Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. They made my already great day even better. Here's hoping I can continue to provide you all with enjoyable chapters and stories throughout the years.

And now, without further ado, enjoy!

~ Chapter 10 : Ask not for whom the bell tolls ~

"Thanks again Naruto! I love the kunai you gave me, and the pendant too. They're really nice."

Like back when he'd given her the presents, the aforementioned couldn't help but grin at his friend. He was truly happy he'd made the right choice for her birthday. He'd been thinking hard about what to gift her ever since Clementine had revealed her birthday was on the 15th of November.

"It's good, eh?", Naruto saw her nodding excitedly at him and twisted his kunai on his hand, before chucking it at a box to Clem's right. She squealed in surprise and immediately turned the way of the weapon. "You can do that, too."

The kunai was stuck on the box, its sharp end having cut through its surface. Clem watched as Naruto calmly walked up to it and yanked it out. The blade looked sharp, and very dangerous if one wasn't careful.

"Oh! Do people in Konoha build them for that?"

Naruto nodded. "Yup."

"Whoa...", Clem moved her eyes back to the weapon in her hands and now stared at it under a different light. From what Naruto had told her, kunais were very common where he was from. They were used by people of all ages, even kids round their age, who were taught how to use them in special types of 'shinobi' schools.

Her best friend had yet to tell her more about his home and how different things were there in contrast with her country. She didn't want to be a nuisance to him, but boy was she curious. From the day they first met, Clem'd had so many questions that she intended to ask Naruto in the near future. Questions he himself hadn't been able to answer mainly given his limited knowledge of the English language, and also because he didn't want to talk about it yet.

She hoped he'd trust her enough in the future to talk more about his life and why was he different to others. Or what did it mean to be a 'shinobi'. Or what other abilities he possessed apart from the one she had seen back at the St. John's dairy. Among other questions.

"Okay, train more?", Naruto offered, smiling as he saw Clem trying to imitate the way he had thrown his kunai at the box. The poor girl failed miserably and her kunai fell from her hand to the floor.

"Ups."

The blond said nothing and instead picked the weapon up before giving it back to the girl. He was about to get ready to keep on training with her, when he noticed there was a look of curiosity on her face.

"Clem?"

"I have a question", the aforementioned girl said in an abrupt manner, her hazel eyes meeting his azure ones. "When is your birthday?"

That managed to catch him off guard for a moment, and he couldn't help but scratch his cheek. Clementine waited patiently as Naruto averted his eyes and suddenly looked unsure, almost as if he didn't want to talk about it for whatever reason.

Eventually, the blond mumbled a response, "October, I think."

Like he expected, Clem's reaction to the news was almost immediate. "What? October?", she gasped, widening her orbs. "But... we are currently in November, so October was last... Oh."

A sudden and awkward silence ensued her realization, and both kids stood there, not saying a word to each other. Naruto grew afraid at seeing the sadness on her face and the way her eyes fell to the floor. "I-I'm sorry, Clem", was all he said, before taking a step towards her.

He was stopped in his tracks when she looked back at him, her expression nearing one of betrayal and hurt. "Why didn't you tell me? Or the others? You don't want us to know?", Naruto felt a pang of guilt in his chest at that, and quickly shook his head no.

"No, no. It's... Difficult?", he frowned. "I don't know... I can't say in English."

Clem's previous feelings were quickly forgotten as she now focused on trying to help him express himself. "Is it hard to explain?", she offered tentatively.

To which the blond nodded. "Yes. I can try", the Uzumaki took a moment to think about all those English lessons with Lee and Clem in search of words he could use to say what was on his mind. Eventually, he began saying, "in Konoha, people don't like me. Only Sarutobi-jiji and Iruka-sensei remember my birthday. But we don't... we don't... party?"

"Celebrate it?", at an affirmative gesture Naruto made, Clementine face saddened immediately. She knew people didn't treat Naruto fairly back where he was from, calling him horrible names and making fun of him for no reason. But this was a shocking revelation. "I'm sorry Naruto for being mean. I didn't know."

The Uzumaki waved his hand dismissively, hoping to get this behind them. It wasn't that he didn't want to celebrate his birthday or anything, on the contrary, he just wasn't used to people keeping track of the date and doing something other than treating him to some ramen at Ichiraku's – people other than Iruka, the Sandaime or the Ichirakus themselves, that is.

