A new day a new problem

 Year 3315 Mar 24

 "...Look at her darling... Doesn't she look stunning..."

 Stunning honeyed gold eyes stared at the sleeping form of the infant next to her, watching it with a gaze that screamed murder for any who dared touch it, yet soft enough that you wouldn't think anything of it if you were in the child's position.

 "She's beautiful, just like you." A man dressed in robes that befit a king stood next to the tired form of his lover and newborn child, hovering over them with an aura that screamed protection even from the mightiest beings. This man was none other than the Emerald Ruler, a being so powerful that multiverses shake under his steps, a being so powerful that even other divine beings fear him; it is said that nothing escapes his sight, even in the darkest of nights.

 But he is here today not as the Ruler nor as the King. No, he is here as a father and husband. He is here to protect, he is here to serve, and he is here to nurture; no one but him is allowed into the chambers, not even doctors.

 "...darling... look... she's opening her eyes..." With labored breaths, she reached over to take the hand of her child, wanting to feel the warmth of her sweet baby girl, but she couldn't at the moment because she had no strength to move, but I did.

 "Tanya..." Pulling her hand back, I reached for the girl myself, scooping her up in my arms as gently as I could, careful to watch the metal that laced my robe, as I didn't want to be the reason for my girl's injury. I would never forgive myself.

 Giving her a light hug, I sat her in my wife's waiting arms and watched as she cradled the child to sleep.

 "...Tanya... you need to rest." At this, she turned to me with a look of annoyance.

 "You... ask me to rest... I'm not the one... who hasn't slept in two months... Baka..."

 That attack was very effective. Clutching my chest in mock hurt, I shot back. "Dear, you and I both know that sleeping is useless for me."

 Tanya was starting to doze at this point, so she gave in. "Fine... but you have to name her..."

 My eyes widened a bit at this. "But I thought you wanted to name her."

 She gave a smile. "I did, but... I can't be the only one to do... the hard part... and it's only fair... you get to do this part... the hardest part."

 "But that is almost impossible; you know how bad I am at naming things."

 "Ya... you baka... that's why you're doing it." 

 With an exasperated sigh, I looked down at my child with a gaze of cracked emerald while pondering on what name to give her. "Tanya the Second? No, that's too long... What if I named her after a gem? No... No gem in the multiverse could comprehend the beauty of my child... What? What could my child be? Lucky? Lucky is good. What represents luck?" That's when it hit me.

 Turning toward my child, I spoke, with a gaze full of love, "My luckiest star..." Tanya smiled and relented to sleep.

 "Clementine."

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 Year 3392 Feb 17

 Moonlight beamed through holes in the barn, eliminating what was once a nice blanket of darkness. Unlike other kids her age, Clem liked darkness; to her, darkness was like a big fluffy blanket that anyone could use, and she enjoyed using it a lot. 

 So when this blanket was noticeably gone, she got a bit upset. 

 "Man, stupid light, just go away already," I said as I glared daggers at the light coming in through the barn roof.

 But no matter how much I sulked, the annoying light refused to go away. With one last exasperated sigh, I got up and went to find a spot free of any light, determined to have my sleep in complete darkness.

 After looking around the hay-filled barn for a bit, I concluded that there was nothing untouched by the stupid light.

 With a small huff, I turned to the barn door, intent on finding somewhere outside untouched by light; there was only one problem with that idea. The barn door was locked, and I was too short to reach it, but it never hurts to try.

 With short steps, I made my way over to the barn door, intent on unlocking it; walking right up to the door, I was just under the lock; its shiny silver was so enticing that even the strongest of minds would have trouble evading its sway.

 But, even stretching my arm as far as it could go made no difference, so I had to move to plan B and find something to stand on. The 'stupid' light helped with that, as it wasn't too hard finding a small chair hidden away in the corner of the barn.

 Doing her best to be as quiet as she could, Clem dragged the stool to the barn door and climbed up, getting about eye level with the barn lock.

 Reaching up, I grabbed the lock piece and dragged it to the side; the door went loose and cracked open. Slowly climbing off the stool, I went out the door into the dark yet still brightly lit yard.

