Lee pulled Clementine close to him, and they both walked crouched down to a nearby tree, watching through the trees the truck speeding down the road.

"Shit!"

Lee thought as he watched the truck slow down. They were on a highway in the middle of nowhere, many miles away from Macon, he didn't think anyone might show up there, not in the middle of nowhere, so he didn't hide the car, he just parked it on the side of the road.

But, another noise caught his attention, a static noise echoed through his ears, and Lee turned, lowering his eyes to Clementine's waist, who was hanging the radio she always carried with her.

"Clementine, sweetie, are you there? It's been a while since we talked, are you already on your way to Savannah? Your parents and I are looking forward to seeing you Clementine, we can't wait for you to get here."

Lee's eyes widened, watching the girl cringe and say a soft "oops" with a dull face, like a child caught doing something bad.

Lee was about to say something to the girl, but his eyes turned to the truck, now standing a little behind his car, with some armed men checking inside.

- There's quite a bit here, he was right, they can't be far away.

He heard one of the men say, and his eyes widened even more.

"Are they looking for us? Why? How...?"

Many questions began to pop into Lee's mind, but as quickly as they came, they left.

A few other men got down from the truck and started to enter the forest. With no options, Lee took Clementine's hand and started walking in the opposite direction, as fast and as quietly as he could.

They were in the middle of nowhere, in a huge forest, the only thing they had to guide them was the river, not far from there, that they had used for bathing the day before.

"Clementine, dear, if you are listening to this, I would appreciate it very much if you would answer me, you know, I sent some friends to look for you, your parents and I are so anxious that we can't wait, don't worry, they are friendly, reliable, they will treat you well."

The voice on the radio echoed through Lee's ears again, and this served to make him more nervous than he already was.

Some time later, they finally made it to the river, not the best place to hide, but then again, they were in a huge forest, with nothing around, they kind of had no choice.

Looking back, Lee makes sure that they hadn't been followed, and turns to Clementine when he sees that there was no one behind them.

- Clem

The girl kept her embarrassed eyes on the floor, avoiding making eye contact, while hugging her own body in shame.

- You're not in any trouble Clem, but you have to tell me the truth, you told me the radio was broken.

He put one of his hands gently on the girl's shoulder, making her look quickly at him, still dull, not wanting to look him in the eye.

- ...He is a friend, he said he wanted to help me find my parents, I don't think he wants to hurt us, and he even said he is with them.

She explained, with that innocent look she occasionally had, with a somewhat hopeful and cheerful tone. Lee couldn't blame her for hoping that her parents were still alive, but what she did was dangerous.

- ...How long have you been talking to him?

He asked, bowing his head and sighing slightly.

- A few days before we met the St John's, he said that he was traveling with his family when all this happened, and that he would like to meet with us. He didn't seem like a bad person.

- Clementine, honey, I know you want to meet your parents but believe me, this man cannot be trusted!

Some approaching footsteps echoed through the forest, and Lee's eyes watched as a few men approached him.

He took Clementine's hand and ran downstream, listening to the girl's protests.

- Wait, Lee! They might be friendly.

She tried to pull her hand from Lee's grasp, but to no avail, however, this act was enough to make Lee turn and look at her seriously.

-Clem, we don't know these people.

He said softly, despite his serious look.

- But they might not be dangerous, they might even help us.

She replied hopefully.

- Clementine, they are following us through a forest in the middle of nowhere, believe me, they are not trying to help us. Think about the St Johns, they seemed like good people, but they weren't.

He crouched down to her height, looking straight into the girl's eyes.

- Please Lee! I need to find my parents.

She insisted once more, this time in a louder tone, looking at Lee with a downcast face, almost begging him to believe her.

Lee sighed, he couldn't take that risk, he wouldn't take that risk.

He took the girl on his lap, despite her protests, and began to run down the river.

Unfortunately, Clementine's cry of protest was louder than she wanted it to be, and it drew attention.

- There they are!

A man shouted, and soon Lee heard footsteps approaching quickly behind him, chasing after them.

Lee entered the forest once again, using the trees as shields so that the men would not shoot in his direction, and if they did, they would only waste ammo.

