AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, so this is awesome. I'm writing this like a quarter of the way through and I'm really excited for you guys to read this. It came out great and I hope you're ready for it. Enjoy!
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Chapter 6: Reunited
"Lee!" Clementine shouted with glee as she ran over to him and hugged him tight.
Lee gladly accepted the embrace and reciprocated it, hugging Clementine tight with his right arm. He couldn't do much to lift his other arm, so something would have to be done about that soon. Regardless, he was glad that he was the one to get shot. It was miraculous that both Glenn and Carley came out so unscathed. It almost worried him more about his wound because they were getting ridiculously lucky.
Carley and Glenn stood over the two, the former of which flashing Lee with a grateful expression, which he shrugged off, and the latter wore an expression of regret. He wished he could have taken the shot, but he wasn't strong enough, not today.
"You guys alright," Lee asked.
The two looked at each other, then Clementine, and finally responded, "Yeah," Carley going a bit further, adding a "Thanks to you," in a tone that Clementine was too young to read.
Lee made a face, once again, she was too young to understand what just happened.
"What was that?" Clementine asked, starting to grow frustrated with being left out.
Lee and Carley's eye contact was broken as they both snapped to Clementine, Lee stuttering, trying to form some sort of explanation, but it ended up being Glenn to save him this time, "Trust me, you don't want to know," he said with a slight grin.
There was a moment of silence, it was loud, Clementine clearly wanted to know.
Lee looked to Glenn with a "Don't you dare" expression, but Glenn only grinned harder, whispering in Clementine's ear too quiet for them to hear. Lee's face turned to one of annoyance, but when Clementine's face lit up, he couldn't stay that way.
Clementine hugged Lee again. On a street littered with death, after days of the same, Clementine, the child, remained pure, giggling about Carley and Lee's flirting.
She would pick on them, making jokes about it all the way up until they had made their way to the front of the Marshall House. The group stood proud, ready to go in, unsure of how they would explain to her the fate of her parents once they found them, nor were they ready to console her. This was going to be tough.
…
The streets had grown far too quiet since she had got there like the dead were avoiding her, even the living hadn't crossed her path since the drug store. Sure, she didn't want to run into anything that wanted her dead, but it felt like she was alone, and not seeing a soul for days on end, it was maddening.
She hadn't meant to let herself feel this way, but if this is what it would feel like to be out on the water, she wasn't going to choose that option, no, instead, she would explore the area a bit, perhaps there was something that she could make her own.
She had just barely entered the town by now, all was quiet, the sounds that had allured her vanished. She wondered, was it like a mirage, was it even real? What did she do to deserve this?
She scanned the area around her as she stood at a stoplight, there was nothing, nothing in any direction. Then she looked forward, far forward, examining the finer details. She thought she might have seen something. She continued walking. No, jogging. No.
At a full sprint, she would be able to see whatever it was that she saw before much better in no time. In fact, it only took her a few seconds to be able to depict what she saw as a body. She continued sprinting, full of hope, hope that something living remained out there for her.
She made it to the corner of Boughton and Drayton, she awaited some glowing, living faces, but when she scanned the area, it was bodies. Bodies everywhere, all wearing the same clothes. They had belonged to a group, but there were no other bodies, no feasting walkers, nothing. Who the hell lived here, the Grim Reaper?
"Dammit," Lilly said as she let her hope falter.
That was until she turned around at a rustling sound. She stood attentive, ready to attack whatever was there, but what she saw was a woman, young, small, with a scar across the top of her head. She had rolled onto her side. She looked at Lilly with fear, trying to get to her feet and run away. She had, in fact. But when she heard Lilly shout, "Wait!" She felt compelled to turn around.
The woman turned, and with an apprehensive expression, she walked back toward Lilly, grabbing at her head, the wound looked fresh, it wasn't going anywhere either.
"What happened here?" Lilly asked.
"What does it look like," The woman asked.
"I don't know, a gunfight?" Lilly asked. The bodies were riddled with bullets now that she took the time to notice it.
The woman didn't further affirm that, but it was clear that Lilly had been right.
"Who did you fight?" Lilly asked.
The woman didn't answer for a second, either out of apprehension or further doubt, but eventually, she gave her answer, "Two men, a woman, and a little girl."