 I could feel the cold's bite nipping away at my arms and legs; it was uncomfortable but bearable; continuing, I looked around for a bit longer before realizing how stupid this idea was; why would something out here be any better than the barn?

 "I better get back before anyone gets up." Making my way back to the barn, I stepped back inside and shut the door behind me, but I didn't want to get back up on the stool to lock it again, so I tried something I had seen Mr butterfly do before, doing something with only your mind seemed easy enough, so she focused on the lock and thought of it sliding shut.

 A minute later, the lock started glowing green before slowly sliding itself shut and locking the door again. Being too tired to care about what I just did, I walked to Lee and laid down next to him, getting comfortable with the stupid light still shining down and eventually falling asleep.

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 Planet Zero

 A being's finger twitched in its sleep as it felt its power being used somewhere far away... An eerie smile laced its sleeping face.

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 Year 3392 Feb 18

 Mid Day 

 Up... up now... someone here... gets up... Get up... Get Up... GET UP!

 I jolted awake just as someone entered the barn; my eyes burned from the sudden lighting change, and my head pounded from whatever that dream was; everything felt soar, and my stomach twisted and turned with hunger; my throat was like a desert; it was hard to breathe.

 "...he... Clem... are you o... hey, can you hear me... Clementine!"

 Suddenly, it was all gone; all the soreness melted away, I wasn't hungry anymore, my throat felt moist, the headache was gone, I could breathe, and my eyes felt better.

 "Clementine! Are you okay, what's wrong?"

 Still dazed by what had just happened, my response was slow and short, "Lee?"

 "Ya, it's me, Clem; are you okay?"

 "I think so..."

 Lee gave me a hesitant look before accepting the answer.

 "Alright, but please let me know if something like that happens again, okay?"

 I gave a quick nod.

 Lee gave me another look before continuing.

 "Good, I'll get you some water and something to eat. Stay right here until I get back."

 I gave another nod and woke myself up the rest of the way.

 A bit later

 "Clem, I'm back with some food, want some?" Lee said as he came through the barn door with a few things in hand.

 "Yes, please."

"Hershel said that they were grain bars, and from the looks of it, they are cherry flavored," he said with a light smile.

 "Really? I love cherries."

"You do?" Lee seemed surprised at this.

 She hummed in affirmation.

"Looks like you're going to have a nice breakfast then."

 After eating, I went outside to play while Lee went over to help Shawn with the fence. Walking around didn't count as playing, but I enjoyed it; the wind felt nice, and the sun kept the wind from making me cold; the same could be said about the wind; it kept me from getting too hot.

 I walked around for a while, enjoying the beautiful day, when suddenly, a woman caught my attention by waving at me. Not wanting to be impolite, I waved back, and she seemed to appreciate it, giving me a small smile before speaking.

 "Hello there."

 Being a bit shy, I whispered. "Hi." I didn't know why, but that made me so embarrassed.

 The woman gave a slight chuckle before continuing. "You're a shy one, aren't you."

 Her pointing it out made it even more embarrassing, so I could only nod while keeping my tomato-red face pointed to the ground.

 With another chuckle, the woman continued. "My name is Katjaa, what's yours?" 

 There was a slight pause before I managed to chirp up. "Clementine."

 "That's a lovely name, Clementine."

 The embarrassment increased tenfold.

"...Thanks."

 I fell into an awkward silence as Katjaa continued talking about random things; she didn't seem to mind my silence because she seemed to enjoy my company, and I was okay with listening.

 She prattled on for a while before she was interrupted by Lee coming over to check on me.

 "Hey there, Clem, how are you holden up?"

 "I'm good; Katjaa told me about the dogs she used to get as patients and how they would always cause a fuss when they had to get shots..." My face started turning red from the attention.

 Lee seemed to understand my silence.

"Okay, Clem, I need to go talk to Hershel for a moment; try not to explode from embarrassment." She felt like that was a shot at her.

Clem wasn't going to, but now that he pointed it out, she just might.

 "Don't worry, Clem; you'll get used to it eventually," Katjaa said as she gave me a warm smile.

 It was encouraging and embarrassing, so I nodded and buried my face in my arms, not wanting Katjaa to know how embarrassed I was. A strange feeling told me that she knew anyway.

