Lee stared at the bite on his arm in silence, all the noise around him was muffled.
The shots, although they were only meters away from him, seemed to be very far away, as if they were on the other side of town.
But, strange enough, Lee was not desperate about the bite, not afraid, not sad. All he felt was anger.
"Of all the times for this to happen, why now?"
He thought, remembering the many times he had been in danger of being bitten, but for some reason, whether it was luck or whatever, he had managed to escape.
Well, he didn't get away from this one.
Some footsteps approached behind him, Lee turned and killed the walker that was walking towards him. Further ahead, he could see a large group of walkers being attracted by the noise of the gunshots, along with some people who were shooting in the direction of the dead.
Lee crouched down to the walker's body and opened its abdomen with his machete, taking its entrails and spreading them across his clothes, trying to ignore the bite on his still trembling arm, and trying not to groan at the excruciating pain he felt in his stabbed eye.
Walking as calmly forward as he could, he passes through a few walkers and jumps out the same window he had jumped through earlier. He again leaves the room, observing the empty corridor, until his tired eye focuses on a specific room at the end of the hallway, in the opposite direction from the one he had walked into earlier.
It was an infirmary, there were some medicines on the tables and shelves, some beds and stretchers scattered around the room.
An idea flashed through Lee's mind, and he sighed, not knowing whether the idea was good or bad.
Maybe both.
His eyes focused on his machete, the only blade he had in hand, and apparently the only large blade in the place.
He stood still for a while, not in fear, but thinking about the consequences his idea could cause.
He could do nothing, and use what little strength he had to find Clementine and get her out before his time ran out, then die relieved that he had managed to save the girl.
Or he could rip his arm off, lose the strength he didn't have, bleed a large amount of that valuable blood still in his body, decrease his chances of saving Clementine, and increase, at least a little bit, his chance of survival.
"Certain death in the end but Clementine safe, chance to survive but no certainty that I'll be able to save her... I'll be fucked in both anyway."
He thought, pulling the belt from his pants and tying it tightly around his arm.
He walked over to a table and removed everything that was on top, placing his bitten arm on it and wielding his machete over his forearm.
Lee looked nervously at the cold blade touching his skin, breathing heavily and preparing himself for the greatest pain he would feel in his entire life.
"You got this motherfucker! For Her, do it for her!"
He thought, trying to encourage himself.
He closed his eyes tightly and wielded his machete, in one swift motion, he stabs his blade into his arm, and a cry of pain comes loudly from his throat.
Blood flowed profusely from his arm, but despite the sharp pain he felt, he didn't let go of the machete handle.
Groaning in pain again, he removes the blade from his arm and stabs it again, screaming louder and more desperate than before, his heart beating hard and the adrenaline rushing through his body.
And he refused to let go of the machete handle.
Once again, he stabs his Blade into the flesh that still bound his arm, cutting it at last.
Another scream escaped his throat, more blood flowed from his amputated limb, and more pain spread through his tired body.
Taking advantage that the adrenaline was still in his system, Lee quickly rummaged through the shelves, grabbing some bandages and gauze and pressing them onto his arm, stopping the bleeding.
His vision blurred and he felt his body weaken even more, but he resisted and remained seated, pressing on his limb.
It was only then that he realized his situation, and a humorless smile broke out on his lips.
How did he get there? How did he get in that situation?
A lost eye, scars all over his body, blood dripping from several wounds, bitten, an amputated arm.
But alive.
He had dealt with cannibals, bandits, zombies, all kinds of things he never imagined he would face.
But there he was, breathing while many other people had perished.
Blood in his body, a heart beating in his chest.
If a year ago someone had told him that he would go through all this, he would have called this person crazy. But as it turned out, he was the crazy one.
Lee stood there for a while, but only for a few minutes, just long enough to not feel as dazed as he was. He stood up with some difficulty, and walked with stunned steps down the empty corridor, hearing some grunts coming from the room where he had killed that man.
He just ignored it, his mind was focused only on finding Clementine, fuck the people dying around him, fuck the walkers entering more and more into that community, fuck all the people he had killed, fuck him being bitten, fuck him slowly dying every time he took a step forward.
None of that was important at the moment.
He reached the second floor, ignoring the reanimated body of the man he had killed.
Lee just walked around, checking the various rooms of the place, hoping that he would be able to find the right room.
At one point, some voices caught his attention, coming from a side corridor, the only lighted part of the second floor he had found so far.
He approached slowly with his machete in hand, staring at the male shadow reflected on the wall.
- Don't worry honey, you'll be fine here, I'll come back for you, this is just for your own safety.
Lee heard the man say, and anger rose in his chest as he recognized that voice.
Although a little different, it was the same voice he had heard on the radio, which was the son of a bitch who had kidnapped Clementine.
The man took the battery-operated lamp that illuminated the place and walked down the same corridor where Lee was standing.
- What are you doing here? Why didn't you go help outside with all this shit going on?
