"This is it."
Brie's whispering stopped the group behind her.
"We're underneath the center of Crawford, the school isn't far from the opening."
"Okay people, remember the plan." Lee said, the group gathered around him staying as close as they could without shoving. "We stay quiet, we stay hidden, and we stay together. We find what we need and we get the hell out before anyone even knows we're there. Got it?"
"I'll be right behind you." Kenny weaved through the crowd to be face to face with Lee. "If anyone sees us, we take 'em out."
Lee didn't like Kenny's willingness to 'take someone out' though stayed silent as he grabbed on to the ladder. As everyone turned off their flashlights Sharon continued to watch the rear, waiting until she was last up the ladder to turn hers off- incase of a stray walker.
As she neared the side of the school where the group had found a dark hiding spot, Vernon mumbled. "Where is everybody? There should be guards patrolling."
"You disappointed?" Kenny whispered back.
Vernon shook his head. "It's just strange is all."
"I think I see one." Christa said, pointing toward the front of the school. "By the door."
One man wandered the street, his path aimless. The group stared though couldn't get a good look with only moonlight to view him in.
"He's blocking the way." Sharon whispered.
"Okay." Lee gained the groups' attention. "Kenny and I will sneak up and try to take him out quiet, the rest of you wait for our signal, then follow us over."
Ben almost asked what the signal would be but Kenny and Lee already snuck away.
All watched as Lee lead the first attack, waiting in anticipation when he stood from his crouch to tower above the person in the street. Though when Lee raised his axe, the blunt end ready for a blow to the back of the head, he paused.
"What the fuck?"
Molly was the first to question the scene, standing straighter as the figure in the street slowly turned around then dashing to Lee's side when he killed the patroller.
"What the hell?" Christa looked to Sharon, they met with the same shocked expression. "I thought we weren't killing people we didn't have to."
"Something's not right." Vernon stood up. "That guard, he wasn't alive."
Lee turned to the group, then eyed the corpse on the ground. "What the fuck is a walker doing inside here?"
Then they heard it, the sound of distant walkers grumbling and growling having heard Lee's panicked voice and the following chatter of the group in the once quiet streets.
The group hushed, listening to the sound nearing in a brief moment of panic.
Lee turned to the group again, abandoning the notion of being quiet. "Get inside, fast!"
No one hesitated to follow his lead, everyone scrambling inside before the walkers could see
exactly where the next meal went.
Inside proved to be less favorable, once the flashlights were on the group had to fight back the walkers from inside. No one had a chance to think aside from Brie, who only held the largest flashlight in the group.
"Upstairs!" She shouted, pointing the light at the staircase, the only path clear of walkers led there.
The group followed her directions and blindly charged ahead. At the top of the staircase a glass wall with a set of double doors to match sealed the lower floor from the top floor, creating a perfect barrier to prevent walkers from overwhelming the group.
Kenny whispered curses as he surveyed the area quickly, making sure that they are safe for the meantime. He stared up at the ceiling where a tree had toppled and collapsed park of the roof, though it seemed to be clear of danger. "Do you think they saw us?"
Ben raised his hands to his head and began to pace.
Molly held out her hand to Sharon gesturing to the flashlight in her hand. Sharon didn't hesitate, allowing the teen to do what she thought was necessary. Once taken Molly looked around nearby corners to check for walkers. Without her light Sharon squinted at the papers scattered on the ground, she gathered a few and tired reading in the moonlight from the hole in the ceiling.
"What the hell happened here?" Christa exclaimed. "I thought this place was supposed to be secure!"
"What always happens, I guess." Molly said, her voice echoing from the other end of the hall. "In the end, the dead always win."
With that said Ben only paced faster. "Oh man, we are so screwed."
Vernon hummed, calm and collected. "No, this is good."
As Ben stopped his pacing the group paused to ponder what he had said.
"Vernon's right." Lee said. "We can deal with walkers easier than armed guards."
Kenny agreed. "So long as we don't let 'em box us in, we can still do this."
Sharon let the old papers go to the ground, whatever was legible was mostly notes about supplies written on scrap paper.
"The plan hasn't changed." Kenny continued.
"The plan hasn't changed?" Ben scoffed. "Every time walkers show up the plan changes!"
Sharon hushed him. "Ben, it's going to be okay."
"Do you even have any idea how many of them are out there?"
"No." Christa crossed her arms. "You wanna do a headcount, or do you want to get what we need and get the hell out of here?"
"This means there's no chance we can get caught, everyone in Crawford is dead-" Sharon felt her knees weaken. "E-everyone. . . in Crawford. . ."
Kenny looked to Sharon, hearing her tone change and voice drift to mumbles.
"Everyone in Savannah. . ."
"If they couldn't survive, what chance do we have?" Ben failed to register the sudden look of panic on Sharon's face, his words only sending her deeper in a spiral of panic and dismay.
"We're here now, that's all that matters." Christa said, glaring at Ben.
"Come on." Brie called out, ceasing the bickering. "I think I know which way to head."
As the group followed Kenny placed a hand on Sharon's shoulder, guiding her to follow the
group.
Ben followed closely behind Sharon, shaking his head. "I got a bad feeling about this."
"And you didn't before?" Kenny rolled his eyes.
As Brie led the group down the hall she shone her light on all the doors they passed, all were boarded and spray painted with red 'x's. Behind each door was the faint sound of walkers.
Brie stopped at the only unmarked door, standing aside for someone else to open. "Here."
Lee approached with his axe ready, pushing open the door and stepping aside. After a quick look he entered, the moonlight shone directly on the windows, he didn't need Brie's light to see the room is clear of walkers. "Looks okay, everybody in."
