Previously on the Walking Dead...
Clementine finally spoke up, remembering Lee's advice. "I know that loosing your son made you sad, and that you must be really angry right now, but you owe it to the people you care about to just keep being your old self. Do the right thing, and forgive him!"
"Young lady," Katherine hissed and glared at the twelve year old. "Look me in the eye, and tell me, would you forgive the murderer of your child?"
"That sure as shit ain't gonna happen." Nate added as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it threateningly at the group. "Hand him over."
"They'll kill me! Please! Please, don't let them take me!" Sven begged with all of his soul. "They will kill me!"
"In Nomine Patris, Et Filii, Et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."
Angus swung his hammer up high with all off his might and-!
"AHHHH-!"
The large Scot slammed the sledgehammer down into the back of Sven's head mid-scream... The metal mallet caved in his skull with little to no difficulty upon impact.
"AJ's gone..." Clem sadly stated. "So is Maree, and Hazen."
"Yeah, that deranged bitch... fucking psychos..." His tone lowered to frustration. "I bet you my left hand that she wanted to replace her dead son... that's why she took the baby, raise it anyway she wanted. Maree for her nursing skills, Hazen for... extra company I don't know, he was the bargaining chip to begin with so why not?"
"We got to get them back. All of them." Clem declared to him.
Michael agreed 100%. "You're damn right we do."
"SHIT!"
Helga exclaimed. "Wayne!"
With the three walkers already dead, the fourth walker turned around and lunged at the fallen man. Clementine was the closest and she threw stealth aside as she strode and sloshed towards Wayne's position, who was already yelling for help. With the walker on top of him and now pushing him underwater, Clem raised her screwdriver and stabbed the sodden skull like it was butter.
*BANG!*
The bullet entered the back of the nurse's head and exited out of her eyeball... Blood and brain matter splattered Dusty's face, and instead of a relived Maree reuniting with him, a dead corpse met his grasp, shock and fury etched all over his face when he caught her body. It was over...
Dusty's scream echoed throughout the chapel. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Nate was dying and then... dead. A moment of silence imbued as Hazen, with his chin and lips still drenched red, leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. His hands covering his face in what appeared to be exhaustion. "...I'm sorry you had to see that Clementine."
"Oh my god." Clem, in all of her years of survival, had never seen anything like this before. He killed him like a walker would've... but he was still alive. It was abhorrent. But, it got the job done. "Are you okay?"
Dusty whipped the bloody bowel off and let out another grunt of frustration as he fell to his knees with his back still facing them, he himself staring at the work he had done. With an exasperated sigh he spoke to them. "You killed her before I could get to her... why?"
"I... couldn't let you do that Dusty." Clementine told him. "Even to someone like her..."
Clem had never seen Helga this angry before, it scared her, she frightened her. If she followed through on these words... "Whatever happened to 'Fireflies' Helga?"
"I'll stuff a jar of them down your throat if your still so eager, squirt!" Whatever budding alliance she had with this girl was eviscerated. "Now for the last time, leave us the hell alo-!"
*GRROOAAH!*
"AHHHHHHH!"
To her absolute surprise and horror, a zombified Wayne had suddenly awoken and lunged its grey dead hand into the bundle of blonde hair which belonged to Helga and yanked her head back! "Clem! Clementine! Help me!"
She was resisting it's grip but she wasn't going to be able to hold out for long! Wayne's snapping jaws were getting closer and closer to his sister's throat. Clem had only one chance, and that was now. She pulled out her pistol...
Clem was about to pull the trigger, but then-! A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and knocked her pistol out of her hands! Clem struggled with all her might, but the pair of arms would not release her, she couldn't reach her gun either, she couldn't do anything! Then...
Wayne's jaws sunk deep into a screaming Helga's throat, ripping it to shreds in one bite...
"GAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"HELGA!"
...
...
"Shh shh... it's okay..."
