Smeake-Thanks as always bud, hope you enjoy this one.
Thedarkpokemaster-We all know Kenny runs off his emotions a lot of the time, and when a prisoner that he doesn't trust showed up, yeah it was a spell of disaster. But Lee's a good guy, i'm sure he'll see reason.
FocUs24-Glad you are enjoying the rewrite, in honest it feels like a whole new story. Looking back on everything I skimmed over almost feels criminal! Anyway Lee will indeed change over time, just as everyone else, will he go exactly the Rick route can't say but you never know what he could become.
Guest-Hmmm….I can't tell you that. Maybe she does, maybe she dies sooner. Keep on reading!
Worker72-Carly knows how to read people, she can also investigate for sure, all part of the job right? Well let's see how her best, calm headed approach works when everyone's else's emotions are running wild.
Enjoy
Chapter 8: A Return
Axel pushed a struggling Kenny deep into a cell on the bottom floor and pulled the door shut quickly, "You can't keep me locked in here!" Kenny barked out as Axel turned around and stood firm, "You hear me you fucker! Let me out!"
"I'll let you out once you calm down and yer lady friend tells me to, you follow me?" Axel said simply. Kenny stared at the man nearly growling at this point but he let out a sharp exhale and sat down on the bunk inside. A few moments past as Axel heard him breathing heavily, as he let the anger leave him. Sooner Axel could hear short broken breaths and whimpers coming from inside, Axel peered back and saw Kenny covering his eyes with his right hand and crying for the loss of his wife. Axel turned his head back around and awkwardly adjusted himself.
Nearby Carly and Chuck brought Lee into his cell and carefully laid him down on his bed, "He beat the holy hell outta him." Chuck said as he stepped aside,
"Yeah, I noticed." Carly replied a bit gruffly as she unbuttoned his collar making sure nothing would interfere with his breathing. She tenderly took hold of her head and turned it to the side so she could inspect the damage. After a moment she spoke up, "His eye looks alright and I don't think that Kenny broke his skull." She said softly, "Chuck can you do me a favor."
"Anything, you name it." Chuck said firmly,
"Go get Hershel, I need him to take a look at him. He'd know better than me if something is wrong." Carly said as she slowly ran her hand along Lee's hair,
"No problem, won't take a minute." Chuck said as he turned towards the cell door and started to walk out. He quickly paused as he saw Lori leading Dale, Glenn, and Andrea towards Dexter's cell, "Uh Carly, we got a situation out here." He called back to her as he could see the pure hatred and sadness on their faces.
Carly quickly pulled herself up and walked out of the cell in time to see Lori yell out to Dexter who was sitting in his cell with Andrew, "You sick fucking bastard!" Lori shouted out as she stormed into the cell. Dexter barely flinched and just looked up at her with an annoyed look, "Did you kill them? Did you kill them, you murderer!" Lori shouted out again as she got into his face,
"Best get outta my face before I-" Dexter said as he dropped his magazine,
"Don't you fucking move." Dale said coldly as he stuck his gun straight into Dexter's face,
"Get up." Glenn said as he aimed at Andrew who was sitting across from Dexter,
"What'd we do? We didn't do nothing!" Andrew exclaimed in fear,
"Just go." Glenn said as he lead Andrew out and gave him a light shove,
"Where were you today?!" Lori screamed out as Carly pushed through the group,
"What the hell is going on? Lori calm down." Carly said as she put her hand on her shoulder,
Lori quickly shook it off, "You're the only one we know that's capable of doing something like this and until we prove otherwise you're not leaving this cell!" She exclaimed before storming out.
Dexter got up and walked towards the door as everyone left and Dale chained it shut, "You mind telling me what the fuck I supposedly did?"
"Like you don't know." Lori hissed back as she walked away.
Carly watched Lori, Dale and Andrea all walk away out of the cell block now thoroughly confused, "What do ya suppose that was all about? Think they found Katjaa?" Chuck asked as he walked up to her,
Carly went to reply but paused as Hershel walked into the cell block with his arm around Maggie and Billy right behind him, all three in tears. "I don't think so." She said softly. She looked around for Glenn and quickly ran over to him, "Glenn what happened?"
