Episode 4:Beacon Of Light- Don't Be Afraid

A/N- Almost overwhelmingly, we want to split the baby bag. Well then let's see what happens next, enjoy :)

"We need to play if safe for Alvie." Hazen shot back with his arms crossed. "Besides, these people won't know any better."

Clementine looked from Lucas to Hazen and then the supplies they stumbled upon... what could they do?

[Split Baby Bag]

"We should split the bag. AJ needs this stuff just as much as this man's group does. I have to put him first." Clementine stated boldly.

(?) Lucas will remember that.

"Stealing from a dead man? I thought you two were better than that." Lucas said, showing his disapproval.

"You'd probably do the same if this was all medicine and Michael was sick." Hazen retorted a valid argument.

Lucas opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. He folded his arms and took a step back from the bag. "Do what you need to do, but I want no part in it. This is still stealing."

Hazen knelt down beside Clementine and began to help remove the baby supplies and place them down on the ground. Once they had taken at least half of the supplies, Clementine zipped the bag back up.

"I'll head back to the lighthouse with the supplies while you two find the group this bag belongs to." Hazen stated, gathering the supplies up and stuffing them into his backpack.

"Sure you can manage it?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hazen simply nodded. "Yeah."

"We'll meet you back there. Fill the group in on what's going on, okay?"

"I will." Hazen replied, quickly turning and following the path they had taken to the river, going at the pace of a jog.

Lucas picked up the bag and put it over one shoulder, opening it up and taking out the map the bitten man had mentioned. "Come on, Clem. Lets make a delivery."

After wandering aimlessly in different directions and backtracking constantly, Lucas eventually managed to make sense out of the map and figure out where they were and where they were heading. "I thought you knew this area..." Clementine muttered.

"I do!" Lucas exclaimed. "This map is just hard to read."

"That's a lame excuse." She sassed him.

(?) Lucas will remember that.

He smirked. "God, you're starting to sound like Michael." He paused, recalling on past events. "There was this one time where we were walking around some woods and he started complaining because we got lost. He kept on saying 'We should've just followed the road like I said' and 'Let's just go back'." Lucas went on about his son. "He moaned and moaned until eventually we went back to the road. It wasn't even a road, it was just a muddy track since we were in the middle of nowhere."

"Did you find where you were supposed to be going?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, things went smoothly once we went back to the path. I was just trying to lead him to this little house by the river where his mom and I stayed during summer break. We were a couple back then and we just wanted some time alone... Together... And that's when she got..." He trailed off. "Sorry, I went off topic. Anyway, I learned something that day, too."

"Yeah? What?"

Lucas smirked again. "Never take a short cut when Michael's around." The two were silent for a moment, until he spoke up again. "This is the place." Lucas informed her, looking up from the map as he and Clementine left the woodland and approached a brown covered bridge.

"Looks well defended." Clementine commented, taking note that underneath either side of the roof of the bridge was blocked off by broken down cars that the bridge survivors must of pushed there.

"Not really, Clem. Might keep a few walkers out, but any bandit could hop over those cars." Lucas responded smartly. "It's better than nothing, though, and at least they're trying."

As they cautiously got closer, Clementine spotted a figure leaning over the bonnet of one of the cars, pistol in hand. "Stop right there!" The stranger called out. Judging by their voice, Clementine guessed they were female.

"We don't mean any harm!" Lucas stated, hands in the air. Clementine mirrored his surrender. "You're not alone, are you?" He asked concernedly.

"What if I am?" She replied with a snip.

"I'm just wondering, that's all." He murmured, unaware that she might not have been able to hear him with how quiet he had said that.

"No, I'm not." She finally stated, with two more strangers appearing by the cars, one of which carrying what looked like a rifle, but Clementine had to squint to make it out. "What do you want?" She asked, still keeping her gun trained on them.

"We'll let you know, if you let us get a bit closer." Lucas responded to her. "I don't feel comfortable yelling with the dead around."

There was a moment of silence before the woman called out again. "You can approach, as long as you leave your weapons there." She pointed to the ground beside them with a motion with her gun.

Lucas paused before complying with her demands, dropping his revolver and hatchet on the ground, with Clementine mirroring his actions. The two took a few steps further until they were only a short distance apart. Now that they were closer with just the cars in between them, Clementine managed to observe that the stranger leaning over the car was indeed a woman. She had short, blonde hair and was wearing a blue body warmer with a purple long sleeved shirt underneath.

The two people with her were male and female. The man was the one carrying a rifle, he had a green woolen hat with wisps of black hair not completely tucked in. He had dark green eyes and was wearing a grey jacket.

Next to him was a woman who looked awfully similar, so Clementine guessed they were related. She had long black hair that went down to her shoulders, and the same dark green eyes. She was pregnant, no doubt about it, as her stomach was large and swollen, and her white shirt only just covered her baby bump.
"I'll ask you again; what do you want?" She demanded gruffly, beginning to lose her patience.

