A place to call home

Chapter 7: Savannah

Here's chapter 7, everyone. You ever wished there was a way to save Lee in season 1? Seriously, his death was one of the saddest gaming scenes of all time. Brought a tear to my eye. But his actions and words were what kept Clementine safe and he will forever be remembered...Chapter 7 is below...Enjoy reading.


The train ride was uneventful for the most part, so Clementine just sat by Lee. During that time, she told him her real age and that her birthday had been several days earlier. She didn't know why she hadn't done this before.

"Well, happy belated birthday, Clem," Lee told her while rubbing her head affectionately.

"Thank you, Lee." Clementine smiled in response whilst she sat in Indiana style with her hands placed upon her knees. Since they still had some time to go, she decided to make conversation between them since no-one else except for Chuck was present. Everyone else was in the train cab and Ben was outside, leaning against the rail bars. "Hey, Lee...What do you think of Omid and Christa?"

Lee seemed to think about the statement for a moment before he came up with an answer. "They seem like good people, even if Christa might think we're untrustworthy. But we'll just have to wait and see."

("I think she has trusting problems.")

("Omid likes Civil War history.")

("I hope they stay with us.")

("...")

"You know, I think Omid likes Civil War history, too." Clementine spoke up, but she already knew this knowledge from her dream. It would just be best to pretend like she may know. "You both might have something to bond over. And he's a funny guy, I like him."

Lee couldn't help but smile. "I'll ask him about it when I get the chance," he decided. "Though he might seem more like a comedian than a history fanatic to me."

Clementine giggled in response.

"So, what do you think of my gun skills so far?" Clementine asked, changing the subject away from the Persian man.

"You're a good little shot," Lee complimented. "I'd say that you'd be going on to walkers in no time, but I guess you're already there."

"Yep." Clementine nodded in agreement, but she decided to play a little dumb for now. "I think Carley's gun gave me good luck."

Lee nodded as if to agree. "I think we should practice a little more when we find some more ammunition. It might do us both some good."

"It's good to keep practicing." Clementine agreed with her guardian.

Clementine stared out the boxcar, watching as now-abandoned buildings quickly zoomed by. They were still nowhere near Savannah, but it was nice to see things as if the world wasn't already in ruins.


It took the group until the next day until they reached Savannah. Taking everything they had left, the remaining group entered the city of Savannah and walked down the streets in silent. Lee had his Glock 17 out just in case and Chuck was carrying an old shovel over his shoulder after he decided to company them here.

Clementine was glad the strange was not here this time, and even if he was, no way in hell would she let him snatch her away from Lee again. Suddenly the bells began to ring, and the group looked around. Clem looked up and saw Molly's silhouette hurrying away.

"The fuck was that?" Kenny demanded.

"Hey! Hey you, up there!" Lee called. Clementine knew that wasn't such a good idea.

"Damn it, Lee, be quiet!" Christa hissed at him, turning to him with a glare. Clementine knew what would happen next, and her thoughts were confirmed when she heard the groaning and the shadows of walkers.

"Oh, shit!" Omid cursed as he took a couple of steps back.

"We're fucked!" Ben shouted, placing his hands to his head.

Everyone remained frozen for a moment until Kenny have everyone the order to run. Everyone spreaded out slightly, but tried to stick together, especially Clementine, who did not want to lose Chuck this time. She tried to stick with Ben last time, but now she decided to follow Lee closely. Lee, Kenny, and Christa used their pistols to take down some walkers whilst Chuck used his shovel as a melee weapon.

"Stay close," Lee instructed of Clementine.

Clementine nodded and obliged, and had the only option to watch, as she didn't have any weapons to defend herself with. Kenny didn't end up being grabbed by a walker this time. However, this time it was Ben and Katjaa that were cornered.

"Kat! No!" Kenny yelled, immediately shooting the surrounding walkers. Lee heard his cry and began to assist him.

Ben panicked and saw an opening near the side and made a run for it, not even bothering to help her. That was big mistake he just made, and not because of the walkers, but because of what Kenny would do.

Chuck immediately ran to help as Lee continued to bring down more walkers. As for Kenny, however, he began to chase after Ben.

"Come back here, you little shitbird!" he hollered at the panicked teenager. "The fuck do you think you're doin', leaving my wife to fucking DIE?"

"Kenny, I'm sorry, calm down!" Ben begged as he ran pretty much anywhere that was not around Kenny. He was surprisingly faster than Kenny and could outrun if it weren't for the walkers."

Chuck whacked a single walker down and grabbed Katjaa's hand, leading her away from the walkers and with the others.

("Kenny, no!")

("Lee, stop him!")

("Ben, stop!")

("...")

"Kenny, no!" Clementine called after him as Lee, Christa and Omid joined around them. "Deal with it later!"

