The Walking Dead: only trying to do the right thing
Chapter 13: the final decision
Hey, everyone, me here. Thank all of you for being patient and for voting for the options of what will happen next, and guess what? We have an answer! I will not reveal it here because it will be a spoiler so I will let you all read. Enjoy
The next morning, the group had woken up nice and early after Kenny had made it very clear that he wanted to go now before any more problems would occur such as walkers or even the guy on the radio that had been stalking them, or maybe even another random stranger like the girl Kenny had to shoot to save Lee.
Outside of the house, the group had spent almost all morning, trying to get all the way to the river front without making any noise, not wanting to attract any more attention than they already had in the past. To move the boat, Lee and Kenny had found something to help push it there.
When they arrived, the group slowly lowered the boat into the water while a couple of them kept watch for any lurkers, expecting the worst at any moment now. Finally, the boat was ready, and it was time to go as soon as possible. The first passengers to get however, was Katjaa and Duck, who lowered themselves in from the docks.
Kenny kept a close eye on his family before he turned his attention back to Lee, Carley, Clementine, Omid, and Christa. He looked at Lee closely, knowing it was time for him to make the decision: who is going to get on the boat, and who will stay? "Alright, Lee. Did you make a decision yet?"
"Yeah, I did. I talked it over with Carley last night. "Lee answered, looking at both Clementine and Carley, who were standing on both sides of him. He smiled, knowing that no matter what, he, Carley, and Clementine would be safe as long as they were to look out for each other. "And I have decided that I want Omid and Christa to take our places on the boat."
Saying this, it left Kenny, Omid, and Christa in shock. Kenny did not expect for Lee to refuse the offer on the boat after they were practically best friends now, and Omid and Christa did not expect to get a place on the boat due to them not being the group for so long.
"Lee, are you serious?" Kenny inquired; wanting to make sure he heard what just came out from Lee's mouth.
"Yeah, I am." Lee replied, holding Clementine's hand as he looked towards Omid and Christa. "And that's my choice."
"Lee, man, I don't know what to say." Omid said, rubbing the back of his neck slightly as he tried to think of a way he could thank him properly.
"You don't have to thank me, Omid." Lee assured before he shifted his attention back over to Kenny and offered him a handshake with his free hand. "Kenny, it's been great knowing you, but this my choice, and I am sticking with it."
"Well, if that's your choice, then." Kenny replied, accepting Lee's handshake for a few seconds, his expression still shocked about Lee not going to be able to come with him. "Take care of yourself, Lee."
Before long, it was time to get going as soon as possible. Omid and Christa made their way towards the boat, but first, Christa stopped next to Lee and smiled for a moment, realizing not everyone in this day and age were all bad. "Thank you, Lee."
After a couple of seconds to get the boat started, Kenny looked back where Omid and Christa were in the boat with him, and Katjaa was securing a life jacket around Duck just in case of any problems. He took one last look at Lee, Carley, and Clementine and silently wished them good luck before pushing the lever on the boat, sending them away from the docks and into the open sea.
Lee could only watch as the people he had been with for more than three months sailed away into the sunset, and although he wish things could have gone different, he wished Kenny the best, glad that his plan to get out of to the open water had finally came true.
The trio were about to leave, preparing to take their chances out there on their own, but before they left, Clementine had tugged Lee's hand for a second to gain his attention, and when he was looking, there was something she needed to ask: "Lee, are you going to find my parents now? They can't be far."
Lee knew there was no way to avoid her request this time. He did not have the heart to tell her that they were dead, but he knew well fact lying was not a very good option either. He opened his mouth, preparing to answer her question, but a voice had spoken first.
"Going somewhat?"
Lee jumped at the sound at the sound of the voice, and swiftly turned around where a man wearing a brown leather jacket, longish brown hair, and greenish pants, stood there with a Bereatta 92FS Inox pistol held in his right hand, and behind him were two walkers with their mouths and arms cut off, and rope attached to their necks.
Lee's eyes widened, realizing that this man was the one who was spying on him yesterday when he was burying that walker boy. He was about to charge towards him, but the man raised his gun, ordering Lee to freeze.
"No, no." the stranger ordered, waving his gun slightly, beckoning for Lee to stay where he was. "Stay where you are."
Clementine looked towards the walkers behind him, and jumped in shock when she recognized their faces. She was about to run over to them, but was held back by Carley. She squirmed slightly, wanting to reach out to them. "Mom! Dad!"
"Clementine, no!" Carley said, holding her back as the young girl began to cry in the older woman's grip.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Lee asked, anger in his voice as he just wanted to pull out a gun to shoot him, but problem was, they gave their weapons to Kenny and the rest of the group, and only were left with a pistol, which was in Carley's possession. "Are you the guy on the radio?!"
"That I Am." the stranger agreed, grinning slightly as he released the walkers, but they did not move and remained still. He kept Lee at gun point, just in case he got any smart ideas. "Now, let's talk, shall we? Do you know who I am?"
"No. I don't know anything about you." Lee replied, trying to keep himself to calm during this situation.
"You wouldn't. People like you don't." the stranger accused, almost if he knew Lee. "Now, you're thinking, "Who would have it out for me," huh? A couple of weeks ago, there was a station wagon in the forest. Full of food and supplies. That your people stole from us."
Saying this, Lee now knew who this man was. He must have been the person who owned the station wagon they stole from, but how could he have made it here? Did Clementine also tell him their exact location now?
But Lee knew that he did nothing wrong, and did not deserve to be held at gun point by this man. "I didn't take from you." he assured.
