Was it Worth it?

by Solarsearcher

Lee had a son named Tyler before the outbreak. With the apocalypse in full effect and Clementine needing constant care, Lee is unable to search for his missing son. Follow Lee Everett's life after the dead have risen as he struggles for survival.

1. A New Day

The following chapter selectively observes the viewpoints of the following characters: Lee.

Please note where the perspective shifts from one character to another, as the perspective changes will not be specifically listed.

---

Lee Everett sat in the back seat of a police squadron car, handcuffed and depressed. He was still reeling from his conviction and sentencing to life in prison without possibility of early release due to parole. He had been deemed a murderer by a federal judge of Georgia state.

Yet he was okay with that.

So now he was being taken to his new home by a nameless police officer that seemed itchy to get this car ride over. An aging man with a receding hairline steered the wheel and pressed down on the gas pedal. Lee didn't even feel the urge to make small talk.

"Well, I reckon you didn't do it then," the cop said. Apparently, the nameless cop did.

"Why do you say that?" Lee kindly responded in spite of the extreme irritation he felt within.

"Y'know, I've driven a buncha' fellas down to this prison. Lord knows how many. Usually is 'bout now I get the 'I didn't do it,'" the cop said.

"And what do you say?" Lee asked.

"I say, 'Yep, I know ya didn't.'" The officer paused. "I followed your case a little bit, you being a Macon boy and all."

"You're from Macon, then?" Lee noticed, trying to change the subject from his future.

"Yep. Came up to Atlanta to be a city cop in the seventies. Always wanted to work a murder case, like that senatorial mess you got yourself mixed up in, with all due respect. A real shame that is.

"Hell, the whole family used to be regulars at your folks' drugstore right in downtown," the cop continued. "Still there?"

"Sure is," Lee said.

"Good." The cop seemed satisfied to be doing something other than driving. "I got a nephew up in UGA, you teach there long?" the cop asked.

"Going on my sixth year," Lee responded, finally happy to be talking about something else.

"You meet your wife in Athens?" Lee looked down. It seemed as if this cop was intentionally bringing up painful subjects to hurt him. "You wanna know how I see it?"

A convoy of emergency service vehicles passed by on the other side of the road. "Sure."

The officer hesitated, concerned about how Lee would respond. Lee narrowed his eyes. "Regardless, could be you just married the wrong woman."

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have my son," Lee said.

"Right, your boy, Tyler. Word is that he had evidence that would have acquitted you."

Lee looked down. "He did."

Surprisingly, the officer let the subject drop. "I'm driving his man once, h-he was the worst one. He wouldn't stop going on about how he didn't do it. He was an older fella. Big, soft eyes behind a pair of smart, folk glasses, and he's just wailing back there, says it wasn't him. Crying and snotting all over, right where you're sitting.

"Then before long he starts kicking the back of the seat, li-like a fussy baby on an airplane. And I tell him he's gotta stop, that that's government property and I'll to zap him otherwise. So he stops, and having exhausted all other options, he starts crying out for his momma. 'Momma, it's all a big mistake. It wasn't me.'

"They caught the fucker red handed. Stabbin' his wife, cutting her up as the boys came through the door. He sits in my car yelling, screaming 'Bloody murder, it wasn't him!' I think he actually believed it himself. It goes to show, people will up and go mad when they believe their life is finally over."

He turned to Lee, taking his eyes off of the road. "Now, I got another good one for ya. This one's a little bit less depressing and a bit more hilarious if I do say so myself-"

Lee screamed,"OH SHIT!" as the car crashed into another man's body. The cop looked back at the road and swerved to the right, as if doing so would undo the damage he had just done. He crashed through the safety rail and into the woods, flipping the car over and over until it finally came to a stop when a tree blocked its path.

---

Lee awoke with immense pain and thirst: both caused by the accident. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness for how long he had no idea, but he did recall seeing nighttime skies at one point, and it seemed like it was afternoon now. That would have been scary enough, but he realized he had handcuffs on his wrists.

Lee looked around the wreck, spotting the officer lying in a pool of blood a short distance away. His shotgun was discarded. Lee yelled out to him. "Hey, hey officer! Are you alright? I'm still cuffed back here!" He didn't even move. Lee kicked out the window on the opposite side of the car from him, then dragged himself out of it and crashed to the rocks.

Lee stood up straight, hurting his leg in the process. He leaned against the car, using the rim for support as he walked around the hood. At the end of the hood, he let go, and walked on his own to the dead cop.

Lee looked down upon the dead man from above. A set of keys were visible from the back of his belt, so Lee grabbed them and used them to try to get his cuffs off. He placed the key into the pulley, but dropped the key in front of the officer's face. He hesitantly grabbed them, since he couldn't be completely sure that the officer was dead, and if he woke up, he would probably force Lee to wear them on the march to prison.

Lee put the key back into the pulley of the hand cuff on his right wrist. It unsnapped, and the cuff came undone. Lee moved on to the second link, and unhooked that too.

The officer made a groaning noise and twitched. "Officer?" Lee asked. The officer sprung at Lee, knocking him down. "Ah, ah. Holy shit!" Lee crawled backwards as it crawled forward. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Lee came to a stop as he hit the car.

Lee looked to his left and right for a weapon. The shotgun was to his left. He hastily grabbed it and fired it at the pursuing cop. The response was a click. There was a shell on his right, hopefully with a bullet in the casing.

Lee grabbed it and tried to put it into the shotgun. The cop snarled at him. Lee dropped the casing while trying to put it into the magazine. He picked it up again, this time successfully loading the clip. "Don't make me do this!" Lee shouted.

The cop didn't stop.

Lee pulled the trigger.

The cop's head disappeared.

It stopped moving.

Lee looked down at his shotgun and threw it away in horror. The gun made a clicking sound as it hit the grass. He took another look at the cop. "Are you dead?... HEY! ARE YOU DEAD!?"

Lee looked up and noticed a figure upon the hill before him. "HELP! Go get someone!" Lee yelled out to the silhouette. There's- There's been a shooting!"

Lee heard more snarling, on his left. He looked to the side. A man with no skin on his head walked out of the darkness.

Lee stood up by pushing against his knee. He limped up the hill, stumbling along the way. He passed by a thick tree with another person sitting against it, reaching its hands for Lee. He spotted several other snarling people without skin chasing him while running. He found a wooden fence at the top of the hill. Seeking safety, he climbed over it.

Lee landed backwards, and crawled that way until he reached the deck of some house. Gunshots sounded off in the distance as the zombies were banging on the gates. They stopped banging after they sounded, perhaps leaving to go find the source of the noise.

Lee stood up by pushing off of his knee again. He walked to the center of the yard he had jumped into. "Hello? Anybody?" Lee called out to no response.

Lee walked up the stairs of the deck, going over to the sliding glass door into the house. "Hello? Anyone home? I need a little help.

No answer.

"Hello? There's something going on." Lee said to himself. "Look, I'm coming in. Don't shoot, ok?" Lee entered the house, and immediately noticed the messiness, as if looters had sacked this place. "Hello? I'm not an intruder, or one of THEM." Lee took a second deliberation of the kitchen and living room. "Ugh, these people might need more help than I do," he observed.

Lee inspected the part of the room closest to the back door, which had a wooden table with plastic fruits. He turned around and noticed a red blinking light on another table adjoining the wall. A beeping noise persisted from that direction.

Lee dragged his leg over to the answering machine and pressed the play button. "Three new messages," a robotic voice announced. "Message one, left at; five-forty-three, P.M."

The robotic voice switched to a suburban house wife's voice. "Hey Sandra, it's Diana. We're still in Savannah. Uh, Ed had a little incident with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break."

"Message two," the robotic voice returned. "Left at eleven-nine-teem pm."

"Oh my god, finally. I don't know if you've tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and they aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Murietta. I have to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that that you're safe."

"Message three. Left at six-fifty-one am."

"Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you, we love you, we love y-." Lee picked up what must have been a family photo near the telephone. It consisted of an overweight father, a slim mother, and a short young girl.

"Daddy?!" a feminine voice said from the kitchen.

"Huh?" Lee responded. No reply came, so he put down the family photo to find the girl who had spoken.

Lee limped into the kitchen to find the source of the voice. On his way in, he noticed three things: the cabinets and cupboards were all a mess, a table and garbage pale were overturned in the corner near the broken refrigerator, and blood on the walls and floor can be slippery when wet.

The third observation he found out the hard way as he slipped on a patch of blood between rooms. He narrowly missed the counter top as he fell to his right. Lee hit his head on the tiled floor, putting him eye level with hand prints of blood leading further into the kitchen, then abruptly stopping at the garbage pale.

He found his feet by pushing himself off of his wounded leg. He scoured what remained of the kitchen, and on the way found a half-empty paper cup of water that he greedily drank. He went over to the fridge an found a note on it. 'Marsh House contact: 617-889-0110,' it read.

