Chapter 1:

"Just let me out."

Nick was sick of his uncles nagging.

He had his arms crossed, his teeth clenched and his eyes locked onto his uncle's just as pissed off face.

He could feel the vein popping on his forehead as he tried to control his anger.

His temper was one of his many flaws, in fact, it was possibly his biggest flaw. Pete knew that, but still he pushed the young man around like he was his father.

The two relatives stood in the kitchen of a small cabin in the middle of no where.

The rest of their group, which consisted of the pregnant Rebecca and her husband Alvin, Carlos the doctor and his daughter Sarah, and Nick's best friend Luke, were elsewhere in the house, completely oblivious to the argument unfolding downstairs.

Even if they had known, they wouldn't have been surprised.

Pete and Nick fought constantly.

They were both very highly strung, but Nick was more likely to have an outburst than Pete was.

The older man was wiser and able to keep his head on straight in such situations, but Nick was still young and stupid.

"I'm just asking you to be a little nicer to Sarah. You know she has anxiety problems…" Pete said, blocking the door to the kitchen so Nick couldn't leave. Since he stood in front of the door, no one could enter either.

The black haired, blue eyed, angry boy scowled at his know-it-all uncle. "I'm not an idiot, Uncle Pete! Just… You need to stop bossing me around! I'm 26 years old, not the eleven year old kid that, for some stupid reason, looked up to you! I'll do what I want, when I want! It's my choice. You're not my dad, and if you were, I'd hate you just as much as I hated the fucker who was…" Nick ranted, taking a seat at the table and clenching his fists in a fit of rage.

Pete frowned at his nephew and took as seat across from him.

They locked eyes, the tension was running high. "Your old man wasn't the best; I know that, but-"

"I heard shouting. Y'all okay?" Luke entered the kitchen and looked at the two at the table curiously.

Since he was the closest to them, he regularly showed up to disarm the situation.

He just stood at the door, looking at Pete and Nick who stared at him annoyed.

Nick looked away from his brunette friend, un-amused that he always had to intervene, before looking back to Pete. "Stop talking to me like I'm a baby." He hissed, feeling ashamed after hearing his last family member repeat a line he always used to 'calm him down.'

That stupid sentence about his father who had abandoned him so long ago.

It always made Nick feel more angry hearing about his 'old man'.

"Whoa, Nick, chill out… What's up?" Luke asked, taking a step further into the kitchen after he noticed the rage filling his friends eyes.

Nick just huffed in frustration, ignoring the question, and allowing his eyes to wander to the back door.

That was his ticket out of there.

Luke now took Pete's place in front of the door, so just going out back was as simple an option.

"I need some air." He said emotionlessly, standing up out of his chair and leaving out the door, ignoring the calls from Pete and Luke for him to come back.

Nick was angry, he was upset, but he was overall depressed.

Ever since his mother had died, which was only a month before, he had grown distant from everyone and everything.

That woman had given her every second to him.

His father was never around, so she played the role of mom and dad.

Nick was a difficult child; he was always sulking and causing trouble with Luke and their other friends.

As he marched away from the cabin, through the woods in a blind rage, he mentally thanked his mother for putting up with him and not throwing him out of her house for ruining her life, like he remembered trying to do purposely on many occasions.

Thinking back on it, he really was a terrible son.

Nick was tired of everyone pushing him around. Carlos had even had the nerve to point out to him that he was the youngest man in the house, and should've been pulling his weight more.

He even had the audacity to tell the young man to stop making people baby him all the time.

Nick was so close to breaking the doctor's nose that day.

Releasing a long sigh, Nick stopped marching through the trees of the pines and looked around.

All he could see were large trees in every direction.

He spun around, feeling tricked and confused by the forestry around him.

His breathing picked up as he tried to find the way he had just come from, but didn't have any luck.

The trees all looked the same, and spinning in circles on the spot was not helping anything; in fact, it only confused him more!

"Fuck! Fuck…" he muttered to himself, feeling like an idiot for even traveling so far away from the cabin in the first place.

He travelled for a few more minutes in a random direction, before finally giving up and accepting the fact that he was lost.

He groaned in annoyance at the thought of sleeping in outside.

The sun had disappeared in the horizon and the moon took its place on the opposite side of the sky.

Nick sat on the ground, being careful to stay out of plain sight in case a lone lurker came along and got the jump on him.

He had his back against a tree, his legs pulled up to his chest.

It was then that he mentally beat himself up for not taking a gun out with him.

It wasn't cold out, but it was quite windy. The sound of the wind howling in between the trees and the leaves being blown about around him made things even more uncomfortable to him.

He had never enjoyed the outdoors.

He was always one of those people who spent all his time indoors playing videogames, or at school failing to get an education.

At 16 he was forced into a job since his mother wasn't earning a lot of money.

That only minimized his outdoor time and social life more.

With all these thoughts flowing through his head, he took his red cap off his head, allowing his long black hair to sway in the wind, and held it in his hands on his knees.

His eyes focused onto the ratty fabric, and he allowed the darkness to consume him slowly.

The fallout between the survivors was a dangerous thing. It would inevitably lead to some terrible happenings, the start being Nick getting lost in the woods during a zombie apocalypse while his group was on the run from a mad man.

William Carver had escaped Nick's mind in the last few days.

Things were bound to only get worse, all because of the insane, un-needed fallout...

Chapter 2:

The darkness around Nick began to disappear and was replaced with sunlight blinding the young man. He moaned and covered his eyes with his right hand. His back ached as he slouched forward, listening to leaves crunch underneath him.

He was confused for a minute, but then the events from the night before came back to him, making him scowl at the dirt ground beneath him. His cap was still held tightly in his left hand which lay on the ground next to him. He placed it back on his head, pulling it down so the bill shaded his eyes from the morning sun.

As Nick pulled himself to his feet, he couldn't help but wonder if Pete and Luke felt bad that he hadn't returned home the night before. A small smirk crawled onto his face, "I hope they fucking miss me. Maybe it'll teach 'em to respect me." He mumbled, stepping away from the tree he had slept against and looking around the woods.

He scratched his neck sheepishly, once again coming to the conclusion that he had absolutely no idea where he was. He decided staying where he was wasn't helping, so he started walking in a random direction.