The classroom is dirty, some childish decorations still hung on the walls though any papers had been replaced with documents. The desks had been removed and replaced with adult sized chairs from various locations, from foldout camping chairs to dining room chairs.
The chalkboard had a detailed map of the surrounding area. Sharon, momentarily out of her daze, walked up to it, studying the various squares and rectangles only for a moment. "That's the cemetery." She pointed to a large filled in square, the largest on the map. "That's Crawford park, and the school would be here." She almost wanted to mark where Lisa's house was, though just looking at the square made her train of thought stop.
Lee continued further in the classroom, noticing a door with a sign labeled, 'Armory.' He readied himself for a fight, though when he tried pushing the door open it refused.
"Figures." He sighed, lowering his axe.
Kenny stood directly by Sharon's side, inspecting the markings and notes on each square on the chalkboard. "Looks like they were usin' this room as some kind of command center."
"Okay, so now what?" Molly asked the room. "Where do we start looking?"
The group looked to the map on the chalkboard, hoping for a clue as to where the supplies were kept.
"This is all outside of their land." Sharon pointed out for them. "The school would be here, but they didn't bother drawing it."
Brie, who hadn't yet wandered far in the room, looked around for a clue and finding one immediately. "Here."
While the group gathered to see what she had found Sharon stayed put, her eyes lingering on the large map. The whole reason she wanted to go was to find one last clue, one last chance of finding where Lisa went. Part of her wished to see something, maybe they had pictures of everyone who stayed here, medical files, name tags, or personal records.
Staying in this room wouldn't help her find a clue.
Sharon joined the conversation in time to hear the group designate small groups to gather certain supplies. Vernon and Christa volunteered to go to the clinic just down the hall, seeing as they'd know exactly what to grab. Kenny offered to get the fuel from a shed past the courtyard, when Ben and Brie asked to come with Kenny claimed three was too many people for one task, though Ben felt as if it was because he wasn't useful.
"I can grab food." Sharon offered, joining the crowd. "If we know where it is."
"That would be directly below us." Brie said. "I can lead you to it on our way to the shed."
Kenny agreed. "Why don't you take Ben with you, you won't be going far but you need someone to watch your back."
Ben stood straight. "I can do that."
"I guess that leaves me and Molly to go find us a battery." Lee said, pointing to the large square on the map that read 'Motor Pool.'
"Yup." Brie nodded. "It's an auto-shop called Herman's, you can't miss it."
Kenny addressed the group. "Sound good to everyone?"
When no one disagreed or had more to say Lee spoke up. "We've got a plan. Everyone be careful, stay close to one another, and we'll all meet back here."
"Whoever gets back first should use some of those tools we brought to get that Armory door open." Kenny pointed to the armory behind him. "We might need to shoot our way out of here."
Before anyone turned to leave Molly handed Sharon her flashlight back, not saying a word as she left the room.
"We ready?" Kenny asked, addressing Brie, Sharon, and Ben.
"The cafeteria is just on our way down." Brie said. "We'll run into those walkers down the hall, I hope you know how to handle yourselves."
"I spent the first few months on my own, I can handle them." Sharon shrugged.
"Now, I'm not saying that I don't trust you-" Kenny started.
"Then don't." Sharon finished. "Walkers aren't a problem for me, you should know that."
Kenny sighed. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."
The group of four walked out of the classroom, now that they aren't panicked from the walkers they had a chance to observe their surroundings. Posters lined the walls each with their own purpose; a call to arms to unite the people of Crawford, a fear tactic to keep any rebellious persons to stay quiet, the best way to report suspicious behavior including a reward for every successful arrest, and a list of their rules.
Sharon paused to read their rules.
ALL illnesses and medical conditions must be disclosed to the council.
Children under 14 NOT admitted without authorization.
Anyone asked to leave Crawford cannot return UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Theft or looting within the district will NOT be tolerated.
WASTE NOT! Make the most of your rations.
Sharon thought about what could consider a medical condition, both herself and Lisa had their own disabilities. While Lisa's is mental, hers is physical. Would Crawford kick Lisa out for her Bipolar Disorder? Would they have kept Sharon over a watchful eye over a birth defect?
Moving to the next rule Sharon stared at the written number, their age limit being fourteen.
Fivel was thirteen.
Seeing the group slowly leave her behind Sharon caught up with them, keeping the rules in the back of her head.
"When we get down there we should be quiet." Brie said as they reached the doors separating them from the staircase. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of the dead roaming up here, we won't be so lucky down there."
"So if things get too risky just back out." Kenny said. "We have enough food to last a little while, we can survive without it."
Each member of the small group took out their weapons and flashlights, preparing themselves to go downstairs again and face the few walkers that were roaming down there. Only two of the rotting corpses followed them up and three more remained downstairs. Once the threats were cleared Brie led the younger of the group to a set of double doors.
"This is it." She gestured. "Good luck in there, we'll be back here soon."
"Remember, no dangerous stunts." Kenny said, looking to Sharon. "We need you, not the food."
Kenny didn't stay long enough to see the look on Sharon's face, the words made her heart ache.
Ben, however, glossed over the heartfelt words and sighed. "It's weird to be in a school again."
Sharon nodded, not agreeing with the statement but acknowledging his words. With Sharon's flashlight the two first peeked through the vertical windows in the cafeteria doors, flinching at the amount of walkers trapped inside.
While Ben shivered at the amount of walkers Sharon could point out multiple openings that were clear of danger, the cafeteria wasn't full to the brim, if she were to find a way to distract them she could easily slip by.
Directly across from them is the serving counters and behind that the kitchen, once inside there she'd be safe and separated from the walkers in the cafeteria. With one last glance she could see another entrance through the walkers, another set of double doors on the right hand side seemed to lead to another section of the hallway they were in.
"First thing's first." Sharon said, looking back to Ben. "I need a jacket."
