Lee was leaning his body against the half-open door, looking at Eleanor through the crack. The woman was talking to another man further ahead.
He had a dull face, pale skin, short brown hair, red eyes, and spoke in a sleepy manner. From what he had heard of the conversation so far, that man was the other doctor in the community, Lingard.
- But why can't it be here, in the community? Isn't it safer? Why on a ranch?
The two had been talking for some time, and Lee just waited patiently for them to finish and get out of there. It had taken a few hours before he and Mariana could leave the building they were in and go to the hospital wing, which is closer to the prison he was in before.
There weren't many guards on the streets, but there were quite a few inside the building they were in before.
Mariana, as soon as she saw Eleanor, asked Lee to let her go to the woman, however, Lee stopped her. If she had been with Javi at the moment, and knew of David's plan, she would already be in the apartment that he had said.
Practically the whole town was talking about Javi and David, and all the guards were after them. However, Eleanor, no matter how reliable the girl said she was, gave him a bad feeling. Besides the fact that she shouldn't be in that building at that hour, she was still a prisoner. It was already very late at night, it wouldn't be long before the sun would rise, and her being alone in an empty building with a person from the community was strange, to say the least.
Maybe the fact that she was a doctor, or the fact that Lingard was very influential in the community, gave her a free pass to stay there.
- I don't know. I have asked Joan, but she always answered vaguely... but, I used to go there twice a week. With you here, you can go there in my place, and more often, I hope. Those kids might need more medical attention, I don't trust the people there very much.
They heard Lingard say in a sigh and a tired voice, he seemed so fed up with everything, and he always seemed to be high.
Lee might be going crazy, but from what little he saw of Lingard, he could tell that he had a depressed aura around him.
- So, these are my hours for the week... if I need to, can I change them?
Eleanor asked, folding a sheet of paper and putting it in her pocket, looking again at Lingard, who was closing the door to one of the rooms.
- It's your schedule, you can do whatever you want, as long as you talk to me first.
He replied in his usual depressed tone, and they both began to walk down the empty corridor.
Their footsteps echoed down the hall, and Lee opened the door slowly when they were both far away, hearing the sound of a door closing soon after.
Mariana came out right behind him, looking down the corridor they were in, focusing her eyes briefly on the equipment inside the rooms.
- What do we do now?
she asked, looking at him despite the poor visibility. The girl was still frightened by his presence, but since he had done her no harm so far, she was a little more comfortable having him around.
Plus he seemed to know what he was doing, despite the somewhat dangerous situation they were in.
It was them against an entire community. Mariana couldn't help thinking how cool that sounded, it seemed like she had become one of those agents she had always seen on TV when she was younger.
- We'll find a window that leads to the back, leave the building and go to the prison, and if they're not there, I'll take you to the apartment.
He answered, walking calmly through the empty corridors. From what David had told him, no one but Lingard stayed in the medical wing this late, so he didn't have to worry about being found by any guards.
They reached a window at the end of the corridor, it was locked. Lee looked through the glass for a few moments before breaking it with his elbow.
The shock he felt ran through his body and his hair stood on end. He sighed softly and shook his head.
"I have to stop doing this..." - He said, jumping out the window as he looked to the sides.
He turned around and helped Mariana, making sure she didn't cut herself with the glass.
Some muffled voices were heard approaching.
Lee looked away once more and took Mariana's hand, running down the alley to the dumpster up ahead.
They both hid, and Lee leaned his body slightly to the side, watching the guards who were talking about something he couldn't hear.
The two men seemed quite immersed in their conversation, and decided to stand there in front of the alley, causing Lee to sigh in irritation and roll his eyes.
As always, he was surprised at his luck.
The rays of the sun slowly lit up the dimly lit streets and alleys of the community, and Lee began to stare at the guards incredulously.
"What the fuck are they talking so much about? It's been hours!" - He thought angrily, seriously considering going over there and beating the two of them to a pulp, even though it was somewhat risky.
When the guards finally decided to stop talking, Lee groaned softly in relief, feeling his body aching from being in the same position for so long.
The two of them walked crouched down the alley, now completely visible.