As he walked through the trees, he kept his eyes peeled for any danger. Fearing he was going to come across bandits or the undead, he picked up a stick from next to one of the trees and held it close. It was better to be armed with ANYTHING than to have nothing at all.

Nick's mind wandered to the cabin group.

He couldn't help but worry that maybe something happened to them while he was gone. Maybe they had left without him.

Maybe…

Carver.

He suddenly remembered the threat ahead and that made him panic. His pace picked up as he strode through the trees searching for the cabin. Nothing around him looked familiar, but that didn't stop him from roaming the woods in search of the cabin.

The growls of the undead reached his ears and in a startled state, he spun around, falling over his own feet. Behind him, five lurkers were stumbling after him, reaching their rotting limbs out in an attempt to grab him.

He jumped to his feet and aimed his stick at the danger. Looking down at his ratty wooden stick, Nick scowled at his terrible excuse of a weapon, but still gripped it tightly and prepared to fight.

He swung it hard from over his shoulder, bashing the nearest lurker's jaw in and knocking it to the ground in a dazed heap. Another zombie snarled at the young man and made an attack, but Nick had the advantage of speed and quickly dodged it's hungry arms.

His victorious smirk was quickly wiped off his face when a different lurker grabbed his arm and disarmed him of his stick. He gasped in surprise and stumbled backwards as all five undead beings were back on their feet and advancing on him slowly.

He abandoned his original plan of killing all the lurkers, and turned on his heels to run away. It was the first time he had ever run from a fight. He ran, and ran, until he couldn't run anymore. His legs ached, and his head hurt.

He just wanted to get back to the cabin and rest on the couch. It may have been uncomfortable, but at least it was better than the ground.

Hearing a muffled voice coming from some bushes ahead of him, Nick feared for his life. He was almost one hundred per cent sure that it was Carver and his gang. They had been hunted down for a while, and now, Nick had given them away.

Just before the young man went into panic mode for the second time since he got lost, the voice became clearer, and he froze in confusion.

"We're smarter than all of them..."

It was a girl.

Nick quietly made his way to the bushes separating him from the girl, and peeked over them. He watched from the bushes as a young girl sat down on a log in the middle of an abandoned camp and pulled a knife out of her pocket. She swiftly cut open the lid of a can she was holding tightly in her other hand and verbally thanked God that the food was okay.

A gold furred dog sat on front of her waiting to be fed, but Nick saw on the girl's face that she was too hungry to even consider sharing. Hell, he was hungry enough to consider stealing from her right then and there. He decided, since it was just a kid, he'd leave her alone.

The girl just looked like an ordinary child, like one from before the apocalypse, but that didn't appeal to Nick's better side. He didn't need a companion, and he seriously doubted the group did either. He quietly backed away, being carefully not to get caught.

He had only taken a few steps away before he heard a scream coming from behind him. Without even thinking, he turned around and ran back, jumping over the bush he had been hiding behind before, and landing next to a dead walker tied to a tree at the side of the camp.

He watched as the girl lay on her back and kicked the dog, that had seemed so friendly before, off the arm it had sunk its teeth into, making it get impaled on some tent posts away from her. She cried out in pain as her wide dog bite oozed blood on her left arm.

Her teary eyes wandered to Nick and she quickly clambered to her feet, pulling the knife she had out of her pocket again. She held it with her good arm and quickly examined Nick's body, as he stood with his hands held up in surrender and his eyes locked on the ground.

The silence made Nick uncomfortable, so he lifted his head slowly, her bright amber eyes locked onto his curiously. He could've sworn he had looked into them exact same eyes before…

"Don't you have a gun or something?" she asked, looking at his waist area in search of a hidden gun once more. Nick scowled at the girl before lowering his hands. "If I'd had a gun, do you think I'd stand here with it down my pants instead of aimed at you?" he asked, rolling his eyes at the girl.

She had a cap on, kind of like his, except his was red, and hers was blue and white with a big D on the front of it. Something about the cap was familiar too, but Nick just shook it off, not feeling like it really mattered anyway.

When his eyes landed back on the child's face, she was looking at him with wide eyes, scanning his face, his clothes, his…hair…?

"What is it, kid?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck nervously as the girl's eyes only widened more. "N-Nick…?" she asked, a smile forming on her lips as she dropped her pocket knife to the ground.

The man's eyes widened as he looked at her confused and slightly scared. "You…You know me…?" he asked cautiously, taking a step back. The girl took her injured arm in her good one and nodded her head.

"I-It's me! Clementine!" she exclaimed, her face becoming so much more recognisable to Nick now that he had a name to put to the amber eyes and cap. A small smirk crept its way onto the man's face too. "Clementine? I…don't remember a Clementine…" he said, crossing his arms and shaking his head as he shrugged nonchalantly.

The girls face became one of anger and betrayal. "How'd you not remember me?! Don't you remember babysitting me with…Luke! With Luke! Don't you remember when I got the sticky string in your eyes after you told me not to mess with it in the house? Or the time I locked you in the bathroom for the night and you fell asleep in the bath? How could you forget the time you burnt the waffles and the police came to the hous-"

Nick cut her off with a genuine laugh; the first he had given in a long time. "I'm just pulling your leg, Clem. Of course I 'member you! How could I forget you?!" he exclaimed, offering the little girl a friendly smile.

Clementine calmed down and even smiled a little before wincing in pain and looking down at her badly bitten arm. "Ow…" she moaned, pulling her sleeve down over the wound so the air wouldn't spread infection to it.

Nick took a step closer to the girl. It was weird being around her again. The last time he had seen her was two years before, and she looked so different!

Her chubby little face was now more detailed and defined. She had grown a little too, in size and weight. Her hair was tied back, which surprised the man, because many times when they were about to unleash a 'well planned' prank on Luke, he'd tell her it would be better to tie her hair back, but she wouldn't even hear it.

Her hair meant everything to her. She always told him she was the lion, and if he touched her main, she would bite him. Nick didn't believe her, but the permanent bite mark on his left hand was all the proof he needed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, trying his hardest to sound concerned, but sounding more like he couldn't care less. She girl nodded her head. Her pained frown disappeared as she looked up into Nick's icy blue eyes again.

