Chapter 1: Amid the Ruins
Noah's narration
My name is Noah Kane, and I am a survivor in an zombie apocalypse. Before everything went to shit, I was just a college kid trying to get my engineering degree. In the next day, the outbreak started and the dead started walking as they begin attacking the living. My friends ended up dead and turned, leaving me run for my life as long as possible ever since the dead started walking. That's when I met Lee and Clementine while I was trying to get away, but we weren't the only ones looking to get away from the chaos. There was Kenny and his family, Carley a reporter for WABE, Doug, Lily and her pain in the ass father Larry. Since we made the motor-inn our camp and home, we've been getting supplies, defending ourselves from bandits and walkers for three months. Then, that's when we met Ben and Travis while looking for food the next day. Along the way we also dealt with a cannibal family in the farm, hell, we were lucky to make it out of there alive. Our luck changed when we found a station wagon filled with food and supplies, handling ourselves for three weeks. Unfortunately, our luck started to head south when the Save lot bandits raided the motor inn forcing us to leave. And as if things couldn't get worse, Lily went crazy and shot Travis in cold blood, Duck was bitten and Katjaa killed before Duck could be put out of his misery.
Four hours later, we met a couple name Christa and Omid. We also had a guy name before we reached Savannah. Clementine believed her parents were still alive, but Savannah itself was a walker hive. While our group stayed to find supplies in a mansion were we stayed, me, Lee, and Kenny went searching for a boat. Unfortunately for us and especially Kenny, a place called Crawford took every that was salvageable. Car parts. Engines. Food. Medical supplies. Everything was taken. That's when we met this girl name Molly and my mother who was still alive. We decided to sneak in to Crawford, grabbing what was needed for a boat Clementine had found. The items were simple: medicine, antibiotics, fuel and a battery for the boat. Then hell broke loose and we have to make a run for it, but those with us didn't survive. In the next day, Clementine and my mother... she was bitten leaving her, Lee, and the group to find Clementine while I stayed behind to look after. But, Vernon the person that help us when Omid; had a infected leg knocked me out and took the boat for himself. Unfortunately for him, a walker killed him on the boat after I saved Vernon's group after he left them to dead. My mother wasn't getting any better either, even with her arm cut off due to the others thinking it would stop the bite. Even after we saved Clementine from the guy on the radio, she still died from blood loss. So Lee had to kill her while she was still human after she and I said our goodbyes. After that, we left Savannah for good.
For two years, we stayed with Christa and Omid. But we got separated from them, leaving only me, Lee, Clementine, and Carley. In the end, another group found us. Luke, Pete, Vince, Eddie, and Stephanie. Right up when they all thought I was bitten from the bite mark on my arm, which was a dog before I met them. Speaking of which, that's how me and Clementine found a Siberian husky name Milly. Long short story, I got put in a shed while Vince took a few people to look for any of Lee and Carley, or Christa and Omid. They wanted to make sure I was telling the truth so they decided to lock in that shithole shed right until a walker came out and attacked me. Luckily, I killed the damn thing and they all knew I wasn't bitten by a walker. Even Vince did when he found out they locked me in a shed, without him and the others knowing while he also had found Lee and Carley. That's when we got to make the cabin group. There was a wary pregnant woman name Rebecca, her husband Alvin. There was also the group's doctor, Carlos and his fifteen year old daughter Sarah.
Right after we met the group in the cabin, our lives have changed. Their friend Dre Mitchell and was killed when we left the cabin because of a asshole name William Carver. And since me and Clementine were there instead of Luke, Carlos, or anyone in the cabin group; they'd be knee deep in shit. So, we went on the move for five days in order to get away from Carver. Our destination lead to a ski resort where me, Lee, Carley and Clem had seen a surprised return of Kenny. I couldn't believe he was still alive myself. Unfortunately, Carver found out anyway and killed Walter from the ski lodge. That bastard took everyone, everyone except me, Luke, Vince, and Eddie. And with Milly sniffing on their trail, we were going to get our people back. And as things couldn't get shocking, we saw Doug and Ben alive who were in my old group. It turned out Ben and Doug survived from the muck, just like me, Lee, Clementine, and Carley when we left Savannah. Our plan: sneak inside Carver's Community, find a way to get our people out without being, and make it safe from the walker herd. But, that plan didn't go so well. Luke ended up being and so did me and everyone else who wasn't caught by him. We manage to get out, covering ourselves in walker blood after Carver was dealt with. But it want worse when Carlos was shot and started to get eaten by walkers, leaving Sarah to panic over the loss of her father. And now, now we're still trying to get the hell out of that fucking hellhole.
End narration.
"Clem!" Sarita panicked with the walker still biting on her wrist. "Ben!" and with one stroke, Sarita's arm was chopped off with her hand on the floor as she let out a blood cluttering scream. She looked frightfully at Ben and Clementine. "You... You..."
"Sarita, you have to remain-" Ben began with, but was cut off by Sarita
"You..." she trailed off as a couple of walkers lunged at her, with one biting her neck and the other biting her left arm as she screamed in pain and horror
Noah and Stephanie saw Sarita being attacked. "Oh god..." Stephanie gasped
"Come on!" Noah exclaimed as Mike, Doug and Kenny made their way to Sarita
"Sarita, Sarita!" Kenny fell on his knees staring down at Sarita's corpse. "No! You can't die! I won't let you." he said emotionally breaking out
"Kenny, we need to move!" Doug shouted, hacking a walker's head off. "There's too many of them out here!"
Noah and Stephanie made their way toward them. "Ken, she's gone." Noah tried to tell the man who was emotionally compromised
"Leave us ALONE!" Kenny yelled scaring Ben, Stephanie, and Clementine except for Noah
"She was bit! We-" Clementine was interrupted when she tried to explain
"This is both of your faults!" Kenny shouted glaring at Ben and Clementine before looking back at Sarita with worried and fearful eyes. "You're gonna be okay. I don't care these fuckers are saying!"
"Kenny, we gotta go!" Mike insisted hacking a walker near him
Ben stared down at the hatchet in his hand, then back at Sarita as he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. In one quick lunge, he sent the hatchet down Sarita's face which struck horror in Kenny's eyes after Ben took the ax off her head.
