With a flow of newfound confidence, the team looked slightly less sluggish and ready to continue on with their journey. Everyone seemed to have an idea of what they were going to do once they got to Savannah. Except for Kenny and Lily. We last left Kenny a broken man. Just a few hours ago he lost his wife and son. Although, he remained quiet in the last hour, Lily was there to console him. Actually, this was the longest Lily and Kenny had gone without arguing. Everything had seem to a complete stop for the two of them, Lily had been quiet for the last 10 minutes and Kenny just stared at her.
"What's the matter Princess? Nothing else to say." Lily looked back at him, as she smirked. "Hey. Come on now. We've made a lot of progress in the last hour."
Kenny smiled "Yeah it's been nice."
They both stared at their own respective blank in the sky. "What're you thinking about?" T
hey both said. They quickly turned away from each other.
"Ok, Lily this has been great and all, we've compromised, we're even. But… What do you want?" Lily kept looking at the tracks.
"Kenny, you are the strongest person on this train." Kenny was embarrassed. "Lily shut up."
"No really, and I'm sure Carley and Lee are shacked up now." Kenny now instantly changed his reaction, he was impressed.
"Really? Well…good for him. They deserve each other." Lily was surprised. "Anyway, they've got a lot to do now, with Clementine, they're going to be a family now. I'm sure they have a plan. Do you?"
Kenny put on his proud Florida look. "Of course I do, I'm going to find my boat. Then, it's nothing but the atlantic."
Lily saw her opportunity and she was planning to take it. "Do you mind if I… Never mind, I already know the answer."
Kenny pulled her face towards him. "Yes, you can join me on the boat Lily… Just because I didn't like you doesn't mean you aren't a strong asset."
"Well thank you Kenny, I just can't believe you would let me stay." Kenny put on a worried frown, as if his future depended on it.
"Just don't do that again. What you did to Ben." Lily was about to say something, but she thought a nod would suffice.
Meanwhile, The Everett Family were calm and slightly happy to continue their journey. They had the strongest bond on the train and nothing could possibly change that. Carley and Lee's love for one another spread across the entire train and everyone knew what was going on between them, it wasn't like before when they had to keep it a secret from everybody and each other. Now Carley and Lee could feel free with one another and Clementine was just fine with the arrangement. It put Clementine at ease, knowing that Carley and Lee reminded her of her own parents. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she saw her parents. Although it was a little fuzzy in her head, she remembers her dad, stroking her head after she had been crying. Clementine didn't want her parents to leave for Savannah, she had a bad feeling about it. She needed to know that everything would be ok, that nothing bad would happen.
Clementine didn't know for sure whether or not parents were dead, but in a way she got new ones in Carley and Lee. She just hadn't realised it yet, but when the time came Lee was going to tell her. Somehow. He just didn't know how. Lee hoped her parents were alive, he really did. There was no conclusive evidence to say that they were dead, the phone call merely stated that they were in trouble. Hopefully they stuck around long enough to see Clementine and maybe, if they were well equipped, take her in. But the realist in the back of Lee's mind just kept acting up. Lee thought that he could keep this a secret, but he forgot he had to trust Carley as well. It just about him and Clementine anymore, she needed to know this information, but now was not the time.
The train jerked forward "OH, SHIT! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!" Kenny's voice could be heard from the back car, as the train slowed down at the group's next roadblock (or better yet, track block).
Everyone converged in front of the new challenge that faced them, the tracks lead under a bridge, but the group's small problem involved a gas tank hanging off the side of the bridge. Kenny was furious; his dreams had been quite literally blocked off.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! FUUUUUUUCK!" Lily held him back "Quiet, there could be walkers around."
Chuck stepped in front "Hmm…I dunno; I aint got a lot of experience with y'all's fortitude but we could probably deal with that. We got a goddamn train."
Kenny just couldn't deal this utter stupidity, but he tried his very best to say polite. "That thing's not full of milk, Charles. That's gas or diesel; something that's gonna explode."
Chuck tries to be civil "YOU gotta get ahold of yourself. This is a crew here."
Kenny knew this group was drawing to a close and things started to get intense between him and Chuck "This aint shit."
Chuck stammers "This.."
Then, a jokey voice cuts Chuck off from the top of the bridge "Yo, you keep screaming like that and you're gonna get your face chewed off."