"Where is Luke? And your mom, and Pete?" she asked, instantly regretting the decision as Nick's face fell. "My moms…dead…" he said sadly, lowering his head.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked…"

"Luke and Pete are at a cabin not too far from here, though…" he added, cutting off the girls apology. When Clementine didn't respond, Nick lifted his head and saw her frowning at him guiltily. He was about to tell her it was nothing and that she had nothing to feel bad about, but she beat him to it.

"My parents are dead too…" she revealed, the childish pout he had caught her pulling many a time when she didn't get her own way, straining her lips. "Jesus, Clem. I'm so sorry…" he sympathised with the girl, as she just shrugged her shoulders and pulled herself back together.

With a smirk plastered on her face, she turned her head to the side questionably. "Has Nick gone soft…?" she asked in mock surprise. Nick just shook his head as she giggled quietly and turned away from her, looking around the camp. "So… Can I come with you, or…" Clementine trailed off, waiting for the black haired man to finally speak.

He kept his back to her, just scanning the tents and boxes littering the small camp. "Nick?" Clementine asked, still waiting for him to talk. He turned around and looked at her blankly. "I don't think my group wants another mouth to feed." He admitted, watching her happy smile turn the opposite way around.

"Oh…" she said, unsure of what else she could say. She winced in pain again as her good hand clasped around the injury. "I…I guess I'll just go then. I'm used to being on my own anyway…" she tried to make herself leave, but couldn't move. "Um…bye, Nick…" she said, looking up at him sadly, before finally turning on her heels and slowly walking away.

"My parents are dead too…"

"Clementine!" Nick called, before he could stop himself really. The young girl looked over her shoulder, the frown still tugging at her lips. Nick sighed and walked towards her, putting out his hand as he had done many times before, to a seven year old Clementine.

"There's a doctor in my group. Let's see if he'll at least help you out with the dog bite." He said, waiting for her to slip her hand into his. He had definitely changed since the last time he had met her, and it wasn't a good change, but he would put his problems behind him for now, and try and help his old friend.

Clementine's soft, warm, little fingers intertwined with his rough digits, but she lowered her head, cringing as her arm hurt badly. "There's also one more thing…" Nick mentioned as the duo left the camp, and dying dog behind them.

"What's that?" Clementine asked, looking up at him curiously though her pain. "I'm kinda lost…" he admitted, finally looking down at the girl. He saw a disappointed young girl with her shoulders slouched forward and her arm held close to her body so it wouldn't get hurt more.

Nothing more was said as they walked through the trees, praying to see the cabin come into view up ahead. They had walked for about twenty minutes before Clementine began to breathe heavier and wheeze as she slowed down, making Nick grow concerned.

He stopped walking and released her hand, watching her struggle to stay standing in the same place without falling over. "Are you okay…?" he asked, worrying the bite could be infected and she was dying. As much as he didn't want to bring her along, he didn't want her to die either.

She nodded her head sloppily before replying, "Yeah, I'm just…tired…" Her eyes closed slightly but she opened them up again, being careful not to fall over. Nick didn't believe her, but he didn't argue, only walked forward as the girl followed, or so he presumed.

A few familiar sights came into view, and Nick finally started to gain some kind of knowledge on where he was. "It shouldn't be much further. I think I know where we are now." He said. He turned to see if Clementine was keeping up, but stopped in his tracks as he watched the girl sway to the right half awake.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

"Shit!" Nick hissed, kneeling beside her and checking for a pulse. He found one easily, so she was still alive at least. He gently picked her up bridal style and stood up. The girl didn't stir as he roughly got to his feet. Although he was fearing she would turn and kill him during his one act of kindness, he couldn't bring himself to leave her behind.

He continued to walk through the tree's, blindly searching for the cabin. "Come on…" He muttered, looking around for the small structure in the middle of the pines.

"Nick…" The quiet name pulled Nick's attention to Clementine in his arms. She looked up at him drowsily, "I…I don't feel good."

Nick's eyes widened as he remembered hearing those exact words before; from the same person in fact.

"Nick…?" Nick looked over to the door to the living room, away from the TV, to see the girl in his care standing in the doorframe. Clementine looked very pale and held her lower stomach with both hands.

"What?" he asked, looking back to the football game on TV. His team was losing, so he wasn't in the best mood; not that he was ever in a good mood anyway...

"I…I don't feel good…" she whined, walking into the room slowly, blocking his view of the game. He tried to look past her, but she was standing in the exact spot that no matter which way he went, she was still blocking him.

With an agitated sigh, he patted the seat beside him, indicating for her to join him. She painfully took a seat next to him; he could see she was uncomfortable.

He wasn't really the best in these kind of situations; that's what Luke was around for. That day, however, Luke was out getting some groceries while Nick babysat Clementine by himself.

He looked down at the seven year old girl sitting next to him. Her hair was hidden under her father's prized possession; a cap he adored for some unknown reason. Apparently, it was a lucky charm, but Nick thought Ed just said that to make Clementine happy.

Ed was the girl's father, and every time he and his wife, Diana, went out and left Clementine with Nick and Luke, he would lend his hat to his only child, making her promise to keep it safe while he was gone. She only took it off when he came home and asked for it.

"Are you sick?" Nick asked, placing his hand on the girls head. She was a little warm... Clementine shook her head and jerked it away from the young man's freezing hand.

"No… My stomach just…hurts." She explained, looking up at him with drowsy eyes.

He really had no idea what to do.

Realising he was the only 'grown-up' around to help her out, he got up off his ass and looked down at her curled up in the corner of the couch. "How about you go lie down for a while?" he suggested, waiting for her to stand up and walk to her room with him.

Instead, she shook her head and squeezed her arms around her stomach. "It hurts to walk…" she complained, scrunching her face up in pain. Nick sighed quietly, but smiled at the girl before bending down and scooping the her up into his arms.

Clementine offered him a smile of her own, which quickly became a cheeky smirk. "How can you lift me, and not be scared? Maybe I don't have a spider in my hands…" she asked, lifting a clenched fist up to his face.

Nick just scoffed and smirked back down at her, "First. I know you'd never touch a spider in a million years; even if someone offered you a billion dollars! You told me yourself. And second. I'm not scared of spiders!" he pointed out, watching the girls face fall.

