He was going to kill him, he was going to kill the motherfucker who took her.
There was a fire in Lee Everett. A fire that nothing on this earth, dead or alive, could quench. A small part of him was astonished that he was able to carve through the herd, but he needed to push his amazement down. All that mattered right now was getting Clementine safe.
Lee quietly made his way down the halls of The Marsh House, checking every door he came across. Until he found a room that was unlocked, the former professor slowly opened the door and found him. The man was asleep on the bed, no doubt waiting the herd out; Lee pulled his cleaver out and made his way to the creep, he knew what he needed to do in order to make sure he never came after Clementine again. Lee held his hand over the kidnappers mouth, silently waking him. The man's eyes shot open in fear, silently pleading for his life, but Lee was having none of it. He looked him dead in the eye and coldly asked.
"Where. Is. She?"
All the man did was shake his head, there was something off about him, yes he was fearful of Lee; but there was something else he was afraid of. He asked again where she was, pressing the blade closer to his neck. This time he gave him a nod towards the bathroom door. Lee told him not to move and made his way towards the door. As he was about to open the bathroom, the man let out a cry and lunged at him. The man was quick, but Lee was quicker, he spun around and sliced his enemies hand clean off in one swift motion. The man began to scream, it was an unholy cry and Lee knew that he had to finish him off before the walkers found them. So with all of his might, Lee raised his cleaver and relieved the man of his head.
"Good fucking riddance."
Lee let out an exhausted sigh, but he was glad that it was over, he could finally be with his sweet pea. Lee walked over to the bathroom door and opened it, and his blood ran cold. There was Clementine, laying on the floor, she was so pale and her eyes. Her eyes weren't the warm honey colored ones that brought him so much joy and purpose, they weren't the eyes of an innocent little girl, not any more. Instead they were the horrific, milky white eyes of a walker. Lee began to shake in horror and began to sob. The little girl he promised to protect and take care of was gone, what laid in front of him was just an empty husk. Lee knew what he needed to do, it was one thing to put his best friend's son down, that was hard enough as it was. This was completely different, he wasn't just putting down what was a child, a little girl, he was killing someone whom he considered his daughter. He was about to bring his weapon upon the walker's head when it began to stir.
"L-Lee? Is that you?" The walker cried shallowly.
It spoke, the walker spoke. Lee stumbled back, hands shaking he involuntarily dropped his bloody cleaver. There was a metallic clink as the blade fell on the wooden floors, which caused the walker to look up at Lee. The site broke the man's heart more than it already was, seeing the bite mark on her right cheek, showing a permanent half-smile. He reached his hand out.
"Clem?"
"It's your fault Lee." it deadpanned.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"You remember the St. John's farm? Were you said ever since you met me you have nothing but good luck?"
"Clementine I-"
"LET ME FINISH!" The walker snapped.
"Well, Lee, I was lucky too, I was the luckiest little girl in the whole world."
There was a moment of silence before the undead girl started to giggle, with each passing moment the giggles grew more and more, until it was laughing like a maniac.
"You know why Lee? You know why I still think I'm the luckiest girl in the world? Because I don't have to be with you anymore."
The walker then pulled a gun out of thin air from behind her back, but it wasn't any gun; it was Carley's gun. The same gun he had taught her how to use. The undead Clementine aimed and shot Lee in both of his kneecaps.
"Why, sweet pea, w-why a-are you doing t-this?" He asked through waves of pain.
"It's. All. Your. FUCKING. Fault! And don't dare call me sweet pea! You should have left me in the treehouse, at least then I would've died not knowing what you are. A monster." It said, slowly bringing the firearm up to her head. The walker continued to laugh, as if all of this was a joke.
"Goodbye Lee." the walker said with a cruel smile, the gun went off and the undead girl went limp. The echoes of the gunshot ringed throughout the building, seemingly going on for eternity. Growing louder with each passing moment, until it became unbearable.
