"Is the coast clear?"
"Yeah. No sign of the walkers."
The trio walked down the sidewalk as they got closer to the house.
"This is where you've been stayin' at?" asked Vernon as he looked up at the house.
"Yep. It's actually pretty stable." Ulrich replied.
They opened the gate and walked into the backyard. As they entered the yard, they heard a lot of crashing and yelling coming from inside the house.
"What the hell?" Lee asked as they opened the door and walked inside.
What they saw surprised them a bit.
Everyone except for Yumi and Odd were standing in the corners of the living room. Jamie and Billy hid behind Anne, Carley, and Molly and were shivering in fear as they watched the scene.
As for Yumi and Odd, they were in the center of the room. Yumi was holding Odd by the front of his shirt and was shaking the living daylights out of him. Odd had an expression of fear and dizziness on his face as she shook him. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'THEY CLIMBED INTO THE SEWERS'?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH DANGER THEY COULD BE IN RIGHT NOW?!" Yumi yelled as she shook Odd even more. The rest of the occupants in the room backed away a few more feet in hopes of escaping Yumi's wrath.
"Whoa, Yumi! Chill out! We're alright!" Ulrich called out to her.
Yumi immediately stopped shaking Odd and looked at Ulrich. She gasped. "Guys! You're alright!" she exclaimed happily as she let go of a half-conscious Odd, who landed on the floor with a thud.
"Who's the old guy?" asked William.
"This here is Vernon. He's a doctor and he helped us find our way through the sewers," said Lee. "A doctor?!" asked Christa. "Can you help us? Omid's hurt his leg and it might have gotten infected." she told him desperately.
"I'll see what I can do. Take me to him," Vernon said as he followed Christa upstairs. Molly walked over to Lee and said, "I think you have something that belongs to me?"
"Hm? Oh," Lee said as he handed her the ice pick.
"By the way, is Clementine here?" he asked. "Yeah, I brought her, Kenny, and Odd back here in one piece, but I think she hid somewhere when that girl, Yumi, went crazy." Molly answered. Odd crawled his way over to them. "I'd check the closets if I were you. She might be playing hide and seek." Odd said as he used Molly as support and hoisted himself up.
"Now how the hell do you play hide and seek alone?" asked Lee.
"Uh..."
"Yeah, didn't think so," Lee muttered. Lee then immediately started looking around the house for the younger girl. Carley noticed this and asked, "Lee, what's wrong?"
"Have you seen Clementine?"
"No. Want some help looking for her?"
"Yeah. Thanks Carley," said Lee. They walked over to the stairs to find Jeremy sitting at the bottom deep in thought.
"Hey, Jer," Lee greeted. Jeremy snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the two with a smile. "Hey," he greeted.
"Have you seen Clem?" asked Lee.
"No, I thought she was with you in the living room. You need some help?"
"Yes. Thank you, Jeremy," said Carley. The trio walked into the living room to find Kenny, Ben, and Patrick sitting on the couches. Kenny was drinking a bottle of whiskey.
"Kenny?" asked Lee.
"Oh, hey. You made it back." Kenny greeted sluggishly.
"Where'd you get the bottle?" asked Jeremy.
Kenny shrugged. "Fooouund it." he slurred with a goofy smile. "Kenny, give me the bottle." Lee said as he reached for it, but Kenny held it closer to him. "C'mon, give it here." Carley sighed she tried to take it from him.
"Uh-uh. Mine."
"I tried that already. It's not gonna work," said Patrick.
Kenny offered the bottle to Ben. He was about to take it, but he saw the look Lee, Carley, and Jeremy were giving him, so he just shook his head and sat back down.
"Have either of you two seen Clementine?" asked Carley.
"Nope. Gotta be around here somewhere," Kenny said as he drank more whiskey.
"I'd try looking out in the backyard. She might be playing out there," said Ben. "You let her go out there ALONE?!" Jeremy asked. "What? It's no big deal. There's a fence outside, anyway," said Ben with a shrug.
"Oh, son of a..." Jeremy trailed off as he, Lee, and Carley darted into the kitchen and burst through the door.
"Clementine?!" Lee yelled as the trio frantically looked around the yard for the girl.
There was some banging coming from the shed. They walked over to the shed and Lee and Carley got ready to open the doors.
Just as they were about to open them, the doors slammed open, knocking Lee, Carley, and Jeremy to the ground.
"Lee!"
The three got up to find Clementine in the shed. She ran over and hugged Lee and Carley.
"Hey girl!" Lee said playfully.
"Come look! Look what I found!" she said as she walked over to the shed. Lee opened the doors, revealing a boat that was large enough for everyone that was in the house to fit in.
"Holy shit," Lee gasped.
"Swear," Clementine said, making Carley and Jeremy chuckle.
They turned around to find Kenny standing there. When he saw the boat, he smiled and dropped the whiskey bottle.
"I don't believe it. There was a boat here the entire time! Good job you guys!" said Kenny.
"Thank Clementine. She's the one who found it first," Jeremy chuckled as they headed back inside.
After they told everyone about the good news, Ben and Kenny went to examine the boat. Everyone except Omid waited in the living room.
Soon, Ben and Kenny came back in.
"Well?" asked William.
"Which do you want first? The good news or the bad news?" asked Kenny.
"Let's get the bad news outta the way first." Lilly said as she crossed her arms with a frown.
"The bad news is that she's not taking us anywhere the shape she's in. Gas tank's empty and the battery's dead, but the good news is that's all she's gonna need to get up and running."
"Where are we supposed to get gas and a battery?" asked Anne.
"Sounds like Crawford is the one place that has everything," said Lee.
"Are you crazy?! You saw what they did there!" said Odd.
"We have to try. If there are people who are still alive and still have supplies, what harm can it do?" Christa asked as she got up.
"Trust me. You don't know these people. I do. If you show up with a wounded man, you might as well put a noose around his neck. They don't exactly welcome children, either," said Vernon.
