Y/N was pushing himself forward as fast as he could. His Clemmy was alive. His Clemmy was alive!
He ignored the burning in his legs, the exhaustion, the hunger, he just had to see her.
He followed the path and came to a disused campsite. He saw her, sitting there, talking to a dog about twenty yards away.
"You want some too, Sam?"
"Clem... Clem..." Y/N tried to yell but his throat was far too raspy. He hadn't drank for hours, despite his proximity to the river. His focus had been solely on finding her.
He could see what was about to happen in slow motion. He rushed forward, summing up in the moment he didn't have time to get his crossbow off, he didn't have a clear shot.
"Hey don't eat it all!"
He pushed himself as fast as he could, pulling his knife as he heard a growl and bark. He leapt forward with all his remaining strength.
—~—
Sam leapt at Clementine as she closed her eyes and flinched, aware she was knocked backwards to the ground and feeling a pain in her shoulder as she landed on a rock. She heard a stabbing, groan of pain, a yelp.
She opened her eyes in shock. Y/N was here, his arm cut badly, bleeding from the savage bite Sam had laid on him that had been intended for her, Sam was laying with Y/N's knife sticking out of his neck.
"Ahh ahh fuck" Y/N exclaimed raspily in severe pain. He had thrown himself between Clementine and the dog, knocking Clementine to the ground. His left arm had been outstretched, taking the dog's bite. His right arm had stabbed down into the dog's neck, killing it instantly. Clementine regained her senses and went from overwhelmingly happy to horrified in only moments:
"Y/N, you're alive! You found me! Your arm! Oh no, are you ok?"
She screamed, panicked as Y/N pulled his knife one handed and wiped the blood on the dog before resheathing it on his belt. He was aware of the intense pain in his badly bleeding arm as he tried to stand but fell backwards into the log. He held his left arm at the elbow as he smiled and said "hey Clemmy" raspily to the girl who was hugging him and sobbing.
"How did you find me?" Clementine asked through her tears as she leant back from the hug.
"Chased you. Tracked you down the river. Killed four of 'em but the one chasing the others got away. We gotta try and find them Clem, we- ahh!"
Y/N had tried to stand but mistakenly pushed off his injured arm, roaring in pain as more blood splurted out.
Clementine rushed over, panicking as she tried to help Y/N to his feet.
"We need to find some shelter Y/N, and food, and a way to stitch your arm."
Y/N chuckled as he pushed himself to his feet as Clementine helped lift him and asked:
"What's so funny?"
"I just killed us some breakfast Clem, we just need to find-"
Y/N was cut off by the inevitable moans of the dead. They had heard the commotion in the dog attack and were approaching the overrun campsite, quickly.
"Come on we gotta go, I can't fight like this" Y/N said raspily as the effects of no sleep, no food, no water, no rest and a bleeding arm took affect.
Y/N stood up with a grunt, pulling his crossbow down one armed. He fired off the bow that was loaded, groaning in pain trying to hold it steady with his bitten arm. His strength failed at the last moment, the arrow firing into an oncoming walker's chest.
"Fuck" Y/N roared as the world started to spin. He held his crossbow out in front and snapped:
"Clem!"
She turned to face him confused as he held his crossbow to her.
"Put it over your neck, I'll take up the rear and keep them off us. You keep your eyes forward."
Clem nodded and turned back forward as Y/N stabbed a walker one handed, pulling the knife out and grunting. More walkers closed in- he didn't have the strength to fight them all.
"Quick, through the woods that way" Y/N said weakly, pointing to an opening in front of them. Clementine nodded as the two squeezed through the closing gap between two walkers and headed forward.
"You keep looking for-ward Clem" Y/N reiterated as he felt weaker, each step taking a Herculean effort.
"Don't look back Clemmy. I'm glad I met you..."
Y/N trailed off, his last sentence barely a whisper. He couldn't push anymore, he heard the walker right behind him and closed his eyes, lifting his head back and waiting for the bite that was gonna take him out...
Thcck!
An arrow whizzed passed Y/N's ear, sticking into the walker and killing it instantly. Clem shot around and looked at Y/N and the dead walker, instantly shrieking:
"Y/N!" Before she was gently grabbed:
"Look out" an older man with a crewcut said, firing an arrow into a walker just behind Clementine.
She looked around in shock as a young man with a machete hacked another walker and said to Y/N:
"Shit you don't look good kid"
"Fu-"
Y/N swayed before falling forward, quickly being grabbed and hoisted on the young man's shoulder. He grunted:
"Shit kid, you got rocks in your pockets?"
"I'm out let's go!" The older man yelled, grabbing Clementine's arm and pulling her forward as the young guy groaned and moaned, running forward slowly, but fast enough even with Y/N's weight to avoid the walkers.
The group ran for about five minutes before the older man stopped puffed out.
"I think... I think we lost em."
"Thank god" the younger man said, breathing heavily.
"You ok? Who are you with?" The older man asked.
"We don't want anyone to think we're doing anything but trying to help you" the younger man reiterated.
"I'm Clementine, this is Y/N. We were with our friends but we got attacked."
"Hmm. I'm Pete and this is Luke. Did the folks mention what they were after?" The older man asked.
"They might have wanted food. We were cooking some sort of weasel." Clem answered honestly.
"They attacked you for a weasel? Damn that's low" Luke replied with a grunt.
"Yeah, but Y/N saved me, that's when he was bit-"
Clementine couldn't finish her sentence before Luke had already dropped Y/N and yelled "shit!"
Y/N roared in pain on the ground holding his arm as Clementine rushed him, yelling at Luke:
"A dog! He got bit by a dog saving me!"
"I didn't see any dogs Clementine!" Pete said sternly.
"Y/N killed it. At a campsite back there!" Clem yelled again, leaning down over Y/N, trying to cover him with her body, protect him.
"You saw a dog and you just killed it?" Like roared.
"It went for me! It attacked Y/N!" Clementine roared back. Pete looked at Luke and asked:
"What would you have done?"
Luke looked off to the side and muttered:
"You just... you don't kill dogs, man!"
Pete stepped forward and leant down, looking into Clementine's eyes. He asked:
"Are you telling me the truth, Clementine?"
Clementine looked up into Pete's eyes with sincerity and answered:
"Yes."
"Well of course she's gonna say that." Luke snapped.
"She's telling the truth. I got a great bullshit detector, it's why I always beat you at poker."
"You don't always beat me at... shit, Nick ain't gonna like this man!"
"YOU DONT NEED TO REMIND ME, BOY!!!" Pete yelled back. Luke dropped his head and muttered back:
"Yes sir. Sorry sir. But what if-?"
"I don't know, Luke. But I do know I ain't gonna leave a couple of kids in the woods when we got a doctor back home who can look at it."
"Alright, shit, yeah. But I ain't carrying him no more!"
Y/N had calmed his breathing as Clem held him. He snapped at Luke:
"Don't fucking want you to!"
He pushed himself to his feet and took a couple of steps forward. The last thing he remembered was everything going black as someone rushing towards him saying: "oh shit!"