"NO!" he gasped as he looked down after witnessing the act. he slowly looked up and glared at Ben. "What the fuck did you do?!"
"I did what was right. She was going die anyway! It was the right thing to-"
"You had no fucking right, shitbird! Stupid, fucking kids! This is on both of you!" Kenny shouted angrily
"Shut up, Kenny!" Ben shouted back, glaring at Kenny as Ben was becoming irritated when Kenny, Doug, and Mike made a run for it. "I'm sick of his bullshit. What did he expect us to do?" he muttered as he saw Luke, Nick, Pete, and Reggie going after Sarah.
"Come on, Clem!" Noah grabbed Clementine's hand as he walking steadily as he lead her, Stephanie, and Ben. "Walk like the dead. Walk like the dead." he repeated to them with Clementine being grabbed from behind, leading it to be only Rebecca. "Rebecca?"
Stephanie wrapped Rebecca in a quick hug. "Thank god. We can't find anyone else."
"What do we do?" Rebecca asked frightened
"We stay together and keep moving. We're still covered in walker blood." Noah stated, motioning his hand for everyone to follow him. "Where's Lee and Carley?"
"I saw them go with Vince and Eddie." Rebecca said. "Bonnie, Wyatt and Russell went with them."
"Shel and Becca was with them too." Stephanie added when she spotted a woman in her twenties. Same short cut chestnut hair wearing a tan jacket and gray pants. This woman the person they met in Carver's camp, Jane. "We should follow Jane."
"Follow her. That's our way into the woods." Noah declared as he glanced at Clementine who looked back at him. "We're going to make it, Clem. Just stay close, alright?"
Clementine nodded. "Yeah."
"Walk don't run. It'll track too much attention." Noah said to them, almost heading into the woods. He glanced at Rebecca who was following beside Stephanie. "And you still know the way to Parker's Run?"
"Should be a few miles out." she stated. "We'll probably reach there in the morning."
"Good. Now everyone else, walk... SLOWLY..." Noah told him as they headed into the woods
`0`
Noah and the others continued heading for Parker's Run, with it now being daylight. Things were on Noah's mind such as Rebecca's condition, where Sarah ran off to, and how compromised Kenny is. He remembered seeing it happen to Kenny before, back with Katjaa and Duck. Now he was re-living the same situation with Sarita. After they wipe off the walker blood on their clothes and faces from a lake east of them, Noah lead everyone else to Parker's Run. He wasn't paying attention to the conversation Rebecca was having with Ben and Clementine. That was until Jane began to talk.
"If they aren't... nothing we could do about it." she said with no emotion
"She's right." Ben agreed
"Don't even say that!" Rebecca scolded Ben
"Sorry." Ben apologized. "I'm just thinking out loud here."
"Let's keep moving. I doubt that herd would still be following us." Noah said to them
"All we have to do is a good pace." Ben replied
Rebecca shook her head. "It was stupid."
Jane glanced over her shoulder at Rebecca. "What? Escaping?"
"Look, I know we all agreed to use the herd to get out. But..." Rebecca paused as she looked down. "maybe we should have been more patient."
"The plan worked." Noah said. "There's nothing to worry about. Although, things couldn't have fucked up so quickly."
"Look, I know some of your people didn't make it, but Carver was crazy." Jane started taking a quick glance back. "Staying there would have only prolonged the inevitable. I'm just saying that if people hadn't panicked, things might have turned out better."
"Of course! We panicked! We were scared!" Rebecca exclaimed
"The plan was good! The execution was the messy part." Jane stated
"Sounds like you're saying it was their fault." Stephanie said cocking her head
"What? No! No, that's not what I'm saying. Just-" Jane was cut off when Rebecca clinched her stomach, feeling the baby move inside her
"I have to stop." Rebecca said. "I'm sorry. I don't want to slow us down. Can I just take a minute?"
Jane sighed. "Yeah. Take a minute."
Rebecca cried silently with Stephanie placing her hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "Alvin was suppose to be here for this." she sobbed quietly
"Kenny might know what to do, right?" Stephanie asked staring at Noah while Ben looked away
"Yeah. He's been a dad before." he stated
"Let's hope he made it to the meet-up point, then." Jane stared down at Rebecca's pregnant bump on her stomach. "What are you going to do with it?"
"What do you mean by that?" Rebecca inquired glaring at Jane
"Sorry, it was nothing." Jane said, changing the subject
Rebecca turned to glare at her. "No. What do you mean by that? Do with what? My baby?!"
"Rebecca..." Ben said trailing off, trying to ease the situation
"I'm just looking at the worst case scenario." Jane explained. "You, Clem, Noah, Stephanie and Ben won't be able to raise a baby by yourselves. Not out here."
"We know it's going to need food and other stuff, but..." Ben trailed off rubbing the back of his neck while looking away
"We'll look after it. Together." Clementine said
"Even if that's the case, you can't always protect everyone." Jane stated
"And you assume I won't be capable enough." Rebecca said stepping back. "Just before you're some angry loner who doesn't care about anyone but herself, doesn't mean you know better than me."
"Guys..." Noah started, trying to ease the situation before it got out of hand
"Hey! I've seen it before. Back when it started... me and my sister, we were-" Rebecca cut Jane off
"What!? She died?!"
"Rebecca..." Noah raised his voice trying to stop the argument
"I don't need your pity!"
"Rebecca!" Noah yelled stopping both of them arguing, with Jane glaring at her
"You don't... you don't have the right..."
"Oh, shit..." Ben muttered pinching the bridge of his nose
"Jane! She didn't mean it!" Clementine glanced at Rebecca. "Right?"
Noah sighed in agitation. "For once, I like not to hear any in-fighting... just this fucking once!"
"Come on, guys." Stephanie said with her, Clem and Sarah following Noah, Ben and Jane to Parker's Run. Stephanie caught a quick look and saw the others. "There they are."
Bonnie smiled. "Thank god. It had been so long."