The man asks angrily, approaching Lee thinking that he was another one of his men, but as he gets close enough, he rolls his eyes.
- Oh my... what...? You're alive?
He looked surprised, more than that, he even seemed to know Lee.
- Surprise, motherfucker.
He said low, but loud enough for the man to hear, his deep, threatening voice echoed faintly through the empty corridor, and the stranger reached for a pistol he had in his waistband, pointing it at Lee with a certain desperation.
- You're not supposed to be here! You should have rotted in that hole you came from, I won't let you ruin our happy family Lee!
He became angry again, pointing the gun at Lee with a trembling arm, not sure if it was from fear, or from anger.
- I have to say, I admire your courage, or stupidity.
Lee said, making the stranger look at him confused.
- You take away from me the one thing I really cared about, sure, I have other people I care about, but none compare to her. Did you really think I wouldn't come and get her back?
he said, trying to control the anger that was building in his chest, and his muscles tensed, ready to kill that man.
- ... The only man who came back said he shoot you several times.
- He should have aimed for the head.
Lee said.
-Clementine is safe here!
He shouted, taking a few hard steps toward Lee and holding the pistol tighter.
- Can you hear the gunshots outside? The screams? The people dying? Does it sound safe to you?
Lee asked, walking slowly to the side, getting closer, in a way that the man did not notice, being more and more dominated by his feelings.
- I will protect her! I know how to be a father! We will be happy together, survive together! You have no right to try to ruin that Lee!
he shouted again, taking a few more steps towards Lee.
- Did you even listen to a word I said? You're not a fucking father, you're crazy! Clementine is in danger around you, she has a better chance of surviving alone out there!
He said, standing in the same spot, making the man more irritated and causing him to move closer without even realizing it.
- SHUT THE FUCK UP!
he shouted suddenly, stepping forward towards Lee, who clutched the handle of his machete.
- I AM A BETTER FATHER THAN YOU ARE! I CAN TAKE CARE OF HER BETTER THAN YOU DID! I HAVE PEOPLE, GUNS, FOOD!
He continued to shout, still approaching Lee, overcome by his anger, not even realizing the danger he was in.
Lee smiled as the man came closer, and with one swift movement, he cut off the hand that was holding the man's gun.
The man gave a high-pitched scream, letting go of the lamp he was holding and placing his other hand on the severed limb.
Lee quickly remembered the night he beat up that senator, before all this happened.
Maybe he would do it again, he already had a long list of people he had beaten up.
Lee approaches, and stabs the man in the knee, another loud scream echoes through the empty hallway and the stranger falls to the ground.
The stranger howls in pain as he feels the machete pierce his other knee.
Lee ignores the man's pathetic state, crouches down, and slashes both of the stranger's wrists. He would not kill him by stabbing him in the stomach or piercing his skull, he would suffer for a long time before he had the privilege of death.
He gets up and begins to walk away from the man, ignoring the shouts and insults he was hurling in his direction.
Upon reaching the place the stranger was earlier, Lee's eyes widen as he sees two walkers, both female, one clearly older than the other, tied to two chairs just outside a door.
- HEY, HEY MOTHERFUCKER! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH THEM!
The stranger shouted, crawling toward Lee, ignoring the enormous amount of blood pouring from his body.
A slap echoed in Lee's mind, and he looked at the man even more disgusted than before.
Lee pulled both zombies' chairs into the hallway, leaving them facing the stranger, who was crawling toward them with a desperate look on his face.
- PLEASE! PLEASE LEAVE THEM ALONE, THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!
He begged, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Lee ignored him, and quickly stabbed his machete into the head of the youngest walker, what was once just a little girl.
The stranger screamed in despair, with all his might, while thick tears streamed down his face.
- YOU SON OF A BITCH! ASSHOLE! I'LL KILL YOU! AH LIZZIE, LIZZIE BABY I'M SORRY!
Lee ignored him again, sticking his machete in the head of the other walker, the one that was once a woman.
Sighing at the sickening scene in front of him, he looks down at his bloody hand.
He and that man lying on the ground were not so different. They were both sick, crazy, in their own way.
And now, Lee was no longer afraid of what he was becoming, he had already accepted that he had allowed himself to be corrupted.
All that struggle he had to not become like one of those people was in vain, in the end he had become what he feared most.
Shaking his head and dispelling these thoughts, he walked to the next door, keeping his machete in his back, and placing his trembling hand on the doorknob.
He took a deep breath, feeling his body growing weaker with each passing second.
He turned the knob, and his tired eyes were relieved to see the little girl he loved so much, cowering in the corner of that small room.
Those golden eyes of hers, so beautiful, met his. Surprised, frightened, shocked eyes looked at him as if he were a ghost.
And in a way, he was.
The girl stood up, still not believing what her eyes were seeing.
-... Lee...?
Her sweet voice called his name, and the girl ran quickly towards him, jumping on top of him and grabbing him for a strong hug.