He then opened a drawer to his left, which contained a walkie-talkie within. He pulled out the walkie-talkie, and pushed the button.

"Hello?!" Lee asked. He let go of the button.

"You need to be quiet," a response came.

Lee limped over to the answering machine. He pressed the button again. "I'm not a monster," Lee clarified.

"Good."

"What's your name?" Lee asked.

"I'm Clementine. This is my house."

"Hi, Clementine. I'm Lee. How old are you?" Lee asked.

"Eight," Clementine answered.

Lee considered that. "And you're alone?" He let go of the button.

"Yes. I don't know where anyone is. How old are you?" Clementine replied.

"I'm uh... thirty-seven," Lee answered back. "Where are your parents?"

"They're in Savannah, I think. Where all the boats are."

"Are you safe?" Lee inquired.

"I'm okay. I'm hiding in my treehouse." Lee looked out the window over the sink. "Can you see me?" Clementine asked. "I can see you."

Lee waved at her. She ducked back into the treehouse as if afraid. Lee turned, hearing a noise.

An undead woman was lunging for him.

Lee grunted and dropped the radio to the floor. He placed his hands against the woman as she tried to pull him closer. His hands found the left wrist and her right shoulder. Lee pushed her back so her head fell against the counter. Lee ran in the opposite direction, slipping on the pool of blood from before. This time his head hit the counter.

His vision swam as the moaning grew louder. His vision cleared as soon as the undead girl was upon him. He used his good leg to push it away. He stood up the same way as before and ran again towards the back door. The zombie-like thing extended its hand and tripped Lee. He fell flat on his face, then quickly turned over to see the undead girl trying to mount him.

As it climbed on top of him, he punched it away. He turned his head and crawled back. He noticed a little girl approaching with a cap on her head and wearing a skirt over her body. She carried a hammer by its head and opened the door.

The zombie, not finished yet, dragged Lee closer to it by pulling his foot. It succeeded in actually mounting him this time, and it was dangerously close to biting him, if that was what it was trying to do. Its face nearing his, he used all of his strength to toss it back. It crawled after Lee again. He turned and accepted the hammer from Clementine. It was past his legs and was held there where Lee blocked its shoulders with his knees. Lee hit its head with the hammer's blunt end. It fell to the side.

Lee promptly stood up and placed one foot upon what he assumed to be the babysitter's chest. He swung down with the hammer into the head of the zombie and pulled back. With a shout, he did it again, creating a sizable hole in its head. He hit the zombie's head again, plunging the hammer's head into the hole created before. With one last shout, he used the claw of the hammer to dig into the brain, and the zombie stopped struggling. The claw wedged itself in the brain. Lee ripped the hammer out of the zombie's head with pieces of its brain still on it.

Lee let go of the hammer. He stood up slowly, exhausted after his close call. "Hi there," Lee said to the girl, speaking to her for the first time without a radio.

She was backing away from the corpse, or more specifically, an extending pool of blood from the corpse. "Did you kill it?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know. I think so," Lee answered.

"Sometimes they come back," Clementine frightfully stated.

"Have you killed one?"

"No," Clementine said,"but they get shot a lot."

"You've been all by yourself through this?" Lee knelt as he spoke.

"Yeah. I want my parents to come home now."

"I think... that might be a little while, you know," Lee said. Clementine looked down as Lee moved closer. "Look, I don't know what happened, but I'll look after you until then. We'll leave in a few hours, okay?" Lee asked.

"My parents might come home."

"We won't go far. We'll try to find a shelter and come back here with others."

---

About an hour after the sun went down, Lee and Clementine left the house together. Clementine carried both of the walkie-talkies in her hands. She ran ahead to the gate. Lee staggered after her and opened the gate.

"It'll be ok," Lee assured. "Stay near me and we'll move as fast as we can."

Lee and the little girl walked out onto the sidewalk, noticing several car wrecks in the streets. None of the cars had drivers inside, and none of the cars were on. Damn, Lee thought. They could have used-

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out into the night. "I found the bastard," someone nearby declared. The two of them cowered behind a car.

"Are we going to die?" Clementine asked Lee.

"They're after me, not you," Lee answered.

"Why?" Clementine asked.

"Stay down! Georgia State Patrol!" the stranger said.

Lee stood with his hands raised. "Okay," he yelled. "I'll come quietly. There's a little girl here."

Two people came from out of the shadows; one raising a gun and wearing a police uniform, the other a farm boy with short, black hair. The cop had his finger on the trigger.

"Oh wait! You're not one of those things!" he yelled. His finger lingered on the trigger, even though he lowered his weapon.

"Wait, why'd you say you'd come quietly?" the other newcomer asked.

"Oh, geez," Lee said. "I thought I was being arrested."

"Hi," the other newcomer said. "I'm Shawn Greene. This is Officer Andre Mitchell. Did you see those monsters? One of them got our friend, Chet."

"I saw a ton of them in the forest back there, but that was a while ago," Lee said.

"Look," Shawn said, "help us find the thing that got our buddy and we'll take you and your daughter back to my dad's farm for safety. He should be able to fix your leg up, too."

"I'm not her dad," Lee began hesitantly. "I'm... just some guy."

"Some guy?" Shawn verified.

Lee nodded. "Yeah."

"She's alone?" Clementine nodded at Shawn's question.

"Whoever you are, let's get a move on," Officer Mitchell dictated.

Lee was about to reply, but moaning sounded from behind him. Lee turned to see an overweight zombie approaching them. "Oh shit," Shawn declared. "It's Chet!"

The officer raised his gun at the zombie, finger never having left the trigger. "Let's go! Get to my car!" Everyone ran for the squad car a few feet away. When Lee made sure Clementine was inside, he spared a glance for the cop, whose gun was wavering. Officer Mitchell lowered his gun, still not removing his finger from the trigger, and ran back towards the car. Lee hopped into the back with the little girl, Shawn hopped into the passenger's seat, and Andre took the wheel. He started the engine, and swerved to miss the approaching zombie. As a result, he hit a nearby abandoned car. At the next intersection, the car turned right.

Shawn stayed silent throughout the driving out of the suburban area, probably in shock after seeing his friend as a zombie. Who wouldn't react like Shawn in this situation? Seeing someone close trying to come over to you and eat your guts? It was depressing.

Officer Mitchell knew where he was going apparently, as Shawn gave him no directions. He turned onto a freeway, and drove on until he found a wreck of cars and trucks blocking his path. Shockingly, they encountered no further zombies at this crash course. The car turned around and drove away.

Upon reaching the Greene family farm, Shawn, Clementine and Lee exited the vehicle. Shawn looked back in through open window to say goodbye to the officer. "Say 'hi' to your dad for me," the officer said. I'm sorry, Shawn. Chet was a good dude."

Shawn paused. "One of the best," he remarked. Shawn turned and walked away.

"Take care, you two." With that, Officer Andre Mitchell left the farm.

Lee turned to see the house door opening. And old man, probably in his late fifties, walked out. "Thank God, you're okay," the oldest man of them all stated.

Shawn walked over to him. "I was worried it'd be bad here, too," Shawn confessed.

"Been quite as usual the past couple days." Shawn hugged his talking father. "Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gone lame, but that ain't nothing new."

Shawn pulled back and nodded. "I ran into Andre outside of Atlanta. And uh... Chet... he got killed."

The old man looked taken aback. "No. You're kidding."

"Those things got him," Shawn confirmed. "Dad, I don't know what's going on." Shawn looked down.

"I'm sorry, Shawn," his father consoled. He put a reassuring hand on Shawn's shoulder, gave a squeeze, then let go. They then both turned to the outsiders. "You've brought a couple guests."

"Your boy's a lifesaver," Lee remarked.

"Glad he could be of help to somebody. So it's just you and your daughter then."

Shawn spoke before Lee could. "Oh, not his daughter, he's... well... just some guy who found her."

The old man crouched down to look at Clementine. "Honey, do you know this man?"

Clementine blinked. "Yes," she said hesitantly.

He nodded, perhaps knowingly. "Ok, then. Well, looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there."

Lee sighed. "Yeah, it's not doing so good."

"I can help you out," the old farmer said. "Shawn, run on in and check on your sister. You, take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I have."

They all walked up the stairs to the house. Lee sat down on a bench near the door. The old man went inside then returned to the porch with a bottle of pills. "Let's have a look." He raised Lee's pant patch to see the wound. "Yeah, this is swollen to hell."

"Could be worse," Lee noticed.

"That's what it sounds like," the farmer said. "Seems like things got awful bad in the cities. What'd you say your name was?"

"It's Lee."

"Nice to meet you, Lee. I'm Hershel Greene," the farmer introduced. He wrapped a bandage around Lee's cut. Lee grunted. "How'd this happen?"

"Car accident," Lee answered truthfully.

