The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival
Chapter 19: museum and observation deck
Hey everyone, before we begin the chapter, you might want to hear this. Season 3 of The Walking Dead Game has been announced by Telltale Games. When it will be released, I am not sure, but I have the feeling 2015 will be the answer. I heard Clementine may have the lead role again, but I am not sure. I guess we will have to wait and see.
But in the meantime, here's chapter 19. Enjoy reading.
Shortly after dismissing each of the members of their group to their different tasks, Lee, Mike and Bonnie had arrived at the museum and began to search inside for supplies and to survey the area for anything useful. Unfortunately, all the glass windows surrounding this place had shattered into pieces by the time they got there, meaning this would not be a good place to stay when it came to Rebecca giving birth.
While they were searching inside the museum, Bonnie gave Lee and Mike some advice they may want to consider listening to while they were here. "Guys, we should keep an eye on the woods, make sure walkers don't get the jump on us."
"I'll watch the left side, you watch the right." Mike agreed whilst he stood there with his arms folded and surveyed around the area for anything useful. He soon shifted his attention over towards some security shutters that caught his interest.
Lee was searching around the center of the museum. He loved places like this when he was a history teacher before all this began. He remembered back to the past when he took his class on a trip to a museum once that was just like the one they were in there. He loved places like this. He sometimes wished they can find a place that was walker-free and start over.
Lee shifted his attention back towards one of the cannons and observed it carefully. He knew for a fact they were fake, but he imagined having one of these to fight walkers. They could kill a bunch of them with only one shot. "Wish we had one of these. Would come in handy."
"And would be really loud." Bonnie added with a slight grin across her face.
"True." Mike agreed from over where he was searching in a small box. "I hope we find something useful in here to take back. Find anything good so far?"
"No, nothing we could take back." Bonnie answered whilst she was checking out a display table. "Unless you want some broken glass. Let's just give this place a good look over before we leave."
Lee shifted his attention away from the cannon and instead, focused his eyes on an empty water fountain. He approached it and pulled the button up to see if any water would come out, but it was as dry as a bone unfortunately. "Damn, empty."
He proceeded back towards the area where the cannon was at to do a double-check around the area to make certain that he did not miss anything useful. When he arrived on the other side of one of the cannons, his eyes had found something that he missed.
A grey civil war coat was folded up neatly next to one of the cannons. It may look ridiculous to wear, especially in this day and age, but it could be used as a blanket for Rebecca's baby. He leaned down and retrieved the coat, calling out to Bonnie and Mike about his success. "Hey, guys, I found an old coat!"
"Good job, Lee. A coat like that could be useful." Bonnie admitted, placing her hand on her hip as she observed the coat in his hands.
"We might be able to use this as a blanket for the baby." Lee suggested since he was unable to find any other use for a coat like this. He for one was not going to need it, and Clementine had that ski jacket to keep her warm.
"Should do the trick. Good job, Lee." Bonnie praised, but her smile soon dropped when the memories of what she did in the past began to haunt her, all the things she did when she worked for Carver. "Lee, I feel awful about everything that happened in the past. I was the one who brought Bill to your ski lodge. I'm not sure if you will always think of me like that, and I won't blame you if you do."
"We can't change what we did in the past, but we can change what we do in the future." Lee reassured her, speaking some similar words he used to say back when he was a teacher. "You're with us now, Bonnie. And that's all that matters now."
Bonnie smiled slightly in response and nodded her head. She was happy to no longer be in Carver's group. She can't imagine what would have happened, especially after seeing the horde move in. She was sure glad to be in this group now and have Lee as a leader.
She shifted her attention over towards Mike, who had come over to see what Lee had discovered. "Hey Mike, Lee found a coat.
"That's good, but um...Well..." Mike trailed off as he tried to find the right words that would not make him sound weird. He continued to try and make sense whilst Lee and Bonnie merely stared at him and waited for an answer. "Well, the color...I don't think we should put Rebecca in a confederate coat, because...You know what happened in the civil war. But it's better than nothing, I suppose."
"Yeah, I guess..." Bonnie agreed, understand now what he thought this would be a bad idea. "I didn't really think about that."
