A Second Chance

Chapter 1

"You're strong Clem… You… You can do anything." I rasped, my dark skin paling by the second. I knew if she didn't do it soon, I would turn.

"But…I'm little." She replied, blood sprinkling her cheeks and hazel eyes.

"Doesn't mean nothin." I stated "You're going to see bad stuff, but its okay."

"My parents. It's so horrible." She bubbled, looking downcast.

"I can't imagine, sweet pea." I said, practically begging her to forgive me for doing this.

"And now…You? PLEASE…please don't be one of them. Please don't become a walker." She pleaded, breaking my heart in two.

"There's only one thing you can do. You know that." I gestured to the dead guard's gun with stump. Her eyes followed where it was pointing and immediately snapped back to me, shocked.

"I don't know if I can." She whimpered, obviously disappointed with herself.

"You have to shoot me, honey." I said, stating the horrible truth.

"Lee, no…" She moaned, making me choke back sobs.

"It's okay. It's okay." I assured, resting my head on the wall behind me. Raising it once again, I decided to tell her my biggest regret. "In Macon… the first days we met, do you remember?"

"Yeah, I do." She said, her hazel eyes meeting my dark ones.

"When I went out to rescue that boy Glenn, we met a girl. She'd been bitten, too. All she wanted was to not come back as a walker." I muttered.

"Lee…" Clementine interrupted. I, however, kept talking.

"And I remember how hard it was to do that. But I'm glad I did. You don't want to see me like one of them" I choked, swallowing a huge lump in my throat. I could feel my entire body burning as we spoke. I knew it was a matter of time now.

"Okay, Lee… I can do it. I can." She sobbed. Deep down, I knew that she would have a great life. Yet, somehow, I was jealous that Christa and Omid would be the ones to see it. I had protected this little girl with everything I had.

"Find Omid…and…Christa. They're outside of town…by the train. You remember how to get there?" I murmured, knowing my time was coming.

"Yes." She answered, not looking at me, scared to look.

"They'll take good care of you." I stated. Seeing her nod, I knew she could do it. She began sobbing ant it tore my slowly beating heart to pieces. This girl was everything to me. How could I put her through this? "And Clem…"

We looked each other in the eyes for a long moment

"Keep that hair short."

"I will. I'll cut it myself." She promised, looking directly into my yellowing eyes.

"Great. Good." I said, feeling myself slipping away. "And also…"

Darkness consumed me for the briefest of moments, scaring me witless.

"What, what is it?" Her voice asked, snapping me out of my death-like state.

"No, don't worry. All right…" I breathed, pausing ever so slightly. "I'll miss you."

"Me too." She acknowledged, slowly standing up. She raised the gun as high as her arms would allow her, took aim and lowered it slightly. She took a few steadying breaths. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see her pain. I heard the flick of the safety catch.

Blam!

Nothingness.