Kenny and Nick followed Conrad and Tripp to the front door, where "they" were waiting. Tripp and Conrad ran up onto the catwalk, with Kenny and Nick following them. Tripp looked down at Max who was looking up at him. He and Conrad pointed their rifles at Max, while Kenny and Nick kept more of a subdued approach.
"What do you want now?!" Tripp yelled.
Max grinned. "We want you and everyone else to lower your guns and come out with your hands up."
"Or else we'll kill the hostage." Badger interjected.
Tripp and the others looked on in confusion, while Badger took out the "hostage". Kenny's jaw dropped as he recognized the hostage. It was none other than the savior of his sanity, Alvin Lee Jr. Badger held up a pistol to AJ's head with a wide smile on his face.
"Wait!" Kenny yelled.
Badger looked up at Kenny and Nick who were lowering their guns.
"Get down here!" Badger ordered, pointing to Nick.
"You've gotta go down there." Kenny said to Nick, desperate. "We can't let AJ die, not now."
Nick nodded as he looked at Badger. "Alright, I'm comin' down."
Nick knew that anger was starting to boil inside of him, but he tried his best to keep his cool. Tripp ordered for the gate to be opened and Kenny walked through. Nick walked towards Max, but before he could say anything, he was grabbed from behind by two men. Nick struggled, but to no avail.
"Struggle and the kid gets it!" Badger yelled, still smiling.
"Please, just take me instead. If that means you'll let AJ go." Nick pleaded.
Badger thought for a moment. "Nah! I think I'll keep this little brat."
Nick's eyes widened as a gun was pointed at his temple. Realizing that death could overtake him at any moment, Nick felt like begging. Nick watched as Badger placed the pistol on AJ's small head. The next few moments felt like an eternity as he watched the former two year old fall to the ground, along with a loud ringing noise. Tears filled his eyes as he knew what was going to happen next. Before that could happen, however, he heard more gunshots and could faintly hear Kenny's yells of anger. Nick used this opportunity to escape as he ran back into Prescott. Conrad ran down the catwalk, while Tripp was trying to pull Kenny away.
"Kenny, dammit man, come on."
Kenny looked down at Nick. "Go find Clementine! I'll hold them off."
Nick stared at Kenny with shock. "No! I'm not leaving you, Kenny!"
Tripp threw Kenny down the catwalk and down next to the door. He pulled Kenny to his feet and looked him in the eye. "Kenny! Snap out of it."
Kenny punched Tripp, knocking him back. Tripp took this as a sign and ran towards Nick.
"Nick, he's not gonna move. Let's get Conrad and Francine and get out of here!" Tripp yelled at Nick.
Nick reluctantly followed Tripp as Kenny faced the New Frontier, with just a pistol. He screamed in rage as he fired at the whole army. He screamed in pain as a round shot through his lower left leg. He stood right back up and continued firing. Two rounds pierced Kenny's abdomen, which led to him falling to the ground. Kenny looked up at a man walking up to him. He recognized Max, pointing a gun at him.
"I'll see you in hell, fucker!" Kenny yelled.
Nick ran with Conrad, Tripp, and Francine until they reached Tripp's van.
"Get in! Now!" Tripp ordered.
Nick, Conrad, and Francine obeyed and entered the van. Tripp sat in the driver's seat and drove away, towards the back entrance of Prescott. Tripp looked through his rearview mirror to see the New Frontier filling the place with tear gas. Fuck! No!
Nick knew that he could've saved AJ. He breathed heavily as he realized that the three people that he loved and trusted, were either dead or missing. He began to cry and Conrad looked at him with pity. He patted Nick on the shoulder, but Nick shifted away from him.
"Hey, it's okay." Conrad paused. "At least he doesn't have to live in this world anymore."
Nick angrily stared at Conrad. "You don't understand. That baby was born from a member of the group that I used to be in. Now, I'm the only one left."
"Wait, didn't you say that someone in your group was taken by the New Frontier?" Tripp intervened.
"Yeah, but I don't even know if she's still alive."
"Hey, I'll help you get her out. Hell, I'll murder the entire community just so I can get my revenge." Tripp said, gritting his teeth.
"Cool your jets there, Tripp. We can't just run in there guns blazing." Conrad said, trying to calm Tripp down.
"At this point, Conrad, I don't even want to "cool my jets" like you keep tellin' me."
"We can't lose control, you'll become reckless."
"What if you lost Francine, Conrad?"
"Hey, you know that's a sensitive subject."
Tripp sighed. "Ok, Conrad. What's the plan?"
"We should head for Richmond. From what I hear, a community is growing over there. We'd have a higher chance of survival if we head there."
"You know what, I agree. So, Richmond then?"
Nick didn't answer as he was only thinking about Kenny and AJ.
"I'll take that as a yes." Tripp said, unsure.
P.S. I just want to know what you thought about what happened to Kenny in this chapter and if it would've been a better way to write him out of the video game. Also, if I don't update by December 31st, have a happy new year!