Three Orphan Pilgrimage (The Alternative to TWDG's Final Season) [Walking Dead]

3. Expecting the Unexpected

Clementine lay on the ground in shock, taking deep panicked breaths. It wasn't until the figure standing before her fell out of sight did Clem realize it was she who had fired. She didn't even remember clicking the gun's safety off; it just happened without her even thinking about it. Even now it felt unreal as Clementine tried to focus on whatever attacked her, lying motionless just outside the door.

Standing up, Clem clutched her gun tightly in her shaking hands. Slowly she stepped outside to better examine her attacker. The person lying before her appeared to be a young woman, probably not much older than Sarah. She had short black hair, some sort of gas mask strapped over her mouth and nose, and a bullet hole where her right eye used to be. Looking down at the blood pooling around what remained of the back of the young woman's head, Clementine found only one word came to mind.

"Sorry," wept Clementine in a quiet voice. "I'm... I'm sorry," she repeated as managed to steady her gun long enough to place it in its holster. "I..." Clementine suddenly noticed what the dead woman was clutching in her hands. It was a long brown rifle with a big scope and a knife attached to the underside of the barrel. Clementine carefully retrieved the weapon and removed its magazine; it was empty. Clem hastily located a tab on the side of the rifle and pulled it back, revealing the gun was unloaded.

"No... I..." Looking at the woman, her one remaining eye seemed to be looking right at Clem, her dead gaze horrifying the young girl. "I'm... I'm so sorry!" yelled Clem, as if she was expecting an answer. "I'm so sorry. I... I didn't mean to. I didn't know... I..." Clem trailed off as she realized the futility of what she was doing. This person would never speak again, because she killed her.

Drying her eyes, Clementine looked at the rifle she was holding, then back to the body lying in front of her. It sickened her to even think about it, but she forced herself to anyway. With nothing to show for her trip, and no way to take back what she did, Clem moved in close to search the body.

Just kneeling over the corpse was difficult due to the horrible stench. Closer examination revealed the trench coat the woman was wearing was smeared with dried blood. It was like her raincoat Clem realized. Whoever this was, she knew how to hide her presence from the dead. Clem couldn't stop herself from wondering what else this woman had known.

Rummaging through the woman's pockets, the only thing Clem found was a small rectangular rock wrapped in a piece of cloth, which Clem set aside. She then reluctantly rolled the body onto its side so she could check the backpack the woman was wearing. Reaching down to open it, Clem found herself nearly gagging on the thick aroma of fresh blood mixing with the stale stench of the trench coat. The backpack didn't have much else, just an empty water bottle and a small notepad with a pen clipped to it.

Flipping through it, Clem found some hastily scribbled notes. She tried reading them, but she couldn't focus on the words over the sight of the dead woman right in front of her. Her gun had no bullets and her backpack had almost nothing in it; she was probably just someone who was scared and hungry, and now she was dead, because of Clementine.

Unable to stand the sight of that icy blue eye judging her, Clem pocketed the notebook and reached out to pull the woman's eyelid down. Still unsettled, Clementine rolled the woman onto her back and carefully arranged her hands so that they were laying on her chest. She wasn't sure why she did it, she just hoped it would make her feel better. But it didn't, nothing seemed to ease the guilt eating away the girl.

Clementine thought about burying the woman next, but she didn't have a shovel, and looking up at the sky she realized she didn't have enough time either if she wanted to get back before dark. As Clementine collected the woman's rifle, more out of instinct than any desire to keep it, she realized the gunshot might have attracted attention, maybe even someone this person was with. With no bullets left in her own gun, or the rifle she was holding, Clem picked herself up and start racing away back towards the road.