"Hey Sarah? I'll catch up with you in a little while, okay? There's some things that I've gotta take care of," I inform her, going our separate ways as we make our way back towards our group. I've gotta say – I can't remember the last time that I've enjoyed myself that much, and we were both slightly disappointed that things had to return to normal again in just a couple of hours. But as the sun slowly started to dip down across the sky, Sarah and I both knew that it was time to get back. Things just aren't as safe at night.

Kenny's sitting in a fold-up lawn chair across the way, and waves to me slightly as I walk towards Lee's tent. Mike and Bonnie are chatting over by the fire, and Jane's sitting quietly by herself, but Luke and Lilly are nowhere to be seen. I wonder if their fight just sent them all over the edge this time. Hopefully not, but it wouldn't surprise me. This has been going on for weeks now.

Poking my head inside the flap of the tent, the first thing I notice is that Lee's hunched over his bed with his head in his hands; distraught and probably unwilling to talk to anybody. That doesn't mean that I won't at least try, however.

"Can I come in?" I ask quietly, to which he shifts over to his right a little bit. I take that as acceptance, so I slowly make my way over and stand awkwardly in front of him. Lee still has his head in his palms.

"So, listen…" I trail off, putting my hands behind my back and looking around the interior of the tent. "I umm… wanted to check on you – make sure you were okay."

"Two and a half years ago, I had come home early from work at the university," Lee says suddenly as I get a good look at the man. His eyes are glossy, with heavy bags underneath and an unshaven beard. His skin has lost some of its colour, which is most likely due to him not eating enough and… from all of this. Clearly he's been stewing in here for the last couple of hours. "I pulled into the driveway, got out of my car and stood there for a second. I couldn't figure out why there was an SUV sitting there. Neither of us could afford one of those – Donna worked part time at a daycare, and I was scarcely paying off the bills on my salary alone."

"When I opened the door to the house, I immediately thought something was up. Donna's shoes were tossed aside carelessly and another pair of men's dress shoes were sitting right beside them. I walked upstairs, past several layers of clothing sprawled out on the floor, and charged into the room. Donna had cheated on me."

So this is what he's talking about… I never really knew the details of why he was supposed to go to prison that day – just that he did something really awful. Taking my seat next to him, I let him ramble on for a bit longer.

"Without even thinking, I grabbed the lantern, ran over to the guy and beat him to death. When Donna tried to stop me… I lashed out at her too. It didn't take very long to sink in – and immediately after I killed them, I ran for thirty minutes all the way to the police station. I remember the cops saying how frantic I was, while I came in covered in blood and sweat; telling them to lock me away for two accounts of murder. The details are kind of fuzzy after I told them that, since I pretty much zoned out after they sent a team to investigate my house. Thirty minutes later, I found out that it was a state senator that she slept with, and that I was going to jail for two cases of manslaughter. I was supposed to rot in jail for the rest of my life."

"Lee…"

"That car ride to Atlanta State Penitentiary was the longest time of my life," he continues on solemnly, shaking his head as he recalls that fateful day. "The cop could talk your ear off, but all I kept thinking about was: this is it. My life is officially over. I'd never get to see my brother or parents again unless they visited, but at that point they pretty much disowned me. That's also why Larry was always such an ass to me all the time – he knew who I was, and he wanted to keep you from getting hurt, too."

"So when all of this stuff started happening, and you found me inside your house… I thought to myself that it might be different. I thought that I'd have a chance to redeem myself; to start fresh and not make the same mistakes that I did before. I tried so hard to do the right thing – not killing the St. John's, not stealing the food, trying to keep you safe… but look at me now."

"You can't blame yourself for that," I tell him, swinging my legs over the edge of his bed.

"Eddie's dead because of me," Lee says somberly, his fist gripping the sheets and turning his knuckles white, "I killed him, Clementine. And you had to watch me do it. It doesn't matter what Nate had said – it was me, and me alone who murdered that poor kid."

"There was no choice here, Lee," I tell him softly, looking at his downcast expression, "We'd all be dead if you hadn't done what you did."

"I should've waited…"

"There was no way of knowing they would come."

"It's not that simple, Clementine," Lee breathes out while closing his eyes, "Killing someone… it changes you. It can consume you if you let it define who you are. Hell, even those psychopaths were shocked at what I did. There's no coming back from this… not after the things I've done… the people I've lost."

"You're not the only one who's lost somebody," I remind him firmly, shocked at the self-pitying hole that he's dug himself into.

