The Walking Dead: The Decimation of Mankind

Chapter 10: Valford

We're back with chapter 10. I've almost finish my course in college and then I can have a lot of free time, but unfortunately, this story does not have that much longer to go. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter.

Lee woke up early morning in the driver's seat and checked the time on his still working watch to see it was 9:00 am. Everyone was still asleep, but unfortunately, he needed to wake someone up to help guild. He couldn't drive and look at a map at the same time, unless he wanted to risk crashing.

What kind of idiot would do that?

(Ahem, Lori Grimes, ahem)

He turned towards Jane who was sleeping in the driver's seat beside him. He placed his hand upon her shoulder and began to gently shake her awake. "Jane? Jane, wake up."

"Huh." Jane awoke from her slumber and rubbed her eye for a moment before yawning. "Morning already?"

"That's right." Lee confirmed with a nod. "Sorry to wake you, but I want to get a move on and I need someone to guide me."

Jane seemed to understand and located the map inside the glove box. Once she was fully awake, Lee turned the keys into the ignition and the engine roared to life.

"What I would give for a cup of coffee." Jane wished as she rubbed her eyes one more time before concentrating on the map. "We're still in South Carolina. If we keep going the way we're going now, we might end up going to Savannah. I wouldn't want to go in a city."

Lee's eyes widened for a moment when the familiar name of Savannah was mentioned. That was the same city where they lost Chuck, the same city where Lee had to fight that girl in the red hoodie, the same city where they parted ways with Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Omid and Christa. The same city where the stranger confronted them with Clementine's undead parents with their arms and mouth cut off.

"Lee, you okay?" Jane inquired when she noticed he looked like he had gone off into his own world.

"Huh. Oh, I'm fine." Lee assured as he concentrated on the road before he crashed. "It's just that Savannah was the city where Clementine's parents died."

Jane seemed to understand now. "Oh. I'm sorry. I bet it was hard on her."

"It was, but it got worse." Lee replied. He thought it was best Jane know the story of what happened since they brought it up now. "Our friend Kenny wanted to find a boat, thinking it would be a safe plan. The boat wasn't big enough for all of us, so Clementine, Carley and I stayed behind. Right as they left, we were confronted by this person. He had Clementine's parents as walkers with their mouths and arms cut off."

"Jesus." Jane sighed. She met her fair share of monsters in this day and age, but what kind of person would do that? "What a fucking monster? The walkers-I mean Clementine's parents didn't attack him?"

"No, they didn't." Lee responded. He too was confused by that, but eventually figured it out. "With their arms and mouths cut off, I think that tamed them, stopped them from wanting to bite and attack. I thought you knew that?"

"I did, but I always made walkers walk with their backs turn to me. I figured they'd still attack with their arms if they could see me." Jane assumed as he leaned back in her chair and sighed. "What happened? Who was he?"

"A couple of weeks before we went to Savannah, we came across this station wagon on our way back home. It was filled with food, water, everything we needed to survive. We were out of food, but I didn't want to take part in it, neither did Clementine. The stranger who confronted me...It was his car." Lee explained as he shook his head for a moment in disgust. "He lost his family because of the others taking the stuff. He talked to her on Clementine's walkie-talkie, tricking her into telling everything about us."

Jane remained silent until Lee was finished talking. That's when she decided to speak. "Damn. I'm not sure what to say. Were you mad at her?"

"I wasn't mad, I was worried." Lee answered. He could not forget that day regardless of how many months had passed, or years for that matter. "He tried to kill me and take Clementine away, claiming he could be a better father than I could. Carley shot him when he wasn't looking her way and I strangled him with my own hands."

"The bastard deserved it, Lee." Jane agreed. She knew that in this world there were going to be people who would try to attack them and hurt them in anyway. It's fight or die. "No way could he be a better father then you could. If he couldn't even protect his own family, then he definitely couldn't protect Clementine."