Lee shot up, gasping for air. Sweat peppered his forehead, the world felt cold and empty. He realized it was a nightmare, the same nightmare since Savannah. Lee swung his legs over, and sat in silence on his bed. Why, why wasn't he quick enough to save her, why wasn't he able to rescue her from that man on the radio. Lee had to deal with that nightmare ever since that day, although in recent months it had been recurring more than usual. Was it the time of year? Or was all of his guilt starting to get to him. He looked over towards the deck that was next to his bed, staring at a baseball cap with a 'D' on the front for what felt like eternity. He'd keep it after Savannah, in hopes of giving it back to Clementine whenever he found her, but that day never came. So in memory of her, Lee dawned the blue and white cap everyday. Lee sat in silence for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door.
"Hey, Lee, you okay in there man?" asked a southern voice.
Lee sighed, he got up and placed Clementine's hat upon his head before walking towards the door. He opened it to reveal Kenny, his best friend and only other survivor from the motor inn back in Macon. After Savannah, Lee was on his own for a good while, that was until he found Kenny in an old restaurant. Lee remembered the heartbreak in Kenny's eyes when he told him he failed in saving Clementine. The Floridian cried in protest, there was no way Lee failed her, he was convinced the former professor would rescue her. Eventually Kenny had to accept the facts. Clementine, the little girl who had touched both their lives for the better, was gone, forever. Kenny glanced sadly at the hat, and gave him a remorseful smile.
"Still wearing that dirty old thing, huh?"
Lee gave a small, sad smirk, he appreciated his friend trying to cheer him up.
"Yea, that I'm." he said, "Anyways, I'm fine Ken, it's nothing."
"Sure as shit you're fine! Me, Sarita, and the others could hear you from a fucking mile away. And we were in the other room." Kenny argued.
"I said I'm fine, Kenny." Lee put on a fake smile.
Kenny saw right through his friend. he sighed in frustration,
"You were having that fucking dream again, weren't you?"
"Come on Lee, talk to me. You were there for me when Kat and Duck… So I'm trying to be here for you. Hell, you're my best friend Lee. Just talk to me, okay?"
Lee sighed, trying to find the right words to say. To say the past two years without her was difficult, was the understatement of the century. The hopelessness that he felt each day that she was gone became unbearable. Sometimes he wished that the walker from all those years ago had bit him, it would have kept him from experiencing all of this hellhole he called his life. On rare occasions his mind would wander to some awfully dark places, thinking about ending oneself had been chief among them. But Kenny always said that when the going gets tough, you stick it out, you don't end it just because it gets hard.
Kenny placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic, yet encouraging look.
"Just talk to me, please."
Lee looked at his friend, shuddering out a breath.
"I miss her, Ken. I miss her so, so, much. And everyday it gets harder without her, I just want to see her, at least one more time. Just to know she's okay. She must be ten, eleven by now."
As Lee went on, he told Kenny about his nightmares and how they were affecting him. How every night he woke up he got a cold chill that crawled underneath his skin. How each time she shot herself, he would wish that the hellish girl would've ended him first. He didn't realize until the back of his hands felt wet that he was crying. The two sat in the room for what seemed like forever until Kenny spoke up.
"Lee, I promise you this, I will do everything in my power to look for her. I don't care if it takes me five years or fucking five hundred! We will find her, mark my words."
Lee chuckled, the fisherman always told him this every time he talked about Clementine.
"Thanks man, I need that."
"Any time pal." Kenny smiled.
"So, uh, what been going on while I was asleep?" Asked Lee.
"Oh nothin much. Matthew went out to that old train station of his a few hours ago, Walt been slowly getting stuff ready for dinner and Sarita started decorating a Christmas tree."
"Hold on, since when did we have a Christmas tree?" Lee interrupted.
Kenny laughed, "Apparently the sonovabich was in storage, Walt had the idea of setting it up. He said that, if his math was right, Christmas should be coming up in the next few weeks or so."
"It's been a long time since we last celebrated Christmas, huh." Lee thought out loud.
"Yea." Kenny replied, "Well anyways, you want to join us? Me and Sarita would like some help with the tree."
"Sure, I'll tag along."
