The group left the house with only their bags on their backs. They headed off towards the west and the direction Pete had been when Y/N, with his crossbow in his arms, said loudly "one minute."

He came to a stop, as did the others, Clementine looking at her best friend with concern. Her fears were realised as he said:

"Clemmy I need you to stay close to Luke, ok. Luke you give me your word right now that you're gonna protect her with your life."

Clementine responded weakly with "Y/N no" as Luke glanced at Nick with confusion, then back to Y/N and answered:

"Yeah I will, but why?"

"I'm goin' on a wide loop. This Carver fella said he was out to the east, so I'm gonna head south, then swing around. After you hit the van you're gonna head north right?" Y/N asked, pointing with his hand as he did.

Luke nodded and Y/N replied: "I'll keep swinging round and then meet you to the north. With any luck I'll sneak up on this prick and see what we're up against."

Clementine closed her eyes in sadness, knowing there was no way she could hope to change Y/N's mind. Not when he had decided on something.

"You sure man? You sure you'll be able to find us?" Luke asked, shocked at the teen's words.

"Yeah. I been trackin' through woods since I could walk. A big group as noisy as you lot, yeah it won't be a problem" Y/N chuckled.

Clementine rushed and hugged Y/N tightly, Y/N hugging back with the one arm that was wasn't holding his crossbow. Most of the group smiled at their interaction, one noticeably didn't as she asked:

"Can I go with you?"

Y/N looked at the girl Sarah with an expression that crossed bewilderment and indignation as he responded:

"No"

Carlos began berating Sarah for her recklessness and insisted she would never be allowed to go with someone 'like him.' Y/N instantly blocked them both out, turning to Clementine and asking:

"You know what to do if Merle pulls in the driveway?"

Clementine knew instantly what Y/N's question meant as Alvin and Rebecca, who were closest to the teens, looked puzzled. It was a code they used between themselves. Y/N had asked what to do if the shit hit the fan.

"Pull a Ben" Clementine replied and Y/N nodded. If there was trouble she was to run away. Y/N would find her. He would always find her.

—~—

Y/N had gone a few clicks south before he started tracking east. After about half an hour he came across a mini horde of about 15 walkers. They were milling around aimlessly and he silently avoided them without alerting them to his presence. He continued onwards before approaching a campsite.

He knelt down in the bushes, listening to a man with a gravelly voice bark orders at the others.

"You've got ten minutes to have everything in the cars! We're moving on them. Now hurry up!"

Y/N smiled. The man was so arrogant he had told Clem the truth about where his people were, just like Y/N thought he had. Y/N counted about six people, maybe eight, but it was hard to be sure without getting too close. He suddenly smiled sadistically to himself as a horrendous plan formed in his mind.

—~—

The group had been walking for about ten minutes, Clementine extremely quiet before Luke asked:

"Now, you said it was just up here?"

"Yeah. Just a little ways" Clementine replied with a sadness in her voice.

Rebecca turned and saw the young teen's sadness and stopped, waiting to walk with her. As Clementine got next to the heavily pregnant woman she began walking and talking to the girl:

"Hey, Clem, sorry if I gave you some shit back there, I'm just a little on edge. I still don't like what you did, sneakin' around on us and taking advantage of my husband. But I know you were in a tough spot. I'll try to cut you some slack."

"It's okay" Clem replied sadly.

"You're worried about Y/N aren't you?" Rebecca asked sympathetically.

Clementine nodded and Rebecca quickly added.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He seems pretty resourceful."

"I know he'll be ok. He always is. It's just he always does this. Gets hurt because of me. Is in danger because of me. The only reason he got bit yesterday is because the dog went for me and he jumped in front of it..."

Clementine's voice trailed off as she sniffled and wiped her eyes. Rebecca felt bad for the girl. She knew she could be a raging bitch sometimes, but it hurt her feelings seeing Clementine so clearly worried. Rebecca wasn't sure when she had become so soft, must be the bloody hormones, but she thought of something to try and take Clem's mind off the previous night.

"So Luke said something that sounded crazy this morning. He said Y/N fought with a knife and some glass to save you? What's that about?"

