A New Day - Act IV - Around Every Corner
Part I - Georgia's First City
The train had slowed to a stop on the outskirts of Savannah, and the group had gathered up a majority of the supplies they'd need for the transfer from train to boat, if they found one. The streets of Savannah were completely desolate, showing no signs of life, or signs of walkers.
Kenny led the group at the front, Ben to his right creeping across a sidewalk and keeping an eye on the road behind them. Wendy followed alongside Ben, with Robbie keeping a slight distance from the two, though he also traversed down the sidewalk. Carley, along with Chuck, who was carrying a shovel, walked behind Kenny's left, passing by a car that Omid decided to lean on, his leg aching. Christa kept close to Omid and made sure to give him support when he needed it. Also on the sidewalk were the twins, with Clementine and Lee close behind. Kenny and Carley each had their glocks at the ready, incase they encountered any walkers, or hostile survivors.
Clementine stopped to peer through an iron gate which lead into a graveyard, before she jogged back over to the group, staying beside Lee and eyeing her walkie-talkie, which the man had hooked onto his belt for safekeeping.
"...can't I just hold it?"
Lee glanced down at Clementine before focusing on the road ahead once again.
"Just for a little while?" The girl persisted. "We're getting real close to where my mom and dad are, maybe I can-"
"Not now, Clementine." Lee responded neutrally. "Maybe later, okay?"
Clementine sighed and continued walking ahead. "Okay…"
Lee smiled. It was safer to keep her off of the walkie-talkie, to cut contact between her and the stranger. He then looked over to Christa. "How's Omid?"
Christa looked over her shoulder at him and frowned. "His leg's pretty bad."
"I'm fine." The man in question sighed as he slowly limped alongside his significant other.
"You're not fine, you need to rest." Christa glared at him, before looking back to Lee. "He needs to rest!"
Lee sighed. "Kenny, how much farther to the riverfront? Omid needs to rest."
Kenny glanced over his shoulder. "Should be just a few more blocks up ahead."
"And there'll be boats there?" Carley asked, momentarily glancing to her left, looking between two small houses and seeing no signs of any blind spots a walker or two could hide in.
"There sure as hell better be." Wendy added. "This will totally suck if it's all for nothing."
"There'll be boats. Have to be. Have to be." Kenny replied, his words seeming to be reassurance for himself more than for the others.
"It's going to be okay. Kenny knows what he's doing." Ben said.
"That better be fucking true…" Robbie muttered under his breath, placing a hand on the revolver in his pocket in case he needed it.
Dipper looked over to his sister, watching her calmly walk beside him. "You alright?"
"That's the third time you've asked me today." Mabel smiled. "I'm fine, trust me. I finally feel kinda fine."
Dipper smiled. "Good...that better be true, or else-"
Everyone stopped when they heard a sudden ringing.
"What the hell?" Omid glanced around. Ben's eyes widened.
Lee looked around before seeing the nearby bell tower where the ringing was coming from. He looked up to the roof, seeing the ringing bell swaying back and forth within the wooden encasing.
"Maybe this city's not so dead after all…" Christa looked around.
"Keep movin'." Kenny commanded, turning to face everyone with a firm stare. "Nobody's ringing that bell. It's automatic, on a timer."
Lee glanced down at the wristwatch he wore. "What kinda church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?"
Nobody really knew what to say to that.
Lee glanced back up at the roof again.
Next to the encasing, a figure darted across the roof.
The man's eyes widened. "Someone's up there!"
Ben quickly turned his head. "Are you sure? I don't see anything…"
"Hey! Hey you up there!" Lee shouted, glaring up at where the figure had momentarily stood.
"Dammit Lee, keep quiet!" Christa glared. "You're gonna-"
Crackle.
"...if I were you, I'd get out of the street. Now."
Everyone looked to the walkie-talkie attached to Lee's belt.
"The hell…?" Wendy muttered. "Who's that guy?"