He walked up the stairs with the girl resting in his arms. She was light enough for her age. Nick was really dreading Clementine's birthday. He knew she'd be expecting something special from him, and he knew Luke wouldn't let him sign his card this year, so he had nothing to give her.

Secretly, he didn't want to little girl to grow up. He enjoyed minding her, and loved the pranks she pulled on him, and he pulled on her. When she grew up, he knew she wouldn't want a babysitter anymore, and he wouldn't have an excuse to come visit her without someone thinking he had 'gone soft'.

He carried the girl into her room and gently laid her in her bed with the purple covers. Practically everything in her room was purple, or blue.

Luke and Nick changed their spare room into Clementine's room. She spent at least one night a week in their house, so they officially made her part of their awkward, small friend-family.

Nick pulled the covers up over her and tucked them under her neck. "I'll get Luke to come up and check on you when he get's in, 'kay?" he asked, walking to the door, but looking over his shoulder to see the girl roll over and curl into a ball with her hands around her stomach.

"Okay..." she moaned, closing her eyes tightly and waiting for the pain to subside.

Nick closed her door over on his way out and made his way down stairs. Just as he reached the bottom, his phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and placed it to his ear. "What is it, Uncle Pete?" he asked, annoyed that his uncle was the only person besides Luke or his mother to ever call him.

"I need your help to put the new mirror up in your mom's bathroom. She'll be home from work soon and if we don't get this up now, the surprise 'ill be ruined." Pete said through the phone, sounding exhausted.

"I can't, Pete. I'm babysitting and Luke's not home ye-"

"Howdy!" Luke called, walking in the front door with a bag of groceries in his hand and his keys in the other. He looked at Nick with a smile as he closed the door behind him, making Nick sigh exasperatedly.

"Did I not just here him?" Pete asked, the smart-ass tone he had perfected over the years making Nick frown more. "I'm coming..." he finally agreed.

...

Nick walked back into his and Luke's house and closed the door behind him. He wiped some sweat of his forehead that had formed while he walked home from his mother's house. He still hadn't passed his drivers exam yet, so he couldn't drive.

"I'm back!" he called, dropping his house key and phone onto the small table near the door. He was greeted with silence. "Luke?" he called, walking into the empty living room. He made his way to the kitchen, but again, no one was there.

He jogged up the stairs and walked into Clementine's room, the door was now wide open. Peering inside, he raised a confused eyebrow when Clementine was not resting in bed like he had left her. "Clem...?" he called, expecting her to jump out at him or something.

No one replied.

Nick ran back down stairs and picked up his phone off the table. He dialled Luke's number and walked into the kitchen while he held the phone to his ear and waited for his friend to pick up. Luke was taking longer than usual to pick up, and that made Nick grow concerned.

Just before Nick pulled the phone away from his ear, the ringing sound stopped and Luke's worried voice rang in the younger mans ears, "Hello? Nick. 's that you?"

"Yeah, man. Where are ye? And where's Clem?" Nick asked, taking a seat at the small dining room table in the kitchen.

"We're at the hospital."

Nick sat frozen for a second before exclaiming, "What?!" His mind was racing, imagining Luke and Clementine had been in a car accident and broke some bones, or the house was robbed and they were both stabbed.

"Doctors think Clem's appendix needs to be removed. It's really serious. She said she told you, and you just sent her to bed. You know if her appendix ruptures she could die?!" Luke was getting angrier as he shouted down the line at his housemate.

Nick just sat in his chair, staring at the wooden surface that his arms were leaned on. His mouth was gaping open, his eyes were wide. He could've gotten Clementine killed with his recklessness. He made a mental note to learn more about illnesses and to take better care of the girl next time she came over.

His mental note was scrapped the next day as he took a seat in his designated spot on the couch...

"Are you sick?" Nick asked, watching as Clementine shifted slightly in his arms. She shook her head, just like that time she got appendicitis. "My arm..." she whined, wincing as she held it too tightly. Nick just held her closer and looked back up.

He stopped abruptly, making Clementine look around for danger. "What?! What is it?" she asked, looking for any sign of trouble. Nick just grinned from ear to ear and started walking again, slower than before.

"You're gonna be fine, Clem. The cabins right there..." he trailed off as the trees came to an end, and at the bottom of a small hill, the cabin sat quietly, almost as if it was abandoned. Nick knew that wasn't the case, though, since he saw movement through the kitchen window.

Nick took one step forward towards the cabin, but gasped in surprise when a rotting hand landed on his shoulder and a deep growl sent a shiver down his spine. He tripped turning around and fell backwards, dropping Clementine in the process. They both rolled down the hill in a daze.

Nick stopped rolling and used his hands to push his chest up off the ground to see what was happening. He saw the lone lurker stumbling down the hill, but not towards him. It was heading for Clementine, who was grasping her arm painfully a little ways away from him, lying on her side with her eyes tightly closed.

The man's heart was beating in his mouth, he could feel sweat forming on his brow as a disgraceful thought ran through his mind. He was breathing heavily as he considered running to the cabin while the lurker was occupied with Clementine.

As wrong as it felt, he still considered it.

The zombie was getting close to the young girl, so Nick had to decide, and soon.

Chapter 3:

He didn't know what he was thinking, leaving a little girl to die while he had a chance to save her. Especially a little girl like Clementine!

He quickly pulled himself to his feet and ran towards the girl. He pushed the undead beast back, making it stumble backwards far enough for Nick to grab Clementine, throw her over his shoulder with a strained grunt, and run towards the cabin.

He ran up the stairs onto the porch and grabbed the handle of the front door, pushing forward, but just bashing into the unmoving wooden door. Clementine groaned on his shoulder as her legs took some of the damage. Nick completely forgot in the fear of the moment that the front door was almost always locked.

He backed up and turned to go back down the stairs to get in around back, but froze in place as the lurker started coming up onto the porch. The young man turned back to the door and pounded his fist against it. "Luke! Pete! Open up! NOW!" he shouted loudly.

As the lurker got closer, Nick panicked more, twisting the handle and pushing the locked door with all his might. Suddenly, there was a click and the door swung open. Nick stumbled inside, almost knocking Carlos over in the process, and slammed the door shut behind him. He twisted the lock quickly and panted tiredly.

