DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Walking Dead. That belongs to Robert Kirkman and Telltale Games.

Character(s): Clementine, Lee and Sandra.

Summary: Their first encounter.

Clem first meets Lee when she's lost, tired and alone.

She's been hiding up in that old treehouse of hers for - how many days now? - three days, maybe even four. She's run out of the granola crackers and the sticky marshmallows that she brought up (and that mum said were bad for her teeth) and there were only so many times she could count the number of planks on the wooden floor. Clementine fiddles with her walkie-talkie once again, hoping against hope that someone out there will hear the noise and listen to her words; but at the same time she's scared soscared that instead of being rescued, she'll wish she had been eaten instead.

She doesn't know how it happened, either. How the sun rose on Saturday like it was any other normal day and Sandra had come over as she had always done, and her mum and dad had headed off to Savannah. Savannah. She lets the word hang on her lips, rasping from her dry throat as she croaks it out again. Savannah. They'd be there, of course - when she managed to escape from here she'd find her way to them and everything would be okay. No more monsters. No more nightmares. No more - Clem's thoughts break off as she hears the growling of monsters (again) and a figure clambers over the fence and into her backyard.

She watches him curiously from her eagle's eye' perch. It's the same guy she saw just now, in the forest. He was being attacked by hordes of monsters and she didn't think he would survive. She's glad he did - but if she changes her mind, her hammer's in her hands, ready to drop on his head.

He doesn't seem to know she's here, though; he's calling out for help. And he's wounded. Clem's sharp eyes take in his bloody leg and his tattered clothes. A blue shirt. Jeans. Sneakers. He appears normal, but you could never tell who the crazies were. There was the guy who had tried to break in and steal their television - walkers got him soon after. Clem hopes that this guy isn't the same, but you could never be too sure. Clem shudders as she recalls how Sandra tried to kill her after the news flashed on the television, screaming that Clem would be better off dead than alive. Clementine barely escaped the babysitter, the one who was supposed to take care of her not killherkillherkillher, and made her way to the treehouse. He enters the house, and she wonders if she ought to warn the guy that Sandra might still be roaming in the house, but she decides against it. Let's see how he deals with it.

He's been in there a long time, and Clem starts to get impatient. Maybe he's been taken by Sandra, after all - and Clementine's heart aches. She doesn't want to see anyone else get hurt by the monsters. Overcome by despair, she finds herself pressing the walkie-talkie against her cheek and calling out for Daddy, Daddy, even though she knows there's no one to hear her.

The walkie-talkie crackles and a voice springs out. "Hello?" The voice is deep and reassurring, and Clementine's heart lifts. Maybe - maybe he could rescue her and take her to her parents.

The guy stumbles out of the glass door, still clutching the radio in his hand. He's making so much noise, and Clem sighs. "You need to be quiet," she warns him. She grins as he turns around and heads back in.

He hesitates a while before talking. "I'm not a monster."

"Good," Clem responds. She doesn't know whether to believe him or not, but it's not like she has a whole lot of options.

"Where are your parents?" he asks.

Clementine doesn't see any point lying to him. He could help her, and she wasn't going to reject his help. "They took a trip and left me with Sandra. They're in Savannah, I think. Where the boats are." She's not sure why she added the last part in (but maybe in some part of her mind she's wishing she could get on a boat and escape away from land. Monsters couldn't swim.)

"Are you safe?" He's concerned about her, and Clem takes that as a good sign. In return, she tells him the truth. "I'm outside in my treehouse. They can't get in." She knows that he'll know what she's talking about - the monsters. The people who were killed by them turned into one themselves. The streets outside were crawling with them.

"That's smart," he says, and Clem feels herself growing warm at his praise. Smiling, she opens the door of her treehouse and is immediately hit with strong sunlight. It's been quite a while since she ventured out into the open. She focuses on the dark figure and waves at him. "See?"

"Can you see me? I can see you through the window." A wide smile spreads across his face and he waves back at her. He isn't a bad guy, Clem decides. He seems nice and he seems sane - the most important factors. Check.

He's still waving at her, and Clem's eyes widen as she sees a dark figure looming behind him. Sandra. "AHHHHHH!" She slams the door of the treehouse shut.

