The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival

Chapter 5: moving up north

Hey, everyone, here is the next chapter of my sequel "Fight for Survival". I took note of a couple of you thinking Kenny may not return in this story because he got on the boat with his family. Well, I will not give any spoilers because the answer you seek will be revealed in either the next chapter or the chapter after. Stay tuned to find out.

Lee was unsure of what to say exactly as he stood only one-foot away from the stranger. He was uncertain if this man was just an ordinary guy, a thief like the Save-Lot Bandits, or even cannibals like the St. Johns. "Hello."

"How are ya?" the stranger inquired, seeming friendly at the moment as he looked towards the man and the young girl standing beside him.

"I'm fine, thanks." Lee answered. "How are you?"

"Well I'm doing just fine, thank you." the stranger replied smiling, shifting to his right slightly and gesturing his right arm back towards the way he came. "My family and I are set up a ways down river. I'm kinda surprised we haven't run into each other."

While he was talking Lee shifted his eyes towards his hip where he could see he was carrying Colt Python in a gun holster attached to his belt, and this left him worried slightly. Now he seemed dangerous with a weapon, but then again, what person did not own a gun these days? Especially in this day and age.

"So, what are your names?" the stranger inquired to the two. "You both related?"

Lee was about to answer, but revealing his name to him may not be a good idea. After all, you never know who you can trust these days. But then again, wasn't being honest a good thing? Lee needed to say something before it would look suspicious, and he spoke the first thing that popped into his mind. "I'm, uh, Kenny...And this is my daughter, uh, Lilly."

"Please to meet you, Kenny. And. That's a sweet name." the stranger admitted before he looked at her with a change of expression from a friendly one to a curious one. He stepped closer towards Lee who placed his hand out for him to stop. "You mind if I come in, Kenny? I've been out all morning and this heat has got me cooked."

"Look, we don't just let strangers into our home." Lee declined, preparing to hostile his Glock 17 that he kept in his hand, hidden behind the door. "Just tell us what you came here for. I don't want things to get ugly."

The stranger frowned for a moment, looking somewhat annoyed that he was now allowed inside. But to avoid suspicion, he raised a smile across his face again. "This is a nice place. Is there anyone else around except for you two? You don't usually see cabins this big out here. You sure could pack a lot of folks in here."

"Just me and my daughter." Lee answered, deep down, he prayed one of the cabin group members did not return.

"Really?" the stranger replied, dropping his smile again as he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, since I don't want me here, I'll cut to the chase; I'm out looking for my people. Seven of them to be exact. They're been gone a long while and...I'm worried they might've gotten lost. Maybe you've seen 'em."

"We don't see a lot of people nowadays." Lee admitted, turning towards Clementine for a moment for support in his lying story. "Isn't that right, Lilly?"

"Right...Dad." Clementine agreed, obviously not seeming to be very good when it came to lying since her parents always raised her to be honest.

"Well, just in case, I'll let you know what they look like. Couple of farm boys and an old man...Spanish guy and his daughter. Quiet girl, bit taller than Lilly. A big black guy. This big." he paused as he gestured out his arms a couple of feet in front of his stomach. "And a pretty little pregnant lady."

Clementine gasped silently under her breath as she knew full fact he was talking about everyone in the group. Lee too was surprised about that this man had just said, knowing everyone he described was all the members of the cabin group.

"Couple of farm boys..."

Luke and Nick.

"An old man..."

Pete.

"Spanish guy and his daughter"

Carlos and Sarah.

"A big black guy..."

Alvin.

"A pretty little pregnant lady."

Rebecca

"That's a lot of people to lose." Lee admitted, unsure of what to say exactly.

"Tell me about it." the stranger agreed. "This whole damn thing's a pain in the ass."

The two exchanged looks with one and other, both glaring with normal expressions. Lee and Clementine hoped he would go away soon, but as for the stranger, he looked like he could see past their lies.

"You have no idea who these people are, do you?" the stranger asked, raising a grin across his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lee lied, frowning slightly as he prepared to close the door on this man.