Back at the village such a day would be impossible to forget as every October 10th marked the anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha and the death of the Yondaime and his wife, along with countless others who died protecting their home or because they happened to be in the way of the demonic being that wreaked havoc on that fateful night. When that time of the year came, Naruto made sure to stay hidden from sight, as the villagers and even some shinobi would act more aggressively than usual around him.

The Sandaime had told him they were just venting their pain and anger on him, just because he happened to have been born on that same day of the attack. To Naruto that sounded plain stupid but then again, he'd given up on trying to understand the villagers a long time ago.

"...We can't just wait until next year; you'd be twelve by then! But if we are going to celebrate it in secret like my birthday, then I should get something nice to eat. Oh, and some presents too! It has to be something special, like the pendant you gave me. But what do boys like? Maybe I could ask Lee for help without telling him it's for your birthday..."

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts by Clementine's incessant ramblings. She had a hand under her chin and was going on and on about possible things they could do for his already past birthday. The blond found her sincere interest to be heart-warming, and couldn't help but smile at it. He imagined Clementine, Lee, Carley, Kenny, Ben, maybe Chuck even throwing a birthday party for him, with a cake and lots of presents and ramen just for him. Naruto knew such a thing would be difficult those days, but he had a feeling they would still do something special for him if they found out about it.

If anything, he'd still appreciate whatever they did. After all, it'd be more than what he normally got on said date.

"Hello Clementine! Are you there?"

A rather unexpected voice coming out from Clem's 'broken' walkie-talkie interrupted Naruto's train of thought and made both kids turn its way with haste. The blond narrowed his eyes as soon as he realized who was talking on the other end, and couldn't help but grow wary as Clem hurried to get the radio from her bag.

"Hi! I'm here. This is Clementine", she quickly said, sitting on her knees as she pressed the button that allowed her to speak.

They waited a few seconds until the sound of static was heard, followed by the same voice as before. "Oh, it's so nice to hear from you again", the man said. There was relief on his voice, or so it seemed. "It's been some days since we last spoke, how are you?"

At that, Naruto couldn't help but frown. Ever since that time he'd found out about that 'friend' Clem had made thanks to her walkie-talkie, they had only got in contact one more time, during a rainy night. The weird man had called her just minutes after she and Naruto had gone to bed, the latter pretending to be asleep so that the stranger would get careless and reveal his true intentions.

He'd been disappointed upon realizing the man just wanted to tell her about his wife, daughter and son, who was around her age according to him. He only mentioned her parents to assure Clementine he was still looking for them, but that was it. Clem talked about random stuff until she grew tired and said goodbye, getting to bed right before Lee came back from watch duty.

Still, Naruto didn't like him. There was something about him that put the boy on edge. He didn't know what it was, just that he needed to watch out for Clem and make sure she wouldn't give this weirdo information about where they were going and what they planned to do.

"Not so good", the girl replied, her face falling at the thought of the people they'd just lost. "Yesterday, some bandits attacked the place we were staying at, and we had to escape and leave most of our things behind. My friend Duck got bit, and Lee had to make sure he wouldn't turn."

For a moment, Clem's 'friend' remained silent, and Naruto could swear he heard something growling on the other end. He felt his skin crawl at the sound, and his body tense, though Clementine didn't seem to notice as she patiently waited for the man to answer. "...Did he kill him?", he then asked, his tone calm but cold at the same time, like someone who was barely restraining their anger.

"I think so."

"I see", was all the stranger said before going silent again. The Uzumaki was just one second away from grabbing the radio and turning it off, but he restrained himself from doing so. He had to know what that guy wanted. "You said you had to leave the motel? Where are you now?"

The Uzumaki widened his eyes at the sudden question and immediately approached Clem, trying to warn her before she could answer with the truth. Though right before he could stop her, she responded in happy voice, "we are going to Savannah, by train!"

Naruto gasped. "Clem!", he mumbled, attracting her attention onto himself. Her hazel eyes glanced at him innocently, sending him a questioning look. "Don't say that!"

"Why not?", she couldn't help but ask while Naruto tried to take the radio away from her. Clem pulled it out of his reach and used her body to prevent him from grabbing it. "S-Stop! It's okay, he's in Savannah, looking for my parents! Remember?"

"No, not okay!", the blond insisted, extending his hand in the direction of the walkie-talkie as his friend refused to give it to him. "He's weird!"

