slowly turning crimson in her shaking hand. Despite the pain she was in, Ellie was trying to keep her calm with words of encouragement.

When she reached them, Clementine told Sarah that she could handle the rest, but Sarah was so focused on what she was doing she didn't seem to hear her. Clementine had to gently shake her by the shoulder to snap her out of it and get her to move out of the way. She spent the next several minutes cleaning and bandaging Ellie's wound, the older girl hissing and curing every time Clem dabbed her wound with the antiseptic cloth. Once she was finished, she and Sarah helped her stand up and lead her to the sofa so she could rest more comfortably.

Clementine then proceeded to lock all the doors and patrol the house with George's revolver held tightly in her hand. She looked out through the windows as she passed them by, intent on not being taken by surprise again. One hour past, then another and another. Each hour that went by made Clem more and more anxious. The dreadful feeling that something terrible had happened to the others became harder and harder to ignore.

"Where is Carlos and the others? It shouldn't take them this long to get to the stream, why weren't they back yet? Did they find Pete? Was he still alive or did the walkers get him? Please, please let him be alright. Had they run into Carver or walkers on the way back? Were they dead? How long would it take before George got back with reinforcements to attack them?"

All these thoughts went through Clementine's head for what felt like the hundredth time when she walked through the living room on her way towards the kitchen. Ellie was still resting on the sofa, her head propped up on a pillow taken from Alvin's and Rebecca's room. Her eyes were closed, and the soft breathing coming from her told Clem that she was fast asleep.

Sarah was sitting on the opposite sofa, knees drawn to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs. She was nervously rocking back and forth, her worry for her father written as plain as day on her face. Clementine had tried to ease her nerves by bringing her a book she found in the kitchen, so far Sarah hadn't even touched the thing.

Clementine pushed open the kitchen door and walked up to stand next to the window by the table. She looked out across the open ground between the cabin and the forest and found it – like all the other times she'd checked – empty. As far as she could see into it, the forest was just as devoid of people as the clearing. She bit her lower lip and again wondered what could have happened to the others.

She was about to move away from the window when her eyes caught movement amongst the trees. Her heart almost leapt into her throat when she saw one then several humanoid figures. Even at this distance Clem could tell that their movements were not the shuffling gait of walkers, that could only mean one thing. People was coming towards the cabin. Clementine tightened her grip on the gun. For several agonizing seconds she stared at the approaching figures, praying that it was the group returning and not George.

The lead figure stepped out into the light and Clementine felt her heart leap with joy when she saw that it was Luke. The group had returned, they were safe. The sight made all the tension from the past hours go out of her. She quickly unlocked the door so they could get in and ran for the living room. She pushed open the door with such force that it slammed into the wall. Sarah jumped out of her seat with a cry and Ellie jolted upright only to immediately clutch her head with her hands and groan in pain.

"The others are back," Clementine shouted with joy.

Relief radiated of Sarah at the news that her father was home again and she hurried past Clementine into the Kitchen.

"You sure it's them?" Ellie asked, shifting into a sitting position.

"Yes."

Ellie nodded and despite the pain smiled. She slowly pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. Clementine walked up and offered her shoulder as support. Ellie accepted it and together they walked to the kitchen. By the time they got there most of the group had already entered. Carlos stood by the table; his arms wrapped around his daughter in a comforting hug. Alvin and Rebecca were standing behind the counter, the former having taken out a bottle of water from a cabinet and was handing it to his wife.

Pete and Nick were the last of the group to enter the house, the formers had his arms around the latter's shoulder for support. Pete's wounded ankle was splinted with wood and bandages and he held his right leg bent at the knee so as to avoid putting weight on his foot. They were moving towards the table but since Pete couldn't use both legs to walk, the pair progress was slow. Sweat ran down his shaved head and his face was strained with exhaustion and pain.

Clementine felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders when she saw him. She had been so worried that she would have to add Pete's name the list of people that had died for her. The relief she felt at not having to do so was so great that if Ellie hadn't been leaning on her shoulder at that moment she would have run up to the older man and hugged him.

Luke, who was standing in the middle of the room was the first to take note of their arrival. "Ellie!" He exclaimed in surprise, drawing everyone's attention. "What happened to your head?"

"A man was here," Sarah blurted out before Ellie or Clementine could say anything in response.

"What?!" Carlos said in shock. He stared wide eyed at his daughter as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"What did you say?" Rebecca asked, her tone a mix of disbelief and fear.

"A man came to the cabin," Sarah repeated. "Clementine talked to him."

"You let a stranger into the house!" Rebecca shouted in outrage.

"Calm down Rebecca," Luke said.

"Calm down?! I am calm!" she shouted back at him, sounding about as calm as a hurricane.

"We didn't let him in. He forced his way in," Ellie snarled. She let go of Clementine's shoulder and sat down on one of the stools by the counter.

"I tried to lock the door, but he opened it before I could," Clementine said defensively.

"Their telling the truth," Sarah said. Clementine felt grateful that she stepped up in their defense.

