Episode 14- The Grove
Kenny, Mike, Clementine, Becca, and Sarah were still on their way to Terminus. Kenny decided they should take the woods the rest of the way to avoid being easily spotted by walkers or by other people.
"Why did we have to go through these stupid woods!?" Becca asked irritatingly.
"It's safer this way!" Kenny answered harshly.
"Safer my a**! Walkers can surround us easily in these woods." She argued.
"Deal with it!" Kenny snapped back.
Mike intervened. "This isn't safe, Kenny. The walkers could hear us walking through these woods, especially if AJ starts crying. It's easier to spot walkers on the road. And it's more quiet." He said.
Kenny gave Mike a harsh look and sighed. "Fine. We'll take the f**kin' railroad." He said harshly. Mike watched Kenny as he stormed passed him towards the tracks. The rest of the group followed.
"You doing all right, Sarah?" Clementine asked.
"I miss my dad." She answered sadly, looking at the ground.
"I know. You're going to be okay. Soon we'll be at Terminus and everything will be alright." Clementine assured as she put her arm around her.
"Thank you, Clem." Sarah said.
Becca was watching the two of them from behind. "If it wasn't for you, Sarah, Shel would still be alive. You're weak. Weak people aren't meant to live anymore. So it looks like I'm gonna have to take you out. But to get to you I have to take that b**ch friend of yours out first. Enjoy your friendship...while it lasts." She thought to herself.
(Intro)
Carol and Lizzie were up at night while Tyreese, Mica, and Judith lay asleep. It was Carol and Bonnie's turn to stay up and keep watch. Bonnie stood on the train tracks with her AK drawn, watching out for any danger. "You can sleep, Lizzie. We're okay." Bonnie said.
"If there's trouble, I can take Judith. I can help." Lizzie said.
"You really think you can help us?" Bonnie asked.
"I know I can." Lizzie insisted.
"We're gonna need your help tomorrow too, Lizzie. You need rest." Carol said.
Lizzie just looked at the ground. "Do you think there'll be kids there? At Terminus?" She asked.
"If their parents kept them safe. Like Tyreese kept all of you safe." Carol said.
"I saved Tyreese. There were people shooting at him. I shot them." Lizzie said. Bonnie glanced over her shoulder at Lizzie for a moment in concern. "First a man, then a woman." Lizzie continued. "I didn't mean to shoot her in the head."
"You had to. You saved Tyreese." Carol said.
"Maybe there'll be kids there, even if their parents couldn't keep them safe. Maybe the kids kept their parents safe." Lizzie said.
"Yeah." Carol agreed.
"Did you have kids?" Lizzie asked. Bonnie looked back when she heard Lizzie's question.
"I did. A kid. A daughter." Carol answered.
"What was she like?"
"She was sweet. She didn't have a mean bone in her body." Carol said, thinking about Sophia.
"Is that why she isn't here now?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah." Carol nodded.
"Do you miss her?"
"Every day."
"Would you miss me?" Lizzie asked.
"I'm not gonna have to miss you. You're dead on your feet. Go sleep next to your sister, okay?" Carol said.
"But, ma'am-" Lizzie tried to protest.
"I'm gonna need your help looking after things tomorrow. Me and Bonnie can handle it. Go to sleep, okay?" Carol said. Lizzie hugged her tightly before going to lay down next to Mica.
Tyreese started having a nightmare. He started to toss and turn. "No. No. No. No, no, no. No." He was saying in his sleep. Tyreese jumped awake in fear and looked around. He ended up locking eyes with Carol. Bonnie went over to check on him.
"It's alright, Tyreese. It was just a nightmare." Bonnie said. "God knows we've been having a lot of those." She added.
Carol could see the horror in Tyreese's eyes. She wondered if he was thinking about what happened to Karen and a wave of guilt washed over her.
The next day…
Bonnie was tending to Tyreese's arm. She was putting maple sap from a tree on the cut. "It hurts, right?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah. It hurts." Tyreese said.
"It'll fight the infection. Might even bring down your fever." Bonnie said. Carol walked over.
"What do you think?" Tyreese asked. "Three days out? Four days?"
"We haven't seen any of those maps at the crossings. I'm not sure." Carol said.
Tyreese looked over at Lizzie and Mica. "Lizzie's tough." He said.
"When it comes to people." Carol specified.
"What do you mean?" Tyreese asked.
"What, you haven't seen it? How she's confused about them, the walkers?" Bonnie asked as she started to wrap up Tyreese's arm.
"She doesn't see what they are. She thinks they're just different." Carol said.
Tyreese looked over at the the two girls. Mica was feeding Judith. "Is Mica the same way?" He asked.
"No, she's worse. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body." Carol said.
Later, Carol, Tyreese, and Bonnie were trailing behind on the railroad while Lizzie and Mica were walking in the front. Bonnie could smell the scent of smoke. "You smell that?" She asked.
"Yeah. There's a fire somewhere." Tyreese said.
"Must be a big one. It isn't anywhere around here." Carol said. "We should stop here. We need to look for water."
"I can do it." Tyreese volunteered.
"No, you need rest. Rest your arm. Mica will help me." Carol said.
"I'll stay here and help Tyreese watch Lizzie and Judith." Bonnie said.