Lilly tried to make that fit her old group, but as hard as she tried, it didn't make sense. There were three men and two children. So, either two of them died, Duck included, or the group split. It just had to be them.
Lilly knew just what to ask, "The little girl, did she have a hat on?"
The woman, perplexed by the sudden understanding as well as the obvious connection this woman had to the people who attacked her, answered with a nod.
"Were you… with them?" The woman asked.
Lilly didn't do much to answer that question, but it was pretty obvious.
Her next, and final question was "Where did they go?"
The expression on Lilly's face told Ava everything she needed to know, she grinned and pointed in the direction of the Marshall House. The two picked up some weapons from the ground and started walking with one intent in mind.
…
As Clementine's hopeful smile shone through the lobby of the Marsh House, all three adults behind her had an opposite reaction. First, there were surely walkers in this place, which put Clementine in direct danger. Second, there was still the issue of breaking the news to Clementine. And finally, there was a choice to be made once it was all said and done, where would they go?
The place was largely quiet, but they clearly weren't alone. The noises of footsteps, likely walkers, could be heard above them. This was going to take some work.
"Clementine, stay close, even if you see them, they could be-" Lee started.
"...Bit," Clementine finished, looking back at Lee, she knew what she was doing.
Even if "bit," wasn't exactly what he meant, she got the idea. Lee knelt down and grabbed her by the shoulders, she had been shaking.
"Clementine," Lee said in a calm voice.
She grew steady.
"You need to be brave, we might see something really bad, so I need you to be brave like you were back there on the street when you tried to grab the gun. Can you do that for me?" Lee asked.
"Lee?" Clementine responded, not answering the question.
He tilted his head to acknowledge her.
"Did it hurt?" She asked. Eyeing his shoulder obviously.
He nodded, "Hurt like hell, but I got lucky, the bullet went right through, I'll be fine."
There was a brief moment of silence, with Clementine closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths before answering Lee's question.
"I'll be brave, I promise," she said. Lee smiled. He believed her.
The group cautiously made their way to the stairs and slowly walked up them. When they got to the second floor, where Clementine had claimed that they used to stay, they were greeted by a group of people, all staring them down from across the hall with wide eyes. Lee held his hand in front of Clementine, but when a familiar face emerged from the crowd, she ran towards the crowd with a wide smile.
A woman emerged from the group and hugged Clementine tight with teary eyes. That couldn't have actually been her. There was no way. Lee made to take a step toward the group, but was immediately greeted with the sounds of guns clicking as he was told to "Stay."
Every bone in his body urged him to keep stepping forward, they had Clementine, he couldn't just stand still. But he did. He had already been shot once that day and he couldn't have that happen again.
"Clementine?" Lee called from the other end of the hallway. The girl turned to face him and realized what she had done. She grabbed the woman's hand and practically dragged her to Lee and her group, passing some people holding guns. There were murmurs as they made their way down the hall.
"Lee, this is my mom. I told you she would be here!" She exclaimed proudly.
"But- how is that possible, on the voicemails you sent- I thought-"
The woman interrupted him in a kind tone, "That was… my husband, he got bit and… you get the idea."
Clementine had a mix of emotions hearing that, "Daddy is gone?" Clementine asked in a somber tone. Her mother nodded in an equally somber fashion.
There was an awkward silence that followed. Lee didn't know what to do. Sure, he wanted Clementine to be happy, but what was he to do now?
The woman broke the silence next, asking Lee if he was the one to protect her all this time.
He didn't give himself that credit, but Carley spoke up on his behalf, "He hasn't let a hair on her head get hurt." The woman looked at him with a grateful smile.
"So what now?" Glenn asked in a flat tone.
Not even Lee had that answer. He looked at Diana. She gave him a bit of a glare, she had read him. He didn't want to leave her.
"We can- We can talk about that later, we should get settled in for the night. Things might not be so good tonight, there was supposed to be an attack from Crawford and we have been preparing all day for it." She said.
"They're dead," Lee said.
"Well I like the enthusiasm, but they're tougher than that," Diana said, doubting Lee.
Carley affirmed, "They're really dead, we killed them. That's what happened to Lee's shoulder, he got shot."
The woman's gaze shifted from her face to his shoulder, they hadn't even noticed the wound at first. How inexperienced were these people?
