"Calm down Clementine, you don't know shit yet."

That was what she kept telling herself, pacing her small room. Early morning sunlight seeped through the cracks in the window and cast odd shadows on her desk decorations. In her five years at Ericson's, she's amassed quite the collection of animal skulls, now displayed proudly all over her and Louis's room.

"You're just late, no biggie," she told herself firmly, shaking her head.

She looked over to the bucket on the floor beside her bed, fresh vomit sticking to its inner surface, and frowned. The bed covers were strewn around and five pillows covered the bed from head to toe. Clem had found out the hard way that Louis was indeed a pillow hog when he'd brought all his stuff to her room four years ago. Half of his 'stuff' was his pillows, which he guarded jealously.

Louis himself was not around. He'd woken up early for the morning shift and had let her sleep in. Clem had been rather sick the past few days and he didn't want to bother her. How considerate, she thought, rolling her eyes. As she tried to move toward the bed, another cramp reached her abdomen and she bent over in pain, clutching her stomach.

"Thirteen years surviving the apocalypse, and I'll get killed by a fucking stomach bug," she mused, chuckling at the irony of her statement.

Standing up firmly, she pushed through the pain and walked out of her room. The hallway was empty except for Aasim, who was moving a stack of chairs somewhere. Over the last couple of months, he'd been trying unsuccessfully to grow a beard. It was not suiting him very well, Clementine thought. He looked over up and down and raised an eyebrow.

"Louis said you'd be in bed all day," he pointed out.

"Do I look like I'm in bed?" she asked irritably, rolling her eyes.

Backing off, Aasim nodded, "Alright, sorry. Good to see you on your feet."

He waddled as best he could down the hallway. "Wait Aasim, I'm sorry!" she called out to him as he disappeared into the courtyard. Damn these hormones, she thought.

"No, that's not what's happening here!" she chastised herself, shaking her head and walking down the path Aasim took.

Outside, she saw Aasim setting the stack of chairs down next to a hunched Violet, who thanked him. AJ was sitting on the steps to the admin building, talking absently with Tenn. Her small boy had grown into a strong ten-year-old, every day taking more and more after his father. He's Alvin's son alright, she thought with a smile.

When AJ spotted Clem exiting the dorms he sprinted in her direction, launching himself at her. Doubling over in pain, Clem groaned under his weight and almost collapsed. By now, he was almost the same height as her, and definitely more athletic. He backed away, a concerned expression on his face.

"Shit, sorry Clem," he blurted, helping her to her feet.

"It's okay kiddo," she assured him, ruffling his hair. "I'm just rather tired this morning."

"There's the most beautiful woman in the apocalypse." She heard the sing song voice coming from her left and turned to see a very giddy looking Louis walking in her direction. 'Chairles' was hoisted on his right shoulder, and he had rid himself of his usual trench coat for a much more comfortable leather jacket.

"And there's the funniest man in the apocalypse," she responded, on hand on her hip and a smile on her face.

"Wow, you get beautiful and I get funny?" he feigned offense, clutching his heart dramatically. "This relationship feels unbalanced, Your Majesty."

"Well, you are funny," AJ stated matter-of-factly. Louis looked at him for a moment and eventually nodded.

"That I am, little dude," he agreed, pulling Clem to him and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. He always joked that they were a perfect match purely because their heights allowed him to do that often, and she would always flip him off. In reality she enjoyed really enjoyed it, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.

Before she had time to respond, another sharp pain caused her to groan in discomfort. Louis looked at her in concern, and eyed her up and down. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just having a stomach ache, that's all," she said, giving him the most reassuring smile she could muster.

Not altogether convinced, Louis pursed his lips but nodded at her. "Alright, if you say you're okay, I believe you."

"Thank you."

Gingerly, Louis led Clementine and AJ to the tables, which Aasim and Violet had already vacated. A few years back, through general consensus, both of them became the leaders of their community. They would usually come to Clem about smaller issues that they thought required her survivalist expertise. They had stopped, however, a couple months ago after Clem and Louis announced their impromptu wedding, earning cheers from the whole school, AJ the most vocal among them.

Right now, Clem was mostly thinking about what had come after the actual makeshift wedding, and its dire and worrying implications. She gently clutched her stomach, feeling a warmth she hadn't felt before. They had been a little reckless, she thought ruefully. And more than a little drunk. She traced the small cracks in the table with her fingers, her eyes following the shapes absently.

Meanwhile, AJ and Louis indulged in light conversation. They were talking about the boy's eleventh birthday, which was fast approaching. Clementine hadn't known the exact date, so she and Louis looked at the calendar and decided on a rough estimate. In the end, they'd settled for January 18th. Her head was throbbing in pain, the sounds of their voices becoming blurs as she closed her eyes shut.

"Clem!" she heard at one point, her eyes fluttering open and searching for the source. She saw both Louis and AJ staring at her with raised eyebrows and blushed.

