Season Three: Episode 5 -Too Far Gone- Skewered Hope

Clementine closed her eyes and pictured AJ in her mind. He was the only family she had... He couldn't be gone... He couldn't be! He wasn't!

She needed to know, she needed to see this. Clementine swallowed hard and reached for the white sheet. She gripped the material tightly, her hands shaking violently as she peeled back the cloth.

Could it be...? Was AJ...? And then she saw... and sobbed with happiness.

It took a second to click, because she was bracing for her worst nightmare but... it wasn't AJ... H-he wasn't... this.

Instead, Clementine's train of thought stopped as her eyes landed on the figure underneath the sheet. It was a dead walker... One she recognized however as the little girl with the pink dress and pigtails from the daycare. What was she doing here?

Her bottom jaw had been cut off, making her not much of threat. But that didn't really matter, as there was a bullet hole right between her eyes, blood trickling down her face.

If this wasn't AJ... Then where was he?

Clem wanted answers. If Hazen and Michael were here, then she needed to find out where he was. She needed to find him.

She bolted up and around the spiraling stone steps to get to the top of the lighthouse. Clem climbed and she climbed around and around as the yelling and familiar shouting got louder and more distinct. When she reached the pinnacle that was the lantern room, she found Michael and Hazen, glaring at each other angrily. "I knew we could never fucking trust you!" Michael snarled, his fists clenched. "I fucking knew it!"

"What's going on?" Clementine asked, alerting the two of her presence.

"Clem..." Michael addressed her. "You need to go, it's not safe."

"Where's AJ?" She demanded from either of them, her eyes darting to both teens.

"He's safe." Hazen calmly informed her.

"Where is he?!" She yelled at him, but he did not answer her. "I need to see him!" Clementine told Hazen with pleading eyes.

Finally after another moment or two of tense silence, he nodded slowly. 'I'll take you to him..." He replied, moving towards the door. But Michael blocked him, standing in between Hazen and Clementine. "You're not going anywhere, not until we sort this out!" Hazen narrowed his eyes but complied and took a step back.

"Is this about Brooke? What happened to her? Did she fall?" Clementine asked them both, trying to 'sort this out' as quickly as they could.

Michael looked at Hazen and narrowed his own eyes. "Hazen pushed her." He solemnly revealed to her.

Clementine's eyes widened at the hostile news. "What?! Why?!"

"She killed the baby..." Hazen murmured more to himself than anyone else, but the other two could hear him.

"That thing was already dead!" Michael exclaimed at him. "But you were treating her like an actual fucking child!"

"No no..." Hazen clutched his head as if he had some sort of headache. "You got it all wrong... it wasn't gonna hurt nobody, it was..." He sobbed as he put his other hand on his head. "...She was just a baby... It wasn't going to hurt nobody." Why do you kill her? He thought.

Michael made the connection of what Hazen was getting at and decided to use it against his opponent. "Did she bring back memories of how you let a mother and her baby die?!" Michael questioned with an angry yell.

Hazen paused, and dropped his arms from his head to his sides. "...You and Brooke were planning to get rid of me, I know you both were."

"Brooke wanted to get rid of you too?" Clementine inquired in near disbelief.

Michael turned towards Clementine with a look of compassion. He didn't seem as angry towards her like before, more like he understood. "I talked to Brooke about it after I talked to you. I told her everything and she agreed, said she wanted to put the group and AJ first and if Hazen was a danger then... He'd have to be cut loose."

Michael looked back at Hazen with a look of rage. "There was going to be a group vote once you all got back, but after what this fucker brought back... I'm taking care of this myself." The fourteen year old stepped forward. "I'm doing this for Helga and for Brooke... I'm doing what we all should have done a long time ago." He took another step forward and addressed Hazen lowly. "You're no longer apart of this group... Get the fuck out!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Hazen retorted with a growl.

White lightning flashed above the dome in the dark clouds, jutting dark shadows across both of the teens' faces. "Then I suppose I'll just have to make you."

Clem watched in terror as Michael lunged and swung his clenched fist in Hazen's direction, but the older teen easily ducked out of the way. This wasn't like the fight at the church... Clementine could tell that Hazen was ready to fight back. Michael spun around as Hazen charged at him, slamming Michael against one of the windows. He grabbed the fourteen year old by the throat, yanking him back, and then smashed the window using Michael's head.

A fresh wet wind blew into the lantern room as Hazen began to forcefully push down on Michael's head, attempting to push his neck onto a large glass shard that still remained in the frame. Michael had both of his hands on the window frame, struggling against Hazen's grip he managed to elbow the older teen in the side of the head. He then spun around and viciously head butted Hazen in the face.

"NO!" Clementine cried, only to be ignored. However, Michael did give her a small worried glance. "Stop it!"

