Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

25. Death in the Family

Clementine felt as if she had been buried alive. Everything was dark, she couldn't move her arms or legs because something was pinning them to the ground, and she couldn't breathe because something was smothering her now instead of choking her. She tried screaming, but whatever was on top of her was muffling the noise she was making. Panic racked Clem's mind as she felt helpless.

Without warning, the darkness lifted, revealing a blurry night sky. Clementine started gasping for air as she felt whatever was crushing her disappear suddenly. She started stretching her arms, then her legs, feeling a sense of relief as she could move again. Slowly she sat up, still feeling light headed, as if she was in a dream almost. As she looked up she saw a blurry figure standing over her.

Clem panicked. She spun around and started crawling towards her gun as the person started shouting something to her she couldn't understand. She grabbed hold of the pistol, but immediately another pair of hands started prying it from her grip.

"No! No! No!" chanted a disoriented Clementine as she desperately tried to hold onto the gun. Despite her bests efforts, the gun was ripped from her hands. Clem fell onto her back and threw her arms in front of her face in a desperate attempt to protect herself. "Please... please don't kill me!" begged a hysterical Clem.

"Snap out of it." Clem recognized that voice. She moved her arms and saw someone familiar standing over her. "It's just me, okay?"

"Nick?" Clementine looked up at the young man. He had her gun in his hand and a worried look on his face. "What... what happened?" asked Clem, utterly confused.

"I... I shot the guy attacking you." Clem turned her head and saw the lifeless body of the man in gray, a significant portion of his forehead missing. "He fell right on top of you. So I pulled him off," explained Nick. "What was he doing to you?"

"I... I was going to die," muttered a shell-shocked Clementine. "He... he was killing me." This revelation seemed to disturb Nick almost as much as Clementine herself.

"Jesus Christ," Nick muttered to himself as he tucked Clem's pistol into his waistband. "Are you okay?"

"I... I guess so," answered Clem. "I just—"

"Greg, come back," cackled a familiar voice from the direction of the man in gray. Looking at his corpse, Clem noticed the radio on his hip. "Greg, we heard a shot. You get that damn girl Consuelo won't shut the fuck up about?"

"Oh fuck, it is George," realized a terrified Nick. "What happened?"

"They've got everyone tied up at the lodge, except Matthew," reported Clem.

"How many?"

"There were four at the lodge. And outside was this man, and some woman."

"Shit, that means there's at least five left," muttered Nick.

"What do we do?" Nick didn't answer, his face almost blank.

"Greg! Pick up you piece of shit!"

"We... we gotta do something," said Nick, his voice shaking. "They're gonna come looking for us, but, maybe I can get a jump on them. If we go back now, maybe I can get them from a distance. It's dark, and they wouldn't be able to see me too well."

"They turned on some big light when they came in," said Clem.

"Probably the headlights from the truck they came in," explained Nick. "That'll make it easier for me to spot them. If they don't see us, then maybe I got a chance. You okay to walk?"

"Yeah, I can walk," answered Clem as she stood up.

"Keep your eyes open." The pair headed back towards the lodge, slowly negotiating back through the woods, afraid if they moved too quickly they would give themselves away. As the lodge came into sight, Nick held up his hand, indicating Clem to halt.