"No, he isn't!"

It didn't take long for the blond to get past her defence and get a hold of the radio, but Clementine wasn't willing to let go either and both started to fight over it. Naruto was much stronger than her, and in a mere second the item was in his hands.

"Wait, give it back!", the Uzumaki raised the walkie high in the air, far away from her reach. She tried jumping and even tickling the boy when his guard was down, but he didn't budge, much to her annoyance.

Just then, the voice on the other side returned once again, and both kids froze in place.

"Oh Clementine, that's great news! You don't know how happy I am to hear that", Naruto perked his ears at that. This was it, the moment he'd been waiting for! "Maybe by the time you get here we can finally meet in person. By the way, I saw your parents again yesterday. I'm planning to go talk to them as soon as I can, and I'll be sure to let them know you're coming."

Naruto had to keep his hand extended upwards so that Clem wouldn't succeed in her renewed efforts to retrieve it. He felt relieved the guy couldn't hear the ruckus unless he allowed him to by pressing the button, otherwise he'd get suspicious and may end up turning his radio off.

"Please, please, give it to me! I need to ask him about my parents!"

The blond felt guilty at seeing the desperate look on his friend's face, but still refused to let her have it. She'd already said more than she had to, and the boy didn't want that weirdo knowing when they were getting to Savannah, what Kenny planned to do, among other things. The less he knew, the better.

"I bet you're so happy now you can't talk", both heard the man said, as he chuckled to himself. "Ah, what's that, honey? Dinner's ready? All right, gotta go then, Clementine. Get in contact with me again once you arrive. We can talk more then. Take care of yourself. Over and out."

And just like that, the sound of the radio going off was heard one more time before complete silence ensued. The children stood still for a few moments, both waiting to see if he'd talk again, but he didn't.

He was gone.

"Phew", Naruto sighed. That'd been close. If he hadn't intervened, who knows what Clem would have told that guy?

The blond finally relented and allowed the girl to take her radio back, which she did, albeit not looking particularly happy about what he'd done. If anything, she seemed angry. So angry in fact, that Naruto's face paled a bit.

"Why did you do that!? I needed to talk to him!", she scoffed, stomping the floor with her foot. Her angry features softened a bit, and tears gathered round her eyes. "D-Don't you want me to find my parents? I thought you did..."

Naruto couldn't help but feel as if she had just slapped him across the face. Her words cut deep through him and made him feel guilty, even more so when she started sobbing at the idea of her best friend not wanting to meet her mum and dad. The blond hesitated for a moment before pulling her into a soft embrace, which she didn't reject but didn't exactly return either.

"No, Clem", the blond mumbled reassuringly, rubbing her back. "We can find your parents. Me and you. No weird man. We don't need help."

His words had Clem pulling slightly away from the boy so that she could stare with her teary eyes into his azure ones. "B-But... he said he saw them! I know we don't know who he is, but he's in Savannah, so maybe he really wants to help and...!"

"Clem", Naruto placed his hands onto her shoulders, giving them an affectionate squeeze. Her mouth shut up at the intense look he then gave her. "You trust me?"

The girl nodded slowly. "...Yes."

He gave her a smile. "Good. We look for your parents in Savannah. And we find them together. I promise."

Whatever doubts, worries or second thoughts the ten-year-old girl had up until that point quickly vanished away after hearing Naruto. The stranger and his promise disappeared from her mind, and she soon smiled back, deciding to place her trust like she had done so many times in the past on her best friend.

"Okay!"

Savannah was the oldest city in the state of Georgia, and the lasts reports before the dead began stalking the living claimed the city was inhabited by 144000 people or more. As such, plenty of enormous buildings, stores, parks and monuments lined the city's many streets, with things to see and do wherever people went during a time when monsters didn't roam around looking for fresh meat to feast upon.

What had no doubt once been an important part of the country, now was like a ghost town. There was no one around, no living nor dead people to greet the quiet newcomers who now made their way towards the docks. All nine of them had their eyes peeled for anything that could be waiting around the corner, behind a car, or in a side alley. Said task was not an easy one, however, as no sound could be heard in the vicinity. Only the breeze that blew in from the dock made their ears perk from time to time, though no matter how hard they tried to pick up any recognizable sound like the moans of walkers, there was nothing around.

Or so it seemed.