"That so. Where were you headed? Before the car accident?"

"I was getting out of Atlanta," the younger man responded.

"The news says stay," Hershel commented.

"Yeah, well that's a mistake. We hit a guy, one of those things you been hearing about, on the road."

"Who were you with?" Hershel inquired. "The girl?"

"I was with a police officer. He was giving me a ride."

"Awful nice of him," Hershel said.

"I'm an awful nice guy," Lee suggested. Hershel finished attaching the bandage to his wound. At the moment, he was inspecting his handiwork.

"House is full up with mine. We've got another displaced family of three sleeping in the barn. You and your daughter are welcome to rest there, when we're done here." Hershel turned to the little girl behind him. "I didn't catch your name, darlin'."

Clementine looked away. "Clem-Clementine." She seemed anxious.

"Can't imagine what you've been through, Clementine," he said.

Lee spoke nervously. "I'm looking after her until we find her parents."

Shawn returned to the porch. "Hey Dad, so I'm thinking, first thing tomorrow, we got to reinforce the fence around the farm."

"With what happened to your friend, maybe that's not a bad idea," Hershel allowed. Hershel finished with his inspection and looked at Lee. "Alright, you're good to go. If the swelling doesn't go down, then you're dealing with an infection. In that case I'll clean the wound and redress it tomorrow."

Lee thanked the farmer. "Come on, Clem. Let's go." He stood up, not as much pain as before in his leg, and took Clementine to the barn.

"Lee?" Clementine asked. "Did you shoot the police officer?"

Lee looked down at her, continuing to walk. "Yes." He grabbed the barn door's handle and pried it open. "But only because he was one of those things, like your babysitter."

Clem seemed okay with that answer and went inside the hay-filled barn. Lee walked in after her and closed the door. Up to his right, he noticed were a few visible feet sticking up, probably belonging to the displaced family of three and not human legs cut off from alive bodies.

They both found mattresses and set themselves on them. Clem lay down on hers first. Lee sat and gently settled back down. Clementine sniffled. "It smells like..."

"Manure," Lee finished for her.

"Manure? Like when a horse... plops?"

"Just like that," Lee said, smiling.

They laid in comfortable silence, until Clementine broke it. "I miss my mom and dad."

"I bet Clem."

"How far is Savannah?" she asked.

Lee looked away. "Pretty far."

Clementine closed her eyes. "Oh. Ok." Lee did the same.

---

Lee was plagued by dreams of his ex wife. "I love you, baby," Ashley Everett told him one morning. She kissed him and giggled.

---

Lee returned home early that same day and found his sick son silently standing at the door to his parents' bedroom, looking upset. Lee walked next to his son to get a glimpse inside the bedroom. Ashley was in bed with another man- a man he later found out to be Hans Zimmer, a Georgia State senator- and neither of them had spotted the sick pair of father and son. Lee walked into the room, deliberately making noise with his feet. They saw him. The half naked man broke an empty bottle of wine. Ashley screamed. He thrusted the shattered glass at Lee's chest. Lee spun and allowed the broken bottle to pass under his left arm. Lee cradled the outstretched wrist with his armpit, used the back of his head to bash the man's face in, and took hold of the glass weapon. Lee turned and slashed the man's chest.

He fell down and started gasping for air, clearly in shock. Lee looked at his wife in disgust. After all of his complaints about not being home, she spends a day at home with someone else.

Ashley looked back in horror, green eyes revealing the terror in her heart. Lee dropped the bloodied glass to the floor. He looked back down at the gasping stranger that had gone strangely silent. His eyes were open.

And they weren't looking at Lee. They were looking straight up.

That was when Lee realized that he hadn't slashed the man's chest. He had slit his throat.

Did I just kill a man? Lee thought. It didn't feel the way he imagined it would feel. It wasn't anger he felt, just... numbness. He looked back at Ashley, who had a phone in her hands. She pressed the phone to her ear. He slowly approached her, took the phone away, pressed it to his own ear, and spoke to the emergency services of Athens.

"I need a police car for a murder. A man named Lee Everett killed another guy." Lee put down the phone.

Lee walked out the door, passing a young boy with brown eyes who would have been in school, if he had not gotten a fever that day.

---

Lee sat in the back of a police car, taking one last look at his house. In the upper window, he spotted the face of his sick son, Tyler Everett.

---

Lee awoke from his nightmare. He looked at Clementine to make sure this was real. Then he went back to sleep, sorrowful.

---

"Hey, get up," a man's voice roused Lee. Lee sat up and noisily yawned. He looked to his left.

Clementine was already standing. She scratched her left arm. "I'm itchy," she announced.

"Well you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." Clem gasped, looking up, apparently expecting to see eight legged arachnids nesting in her hair. "But I bet your daddy scared 'em all away, huh?" the newcomer said jovially.

Lee looked at the new guy. He wore a brown ball cap over his greying hair wore a short sleeved white shirt. "I'm not her dad," Lee admitted. "Name's Lee."

"I'm Kenny."

"Dad!" A shrill voice called. A boy in a checkered shirt and long pants materialized near the door. "We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" The boy ran off.

Kenny looked at Lee with a smile on his face. "We better get going we won't hear the end of it." The three of them walked out of the barn. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though."

"Dodging or quacking?" Lee asked.

"Quacking."

"DAD!" Ken Junior called.

"See?" Kenny humorously added. They all met together with a Belgian woman sitting on a haystack. "Word is you were on your way to Macon."

"My family's from there," Lee affirmed.

"Well Macon's on the way," Kenny said, "and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who could knock a couple of heads together if he has to."

"I'll see what the girl would like," Lee said back.

"Ah. Gotta consult the missus. I understand." Kenny turned to his wife. "Honey, Duck, this is Lee and uh, what's the girl's name?"

"Clementine," Lee provided.

"Clementine," Kenny recited.

The woman looked at Clementine. "That is a very pretty name," she said.

Clem hid behind Lee. "Thanks," she responded.

Shawn approached from near the pig pen. "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better."

"I want to build a fence," Duck spoke up.

"Yeah?" Shawn asked. "Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break."

"On the tractor?" Duck repeated. "Cool!"

"Duck and I will hop to it." The two of them left.

The Belgian woman looked back at Lee. "I can keep an eye on your little girl here on the porch. We can visit."

Clementine sat down as Kenny walked to the hood of this truck. Kenny opened the hood and appeared to be fiddling with the engine.

It's a new day, I guess. Lee walked over to Kenny. "Hey there, uh, Kenny. Need any help?"

"Naw," Kenny said. "I think I got it." Lee turned to walk away, but Kenny spoke again. "Do you need any help?"

Lee turned back. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, in taking care of that little girl. You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?"

"I have a son named Tyler," Lee answered. "I haven't seen him since before all this."

"Where would he be?" the older man asked.

"I don't know. Whether he's in Virginia with his mom or here in Georgia, I hope he's safe."

"You and me both, pal," Kenny commented.

"So how is your son doing?" Lee inquired.

Kenny looked back at the engine. "Good, I think. Katjaa's got a sister up in Memphis; we were coming back from visiting her." Kenny looked up at Lee. "We were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy. I thought he was kidnaping him. I was on the fucker in about two seconds and... Christ. Just lucky I was there. We saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's." He turned back to the car. "But we're a tough family, Lee. Ain't nothing going to faze us."

"Katjaa's your wife, right?"

"Yeah, don't you remember?" Kenny asked incredulously.

"Actually, you never told me your wife's name," Lee pointed out. "You just told her our names."

"Aw, shit. Sorry," Kenny apologized.

"See you later," Lee said and departed.

Lee went back over to Clementine. "You having a nice time with Katjaa, Clementine?"

Clementine nodded. "Yeah."

Lee went to go find Hershel. He checked through the house's windows, but he wasn't there. He went to find Shawn instead. He found him and Duck by the tractor. "How are you doing, Duck?" Lee offered.

"Good," Duck replied. "I'm gonna drive the tractor." Duck shifted a gear on the vehicle. "I am the foreman! Lift with your back Shawn!"

Lee smiled and shook his head at the ridiculous sight. He turned his attention back to Shawn. "Need a hand?"

"That'd be a great. If you could cut those two-bys-" he waved his hand towards a table with a plank of wood balanced neatly on it, "to length, that'd sure speed things up."

Lee gripped a handsaw and did as requested. Shawn paused from his work, either to examine what to do next or just taking a quick break, shaking his head almost wistfully. "My dad doesn't know how bad it is."

"No, he doesn't," Lee agreed. Who could know how bad it was without seeing it?

"...I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid - a boy. Just shot him right in the face."

"Was the boy one of the zombies?"

"I don't even know. He was either attacking the guy or asking for help. He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between the kid's eyes and pulled the trigger," his tone lowered, "You don't see things like that. It's not like in the movies."

"They don't fall like you think."