"Who's this?" Was Carlos's first question, making Nick swear under his breath as he pulled Clementine down off his shoulder and held her bridal style again. Her head flopped forward and Nick bounced her in his arms, "Are you dead?" he asked, not realising how stupid he sounded.

Carlos stepped back, in fear that the girl had turned. Instead, Clementine lifted her head half awake, looking to Carlos painfully, and then let it fall back down again. Nick sighed in relief and looked up at Carlos expectantly. "You need to help her." He said, pushing the girl towards the other man.

The older man took another step back, "I'm not helping a bite victim. Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Nick shook his head, looking down at the girl. Part of him wanted to strike Carlos for bringing up the incident that caused his mother's death, but the majority of him wanted Clementine to get checked on before he pissed of Carlos, or she died of blood loss.

"N-no! She's not bit; well, not by a lurker anyway…" It sounded so much better in his head.

Carlos frowned at the younger man, not liking what he was hearing. "Carlos, listen. I was there. A dog bit her, not a lurker. Y-you need to help her. I-I…I know this is gonna sound weird, but I know her; like, from before all this shit happened." Nick tried handing the girl over again, noticing the change in Carlos frown.

It seemed like he was sympathising with Nick and Clementine now, instead of judging like before.

The doctor didn't take the girl, but he pointed to the living room. "Take her in there, and I'll take a look at the bite." He said, walking upstairs, leaving Nick standing in the hall, looking relieved and slightly nervous.

He walked into the living room and gently laid Clementine down on the couch. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, slightly confused. "Is this the cabin you were…talking about?" she asked, trying to catch his eyes as he rolled them like when she was younger and took a seat at her feet.

"Yeah, and you're lucky to be here." Nick scoffed, remembering the lurker that almost got her. It sent a shiver down his spine. He almost left her. He almost left her! He almost left her; 'almost' being much better than just 'leaving' her, but still, it was quite unnerving.

"Thanks, Nick…" the quiet voice reached his ears and he looked down to the girl. "Yeah, whatever…" he said, swallowing hard as he fought the urge to say 'you're welcome.'

"Seems you really haven't changed at all." Clementine said smugly. She waited for Nick to respond, but instead he just stared at the door. She sighed and closed her eyes, and that's when the man looked to her. Again, he felt the weirdness he had felt when he first was reunited with her.

He mightn't have changed, but he still didn't know if she had. She looked like she had, but all kids grow up eventually. He was curious to know if she was still the same little girl she was before the dead started walking.

"How old're you, Clem?" he asked, watching her eyes open to look at him like he had two heads. Yeah, it was a weird question to asked, but the last time he had seen her, she was only eight, and he wasn't the best at math.

The failure and hatred of math was the only thing him and 'eight year old Clem' had in common.

"Huh?" she asked, holding her bitten arm closer to her chest. Nick repeated the question, and the girl smiled at him. "I'm eleven." She said, watching his eyes widen.

"For real?!" he gasped, coughing awkwardly and looking away from the girl as he rubbed his neck nervously. It felt like only yesterday she was the innocent little seven year old that was complaining in his ear.

"How old are you?" Her question caught her off guard, but he didn't see much wrong with it and answered, "Twenty six."

Clementine just stared at him. "You're old." She pointed out, making him look at her like she was crazy again. "What are you talking 'bout?! You wanna see old, just look at Uncle Pete! Now that's ol-"

"What do you mean 'a girl'?" the door openening and Rebecca walking into the room cut off Nick's rude comment. "Who's this?!" she gasped, placing her hands over her protruding stomach. Carlos walked into the room behind her with his medical bag in hand.

Nick stood up and blocked Rebecca from Clementine. He knew how the woman could be sometimes. He swore she was worse than him. "It's alright, Rebecca." He said, trying not to sound too harsh towards her.

The pregnant woman looked at him with wide eyes. "How do you know she's not working for Carver?!" she exclaimed, looking at Clementine who nervously kept her eyes trained on the ground.

Nick sighed and lowered his defensive hands. "She's not, Rebecca. I know her…" he said, getting quieter by the second.

Rebecca's gaze became confused, "You know her?" she quizzed, raising an eyebrow, "How?"

Nick looked behind him to Clementine, who had gotten up off the couch slowly and wobbly. "I used to babysit her. She told me her parents, they….died. I'm... We're all she's got left."

The woman's face softened and Clementine leaned forward wrapping her arms around Nick's waist, catching him off guard. "I-I…I missed you…" she mumbled into his shirt, squeezing him tighter.

Nick lifted his arms up awkwardly and stiffened up. He wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy. "Uh…Clem? I- You know I don't like hugs…" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her away.

She let go and smirked up at him. "That's why I did it." she stated, her childish antics making Nick remember all their memories together.

"Nick?" Clementine called, knocking on his door with a rhythm in her thumps. The man rolled over in his bed, moaning as the girl continued to knock. "What…?" he asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked to the clock on the dresser next to him, his eyes widening when the red numbers flashed 8:13am.

The door opened slowly and the little girl walked in, her hair sticking out everywhere under her cap, a sneaky smirk on her face. "I need your help." She said, tip toeing to the side of the bed and looking Nick in the eyes.

"With what…?" Nick groaned, sitting up and running his hand through his hair. He had no shirt on since it was so warm out, so he quickly grabbed one from the floor and put it on. He really needed to start cleaning up after himself.

Clementine pushed a small can of paint into his hands and grinned at him while he inspected the pot. "The hell is this for?!" Nick gasped, knowing she wasn't going to use it for anything good. She was always up to mischievous business...

"Luke left his games controller in my room. I'm gonna paint it!" she giggled quietly as Nick's confused scowl turned into a smirk of his own. "What colour is this?" he asked, spinning the can around, looking for the label in the dim morning sun shining through his light blue curtains.

"Pink." Clementine's grin grew as the word escaped her mouth and Nick thought about what Luke's reaction would be if his controller was turned pink. If it was anything like Nick would've reacted, then it was worth watching.

"Okay, Clem. I'll help, but we're not doing it in here. Go down to the kitchen and I'll meet you there in a minute, after I got toilet…"

Once Nick got to the kitchen, the first thing he saw was Clementine trying to pry the lid off the can of paint with her bare hands. She was failing miserably.