"Why?" asked Aelita.
"Crawford's all about survival of the fittest, so anyone who too young, too old, or too sick is not welcome there and if they find out, they'll kick them out or worse," said Molly. "I don't think we have any other choice."
"And just how exactly do you figure we do this?" asked Kenny.
"I say we sneak in," said Ulrich.
"Now THAT'S a plan! I'm an expert at sneaking around!" Odd said with a grin.
"But how are we gonna sneak in?" Yumi pointed out. "I know the sewer system that runs beneath Crawford. We might be able to sneak in like that," said Vernon. "We sneak in, grab what we need, and get outta there."
"That's not a bad idea," said Molly.
"Let's do this," said Lee.
"I'll go let my group know. I'll be back before dark," said Vernon as he walked out of the house. "Who's gonna stay and watch Omid?" asked Christa.
"I'll stay," said Patrick.
"Me too," said Tim.
"So will I," said Rugby.
"I don't wanna run into the bad people there," said Billy. Jamie nodded.
"Don't worry. We'll keep an eye on 'em," Patrick said.
"Then it's settled," said Lee.
"Is Crawford gonna be dangerous?" Clementine asked. "Yeah, it's gonna be dangerous," said Lee. "I don't want anyone else to die." the little girl said.
"Neither do I, but we're gonna have to take that kinda risk," said Lee.
"I guess I should go get ready," said Clementine. "Wait. What?" Aelita asked as she walked over to them. "You said you need all of us to do this," said Clementine.
"Yeah, but you heard what Molly said. It's dangerous, especially for children," said Aelita.
"But Lee said that I should always stick close to him. Can't I come with you guys?"
Lee sighed. "Alright, you can come, but remember, stick close to me no matter what," he said. Clementine nodded.
It was nighttime when most of the group walked out of the house.
Vernon and Brie walked through the gates.
"Who's she?" Odd asked. "This is Brie. She can help us out," Vernon explained.
"How?" asked Lee.
"I was a student at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies. I know the layout," Brie explained.
"With her help, we'll be able to get in and out faster," said Vernon.
"What're we waiting for? Let's get moving," Molly said as she threw her hood up. Ben walked over to Lee and handed him a hatchet.
"Let's go," he said as he took the axe and the group opened the gate and left the house.
Jeremy peeked around the corner.
"No sign of walkers."
"Good. Come on," Vernon said as they walked over to a manhole.
"Now this looks familiar," Yumi remarked before they climbed in one at a time.
"I can't believe we're going through the sewers..." Lilly muttered as they walked through the sewer tunnels. She groaned in disgust as she stepped over a dead rat.
"Hey, back in France, we would do this all the time," said Odd.
"Why would you go into the sewers, anyway?" asked Carley.
"We would hang out there and ride our skateboards through it. We'd also use the sewers to get to the abandoned factory so we could check the place out," Ulrich replied, using the excuse he gave earlier.
"Guys, we're here," Vernon said as they looked up at a ladder.
"We're right under Crawford," he said.
"OK people, this is it. Remember the plan. We stay quiet and we stay together," said Lee. "We get in there, get what we need, and get the hell out before anyone knows that we're there. Got it?"
Everyone nodded.
Lee climbed up the ladder first before they followed him. They quickly got out and hid behind some bushes.
"So this is Crawford, huh?" asked Jeremy.
"Where is everybody? There should be guards patrolling this place," said Vernon.
"I think I see one over there," said Christa. Sure enough, someone was walking in front of the school doors.
"Kenny, William, and I will try to sneak up on him and take him out. You guys wait for our signal," said Lee. Kenny got his rifle ready and William got his switchblade out.
The three crawled over to the guard. Lee got the hatchet ready as the guard turned around. What the man saw as the 'guard' faced him surprised him. "What the fuck?!"
The guard turned out to be a walker. It lunged at Lee, but he slammed the hatchet into it's skull and kicked it away.
"What the hell is a walker doing inside Crawford?!" asked William. Suddenly, more walkers started coming from behind bushes and buildings.
"Everyone get inside NOW!" Lee shouted as the group got up and darted to the doors. Once everyone was in, Lee and Kenny shut the doors. They ran up some stairs and ran through another set of doors.
"You think they saw us?" asked Yumi.
"I don't know," said Lee, scaring Clementine a little. Ben paced back and forth his hands behind his head.
"What happened here? I thought you said this place was secure," said Christa.
"What always happens, I guess. In the end, the dead always get their way." Molly said as she looked at them.
"Oh man, we are so screwed," Ben muttered.
"No, this is good," said Vernon. "How exactly is this good?" asked Anne as she took off her hat.
"Before, everyone in Crawford were smart and had guns. Now they're dumb and don't," Vernon explained.
"Come on, I think I know which way to go to," Brie said as they followed her down a hall. Jeremy stopped when he heard moans coming from behind a boarded up door. He nervously backed away from it.
"Just keep moving," Molly told the nervous boy as they reached a door.
They walked into the room, revealing it to be some sort of classroom. Lee walked over to a door that said 'ARMORY' and tried to open it, but it was locked.
Kenny examined a chalkboard and said, "Looks like they were using this room as some sort of command center."
"OK, so where do we start looking?" asked Molly.
Brie looked at a map on the wall.
"Any ideas about where we could find the battery?" asked Aelita.
"Maybe at the auto shop. There should be one there," said Vernon.
"What about fuel?" asked Ulrich.
"There's a shed over by the playground there, so if they were storing fuel, that's where'd they keep it," said Brie.
"What about medicine?" asked Christa.
"Right here at the nurse's office. They were using it as a medical station," Molly said as she pointed at it on the map.
"Okay, I'll run to the maintenance shed to get the fuel," said Kenny.
