The Walking Dead Season 4

A/N - It would probably be wise to read TWD S3 fan fic, which you can find on my co-writer, Drexbann15's, account... Still here? Great. Well, here it is; TWD S4. Disclaimer: The only thing we own is the plot and our OC's.

Previously on The Walking Dead.

Edith then spoke up, grabbing their attention back up to her. "Well, looks like a spot opened up... as long as you're not big eaters, I think you're little family here will be quite happy."

Kenny's eye widened in amazement. "You mean...?"

"Yep. I'll meet you down there. Hold on a minute." Edith smiled as she walked out of view to open the gates.

"Oh my god... we made it!" Clementine cheered with little Alvie. "We made it AJ." Then she looked up to Kenny. "All of us!"

"We did, didn't we?" Kenny chuckled as he wiped a lone tear from his eye. "I can barely believe it."

"I know." She grinned as Edith opened up the shipping container doors to let them in. "Welcome to Wellington..."

"We should get along just fine then. Thanks by the way, I know you didn't have to do that." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "And yeah... name's Dustin, but everybody 'round her calls me Dusty."

"What was his problem? He called you liar because of what you wore, I don't get that." Clem crossed her arms trying to figure out the confrontation.

"Well these are my dad's clothes and I wear them because it helps me remember he was a hero... and yeah, easy mistake for anyone to make..."

"I understand..." Clementine stated as she gripped the brim of her 'D' hat. "My dad gave me this hat and it's all I really have left of my parents..."

Dusty got down on one knee to get on her level and console her. "Hey I'm sorry Clementine... it ain't like I enjoy having to explain all this to everyone I see, so I mostly keep quiet about my past and everybody just assumes I'm an army man. But really, I was just a janitor back in the day. Nothing impressive..."

"Is that how you got the name Dusty?" Clementine couldn't remember the last time she made or even heard a joke. It was kind of funny when the connection was made.

Dustin chuckled at that. "Sweeping the floors and all that; yeah it was quick to stick to me I guess, and I sorta like it. Makes me sound a bit tougher huh?"

Kenny held up his finger to his lips in a shushing motion and signaled Clementine to follow him with his gun raised. The two survivors cautiously tiptoed and made their way across the horrible real-life nightmare. What they found though, was not just the damsel in distress...

It was another young man covered in blood; he was kneeling over the woman they could assume was the one screaming. "You... you can't be... I need..."

Clementine took the courage to speak up and address the only survivor. "Hey! Get away from her or she's going to turn!" She noted that the woman was disemboweled as well with no blow to the head.

Kenny ordered him. "Get your ass up, now!"

The man who complied had turned around revealing himself to be just a kid, a teenage boy of above average height and build, maybe he was around seventeen or eighteen. "...Why? Why am..."

Dustin suddenly came onto the scene in a panic. "Guys, we got walkers coming!" He then glanced at the young man then the woman dead on the ground. "Clementine, come on, convince him to come with us and let's go!"

"Dammit! We have to shoot our way out!" Kenny and Dusty raised their guns and prepared to do so.

Clem realized that the teen was the only one left alive here so she ran to Hazen and nudged him. "I'm sorry about your friend but you have to come with us! You'll live!"

"Hi, Michael." Clementine greeted with a small awkward wave.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?" She asked, wondering if he was distressed in some way.

"Waiting... just nothing now I guess, it's been a real fucked up day for me." He replied. "What are you doing?"

"Checking on you." Clem thought that was pretty obvious.

"Why would you do that?"

"Well..." She reasoned. "Because you look upset... you're stabbing dirt..."

"I'm not upset. Why does everyone think I'm upset? No needs to worry about me. Jesus Christ, I don't hear the end of it from Edith."

Clementine sat down in front of him and crossed her legs "Something must be wrong. You're really acting... out of sorts." Michael grunted and stabbed his knife into the ground, and then he released the handle once it was firmly in place.

"Wellington has fallen, Edith!" Clementine declared to her.

Edith sighed. "I knew this would happen. After Vaughn died... I knew things would get shitty."

"Edith, could you open the gate, please?" Michael asked, quickly getting to the point.

