"Molly? What the hell is going on down there?!" Dominic shouted into his radio, the chair disappearing from underneath him as he flew out of it. Everything was spinning out of his control, the lone gunshot that reverberated through the building being the final nail in the coffin. The uncertainty of who had gotten shot was driving him crazy, his forehead breaking out in a cold sweat as the anxiety settled in.
"Couple guys jumped us," Molly replied, her breathing erratic as the faint sound of their footsteps resounded in the background. She huffed out a sarcastic remark as she opened a door. "We're fine by the way, thanks for asking."
"It was the next thing on my list," Dominic growled, pushing the chair out of his way as he ran across the room, rummaging through their belongings and tossing them into their backpacks. "I'm getting our shit together. That shot's gonna attract some attention we really don't want to be around to see. We're leaving."
"Way ahead of you kid," Molly deadpanned as she burst into the room, Clementine's hand locked in her own. He looked up from his packing to see Clementine's red eyes, her cheeks reflecting the faint light from the window.
"Have you been crying?" A twinge of guilt bubbled in his stomach after the words spilled out of his mouth. She glared at him with a blank look before taking her purple backpack from him, turning away without a word, leaving Dominic speechless as he watched her walk away and slip on her blue hoodie.
"She's had a rough day," Molly interjected, grabbing her own pack from Dominic. "I'm sure that argument you mentioned has a lot to do with it, whatever it was about."
Dominic sighed, the realization now dawning on him that he wasn't in either of their good graces now. "We'll talk about it later, right now we gotta move before whoever or whatever shows up at our front door. Here, take this," He pulled out a Glock they had found a few months prior from his pack and handed it to Molly. "If their friends come looking for them, best to be prepared."
"Finally, a smart decision," Molly grumbled, accepting the pistol before pocketing it in her new black and white windbreaker.
"Fuck you."
"Ha! You wish," She retorted, turning and walking out the door, leaving Dominic with Clementine, who stared out the window, scratching her forearm slightly as she scanned the street for any movement heading their way. The way she avoided him made him feel as if a rock was lodged in the back of his throat, with even more rocks filling his stomach until it couldn't hold any more.
He just couldn't wait, he had to say something now, no matter how much he knew they needed to leave. He took a few careful steps towards her as she stared out the window, his lip twitching slightly as he tried to form the words he needed to say in his mind. "Listen, I'm sorry that I snapped at you earlier, it's just…"
"There's someone out there," She remarked, interrupting Dominic's apology without a second thought. Damn it. He joined her at the window to see three distant specks moving towards them, too fast to be walkers.
He sighed. "When there's one, there's a whole pack of 'em." He reached into his backpack for his revolver but found nothing but Ziploc bags of food and his flashlight. "What the fuck? Where's my gun?"
Without looking at him, Clementine slipped the revolver out of her pocket and extended it toward him, her face contorting with a look of sadness as he grabbed it from her. "Clem, why the hell did you have my gun?" She didn't answer, instead choosing to continue watching the specks in the distance, which sent a cold shiver down his spine. No, she didn't plan to… did she? He flicked open the cylinder to find a single bullet missing. His eyes darted back toward her, the gunshot he heard earlier… "You killed one of them?"
"Yeah," she stated in a half-flat tone, her voice wavering from apathy to sorrow before finally settling on regret.
"Jesus Clem," Dominic breathed, weighing the revolver in his hands. "I'm glad you're okay but, why did you take my gun? You weren't trying to…?"
She glared up at him as if he had suggested she had snakes growing out of her head. "No, I-"
"You guys coming or what?!" Molly called from the hallway, stopping the conversation short. "The goal is to actually leave before the bad guys show up, dumbass."
With the bell rung, Dominic sighed and dropped the conversation, gripping the revolver tightly as he nudged Clementine towards the exit. It was time to do or die.
The halls of the office were deathly silent as Dominic stepped toward the foyer, the darkness within the room turned every piece of furniture into a silhouette, each one potentially hiding something waiting to kill him. However, Dominic's eyes remained locked on the wooden door ahead of him, on the opposite side of the foyer. He was waiting for bullets to start flying through the thin slab of wood as the strangers approached them. He flinched when Molly nudged him, a part of his mind going into survival mode before it finally registered. She gestured back down the hallway that lead to the back door, where the office had its dumpster and parking.