Another voice, more feminine and serious chimes in. "Are you guys going to be trouble? Because we could've just kept walking."
Lee stepped away from his family for just a moment, as the new leader he had even more responsibility than before. "No, we're friendly. Put your hand down, Ken."
The feminine voice replied, "That's what everybody says."
"We know." Lee knew how many strangers he had come across that ended up letting him down.
"Let's give these guys of break" It seemed as though the funny voice was on their side.
The other voice was skeptical "We'll see."
The humorous man spoke up again "You guys got a problem with your train."
Kenny thinking himself as the group's railroad engineer decided to address the problem. "Yeah you're standing right in front of it."
The guy spoke up again "Dude, it's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here. Send your buddy up to have a look."
Kenny stopped him, he needed to make sure all available opportunities were closed off. "Anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape."
At this point, Kenny was out for blood, he just needed a release of some sort. Lee moved forward and climbed up the ladder that took him to the top of the bridge. He looked back at Carley and Clementine, they were holding hands and couldn't be happier considering their situation.
"If I come up there you better not be thieves and murderers." The female responded, "I guess you'll just have to find out."
As Lee scaled the rungs to the top of the bridge the two were discussing their options.
"A group of guys is just what we need." Said the male, he was a lot shorter than the woman he was with.
"They're what you think we need. We're doing fine." You couldn't notice it from a far, but the power and maturity in their relationship was reflected in their height.
All judgments aside, They seemed like nice enough people and Lee wanted to get to Savannah. "What about when?" The female voice snapped, "Stop it."
Lee approached them not very cautiously, but he changed his walk slightly and made it more cautious, as he knew there was more at stake than just this train. "Hey dude, I'm Omid" the male said.
"Lee" The female followed "Christa. What's the deal with the train?"
Lee proudly answered, "We're driving it" Omid was stunned "OH, MAN!"
Lee wanted to bring up the elephant in his group before this couple had any ideas. "I'm not going to bullshit you. Our group is a little fucked right now. We had a bite victim and then his mom took her life and before that just…"
Christa's face drooped a bit "It's okay."
Omid face on the other hand lit up "Holy shit! You guys have a kid." Clementine and Carley had just finished climbing up the stairs.
"What are you guys doing up here?" Lee questioned, but Omid was ecstatic
"Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a kid? Shit! What's your name?"
Clementine took a few steps in front. Carley followed her and kissed Lee on the cheek. "Clementine." "And I'm Carley."
Omid's face lightened up even more. "Holy shit! This is the best day ever; I'm a huge fan of your show. On WABE right?"
Carley never thought she would hear those words ever again, she didn't have many fans before the apocalypse, but she was so happy to hear someone's appreciation, besides Lee's of course.
"Thank you. I had no idea that I had such a widely spread fan base." Omid held Christa's hand "That's right, we listened to your show every morning."
Carley smiled and Lee replied, "So do I."
Everyone had a brief laugh, Carley playfully hit Lee in the shoulder and Clementine was confused.
Omid turned to Christa "Well, this is great. See, things are looking up."
But Christa still had some questioning to do. "You're not her parents. They down there?"
Lee and Carley looked at one another. "It's that obvious?"
"To me" Christa said, she wasn't amused anymore.
"And no they aren't down there."
"Hmm… What's your story?" Lee kneeled down to look at Clementine and he stood back up again to answer, "I came across Clementine alone the first day all of this happened. We've been together ever since."
Christa turned to Carley "And how did you meet them?"
"I was hold up in a pharmacy with another group up in Macon when these two and another family of three showed up. Christa smiled; she found their story quite nice.
"And everybody down there, they're cool?"
No, that was Lee's honest answer, but of course everyone had a reason for being the way that they were. Except for Chuck, they had no idea about him. Kenny had lost his whole kin in the space of 30 minutes and Lily lost her dad, possibly her sanity along with him. After evaluating all these things, Lee realised how lucky he was to have Clementine and the love of his new life, Carley.
"Kenny lost his wife and kid." Omid was concerned "Man. How long ago?"
Carley looked at her watch "Just two hours."
Christa was absolutely depressed "Goddamn."
Omid thought politeness would ease up the conversation "We're sorry for anything that's happened to you guys. The train is awesome, though."
