Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

70. The Darkest Hour

Clementine kept marching forward. With it being too dark to see anything without the lantern, she couldn't run too fast. It was getting colder too, much to Clem's annoyance. Even worse, the wind had picked up. Luckily it was to her back, but it still made Clementine feel even worse, making her shiver as she moved along. She started rubbing her arms, trying to warm herself.

Looking over at Sarah, Clem was worried. Her face didn't look blank anymore, but miserable. Clem liked to think it was just because things were miserable. But something in Sarah's eyes suggested it wasn't just their current circumstances that were bothering her. Everything else that had happened seemed to be weighing the older girl down, slowing her footsteps as she walked.

Clementine herself was finding it harder and harder to keep moving. Now that she wasn't that thirsty anymore, she had become aware of just how hungry she was. Also, Clem still wasn't sure what they were looking for, other than a church they supposedly couldn't miss. But it was so dark Clem was confident she would miss a whale if it were anywhere other than in the middle of the road.

The wind started blowing harder, almost as if it was trying to push Clem over. The small girl stumbled a little as another gust blew through. She stopped to cough a few times, trying to clear her throat, then started walking again. The wind picked up once more, nearly knocking Clementine forwards.

Before Clementine could fully regain her footing, she found Sarah's hand on her shoulder, holding her steady. Clem gazed into the older girl's sad brown eyes as she looked down at her. Clementine wanted to tell Sarah she was fine, but she couldn't find it in herself to lie to the older girl. Instead, she just kept walking, until she heard a loud bang off to her right.

"What... what was that?" asked a trembling Sarah.

"I... I don't know," said Clem. "It didn't sound like a gunshot though." Clementine moved towards the noise and off the edge of the road, where there was almost no light.

"Sarah, come on," urged Clem.

"Why?" asked a nervous Sarah.

"I just want to see what's over there, that's all." Sarah remained on the road. "It'll just take a minute." Sarah sighed to herself, then moved closer to Clem. They left the road and started moving across a parking lot. As they moved further in, the lantern illuminated the side of a large building.

"What is this?" asked Sarah in a hushed voice.

"Maybe, maybe this is Saint Christopher's?" suggested a hopeful Clem.

"It doesn't look like a church."

"How would you know? We've only seen this one wall." Sarah flinched a little in response to Clem's harsh tone. "Come on. This place looks huge, it must be what we're looking for. That noise may have even been Christa or Nick." Clementine started moving beside the building. It certainly was huge as Clem suspected, but she couldn't find a sign or banner or anything that would tell her just what she's looking at.

Reaching the edge of the wall, Clem turned a corner and started moving forward, staying close to the building as she did so. Still she saw nothing that told her what this building was for, nor did she see any doors or windows even. Clem began to suspect Sarah was right and that this wasn't a church. She was about to turn back when she spotted someone lying on the ground just near the edge of the light.

"Wait," instructed Clementine in a quiet voice. Looking more closely, Clem saw whoever this was must be dead, and for a while. The body was rotted and smeared in dried blood, but Clem couldn't be sure if it was just a body or a walker waiting for someone. The young girl carefully removed her axe from her shoulder and took off the sheath. She flipped it over so the knife end was sticking out and tightened her grip.