Not Out Of Trouble Yet
They had been walking for several hours when they decided to rest for a little while. Everyone found places to sit and relaxed, with the exception of the young man, whose name was Arvo. Not wanting to stop, he kept going, until Jeff stepped in his way. "You're not going anywhere when we're not moving," he said. "Don't add another strike to the list. Besides, I'm sure you're tired like we are." Realizing Jeff was right, Arvo sat down, not far from the others. As Jeff walked away, Mike went over to talk to the teenager. Jeff found a log to sit on and relaxed, as Kenny walked over to him. "Hey Kenny," he said. "Hey," Kenny replied. "Look...I'm sorry for my actions back at Howe's. I was angry at Carver and...you were the one who walked up, so I just let the rage fly. I have the unfortunate tendency to do that, so...if you see me start it up again, let me know." "I sure will," Jeff said. "And I forgive you." "Thanks," Kenny replied, with a smile. As they talked, Clementine walked up and sat beside Jeff. "How are you feeling?" he asked her. "Like I got beat up," she replied sarcastically. "Who did it?" Jeff replied with sarcasm. "I'll beat 'em up for you, to get back at them." He then lightly slapped his hand and made a slow motion punch to his jaw, making his friends smile, knowing that he wasn't thinking negatively anymore. After resting for about fifteen minutes, they continued on, with Kenny taking his turn keeping an eye on Arvo. As they walked, Bonnie moved next to him, with AJ in her arms. "I know you're feeling better," she said. "But how about something else to cheer you up more?" "Like what?" Jeff replied. Without another word, Bonnie carefully placed AJ in his arms and backed up. The infant looked at him, with a calm look on his little face, as Jeff's heart melted. "Been a while since I held a baby," he said, as they continued to walk. "Did you ever have a chance to have a family before this?" Bonnie asked. Jeff looked at AJ, and just frowned. "I never got the chance," he said. "I have a girlfriend, but she broke up with me before the outbreak, because she wanted to date a football player at our college. Turned out to be the wrong choice, as they were among the first I found turned after the outbreak." "Ouch," Mike said, from nearby. "Even if I never have a family," Jeff continued. "I'll be happy I got to hold this handsome kid." As if understanding the compliment, AJ cooed and smiled, as they continued on.
As the sunlight began to fade, they reached an old power station, with a fence around it. After inspecting it make sure it was secure, they went inside to rest for the night. Despite his frustration toward Arvo for not being honest about the distance to the house, Kenny was glad they had at least made it as far as they had. Even so, he still took a precaution and tied Arvo to a stand, not far from where they had started a fire, to keep him from running off. "I know it's meant to keep him from running off," Mike said. "But was tying him up necessary?" "It is, for now," Jeff replied. There was silence for a minute, then Luke spoke up. "It's my birthday," he said. "How do you know?" Bonnie asked. "I somehow can still keep track of the dates," Luke said. "Don't ask me how, but I just know." "Well, in that case," Bonnie began, while reaching into her bag. What she pulled out was an unopened bottle of rum. "I swiped this from Carver's and was saving it for a special occasion. Since it's Luke's birthday, I'd say that's special enough." Every adult took a sip, making toasts to lost friends and family. When Jeff was offered, however, he politely declined. "Someone has to keep sober for the kids," eff said, as he looked at Clementine and Sarah. "I respect that," Mike said. "But no one's driving a car, right now." "It's not the driving I'm worried about," Jeff replied. Just then, Kenny walked up, taking a break from first watch, to join the small celebration. "I know what it is," he said. "Someone's gotta be able to keep an eye on the kids." Everyone agreed, then Luke spoke up again. "Speaking of kids," he began. "Mind telling us about your son, Kenny? I know it's a tough subject, but maybe there's a happy memory in there somewhere." Kenny smiled. "Come to think of it," he said. "There is one thing I liked about my boy. Duck always liked Batman, so he liked to help out and say whoever he was helping was Batman and