Lee looked dejectedly down at the handcuffs on his wrist. He wanted to yank his wrists apart, which would easily brake the cuff, but decided against it. Lee was going to jail either way. He heaved a sigh and looked up, out the front window of the police car. The cop driving was older, with gray hair and wrinkles. Lee caught his eye through the rear view mirror. The police officer almost seemed to glare at him. Lee contemplated yelling at the man, but it would do him no good. He sighed again and looked away, back down at his chained hands. There was no point in getting mad at the cop, he was just doing his job.
"Well, I reckon you didn't do it, then."
Lee rolled his eyes.
"Does it really matter?"
"Nah, not much."
Lee looked over at the elder man as he continued to talk.
"Y'know, I've driven a buncha' fellas down to this prison. Lord knows how many. Usually it's 'bout now I get the 'I didn't do it'"
Lee stayed silent, watching the man out of the corner of his eyes. He could hear sirens approaching. Leaning over, he glanced out the window as a police car sped by. The radio started to crackle, a distorted order over the speakers. A foreboding feeling sat heavy in his chest and Lee had to stop himself from growling. The old man continued to blabber on about how he had followed Lee's case and just random crap. Another police car ran by, sirens blazing. The radio went off again.
Lee, closed his eyes, focusing on his hearing. He pushed aside the sound of the cop talking, and listened. He heard a huge group of sirens headed this way. Lee opened his eyes and looked out the window. Sure enough, almost ten police cars and an armored van were headed in the opposite direction.
The radio said something about a riot.
"Doesn't any of that sound important to you?"
Lee partially wanted the man to stop talking, but he also wanted to know what was going on. Even more police raced towards the city, a helicopter trailing them. Lee did growl this time as anxiety welled in his stomach. Something wasn't right.
"All of it, but that box never shuts up. Sit in this seat and pay too much attention and you'll drive yourself crazy."
The man turned off the radio, telling a story about another man he had taken to jail. The cop continued to take his eyes off the road. Lee glanced up, and his heart skipped a beat. There was a man walking across the street just in front of them. Before he could call out a warning to the officer, they hit the man. The car spun off the road and down a hill into the woods.
Lee closed his eyes as he was tossed around. Something hit him in the back of the head and everything went black.
Lee slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing. He groaned and looked around. His tongue was dry and his lips cracked.
". . . thirsty."
Lee sat up and hissed in pain.
"Fuck, my leg."
His leg was covered in blood, but he could feel the wound stitching itself back together. Lee held his breath and sighed in relief when the wound closed up. He flexed his leg and felt no sudden pain. Looking around, he noticed the police officer wasn't in the car. Maybe he had already crawled out. Moving to sit up, Lee noticed his hands were still cuffed together. With a hard yank, his hands were separated. He grabbed the metal rings and pulled. The metal made a quick snap and both of his hands were completely free.
Lee looked out the window, spotting the cop on the ground. The man was limp, laying face down in the dirt. There was a blood smear, like he had tried to drag himself.
"Hey! Hey, officer! Are you alright?!"
The man didn't move. Lee cocked his head to the side and listened. There was no heart beat.
Lee sighed and looked around, spotting the man's gun on the ground, not far from him.
"Why the hell did he have his gun out?"
Everything was wrong. In the distance, he could hear people moving slowly towards them, but he couldn't hear any heartbeats. And the smell. The entire area smelled like something rotting. Lee decided it was time to get the hell out of there. With one swift kick, the window was smashed out. He jumped out of the car and swung over it, landing on his legs silently. Lee walked over to the dead officer. His skin was a pale yellow-gray, and he smelled. God, did he smell. It smelt like the man had been dead for weeks, not hours.
The dead man's hand twitched and started to move. Lee jumped back and growled. The cop swung his head back and gave him his own growl. His eyes were pure white and a putrid black blood like liquid was seeping from his mouth. Lee scrambled back and tripped, his back hitting the crashed car.
"Oh shit!"
The cop started to drag itself towards him, swiping at him with blunt finger nails. Lee let his own claws and fangs lengthen.
"Sorry man."
He pulled his hand back and sliced the once dead man's neck open. The corpse faltered but then continued to crawl towards him.
"What the fuck?!"
Lee pulled back his leg and kicked the thing in it's head. It's neck snapped back and it fell to it's side. It was still twitching, though. Lee stood up and stomped on it's head, re-killing it.
"Okay. Note to self: head shots only."
That horrid rotting smell was coming in thicker. More of those things were coming. Lee looked up and saw the silhouette of a girl standing on top of the hill. She stood there for a moment and then ran back on the other side of the hill. Several moans made Lee turn around. More of the walking dead were headed with way. Lee ran up the side of the hill, dodging some of the dead who were further up the hill. A tall wooden fence was at the crest of the hill. Lee placed his hand on the top of the fence and swung himself over. He landed on his feet and backed away from the fence. He watched as the walkers tried to push their way past the barrier, but the quickly lost interest.
Lee sighed and looked around. He was in someone's back yard. There was a tree house with a tire swing. A small heartbeat came from within the tree house. Lee looked up.
"Hello? Is there anyone up there?"
There was some shuffling before a wooden board moved the a little girl stuck her head out the window.
"You need to be quiet."
The girl had wild black hair and soft brown eyes. She couldn't be older than 9. She was still just a pup. Lee nodded and stepped closer to the base of the tree house.
"Are you okay?"
The little girl nodded.
"I'm okay. They tried to get me, but I'm hiding until my parents come home."
"What's your name?"
The girl looked nervous and paused for a second.
"I'm Clementine."
Lee extended his hand up to her and she reached down. They shook hands gently.
"Hi Clementine. I'm Lee."
"Hi, Lee."
Lee looked around, remembering something Clementine had said.
"Where are your parents?"
Clementine fiddled with her dress as she closed the wooden window. She opened another hatch and climbed down from the tree house. She looked around nervously.
"They went on a trip and left me with Sandra. I think they went to Savannah."
Lee nodded.
"Alright, let's go inside real quick. Okay?"
Clementine shook her head and backed up, away from the house.
"No! We can't! . . . Sandra's in there. She-she's one of them."
Lee looked over at the house.
"Alright, sweetie. You stay here."
Lee started to head for the house. Clementine grabbed his arm.
"Wait!"
The little girl climbed back into the tree house before she climbed back down. In her hands was a large hammer.
"Take this."
Lee took the hammer and smiled gratefully at her. She didn't need to know he could kill them without that.
"Thanks."
Lee opened the sliding door and closed it behind him. He listened and heard movement from behind the sofa in the living room. The dead girl lunged at him, but he raised the hammer and struck her head. The walker dropped instantly, permanently dead. With Lee strength, he was able to do it in one blow. A loud beep startled him and he turned to find the source of the noise. The answering machine was blinking. Lee stepped over the corpse and to the machine. He pressed the button and listened. A grim frown plastered itself to his face. These messages indicated that the girl's parents were most likely dead. Or one of the walking dead. Clementine opened the glass door and walked in. She looked down at her dead babysitter and then up at Lee.
"Is it. . . dead?"
Lee looked down at the little girl. No point in lying.
"Yeah."
Clementine fiddled with the hem of her dress. Lee knelt down to her eye level.
"You've been alone for this whole thing?"
"Yeah. I want my parents to come home now."
Lee sighed and rubbed at his eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I think that might be a little while, you know?"
"Oh. . . "
"Look, I don't know what happened. But I'll look after you until then."
Clementine looked at him before nodding.
"What should we do now?"
Lee thought for a second.
"Let's look for help while it's still light out."
Lee stood up and Clem took his hand.
"Let's go. Stay close to me."