- Oh, shit!
Lee grumbled, getting out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop, and moving as fast as he could toward the burning ranch.
Cars were stopped just in front of a small bridge to the entrance of the ranch, where a man was sitting with his back to the fence, a gun in his hand.
Lee ran up to the man, who tried to raise the gun in his direction, but quickly, Lee kicked him hard in the face, and picked up the gun, shooting the man shortly after.
Looking away, he runs toward the burning house, with Clementine right beside him.
Further ahead, two men were shooting at some people who were trying to escape the fire, and were quickly killed by the two, who as soon as they approached their bodies, took their rifles.
The corridor on the right was almost completely consumed by flames, the one on the left, however, was still safe enough to pass through.
Running towards the doors further down the hall, they shot at the two other people ahead, also armed, killing them quickly.
Clementine opened one of the doors and checked inside, grumbling loudly when she saw that the room was empty.
Turning around, she throws herself backwards in reflex, dodging a knife blow that a woman tried to hit her with.
- You can't take them! I won't let you take them!
The woman shouted, somewhat angrily, attacking Clementine without giving her a chance to say anything. Grumbling again, the girl uses her rifle to stop the woman's attack and punches her in the throat, hard enough to make the woman move a few steps away.
Kicking her in the side of the knee, Clementine shoots the woman and strides out of the room.
Further ahead, she saw Lee stick the knife into the neck of another woman, and throw her body to the side.
- I couldn't find him!
she said, and Lee gritted his teeth in frustration.
Turning, they both ran to the end of the corridor.
Just as they approached, however, three men appeared coming in the opposite direction, all with guns in their hands.
Taking the lead, Clementine throws her body to the ground and knocks one of the men to the ground while shooting another, leaving the last of them in Lee's hand.
Getting up, she shoots the head of the man she had knocked out, and they open the door to the room, only to throw themselves to the side, managing to dodge just in time before being hit by some shotgun shells.
- You can't have them! You monsters!
The woman on the scene shouted, firing once more at the door.
- They're just children! Joan has no right to sell them out like this!
The woman shouted again, and they both looked at each other.
- Miss, we're not with them! We came-
- Bullshit!
The woman interrupted Lee, shooting once more toward the door.
- Listen to me! We're not with them! We don't want to hurt the children, we just want our kid back!
Lee shouted again, a little more angry this time.
The flames were approaching rapidly, and with each second, the chances of not only the two of them, but of Aj, being caught in the fire increased more and more.
- Liar! You want to get them! Turn them into your soldiers! I won't let you!
The woman shouted, firing again, and it was then that Lee stepped forward, already out of patience. He counted the shots; that model of shotgun could only fit four bullets.
As he entered, he shot the woman in the thigh and started to search the place, while Clementine ran and grabbed her gun.
- No! You monsters! You'll rot in hell!
The woman shouted in some desperation as she saw Lee open one of the lockers after hearing a cry.
- We're not with them! Didn't you hear us?!
Clementine said, just as angry as Lee, looking at the woman with narrowed eyes.
- Aj!
Lee exclaimed, taking the boy in his arms and pressing him against his body. Clementine turned to him and ran toward him, also hugging the boy, who was crying in fear.
Their little reunion was interrupted by the creaking of the room, followed by some rather unpleasant noises echoing down the hall.
- We have to go!
Lee said, handing the boy to Clementine and walking over to the woman, trying to help her up.
- No! No! Don't touch me!
She screamed, crawling backwards, trying to get away from Lee.
- I'm trying to help you! You're going to die!
He shouted angrily, but the woman seemed to ignore him.
Grumbling once more, Lee raises his rifle and shoots the woman in the head. Since she didn't want to leave, he would at least spare her the pain of burning to death.
It was the best he could do to help a person who did not want to be helped.
Soon after, he ran out of the room, with Clementine a few steps ahead of him.
The people who were still there left in desperation, and others, wounded, either by gunshots or stab wounds, simply fell into the corridor, no longer having the strength to walk again.
As a coup de grâce to these people, Lee made a point of shooting them in the head, saving them from more pain, and from having the chance to return as runners, or worse.
Even if they would die in a fire, you never know.
However, Lee looked up suddenly as he heard the place creak, and his eyes widened as he saw the piece of roof that had begun to fall, just above Clementine.
In desperation, he ran up to the girl and pushed her forward, at the same time throwing himself away from the burning roof that nearly crushed them both. Although that didn't free his shirt from burning up.
Gritting his teeth, he takes off his shirt and throws it on the ground, helping the girl up and running back out of the place soon after, as fast as he can.
Once they were out of the burning place, however, Molly and Kenny were having some trouble with the men who managed to get out before they were consumed by the flames.
The bright side, was that these people had their backs to the two of them.
Raising his rifle again, he shoots those men as he paced across the bridge, managing to kill a certain amount of people, in which Molly and Kenny took it upon themselves to finish eliminating.
- Jesus Christ! Are you all right?!
Kenny asked, looking at Lee for a while, until he focused his eyes on Aj, hugging Clementine's neck.
- Yeah... we're fine... Oh, no, wait... my hand...
Lee said, looking wide-eyed at his severed hand, before he and Kenny started laughing.
- Hehehehehehehe, Shit... that was a good one.
Kenny said, but his laughter was interrupted by a sudden punch to his face, sending him to the ground.
Startled slightly, Lee tries to attack the man who punched his friend, but the man sidesteps him and punches him as well, followed by a kick to the stomach.
Gritting his teeth, Lee stands up and looks at his attacker. A shaven-headed man, quite tall, taller even than he was. Besides being tall, he had a strong body, and as a consequence, a very heavy fist.
