The Plague

What Goes Around...

Forest of REDACTED|Mile out from Site REDACTED
GPS NAV ERROR
Clementine's Status: UNKNOWN

She followed the Doctor, he was rather strange. He wore a Black Leather overcoat that he never took off, with a face that looked young but with years of knowledge and grief. His mask that he wore over his left eye seemed dear to him, because he also never took it off. She would try to chat with him some days, with him either replying cryptically or behind a wall of lies. She knew that his name was not Oliver Stein, and he knew it to. But it seemed that it would be best to stick with someone rather than no one. 
He looked ahead, took out a compass and let out a sigh. 
"Whats wrong?" she asked. She looked at the compass he was holding in one hand and the small, dirty and old map in the other. 
"Well, there was supposed to be a town here, but it seems the forest had other plans than leaving it here for us." He crossed off the 4th location today, and it seemed they would never find a place for shelter.
"Maybe we should back track, we coul-"
"NO!" he gave her a strong look and began marching off into another direction, this time to the mountains.
The forest had a great many plant life, with some Animals here and there. Sometimes the doctor would remark how they were lucky that the Pestilence didn't affect them, for whatever reason.
"Did you know, that I once was here, above ground when life was bustling," then he said, " with human life, at least. Not so much for plant life." he corrected. 
" I haven't asked, how did you come here, doctor?" she asked. She had been thinking of asking him before, but she never found an appropriate time to ask.
He looked at her, head cocked, and said, " as anyone else, I suppose. I was born here and I'm sure I will die the same way once my mission is complete; whenever that may be."

He had a feeling, he thought he could smell the pestilence around him but he couldn't identify it. All of the living creatures he saw were pure, at least from what he could understand. Due to his success of the Cure, he no longer has to operate on living creatures to further the chances of a world with a bright future, living with the Cure pumping through their now flowing veins. 
"Doctor, do you know where we are going?" said Clementine, constantly looking at him as if he was crazy.
"No, I do not. But I have a theory that there will be buildings near the mountains, because there is no plant life to overthrow them." he did not mention that a rock could have crushed anything there, nor did he mention that the same could happen to them. The doctor looked back, and smiled. " Never fear, I won't abandon my life's work."

The mountain was walled off, evidently someone had made something here, and they did not want someone getting in. The Doctor looked at the wall and then at the ancient map he found at one of the check ins back at the Prison, then to Clementine. 
"Well, there seems to be a large wall in the way. And I don't believe there will be any opening for a long while. Do you have any ideas where to go, young lady?" the Doctor asked politely, might as well ask someone that could also take the blame if they fail on their quest to find shelter (other than the facility that was crawling with danger or the Pod, for it had outlived the usefulness of housing 2 people by her cries at night she thought had gone unnoticed). 
She looked around, and seemed to be ready to say something before she stopped, squinted, and asked, "Doctor Stein, is that...someone else?" 
He was about to deny it before he say it to. A strange looking man of some sort, limping through the forest, reeking of the pestilence. "Clementine, trust me when I say this, do not go near that being." he hoped she trusted him enough to listen, maybe she had common sense?
Evidently not, as she started walking to the humanoid that started looking in the air, blindly walking around. "H-hello? My friend and I ar-are lost, c-could you help?" she said stumbling over her words again, but soon stopped once he got into viewing distance.
 The creature had rotting skin, half of his jaw was ripped off and a tongue needlessly hanging from his mouth. He looked at Clementine, with a look of anger (or was it hunger?) and proceeded to slowly approach her.
 She, obviously not looking forward to be turned into a zombified creature took a step back. " Sir, are y-y-you alri-alright? I, uh, have a doc-doctor with me, could we help?" she seemed to be making no progress in making small talk, although the doctor would've knocked her for this he also did the same thing in the Prison, so he let it slide. 
He gripped his cane, and was about to walk to Clementine when he heard a booming shout, " Thou that does not submit to thy lords might, shall beith smitted!" A large man, bearing a Knights armour and a longsword, flew into sight and chopped the creature in half, the being, evidently already having been in battle due to the obvious scorch marks and other damage to the armour, seemed to be crazy.
" It is I! Vercus Alicratus, Knight of the Ubara! And I will protect thy King!" he seemed under the oppression that both Clementine and the Doctor were enemies, for he threw himself a the Doctor with the Sword ready to go chopping.
The Doctor, in evident surprise, dodged the sword just before it came slicing down on him. He armed himself with the cane and shot a beam of lightning, with it shooting the Knight back a few feet only. " My good and faithful Knight, we mean you no harm!" the Doctor tried, with only Vercus standing up and start running at him again. 
The Doctor shot him again with another beam, and it seemed to have put in the mind set that the more it got shot, the farther it will go, for he finally started retreating.
"That was...eventful." the Doctor said after the Knight left, leaving behind a confused Doctor and an even more confused Clementine.
"What was that... Doctor Stein?" Clementine asked, seemingly taking her distance. 
"If you mean by the person, I don't know. He seemed und-" 
"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" Clementine yelled, startling the Doctor.
"Ah, yes the cane...It is quite dear to me." the Doctor wasn't lying, but he didn't really want to explain the process or the other secrets he has... or had, per say. 
Clementine only stared, evidently not pleased with the answer.
"Fine, if you haven't noticed, it acts as a weapon that can direct Lightning, or electricity, if you will, and fires in an accurate line of shot. It didn't do what I was expecting with the Knight, but we are alive, nonetheless." the Doctor said, in a boring voice. He had better things to do than explain what his cane did, especially now that there is a crazed man thinking he is a knight or what not. I suppose it is good to know there is human life out there, but what TYPE of life are they living? he thought. The man seemed a tad out of the loop, if you were to catch the drift the doctor was throwing. The doctor didn't sense the pestilence on him though, meaning there is cured out there as well (that don't fall from rocks, or as she called it, 'pods'), but he didn't know if he wanted to meet them yet. 
"Doctor... can we leave yet?" she asked, glancing at the cane and back to him. Finally, the doctor waved a go ahead and followed her, perhaps they would find the entrance elsewhere. 