"I'm just glad we're getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there," Shawn looked over his shoulder. "How about yours? How's your family?"

"I hope my son is okay. I haven't heard from him since before yesterday," Lee said. "Maybe he's in Virginia."

"Oh man. I hope so too... Maybe it's not too bad there." Didn't Shawn just complain about his dad not knowing how bad it is? Lee thought bitterly.

Lee finished cutting through the board and let the pieces fall to the ground. He reached for another plank, but Shawn stood up and turned around. "That's probably all I need cut for now. Thanks."

"Hey, where's your dad?"

"Probably helping Nessie over at the barn." He knelt back down to his work. "We call her 'Nervous Nessie' for a reason."

Lee looked over towards the barn and saw a white-haired man with a pitchfork walking in. "Thanks," Lee said to Shawn. He then walked to the barn and found Hershel inside. Hershel looked up at him.

Then he looked back to his work. "How'd you get out of Atlanta?"

Lee thought about that before answering. "I was on my way out anyway. Timing of all this just happened to be right."

Hershel laughed. "Ha, if there ever is a good time for the supposed 'apocalypse.'"

Supposed? Lee tried to change the subject. "This farm's and nice plot of land."

"Heh, had you told me twenty years ago I'd still be doing this, I would've told you that you were full of crap. Never was the plan, having a place like this. It was in the family, and I guess so was I. Family's important; it's all that matters. You agree with that?"

"Was brought up to, yes," Lee responded.

"Where's your family now? Parents? Wife? Girlfriend?"

"No wife, not anymore. I think she's up in Virginia, maybe. I hope that my son is with her."

"Me too," Hershel said. "But now you've got this little girl take care of. Clementine, is it? You just stumbled up on her?"

"I was being attacked and she came to my rescue." Lee couldn't help but fidget at that question, knowing that he was under a microscope right about then.

Hershel stopped what he was doing, stood up straight, and threw the pitchfork into the hay beside him. "Can I give you a piece of advice?"

Lee squinted his eyes suspiciously. "Sure."

"I don't know who you are or what you did, but you better become a better liar, and fast.

"Let's say things don't get better back in the cities. Or they get worse before they do. You're going to have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're going to make it. And if those same people get questioning yours, you're going to be in trouble.

"So whoever you are," he continued, "and whatever you did, keep it to your damn self. But at least you have the common sense to listen to a man giving you advice."

A scream piercing the air cut off any further conversation. Lee turned to outside of the door. "What the?-"

"GO! I'll get my gun." Hershel ordered. Lee took the long way around the house. On his way, he passed Katjaa, who stumbled out of the house, looking for the source of the commotion. After rounding the house, Lee found Shawn trapped under the tractor, and a zombie trying to get through the fence at Shawn. A second later, another zombie grabbed Duck, who was sitting upon the tractor. Clementine stood there watching.

Lee's next move was instinctual: running over to the boy in danger. He noticed the loose board behind him up on the platter. He picked up the board and smashed it over the zombie's head. The zombie fell down, not yet dead again, though, as Kenny arrived to get his son to safety.

Kenny picked up his son, and ran back the way he came. Shawn yelled out for Kenny's help, and Kenny turned to face Shawn, but ultimately decided to get his son out of harm's way. So he abandoned Shawn.

The unstable boards snapped right next to Shawn, and two zombies broke through it. They both fell upon him and bit him into different places; one in the leg, one in the neck. Clementine, still watching, cried in horror. Hershel appeared right behind her with a shotgun.

He stopped in horror as well, but snapped out of it in order to shoot the zombies feasting on his unmoving son. He killed them both, and when a third one appeared, the one that had previously grabbed Duck, he shot that one too.

Everyone arrived a moment later to see Shawn's body, though when Clem and Duck showed up for a closer look, Katjaa held them back. Shawn's father knelt over his corpse, checking for signs of life, but gave up after a few seconds. He stationed himself erect. "Get out." He stood up and faced the group. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE."

Kenny looked down. "I'm sorry," he attempted.

"SORRY?" Hershel incredulously asked. "Your son is alive. You don't get to be sorry." He turned to Lee. "And YOU. You didn't even try to help."

"I was worried about the boy," Lee explained.

"Look at him. But you weren't worried about THAT." He turned back to his son. "Please, just go. Get out and never come back."

Lee spared one last glance for Shawn, then turned to face Kenny. They met each other's eyes. "You've got that ride to Macon if you want it." His family walked sadly to the truck. Clementine and Lee followed soon after.

---

The engine of the pickup truck sputtered as the last of the gas was vaporized and burned off. "Well," Kenny stated. "This is as far as we're going." Macon downtown, Lee realized.

"Then it's far enough," Lee said, getting out of the car. They all left the car, and started walking forward. They rounded a corner and Lee found himself staring at his parents' drugstore.

"Look," Kenny's son called out. He was pointing at a looter picking at an overturned car.

"Hey there," Kenny shouted. "You friendly? Truck's run out of gas." The looter showed his face, revealing it to have no skin. "Fuck!" Kenny yelled. A horde of zombies cornered them from all directions.

"We're trapped," Katjaa said. Duck screamed. A zombie was on him, and was only kept at bay by a lucky arm beneath its chin that Duck had put up to protect himself with.

Gunshot. A bullet tore through the zombie's head. Lee looked back at the drugstore, and there were people in front of the doors. A woman in a white and black suit was shooting at other zombies. A Korean man was with her.

Duck ran over and hugged his parents. The Korean man urged them inside. Lee pushed Clementine ahead of him as he ran into the drugstore. After everyone was inside, their male savior locked the front gate.

Lee entered the drugstore to notice a group of people expecting them, or at least not surprised to see them.

"We can't take risks like this," said one other woman to the first one.

"And we can't just let people die either," their female savior said.

"When I say 'that door stays shut no matter what,' I fucking mean it," that other woman, who was currently asserting herself as the leader, said. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

Lee took a look at the group using his parents' drugstore as a hiding place. There was a quiet guy sitting in a corner by the door. There was also an old man right behind their leader. He was speaking. "Worse, they could've led them right to us."

"Where the hell is your humanity? They would've died out there."

The old man regarded the group from the farm. "Then we let 'em."

Their leader was not exuding a strong enough presence as a leader. If necessary, Lee could turn their two saviors against her. The quiet guy, he didn't know if he could do the same for.

"We're not dangerous," Lee pled. "We're just regular folks.

"What's dangerous is a bunch of people running outside and drawing their attention to us," the leader retorted.

"Lee's right," Kenny stated from behind him. "We're just regular folks, but we actually like helping people"

"You'll have to excuse her," the female savior explained.

"The hell he, or anyone will," the leader shot back. "This is about survival, do you guys not see what's happening?"

A small hand grabbed Lee's left hand. Lee looked down. "What is it?"

"I-I have to pee," Clementine said.

"In a minute, Clem." She looked down.

"They've got kids, Lilly," the Korean guy said.

"Those things outside don't care," the leader- Lilly- remarked.

"Maybe you should go join 'em, then," Kenny growled. "You'll have something in common!"

"Goddammit, Lilly," the old man said. "You have to control these people."

Lilly faced him. "Carley and Glenn just ran out there.

"She's not wrong," Lee said. "They took a risk."

"Yes we did," Lilly agreed.

"And we appreciate it. Now let's settle down."

The old man turned around, saying "Holy shit." He turned back to the crowd before him. "Son of a bitch, one of them is bitten!"

"He wasn't bitten," Lee defended.

"Hell he wasn't. We have to end this, now."

Kenny stepped between the old man and Duck. "Over my dead body."

"We'll dig one hole."

"No!" Katjaa intervened. "I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!"

"Don't you fucking people get it? We've already seen this happen. We let someone with a bite stay and-and WE all end up bitten!"

"Shut up," Kenny warned.

"We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!"

"KENNY!" Katjaa screamed frantically. "STOP HIM!"

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?"

"Dad," Lilly said. "It's just a boy. I-It's-"

"Lilly, I'll handle this," the old man countered.

"But your heart dad, you need to calm down."

"We kick his ass," Lee asserted, answering Kenny's question from before.

"That's what I'm thinking," Kenny said.

"Everyone chill the fuck out!" Carley yelled.

"Nobody is doing anything," Lilly said.

"Shut up, Lilly." He turned to face Carley. "And you, shut the fuck up. They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter. But right now we're about to be trapped in here with one of those things!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny demanded.

"HE'S BITTEN! That's how you TURN."

"He's not bitten!" Katjaa said again. "Lee, stop this! It's upsetting him!"

"Oh, I'm 'upsetting' him? Upsetting is getting eaten alive!"

"Sit down, OR ELSE," Lee jumped in.

"Or what?" Larry inquired. "You gonna make me? You and what homo parade?"

"This one," Kenny confirmed.

"Is that right? Little boy! Before you eat your mommy, you get to watch your daddy get killed."

