Two days later, Sophia was the first to wake up on a drip while Clementine and Calvin were in the room.
She cried when she saw Calvin who asked her to tell him what had happened and she gathered her strength to start speaking.
Apparently, after their survival lesson with Daryl, Shane had taken the others to a shooting practice session before winter and they had made a lot of noise which attracted a small troop of walkers from the woods.
Lise told them it was no longer safe and they had to leave but Dawn and Shane insisted on pushing the training with real targets that had just arrived.
They killed the walkers, making even more noise before returning to the farm, thinking it was the end.
That night, Dale had taken first watch, but when Sophia and her mother woke up, several thousand zombies were already near the tents.
She remembers the commotion, the noise, the gunshots, the pushing and shoving, everything happened super fast and in no time the horde separated her, Duane and Patricia from the others near the house.
The walkers came in too but as she led the children past into the house, the walkers caught Patricia and began to devour her in front of the children while others returned.
Under Sophia's screams of fear, Duane pulled her with him to get her out from behind, he tried to take her towards the others but there were walkers everywhere so they ran towards the forest.
Unbeknownst to them, arol, Morgan and the others tried to look for a solution but it was too late when they saw Patricia being devoured and heard what they thought were screams of pain from Sophia and if Shane, Daryl, and Rick hadn't held them back and quickly get into the vehicles, they would have left towards the house despite the horde.
For the next few days, they tried to escape the horde moving from hideout to hideout until finding refuge in a locked school bus wedged among other small cars.
They hid there by entering through one of the windows and waited a long time for the horde to pass without even knowing where they were after days of fleeing where they were exhausted.
They were just children but they wanted to live.
They snuck here and there to spend the winter in an old building and with Duane, they swore not to speak and to remain silent so as not to attract attention.
They spent the entire winter getting by and eating what they could. A lighter wasn't hard to find so they set up on top of a small empty building where they could make a fire without being spotted on the ground.
There were days when they were so hungry or thirsty that they shook but learned to survive on their own, to make traps for rats or mice, to roast insects or worms to eat because hunger took away the preference. Daryl's lessons hadn't been in vain
They had seen the others at the camp boiling water to drink afterwards and that is what they did in cans with water from a nearby river fortunately.
Sometimes they cried at being abandoned like that even though unbeknownst to them, Daryl and Rick had returned to the farm to look for traces of them even with faint hopes but the horde had already moved on.
They searched for a long time but in vain, they had to accept the harsh reality as much as possible after this kind of situation, especially since Dale died there too with T-dog .
They then wandered for months alone and silently fending for themselves. Sometimes they found good things, they developed tricks and ways of communicating without speaking.
Until reaching this station where they spent a certain time until being surprised one night by a horde when Sophia wanted to go out to urinate and the walkers saw her.
They quickly closed the access to the station and locked themselves securely in this room where fortunately, they had gathered canned goods and somewhat clean water.
Finally, by waiting without even knowing if the dead had left but listening to the noises outside, the two children ran out of everything and Duane had given his last shares to Sophia who was a little sick until they be in the state where Calvin found them.
Calvin: Do you have any idea where they might have gone?
« No, it doesn't matter anymore. They abandoned us. Are you going to leave us too? » Sophia asked while her face was expressionless and her voice completely void of life.
Calvin: I'm not sure if your parents abandoned you voluntarily, but I can promise you that we will never abandon you. From now on, I will take care of you like I take care of Clementine.
Sophia: Is that true?
Calvin: You have my word Sophia.
"You have to trust him Sophia, he took good care of me. » Clementine said as she climbed onto the bed when Reyes entered the room.
Reyes: Thank God she's awake. How are you Sophia?
Sophia: Tired and hungry.
Reyes: We'll bring you food my angel, we'll take care of you. (To Cal) What do we do?
Calvin: Honestly? I do not know. The group has been missing for over 8 months and I don't even want to waste my time looking for them knowing that either they are dead or scattered or they left the state to go anywhere thinking the kids were dead .