"Rachel and Susie...someone killed them." Glenn said hardly. Carly immediately felt sick and she bent over a bit supporting herself on her knees,
"J-Jesus fucking Christ." Carly coughed out, "They-they...who ever it was, they killed Katjaa too." She finally said to Glenn's horror,
"What?!" Glenn asked as he took a step back, "Where? How? Does Kenny know?"
"Yeah, he knows." Chuck said as he walked over to the pair, "He found her in the cafe, nearly beat Lee to death."
"God...when will Rick get back. This is all just...falling apart." Glenn said as he rubbed his face slowly,
Carly took a slow breath and stood back up, "Glenn, go tell the others about Katjaa. Tell them what Kenny did and that he's in a cell for now." Glenn let out a small nod before she turned to Chuck, "Chuck since Hershel isn't in any state to help we'll have to settle for Doug, go get him and bring him back to Lee."
"Doug…which one is he again?" Chuck asked a bit confused,
"Bigger guy, clean shaven, little dorky." Carly explained,
"Right, seen him with the youngens. I'll bring him back right quick." Chuck said as he turned and walked away. Glenn lowered his head and shook it slightly before heading out of the cell block as well. Carly stood for a moment and looked around all she could see now was Axel, she quietly walked back into Lee's cell and sat down on his cot. She lowered her head for a moment and finally she started to sniffle, then tears began to pour down her cheeks.
Nearly two hours later everyone had returned to their separate cells and let the day of loss linger. Losing Tyreese was one thing but to have a mother and two children murdered and that same murderer still walking around was unsettling to say the least. Doug had been doing his best with Lee, patching up his cuts and wrapping his chest up as he noticed that his abdomen was bruised as well. "So Doug how is he?" Carly asked as he finally sat back and began to pack up his supplies,
"Well, i'm definitely not an expert at this kind of stuff but I think he'll be okay." Doug said with a small smile, "Nothing seemed broken, maybe cracked but I just don't know. Still he's breathing is normal and i'm sure he'll be up soon."
"Good, god I can't believe Kenny did that." Carly said shaking her head,
"I know…" Doug said with a concerned tone on his face, "How long is he staying locked up?"
"I...I don't really know. I'm not used to being the one looked towards. I mean the man must be going through hell right now but...just look at what he did to Lee. I don't know if I should let him out or keep him in there until Rick comes back."
"I'm sure whatever you decide will work out. I just hope that Lori was right about Dexter, it's terrifying that the killer could still be walking around." Doug said clear worried,
"Yeah Lori better be right, if she's wrong I'm betting Dexter won't be willing to understand our side of things." Carly replied, "Speaking of which, while you were outside did you see Dexter at all or did you notice anyone who was missing for awhile?" Carly inquired,
Doug rubbed his chin slowly for a moment and hummed thinking, "Well obviously Kenny's group that went to clean out the gym was gone for a while. Glenn and Maggie were gone for a bit but when they came back Hershel's daughters were still alive, since Hershel was the one to find them." Doug looked perplexed for a moment then said, "Chuck was finishing the farm work for Hershel and I saw him get Axel for help. Come to think of it the only people I didn't see today was Patricia, Lee, Dexter, Andrew and Thomas."
"Doubt it was Patrica, which just leaves the prisoners….great. I'm sure that's gonna go down real well for everyone here." She said sarcastically as she stood up,
"Where are you going now?" Doug asked as he watched her,
"I'm going to go talk with Kenny, if he convinces me he's okay then i'll let him out." Carly replied as she stepped out of the cell, "Doug find me if he wakes up." She added on before leaving sight.