He is crazy, that's for sure, but also a talker. He acted like throwing lighting out of a fancy stick was childsplay, or maybe it was from where he is. The doctor liked to think that she was interested in all of his studies of the cure he had made, about how many calculations he had ran to perfect it without any test subjects, but he wouldn't tell her why he never received any, instead walking in silence or completely ignoring it, as if it were never asked. Other than that, he made small talk, about her and the craft she was on. He seemed ignorant that the ship she came from was completely free from any plague the planet had here, as he stated that if she had it, they did too. 
"So doctor, what is the plan now, exactly? We were looking for a door earlier, and now it seems like we are in a forest, no where near the mountain." she started looking around, although there were books about the forest habitats and other areas of this big green planet, it is more beautiful if you see it with your own eyes. 
"Well, the facility was right near where we were attacked, meaning either the armoured lunatic was going to try to ambush us in there, or kill us in our sleep. I believe that the facility, which i believe it was, may have held infected, meaning even if he wasn't going to kill us, the beasts would. It is best just to find a more open area, easier to escape than a walled off area where you will be trapped if overran." the doctor droned, seemingly thinking of everything. The face of the doctor looked more concentrated than the voice sounded. He would move his eye(s) instead of his head (maybe to view his surroundings without others thinking he was), and would spin his cane around, most likely due to the fact there was nothing to use it on. 
" There are better things to do than droning on, you know..." Clementine said to him under her breath, quite filled with his whole ' ah, yes' act he was playing. 
It seems, however, the doctor heard her, as he said, " Sometimes 'Droning', as you call it, could give you advice even without needless excitement. There are many things to learn, firstly starting with..." he continued like this for over half an hour, until finally, for the thankfulness of Clementine, a crude fence blocked their path.

He was beginning to lose hope of there being other intelligent life out there, but there seemed to be a fence right in front of him. The Doctor put his hand to the crude wooden fence, checking to ensure it was real. From the looks of it, he could assume that either this was a small village that had put it's resources into other things, or that people had been thrown all the way back to the stone age. 
" Strange... well, I do believe that I am interested, if I had to be honest. Would you like to accompany me, young Clementine?" he said, trying to bring some light into this, incase it was a complete waste of time.
" Yes Doctor, I would." she said, as though any she was drained.
" Then lets," the Doctor said.

Clementine was beginning to hope that the people there would be much more different than the doctor, as he was starting to get on her nerves of how he kept using 'everything I say is interesting' type of talk. After passing the fence, the forest became less dense, with it becoming evident that trees were being chopped down. It led to an open area, where the field of the area covered with wooden and mud houses. There were people about, however, they seemed a little off. Clementine saw this, as she didn't want to approach another beast thinking that she could communicate with it, and told the doctor.
" Yes, yes. I would have to say that they seem emotionless, if you will. Going about their day with nothing in sight but the next task. It would seem that, although they do not seem to have the stench of the pestilence, as far as I'm aware of due to our distance, they seemed to have lost something that makes them human." the Doctor said, although he talked as though this did not affect him, his exposed right eye seemed to betray him, showing some sort of disappointment, or even sadness, that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. He recovered rather quick, however, saying " I will attempt contact. I believe it is in our best interests that you stay here in case something happens. Try to stay unnoticed, I will come back and bring you in if it is safe to do so. If I do not make it back, which is unlikely, you should return back to your Pod and wait for me. Otherwise, see you then." he began walking off, giving a small wave, which may have been the last time he saw her on safe terms.

This chapter was rather short, I know. From here, I will be dividing our characters up per chapter. Each will be starting with either " The Doctor" or " Star Child",  a nickname for Clementine. This may change depending on what I am told for future chapters, but until then, wait for the next one.