"Ken!" Lee yelled. "Kicking his ass right now isn't going to solve your problems!"

Ben and Kenny both stopped, the former standing completely still with his head turning ferociously in all directions to make sure a walker wouldn't sneak up on him.

Kenny sighed and decided to let it go, but the moment they were away from walkers, he was going to make Ben suffer. The group stuck together as one, and much to Clementine's relief, Chuck was with them, alive and well! Together, they ran to that house like last time and locked themselves inside.

"Is everyone okay?" Lee asked everyone.

"Yeah, we're fine," Christa replied, and Omid nodded in agreement. He wasn't hurt this time, meaning that they didn't have to meet Vernon or his group this time. That would also mean that they could possibly leave in the boat this time, if the battery was intact this time around.

But only five of them could board it. The same events occurred with Lee having to dig up the dead dog and using it's collar to open the dog door. This time, however, Clementine asked permission to go inside and Lee allowed her too. Although he praised her in her dream, Clementine could tell he was worried. After they were here and safe, Kenny marched towards Ben like a rampaging bull.

"What the FUCK do you think you were doin'?!" Kenny exploded, pushing Ben back roughly. "My wife could have been fucking KILLED because of you, you stupid little shit!"

"Kenny, I panicked, okay? I ran!" Ben tried to justify his actions, but the older man was not buying it.

"Doesn't fucking matter! Your well-being don't mean shit to me, kid! My wife could've died today!" Kenny screamed. He punched Ben in the jaw, sending the teenage boy sideways. He had to be held back by Omid and Chuck.

"Calm down, son." Chuck spoke normal whilst he tried to contain his grip on Kenny who continued to struggle. He always seemed calm, regardless of the situation.

"Dude, chill!" Omid told him, but it was going to take a lot more than that to calm him down. "He's just a kid. What's hitting him going to accomplish?"

"The satisfaction I'll have of beatin' the shit outta him, that's what!" Kenny answered, struggling as the grips of both men tightened. Ben backed away fearfully, not sure just how strong Kenny was.

"Kenny!" Lee approached the mustached man. "Calm down. Now's not the time."

"Just listen to Lee!" Omid begged.

Katjaa remained silent at this event. She didn't like Kenny to be this way, but after Duck, he was beginning to lose it.

Kenny quit struggling and stood limp, accepting defeat. He broke free from Omid and Chuck and just walked away, placing an arm around Katjaa's shoulders as both of them walked into the living room for some quiet time.

"Let's leave them alone for awhile, give them some privacy," Christa suggested. "But the rest of us need to scope the place out."

("Me and Lee can check upstairs.")

("Me and Lee can check downstairs.")

("I can look around on my own.")

("...")

"Me and Lee can go check downstairs." Clementine suggested as she turned towards her guardian for approval.

"Me and Christa can check upstairs." Omid joined in on their conversation.

(?) Lee, Omid and Christa agree with that plan.

Lee nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

Clementine went to the door in the main hall, the same door Lee had checked last. She opened it, and let out a loud squeak when something came flying out. But luckily, it was only a cleaning broom. Was this what had scared Lee last time?

"What's wrong, Clementine?" Lee called, looking over at her.

"A mop fell out." Clementine answered, embarrassed that she got scared by a mop, especially in this day and age. "I'm fine."

Clementine picked the mop back up and carefully placed it back into the closet, shutting the door. She walking into the living room as Lee opened up the two doors in there.

"Well, all clear in here," Lee announced. "Clear for you, Clem?"

"Yep, I'm clear." Clementine nodded slightly. "The house looks clear..." she trailed off slightly and remembered there was a boy walker in the attic that shared a resemblance with Duck.

Speaking of that, Omid came down the stairs and called out to Lee for assistance. "Lee, I think you should come up here."

"I'm coming," Lee called back. He walked over and began to slowly walk up the stairs. Clementine listened for any noise to indicate that the boy in the attic had just been killed.

Like before, Lee went outside to bury the boy in the grave, but this time, he was not heard yelling at the stranger. That was good, that meant he was not here. It was now time for Lee and Kenny to go look for a boat again, despite the fact Kenny had been drinking again, but before they did, Clementine thought of the perfect idea.

Quick as she could, she ran outside and pulled the handles as hard as she could, but the shed had been closed for quite some time. With one strong pull, the doors opened and Clementine dropped onto her back. "Lee!" she happily called out.

Lee turned around. "What is it, sweet-" He immediately stopped talking when he saw the very same boat as before. His eyes widened, and he had a happy expression on his face. "Ho-ly shit."

("A boat.")

("We did it.")

("Swear.")

("...")

"Swear." Clementine smiled.

The others from the house had emerged and looked very surprised yet hopeful when seeing the boat. Especially Kenny.