Kenny's face was a look of pure rage. "I'm gonna kill him, Kat. Just worry about Duck!"

"Lee," Clementine's voice rang through the stalemate. She had gotten over to the bathroom without anybody noticing.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"There's someone in there."

Lee looked at Lilly. "It's just locked. Key's behind the counter." Lilly's face showed that she didn't know where they were. "Probably."

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just looking out for my daughter!" Larry said.

"No," Kenny said, pushing Larry's shoulder with his fingertips. "You're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!"

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH."

"She won't," Kenny retorted.

"And if she does?" Larry asked. "First thing he'll do his sink his teeth into his mom's face. Then, once she's dead, he'll probably pounce on your little girl," he said, looking at Lee. "She'll turn fast. And then, they'll be three. And that boy, is the ball game."

"Then we deal with it then," Lee promised. "But right now we're just freaking everybody out."

"Then get ready to deal with it because that boy is BITTEN!"

"It's not gonna happen!" Kenny countered.

"It is," Larry asserted. "And we're tossing him out now!"

"NO," Lee said. "You don't touch that boy, you don't touch anybody. I've got a little girl I'm trying to protect in here too." Lee moved closer in a threatening manner. "You want to get violent you old fuck?! Well, COME ON! You better have a plan to kill me though, because it's ME before anyone else in here."

A sharp cry cut the air.

Clementine was being attacked by a zombie from the bathroom. He should have asked Lilly if there was someone in there that she knew about. "Clementine!" Lee yelled. He ran towards the counter to circle it, but his leg pain flared due to his running and combined with him bumping into a frozen Lilly, he fell to the ground right behind the counter.

His vision blurry, Clementine's figure was the only thing in his line of sight. The zombie had just grabbed one of her legs.

Lee stood up promptly and limped over to save her. He grabbed the zombie's shoulders and pulled it away. "Get away from her you son of a bitch," Lee said. He had accidentally pulled it to its feet, and it was now on him. He was backed up against the wall, keeping it at bay the same way Duck did outside. He felt himself slipping his hold. Its teeth came in.

Gunshot. A bullet tore through the zombie's head. It fell to its knees on his left, and he kicked it to its back, never to rise again. He bent over, hands on his knees. "Man..." Lee sighed. Lee looked over towards the shooter.

It was Carley again. True to form of when she saved Duck, she shot the zombie just before it had bitten him. She lowered her gun. "You okay?"

"Just great, thanks."

Some banging started on the gate and windows. "Uh... guys?" Glenn asked.

Everyone backed up. The quiet guy ran to the back of the store. "Everybody DOWN!" Lilly commanded. "Stay QUIET!"

Clem ducked behind Lee. "They're gonna get in," Larry whispered.

"SHUT UP," Kenny ordered.

Multiple consecutive gunshots rang out from above. The zombies outside stopped banging on the doors. "Is that the military?" Lee asked quietly.

"I don't know," Lilly answered honestly.

"Thank God for whatever it is," Glenn said.

Larry spoke as he normally did: by grumbling. "We almost DIED because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was-" Larry cut off, clutched his chest, and fell to the ground, causing his daughter to cry out for him and run to his side.

"I did try to get him to calm down," Lee joked.

"Can it, asshole," Lilly yelled sharply. "It's his heart."

"My pills," Larry moaned.

"Uh-um. Nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa stammered.

"Yes. We're out. We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here! Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter, where the pills are!"

"We'll get in there somehow," Lee promised.

"Thank you so much," Lilly replied. "We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there. I'll keep an eye on my dad."

Kenny stepped into the center. "Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here a while."

"I'm starting to think this drugstore isn't a permanent solution," Glenn said.

"You're right," Kenny said. "This ain't exactly Fort Knox."

"What do you suggest?" Lee asked Glenn.

"We need as much gas as possible so we can all get out of downtown Macon. Fast."

"Agreed," Lee said.

"Then I'll head out and get gas," Glenn volunteered. "There's a motel not too far from here, towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back siphoning what I can."

"Damn, that'd be great," Lee admitted.

"Well, it's gotta get done. Plus, I'm quick and I know Macon."

"Local?" Lee asked. Clementine stepped out from behind him.

"Born and raised," Glenn answered.

"If you're going to do that, here's a walkie talkie if you get in a tight spot. Hopefully, you won't need it." Lee took the radio from the youngest of the group and handed it over to the Asian man.

"Cool," Glenn stated.

"Clementine's got the other one," Lee explained. "Check in with her and get back here as soon as you can.

"And you," Kenny said. "What's your name?"

"It's Lilly. My dad's Larry."

"Keep a good eye on him. These boys will work on getting you your medicine."

"That's right," Lee confirmed.

"And you, keep an eye on that door. You're our lookout."

"It's Doug," the quiet guy said. "You got it."

"And I'm Carley," the shooter said.

"Ok, Carley. You'll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest. You're a good shot, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"You got it, boss," Carley said.

"Now get him those pills," Kenny ordered.

Everyone had stopped speaking and had gone to their positions: Kenny with his family by the ice cream counter, Doug by the door and Carley nearby, Lilly watching

Larry out of the way, and Glenn rushing off to get gasoline.

Lee walked over to Kenny, Katjaa and Duck. Duck, thankfully, was not bitten and now clean.

"Hey Lee; you really gave that old man hell," Kenny complimented.

"Yeah. We got pushed, you know," Lee said.

"You don't have to tell me; I was ready to tear the man's head off. Anyway, we, Kat and I, appreciate your support."

"Thank you, Lee," Katjaa said.

"Are you guys alright?" Lee asked.

"We're just fine, considering," Kenny answered.

"How about you, Duck?"

Duck didn't react. He just kept his eyes forward on Larry. Then he looked down. His mom answered for him. "We've all been through a lot."

"Lee, you got a second?" Kenny asked.

"Sure."

The two of them walked a short distance away from Kenny's family. Kenny looked depressed and regretful. "Back on Hershel's farm..." Kenny began.

"... Yeah," Lee prodded.

"We didn't even try to save him. That blood is on our hands, you know?"

"It happened pretty fast," Lee ventured.

"I guess, but I can't stop seeing him in my head," Kenny informed Lee.

"We can't kill ourselves over it-"

"WE killed that boy," Kenny asserted. "We could've saved him together."

"We did what we could," Lee consoled. "Bad things happen. We didn't make a choice that killed Shawn. You think you do, when you think back on it. But in a moment? When things are really out-of-control? You don't have any choice."

"I guess," Kenny admitted.

"Try to let it go," Lee suggested.

Lee then went over to the office door of the drugstore. Clementine appeared from behind him. "Can I come with you?"

"Of course," Lee said. He opened the door. They both walked in. Clementine stayed close to the door while Lee walked over to a bloody section of the floor. "I can't," he said to himself. "I can't think about them in here." Clem closed the door. Lee walked over to the bedding, and found a broken frame with a picture inside. He picked up the frame, took the picture out, looked at it nostalgically, and tore himself out of the family photo.

"Find anything?" A voice asked from behind. Lee wheeled around and saw Carley.

"Just a picture of whoever was here," Lee stated.

"I know who you are," Carley suddenly said. "You're Lee Everett. You're a professor at Athens who killed State Senator who was sleeping with your wife. This is your parents' store; folks around town know the owners son got himself a life sentence, but I'm a reporter for WABE in Atlanta. I paid attention to that trial.

"Supposedly," she continued. "Your son, Tyler was said to have had evidence that would have either acquitted you or reduced your sentence, but he never got the chance. Maybe you're a murderer. But I don't really care. Frankly, that's a skill that might come in handy. Did you tell anyone out there who you were, or that you were tied to this place?"

"What's it to you?" Lee demanded.

"To ME? I'm not the one with a felony record. You seem like an okay guy, and the last thing we need is drama out there. You got this little girl take care of, and... look, don't make me wrong on this."

"I don't plan to," Lee said.

"Good," the news reporter said. "Because if this lasts longer than a few days and you're a detriment to the group, then we'd have a problem."

"I hear you," Lee returned.

"I'll just keep it to myself."

"Thanks," Lee said.

She smiled and looked away. She turned back to Lee. "Don't worry about it." She opened the door and left the office.

Lee walked over to a pallet stacked up against the wall. He heaved it away, and a stick clattered on the floor. Lee pulled the wooden pallet to the side. He picked up the stick. It was a walking cane.

"What's that?" Clementine asked.

"This was my dad's cane. He'd zip around here on it from time to time."

"Was he sick?" Clementine asked.

"Nah, he was okay. I actually saw him whoop shoplifters with it. This cane's this place any better than any guard dog ever could. Plus he knew how to make it look cool. Like you, with your hat."

"My dad gave it to me," Clementine stated.

"See, Dads are smart like that."

"My mom says dads are foolish," Clementine muttered and walked away. Lee chuckled at that. He walked back over to the desk.

