Thank you for the reviews! This is the last chapter of Episode 4.
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Ben spent most of the time trying to pick the lock to the armory, but with no avail. Clementine offered to help several times, but the older boy would refuse every time, telling her to just sit and wait.
It wasn't too long, only about twenty minutes later when the youngsters jumped when they here a slamming noise coming from outside the classroom.
"A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Kenny was shouting. "The doors won't close all the way!"
Clementine ran over to the door and opened it, watching as he and Brie were trying to get the doors closed from the walkers outside. Lee was there too, seemingly unable to move.
"Lee, do something!" Brie cried. "Brace the door with something!"
"What's going on?" Ben called over to Clem.
"Walkers are trying to get in!" the little girl responded. "Shouldn't we go-"
She turned around, and was cut off when she saw Lee grab the hatchet from his pocket and place it between the knobs (after a brief struggle), preventing the walkers from being able to enter.
"Oh, Lee took care of it," she finished.
Clementine went back to sit at the desk, keeping watch. She really wished that Duck were here right now, maybe they could've played school together or something, since they were in a classroom. Clem looked down sadly as she thought about her late friend.
The door opened, and in walked Lee, Kenny, and Brie, all miraculously unharmed. The little girl ran to greet them.
"You're back!" she cried.
"Yeah, and we made out pretty good, too," Kenny told her.
"Great work, Kenny!" Ben complimented.
"How are you doing with that door?" the mustached man inquired.
"Not so good."
"Here, let me give you a hand." Kenny walked over to assist Ben with a sigh. "You get that battery yet?" he called over to Lee.
"Yeah, Molly has it," Lee replied. "She should be back here soon."
"She'd better be."
Lee walked over and stood by Clementine's desk. "You okay, Clem?"
"Yeah," she said sadly. She paused. "This desk is just like the ones we have in my school. I know it's weird, but I kind of miss it. Being in school."
"Me too. I used to be a teacher, remember?" Lee reminded her. "Tell you what. When we find a safe place, we'll set up a little classroom, just you and me."
"Will there be homework?" Clementine asked. Homework was one thing that she did not like about the first grade.
Lee smiled. "No homework."
Clem smiled, she liked that idea of having a little school with Lee.
"Where's Molly?" she questioned.
"She had to go run an errand, she'll be back soon," Lee answered.
"I hope she's okay."
"She'll be fine. She's pretty tough."
Clementine then asked her guardian something that she hand been pondering a lot recently. "Do you think things will ever be normal again? Just like the way they were before?"
"I don't think anyone knows the answer to that, Clem," Lee told her. "Maybe there's somebody out there working on a way to fix this. Some kind of cure, maybe. There's just no way to know."
"I hope so."
"That's good, you hold onto that hope. It's the one thing that none of us can take away."
Clementine gave him a smile in return, and he walked away. She watched as Lee and Ben had an unreadable conversation, Lee's face stern and Ben's nervous. After that, Lee left to go check on the medicine progress.
Some loud gunshots were heard, causing Clementine to grip the desk. "What do you think is going on out there?" she asked, although she didn't know who exactly she was talking to.
"Shit, that's going to get us all killed," Kenny muttered.
Clem just looked at the door for the time being, hoping that Lee, Christa, and Vernon would return safely.
"Well, shit," Kenny blurted out a few minutes later. "We'll need something to bust this thing open, our only other option. Ben, I need you to go out and find something."
"Okay," said Ben. He got up and walked out.
But it wasn't long before a door near the front could be heard opening forcefully, and some noises. Clementine immediately jumped up and grabbed the gun off of the table, running out to help.
What she saw shocked her. Molly was struggling against a walker wanting to chomp into her.
"LEE! SHOOT THIS FUCKER!" she hollered.
Clementine pulled out the gun, taking a deep breath like Lee had instructed her, and pulled the trigger. Much to her surprise, the walker fell down dead!
Molly ran over to Lee. "Thanks!"
"It wasn't me..." Lee told her.
"Good going kid, nice shot!" Molly complimented Clem before running off.
"Thanks," the little girl replied, her position temporarily frozen.
Lee looked at her for a moment, before giving her a proud smile. He had taught her well, that was for damn sure. The two of them ran, along with Christa and Vernon, back to the classroom.
"What happened?" Kenny asked.
"They're coming!" Lee cried.
"Oh, shit."
"That oughta hold 'em," said Vernon, walking towards Brie, who was guarding the door.
"Sure, but now how do we get out?" Brie questioned.
"Through the armory!" Kenny responded. "If we can just get this damn door open!"
Ben held the hatchet out to Lee, who took it (more like snatched).
"Come on, damn you!" Kenny swore, banging himself into the armory door.
"This is my fault...all my fault," Ben stuttered.
"What is he babbling about?" Christa wanted to know.
"Ben...we talked about this," Lee warned the teenager.
"No, I want to know what he meant!" Christa demanded. "What do you mean, this is all your fault?"
"Kenny, I'm so sorry," Ben truly looked remorseful about something. "I'm so sorry, man."
"Ben, we don't have time for this now!" Lee tried to stop him.