"I know...Thank you, Jane." Lee thanked with a small smile. It felt good to hear here admit that considering she never use to socialize with anyone and keep to herself, but now she was with them and they were a family now.

At that moment, the others were beginning to wake up and Lee beckoned for Jane to mention what they had been talking about. Jane nodded in agreement and acted like they were not doing anything other than driving.

Clementine yawned and approached Lee while rubbing her eyes. "Morning Lee, Jane."

"Morning, sweet pea." Lee greeted, but he kept his eyes locked on the road. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." Clementine replied, but she rubbed her hand against the back of her neck. Sleeping on the couch of an RV was not the most comfortable position in the world, but she managed all right for now.

Lee noticed a sign coming up and just assumed it was one of those direction signs to tell you what state or road you were driving to. However, this sign had a white cloth over the sign with writing across it. He decided to investigate and pulled over at the side of the road.

"Lee, what is it?" Clementine inquired as Lee opened the RV door on his side.

"There's a sign there." Lee answered. He beckoned for the others to follow him. "Come on, let's go and check it out."

Everyone except for Mike exited the RV and approached the sign. Bonnie was cradling AJ in her arms while he still continued to sleep. The group approached the sign and Lee began to read its content to the rest of the group.

""For guaranteed safety, come to Valford, located between interstate 26 and 95. But be warned: we are heavily armed. If you try anything dangerous, you will be met with extreme force."" Lee read the contents and his eyes widened after reading the sign. Could this place finally be the answer to their prayers?

"Lee." Luke spoke up to catch his attention. "What do you think?"

Lee had to think about it for a moment. They had no idea if this place could be dangerous or not, but did they have any other choice? That and who's to say that this place isn't full either? Regardless of what he thought, he decided to hear the others opinion's on this. "I think we should go there. What about the rest of you?"

"I say we got for it too." Bonnie agreed.

Clementine nodded as well. "I think we should go."

Sarah nodded in agreement and remained silent.

Jane looked a little skeptical since she was not sure what this place was like. She was willing to try, but even if she didn't agree, it looked like she was outvoted anyway. "All right, I'm in too."

"And me." Luke joined in with his hand raised.

"Then it's settled." Lee agreed with a nod. He remembered what the sign said for them to know which way they had to go. "Let's back in the RV."

Everyone proceeded back into their working vehicle. Bonnie made a note to where this safe zone was located just in case they forgot. Lee jumped into the driver's seat with Clementine beside him as everyone else took a seat. Everyone looked eager to go and Lee did not keep them waiting and made haste to get going.

"Lee?" Clementine caught his attention while he was driving. Lee turned towards her for a moment. "Is this it? Are we going to find that one place we can settle down without having to worry anymore?"

Lee did not respond for a moment and kept his eyes focused upon the road. He had no idea what the people at Valford were like and capable of, but he had to take a chance, otherwise they were going to just sit in this RV and keep moving to nowhere for the rest of their lives. "We will, Clementine. We will."

Clementine seemed satisfied with that answer and remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Lee had the feeling it would not take them that long to make it to interstate 26 and 95. He did not care how long it took, as long as he could finally get there and put this whole nightmare to an end. He wanted his family to be somewhere safe where they didn't have to fear the outside world anymore or sleep with a gun next to their face.

Valford was their last hope. If that turned out to be a disappointment too, then Lee had no idea what they were going to do next.

A couple of hours later, the group had finally made it to interstate 26. Now everyone was keeping their eye out for Valford. Lee kept his eyes out too but at the same time, trying to keep his eyes on the road just in case they crashed into something, or worse, someone.

Everything was quiet so far. That was until Clementine looked out her side and spotted something. "I see something! Lee, turn right!"

Lee did that and turned around the next corner, approaching what looked like a small structure in the distance, but when they get closer, it revealed to be a huge wall surrounding the entire area. It wasn't as big as the one Wellington had, but it was still fairly large and looked like it was made of strong steel.

"We made it." Lee smiled as he slowed down the RV near the front gate.