"Better get this door cleared, huh?" he asked himself.

"Can I help?" Clementine asked.

Lee looked at her happily. "Sure." They both grabbed the desk and prepared to move it. "Here we go. Watch your fingers in the drawers." They heaved backwards. "How are you doing?"

"Yeah. It's not that heavy," Clementine said.

"How about with everything outside?" Lee inquired.

"It's not good."

"No," Lee agreed. "It's not."

"But I think it'll be okay," Clem pointed out.

"Okay, here we go." They pulled on the desk again. Clem let go after Lee stopped. Lee pushed his side of the desk to turn it.

"Do you have kids?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, I have a son named Tyler."

"Okay, good," Clementine said. "How old is he?"

"He's eleven," Lee informed her. "But he'd be turning twelve in two weeks."

"Where is he?" Clem wondered aloud.

"I don't know."

"Oh."

"Alright, a little further," Lee requested. Clementine grabbed the corner of her side of the desk and pulled back, turning the desk. When the desk was perpendicular to the door, he prepared to push the desk.

"Do you have a wife?" Clementine asked.

"No, not anymore."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"You didn't know," Lee said.

"I'm just sorry for being mean."

Lee bent down to see her face. "Look, my wife and I aren't together anymore, and there isn't really anything that can change that. I just wish things would have been different."

"Yeah," Clementine responded.

"I got into some trouble and then I didn't talk to her for a while. This used to be my parents' store, actually, but let's just keep that between you and me, okay?"

"Okay," Clementine affirmed. "Because of the trouble?"

"That's right. Now let's get this thing done." They made one final push into the wall. Lee walked over to the door. "It's locked. We need to track down the keys if we're going to help Larry." He searched around the room for the keys, but found no sign of them. He even checked in the drawers of the desk, but only found a television remote, which he pocketed. He walked back over to the unlocked door. "Wanna head back into the drugstore with me, Clem?"

"Yeah. Lee?"

"Yeah."

"You're not bad, right?" she asked.

"I... why are asking me that?" Lee question back.

"That lady said you killed someone. Was that because he was one of the things trying to eat you?"

"No," he answered honestly. "He wasn't."

"Oh. Was he bad?" Clem asked nervously.

"He was," Lee said forcefully. Lee opened the door and they both walked through. Clem sat down in her previous spot.

"Hey there, this is Glenn and uh, I'm kinda in a jam here," Clementine's radio emitted. "Uh, little girl, if you're there, can you put your daddy on the phone? Or on the talkie, or whatever?"

She gave it to Lee. "This is Lee, what's up?"

"So... I'm down at that motor inn and, well, I-I'm stuck."

"Stuck?" Lee repeated, not sure if he had heard correctly.

"Yeah, I, uh, saw a chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got to jump on me. I'm hiding over here but they won't leave."

"What's up?" Kenny whispered from the side.

"Glenn's trapped down at the motor inn," he said to Kenny. "Hey, Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send a group to come get you, alright?"

"Awesome," he replied on the other end. "I'll sit tight 'til then."

"Sounds good."

"What do you think?" Kenny asked.

"I think Doug's not great around zombies, and you got your family here. I'll take Carley and her dead eye down to the motor inn, get Glenn, and get back here as fast as I can."

"If that's what you want to do..." Kenny told him.

"Somebody's got to."

"Yeah, I'm in," Carley said.

"Good, then let's go."

---

Lee and Carley arrived at the motor inn and immediately fell into cover as a few zombies were spotted. One nearly caught them as it stood up right as the two of them approached and Lee said, "Shit, get down."

They both dropped and waited for the zombie to leave. The ice maker started clanging from the inside. "Did you see that?" Carley asked.

"Sure did," Lee answered. "Be ready to shoot."

"GUYS!" Glenn said after he opened the ice maker. "Oh man, I'm glad you're here."

"All right, that wasn't so hard," Lee commented as Glenn stepped out of the ice maker and joined them behind cover.

"Can we get out of here before any of these things notice us?" Carley asked.

"Not yet. There's a survivor trapped up there," Glenn mentioned.

"No way, we gotta go. Now." Carley asserted.

"Listen. I was out here looking for gas. And then locked up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from inside."

"Who is it?" Lee asked.

"It's a girl. We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her and she started yelling saying I was bitten. I tried to convince her I wasn't and that's when all of these guys came out of the forest. A couple of them almost got me and I ended up hiding in the ice machine."

"Lucky you; now let's go," Carley said.

"We can't just leave her."

"Damn right we can't," Lee agreed.

"You guys are suicidal," Carley informed them. "Over a girl!"

"I'm saving her, with or without you," Glenn promised.

"Think about if it was you," Lee told Carley.

Carley shook her head. "Fine. Let's go save Glenn's damsel in distress." They followed her to a low wall nearby that they all crouched behind.

Lee told them the plan: kill them all quietly. He grabbed a pillow on the other side of the low wall, then instructed them to follow him to the truck on the far side of the motel. He spotted a zombie just sitting down next to a car. "Get out your gun," he told Carley.

"But the noise," she offered.

"Just follow my lead. Stay right behind me." Lee quickly approached the undead man with the pillow in hand. It spotted him, and was about to moan at him, but he smothered it with the pillow. Carley materialized right next to him. She placed the barrel of the gun into the pillow and fired, effectively silencing the killing shot. None of the zombies chased after them. Glenn appeared and took cover near the car. Lee opened the door of the car and unlocked the gearshift. He also found a spark plug on the seat. He pocketed it. "Have any use for a spark plug?" He asked Glenn.

"Spark plug," Glenn said thoughtfully. "You should hold onto that. Could come in handy." They went back to the truck for cover. Lee went over to the glass and wound up to throw the spark plug into the passenger door's window.

"Wait-" a voice said from the side. "Let me see the spark plug. The porcelain inside these things turns car windows to tissue paper." Glenn stepped on it then picked up a tiny fragment of it. He placed the fragment into Lee's hand. He reared up and used it to break the window. None of the zombies found them.

Lee picked up the screwdriver. "That could scramble a brain pretty good," Glenn said, delighted. "That's exactly what I was thinking," Lee agreed.

Lee and Glenn trapped an undead victim with a car by rolling it into the wall. No other zombies took notice. The trio ran back to the low wall and took cover. Lee hopped around the wall and approached an eating zombie from behind, attempting to kill it. He raised the screwdriver and plunged it into its head. Again, no other zombies took notice. With Carley staying behind, Glenn and Lee squatted down in front of the recreational vehicle nearby. They spotted their next target while being hidden. Lee whistled. The zombie drew close and was kill when Lee stabbed it between the eyes. One zombie, the one trapped by the car, noticed Lee. Quickly, he killed it, leaving his awl in its head. Its head bounced off of the car hood and the screwdriver embedded itself inside of the zombie's head.

The three off them went up the staircase to finish the job. "Why don't you guys lag behind; just in case this goes to hell?" Lee asked of them.

"Ok," Carley said. "We'll be right behind you."

He, alone, held his axe and, working under stealth, cut one of the last two zombies out. The second one made Lee struggle, but he kicked it away one and chopped it's head off. The area was clear of danger. For now.

Carley and Glenn joined Lee as he calmly tried to speak to the trapped woman. "Hello? We're here to help." Lee asked.

"Please, just go away!" the woman exclaimed.

"If you open up," Lee said, "we can take you somewhere safer. We've got a group in town."

"No, no, no!" the woman exclaimed again.

"She's in trouble," Glenn concluded.

"Miss? We're coming in," Lee informed. He busted the wood holding the door and kicked the door. However, it didn't budge.

"Stop, just stop! I'm... coming out." She opened the door, revealing to the others that her side was wounded and bloody. "I... I said stay away."

"Guys, she's been bitten," Carley pointed out.

"What?" Glenn asked. "Shit, shit."

"I told you," the infected woman said. "I said go away, I'm bit. But you wouldn't just leave."

"Let's calm down," Lee said. "You could be fine. Just tell me your name, and we'll talk this out."

"I won't be fine," the woman said, agitated at his poor choice of words. "My boyfriend got bitten. You get sick and then you die and then you come back and you kill anything you find."

"You have a boyfriend?" Glenn asked.

"GLENN," Carley growled.

"I don't want that! It's not Christian! Please, just go!"

"Listen, just tell me your name."

"Irene," she said.

"Irene, listen. You could be-"

"Did you not pay attention to those things out here?!" Irene demanded. "They were trying to eat me. And they did," she ended, sobbing.

"Okay, we'll leave," Lee said. If for no other reason, he would leave out of respect for her wishes. "Just try to take care of yourself, for whatever time you have left," Lee requested.

"You have a gun," the Christian lady said to Carley. "Can I borrow it?"

"What do you mean 'borrow?'" Carley asked.

"Give it to me!" Irene asked. She seemed crazed. "I need to end this."