The guy turns around and sees the monster. He's grappling with her, trying to prevent her from biting him while pushing her away. Clem watches from her treehouse as they wrestle, neither seemingly backing down. But he's injured and tired and he doesn't have anything to kill her with, whereas all she needs is to bite him and it'll be over. Clementine doesn't want anyone else to die; but she's scared that if she goes to help him Sandra will bite her and turn her into a monster, one that tries to infect others. She would never find her parents (or she might kill them herself). Clem peeks through the window and cringes as she sees the guy hit the counter and stumble.

He trusted her.

He was worried about her and her parents and was happy to see her safe. Clem can't - won't - see someone like that become a monster. She jams her hat onto her head, clutching the hammer securely and slithers down the ladder of her treehouse. She unlocks the door and stands in the doorway behind the guy. He's crawling backwards desparately, kicking Sandra in the face as he does so. He's not noticing her so Clem calls out to get his attention. "Here... AHHH!" Sandra's a bit too close to the guy for her liking and Clementine steps backwards involuntarily. The guy is crying out (in pain? in fear?) every time he lashes out with his foot.

Finally he turns around and immediately spots the hammer. He grabs it from her trembling hands and she thinks that if he had done that a moment later, she would probably have dropped the hammer onto her own toes. He's smashing the hammer into Sandra's face, and Clementine winces and turns away, trying not to picture the gruesome sight behind her. All she can think of is how Sandra always made the best peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. How Sandra would braid her hair and sing her to sleep. Try as she might, she can't block out the sounds behind her; the slamming of the hammer into Sandra and the squishy sound as Sandra groans - and falls silent.

Heaving with exertion, the guy gets to his feet, furrowing his eyes. "Man..." he mutters. He looks up and she's struck by how tall and imposing he is. "Hello there."

His words are meant to be kind but Clem can't help staring at the remains of Sandra. "Did you kill it?" she asks, because in this world you had to be sure of everything. She'd seen one too many people kill the monster and turn away, only to be struck again from behind. This time, they never got up.

"I don't know. I think so," he frowns. Clem bites her lip; he wasn't going to survive long if he "thought so". He had to be certain.

Clem tries to remind him. "Sometimes they come back," she says, gazing up at him. She wants him to tell her that yes, all of them are dead, that she didn't need to worry anymore because they were all gone, but his next words aren't that. "Have you killed one?" He's direct.

Clem shakes her head. "No. But they get shot a lot." She had seen them, on the streets with the living firing bullets everywhere. Some found their intended target. Most didn't. And more came, day by day.

"You've been all by yourself through this?" He crouches down and locks eyes with her. He didn't think I could do it, and she feels herself swelling indignantly. I may be small, but I'm not stupid.

"Yeah," she says, but she's forcibly reminded of the fact that she's been alone. The words slip out of her. "I want my parents to come home now..."

His expression changes as he lowers his head. He looks like a heavy weight has just settled on him. Slowly, reluctantly, he drags out his words. "I think that might be a little while, you know?" he says softly.

"Oh." Clem tries not to cry because sheisnotababy, she is stronger than that and she hates letting strangers see her cry. Still, she can't help staring at the blood-splattered floor. She clutches her hands tightly and - someone's holding them, warming them for her. Surprised, she looks up to see the guy looking at her with gentle eyes. "Look, I don't know what happened. But I'll look after you till then," he promises.

She doesn't say anything but inside her, she can feel hope rising up like a bubble that could be pricked anytime. He would look after her. She was safe. And somehow, she trusted this guy (although she didn't even know his name) because of his eyes. And his smile. He smiled with his eyes, and dad had told her that anyone who did that could always be trusted, because you'd be able to tell the difference betweeen a genuine smile and a fake smile.

His smiles were real the whole time.

And even her own pessimistic thoughts can't quell the emotion that's bubbling beneath her like a wave, that's rising up and filling her with happiness. She would go with this guy and she would find her parents. They'd be reunited: a family, once again. They'd fight off the zombies and escape (on a boat?) and live in a whole new, monster-free, world.

"I'm Clementine."

"...My name is Lee."

No matter what happens, there would always be hope.

Welcome to a series of drabbles about Clementine, the heroine from The Walking Dead (game). Technically, this chapter is not a drabble, but I loved writing about how Clementine met Lee - so screw it. They won't be in chronological order, and mostly will be focusing on Clem's relationships with other characters. Again, the dialogue and choices made will be based on PewDiePie's Let's Play of this awesome game.

If you liked this chapter, feel free to check out my other TWD one-shot Blink: The Last Shot.

IMPT: PM ME WITH REQUESTS FOR ANY FUTURE DRABBLES. I may accept requests that are not necessarily related to Clem.

Review please!