Edith stared at the controls and then at the two children. "There isn't much left for you here." She murmured. "Yeah, I'll open the gates for you." She responded with a nod. "That'll probably help whoever's still alive to escape."

"Come with us." Clementine suggested, taking a step forward.

"No dear, my place is here." She replied firmly. "But thanks, really, I appreciate that." She stated gratefully. "Listen, I'll stay up here and help clear a path for you and your friends, till my gun clicks empty."

Michael nodded. "Thanks Edith." He turned away as he picked up a discarded sniper rifle and climbed down.

Clementine remained rooted to the spot. "Go on." Edith told her. "Go!"

Clementine left. She climbed down from the lookout station and stood with the group, waiting for the gates to open. Michael threw the sniper rifle to Dusty, who caught it and prepared himself for the walkers outside.

"If things turn ugly and we get split up, we'll all meet up at the Bed 'N' Breakfast on the outskirts of the woods. Me and Clem know where it is, and I'm sure some of you have seen it on supply runs." Kenny told them. "It's called Ruthie's. Got it?"

The twelve year old lifted her glock, aiming at the gate as it screeched and clunked and then it swung open, to reveal the cluster of walkers blocking their path. Kenny was the first to fire a shot, killing the nearest walker and marching out into the herd. The group followed. From above, Edith rained some bullets down on the small herd.

"NO! KENNY!"

Kenny looked back only momentarily, and that was when he dived on top of AJ to protect him as Dusty, Michael, and Clem fired at the six walkers that all came in at once. Only two or three were shot down as the others pounced on the meat shield for the screaming baby that was Kenny. "GAHHH! AHHH!" Two bit into both his shoulders while another one bit into his leg... getting good chucks of flesh and tearing them out of him in the process.

Clem was deathly mortified, she pushed the walker that was on top of her off and emptied her clip into the remaining walkers that were attacking Kenny. The old man remained motionless as Dusty ran to the bedroom door and slammed it shut, preventing anymore lurkers from entering at the moment. "Dammit! Goddammit!" He put his entire weight into the door. "Clem?!"

Clem approached Kenny, who was already coughing and a pool of blood was forming underneath him. He used almost all of his strength to adjust himself and get AJ out from under him. He weakly addressed the tearing up Clementine. "Clem..."

"No... no, no, no, no, NO!" Clem shook her head in denial as she fell to her knees in front of AJ. "Kenny... I... this is my fault I..." She sobbed unable to grasp that Kenny was already bleeding out, that he "I should have... I'm so sorry..."

He coughed in respond. "Don't ever think that darlin', it's alright... *cough* cough*" He sounded so weak, but he continued. "Clementine you need... Go... You need to... Get AJ outta here." Kenny groaned, his voice strained as he handed the baby to the weeping young girl.

"I'm not leaving you to turn!" Clementine cried.

"You have to... You're the only family he's got... Look... Look after him... For me... for his parents" He inhaled sharply. "Clem..." A tear fell down his peaceful face. "...I see them, you were right..." And his closed his eye.

"Dustin..." Maree cried.

"No! STOP! Listen! Please, listen to me! It's doesn't have to be this way! If you won't take me as your hostage, then you have to understand! We gave you that man Sven, to satiate your anger and sadness for your lost son. And I'm truly sorry for his passing, but we made that choice for you! I didn't agree with that, but we forgive you, for trying to kill us, all of us. There's no ill feelings here."

Dusty sighed with his pause and he went on with his plea.

"I forgive you, for this..." He touched his burnt face and burnt arm. "I forgive you... Now I know that the world out there... the world we all knew... is gone. But whether it's in the name of God or not, keeping our humanity is a choice! And we get to make that choice, right here, right now! No one here has to die, we just let it go... we go our separate ways, just let her go..."

Everyone watched as Mother Katherine looked back up at the stain glass windows where the Garden of Eden flourished in the sunlight. She smiled at the thought of peace, but then she looked at Angus and the other five people who followed her, watching her contemplate this man's proposal. Clem watched as the old woman's grip began to slacken on Maree's figure.

But something was wrong... Dusty looked hopeful, but Katherine seemed confused and disorientated. Maree however was able to shake free from her captor's grip and ran towards Dusty, smiling and with open arms, thankful. Everything seemed to go in slow motion...