"We came to give you this." Lucas stated plainly, shrugging off the bag and holding it out to them.

"That's Chris' bag!" The pregnant woman spoke up. "He's been gone for a while now... Where is he?" She asked, her eyes beginning to water. "What did you do to him?"

"We didn't do anything to him, but the dead did." Lucas informed her "Your friend Chris got bit, and he died right in front of us. I put him down before he could turn, but his dying request was for us to give you his bag."

The woman stared, tears forming. "You're lying!" She denied his statement, her voice quivering.

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

"It's true." Clementine backed him up as an eyewitness. "I was there, I'm sorry."

"No..." She whimpered, tears flowing down her cheeks. She turned and buried her face into the jacket of the man next to her, her body trembling violently as she wailed and sobbed. Her relative embraced her in a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly.

The woman that had been leaning on the car had pushed herself off during the conversation and had lowered her gun "Fuck..." She exhaled, lifting a hand and running her fingers through her blonde hair.

She turned her attention back to Lucas and Clementine, beckoning them over. Lucas took a step forward, but the woman raised her gun. "Not you, just the girl. Let her bring the bag over." She ordered.

Lucas handed Clementine the bag and pointed in the direction of the cars. "Go on." He insisted. She hesitated before approaching the stranger, eventually pausing by the barricade. The woman lowered her gun once again and crouched down a little so that she was level height with Clementine, and began to address her with a different tone. "Hey, sweetie. I'm Leanne, what's your name?"

"I'm Clementine." She introduced herself.

"Clementine... Like the fruit?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"And your friend over there?" Leanne asked her.

"That's Lucas." Clementine informed her.

Leanne paused, glancing over at her two group members and then back at the little girl. "Could you hand over that bag, please, Clementine?"
Clementine did as she was asked and gave Chris' bag to Leanne. She unzipped it and looked at the supplies. "Huh, I would've expected Chris to get more..." She murmured, zipping the bag back up. Her words made Clementine's heart sink. "It's enough for his and Rachel's baby, I suppose..."

"I had a girlfriend named Rachel." Lucas spoke up, taking a few steps forward. "I was left with our kid."

Leanne eyed him warily. "Well, that ain't your girlfriend over there since she's been engaged to Chris ever since this shit started."

"I know, I'm just saying." He muttered. "It just brings back memories."

Leanne turned her attention back to Clementine. "I don't really want to hear his sob story." She grunted.

"He's not telling you a sob story, he's just remembering old times." Clementine loyally defended him.

Leanne grimaced still at this. "We all have sob stories of our own. It doesn't make him special... I lost my family, but I ain't special either. We've all got our own shit to deal with, our own cradle of sorrow." She paused, glancing over at Rachel and then back at Lucas. "I guess those two are in the same boat... Both lost their partners... Left with a kid."

"What about the man with Rachel?" Clementine asked, glancing over at the two group members that were still holding an embrace.

"What, did your friend over there tell you to pry into our business?" Leanne questioned, her tone beginning to mirror the attitude she had shown towards Lucas.

Clementine shook her head. "No, I was just curious, that's all. They look like they're related..."

Leanne paused, considering whether she should answer her question or not. Finally she settled with answering it. "That's Zach, her brother. We're lucky to have him, since he's the only medical expert here, being a nurse and all."

Clementine's eyes widened. AJ could really use a medical expert right now. "Do you think Zach could take a look one of our group members?" She persisted.

"He's not interested." Leanne immediately replied. "His main priority is Rachel right now, since she's late into her pregnancy."

"But he's only a baby and he's really sick." Clementine explained. "We need someone to help him."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie, but our group members come first. I'm sure your little brother will get better eventually."

Clementine was about to correct her on that, only to decide that AJ was like a brother. They may not be related by birth, but he was still family in her eyes.

"What if I make it worth your while?" Lucas questioned, approaching the barricade.

Leanne eyed him once again, her grip around her gun tightening. "I thought I told you to stay over there." She replied gruffly, clearly not interested in what he had to say.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Clementine asked, but the two adults ignored her and carried on.

"Your group can join my group. We have a better shelter, more supplies, and it would be a lot safer for Rachel there."

"We're not really looking for any help right now." Leanne replied reluctantly. "Especially from people we only just met." She added. "How do we know your crew aren't bandits and will ambush us first chance you get?"

"There's only 6 of us." Lucas told her with honestly. "Including me and Clem."

"Don't forget AJ." Clementine added.

"Yeah, AJ, of course. 7 of us then."

"The fact that your group's larger makes me even more worried." Leanne confessed. "We've been in situation like this before and it didn't end well. I don't want to put my group through something like that again."