"That's not what I meant, Clem, and you know it."

"Then what did you mean?!" I ask forcefully, stepping in front of him again, "People die all the time, whether you like it or not! That's just what happens these days! People have to kill sometimes! Sometimes it's a choice between whether you want to live to the next day or not! Kill or be killed! SO DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE AND ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S SUFFERING HERE!"

If this was Kenny or anyone else, they probably would've just shrugged me off and told me to go to hell for being so up front about this.

But this is Lee Everett – the man who's as close to a father as I'm ever going to get, and he can see right through my blanket of anger. He knows there's more to this than I'm letting on.

"…what happened, sweet pea?"

"The leader of their group, Carver…" I say flatly after having calmed down at Lee's soothing tone, "I… I killed him. They took me into the woods… said that I was going to be the "next generation" for them. That night I let his friend get eaten by walkers, and I stabbed Carver…"

Lee sits there, completely dumbfounded. Here I am – in his eyes as being the sweet, little girl that he looked after for all that time. Now I just dropped the bomb on his little world.

"…who else knows?"

"You, Lilly and Luke. I haven't told Kenny yet…"

"Alright… Jesus…"

"Nobody's innocent anymore!" I raise my voice slightly, folding my arms across my chest. "You can't be! Trying to be will get you killed!"

"Clementine – "

"I thought you were dead for two whole years!" I cry out, sitting on the ground pathetically. "I watched my parents come back and try to eat you! Do you know what that feels like? Everyone I have ever loved has either died… or left me… And when you came back that day, I thought that maybe – just maybe – things could go back to normal again. But I was wrong! You don't trust anyone besides Lilly and I, every time you see Kenny you guys want to strangle each other, and you don't even try talking to Luke! Please, Lee! I don't want to lose you again, but if you keep doing this then… It's going to happen!"

Both of us sit in silence for a moment – neither of us meeting each other's gazes as I stare at the ground. My words were harsh, for sure, but I had to get them off my chest. I'm so sick of walking on eggshells around here; enough is enough! And if it takes the closest person to him in order for him to get the message, then so be it.

"I think…" Lee stammers suddenly, looking into my eyes, "You and I need to… take some time to sort things out."

That's a code name for: we just had a big fight, and we need to spend some time apart until we both cool down a little bit. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but he looks adamant about it.

"Hey," Lilly's muffled voice calls out as she slips her head through the tent flap, "Everything alright in here? I heard some shouting from outside."

"Don't worry about it," Lee sighs, glancing at me briefly before turning back to Lilly, "Are things good out there?"

"Not really, but I could ask you the same thing," Lilly replies shortly, raising an eyebrow at him quizzically. "You're acting strange, Everett - in more ways than one. Are you alright?"

"I don't think being alright even applies anymore, Lilly. But… I'll tell you later, when things calm down a little bit. Now, what's going on outside?"

I want to get away… I want to get away from all of this and climb back in my treehouse again; waiting desperately for my parents to come home. Even though I'm surrounded by people who in their own ways care about me equally, I've still never felt so alone.

Lee's giving up – I can tell. On fighting back, on living… maybe he's even starting to give up on me. Clearly he's not in the right frame of mind, but then again, am I really any different? I just spilled my guts out to one of my closest friends, and all it's done is make things worse.

"It's a shit-show out there," Lilly explains as we slowly follow her out, "While you two were away, Kenny's been talking about getting prepared for those goons that took you two to come back… Says that we need to fortify the place and have everybody on high alert."

"What's the problem, then?" Lee asks as we stop near a bench, "Aren't we already on the lookout around here? We've got people on night shifts, don't we? What's so different?"

"Don't you get it?" Lilly exclaims, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "Kenny's not just getting us prepared in case they come back – he's prepping people for war."

"Really…" Lee breathes out, holding his chin in contemplation.

"Yeah, and he expects us to help convince people! I mean, sure, I may have worked at an air force base, but that's hardly the same thing as this! We're not soldiers here!"

"Actually…" Lee interrupts, surprising both Lilly and I, "Look, I'm not saying that the way he's going about this is completely right – he's being too aggressive and not thinking clearly. I'm hardly the one to be talking, but… Kenny's sort of got a point."

"Declaring war on another camp isn't a smart idea, Lee."

"I know it's not, which is why we shouldn't do it. But just to get people aware of what could happen – that's what we need to do. Believe me, Lilly. Nate's a crazy son of a gun, and he's definitely going to try and come back here. And…"

Lee then looks sadly down at me, but I just turn away and look at the snow. There's no point in going over what I've already said. Lilly seems to have figured this out.

