Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Zach huffed as the situation with the walker ended. The walker was dead on the ground with a gunshot through its head. He turned to Clementine, thankful to see that she was alright. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Zach asked. She nodded slowly which easily indicated that she was scared by the situation. Zach turned to see the markswoman lowering her gun. She was the reason why the walker was dead on the ground.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Zach got up and said, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." The markswoman nodded, but the situation soon worsened.
Suddenly, the whole building creaked and moaned from the walkers wanting to get in from outside. The sound of the gunshot acted as a dinner bell for the relentless creatures that were outside. "Uh…guys." The young man in the baseball hat said.
The entire group began to hunker down in their respective position. Clementine clung to Zach afraid that the walkers would get in. In response, Zach placed a supportive hand on her back to comfort the frightened five year old. "Everyone get down and stay quiet." The woman in the tank-top said sharply.
"They're going to get in." The older man said worriedly as he poked his head above the shelving.
"Shut up!" Kenny spat. Suddenly, there were several shots outside. By the sounds of it, the gunshots must have been fired several blocks from the pharmacy.
"Wait a minute, that can't be what I think it is." Zach said; he thought it was the military.
"Well thank God for whatever it is." The young man with the baseball hat said.
The gunfire had lured the walker's attention from outside, since the moaning and groaning of the walkers started to fade away and the constant banging on the building ceased. The older man got up with an angry glare directed towards the markswoman and said, "We almost died because of that bitch and her itchy trigger-finger! That was stupid! That was—Ow oh ow!" The older man grabbed his left arm in intense pain, and he fell to the ground.
"Dad!" The woman in the tank-top exclaimed and she rushed by his side.
"What's wrong with him?" Zach asked.
"It's his heart." The woman in the tank-top responded
"…my pills." The older man said with pain lacing his voice.
"Nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa asked.
"Yes, we've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here." The woman in the tank-top explained. "Please get behind the counter, where the pills are."
"We'll try to get in there." Zach said.
"Thank you so much." The woman said as she continued to calm her father down.
"I'm starting to think that this place isn't a permanent solution." The young man with the baseball hat said.
"You gotta point. This place ain't exactly Fort Knox." Kenny said.
"What are you thinking?" Zach asked.
"We need to get enough gas for your people and mine. I'll head down to the Motor Inn and siphon some gas." The man with the baseball hat said.
"You know you're way around? Local?" Zach asked.
"Born and raised." The man in the baseball hat said. "The name's Glenn." He extended his hand to Zach to which he accepted it and shook his hand.
"I'm Zach." Zach introduced himself. "If you're going to do that, here's a walkie-talkie." Zach said as he handed Glenn the hand-held radio. "No point in cutting yourself off from the rest of us. Clementine's got the other one. Check in with her if you get in a tight spot. Hopefully, you won't have to use it." Glenn gave an appreciative nod and headed out through the back exit.
"You what's your name?" Kenny asked the woman in the tank-top.
"It's Lilly; my dad's name is Larry." The woman replied
"Keep a good eye on him. These boys'll help you get that medicine." Kenny said.
"You keep an eye on that front door." Kenny said to a plump man. "You're our look out."
"It's Doug, you got it." The plump man introduced himself.
"And I'm Carley." The markswoman said as she walked next to Doug.
"Ok, Carley, you shift with Doug when he needs it. You're a good shot; I'd like to keep ya that way." Kenny said
"You got it boss." Carley replied.
Kenny looked to Zach and said, "Now go get him those pills."
Zach nodded, but then he could hear Clementine whimpering again. "Zach, I-I really got to go! I really got to go!" Clementine whimpered.
"Sorry sweetie." Zach said as he took her hand and escorted her to the bathroom.
After helping Clementine use the bathroom, Zach took her over to a couple of crates to sit down and asked, "Are you hungry? Or thirsty?"
"Yeah, I am a bit hungry and thirsty." Clementine replied. Zach took off his backpack and handed her the unfinished box of animal crackers along with a bottle of water. She accepted both with a smile and said, "Thanks Zach."
"You're welcome, sweetie." Zach replied. "I'm going to go ahead and look for the keys to the pharmacy to help Larry. If you need anything, come and get me."
Zach then got up as Clementine said, "Okay."
Zach went over to Lilly and Larry and asked, "Is he going to be okay?"
"I don't think that I got your name." Lilly said ignoring Zach's question. She also gave him a slight glare.