"Okay then. Answer me this though: If people don't trust you, how can you trust them?" the stranger asked, knowing what the other group was like before they had been separated for certain reasons. "Well, I think I've troubled you long enough. I'll be on my way now."

Lee watched as the stranger turned around and made his way into the woods. He called out to him as he walked into the distance. "Hey! Who the fuck are you!?"

"You have a real good day, now, sir." he replied, completely ignoring his question as he wondered out from the cabin.

Lee and Clementine merely watched as the stranger was no longer in their sights. Lee closed the door after a moment or so, and locked the door behind him just in case. The duo sat down on one of the couches together, puzzled to whom that stranger was and what he was doing here, and how did he know the cabin group.

For now, all they could do was wait until the others returned, and once they did, make a plan of what to do next. There was a chance that he may return, and if so, it was important that they inform the group the second the returned.

Not too long after the stranger had left the cabin, Lee, Clementine, and Sarah were all in the living room together. The trio sat on a couch together, keeping silently as they were unsure of what to say exactly. After all, he obviously knew who they were, and Sarah seemed to be extremely fearful of him.

"We need to find the others." Lee declared, finally speaking after they had been sitting in silent for a while.

"We can't go outside!" Sarah declined, remembering how protective her father was of her, and going outside without his permission would make him extremely angry.

Lee made his way into the kitchen with Clementine and Sarah following suite. At almost perfect timing, the back door had opened from the outside, revealing it to be Luke with the others following behind him. And as luck would have it, Nick was among them, and everyone seems to be accounted for...All except for Pete that is.

"Lee!" Luke greeted, now feeling relived that he was okay.

"Sarah!" Carlos greeted as Sarah ran towards him with her arms open. He embraced her in a hug as she ran towards him, and after what just happened with the stranger, she was afraid and needed her father.

Lee watched as the group made their way inside and a smile rose across his face when seeing Carley. He hugged her when she was within his range, happy that no-one else had been hurt, especially the girl he loves. "Hey, Carley. Glad you're alright."

"No-one messes with this reporter." Carley smirked, handing the sniper rifle back over towards Lee to which he accepted. She leaned up as much as she could, and pecked the side of his face.

"You found Nick?" Clementine inquired, looking up towards the older man.

"Yeah, we found him hiding in a shelter. We all made it back." Luke assured her, smiling across his face as he was relieved that everyone was here and accounted for. He shifted his attention back over towards Lee, knowing there was still one more member unaccounted for. "You know where Pete is, right Lee? We need to find him."

"Yeah, I remember." Lee assured, suspecting that the group was unaware of what happened once someone was bit.

When everyone was inside the kitchen, Sarah moved out from her father's hug as she placed her hands together with her head lowered innocently. "A man was here."

"What?" Carlos inquired, already fearful of what she just said out of nowhere.

"What did she say?" Rebecca inquired.

"Someone came to the cabin." Sarah repeated, afraid to look at her father in the eye, fearing she was going to see his angry expression, even despite the fact she did not do nothing wrong. "Lee talked to him."

"And you just opened the door for him?" Rebecca asked, surprised to how stupid Lee was for letting in a complete stranger (or someone she may know) into their home.

"Calm down, Rebecca." Luke soothed her, knowing how easily angry and upset she can be, especially with her hormones being all out of control.

"Calm down?! I am calm! You calm down!" Rebecca ordered, raising her voice slightly in an angered one.

"I didn't open the door!" Lee countered, knowing that the older woman had a grudge against him, Carley, and Clementine for some unknown reason. "He just came in."

"He's telling the truth!" Sarah reassured everyone, defending Lee even though she did not see what happened due to her hiding the entire time.

Carlos changed his expression to a worried one as he eyed Lee, suspecting whoever visited them was someone they once knew. "Did he say his name? Did he say what his name was?"

"Maybe it wasn't him." Rebecca suggested, turning towards her husband for support.

"You know damn well who it was." Alvin replied, his voice showing some anger as he too suspected it could be the same person who they once knew.

Rebecca shifted her attention back towards Lee, gazing upon him as she folded her arms together, and repeated the same question as Carlos. "Did he say his name?"

