- A few minutes earlier...
Clementine walked hurriedly down the empty corridor, glancing occasionally at the man accompanying her.
The man next to her received an order from the stranger over the radio, telling them to meet him immediately.
He obeyed, ignoring the walkers chasing them and pulling Clementine by the arm.
The girl's eyes focused on the knife he carried, it wasn't too hard to catch, but she had to be quick in what she was about to do.
And with luck, the zombies behind her would help her with her plan.
Quickly, Clementine takes the knife from the man's waist and stabs him behind the knee. He cries out in pain and falls forward, immediately looking at Clementine, pointing the pistol in the girl's direction.
However, she grabbed the knife and jumped behind him, getting out of his line of sight. Without hesitation, Clementine stabs him in the back, making the man fall face down on the ground.
Walking forward, she takes the man's pistol and puts it in her waistband, watching the walkers approach.
She heard hurried footsteps coming down the hallway, quickly, she throws the pistol on the ground near the man's body, steps back a few paces and screams.
The stranger approached, looking at one of his men being devoured by a group of walkers, and Clementine "desperate" right in front of his body. He ran towards the girl and caught her by the waist, picking up the pistol on the ground and walking away from the walkers.
- Don't worry Clem! I will protect you!
he said worriedly, not even noticing the cold look on the girl's face.
He ran for a while and put her down, opening a door soon after, next to his dead "wife" and "daughter".
- Come in!
He said, pushing the girl into the small room against her will, and she let out a cry of protest.
- No! You're just going to leave me locked in here?!
She said loudly, not wanting to scream to avoid attracting the walkers nearby, but angry at being thrown into an empty room while the place was overrun by the dead.
- Don't worry, my wife will protect you.
He said, making Clementine look at him in disbelief.
Lee would not leave her there, he wouldn't leave her alone, she was sure of that.
- You're crazy!
She said loudly, trying to leave the room, but the man closed the door in her face.
- Don't worry honey, you'll be fine here, I'll be back for you, this is for your own safety.
He said, and the girl even thought about leaving since he hadn't locked the door, already starting to make some plans in her head.
The problem was, where would she go? In the few days she had been there she had gotten to know a lot of the place, but with so many walkers around, what would she do? How would she get out? Fighting through a horde of the dead was not really an option.
That's when she heard the stranger talking to someone, close enough to be able to hear his voice, but too far away to understand what they were saying, or to recognize the second voice.
She thought it was one of her men, meaning that if she tried to leave now, she would have to go back the way she came, the same way in which the zombies were approaching.
"Great."
She thought ironically, sitting down in the corner of the room, thinking about what she would do and trying not to let that fear of being alone dominate her chest.
Her eyes couldn't believe the person she saw in front of her, her brain couldn't process the information that came in, and images of Lee being shot repeated in her mind.
She tried to think of some way he could have survived, it was pretty much the thing she thought about most in those last few days, that and what she would do to kill the man who kidnapped her.
Lee was bleeding, wounded, visibly tired, missing an arm, but he was still the same Lee she had seen before he had a few bullets piercing his body.
How had he changed so much in such a short time? What happened to him? How did he get there? How was he alive?
-... Lee...?
There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask, but his name was the only thing that managed to come out of her mouth. She felt her throat close, tears rise to her eyes, and the feeling of relief take over her chest.
Relief, happiness, confusion, surprise, a mixture of feelings formed in her chest, and all she could do was run to him and hug him as tight as she could. Afraid that he would disappear, that he was just a mirage, a fruit of her imagination, but also happy that he was there, relieved that he was alive and that this was real.
She felt Lee's arm around her waist, and she just went about enjoying that hug she missed so much, ignoring the terrible smell that came from his clothes, or the blood that dripped on the floor and stained her cheek, it didn't matter.
Lee was alive, that's what mattered.
She settled into his arm, wrapping her arms around his neck, hiding her face in the hollow of Lee's throat, letting the tears stream down her face. She tried not to sob as she cried, she tried not to make so much noise, but she just couldn't, the sobs came out of her throat automatically, and she cried as hard as she did when she thought Lee had died.
