howdyyy! took me 2 days to chug these out (and my laptop only black screened once!)
have you noticed how nobody really gives edith her flowers for taking care of clem & aj in the wellington ending? i mean, she vouched to allow the kids in when they were already at full capacity, they were there for around a year and a half and seemed really friendly with one another. it's a shame clem never acknowledges her death after the fact.
anyways, shoutout to @frankdp1 & his tfs clem customs
Summary: Omid and Christa join Carley, Lee, Matthew and Walter for some Christmas caroling.
Word Count: 1708
Read on AO3:
“Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green…” Omid paused in his carol, his hand still swinging lightly with his wife’s as they walked through the snow. “What is ‘wassailing’ anyway?”
“Hmmm,” Christa rooted through her pocket with her free hand and pulled out her phone. “I think it has something to do with singing,” She pulled up the definition on her phone. “It looks like it was an old form of caroling but it involved inviting people to drink out of the wassail bowl the carolers had brought along,”
“Oooh, sort of like a reverse Halloween visit. We provide entertainment – the trick - and a treat! Maybe we should bring a punch bowl along with us,”
“Punch would be a bit cold in winter. I think wassail was more of a spiced wine,” Christa glanced at her watch. “Anyway, we’re running late – the wassail will have to wait till next year,”
The couple quickened their steps – they were only about a half block away by now. As they rounded the corner, they could see the other two couples waiting for them. Carley and Lee and Walter and Matthew stood on the sidewalk, reading through their caroling booklets.
Lee’s face brightened as he spotted Omid and Christa. “Hey, you two! Come on over! We’ve got booklets for you too!”
“Hell yeah, caroling booklets!” Omid grabbed a pair and handed one over to his wife. “Not that I’ll need mine – I’m a caroling aficionado,”
“He’s not wrong,” Christa smiled knowingly at her husband. “Brody and Louis love Christmas carols. They sing them all day long throughout December,”
“Ah so that’s why Mitch and Clementine seemed so interested in these booklets. Guess they wanted to impress their boos with their musical know-how,”
“Boos?” Carley wrinkled her nose in amusement. “Is that what the kids are saying these days?”
“It’s what the cool kids are saying,” Lee quipped, earning an affectionate eye roll from his wife.
“Now that we’re all assembled,” Walter said, adjusting his scarf, “Let’s head out. Matthew has the map of our caroling destinations on his phone,”
The group agreed and headed out, each couple linked arm in arm as they strolled the lamplit snowy sidewalks. It was a brisk night, the sort that would be describes as having that winter chill that snuck into your bones. Still, the group was bundled up warmly and their laughter and easy banter had them immune to the cold. Well, mostly immune. Omid’s chattering teeth told a somewhat different tale.
“You OK over there, Omid?” Matthew asked. Reaching under his arm, he produced a thermos and began unscrewing the top. “I brought some hot chocolate along since the weather forecast said it was gonna be nippy,”
“Ah, a wassail!” Omid exclaimed, gratefully taking the steaming drink and taking a gulp.
“A what now?”
“A wassail!” Walter exclaimed, his eyes brightening at the mention of an archaic term. “It’s a sort of spiced ale that used to be served by carolers to the people they serenaded,”
“Somebody’s been reading their dictionary,” Omid grinned, smiling Walter’s way. “That’s what the real ‘cool kids’ like my wife do,”
Christa rolled her eyes at that but the smile on her lips betrayed her fondness for her husband’s jokes.
“Hey, I was reading the dictionary before it was even cool,” Lee declared from the head of the pack. “Y’all can ask Carley – we met in the library,”
“It’s true. I was looking for a certain article for my thesis and I found Lee reading an encyclopedia at the front desk when he was supposed to be working. It was love at first sight,”
“Now wait a minute,” Christa interjected, “I thought Lee said he read the dictionary. An encyclopedia is an entirely different thing,”
Lee let out a mock gasp of indignation. “That’s what you took away from the romantic tale of our first meeting? There’s no pleasing some people,”
The banter would have continued but they had reached the first house on their map. Pulling out their booklets, the group prepared to sing while Matthew knocked on the door. As soon as the door was open, they burst into their first carol.
“We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!
Good tidings we bring
For you and your kin,
Good tidings for Christmas
And a happy new year!”
Tripp and Sarita applauded enthusiastically as the song finished, huddled together in the warmth of their doorway. “Oh, that was wonderful!” Sarita exclaimed. “Why don’t you all come on in for a cup of tea to warm up?”
Walter shook his head. “Thank you kindly, but you’re the first in a long list of houses we plan to visit tonight,”
“Well, let us give you something. Wait here a minute,” Tripp directed before hurrying back into the house. A minute later he came out bearing candy canes, one for each of them. “Merry Christmas and thanks for dropping by,”
They all said their goodbyes and headed off toward the next house.
“It’s just like Halloween after all!” Omid exclaimed, gleefully unwrapping his candy cane. Christa had stuck hers in her thermos cup of cocoa and sipped from it sparingly, enjoying the faint zing of peppermint the drink now had.
The next stop on their caroling journey was at Kenny and Katjaa’s house. The couple listened merrily to the group as they sang “Joy to the World” then Katjaa insisted they come inside and enjoy some of the speculoos cookies she’d just finished baking. Since Lee had to pee they took her up on her offer and the group sat round the kitchen table for a few minutes enjoying the delicious spiced gingerbread. They didn’t let themselves tarry long through and were soon off to their next destination.
At Sisi and Doug’s house the group found the pair in the midst of playing the Skyrim Christmas mod but the game was paused in order to fully enjoy the beauty of “Silent Night,” When the song ended, Doug and Sisi applauded wildly, causing their matching reindeer antlers to jingle in unison. Doug offered the carolers some of his special holiday eggnog and before they could think to refuse Sisi was pouring them each a serving in red plastic cups so they could take it along with them as they walked. With a final “Merry Christmas!” the caroling choir was on their way once more.
“Mmmm, that’s delicious!” Carley exclaimed as she took another sip of her eggnog. “Doug is a whiz in the kitchen when it comes to his specialties,”
“Maybe we should see if we can finagle our way into a dinner invite sometime,” Lee mused playfully, polishing off his eggnog.
“You’re all welcome to dinner at our home anytime you like,” Walter offered. “Matthew makes an excellent rack of lamb and I’m not a bad hand at roasts myself so either way we can whip up something memorable,”
“Oooh, we’ll definitely be taking you up on that offer,” Omid replied, earning a nod from Christa.
There were only a few houses left now.
Edith and Mark’s house was next on the list. The pair listened in rapt admiration as the group sang “Dona Nobis Pacem”. As soon as the song finished, Mark hurried inside to grab some chocolate oranges he and his wife had brought back from their trip to England to visit one of his cousins. The singers accepted the gift gratefully, wishing the pair a merry Christmas before continuing on, each of them unwrapping the gold foil just a bit to give one of the chocolate orange slices a nibble.
Bonnie and Mike’s house was just a block over. The scent of the pecan pie that had just finished baking wafted through the door while the notes of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” floated on the evening air. The pie was offered and eagerly accepted. The sugary, nutty treat kept them warm as they headed for the final house.
Last on their list was Javi and Santi’s place. The couple wasn’t alone when they opened the door, in the midst of hosting a Christmas party with their niece and nephew. All four joined in with the carolers as they sang “Jingle Bells”. Once the song had wrapped up the group was congenially tugged inside (and Omid had to pee anyway so they couldn’t say no) and guided to the table to enjoy pestiños and turron. The sweet sesame seed dough and rich nougat paired perfectly with the crema de vie, a Cuban eggnog Javi told them had been in his family for generations. They all felt downright stuffed as they slipped their coats back on and stepped out the door, wishing the family a very merry Christmas.
Their caroling done, the group slowly walked onwards, heading towards the very spot where they had begun; they had gone full circle. The group lingered under the streetlight, loath to part after such a memorable night.
“Sooooo anybody wanna head over to the Pancake Shack for a late-night stack?” Omid offered.
Christa groaned. “Babe, no. As great as tonight was, I don’t think any of us could manage another bite,”
“Christa’s right,” Walter looked down at his stomach, giving it a fond pat. “I think I’ve adding enough stuffing to the old sweater tonight,”
“More stuffing to love,” Matthew replied, giving his husband a playful wink before kissing his cheek.
“As much as I’d love to stay and chat, these old gams are killing me,” Lee said, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Besides,” Carley added, “We’d better get home before the kids accidentally burn down the house. I saw Renata and Aasim looking up some sort of Christmas flambé recipe online before we left, and I’ve been too nervous to check in on how it went,”
“Maybe we can meet up later on during the break once the holiday madness has passed,” Matthew offered. “New Year’s party, anyone?”
Everyone was excited at that suggestion. Agreeing to text about the details later, the couples headed their separate ways toward their cars, hand in hand as a light dusting of snow began to fall, the perfect flourish on a magical winter night.
The added Jane and Kenny flashbacks in Episode 4 were cool and at least gave the fans something before their shitty deaths, but I honestly woulda loved if Telltale didn’t just push the other endings into the corner in that same moment.
I would’ve loved seeing Clementine and Edith interacting with each other more and with AJ, maybe have the flashback shown shortly after Clem was forced to leave Kenny and have Edith comfort her, and that even though she lost someone who she knew since the beginning, at least Clementine had safety, food and other people around to make friends with, and for AJ to have security and a whole community to raise and protect him rather than just Clementine, or Clementine and Kenny/Jane.
Clementine: Funny, I already felt like a mom. Edith said that I was a great mom to AJ for thinking about him when I had to leave my friend.
In the Alone ending, we could have something similar to the Kenny flashback yet it being just Clementine and AJ. A nice, lighthearted moment where Clementine and AJ enjoy a moment together, maybe playing with shadows or doodling, and even though it’s hard for Clementine to look after him, don’t make it appear that the alone ending leaves Clementine the worst off considering that feels like a big slap to the face to the people who picked it. Maybe mention some of the characters in the past as she talks to the lil goofball, considering she has no one else there to talk to.
Clementine: Funny, I already felt like a mom. I guess I was the only person there to be a mom to AJ.
I don’t know, maybe just give the fans something that doesn’t revolve around us having to pick Kenny or Jane, rather than leaving us out.
Lee was woken the next morning with hands gently rousing him from his slumber. His eyes opened slowly, a yawn growing in his throat, he found he had slept on his back all night, staring up at the ceiling high above, he could see Alicia off in the corner of his vision, she had a soft smile on her glowing face. The sun beaming through the coloured window bounced off her thick hair, the ends circling on her shoulders as her brown eyes stared down at him, Lee found himself staring back at them through the thick haze of sleepiness, before he just rubbed his eyes as he sat up, groaning slightly.
Quietly, he listened as she explained. "Sorry about this, Lee, but it's morning. We should pack our things and get ready to leave for home."
He brought up his wrist to in front of his face, eyes unfocused as he pulled the sleeve back to show his watch, seeing that it was eight in the morning. With a low groan, he slowly rubbed his back, it clicking uncomfortably as he stretched, words rumbling deep in his throat. "Damn. I never thought I'd miss slipping in my office chair."
"If this was too much for you, there was some spaces on the pews." Alicia pointed out, looking around at the empty spaces around them, not even looking at Lee as she quickly added. "The others have gone to pack the truck with supplies. The leaders are gonna come around to say goodbye, and then it's off for home."
"We better get ready then." He replied, slipping out of the sleeping bag quickly. Once out, he rolled the bag up quickly, gripping on the fabric as he carried it back over to the altar, staring at the bare altar before leaving the sleeping bag beside it. Standing there, he glanced up at the cross hanging up above, staring at the frozen face of Jesus as he hung on the well known cross, his thoughts going back years, back to when his mother would take him to church every sunday. He remembered those days well. With a deep frown, he realised that he hadn't visited that church for a good few years, not since he got that teaching job in Atlanta.
Softly, he heard Alicia's voice call out. "Hey… I was wondering if you'd go on ahead? I just need some time here."
"Is everything alright?" Lee asked, turning around at her with a concerned expression.
She just stood there, staring at the altar with crossed arms and a thoughtful look on her face, eyes burrowing deep into the old stonework before she glanced up at Lee, a small smile on her face as she nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… I know we have the memorial and all that back home, but being here, in an actual church, I have a chance to say a proper farewell to my friends. To everyone we've lost."
"Ah, I understand." Lee replied, a grim frown pulling at his lips as he just glanced over to the double doors, noticing hardly anyone remaining in the old building. He thought about it, and slowly, he walked over to Alicia, placing a hand on her shoulder, only to feel the muscles under his scarred palm and frown deeply. Seeing the fear flash in her eyes, before she managed to get it under control, Lee wouldn't lie, but it hurt him knowing that she was still scarred by what Carver did to her. He wanted to help her, but the problem was that he didn't know how.
"I'll just, erm… I'll go find the others, give you some space. Just come to the front gate when you're done, alright?" he offered.
Nodding, she offered him a grateful smile, her eyes sparkling with happiness before she made her way over to the altar. Lee knew that she needed space, and started making his way down the aisle towards the front door. He didn't spare even a glance back before he exited. Once outside, he felt the morning sun on his face, his eyes closing painfully as they adjusted to the light, his hand rising to provide shade. Snow that had been walked on laid over the path leading to the gate, footprints clearly visible in the dirtied layer of snow, and Lee's footprints were added when he walked down the path.
Breathing in the fresh morning air, he sighed deeply, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere around him, the sound of birdsong and people walking by, chatting nonchalantly to each other as if the world hadn't gone to shit. It was almost like back at Howe's, save for the space and open spaces. Lee actually felt slightly jealous of all the benefits the people of Wellington got, wondering if this was the life Sarah would have enjoyed if she did go with Edith and her group. The wind blew through the occupied streets, nothing more than a gentle breeze compared to the blizzard winds Lee was used to. Hopefully, the winter months would be over soon, and they'd be able to get more done in the warmer climate.