Christa crossed her arms and glared at Lee. "I thought you said that thing didn't work!"
Lee quickly unhooked the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. "Who the hell is this?!"
Crackle crackle- bzzzzz.
"Hello? Hello?!" Lee's voice began to rise in anger. "I said answer me, dammit!"
There was no reply. Everyone simply stood in the street, unsure of what to do, where to go, and whoever the hell was on the radio.
"What the hell was that?" Omid glanced around. "Is someone trying to fuck with us?"
"It sounded more like a warning…" Robbie responded, slowly removing his revolver from his pocket.
Chuck then looked behind the group. "...ask not for whom the bell tolls."
"What're you yammerin' on about?" Kenny glared at Chuck, before following his gaze. His eyes widened.
Everyone turned to follow Chuck's stare.
"It tolls for thee…"
A large number of walkers began to pour out from around the corners of the turns to other streets and drives, having been attracted by the noise, completely blocking of the path they had taken into the city.
Lee's eyes widened. "Everybody, RUN!"
Quickly, everyone sprinted away from the large group of walkers behind them, some walkers appearing ahead of them as well.
Wendy glanced behind her as she ran, not seeing the walker ahead of her. Bumping into it, it quickly grabbed onto her and pulled her in to rip out a chunk of her flesh. She struggled to fight it off and Robbie noticed, lifting up his revolver and preparing to shoot. Just before he could, however, Ben appeared and pulled the walker off of her, shoving it into a car. Panting, Wendy pulled out her survival knife and quickly rammed it into the brittle skull of the impaired walker before it could attack her again.
Robbie glared at Ben, who didn't notice and simply took his new girlfriend's hand, starting to run with her. "C'mon, we gotta hurry!"
Kenny pulled out his glock once again and aimed it up as he ran, shooting a walker in front of him and continuing down the road. Chuck bashed the head of his shovel into a few walkers, jabbing it into their heads when they fell to the ground. Christa pulled Omid close and held out a small handgun, shooting at a few walkers before continuing forward alongside Chuck. Lee stopped running for a moment and looked beside him. Once he saw Clementine catch up beside him, he ran with the group once again, allowing Clem to keep up. As he ran, he looked over to see Dipper and Mabel running with Carley, the woman shooting at a few walkers as they came near.
Mabel sprinted up a sidewalk near a wrecked car before an undead hand reached out from the wreck and grabbed her wrist.
"Ah!" Mabel shrieked as the hand grabbed her and she tugged on it frantically, desperately trying to escape its grasp and run. "H-Help, someone!"
Dipper noticed and his eyes widened. "Mabel, I'm coming!"
He took out his hatchet as he sprinted forward. Reaching the scene, he quickly brought up his hatchet, then brought it back down, dealing a bloody chop to the undead wrist and severing it with one blow, giving Mabel freedom. Moments afterward, while Mabel fell back and removed the amputated walker hand from her wrist, he pulled out his handgun and pointed it through the window, pulling the trigger and planting a bullet in the head of the walker inside.
"You okay?" The boy asked as he helped his sister up from the pavement.
Mabel panted and nodded. "Y-Yeah...caught me by surprise, is all."
Carley caught up with them and shot a walker that stumbled towards them. "Quick feet you two, we gotta move!"
The two nodded and ran on ahead with Carley following close behind.
Kenny continued to run down the road, unaware of a walker ahead of him that had gotten trapped under a car, reaching for him and catching him by his ankle. The man tripped and his glock fell to the pavement out of reach. He landed flat on his stomach and quickly glanced at the walker before grabbing a nearby stop sign by the bottom of its post and desperately trying to either grab his gun and shoot the thing or pull himself free and away, or both.
"Kenny!" Lee called out. He stopped running and held out his handgun, shooting the walker in the head.
Kenny panted and grabbed his glock, getting back up to his feet. "Little too close, don't ya think?"