"I'll go too," Brie volunteered. "Ben, Lilly, William, see if you can use any tools to get that armory door open. We might need to shoot our way outta here if we have to," said Kenny. "I'll go get the medicine," said Christa. "Me too," said Aelita. "I'll come with ya. I know what to take," said Vernon. "Okay, then that leaves me to go get the battery," Lee observed.
"I'll go with you," said Carley. "Me too. We'll watch your back," said Molly.
"I can help you find the right one for the boat," said Jeremy. "And I can grab it if it's in a tight space," Odd said. "Cause you're scrawny." William smirked. "I'm not scrawny, I'm svelte!" Odd replied indignantly.
"Hey, what about me?" Anne asked. "I can help you find it quicker."
"You can come with us," said Lee. "Clementine, you can stay here and watch over the command center with Ulrich and Yumi."
"OK," said the girl.
"Let's go," Lee said as his group walked out of the classroom. On the lockers, they found a sign that said 'PRINCIPLES OF CRAWFORD'. They walked over to it and read it.
When Anne looked at the line that said 'Children under 14 not admitted without authorization', she immediately froze.
Carley noticed this and asked, "Hey Anne, what's wrong?"
"It says that children under 14 are not admitted," Anne said with a frown. "This people actually let kids Clementine's age die so they could live!"
Carley frowned. "They should have their ass kicked, every single one of them," she agreed.
Jeremy looked at another poster on the left of the sign that showed a picture of a man with the words 'C. Oberson- Crawford Leader' above it. "This must be the leader," he said as he adjusted his glasses. Some leader he was. Forcing sick, elderly, and young ones to die for his own survival...
"Well, if I ever see him, I'm gonna give him an arrow in the ass," said Odd. Anne smirked. "Good one," she acknowledged.
"The alley way to the motor shop is this way. Come on," Molly said as she ran through a door.
"Wait up!" Odd said as they followed her. "Hey, where'd she go?" asked Anne. Molly was nowhere in sight. They walked around a corner and found a shed with a hole in the roof.
"The auto shop must be on the other side of the fence," said Carley.
"Looks like we're gonna have to jump over it," said Lee.
"You're kidding me, right?" asked Jeremy.
"Nope," Lee said as they walked into the shed. Lee used the shelves to climb through the hole and jumped over the fence.
"Jump! I'll catch you!" Lee shouted. Carley climbed up next and jumped off, landing in Lee's arms. The two blushed before Lee set Carley down. "Relax, I do stuff like this all the time!" Odd called as he jumped off the roof and landed on his feet right in front of Carley and Lee, surprising them a bit. "Your turn, Einstein," Odd called up to the blonde genius. Jeremy gulped. "Here goes!" he said as he jumped off the roof. Odd and Lee caught him. "You're up, Anne." Carley said, but Anne just stood there.
"What's wrong? You scared?" Odd teased.
"Shut up, Odd." Anne snapped. "Back in you-know-where, jumping off of high places is a piece of cake, but now..."
"'You-know-where'?" Lee asked as he raised an eyebrow. Odd and Jeremy looked up nervously at Anne as she mentally smacked herself for saying that. "Don't worry, we'll all catch you!" said Carley. "On three. One... two... three!" Jeremy shouted. Anne jumped off the roof and landed in their arms. "See? That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Lee asked as they set her down. "I guess. Just be glad Ulrich didn't come with us. He has a bad case of vertigo," Anne said as she adjusted her hat.
Suddenly, a walker fell off a building and landed in front of them. Lee walked over to examine it, but they heard a familiar voice shout, "Leave him!"
They turned around just in time to see Molly jump off a roof. "He's mine." she growled darkly as she got her ice pick out.
"Nice to see you too." Odd greeted sarcastically as she passed by them. Anne elbowed him. "Mind telling us why you were up there?" asked Carley. The blonde woman ignored her question and repeatedly kicked and stabbed the walker.
"MOLLY!" Lee shouted, making her stop.
"What?!" asked Molly.
"Calm down! What's wrong with you?" asked Jeremy. "What's the matter? You never seen someone kill a geek before?" asked Molly as she stabbed the walker again.
"Well, not like THAT." said Odd. After Molly kicked the walker one last time, she looked at the group and asked, "Have you found us a way in?"
"Yeah, but I think the garage door's jammed," said Lee. "Not a problem. Look what I found," Molly said as she showed them some type of tool.
"Oh yeah. That's what I'm talking about!" Odd said as Lee took it and placed it under the garage door. He spun the lever on the side and the door went up.
Suddenly, some walkers pushed an old fence down. "Crap! Move it!" Anne shouted as they crouched down and crawled into the auto shop. Fortunately, the walkers passed by them.
"You guys look around for the battery. I'll keep an eye on the door." said Molly.
Anne opened up a hood on a truck and looked at the engine.
"No battery in here." she sighed as she closed the hood.
Carley glanced up at a car on a lift. "Maybe that one has a battery. But how are we gonna get it down?" the former reporter asked.
Jeremy looked at a panel on the wall and saw a hose attached to it.
"No way we can pry that off with our hands," he said. Lee walked over to Molly and asked, "Can I borrow your ice pick?"
"I don't know. Hilda and I have been through a lot together." Molly said, earning looks of confusion from the group. "Hilda?" asked Odd. "Yeah. It sounds better than 'ice pick', don't ya think?" asked Molly as she handed the tool to Lee. He walked over to the hose and sliced it off. The ramp that held the car started to slowly desend, but landed on the floor suddenly, causing the alarm to go off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lee shouted. "That's probably not good!" Molly said. "Quick, check to see if it has a battery!"
Lee and Carley lifted the hood up and found a battery in it.
"Finally!" Carley sighed. Lee quickly detached the terminals and pulled the battery out.
"Put it in my bag. I'll carry it!" Molly said as Lee placed the battery in her backpack. Walkers started to crawl through the opening under the garage door. "On the truck!" Jeremy shouted as they climbed onto the semi truck. The walkers started shaking it. "Okay, now what?!" Lee asked as they tried to keep their balance.