Reaching the gate, he pushed it open, ignoring the squeaky noise coming from it as he left the church behind, walking down the street by himself. The street lamps, unused for the long months that had passed by, just decorated the sides of the road, some stumps left behind from where a few of the street lamps had collapsed and been cleared away. Passing on, he gave it a quick glance before carrying on. Instead, he focused on a large oak tree, a bird's nest clear in its bare branches, the adults sitting in the safety of their nest high above whilst they waited for winter to pass, finding an adequate food source from the survivors to reject the migrate down south like so many others. The sounds of their song echoed through the air, and grew quieter the further down the road Lee walked.
Just like last night, the streets were busy with survivors going on to do their daily tasks, some driving a pickup truck full of hardware supplies; sheets of metal, wooden planks, along with all the tools necessary for build and repair. Watching as they drove slowly past, Lee smiled softly, carrying on down the road to the imposing walls in the distance, knowing that his people would be waiting there for him and Alicia to arrive. Soon, the walls separating Wellington from the outside world towered over him, casting all ground running along it in shadows. The slight heat of the sun had died once he reached the shadows, instead his skin reacting to the cold with goosebumps running all over his arms.
Rubbing his hands together in a vain attempt to rid himself of the frost, he noticed the familiar truck sitting just a few meters away from the closed gate. Edith and Sam were already there, the former talking quietly with Joel and that, where as her brother had taken to conversing with Al, the female guard laughing at some joke that he likely told. Seeing her happy, it warmed Lee's heart, and his face showed it when he approached them, Sam turning to the leader and grinning. "Well, someone's had a good night sleep from the look on your face."
"Yeah, you could say that." Lee shot right back, a joking tone to his voice as he crossed his arms, an eyebrow raised as he pressed further. "So, what you two talking about?"
"You know, things." Al replied, a smile playing at her lips as she looked away, Lee's eyebrow rising higher when he noticed the dark colouring over her cheeks.
Nodding his head, he chuckled deeply. "Uh-huh, things. Anyone wanna fill me in on what those things are?"
"Well, when you got a lovely woman coming to my community, it's basic manners to show her around." Sam started, crossing his arms in a mimicry of what Lee was doing. "It's a shame that you have to go back to Howe's. I was beginning to enjoy your company around here."
"You've known me for a day," Al shot back, brushing a lock of her hair back absentmindedly as she added. "I think you can survive until I come back again."
"Hey, a day is a lifetime in this world. You never know what happens, so why not make the most of it?" Sam's voice dropped to a sultry tone, but Al's face just fell with those words, Lee knowing the events that happened the other day still cutting her deep. Lee stared at her with sympathy in his eyes, though Sam didn't realise the effect his words had on the female survivor until she started walking away, her voice stern and professional.
"We should get the truck ready. Howe's needs us back with them. When you're ready, Lee." With that, she hopped up into the driver's side of the truck, closing the door behind her whilst Sam just stood there, a dumbfounded look on his face as he turned around to Lee.
"Was it something I said?" he asked, receiving only a shaking of Lee's head. Despite the awkwardness of the scene between the two without Al, Edith walking over caused Lee to sigh in relief silently. Calmness was all that could be seen in her face, being back home with food and supplies bringing the woman's spirit up, and although her brother just stared and shrugged when she expressed confusion over what just happened, she didn't let it get in the way of what needed to be said before Lee left for Howe's.
With a gentle smile, she turned to stare at the crates sitting in the back of vehicle, one of the guards that came with Lee reading the same book she was reading yesterday, a pair of sunglasses on her face, hiding her eyes from their view. Whilst he stared at the imprint of Wellington's name on the crates, he listened as she started talking. "Marissa worked hard last night, trying to figure out alternate routes for us to take. She made this. Told me to give it to you before you guys head out."
She pulled out a roll of paper from her jacket pocket, passing it over to Lee as he slowly unrolled it, noticing that it was a drawn map, the detail amazing given the lack of time Marissa had to do it all. Lines coloured red flowed through the paper, detailing routes that they could take rather than the highway. Staring at it, Edith quickly added. "On the back are times that the Wellington trucks will leave for pick ups. She's decided to meet Howe's people halfway, if only to reduce the distance we both would have to travel. Plus, safety in numbers, isn't it?"
"That's pretty smart. We should reach Howe's before nightfall tonight, and the next stop isn't until next week." Lee pointed out, reading the times and dates on the back of the map. He had to admit, he was fairly impressed with the detail that Marissa went to making this, and he carefully rolled it back up, sticking it in his jacket pocket as he turned to Edith, nodding his head slowly. "Thank you, for all of this, Edith."
"I can't take the credit. I'm glad we picked those guys as our leaders, they know how to get shit done." Edith confessed, her eyes quickly shifting to behind Lee as her face softened, her smile widening as she chuckled quietly. "Well, looks like the gang's all here."
Confused, Lee heard footsteps approaching behind him quickly, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he spun around, somewhat panicking over the unknown target approaching them until he realised that it was only Alicia. Face red and shoulder rising up and down with every breath she took, she just stood there panting heavily, looking at both of them before she gasped loudly. "I didn't know I'd be that long. Sorry about that."
"It's no problem. We've got everything we need, so you ready to set off?" Lee asked, turning back to Edith when Alicia nodded and started making her way over to the truck, Joel and the others had packed everything up, all of them bundling into the back of the truck and closing the shutters down, trapping them all inside until they reached home. With a short hug, he muttered to her. "Thanks, again. Hopefully, we'll see each other again soon."
"Tell Sarah that I miss her, okay?" Edith asked. Nodding in response, he watched as she backed away, Sam standing next to her as the siblings watched their friend walk over to the front of the truck, opening the passenger door and climbing in. Closing the door behind him, he peered in the wing mirror, watching the two waving goodbye to him whilst the gate slowly opened, the truck engine roaring to life when Al turned the key in the ignition. Lurching forward, they drove along the short path through the gate and into the outside world, the vehicle continuing down the lonely road whilst the gate behind them closed, keeping all threats outside the safety of the walls.
Lee continued to stare at the walls through the wing mirror, listening as Alicia yawned quietly, stretching her arms out in an attempt to stretch her muscles, the cramp in them unbelieveable as she slouched back into the seat, muttering to the others in the cab with her. "Wellington was unbelieveable, did you see those walls? Nothing could scale them. God, those people are very lucky to live there."
"I gotta agree with you, but Wellington isn't impenetrable." Lee pointed out, finally looking away from the wing mirror and instead staring at his companions, Alicia surprised with his words. "You heard what the leaders told us last night. Those bandits aren't robbing because they need it, they have a grudge, and sooner or later those grudges will have a nasty effect on all of us."
"Why? What'd they tell you guys?" Al asked, keeping her eyes on the road.
Glancing over at Alicia, she and Lee shared a wary look before he moved his sights over to the driver, pausing for a moment before he explained. "Wellington's run into a population problem. Edith told me about how many people she was forced to turn away on her leader's' orders, and that because of shortages with supplies, people were caught stealing and had to be exiled."
"Damn. I mean, I know things are hard nowadays but… I always thought Wellington took people in no matter what. I guess I was just fooling myself." Al grumbled, glancing over at Lee as she confessed. "I ain't gonna lie, when Carver was running Howe's I thought about leaving. Running away with people to go and find the haven up north."
"Really? You told me that you thought Carver was doing what was necessary." Lee recalled, remembering Al picking Carver's side during the rebellion, even going as far as to reject Riley's claims that he sent children outside the walls out of cruelty rather than necessity.
With a guilt-ridden look, Al nodded her head, her voice low as she replied. "I did, but that doesn't mean I thought it was right. I was a coward. Change was coming, and I didn't want to be on the wrong side at the end of all it. If it matters, I'm glad that you gave me another chance."
"People deserve second chances." Alicia pointed out, turning to Lee as she added. "I believe the bandits are just scared people who've been hurt. Sometimes, hurt people do things that they shouldn't, and a lot of people end up dead because of it. If you were in Wellington's shoes, would you do the same as they did?"
Caught off guard by the question, he blinked twice at her, remaining silent as he then turned to stare at the long road ahead. Thinking about it, he slowly came to his answer and, with a grim face, he turned back to her, staring down at her waiting expression as he nodded. "Yes. I would."
"Really? How can you be so sure?" she asked.
"We have to have rules. Being hurt doesn't excuse your actions, it only explains them." He sighed. Quickly, the conversation came to an end, everyone in the truck falling silent as Lee just leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed leisurely over his chest, staring out of the window at the passing trees and buildings, the fields slowly opening up as they took the routes mapped down on the piece of paper that Edith gave him. Quietly, he listened to the hum of the engine as the truck drove along the snow covered road, and thought about what they had just discussed for the entire journey home.
A few conversation starters were tossed amongst them during the journey, though Lee didn't indulge more than a few soft spoken words, and eventually Alicia gave up trying to fill the silence. It was a good thing for him as well, as the familiar sight of Howe's walls came into view, small people walking along the top as they watched out for any signs of dangers. Despite the snow proving difficult to drive in, the group didn't experience any shortcomings during the drive back to Howe's, mostly catching the bandits off guard with the unknown routes they took, keeping their precious supplies away from the main settlement. The sun was shining in the sky, moving slowly towards the horizon as it would soon set once more, the skies dyed the beautiful colours that Lee constantly saw with the sunsets.
Al eased her foot on the brake, slowing the truck down so that the guards on duty could open the gate, allowing them access to the insides of their community. Driving up the path, Lee just sat there, watching the people pass by as they went on to do the rest of their duties for the day, likely getting ready for dinner and for the guards to start their night shift. Exhaustion had already hit him, despite only eight or so hours passing by, and all he wanted was to relax in his office in peace. Sadly, he would have no such luck, as once the truck entered the back of the building into the loading bay, Christa and Jack were waiting there with bated breath.
"Well, time for you two to face the music." Al pointed out, turning the keys in the ignition and opening the door, jumping down as she added. "I'll make sure the supplies are taken to storage."
"Thank you, Al." Alicia replied, jumping down from the truck on the driver's side whilst Lee opened the passenger door, slowly making his way down to the marble floor. Once down, he closed the door again, turning to Christa as the pregnant woman approached him, her face relieved that he made it back home.
"I'm glad you guys made it back. Omid and I were worried the entire time you were gone, he wouldn't stop bringing you up in conversations." She joked, earning a laugh from a tired Lee.
Stretching his sore arms out, Lee groaned softly, letting his arms fall to his sides as he replied. "Man, it's great to be back, but… it wasn't all smooth sailing up there."
"Why, what happened?" she asked, glancing at the guards as they unloaded the back of the truck, using a trolley to carry the heavy crates to the side for unpackaging. Slowly, he could see realisation hit her, eyes glancing back at him as she continued. "We're down a soldier. What happened?"
"Liam got bit during a break. The walker was hidden under the snow, he never saw it coming. Al… she had to put him down so that he didn't suffer anymore." Pausing, he glanced over at Al, the young guard dragging the trolley over to the side for the crate to be put down, remaining silent whilst the others chatted away about their stay in Wellington. Quietly, he added to his explanation. "She's not doing too good."
"I hardly even knew Liam. He was one of the people that came in a few weeks ago, right?" Jack suddenly asked, walking closer to the duo to join in on their conversation. Lee nodded slowly, not knowing much about the deceased either, and watched as Jack sighed, fixing his glasses. "Damn. I thought he and Al got on just like siblings, hell, he did her a world of good."
"That's not the only thing going on. We need to go up to my office, this needs to be said in private." Lee grumbled. Christa and Jack appeared confused, the former somewhat unnerved by how worried Lee sounded, before the four turned around and walked out of the loading bay. In the main part of the building, Lee glanced around, watching people walking around minding their own business, talking amongst each other with laughter and cheer in the air. The new spotlights fitted in the community were slowly turned on, keeping the place fairly lit despite the dying sunlight outside.
Moving towards the stairs, he noticed someone walking down them, their quick footsteps echoing against the solid marble, until the person spotted Lee and paused. It was Sarah, with worried eyes and tense shoulders, she sounded relieved as she called down to him. "I'm so glad you guys are alright!"
"Sarah, what's wrong?" Lee asked, worried by her expression and tenseness.
With a frown, she glanced up the stairs again, the sound of people chatting and laughing likely coming from the restaurant, dinner time being around that time. After a few tense moments, she turned back to Lee, her voice low as she confessed. "I'm worried about Nick. Over these past few weeks, he's been really down, and now he won't come out of his room. I-I don't know how to help him."
"It'll be alright, sweetie. I'll go and see him once I'm done with what I gotta do now, you just go and have dinner." Lee consoled.
Sarah nodded at that, though she was unsure whether Lee could actually help him or not, quickly adding before she left. "Okay, but I need to be there. He's my friend. I have to make sure he's alright."
"Sure thing." With that, she walked back up the stairs, leaving the group behind as they made their way up the rest of the staircase. Once they reached the top, they ignored the lights and sounds coming from the restaurant, rather briskly walking over to Lee's office. It was dark and silent inside, a complete opposite to the community around them, and opening the door, he moved inside quickly, eager to get the meeting out of the way so that he could see how the rest of his friends were doing.
To his surprise, once they entered the room, he noticed a blanket left in the corner of his office, Buddy curled up on top of it as the animal slept soundly. The noise of the door opening alerted the dog, big eyes opening slowly and a loud yawn coming from deep within its throat, pearly white canines appearing behind curled back lips. A smile crept on Lee's face, his body relaxed as the dog noticed his presence, his tail wagging wildly whilst it jumped to its feet, approaching his new owner with squinted eyes and parted lips, his tongue flapping out of the corner of his mouth.
Kneeling down, Lee stroked the fur on Buddy's neck affectionately, listening as Christa spoke up. "He wouldn't leave your office for the entire time you were gone. We used a few blankets to make him a bed, and he seemed right at home this morning."