Out of all of the members of said group, there was one kid who seemed to be looking at his surroundings more attentively than the rest. His azure eyes moved about cautiously, trying to remember some of the things he saw like a particular landmark in hopes it'd help him have an idea for when he went out exploring later. He'd initially planned to let the group go find a boat on their own as soon as they got to the city, but after what had transpired at the train, Naruto Uzumaki decided to stick with them for the time being.

The eleven-year-old kid glanced surreptitiously at Clementine, who was walking next to him. He noticed the troubled expression on her visage as she kept on staring at the radio on Lee's belt, no doubt wishing she could get it back. Naruto knew the reason why Lee had confiscated it in the first place. Heck, Kenny and even Carley knew, but nobody had wanted to confront the girl about it. They'd just agreed to keep quiet and let things play out, hoping the unnamed man they heard on the radio would leave Clem alone if she was unable to reply to his calls.

Naruto was a bit worried. The man hadn't tried to communicate with her again after his failed attempt the previous day, but Naruto knew better than to just think he'd give up. He was bound to try and reach her sooner or later, and when he did... They would have to face Clementine and talk to her about it.

"Can't I just hold it?", the blond heard Clem asking Lee, who glanced at her over his shoulder. "We are getting really close to where my mum and dad are, maybe I can-"

"Not now, Clementine", Lee turned his head back to the front, his tone gentle but at the same time leaving no room for argument. "Perhaps later, okay?"

His answer seemed to slightly upset the girl, and she could do nothing but lower her head. "Okay", she mumbled, and Naruto looked away. He hated seeing her sad, especially if it had to do with her missing parents. But he knew this was for the best. That guy was dangerous, he could feel it. Lee, Kenny and Carley thought so too.

It's the best for her, he told himself over and over again, only realizing Clementine was tugging on his sleeve after a while.

"Naruto", she whispered in a hushed tone, pulling the boy a little away from the group just as a limping Omid had to use a nearby abandoned car as support to give his wounded leg some momentary rest. He was back to walking a moment later.

"Yes, Clem?", Naruto mumbled back. Their eyes met, and Naruto saw uncertainty in her hazel orbs.

"Do you know why Lee took my walkie?"

At hearing her question, Naruto had to hold himself from making any expression that'd betray the answer he was supposed to give her. Instead, he managed to put on the most convincing neutral look he could muster and shrugged his shoulders. "No. I don't know", the blond hoped she would leave it at that and stop wondering about it, but she didn't.

"It's a bit weird. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?", she looked pretty distressed about the whole deal, which made Naruto feel more guilty about lying to her. Though Clementine didn't seem to notice he was feeling that way. "Did you talk to him about my friend?"

Immediately, the blond's eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently. "No!", he whispered hurriedly, growing agitated for a moment.

"Okay, I believe you", Clementine gave him a small smile. "You promised, remember?"

"Y-Yes", the Uzumaki mumbled. He wasn't exactly lying, as he had chosen not to break his promise to Clementine and denied even having a clue about that stranger when the adults had interrogated him. It didn't feel right, but neither going back on his word would have. If anything, he had only agreed to keep the fact Lee and Kenny knew about Clem's 'friend' hidden from her, while at the same time pretending he didn't know anything about the man on the radio. That way, he was both keeping his promise to Clementine, and helping Lee keep her safe from the weirdo.

Whatever happened, he just hoped he was doing the right thing by keeping true to his nindo. His shinobi way.

"Oi, you little fellas might want to pick up the pace a bit or else we'll leave ya behind."

Naruto and Clem's conversation came to an abrupt end as they saw all eyes were on them now, with Lee staring at the Uzumaki intently. He didn't need to look him in the eye to know what he intended to say to him, which had to do with Naruto keeping quiet about what they'd found out. The blond avoided the man's eyes and readily apologized along with his friend before everyone continued on their way.

Ben, however, slowed down a little bit so that he'd be by their side.

"Don't worry guys, I'll keep you company. This place is scary enough as it is", he said, gesturing around as if to emphasize his claim. He did have a point, though, as the lack of anything alive or dead had everyone more tense than usual. Not knowing what could be lurking around the corner was unnerving, to say the least, so Clementine in particular appreciated Ben's good intentions.

For a few minutes, the whole group continued in silence, not really feeling the need to talk unless they wanted to attract unnecessary attention to themselves. Kenny walked ahead of everyone else, guiding them through the ruined streets of the city. He seemed in a hurry to get to their destination as soon as possible, something he manifested in the way he moved. He hadn't even looked back ever since they left the train in the outskirts of Savannah, nor had he said a thing to anyone other than to claim they were getting close whenever Christa asked.