"I'm sorry, Lee. I can't do this anymore. He's got a right to know!"
"Know what?" Christa almost snapped.
"It's been me all along, putting all of us in danger!" Ben explained himself fearfully. "Katjaa and Duck, it was all me. It was all me!"
Right at that, Kenny was able to kick open the armory door, possibly out of extreme rage. "Wait a minute, what are you saying?"
"It was me who made the deal with the bandits at the motor inn, slipping them supplies. I thought it would keep them off our backs. When it got discovered, that's when they attacked. That's when Duck..." Ben couldn't say anymore.
Clementine's mouth was slightly agape. It was Ben that had done this?!
Kenny looked furious, and ran over to attack Ben, but was held back by Lee and Vernon.
"Kenny, calm down!" Lee shouted.
"YOU LITTLE PISSANT! YOU ARE DEAD, YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!" Kenny screamed. "MY WIFE, AND CHILD, YOU GOT THEM BOTH FUCKING KILLED!"
Kenny continued to struggle some more, but then accepted defeat.
"Nice group you got here," Molly commented sarcastically.
"Not the time, Molly!" Lee scolded her.
"IF THIS ASSHOLE THINKS HE'S GETTING ON MY BOAT, AFTER WHAT HE DID, HE'S OUT OF HIS MOTHERFUCKING MIND!" Kenny continued. "YOU HEAR ME, SHITBIRD? YOU CAN STAY BEHIND AND FUCKING ROT!"
"Kenny, we'll sort this all out later, AFTER we get out of here, okay?"
"Ain't nothin' to sort out!" Kenny argued. "I just told you the way it's gonna be! The boat's not big enough for all of us, somebody's gotta get left behind, might as well be this piece of shit right here!"
"Well, I vote we leave him," said Christa. "I'm sorry, Ben. I know you mean well, but all I want to do is get back to Omid, and you put that at risk."
"Wait, don't I get a vote?" Clementine asked, stepping up.
"Of course you do!" Lee replied.
"Ben's nice! He's my friend! We don't leave friends behind. That's my vote."
Clementine had told Ben earlier that she was going to protect him, and she was very well determined to keep her word.
Christa paused. "On second thought, I think I'm gonna abstain. Lee?"
The vote was up to Lee.
"I've seen enough of Crawford to know that becoming like them is the beginning of the end," Lee announced. "I vote Ben stays with us!"
Ben smiled, and so did Clementine. Her friend was going to stay.
"What about the rest of us, don't we get a say in-" Brie began, but at that very moment, the walkers began pouring in and feasting on the woman, exposing her intestines in seconds.
Vernon walked a few steps forward. "Brie!"
"Now can we go?" Molly demanded, backing away.
"Damn right! Vernon, come on!" Lee ordered.
The group, now minus Brie, bolted away from the classroom and into the armory, which turned out to be a middle floor of a bell tower. Lee tried to shut the door in, and turned around.
"So much for the armory," Lee commented.
"What's left of it," Kenny added.
"Only a few rounds!" Christa spoke up, referring to the ammo.
Lee turned around and slammed the door right before the walkers could pour through.
"You didn't slam that door behind us?" Kenny asked angrily.
"I couldn't, the lock was busted!" Lee cried.
"Great, just fucking great. There's gotta be a way out down here!"
The group began running down the stairs, but when Lee opened the door, they came face-to-face with more walkers, causing everyone to jump back once they were noticed.
"FUUUUCK!" Kenny yelled.
Lee slammed the door. "That's not gonna hold. Back upstairs!"
Everyone turned around and started running upstairs. Kenny stayed back a moment and tossed a shotgun in Lee's direction.
Clementine couldn't stop running, but she was afraid when she saw Lee still at the bottom, walkers coming out in his direction. She squeaked and continued behind Christa, hoping that Lee would make it.
The group waited for Lee at the top, but he ended up getting his leg caught in one of the steps.
"Lee!" Clementine cried.
"He'll be fine," Christa tried to reassure her, facing Lee. "He'll be fine."
Clem watched as Lee shot some walkers and attempted to pry his leg out. It took exactly four tries before Lee successfully pulled his leg out and continued upstairs, still killing some walkers.
That was when Christa stepped in and helped out by killing some more of them.
There were no more walkers behind Lee now, so he took out the hatchet and began chopping into the ones in front of him, sending them falling to the bottom.
Lee successfully made it to the top unscathed, and a relieved Clementine ran over to hug him.
"It's alright, Clem, I'm fine," Lee told her. They let go, and he walked to the front. "Any way out of here?"
"This leads to the roof, we might be able to find a way down from there," said Christa.
"You didn't come into town from the railroad, did you?" Vernon questioned.
"Yeah, why?" Kenny replied.
"Never mind. I can see the sewer where we came in from here. I think we can do this!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? Go! Go!"
Christa helped Clementine onto the ladder before following her. Kenny followed and stood on the ladder as if to wait for Lee to come out. Not so much for Ben, though.
There was a gunshot from inside, and Clementine screamed. What was going on?
