The Walking Dead: Guilt
Chapter 3- New Faces, Bigger Problems.
"Ben! Benny!" Ben hears the shouts of a young girl calling out to him, despite being a few feet away from him. He was so comfortable in his bed, he didn't want to get up. That is, until he is forced to open his eyes when he felt someone small hop up and down on his stomach.
"All right! All right!" He lets out a groan, clenching his stomach. "I'm up..." Ben rubbed his eyes, looking forward to see a small dark-brown haired girl with bright blue eyes. This was his younger sister, Sydney Paul. "I'm not a bouncy house." Ben said as he rubbed his aching stomach, getting up to get a shirt from his closet.
"Mom told me to wake you up." Sydney said, the young girl crossing her arms while giving him an adorable yet stern gaze. "Today's your band's big performance, right?"
Ben frozed up, turning around quickly as he popped his head through the collar of his shirt. "What?!" He shouts, rushing downstairs faster than you can say "blueberry pie."
His mom was already up, preparing a plate of pancakes for her son and daughter. "Well, if it isn't Sleepy Beauty." The brown haired woman giggled to the teen, who sat down to eat his pancakes. Not before thanking his mother, of course.
Once he finished, he walked his way to school like he normally does everyday as his mom took Sydney to her school. Ben arrived to the entranced of his high school, walking in. As he walked to his locker, he sees his best friend Travis Hoffmann, a blacked hair teen around his age wearing a blue coat with his name on it, peeking behind a corner staring at a red haired gal.
"Spying on Jenny Pitcher as always..." Ben thought to himself before approaching his friend from behind, tapping his shoulder.
"Ben!" Travis jumped when he did, turning around furiously. "Give a warning the next time you decide to act like Solid Snake, okay?" He berates Ben, the latter getting his band coat out of his locker.
"Yeah yeah..." Ben chuckled as he rolled his eyes at his friend. "Let's hurry before Mr. Parker gets on our tails for being late for class.
"Whatever man." Travis grumbled, pulling out the trumpet in his locker before the two walked to class.
-x-
"Hey kid, get up..." A voice spoked to Ben, one he did not recognize. But from the sound of it, it was an old man.
Another voice suddenly spoke. "I don't know Pete. Are you even sure he's alive?" The voice belonging to a younger male asked to the other.
"I'm just checking." He said, before lightly shaking Ben with his foot, waking the teenager up.
Ben rubs his eyes with his wet sleeve. "Ugh..." He groaned, looking up to see two men. One was an old guy around his 50s or 60s holding a crossbow, and the other was a brown hair man looking to be in his 20s. Ben wasn't sure who these guys were.
"You gonna sit on your ass all day son, or are you going to get up?" The old man asked, extending a hand to Ben, who took it. "Now, you going to tell us who you are?"
"B-Ben. Ben Paul." Ben spoked, shivering since he was still wet.
"Well Ben, I'm Luke. And this here's Pete." The other man, Luke, spoke. "What happened to you? Me and Pete here found you washed up on shore."
It was here that Ben told the two strangers what had happened, up to the point where he was seperated from Clementine. Speaking of whom, Ben quickly looked around for her. Yet he doesn't see her. "W-Where is she?"
Pete only shook his head. "Sorry son, we only found you here." He said, his eyes focused on him.
"Please, can you help me find her?" Ben begged.
Luke and Pete looked at each other, wondering if they can trust this teenager they have just met. After all, he could be working for him and this story is nothing more than a snow job. Then again, it's not like they want to leave a little girl alone by themselves.
"Okay, we'll try to." Pete spoke, holding the crossbow over his head.
"T-Thank you." Ben said before the three set foot into the nearby woods.
-x-
Luke talked to Ben to try and pass the time as they searched for Clementine, though Ben was more focused on finding Clementine. And lo and behold...
They find a little girl, pinned down by a walker about to sink it's rotten teeth into her. Pete wasted no time, and puts an arrow between the walker's eyes, as Luke killed any other walkers nearby. Ben, deciding to step up, stabbed two walkers with a small pocket knife Luke had lent him.
"I'm out of ammo. Grab her, and let's go." Pete ordered Luke to pick up Clementine, who would've hugged Ben if she wasn't currently hurt. Ben runs behind the two as they escaped the oncoming walkers.
Once they made it further from the spot they picked up Clementine, the group slowed down to catch their breath as Ben looked at Clem, glad she was safe but noticed she looked weak.
And when Clementine mentioned that her arm was hurt, Ben was about to ask what's wrong when suddenly Luke drops Clementine on her rear exclaiming "Holy shit!" as the young girl lets out a soft moan from being dropped on her arm.