Just above them Lori and Carol sat in a cell as Sophia and Carl slept on a bunk. "Christ, I was going to take away Carl's gun today. It didn't seem needed now, but after what happened, maybe if Rachel and Susie had guns…" Lori said as she watched Carl sleeping soundly,
"Sophia doesn't even know what's going on, all this death isn't even registering with her. She doesn't get that Tyreese is-oh god." She cried as she buried her face into her hands,
"There, there Carol, just let it out. I'm here for you." Lori said pulling her into a supportive hug,
"Thank you Lori. You and Rick have done so much for me, I don't know how to repay you. I owe you so much." She said as she slowly looked up at her with tears in her eyes. Suddenly to Lori's shock Carol pushed her lips against hers. Lori pulled back and Carol quickly did the same, "Sorry, sorry I didn't mean-" Carol murmured to her,
"It's fine, you're dealing with a lot. Don't worry about it." Lori said as she diverted her gaze, clearly feeling very uncomfortable now.
Meanwhile Andrea and Dale were talking about their feelings on the people they lost today while laying down in cell. "Ever since I lost Amy I just don't get sad about it anymore. Sure we lost four more of us but it's just death you know?" Andrea said as she rested her head on Dale's shoulder,
"I'm sad for them, I know what they are going through out there but it doesn't affect me. When we find out who killed those girls and Katjaa, it'll take a lot to hold me back but other than that I feel nothing. I just feel like I have no emotion left, i've used it all up." Dale said looking over to her,
Andrea sat herself up, turning over to face him fully, "Exactly! See this is why we are meant for eachother in this world. I don't know why you don't see that." She said smiling a bit,
"We get along, Yeah. It's just, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with an old fart like me? I mean how many good years do I have left?" Dale said pessimistically,
"Good years? None, no one has any good years anymore. If you're talking lifespan than I think we're equal. How long do any of us have, six months, one year? How long could we possibly last going at our current rate." Andrea replied simply, "I think I can safely say that I will spend the rest of my life with you and I'm happy to do so. You've got at least one good year left in you don't you?"
"I think I could manage that, you're are a big reason in that. I don't want to die but you are definitely the only reason I want to live." Dale admitted,
"Right back at you old man." Andrea said with a grin,
"Oh you just had to go one step too far." Dale said with a chuckle.
As they finished their conversation Carly reached Kenny's cell. She pulled it up and stepped inside, "Hey Kenny, how you feeling."
"How the hell you think." Kenny said with a gravelly voice,
Carly stood their for a moment, she could see that anger was not at his forefront anymore, "Listen," She finally said as she leaned up against the door, "I need to know if you're okay to let out of here."
"What you in charge now?" Kenny said with an angry glare up at her,
"That's not an answer Kenny. I want to let you out of here, I'm sure your son wants to see you but I can't do that if you're gonna go out and try and kill someone again." Carly said with a stern tone,
"I'll kill the mother fucker who killed my wife, the minute I find out who it is. Nothing you can do to stop me from doing that." Kenny said jumping up to his feet, "So you want to keep locked up in here fine."
Carly let out a slow sigh, "Listen I get it, I don't know what i'd do in your position but I can't let you out of here if you're gonna go out and kill anyone you think did this. Can you at least promise me you won't do anything until we find out who did this." Kenny looked up at her with a frown and stayed silent, "Kenny think of your son, he just lost his mother. He needs you."
Kenny's eyes welled up a bit and he lowered his head. After a moment of thinking he nodded, "Alright, You tell me when you find the sonofabitch."
"Of course." Carly said as she turned around to leave. "Oh and Kenny, you weren't the only one to lose someone to this killer. Hershel lost his daughter's." Kenny looked up at her and let out a defeated sigh, even he knew that Hershel had been through much.
"Where's my boy?" Kenny asked as he followed her out,
"With the others kids in Patricia's cell." Carly replied. Kenny quickly ran over to the stairs heading up them two at a time. Meanwhile Carly headed over to Lori's cell, she needed to ask the others about what they noticed today. As much as she would hate to admit it, Lee could have been the killer. Doug was right he was missing the whole day yet something in her mind just couldn't believe that he would do this. Was he a murderer? Yes, but his crime was a crime of passion and if Dexter was telling the truth then so was his. That left Thomas but he was a tax evader and if she was being honest seemed like a cowardly old man. She let out an annoyed groan and headed towards Lori's cell to ask her what she saw today.