"Alright. We'll be back soon." Carol assured.
Lizzie was passing time by playing I-spy. "I spy trees and weeds." She smiled. "Your turn." She said. Tyreese just smiled.
There was a walker down the tracks coming towards their direction. Tyreese handed Judith to Lizzie. "Stay here." He said.
"I got your back." Bonnie said, drawing her knife.
Tyreese took out his hammer and he and Bonnie started walking towards the walker carefully. Before they could get to it, the walker tripped and fell on the tracks. Its leg was stuck in the tracks and it couldn't get move.
"It's stuck." Bonnie said.
Tyreese was about to smash the walker's head with his hammer until Lizzie, who was holding Judith, stopped him. "Tyreese!" She exclaimed, stopping him mid-swing.
"You were supposed to stay put, Lizzie." Bonnie said.
"Sometimes we have to kill them. I know that. But sometimes we don't." Lizzie said.
Tyreese and Bonnie exchanged looks of concern.
Kenny and the others were resting for a while in a cabin by the woods at night. Becca was up laying on a blanket, staring at the ceiling, and lost in her own dark thoughts. Sarah was sleeping on the other side of the cabin. Mike was sleeping with AJ fast asleep next to him.
Clementine went to talk to Kenny, who was sitting outside. "How're you doing, Kenny?" She asked.
"Don't worry about me, Clem. I'm alright. I just needed some air." He said.
"Kenny, there's air everywhere." She chuckled as she sat down next to him.
"I know." Kenny said, half-smiling. "I just...I've been thinking about Sarita. I've been thinking of Kaatja and Duck too. I miss them so much." He said sadly.
"I miss them too." Clementine said.
"I just wish I could've done better. Sarita was my second chance at being a good husband. Like always...my chance was taken away. Every f***ing time. Pardon my French." Kenny said.
"You tried. You tried so hard, Kenny. That's all that matters." Clementine assured.
"I could've tried harder, Clem. You know I could've. The whole time we were at the prison, I thought I was done fighting. I finally had peace of mind. Then it was all taken away. Everything. My whole world and happiness was destroyed." Kenny said sadly.
"I know, but we have AJ. He's our happiness, right now. He's your happiness. He'll keep you going." Clementine said.
"I'm gonna do right by him, I promise. For Rebecca. For Alvin. For Sarita." Kenny said.
"I know you will, Kenny." Clementine said softly, laying her head on his shoulder. "Do you think Terminus will be just as good as the prison?" She asked.
"I don't know, Clem. I hope so. I'm tired of running. We need a place where we can stay and truly be safe. A place where we can call home. A place for AJ to grow up and live his life the best way he can." Kenny said.
"So let's get there. We have to." Clementine said.
"We will. Trust me." Kenny said confidently.
Becca was watching them the whole time from inside the cabin. "I just need to wait for an opportunity for me and Clementine to be alone. Then I'll avenge your death, Shel." She thought to herself.
Carol, Tyreese, Bonnie, and the kids came across a house by a grove. "You know, maybe we could catch our breath here for a while." Bonnie suggested.
"We're still going to Terminus, right?" Lizzie asked.
"We'll just stay here a day or two. There's a well full of water. Fences. They're not big but they're something." Bonnie said.
"And we saw deer. They eat pecans. We should be able to kill one to eat." Carol said.
"We can eat these too, right?" Mica asked cheerfully.
"You can eat your fill and then some." Tyreese said, smiling.
"Look." Lizzie said, pointing to the smoke in the distance. They all looked to where she was pointing.
"Bet that's what we were smelling." Carol said. "It looks far enough away."
"I wonder how it started." Mica said.
"Maybe lightning. Maybe a campfire." Tyreese said. "I can patch that fence, too."
"It's probably where the deer are coming from. We should leave it. Just play it really safe in here." Bonnie said as they all walked towards the house.
Carol, Bonnie, and Tyreese got ready to check on the house while Lizzie and Mica sat in chairs in the front yard with Judith. Carol knocked on the door to see if there's any walkers inside. "If there's one in there, it's not moving much." Carol said.
"Let's just stay close, go slow room to room." Bonnie said.
"Girls, you sit tight. You don't come in until we come out no matter what you hear." Carol told the girls.
"Okay." They said together.
"Lizzie's got Judith. Mica, take out your gun. You're gonna need to stand watch." Carol said.
"Stand strong, little lady." Tyreese said to Mica. He then followed Carol and Bonnie into the house.
"They're going to be okay." Mica said to Lizzie when she saw that she looked sad.
"It's not that." Lizzie said.
Mica looked at a grave that had baby shoes tied to the cross. "Is it that there was a baby?" She asked.
"No." Lizzie said. "They're gonna find one in there and they're gonna-"
"Stop it. They aren't people." Mica interrupted.
"You're wrong. All of you." Lizzie claimed.
"They aren't people, Lizzie. They're just dead." Mica said frustratingly.
A walker stumbled out of the house, surprising the girls, and fell off of the porch. Mica raised her gun towards the crawling walker and started shooting it until she finally killed it with a headshot. Carol, Bonnie, and Tyreese rushed to the girls from the house.
"Oh my god. We're so sorry, girls. We didn't check well enough." Bonnie said.
