I sat alone on the window seat of the house, watching Kenny, Ben and Travis outside at the boat. They were there for a long time and there were smiles all around which made me believe everything was going well. Travis noticed me sitting by the window at one point and waved at me, a huge grin on his face. I smiled and waved back, the grin staying on my face even when he looked back to the boat.
I drifted my eyes over the sight past the house, seeing further out into the city. There were dots around the streets that moved, which I presumed were walkers. The skyline was actually quite stunning under the orange glow of the sky. My mind wondered onto Chuck. I knew he sacrificed himself for the rest of us and there was no way he could have made it out alive from the amount of walkers that had us surrounded. It was a shame, since I'd not really had a proper conversation with him. I felt like he would have been good to discuss poetry with, realising that he'd quoted a poem I studied in school when the church bells rang. I hoped that if he did die, it was quick and we wouldn't see him as a walker.
I noticed that the work on the boat was finished and the boys were coming back into the house, so I swung my legs off the seat and went downstairs. I tried not to scream when I bumped into something on the way that squeaked at the collision.
"Clementine," I exhaled, calming myself down. "What are you doing out here? Oh, are you eavesdropping?"
She blushed and nodded her head slowly.
I giggled. "Guess I'll join you then."
We listened to the conversation unfold about the boat and a place called 'Crawford'. I wasn't too sure if it was a safe place, but rarely anywhere was for us anymore. The group did decide that they had supplies there that would benefit us greatly, so the decision to go there was made. When Vernon left the house and Lee spotted Clem and I, I skipped down the stairs to leave them to talk.
"You're going to Crawford?" I asked Kenny.
"We all are, except Clementine and Omid. You don't have to come if you'd rather rest your leg," he replied.
"No," I quickly responded. "I'll come with you."
I felt bad leaving Clementine alone with Omid, but I hoped Lee knew what he was doing by deciding to leave her behind. It was probably safer than taking her to Crawford.
When night came around and darkness fell, the group sat outside looking at maps and having conversations.
"Look what I found in the garage," Kenny said. "Hatchet, hacksaw, some other tools. Might come in handy on this little break-in."
"Nice," Lee replied while Ben went to look at the tools.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Kenny and Lee walked away from the rest of the group, and Travis raised an eyebrow at me.
"How do we distribute these tools?" Ben asked us.
"I've got a gun already," Christa said.
"I've got my weapon," Molly waved it in her hand.
"Lee and Kenny need one. I have a knife."
"You have a knife?" Travis looked shocked that I'd kept it quiet.
I shrugged and smiled.
"Okay, I'll take this hammer," Ben picked it up and swung it in his hands.
"Please don't do that."
Ben stopped, realising he probably would drop it by playing around.
"Screwdriver," Travis picked it up from the toolbox and turned to me. "Remember when you had one of these back at the motor inn?"
"Yeah," I smiled a little. "That bandit kept it."
"Swap?"
"Sure."
Travis and I traded weapons so I had one I was more comfortable using after having been trained to kill walkers with it since the earlier days of the apocalypse.
The gate opened and Vernon came over, accompanied by a woman with dark hair.
"Who the hell is this?" Kenny almost yelled.
"This is Brie," the doctor introduced. "She can help us."
"By?" I asked.
"I was a student at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies. I know the layout," she said.
"With her help we're in and out faster. Anyone have a problem with that?" Vernon questioned, not sounding like we had any other choice.
"No problems," I replied, holding the screwdriver tighter in my hand.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving," Molly pulled her hood up and began walking.
Lee made us wait while he talked with Clementine, giving her the gun to protect herself while we were gone. Ben held out the weapon to him.
"Let's get this over with," Lee snatched it from Ben's hands and left through the gate.
We walked underground to get into Crawford. Vernon knew the way, saying it was the safest way to get in there.
We approached a ladder that lead up and stopped there.
"This should be it. We're right underneath the centre of Crawford. The old school should be directly above us," the old man explained.
"Okay, people, this is it," Lee said. "Remember the plan."
"Stay quiet, stay hidden, stay together," I repeated the plan to the group.
"We get what we need and we get the hell out before anyone even knows we're there. Got it?" Lee checked.
Everybody nodded their heads, and Lee ascended the ladder first. He was followed closely by Kenny and Vernon, with me staying somewhere around the middle of the group.
We ran across the side of a building and hid, concealed by the plants.
"Where is everybody?" Vernon questioned. "There should be guards patrolling."
"What, are you disappointed?" Kenny asked sarcastically.
"It's just strange, is all."
"I think I see one," Christa pointed out. "Over there, by the door."
"Okay, me and Kenny will sneak up, try to take him out quiet. The rest of you wait for our signal then follow us over. Everybody got it?" Lee waited for the responses.
"Gotcha," Travis nodded.
Lee and Kenny went on their way, approaching the guard carefully. My heart raced and my eyes narrowed onto the moving person.
"Shit," I whispered. "That's not a guard!"
I was too late to notice.
"What the fuck?!" Lee cried out when the walker turned around and growled at him
Lee buried the hatchet inside the walker's brain and the group gathered together again.
"What the fuck is a walker doing in here?" Lee wondered.
"Move!" Travis commanded, pointing to the group of walkers now standing up and heading towards us.