Hours later Glenn and Dale were waiting by the front gate with Axel. Rick had said that he was going to be returning today if all things went right. Yet Dale was doubtful that he'd even return at all and if he did it wouldn't be until tomorrow. As he was walking over to Glenn to tell him to call it for the day they heard the revving of a motorbike. Dale quickly looked through the gate and saw Rick sitting on his bike a distance away, "I'll be damned." He mumbled to himself in a bit of shock, "Axel, get to it!" He called to him,
"Gotcha!" Axel called back and began smacking the fence, "Come on ya dead fuckers, come get me!" He shouted leading the walkers away from the gate.
As soon as the gate was cleared Glenn and Dale pulled the gate halfway open, "Quick before they get back to the gate!" Glenn shouted out to Rick causing him to speed into the prison, "Rick wait!" Glenn shouted as Rick road by, Rick quickly held the brake and stopped a few feet away from him, "There are-there are some things you need to know."
"What happened? Tell me!" Rick said wide eyed and fully fearful,
"Hershel's two youngest daughters and Kenny's wife were killed. We think it was Dexter, the big black fella we got him locked up. Kenny thought it was Lee the other black fella, beat him halfway to death." Dale said as he locked the gate back up,
"Dead? Oh lord." Rick said lowering his face into his hand, "I told them it was safe here, this was my fault."
"That's not all." Glenn said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "While you were gone Tyreese lead a group into the gym to clean it out. We got surrounded and we had to leave him, he's dead Rick. There was nothing we could do." Glenn said hardly as he held back tears,
"He's dead? Did you see his body?" Rick asked frantically with tears in his eyes,
Glenn wiped his right eye with his fist and nodded somewhat, "Rick he was surrounded, they were on top of him. We haven't heard any gunshots since, he's gone Rick."
"For god sakes answer me straight! Did you see his body?! Are you sure he was killed?!" Rick shouted almost furiously at Glenn,
"No." Glenn admitted.
Mere minutes later Rick, Glenn and Dale were at the entrance to the gymnasium. Rick unlocked the handcuffs and handed them to Dale, "We pop in, make sure he's dead and then were out. We owe him that much,especially after everything we've been through. He wouldn't want to be one of those things." Rick pulled out his pistol and took a slow breath. He quickly burst through the door, "Now!"
The three men stopped in shock and stared at the far wall of the gym. Past the piles and piles of walker corpses sat Tyreese. His shirt nearly dripping with the blood and gunk of walkers but completely fine, "Rick, you're back. What took you?" He asked with a dazed look,
Rick walked over and happily pulled his friend to his feet. Tyreese smiled widely and pulled his mucky beanie off tossing it on the floor, "Let's get the hell out of here." He said almost contently. The four of them walked back to the cell block, Tyreese's face turned a sickly color and he pulled off his shirt as well, "God I fucking reek."
"Yeah you do, but I don't think Carol or Julie will care about that." Rick said with a smile,
"Bet she's still at Ben's side, she's sweet like that." Tyreese said shaking his head, "If you see Carol before me, send her my way."
"Of course." Rick said with a nod. Tyreese trotted up the stairs quickly and headed straight over to Ben's cell. He walked through the door and smiled softly as he saw Julie laying next to Ben on the bed sleeping soundly. Ben's eyes flickered open and moved over to Tyreese, a bunch of emotions flickered over Ben's face in an instant but the one that lingered was quite obviously shock.
Ben moved his arm over and shook Julie's shoulder lightly waking her, "W-what, i'm tired Ben." She murmured out. She let out a yawn and looked around stopping right at Tyreese, "D-dad? Dad? DAD!" She exclaimed jumping to her feet in immense happiness, "Dad oh my god dad!" She screamed as tears poured, she threw her arms around him,
"Might want to hold off, I really need to shower all this shit off me." Tyreese said lightheartedly,
"I'm sorry dad, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have been like I was to you, I know why you did what you did to Chris and I don't care. I love you dad." Julie cried out,
"I know Julie and it's okay. What I did was wrong and I knew why you didn't want to see me. It made me mad at myself and then I did something even more stupid. So i'm sorry Julie, I let you down." He said hugging her tightly,
"TYREESE! Oh my god!" Carol screamed from the top of the stairs. Tyreese turned back to her and let out a wide smile as Julie let go of her father. She watched as Carol jumped into his arms as if it would be the only thing to save her. Julie let out a warm smile and slowly wiped her face from her tears,
"Careful there, I had a lot of muck on me and I haven't showered yet." Tyreese said while embracing her,
"I don't care just hold me." Carol whimpered into his chest.