"You can't have the gun," Lee interjected.

"Give it to me, PLEASE!"

"This is crazy!" Glenn observed.

"Please, step back," Carley pled.

"It's just two seconds, just one bullet, and I can be with my family, and it'll all be fine," the bitten woman explained.

Carley took a step back. The other woman took two steps forward. "Back up!" Carley yelled.

Irene lunged for the gun. "PLEASE!" Lee and Glenn jumped in to pry her off of Carley. They all huddled aggressively into a corner of the balcony. With all of their weights on the rundown, old, eroded structure, the unstable surface jiggled beneath them and snapped.

Lee fell into the air. He hit the ground, landing on his shoulder. Luckily, nothing felt broken to him. The others looked like they were mostly uninjured, the only major injury amongst the three of them being Glenn holding his right knee lightly.

Lee found his feet, like he had done the same way pretty much the entire day; by pushing off of his leg. He stood up and saw that the woman had the gun. "Miss. Just put the gun down."

She backed up slowly, gun pointed towards her own head. "I can't."

"Miss, just relax now... you need to think this through... we'll find you a doctor," her arm was shaking. "It'll be okay, let's all just..." the gun shifted. "No, no, no, no, NO!"

She spoke her last words. "You can't." The gun fired and she collapsed to the ground.

Glenn walked over to the gun, not limping at all. He picked up the firearm. He threw up. "Let's get out of here," Carley said when Glenn finished vomiting.

Zombies started coming out of the woods, attracted to the gunshot's noise. Everyone got into the car, Glenn handing the gun off to Carley. Glenn drove off into the night, leaving behind a pool of blood.

---

Everyone entered through the alley side door. Then, they entered the general drugstore, and were greeted by Kenny. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Lee replied. "We had some close calls, but Glenn is fine, and... well, yeah... we're okay."

"I've got a few cans of gas for your pick up in the trunk of my car," Glenn reported.

"Good to hear it," Kenny said.

"And things back here?" Carley interjected.

"Quiet. Our 'friend' is still in and out over there. He won't survive anymore stress."

"The next order of business is getting those pills out of the pharmacy," Lee said.

Everyone went back to where they were before leaving. Lee walked over to Doug, basically the only person he hadn't talked to yet. "Hey, Doug," he started. "Those things still roaming around out there?"

"Yeah," Doug answered. "You wanna go out there and have a look around?"

"Ha, I'm not suicidal yet."

"No. The gate out there is closed. We can hang out in front of the store and be fine."

"Oh," Lee said. "Well then, let's go out there."

Doug opened the door, they both walked out, and they both crouched down. Lee inspected the environment. During his inspection, he noticed a zombie trapped under a fallen lamppost.

Lee's brother.

"Oh shit."

"What?" Doug asked. He looked in the direction Lee was looking. He saw the trapped zombie as well. "Do you know that guy?"

"He could be a drugstore employee," Lee made an excuse.

"So you're saying he might have the pharmacy keys?"

"I'm saying he has the pharmacy keys," Lee verified.

"How can you be sure?" Doug asked.

Lee pulled out the family photo from the office. "I found this in the office. That boy in the photo works here. The keys being on him is as good a bet as we can make."

"Yeah, I agree," Doug said. "We just need to figure out how to get out there and get them. You wouldn't need long, right?"

Lee shook his head. "Maybe we can distract them somehow," Doug said. Lee stood up and destroyed the lock on the gate with his fire axe. "Awesome." Doug tried giving Lee a high five, but Lee just ignored him. Lee opened the gate, picked up a brick that was on the ground and tossed it over to the electronic store that was across the street. The glass shattered, a loud, distinguishable sound. A few zombies took notice, but not all. "Vandalism?"

"Shut up, Doug," Lee said.

Lee pulled out the television remote. He aimed it as close as he could to the tv's, but nothing happened. He sighed. "Think you can do anything with this?" Lee asked Doug.

"You know what I could do..." Doug took the remote from Lee. "This remote is universal. I could reprogram this to function with those tv's in the electronic warehouse."

"You could just do that?"

"I memorized all of the codes while I was in AV. Okay, here we go." Doug pressed the power button. The tv's all turned on to the emergency broadcast signal. Doug turned the volume up.

"Well fucking done, Doug. All of that dorky nonsense might just save a life."

"Who's to say it already hasn't?" Doug responded.

All of the zombies strolled over to the tv's. "Now is the time," Lee said. He ran over to his undead brother, clutching his axe in both hands.

Lee Everett found his undead brother trying to claw at him. "Hey there, Bud." It- not he, it- tried to grab him. "I don't know what happened, but if you'd been there, you would have died for mom and dad, so yeah, I'm just going to assume that's what happened."

"Did you find them yet?" Doug whispered loud enough for Lee to hear.

"Give me a second." Lee shut his eyes. "I shouldn't have left the family. Fuck, I mean, you know what I mean." Lee just stood there in silence. He raised his axe. Then he brought it down and he ended his brother's misery.

Lee searched for the pharmacy keys in his brothers pockets. He found them, then held them up for Doug to see. Doug was looking at the zombies. "HOLY CRAP!" he exclaimed. "RUN!" The zombies were already after Lee.

Lee traversed the distance back to the drugstore. Lee made it inside before they could reach him, and Doug shut the gate behind them. "Man, that was close," he commented.

"But we did it," Lee remarked. "That's all that matters." Lee looked down and went to Lilly. "I've got the keys."

"Great," Lilly said. "God, you're amazing. Let's get in there." Lilly followed Lee into the office, where he went to the locked door, used the key to unlock it and walked inside.

Alarms started ringing a second later.

"Oh no," Lilly said.

"Shit," Lee said, more to himself than to Lilly.

"We gotta hurry." Lilly ran for the pills she needed for Larry while Lee ran to grab another picture in the store.

---

The alarm continued. Scores of the undead were outside, clawing and bashing their way in. Inside the drugstore, everyone ran for their belongings. Katjaa ran for her son. "Duck," Katjaa said, "c'mon baby, time to go."

"I'm gonna get that truck pulled up 'round back," Kenny ran in and said.

"Do it fast," Lilly said. "I've got to get my dad out of here."

"I don't plan on dilly-dallying," Kenny stated. He looked at his wife. "Honey, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me. Glenn, when you hear me honking the alley, start getting people out of here. Doug, Carley and Lee, you guys make sure our defenses stay up 'til then. And Lee, I better take that axe, in case I run into any of them on the way to the truck."

"Here you go," Lee said, tossing the axe to Kenny.

The door started shaking. "Guys, that door's not locked anymore!" Doug said.

"Shit!" Kenny yelled. "You three get on it! I'll get back as fast as I can!"

Lee fixed Clementine with a meaningful glance. "Stay away from the windows," he warned.

Doug, Carley, and Glenn ran to the door to hold it against the walkers. Lee then took Glenn's place as Glenn ran to do what he had been told to do.

"Hey, Lee..." Doug began, "if we don't make it through this, you should know that... I think you're a great guy."

"We WILL make it through this," Lee asserted.

"Doug, if we don't make it through this," Carley said, "you should know-"

The zombies outside made a significantly strong thump on the door, causing Lee to be knocked away from the double doors. He hopped back to it and pushed with all of his might. With all of them heaving, the door shut.

"I should know WHAT?" Doug asked. Carley gave him a look of confusion. "You said I should know-"

"SHIT!" Carley exclaimed as the barricade covering a large window toppled over. "I've got it."

"You sure?" Lee asked.

"Oh, shit!" Carley repeated.

"What? Oh shit!" Carley pulled out her pistol and fired upon the undead, keeping them back from Doug and Lee, picking them off, one by one. A moderate thump almost pushed Lee away again, but he managed to hold on.

"Clementine!" Lee yelled out. She appeared before him. "Can you look for something to stick in-between the handles! Something real strong, okay?!"

"Ok!" Clementine said. She ran to do as instructed.

Another powerful knock on the door succeeded in pushing Lee off the doors again, and again he hoped back into the door to hold the zombies back. He and Doug closed the doors.

"CLEMENTINE! Did you find anything?!"

"Nothing. Oh wait!" Clementine ran into the office.

A sound of shattered glass and snapping wood sounded out to Lee's left. "That window is screwed!" Doug observed.

"GO!" Lee bellowed. Doug dashed over to the boarded up window, and grabbed a hammer on the display table next to it. He proceeded to bust the nails back into place.

A third boom cashed into the double doors, and Lee was thrown off the door. A single zombie thrusted its hand through the ajar doorway. Lee pushed the doors shut and its hand detached and dropped to the floor inside of the drugstore. He leaned back against the door handles.

Clementine reappeared in front of him, holding out her hands. "I found something!" Clementine said. It was a walking cane.

