A/N: Thanks for your support and patience. I appreciate you guys. :)
Chapter 11: Let's Break the Ice Part 2 (Lee)
Clementine and Lee returned with the water as they handed it out to the group, earning a thank you from them.
"I will be right back," Carlos smiled at them, "Let me go grab this glass of water to Sarah. Clementine, would you like to come with me?"
"Can I?" she asked as she looked at both Lee and Carlos.
"Of course," Lee nodded as Carlos smiled.
"Sure."
Clementine rose up and went with Carlos. "You can start without us."
Carlos nodded in agreement.
"Okay, so continuing on..." Lee sighed. "We made our way to a car that was running. We saw some supplies, food, and medicine that was out there. Some people wanted to take it, but Clementine said that since it wasn't ours and it could be someone else's, she refused. I knew we needed it, but Clementine opened my eyes so I didn't take any either."
"Ah hell," Kenny sighed. "I along with the rest of the group besides Clem and Lee wanted to take it. Shit, at least it wasn't anyone's, right?"
"Actually..." Lee began making Kenny look at him. "The stuff was the stranger's that took Clementine."
"Wait, no shit?" Kenny asked.
"No shit," Lee shook his head. "He confronted me about it, but then told me that he knew I didn't want to take it. Apparently, Clementine had told that to him."
"Another tough decision," Matthew thought. "I mean, you thought that the car was abandoned and you needed the supplies. It's not like anyone put a note saying that it was someone's or anything, so I can't fault you for taking it, Kenny."
"Whenever someone is in these situations, you want to ask yourself, 'What would you have done if it was you?'" Walter asked.
"Hey, we're not here to judge or say anything negative," Luke replied. "I'm not sure what I personally would have done."
"If it were me and I had Rebecca, I might take some medicine for Becc," Alvin said. "This is not the world we used to live in."
"Hell, you're right," Kenny nodded. "It is to survive or don't...if you whine about how something got stolen, you shouldn't have left it unattended in the first place."
"That is not entirely true," Matthew pointed out. "Then to survive would you kill others and steal their stuff? What if a young girl had a ration of food and you needed it more? Would you kill the little girl or steal from her to get the ration?"
"I haven't thought of it like that," Alvin sighed.
"Lily once told me that stealing medicine or stealing food is like someone coming in your room at the middle of the night and slitting your throat. It could indirectly be murder," Lee agreed.
"At this point, I don't know how much our moral choices matter," Kenny unhappily sighed. "It's..."
They heard footsteps as they heard Clementine and Carlos come down with a gentle smile.
"We're back," Carlos smiled and sat back down.
"Hi, we miss anything?" Clementine asked.
"We were just discussing if it was right to take from that car," Kenny said to Clementine. "Remember? The car with a lot of supplies and how you told Lee that you didn't want to steal?"
"Oh yeah, I remember," Clementine nodded. "The stranger drilled me with many questions."
"What did he exactly do to you?" Lee asked. "I didn't have the chance to ask you that."
"He...he tried to fill me with lies," Clementine said. "He once acted really nice. I felt very uneasy at first, but we just talked. He asked me about the car and you guys. He got really mad when he found out that the supplies that were taken were us. He started shouting and talking to his bag...not sure what was in there. He put me in the room and made sure I stayed in there. I couldn't leave without his permission. I once had to use the restroom so I headed out. He caught me and he yelled at me really loudly saying that I can't follow simple instructions. That scared me, but then he always hugged me and tried to comfort me."
"That bitch," Kenny snarled.
"Kenny," Clementine said.
"Hell, sorry Clem."
"He did that to you?" Lee asked.
"Yes."
"Wow...he definitely did not have good intentions," Pete scowled.
"When I sat down to talk with him, he told me his story," Lee said. "He had a wife, son, and daughter. He took his little boy out to hunt but lost him. His wife and daughter tried looking for him but to no avail. When he returned to his car, that's when he found out all the supplies were looted."
"Hell..." Kenny replied, lost for words.
"How irresponsible," Pete shook his head. "Losing a son because that man had no damn responsibility? At least when I take my damn boy, I make sure he comes back alive."
"Responsible my ass," Nick rolled his eyes. "Making me trying to shoot a buck...making me almost shoot you."