Lee was feeling as relieved as the girl, he himself had to fight the tears that tried to roll down his cheeks, but he stood firm, pressing the girl's body against his and thanking God that he had been able to find her.
- Hey sweet pea.
Only now did she realize how much she had missed hearing him call her that.
She didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything, her sobs were stopping her, she just squeezed her embrace even tighter.
Lee looked slightly to the side, hearing the sound of the walkers' footsteps approaching, and their moans getting louder. But that wasn't really his biggest problem, he felt his vision getting blurrier and blurrier, and his energy draining away with each second, he didn't know how much time he had left before he collapsed from exhaustion, he just knew it wasn't much.
- I am happy to see you again Clem, but we have to get out of here as soon as possible.
He said softly in the girl's ear, trying not to make his tired tone too evident, but failing.
The girl let go of him hesitantly, as if forcing herself out of his embrace. Her hands went to her face, drying the tears that still streamed down her cheeks.
- I... I thought you were dead... I saw you get shot and...
She said, her voice shaky and desperate, an expression of agony forming on her face as she recalled that scene.
Lee gave the girl a reassuring smile, placing his hand gently on her shoulder, comforting her.
- I know Clem, it's okay, I'm here now, okay?
He said, getting up with some difficulty.
- What happened to your arm? Your eye?
She asked sadly, alternating her gaze between the amputated arm, and Lee's injured eye.
- I had an accident, that's all, don't worry.
He lied, as best he could, but he knew the girl didn't believe him, just as before, she could always see through his lies, no matter how good and convincing they were.
The footsteps of the walkers grew closer, drawing the attention of both of them.
- We have to go Clem, this place won't last long.
He said, putting his hand on the girl's back, and walking back the same way he came, as fast as he could, but the tiredness he felt, from all those sleepless nights, from all those injuries he had suffered, from everything he had been through, was weighing on his body.
Clementine looked at him worriedly, it was obvious that Lee wasn't fine and was visibly forcing himself to walk.
But she didn't ask, it wasn't time, and honestly, she was afraid to find out those answers.
Her golden eyes focused on the body of the stranger on the floor, unconscious over a pool of his own blood.
Lee had killed him, she knew he would, and it made her proud that she was right to kill those men, now they had both killed out of necessity, and though it seemed like something "crazy" to some people, it made her happy, because she had one more thing in common with him.
Before they reached the end of the corridor, they both heard some footsteps approaching, too fast for a walker.
Lee leaned against the wall and picked up his machete, waiting.
The person came closer, and Lee stretched out his leg, causing the woman who was running down the hall to fall to the ground.
She tried to get up, but Lee killed her, sticking his machete in the back of her head.
He didn't know how many people he had killed that day, but there were certainly dozens, not only those he had killed with his own hands, but those killed by walkers as well.
And he felt nothing about it, no guilt, no remorse, no regret, nothing.
Lee gritted his teeth as he felt his arm throbbing, or at least what was left of it. It was strange, to say the least, he still felt as if his arm was there, as if nothing had changed.
A few more footsteps echoed down the hall, now much slower than the woman's. Lee looked at the approaching walker, his dead eyes fixed on Clementine.
He walked over to the walking corpse, standing side by side with it, but not being attacked, making Clementine's eyes widen.
Lee stabs his machete into the zombie's temple, kneeling beside his dead body.
- ... It... It didn't bite you...
she said in surprise.
- Yeah, I know...
He said wearily, opening the walker's abdomen with his machete.
Clementine grimaced in disgust and looked confused at Lee.
- When you cover yourself with their guts, they can no longer tell you apart from one of their own, it hides your smell.
He explained when he saw the look on the girl's face, taking the walker intestines in his hand and looking at Clementine, who was hesitantly approaching.
- You're kidding, right?
She asked with a grimace, already knowing the answer.
- Just stay calm, walk slowly, stay close to me, and I'll keep you safe.
He said, as tired as before, hoping he was strong enough to get her to the manhole, at least.