"Why do you care so much?" Clementine inquired, only just realizing how Rebecca seemed more worried about the man that came to the cabin than to the others.

"Excuse me?" Rebecca replied, shocked of what the young girl just said to her.

"He didn't say his name!" Lee replied, trying to keep calm under the pressure he was in.

"Look, Lee, just...Tell us what he look like." Carlos requested, asking multiple questions for him to answer so he could make certain it was the same person as before. "What was he wearing? Did he sound...Different? He old was he?"

"He had a moustache, a bushy one; he had a deep voice, a little scratchy, and a big brown coat with a lining of fur." Lee described him the best he could remember.

"He talked about you and others." Clementine added, remembering the entire conversation she and Lee had with the stranger.

"You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?" Sarah asked her father, not wanting the situation to get anymore worse than it needed to be.

"Of course he won't, Sarah, alright?" Luke assured her, knowing how Sarah had a couple of problems that made her worried about certain things. "Your dad's the nicest man I know, which is why he's not going to do anything crazy or...not nice. Right?"

"You know these are bad people, sweetie. They will do or say anything to hurt us." Carlos soothed, comforting his daughter as he placed his left hand upon her shoulder.

"All right, what do you think?" Luke asked Lee, wanting to be certain they were going to be safe. "Did it seem like he'd be coming back?"

"I think so." Lee admitted, wishing he did make the situation any more badly than it had to be. "He described how he was looking for seven of you, and even gave detail on what you look like. He even asked me if I trusted you or not. I think he knows you all live here.

The cabin members looked towards one and other as they were not sure on what to do next.

Carlos sighed in response as he dazed out from his thoughts while showing some gratitude towards Lee and Clementine for making the stranger leave. "We got lucky. He wasn't expecting to find us. Lee and Clementine must have surprised him. If they hadn't been there...Well, he was too smart to stick around. But he'll be back with the rest. We don't have much time."

"He's right." Luke agreed, folding his arms together as he turned towards the others. "Everyone pack up. We're moving out."

Rebecca called out to her husband as he had already marched out from the kitchen, obviously eager to get moving as soon as possible. "Alvin, wait!"

Most of them left the kitchen, leaving only Lee, Clementine, Carley, Luke, Carlos and Sarah remaining.

Carlos knelt down to his daughter's height, trying to comfort her as he knew he would have to take her outside into this tragic world. It was something he did not want to do, but he had no choice. "We have to leave now sweetie, before he comes back with more bad guys. But's it's going to be okay. Let's just go get your things."

"What's the big deal? Who was he?" Lee inquired, now knowing the full truth to why this stranger had appeared to this cabin looking for them.

Carlos sighed as he walked closer to Lee, trying to explain the situation to him. "Lee, I don't know what he told you, but William Carver is a dangerous man. He is the leader of a camp not far from here, and he is very smart. We were...Lucky to escape. Look, I'm sorry to involve you, Clementine, and Carley, but now that he's seen you, you will all be safe with us. We have to leave."

Lee nodded as he led Carley and Clementine back into the living room to get their things, even though they did not have much apart from their two guns and a small backpack Clementine was carrying. But before long, everyone got their things together, and it was time to go before Carver would return with back-up.

Luke declared it was time to go as soon as everyone was here and accounted for. But nevertheless, they still had to look for Pete along the way. "Alright. Everybody grab your stuff. Let's hit the road."

The following the morning, the cabin survivors with Lee, Clementine, and Carley had gathered their things together and were now making their way up north, wanting to get as far away as possible before Carver would hunt them down, and this time, with company. They were quite low on supplies and on ammo, but they had to make it last for as long as possible. But they did need to make a quick stop first, and that was to find Pete.

While they were walking, Lee, who was walking almost ahead of the group with Clementine beside her, turned her attention around when she saw Rebecca had caught up to him. He sure hoped Rebecca wasn't going to criticize him about Carver because he sure was not in the mood.

"Hey, Lee. Sorry if I have you some shit back there." Rebecca apologized, finally showing a friendly face to the older man for the first time since he arrived. "I'm just a little on edge. It's just tough time right now with the pregnancy and all. You and Alvin and probably relate."