Carol went to help Lizzie, who was holding Judith, off the ground. "Are you okay?" She asked as she helped her stand.
"Yeah." Lizzie assured. Tyreese took Judith, who was crying, from Lizzie and comforted her.
Mica still had her gun raised towards the dead walker. "Mica, lower the gun. You did it. You saved them." Bonnie said.
Carol noticed that Lizzie was crying. "Why are you upset, honey? Were you scared?" She asked.
"No." Lizzie answered.
"Then why are you crying?" Carol asked.
"I don't want to say." She cried. Bonnie and Tyreese looked at each other in confusion.
Later, after the house was cleared, the group settled down in the house. Carol was sitting with Lizzie at the dinner table while she was cracking nuts with a nut cracker. "You still upset?" Carol asked.
"Sometimes I don't understand, but I'm trying to, ma'am. I am." Lizzie said.
Tyreese walked into the living room. "Well, we got plenty of water. Now all we got to do is bag one of them deer and we're all set." He said.
"Then we'll get one." Bonnie said.
"Yeah." Tyreese said. He then started to look around.
"What's wrong?" Mica asked.
"I'm not used to this." He said.
"Used to what?" Lizzie asked.
"We're in a living room...in a house." Tyreese said.
"Yeah, so relax." Mica smiled. Tyreese relaxed in one of the chairs and got a book to read. "We should live here." Mica said to him. Carol, Tyreese, and Bonnie all exchanged smiles.
The next morning, Bonnie, Tyreese, and Mica were in the living room with Judith while Carol was in the kitchen boiling water. She started to hear laughing coming from outside. She looked out the window next to her and saw Lizzie outside laughing. She was playing with a walker, letting it chase her around. "Lizzie." Carol gasped. She ran towards the door to leave.
"Carol, what's going on!?" Bonnie asked frantically.
"It's Lizzie. I'll handle it. You two stay here with Mica and Judith." She said quickly before running outside. "You stay away from it! Right now, Lizzie!" Carol shouted at Lizzie as she ran to her.
"No, no, no, no!" Lizzie tried to stop her.
"Lizzie! Lizzie!" Carol yelled as the walker almost grabbed Lizzie. She managed to push Lizzie out of the way and knock the walker to the ground before stabbing it in the head as Lizzie screamed. Bonnie ran outside to help.
"She was playing with me! She wanted a friend!" Lizzie cried.
"She wanted to kill you!" Carol argued.
"I was gonna lead her away!" Lizzie cried.
"You could have died, Lizzie!" Bonnie yelled.
"It's the same thing! You killed her! You killed her! It's the same thing!" Lizzie screamed at Carol.
"Lizzie. Lizzie." Carol said her name, trying to calm her down.
"What if I killed you?! What if I killed you?!" Lizzie continued to scream.
"Lizzie, calm down, honey." Bonnie said.
"You don't understand. You don't understand. You don't understand. You don't understand!" She said frantically.
"Lizzie. Lizzie." Carol said calmly to her. Bonnie went back inside the house to Tyreese.
"You didn't have to. You didn't have to. She didn't want to hurt anybody. She didn't want to hurt anybody! She was my friend and you killed her!" Lizzie started screaming again.
Tyreese and Bonnie watched from the kitchen window. "There's something horribly wrong with, Lizzie." Bonnie said.
"You're right." Tyreese said.
Later, Carol, Bonnie, and Tyreese were out filling buckets with water. Carol had Mica stay at the house to keep her eye on Lizzie and to watch Judith. Tyreese sat down to rest. "Maybe we don't need to go to Terminus. I've been thinking. Mica's right. We can stay here. We can live here. I know Lizzie and Mica. I know Judith. I know you two. I trust you two. And I don't know if I can get that anywhere else. We could stay. We can live here." Tyreese said.
"We could. We got food, water, a working stove. Now all we need to do is better fortify this place. Make it safe for the kids." Bonnie said.
"Dreaming big. I like it." Tyreese said.
While the 3 of them were walking back, they suddenly heard Lizzie and Mica screaming. They immediately dropped the buckets of water and ran towards their direction. The girls were running from a dozen of burnt and charred walkers that likely came from the smoke they saw in the distance. Mica tripped over the wire fence and her shoe was stuck. "Help! Lizzie!" Mica screamed as a walker grabbed onto her shoe. Lizzie ran back to try to help her up.
Carol headshot the walker with her revolver. "Get behind us!" Carol shouted. The girls ran behind them while they took out walkers. Bonnie was shooting down walkers with her pistol, Tyreese took out walkers with his rifle, and Carol with her revolver. Lizzie and Mica took out their pistols and started shooting walkers along side them. Carol took out the last charred walker. Lizzie still had her gun raised. "It's okay." Carol said to her. Lizzie hugged Carol tightly. "You did it." Carol said. The group walked back to the house together.
Kenny and the others left the Cabin and moved on. They walked down the road together with Becca trailing in the back. The group was low on food and supplies. Clementine and Mike still had wounds that needed a little bit of tending to. "There's a store just up this road. Maybe we can find some food there." Mike suggested.
"Yeah, maybe. We'll go just to be sure." Kenny said as they continued walking.