Molly looked up. "Skylight! You're gonna have to shoot it out!"
Carley quickly pulled out her gun and shot it, shattering the glass. Molly jumped up and pulled them up one at a time.
"OK, now we're on a roof." Lee muttered, stating the obvious.
"Come on." Molly said as she ran and jumped onto the school roof with the help of "Hilda".
"Hey, what are you, chicken? Jump!" Molly told them.
"Chicken?" asked Lee. "Well, now that you mention it..." He looked over the edge. He then ran and jumped off the ledge. Molly caught him and pulled him up.
Carley jumped across and was caught by Lee. Odd used his crossbow to latch onto the ledge like Molly did with Hilda as he jumped across the alleyway. Anne went next and stumbled on the landing, but when Jeremy jumped across and landed on the ledge, he lost his footing.
"WHOA!" he cried as he began to fall backwards. "Shit!" Anne exclaimed as she dashed forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him back onto the roof. "This is why you should work out more." Anne stated as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Ha ha," Jeremy muttered sarcastically once he caught his breath.
They then climbed through a hole in the roof. Anne climbed off last, but ended up landing on Odd and Jeremy.
"OOF!"
"Come on, Molly." Lee called up to the girl, who was still on the roof. "Later. There's something I gotta do first," she said.
"What?! But you have the battery!" Jeremy pointed out as he got back up.
"I think I'll hold onto it, make sure you don't leave without me. Catch you later!" Molly said as she ran off.
"Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Anne groaned out.
Suddenly, Brie and Kenny came barging through the doors with a few gallons of gas. "Little help here?!" Kenny exclaimed as Lee, Carley, and Jeremy ran over and tried to keep the door shut as walkers started coming after them. A walkers head got stuck in between the doors. Lee quickly shot it and they slammed the doors shut. Jeremy noticed the hatchet in front of him and quickly grabbed it and stuck it in between the handle bars.
"You think it'll hold?" asked Carley. "It'd better," said Kenny.
"Hey, you got the fuel!" Odd grinned as he looked down at the gallons of gas. "Let's not go high-fiving each other just yet. Give us a hand with these, will ya?" Kenny asked. Odd nodded and picked up a gallon and they walked back to the classroom. "You're back!" Clementine said happily as she ran over to them. "Yep, and we made back pretty good too. How're they doing with that door?" asked Kenny.
"Not so good," said Ben.
Kenny sighed. "Here. Lemme give you a hand with that," he said as he walked over to the door.
"You guys get that battery, yet?" he asked. "Yeah. Molly has it. She should be back soon," said Carley.
"I'm gonna go see if Vernon and Christa need some help," said Lee.
"I'll come with you," said William as the two walked out of the classroom and walked down the hall to see several walkers in front of the nurse's office. They ducked behind a desk.
"Shit. Vernon, Aelita, and Christa must be trapped in there," Lee whispered as he got his gun out and fired at a walker. He quickly shot the rest in the head before the two got up and entered the office to find Christa with her gun ready. She lowered it once she realized it was only them.
"What happened?" asked William. "They wandered in here. They must have heard us. This entire place is infected! They're everywhere!" Christa said.
"Relax, Lee took care of them," said William. "By the way, you guys find the meds we need?"
"That's our other problem," Vernon said as he looked at a cabinet.
"They must have taken all their medicine and locked it up tight in that safe. If we had the combination, we'd be able to get out a lot quicker," Aelita said. William sighed and looked at a desk. "What's this?" he asked himself as he picked up a file off the desk. He opened it and found some paperwork and a video cassette in it.
"'Anna Corea'. Hm, guess she must have been a patient here," William muttered as he picked up the video cassette. "I think we just got lucky," he said with a smile as he walked over to a video camera set up in the room with it. He inserted it and pressed PLAY. "Hey guys, check this out," William told the other three as they gathered around it and looked at the screen.
A woman was sitting on a bed as a doctor walked over to her. They listened closely as the doctor told her that she was pregnant. The woman begged him not to tell, but the man simply said that he had no choice. William took it out as the clip ended.
"What kind of place was this?!" asked Aelita.
"Like Molly said: The worst kind," Lee replied.
"Maybe there's another tape. We might be able to figure out the combination if we keep watching them," William suggested. "Good idea. I recognize that guy in the video as one of the walkers outside by the auto shop. You stay here and I'll see if he's got anything on him," Lee said as he walked out of the office. Several minutes later, he came back holding two tapes.
"I found two more," said Lee. "Put it in," said Christa. Lee nodded and placed one of the tapes into the video camera and they gathered around the screen.
On the screen, it showed the woman and the doctor talking again. The doctor said that she could terminate the pregnancy or leave Crawford. She begged him to help her, but he wouldn't. As the doctor walked over to the safe and locked it, the woman darted up, grabbed a knife, and stabbed him. She grabbed his gun and ran out of the office.
"I think we know what happened to Crawford," Lee said as he took out the tape. "I saw the combination in the video. Now we'll be able to get into the safe," said Aelita.
Suddenly, Christa started crying.
"Hey, you OK, Christa?" asked William.
"It's nothing. It's just... hard to watch. Don't worry, I'm fine," Christa said.
"Alright then, let's go get those meds and get the hell outta here," said William. Aelita walked over to the cabinet and punched the code in, opening it.
"It's open!" she said, looking over her shoulder.
Vernon walked over to it and started taking medicine out.
"OK, I think we got enough," said Vernon. "I found a third tape in that locker outside," said Lee.
"Well, don't take to long. Christa and I will be back in the classroom." Vernon told them as he and Christa left. Lee inserted the tape and he, William, and Aelita gathered around it. "Hey wait a sec... is that Molly?!" William nearly shouted in surprise. "Shh!" Lee and Aelita hissed as they watched Molly talk to the doctor. The doctor said that he couldn't give her more meds. Molly said that they had a deal and that her sister needed the medicine and angrily left the room with some medicine.
