The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival
Chapter 20: the unexpected
Chapter 20 is written and uploaded, folks. That's all I have to say for this author's note. Enjoy reading.
When Clementine made it back to Parker's Run, she spotted Sarah sitting by the maps, but decided to check on Rebecca first. She made her way over towards Rebecca, whom was leaning against one of the brick walls, groaning in agonizing pain. Carley merely sat there by the statue as she could not doing anything except encourage or sooth her.
"I'm not supposed to be in labor yet, Carley." Rebecca admitted, trying her best to cope with the pain and prevent her baby from being born until they found somewhere safe. She could not have baby in the open like this. "What is something happens?"
"I'm sure it will be fine." Carley assured, even despite the fact she had no experience with babies at all. "I guess babies decide when they want to be born."
The duo shifted their attention over towards the direction Luke had walked off to when Clementine had return. They were both immediately were anxious to hear what happened.
"Clem, please tell me you found somewhere?" Rebecca begged, unsure of how long she would be able to hold on for.
"The building we went to has an observation desk with a gift shop." Clementine answered with half the truth, not sure if she wanted to tell them the gift shop was locked.
"Will the baby be safe there?" Rebecca inquired whilst she turned around and leaned her back against the wall, keeping her hands placed upon her stomach. "It's coming a lot faster than I thought it would, and I don't know how long I can hang on."
"You'll be all right, Rebecca." Carley reassured.
"It's high up, so the walkers shouldn't be able to get up. They don't know how to climb, right?" Clementine asked, unsure if walkers were able to climb since she never witnessed it.
"Right. Sounds like a good place to stay. Good job, Clem." Carley praised her in a similar way Lee always did in the past when they were staying at the Motor Inn. "Glad you made it back."
Clementine nodded but did not raise a smile at all. She walked back over towards Rebecca and stood only a foot in front of her with a concerned expression across her face. "How does it feel?"
"It hurts a lot. And I'm scared." Rebecca answered, looking to her left and right for a moment as she expected her husband to be here to witness this wonderful event, but then she remembered he was no longer here with them. "I miss Alvin so much. I wish he was here."
"I know, Rebecca, but everything he did was for you and the baby. He cared for you so much." Clementine reminded her, deep down, she herself missed Alvin too. He was so kind to the people close to him, and put them before himself. "He would be proud of you, Rebecca."
"Yeah...I know...But I can't help but remember all the things I should have said to him, the things I should have spoken to him about." Rebecca admitted, fearing she would not be able to take of her baby with the help of her husband. "Who's going to help me take care of my baby? I...I can't do it alone."
"We'll all help you take care of the baby. You're not alone." Clementine assured, shifting her attention back towards Carley for a little assistance. "Right Carley?"
"Right Clementine." Carley agreed.
Rebecca felt calmer and super relieved when she was assured by the young girl that she was not alone in this. She raised a smile whilst no longer feeling as much pain as she did moments ago. "You're a great kid, Clementine. And all of your friends are great people. All of you are my family now. I'm glad each and every one of you are here to help me with the baby."
Carley stood up and moved back towards Rebecca when she felt great pain yet again. She stood beside Rebecca and prepared to support here in her time of need. "I'll take care of this. Clementine, can you keep watch for me until Lee or Luke return?"
"Sure." Clementine nodded as she turned around and walked away from the duo. Before she left, she shifted her attention towards the statue beside her. It was a statue of solider carrying an injured man to safety, and written at the bottom in on a golden plate said 'Fallen but never forsaken' in honor of the statue.
It reminded her that there was still hope in this day and age. Maybe not for everyone, but she, Lee and Carley still had hope for surviving in this world. She would remember those words for the rest of her life. For now, Clementine proceeded to go and speak with Sarah, whom was sitting up against the wall by the maps, sitting in the same position she was back in the mobile home park.
Clementine stood in front of Sarah while she spoke to her. "Hey...Sarah...Rebecca's having her baby soon. She might need some help afterwards..."
"...Back in the trailer, all of you were thinking of leaving me, weren't you...?" Sarah asked her, not making eye-contact with Clementine. Instead, focusing her attention towards the ground.
