Pulling his axe from the head of a zombie, Lee spins his body around and punches another one that was approaching from the side, knocking it to the ground on impact.
With his axe, he splits in half the head of a woman who died not long ago, a few weeks perhaps, from the state of putrefaction.
Turning, he puts the axe in front of his body, being pushed back slightly by the impact the runner made on him.
Gritting his teeth, he headbutts the runner and pushes him back with a punch to the mouth, then knocks him out with a kick to the knee, and finishes by smashing his axe vertically into the runner's head, kicking him soon after, and watching with his eyes as the creature's body falls to the ground.
A little breathless, he turns and stares at the small dirt road ahead, ignoring the surrounding fallen bodies of the zombies and runners he had just killed.
They must have been attracted by the explosion, maybe... Ed must have been lucky enough to pass by before they got close.
Looking over his shoulder once more, Lee walks back down the dirt path, scanning the forest with his eyes for places in which Ed might be hiding.
Although he doubted that the man was in the middle of the forest, waiting for him. At least, not with all those zombies and runners around, Ed should be long gone by now for the time it took him to get rid of those things.
He remembered that there were some other buildings around, but they were a bit far from the farm... there was a radio station not far from there, if he hadn't been mistaken, maybe that's the place Ed ran to... although it wasn't exactly in that direction.
Or, perhaps, the roadside hotel in that same direction he was going, this one being a little closer, but more likely to have infected. They had even considered stopping at that hotel for the next few nights.
Anyway, Lee would hunt him down, not only was he practically forced to, but he wanted to. Ed had to die, both because it was necessary, and because he wanted revenge.
He had to get revenge, he never did any harm to the man, and neither did Kenny.
Everyone had been through horrible situations, everyone had seen things they wanted to forget, everyone had done things they regretted, but still, no one, other than Ed, went around killing people randomly.
Just because he wanted to... there was no other explanation.
And if there was, Lee didn't know, and frankly, he didn't want to know.
Fuck that guy. His fate was sealed.
One of them would die that day.
And both deaths would have consequences. If he died, Ed could go after the others, he would expose Clementine to danger and make the girl suffer mentally. Forcing her to see what her father had become, forcing her to see the horrible things he would do.
Who knows what would happen to the girl? He could kill her himself, the same way he was thinking of killing Diana.
All the more reason for Lee to be so determined not to die.
Sighing, he shakes his head in an attempt to scare away those thoughts and concentrate on what was happening around him.
He hadn't seen any more zombies for a good part since he had started walking, right after he had killed those back there. But he did notice a few bodies lying on the ground that he occasionally spotted.
From the blood still oozing from the holes in their heads, they had been killed not long ago.
Good, Ed didn't change direction, and he wouldn't be walking in circles, lost in the forest with the vague hope of finding the man.
After some more walking, he finally spots the hotel ahead, a little way off the road that led to the highway, not far from there.
Sighing heavily, he looks around.
There was no way to get close without Ed seeing him, if he was hiding behind one of those windows, or hiding behind that small wall on the second floor.
And if indeed he was there.
The place was somewhat open all around. But, Lee walked to the side. He would at least try to make it a little more difficult for Ed to notice him.
Crouching slightly, he ran toward the hotel, always looking around as he went.
His eyes focused on the bodies lying on the ground in front of the entrance. They seemed to have been there for some time, but not too long, since the blood had not yet dried.
Leaning against the wall beside the entrance, Lee leaned his body slightly forward and opened the door slowly, running his eyes down the corridor ahead, and entered the place after seeing that there was nothing, no one there.
He closes the door, and walks slowly and as quietly as possible down the dark corridor, checking each door he passes in front of.
The place was as expected. Overturned, tables destroyed, bloodstains on the floor and walls, and occasionally some parts of corpses that Lee couldn't identify.
And he didn't want to, to tell you the truth, it was pretty scary to look into a room and find only the bones of a human torso, right in the middle of the room, with blood all around, and overturned furniture.
