Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.

First off I know I haven't updated in a while, but school orientation began last week and I was busy. Secondly did people read all of the last chapter? Larry and Lilly both reconcile with Lee. Lee places Ben's head right next to the mouth of a walker (Which is extremely OOC in my story), and yet I feel as though most of the reviews on chapter 17 were about Carley making out with Doug. Anyway here's chapter 18. God bless.


Clementine stared out the window. Kenny and Lilly were working on the boat. The two had been going at it for about ten minutes. With every hit of the hammer or tightening of a screw the little girl felt anxiety build up inside her. Though it came accompanied with fear. They were going to depart soon and her parents were still nowhere to be found.

She wanted to trust Lee. Believe that he would still look for her parents as he had said on the train, but doubt had made its way into the young girl's mind. They had been here nearly two days now, and Lee seemed to be occupied solely with escaping to the sea. First he goes with Kenny to look with a boat, then when she finds one he travels off into Crawford to assemble parts. None of that scavenging involved finding where her parents were.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard the door open behind her.

"Hey sweet pea." Said a familiar voice.

"Kenny's fixing the boat." She replied not having to turn around to realize it was Lee who had entered the room.

"I know." He replied in a monotone.

"What are we going to do once he fixes it? Where will we go?" She asked.

Lee kneeled down so he was now on eye level with her.

"We're not going." He answered.

"What? So we'll stay in Savannah?" She asked more enthusiastic this time. Perhaps Lee was going to keep his promise after all.

"No, not exactly." Answered Lee.

At that Clementine was officially confused. Were they staying or going?

"What's wrong Clem?" Asked Lee obviously noticing her predicament.

Instead of answering directly she simply went around the issue. "What's wrong with Ben? He seems so sad since you guys came back."

Lee took a while to answer meaning something traumatic had happened. He was usually pretty direct with her.

"I think he just feels guilty. I mean he thinks he's a burden on the whole group." He replied finally

Having gained some leeway she proceeded with the real issue that burdened her heart.

"Before we leave tomorrow, will we have time to look for my parents?" She asked

Lee faced the ground and then turned back to face her.

"I'm sorry sweet pea but I don't think we'll have time."

"But you promised!?" She nearly shouted back.

"I know, and I'm gonna keep my promise but we won't look for your parents." Replied Lee.

He had managed to confuse her once more. How could he keep his promise and at the same abandon the search for her father and mother?

"There isn't going to be a, we for a while Clem." Lee stated.

Suddenly what Lee was trying to say all became clear. It hit her like Lilly had "accidentally" hit Kenny with that spike remover, while they we're fixing the boat.

"Y….You're leaving me?" She asked

"Just for a while." He replied. "Listen I want you to go on the boat with Kenny and the others. You'll be safer on the water than on land."

"What about you?" She asked.

"I'll be fine, me and everyone else who is left behind will make our way to wherever Kenny's destination is."

Clementine felt the pressure accumulate inside her. After all this time, the stranger on the walkie talkie had been right. Lee wasn't trying to help her find her family. Suddenly tears began to form in her eyes.

"You lied to me!" She screamed in between the sobs.

"No, listen I'll stay and I'll look for your parents. I'll check the Marsh house, the streets and I won't leave until I've either found them or searched every nook and cranny of this city."

"First my parents leave me….. Now you want to abandon me too?!" Clementine shouted as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

"No, I'l…" Lee went on, but she no longer heard him. She closed her eyes and lied down. As she did so, she heard Lee sit on the sofa across form her. She opened her eyes and saw he had fallen fast asleep.

At her left was the walkie talkie. He must have placed it down before he sat down. As she looked down at the device, an idea formed inside her brain. Picking the radio, she slowly and quietly made her way off the sofa and out through the glass doors.


"All right, let's settle down" Said Kenny to the group

"We all know why we're here. Now before everyone gives their reasons why they should come with me on my boat le…. wait a minute where's Lee?"