[Invite bridge survivors]

[Refuse bridge survivors]

"We can help you if you want. It isn't safe out here for Rachel and her baby." Clementine chimed in. "We're inviting you to stay with us."

(?) They will remember that.

"It's good to run into some nice people everyone once and a while... At least, I think you're nice people... But as I said before, we're not looking for charity from a bunch of strangers. We're just fine on our own." Leanne declared to them.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked to confirm it.

"We've made it this far, we must be doing something right..." She paused, running her fingers through her hair again. "I'm sorry but, it's just difficult to trust people nowadays, y'know?"

"I understand." Lucas responded. "But if you change your mind, then there's a lighthouse not far from here, that's our camp. There's also an outpost in town, it's got supplies that you might need."

Leanne gave him a brief nod, but still kept her guard up at all times. "We'll look into it."

Lucas and Clementine turned to leave, but one last question crossed the little girl's mind. "Where did Chris get that baby stuff?"

"There's a daycare in the fishing village. Never been there myself, but that's where he told me he was heading."

"I think I've past that place a few times." Lucas murmured. "Well, we better go... You stay safe, okay?" He glanced over at Rachel, sadness in his grief stricken eyes. "Make sure that baby's safe too..."

"We'll do our best in these conditions." Leanne firmly replied, gesturing around at the apocalyptic world they lived in. "You two... Stay safe too." She said, showing a little bit of a friendly side. "I hope your little brother gets better."

Clementine nodded again at her. "I'll make sure he does." She told her confidently.

Leanne went and joined Rachel and Zach. Rachel was sitting on a chair with Zach crouched beside her, comforting and reassuring his sister. As Lucas and Clementine left the bridge far behind, Clementine looked over her shoulder every so often to see Leanne keeping a close eye on them. She couldn't blame the woman for being so distrusting... It was hard to trust anyone anymore.

On the way back to the lighthouse, Lucas handed Clementine her weapons which he had picked up whilst walking away from the bridge. The two were quiet for some time until Clementine spoke up, her voice sad.

"I feel rotten." Clementine confided in him.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked looking at her while they were still both walking.

"I split the bag for AJ's sake, but I feel bad because Rachel needed it too. What if they don't have enough for her baby when it arrives?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine. These things tend to work themselves out" He consoled her. "I don't agree with what you did, but I understand why you did it. You got to put AJ first, I get that. But there must have been a better way..."

"I wish there had been." She meekly agreed.

Lucas sighed deeply. "And I wish I could have helped them... I wish I could have done more."

"Leanne didn't want any help and she didn't trust us. You did all you could." Clementine reminded him of recent events.

(?) Lucas will remember that.

"I just hope that baby makes it." He confessed.

"Is that why you wanted to help?" She pried his intentions.

Lucas sighed once again. "When I found out that her name was Rachel... It brought a lot of memories. From our first kiss... To when she told me that she was pregnant... To Michael's birth... To when I-" He cut himself off "To when I left her. I left her because I was young and stupid. I was only eighteen, I couldn't really handle it. I thought I could, I promised her that I'd be there for her and our baby when she was pregnant. But when she had Michael... Everything just changed, and I realized that I just couldn't do it. I left her with a baby boy, and I left a baby boy without a father for eleven years. But I regret it so, so much, and I wish I could go back and do it all over again... But I can't. So I thought, maybe, I could help this Rachel and her baby, to make up for my mistakes and do better this time... Even if it was only in a small way. To prove to Michael... And myself, that I am better than the guy I once was. That stupid, young, selfish man." He finished his explanation.

"You don't need to prove that... You've shown me how good of a guy you are without even trying." Clementine told him with support.

Lucas smiled. "That's real nice of you, Clem. But I've been selfish more than you think... And the damage has already been done."

As they both clambered through the last of the trees and they were at the end of the path, the lighthouse came into view once again, and Lucas picked up his pace in order to get there. Clementine followed him as he pushed the door open and walked into the living quarters.

They were met immediately with a familiar voices. "You were gone a while..." Dusty commented, folding his arms.

"It's nice to see you too." Lucas replied sarcastically.

"Did you deliver the bag?" Hazen asked, standing over by the stove.

"We did." Lucas confirmed, turning his attention back to Dusty. "You know about the whole bag thing, right?"

Dusty nodded. "Yeah. Bits and pieces, anyway. How'd it go?"

"It actually went better than we expected. We also found out where we can get more supplies for AJ." He informed them. "Maybe set him up till he doesn't need diapers no more."

Clementine glanced around to see all the group were accounted for. Hazen, who had spoke up earlier, he was still in the stove/kitchen area, Dusty and Brooke were by the table, and Michael had only just joined them and was leaning against the wall with AJ in his arms. AJ didn't look any better, he looked worse. Exhausted, pale, weak... It broke Clementine's heart seeing him like that, ill and fragile.

