Mark bit his lip violently, clenching his fist in anger. Not at them, but at himself. Why did he ever let himself get bit? "No. No deal. My group means more than my life. Take me back to my people, and help us. You have medicine here, right? Supplies and people. There are two men in my group who are injured, one with an infected leg. I'll be damned if selfishness is what gets my friends killed. So, c'mon, let's go." The survivors were shocked, Vernon was brought to tears.

"Alright.. I'll go with ya. Unfortunately we don't have much medicine left so I can't do much, but I am a doctor. I may be able to help your friends." Vernon dropped the gun to his side, wiping away his tears.

"Fine. I'll keep tabs on Joyce while you're gone." Clive sighed, walking back to the rest of his elderly group.

"Thank you. All of you. This means a lot." Mark said sincerely, looking down at the bite with a scowl. He pulled his sleeve up out of frustration at the bite.

"I uh.. I know how it feels, to lose friends, loved ones. I lost my daughter a long time ago. I'll be damned if I'll let it happen to such a nice guy and his group." After telling Mark this, the old man made sure the rest of his group would be safe. Afterwards, the two left, Vernon guiding Mark through the sewers. He could feel himself getting dizzy, his arm was burning and so was his head. He didn't care. He may have saved his group, that's all that mattered.

Upon reaching the streets, the two made their way back to the mansion which Mark thankfully could spot even with his in and out brain. He didn't give up the long, silent walk until they reached the gates. Carley thankfully noticed him and gladly let the two in. That is when Mark finally succumbed to his exhaustion and passed out.

Meanwhile, Lee, Chuck and Clem continued walking the streets, quiet and somber. They were knocked out of their grieving, quiet trance when the sound of a gunshot alerted them to a nearby mansion. "W-what was that?"

"Sounds like gunfire.. We're not alone." Chuck answered, pulling out the spare pistol he always had on him. Lee took out his own as well.

"Clementine, stay behind us. Let's check it out." Lee whispered, nodding towards the building. Chuck hesitantly agreed, following Lee towards the noise. Clem slowly followed behind. The walker guts had mostly dried up at this point, so it didn't work as much anymore. Any walker nearby would be lethal.

Upon looking over the gate, Lee was speechless to see Mark with a bullet between his eyes, a sobbing Carley standing over him next to Ben and Travis, who seemed almost as sad. In a mixture of relief, sadness and horror, Lee began knocking on the gate. Clem and Chuck were right behind him.

"Carley, Ben, Travis, it-it's Lee!" Was all he managed to say before the tears came right back. Carley, stunned to hear those words ran to the gate and opened it immediately.

"Oh my god, Lee, Clem, Chuck! Y-you're.. Alive.." She whispered, burying her head in his chest and sobbing with the man. Clem joined in the hug whilst Chuck just watched, a smile forming on his face.

"Mark.. Why did you-"

"He was bitten. H-he didn't want to t-turn.." Carley muttered back, looking up at Lee with such sadness, such.. Pain. Lee felt what she felt, but at the end of the day was still relieved.

"Jesus.. How is Travis and uh Katjaa? They were kind of messed up last time I saw them." Lee asked, only to receive another sad look.

"I'll explain everything.. Inside. There's a lot to go over." She answered, holding his hand. "You weren't bitten, right? None of you were?'

"No, we're fine. In fact, we barely saw any action with any walkers." Chuck stated, closing the gate behind the four.

"Good. I can't lose you, not.. Not again. Let's get inside." Carley smiled, holding his hand the whole way in. Lee stared at his friend's lifeless corpse and let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes before reopening them.

"Thank you, Mark."

An hour later, Lee had met Vernon and been told about Katjaa. Clementine didn't take the news well, but after not speaking for several seconds she seemed to come to grips with the cold fact. Kenny, Duck and Molly eventually returned and Lee was acquainted with the girl. After getting through the initial shock that Lee was indeed alive, Kenny and Duck subsided themselves so he could talk to her. "And you must be Molly."

"Yeah, I'm the chick that saved your group's asses. You're welcome by the way." Molly said, shaking the man's hand aggressively.

"Uh thanks.. Kenny, are you uh, okay?" Lee asked, avoiding the newest member to their group.

"I assume you heard since you asked. No, I'm not. I'd prefer if we stopped talking about that and started talking about what we do without a boat." Kenny answered, sitting down next to Lee and Carley. Clementine and Duck were also upstairs, or at least that's what the adults thought.

"Well, we have to start with saving Omid first. Him and Travis are seriously hurt, if they don't receive medical attention.." Christa looked back at the staircase. Travis had fallen incredibly due to the injuries Andy had caused them, and a simple bandage wouldn't help. Omid was completely immobile thanks to the pain in his leg.

"That's exactly why I'm here. I have a plan on how we can get your group safe and healthy, but it's going to be risky." Vernon explained.

"We're up for anything, we need to make sure Mark's sacrifice isn't in vain." Carley responded, determined to save her group.

"Right. Well, there's a place around here you may have heard of known as Crawford. Me and my people used to be members of the group before things got tougher on us and we had to escape."

"Yeah, I've heard of them. I'm sorry you had to suffer through that." Lee said. He had heard about Crawford through what Carley had told him.