Episode 4: Beacon of Light- Written by TWDGamerKenny'sBro
Helga's blood curdling screams were still ringing in Clementine's ears when the pair of arms released her, causing the little girl to stumble forwards. She whirled around to see Hazen backing away.
"Hazen?!" She exclaimed, him of all people?!
"Clem... It's okay." He told her calmly. "It's over now."
"But why did you-!" She began, only to get cut off as the door burst open and Michael came in, carrying his glock. He lifted his gun and Clementine quickly got out of the way so he would have a clear shot. Michael expertly shot the zombified-Wayne through the side of its head. Once he was put down, he raced over to Helga's body and knelt down beside her, putting his hands underneath her head and upper body, to support her. "Helga?" He whispered softly.
This was a side that Michael had shown towards Helga that Clementine had never seen before.
There was a silence, blood oozing from the large bite mark in her throat. "Fuck..." Michael exhaled, choking on his words as he lowered his head and pressed his forehead against her's, and closed his eyes, grieving silently. After what felt like hours, he moved from his position and gently laid her body back down. He sighed deeply, "I'm sorry, Helga..." he paused. "I wish we could have started again..." He whispered, firing a second bullet and making sure Helga wouldn't turn.
He stood up, trying his best to regain his composure as he turned towards Clementine and Hazen, whilst tucking his gun into his waistband. "What the fuck did you do?" He growled. "Why didn't you try to save her?"
Clementine was about to say something when Hazen spoke up. "Wayne ripped her throat out before we could do anything." He lied.
Michael narrowed his eyes. "Is that true, Clem?" He asked, looking to her for answers.
Hazen glanced at her sternly. "Yeah, that's what happened..." She murmured, the lie already eating away at her.
"Goddammit." Michael grumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "We should go tell Dusty what's happened..." He suggested.
"I agree." Hazen replied, keen to abandon the room.
"Clem, can I talk to you a sec?" Michael asked. "Alone?" He added, glaring at Hazen. The other older teen glanced anxiously at Clementine before leaving the two alone to talk.
"I know you and Helga never saw eye to eye but... I know you Clem, and I know you would've done something to save or at least put her out her misery."
Clementine looked away from Michael, but the teen placed his hands on both of her shoulders and turned her back towards him. "You can tell me anything... You know that, right?"
"Hazen he... He held me back... I tried to save her but... He stopped me." Clementine admitted.
(?) Michael will remember that.
Michael's eyes darkened, and he removed his hands from Clementine's shoulders to charge out of the room. "Michael!" She called after him.
Hazen was halfway down the hallway when Michael screamed at him "HAZEN!"
Hazen turned towards him, his eyes wild with surprise and fear as Michael swung his fist at him. Hazen ducked out of the way just as Clementine joined them. Michael recoiled and swung his fist at Hazen again, his punch succeeding to hit his target this time. His punch smashed into Hazen's cheek, and the older teen tumbled backwards, colliding with the wall and bashing his head, giving himself temporary concussion.
Hazen sat, slumped against the wall in a daze as the unrelenting Michael stormed up to him "Murderer!" Michael snarled, grabbing hold of Hazen's shirt and forcing him onto the ground. The older teen covered his face with his arms, trying to shield himself from Michael's blows. Michael knelt on Hazen's stomach, the older teen now at his mercy.
One punch.
Clementine winced as Michael slammed his fist in Hazen's nose. From what she could tell, red fluid was already flowing from it.
Two punches.
Hazen groaned, doing his best to endure this onslaught.
Three punches.
Hazen's face was beginning to become swollen and bruised, since Michael pushed past his defense.
Four punches.
"SHE COULD'VE BEEN SAVED!" Michael screamed, sweat and tears pouring from his face.
Five punches.
"YOU FUCKING LET HER DIE!"
Michael's knuckles were bleeding. Hazen was bleeding too. Clementine wasn't sure what to do. Hazen had let Helga die, but if she let this carry on, Michael would end up maybe beating him to death.