"It's okay." Lee assured her. "I know the feeling."

"If it's not you I'm yelling' at lately, it's Alvin, and then I'm in real trouble." Rebecca explained, showing a smile across her face for the first time.

"We can handle it." Lee reassured, turning her head to the side so they made eye-contact.

"I felt the same way when I was around Clementine's age." Rebecca agreed, remembering what it was like to be young before the dead had and took over. "My dad was always giving me shit, and I always thought he didn't know a damn thing..."

She trailed off as she showed some gratitude for Lee's and Clementine's help earlier. "I know you did your best back there. You know, none of us would make it on our own. Sometimes it's hard knowing just how dependent I am one everyone. I'm not used to that. I'm not comfortable with that. I'm supposed to be a mom soon. Guess I need to work on my patience. Alvin and I still don't know what to call her. Or him, if that man gets his wish god help me. Any ideas...Lee?"

The group halted when Lee had wondered off on his own. They followed suite, none of them bothering to ask where he was going. Lee moved into an open area in the middle of the woods, and immediately remembered what this place was. He could see the cigarette truck where he and Pete were hiding in, and hopefully, he is still inside in one peace.

"There." Lee declared, pointing his finger towards the truck. "There's where me and Pete were."

Everyone else stood still for a moment. Except for Nick that is, who rushed over to the cigarette truck, desperate to find his uncle. Carley decided to follow him just in case of anymore surprises.

Nick opened up the back doors of the truck, and a worried expression rose across his face. "He's not in here!"

"This was the last place I saw him." Lee assured. "He was too weak to move. He couldn't have gone far."

"Maybe he's around here somewhere." Alvin suggested, shrugging his shoulders during mid-sentence.

"Keep your eyes open." Carlos ordered, carefully scanning the area for any lurkers that may be roaming around, looking for a fresh meal. "And stay in sight."

Everyone spread out across the entire area, calling out his name in an attempt to find him. All except for Lee that is, whom had wondered to the side of the truck with Clementine beside him where he noticed a blood trail smeared a cross the ground. He began to follow the trail without informing anyone, not wanting to cause any panic.

"Uncle Pete!" Nick called out, a hint of panic in his voice. "Pete!"

Lee continued to follow the trail of blood until it led him behind a rock. He noticed a dead walker lying motionlessly against the ground. He looked towards the next corpse lying beside it, and saw him next left him too shocked to even move. Instead, he closed his eyes as the others approached him from behind to investigate what he had found.

"Oh my god." Nick gasped, his eyes widened as the sight of his uncle lying motionlessly on the ground with a bullet shot in his brain, his body had been devoured, and blood was smeared all around him. "What happened? What the hell happened?"

"He's been shot." Carlos declared, closing his eyes for a moment to mourn the loss of his friend.

"Who did he shoot himself?" Lee wondered, remembering when Pete tossed his gun aside as soon as they made their escape into the woods. "He didn't have a gun. Who could have done this?"

Nick was too saddened to look at his uncle like this and turned towards Luke, who comforted his brotherly friend with a hug, calmly assuring him everything was going to be okay.

"Son of a bitch." Alvin sighed.

"We need to go." Carlos declared, not wanting to stick around any longer due to walkers and the fact Carver might still be tracking them.

Everyone nodded and made their way back over to the same path, all except for Nick that is, who still needed a moment to move. Luke moved behind him, knowing they needed to gone. "He's gone. Nick he's-he's gone. We got to get moving. Come on, man."

Nick tried his best to hold back his tears as Luke escorted him back towards the path with the others. He now lost the only member of his family left, knowing he was all alone now. First his mother, and now his uncle Pete, who may have been a little harsh on him in the past, but acted more of a fatherly-figure to him than his real father ever did.

While continuing the rest of their journey up north, everyone was silent for a few moments, still in shock and sadness to what happened to Pete.

Nick was the first one to speak up to Lee, needing to know who this happened. He picked up the pace a little to keep at the same speed level with Lee. "Lee, tell me. Tell me how it happened."

