"..Shit." Lee finished without realizing what he said. A gasp soon followed from the girl. "Sorry, shouldn't talk like that." It was easy to forget who he was talking to in this situation.
"That was a swear!" She scolded, the man smiling as he shook his head, looking up at the barn's roof. "I miss my Mom and Dad.." Clem whispered, cuddling her blankets.
"I know, Clem."
"How far is Savannah?"
"Pretty far."
"Oh.."
"Try to get some sleep. You're gonna need it." Lee finished, closing his eyes and after a while, succumbing to sleep. In his dreams, he could hear the voice of his sweet, yet disloyal wife before the gunshot. Lee shot up in the middle of the night, gasping for air before going back to sleep.
"Hey, wake up." A southerner's voice called. Lee got up, groggily opening his eyes as Clem did the same. His wound felt better like Hershel said, and he didn't feel hot so at least he was physically okay.
"I'm itchy.." Clem noted, scratching her arms as she looked up at the man who had awoken them.
"Well, you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." The man joked, causing Clementine to gasp and search for the insects. "Though I guess your daddy scared them all away, huh?" He looked to Lee, a smile on his face.
"I'm uh, not her dad. The name's Lee." He greeted, giving the man a handshake.
"I'm Kenny." Kenny greeted back, pulling away.
"Dad, we're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" A young boy hollered, running back outside in an instant.
"We better get going, or we're not gonna hear the end of it." Kenny told the two, leading them outside with Lee by his side. "That's my son, Ken Jr. We call him Duck, though."
"Dodging or quacking?" Lee asked, inhaling the fresh, warm air.
"Quacking." He simply replied, the boy shouting his father's name again to prove his point. "See?" The two shared a laugh before stopping in place. "Word is you wanna get to Macon."
"My family is from there." Lee replied with a smile.
"Well, that's where I got my family headed. If you'd like, I'd like the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads in if you get me." Kenny offered. Lee looked down at Clem before deciding on what to do.
"We'll see what happens. Give me some time." Lee responded, Kenny continued forward towards his wife.
"Gotcha. Duck, Kat, this is Lee and, what's the girl's name?"
"Clementine." Lee finished.
"Clementine." Kenny said, nodding at Lee.
"That is a very pretty name." Katjaa smiled at the girl who was clutching to Lee's leg.
"Thanks.." She replied, smiling back. Shawn walked up to the group.
"Duck, wanna help me set up the fence? You can yell at me whenever I take a water break from the tractor." Shawn offered the young boy.
"On the tractor?! Cool!" He cheered, agreeing.
"Duck and I will hop to it." The young man confirmed, the two boys heading toward the tractor. Kenny nodded, allowing this.
"I'm gonna see if I can get the truck working. By the time I'm done, I'm gonna need an answer, alright?" Kenny asked Lee.
"Okay." Lee replied. Kenny nodded and walked over to the truck.
"Don't worry about Clem, I can keep an eye on your girl. I'd like to hear about what grade you're in." Katjaa said, offering a seat for Clem on the hay bail. She looked up at Lee for permission.
"It's okay, I'll be right back. Have a good talk with Katjaa. Thank you." He said, Kat nodded as Lee left to Kenny's side.
"Hey, uh, Kenny. So, what's your family's plan?"
"Get back on down to Lauderdale and let this mess get sorted out. Government'll start handing out shots and the national guard will do its thing. On the odd chance things got too bad, we could hop on my boat, I guess." Kenny explained.
"You have a boat?" Lee asked, raising his brow.
"I'm a commercial fisherman, catching mackerel, dolphins, whatever's biting and paying. Katjaa wouldn't be wild about it, but the boat's not that bad." A boat? Could be a good idea..
"How's your son doing?" Lee asked, changing the subject.
"Good, I think. Katjaa's got a sister up in Memphis; we were coming back from visiting her. We were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy. I thought he was kidnapping him. I was on the fucker in about two seconds and... Christ. Just lucky I was there. We saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's. But we're a tough family, Lee. Ain't nothing gonna faze us." Kenny spoke, focusing his hands on being busy with the truck.
"You sure seem like it.. Need any help?" Lee asks, looking at the truck's engine.
