Salvation. The Walking Dead: Season Five.

Road to Atone - Part Six.

*

Nobody attempted to hold a conversation on the way back to base.

All energy reserves were being spent on resisting the will to take the weight off their shoulders. It was dusk now and the waning light had their ears pricked for the sound of approaching walkers.

They had passed a few solitary ones already and dispatched them with ease, but a pack would test them in their current state.

Clementines back had become stiff and ached horribly with each movement, but adjusting the backpack every few minutes to keep the pressure from intensifying in one spot was necessary.

It would be another twenty minutes before she felt the mood lift any as they rounded the corner to see the summit of the water tower come into view behind the bridge, silhouetted against a sky rapidly losing its light.

Now they just had to navigate the underpass, the arches of which had been engulfed by it's own shadows. Clementine held up an arm to signal the group to a halt, listening for a groan, an echo of something from the black, anything to help tip them off to danger. It was quiet. Using one of James' techniques she picked up a small rock the size of her fist and underhand threw it toward the black.

As they waited she sensed the rest ready their weapons, most notably the tension of Minnie's bow as she held it back into position. But after the echo of the rock hitting the stone wall inside they heard nothing more. No disturbance.

After a few moments more Clementine adressed them, her eyes still trained on the mouth of the bridge.

"Stay on your toes. Eyes sharp." She said, even though the lack of movement or sound suggested their passage would be safe. They all proceeded to move briskly forward, stepping over the imaginary line that ceased their ability to see around them. Clementine baited her breath, hoping to reach the other side as quickly as possible without incident.

Each step did nothing to alleviate the apprehension though.

Clementine tried to ignore it, focusing her eyes over to where the looming shadow of the bridge met the orange hue projected from the setting sun.

Louis was the first one to reach the other side holding Chairles like a baseball bat, and they all would have breathed easier for his emergence unscathed had they been given chance.

A jarring scream, high pitched and female echoed from across the way, the car park that backed up to the water tower. It had caused Minnie to let slip her grip on the arrow she'd had primed and Clementine saw it rocket past Louis' gut by inches, ricocheting off along the concrete.

Before anybody could get their bearings Minnies bag had slammed to the ground, and she was running towards the Tower, shouting her twin sisters name.

The rest followed suit, dropping their bags where they stood, and taking off to chase Minnie down as fast as their lead like feet allowed. Her already shrinking figure closed in on several others who seemed to be dancing around each other. Clementine shot a quick glance up to the towers deck where a few of their ranks stood, yet she couldn't make out who.

However skidding to a halt at the immediate scene of the commotion confirmed who it wasn't. Sophie and Tenn, hands held, were backing away from a relatively small horde of walkers, maybe 20 in number. Their options of evasion were not ideal as the Allegheny river awaited them at their backs, ready to take the two under if they got much closer.