"He got bit at the river." Lee admitted. "He helped save me though. If he hadn't of showed me the way back, I might have not made it back."

Nick did not respond and a sad expression rose across his face again. He found himself slowing down, too sad to move further. He lowered his head to the ground, now standing behind everyone else.

"I'm worried about that kid. Keep an eye on him for me, would you?" Luke requested to Lee, knowing Nick was going to lose hope of even living if he felt like he had no-one left in this world.

"I will." Lee assured. "Pere wanted me to take care of Nick, and I promised him I would."

The two continued talking for a moment while Carlos and Sarah were leading everyone else the way they were going. Luke was just behind them, and everyone else was behind Lee.

"You sure you, Carley, and Clem still wanna come with us?" Luke inquired, wanting to make sure they were comfortable going with them to...Well, wherever they were going. "I mean, we have got off on a good start, and you did save Pete's life before he...You know." he kept quiet to Nick did not hear him, despite the fact he was nowhere near them.

"Well, we ain't got much choice." Lee admitted, unsure of where they were going to go next. "We were heading up north."

"So are we." Luke smiled, assuring him that staying with them for now was going to be their best option. "Look, you're going to have a better chance of getting to wherever you're going with us than your own."

Luke paused for a moment and pulled out a map that he had with him to check where they were going and how far it was going to be before they reached their destination. "I figure we got about four or five days to reach those mountains. Now, if they're tracking us, we should be able to lose them up there."

"Five days?" Rebecca repeated, worried that she might not be able to make it up there in time due to her pregnancy, and being close to giving birth.

"It's going to be okay, Bec." Alvin assured her, knowing how paranoid his wife would be nowadays due to her pregnancy.

"We have to keep moving now." Carlos spoke up, joining in on the conversation after he had been silent with his daughter for a while. "It's our only choice."

Five days later

Five days had passed since the cabin group had left their home in fear of Carver returning to get them, and they did not take any breaks at all other than to sleep and rest for around five-minutes each time. It was too tough for them, but eventually, they made it to a nearby river and decided to rest for a few minutes until it was safe to keep moving.

Lee and Clementine was on duty for checking the area since they had more experience with the outside world rather than the inside. Clementine was lying down against a rock on her stomach while looking through a pair of binoculars she had. Lee looked through the scope of his rifle while he stood up, checking the area carefully.

"See anything?" Luke inquired, but did not get an answer from the two straight away.

"They better see something." Alvin hoped, concerned for his wife now she was beginning to look quite tired due her growing physical weakness from carrying her baby, plus the none-stop walking for almost a week. "We've been walking for a damn week."

"We need to find shelter." Carlos replied, him too concerned for his daughter as the weather was beginning to get quite cold.

Clementine moved her binoculars towards the right to see some-sort of life that looked like it would carry people to the top of that mountain on the other side of the river. "There's a lift or something."

"Chair lift?" Luke asked, looking towards his map to check if they were in the right area. "Must be that ski resort."

Clementine took her binoculars from over eyes for a moment as she thought back to before all this began. She wanted to get skiing, but her parents always promised her that they could go when she grew up. It was like a dream of hers. "I've never been skiing."

"Bec and I went once." Alvin replied, shifting himself towards his wife, who was sitting down on a nearby boulder to rest.

"It wasn't pretty." Rebecca admitted, recalling a little accident of theirs that happened when they went skiing."

"I went once too with my sister." Carley joined in on the conversation while she was on watch duty with her Glock 17. "Twisted my ankle for a couple of weeks."

"Did it hurt?" Alvin inquired, crossing his arms together.

"Could have been worse." Carley replied, remembering the good times she always use to have before the apocalypse began.

"Here, eat this, Bec." Alvin said, handing his wife his last bit of food for her to keep up her strength.

"Alvin, I'm fine." Rebecca reassured him, not wanting to make the others feel bad for taking most of the food.

Lee continued to look through the scope of his rifle until he looked a couple of feet up from the chair lift to see a big-looking house near a windmill. It looked like a good place to stay for the night, that's if someone else did not beat them to it of course. "There's a building on the mountain."