Meanwhile Rick had returned to his and Lori's cell. As he walked in Lori looked at him with a mixture of bitterness and relief, "You came back." She said with a weak smile,
"I did yeah." Rick said with a warm smile,
"Dad!" Carl exclaimed as he ran over to him and leapt into his arms,
As Rick held onto Carl he explained things to Lori, how Tyreese was in fact not dead, "So he was just?" Lori asked a bit confused,
"Just sitting there, perfectly fine. No goddamn idea how he survived, it's a miracle." Rick replied with a firm nod,
"Gonna tell me where you were now?" Lori asked as she crossed her arms,
"I'll tell you all about it, just not now. There is something I have to do." Rick said with a stoic expression lingering over his face.
As this was happening Lee began to finally wake up, his left eye began to open while his right eye remained swollen shut, "H-holy fucking hell." He coughed out to himself as pain pulsed down the whole right side of his face and chest,
"Lee, holy moly you're awake!" Doug exclaimed, "We didn't think you'd wake for days. How do you feel?" Doug asked quickly,
"Like I got my ass beat." He tried to sit up but after only a few seconds fell flat back down, "Agh!" Lee grunted out,
"Take it easy, you may be awake but there is no way you're walking anywhere." Doug said hold out his hands lightly pushing his shoulders down,
"I-I gotta get up, people need to know about Katjaa." Lee said gruffly trying to sit up,
"We know Lee, it wasn't just her who was killed." Doug said with a lingering sorrow in his voice,
"Who else? Who-" Lee asked frantically but stopped short as he coughed roughly,
"Hershel's kid daughters, same way any everything. It's so...sick that someone could do that to a mother and two little girls." Doug said turning almost green at the thought,
"Doug you have to believe me I didn't do this." Lee said with pleading eyes, or rather eye,
"Well some of us believe that others aren't so sure. I mean only you, Dexter and Thomas weren't seen today. Since then we've locked up Dexter and found Thomas. Unfortunately no one can make heads or tails of this right now Lee." Doug explained, "I don't think you did this and I know Carly doesn't but we just can't prove it to the others yet."
"Fucking great, now I just get to wait for Kenny or someone else to just walk in here and blow my head off." Lee said letting his head drop down flat,
"Easy Lee no one will hurt you." Doug said only for Lee to look back at him with an annoyed and sarcastic look. Doug diverted his gaze, "Anymore." He tacked on. Doug got to his feet, "I'll be right back, Carly wanted me to get you once you woke up." He said as he walked out the door leaving Lee alone in his cell.
As Rick walked out of his cell and headed towards Dexter's cell Kenny met him halfway, "Rick!" He called out as he came storming over, "Some evil motherfucker killed my wife, we need to find out who it was. I will kill this fucker, I'll fucking rip his head off, and you need to help me find out who it was. If you are in charge of this group like you say you are, you will do this." Kenny said with an agitated grit on each word.
Rick stared at him for a moment and let out a short nod, "Come with me." Rick said as he continued to walk to Dexter's cell. As the pair approached the cell the walked right up to the door only to see Dexter lounging on his bed, relaxing as if this was nothing. "Did you do it?" Rick asked coldly,
"No I didn't fucking do it. You psycho knocked up bitch of a wife locked me in here because I'd done my wife and her boyfriend. Thing is I ain't killing no one anymore I had my fill you know?" Dexter said as he sat up and swung his feet of the bed, "You looking for a suspect look into your pack of freaks. My crew was locked in that cafeteria for months and we didn't kill each other. I think one of your people snapped, just like that crazy fucking kid did. Luckily i'm as safe as can be in here."