What was taking Lee and Ben so long? She looked up, waiting for them to come out. Kenny called to Lee in an impatient, almost demanding tone. A minute later, both Lee and Ben reappeared safely.
Clementine grinned in relief that her friends were both safe, and ran to stand close to Lee.
The whole walk back to the house was rather uneventful, except for Kenny cursing Ben under his breath, muttering how "Lee should have just dropped his stupid ass," and words like that.
The group arrived at the mansion and went upstairs to Omid's room. Omid was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and no one knew whether he was dead or just sleeping.
"Christa? Everything okay?" Lee wanted to know.
"Omid!" she cried, running over to her boyfriend's side and taking his hand.
"Clem, stay back," Lee warned. "Don't get any closer."
"I never should've left you, I'm so sorry!" Christa exclaimed, close to tears.
"Christa, get away from him!" Vernon called.
At that, Omid started moving. No one knew what was happening, so Lee went over and pulled Christa back just in case something had happened. But Omid looked at them and smiled.
"Hey, back already?" he asked. He had probably been asleep the whole time.
Christa was relieved, and knelt closer. "We got you medicine!"
"Good, feel like I could use some," Omid replied. Vernon walked over and popped some in his mouth. Once the medicine was in, Omid turned to Ben. "You okay, kid? You look worse than I do."
"We almost didn't make it out of there because of this asshole," Kenny replied. "Should've left him behind when we had the chance."
Clementine decided to walk out of the room then, not wanting to hear anymore. She walked over to the study where she had played before leaving last night, and began to think about things.
What if she wouldn't see her parents before they went off on the boat? She highly doubted that she was going to be meeting this man, her friend, anytime soon. Or ever, even.
Clem saw Kenny walking towards the boat and working on it. Tensions were so high, and it was awful. Who was going to be left behind? Maybe it would have to be her.
The door creaked open, and Lee's voice was heard. "Hey, sweet pea."
"Kenny's working on the boat," Clem informed him.
"I know."
"What are we gonna do? After he fixes it? Where are we gonna go?"
"Someplace else. Someplace better," Lee replied. He noticed her sad expression. "Clem, honey. What's wrong?"
"Is Ben going to be okay?" Clementine asked. "He hasn't been the same since we got back."
"Well, he's been through a lot, Clem," said Lee. "He's just gotten a little overwhelmed, that's all. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Before we leave tomorrow, will we have time to look for my parents?"
"I'd like to, Clem, but we may not have time," Lee responded. "We really shouldn't stay here any longer, it's not safe."
Clementine didn't like that answer. She had a feeling that she wouldn't see her mom or dad ever again, whether that man had them or not. The thought overwhelmed her, and she began to cry.
"Hey, don't cry," Lee tried to comfort her.
But she turned away and lay down, sobbing into her hands. Lee didn't try to do anything else, just let her cry. After awhile, Clementine just cried herself to sleep. She felt very tired.
A sound woke her up the next morning, coming from her walkie-talkie. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Lee was asleep in the chair across from her, and obviously hadn't woken up from the noise.
"Hello?" It was that man! "Clementine?"
Clem walked over and picked up the radio, walking out of the room. "Hi, I'm here."
"Honey, I think it's time for me to take you to your parents at the Marsh House," the man told her. "Are you ready to meet up?"
The little girl thought about that for a moment. She didn't want to leave Lee, but she wanted to see her parents too. Maybe she could bring them back with her.
"Yes," she decided. "Okay, I'll meet you. Are you coming?"
"I'm already here, Clemmy. I'm right outside the fence."
"Okay, I'll be right out," she whispered.
Clementine smiled, and began her stealthy walk outside. She saw Omid (who was able to walk better) walk towards the bathroom, but hid before he could see her. She smiled. Perfect!
It wasn't easy to just walk out without being caught, but somehow Clementine was able to do it. She went outside to the backyard and spoke into the walkie-talkie. "I'm outside now. Where are you?"
At that, the man appeared from around a corner and gave her a smile and a wave. He looked to be around his forties, and wore a brown coat.
Clementine noticed him and ran out the gate and to the other side, so quickly that she didn't even noticed that her hat dropped off of her head.
"Hello, Clementine, we finally meet," the stranger greeted warmly. "Are you ready to see your parents? They're waiting for us at the hotel right now!"
"Uh-huh!" Clem nodded. She turned around and decided to leave her walkie-talkie so that she could keep in contact with Lee. The man she was now with had the other one.
The stranger took her hand and led her to his car, the very same station wagon that had been in the forest barely over a week ago.
Clementine couldn't help but notice, on the way, the walker that looked to be hiding under some kind of board.
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And there's Episode 4, Around Every Corner. Episode 5 will revolve almost completely around Clementine now, since she'll be with the stranger. I don't know how many chapters the next episode will cover, I'm hoping that it'll be five like the others. If you guys could maybe give me some ideas that would be highly appreciated, although I do have some plans. Please, please leave a review! :D
My Episode Choices:
I killed the boy in the attic
I was rational and honest with Vernon
I brought Clementine with me to Crawford
I pulled Ben up
I showed the bite
I was able to get everyone to go with me to find Clementine.