 After about an hour of listening to Katjaa talk about the vet. Both Clem and Katjaa were startled to hear the sound of an engine starting up, followed by a scream that stretched across the farm. 

 We both froze in place for a second until Katjaa started running toward where they had heard the scream; I followed soon after, but I wasn't as fast as Katjaa, so it took me a moment longer. After catching up with Katjaa, I saw Lee trying to help Shawn pull his leg out from under the tractor wheel.

 Those mean people... Those things were ripping at the fence trying to get in, their rotted faces blank of anything; they made sounds of gurgles and moans and sometimes screeches.

 It was... scary... And just like last time, I froze. By the time I was able to move again, one of those things had crawled under the fence and bit Shawn; that's when Hershel came over with a shotgun and shot the things. But Shawn died shortly after.

 "Get out..."

Everyone remained silent.

With a look of pure rage, Hershel turned to us and screamed.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

There was a moment of silence before a man spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

At this, Hershel almost looked appalled. "Sorry!? Your son is alive! You don't get to be sorry!"

 Hershel turned to Lee. "You tried to help him, at least you tried, but this piece of shit let him die," he said as he shot a pointed look at the man.

 For a quick second, a glance was shot at me, and for that split second, his eyes softened before turning back to the man and Lee.

 "Please... just leave... and don't come back."

 So we did; Lee had been offered a seat in the man's truck, and he took it; we left soon after the incident.

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 Trees whizzed by as I stared out the truck window; the truck was silent, and I can't say I didn't enjoy that. The silence was broken when the man who offered Lee this spoke up.

 "We'll be in the city soon; once there, we need to find some gas, or else we'll be stuck without a car."

 The statement was quick and to the point.

"Can't we siphon some gas from the cars around here?" Lee spoke.

 The man sighed, "It's too risky, and there's no guarantee that someone else hasn't come through here with that same Idea." 

 "You bring up a good point, but the city? That place is probably just as infected as the last town we were in."

 "I know, Lee, but it's the best shot to get gasoline."

There was a short pause from Lee. "Okay, Kenny, I'll trust you on this."

 The man, Kenny, thanked Lee and focused back on driving, and I continued enjoying the silence.

 It wasn't until an hour of silence later that we reached the city, and to say it was in bad condition would be an understatement; car piles littered the road, making it almost impossible to drive through. Most of the windows around were shattered, and she could see something on fire very far away. What's that about?

"Alright, looks like we need to walk on foot from here on. Lee, do you want to grab the shotgun you brought?"

"I could, but it has no shotgun shells, so it's just a baseball bat right now."

 "Whatever works, grab it, and stick close to your girl."

Lee gave Kenny a nod before he went to the back and picked up the stick from the truck bed. I was curious again. "Lee."

 "Ya, Sweetpea?"

"What's a shotgun? I thought you said it was a walking stick."

Had Lee been standing while leaning just a bit forward, he'd be face-first on the ground from the bluntness of the question.

 With a sigh, Lee responded. "Clem, do you know what a gun is?"

It took me a moment to remember what it was, but it hit me eventually, and I gave Lee a nod to confirm that I did know what a gun was.

 With another sigh, he continued, "This is a shotgun, and unlike a handgun, this shoots a lot more bullets at one time." He said while gesturing to the gun in his hands.

 I wanted to name it, and I didn't know why. "Can I name it?"

"Sure; what do you want to name it?"

 A specific name was the most prominent in my head, so I went with it. "Super Dragons Breath"

 Lee nearly shook his head in disbelief.

 He has been sighing a lot these days; before smiling at Clem. "Alright, Clementine, we can call it Super Dragons Breath."

 I smiled. "Thank you."

 Lee was about to question the thank you but was stopped when Kenny waved us over and told us we were going.

 "Remember, be careful and stay close to one another; Lee, be ready to swing the gun like a pro baseball player; Duck, Katjaa, you keep within the middle with Clementine; Lee and I will hold the front and back. Don't forget to keep quiet and don't run off."

 "Okay, let's make this fast; I'd rather not be in the city longer than necessary."

 "Keep prechen Lee now lets go."

