AUTHOR'S NOTE: *SPOILERS* Episode 4...Jesus. As much as I hated Ben, I had to let him go. That decision is still on my mind days after I played it. Let me know what you thought about this one-shot, the game, this episode, and the scene itself in which Ben can die.

Write on,

WriteFF13

.:REGRETS:.

Chapter 1 – Episode 4: For Whom the Bell Tolls

"Come on, Lee! Just do it!" Kenney yelled from the ladder.

The huge bell clanged, the huge weight swung from side to side of the room. The floorboards creaked underneath the weight of Lee and Ben's combined weight as the latter hung by just a finger, using all of his strength to keep from falling to his death in the wave of Walkers below. Lee's muscles screamed in protest at the additional weight of Ben, but even as Walkers shambled ever nearer – one bite and that was the end of everything – he couldn't let go. Kenney's words flashed through his mind, urging him to let Ben go for the safety of the group and Kenney's sanity.

And then there was Clementine.

Ben was her friend, even after he had abandoned her in their first hour in Savannah and back at the motel weeks ago. Was it safe to even let him stay with the group? How many times was he going to abandon Clementine, or Omid, Christa...?

Ben's grip suddenly loosened, and the sudden drop almost dragged Lee to the edge. Kenney was picking off oncoming Walkers with a shotgun, but with every one that died, two more appeared until they began to reach for Ben's hanging shoes below, falling on top of each other and toppling over the stair railing.

Ben loosened his grip and Lee looked at him incredulously.

"There isn't time, Lee. You have to let me go," he said, his voice cracking.

Lee pulled harder, but it was no use. "Quit fucking around, Ben! Climb up!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ben was willing to sacrifice himself for the group, a group that had shunned him, berated him, and kicked him in the corner numerous times in reaction to his uselessness, but how was he now brave enough to even suggest this?

"You have to go with Clementine and the others. I'll be fine," he lied through his teeth, and they both knew it.

No one survives that kind of a drop in a wave of Walkers.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Come on!"

"Please," he pleaded.

Another shot rang from Kenney's shotgun, then a burst of agitated swears. "Fuck! There's too many of 'em! I'm headin' down! You decide what's right!" and he disappeared down the ladder outside of the church window.

Five seconds until the Walkers reached them and killed them both.

Lee squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip, ready to use all of his strength to haul Ben up, but not before he glanced one more time at Ben.

"Just do it."

Lee loosened his grip bit by bit and then...

Released, turning away from Ben's horrified scream as he crashed through wooden stairs, bouncing off the railings and landing three stories below in the midst of the Walkers. As Lee sprinted to the ladder, Walkers right on his tail, one last thing pierced the growls of the Walkers behind him...

As the Walkers collapsed on Ben and began to feast on him, whose every bone was broken in his body, he heard Ben's cries as his entrails were ripped right out of his stomach, crying for his mother.

As Lee began his descent, the church bell rang loud and clear one last time and then...

Silence.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't really know how that turned out, since it's the first-ever Walking Dead one-shot I've ever wrote, but I'm hoping it was interesting to read at most. Thanks for reading, and leave a review and let me know how I did!

-WriteFF13 (Site owner of . )