"Did he see you?" Carlos asked. His hands gripped his daughter by the shoulders, his body tense with worry.

"No. Ellie told me to hide so I crawled under the bed in Alvin and Rebecca's room."

Relief washed over Carlos face and he pulled his daughter into another hug.

"Clem," Pete said from his place by the table where Nick had lowered him onto a chair. He sounded as exhausted as he looked. "Just, start from the beginning, what exactly happened?"

"We were upstairs when Sarah saw someone from the window, we thought it was Luke at first. When we realized it wasn't, I tried to lock him out, but he opened the door before I could. When I tried to close it, he forced his way in, I couldn't stop him."

"He didn't get further then the hallway though," Ellie stepped in.

"Yeah, Ellie pulled her rifle on him and we disarmed him," Clementine said.

She held out the captured revolver handle first to Luke, who took it and held it up so that he could study it in the afternoon light.

"What happened then," Alvin asked.

"We talked a bit then I told Clem to go find something to tie him up with, figured you guys would like to interrogate him. The guy managed to grab that stupid fish ornament from the wall and threw it at my head." She angrily pointed at the red stain on her bandaged head. "Then he bolted for the wood," Ellie said and gestured with her thumb in the direction of the forest.

"I tried to shoot him, but I only managed to wound him in the shoulder," Clementine said. The feeling of guilt and failure she had felt right after George's escaped return. "If only my aim had been better, he wouldn't have gotten away."

"I thought I heard gunshots a few hours ago," Nick whispered to himself, nervously biting on his thumb nail.

"Hey, it's alright Clem," Luke voice broke through her thoughts. He was looking at her with kind eyes and a friendly smile. "You did everything you could."

She smiled back at him, grateful for his kind words. He hadn't said anything she hadn't told herself in the hours since George's escape, but unlike her own words, his actually made her feel better.

"Before he ran away, did he say anything? Like his name." Carlos asked.

"George," Ellie answered.

"George?" Rebecca repeated, she sounded confused as if the name didn't make sense to her. Her husband on the other hand looked shocked.

"That's what he called himself," Clementine shrugged.

"That bastard," Alvin mutter. His brow furrowed and his mouth twisted into an angry scowl.

"Maybe it wasn't him," Rebecca whisper to her husband.

"You know damn well it was." Alvin growled back at her.

"Girls, can you describe this George?" Carlos asked. "What did he look like? Did he sound difference?"

Clementine's brow creased as she tried to remember any distinguishing features he had. She closed her eyes and tried to see him with her mind's eye. "He had graying hair and a mustache," she said. "And his voice was gravelly."

"Like How?" Carlos asked.

"It was deep and scratchy, like he had a sore throat," Ellie clarified.

The adults shared looks of their worst fears being confirmed. Alvin cursed under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest. Rebecca shifted her footing and gave her husband a worried glance.

"He talked about you dad," Sarah said, her voice holding worry. She was clutching her left wrist with her right hand, her fingers twitching nervously. "You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?"

"Of course he won't, Sarah," Luke reassured her. "Your dad is the nicest man I know, which is why he's not going to do something crazy or…not nice. Right?"

Carlos put a reassuring hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You know these are bad people, sweetie. They will do or say anything to hurt us."

"Hey, new member of the group here," Ellie spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "Can anyone please tell me who the guy who tried to smash my head in was? You all seem to know him."

"That Ellie was William Carver," Carlos answered.

Ellie stared at him as if she couldn't believe what he had just said. She looked to Luke who nodded in confirmation. She placed her face in her hands and muttered, "son of a…"

When she heard the name, Clementine's jaw dropped. The man that was hunting the group had been in the cabin and they had had him at their mercy. Her shock gave way to frustration, most of which was directed at herself. If they had just shot him – like she had considered doing – instead of trying to hold him prisoner, it would have solved so many problems.

"I don't know what Nick and Pete told you about him," Carlos said. "But William Carver is a very intelligent and dangerous man. He is the leader of a camp not too far from here. We were lucky to escape."

"If he's so dangerous why did you joined up with him?" Clementine asked.

"Carver has people out looking for other survivors," Carlos sighed with regret. "One of them came to us and offered us a place in his community. It sounded like a safe place and we were desperate. It was good at first until we saw how far Carver was willing to take things.

"We joined out of our own free will," Luke said. "But Carver isn't above using force to get more people and you two have just become targets for his recruitment."

"But why would he want to recruit us? We're just two kids," Clementine protested. Most of the groups she had seen didn't have kids, too much of a liability. "He doesn't even know that we have anything to do with you."

"Carver is a proud man Clem," Pete said. "He's also a strong believer in survival of the fittest. He is not going let two kids that managed to get the upper hand on him and hold him at gunpoint get away. He will be looking for you now just as much as he's looking for us."

"Oh shit," Ellie groaned. "This just keeps getting more and more fucked up."

None disputed her words. It was a testament to the seriousness of the situation that Carlos didn't chastise her for cursing in front of Sarah.