With that, everyone set off into the equivalent of the city heart, unknowingly causing a chain of events I would never forget.

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 At the Drugstore

 "you self riotous bitch, you think that just because you were in the military, that automatically nominates you as a leader? Bullshit."

 "Hey! You don't talk to my daughter like that, or I'll punch your teeth in, you bastard."

 "Dad, calm down, and you shut the fuck up, I don't see your sluty ass keeping us alive."

 "Oh! Pulling out the slut card, are we; I guess that's something to be expected from a bitch like you."

 "The fuck you say!"

"Oh, I'm sure you heard what I said, you bitch,"

"One more goddamn word out of your mouth and all fucking kill you."

 "Well then, bring it you, bitch; I'm sure I can take an egotistical bitch like you any day of the week."

 "All right, that's enough guys. If you don't stop this now, you're going to draw those things right to us with your pissing contest."

 "Shut the Fuck up, Glenn."

"Oh! Be careful, guys, the 'mighty Lilly' is angry, so scary." Came the mocking voice of the other woman.

"I'm warning you, you bastard, stop talking to my daughter like that, or I will kill you."

 The other woman seemed to listen to that threat and backed off. "Whatever."

 The now-named Glenn spoke up again, "Lary, please don't threaten people like that, and Carly, stop starting a pissing contest with Lilly because you don't like how she does things."

 "I know the wimp isn't speaking to me like that; I didn't serve years in the military for a delivery boy to tell me what to do."

 "Dad, calm down, please."

"Matter of fact, the only reason you, that bitch, and the fat boy are still alive; is because my daughter saved your asses, and this is how you treat her? Fucking pathetic, all of you."

The girl from before spoke up. "So just because she saved us gives her the right to turn us into her personal lap dog? Well, newsflash, you dumb fuck, that doesn't fly around here."

 "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut, you bastard."

At this, the woman pulled out a gun and held it at her side, "Try me."

 "Oh, you don't want me t-"

"Everyone shut up and be quiet." 

At Lilly's demand, the other girl looked ready to rage before she saw where Lilly was.

 Right next to the door were Lilly and Glenn, both with their ears to the wall, seemingly listening to something; "Carley, take a peak out the window."

She reluctantly did so.

There were a lot of those things, and they were attacking... People. She had the door open before anyone could realize what was going on.

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 'Back with the group'

 "Lee," I said in a hushed whisper.

"What is it, sweetpea?" He spoke back with his own whisper.

"I need to use the bathroom." he seemed to contemplate for a second.

 "How bad?"

 This was embarrassing, "Really bad."

"How long do you think you could hold it for?"

"A little bit."

 "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

 But he didn't do much, and she couldn't blame him because there wasn't much he could do. After a while, the need to go to the bathroom was suppressed.

 A bit later, we all stopped when Kenny raised his hand. "Lee, get up here for a moment."

 Lee gave a silent nod before turning to me. "Clem, stay close to Katjaa and duck."

"Alright," I said with a nod of my own.

 After that, Lee went over to Kenny to see what was happening. But he wasn't there long as he came back less than ten minutes later.

 "We have to take a detour."

Katjaa looked a bit miffed by this news, "Not to be rude, but why?"

 Lee didn't take long to answer her question, "One of those things is blocking the road, so we have to go around."

 Katjaa seemed to shrink a little at the mention of those things but put up a good front to hide it so she wouldn't scare us, but she didn't put it up fast enough because I could still see the look of fear that marred her face.

 "Katjaa, take Duck up there with Kenny, I'll stay with Clem."

She looked relieved by this and quickly made her way over to Kenny with duck in tow. She spared me one glace as she did.

 "Clem?"

 Breaking out of my thoughts, I responded with the hum of my voice.

"You still need to use the bathroom?"

 I nearly cracked a smile at this question but responded with a simple shake of my head instead; Lee seemed to take that as a no and continued.

 "Well, okay then, but remember this is your only chance for a bathroom break because we most likely won't be taking any more breaks until after we get out of the city; you understand that, right?"

 "Ya, I understand."

Lee cracked a smile, "You are one stubborn kid."

 I returned the smile and said, "I know."