he was Robin. The most memorable was the last time he would ever do it. Clem knows this one." "I don't mean to be rude," Luke interrupted. "But, why call him 'Duck'?" "He tended to talk a lot," Kenny said. "Sometimes, he'd talk ing such a way that he'd almost quack." Everyone laughed a little, before Kenny continued. "Lee, the guy who looked after Clem before Jeff, was tasked with finding out who had been stealing supplies from our group. Duck had overheard and offered- no, begged to help. Lee let him, though he had his doubts, because Duck was too eager to help. After a while, they both found the needed evidence and the thief was stopped, but not immediately identified. Soon after…" Kenny trailed off, remembering the fateful events that followed. "Kenny?" Jeff said, worried for his friend. "I'm sorry," Kenny replied, wiping a tear away. "It's just...hard to think about the next part." There was silence for a minute, then Clementine spoke up. "What happened afterward," she began. "Was a big mess. Turns out the thefts were to keep bandits away from us. So, when the pick ups stopped coming, the bandits attacked. In the madness, walkers came and Duck was bitten in the chaos. We didn't learn until hours after we had escaped. Kenny tried to brush it off, in hopes we were wrong. Eventually, he did turn, which wasn't prevented, because Lee couldn't convince Kenny to stop the train we had taken to Savannah. In the madness, Kenny's wife, a high schooler who had been in the group, Lee, and myself were attacked, and knocked out of the train. Though I wasn't bitten, I had hurt my leg in the fall." She paused, seeing everyone saddened by the story's ending. "That's why Kenny is so upset when Duck is mentioned." "That's horrible," Mike said. "Yeah," Kenny replied. "I'd give anything to go back and stop either disaster that made everything go so wrong...but I wouldn't trade what I have now for anything. I know to not take bites lightly and I look after my friends better. I won't let anyone else encounter an event like that." "So Clem," Jane said. "How'd you meet Jeff?" For the next ten minutes, Clementine caught everyone up on how she and Jeff met, how they survived for two years, and how that had made even the toughest of situations worth fighting through. Afterward, Mike went to offer Arvo some rum, which he accepted, though he had initially declined. Jeff overheard the two talking and it had him wondering. "Hey Clem," he whispered. "Yeah?" she replied. "I think we may see Arvo come around and join us, despite all that's happened," he said. "Maybe," she replied. "Or this could be the beginning of a group split he's a big part of." "we'll have to wait and see," Jeff said, returning his attention to the conversation around them. Eventually, everyone grew tired, so they settled down for the night and fell asleep.
The next day, they were finally approaching the house Arvo had been leading them toward. There was just one problem: A large frozen lake was in their path. "You failed to mention this," Avro," Kenny said, showing frustration. "Risky to go around," Mike said. "Is okay," Arvo said. "Ice is thick enough to walk across." "You better be right about this, kid," Jeff said, giving him a look of warning. "Alright," Jane said. "If we're going to do this, spread out, so the ice doesn't cave in as soon as we step on it." "Good idea," Jeff replied. So they spread out and very carefully made their way across the ice covered lake, with Kenny not far behind Arvo, just in case he tried to run. Everything went smoothly, for the first several yards, making everyone believe Arvo was right. However, they soon heard the all-too-familiar sound of walkers, as Sarah looked back and saw them on the shore, making an effort to cross. "Guys, we need to hurry," she said, with urgency. Everyone picked up a bit of speed to get across, but not risk the ice breaking from the stress of the sudden movement. As they went, two walkers fell through, but one had its sights set on taking down Luke. "Luke!" Bonnie called, bringing his attention to the walker. Luke grabbed his gun and aimed to shoot his pursuer...only to find his gun was empty. Without any other options, he turned around, ready to fight the walker off. As the walker got closer, he readied himself for the end, knowing he could only fight off so many of the things before they took him down. BEfore the walker reached