Holy shit... there was nothing left of whoever that person was, just the bones of the torso... Jesus.
Turning away from that room, he focuses his eyes on the stairs with a half-eaten arm lying on one of the steps.
A frightening place. Lee felt uneasy in there, and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Slowly climbing up the steps, Lee looked into the hallway on the second floor. The hallway was relatively open, having a good view of the area around the motel, great, it was not as dark as the floor below.
He had imagined that there would be zombies there, but so far, he had not found any, much less heard any grunts or noises that said that there was something there besides him.
He wasn't sure if this was good, or bad.
A noise, a knock on a door at the end of the corridor caught his attention, he focused his eyes on that door, holding the axe firmly in his hands and walking slowly towards the room.
As he approached, he leaned on the wall beside him and remained silent, trying to hear something coming from the room.
Silence.
Taking a deep breath, he stands in front of the door and thinks about the enormous possibilities that this could be.
It could have been the wind, if there was an open window, although that would be a huge coincidence.
It could have been Ed, and he could have been waiting for him, pointing his rifle at the door because he knew that Lee would open it.
It could have been just a zombie.
It could have been the part of some already worn out piece of furniture that simply gave way due to time.
It could have been a runner that ran into something, although Lee thought that unlikely. He dealt with runners practically every day, and he knew that even when they were standing still, they groaned.
A groan of pain mixed with anger, combined with a frayed throat.
Well, whatever it was, he could just run out of there if he needed to.
Taking another deep breath, Lee kicks the door hard and throws his body to the side, bracing himself against the wall and evading, if need be, a shot from Ed.
Instead, however, he only heard a small startled scream, a voice too soft to be a man's.
Or an adult's.
Tilting his body slightly to the side, he widens his eyes when he sees Clementine hiding behind the bed in the corner of the room, gripping the headboard tightly and looking startled at the door.
- Clem?
He called out, entering the room in some haste.
The girl's eyes widened and she ran toward him, shouting his name and hugging him.
Lee crouched down to her height and returned the hug, running his eyes around the room.
It was the only room he saw that was relatively tidy.
There were bloodstains on the beds and walls, but the furniture was not lying around or destroyed.
- Are you all right?!
he asked worriedly, pulling his torso slightly away from the girl and holding her face gently, looking deep into her crying, relieved eyes.
- He... he killed ...
She tried to say, but her sobs stopped her.
Lee sighed ruefully and bowed his head slightly, standing to the side so that he had a view of the hallway.
- I know, sweet pea... but your mom and the others are fine... we'll meet up with them soon, okay?
He said, stroking her face lightly with his fingers, and she shook her head.
- He didn't hurt you, did he?
Lee asked, running his eyes down her body, who shook her head a little.
- Okay, where is he now?
he asked, looking down the hall for a moment.
- I... I don't know... h-he just came into the room a little while ago... said he had to get ready.
She said, squeezing Lee's shirt a little tightly.
- Ok... come on, I'll get you out of here.
He said, taking the girl in his arms and standing up.
Clementine entwined his neck with her arms, and his waist with her legs, sinking her face into his shoulder, feeling the urge to cry a little stronger from the relief she felt.
Lee turned and left the room with quick steps, he had found the girl faster than he had thought, and for the moment, his priority had changed.
Her safety was what mattered at the moment.
However, he stopped walking when he heard footsteps approaching further ahead, fast steps.
- Oh, no, Lee... we can't enjoy the party if you sneak in and out like that.
Ed said, appearing around the corner at the end of the hallway, just in front of the stairway down to the ground floor.
The man raised his shotgun in his direction. The adrenaline kicked in, and Lee threw himself into the next room, breaking down the door in the process and hearing Ed's footsteps approaching quickly.
- Let her go, Lee! Let's sort this out, you and I!
Ed shouted, quickly entering the room and shooting behind the door, this being one of the possible hiding places Lee could use to take him by surprise.