Christa turned to the side of the train and got serious. "That thank is your real problem. We'll help you with it, but if we see anything we don't like, we're moving on down the road. Alone."
Carley was positive about this new couple "We'd appreciate the help." Omid still tried to lighten the mood. "You can't just blast through it, I guess."
Christa was thinking on her feet "If you could get it down, the rest would probably be pretty easy."
Lee was ready to get to work "We'll start there."
Christa liked the Everett family, but she didn't know much about the others "We'll come down and settle in, and see if we can help."
Christa and Clementine went down the ladder. "Let me know if you need anything." Carley kissed him again, but on the cheek, she still remembered to keep their relationship a secret.
As Carley went down the ladder, Omid was freaking out with himself "Oh my god! It's Carley from WABE."
Lee was so proud of his girlfriend for something he had never seen her do before, but nevertheless proud.
"So you guys are a thing now?" Omid had to ask, as it was in his nature. "Well, we're trying to keep it quiet for now, it's been a rough day." Omid thought a nod would suffice.
Lee looked around the bridge before he went down, he found a truck nearby, but tape was the only thing he could salvage.
Christa and Omid approached the group alongside Lee. "Guys, this is Omid and Christa."
Lily, Kenny and Chuck stared back at them "Not big on welcomes…" Omid whispered to Lee whilst rubbing his head. "Like I said, it's been a bit of a day. The plan is to cut that tanker down and be on our way."
Kenny seemed relieved, he trusted Lee enough to know that this couple were nice enough people."Seems like plan enough to me."
"You want to start in on that tanker?" Omid was excited to get the train rolling.
"I'll get to know the girl for a minute, if you don't mind." Christa walked over to Clementine sitting with Carley.
"And why don't I show you how this thing works, in case something happens" It was completely natural for Kenny to feel shame.
"Really, Ken?" Lee asked, as Kenny began walking to him
"It's probably for the best. Someone might want to have a look inside of that station back there, too." Carley and Lee looked at each other; this was his chance to tell her the truth about Clem's parents.
"Sound's great. Let's do this thing." Omid responded, he began climbing up the ladder, which took him to the train driver's seat.
Carley gave Clementine a quick goodbye, but Clem knew she'd be back to take care of her. Lee approached the train station, as Carley followed. Clementine wanted to, but she also wanted to know Christa a little bit more. Clementine had a funny little idea that in an alternate universe they would be very close friends. Just before Lee before crossed the bridge, Carley caught up to the Lee, she was worried.
"Lee, something you want to tell me?" He smiled cause she was right by his side again. Lee held out his hand "Come on baby, Let's go check this out."
Carley gripped Lee's hand very tight, as they walked to the station... "Oh. Somebody's got a tight grip.
Carley and lee smirked at one another. They knew what this meant. Finally, alone at last.
Lee let go of Carley's hand before the entered the station; they needed to make sure it was safe before getting enjoying themselves. They made it to the door of the station, but it was barred shut.
"Well Shit." Carley felt rough, she just wanted to enjoy the company of her man.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, something tugged at Lee's pants, it was Clementine. "You know, I could probably fit through there. Like you said, we're a team, we shouldn't leave anyone out."
Carley smiled, as much as she wanted her alone time with Lee, she was proud of Clementine's sense of morals. "Get on my shoulders Clem and we'll see what we need to do."
Lee hoisted Clementine on his shoulders and took a peek. "I don't see anything." Clem observed "It's safe enough to jump down and unlock."
Carley had a quick think "There's probably a lock on the top of the…"
"Found it." Clementine un-locked the door; Lee was surprised.
"No way. Really?" Lee put her down and opened the door.
Clementine stepped forward first "Let's go and be careful." Carley replied "I think you're ready to go off on your own." She laughed to herself and pulled out her gun along with Lee.
Lee held the door open with the monkey wrench; he thought that with Carley's deadeye and his gun that if there were any walkers. They would be fine. On the other side of the cashier's cage there was a blowtorch, but only one person could get through.
"That's exactly what we need." Lee said. "Convenient, I like it, but how are we going to get in. Carley questioned, she spotted the gap.
"We could probably fit someone through that gap." Carley suggested, "We're so lucky I'm so little" Clementine wanted to help as much as she could.