"Yeah, sorry," she blurted, nodding. "What is it?"

"I was just telling AJ that I have some time for another piano lesson with the little dude here." Louis ruffled the boy's hair and AJ laughed. "You okay being out here by yourself for a while?"

"You can come with us and watch me play, too," AJ suggested, his eyes lighting up at the thought.

Clem smiled at him but gently shook her head. "No, I think I'll wait out here. You guys go on ahead and practice."

Nodding, Louis turned to AJ, "Well, it's just you and me today, buddy," he said, a grin decorating his freckled features. The boy smiled and stood up, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet. They each gave Clementine a kiss on the cheek, Louis capturing her lips the second time and leaving a sloppy grin on her face.

When they entered the admin building, Clem was left alone in the courtyard. She tried to rub the sleep off her face, only getting a dizzy feeling from it. Instead, she looked around and examined the surroundings. In five years, the place had not really changed much.

The gate was now properly sealed with wood and metal sheets, bound together by the combined forces of duct tape and rope. The kids had not been able to contain themselves, and a couple of graffiti's were painted onto the boards. Most of them were vulgar words, a couple alluding to the victory over the Delta five years ago. The light from the rising sun shone on them, giving the impression that they glowed in the dim morning light.

The watchtower was essentially the same, save for a couple minor adjustments they'd deemed necessary over the years. Her eyes skimmed the walls and landed on the big archway that led to the graveyard. She was thankful that it had not gotten any new additions these past years, though they had added a small shrine in honor of each of the deceased. On it were whatever photos they had been able to find of them, and small notes from their loved ones.

Sophie's grave, although it had already been dug before the war on Delta, had been the hardest to fill. To this day, Minnie regretted not going back for Sophie's body, but there had been nothing they could do. The herd that consumed the compound had been enough incentive never to go back to that place. Instead, they'd filled the grave with the rest of her belongings, and Minnie had placed a lock of fiery red hair on her shrine.

As a gust of wind made her shiver, she buttoned up her jacket. Her mind was racing a thousand miles an hour, and the uncertainty was not helping. Shaking her head, she sat up and took a piece of paper from her breast pocket. She and Louis had decided that keeping a way of leaving notes for the other on them was important for these exact situations. She used a crayon to write him a small message.

'Louis,

Out for a walk, won't be long.

Love, Clem.'

Leaving the note pinned to the table with a small rock, she made her way to the gate and opened it. Slowly, she slipped through the gap and closed it behind her. The woods beyond were filled with traps, ranging from boulders hanging from trees to bear traps hidden among the shrubbery. A few bird chirped happily as she passed through the trees, creating a soft melody that clashed with her jumbled thoughts.

As she walked, careful not to set off any traps, she saw the sun begin to rise along the tree line. She let the warmth embrace her, still shivering from every cold breeze that crept from the north. Hugging herself, Clem trudged through a small patch of tall grass and kept her pace. She didn't know how long she'd been walking, but before she realized, she arrived at a wooden fence.

It wasn't unlike the fence that had separated her childhood home from the forest in Georgia, though a couple of planks had rotten and been torn down. She squeezed through, dizziness settling in as she stumbled on the other side. Pressing her hand to the side of her face, she pinched the bridge of her nose and opened her eyes slowly. The urge to throw up had thankfully passed, and she was looking at a parking lot of a convenience store they had found last year while scavenging.

Cars that had been picked clean years ago littered the place, most of their tires stripped off or rotten. She looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was already at its highest point, meaning she'd taken almost twice as long getting here as last time. Cursing under her breath, she took out her knife and walked forward.

As she got to the door, a sharp clinging noise came from her right and she jumped, her knife trained in that direction and her left hand covering her stomach protectively. A squirrel jumped from behind a trash can, holding what appeared to be a potato chip bag in its hands. It eyed Clementine curiously, its tiny hands crumbling the top of the bag slowly.

She slashed at the air and scared it away, shaking her head and turning back to the store. Inside, the shelves were mostly ransacked, gathering dust since the apocalypse started. To her right there was a short line of shopping carts and to her left a rack filled with greeting cards. 'Happy Birthday', 'Merry Christmas', 'Happy New Year' she read absently, flipping through them. A sharp pain in her abdomen reminded her why she came in the first place, and she set out to find the pharmacy inside the store.

Empty boxes and crumpled bags littered the shelves and floor as she walked. The chirping of the birds seemed to have followed her, as more of them perched themselves on the windowsill of a shattered glass pane. The crunching of dirt and litter against her boots announced each step she took. Her eyes scanned the area every few seconds, alert in case anything happened. It would not do to get killed now, she thought ruefully.

She walked into the pharmacy office and searched the back shelves for whatever had been left. There wasn't much. The office was a smallish room with barely any room for light to pass through. Only a broken half window decorated one of the walls, leading to the back to the convenience store. She dug through the boxes, ridding them of pill bottles that had been emptied long ago.

