A new installment is here! The next should be out soon, and maybe a new story I've been working on. So enjoy, my readers!

Chapter 20: Episode 3: Farewell Soldier Girl

"How is Ben doing, Katjaa?"

That was the first question to come to mind once I got done checking the inside Chuck's boxcar home. He had sent me to go get his bottle of water for Ben who, as of right now, was doing better than he had a few minutes ago. But, he was still in pretty bad shape. Lilly had done a real number on him, and his face looked much worse than it had after we had pulled her away from him.

Ben was sitting on the ground, leaned up against the large broken tree that laid near the train, while Katjaa did her best to clean up his bruised and swollen face.

"He's doing fine," the older woman said, wiping the blood from the cut above his eye with a cloth. Ben let out a small groan. "Its not as bad as it could have been. The way his mouth was bleeding, I thought he had lost a few teeth, luckily, it was just a busted lip."

Carley frowned and muttered. "Lilly went too far. I know she was mad about what happened to Larry, but she didn't have to do this to Ben."

A part of me agreed with Carley; the other part, felt that he deserved it. I didn't voice that. I didn't feel the need to. "Maybe, Lilly did take things too far," I said, looking over in the direction the ex-military woman. She stood off away from us near the RV, or to be more specific, away from Ben. "But, don't act like you can't understand why she did it. Anyone would have done the same, or even worse, if the last of their family had been in Larry's place." If anything would have happened to Carley or Clem, I would've probably killed him myself. That thought scared me frightened me a little. However, it was true, nonetheless.

"Still," Carley sighed, and looked over at me. "It doesn't make it right."

"What Ben did wasn't right, either," I said. I grabbed her hand and gently rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb. "I understand what you're saying. I really do, but Larry was the last thing that Lilly had left. Her anger towards Ben is justified."

"Its not her anger I'm upset over. Its what she did," Carley replied. "I'm not going to say that what Ben did was right, he was passing off our medicine to the bandits behind our backs. Medicine that we need to survive. But, Lilly could have found another way; if you and Kenny didn't stop her, she would have killed Ben. Does that not bother you at all?"

"Of course it does," I gave her hand a small squeeze. "For right now, though, lets just relax for a bit. We've been through enough since this whole thing started." I gave a smile. "We kinda deserve this little bit of time to chill out."

"So, Ben was the reason those guys showed up," Andy muttered, starring at the teen in question. "Talk about screwing up big time."

"Ditto," I replied. The boy looked at me with a frown, then turned his head towards something else. At least he didn't glare at me; guess that's a start. I thought. Carley leaned her head on my shoulder, and in response, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to my side. I enjoyed the close contact, feeling her warmth and the curve of her hip under my hand; it was nice, not having to hide our relationship from the rest of the group.

"Is Ben in trouble?" Clementine asked.

I sighed and gave a nod. "Yes. Big trouble. He was helping the bandits, something that was very stupid to do, and now Larry's dead because of it."

"Is that why he got beat up by Lilly, Mom," Duck asked Katjaa.

"Yes," Katjaa answered, turning from Ben to the two kids. "But, don't worry, he'll be good as new soon enough."

The kids had been awake for about fifteen minutes now, maybe a half hour, sitting on broken tree near the train with the rest of us; Chuck was sitting there as well, playing his guitar and at some point, had even given Clementine, Duck and Andy some candy. Sweets, a rare thing to come by after the world had ended, I even found myself eating some M&M type candies, that wasn't actually M&Ms.

But, I wasn't one to turn down sweets just because they weren't name brand. It didn't make it any less good. Though, the candy was a little stale.

"So, Chuck, how long have you been playing the guitar for?" I asked. It was a pretty random question, but that didn't change the fact that he was really good; the only time I had ever played was during summer camp a few years back when I was fifteen. Those were the days.

The middle aged man stopped playing. "How long, huh?" He mused, with a thoughtful expression, tapping his index finger on his guitar. "I'd say, about as long as I've been drifting, so about fourteen, fifteen years."

"Well, it shows," Carley said, leaning off my shoulder, smiling at the homeless man. "I haven't played a musical instrument since the second or third grade, and it was during a play."

"You played an instrument, Car'," I asked; that was something I never knew before, even after all the time we've talked. Then again, the subject near came up.

"Yeah, and I was as bad as you probably think."

Chuck smiled, asking. "What did you play?"

"Uh ...the maracas, a bit of the flute, and maybe that little metal triangle." Carley laughed, "but, like I said, I was pretty horrible. My only saving grace was that the rest of my classmates were pretty bad, too."

"So, your school play was horrible?"