Clementine was about to answer with the word "no", but then she remembered then Jane was willing to leave her behind if it meant saving herself. Luke was the first one to escape, but he felt guilty for doing it and only did what he did because he was scared. "No Sarah, we weren't...Jane and Luke may have looked like they were leaving you, but they were just scared. Luke tried to hours to get you to come with him, and it was Jane's idea in the first place to find you guys."
Sarah made eye-contact with Clementine just for a couple of seconds, and rather than reply to her answer, she asked another question that was on her mind: "Why...Didn't you leave me? You and Lee stayed until I was up."
"We're friends, Sarah." Clementine reminded her. "We're best friends, and friends don't leave each other behind. We pinky swore, remember?"
"Yeah...I remember..." she replied as she began to cry tears out from her eyes yet again, still mourning the loss of her father. "I miss my daddy...I want my dad back...I need him..."
"I know you miss your dad, Sarah. I miss him too. We all do." Clementine reassured her that she was not alone. She knelt down towards Sarah and placed her hand upon her shoulder, and this time, she did not flinch or scream. "Your dad loved you and he always will, but he would want you to be strong and would want you to keep moving, Sarah. Just staying alive and helping others would make him proud of you."
Sarah continued crying for a few more seconds, but she had been paying attention to everything Clementine had told her. She missed her dad more than anything in the world, but she was determined to make him proud of her. She leaned out her arms and hugged Clementine in a tight embrace.
Clementine was a little surprised and unexpected for this to happen, but nevertheless, she returned the hug and comforted Sarah. By the looks of it, her words had got through to her. After a couple of moments had passed, Clementine released Sarah out from her friendly hug and stood back up with a slight smile on her face.
"Thank you...Clementine." Sarah thanked as she now stood up beside Clementine, now smiling herself. Her expression changed when she spotted three familiar faces walking down the path. "Hey, everyone's back."
Clementine followed to where she was pointing and was happy to see her guardian and two of their friends return, and by the looks of it, they had found supplies. "Lee!" she ran over to greet him and the others.
"You know, I still can't believe you can hold a water bottle that big with only one arm, Mike." Bonnie admitted, surprised that someone could carry that much weight without much effort. "You sure you ain't tired?"
"I could carry both of those if I needed to." Mike replied with a slight grin across his face. He felt himself and Bonnie beginning to bond closely very much, even despite the fact they were enemies not too long ago.
"I'm sure you could, Mike." Lee agreed whilst he shifted his attention towards Parker's Run when two members of their group ran over to greet them. He had a slight smile across his face when seeing his adoptive daughter safe and sound and now able to take care of herself on her own. "Hey Clementine, hey Sarah."
"Hi." Sarah greeted the trio with a slight smile and a wave.
"Hey Sarah." Bonnie greeted in return, now happy to see Sarah was looking a lot better than before
"You guys found water! And...And a coat...?" Clementine said, turning her head to the side in confusion. She never saw a coat like that before and presumed it was just an old-fashioned piece of clothing.
"We thought it could be useful for a blanket." Lee explained, but it was now his turn to inquire on their progress while they were gone. "What about you and Jane? Find anything at the building by the river?"
"We found a gift shop on an observation deck." Clementine answered, and was about to include the stranger they encountered, but she knew that would only cause problems and the odds of seeing Arvo again were unlikely. She decided to keep quiet for now. "The gift shop's locked. Jane and Luke are there and trying to get it open now."
"We'll go and check it out soon." Lee was cut off from his sentence when loud, screeching cries of pain came from nearby. He placed the bottle of water down on the ground for a moment and ran over to investigate.
Clementine, Bonnie, and Sarah followed. As for Mike, he picked up the bottle of water in his free arm and carried them both with him as he followed the others. He sure was not kidding when he claimed he could carry both. Heck, he could even run while holding them and he did not seem to be showing much effort.
All of the group members (exception for Luke and Jane, whom were still at the gift shop) gathered around Rebecca, who was now crying out in agony. Carley sat beside her, allowing Rebecca to clutch onto her hand that did hurt her a little, but Carley knew it was nothing compared to what she was feeling right now.
"Oh, Jesus. Oh, shit!" Rebecca cried as she cried out in agony, but tried to keep quiet the best she could to avoid attracting attention.
"Just breathe, Rebecca, just like we told you." Carley reminded her, unable to do nothing more but speak to her in her time of need.