"Get inside now!" Lee instructed, and the group ran up the steps into the building, closing the doors behind us.
Thankfully, the coast seemed clear, and we ran up the stairs. There were more doors that we tried to keep shut.
"Fuck. Fuck! Do you think they saw us?" Kenny demanded.
"They're not that stupid," I brushed a hand over my forehead. "We need to get a move on."
"They looked right at us," Travis sighed. "Let's go quickly."
Ben put his hands behind his head and paced around. "Shit!"
"What the hell happened here?" Christa enquired. "I thought this place was supposed to be secure!"
"What always happens, I guess. In the end, the dead always win," Molly stated.
"Oh, man. We are so screwed," Ben paced even more.
"Ben," I said. "Calm down."
"I can't calm down, we're trapped!"
"We don't know that yet," Travis shot back. "Stop pacing like an idiot and fucking help."
"So long as we don't let 'em box us in, we can still do this," Kenny spoke. "The plan hasn't changed."
"The plan hasn't changed?" Ben asked, getting closer to Kenny. "Every time walkers show up the plan changes. Do you have any idea how many of them are out there?"
"No, do you want to do a headcount? Or do you wanna get what we need and get the hell out of here?" Christa snapped.
Brie walked away. "Come on, I think I know which way to head."
"I got a bad feeling about this," Ben complained.
Travis punched him in the arm and the group walked together up the corridor.
There was a boarded door with groaning sounds coming from behind it.
"Just keep moving," Molly forced, making us continue the journey.
We approached another room a few steps away which Brie stopped in front of. "Here."
Lee checked the room first.
"Looks okay," he told told us. "Everybody in."
We entered the room that was decorated like a children's classroom. The crayon drawings on the walls reminded me of my childhood years, which now seemed a lifetime ago, almost like they didn't even exist and were just dreams. A door had a sign over it saying 'armory' and Lee checked the handle. It didn't budge.
"Figures," he sighed.
"Looks like they were using this room as some sort of command centre," Kenny commented as he looked around the walls.
Molly moved forward. "Okay, so now what? Where do we start looking?"
"Here," Brie looked at a sign. "Just give me a sec."
"What about the medicine?" Christa asked.
Molly tapped on the map. "Right here, nurse's station. They were using it as a medical facility."
"How do you know that?"
"Just, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Molly recovered. I decided to ignore the hesitation.
"Fuel, where's that going to be?" Travis pondered.
"There's a maintenance shed across from the playground. If they were storing fuel that's probably where it'll be."
"So then we just need a battery," Lee pointed at the map himself. "This auto shop, it's right next door."
"Yup, it's called Herman's, you can't miss it."
Kenny began calling out the plan. "Okay, I'll make the run to the maintenance shed for the fuel."
"It'll be faster if I go with you, I can take you right to it," Brie suggested.
"I'll come too," Ben said.
"No, two people's enough," Kenny told him. "You stay here and see if you can use those tools we brought to get the armory door open. We may need to shoot our way out of here."
"I'll get the medicine," Christa decided.
"I'll come too, I know what to take," Vernon said.
"That just leaves the battery."
"I'll go," Lee opted.
"I'll go with you," Molly nodded. "Watch your back."
"Travis and Marceline, you can try get the door open if you want with Ben," Kenny offered.
I felt a bit rubbish getting the boring job.
"Okay, we've got a plan," Lee said. "Everyone be careful, stay close to one other. We'll all meet back here. Good luck."
The group split up, leaving the three of us alone in the classroom.
I sighed heavily as Ben got to work with the armory door.
"Want some help?"
"I got it," Ben refused. "Just once I'd like to do something useful, you know?"
"I understand," I sat down on the floor and rested my chin on my hand.
"What do you mean 'for once'?" Travis drew his eyebrows together.
"It seems like all I ever do gets us into trouble," Ben admitted.
"Like when?"
Ben looked at me. I nodded once.
"The bandits back at the motel... I was giving them the supplies. Carley, Katjaa, Duck... That blood is all on my hands," Ben confessed to Travis, who now just nodded his head.
"You didn't mean to though. Get them killed?"
Ben furiously shook his head and waved his hands. "No way! I never wanted that. Not ever."
"Good," Travis said. "Because I can forgive that, but if you ever do something so fucking stupid again that endangers one of our lives, I can't promise I'll let it go this easily."
Ben frowned but agreed. "Don't worry. I'm going to try my best not to fuck things up, and if it's not me deciding what I do, it's everybody else."
"I'm sorry, Ben," I sighed.
"Don't be. Thanks for listening guys," he turned back to the lock on the door and tried to get it open.
Travis was staring at me when I looked back at him, his eyes ... disappointed. In me? I raised an eyebrow and he sat down next to me so we were out of Ben's earshot.
"You knew he did that and kept it a secret. Why?"
"It wasn't my story to tell, Travis," I looked at my arms which were frozen and covered in goose bumps.
"Okay. You're like ice, where's your hoodie?"
"Still in the bag back at the house. I was going to give it to Clem because I'd rather her be warm and she said she was cold earlier.
"That's sweet," he smiled. "I'm sure her and Lee would appreciate you doing that."
"I guess so. What can we do to make ourselves useful around here?"
He shrugged. "Ben won't let us help with the door so I guess we could just look around the room for anything useful?"
"Sounds good," I agreed.