Reyes: So are we going to continue on our way?
Calvin: That's what my Instinct tells me, my dear. I'm going to build a community, you and I will do it, all together. I already know where it will be.
Reyes: Where will it be?
Calvin: Washington DC precisely at the White House. The journey will be long but the destination will be satisfying. And before you call me crazy, analyze the idea a little. The space is large and protected by a very solid barrier that can be further improved. There is plenty of room for fields and livestock, a certainly reliable and very durable water and electricity supply system, it's the White House. In addition, there is certainly a Bunker well stocked and prepared to last for decades, I repeat, it's the White House.
Reyes: And the idea is very attractive! I am ready to follow you but is this the case for others?
Calvin: I don't need them, they need me. Those who want to come will come and those who don't want to will leave, that's all. I'm waiting for Duane to wake up to inform the survivors but for now, only you, Lee and Molly will know. You should go tell them, but first, the little one is hungry.
« I understand, I'll come back quickly Sophia. » Reyes said as he left as Calvin sat down to start chatting with the girls.
He later came out to see Lee and Molly supervising the other survivors as they repeated the same motions of the knife head followed by the front kick over and over again. He looked at them and saw that these guys weren't really ready for the fight and the long road. He wanted to do things the right way so he began putting together a group training program for his men during the ride.
"Gentlemen" he said as they all stopped to pay attention to him.
Calvin: I was planning to tell you about it later but I prefer to do it now. As you know, I want to build a community and I know where we will do it. However, this will require a long and certainly eventful journey.
Lee: Can we know what the destination is?
Calvin: Washington DC and before you can complain, know that I am not forcing you to do anything, I don't need you and there will certainly be survivors to save there. This farm is a fairly quiet place so those who have no desire to undertake this long journey can raise their hands and they can stay calmly there.
They all looked at each other before looking at Calvin again, everyone here had been convinced by his incredible leadership and strength, this guy to them could do anything and he was clearly their best way to survive in this world at the moment.
Calvin: Okay, how many of you have worked in the metal industry?
"I worked in a foundry before doing masonry," one man said.
"My father was a boilermaker, he taught me how to do a lot of things," another guy said.
"My family owned a jewelry store. We know how to melt metal" a pretty redhead said proudly.
Calvin: Alright, make a list of what you'll need to build a small metal oven, your talents will come in handy guys. As for the others, find yourself a strong, straight stick the size of a spear. Choose your stick carefully guys and make its tip pointed like a spear, this weapon will be your sister and your best friend against walkers or maybe even some other humans so mark a nickname on it. I repeat, choose your stick very carefully. You have until tomorrow evening.
They didn't immediately understand what he was talking about but did what he asked anyway.
Calvin took the list that the three survivors had made and left to return the next morning to the farm where his men were already waiting for him with their sticks.
He hadn't even really brought the requested items on the list but said he found something better so he decided to move the group who followed him with a lot of questions.
In the meantime, Duane had woken up to the great joy of Sophia and Clementine, even though he was still much too exhausted, they still made him eat something.
They arrived at their destination and when the survivors saw the location , they shook their heads wondering why they even dared to question Calvin's ideas.
The place was a warehouse surrounded by a 1m50 reinforced concrete fence wall coupled with a solid gate above as well as a large sliding metal gate. There was a large parking space practically empty with a few goods trucks and the convoy entered without any problem where they didn't hesitate to show their relief. There were even two large tanks filled with fuel in one corner.
The group was happy with their leader, very happy even, and their confidence in him only grew more.
They all went down and Calvin formed several small teams of 5 members to search the building, preferably eliminating the walkers found with knives.
During the research, they found 9 walkers they've killed and Calvin allowed them to rest , eat and even organize a small party for this exceptional and safe place.
He picked up from the parking lot and went who knew where only to return hours later with one deer, two stags and two does all shot in the head. There were also beers and hard liquor in the truck.
