- "You'll never take me alive."
Lee said, wiggling the skull jaw in his hands and faking a thinner voice as he spoke dramatically.
- "You're not getting away"
Clementine said, as did he, wiggling the skull in her hands and saying in a slightly stronger voice, intending to sound deeper as she imitated some kind of villain.
The two skulls clashed, and along with the sound effect the girl was making with her mouth, a small simulation of a fight between two skulls made Aj laugh in amusement.
After some time of "fighting", which resulted in Lee's defeat as usual, they both sighed and sat down, tossing the skulls somewhere random.
- Is it healthy to let Aj see this?
The girl asked, looking at a disfigured zombie body lying not far away.
- Too late to worry about that. The boy has seen just about everything the world has to offer.
Lee said, leaning his back against the ruins of what had once been a hut. Now it was nothing but ashes.
- Argh... not much fun lately.
The girl said with a sigh, throwing an apple toward Lee, who caught it in midair, and leaning her back on the only tree nearby, with her bow leaning against it.
- And good books are harder to find than I thought they would be.
Lee said, taking a bite of his apple and looking out over the open field, where a herd of zombies were walking towards the horizon.
If they stayed the way they were, they had nothing to worry about.
- Maybe it's about time we... I don't know... find a place.
The girl said suggestively, and Lee looked at her with an arched eyebrow.
- I thought you didn't like Prescott.
- I didn't like the people there. The place itself, it has... it has its charm.
The girl said, and Lee let out a nasal laugh, turning back to face the herd far away.
- Well... you saw for yourself, some of the communities we passed were attacked and looted. Like it or not, Prescott is the only option we have... IF we decide to stay there.
Lee said, and the girl let out a tired sigh.
- Those guys can be bigger assholes than the people we meet out here.
The girl said, staring at Lee, who began to clean his rifle.
- Some of them, yes. But we didn't stay long enough to get a general idea.
He said, concentrating on cleaning the barrel of his shotgun, but aware that the girl was staring at him.
- I still can't believe you took that shotgun. I told you not to.
The girl said, crossing her arms.
- Oh come on, Clem. Look at the barrel and the silver stock. A fine gun.
- How many bullets are left in it?
- Four... not counting the bullets that won't fire that we exchanged with that guy in Prescott.
- See? This fuckin' ammo is rare to find.
- Oh, that's not cool.
- What's not cool?
- First of all, all kinds of ammo have become rare these days. Second, why is it that you can swear, but I can't? As far as I know, I'm the one who should scold you for swearing.
Lee said, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. But the girl was not intimidated by his gaze, and like him, stared at him with her arms crossed.
This girl was getting harder and harder to deal with, he had to admit.
- Because I said you won't swear. It's as simple as that.
- That's not fair.
- Life isn't fair.
- Oh, smartass,
- What's the matter? You don't have much to say on that point. I think I can dictate the manner in which you speak, especially after you shot a pile of clothes in the night thinking it was a runner and drew a herd of them toward us.
- Oh, please. Are you ever going to let that one go?
- Why? I don't see why not laugh if your mistakes are comical.
- Alvin, who are you in this with?
Lee asked, looking at the boy, who alternated his gaze between the two of them.
- Ah... Lee.
The boy said half-smiling, causing Lee to smile in victory, and Clementine to sigh in frustration.
- Oh, you brat. I won't forget this betrayal, Alvin Jr.
the girl said, and the boy turned to her with a smile.
- There's no use in looking at me like that.
- The decision has been made. As a penalty, you are forbidden to swear for a while.
- Oh, come on...
- Nope... don't even think about it.
Lee said, savoring after a long time, the sweet taste of victory, and smiling broadly when he saw the girl roll her eyes.
- Come on, it's past your bedtime.
Lee said, tossing the apple core aside and turning back to face the herd. Or at least, the visible part of the herd, since most of the zombies were covered by the trees around the road they were following.
- You already stood guard from last night.
The girl said.
- But it was you who went hunting earlier today.
- Lee, you're old, you don't argue.
- Are you going to appeal to that now?
- I'm just telling the truth.
- I may be old, but that doesn't mean I'm weak. Go to sleep.
- No.
- Come on.
- No way. And I told you not to argue, Grandpa.
- Argh, I swear, I have no idea where all this stubbornness comes from.
- Really? I have a pretty good idea.
The girl said, looking at him with an arched eyebrow and a sideways smile, making Lee sigh in defeat.
Jesus, that was a tough girl to deal with.
Leaning his body slightly forward and resting his arms on his knees, Lee began to stare up at the starry sky. At least something good since the apocalypse began, he could admire the clear sky and lose himself in the vastness of the universe.
He could spend hours just staring at the night sky.
And well, with Clementine awake, that's exactly what he did.
He came out of his little trance as he watched the sky clear up. Feeling his body numb, he stood up and stretched.
He was used to spending nights like this. Usually he would find somewhere safe enough, or a tree with a high branch, and sleep during the afternoon.
Night, for him, was the time when they should be most alert.
- I think the herd must be long gone by now. Let's follow the road.
He said, taking his shotgun and putting it on his back, as well as his axe.
Crouching down, he picks up a sleeping Aj in his arms, gently so as not to wake him.
- I can't wait to find that guy. I'm going to punch him in the face for selling us bullets that don't shoot.
The girl said, putting her quiver on her back and picking up her bow, as well as her backpack..
- Get in line. I'll go first.
Lee said, starting to walk toward the road.
- Then there won't be much left for me.
- Oh come on, he's young, he can handle it.
- I wouldn't count on it. You're an old man with a very heavy hand.
- Well, I'll try to take it easy then. Besides, I'm only forty-one years old.
Lee said, looking at Aj, who was already awake and staring at him.
- With those white hairs in your beard, you look at least fifty.
- Hey, there aren't even that many gray hairs. And I only look older because my beard is big.
- Exactly, I've been trying to shave you for a while, but you never accept.
- I like my beard.
- But it makes you look like a caveman.
- There are a lot of cavemen these days.
- But you could be a decent caveman, if only you'd let me shave you.
- Why do you insist on wanting to shave me? I can do it myself.
- Because, not only does it make you look much better than if you shave yourself, I enjoy it. I find it pleasurable.
She said, and Lee stared at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow, but he just shrugged.
After a while of walking along the road, they spot, further on, a junk yard, with the fences near the entrance destroyed.
At first they would just ignore the place, but this idea changed when they heard a woman's scream coming from inside the junkyard.
They both looked at each other, and became slightly more "concerned" when they heard the voice of an apparently very young boy calling out to the woman.
- Do we help them?
The girl asked, looking at Lee, who sighed.
With Aj there, things were no longer so simple, he had to take the boy as a priority.
But he also couldn't simply ignore calls for help from someone in a bad situation.
-... Let's go check it out. If it is safe enough, we help. If not, we just go on our way.
he said, and the girl nodded.