"Heh, you missed me, Bud?" Lee asked Buddy, the dog just panting loudly as he slowly stood up again, walking over to his desk and sitting down in the leather chair, his hands resting on the cold wood whilst the others surrounded him. Christa, with a hand on her swollen stomach, leaned against his desk, staring down at him with worry clear in her eyes.
"What's happened? You seemed pretty unnerved by something before." She asked.
Lee and Alicia glanced at each other, before the leader took in a deep breath and revealed what he was told back in Wellington. "The bandits. When Alicia and I were talking to Wellington's leaders, they told us something. People who've made their way up had to be rejected because of population problems, and they've joined the bandit settlement set up in Charleston."
"Charleston? That's on the point where all the routes we use to Wellington meet… I used to live there." Jack revealed, his face grim as he thought over what Lee just said.
Nodding, Lee allowed Alicia to take over, watching her speak out to the others with a concerned tone. "That's not all. The shortages in Wellington had caused people living there to become desperate. They tried to steal anything they could get, and the leaders had to kick them out… It seems that the bandits took these exiles in, turned their anger against Wellington into something useful."
"Jesus, these bandits have a grudge against Wellington." Christa gasped, crossing her arms as she fell silent, allowing Jack to take over with a stern look.
"I thought we were just dealing with shitty people, but if Wellington turned these people away, they're most likely seeing Charleston as a goddamn haven." He pointed out, looking down at Lee as he added. "Anger's a powerful motivator, and with our alliance, we're putting our people in the way of the bandits' wrath."
"I don't see a way around this, Jack. Both you and I knew Howe's before the alliance with Wellington, we need them just as much as they need us." Alicia snapped, turning to Lee as she added. "Edith gave you something before we set off, what was it?"
Remembering that, Lee shoved a hand in his jacket pocket, pulling the rolled up piece of paper and lying it across the desk, the advisors peering down to look at it. With a raised eyebrow, Christa was the first to speak, pointing out dryly. "It's a map."
"Really? I didn't notice." Lee shot back, a sarcastic bite to his words that caused her to glare at him, before he went on to explain. "Marissa made this. It shows other paths that we can take to avoid Charleston, and the bandits. They ain't gonna travel all the way out here to find supplies, and they don't know that we're changing routes."
"That's smart." Jack approved, turning to Christa as he added. "We keep changing routes, they won't know which one to stalk for supplies."
"She put times and dates on the back," Lee continued, flipping the map over to allow the others to see the scribbled handwriting. "They're times when the truck will leave Wellington and the routes they will take on different times. We use these to meet up halfway, exchange the supplies, and head back to Howe's. Lee fuel spent for both of us, and the numbers on both sides will offer extra protection."
"I gotta say, thank god for Marissa sometimes." Jack sighed, straightening himself up once he was done looking at the piece of rolled out paper. "Howe's was fine whilst you were gone. Frank gave Christa some reports about food, but on the medical side, we're running low on antibiotics."
"There should be more in the crates we brought back, including some natural remedies." Lee replied, rubbing his bear absentmindedly whilst Jack nodded at that, turning to Christa to silently gesture for her to give in her reports.
"Thanks to all the farming supplies we gathered from that farm, Frank's pleased to say that food production has increased. He's looking into ways to store some for next winter, in case the crops fail." She explained. Pleased with how well his community was getting along, it was almost possible for Lee to push his worries back, if only almost. Leaning back in his chair, he listened as Christa yawned. "I say we end this meeting quick. You need to eat, and then go help Sarah with Nick. He isn't doing good nowadays."
"I'll get right on it." Lee replied, standing up from his desk and moving back towards the door, ignoring Buddy sitting in his bed, short whines coming from the animal as his owner just left the office with the others behind him. Jack carried on towards the stairs, likely returning to the clinic to help the rest of his patients, whilst Christa walked off towards the restaurant, Lee spotting Omid standing by the door, waving a hello to the leader before rejoining with his girlfriend.
Smiling at the both of them, he listened as Alicia paused, staring at the restaurant before muttering to him. "I'm gonna go and find Kate. She must have been missing me so much… I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Alicia." He replied, watching as she left his side to go and find her daughter. With a deep breath, he exhaled through his nose and walked over to the restaurant as well, eager to find Sarah. It seemed that she had the same idea in mind, nearly running into Lee when he was close to the entrance, eyes wide as she bounced off his solid frame and stumbled backwards, a meek noise of surprise coming from her whilst she steadied herself.
With a surprised look, Lee stared down at her as he mumbled. "Careful there, Sarah."
"Lee! Good, I was gonna go and get you from your office after seeing Christa come in!" she explained, moving past him with a urgent expression on her face, her words spoken quickly as she added, turning back to face the leader. "Nick's hardly left his room and I'm scared for him, I don't know what to do… Please, can you try to talk to him? See if you can snap him out of this?"
"I'll try my best. Let's go." With that, the two of them made their way over to the staircase, wasting no time in walking down the steps quickly, their footsteps echoing against the marble. Sarah was fast on her feet, visibly worried and eager to reach Nick's room to try and help him, sparing no looks to Lee as she reached the bottom of the stairs, quickly turning to walk over to the shop next to the greenhouse doors. Lee followed, staring ahead at the door with his gut twisting, unsure what he would see when he went inside, and Sarah shared his worry, pausing once she reached the room.
Bringing her hand up, she hesitated in knocking, instead glancing behind her at Lee, her lips pulled in a deep frown as she breathed heavily, trying to calm her nerves before she finally knocked, her hand rapping against the solid wood twice. The sound echoed across the main building. Waiting, Lee gulped quietly, something solid trapped in his throat as he waited anxiously. There was no response, and so Sarah reached for the handle, slowly opening the door whilst calling out into the darkness. "Nick? It's me, Sarah. Lee's back from Wellington and wanted to know if you were alright."
Once again, there was no response from their friend, and Sarah glanced up at Lee as he came to her side, allowing him to enter first before quickly following after him. The room inside was pitch black, the light from outside highlighting the bed, a body lying on it quickly revealed to be Nick, his back to them as Lee held his breath. Slowly, he approached his friend, his hand reaching out to gently shake him, and he immediately retracted it when he saw that Nick was breathing. Sighing out in relief, he just stood there as Nick turned around, eyes reddened and almost lifeless as he stared up at Lee.
"What do you guys want?" he asked, shifting his stares from Lee to Sarah as he added. "I told you, Sarah, I'm fine."
"No, you're not." She argued, a concerned tone to her voice. "You're not eating, you ain't leaving your room at all. Nick, I'm worried about you. Please, just tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong. I just want to be alone, is that too much to ask?!" he snapped, turning back around whilst Sarah and Lee shared a look, the younger survivor nodding her head at Nick, urging Lee to talk to him silently.
With a deep breath, he turned back to Nick, his voice gentle and soft as he called out. "Nick, man, you know we're your friends. We just want to help you, that's all. Problem is, we can't if you don't tell us what's wrong."
Nick didn't reply. Rather, he kept staring at the wall, his back to Lee and Sarah, and the former started to doubt that they could do anything to help him. Lee could see himself in Nick, the weeks after Clementine's death and all his friends falling save for Christa and Omid, and he knew exactly what it was like. Slowly, he moved closer, staring down at Nick as he started to explain. "Nick, I know what all this feels like. You lost someone close to you, and you're sad and hurt, you're probably thinking 'If I just did something different, this wouldn't have happened', but please, you have to listen to me. What happened with Luke and Pete, none of this was your fault. You can't look back and beat yourself up over it."
"What if I can't help but look back? You don't understand, Lee. My mom, Uncle Pete, Luke. It's never gonna stop. No matter what we do, someone is gonna die eventually, and then… it'll be our turn." His voice was low, but Lee managed to pick up what he said, feeling his gut twist at how utterly dead Nick sounded. Sarah moved closer to her friend, slowly sitting down at the end of his bed.
"You're right, Nick. Eventually, we all will die, but it's how we live during the meantime that matters. We can't give up, 'cause then everyone who died to protect us would have given their lives for nothing. We owe it to them to keep fighting." She explained, glancing down at her hands as she confessed. "I know what you're going through. When I ran away from Howe's, I didn't know why all of this happened. I couldn't think of a reason for what Carver or Luke did, or why my dad had to die. I had no one, and it was a scary time, but then I met Edith and the others. They made me see that there is still a reason to keep going, and when Lee came to look for me, I knew that I could be that reason for our friends, for you."
Slowly, Nick sat up, turning around to face Sarah with a crushed expression on his face, Lee watching with saddened eyes as his friend shook his head. "You guys can just take everything this world throws at you and still keep going. I wish I was strong, but I guess I'm just not built for this."
Sarah frowned even more at that, staring at Nick as she quietly replied. "No one is."
"We can't tell you how to get over this, Nick. That's for you to decide." Lee continued, adding with a saddened smile on his face. "We're here for you, though. Every step of the way."
Nick paused, staring over at the open door with a thoughtful expression, until he glanced back at Lee, nodding his head slowly as he managed a small smile. "Thank you. I mean it."
"It's no problem, Nick. We should let you get some rest, and then we can start work tomorrow, yeah?" With Nick nodding in agreement, Lee's smile widened, and he instead moved to leave his room again. Sarah remained where she was for a moment, appearing in thought as Lee waited for her by the door, watching with confusion as she turned back to Nick. Slowly, as if unsure she was allowed to do so, she wrapped her arms around her friend, embracing him in a tight hug that he returned, his own arms wrapping around her chest.
"I was so worried about you." She muttered, her face buried in the crook of his neck. "Please, if you're ever like this again, tell me. I don't want to lose you as well."
"I know, I promise." He replied quietly, finally releasing her from his grip as she backed off, giving her a weak smile as he suggested. "You should get some rest. You've been working hard these past few weeks, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired." She agreed, turning around to leave the room as she finished the conversation with a quiet. "Goodnight, Nick."
"'Night, kid." He replied. Lee allowed Sarah to leave the room first, closing the door behind him to give Nick some privacy, staring at the wooden door with a heavy heart before turning back around. Immediately, he noticed Sarah sitting down on the unused fountain, her eyes staring at the floor as he made his way over to her, feeling his gut twist with worry.
"Sarah, you alright?" he called out, sitting down next to her. She made no effort to move, rather keeping her gaze downwards as she thought of a response, each second passing by only worsening the gut feeling in Lee's abdomen.
Slowly, she sighed, and confessed to the leader. "I'm sorry, I just… I'm scared for Nick. After thinking about it, I realised that we're the last two from our group… Everyone I knew, everyone I loved. They're all gone."
Lee said nothing, instead allowing Sarah to vent her feelings without the fear of being pushed aside or judged. Rather, he just sat there, watching as she pulled something out of her jacket pocket, and eyebrow raised when he noticed that it was a photo. Sarah stared down at it with a broken look, shoulders sagging with grief as she turned it slightly, allowing Lee to see it. Holding his breath, he recognized the photo, and pointed it out with a low whisper. "That's the photo you showed me when we first met."
"I took this before all of this happened. It's the only thing I have left of him…" she muttered.
Watching as she placed it back in her pocket, Lee replied to her with sympathy in his voice. "I'm sorry about Carlos. You must really miss him."
"I do… Lee?" she suddenly asked, waiting as he hummed in response, glancing up at him. "Do you still miss Clementine? I mean, do you think the pain of her being gone will get any easier?"
Lee just sat there with a shocked expression, his heart constricting with the mention of the little girl, and he quickly turned away, grim faced and silent. Sarah waited for his response, somewhat uneasy with his silence until he finally nodded. "I do miss her. Being back at the motel, watching her colour with her friend and being a kid, I'd give anything to be back there. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever get over what happened to her… but hopefully, the pain will get easier to handle with time."
"That's what I hope to. Thinking about my dad, the times we spent together before all this… it hurts a lot. I just want him back." She confessed, sniffing slightly as she rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, standing up before Lee could comfort her. "I-I'm tired. You should go and see Lilly in her room, she's been asking about you all the time you were gone."
"Alright. Sarah, if anything's bothering you… you know you can come to me, right?" he pointed out, watching as Sarah just nodded in response, before turning around and walking back to her room near the clinic. Lee watched her go, worried about her, and yet a small smile appeared on her face when he noticed Riley appearing, stopping Sarah and talking in hushed tones.
Standing up, he glanced over at them talking, deciding to go to Lilly's room to see how she was faring. Walking over to the flight of stairs, the voices ceased and Riley pulled Sarah into a comforting hug, the scene heartwarming for him as he paused for a moment, before deciding to carry on to give the two teenagers some space to talk whatever needed to be talked out. Taking the steps two at a time, he quickly reached the top, feeling his stomach growl in hunger. He hadn't eaten all day, most of the car ride with him worrying about what to say to the other advisors when he got back to Howe's, and staring at the restaurant, he pushed the feeling of hunger down until he was finished with talking to Lilly.
She had gotten her old room back, the door closed completely to give her some privacy from the rest of the community. Reaching the door, he quickly knocked on it, waiting patiently as he heard mutters from behind and footsteps, soon after the door opening to reveal a sleepy Lilly behind it. Wearing just her tank top and some shorts, her hair was all over the place with her undamaged, half-lidded eye staring at him through the haze of drowsiness, a eyepatch covering her damaged socket. With a smile, he softly spoke to her. "Hey, Lilly. I was just coming by to see if you were alright."
"Lee? Damn, I didn't know you were even back." She muttered, rubbing her eye to rid it of sleep before she gestured for him to come in. "Come in."
"I didn't know you were sleeping. I'd have left this until the morning if I knew otherwise." He confessed, closing the door behind him as he glanced around the room. A lamp on her small table lit the room up, shadows dancing across the walls as Lilly moved back to her bed, slowly sitting down as she yawned.
"I wasn't sleeping. It's just these damn painkillers Jack gave me. They're strong as shit, but damn do they really take it out of you." She explained, leaning against the wall at the end of her bed, looking up at her friend as she added. "How was the trip to Wellington? You sorted shit out there?"
