Growing his beard out seemed like a good idea at the time. But looking back, Nate regretted his decision. The bristles that sprouted from his cheeks were quite irritating as he scratched his face in annoyance. He trudged wearily through the trees, clutching a rifle close to his chest.

It was nice to get out of the house for a bit, to breath in the morning air and explore his surroundings. Tree. Another tree...Wait, what was he doing out here again? Oh that's right, he was looking for some fellow survivors so that he could pump lead into their chests and rob their bloody corpses.

He paused for a moment when a noise caught his attention. Was it another walking corpse? No, it didn't sound like one of them, it sounded like... A scuffle. Huh. Suppose I should check it out.

He wandered aimlessly through the trees before stumbling across a camp. There were some torn apart tents along with a rusty van and a few objects scattered about. But his gaze fell upon the girl in the centre of the clearing. She was being attacked at the moment, by a dog. He hadn't seen a dog in a LONG time.

The mutt had it's teeth sunk into the girls arm, and seemed to be trying to tear her limb away from her shoulder. She was wearing a hat though. That was probably the most useless observation he had made but still, at least he had a nickname for her; Hat kid.

Nate began to consider what he should do. Maybe he should just stand and watch the dog maul Hat kid to death. That would be much more satisfying than killing the dog. Then again, if Hat kid was with a group and they discovered that he'd stood by and let the dog kill her, they'd probably kill him. Plus, if he saved the kid, he'd probably get a reward from her group.

Maybe he would be showered by loving affection from Hat kid's single, hot, mother... Okay, that was taking it a step to far. Nate grinned and lifted his rifle, aiming directly at the dogs head and squeezing the trigger.

BOOM. HEADSHOT.

Nate was rather impressed by his shooting skill as he watched a fountain of red spray out the side of the dogs head. It's body slumped down on top of Hat kid and lied completely still. Nate walked towards Hat kid with his head held high and kicked the dead corpse off of her.

The little girl looked up at him with wild eyes, her face splattered with the dogs blood, along with some of its brains on her purple shirt. "Get up, kid" he ordered.

Hat kid struggled to get up, her bitten arm seemed to be causing her great pain and she couldn't seem to push herself of the ground. Nate rolled his eyes and offered her his hand. She took it, and Nate helped her up.

"You're welcome" he hissed, slightly annoyed "Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"Yes" she murmured quietly.

"Where are your folks, anyway?" He asked, glancing around at the lack of people.

"They're dead" she replied sadly.

"Aren't you in a crew?" He questioned.

"I was, but I got separated from my friend, Christa, they've guys attacked us and-"

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, I don't want to hear your sob story. Are you in a crew or not?"

"No, it's just me"

Nate groaned. Not only had he wasted a bullet but now he was saddled with a kid. Letting the dog maul her would have been so satisfying. Nate sighed. Maybe he could just leave her. No, he'd saved her, she wasn't just going to let him abandon her like that. He was stuck with her now.

"Your arm looks pretty fuckin' bad" Nate commented, waving his rifle around like it was a toy.

Hat kid nervously stepped back, her eyes fixed on the rifle, she was probably anxious because it might go off, since Nate's finger was still hovering over the trigger. "It feels bad too" she replied, rolling her purple stripped sleeve down her arm and covering the bit. Once it was covered, the fabric was almost instantly stained in blood.

"I suppose you should come with me" Nate droned, spinning on his heels and leading the way. Hat kid stood firmly in place, hesitating for a moment and then following. Once they were away from the camp there was quite an awkward silence between them.

Nate glanced over his shoulder at the little girl, who was clutching her injured arm tightly and wincing every so often. "You know, I got a ton of supplies but I'm not doctor so I don't really know how any of this medical shit works. But I'll figure it all out. Probably"

Hat kid grimaced.

"What's your name, anyway?" He asked.

"I'm Clementine" she replied, picking up her pace so that she could walk along side him.

"Clementine? Isn't that a fruit?"

"Um, yeah"

"You ever eaten one?"

Clementine paused "I don't know"

"How can you not know?" Nate asked, slightly confused by her answer. Clementine shrugged in response. "Well, my names Nate" he told her.

"Nate" Clementine repeated.

"Yeah, Nate, don't wear it out"

Another awkward silence washed through them. Clementine began to fall behind, she seemed tired. "My place is just up ahead, we'll be there in no time" Nate told her, only to realise he was talking to an empty space. He paused and turned around to see Clementine trudging rather slowly, struggling to keep up. "Could you hurry up?" That was more of an order than a request.

"I'll... be right.. There" her voice was strained and her skin was pale. She stopped dead in her tracks, her body swayed and her eyes rolled upwards. The next thing Nate knew, she was lying rigidly on the ground. The older man stared, not knowing what to do. Maybe this was his chance to ditch her, to carry on with his life like nothing ever happened. Then again, leaving a kid to die in the woods would probably come back to bite him on the ass and he didn't want that.

Nate sighed "The things I do"