Lee looked out of his window and noticed a man standing on a lookout tower just outside of the gate. He turned off the engine and exited the RV. "Wait here for a moment. I'll go talk to him."

Lee walked towards the gate where the guard above noticed him. He was wearing camouflage clothing and was armed with an M4A1. Lee waved to catch his attention. "Hey."

"Hey." the guard greeted in return. "Welcome to Valford. May I ask your name please?"

"I'm Lee. Lee Everett." Lee introduced himself to the man. He nodded his head back towards the RV. "There are seven more of us back there, including two kids and a baby."

"All right. Let me just speak to the boss." the man said as he picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke. "Sir, there's some new people at the gate. They look harmless; they have kids and a baby. There are eight of them, should I let them in...Okay, will do."

By now, the rest of the group had exited the RV and walked outside. Mike was still inside the RV, but if this place had a doctor, then he'd be back onto his feet in no time.

The guard placed his walkie-talkie down and called out to Lee. "All right, the boss says I can let you in. Just get back in your RV and drive on in. The boss will meet you in there. If you have any weapons, please hand them when told."

"Will do." Lee nodded as he beckoned for everyone to get back inside the RV.

"Open the gate!" the guard called out once Lee and his group were back inside their vehicle.

The metal gate opened and Lee slowly drove the RV inside, but when Valford came into view, everyone's eyes widened in shock yet excitement. The place was like a small neighborhood with nice houses and a couple of other buildings too like a weapons store and a small hospital. Maybe this is what Wellington would have looked like, but better.

"Pinch me, I'm dreaming." Luke requested while he looked like he was about to faint. He felt a sharp pain in his arm for a moment and yelped out. "OW! Jane!"

"You said, "pinch me"." Jane reminded with a small smile.

Lee chuckled for a moment, but then he noticed some more guards beckoning for him to drive somewhere and then stop. He did as they requested and pulled over before getting outside of the RV to meet with the people.

A bald man who looked around in his late 40's while wearing a blue polo shirt with black suit pants walked forward to meet Lee. He offered him a hand shake and talked in friendly tone. "Hi there, my name is Axel Jackson; I'm in charge of Valford here. Welcome."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lee Everett." Lee introduced himself and accepted his handshake. "These are my people. This is Clementine, Sarah, Luke, Bonnie, Jane and AJ. We have another man in the RV, but he's serious injured and needs medical attention."

"He...He wasn't bitten, was he?" Axel inquired with his hands placed upon his hip.

"No, no, he wasn't bit, don't worry." Lee reassured. "Believe it or not, he got attacked by a bear."

"A bear?" Axel repeated, looking somewhat surprised. "Wow. It's been a while since I saw any live animals around here. We'll send our doctors to take care of him right away. In the meantime, if you have any weapons, I'm going to have to take them into our armory for safety, but I can assure you that you can sign them out anytime you want to go outside."

The group looked somewhat hesitant to do as he asked, but cooperated and followed Axel's instruction. They placed their weapons inside the duffle bag they kept all of the guns in and passed them to one of the guards.

"Thank you." Axel thanked. He could tell they looked like they didn't quite trust them yet. "Don't worry; I know it's hard to trust nowadays. Everyone who has joined our community has been hesitant, but I promise that nothing bad will happen to you and your family here. I use to be a Politician."

Lee had the feeling he could trust Axel. There was just something about him that told Lee he could be trusted.

"Come on." Axel said, beckoning them to follow him. "I'll take you to my office to fill in your names and then we'll find an unoccupied house for all of you to stay at. We'll have a doctor tend to your injured person."

"Sounds good." Lee agreed as they followed him towards one of the smaller homes around the area.

While they were walking, everyone got the chance to observe the area. There was a small park where children were playing with their parents, people were talking to one another like socializing, and everyone seemed to be unaware of the outside world anymore. This place looked great so far.

