This chapter is smaller because it should have been together with the last chapter, but it got too big so I separated it and forgot about it for a while xd. Here it is.
I don't know when I'll post again, but know that I haven't given up yet. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Sighing for the tenth time in a short period of time, Lee once again checks the door of the store they were in, making sure that nothing would get in there. Well, nothing that was trying to attack them, of course.
He was still shaking from his encounter with the infected wolf from earlier, and the last thing he wanted was to run into a pack of those things.
After making sure that the door was well barricaded, he turns and looks around. They were in a small room in the back of the store. The office, which when everything started had become a kind of base for some survivors.
Well, survivors who were no longer there, and the place was a mess. And from the blood they found in certain places in the place, it was quite obvious that someone had transformed and attacked the others. They had to get out of there in a hurry.
Shaking his head because he still couldn't get used to the whole situation, he walked over to Clementine, keeping his eyes focused on the bloodstained bandages.
"How are you, girl?" He asked, crouching down in front of her, who still had one hand on her shoulder, but no longer seemed to be in as much pain as before.
"I'm fine, the bleeding has stopped... I think." She replied, watching Ben approach with one of the flashlights they had in hand.
"I checked the next room. The whole place has already been ransacked. And it doesn't look like anyone has been here in a while." The boy said, turning off the flashlight and putting it back in the backpack.
"What about the exits?" Lee asked, grabbing some more bandages.
"Other than the door we barricaded, there's a hole in the back of the room. It's not very big, and it has some boards nailed in, but I think we can all get through if we have it." Ben replied, walking to a nearby corner and sitting down on the floor, letting out a loud tired sigh.
Lee watched as the boy propped both arms on his legs and let his head drop low between his knees.
"Are you going to change the bandages?" Clementine asked, causing him to look at her. The girl looked a little pale. He didn't know if it was from the situation a few minutes ago or if it was from the blood loss in her shoulder.
Maybe the two things combined.
"Yes. The bleeding has left the bandages soaked through. It won't hurt much, though." He said, carefully removing the blood-soaked bandages and replacing them with new ones.
As he did so, he tried not to pay attention to the noises coming from outside. As Ben mentioned, there was a park nearby. And from the posters they saw scattered around that store, there was some kind of event in the park when things started.
In other words, a lot of infected in the vicinity, and although he was used to the grunts they made, he was not used to hearing so many at once.
Honestly, Lee didn't know how many infected there were in total, and he was afraid to find out. He just hoped that they would pass soon, and not find out that they were there.
In any case, it was somewhat likely that they would have to spend the night there. Even though the trio knew well that it had not been long since dawn. Maybe it wasn't even midday yet. But they couldn't risk getting too far away.
"Well, I guess we have to talk about what to do now." Lee said aloud, breaking the silence.
"We're still relatively close to the gas station... maybe we can wait here for a while." Ben said, watching Lee walk to the opposite wall and sit down, taking the map they took from the mural there at the gas station.
"Yeah, we can. But I was thinking of leaving when it's possible. Up the road there is a barbecue hut with some other buildings around it. There is a parking spot right next to it. Maybe we can find a vehicle that still works." Lee said, pointing to the place mentioned after placing the map on the ground right next to him.
"Ahm... later, you mean, right? There's a lot of infected around now, man. And after that wolf..." Ben said, shaking his head slightly.
"Yeah, I know. But we can't stay here. Not to mention, if we get a vehicle, we can drive around the vicinity and look for the others. It's better than going out there on foot. With luck, we might be able to find a van, or maybe a truck. That's at best, of course." Lee said, resting one of his arms on his knee.
"The place is kind of far, though." Clementine said, kneeling in front of the map.
"Maybe half an hour's walk from here. Which kind of isn't exactly a problem, it's still morning. The problem is that it might be a while before it's safe enough to get out." Lee said, running his hand through his hair.
"And we don't have many weapons. I mean, a rusty machete, a pocket knife, a hatchet, and a table leg. The machete is rusty, but it'll still do, but a pocket knife... well, getting too close to the infected isn't a good idea." Ben said, looking at the table leg on the floor.
It wasn't a bad weapon, but it required many blows to the head to kill an infected, whereas with a machete or a knife longer than a pocket knife, a single blow would do.
"You can use the hatchet if you need to." Clementine said, and Lee shook his head.