"I'm coming, just get going," Dominic whispered before turning back toward the foyer. He stepped into the room as quietly as he could, the wooden floor beneath him squeaking slightly as he moved. He could hardly see the chandelier fixed in place above the room, or the reception desk slapped in against the wall on his left. Two windows flanked the main entrance, each covered with a thin curtain, colorless in the darkness. Dominic had to do something to slow down their pursuers, if they just left out the back door without blockading the front, there's a possibility that they would just follow them through the building and catch them off guard in the back alley. At least this way, if they decided to circle around the building, they'd be right where Dominic wanted them: in his kill zone. As he approached the entrance, Dominic weighed the thick metal desk leg in his hand, hoping to whatever divine spirit that possibly existed that it was enough to keep them from breaking in the door easily. As he slid the bar in between the door handles, voices slowly reached his ears.
"This is where the shots came from," A deep voice stated aloud, just barely audible through the walls of the office.
"Are we sure it was Adrian that fired the shot? He wasn't even meant to be out this way," another voice added.
"Then it could've been Tyler. They both haven't reported in. It's too much of a coincidence."
"For fuck sake. Just get in there and find out, you fucking pussies." A third voice added, this one catching Dominic's attention, the accent specifically; this third man was British.
Dominic nearly tripped backward as the men pushed the door, the metal bar denying them entrance beyond a few inches.
"Shit, the door's jammed," A voice stated in anger as they pushed against the door harder, just enough that the metal bar was barely visible through the thin crack.
"Y'all see that?" The deeper voice shouted, Dominic almost imagined the man sticking his finger out like a child pointing out a toy for his parents to buy for him. "Some asshole's barricaded the door!"
Shit. Time to go.
"Adrian? Tyler? You in there?! Open the fucking door! It's fucking freezing out here!" The British man shouted into the crack.
"Not this time, boys," Dominic whispered as he ran into the hallway, disappearing into the darkness like a ghost. As he rounded the corner, more bangs and cracks reached his ears from behind him, until the sound of glass shattering finished it.
Damn it! They're coming through the windows! You stupid, fucking…!
Footsteps echoed through the hallway as he ran towards the faint light in the distance, where the back door remained ajar for him. As he reached the door, he heard one of the men shout to his comrades.
"Jesus Christ! Mitch, I found them! They're fucking dead! Gunshot and a stab wound!"
"Some fuckers killed them?!"
Clementine couldn't help but shiver as Molly and her waited for Dominic in the snow-laden alleyway, her blue hoodie was more like a thin t-shirt in the freezing weather, barely retaining any warmth. Beside her, she could hear Molly let out a frustrated sigh as she tapped her foot in the snow, looking down at Clementine every few seconds before they finally heard footsteps approaching them as Dominic rushed out the door before closing it silently behind him.
"What took you so long?" Molly deadpanned.
"Run!" He hissed, the urgency in his voice sending a spark of electricity throughout their bodies. With the order given, they sprinted out the gate and into the alley, nearly slipping in the fresh snow. The walls of the aging brick offices closed in around them, as if they were slowly drifting towards each other, until they eventually would crush them. Clementine's foot slid in the snow, catching her by surprise as she let out a sharp gasp, her body colliding with the thin layer of snow and concrete. Without a second thought, Dominic stopped and grabbed her hand, pulling her up just before a loud bang pierced the air, a bullet whizzing by his nose. Three men approached from the way they came, each brandishing pistols.
"GO GO GO GO!" Dominic barked as he nearly slipped himself, sprinting as fast as his legs would let him, taking a brief second to fire a few suppressing shots at the strangers. The alley had become so thin that there was nothing for them to hide behind, the only cover was a few meters away, where the street began. More bullets ricocheted around them, each one stopping Clementine's heart as she anticipated one of them to hit them.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING, HUH?! YOU KILLED ADRIAN AND TYLER, YOU FUCKING CUNTS!" The British man, who seemed to be leading the squad, screamed toward them, several loud bangs punctuated his yelling.
Within seconds the alleyway opened to the street beyond, Dominic's heart dropping when he saw the sight of a thousand walkers stumbling toward them in the distance. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, with only one way out, and if they ran down the road deeper into the city, these men would only shoot them in the back. They had to deal with one problem at a time.