Lee paused, unsure whether he wanted to stress Lilly out even more with the truth, and knowing her slippery mental state, he elected to keep it from her as he nodded, moving closer to her bed as he sat down at the end of it. "Yeah. We've changed routes, and have decided to meet Wellington halfway to reduce the amount of gas we're using. With luck, the bandits won't know where the trucks go during the supply runs."
Lilly breathed a sigh of relief, a rare smile on her face as she replied. "That's good…. I'm gonna be honest, Lee, it's so much better not being in charge. The motel… I'm starting to think that maybe Kenny would have been a better leader. After all the shit that happened. I could have handled it better, and that ain't up for discussion, I'll be stuck with that until I die, but if it matters… I'm glad you were there to help."
"Lilly, about what happened with Carley…" Lee started, noticing her expression fall when he mentioned the late survivor. "I need to know. Why? Why did you kill her?"
Lilly didn't reply. Rather, she just sat there, her eyes falling to her feet whilst she thought about his question, Lee giving her time to think of what to say as he remembered the woman, his heart aching as he missed her dearly, even after all the time that had passed. Slowly, she quietly muttered. "I don't know. I want to say because she stole, but honestly? I just couldn't stop. We lost the motel, my dad, everything I worked so hard to keep. I just wanted to stop something before it could take any more from me… from us."
"What you did… I didn't know if I could ever forgive you, if I wanted to forgive you, but you almost gave your life for me. When Carver pointed that gun at me, you took the bullet. I may never forget what you've done, but… I think I can start to forgive you." Lee confessed, staring up at Lilly with a weak smile, the gesture returned by the tired survivor as she nodded.
"Thank you. I really mean it, Lee. I know I don't deserve it sometimes, but I'm glad we can start to put the past in the past." She replied, noticing the exhaustion hit him as she then pointed out. "You should really get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning."
"Yeah… Yeah, I'll do that. Night, Lilly." He agreed. With a nod, she watched as he stood up, walking back to the door with a slow pace to his steps, his hand pushing the door open as he glanced back, smiling at her before he left the room once more. Closing the door, he stood there for a moment, and was about to retire to his office when he noticed Omid leaving the restaurant, Christa nowhere to be seen when he walked over to his friend.
Omid paused, noticing Lee when he was a few feet away, a smile on his face when Lee noticed that he had a jar of pickles in his hand. With a raised eyebrow, Lee quickly joked. "You got the late night munchies?"
"I wish, but I can't stand these things." Omid laughed, a smirk on his face as he added. "They're for Christa. She's been having all sorts of weird cravings, guess it's the pregnancy or something."
"Huh, can't say I'm a big fan of pickles myself." Lee confessed, crossing his arms as he stared down at the few vegetables left in the jar.
"Anyway, I suppose it won't be for much longer. Christa's due date is just around the corner…" Omid paused, his face a mixture of worry and excitement as he quietly confessed. "Honestly, I'm scared shitless. I mean, what do I do? I don't have any previous experience with babies."
"I think a lot of fathers have been here before you, man. You just do what you think is right, as long as the baby's healthy that's all that matters, right?" Lee asked.
Nodding, Omid exhaled deeply, appearing calmer as he replied. "Right. Thanks, man. Now, I should get the lovely woman I call my girlfriend her pickles before she throws the jar at me. See you in the morning."
"See ya, man." With that, Omid left him alone, Lee watching as his friend disappeared up the stairs, retiring to his room on the second floor. After Omid could no longer be seen, Lee chuckled deeply at his worry over the baby, shaking his head as he retired for the night. Christa's due date wasn't for a couple of months, there wasn't much to worry about until then, but Lee would be a liar if he said he wasn't surprised with how quickly those months flew by.
Edith and Randy's family were wasted. Since they couldn't be killed in Season 2, I was hoping Telltale would flesh them out and have them be main Season 3 group members.
The further Lee and his companions drove up north, the colder he could feel outside the vehicle, the snow outside thicker than any of the snow he seen fallen back in Howe's. The road they drove down showed nothing but open fields on both sides, trees seen in the distance that made up a never ending forest. Beside him, Alicia had already fallen asleep, her head resting against his shoulder as he stared down at her peaceful face, her mouth slightly open as she snored softly. They'd been driving for hours, and he started to feel his legs cramping up from sitting down for so long, looking away from Alicia as he glanced out of the window again. Al said nothing, knowing things were still awkward between her and Lee ever since the rebellion, and so she just kept driving down the snow covered road.
After a few more minutes of silence, Al gave in and finally piped up. "Okay, I'm gonna go crazy with this silence. How long have we even been driving for?"
Glancing down at his watch, Lee noted that it was almost four in the afternoon, raising an eyebrow as he replied. "It's been nearly seven hours. We got another one to go before we reach Wellington."
Groaning in annoyance, she tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, not really holding onto it due to the straight road for miles ahead. She quickly glanced at the speedometer, before she returned her gaze on the road. "My legs are cramping up bad. I can't wait to just get there, see what those guys got set up."
"Edith said they were numbering in the hundred." Lee recalled, turning his head to Al as he added. "Could do Howe's some good learning some of Wellington's skills."
"No wonder they're running out of food, though. You ain't growing shit in this weather." The female guard pointed out, looking off into the distance as the grey clouds covered all the sky, the sun hiding behind them and casting the surroundings in dull colours, the white snow standing out against the dark trees and tarmac. Lee nodded in agreement, the heat from the vehicle's radiator the only thing keeping them from freezing all throughout the journey, the warm air being blown around the small cab.
The guards inside the truck, sitting with the supplies, were likely freezing their asses off, and he jumped slightly when he suddenly heard banging on the wall behind them, a muffled voice cursing before they yelled. "We gotta make a stop now! I need to take a leak!"
"Are you fucking serious?!" Al shot back, forgetting to watch her voice as it woke Alicia up, the latter jolting from her slouched position before glancing around, confusion and a tinge of fear on her face until she realised where she was. Staring at Alicia, the female guard swore quietly. "Shit. Sorry about that, Alicia."
"What's with all the yelling?" she asked, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand whilst yawning.
"I'm about to wet myself, stop the fucking truck!" The voice shouted out. Lee groaned deeply as his hand covered his face, shaking his head as Alicia sat there dumbfounded, an embarrassed look and her reddened cheeks showing how off guard that comment caught her. Blinking a few times, she said nothing as Al let out an exasperated sigh, slowing the vehicle down and moving it to the side of the road.
When the truck stopped, she opened the driver's door, jumping down on the snow covered floor as Lee opened his door, quickly turning to Alicia as he hopped down. "I'm just gonna stretch my legs for a minute. You coming?"
"Nah, I'm fine sitting here." She rejected, sitting there as he nodded, closing the door again before turning around. Moving to the back of the truck, he watched as Al opened the door, the four guards sitting there with the most unappreciated expression Lee had ever seen on someone, Joel standing at the back with an annoyed look as another guard, a younger male with a youthful face and ginger hair, his puffy jacket zipped up to fight against the bitter cold, jumped down.
"Jesus, how long have we gotta wait for you to piss yourself?" Al snapped, looking around with a paranoid expression. "You realise we're sitting ducks because of your tiny bladder, Liam? If we get killed because of you, I'm coming back as a walker and ripping your fucking dick off!"
"Fucking chill, alright!?" he growled, moving away to urinate. "I ain't gonna be long, then we can get moving."
With their friend relieving himself, Joel moved to the edge of the truck and sat down, his gun sitting in his lap as he glanced up at Lee, quickly looking around whilst asking. "You know how much further we got?"
"Another hour. You guys holding up alright?" he questioned, glancing at the crates full of supplies that they pack in the back. One of the guards was sitting on the box of food, a book in her hands whilst her gun was propped against the wall facing her, whilst the others just sat on the floor with bored looks on their faces.
Staring inside the truck, he listened as Joel complained. "Man, my legs are dead. Can't wait to get out of this goddamn truck and see what all the fuss about Wellington is about."
"Well, we ain't going anywhere until Pissy Pants over there is done." Al sighed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the truck, her foot tapping against the snow when she added. "I really don't like this. I hope Liam will hurry up."
"How long does it take to piss?" Joel snapped, looking over to where Liam had wandered off to, spotting the young man with his back to them, his voice loud as he called out. "Liam, goddammit, how long you gonna take?!"
"Jesus Christ, alright, alright! I'm coming back!" he shot back, zipping up his trousers and making his way back over with his gun held in one hand. Lee shook his head, deciding to make his way back to the cab to get ready for the journey again, reaching the door when he heard yelling. Panic quickly set in. Turning his head, he saw that Liam fell over, a walker quickly grabbing hold of his leg and sinking its teeth into his ankle, blood dripping out and staining the white snow a dark red.
His screams of agony rang through the air, Al rushing over as she stove the walker's head in, the head collapsing in from the harsh blow. With the threat taken cared off, she kneeled down beside him, her face fallen in shock as Lee ran over to them. Fishing the pistol out of his jacket, he aimed it, looking around them to see if there was any danger around them. Unable to see anything, despite the thick trees, he lowered his weapon, heart beating fast as he then turned around, looking down at the injured Liam as he laid there, Al by his side as she glanced up at their leader.
Clutching his leg, he could only whimper in pain as she looked at his bite wound, Lee sparing a glance at it whilst wincing. The walker had torn completely through his pants, tearing fabric that was stained with his blood, the skin underneath chewed to shit with muscles torn to shreds, his achilles heel severed deeply and causing blood to gush out. Al froze at the sight, unable to do anything to save him as, whilst shaking her head, she cursed loudly. "Fuck, what the shit happened?!"
"The fucking thing was hidden under the snow! I didn't know until I literally stepped on it!" Liam cried out, grunting as he stared down at the bite wound. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"
"Just stay still," Lee started, kneeling down to get a better look at the bite wound with a disgusted expression. Trying to move the fabric to get a better look at the damage, he accidentally hurt Liam, the guard yelping in pain as he tried to pull his leg away. Flinching at the movement, Lee quickly swore. "Shit! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"
"Fucking, shit!" he grunted, gritting his teeth in a desperate attempt to control the pain.
"Fucking hell! We ain't got anything to cut it off, or bandages to wrap the wound up!" Al revealed, unsure what to do as Lee stared down at Liam's face, seeing the fear and pain clear in his eyes. The sounds of his screaming didn't go unnoticed, as walkers appeared in the distance, moving slowly due to the cold of the north. Al was right, if they would take him, his wound would only cause Liam to bleed out, putting the rest of them in danger when he turned.
"You can't leave me here!" he begged, looking up in the direction Lee was staring in, noticing the walkers making their way to them as he yelled desperately. "Oh god, you can't let them get me!"
Staring down at him, Al appeared thoughtful, before she closed her eyes, taking a moment to calm herself down before standing up, aiming her rifle at him as she apologized. "I'm sorry… We can't do anything for you."
"Please, I'm begging you-!" She fired, ignoring his pleas as the bullet shot through his forehead, his body freezing from the impact before collapsing to the ground. Lee flinched at the loud sound, staring at Liam's corpse with a saddened look, feeling somewhat nauseated from the sight of his glassy eyes staring up at the sky, frozen in fear. The walkers gave them no time to grieve, or to take his body, as they closed the distance between them and the remaining survivors. He saw the corpses coming closer, pulling Al with him as she still stared at the body.
"We gotta go!" he yelled, pulling her away as he turned away, waving at Joel as he stood near the truck, his voice echoing as he screamed at him. "Get the door closed, now!"
He obeyed his orders, jumping back into the truck and shutting the door, protecting him and the other guards from the undead. Moving backwards, Lee watched in panic as some of the walkers came closer, growling as he tried to get Al to run for it, the latter just standing there as she stared at the body. Quickly, he shook her, glancing nervously at the walkers as he tried to get through to her. "Al, we gotta go, now! We can't stay here!"
With saddened eyes, she sniffed, staring up at Lee as she replied. "Liam, he's-"
"He's gone! We can't do anything to bring him back, and if we stay here, we will die! Now, move!" he interrupted, practically dragging her to truck and leaving Liam's body behind. The walkers were too close, some distracted with the body whilst others stumbled after the retreating survivors. Rushing back to the truck, Lee jumped in the passenger's side, slamming the door shut whilst Al got in through the driver's door, shutting the door behind her as she started speeding down the road, leaving the walkers behind them.
Sitting there, they both spared each other a look, whilst Alicia glanced around, her voice worried as she asked them. "What happened!? I heard screaming."
Al didn't reply, instead staring down at the steering wheel with an emotional expression, whilst Lee just stared out of the window. Arms crossed, he sighed deeply, and finally explained what happened to her. "One of the boys didn't see a walker under the snow, and accidentally stepped on it. The thing… tore completely through his ankle. There was nothing we could do."
"What? He was out there for five minutes! How could it have happened that quickly?!" she gasped, shocked to find out what happened. Al was silent, just staring ahead with a solemn look on her face, both Alicia and Lee staring at her with concerned expressions before the former called out to her. "Al? I'm sorry you were out there when it happened."
"I had to put him down. There was no way around it." She muttered, sounding like she was convincing herself rather than the others, and continued as Lee watched on. "Liam was a little shit, got on my nerves all the time, but he was just a boy. Fucking hell, he was younger than Alex was."
"There was nothing else you could have done. He didn't want to be eaten by those things… you made the right call." Lee tried to comfort her. His words seemed to have some effect, as she nodded with a sad smile, before it fell into a frown once more and she looked away, continuing to drive in silence. Lee and Alicia said no more, unable to bring her out of her glumness. Instead, he leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms whilst staring out of the window. The rest of the journey would be a long one.
After an hour had passed, he noticed a large wall in the distance, the giant structure spanning for miles in both directions and covering everything within the community. It was impressive, something that the three survivors gawked at as they drove closer, Lee sitting forward as he noticed a large gate blocking entry into the huge city, a small box sitting on top that allowed the guards keeping watch to see far into the distance for any danger. Alicia stared at it with a surprised expression, turning to Lee as she muttered. "That would keep any walkers out."