However, he didn't see Lee there, only his axe. His eyes ran around the room, only to find Clementine behind the bed, staring at him with her arms pressed against her body.
He narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, but felt a huge pressure on his back and was knocked to the floor by something heavy.
Lee fell on top of him, and quickly punched him in the face, trying to grab the shotgun afterwards.
But Ed recovered quickly and elbowed him in the abdomen, causing Lee to groan slightly in pain and bend over a bit, making it possible for Ed to hit him in the face with a punch, knocking him off his feet.
Grabbing the shotgun, Ed turns his body, however, Lee grabs the barrel of the gun and headbutts the man's nose, which was thrown back slightly. Ignoring the blood that splashed on his face, Lee spins around still on the ground, and kicks Ed in the face, at the same time pulling the shotgun towards himself.
With the gun in hand, Lee aims for the man's head, but Ed kicks him in the side of his torso, causing Lee to miss his shot and hit the wall behind the man.
Recovering, Ed stands up and grabs the gun with one hand, and squeezes Lee's neck with the other.
Both men stand, and Lee looks deep into Ed's eyes, angry eyes against angry eyes.
The only difference, is that one of them had reason for such anger.
Lee begins to pound hard against the surface of Ed's elbow, forcing him to let go of his neck.
Taking advantage, Lee punches him in the face and presses him against the wall, throwing the shotgun to the ground.
However, he catches a glimpse of Ed reaching for something, and out of reflex, throws his body backwards, dodging a stab aimed at his stomach.
Ed put a hand on his throat, and looked intensely and breathlessly at Lee, with blood dripping from his nose, and from a cut on the side of his cheek from the punches he had received.
- No... it wasn't supposed to be like this, Lee... we weren't supposed to try to kill each other so quickly... but if you insist...
Ed said, running up to Lee soon after, attempting a side cut to Lee's chest, who dodges it by throwing himself backwards.
However, Ed kicks him in the side of his body, making Lee grunt low in pain, and lower his guard a little.
Ed tries to stab him again, but Lee holds both his arms and counters with a headbutt, followed by a punch to the stomach, and kicking the knife out of Ed's hand soon after.
Ed recovers and hits Lee with an elbow to the abdomen, followed by a hook, sending the man backwards, turning and running towards the knife.
Lee recovers quickly, and runs after Ed, punching him as he ran and sending him to the ground.
Ed recovers and kicks Lee in the side of the knee, knocking him down.
Holding the knife tightly, Ed turns around and stabs Lee in the thigh, who lets out a fierce cry of pain, but quickly recovers and grabs Ed by the back of the head, punching him hard in the face and sending him backwards.
Lee takes a few steps away and looks at the knife stuck in his thigh, he shouldn't remove it from there, he would bleed much more than he was already bleeding if he did.
However, if he left the blade there, Ed could take advantage of it and open the wound even more, kicking the knife, for example, and tearing a larger part of Lee's thigh.
Rolling his eyes, Lee groans loudly in pain as he removes the knife from his thigh. But, he didn't have much time to be affected by the pain.
He stares wide-eyed as he sees Ed pick up the shotgun again, and point it in his direction. Lee threw himself to the side in reflex, barely escaping the shot Ed had fired, which hit the wall behind him.
Getting up quickly, Lee throws the knife towards the man, who, distracted by the knife, couldn't react when Lee jumped on him, punching him hard in the face and knocking the shotgun out of his hand.
Counterattacking, Ed kicks Lee's wounded leg and backs away, getting up quickly and running out of the room.
Groaning in pain, Lee gets up and tries to follow him, picking up his axe on the way. However, the moment he left the room, he was surprised by a runner, who advanced quickly towards him, and at a glance, he could see Ed fighting another.
In reflex, Lee put the axe in front of his body, being pushed back a few steps due to the strong impact of the runner against him. He couldn't push the creature forward due to his wounded leg, and fatigue not only from the fight he had with Ed, but from killing those zombies earlier, was causing him to be pushed backwards with some ease.
