Season Three: Episode 5 -Too Far Gone- Written by Drexbann15 AND TWDGamerKenny'sBro
...
A/N- Well... here we are. You and us have made it to the home stretch of the season. I've gotten to know these characters for a while, and it's going to be sad seeing this story end. The previous vote won out by around three submissions... probably the most controversial one yet.
Thank for all the reviews! Enjoy this final and climatic episode! :)
Previously on the Walking Dead.
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.
Clementine paused, trying to picture his voice and his face... Where had she seen him before? After a worrying moment of silence and some awkward glances from the stranger, it finally clicked.
"Lucas..."
Lucas raised an eyebrow "How do you know my name?" He asked.
"It's me, Clementine. We met outside of Wellington about a year ago," When she, Kenny, and AJ all came in together. "You asked me to pass on a note to Edith, remember?"
Lucas looked back at her. "Yeah I remember you."
The lighthouse then came into view. The large tower was painted with white and red stripes, but the beacon that had once shone brightly at the top had been shut off a long time ago. The sound of walkers came from nearby through the darkness though, their groans eminent.
"It's pretty... tall." Definitely taller than her old tree house... a lot taller actually Clem thought.
"Well it's supposed to be Clem, so boats out on the lake can see the light." Brooke stated plainly to her.
"Welcome to my home." Lucas proclaimed half-jokingly. "It's been home for the past three weeks, anyway." He muttered, coming up and pushing the door open to allow the group to pile into the living quarters. The living quarters was a fairly large room. There was a hot stove with some coal burning, along with a large table with several chairs around it. There was a book shelf in the nearest corner, and regular shelf in the opposite corner and a few sea-themed pictures hanging on the stone cold walls, as well as some pots and pans on hooks. "Don't mind the dead outside. I switch the light on every so often to attract the ones nearby. They're attracted to the light like a bunch of moths."
"Why would you do that?" Clementine asked.
"It's to make sure they're not wandering around in the village. I'm just trying to help out any survivors that might be heading to the outpost."
"That's real good of you." Brooke commented warmly.
Lucas shrugged. "It's nothing, really. You got to help out your fellow survivors after all."
Another cough interrupted them. Clementine turned to see Hazen rocking AJ as the infant began to cry. She quickly approached him and held out her arms, and Hazen handed her the bawling child without protesting.
"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."
"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."
"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."
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.
"I can keep going." Clementine stated boldly.
Michael leaned closer. Clementine was a little stunned, she didn't quite know what was happening. But what we would call butterflies in their tummies arose and their cheeks flushed hot. What was this?
Michael's lips almost touched hers and then... before their lips could touch, Michael pulled away at the last second and backed away. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I don't- I don't care about you in that way, Clem, I-" He stuttered. "I... I don't know..."
Clementine was stunned into silence and stared at him with a look of shock.
"Don't look at me like that, Clem, I just-" He cut himself off and proceeded to facepalm. "You should probably go... I need some more time alone. I need to think."
"Yeah, okay." Clementine agreed, still a little shell shocked. "I should probably take this with me." She stated, reaching for the bottle of alcohol.
"It's probably for the best, yeah." Michael agreed with a nod.
"We should all make a toast... To the people we care about... Or the people we have lost." Hazen added.
Clementine had half expected Michael to say or do something But he remained silent and calm. "That's a good idea, Hazen." Lucas responded. He then cleared his throat and lifted the bottle "To my girl, Rachel." He announced, taking a swig of the liquor.
Lucas passed the bottle onto Dusty, but managed to catch Michael's eye. He gave his father a brief nod in approval. "To Maree and Vaughn, may they rest in peace." Dusty stated to them.
One by one, the bottle was passed round. Brooke toasted to AJ and the group's survival. Michael toasted Helga and Rosie. Hazen toasted to his dead sister... Before the bottle finally reached Clementine.
She paused, and gripped the bottle tightly. After giving it a moment of thought, she nervously raised it and took a deep breath. "I've lost a lot of people... And it's hard to pick just who. I thought about toasting to just Kenny but... That wouldn't be fair to those I've lost before. So... To the people we've lost along the way and to the hope we get to see them again, someday."
Luke had once said that. Those words were hard to forget and seemed very fitting.
"Very poetic..." Lucas murmured, a smile on his face.