[Help Hazen]
[Do nothing]
Clementine couldn't stand it any longer. She ran to Michael, attempting to restrain the teen, but he shoved her away. "Michael, get off him!" Clementine cried.
Dusty suddenly came running in and quickly grabbed Michael by putting his hands under Michael's arms and prying him off Hazen. "Get off me!" Michael yelled as Dusty restrained him.
Clementine helped Hazen to his feet, he let out a pained groan as she did so. The young man's face was battered and bruised, with blood pouring from his nose, lip, and several gashes. "What the hell is going on here?" Dusty asked, letting out a grunt of effort as he held onto a struggling Michael.
"Helga and Wayne... They're dead." Clementine informed him.
"And this fucker let Helga die!" Michael screamed, continuing to try and wrestle off Dusty's grip.
Dusty glanced at Hazen. "Is that true?" He asked.
"I saw her after what Nate did to her... She wasn't going to make it." Hazen stated, his voice strained, as speaking clearly pained him after what had ensued.
Michael continued to struggle, so Dusty tightened his grip. "You don't know that!" He yelled. "You don't get to decided who lives and who dies! You have no fucking right!"
"I heard her threaten Clementine!" Hazen argued back. "I saw her and took her out of those catacombs, she cracked!"
"Maybe... Maybe he's right." Clementine stuttered. "Maybe Helga wasn't going to make it, after what Nate did to her... I don't know."
(?) Michael will remember that.
"Clem?! What the fuck?! How could you fucking say that?!" Michael exclaimed.
Clementine lowered her head sadly. Michael stared at her and then looked back at Hazen. "Why are you all siding with him?! This piece of shit let Helga die!"
"Michael, just calm down." Dusty told him placidly.
Michael finally managed to shrug off Dusty's grip. "How can I Dusty?! How fucking can I?! You know I can't not after what he just did!" He panted and wiped the sweat off his brow, tears of frustration and anger running down his red cheeks "Fuck this!" He snarled, storming through the doors and into the next room.
Brooke was in the doorway when he barged passed. She walked into the hallway and glanced at the three of them with a look of confusion. "What's wrong with him?" She asked.
"Shit, it's a long story..." Dusty confessed. "I'll fill you in a bit." He added, before pausing and glancing at Hazen and Clementine. "But someone needs to go talk to him. We can't stay here much longer, frankly I really don't want to, but we can't leave without Michael."
"I could talk to him." Hazen mumbled, trying his best to clean himself up with only his sleeve. "Explain myself."
"That's not a good idea." Dusty replied with a shake of his head. "After all, we need to get you cleaned up. Plus, uh... I think you're the last guy he wants to see."
"I'll do it." Clementine volunteered, taking a step forward.
"You sure, Clem?" Dusty asked her.
"I could do it." Brooke offered, stepping forward.
"No." Clementine affirmed. "I'm sure." She insisted for both of them, moving towards the doors Michael had gone through. She glanced back at the group for brief moment and then exited.
It didn't take long to find Michael. He was in the main part of the church, sitting on one of the long row of benches and staring up at a stained glass window. Clementine approached him steadily. "Can I sit with you?" She requested.
Michael gave her a harsh glare before shrugging. "If you want."
Clementine slumped down on the bench, shuffling close to Michael's side. "Lotta benches around here." He murmured bitterly.
"But only one has you on it." She replied in a friendly manner.
Michael paused, turning to face her with the best soft expression he could muster in this situation. "I thought we were a team, Clem." He admitted.
"We are."
"You agreed with that fucker back there. You believe that it was right for him to let Helga die!?" He exclaimed. "How could you say something like that...?"
"I don't know. I just thought... Maybe... I don't know." Clementine stuttered, unsure of what to say. "I don't know what Helga would've wanted."
"I'll tell you what she would've wanted. She would've wanted to live! We should have given her at chance, he shouldn't have let her die." He stated boldly. "Who gave him the right anyway? No one has the right to decide who lives and who dies, especially not Hazen." He added.
