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Clement smiled softly as he listened to Naya point out and explain the constellations in the sky, moments like these were his favourite. The motel had been a rough time for them but Naya's smile and happy personality always managed to make him feel like the world was brighter than it was. "That's Orion, one of my favourites..." Naya whispered before turning her head to look at Clement, she blushed as she noticed he had been watching her and not the stars. The ten year old girl giggled as Clement realised he had been caught staring at her. "Why are you staring at me?" Naya asked with a teasing tone in her voice. "Because..." Clement replied before smirking, "Because your smile shines brighter than any star in the sky."

Naya's cheeks darkened in red, she turned her head away from Clement as giddiness settled in her chest at her best friends words. Even at only eleven years old, he had a way of making her blush or smile; little flirt. Clement grinned at her reaction, it fell into a soft smile as Naya slipped her hand into his own. "I wish we could stay like this forever," Naya whispered as she turned her head back to the boy, her smile faltered slightly. "So do I..." Clement responded before taking a deep breath, "One day, I'll find somewhere safe for us. A place to call home." Naya's expression softened as she looked at Clement, "I truly believe you, Clem. I look forward to that day." Clement smiled back before they looked up at the stars above, both at peace for just a short while.

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Clement gasped before coughing up water, expelling it from his lungs as he fell onto his side and groaned, his body ached. Blinking rapidly before opening his eyes, he looked around and found himself on the bank of the river he had been forced down. Clement immediately checked his pocket, the bear keyring still in place and not damaged made his tense shoulders lessen; he wouldn't know how to feel if he lost it. He pushed himself up off of the ground, his muscles aching from the twists and turns under the current of the stormy river. Clement had no idea where he was or even where he'd go next. Wrapping his arms around himself, he began his search for a way off of the riverbank. He no longer had his backpack, the photo of lee or the photo of Hayden and Naya; pained by knowledge, he pushed on.

Clement managed to find a dock ledge on the cliff, leaping up to grab ahold and pull himself up. He began his walk down the trail in hopes of finding anything that would be useful, preferably food. He knew that no matter what happened next, he still had to keep going forward. A rustle in the brush stopped Clement in his path, he was hesitant as he moved forward until he came face to face with a sandy coloured dog wearing a blue collar, the name Sam clear on its tag. "It's okay, boy. It's okay," Clement cooed carefully, the dog barked before relaxing in the presence of an alive human rather than one of the walkers. The dog walked away, Clem watched in confusion before deciding that following the dog was better than being alone.

It wasn't long until Clement came across an abandoned camp, he was able to piece together that the camp once belonged to Sam's owners but unfortunately, they had lost their lives to the dead. Clement searched the area for anything of use, the growling of the dog alerted him and he made his way over. Tied against the tree was a walker groaning and growling, its attempts to get him strengthened once Clement was close enough. "It's alright, boy, he can't get us," Clement assured the dog who seemed to understand, easing slightly while still being weary. Using a branch, Clement bashed in the skull of the Walker allowing him access to the sharp blade in the Walkers arm.

With a weapon in hand, Clement felt a little eased knowing he had something to defend himself with if they ran into any trouble. Continuing his search of the area, he found a barrel with an awful smell, braving the scent, Clement dug into the trash. His heart leapt joyfully as he pulled a can from the barrel, shaking it slightly causing the food within to slosh about. He moved over to the log and sat down, using the knife to cut open the top of the can; a relieved smile formed as he took in the sight of the good beans within. He dug into the beans, Sam watching closely before Clement offered some to the dog. However, Sam was unhappy with the small amount of food, he jumped up and knocked the can from Clement's hand.

Once the can rolled across the ground, Sam dug his snout in and began lapping at the remaining beans. "Hey! You gotta share!" Clement snapped as he reached for the can, Sam was unhappy with the act. The dog leaped forward, his jaw locking around Clement's arm deeply causing the boy to fall on his back, screaming out in agony. Clement tried to pull his arm free from the dog's jaw, he groaned from the pain until he finally freed himself. Sam growled deeply before going in for a second bite, Clement used all of his strength to kick Sam off of him which sent the dog over a log. Clement anticipated the dog coming for him again but heard the whimpers coming from the dog, he got up and crept over.

