"Look, Clem, I know that you're capable of shooting, and I know you and Duck are smart kids. But what you need to realize is that these people are terrible. Think of it like this: Did Mark sacrifice himself just for you to die in a mission you aren't prepared for?" Lee questioned.

"N-no.. but-" Clem couldn't really think of a rebuttal, especially since she was quite young herself.

"And about Travis and Omid. You like them, right? What if the bad man on the radio tries to get in, or one of them dies? You two need to be there to protect them."

"I guess so.. Just, be careful, Lee.." Clem replied, sitting down next to him whilst holding his hand. He squeezed her hand back.

"I will be, honey.. For now, just get some rest. When Vernon comes back we'll all settle down for rations and you can wish me luck then."

"Okay.." The two snuggled up together for a while until Carley entered the room unexpectedly.

"Heya, guys.. Um, Lee, can we talk alone?" The reporter asked. She looked pale and sad, almost as pale as a walker. That idea scared Lee.

"Uh, sure. Clem, do you mind playing with Duck for a while?"

"I'm not sure he'll want to play, but okay, Lee.." She got up, walking out of the room. She looked miserable, and Lee could only assume it was a combination of being told no and because today had been a shit show. The door closed behind her and Carley replaced Clem's position.

"What's wrong?"

"Lot's of things. Firstly," She pulled Lee's cheeks close before giving him a passionate, needy kiss. After pulling back, she sighed, her hands on his shoulders. "Secondly, I uh.. I can't stop thinking about what happened earlier."

"What happened earlier? Are you talking about.. Mark..?" Lee had to pause between his sentence, the memory of his friend's body being engraved in his mind.. Ugh, why did he use that word in his head?

"Mark, yes. Him and that Vernon creep." Carley rolled her eyes when she spoke the old man's name.

"Vernon? He seems nice enough to me." Lee replied.

"Tch, sure. You say that to everyone. I don't forget when you tried to save Lilly's dad. How long ago was that, two weeks ago?" Ouch, that didn't bring up good memories.

"Lilly was going through a lot." Lee defensively said.

"Her father was an asshole to you through everything, Lee." Carley shot back, finding amusement when he couldn't think of a rebuttal.

"..Point proven. Anyways, what's wrong with Vernon?"

"Mark told me something. They gave him an ultimatum of sorts: keep the arm and die later to save the group or take off the arm to save him from the bite, but we wouldn't be able to talk to them. He sacrificed himself to save us because he knew they could help."

"Why couldn't they just save him and us?" Lee asked, outraged by the cruel ultimatum.

"Exactly! It both pisses me off and confuses the hell out of me. Thirdly, also about Mark.. He had something to tell you." Carley's tone switched. She looked down at her lap where a piece of paper bulged from her pocket. Lee spotted it too.

"..Go on." Lee nodded. Carley brought the paper out and stared at the words, clearing her throat before starting.

"He said, 'take care of that little girl, the group and most importantly yourself. You're a god send, buddy, don't let my death be in vain. I.. Love you all." She finished solemnly, looking up at Lee with sympathy. "Are you okay..?"

"Yeah, yeah.. I just wish I could have said goodbye." Lee muttered, rubbing his temples as he sat up on the cot.

"Well, he didn't want to turn and go against his principles. He was a pacifist through and through, Lee." Carley tried to reassure. It clearly didn't work as Lee looked even worse now.

"..Um I'm gonna get some rest. You can stay with me if you want."

"Oh, that reminds me, here's your ration bag. We didn't take too much." Carley handed Lee a backpack that housed a lot of the group's main supplies. Lee smiled and happily took it, looking through the bag. It was kind of depressing how little was left. 'How did we rip through so much supplies in so little time?' Lee thought to himself.

"I'll leave ya be. I gotta check up on Travis and Kenny, they've both been through.. Quite a lot." She said, getting up from next to him.

"I heard Duck shot the new girl, Molly. Why do you think she's still here?"

"You heard her earlier, we owe her, apparently. I'd keep an eye on that one. She seems the selfish type. Love you, now get some rest." With that, Carley left the room, leaving Lee to go to bed. He slipped off his shoes, pulled a blanket out from a nearby basket and curled up. It would have been comfortable if the thoughts of Mark weren't blasting through his mind.

"Lee.." A voice uttered, sounding exactly like his wife's. It was pitch black, nothing could be seen.

"It's your fault, Lee.." Another voice spoke, sounding an awful lot like Lilly.

"It's all your fault." Mark appeared suddenly, his entire body covered in bite marks.

"No.. I-I.." Lee could barely speak. He looked down at his body and found himself in a fancy suit and tie, the same one he wore on his wedding day.

"Face it, you abandoned us. You're a death magnet, not a leader." A new voice peaked out, Travis.

"Please.. Why can't I stop dreaming about you?!" Lee asked the voices, collapsing to the ground as they revealed themselves together, walking away from him.

"Goodbye, forever~" The three figures laughed maniacally, out of character for both Mark and Lilly. His wife was always a villain in Lee's dreams. The dream ended when Lee was shaken awake by Carley.

"Lee!" She yelled, but it wasn't loud at all. It was a mix of assuring and scared.