Clementine paused. "How do you know that's what she would've wanted?" She questioned.
"Because I've know Helga a lot longer than you. Longer than Hazen, longer than Dusty, longer than anyone. The only person that knew her better than me was her brother. Helga wasn't a quitter. She was fighter. She would've picked herself back up and she would've kept going. Wayne's death might have killed her for a while, but she would've gotten through it, and we all would've helped her. I know Helga was a real piece of shit, but no one deserves what she got. She didn't deserve to be killed by her own brother, after all, he was the only family she had left. Everyone deserves a second chance, and Helga should have been given one. But because of Hazen, that fucker, she'll never get that chance. That chance to make things right." He sighed deeply, now grimacing at the thought of Hazen. "When he said he wanted to protect 'good people', this is not what I thought he fucking meant. Helga wasn't a bad person, she wasn't a bandit, she wasn't like Xavier, or Nate, or Katherine. She was good deep down."
Clementine was slightly taken aback by his speech, and wasn't sure on what to say. After a moment of silence, she spoke up "But... I thought you and Helga hated each other."
"Hate's a strong word, Clem." Michael sighed. "Before I met you, before you even came to Wellington, me and Helga... We were friends. I was assigned a few jobs when I first arrived and I was told to work with Helga. It was a sort of work buddy system. Thanks to my dad, I was at Wellington by myself, but Helga, she took me under her wing, since I was two years younger than her. We bashed heads a lot, but we were pretty close, and when we got along, then we REALLY got along. But after a while of working with each other, and seeing each other day after to day, we just ended up bashing heads more and more often, until that was all we did. She got sick of me and I got sick of her. But there were times when we got along, like the old days, but those times were rare."
He paused to take a breath. "Ever since we left Wellington, I was thinking about talking to her. To try and get along with her like old times and act like we used to. But a lot of stuff got in the way and now... This. I'll never get a chance to tell her how feel, that I didn't want us to keep on fighting, that I wanted us to be friends again..."
"Maybe she felt the same way." She told him comfortingly.
Michael sighed again. "Maybe. At least, I'd like to think so.". He ran his hand down his face and rubbed his eyes. "I took Helga for granted. I treated her so bad just because she treated me bad. I should have been nicer, I should have shown her that I wanted to be friends, not told her off."
Clementine paused and then gave Michael a brief hug and whispered in his ear. "We're a team. Don't forget that. No matter what I do or what you do, we're a team." She told him comfortingly, whilst rubbing his back.
She pulled away gently and gazed at him. Michael smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "Thanks, Clem. I can always count on you." He paused, moving his hand away from her shoulder. "Sorry I got mad and took it out on you, I just-"
"It's okay." She told him. "Are you... Ready to leave and keep going to the outpost?" She asked him.
Michael nodded. "I guess so..." He murmured. Clementine held his hand as they stood up and moved away from the bench. As the rest of the group entered the room, Clementine gave his hand a gentle squeeze before letting go.
"We're ready." She informed them.
Dusty acknowledged. "Alright, let's head out." He ordered. The group grabbed as many supplies and they could carry and moved towards the entrance, with Clementine and Michael at the back. When Hazen passed them, Michael tapped him on the shoulder, stopping him dead in his track.
"You keep away from me, you understand? I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear you, and I don't want to know you. Got it?"
Hazen furrowed his eyebrows at first but then he nodded silently before turning and following the group out of the church. Once he was out of earshot, Michael turned towards Clementine. "I think he got the message."
A Few Hours Later...
St. Francis Church, which was full of dead bodies, was far behind them now, as they had been walking though the wilderness for what felt like forever. Michael was at the front of the group with the outpost documents in his hands. Behind him was Dusty, who Clementine was walking next to and carrying a sleeping AJ. Behind Clementine was Hazen and at the back of the group was Brooke, who was carrying an AK-47.
