As the glare war between Christa and Molly persisted, Lee decided to step in. "Christa, there's nothing wrong with you not sharing. Molly, you know how hard it was for me to say all that, right? What makes you think it'll be easier for Christa to do the same thing?"
"Thanks, Lee. It's not like I don't want to tell you guys, I just know that it can wait." Christa explained, looking back down at her stomach.
"Whatever, mood ruined." Molly teased, rolling her eyes as she glanced at the window. The sun was high in the sky.
"If that's the case, try this. It'll brighten up your mood like a Christmas tree." Chuck grabbed a bottle from his pack. The last bottle of whiskey he had. He opened it and took a quick swig, sighing as his throat was cleansed with alcohol. He passed the bottle to Molly who happily accepted and began chugging.
"Fucking sweet. I hate this stuff, but it's better than nothin'. Want a nip, teach'?" Molly offered Lee, the bottle lingering over his lap. He looked at it, then back at Carley.
"What, you want my approval? Lee, loosen up. You need that bottle almost as much as you need Clem." Carley stated, getting a chuckle from Chuck. Lee grumbled before shaking his head.
"Alright, alright. Give it to me." The bottle was brought from Molly's hand to Lee's. He brought the nuzzle to his lips before drinking, gulping down more and more before realizing he was overdoing it. He gave it to Carley, who began drinking as well.
"Fuck.." Christa mumbled, watching the girl next to her drink the forbidden liquid.
"What's up?" Lee questioned, obviously concerned.
"I could… Use a drink." Christa slowly said, sighing deeply. She knew what that meant for herself. The others had no idea.
"Here, take it." Carley offered after letting it go from her lips. Christa looked at the bottle nervously, then at the others, then back to the bottle. Her hand swiped the thing away before throwing it to her lips, chugging the last of it like it was the cure for the walker disease itself. Lee, Carley, Molly and Chuck were shocked.
"Goddamn! You weren't lying." Molly exclaimed with a shocked laugh.
"I'm through!" Yelled Omid from across the room. Christa forced the bottle into Chuck's pack suspiciously quickly before standing up with the others to see the hole in the wall. "Aw, you guys were having rations without me? No fair."
"Here, eat it quick." Lee said, giving a can to Omid. The man shrugged before opening the can and gobbling the contents down. The rest of the group poked their heads into the exposed wall. "It looks safe. I'll go first, it should be the guy with the least to lose going in case there are walkers in there." The rest of the group agreed to disagree, nodding sadly. Lee crawled inside, jumping down to the room. What he saw made his brain pause.
A couple was dead on a bed in the middle of the room, hand in hand with a gun in the husband's hand. Lee approached the two and just stared, thoughts of that night soaring through his head. When the rest of the group entered and noticed what was wrong, they didn't know what to say either, all of them just staring sadly. Omid and Christa held hands, and Carley embraced Lee's.
"Hey, you need a minute?" His girlfriend asked, squeezing his hand tightly. Lee looked at her, squeezed back and kissed her on the lips, lingering there for a few seconds. His beard tickled her chin as the two shared a loving, passionate peck. It wasn't much, certainly not the Motel's steamy session, but it made Lee appreciate her all the more.
"I've had minutes. I've had breaks. It's time to focus." Lee replied, massaging her cheek with the gentle back of his hand, his knuckles caressing her creamy brown skin.
"Right." She nodded, her hands trailing down his chest.
"Let's scavenge first, then we can leave out that balcony." Molly suggested, opening a door that led to what looked like an escape. A balcony followed the exit, and in front of that was a building just a little higher than the balcony. Carley grabbed the gun out of the corpse's hand and looked at the magazine.
"Seems like there's still one bullet left." She loaded it back in the gun before putting it in Lee's back pocket just in case. The group began searching, mostly silent. The smell, the view and the mood was fucked thanks to that couple. Lee just hoped it never came to that. Carley could only think of Katjaa and how devastated Duck and Kenny were.