"It's Zach." Zach replied.
"I was just doing what I had to earlier." Lilly said as she got up from tending to her father.
"Everyone was." Zach stated.
"My dad's heart is acting up again and I'm powerless to help." Lilly explained. She then glared at Zach and continued, "And your friend's violence from earlier didn't help."
"Well what do you expect me to do?" Zach asked being fed up with everyone always finding a way to blame him for something. "I'm not his freaking keeper. I can't control his actions."
"No… I guess not." Lilly said as she lost her scowl and looked to Zach apologetically. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't blame you for what happened, especially when you had nothing to do with it. I'm just worried about my dad."
Zach calmed down and asked, "Has he had attacks like this in the past?"
"Yeah, he had a couple of really bad ones where I had to take him to the hospital." Lilly explained.
"That's not really an option, right now." Zach said.
Lilly nodded and said, "Yeah…" She then looked over to Clementine who was entertaining herself by coloring in a coloring book. "Where's her mom?"
"Savannah, I think." Zach replied.
"Oh, you guys aren't together then." Lilly said
"What?" Zach asked confused by the statement until he realized that Lilly thought that Clementine was his daughter. "Oh no." Zach said. "I'm not her dad. She was all by herself when I found her. I don't think her parents made it."
"Oh." Lilly said sympathetically as she stared at the girl. "She's lucky to have you."
"I'd say the feeling's mutual." Zach said. "I lost my wife the day before I found her, so… she has given me hope for a better future, to have someone to look after." Lilly nodded with a smile as Zach said, "I'd better get going. I got to find the keys."
"Alright, good luck." Lilly said as she crouched down to tend to her dad. As Zach left, Larry sent a glare towards Zach.
Zach went up to Kenny and his family. "Is Duck alright?"
"Yes, I think he was just in shock of what happened." Katjaa said.
"We're lucky as hell that no one got grabbed on the way in." Kenny said.
"Yeah, no kidding." Zach said.
"Still, you didn't help much." Kenny said with a scowl. "That old bastard wanted to kick my son out, but all you cared about was getting that girl of yours to the bathroom."
"Well that does make sense, doesn't it Kenny?" Zach said. "After all, I'm just a young, heartless Marine."
Katjaa gasped upon hearing what Zach said and looked to Kenny. "Kenny, did you really say that to him?"
"I…I…" Kenny started to stutter and he looked down sadly.
"And you said that to me before I saved your son and defended you from Herschel." Zach said with a glare.
Zach then started to walk away until Kenny grabbed his arm. "Zach stop." Kenny said remorsefully. Zach turned around and looked to him with his arms folded across his chest. "I am really sorry for what I said at Herschel's farm. I had no right in saying that to you. If anything up to this point, you've proved me wrong. You're doing a good job of taking care of Clementine. And I'm very thankful that you saved Duck back at Herschel's."
Zach sighed and said, "It's alright, just know that I'm trying my best to help out your family. But you have to realize that Clementine is my main priority."
"I understand." Kenny said sadly. "And sorry, that I gave you so much shit earlier. I know that you're trying your best and I haven't been quite fair with you."
"It's fine." Zach said. "For now, let's put any past grievances against each other behind us and look for the key to the pharmacy."
Kenny smiled to Zach and said, "Sounds good to me."
Zach left the family with a nod and went to up to Carley. It appeared that she was working on a wireless radio, but she stopped messing with the device and looked up to Zach as he approached her. "You're an impressive shot." Zach complimented.
"Well you don't f*** with a reporter especially one that is three days out from her last cup of coffee." Carley said.
"You're a reporter?" Zach asked.
"Yeah, I'm a reporter for WABE Atlanta." Carley said.
Zach looked to her questioningly and asked, "Have any former police or army training?"
"Nope." Carley said as she shook her head. "I took some self-defense classes. Who would have ever thought that they would pay off?"
Zach chuckled and asked, "Do you happen to know where the keys are?"
"I have no idea." Carley said. "I do recall Larry dragging an elderly couple from the office and throwing them out into the alley. Neither one made it… And he was afraid that they were bit." Carley then eyed Clementine and smiled to Zach. "You're a good caregiver." Carley complimented.
Zach smirked and said, "To tell you the truth, I've always wanted to be a father. The only problem was that I got shipped off to Afghanistan almost immediately after I got married."
"You're married?" Carley asked.