Like before, Kenny had dropped the bottle of wine to the ground, a smile of hope and relief crossing his broken, drained features. He placed an arm around Katjaa's shoulders and stared at the boat for a few moments.

"I can take a look at it," he finally said. "Lee, why don't you take Clem inside?"

Lee nodded and held Clementine's hand as the two walked back inside the house and the others followed, especially Ben who probably wanted to get away from Kenny out of fear he would get hurt.

Still, Clementine couldn't help but wonder how this boat situation would work out if it could only hold a capacity of five people. She decided to sit with Omid, Christa, and Lee in the living room. Ben sat on the stairs, biting his fingernails nervously.

Since it may be a while, Omid decided to make conversation between everyone. "So, anyone here like Chuck Norris?"

"Omid!" Christa smacked him on the arm playfully. Being with Omid for quite awhile, she'd heard her share of Chuck Norris jokes.

"What?" Omid chuckled, followed by a slight shrug. He had a beaming smile across his face, even despite the circumstances.

"I like him." Clementine spoke up.

"If you're talking about Chuck over there," Lee nodded towards the older man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, "then yeah, he's a nice guy."

"Ahh, good one." Omid chuckled with his arms folded together across his chest. He searched into his pockets for a moment before retrieving A Single Action Army revolver. "Any of you guys got any more ammo? I'm only on four shots."

"Sorry, man, we don't have a lot of supplies," Lee responded unhappily, shrugging his shoulders. He turned to Clementine and smiled as if to praise her. "We had to use up some ammo by teaching this one how to shoot."

Christa raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "You've got this girl shooting guns?"

"I think it's a good idea." Omid spoke up, but he waited for Lee's response for saying anything else.

"It was actually her idea," Lee replied. "Apparently she had some kind of dream, right Clementine?"

("Yeah.")

("No.")

("It's silly.")

("...")

"Uh, yeah." Clementine replied as she rubbed her hand behind the back of her neck. "I had a dream where I was with new people and had everything I needed to survive. I was older than before. I knew how to use a gun and had my hair cut short. I thought it was like a warning. I decided to ask Lee to teach me how to shoot and to cut my hair."

(?) Christa will remember that.

"Well, I think it's a good thing," Christa said. "You need to know how to survive."

"Hmm. I got to say, that's good that ya'll thinking smart." Chuck agreed from where he was standing nearby. He took a long sip out of a bottle of wine he found in the attic. He seemed to have a little drinking habit.

Chuck took the bottle from his mouth and held it out, offering it to anyone who might want a drink. Much to the surprise of everyone (especially Clementine), Christa was the one to take the bottle and gullet some of the alcoholic beverage down. Omid's huge eyes were even wider, occasionally glancing at Christa's stomach where she was still pretty early into her pregnancy.

Although Clementine knew for a fact that Christa was pregnant, she decided to play dumb. "Christa, are you okay?"

"Whoa." Ben gasped after he came into the room.

After a few seconds, Christa removed the bottle from her lips. "Yeah, I'm fine...sorry."

Omid took the bottle without snatching and whispered something incoherent to Christa. Clementine knew that it had to be something about not hurting the baby.

Before long, Kenny and Katjaa had returned into the house and everyone leaned their heads up to await for their answers about the boat. But Clementine knew what was going to happen, and the real question was how would they get the boat started without going to Crawford?

Kenny sighed. "Well, you want the good news or the bad news?" The same words as before.

"Let's get the bad news out of the way," Lee responded.

"She needs fuel, and a battery. Ain't no way we're gonna get anywhere without 'em."

"Anywhere we could find them?" Omid spoke up. "Surely there has to be some places around here, right?"

"We could check around the house," Lee suggested. "You know, maybe look around more carefully."

("The attic?")

("The basement?")

("The living room?")

("...")

"I think that sounds good." Clementine suggested whilst she took her memory back to remember that there was a basement in the house that no-one checked, but she did not want to go in there on her own. "I think there's a basement."

"Really?" Lee inquired, turning around. Lo and behold, there was a door by the dining room that he hadn't checked before. "Well, then." He turned his attention back to the group. "I'm gonna go check down there."

"I'll come with you, dude." Omid offered as he took out his revolver just in case they ran into anymore trouble. He and Lee approached the entrance to the basement and waited until Lee gave the word. "Well, lead the way, Lee."

Lee nodded once. "All right, then, let's head down." He picked up Carley's Glock 17, and Omid had his Single Action Army revolver, and the two of them headed into the dark basement. Clementine clasped her hands together, hoping that she wouldn't hear any fatal screaming.

"They'll be all right, Clem, you don't need to worry," Christa placed a reassuring hand on the little girl's shoulder. Clementine turned and smiled, but she could see the nervousness in the older woman's dark eyes as well.