"Watch it boy. You completely threw away the instructions I gave you," Pete replied.
"Still...having me shoot a buck? A buck? When I was Clementine's age?"
"Never forced you to do anything son."
"It gets worse from here," Lee began again, interrupting their arguing, "His wife leaves him with his daughter and the stranger finds them as a walker the next day. He then used the old radio from his son to try to get in contact with him, but Clementine's channel comes up, so he begins talking with her. He figures out we stole their supplies and he being stalking us."
"I guess he really wanted to raise Clementine as his own daughter then," Walter replied. "But losing his wife and kids like that would make him very unstable and that's what would make him very dangerous."
"Hell, for all we know, he could've been a pedophile!" Kenny said. "Clem, did he touch you inappropriately?"
"What do you mean, inappropriately?" Clementine asked.
"You know...your er..."
Clementine raised her eyebrows.
Kenny gave a nervous chuckle. "You hear a girl say she witnessed a man's head smashed in, but then you have her innocent in that department."
"Did he touch you, Clementine?" Lee asked.
"I mean, yeah...when he was comforting me."
"How exactly did he do that? Did he make you feel uncomfortable?"
"Yeah, it was pretty uncomfortable. After he yelled at me, he'd kiss my head and say that everything would be okay," Clementine replied.
"That is just creepy," Rebecca shook her head. "He barely knew him and he does that? Did you ever do that Lee?"
"The closest was when I hugged Clementine after we reunited, but I never kissed her at any point or time," Lee said.
"Yep. That man is crazy. What happened to him? I assumed you..." Rebecca began.
"Yeah. Clementine hit him over the head with a glass bottle and I tackled him to the ground and strangled him," Lee explained.
"A bullet in the head?" Luke asked.
"Nah. Monsters like him don't deserve that," Lee replied. "When he told me the story of his life, I felt sympathy for him, but it all went away when he said he'd kill Clementine himself than let her leave with me."
"I was angry when I heard that too," Clementine angrily spoke.
"My sympathy for him went down the drain," Sarita said, which shocked Kenny, Walter, and Matthew.
"Damn Rita. First time I've heard you talk like that," Kenny replied. "And you didn't even curse and you're shocking us. Do you know the one thing that would shock me the most? If Clementine cursed."
"I would never swear," Clementine told Kenny.
"We'll see about that kid. Let's see what happens when you stub your toe or something," Nick chuckled. "You'll hear shit endlessly streaming out of your mouth."
"Hey..." Clementine reprimanded.
"Shit, sorry...I mean, shit," Nick grinned.
Clementine glared at Nick. "You really should learn to watch your language..."
"Clementine. Nick's a grown man," Lee said.
"He sure doesn't act like it," Clementine smirked.
"Ha, that's hilarious," Luke chuckled.
"Yer darn tootin'," Pete laughed.
Nick crossed his arms but gave Clementine a grin.
Lee shook his head and sighed, but couldn't help feeling proud. Clementine surely grew well. He didn't want her mouth getting her into trouble. He'd have to talk about that with her later on.
"Matthew?" Lee asked.
"Yes?" Matthew asked, but realized what he was asking about. "Right...you were at the part where you took that man's supplies."
"Right," Lee nodded. "We return to the inn and things are tense there, but we're safe. Lily is still recovering from losing her father. Kenny and I raid the pharmacy again. Going to the pharmacy, we see a woman screaming for help with the walkers over her. We could either save her or let her take the walker's attention and get items from the pharmacy."
"Another tough choice. Man, your life is riddled with them," Walter replied. "But all our life is riddled with choices. I'm guessing you guys left her to die and took everything in the pharmacy?"
"Man, why would you assume that?" Lee indignantly replied
"Oh, is it that obvious?" Kenny boredly asked. "Look, if it weren't the apocalypse, I'd find many things wrong with it, but we live in a different world now, and I'd like everyone to look at it like that."
"You expect us to feel safe around you after you started waving the gun at and us and tell all these stories so nonchalantly?" Rebecca asked.
"Hell, I'm not expecting anything."
"That woman in a way helped us," Lee said. "It pains me to say it, but she might have saved our lives."
