Pushing the guards back hard, Lee takes a few deep breaths, trying uselessly to calm the anger that was growing in his chest. The scene of Ed cutting off Aj's finger with that machete still lingered in his mind, and the more he tried to calm down, the angrier he became.

A cycle, a fucking cycle. He didn't even know how he was still there, how he hadn't already tried to take one of those guns and shoot the first person who crossed his path in the head.

- You'd better-

One of the guards tried to say, but Lee just punched him in the jaw, an angry punch, a thoughtless action, strong enough to send the guy fainting to the ground.

Just one punch didn't calm Lee, but he couldn't do more than that, since the other guards grabbed him by the arms and started beating him.

However, it didn't hurt. He felt nothing in those punches, or in those kicks, and despite everything, it served more to make him think, than to hurt him.

In the midst of the guards' fuss, he picked up a knife that was in the waistband of one of them, just before he was thrown to the ground. Pathetic blows from even more pathetic people.

Was he supposed to feel pain, or to laugh?

- Hey, stop!

Clementine shouted, running towards Lee. However, as soon as she got close, two of the guards pushed her to the ground and, just as they had done to Lee, began to beat the girl.

Lee saw this, and although he felt his anger rise even more, he just concentrated on not letting the blows hit important places, he had to stick to his plan.

After a while, they stopped hitting him, and not caring about the blood that flowed from his mouth, Lee stood up almost immediately, and looked at them with superiority.

- Weak...

He said in a hoarse voice, running his eye over all the men there, he would remember those faces, those expressions.

Beside him, Clementine stood up in pain, and with blood dripping down her face. She looked at him worriedly, but as soon as he stood up as if nothing had happened, her worried expression turned to surprise.

Of course it hurt, he might not feel it at the moment, but afterwards he certainly would. It was a bit... surprising that he could stand up like that after being kicked so many times, and he just started walking again, ignoring the blood dripping from his forehead and the side of his mouth.

Looking at the guards, she followed right behind him, and it didn't take long before they reached the cell.

The girl stood right next to him as soon as they arrived, waiting for the guards to open the door.

- Are you all right?

Lee asked softly, and the girl nodded to him, feeling her entire body aching.

Lee entered, ripping the sleeve of the shirt he had been given earlier (I forgot to write that in the last chapter, sorry) and wiping the blood from his face.

- Clementine.

Luke's voice caught the girl's attention and she turned to him, smiling slightly at seeing him there after so long, although she wasn't in the mood for a friendly reunion.

- Jesus, I... I can't believe it's really you... you look so different since the last time we saw each other.

He said with an excited, even nostalgic smile, approaching the girl.

Clementine nodded at him and looked at the people in the back, who were talking to Kenny, and occasionally looking at both her and Lee.

- It's good to see you too, Luke. I thought you were brought here.

She said, crossing her arms, as she glanced at Lee, he was pacing back and forth thoughtfully.

- And I was. Me, Jane and Mike. We stayed here for quite a while. It was a good opportunity, we didn't starve, we made some good friends.

Luke said, and sighed ruefully, as he ran his hand through his hair.

- One day, Mike had a falling out with that bald guy, Badger. Badger killed him, blaming it on me. Jane and I were forced to leave.

He said, and only then turned to Lee, who was not paying attention to the conversation. He didn't even seem to care that he was there.

- Lee?

Luke called out, somewhat awkward, the last time he had seen Lee, they were not on the best of terms.

However, his call was enough to bring Lee out of his thoughts and stop him from pacing back and forth, looking at him.

- What?

Lee asked, and Luke arched an eyebrow.

- Ahm... nothing, it's just... nice to see you two again, you know?

Luke said awkwardly.

- Oh... yeah, really good... holy shit, it's amazing.

Lee said ironically, sighing irritated and running his hand through his hair.

- Don't take it personally, Luke. As you can see, we weren't treated very well here.

Clementine said, pointing to both her eye and to Lee's injuries, before Luke became irritated by the rude way Lee spoke.

-Yeah, I get it. What happened?

Luke asked, crossing his arms.

- What happened? Hah, I guess you can imagine, Luke. It doesn't fucking matter, what matters is how we get out of here!

Lee said angrily, turning to him.

- Hey, man, what's your problem?

Luke asked, slightly irritated, looking at Lee with a grump.

- My problem? Lots, do you really want to know?

Lee answered, standing face to face with Luke and looking deep into his eyes. They stared at each other for a while, until Clementine stood between them.

- Lee, please. I'm angry too about what they did to Aj, but starting a fight isn't helping anyone.

Clementine said, staring at him, who just sighed and turned away, back into the world in his head.

- Aj? Did that asshole do something to him?

Kenny asked further ahead, and the girl nodded at him with a sigh.

- Ed cut his finger off in front of us. Lee has been like that ever since.

- Ah, holy shit!

Kenny said in frustration.

- Who's Aj?

Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

- Rebecca's son.

She said, and almost smiled at Luke's incredulous expression.

- Her son?! He's alive?!

he asked excitedly.

- Yes, he is. But we don't know for how long. Right now he's probably in the infirmary...

Lee said, putting his hand on his waist and closing his eyes tightly.

- We have to get out of here. You and this "rescue party" were our hope. Now we have to do it the hard way.

Clementine said, crossing her arms and looking at the ground.

- We're not the only ones who came.

A woman further back said, and both Clementine and Lee looked at her.

She had dark red hair, was young, and had light eyes, short stature.

