Post by Michael7123 on Jan 8, 2014 23:30:37 GMT
Reasons for Living Chapter 2: Alone
Clementine woke up to the sight of the ground pressed against her face, and the sounds of the river she was still half submerged in. Almost everything was sore, and her head felt light. She reached up to rub her forehead only to find that her cap was gone. And the only thing I have left is that gun. She felt the cold metal of that cursed gun - the gun that was used to kill Christa because of her own carelessness - press against her back.
"Is anyone there? Hello?" She called out, already knowing the answer. She was soaked, cold, alone, and her only weapon to speak of was an unloaded gun. She had lost every piece of her past except for that weapon, and the memories it held were ones she'd rather forget.
With nothing else to do, she got up and started walking.
I have to find someplace warmer, or at least something to dry myself off with. The cold was almost unbearable normally, and being soaking wet only made things worse. She saw what used to be a wooden staircase that went up to a ridge above the river bank. She pulled herself up, walked up what was left of the staircase and found a small clearing that lead right to a path in the woods. Maybe I'll find some sort of campsite if I go this way. It's not like I have many other options. She headed for the path.
Of course it has to be windy. She thought as the wind froze her skin. Even though it seemed to be the middle of the day (she didn't have a watch, and she didn't know how long she was out for), it was still winter, and still cold.
She stopped for a moment after she saw a shrub in front of her shake. She pulled out her gun. "If its a person, maybe I can bluff them..." Her thoughts stopped as she stared in amazement at what was causing the noise. It was a dog. It was an actual, living dog. She hadn't seen a dog in months.
Furthermore, it had her hat in his mouth.
"Where did you get that boy?" Clementine asked as amused as possible given the current situation. She put the gun in the back of her pants again. The dog dropped the hat, but started growling.
"It's okay, boy, it's okay.." Clementine stayed put, not wanting to approach the dog, who had just stoped growling. The dog seemed to relax and started to bark. She went reached down to grab her hat and managed to get a glimpse of the dog's name, 'Sam' . "Nice to meet you Sam." Clementine said to Sam.
Sam turned around, barked a few times, and ran off. "Sam, where are you going? Wait up!" Clementine called out as she ran after her new friend.
After a brief chase, Clementine found the dog right outside an abandoned campsite. This looks like it was set up before the plague, Clementine thought to herself. Sam walked into the camp and started sniffing around. Clementine walked into to the camp site and felt her stomach growl. Thanks to the scavengers last night, she hadn't had any food for a long while. "Lets look around for some food." She told Sam, who had just found a spot in the grass to lie down on.
Clem walked over to a rusted van that haven't been used in years. There were a couple of old boxes, with a various pieces of junk. Her eyes caught sight of a photograph, and she looked at for a moment. It showed a family of three along with Sam. They must have been a happy family once. She wondered what happened to them, then tossed the picture away when she reached the obvious conclusion.
She turned around in time to see Sam jump up and start growling. "Shhhhh. Sam, we can't attract any walkers." She told Sam, who ran around to the far side of a tree and just stood there, growling. Clem walked over and saw a walker strapped to the tree trunk. She recognized it as the man in the photo. I guess I know what happened to him at least. At the very least, she knew it was one of the early walkers. She'd grown used to judging how far into the outbreak a walker was created, she'd gotten lots of useful supplies from more recent ones who had survival equipment on them when they died. Sam continued barking at the walker.
"It's okay Sam, he can't hurt us." She knelt next to the walker, but out of his reach "Looks like he got bit and he tried to cut out the bite." She looked at a knife that was implanted into his right arm. "But that doesn't work. Ever."
"I wonder why he wasn't killed after he turned." Clementine wondered aloud and immediately wished she hadn't. She knew the answer to that question all too well.
Clementine swung the bat down on the security officer's skull for the sixth time, and saw that it had stopped moving. She was breathing heavily, felt exhausted, but she had won. "I did it. I got him!" She looked over to Lee, who had a faint smile on his face.
"You can take care of yourself, see?"
"No, not all the time."
"Yeah, you can. Don't worry."
Clementine walked over the pillar that had pinned the walker to the floor, knelt down, and picked up the gun. It looked like it was in perfect condition, and had a full clip of ammo. Turning around, she walked over to Lee and knelt in front of him, slightly off to his right side. She saw the cuffs that she had put Lee in moments ago.