Lee looked around the corner, cursing softly at the large number of guards and people walking through the park ahead.
At one point, he found a gap and pulled Mariana by the hand, walking stealthily to a parked car ahead.
Apparently there was some kind of event or something just in front of the main building, which used to be the city hall.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but it was long enough for Joan and Clint to appear on the small "stage" in front.
He was on the right, while some people crowded in front of Joan, who looked at everyone with a cynical smile on her lips.
After a while more people gathered in front of the building, and Joan started to make some kind of speech in which Lee didn't give a shit.
The woman was exposed, this was a great time to kill her, the only thing stopping him at the moment was that David was not there to take care of the rest of the loose ends. He didn't have any zombies at his disposal to help him, and it wasn't as if he wanted to destroy the community.
If he killed Joan now, people would label him, David, and Javi as traitors, and the first chance they got, they would kill them.
He didn't care what the people in that place would think of him, but David and Javi were not traitors, and they both still had families, people to protect. He didn't think it was right to put all this at risk just to kill one person.
It was then that his eye focused on Javi, hiding behind one of the containers ahead with what appeared to be a rifle in his hands.
Lee stared at him for a while, curious, surprised, and incredulous. Tripp and Jesus appeared right next to Javi, also with guns in hand.
"Well, then fuck all that I thought..." - Lee thought, opening the door of the car in which he was taking cover and signaling for Mariana to get in.
- Stay here, and don't come out until the shooting is over. In case things get out of control, and you see the chance, run, either to me, or to Javi, or to any other place that is safer than here, understand?
Lee said, there was no way to guarantee the girl's safety in that place, much less if he took her with him.
- What? What if I can't find an opening?
she asked, slightly afraid of being alone in a place like that.
- You can shoot, can't you?
he asked, and the girl nodded in confirmation.
- Okay... if you don't see an opening, stay here.I'll come back for you if I can, but if I can't, I'll try to warn Javi. If no one shows up, go out and do what we've been doing all night, crouching and walking in the alleys. You seem like a smart girl, you'll know what to do. Don't let fear consume you, and you'll be fine.
He answered, closing the door soon after.
He took the pistol he had in his waistband and walked a few steps to the side, looking at where Joan and Clint were standing.
He had an angle to shoot Joan, but with a pistol and one less eye, the chances of missing a shot at that distance were high, so he decided to wait for Javi.
He looked at the man, who knelt beside the container and aimed his rifle toward Joan.
Javi put his finger on the trigger and prepared to shoot. A shot echoed through the place, chaos began to form as people watched Clint being shot.
Both Lee and Javi cursed softly as they saw that Clint had thrown himself in front of Joan, receiving the shot instead.
Javi started shooting in the direction of both of them. Tripp and Jesus ran around the container, shooting at the guards who were heading in their direction.
Lee looked at Javi and then at Clint, who was leading Joan into the building.
The front of the place was crowded with guards, with no choices, Lee runs toward the back door.
He crouches down as he sees some guards, who shoot in his direction.
Using the car as cover, Lee lies down on the ground and shoots the men in the legs, who groan in pain and fall to the ground.
Taking advantage, Lee shoots them in their bodies, not necessarily shooting them in the head, he didn't have time to worry about that right now.
He ran toward the nearest door and opened it violently, catching a glimpse of Clint walking down the hallway ahead.
He ran towards the hallway, bumping into a man who was walking right behind Clint.
Lee tried to shoot the man, but the man held his hand and tried to punch Lee. He crouches down and head-butts the man in the nose, who has released his arm.
Lee pushes him back with his leg, and points the pistol at his head, pulling the trigger.
The man's body falls to the ground, and another shot is heard. The gun goes "flying" out of Lee's hand, and Lee jumps back, dodging a sequence of shots that a woman had fired.
She runs after him, and Lee takes advantage of the corner of the hallway to catch her by surprise. He punches her in the face as soon as she appeared in his line of sight, followed by a kick to the stomach. The woman bends over from the blow, Lee grabs her by the back of the head and pushes her hard against the wall.
Blood splashes to the sides, staining the paint on the wall and the woman's clothes.