"H-huh? Carley.." He groggily recognized his girlfriend, shaking the sleep off his eyes.

"You were having a nightmare again. Do you want to talk about it..?" She asked, knowing he wasn't too open about the dreams he had.

"N-no, it's fine. What time is it?" He asked, looking out the window, or trying to from his position. It was dark, and the moon was visible.

"Well, Vernon's here." Carley answered.

"God I must have been tired." Lee said to himself, staring at his watch for the real time: Twelve o' clock midnight exactly.

"You don't say. Don't worry about handing out rations, I did it for you. Here." Carley pulled out a piece of string cheese, the wrapper half peeled off. Lee slowly took it, sitting up to put his shoes back on. "Everyone's outside, they're waiting on you."

"What about the kids?" He asked in between bites of the dairy product.

"Duck is in his room. He's.. Not too happy about your decision to keep him here, but Kenny is. Clementine is waiting for you downstairs." She informed him.

"We should go then. I'm not sure how long we'll have to make a stealthy entrance."

"Gotcha, chief." Carley responded, lingering at the door as Lee stuffed the last of the food in his mouth. They escaped the office before heading downstairs, where Clementine immediately brightened up.

"Lee! I didn't want to wake you up, so I waited for you." Clem said, jumping up to hug him.

"Hey, girl, thanks for that. Just so you know, if you see or hear anyone or anything, hide. If they get in, make sure you're with Duck or secured in your room." Lee explained. He didn't want to sour her mood, he just wanted her to be safe.

"What if I'm alone..?"

"Then you have to be prepared to kill. I'm sorry you have to be put into that position, but we don't have a choice. Don't worry about it, I'm sure everything will be fine." Lee reassured, patting her hat.

"Yeah.. You're right. Be lucky, please..?" Clementine pleaded, looking up at him. She looked kind of scared which was to be expected.

"I will, Clem, I promise." Lee replied, hugging Clem tightly before letting her go. She walked upstairs, entering Duck's room before closing the door slowly. Lee and Carley began their way outside, where they closed the door and locked it. Lee kept the dog collar in his back pocket so they could come back in, but aside from that he only brought the axe, his pistol and a wrench. They were fresh out of medicine.

Everyone looked at Lee and Carley as they came outside. Vernon approached Lee with a woman, the same young woman from the sewers, and looked him up and down. "This is Brie, she can help us. We both used to be in Crawford and know the location."

"Great, the more the better." Lee responded with a smile, giving the young woman a handshake.

"Thank you. I know the entire layout of Crawford and can guide your group to different sections of the building." Brie informed, already taking on a responsible role.

"That's great! We should be ready in a second. I need to clear up some-"

"Hey, Lee, do you have a second?" Kenny asked out of seemingly nowhere, motioning him towards the shed where the boat was.

"Uh yeah, hold on one sec guys." Lee approached Kenny quickly, looking at the boat, their glisten of hope in a shitty series of nights. "What's up? Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine. There's something up with the boat."

"Is it bad..?"

"Well, it ain't broken. There's a capacity problem. Boat's only gonna fit five people on it. Me, my son and three others, even with one or more being a kid." Kenny stated firmly.

"Shit.. That is a problem." Lee replied, folding his arms as he thought about that. That would only leave one more spot for someone who isn't Lee, Kenny, Clem or Duck.

"Let's not worry about it now, let's focus on getting some gas and a battery. But I will be thinking about who I bring with me."

"Hold on, why do you get to decide?" Lee asked, squinting at Kenny suspiciously.

"It was my idea to come to Savannah, I was the one who suggested a boat, I'm the one with a family, my wife died for this thing, I fixed it, my son found it. Those reasons good enough for ya?" Kenny closed the shed up to hide the boat, walking past Lee coldly. Lee rolled his eyes, looks like he had to make a decision later on down the line. For now, something had bothered him.

Seeing Travis in his dream, abandoned and chewed up.. It sparked some sort of inner fear of Ben getting someone else hurt in the same way. He stared at the teenage boy, who currently wielded a hatchet as he spoke to Chuck. 'I know I told him he could come, but.. What if he screws everything up? I can't risk that. What to do..'

Choices:

A: Ben can come.

B: Sorry, Ben, you have to stay.

Relationships:

Clementine is saddened by your choice and a bit scared, but understands. 8/10

Kenny is happy you kept his son out of harm's way. 7/10

Carley is fully ready to support anything you do. 10/10

Duck is unhappy with your decision to leave him behind. 9/10

Chuck is 100% behind you. He thinks your decision to keep the kids out is actually pretty smart in this situation. 10/10

You aren't too sure about Ben. Would he just screw everything up or should we allow him to prove himself as a worthy, responsible member of the group? 8/10

Travis is happy you left the kids here to protect him. He knows how responsible you can be. 10/10

Molly is a strange one. You'll have to keep your eye on her. 6/10

Carley thinks Vernon might be a danger to the group but you don't really see it yet. He approves of your decision to keep the kids out of this. 7/10

You just met Brie and already like her. 7/10

The stranger may show up at any time. You hope he leaves you alone. 3/10

((Question of the chapter, have you guys seen 404's new fanfic? If not, check it out here: s/13643444/1/Going-Back