A Yellow Dress Forgotten [ABANDONED]

Ep. 1 | Blood-Stained || 6.2k

"I see humans, but no humanity..."    ~Jason Donohue

"L-Lee...? Did you have to kill those men?"

The last few strings of the girl in her white-stained dress unraveled with each fleck of the snow that swarmed around Clementine, chipping away her warmth piece by piece. She held the bundle of green blankets in her arms, a quiet baby nestled against her shoulder. There were no colors around her other than grey. The snow's glittering white was muted beyond recognition. Her blue jacket and the green blanket were the only sharp contrast. Yet, even then, dull.

Clementine did not know where she was going, only far, far away. The Glock snuggled at the small of her back was still warm, and the ghost of its scream still rang in her ears. And the roof of her mouth, too, still felt the metal's touch. She wandered down the road, following the remnants of cars and trucks. The girl desperately hoped it wouldn't lead her to a city. Anything but that.

The little girl glanced at her reflection as she passed by the windshields. And in the ones where the snow hadn't fogged the glass, Clementine caught her eyes. The hazel in them...changed.

"My baby, my doll. You have the sun in your eyes. Who wouldn't want to play with you?" her dad had once said. "You're the light in everyone's day!"

Clementine saw no sun. For quite some time, she hadn't—as if a haze of clouds had covered them. But, on that day, as the snow whipped her face, a crackle of life was born. It wasn't the sun, no. It was an inferno. The same that her parents had warned her so desperately against in their Bible-loving home.

Clementine blinked.

Up ahead was a monstrous dark silhouette overlooking a bundle of vehicles. She hesitated before recognizing the comical shape fixed on its roof: it was only donut shop. She squinted through the light patter of snow; Dunkin', by the looks of the lettering. Clementine ventured forth, her mind buzzing and arms tight around the baby. Her only light of hope: A.J. When the door was pushed open, Clementine half-expected to hear a bell ring; she found it on a table, long since disarmed. Clementine looked around. To her luck, it had been ransacked. Completely hollowed out of resources. Starved and dismal.

"Fucking..." Clementine swore under her breath, the crackle of life simmering in her glare. The newborn beast within her eyes shivered irritably. In her reflection, from broken mirror shards on the ground, she saw it and tore herself away.

Clementine held A.J closer to her chest in debate. It was warmer inside, however sour her luck. That she could admit. And empty of people—the last thing she could ever want. Clementine strode into the back, finding some blankets scattered across the floor. It didn't take long for the two to be huddled within those blankets, resting silently.

If only the thoughts Clementine had were as serene. Instead, warfare plagued her consciousness. White noise fogged the beginnings and ends of her thoughts. She felt simply hollow.

A.J coughed and mumbled vowels. Clementine rocked him, and she cooed gently, a mantra, "We'll be okay, A.J, we'll be okay." At least, that's what she hoped. "Just go to sleep for now, okay? We need rest." As she heard the wind pick up outside, she knew that was all they could do.

"W-We'll be okay... We'll be okay."

[ . . . ]

The wheels of the train clacked along its rails in rhythmic beats, accompanied by the engine's hum. Clementine sat at the mouth of the train car, her legs dangling off the edge. She watched the ground blitz by as she fiddled with the edge of her white-stained dress. Clementine grimaced. It was yellow, at that point. Her mother would be extremely disappointed in her—