So, here is the second chapter. Be warned: I'm not the best at writing so there are no guarantees that this is best, but I do hope you like it.
I don't own the Walking Dead; all that belongs to me is Alex.
Also, please review, give me constructive criticism, anything that will help. Thanks and enjoy.
Update: This has been cleaned up a bit, so hopefully there aren't too many errors left.
"Dad, come on…..we're not far enough away yet. They can still find us."
"Alex, I can't go any farther. My stump is still bleeding. At this rate, I will bleed out and turn before we even reach the woods."
"You don't know that….you could make it."
"Son, listen to me: I don't have much longer. I know this, I've accepted it, and you need to accept it too. I will stay here and distract those assholes, while you and Rachel run to the woods."
"Mr. Reed, are you sure about this?"
"I am, Rachel. Now take Alex and get out of here. Remember son, I will always love you."
"I love you too Dad."
"Now go!...Hey you sons of a bitch! I'm right here! Come and get m-" BANG!
Alex woke in cold sweat. He could still hear the gunshot reverberating through his skull, and without realizing it, he felt the tears begin to slide down his cheeks. God, what is wrong with me? I didn't shed a single tear when he died and now I'm crying after dreaming about it. Maybe it was just the fear of being caught back then, but why did it take this long? The thought of this just made him cry even harder.
"Are you okay?" he heard a voice say.
Opening his eyes, Alex turned his head to see the same girl from earlier sitting in a nearby chair. Quickly wiping his tears away, he looked around to see that he was no longer laying in the road, but in a bed, in what appeared to be a motel room. Guess whatever group this little girl belonged to was nice enough not to let me die in the street.
"Was it a bad dream?"
Alex turned back to the little girl and took a look at her. A young girl, she appeared to be in the age range of seven to nine, maybe even 10. She had a mop of black hair, covered by a baseball cap with a capital D on it. She also had a walkie talkie on her. Guess she is really trusted in the group. Funny, he thought, she almost looks like a young version of Rachel. The thought of Rachel almost caused more tears to fall, but he managed to push the thought away.
Alex forces a smile and replies, trying to make himself look tough, "No, it's just allergies."
The girls looks at him for a moment, before casting her eyes down toward her shoes. "It's okay if you did. I have bad dreams a lot, especially about my parents, but Lee says that everyone gets scared and sad sometimes."
"So, uh, what's your name kid?" Alex said, trying to change the subject before he had to deal with an upset little girl.
She raised her head, so that Alex could barely see her eyes beneath her hat. "My name's Clementine. What's yours?"
"I'm Alex. It's nice to meet you." Alex looked at her for a moment, overcome with feeling how nice it was to actually be able to talk with another human being, even if she was half his age. Don't get attached Alex, he thought. Even though she might be nice, he didn't know about the rest of the little girl's group.
"By the way...thanks for saving me me out there," he said, giving her a quick smile. She most have caught it because, she returned the smile. She looked as if she might say something, when they heard a voice.
"Clem, what are you doing in here? You're not supposed to be in here without me." Alex turned to see a man standing in the door, the same man that had nearly removed Alex's head earlier.
Clementine quickly got up and went over to the man, her face reminding Alex of a sad puppy that had just been scolded.
"Sorry Lee," Clementine said, "I heard shouting and came to see if he was alright." No wonder she didn't believe me about the allergies. Some much for that...I wonder if that's her father.
"It's alright, Sweet Pea," Lee replied, "Just make sure that you ask someone before entering the room of a complete stranger." Lee turned from Clementine and looked at Alex with a mix of suspicion and worry.
"We weren't sure you were going to make it for awhile. Now that you're awake, I will go bring you some food and then we can talk." Lee turned back to Clementine. "Clem, why don't you go play with Duck."
"Okay Lee." Clementine looked over at Alex, as she hopped out of the chair and headed toward the man. "It was nice meeting you."
As she and Lee turned to leave, Alex could hear Clementine ask, "Lee, do you know where any big bugs are?"
They seem nice, he thought, as he heard them go past the window. But, then again, so did those other people and that ended with the death of everyone in my group. Hopefully it will be different; if not, well, I will cross that bridge if it comes to it. And that Lee guy….have I seen him before? He seems familiar for some reason...
He looked down at his body and got worried. I'm not sure how well I am yet; I feel better but anything is better than what I was. If I need to escape, I should check to see if I'm actually able to.
Alex swung his legs off the bed. "Alright, here goes nothing." He slowly raised himself off the bed, going higher until the final push and then he was standing, with a little bit of swaying. "Now, for the first step." As he raised his left leg, he felt his right give out. "Shit!" he cried out as he fell to the ground.
"Going somewhere?"
Alex looked up to see Lee standing in the doorway with a plate, filled with food. Shit, how does he keep doing that?