Katherine then looked back up with a look of malice and enmity. "Infidel...!"

With Maree a mere couple feet from Dusty's embrace, Katherine raised her pistol and...

*BANG!*

The bullet entered the back of the nurse's head and exited out of her eyeball... Blood and brain matter splattered Dusty's face, and instead of a relived Maree reuniting with him, a dead corpse met his grasp, shock and fury etched all over his face when he caught her body. It was over...

His scream echoed throughout the chapel. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

"KILL THEM ALL!"

Hazen had enough of Nate's violent behavior and decided to respond as such. Hazen took hold of Nate shoulders and brought him closer, to the man's sudden surprise. And the young Clementine watched in absolute horror and disgust as he dived his jaw into his neck and bit down... hard!

"AHH! AHH! Let go! You fuck-!" Nate had all of his breathe escape out of his throat as Hazen ripped it out with a chuck of flesh in his mouth... A small fountain of blood spouted forth and stained his shirt as Hazen spat out the mouthful of skin, tissue, and blood vessels on the ground. Nate stepped back from the young man, trying to stop the bleeding, but he had already dropped to the floor, his skin going pale, and the entire front of his body wet with his own dark blood.

"You should not expect a speech filled with remorse, with regret. That's not who I am, my last words and rites are between me and God now!" She hissed at them which fell on their deaf ears.

Michael smirked as he joined Clem and AJ's side. He gave a supportive nod and she returned it. Now the only matter left to deal with now was the fallen Mother Katherine. Dusty stared into the fireplace, and his face darkened when he reached in and pulled out the metal fireplace poker. The fire iron had a white-hot tip from being laid in the flames for hours on end. It steamed when it was taken out into the office temperature, and with this blazing weapon in hand, Dusty turned around and faced Katherine with it...

"Ah... I see. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and burn for a burn. Is that what you intend?" The older woman inquired from the young man.

"No, I'm just going to kill you." Dusty simply responded with a snarl as he wielded the sizzling fire poker like a sword. "I'm not going to let you do this to anyone ever again!"

"Dusty..."

"Get away from me!" Katherine yelled as Dusty reeled back the fire poker. "NO!"

*BANG!*

Even though Clementine's bullet found its way straight through Katherine's forehead, the young man didn't even care at that moment. "Rah!" As he body slumped to the floor, he dove the white-hot metal into her stomach... Dusty clenched his teeth, along with the plunge into her abdomen, he was also burning her flesh. He then added insult to injury and twisted his weapon of choice while it was still buried in her intestines, making a squelching noise in the process. If Katherine were still alive for this... she would be in unimaginable agony...

Whatever budding alliance she had with this girl was eviscerated. "Now for the last time, leave us the hell alo-!"

*GRROOAAH!*

"AHHHHHHH!"

To her absolute surprise and horror, a zombified Wayne had suddenly awoken and lunged its grey dead hand into the bundle of blonde hair which belonged to Helga and yanked her head back! "Clem! Clementine! Help me!"

Clem was about to pull the trigger but then-! A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and knocked her pistol out of her hands! Clem struggled with all her might, but the pair of arms would not release her, she couldn't reach her gun either, she couldn't do anything! Then...

Wayne's jaws sunk deep into a screaming Helga's throat, ripping it to shreds in one bite...

"GAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"HELGA!"

Helga's blood curdling screams were still ringing in Clementine's ears when the pair of arms released her, causing the little girl to stumble forwards. She whirled around to see Hazen backing away.

"Hazen?!" She exclaimed, him of all people?!

"Clem... It's okay." He told her calmly. "It's over now."

The lighthouse then came into view. The large tower was painted with white and red stripes, but the beacon that had once shone brightly at the top had been shut off a long time ago. The sound of walkers came from nearby through the darkness though, their groans eminent.

"It's pretty... tall." Definitely taller than her old tree house... a lot taller actually Clem thought.

"Well it's supposed to be Clem, so boats out on the lake can see the light." Brooke stated plainly to her.

"Welcome to my home." Lucas proclaimed half-jokingly.

"This is the place." Lucas informed the group as they walked up to the daycare.