Gritting his teeth, Lee shouts slightly as he pushes the runner aside, and quickly, he steps on the creature's torso and drives the axe into its head.
Before Lee could recover, his eyes focus on Ed, who was advancing rapidly toward him. Too fast for him to react.
Grunting in pain, he feels his body being slammed hard to the ground, and soon after, he is hit by a punch to the face.
And another.
At the third punch, Lee's eyes widened and he put his bent arm in front of him, counterattacking with his other arm and punching Ed in the mouth.
Although it had some effect, the man just ignored the pain, and one of his soft teeth, and tried to punch Lee again.
However, Lee turned his head to the side, hearing to his satisfaction the sound of Ed's fist crashing into the ground, and punched him in the chin, followed by another blow to the nose, and finally pushed Ed off his feet.
Standing up with some difficulty, Lee stares at Ed, panting, feeling his whole body in pain, and his blood dripping through his clothes.
- You... son of a bitch... I knew it would end like this... if I was careless... argh, I guess... I should consider myself lucky that Kenny isn't here, right?
Ed asked cynically, teasingly, getting to his feet with as much difficulty as Lee.
- Why ... why did you do all this?
Lee asked, and Ed stared at him for a while, until he smiled in disdain.
- Fuck... I mean, don't you see? It's all your fault.
Ed said, and Lee arched an eyebrow.
- Can''t you see that? You...the people around you...think you're better than me...a better killer...for a while, I even envied you...I even considered you better than me...you're the only one Lee...the only person keeping me from being truly free.
- What the fuck are you talking about?!
- If I get rid of you...there won't be anyone else in the world who is better than me...who will stop me from being myself, from accepting who I am...and I will prove to Clementine that I am better at protecting her...better than you ever were!
Ed almost screamed, getting angrier, and ran fiercely towards Lee, punching him in the face.
Lee staggered backwards and felt his back slam into the wall. Recovering quickly, he crouches, dodging another punch, and counters by punching Ed in the stomach.
The man bends slightly, but kicks Lee's wounded leg again, which made it possible for him to grab him by the shirt and punch him hard in the face.
By reflex, Lee put his arm in front of him, and landed a hook on Ed's chin, sending him backwards.
His leg throbbed, and for a few moments, he couldn't move it.
Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Ed grabbed Lee by the shirt and threw him aside. Lee staggered a few steps, but did not allow himself to fall.
However, his instincts screamed and he felt a chill run down his back.
Turning around, he widened his eyes when he saw a zombie dangerously close, and held him by the shoulders, unfortunately leaving his back totally exposed to Ed.
The man then starts punching him in the side of his torso.
- She always saw you as superior to me!
Ed shouted, punching Lee once more, who grunted in pain.
- My own daughter. She thought I needed you to stay alive!
He punched him again.
- That I needed your protection!
One more time!
- You couldn't protect anyone! You couldn't protect Ben, or Doug, or Kenny... all those assholes died because of you!
One more punch!
- But now... she'll see that her father is the real hero of the story! She'll forget about you Lee! For she will see that she never needed you!
Ed shouted, but before he could throw another punch, Lee turned with the zombie, and threw it in his direction.
The words that Ed had practically spat at him made Lee really mad.
Ed groaned slightly as he struggled with the zombie, throwing it to the ground shortly after.
However, he couldn't do anything about it after that, as he was met head on with a punch from Lee, sending him to the ground.
Lee took his axe and stabbed at the zombie's head, advancing furiously towards Ed, who was trying to get up.
He kicked the man in the stomach, and grabbed him by the shirt, delivering a powerful punch to his face and forcing him to stand and throwing him against the wall.
Lee began to violently punch Ed in the face, splashing blood both on his clothes and the walls, and staining his fists a deep crimson red.
