Savior

A Walking Dead Fanfiction

Chapter One

Author's Note:

Hello! The idea for this story came to me while during my second play-through of The Walking Dead. I noticed a few little things, including an interesting Carley dialogue option. I wondered what could happen if Carley had lived. I'm not going to going to ruin it for anyone who reads the comics or watches the show, but other characters in the series survived similar situations. This story is set as if Lee and Carley had started a relationship, but nothing had gotten *too* serious yet.

This is just the first chapter (obviously), and any reviews or criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little story!

Am I dead?

Carley wondered as she stared into what seemed to be never-ending darkness. There had been a loud, sharp noise, a bright flash, and then nothing. It took her a moment to notice a burning pain in her right eye. It felt as if it had been seared and whatever had done it lay burrowed in her socket. She could smell dirt and feel the light scratching of leaves on her face.

After a silence that had only lasted seconds, but that felt like hours, she heard the deep rumble of Lee's voice. He sounded different, distraught and full of rage. After his voice was a high-pitched, desperate sounding Lily. She couldn't make out either of their words, they sounded so completely distant.

She heard a low crunching, as if someone were approaching her. She could hear Lee's voice again, softer and different, he was closer. She felt the light pressure of fingers on her neck for a moment. Lee spoke again, except he sounded much closer this time. It took her a moment to realize what he was saying.

"Carley?"

Lee's voice had a sense of shock. Moments later, she felt her body being lifted off the ground. She could feel her back against his arm, with her legs dangling over the other. Her head had unintentionally slumped onto his chest; she could feel his gentle breaths and quickened heartbeat. It was comforting.

She could feel him moving and then being set down on something soft. The RV's sofa, she thought after a moment. She was a bit disappointed, not feeling his heartbeat anymore, but she could hear his voice. The RV was moving and she could hear him walking around for a bit, speaking to the others.

She could also hear Clementine's gentle voice, and she was glad the girl was safe. After a while she heard Katjaa's voice closer to her. She could only make out a few words, and she could feel the sharp pain in her eye taking over again. Lee also spoke and they were both silent for a moment before Katjaa spoke again. She could still only make out a few words.

"Carley…saved….lost…eye…sorry…thank you."

It took her a moment to realize what she was saying.

Lee had saved Carley, and she had lost her eye. Likely to the loud bang and flash of light. Then, Carley thought over it for a moment. Lee had saved her.

Again.

Lee had saved her before, at the pharmacy. He had saved her over Doug. At first, she had wondered why, and thought he was stupid for saving her instead of Doug. Though, these feelings were soon replaced with gratitude and eventually she had started having feelings for him. She had told him about her feelings, and they had started expressing affection towards each other-though it hadn't ventured anywhere serious yet, and they had kept it a secret between the two of them.

She heard Lee talking to Clementine. He said something about Duck, but the words began slurring into each other and she couldn't understand anything after his name. She felt herself slowly begin to slide into unconsciousness.

"Lee?"

Lee sat up a little, hearing his name. He had fallen asleep on the sofa next to Carley with Clementine tucked under his arm. It took him a moment to realize it was Carley speaking. "You're awake." He said with a surprised smile.

"Yeah," Carley said, smiling back at him, then making a slightly pained noise. She reached her hand up to her eye and felt the soft cloth of the gauze. It had been wrapped around the side of her head to cover the socket, and was slightly moist with blood that had soaked through and stained the white cloth.

"You…lost your eye. After Lily shot you. Katjaa said there was no saving it, and she had to get rid of any remaining pieces." His face took on a sickly expression as he recalled how Katjaa had to remove the tissue with a pair of tweezers and a butter knife.

"Lily shot me?" Carley asked in shock.

Lee nodded slowly.

"Oh, shit." Carley said quietly, then looking back up to the man, "Why?"

"I don't know." Lee admitted, "She was angry and upset about the supplies…but pulling a gun on someone…"

"Where is she?" Carley asked, looking around.

"We left her there." Lee said, his gaze softening, "I couldn't risk that happening again. I couldn't risk losing you." Carley looked at Lee, not sure how to react to that. "I'm sorry." Lee said, looking away.

"No, I'm not mad." Carley told him, moving her hand to run it gently across his cheek. He looked back at her. "Thank you." She said softly, "Thanks for saving me…again."

"Of course." Lee said, though he sounded a bit confused, as if hadn't needed to thank him. He would have saved her, or tried to save her, no matter what.

Carley looked around to see that Ben and Clementine were still sleeping, Katjaa and Kenny slept in the cab with Duck. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Lee's lips, waiting for a long moment before pulling away. He smiled softly at her.

"Thank you." Carley repeated.