"Okay, let's get going, sweetpea; don't want Kenny and them to leave us behind, now do we." 

 "You should knock on wood."

 "Do what now?"

I giggled, "Nothing."

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 An hour later

 It happened so fast; one second, the boy, Duck' was standing next to Katjaa, and the next, he was being pulled away by one of these things. Lee and Kenny acted quickly but were stopped when more of those things appeared. Katjaa couldn't do anything either because she was cornered.

 I was the only one who could help him; I could hear Kenny's and Katjaa's voices, both calling out for someone to do just that, but just like last time, I was panicking, my body had frozen, and my mind teetered on the edge of a cliff of guilt. Ready to place everything blameable on me.

 That's when something happened.

 My head started throbbing, and everything became too hot to handle. Time slowed down to a crawl; my eyes and ears ached uncontrollably. It was hard to breathe.

 But the most prominent thing I could feel was my flesh being seared by something unseen; I could smell the cooked flesh, and I could hear the sizzle and pop of the skin that laced my shoulder. It hurt so much, and I wanted to cry, but something compelled me to look forward; my eyes latched onto the jaw of the thing, and I watched as said jaw disintegrated, leaving nothing behind but the blood and gore that fell onto Duck'.

 That's when a gunshot rang out, pricing the walker in the head, leaving it to collapse in a heap. More gunshots rang out, clearing the way for Katjaa to get to Duck'.

 After snatching him from the ground, she made a run for the open door that sat beside the person who shot the gun. Kenny did the same once he saw Katjaa with Duck' safe in her arms.

 For a brief moment, I felt terrified. I still couldn't move, and the thought of being forgotten and left to die frightened me. I couldn't control the tears that welled up, and I started to shake.

 But it was just that, a singular moment because in the next one, a familiar pair of gentle arms wrapped themselves around me and carried me toward the door with them; but even if we didn't get to the door in time, I would still feel safe because I knew that whatever happened, I'd still have Lee.

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 Before I could do something to try and help Duck', a shot rang out, and the thing trying to bite the boy fell to the ground with a large hole in its head; I would've lept with joy had it not been for my own sets of problems in the forms of walking corpses.

 More shots rang out as I continued bashing heads in with the butt of my shotgun; once I was done dealing with the few 'Walkers' near me, I looked around me to see if anyone else to needed help but saw that Katjaa and Duck' had already made it to an open door.

 Kenny was soon to follow.

 Clem was... 

 To Lee's horror, Clem wasn't moving. Lee was a teacher for a long while, and he had many things happen during that time, including panic attacks. He hadn't ever tried to help people during panic attacks because he never knew what to do; there were so many reasons for a panic attack to occur, and fear was one of the ones he learned how to handle. Ether take the thing they are afraid of away or take them away from the thing they fear.

 He didn't know which one it was, but he wouldn't stand there and let her suffer through it. With quick movements and careful dodges, he weaved through the small herd of Walkers that had spilled into the streets from random points in the road until he eventually reached the paralyzed Clementine.

 Picking up her shaking form had his heartstrings wavering with rage at the thing that caused such a reaction.

 With her now in his arms, he sprinted to the open door, making sure not to let any Walker near her in the process; with only one Walker left between him and the door, he had some unchecked anger to take care of, so he sprinted with just a bit more speed and jumped; his foot connecting with its face, knocking it to the ground before it was crushed under his weight as he landed on said face.

 Shaking off his foot, he dashed through the open door and skidded to a stop before he hit a shelf.

 With a few huffed breaths, he ignored the argument happening around him in favor of checking over Clem, looking for any injuries she may have gotten before he got to her; luckily for both her and him, she had nothing of the sorts, except the butterfly-like scare on her shoulder, she was fine.

 She must have passed out on the way in because she was sound asleep in his arms, unbothered by the current argument transpiring around them, but he didn't have that luxury; he hoisted up Clem's unconscious form and settled her into a comfortable position in his arms, and went to find out what they were arguing about.

"Are you an idiot! Do you know how dangerous that was!"

 "Well, unlike you, Lilly, I give a shit, and I wasn't going to watch them die. Especially since they have children with them."