"How long do you reckon that took to build?" he replied, still staring at the wall as Al slowed the truck down, opening the door when they came to a complete stop. Jumping down, he stared up at the box, noting one of the guards staring down at him with a wary expression, whilst the other was someone he recognized immediately.
With a smile, he called up to them. "Edith! It's been a while!"
"Holy shit, Lee? What're you doing here?" she asked, moving closer to the railing along the open box above the gate, staring down at him before looking over at the truck, her face falling into a confused expression. "That ain't our truck. Where's our people? They were meant to be back yesterday!"
"There's been a problem, we need you to let us in!" he replied loudly, watching as Edith moved backwards, away from the railing. Standing there, watching as she talked quietly to the guard beside her, Lee was silent as he saw her nodding before she disappeared from view, turning around to shrug his shoulders at Alicia, the woman sitting in the truck with a worried expression. Quickly, he heard something creaking behind him, turning back around to see the doors leading into the community opening, Edith standing there with a gun in hand. Moving to the side, she gestured for the truck to drive through, the vehicle slowly passing Lee as he walked over to Edith.
She just stood there, watching the truck drive by before turning to Lee, her voice quiet as she asked him. "What's gone on? You look like shit's about to go down."
"We need to talk to your leaders, Edith. We have big problems." He muttered, noting her unsure expression and interrupted her before she could say anything, his voice low and sharp as he grumbled. "I'm not discussing it here, not when people can hear and panic. You have to trust me."
"Alright… Alright, I'll take you to the headquarters." With that, she motioned for him to follow her, the duo making their way over to the stopped truck. Al was already out, conversing with Sam as he joked about something, a quiet laugh coming from the female survivor as she appeared genuinely happy for the distraction. Alicia just watched from the back, having opened the back door to let Joel and the other guards out, all of them standing as Lee and Edith approached them.
Noticing them, Alicia walked over slowly, a soft smile on her face as she complemented the community. "It's such a lovely place here. How do you guys keep it going?"
"We're pretty strict with all the rationing and bringing people in, we've had to turn some folks away these past few months because of all the shortages we're going through. When spring comes, we can start using the fields again without worrying about the frost killing all the crops." Edith explained, turning to Sam and Al as she ordered her brother. "Sam, take the truck and the guards to storage, I'll take Lee and Alicia to headquarters for talks."
"Alright, come on. I can show you how lovely Wellington is when you move past all the dead things walking about." He joked to Al, unnoticing of her flinch as her expression fell, the memories of what happened just before fresh in her mind. Sam appeared to have unnoticed her change in expression, rather hoping into the truck with her as he held his head out the window, quickly addressing his sister. "Don't be too long. We're swapping posts at nightfall."
"I won't. Go on, we need those supplies secured." She sent off, watching as he pulled his body back into the truck and slowly drove down the road. Standing there with her and Alicia, he looked around the community, noticing the widely spaced houses and land. The long road ahead had trees on both sides, some driveways branching off the main road and leading to the homes. It appeared that people lived there, a couple sitting on the porch whilst their children played in the snow, enjoying the scene as they threw snowballs at each other.
The grown up watched Lee and Alicia however, unsure what to make of the newcomers. Lee watched them as well, listening as Edith explained quietly. "You gotta forgive them, we've had problems with people these past few weeks."
"There's problems here? What sort of problems?" he asked, somewhat worried about the safety of their allies.
Edith appeared wary, unable to answer his question as she brushed off. "That's something I can't disclose. Don't worry, we've handled it."
"Where's this headquarters then?" Alicia asked, eager to get the meetings underway as she added. "We've been driving for hours. I could really do with getting these talks over with and rest up."
"Oh, just this way. The headquarters are in the center of town." She replied, guiding Lee and Alicia down the shovelled road. No snow was on the tarmac, looking like the people of Wellington kept the main road clear of anything to allow the trucks to drive through without incident, though there was still plenty of snow for the children to play with. One of them laughed loudly, throwing the snowball at her friend, but she missed her target and nearly caught Lee, the older man dodging the projectile and looking over at the child with a stunned expression.
Realising what she did, she stared at him with wide eyes, before her friends giggled and dragged her away, running to avoid being told off by Edith or their parents. The adults shook their head at the scene, turning to Lee with a sheepish look whilst he just brushed it off. Alicia was amused by the incident, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow, laughing softly when he shook his head and kept walking. Edith stood in front of them, smiling at some of the survivors when they greeted her. Unable to stay for a chat, the trio kept moving, the female guard piping up. "We've kept the houses in the suburbs to house people in, but we're finding it hard to provide shelter for all the people living here. Some have had to stay in the school, the nursing home, even the abandoned shops."
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that." Lee frowned, pausing for a few moments before he added. "How are things going on with you and the others? It's been awhile since we've last talked."
"Sam's been the same. He won a packet of cigarettes gambling the other night, until it turned out he was counting the cards. He had to be put in jail for the night because of complaints." She mused, noticing Lee's and Alicia's surprised expressions. "He didn't take the caution. It was his own fault, I told him to stop counting the cards."
"Okay, besides Sam's gambling addictions, what else has been going on?" Lee joked, finding it somewhat funny that her brother got caught and thrown in jail over counting cards. During these times, he could think of far worse crimes, but knowing the male survivor like Lee did, he couldn't put it past Sam.
"Huan and I are going strong. We had a day off for a dinner together, it was pretty romantic." She revealed, slowing down so Alicia was by her as she confided in the other woman, her voice quieted so that no one could overhear them. "We had such a lovely night, you know."
"From that tone, I would imagine." Alicia shot back, a smirk on her face as she asked her. "You know any dirty words in mandarin?"
"All of them." Lee coughed loudly, feeling awkward with the two women talking about sex just a foot away from him. Edith decided to leave the conversation at that, walking back in front of the two newcomers as she added quickly, clearing her throat. "We're almost there."
She was right. The open spaces and the largely spaced houses grew less and less as they walked, the group finding themselves standing on a large junction. Without cars crossing all the time, it was packed with people instead, survivors getting to their homes or places where they worked, some pushing crates on trolleys that were full of supplies, likely taking them to the storage in the center of town. Lee watched the busy scene, finding himself somewhat overwhelmed with the amount of activity going on around him. He had not seen this many people living together since before the plague.
Crossing the junction, he glanced up into the distance, spotting a tall tower sticking out from behind the busy shops around them, the houses becoming closer to each other with less land for each home. Trees continued to line the road, before they slowly disappeared as the road widened, another junction reaching the group as they paused, Edith turning left as she muttered to them. "This way, we ain't far."
Following after her, Lee stared up at the building to their left with awe. It was a beautifully structured building, with two points on the roof sticking up as spikes and a part built up to hold a large bell, the bell no longer in use to avoid bringing the dead from miles around. Some people were sitting in front, near a monument and a long pole, the american flag flying in the cold winds. Standing in front of it, he listened as Edith explained. "This was the Memorial Library, but we made it into headquarters when we first started the community here."
"We should go in, then." Alicia suggested, making her way along the path with Edith beside her. Lee paused, staring up at the library as the sun started falling down behind it, casting the path and grassy areas in front in shadows. After standing there for a few moments, he finally started making his way after them, eager to get out of the dropping temperature and harsh winds.
Inside, the tall shelves spanned along the entire length of the building, rows upon rows full of books. People sat on the chairs, reading quietly to themselves, whilst a elderly woman sat at the desk near the entrance. Thick, curly grey hair sprung from their head similar to how Clementine used to wear her hair, something that jumped out to Lee immediately as he, alongside Edith and Alicia, approached her. Brown eyes set behind thick reading glasses, the old woman glanced up when Edith cleared her throat, a soft smile on her face as the younger survivor whispered. "I'm here with Lee and Alicia, they're from the community down south. Where's Elijah and the others?"
"They're talking about something upstairs, in their office." The woman replied, looking over at Lee and Alicia as she welcomed them. "I hope you enjoy your visit here, dears."
"Thank you, ma'am." Alicia replied gratefully, her and Lee following after Edith as she motioned for the two visitors to follow her. Walking towards stairs that led to the first floor,
"This place is so beautiful." Alicia awed, looking around as the trio walked up the stairs quickly, glancing over at Lee as she asked him. "I would've thought this place would have been trashed in the chaos."
"Actually, a small group had barricaded themselves in this library for the first few days this happened. The walls weren't erected for a good month, and we were still dealing with dead people until the walls kept everything out." Edith explained, reaching the top of the stairs as she paused, waiting for the other two survivors to reach her as she added. "I enjoy the times I have off to come here and just read. It helps with ignoring what's happening outside our walls, though Helsa at the front desk is strict with how quiet you gotta be."
Reaching the top of the staircase, Lee glanced around, slowly returning his gaze to Edith as she coughed. "Anyway, we should get you two to the office. Marissa doesn't like to be kept waiting on important businesses."
"Oh, I remember Marissa." Alicia replied, taking a short awkward pause as she agreed. "Yeah, maybe we shouldn't keep her waiting."
Lee nodded at that, following after Edith as she shown the two visitors the way to the office on the other side of the floor. All around them, people were reading and talking to each other, using the library as a place to chill and talk about their days, likely helping the people living in Wellington to forget all about the troubles lurking outside their walls. Recalling the meeting a few weeks back, Lee remembered Marissa, and he was pretty sure that the others working as his advisors remembered her too. Although she is very capable and independent, being passionate about saving her people, her temper was not one of her strong points, and he could remember Elijah having to keep her out of some meetings because of her falling outs with Christa.
Hopefully, she would be calmer in her own community, but he could only wish it so.
They reached the door leading to the office, the group quiet as they stood there, Lee able to hear voices muttering from behind, whilst Edith slowly reached for the handle. Opening the door, she stood there, gesturing for Lee and Alicia to enter without her. Doing so, Alicia walked in first, nodding to the leaders standing around a circular table whereas Lee moved to follow her, only being stopped by Edith as she muttered to him. "I'll be out here."
Nodding, he walked in. The office wasn't really an office, more like a staff room for the people who worked there before, the large circular table low standing and chairs situated around it, the leaders sitting down. The whole scene was almost informal, more like friends talking amongst each other rather than people discussing the future of their community. Marissa, sitting in her chair with her arms crossed and her leg resting on her knee, was the first to look up at Lee, piercing brown eyes and shortly chopped black hair.
"It's been awhile, Lee." She started, uncrossing her arms as she straightened herself up, sitting in the chair with her hands on her knees. "We got word just shortly before that you arrived at our walls, without our truck."
"Yeah, I'm afraid I got bad news." Lee sighed, taking a seat between Alicia and Marissa.
The black man sitting beside her, ran his hand over his bald head, before it moved down the side of his face and rested underneath his chin, his slight stubble neatly shaved and his mouth pulled in a frown. He was the only one not wearing a coat, rather settling on wearing black hoodie, his boots resting on the table before he took them off, sitting up properly to start the meeting. Lee quickly recognised him as Carter, listening as he asked Lee. "What's happened? We really can't deal with more bad news at the moment."
"The truck never came to Howe's. I went out to find it with my people, but… it was too late. The truck got ran off the road and everyone inside was slaughtered." He explained, watching as Marissa stood up, walking over to the window looking over the streets of Wellington. "There was nothing we could do to save them."
"My daughter was on that trip, is she….?" Elijah asked, pausing as he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. With slicked back grey hair and facial hair that matched, Elijah just sat there with his buttoned up coat, a sweater covering his neck to help protect against the cold. Lee turned to the older man, a saddened expression on his face as he shook his head, watching as Elijah frowned. "My Rinna..."
"What did it? Do you know?!" Marissa asked, turning around to stare at Lee with an angered expression.
"We suspect bandits were responsible. I'm sorry, Marissa, I wish we had more for you guys to know." Alicia apologized. The enraged survivor cooled down, showing an upset look on her face as she looked away.
"They were good people. Those supplies, we haven't got any spare to be wasted on those fucking lowlifes!" she hissed.
"Elijah, I'm sorry about Rinna." The young woman beside Elijah spoke up, brushing one of her dreadlocks from in front of her face as she turned to Lee, smiling softly as she brightly thanked him. "Thanks, for going out to find them. It's good knowing what happened, but what are we gonna do with these bandits?"
"We can't keep using those roads. They're likely set up along it, and'll take any vehicle they see coming down it." Carter pointed out, looking around the group as he added. "Problem is, that's more ground to cover. It'll take longer."
"The main roads cut straight through Virginia, that's where the truck was ran off. If we go around the state, it'll take too long, and we ain't got the gas to make up for the extra distance." Lee frowned.
Elijah nodded at that, and quickly spoke his mind. "Our community is running out of supplies fast, the extra time might mean we run out before the supplies get here. What if we desperately need something from Howe's? Or vice-versa?"
"We should find out more about these bandits. Their location, their goals, anything! With that, we can destroy the fuckers before they can hurt more of our people." Marissa snapped, leaning against the windowsill as she frowned, her voice quiet to stop others from overhearing outside. "How did they even come across the truck? Elijah, what if…?"
"No, we are not thinking that. What we did, we did for the good of Wellington." The older man rejected, not meeting Lee or Alicia's gazes before they glanced at each other.
"What is this about?" Alicia finally asked, looking away from Lee as she stared at Elijah and Marissa, noticing Sash rubbing her neck nervously.
"Guys, we should tell them. They're our allies, after all." She insisted. Carter nodded in agreement, glancing over at Elijah and Marissa as the other two leaders thought about it, leaving Lee to sit there with a distrustful expression on his face. Their secrecy wasn't helping his nerves, and they only got worse as Elijah sighed deeply, looking up at Howe's leader as he finally confessed.
"You have to understand, Lee, we can't abide people breaking the rules here. With supplies running low this winter, we've had problems with people stealing from the storage to help their loved ones, food, medicine, anything. Those that were caught had to be punished, so we came to an agreement to exile all those that break Wellington's rules." Lee sat there, staring at Elijah with a surprised expression.