"You told him, then…"

"Yeah…" Lee answers when I don't respond, scratching his head sheepishly. "There were some things we both needed to say, that's all."

"I'm going to look for Luke," I say emotionlessly, not looking back if either of them try to protest.

We might be in some serious trouble here. Nate combined with Tavia and the remnants of Carver's camp… even with our gated community we won't stand much hope unless we can buckle down and try to wear this thing out. I'm pretty sure negotiating won't work, since we killed quite a bunch of people from their group, and basically left their campsite overrun with walkers. Nate's completely crazy, so I wouldn't put it past him if he tried to set Wellington up in flames.

But trying to take it over might be even worse, considering what kind of man he is.

"Hey Clem," Jane greets casually as I walk by. "Things are going downhill around here pretty quickly, wouldn't you say?"

"We've got water, food and protection," I list off on my fingers, "That's better than I can say for a lot of places."

"The in-fighting, I mean. This is why big groups like this fall apart, kid. You might want to consider going it alone if things get worse – trust me, I've seen what you can do. You'd have a fair shot."

"Why are you still here, then?" I ask, not rudely but just curiously.

Jane looks at the ground for a moment, biting her lip slightly and concentrating. "I'm debating on going or not," she explains, "Walkers are enough of a problem themselves, but now you've suddenly got these goons out looking for you! I don't want to be caught in the crossfire, and I… I don't want them to take you out, too."

"You'd feel bad if you left us behind," I conclude, checking the prosthetic as I sit down across from her. "Jane, we need you. Besides, how do you think Mike would feel if you just suddenly got up and left without telling anyone?"

"He'd understand eventually," Jane replies bluntly, for some reason taking out a nail file and handing it over to me. "You can use this for lots of things, like breaking open locks, killing walkers… Versatility is not overrated."

Holding the object in my hands, I study it for a moment before handing it back. "Keep it," I tell her, "You'd need it more than I would."

"Hell, Clem. With the way things are going around here, I don' think that's true."

"Who the fuck are you?!" we hear Mike yell out from his post, aiming the rifle at somebody as we rush over to see what the problem is. Kenny, Lilly and Lee follow close behind.

Standing there is a girl with dark brown hair that went down to her shoulders, with a black and yellow jacket and black jeans. Whoever she is, she certainly doesn't look happy to be here. To me at least, she looks like a school bus with what she's wearing.

"The name's Becca, asswipe. And I've come to give you a message from Nate," she spits before holding out a small suitcase from behind her back. "He said that you'd know what it means."

With that, she tosses the bag over the fence and scurries off into the woods, while all of us stand in a circle around it. Nobody goes within five feet of the thing.

"Is it some kind of… bomb?" Luke asks, having just popped in beside me.

"Shit! Is that what it is?!" Mike exclaims, backing up slowly before bumping into Bonnie. "Nobody open it, then! There could be anything in there!"

Where they'd have the skills to make one or the tools is beyond me, and we're probably just being paranoid, but who knows what's inside, really? Why would Becca drop something like that so carelessly?

Lee steps forward suddenly, as everyone around him watches in shock. What the hell is he doing?! If he opens that bag, then we might as well just kill ourselves now!

"Lee! Get back here, you son of a bitch!" Kenny urges, which is surprising because I'd have thought that he'd want Lee to get blown up. "You're gonna get us all killed!"

"You really think that it would reach you?" Lee questions, shooting him a glare, "Besides, it should be opened by the person who's got the least to lose here."

Oh god, Lee…

Bending down slowly, Lee bites his lip as he carefully opens up the bag; turning his head to the side in anticipation. He stays that way for a few seconds, until he opens his eyes again and peers inside.

All is quiet for a moment, save for the chilly wind that blows by and Sarah asking what everyone's looking at.

That's when Lee's eyes go incredibly wide, his skin goes pale and his hand starts shaking.

"Oh my god…" he murmurs, falling back straight on his ass and staring at the ground in disbelief.

I make my way over to get a better look, and what I see makes me sick to my stomach.

Sitting inside the bag… is Eddie's undead walker head. The message is clear.

War is coming.

AN: Ooohhh… trouble's brewing ahead, folks! Hope you enjoyed that, and… sorry about the Clem and Lee fight there. Clearly they've got some wrinkles to iron out. Anyway, please leave a review my kind people!