 Lilly backed off after the kids were mentioned because even she's not that cold. "One, I didn't know they had kids with them; two, what you did was still stupid and reckless and could've gotten us all killed."

 "My daughter's right; you could've led them straight to us."

 "Nice to know you care."

"You are so fucking insufferable, Carley."

 "You're one to talk, Ms every one follows my orders."

 I about had enough of them, so I spoke up. "Why the fuck are you all arguing like children; it's both stupid and embarrassing to be arguing like this."

 This sparked a reaction from all three involved in this argument.

 The girl, Carley seemed to realize what she was doing and turned her head away in shame; the other girl Lilly looked pissed but begrudgingly pacified, and the big guy looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

 "Now listen here, you fuckwit, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but that won't slide with me; you're the ones coming in here and starting this whole thing, so if it's anyone's fault, it's yours."

 The big guy's eyes wandered for a second as his eyes locked onto something and widened.

 "Holy shit, one of them is bitten."

 At this accusation, Katjaas's scared voice made itself known. "No, he's not!; I'm cleaning him up now, and there's no bite."

 "We need to take care of this quickly."

That set Kenny off, "I don't like what you're suggesting, you old fuck."

 "I don't care what you don't like; we let someone who's been bitten stay here, and we all can say goodbye to our lives; we have to throw him out or smash his head in."

 If Kenny wasn't pissed before, he was now. "Over my dead body."

 "Then I guess I'll be digging a grave for two. Fair deal if you ask me."

 "NO! Kenny, do something!" came Katjaa's increasingly panicked voice.

 "Fuck, Lee, What do we do about this old fuck."

 As much as I didn't want to be dragged into this, I couldn't let Duck' be thrown out or killed.

 "Kenny, go over and help Katjaa with Duck; I'll sort things out over here."

 There was a moment of hesitation from Kenny before he silently nodded and went over to help Katjaa look over Duck'. 

 Turning back to the big, I continued, "And you, why does it matter if he's been bit?"

 The big guy looked like he was going to rage but managed to keep a tight lid on said anger. And I couldn't help but silently commend him for his restraint.

 "If you must know, bastard. When someone is bitten, it's already too late for them; they'll be one of the things in a few hours at most."

 Lee was shocked to hear that it took a single bite to turn someone into one of those things, and he now understood why the big guy was so adamant about getting rid of a possible threat. The thought of it only taking a single bite was a scary thing in itself.

 But even if it was. He wouldn't let Duck' be thrown out on suspicion alone, and until they get concrete proof of his condition, he won't budge on that. But, to do that took a lot of risks, so he needed a compromise.

 It only took him a few minutes to find said compromise.

 With a sigh, I made a gesture with my hand to signal Kenny over; a second later, he was standing next to me, glaring daggers at the big guy.

 "Tell him what you told me," I said while gesturing to Kenny.

"Fine. But this is the last time I will say it; if you don't listen, you can go fuck off."

 Kenny was about to bark back, but I stopped him, "Just listen for a minute, Kenny." he reluctantly backed off.

 After a longer explanation than I got, Kenny looked horrified.

Adjusting Clem, I spoke before anything else could be said. "I agree with the big guy." 

 At this, Kenny looked betrayed, and the big gut looked slightly less hostile. "At least someone ge-"

 "But we are still not throwing him out or killing him without solid proof of a bite, and that is not negotiable."

 Kenny looked relieved to hear this, and the big guy looked ready to rage again. With a frustrated sigh, the big guy scoffed before turning around and going back to the girl, Lilly, if heard right.

 He was torn from his observations by Kenny.

He was silent before he spoke, "Thanks, Lee."

 I couldn't help the frown that layered my face, "Please, Kenny, don't thank me until we know or not,"

Kenny continued, "Doesn't matter, Duck', wasn't bit, so a thank you is a must."

 I wanted to refute the thanks anyway because I was on his side as much as I was on the big guys. I only sighed and humed a response.

 Kenny continued again. "Also, I don't blame you for not choosing my side; if I were in your position, I would've done the same."

 After that, he walked away, retreating to his family's side, leaving me to cradle the still-sleeping Clementine.

 I could only sigh and wonder what my life had become.