"Yeah, that looks horrible, does it hurt?" She asked.
"Yeah, a little bit," Lee answered in a short tone.
The woman must have noticed the tone because her next eye contact felt like more of a glare, which Lee was angered by. Clementine stood there, confused, as her mother stared daggers into the man who had protected her and he reciprocated.
To Glenn and Carley, it was clear. Lee wasn't leaving her without Clementine. They couldn't really blame him, but it was hard to tell if he was in the right.
It was late in the afternoon by now and Lee was being tended to by some of the group's people, largely on the older side. The man introduced himself as Vernon, he said that he and his group didn't go out much because of Crawford, so that explained their sloppiness.
Lee was generally dismissive and as time went on, he was more and more angered watching Clementine talk to her mother. He shouldn't have felt this way, it hurt to be this mad, but he just couldn't do it. He couldn't lose everything again. He had come a long way since this all started, but Clementine was still all he had to live for. When he noticed that his fist was balled, he took Carley and Glenn and went to the roof of the four-story building. He needed some fresh air.
He stood on the roof his one foot on the brim, outlooking the town. His bandages around his arm were tight, almost eliminating the pain, almost.
"Lee?" Glenn called. He must not have had as good of an eye for these things as Lee did. Carley stood silent behind Glenn, unsure of how to approach the situation.
"We can't do this. I never should have let this happen," Lee said.
Glenn, confused, asked "What? This is great. Why would we not do this?"
Carley saw through the situation, what was about to happen. She stepped in front of Glenn and stopped Lee from letting his anger from boiling over.
"Those idiots are going to get her killed. They let us walk in the front door. They didn't even notice that I was injured, what if that was a bite? They don't even go out for supplies. They just… they'll be the end of her." Lee explained.
"That's family! You don't get to take her from her mother, that's not your choice to make!" Glenn retaliated.
"Not the time Glenn," Carley yelled, Lee was a little harder to contain now.
As tensions were rising, Lee threw his arm out of Carley's restraints and faced the other direction.
"She's all that I-" Lee started, but as he paid a little more attention, he saw two bodies walk into the front doors of the motel, holding rifles.
"Shit we need to go, now! Carley, do you have the guns?" Lee asked.
Carley looked down as if expecting to see that bag that she had been carrying, but it wasn't there. She looked back up at Lee, he knew what that face meant.
Without a word, Lee sprinted past the two and ran down the stairs, almost slipping several times. By the time he got to the third-floor stairs, he heard the first gunshots, they came from automatics, there were several bursts of bullets that came directly after. The two people he saw walk inside were still alive. He kept going down. Step by step he grew closer. He heard footsteps above him now, meaning that Carley was coming now too, hopefully, Glenn as well.
Lee made it down the stairs but was immediately met with a kick in the chest, knocking him on his back, and a barrel of a gun to the face. A face that he met only a day ago stood over him now. The scar from where he shot her was the first thing he noticed.
"Shit," He said.
The woman smiled. It felt good to have Lee under her boot after what he did to her and her people. She was going to kill him, for her friends, for her town, and for herself. She pushed the barrel of the gun into his face, but Lee didn't budge. He stared down the barrel with intensity, daring her to pull the trigger. Her accomplice saw the anger and ordered her not to shoot, she still had business to deal with. With that, a pair of screams could be heard from the end of the hallway. One of them he could recognize immediately, it was one of his least favorite sounds in the world now, it was Clementine. The other one must have been her mother. Lee tried to look up, but the woman pushed the barrel further into his face, forcing him down.
Carley and Glenn stood like deer in headlights as they remained halfway down the stairs with a gun pointed at them by a much more familiar person.
"Lilly?" Glenn asked. Her tattered clothes, dirty hair, and foul disposition would've hidden her longer, but her glare was easy to spot.
The aforementioned woman gripped Clementine by her hair and angrily walked toward Lee. She stomped on his chest and pointed her handgun at his head. Ava was ordered to keep the other two from coming down the stairs.
"Clementine! You better not fucking hurt her you-" Lee started, but was kicked in the face by Lilly.
"Shut the hell up. Do you know what you did? You are monsters, all of you, you just destroy every good thing that you see. You're- You're monsters." Lilly monologued.