Becca thought that this could be the perfect opportunity to get Clementine alone.
"You think those people who attacked the prison are still out there?" Mike asked Kenny.
"I don't know. But I don't think they're all dead. Some definitely got away." Kenny said.
When the group got to the store, Kenny told Clementine, Becca, and Sarah to stay outside and keep watch while he and Mike scavenged the store for food and other useful supplies. The three girls sat outside quietly, not saying a word. Clementine was holding AJ, who was cooing and playing with her fingers. She smiled down at him.
Sarah looked down the road and saw someone walking in their direction. "Clem! There's someone coming toward us." She said.
"Here. You hold AJ." Clementine said, handing AJ to Sarah. She and Becca drew their weapons and hid behind a car to get a good look at the person.
"S**t. He's coming this way." Becca said.
"You think we can confront him?" Clementine asked.
"Hell no. We can't trust this guy. And who knows if he has friends nearby." Becca said.
"We need to know what he's up to. I don't like having a stranger sneaking around with Kenny and Mike inside and AJ out here. We already have a lot going on." Clementine said.
"Are you stupid? We can't confront this guy and let him tell all his friends about the new easy targets in the neighborhood." Becca said.
"Fine. Well let's just try and stay out of sight until he's gone." Clementine said.
The guy was getting closer to them. "Hide. Now." Becca said.
Becca hid around the corner of the store. Clementine and Sarah moved to the back of the car with AJ, which was out of sight of the guy. Clem hoped that AJ wouldn't make any noise or start crying and give away their position. They saw that he was trying to stuff a bag into a trashcan.
"What is he doing"' Sarah whispered. Clementine decided to confront him.
"Hey." She said, getting up from behind the car. The young man pulled a gun on them. "I'm just a kid. Please, don't hurt me." Clementine said. The boy was shaking and he could barely hold his gun steady. "Who are you?" Clementine asked.
"I am Arvo. I'm going to go. I don't want to shoot. I don't want to shoot anyone. Especially...A, uh, little girl." He said in broken English with a Russian accent.
"Okay. I'm leaving. I'll leave you alone." Clementine said as she saw Becca sneaking up behind him.
"Okay. I'm not going" Before Arvo could finish, Becca grabbed his gun from behind him and pointed it at him.
"Backup. Put the bag down." Becca said, pointing the gun. Arvo did what she said. "Make sure he doesn't have any other weapons in there."
"Just don't do anything stupid, Becca." Clementine said, kneeling down to check the bag.
"No! I have no more guns! I swear!" Arvo said frantically.
Clementine opened the bag and saw that it was filled with all kinds of medicine and medical supplies. Becca looked down and saw the stash as well. "Whoa. That's a serious stash of meds." Becca said.
"No no no no. Take whatever you want but don't take the medicine. It's for my sister. My older sister. She is sick. The pain makes her cry, and that makes those things come. Please. " Arvo pleaded.
"Is it just you and your sister?" Clementine asked.
"No. I have many friends. In the woods." Arvo answered.
"Sister or not, we could really use that stuff." Becca said, still pointing the gun at him.
"No! You are not nice people. You have already left me defenseless and now you take my sister's medicine?! You are (*speaks in Russian*)." Arvo said angrily.
"Hey! We've got people who need this medicine." Becca said.
"Becca! We don't need to rob this guy. We're not like this." Clementine said.
"You were shot just days ago, Clementine! Mike's still a wreck after Troy. Sarah and Kenny are a mess. Look at all of this. We need this stuff." Becca said.
"My people are suffering just as much as yours. You are not special!" Arvo said. "Clementine, is it? Yes? You must believe me." He added.
"We don't believe a f***ing word about your 'sick sister'." Becca said.
"Please, don't make my sister suffer. She's been through enough!" Arvo argued,
"Oh yeah? Well, I think you're just some junkie. You know what that word means, huh?" Becca said angrily.
"Oh! Oh no! I'm telling the truth. I swear upon my own life." Arvo begged.
"I don't believe any of it. Medicine! Now, Clementine!" Becca yelled.
"No no no! You cannot take those from me!" Arvo pleaded. Clementine closed the bag.
"What are you doing?!" Becca asked angrily.
"We're not robbing anybody, Becca. Let him go." Clementine said.
"Thank you. Thank you, Clementine." Arvo said.
Becca got extremely mad. She pushed Arvo up against the car and put the gun to his face.
"Becca, no!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Becca, stop! What are you doing!?" Clementine yelled at her.
"You don't have to do this." Arvo pleaded.
"Don't you EVER come around here again! I don't care if you do have some sick sister." Becca said angrily. "The only reason why you're not dead on the ground with a gunshot to the head right now is because I don't want to draw any attention. Now, get the f**k out of here before I change my mind!" She said, pushing him away.
Arvo slowly picked up his bag and looked at Becca angrily. You'll wish you hadn't done that." Arvo said. He then walked away as the 3 girls watched him leave.
"What was that, Becca!? What is wrong with you!?" Clementine asked angrily.
"What's wrong with me!? What's wrong with you!? You know we needed that stuff! I should've known you'd b**ch out. We'd be better off without you two here." Becca said.
Kenny and Mike came back outside after clearing the store and gathering suppliess. "I heard yelling. Did something happen? Is AJ okay?" Kenny asked.