"Nah, I think I got it. Do YOU need any help?" Kenny asks back.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean with that little girl, you know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?"
"Nah, no kids.." He said with a huff, remembering that was the reason his wife cheated in the first place.
"Hm, would've liked one then." Kenny figured from his expression.
Lee left Kenny to his work and approached Clementine and Kat.
"Hey there, girls. You two actually look relaxed." Lee said, looking down at the two.
"I think we're doing just fine. Clementine was just telling me about first grade." Katjaa replied, happily.
"Oh? How was that?" Lee asked, folding his arms.
"It's easy." She responded with a cute smile.
"Well, yeah." Lee chuckled.
"Anyways, it's almost like we didn't see people eating each other. It's nice here at the farm, no?" She answered truthfully, looking around at the country view.
"Yeah.. How'd you make it through the cities?" He asked with a bit of a frown. She sighed.
"Kenny just.. Drove. We passed so many people that needed help, over some and just.. Just.." Katjaa struggled.
"It's okay! You don't need to finish." Lee said for her sake.
"I want to go home tomorrow, but even then I can't take away the things we-the things Duck-went through. Don't you want to go back to the moment before you knew about all of this?" Kat asked, knowing the obvious answer was obvious.
"Of course, who wouldn't? Families and barbecues and beers with good friends. It's what ya live for, y'know?"
"Yes, all of those things." She responded, remembering them fondly.
"With those gone, what's the point? Anyways, let's change the subject." He proposed, thinking of something to talk about. "What do you do when corpses aren't walking around?" He joked, getting a little laugh out of her.
" I am a veterinarian back in Fort Lauderdale-like Hershel here, except more with dogs and cats and not horses. What is it that you do, Lee?"
"I used to teach up at the university of Georgia." He said, wishing he could say it was still his job.
"We need to hope we can go back to our jobs, Lee, back to normal. It can't go on like this." She said with such hope in her voice.
"Yeah, my mistake.." Lee trailed off, deciding not to say anymore.
"We'll all be home soon." She told him, giving him a smile. Lee looked over to Shawn and decided he could try helping him with the fence.
"Hey Shawn, need any help?" He asked the boy, waving at Duck as he did.
"Yeah, totally. If you could cut those 2x4's to length, that'd sure speed things up." Shawn suggested, pointing to the saw and planks. Lee nodded and got to work, cutting as he asked.
"My Dad doesn't know how bad the world is." Shawn told Lee, shaking his head.
"No, he doesn't." Lee agreed; Hershel was tough and stubborn as all hell.
"What did you see? Before you met me. Cause I've seen some pretty fucked up shit." Shawn asked out of curiosity.
"A dead teenage girl tried to eat me, I had to smash her head in with a hammer.." He whispered, cutting the first board.
"Jesus.. I saw a grown man kill a boy. Just, shot him right in the face. He didn't even hesitate, just aimed at the kids head and pulled the trigger." He replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Damn." Lee said with sorrow.
"Damn right damn. You don't see things like that, it's not like in the movies."
"They don't fall like you'd think." Lee commented, cutting the second.
"No, they don't. Well, I'm just glad to have this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is even more dangerous than the epidemic out there. How about yours? Where's your family?" Shawn asks, hammering a nail into the fence.
"My parents are in Macon, with my brother. I hope" Lee said, cutting the third and final plank with a hint of despair.
"Aw, man. I hope so, too." Shawn replied, frowning as he thought of losing his Dad.
"That's probably all I need for now. Thanks, Lee." He said with a nod of his head. Before he left, Lee thanked Shawn.
"And Shawn, thanks for saving me and Clem. Without you or your day, my leg would be fucked." Lee chuckled.
"No problem, Lee. Couldn't leave you behind." Shawn responded with a smile, returning to work.
Talk to Kenny, tell him you want to come
Talk to Hershel, ask if you can stay
Talk to Kenny, tell him you're not interested
Talk to Hershel, ask if you can help
Relationships:
Kenny thinks you're okay
Clementine likes you
Katjaa thinks you're sweet
Duck thinks you're cool enough
Shawn is your friend
Hershel is unsure of you