[Note from Author]
Hi, I just wanted to put in a quick apology to all of you who have waited for this part. A lot of stuff happened during the end of the year and I am happy to announce it has almost cleared up. I will say, however, that I won't be releasing daily like I did when I started. Instead I'll be taking small breaks so I don't burn myself out. Anyway, hope you enjoy the first part of chapter 5 and look forward to the rest of volume 2 of 'Lee's Second Chance'.
[End of Note]
CHAPTER 5 - Familiar Faces
PART 1
Mark and I walked through the woods as crows around us squawked loudly. Mark was looking around, squinting, trying to look for anything that could be used as a meal. I kept on walking down the path. I knew where we had to go. Three months had passed since time turned back and I had stopped caring about how or why and already accepted the fact that I was here. All I truly cared about was that now I had the chance to stop many tragic events from happening. I had already tested this out at the drugstore when I managed to save both Doug and Carley. Originally one of them was supposed to die but in a moment of insanity I was able to get them both to safety.
That and the arrival of Ruscoe had shown me that things were able to change. However, Ruscoe's existence still perplexed me. I never really thought to ask him any questions about who he was and how he got into Macon. I just accepted the fact that he was there and carried on. I still had to look out for Clementine. She's the only other person who was able to remember what happened in the past timeline… But I didn't know why. That was a mystery that I believed would be best left alone. To me it was a miracle that she remembered. Whilst there were many painful memories from the past time, it had definitely hardened her. Pry too much into a miracle and god only knows what you'll find.
"Hey, Lee?" I heard Mark say.
I turned towards him and saw an expression of confusion on his face. I hadn't told Mark where we were headed and that I knew that we wouldn't actually be hunting today. "What is it?" I asked Mark turning back around.
Mark hesitated, "You… err… see anything?"
"Nah, just greenery… Not sure if I could call it that, though." I replied, sticking to the path whilst staring at the brown leaves in the trees.
Mark sighed, "Damnit… Maybe all that hunting we did the past few weeks scared all the wildlife away?"
"If anything I don't think that wewould be the ones to scare the wildlife away."
"Yeah… right… Plenty of other scary things around now, huh?" He took a short pause, "Still, I was surprised."
"At what?" I asked him.
"At the fact that you were able to work out how long that commissary food would last us. If you hadn't suggested that we start hunting for food as well, I think we'd be starving to death right about now."
"I'm pretty sure that if I didn't suggest it, Lilly would've."
"Yeah but if it were her way we wouldn't get any food. Instead it'd all go to Larry."
"Hey, now." I said, turning my head back to him.
"Sorry… It's just that… I mean she's a good leader and all but sometimes I feel like she doesn't care about us. I mean we barely get rations in the morning. We usually have to wait until we catch and cook something before wecan eat."
"The kids need to eat to. If I was handling the morning rations I'd probably be feeding Duck and Clem first as well."
"Yeah, I can understand that but what about Larry? He's got enough food stored in him to last the winter. He's like a squirrel hole ready for hibernation."
"Well, he is getting old. Plus he has a heart condition."
"Sure he has a heart condition but he doesn't half bring that on himself. Last night all I heard was him yelling at Kenny… and didn't he punch you in the face one time."
I grimaced, "Yeah… He did." I looked at Mark, "But that's in the past now. I'm sure that Larry was just… getting to know me."
"By punching you in the face?" Mark asked, looking at me curiously.
"Some people have weird ways of saying hello."
"Yeah? Well I'm glad that your way of saying hello is less punch in the face and more saving me from an army of the dead."
Mark smirked at me and I smiled back. I went silent again as I turned my attention to finding what we came out it here for. It should be around here somewhere. I was looking for a bear trap somewhere in the woods; the same bear trap that led us to meet Ben, his teacher and his friend Travis. Mark and I were originally alerted by a man screaming. We went to investigate the noise and found Ben and his friend Travis trying to free their teacher who was caught in a modified bear trap. The trap had no release button so I ended up having to chop off the Teacher's Leg. Travis, in shock, threw up and got jumped by a few walkers. Their teacher, Mr. Parker, later bled to death. If I can change this much already, I should be able to stop Mr. Parker from getting himself caught in that trap.
"So Lee." Mark said.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Where are we headed?"