Setting the plate down on a nearby table, Lee helped Alex get back onto the bed. Taking a seat in the chair, Lee leaned forward, in the appearance that he was studying the teenager in front of him. Not wanting to be outdone, Alex stared back, not wanting to be stared down by an old man.
"So, your name is Alex, huh?"
"Yeah….." said Alex, wondering where this was going.
Lee leaned back in the chair, appearing that he was going to be in here a while
"Well, it's nice to meet you. You seem like a nice enough kid, but just to be safe, the group asked me to ask you a few questions to make sure that you won't be threat to the group. However, I figured the best way to do this, is to do 20 questions style. However, we both have to promise to answer honestly. Promise?"
"Promise."Is this guy for real? He's way too trusting…...hopefully that won't come back to bite him in the butt. Literally. "Do you mind if I ask the first question?"
"Sure, go ahead"
"Would you mind handing me that plate?"
Lee laughed, a sound that Alex had almost forgotten. "Sure," he said as he handed Alex the plate, "I was waiting to see how long it took you ask…..well, either that or watch you try and grab it."
Alex looked down at the plate and saw it had an apple, some corn, and…meat. Moving it as far away from the rest of the food, Alex began to devour the meal with the appearance of a ravenous. Lee watched for a few moments before continuing.
"We figured you would be hungry. You've been out for three days. We managed to get you to drink some water, but when we tried to get you to eat, you would eat very little, so we figured that if you did wake you, you would get three day's worth of rations," Lee said. If he had see Alex move the meat, he didn't say anything.
"Three days? Wow, felt way longer than that." Well, they didn't try to do anything to me while I was out, so that's good.
Lee chuckled. "With the way you were looking before, it's no wonder we thought you were a walker."
"Well, thank God, Clementine stopped you or that would not have been good. Well, at least not for me."
Lee laughed. "Well, good for all of us. We would have felt terrible if we learned that we had killed a person, instead of a walker."
They both paused a moment to hear the sound of children's laughter. Even though he was 16, Alex suddenly had the urge to go and join them.
"Well, I do believe that it is my turn." Alex looked at Lee, wondering what the man was going to ask. Is he going to ask me about my group first, or is going to ask me about what skills that I have than can possibly have that could help to contribute to this group?
" Are you feeling any better?" Alex looked at Lee in surprise, who had the look of someone who was actually concerned, even though they had just met.
"Yeah, actually I am," Alex said between the bites of food. "I guess all I needed was food and a good night's rest…...or maybe I should say, three night's rest."
Lee looked genuinely glad to hear it. Alex could feel himself starting to warm up to the man, but he still had the nagging feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.
"So, was that your daughter or something?"
Lee laughed uncomfortably. "More like something. When all this first started, she sorta of saved my life, and we have been together ever since. I've been watching out for her, but she still believes her parents are alive somewhere in Savannah."
"She really seems to look up to you," Alex said, noting how Clementine had acted earlier. "Maybe you should talk to her about her parents being..."
"Dead?" Lee looked at Alex with a look of sadness and uncertainty. "She will need to learn that sometime, but right now, everyone needs hope to help them survive. The only thing that helps her get through the days are the imaginary talks with her parents on the walkie talkie that she carries with her. I know that I will have to tell her sometime, but..." Lee looked toward the sound of children laughter. "I want her to have hope for as long as she can before it has to go away."
At least she has something to hold onto, Alex thought was he watched Lee. But she will have to grow up sometime. Hopefully Lee will be able to do that or else, he is signing her, and most likely himself, to death.
Lee looked back at Alex. "So, how have you been able to survive so long? Can you shoot well?"
"Of course I'm able to shoot well," Alex replied, with a look of complete seriousness on his face. "I beat all of the Call of Duty games, so I must be good, right?"
The look that Lee gave Alex was so skeptical that he couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, you got me. I actually learned how to shoot by going hunting with my dad and my uncle. While I never would shoot anything that was alive, they did make sure I knew how shoot."
"Why wouldn't shoot anything that was alive?" Lee asked, nodding toward the meat on the plate, the only thing that Alex hadn't touched.
"It's not because I'm a vegan or vegetarian or anything; I just hated hunting things for sport. It always seemed like I was wasting lives for no good reason so I wouldn't do it." Alex looked down at the meat on the plate. "I have no problem killing when I need to such as for survival or food, but never for sport. And the only reason I haven't eaten the meat is...is that I really don't want to eat it that's all."
Lee gave Alex a look that he wasn't convinced, but he didn't press it. So much for being honest. That thought just made him feel worse.
"Alright," Alex said, " I guess it's my turn." What should I ask: the size of his group, amount of supplies, where the hell I actually am, or what is the strength of the group? But, he did ask me how I was… Alex lowered his head, set his finished plate (meat included) on the bedside table, and, hoping the Lee would answer honestly, quietly asked, "Do I need to be afraid of your group?"
Alex could feel Lee's eyes lock on to him. After a few moments, he heard Lee let out a sigh.
