Chapter 8 – Making a Stand
Lee shivered slightly as the cold, moist air hit his exposed flesh, having had to take off his jacket and half his shirt so Kenny could get a good look at his wound. Thank god, he had been wearing a button-down shirt; otherwise he would have had to take off his shirt completely. Then he'd really be cold.
They had reached their campsite without incident, and Kenny had sat Lee down on the log while he retrieved what little medical supplies they had left. They decided to appoint Kenny as their medic for the group because he had the most experience in dealing with wounds, however little that was. Katjaa had acted as the doctor of the group back at the motor inn. She taught him the basics of first aid, and he had even assisted her on a few occasions. So, he knew how to treat cuts and bruises, gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and even broken bones. Of course, he kind of got a crash course in that last one a year ago when Clementine had fallen down a flight of stairs running from walkers and broke her arm. Lee had never been so scared in his entire life as he was that day.
Lee watched, and winced, as Kenny poked and prodded the wound, trying to determine the seriousness of it. Lee could care less how serious it was though. He wished Kenny would just hurry up and patch it up already so they could get out there and find Clementine. He hoped to god that asshole didn't get his hands on her.
"Shit. This is going to need stitches," Kenny remarked.
"So, do it," Lee snapped a bit more harshly than he'd intended.
"Well, I'd love to except I don't have the supplies to do it," Kenny snapped back. He sighed, knowing that Lee was just tense because he was worried about Clementine. He continued in a calmer tone. "Look, the best I can do right now is slow the bleeding, clean the wound, and bandage it up, but if it doesn't get stitched up soon, it's just going to get worse."
"Do what you can," Lee sighed. He hadn't meant to snap. He was just anxious to get out there and find Clementine.
"I know you're worried about Clementine," Kenny said as he pulled out a fresh gauze pad and pressed it against the wound, causing Lee to wince slightly. "But she's a tough little girl. She can take care of herself. Besides, I'm sure Cassie will take good care of her until we find them."
Lee looked at Kenny. "Aren't you worried about Cassie? I mean after what happened to Katjaa and Duck, I would have thought you'd be extremely protective of her."
Kenny took a deep breath as he removed the gauze pad to see if the bleeding had stopped yet. Seeing that it hadn't yet, he put it back in place and put a bit more pressure on it. "I was at first, remember?" he replied as he met Lee's gaze with a slight smile.
"Oh yeah," Lee said as he thought back to the days when Kenny and Cassie had first started dating. "We were in that small town searching for supplies. Cassie wanted to search this house by herself, and you told her no it's too dangerous. She didn't seem so happy about that."
"She wasn't," Kenny said. "Needless to say, she took me aside and gave me a talking to. She basically told me that if this relationship was going to work, I was going to have to learn to trust her to take care of herself because I can't always be there to protect her 24/7, and I was either going to get myself, her, or someone else killed trying."
"I was wondering what that talk was about," Lee said.
"Yeah," Kenny said as he checked on the wound once again. Satisfied that the bleeding had slowed enough, he took out a bottle of peroxide and looked Lee in the eye. Now came the hard part. "Uh…this is going to hurt like hell."
"Well, you don't have to sugarcoat it," Lee said sarcastically. "Just get it over with."
Kenny carefully poured some peroxide on the ragged hole. Lee cried out in pain as he tried with all his might not just jerk out of his seat. He could hear the sizzling in his wound, indicating that the peroxide was doing its job, but man did it hurt like a bitch.
Kenny looked on in sympathy. He decided to continue their earlier conversation to try to get Lee's mind off of the pain. "Anyway, what can I say?" he said as he took out some fresh bandages and started to bandage the wound. "She made some sense, and I've tried my best not to prohibit her from doing what she wants. Notice I haven't done anything like that since. Not saying I ain't worried, because I am, but I've also learned to trust in her abilities. Now you've got to do the same thing with Clementine."
"That's different. She's just a little girl," Lee said.
"Yes, a little girl who's been living in this world for two years just like the rest of us. We've all been teaching her how to survive, how to take care of herself, and isn't this the reason? In case something ever happens where she ends up on her own? She's not that eight-year-old girl you found hiding in a tree house anymore."
Lee opened his mouth to protest but closed it with a sigh as he realized that Kenny was right. Clementine was growing up, becoming more independent. She was soaking up everything they had been teaching her like a sponge. She was pretty proficient with a gun and a knife. She knew how to scavenge for supplies and what to look for. She even knew some basic first aid in case she needed to patch up a wound by herself.
"I guess you're right," Lee admitted.
"I know I'm right, pal."
"Jeez, when did you become the voice of reason?"
"I don't know. I guess Cassie's rubbing off on me," Kenny replied with a smirk as he put the finishing touches on the bandage. "There. That should do it. For now, at least."