Nick chucked quietly and helped her open it with a knife. "Where's the controller?" he asked, placing the can's lid on the counter next to them. Clementine pulled the black controller out from under her shirt and sat it on front of her. Nick raised an eyebrow at her, "Why'd you put it up your shirt?"

The girl looked at him like he was an idiot, a look she seemed to give him every time he opened his mouth. "In case Luke caught me!" she exclaimed, waiting for the fun part; painting the item.

Nick picked it up and looked down at the black analogue remote then turned his gaze to the can. There were both about the same size, so, with an evil smirk on his face, Nick handed to controller back to Clementine, and pushed the can so it sat on the counter on front of her.

She looked up at him, awaiting instructions. "Just drop it in." The girl didn't have to be told twice. She dropped the controller into the oily pink paint and watched the blackness be eaten up by the bright pink goo.

She stared at it for a minute before turning to Nick, "Now what?"

Nick wasn't sure what to do next. He hadn't exactly thought the plan through that much. He sighed before telling Clementine to fetch an old towel from the cupboards in the hall. She set it down on the counter and watched Nick retrieve the newly coated controller from the can with two knives.

Once Luke's present was placed down on the towel to dry, Nick threw the knives in the sink. "Luke can try'n'clean 'em later…" he mumbled, watching as the young girl smiled at their work. They just had to wait for the other man to get up…

"What the ffffff…" Luke's gasp was heard from the living room where Nick and Clementine were both watching TV. The seven year old jumped up off the couch, giggling as she did so, and ran into the kitchen.

Nick followed behind her, prepared to see Luke's priceless face. Instead, he was greeted with a smiling Luke, and the girl he was minding kneeling on the ground, laughing so hard she was crying. "What's going on…?" he asked, noting the almost evil smirk on Luke's face.

The brunette lifted the controller off the towel, it was finally dry, and held it close to his chest. "I love it! How'd you guys know pink was my favourite colour?!" he gasped, making Clementine snort louder on the ground.

Nick just shook his head and left the room.

Of course it didn't effect Luke.

Nick was the only one who ever reacted to anything!

Wait... Maybe that was why Clementine always pranked him more than Luke…

"Nick?" Rebecca said, waving her hand in his face to snap him out of his daze. He blinked a few times before looking behind him to see Clementine getting her arm treated by Carlos on the couch. He then turned back to Rebecca, "What?"

The woman sighed and started again, "I said, even if you do know her, how do you know she's not working for Carver? She could've changed since the last time you met her, or met new people, Bill being one of them!"

Nick sighed and turned to look at Clementine again. "Clem?" he asked, pulling her attention away from her arm. "Yeah...?" she mumbled, sensing something was wrong by the way he talked. "You're not working for anyone called Carver, are you?"

The girl shook her head, "No."

Carlos started threading a needle, but turned to face the two grown-ups behind him before starting the suturing task. "Would you two mind giving us some privacy? I can't concentrate with all the talking." he asked, taking a firmer grip on the girls arm.

Clementine gave Nick a frightened glance, but his calm, trusting eyes calmed her down in the split second connection. Nick followed Rebecca out of the living room, across the hall and into the kitchen. Just as they walked in, the back door opened and Luke and Pete walking inside, looking slightly downcast.

When Luke lifted his head and saw Nick, his face brightened up instantly and he stepped forward to place his hand on his friends shoulder. "We were just out looking for you! Where were you?!" he asked, placing his gun against the dining table.

"You had us worried sick." Pete spoke up, taking a place next to Rebecca, greeting her like the gentleman he was. He may not have showed it much, but Pete cared for his nephew, along with everyone else, and losing the boy made him more worried than he seemed at first glance.

Nick stuck his hands in his pants pockets and sighed as his eyes darted to the ground. He was struggling to think of a way of explaining to his extended family that he had found Luke's 'precious' Clementine. The amount of nicknames he had for her was unreal.

Luke loved the girl more than life itself. She had him wrapped around her finger from the moment they met, unlike Nick, who saw what she was doing and refused to be taken into her trap.

The first thing Luke mentioned as him, Nick and Pete drove out of Atlanta during the beginning of the end of the world was how much he hoped and prayed that Clementine and her family made it out of the hellhole of a city and were on their way to somewhere safe like them.

With their frequent bad luck, and failure to find any safe havens beside Howe's (which turned out to be way worse than Atlanta), the thoughts of Clementine just faded away, and were stopped being mentioned by any of the farm boys.

They all had the memories, but the idea of the little girl surviving out there after all that time was unbelievable, especially since the three grown men were just barely still moving and she was only a child.

A sudden loud, high pitched yelp was heard coming from the living room. Pete was quick to make his way out the door muttering "Who the hell...?" as he went to investigate. Rebecca followed after him, preparing to explain before he lost his marbles panicking about a problem or an intruder or something.

Luke looked at Nick confused, but also somewhat in disbelief. "Was that...a kid?!" he gasped, looking to the door, indicating they should go check it out. It seemed things wouldn't be so hard to explain anymore for Nick, as he led Luke to the living room.

It was time for a reunion.

Chapter 4:

As Nick left the kitchen on front of Luke, he heard Clementine cry out in agony for a third time. A sudden anxiety swept over him. His body tensed and he thought about bailing and heading up the stairs as he walked across the hall, but sided against it when the screams became quieter.

He walked into the living room and he saw Carlos talking quietly to Pete and Rebecca on one side of the room while Clementine sat on the couch inspecting her stitched arm. He could see the tears in the girl's eyes, and she still look like she was in as much pain as out in the pines.

She swallowed hard and looked up to him unsurely. He looked back at her just as awkwardly before feeling Luke push him out of the way to look at the girl. Clementine was examining her arm again, biting her lip as she tried not to seem weak on front of all these people. Nick gave Luke an accusing look as he stepped away from his friend and walked towards the other's chatting quietly.

"If it was infected, her temperature would be through the roof. She'll be fine, but I expect her to be in a bit of pain for a while. Nothing time won't heal." Carlos explained, visibally calming Rebecca's nerves of a bite victim being in their home.

Once over that news, the woman straightened up again. "What if she's working for Carver?" she asked for probably the tenth time since they'd met Clementine.