"He's sleeping upstairs." Replied Travis.

"Well go wake him up." Said Kenny.

"He needs his rest." Lilly butted in.

"Well we need to decide who's going on the boat, so unless he's willing to give up his seat, someone should wake him up."

"It's been given up." Replied Lilly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lee's not going, he's already counted himself out."

Kenny thought about what she said for a moment. Not going? He thought. Anger built up inside him, though it brought sadness, its distant cousin along for the ride. If Kenny was completely honest, he would have wanted Lee and Clementine to be the other two passengers to accompany him and his family on the boat. Sure they fought constantly, but Lee was still the only guy in this group Kenny felt he could depend on. He had rescued Katjaa and Duck on numerous occasions and even Kenny at least once. Duck looked up to him, like a boy would to his favorite uncle and Katjaa trusted Lee.

All those qualities made Lee and Clementine the perfect travelling companions. Now Lee had taken upon himself to once again make a decision that affects everyone without even informing anyone….. except Lilly! Which only made Kenny angrier.

"He said he's not going?" Kenny asked the woman as calm as he could.

"He didn't have too, I could tell." She replied.

"Oh, so you could just read his mind or something?" Kenny asked.

"Come on Ken," answered not Lilly, but Katjaa. "Lee's just doing what he thinks is right."

"Oh so you knew this?" He asked her.

"I suspected it." She replied.

Kenny looked over to Lilly and then back at the table in the middle of the living room.

"Whatever." He said. "As I was saying, the boat's only gonna fit five, which means nine of us will be left behind. Now don't fret, I have worked out a plan that should please everybody."

Kenny reached into his pocket and pulled out a map he had acquired while at Crawford. It was of the United States.

"Look here is where we are." He said pointing to Savannah, Georgia. "Now what I plan on doing is, taking that vessel along the coast line just in case something goes wrong or the boat needs maintenance."

"I plan on ending up here." Kenny said as he pointed to Plantation, Ft. Lauderdale. "I got a much larger fishing vessel. Add this boat to it and we can all sail off into the endless blue."

"And just where is this "endless blue" taking us?" Asked Carley.

"Here." Kenny said as he pointed to a chain of islands below the state. "To the Bahamas or some other set of islands in the Caribbean. I've seen em. Some only had a few hundred citizens. It's the safest place I could think of right now."

Kenny folded up the map and placed it back in his pocket. There was an awkward silence that followed.

"So all the nine that remain have to do, is make their way in a car or something down to Plantation Florida. By the time ya'll make it down I'll have my boat rea…"

"So you just expect nine of us to somehow make it all the way to Ft. Lauderdale?" Interrupted Christa.

"Well the train can take you guys pretty much to the southern border of Georgia. It's only about a five hour drive to Plantation from there." Kenny replied.

There was some mumbles, but nothing substantial came from the group. So Kenny went on.

"Now all we gotta decide is, who's gonna be the two to join me and my family on the boat."

At this everyone began to talk at once, all saying something different.

"Omid's leg is still hurting him. I don't think he's up for a road trip." Said Christa pleading her case.

"Why should your family automatically get in? We should all have a fair chance." Said Larry.

"Because I'm the one driving the boat, and I'm not leaving without my family." Retorted Kenny.

Even Ben said something about not wanting to remain here. Kenny sighed, the kid was the last on his list of people to take with him to the middle of the ocean….. well second last, next to Lilly. Speaking of which, during all the commotion Kenny had noticed something strange. Lilly had yet to say a word about getting on the boat. True her dad was more than making up for her silence, but still it was weird for her of all people to stay out of a debate. Not that it mattered to Kenny. It was good to get a break from her voice every now and again.

"We need to decide on what's fair for everyone, not just you and your family." Said Larry.

"I agree with him, it has to be fair." Added Christa

I agree with Larry? Kenny thought to himself. He hadn't heard those words since….. wait he'd never heard those words before.

