Blood.

The first thing Clementine saw that stood out when looking at her former guardian was the blood.

His shirt was absolutely covered in the dark red blood of walkers, long since dried from all those years ago.

His hand, however, appeared to be coated in layers of blood that Clementine didn't remember being there before. She figured that was a result of the walker trying to constantly free itself from the handcuffs that kept it restrained to a radiator.

But this wasn't what brought Clementine to shed sorrowful tears.

The form that was once a selfless and caring person was skinny beyond belief.

His clothes hung around him from all the weight he had lost over the time she had left him.

His skin clung to him as if the slightest movement would tear him open.

Clementine let out a short sob at the sight making Lee's once human eyes open.

His eyes only opened partially, but just enough so that Clementine could see that his eyes contained no pupils. His eyes had taken on the milky whiteness that every walker adopts once they have been fully turned.

Clementine expected him to start snarling and reaching out for her in a vain attempt to taste her flesh. Which was why she was surprised when he did nothing but stare at her lifelessly, arms splayed across the floor. He looked exhausted, starved, and miserable. Even if Lee was not really there anymore, she couldn't help the sharp stabbing pain of guilt shoot through her very being.

She warily approached him, watching for any change in him that would give away any hostility toward her.

He still did nothing and watched her approach. He seemed to be curious about her rather than ravenous.

Could he have been so starved as a walker that he no longer knew or felt hunger?

Or did the cravings for food no longer effect him now after two years of feeling it?

She sat down in the same spot she had been when Lee told her to leave him, feeling the same depression take over her that had when she discovered his bite mark.

The two just stared at each other for quite a while that seemed like an eternity.

Clementine wanted to turn away from him. The sight of his broken and turned body making her want to fall apart at the seams. But she owed it to Lee to face her mistake head on.

After a while, Clementine decided to speak.

"Hi Lee."

He didn't respond, not like she actually expected a response. He just stared at her with those lifeless white eyes, looking at her the same way her parents had looked at her. Looking at her but through her at the same time. The white of his eyes was making it hard to determine if he was actually looking at her.

She didn't even know why she was talking to him. This wasn't Lee anymore but if she were to just shoot him and walk out, it would feel disrespectful. She didn't get a chance to say the goodbye she had wanted to Lee when he was dying. He was turning too quickly for her to be able to say everything she had wanted.

Now she could.

"You know," Clementine started, "I still remember hearing gunshots from my tree-house."

Lee raised his head and stared at her when it had fallen. She wanted to think he was listening but she knew he was just curious to hear sounds that weren't his own after so long.

"I remember jumping over my fence and seeing you lay there by that police car. I was scared, I never knew that the moment I met you that I was going to care for you as much as I did...no, care for you as much as I DO."

Clementine's voice started to crack as she was on the verge of tears with how much emotion she was currently feeling.

"At first, I just wanted to find my parents and get away from you. I didn't trust you."

She looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes anymore, despite the fact that he could easily lean forward and bite her.

The bite never came though.

"But when you showed all that kindness to me...treated me as if I was your own...I couldn't help but let myself be attached to you. Everyone knew it too. People would hear our names and couldn't help but immediately think about the other one. Lee and Clementine, Clementine and Lee."

Tears were streaming down Clementine's face as she confessed everything she was feeling.

"But when I heard from that MAN on the radio...," Clementine said "man" as if she wanted to say monster instead, "nothing and no one else had mattered to me. All I could think about was listening to that guy and finding my parents even if, deep down, I already knew they were dead."

With her heart feeling like lead, Clementine continued, barely able to get the next words out.

"I...I hated yo- you."

Saying those words felt so wrong when matching them with Lee.

"You said we couldn't look for my parents and that we couldn't stay in Savannah any longer. I walked out the back door when you fell asleep without even looking at you once."

These actions she had done made her feel the worst. She had just left without saying goodbye.

Never thinking he would come after her.

Never thought he could get hurt.

Never thought he would be bit.

The bloodstain that was on her, now lost, hat was a constant reminder that her actions resulted in his blood spilled on her hat.

Her actions getting him killed.

She looked up at him again, his position the same as before.

"You are the most selfless, kind, heart-warming, and brave person I had ever met. No matter how much you were beaten down, you always got back up for my sake. You got bitten and, even knowing you were living on borrowed time, you spent that time saving me like you always do."

She suddenly got angry at Lee and voiced her thoughts once more.

"WHY! I WISH YOU WOULD HAVE LEANED ON ME EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE! WHY WOULD YOU HAVE GIVEN UP EVERYTHING FOR A GIRL THAT RUINED YOUR LIFE!" she growled out at him, tears falling in waterfalls from both anger and angst.

She took a moment to calm down, still feeling a bit angry but more depressed now.

"I've never hated and loved you so much for doing that."

She knew it was pointless to get mad at him for his actions. He would just tell her how much he cared about her and that it was the right thing to do. Even if the cabin group had helped her with her grief, they could only do so much.

Nothing that they would say or do could have ever taken away the guilt and sorrow she held. It would comfort her for a time, but that depression would come back as strong as ever.

Even though she knew it was probably a horrible idea, she leaned forward and, like she had two years ago, placed her hand in Lee's shriveled bony one and, to her shock and joy, he squeezed her hand. She wanted to think that Lee was there and he was comforting her, but the rational part of her told her that Lee was just testing the feeling of grasping something warm when his own body felt cold as ice.

Clementine, regretfully, removed her hand from his and stood shakily, reaching into her back pocket and drawing her pistol.

The same one Lee had given her.

There's only one thing you can do...you know that.

She turned the safety off the gun.

I'm sorry Clementine, I'm supposed to take care of you, I can't now...

She raised the gun.

You don't have much time. You know what you have to do...

She looked through the sights of the pistol, making sure she would hit him in the head.

It's okay, you just have to point it at me...

Lee's eyes closed, as if knowing what was going to happen and accepting it.

You're strong Clem...you...you can do anything.

She took a deep breath

Just close your eyes...

With one last thing to say...

I'll miss you.

"I love you Dad."

The gunshot sounded and Lee's head jerked with the impact before his body went limp.

Clementine dropped the gun and cried.

She cried with grief, sorrow, relief, and happiness.

Grief and sorrow because his death was now fresh in her mind.

Relief and happiness because he wasn't suffering any longer.

He's in a better place.

"How touching."

Clementine gasped and tried to whirl around and grab her gun but received a blow to the back of her head.

She fell to the floor beside Lee as she felt the wet and sticky feeling of blood on the back of her head.

Before her world went dark, she heard a familiar voice taunt her.

"Hello again Carly," Carver said, a sadistic smirk on his face, "or should I call you Clementine."

Once again, REVIEW and FOLLOW for future updates! I love hearing your opinions and thoughts on what has happened. Yep, CARVER IS BACK! The guy always seemed determined to catch the cabin group. What is Carver going to do to Clem? What does he want? Also, Clementine didn't replace her father by calling Lee her Dad. She just thought of Lee as a third parent, at least in my story. She still loves her parents the same as much as Lee. I DID get a suggestion to have her find her parents as well but that would pretty hard considering they weren't confined to a building and it had been two years. So, unfortunately, no she isn't going to find her parents. If you're wondering why Carver called her Carley, when first meeting Carver, you had the option to lie about your name and say your name is Carley and that is what she told him. One more chapter plus an epilogue guys! Thanks for reading and I will see you all in the future!