The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival
Chapter 4: returning to the cabin
"Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?"...Hehe, my apologizes, I was just playing Far Cry 3 before I got to writing this chapter. Anyway, enjoy reading chapter 4, ladies and gentleman.
Lee slowly awoken after being trapped inside the back of the cigarette truck for as long as he could remember. He slowly rubbed his eyes to gain his sight back, and the first thing he took note of was it was now nighttime. How long had he been asleep for? He looked towards the back doors and was happy to see the walkers were no longer trying to get in, but what saw him next left him shocked and worried.
Pete was laying against the ground barely moving, his body facing the back doors. Lee was unsure if he had reanimated or not, but he sure was not going to take any chances. "Pete...? You alright?"
The older man did not respond.
"Shit...!" Lee already assumed he was dead, and slowly reached his hand into his back pocket and raised out his Glock 17. He hoped he had not wasted his ammunition back at the river because if he did, and with Pete being by the door, Lee would surely be trapped inside and have no way of killing him.
Being as cautious as he could, Lee slowly crept over towards Pete, trying to make as less noise as possible. He continued doing so until he was only standing a foot away from Pete, and he prayed to God he would not suddenly roll over and take a bite out of him. Lee placed his hand upon his shoulder and shook him slightly while whispering his name out to him. "Pete...? Pete...?"
In the quick of a flash, Pete had suddenly rolled upwards. Lee's instincts kicked in and he jumped out of harm's way before it was too late, landing straight onto his back. He sighed in relief when Pete had not yet reanimated, but it did look like he did not have long left to go before he would come back as one of them.
Pete coughed as he leaned up and pressed his back against the inside of the truck wall. His entire skin looked very pale and he was too weak to move upon his own. He was able to summon the strength to turn his attention over towards Lee, knowing he was not going to last much longer. "You want to hear something' funny? I've been thinking, and I don't want to die. Never thought I'd be the kinda idiot to say something' like that, but there it is. I'm scared, Lee. Jesus, I'm scared. Lee...I ain't going to make it...Lee, can you do something for me?"
Lee nodded in response.
"Can you take care of Nick?" Pete requested, knowing his nephew was still too young to take care of himself at his younger age. "He...He lost almost everything, and I don't know how long it will be before he loses hope. Watch out for him, would ya?"
"I will, Pete." Lee assured him. "I promise."
"Thanks Lee. You're a good guy." Pete complemented, groaning slightly while trying to summon the strength to keep himself a awake. "You should make a break for it. Cabin's only half a mile from here. Just keep heading straight until you find out."
"I wish you could come with me." Lee admitted, a hint of sadness in his voice as he knew it was going to be hard for Nick to not even have the chance to see his uncle during his last moments. "So you could say goodbye to Nick."
"I wish I could, Lee, but I can't." Pete declined, unable to move any part of his body. "Now get going. Don't worry about me."
Lee nodded in agreement with a sad expression across his face. He made his way over to the back doors and slowly pushed up the door, checking if the coast was clear or not. He could see a couple of walkers roaming around the area, but they did not have their interests on the truck and the two men inside anymore.
In the quick of an eye, Lee burst out from the inside of the truck, closing the doors behind him so they did not get inside and leave Pete with a suffering death. He sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him, making his way through the woods with lurkers focusing their attention towards him.
Two walkers blocked his way, but that did not stop him when he knocked one of them over into the other, causing them both to plummet towards the ground. He did not dare look back as he continued running through the early morning of Carolina, hoping he could make it back to the cabin in one peace.
After running for at least half hour, Lee was on the verge of passing out, not daring to look back towards the woods, but the good news was he finally made it back to the cabin, and lost the herd of walkers that were pursing him
When he arrived towards the back of the cabin, Lee burst open into the kitchen door, panting as he struggled to catch his breath. He closed the door behind him
Inside the kitchen were Carley, Clementine, Carlos and Rebecca who had ran over to them as soon as he entered with worried expressions on their faces.
Clementine was the first to greet Lee after he had been gone for at least a day. She embraced him in a hug near his torso, and Lee returned the hug by kneeling down to her height level. "Lee..."
"Hey, sweat pea." Lee agreed, slowly releasing her out from his embrace but soon felt himself being into another hug by his girlfriend. "Carley."
"Lee, I was so worried!" Carley admitted, resting her head down against his chest that was not that difficult due to her height level.
"Lee!" Carlos greeted, happy and worried at the same that he had returned after so many hours, but took note of the other two not being accounted for. "What happened?! Where's Nick and Pete?!"
"We got attack, at the river." Lee answered, struggling to catch his breath back after running for so long none stop. "We lost Nick. I was with Pete, but he got bit...He stayed behind while I ran."
"And you just left him!?" Rebecca inquired, a hint of anger in his voice like usual.
