"You know, my dad used to take me fishing," Duck said, breaking the silence as he walked alongside Clementine who was following Pete. It was the quiet that he didn't favor at all. If everything was too quiet, it turned serious and if things got too serious too fast, stress and depression will begin to reside in the hearts of many. This meant he was usually one to break silence, giving a joke or telling a light-hearted story to keep everyone afloat.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! I wasn't very good at it, though. My dad still liked taking me so it was fun even if I didn't catch things all the time," He said, pulling a laugh from the older man. It was true. Whenever Kenny took him out to fish, it was never successful for the young boy.

"Well, did he ever take you huntin? Ever used a rifle? Either of you?" Pete asked, lifting the rifle slightly in his hands to demonstrate what it looked like.

"Well, no, I never have, how 'bout you, Clem?" Duck asked, smiling at the shorter girl who seemed to be thinking of other things.

"No, I was never interested in that. I liked drawing and coloring more," Clementine answered, slightly embarrassed at her interests.

"Ah, an artistic girl and a fishin' boy,"

"I sucked at fishing though,"

"There's room for improvement. Speaking of which, did anyone teach you guys how to shoot a gun, I mean taught properly," Pete asked, wondering if they could protect themselves and carry thier own weight. If not, he'd have to teach them real soon.

"Yeah, our friend Lee taught us," Clementine answered for both of them, a sad smile gracing her lips at the sweet memories she still held close to her heart.

"That's good, it's important now days," Pete said. "Nick was about Clementine's age when I took him huntin'. Came across this beautiful 13 point buck just standing there on the ridge line. The boy takes the rifle and lines up the shot like I showed him... and then I hear him start whining. He turns to me and says 'I can't do it. I can't shoot it Uncle Pete, please don't make me shoot it,'"

"Hey! Why didn't you wait?!" Nick shouted after them, making any responses from Clementine or Duck impossible.

"You want us to wait while you piss on a tree? You know where the river is, boy. Anyways," Pete turns to the two children, intent on continuing his story. "I try to take the rifle before it gets away and BANG! Rifle goes off! He nearly gut shot me and, of course, the buck gets away," Pete told them, a jolly tone in his voice despite the story containing his own near-death experience.

"Why are you telling this to them for?" Nick says, clearly offended.

"Cause you nearly blew the girl's face off the other day, seems relevant. Just trying to let her know that it's nothing personal with you,"

"Why do you always give me a hard time?"

"Because you're always giving everyone else a hard time!" Pete said, his tone growing angry  fast.

"It's fine. He apologized," Clementine said with a smile, trying to defuse the situation before it got too out of hand. Duck smiled slightly, trying to ease the tension he felt in the air as well. Nick pushed past his uncle rudely, making sure to bump shoulders with him.

"Leavin' us again,"

"I know where the fuckin river is," Nick says, pushing on to the groups destination and throwing his uncle's words back in his face.

"...So anyway, I found that buck later that season. Shot it right in the neck. Brought it up to my sister's figurin' she'd wanna freeze some of the meat... Nick didn't speak to me for weeks. Sometimes you gotta play a role, even if it means the people you love hate you for it," Pete finished his story, scratching the back of his head while a guilty look covered his features like a blanket.

"You should tell him that," Duck said. He believed that you should always explain yourself, just in case something is misunderstood. It was one of the lessons he had remembered well from his mother, having her life lessons repeating in his head. Pete looked to where Nick walked off too for a moment. He seemed as if he wanted to say something more before he was interrupted by his nephew.

"UNCLE PETE!" Nick shouted out, gathering thier attention. The three ran the short distance to the river before they stopped, horrified at thier discoveries. Dead bodies littered the ground, even across the river and some probably in the lake itself. Pete went over to a body that was shot in the head and poked it with his gun.

"Full of holes,"

"Who do you think did this?" Clemintine asked, on gaurd for the culprit still being in the area.

"Not sure yet. But it ain't your average gang of thugs, this much I know," Pete answered, surveying the area once more.

"Think about it: You're Carver, what do you do?"

"Who's Carver?" Clementine asked, ignorance gracing her voice. Both Clemintine's and Duck's curiosity was what had gotten them into most of thier shitty situations over the years but they still hadn't learned to control that curiosity, it seemed. Nick and Pete shared a glance before Pete decided to change the subject.

"Check those guys there. Be careful; Some of them might still be movin," Pete said as Nick got to work. Suspicion crept into both Clementine and Duck's minds but they didn't press forward. For now. Maybe they could question further when the time was right. They shared a silent conversation with thier eyes before Clemintine offered a soft, kind smile and looked away.

"There are more over there. Did you guys see them?" Duck asked, making sure they checked them as well.

"This isn't some rinky dink pissin' match,"

"What is it then?" Nick asked, speaking everyone's thoughts.

"Fubar," Pete said, making his way over the river.

"Where the fuck you goin?! We need to get out of here!" Nick said. Duck thought that, for once, Nick had a point. Duck wanted to leave and was ready to make his way out of there and back to the cabin.

"Gotta check the rest,"

"What?! Why?"

"Calm down and think about it, son," Pete said, taking big steps through the rippling water.

"Calm down?! We gotta get out of here right now!"

"I wholeheartedly agree with that notion!" Duck spoke, uncomfortable with the situation.