"He's fine. It was nothing." Clementine said as she side-eyed Becca.
At night, after the incident with the walkers, Carol sat at the dining table with Lizzie. Mica was playing with her doll, Bonnie was in the back room, and Tyreese was sleeping on the chair. "I had to help stop them." Lizzie said.
"Do you understand what they are now?" Carol asked.
"I know-I know what I have to do now. I know." Lizzie said.
"It's ugly and it's scary and it does change you. That's how we get to be here. That's the cost. That's growing up now." Carol said.
"I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be mean." Mica joined the conversation.
"You have to be sometimes. But just sometimes." Lizzie said.
Bonnie came from the backroom and sat with Lizzie and Carol at the table. "Now, we have a lot of pecans here." Bonnie said.
"A ton." Lizzie said.
"You getting sick of them yet?" Carol asked Mica.
"Nope." Mica smiled.
"I used to make these with my grandma when I was little." Carol said.
"They smell good." Mica said.
"All right. I think you guys are ready to start doing the cooking around here." Bonnie said.
" So who wants to put 'em in the oven?" Carol asked.
"Me!" Mica shouted excitedly as she and Lizzie went over to Carol.
The next morning, Carol, Bonnie, and Tyreese went out for a walk.
"The girls like it here." Bonnie said.
"We could build it up, plant more food. We could find a car for an escape route just in case." Carol said. She turned to Tyreese. "If you don't want to go to Terminus, we could stay." She said.
"We could." Tyreese said.
"Yeah, I'd rather trust a place we already know and established then somewhere where there'll be a lot of people." Bonnie said.
"It doesn't mean we can't go someday." Tyreese said. "It's just...when we were getting closer and closer, I realized I'm just not ready to be around other people yet."
"You don't have to." Carol said.
"I dream about Karen." Tyreese said. Carol's smile turned into a slight frown. She had her back to him so he couldn't see her face change. She then looked back at Tyreese. "I see her every night. And every time I forgot she's dead. Sometimes...we just talk. And sometimes I see her in the crowd...in a city I've never been to. And it's back before everything happened. And then...some nights, the bad ones...I see someone kill her. Some stranger." Tyreese said. Carol could feel the wave a guilt rushing through her veins. She was feeling really bad about what she did. "Then I lose her all over again. But that's the deal, right? The people who are living are haunted by the dead. We are who we are. And we do what we do 'cause they're still here. In our heads. In the forest. The whole world is haunted now. And there's no getting out of that. Not until we're dead." Tyreese said.
"Tyreese." Carol was barely able to utter as she was so conflicted on what to say. "Maybe they're not haunting us. Maybe they're just teaching us. Helping remind us so...so we can live with what we have to do." Carol said, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Hey. Don't you ever be ashamed of who you are, Carol. You did right by those girls. You did right by everyone." Tyreese said. Tyreese hugged her and Carol reluctantly hugged back, feeling so ashamed at what she did to Karen.
A few minutes later, Carol, Tyreese, and Bonnie were walking back to the house. "We'll get one yet. Probably not even deer season." Bonnie joked.
"My dad used to hunt. He'd tell the same stupid joke every year." Carol said.
"You gonna tell it?" Tyreese asked.
"Well I have to now, right?" Carol asked jokingly.
"You do." Tyreese said.
"Okay. What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?" Carol asked.
"Well that's a real head scratcher." Bonnie said.
"Beer nuts are around 1.79, deer nuts are just under a buck." Carol joked. Tyreese and Bonnie laughed.
"That's good stupid, but in no way is it stupid good." Tyreese said.
"Yeah, I told you. There's more where that came from." Carol said playfully.
Carol looked up and saw Lizzie standing with bloody hands and a bloody knife with Judith watching from a blanket on the ground and with Mica's lifeless body laying on the ground behind Lizzie. The 3 of them ran over to her as fast as possible. "Don't worry. She'll come back. I didn't hurt her brain." Lizzie said happily. They were so distraught that they couldn't say anything. Bonnie and Tyreese were watching in shock as Carol tried to approach her. She tried to grab the knife from her but Lizzie pulled her gun on her. "No, no, no! We have to wait. I need to show you. You'll see. You'll finally get it. We have to wait." Lizzie said.
"Lizzie, put the gun down." Bonnie said.
"I just want us to wait." Lizzie said.
"We can wait." Carol choked out, trying to hold in tears. "We can wait. You just give me the gun. We can wait, I swear."
Lizzie reluctantly gave Carol the gun. "You, Bonnie, and Tyreese should take Judith back inside. It's not safe for her." Carol said.
"But Judith can change, too. I was just about to-" Lizzie said.
"She can't even walk yet." Carol said.
"Yeah, you're right." Lizzie agreed.
"So you guys take Judith back to the house and we'll have lunch. And I'll just tie Mica up. You know, just so she won't go anywhere." Carol said.
"Promise that's what you'll do?" Lizzie asked.
"Mm-hmm. I promise. I'll use her shoelaces." Carol assured, still trying to keep in tears. She looked at Tyreese and Bonnie.
Tyreese picked up Judith. "Let's-let's go, Lizzie." Bonnie said as she and Tyreese started to walk back towards the house with Judith and Lizzie.