"No. You can't be unprotected like that. The machete will still do. We'll find other weapons." Lee said, arching an eyebrow soon after and looking thoughtful for a few moments. "Actually, I think you'd better stick with the machete."
Ben arched both eyebrows.
"So... I'll take the pocket knife?" The boy asked, and Lee narrowed his eyes slightly, alternating his gaze between the table leg and the pocket knife.
"The hatchet might get stuck, and that might be a problem for Clementine if she needs to defend herself. The machete is better. You, on the other hand, Ben..." Lee stopped talking suddenly, and soon, he stood up and walked over to his backpack.
Clementine and Ben just stared at him as Lee picked up the duct tape and walked towards the table leg.
After picking up the pocket knife, the two watched as he stuck the small blade to the end of the table leg and handed it to Ben.
"It's not exactly a spear, but you won't have to get that close to some infected anymore. It's the best I can do." Lee said, and Ben ran his eyes down the weapon for a few moments.
A pretty useful gambit, if you ask him.
"Man, it's good enough. I don't need to get that close now. Thanks." The boy thanked him, nodding to Lee, who smiled slightly and nodded back, both to him and to Clementine, who alternated her gaze between him and the "makeshift spear."
"I hope it doesn't break, though." The boy said, more to himself than to Lee.
The moment Lee stood up, all three felt their bodies lock as they heard a noise coming from the ceiling. A thud, as if something had fallen, followed by something like a voice.
Ben immediately stood up with wide eyes and his hands firmly gripping the makeshift spear. Clementine slowly stood up and, at Lee's request, walked slowly away to the corner of the room with the machete in hand.
Lee looked at Ben and motioned for him to be quiet. The boy nodded a little hesitantly, but began to move right behind Lee, who was taking the lead toward the corridor in front of the door.
"Stay here with Clem. I'm going to check it. If something happens, try to get out of here. If you can't, barricade the door." He said, and although hesitant, the boy nodded.
As he walked slowly down the hall, Lee's eyes focused on a door with a ladder to what appeared to be the attic of the place, inside a small overturned room. Probably what used to be the storage room.
Lee held the hatchet tightly as he reached up and pulled the rope of the ladder down.
The place was dark, but not completely black. Lee could make out what seemed to be the faint illumination of a small flame or something.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he slowly climbed the ladder, and as soon as he was up, he scanned the place.
In front of him was a half lit candle. Next to it, a sleeping bag with a few cans of food around it and empty water bottles lying around.
Lee blinked a few times, slightly confused and surprised. Someone was living there.
It was then that he heard something move behind him, and as soon as he turned around, he was hit hard by a kick to the face, and because he was taken by surprise, he ended up falling down the ladder, stunned a bit.
Before he could recover, he felt a weight on his stomach, just below his chest, and the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a gun pointed at his head.
He didn't know what had happened to himself, in fact, he didn't even think at that moment, his body just acted without his command, and he pushed the gun aside as he pushed the person on top of him, reversing the situation.
He quickly grabbed the arm that held the gun and immobilized the person's other arm. And it was only then that he could get a better look at his attacker.
A girl. Or rather, a young woman. She had dirty blond hair, dark blue eyes, and white skin dirty with dried blood and dirt. She wore a dirty black jacket and ordinary jeans.
Lee blinked a few times again, temporarily surprised to find another survivor there, and this surprise was enough for the girl to manage to free herself and hit Lee with a punch on the side of the face.
It wasn't a hard punch, it didn't hurt much, and from the girl's condition, it was understandable. She looked like she was starving, she was thin and pale.
"Hey, stop it! Calm down! I don't want to hurt you!" Lee said, still holding the girl's arm, preventing her from pointing the gun at him again.
The woman said nothing, just stared at him with fierce eyes, apparently not really believing him.
Lee sighed lightly and threw the hatchet away from him, without looking away.
"I'm going to release you and get up. If you shoot, this place will be surrounded in a matter of moments. And we both don't want either of those things to happen." He said, still staring at her for a few moments before he began to stand up very slowly.
He took a few steps away, still under the careful gaze of the woman, who after a while also stood up.
Suspicion was on her face, but still, at least she didn't point the gun at him anymore.
"...There's nothing here." She said, voice hoarse, rough, almost as if it hurt to speak. "What do you want?"