Sam lay pinned painfully by some sharp spikes, whimpering in pain which struck Clement's heart; he couldn't bare the thought of how Naya would have responded to this. Not wishing for the dog to continue being in pain, Clement used the knife to kill the dog with mercy. He stood back up and moved to grasp his arm, pain struck through his body as he bite. The blood covering his arm made him uneasy, he pulled his sleeve down over it and held it to his chest. With no clue what to do next, Clement just began walking down the path as the sky began to darken; it wasn't long until the pain became too much and Clement fell back against a large boulder, closing his eyes as he whimpered to himself wishing Naya was with him.

The familiar groans and growls of Walkers alerted the boy, he pushed up off of the ground and began stumbling away until a Walker managed to catch him. He held the Walker back with as much strength as he could until someone sliced the Walkers head from its body, Clement pushed the Walkers body away as another being shot an arrow into another Walkers head. The two men shared a look before the one with the crossbow spoke up, "Quick, grab the boy. Let's get out of here." The second man put his machete away, lifting Clement into his arms before they took off away from the Walkers heading towards them. After some time, they managed to escape the Walkers, their pace easing as Clement tried to ignore the pain in his arm that was slowly numbing.

"I think... I think we're safe," The older man spoke once they came to a stop, panting deeply from running away from the walking dead. They looked back to make sure before the man carrying Clement spoke, "Yeah... yeah, we're good." The two men turned their attention to the boy who felt dazed and pained from his dog bite, along with the hunger burning deep in his stomach. "Hey, you all right...?" The one carrying him asked in concern. "I... I think so," Clement replied, he was weary of the strangers but the wound was distracting him. They continued their walk down the path, the older man spoke first, "What are you doing out here?" Before Clement could answer, the other spoke, "Yeah, where are the people you're with? There's no chance you made it this long on your own."

Knowing he was alone struck Clement hard, he felt like he'll always be alone. "I don't want them thinkin' we're doin' anything but tryin' to help you," The older man added as Clement thought his options over. "My friend and I got attacked," Clement answered truthfully, he figured there was no use in lying to the ones that went out of their way to save him. Plus, they could have seen Naya or even Hayden at some point; any lead would help Clement. "Hmm... these folks mention what they were after?" The older man asked the boy. "They might've just wanted food. We were cooking some sort of weasel," Clement answered, he just assumed they were bandits causing trouble like usual.

"They attacked you for a weasel? Damn, that is low," The younger man spoke, he was stunned by the levels people in this world seemed to go. "They didn't mention any names, right? They weren't searching for anybody?" The younger one added, Clement felt suspicious at those questions; but he had no reason not to trust them yet. "No," Clement answered, he wasn't lying about that. "Well, I'm Luke, and this is Pete," Luke, the younger one, introduced himself before motioning towards the older man. "Hey there," Pete greeted, a kind smile on his face that reminded Clement of Hayden. "Hi. I'm Clement," Clement introduced himself, it was kind of nice being around others again.

"It's nice to meet you, Clement. For now, we're gonna take you back to our group, okay?" Luke offered kindly, his actions made Clement think of Lee and Kenny, "We got a doctor with us and you look like you could use some-- Oh shit!" Luke dropped Clement, the boy wincing painfully at the action as he held his wounded arm to his chest. "What? What is it?" Pete asked in a panic, though he didn't like the way Luke just dropped the young boy. "He's... He's been bit, man. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck... what are we gonna do here...?" Luke panicked, he didn't want to shoot a kid but he couldn't bring back someone who had been bitten; they'd seen that mess before. "No! It was a dog!" Clement exclaimed truthfully, he didn't know how else to prove that; he couldn't die, not with Naya out there possibly alone.

"I didn't see any dog, Clement," Pete expressed, the words irritated Clement who had a feeling he wouldn't be believed. "Come on, kid. Look, we just saw you with those lurkers back there!" Luke expressed, he had a point and Clement knew that. "No! No, just look at it! Please!" Clement knew without some sort of treatment, it'd get infected but if he couldn't convince them, he'd just leave and find something himself. "Yeah, and have you sink your teeth into Pete's neck? No way!" Luke proclaimed. Clement was annoyed by this, it takes hours for the change to happen; he watched Duck fade and knew that a Walker bite would be very different for him right now if it was. "My neck? Why am I the one?" Pete asked confused.