"But what if someone's alive?" Clementine asked. She was always one for saving people. Probably got that from Lee... Duck thought.

"Who cares?!" Nick retorted.

"Cause they might just be inclined to tell us who did this. We gotta do this now. Stay here, keep searching things," Pete commanded.

"Where do I go?" Duck asked as Clemintine made her way across the river too. He didn't like the idea of Clemintine going too far from him in this type of situation.

"Do whatever," Pete said. Duck stayed with Nick, hoping that nothing bad happened to Pete or Clemintine.

"This is a dumb idea.." Nick said, backing away a bit.

"You know Nick, I don't like this either, but sooner or later you're gonna have to realize a simple truth,"

"What? That you're an asshole?"

"That nobody in this world is gonna give a goddamn whether you like something or not. You gotta grow up, son," Pete finished, making his point strong.

"Whatever," Nick turned his back one final time, brooding over the fact that the old man was right.

"Come on. Wanna be useful? Keep a lookout on that tree line. Whoever did this might still be out there,"

"We're on it, right?" Clemintine turned to Duck across the river, making sure that he nodded his head. Duck should keep watch over there too, Clemintine reasoned.

"You always so agreeable?" Pete asked. Not really knowing who he was referring to, Clemintine answered.

"No..."

"Good, you'll fit right in with this outfit. Look, just keep your head on straight," A walker interrupted him before he could say anymore. The walker was pinned down with a pole like object impaling its stomach. "Same deal, all shot to pieces. I hope this isn't anybody you know," Pete said as he stabbed the walker in the skull. He looked behind him to see more. "Damnit, more on this side. You check the ones over here, see if there's anything that can tell us who they were," He said, leaving her on her own. A small gasp from Clemintine alerted Duck that something was wrong.

"Clem..?" He asked as he walked over and across the river. He saw her back pack, making him have almost the same reaction as her when he saw it. She knelt down to pick it up but was startled when the body next to her back pack coughed suddenly and weakly, almost like he was trying to cough out his own lungs.

"What happened to you..?" She asked. Duck looked at his face and his eyes widened a bit. He sighed before he hit Clemintine on her shoulder gently, trying to get her attention.

"He was the one that raided our camp,"

"Wait, so he was in the woods with Christa... The woman we were with.... What happened to her? Please," Clemintine pleaded, desperate for an update on whether Christa was alive or dead.

"Please tell us," Duck said just as desperately.

"...please..." The man begged. He pointed to the water bottle resting in Clemintine's back pack to the best of his abilities. Clemintine took the water bottle out and let him drink from it, having mercy on the man that may have killed thier friend. They needed information and maybe that would sway him into giving then more. He coughed and turned on his back, thankful for the life-saving water.

"Thank you.... thank you..."

"Argghh!" Pete exclaimed, a gunshot following as he shot a walker that was attached to his ankle.

"Pete!" Nick shouted in worry. His face showed his anxieties as he surveyed Pete from where he was standing, not being able to see much from where he was.

"I'm okay, I just lost my footing! Damnit, god damnit.." He said, muttering the last part. Duck looked down to where the walker was, noticing the bite on his leg as he did. His eyes widened as he looked back up in Pete's eyes. His eyes were all he needed to see to know how he felt. Pete knew what was going to come next and so did Duck. After all, his mother had fell victim to a surprise bite herself. Duck had first hand experience to this.

Duck was about to tell Nick but, almost as if the dinner bell rang, walkers started surrounding them as gunshots filled the air in retaliation. Nick was shouting for everyone to follow him and, in the panic, Duck turned and ran torwads Nick, not knowing that Clemintine wasn't following him. He turned once he made it across the water only to see Clemintine meeting up with Pete, making his heart drop as he realized his only friend was leaving, not even aware that her death was almost certain.

"Clem!"

"No time! She'll take care of it! Pete knows the way back!" Nick said as he grabbed Duck by his hoodie, ultimately stopping Duck from running back to her. Duck tried to fight against his grip as tears threatened to spill out. She couldn't leave him like everyone else did. She couldn't die like everyone else did! The last Duck had seen of her was her matted, curly hair and hat as she ran the opposite direction. An emotion he felt when he lost his parents quickly settled in before he could stop it.

The thing he had tried so hard to fight for so long finally settled in his heart as he ran without thinking. Ran away from her. Ran away from the last shred of familiarity he held onto.

Clemintine was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to cover his ears, he wanted to scream and cry. He wanted to fall down and kick like a baby in a tantrum but he didn't. He kept running, the more distance he put in between him and Clemintine felt like a knife tearing his chest open bit by bit.

Despair was finally reaching his heart, making it break into a million tiny pieces all over again. As if it wasn't enough that his mother died or his father went missing, they had to take Clemintine too! He was sad but, mainly, he was angry.

Angry at himself, angry at the world, he wasn't really sure which caused the hatred in his heart more but he knew that he couldn't stop right now. He couldn't stop running now.

Clemintine was a smart girl. She had to figure out that Pete was bitten and quickly. She had to get to the cabin before him.

She had to survive more than he did.

A/N: IM SORRY!!!!!!! I promise that I always meant to post this but things kept happening and this unfinished draft had been sitting here. Good thing is that I've finished it now! I hope you enjoy this 2,236 worded chapter!