Clementine looked up to see that the rusty sign on the building that had once read "DAYCARE" had a letter missing, and now read "DACARE". There were windows on either side of the front door, with the window on the right having letters smeared in dark, old, red blood, that read "HELP US". There were also several crimson hand prints on the glass...

Shivers ran up their spines as the group of five stood frozen in place. After a moment of simply gazing at the building, Dusty took a step forwards and wrapped his hand around the door handle. Before he opened the door, he turned to the group and gulped. "Y'all ready to go in?" He asked with a worried expression.

But everyone tried to put on a brave face. Lucas drew his revolver and held it aloft, nodding at Dusty. Clementine withdrew her gun from her pants and held it by her side. The rest of the group also pulled out their weapons and watched as Dusty pushed down on the handle and opened the door.

The stench hit them first.

Michael gagged loudly and covered his mouth and nose while Clementine turned her head away in disgust. Hazen looked unfazed, but Dusty and Lucas were visibly concerned by what lurked inside the building.

Deep down, they all knew...

*smash!*

The sound of the glass bottle smashing startled Clementine and Hazen. Clementine got up and walked over to the doorway that led to the stairs and caught Michael standing there, the bottle of alcohol from earlier shattered on the top step and the liquor soaking the concrete.

"Michael, how long have you been standing there?" Clementine asked. She felt Hazen's presence behind her.

"Long enough." He replied, before turning his attention to Hazen. "You killed Helga, and now it turns out you let a baby die too?"

"You don't understand, Michael." Hazen argued with him. "You weren't there."

"I didn't need to be there!" He snarled at him. "What else don't we know about you, Hazen?! What kind of a sicko are you, huh?!"

"It was for survival!" Hazen insisted in his defense.

"You're fucking sick in the head. You hear me?! Sick!" Michael exclaimed the accusation. "I went through hell to keep a little baby girl alive, you know that?! And you're willing to just use a dead infant for food?!"

"I didn't!" Hazen retorted. "We were starving!"

"Starving is a lot better than resorting to that! You should be ashamed! How are you even f*** standing right now?! How do you live with yourself?!" Michael paused, his anger nearly reaching boiling point. "I wish Helga was here, not you! You fucking cannibal!"

"HEY!" Dusty waved his arms like a person with a death wish. "OVER HERE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" He banged his fire iron on some fallen wood to get all the walkers' attentions.

"What the hell are you doing Dusty?!" Clementine exclaimed at him wide-eyed. She noticed he was moving away from her and more towards the forest with at least a dozen walkers going after him now. "Get back here!"

But Dustin ignored her words. "JUST RUN! GET BACK TO THE LIGHTHOUSE! TELL THE OTHERS! GO NOW!" He then turned heel and sprinted off into the woods, making as much noise as he could along the way.

Michael took another step forward and addressed Hazen lowly. "You're no longer apart of this group... Get the fuck out!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Hazen retorted with a growl.

White lightning flashed above the dome in the dark clouds, jutting dark shadows across both of the teens' faces. "Then I suppose I'll just have to make you."

Hazen glanced at the railing, and decided to finally end this. He swung Michael round and pushed him back, and with a good kick-!

Michael was shoved back with full force, and the broken railing tore through the teen's back and jutted out Michael's stomach...

*ACK!* *Gah...*

The fourteen year old choked up blood, while crimson red liquid trickled down from the wound and began to soak the lower half of his body. "You... Fucking... Cunt." He wheezed out. Meanwhile, Hazen facial expression changed completely, like he had just woken up from a dream. He backed away slowly as Michael hunched his back and began to gasp for breath.

"Michael!" Clementine cried as she ran to him, pushing Hazen aside.

"Please... Hazen, you don't have to do this!"

"I lied to you Clementine." The older teen looked at her as he revealed the truth to her. "I didn't stop the men with knives who killed and ate those people because..." He cried out as he clutched the knife in his hand tightly. "BECAUSE I WAS ONE OF THEM!"

Clem stood there shocked, scared, and abhorred. The thought of his actions now revolted her. His rant went on however. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID WITH THESE HANDS CLEMENTINE?!" Hazen slapped himself in the face with his free hand several times before he continued. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I FUCKING DID?!"