- Apparently, the new frontier has attacked and pillaged many communities out there, and these communities want to make amends. We have received help from some affiliated communities, and others from far away.

A man said, short dark hair, beard also short, expressions stiff, a little over thirty, maybe.

-... And where is this help?

Lee asked, and the man stared at him for a moment, before looking away, without answering.

Lee just laughed lightly. He didn't care if they answered him or not.

- Okay. So, since you are here, and you got all this "help", you wouldn't come alone, just a few people against a whole community, I assume that reinforcement is around. And I doubt they came to resolve this peacefully.

Lee said aloud, pacing back and forth, but a little calmer this time, ignoring the stares that fell upon him.

- And if you were captured last night, prowling around near the walls on one side, I suppose reinforcement is coming from the other side. Maybe they have split up into groups, to attack from all sides of the community, since this reinforcement must be quite large, while some group tries to negotiate at the front gates, and since they don't plan to do it peacefully, some of these groups have positioned themselves in strategically selected surrounding buildings so that maybe they can take advantage of that herd to destroy this place... am I right?

Lee asked, smiling mockingly at the man, aware of the surprised expressions around him.

- How... how do you know that?

The woman asked, incredulously, and Lee just shrugged.

- That would be my plan. The thing is, these people are not going to negotiate, so whether you like it or not, there is going to be a little war between communities here.

He said, looking at the cell door for a few moments, until he looked at Clementine.

- Clem. Lie down on the floor there, with your back to the wall. That beating we received was not in vain.

He said, pointing to a seat next to the armchair beside him. The girl arched an eyebrow in confusion at the sudden request, but did so without hesitating. She knew Lee well enough to know that he had a plan.

- Ken, call the asshole at the bottom of those stairs. Tell him that Ed's daughter isn't feeling very well, since she was attacked by the guards on the way to the cell.

Lee said, looking at Kenny, who nodded at him and walked toward the door.

- Whoa, wait a minute, you trust this guy? Do you know him?

One of the men asked, he was tall, dark skinned, black hair combed back into braids, rigid features, early forties, maybe.

- I've known this son of a bitch for years. I trust him with my life.

Kenny said, before starting to slam the cell door.

- Hey, the son of a bitch up there. Get your ass over here!

Kenny shouted, remaining silent for a few moments, and the grumbling of the guard upstairs could be heard.

- Are you fucking deaf?! Come on!

Kenny shouted again.

- Oh, shut up! I don't even want to be here right now!

The guard yelled back, and Kenny rolled his eyes.

- Well, but you are! How about making your life easier and checking on Ed's daughter before I decide to tell him that you beat her up on the way over here?!

Kenny shouted again, and the silence lasted for a few moments. Moments later, the guard's footsteps coming down the stairs were heard, and he faced Kenny through the bars of the door.

- What do you mean?

- Exactly what you heard. Your little friends beat her up on the way here, she's not fine. Do something about it before I go shouting to the four corners of the world what they did!

Kenny said angrily, and the guard rolled his eyes wearily, grumbling softly as he saw the girl lying on the ground with blood on her clothes, and a man kneeling beside her.

- Those idiots... I'll be right back.

He said, walking up the stairs again, and walking away.

- Ok... what's the plan?

Kenny asked, and Lee took the knife from his waist, throwing it into the air a few times.

- Where did you get this?

Clementine asked, groaning slightly in pain as she sat up, and looking at Lee with a raised eyebrow.

- I wanted to make them beat me up, I picked it up while they were beating me up...you weren't supposed to get involved...but well, you've always been a strong little girl, I doubt this would be a problem for you.

He said, smiling slightly at the girl, who snorted with amusement.

- Actually, it doesn't. For grown men, they hit like little girls... ow!

the girl said, and Lee arched an amused eyebrow.

- Back in position.

He said as he heard footsteps approaching, and hid the knife again.

The cell door opened, and two guards entered.

- You, stand back.

The guard said, pointing his rifle at Lee, who stood up and moved a few steps away, staying close to the wall.

One of the guards walked over to the girl, while the other stood by the door.

In one swift movement, Lee takes his knife and stabs the guard next to the door in the neck. Pulling his arm tightly, he runs to the next guard and punches him hard in the face, sending him to the ground.

Kicking the man's rifle aside, Lee kneels at his neck and stabs him in the abdomen, remaining in that position until the man had no more strength left.

- Jesus...

Luke whispered, alternating his gaze between the two bodies on the ground.

- Are you still with that naive no-kill idea, Luke? Looks like we're going to get along just as well as we used to.

Lee said, standing up and grabbing the pistol that was in the guard's waistband.

- I'm not the same as before, Lee. You don't plan to leave them like this, do you?!

Luke said angrily, and Lee rolled his eyes.

- Why wouldn't I be? They're more useful dead than alive!

Lee said, picking up the rifle from the ground and tossing it to Kenny, handing the pistol to Clementine soon after.

- Lee is right. Besides, the other communities didn't send people here to talk, did they? People are going to die anyway.

Kenny said, checking the other guard's body.

- What do we do now? It won't be long before these guys come back.

Clementine asked, looking at the two bodies on the ground.

A short time later, the sound of a crowd in despair echoed through the place, and it wasn't long before shots were heard.

- Now we get out of here. Clem and I are going after two very important people. We'll meet up later, Kenny.

Lee said, walking out of the cell.

- Sure thing, pal.

Kenny said, waving to Lee, before he left with Clementine right behind him.