Lee simply nodded before a sudden shout caught his attention.
"Ben!"
The man looked behind him and saw Clementine and Ben cornered by walkers against a brick wall, looking around, fear in their eyes.
"No…!" Lee's eyes widened. "Ben, help her!"
Ben looked around fearfully before looking down at Clementine beside him. He shut his eyes and let out a shaky sigh, before sprinting to his left and avoiding the walkers, leaving Clementine surrounded.
Lee glared at the fleeing Ben. "Goddammit!"
He held up his handgun again and began clearing the walkers one by one before they could get to the girl. Only a few remained as he finally ran out of ammo. One of them stumbled towards the girl, who froze in fear. "Ah!"
"No!" Lee sprinted forward.
Then the head of a shovel bashed into the neck of the walker, sending it to the pavement before said shovel head was stabbed into its chest. Lee sighed in relief as he reached Clementine and hugged her.
Chuck.
"Get her the hell out of here!" Chuck shouted. "I'll catch up with ya!"
Lee looked up and Chuck simply nodded, before pulling out his shovel and continuing to kill the oncoming walkers. Lee simply took Clem's hand and sprinted back over to the rest of the group with her.
"Move your asses!" Kenny shouted as the others caught up. "River Street's right up ahead!"
"That's not all…" Robbie stopped running as he pointed to another herd of walkers ahead of them, blocking them in.
"Oh gimme a fuckin' break!" Kenny shouted angrily.
"Wait, where the hell's Chuck?!" Christa looked around.
Lee looked over his shoulder to see Chuck still fighting off walkers, managing to keep them at bay. From the looks of things, he seemed to be handling himself.
"Shit, he's in trouble! We gotta help him!" Omid said.
Though with the walkers closing in, nobody could really get to him. Lee lost sight of Chuck, but managed to catch him hop over a dead body and make some distance between himself and the undead.
"There's no time! We gotta go, now!" Kenny shouted.
"I'll be fine!" Chuck called out, smashing his shovel down onto a walker's head. "Just go!"
Seeing an opening, Kenny sprinted for it and the others followed suite, turning a corner and running through a gate into the courtyard of a large house, leaving Chuck to fend for himself.
Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Dipper, Mabel, Carley, Ben, Wendy, Robbie, Omid, and Christa all dashed into the courtyard before any walkers could follow.
Kenny held the gate open, allowing the others to get in, before sprinting for the front door of the house. "I'll get the door, everyone get in!"
The last two to enter the courtyard were Omid and Christa, Omid tumbling to the ground once he entered. "Gaaah!"
Lee was the one to shut the gate and lock it while Christa knelt by Omid's side, helping him sit up. The man then looked to the couple. "You okay?"
"Ugh...yeah." Omid muttered, wincing in pain.
"You've opened up your wound, you're bleeding! Shit, that's gonna get infected!" Christa's eyes widened before she looked to Lee. "We've got to get him inside, clean him up!"
Lee nodded and ran towards Kenny. "Kenny, how's that door coming?"
"I'm workin' on it, I'm workin' on it." Kenny replied gruffly as he tried to figure out a way to get the door open, finding it to be locked, with Kenny and Robbie beside him.
"Well work faster, would you?!" Christa glared. "It won't be long before those things outside figure out where we went. You know they can smell blood."
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll find us a way in." Lee said, trying to ease the tension among the group members. He then approached Clementine, who was standing by the gate worriedly.
"Do you think the dead people saw us come back here?" The young girl glanced up at Lee. "Are they going to find us?"
"No Clem, they didn't see us." Lee shook his head as he knelt down to her level. "We're too fast for them."
"I can still hear them out there...it sounds like they're getting closer." Clementine muttered.
"It's just your imagination." Lee reassured.
"I'll feel safer when we're inside the house…" Clem said, before walking over to sit by Omid and Christa.
Lee sighed before glancing over the windows.
No way I'm gonna be able to bust through those...they're all boarded up from the inside.