As the bullets chipped away the bricks next to Dominic's head, he pushed Clementine behind the brick wall. She gasped in shock before Dominic's harsh voice cut her off. "Stay here!" He hissed as he turned around and peeked around the wall, nearly receiving a bullet as a reward.
"Damn it!" Dominic jerked his head back as he gasped. They'd gotten lucky so far, but their luck was going to run out eventually. Sighing, Dominic turned to Molly, who took cover on the opposite side of the alley entrance. "Any bright ideas?"
"Aren't you supposed to be the leader?" She retorted, popping a few rounds off into the alley with her Glock, unable to get a clear shot from the amount of bullets being shot back at them.
"Now's not the time for this shit," Dominic growled. "We've got walkers comin' from one direction, and assholes in the other. We need a fucking plan."
"Shoot first, ask questions later?"
"Simple enough," Dominic muttered. The men were nearly on top of them now; there was only a few seconds left before they'd be right on top of them.
"Fuck it," Dominic whispered, taking the chance to aim his gun and fire at the man in the center of the group, his bullet burrowing its way into the stranger's forehead. With the plan executed, Molly joined in, taking a few pot shots at one of the remaining shooters, one of them slicing through the man's abdomen. The man screamed in pain before slumping to the ground, the final stranger roaring a battle cry before rushing them like a crazed maniac, firing until his magazine was empty, one bullet missing Dominic's ear by mere centimeters. Dominic pulled the trigger again, firing off two more bullets, each finding its place into the crazed man's chest. The blood from the brutal attack turned the snow into a red goop, making Clementine want to vomit as she peeked around the edge.
With one threat eliminated, Dominic turned to Molly as she ran across the opening and grabbed Clementine's hand, the roar of the herd of walkers approaching hitting them like a wall of noise as it replaced the hail of gunfire. Without hesitation, they stomped down the street, the walkers closing in on them fast. If they were going to get to the escape route, it had to be now.
BANG!
Clementine felt herself tumble forward as something lodged into her body, Molly's hand the only thing preventing her from falling flat on her face. Dominic ducked instinctively as the shot echoed through the city, slipping as he lost traction in the snow, barely catching himself with his free hand. He turned around to see where the shot had come from, only to see the man Molly had shot in the stomach looking up at them, his pistol smoking in the cold. Before the man could fire another shot, Dominic aimed and fired his last bullet into the man's nose, killing him instantly.
"Oh my god!" Molly's voice barely registered in his head as he stared down the downed bandit. He had to make sure none of the others were still alive. Gulping down the spit accumulating in his mouth, he turned to see Molly staring down at Clementine, who stared up at her in shock on the ground. A red hole had appeared in her abdomen, just barely missing her stomach, blood seeping out at a rapid pace.
In that instant, something in Dominic snapped in half. "NO!" His eyes nearly burst out of their sockets as the rage filled his stomach, putting his gun in his pocket before pulling out his knife and stomping towards the man that fired the bullet, screaming gibberish as he approached. Clementine watched in horror as he stabbed the man in the head repeatedly, each slice turning the man's face into a bloody mush, the Dominic that she had known gone within an instant. As her eyes closed by their own accord, she heard Dominic scream with fury. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Before everything faded to black, a hand gripped her shoulder, Molly's voice calling out to her just beyond the veil. "Clem? CLEM?!"
"Clem? Clementine?" The familiar voice echoed in her ears, barely audible over the white noise that had deafened her just moments before. Her eyes flew open as she gasped in shock, the world around her nothing but a blurry mess as she looked around for where the voice had come from, only to see Lee looking back down at her, a look of concern etched on his face.
"Wh - Where am I…?" Clementine mumbled, her tiny voice sounding unfamiliar to her ears. Her eyes darted across the room; she was sitting on a rather uncomfortable couch inside an RV, Lee sitting next to her on her left. Dominic was passed out on her opposite side, with a deep, red wound glowing on his shoulder. Towards the back of the RV, she could see Carley and Ben sitting at a table, shuffling through a deck of cards. Kenny was driving in the front, with Katjaa sitting opposite him, Duck cradled in her arms like a beloved baby. A feeling of deja vu washed over her as she turned back to Lee, who smiled down at her just like her father used to when she would come home from school, back when things were normal, and happiness was a thing that people felt.