"Hey, there was nothing I could do!" Lee clashed, gaining an angry expression across his face. "He was took weak to move, and even if I tried to carry him back, both of us wouldn't have made it!"
"Look, Lee, just tell us where you were." Carla requested. At least he seemed to be keeping calm unlike Rebecca.
"We were by that river where Pete wanted to go this morning." Lee quickly answered, leaning against the kitchen counter. "If Pete's alive, I know where he is. But as for Nick, I ain't got o clue."
"Luke and Alvin went looking for you!" Rebecca panicked, shifting towards Carlos. "We need to find them!"
"Hold on-" Carlos ordered, but he was interrupted upon mid-sentence.
"Carlos, my husband is out there!" Rebecca reminded, extremely worried for her husband now that he was out there with Luke. "GET the GUNS!"
Carlos nodded in agreement as he ran out of the next room for a moment to go and fetch the weapons.
As he left, Rebecca returned her attention to Lee, her expression changed from an anger one into a worried one. "Luke and Alvin went out looking for you. I told them not to go! Dammit Luke!"
Seconds later, Carlos had returned with a rifle for Rebecca and a Glock 17 for himself. He handed her the rifle and with hesitation, the duo set out for a better chance of finding their friends.
As they were leaving, Carley stood up and raised her automatic rifle up, wanting to help out in the search for the rest of the cabin group members. "Let me go with you. I'm a good shot."
Carlos hesitated for a moment and turned towards Lee for support. He too was a little concerned for Carley, but he gave Carlos an agreement nod. "Alright, follow us."
Lee and Carley shared a quick kiss and hug with with one and other before she left, wishing her good luck. Carley ran out of the cabin with Rebecca now that they were armed with protection. Everyone prayed they could find Nick, Pete, Alvin and Luke, and bring everyone back here, safe and sound.
Before Carlos left, he had a big favor to ask for Lee, an important one. He stopped for a moment and shifted his attention over towards Lee with an concerned expression "Lee... Can you please watch Sarah? She's upstairs, just distract her, and don't tell her anything"
"I will. I'll take good care of her." Lee assured him, raising a slight smile across his, followed by a supportive nod.
"Thank you." Carlos thanked, but deep down, he was hoping he did not make a mistake of trusting his daughter's life with the older man. "We'll be back soon. Just stay inside, and don't open the doors for anything!"
Lee and Clementine watched as Carlos finally left to join the others, followed by closing the door behind him. The duo were now alone again, just like when they first met in Clementine's house when all of this had began.
The duo made their way into the living room to pass the time until everyone had returned. The two sat together on one of the couches, keeping quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say.
Lee was the first to speak up after a moment of silence, and turned his attention over to his adoptive daughter. "So, anything happened since I was gone?"
"Nothing much." Clementine admitted, shrugging her shoulders upon mid-sentence. "What happened exactly, Lee?"
"Me, Pete, and Nick stumbled upon these dead corpses when we got to the stream. I was standing in the middle, and Pete and Nick were standing on both sides." Lee explained, keep his eyes focused into nowhere like he was drifting off into his own world. "Walkers appeared, and Pete got bit. Both of them were in trouble, and I only got chance to help one...I don't know why...But I helped Pete even know I knew he was bit."
"You think...He made it?" Clementine inquired.
"Not sure. He looked pale when I last saw him, and he could just about move." Lee answered, but decided to stop talking as he did not want her knowing anymore to what happened. For now, he decided to give her a little job to keep her distracted. "Hey, why don't you keep Sarah company?"
Clementine knew one-hundred percent fact that Lee still tried to keep her mind off the outside world. She did wish he would stop treating her like the little girl she once was, but nevertheless, she obeyed his wishes and stood up from the couch and made her way upstairs to Sarah's room.
She arrived to Sarah's bedroom, and without knocking, she opened the door, and was startled by a sudden bright flash light, followed by an enthusiastic greeting. "Say, "Cheese"!"
Clementine jumped a little after being startled by her new so-called best friend. She merely watched as Sarah printed out the photo from the camera she had used to take a picture of Clementine. "Look at all this cool stuff I found under the house. Cool, right?"
Clementine did not reply as she eyed the picture in Sarah's hand, but had to admit it looked kid since she did not remember the last time of seeing a photograph of herself.
"Take one of me!" Sarah requested, offering the camera over to Clementine, who hesitated for a moment, thinking this was somewhat childish of her. "Please?"
Clementine continued to hesitate about if she wanted to take her picture or not, but eventually agreed to her friendly request. "Sure."
"Get me on a good pose, okay?" Sarah requested, standing still to allow Clementine to take a picture of her. However, just as Clementine had taken the picture, she noticed a worried expression on her face. "What's wrong, Clem? Where's my dad?"
