"We should try to sneak around," I say to him, making a walking motion with my index and middle fingers. "We need that food, and it might be dangerous trying to take them all on by ourselves."

"Alright," Lee agrees, nodding his head as he lays down the plan. "I'll toss a rock down the road some ways, and while they're distracted we'll make a break for that fire escape ladder. Then we go up and inside. Sound good to you?"

Taking in a shaky breath, I agree as Lee carefully launches a stone on the narrow, paved road, resulting in an echo that's drowned out by the snow.

"It's not working…"

"I'll try to throw one closer towards them," Lee suggests, telling me to get ready to move as quickly as I can.

Why do I have a terrible feeling that things are about to go sideways here?

The rock bounces a few feet away from the walkers, and just like Lee had predicted, they follow the source of the noise – just like moths to a flame.

This is our chance! Lee and I book it down the side of the snowy hill, tiptoe across the road and make our way over to the white-wood fence that surrounds the apartment complex. I would wait for Lee to make some obvious comment about it being pointy or something, but we don't have the time for stupid jokes right now. Lee hops over the fence with relative difficulty, but I just flat-out fall on my face as I try going over in a comical way.

At least it's only Lee that saw me there…

"You alright?" Lee asks, holding out his hand as he helps me to my feet.

"I'm fine," I brush off, trying to make it seem less humiliating than it actually was. Lee's smirking about it, the jerk face… "Let's just get inside before one of them come around."

With a slow screeching sound that causes the both of us to wince in fear, Lee pulls the ladder down to the ground.

"Ladies first," he comments, earning an eye roll from me.

"Such a gentleman," I bite back sarcastically, grasping onto the railings and slowly pulling myself up one by one. The whole mechanism shakes the higher I go, and I can actually feel my breath hitch in my throat on several occasions. If it does this when I'm on the ladder, then what's it going to do for Lee?! He's only got one arm! How's he going to –

"I don't mean to push you or anything," Lee whispers, looking around for any wanderers, "but could you hurry up a little bit? We don't have much time…"

"BEHIND YOU!" I screech, pointing to a walker that somehow managed to sneak up on him by crawling through the snow. Lee looks down in a panic as the thing almost chomps down on his leg, but luckily he dodges and kills the thing with the hook. Breathing heavily after his sudden shock, he then turns back towards me.

"Thanks, Clem… I was nearly a goner there!"

"That was too close!" I comment, climbing up more of the rungs until I'm about three quarters of the way up top. All that I have to do afterwards is open the window and climb inside. "Almost got it…"

And that's when the ladder starts to make the worst sound possible.

"GO NOW!" Lee bellows, not wanting me to get hurt as the nails start to come off of the wall. As fast as I can manage, I pull myself upwards until I reach the window sill, but I yelp as the whole construct comes down and I'm left hanging by one hand on the ledge.

"Pull yourself up, sweet pea! You can do it!" Lee encourages, but the both of us widen our eyes and slowly turn our heads… as the walkers come around. They must've heard the ladder collapsing over here.

Why do our plans never work?! Not even once!

"LEE! GET OUT OF THERE!" I scream to him, still dangling from the window as my arm starts getting sore. "YOU HAVE TO GET INSIDE!"

"I'll… I'll find a way! Just open the window and get yourself to safety!" Lee commands, turning away out of my sight and not leaving any room for argument. God damn it! Lee should be a magician with the way he disappears!

Not wanting my fingers to slip (as about four walkers are at the bottom just waiting for me to fall to my death), I swing my body a little bit so that I can grab a hold of the window with both hands. Next, with all the strength I can muster, I start to pull myself up and sit myself down on the ledge; not wanting to look down. When the window doesn't budge (of course), I pull out my gun and shoot the glass, despite all the noise that it brings.

My ears are ringing as I stumble inside; the inky blackness of the apartment drowning my senses as I roll over onto my back. I've done it – it's over! Ha ha! Yes! We can finally stop running away all the time! Lee and I can take care of the walkers outside eventually, board this place up and go out on scavenger runs for supplies when we need to… assuming that he actually gets in here.

Once my eyes adjust, I look around at all of the dust and grime of this place. Honestly, this apartment is a dump – even before the apocalypse probably. There are spider webs everywhere, dust so thick that it makes me sneeze and enough litter here to fill a tub with.

However, the rest of the place isn't nearly as decrepit as this part.

One floor down (as I came in at the top) there's a few rooms with beds for sleeping in, a crib in case you had a baby with you, and then the ground floor has a fireplace along with a small kitchen area. This could be perfect for staying in. Aside from out on the road, I haven't seen a single walker in here.

Frantic banging and twisting of the doorknob can be heard, so I rush to the front door and allow Lee to sprint inside; closing it just in the nick of time as the walkers try to advance. With my back turned against the wooden frame of the door, I look over at Lee – who's gone straight to the kitchen, dropped the bag of supplies and collapsed against the sink with his head in his hand.

Is he just relieved that we made it this far? Is he just having a nervous breakdown over how close our escape was? Is he just happy that we've made it out relatively okay?

Is he…

"No…" I whisper, my voice cracking as tears flow from my eyes. Blood is trickling down from the lower part of his neck onto his jacket, but he still hasn't turned to face me yet. "No! That's not… No! No, no, no!"

"Yes, Clem… it is…" Lee croaks out, his body shuddering as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"How could this have happened?!" I cry out, burying my face in my hands as I realize what this all means. Lee… my last friend left alive in the whole world… he's going to die. There's no way of cutting around it this time.

Slowly turning back towards me, Lee gives off a sad smile as he tries to hold everything together. He's such a strong person sometimes, I swear.

"Don't go blaming yourself for this, alright sweet pea?" Lee soothes, sitting in a rocking chair as I go to a couch across from him. "This… this was my mistake. The fucker caught me off guard when I ran around back."

