In the pines. In the park.

SPOILERS FOR TWDG S1 AND S2 (up to ep 4). It's over. Clementine ran, and she ran fast, away from the casualties of the shooting. It was just her luck the bullets drew the attention of a herd of walkers. After getting bit, she wanders aimlessly. Until she finds a park. Old, rustic, and abandoned. Just like the one her parents used to take her to. Character death.

Characters: Clementine, Rebecca's baby, group, Arvo and his group, walkers.

She'd tried to stop the fire, but really she'd started it all. Clementine may not have stolen from Arvo, but his large, trigger-happy Russian crew were certainly ready to go on their friend's world.

Maybe if Clem had called for help, instead of shooting Rebecca, the shooting wouldn't have started. All she wanted to do, Jane's words heavy in her mind, was stop the baby from getting bit, or hurt, or both. In hindsight, it was obvious it would sound like an open attack to start firing. All she knew was that there was going to be casualties, deaths, and she needed to get out of there.

Ducking, she fired random shots as she ran through the groups and past Rebecca's body and the crying baby boy. For a moment, she thought about rescuing him, but Rebecca's corpse - no matter how morbid that sounded - was shielding him. It would have only put Clem and the baby at more risk.

The rims of her jeans soaked with melted snow, Clementine kept running till her lungs could no longer take in breath and her legs were tired and wet with falling snow. Which wasn't very far, still close enough to hear the shouting voices of both groups faintly. Reminded of a few days ago - just a few days, it was hard to believe - when she was separated from Christa, all alone, cold and scared, she backed up into a fallen tree.

Taking rest, the gunshots were still firing, but faintly in the distance. The air was icy cold, but the snow falling was irregular due to the branches and their few leaves above her. Clem closed her eyes for a moment, the smell of snow and gunpowder and pines all mingled together reminded her of a warped memory of playing with her parents in the snow just before Christmas. When was Christmas? Soon? Had it already passed? Clementine missed the simple thing of knowing the date and time. When she didn't just have to rely on judgement and the weather.

A groaning could be heard in the distance. Eyes flying open, Clem's hand was immediately on the trigger of her gun. The groans became louder, closer, and Clem looked around to try and find the source of the noise.

"Hello?" She called, warily lifting her gun. More groaning. "Shoot," Clementine muttered under her breath as it dawned on her what it was. The dead walking became easier to see. "Walkers," she confirmed to herself.

Raising her gun, she fired a shot. It hit a walker dead in between the eyes. More began to follow, and Clem continued to shoot.

Voices, shouts, could be heard in the distance.

"ARE THOSE MORE OF YOUR PEOPLE? SHOOTIN' OUT THERE, HUH, YOU SON OF A BITCH?" It sounded like Kenny. "NOW IVE HAD A SHITTY FUCKIN' DAY, SO DON'T YOU LIE TO ME, ASSHOLE,"

"NO, NO, I SWEAR, NO," Arvo yelled. "PLEASE, STOP SHOOTING, WE WILL GO AS SOON AS YOU, UH, соответствовать. MATCH, UH, CONFORM? IT IS THE LITTLE GIRLS FAULT. CLEMENTINE. YOU MUST CARE ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL, SO PROTECT HER."

More gunfire. Clementine continued to shoot, keeping the walkers at a safe distance.

"WAIT," it was Luke's voice. "WHERE'S CLEM?"

"LUKE!" Clementine yelled.

"CLEM?" He yelled back. Suddenly, the groaning got louder, and the voices stopped. A walker reached behind Clem. She whipped around and shot it's temple. She carried on shooting, but her gun wasn't firing.

"Shit," she yelled. Grabbing the screwdriver Jane had given her, she kicked walker's knees and stabbed the backs of their necks. "Come on, Clem," she said through gritted teeth as the walkers kept coming ten fold, "just like Jane showed you."

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOIN'?" Kenny suddenly yelled.

"NOT ARGUING WITH YOU THIS TIME KENNY," Luke shouted back. "Clementine!"

Clementine couldn't help it. Her face lit up. "LU-" she was cut odd by two hands around her ankle. Screaming, she kicked the walker off, stabbing it in the back of the neck. Whilst she was down, she felt a rip in the side of her jacket.

"NO!" She yelled, stabbing the neck of the walker singing it's teeth into her waist.

"Shit, shit, shit, no. NO!" Clementine screeched. Dropping the screwdriver, she ran in any direction, zig-zagging like a maniac. Luke was probably calling her name, but it didn't matter. Her mind racing, she kept running.

Running. Running until her legs hurt, then some. Running to the point she couldn't breathe and her limbs shoot and eyes watered. Just running.

The gunfire was inaudible now. So was the groaning of the walkers. Pulling off her jacket, she let the coat fall into the snow. Blood was falling behind her, a trail trickling from her waist. She wasn't cold anymore. She didn't feel anything.

"No," she whispered to herself. "It doesn't end like this. I can't end like this. No. Lee..." She trailed off into nothing.

Falling into the snow, she let her fingers to cold and icy and numb. Another sound. Creaking. Clementine could here creaking.

Wind was blowing quietly behind her. Turning around, she saw it. A swing, swaying back and forth slowly and barely in the breeze. A roundabout, a slide, a set of monkey bars and a tunnel. It was a park, one that was rusted and old and squeaking and hadn't been used in years. Probably since before the apocalypse.

Before she could consciously make her decision, Clementine found herself standing up and walking towards the slide. She sat at the top and slid down, and found herself doing - of all things - giggling.