"We were lucky that the girls managed to chase him off before he found out that we were here," Carlos said, turning to the rest of the group. "But he'll be back soon with the rest of his search party. We must be gone before then. We don't have much time."

Luke nodded in agreement. "You heard him. Everybody grab your things. We're leaving."

The group reacted immediately to his words. With an expression of suppressed rage, Alvin marched past the girls out of the kitchen, his hands clenched into fists. Rebecca called his name and hurried after him. Nick helped Pete to his feet and the two left the room together, Luke holding the door open for them.

Clementine was about to follow when Carlos said, "Ellie, stay. I will need to take a look at that wound."

"You can check on it later when we're safely out of here. Besides, it's not that serious," Ellie said. As she rose from her seat she tried to put on an air of indifference, as if her head didn't hurt her at all. She wasn't fooling anyone though, least of all Carlos.

"I'll be the judge of that," Carlos said, his tone sterner this time. He gestured for her to sit down.

Clementine expected Ellie to argue, after all, she hated when he tried to order her around as if he was her boss. To her surprise Ellie only let out a sigh of frustration before she did as she was told and sat down on one of the chairs by the table. She crossed her arms and gave Carlos a petulant scowl. Carlos looked surprised but pleased and started unwrapping her bandages.

"Thank you," he said calmly

"Just get it over with," Ellie muttered.

"Come on you two." Luke said, placing a hand on Clementine's and Sarah's shoulders. "The quicker we pack up the sooner we can leave."

He ushered them out of the kitchen so that Carlos and Ellie could get some privacy. Luke lead them to the closet under the stairs. As they passed Alvin's and Rebecca's room, Clementine heard muffled talking from behind the closed door. Although she couldn't hear the word it sounded like the couple was having a quiet argument. Luke reached into the closet and grabbed a small backpack; he gave it to Sarah and told them to go pack her things. They did as was told and hurried upstairs, passing Pete who was resting on the sofa.

The door to the second bedroom was open when they reached to top of the stairs and Clementine heard the sound of a drawer being pulled open and Nick muttering to himself. "Where the fuck did I put that damn think."

It was only when Clementine opened the door to Sarah's room and saw the books and clothes on the floor that she remembered the mess she had caused when she retrieved the medical bag.

"Did you do this?" Sarah asked, eyeing one of the books with mild interest.

"Yeah. Go pack your bag and I'll clean this up."

"Okay." Sarah jumped over the mess and headed for her bed.

Clementine went down on her knees and picked up the nearest book and was about to return it to the bag when two things fell out of it. The first was a polaroid photo of Ellie and another girl. The second was a folded piece of paper that looked like it had been ripped out of a notebook, something was written on it. Clementine reached down and picked it up. Without thinking, she unfolded the first fold and read the last sentence on the paper that had now become whole in a low whisper.

"Forever…your loving mother Anna. Make me proud, Ellie!"

Clementine felt her eyes go wide. This was a letter from Ellie's dead mother, she must have written this shortly before she died. This was perhaps the only thing Ellie had in her position that connected her to the mother she had never known. This single battered discolored piece of paper was likely the most important thing that Ellie possessed.

Clementine wondered what parting words Anna had left her daughter and felt a strong urge to unfold the rest of the letter and read it. To do so however would be a betrayal of the friendship and trust they had built over the past two days and that was something Clementine didn't want to jeopardize. She refolded the letter and placed it back into the book. Perhaps if she asked Ellie would let her read it one day.

Clementine picked up the photo and looked at it. The Ellie in the picture was slightly younger by a year or two then the Ellie Clem knew. The younger Ellie was sitting next to an African American girl with brown eyes and brown black hair that looked to be pulled back into a ponytail. The two were dressed in dirty clothes, their faces looked unwashed too leading Clementine to suspect that this picture was taken either during or after the chaos in Boston. The unknown girl was reaching out of frame with her right hand, no doubt holding the camera. Ellie had her head on the unknown girl's left shoulder. The two were looking out of the picture at Clementine and smiling happily. They looked like they were very close friends.

"During the past two years I've have had to mercy kill more than twenty people, some of them were my friends. So, don't come to me and say I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about."

Ellie had shouted those words at Nick on the day they met. Had Ellie had to mercy kill this girl? Clementine hoped not, but she suspected that was what had happened, and she felt a great deal of sympathy for Ellie. Clementine flipped the picture over to see if something was written on the backside but there was nothing. Slightly disappointed that she hadn't learned the other girls name, Clementine carefully placed the picture back into the book and put it in the backpack. She quickly cleaned up the rest of the mess she had made without any more distractions and helped Sarah pack the last of her stuff.

It took the members of the group less than half an hour to clear out all their things from the cabin and hit the road. As they walked away, Clementine threw one last longing look at the cabin before it was obscured by the trees. She felt a deep sense of sorrow for leaving the place. For a few precious hours she had genuinely felt that she could relax for the first time in years without any fear of being attacked and killed. How quickly those hours had blown away like dust in the wind. Clementine lamented that she never got a chance to sleep there.