Ben groaned.
Sharon led the way down the hall to look for a new jacket and to make sure their surroundings were safe. The two checked every occasional locker though peering inside only reminded them they were inside an elementary school, these jackets are too small to fit either of them, unless one was a particularly big sixth grader.
Sharon tried to avoid looking at the names plastered inside, she knew she wouldn't find Fivel's name as he went to a private school, but the fear of seeing an 'Adam' or an 'Elizabeth' was far too likely to handle, trying to imagine where her siblings are would overwhelm her.
When she spotted the name 'Brandon' she stopped looking all together.
Ben quickened his pace when he saw a janitor's closet, opening the door with haste either uncaring or unaware of the danger that a walk could have been inside. "There's a jacket in here." He said, reaching inside and pulling out a long nylon jacket, the bright orange was easy to see in the darkness.
"Ben." Sharon approached, finally turning on her flashlight now that they were too far from a window to properly see. "What if there was a walker in there?"
Ben's eyes went wide as he realized what he had done, turning wildly to scan the closet for walkers. He dropped in jacket in a panic when he heard scuffed footsteps down the hall. Sharon followed the sound with her flashlight, illuminating a single walker with a broken leg shambling it's way toward them.
"Hold my light." Sharon spoke evenly, calm and collected as ever.
Ben grabbed the light and aimed it at the walker, now only a few feet from them. He watched as she nearly mechanically grabbed the screwdriver from her pocket, grabbing the walkers' shoulder before it could react and bringing it down through it's temple.
The act of killing the walker always came a little too naturally for her liking. There hadn't been many times in her life that she'd shown aggression, she hardly even liked sports. When it came to putting out a walker she had no qualms with it, but they were human at one point, shouldn't she feel bad?
As the walker collapsed to the ground she stared at it. The body was fresh compared to many she had seen around here, the skin had started the process of rotting, the cheeks hadn't been bitten out yet, and the odor wasn't as foul.
Her time to contemplate was cut short as Ben moved the light away, shuffling inside the closet for a moment.
"Here." Ben walked back out, holding a box of disposable gloves. "Not as thick as the yellow ones we had before, but it should work, right?"
She sighed.
As Ben laid the jacket on the ground they discovered a slight flaw, it was made of a stiff polyester material, meaning every time Sharon will move once wearing this she will make a swishing sound.
"Do you think if we get it wet enough, it won't make that noise?" Ben asked, propping the light on a few books and doubling his gloves.
"Hopefully." Sharon triple gloved her hands, grasping on to the wooden handled knife that had belonged to Lisa, the only object she had that would help open a walker's chest. "We'll have to think of something."
Ben frowned as Sharon started to unbutton the walker's shirt, if this had been a female walker she would have simple pulled up the shirt to keep her covered, using blood from the chest was less likely to have old half-digested food but she would take blood from the guts to save herself from looking at someone's exposed breasts. She didn't like to think about it.
"Hey, so. . ." Ben hesitated, his hands hovering over the open corpse. "Ugh. . . this never gets easier."
They counted down and plunged their hands at the same time, it was always strange how warm they felt inside, assuming they would be dead cold.
"So, um. . . something has been bothering me."
Sharon looked up. "What's wrong?"
"I mean, um. . ." Ben hesitated, unsure of how to bring this up. "It's Kenny."
She already knew where this was going.
"I've gotten to know him better now that I'm helping him work on the boat, you of all people know he's a good guy." Ben said. "It's eating me up knowing what we know."
"Ben."
"He deserves to know. It's my fault Katjaa got killed, if I hadn't screwed up in the first place she'd still be alive. How am I supposed to just carry something like that around? We have to tell him."
"And do you think knowing we caused it would make him feel better about it?"
"No, but he deserves to know, doesn't he?"
Sharon paused.
"Wouldn't you want to know what happened to Lisa?"
She whipped her head up to lock eyes with him.
"S-sorry!" Ben looked away from her stare, his eyes lingering on the corpse they still had their hands in. "He should know."
Sharon sighed, regretting having to take a breath directly above the corpse. "You're right, he does deserve to know but he's stressed and still grieving. Now isn't the best time."
"What if we don't get the chance? What am I supposed to say whenever he mentions Katjaa? Nod and pretend like we had nothing to do with it? I don't know how much longer I can keep looking him in the eye, I feel like I'm lying to him." Ben squeezed his hands, unnerved by how the guts in his grip felt. "What if I do something stupid again and get us all killed before he knows the truth?"
"Ben-"
"I got Travis shot."
Sharon stopped again.
"I tried to run away when the bandits attacked, if he didn't pull me back down I would have been killed. He got shot because I panicked, because I didn't say anything. If we told Lee, Save-Lot's wouldn't have attacked us, we could have left before they had the chance if I said something." He took a deep breath. "How is this not bothering you?"
Sharon looked down to the blood coating her gloves. "There's a lot on my mind, Ben. There's so much already I don't know what to panic about." She shook her head. "My arm still burns from the train, so I worry about Travis. I can't help Travis anymore, so I worry about Duck. I don't know how to help Duck, so I worry about Clementine- so I worry about everyone in the group getting fed- so I think about Lisa. There's so much going on, I don't know what to think about first."
"But this is all I'm thinking about! I've hurt so many people. Katjaa, Travis, Duck, Kenny, you. . ." Ben's eyes widened at the last word, quickly focusing on the task at hand.
The reaction didn't go unnoticed, Sharon remembered what Travis said. He still has a crush on her.
"I worry about how I've hurt other people, how I'm going to screw up again if I don't learn from my mistakes."
Part of her wanted to find something mean to say to break his heart, distance himself from her, force him to dislike her, that way she can leave easily. What reason would she have to leave, now? She can't abandon Kenny and Duck, why would she distance herself? Why was her first instinct to abandon everyone?