He wasn't there anymore, he was... Too far gone, too far to save.

"I DON'T KNOW ANYONE ANYMORE!"

"Clem..." Hazen wheezed.

Clementine dropped the gun and gripped the handle of the knife with both hands. She lifted it above her head and drove it into Hazen's chest. He let out one final gasp for air before his life was extinguished like a burnt out flame.

The twelve year old twisted the knife and ripped it out of Hazen's chest and began to slash and stab his face over and over again. His blood caked her hands and sleeves, while some of it splattered onto her face and jacket.

All she could see was red.

Clementine dropped Michael's bloodied knife, Hazen's face now completely unrecognizable after being slashed multiple times. She fell back and leaned against the beacon light, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Lucas held out his hand. Clementine didn't know what he was asking for, but once she realized, she shook his hand. "Goodbye, Clem."

"Goodbye... Lucas." She turned and walked away slowly. As she walked back towards Dusty, she glanced over her shoulder to get one last look at Lucas. His gaze was still fixed on the mound of earth, his eye's clouded with tears.

Clementine turned and ran back towards Lucas. Once she reached him, she wrapped her arms around Lucas' waist and held him close. He was surprised at first until he realized what she was doing and embraced her in the hug. "Michael loves you... He told me to tell you that."

Lucas let out a stifled sob as they both held the embrace for a little while longer. Once the moment had past, Clementine pulled away gently and looked up at Lucas. He gave her a weak smile and sniffed before wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Thanks, Clem... I needed that. I'm glad Michael had a friend like you." He smiled gratefully. "Go on, now... AJ's waiting."

Dusty realized this with a gasp. "He just said his first word." He looked at Clementine. "And he's standing! Holy shit! Clem, this is a double whammy!"

The tears were sucked back into her eyes as Clementine stated elatedly. "Oh my god, AJ! I am so proud of you!" His first word was her name! Alvie's first word was her name! Clem picked him up and gave him a tight hug.

Dusty chuckled at the scene before him. "You see? How can you quit doing this when we got this little miracle to raise?" He paused while they both settled back down. "The three of us are not too far gone Clem, not by a long shot. We all may have lost people we really cared about, but you can always find your way back home with one of us, it's never hopeless."

Clementine gave a gracious look towards the burned man. Dustin was strong, level headed, and he and AJ brought her back just like she helped him with his darkness. And then her golden orbs looked into that of AJ's brown orbs, and there was a connection, a powerful, loving, emotional connection between them. Things were going to be okay for them. Clem sniffed again. "I- thank you Dusty, you're right."

"Of course I'm right." He cheekily smirked at her to which she returned. "You and AJ here are the only family I got left..." He then glanced up and saw Lucas off in the distance, leaving to join the others. They exchanged looks and respectfully nodded until he disappeared into the fog. His attention then went back to the kids, putting his hands on his hips. "So here's what were going to do, we're going to get as many supplies as we can carry and go somewhere YOU want to go, Clementine."

Clementine's eyes widened when she recognized a familiar spot on the map and instinctively pointed to it. "There! I wanna go there please."

"Here?" Dusty examined the place she picked. "You sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure." Clem grinned at her, he had never seen her this excited in a while, if at all. He wondered why.

But he still agreed with her choice. "Alright, sounds like you have plan." He folded the map back up and placed it in his pocket.

She nodded, keeping her smirk up. "I do have a plan. Think you can handle it?"

Dusty scoffed at her remark. "I think so. But you better tell me it along the way, probably tonight." He then bent down to pick up AJ, but he was surprised when he actually saw AJ walking away from them, albeit he was a little wobbly and he fell down a couple times but still. "Geez... hope he doesn't run away from us."

What a day, up and down like an emotional roller coaster. But still Clementine went after Alvie, playfully chasing him now. "He's not getting away from me." The child squealed with delight when the little girl caught him, and Dusty smiled contently until he turned around.

They needed to get away, at least for a while, and he knew Clementine wanted to leave this place behind as well. "Come on." Dusty turned to see Clem putting on her backpack and carrying AJ. So he decided to put his gear on too. "Follow us, Dusty." Maybe they could sleep in the nearby outpost for the night.