Lee took the tape out as Aelita and William stared at the camera in shock.
"So that's why Molly knew so much about Crawford." Aelita said as the trio left the room walked into the hallway. Suddenly, Molly jumped down from the hole in the ceiling.
"GAH! You scared the crap outta me!" William shouted.
"Where have you been?" asked Lee.
"Sightseeing." was Molly's response.
"I'll take that battery now," said Lee. "Oh yeah... about that...", Molly said nervously, making Lee's eyes widen. She then smiled.
"I'm just kidding! Here ya go," she chuckled as she took the battery out and handed it to him. They noticed that she was holding something else.
"What's that?" asked Aelita
"Nothing," said Molly.
"Molly, you can quit the act now. We know you're from Crawford," said William. "Who told you that?" she asked. "We saw you on a video tape in the nurse's office. Why'd you lie to us?" asked Lee. "I said there were stories about Crawford. I never said that that's how I knew about it. I never lied to you guys, and even if I did, so what? I don't owe you anything," said Molly.
"You saved most of our group's lives, but you can't tell the truth?" Lee asked her as he crossed his arms. Molly sighed.
"I used to live here with my sister. She was 14 years old," the woman admitted. "When the dead started walking around and Crawford shut itself in, it seemed like a pretty good deal at first. We were safe and we had everything we needed to survive, but then the rules started coming down. My sister was diabetic, and by Crawford's rule, she wasn't allowed. I kept it a secret and kept her safe, but in the end, I couldn't protect her. That's when I left. Crawford always talked about their great system and how it was better than becoming one of those geeks out there, but I'd saw what they'd already become. I just wish I figured it out before it was too late. Before they came and took my sister away from me."
She wiped away a few tears as Lee, William, and Aelita gave her sympathetic looks.
"This is all I have left of her," she said as she showed them what she had in her hands. It was a picture of a girl, who they presumed to be Molly's sister.
Aelita sighed. "I understand. I know what it feels like to have someone you love ripped away from you," the rosette said.
"What do you mean?" asked Molly.
"Aelita, I don't think-" William began to say, but decided to let her talk once he saw the look on her face.
"Don't tell the others this, but this happened way before the walkers. When I was four, I was playing out in the snow while my parents watched me. Suddenly, these guys that worked for my dad's enemies came out of nowhere and grabbed my mom and threw her into the back of a van. As they drove away, I tried to chase after them, but the van was just too fast," Aelita said as a tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.
"I've haven't seen my mother since. All that I have left of her is a doll she gave me." she said. The three gave her looks of sympathy.
Suddenly, a bell rang in the distance.
"I think that's our cue to go," Molly said as they walked through the hall. They heard a door creak open and Ben jumped around the corner with a hatchet in his hand, scaring them.
"Oh, it's just you guys," he said as he lowered the hatchet.
"What the hell, Ben! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" William sighed.
"Uh, Ben? Where'd you get that?" asked Lee. "I found it stuck between a door handle at the end of the hallway," Ben said simply. Lee's eyes widened as he quickly put two and two together. "Oh no..." Lee paled once he realized what he was talking about. Suddenly, walkers came bursting out of the doors. Molly quickly stabbed them with the ice pick, but one grabbed her.
"Lee! Shoot it!" Molly shouted. There was a gunshot and the walker fell down, dead.
"Thanks!"
"It wasn't me!" Lee said. They turned to find that Clementine was the one that shot it.
"Good going kid, nice shot!" Molly praised as she ran past them.
"Thanks," Clementine said as she lowered her gun. More walkers started coming through the doors.
"Quick, in the classroom!" Aelita shouted as they darted into the room.
"What's going on?!" asked Yumi as Lee slammed the door shut.
"They're coming," Lee explained.
"How do we get outta here?" asked Brie. "Through the armory, if we can just open that freakin' door!", said Ulrich.
"COME ON!", Kenny shouted as he rammed his shoulder into the door.
"This is my fault... it's all my fault!" Ben exclaimed.
"Your fault?" Anne asked. "What're you babbling about?" Jeremy asked with a frown. "Ben, we talked about this," Lee said sternly. "No, wait, I wanna know what he means by that," said Christa.
"Kenny, I'm so sorry," said Ben. "This ain't the best time kid!" Kenny said as he rammed himself into the door.
"It's been me all along. I've been putting us all in danger. Katjaa and Duck... it was all me!" Ben exclaimed. At the mention of his wife and son's name, Kenny kicked the door open.
"Wait, what're you saying?" asked Kenny, his expression darkening.
"I was the one who made the deal with the bandits. I was the one giving them supplies. I thought I could keep them off our backs if I did. But when I got discovered, that's when the bandits attacked us. And that's when Duck..."
Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say or what to do as they stared at the teen, the one who had been the reason they were in this mess.
Kenny's face turned from shock to anger as lunged at him ready to tear him to pieces, but Lee, Vernon, Lilly, and Ulrich held him back. "Kenny, you can kick his ass some other time!" Ulrich strained. "I SAY WE KICK HIS UNGRATEFUL ASS NOW!" William growled out as he stepped forward. "WILLIAM, NO!" Yumi exclaimed, yanking the teen away from Ben and holding him back.
"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD! YOU HEAR ME?! DEAD!" Kenny screamed at the top of his lungs. "My wife and son are dead cause of you, you little pissant!"
"And you caused me to get so paranoid that I nearly shot Carley!" Lilly growled out as she struggled to keep Kenny from beating Ben up. "I should have shot you when we were on the road!" she added coldly. Carley just stood there with a dazed expression. "Ben, how could you? I trusted you!" the former reporter said with hurt in her voice.
"If this asshole thinks he's getting on MY boat after what HE did, he's out of his fucking mind!" Kenny roared.