The group followed Axel into his home where he escorted them into his office. Everyone took any seats that were available and waited patiently as Axel picked up a notebook from his desk and opened it, revealing a list of names along with the houses they were staying at.

Axel placed his glasses on and filled in the house they were staying at before sliding the book and a pen to them. "Sign your names here please. We found your group two available houses that are right next to each other. Each one of them has four bedrooms each."

"Thank you." Lee thanked as he signed his full name before sliding the book to Clementine.

"And if you could fill in the name of your friend who you say is hurt, that'd be great too." Axel requested while he waited patiently for them to finish.

After everyone signed their names in the notebook, Axel placed it back into his desk and told the group to follow him to their new homes. When they sighed in the book, they chose who was going to stay in which house. Lee, Clementine, Sarah and AJ were going to stay in one house while Luke, Bonnie, Jane and Mike were going to stay in the other.

Their new homes were not that far from Axel's home. They arrived moments later and two single separate two stories houses. This was their homes and this is where they were going to stay from now on. This was their home now.

"Well, this is your home." Axel told the group while he had his hands placed in his jeans pocket. "I hope they are to your liking. I would show you around, but unfortunately, duty calls and I have work to do. Feel free to settle in and meet some of the neighbors. You can also check on your friend whenever you like. If you have any problems, don't be afraid to ask."

"Thank you." Lee thanked with a smile. He expressed his gratitude the best he could.

Axel nodded in return before he bid the group farewell and walked away to attend other important business.

Now that they were alone again, the group decided to check out their new homes.

"Well, in we go." Lee spoke up as he approached the front door to their home.

"We'll come over a few minutes." Bonnie spoke up while she, Luke and Jane approached their new home.

Lee took out the key from his pocket that was given to him by Axel and unlocked the front door, slowly opening it and walking inside. The house looked really nice and tidy like Lee's old home. He decided to take a tour around the house before settling in.

There was an average size living room along with an average size kitchen and stairs that led up to the next level. The four of them (including AJ who was being held by Clementine) made their way upstairs and inspected the rooms. There were three bedrooms with double beds in each one along with a bathroom at the end of the hallway.

"Wow." Lee sighed; still surprised that he would actually see a normal house again. He chose his bedroom and jumped onto his new bed, not believing how much he forgot what a comfortable bed felt like. He sighed and placed his hands behind the back of his head.

Clementine chose her room next and this one had a crib inside for AJ. She gently set the young baby down inside while walking towards her bedroom. At her old home, she only had a single bed obviously due to her size. She sat on the new double bed and got comfortable on it for a moment.

In her room too was a TV along with a gaming console. This place had electricity too? To prove that, she turned on the lamp beside her and looked surprised when it turned on. "Wow. Sweet."

Sarah was the last to go into her new bedroom, the last bedroom in the house. She looked around for a moment and happiness filled up inside of her. This bedroom looked very similar to the one she use to sleep in at her old home. There was also a book shelf filled with some books and comics.

"Wow, this is so cool." Sarah spoke to herself as he picked up one of comics and read the title. ""The Walking Dead"? What a weird name for a comic book."

After the three of them stayed in their rooms for a while, they regrouped downstairs in the living room to hear one another's opinions on this place.

"Well, what do you girls think?" Lee asked them with his arms crossed.

Clementine and Sarah looked towards each other before turning back towards Lee with smiles. "We like it here." they spoke simultaneously.

Lee was glad to hear that. "That's great. Come on; we'll get AJ, go check on the others, visit Mike and then we'll look around for a while."

Clementine nodded and walked back upstairs to go and get AJ out from his crib. Once she was downstairs, the four of them exited their home (remembering to lock the door behind them) and proceeded next door to visit the rest of their group and hear their opinion on this community.

Well it seems that the group are finally at somewhere safe. Valford, a place where they can finally settle down after everything that's occurred. For those who watch the show, Valford is like Alexandria. Also, I think I broke the fourth wall a couple of times in this chapter. Whoops. Stay tuned for chapter 11.