"Okay...Okay, I can do this..." Rebecca replied, but she was uncertain if what she just said was true. She continued to cry out in pain whilst everyone remaining could only watch.
Sarah, whom was standing nearby whilst rubbing her hand up against her arm had turned around and faced the woods when she thought she heard something nearby. Her expression changed into a fearful when multiple walkers emerged from the woods, attracted by Rebecca's cries.
She stuttered and struggled to get her words out properly whilst running back towards Lee and Clementine, trying to warn them of the danger ahead that no-one else seemed to realize yet. Wasn't Luke supposed to be on watch? "Lee...Clem...Wa-walkers! Oh, no!"
Bonnie heard Sarah's cries before Lee and Clementine did and looked in the direction she was facing. She gasped slightly as the walkers got closer, knowing they would not be able to move fast whilst helping Rebecca move. "Oh Jesus! We got company, guys!"
"Wasn't Luke supposed to be on watch?" Mike inquired, retrieving his small sledgehammer that he left her with the rest of the group just in case they ran into trouble on their own. "How the hell did they get here?"
"Guys, we need to do something here!" Lee reminded them, clutching his hatchet tightly to prepare for the battle ahead. He turned back towards the walkers and realized they were going to catch them, even though they couldn't run. He knew what he had to do to ensure everyone's safety here.
He yelled out orders to everyone here as he stood forward and prepared to hold them back on his own. "Everyone, listen! Carley, Bonnie, both of you take Rebecca to the building by the river."
"Right." Carley nodded as she and Bonnie both stood by Rebecca's left and right and helped her stand, placing each of her arms around their necks to support here. Bonnie also brought the coat with them just in case they needed it.
"Mike, carry the water back! You're the only one strong enough to carry both!"
"On it!" Mike assured, picking up the bottles of water that were only a couple of feet next to him. He was still able to hold his sledgehammer, nevertheless.
"Clementine, you and Sarah follow Carley back to the building!" Lee finished giving out the orders as he moved forward, armed with his hatchet.
"What are you doing to do?" Clementine inquired, fearing that her guardian was going to do something stupid that may end up costing him his own life.
"I'll try and hold them back long enough!" Lee answered, raising his voice even more when he knew Clementine was not going to leave whilst he was there. "Just go, now!"
Clementine had never heard Lee yell at her like this before, but she understood he was only doing this to protect her. As much as she wanted to stay, she followed his orders and ran back with the others, tugging Sarah's arm while doing so.
Lee marched towards the walkers once everyone was out of harm's way, his expression full of anger and fearless. He raised his hatchet and stabbed the first walker directly in its brain, killing it instantly. He retrieved his weapon and fought of more walkers that advanced on him.
Bonnie did a quick check to make sure everyone was here and accounted for. She noticed Clementine continuing to look back at Lee, still not wishing to leave him behind. "Clementine, he'll be all right. He's know what he's doing, otherwise he wouldn't have made it this far."
"He does what he does to protect us." Carley added, struggling on her side for a moment to continue supporting to pregnant woman crying out in agony. "Let's go. I know Lee, and he won't let us down."
Bonnie nodded in agreement as all of them made it through the path way surrounded by brick walls that would take them over towards the building. They certainly were thankful there was a building there, otherwise they may have had to go somewhere else instead, and there was not a chance Rebecca would be able to make it in her condition.
The small group continued making their way through the path until they were out in the open where the building was now in their sights. But walkers were moving in on them from behind and from the sides. Just where in the world were Luke and Jane, and why were they not here right now to help? They were going to be fast if they wanted to get to safety.
As they all continued making their way towards the building, Clementine had turned around just for a couple of seconds to check on the advancing walkers. She expected to see them not too far, but instead, she saw something that caused her to exhale in relief.
Lee came rushing down the path, killing a couple of walkers along the way. He called out to them as he ran down the path, still armed with his bloody hatchet. "Get up top!"
Clementine turned back towards the others who were now approaching the stairs. She decided to go fist to make sure they had no other surprised waiting up there for them like walkers or strangers. She still could not help but wonder where Luke and Jane had wondered off to.
When Clementine got to the top of the stairs and on the observation deck, she shifted her attention towards the gift shop that was now open fortunately, but when she got inside, what she saw next completely blown her mind, even in this day and age.