When they saw all this, the others almost got sick and even Reyes was speechless, she only smiled as she realized that her man was really someone capable.
He asked the women to make food for everyone and some men immediately came to help them.
Tonight they celebrated in front of Calvin who only looked at them while sitting with Reyes while they held hands under the jealous eyes of some women who envied Christina way too much.
The next day, the survivors showed him the sticks they found where they actually carved the nickname given and Calvin gave them pumice paper to smooth the surface of their sticks and harden the pointed end in the fire.
Calvin had the metal furnaces built and once that was done, he brought the necessary equipment to melt aluminum.
When the melting reached an acceptable level to press the liquid metal onto the tips of the sticks, each of the survivors dipped the pointed end of their stick into the cooling metal. Now that their sticks had sharp but rough metal ends, they were given sandpaper to smooth the surface so that the weapon would penetrate the heads of the dead and be removed freely.
Two and a half months later, several dozen survivors were sweating for more than an hour repeating a series of movements with their spiked sticks, while still others did it with knives or axes.
Lee himself was practicing his movements while Clementine, Duane and Sophia copied him. They had trained the survivors in melee weapons as well as firearms and the children participated.
Others worked on buses and freight trucks that they modified. To try to arrange them for the benefit of the survivors for the trip, they found 3 campers and 16 other survivors.
The group attached turrets to certain vehicles and welded protections, removable openings on the roofs, small single beds stacked on top of each other and stabilized with attachments to the floor and roof.
They also had a water tanker connected to a filter fixed by engineers and two tankers filled with diesel.
It was their last day at the warehouse and they loaded a lot of useful things into the goods trucks. They even found a whole load of dried meats in the warehouse which they loaded with large cans of vegetables, stew or fruit.
Calvin's luck being what it was, they had found a military camp full of walkers who they exterminated to take weapons and military equipment, there were plenty of weapons and ammunition, enough to heavily arm all the survivors.
It was definitive, they were completely won over by Calvin as an exceptional leader capable of feeding them effectively, protecting them, making them stronger but above all giving them the satisfaction of being useful.
He let the men eat, drink and rest for the evening and night. Right now he was in bed with Reyes in the middle of a lust party when someone knocked on the bedroom door and it was Clementine whose voice they heard.
Reyes: What is it my Angel ?
Clementine: I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you?!
Reyes: Of course my angel. One minute please...
They immediately got up to change the sheets because there were too many of their bodily fluids on them, they opened the air inlet at the top to evacuate the odors and Calvin poured several drops of lavender scent into the sheets.
corners before putting on his pajamas matching those of Reyes. He opened the door and Clementine came to find them in bed with her big stuffed animal in the middle of the couple.
Cal: I almost forgot. Clem, do you remember the day I found Sophia and Duane.
Clementine: Hum Hum (nods head).
« I brought you some things from home. » he got up to search a certain place to pull out a photo album and a baseball. When Clementine saw this, she rushed to take the objects and look at them. The ball was his father's, an autographed ball. She also started looking at the photos in the album, photos of her and her parents that she looked at for a long time. Calvin knew it would sadden her but he didn't want this child to lose the memory of his parents.
"Thank you…thank you so much" Clementine said giving Cal a hug as she cried and he patted her back.
Cal: You're welcome princess, I would have liked someone to do it for me too. I don't remember my parents' faces anymore so they have been dead in my mind for a very long time. You will still be able to remember your parents and as long as they are alive in your memories, they will never really be dead. And in the distant future, you will talk about them to their grandchildren.
Clementine: Their grandchildren?
Cal: Um...you'll understand one day. Can you tell us what you were doing in the photos?
Clementine began to recount her memories of the photos as Reyes discreetly grabbed Calvin's hand who looked at him as she gave him a tender smile and he winked back.
That night, Clementine slept in the middle of the couple as if they were her parents even if Calvin seemed more like her big brother and Lee, her father.