"I was married." Zach said sadly. "My wife is a casualty to this virus."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Carley said.
"I've had time to grieve." Zach replied. He then looked to the radio that Carley was working on earlier. "Something wrong with the radio?"
"Yeah, I can't seem to get it to work." Carley said. "I've been trying to get the thing to work since we got here so I could hear in from my station."
"Could I take a look?" Zach asked.
"Sure, here." Carley said as she handed the radio to Zach. Zach accepted the radio and looked over the device.
He first turned up the volume, with no results. He then turned the device over and extended the antenna, but once again nothing seemed to work. Finally, Zach opened up the battery compartment and he said, "Bingo."
"What? What is it?" Carley asked.
"You had the batteries in backwards." Zach said as he adjusted the batteries in their correct position.
The radio came to life as the anchor exclaimed, "…still no word from the military outpost in downtown Atlanta. More reports of the virus have spread as the body count has now reached over one million."
"The station is still okay!" Carley exclaimed.
"We're still…" The anchor started to say but he trailed off. "I-I'm sorry, but my producers are telling me that we're going off the air."
"Steve…" Carley said sadly.
"God bless America and God bless…" Suddenly a burst of static came through the speaker which made anything else that the anchor was going to say inaudible. Suddenly, the signal stopped, leaving the room in silence.
Carley looked down sadly upon the signal dying out. "Who knows, maybe they're okay." Zach told Carley
"I…I hope so." Carley said distantly. "I mean just because they went off the air doesn't mean they're gone."
"Exactly." Zach said. He then looked over to Doug who was keeping a constant look outside the door. Carley noticed his line of vision and looked to Doug with a noticeable smile. "I should probably go and check with Doug on how our defenses are holding up."
"Yeah… uh that sounds good." Carley stuttered.
"Is everything okay?" Zach asked with a curious look.
Carley hesitated for a couple of seconds until she said, "That guy, Doug, saved my life."
"No kidding?" Zach said.
"Yeah, my news vehicle was getting ripped apart by those ghouls, or whatever, and then out of nowhere, that guy, Doug, just came to the rescue." Carley said.
"You never know who the heroic ones are going to be." Zach said.
"Yeah…" Carley said as she looked to Doug with an affectionate stare. She shook her head to refocus and looked to Zach. "Anyway thanks for helping with the radio. I should try to find out if there are any other stations that are still active. Never hurts having more information."
"Good idea." Zach said. "I'll go help Doug." Zach left Carley and approached the plump nerd as he kept a vigilant eye over the situation.
"Hey Doug." Zach said.
"Oh hi." Doug said. Doug looked to the former Marine and asked, "You want to go outside and take a look?"
"I'm not suicidal yet." Zach chuckled.
"No, the gate out there is locked, so we'll be okay." Doug said.
"Huh, alright then." Zach said. The two proceeded to exit the pharmacy and saw several walkers roaming the untidy streets. A pack of walkers were noisily eating a newly captured meal which was indistinguishable due to walkers surrounding it. The smell was overwhelming and made both men flinch. The smell was a cocktail of the worst smells that one could encounter in life. The smell of death was most prominent. "They just…" Zach started to say.
"…Eat." Doug said, finishing Zach's sentence. "From what I can tell that's all they care about."
"And if one grabs you…?" Zach said.
"They eat you and whatever is left comes back as one of them." Doug said as he recovered from the pungent odor. "I think it's going to take a lot longer to figure this out than a couple of days."
"Yeah this might take a couple of years to figure out." Zach said as he crouched down. Doug joined him as Zach looked around the street. He noticed a very hasty fortification from the building across the street. Zach ignored it and continued to look around until he eyed a walker that was pinned down by a telephone pole. This particular walker wore a green scrub. Zach pointed to the walker and said, "That walker, right there… it looks like he's wearing a scrub, and the nearest hospital is in Atlanta."
"So that means that this guy might have worked here?" Doug asked.
"Yeah." Zach said. "Have you guys checked the whole pharmacy?"
"Yeah but we still couldn't find the keys anywhere." Doug replied.
Zach thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back in. I want to do a thorough sweep of the office."
"Okay." Doug said. The two men got up and headed back inside. Doug went back to being the lookout for the group and Zach went toward the office.
Clementine noticed her guardian had returned and got up to follow him. She placed her crayons and coloring book on the ground to follow the young man. Zach heard the pitter patter of the child's flats and looked over to see her. "You want to come help me look around?" Zach asked. Clementine merely nodded while looking at him with her wide eyes.