"Clementine!" Carley and Lee wrapped her in a embrace. "Are you okay?" Lee asked
"Yeah. We were starting to worry you guys wouldn't show." Vince replied
"Well, besides..." Mike glanced over to Kenny
"How's Kenny doing?" Ben asked
Mike and Bonnie glanced at each other, then back at Ben. "I tried talking to Kenny, but he flipped out on me."
"Started yelling. Scary shit too." Russell added
"We have seen him like this before." Lee glanced at Kenny. "With his family. But after Sarita, we're not even sure."
"Hell, I'm even nervous going near him. He could kill me just by looking at him, man." Wyatt said
Jane quirked her eyebrow at Wyatt. "What, you think he's gonna shoot you?"
Becca shrugged her shoulders. "He might. Guy's crazy."
"Becca." Shel scolded, shoving her sister a cold stare before glancing at Lee and Noah. "He's not thinking straight."
"I should go talk to him." Clementine looked down. "This is my fault."
"Hey." Jane looked at Clementine. "You did what you thought was right."
"She's right, Clem. There was nothing anyone could have do." Ben told her as she walked over to Kenny
"I swear if he even blames her for what happened..." Lee started with Carley gripping his shoulder
"Lee... don't. Not right after what happened." she said with the others heading to the left side
"You think I don't what y'all are whispering about over there?" they heard Kenny say. " 'What's wrong with Kenny? Why's Kenny acting that way? Do you think Kenny's okay?' "
"Looks like he overheard us." Vince muttered
"No shit." Russell muttered
"I'm going over there." Noah declared
"Noah..." Stephanie trailed off when Noah made his way to Kenny and Clementine. "Ben, what are you-" Ben interrupted her
"I'm going over there too."
"We need your help to think of a plan-" Clementine was cut off by Kenny
"Grow the fuck up and look around you, Clementine." Kenny growled. "Take a look at our LAST plan worked out. There ain't some boat, or some train, or some other bullshit outta this one. Don't you already think you've done enough for today?" he kept his glare on Clementine, while Noah glared angrily at Kenny
"Don't you fucking dare pin this shit on Clementine. She had to make a call." Noah snarled glaring directly. "Her and Ben when we were escaping! It was a split second decision that they had to make. You can't blame both of them for that! Especially Clem!"
Kenny ignored Noah and just kept his glare on Clementine. "You think because you're a little girl you can just get people killed and no one will care?" Clementine was looking sadder by hearing Kenny's rant. "That's because you're 'sorry' it'll magically go away? That's not how it works!"
Ben glared deadly at Kenny, sick of him blaming Clementine. "That's how it always works!" he snapped in a shout as Kenny glared at him, shocking everyone that Ben suddenly lashed out at a emotionally comprised Kenny. "Ever since everything went to shit, that's how all of this started! We have lost friends! Families! People we cared about because of this. That's how any of this shit has always worked! You are not the only one. A lot of people have suffered way worse than you have, Kenny! So, CHILL the fuck out!"
"CHILL? CHILL!? That's a great idea!" Kenny growled in sarcasm. "Hey bandits, here chill! Here! Have some of our pills! Hey, Sarita! Here chill, I'll cut your fuckin' arm off!"
"Not everything is my fault." Ben snarled, nearly pushed to the edge as he got furious at Kenny
"I can't point to one thing that's not somehow YOUR fault!" Kenny snapped as Ben's eyes popped up after what Kenny said, with Ben's fist balled up. "Lee should've let you die in Crawford. We got enough problems."
Then something unexpected happen, Ben sent a strong mean left jab across Kenny's face as he fell on the ground. The gun in Kenny's hand dropped as Ben grabbed it, kneeing down on with Ben aiming the barrel of the gun at Kenny's eye. Everyone's eyes were widened with shock as Ben glared venomously at Kenny, his finger on the trigger.
"Fuck you, Kenny!" Ben growled
"Ben, don't-" Noah cut Clementine off by holding her back
"No, Clem. Let him." Noah glanced back at the group. "Let him have this one." he shouted to the others, still holding Clementine in place
"I am so sorry about Katjaa and Duck. Especially Sarita. Really I am, dead serious here. I know that I fucked up a lot, but stop blaming Clementine for Sarita's death and stop wishing I was dead!" Ben snarled, keeping his glare fixed at Kenny as the bearded man prepared to speak. "No! You knew how they both died, you've even said goodbye. I never even got to say goodbye to my parents and my little sister. Do you get that?! When me and Doug left Savannah, I saw my parents and little sister as walkers. I had to put my own family down. Do you have any idea how that feels to put down your family that got turned into walkers!? I saw a blue butterfly clip on the walker's girl head, and that let me know it was them. I had to put my own family down! You're lucky you didn't have the chance to do that!" Ben's finger was steady on the trigger. "Now here I am, dealing with your bullshit. The only person that's hear to blame for what's happened to any of us is because of you. Because of you on never thinking shit straight and charging head on at a problem, everyone pays the price for your mistakes! Sarita especially paid the price for your dumbest mistake of all! Killing me will NOT bring Katjaa and Duck back! So, how about you shut the fuck up, take responsibilities for your own goddamn actions, and give me a FUCKING break!?"
"Get that fuckin' gun off my face!" Kenny snapped in a threatening tone
"I swear to God I was pull this trigger, and fucking end you once and for all!" Ben threatened slowly squeezing the trigger. "All I have to do is squeeze, but now I know that death would be just too easy for you." Ben stood up while he kept the gun aimed at Kenny. "If you want to kill yourself..." Ben then unhook the clip of the magazine, only for one bullet to remain in the chamber. "Then fucking do it. Put yourself out of your own pathetic misery." he growled throwing the gun down on the floor. "Because deep down of it all, you will always be more of a fucking coward than me."
"Hey, enough!" both Ben and Kenny glanced at Noah. "Ben, I got this. Just go and sit with the others." he told Ben as he and Clementine went back to the group
"Now you're taking his-" Kenny was cut off when Noah picked him and slammed him to a wall
"I am sick of your 'either with me or against me' bullshit." Noah growled keeping a hard glare fixed at Kenny. "This is exactly what happened back in Hershel's farm two years ago. When me and Lee were trying to his son Shawn, you just ran away."