Inside, Luke and Jane were sitting together and holding hands, their clothes and hair completely creased, and by the looks on their faces, Clementine already figured out what just happened. The two had appeared to have a no-strings attached sexual relationship. What in the world were they thinking? It's one thing to have sex in this day and age, but to do it at this very moment, especially in this situation they were currently in.
"That's probably the greatest thing I've felt since all this began." Luke admitted as he stroked her leg in a seductive way. "You know, I-" he paused from his own sentence when he noticed Jane looking away from him. He swiftly turned his head around like a ninja and was shocked to what whom he saw standing there.
"Clementine! Oh...Clem...I...Uh...Oh, Jesus...I don't know quite...Know..." Luke trailed off whilst rubbing the back of his head nervously. Jane adjusted her clothing while he tried to find the right words.
Before he could continue trying to find an explaining, Rebecca and Bonnie came running inside. Bonnie assisted Rebecca into lying down on the floor whilst the rest of their group came running up in a matter of seconds. "Easy, Rebecca, let's just get you comfortable."
Lee came around the corner and walked into the gift shop with the others, and by the look of his face, he did not look happy when seeing Luke and Jane just sitting. "Luke, Jane, what the hell are you both doing? You were supposed to be keeping watch!"
"Lee, uh, well...What's going on?" Luke nervously inquired whilst he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck.
"What's going on!? There's a whole army of walkers out there that you were supposed to be watching out for!" Lee reminded him until he finally put two and two together and realized what they were up to. "Oh, my God. You two actually...I don't fucking believe it."
The rest of the group made their way up the gift shop, everyone here and accounted for. Mike closed the security shutters to block off the stairs inside the building, but he could not do anything about them coming up the way they came.
"What the hell is going on here?" Luke inquired, repeating the same question again.
"What's going on? You're a fucking moron, is what's going on!" Lee scolded him, his expression filled with anger and disappointment. "There's God knows how many walkers out there, and you decided now would be a good time for you a Jane!? What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Hey, listen! It's not what it seems!" Luke assured in a yelling tone.
"Guys, shut up!" Clementine told them, and this was quite surprising coming from here. She approached Rebecca, who was now lying down and crying out in agony, Bonnie and Carley next to her. "Talk about it later!"
Mike ran back outside the gift shop just for a moment to check on the advancing walkers. He prepared for a fight when the walkers were now marching up the stairs. "Shit! They're coming up!"
"Oh, shit, what do we do?" Luke inquired as he turned towards Lee for an answer, but he could tell the older man was still angry at him.
Lee wanted nothing more than to actually hit Luke for putting them at risk, but all that would do would make the situation worse. For now, he issued a couple of orders. "Carley, stay here with Rebecca! Everyone else, outside! We need to hold them back!"
Everyone ran outside on the observation deck and watched the groups of walkers climb the stairs, hunting for a fresh, tasty meal.
"That is a whole lot of walkers!" Luke stated the obvious. "Everyone, use what you can!"
The walkers were now on top of the stairs, but the metal gate held them back for now. It wouldn't be long through before the walkers eventually broke through. Lee, Clementine, Luke, and Mike, armed with Glock 17s took a stand against the many walkers. Bonnie helped them too, using her Ak-47 to hold the back.
The sound of gunfire, walker groans and Rebecca's cries filled the air whilst the group struggled to hold them back, but no matter how many rounds they fired, the walkers just kept advancing on them.
"There's too many!" Luke stated, fearing they were going to run out of ammunition soon.
"Keep firing!" Lee ordered, picking off a couple of more advancing walkers with his pistol. He refused to let anyone else die after the amount of people they lost. Pete, Nick, Carlos, Sarita, Lilly, Alvin. He would not let anyone else die! "We can't let them get here!"
The group ceased firing when they all noticed the gate door looked like it was not going to hold any longer. Mike, Jane, and Luke ran towards the gate and attempted to hold in shut, but even with all of them combined, the walkers were too strong.
"Someone find something to block the gate!" Mike suggested whilst he and Bonnie held it shut. Luke and Jane used their machete and scratch awl to kill the advancing walkers.
Lee quickly made haste and searched the area around them for something they could use to block the gate. He turned to his left where his eyes met the cannon in the center of the observation deck, identical to the one he saw back in the museum. He ran towards the cannon and began to turn it on his own. "The cannon! We can use this!"