"Listen everyone!" Kenny Shouted causing a general silence. "I'm the only one here qualified to pilot a boat, so I'm going whether ya'll like it or not. My family's coming too, so that leaves two available spots. That ain't negotiable! Eleven of you….. well ten now can deiced amongst yourselves who those two will be."

"Make it nine." A voice called from the back of the room.

Everyone's attention turned to Lilly who had been the one to say those words.

"Nine?" Kenny asked.

"I'm not going." Replied Lilly.

"What!?" Asked Larry, while Kenny inwardly did the happy dance.

"I'm not going." Lilly repeated herself.

"But we have to go." Said Larry.

"No, dad" She replied "Listen I was against this whole boat plan from the beginning. I think it's great that we found one that's seaworthy, but I still believe it's a bad idea to just hop onto it and go sailing down the east coast. I'd rather take my chances on land.

Larry approached his daughter. "That's not why you're staying." He said.

"All right well that's one more down." Said Kenny not really caring too much of Lilly's real motive behind wanting to stay.

"We're not going either." Said a male voice.

It was Doug and Carley stood beside him.

"We're?" asked Kenny.

"Doug and I have been talking, and we think it'd be better if we stayed with the ground group." Said Carley

"I'm staying too." Said a much lighter male voice from behind the too.

"Travis, what do you mean you're staying?" Asked Ben.

The teen turned to his friend. "Listen Ben, I know you want to go on the ship and escape all this, and that's great for you, but me, I think it's best I stay behind."

"Now wait just a minute!" Kenny shouted, once again causing all attention to turn to him.

"How about before we decide who's coming, let's figure out who even wants to come."


Clementine waited patiently inside the linen closet. No one had noticed her slip downstairs and into the room, but now everybody was quiet again. She couldn't rely on the sound of everyone's mouths to drown out her footsteps, or the tunnel vision they all had while yelling. She was eager to get outside as she had made contact with her friend, who said he would be waiting for her on the street.

Now the adults were…. Switching sides in the room. Lilly, Travis, Carley, and Doug stood on the right side, while Larry, Omid, Christa and Ben stood to the left. Katjaa and Kenny remained in the center of the group.

"Clementine…. I'm waiting….. where are you….." Said the man on her radio.

She put her mouth next to the speaker. "I'm coming. I'll be just a minute." She replied.

"Well…. You should hurry…. You don't wanna keep your parents waiting…" Said the voice.

Clementine went to reply, but stopped midway as she noticed Kenny approaching the closet.

"Now what you need to do…" The voice said before the young girl turned the volume off.

She trembled as Kenny's body grew larger as he approached. He came within inches of the door.

"Could a swore I heard something?" He said.

For a moment Clementine became motionless, she didn't even breathe.

"Hey you!" Shouted Kenny causing Clementine to believe she had been found out.

"Duck! I thought I told you to stay in our room until we were done down here." He said.

The little girl breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was just going to check on Clem….." the boy started to say.

"I said get back to your room!" Kenny screamed again.

Clementine heard as Duck stomped back to his allotted space. Just then Kenny moved back to join the group. They had started arguing again and he rushed to get between them. Clementine took this chance to inch her way out of the closet and get to the backdoor. Unfortunately she was only able to make it behind the couch as Lilly had separated herself from the group and gone into the kitchen.

Clementine walked into the dining room and hid behind the chair. Luckily Lilly had her back leaning against the counter, but even with her back turned the woman would hear if she tried to open the backdoor. She had to think of something else. She only hoped and prayed that her friend would wait for her, just a little bit longer.


"Had to get away from all this nonsense huh?" Asked Carley.

Lilly didn't turn around. She simply remained in a leaned position against the kitchen counter. She had thought she saw something move in her peripheral vision but hadn't bothered to check, it was probably just a bug.

"I'm not going. No point in getting into an argument over something that's not going to happen." Lilly replied.