Said woman was currently checking on a wincing Omid, who was doing his best not to complain about the sharp pain on his leg and keep going. They had been walking for a while, and Omid's injury had only worsened during that time.

"I'm fine babe, don't worry about it", her boyfriend said in a feeble attempt to ease her worries.

But Christa didn't buy it. She noticed the barely concealed look of pain on his face and frowned. "No, you are you not fine", her eyes turned to the others. "Guys, we have to stop, Omid needs to rest", she told the group, focusing her stare on Lee in particular, silently begging for him to talk to Kenny.

"Kenny, how much farther to the riverfront?"

His question had the aforementioned scowling for a moment, before his features softened. "...Should be just a couple more blocks away", his tone was calm, though there was some annoyance hidden in it. If they would just stop pestering him with questions and just hold on a little longer, they would get to the riverfront before they knew it.

"Will there be boats?"

"There'll be boats", he immediately replied, trying to sound confident while at the same time failing miserably. Nobody noticed it, but Kenny was actually scared at the prospect of finally arriving at their destination only to find nothing. He shut his eyes and tried to get rid of those negative thoughts, while mumbling to himself: "have to be. Have to be."

"Yeah. It's going to be okay. Kenny knows what he's doing", Ben clearly supported the plan as he thought it was better than anything else they could do to try to stay alive in that rotten world they now lived in. He didn't even care the older man seemed to be lost in thought and didn't seem to have heard him, he just wanted to show some much-needed positivity for a change.

Beside Lee, Carley pursed her lips, and couldn't help but feel a little skeptical about that. She too hoped things would go according to plan, even more so after learning some creep had been talking to Clementine and telling all sorts of lies to her. Carley knew taking that radio away from her was just a temporal solution to their problem, so the sooner they got away from the city, the better for all of them.

But still... the more she looked at the city the less inclined she was to think plenty of boats would be waiting for them at the riverfront. And if they failed to find one they could use... they'd need to come up with a plan b. And fast.

As the nine members of the group walked down the streets, Naruto's ears suddenly picked up a very subtle sound, one that nobody else had seemed to hear. It was like the sound of someone running on a rooftop nearby who didn't want to be noticed as they did so, which would explain why it was so hard to distinguish even with things as quiet as they were.

The blond tried to focus on the noise, tilting his head in the direction he believed it was coming from. He squinted his eyes and quickly inspected the roof of a rather ample building that had a bell tower raising above the rest of the edifications in the block. At first, Naruto failed to see anything, but right before he could even consider the possibility of having been imagining things, his azure orbs caught sight of a hooded figure making its way towards the bell tower.

Said figure was definitely not a walker, as it moved with the stealth of someone who clearly knew what they were doing. Naruto widened his eyes as he saw them jumping high in the air and using some kind of pike pole-thingy to reach the edge of the bell tower. A moment later, the figure was inside, and nobody around him seemed to have even noticed what he'd just seen.

Nobody except Clementine.

"Naruto? Is...?"

Whatever was it that the girl wanted to ask her friend never left her mouth as the sound of a bell ringing nearby made the whole group stop and listen. Their faces shared the same surprise and confusion as they all realized there was a church to their left, and on top of it, a giant bell.

"What's going on?", Carley asked no one in particular, her eyes wide in alarm.

Some meters away from her, Christa's face grew worried. "Maybe this city isn't so dead after all", she had a bad feeling about that bell, so she couldn't help but inch a little closer to Omid, who reached for her hand.

"Someone! There!", Naruto exclaimed, pointing his finger at the church. Lee and the others glanced apprehensively in the way he was gesturing, but failed to see anything on the roof.

"What is it?", Lee couldn't help but ask as he wondered what could have gotten Naruto so alarmed.

"Did you see anyone up there?"

The blond nodded at Carley's inquiry, though he never took his eyes off the bell tower. He had them fixed on it, almost as if he was seeing something the rest couldn't. And no matter how much the others tried to, the only thing they were able to spot out of place was the bell ringing loudly.

"There's nothing on that roof", having had enough of this nonsense, Kenny tapped his fingers impatiently against his arm. He had a scowl on his face as he stared at the others, none of them being too convinced of that however. "That bell is automatic, on a timer. Which means nobody is ringing it. Now, let's keep moving."