"You're strong Clem. You... you can do anything. " Lee was struggling to stay conscious, and even the act of speaking was exhausting.
"But I'm so little." Clementine managed to speak through her swelling throat.
"Doesn't mean 'nothin. You're gonna see bad stuff, but... you're gonna be okay."
"My parents," Clementine couldn't hold bad the tears anymore, "its so horrible."
"I can't even imagine Clem."
"And now... you too? PLEASE. Please don't be one of them. Please don't become a walker." Clementine begged.
"There's only one thing you can do Clem. You know that."
"I don't know if I can..." Clementine wept.
"You have to leave me Clem... it's okay."
Clementine looked up at him, surprised, "You'll.. you'll be just like them!"
"It's okay. It won't be me."
"Maybe ... maybe I shouldn't let you turn...." Clementine shuddered at the thought of shooting her guardian, the man who had been keeping her alive for all these months.
"I don't want you to have to do that Clem. Taking a life... it changes you. I don't want you ever getting used to it. Remember when we first meet, while we were at the drug store?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"When I went out to rescue that boy Glenn, we met a girl. She'd been bitten, and all she wanted was to not come back as a walker. I couldn't bring myself to give her the gun, I didn't want to see death then. I know you've seen so much of it, but you shouldn't have to see it now."
"I'll go.... I'll leave you... I'll go as fast as I can." Clementine managed to get out between sobs.
Clementine swung the branch into the walker's skull for the forth time, and forced herself to focus on what was happening at that moment. She heard Sam stop growling.
"See Sam? We just have to stay out of their reach." The dog barked in response.
Relief washed over Clementine as she pulled the knife out of the dead walker's arm, glad that she had some sort of viable weapon. Rubbing the blood off the blade onto her pants, she could tell it was still fairly sharp. She quickly checked the walker's pockets, but found nothing of value.
Now all we need is some food... She looked over at a trash can. She sighed, and walked over to it, rolling her sleeves up on the way. Reaching inside, Clem felt the weight of a filled can.
"Can it actually be.. Clementine pulled up an unopened can of baked beans. "Oh my God, thank you!" Turning to face her new companion, she held up the can like a trophy, "Look Sam, a can!" The dog started panting. "Follow me boy." She called as she walked over to a log that would work as a makeshift bench. Sitting down, she held the can above her lap. "Please don't be spoiled." She hoped aloud. After opening the lid, she saw that the beans inside were still edible.
She was about to eat a second handful when she heard Sam whimper and give her a look like he hadn't eaten in days. Clem remembered how whenever she went over to her neighbor's house for dinner, she always wound up giving their dog a piece of her dinner because he looked so sad. This dog definitely needed something to eat.
"You're hungry too, aren't you?" Clementine asked Sam, who responded with a bark. Clementine held out her hand for the dog to eat out of. Sam leaned forward, than managed to knock the can of beans to the ground, and licked inside. Clem grabbed the can from the ground.
"Hey, don't eat it all Sam!" Sam growled at her, and lunged forward at her left arm, sinking his teeth into her exposed skin. He pulled her off the log, let go of her for a moment, then lunged at her again while she was on her back.
Clementine's right arm flailed around her, searching for her knife. By a stroke of luck, she managed to find it, wrapped her fingers around the handle, and plunged it into Sam's snout. Sam whined in pain and jumped back, and growled at Clementine. After a few seconds, it lunged back at Clem, who kicked him back over a log.
Sam cried out in pain as Clementine crawled backwards and held up her bloody knife. Now that she was done fighting, she felt her left arm explode in pain. She got up and walked towards the dog, with the knife in her right hand.
Sam was whimpering loudly. Serves him right... Her thoughts where cut short as she saw the dog empaled on two tent posts. "God.... She thought to herself. She felt nothing but pity for this poor creature.
She knelt down next to it, and placed her knife next to Sam's throat. "I'm... I'm sorry Sam." She closed her eyes, pulled the knife up, and listened to Sam's dying moans. Standing up, she looked ahead at the path as to not look back down at the dog. She pulled her left sleeve down in an attempt to stop the bleeding slightly. She held her right elbow with her left hand, keeping the massive wound facing upwards.