The duo made their way downstairs and began to help decorate the tree, Sarita already did an amazing job with it, but there was still work to do. It took a good hour or so before most of the tree was covered in ornaments. The tree looked beautiful, the red, green and gold ornaments shone in the white lights that wrap around the tall pine. All that was missing was the topper. Lee remembered seeing a box on the upper level, so he went to retrieve it. As he started to walk up the stairs, he happened to look outside, and his eyes widened.
"Shit! Guys we got company!"
Kenny nodded and ran to grab some rifles and Lee's pistol. He handed one of the rifles to Sarita and the group came out, guns pointed at the intruders, with Walter coming out, attempting to keep the peace.
"HEY! What the fuck do you people think your doing?!" Lee exclaimed, aiming his pistol at a caucasian young man with an orange shirt. Everyone had their weapons at each other, one wrong move and there would be blood spilt on both sides.
"What. Do. You. Want?!"
"Liston everyone, just stay calm." The young man called out.
"Who are you?! Are you trying to rob us?" Sarita demanded.
"Excuse me, honey, but do I look like a fucking thief?" retorted a dark-skinned pregnant woman.
"Everyone calm down." Walter said, trying to defuse the situation.
"Hey man, you calm the fuck down." Called a fat dark-skinned man, shielding the pregnant woman.
"Sarah, get behind me." Said a hispanic man doing the same with a little girl with red glasses.
"Just tell us who you are." Walter called.
"We ain't here to rob nobody. Put the gun down, man." the fat man said.
"Fuck That!" Yelled Kenny.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." The young man from earlier said trying to calm everyone down.
"Please, just do what he says." Sarita pleaded.
As the stand off continued Lee couldn't help but glanced at two figures making their way through the pack of intruders. A dark-skinned boy with dreads and countless freckles followed a little girl with a familiar pair of honey-colored eyes. Lee had to do a double take, it couldn't be her, could it? In the two years of the walker apocalypse, he had almost completely lost hope in seeing her. But Lee pushed those thoughts out, it wasn't her, she was most likely dead. That was until he heard the girl's voice, and it broke him.
"Kenny? L-Lee!?" She exclaimed, tearing up at the mention of the latter's name. She was alive. Not just alive, but right here, right in front of him. Lee lowered his gun, tearing up. His sweet pea was alive.
"Wait, you know these guys?" asked the man in orange.
Lee looked at the girl. The world seemed to slow down, he knew that he'd failed in saving her, he failed to keep his promise of taking care of her. He wondered what was going through her head. Does she hate me? I wouldn't blame her, I fucked up big time. Lee opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak, but the words couldn't come to him. The wind seemed to pick up all of a sudden, as if to encourage Lee to talk. Finally he began to speak.
"Clem, I'm-"
He was cut off by the girl giving him a tackle hug, the two were a sobbing mess. A father and his adoptive daughter, reunited at last. There was so much Lee wanted to say to her, how much he missed her. how every night without her was hell on earth, well more than it already was.
"I'm sorry sweet pea." He shuddered out a breath. He Looked at Clementine with sadness and regret in his eyes.
"I'm so, so, sorry I wasn't fast enough to save you. I'm sorry that son of a bitch took you and I did nothing to stop it. And I'm sorry I broke my promise to take care of you."
"Lee, you have nothing to be sorry for." Clementine began, tears streaming down her cheeks, "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I didn't listen when you and Christa warned me about the man. And when he took me away from you..."
All he could do was attempt to comfort the child, she had gone through so much in the past two years and Lee could only hope that nothing or no one had touched her during that time. The two continued to embrace one another when a young boy's voice rose up.
"Clem, Is that?"
"Yes, Louis." She sniffled happily, "This is Lee and Kenny."
Tensions began to die down slightly as the two groups made their way into the ski lodge. As Clementine hugged Kenny, Lee couldn't help but be intrigued by the boy she was with, Louis, and what his story was. Who was he? Where did he come from? He and Clem seemed to have a close bond with each other, how did they meet? All these thoughts ran through Lee's mind, but all that mattered now was the fact that Clementine was alive and back with him. He looked down at the girl and smiled, one which she returned happily as Walter was showing Clementine's group around the lodge.
