A Second Chance

Chapter 12

I could still hear Carley shouting for me to come back. I could have danced when I took down that walker. He was the reason I died…the reason I left Clementine alone. No longer able to see the mansion, I pulled my gun out and crept through the streets. Keeping low and barely breathing, I turned a right around a corner.

"Shit!" I thought, seeing the horde of walkers congregating in the street. The marsh house was clearly visible from there. I ducked behind the wall, obscuring myself from their view. How the hell did I get past these fukers?!

I saw shards of broken glass in the road. My memory fired to life.

"Just push through them! You can do this, man! You did it once, you can do it again!" I encouraged, feeling fire spark in the pit of my stomach. "Fuck it; let's do this!"

I shuffled into the road, holding my head high. I bent down to grab a piece of glass and gripped it tightly. Pain flooded my hand, making blood trickle down the sharp object. One goal was on my mind: get my little girl.

I walked to the first corpse, digging the glass into its thick skull. It felt good.

"Come at me, you fuckers…" I muttered, slashing my way through the herd. As I neared the hotel, my shirt became more and more covered in blood and guts. That didn't bother me, though. I sliced the final walker in my way and saw the station wagon.

"Here I am, motherfucker." I mumbled, creeping inside. Closing the door behind me, I walked along the long, narrow hallway. I thought of Carley, Clementine, the baby… Oh god I wish things could be normal. I wanted my son or daughter to have a happy childhood, not having to be scared of these things.

Approaching the door to the bedroom, I threw my body weight against the door. I kept my gun safely in the back of my pants, planning on keeping it with me. A rope ran from another door to the closet. "Obviously that's where she is."

A door clicked behind me. I turned around. There he was, his hair slicked to the side and a gun held at my chest.

"I got us adjoining rooms." He said softly, his eyes unblinking.

"Hello." I responded, staring back at him. I felt calm, knowing what was going to happen.

"Okay, th-this is civil." He stammered, his mouth curling into a smile. His eyes travelled over me. "You look horrible."

I squared my shoulders, almost daring him to try anything.

"Go over there." He ordered, flicking the gun slightly to his left. I sidestepped to where he indicated, never turning. "Put your things down."

"Let me out! Who's out there?" A scared voice called from the next room, taking my full attention. I wanted to beat this motherfucker. He hurt my little girl. I was about to answer when…

"Shh." The man said, putting a finger to his lips and raising the gun to my head. "Quiet please, sweetie!" He turned back to me. "Your things. There."

"This is all I've got, okay?" I said, putting the flowery radio on the rickety table.

"You travel light. I don't believe you." He muttered, keeping his gun fixated on me. I sighed lightly.

"Okay, fine." I breathed, putting my gun and the glass shard alongside it.

"That's what I thought." He smiled, once again raising the gun to my head. "You shouldn't lie. Sit down."

I followed his order, sitting in one of the pink, fluffy chairs that were set out. I looked directly in his eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked, lowering the gun to his lap and outwardly relaxing.

"No. I don't know anything about you." I lied, wanting to hear his side of the story again.

"You wouldn't. People like you don't." He growled, sneering at me. Rage filled me.

"No, Lee. Don't rise to it."

"Now you're thinking, 'who would have it out for me,' huh?" He continued, obvioulsly having not noticed my inward battle. He leaned forward, almost taunting me. "A few weeks back, there might have been a station wagon in the forest? Full of all sorts of food, water, things you need to survive."

I widened my eyes in shock, knowing that Kenny would have to start talking when I got back.

"Yeah. I'm not some cannibal, Lee. Some killer out in the woods. Some v…villan. I'm just a… dad." He paused, allowing me time to take all the information in. "I coach little league."

"I didn't take from you." I stated, defending myself and my group. He just smiled in response, making me feel uneasy.

"Your people didn't?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't agree with it." I defended once again, trying to calm his nerves.

"That's what little Clementine said. Why didn't you?"

"She didn't want me to." I answered quickly, thinking of the little girl in the next room.

"She didn't want you to do a lot of things." He countered, glaring at me.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked, allowing my voice to rise for a moment. I calmed myself, waiting for the right moment.

"I don't want you to say anything. I want you to know what happened." He said. I stayed quiet, allowing him a chance to speak. "Have you ever hurt somebody you care about?"

"Yes. Of course." I admitted, gritting my teeth.

"Who?" He asked, determined to make me talk.