"And that shitbird tries to kill us," Kenny added.
Clementine looked at Kenny with a little bit of frustration. Did he have to bring him up every single time? She knew that Ben did not have evil intentions and hearing Kenny constantly say that about Ben made her a bit annoyed. She immediately removed that look.
"We came back with the medicine and Lily pointed out that someone has been stealing from our group," Lee replied. "And Kenny, please..."
"Don't talk about Ben like that," Clementine said, shocking Kenny. "I know you're angry with him, but it...it kinda kills me when I hear you talking like that so please..."
Kenny stared at Clementine and sighed. "Alright, Clem. I'll try my best not to bring up that shi- I mean, that kid up."
Clementine had a genuine smile as Kenny couldn't help but smile back. It was a rare thing to have Clementine give you a genuine smile.
"So the thief was that Ben kid?" Luke asked. "I'm assumin'."
"Yeah, he was," Lee nodded. "But I guess he had his reasons. I found that someone, I didn't know who at that time, was stealing our medicine and giving it to the bandits. I found the supplies just outside of the motel. I took it back and showed it to Lily. By taking it to Lily, it meant the bandits didn't receive that supply so they raided our camp. They held all of us besides Lily and me at gunpoint. I headed out and tried to strike a deal with them. It worked for a bit, but they grew paranoid and threatened to kill all of us. That's when Carley shot a bandit in the head. Everyone ran for cover and Kenny went to fire up the RV and we held back the bandits successfully. We all made it to the RV."
"That's a relief," Matthew sighed. "Clementine, what were your thoughts when that happened?"
"Scared," she gave a blunt reply.
"Do you mind explaining Clementine?" Carlos asked.
She nodded. "I thought I was going to die, which is the case every time we were attacked by walkers or something like that. Lee made sure he took care of me though. He directed me and helped me and we made it, but...unfortunately..."
Clementine looked at Kenny as he looked down.
"My kid got bit," he whispered.
"By...walkers?" Nick asked.
Kenny wanted to give a sarcastic retort, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
"The noise drew the walkers," Clementine explained. "It was the bandits and the walkers we had to deal with and yeah..."
"Man, did your wife get bit too?" Luke asked.
"Only Duck."
"Then, how did she-"
"Luke," Clementine said looking at him. "Please."
"Shoot, sorry Kenny."
Kenny just waved his hands telling Luke that it was okay.
"We were all in the RV when Lily began questioning us," Lee continued. "She was hellbent on finding out who the thief was. She accused Carley. Apparently, she had some kind of animosity to her and then she lashed out on Ben. The RV ran over a walker and we had to stop. Lily interrogated Ben and Carley and it all peaked with Carley telling her to grow up. After Kenny dealt with the walker, she was shot in the head, so we left her out in the road and left."
"I don't have any sympathy for a girl like her," Pete said.
"She lost her father Pete," Alvin defended the girl. "Lee, you said that she had a hard job being the leader, which is true. As the leader, you must please your people and do what's best for them. If something goes wrong, the leader is the first one who gets blamed and then her father being dead and all, I feel for the girl."
"I get what you're saying Alvin," Keny nodded in agreement. "But with that kind of behavior, who knows what she could have done to us? By killing someone else just because they told you to grow up...it wasn't safe having her in our group. I mean, it's unfortunate she lost her father, but we don't need that kind of behavior."
"If we had someone like her in our group, I'd definitely throw her out," Rebecca crossed her arms. "I agree with Kenny on this one."
"What's your take on this Clementine?" Carlos asked. "Did you think she deserved to be tossed out?"
"At first no," Clementine replied. "She was a good person to me and she protected me so I was a bit conflicted, but she deserved it."
She looked at everyone as Lee nodded.
"Yup, so that's that," Lee said. "Lily then tried one last time and said that I was a convicted killer, but thankfully I had told them."
"Yeah, I had no problem with Lee then," Kenny replied. "If I had heard it from Lily the first time, I would have gotten mad. He was taking care of a little girl and for him to conceal that? Yeah, I'm glad you to told me."
"I had my doubts, but Carley convinced me. She was a huge help."