"I don't know….." Alex looked up in surprise. Out of everything he had expected Lee to say, that had not been one of them.
"Our group has it's share of issues,"Lee said, looking out the window. "Some members of our group are more violent than others, and we do have a bit of an issue with leadership, but we have never hurt another survivor on purpose. I don't believe that my group will hurt you, but I can't promise you that it won't happen. What I can promise is that I will try and make sure that nothing will happen to you if you stay."
Alex was speechless. Due to that one simple admission, he could feel himself begin to break down again. With everything that has happened to this world, and what people are now resorting to to survive, it's nice to know that there are still people that are good. Maybe, just maybe, this could work out. I could be happy here. Suddenly, Alex remembered something. That's what Dad said about the farm. Well, it's now or never if I can see if I can trust them as well.
"I'm all alone…" Lee looked at him with a look of shock at the sudden admission. "I've spend most of my life with my dad, after my mom died when I was really young, and when shit hit the fan, we escaped from the city, trying to survive in the woods. We came across another group of survivors who allowed us to join them, and in a short time, my dad was made the leader of the group It was around that time when I met Rachel..."
Memories came flooding back to him about his father, the group, and...Rachel. The way she laughed at his jokes, how her eyes sparkled when she smiled, the way she jokingly insulted him whenever she knew he needed to be lifted up; everything that made her who she was and what made Alex...really care about her.
Alex could feel the tears start streaming down his face. Not even bothering to hide or stop them, he somehow knew that he just needed to get this off his heart. "We survived, but not without losses. Eventually, some of our scavengers found a place that could be safe. It was a farm or dairy, or something like that, but when my dad sent people to go check it out, they didn't come back. And, with most of our group gone, we didn't have the power to fight back when fucking bandits attacked forcing us to run for our lives as they overran our camp and took whatever the hell they wanted.
Lee quietly listened to Alex, seeming to understand what he had gone through.
Alex felt all the emotions that had he had been pushing down for so long just come flooding back. "The bandits picked us off one by one and until there was just my Dad, Rachel and I. We went to the farm, hoping to find our missing group members, but none of them were there. At least, not alive. None of us, expected to be attacked by the family of survivors living there. They took my dad, and….they were eating people." Lee gasped in horror.
"That's why I didn't eat the meat you gave me," Alex explained, trying to keep his voice steady. "I didn't know where it was from so I..." He trailed off, letting what he was trying to say remain unspoken.
"They chopped off his arm, and I guess they thought that my dad wouldn't be able to do much without it, but he was stronger than that," Alex continued. "He escaped and managed to free Rachel and I from where we were being held, but I guess he just wasn't enough to make it very far; he sacrificed himself so that we could escape. However, as soon as we made it past the fenceline, we were grabbed by the same bandits from before. They were planning on killing me, but Rachel...she managed to convince them otherwise. So instead, they tied me up and made me watch…...the things they did to her….I couldn't protect her."
By now, it was hard to keep going, but Alex wasn't going to stop. He knew he couldn't stop. "I managed to escape. She made sure of that….then, I was all alone." Alex looked at Lee through his tears, hoping that the man would understand the severity of what he was about to say. "I can't promise you that I'm the best shot, or that I'm strongest. All I can say is that I will do my best. You seem to be a good guy, and I hope that your group is the same way. If you guys don't want me to stay, I understand; but if you do, I will make sure that I will help this group as much as I possibly can."
Alex sat there, hoping that he had made the right choice by revealing all of this to the this man.
Lee stood up and walked over to Alex. He gently set a hand on the teen's shoulder, and quietly said, "The group is not one for looking for the best, brightest, or people who only look out for themselves; all we want is people that can be trusted. With that admission, while I can only speak for myself, I can honestly say that I do trust you. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you will be accepted by the group"
Alex looked up and smiled at him, feeling his tears beginning to stop. This will work….this has to work out.
Lee patted his shoulder, grabbed the plate and began to head out the back, he said, "I will warn you that we don't have a lot of supplies right now. We have been going hunting and sending groups to go scavenge in Macon, the town that is close by. Get some rest and we will see, if you still want to stay, what you will be able to do. Oh, and I realized I never properly introduced myself. My name is Lee, Lee Everett." And with that, he walked out.
Alex sat there in shock, feeling the joy he had just felt be slowly replaced by numb horror. No…...it can't be. Now I remember why why he seemed so familiar…..I couldn't really place where I had seen him, but after hearing the name, there is no way that it can not be him. I only saw his face on TV because Dad wouldn't let me go to the trial...The longer Alex sat there, the more it made sense.
"I don't believe it," Alex said, coming to grips to what he just figured out. "Lee Everett, the man who saved my life, is the same man who murdered my uncle…."
AN: To those who have already read this chapter, and are rereading, you may notice that I've added a little more back story to Alex and what happened with his group from before. When I was reading what I had wrote, I felt the need to expand a little upon what I had wrote. So...enjoy!