With nothing better to do, she started walking again.
Clementine woke up to the sight of the ground pressed against her face, and the sounds of the river she was still half submerged in. Almost everything was sore, and her head felt light. She reached up to rub her forehead only to find that her cap was gone. And the only thing I have left is that gun. She felt the cold metal of that cursed gun - the gun that was used to kill Christa because of her own carelessness - press against her back.
"Is anyone there? Hello?" She called out, already knowing the answer. She was soaked, cold, alone, and her only weapon to speak of was an unloaded gun. She had lost every piece of her past except for that weapon, and the memories it held were ones she'd rather forget.
With nothing else to do, she got up and started walking.
I have to find someplace warmer, or at least something to dry myself off with. The cold was almost unbearable normally, and being soaking wet only made things worse. She saw what used to be a wooden staircase that went up to a ridge above the river bank. She pulled herself up, walked up what was left of the staircase and found a small clearing that lead right to a path in the woods. Maybe I'll find some sort of campsite if I go this way. It's not like I have many other options. She headed for the path.
Of course it has to be windy. She thought as the wind froze her skin. Even though it seemed to be the middle of the day (she didn't have a watch, and she didn't know how long she was out for), it was still winter, and still cold.
She stopped for a moment after she saw a shrub in front of her shake. She pulled out her gun. "If its a person, maybe I can bluff them..." Her thoughts stopped as she stared in amazement at what was causing the noise. It was a dog. It was an actual, living dog. She hadn't seen a dog in months.
Furthermore, it had her hat in his mouth.
"Where did you get that boy?" Clementine asked as amused as possible given the current situation. She put the gun in the back of her pants again. The dog dropped the hat, but started growling.
"It's okay, boy, it's okay.." Clementine stayed put, not wanting to approach the dog, who had just stoped growling. The dog seemed to relax and started to bark. She went reached down to grab her hat and managed to get a glimpse of the dog's name, 'Sam' . "Nice to meet you Sam." Clementine said to Sam.
Sam turned around, barked a few times, and ran off. "Sam, where are you going? Wait up!" Clementine called out as she ran after her new friend.
After a brief chase, Clementine found the dog right outside an abandoned campsite. This looks like it was set up before the plague, Clementine thought to herself. Sam walked into the camp and started sniffing around. Clementine walked into to the camp site and felt her stomach growl. Thanks to the scavengers last night, she hadn't had any food for a long while. "Lets look around for some food." She told Sam, who had just found a spot in the grass to lie down on.
Clem walked over to a rusted van that haven't been used in years. There were a couple of old boxes, with a various pieces of junk. Her eyes caught sight of a photograph, and she looked at for a moment. It showed a family of three along with Sam. They must have been a happy family once. She wondered what happened to them, then tossed the picture away when she reached the obvious conclusion.
She turned around in time to see Sam jump up and start growling. "Shhhhh. Sam, we can't attract any walkers." She told Sam, who ran around to the far side of a tree and just stood there, growling. Clem walked over and saw a walker strapped to the tree trunk. She recognized it as the man in the photo. I guess I know what happened to him at least. At the very least, she knew it was one of the early walkers. She'd grown used to judging how far into the outbreak a walker was created, she'd gotten lots of useful supplies from more recent ones who had survival equipment on them when they died. Sam continued barking at the walker.
"It's okay Sam, he can't hurt us." She knelt next to the walker, but out of his reach "Looks like he got bit and he tried to cut out the bite." She looked at a knife that was implanted into his right arm. "But that doesn't work. Ever."
"I wonder why he wasn't killed after he turned." Clementine wondered aloud and immediately wished she hadn't. She knew the answer to that question all too well.
Clementine swung the bat down on the security officer's skull for the sixth time, and saw that it had stopped moving. She was breathing heavily, felt exhausted, but she had won. "I did it. I got him!" She looked over to Lee, who had a faint smile on his face.
"You can take care of yourself, see?"
"No, not all the time."
"Yeah, you can. Don't worry."
Clementine walked over the pillar that had pinned the walker to the floor, knelt down, and picked up the gun. It looked like it was in perfect condition, and had a full clip of ammo. Turning around, she walked over to Lee and knelt in front of him, slightly off to his right side. She saw the cuffs that she had put Lee in moments ago.
