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Almost two years had passed since Naya left Savannah and said goodbye to the only two people she had left leaving her alone in the new apocalyptic world. For the first six months, Hayden and Molly were right by her side teaching her to survive. But now, the young girl had no clue what to do next except for one thing; find Clement. The almost twelve-year-old was more prepared for the world and fully looked the part as she walked through the woods. The blue beanie that Clem had found and gave her back at the house in Savannah sat on her golden head, her locks tied back out of her face and the clothes she wore held no restriction and were very comfortable for travel.

The remaining ten months of travel had been on her own, catching whatever she could in the afternoons and hiding in ran down buildings during the night. Mornings were spent travelling further away from Savannah, she had no plan originally but after spending a night with a small group of kind strangers ─ she had saved one of their kids ─ they had told her rumours about some place called Wellington. Naya had to hope that if anyone she knew was still alive, they would also head towards the rumoured sanctuary. Travelling alone as a kid was never an easy task, the young girl was constantly alert and paranoid avoiding people as much as possible.

It was winter and the closer she got to Wellington, the colder it would become as it would turn from rain, to sleet, to ice and then finally, snow. Naya had never seen the snow, she had always wanted to as she was growing up but with her father being a soldier, she never really got the chance to go see it. This created a sense of childlike eagerness in Naya, she knew the cold would slow the dead but at the same time, it would make her more prone to falling ill and in a world with limited supplies; that wasn't the most ideal thing. Naya knew that, if her plans of Wellington fell through, she would turn around and find somewhere warmer just to limit her chances of sickness.

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Naya sat on the cold floor in a small cabin, she laid her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Held tight in her hands was a gun and a knife, she was ready for anything or anyone despite having blocked all of the entrances into the clear cabin. The blonde began humming a soft tune to herself, she was trying to ignore the growling of her stomach along with the deep hunger that she felt burning. She had found plenty of water recently but food was becoming extremely scarce in the area, travellers heading to Wellington beating her to the more risky places that was suicide for a singular survivor ─ especially a young kid. Her mind trailed back to old memories as she listened to the wind blow outside.

"I'm so hungry I might start eating bark," Molly said as she walked by Hayden's side, their hands were intertwined and Naya was walking ahead of them with a small smile on her face. It had been two months since Savannah and Naya missed Clement every single day but she refused to mourn her best friend, she held onto the hope that one day they would find each other again. "Bark?" Naya asked with furrowed brows. "Yeah, Moo. Movies always showed the nutritional value of bark," Molly replied making the young girl laugh. "We can't eat bark but... maybe one day we'll have too," Hayden added with a teasing smirk while Naya fake gagged and shook her head.

"There's a building up here, maybe we'll find something inside," Hayden suggested as they all spotted the small building ahead of them, a run down gas station by the looks of it. "What do we do first?" Molly asked Naya once the trio stopped in front of it. "We case the outside for any stragglers or signs of other survivors," Naya replied with a tone of surety. "Good job, Moo," Hayden told her with a proud smile, "Then what?" Naya was thinking for a moment before hesitantly replying, "Then we check the outside exits? Pick one that looks the safest and enter cautiously?" Molly nodded her head, "And if we feel unsafe?" Naya smiled, "We trust our instinct and leave as soon as possible."

"Missing a few things," Hayden reminded his daughter, sharing a smile with Molly. "I know!" Naya cheered, "Once the area is clear and we've picked an entrance, we make noise to stir up any Walkers inside giving us a number to determine whether the risk is worth the reward." Both Hayden and Molly beamed with pride hearing her while she continued, "Then once we have a number and believe it is worth the risk, we take them out quickly. Scavenge quick and only what is needed. Then determine if it's safe to stay longer or leave straight away." Hayden and Molly nodded at the girl, she had it down to a Tee.

The lessons that Naya was taught by her father and Molly burned deep in her mind, it made her cautious but at the same time, it left her paranoid about everything now that she was completely alone. She missed them everyday, it still hurt deep in her heart knowing they were gone but she promised to keep going and so she would. Hayden and Molly had started dating pretty quickly into their travels, Naya always said that the world they lived in limited a person's options ─ not that Molly was a bad option ─ and it had changed the morals and values when it came to relationships of all sorts. And as Naya fell asleep that night, she wished her father and Molly were right beside her.