Once they were out of sight, Carol finally broke down into tears. She drew her knife and mentally prepared herself to prevent Mica from turning.
Kenny and the others were walking on the road, on their way to Terminus. They stopped in their tracks when they saw someone coming towards them from down the road. "Hello!" He shouted in the distance.
"Who the hell is this?" Kenny asked.
"Arvo?" Clementine said.
"Who's Arvo?" Mike asked.
"Sarah, Becca, and I met him outside of the store before you guys came back." Clementine said.
"You know this son of a b**ch? What does he want?" Kenny asked .
"He has a sick sister. They might be in trouble." Clementine said. She looked at Becca. "And he may be mad at Becca." She added.
"For what?" Mike asked.
"She threatened to kill him. He said something about us wishing she hadn't done that." Clementine explained. Becca looked at her angrily.
"Why the hell would you do that, Becca? Now, we have to be extra careful with this guy." Kenny said. He subtly drew his pistol as Arvo approached them.
"You're Clementine, yes?" He asked.
"Hi, Arvo." Clementine said.
"These are your friends? I am hoping you can help me now, not like before." Arvo said.
"What do you need? How can we help?" Clementine asked.
"I need a...things for...bandages. I need bandages." Arvo said.
"Are you hurt?" Mike asked.
Arvo looked at Becca angrily. "No." He said. 4 people came out of the woods with guns and surrounded them. They were shouting at them in Russian.
"S**t!" Kenny said.
"We don't want any trouble." Clementine said.
"We're here for you." Arvo said, pointing at Becca. "I told them you were the one who threatened me and took my gun. They think it's funny that you're just a little girl." Arvo said.
"Took his gun!?" Kenny said, bewildered.
"And they want you and your friends to put down the guns so we can take your things and the girl with us." Arvo said.
"You're not going anywhere with anybody." Kenny said.
"You're not taking me." Becca said. She pointed her gun at Arvo and the others aimed their guns at her. Kenny, Mike, and Clementined raised their guns at them as well.
"This could be easy for you." Arvo said.
Sarah was holding AJ and she began to have a panic attack and hyperventilate over the escalating conflict.
"We have a baby!" Clementine exclaimed.
"You have a baby with you?" Arvo asked, looking at AJ.
"I won't let any of you come near that baby! Drop those guns now or I'm gonna f**king shoot!" Kenny shouted. Two of the Russians started shouting back.
"Don't move you son of a b**ch!" Becca yelled at one of the Russians who changed his position.
"Everybody be calm." Mike said.
Suddenly, a walker came up from behind one of Arvo's friends and bit him on the neck and he started screaming in pain. Clementine shot the walker which caused the Russians to start shooting at them. Kenny, Mike, Clem, Becca, and Sarah all took cover behind trees as they were being pinned down by bullets. Sarah was sheilding AJ with her whole body.
"You girls take AJ and run into the woods! Just try to make your way back to the store we went to yesterday!" Kenny shouted as he shot back at the Russians. Clementine, Becca, and Sarah holding AJ ran into the woods as bullets whizzed over their heads.
The girls ran as fast as they could. They kept running until the sounds of the gunshots became faint. They stopped to catch their breath. AJ was crying loudly and had been crying ever since the gunshots started.
"Shhhh. Please be quiet, AJ." Sarah said.
"That thing is gonna draw walkers!" Becca said.
"Shut up, Becca!" Clementine said.
"Where do we go, Clem!?" Sarah asked frantically.
"Yeah, Clem. Where do we go?" Becca asked suspiciously. She slowly pulled her knife from her pants.
Clementine heard the sound of the knife and turned around to stare Becca in the eyes. "Sarah, I want you and AJ to go back to the store from yesterday. You know you're way back there, right?" Clementine asked.
"Uh, yeah. We just walked straight. It's easy. You're not coming?" Sarah asked nervously.
"We'll be right behind you. Just wait for us there." Clementine said.
"Okay, Clem." Sarah said sadly, feeling worried for her best friend. She ran towards the direction of the store, leaving the two girls alone.
Clementine looked at Becca angrily. "I know what you're doing, Becca. I've always known. You're not gonna touch Sarah. I won't let you." Clementine said.
"Smart girl. But it's not her who's going to die right now." Becca said with a smile. "It's you."
Clementine's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Suddenly, Becca lunged at her with her knife. She went directly for the throat but Clementine was able to dodge in time and tried to grab the knife from her. Becca swung at her and managed to nick Clementine on the arm, causing her to yelp in pain. Becca lunged at Clementine again, trying to stab her in the neck but Clementine grabbed a hold of both of Becca's arms and was holding her back as hard as she could.
Becca was pushing so hard that Clementine was starting to lose her grip. She had to think of something and fast. She kicked Becca in the knee as hard as she could, causing her to scream in pain. Becca retaliated by punching Clementine in the face, causing Clem to fall to the ground. Becca jumped on top of her and tried to stab her but Clem was using all her strength to hold her arm back, with the knife just inches from her neck.
"You killed her! It's your fault Shel's dead!" Becca screamed, pushing down with all her might.
"You're not thinking straight, Becca! You don't have to do this!" Clementine cried, struggling to hold her back.