"I don't know what anyone could have done in your situation Hazen, and I'm sorry you had to go through that. But if you keep it together then everything should be okay." Clem placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I won't abandon you, not after all this." What was in the past stays in the past.
Hazen's smile grew that to one of relief and thankfulness. "You have no idea how happy you've made me Clementine. I'm with you to the very end, you can count on me. -!"
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON THREE: TOO FAR GONE
*smash!*
The sound of the glass bottle smashing startled Clementine and Hazen. Clementine got up and walked over to the doorway that led to the stairs and caught Michael standing there, the bottle of alcohol from earlier shattered on the top step and the liquor soaking the concrete.
"Michael, how long have you been standing there?" Clementine asked. She felt Hazen's presence behind her.
"Long enough." He replied, before turning his attention to Hazen. "You killed Helga, and now it turns out you let a baby die too?"
"You don't understand, Michael." Hazen argued with him. "You weren't there."
"I didn't need to be there!" He snarled at him. "What else don't we know about you, Hazen?! What kind of a sicko are you, huh?!"
"It was for survival!" Hazen insisted in his defense.
"You're fucking sick in the head. You hear me?! Sick!" Michael exclaimed the accusation. "I went through hell to keep a little baby girl alive, you know that?! And you're willing to just use a dead infant for food?!"
"I didn't-!" Hazen retorted. "We were starving!"
"Starving is a lot better than resorting to that! You should be ashamed! How are you even fucking standing right now?! How do you live with yourself?!" Michael paused, his anger nearly reaching boiling point. "I wish Helga was here, not you! You fucking cannibal!"
Clementine looked from a distraught but frustrated Hazen to a livid and disgusted Michael. Then both teens looked to her for support...
...
[Defend Hazen]
[Side with Michael]
Clementine had enough of all the yelling, all the accusations. These two were going to listen, whether they liked it or not. The little girl stepped in between them and place a hand on each of the teens chest, holding them back firmly with stone cold authority. "Stop!" They looked worriedly between the both of them, and the boys seemingly backed down from one another to hear her out. "Just stop, the both of you!"
"Did you not hear what this sick bastard just said to you Clem?!" Michael growled, his eyes locked on his adversary. "How can I stop when we have AJ just downstairs?!"
"If you heard me, then you didn't listen then!" Hazen hissed back. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me?! Do you have any idea how much I hated myself for what have done?! Do you have any idea how hard it was to come back from that?!"
"He said he didn't have any other choice, he thought he was going to die Michael!" Clementine revealed who she going to support. "What would you have done?"
(?) Michael will remember that.
"Clem, what the fuck?! You're seriously sympathizing with this son of a bitch?!" The fourteen year old looked outraged, betrayed. "You gotta be kidding me!" He gritted his teeth and swatted Clem's hand away and instead pointed an accusing finger at Hazen. "Do YOU have any idea what hell I've gone through and I didn't hurt a hair on Rosie's head? Huh?!"
Hazen furrowed his eyebrows and challenged him. No more just taking it from this little shit. He gently pushed Clem's hand down, and pushed past her, advancing on him. "If you went through so much hell to raise that baby girl, then where is she now?!"
Michael replied angrily. "You don't have the right to talk about her!"
"Both of you just stop it right now!" Clementine ordered the two of them.
They both ignored her as the older teen prodded further when he struck that nerve. "You brought her up, I have everything fucking right!" He paused. "You keep berating me about my past, what about yours, Michael, what dark secrets do you have?!"
"Shut up!" Michael shoved him back a few inches, and Hazen kept an expression adorning a grimace. "Or I'll fuck up your face like I did back at the church!"
"Big man..." He mocked his threat. "You got lucky that time, but I didn't fight back because I really did think deserved that too." He then turned towards Clementine for some back up. "But Clem understands... how many times did she have to talk you down from one of your temper tantrums when things didn't go your way? Big dramatic Michael has to make everything dramatic. I'm not the problem here!"
"Asshole!" Michael snarled as he raised his disfigured hand. "Look at this! I was bitten by a walker, and I had to cut off my own fucking hand after we left Wellington! Is this shit not serious to you?!"
"But you survived!" Hazen was trying to make his point. "Just like me, I survived! We're both here because we did bad things."
"Hazen's right. Why should we hate someone for what they had to do in the past to stay alive, it's dead weight." Clementine attempted to calm both of them down.