"Like I said, guys: we can't think about past. We think about the future." Lee reminded the duo whom both gave him supportive nods before returning back to their previous jobs. Now that they had a blanket, all they needed was clean water.
Lee made his way over towards the security shutters nearby that Mike was looking at earlier, but he seemed to have lost interest in it. He first checked the box beside the shutters for anything useful, but there was nothing there unfortunately.
"Nothing in that box." Mike told Lee from over where he was standing. "I already checked it."
Lee placed the box down to the ground and noticed the security shutters had slight gap at the bottom. He placed his hands under them and with all of his strength; he pulled them upwards as much as he could. He managed to open them up a bit more, but the shutters got stuck and would not budge further. "Shit! It's jammed."
He leaned down slightly and looked through the now bigger gap to find anything useful. A smile rose across his face when he could see a big bottle of water inside that looked fresh and clean. "Hey guys, I found water."
Bonnie and Mike made their way back towards Lee when hearing his announcement that he found water.
"It's bottled and clean. It's exactly what we need." Lee told them as he approached the door and twisted the door knob, but discovered it was locked. "Damn, it's locked. Looks like we're going to have to kick it down."
"That would make an awful lot of noise." Mike warned as he tried to figure out an alternative way to get inside without using brute force.
"You're right." Lee agreed whilst he folded his arms together and turned towards the security shutters and observed its size. "I wish we brought Clementine. She could be able to fit through there."
"Nothing we can do about it now." Bonnie replied as she approached the gap and looked inside, thinking that she might be able to unlock if she could reach. "You know, I think I might be able to lean in and unlock it. Got nothing to lose."
Bonnie leaned down and placed her left arm through the gap as much as she could, searching for lock on the door. Unaware of the danger ahead, Bonnie thought she almost found the lock but panicked when she suddenly felt something grab her arm and yank her forward, hitting her head against the wall in the process. "Oh fuck! Shit! Something's got me!"
"Bonnie!" Mike panicked, immediately running towards the door and attempting to kick it down. He no longer cared about making a lot of noise. "Lee, help her! Don't let it bite her!"
"I know!" Lee was already on it before Mike even had to ask. He grabbed Bonnie's arm and attempted to pull her free before she was bitten.
"Oh, god, help!" she cried, fearing this was the price she was going to have to pay after everything she did in the past.
"Just hang on!" Mike shouted whilst he continued to kick the door with all his might. Even despite the fact he was without a doubt the strongest member of their group, he struggled to get the door open.
Lee pulled her back with all his strength, desperate to get Bonnie free. He and Bonnie continued to pull together, but the walker would not let go at all.
After a few terrifying seconds of trying to save Bonnie from death, Mike had finally broke the door open and immediately ran inside. He grabbed the walker by its neck, forced it to let go of Bonnie, and slammed it against the wall. He threw it against the ground on its stomach and held it down. "Kill it, quick!"
Lee did not hesitate to kill the walker. He raised his hatchet and stabbed the walker directly in its brain, ending it.
Mike panted slightly as he got up and off from the dead walker and placed his hands against his knees. "That was...Too close..." he shifted his attention towards Bonnie, who had her hand placed against her left eye. "You okay, Bonnie?"
"Just a bump, nothing to worry about it." Bonnie assured, but she did feel quite a bit of pain from where she had hit her eye against the shutters. "I'll be all right. My god that would have been one of the stupidest ways to do. What the hell was I thinking?"
"Good thing you were with us, Mike." Lee admitted, unable to imagine how this would have gone without the help of someone stronger. "I don't think I would have been able to open the door quick enough. Thanks."
"No problem." Mike replied as he turned towards Bonnie and observed her arm. He could not help but notice a couple of injuries on her arm, but they looked old rather than recent. "Bonnie, you weren't bit, were you?"
"No, no, no. These are old scars." Bonnie reassured. "It's nothing."
"All right." Mike believed her before he shifted his attention back towards the big water bottle, and to his relief, there was two of them to bring back for the rest of the group. "At least we got water now, and blanket."
"Right, we better get this stuff back as soon as possible." Bonnie suggested, turning around seconds later and walking away to do one more check around the area.
Lee and Mike decided they would be the ones to carry the water back to Parker's Run. Mike easily picked one of them up with much effort, using one arm to hold it. Lee struggled a little to pick up the other one, but in the end, he was able to lift it. He had to use both of his hands of course. The duo made their way back outside the small room and set the bottles of water down until it was time to go.
