- But what was all those screams? Is everyone all right?
Bonnie asked with some concern and nervousness. Looking at Lee with restless eyes.
- Yes, everyone is fine.
Lee said, sitting down on the floor and propping up his wall just outside the entrance to the store, feeling his wounds throbbing.
- Those screams...didn't sound like someone who is fine...they were cries of despair.
Luke said amid moans of pain.
Lee looked at him for a moment. Bonnie had already removed the bullet from his body, and was finishing bandaging his abdomen.
By the looks of it, he would be fine.
- Let's just say that Carver got what he deserved.
Lee said, ripping off part of his shirt and exposing his wounded arm. The bullet was lodged deep, which made him roll his eyes and sigh.
This would be fun.
At least the bullet in his leg didn't seem to be too deep... which was good, all things considered.
- Did he get what he deserved? What did you do?
Bonnie asked, finishing bandaging Luke's abdomen and looking at Lee with some intensity.
- Not much.
Lee said, hearing footsteps approaching.
- He tortured Carver until he passed out, that's what he did.
Mike said with an uneasy tone, entering the small store at a quick pace, with one hand on Sarah's back, as if to protect her from him.
Lee laughed humorlessly and propped his head on the wall as he saw the stares in his direction. He understood that it might make some people... uncomfortable... but he was not in the mood to be debating the subject, or putting up with those stares.
- You what?!
Luke exclaimed, but regretted it immediately, groaning in pain and putting his hand over the bandages on his wound.
- I was angry.
Lee said, taking the tweezers Bonnie had used to remove the bullet from inside Luke's body, and wiping the blood from the object on his clothes.
- angry?! That's your excuse?! You crushed his arm! You broke thirty of his bones!
Mike said, looking at Lee with narrowed eyes.
Lee just ignored him, looking at Clementine who took the tweezers from his hand, and looked at him seriously.
- Thirty... what...?
Bonnie tried to say, but was too incredulous to even form a sentence.
- Do you think that was right?! That it was something necessary?!
Luke asked, and Lee gritted his teeth as he felt Clementine stick the tweezers on his wound and move the object inside his arm.
- No...it wasn't necessary...but I wanted to...it's like I always say, angry people do stupid things.
Lee said, sighing heavily as he saw the bullet in the clamp.
No matter how many times he went through it, it still hurt like hell.
- Jesus, man... I thought I misjudged you, but... the things you did, are just as bad as what Carver did!
Luke said, and Lee laughed humorlessly. Of course it was terrible stuff, he had lived on horrible ground for years.
And to survive, he had to become worse than the runners...worse than any other human out there, while maintaining rational thought.
He wouldn't be there if it weren't for that.
- The difference...is that I am not Carver.
Lee said.
- Well, you sure act like it!
- Do you think I'm going to start killing every survivor I find out there?
- I don't know, but the way you are, I don't doubt it!
Luke said, and Lee gritted his teeth again in pain as he felt Clementine remove the bullet from his leg.
- Is that what you're teaching Clem?! Teaching her to be as bad as you are?!
Luke asked again, looking at him angrily.
Lee arched an eyebrow, shouldn't they be mourning or something? Rebecca died and left behind an unnamed newborn child, Carlos died and left his daughter alone, Nick... where was Nick?
Lee snorted, it wasn't his problem.
They were close, weren't they?
Why couldn't they be bothered to grieve and leave him alone?
- I am teaching her how to survive...if to do that, I have to teach her how to be cruel...then yes, I am teaching her how to be like me.
He said, watching Clementine bandage his leg without saying a word.
She didn't look angry, or scared, but she didn't look neutral either, just... confused, maybe?
He hated not knowing what was going through her head.
- Great, we escaped from one nutcase, only to end up trapped with another.
Mike said, and this time Lee made a point of laughing a little louder.
- Are you serious? Mike, am I keeping you here by any chance? Am I forcing any of you to stay? As far as I know, I've been helping you.
Lee said, and stopped laughing, looking at them a little more seriously.
- We've all been through bad situations, one different from the other, and for that, I say, you don't know me, so don't start judging me. If you are afraid, just go away. You can take half of those supplies and leave.
Lee said, and they fell silent.
All you needed to make someone walk the line was intimidation, it worked in most cases.