"What does it look like?" Luke asked Lee, him being the only one that heard her.

"It's big." Lee shrugged, unsure what to describe exactly since it was quite far away despite the fact he had a better view. "Might be a ski lodge."

Luke turned around to face Alvin and Rebecca for a moment, and they were unsure what to do or not. He faced Lee again, and he had to admit a big house is what they need right now. "That sounds like a good place to spend the night."

Lee and Clementine saw enough of the area where they big house was and decided to look somewhere else. The duo moved their binoculars and rifle over to the far left where the bridge that was going to take them on the other side was, and at the end of it, was a small station house.

"There's a little house by the bridge." Lee declared, unable to tell if there was any residence or not.

"How big is it?" Carlos inquired.

"It's pretty small." Clementine admitted, turning even more to the left to investigate the bridge nearby. "There's the bridge, Lee."

"And does it look passable?" Luke inquired, suspecting the bridge may be their only way across, and knowing it would take too long going all the way around.

"Looks like it." Lee answered, seeing the bridge looked deserted for now and did not look damaged that much.

"Good." Luke smiled, folding his map away and placing it back into his pocket while Clementine moved from her spying position.

"We have to cross that bridge." Carlos said, eager to get moving as he still suspected Carver was tracking them, and the more they stuck around, they worse. "Let's go."

"Hold on, now." Luke declined, not wanting to rush into things so quickly. "We can't all spring across that thing, okay? If we get spotted out there, we're going to be trapped."

"Going around that lake will take too long." Carlos clashed, pointing two of his fingers towards Luke for a moment from his right hand.

"Right, but..." Luke tried to explain his plan to the doctor as he placed his left hand in his pocket. "Look, we've got no idea who's out there. Okay, I'm going to sneak across and make sure it's clear before we bring the whole group over."

"You think splitting up the group is a good idea?" Carlos inquired, somewhat disagreeing with his plan to go out there on his own.

Lee merely stood next to him with a slight smile on his face and his arms at his sides. Obviously, he seemed to agree with his plan by the look on his face.

"I never said it was a GOOD idea." Luke replied, smiling across his face. "But it's better than risking everyone at once."

"What's your plan?" Alvin inquired, seeming to agree with his plan of his.

Luke began to explain his plan to the others, keeping it was short as possible and in simple terms so they did not waste any more time. "Lee and I can scoot across low and slow and make sure nobody's waiting for us on the other side."

"We'll have a tough time covering you from back here." Alvin reminded, hoping it would not change their minds.

"Well, we'll just turn back if it gets hairy." Luke replied, looking towards Lee for support. "It's going to be fine. Okay? We'll signal you guys in ten minutes. Just watch for a light at the far side."

"I don't like this." Carlos said, still disagreeing with this plan of is.

"Yeah, well, when's the last time you liked anything, Carlos?" Luke asked as he turned around and began making his way down the path that would lead him and Lee to the bridge.

Before following Luke, Lee turned towards his girlfriend for a moment and pecked her cheek, assuring him that he would be back soon. "I won't be gone long, Carley. Just keep an eye on Clementine for me."

"I will." Carley assured, followed by a supportive nod.

Lee and Luke marched towards the path that would take them to the end of the bridge. Hopefully they could get there and back in one peace, without running into Carver's men if he was following them, or worse, walkers.

"I can go with you." Nick offered, wanting to make himself useful. He stood up from where he was sitting with his rifle clutched in his grip.

Luke did not wish to accept his offer due to the fact he still looked too unstable at the moment from his uncle's death. "Its fine, Nick. We're good."

Nick merely watched as the two men made their way down towards the path towards the bridge. He spoke to them nevertheless, assuring them he was still useful. "If something happens, I'll cover you."

Luke did not accept his offer and merely beckoned for Lee to come with him. "Come on. Let's try and make this quick."

Chapter 5 written and published. As you can see, Carver did not enter the cabin in this story, but he was still smart enough to figure out they were residing here. And sadly, Pete has passed on in this story with no possible way to save him. May he rest in peace...Stay tuned for the next chapter.