Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all happened so fast. One moment Christa and myself were setting up a fire to cook up a rodent of some kind or was it a weasel? I don't know and I do not care anymore. However, I'm getting off-topic; what happened next is still mostly a blur to me but from what little I can remember Christa went out to look for more wood for the fire while I was in charge of making sure the rain didn't put out the fire. Unfortunately, bandits (or were they scavengers?) attacked us. I remember throwing something (a rock perhaps) at the one who had a gun pointed at Christa (Hopefully she's ok) then I remember fleeing from one of the guys in the woods. Due to the noise walkers were beginning to come out of the forest and started to surround us. I tried to have one of them attack the bandit I was trying to flee from but due to unfortunate circumstances the walker managed to get ahold of me a sank its rotting black teeth into my collar bone. What happened next I do not know as the pain I felt from the bite left me drained and tired, all that I know for sure is that I somehow ended up in the river located nearby and washed up on the riverside. Now you're probably wondering how I'm still alive and the answer to that question is simple, I didn't. (I don't know when I died exactly but I almost certainly died in the river while the current carried me away.) However, if I was truly dead then how am I telling this story well let me back up a bit to the start. 

(I feel cold; really cold and wet?) That thought wakes me up instantly. I awake to find myself laying in the water surrounded by what appears to be blood. After a few minutes of trying and failing to get up, (why am I so weak?), I pull myself out of the water. I take a moment to observe my surroundings, I'm surrounded by trees, an old run-down pier that looks ready to collapse, and a half-sunk canoe. But that makes no sense the last thing that I remember was that... oh right we were attacked. I remember I managed to save Christa but then one of those guys chased me down and then. I stop mid-thought then realized what happened next. "I was bit...." I say with a scratchy voice that is barely above a whisper along with a face of pure terror that few could ever imagine. With this memory, I charge with all my might, which is to say barely above zero at the moment, to the river to get a look at my reflection on the water's surface. The sight that greeted me was one that both looked familiar but at the same time not being familiar. My eyes were that of walkers, greyed out with no signs of the light of a living being, my hair a complete mess, (thankfully I still have my hat,) my skin a pale grey, most likely due to blood loss from the wound on my collar bone, speaking of the wound, it is the most gruesome thing I have ever seen, (probably because it is on me and not on something else; dead or alive), the bite itself is a dark reddish/purple almost looking infected with dark purple veins running down it before disappearing into dead grey flesh. My shirt is mostly intact save for the tear where the bite is located. My pants and shoes are still completely intact with the exception of them being wet like the rest of me. At first, I'm in shock and have no idea what to think. Clearly, I'm alive since I seem to still be in control of my actions, but the more I look into my reflection the harder it is to ignore that I look like a walker. I stay there in that spot for what felt like weeks but was probably actually only a few hours, contemplating everything that has happened to me along with the people I have lost ever since the end of the world. My parents dead, Lee dead, Kenny dead, Duck dead, Carly dead, Omid and Omid JR. dead, and so many more, and now I can put my own name into that list. I wonder what I will do now, probably find Christa; actually, never mind she would probably kill me with being a walker now. So with Christa out of the picture what else can I do, survive I guess but that is kind of a moot point now. Either way I decide to move out and see where the winds will take me.  

Chapter Text

"Being dead sucks." I think to myself.

That's all I've been able to think about for the past 30 minutes as I travel through the forest. For those unaware, I died recently and now have become a walker. Let me tell you something moving around as a walker is a pain, I can only move at a slow and steady pace, and any attempt to move faster only results in me falling face-first into the mud. Not to mention trying to get my body to get back on my feet after said falls, you see trying to put any force into pushing myself up requires at least some dexterity and strength needed however, as a corpse that simple action becomes incredibly difficult because my body strength is basically not there and my dexterity is terrible.

"No wonder why the walkers are always scuffling about like they're about to fall at the slightest breeze". I have no idea where I'm even walking to but hey it beats just staying by the water, at least that way I don't have to see my reflection. But that still leaves a question in the back of my brain; how is it that I'm still me? As far as anyone knew when you died you came back as a walker; with the only desire to eat and kill along with no sense of ones old self, I know I've seen it first hand on serval occasions where a nice person would turn and attack any person around, like my old babysitter and Ben's old teacher.

As I'm lost in my thoughts I come across a stray dog in the grass, he looks up at me with slight curiosity before he begins to growl at me. I try to calm the poor dog down by trying to show him I'm not a threat but instead, he seems to become even more aggressive toward me as he slowly begins to approach me growling the whole time. "It must be because I'm a walker," I thought as it is the only explanation I can make at the moment. I wonder if he was trained to attack walkers or if he has a bad previous experience with them, either way, I need to do something soon as I would very much not like to get a bit a second time today thank you very much.