Clementine chuckled at Rebecca's playful tone at the end of her sentence. She wiped her eyes and began gushing, not realising Sarah was listening in behind her:

"We were in Savannah, we'd gone there looking for a boat after we were attacked in Macon and lost the motel we were set up at. This man, this stranger... I had a walkie talkie I used to talk to my parents with, before everything, anyway this man convinced me he had my parents and-"

"Oh no" Rebecca replied, covering her mouth with her hand. Clem nodded:

"He kidnapped me. Wanted to pretend I was his daughter. Anyway Y/N and our friends tried to find me but got separated. Y/N he..."

Clem stopped for a moment, unable to hide her smile, of the butterflies she felt whenever she thought about everything Y/N did for her.

"If you have a look on Y/N's left hand there's a big scar-"

Clementine traced its location on her own palm for emphasis.

"-he was out of bullets and almost out of arrows. And the streets were full of hundreds of walkers. Thousands. Y/N he..."

Clementine smiled again, her cheeks flushing involuntarily:

"...he fought his way through the horde, with just his knife and a piece of glass. I couldn't believe it until after he'd rescued me, killed the man... the amount of dead walkers in the street.. the amount he killed."

Rebecca stared at Clementine dumbfounded before she could eventually ask:

"You bullshitting me?"

Clementine giggled and shook her head.

"Damn. When a guy does something like that for you... damn."

Clementine smiled at her own feelings. Rebecca was still filled with disbelief. Behind them both Sarah's cheeks had flushed, she was full of feelings she wasn't overly sure about, but she was sure she wanted Y/N to like her. To do those things for her. As she walked forward she began to daydream and smile.

—~—

Y/N made his way back to the walkers, catching the attention of one and quietly leading it backwards. When it lunged for him he tripped it, stabbed it in the back of the head and flipped it over, carving its stomach open and rubbing it entrails over himself.

—~—

"If it's not you I'm yellin' at lately, it's Alvin, and then I'm in real trouble" Rebecca said to Clementine as the two walked and chatted. They had quickly warmed to each other and happily talked as they walked.

"It's ok, I can handle it. I'm not a little kid" Clem replied with a smile. She and Y/N had seen a lot worse than an angry pregnant woman over the last few years.

"I felt the same way when I was your age. My dad was always giving me shit, and I always thought he didn't know a damn-"

Rebecca stopped talking as the group all jumped, three gunshots going off in the distance before there was an outbreak of semiautomatic rifle fire and yelling.

"What the fuck?"

"Who's that?"

"Are they close?"

Came from various members of the group as more machine gun fire broke out. Sarah rushed to her father and hugged him. Rebecca did the same with Alvin. Clementine stood calmly and said:

"Y/N found them. We should keep going, the van is just a little ways ahead."

She continued walking forward as the cabin crew looked back and forth at each other in a mix of fear, shock and disbelief.

—~—

Y/N, covered in walker guts, got the attention of the walkers and lead them towards Carver's team.

As Y/N got close he could make out two four wheel drives and an old chiller truck around a campsite that was being dismantled and packed away. Two men were folding up a tent and bitching to each other on the closest side to Y/N:

"All this shit for a pregnant bitch. This is fucked man."

"Shut up dude. You want Carver to hear you? We've just gotta get this packed up and hopefully they'll be at the cabin."

"You two not finished yet? We've gotta-"

The third large man who had came round the corner was cut off by a gunshot mid sentence. He was struck through the throat and fell backwards.

The other two men jumped at the shock before falling and screaming, both having been shot in the thigh.

—~—

Y/N pulled his glock from behind his back as he growled and groaned, leading the other walkers. He fired three shots in quick succession, hitting one of the men in the throat and the other two each in the thigh. He could have easily killed them from his position but that was no good. He needed bait.

The walkers behind him were drawn instantly to the men's pained screams and set upon them quickly, beginning to tear the men to pieces. Y/N put his gun away and stood for a moment, enjoying his handiwork.

—~—

Carver was berating Troy for the way he had parked the truck. Troy was one of his best men, in the sense that he was cruel and sadistic, but he sure was dumb as fuck.