"I was tryin' to save my son!" Kenny snarled
"Duck was already saved when you got him out of that hold!" Noah shot back. "You looked Shawn right in the eye and you just ran away. You leave him to die because of that one simple decision! You could've told Duck to go to Katjaa and helped us save him!"
"You've made some fucked up decisions." Kenny retorted
"I'm not the only one." Noah countered back. "You're tried to kill my mother back in Savannah!"
"You knew she was bit!" Kenny snapped in a growling tone. "You knew her arm was cut, and you knew she was near to dying and turnin' into one of them!"
"She wasn't going to die at the time. You were just too damn scared, acting like a coward like you did in Hershel's farm!" Noah snarled. "You can pin what happen to Sarita on me, you can pin it on Lee, Ben and even Luke if you want; but you don't ever blame Clementine for what happened to her. Do you understand me?" Noah avoided a punch from Kenny, grabbing his wrist along with headbutting him in the nose. "And if you don't like this, you can go to Wellington on your fucking own and out of my damn sight for all I care. But know this; if you ever lose your shit like this again, I will fucking shoot you down myself and end you if you wanna die so damn badly." Noah said, throwing Kenny on the ground while he made his way to the others, except for Lee, Clementine, Stephanie and Jane. "Where's Lee, Clem, and Jane? Did Stephanie go with them or something?"
"They went scouting in the woods to see if they could find the others." Ben answered. "It happened while you and Kenny were arguing."
"Then that's where we're going." Noah declared staring at Ben. "You're coming with me too."
"Alright." Ben replied as him and Noah headed to the woods
`0`
Noah and Ben walked into the woods, trying to catch up with Jane and Clementine. During the walk, both of them have been quiet after the ordeal with Kenny. All the timed Ben had been with their old group, Noah never imagined him losing himself that much. What happened in Parker's run was the first time he had ever seen Ben lash out at Kenny. Once they would get back to the others, they would see if Kenny left or not. If he did, good riddance. But if he did, they remain unsure of what to do. No one in the group had no idea how to deliver a baby, especially in these times in the apocalypse. Then finally, Ben began to break the long silence.
"Listen, about Kenny..." he started
"I can't believe you went off on him like that." Noah said incredulously. "Never seen you like that before. I have to admit, that took some serious balls!"
"I can't believe I did it either." Ben said agreeing. "When I think back to Crawford, with me telling Kenny the truth. I probably shouldn't have told him in the first damn place. I should have told him when we were back in the mansion."
"Yeah, you really shouldn't have." Noah pointed out. "That was a fucking mistake."
Ben shook his head to his past ignorance. "God, I was such a pussy back then."
"Not really."
Ben glanced at Noah with a stare. "Be honest."
"Yeah, you were pretty much a pussy." Noah confessed. "I remembered when you left Carley and Clementine back in Savannah with that small herd."
"I did. I can't believe I chickened out that much. Now, I'm not being a total pussy or anything. I guess I changed these two years." Ben came to a stop when him and Noah heard a car horn. "You hear that?"
"Yeah, I did. Come on!" Noah and Ben ran to where the sound of the car horn was coming from
Noah and Ben found the sound of the horn coming from a trailer park, along with three corpses dead that had a icepick hole in each of their eyes. Ben took the holster off the dead corpse as he threw it to Noah, equipped on his chest. They went on ahead when they spotted a walker Pete on the ground, with two open gush in his head resembling a hatchet cut. Noah wondered if Pete was here, then it was a possibly that Luke, Sarah and Reggie were here in the trailer park as well. Both of them took a moment of silence for Pete as they continued on forward, searching for any sign of Clementine, Lee, Jane and maybe Stephanie. Noah and Ben pressed on following the trail leading them to the others, with Noah having his K-BARs in his hands while Ben grabbed a switchblade from his pocket once they step out of the trailer. Noah caught a glimpse of Clementine and Jane inside a trailer next to them, leaving both him and Ben to rush in to help. They spotted Lee and Stephanie hack and slash weapons while Clementine and Jane went inside as Noah and Ben went to help. Noah struck his K-BARs in each of the walkers head while Ben launched his switchblade at the walkers, stabbing their eye sockets as the group went inside barricading the door using a drawer.
"Who's out there?"
Noah and Lee glanced at each other as they stared at the door. "Luke? That you?" Lee asked
A door opened to reveal Luke, Nick and Reggie. "Clem? Lee? Oh, thank god."
"Pete made a run for it, looking for help." Reggie stated. "Did you guys see him?"
"We saw him outside. He already turned when we came here." Lee explained in a sad tone
Jane showed a look of sympathy. "Look, he was out there. But we took of him, ya know."
Nick eyes went wide. "Fuck. FUCK!"
Luke went to put his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Nick..." Luke trailed off as Nick went back to the room. "When I heard ya'll banging through the door... I thought the walkers were coming to take the rest of us."
"Are you alright? Where's Sarah?" Lee asked
"I'm fine, it's just the ribs." Luke said. "Sarah... she's another story... I don't know what to do with her."
Noah glanced at Reggie. "Is she bit?"
"No, she's fine. It's just..." he replied trailing off as he stared to the room where she was. "You have to see this for yourselves." Reggie lead them to the room, where they spotted Sarah in a fetal position with her arms hugging her legs and her glasses gone. "Hey, Sarah. It's Lee, Noah and Clementine. You remember them, right?" Sarah glanced up to look at said three. "See? They're okay."
Noah kept his stare at Sarah, seeing the type of state she was in. "I think I know what this is about. I remember talking with Carlos and he mentioned something about her 'ceasing to function' if she got a glimpse of the real world."
"Yeah, you're right. Carlos mentioned that to me too." Reggie agreed. "She's losing it, is she?"
"I don't know if she is or not, but it looks like she is." Noah said truthfully as they heard loud banging on the door
"We're not outta the woods yet." Jane said
"Yeah, yet." Ben replied
"What are we going to do about her?" Nick inquired glancing at Sarah
Lee looked at Clementine. "Clem, you think you could talk to Sarah? Snap her back in reality?"
"Maybe. I don't know if she'll listen to me." Clementine replied
Jane could the walkers about to come in through the door. "Listen, I, uh..." she looked back at the others. "They're gonna tear this place apart pretty soon. We can't stay. So we gonna get her up, or we gonna..."