"You're strong Clem. You... you can do anything. " Lee was struggling to stay conscious, and even the act of speaking was exhausting.
"But I'm so little." Clementine managed to speak through her swelling throat.
"Doesn't mean 'nothin. You're gonna see bad stuff, but... you're gonna be okay."
"My parents," Clementine couldn't hold bad the tears anymore, "its so horrible."
"I can't even imagine Clem."
"And now... you too? PLEASE. Please don't be one of them. Please don't become a walker." Clementine begged.
"There's only one thing you can do Clem. You know that."
"I don't know if I can..." Clementine wept.
"You have to leave me Clem... it's okay."
Clementine looked up at him, surprised, "You'll.. you'll be just like them!"
"It's okay. It won't be me."
"Maybe ... maybe I shouldn't let you turn...." Clementine shuddered at the thought of shooting her guardian, the man who had been keeping her alive for all these months.
"I don't want you to have to do that Clem. Taking a life... it changes you. I don't want you ever getting used to it. Remember when we first meet, while we were at the drug store?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"When I went out to rescue that boy Glenn, we met a girl. She'd been bitten, and all she wanted was to not come back as a walker. I couldn't bring myself to give her the gun, I didn't want to see death then. I know you've seen so much of it, but you shouldn't have to see it now."
"I'll go.... I'll leave you... I'll go as fast as I can." Clementine managed to get out between sobs.
Clementine swung the branch into the walker's skull for the forth time, and forced herself to focus on what was happening at that moment. She heard Sam stop growling.
"See Sam? We just have to stay out of their reach." The dog barked in response.
Relief washed over Clementine as she pulled the knife out of the dead walker's arm, glad that she had some sort of viable weapon. Rubbing the blood off the blade onto her pants, she could tell it was still fairly sharp. She quickly checked the walker's pockets, but found nothing of value.
Now all we need is some food... She looked over at a trash can. She sighed, and walked over to it, rolling her sleeves up on the way. Reaching inside, Clem felt the weight of a filled can.
"Can it actually be.. Clementine pulled up an unopened can of baked beans. "Oh my God, thank you!" Turning to face her new companion, she held up the can like a trophy, "Look Sam, a can!" The dog started panting. "Follow me boy." She called as she walked over to a log that would work as a makeshift bench. Sitting down, she held the can above her lap. "Please don't be spoiled." She hoped aloud. After opening the lid, she saw that the beans inside were still edible.
She was about to eat a second handful when she heard Sam whimper and give her a look like he hadn't eaten in days. Clem remembered how whenever she went over to her neighbor's house for dinner, she always wound up giving their dog a piece of her dinner because he looked so sad. This dog definitely needed something to eat.
"You're hungry too, aren't you?" Clementine asked Sam, who responded with a bark. Clementine held out her hand for the dog to eat out of. Sam leaned forward, than managed to knock the can of beans to the ground, and licked inside. Clem grabbed the can from the ground.
"Hey, don't eat it all Sam!" Sam growled at her, and lunged forward at her left arm, sinking his teeth into her exposed skin. He pulled her off the log, let go of her for a moment, then lunged at her again while she was on her back.
Clementine's right arm flailed around her, searching for her knife. By a stroke of luck, she managed to find it, wrapped her fingers around the handle, and plunged it into Sam's snout. Sam whined in pain and jumped back, and growled at Clementine. After a few seconds, it lunged back at Clem, who kicked him back over a log.
Sam cried out in pain as Clementine crawled backwards and held up her bloody knife. Now that she was done fighting, she felt her left arm explode in pain. She got up and walked towards the dog, with the knife in her right hand.
Sam was whimpering loudly. Serves him right... Her thoughts where cut short as she saw the dog empaled on two tent posts. "God.... She thought to herself. She felt nothing but pity for this poor creature.
She knelt down next to it, and placed her knife next to Sam's throat. "I'm... I'm sorry Sam." She closed her eyes, pulled the knife up, and listened to Sam's dying moans. Standing up, she looked ahead at the path as to not look back down at the dog. She pulled her left sleeve down in an attempt to stop the bleeding slightly. She held her right elbow with her left hand, keeping the massive wound facing upwards.
With nothing better to do, she started walking again.