Before the group even knew it, the night had made its arrival, and it was time to follow through with the plan. It had been decided that, along with Clementine and Sarah, Lilly would stay behind as well to help keep an eye on Omid. The group had anonymously decided that her staying behind would be best for her mental state at the moment. And Omid's leg was still badly infected, therefore, he couldn't be left alone.
Lee was still feeling a bit guilty about hurting Clementine, but Carlos had assured him that it was for the best. This was a dangerous mission, and they had to have all of their focus with them; they didn't have time to be worried about the girls. However, Sarah was a little bummed out that she wasn't going either, and Carlos had attempted to explain why in the best way he could.
Both girls were upstairs, and Lee and Carlos were bidding them farewell for now. "Sarah, honey, I need you to stay here with Lilly and Omid, okay?" he had asked, bending down and placing his hands firmly on her shoulders.
"Clementine will be here, too," Lee added.
Sarah nodded understandably, and turned to her father. "I wish you didn't have to leave all the time," she said.
"We'll try to make it back as soon as we can," Carlos assured her.
"Okay," Sarah answered. She wrapped her arms around her father. "Come back safe."
Lee had given Clementine a gun just in case something happened while they were gone. Now, Carlos and Lee were out back with the others, preparing themselves to leave. Kenny came out of the shed and approached Ben.
"Check out what I found in the garage," he said. "Hatchet, hacksaw, some other tools. Might come in handy with this little break-in."
"Nice," Lee commented.
"Can I talk to you both a minute?" Kenny asked Lee and Carlos, pulling them aside.
"What's up?"
"I took another look at the boat. She's a 30-footer."
"So?" Carlos asked.
"So we're gonna have a capacity problem. Boat that size ain't gonna hold more than five people, even if we got kids," Kenny explained to them, and Lee was doing the math in his head. With everyone in the group, including Molly, it was ten people, and that was way too many people for that small of a boat. "Assuming everyone makes it back alive, we still have dead weight," Kenny continued.
"What are you saying?" Carlos asked.
Kenny turned to look at him, "Before this is over, we're gonna have to make a decision."
"You're not serious," Lee replied.
Kenny shrugged. "Look, I'm just saying...maybe cutting a few people loose wouldn't be so bad." Lee noticed that, as he spoke, he was eyeing down Christa and Molly, like he had already started making decisions about who he was going to leave behind.
"That's ridiculous," Carlos argued. "I'm sure we can figure something out, right?"
Kenny was silent for a moment. "Let's just see how this little trip goes," he replied. He turned to the others. "Y'all ready to head out?"
Christa gave a curt nod. "Ready when you are," she answered for everybody.
"Alright, let's go," Kenny announced. He opened the gate, and everyone was on their way.
Lee was able to lead the group through the sewers until he saw a ladder that ran directly beneath Crawford. "I think this is it," he said. They all walked over to the ladder.
"Okay, people, this is it. Remember the plan," Lee continued. "We stay quiet, we stay hidden, and we stay together. We find what we need and we get the hell out before anyone even knows we're there. Got it?"
There was a unanimous nod. Lee was the first to climb the ladder, and opened the manhole. Surprisingly, everything was quiet.
With not a soul in sight, he whispered, "Let's go." And the rest of the group began making their way up the ladder. Everything looked so empty as Lee and the rest of the group took cover behind a building. So far, so good, but this was only the beginning. Hell, getting inside Crawford was the easy part.
"Where is everybody?" Molly asked, "There should be guards..." They were perched beside a building with their eyes peeled, searching for any kind of trouble.
"What, are you disappointed?" Kenny retorted.
"It's just strange," Molly replied.
"I think I see one, over by the door," Christa said, gesturing to a lone guard that seemed to be wandering around. Lee looked to where she was referring to, and came up with a quick plan in his head.
"Okay, Kenny and I will sneak up on him and take him out. The rest of you stay quiet and wait for a signal to follow us over. Everybody got it?" he ordered, making sure the group knew what to do. "Kenny, let's do this quiet, no shooting unless we absolutely have to."