But at this moment, it was the three of them against the world now...

"Lead the way, kid."

Clem whined back. "Hey! I'm not a kid!"

Episode 1: Secure our Hope - Written by TWDGamerKenny'sBro

The silver shutter was thrown open to reveal the interior of the all too familiar outpost. AJ was the first to stumble-walk-crawl into the building, followed by Clementine. Dusty entered last and slammed the shutter down behind them, keeping out any unwanted undead visitors.

Clementine quickly chased after AJ and picked him up before he could go tumbling head first into the moat that was in the centre of the boathouse. Dusty shrugged off a bag two bags; one that was on his back, while the others strap was on one shoulder. The only difference between the two was that one had supplies in that were specifically for AJ. Dusty proceeded to dump the bags on the ground and mop his sweaty brow "Hell of a day" he muttered, slumping down by the supply boxes.

Clementine walked over whilst carrying a struggling AJ, who was eager to get put back down and start walking again. She slumped down into a sitting position beside Dusty and sighed.

"We'll stay here for tonight, maybe grab some more stuff, then head out in the morning" he suggested "That sound good?" He asked for her approval.

Clementine considered his plan before nodding in agreement "Yeah, sounds good" she replied.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Dusty spoke up again "Come on, Clem, spill the beans, where exactly are you taking us?" He asked. He didn't seem fond of being left in the dark about Clementine's plan.

She gave him a brief smirked "I suppose I could tell you"

Dusty smirked back at her "You're real cheeky sometimes, you know that?"

Clementine grinned at that as she took out her map, unfolded it and laid it out on the floor. "A while ago, me and Kenny were at this place called Howe's Hardware Store. It was a community but it fell because of walkers."

"Bit like Wellington" he commented.

"I think the walkers must have cleared out a while ago, so if we could get back there we would have all those supplies to ourselves. We could even start our own community" she explained.

"So where is it?" Dusty questioned.

Clementine glanced back down at the map "Um... It's in Tennessee" she told him.

Dusty grimaced "That's a long way to travel" he responded.

"There's a place we can stop off along the way. There's a Super 7 Hotel in a town close to the Ohio border. There's also an old insane asylum and an air base there" she explained.

"How do you know all this?"

"Me and my friend Christa passed through that town when we were trying to find Wellington. That was before I met up with Kenny... And before I ended up being split up from her"

He frowned "It's too bad you ended up losing her..." He mumured. His frown then turned into as smile as he changed the subject back to the topic at hand "Well, sounds like you've got it all figured out"

Clementine folded the map back up and tucked it away in her back pocket "Yep" she responded simply whilst sitting back and relaxing against the boxes.

Dusty looked down at AJ and then back at Clementine with a concerned expression on his face "Are you gonna be okay, Clem?" He asked her "I mean, after what happened at the lighthouse... You're not gonna give up, are you?"

Clementine stared at Dusty and then glanced down at AJ "As long as I got this little guy with me, I'm never gonna give up" she stated boldly.

(?) Dusty will remember that

"That's the spirit" he replied encouragingly. "Now, why don't you two get some shut eye while I get us something to eat?" He suggested.

Clementine yawned sleepily and nodded "Yeah, okay" she agreed, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"We've got a long journey ahead of us. But as long as we keep moving and cover enough miles, I'm sure we'll make it. Then maybe we'll finally find somewhere safe and secure"

3 months later...

It was now late summer, with autumn on it's way. But that didn't stop the weather from being baking hot. Clementine had swapped her leather jacket and purple long sleeved shirt for a simple yellow t-shirt and a red and white hooded jacket.

She didn't wear the jacket often, and kept it tied around her waist for the majority of the time. Dusty had also adjusted himself to the weather by removing the top half of his uniform and wearing a black t-shirt. He also had his upper layer tied around his waist.

Clementine missed wearing her leather jacket. It had made her feel somewhat safe, since walkers had a hard time biting through it. It didn't make her invincible against them but it had provided her with a higher chance of survival. Plus, Kenny had given it her, and was one of the only things she had left of him, aside from his hat that she hoped to give to little Alvie at some point.