"You know this water may look like a lot, but this could all run out pretty quick." Mike admitted whilst standing back up beside the bottle of water. "We're going to have to make it last. Hell, that's going to be tough."
"We'll figure something out." Lee assured, stretching his arms after placing the bottle down, knowing he was going to have to pick it up again soon. "Everyone's going to get some water."
"I hope so." Mike admitted as he stated the most important thing that they would need to consider. "Rebecca's baby is going to be hard on everyone, including Rebecca the most. And between us two, I got to admit that she's not looking too good."
"Mike! Lee!"
The two put their conversation on hold for now when Bonnie had called them over in a yelling whisper. The duo walked towards Bonnie, who ducked down by the wall as she beckoned for them to keep quiet. When the trio were together and ducked into cover, they paid attention to why she had called them over.
There, sitting a few feet away was a raccoon that appeared to be eating something and was unaware of the three humans behind her.
"Just wondered in her like it owned the place." Bonnie whispered as she shifted her eyes towards Lee and Mike. She turned back towards the raccoon with a slight smile across her face. "Looks like it could be a good meal."
"If we can catch it, that is." Lee reminded, picking out a little flaw in Bonnie's plan that she did not seem to realize.
Mike slowly stood up and placed his hands upon the wooden railing, keeping a close eye on the raccoon. He sure was hungry and could not remember the last time he got a decent meal since he was put in the yard back at Carver's community. "I'll catch that raccoon if it's the last thing I do. I'm starving."
"And Rebecca could certainly use some meat, too." Bonnie before she turned back towards the raccoon that had now spotted her and screeched towards her. The raccoon ran off, and Bonnie soon gave chase. "Shoot! Catch it!"
The trio ran towards the raccoon's last location, but could not find it anywhere.
"Where did it go?" Mike asked whilst he surveying the area for the raccoon. "Did it go over there?" he pointed towards the display table.
Lee looked around for a few seconds until his eyes met their target, hiding behind a shelf. "There it is!"
Lee moved towards the broken windows, Mike remained where he was, and Bonnie stood in the middle, cutting off the raccoon's escape. Bonnie slowly moved towards it, her expression determined not to let it escape.
Quick as a flash, Bonnie leaped forward and attempted to grab the raccoon by its tail, but she missed her chance and the raccoon ran through her legs. "Oh, shoot!"
The raccoon attempted to escape by running towards Lee's direction where the shattered windows were or use to be anyway. Lee jumped forward as he attempted to grab the raccoon, but he was not fast enough and the raccoon escape. He stood up and turned around as Mike and Bonnie ran towards him.
Mike pulled out his Glock 17 and prepared to shoot the raccoon, but if he did not, that would without a doubt attracted walkers that may lead them back to Parker's Run. He placed his gun back into his pocket.
The raccoon stared at them as she stopped by one of the headstones. She continued to make clicking noises at the threats as two of her cubs emerged from behind her. This would explain her aggressiveness. The raccoon was trying to survive and protect her young, just like Lee and the rest of their group were doing.
When seeing the humans were no longer following her, the mother and her cubs turned around and ran back into the woods for safety.
"Now I'm even hungrier." Mike admitted, watching as their fresh meal ran off into the distance at fast speed. He rubbed his head and placed his hands upon his hips. "How the hell do we get to world where we chase a raccoon for food?"
"Mike...I'm not going to lie. I am kind of relieved that she escaped." Lee admitted, not afraid to confess his feelings right now. "It had a family and tried to protect them. Just like us."
"Yeah...I know." Mike agreed. "Me, too, Lee."
"At least we got water and blankets." Bonnie reminded them, finally it was time for them to leave now that they got their friends they needed.
Lee and Mike each picked up one of the bottles of water whilst Bonnie carried the coat. Together, the trio left the museum and began to make their journey back to Parker's Run. Even though they had the supplies they needed, the trio knew they still needed shelter to keep out of the cold. They could only hope if Clementine and Jane had found somewhere better, and maybe some better supplies.