"Heh," Kenny agreed. "A really good shot too. Anyways, we get back in the RV, but there's this huge train that is blocking the path so we decide to stay until we figure out how to get the train moving. Lee goes to check on the train while the rest of us sits down and relaxes."
"It's Kenny, Clementine, Katjaa, Duck, Ben and me," Lee said. "Everyone from the group we met at the pharmacy is gone," Lee continued. "I check inside the train and notices that someone might have been living in there. The train had a map that went all the way to Savannah and the train was working."
"Hell, I've never felt happier," Kenny smiled. "Besides finding the boat in the shed, finding the train was a dream come true. So we're in the front thinking about how to work this train and then this genius right here figures how to start the damn train. I mean, how crazy is that?"
"The instructions were left out in the open," Lee explained. "The page was torn off, but there was still a crease of it, so using the leaf rubbing technique I learned from Clementine, we managed to get it to work."
"Leaf rubbing?" Nick asked.
"Clem?" Lee looked at her.
"Yeah. Basically, you take a leaf and you put in under a paper. You then use your crayon or whatever to color over it and you'll be able to draw the patches of the leaf on the paper," Clementine explained.
"Ah, leaf rubbing," Walter smiled. "I can remember it so well."
"I learned it in school," Clementine replied.
"Well, that certainly helped, didn't it?" Matthew asked.
"It sure did," Clementine and Lee chorused together, earning chuckles.
"The train starts, but as it starts to pull away, it is held back by dead weight attached to it," Lee said. "Thankfully, the lurch had weakened it so I used a tool to pry it apart. I head back to the front where Kenny is, but I'm greeted by this old homeless man named Chuck. He's a really good guy."
"Chuck was nice," Clementine smiled. "He gave me candy."
"Candy?" Carlos asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It wasn't poison or anything," Clementine immediately replied. "He played the guitar well too."
"If I was offered candy by some random strangers, I wouldn't take it," Luke chuckled.
"There's that kind of fear," Kenny agreed. "I'm glad it wasn't poisoned. As we got to know Chuck more, we figured him to be a decent man. We invited him to our crew and we took off. Unfortunately, Duck isn't feeling well and my wife knows it is time."
"Katjaa told me to convince Kenny to stop the train," Lee winced.
"I was in a shitty mood, you know?" Kenny sighed. "I...when Lee tried to convince me, I lashed out at him. I was in denial...and...but, he showed kindness and patience to me. I wanted to pick a fight with him. I wanted to give him every excuse to hit me so I can hit back, but Lee talked to me as a friend. I realized how much of a shithead I had been. Lee soon figured out why I was like this. I felt like I was being cursed. Since I couldn't save Hershel's son, I thought there would be no way this world would save mine."
"Kenny, you know that's not how it works," Matthew gently said. "Everything happens for a reason. You can't beat yourself up for it."
"That's what Lee said," Kenny gave a bitter chuckle. "I know. I was being..."
"You were being human," Carlos said. "We sometimes hope that by not accepting the cold hard fact, it'll cruise on by...that there will be a solution. We are only prolonging it in our minds and once the reality hits, it will be like a very hard slap in the face."
"I just wish...why did have to be at that time?" Kenny asked. "If he didn't get bit and he didn't have to...Katjaa would..."
Most people were curious as to how Katjaa died, especially Sarita, but they knew that it wasn't appropriate to ask.
Kenny knew about how curious they were and he decided to help them out.
"She...couldn't bring herself to bring Duck," Kenny gasped, shaking and seething. "She...ended her life before she could kill Duck."
"Oh Kenny," Sarita gasped, putting a hand over her mouth, unaware of the tears that were falling.
"It was the worst day of my entire life," Kenny shook his head, fighting back the tears. "The woman I loved so dearly...the son I had loved so dearly taken away from me...because of the bandits that attacked...because of, because of..."
He was this close to cursing out Ben and going on a pure rage rampage against him, but he remembered what Clementine had said. He remembered looking into her eyes and receiving a genuine smile from her. He wouldn't be here if Lee wasn't with him. He didn't know what he would've done. He probably would have gotten himself killed.
"That is truly tragic," Matthew said with sorrow. "You must have been through a lot."
"She told me that she loved Duck more than life itself," Kenny said. "I should've seen the warning signs...but how could she? She knew damn well she'd be leaving me also...she..."
