One year later

Chapter Three

His face... It was a mask of fear. He never made a sound as the ice split open, engulfing him in cold, icy water...

I sit at the table, bouncing my knee up and down in impatience. Outside looks pretty clear, and while Lilly was out getting fire wood she didn't see any walkers. It's been half an hour, and all I want to do is to get outside and run. Lilly however, has other ideas.

"Look Clem, it's still only half six," she says whilst checking the guns to make sure they all work.

"But I-"

"Just wait ten minutes, okay? I need to finish this, and you still need to check your kit."

I sigh, opening my rucksack and spilling the contents out onto the table.
A map of the area, slightly creased but still readible, as well as my compass.

A first aid kit with most of the items removed. However, there are still some bandages, a tube of antisceptic cream, a couple of painkillers and a small bottle of alchohol inside.

My trusty knife, a little rusty but still useable.

A flashlight and extra batteries.

A Sleeping bag, with a pillow rolled up inside.

A couple of  empty carrier bags for supplies.

Some matches, half a can of food, a cereal bar and some water.

The only thing I need now is a gun.

"Everything's in order," I say, walking over to join Lilly, "But I still need a gun."

"Okay, which one are you gonna take? Because none of them have very much ammo."

"This one's fine," I say, picking up Lee's gun and tucking it into my pocket. Lilly nods.

"Good choice," she says, passing me a couple of magazine clips which I slip into my bag.

"You all set?" Lilly asks.
I smile breifly. "Pretty much."

"Listen, we need canned food, bottled water and meds. Only take what you need. if you see any energy bars, grab those too," Lilly instructs, handing me two empty rucksacks. I fit them into my bag and nod.

"Oh, and one last thing. If you're not back in two days I'll come find you, regardless of AJ. And Clem? Be careful." She pulls me into a quick hug, then AJ starts screeching.

"I better go see what he wants. Stay safe out there Clem," Lilly says, climbing up the stairs. I take a deep breath, shoulder my bag, step out of the house and shut the door behind me. Before I even start walking, I sense a presence to my right. However, turning around I realise it's just my reflection in the window. Laughing shakily, I head off into the distance, feeling light and optimistic. I won't need to look at the map untill I get to the highway, and for now I'm just enjoying the fresh air and warm sunshine. Sometimes, you forget there are still happy things in this world, even if they are brief.

Later

As I thought, I only have to get out the map once I hit the highway. It's only about nine, but the sun's already climbing, making the air hazy. I don't want to be here at midday or I'll melt. It's a particularly hot day, so I need to get off the road as soon as possible.

Stopping for a quick break, I check the map for the thousandth time. I seem to be making good time, as I'm already at least half an hour ahead of schedule, but I'm happy to plough on till I get to the forest. After that, I follow a dirt track up to what looks like a gas station and then carry on past it to the town. Pretty simple. I should hopefully be there by around five, so I'll have plenty of time to set up camp in a building and wait for sunrise. Then, once I've scoured the town, I'll head back to Lilly and AJ. Feeling satisfied, I fold the map up and put it in the pocket of my jeans, feeling the shape of my gun. I sigh, hoping I won't have to use it.

It's funny. You'd think there'd be hundreds of cars on a highway. Wrecks everywhere. But there's nothing. No cars, no buses, no trucks. It's completey deserted. I kick up a spray of dust which covers the air like a veil for a moment before settling. The silence stretches like an elastic band that's just waiting to snap. For the first time, certainly the first in a long while, I feel completley alone. I've usually been lucky enough to have someone by my side, but I'm now heading towards a village I've never been to before, alone. It sounds stupid, but I wish I had someone next to me, telling me everything would be okay. Even if it wasn't.

"Hey you, girl with the hat. Who are you?" Someone asks from behind me. I snap out of my thoughts, spinning around and looking for the person who just spoke. I can't see anyone, but I'm certain they were there.

"Huh? Wha . . ." I trail off, looking behind me this time, but there's still no one there.

"Your eyesight must be terrible," he comments. I turn around again, circling the highway.

"Where exactly are you? You got some sort of invisibility cloak?"

"Oh, she speaks. And no, I reckon you're just really short sighted."

I start walking again, doing my best to keep calm. Either this person is an incredibly fast runner . . .

Or I'm losing my mind.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real," I whisper to myself.

"Uh, yeah, it is."

I finally snap. Stopping in my tracks, I turn to face the voice. "Who ARE you? Why are you following me? Can you please just leave me ALONE?"

A boy steps out from behind me and sighs wearily, rolling his eyes. "Friendly, aren't you?"

"Friendly? You're the one who-"

"I was hardly gonna come up and say hello if I thought you would put a bullet through my head-"

"How d'you know I still won't?" I keep my expression as stoic as possible.

"You seem pretty harmless, and besides, if you were gonna kill me you already would have." The boy says, raising his eyebrows.

"Okay so first of all, not true. I could easily be sizing you up right now, seeing if your a threat."

"Oh yeah? So what do you think?" The boy sends me a cheeky grin, and I give him a blank look, "You look annoying."

"Whoa, thanks for the confidence booster."

"Where's the rest of your group?" I ask bluntly.

"That's what I want to know. Two days ago I left camp to go into this old store I knew about. It has all this cool stuff, like comics, magazines, books, stuff like that. So anyway, I went in there and spent about an hour looking around, then I head back, and everyone's gone! All their stuff, the tents, most of the food...vanished. So I've been walking along this damn highway ever since, trying to get to the village to see if they're there."

"I'm going there too," I say, and he smiles. "Coincidence, huh? Well, mind if I join you, seeing as we'll both be walking the same way anyway?"

"Sure," I say noncholantly, secretly feeling very glad that I'll have some company on the journey. Even if it's with this strange, irritating boy.

"My name's Daniel by the way," he says, starting to walk.

"Clementine," I reply stoutly, following him.

"What, like the fruit?"

"Yeah, my parents named me after an orange," I roll my eyes sarcasticly.

"Alright, alright, jeez."