Noah looked at Clementine. "Clem, try to talk to Sarah." he gazed at Lee, Stephanie, Nick and Reggie as he spotted a skylight. "Lee, you and the others get up that skylight. Wait for us in the woods." he glanced at Ben, Luke and Jane. "Luke, Jane! Help me and Ben with that door. Clem, you just keep talking to Sarah."
Noah and Ben went to hold the barricade to the door as a couple of walker head popped up, with Ben slamming the door on both of them. Noah stabbed one of them in the head while he kicked the other as Jane and Luke helped Ben with the door. Noah glanced right to see Lee helping Stephanie up on the roof, while Nick gave Reggie a boost up as Lee and Stephanie grabbed his hand. Nick was the last up as Clementine went toward Noah and the other, while Sarah was being pulled up by Lee and Nick.
"Clem, did you snap Sarah back in reality?" Ben asked Clementine
"Yeah. I had to slap her to get her moving." she stated. "Lee and the others made it out."
"We're going to need something to boost us." Noah said
"We can't use the that refrigerator, and we sure as hell can't use that small box." Ben groused, holding the door
"Then we can use the furniture." Clementine suggested
"Wha-" Luke looked down. "Ah, shit."
"Clem, help Luke and Ben move that furniture!" Clementine did as what Noah told her to do, while him and Jane kept barricading the door
The door busted open with a couple of walkers trying to make their way inside, with Clementine and Jane stabbing their eyes. Noah impaled his K-BAR knives to a walker's head, ripping the head open as he tossed it to a walker almost inside. Jane stabbed a walker in the eye using her icepick as her and Noah ran to the room, closing and locking the door. Noah and Ben helped Luke up first, with Jane being next. Noah lifted Clementine up so Luke and Jane could bring her up on the roof. Ben and Noah were the last two in the room, with Ben helping him up as the walkers barged in leaving Ben to throw Noah up on top of the roof of the trailer.
"Ben!" Clementine shouted
"Go!" Ben yelled stabbing a walker in the head using his switchblade. "Get the hell out of here!"
Noah extended his hand for Ben to grab, only for him to swat it away. "Ben, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Get the others out of here, Noah!" he shouted to Noah as he stabbed a walker in the eye kicking it toward the rest of them. "Get them back to the meet-up point."
"Don't be fucking stupid, Ben. Climb up!"
Ben shut the door using the furniture as he glanced up at the other. "It's already too late for me." he stated as he showed them his bitten right arm, with their eyes widened. "I'll hold up here. And there is a bright side to this." Ben smiled as he brought out a .45 auto pistol. "I get my parents and my little sister again." he looked up at the others. "Now, you guys go. And stay alive as best you can."
Clementine looked down with a tear streaming down her face. "Ben..."
"This is what I want, guys. Just go."
Noah touched Clementine's shoulder as she hugged him, while the others jumped out the roof of the trailer landing on the ground on their feet. Clementine and Noah leaped off as well, landing on the ground while they walked with the others. When Lee was about to ask what happened to Ben, a gunshot was fired and answered his question. The trip back to Parker's run for silence before Clementine to make sure Sarah was okay. She was physically fine, but mentally was another story. Her father's death had took her hard, luckily Clementine was able to convince. But even she was not sure of Sarah's condition. That lead to Jane into telling the away group about her sister, Jaime. That she gave up on trying to live. Jane mentioned while her and Jaime were trying to get away from walkers on a five story building roof, Jane told her she could anything she wanted. That answer came to leaving her behind to die. Noah could get a feeling that Jane regretted it since then.
"I'm sorry about your friend." Jane said
"Ben wanted to die." Noah said back looking away. "There was nothing we could have done to save him."
Jane glanced back at Lee and Clementine, then back at Noah as Luke walked toward him. "Stef told me what went down in Parker's Run." Luke said. "Can I ask you something?" he asked with Noah nodding his head in reply. "That whole mess with Kenny, has your friend Ben ever lost his shit like that before?"
"No, that one was a first." Noah stated. "I still don't know if he talked some sense into Kenny, thought. I don't know if Kenny either shot himself in the head, or if he's still there when we get back."
Luke made his way toward Noah and Jane. "Lee told me Kenny lost it when Sarita died. That happened to him before, right? With his family?"
"Yeah. This time it was worse when Ben thought of shooting him. Ending him if he needed to, but he didn't. I think Ben figured out death would be too easy for him." Noah replied. "Let's just get back to the others."
Stephanie walked toward Noah after they step out of the woods. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked touching his shoulder
Noah pressed his hand against hers. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just..."
"Ben?"
"Yeah... Ben. I still can't believe he went out like that." Noah said, shooking his head after what happened at the trailer park. "He found peace in the end."
"Yeah. Yeah he did." Stephanie said as the them and the away group made it back to Parker's Run
"Holy shit. You guys made it!" Wyatt exclaimed
"Yeah, we wouldn't have made it with Lee and the others." Luke replied, with Carley and Bonnie helping Rebecca move forward as she glanced at Sarah
"Sarah, how you doing hon?" she asked as she reached out, with Sarah shrugging away from her near touch. "That's okay, sweetie. Whenever you're ready. I'm just glad you're here." Sarah kneel down while Rebecca noticed Pete and Ben missing. "But, wait... where's Pete and Ben?" she inquired as Nick looked away
"Rebecca, how about go we talk for a minute?" Stephanie asked as her and Luke went to Rebecca while Bonnie made her way toward Noah
"Let's just give 'em some space. There's something I need to talk to you about, too." she said to Noah
"Sure. What's this about?" he replied seeing Rebecca sob as Noah and Bonnie went a couple steps away
"I ain't gonna sugarcoat this. That baby's coming even faster than Rebecca's letting on." she said. "I was hoping you might know... does Luke know anything about babies?"
"No chance in hell. The only person who would something about this is Kenny." Noah replied as he looked left and right, then back at Bonnie. "Did he leave or..."
Bonnie looked at a tent to a two yards away. "He went in there after you and Ben left. Hasn't come out since. No gunshot in the tent so far, but we're starting to worry." she stated when Noah saw Lee and Clementine go inside the tent. "Guess it's up to Lee and Clem to get through to him, now."
