Chapter 14 – New Allies

They found themselves in the hotel lobby. With red carpeting and golden colored walls, it looked like it could have been pretty beautiful once upon time, but now it was pretty dull and dingy. The room was long and narrow with a check in counter on the right side with a couple of computers and phones, no doubt they didn't work though. There was a set of oak double doors on the other side of the room across from the check in desk. A sign on the wall to the right of the door labeled the room beyond as a banquet hall. Across the room were a couple of banks of elevators and to the right of the elevators was a door labeled stairs. To the left of the elevators was another door labeled employees only. There were a couple of circular, plush red couches in the middle of the room with a water fountain in between them. The fountain looked like it had dried up long ago though.

The front door looked to have been glass at one point but had been reinforced with sturdy sheets of plywood equipped with a wooden board that could be secured across the door by hooks on either side to prevent the door from being opened. After barring the door, the man turned toward the newcomers.

"Man, that was close," he said breathlessly.

"Yeah, thanks for saving us out there," Lee said gratefully.

"No problem," the man replied with a shake of his head as he walked away from the door. "We couldn't very well let you guys die out there. I'm Kyle, by the way, and this is Reggie." He indicated the dark-haired woman next to him.

"Lee. And this is Clementine, Cassie, and Kenny," Lee introduced.

"Can we make with the pleasantries later? Cassie's bleeding all over the place over here," Kenny said sharply as he inspected the cuts on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"It's not that bad," Cassie insisted.

"Yes, it is," Kenny argued. "Stop trying to be tough all the time."

"What happened? Was she bit?" Reggie asked.

"No!" Kenny snapped. "Why does everyone assume that? She was clawed by one of those things out there."

"Oh, you mean the hunters," Kyle said as he walked over to Cassie to take a look for himself how bad her wounds were. One look at all the blood and he had to agree with Kenny. "I think he's right. It does look bad." He looked over his shoulder at Reggie. "Reggie, go get John for me."

"On my way," Reggie replied as she disappeared through the oak double doors.

Kyle looked back at Cassie with a reassuring smile. "John's a doctor. He'll take care of you."

"Thanks."

With Cassie taken care of, Lee turned to Kyle with a question. "Now, what the hell were those things? Hunters?"

"That's what we call them," Kyle said with a nod. "Because they stalk you like a hunter does its prey, and then they pounce on you like a cat, claw the shit out of you before they start eating. Brutal fuckers."

"Where did they come from? I've never seen any like them," Lee said.

"Neither did we until we got here. This city seems to be crawling with them. God only knows where they came from," Kyle replied.

"Why are you even still here then if this place is crawling with them?" Kenny asked.

"We were going to leave until we came upon this place," Kyle said as he spread out his arms to encompass the area. "It seemed too good to pass up."

Lee looked around the lobby. It was definitely a good place to stay. "Yeah, this does seem like a good setup, especially that door." He indicated the front door with his thumb.

"Yeah," Kyle said as he turned to face the door. "I wish we could take the credit for that, but it was like that when we got here. Whoever was here before us went to town with the fortifications. That door is solid as a rock. Hasn't failed us yet. Plus, this place was stocked with food, water, and ammo. It was like a godsend."

"Yeah, I hear that, but it does beg the question. What happened to the people who were here before if this place was so well-stocked and fortified?" Lee asked.

"Well, the door was unlocked when we got here, and there were a few walkers wandering around the lobby here. My guess is they were bitten while on a run outside and turned before they could lock themselves in."

"Makes sense," Cassie commented.

"What the hell is this?!" a deep voice boomed as a large, well-built man with short, jet-black hair and menacing green eyes came stalking toward them angrily from the direction of the stairwell. With a white t-shirt, green jacket, and blue jeans, he looked like a football player and was definitely built like one too. "Who told you you could bring new people in here?" he asked Kyle.

"Gee, Deacon, I didn't know I needed your permission," Kyle replied icily, crossing his arms.

"We all live here! You should have consulted all of us before just bringing them inside!" Deacon yelled.

"Hey, look, there wasn't exactly time to have a debate. They would've died out there if we hadn't done something," Kyle argued.

"So? I don't give a shit. They're not our problem."

"Of course, you don't give a shit. You don't care about anybody," Kyle snapped.

Deacon scowled at him. "Hey! I'm just trying to look out for our group!" he shouted.

"No, you're trying to look out for yourself, like always."