Lee quickly braced the door with his father's cane. He took a step back from the door, testing the strength of the cane. "Shit," Carley yelled, "I'm out. I'm out! Lee! Help me. Ammo, in my purse!"

Doug cried out as well. He had dropped the hammer to the floor and was being dragged backwards into the wooden boards. Unable to pry himself free from the zombies, he called for help.

Lee took a step towards Doug. Then he turned and took a step towards Carley. He froze in place.

He tried moving towards Carley, but then heard Doug screaming. "Get them off me! GET THEM OFF ME!" Clementine looked at Lee, anticipating what he would do and who he would save. Clementine looked at Carley.

Lee made up his mind. He went to Carley's aid. Lee grabbed Carley's purse, fished through it for a magazine, and threw her ammo, enabling her to shoot more zombies as they approached her.

Suddenly, Doug was pulled through the wall. "Ah, no! GET 'EM OFF ME!" He was then pounced upon by the horde, all feasting on his flesh. Lee faced the unfortunate fact that Doug could not be saved and was now lost.

"Oh my god," Carley said before firing three more rounds.

Kenny bursted through the office door carrying the fire axe. It had fresh blood on its handle. "Let's go!" he barked.

"They got Doug," Carley mumbled. "They... they..."

"It doesn't matter," Larry interrupted. "You gotta move!"

Carley, Clementine, and Lee ran toward the exit without Doug, Carley talking to herself about what she had just witnessed. Clementine was tripped by a crawling zombie with a screwdriver in its shoulder. Lee ran over to it, and stomped on its head. It didn't let go. He brought his foot down again. It still didn't let go. Lee stepped on its head and didn't remove his foot, trying to squish its head instead of smashing it. This time, it let go.

Clementine crawled backwards away from the still moving zombie. She stood up and ran over to the office door held open by Larry.

Lee ran up to the door, but was stopped by Larry. "You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" He punched Lee down and left the room.

"No!" Clementine yelled as Larry dragged her away. The zombie Lee stomped on was still crawling and was nearing his barely conscious figure.

Kenny appeared in the darkened doorway, holding the axe. He raised the axe to strike with it. Lee raised his hand protectively, but knew it would be useless against Kenny. Kenny swung downwards, and the axe embedded itself in the head of the crawling zombie. He pulled the axe free after it stopped moving.

"I'm not letting somebody else get eaten today," he said. Kenny extended his left hand. Lee accepted it and rose to his feet. "Especially a good friend."

Lee turned around, looking at what was left of his parents' life. His dad's cane had snapped and the undead were pouring in. The window Doug had been pulled out of was covered in red liquids. Lee grabbed the office door handle and closed it.

Lee ran out into the alley exit, Kenny ahead of him, who ran down a zombie with the axe. He rounded a corner to his left, and the truck awaited on the other side. Clementine already in the truck along with Kenny's family and Carley, Lee jumped into the back of the pickup truck. Everyone else in their own cars, Larry even taking what Lee assumed to have been Doug's car, formed one convoy, and they all drove off into the night.

---

Back at the motel where Glenn had found gas, Lilly was stacking the bodies of the undead, including the woman that had shot herself, in preparation for their incineration. The group had decided to establish the Travelier Motel as their base of operations.

Lee looked nostalgically at his family picture. He now knew that they were all dead. He put the picture into his pocket and pulled out a different one. Lee had trouble suppressing his tears as he looked at Tyler's face.

Gunshots. Lee looked up into the distance as they continued to shoot off until he heard a woman's screams pierce the air. The gunfire silenced.

Lee walked over to Glenn. "Hey, Glenn," Lee said.

Glenn, listening to the radio talking about Georgia city conditions in alphabetical order, stopped Lee from talking with his hand. The radio mentioned Atlanta being a stage nine catastrophe zone. "I think I need to go."

"To Atlanta?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. I got friends there and I just can't stay here knowing that they could be trapped in that city."

"It sounds like nobody knows what's happening there," Lee said. "When we left a few days ago it could've gone either way."

"I gotta take my chances."

Lilly walked up to them, but Lee signaled for her to walk away. "Find your friends and be safe," Lee said.

"Thanks, Lee," said Glenn, "that means a lot to me. I don't mean to abandon you all, but this like an okay setup, and I'm sure things will be back to normal around here in no time."

"Let's hope."

Glenn looked at the spot where Irene fell before driving his car away into the darkness of the night. Eventually, his taillights. Lee then walked over to Kenny. "Hey, Ken."

"Close call back there," Kenny said. They shook hands. "I think I know what you're doing."

"Shit, man. Do any of us?"

"With Clementine, I mean," Kenny explained. "You told me you had a son named Tyler. Not everyone knows how to take care of a kid. Well, with the things you showed me today, I can honestly say that you know what you're doing."

"Thanks, Kenny."

"You got it." Kenny turned back to what he had been doing before. Lee left to go talk to the WABE news reporter.

Lee arrived at Carley's preferred area of solitude. "How are you doing, Carley?"

"I'm okay," she said. "Y'know, considering."

"I do," Lee said. "Yeah."

"I can't stop thinking about Doug. We couldn't have saved him, could we?"

"I don't think so," Lee said. "It happened pretty fast."

"I know it's stupid... we just met... and he was such a... it's just that... I think that I liked him."

"Well, I'm sure he liked you too."

"He better have," she said, sarcastically. "Anyway, I'd rather be alone I think."

"I understand." Lee turned to leave.

"Wait, Lee?"

He looked back. "What is it?"

"How did you choose?" she asked. "We both needed you... you picked me."

"Clementine looked at you," Lee answered back.

"Oh. I just wish we could've both made it, you know?"

"Me too, Carley."

Lee walked over to Clementine, side glancing Larry in the process. She didn't look up at him. "What's wrong, Clem?"

"I got grabbed again," she answered.

"I was there though," Lee said.

"I fell, and my walkie-talkie broke. Glenn had the other one."

"Aww, I'm sorry."

"I know I need to be tough, I'm just sad. I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's how I used to talk to my mom and dad... and now they're gone. It's gone."

"Maybe we can find you another one," Lee suggested.

"I'll just keep this one," the little girl informed Lee. "I guess."

Lee was going to ask if she needed anything else, but was cut off by a demanding voice, whispering "Lee, come here for a second."

Lee groaned. "Let me go deal with this." Duck walked in as soon as Lee stood up, and immediately started talking about some comic book about Super-Dinosaur written by some dork named Robert Kirkman.

Lee met Larry's eyes from less than a foot away. "What do you want?" he angrily asked.

"You like my daughter?" Larry asked, completely oblivious to the fact that he was standing in front of a man that he had actively tried to murder in cold blood.

"She's fine," Lee said, folding his arms.

"Fine, huh. Well just fuck you, Lee Everett." Lee turned his head away, then flicked his eyes back. "That's right. I know who you are and I know you're a killer. And if you go near my daughter or step out of line ONCE and so will everyone else."

Larry closed the gap between them. Lee unfolded his arms and looked at him straight. "I know who you are. And I don't give a shit about what happens to you. But if anything happens to my daughter or that little girl you've got with you, heh, you watch your ass." Larry walked past him, bumping his shoulder intentionally.

"Hey, Lee; do you have a second," Lilly asked.

Lee looked back at Larry, who was looking back. He said nothing but fixed Lee with a glare. He looked back at that hateful man's daughter.

"My dad would be dead if it weren't for you."

"He certainly has a weird way of showing gratitude," Lee said.

"That's just who he is."

"So he kills people he doesn't like?" Lee asked.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked.

"He tried to kill me back at the drugstore," Lee explained. "He would've if Kenny hadn't shown up."

"What happened?"

"He knocked me down and left me for dead."

"I'm sure it was just an accident," Lilly said.

"Yeah," Lee answered, sarcastically. "I'm sure."

"Why would you assume it wasn't?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't you?" he asked.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Lilly demanded.

"Because when I first met him, the first thing he did was taunt a ten-year-old boy who he assumed was bitten just based on his appearance. It wasn't enough for him to kill the kid, he had to mock his family."

"Well... but... Okay, fine. I can see why you'd think him to be an asshole. But underneath, he's really not a bad guy." Lilly looked over Lee's shoulder at her father.

Lee grunted. "Oh, I'll bet."

The entire group paused from their activities and looked into the sky, as some kind of drumbeat cracked the skyline. "I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing," Kenny said. He walked over to Lilly and Lee.

"Me, too," Lilly agreed.

"This motor inn's pretty damn defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch. We could stay here until the military rolls through."

"I actually agree with that plan, Kenny," Lilly noted.

"Me, too," Lee chimed in.

"We've got beds, we've got water and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home," Kenny said.

"Yeah, you're right," Lilly said. "You know guys, I think it's going to be okay."

Suddenly, all the lights- lampposts, room lamps, the motel sign kept powered up to lure in motorcyclists and tourists who were looking to get to Macon- went out, one by one.