He even thought about going back to the highway and trying to get the car, but he quickly dismissed the idea, it was too dangerous.

It was then that the sound of gunshots echoed through the forest, and Lee heard the bullet hit a tree right next to him.

That made the adrenaline in his body kick in, and he ran faster through the forest, ignoring the fatigue that began to affect his body.

What Lee didn't know was that the men also had radios with them.

"Clementine, I just heard that my friends found you, but why are you running? I told you, they are friendly, tell your friend Lee to stop running, everything will be fine."

The voice on the radio again penetrated Lee's ears, who was getting angry at the person behind the radio.

- Lee! Stop! He wants to help!

She shouted over his shoulder, giving the man a weak slap on the back, which Lee ignored.

He kept running for a while, going deeper into the forest. He gasped, but kept running, faintly remembering the day the motel inn was attacked.

Lee could see the road ahead, miles away from where he had parked his car. He didn't know where he was going, not many places or buildings nearby, but he had a place in mind. A small farm where they had spent the night two days ago, it was far away, but it was already a goal.

All he had to do was follow the road through the forest, without having to expose himself.

But then again, Lee could consider himself the unluckiest son of a bitch in the world.

A shot echoed through the forest, this time passing very close to his head, where the bullet collided with a tree just beside him.

He stopped running and looked over to where the shot had been fired, mentally cursing as he saw some men pointing guns in his direction.

- You idiot! What if it had hit the girl? I told you not to aim at him!

One of the men shouted angrily at his partner, who replied with an annoyed look in his face.

- But I didn't, and he stopped running, what else do you want?

They approached Lee, still pointing their guns in his direction, in total, counting the two men who were chasing them earlier, there were five armed men, all with pistols.

- We've got her.

One of the men said, talking to the man on the radio.

"Oh that's great, you can go with them Clementine, your parents and I will be waiting for you here in Savannah."

The voice on the radio echoed again, Lee ignored it, thinking of the various options he had to get out of that situation, all of them incredibly dangerous, there weren't even any walkers around, nothing that could serve as a distraction, so he was forced to act on it head on.

- What do we do with the guy?

he asked again.

"... He's not invited to our meeting... Ah I'm sorry Clementine, but this is an important moment, someone like Lee can't ruin it"

The girl's eyes widened, and she tried to ask what he meant by that, confused, but she couldn't.

The men approached Lee, their fingers on the trigger, Clementine was the only thing keeping them from shooting.

- Give us the girl gently and I guarantee it will be quick, one shot to the head, and it's over.

Lee's mind was working fast, beginning to despair at the situation.

He sighed, thinking about the idea he had, which, like all the others, was extremely dangerous, the men were too close for him to come out unharmed no matter what he did.

Turning gently to the side, Lee blocked the men's view of the gun strapped to Clementine's waist, which was close to his face as he held the girl on his shoulders.

Raising his hand slowly, as if in surrender, Lee takes the gun from her waist, turns around, and shoots the first man he saw, throwing the girl to the ground as the bullet penetrated the man's head.

Walking to the side, shielding Clementine with his body, Lee shoots the second man, three shots, killing him.

Unfortunately, the other two shoot in his direction, three shots, two hitting his stomach, one hitting the gun in his hand.

Lee falls to the ground, causing Clementine to scream in terror as she sees the blood pouring from his wounds.

She tries to run toward Lee, but an arm grabs her around the waist and lifts her into the air, and the girl cries out loud as she sees Lee's body sliding away.

The other man moves toward Lee, with the gun pointed at his head, while his companion turns toward the forest, checking to see if the noise has drawn any attention.

However, before he could shoot, Lee reacts, with his machete, he pierces the man's stomach and takes his pistol, shooting the other man next to him, killing them both.

Another shot echoed through the forest, the man holding Clementine had turned, and shot Lee in the chest, who fell to the ground again while the girl screamed even louder, now with her body trembling and with thick tears streaming down her face.

Lee watched as the man walked away from him, with Clementine in his arms, each step he took felt like a knife was sticking in his chest, it hurt more than the three shots he had taken.

He raises his trembling arms toward the girl who cried out his name, desperate, frightened, terrified. And with that vision that would be marked in his mind, Lee watches the darkness take over his eyes.