Repeating several times, she moved onto the roundabout. Kicking the snowy ground to get it spinning, she sat on the rail and watched the world blur into an array of out of focus colours. Her head was spinning when it stopped.

A few hours later and she was swinging along the monkey bars, until loosing her grip.

Coughing, her hands shook. She wasn't cold. Or hot. Or anything. She felt tingly, and numb, but not in the way the snow made her feel. "Holy shit," she whispered. "This- this isn't right."

She tried to play more, but her bones felt stiff and head was throbbing. So she went to the squeaking of the swing, and sat down.

Closing her eyes, Clem launched herself back and swung backwards and forwards, gaining speed and height. It reminded her of all the times her dad pushed her on the swings, and all the times her mother fretted Clem was going far too high.

Or when Lee pushed her at the St. John Dairy.

Opening her eyes, she was forced back to reality. Too tired to swing, she just held onto the chains and waited for it to lose momentum. It was swinging slowly, her feet nearly touching the ground, when Clem heard running.

Arms heavy and weak, she raised her gun. It may be empty, but her attacker didn't know that.

"Clementine!" A voice rang out. Luke's. "Clemen- oh, there you are!" He stopped in his tracks, pausing and panting. "I thought we'd lost you there! When I saw your screwdriver, and jacket and blood, I thought you were dead. Or bitten. Who am I kidding, though? You're a fighter. Not nothing that's gon' get rid of you for a while yet, huh Clem?" Luke grinned. "Clem?" He repeated when she didn't respond.

She didn't know how to sugarcoat it. So she didn't. "When I was little, I loved parks. My parents always took me, every week at the least. I've missed it."

"Clem, I, I don't understa-"

"I'm bit, Luke." She deadpanned.

"What?"

"I said I'm bit!" Clementine snapped. "Bit. Bitten. Chomped by a walker. Infected. Dead girl waking. Whatever you want to call it." She hissed. Laughing, a little manically, she added "Not by a dog this time, either. I don't even have ammo to make sure I don't turn." She whimpered.

"Oh my...Oh my God Clementine, when?" Luke jumped the iron railings surrounding the park, sitting on the swing next to her.

"You were calling me, and I called back." She lifted her shirt a little, revealing a gaping wound on her waist. Pushing her top back down, Clem carried on. "Let my guard down. Chomped right through me."

"Oh my...fuck. Fuck, fuck it." Luke snapped. "It's all my fucking fault," he threw the machete that was still in his hand into the snow. "Fucking Hell. Find a person to rely on when the group goes to shit and then this happens. Nick's mother, Pete then Nick. Fucking Nick. Asshole. I never said goodbye to that asshole. Then I have a hissy fit over a chick I barely knew, then this. What the fuck is wrong with me. All I do is whine and get people killed!"

"No, it's not. I would have called for you anyway. I'd have been distracted anyway. This is an apocalypse, Luke. People die. People cause other people to die. I've caused my share of stupid deaths, accident or not. It sucks, but it's how it is." Clementine trailed off with a whimper as she grabbed the bite.

"Are you okay?" Luke scoffed. "What am I saying. 'Course you're not okay. Eleven year old kid telling me 'it sucks, but it's how it is' about an apocalypse. You're supposed to be throwing tantrums because you can't get ice cream or you gotta go to bed or be panicking about starting high school. Not...this. Fuck man."

"Doesn't matter. Not anymore." Clementine began coughing violently. "Just, promise me you're going to live. Live as long as you can. 'Cause you have to go back and help the group. You're the only original member left, Luke. You and the Rebecca's baby. Just leave me a gun, please. I don't want to turn."

"Clem, I-"

"I'm a little girl. You all say that. Always. I might be tough, but I'm still eleven. I still love parks and pink and stickers and rainbows. So now I'm asking, don't let a little girl turn into a walker."

Luke looked as if he were about to say something, but instead looked down to the floor. He handed Clem his gun. "I'll miss you, Clem." He hugged her, and she relaxed into his embrace. "Huh, we've come a long way from when I refused to carry you over a dog bite."

"Rebecca said something similar," Clem sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Take this, Luke. I don't want some looter having it," she said, removing her hat. "It was my dad's. Don't lose it, or I'll haunt you." She grinned through the tears, but it was shaky.

"I won't. I swear it, I won't lose it Clem."

There were shouts, and shots.

"FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE. WHERE THE FUCK ARE LUKE AND CLEMENTINE?"

"Sounds like Kenny's not going out without a fight." Luke shrugged.

Clem whispered, eyes drooping. "It was always his way. Tell him, and this is directly from Clem, to stop being so stupid and hold grudges for every little thing. It will make his life easier. Oh, and if you find a girl named Christa, tell her what happened since I met you guys."

"This is an awful lot of requests, Clem." Luke tried to joke. "Don't know if I should'a looked for ya,"

"I'll request for you to shut your mouth if you keep going." Clem grinned back. She started to cough violently. "I think I'm done playing, Luke."

"Clementine..."

"Go, please. You don't need to see this," Clem whispered. "The baby...The group..."

"I'm not goin' anywhere, Clem." Luke muttered.

It was still snowing. Clementine could smell the pines and the rust of the old park equipment.

"Then stand back. Luke, thank you."

The shot rang out for miles. Luke closed Clementine's eyes. Her grip was still on the swing's chains.

"Keep playing, kid. You're safe now."

First TWDG fanfiction. Was that okay? I hope so. Please review.

-Catnipisnotonfire12