"W-What's wrong?" Ben asked worriedly, a bit pissed Luke dropped Clementine.
The words that came out of Luke's mouth made Ben's heart skip a beat. "She's been bit." Luke said, before putting his hands over his forehead. "Fuck man!" He shouts.
Ben adverts his gaze at Clementine, who quickly got to her feet. "N-No, it's a dog bite! I swear." She pleaded.
"I didn't see no dog Clementine." Pete said, looking at her.
Ben walked over to Clementine. "Clementine, can I look at your arm?" He asked, to which Clem oblidged and rolled up her sleeve. Big mistake, as Ben felt woozy from the sight of blood. This also allowed Pete and Luke to see the nasty bite, which didn't look like a humans.
"A bite like that could be anything." Pete said, shocking Ben. Even he could tell the difference between a human bite and a dog bite. "We'll have our doctor take a look at it."
"Are you sure about this Pete?" Luke asks.
"Well I'm sure not going to leave a girl and a teenager out here to die Luke." Pete replied, giving Luke a serious glare, making him back down.
Ben looks away from Clementine's arm. There wasn't that much blood. At least not as much as when Christa chopped Lee's arm off in an attempt to stop the infection.
The four started to walk up a hill, Luke refusing to carry Clementine with the bite on her, and Ben being unable to carry her. Though Ben kept his eyes on Clementine, noticing she was getting more fatigued. "C-Clem?"
Before Clementine could respond, she collapsed right then and there, Luke and Ben quickly running over with the former shouting "Oh shit."
-x-
Luke finally decided to carry Clem to a small wooden cottage, where Pete shouted "Carlos!" when he arrived. "Luke, go get Carlos."
The orange-shirted man nodded, sitting Clementine down at Ben's feet before running into the house.
Ben started to kneel down, only to jump up when a woman shouted "What the hell is going on out here?" He looks up to see some more people run out of the cabin. Two people were Africa-American, one being a man with a pair of glasses and a yellow-greenish coat on and the other being a woman with a large stomach. The man standing beside them had a red cap, blue eyes, black hair and in his hands was a shotgun, making Ben not want to piss him off.
"Who are these two?!" The capped man asked, aiming the shotgun directly at Ben, who held both of his hands up.
"Easy there boy." Pete interferes. "Me and Luke found this kid on the shore, who asked if we could help find his sister. She's been bitten by a dog."
"A-Actually, she isn't my sister." Ben tried to speak up only to be overshadowed by the woman exclaiming "Bullshit! What if they're with Carver?" Carver?
Ben soon noticed Clementine slowly opening her eyes, raising. "I need a doc-" The loud bang of a shotgun went off, as a bullet struck the ground before Clementine, who moved back in fear.
"You idiot! Every walker close by could've heard that." The woman raised her voice at the man.
Ben felt a rage building up inside him. "You're the one telling me to shoot her." The man said, to which Ben shouted "No one told you shit!"
The man pointed his shotgun at Ben next. "Shut up with your Shaggy-looking ass." He said through his teeth, making Ben go back to the cowardly teen he was just a few seconds ago.
The man most defiantly would've shot him there if Luke hadn't come out, asking what was going on. Behind him followed a black haired man with a checkered-shirt, who looked to the group.
"It's okay Clem, he's a doctor." Luke said to Clementine as the man, who Ben figured out to be the Carlos man Pete mentioned. Though he was still wondering who this 'Carver' fellow was.
"Well, is it like she says?" Luke asks Carlos, who stood up to look at his group. "A bite like that could be anything." Hearing him say this made Ben's jaw drop. This was the doctor Pete mentioned?!
"There's only one way to figure out if it's what she said." He said, looking over to the nearby shed. They weren't seriously...
Turns out they were serious. They proceeded to lock Clementine in the shed to see if she turns in the morning. Ben had all this rage building up inside, that he didn't know what to do as Luke lead him into the cabin.
[End of Chapter 3]
Author's Note: Chapter Three of 'Guilt' is here! I really hope you enjoyed it. I apologize for taking such a long time to upload this, but what with school and drama, I'm just glad to have just finished this. I decided to dwell on Ben's backstory more, and you'll see later on more of it as this story progresses. And some changes to the story ;). Also fun fact, Travis' last name isn't from the Saw character as some of you might think. It's actually the last name of Ben's voice actor, Trevor Hoffmann. Anyway, leave your thoughts in the reviews. ^^
I'm also planning on writing Chapter 6 of PMD Key to Victory and the next chapter of Green Demons, so stay tune, and let me know which you want to see next.