"Oh no you don't, Lee and I can do this one, right?" Lee had a decision to make. "Clementine, you go in. Just in case anything happens."
"Fair enough." Carley wasn't going to object to something so pointless and most of all safe.
Lee carried Clem up to the top for the second time in just ten minutes. She jumped down and looked at Lee, she seemed worried.
"What's the matter Clem?" She trembled "Behind you."
Carley was the first to pull out her gun and fire, she had killed a walker no problem. Another one approached Lee, Carley's quick shooting gave him enough time to kill the second one. Clementine didn't see the one in the shadows.
"Keys!" Lee demanded. Clementine gave Lee the keys; he quickly grabbed them and opened the door and let Clem free.
Carley stepped up to the mark took a small focused breath and killed the walker. "I would have given the gun to Clem, but maybe she just isn't ready yet."
Everyone laughed this time. "We were lucky this time, but don't worry we're ok. Everything's okay."
Christa yelled, "What's going on? I thought I heard a gunshot."
Lee yelled back "it's fine." Carley whispered to herself "Wow. Nosy much?"
Christa entered the station and saw all the dead walkers. Lee, Carley and Clementine stood still. "You guys… took on all three of them"
Carley and Lee didn't know how to respond; they just did what they had to do.
"Yeah we're a team." Clementine was ready to speak out for group. "We handled it." Carley followed.
"Yeah, but what if you hadn't? I'm going to go make sure the noise didn't cause us any problems. Join me Clementine?"
She didn't want to go. "Go on, sweat pea." But now, she had to, Clementine and Christa left.
"Finally. All alone at last." Carley pulled Lee in and gave him a long kiss. It was passionate and lasted a few seconds. They began to have an intimate session; Carley and Lee couldn't help, but explore each other for a little bit. After all, this was the first time they had ever been so…close.
"I've been waiting to do this since the motel. All those rooms, what a waste." Carley was suddenly in such a humorous attitude, as they continued to fool around.
Carley took off her jacket and threw it aside, as things got heated. Lee took off his shirt, but he had an undershirt on as well.. he took that off too. They just started to enjoy themselves, neither of them had this chance before, but they took it and ran. Lee was enjoying himself, but this was neither the time nor the place, he could do better for his new girlfriend.
"Carley, there's something I need to tell you." Carley giggled "Don't worry, if you get a bit rough with me. I won't call the cops."
Lee took his hands off her, she knew he was being serious now. "I'm sorry, go on."
"Listen, it's not that I'm not having a good time because I am, we can get back to that after I say what I need to. Clementine's parents are most probably dead."
Carley knew this, but she knew Lee wasn't certain either. "Come on, Lee we don't know that."
Lee crossed his arms in disagreement "I don't think they would have made it out alive. I just don't know how to tell Clem, not on my own anyway."
Carley got closer to him again "But you're not alone anymore, Lee. You've got me now and I love Clementine. I told you this. I'll tell her if you can't."
Lee smiled; he knew that this meant a small crisis was averted. He grabbed her by the waist and worked his hands down "And what about me? I love you Carley."
She put her arms around his neck. "I love you too. Whatever you wanna do about this, I'll support you."
They pulled in for another big kiss and make out session. Neither of them had ever felt this much love in a while. Lee and Carley put their shirts back on and he picked up the blowtorch.
"We've got time." Carley said, she didn't want it to end. "I know, but I want to get to Savannah, think about it. A nice bedroom, all the space we could ask for."
"Finally things are looking up."
They left the station and walked back towards the bridge. Lee climbed up the ladder to the top of the bridge and began to cut the truck in two. Carley walked over to Clementine who was still talking to Christa.
"Clem, can I talk to you?" They walked over to the train.
"What did we learn today?" Clementine had a good long think "I shouldn't be afraid to ask for a gun."
"Something like that, fear can get the best of us sometimes, we need to learn not to be afraid because fear is what kills these days." Clementine nodded she understood.
"Are you ever afraid to shoot Carley?" Carley had gotten so used to the gun that she knew her answer clear as day. "Yes, but I'm never afraid to kill a walker."
Clementine was confused again; this was another Carley lesson that she didn't quite get yet.