"We suspect that those people might be in the ranks with the bandits. Marissa's scouts gave in reports about the increasing numbers of bandits in West Virginia, settling down in Charleston. That's a big problem for us." Carter explained, turning to Marissa as he asked her. "Has any of your scouts found out more information?"
"No. Those that made it back had nothing new, only that they were growing in numbers." She frowned, finally moving away from the window, rather going over to a file cabinet and open the drawer, pulling something out and returning to the table. Quickly, she threw what turned out to be a map on the table, spreading it out and pointing at where they were, quickly explaining to them. "Because of the large distance between us and Howe's, and the highways being fucked, we gotta make sure we keep away from Charleston. Those fuckers will steal everything from our community until we all starve, but I ain't gonna let those assholes get the chance. I'll send my scouts out tomorrow to scope other routes we know, see what's what."
"It wouldn't hurt for more people to go with the trucks. More security would mean that they can't be as overwhelmed, especially if the bandits are spread more thinly over the terrain." Sasha pointed out, quickly adding as she looked over at Carter. "Do you think you can spare the extra guards?"
"We're gonna have to. My guards know what needs to be done for the good of the community, it's how I trained them." He replied.
"If gas is an issue, we still have the horses at Howe's. They're able to go places that trucks can't." Alicia pointed out, turning to Marissa as she offered. "Your scouts could scope out more if they use horses. They're more discreet than a truck."
"That's not a bad idea. It'll be safer for my scouts than on foot or in the truck, especially if that's what the bandits are looking for." Marissa nodded, looking over at Sasha as she asked. "You're gonna need to work over the food reports to spare some for the animals. With the stuff coming from Howe's, we can do this if we're careful."
"I ain't one for being a downer, but ain't we scraping by for our people?" Carter asked, frowning deeply as he sighed in annoyance. "These bandits really ain't making things easy."
"Nothing's easy anymore, Carter, get used to it. We just gotta do what we gotta do to survive, that's it." Marissa scowled.
Sasha knotted her fingers together, glancing up at the annoyed female survivor with a nervous cough. "Maybe, if we weren't so harsh, then those people wouldn't have ran for the bandits?"
"Those people made a choice and they have to live with the consequences, we have to have rules." Marissa shot back, glancing around at everyone as they stared up at her, eyes narrowed as she continued. "I was not the only one who decided to exile them, that was all of us! Now, you guys are acting like I wanted this! Like I kicked them out for laughs!"
"Settle down, Marissa." Elijah scolded, standing up to place a hand on her shoulder, her thin jacket unzipped and showing her tank top underneath.
"Look, I ain't here to listen to you guys bickering, I just wanna know that my community is safe without people, who have grudges against you, coming after us!" Lee snapped.
"Lee." Alicia scolded, staring at him with a deep frown before turning to the other leaders. "Look, we want this alliance, in fact Howe's is fucked if we break it off, but we have to sort this problem out before it hurts people we love."
"Don't worry, we want this sorted out as well. You're not the only ones trying to protect the people you love." Elijah replied calmly, glancing outside at the darkened sky, the street lights not working and rather the guards on night duty using flashlights to find their way through the dark. Inhaling deeply, he turned back to the visitors, gesturing to the door as he offered. "It's getting late. You and your people are more than welcome to stay here for the night and leave in the morning, especially with all the dangers of travelling at night."
"That's very generous of you, Elijah." Alicia smiled, standing up slowly with a slight nod. Lee stood up as well, stretching out with a deep groan whilst the oldest leader chuckled.
"It's no problem at all. Edith will show you where you can spend the night." He finished, saying no more as Lee opened the door, showing Edith standing there with her gun resting in her hands. Waving back to the leaders, Lee and Alicia exited the room, the latter closing the door behind her to give Wellington's leaders some privacy to talk amongst themselves.
Quickly, Edith moved closer, a worried look on her face as she asked them. "So, how did it go?"
"They ain't happy, but Marissa is looking at new routes away from a settlement that bandits have made in West Virginia. It also came to our attention that people were kicked out of Wellington for stealing." The mention of the exiles caused Edith to frown deeply, her gaze falling to the floor whilst Lee stared at her, his voice concerned as he asked her. "Edith? Is something wrong?"
"I… I knew about all the exiles, people were desperate through this winter. I can't deny that I thought about it myself. Sam… he won't say it, but he's scared. We all are." She explained, her voice dropping as she revealed. "Lee… That's not the only reason that people are running to the settlement."
"What do you mean?" he asked. Edith didn't reply, rather staring at the door leading to the office before gesturing for the two to follow her, Lee and Alicia glancing nervously at each other before they obeyed, walking behind Edith as they made their way to the stairs leading downstairs. The group was silent, Lee staring at Edith's back with a deep frown, feeling worry gnaw at his stomach. Remaining quiet, he kept that way until they exited the library, leaving the building behind them until he finally spoke up again. "Edith, what's going on?"
She paused, her head slightly bowed as she thought about what to say, her back to Lee and Alicia whilst they waited for a response. Slowly, she turned to them, coming closer whilst keeping her voice low, glancing around to make sure people couldn't overhear them. "It isn't just exiles that went to Charleston. Over the months, we've had people coming up here begging for safety, and we took them in. Eventually though, we couldn't take anymore, not without the last of the supplies being used up. So, the leaders made a decision."
"What did they do?" Alicia asked, moving closer to Edith as the latter sadly stared at them.
"Carter gave the order to all guards on the gate to turn people away. I've had to send families, children, back into the cold for the walkers and to starve." She muttered, looking away as she continued. "Carter told me that it's for the good of the community. We need to do it to survive, but what's the point of surviving if this is what we have to do?"
"I'm sorry you had to do this." Lee sighed, spotting a pair of guards walking down the road with flashlights, glancing at the group before they continued along their patrol route down the road. Edith just shook her head, ignoring Lee's sympathy as she instead changed the subject. "Come on, Sam likely brought your friends to the church down the road."
"We're sleeping in a church?" Lee asked, staring at Edith as the group slowly started walking down the road.
"We ain't got much space. All the houses are used by the people that live here, and the church isn't that bad." She replied, staring straight ahead. Lee shrugged his shoulders at that, remaining silent as the group walked down the street, the church tower easily spotted against the pale moon behind it, stars twinkling far in the distance. The building towered over them, casting everything below in its shadow, and the cold winter winds blew harsher than they did during the day, causing Lee to shiver quietly to himself. Alicia had her jacket zipped up, stuffing her hands in her pocket as she walked close to her friend, both of them keeping each other warm.
"I can't wait for summer to come. I'm done with feeling this cold." She sighed, staring up at the church as she muttered to Lee. "It isn't gonna much better inside there, that's for sure. People didn't think of others living in there when they first built it, huh?"
"You got that right." Lee agreed. Standing by the closed gate, Edith paused, staring up the path that led to the large double doors leading into the church, before opening the gate. Leading them upwards, he stared up at the stained glass windows, taken away with the beauty of the church as he continued to walk up the path, the snow crunching under his shoes. Opening the doors, they creaked loudly, before Edith gestured for them to enter the church with a nod of her head. Obeying, they entered the old building, the door shutting behind them as Lee looked around.
Candle were lit in rows on both sides of the church's front segment, the arches leading into the main part with the ceiling built high above, the moonlight shining through the stained windows. People were sleeping on the pews in sleeping bags, Lee spotting Joel and the other guards huddling together in a row, keeping close to each other for security whilst they slept. Pausing, he turned to Alicia, noticing her staring at the architecture with an amazed look, her mouth slightly open as she was taken aback by its beauty. Edith stopped walking, turning to the others as she pointed near the altar, her voice quiet to avoid disturbing the others. "There's some sleeping bags by the altar that you guys can use. I'm gonna leave now, I have some things to do before I can go to bed. I'll see you both in the morning."
"Alright. Thank you, Edith." Lee nodded, watching as Edith returned the gesture and walked past them, returning to the door as she exited the church. Left with only each other, they just stared at each other, Alicia smiling softly before she made her way over to the altar with Lee quickly following her. The altar was bare, nothing left besides rolled sleeping bags by its side. Picking one up, Alicia moved to the first row of pews at the front, unrolling her sleeping bag to place it down on the hard, wooden seat.
"I'm glad that the leaders came clean about the exiles, but I'm worried, Lee." She confessed, turning around to Lee as he approached her, sleeping bag in hand, as she continued. "What if the bandits start going after our trucks? What if our people get hurt in this fight?"
"I know, I'm worried too. We get back to Howe's and we hash it out with Christa and Jack, see what our options are. Until then, we should get some sleep." He suggested, rolling his sleeping bag onto the floor. Removing his shoes, he laid them beside him, before he settled down in the sleeping bag, removing his jacket to use as a pillow. Once comfortable, he just laid there, staring at the ceiling.
"Alright, that sounds like a good plan. Goodnight, Lee." Alicia yawned, closing her eyes and softly drifting off to sleep. Lee just laid there, feeling the cold on his face, and sighed deeply, careful not to wake Alicia or anyone else in the church up. Exhaustion hit him suddenly, once his body had slowly gotten comfortable, and he could feel his eyes closing, unwilling to fight and letting himself fall to sleep.
His nightmares returned. He couldn't understand what was happening, but screaming was loud in his ears, along with fire and gunshots, the feeling of something cold under his feet, almost like snow. Flashes happened before his eyes, Howe's destroyed, the gates smashed with the vehicle plowing straight into the wall of the once used mall, people rushing out and fleeing into the forests to avoid the gunfire and death. He could see himself, rushing to the carnage too late, Alicia and the others in tow as she collapsed to the floor. Her screams of grief, her daughter's name being called out as they searched the wreck, it all seemed so real to Lee.
Sarah couldn't be found. Omid, Christa, Nick, no one. Lee was all alone, left with a ruined community and a mourning mother, Joel sitting in front of his sister's corpse, the blood split staining the once pure white snow. When Lee woke up in the morning, he sat upright, sweat dripping down his face and his breathing heavy, and all the worries came flooding back.
Everyone was silent, staring at Lee and his group as well as Carver, the community spread out with some watching from the staircase, and other peering down from the floor above. Lee stood there, giving Carver heated glares whilst the leader stood there, trying to look like he had no idea what Lee was going on about. Sarah stood close, and when Carver turned his gaze to her, she refused to back away, to look at the ground like she did the last time they saw each other. Rather, she stood her ground, and like Lee, she was angered by his actions to her community, her friends. Even when he neared her, she didn't move away, rather flinched slightly as Lee stood in front of her slightly, a protective side showing through as he glared at the leader.
With a faux friendly tone, he welcomed the young teen. "Sarah, I'm glad that we managed to find you again. Everyone was worried about you."
"Don't. She came back here because of our friends, and that is why I don't want to listen to you acting like you care about her." Lee rejected, an angered glint to his eyes as he stared the leader down. Sarah backed off, moving closer to her protector, glancing at all the people that had entered the main area of the building.
Lee, keeping Sarah behind him for safety, took in a deep breath and turned to the other survivors. "I've only known a lot of you for a short while. You're good people though, good people who are scared and confused, but this man right here isn't a good person."
Carver's smile faded at that, a deep frown replacing it whilst watching Sarah move from behind Lee, moving closer as the community around her stared down at the teen. Suddenly, she seemed very small compared to it all, and she seemed to have realised it, her hand gripping her upper arm as she stood there, glancing around in fear. Quickly, he saw Riley moving by her side, placing a hand on her shoulder to edge her own. Sparing her a glance, Sarah nodded in silence and watched as her friend addressed the people. "Carver isn't thinking of you guys when he rules. All he cares about is survival, and he doesn't care about how he goes for it so long as he gets it. The things he's done, the things I've seen him do… I don't want a leader like that, and I know that deep down, none of us do."
"Please, listen to her. There is so much more to life than just surviving!" Sarah begged.
"Riley." Carver interrupted, moving closer to her with Riley scowling, the shorter teen putting herself between the tyrant and Sarah, staring up at him defiantly as he continued. "You seem to forget that all I've done, I did for the wellbeing of this community."
"What about all those kids you sent out to die?!" Riley snapped, turning to the others as she finally revealed. "You know what happened out there? All the things I had to do to make sure I didn't die? When we were first kicked out, there was fifteen of us… an-and by the time it was all over… there was eleven. I remember having to cave a friend's skull in to stop him from strangling me to death."
With an angered jab of her finger at Carver, she continued, tears welling in her eyes. "I saw kids, people my age, being torn about by those monsters out there. I had to cover myself in the walker's blood to stop myself from ending up like them. When I came back, this bastard just congratulated me, like I won some fucking school fair. Do you realise what he's done to me? Every morning, waking up in a panic because I still think I'm out there?"
Pausing, her shoulders shook when the tears finally fell, Lee standing there in shock at how broken Riley looked in front of him, watching as she finished her rant, anger clear in her voice. "You all deserve better. We all do. Don't ignore the things he's done, please."
"Riley, I am sorry for what you had to go through. I never intended for it to weigh so heavily on you." Carver apologised, walking past her as he started to address the audience around them, ignoring the heavy glares coming from Lee's group. "You don't understand however, I only allowed these things so that we know that, if something was to happen to this community, the next generation were strong enough to survive."
"You didn't even give us a choice!" Riley snapped, breathing heavily as her anger started bubbling over. "You sent us out there to die. Less mouths to feed, less injuries to treat, less fuck ups to see you for what you are. But I can see clearly now, I just wish I saw it sooner. You're a fucking dictator, and this community is better off with you gone!"
"Riley, calm down!" Al snapped, moving from the community as she pointed out. "What happened to you is fucked up, okay. I'm not gonna deny it, but you can't be a little kid anymore. The things out there, they don't give two fucks about it and if the teaching and tests give you the skills to survive, then wouldn't that be better than the alternative?"
"Al, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" One of the guards snapped at her, Lee watching as he shook his head at the words spouted by his friend. People around him yelled out their thoughts, some of them disgusted with Al's excuses whilst others saw where she was coming from, Lee joining in with his thoughts.