Nick grunted in annoyance. He was growing tired of the soon to be mothers accusations. As much as he didn't want to bring Clementine along in the first place, she was there now, and there was nothing they could do to change that. He would take her word and believe she really wasn't working for Carver. If he could do that, Rebecca could surely do the same.

"Who is she anyway? Did you get a name?" Pete asked, looking over to the eleven year old and Luke. Nick scoffed in surprise when the question left his uncles mouth, but he stayed quiet and followed his gaze to see the girl had lifted her head to look at the young man by the door.

It seemed that Clementine instantly recognised Luke, but he was having a harder time figuring out who she was. He knew she looked familiar; something about her was making him think he knew her, but that seemed almost impossible. Everybody Luke knew before had died, except for Nick and Pete.

Luke turned to Nick and the others, raising an eyebrow, "Does she look familiar to you?" he asked, watching as Nick's amused grin grew. He shrugged his shoulders, "Dunno. Does she look familiar to you?" he asked, turning to Clementine with his large grin.

Luke looked back over to her and scanned her face for a minute while she just sat still and stared back at him, giving Nick an amused glance before settling her eyes back on the other man. Luke suddenly gasped, his eyes widening as they locked with the eleven year olds amber beauties. "W-wait. Your… She's…" He was at a loss for words.

"C-Clem…Clementine!" he exclaimed as he stepped forward and kneeled on front of her, looking her dead in the eyes, trying not to blink in fear she'd disappear. She nodded her head once, smiling at the man cheekily before replying, "Yup!" in her best southern accent.

This brought a new wave of memories to Nick, as he remembered the day she had perfected their accents and wouldn't stop pestering them.

Nick looked down at the girl pulling on his sleeve. He put his finger to his lip, making sure she didn't interrupt his call to Pete.

"-and I won't be back until later tonight. So, that means you're gonna have to call 'em up and tell 'em to keep the car in until tomorrow." The older man sounded like he was up the backside of a horse, but Nick didn't say this aloud. Wherever the old coot was, the reception was terrible.

"Okay. I'll call 'em now…" He wouldn't really call them straight away. They stayed open all day, so he could do that later. His eyes wandered to the girl who was rocking on her feet, waiting for him to put down the phone patiently.

"You promise you're bringing me to get my car first thing tomorrow, yeah? 'Cos I've finally passed my exam, got my driver's licence mailed to me since I couldn't drive to get that either, and I'll finally be out of your hair. No more rides from you." Nick made sure his uncle was able to hear every word so he spoke louder and clearer.

His usual mumble had been thrown aside, something he hated doing if he was honest. Mumbling had just become his signature thing and he couldn't help himself anymore.

"Yeah, I got it. I'm happy for ye, son. I'm more happy for myself though; I'll finally be free from your whinin'-"

"Hey! You and Luke do more whinin' than I do!" Nick cut his uncles insult short, taking a shot of his own at his relative. A gruff chuckle came through the phone, "One last question before I leave; Why doesn't Luke drive ye to get your new car?"

Nick sighed, thinking about Luke's reaction when he asked. "You know how he is, Pete. Luke's a fucking dickhe-" Clementine clearing her throat next to him cut Nick off and caught his attention. He looked down at her accusing glare, sighing as he realised he had cursed on front of the eight year old. "Sorry, Clem. He's a meany."

"All right, Nick. I'll Seeya tomorrow morning some time. Bye." Nick hung up, placing his cell down on the kitchen counter next to all the other wires and stuff he had left there over an extended period of time.

"Howdy!" Clementine spoke up, smiling at Nick with a cheeky enthusiasm. The man looked down at her in confusion. "Hi…?" he said, preparing to walk past her and out of the kitchen, but being stopped by the girl jumping in his way and pushing on his stomach. "Don't leave. I need to tell ye somethin'!"

She smirked at him while he continued to stare down at her, puzzled by what she was doing. He noticed that she wasn't talking normal. "Why're you talking like that?" he asked, placing a hand on her cap and trying to walk past her again. He succeeded this time, making it out the door.

Clementine followed behind him, a handful of the back of his shirt in her hand. "I'm copying your and Luke's accents!" she giggled, being led to the living room by the black haired man.

Nick didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily Luke was using his laptop on the couch and had overheard her joyful exclamation. "Let me hear it, then." The brunette asked, closing his device and sitting it on the coffee table.

Clementine clasped her hands together on front of her and twirled her foot shyly as her gaze lowered to the floor. "What will I say?" she asked, looking up to Nick for the answer. The young man just shrugged his shoulders.

Luke jumped in to help again, "How's about…"

...

It had been hours later and Nick was trying to help Luke make dinner while Clementine sat at the table behind them, swinging her legs and constantly throwing words at them in their southern accent while she drew pictures with the unlimited amount of colouring pencils she seemed to have.

Nick didn't know if he should feel proud that she was catching on to their ways, or ashamed that they had made her into this non-stop, sharp-shooter of southern phrases. "I ain't eating that crap!" she exclaimed, her head instantly shooting up to meet Luke's wide eyes.

She just grinned while pointing to Nick, "Crap isn't a swear! Nick even said so!"

It was the first thing she had said normally all day.

Nick turned his head away from the carrots he was cutting up to see Luke looking at him with raised eyebrows. "What? Crap ain't a swear! Shit is." The girl giggled when Luke punched Nick on the arm, whispering for him to 'watch his language'. As if Nick would do something like that.

"Luke, Nick says you and Pete do more whinin' than he does." Clementine still wore her little smirk as Nick turned around completely to give her a playful glare. "I think we need to teach ye some manners, Clem. It ain't polite to listen in on people's conversations. Especially mine!"

Luke stifled a laugh, "What else have you been saying about me behind my back?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips while Nick just crossed his arms across his chest. "Nothin-"

"He called you a meany!" Clementine cut in, sticking her tongue out at Nick. They were teaming up on him!

"Hey, this ain't fair. Y'all can't take sides!" he exclaimed, huffing in disappointment. "What's this? Is Nick whining?" Luke couldn't contain his laughter as he picked on Nick. It was something they had done to each other their whole lives, and Luke seemed to always win in the end.