During the time Lee, Mike and Bonnie had departed to the museum, Clementine and Jane arrived near the building by the river and began making their way up the small observation deck. Whilst they were walking, Clementine could not help but notice that Jane had been silencer than usual, and decided to ask if anything was on her mind. "Jane...Are you okay?"
"Yeah...Yeah, I-I'm fine." Jane assured, her expression looked a little sad. "A lot has happened to us, is all. And I sometimes don't know if...I...It's good that you're here to watch my back."
Clementine was puzzled to her words, but nevertheless, decided that was a good enough answer for now. She was also surprised to see Jane actually raise a real smile for once, and not just a little one either. "Jane, are you sure you're all right?"
"Well...Is anyone really okay nowadays?" Jane asked her, changing the subject almost immediately to avoid suspicion. "Come on, partner. Let's check out this place." Jane replied as she began running towards the observation deck. Clementine followed closely, but could not run as fast as Jane could.
The duo climbed up the stairs towards the observation deck. Once they were up there, they found a small shop that looked like it was good and big enough to stay in, but unfortunately, it was locked down by security shutters. There was a cannon in the center of the desk, but it was more than likely to be either fake or no longer functional.
"This looks like a good place." Jane admitted as she knelt down to the padlock and tried to figure out how to open the shutters. "Let's hope no-one's got in here before and took whatever's inside. There could be anything in there."
"Think there could be food in there?" Clementine asked, knowing that was something that Lee had missed out to find.
"Just what I was thinking." Jane agreed, retrieving her nail file from her pocket whilst she attempted to pick the lock with it. "I'm going to try and pick the lock. You know what they say: versatility is not overrated. But if you can find something bigger, that would be helpful."
Clementine nodded as she wondered off and proceeded to find something useful to help Jane. She walked towards a poster on the wall nearby about the civil war. She sure knew Lee would have liked to see something like this. But then again, he was going to a museum.
She was about to search inside the trash can, but the odds of finding some useful inside there was very slim. As she survived the rest of the area, she was startled when Jane suddenly shouted slightly. "Oh, fucker!"
"You okay?" Clementine inquired.
"Yeah. I thought I almost had it." Jane admitted, kneeling back down towards the padlock again and attempting to pick the lock once again.
Whilst she did that, Clementine made her way towards one of the telescopes and looked into the distance. She could just about make out a building behind the trees that might be good place to go to if they failed her and if the museum was not good to stay at. "There are a couple of buildings over by the river. I think one of them is a church."
"No way to cross the river unless we found a crossing that's too far from here for Rebecca to make it." Jane replied.
Clementine leaned out of the telescope and was about to continue her search for something useful, but a worried expression soon rose across her face when she spotted someone below heading their way, and it was certainly someone they did not know. "Jane, there's someone coming!"
Jane immediately drawn her attention towards Clementine and crouched down, slowly making her towards the stairs. She leaned out of cover slightly with Clementine behind her, and focused her attention towards the figure limping towards the stairs. "Fuck. He's coming this way. He could be with bandits."
"Do you think we should run?" Clementine suggested, not sure if this was the right time to be getting into a fight with strangers.
"Too risky." Jane admitted, having the feeling whoever this stranger was might have come here to look for shelter, same as them. "We can't risk leading him to the others, especially Rebecca. We should keep an eye on him and see what he's up to. Last thing we need is him telling his friends about us."
"I'll distract him when he gets up." Clementine suggested a second time, willing to help take down this stranger rather than run if it meant protecting them. "You sneak up behind him."
"Good idea." Jane agreed as she leaned around the corner yet again where her eyes met the stranger yet again, who now was halfway up the stairs. "Shit! Hide!"
The duo quickly snuck away for cover before they were spotted. He could be armed for all they know. Jane went around the corner and walked down the other steps inside the building to stay out of sight. As for Clementine, she hid behind the cannon, hoping he would not be able to see her there. At least until she distracted him and made sure his back was turned on Jane.
Clementine remained in cover as the stranger did not seem to see her. She slowly moved around the cannon as the stranger passed her, unaware that he was being watched. Clementine poke her head up slightly to see the stranger was trying to stuff a bag he had in the trash. What in the world was he doing?
Clementine did not have the time to figure out why and realized it was time to distract him. She stood up fully and greeted him in a friendly tone, hoping he would not shoot her, even if she was just a little girl. "Hi."