"Nothing?" Lee asked, standing in front of the door. The group approached him and nodded.
"Nothing but personal items in here." Christa answered.
"Then we go." Lee exited the door, standing on the very small balcony. If he were to look down, which he did, he would see a huge drop awaiting him and everyone else in case they fell. Letting out a sigh, he turned back. "I'll go first. Be careful, everyone." The others nodded silently.
Lee climbed the railing before hopping to the building, barely making it over. He climbed up, kneeling down with his hand ready for anyone else jumping. Molly was next. She used Hilda to latch onto the edge of the building before being helped up by Lee. Carley, Omid and Christa did the same thing.
Chuck was last, and with all of that stuff on his back Molly got worried. "Here, use her." She tossed Hilda to the old man, who caught it with ease.
"Harsh. Don't believe in me?" Chuck asked.
"I just don't want you to die a horrible death." Molly replied, kind of genuine.
"Fair enough." He smirked, getting on top of the railing. As soon as he jumped, the balcony gave out and fell to the alleyway below. Chuck fortunately made it, just barely. Molly and Carley pulled him up.
"That was way too close." Omid said, shocked they all made it.
"Come on, we're close. If we can stay up on the rooftops, we can make it to the Marsh House without seeing a single walker." Lee planned out.
"Sounds good to me. The less of those bastards the better."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Chuck rhetorically asked.
"Follow me, and be careful." Lee ordered, beginning to walk straight ahead. The group followed, hopeful that they could make it.
Hours later, the sun was on the verge of setting. Lee looked fine, unlike Mark in his last hours. The group was confident that they had saved him. He seemed pretty awake too, maybe it was just the anger in his blood boiling him, fueling him like an engine. There was a hole in one of the roofs with walkers seeping from it. "Watch your step, we've made it this far, we can't die now." Lee warned.
"Yeah, it would suck to die to a hole in the ground." Omid jokes, causing most of the group to smile. Lee ignores him and continues on his path. The group follows obediently.
Finally, at the end of a street a quarter mile away, Lee saw it: The Marsh House. A smile finally tugged at his lips. "We found it! The Marsh House is just down there."
"Yeah, in that." Christa pointed at the street. To say it was covered in walkers was an understatement. They were everywhere.
"Shit, we can't even take those with my assault rifle." Chuck muttered, hands on his hips with a puzzled expression.
"What do we do?" Omid questioned.
"There's a sign there, if we all manage to climb across it, we could jump rooftops all the way to the Marsh House, then have Chuck kill a few walkers blocking the entrance before sneaking in and locking the door." Lee explained, pointing along from the sign hooking the building across from them and the one they were standing on together to the Marsh House. The sky was growing darker by the second, so any plan was a good one.
"That's stupid." Molly flatly said.
"That's crazy." Christa stated.
"That's questionable. Maybe we should just break a window and climb in?" Chuck suggested.
"..Fine, we'll do it Chuck's way. Now.. Who goes first?" Lee's question left them all staring around at each other.
"That's up to you. You are our leader." Carley said, folding her arms nervously.
Choices:
A: Lightest goes first.
B: I'll go first.
C: Jump down by yourself and wing it.
Relationships:
This is it, Clementine is right over there. She needs you to come and rescue her. 9/10
Chuck is ready for anything at this point. 10/10
Carley is fully supportive of you, but still worries for your mental and physical health. 10/10
Molly has stuck with you this long, she's ready to rough it to the Marsh House and save Clementine. 10/10
Christa will do anything for that little girl's safety. You're a family at this point and it's only been a few days. 10/10
Omid is with Christa, he loves this group and will do anything for Clem. 10/10
The Stranger is just around the corner. It's almost time. 3/10
((QOTC: Rank the chapters of this story from worst to best. Easy, that's basically it.
For me it's: Episode one, Episode three, Episode two, Episode four, Episode Five))