"Jesus Clem, there's gotta be a limit to those things." Michael sighed and most of his anger looked like it had died down, but it was still there. He kept his glare stern at Hazen. "Why are you the way that you are? You let Helga die, and now... how am I suppose to trust you, because I don't think I ever will."
Hazen returned the sigh with one of his own and took a step back. "Y'know... Clem and Dusty found me right after my only family died. But before that... I thought I was going to die everyday... the fear was maddening. But you Michael, you were real nice and comfortable back in Wellington weren't you? All that food, water, shelter, and the good people when I had to sleep in the fucking dirt, wondering if I was going to wake up dead."
"That doesn't excuse your behavior." Michael hissed through gritted teeth. "Don't you dare blame this world for who you are."
He scoffed at this. "Why not? The world IS to blame... it didn't care that I was cold and starving, or whether your loved ones died-!" He then stopped himself and regrouped his argument. "...Let me ask you a question. This goes to both of you."
Clem silently nodded as the fourteen year old solemnly denied his declaration and his inquiry. "Fine, what is it?"
"Okay well..." Hazen assured them as he asked the both of them his question. "If you had a chance to fix your biggest mistake..." His voice then quieted as if he were only asking himself now. "...would you do it?"
Clem thought hard on his words as she was sure Michael was as well. Her biggest mistake, perhaps when she believed the Stranger and ran away from Lee? She wished she could have changed that. A moment of silence and some murmurs she heard from both boys until Lucas ended the argument their debate by entering the lantern room. He peeked around the door and asked them. "Is everything okay up here? Took us a while to hear the shouting."
"Everything is just fine dad." Michael responded in a monotone voice. He pointed to the door to motion Hazen to leave. "I'm sleeping up here." He simply stated. To which the older teen nodded to. He walked away and Clementine took that as a signal to leave too until she passed Michael and she grabbed her arm. He whispered into her ear. "I can't believe after everything I've shared with you... you still sided with him, over something like this?"
Clem closed her eyes as she felt hurt by his words. Had he not realized that Michael couldn't always have his way? Did he not understand that she cared about others too? Goddammit, she really hated talking sides. However the little girl only muttered loud enough for him to hear this. "Goodnight Michael..."
And she pulled away from him so that she could join AJ on their bedroll down the spiraling stairs...
Clementine, Lucas, and Hazen paced themselves down the stairs, and eventually they were back on the ground floor where Dusty and Brooke were happily talking to one another. But it was Hazen who made a beeline for the front door. "I'm going out."
Dusty stood up from the table upon hearing him. "Whoa, we're you going Hazen?"
"I'm going for a walk, I need to think and blow off some steam." He answered him while he reached for the door handle.
Brooke shook her head at this. "You shouldn't be out alone this time of night, there's walkers all around here."
"I can come with you kid." Lucas volunteered his company. "Just a short walk right?"
Meanwhile, Clementine had made her way over to the bedroll where a sprawled out Alvin Junior was taking up all the space. Such a handsome baby, Clem thought. He hasn't been this spoiled with all these supplies since before Wellington fell. She lied herself down and got comfortable, the little girl was done for the day. But she spoke up to them before she rolled away on her side from everybody else and cuddled with Alvie. "It's late, can't we all just go to bed?" She was exhausted.
She didn't see it, but she could hear it. The front door had quickly swung open and then just as quickly shut, much to the protests of the three adult members. She could hear Dusty yell. "Hazen!" Clem turned back to see Dusty and Lucas run out too after they opened it themselves, chasing after the older teen. This left only a surprised Brooke in her wake.
"What happened up there Clementine?" She inquired from the little girl, her eyes still locked on the front door. "Hazen just ran out, did he say anything to you?"
Clem furrowed her eyebrows and mentally cringed at the thought of telling Brooke what might be the cause of this behavior. "Brooke..." Did she have the right to confess Hazen's secret, or maybe an edited version of it. Perhaps classify it as teen angst to simplify it for the redhead and talk to Hazen later when he gets back?
[Admit Fight]
[It's Nothing]
A/N- And we kick off the final episode with tensions still running high. Who is the wrong, who is in the right? Should Clementine inform Brooke of what transpired upstairs, or wait until later? Let's see what you guys think! Until next time! Stay tuned! :)