She could let him down nicely, the age difference wasn't bad but she still didn't like that she could legally drink and he would have graduated high school in June, and if that wasn't enough she doesn't even like boys. Telling him there's no chance between them could distance them enough to be friends but maybe make him think about that instead of the bandit deal.
"I can't pretend anymore." Ben shook his head. "I have to tell him, before anything bad happens again."
She didn't have a choice, her mouth blurting out something mean before thinking of the repercussions. "And what about Carley?"
Ben stopped in his tracks.
"Carley wasn't bitten because of the bandits, she was bit protecting someone you abandoned."
Ben didn't even breathe.
"We both made a mistake by not telling the group, that wasn't only your mistake. Carley was all you." She squeezed the guts in her hands. "Kenny can't know yet, so learn from your mistakes and don't get me killed."
Soaking the jacket in blood took longer than they had hoped, the fabric was still too noisy for Sharon's liking but it would have to do, she needs out of this conversation.
"I need you to go to that door and knock on it." Sharon pointed to the second cafeteria doors down the hall. "The walkers will go toward the noise so run back to this door and wait for me here, once they are distracted I'll go inside and get the food."
She didn't wait to hear a response, knowing that he was too hurt by her words to say anything.
Why did she do that? She doesn't need to push people away anymore, she's going to stay in the group, right? She made a promise. What made her snap at him like that?
As she got to the original doors Sharon could see the walkers were still undistracted, walking whichever direction they were facing. A bright light shone through the windows of the other door, at that moment she realized her haste to go through this plan could have gotten them killed if she wasn't paying attention. Luckily the doors Ben knocked on only opened one way, for walkers to escape they would need to pull on the handles, not push. For now the walkers will stay trapped inside, leaving them more time to grab supplies.
She didn't want to see Ben up close so soon after what she had said, so she stepped inside a little earlier. The few walkers still close by saw her enter, the door nearly impossible to open quietly.
One walker saw through the rouse, she had made too much noise and moved too quickly to be one of them, the others were too preoccupied with the noise that had come from the other door. She had to back away from the walker until the crowd wasn't so heavy, so none would hear the swishing of her jacket aside from the one she was about to kill.
It was dispatched, the screwdriver slipping out with ease. The walkers had mostly gathered to the other door, the sound of them pounding against it drew more of a crowd. A few walkers didn't care for the noise, wandering aimlessly around the cafeteria, the stragglers were sparse enough for Sharon to walk through comfortably, hardly coming within two feet of the dead. When she reached the kitchen she shut the doors behind her, of course if she made noise the walkers could crawl through the counter and sneeze-guard, though would prefer if the stragglers didn't wander inside. To make her job easier, she also took out the few inside the kitchen.
With the threats taken care of she allowed herself to look about the room, having to dig in her bag for the small keychain light to see. A few windows provided enough moonlight for her to notice the deep freezer was open, looking inside proved to be the right choice as every available space was filled with food. The flashlight was dim and small, though she could tell that a few people had been here and had taken armfuls of whatever was closest without paying no mind to what they were grabbing.
Sharon took her bloodstained gloves off and did the same, swiping an arm full of cans in to her backpack and testing the weight, once the bag had become stressful to carry she deemed it was enough.
As she left the kitchen she had found many of the walkers stopped caring about the noises around the door Ben had knocked on, and now were wandering aimlessly again. With a simple fling of a lunch tray the walkers were brought back to the door.
Once she exited the front doors Ben was there to meet her, avoiding eye contact as he helped take off the heavy backpack.
"They have a lot of food in there." Sharon said. "Trade me backpacks, I'll go in for another load and we can take the full bags upstairs together."
Ben nodded, finally responding. "I never liked doing this."
"Doing what?" Sharon asked, trying not to sound hostile or too objective-driven.
"Letting you do all the dangerous stuff and just. . . watching." Ben shrugged. "I always wanted to help but. . . I'd just be in the way."
"I needed you to watch the inn while I was away."
"But what about when you took night shifts? I could have gone."
"I didn't take it too often and Lilly didn't like me up there without a gun. It made more sense for me to go."
"But if you were in danger there was nothing I could do to help. I couldn't help Mr. Parker, I couldn't stop that weird farm guy from hitting you, I couldn't stop the bandits, I couldn't stop Carley from getting bit, I couldn't stop you from crashing the train."
And again Ben found a way to feel guilty about not being able to be there enough for Sharon, of course she only made him feel worse. She guilt tripped him into thinking he's useless when he's just a teen who was thrown in bad situations he wasn't prepared for. Sharon had been used to taking responsibilities, watching her parents behaviours and practically raising her younger siblings, both things she shouldn't have had to do yet did it anyways. Ben is a normal kid, his biggest responsibility in his life was homework.
"I know I'm a coward and I do dumb things, the day Mr. Parker was caught in that bear trap was the first time my choices mattered. Before that I was with all of my classmates and teachers, and then when the bandits came we were stuck in cages."
If things were different he'd never have to worry about what decision could get others killed, he'd never think that being threatened into silence would get him thrown out of safety, he'd never have to face certain death on a daily basis.
"I never had to kill a walker or save someone's life. I could only. . . sit around and listen as they tortured my friends, watch as they killed my teachers."
He doesn't deserve the way he's been treated, he's just a scared boy.
"I'm sorry." Ben mumbled, his ungloved hands long ago covered his eyes. "I wasn't meant to be like you or everyone else, I was just a brass player, I never even had a real job."
Sharon dropped that backpack to the ground.
"I'm just an idiot, I shouldn't be here."
She quickly took off her jacket.