Nevertheless, she still had her leather jacket safely tucked away in her backpack amongst other things, waiting to be used again in the late autumn and winter months.

She and Dusty were walking down a dislocate forest highway, with an abandoned loading truck just up ahead. Dusty had spotted it on the horizon a few metres back and had wanted to check it out. They were going to pass it anyway, so it didn't matter if he wanted to or not.

AJ was holding her hand and walking on his own two feet. He was wearing a tiny pair of shoes, an orange t-shirt and short legged jeans. They had been lucky to find some fresh baby clothes that almost fitted him perfectly.

Clementine hadn't been so lucky when it came down to her red and white jacket, since it was a little bit too big for her. She didn't really mind, though.

AJ was growing up fast. She felt very proud of him, not only could he walk with aided support from her or Dusty, but he also had some new words in his vocabulary. He was progressing rather well under the circumstances. The only thing she dreaded was him having to grow up in a world like this and having to explain everything to him... About his mum and dad... And all the people that had died trying to get him to this point.

"What do you think, Clem?" Dusty snapped her out of her train of thought. "Do you think we should stay here for the night?" He questioned, gesturing at the broken down truck. The large, red vehicle was parked at the side of the road, it's rear end parked slightly obscured compared to the front "The loading crate could be a good place to rest" he muttered, more to himself than her.

Clementine glanced at the truck and then at the road. The truck could be a good place to stop... Then again, they were so close, maybe they could keep going just a little longer. "We still have a few hours of daylight left and we're really close to the town. Maybe if we keep going, we could find someplace closer" she suggested.

Dusty nodded in understanding "Well, if that's what you want"

"We just shouldn't go too far if we can't find anything and come straight back here"

"Good call" he said, walking on ahead "I'm gonna check the cab for a sec, see if there's anything useful. You carry on going and I'll catch you up in a bit"

Clementine and AJ continued to walk down the road. Clem briefly glanced around at the woods and then at the asphalt. She made a mental note to keep an eye on the trees, just in case any walkers showed up. Out of nowhere, for no reason whatsoever, AJ let go of her hand and sat on the ground.

Clementine looked down at the small child and smiled warmly "AJ, what are you doing?" She asked him in a gentle tone.

"Tired" he mumbled. He then grabbed hold of his feet "Hurtie"

"We'll be resting soon" she explained to him.

AJ reached up towards her and exclaimed "Up!"

Clem rolled her eyes and sighed, before kneeling down and picking up an exhausted AJ. "You're getting heavy" she chuckled, as she carried on walking. AJ wrapped his arms around Clem's neck, while she supported his lower body.

The sound of running came from behind, and mere moments later, Dusty appeared beside her and steadied his pace "Tired little man?" He asked, his words directed at AJ. The little boy nodded and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Find anything?" Clem asked Dusty.

"Nah... Just a chocolate bar. Thought AJ might like it, since he's mostly eating solid foods now"

"And if he doesn't want it, then I'll have it" Clementine smirked.

"Or you could share" Dusty suggested.

"Yeah, that works too. But I'm getting the bigger half"

"Of course you are, Clem" Dusty sighed, having a small chuckle. "Anyway, let's keep moving... Not much daylight left now"

After walking a little while longer, Dusty and Clementine came across a old church that had fallen into ruin long before the apocalypse. It seemed like the building had been under construction but the workers had never got around finishing it.

Now nature had taken over the forgotten building that had been hidden amongst the trees. There were weeds growing from within cracks in the floor, and ivy vastly covering the yellow-ish white tinted walls. What was left of the walls, anyway. There was scaffolding and wooden walk ways propped up around the building, but luckily from them there was a small patch of roof, so that's where she and Dusty took shelter for the night, now that the sun had almost set.

Not long after they got settled did it start raining. The weather had great timing, apparently. That's when they realised that the small patch of roof covered area had a couple of holes in.

Dusty watched the water droplets fall from the sky and then glanced up at the leaking roof before sighing "Well, look on the bright side, at least we're closer to the town. We'll probably be there by tomorrow morning, if we set off early that is"

Clementine removed her jacket from around her waist and put it on, pulling her hood up over her head and signature hat "I guess so" she murmured. She felt guilty for dragging AJ and Dusty here just so they could get caught out in the rain "I'm sorry" she apologised.