"We'll sort this out later after we get outta here!" said Jeremy. The man glared at him. "No way, Jeremy! We're leaving him here for his ass to rot!"
"This piece of garbage right here is the very reason we have suffered so much!" Ulrich growled as he crossed his arms. "I vote we leave him. I'm sorry Ben, I know you mean well, but I want to get back to Omid and you're putting that at risk," said Christa. "Don't I get to vote?" Clementine spoke up.
"Of course you do," said Carley.
"Ben's nice. He's my friend, and we don't leave friends behind. That's my vote," the little girl said. They stared at her in surprise.
"On second thought, I abstain my vote." Christa said.
William frowned. "I'm abstaining, also..." he sighed as he crossed his arms, glaring at Ben. He so wanted to throw him to the walkers right now, but they were in a precarious position at the moment.
"I vote Ben stays with us." Lee said.
"What about the rest of us? Don't we get a say in-" Brie was suddenly cut off when a walker arm burst through the glass on the door and held her down. She screamed as more walkers came through the door and bit into her shoulder, leg, and stomach.
"BRIE! NO!" Vernon gasped as he watched helplessly as his friend was being eaten.
"We need to get out NOW!" Jeremy exclaimed as he grabbed Vernon by the arm. "Vernon, come on!" he said as he and the others ran through the armory door, which led into a bell tower.
Lee tried to shut the door, but it wouldn't close.
"The lock's busted!" he said as he backed away from the door. "That's just great. We gotta move!" Jeremy shouted as they ran down the stairs. Carley ran to a door and opened it, revealing several walkers looking at them.
"FUUUCCCCK!" Kenny swore as the shorter woman slammed the door shut.
"That door's not gonna hold. Quick, get upstairs!" Lee yelled as they ran back up the stairs. Kenny quickly grabbed a rifle and tossed it to Lee before running back upstairs. Lee shot at a few before turning around to find more walkers behind him. Suddenly, two fell down, dead. He looked up to find that it was Carley who shot them. "HURRY!" she shouted. Lee got out the hatchet and knocked several walkers out of the way as he made his way towards the top of the bell tower, where the others were waiting.
Yumi peeked out of a window to find a ladder under it. "We'll be able to get out this way!" she said. "You guys didn't come into town by the railroad, did ya?" asked Vernon as he looked out the window.
"Yeah. Why?" asked William. "Never mind. Let's go!" Vernon said as he, Molly, Lilly, Carley, Ulrich, Aelita, Yumi, William, Kenny, Clementine, and Christa climbed out the window. Suddenly, the bell rang loudly, forcing Lee, Ben, Jeremy, Odd, and Anne to cover their ears. As the bell rang, a walker that hung from it by it's neck grabbed Ben.
Jeremy quickly uncovered his ears and shot at it, forcing to let Ben go, but as it fell, Ben fell over the edge with it. Lee and Anne quickly grabbed his arms.
"Hold on! We got you!" Anne shouted.
"Climb up!" shouted Lee. "There's no time! You have to go!" Ben said. "Just let me go and get Clem and the others to safety!"
Lee and Anne quickly pulled him up, much to Ben's surprise. "Why?" the teenager asked softly. Lee didn't bother to answer his question. Odd peeked over the edge and said, "That walker looked like the guy in that picture."
"He must have gotten fed up with all of this and hung himself." Jeremy observed with a frown.
Odd sighed. "And I was so looking forward to giving him an arrow in the ass."
"GUYS! MOVE IT!" they heard Kenny shout. They quickly dashed to the window and climbed out.
They had made it safely back to the house. As soon as they got inside, they dashed upstairs to find that Omid wasn't moving.
"Omid... I never should have left you!" Christa said as she started crying.
Jamie and Billy hid behind Odd and Anne, just incase.
Suddenly, Omid gasped and sat up. Lee quickly pulled Christa back.
Omid smiled and said, "Hey. Back already?"
They smiled and sighed in relief as Christa hugged her boyfriend. Vernon gave him some medicine and turned to the group.
"I'll stay here for a few more hours to check on him. Let me know if you need anything," he said. As the Lyoko Warriors walked out of the room, Lee and Carley stepped in front of them. "What's wrong?" asked Jeremy.
"Is there something you're not telling us?" asked Carley. The Lyoko Warriors froze up. "Uh...What are you talking about?" asked Odd.
"Well, you guys always get into a group huddle and look to see if we're not watching before you talk," said Carley.
"And back in Crawford, when Anne said you-know-where, Odd and Jeremy immediately got nervous, like she almost gave away a secret," said Lee. "What secret?" Tim asked, trying to act casual. "Don't give me that. We know you're hiding something," Lee said sternly as he crossed his arms.
"Great, you guys are starting to sound like Lilly when we were on the side of the road!" Rugby exclaimed. "Shut it, Benny! You're making it worse!" Tim snapped. "What have I said about calling me that?!" Rugby yelled as he shoved Tim back.
"It's just a nickname! What's the big deal about it?!"
"Oh, I'll tell ya what!" Rugby exclaimed as the twins started wrestling. "Guys, knock it off!" Anne yelled.
"Seriously, break it up!" Lee said as he grabbed Tim and held him by the back of the vest while Anne tried to hold Rugby back.
"Everyone just shut the fuck up!" Yumi suddenly shouted, causing the bickering to cease. "You two, stop fighting!" she ordered pointing at Tim and Rugby. The Rugby twins immediately stood straight up. "This is getting us nowhere!" the Japanese teen said. "She's right. We can't fall apart now!" Ulrich stated. "It's either we tell them, or wait until Lilly loses it again and starts questioning us!"
Jeremy sighed. "Guess we have no choice. Lee, get everyone in the living room, this is something that everyone in the group needs to know," he said.
"Einstein, are you nuts?!" asked Rugby.
"No, they need to know," Jeremy said. "It won't really matter right now, anyway."
"Ben."
