"Rise and shine. Time to get up!" a male voice said.
Lee squinted his eyes as the morning sun streamed in through the barn, he sat up and looked over. Clementine had started to stir and rubbed her eyes tiredly but he felt a little alarmed when there was no sign of Alyssa.
"If you're looking for the other girl, she's out looking for signal on her cell" the man who had spoken said "don't worry she's safe"
Lee nodded "Thanks"
Clementine stood up and scratched both of her arms looking slightly irritated "I'm itchy" she explained when Lee glanced at her.
"Well you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." the man said, causing Clementine to give a little shriek and quickly check her hair fearfully, "But I bet your daddy scared 'em all away, huh?"
"I'm -uh- not her dad" Lee was growing a little tired of explaining this "names Lee"
"Kenny" the man offered a hand when Lee stood up and he shook it. Suddenly there was a small boy standing at the doors of the barn with an excited look on his face.
"Dad! We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" he started jumping about, excited at the thought of a tractor and took off again.
Kenny chuckled "Better get going or else we won't hear the end of it" he walked out of the barn and Lee and Clementine followed. Lee was glad of Hershel's help as his leg didn't feel as painful anymore and he could walk better. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck though"
Lee smiled amused "Dodging or quacking?" he asked.
Turning Kenny grinned at him "Both" the small boy began shouting for his Dad to hurry up "See what I mean?"
The approached Duck and a woman that Lee guessed to be his mother and Kenny gave him his full attention "Word is you're on your way to Macon?" he asked.
"My family is from there" Lee explained.
Kenny nodded "Well Macon's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has too"
Lee nodded gratefully back, but he had to make sure Clementine and Alyssa agreed before he made a decision. "I'll need to ask the girls first" he said.
"Ahh gotta consult the missus. I understand"
Alyssa appeared from the side of the house looking a litle down-heartened "Manage to find a signal?" Lee asked remembering what Kenny had said.
She shook her head "Damn thing died on me" she held it in her hand and gave it an annoyed look "I could have sworn I turned it off and to make matters worse I don't have the charger" and put it back in her bag.
Kenny looked back at his family "Honey, Duck this here is Lee and ... eh ... sorry what are the girls names?"
Alyssa introduced herself and Lee saw Duck become a little shyer, leaning his head on his mums shoulders, he grinned, someone had a little crush on Alyssa. "This is Clementine" Alyssa added when the younger girl remained silent.
"Those are very pretty names" the woman smiled, she had a slight accent "I'm Katjaa".
Clementine smiled back "Thanks" she said happily.
Shawn came through the door and shot them all a smile, "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what these things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better."
Duck looked excited "I want to build a fence!"
"Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break" Shawn said.
The young boy's eyes widened with excitement "On the tractor? Cool!"
"Duck and I will hop to it" Shawn said and left the group with an excited Duck running after him.
Katjaa looked to Lee "I can keep an eye on your little girl here on the porch. We can visit". Clementine looked to Lee who nodded and she happily went over and sat by Katjaa. Alyssa remained standing and when Lee glanced at her she shook her head.
"No disrespect but I'd rather help out and keep busy" she averted her eyes and Lee nodded understandably, she had seen too much. He was just thankful she had managed to shield Clementine from it as much as she could.
"We'll be here if you wish to talk" Katjaa said without a hint of offense and began to talk to Clementine.
"Well, we better go find something to do" Lee said to Alyssa who nodded gratefully back and followed him over to Kenny who was attempting to fix his truck.
"Hey .. uh Kenny. Need any help?" Lee asked.
"Naw I think I got it" Kenny stopped tinkering and looked to Lee, "do you need any help?"
"This sounds like it's gonna be a serious grown-up talk" Alyssa said rolling her eyes "I'm going to go see if Shawn needs any help" she smiled at them both and walked towards the fence where Shawn was working. Lee couldn't help but notice that Shawn looked a little more happier when she began to help him hammer more boards on the fence. He would need to keep an eye on both of them.
"What do you mean?" he said turning back to Kenny.
"I mean in taking care of the little girl? Not so much the other one, she seems old enough to take care of herself" he said "You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?"
Lee shook his head and rubbed his chin "I have no idea what I'm doing" he said honestly.