"Kenny, Sarita and Lee have been staying with us for several weeks." He explained, "Used to be a ski lodge, obviously, so we have plenty of food."
"And believe it or not, we still get some power from that wind turbine out front. We tend to keep most lights off at night to avoid drawing attention. But after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exemption." Lee noticed Kenny making a playful talking motion with his hand, and smiled when he saw Clementine giggling.
"What's funny?"
"Oh nothin, Walt" Kenny responded "Walter here is one smart son of a bitch. Makes a mean can of beans too."
"Well, why don't you three catch up while I get some dinner started?" Invited Walter, "Please, make yourselves at home. You can leave your things over there."
"The hell we will" Retorted the pregnant woman.
"Yeah, I'm holdin' on to my rifle, thanks," a man, who looked kinda like Kenny, added.
"You're our guest here. There's no need to worry." Replied Walter.
"Tell them to put their guns down, then." the Kenny-wannabe suggested, eyeing the firearms.
"Kenny, Lee?" Asked Walter. Kenny was about to say something when Lee placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Kenny, if Clementine is with them, then there's no reason not to trust them."
Lee walked over the bench at the entrance of the lodge and placed his weapon on the set. Kenny followed suit, then Clementine, followed by Louis until both groups had their weapons either on the floor or on the bench. Lee made his way to one of the couches by the fireplace, watching the two kids warm up by the fire, smiling at the two's interactions with each other. Soon the duo made their way towards Lee and sat next to him.
"By the way, I have something of yours." he took off the hat and gave it to Clementine.
"My hat! You've had it this whole time? I thought I lost it!"
Lee let a small, sad huff slip through his lips, "I thought I lost you."
"Thank you." She hugged him.
"So Clem." He cleared his throat, "What happened in Savannah?"
"Yea, I'd like to hear how you got yourself a little boyfriend too." Kenny joked walking up to the trio.
"He's not my boyfriend!" She flushed.
"I'm her best friend!" Louis proclaimed, "She practically worships me."
In response to his smug grin, Clementine sent a glare his way. Lee chuckled, If looks could kill, he knew Louis would be dead ten times over. The boy promptly dropped the look.
Clementine sighed, her face returning to its normal color. She began to explain how she escaped from the man on radio. How when they left, his car broke down. And when he thought it was safe to fix it, a pair of walkers came up and killed him. "They were my parents." She sadly told the two men. She had to put them down with the man's gun. Lee and Kenny gave her a sympathetic look, it must have been heartbreaking for the girl to find her parents as walkers, let alone putting them down. Lee noticed Louis grab the girl's hand, squeezing it in comfort. Clementine gave the boy a grateful smile before she continued.
"After that I made my way out of Savannah. I'd tried to look for you, Kenny, Omid, and Christa, but there were too many walkers. That's where I figured out that you can walk through a herd by covering yourself with walker guts." She shuddered.
"Holy shit." the men said simultaneously.
"Good one Clem." Kenny praised.
The girl gave him a short, small smile.
"I was alone for a while, at some point I made my way around the neighborhood where we stayed, and that's where I met Louis."
"She saved me." he gave her a smile, one she returned.
"Shit, I'm sorry y'all had to go through that. I imagine it's been rough on both of ya." Kenny said sympathetically.
The two children went on explaining how they found Omid and Christa outside of the city. Both men were saddened when the girl told them how Omid died and when they got separated from Christa. When Clementine asked why Lee wasn't with the couple he sighed. He began to tell them that he got lost in the city after he left The Marsh, how he met up with Kenny and Sarita several months afterwards and their travels together. The four of them talked for what seemed like forever. Kenny introduced Sarita to the children, Louis told jokes and played on a harmonica he found in one of the drawers in the main room. Lee smiled at everything, it was good to see people laugh and smile, he couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard at one of Kennys jokes. Lee looked over at his adoptive daughter and saw a worried look on her face. When he went to ask what was wrong, she told him about a man named Carver and that he was after both her and the group she was with. Lee promised that he would keep her safe with every fiber of his body, a promise he intended to keep.