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Meanwhile elsewhere on that same night, Clement sat with Christa in the cold wind with a barely burning fire in front of them as they attempted to cook some animal they had managed to catch. It had been sixteen months since Omid was killed in the abandoned rest stop, Clem never let go of the guilt he felt over Omid's death; he had been so distracted thinking about Naya and looking at the keychain bear he kept close that he didn't keep everything else close. Christa had become cold since that painful day, she had unfortunately lost the baby from the stressful loss and hadn't been the same woman since. Clem understood that, she had a right to be cold to him and Clem had to remind himself that she could have left him behind but she hasn't.

"Christa, talk to me," Clem spoke, his voice had become deeper since Savannah as the almost thirteen year old was getting older. Christa sighed before getting up to tend to the fire, "This'll never work. Look at this... it's pathetic. The wood's too wet to burn." Clem lowered his eyes for a moment, the same cold tone seeped through her words. "What else can we do?" Clem asked her ready for any helpful advice. "Find something that'll burn, maybe. I dunno. Won't be easy in the dark and in the rain. You should be doing this, not me. Tending to a fire so you can cook and stay warm... it's something you have to be able to do. Otherwise..." Christa trailed off and shook her head.

"We can't build a big fire at night. It attracts too much attention. It's too dangerous when we're out here by ourselves," Clem reminded her of the lesson that Omid had taught him. "We need to eat, don't we? We can't survive without food," Christa remarked. Clem wrapped his arms around himself, the cold wind mixed with the icy rain wasn't helping, "I'm freezing." Christa sighed, "You think this is bad, wait 'til we get up to Wellington, then talk to me about cold. If we make it. We still have a couple of hard months ahead of us." Christa stood up as rain began to fall more, she shook her head and added, "This rain will turn to sleet, then ice, then snow. It won't be easy."

"Is it safe there? Do you really think that's where Hayden and Naya went?" Clem asked Christa. "Safer than here because of the cold. Or so they say. I think Hayden would have made the call. We just need to keep moving north," Christa replied to Clem, she was barely looking at the boy. "I miss Lee," Clem spoke after some silence before thinking, 'And Naya'. Christa looked up at Clem with a slight frown, "I'm sure you do." Christa stood up from the ground with a disappointment scoff, "I'm gonna go look for more wood. You keep the fire lit." As she disappeared into the woods, Clem got up and grabbed his red and black bag from the hollow log where it was hidden from the rain.

Clem pulled out a picture of Lee, a drawing of Kenny and his family, a picture of Naya and Hayden, and then the lighter he owned. He got up and searched the area for something that could burn better, he found a log that just might burn with the right kindling. Successfully making a more efficient fire, Clem smiled until shouting in the distance alerted the boy. He stood up and followed the voices, anxiously listening to the sound of men shouting. "Don't fucking lie to us!" One man screams out. "Who do you think you're foolin'?" Another man asked Christa who stood trapped. Christa continued to plead with them, claiming that she was indeed all alone in the woods.

Clem found a rock and threw it towards one of the men, "Christa, RUN!!" Christa took off in another direction while Clem ran off as well now that the men knew about him. It wasn't long until one of the men had caught up to Clement, shouting for him to stop running and to come back. Clem manages to dodge the man and crawl under a fallen tree, running as fast as he could in the cold rain. When a Walker popped out, Clem barely manages to dodge around the dead and as the man approaches, he is quick to kill it. Clem broke off a branch from a nearby tree, the man charged at him but Clem ducks and stabs the branch into the man's shoulder.

After some running, Clement reaches a ledge that lead to a river allowing the man to catch up to the boy, grabbing him around the neck with his arm. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Clem shouted as the man began dragging him away, Clem bit down on the man's arm causing him to let go of the boy as he screamed out in pain. Clem attempted to crawl through a hollow log but the man grabbed his leg and dragged him back out of the tree, holding onto whatever he could reach. Clem grabbed a rock and used it to hit the man in the head freeing him from the strangers grasp. The man stumbled backwards, right into the arms of a Walker causing him to scream as the Walker bites into his shoulder.

Backing away from the Walkers coming towards him, Clem is unaware of the ledge getting closer and closer until he suddenly toppled over the edge and landed in the river. The current was strong as it moved fast, pushing Clement further and further down the steam as he was tossed around like a ragdoll in the current. He screamed out for Christa but deep down, he knew as he heard the gunshot earlier; Christa was possibly dead or maybe even relieved to be away from him. Just as his eyes began to close from exhaustion, Clem called out one last name that burned on the tip of his tongue, "NAYA!!" And he faded into unconsciousness.

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Rosemary Speaks. . .

You probably have a few questions...
You may get those answers ;)

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions

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