The man swiftly turned around when hearing the unknown voice and holstered a Single Action Army revolver in his free hand and aimed it towards Clementine. He tried to keep an angry face, but his hand kept trembling in fear.
While being held at gunpoint, Clementine got the chance to observe the man. He looked around in his late teens to his early twenties, he had brown hair, he had blue eyes and wore glasses, but one of the lenses was cracked. He looked around the same height as Jane; he wore a purple and grey hoodie and blue jeans. His ethnicity was unknown. And to top it off, he wore a leg brace which would explain his limp.
"Relax. I just want to talk, that's all." Clementine assured, placing her hands out as she attempted to talk him into putting the gun down. "My name's Clementine. I just want to know why you're here."
"Nothing..." he answered in deep, Russian voice accent. He continued aiming his gun towards Clementine, but decided to introduce himself to her. "My name is Arvo. I don't want to shoot you, Clementine, really I don't. I'm going to go and you are never going to see me again. I don't want to shoot you or anyone."
While he was speaking, Clementine shifted her attention behind him to see Jane slowly sneaking up behind him as silent as she could. She had no idea how Jane was going to get to him since she no longer had her weapon.
"I don't want to shoot. Especially a malen'kaya devochka ("=a little girl")." Arvo admitted, slowly backing away as he prepared to leave, but he panicked in fear when he felt something grab him from behind.
Jane grabbed his arm and pulled him back, snatching his revolver out from his hand. She pushed him forward and aimed her weapon towards him. "Don't move. Now put the bag down."
Arvo glared at her with a hateful expression, but if he wanted to life, he followed her orders and dropped the bag.
"Clementine, make sure he doesn't have any more weapons inside his bag." Jane ordered, keeping Arvo at gunpoint just in case he tried to do something stupid, but that was mostly unlikely. He was extremely nervous and even if he tried to run, his bad leg would not get him that far.
Arvo kept his hands placed behind his back as he watched the young girl search inside his bag. She eyed him for a moment and he returned the stare with an angry expression. "I don't have any more weapons, I swear."
"Well we just want to be certain you're not dangerous." Jane explained whilst she did not dare take her eyes off of him. The second he would try anything, Jane would not hesitate to pull the trigger.
Clementine focused her attention back onto the bag and unzipped it open. Her expression changed into a surprised and hopeful one when her eyes met the contents of the bag. Inside were a bunch of medical supplies. Painkillers, bottles of water, and syringes. All the medical stuff they needed for when Rebecca gave birth.
"Clementine, is there any weapons?" Jane asked, unaware of the medical supplies inside the bag. She shifted her eyes down for just a couple of seconds, and her face changed into a surprised one when seeing the contents. "Wow. That's a lot of meds."
"No, no, no, no, no." Arvo repeated the same word multiple times as he practically begged them not to take any of the medication inside. "Please, let me keep the medicine, but you can take anything else. It's all for my sister. She's sick. Please, she needs this. She'll be in pain without it, and that will attract those things."
"Just you and your sister?" Clementine inquired as she picked up a bottle of painkillers and examined them."
"No, we're with a lot of friends." Arvo answered. "Back in the woods."
"Well, we have a couple of people who could use stuff like that." Jane told him in a scary tone that caused him to back up a little.
Arvo immediately understand what she was getting at. She was planning to take his stuff. He begged for them not to take his bag, but his pleas did not get through to Jane. "No! What kind of people are you?! You take my gun; hold me hostage, and now you intent to take my sister's medicine? You are bol'nyye ublyudki! (="sick bastards!"). How could you?"
"HEY! We happen to have people suffering way more than you're sister!" Jane clashed in yelling tone. She shifted her attention back towards Clementine, whose expression did not look like she agreed with this. "Clementine, we need this kind of stuff. Luke's still in bad shape from before, Lee looks terrible after what happened with Carver and Rebecca's in agony."
"I have people who are in more pain than yours. You're group is not special." Arvo told her but not before he shifted his attention back towards the young girl whose name he struggled to remember for a moment. "Cl-Cl-Clem. Clementine, isn't it? Please, you have to believe me."
"Stop with the fucking liar about your "sick sister"!" Jane shouted, interrupting him from continuing to plead to Clementine further.