Kenny was ready to turn around and go back to walking towards the riverfront, when Lee checked the watch on his wrist with a suspicious look. "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?"

"Lee's right", they then heard Clementine say, and when they glanced their way, everyone saw she was holding the pendant Naruto had given her as a present in her small hands. "It's 11:20."

"Yeah!", Naruto readily agreed with them, thinking that would make everyone stop and take a closer look before the figure could run away. He was already thinking about going after them later, but before that he had to prove he wasn't lying and... "Look! There!"

Lee and the others immediately turned their eyes back to the roof and this time, everyone saw the hooded figure leaving the scene.

"What the fuck!? Naruto was right!", Lee gasped. "Who's up there? Hey!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, what if that guy was spying on us?", Ben brought his hands to his head, looking seriously terrified at the prospect of being stalked.

"Shit! What do we do now?"

"Y'all might wanna calm down, we never know who or what might be around...", Chuck calmly said, moving the shovel on his shoulder a little bit so that it wouldn't fall to the ground. "Now, I think It'd be best if we get out of here and find a place for Omid to rest that swollen leg of his'. It's gotten pretty damn bad, if ya ask me."

Kenny openly scoffed at Chuck suggestion, even more so at seeing Christa who seemed eager to do as the old man said. "Fuck that! The plan hasn't changed. We'll only stop when we get where we are goin', not before. And if we run into that guy again, we put a bullet in his head, no questions asked."

"Are you even serious right now!? Why would you even suggest doing something like that in the first place?", Christa exclaimed, looking at Kenny in astonishment.

"Yeah, dude", Omid frowned. "That's not cool."

Carley backed her up with a nod. "They are right Kenny; we don't even know who that guy is. What if he's not after us? It might have been a coincidence", she folded her arms and stared expectantly at the fisherman, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmph. Like when the St. John's brothers took Mark away when we had our guards down? Was that just a coincidence too, Carley?", Kenny said coldly, and the woman visibly stiffened at his comment.

"Hey, now, that was-"

Suddenly, the sound of static coming from Clem's radio forced Carley to drop the matter at hand, and everyone else turned towards Lee, who cautiously picked the walkie up from his belt. He ignored the fear in Clementine's visage, and the way Naruto frowned at it, only to stare at the radio in anticipation.

"If I were you... I'd get out of the streets. Now."

Lee froze as soon as he heard the voice. It was the same voice he, Kenny and Naruto had heard back at the train, though it now seemed to be addressing the group, not Clementine. He felt a shiver running down his spine as it occurred to him that guy could have been watching them all this time and none of them ever noticed.

"What the... I though you said that thing didn't work!"

The man merely paid Christa a short glance before turning his attention back to the radio. Lee wanted nothing more than to find out who was spying on them and what was he really after, but amidst his anger and fear he managed to realize it'd probably be futile to try and get that information out of the stranger, so he decided to settle for a simpler question.

"Are you the guy on the roof?", he quietly asked, his tone calm but at the same time dangerous, making it sound as though it'd only take one wrong answer for him to get mad.

He never expected the unnamed man on the other end to just go silent and turn off his radio. By doing that, he'd made it clear he didn't plan on talking about himself any time soon, which made Lee really upset.

"Hello? Hello!? Answer me, goddammit!"

But the stranger never replied back. And Lee had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to try and calm his rising nerves. Things kept getting worse and worse by the minute – now they had one more thing to worry about other than walkers and finding a boat. It made him feel like smashing the radio against the ground and break it into pieces, at least that way they wouldn't have to hear from him ever again.

"What the hell was that?", Omid was the first person to get out of his stupor, and he didn't hesitate to show his discomfort at what had just happened. "Is someone trying to fuck with us?"

To the side, Ben folded his arms with a troubled look on his face. "I don't think so. It sounded like a warning", he hypothesized, with some of the people around nodding their heads in agreement. Whoever that guy was, it wouldn't have made sense for him to reveal himself just to play mind games with them. If anything, that meant they were all in great peril.

While the others kept wondering what that stranger could have meant, Naruto Uzumaki surreptitiously eyed Clementine, noticing the way she averted her eyes from everyone else. She looked worried, and the boy could understand why. Now that they were aware of her friend, there was no doubt Clem thought she wasn't getting her walkie back anytime soon. Worse even, she wouldn't be able to ask the stranger if he'd found her parents, which was probably the main reason why the girl had grown apprehensive in the first place.