"'Cause I don't know a dog bite from a mosquito bite from a Lurker bite, man," Luke replied to Pete. Pete and Clement made eye contact, the boy holding his stare with honest eyes; he had to get his point across and Pete seemed like a reasonable man. "Hmm... All right," Pete agreed after a moment of silence, he made his way over to Clement ignoring Luke's warning as he knelt by Clement and pulled his sleeve up to assess the bite on the boy's arm. "See?" Clement asked, some bite to his tone. "So? Is it like he says?" Luke asked, he hoped it wasn't a Lurker bite. "Hmm... Well, could be a dog. Hard to say," Pete replied, he wasn't certain but the damage done to Clement's arm looked more like a dog's jaw than a Lurkers; but he wasn't the man to determine it or not.

"So where'd this dog go?" Pete questioned the boy, surely a dog with a taste of blood would be dangerous for anyone. "Now what... what does that matter, Pete? Seriously," Luke asked confused, he didn't understand what was important. "I... I killed it," Clement told them the truth, no point in starting his lies now. "What? Really?" Luke questioned in disbelief, "A dog shows up and bites you and you just kill it?" Clement looked at Luke like he was stupid, what was he supposed to do? Take it to disneyland?! It was a ridiculous question from the man. "What would have done?" Pete asked Luke, he too found Luke's question stupid. "I don't know?" Luke answered Pete. "It attacked me," Clement stated. "Still! You don't... you don't kill dogs," Luke responded.

Pete was silent as he looked back at the boys wound, he then lifted his gaze to Clement's own stare. "Clement?" Pete spoke up to gain the boys full attention. "Yes..." Clement replied. "You tellin' us the truth? You look me in the eyes when you answer," Pete asked the boy, his hard stare focused on pointing out any lie tells. "Yes," Clement replied with his own hard stare, no lie leaving his tongue. "Hmmph. All right, Clement. That's good enough for me," Pete said with a softened tone. "Well, what else was he gonna say?" Luke snapped out with his arms crossed. "I've got a good bullshit detector, Luke. That's why you can never beat me at poker," Pete replied to Luke as he pulled Clement's sleeve down over the wound.

"Pfft. You don't always beat me at─ All right, how can you be sure?" Luke asked Pete as Clement stood up from the ground with Pete's assistance. "Well, I'm sure I ain't willing to leave a little boy in the woods to die when we got a doctor with us that can make a call. We can have Carlos take a look at it first," Pete responded to Luke with a stern tone, telling Luke that he wasn't getting a say in this. "Nick ain't gonna like this... not with what happened to─" Luke was cut off by Pete's stern tone, "You don't have to remind me of that, boy." Luke lowered his gaze in shame, "Right. Sorry, sir." Clement wasn't sure what that was about but it clearly was a tough subject for Pete. Pete patted Luke's shoulder in assurance before taking the lead back to their group.

Clement followed along, his arm against his chest as it seemed to burn; his fingers feeling numb as blood dripped off of them. He felt tired, his eyes desperately wanting to close so he could rest; he knew by Katjaa's past medical lessons that the blood loss was beginning to settle in along with the adrenaline leaving his body. They continued their walk until a small cabin appeared in their view, Pete and Luke coming to a stop as they turned back to the teenage boy. "Clement, you feelin' all right?" Pete asked as he took notice of the lighter tone and layer of sweat on the boy. "I'm fine... just tired," Clement replied as he pushed to keep moving. "Well, you better be fine. 'Cause I ain't carrying you with that bite on your arm," Luke told him. "Don't worry about me─" Clement's vision was covered by black spots before he collapsed.

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Rosemary Speaks. . .

Oh it has been a while since I updated this!

So, little update ─ I have been dealing with severe writers block bought on by the loss of my aunt recently. This has caused a small setback in my writing however, I am using this book to bring back that spark!

Anywho, we are diving straight into this part of the book. Trying to keep it interesting as possible ─ and our boy doesn't forget his girl!

How do you feel about this chapter?

What age were you when you had your first crush? I was nine years old :)

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions

See you in the next chapter!

Unedited