Lee looked down at the swath of bandages encircling his entire shoulder. He moved his arm around a little bit. It still throbbed, and the pain intensified slightly when he moved his arm. Too bad they didn't have any pain meds for that, but it wasn't enough to hinder his movement.
"Thanks," Lee said as he very carefully slid his shirt over the wound and started to button it back up. The blood on his shirt had dried somewhat by now and was slightly stiff. He knew that was going to become uncomfortable before too long, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
"No problem. Just take it easy. Any stress on that wound could cause it to bleed again," Kenny said as he started stuffing the medical supplies back into his pack.
Lee stood up slowly and grabbed his jacket. In the time it took him to put the jacket on, Kenny had already had the supplies packed away, slung his backpack on his back, made sure the fire was completely out, and grabbed Cassie's, Lee's, and Clementine's backpacks. When he saw that Lee was ready, he handed him his backpack.
"You good to carry this?" he asked.
"Yeah," Lee replied as he accepted the backpack and slung it over his uninjured shoulder. "I still have one good shoulder. Let me have Clementine's."
"Are you sure?" he asked as he started to hand over the small pack.
Lee gave him an annoyed look as he grabbed the backpack. "Kenny, it's not like it weighs a ton. I'll be fine. Now let's get going. I want to find the girls before it gets dark."
They left the campsite in the direction Lee had seen Clementine run off. Following the tracks, which were still pretty fresh, it didn't take them long to find the skinhead, or what was left of him. His stomach had been ripped open and was now completely hollow. Blood and entrails painted the ground red. His arms and legs had been ripped off and were strewn about. He had literally been torn to pieces. It was a gory sight, indeed, but neither Kenny nor Lee felt the least bit sorry for him. He had been trying to hurt Clementine. He got what he deserved.
What Lee was worried about was where was Clementine. There was no sign of her here, which was good. She hadn't been caught by walkers, at least not these walkers. Lee saw several walkers lying on the ground and went to inspect them. They all had throwing knives through their heads. Definitely the work of Cassie. Obviously, Clementine hadn't been here when Cassie arrived. Otherwise, they would have been back by now. But then, where were they?
"Lee," Kenny called.
Lee looked up and saw Kenny kneeling at the edge of a drop off of some sort. Before going over to see what Kenny had found, he quickly collected the throwing knives from each of the walkers, knowing that Cassie would want them back. He then walked toward Kenny and saw that the drop off was actually a steep ravine leading to a raging river down below. He looked at Kenny who was inspecting the ground. "What's up?"
Kenny sighed as he stood up. "I think Clementine went over," he said, gesturing toward the ravine.
Lee's eyes widened. "What!"
"I think she went into the river."
"Oh, sweet Jesus," Lee muttered as he looked down at the fast-moving water. The thought of Clementine having to brave those rapids made his heart thud painfully in his chest. "That current is strong. It could have carried her anywhere."
"Fuck, I know," Kenny said as he rubbed his face with one hand. "Ok. All we gotta to do is follow the river and hope she was able to make it out. Cassie was here. She must have thought the same thing. Her tracks go this way."
They moved swiftly along the river, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of Clementine or Cassie. They stopped however when they heard the rustling of leaves nearby. Cursing under his breath, Lee quickly dropped both his and Clementine's backpacks on the ground and raised his gun as did Kenny. They could see the branches of a bush nearby moving, and they both trained their guns on it, unsure what could be moving around in there. It was a few tense moments before they got their answer as Cassie burst forth, tired and out of breath.
She looked at them and raised her hands when she saw two guns aimed at her. "Whoa, hey, it's me."
"Cassie," Kenny said in relief as he lowered his gun and pulled her in for a tight hug, glad that she was alright. "You ok? Where's Clementine?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, and she's right behind me."
A moment later, Clementine emerged, looking tired and cold, but otherwise unhurt. Lee had never been happier to see someone in his entire life.
"Clementine!" Lee exclaimed.
"Lee!" Clementine cried as she ran toward her guardian, happy to see he was ok.
Lee knelt down to her height and hugged her tight with his one good arm. He winced slightly as she unwittingly jostled his wound, but he shook it off as he just held her for a few minutes. He was worried at how cold her skin felt. He broke the hug and looked her in the eye.
"You ok, Clem?" he asked.
"Yeah, just a little cold," she said with a shiver.
"Yeah, this I can see. Your clothes are soaked. We're going to have to get you warmed up," Lee said as he stood up straight. He looked at Cassie. "Thank you for taking care of her."
"Forget it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but we've got bigger problems. We came across a bunch of runners earlier."
"Shit," Kenny cursed.