"I'm. . . what are you-"
As Ben lowered his hands to see what Sharon was doing, she already had her arms wrapped around his torso, holding him tight.
"Ben, I am so sorry."
Ben's tears dripped from his chin.
"I always tried to ignore how you felt because I was used to the walkers already, from the start, it never felt wrong to kill them because they were all strangers."
Ben returned the hug.
"The first time I killed one, he had attacked a little girl. Something came over me, I knew I had to protect her and every hit it would only try harder to bite her. Once it was dead Lisa took me away from the scene. But you?" Sharon pulled away. "Every walker you had seen up close. . . you knew them, didn't you?"
Ben nodded, holding up his hand to cover his tearstained face.
"From the moment the walkers came you weren't allowed to adjust, the rest of us were forced to. Now isn't a good time, but once we're out of here we can help you get used to the walkers."
Ben sighed.
"Right now's not a good time to continue this conversation. Kenny and Brie could be back any minute and you still have an empty backpack."
Sharon bent over, pulling up the gore covered jacket and wincing as she put it on.
"I'll only be a bit."
She waited for his nod, then walked inside the cafeteria once again.
As they were talking some walkers lost interest and were now scattered around, meaning another walker closest to the door had spotted her quick movements and noisy jacket.
Now that there were walkers all around she couldn't kill this one safely, not without causing a struggle and making more noise. She backed away, trying to weave through the crowd slow enough to not raise suspicion and yet quick enough to escape the riled up walker's grasp.
Too many walkers were staring at her, slowly they turned their heads to watch as Sharon moved too fast to be a walker.
Before she could react another noise rang through the air, the sound of a car alarm somewhere in the distance. The sound loud enough to rile up the walkers surrounding Sharon.
Just as one more had taken a step forward did a loud banging come from the side doors. All walkers- even the one that had been following her through the crowd turned at the banging and stumbled their way to the doors. Their guttural noises and hissing had become louder than before, the attack on the door was harder and full of intent from the noise of the car alarm.
Without wasting another second Sharon entered the kitchen, she wanted to pay attention to what she was grabbing but found herself unable to, the noises of angry walkers was too loud. They are too dangerous to linger around.
Getting back to the doors didn't feel quick enough, even after she closed the doors behind her she could still hear the angry walkers clear as day, though the car alarm had stopped.
On the other side of the doors is a different scene than she left, Ben was no where to be found and a group of walkers had taken his place.
"Sharon!" Kenny called out from atop the first platform of the stairs, kicking down a walker that had made its way toward him. "Sharon get your ass up here now!"
The hallway, once empty and silent was now packed with walkers spilling out from the doors Kenny and Brie had left to get gas, the walkers blocked her from every exit.
"Where's Ben?" Sharon called back, killing a walker that blocked her path to the stairs. "And Brie?"
"They're upstairs already! Get up here!"
Sharon pushed the next walker aside and killed one that looked at her. As she got to the stairs Kenny had grabbed her hand and yanked her up. He grabbed the two gas cans by his side and followed her upstairs, both of them only slightly faster than the walkers below with the weight they were carrying.
Brie and Ben had the doors held open, waiting for the two to pass the doors to slam it behind them.
Sharon and Kenny, after unloading their heavy baggage, they joined the two holding the door shut as the walkers threatened to break it down.
"We need something to hold it shut!" Kenny shouted over the walkers pounding on the doors.
Sharon couldn't hear him, she only watched as the walkers in front of her face desperately tried to bust down the plexiglass doors, their eyes white, their skin falling off in chunks, their blood smearing the glass.
It wasn't until Lee had pulled her away did she realize he had shoved his hand-axe in the door handle and prevented it from opening.
"Think that'll hold?" Lee asked, letting go of Sharon.
"It's damn well better." Kenny mumbled, taking a deep breath.
"There's so many of them." Brie said, both her and Ben still couldn't look away.
"Did you get what we came for?" Lee asked, looking down to the gas canisters by their feet. "You got the fuel!"
"Ben and I got two full bags of food." Sharon said, trying not to focus too hard on the faces of the walkers. "Should last a few weeks if we're careful."
"A few weeks is better than a few days." Lee smiled.
"Let's not start high-fiving each other just yet, let's get back to the classroom." Kenny said, finally catching his breath. "Give us a hand with these fuel cans, it weighs a god-damn ton."
"Actually." Sharon cleared her throat. "I have a few things I need to look for in the clinic, if that's okay."
"Like what?" Kenny asked, looking her up and down for wounds. "Are you hurt?"
"No, well, I'm fine but. . ." Sharon had kept her jacket sleeve rolled up as much as possible to keep the burn cool, though covered it when around others, so she felt thankful that the janitors jacket she still had on covered it up for her without adding too much heat. "I got burned a few days ago, at the train station."
"Days?" Lee shook his head. "Feels like it, huh? I think that was just yesterday."
"Feels like it was five months ago." Ben said.
"It's not too bad, I just wanted to see if I could find some ointment." Sharon said.
"Alright, Lee can carry your bag to the classroom." Kenny picked up a gas can, grunting as he did so. "And smart thinking with that jacket, just make sure you wash your hands before treating your arm."
Sharon nodded, ignoring Brie's questioning stare as she took off the heavy bag of food.
She waited until the group rounded the corner to the meeting room, waiting until she could hear the door shut. Once she heard the click from down the hall she whipped her head around, nearly pressing her face to the plexi-glass to scan every face, having to stand on her toes to look over some of the walkers.
None of the walkers resembled Lisa or her family, a few women with rotting faces made her heart leap, though after enough time she determined none of these walkers are her.
Although treating the burn on her arm was only an excuse to look for Lisa, she had a hunch that Crawford would keep medical records, maybe Lisa would be on those. She remembered the nurses station is only just down the hall, so she followed the hallway down, once she rounded the corner she quickly pulled herself back.