"No, no, no," she kept muttering, discarding the items as she went through the office. After a few unsuccessful searches, her hand grazed a much heavier box on top of one of the highest shelves. "Damn, where's Louis when you need him?" she mused, her hands on her hips.

Standing on tiptoes, she managed to hook her finger around one of the cardboard flaps of the box, pulling it to her. It turned out that wasn't a great idea, as the contents of the box came pouring down. Now, strewn on the floor were small boxes with names such as 'Trojan' and 'Durex', which had no real meaning to her. She sorted through them until she found what she had been looking for all along: a pregnancy test.

She read the back of the box, familiarizing herself with the instructions and then taking the short stick out. Eyeing is with curiosity, she pursed her lips. Good thing I didn't bring Louis then, she thought with a grin. She followed the instructions, however reluctantly, and then sat down on a box while she waited.

During the two minutes that the box advised, she busied herself by scanning the rest of the office. She could see posters for some health care business. They advised people to always have their shots up to date. Didn't do much good now, did it? she thought. She wondered, after all these years, how many people were actually left.

"Not many, probably," she reasoned out loud. Before her morbid thoughts could take another turn, a faint beeping escaped the small stick in her hand. How it still had a working battery after over thirteen years, she didn't have a clue. She decided not to question it and, taking a deep breath, looked at the small screen. It was…

A loud bang from outside the office brought her eyes upwards. Stuffing the stick in her jacket pocket, she drew her knife and prepared for the worst. Soft growls and gurgles came from the front of the store, and she sighed in frustration. "Did you guys learn to sneak around or something?" she said to no one in particular, rolling her eyes.

At least it wasn't raiders, she thought. She walked outside and inspected the store. About fifteen walkers had wandered inside and were making their way toward her. She tried to keep them spaced out, taking them out swiftly. As she drove her knife in the skull of the tenth walker, a sharp pain in her stomach brought her down with it.

"God damn it," she swore, clutching her abdomen with one hand and the knife with the other. Before she could bring herself up to her feet again, a walker fell on top of her, its teeth dangerously close to her face. With all the force she could muster, she struck its skull from the side with the knife. The dead weight of the walker weighed her down, making her groan as she tried to escape its clutch.

With barely enough room to spare, she squeezed away from its grip and scrambled to her feet. She was surrounded by at least seven of them, slowly dragging their feet toward her. Broken glass crunched under their dead weight, creating a cacophony of sound combined with their loud growls and the chirping birds.

"Alright, come here!" she yelled, brandishing her knife again. "C'mere fuckers!"

"You're overreacting, Louis," AJ assured the man, watching him pace the courtyard. Violet and Aasim were seated on the table beside AJ, eyeing the gate nervously while Willy stood on the watchtower, scanning the tree line.

"What do you mean, little man?" Louis exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "My wife could be in trouble out there!" The sun was scraping the treetops by now, a crescent moon creeping its way into the sky on the east. Omar was already preparing the fire for dinner, and Ruby was collecting some vegetables from the greenhouse.

"She's been out longer," the boy reasoned, shrugging. "Clem can take care of herself out there, don't worry."

"He's right, Lou," Violet spoke up, her eyes glued to the dark exterior. "Clem will pro–."

"LOUIS! VIOLET!" came Willy's booming voice. "She's back!"

Louis's head perked up and he rushed to the gate, looking through the bars into the darkness. He spotted Clementine stumbling her way through the trees. She was clutching her stomach and her face was contorted in pain, but what caught his attention was the amount of blood on her jacket.

"Clem!" he exclaimed, opening the gate and running to her. He wrapped her arm over his shoulder and dragged her inside. As soon as they crossed the walls, her collapsed under her weight. "What happened?" he cried, his eyes scanning her face closely.

"I…" she trailed off, too out of breath to talk. It was only then that Louis saw her hand clutching the right side of her abdomen firmly.

"Clem…?" he whispered, his eyes eyeing her hand warily and then finding her own golden eyes. "What do you have there?"

"I'm sorry," she said simply, closing her eyes. It's wasn't her words that threw him off, but the small smile that crept up her face. Frowning, he looked down at her hand. She promptly released her grip on her jacket and revealed a small white and pink stick and a piece of folded paper in her pocket.

Louis took the stick warily in his hands and inspected it. It was thin on one side, and it got progressively thicker. It's tip was moist, and on the thick side was a small screen. On the screen, displayed in bright pink, was a small plus sign. Confused, Louis took the paper and unfolded it. Inside was a picture of a woman holding a baby and a small message below it.

'Congratulations, you're gonna be a daddy!' it read.

His eyes widening in shock, he looked back up at Clementine, whose eyes were open again. Her pain seemed to have diminished enough for her to smile at him. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and took his hand. "It's positive."