A Shred of Hope (The Walking Dead) (The Final Season Retelling)

18. A Change of Fate

Clementine stood in the jewelry store. It was exactly as she remembered it- the shutter closed, the dead walker in the security room, the blood marring the floor, the radiator in the side of the room, and handcuffed to that, Lee.

She watched his pale face, the final moments of the man she'd come to know. It was as if the blood had drained out from his body. He sat there, barely comprehending the world around. Not the dead walker, not the gun in her hand, not the growls of the thousands of walkers outside the store could draw her attention away from Lee's arm.

The bite.

All it had taken for Lee to get infected was one small mistake, a mistake she would regret all her life.

She raised her gun, having resigned herself to the fact that this was what Lee wanted. She could see his eyes on her, the sorrow in them as he faced a humane execution.

The gun trembled in her hands. She was unable to face him. She tore her eyes away from Lee, turning her head to her side as she closed her eyes. The tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she pressed the trigger.

Clementine's eyes felt heavy as she opened them. Everything seemed a blur. Her head felt like it was being pierced with a hot iron rod. It felt like she was in a dark room, though there was a sudden white in the blackness.

Reaching out with her hand, she couldn't figure out where she was, unable to see beyond the floating objects. She couldn't recognize what they were, simply misshapen blobs in her sight. As her vision focused, she realised she was lying on her back.

Her legs were bent at an awkward angle, paining them. The hard floor hurt her back as her mind worked to understand the situation she was in.

Everything came back to her.

The van had most probably flipped onto its side.

Moving her hand, she felt glass shift under her fingers, hissing as it cut her. Looking to her left, she noticed the damaged doors and the broken windows of the van. They must have shattered upon impact, sending glass flying inside. She could see the light enter through the bent doors, although it didn't do much to tell her where the van was laying.

Violet and Louis lay next to her, unconscious. They were still breathing but they definitely weren't awake. Clementine touched her forehead, only to find more blood staining her fingers. She could feel the blood pumping in her head and the bump starting to form. Cursing, she tried to sit up, hastily abandoning the attempt as more pain ran through her body.

She took deep breaths, hoping she hadn't broken any bones. Most of the pain seemed to emanate from her head. Her shoulder had to be bruised with the impact considering how much it hurt when she moved her hand. Turning her head to the side, she tried to wake her friends up, only to be rewarded with silence.

Making another attempt to get up, she succeeded this time, pushing herself against the side to lean. The door could probably be opened if she kicked it. Getting into position, she took aim. She rammed the door with her foot, exhaling sharply as her leg suddenly stretched itself, nearly shocking her with the pain.

One of the doors opened, allowing her enough space to crawl through to the outside. Rubbing her leg, she prepared to escape the van. She got on her knees and slowly crawled out. Trying to stand up, she failed miserably, laying down onto the fallen leaves and dirt.

She stared as her heavy breath moved the leaves and dust in front of her mouth. She tasted the ground but was in no position to actually do something about it. Seconds passed... or minutes, before she tried to look at her surroundings. The van had indeed turned onto its side. It had probably veered off the road, flipping onto its side and then crashing into the tree.

The road was close by. She couldn't figure out what had caused the crash though. Or what that splattering sound was. It wasn't a good idea just laying out in the open. Besides, Louis and Violet were out cold. She had to find out what had happened.

She lifted herself off the ground, groaning with the effort. She got onto her feet, swaying as she tried to find her balance. The other van wasn't in sight. Taking a step forward, she reached out to the van for support, lest she fell again.

Slowly moving along the van, she made it to the driver's cabin. The front window was cracked, speckled with red drops. The driver had a gaping hole in his forehead, slumped sideways on the door. The other door was open and their second captor was missing. They had to have been attacked.

"Fuck..." she exhaled, realising she could be in the midst of a fight. Looking around, she couldn't find anything. Everything seemed dead silent. There were no walkers but it would only be a matter of time before they were all over this place.

She had to find a way to keep all of them safe. Clutching her shoulder to hopefully ease the pain, she started moving to the back of the van as quick as she could, when she came face to face with the other man.

Only, he wasn't human anymore.

Its white eyes stared back at her as its mouth opened, growling. Clementine froze for an instant, allowing the walker its chance.

It lunged at her, trying to snap at her face. She pressed her arm against its neck, barely holding on as she felt her feet slipping backwards. Taking a deep breath, she shoved it, miraculously sending it to the ground. However, the effort imbalanced her too as she fell onto her side, feeling dizzy with the pain.

There were no weapons on her to strike them into the walker's head. She suddenly felt pressure on her toes through her boots. Looking down, she realised with horror that the walker was trying to get through her boots. It was the closest thing to it and it had latched onto that.

"Fuck you!" she exclaimed, whacking its head with her other foot. It didn't seem to notice as the other boot mercilessly battered against the top of its head. Finally, its teeth slipped off the boot. It growled in annoyance trying to get back to its meal, but Clementine had already scrambled away from it.

The girl ran her hands through the leaves, trying to find anything to aid her. That's when she felt the sharp edge.

She grabbed at the weapon desperately, noticing that the walker was dragging itself closer. Her hand closed around it, picking it up. It was a shard of glass from the window. It had already turned crimson at the edges with the cuts it had made as she'd grasped it.

The pain made no difference to Clementine. The adrenalin roared through her as she rolled away from the walker and brought the sharp glass down onto its head. It fell limp immediately.

Leaving the glass embedded in its head, she laid down on her back, her chest rising and falling with the exertion. She felt tired as the ache took handle. The rapid beating of her heart seemed to fill her ears. All the energy she had had appeared to leave her.

She could hear footsteps now. Trying to blink the blood and sweat out of her eyes, she tried to drag herself to the safety of the van but she couldn't lift her limbs.

The voices were barely audible but they were moving closer. Craning her neck to find out who it was, her body finally gave up, her vision fading as her head hit the soft ground. The last thing she saw was a man with a rifle pointed at her.