The man snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Ben start to inspect the windows. He needed to have a word with the kid.
"Ben."
The teen turned to face Lee, his expression neutral. "Yeah?"
"About what happened back there on the street…" Lee's expression slowly turned to a glare.
"I-I know. I don't know what happened." Ben's voice started to become a little shaky as his gaze turned grim. "I just...froze up. H-Hasn't that ever happened to you before?"
"Just hear what I'm saying to you." Lee said. "You put that girl in danger again, it won't be walkers you have to worry about."
Ben's eyes widened. "I hear you."
Lee nodded slightly before stepping away. "I'm gonna go check things out."
"Alright…" Ben sighed before inspecting the windows again.
Meanwhile, Dipper and Mabel slumped down next to each other, the two of them panting. The boy sighed. "Yeesh, there's just danger around every corner, isn't there?"
"You said it, bro…" Mabel panted, nodding slightly. "...I hope Chuck will be okay."
"I'm sure he will, Mabel. He'll be fine." Dipper looked at his sister and smiled. "Things will be okay. We'll clear out the house, make a proper plan to find a boat, and then we'll be all set to get out of here and onto the water."
"But what about finding Clem's parents?" Mabel asked.
Dipper sighed. "We'll try and find them, but if things come to a head, we might need to just get on the boat and leave."
Mabel simply pulled her legs to her chest and looked at the ground solemnly. "...do you think Grunkle Stan is out there? Do you think he's alive and surviving somewhere?"
Dipper momentarily cringed. He hadn't thought about his own family in a long while. "...three months ago, I would've answered that question with, 'possibly, he might be trying to find us right now, out there in a field full of walkers with nothing but finding us on his mind', but now, after all we've seen, all we've been through...I don't really know, Mabel. I just don't know."
Mabel simply stared at Dipper momentarily before sighing.
Lee then approached the front door and looked down. "Huh...looks like a doggy-door was installed here."
Ben looked over. "I tried that already, that's locked too."
"Well who the hell ever heard of a locked doggy-door?" Kenny sighed.
"I have, my neighbor had one just like that." Omid spoke up. "It's radio-controlled. The dog wears a collar with a chip in it so the door only opens when the dog gets close to it."
"Well shit, every day's a school day." Kenny muttered.
"Alright, so...where's the dog?" Robbie asked.
The others looked around before Lee's eyes fell on a doghouse, and beside it, a mound of dirt.
Beside the mound of dirt, a tombstone.
"Oh Christ…" Lee shook his head slightly, saddened at the site of the grave and the thought of what he would have to do. Taking a nearby shovel that was leaning against a shed into his hands, he slowly approached the grave.
"Hey, be careful." Omid said. "Digging up dead things ain't exactly what it used to be, ya know?"
"Yeah, I hear you." Lee muttered as he forced the shovel into the ground, piling up the first mound of dirt as Kenny, Ben, and the others approached.
Clementine walked up beside Lee. "...what's buried down there?"
Lee lifted up and tossed the second mound of dirt and grimaced when he saw a shriveled, partially bony back leg of an animal that had long since passed. "Nothing...Clem, go over and sit with Christa and Omid, okay?"
"But I want to-"
"Just do what I say, okay? It'll be alright, this just...isn't something you should see." Lee frowned.
Clem looked down before nodding. "Alright, I understand."
The girl walked over to sit beside Christa while Lee continued to shovel, before the entire body of the deceased pet was revealed. Lee and Kenny grimaced while Ben turned away.
"Oh Christ, the smell…" The eighteen year old muttered distastefully.
Lee glanced over the body of the dead dog before seeing the collar wrapped around its neck, the flesh of the neck having long since worn away, leaving nothing but a weak, frail looking muscle with bits of bone. The man hesitantly reached for it and lifted the collar, bringing the head up with him, making it sag.
"Ugh, I can't get it off…" He muttered.