"Everybody just calm down," Lee interjected steadily. "We don't want to cause trouble."

Deacon turned his looming gaze on Lee. "Good. Then get the hell out."

"We ain't going anywhere," Kenny stepped in, tired of this guy's bullshit.

"I wasn't talking to you, grandpa. So, shut the fuck up," Deacon said nastily.

"What did you call me?" Kenny asked angrily.

"I think you heard me, unless you need to turn up your hearing aid."

"Alright, what is going on here?" another voice interrupted. A middle-aged man with wavy, brown hair wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans came walking over to them with Reggie by his side. His brown orbs moved from one person to the next in a questioning gaze.

"On nothing, John. Deacon, here, just has a problem with us saving these people," Kyle explained, indicating the man with a wave of his hand as he turned away in annoyance.

John looked from Deacon to Kyle calmly. "Uh huh. That's nothing new. I was told someone needed some medical attention," he said casually, not wanting to get in the middle of this debate.

"Yeah, Cassie does," Kenny said, still staring daggers at Deacon.

John looked at the woman standing next to Kenny with her shoulder bleeding and nodded. "Ok, then." He started to walk over to her but was stopped by Deacon.

"Wait a minute," he said, putting a hand on John's chest to stop him. "We're not giving them anything. They're not welcome here."

"You're the only one who thinks that so why don't you just back off," Reggie said.

"Fuck you, princess! I'll do what I damn well please!" Deacon snapped, pointing an angry finger at her.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Are you seriously denying my girl treatment?!" Kenny exclaimed, getting up into Deacon's face.

"So, what if I am? You gonna do something about it, you pathetic redneck hillbilly?" Deacon retorted, not backing down for a second.

Kenny's hands balled into fists and began to shake in anger. How dare this asshole deny Cassie the treatment she needed? He knew those cuts weren't life-threatening now, but they could get worse if left untreated. They could get infected, which could ultimately kill her. He wasn't going to let that happen. He was about to punch this guy right in his fat face when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked over right into Cassie's brilliant blue eyes.

"Kenny, come on. Let it go. He's not worth it. Please," she said pleadingly.

Kenny's face softened and his body relaxed as the boiling rage inside him melted away. She always had that effect on him. She had a way of making all the anger inside him just disappear with the simplest words or gestures, or even by just looking into her eyes. That was one thing he loved about her, and he would do anything for her.

He nodded as he turned and walked away with her by his side. He didn't take more than a couple of steps however before he heard Deacon's irritating voice call out to him from behind.

"Yeah, listen to the bitch and walk away."

Kenny stopped in his tracks. And then there were some things he just could not let go. That was one of them. He had felt Cassie stiffen next to him. Even though her face remained calm, he knew that had upset her, and he felt the rage bubble up inside him once again. Before anyone knew what was going on, Kenny had spun around and decked him right in the jaw, knocking him flat on his back.

There was total silence as everyone stared in slack-jawed amazement at what just happened as Deacon lay on the floor for a moment. He then got up on one elbow and rubbed his sore jaw where a bruise was already forming, staring furiously up at Kenny standing over him.

"You talk about my girl like that again, and I will fucking rearrange your face! You got that?" Kenny warned, rubbing his fist.

Before Deacon could react, a blond curly-haired woman, wearing a pink hoody and black jeans approached them. "What is going on here?" she asked, her blue-eyed gaze looking down at the muscular man on the floor.

"Michelle," Deacon said, quickly picking himself up off the floor. "Nothing, babe. Absolutely nothing." He tried to sound innocent but was failing miserably as she crossed her arms and glared at him sternly.

"Oh really. Then what were you doing on the floor?" she asked, her gaze calculating.

He stared at her for a moment. Then he turned and pointed a finger at Kenny. "He hit me," he said, trying to put the blame on someone else.

Michelle's gaze turned to Kenny who crossed his arms confidently. "Then you probably deserved it," she said as she looked back at Deacon.

"What? No, I…" Deacon sputtered.

"Damn straight he did. Fucker called my girl a bitch. I don't stand for that shit," Kenny said.

"Damn it, Deacon," Michelle said in exasperation. "Why do you always pick a fight with everyone?"

"But I…" Deacon started.

"I swear, I don't know why I put up with you," Michelle interrupted as she turned and walked away angrily.

"Babe, wait," Deacon called as he chased after her.

Cassie watched the two argue as they disappeared into the stairwell. "Now who's pathetic?" she whispered to Kenny with a smile.