"Not exactly. We were about as good as any other school play; my parents recorded the whole thing," the ex-reporter said, giving a sad smile. "My class was really bad. We laughed so much at that video, and my Dad would always say 'look on the bright side, at least we got to mark musician off early as one of the things you wanted to be when you grew up', and me and Mom would just laugh." She let out a small laugh, though it sounded sorta bitter, and muttered. "I miss those two."

"Your parents sound like they were good people," Chuck said.

"They were. Some of the best people you'd ever meet," Carley said. "When it came to southern hospitality, they were the best. Mom even made casserole every time someone new moved into the neighborhood, and my Dad, well, he was about as bad as Kenny when it came to swearing; he never talked like that around me when I was younger. Mom made sure of that."

I could tell she was sad talking about her parents. Who wouldn't be when you've been through what we have. I thought. I gave her hand a small squeeze, and leaned my head against hers. "There is always a chance that they could be alive, Car'," I said. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"A few days before everything went to shit," Carley answered. "We talked on the phone the night before things started getting really bad, around the time more people were getting sick and the first walker attacks started happening in the cities. Last I heard, they were on a trip to Lexington visiting family."

"Then there could still be a chance that they're still alive," I said. "You may not know for sure, but there is still a possibility. You're still alive to worry about them; they could be alive worrying about you."

Carley turned to me and smiled. "Yeah, they could be, Dad was always good with a gun." She gave me a peck on the lips, it only lasted a few seconds, but I enjoyed every moment. "Even if that turns out not to be true, thanks for saying that."

"Hope is one of the things that makes surviving this hell on Earth bearable," I said. "Not knowing the fate of those you love, its hard, but the chance is always there that maybe, somewhere, they're thinking the same about us."

"Like my parents," Clem added.

I nodded. "Just like your parents. We may not know for sure, now. We'll find out eventually, though, once we get to Savanna."

Chuck turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to Savanna?" he asked.

"Pretty much," I answered. "They have boats there, and we might be able to get away from the main land if we play our cards right." The old hobo let out a small laugh. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow this time. "Whats so funny?"

"I'm not really a man who believes much in fate, but this is something," Chuck said, before looking over at the stopped train. "I've been living in this train for a while, had enough time to search it top to bottom more times than I can count, even buried the engineer that died. Turns out this train was headed to Savanna."

Carley sat up straight. "It does?"

"Yep, the map the engineer had on him had a pathway marked out. It ended at Savanna," Chuck said. "Actually, I should have it with me." He dug into each of his jacket pockets, until he got to his left inside pocket and pulled out the folded map and held it out to me. "Here we go, you can take a look for yourself."

Well, that would explain why I couldn't find the map. I thought as I took the map and unfolded it. There was a red line running through Georgia, one dot starting near Atlanta somewhere and lead down to Savanna. The route was here, the only thing we needed was the instructions on starting up the train and everything would be golden. I looked up from the map. "Hey, Chuck, you wouldn't happen to have anything else from the train in your boxcar, would you?"

Chuck thought on it, then shook his head. "Nothing else was worth taking. There was a notepad on the wall near the engineer's seat, if I remember correctly; if you think it could be of some use, its next to my bed."

"Alright, thanks. I'll go check it out." I stood up, turning to the others. "I'll be right back, so hang tight, with any luck, we might have a smooth train ride."

"Good luck," Duck said.

"And, be careful," Clementine added as I walked off towards the train. I climbed into the box car, and began searching through the mess near Chuck's bed; under a small stack of papers, I found the large notepad. Thankfully, the old hobo hadn't used it, so the indents for the directions to power the locomotive up was still clear as day.

I smiled. "Now, to get to work."

I used the door this time, and crossed over to the lead train. Once I got to the ladder I called out to the youngest members of the group. "Hey, kids!" Their heads all turned in my direction, along with the others nearby. "Do any of you have any chalk, or pencils?" They all turned to each other, and turned back to me a moment later. Clementine gave a nod. "Well, bring it over, I need to use it."

Duck was the one to bring it over to me; though there was no need to rush, he ran it over to me anyway. He took a piece of blue chalk out of his pants pocket, holding it up towards me. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, Duck," I knelled down at the top of the ladder and took the chalk from him. "I'll be sure to return it in one piece."

"Its okay, you can keep it," the hyperactive boy said, smiling. "We've got tons more in Clementine's backpack. A whole box full!"

I smiled. "If you say so. Now go back over there with your mama, young padawon."