"It's just a bad dream, sweet pea," Lee's deep voice had a calming effect on her nerves; every little worry in the back of her mind, and every fear she had of what was happening dissolved into her subconscious. She was starting to feel at peace, probably for the first time in over a year, but that couldn't be right; it's only been three months, or had she lost count? She gazed up at him for a moment, the confusion that still plagued her mind catching her guardian's attention.
"What was it about?" He asked, his eyes watching her every move as her faint smile faded. "Duck?"
The mention of her friend's name jogged her memory as her eyes instantly went to the boy, who had curled into a ball in his mother's arms as she patted him softly, her eyes devoid of life as the only life she cared for withered away in her arms. "He's bit…" Clementine finally whispered, images flying through her mind like a train: Katjaa and Duck attacked by walkers during the bandit raid on the Motel, Lee's sullen demeanor after being informed of the boy's bite, Katjaa slowly losing hope that her son would survive, and then… the gunshot in the distance. She could remember it all, but how could she remember? They haven't happened yet…
"There's nothing we can do to save him," Lee replied, his voice just as somber as her own. "What happened to Shawn back on Hershel's farm… we had a chance, we had time, you know? But now, we found out too late." Lee sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he fought off a headache. "I'm starting to think that maybe…"
"What?" Clementine asked softly, looking up at her guardian as he stared off into space.
"That Dominic was wrong all along."
His eyes grew glassy as he stared out the tiny window on the door across from them, the trees passing by like thin pillars, barely visible before the impending dawn. Clementine turned back to Dominic, watching as he breathed in and out erratically. She looked back at Lee as he sighed, finally asking the question that had been burning in her mind since the event took place.
"Lee…?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did Lilly try to shoot Carley?"
He shrugged, his eyes drifting toward Carley and staying for a few seconds before his gaze dropped. "I don't know," he whispered. "She was sad, Clem. That can make people angry sometimes."
"That's a dumb reason," Clementine muttered.
"You're right. It is," Lee affirmed, looking in her eyes as he spoke. "Clem, sometimes people don't always make sense."
"How come?"
"'Cause bad things happen to everyone, and it's hard to keep bein' yourself after they do," Clementine closed her eyes as a tear threatened to burst through the dam. Memories that she shouldn't have bubbled across the surface of her mind: Dominic killing that man at the farm, the way he had given up when the Stranger tried to break him, the way he snapped at her when he told her that Lee was…
"Do you think we should've let Lilly stay?" Lee pushed her rampant thoughts away, her eyes going back up to him as she thought about the question.
"I don't know," she answered, she didn't understand the intricacies of how people were and the sense of morality that slowly faded away in light of this new world. How could she? This wasn't the world she was meant to be living in. The true reasons why Lilly had done was she did were beyond her comprehension. Trying to kill someone, especially someone who was a friend, just didn't make sense, and what happened to Dominic, and what nearly happened to Carley, it wasn't something that was forgivable. Killing someone never was.
Lee let out another sigh. "I don't either." He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before he continued. "I don't know if we did the right thing."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, it's not like math, Clem," Lee answered as he leaned forward, placing his head in the palms of his hands. "Sometimes there just isn't a right answer."
"I hate math," she muttered, her mouth twisting with disgust.
He laughed. "Me too, sweet pea." His eyes returned to the floor beneath him, examining each panel of wood as if they would tell him what to say. "Yeah, but part of growing up is doing what's best for the people you care about… even if sometimes that means hurting someone else."
Her frown deepened as she thought it over, finally realizing the one thing that she knew to be true. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"It's not that easy," he replied. "Sometimes you've got no choice."
The flashes of memories were becoming too much for her, each image becoming more horrifying and grotesque than the last. One image depicted a smoking revolver in her hands, the deafening bang it made more like a faint pop as she watched herself kill the Stranger, leaving Dominic clawing at his throat as he tried to breathe in. The next image was of a bathroom wall, blood and brain matter smeared all over as a body slumped to the floor in front of her; the cold metal of that same gun in her hands froze her to the very core. She shuddered with despair as she realized just who she was going to become; what this world did to everyone.