"Please don't take this stuff and leave her to suffer in pain." Arvo begged, his face looked way more angry that fearful. "She's been through enough already."
"Is that so?" Jane asked, refusing to believe anything he was telling them as she moved closer towards him, still holding him at gunpoint. "I think you're just some junkie, and words from people like you are lies."
"I am telling you the truth!" Arvo assured in a now panicking tone. "I swear on my own life I am telling the truth! Please!"
"You're word means nothing to me!" Jane replied, shifting her attention back towards Clementine, whom still had a thoughtful expression, trying to make up her mind. "Clementine, the medicine!"
"No! You cannot take those!" Arvo shouted, but there was nothing he could do to stop them. "No! You can't!"
Clementine had thought long and hard about this decision and finally made up her mind. She placed the painkillers back into the bag and zipped it up, refusing to turn into a bandit and a thief. "Jane, I am not robbing anyone! We're giving him these back!"
Jane was in complete shock to Clementine's decision. If it was just her, she would not have a second' hesitation to take the bag, but she was not going to force Clementine to do something she would never do. Besides, even if she did force her to, Clementine would inform Lee, and he sure would not be happy.
"spasibo!(="Thank you!"), thank you, thank you, Clementine." Arvo thanked her multiple times, proving to her how grateful he was that she did not take his stuff. He soon panicked when Jane approached him.
Jane growled as she grabbed Arvo by his shirt and pulled him closer to her, holding his revolver against his forehead.
"Jane, no!" Clementine told her, refusing to let Jane kill an innocent man.
"Please, please, no! Don't do this!" Arvo begged, holding his hands up in fear as Jane tightened her grip on him. His face was now even more fearful than before.
Jane thought about killing him for a moment, but then she remembered the consequences she would face from their group. Instead of killing him, she decided to make sure he leaned an important lesson. "If I see you around here again, I will kill you myself! I don't care if you do have a sick sister or not." she finally let him go and shoved him slightly. "Now get out of here!"
Arvo felt so relieved to get out of there alive. He did not care about his gun; all he cared about was to get those medications back. He picked up his bag and limped back towards the stairs, giving Clementine a look and a nod as to say "thank you". He hoped down each top and made haste to get out of the area as soon as possible.
The second he was gone, Jane was in complete shock to what she had just done, to what she was turning into. She dropped the revolved and placed her arms upon the wooden railing with her eyes closed, her voice sounded like she was going to cry. "I can't believe what I'm turning into. Try to rob some kid like a bandit."
"We should just get the others and bring them back here." Clementine suggested, unsure on what else to. Scolding her for what she just did would not make things better.
"Yeah...Yeah, all right..." Jane agreed, turning around as she proceeded back towards the security shutters to finish off her job. "Go back and get the others. I'll have this open by the time you get back."
Clementine did not say anything but did proceed back down the steps. She was willing to take the revolver with her, but left it with Jane just in case she ran into trouble and needed to defend herself. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she focused on the way they came from where she spotted Luke walking down the path, armed with his AK-47.
She walked over towards Luke to greet him.
Luke and Clementine met around halfway down the same path. Luke was the first one to greet her. "Hey Clem. You and Jane find anything at the observation duck? Carley got worried a little so she went me to check on you guys."
"The observation deck does look like a good place to stay and for Rebecca to have the baby, but the shutters are closed." Clementine answered, looking back for a moment where she could just about see Jane attempting to pick to lock again. "Jane's trying to pick the lock to the gift shop. She told me to go back for now and get the rest of us."
"Could work, I suppose." Luke admitted, deciding to go and check it out for a moment or so just in case this would be the place they were forced to use. "I'm going to go and check it out. I'll meet you back at Parker's Run."
Clementine nodded as Luke walked past her and proceeded towards the observation deck. Now that she did her job, she began to walk back to Parker's Run and check on Rebecca and Sarah to see how they were doing. After all, they both needed help in their time of need. She hoped Lee would be able to help out once he, Bonnie and Mike returned from the museum.
That's it for this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. I was originally going to have Lee, Mike and Bonnie catched the raccoon and eat it, but I changed my mind and decided to let it go. I know it may not look like nothing's changed yet, but I assure you it will soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter, ladies and gentlemen.