Her new screwdriver now clenched in her hand, Sharon stared at the five walkers that pounded on the clinic door.
At the sound of knocking on the door Christa yanked it open, ready to face anything that could be behind it. She lowered her weapon when she saw it was only Sharon, who was peeling off a filthy blood covered jacket.
"Finally." Christa sighed. "I didn't think it would take you all so long to find out we were locked in there." At the mention of others, Christa stepped in to the hall. "Wait, where is everyone else?"
"Lee, Kenny, Ben, and the new woman are in the classroom." Sharon said, wiping her hands off on her jeans.
"And what about Molly?"
"I didn't see her out there, I think she's in there already."
"Wait, so you took out those walkers all by yourself?"
Sharon nodded. "Yeah, I'm used to taking them out on my own."
"What about the group? Haven't you had them to watch your back?"
"When this all started, I was. . ." Sharon hesitated, trying to think of her cover story.
Vernon's voice chimed in from inside the clinic. "Christa, you can interview her later, right now we still need that code."
"Code?" Sharon latched on to the change of subject. "Code for what?"
Christa dropped her suspicion and allowed Sharon to enter.
The clinic had been covered in a fine layer of dust and decay, even when in use it looked as if no one had cleaned the floors or bothered to pick up the trash, thankfully the used needles box was in use and had been locked shut. The only thing to worry about in this clinic was dust mites.
Vernon sat on a rolling stool in front of a three drawer high filing cabinet, hunched over a manila folder and squinting to read the print inside. He looked up only to acknowledge Sharon's presence.
"It looks like they were keeping all the prescription meds in that safe behind me, all locked up tight. In order to grab the medicine we need a four digit code to get in that locker." Vernon pointed his thumb to the locker behind him, a pin-pad placed directly in the center of the caged shelves.
With Sharon's flashlight she could see the medicine inside, though the mesh cage wouldn't allow even a pinky finger through. Judging by the welded joints she guessed this was constructed solely for this purpose, stopping people from getting the medicine they need.
"We don't want to keep guessing in case it locks us out. The only lead we have is to hope whoever ran this place might have written the code down somewhere, and if it comes to it we bust it open."
Christa dug inside of a cardboard box that sat beside the filing cabinet. "They catalogued files of every resident and the doctor recorded video of every visit I've been looking through hoping that we can see him enter the code but I haven't had any luck."
Sharon's eyes glossed over the camcorder that Christa was watching the tapes through and stared at the filing cabinet. Files of every resident.
"Would you mind watching over the tapes while I help look through the files?" Christa asked, holding out the next tape for Sharon to take.
"Um. . ." Sharon looked between the tape and the files. "Actually if you don't mind. . ."
Christa rested her arm, looking down at the tape briefly. "What's wrong?"
"Could I look through the files?"
Vernon's eyes narrowed at her. "If you're thinking of peeping at people's private records, the answer is no." He pushed himself away from the cabinet and crossed his arms. "I know the world's gone to hell, but I won't accept any more HIPPA violations just because you're a little curious."
Christa sighed and turned to face him. "Wouldn't we be achieving the same thing if we let her watch some tapes?"
Sharon nodded in agreement. "I promise I don't want to snoop in on other people's lives. I'm. . . I'm hoping somebody I know would be in there. I don't want to look at private files, but I will help look for the code or a clue as to how to open the safe if I can just read a few names."
Vernon uncrossed his arms, staring at the cabinet in thought.
"I'll keep looking through the tapes." Christa volunteered, returning to her spot by the counter with the tape recorder.
Vernon dug his hands and pulled out a folder, handing it to Sharon. "Just look through the notes, see if anything was prescribed and we'll have Christa look through their tapes."
Taking the file, Sharon read the name at the top of the folder.
Just for a moment she glanced over the files that Christa and Vernon had already looked through just to read the names, none looked familiar. She decided she would look for Lisa after searching, at least to appease Vernon and not risk herself being banned from looking.
Christa fumbled with the camcorder for a few moments, when the tape started to play and a male's voice rang out Sharon paused to listen in. He started with a statement; who he was, the patients' name, the time, and the date. She tried not to listen, curious to how these people lived. After the outbreak she hadn't come into close contact with people aside from her current group.
As Sharon reached for a new file her jacket sleeve rubbed against her arm, the dull work of reading files wasn't enough of a distraction to numb the pain from her burns. With the new file in hand she stared at the locker. "Is everything locked in there?"
"Not everything." Vernon said, flipping a page without giving her a look. "High theft and high demand items mostly. Why, do you need anything?"
Sharon hummed, debating whether to show him or to look for burn cream later. She had no viable reason for hiding it yet a thought in the back of her head told her she shouldn't appear to be vulnerable, she has to be the strong one.
"Are you hurt?" Christa asked as she paused the tape she was listening to.
With both of them now looking to her for an answer she caved in, setting the file down and taking off her jacket to reveal the large bumpy red mark across her forearm, a few blisters had formed in the center.
"Shit, I didn't think it was that bad." Christa stared. "Doesn't that hurt?"
Sharon bit her lip, now that she focused on the pain it did in fact hurt. A whole day of finding distractions to ignore the pain only added to how terribly it felt, she tried to find something else to think about though Vernon had grabbed her arm and started to examine it.
"How long has this gone untreated?"
"About a day."
"Once we get that cabinet open you'll apply ointment on it and keep it bandaged. Do not try to pop those blisters, got it?"
Sharon nodded.
"Your group can't handle more infections." Vernon sighed, returning to the filing cabinet. "The sooner we find that code the sooner we get that treated, leave your jacket off for now until we do."
Sharon nodded again, tying the arms of her jacket around her waist and quickly returning to the files.