"You're the monster! You're hurting a child! What did she do to deserve this!" Glenn yelled back.
Lee was confused by Glenn. They fundamentally disagreed with how to handle Clementine, but he was still helping now. That was just what he needed.
Lee still struggled against his restraints, which granted him the brief and short-lasting ability to see what was going on. He scanned the hall quickly. He saw so much red, so much gore, he nearly vomited. The next thing he noticed was Clementine. Lilly wasn't really hurting her, she just held her tight for restraints. The final thing he noted before being kicked back down was a person, at the end of the hall, with three bullet holes in varying places on her body, oozing with blood. It was Clementine's mother, she was still breathing, and she wore a vicious expression. She rose to her feet and limped toward the fray.
Lee understood the gravity of the situation. He needed to keep them distracted.
"Do you know what I had to do to escape that place?" Lilly asked in an exasperated tone.
"I tried to save you, there was no way," Lee said in a faked genuine tone, trying not to make it obvious what they were doing.
"Bullshit. You locked the door in my face!" Lilly screamed back.
Ava didn't even look back at them. She was too busy glaring daggers at the people who killed most of her men.
Lee didn't speak, he only stared at Lilly.
"I had to use my dad's body as a shield. Do you know what it's like to watch someone you love get torn to shreds?" Lilly asked.
Lee laughed, "Your dad was a bastard anyway."
He wouldn't have said that if he didn't see Diana ready to strike behind Lilly. She rose her hands and made to strike, but Lilly saw her out of the corner of her eye. Lee got up as fast as he could as Lilly shot the woman. He tackled Lilly and disarmed her. He had her on her back and he put all of his weight on her. Ava turned around. She aimed at Lee, but Glenn was quick, he swiped the gun out of her hands and got punched in the mouth. Carley was the last line of defense, knowing this, she kicked Ava's leg and forced her to the ground. Carley wasn't great in hand-to-hand combat, but luckily, Glenn was back up and he was quick to pin Ava's arms to the wall. Carley threw a punch and hit her straight in the gut. She keeled over in pain but wasn't giving up yet.
She grabbed at her torso as she crawled toward a weapon.
"Shit," Glenn said as she was too quick to stop. He dove on her as fast as he could, he managed to pin her arm to the ground again, with the help of Carley, Ava was subdued.
Lee wasn't fairing as well. He was barely able to hold Lilly down as she fought against his restraints. Clementine spoke to her mother through tears as it all unfolded.
Lilly managed to get her arm free, naturally, the first thing she did was strike Lee with it, right where he was shot. Lee groaned as he was thrown to the ground. Lilly sat on top of him now. Where Lee held back on her before, Lilly wouldn't. She landed strike after strike on Lee's face. Every punch was full of emotion, hatred, vengeance, malice. She hated Lee for what he made her do.
Lee's vision was growing darker, as each punch landed, he was taking one hell of a beating.
With Lee's vision growing dark, Lee started to accept his fate. Clementine would be in good hands, the group would keep her safe, and maybe, just maybe-
BOOM
Lee's ears rang as he felt something hit his chest. Was he shot? Lee forgot how to open his eyes. Lee gained his senses back slowly as he noticed a body on top of his. It was Lilly. He tossed her off of his chest and crawled away. There was a hole in her head. When Lilly's body slid off of him, he was granted the ability to see directly in front of him, where Clementine stood, holding a handgun with quaking hands and teary eyes. She had been the one to kill Lilly.
Clementine fell to her knees and started to sob. Behind Lee, the other woman managed to escape her restraints and run away. She dove out a window and no further sound was heard. Lee rushed over to Clementine, squeezing her tight as she sobbed.
Carley and Glenn came over and hugged them as well.
Lee looked over to his side and saw Clementine's dying mother. She spoke her final words, "Thank you," moments before she shut her eyes, never to be opened again. Hoping not to have her turn, Lee pointed the gun at her head, turned away, and fired. Clementine's cries intensified, as did the embrace.
As Lee closed his eyes, burying Clementine into his shoulder, he heard creaks all around him. Doors opened all around the hallway, several people coming out.
"Is it over," an older woman asked.
Lee didn't respond, he only continued to hug Clementine.
Glenn, on the other hand, removed himself from the group, speaking to the older people too quietly for Lee to hear.