Kenny laughed and put his arm around her, careful to avoid her injury.

Lee stepped up next to them. "You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Kenny replied even though his hand throbbed a bit from that punch. He didn't care though. It was worth it.

"Did you have to hit him?" Lee asked casually.

"Lee, you heard what he said. I wasn't just going to let that go. At least this time I didn't get hit back," Kenny replied, referring to the time he punched Larry at the drugstore. That time it didn't go over so well.

"Sorry about that," Kyle said, scratching the back of his head. "He can be a real dick sometimes. Michelle can usually keep him in line though."

"She his girlfriend?" Lee inquired.

"Yeah, although I don't know what she sees in him," Reggie answered.

"Love doesn't always make sense," Lee said wisely.

"Isn't that the truth," Kyle said. "Anyway, when they're together, he's usually pretty tolerable."

"Uh, here, why don't I take a look at the shoulder," John suggested as he led Cassie over to one of the couches with Kenny following close behind.

As Cassie sat down and let the doctor check out her wounds, Reggie turned to Lee. "So, you guys hungry? We've got plenty of food. I can cook something up for you."

"Sounds good," Lee said, feeling his stomach grumbling in response.

"Good, and you're in luck. We've a got generator in the basement which provides us with electricity, so we've got a working microwave and electric stove. I can cook up something good." Reggie smiled brightly and walked towards the double doors that lead to the banquet hall.

"Generator, huh?" Lee asked, looking at Kyle with a raised eyebrow, now understanding why they couldn't pass this place up. It had a lot to offer.

"Yeah, although we try not to use it too much since gas is becoming scarce."

Lee nodded in understanding. "So, Clem, you hungry?" he asked, looking down at his side where he expected her to be, but she wasn't. "Clementine?" he called, looking around.

"She's over there," Kyle said, pointing to a bench along the wall where Clementine was sitting talking with another man.

"Who's that?" Lee asked.

"That's Ronan. Don't know too much about him. He doesn't like to talk about his past, but he seems like a good guy. He's helped us out a lot, and he's a crack shot."

Lee watched the two talk with interest. Clementine seemed to be glowing in his presence. He had never seen her look like that before and wondered what they were talking about.

Clementine took a step back. The minute she saw the large man walking towards them looking angry, she knew an argument was pending, and she was tired of it. She hated it when people argued, and it seemed to happen all the time. She didn't know why everything turned into a fight. Not wanting to be witness to another fight, she walked away and decided to have a look around. It was better than standing there listening to all that yelling.

She walked over to the white marble fountain and glanced inside. There was no water of course, but there were piles of all different kinds of coins sitting on the bottom. Obviously, people had used this like a wishing well when it was still in working condition. She remembered she used to love to throw coins into the large fountain at the mall. She remembered the first time she saw it when she was about five or six years old. She had been entranced by it as she ran over to it and looked into its churning waters, wondering why there was money at the bottom. She had asked her mother why, and her mother had told her that people throw coins in the fountain to make a wish. Right away, she had wanted to try it. She had thought it was the coolest thing in the world at the time. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the fountain and stared into it, trying to imagine what it looked like when it was full of water.

The sound of a door opening brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a man walk out of the door marked "Employee's Only". He was a tall, Caucasian man with short, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had stubble across the lower half of his face and small white scar across his left eyebrow. He wore black jeans, dark gray button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a black vest, and a black fedora to complete the ensemble. He also had a silver chain hanging from his belt loops that jangled as he walked, and tattoos colored both arms from his hands all the way up, disappearing underneath his sleeves. More tattoos could be seen on his chest under his collar.

Clementine watched as the man walked further into the room. He had sort of a cool swagger to his step as if he didn't have a care in the world. He stopped and viewed the scene with disinterest as he brought a cigarette that he held between his thumb and forefingers to his mouth and took a drag, blowing out a cloud of smoke into the air. He shook his head, turned, and sat down on a bench along the wall.

Clementine couldn't take her eyes off him. She didn't know why, but she instantly liked this guy. He was so cute, and he looked so cool. She stood up and slowly walked around the fountain towards him, never taking her eyes off him. She felt her heartrate quicken and she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. She didn't understand why she was feeling this way. All she knew was that she really wanted to go over and talk to him, but she felt so nervous at even the thought of walking over there. What was wrong with her? He was just a guy, like so many other guys she's met.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and casually walked over to him. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest by the time she reached him. She stood awkwardly next to him, gripping her right elbow in her left hand. He hadn't noticed her yet, too engrossed he was in the argument taking place across the room.