"I'll be right back. I have to talk with Vince and Eddie for a minute." Noah said as he made his way to Vince, Wyatt and Shel. "Hey. How long has Kenny been in that tent?"
"I say about 12 minutes I think." Vince stated. "Lee and Clementine went inside to talk with him."
"Hopefully they're making progress." Shel said unsure. "We don't know what to do when Rebecca has that baby."
"Let's hope it doesn't come as quick as-" Noah was cut off by Luke
"Oh, shit! Does that mean what I think it does?" they rushed to see Bonnie and Stephanie checking on Rebecca
"What the fuck are we suppose to do?" Russell said
"Uh... how does it feel?" Eddie said as Kenny, Lee and Clementine came out of the tent heading toward the others
"It feels wet! That's how it feel!" Rebecca hissed
"What's going on?" Noah asked
"Rebecca's water broke! The baby's coming!" Carley exclaimed
"Fuck me sideways..." Noah glanced at Kenny who had his arms crossed. "Kenny, what do we do?"
"I need to think... gimme a sec." he said
"No way can Rebecca travel like this." Luke said
"He's right." Jane agreed. "They're going to smell her now. The only thing you can do now is ride it out."
"Kenny..." Rebecca said trailing off. "You gonna focus."
"Alright. We need blankets for one." he stated. "For the baby, and clean water."
"Good plan." Noah looked at Luke, Nick and Eddie. "Luke. You, Nick and Eddie check out the perimeter for walkers." he then turned to Mike, Bonnie and Lee. "Mike, you go with Bonnie and Lee to the museum a mile away." he glanced to see Jane heading to the maze, leading to the observatory. "Since Jane's going to the observatory," he paused to glance at Russell, Shel and Becca. "You three go with her."
Russell folded his arms giving a cold stare. "Why should I do what you say?"
Noah remember Vince telling about Russell of not trusting he did not know. "Do you want to stay here with Rebecca when she has the baby instead?" he asked Russell
Russell went bug eyed as he stared at Rebecca letting out a short groan. "I think I'm gonna go with Jane." he said as he retracted his question with him following Shel and Becca
"What about me?" Clementine asked
"It's up to you, Clem. You can go with Jane or head over to where Lee is." Noah told her as she went to the observatory to help Jane, Russell, Shel and Becca. "The same goes for you, Wyatt."
"You got it, dude." he said heading to the museum to meet up with Lee, Mike and Bonnie
Kenny walked up behind Noah and said. "Clem and Lee told me about Ben."
Noah quirked his eyebrow, waiting to see what Kenny would say. "And?"
"I'm angry as hell." he said bluntly
"But not at Ben." Noah stated.
Kenny shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. I never thought of it that way. And when Clem told me he gave his life to save yours even when he was bitten, I was lost for words."
"He surprised you?"
"The little shitbird did." Kenny replied. "I can't believe he had the balls to stand up to me and put his life on the line."
"You heard him when you were shouting at each other too." Noah added
"Yeah, I did." Kenny nodded. "I never really of it that way." he stopped a for a slight moment of pause. "Well, I'm gonna help out with Rebecca."
Noah glanced at Stephanie who was keeping an eye on Sarah, who was shaking in a fetal position just like back in the trailer park. "Yeah, you do that." he said as he walked toward Stephanie who was watching Sarah. "How she doing? Is she alright or is she still..."
Stephanie kept staring at Sarah. "She still in the same position she was in back at the trailer park. She comes out of it for a short while, but she's still mentally broken. But, with us... she might come around."
"And I need to teach her how to survive." Noah added
Stephanie looked at him a bit shocked. "You're going to teach her how to shoot?"
Noah turned to Stephanie with a serious yet firm look on his face. "We have to teach her eventually, Stephanie."
Stephanie sighed, knowing Noah was right. "You have a point. She needs to be taught sooner or later."
"I'll go talk with her." Noah said as he made his way toward Sarah. "Sarah? Sarah, are you there?" he asked crouching down to her level
She looked up at Noah from her downed position. "Hi."
"Hey. Do you remember when you asked me and Clem to teach you how to shoot?" Sarah nodded her head in a yes, as he brought out a suppresor from Carver's camp out of his pocket. "Well, I'm about to teach you how." he said placing five empty scotch bottles on the statue. "See those bottles? I want you to shoot them using this." Noah replied as he added a suppresor to the Glock 17 he was giving to Sarah. "Think you could do that?"
"I... I don't know."
Noah lined her position up as Sarah aim straight, moving the sight left. "Keep it to this position and keep it steady." Noah told her. "Aim down the sight. Lighten the barrell and squeeze the trigger." he said as Sarah fired off two shots, one shot the statue while the other hit a bottle
"I did it!"
"You still got four more to go, Sarah. Finish those four and you're through." Noah said to her as he went toward Rebecca. "Just remember to aim steady and line up the sight." he looked over to Rebecca as she leaned on a wall with her hand on her pregnant stomach. "How you feeling, Rebecca?"
"I'm just worried about this baby. And with Alvin gone..." she went to sobbing
"You'll get through this." Noah said now rubbing the back of his neck. "Alvin did what he did for you and the baby. He even gave us time to escape back at Carver's."
"He did." she said sadly
"He also wanted you to be strong." Noah told Rebecca. "Alvin also thinks you're getting a girl."
Rebecca shook her head with a small smile crossing her face. "That big dumbie." she looked at Noah. "Hey, Noah, thanks for the talk."
"Don't mention it." he looked at Kenny. "I'm going to go check on Lee and the rest at the museum."
"Alright."
Noah decided to make his way to the museum. He wallked almost half a mile out to the museum, where he spotted Lee, Wyatt, Mike and Bonnie. Mike was walking with two gallons of water while Lee and Wyatt packed up bows and quivers of arrows, along with a pair of calavary swords. Wyatt held out a batch of food supply of pears and snacks that would come from a vending machine. He spotted Lee holding on a coat as Noah looked closer to see a confederate coat.
"Is that a confederate coat?" Noah asked Lee
"Uh... yeah."