"At least you're honest" Kenny said "Shoot. You're better than I was when Duck showed up. You'll figure it out"
"How's your boy doing with all of this?" Lee asked, Duck didn't seem too fazed by the zombies that had suddenly appeared.
"Good, I think. Katjaa's got a sister up in Memphis; we were coming back from visiting her. We were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy." Kenny frowned at the memory, standing up from the truck, "I thought he was kidnapping him. I was on the guy in about two seconds and… Christ. Just lucky I was there. We saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's. But we're a tough family, Lee. Ain't nothing gonna faze us."
Lee nodded "So what's your plan?"
"Get back on down to Lauderdale and let this mess get sorted out." Kenny began, "Government will start handing out shots and the National Guard will do its thing. On the odd chance things got too bad, we could hop on my boat, I guess" he added thoughtfully.
"You have a boat?"
"I'm a commercial fisherman, catching mackerel, dolphin, whatever's biting and paying. Katjaa wouldn't be wild about it, but the boat's not that bad." Kenny returned to his work and Lee decided to leave him to it.
"I'm gonna go check on the girls" Lee said glancing back over at Alyssa who was giggling at something Shawn said.
"See, you're already becoming a dad" Kenny chuckled.
Lee snorted and gave him a wave before returning back to Kataa and Clementine who looked relaxed sitting in the sun and chatting. "Hey there, girls. You two actually looked relaxed." he noted.
Katjaa smiled kindly at him "I think we're doing just fine, Clementine was just telling me about first grade" she explained.
"Oh, uh. How is that going for you?" Lee asked, realising just how little he knew about the girls he had promised to protect.
"It's easy" Clementine answered sitting up and smiling at him.
Lee nodded "Well, yeah it would be" he said, then realised he sounded blunt and gave Katjaa an embarresed look, she just gave him a small shake of the head but was still smiling.
She looked around the farm "Anyway, it's almost like we didn't see people eating each other for the past three days. It's peaceful here, no?" she asked looking back at Lee.
He nodded and gave her a serious look, glad that Clementine was distracting herself by trying to make a daisy chain. "How did you get out of the city?" he asked.
"Kenny just ... drove" Katjaa said a little distantly, the smile leaving her face "We passed so many people that needed help. And we .. just passed people ... over some. Just .. just .." she trailed off shaking her head.
Lee felt guilty for bringing it up "It's ok. It's fine, you don't have to say anymore" he told her.
Katjaa rubbed her forehead and sighed "I want to go home tomorrow, but even then I can't take away the things we – the things Duck – went through." she looked at Lee, "Don't you want to go back to the moment before you knew about all this?"
Lee thought about what she said, the moment he found out about all this, he was on his way to prison but he decided not to tell Katjaa this. It wouldn't make a good first impression. "Anybody in their right mind would" he said nodding "Families and BBQ's and beer's with good friends."
Katjaa smiled sadly and nodded "All of those things."
"Those are the things we live for, right? With those gone, what's the point?" Lee shrugged. He changed the subject quickly as Clementine seemed to come back to the conversation after failing at the daisy chain. "So uhh, what do you do when… corpses aren't walking around?"
"I'm a veterinarian back in Fort Lauderdale – like Hershel, here, except more with dogs and cats and not horses." Katjaa answered, "What is it that you do, Lee?"
"I used to teach up at the University of Georgia."
"We need to HOPE that we can go back to our jobs soon, Lee. Back to normal. It can't stay like this."
"You're right, hope is the one thing we can't lose" Lee didn't want to explain even if it did go back to normal, he couldn't go back to his old job "Back in a bit. You behave for Katjaa now" he said to Clementine who smiled and nodded as he walked by them.
Lee headed over to the back of the house where Shawn and Alyssa were working away while Duck sat on the tractor thrilled, and preteneding to drive it.
"How ya doing, Duck?" Lee asked amused.
"Good! I'm gonna drive the tractor!" Duck said, as he moved the gear stick "I'm the foreman! Lift with your back, Shawn!"
Alyssa noticed Lee and smiled "Look at me getting all handyman" she joked.
Shawn looked around "Hey, Lee," he said and went back to working, Lee noticed the way he kept glancing at Alyssa as she continued hammering the nails into the wood.