"I know, but your people did, didn't they?" the stranger reminded.
"I told them not to do it, but they didn't listen, there was nothing I could have done." Lee explained, cracking his knuckles slightly. "I didn't agree with them."
"That's what Clementine said." the stranger said, looking towards Clementine for a moment, who was being held in a hug by Carley, crying in sadness after seeing her parents as walkers. He looked back towards Lee, and was completely unaware that Lee had taken a step closer. "Why didn't you agree with them?"
"Because it wasn't right. It wasn't our stuff." Lee answered, hoping he could negotiate with the stranger into not killing him, but it did not look well so far. "I knew you were going to come back."
"That's real good of you." the stranger praised him slightly, holding his gun down slightly in a calm matter.
"Look, I didn't take from you." Lee assured a second time. "What do you want me to say or do?"
"I don't want you to do anything." the stranger replied, looking down towards the ground in sadness like he was about to cry. "I hurt her so bad. I took my son Adam hunting one day, but I lost him, and the look on her face said, "You are a monster". I could have got her trust back, but after your people took our stuff, she left and took our daughter Elizabeth, but they didn't get far. I found them a day later on the side of the road; dead...Do I look like a monster to you?"
Lee could not exactly tell if he was asking him the question or not, but nevertheless, he decided to answer anyway. He shook his head slightly as he answered the question. "No."
"I'm not like you, Lee." the stranger accused, raising his gun back up to his face. "You walked Clementine into a dairy full of sick people and let them get their hands on her. You let a boy yanked out of a window and let him die so you could protect a pretty girl with a gun! You even brought her to this city where thousands of those things could have got her!"
After saying the stuff about Doug dying, this made Carley angry, suspecting that this man was going to nothing but accuse Lee of things he could not do to prevent. And since he was not paying much attention to her, she slowly moved her hand into her pocket.
"There was nothing I could have done." Lee replied. "Both of them were in trouble. There was only time to save one."
"ONLY TIME TO SAVE ONE!?" the stranger screamed at the top of his lungs, preparing to shoot Lee directly in his face. He calmed himself down for a moment and pulled out a walkie-talkie from his pocket, similar to the one Clementine owned. "THIS is how I know. But truth be told, I wasn't even mad it you when I found Clementine on my radio. I was coming for the others, but she told me about everything you did. You are a very bad person Lee. You're a thief, a murderer, a monster, and I am going to hurt you so bad. Tell me, Lee, do you even know anything about her?"
"I know more than you ever will!" Lee spat out.
"I bet you don't even know how old she is." the stranger said.
"She's nine." Lee answered, remembering how Clementine told him it was her birthday not too long ago.
"Oh, so you do know her age." the stranger replied, smiling slightly as he raised his pistol yet again, preparing to end this once and for all. "But that doesn't mean anything, Lee. If she was in my care, she would have never been exposed to what she's been with you. I am going to take her into my care; we are going to be a family. But first, I am going to make sure you never. Hurt. Anyone. Agai-AHH!"
Lee jumped at the sound of the gunshot as the stranger groaned in agony, clutching his arm from where he had been shot by Carley. In a split-second, Lee ran towards the stranger and tackled him to the ground, pinning him down as he began to choke him by placing both of his hands against his neck.
The stranger struggled for air as he squirmed around, desperately trying to get free, but Lee would not let ago, and kept a solid grip on his throat.
Finally, after a minute had passed, the stranger had finally died from lack of air and stopped struggling. Lee took a few breaths as he picked up the stranger's pistol and shot him in the head to prevent him from reanimation as a walker.
He walked back over to Clementine, who was still crying in sadness. He knelt down to her height and hugged him, knowing how much she must be going through right now. "Shhhh, I know what you are going through right now, honey, but there's something I need you to decide for me."
"W-what is it, Lee?" Clementine inquired, crying into her guardian's shoulder.
"...Do you want to...Put your parents out of their misery, or do you want me to leave them...?" Lee inquired. "It's your choice."
It took Clementine a couple of moments to answer Lee's questions. She looked at her now zombie parents, who stood there, not being able to make any noises with their mouths, and answered Lee's question finally. "I...I want to leave them, Lee. I...I don't want them to die."
"Okay, sweat-pea, we can leave them here." Lee replied, letting her go out from his hug as he stood back up to check his surroundings, suspecting that gunshot might have attracted some unwanted attention. "Alright, let's go. We need to get out from the city."
"Where will we go?" Carley asked, placing her pistol back into her pocket.
"We just got to keep moving." Lee answered, not sure where to go next now that there were only three of them left. "Let's get back to the train. We'll figure it out as we go along."
Carley nodded, and the trio ran away from the area they were in, making their way through the streets of Savannah, preparing to leave this god-awful city and get back to the train, expecting more surprises for the future.
The end, to all who are reading. I read the votes, and most of you wanted to go with option 1. There may be a sequel to this story, but we will see, and I thank everyone for reading.
Assassin's Creed Master out.
Disclaimer: The Walking Dead is owned by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, and Telltale Games.
The cast:
Dave Fennoy voice of Lee Everett
Melissa Hutchison voice of Clementine
Nicole Vigil voice of Carley
Gavin Hammon voice of Kenny
Cissy Jones voice of Katjaa
Max Kaufman voice of Kenny Jr. "Duck"
Roger Jackson voice of Charles "Chuck" and The Stranger
Mara Junot voice of Christa
Owen Thomas voice of Omid
Trevor Hoffmann voice of Ben Paul
Nikki Rapp voice of Lilly