Salvation. The Walking Dead: Season Five.

Road to Atone - Part Five.

*

Literally. She hunched over as it hit her and spewed what little she had left in her knotted stomach upside the bare stone wall inside.

"Hooo shit!" Minerva laughed from behind her sleeve - pressed up to block the stench of death from her nostrils. Violet back handed her in the side in response so she too bent double.

"Fuck off, Min!" Violet scolded from behind her own forearm, leaving Minervas side quickly to join Clementine, and rubbing her back in concern. The latter continued to dry heave as she tried to regain her bearings.

"Are you okay, Clem? Fuck." Clementine took a few seconds to answer, wiping the remnants from her lips with the flannel top she'd wrapped around her waist. She wouldn't be wearing that anymore.

"Yeah. Ugh, sorry. It just caught me off guard" she half lied.

Clementine had been around death long enough to stave off emptying the contents of her last meal at the smell of it. However the added worry of her false assumption had her feeling a certain tenderness that pushed her over the edge.

Violet helped her to her feet, holding her under the elbow to keep her steady. Minnie stood enjoying the scene before her, free hand on her hip. A cold one laying at her feet.

But this body didn't look decayed beyond recognition. No skin hanging from it's limbs, no inner organs on show. He hadn't turned. A bullet to the forehead had prevented that. "Did he take himself out?" Clementine asked.

"Not unless he hacked off his own balls with a blade first." Minnie said matter of factly. "Poor bastard."

Clementine shuffled over to the dead man, his eyes glazed over, no longer of this world. Sure enough a mass of dried blood stained his once blue jeans, and more pooled on the floor beneath him.

"You think they took him out first?" Violet asked, looking sympathetic.

"Not likely." Clementine began. "I think if you do that to someone then you want them to suffer."

"Probably tried to put his dick where it wasn't welcome." Minnie spat.

"You don't know that." Clementine said, though admittedly she was just playing devils advocate.

"Well then I guess somebody wanted a dildo for the road." Minnie said scathingly. She knelt down and began to pat at his pockets.

"How long ago do you think this was? What if the person who did this is still around?" Violet asked nervously.

Clementine hadn't seen her this unsettled in a while. The long day was definitely taking it's toll. "Who knows, maybe a day or two? I've never stuck around a body long enough to know" Clementine replied, watching Minerva looking for loot.

"Which is why we should get this guy worked over so we can get out of here." She said, hot on Clementine's heels.

Minnie let out a puff of air as she pushed the dead weight over onto his front. She quickly patted his pockets and pulled out some folded pieces of paper before tutting and flinging it aside.

"Nothing" she muttered, getting to her feet and throwing her bow over her shoulder. "We should go."

Clementine had made a move to follow before Violet shouted for them to stall. Minnie turned quickly and Clementine about walked into her again.