Clementine decided it was best to check in on everyone while they were walking, so she quickened her pace so that she could walk alongside Michael. The teen had been pulling away from the group, walking further and further ahead. Nevertheless, it didn't take long to catch up to him.
"Hey." She greeted him, giving him a small nudge. That's all she could manage with a cooing AJ in her arms.
"We're so close Clem." Michael told her, forgetting to return the greeting and moving straight to the task at hand. "We just need to give it one last push."
"Let's hope it's worth it. A lot of people died trying to get there."
"I hope it's worth it too."
"How are you?" She asked him.
"I'm okay. I'm still pissed at Hazen though, and I'm probably gonna stay pissed."
"Hazen thought he was doing the right thing." Clementine told him.
"Well, he was wrong. Maybe I could forgive him if it were a mistake or he felt bad about it, but he clearly doesn't."
"You never know, he might feel bad. Maybe he's just not good at showing it." Michael grunted, looking back down at the documents, scratching his bare right hand and running his fingers along the area where his three missing fingers used to be. Clementine glanced at the cuts on his knuckles, which he had gotten from punching Hazen, before her eyes finally fell upon the stitches. "You should probably put a bandage over that until it heals." She commented.
"I would, if my bandage hadn't gotten soaked and turned to mush in that swamp." He replied, rubbing his knuckle. "I can almost still feel my missing fingers." He murmured, flexing the two he had left.
"I'll try and get you another bandage. For now, I think I'll go talk to the others." Clementine told him, slowing her pace.
"Alright, Clem. If that's what you want."
Clementine found herself next to Dusty once again. She glanced up at him, seeing the empty expression on his face.
"Hey, Dusty." She greeted, her voice quiet.
"I'm glad to be away from that church." He confided in her, touching the burn on his face and then the dry blood. "I'll never be able to get that image of Maree out of my head." He murmured, lowering his hand. "I failed her... and I failed Vaughn."
"What you did, it was brave." Clementine told him encouragingly.
"I'm not brave. I'm just a janitor in my dad's uniform."
"You earned that uniform. You led this group even after you were burned. You could've given up but you didn't, you fought for the people you cared about. Your dad would be proud, and Maree and Vaughn would be too. We're all proud of you. ...And I'm glad I voted you to be our leader."
Dusty paused before giving Clementine a weak smile "Thank you, Clem. I really appreciate that."
Clementine smiled back at him "No problem."
She paused, letting Hazen catch up to her. She wanted to talk to him next. Hazen had his hands in his pockets and was gazing at the ground. He looked a bit better after Dusty had helped him clean up, his nose was red, his lip was swollen and his face was still covered with cuts and bruises, but some of the swelling had gone down and there was no longer any blood.
Once Hazen noticed Clementine's presence, he lifted his head and nodded her way. "Michael talking shit about me?" He asked.
"He's just mad, you can't really blame him."
"You didn't have to tell him what happened. We could have kept it between us." Hazen insisted.
"Of course I couldn't. He needed to know. Everyone needed to know." She stated.
Hazen lowered his head and grimaced. "I stand by my decision, Helga was a detriment to the group. An emotional wreck. I might have deserved this little..." He twirled his hand around his own face. "...beat-down, but Helga would've eventually gotten herself or someone else hurt. If Michael never saw her as a liability, then maybe he's not all that good himself." He spoke grimly.
"Michael is a good person. He just doesn't think what you did was right. He wanted to get along with Helga, to be friends with her again."
"Well, he had a funny way of showing it. Those two were always throwing insults at each other." He shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what he wanted then that's his own fault on his part."
"But you saw him when Helga died. He was upset and you weren't really making it any better." Clementine spoke with honesty.
"And neither was he..." Hazen retorted. "Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with what I did. Nate nearly did awful things to her and then she lost her brother. She wasn't going to make it, and I know that feeling all too well. When you found me, right after I lost my sister, in that moment... I felt like dying with her." He confessed.
"But you're still here. And Helga could still be here too."