"Sharon." Christa said, clearing her throat and repeating herself in a different tone. "Sharon?"
Sharon closed her file and put it away before looking up. "Yeah?"
"You mentioned a while ago you wanted to leave your group." Christa unloaded the tape she was watching and grabbed another. "What's your plan now?"
Sharon took a new file in her hands, reading the unfamiliar name before speaking. "I'm going to stay with my family."
Christa's shoulders slumped, staring at the tapes labeled 'Anna Corea.'
"What are your plans?"
"Once Omid is healed. . . we might be leaving. I was going to ask if you'd wanted to stay with us, but I won't ask you to split up your family for us."
"Then I'm glad we were able to find Omid some medicine before we. . . part ways." Sharon smiled. "It was nice meeting good people and not. . . not the people we've met so far."
"We've felt the same, big groups never seemed to work out for us and it'll be nice to leave on good terms. Besides, the boat doesn't look big enough to fit everyone."
"Wait, what?" Sharon looked up from her file. "What do you mean?"
"The boat is pretty small, it looks like it would with all of us and all of the supplies."
Sharon blinked, thinking about the boat again and how it fit only five people comfortably. A perfect size for Lisa, her parents, little brother, and Sharon to take a day out in the ocean.
"Oh my god." Christa covered her mouth, squinting at the small screen. She walked away from the screen, prompting Sharon and Vernon to pause in their work.
"What's wrong?" Sharon asked.
"Nothing, just. . ." She took a deep breath. "That was hard to watch, but I got the code."
Vernon turned and stood once the keypad beeped and unlocked, abandoning the filing cabinet quickly. As he did so Sharon quickly seized her chance, quickly she scanned the names on every file, then shutting the drawer to pull out the bottom one. Then she found two familiar last names, two files with the last name 'Willems' written on it. Pulling out the first one revealed to be Lisa's father, she didn't care enough to read any details on his file, her hand hovering over the last manila folder.
If this is Lisa, then she's staying here until she can find her. Kenny will take the boat, Christa and Omid will leave, Vernon will return to his group, all she will have to do is find Lisa. Even if she has to find every walker and look them in the eyes she will turn over every table and chair to find her.
Folder in hand she read the name.
"Kim Choi Willems."
Vernon and Christa turned at the sound of papers drop from Sharon's hands and scatter to the floor. Christa put her backpack down and let Vernon continue filling it on his own.
"Sharon, are you okay?" She asked, crouching next to her to see her face. "Sharon?"
Christa and Vernon nervously turned at the sound of the door opening, both still nervous from the walkers that trapped them in the room and the strange feeling they are still trespassing. The two relaxed when Lee appeared behind it.
"Everything alright in here?" He asked, looking to Vernon then to Sharon.
Vernon spoke first. "The medicine was locked up, had to do some snooping around to get in, but there's another problem."
"Lee." Christa stood up, walking closer and talking in a hushed voice. "You might want to speak to Sharon."
"What's wrong?" He leaned to see if he could deduce what's wrong with her, though couldn't see with her back facing him. "Is she hurt?"
"Yes and no, she has some burns but that's not the problem. She was looking through files, said she was looking for someone."
Lee didn't need her to continue to know who this was about. "What did she find out?"
"I don't know, she won't respond to us."
Lee sighed, preparing himself to talk to her. Walking on eggshells seemed commonplace with her, he's scared of what she might do if she cracks so he approached her calmly and knelt by her side. "Hey."
"Hey." Sharon mumbled, eyes glued to the floor.
"So. . ." Lee looked down at the scattered papers. "What did you find?"
"Lisa's parents were here." Sharon's eyes glossed over. "While Fivel was alone in that attic starving- her parents were here. . . Lisa didn't make it here, she would have never let Fivel be alone up there, she would have never left him behind to live here."
"You mean. . ." Lee blinked, hoping that he'd simply misheard her whispers. "They left their kid behind to starve?"
Sharon nodded violently, forcing the tears to stream down her face. "I knew they were monsters but this? Letting him die all alone just to survive? Is that what we've come to?"
"No." Christa spoke up. "Absolutely not."
"What kind of world are Duck and Clementine going to grow up in? We're supposed to take care of them not. . . leave them behind, let them die, do nothing to protect them."
"That's not how it's going to be." Christa said, her eyes welling up as well. "We're not going to let them die, Sharon. We're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen."
Lee continued off of Christa. "We couldn't reach Lisa's little brother in time, but we still have two we can take care of. We have to stay strong for them."
Sharon nodded.
"Here." Vernon approached, in his hand a tube of burn ointment and a roll of bandages. "Head to the classroom and wait for us there, now's not a good time to fall apart."
Sharon nodded again, taking the items in her hands.
Lee wanted to say more but he could only move to the side to let Sharon pass, then holding both of his hands to his head.
"Jesus. . ."
At the sound of the door opening Kenny stood straight, cracking a few bones in his back as he stepped away from the armoury. He and Ben turned to see who entered, both frowned when they saw Sharon sit by one of the windows, not acknowledging them in the slightest.
"Ben." Kenny muttered. "How about you check up on everyone else, get an ETA and help out if you can."
Ben slumped, looking to Sharon then back. At the sight of Kenny's face hardening he quickly obeyed, only able to hesitate as he passed Sharon, hoping that she would look up and talk to him.
As Kenny approached, Sharon had started applying ointment to her arm, Kenny watched in the moonlight wide eyed as she tenderly rubbed over the blisters on her arm.
"Is that the burn you mentioned?"
Sharon hesitated. "Um. . . yeah."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"We didn't have anything to help." Sharon held up the bottle. "We got the medicine, Vernon gave me this."
Kenny sat down on the desk in front of her, not bothering to try to fit in the small seats. "Did. . . did something else happen?"