Kenny was shaking as the tears were once more threatening to overcome him.
No one said anything but gave Kenny comforting looks.
"I'm not a mom yet, so I can't say much, but what I know is that a child of the mother is her greatest treasure," Rebecca said. "The child was born from the mother...that child is a wonderful miracle of life, and losing someone who you personally had in you can cause a massive wreck. You can't blame her for that. It was very hard for her to do that because she had you in her life. I'm sure she was forever grateful for you, okay Kenny? Don't start asking these questions. They are only going to leave you confused and angry."
"I'm a dad and I love Sarah with all my heart. I'd protect her with my life and I'd do it in a heartbeat and that's just me," Carlos replied. "My wife loved...she absolutely loved Sarah. She would never leave her out of her side and from how she acted, it looked like she loved Sarah more than me. But, who could blame her? I know she loved me dearly also. You hear stories about how a mother's life has done a total 180 after they have a child. Most mothers would give their lives in a heartbeat for their children. Kenny, no one deserves to go through that, but you have all of us now. We all are in it together."
"Hell, after how I treated you, I don't deserve any of this," he said, wiping a single tear that escaped. "Damn tears trying to fuck with me."
"It's all good man," Nick smiled. "You're not a bad person. You have a good side to you. I can see it."
"Heh, thanks, kid. Thanks guys, I feel better now."
Everyone gave Kenny words of encouragement.
"Hey, I know I went through hell, but I'm sure some of you went through worse so stop kissing my ass okay?" Kenny asked.
"Kenny. Stop being rude!" Sarita reprimanded.
"Sorry, Rita. I'm kidding Y'all."
Clementine rose up and gave Kenny a huge hug, which he returned.
"Aw," Kenny smiled. "Thanks, Clem."
She nodded as she sat back down, earning a huge smile from Lee.
"Lee offers to put my son down and he does it himself. Bless him for that," Kenny sighed. "Feeling miserable as ever, we continue on. Our luck turns worse, or so I thought, when we approached a bridge that had a gas tanker dangling from it. No way that train could pass unless we ram it. If we did, we'd all die. Thank God I didn't choose to do that. At my mental state, I might have, but I'm not that stupid."
"Let me take it from here Ken," Lee smiled. "Before we were stopped by the gas tanker, I saw Clementine sitting down sadly. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that Chuck had come up to her and told her that she was going to end up like Duck...dead."
"Wait, what?" Kenny asked.
"Relax Kenny," Lee tried to calm him down. "I was at first angry like you were and when I confronted Chuck, he brought up a good point. Clementine did not know how to shoot a gun and she had her hair long. Also, we didn't have a plan once we reached Savannah. Chuck said that I needed to teach her to shoot a gun. I thought it was preposterous, but he was right."
"Yeah, as ugly as it is, the kid needs to learn how to shoot a gun. How else is she going to defend herself?" Pete asked.
"Right," Lee nodded. "And he said to cut her hair short in case the walkers handled that. He's right about that also and how we both need to sit down together and hash a plan."
"I agree with the hair," Alvin said.
"After all, when Danny or Andy or one of those turds grabbed her hair like that...if a walker did that, man..." Kenny shook his head. "We can't have a sweet girl like her end up like that."
"Also, a plan is necessary, otherwise, you won't know what to do once you reach your destination," Walter helpfully added. "As hard as Chuck may have interpreted that, he had a point."
"Okay, now I don't want to rip his throat out," Kenny smiled. "So, you cut her hair and taught her how to shoot?"
"Yep, and don't forget about discussing a plan," Lee said. "She caught on shooting really well. I put a glass bottle on a crate and helped her steady the gun. I covered her ears and told her to aim higher or lower, to the left or to the right. She missed the first one, but she nailed the next two perfectly."
"My hand hurt after the first shot," Clementine winced, massaging her wrists.
"Yeah, and I bet your ass hurt after you fired that rifle," Nick smirked.
Clementine gave him a look as she shook her head.
"At least she had the balls to shoot that rifle unlike you," Pete replied. "'Please don't make me shoot it, Uncle Pete. I don't wanna shoot it.'"