"My wife." I spat, looking down into my lap.

"Clementine said she wasn't with you."

"I hurt her a long time ago." I said. Looking up, I saw his pace light up with a twisted smile.

"How?"

"In a lot of ways." I said, looking down once again. "She travelled for work. I didn't like that. I wanted a family."

"A reasonable thing to want." He agreed.

"So we faught. And it made my biggest fear come true." I said. "I got sick on day on my way to class. Cancelled it and went home. Found her there with someone else. Killed him." I paused, thinking about her and him. "I was mad at her for so long and I can't imagine how much pain she felt." I looked up. "How about you?"

"I hurt her so bad." He said, looking downcast. "My son, Adam, went missing. I took him out hunting even though my wife said he was too young. I figured he had to learn. I came back without him and the look on her face said 'You are a MONSTER.'"

I my eyebrows creased with sympathy. We had ruined this mans life.

"We all went out looking for him. We never found him. I hurt her so bad." He broke down before me. "And then we came back and all our stuff was gone. Your people, Lee. That asshole in the ball cap. His stupid fucking wife. I could have earned her trust back if they hadn't made our situation so desperate."

"I'm sorry." I said, expressing true sympathy for him.

"The hungrier we got the more she blamed me. Until she finally took our daughter, Elizabeth and left. They didn't get far… I… found them a day later. In the road." He stopped to look at me. "Do I look like a monster to you?"

"We all do." I replied slowly, anger once again bubbling inside me.

"Some more than others." He hissed. "I'm not like you. You walked a little girl into a dairy full of sick people and let them get their hands on her."

"I was trying to find some place safe for her." I said, stopping myself from doing something I would regret.

"You brought her to the most dangerous place in this city where she would have died." He continued, getting louder as he went.

"I couldn't leave her at the house, alone." I defended.

"SHE WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER OFF!" He shouted, making something snap inside me. I pounced on him, holding his throat as tightly as I could.

"YOU DON'T TAKE ANYONE FROM ANYWHERE! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" I bellowed, words spewing from my mouth. I knew everything this guy went through, yet, I still wanted him dead. I may have killed before, but this guy killed more than a person. He had killed a little girls chance in life.

"Hah. I bet you don't even know how old she is…" He gasped, scratching at my bleeding hand.

"She's nine!" I shouted, shaking his flailing hand off. I brought it down harder, eventually feeling him relax. Shock filled my ever fibre. I was a murderer again.

"Help! Please! Someone! Whoever it is out there!" Clementine's voice rang, pulling me from my thoughts. I put my gun against his head and pulled the trigger, ensuring our safety. I ran to the rope, untying the knot and yanking the door open. I saw Clementine sat with her head in her hands.

"Hey, sweet-pea." I greeted, walking over to her and kneeling in front of her.

"Lee!" She shrieked, wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging into me.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm here." I soothed, feeling her shake with sobs.

"He didn't have them… You were right." She sobbed, hugging into me tighter.

"Hey… I'm sorry, Clem. You didn't need me shouting at you." I said, pulling away from her. "Listen. I'm gonna get you back to the house. You just have to trust me."

"Okay. Whatever you say." She agreed, nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Wear this over you and stay by me." I said, pulling my blue shirt off and wiping myself over with it, leaving blood stains on my skin. I put the garment over the little girls head, making her squeal in disgust.

"Eww!" She said, obviously uncomfortable.

"Hey! Stop wiggling about and follow me." I said, picking her up and leaving through the door I came in from.

Twenty Minutes Later

"Guys! I'm home!" I called, striding through the doorway to the mansion. I walked into the living room, receiving shocked stares in return.

"What the fuck happened to you?!" Kenny asked, looking scared.

"Walkers. A shit ton of them at that." I replied, taking my shirt back from Clementine. Seeing the little girl relax was the best feeling I could imagine. Seeing her almost walk away, I added to her. "Stay where I can see you."

"Okay…" She said, looking downcast as she sat on the sofa.

"So… what's new?" I asked, walking over to him and taking my tank top off.

"New girl. She seems cool. Apparently her husband used to beat her and she just took off." Kenny replied, taking the clothes from my arms and dumping them on the floor. "Come and meet her."

"Okay, man." I agreed, following the older man.

"Irene. This is Lee." Kenny introduced, leading me through. I stopped short, coming face to face with my worst fear:

My ex wife.