"If it hadn't been for me, you'd still be alive…"

"I'm alive right now, aren't I?" he remarks, placing a hand on his knee. "Clem… you're the only reason I managed to make it this long in the first place. I owe my life to you. You kept me going this whole time."

Sniffling, I wipe my teary eyes as I examine Lee's face. His tone is genuine, as is his body language. I don't see any fear on him – just acceptance, sadness and hope.

I'm pretty sure that Lee's been waiting for this for a long time – even though he's kept it to himself, deep down I can tell that he's probably asked for this a hundred times. Living with one arm by yourself… no wonder he started smoking. The only thing that kept him going for two whole years was the thought that somehow he might see me again.

I should feel good that I've kept his spirits alive this whole time, but I feel awful.

"You know what has to be done, Clementine…"

"No!" I whimper defiantly, oddly reminiscent of this situation two years ago. "We're leaving! All of us! Together…"

"I'd give anything for you not to have to go through this, sweet pea," he says, his voice caught in his throat for just a moment. "But this is the only way…"

"No… you can't leave…"

Sighing, Lee runs a hand through his hair and rocks back and forth in the chair, as if he's a grandfather telling one of his stories of his youth.

"I've lived a long, meaningful life. Forty years long, in fact," he explains sadly, glancing at his reflection in the glass coffee table that rests between us. "I've made some mistakes… done some things that I regret… But you've shown me that it's better to remember the good times, pumpkin. I'm satisfied with what I've accomplished – I'm gonna be alright. Clem… you've still got many years ahead of you, sweet pea. Enjoy all the time that you've got left."

"Everything's gonna be alright," he soothes, walking over towards me on the couch and wrapping his arm around me. I lean into his side for the last time, and cry for my fallen friend. "You'll make it better, Clem. If there's anyone that I know who can make it in this world, it's you."

"Thank you…" I sob, my thin body shaking against him, "For everything, Lee… I… I love you so much…"

"Ditto, kiddo. I love you too. I'm gonna miss you so much," he says, planting a kiss on top of my head as he rubs comforting circles on my back.

This is the Lee that I choose to remember – the kind, loyal, caring father-figure that he truly is and was. The man who, when I needed it, would stay awake with me at the motor-inn whenever I woke up from a nightmare about my parents. The man who taught me how to shoot a gun properly, and the guy who always convinced me to keep my hair short. The man who would've given his own life just so that I could stay safe.

The man who I consider to be my adoptive Dad.

Lee… there's nobody else like him – nobody can truly replace the gaping hole that he'll leave behind. I only hope that I've earned the honour of being so close to him.

"There's no time left, Clementine," Lee whispers shakily, embracing me tightly one last time before returning to the rocking chair. His skin is already starting to look lighter, and even though I'd rather have him spend more time with me, I know that that wouldn't be fair to him. I won't make him have to go through any more pain than he needs to. "I've… I've run out of road."

"Then… I guess this is it…" I say, pulling out the pistol at my side and setting it down in my lap. "Oh god… I don't think I can…"

"Clem… cough…. Can you promise me something?"

I look up through my teary eyes and nod. "Sure… anything…"

"Promise me… that you'll keep on trying to survive," he says, smiling slightly towards me. "Make sure you take care of yourself, and keep on living."

"I will – I promise, Lee."

"Good… good," he smiles again, ready to accept his fate. "Okay, Clementine… goodbye…"

"Goodbye…" I choke out, tears blurring my vision as I raise the gun in front of me, "…Lee…"

Time stands still for a moment, as all falls quiet except for our breaths. All background noise is drowned out – it's just Lee and I here now.

Even in the end, it's him and I.

BANG!

I drop the now-empty pistol and collapse onto the floor in a fit of sobs.

…..

Two days later is when I finally come outside that apartment; sick to death of torturing myself in there by looking at Lee. There wasn't any way of me moving him from there, and something tells me that he'd want to be comfortable even in death.

I think there are permanent tear stains on my cheeks, even though the tear wells dried up a while ago. If I'm to keep my promise to Lee, then I can't let this stop me. I need to keep moving.

But today, I need to do something to honour my fallen friends – all of them.

The walkers disbanded a while ago, probably having given up on me even being in the apartment. I don't know where they went, but as long as they don't come back then I don't really care. I don't have any bullets left in my pistol – the last of which had been used to put Lee out of his misery. The only things that I have to defend myself with are the screwdriver and Molly's old grappling hook. I'm pretty sure this thing's going to pass the test of time.

When I'm absolutely sure that there aren't any walkers around (as I manages to take down two that were down by the waterfront), I set off the last firecracker and hope for the best. That's all I can hope for these days.

But that was about three hours ago now.

I don't have anything to make a memorial for them, so I settle on floating some sticks out into the lake. Yeah, it's pretty lame, I get it. But it means something to me – perhaps I can finally put their memories to rest.

Sitting atop a nearby rock, I curl my knees to my chest and watch for quite some time as the sticks float away wherever the water takes them. Maybe they'll be swept out into the ocean – Jane, Mike, Bonnie, Kenny, Lee… All dead and gone.

I don't plan on staying here for more than another day. It's literally a ghost town here – no food, supplies or anything. I've decided just to stick along the water and try to find another town to scavenge from. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and meet some friendly faces out there.

Although it sure as hell won't replace what I've lost.

"…Clem?"

I nearly fall off the rock that I'm sitting on.

Did I say there weren't any tears left? Well, I lied then, as I sprint over to Lilly and Luke and collapse into their embrace.

I don't question how they could've possibly managed to find me off of firecrackers alone, or how they're even still alive. All that matters is that they're here with me, right now.

Lee would be happy – I won't be alone again.