"Then when are you afraid to shoot?" Carley looked at Lily "When I'm aiming at other people and I don't understand entirely why." Clementine knew exactly what she meant now.
"Ok. I get it." Carley was happy that she got to teach again today. "Good girl."
The truck shifted a bit over the cliff; they were close to cutting it off. "This thing's hanging by a thread. The smallest cut and it'll go."
Lee was worried; his family was down there. Lee handed Omid the blowtorch "Here. The weak portion of the coupling is out of my reach.
Omid found that funny "You think it'll be within mine?"
Lee thought Omid was joking "No, but I'm gonna dangle you over that ledge."
Omid was worried "The hell you are." But he wanted to get on the train so bad. "Just shut up and start cutting." Lee held on to Omid for dear life because that's what it cost Omid to cut the coupling.
Lily turned around, she was on watch and wanted to see how far she had truly come, but the tracks were blocked by a heard of man-eaters.
"Guys! Walkers!" Lily got down and got into the train. Lily yelled at everyone to get on the train.
"Cut Omid! Cut!" Lee yelled. The coupling broke and the truck knocked over the ladder, but the train was clear.
The train started up. Lee kicked the blowtorch over the bridge and ran to the other end of the bridge. Omid simply followed, as gas started to spill out of the truck. All the gasoline had caught on fire and the train was slowly warming up.
"We gotta jump." Lee climbed over the barrier of the bridge; he knew he could make it. "What? No way!"
Omid followed Lee. "Jump! Lee yelled" Omid followed again, he hit the top of the train and fell over.
Lee followed, but executed his jump perfectly. He climbed down to help support Omid, but Christa had already jumped out to save him. They started running back to the second train car; both Christa and Omid were right next to the train. Lee pulled Omid in, as Carley and Lily pulled in Christa. Everyone seemed to get on the train just fine, except for Omid, whose leg was busted.
Lily was sitting at the gears, Clementine was asleep and Lee looked on ahead. Savannah, there it was in all its glory, they finally did it.
"Just stick with it." Lee was confused "Stay as the leader, tell Kenny once he gets here. He's not going to like it, but its what we need."
Lee was flattered "Thanks Lily."
"And by the way. If you hurt Carley in anyway emotionally or physically, we're going to have some serious fucking problems, but I'm sure you'll do fine. There's a lot of love there, thanks to that little one." She pointed at Clementine and Lee smiled.
Lee was surprised, but decided to keep his mouth shut, as Kenny entered the front of the train. Lee had looked in Clementine's bag and found a picture of his family.
Lee put it away. "Next stop, the Atlantic." Kenny put his arms on Lily's shoulders, Lee smiled, he never seen so much peace and harmony between them. It was refreshing.
"We have to find a boat." Lee said. "Don't worry, we will. Clementine and Carley will be just fine."
Kenny smiled at Lee, but Lee frowned. "I'm sorry you guys weren't supposed to know."
Kenny was about to speak, but Lily decided to go first. "It's ok, a lot's happened, we needed to come away with at least one positive. We're lucky to have a few to pick from."
Lee turned to Kenny "You'll be alright." It was now Kenny's turn to frown. "I'll be alive, I guess. Blood in my heart, blood in my brain at least."
Lee turned away "I'll leave you to your thoughts." Lee looked over one of the only things that mattered to him in life. "She's out cold like I never seen."
Suddenly, Clementine's beloved walkie-talkie came alive and out came a voice. Kenny and Lily came over "Hello…?" The voice asked
"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I've got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me whether Lee wants you to or not. Now what I need…." The radio cut, everyone in the front car was surprised, except for Clementine, who not only knew about this somehow, but was also fast asleep.
"I thought that fucking thing was broken." Kenny exclaimed, Lee turned to face him. "So did I."
"Well, it sounds like somebody knows where we're headed." Kenny looked at Lily, she was still mortified, that the walkie-talkie worked. "Who the fuck…"
"I don't know. But I doubt we're gonna be happy when we find out."
Next time on "What if Lily missed…" :
The Everett family finally reached Savannah with a clear and solid plan, but one of them is hiding something. And with Omid's leg busted to shit, will they find the supplies that can help save him. Also, Lily shows us where her true loyalties stick within the group. How will the group's entry into Savannah differ with the addition of Carley?