"For what?" He questioned.

"We probably should've stayed in the truck, maybe then we'd be dry"

"We are dry. Sort of." He replied, glancing up at the leaking roof once again, and then at the small pool of water that was forming on the dry area of concrete "It's nothing to be sorry about, you were just eager to get to the town, I understand that. Don't feel bad about it, Clem"

Clementine leaned back against the church wall and closed her eyes briefly "Do you want me to keep watch?" She asked.

"Nah, you and AJ sleep. I want you good and rested for the final push tomorrow. I'll keep an eye out for walkers"

"You should rest too" she insisted. Ever since the lighthouse, Dusty had been encouraging her to take it easy, meaning he had to work harder. She didn't want Dusty to have to do everything for her. He needed to take it easy too, and Clem was capable of doing many things for him.

"Well, maybe we could take turns" he suggested.

She yawned and then gently rocked AJ "Okay... I can do that"

Clementine listened to the rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain, which allowed her to easily drift off into slumber.

Clementine was woken up in the early hours of morning by the sound of a metallic clanging. She sat up, rubbed her eyes sleepily and got to her feet. The rain had stopped, but there was still some water droplets dripping off of the trees and vegetation. The sun was shining too, it's golden glow reaching them through the gaps in the tree branches.

She trudged out from underneath the roof covered area and wandered out towards the centre of the construction site. There, she spotted a family of foxes, three to be exact. There was a mother and her two pups, the smallest of the two had his head stuck in a can and was banging it against the concrete floor in a desperate attempt to get it off.

"Aw, poor little guy" she murmured. She thought about going to help him, but then decided to fetch Dusty first before she did anything, and went running back towards him and AJ. Dusty had nodded off during the night and forgotten to wake her up so she could take over watch duty.

"Dusty" she whispered, nudging him awake "You need to see this" she told him.

Dusty groaned and sat up "What is it?" He asked, clearly still half asleep.

"Come look" she insisted "And bring AJ too. I want him to see this"

Clementine ran back to the courtyard to check if the fox family was still there. They were, with the small pup still stuck.

Dusty trudged over carrying AJ, blinking rapidly at the sight of the fox family "Well I'll be" he muttered "Never seen a couple of foxes in the wild before". His gaze landed on the pup that had his head stuck "Poor little fella" he commented "You should help him out, Clem"

She nodded and slowly approached "Hold on a sec. Just don't touch him, okay? We don't want you catching some disease" he warned.

"Okay, I won't" she replied. She slowly approached the fox pup, glancing at the mother who growled viscously and curled her lips back to reveal her sharp teeth.

"Sssh, sssh, sssh" she shushed her "It's okay" she whispered gently "I just want to help him".

(o) Help fox

Clementine took hold of the can and pulled. The can slipped off the fox's head, and he quickly ran back to his mother, yelping happily. His mother lowered her head and licked her sons pelt lovingly.

"Well, would you look at that, AJ" Dusty spoke to the infant "Those are foxes" he explained.

"Foxies!" AJ exclaimed, clapping his hands together and giggling.

Clementine smiled at her adopted sibling "Close enough" she chuckled as she rejoined them.

The three turned to look at the family of foxes. The mother's eyes were soft and full of gratitude. Clementine liked to think that she would thank them if she could.

The family turned and walked away together, disappearing into the wilderness.

"There was three of them... And three of us" Clementine commented.

"Let's hope AJ doesn't get his head stuck in a can any time soon, then" Dusty joked. "Let's get going... We'll be there soon... Hopefully things will turn out just fine"

As Dusty and Clementine went to collect there stuff, three unseen eyes watched curiously from the safety of the bushes. It was rare to see wildlife nowadays... And it was rare for the foxes to see humans too.

Knowing that there were still some peaceful creatures living in this world filled the three survivors with hope. The hope that they needed to carry on.

The second instalment is finally here... And things are looking hopeful for Dusty, Clem and AJ. Lets hope it stays that way. This prologue was written with the help of Drex. Couldn't do it without him. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for the next chapter