"Right, so what we've been planning for a while is a raid on the place." Halfway through Vernon's sentence Molly laughed at his words.

"What are you, suicidal? There's no way you're leading a group to that deathtrap and getting out alive."

"Let me finish. As I was saying, I always planned to raid the place, but never had the right people to do it. That's where you come in. We'd sneak in from the sewers, go to the nurses station where they keep the medicine and grab what we need. Then we'd escape. Are you in or out?" Vernon explained further, Lee was dead set on following through.

"I'm in, especially if we can find some gas for a car or something to get the hell outta here." Kenny spoke up, leaning forward on the couch.

"Same here. We need all the help we can get. Who else is in?" Lee asked, not forcing anyone to go. Carley and Chuck raised their hands.

"I'm with ya for the long haul."

"I'll always be by your side from now on." Carley told him with a smile. Lee smiled back.

"Can I come? I know I've fucked up in the past, but I want to help. I know I can redeem myself.. For Travis."

"Of course, Ben. If you want to come, you're more than welcome to join us."

"Just don't screw things up, kid." Kenny blurted out, giving Ben a mean glare.

"I'll come too. For Omid." Christa spoke up. Everyone looked at Molly for her answer. She rolled her eyes and let out a groan.

"Fine, I'll help you dumbasses out, as long as you split the supplies three ways with me."

"Why are you still even here?" Christa asked the athlete.

"Because the kid shot me in the shoulder and I feel you owe me for that." Molly snarkily replied, shocking Lee.

"Wait, Duck did what?" Lee asked with his eyes wide. Molly almost laughed at his reaction if her shoulder still didn't hurt.

"Lee!" Clementine's small, cute voice yelled from the front door. "Lee, you have to see this! Duck and I found something amazing outside!"

"What are you doing outside? You know it's not safe." Lee asked, concerned. He didn't think what she found was much since she was only nine.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but you have to see this!" Clem yelled back, running back to the front. Lee shrugged, following Clem outside. The rest of the group came with him.

What they saw made them stop in their tracks and become shocked with happiness, surprise and most of all relief. "Holy shit."

"Swear." Clem called out, still very excited.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just.. How the hell-" Lee was speechless.

It was a boat. A real, functional looking motorboat. Kenny's jaw dropped and he approached his son. "Why didn't we look over here sooner? Duck, you saved us!"

"I know, I'm a hero!" Duck smiled, taking on a superhero stance. That was the first time he had felt happy that day.

"Does this change your plans?" Vernon asked Lee.

"No, not at all. A boat is a good first step, but we still need medicine for Omid and Travis. Plus, we should help your group out, too." Lee clarified. Kenny went toward the boat to check it out.

"You're a good man, Lee, anyone can see that. I'll be back soon, I have to tell my group a few things. Let's meet back up here at around midnight, we can start our sneak attack on Crawford then."

"You got a good plan. Good luck, Vernon." The leader told the other leader, watching as he left the premises.

"How is it, Ken?" Carley asked. Kenny sighed, checking the battery holster only to find nothing.

"Well, it ain't so bad yet. There's no gas and the battery's been stripped but aside from that I'm not sure. I'll have to check up on her further. Go inside, I'll try to see if anything else is wrong."

"Thanks, man." Lee replied, giving Kenny a pat on the shoulder.

"..Yeah, sure. Just get some rest, man." Kenny slowly responded, getting to work on the boat to distract him from Lee's sap.

"I should be telling you that." The educator said, walking back inside with most of the rest of the group. Lee went upstairs to do exactly what Kenny had asked of him, heading into the office room. Clementine followed him inside, looking up at him as he sat down on a bench.

"Lee..? Um.. Me and Duck were wondering, since we overheard you guys talking.. Can we come to Crawford too?" She asked nervously.

"I uh.. I don't know about that Clementine.. It's gonna be dangerous." Lee warned, not knowing what to tell her. He shouldn't baby her, he knew that, but Crawford was a special case. They wouldn't hesitate to kill a liability.. Or worse from what he had heard.

"But you said you need as many people as possible. Duck and I know how to shoot, we can help!" Clem gave Lee a pair of sad puppy dog eyes in an attempt for her to pity him. "Plus, what if Omid or Travis turns, or-or a stranger comes in." The two shared a moment of silence as Lee thought about what she said. "Can't we come with you?"

Choices:

A: Yes, you can.

B: Only you, not Duck.

C: Only Duck, not you.

D: Neither of you can come.

Relationships:

Clementine and you have become closer as a result of your time spent away. However, you're still anxious about the whole stranger thing. 8/10

Kenny is glad to have you back, albeit he is miserable due to recent events. 7/10

Carley is extremely happy you're back. 10/10

Duck hopes you won't baby him like everyone else does. 10/10

Chuck and you have grown stronger through your lonesome journey together. 10/10

Mark will be missed. 10/10

Ben has already been forgiven, thus you forgive him as well. 8/10

Travis is happy you're back as he thinks you make a better leader than Carley. 10/10

Omid and Christa are both very happy to see you alive and well with Clementine. 7/10

The Stranger is a danger to the group. 3/10

Molly and you just met but already she seems resilient and strong, just a bit of an asshole. 6/10

Vernon already approves of you and your group. 6/10

((Question of the chapter, do you regret getting Mark killed? Why or why not?))