Season Three: Episode 5 -Too Far Gone- The Gale Of The Dead

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A/N- We're finally going to get some walker action in this chapter. Yay! It's a shorter chapter, but nevertheless, enjoy!

"What happened up there Clementine?" Brooke 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? But maybe it was the right thing to do...

[Admit Fight]

[It's Nothing]

She thought for about a second for what she was about to say. "Michael and Hazen have been arguing a lot upstairs, it almost got really out of hand."

Brooke crossed her arms at the recent memory at St. Francis. After all the yelling, fighting, and shooting the next thing they knew it was more yelling and fighting. "You mean like back at the church, right after when your friends passed?"

"No, they were pushing and yelling at each other. But it didn't get that bad... not yet." Clem informed the redhead somberly as she turned her attention back to the gurgling AJ, waiting for her full attention to cuddle with her.

(?) Brooke will remember that.

"Hmm... those two boys act like oil and water." She murmured to herself a simile with clear concern written on her face. But she had to pry further. "What was the fight about sweetie?"

Clem hesitated on revealing the true agitate that started this fresh round of conflict. But she was sure Brooke wouldn't take no for an answer after what she's already told her. "Michael overheard Hazen and I talking about his secret..."

"Michael overheard... Is that right?" She quirked an eyebrow at her and actually began tapping her foot waiting for an answer. "And what kind of secret would that be? It wasn't something bad, was it?"

"Brooke I-" But before Clementine could say anything else, Lucas rushed in by opening the door and closing it quickly behind him right after Dusty sprinted in as well.

Both of the men put their full body weights against the front door as banging and the sounds of scratches emanated from the other side. A few clear dead groans made it apparent that walkers had followed them back to the lighthouse. Lucas made a motion to Brooke to find the metal bar that was used to seal the door shut at night for sure. She quickly complied and the three of them safely placed the barrier in its place.

Lucas letting out a whew of relief. "Close one... forgot how sneaky those damn things can be at night."

"What happened?" Clementine inquired as she stood up to address the others, Hazen was no where to be seen with him. "Is Hazen...?"

Dusty gave her a worried expression. "Clem, we were calling out for him to come back, but he just ran off and disappeared into the night."

Lucas assured the little girl. "We wanted to keep looking for him, we really did. But the walkers heard us instead... I'm sorry." He made his way over to the table to clean up the meal silently.

"So that's it?" Clem stated in a frustrated tone. "We're just going to leave him out there?" But her answer already came when another bang from a lurker visibly startled her, and the banging was followed by more undead growls. There was too many out there, they would risk getting rushed. So, the only best alternative would be to wait until daytime and look from the top of the lighthouse to see just how many biters were outside this door. they would deal with them then.

"I don't like it either Clem, but we're in a bad situation right now." He crouched down to one knee so that Dusty was at exact eye-level with her. "Don't worry, Hazen's a tough guy. He was like a bat outta hell when I saw him. He'll be back..." Those comforting words did little to ease Clementine's thoughts. She just didn't want anyone else to die, especially someone that had saved her life and that trusted her enough to share his darkest secret with.

But she still nodded as Dusty stood back up, agreeing that Hazen would be back. "Okay."

"Lemme give you a hand with those dishes." Brooke suddenly volunteered her assistance with cleaning up with Lucas, to which he accepted. "What's our plan for tomorrow then Dustin?"

The burned leader of the group sighed, however he noticed the still sad Clementine in front of him, casually strolling towards AJ again. "After we deal with the dead here we'll... play it by ear." He shrugged, knowing those weren't the best words of choice to make his group feel better. "I'll have something in the morning, I promise."

All he got back were mutters and grumbles of compliance except from Clementine who he got a another more but decent and supportive 'okay'. At least she wasn't doing everything for her group this time around... But somehow she felt like tomorrow was going to be a foreboding day.

Even with the remaining commotion, she did her best to drift off to sleep...

She dreamed of Lee again... and of Kenny... all those people that had died in front of her eyes, it was haunting and it depressed her. It felt like her legs were weighting her down, like shuffling through a thick broth of soup. She looked down to see that her bottom-half stood in a seeping pool of pitch black. Soon, she couldn't move at all now, paralyzed...

"WHAAA! Whaa!"

Clementine let out a yelp and shot up like a lightning bolt when she woke up with little Alvie crying in her ear next to her. The twelve year old got her bearings and rubbed her eyes with balled fists. "Dang it AJ..." She went to pick him up and hush him back to slumber land. "Shh. Shh." Well she was up now, and the infant's cries had woken up the remaining other members as well.

It looked like Lucas had gone upstairs last night, so only Brooke and Dusty were in her company down here. The two of them drowsily opened their eyes and turned their heads towards the little girl and the Alvin Junior. Dusty stretched his arms and groaned. "What time is it?"

Brooke decided to sit up as everyone was already up at this point. "Feels like morning..." She yawned and stood up from her bedroll. She looked over towards the still barred front door. "Looks like the walkers calmed down, I'm heading to the top to see if it's clear."

The redhead made her way over and up the spiraling stairs, leaving Dusty and Clem to converse. The burned man finally sat up and put his back against the curved wall so that he could face Clem and the baby in her arms. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Clem questioned him as she gingerly placed AJ back on the comfy bedroll. She then laid her hands on her legs while in a kneeling position.

"About this lighthouse... you really think we can call this place home?" Dusty asked her honestly. "I know we've only stayed here a couple of nights, and we're not being eaten alive right now, so it is secure."