"If I find out it was you, i'll beat you to death myself." Kenny hissed back at him,
"You think you can talk to me like that just cause you protected by these bars? Open the door and see what'll happen you redneck fuck." Dexter said icily as he walked up to the door,
"Open it." Kenny said no even looking away from Dexter. Rick simply reached into his pocket and unlocked the cell door and slid it open.
Kenny took a step into the cell and stood toe to toe with Dexter. Nearly a minute past as they kept locked in position each waiting for the other to make a move. "You are all crazy, every last fucking one of you." Dexter said turning around, "Lock the damn door on your way out."
As Rick and Kenny locked Dexter back up Doug returned to Lee's cell with Carly, "Hey, how you feelin?" Carly asked as she walked into the cell,
"Like I got my ass kicked." Lee said with a weak grin, "How's everyone else."
"Some bad others worse." Carly said as she sat down, "People are scared and they are looking for someone to blame right now. I'm doing my best to find out who it was but so far i'm coming up empty. Please tell me you saw something off today, anything that we could use."
Lee thought for a moment before shaking his head, "S-sorry." He said coughing a bit, "I talked to Axel once in the morning then you after the gym. I didn't see or hear anyone else all day."
"Shit." Carly replied as she slowly lowered her head, "Well then we're kinda dead in the water here. I don't know what else to do, I checked everything I could but it's not like I can check for fingerprints or anything."
"So what exactly does that mean?" Doug asked a bit worried,
"That means, Doug, we are going to have to wait for this sonofabitch to strike again and hope we can catch him in the act." Carly said turning clearly pissed,
"Oh god." Doug said as he lowered his head and rubbed his eyes with his hand,
Lee let out a slow breath, "You guys should get some sleep, i'd suggest you keep your cell door's closed tonight. In case whoever did this tries to sneak in, trust me nobody's gonna sneak through these things without you knowing." Lee said,
"Yeah, you're right." Carly said standing up, "If I was you Lee i'd keep one eye open tonight. I like everyone in our group but I don't know what they could be capable of." Carly added on,
"Trust me I know what people are capable of." Lee replied as the two exited his cell and slowly closed the door for him. Lee laid down flat and let out a long pained sigh before closing his eye and attempting to fall asleep.
Early the next morning Andrea got up and pulled together the idea of getting some fresh jumpsuits for everyone. Killer or not people needed small comforts and a fresh set of clothes would do wonders for the group. As she got out of her cell she was met with Clementine who was wandering around with a bored look on her face, "Good Morning Clem." Andrea said with a wave,
"Morning." Clementine said with a sweet smile, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going down to the laundry to grab some clothes for everyone." Andrea replied as she walked past her,
"Can I help." Clementine quickly asked. Andrea looked back to the girl and let out a little giggle as she saw her hopeful face,
"How could I refuse, c'mon kid." Andrea said motioning her to her side. Clementine nearly skipped over to her. The pair walked down to the laundry and began to dig through the dryers for fresh, clean clothes. Andrea grabbed an empty laundry cart and would pass a few suits to Clem who would put them in the cart. After nearly twenty minutes Thomas walked into the doorway and stood staring the at the pair, "Good morning ladies. What are you up to?" He said calmly,
"Oh, hey. We're just gathering some clothes for everyone to wear. If we're quick Lori will be able to wash everyone's clothes and we'll all have some nice clothes to wear again." Andrea replied,
"Want to help?" Clem asked with a little smile,
Thomas slowly walked into the room, "Not particularly, no."
Andrea looked up at him with a frown and scoffed, "Well if you're not going to help, why did you come down here?"
"So I could cut your heads off." Thomas said as he grabbed Clementine's arm and pulled out a large butcher knife.
All right here we are once again! I have to say I am enjoying the rewrite immensely, being able to revisit characters that I just glossed over or under used like Doug and Ben is a real hoot. I hope you are liking this just as much as me but you know how to let me know of course, Review! And of course dropping a follow and favorite never hurts, ha ha. Anyway enough begging from me, I hope you enjoyed and I'll talk to you in the next one!