Sometimes you needed something more, like a few punches to the face, a few less teeth, a few more scars. Nothing he was not used to doing with others.
- But if you want to stay close, you will have to get used to the fact that I will not be merciful to someone who tried to kill me, or tried to kill Clementine.
He said, using his axe as a support and standing up with some difficulty.
He walked over to one of the bags and grabbed a can of beans, along with a bottle of water, and walked across the destroyed deck, sitting down right next to the stair railing.
-... Jesus...
Bonnie said in a whisper, crossing her arms and putting one hand over her head.
- Man... I don't know who is more dangerous.
Mike said, handing the baby to Bonnie and sitting down in the corner of the small store with his back against the wall.
- Well, considering that he didn't try to kill us, I would say that Carver was more dangerous.
Jane said, crossing her arms and looking at the floor.
- He hasn't tried to kill us yet. Who knows what he might do in the future.
Luke said, and Clementine sighed.
- He's not going to kill you. It's not like he kills every survivor he meets. And I already told you that.
Clementine said, looking at him with a neutral face.
- I'm sorry, Clem, but I can't believe this... he crushed Carver's arm... he literally broke every bone in his arm... this doesn't sound like the work of someone who doesn't like to kill.
Luke said, pressing his back against the wall.
- What about you, Clem? You watched it all right in front of you... didn't you feel uncomfortable at all? Why didn't you try to stop him?
Mike asked.
- What? Clem, you ... you just watched him do it?
Luke asked incredulously, looking at the girl with wide eyes.
- He deserved it.
- Carver deserved to die, I agree, but not to have his arm slowly torn off while some crazy man narrates everything.
Mike said, and the girl narrowed her eyes.
- Do you think he would simply kill you if the situation were changed? You heard him yourself, he didn't just want to kill us, he wanted to torture us. Lee gave her a taste of his own poison. Why are you so concerned about the death of a man you hate?
Clementine said, crossing her arms.
She herself felt a little uncomfortable seeing what Lee did, but they seemed way too uncomfortable for her liking.
- There wasn't a part of that son of a bitch I didn't hate, but to do that was... inhuman. It was very wrong.
Luke said.
- Are you walking the right path by any chance? In all these years, you never did anything wrong to stay alive?
- I did it to survive, not for self-satisfaction.
- Well, get used to it then. Live a little longer on the road and you'll realize that your morality is of no relevance out there.
The girl said, taking a bottle of water and sitting down at the entrance of the small store.
- Clem, if we abandon our morality, we can no longer consider ourselves human.
Luke said, now in a calmer tone.
- Do you still consider yourself human? Try to understand, I'm only alive because Lee had to be bad enough to be worse than anything out there. That includes people.
Clementine said, and Luke stared at her for a moment, seeming to get lost in his thoughts temporarily, until he sighed with a certain regret.
- Look, Clem-
- No, Luke. You see, if Lee had stayed here in place of Mike or Carlos or anyone else, Carver wouldn't have made it up here. And I'm not saying that you are useless or that what happened was your fault. But the moment the group left, he would have filled the place with traps, and probably not stayed up here until you came back.
The girl said, running her eyes between them.
- He learned to be cautious and suspicious of everything in the time we stayed outside. This is because of the countless times we have been surprised by bandits, the consequence of times when he showed mercy, or was too nice, and it almost resulted in the death of both of us.
She sighed, running her hand through her hair as her mind flooded with memories.
- One day, we helped a man on the road. Lee was kind to him, and as payment, the man called his friends, we were surrounded by several bandits, many men. One of them tore the side of Lee's thigh, we were taken hostage, Lee was beaten... their leader picked me up, and threw me in the middle of a small group of people, and they started beating me, kicking me... I have the scars on my back...
She said, looking down with some regret, remembering that day. Maybe a year after they started walking on their own.
- Do you know how he got us out?
she asked, staring at Luke with a certain intensity.
- There came a moment when I fainted. Not for long, but I pretended to be unconscious to avoid being beaten again. I didn't see what he did, but I heard it... their leader's terrified screams, the surprised and frightened groans of the surrounding men... I didn't have to turn around to know what he was doing.
She said, looking away again.
- One of the men said, "he's pulling the leader's guts out with his hands"...Lee ripped out the man's organs and forced everyone to watch.
She said, looking curiously at the incredulous expressions of the people.