"Need a hand?" he asked, feeling his protective side coming out. He used to work in a University and knew what a boy looked like when he was interested in a girl.
"That'd be great. If you could cut those two-bys to length, that'd sure speed things up." Shawn replied in a cheery tone, not realising Lee's true intentions.
Lee walked over to the planks and gripped the handsaw. He had just began to cut the pieces in half when Alyssa gasped and clutched her hand "Damn," she cursed and pressed down hard on her palm which had started to bleed "didn't see that bit of barbed wire on the fence"
"Theres some plasters on the porch" Shawn said "I left them out incase of emergencies"
"Well aren't you the clever cookie thinking ahead" she smirked "back in a bit" and she walked off towards the house.
"My dad doesn't know how bad it is." Shawn stated turning back to the fence once Alyssa walked away.
"No, he doesn't." Lee agreed continuing with sawing the wood.
"I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face." Shawn grimaced.
"Was the boy one of the walkers?"
"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." Shawn sighed, "You don't see things like that. It's not like in the movies."
"They don't fall like you think." Lee muttered.
Shawn blinked as he turned to Lee with a surprised look on his face "Did you have to do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kill. Have you had to off one yet?"
Lee thought about Sandra, the babysitter. "I bashed a poor girl's brains in."
Shawn let out a low whistle "Whoa, I couldn't do that," he said "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" he seemed intent on having a proper conversation with Lee as he then asked "How about yours? How's your family?"
Lee didn't bother explaining about his ex-wife and focused on his family "My brother and parent's are in Macon, I hope," he added, hoping with all his might they were safe there.
"Oh man, I hope so too. Maybe it's not too bad there." Shawn noticed how much wood Lee had cut and nodded "That's probably all I need cut for now. Thanks."
"No problem" Lee said smiling "And Shawn, thanks again for the ride."
"No problem, Lee. Couldn't leave you behind." Shawn replied, "Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn."
Alyssa smiled at Katjaa and Clementine as she walked up to them "Hey, how's the chat going?" she asked walking past them and heading for the small first aid box on the porch that Shawn had mentioned.
"Clementine was just telling me about herself" Katjaa paused "so what age are you Alyssa?"
Alyssa kept searching for some plasters "I'm eighteen" she said "my birthday was last month"
"So you're ten years older than me?" Clementine asked.
She nodded "Good mental arithmatic Clem, I am ten years older than you"
Katjaa smiled at both of them "So how did you two get to know each other?" she asked non-chalantly but Alyssa knew she was wondering how they both had met Lee, she supposed it was the mother in her that was making her ask these questions.
"My friend was babysitting Clem when ... when all of this happened" Images of a zombiefied Sandra and a gaping hole in her head sprang to Alyssa's head and she shuddered "Lee showed up at the right time"
"He's going to help me find my parents" Clementine piped up "and Alyssa's too"
Alyssa stayed quiet and Katjaa noticed this, she wasn't in any hurry to be reaqquianted with her father. "Hey Katjaa can you put this plaster on my finger?" she asked, changing the subject and taking a seat next to the older woman "cut my hand on the fence"
When Lee walked into the barn, Hershel was busy shoveling hay with a pitchfork. He lifted his head and squinted annoyingly at him with distrust in his eyes. "How'd you get out Atlanta?"
"…I got a ride and then I was in a wreck. I walked until your boy found me." Lee lied a little, he didn't see the point in telling the truth if he was leaving today. Hershel had made it clear he didn't want them all staying longer. "You're farm is impressive" he said changing the subject.
"Heh, had you told me twenty years ago I'd still be doing this, I would've told you that you were full of crud. 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?" Hershel looked serious.
Lee felt some tension "Was brought up to, yes." he answered carefully.
"Where's your family now? Parents? Wife? Girlfriend?"
"My parents are in Macon, with my brother."
"Well I hope their alright." Hershel said, he even sounded somewhat sincere. "But now you've got these girls to take care of. Clementine and Alyssa, is it? You just stumbled up-on them?"
"Yeah, I was looking for help in Clementine's house. Alyssa was babysitting at the time"
Hershel snorted and stopped his work, sticking the pitchfork into the ground in almost a threatening way "Can I give you a piece of advice?"