I hesitated, thinking of something to say, and ended up replying, "Somewhere…"
"Gee… that's… specific."
"Just trust me on this."
Mark smiled, "Don't worry, Lee. I will. You know, since the first day I met you, you've always seemed to have things figured out. Like you knew what was going to happen next."
"Really?"
Mark chuckled, "Yeah. I mean I'm not complaining. If you can see into the future then that's a one up for the survivors."
We found a patch of clear land, with only a few clumps of grass here and there. I looked to a rusted object that was concealed behind a small patch of grass. I grabbed a large stick that was lying on the ground and used it to carefully push the grass out of the way. Straight away I could see the teeth. It was definitely the bear trap.
"Hey, Lee? Did you find something?" Mark asked, walking over to me.
"Yeah… I did. I found a-" I was cut off as I pushed the stick down into the wrong place. There was a loud clanking sound as the trap's teeth came together with great speed. The stick broke in half.
Mark and I stayed quiet. The noise was loud but probably not loud enough to attract Walkers. We exchanged looks and then I slowly stood up. Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes. Mark quickly raised his rifle and aimed at the bushes. I looked at him and saw that he was putting his finger on the trigger.
"Mark, wait." I whispered.
Mark looked at me and furrowed his brows. He then sighed and lowered his weapon, waiting for whatever was in the bushes to come out. Suddenly a young man with light brown hair fell out of the bush, face first.
"O-ow!" He yelled, pushing himself up.
Suddenly we heard another young man from behind bushes. He said in a hushed voice, "Be quiet Ben! If you make too much noise those things might find us again."
The first young man stood up, hunched over slightly. When he saw us his face suddenly showed an expression of shock. I returned the same look as I realized who I was staring at. It was Ben. Suddenly remembering back to the original timeline, all I could see was Ben and Kenny's demise. My heart raced as I looked at him and without thinking I said, "B-ben?"
Ben didn't return any response. Suddenly the other young man came out of the bushes supporting an older man who had a beard and chestnut hair. These two were Travis and Mr. Parker. They stopped and stared at us, with fear in their eyes.
Mark took his left hand off of the grip on his rifle and raised it slowly, "Umm… Hi." He said with an uneasy smile.
I took a good look at Mr. Parker. He was panting, and he looked like he was in a great deal of pain. Ben looked at Travis and then looked back us, desperately. He then said, frantically, "Oh, thank god! Please, you have to hel-"
"Ben! Be quiet. I know how to handle this."
I glanced over to Mark, who looked at me and then shrugged.
Travis looked at Ben and nodded his head at Mr. Parker. Ben then took Parker's shoulder as Travis took a step forward, "L-look, we're harmless. Just turn around and walk away and… pretend you never saw us."
"Travis!" Ben said, widening his eyes. "They could help-"
"Ben! What if these guys are the ones who raided our camp and…" Travis looked at Mr. Parker's leg which had blood oozing out of a bullet wound. He's been shot? When did that happen? I thought to myself.
"Hey, Travis is it?" I said raising my hands, "We don't mean any harm. We're survivors, just like you."
"Just like them? " Travis said with a snarl.
"Them?" Mark said, glancing over to me.
"Travis, I think we can trust them!" Ben yelled.
"We can't trust anybody Ben. For all we know this guy could be a murderer!" Travis said pointing at me.
"I'm… I'm not a murderer. And neither is he." I tried to calm them down.
Suddenly Mr. Parker spoke with a kind yet pained tone, "T-travis?"
Travis looked at Mr. Parker, and went over to him, "Y-yes sir?"
Mr. Parker stared at us and then looked back to Travis and said, as a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead, "Just… shut up." And with that, he passed out.
"Mr. Parker!" Travis yelled.
"What's wrong with him!?" I yelled lowering my hands and running over to them.
"I-I dunno! He was just… just!" Travis yelled back.
"He was shot in the leg!" Ben stated.
I looked at Mark and it seemed that he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to. I ignored his expression and grunted as I said to Mark, "Grab him. We're taking him back."
"But Lee, what if he's bitten?" Mark said.
"He's not bitten. He'll be fine as long as we get someone to clean up this wound."
Mark stared at me in slight disbelief, "W-whatever you say Lee."
Mark picked Mr. Parker up and carried him on his back. We started to make our way back to the Motor Inn. Well it's better than a missing Leg, at least.