"Good idea!" Clementine agreed as she ran over towards her guardian and helped him turn it towards the direction of the gate using the wheels.
"All right, let's do this! Go!" Lee ordered, pushing with all his might to get the cannon towards the gate. It might be a fake cannon with no fire power, but it certainly was strong enough to block stuff with.
As they were almost got the cannon to the gate, one of the wheels broke through the observation deck wood below them. Lee could already see what was going to happen and had to move everyone out of harm's way before it was too late. "Oh fuck! Everyone, off the deck!"
Mike, Jane, Luke, and Bonnie moved out the way just in the nick of time when the wooden stairs collapsed down, taking the walkers and cannon with them. However, their troubles were not over yet. Everyone shifted their attention to one of the supportive cables that was beginning to break off from the wall.
"Of fuck!" Lee cursed, immediately pushing Clementine into the store by force, causing her to trip over, but at least she was safe. "MOVE!"
"RUN!"
"Oh, fuck!"
"SHIT!"
Everyone panicked as they ran back towards the gift shop for safety. The cable snapped from the wall and the observation deck collapsed just as most of them jumped inside. However, two of them did not make it. Jane almost made it and was now hanging on to the edge. She almost fell, but was held up by Luke and Lee. Sarah, whoever, had not made it and fell from the observation deck.
"Jane!" Luke shouted, trying to pull her up before she ended up falling down there.
"Sarah!" Clementine called out, looking down below at her best friend who was now trapped on the ground, laying on her back and trapped beneath the rubble.
"Lee, help me pull her up!" Luke requested, noticing that Lee was not even trying to pull her up. Instead, he was merely holding her in place. "I can't hold her on my own!"
Down below, Sarah leaned her head up and panicked when the walkers were advancing on her. She was trapped and unable to escape. She called out for help in a panicking and pleading tone. "Please! HELP me!"
"Lee, what are you waiting for?" Luke inquired, not daring to let go of someone who actually cared for. "Help me!"
Lee knew that he could pull Jane up to safety right now, but he was not willing to leave Sarah behind to die like this. He swore to himself he would not let anyone else die in this group. "Jane, you have to go back down and save Sarah!"
"You must be kidding!" Jane assumed, but it certainly was no joke. "There's nothing I can do to help her! It's suicide! Now help me! Lee, please, pull me up!"
"I'm not going to leave her without trying!" Lee declined, refusing to pull Jane up until she stopped thinking about herself and put others first. "GO!"
Jane sighed as she turned away from Lee for a couple of seconds, knowing he would not pull her up to safety until she saved Sarah. She slipped out of Luke's grip and dropped to the ground. She ran towards the panicking Sarah and attempted to pull the rubble up, but she struggled due to her weak strength. Two walkers moved closer towards them, but Bonnie and Mike brought her some time by shooting them.
Using all of her strength, Jane pulled the rubble up enough for Sarah to pull herself free. "All right, go!"
"I can't, I'm stuck!" Sarah replied, still struggling to pull herself free from the rubble. "Help me!"
"Sarah, I am trying, but you need to be quick!" Jane told her in a strict tone for her to understand more clearly. But her words were not getting through to her and Sarah continued crying out in pain and fear. Jane lost her grip after her hands were beginning to give out.
"Sarah, you have to listen to Jane!" Lee called out from above. "Listen to what she says. It's what Carlos would have wanted!-" he paused when he noticed a blank of wood had almost dropped down and would have landed on Jane, but he quickly caught it and threw it away. "That was close!"
Jane gripped the rubble for the second and final time and pulled it higher than before, giving Sarah move than enough room to get free. "All right, go, hurry! I can't hold it forever!"
Sarah made haste to escape and quickly pulled herself out from the rubble, just in the nick of time when Jane had eventually lost her grip and dropped the rubble. She panicked when seeing walkers still moving in on them from every direction.
Jane swiftly jumped over the rubble and grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her up to her feet. "Come on!" she shouted, leading her over towards part of the broken observation deck in a ramp shape. "Climb go!"
Sarah and Jane began to climb the broken observation deck, using their hands and feet to climb. Jane was the first to make it back it. Sarah almost made it to the drop when her foot slipped, but Jane grabbed her hand before she fell and pulled her up. "I got you."
