Letting out an agonizing scream, Lee punches Ed in the face and sends him backwards as soon as the man has finished gouging out his eye. Soon after, he punches the Adam's apple of one of the guards, making it a little easier to get out from under the other.
Getting up, Lee immediately puts his hand over his face, and stares at his eye on the ground, amidst a small puddle of his own blood.
He has lost an eye... a fucking eye.
- Hey, Lee... come on, if you keep struggling like this, I'll be forced to take out your other eye. And we don't want that, do we? You have yet to see what a spectacle it will be when you, me, and my dear Clem are here together.
Ed said, and Lee turned in anger toward the man. He could do nothing, however, when he saw Ed pointing a pistol in his direction, panting, and blood streaming from his face.
- It hurts, doesn't it? Well, you still have a long way to go to get a taste of what I've been through. So do us both a favor, and behave yourself, otherwise I'll be forced to hurt you sooner than I planned.
Ed said, and the guard punched Lee in the face, causing him to stagger to the table. Quickly, the guard pinned Lee down on the table, while Ed calmly approached.
- Oh, has gouging out your eye made you so powerless? Where's that tough guy who just walked in here?
Ed joked, grabbing a machete from under the table and grinning ruthlessly at Lee, who was trying to free himself from the guard's grasp.
In a moment, Ed grabbed his arm, and in one swift movement, severed Lee's hand.
Another cry of pain echoed through the place, and Lee was forced to watch Ed take his severed hand and wave it at him, as a kind of joke.
- I hope you don't mind... giving me a hand.
Ed laughed in mischief, tossing Lee's hand up and down as if it were a toy.
Lee looked deeply into the face of the guard who was holding him. And then to the guard on the ground.
He would remember their faces.
- Well, unfortunately, I have another meeting at the moment, so our little game will have to wait. Tomorrow you have the day off, you know, to heal these wounds, and then we can play again. Let's see if you keep acting the same way.
Ed said, tossing Lee's hand into some random corner, and smiling cynically at him.
-... You know...
Lee began, straightening his posture as soon as the guard stepped back a little.
- Maybe not today, not tomorrow... but I will break every bone in your body. And I won't stop until every bone in your body is in shreds.
Lee said with the hoarse voice of the previous screams, his one eye staring at Ed with surprising coldness.
The man stared at him, and his smile widened.
- Oh yeah, and how did you plan to do that, one-handed sir? With your mouth?
Ed joked, smiling even wider when the door opened and two more guards entered.
- I don't need two hands to kill you, Ed, and you'll understand that.
Lee said with what little strength he had, allowing himself to be dragged out of that office. Well, from that moment on, his plan changed a little.
If he could just kill everyone there, he would.
Unfortunately, it was not that simple. Human beings are creatures unpredictable for their stupidity.
During the way back to the prison, he just ignored the mocking eyes of the people who saw his little argument with the guards earlier, as if they were saying "you asked for it".
Ah, he would remember those looks. He would be the one looking at them like that at some point, that was for sure.
After some time, they finally arrived in front of the cell door.
- Okay, I expect you to behave yourself from-
- Shut the fuck up.
Lee interrupted the guard and entered the cell, and almost immediately, the three people inside walked toward him with surprised, incredulous, and even slightly angry expressions.
- Jesus Christ... what the fuck did that guy do to you?!
Kenny was the first to ask, alternating his gaze between his eye and Lee's missing hand.
- Oh my God... are you... are you okay?
Carley asked in concern, shocked at the state he had returned to in just a few minutes.
- Okay? Hm, I'll be okay once I've hung his head on a spear.
Lee said in a hoarse voice, and looked at Clementine.
The girl was the most shocked among them, and stared at him with wide, even slightly guilty eyes.
Lee sighed, understanding why she was like this.
- Clem, look-
- It's my fault...
The girl said with wet eyes, taking a few steps away with a lost expression on her face.
- What?! No, Clem, it's not your fault. Don't go blaming yourself like that.
Lee said, walking toward the girl.
- Of course it is! If I hadn't stopped you from killing him-
- Clem! This is not your fault!
Lee said, holding the girl gently by the shoulder.
- I'm... I'm fine.
Lee said. Clementine stared at him for a moment, until she looked at him in disbelief.
- Fine?! Why are you always lying, Lee?! You are NOT fine! You lost your eye, and...
The girl said, sinking her face into his chest as she let the tears stream down her face. Lee sighed ruefully and put his hand on her back as she sobbed softly.
- Okay, you've had enough of this clowning around. Come on, the girl comes with us now.
One of the guards said, and closed his eye as he turned his head. He was thinking of so many ways to kill these people, it scared him.
- Fuck no! If he wants to talk to her, let that shitbird come over here!
Kenny said angrily, not intimidated by the rifles pointed in his direction.
- That was not a request. She's coming with us, whether you like it or not.
The guard said, and the girl turned away from Lee, while she dried her tears with trembling hands.
- It's all right... I'll go... I don't think it's something that can be avoided.
Clementine said, staring at Lee for a few more moments, before walking towards the guards.
As she left the cell, the door closed, and Lee sat down in one of the old armchairs they had there, leaning his elbows on his legs and trying to avoid looking at his severed hand.
Which wasn't too difficult, since the area of his vision had been dramatically reduced.
He couldn't help but feel frustrated. He had lost an eye, and a hand. He could practically no longer stay outside. No longer could he handle the runners the same way, no longer could he lift his axe with the same ease. It would get in the way more than it would help.