"You know we could've saved her! Now it's your turn to die! And after I'm done with you, You're little b**ch friend is next." Becca said.
Clementine became infuriated at the mention of Sarah. She could not allow herself to get killed, leaving Sarah and possibly AJ to their horrible fate. She gathered all her strength and managed to kick Becca off of her, causing the knife to fly out of her hand. Becca tried to take out her gun but Clementine pushed her, causing it to fall out of her hand. She tried to grab it again but Clementine pulled her away by the hair and threw her to the ground. Becca saw her knife on the ground and quickly crawled to it.
"Becca, don't!" Clementine said to no avail. Becca grabbed the knife anyway.
Becca then turned around to try to stab her but Clementine reacted quickly, pulling out her own knife and jamming it into Becca's stomach. Becca looked down at the knife lodged in her stomach in complete shock, blood starting to seep out.
Clementine yanked her knife out of Becca's stomach. She was shocked and shaken up at what she just did. Becca coughed out a bit of blood and looked up at Clementine. "You-you." Becca uttered out. She could barely talk.
"Shhh. Shhh." Clementine shushed her as she laid her against a tree. "I'm sorry, Becca. I'm so sorry." Clementine said sadly.
"I...I was wrong...about you. You really can...kill." Becca managed to say through her last few breaths. Clementine sat next to Becca's lifeless body in disbelief of what she just did. She buried her head in her bloody hands.
"Clem?" She heard a voice behind her say. She turned around and saw Sarah standing there with AJ in her arms.
"Sarah? What are you doing here? I told you to go to the store." Clementine said.
"I tried to...but I got scared and decided to come back." Sarah said. Clementine looked down as she could tell that Sarah was shocked to see Becca dead. "Did-did you?" Sarah uttered. Clementine tried to move closer to her but Sarah backed away. "You killed her." She said in disbelief.
"She attacked me. She was trying to kill me. She was going to kill you too, but I stopped her. It's self defense. That's how it is now, Sarah. It's kill or be killed. We can't be kids anymore, do you understand? If we don't fight, we die. Do you want to die!?" Clementine cried.
"No...I don't know." Sarah cried.
"Of course you don't. You don't want to die and I don't want you to die either, Sarah. I care about you. Do you understand?" Clementine asked.
"I...I don't know." Sarah said.
"Listen, Sarah. You're my best friend. I would never let anything happen to you. But you need to start protecting yourself. We don't have the safety of the prison anymore. I can't always be here to help you. The world doesn't allow people to be too nice or too weak anymore. You have to step up. Will you do that for me, Sarah?" Clementine asked.
"Yes, Clem. I will. I'll try my best." Sarah said. Clementine hugged Sarah tightly and kissed AJ's forehead.
"Now, I have something to do." Clementine said. She pulled out her knife and walked towards Becca's body. She stabbed her in the head to make sure she doesn't turn then walked back to Sarah. "Let's get back to the store. Kenny and Mike are probably waiting for us there." Clementine said. She took one more look at Becca's body before walking away with Sarah and AJ.
Carol, Tyreese, and Bonnie were sitting around in the kitchen. Tyreese was holding Judith. "I brought her some food. Cleared out her room. Made sure she didn't have any knives, anything like that." Bonnie said. Carol was silent.
"She has a shoebox full of mice. I asked her if she was the one feeding the walkers at the prison. That was her." Tyreese said. "And at the tombs, we found this rabbit pulled apart and nailed to a board. That was her, too. Said she was just having fun. I was thinking, maybe she killed Karen and David, but I don't know how she could drag them away."
"She would have let them turn. It wasn't her." Carol said with her head in her hands. The three of them were silent for a moment.
"So what do we do?" Tyreese asked.
"I could leave with her." Carol said.
"What?" Tyreese said.
"We can't sleep with her and Judith under the same roof." Carol said.
"You wouldn't make it. Not on your own." Bonnie said.
"She can't be around other people." Carol said.
"Maybe we could try to help her. Talk her back somehow." Tyreese said.
"Tyreese, this is how she is. It was already there." Bonnie said.
"I didn't see it." Carol said.
"How could you?" Bonnie asked.
"I should have seen it!" Carol said louder in frustration.
"So maybe we go. Me, Bonnie, and Judith." Tyreese suggested.
Carol shook her head. "You wouldn't make it either." Carol said. "She can't be around other people." She said, tearing up a little. The three of them exchanged uncomfortable and saddened looks.
A little later, Carol was walking outside with Lizzie, who was happily walking right beside her. "You should pick some wildflowers for Mica to give her when she comes back." Carol suggested.
"Yeah, she'd love that." Lizzie said.
Tyreese and Bonnie watched the two walking from the window in the house.
"The fire's still burning." Lizzie said, looking at the smoke they saw the other day.
"No. The smoke's white. It's out." Carol said.
"You know everything, ma'am." Lizzie said.
"No, I don't." Carol said sadly.
"What is it?" Lizzie asked concerningly, noticing Carol sadness and discomfort. Carol shook her head. "What is it?" Lizzie asked again, this time with tears in her eyes and a tremble in her voice. "Are you mad at me? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, almost crying. "I'm sorry I pointed my gun at you. I just needed you to wait." Lizzie cried.
