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

76. Sweet Sorrow

Clementine opened her eyes and immediately needed to cough. Her head felt heavy, she couldn't breathe through her nose and she felt even more tired than before she went to sleep. Looking around, it was still dark, but there seemed to be enough light to see now. Searching the car's interior, Clem noticed something was missing.

"Sarah?" croaked a sickly Clem. "Sarah!" Clementine scampered towards the front seat. She found her raincoat, but not Sarah's. Looking down on the floor she noticed Sarah's backpack was gone too. Clem hastily opened the door and exited the car. In such a hurry was she that she tripped as she moved out the door and hit the road in a painful manner.

"Clementine!" Looking up, Clem saw as someone approached. Her vision was blurred, making it difficult to tell who it was, but as they grew closer it became obvious it was Sarah, garbed in her raincoat. "Clem, are you okay?" asked Sarah as she helped Clem off the ground.

"I thought you were gone," explained Clementine in a weak voice as she sat down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," apologized Sarah. "It stopped raining and you were sleeping, so I thought I'd look around while I let you rest."

"That's dangerous," warned Clem.

"Everything's dangerous," commented a weary Sarah

"Yeah, but you gotta be smart about it. It's too dark to just go looking around."

"No, it's not cloudy anymore, and it's like a full moon tonight. You can see everything real easy now. Go head, look." Clementine turned her head. The moonlight did indeed illuminate the highway, but Clem had trouble focusing on anything more than a few feet away.

"I... I can't see too well," confessed Clem.

"What?" Clem watched Sarah draw closer. "You don't look good."

"I don't feel good." Clem felt Sarah's hand on her forehead.

"You're burning up," reported an alarmed Sarah.

"I think my nose is stuffed up." Sarah looked around, then turned back to Clem.

"Let me use your knife."

"Why?" asked a worried Clem.

"I just need to borrow it for a second." Clem pulled her knife out of the sheath and handed it to Sarah. Clem watched as Sarah undid her raincoat and used the knife to cut a piece of fabric off the bottom of her shirt.

"Here, blow your nose," instructed Sarah as she handed Clem the fabric. Clem took a breath and blew her nose as hard as she could. As she did, Sarah picked up a couple of the bowls lying by the back of the car. "Here, drink some water too."

Clem drank, slightly easing the pain in her throat. She coughed a few times, then spit, clearing up a little congestion. Turning back, Clem watched as Sarah was using the knife to cut off more of her shirt.

"What are you doing?" Clem watched as Sarah folded the strip of fabric over, then dipped it in the second bowl. She took the wet strip and pressed it against Clem's forehead. "You should lie down and rest."

"No, we can't rest any longer," insisted Clem.

"But—"

"You said you could see everything, can you see the herd?"

"Well, no..."

"But?"

"I... I can hear them."

Clem listened closely and in the distance she could hear the faint sound of hundreds of shuffling feet. "We got to get to Saint Christopher's before they do."