The duo were now safe from the walkers below. The second they were up, Sarah had run towards the gift shop, completely dramatized from the near death experience. She was comforted by Bonnie, whom held her in a hug and attempted to calm her down.
"It's all right, darling, you're safe." Bonnie assured, but she had to let her go and make certain they were safe.
Inside the gift shop, Rebecca cried out in agony whilst Carley tried to encourage her to push. She had no experience with this kind of situation, of course, but she had to try. "Rebecca, come on! Push!"
Lee stood up after witnessing the entire events from above. He gave Jane a supportive nod and a slight smile across his face. "Thank you, Jane."
Jane returned the nod and raised a slight smile across her face, too. She shifted her attention back towards the ground where she seemed to be the only one who noticed the danger ahead. "Oh, fuck! Guys, they're climbing up here!"
"Oh, fuck!" Mike cursed.
"Does this shit ever end?!" Luke wondered.
"Oh, give us a fucking break, will ya!?" Lee shouted at the walkers like they were going to reply to him. He had one more idea to prevent the walkers from getting up here, a stupid one, but it may just work. "Everyone, we need to break the rest of the deck! Come on!"
"He's right!" Luke agreed as he and Lee proceeded over towards the edge of the deck.
"Drop the deck?!" Mike asked, his expression was both serious and shocked. He never thought they would say anything like this. "Are you all fucking crazy?! How are you all supposed to do that anyway?"
Lee did not answer for a few seconds whilst he and Luke began to kick the edges of the deck, hoping it would break soon. "Just improvise!"
Lee and Luke continued stomping on the deck in an attempt to break it down fully, but regardless of how much they tried, the deck would not go down, and the walkers were climbing up, fast!
Clementine merely watched as the men tried to break the deck, but she seemed to be the only one smart enough to realize the alternative solution. She picked up Lee's hatchet and focused her attention towards the other support cable nailed into the wall. "Lee! The cable!"
"Yeah, good job, that'll work!" Luke agreed, turned around towards Clementine and not bothering to continue trying to knock the deck down with his strength.
Lee leaned down and gave Clementine a boost, placing her feet on his shoulders and holding his hands onto her legs. "Be quick, Clem!"
Clementine began to hack the hatchet against the supportive pins.
Luke, Mike, and Jane began to rush Clementine when the walkers were close to climbing up. They hoped she would break the support cable before it was too late.
"Clementine, come on!"
"Move it!"
"Faster!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Clementine assured whilst she continued to hack the support pins in the wall. With a couple of more hits, the support cable began to break apart from the wall. "It's going!"
Lee and the rest of their group moved out of the way in the nick of time when the observation deck finally collapsed all the way down, saving them from the walkers, and fortunately, no-one else had fallen down. He placed Clementine back onto the ground and accepted the hatchet from her. "We did it..."
The walkers below were now unsure on how to get to their victims and began to walk around in random directions; lurking around anyway they chose like usual.
"Oh...God...Oh...No."
The rest of the group was attracted to Bonnie's voice that sounded like she was going. All of them walked into the gift shop and what they saw next left each of them in shock and sadness. Rebecca had given birth to her baby that was now being held in Carley's arms, but he was not moving.
Rebecca, whom panting heavily after the great pain and exhaustion she felt, looked in even more shock at her newly-born baby. She began crying heavily seconds later, completely devastated from what she had just experienced. "No...No..."
Everyone watched in sadness, unsure on what to say or do. Sarah, whom was scared half to death moments ago, was now in complete sadness when witnessing the baby. She was comforted into a hug by Bonnie.
"No..." Clementine whispered quietly to herself whilst Lee placed his arm around her.
Before anyone said anything further, a miracle had happened, turning everyone's expressions from sadness into relieved and happy when they saw Rebecca's baby coughing, alive and well. It began crying like all new-born babies do, but the point was, he was going to be just fine.
The group smiled as they moved into the gift shop, prepared to help Rebecca and her baby out anyway they could, and then to rest up for a while. They had no idea where they were going to go next, but they would come up with something soon.
Well, well, what a twist of fate. Sarah lives. A couple of you were requesting I let her live, and truth be told, I was already planning to do it that's it for this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Stay tuned for chapter 21 that will most likely be the last chapter until the next episode has been released. Ciao, for now.