"I know." Carol said.
"I'm sorry." Lizzie said again. "You're mad at me." Lizzie said, turning away from Carol and walking forward a little. She began to cry uncontrollably.
"I love you, Lizzie. And everything works out the way it's supposed to." Carol said.
"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry." Lizzie cried.
"You just-just look at the flowers, Lizzie. Just look at the flowers." Carol said. She reluctantly took out her revolver. Lizzie had her back turned and wasn't aware of what Carol was doing. "Just-just look at the flowers." Carol raised her pistol and started to cry. She paused for a brief moment, tears pouring down her face as she listened to the troubled child weep. She then pulled the trigger and Lizzie fell to the ground.
Tyreese and Bonnie watched from the window with overwhelming sadness. Thankfully, they could not see the child get shot from their perspective.
Carol walked slowly, distraughtly back to the house, still crying and shocked at what she had to do.
A little later, Carol, Bonnie, and Tyreese dug holes and gently put Lizzie and Mica's bodies in them.
Kenny and Mike were at the store with Arvo after successfully killing all members of his group. Kenny had his gun pointed at Arvo while he talked to Mike. Arvo had his hands up. "He's dangerous. We can't let him go back out there. He could have more friends that he can go back and tell." Kenny said.
"That's true. But we still have to consider the fact that if he does have more people with him, they're gonna find out what happened to their people and they're gonna come looking for the people who did it." Mike said. "It's best to just take him as our prisoner until we get to Terminus."
"That's bulls**t." Kenny said.
"No, Kenny. He can be useful. Let's just get to Terminus and wee can question him there on where his camp is." Mike said.
"F**k that. I'm not dragging this Rusky all the way to Terminus. Let's end this now!" Kenny said, pointing his gun at Arvo again.
"Kenny, no!" Mike shouted, pushing his hand down.
"Why not!?" Kenny asked angrily.
"Because you need to calm down, Kenny!" Mike shouted back. "I know you're going through a hard time right now. I know that, okay? But you have to control yourself. What are you going to do when we get to Terminus? With the way you're acting, they might kick you out." Mike said.
Kenny lowered his gun and sighed. "Fine" He said.
Mike and Kenny's attention were turned to the woods when they saw Clementine and Sarah walking out together. Sarah was holding AJ.
"Clem! Sarah! There you guys are." Kenny shouted as he ran over to them. Clementine hugged him as tightly as she could. "I was worried. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to little AJ." He said.
"Wait, where's Becca?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, where is Becca?" Kenny asked.
Clementine looked at Kenny with tears in her eyes. "I tried to save her." Clementine said. Sarah looked at her in confusion. "We were attacked by walkers. Becca and I tried our best to fight them off, but there was just too many. I had to get Sarah and AJ out of there. I tried to save Becca. I tried." Clementine said.
Kenny just hugged Clementine again. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, hun. You too, Sarah. You tried. That's all that matters." Kenny said.
"I know." Clementine said.
"Now, let's get out of here. I've seen enough of this place." Kenny said.
"Wait. What about-" Mike turned to point to Arvo, but he was gone.
"S**t. Where'd the son of a b****h go?" Kenny asked.
"He was just standing here moments ago." Mike said.
"Well, he's not our problem now." Kenny said.
"Let's just finally get to Terminus." Sarah said.
"Yeah, we need to go. We're losing daylight." Kenny said.
"Terminus will work out, Kenny. It will." Clementine assured Kenny.
"I know, Clem. It has to." Kenny said.
At night, Carol and Tyreese sat quietly at a table across from each other. Bonnie sat on the couch with her head buried in her hands. Carol had her revolver in her hand on the table. In the silence, she pushed her gun towards Tyreese. Tyreese looked up at her in confusion.
Carol finally spoke. "I killed Karen and David." She said. Tyreese stared at her with a stern, angry look. Bonnie also looked up from her hands. "I had to stop the illness from breaking out. I had to stop other people from dying." Carol said, crying. "It wasn't Lizzie. It wasn't a stranger. Tyreese, it was me. You do what you have to do." She said.
Tyreese was contemplating hard on what to do. He was fidgeting with his hands on the table, resisting the urge to grab the gun. The sweat and anger on his face was intense. "Did she know what was happening? Was she scared?" Tyreese asked firmly but quietly. Carol shook her head no. "It was quick?" He asked.
Carol nodded. "Yes." Tyreese was gripping the gun hard. "Do what you have to do." She said.
Tyreese slowly took his hand off the gun. "I forgive you." He said. Carol and Bonnie looked at him. "I'm never gonna forget. It happened. You did it. You feel it. I know you do. It's a part of you now. Me, too. But I forgive you." Tyreese said.
Carol had tears going down her face. "Thank you." She said softly.
Bonnie got up from the couch. "We don't need to stay. We can't stay." Bonnie said.
The next day, Carol, Tyreese, and Bonnie packed up and left the grove. Tyreese had Judith on his back in the baby strap. The three of them walked down the tracks on their way to Terminus.
Wow it's been a long time! Sorry this took so long. I was having idea issues and school kind of got in the way a little. I hope you all liked this episode and I look forward to updating more! Leave a review if you have any thoughts, questions, or comments! :)