He reached for the collar with his other hand, but at that moment, the weak muscle gave way, and the head broke apart from it and fell to the dirt.
"Oh fuck…" Wendy stumbled back in disgust.
"Okay, that is not cool." Ben's eyes widened.
"Jesus…" Carley muttered. "This is really fucked up…"
Christa turned away and vomited into the bushes, Omid and Clementine watching her in concern. The girl frowned. "Are you okay?"
The woman slowly stood back up and wiped her mouth on her sleeve before sighing and smiling gently at Clem. "I'm fine honey...it's just the smell."
Omid looked up at her. "Are you sure you-"
"I said I'm fine, okay?" Christa quickly interrupted him.
Lee sighed and stood back up, walking back to the front door with Kenny, Ben, and Robbie. He knelt down in front of the door and held out the collar. "Well, here goes nothing…"
The collar vibrated slightly, and the doggy-door clicked as a green light blipped on it.
"Yes!" Kenny smiled. "Goddamn!"
The others quickly approached as Lee peeked in through the door. Carley placed a hand on her glock, just in case anything decided to pop out. "You see anything in there?"
Lee stood back up. "No, looks like it's been empty a while."
Christa looked at the brick wall, hearing the growling of walkers outside become closer. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast."
"Okay, lemme see if I can reach up in there…" Lee knelt down again and tried to reach for the doorknob through the doggy-door.
"Be careful man…" Wendy muttered.
The man grunted and pulled his arm out, standing up again. "It's no good, I can't get it."
Ben walked over. "Here, lemme try. I think I can-"
Mabel quickly crawled through the doggy-door.
Dipper's eyes widened as he sprinted over. "Whoa Mabel, get the hell out of there! What're you doing?!"
Everyone stared at the door wide-eyed before the knob clicked and twitched. It turned, and the door opened, with Mabel coming out smiling. "Ta-da!"
Lee smiled. "Good job, Mabel!"
"Yeah, waytago!" Ben cheered.
Dipper then hugged his sister. "Excellent job, sis."
Mabel chuckled. "I did good, right?"
"Yes, Mabel." Dipper laughed a bit. "You did very good."
"Can we...m-maybe have this conversation inside?" Omid struggled to stand up. "My leg's starting to hurt like hell."
"Sure thing." Lee nodded, and everyone slowly entered the house.
The large number of non-fortified windows allowed plenty of light to be let into the room, as the group simply stood in the small hall they had entered into from the courtyard. The house was larger on the inside than the outside had let on. To the left was a kitchen and to the right was a living room. Christa glanced around the living room to see if any walkers were within before bringing Omid into the room and allowing him to lay on one of the couches inside, propping his injured leg up on a pillow.
"Arrgh…!" He grunted.
"Sorry, sorry…" Christa whispered.
"No, it's okay, I'm good. Feel better already just being off my feet." Omid smiled. "Thanks babe."
Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy settled into a few chairs in the living room, unsure of what to do. Dipper sighed. "Well, we're in. Now what?"
"I'd kill for a Pitt Cola right now…" Wendy sighed. "Hell, I'd kill for food right now."
"Wouldn't all of us?" Mabel shrugged.
"As long as we don't end up like Chris…" Dipper muttered, earning a few strange looks from his sister and Wendy. "Again, I'm a comic book guy, okay?"
"Whatever." Wendy shrugged. "So I guess we sit around and wait to head out to find a boat?"
"I doubt we're all gonna go down to find one." Dipper replied. "The most likely candidates to go are probably just Kenny, since he's so damned determined, and Lee, since he's probably the most level headed person here."
"Maybe Carley too." Mabel added. "She's a good shot."
"Yeah she is." Dipper nodded. "...I just hope they find something down there."
Ben stepped into the room and looked around. "This place seems secure at least."
"I'll feel better when we know that for sure." Carley walked by him. "We gotta check every room in this house."