"We're just waiting for the infected outside to leave, and then we'll be on our way." Lee said, watching the woman arch an eyebrow.
"We?" She asked, looking around somewhat warily as she surrounded Lee. Probably intending to go up into the attic again.
"Yeah, relax, they're not dangerous. They're two kids... sort of." He said, raising both his hands.
"Lee?" They both looked at the door at the same time, a slight reaction as they heard Ben's voice calling him from down the hall.
"I'm fine, Ben. It's all right. I found a survivor." Lee replied, still holding his hands up and walking toward the door.
"Look, we don't want any trouble, okay? Much less want to rob you. But you're not looking so good. We have food... not much, but it will help." Lee said, bending down and picking up the hatchet again.
As soon as he did, Ben and Clementine appeared in the doorway, and both of them looked a little surprised and a little frightened at the woman. Well, more specifically, at the gun she was holding.
The woman, in turn, returned the look. A neutral expression, but Lee saw a certain curiosity in her eyes as she stared at Clementine for a few moments. A glint that lasted only a short time, but that indicated something underneath all that dirt.
"... If you try anything-"
"Relax. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already." Lee said, signaling for the two to make way.
The woman alternated her gaze between them again, placing the gun at her waist.
She then began to approach, slowly, and Lee arched an eyebrow as he saw the way she walked. She was tired, that was visible, and it was only a matter of moments before the woman began to fall.
Lee grumbled softly and ran to help her, managing to hold her up before she fell for good.
"Wha... what's wrong with her?" Ben asked, placing himself in front of Clementine and already with his "spear" ready for use.
"...She's not infected, if that's what you're worried about. She's malnourished. She probably hasn't eaten in a few days. Her mouth and skin are dry, she's dehydrated." He said, removing the gun from her waist and placing it in his, before he took her in his arms and walked toward the office they were using as a temporary base.
Lee set her down on the floor and laid her down with her head to the side, leaving a bottle of water in easy reach for when she wakes up.
"Is she going to be okay?" Clementine asked, crouching down beside him and staring at the woman.
"... Yes, I... well, we'll do what we can. Keep an eye out for when she wakes up, okay?" Lee said, and Clementine nodded.
"Is it... is it safe to... you know...?" Ben asked, scratching the back of his head in search of the best words.
In response, Lee and Clementine just looked at him with arched eyebrows, and the boy, wide-eyed, whispered a "sorry" before walking away using the excuse of checking the place out... again.
Lee and Clementine stayed in the room next to the woman. Clementine sat with her back propped on the wall a few steps away from the woman, and Lee sat a little closer, always keeping an eye on her.
"What are we going to do with her?" Clementine asked, and Lee sighed slightly.
"... We'll wait for her to wake up. We have water, we have food... if she wants, she can come with us. It doesn't look like there's anything holding her here." Lee replied, resting both arms on his knees and propping his head on the wall.
Clementine stared at him for a few seconds, until she shifted her gaze to the machete at her side.
Honestly, she was a little afraid of it. Part of her didn't like having a weapon like that so close to her. Another part just didn't like it because it meant that she would have to deal with the infected alone at some point, and that thought alone made her body shiver.
With a light sigh, she lowers her head and hugs her own legs.
A short time later, Ben returns, a little less nervous, and now somewhat... lost.
"Are we... going to... take her with us?" He asked, in pure curiosity. Lee knew he was asking only to confirm what he already was thinking.
"If she wants to, yes." Lee replied.
"Oh, that...err...it's good, it's good to have more people. And she has a gun." Ben said, and Lee, who had momentarily forgotten about it, picked up the gun.
"Boy, that's a pretty... big pistol." Ben said, and Lee ran his eyes down the silver barrel.
"It's a Desert Eagle." He said, lightly waving the gun in his hand. It was heavy. "It's a powerful weapon. But on the other hand, very loud." He then looked at the still passed out woman.
"Geez. The kick from this gun is pretty strong. She'd be knocked down if she had shot it." Lee said, placing the gun on the ground right next to him.
"Do you know anything about guns?" Ben asked, sitting down a few steps away from him.
"No... I mean... sort of. But my... Cassandra knew." He said, avoiding calling her his ex-wife. "She was robbed once before. She traveled a lot for work, went through a lot of stuff... for a while, she became a gun fanatic. Well, she kind of pulled me into that. I know a few."