Lee closed his eyes. Runners were bad news. They were even worse than walkers and twice as dangerous. He didn't know if he had the energy to deal with them right now.
"We killed three, but I think there are more," Cassie explained.
As if on cue, a loud scream filled the air, signaling nearby runners. The four survivors huddled close together looking in all directions searching for the source.
"Like I said, I think there are more of them," Cassie said.
"So, what's the plan?" Lee asked.
"I say we kill the fuckers," Kenny said, cocking his gun.
"Really? That's your plan?" Cassie said as she looked at him.
"Yeah, you got any better suggestions?"
"I just think it's stupid us standing here waiting for them to swarm us. We have no idea how many of them are out there."
"What do you suggest? We can't outrun them, they're too fast, and it's not like there's any place to hide in this godforsaken forest."
"Knock it off, you two," Lee interrupted. Cassie and Kenny made a great couple, but like any normal couple, they had their arguments. Normally, Lee would let them hash it out themselves, but he didn't think now was the time to be arguing. Especially since he saw movement ahead of them. "I don't think it matters now." He stepped forward and raised his gun as a runner came bounding out the trees towards them. He pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through its forehead.
That seemed to have triggered a chain reaction as more runners almost seemed to appear out of nowhere from several different directions. Cassie, Lee, and Kenny were all firing at each one they saw, trying to keep them at bay and not let them get too close. Clementine stood behind Lee, feeling helpless as she didn't have a weapon on her. Then, she saw her backpack lying on the ground next to Lee. She quickly knelt down, unzipped her pack, and rummaged around inside until she found her gun. She turned around just in time to see a runner sprinting towards her. Kenny, Lee, and Cassie were so busy taking care of the ones in front of them, they didn't see the one coming behind them. With no time to aim properly, Clementine quickly raised her gun and fired. Luckily, she hit it in the head, but its momentum carried it forward, and it toppled on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She tried to push it off her, but the body was too heavy, she couldn't lift it. Her heart started pounding in fear as she saw walkers were now advancing on their position. They must have been attracted to the gunshots. She looked at the others and saw that they didn't know about the danger approaching from behind.
"Lee! Walkers!" Clementine yelled.
Lee turned around, and his eyes widened as he saw Clementine pinned under a dead runner and walkers closing in on them. "Shit, Clementine!" He made a move to help her but was stopped by Kenny.
"No, I got it," Kenny said. He knew Lee wouldn't be able to move the body very easily with his injured shoulder. "You take care of those walkers. Cassie, keep an eye out for any more runners."
"You got it," Cassie replied as she shot down another runner.
With Lee taking out the advancing walkers, Kenny ran toward Clementine and quickly pulled the dead body off of her. He helped her to her feet, and they both helped to dispatch the remaining walkers. Once they were all dead, and Kenny was sure there weren't any more coming, he looked down at Clementine.
"You alright, darlin'?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so." She looked down at the dead runner that had fallen on top of her. "Well, at least I killed it before it fell on top of me."
Kenny smiled slightly. "Yeah, you did good, Clem."
"Yeah, you did," Lee agreed. "If you hadn't warned us about those walkers behind us, we wouldn't have known until it was too late."
"Yeah, thanks for saving our asses," Cassie said.
Clementine blushed at all the praises she was getting. "You're welcome."
Cassie scanned the trees, looking for any signs that more may be coming. "Do you think there are more?" she asked as she turned back toward the group. "Lee! Look out!"
Lee turned around just as a runner tackled him to the ground. He landed, with a cry of pain, on his wounded shoulder with the runner on top of him ready to take a bite out of him, and he was in too much pain to do much about it. He could once again feel the sticky wetness seeping through his shirt and jacket.
Lucky for him, Cassie was quick as she pulled out her dagger and stabbed it in the back of the head before it could do anything else. She pushed the dead runner off of him. However, he didn't get up right away. He lay there breathing heavily as he tried to work through the pain. His shoulder was throbbing so hard, he thought he might pass out from it. Eventually, though, the pain subsided enough for him to be able to sit up on his own.
"Lee, are you ok?" Clementine asked, worried.
Lee gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm alright, sweet pea."
"Are you sure? You looked like you were in pain there," Cassie said.
"Yeah. I just hit the ground hard, got the wind knocked out of me."
"Lee, is…" Kenny began.
"I said I'm fine, Kenny," Lee interrupted, giving him a pointed look. He didn't want Clementine to know about his wound, not until he could get it properly treated. He didn't want to worry her. Kenny seemed to get the point as he nodded slightly, albeit reluctantly. Lee gave him a grateful smile in return. "Well, I think we should get out of here before more show up," he said as he slowly got to his feet. He felt a bit dizzy once he was on his feet, but that quickly passed. And he started walking through the trees with the others following close behind.