…
He wasn't sure when it happened, but Lee had fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes, Clementine lay with her head on his stomach. Carley was only a few feet away, smiling at Lee. He smiled back and asked "What," to which she only shrugged, smiling more at him as she gestured to the sleeping girl on his chest. "It's cute," Carley said in a sweet tone.
Lee paused for a moment, looked down at her, and said "Yeah, I guess it is."
Carley's smile slowly turned into a frown as she looked to the floor, "Glenn is leaving, tomorrow," she said.
Lee looked over to Glenn and saw him talking to some people. There were three of them, a woman, a man, and another man, only much older.
"Yeah, I see that," Lee remarked.
"What are we gonna do?" Carley asked.
Lee paused for a moment before giving his answer.
"North," Lee said.
Carley looked at him with an estranged expression, "North? How far?"
"I don't know, but it should be better up there, more food to hunt, hopefully more water, and who knows what it does to the walkers," Lee explained.
Carley nodded, then scooted closer to Lee, "Works for me," she said, pausing for a second, looking at Clem, and continuing, "What about her," she wondered.
Lee looked at her as well, her tiny face under her iconic hat, her eyes so full of tears, "We teach her," he said.
"We?" Carley asked.
"Well- yeah- I mean-" Lee stuttered.
"Got it… we," Carley said, smiling down at Lee.
Clementine, with her eyes closed, whispered "Gross," which made the three giggle.
The night came and went, the three remaining in that corner for the remainder of the night. Glenn talked to the three through the night, he would leave before the others woke up, taking only the three people he met with him, Dale, Ed, and Carol. On his note, he detailed his plan, which was, ironically, undetailed. He would go to Atlanta, try and find some of his friends, and see where things went from there.
Glenn was a good man, he was there when it counted, even if he disagreed with you. He was an ideal friend, more than ever in the world that the group found themselves in. Losing him would be the biggest hit yet.
Before the group departed, they went back to the dock where Kenny had left from, not to find him, per se, but to leave a message for him when he came back. Lee knew Kenny only a little bit, but it was easy to tell a strong person from a weak one and Kenny was clearly the prior.
When he came back, which he would, he and Duck would only need to follow their path. The sign only said two words, "North -Lee."
With that, the group turned and faced north, with Clementine in the middle of the two, they held hands and started their new journey. North.
…
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, a lot happened, even if it was technically a shorter chapter than usual. If I could have done it again, I would have combined the last two chapters, but I expected this one to take longer.
Now, as for the next chapter, I am viewing this one as the end of "season one," as it be. I have exciting plans for these characters and I know a lot of what is going to happen.
When it comes to Crawford, Ava will go back to them and eventually escape when it falls, because it will, just as it did in the game.
With Glenn, he was always going to go to Atlanta, because I want him to experience his story in the show as closely as possible, now he may have left a day or two late, but with Carol, Ed, and Dale, he is now following the show's canonical events, through and through. I'm just glad I was able to make his impact on Lee felt while I stretched out his time a bit.
For the next chapter, there WILL be a time skip. Several months if my plans pan out. I'll explain more about that in the next chapter, but all three of our protagonists will still be alive, Clementine will age up a bit, and the group will look sharp for season two.
Diana: I said she died in chapter one, that was never the plan, it was Lee's interpretation of the situation. I planned on having them actually be alive, but obviously, Ed, Clem's father, was bit, the phone calls hid that in subtext a bit. She saw how Lee was around Clementine and immediately knew it had to be him to take her if she was going to survive. The fact that she was shot only forced it to happen sooner. I feel like Clementine getting to say goodbye to at least one of her parents added a lot to the story and her character, so I'm glad it happened the way it did.
Now, if you have any questions, dm me, either on the site or on Instagram, lucashtwd or lucashamacher. I also have a Twitter that I post story updates on lucashauthor. If you are reading this on Ao3, just comment with your question and I'll answer with a reply as soon as I see it.
Finally, thanks for all of the support. The positive comments and relatively good views that I get make this all worth it. I enjoy writing this story and I'm glad you guys enjoy reading it. As for the next chapter, as usual, I can make no promises, but I find the time when I can. For all I know, it could come out today, tomorrow, or next week. Okay, I've held you long enough. Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon, hopefully.