"Um, h-hi. I'm Clementine," she said shyly. She felt her cheeks redden slightly as his dark gaze settled on her. She hoped he didn't notice.

He gave her a half smile as he looked up at her. "Hey, kid. I'm Ronan," he replied.

She smiled brightly at him. He looked away again, and she continued to stand there nervously, not knowing what to do or say, which was odd for her. She never had trouble speaking to people before. He looked back at her questioningly when he noticed she was still standing there.

"Did you want something?" he asked.

"N-no. I just wanted to come over and introduce myself," she answered lamely, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay," he said slowly. He laughed when she continued to stand there. "If you're going to hang out over here, you might as well sit down."

She immediately sat down on the bench next to him. Biting her lower lip, she looked at him trying to think of something to talk to him about. She felt really stupid just sitting here not saying anything. "I like your hat," she finally said. It was the first thing that came to mind.

He looked at her and smiled fully this time. "Thanks. I like yours too."

"My dad gave it to me," she replied immediately.

"Yeah? My wife gave me mine."

"Oh, your wife?" she said slowly, feeling disappointed to find out he had a wife for some reason. "Is she here?"

He lowered his eyes in sorrow. "No, she's gone."

Clementine felt bad now because she knew what that meant. She was dead, like so many other people in the world now. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was it…walkers?"

"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "It happened before all this."

"Oh," she said quietly. She decided to change the subject as she could see the current topic had clearly upset him. "So, what kind of hat is that? I've never seen one like it."

"It's called a fedora," he explained. "You know, like what gangsters would wear in those old movies."

"A fedora? Why is it called that?" she asked curiously.

"You know, I don't really know," he chuckled.

Clementine glanced down at the tattoos on his arm. "Did you draw on yourself?" she asked.

Ronan looked down at his arm and laughed slightly. "No. They're called tattoos."

"Oh. What's a tattoo?" she asked.

"Basically, it's when you get ink permanently injected into the skin to make a picture or words or whatever you want."

"Ouch. Doesn't that hurt?" she asked with a grimace, rubbing her forearm as if she was trying to sooth away an imagined pain.

"It can a little, but pain doesn't bother me all that much. I've felt worse."

Clementine wondered about that comment but decided not to push. Whatever he was thinking about, it didn't sound like a happy memory. She decided to ask more about his tattoos. "Why do you have so many?"

Ronan took another drag from his cigarette before replying. "It's a…a little something my dad taught me. Get a tattoo to commemorate an important event in my life. Needless to say, I have a lot."

"Oh," Clementine said, thinking that was a weird thing for a dad to teach his son. "So, what's that one mean?" she asked, pointing to tattoo on his forearm of a dollar sign in flames.

Ronan looked at the one she was pointing to and sighed. "First time I stole money," he replied.

Clementine's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected him to say that. A thief? He was a thief? He didn't seem like a thief. She looked at his face and saw the guilt written on it. It was obvious he felt bad about what he had done, so she wasn't going to judge.

"Why would you want to remember that?" she asked innocently.

"Let's just say I did a lot of bad things when I was younger, things I'm not proud of," he replied. "The tattoos are a reminder of that so that I can make up for the things I've done." He looked down at her and shook his head. "Jesus, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I haven't even told them yet." He looked back at the group of people by the check in counter.

"It's ok. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Clementine reassured. "Besides, just because you did some bad things doesn't mean you're a bad person. If you were, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me. My friend Lee did something bad before, but he's not a bad man. He found me, took care of me, taught me to survive. He saved my life. He's a good man, just like you."

Ronan looked at her with a slight smile. "Lee, huh? Which one is he?" he asked, turning his gaze to the group again.

Clementine followed his gaze. "Um, the one not yelling."

He nodded as he looked upon the face of the one called Lee. He looked like a decent guy, and if he was willing to take care of little girl whom he just found, he had to be a good guy. Ronan wished more people saw him like Clementine saw Lee. Most of the people he knew in the past saw him as nothing more than a common criminal because of his past. That is until he met his wife, Julia. She saw something in him that he hadn't even seen in himself. She was his whole world, and he was devastated when she died, taken from him by some random guy on the street with a knife. All because she tried to stop a fight, tried to help.

"Ronan, are you ok?" Clementine asked worriedly. He had been sitting there staring at nothing for a few minutes now.