"Alright then, fine." Kenny sighed, rubbing his temple. "Ben and I will take upstairs, everyone else search down here. Make sure y'all check every door. Understand?"
The others nodded and went their separate ways, Kenny and Ben heading up the stairs that were just outside of the living room, and Lee and Robbie heading down a hall to check the numerous doors on the first floor.
"While they're doing that, I think I'm gonna take a rest." Dipper yawned slightly. "Been awhile since I've felt decently safe, I'm not about to put that feeling to waste."
"Enjoy it man, we've come a long way to earn this keep." Wendy smiled and stood up. "Gonna go check around upstairs with Ben and Kenny."
She walked off while Mabel simply twiddled her thumbs. Dipper curled up in his seat and dozed off, feeling the relief of slumber wash over him.
With danger around every corner, comes a reward. And this seemed to be it.
"Lee?!"
Dipper jolted awake and rubbed his eyes, quickly looking around. He saw Ben sprint down the stairs and stop at the railing. Lee and Christa were nearby with Clem and Omid as the man in question looked up to Ben.
"Lee, you need to get up here now." Ben panted.
"What's wrong?!" Lee asked.
The teen sighed. "It's Kenny."
Lee followed Ben up the stairs as the teen led him to an opened ladder that led up to the attic of the house. Wendy stood by it, sighing as she crossed her arms. She looked over her shoulder as Lee and Ben approached. "Kenny said he thought he heard something up there...went to go look."
"He's up there still?" Lee asked.
"Neither of us can get him to come down." Ben muttered.
Lee stepped forward and put a foot onto the first step of the ladder. "You two stay here."
"That goes without saying…" Wendy muttered.
Lee continued to climb up the ladder before entering the attic. He stepped onto the old wooden floor and looked around before potting Kenny not too far away, crouched down and staring solemnly ahead of him.
"Kenny…?" He muttered, slowly approaching him. "Kenny? You okay man?"
He then grimaced. "Jesus...what the hell is that...oh my God…"
He slightly shook his head as he saw what Kenny had been staring at.
Rising up in front of the window from which evening sunbeams poured in was a walker, though this walker was far different than what the two had encountered before. It was short and incredibly thin, the skin around the bones almost melding in, bones like the ribcage protruding. It had short but frayed brown hair, and it's skin was incredibly pale. It's frail bony legs couldn't carry it as it fell almost as soon as it got up, the only thing it was wearing being a pair of underwear.
It was a child.
Kenny stared at it grimly, watching it struggle to move like a crippled animal on the brink of death. It continuously reached for him, its bony fingers quivering as it let out barely audible, raspy moans.
"...kinda looks like Duck, don't he?" Kenny muttered.
"It's just a kid…" Lee crossed his arms. "What the hell happened to him…?"
"Ain't nothin' on him. Guess he must've been...hiding out up here." Kenny replied. "Starved to death, maybe."
"Jesus Christ…" Lee muttered.
"I-I don't know if I can, Lee…" Kenny looked at the floor. "Couldn't do it before…can't do it now."
"I can't ask you to do this, man." Lee frowned sympathetically for his friend. "I'll take care of it, like I did before."
Kenny looked up at Lee. "...a-are you sure?"
"I...I guess we'll find out." Lee sighed and slowly approached the undead child, who continued its relentless struggle to grab at either of the men. He eyed the bed beside the child.
This must've been where he slept…
All that was near the bed was a worn blanket, a torn pillow, and an empty water bottle. Lee stepped in front of the boy.
Poor kid must have tried to hide out up here until he starved to death...this could've been Clementine and Mabel if I hadn't found them when I did.
Lee then glanced over at Kenny slowly, seeing the man watch him drearily. Lee simply nodded before placing his foot gently on the skull of the child.
"I'm...sorry."
He gently pushed down, crushing the frail head and the brain inside, putting the child out of its misery, as the attic fell into silence.
-(End Of Chapter)-