Hazen staggered back, and he quickly recovered. He then reached around behind his back, and he pulled out that long distinct knife that had once belonged to Mother Katherine, then Clem inadvertently passed it to him, saving him from walkers yesterday morning. He grinned psychotically at his opponent, and Michael stared wide eyed and then grimaced, pulling out his own knife. "Don't make me kill you." Michael growled lowly.

"Oh don't worry, you won't." Hazen replied with confidant assurance.

Hazen charged, now attempting to stab Michael in the chest with the glass shard. Michael's knife went flying out of his hand, so his only choice was to hold Hazen's arm, which was clutching the glass shard, while using his other hand on Hazen's throat.

(o) Stop Hazen.

"Don't kill him, please!" Clementine begged, running over to Hazen and grabbing his free hand.

Hazen pushed her off, causing her to fall back and stumble towards the exposed balcony. Michael seized the opportunity and threw Hazen off him, but the older teen charged again, stabbing Michael's right hand. "GAAAHH!" The teen screamed in agony and clutched his once-bitten hand, blood oozing from the cut and running down his arm, staining his sleeve. "This could have been easy for you... You could have left... But now you're in some deep shit." He seethed, reaching behind his back to grab his gun. He was unsuccessful in doing so, since Hazen charged at him while his guard was down and the two began to grappled once more.

The two struggled, both of them getting dangerously close to the broken railing Clementine had spotted the day before. She needed to warn them, but Michael was the closest to it, so she addressed him "Michael, look out!" She cried.

This only fueled Hazen's sudden blood thirst. He glanced at the railing, and decided to finally end this. He swung Michael round and pushed him back, and with a good kick-!

Michael was shoved back with full force, and the broken railing tore through the teen's back and jutted out Michael's stomach...

*ACK!* *Gah...*

The fourteen year old choked up blood, while crimson red liquid trickled down from the wound and began to soak the lower half of his body. "You... Fucking... Cunt." He wheezed out. Meanwhile, Hazen facial expression changed completely, like he had just woken up from a dream. He backed away slowly as Michael hunched his back and began to gasp for breath.

"Michael!" Clementine cried as she ran to him, pushing Hazen aside.

"Clem... You need to... You need to go." Michael told her breathlessly.

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"No... Let me go... Let me go." He replied weakly, rolling his head back and inhaling deeply.

"I can save you... There has to be a way!" She turned towards Hazen to see him walking towards the exit. "Hazen, you have to help! There's still a chance, you can make things right!"

"It's too late for that... There's no going back from what I've done now." Hazen ominously sentenced himself while he put his knife away.

"Clem..." Michael addressed her attention back to him while he gently touched her shoulder. She turned to face him. "I'm- I'm sorry." He spluttered.

"For what?" She whispered.

"I didn't mean what I said outside..." He paused. "You're probably the best friend I've ever had... As cheesy as that may sound." He said with a weak smile. At least he still had a sense of humor, even in death.

"You're gonna be okay, Michael." She told him comfortingly, touching the hand that was on her shoulder. She removed it and then held it tightly. "You'll see."

Michael snorted a laugh before going into a coughing fit. "You're a terrible liar..." He muttered.

He caught his breath. "Tell my dad that... I love him, okay? You tell him that for me... Please."

Clem sniffed and bit back the tears from rolling down her face. "I will, I promise..."

Michael's smile grew. "You always were good at keeping your promises... For the most part" He chuckled. "We made a good team, didn't we?"

Clementine nodded through tearful eyes "Yeah, we did."

Michael's smile faded and his grip slipped through her fingers. "I wouldn't have it any other way..." He trailed off as he finally closed his eyes.

*Clunk*

Thinking that Hazen had left, Clementine turned her gaze away from her lost friend and met the exit. Contrary to what she thought, she saw Hazen lock the exit with just both of them up here now...

Thunder clashed as the rain beat against the glass windows around them...

Hazen let out a long drawn out sigh, loud enough for her to hear him. She saw his eyes begin to water, but they did not yield tears. The older teen stepped towards Clementine as calmly since she's known him, slowly but meticulously.

Clem stood up as he approached her, hands shaking as to what to do. And Hazen spoke to her. "You know what you're feeling right now...?"

The little girl decided to stay silent, not even giving him an answer on what she was feeling at that moment.

"...What you're feeling right now... is the same as what I've been feeling, every... single... day." He stopped in front of her, not moving a muscle now. Not exactly staring at the twelve year old but nothing really in particular. Hazen then addressed her.

"What are we supposed to do now, Clementine?" His words weirdly echoed throughout the lantern room.

A mixture of emotions were swirling around within the little girl like a hurricane, but the one thing that she did feel that she knew she could identify was... pure fear.

Her breathe hitched as she met Hazen's gaze.

[Shoot Hazen]

[Plead For AJ]

[Run Away]

A/N- AJ is still missing, and now Clem must chose how to handle this dire situation with Hazen. VOTE via review on how to end this! And thanks again for all the support, we're sadly almost done with Season Three. (2-3 chapters left.)

So stay tuned!