"She's just a fucking kid!" he growled, keeping a strong grip on Luke's shoulders as he noticed the young man trying to sneak away. People agreed with his statement, the survivors around Al glaring heavily at her as she tried to ignore them, one of them quickly shown to be Beth and Frank; the woman shaking her head with a deep frown on her face.
"What other alternative are you even thinking of?! Dead?!" Riley shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "If this is the other option to dying, then I would have died with my parents. At least then… they wouldn't have had to see me do the things I've done."
Before Carver could object to her accusations, Lee decided to step in, pushing Luke to the community as he took over. "It doesn't end there, I'm afraid. Once we got the call from Al saying we needed to get out before the herd came down on us, Luke pulled his gun on me and said it was on his father's orders! Sarah saved me."
Turning to Luke, he nudged him hard, watching the young man finally move his gaze from the floor to the crowd. Following his stares, Lee noticed their group in the crowd, all of them shocked with the revelations, but most of all Nick. The young man stood there, shaking his head with his mouth open, almost like he was trying to speak but couldn't find the words, and so he just stared at the traitor as he confessed. "It's true, but do any of you realise how much harder it would have been to keep this community safe with the herd outside? With everyone at each other's throat because of him?!"
"You fucking traitor!" Lilly called out, ready to run out and attack Luke when Christa kept her back. Omid moved to help his girlfriend, keeping the enraged woman at bay whilst others stared at the scene, some of the survivors having to stop their loved ones from moving towards both their leader and Lilly. Lee glanced up at some of survivors on the staircase, watching the whole scene below, worried about where this would all go.
"I don't think you can talk about betrayal, Lilly." Carver piped up, staring at her with a knowing look when he pointed out. "You were the one to breach Lee's trust, the trust of his friends, to bring him here in the first place."
Lilly was stunned with that, a guilty look on her face as she glanced over at Lee, spotting him unable to fight Carver on that point. Sarah however, surprised everyone when she pointed out, her voice dropping in a hurt yet angered tone. "Lilly's my friend! All the people in our group are good, honest people who wouldn't turn on their own!"
After the words left her mouth, Lee could see the fear and realisation of what she just said hit her, unable to meet Carver's heated glares as Riley stood by her, keeping close as a way to be there for the young teen. She managed to convince some of the people however, as they started nodding in agreement with what she said, loud agreements coming from the large crowd as Joel scowled, moving closer to Sarah whilst Lee and Riley quickly appeared in front of him.
"People who stole from us just a month ago!" he retorted, crossing his arms as he added. "You all stole medicine that we all needed and leave us to rot! We're going through a goddamn crisis right now!"
"You know why that is?" Edith asked, having been listening to the arguments all that time. Everyone turned to her, confused on who she was. Turning to look at them, her gaze looked over all of them, watching their wary and distrustful faces at the newcomer.
"I'm Edith. I come from a community up north, Wellington. I'm here with Lee because you all deserve to know the truth! The reason you're going through this shortage for medicine and other supplies is because your leader refused to trade with my people! The deaths that've happened, and will happen, are because of him!" she accused, watching shock and disbelief wash over the crowd she was addressing, glances on Carver as they waited for him to say something, anything. When he didn't, Lee noticed some of the people breaking down, one particular survivor holding her hand over her mouth as tears streamed down her face, the people around her helping in a grief-stricken state.
"Bill, is this true?" Jack asked, glancing over at the leader with a shocked expression.
Carver didn't reply immediately, rather standing there with a scowl at Edith, the woman returning it as he tried to excuse his actions. "We don't know these people. Do none of you know what happened when we trusted people before? They turned out to be bandits, thieves that wanted our supplies. All those people we lost from the fighting. So I made a decision, and I stick with it."
"Dammit, that wasn't your decision to make!" Jack snapped, moving out of the crowd as he ranted. "Do you even know how many people are in the infirmary right now?! All night I've had to stay up, trying to treat people, saving lives, whilst hoping there was some place out there that could help us! Now, these people are telling me that not only is there such a place, but that you rejected their offerings!"
"Get back in line, Jack." Carver hissed quietly at him, using his larger build to intimidate him. One of the guards moved closer to the leader protectively, their gun slightly raised to keep Jack from coming any closer. He stayed where he was, glancing at the guard with a disappointed look, shaking his head whilst they remained there to keep the peace.
Jack didn't back down, standing up straight with a defiant gaze on him, his eyes narrowed as his voice took a sharp edge. "No. I'm done standing up for you, Bill. No more."
"You forget who the leader is around here!" Carver snapped, poking a finger roughly into the doctor's ribcage. Jack stumbled backwards slightly, readjusting himself as people gasped in surprise, one of them moving to the doctor's side to see if he was alright, unable to meet Carver's gaze as he hissed. "All I've done, I did for the safety of this community! I've kept us safe from the walkers, the bandits and traitors!"
"Then what was Jason?" Lee asked, recalling the father being executed over a month ago. Murmurs could be heard amongst the audience, the adults that adopted Thomas and Connie holding the children close, the teenage girl watching with wide eyes. Carver didn't say a word about that accusation, causing Lee to smirk inwardly at stumping the leader, seeing their chances of getting through to the community getting better and better.
After a moment, having seen his people staring at him, Carver finally explained. "As I told you in the office, Lee, Jason had murdered someon-"
"What about Alex?" Ellie interrupted, people turning around to see her standing with the group, her face contorted in anger as she demanded answers from him. "What's your excuses for that?! Alex didn't hurt no one, never stole, hell I'm pretty sure he didn't even get a parking ticket before this whole shitshow happened! What do you have to say for dragging him out of my arms and shooting him dead like a dog?!"
When Carver didn't immediately reply to that, her anger boiled over as she loudly yelled. "Answer me!"
"Alex was dying. Jack did everything he could but there was nothing left to do. The kick broke his ribs, and his lung was punctured. It was a miracle he survived that long." he explained, turning to the doctor as he deflected the anger. "Isn't that right, Jack?"
"Jack?" Ellie asked, her voice losing most of its sharp edge, rather sounding vulnerable as she stared at him. Lee frowned at the reveal, too staring at Jack whilst he stood there, unable to meet the young woman's eyes. After a few awkward moments, Ellie walked closer to him, her face showing the grief and sadness she was feeling. Finally, she stopped a foot in front of him, Kristina beside her as she put an arm in front of the grieving woman, knowing how quickly that despair can turn to anger.
"I'm so sorry, Ellie." He confessed, meeting her gaze as he continued. "The force to Alex's chest broke several of his ribs. When we got him to the infirmary, I did everything to make sure he wasn't further injured, but… the shattered bone pierced a lung. We were running out of oxygen to give him, painkillers to help with the pain, and the winter meant he was at increased risk of developing pneumonia. I had to tell Carver, and he made the choice to cut him loose."
"You fucking bastard!" Lee's body moved immediately, grabbing hold of Ellie with Kristina to prevent her from assaulting the doctor, her cries of rage almost heart-breaking to hear. Tears flowed down her face, contorted in anger and pain, whilst her hands reached out in an attempt to punch him.
"Ellie," he started, grunting as he tried to keep her under control. "It wasn't Jack's fault, he did everything for your brother! Carver's the one who condemned him, and getting people hurt will solve nothing!"
"He was my brother! He was all I had left and you got him fucking killed!" Ellie screamed, struggling so much that Lee found her slipping out of his grasp. Gripping her winter coat tightly, he glared at Carver as he watched, confident that this outburst would go in his favour.
The outburst got a reaction out the people that neither of them expected. Angered stares could be felt on them, Lee glancing around to see some ready to push past the guards to get to Carver, whilst others close to them grabbed hold of their loved ones. All of them were afraid, confused, and standing in the middle of all of this, he wondered what would happen if this carried on. Spotting his group in the crowd, he saw Walter watching sadly, trying to move to help Ellie when the guards, already stretched thin, kept him in line. Clearly, he could hear frustrated whispers, some of the people shaking their heads in disgust.
"See? All these people do is yell and fight when you go against their views." He pointed out, adding cruelly as he moved to address the crowd. "You really think these people are better to lead this community? They're spineless, unwilling to make the tough choices a leader has to make. Some people have to die for the rest to live."
"Was one of those people my dad?" Sarah asked. People were stunned with this, glancing between the young teen and their leader, him standing there with a frown on his face, his arms crossed as Sarah continued. "Luke was one of us! We trusted him, even my dad! What Luke did… I don't want to believe it."
"Sarah, what did Luke do?" Christa called out, trying to walk towards the young girl when one of the guards, Lee recognizing it as Tess, pointed her gun at the pregnant survivor. The community gasped at the sight, some of the people glancing at each other warily, some staring at Sarah with sympathetic eyes, and others watched as Christa backed off again, glaring daggers at the female guard. Sarah couldn't speak, her eyes staring at Lee with a heartbroken expression, and so he took over to spare her the pain.
With a deep breath, he watched as people around them stared, his voice strong as he confessed. "Luke killed Carlos. When they escaped, Carlos got injured and Luke… he put a bullet in him…"
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Joel gasped, shocked with that as he turned to Luke. "Man, what the fuck did you do?!"
"Carlos betrayed us. He killed George, my brother, his uncle! Luke has rights for justice, as we all do!" Carver tried to derail, seeing more and more people talking with each other, unsavoury words being dropped from their mouths.
Lee frowned at that, his voice piercing as he questioned him. "So, where's their justice?"
"This has gone on for long enough!" Joel objected, turning to Lee as he explained. "We just survived the herd, but we ain't gonna make it through the winter without sorting this whole mess out. I say we put it to a vote!"
The community seemed pleased with the suggestion, and with Lee watching, Joel turned to the others as he called out. "With the evidence shown here, what is the people's vote?"
Nervousness clawed at Lee's insides as he watched the people murmuring to each other, unable to catch any specific word from the cacophony around him. Sarah and Riley had returned to his side, showing the same wariness that he felt, the former holding her friend's hand tightly whilst Joel stood there. Slowly, people started shouting their votes, anger clear in their words, and Lee couldn't understand what they were saying, listening as the guard ordered loudly. "We ain't going anywhere if we all shout at once! One at a time!"
"We want Carver gone!" A survivor watching from the staircase yelled, the people around him nodding in agreement. Counting the people there, Lee could see around seven voting against their leader. Quickly, other people loudly voiced their agreements, all of them turning against Carver whilst another voice yelled out.
"No! He does what others are too afraid to do! We need him to survive through the winter!" Lee frowned at that, and it seemed that not many people agreed with the statement. Muttering under his breath, Joel started to count the people around them, a task considering the size of the community, and the people yelling in rage did nothing to help him.
After a few agonizing moments, Joel paused, a knowing look on his face as he sighed loudly, turning to the other guards. "The people have voted against Carver. Arrest him, we'll keep him in hold until we can decide what to do with him."
"You ungrateful bastards!" Carver yelled, his once smug composure breaking down as he backed away from the approaching guards. The lack of control around them allowed the people of the community to move more freely, Lilly rushing to Lee's side as they watched on. Sarah, pleased to meet her again, allowed a short hug from the woman whilst Lee spared a glance at them, too preoccupied with Carver's rantings. "None of you have what it takes to lead this community! Let the sheep outta the pen, and you're just condemning them to the wolves! Let's see how long you people last without someone to guide you!"
"Get him the fuck outta here!" Joel snapped, turning to Lee as he added. "When he's gone, we are gonna need to talk about the hole left at the top."
Nodding in agreement, Lee replied quietly. "I know. We should let the people-"
"Lee!" He didn't register the force of which something pushed him, the world turning on its side as he collided with the floor. A gunshot rang through the air, quickly followed by screams of horror, one of those voices Lee could recognise as Sarah's. People appeared in front of him, hands helping him up as Christa's voice called out to him.
"Lee! Oh god, are you alright?!" Standing up, he glanced down at his body, seeing no visible wounds and feeling no pain from it. Looking around, he saw that his group were around him, Walter and Nick rushing past him as he could hear Sarah yelling in distress. His heart stopped. Twisting his head around, he wasn't prepared for the scene before him, his mouth suddenly turning dry whilst his eyes widened.
Lilly was lying on the floor, blood pooling around her head whilst Sarah kneeled by her side, tears in her eyes as she looked up at Lee, her gaze quickly shifting to a freed Carver, the gun being wrestled out of his hand whilst another gunshot went off. Lee's heart hammered in his chest, the blood loud in his ears as he saw the bullet shot through one of the guard trying to restrain Carver, piercing through their head and sending blood splattering onto him. That was when the community descended into chaos, people rushing for cover whilst the guards fought amongst themselves, people using any weapons they could find to defend themselves.
Seeing Tess aiming at him, Lee jumped out of the way, his group dispersing in all different directions for safety. Grunting as he hit the ground, he lifted his head slightly only to lower it down, a bullet whizzing past his head as he yelled out in fright. People were rushing all around him, the sound of gunfire and screaming deafening. Quickly, he pushed himself up to his feet, running forward as he stumbled, flinching as the bullets fired continued to miss him. Reaching Lilly's side, he stared down at her face as he despaired. "Jesus Christ, she's been shot!"
"Lee!" A voice called out, him and Sarah looking behind them to see Jack hiding in one of the shops, gesturing for them to come over whilst ordering them. "Bring her over here! I'll try to stop the bleeding!"
Nodding, he and Sarah grabbed Lilly's arms, grunting loudly as they started to pull the body over. Looking around them in a panic, he saw Joel and other guards creeping behind a stand, the former spotting Lee and just giving him a curt nod, shooting at the attackers to protect them. Unable to find Edith, he heard Sarah yelling at him. "Keep going! We're almost there!"
A bullet shot neared his face, cutting through the skin on his cheek and through his ear, the agony burning through his face like wildfire. A short yell burst from his throat, his hand reaching up and pressed against the wound, pulling back for him to see the blood staining his fingers. Sarah, shocked by what happened, desperately asked him. "Oh god, you're bleeding!"