"I'm sure they're okay." Clementine agreed.

Lee and Omid slowly went down the stairs and inside, they noticed a flash light on the table that looked like it still worked. Lee picked up it up and much to his surprise, it will worked, but when he flashed it to the left, what he saw next left him horrified. A man and wife (presumably the dead boy's parents) had hung themselves and were dangling through the room.

"Oh my God..." Lee muttered. His stomach churned, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

Omid's face paled, possibly having the same reaction.

"Jesus Christ..." Omid silently gasped and shook his head. "How could they do this?"

"They had a fuckin' kid upstairs, too," Lee was too shocked to say a lot. He and Omid held a short moment of silence for the man and woman, who were now undead and groaning weakly. After that was over, Lee spoke up again, feeling slightly depressed for this poor family. "We should look around."

"I think there's some candles over there." Omid pointed out and grabbed a match that he found on the side. He lit up the candles that now brightened up the entire basement. "Much better."

Much better, albeit there were still two hung bodies, and the smell was unbearable. Omid looked around and was the one to discover a can of fuel in one of the corners. He called for Lee's attention.

"I found cans of gas!" Omid enthusiastically called out, his hopes raising.

Lee turned around and looked relieved. "Great. Now we just need to find a battery." His eyes scanned around, and soon he saw a work table with a lot of tools (perhaps the father built things down here), and saw several batteries, three of them being for a boat. "Perfect," he praised, walking over and picking them up. "Always room for extras."

He turned to Omid. "I think that's everything. You ready to head back up?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Omid agreed, anxious to leave this basement that gave him the chills.

The two headed back upstairs where the others were waiting for them in the living room. Kenny's eyebrows lifted up when seeing the engine and gas.

"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered, approaching Lee and Omid. "Guess I can fix this up now."

For a moment, Lee contemplated telling Kenny about what they had seen in the basement, but eventually decided that it might not be such a good idea, especially after Duck had just died.

Clementine felt relieved to see things were going well, but on the downside, what if the same problem occurred last time? Only five of them could board it. All together including herself was Clementine, Lee, Kenny, Katjaa, Omid, Christa, Chuck, and Ben. That made eight.

The little girl watched as Kenny walked back outside with his needed tools, followed by Katjaa. Ben sat beside her on the sofa, his head in his hands. No doubt he was thinking about what he had done.

Clementine did feel bad for Ben, but she knew that he was not perfect. She understood that he was scared, but he should have tried to save himself and Katjaa instead of himself. And to make matters worse, what if he slipped out with the truth again regarding Duck?

Lee approached the couch and knelt in front of Clementine. "Hey sweet pea. You okay?"

"I'm okay." Clementine nodded in response, but she did appreciate Lee's concern for her. If things went well, then he would take care of her for the rest of their lives. "Lee, are we really going to leave on a boat?"

"Well, we'll see what Kenny can do, and if he can get the boat fixed, then we'll leave here as soon as possible," Lee replied. "Don't worry, Clem, we'll be at a safe place before you know it. Even if it means leaving Georgia."

("Is this a good idea?")

("Where will we go?")

("I'm not sure.")

("...")

"But where will we go?" Clementine inquired. Although back in her dream, she remembered having a conversation in Lee where he promised if they found somewhere safe, they could build a school. She wished that dream was true.

Lee frowned and averted his gaze briefly. "We're still unsure of that. But we'll figure it all out soon."

"Okay." Clementine nodded, even despite the fact she had doubts about this idea. Nevertheless, she trusted Lee with her life and knew he would protect her no matter what.

"I'll tell you what, Clem. I told you that I used to be a teacher, remember? How about when we find ourselves a safe place, we can set up a little classroom, just you and me?" Lee suggested, making the same offer as before.

"That sounds great." Clementine agreed, nodding her head excitedly in agreement. She had another idea whilst they were at it and decided to share it. "Lee, if we ever did find somewhere safe, do you think we could try and build life like it once was?"

Lee seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, I can't lie to you, Clementine. There's no guarantee that we'll be able to create such an accomplishment from scratch, but it would never hurt to try. What do you think?"

("We can do it.")

("We can't do it.")

("We won't know until we've tried.")

("...")

"I think we won't know until we try." Clementine replied with her honest answer.

(?) Lee will remember that.

"Exactly," Lee nodded in agreement. The two of them heard footsteps approaching, and in walked Kenny and Katjaa.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and shifted their attention towards Kenny. They were eager to hear his news and hoped it would not be bad.

Clementine had a feeling that she knew what was coming, but like the rest of the group, she was all ears.


And that brings us to the end of this chapter. Another change of fate, Chuck lives. With the boat found in their shed, the group will finally get to safety. That's if a couple of obstacles don't block their way of course.