Clementine had to burst out laughing as Lee soon followed.
"What? What? What's so funny?" Kenny asked.
"Nothing! I have no idea why they are laughing," Nick growled.
"Sorry Nick," Lee finished up. "So yeah. I also ended up cutting her hair."
"It was terrible. I looked like a boy," Clementine said.
"Hey, I'm not a barber, okay?" Lee asked. "And I never focus much on my hair. Luke, you on the other hand and Carlos, you must have really done something to get your hair like that."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Luke questioned, crossing his arms. "Why do I have a feeling you insulted me?"
"I didn't insult you Luke," Lee replied. "It's just that your hair isn't as simple as mine or Alvin's."
"Yeah, I get it."
"On the train is when Ben confessed about what had happened to me," Lee said. "He felt really bad. Apparently, the bandits threatened him and said they'd kill us all if Ben didn't slip the supplies. Kenny, what Ben did might be sacrilegious to you, but he could have been saving us all."
"I don't wanna hear about that," Kenny replied, "At least not until later."
Lee nodded. "So, with the train stopped, we must find a way to get across. Kenny and Chuck get into an argument, and that draws the attention of..."
"Walkers?" Nick asked, guessing. "Right? You get ambushed by walkers."
"We do, but later on," Lee replied. "The walkers followed the train sounds to us, but we were found by two people name Christa and Omid."
Clementine smiled at the thought of them but frowned when she remembered what had happened to them.
"The two you said who was heading up north to Wellington with you?" Luke remembered.
"Yep, that's them," Lee nodded. "They made sure we weren't trouble to them. We decided to cut the tanker down so we can proceed on. Clementine had a talk with Christa while I head over to the warehouse to find something to cut the tanker down and Clementine comes with me. We head in when I'm ambushed by two walkers. I kill one of them, but the other almost overpowers me. Guess who kills the second."
"Clementine?" Luke asked.
"Damn," Kenny whistled as Lee nodded. "Your first gunshot against a walker and you manage to blow his head off. Niice!"
Clementine just smiled. "Well, I was ambushed by another walker in there and Lee saved me."
"That's what we do," Lee chuckled. "Clementine and I find a blowtorch and with Omid's help, we manage to cut down the tanker. Thousands of walkers catch up to us and we are forced to run. The train moves on while Omid and I are still stuck up on the bridge. We both jump and I manage to make it on top, but Omid doesn't. He falls down hard and injures his leg."
"Just like you Lee," Clementine said, remembering when Lee first found her with a busted leg.
"Yeah, just like me. So we pull him up and we ride off into the sunset," Lee smiled. "Or that's how I wish it happened."
"Heh, at the front of the cab, Clementine was asleep and we found her radio go off," Kenny replied. "This stranger speaks and says that he has Clementine's parents with him and she better come find him or else...it sounded like a threat. We were both shocked."
Clementine shook her head, feeling really angry with herself. She regretted ever talking to that stranger and being fooled by his lies.
"Clementine, don't worry okay? It's just the past," Lee reassured. "I don't want you to feel bad about yourself...and I don't want you to think it's your fault."
"But it is my-"
"What did I say Clementine?" Lee asked.
"Why are you passing this so lightly?" Clementine couldn't help but to ask. "Why are you speaking as if this wasn't a big deal? I made a huge mistake Lee. I listened to the stranger and put all our lives in danger. Why aren't you really mad at me for that? I know I'd be..."
"Do you want me to be mad at you?" Lee incredulously asked.
"I did something really stupid and I regret it so much. I thought...when you told me Kenny was no more...I thought it was all my fault and I felt, I still feel very bad," Clementine unhappily sighed.
"You learned from your mistake, right?" Matthew asked as Clementine nodded. "You're never going to do that again, right?"
"Absolutely not," Clementine shook her head. "I already have a...a...father...ly figure."
Lee smiled.
"Then, you learned your lesson. You made a mistake and you learned."
"You are stronger tha before because of your mistake," Walter continued. "You learned that it hurt you badly and you won't do it again. I think that's a mistake well learned."
"If you keep looking at the what ifs and what could have been's, then you will always feel miserable," Carlos explained. "You must stop beating yourself up for that. If Lee and Kenny forgave you, you should forgive yourself."