She felt that same way when she heard, and she was weirded out for a while, until she realized why Lee had done that.
- The others were so scared, that it gave Lee time to get the rifle, and kill most of them... some managed to escape, but were wounded... who knows, maybe they are dead... and if not, they have learned not to do something like that again.
She said, leaning her arms on her knees and bowing her head slightly, not needing to look at them to know what they were thinking, how they were feeling, and what the expressions on their faces were.
She had wondered several times if she could do the same... cruelty had already saved their lives, so she considered that sooner or later she would be faced with a similar situation, and she didn't know if she had the guts to do the same as Lee.
Sighing, the girl closes her eyes and thinks about everything that has happened so far.
The hours passed slowly for the group, the sadness, the mourning, the heavy air around made the atmosphere somewhat uncomfortable for them.
Clementine sighed again and looked up at the dark sky. It would not be long before dawn.
Lowering her gaze, the girl smiled slightly as she saw the baby staring at her with a certain intensity... he was cute... although annoying when he cries.
He hasn't been given a name yet, no one seemed to feel like choosing one, maybe because they didn't feel entitled, or too uncomfortable to choose the name of someone else's child.
The girl heard a small grumble coming from the side, and looked at the path that led to the stairs.
Looking back, the girl walked across the destroyed deck after making sure no one was awake, and looked at Lee, who had his hand on his injured arm.
Seeing her, he was slightly surprised.
- Oh, Clem... shouldn't you be asleep?
he asked, and the girl sat down beside him.
- I've had enough sleep... and I had to watch this little troublemaker.
The girl said, and Lee stared at the baby in her arms. It was a comforting image, to see such purity in a corrupted world.
To be so close to something pure, being corrupted himself.
- So, our little legion of good guys are still afraid of me?
Lee asked, leaning his arm on her leg.
- Can you blame them?
- No... but it's just something annoying.
- They didn't go through what we went through... you have to remember that if you still want to live with other people in the future.
she said, and Lee sighed.
- Yeah, they didn't go through what we did...all the more reason for them to stop judging me, it's irritating.
He said, and the girl stared at him for a while.
- You're not... yourself these days.
she said, and Lee propped his head against the wall.
- Yeah, well... let's just say that I find it stressful to be around other people, after all we've been through... like I said, I just can't trust them.
-... But sooner or later, you will have to trust someone other than me... the way you are, you will only keep good people away.
- Clem, a part of me agrees with that, but the other part doesn't believe that people are worth trusting anymore... I get angry at the mere thought of trusting someone, and that person stabs me in the back.
he said, clenching his fist tightly.
He had already lost enough for this mistake, he didn't need to lose more.
- Not all people will do that, Lee. Luke, for example.
- Oh please, he probably thinks I'm the reincarnation of Carver at this point. Besides, he doesn't strike me as the most trustworthy person in the world.
Lee said, and the girl sighed.
- See, it's good that you are suspicious, but, you have to learn to "turn off" that distrust.
- Easier said than done.
Lee said, closing his eyes and running his hand through his hair.
- Nothing is easy... aren't you the one who always says that?
The girl said, and Lee snorted.
He hated it when she used his own words against him. He was practically helpless, and he hated feeling that way.
They were silent for a while, with only the occasional small moan from the baby echoing through the room.
- Were you scared?
Lee asked after a while, still with his eyes closed, but feeling Clementine looking at him.
-... Not necessarily scared, I'm not scared of you, you would never hurt me. Just ... surprised.
She said, and Lee sighed slightly, bowing his head.
- You did it without hesitation...without blinking...and you knew exactly what you were doing...it made me wonder if I could make the hard decisions in an extreme situation like this...if I could do something like this.
She said, and Lee stared at her for a moment.
- You don't have to worry about that...
- No, Lee, I do. You can't always make the hard decisions, be the one to carry the burden of your choices on your back... and you won't always be there for me for that...
she said, and they were silent again.
The girl looked at Lee hesitantly, thoughtfully, until she shook her head.
- Can you teach me?
She asked suddenly, and Lee looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
- What?
- What you did with that man a long time ago ... what you did with Carver ... can you teach me?
She said, and they both stared at each other for some time.
Lee had his expression stiffened, his eyes wide at the girl, his mind working furiously, repeating her words over and over again.