[We should stay]

[We should leave]

"I think we should stay, at least for a while." Clem answered him honestly. "This place does keep the walkers out, and we still have the outpost nearby." Then another thought came to her. "I don't think Michael would want to leave after all that's happened."

(?) Dusty will remember that.

"It was his idea to come here." He sighed deeply while pinching the bridge of his nose. "But if we went a different direction, maybe the others would've still been alive..."

"Which is why we shouldn't let their deaths be for nothing in getting here." Clem firmly replied reminding her leader. "I wish they were all still alive too, Dusty."

Let it go. What happened, happened. But it was hard to move on... "You remember the first time we met?" He smiled looking at her. "Me and Wayne were hollering at one another and you came in and sided with me. You always had my back from that moment on."

"And you had mine." Clementine returned the grin, but was sorely reminded by the Resort that was lit aflame. "So, we helped each other."

"But you saved me Clem, in a different way..." Dusty surprisingly informed her. His eyes looked downcast at his calloused right hand and burned left hand. "I just... I lost it when I had Katherine in my sights. ...I was ready to kill her the most brutal way I could think of, and make her feel the way I felt... helpless and agony."

"But I shot her..." Clementine furrowed her eyebrows in concern at the battered young man.

"Did you do that for her, or for me?" He asked her.

"For both of you Dusty." It was pity and mercy that made her pull the trigger and send Katherine on her way. Dusty only mutilated her corpse out of grief and anger. There would be no screams or guilt from this to haunt him. "Did you not want me to?"

(?) Dusty will remember that.

He shook his head at her and sniffed. "Only a true friend would do that for someone else... thank you Clementine. I really mean that." And then suddenly his face perked up. "Y'know, we should find some time to go out hunting. Your arms look long enough to shoot a rifle, whaddya say?"

"Sure." Clem nodded to the free lesson. She couldn't remember the last time she had deer, if ever. "Kenny taught me a little but last time I tried I-"

"Got knocked on your ass?" He smirked.

She had to hold back a chuckle. "Yeah. It hurt."

"Well those things kick like a horse. But y'know you kind of get familiar with guns if your dad's in the military." He then stood up and clapped his hands. Clem was glad that he got a lot more chipper. "I'll teach ya the whole nine yards."

"Sounds-!"

"Hazen's gone? Good!" The loud thumping down the stairs was evident when Michael came out to the bottom floor in a fury. Brooke and Lucas followed, both of them still looking tired. "But those walkers out there aren't gonna kill themselves, 'cause God knows that would've made everything a whole lot easier!"

"What's going on?" Dusty approached the three of them. "How many we got out there?"

"Enough to worry about." Lucas answered him. "At least a dozen within a stone's throw of the door, but they're quiet now, and we have to be quiet too."

"Quick and quiet." Brooke agreed as she cocked her silenced pistol. "I can take point."

"You sure?" Dusty chimed in for her to think twice.

Brooke still nodded. "I'm sure." Lucas at his hatchet, Dusty had his fire iron, Michael still had his knife, and Clem had the screwdriver. The little girl set AJ in the bedroll, hopeful that he wouldn't cry for a while. "Let's do this."

"I got it." Lucas readied them as he removed the steel bar and slowly opened the door. It was early morning, but to Clem's surprise it was overcast sky adorning some dark menacing looking clouds. A storm was approaching...

A not so comforting setting for their mission to eliminate their dead neighbors as twelve or so lurkers were shuffling around the area, searching for their next meal. When Lucas and Brooke stepped outside, they could already pick up the living scent. The waves from the water though were crashing behind the lighthouse. And it was only then that it had hit Clem: the walkers were attracted to the sound of water caused by the oncoming tempest approaching. She wouldn't be surprised if more came after they disposed of these guys.

Well first thing's first.

Brooke fired the first shot, muffled by the silencer, the bullet pierced the head of the closest clawing walker. Michael and Lucas didn't waste anytime in waiting to be pounced on, so they both jogged forward, their weapons in hand. In almost near unison they each took down another rotting abomination by stabbing them in the backs of their heads. Dusty closed the door behind him and clenched his blood-stained fire poker in hand as well. Perhaps a little teamwork would work out.

A fallen tree was nearby with sharp looking branches sticking out, so naturally Dusty took to kick a groaning walker right into it. The monster fell right on it and the snapped wood pierced through it's abdomen, spilling its guts and rotten bowels onto the ground, but it was still alive. Clawing at the air, Clem put the thing out of its misery as jabbed her tool its eyeball.

Dusty was swinging away at two more walkers that were approaching him, but unfortunately for some reason, Clementine couldn't pull her screwdriver out of the other walker. While everyone else was busy with killing the other lurkers, Clem's grunts from her efforts to retrieve her melee weapon attracted a hidden walker from behind that same fallen tree.

It roared and latched onto Clem's left arm, pulling to her closer and closer to its jaws. The little girl tried to pull out her pistol, but she dropped it in the struggle and couldn't reach it! She looked from her gun and then back at the hungry walker... she was so close, the smell was blinding. Thunder rumbled as she panicked. "Someone help!"

But before she knew it, someone indeed did come to her aid and whether it was a wooden branch or something else, she couldn't tell at this point. Her savior pulled back the walker's head by placing the branch horizontally in it's mouth so that it acted like a bite guard. But Clem watched as the person pulled harder amd harder until bar tore off the top half of the dead skull from the jaw up. The gurgling of rotten blood and gasping from the little girl were heard...

Clem stepped back and looked up to find Hazen panting from his efforts. "I'm still here..."

A/N- So after one night of absence, Hazen returns to the group. How will the others react to him? What will the impending storm bring to these survivors? Find out next time, and stay tuned! :)