"Yep. You were always forgiven. I saw a girl who wanted her parents back. Hell, if I were you, I'd definitely take my chances with the stranger who had my family," Kenny said. "Well, if I were your age."
"You see how everyone is supporting you Clementine?" Rebecca asked. "In this case, don't push your doubts further. Smile, say thank you, and move on."
"You may not be able to truly move on in your heart, but if you keep trying, you'll manage well," Alvin grinned.
"Th-thanks guys. I appreciate all your support," Clementine replied, a wave of emotion suddenly surrounding her. They all cared. They all wanted to see her succeed. She was only making it worse on herself by indulging in her self pity.
"Great, I'm glad we came to that resolution," Lee smiled. "And that was the most interesting thing that happened. After that, the trip to Savannah was normal. Nothing extraordinary happened and we made it. We soon took to the streets, trying to look for a place to rest up and a boat."
"A boat?" Luke asked.
"Ah, the damn boat...the bane of my existence," Kenny gave a chuckle. "That old thing didn't help us at all! Most were stripped of parts, and that one boat we found that worked was fucking stolen. The boats hated me I swear. Maybe it's because I killed a lot of sea creatures. I'm a commercial fisherman if you were wondering."
"When supplies are running low, the batteries on the boat can be of real value," Matthew nodded. "I'm sure nearly all of them were like that."
"Yep...and it was done by none other than Crawford," Kenny said. "Next, we have Crawford. That's another chapter in my life that I wish didn't happen."
"Crawford," Pete muttered.
"The place you told us about, right?" Alvin asked.
"Woah, you told them about Crawford?" Kenny turned to Lee.
"Yeah, when we were having food," Lee nodded. "This all started when we heard some bells ring at Savannah. The bells were near us and the walkers were attracted to the noise. We rushed out of the streets and found a home we could stay. We entered and it seemed safe enough. Kenny checked the upstairs and what he saw really did something to him."
"Wh-what'd you find Kenny?" Clementine asked. "She didn't know about this."
Kenny winced. "I saw a young boy who looked so much like Duck who was a walker. That kid was skinny as hell. His bones were showing...it was obvious he starved to death."
"Dehydration probably got to him first," Lee gently replied.
"That's terrible," Rebecca winced, putting her hand on her head. "That's one of the worst ways to go...starving...dying of hunger or thirst."
"That is truly tragic," Carlos nodded.
"That could have been me," Clementine shuddered. "I would have either starved to death or died while trying to get food and you know it's true so don't tell me to not say that."
Lee who was about to, didn't, seeing the look from Clementine. "I'm glad I found you."
"Yeah, me too."
"Look on the bright side Clem, at least you weren't the one dead set finding your parents," Kenny said. "I was dead set on finding a boat and that didn't help matters. I learned from my mistake, so I'm not sweating it anymore."
"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Clementine asked.
"As long as you keep blaming yourself, I'm going to keep saying this," Kenny chuckled.
"That's reassuring..."
"Deal with it Clem. You'll look back when you're older and say...Kenny was right," Kenny smiled.
"Yeah, that you all were right," Clementine smiled back. She wouldn't forget this.
"This was a good idea Walter," Luke applauded. "I'm seeing them in a different light now."
"And so am I," Sarita replied. "I'm also glad we're doing this."
"It's great I guess," Nick shrugged.
"Well, I'm glad you folks are enjoying this, but we need our rest. After Lee finishes his story, then we can call it a night today. Does that sound good?" Walter asked.
Clementine yawned. "Ah, yeah, that sounds perfect."
Everyone laughed.
"You're free to head on up and sleep if you want," Walter said.
"I think I'm fine," she replied laying her head on Lee. "This is the life."
"Hey don't get too comfy alright?" Luke asked. "If you do, you're going to make all of us fall asleep."
"Hey, I never set you couldn't sleep. Sleep if you want."
"Never in a million years would I have thought you'd speak to me like that," Luke said.
Clementine gave him a bored look. "Honestly I'm pretty tired, but I want to still finish up the story. Lee, can you continue?"
"Of course hon," Lee gave a smile and prepared to finish off his story with everyone listening intently or in Clementine's case...half heartedly.