Noah thought for a moment, but shrugged it off. "It's the zombie apocalypse. Who gives a shit?"
"Good point." Lee said. "How's everything going?"
"Don't know. Clem and the others will probably be back when we get there. Hopefully there's a place for Rebecca to-" Noah was cut off when he heard Rebecca screaming. "Oh, fuck! Everyone move, now!"
Noah and the away group from the museum arrive back to the meet-up point where they spotted Clementine, Russell, Shel and Becca with the rest of the group. Noah and Lee noticed Rebecca cringing in pain as she felt due. Stephanie and Carley help Rebecca move as they made their way toward them.
"What's going on?" Lee asked
"Rebecca's showing contractions." Carley said. "She's having the baby!" everyone's else went wide
Noah's still went bug eyed. "Now?" his answer came in a form of Rebecca screaming. "Oh, fuck."
"Clem... Cle-Clementine!" Sarah yelled out as everyone's eyes went wide when they noticed walkers approaching
"We got walkers coming, man!" Eddie exclaimed
"How the hell did any of them get here without anyone noticing?! Where the hell is Luke?" Mike said
"That's a damn good question." Noah muttered
"He was suppose to help us with the perimeter!" Nick exclaimed
"We can deal with it later. Right now, we need to do something!" Russell exclaimed. "We need to get her someplace safe when she has that kid." he said referring to Rebecca
Kenny stood up with the crowbar in his hand. "You just keep that baby safe." he said heading toward the herd
"Mike, get the water! Eddie, you help him out!" Noah ordered
"On it!" they both said
Noah glanced at Shel and Becca. "Shel, you and Becca take everyone to the observatory."
"Me and Wyatt got the food! Vince, you and Reggie get the equipment!" Lee told Noah as him and Wyatt got the supplies while Vince and Reggie grabbed the equipment. "Clem, you get Sarah!"
Clementine looked at Sarah as she grabbed her hand. "Sarah, let's go!"
"Noah, I don't think he's okay." Bonnie said. "I mean, jesus..."
"I'm worried about Kenny too. But hopefully he's alright." Noah replied. "Let's just get to the observatory."
The group went into the fort wall, heading their way out to the observatory. A walker almost made its way toward Lee, only for a crowbar to bash its head in. He looked back and saw it was Kenny and Vince behind him. They went back to the group who were heading toward the observatory, with Noah and Clementine got up the stairs while Mike and Eddie opened the gate when they went inside. Bonnie locked the gate him right behind them. Noah and Clementine noticed the gate to the gift shop up, along with Luke and Jane laying beside each other.
"That's about as human as I felt in a long time. I almost forgot about-" Luke was cut off from Noah who interrupted him
"What the fuck?!" he outbursted seeing the two look at him and Clementine wide eyed when they noticed Jane zipping up her jacket and put on her boots
"Clem! Noah?! Jesus, guys. It's not... um."
"You two decide to have a good fucking?! Now of ALL times!?" Noah shouted as everyone went inside the gift shop, with Kenny showing an angry look on his face
"What the fuck are you two doing up here?" he demanded
Luke and Jane got off the floor. "Kenny, what's goin' on?"
"We've got God-knows-how-many walkers out which YOU were suppose to help Vince and Eddie to keep an eye out for." Kenny said pointing while Carley and Stephanie set Rebecca down
"Hey, hold on a second... just tell what's goin' on!"
"What's goin' on is that you reckless fuckin' moron." Kenny growled
"I'm reckless?! You know, you got a lot of nerve, Kenny!" Luke growled back
"Both of you shut the fuck up! Rebecca's having the goddamn baby!" Noah shouted to the two as Rebecca let out a scream
"They're coming up the fucking stairs!" Russell yelled
"Here. We should..." Luke trailed off before Kenny interrupted him
"You wanna help? Get out there and keep the walkers off of us!" Kenny ordered as he brought his attention to Rebecca giving birth. "I've been here before."
"Becca, stay here." Shel said heading out to the deck to help. "Help Kenny and Reggie with Rebecca."
"Lee, Clem! Could use your hand!" Noah said to them as he glanced at Sarah. "You too, Sarah!"
"I don't know if-" Noah cut her off
"You're ready." he told her as brough out the Glock 17 she used for practice. "If anyone doesn't have a icepick or a knife, use your guns and aim for the heads!"
They did what Noah told them to do, aim and shoot them in the head. Noah kept poking every walkers eyes out as Jane did the same. But more and more kept coming in while everyone kept shooting every walker heading up in the head. Noah glanced back to see Lee and Luke moving a cannon in order to barricade the gate. But as soon as they did, the weight of the cannon carried off collapsing a portion of the observation deck. And if thing could not get any worse, the support cable broke off as well, taking out right half of the deck down along with the stairs. Jane was hanging by the deck while Sarah fell down below, trapped in the deck debris leaving Lee and Russell to go down to go in order to break her free. Stephanie was hanging as well as she lost her grip, only for Noah to grab her hand in time and bring here up. Before Noah could tell Sarah to calm down in order for Lee and Russell to help her out of the jam she was in, a long piece of 2x4 landed on their heads as it knocked them out. While Noah and Vince were on their way to help Lee and Russell up, it was already too late for Sarah as she was eaten alive by walkers. Noah, Lee, Vince and Russell ran back up the rest of the deck.
"I'm sorry about Sarah."
"There was nothing we could have do." Noah said with all of them hearing a scream from Rebecca
"PUSH!" Kenny told her
"They're climbing up!"
"What?!"
"They're climbing up!" Jane repeated
Eddie put his hands on his head. "Does this shit ever end?!"
"What are we going to do?"
"We need to drop the deck!" Noah declared. "Clem, give me your hatchet!" Clementine threw her hatchet toward Noah who caught it
"He's right, he's right! Drop the whole deck!"
"Drop the... are you fucking crazy?"
"How are we going to do that?!" Shel inquired as Noah stood on the deck case in order to break off the support plate
Noah used the hatchet to hack the support plate, hacking it at least three times as the rest of the deck fell off crushing the walkers. After that, the madness was over. When they head back to the gift shop, they noticed Kenny holding a pale baby that was not breathing. Everyone froze in shock, even Rebecca.