him, however, Sarah ran in front of him, and the walker bit her instead. Luke was in shock as the walker dragged her down, being joined by another. As they fell, the ice beneath them caved in and the walkers and their victim fell into the icy water. "Sarah!" Clementine called, as she ran to save her friend. Luke, however, grabbed her, before she could reach the hole where she had fallen in. "If you go, her sacrifice will mean nothing, now let's keep moving," he said. So Clementine continued walking, despite the upsetting situation. To make matters worse, one step resulted in the ice cracking beneath her. "Clem!" Jeff called as he started to move toward her. However, before he could do anything, Luke shoved her clear, as the ice gave way and he fell in. "Luke!" Bonnie and Clementine called. Moving quickly, Jane reached her hand into the freezing cold water to pull him out. She managed to grab onto his hand and began to pull him up, but one of the walkers that had killed Sarah had managed to find him and began to drag him down. Jane, Clementine, and Bonnie all tried to pull him up, but he was losing strength and motioned for them to leave him. They refused and tried one last time, until more walkers got a little too close for comfort, forcing them to abandon the effort. "We're almost there!" Kenny called, as they cautiously picked up the pace. Suddenly, Clementine found a weak spot and fell through the ice, near the edge of the lake. "No!" Jeff called. Not wanting to lose his friend, he quickly pulled her out of the water and carried her to the house.
Once everyone was inside, Jane and Mike sorted out starting a fire in the fireplace, which was complete, thankfully. While they waited, Jeff took his coat off and put it around his shivering friend. "Th-thanks," Clementine said, through the chill. "You're welcome," he replied. Finally, they got a fire going and Clementine began to feel warmer almost immediately. Satisfied that she was no longer in danger, he turned his attention to Arvo. Walking up to where the teenage had been tied up, he glared at him. "You're little shortcut cost us TWO people," he said. "That's STRIKE TWO. I could just make it strike three, but I'm willing to give you one more chance." "F*** you!" Arvo replied. Unphased, Jeff walked away and returned to the fireplace. Kenny had gone back outside to see if the truck he'd noticed had worked, while Jane reluctantly tried to look after AJ, so that left Jeff with time to kill. As he sat next to Clementine, he watched Mike walk over to Avro and talk to him again, but didn't pay much attention to it"We're getting closer to Wellington, but I don't know if everyone else is up for trying to get there." he said. "We need to figure out what we're doing. What do you think?" "I think we should try to get there," she replied. "It's supposed to be safe there, and with AJ, we really need someplace safe for him." "Agreed," Jeff said. "I-" "Yes!" Kenny shouted, interrupting him. "It works!" With that, everyone hurried outside, where they gathered around the truck. "This thing works?" Mike asked. "About time something went our way!" "Amen to that!" Jeff replied. "Now we can try to get to Wellington and hope it's really there." "Man, you still think that place is real?" Mike asked. "It's worth a shot," Kenny said. "Real or not, if we can keep this thing running, we'll be fine for the winter, when it comes to travelling." "I suppose you have a point there," Mike replied. "But what about Arvo?" "Oh, the Russian?" Kenny said. "Yeah, he ain't coming with us." "How can you be like that, Kenny?" Mike asked. "He's cost us two people," Jeff said. "Plus he tried to kill Clementine. He may only have two strikes, in my book, but I can't risk anymore lives by keeping him around." "You and your strike system!" Mike replied. "Why are you even using that? Arvo's harmless." "Sounds to me like he's manipulated you," Jeff replied, accusingly. Mike didn't like that and made a move to hit Jeff, only for Clementine to get in the way. "Calm down, Mike," she said. "We're all tired from the last couple of days. Maybe a good night's rest will help clear our heads, and we can talk about this more in the morning. "Fine by me," Jeff said, as they went back inside for the night.
Well, readers, the end is nearing. I have teo more PLANNED chapters and an epilogue, but that can change at any time. For now, have a good day.