"Keep pulling, we're nearly to safety!" Lee replied, resuming to his task of pulling Lilly's body to safety. Quickly, they reached the store, pulling Lilly into the store as Jack closed the door, cutting them off from the fighting outside. The glass window had shattered from the flying bullets, the glass lying on the floor as Lee picked the injured woman up, rushing to put her on the bed. Backing away, he allowed Sarah and Jack to start work on her, the doctor using fabric torn from left clothes to stop the bleeding.
"Lee, get back out there and stop this!" Jack ordered, his voice turning desperate as he added. "At this rate, we're all gonna die…"
"I'll do my best. Sarah, stay with Jack! You'll be safe with him!" Lee instructed, turning around to leave the shop after she nodded silently, still shocked over what happened. Rushing back out into the chaos, he couldn't stop the shock of what was happening in front of him. People were lying on the floor dying, the blood splattered across the marble floor. As soon as he exited the shop, someone shot at him, his eyes scanning to see Tess rushing for him, gun pointed at him with an enraged look on her face.
"Die, you bastard!" she screamed, aiming the gun at Lee as he jumped to the side, the bullet ricocheting off the hard wall. Still shooting, he crawled behind a bench and potted plants, grunting as bullets flew over his head. Glancing in front of him, he froze as he saw Tess standing in front of him, having rushed to reach the end of the cover before he did. Fear running through his veins, he waited for the finishing blow, but was saved when a bullet pierced through the side of her head.
Blood and brain matter splattered onto the wall, and her body collapsed to the floor. Getting up, he peered over his cover to see Nick nearby, a scavenged gun in his hands as he and Lee shared a look, nodding to him before rushing off to protect the rest of the group. Spotting someone moving in the corner of his eye, his head snapped in the direction, noticing Walter having managed to get to him. "Walter!"
"Lee, are you alright?! You've been shot!" the elder man gasped, surprised to see the deep gash on Lee's face.
Ignoring the pain in his cheek and ear, he just glanced over his cover again, watching the bloodbath happening as he ordered Walter. "Sarah and Jack are in there with Lilly! She needs to get to the infirmary, where the supplies are! Help them get her there, I'll cover you!"
"Okay, just be careful!" With that, Walter snuck over to the shop, entering it as Lee once again looked around, moving closer to Tess's body, the gun by her side whilst she just laid there.
Taking it, he kept it close whilst staring at her shocked expression, her eyes glazed over as they were forever stuck staring ahead. Frowning deeply, he angrily spat at her. "I hope you rot in hell for what you've done."
With a weapon, he noticed Walter, Sarah and Jack exiting the store, the two men carrying Lilly's limp body whilst the young teen held her gun, keeping it close to her when she spotted Lee. Giving her a confident smile, she smiled back, and ran after the two men whilst protecting them, Lee moving along his cover to make sure no one could get them. Aiming his gun, he started shooting at the guards that were moving closer to the doctor and his friends, managing to get one in the abdomen whilst the others retreated to safety. Nick fired at them from a different angle, pushing them back to cover, whilst keeping an eye on Luke beside him. The young man looked terrified, and Lee noticed that his hands were still bound, most likely due to the lack of trust anyone had for him. Suddenly, Edith was beside them, rifle in hand.
"I thought we lost you back there, Lee!" she confessed, firing her rifle at their attackers as she added. "I can't find Carver! The weasel slipped out when the shooting started!"
"I'll find him, just keep them off me!" Lee offered, rushing off to find the disappeared man. Running by the flight of stairs, he glanced around, flinching with the noise happening around him. Some of the survivors, the adults that adopted Connie and Thomas, cowered behind the staircase, holding the children close as they spotted him. Gripping them tighter, they stared up at fear at Lee, Connie shocked to see the blood dripping down his face.
Moving closer, he frowned at the adults keeping the children close, kneeling down as he quietly asked. "You know where Carver's gone?"
"I saw him rushing into the Pen, but I don't know why." Connie revealed, her one arm pointing to the hallway leading to the shut off area. Lee nodded at that, uttering a silent thank you whilst standing up, ready to follow after him when she called out. "Lee? When you find him, make him suffer."
"Will do." And with that, he ran down the hallway after Carver, his footsteps echoing through the space. He felt like his heart was in his mouth, anxiety and adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream, and it only got worse when he turned the corner near the loading bay doors, freezing when he saw that the pen shutters were open.
With his gun clenched tightly in his hands, he kept it raised, slowly making his way over to the shutters. The sound of fighting could be heard behind him, and he wondered how long he had before they did some devastating damage to the community. Entering the pen, he glanced around, walking in further with a confused look on his face. Unable to see Carver anywhere, he lowered his gun slightly, before a devastating blow to the back of his head caused stars to burst in front of his eyes, blinded for a moment when his knees gave way and he collapsed.
Holding his head in his hands, Lee shook it and glanced around, seeing the gun having fallen out of his grip from the blow. Moving to grab the weapon, he gritted his teeth when Carver appeared, kicking the gun across the floor and out of his reach, before bringing his knee to Lee's face. Feeling blood burst out of his nose, he winced as the force pushed him onto his back, his eyes squinting in agony as he glanced up. Standing there with an angered look on his face, Carver moved slowly to the gun as he snapped. "If I knew you were gonna be this much of a pain in my ass, I woulda told Dwight and that to kill you back at the lodge."
"Fuck you, you fucking piece of shit!" Lee grunted, his hand moving to grab his nose, pulling back to see fresh blood. Seeing Carver moving towards the gun, he yelled out in rage, rushing forward and colliding with the leader's side, wrapping his arms around Carver's sides as the both of them tumbled to the floor, the gun kicked away by their scrambling limbs.
On top, Lee pulled his fist back and punched him with all the might he could muster, feeling Carver's jaw clench from the blow. Unrelenting, he continued to deliver blow after blow to his face, grunting loudly from the exertion. Carver managed to grab one of Lee's fist, stopping his assault, and used his other hand to return the punch. Lee grabbed his wrist and pinned it to the floor, the two of them struggling before Carver threw his head forward, colliding it with Lee's mouth. Yelping in pain, his grip loosened on the leader's wrist, allowing him to punch Lee in the side of his face.
The blow forced him to lose his balance on top of Carver, allowing him to shift his body from underneath Lee, throwing the latter to the floor. Groaning from the blows, he rubbed his mouth with his hand, spitting out some blood as he tried to stand up, hearing Carver grunt angrily. Glancing up, he saw him picking the gun off the ground and, without a second thought, rushed for the table. Vaulting over them, he winced at a close call with a bullet fired, crouching down behind the cover whilst Carver yelled out. "Come out and face me, Lee! You've ruined everything, all the things I built from the beginning, you destroyed it! Do you realise what you've done?!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Lee replied loudly, his voice harsh as he added. "You've had this a long time coming, Carver!"
Another gunshot rang through the air, the bullet skimming over the wooden table, leaving a deep gash in the top as it travelled past Lee's head. Crouching lower, he searched the ground in front of him for something, unable to find something. Walking along the table, he listened as Carver continued to rant. "This is it! There's no more running, nowhere else to go! Let's finish this like men!"
Looking underneath the table, he saw Carver walking close to where he was, readying himself. As soon as he appeared in Lee's sights did he rush forward, his hands grabbing hold of the gun and trying to wrestle it from the tyrant's grip. Both of them were locked in a deadly showdown, trying to overpower the other and gain the advantage, Lee using his weight to push Carver along. Stumbling, Carver was powerless when Lee pushed harder, smacking him against the wall hard, the force allowing the latter to wrestle the gun out of his grip, accidentally dropping it when Carver kneed him in the stomach.
Backing off, his hand pressed tightly at his abdomen, dodging when Carver engaged in a fist fight with him. A blow connected to his wounded cheek caused Lee to flinch in pain, unprotected when Carver wrapped his hands around the former's neck, his back pushed into the table with the hands squeezing around his neck. Coughing loudly, Lee's mind ran quickly, trying to look for a way to stop him from being strangled to death. Hands gripped at the attacker's wrists, trying to pull him off, legs kicking out wildly in an attempt to dislodge Carver. He didn't relent however, staring down at Lee with hate-filled eyes whilst he was choking the life out of him.
His vision started to darken, his arms feeling heavy and his heart beating madly at the thought of him dying. Suddenly, he could hear a faint voice yell out, unable to hear much with the loud thudding of blood in his ears, his heart beat audible. Quickly after, he saw Carver yell out in pain, his grip loosening as he turned around to deal with something, before Lee managed to push him off. Coughing loudly, he rolled off the table, unable to do anything whilst his oxygen-starved lungs heaved for air. His vision slowly returned to normal, but his body was weak and unable to go on.
Forced to remain where he was, he watched as Carver turned to his unknown saviour, seeing Sarah standing there, backing away in fear whilst the leader pulled a knife from his thigh, the blood dripping off the blade as he threw it away. Without giving her time to react, his hands gripped her blood stained jacket tightly, lifting her off the ground without much effort and slamming her back into the wall. She cried in pain, unable to fight him off as his hands moved to her neck, slowly choking her as he hissed at her. "I fucking knew Carlos' brat would be more trouble than she's worth. You ain't gonna ruin any of my plans anymore, kid."
"L-Lee!" she called out, her short legs kicking out in a vain attempt to dislodge him, her small hands wrapped around his whilst she was choking. Lee watched in horror, feeling a burst of determination run through him as he forced his body to stand up, legs wobbling slightly whilst he stumbled to her aid. Grabbing the knife that Carver threw away, he growled loudly as he closed the distance between them, shoving the blade deep into the leader's side.
A short gasp came from Carver, his grip loosening on Sarah as she struggled free, running away from him whilst he stumbled away from the duo. Pulling the blade free, Lee watched as Carver's legs gave out, his body falling to the floor. Quickly, he rushed for the gun, picking the weapon up before Carver managed to drag himself to it. Aiming it at him, he watched as Sarah returned to his side, her hand rubbing her reddened neck, the handprints clear on her tanned skin. With a worried look, he quietly asked her. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" she replied, her hand falling down to her side as she stared at Carver, watching him bleed out as she asked him. "What do we do?"
"He dies. It's no more than he deserves." Lee retorted, glaring at Carver whilst he coughed violently. Meeting Lee's gaze, he smirked defiantly, his hand pressed tightly against his bleeding wound.
"Go ahead. Do it, if you got the stomach for it. We all know who you are, Lee, so why not do yourself a favour and stop pretending you're something you're not." He goaded, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth whilst Lee kept the gun aimed at him, his gaze unwavering. Sarah stared at the gun with shock, her eyes wide as she glanced up at Lee, silent as Carver continued. "You go with that gut feeling you got there. It's what'll help you more than anything nowadays."
"You don't know me." Lee shot back, his grip on the gun tightening.
"No? I know you're a murderer, a liar and a thief. It's what you gotta be to survive out there." Carver pointed out, leaning forward before the agony in his side forced him to lean back once more, his arm propping his upper body up. Lee wanted to pull the trigger, to end the sorry sack of shit in front of him, but he was unable to when Sarah lowered his arm. Confused about her action, he glanced down at her as she shook her head.
"Don't stoop to his level." She begged, glancing back at Carver as she added. "People should decide what to do with him. He's hurt so many more than us, it's not fair to take that choice away from them."
"Always the voice of reason. But I ain't going anywhere Sarah…" Carver pointed out, grunting in pain as his breathing became shallow, removing his hand to show her the blood. "I'm gonna bleed out before you get anyone to stop fighting. I'm gonna die, but I sure as hell will take everyone down with me."
Upset by his words, she backed away, unable to look at any of them as Lee agreed. "He' right, Sarah. The people will want him dead anyway, with all the things he's done..."
She sighed, walking away as she explained. "Do what you think is right. I don't want to see…"
Leaving them alone, Lee watched her walk out sadly, exiting the Pen back into the main building, most likely going back to the infirmary where Jack and Walter were. With a cold stare, he turned his attention back to Carver. The blood loss was beginning to show, the older man's face paled and sweaty as his breathing became ragged, sunken in eyes peering up at him as he coughed. "Come on, then… You ain't got the balls to kill another man in cold blood."
"You're wrong." Lee rejected, raising the gun again as he finished. "I ain't killing another man. I'm putting down a dog."
A gunshot rang through the air, and watching the bullet pierce through the front of Carver's face, Lee showed no remorse on his face whilst the body lurched backwards from the blow, slowly falling to the ground with blood pooling around his head. Standing here, smoking gun still in hand, he finally lowered it and continued to stare at the body. After all that time, all the pain and fear for something worse, it was finally over. Relief washed over him, and his body started feeling the fatigue from the fighting and near death experiences. Lugs buckling, he sighed loudly as he kneeled down, moving his legs from under him as he sat, the gun dropped to the floor.
Sitting there, he listened to the environment around him, noticing that the gunshots and yelling have ceased. Confused, he tried to will his body to move, only for it to stubbornly disobey and remain there, forcing him to stay sitting down. Breathing heavily, he groaned in pain as his nose ached, his face in general throbbing in pain, and all he could do was sit there in agony. Quickly, he heard footsteps coming from the area beyond the shutters, not moving his gaze from the body as the steps came closer. Soon, he listened to gasps and quiet whispers as a voice, quickly recognizing it to be Christa's, called out in fear. "Lee, are you okay?!"
She appeared by his side, Omid immediately behind her, and the couple stared at their old friend whilst he sat there, still staring at the corpse. Everywhere felt numb, his limbs feeling heavier and he knew that his body was starting to shut down from the exertion. Turning to face the pregnant woman, he had a small, genuine smile on his face as he softly replied. "It's over, Christa…"
Saying nothing, she glanced up at Omid, the two sharing a look before they finally looked at Carver's still bleeding corpse. Lee felt his vision darkening, his mind disconnecting from the rest of his body as he softly murmured, before falling unconscious. "We're safe…"