(?) Hazen will remember that.
"Can you honestly answer me that you and AJ there would feel safe without Helga on Wayne's leash?" He waited for Clem to give an answer but she remained silent. So he went on. "It's in the past, now. We can't do anything about it."
"You could at least apologize to him." Clementine suggested to him.
"Why should I?" Hazen questioned. "I mean, he doesn't even want to talk to me. You heard him back at the church."
"Then things might not be so tense between you two."
Hazen sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks you, Hazen." Clementine told him gratefully. She hoped things might run a little more smoothly if Hazen and Michael found some common ground to fall back on. Smooth things over and find some unity.
The last person to talk to was Brooke, who was at the back of the group. She walked at a steady pace, allowing Brooke to catch up to her and letting Hazen move on ahead. "How are you holding up, Brooke?" She asked the older woman.
"I, uh-" She paused "I was just thinking about... My friends. The people from the church."
"Oh." Clementine murmured weakly.
"I killed Peter. And I let everyone else die. I hated Katherine but... people like Angus, people like Peter, I didn't hate them, and now I have to live with that. I betrayed them. And the worst part of it was, I barely batted an eye to helping you folks. The golden opportunity to do some good."
"But you did it to help us get our people back and now you're free. Katherine can't make you do anything you don't want to anymore."
"Dusty's lover is dead." She stated bluntly.
"But Hazen and AJ are alive." She countered Brooke's argument, looking down at the sweet child in her arms.
"That brother and sister are dead too..."
"What are you trying to say?" She questioned.
"All I'm saying is... It wasn't a complete success. People died, that ain't exactly a victory."
"Maybe you shouldn't have helped us then if you feel that way." Clementine scoffed bitterly.
(?) Brooke will remember that.
Brooke was slightly taken aback by her aggressive comment. "I don't mean it like that. I'm glad I'm with you people I just... have a lot of regrets." She confessed.
"Everyone has regrets. I have my fair share, so does Dusty. I'm not sure about Hazen, though." The young man just mentioned looked back at the two of them, and he gave then a sad expression before resuming his gaze forward.
"That kid... Michael is it? Does he have regrets too?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, I think Michael has a lot of regrets, some I don't even know about yet. There are things that he just isn't telling me about. I'm worried for him, kind of worried for everyone."
"It's good that you care, Clem." Brooke pried. "But what are some things, Micheal doesn't want to talk about?"
"In the church, he asked me if he could hold AJ." She informed her.
"What's wrong with that?" Brooke asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing. It's just he held him perfectly, like he knew what he was doing, liked he'd done it before. But when I asked him about it, he got really sad and left without giving me an answer."
Brooke grunted. "Huh... well I have an idea but, if he's not telling you, then I doubt anyone will be hearing about it anytime soon." She muttered. "After all, your the one he trusts the most. At least, that's what I've seen." As the two observed Michael from a far, they saw him break into a run and sprint on ahead. "What's he doing?" Brooke questioned.
Clementine shrugged in response before breaking in a run and racing after the teen.
"Michael, Clem, wait up!" Dusty called after them.
Clementine followed Michael through the wilderness before he finally stopped. "Michael, why were you running?" Clementine asked. He didn't answer, instead he just stared at a fixed point.
Clementine followed his gaze and noticed a sign. It said 'Welcome to' but the name below the 'to' was crossed off and in its place was the words "OUTPOST" painted in big, bold, white letters. Below the word 'outpost' was an arrow, which pointed towards the fishing village below the hill they were standing on.
"We made it..." Michael breathed in disbelief, whirling round and facing Clementine "We did it, Clem!" He cried triumphantly.
A/N- The Penultimate Episode kicks off with a bang as a sever crack remains in the group. What do you think? Should Helga have been saved after all that happened and what she said? Which side would you have taken? Hazen or Michael?
But now that they have finally reached this Outpost? What lies in store for them? Maybe a familiar face? Stay tuned! :)