"Is it... you know...?" Noah trailed off, only for the baby to suddenly cough and start crying with everyone's spirits lifted. "Oh, thank god."
"That was a close one." Lee said
"Damn right it was." Noah replied
`0`
Everyone else was asleep, with Stephanie laying beside Noah with her arm draped on his chest. Lee and Carley slept beside Clementine who laid her head on Carley's stomach. Luke and the others were asleep a couple hours, with Noah getting up when he saw Clementine holding the baby. It was a baby and he looked just like Alvin, Carver definetely was not the father. Noah was thankful for that as he gently grabbed Stephanie's arm, laid it on her stomach as he walked toward Clementine and Rebecca.
Noah smiled. "Well, you two are up. How's the baby boy?"
"He's fine. You want to hold him?" Clementine gave the baby to Noah, who held the baby boy in his arms as the baby scrunched up and start to cry with Noah rocking him in his arms
"Hey there, little buddy." Noah cooed. "There, there."
"That's so cute." Stephanie said leaning over Noah's shoulder as he rocked the baby
"Look at you two." Noah and Clementine glanced to see Kenny. "Like a big brother and sister."
"I'm more of a big bro to Clem. I'm more like a baby daddy with this one." Noah joked as Stephanie playfully hit him in the shoulder
"Here let me take him." Kenny offered as he took the baby from Noah's hold. "You guys should get your rest." he glanced at Rebecca after she stopped coughing. "Especially you."
"When's the last time you slept Kenny?" Rebecca asked
"Oh, about two years ago. I'm fine." he said nonchalently. "Besides, someone's gonna watch you while mama gets her beauty sleep." Kenny cooed as he sniffed the baby. "You never forget that smile." Kenny took the baby near the display table when Noah saw Clementine talk to Jane who was up before anyone else
"This is new." Noah muttered as he gazed at Stephanie. "I'll be right back." he told her as he walked over to Clementine and Jane. "Where are you going this late?"
"Shit."
"She's leaving." Clementine said
Noah folded his arms and stared at Jane. "What's the reason?"
Jane stared at Noah. "Listen to what I have to say. When shit hits the fan 'cause it always will, don't let them drag you down when it heads south. You don't owe them anything."
"I owe them everything. I probably wouldn't have made it this far without them." Noah said to Jane
"Well, they can't keep you safe or save you forever."
"No one isn't safe forever." Noah replied. "You know that, Jane."
Jane looked back at Clementine and Noah as she walked up to them. "You and Clem take care of yourselves, Noah." she said. "I mean that. Tell Lee and Carley that too." Jane pulled out a nail file extending it to Clementine
"Here." Clementine grabbed the nail file and put it in her pocket. "Vesatility is not overrated." Jane stated. "I um..." she glanced at Noah. "I gotta go." she said, heading down the step and leaving for good
"Reminds me with Molly back in Savannah." Noah muttered as Luke approached them
"Hey. Thought you two be asleep by now." he glanced down to see Clementine's sad expression. "Are you okay?"
"It's nothing, Luke. Don't worry."
"Temperatures droppin' and there's a high chance it'll probably snow. So, as soon as its clear..." Luke took a quick glance at Noah and Clementine. "me and Jane can head into town. See what we can find." he said as Noah shook his head, with Luke see him nod a no. "What?"
"Jane left for good." Noah said to Luke
"What? When?" Luke asked with the surprise tone in his voice
"Just now." Clementine answered
"Well, she didn't saw anything about leavin' to me." Luke angrily walked toward a wall. "What the fuck?!" he said hitting a wall. "Dammit!"
"Hey!" all three turned to see Kenny holding the baby and Lee. "Keep it down."
"Sorry." Luke apologized. "It's just... Jane's gone."
Lee blinked. "Just now?"
"Really?! Luke? Off all the childish bullshit..."
"Childish..." Luke walked away from Kenny. "You know what? Back up, Kenny."
"No. You put all of our lives, this baby's life at risk so you two could roll around like fucking teenagers!"
"I made a mistake. Is that enough?"
"No, it's not."
"Goddamn it, you two are acting like dumbasses!" Noah butted in. "All you two do is fucking argue every time."
"I'm sorry, okay. I know I fucked up, but Jane made a offer. And look around you. Everything is SHIT. So forgive me for enjoying something ELSE!"
"We get it, but this baby is what matters, Luke." Lee said. "So could you and Kenny put aside your differences until we work out a plan for this infant boy?"
"Is everything alright?" Carley asked as Vince poked up
"Yeah, what's going on?"
Luke glared at Kenny. "Nothing." he said heading back to the gift shop
"We need a good place to raise him, which ain't here. We get Wellington. That's our best bet." Kenny declared
Noah looked off to a town in the distance. "But we could check out that town first. See what else we could find." he said taking the baby from Kenny's hands while Noah gave Rebecca her baby back
"We need to get on the road as soon as possible... we leave at first light."
"Whoa, whoa! What are you talkin' about? Rebecca needs her rest, a few days at the least." Luke disagreed worried about Rebecca's health
"We still got that baby formula." Bonnie pointed out
"What about the rest of us? We'll freeze our asses off here in this damn cold!" Russell replied
Clementine looked at the person beside her. "Noah?" he shrugged his shoulders in response as Lee spoke
"We'll leave." he said as all eyes except Rebecca stared at him
"What are you-" Noah cut Luke off
"In a couple of days we'll leave." Noah finished as Lee nodded before glancing at both Kenny and Luke. "Give Rebecca a day or two to rest."
Kenny shook his head in disapproval. "This is a bad idea."
"I just need a day or two, Kenny. That's all." Rebecca reassured Kenny with Luke making his way toward her
"Just get some rest, Rebecca."
Lee saw Kenny frown at him. "My decision is made, Kenny. You got first watch. After that is Noah, and then Luke. Everyone else get some rest." he said defending his choice as Noah walked toward him
"So, what's the plan?" he asked
"I want you to take Mike and Bonnie with you to that town nearby. See what you can find." Lee answered
Noah glanced back at Stephanie. "Do you mind if I take one more?"
"Of course. You head there at first light."