Zach opened the door and the two walked inside the office to be greeted at a grizzly scene. A cot was on the ground and was covered in blood. Clementine put on a brave face but was clearly frightened by the scene. "It's okay if you want to leave." Zach said.
Clementine shook her head and said, "I'm okay."
"Well alright, just tell me if it gets too much for you." Zach said with concern lacing his voice.
"Okay." Clementine said. Thankfully, the rest of the room looked decent. A first-aid kit sat on the table which piqued Zach's interest. Medicine was just as, if not more, important than food and water. Additionally, the room had a couple desks, one in which was blocking the door way. Zach looked up to a small television that sat on one of the shelves of the desk.
He looked back to the desk that was blocking the door to the pharmacy. The desk had a pallet in front of it which he moved out of the way as a wooden cane fell to the ground. The cane grabbed Clementine's attention and she eyed the cane on the ground. She slowly approached the object with her right arm clinging to her left arm. Zach finished placing the pallet on the other side of the room so it was out of the way and looked back to see the five year old staring at the walking stick. Zach chuckled and he went up to the girl. "You know what this is?" Zach asked as he picked up the cane.
"No." Clementine replied as she looked up to the cane that was now in Zach's hands.
"This is a cane. It helps people walk when they get older." Zach said.
"Oh, so are they sick?" Clementine asked.
"Nah, they just have a little harder time walking around, that's where the cane comes in. It helps them get around." Zach explained as he placed the cane on another desk.
Clementine nodded understandingly as Zach came back to move the desk. "Can I help?" Clementine asked as she walked up next to the former Marine. She looked at him with an ecstatic smile and her right arm was no longer holding her left.
"Sure, honey. Just be careful." Zach said. Clementine nodded and went to the desk ready to pull. "Okay, ready? Pull on three. One… Two… Three." With that said, the two pulled the desk both grunting from having to move the heavy desk. Clementine used a good portion of her own strength to pull the desk forward, but it was only through Zach's strength that the desk moved towards them. Clementine huffed a little but remained ready to help Zach. Zach looked to her and asked, "How are you holding up?"
"It's okay. It's not that heavy." Clementine said. Zach knew that was a lie; she struggled with the desk, but it wasn't the manual labor that he was worried about.
"How about everything else?" Zach asked.
"It's not good." Clementine said as she looked down sadly.
"No, it's not." Zach said. "You ready to move this a little more?" Clementine nodded and Zach started to push the desk so it was parallel to a spot on the wall. For Clementine's part, she managed to push the desk a couple of inches to the left so it wouldn't collide with the desk next to it when they would push it back.
Clementine stood straight up as Zach leaned forward to see if the desk could be used to fit into the empty space. "I'm always scared of them." Clementine admitted as she lowered her head. Zach looked over to her and walked up to her. He crouched down to her height as she continued, "I'm scared of the monsters."
"Sweetie, I think we're all scared." Zach said as he placed a couple of fingers under her chin and lightly pushed her head up. "We're all scared of them, Clem."
"But you're not. All the adults aren't." Clementine said.
"People have different ways of coping with their emotions, Clem." Zach said. "Remember how Lilly and Larry were being mean and angry earlier?"
"Yeah." Clementine said with a head nod.
"Well, they were being that way because they were scared. They thought Duck was going to become a monster." Zach explained. "You're not alone, Clem. Everyone's scared and some of them are scared for different reasons."
Clementine had a questionable stare aimed at Zach and asked, "Are you scared, Zach? You said everyone was scared for different reasons, so that means you're scared too, right?"
"Yeah, I'm… I'm scared that I won't be able to protect everyone, including you." Zach said. "But you know we're going to get better. We're going to adapt and one day, you won't be scared of them. You're still a child, Clem. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I'll always be there to protect you."
Clementine smiled to her guardian's word of encouragement and said, "Thanks Zach."
"You're welcome, sweetie. Remember you can talk to me about anything." Zack said.
"There is one other thing." Clementine said. "How will my parents know where I am?"
"They'll track us down. You're parents are probably very resourceful, so don't worry." Zach said.
"Okay, I have my walkie-talkie in case they try that way." Clementine said.
"Yeah, that's good. Keep close to me until then, okay?" Zach said. Clementine nodded. She then looked back to the desk. Zach followed her line of vision and asked, "You ready to go through one last round?"