"I hear that." Said Carley.

Lilly edged up off the counter and walked toward the other woman. "What do you want?" She asked

"Excuse me?" Replied Carley.

"Come on, were not exactly sorority sisters." Lilly stated "You didn't come here for small talk."

Carley looked around as if making sure, they were alone.

"What did your dad mean when he said that wasn't the reason you were staying?" She asked.

"That's none of your business." Came the reply.

"Listen, I know we haven't really gotten along, but if we're about to travel hundreds of miles across two states, we're going to have to get along." Said Carley.

Lilly sighed. Carley was right, it was time to let bygones be bygones. Plus the way she was carrying on with Doug recently made Lilly believe that the threat had gone.

"We all know why we're really staying behind." Lilly said. "It's Lee. I mean you and I both know who'd we'd rather be with. I'm not about to get on a boat with someone who was practically my sworn enemy. Especially when someone I ca….. trust is choosing to remain behind."

Carley nodded. "Well at least we agree on that." She answered. "See, we're starting to act more like we are members of a sorority."

"Yeah." Said Lilly sarcastically "We should take a pledge."


Clementine watched as the two women had their conversation. It was better than listening to the others. Christa and Omid had immediately gotten into a fight with Larry. While Kenny was trying to "explain" to Ben why he would be better with the ground team. The word useless came up quite a bit during the explanation. Katjaa and Doug remained silent and Travis was trying to help Ben stand up to Kenny, and failing at that.

"Hey did you realize there's a butcher knife in one of these drawers?" Carley asked, causing Clementine's attention to turn back to them.

"How'd we miss that earlier?" Asked Lilly.

Clementine took the chance and crawled under the dining room table, into the hallway.

"Still sharp." Said Lilly as she took the knife out of the drawer and felt the tip.

This was her chance. Everyone else was arguing and the two in the kitchen were busy admiring their newly found weapon.

No one noticed as the little girl slipped out the doggie door and on to the street where her friend was waiting for her with open arms.


Vernon practically sprinted back to the hideout. Upon reaching there he realized the food was no longer on the shelves, and nearly all the medical equipment had been moved.

Good He thought as he opened the door.

"Vernon, your back!" Shouted Clive.

"Yeah, is everything ready?" He asked.

"Just about." Answered Boyd. "I'm just going to get the rest of these medical supplied and we'll be good to go."

"No time for that." Said Vernon "We gotta go now."

"What's the rush?" Asked Joyce.

"Those morons brought the train back!" Vernon shouted.

"What!?" Screamed Clive. "But that means…."

"Yeah a whole ton of walkers will be on us in a matter of hours." Vernon replied while cutting Clive off. "We did the smart thing of send that train on a backward path out of town. It took thousands of those things with it. Now they're gonna bring all them back."

"Let's hurry." Said Joyce as she rushed to grab her bag.

"Wait, where's Brie?" Asked Boyd.

"She's dead." Replied Vernon "But we can't focus on that right now. There are over a thousand walkers on their way to downtown Savannah, and our ticket out of here is parked in a shed on the other side of town."

Boyd looked down at Vernon. "I don't like this. They got kids in their group, we can't just take their boat."

"It's either them or us Boyd." Said Clive.

"Clive's right." Vernon stated "We've been surviving here for three months. Hiding from Crawford, scrounging for medicine to stay alive, living in a rat and feces infested sewer because the surface world is too dangerous. No one deserves that boat more than us."

Vernon looked at everyone in the room. He then grabbed the little ammo they had found at Crawford and passed it around.

"Everyone make sure your guns are loaded." He said. "My guess is we'll be needing them."


Thank you all who made it to the end. I think there will probably only be one more chapter in this story, so the next one should be a grand finally of sorts. I just want to say thanks to everyone who has read from beginning to end and for all the kind reviews. God bless you all. Remember I'm always open for prayer request.