"Roger, roger!" Duck gave a salute and did what he was told; good kid, he knew his stuff. First Batman, and now its Star Wars. Had Kenny's son been born in the eighties, he might have been one of those kids who played Dungeons and Dragons on a regular basis.

Maybe a few board games would be a nice way to pass the time. I suddenly thought as I stood up, holding the notepad in front of me. I colored in the page until the markings became clear enough to read. Now we're talking!

"What you got there, kid?"

I turned my head at the sound of Kenny's voice. He was walking out of the engine door. I held up the notepad. "A way to start the train, hopefully." Which it defiantly will. I said to myself.

Kenny came next to me and eyed the notepad. "These buttons and switches look just like the ones I saw in the engine room."

"Cool, that makes this easier for us," I strolled pass him with a pep to my step, and entered the engine. Everything was just as it had been in the original story line, of course, I wasn't expecting much to change, though some stuff had changed. For one, the map and the picture of the engineer's family weren't near the seat, there was still the bloody, cracked windshield, but Chuck had buried the body; he must have buried the family photo with the dead man, it only made sense.

Speaking of burials, we need to handle Larry as soon as possible. The last thing we wanted was the body starting to smelling. Sure, it hadn't been that long since Larry died. But, the sooner we put the old man in the dirt, the better.

I walked over to the engine startup, looking at the different numbers, then matching them with instructions on the notepad. Alright, so panel six is first; down, down, up, up, up, down, up. The first two small switches were already down. I focused my attention on the two bigger ones. As I flipped each one, the square light over them lit white. Once I was done, the lights to the other panels lit up as well.

"I wonder if all trains have startups like this," I mused. It felt like a puzzle for a Resident Evil game, more so zero than the others. Zombies on a train, lets hope that doesn't become a thing here. "Next is five; sideways and straight, already done so no need to touch that one." I looked for the last one. "Nine. Turn to the left, then turn to the right. Where is nine?"

I had a feeling that there was something I was forgetting, but I couldn't remember what. I searched around the whole engine room, and even the dash board, which had also lit up with power. No number nine, and the longer I looked, the more it annoyed me.

"This is why I hate puzzles in games. I should have had this thing started by now," I muttered, tapping the corner of the notepad between the buttons. What did Lee do? I searched this room from top to bottom, cut on the switches, then I need to uncouple the train with that ratchet thing or whatever its called. And that's in the locker on the side of the train-.

I stopped my thoughts at that, then laughed at myself. "Shit. Right, the last switch is in the locker. I'm so stupid. How the hell did I forget that!" I turned and walked out the engine room, and made my way to the side of the train. I opened the first locker, finding it empty, then I opened the second locker, finding the tools I'd need to uncouple the train. These would also make some nice weapons. I added, mentally. I picked up the one that looked like it would uncouple the engine from the rest of the wreck; it was brown and heavy and was similar to a large wrench. I slid it into my left side belt loop, opposite of my sword, and closed the locker, moving on to the middle locker.

I pulled the double doors open. "Ah, here we go," I said. I looked over the notepad one last time; there were four buttons leading down to the switch, yellow, black, green, and red. I turned the switch clockwise, and the buttons lit up, then I turned it counter clockwise, and like a person who had been holding their breath way too long, the train came to life, loud and strong.

I closed the locker and turned around, looking down at the notepad with a small grin. "I really love cheat codes."

"Holy shit," Kenny said as he rushed back over to the train. The others followed close behind him, both surprised and happy. "You actually got it workin'!"

"Fuckin' A," I nodded. "All thanks to our friend Mr. Nameless Engineer for writing this stuff down. We can head to Savanna at any time."

He climbed up the ladder, first. "This is great," he said, slapping me on the shoulder. "I could kiss you, kid. And I don't even swing that way."

I laughed. "Lets not. You save it for your wife."

"Ain't got no arguments with that," the ex-fisherman replied. He walked past me and entered the engine room, not wasting any time. Carley climbed up next, the kids right behind her, looking around excitedly at the train. Chuck was also on his way over, his guitar slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, wow," Kenny's son awed, loudly. "This is so cool! I've never been on a train before!" He turned to Andy Junior. "Isn't this cool?"

Andy gave a shrug. "I got a big toy train that looked like this for Christmas last year."

"Really, where is it?" Duck asked.

A frown came to Andy's face. "Back on the farm. In my Dad's room."

"Oh. Um." Duck didn't seem to know what to say.

I, on the other hand, thought that I should say something. "We could find you another one. I'm pretty sure no one was in Savanna looting from toy stores," I said, smiling down at him. "They usually go for the flat screens."

