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

67. Friends Forever

Clementine looked down at the trembling teenager. She was tightly holding her knees to her chest as the rest of her body shook in fear. Her face was blank, except for an underlying look of pain around the corners of her bloodshot eyes. Looking at this sad sight, Clementine only had one response.

"Sarah!" Clementine dropped her gun and threw her arms around the older girl. But when Clem touched her, Sarah started thrashing in place, making panicked noises as if she was in pain. Clem hastily released Sarah, who stopped panicking and returned to her previous state.

"What's wrong?" Clementine's question received no answer. "You weren't bitten were you?" Clem hastily grabbed the lantern and started searching for any signs of a bite. Pulling one of Sarah's arms away from her caused her to start squealing until she yanked it away from Clem, who held onto it long enough to confirm there was no bite. Clem looked at the other arm and up and down Sarah's legs and back. There was an unsightly bruise around the older girl's neck where Bill had strangled her and still the scab on her forehead from where George hit her, but Clem couldn't find any other injuries. Nor could she find any blood except for the gore smeared across her clothes.

"What's wrong?" Looking at Sarah's face again, Clementine realized all too clearly what was wrong. "Oh Sarah... I... I know what it's like. I..." A loud bang came from the door and the sound of the undead scratching against it followed. "Oh no." Clementine turned back to Sarah.

"Sarah, we gotta go." Clementine grabbed Sarah's hand and tried to pull the older girl to her feet. The older girl started fidgeting in response before pulling her arm back. Clementine grabbed Sarah's arm with both hands this time and tried to force Sarah to move, but this just seemed to upset Sarah further, causing her to violently yank her arm back, pulling Clem over as she did so.

"Sarah!" Clementine sat up and looked at the door. She heard the wood begin to splinter as more walkers started piling against it. Clem rushed over to the window and hastily popped the clasps holding the screen. A quick shove dislodged the screen from the window. The younger girl ran back to grab the lantern and her gun, but couldn't pull her eyes away from a still traumatized Sarah.

"Sarah..." whispered Clem as she moved as closely to the girl as she could. "I know what it's like. It's... it's horrible. It's so horrible. You... you just feel like... nothing matters... and you just want to die," sobbed Clem. "But... but you can't give up. You... you just can't. Please. Please get up. You... you just gotta get up." Clementine watched as Sarah's face seemed to fidget a little, she seemed confused now, but no calmer.

"Please Sarah, just get up. All you have to do is get up." Clementine tried to take hold of Sarah's hands, but looking at her face, this just seemed to be making her more anxious. "Sarah—" Another crash came from the door. Looking at it, Clem could see a large crack forming in the middle of it and could hear more undead moaning from the other side of it.

Clementine looked at the window again, then turned back to Sarah. She looked like she was shaking less now, maybe. Her face may have twisted again, looking a little more afraid than before, but Clementine couldn't be certain. She didn't really know if anything she was saying had any effect on the older girl.

Hearing the door creak again sent Clementine's heart racing. She knew she couldn't force Sarah to leave, and she doubted there were enough bullets left in her gun to kill all the walkers outside either. The idea of leaving Sarah just sickened Clem, but racking her brain, she didn't know what else she could do. Only one last desperate thought entered Clementine's mind.

"Sarah..." Clementine balled up her hand, except for her pinky. She slowly moved her hand in front of Sarah's face. "Remember?" pleaded a desperate Clem. "Remember what you said? What we both said? We said we'd always be friends and that we'd be together," recited a tearful Clementine. "Please Sarah. Please..."

Clementine looked on in despair as Sarah sat there, the same wide-eyed expression of terror frozen on her face as when Clem first held out her hand. The young girl just sobbed to herself as it seemed there was nothing she could do to reach her friend. Turning back to the door, Clem saw it was nearly ready to snap in half. Seeing no choice, Clem thought to pick up her gun and the lantern, but felt something tugging on her pinky as she tried to pull her hand back.

"Cuh... Cuh... Clementine?" Clem looked back at Sarah, who had grasped the younger girl's pinky with her own. "You... you... you're... you're really here?" asked Sarah in bewilderment.

"Yes," professed Clementine, unable to contain her excitement. "I'm right here Sarah."

"Why?"

"What? What kind of question is that? I... I care about you. And... you're my friend," cried Clem. "I... I don't just leave friends behind." Clementine watched as Sarah's expression seemed to change, some of the fear in her eyes seemed to give way to a hint of a clarity.

"Please Sarah, you need to get up."

"I... I don't know... if I can."

"Yes you do."

"But—"

"Sarah," said Clementine as sternly as she could. "Just get up. All you have to do is stand up. You can do that, right? For me?" Clementine felt her heart skip a beat as she watched Sarah remove her hands from her knees. They shook badly as she planted them on them ground. Very slowly, Sarah stood up.

"Good," complimented a relieved Clem as she looked at Sarah, quivering in place. "Now..." The sound of wood splintering to pieces caused Sarah to yelp. Clementine watched as walkers flooded into the room. "This way!" Clem grabbed her gun and the lantern, then ran to the window.

The small girl struggled to lift herself up to the window while holding a gun and lantern in hand. She was about to just drop the items out the window, when she felt a pair of hands grab her waist. Sarah hoisted Clementine through the window, allowing her to tumble onto the slanted roof outside.

Clem spun around and saw Sarah hurrying out the window. She stepped onto the roof just as a walker stuck its arm out the window. Sarah screamed in surprise and tripped backwards, rolling down the roof and off the edge.

"Sarah!" Clementine rushed over to see Sarah lying on the ground below. Clem sat down on the edge of the roof and leapt off, dropping the lantern and falling forward onto the soft mud as she did so. Clementine stood up as fast as she could, grabbing the lantern as she did so. "Sarah?"

Clementine watched as Sarah stood up, her face and the front of her body covered in mud. Looking over to where the front door used to be, Clem watched as another walker started stumbling out towards them.

"Sarah run!" Sarah looked to Clem, who started running down the driveway and away from the house. Looking over her shoulder, Clem watched as Sarah reached Clementine's side, then ran past her and out onto the highway, where she waited for Clem.

Joining Sarah, Clem started running down the highway with her. The two ran forward on the road, rain drenching them both with every step, too afraid to slow down even for a second. Clementine felt her heart pounding as she tried to keep up with Sarah, but then felt a familiar sensation in her throat.

Clementine tried to stifle her coughs, but it just made things worse, sending her into a hacking fit. Clem stopped running and gasped in between coughs. After a couple of deep breaths she felt better. Clem held out the lantern and scanned the area, paranoid of more walkers approaching.

Looking down the road, Clementine watched as Sarah turned around and started running back. The older girl slowed to a stop at Clem's feet, then looked down at her. The pair just looked into each other's eyes, each as seemingly lost as the other, then Clementine acted. She threw her arms around Sarah and held onto her as tightly as she could.

"I'm so glad you're okay," professed Clem as she squeezed Sarah. Clem found herself waiting for Sarah to hold her, but she didn't. Letting go of Sarah, Clem saw a glazed over expression on her face now, as if she was barely aware of what was happening. "Oh, Sarah, I didn't mean okay, I..." Clem started coughing again.

"Are... are you okay?" asked Sarah in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm just sick." Clementine looked around once more for any signs of walkers. Still no sign of them, but looking off in the distance, Clem saw another house not too far ahead, and it had a chimney. "We should get out of the rain. Before you get sick too."