"Uh-huh." Clementine replied with a nod. The Marine and five year old pushed against the desk and pushed it back into the empty space, but suddenly, Clementine jumped and exclaimed, "Ow!" She held her left hand pinky finger. From the finger came a decent stream of blood.
"Are you okay?" Zach asked.
"I hurt my finger." Clementine said with a slight whimper.
"Is it bleeding?" Zach asked as he got closer to examine her finger.
"Yes, it hurt." Clementine said as tears started to form in her eyes.
Zach picked her up and placed her on the desk. He quickly went over to grab a bandage from the first-aid kit and returned to the girl. "Let me see your finger." Zach said. Clementine obliged which gave Zach the opportunity to wrap her finger with the bandage. "There we go, all better." Zack said encouragingly to Clementine. His smile was infectious and made Clementine smile as well.
After helping Clementine with her injured finger, Zach looked back to the pharmacy door and said, "Well all we need now is the key." Zach looked through a couple of the drawers but only managed to find a universal remote. Zach sighed and said, "I don't think we're going to find anything in here." He went up to the five year old and picked her up from the desk. "Let's head back to the others." Zach told the young girl in his arms.
"Okay." Clementine said as she laid her head on his shoulder. Zach smirked at how the five year old had gotten more comfortable with him carrying her and headed for the door. On his way towards the door he stepped on something that made a shattering sound. "What was that?" Clementine asked.
"I don't know." Zach said as he walked backwards and stared at the ground. He looked down to a small picture frame of an older family. He squatted down to pick up the picture from its shattered frame and stood back up to look at the picture. "Well how about that." Zach said.
"What? What is it?" Clementine asked as she looked at the picture.
"Doug and I saw a walker outside who looks like the guy in this photo. He looks to be about my age." Zach explained. "He might have the keys with him." Zach proceeded to head back into the pharmacy and placed Clementine on the crates that she was sitting on earlier. He handed her the coloring book that she was working on earlier and said, "Thanks for helping me out Clem."
"You're welcome." Clementine replied.
Zach got back up to check with Doug about the walker outside until he could hear Glenn's voice from the walkie-talkie that was in a side pouch on Clementine's backpack. "Hey this is Glenn. Um, I'm in a bit of a jam." Clementine picked up the radio from the side pouch and looked at it as Glenn continued, "Little girl could you put your daddy on the phone…or walkie?"
Clementine handed the radio to Zach and he asked, "Hey Glenn, it's Zach. What's up?"
"Well I'm down at the Motor Inn and I'm stuck." Glenn said from the other end of the walkie-talkie.
"Stuck?" Zach asked.
"Yeah, I had a chance of getting some supplies, and I saw a girl." Glenn explained. "She said that I was bit, but I wasn't. She ran into an apartment room, and then a bunch of these dead guys came and got the drop on me."
"You hurt?" Zach asked.
"No but I do need help." Glenn said.
"Alright, we're gonna send some people down." Zach said.
"Awesome, I'll sit tight till then." Glenn said and the conversation with the walkie-talkies ended.
Zach looked to Clementine and said, "I better hold onto this, just in case Glenn tries to contact us again." Clementine nodded with a smile aimed at the Marine. Zach smiled back before clipping the radio to his belt.
Kenny approached Zach and asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that Doug ain't too great around walkers. You got your family to worry about. And…" Zach paused as he looked to Clementine innocently going back to coloring. "…And I don't want to leave Clementine here by herself."
"Katjaa and I'll keep an eye on her." Kenny said. "You go ahead and take Carley to get Glenn back."
"Okay, but I am counting on you." Zach said.
"Don't worry, Kat and I will watch her like she was our own." Kenny said
"Come on, we gotta go get Glenn." Carley said.
Zach sighed and said, "Okay." He walked up to Clementine who was still coloring until she noticed her guardian in front of her. "Clem, if anything happens while I'm gone, run over to Kenny and his family. He'll keep you safe."
"Okay. Be careful, Zach." Clementine said as she wrapped her arms tightly around Zach's neck.
"I will, sweetie." Zach said as he hugged her back and patted her back to finish the hug. Clementine understood and released Zach from the hug. She watched on as Zach and Carley left the pharmacy through the use of the alley door in the office.
…To be continued.
A/N: Sorry that this chapter is a little short.