"No thanks," Andy muttered. "Don't even bother. I never played with it that much, anyway. My Dad was going to put it in the attic." He didn't say anything more after that, he just went on his way towards the engine room, and Duck followed him, talking loudly most likely excited to see what his dad was up to.

I sighed. "Jeez."

"If you ask me, I think you've made a lot of progress with Andy," Carley said, walking up to me.

"How so? It seems like he still hates me to me."

"Well, for one, he is talking to you. And telling you about himself."

Now that Carley had mentioned it, he didn't need to tell me that he got a train last Christmas, he could have done what he did numerous times before and glare at me, or flat out ignore me. But, even his glare and frown didn't seem as hateful as before.

Maybe, Andy was getting comfortable around me, or at the very least tolerating me.

"Or, he could be getting Stockholm syndrome," I said.

Carley gave me a look. "Don't even start that. We're watching after him, not keeping him prisoner."

"Yeah, sure, but to him, I'm pretty much the guy who killed his folks and forced him to come back to our camp."

"Why do I get the feeling that this story has way more to it than what you just said," Chuck said, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged, frowning. "Because it does. I mean, sure, I had my reasons, good reasons. But I wouldn't expect Andy to understand that. At least not right now."

"He will, one day," Carley said, placing her hand on my cheek, looking up into my eyes. "Maybe he won't forgive you for killing his family, but he will understand why you did it. Not today, or tomorrow, but eventually he'll understand. Kids grow up."

I let out a deep sigh, then smiled. "You always know what to say," I said. "How were you ever single before this?"

"Guess I never found the right guy," Carley mused with a shrug.

"So, I'm Mr. Right, then, huh," I said, teasingly, moving a bit of her hair from in front of her eye. It had gotten longer, almost past her shoulders; in fact I've never actually taken the time to really notice the height different between us. Carley was older than me, but I was taller than her by a full head. Funny how life works sometimes.

Carley smiled. "Well, I never said that," she said. "But you're a pretty good candidate in the running."

I let out a playful gasp and put a hand to my chest. "Good, lord, woman! I should have watched the news this morning. I didn't know we'd be getting some heartache with a side of realism."

"Seriously, a news joke," Carley laughed, slapping me on the shoulder. "You're so corny, Tay'."

"Eh, I try."

Carley started moving past me. "I'm going to see what Kenny's up to. Oh, and before I forget," she turned, kissing me on the cheek and putting a finger to my lips. "Medicine for the heartache."

"That's all I get, though," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"We would want you to overdose."

She gave me one last smile, then walked into the engine room. Chuck stood next to me, then turned his head, and spoke. "You're a lucky man, Taylor," he said. "Finding a girl like that these days are hard to come by."

"Word from the wise." I gave a nod. He didn't need to tell me twice; I already knew I was lucky. As weird as it was for me to think it, I'd kill every bandit alive if it meant keeping Carley and Clementine safe, and I'd do the same for the others. How I'd feel afterward, however, was a different story.

The train jolted suddenly and moved, before coming to a quick halt.

Well, time to uncouple this thing. I thought.

I turned and made my way across the bridge connecting the two trains and entered the boxcar, through Chuck's bedroom(if you could even call it that, honestly), and hopped out on the other side of the train. Uncoupling the train hadn't taken much, I used the wrench to lift the piece holding the boxcar to the wreck and we were ready to leave.

XxxxX

Lilly wasn't coming with us.

We couldn't leave Ben behind. Not with the shape he was in after Lilly had given him what was probably the worse beat down of his life. He wouldn't have a fighting chance; the ex-military woman didn't seem to care much for him, however, not that I could blame her.

I was walking with Lilly as she continued back towards the RV. The kids were busy taking out their belongings and supplies from the vehicle, with the help of Katjaa and Carley, and loading it into the boxcar.

As the two woman walked pass us, they gave Lilly a sad glance that was hard to miss, but continued walking towards the train with the three little ones following them carrying their bags and whatever else they could hold on their own.

"Lilly, you don't have to leave," I said, almost pleading. "No one wants you to leave, not even Kenny."

"Then, Ben has to go."

"We can't do that, with the way he is he'll die on his own. We have to at least give him a fighting chance if and when we send him on his own."

We stopped in front of the RV and she turned to me, looking up at me with sad eyes. "My Dad, he was the last thing I had. The last living family I had. Do you understand that?"

"I do, believe me I do," I said. I choked up a bit at what I was about to say, though I had no idea why. "My Dad died, too. I was the one who had to put him down when I found him as a walker. I know what its like."