In an act of desperation, Ed bent down and pushed Lee forward, trying to knock him down the second floor hallway, even though his face was soaked in blood, with cuts and bruises all over it.
Ed was clutching Lee's neck tightly, probably a result of adrenaline.
Lee struggled to try to escape Ed's grip, but the man squeezed his neck even tighter and kicked his wounded leg, resulting in a deep scream escaping Lee's throat.
However, a gunshot echoed through the place, and Ed fell to the side in a loud cry of pain.
Lee leaned forward and put his hand on his throat, gasping for air, and looked in the direction in which the shot had come.
His eyes focused on Clementine, who had fallen to the ground from the strong kick of the shotgun. The girl's face was tearful and desperate, heavy tears streaming down her face. It was remarkable how much she was suffering from the situation.
Lee stood up, with some difficulty, and walked toward Ed.
- Fuck... I should... I should have killed you... when I had the chance...
Ed said in a groan of pain, with his hand on the side of his torso, but Lee just ignored him and picked up his axe, stomping hard on the man's chest.
Lee raised the weapon in his hands, but his eyes fell on Clementine again.
- Honey...help me...help your father...I...I will protect you...I can protect you better than anyone else...please...stand by me.
Ed said, raising his bloody hand toward Clementine.
The girl just stared at him, crying as hard as before.
She was devastated... the things she had seen her father do, all those noticeable changes that had affected her during that time, all running through her head at that moment.
The girl closed her eyes tightly, and stood up forcefully.
Staggering steps, she approached the two men, and for a few moments, Ed smiled at the thought that she would be on his side.
However, his smile died when he saw the girl squeezing Lee's shirt, ignoring his hand.
- Clem...?
He calls out, but the girl doesn't look at him. She shrinks her body at her father's call, it being painful to hear his voice calling her, but she refuses to turn to him.
- Clementine?!
He called louder, but the girl still did not look at him. She turned to Lee and buried her face in his abdomen, hugging his waist and crying softly.
-... Don't kill him...
She asked softly, almost in supplication.
Lee continued with the axe raised, alternating his gaze between the girl hugging him, and Ed, who was wounded on the ground.
He wanted to kill him, wanted to feel the sensation of splitting his head in half, to take revenge for what he had done.
Just looking at Ed in that pathetic situation made his desire to kill him grow, and his thirst for his blood become more intense. But...
He couldn't just ignore the girl's plea... it wasn't his duty to judge a life.
And even with all that anger, all that hatred and the desire to see Ed dead on the ground, he lowered his axe, placing his hand gently on the girl's head, who was crying softly.
Lee closed his eyes for a few moments, remembering everyone who died because of that piece of shit.
Opening his eyes, he looked to the side, watching with a certain neutrality, the zombies approaching from there.
Sighing heavily, he made his decision.
He would let God judge Ed's life... if it was his day to die, great, but if it wasn't, he hoped he would never meet that man again.
There was no telling if, in case he did meet him, he would still think that way.
-... Come on... we have to get out of here.
Lee said, his husky voice causing a slight shiver to run through the girl's body, who nodded at him.
- Clementine... I am your father...
Ed said, and Lee started to walk, holding tightly onto the girl's hand, not wanting her to turn back.
- You... you're just going to let your father die here?!
Ed shouted, using almost all his strength to say those words.
Lee stopped walking, only to pick up the shotgun from the ground, placing his axe against his arm and torso, and holding the gun by the barrel.
He felt the girl tremble a little more, and hastened his pace.
- Clementine!
Ed shouted again, looking with some desperation at them, who were getting further and further away.
- CLEMENTINE!
he shouted in utter desperation, as soon as they were both out of his line of sight.
Lee looked at the little girl crying beside him, and made a silent promise.
She had been through too much, seen too much.
In a world like that, the girl would need a real father.
He would take care of her, the way Ed should have done.
Sighing slightly with sadness, he leaves the hotel, ignoring Ed's last desperate cry.