He said, and they were silent for a while. Lee didn't even notice that it started to rain.
Well, it was a light rain, nothing for them to worry about, probably.
Not much time passed, and soon, the low grunts of the woman caught Lee's attention, and he stood up to see that she was waking up.
The woman moved very slowly, blinked a few times without being able to keep her eyes open for long, and tried to get up.
However, Lee stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, take it easy." He said, placing a bottle of water against the dry mouth of the woman, who soon took the bottle and drank the entire contents quickly.
The relief was almost immediate, and after blinking a few more times, the woman opened her eyes and stared at Lee for a few moments.
"You've passed out. You are quite dehydrated and malnourished. How long has it been since you've eaten?" Lee asked, handing her a protein bar.
The woman took it, but still didn't look away. She soon ran her eyes around, alternating between Clementine and Ben.
The hostility from before was gone, and now only confusion and relief remained.
"... Thank you." She thanked him, grunting slightly as she tried to sit up. Lee noticed and helped her, placing a hand on the side of her arm.
"... That's my backpack." She said as she chewed on a piece of the protein bar, and Lee slightly widened his eyes in surprise.
"Oh... Ahm... sorry? I mean, we found it hidden in a building site in the middle of nowhere, we didn't think anyone would come back for it, and we needed it at that time."
"It's okay... I couldn't go back for it anyway. At least it was of use to someone." She said, crumpling up the package of the protein bar and tossing it aside.
" The name's Molly." She introduced herself, leaning against the wall and straightening herself up to be more comfortable.
Well, at least as comfortable as she could be.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Molly. I'm Lee. This is Clementine and Ben." Lee said, nodding to each as he said their names. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"
"...I was going camping when all this shit started. We were attacked and I got lost from my group... I've been here ever since. I found other people... we barricaded ourselves here thinking the military would come, but..." She said slowly, she was still weak and it looked like she would fall asleep at any moment.
"In the end, I hid in the ceiling. The food ran out a few days ago... and so did the water... I tried to get out, to look for what I could but... those zombies are everywhere." She said, propping her head on the wall.
"Zombies? Is that what you call them?" Ben asked, and Molly nodded without looking at him.
"I couldn't think of a better name. And... after I saw them... devouring a body... that's what came to mind." She replied.
"Well... technically, they're not zombies." Ben said, getting a small grunt from Molly.
"Yeah, I noticed. Dead bodies don't run. Maybe that's why those movies always annoyed me." She sighed. "Is it just you guys?"
"No, we... we have a larger group, but the infected attacked us." Lee said. "The plan is to try to find a vehicle. Look, it's nothing certain, and things will probably just get worse. I know you're still weak, but... if you want, you can come with us."
Molly was silent for a few moments, and faintly, she regarded Lee with an arched eyebrow.
"... I don't have a better place to go, anyway. And in my situation... I'm accepting anything." She replied, looking away. "Me and my friends came in a minibus. It's parked up the road... we can use it, if it's still there."
Lee looked at Ben and Clementine and smiled slightly. It wasn't much, but it was enough to fuel hope.
" Well, great." Lee picked up the gun and handed it to Molly. "I picked up your gun when you passed out. I thought you'd be more comfortable without." He said, and the woman took the gun, staring at it for a few moments, almost hesitantly.
"It's not my gun..." She said, leaving the Desert Eagle on the ground. "It was from a man who hid with us... I took it when he died. I never shot it. To tell you the truth, I don't even know how... and I'm kind of thankful I didn't draw more infected on myself."
Lee nodded slightly and stood up, walking over to the wall and sitting down facing Molly.
"Well, let's wait until you get better before we leave. It'll be a while before it gets dark." He said, letting one hand support his body on the floor and the other rest on his knee.
"...I mean... I guess I could use a nap... do you guys have any more water?" she asked, and before Lee could move, Clementine stood up and grabbed a bottle of water, handing it to Molly, who looked at her sympathetically for a few moments. "Thank you."
After drinking, Molly lay down on the floor and almost immediately fell asleep.
Lee and Ben looked at each other for a few moments. The same with Clementine. And without saying a word, they just sat there, each stuck in their own minds or trying to concentrate on something other than the grunts of the infected in the rain.