"There's a day care in the town. That's where the guy with the bag got some of that stuff. I've seen it before, I know where to go, and I can take a few of us there." Lucas stated.

"I'll stay here with AJ if the rest of you want to go." Brooke volunteered for staying behind to watch over the baby.

Dusty nodded in approval. "Looks like we have our group. I guess the more we have, the more we can carry."

"May as well get it done now rather than later. It'd be best if we got back before dark." Lucas advised them. "I can't wait to get some rest." He muttered to himself.

Brooke walked over to Michael and took AJ from him. The teen didn't say a word as he made his way outside, followed by Hazen and Dusty. Clementine turned to Brooke and AJ, and reached her hand out to the infant. "We're going to get some more stuff for you, AJ. It'll make you better." She told him in a sweet voice. Clem gave him a small kiss on the forehead, and then she looked up at Brooke. "Did the supplies we found have any baby medicine for fevers?" She asked the redhead.

"I'm not sure. I'll have a look, and if I find any, I'll try and give him some." Brooke then looked down at the sicken Alvie. "I'm no expert, but I ain't no stranger either. You all be careful now."

"Come on, Clem." Lucas insisted with an anxious look on his face. "Let's get this over with."

After double-backing from the lighthouse, past the outpost, and finally into the village, Lucas was able to led the group of five to their objective rather easily. Not much dead outside for them to fight. But the location they were heading for was a bit out of the way, yet still Lucas believed they had found it now.

"This is the place." Lucas informed the group as they walked up to the daycare.

Clementine looked up to see that the rusty sign on the building that had once read "DAYCARE" had a letter missing, and now read "DACARE". There were windows on either side of the front door, with the window on the right having letters smeared in dark, old, red blood, that read "HELP US". There were also several crimson hand prints on the glass...

Shivers ran up their spines as the group of five stood frozen in place. After a moment of simply gazing at the building, Dusty took a step forwards and wrapped his hand around the door handle. Before he opened the door, he turned to the group and gulped. "Y'all ready to go in?" He asked with a worried expression.

But everyone tried to put on a brave face. Lucas drew his revolver and held it aloft, nodding at Dusty. Clementine withdrew her gun from her pants and held it by her side. The rest of the group also pulled out their weapons and watched as Dusty pushed down on the handle and opened the door.

The stench hit them first.

Michael gagged loudly and covered his mouth and nose while Clementine turned her head away in disgust. Hazen looked unfazed, but Dusty and Lucas were visibly concerned by what lurked inside the building.

Deep down, they all knew...

Dusty entered first, followed by Lucas and a reluctant Michael. Hazen followed Michael, making Clementine the last to enter. She left the door open to shine some light on the darkened corridor they had entered, while Lucas took out his flashlight.

Michael moved past his father, but Lucas touched him on the shoulder, holding him back for a brief moment. Michael looked up at his dad and whispered to him. His voice was so quiet that Clementine didn't hear what he said.

Lucas released Michael and allowed the teen to peer into the nearest room to them just off to the right. Michael suddenly turned very pale and retreated. "Fuck, I can't do this!" He breathed, visibly shaken. "I can't do this..." His voice quivered as he backed away further and almost out of the building.

Dusty became curious and glanced into the room, only to see what he had feared. "Jesus Christ..." He breathed in disbelief, pulling his head out of the doorway.

"Michael, it's okay." Lucas told him comfortingly, placing his hand on Michael's shoulder once again.

"I'm sorry." Michael whimpered. "I..."

"No, it's fine. I'm not going to put you through this. Not again." Lucas paused before lowering himself to Michael's level. "You can wait outside if you want."

Michael managed to regain some of his original composure. "Yeah, I'd like that." He said, his voice hoarse.

"I don't think any of the kids should see this." Dusty stated with clear concern in his voice.

"I can keep going." Hazen spoke up.

"I'm not sure about that, Hazen. I think it would be best if you and Clem wait outside with Michael. Me and Lucas will deal with this."

"I said I can keep going" Hazen insisted, a little more aggravated.

Dusty sighed, not wanting to start an argument he turned his attention to Clem. "You should wait outside, Clem" He instructed her.

"Why? What's going on?" She asked. But deep down she knew.

"You don't want to see that. You really don't." Michael assured her. "Not if you don't have to."

"Just go outside, Clem. Please." Lucas pleaded with them. But they needed her to help find stuff for Alvie, it was because of her she questioned Leanne and they came here. She was strong, she could take it, but everyone says no... but...

[Wait Outside]

[Keep Going]

...

A/N- Deep down you know. This is a very important decision, it could be very traumatizing, or it could be one of those things that needs to be seen in a situation like this so that you are not afraid. Just keep that in mind. Stay tuned... for a very dark corner in Season Three.