"What is it?"
"I don't know who you are or what you did," he began. "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 to questioning yours, you're going to be in trouble. Oh, and I'd start checking the attitude, friend."
Lee opened his mouth to answer back. Attitude? Hershel was the one with the attitude but before he could say a word, there was a loud revving noise and a scream of pain.
Alyssa heard the screams and jumped up from the porch and headed to the source of the noise. She got there the same time as Lee and her eyes widened in fear at the sight before her. Shawn's legs were trapped under the tractor and he was trying to pull himself out from under the machine while some walkers tried to grab at him snarling through the fence.
Duck looked incredibly scared and froze while sitting on the tractor when suddenly one of the monsters grabbed at his leg and pulled him closer, he gave a scream of fear and tried his hardest to escape the monster's grip.
"You help Shawn, I'll get the kid!" Lee shouted at her running forward. Alyssa acted quickly and fell to her knees in front of the terrified teen then began to try and pull Shawn out from under the tractor.
"DAD!" Duck hollered, tears now pouring down his face as Lee desperately tried to fight off the monsters. Kenny came charging from around the corner and looked terrified as he grabbed a hold of Duck and began to pull. Lee at the same time punched the monster hard in the face and in that split second of releasing Duck's leg, Kenny pulled him away and picked him up.
"I got you!" he said to Duck, carrying him in his arms.
"Now Shawn!" Lee shouted to Kenny, picking up a board and smacking a walker clambering over the fence in the head.
"GET THIS TRACTOR OFF OF ME!" Shawn shouted in pain to Kenny, who just shook his head and ran off with Duck in his arms. Alyssa felt tears in her eyes as Shawn cried out in pain.
"LEE, HELP ME! PLEASE!" Alyssa yelled at him but before Lee could do anything, the wood cracked and the fence fell in as the two monsters collapsed on top of Shawn and wasted no time in sinking their teeth into his leg and throat. Lee grabbed Alyssa by the shoulders and dragged her back, she was too in shock to do anything as blood splayed from Shawn's body and he screamed in pain.
It was too late when Hershel arrived with his gun, he blanched and looked deathly white as he seen what had happened to his son. Gritting his teeth, he took aim and shot one of the monsters in the head, the other hearing the gunshot raised it's head and growled at him before he shot it too. The third one, having recovered from Lee's attack on it with the board, roared and began to stumble towards Hershel, but he raised his gun again and shot it.
Falling to his knees he tried to comfort Shawn in his last moments "I'm gonna get you fixed up, everything will be fine" he said to him.
Shawn smiled weakly "Alyssa ... she .. she tried to help"
Alyssa bit her lip and her shoulders started to shake as she began to cry, Lee pulled her into a hug and she let out a sob before hiding her face in her hands. "I know son, I know" Hershel said soothingly, Shawn gave one more breath and then his eyes closed and his body grew slack as he died in his fathers arms.
Alyssa looked up from her hands and seen Clementine watching the scene with a terrified look on her face and tears in her eyes. Kenny and his family also neared and he looked guilty as hell as he seen the lifeless body of Shawn and the three walkers. Hershel looked down on his son one more time before he closed his eyes.
"Get out" he said in a deadpan voice. He opened his eyes and looked furious "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE."
"I'm .. I'm sorry." Kenny choked out, looking down at the ground.
"SORRY? Your son is alive. You don't get to be sorry." Hershel yelled "that girl was more of a man than you, trying to help my son!" he pointed at Alyssa who wiped her eyes and sniffed.
"Look at him." Hershel said, gesturing to Shawn's dead body. "Sorry, is no damn good!" the fight seemed to leave him and he knelt back down next to his son to mourn, "Please, just go," he said sadly.
Alyssa looked up to Lee with tears in her eyes, "Where do we go now?" she whispered fearfully. Lee bit his lip and glanced at Clementine who was hugging herself looking at Shawn's dead body.
Both Lee and Alyssa turned to Kenny and she gave him a beseeching look, his eyes met Katjaa's and they both glanced at Clementine and back at Alyssa and without saying anything came to a decision.
"You've got that ride to Macon if you want it." Kenny mumbled sadly, before leaving with his family for his truck.