As I look around to see if there is anything I can use to defend myself I realize that the only thing that I can use is my fist. "Great, ok body please work with me here I know that I've been having trouble moving but please let me have enough dexterity to fight back," I thought as I began to scuffle towards the dog. At my approach, the dog lunges at me attempting to bite my right leg and knock me over. Unfourtanly for me he succeeds and I go tumbling down, however luckily for me I manage to grab him as I fall and now I have the dog wrapped around my arms but he still has a grip on my leg. As he still hasn't let go of my leg I begin to try and punch him with my good arm, the side of my body that doesn't have my walker bite on it. Unfortunately due to both body's walker strength and the position I'm in right now my punches are doing nothing to the dog.

At this rate the dog is going to tear off my leg, so I do the only thing that can come to my mind and I bite down on the back side of the dog. he yelps in obvious pain but I don't care because when I bit him I managed to pierce the skin and draw blood; and "OH MY GOD" the taste is divine I know for sure that if I were still alive I would be repulsed by the taste of some strays blood but as a walker, I just can't get enough of it. After my bite, the dog lets go but I refuse to let go as I go for another bite, this time tearing off a small bit of flesh with it. The dog keeps wiggling and thrashing against me and manages to escape from my grip and runs off into the bushes before I could pull myself off the ground.

However, when I get myself off the ground I can't help but start to follow in the direction the dog came went to as just that wonderful, divine taste of blood and flesh was the only thing I could think of at the moment. After about a minute of following, I see my prey in what looks to be an abandoned camp curled up in a ball whimpering while licking his wound. I say nothing as I walk behind the dog, before he can do anything I collapse down on him and begin tearing the flesh from his neck and eat it. This goes on for about 2 minutes before I get my sense back and when I do I look down in shock and horror at what I just did. Below me is a butchered corpse with a growing pool of blood below it and although I can't quite see myself but I know I'm covered in his blood.

I slowly back away and before I know I smack back first into a tree and collapse next to a tied-up walker with a night in his arm. The walker looks my way due to the noise but soon loses interest and turns his head away. As I sit there I can't help but think about what I just did, "Was this how all walkers felt" I thought as the memory of the flavor hits me, "because if so then I can understand why they attack any living in sight".

After what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes I begin to rise up from the ground with a feeling of dread in the pits of my stomach, I refuse to do anything like that again regardless of how great it tasted but for that, I will need a weapon of some kind, luckily for me there just so happens to be a knife logged in the arm in a walker who clearly has no interest in me, so decide to take it.

With a weapon in hand, I decide I don't want to spend another minute in this camp so I quickly leave trying to forget my latest action.

Chapter Text

Clem's POV:

"It's weird that I'm not in pain right now,"

I think to myself. Like I know I'm dead right now and everything feels a bit muted, but still going from a living; breathing body that can very much feel pain to a corpse that feels very little is strange. Every time I take a step forward I'm expecting a sharp pain to course through my body starting from the wound in my leg, but nothing happens. However, those thoughts can wait because although I'm dead I still think it would be best if I find some form of shelter so I can try and come up with a plan.

As I'm thinking this I begin to notice that my body is moving slower and it's becoming harder to walk. I look down at my leg and realize that in its injured state, I won't be able to walk for much longer. Thinking quickly I search the nearby area for a place to sit down and collect myself. I end up seeing a rock and decide that it would be as good as anything else here. I collapse at the rock and begin pondering on my next move.

Pete POV:

"Think we will find anything besides fish today Pete" I hear Luke tell me. I sigh and respond to him "Hopefully, I would honestly love some venison or heck even squirrel, anything besides fish." 

"I know that feeling," Luke said in a happy tone, "You know one thing I miss before the world ended was..." Luke stops talking and I look ahead to see what's up and Then I see them. Lurkers and a whole bunch of them. "They haven't noticed us yet, I whisper to Luke, keep low, and let's go around them". Luke nods and we begin to move. 

After a moment of moving, I hear Luke whispering to me. "Look over there behind that rock" I do as he says and sure enough there appears to be a child or young teen; hard to say as the child is slumped behind the rock and with us being crouched it's hard to say. "It doesn't look as if the Lurkers have noticed her yet whats the plan Pete?" Luke asks me. 

I turn to Luke and begin to come up with a plan to try and save the child.