Nick looked to Clementine who just grinned at him from her seat. "Y'all make horrible food." She mentioned, watching as both men looked at her with fake hurt in their eyes. "Come on, Clem. Don't be like that…" Luke huffed, crossing his arms and pouting at the seven year old.

"Yeah, Clem," Nick spoke up, "Now you're being the meany…" he smirked when a wave of defeat flashed across her face.

"Fine, I'll stop." She sighed, lowering her head, but quickly looking at them both again with a grin.

"But y'all really are being mean…"

Luke laughed loudly before putting his hand under Clementine's arms and standing up, bringing her with him. Her feet dangled in the air as he shook her gently out on front of him. "It's Clementine! It really is!"

He grunted while standing her down, "And you got heavier…"

He then turned to the other adults, still smiling like an idiot. "Pete, look! It's actually her! Nick-"

"I know, man, sheesh. Why you gotta go psycho on her? She's probably terrified of you now!" Nick mumbled playfully, watching as Clementine held her injured arm close to her body while she stared at her feet shyly.

"Why you gotta be an asshole?" Luke asked, smirking at Nick's disapproving scowl. It always got turned around on him. "Shut up, man…" he said, walking past him and leaving the room before anything else could be said.

Nick walked back into the kitchen and sat at the table, staring at the wood under him. Now that everyone was back together, Nick could go back to sulking and thinking about how his life sucked. Now that he was alone, he had a moment to realise all the nostalgia moments he had since being reunited with Clementine.

Back then things were much simpler, and although times were tough for them; both financially and emotionally since taking care of a child that wasn't theirs had become a huge part to Nick and Luke's lives, the young man longed to go back and have things normal again.

"Hey…" Nick lifted his head to see Luke walking in with a sheepish look on his face while one had rubbed the back of his neck and the other sat on Clementine's shoulder. She still clutched her arm, but smiled at Nick as she took a seat across from him.

"Did you leave 'cos of me? 'Cos if you did, I'm…uh…sorry?" Luke apologised, taking a seat next to his best friend. Nick turned to look at him with an amused grin, "Since when do you apologise for anything?"

"Since Pete told him to." Clementine said, catching both men's attention.

"You weren't supposed to tell him, Clem!" Luke exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table lightly, laughing at the girl's betrayal. Nick shook his head at this news. Of course Luke only apologised because Pete told him to. That's how it was before, that's how it was now. It would never change, and Nick hated it.

"So…" he started, trying to get his mind away from the frustration he was feeling, "How's your arm?"

Clementine shrugged her shoulders, looking down at the bandaged limb she had leaning on the table, "It still hurts." Luke chuckled at her, earning a glare from the child. "I'm not surprised. You're a tough kid, but you know you'll probably have a scar when that heals?"

The eleven year old nodded her head, "Yeah, I know. I've still got the mark from where I got my appendix out." She lifted her shirt slightly to look down at the mark before she smiled at Nick while he just lowered his gaze shamefully. That was twice in one day that he had to think about his stupid mistake all that time ago.

"Yeah, well you know, scars are way better than stumps…" Nick instantly regretted saying anything because Clementine's eyes widened as if she remembered something, her smile disappeared completely, and she refused to meet his gaze. "What?" Why was he still talking?!

"It's uh...It's just that I-I know- knew someone who lost an arm once..." she sounded upset, and Nick knew he had really messed up.

"What, uh, happened? If you don't mind me asking..." Luke asked, speaking slowly and quietly, as if he knew he was threading on thin ice. (A/N - Haha, d'you get it? Luke. Ice. *sighs* Let's just forget I said anything and continue with the story...) Anything could happen. They hadn't seen this child in over two years, she had obviously grown up without them and changed.

Clementine stared towards the kitchen door with a blank expression on her face. "Sandra died while babysitting me. I hid in my tree house because I was scared and people were trying to break into the house. I wanted my parents to come home from Savannah, but they never did..."

Nick remembered the love Clementine had for that tree house when she was younger. She'd force him to come up into it with her even though he barely fit through the door. Then they'd have tea parties for hours until the girl got distracted by something happening in the garden below.

"A man found me." she continued, "His name was Lee. He's the reason I keep my hair short." A small smile made it's way onto her face, which confused Nick more than words could say. She loved her hair when it was long and curly! This man obviously meant a lot to the girl if he was the reason she finally changed her lion-like hair.

"We went to Savannah to find my parents, but they were already dead... I saw them, on the streets, just...walking with the other walkers... That's when things went bad for him; that's when Lee left me." Clementine finally met Nick's eyes and he knew she wasn't done yet. He could see her pursing her lips as if debating whether or not to continue.

"What happened to him?" Luke asked. Nick looked at him with a wary frown. He didn't understand why Luke was pushing Clementine to speak when it was obvious whatever had happened had most probably scarred her. Nick could see this clear as day, so why couldn't Luke?

A shaky breath was released from the eleven year old before she began speaking again, "I killed him." This one sentence made Nick's skin crawl and an uncomfortable numbness filled his chest. The little girl he had helped raise, who had been so sweet and innocent, caused a mans death?!

"He got bit trying to save me from a man who kidnapped me. When he found me locked in the room the stranger put me in, he only had one arm! He had two when I left him, and I never had time to ask him what happened to the one he lost..." she trailed off, her lip trembling slightly.

"I had to shoot him so he wouldn't turn. I had to..." Clementine's voice was no more than a whisper as she finished her unfortunate tale. An eerie silence filled the space around the three survivors.

Nick took this time to pick up his courage and try and assure the girl that this was just how the world was now. He was always bad at this kind of stuff, but Clementine might as well of had a sign taped to her forehead reading 'It's all my fault', because she couldn't have made it any clearer that this is what she thought.

Nick knew if she kept thinking like that, she'd become cold hearted like him. It was what he had done after him mother... He wasn't about to let this little girl follow him down the road of depression. Nick was determined to at least let her know he had felt the same heartbreak she was feeling; he still was heartbroken.

After a quick mental coaxing of 'come on Nick, this is Clementine! She looks up to you, now grow a fucking pair, and cheer the damn kid up!', the capped man cleared his throat, gaining the young girls attention; as well as Luke's. His best friend wasn't sure what was about to happen.

Nick locked eyes with Clementine, his chest tightening as he opened his mouth.

"I had to kill my mom."

Chapter 5:

To be continued...