She nodded. "While we were in the clinic I looked through some of their files, they kept a file on every Crawford resident."
Kenny hesitated. "Who did you find?"
"I was hoping to find Lisa, I needed to know if she made it. After this then I would stop trying, I'd. . . let her go."
"And was she? Here, I mean."
"No." Sharon shook her head, her voice low. "But her parents were."
Kenny tilted his head slightly, not understanding the sudden dark tone of voice.
"They. . . I knew they were horrible, they moved to Savannah to get Lisa away from me. Once they found out Lisa and I were more than friends they did everything they could to keep us apart."
Kenny didn't know which question to ask first, so he let her continue.
"I never really held it against them, it was the way they grew up. I hoped they would continue to grow and. . . learn to accept us. Now I know that was. . . so stupid. . ." Sharon held her clean hand up to her face to catch the tears. "They left Fivel to die, Kenny. he wasn't allowed to live here, Crawford wouldn't left him. Her parents wanted to live knowing they left their son, their amazing and kind little boy. . ."
"Sharon." Kenny stopped her from rambling further. "I-I hope you're not saying. . . Her parents abandoned him?"
She nodded. "And I know it sounds selfish but. . . I miss Lisa. Fivel suffered at the hand of his parents and all I can think about is how I hoped Lisa's name was in those files."
Kenny shook his head, finally reaching out to hold Sharon. "Darlin' you ain't selfish. You- you planned on living the rest of your life with her. You're grieving."
"I should have accepted this a long time ago, I should have. . ." She almost admitted her secret with Ben. I should have never let the bandit deal go on, I should have never tried running away, I should have just stayed and the Inn."
Kenny hushed her. "Loss has a funny way of effecting people." He whispered. "When Kat. . . when she died it was so sudden that I-I would just turn my head and expect her to be right there. At some point I forgot, how could I forget that she died? I almost asked you to watch the controls while I go check up on her. I still forget she's not here. It feels like she's back at the mansion, just waiting with the kids for us to get back."
Sharon nodded. "Sometimes I would see Lisa at the Inn." Kenny pulled away to hear her better. "I would be working on something and I would see her sitting on one of the fold up chairs watching Clementine and Duck play games, or she would be leaning next to Carley on the deck."
"Do you still see her?"
"No." She shook her head and took a deep breath. "The last time I saw her. . . I was working on the fence when I heard Duck laugh. You, Duck, Katjaa, and Lisa were sitting on the couch talking, telling stories. It was nice to see everyone smiling for a change after what happened at the farm."
Kenny slowly shook his head. "Duck is real good at that, making people smile even when things are bad."
The conversation fell to a lull, both remembering different happy memories that are too far gone.
"When we get to the mansion- when things are quiet around here, we'll have all the time we need to grieve. Until then, we need to focus on getting out of here and back to Duck."
"I understand." Sharon wiped away the tears from her face. "And I won't break my promise, I'm here for you and Duck. Next time I'll stay behind to watch the kids, I won't leave them behind for Lisa."
"I appreciate that, Sharon." Kenny smiled, standing up to return to the Armory door.
They both turned at the sound of Christa and Vernon entering the room, Vernon- upon seeing Sharon's arm still unbandaged, approached her.
"Where'd Ben go?" Kenny asked, trusting Vernon to tend to Sharon behind his back.
Christa turned. "They were just behind us."
Brie stood and opened her mouth to speak, until they heard shouting from down the hall. As
Christa dropped her bag and ran out to assist Brie followed and stood watch at the door.
"Shit." Kenny returned to the Armory door. "Fuck it, we need in here and we need in here now!" At the sound of gunfire Kenny started kicking.
Sharon stood to help once Vernon finished her arm though he pulled her down. "You need to grab your bag and get ready to run, they can handle themselves out there."
Sharon listened to his advice and found her bag by the chalkboard, heaving when she lifted it off the ground.
"Here." Vernon opened his bag and shuffled some things aside. "We'll split up the supplies when we're back at your place, Christa and I can take some weight."
As quick as she could with shaking hands Sharon distributed cans of food to both Vernon and Christa's bag, being sure to take some weight from Ben's backpack as well.
Brie quickly stood to the side with the door wide open then slamming it shut as everyone ran in.
"I told you to step away from the glass, moron!" Molly shouted, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
"I'm sorry I didn't think it would break!" Ben brought his hands to his head as he started to pace. "This is my fault, I'm so sorry."
Sharon zipped up all four bags and handed it to the owners, Ben however only continued to pace.
"This is my fault, I should never have come here, I'm so stupid."
"Ben, calm down." Sharon spoke, setting his bag down. "Everything will be okay, we can still make it out of here."
"You don't know that." Ben continued.
As he paced, Sharon looked to see Brie still holding the door shut as walkers banged against it, fearing the worst she gave Brie one of the wooden chairs to jam under the door handle.
"This will stop them, but now how do we get out?" Brie asked.
"Through the Armory." Kenny kicked the door again. "If we can just get this- god damn door open."
"This is all my fault, everything is all my fault. . ."
"What the hell is he blabbing about?" Christa demanded.
"Ben we've talked about this." Sharon said. "This isn't your fault."
"What isn't his fault?" Christa continued, this time looking to Ben. "What do you mean, this is all your fault?"
"Kenny I'm so sorry." Ben cried out. "I'm so sorry."
"Kid, this ain't the best time!" Kenny shouted in between kicks. "Whatever you did, save it for later!"
"He's right Ben, shut up!" Lee shouted.
"Fuck you, Lee! I can't do this anymore!" Ben shouted, no longer pacing. "It's been me all along. Putting all of us in danger. Katjaa, the bandits. . . it was me, it was all me!"