Right next to him, Clementine and Molly were fighting against two other men, one of whom was trying to grab Aj from the girl's hands. And two more men, apart from those, were approaching from behind.
- Oh, shit... doesn't this shit ever end? They're like fucking cockroaches!
Kenny grumbled at his side, picking up his knife and looking angrily at the man in front of him.
Quickly, he moves towards the man, and Lee follows right behind.
Kenny tries to stab the man in the abdomen, but the man sidesteps and punches him in the face, and tries to attack Kenny again. But Lee was faster and tried to stab him in the side of the torso, forcing the man to cancel his attack, and retreat.
Lee tried to attack him again, but the two men from before arrived, and one of them, with brown hair and a long beard, hit him with a punch to the face, while the other, a bald man with a dark beard, kicked him in the side, and finished with a left cross.
Lee staggers to the side, feeling the world around him spinning, but, taking advantage of the momentum, he turns his body and gives a powerful kick to the stomach of one of the men, making him bend over, and soon after, be thrown to the ground by Kenny.
Putting his forearm in front of him, Lee blocks another punch from the bald man, and counters with a kick to the side of the knee, followed by a strong punch to the face, sending him to the ground.
Before he could even recover, he is forced to throw himself backwards as soon as the big man tried to attack him, and he dodges a punch that would surely knock him out.
Swerving to the side again, he punches the big guy in the stomach, who buckles slightly, but doesn't seem to have suffered much damage.
He tries to grab Lee by the neck, however, Kenny appears and punches him in the side of the body, giving Lee a chance to stab him in the throat. But before he could do this, the brown-haired guy appeared beside him and punched him in the face, causing him to stagger once more.
Kenny grunted softly and kicked behind the big guy's leg, throwing himself backwards after the man who had attacked Lee advanced towards him.
He didn't get very far, though, as the bald man grabbed him from behind, holding him by the arms.
Kenny was trying to break free of his grip, but couldn't, not fast enough to avoid starting to get beaten up by the man in front of him.
He didn't take much damage, however, as Lee appeared and threw himself on top of the man beating him, stabbing him in the neck, and giving Kenny the perfect opportunity to headbutt backwards the man holding him, followed by a punch as he felt one of his arms become loose.
Lee tried to get up, but was hit in the abdomen by the big one before he could, and was forced back to the ground.
The big man knelt on his chest and began to hit him in the face. However, like Kenny, he didn't suffer much damage, as his friend kicked the big guy right in the middle of his face, causing him to get off balance and put one of his arms on the ground, trying not to fall.
It was the perfect opportunity for Lee to stab him in the thigh and get up, punching the man and trying to stab him again in the neck.
However, even while kneeling, the man grabbed his arm and punched him in the stomach, followed by a hook to the chin as he stood up, even though he struggled.
Lee's vision blurred for some time, his whole body ached and he felt disoriented.
- Fucking hell...
Kenny grumbled, trying to punch the man, but the man blocked his attack and countered with a punch to the side of his face, sending Kenny to the ground.
But the man didn't stop. Even with his leg injured, he began to kick Kenny in the stomach.
But it didn't last long, as Lee recovered and advanced towards him, landing a dropkick to the man's face, sending him backwards.
Without resting, however, Lee again advances towards the man, and punches him in the face. The big guy, however, tries to counterattack, but Lee sidesteps and stands next to the man, who this time could not avoid being stabbed in the neck.
Despite the blood that flowed in abundance, he still grabbed Lee's arm and tried to get up.
However, he couldn't, as Kenny stabbed him in the eye before he could do so.
The man's body fell to the ground, as did Lee and Kenny, who sat, panting, next to each other.
-...That was one tough... one tough son of a bitch...
Kenny said amid groans of pain, and gasped, his voice slightly broken.
Lee said nothing, but agreed with his friend, looking over his shoulder for a while, and then back to staring at the man's motionless body as he saw that Clementine and Molly had killed the other men.
After a while, the two looked at each other again, and a smile broke out on both their lips.
Before long they began to laugh, and they fist bumped in a sign of companionship.
- Just like old times...
Lee said, getting up, and helping Kenny up soon after.
- Sure thing... pal.
The friend said, and they turned to the two girls.
Lee quickly walked over to Aj, checking him out.
- Jesus... are you two old men all right?
Molly asked, with a slight mocking tone, wiping the blood trickling down the side of her mouth.
- Old man? I don't feel a day over twenty.
Kenny said, groaning slightly as he felt his wounds throbbing, and wiping the blood trickling down the side of his head.
- Don't let the beard fool you.
Lee said, accepting the support Clementine gave him, and putting his arm over her shoulder.
- Are you all right?
She asked, looking at him with a slight refinement of concern.
- Yes... now I feel amazing.
he said, smiling. A genuinely cheerful smile.
Aj was back with him, Clementine was right beside him with him in her arms, his old friend was back from the dead, Ed was dead.
Hm... maybe, that was the definition of happiness.
- Exactly what Lee said. Don't let the beard fool you.
Kenny said, staring at Aj for a while, getting used to the idea that he was seeing a baby.
- In your case, the gray hair speaks for itself. In his case... I can tell.
Molly said, looking, rather shamelessly, at Lee's bare torso, who was still staring at Aj.
- I'm not that old.
Kenny said.
- You both look old. You both need to shave.
Clementine said, and both men looked at her, pretending to be hurt.
- She's right. I'll get Sarita to fix you up, Ken.
Molly said, starting to walk toward the car, with Kenny right behind her.
- And I'm going to fix you, Lee. There's no use running away like the last few times.
Clementine said, looking at Lee with a small smile, and he just sighed in defeat.
It wasn't as if he had any choice.