The sandy haired teen inwardly groaned as he turned around to face Yumi, who had been the last person he'd expected to be there.
"I hope you realize what you've done," she growled as she crossed her arms.
"Y-yeah, I know. I screwed up..."
"Hell yeah, you screwed up! A man has lost his family because of you!" she stated. "Why did you do it, Ben?! Were you even thinking about the consequences?!"
"Look, the bandits said they had a friend of mine from the last group I was in, and they said that they'd kill him if I didn't give them supplies! I thought that if I did, they'd leave us alone and keep walkers away, but since we were running low, they started to attack."
"You're really gullible, you know that?" Yumi asked. "They didn't have your friend. They used you. And because of your stupidity, we had lost two people! Ben, listen closely to these next words. If you do something that puts anyone else in danger, I won't side with you next time, got that?" she told him with a glare.
"Hey guys!"
The two turned around to see Ulrich standing near the door. "What is it?" Yumi asked, a little too harshly.
"We need everyone down in the living room if we want to tell them," he replied.
"Tell us what?" asked Ben.
Yumi frowned. "Just get down there," she ordered. Ben scampered past them and left the two alone. Ulrich blinked. "Mind telling me what just happened?" he asked. "I was talking to Ben about how much of an idiot he was," Yumi growled.
Ulrich frowned. "What did you say?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I said that if he put anyone else in danger, I wasn't gonna side with him when we decide to kick him out or not." Yumi replied.
"You know, when Ben said he was behind this, I wanted to shove my katana into his ass," he said, making Yumi giggle. "Haven't we all?" she asked. The two shared a laugh.
"Hey lovebirds," a voice said. Blushing lightly, the two turned to the doorway, finding William leaning against it.
"It's time."
The entire group was in the living room. One person was missing.
"Hey, where's Vernon?" asked Yumi as she looked around.
"He went back to his group," Lee said quickly. Yumi blinked in confusion before she shrugged and sat down.
"OK, where should we start?" Jeremy asked himself before looking at the group.
"About three years ago, I went to an abandoned factory in order to find scrap metal to build robots for a science project. But instead, I found an elevator that led to a hidden supercomputer under the factory," he said. "I turned it on, went to the supercomputer, and saw something I'd never thought I'd see. I found a girl with pink hair inside it."
"Are you talking about Aelita? How could she be stuck in a computer?", asked Kenny.
"You see, my father used to work for a top secret project called Project Carthage. It was created to stop enemy communication, but they shut it down. My father tried to destroy it, but his enemies wanted it for their own purposes, so they kidnapped my mother in an attempt to make him surrender. I tried to chase after them, but it was too late. They had tossed my mother into the car and sped away. After my mother was taken away, we moved to a house called the Hermitage. He then started creating Lyoko, a virtual world inside the supercomputer," said Aelita.
Carley blinked in shock. "They kidnapped your mother?!" she asked. Aelita nodded. "I haven't seen her since I was at least four years old..."
"Son of a bitch..." Lee muttered as he clenched his fist tightly.
"When my father finished it, the men in black found out and tried to arrest us, but we managed to escape. He led me through the sewers to an abandoned factory. After he typed something into the computer, he led me down into another room that had three scanners in it. We stepped into them and were virtualized into Lyoko," said Aelita.
"Whoa, hold up! You were transported into a virtual world by a computer?!" asked Omid. Aelita nodded in confirmation. "When we got to Lyoko, Dad told me that XANA, an AI he created, had turned rogue and wanted to destroy us, so I hid in a tower and fell asleep. About ten years later, Jeremy found the supercomputer and woke me up," she said.
"And here's when I come into the picture!" said Odd, earning a whack on the back of the head from Ulrich and Yumi.
"I met Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, who soon found out about the supercomputer. They wanted to help fight XANA while I tried to figure out a way to bring Aelita back to Earth, so I let them join," said Jeremy.
"We had to deal with attacks like possessed rats, toxic fogs, music that puts you into a coma, possessed laughing gas, robots, evil copies of us, and giant teddy bears," said Ulrich.
Molly snickered. "Giant teddy bears?" she asked, not believing the last part. "Hey, you have no idea how close I was to getting squashed by it!" Ulrich frowned. "Anyway, we managed to finally bring Aelita back to Earth, but XANA stole a piece of her memory, so she was still connected to Lyoko, and if we destroyed XANA, Aelita would die."
"XANA did everything he could to steal the rest of Aelita's memory so he could escape Lyoko, like possessing humans to send her to Lyoko and have a monster called the Scyphozoa drain her memories. In the end, he succeded, but Aelita's dad appeared outta nowhere and saved her life by giving her memories back, cutting off her connection to Lyoko," said Jeremy.
"Soon, William discovered our secret and we let him into our group, but since XANA had more power, he used the Scyphozoa to make William his slave," said Yumi. "He then had him attack the core of Lyoko, wiping out all the sectors. All of us thought Lyoko was gone forever until Jeremy and Aelita found some data and began rebuilding it."
"While we were dealing with that, XANA would have William attack us and would try to throw Aelita into the Digital Sea," said Ulrich. "What's the Digital Sea?" asked Clementine. "It's kinda like a sea full of data, and if someone falls in, they get deleted and can never return to Earth. So basically, if you fall in, you technically die," Jeremy said bluntly, making Clementine gasp.
"It took a while, but after all the data we found on Replikas of Lyoko, we managed to finally free William from XANA's control," said Aelita. "A little bit after that, Anne, Rugby, and Tim came to Kadic Academy."
"We were new students and almost immediately became friends with most of them when we stood up to Sissi, the school's snobby principal's daughter. When I was staying up about three days after we got there, I noticed Aelita sneaking past my room. It seemed a little suspicious to me, so I convinced Rugby and Tim to follow her. We quietly followed her through the sewers and to the old abandoned factory and when we took the elevator, we ended up in this lab," said Anne. "Jeremy filled us in on what was going on. When Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi were cornered, we managed to convince him to virtualize us, because we knew how to fight. After we saved them, we were made official members of the group."