Clementine was not sure how she was going to reply exactly, not wanting to lie to her, but at the same time, not wanting to break her promise to Carlos. Instead, she just said the first thing that popped in her mind. "He'll be fine. You're safe here with me and Lee."
"Are you sure?" Sarah inquired, but did not get an answer for her new friend, who merely stood there. She decided to drop it for now and walked to the other side of her bedroom, and sat down. As she sat down, she felt herself struggling to breathe for a moment. "Sorry...I just need...To."
Clementine watched as Sarah had to take a couple of breathes for a moment with her arms around her legs, not knowing what was wrong with her exactly. She sat down on the opposite side of her to keep her company until the others, and hopefully, she would not ask any questions regarding her father.
The two sat silent for a moment, staring at each other as they smiled. Clementine had to admit she did like being in the company of another girl, and Sarah liked having a new friend ever since all this had began. Sarah did consider Rebecca her friend, of course, but preferred someone her own age.
"Want to see what I found?" Sarah offered, braking the silence as she stood up for a moment to fetch something from under the table. "Will you show me how to use it?
Clementine's eyes widened silently as she eyed the Glock 17 in Sarah's hand. "You should let your dad teach you." she suggested, but her expression soon changed into a feared one as Sarah had aimed the gun at her. "Don't do that!"
"So...Sorry!...Sorry..." Sarah apologized, stuttering in mid-sentence. She calmed herself down shortly before making her way towards the window.
Sarah looked around the area outside of her bedroom window to see if there was anything useful outside that would help her target practice. "Maybe I could practice outside? There's that tree..."
"I don't think Lee or your dad would like that." Clementine warned, crossing her arms together while walking beside her.
"Yeah, I guess." Sarah admitted, gazing out of the window for a moment with a happy expression across her face when she spotted a silhouette figure that she already assumed was her friend. "Hey, Luke's back!"
Clementine looked over to where Sarah was pointing, but she was unable to see the figure before he disappeared. She turned around and followed Sarah downstairs to go and greet Luke. But something was on her mind that left her puzzled: if this was Luke, then why was he alone after Rebecca clearly claimed he was with Alvin.
After she made her way downstairs, Clementine checked a couple of windows to confirm if it was Luke, but found nothing so far. She walked over to Sarah, who was waiting near the front door, and by the look on her face, she looked worried.
Lee was there too, and the second he saw the two girls, he quickly ordered them to stay back after managing to catch a glimpse of the figure. "Girls, keep away from the windows!"
Sarah obeyed and stood still as her friend approached her after keeping away from all of the windows. She gulped after she realized the figure was not who he seemed to be. "Clem..."
Lee raised his Glock 17 out from his pocket, and poke his around the corner for a second where the figure was waiting by the front door, and he could deferentially confirm this was not one of the cabin members. The figure was either was going to just walk in, or maybe he would knock first like a civilized person.
Sarah was beginning to panic slightly as she somewhat recognized the figure standing by the door. "Lee, Clem, I think I know him."
The door knocked from the outside of the cabin, startling Lee and the two girls slightly. Whoever he was, obviously wanted to get inside. To Lee and Clementine, this was strange since they both expected it was just some random guy poking around, but as for Sarah, she knew one-hundred percent who this man was as soon as her eyes met him.
"He can't see me." Sarah replied, standing behind the wall to avoid being seen by the stranger outside. "Lee, you have to make him go away."
Lee arched a curious eyebrow for a moment to why Sarah was so desperate to get away and fearful from this stranger who she seemed to recognize, but he made a promise to Carlos that he would take care of her. "Sarah, go upstairs and find somewhere to hide, and don't come out until I say so, okay!?."
"Okay!" Sarah agreed, turning back around and quickly making her way back upstairs, but had to sneak to avoid being seen through the window.
"Hello...?!" the stranger called out from the outside, looking through the window on the front door.
"Clem, just follow my lead. I'll go us out of this, I promise." Lee assured her, raising up his Glock 17 up just in case things got out of hand.
Clementine nodded in agreement.
Lee slowly began making his way over towards the front door and looked towards the lock on the front door that may be his only hope of keeping the man outside. He slowly reached out his free hand to lock the door, but as luck would have it, he was a second too late as the door had opened. "Shit!"
He took a step back as he eyed the man who opened the door on his own and merely stood there, smiling at him. He had longish black hair, a black mustache like Carlos', and looked around in his middle forties, and he wore a brown coat with a row of fur against the hood.
He greeted Lee in a deep yet scratchy voice, seeming friendly towards him...For now, at least. "Hello there, sir."
And here I bring you the next chapter, ladies and gentleman. I know some of this looks a lot familiar with my story "Clementine and a dog named Sam", but I could not find a way to write it differently. I apologize, but the story will still look different with Lee and Carley being apart of this story.