Shaken from his dark thoughts, he met her gaze and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The sound of flesh hitting flesh brought both their attentions to the argument taking place a few feet from them, which had now turned physical. Ronan laughed slightly when he saw Deacon lying on the floor holding his jaw and the guy with the mustache standing over him rubbing his fist.

"Your friend just earned my respect. I've been wanting to do that for a long time," he said with a satisfied smirk.

"What? Hit that guy?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah. One thing you've got to know about Deacon is that he's a first-class grade A asshole whole seems to enjoy pissing people off. I've come close to hitting him a time or two myself. Luckily his girlfriend always stepped in to smooth things over. She seems to be the only who can keep him in line." He looked over at the sound of a door opening to see Michelle exiting the stairwell. "Speaking of which."

Clementine and Ronan watched as the blonde walked across the expanse of the lobby, glancing at them briefly before continuing on her way. They listened as she confronted her boyfriend, who jumped to his feet. He tried to act innocent, like nothing was happening, but Michelle was having none of that. After a brief argument, she turned and stalked away angrily.

"Babe, wait," Deacon called as he followed her. He stopped her with a hand on her elbow, turning her to face him. "C'mon, don't be like that."

"Don't be like what?" Michelle asked, pulling her arm from his grasp. "Don't be someone who actually cares about people? I don't know if you've noticed, but people are starting to become extinct, compounded by the fact that there are people out there making it worse by stealing and murdering. I will not become someone who helps that along."

"That's all the more reason we shouldn't trust these people. For all we know, they could be murders or thieves," Deacon pointed out.

Michelle sighed and shook her head. "You know that might actually be smart, if that were really the reason you didn't want them here. But I know you too well. You just don't like people, except for me for some reason. Besides, they have a kid with them, in case you haven't noticed." Her eyes strayed to Clementine for a moment. "Do you really think murderers or thieves would be walking around with a little girl with them? Wake up. Use your brain for something other than keeping your ears apart." She started walking away again.

"Michelle, c'mon," Deacon called after her pleadingly.

"No, Deacon," she said, spinning around to face him. "Not this time. If you don't start trying to get along with people, then I'm not going to take it anymore." She disappeared through the stairwell door with Deacon following close behind.

"Wow," Clementine muttered, impressing by how well Michelle handled the man who, just a few minutes before, had been yelling and screaming at the others. The guy was actually kind of scary.

"Yep, she's a tough one right there," Ronan said, smoke billowing from his mouth. "Looks like we're about to have company."

Clementine looked over to see Lee approaching them. She smiled as he knelt down in front of her.

"Hey, Clementine. What are you doing over here?" he asked.

"I got tired of all the yelling," she replied. "I was just getting to know Ronan. Ronan, this is Lee."

Lee looked at Ronan curiously, wondering what to make of him. "Hey," he said in way of greeting.

"Hey," Ronan replied back. "The kid here has been telling me a bit about you."

"Yeah? Anything good?"

"Oh, plenty. Maybe we'll talk about it sometime," he said cryptically as he stood up. "Good to meet you, Lee. Nice talking to you, kid."

"Bye Ronan," Clementine said with a small wave. She was a little disappointed that was he was leaving. She wanted to talk to him some more.

Lee watched him go. He wasn't sure what to make of that man. Sure, he wasn't openly hostile like Deacon was, but he wasn't exactly forthcoming according to what Kyle told him. And truthfully, with all those tattoos, he looked like a criminal. Then again, Lee really was a criminal, and he hadn't been forthright with his group at first either. Maybe he was just reading too much into it. He shook his head and sat down on the bench next to Clementine.

"He's a little mysterious, isn't he?" he asked.

"No, not really. He told me a lot about himself," Clementine replied.

"Really? He set off any alarm bells?"

"No. I like him."

Lee nodded. "Ok then."

"Lee? Why did Kenny hit that guy?" Clementine inquired.

"Because he called Cassie a bitch," Lee replied.

Clementine nodded. She thought as much. It fit in with what Ronan said about that guy, Deacon. She looked past Lee at Cassie sitting on one of the couches while John took a look at her injury. "Is Cassie going to be alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. The doctor's taking a look at her right now," Lee replied. "So, Reggie's fixing us something to eat right now."

"Oh good," Clementine said in relief. "I'm starving."

"Me too. Want to have a look around while we wait?"

"Sure," Clementine replied as she stood up.