"I'm scared, Lee," she whimpered as she tried to fight off the images, but they were too ingrained in her head to be removed. She had experienced so much, but at the same time, so little. The thought of what could possibly be worse had become more gut wrenching than everything about herself she feared the most. The worst part of it all was that Lee wouldn't be there to shield her from it all anymore.
"What can I tell you to make it better?" Lee's voice soothed her as she looked up at him, but it was no use, she knew exactly what was to come, even though she wanted to forget it.
"That you won't leave me." It was the only thing she wanted; the only thing that could make the horrors she will experience bearable.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Lee smiled. "I promise."
She openly wept into his shirt as she hugged him, his voice like an angel as he whispered to her. "Everything's going to be alright, sweet pea."
She laid against him as he wrapped his arm around her. "Now, let's try to get some sleep," he purred as her vision dimmed, her eyes flickering as she tried to keep them open, only to eventually give in to the fatigue that now plagued her body.
"Okay, Lee." She whispered, ready for whatever awaited her on the other side.
There was nothing but red left in his vision. The ground beneath him had become a gooey, crimson mess; the body lying inches away from his blade in ruins. The man's face was torn apart, not by walkers, but by Dominic's sheer brutality, fueled by the rage that consumed him. The blood covered his hands like a layer of paint, staining his hands with a permanent crimson. His eyes fluttered back and forth between his knife and the slab of meat in front of him, his mouth agape as he struggled to stop shaking. He didn't notice Molly running toward him, or her screaming at him, or even when she started shooting the walkers approaching them. He didn't care. This son of a bitch shot the one girl he had been trying to protect for over a year and a half now, and nothing was going to stop him. He deserved every little thing Dominic did to him, right down to bones that were now sliced into even slices. There was no regret in his heart, no remorse, no mercy. He was justified.
"Dominic, for the last time! GET THE FUCK UP!" Molly was screaming into his ear now, firing another shot into the crowd of walkers that were now reaching the intersection behind them, before finally slapping Dominic as hard as she could.
Dominic glared up at her in rage as he held his knife in the air, blood dripping off it in clumps. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" He roared, not aware of who the threat was directed at, he didn't care anyway.
"FUCKING SNAP OUT OF IT! CLEMENTINE IS GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T MAN THE FUCK UP AND GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!" Molly roared back, shoving him back as he approached her.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at her, breathing in and out like a wild animal ready for the kill, but the mention of Clementine left him stunned for a few seconds. His eyes instantly went to her body in the street, the sea of the undead ready to overwhelm them. Without another word, he shot her a demented look before tearing into the intersection, swooping up Clementine in his arms. Molly struggled to keep up with them, their escape window seconds from closing.
The man was feral now, grunting as he sprinted faster and faster down the road, his eyes jumping from building to building in hopes that one of them would be revealed as a pharmacy or a clinic, somewhere where he could get the supplies he needed to save her. The world around him faded away, replaced by the sound of Clementine's erratic breathing. He had to find something, anything to save her life. It had to be now. Just a couple more feet, a couple miles, it didn't matter. He was going to save her; he wasn't going to let that piece of shit win. Not today.
Through his tunnel vision, Dominic could see what appeared to be a large college in the distance, maybe a mile down the road. That was it. That was salvation. That place would have medicine, bandages, everything he'd need. He just needed to get there before the walkers did.
As Dominic ran across an empty intersection, a large vehicle screeched to a stop next to him, mere centimeters away from turning him into a flattened pancake underneath. Dominic didn't care though, he held onto Clementine like a lifeline as he stared up at the vehicle, which appeared to be some sort of army transport, before pulling out his pistol, ready for whoever came out. Behind him, he could hear Molly shouting for him, but he couldn't make out the words through the fog clouding his mind.
Five men in army uniforms jumped out of the transport, surrounding Dominic and Molly with their rifles raised, their eyes wide when they noticed the little girl in Dominic's arms.
"What? You gonna shoot a man carrying an injured kid?" Dominic barked as he held his gun on the strangers.
They studied him with shocked glances, the blood dripping off his hands and face as he held onto the little girl making the boy look like a deranged lunatic. Another soldier hopped out from behind the truck, taking one quick look at Dominic before muttering in a whisper, "Holy shit."