TWDG//

ONE

I step back from my work; The walkers gnarled against the walls of the barn, flailing their limbs at me, and growling. A irritation forms in my throat, and I bend over to cough. I compose myself, panting.
"Good job, AJ" I hear. I turn around, to see Clementine; Flecks of grey covering the corners of her face, and her voice is hoarse. "You did it" She cracks, only showing a small smile.
"Now what?" I ask, stretching towards her. My stomach sinks.
Clem frowns. "You need to find a way out of here."
I look around, desperate to find any entrance, for the two of us, to use. To avoid the monsters. I look up at the barred ceilings, and see a wood beam, with large rope draping off of it. I point.
"We can climb up there" I say. "The monsters can't reach us up there!"
Clementine looks at me wearily, and unsure.
"Let's go. Easy climb. C'mon." I say, pacing, trying to move her. We both look at her sliced leg, decorated with a bite. I take a shallow breath.
"Please. Try" I blurted out. Hysteria and panic was forming. We can still do this. Clementine slowly edges up, her back releasing off the hay bale. She uses her left arm to support her body weight, and to pick her leg up. As she tries, she collapses down on the floor with a groan.
"You can't give up! You can't give up!" I say, desperate. The growls of the walkers were getting louder, almost piercing my ear. We have to move now.
Clem gives me a stare; Her gold eyes boring into mine. She was sad.
"I need you!" I exclaim. Clementine looks down. "I need you..."
"You don't need me..." she whispers. "Not anymore..."
My bottom lip trembles. No.
"Look at what you did" Clem continues. "All by yourself."
I frown.
"My little goofball." Clem pulls another smile. I look away.
"It's Alvin Junior." I mutter.
"You'll always be Goofball to me." She answers, giving a bliss smile. "Hey, look at me."
I continue to stare down the ground.
"AJ, please..." She pleads. I sigh, and walk to her side. I kneel down, and give her a long, sad stare. Clementine presses her cold, clammy palm to my cheek.
"You're such a cutie. How did I get so lucky?" I can hear a smile in her voice. She pulls her hand away to touch the tip of my nose. I give her a dubious stare.
"Gotcha." She said.
"Please." I said. "Don't...don't be silly right now."
"I just wanted to see you smile." She said. "One last time."
"Don't say that!" I answer. "Please...don't say that."
Clem gives a sigh. "I need to make sure you remember."
"Remember what?" I ask.
"The rules. What's number one?" Clementine asks.
I sigh. "Never...never go alone. So...so I can't leave. Not without you."
"AJ..." Clem starts.
"It's your rule!" I say.
"You won't be alone." Clementine replies. "Not for long. Get back to the school."
I look at my feet. "I don't know how."
"Sure you do. One of the first things I ever taught you." Clementine urges. Clementine scans the room. "You need to make sure they can't smell you, so.."
She spots a decayed corpse nearby,
"There's a fresh, juicy walker just waiting to be gutted." She said. I sigh. I have to lather the guts on my clothing. "Grab that axe."
I look at the red axe nearby.
"You know what to do with it." Clementine responds. There was nothing I could do to help her. Without a word, I stood up feebly. I gripped the axe in my hand, the weight making me clutch it with both. I push myself to the limp walker, and pull the axe down on the abdomen. A foul, but familiar odour rises in my nostrils, and I cut the axe sideways across the walker's stomach. I wrinkled my nose, and racy in for the intestines, scraping them across the front of my jacket and on my face, staining them dark red. I reach over my shoulder and lather my blade, before standing up to face Clem. She's getting worse.
"Next rule; What do we do when the monsters come?" She asks.
"Clem..." I frown, and I choke back my tears. I can't cry.
"AJ..." She says, weak.
"Shoot them in the head." I answer. Clementine picks up the empty gun.
"Got any more ammo?" She asks.
"There isn't any more." I say bluntly.
"Okay then." Clementine drops the gun with a click. "Fuck. And... the last rule?"
"I want to stay" I say merely. "With you."
I began dragging myself towards her. "I know what'll happen. And I don't care. I don't want to go. I just want to sit next to you and...stay."
I meet Clem's grieving eyes.
"Like that monster couple." I continue. "From the train station. No one would hurt us."
I wait for Clementine to speak, but she's still silent, so I keep talking.
"...just sitting. Forever." The word forever sinks into my head. "Please."
"Sorry kid." Clem whispers. "But no. I have a job for you"
My lip trembles again.
"I need you to get back to your room. I need you to sleep in your bed, and have friends, and grow tall." She sighs. "Taller than I ever was, I hope."
I stare at the wooden axe.
"...I need you to live, AJ. For me. That's your job, now." She continues.
"Okay, Clem." My eyes site begins to blur. "That's my job."
The sound of the walkers was increasing. I didn't like it, but my time with Clementine was shortening. Clementine meets the queue, looking back at me.
"Last rule." She stricts.
"No..." I say, my tears giving in.
"What do we do if I get bit?" She asks.
I begin to cry, holding the axe to my chest. I didn't want to admit it. It hurts too much. The only thing that was heard were the walker's cry as background music, and my inedible sobbing.
"Are you gonna make me say it?" Clem says leaning forward the tiniest bit. I don't answer, I just continue crying. "Fine.." she says, her voice drifting at the edges. "AJ, you have to kill me."
I stop my cries to abrupt. I open my eyes. I saw Clem; Helpless, defeated Clem. A Clementine I have never seen before. I tighten my eyes.
"Don't let me become one of them..." Clementine says, pain visually spreading across her face. "Be a good boy."
Her entire body relaxes against the hay, and she closes her eyes. "Kill me."
I shake my head. "No..." I realise there's nothing I can do now. Clem stares at me back. I sigh, and pull the axe over my shoulders, and above my head. Clementine, sickly pale and grey leans forward again, her head ready for impact. I look at her. She's as good as gone....
I whimper, and slowly edge my axe above my own head. I stop to think.
What if I try t save her? I could take a risk and save her life.
I think about the possibility of axing of her head. What I can do now is take that.
Without over thinking it, I pull the axe down.
But on top of her leg.

The next chapter is an original piece of work