And that feeling of being powerless took over his chest.
Trying to think positively, he even began to consider putting something in place of his hand. A blade, maybe a concrete ball with metal spikes around it.
Or better yet, a new hand.
A fucking new hand.
Sighing in a mixture of anger and frustration, Lee turns his head to the side as he feels a gentle touch on his shoulder, seeing Carley and Kenny look at him worriedly.
- I'm fine...just...I'll get better when I kill that guy.
He said, running his hand through his hair.
-... Look, Lee... you're not fine, and it's normal to feel this way. Don't pretend that nothing has changed.
Carley said, and Lee sighed again. His feelings were running wild at this point, and he himself was beginning to doubt that he could take any more of that shit for long.
He should just take the guns from those guards and start shooting anything and everything that moved.
"How am I supposed to do that without my fucking hand?!"
He shook his head... trying once again to be positive, he could still use a military rifle, for example. All he had to do was rest the weapon on his forearm.
Although he would just waste ammo. Without an eye to aim, and without an arm to stabilize the weapon.
Argh, trying to be positive was not helping shit! It was only making him more frustrated.
- Yeah, some things have changed, Carley... but the fact that I'm going to kill that guy hasn't. I don't need two hands to kill that piece of shit.
Lee said, the pain in his body already doing nothing to help his temper. The whole situation just made him more and more angry.
They were kidnapped, Aj was taken from him and taken to some unknown place, Ed was alive, he was crippled and the same guy who left him like that was now in a room alone with his daughter.
He was even surprised at himself that he hadn't already killed those guards and made a massacre in that community.
- That's fucking right! Don't let this shit get to you! Ed will get what he deserves.
Kenny said, and Lee sighed softly.
He missed Kenny's way.
Clementine stared at the blood on the messy office floor. There was a guy lying further in the corner, but she just ignored him, he wasn't important. That blood spilled in the middle of the room was what really mattered.
- Oh, honey, don't look at something so... gruesome. Come on, I've been looking forward to this moment for years.
Ed said, and the girl closed her eyes tightly as she felt her feelings fight fiercely inside her.
She had never been this way... angry like this. It was... new.
And even she was surprised at the things she thought.
- You look so beautiful. So grown up. Come on, don't deny me this hug.
Ed said, opening his arms, and the girl just stared at him in disgust. The man sighed ruefully, and ran a hand through his hair.
- Look, Clem, like I said at the gate, I'm willing to start over. I'm willing to forget all about the past, and I want you to be willing to do the same. Come on, we've spent too much time away from each other. Father and daughter-
- You're not my father.
The girl interrupted him with a disgusted voice and a very unfriendly expression, making it obvious to Ed how angry she was.
- Are you angry about what happened to Lee? Can't you see my face? Don't you remember what he did to me? I told him I would take it easy but he kept testing my limits.
- Did you always have these stupid excuses? Lee should have killed you that day.
Clementine said, and it seemed that Ed just ignored her last sentence.
- Aren't you going to show your father even an ounce of concern?
- You're not my fucking father!
the girl said, gritting her teeth.
- Of course I am. There's no point in denying it, we're related by blood. I'm your father, whether you like it or not.
Ed said cynically, and the girl rolled her eyes.
- You left that position a long time ago. Lee is my father now.
The girl said, and Ed's small cynical smile died.
- Lee has filled your head with his lies.
- He took care of me! Protected me better than you ever could! Taught me how to take care of myself!
- He put you in constant danger. It's not safe out there and yet, he kept exposing you to risk.
- And I'm alive! If I had been with you, I would have died long ago! Whether by a zombie, a runner, a stray bullet, or you could kill me yourself!
- I would never kill you.
- Oh yeah?! The same way you wanted to do it to Mom?! Fucking liar!
- Lee is the liar here!
- Fuck you!
The little argument stopped for a moment with the girl's angry shout, and they both stared at each other for a while, until Ed sighed.
- I just want everything to go back to the way it was before, Clementine.
- And that's exactly the problem. Things aren't going to go back to the way they were. Ever!
-... As much as I think it's important how you feel, that wasn't a request. Now that we are here, we will be a family again. It doesn't matter if you like that idea or not.
Ed said, and the girl's eyes widened in disbelief when she saw him take a hand that was just behind the table, and start playing with it like a toy.
- I have to admit, even separated from the body, Lee's hand is heavy. I thought it would make him more gentle, but now I'm a little concerned. I should have cut them both off.
He said sickeningly, dropping a few fingers from his hand and leaving his middle finger up, letting out a low amused laugh shortly after.
The girl looked at that with disdain. That man... no, that thing had gotten even sicker as time went on. And he no longer resembled the man he once was.
- Well, to become a happy and united family again, we have to cut the evil by the root. Get rid of the problem that has kept us so far apart in the first place.
Ed said, throwing his hand to the side.
- So, I have made a schedule between you, me, and Lee. In one day, every day, we will meet in a separate room, a place just for the three of us. And you will see every part, every limb, every organ of his body ripped out while he is still at the end, you won't be able to remember anything about him except his mutilated body.
The more Ed spoke, the angrier the girl felt. The more incredulous she became at how low a person could sink.
And the more disgusted she felt that she had ever called him father.
She had never used some of Lee's teachings, had not encountered a situation in which it was needed, but that moment, seemed perfect to put into practice the things he taught.
She had always found it a bit...intriguing, and curious the feeling of breaking someone's bones. And she never thought that the person she had once called "father" would be the perfect match for such a thing.