"Then you know why I can't go with you," she muttered. "If I go with you. The only thing I'd be able to think about is killing Ben, and who knows, I might just do it." She paused for a moment, looking pass me to the train. "Its him or me, and you chose him."

"I wasn't trying to choose anyone."

"But, you did."

I bit my bottom lip. The last thing I wanted was for Lilly to leave; in the game as Lee, I had kicked her out of the group with no hesitation because she had snapped and killed Carley. She was a danger to everyone.

But now, she knew who did it, not only that but the same person got her father killed this time. Sure, I could try and convince her to stay with the group. That we were safer in numbers. I couldn't ignore the facts, though. She would try to kill Ben, and knowing Carley, the spit fire that she was when upset, she would try to stop it and someone would end up dead.

Maybe this was the best course of action in this situation; Ben or Lilly had to leave and since the former had been beat to shit by the latter and was in no condition to survive being left behind, the only one who had a fighting chance was Lilly.

One of them had to go; that was for the best. That didn't mean I had to like it.

"So, this is it, then," I muttered, frowning. "This is goodbye?"

Lilly nodded. "I can't stay, knowing that I'll snap and kill someone."

I felt like crying; her dad had been a real prick, but Lilly was cool. We had survived together since the second day I'd ended up in this world, had each others backs on a number of runs. To just split up like this, after what had happened to Mark and all the things we had to deal with together after. It hurt, and it surprised me how much.

It felt like I was saying goodbye to a close friend, and in a way, I was.

People who survive together, usually bond together, even if they don't notice.

I pulled Lilly into a hug before I even knew what I was doing. She tensed at the sudden contact, only relaxing when I pulled back, my hands holding her by the shoulders.

"You had better be safe, you hear," I said, seriously. no tears fell, my eyes just felt watery. "Don't you leave us and end up dead."

The surprise written on her face softened. "I don't plan on it," Lilly said. "And no matter what Kenny says, you're leading the group now. We may not have agreed on a lot of things, but I know you'll do whatever it takes to keep everyone alive. And, I'm sorry, about suspecting you for the traitor."

"Its fine, all water under the bridge, now." I let go of her shoulders, giving a small smile. Lilly was about to walk onto the RV, when I spoke again. "What about your dad?"

Lilly opened the side door. "I'll bury him myself. Its something I should do alone."

"If that's what you want," I said. "It was good knowing you, Lilly."

"Yeah."

I turned and began walking towards the train. "Taylor," Lilly called out to me. I stopped and half turned, as she continued. "Tell the others goodbye for me. I was never good at saying it myself. And take care of yourself."

"I will."

As I walked towards the boxcar; Kenny was watching me from the side of the engine. I gave him a thumbs up, signaling that we were all good to go. The mustached man gave a nod and walked into the engine room. I climbed into the boxcar; Ben was lying down on Chuck's bed, with Carley and Katjaa sitting near him and the two boys were not far from them, talking among themselves, though Duck did most of the chatter out of the two. I took a seat against the wall near the boxcar's opening.

"Taylor, where is Lilly going?" Clementine asked a moment later, taking a seat next to me. "Isn't she riding the train with us?"

I shook my head. "She going her own way."

"How come," she asked. "I thought you said we were safer together; one dies, but the pack survives."

"I know. I wanted her to come along with us. But sometimes people just ...do what they want, and she doesn't want to be around Ben," I said, before letting out a sigh. "Don't worry, Lilly can take care of herself, Clem. She's strong."

She gave a sad. "Oh." In response.

"What's the matter?"

"It ...feels like everyone is leaving."

Leaving, huh? Yeah. I could understand that, we weren't a big group to begin with and within. Regardless of that, we survived by working together, forming a trust. Then, in just a few weeks, we lost three people. Only one leaving by choose rather than dying. "It does, doesn't it," I muttered. "That's just how life is, though, Clem. People come and go. Even before the walkers started popping up and ruining shit; its just a part of living, but you know the good thing."

"What?"

I poked her on the forehead underneath her hat. "You can remember all of them, you may forget somethings, but deep down you'll know that they were there, no matter how much time passes."

The train gave a jolt and started moving, slowly at first but gradually picking up speed. Once the path was clear, the RV started up and sped down the road and out of sight; all I could do was hope that Lilly would be safe, and maybe, we might see each other again someday.

Man, I feel good about this chapter. Can't say the same for the show; I saw it coming, but when it actually happened on screen, that shit was hard to watch. Anyway, remember to review, and to all you Walking Dead fans of the comic book out there, I think we can finally say we know how book readers felt about the Red Wedding on screen, cause I know I do. #knowing before your folks~!

Peace~!