"Right behind you," Kenny nodded.
Lee then began sneaking up behind the guard with Kenny in tow. Their steps were quick and silent until they reached the so-called guard. But when it turned around, they realized it wasn't a guard at all, it was a walker. "What the FUCK?" Lee nearly yelled, slicing the walker in the face with his hatchet before it fell to the ground dead. No wonder the place was so empty.
"What the fuck is a walker doing inside here?" Lee asked.
"Everyone inside, now!" Carlos yelled as he noticed more walkers approaching.
The group bolted inside of the school, running upstairs and into a hallway with lockers. This place was as dead as ever, what the hell had happened?
Ben and Carlos slammed the double doors shut, holding them as tightly as they possibly could. Luckily, it didn't seem like any walkers were coming up after them.
"Fuck! Do you think they saw us?" Kenny inquired.
"I don't know," Lee answered.
Now was when they were able to get a better look at the place. Papers were strewn everywhere, and the entire hallway was a complete cluster. Even part of the roof was destroyed, and part of a tree was hanging inside.
"What the hell happened here?" Christa asked. "I thought this place was supposed to be secure!"
"What always happens, I guess," Molly replied. "In the end, the dead always win."
"Oh, man. We are so screwed," Ben moaned, placing his hands to his head as he paced around nervously.
Kenny frowned. "Maybe this is a good thing," he announced. "So long as they don't box us in, we can get what we need and go. The plan hasn't changed."
"The plan hasn't changed? Every time walkers show up, the plan changes!" Ben argued. "Do you even have any idea how many of them are out there?"
"No. You wanna do a headcount?" Christa scoffed. "Or do you wanna get what we need and get the hell out of here?"
"Come on," Molly spoke up. "I think I know which way to head." The group followed behind her, and they walked down the hallway.
"I got a bad feeling about this..." Ben trailed off.
"Here," Molly said once they reached a door. Lee poked his head in, making sure it was clear of walkers or anything else that might be in there, and once he was sure it was empty, he led the group inside. It was an abandoned classroom, and inside was a door that was labeled armory. Lee walked up and tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Figures..." he mumbled mostly to himself.
"Looks like they were using this room for some kind of command center..." Kenny trailed off, glancing around at the different writings that were on the boards.
"Okay, so now what?" Carlos asked, "Where do we start looking?"
"There's a map over here," Christa called out, looking at a piece of paper taped to the wall.
For a few moments, the group examined the map. "Where can we find some fuel for the boat?" Lee inquired.
"Maybe someone can check out the maintenance shed," Kenny spoke up, pointing to the said area. "People usually store fuel and other things in there, right?"
Lee nodded. "Any idea where we can find a battery?"
It took a moment for the group to figure something out. "What about that auto shop?" Carlos pointed the place out. "Surely there's got to be something left in there."
"What about the medicine?" Christa asked worriedly.
"Right here, nurse's station," Molly replied, pointing at another label on the map. "They were using it as a medical facility."
"How do you know that?" Christa questioned.
Molly's facial expression changed into one that looked a bit suspicious. "Just...makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Okay, I'll make the run to the maintenance shed for the fuel," Kenny announced.
"I'll go with you, Kenny," Christa said, offering to help.
"I'll go, too," Ben jumped in.
Kenny shook his head. "No, two people is enough."
"You stay here and see if you can work on getting that armory door open," Lee advised. "And I'll go look for the battery."
"I'll come, too," Molly replied.
"Guess that leaves me for the medicine," Carlos said, and the group was odd-numbered so that meant he would have to go alone. "It's okay, I know what to look for. I can get stuff for Omid's leg," he added.
Lee nodded. "Okay, we have a plan. Everyone stay close to each other, and be careful. Once we have what we need, we'll all meet back here. Good luck," he finished, before dismissing the group, and went with Molly to the garage.
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