"How exactly do you fight XANA?" asked Lilly.
"Well, Jeremy sits at the supercomputer and types in this thing callled the virtualization process while we step into these things called scanners. We then get virtualized, or transported to Lyoko, and fight XANA's monsters while we try to get to towers, which are the source of XANA's attacks. Aelita then steps into the tower and deactivates it, and if anyone follows us to the factory, we simply use the Return to the Past program to make them forget, but when we left France, XANA must have used this advantage and tampered with it so we can't use it," said William.
"There's also something else you should know," said Jeremy.
"What is it?" asked Lee.
"You see, XANA once launched this attack by possessing Kiwi, Odd's dog. Anyone that Kiwi bit would be turned into a zombie. We managed to stop him just in time before everyone in the school was a zombie," he said. "I think he's done something similar to this."
"Wait, hold on a sec. Are you saying that this XANA is the one responsible for the walkers?" Kenny asked, slowly growing angry at the fact that XANA may have been the cause of his son's death.
"We don't know that yet," Jeremy replied. "So for three years, you've been fighting against a virus, but why haven't you told anyone else this?" asked Ben.
"We didn't tell anyone because we were afraid that they'd tell the police and that Aelita's father's enemies would come take her away and use the supercomputer for their own purposes," said Ulrich.
"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with us," said Lee.
"Thanks Lee," Aelita smiled.
Jeremy had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the living room. He slept peacefully until...
"JEREMY!"
"WHA!" the blonde genius shouted as he rolled off the couch. He looked up to see that Carley was standing in front of him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Clementine's missing!" she said.
"WHAT?! Are you sure she's not hiding around the house or outside?"
"Yes, I'm sure! Come on, we need your help!" Carley said as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside to find the others outside with Lee.
"Lee, what the heck are you doing out here?" asked Ulrich.
Carley noticed something on his arm and asked, "Lee, who's blood is that?"
He sighed. Lee didn't want to lie to them, especially Carley, so he turned around to face them.
"It's mine," he said as he showed them his right arm. Just above his wrist was a bite mark.
They gasped. Aelita's mind went blank at the sight.
"No..." Jeremy said softly, taking a step back.
"This can't be happening..." Tim muttered.
"I got jumped by a walker after I found Clem's hat and radio," he said.
"Now what do we do?" asked Omid.
"I say we go look for her. I heard Vernon talking to Lee about taking her," said Molly. Rugby frowned. "I knew something was up with that dude!" he said slamming his fist into his palm. "They might be at the morgue," said Ulrich.
"Clem might not have much time. The best chance we have finding her is if we all go together. So who's with me?", asked Lee.
"I'm sorry Lee, but it's too risky. If you turn..." Lilly trailed off. "You'd rather stay behind than look for a girl who's life could be in danger at this very minute?!" asked Rugby.
"I want to rescue Clementine too, but Lee could be a problem," she said. "Lee's a problem?! It was risky bringing you with us when you tried to shoot Carley!" Rugby growled.
"Rugby, I swear, if you don't shut the hell up right now, I will tell everyone in the group about the incident at the track!" Anne snapped.
"Shutting up."
"Well, I'm going," said Carley. Lee pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you Carley. You don't know how much this means to me," said Lee.
"I'm coming too. I owe her. I swear, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure Clementine's safe," said Ben.
"Those who are going with Lee, raise your hand," said Jeremy. Immediately, Carley, Kenny, Christa, Omid, Ben, Aelita, the Rugby twins, Anne, William, Ulrich, Molly, and Jeremy raised their hands.
"Those staying behind?"
Lilly, Patrick, Jamie, Billy, and reluctantly, Yumi, raised their hands.
"I'm sorry Lee, but it's too dangerous. Besides, someone needs to stay and make sure that Jamie and Billy are alright," said Yumi.
"I understand," said Lee.
"Sorry, cuz, but Lee's bitten, and he might turn," said Patrick.
Jeremy sighed.
"Just... make sure that Jamie and Billy stay safe, okay?" he asked. Patrick nodded.
"Come on, let's go," Lee said as the people who raised their hands left with him.
They easily made their way through the sewers. As they climbed through the secret passage, they got their weapons ready. Lee slammed the door open and held his gun out in front of him. No one was in the morgue.
"What the? Where are they?" Ulrich asked.
"Vernon! Get out here! There doesn't have to be any trouble! All I want is the girl!" Lee shouted. No answer.
"VERNON!"
They heard growling and looked up at the window to see walkers staggering by.
Suddenly, Clementine's radio came on.
"Lee?" they heard Clementine's voice say. Everyone's heads perked up as Lee immediately picked up the radio and asked, "Clementine? Are you okay? Where are you?!"
Suddenly another voice came from the radio.
"Hello, Lee."
Their eyes widened.
"Who are you?!" Jeremy asked, loud enough so the voice could hear him.
"It's not Vernon, if that's what you're thinking," said the mysterious voice.
"That sounds like the guy we heard on the train!" said Aelita.
"Where's Clementine?" Lee growled. "What did you do with her?!"
"Clementine's fine, but if I were you, I'd choose my next words very carefully."
"What do you want from us?!" asked William as he boiled with anger.
"Simple. I want Lee to never hurt anyone again," the voice said rather calmly. "This isn't a kidnapping."
"Then what is it?" Carley asked.
"A rescue," the voice said before Lee shut off the radio.
After a moment of silence, Odd said, "He better not hurt her."
"And if he does, we'll make him pay," said Kenny.
"We'll do whatever it takes. We won't let one tiny bite stop us from saving her," said Tim.
"But how are we gonna do that when there are dozens of walkers in the streets?" asked Anne.
"Honestly? I have no idea," Lee replied as he stared at the radio.
