Alone Again - TWDG/TWD

Arc 4: Chapter 3

"It's been all day and they're still down there." Luke moans.

The sun has set, its really dark out. I can barley see Luke and he's sitting right in front of me.

"Can you do anything with these?" I ask handing him two pieces of wood.

"Maybe." He says as he tries to start a fire with them.

Suddenly a spark flies off of one of the pieces.

"Woah! It's working!" I said excitedly.

Then, fire.

"Look there's a hole in the tree when we can place the stick until it burns out. Get more so we can light new sticks with the same flame." He says.

I pull all the small sticks that I can find from the trees and stack them.

"That should be enough." he smiles.

"So, when can we get down?" I ask.

"When the walkers leave." he says.

"They probably won't ever leave unless something else draws them away from us." I say.

"I'll come up with something." He says.

"So, do we just spend the night in the tree?" I ask.

"It seems like it Clem." he says leaning down laying on back on the branch.

"Great.." I roll my eyes.

"You better get comfortable, were gonna be here a while." he says.

"How am I suppose to get comfortable in a tree?" I ask.

"I don't know, but if you fall asleep try not to fall out." He chuckles.

"I think I'll just stay up." I say slightly upset.

"What ever you want to do." he says closing his eyes to sleep.

"I guess I'll watch out for Nick." I say.

"Hey, if you get tired just wake me up and I'll take watch." he says.

"Kay." I nod.

Hours of boredom pass. My eyes get heavy and I feel myself falling asleep.

"Luke. Luke. Luke!" I shake him walking him up.

He quickly sits up. "Did you find Nick?" He asks hopefully.

"No, I'm just tired and I want to sleep now."

"Oh. okay." He frowns.

"Can you make sure I don't fall out of the tree?" I ask.

"Sure." he chuckles.

I allow myself to get comfortable and drift to sleep.

I'm quickly woken up by Luke's screams of fear.

"Clem! H-Help!" He cries.

I see him hang from the tree with one hand barely holding on. His screams have riled the walkers beneath us up.

I quickly send my hand down allowing Luke to grab it just as he was about to fall.

His eyes stare into mine. I feel terrified for him.

He looks into the herd of walkers and sees something that made him loose it.

Nick.

"Nick!" Luke screams as tears run down his face.

"Luke he's gone! We have to find a way down and tell the others!" I say.

"I can't do this.." he says letting go of my hand plummeting into the herd of walkers beneath him. They tear off his flesh, sinking their teeth into his neck ripping out all sorts of things.

My heart sinks as I hear his screams of agony and pain. I puke.

"This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" I put my hands on my head.

"Clem!" Luke's voice shouts.

"CLEM!"

I wake up.

"Are you okay?" He asks concerned.

My forehead is dripping wet with sweat. I pant and look around.

"It was a nightmare." I put my hand on my forehead.

"You kept screaming my name and you kept squirming, a few times you almost fell off of the tree." He says.

"Jesus..."

"What was it about?" He asks.

"You... we found Nick as a walker and you let go." I say.

He says nothing.

"Okay, it's staring to get light out here. We need to get back to the cabin." he says.

"How are we suppose to with all those walkers down there?" I ask.

"Hmm"

Luke looks around and notices a vine.

"Here we go." he smiles reaching and grabbing ahold of the vine.

"What are we suppose to do with that?" I stupidly ask.

"Maybe we can swing to the other tree over there." he tugs hard on the vine. "This seems sturdy enough to hold our weight."

"I'll go first to make sure it's safe." he says as he leaps onto the vine.

He swings himself back and fourth while he holds on to get the vine moving further.

He places his feet on the branch of another tree and swings the vine my way. I grab it and tighten my grip as I prepare to jump. As I jump I look at Luke giving him a 'This was a horrible idea, I'm going to die' look.

I'm just about to let go of the vine when it snaps. Luke quickly reaches out and secures his hands around my small waist, preventing me from falling to my death.

He held me in his arms for a few moments. I looked at him awkwardly and moved away from his grasp. I saw his face turn bright red.

"Let's get outta here." he shakes his head and climbs down the tree.

I follow and quietly shuffle through the leaves behind him.

After about 10-15 minutes of awkward silence I decide to speak.

"So, where's the cabin?"

"Just up here.." he says unassured.

"Why aren't we talking about anything?" I ask.

"There's nothing to talk about." he says refusing to make eye contact.

"Well, can you at least look at me?"

He turns towards me and stares into my eyes.

What the hell is going on with him?

"I'm hungry." I say trying to get Luke to start talking.

"Me too." he says.

"Do you have any?" I ask him.

"Nope, all the foods in my bag at the house." he frowns.

"Yeah, same." I say.

We walk for about 10 more minutes before I start to get anxious.

"Luke? Where's the cabin?"

"Clem... honestly, I don't know. We're lost." He says.

"I just want to get out of this forrest." I complain.

"We will. We should keep looking for Nick though." he says.

"Maybe he got lost too."

"That's what I was thinking." he says.