"You need to think more Troy! Now we-"

Carver jumped at three gunshots in quick succession, coming from the other side of the four wheel drives, followed by screams. He ran around to see Donny, Paul and Wayne, three of his best men, being torn apart by walkers. It was what happened next though that made Carver's blood run cold. He looked up to see what looked like a teenage walker, covered in blood, staring at him. It then smiled a sadistic smiled.

"What the fu-"

Before Carver could continue he was grabbed by a walker. He shot it quickly through the jaw and turned back to see the smiling walker gone, just as Troy, Bonnie and Johnny, his three surviving lackies, opened fire with their AK47 rifles, putting the walkers down.

—~—

"Do you think he's ok? Do you think he's ok?" Sarah kept asking Clementine every five seconds. Clementine had stopped answering ten minutes prior. They walked along before Nick yelled "Jesus! Lurker" and lifted his gun at the blood soaked walker standing on the trail in front of them.

"Whoa no guns. We need to do this quiet. Everyone stand back" Luke said as he pushed Nick's rifle down and pulled his machete from it's holster.

"Didn't I tell you what would happen if you pointed that thing at me again?" the walker suddenly asked.

Nick and Luke's eyes opened wide, as did the others except Clem, who rushed forward but stopped just in time before hugging a blood covered Y/N.

"What happened Y/N? That gunfire, was it you?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, tracked them down, took out three of their guys and set a bunch of walkers on them. I make out at least half a dozen, but it slowed them down at least."

"Uh wow. Uh good job, Y/N" Luke said apprehensively, unsure what to say really looking at the blood covered kid.

"Good job? Good job? Never mind good job what the fuck is this?" Rebecca asked, pointing at Y/N and the red and black liquid he was covered in.

"Walker guts" Y/N replied nonchalantly.

"Why in God's name are you covered in it, Y/N?" Carlos asked firmly.

"To hide among them. Hides the scent. You cover yourself in it and just walk straight through a horde without so much as a how do you do" Y/N chuckled. He turned to Clem and asked:

"Is the van near here?"

Clementine nodded and, after wiping it on some leaves, held Y/N's hand as they walked forward.

—~—

The group came upon a small hill, leading down towards an abandoned van down the embankment.

"There that's where we were" Clem said sadly, Y/N releasing her hand and walking forward with his crossbow primed and ready to go. He stopped at the partially opened back door as Luke came next to him and grabbed the handle, looking at Y/N and mouthing "one, two, three"

He pulled the door open as Y/N shot round the corner.

"Nothin, empty" Y/N called out as Clementine said to Nick:

"This was the last place I saw him."

"Maybe he's still around here somewhere" Alvin added.

The group separated, looking out around the open site. Clementine stumbled across him and stood there, shocked at Pete's corpse laying there with a bullet hole in his temple.

"No! What happened?" Nick said in shock.

"He was shot" Carlos said in a tone suggesting he was proud of his diagnosis.

"He didn't have a gun" Clementine replied sadly.

"We need to move" Carlos said in a panicked shout as the group began to head north.

Y/N trailed to the back of the group with Clementine and whispered:

"We need to find the others Clem. I think-"

Y/N was cut off by Luke walking up to them:

"Look, I know we got off to a rough start. And I can't make any promises it won't get rougher. But we all know you two now. And we may not be perfect, but we look out for each other. Goddamn could we use someone like you as well, Y/N."

"We need to look for our friends" Clementine said to Luke with a sad smile.

"They were gonna head north, right?"

Clementine nodded as Luke continued:

"So are we. Look, you're gonna have a better chance of finding them with us than just the two of ya. What do you say?"

Clementine nodded and squeezed Y/N's hand, wondering if he was ok with it. Y/N sighed and said "yeah, I guess I can get some sleep at least if someone else is on guard duty."

He had a bad feeling about this.

Luke smiled and said "all right then" before pulling a map from his rucksack and looking at it.

"I figure we got about four or five days to reach those mountains. Now, if they're trackin' us, we should be able to lose 'em up there."

"Five days?" Rebecca asked in horror.

"It's gonna be okay, Bec." Alvin said to reassure her as Carlos added:

"We have to keep moving now. It's our only choice."

Y/N had a really bad feeling about this.