To be continued......

Chapter Text

Luke POV:

"I don't like this" I whisper to Pete, carful not to alert the Lurkers. In front of us the Lurkers still haven't noticed the kid yet which is a miracle in of itself. I briefly worry that the kid might be a Lurker but I shove that thought out of my head cause if she was a Lurker then there would be no reason for them to be slumped against a rock. "What's the plan Pete, were running out of time" I say with growing concern in my voice.

"I'm still trying to figure it out". Pete whispers and its clear with the tone of his voice that even he is starting to become worried for each passing second. Turning to Pete I notice that his eyes are quickly scanning the area for the best possible plan. "Listen up, I'm going to start shooting the Lurkers closest to us to open a path for you. When the path is clear enough I need you to sprint as fast as you can and pick up the girl, then get the hell back here; got it." Pete said with a face so serious and determine that there would be no disagreeing with the man. 

"Got it", I respond to the man.

"Good, then on the count of three", Pete says as he levels his crossbow. "One". As Pete loads his crossbow. "Two". Pete says as he lines his sights to the nearest Lurker. "THREE". Pete says as he fires his weapon and I take that as my que to start running. As I run I see lurkers begging to drop like flies, thou I don't pay to much attention as I focus on my mission to save this kid. When I get close to the rock I jump over it and right when I'm about to grab the kid I notice that Pete and I made a very big mistake. Looking at the kid I don't see the lush color of living skin, instead I see the dark muted grey of Lurker flesh, In my surprise I involuntary yell out only two words "OH SHIT".

Clems POV:

I don't know where I'm at right now. Its the only thing I think of as after I passed out I find myself in a dark void. Is this what happens when you die, did my soul finally realize that I was dead and took me to the afterlife. If so then it was nothing like I was expecting, with the stories my late parents and Lee would tell all those years ago. As I'm lost in thought I see memories of my parents and Lee and all the good time that came with. Watching them I cant help but long for simpler times but unfortunately these pleasant memories are quickly replaced with nightmare version of these events. My fifth birthday party with my parents filled with with color and joy turns bloody as the guest became walkers while screaming happens in the background, while the memories of Lee teaching me to shoot on the train turn to him trying to kill me.

I back away from Lee as I hear him tell me "I'm sorry sweetpee. I'm so sorry" Lee says with utter defeat on his face. I try to respond to him to ask him why he's doing this but instead of words coming out of my mouth all I instead hear is the moaning of the dead. I try backing away again but I can no longer control my body and I'm slowly walking to Lee, arms outstretched ready to devour the man who raised me after my parents death. I cry out in anguish desperately trying to regain control buts its to late as the next thing I see and hear is a bullet being fired into my brain. 

After the bullet was fired and I find myself back into the dark void only this time there are no memories in front of me. Having just experience what I just I collapse and begin crying my eyes out. Looking down at my hands a notice that my right arm is that of healthy living meat while my left arm, the arm I was bit in, was still that of a walker. I don't know what is happing right but the one thing I do know is that I want to wake up from this nightmare. Luckily my wish seems to have been granted as I hear someone yell out "OH SHIT". with that the void is disappearing as consciousness returns to me. 

Awaking I take in my surroundings and to my surprise I see a 20 or 30ish something male wielding a machete in one arm while his other arm is close to my face almost as if he was about to grab me. Quickly he pulls his arm back and gets his other arm holding the machete winds back as if he is about to stab me in the head before he pauses a look of contemplation on his face as if he is morals are stopping stabbing a kid. Before he can overcome his personal dilemma and use what strength i have to speak up in a very gravelly voice. "Wait..... Please don't".

Luke POV:

As I realize my mistake the lurker wakes up and looks at me. I pull my arm back and as I'm about to kill her with my other arm I stop. I know that logically that this girl is no longer human and now a flesh eating monster but the fact that she still looks like a child still forces me to stop and hesitate. Just when I snap out of it the lurker speaks to. "Wait..... Please don't". This causes me to freeze up because did I hear that right this lurker just spoke, as in just spoke as living being. For a second I think the girl Is just pretending to be dead but after double check her there is no denying that she is indeed a lurker.

"Please... I'm no..... Threat" I hear the lurker, or i guess kid, gasp out clearly talking is hard for her. I listen as she continues. "Please..... Help me". I know that helping is an extremely unwise choice but damn it I can not ignore my conscience and so I grab the kid and begin to run back into the woods, Pete following soon behind me and now I must figure out what the hell I'm going to tell Pete about this strange girl.

To Be Continued