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

37. Hope

Clementine lay on the ground, staring up at the sky. Her entire body ached from the impact of the landing. It felt like there was a constant hammering on her skull where it had banged into the wall of Beth's office and she was sure she'd broken her arm, judging from the way it hurt. She breathed slowly, her eyes taking in the stars sprinkled throughout the sky.

The sounds had become a part of the surroundings, something that had just faded into the grim background. The soft shuffling of walkers inside the wall and the occasional gunfire greeted her ears. The smoke lifted into the sky from inside the compound, spiraling upwards like a giant beast of the skies.

"Clem?"

She turned her head. AJ sat on his knees next to her.

"Yeah, I'm up," she replied, grimacing as she sat up through the pain. She turned to her other side, noticing Violet. "You okay?" she asked her.

Violet shook her head, eyes directed at the sky. The tears rolled down the side of her face. Her arm was bleeding again, the dark red tainting the grass underneath.

"We're not safe yet. We'll have to head inwards," Clementine told them, looking at the trees. She got up shakily, taking a moment to balance herself. "Are you hurt?" she asked AJ.

"No," he replied softly. Other than a few scratches down his arms, he hadn't hurt himself gravely.

Clementine lent a hand to Violet. "Come on. Take it. We need to go. Marlon and Minnie are in there."

Violet cast her eyes towards Clementine before taking the girl's hand. She groaned in pain.

"Your arm is bleeding again," Clementine pointed out.

"Fuck..." Violet muttered.

"We'll have to use your jacket to tie it up. Here, give me." They carefully removed her jacket, before tying the arms tightly around the wound. "There. That's the best we can do right now. The bullet's gone through, so at least we don't have to pull it out."

Neither Violet nor AJ said anything as Clementine led them into the cover of trees. They were blind in here, relying on whatever light the moon gave them. They walked slowly to avoid tripping over the overgrown roots of the trees, walking in a single file.

Clementine tried her best to guide them, but as the adrenalin began to fade, she felt the pain, the worry, the agony and the fear take hold. It was a raw emotion that set a fire of doubt in her mind.

She had lost more than her fair share of people after the outbreak. One group to another, one attachment to another, one home to another, she had always been changing and growing. It hadn't been what she'd wanted, but it was just something that she had learned to deal with. Losing had just become the way of life and she knew there was no other way.

Yet, it felt unfair.

Being out in the midst of the trees felt no different than being in the prison at that moment. At least when they were inside, Louis wasn't dead. He didn't have a knife sticking out his stomach, his eyes unbelieving of the fact that he was going to die. He wouldn't have had his last moments desperately trying to get words out of his mouth. Any words.

The cold breeze made her shiver. Her jacket was still in Beth's office. She put her arms around herself, trying to warm up. Not that it helped much, but it was the most she could do.

She looked at AJ, who was walking with his eyes cast downwards. He had just been forced to shoot a person to save her, and that was bound to bother him. The first person she killed was the Stranger, when Lee had gotten bit. It had forced her to grow up. But it wasn't the growing up that had affected her, it was who she'd become.