He picks up his pistol from the floor and rushes back after Clint, climbing the stairs ahead as fast as he can.
If his deduction was correct, he would be taking Joan to her office at that moment.
Lee ran down the corridors, prepared to deal with any guards he encountered along the way. With luck, most of them had gone outside to deal with the shooting that had started.
As he turns down the hallway that led to Joan's office, Lee is surprised by Clint, and he takes the gun from his hand and tosses it aside, punching him in the face shortly after.
Lee staggers back a few steps, but quickly recovers. Clint is quicker, however, and hits him with two more punches to the face.
Lee goes backwards and feels his back collide against the wall. By reflex, he throws his head to the side, causing Clint's fist to collide against the wall.
The man lets out a groan of pain as he punches the hard concrete, and Lee takes the opportunity to deliver a powerful punch to his face, sending Clint reeling backwards.
Lee grabs him by the shirt and throws him hard into the wall, and taking advantage of the "bounce" that Clint's body gave him as it collided with the concrete, Lee punches him hard in the stomach, making Clint's eyes widen and his mouth open wide as he feels the air being forced out of his lungs.
However, Clint was tougher than he looked. Ignoring the pain, he punches Lee in the stomach, followed by two punches to the face and a kick to the chest.
Lee goes a few steps backwards, narrowly missing falling to the ground. He recovers quickly enough to dodge Clint's next punch, throwing his torso slightly backwards.
Clint doesn't give him time to breathe, and attacks him with a sequence of punches.
Lee tries to dodge them, walking a few steps backwards while being hit by a few blows, however, he quickly recovers, grabs Clint by the collar of his shirt and head-butts him hard in the nose.
Blood drips from Clint's face, who groans in pain, while Lee had his forehead stained red.
Taking advantage of his opponent's weakness, Lee delivers a powerful punch to his face, causing Clint to go to his knees on the ground.
Looking around, Lee grabs Clint again by the shirt and walks toward the window, and without hesitation, he throws him from the second floor.
He didn't know if it would kill him, but it would certainly immobilize him indefinitely.
Gasping for breath and with a sore body, Lee turns and walks back down the hall to his pistol, reaching for it again.
He takes a deep breath, ignoring the pain that was spreading through his body.
Over time, he has learned to adapt to pain, learned to "not feel" it at certain times, to ignore it. To the point that he was no longer bothered by it, he even found it good.
It made him feel something, something that normally did not happen.
Lee gasped slightly as he put his hand on Joan's office door, already hearing the woman's muffled voice.
- Clint, is everything okay there? Have you solved the problem with the intruder?
The woman asked, and Lee opened the door violently, watching the frightened and incredulous look on Joan's face, who took a few steps backwards as he approached.
Lee fired twice at her, hitting her shoulder, and her thigh, causing the woman to groan in pain and fall to the ground, looking up at him with terrified eyes.
- I should have killed you when David brought you here! I should have...
she tried to say, crawling backwards as she reached for the gun that Lee knew was just under the table she was leaning against.
Another shot echoed through the empty place, and Joan groaned in pain again as her arm was hit.
- You should have, but you didn't. Your mistake.
Lee said, shooting one last time into the woman's body, this time in her stomach. Joan's eyes widen and she looks at the hole in her abdomen.
She tries uselessly to put her hands over the wound to stop the bleeding.
Lee gives the woman a sneering smile as he sees her in such a pathetic situation.
He grabs her by the throat and forces her to stand up, and just as he did with Clint, he walks with heavy steps towards the window and throws her out of her own office.
He could hear some surprised voices saying Joan's name, and was even slightly surprised to hear David's voice... apparently he had made it out of the arena.
Hopefully, he hadn't destroyed it yet.
Lee hears some footsteps approaching quickly through the corridors.
He looks at the window one last time before leaving the office and running in the opposite direction from which the footsteps were approaching.
He would like to have one more conversation with David before he leaves that community, but with that whole situation, and with David already there, he now only had one more thing to do.
The reason he was there, the reason he was so willing to go against the new frontier, and for that, he had to go to the arena one more time.