Naruto shook his head at seeing her that way. Inwardly, he was glad he hadn't just run after the hooded figure on the roof as soon as they escaped. That had been his plan at the beginning, but at the very last moment Naruto decided not to for the time being. All the other times he'd left to explore on his own, Clem had been out of harm's way: back at the treehouse, Hershel's farm, the drugstore in Macon and finally the motel they had stayed in for months. The dairy didn't really count as Naruto had kept an eye out while his friend and the others looked around the place.

But now... the Uzumaki didn't feel like leaving just yet. Sure, Lee, Carley, Kenny and the others were there to keep her safe, but just by being out in the open they were exposed to a surprise attack from any flank. Naruto couldn't just walk away while his friends moved through the unfamiliar streets of Savannah, and much less after he realized the incredibly loud noise the bell made would no doubt attract everything in the vicinity towards it.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls..."

The ominous words he then heard Chuck mumbling brought Naruto back to reality, and just in time to see him looking at something in the distance. Kenny raised an eyebrow and turned his way. "What are you yammerin' on about?", he couldn't help but ask, before he too grew silent at what his eyes saw.

Walkers. Dozens of them, coming from every corner, every direction possible. Some of them turned around the streets to their left and right, others came out of abandoned houses, and even a few got out from below rusted cars parked by the sidewalk. All of them soon joined in one large group and headed straight for the immobile group.

"...It tolls for thee."

Chuck shifted the shovel on his hands and got ready for a fight, an act that Naruto soon imitated by pulling out two kunais, one for each hand.

But Lee wasn't planning on staying behind and fight for their lives.

"Everybody, RUN!"

Soon, the whole group was making their way in the same direction they'd been heading ever since they arrived in the city. As Ben and Clementine got in the center, Carley and Lee covered their flanks, with them and Kenny shooting the walkers that would get in their way. To avoid wasting too much ammo, the three of them had to take an extra second to aim at the walkers to kill them in one shot as they ran, which was no easy feat to accomplish.

Naruto and Chuck ran ahead of the rest, the latter swinging his shovel around whenever a walker got too close to him. Sometimes he'd get lucky and kill them, but most of the times this only served to stun or push his targets out of the way, which was good enough given the circumstances.

The Uzumaki, on the other hand, didn't spare any monster and made sure to put a quick end to all unfortunate enough to meet his kunais. His blows were sharp and precise, destroying the brain in one swift motion. After all those months of dealing with walkers almost on a daily basis had made Naruto even more efficient at taking them out, which didn't cease to impress Lee and Kenny to a lesser degree.

"Move!"

Christa blew the brains out of a walker that had tried to get a hold of her boyfriend, and she only had a moment to see it slump to the ground before she helped Omid keep moving forward, quickly catching up to the group. They all continued their escape for a while, but it was when they reached a nearby crossroad that the whole group was forced to pull themselves to a stop.

"Gah!"

Kenny was passing by the intersection when suddenly a putrid hand came out of nowhere and grabbed onto his ankle, making him slam face-first into the hard asphalt below his feet. But even as he fell, the hand on his leg never let him go – a walker anxiously crawled his way, its devious eyes staring hungrily at the prey it had caught.

"Kenny!"

"Ah, let me go you little shit!", Kenny exclaimed, struggling to get free.

Lee didn't even have time to aim his handgun, as Naruto was onto the monster in the blink of the eye. The boy twisted both kunais on his hands and stepped hard on its head, forcing it to release its hold on the fisherman's leg. A mere instant later, one of his blades was piercing through its skull, annihilating the corpse.

Kenny put some distance between him and the walker and then glanced at the boy whose hands were now covered in dark blood. "That was a little too close, don't ya think?", as he said this, he inadvertently turned towards Lee, who had his gun pointed at the fallen cannibal and looked as tense as Kenny did.

The three of them heard a rather terrified scream and frantically glanced in the direction it'd come from, soon realizing Clementine, Ben and Carley were being surrounded by at least twelve walkers. The latter was doing her best to shoot every single one of them in the head, but there were too many of them for her to fend against before running out of ammo.

They were getting closer, Lee noticed with dread in his face.

"Ben, get Carley and Clementine out of there!", he was about to tell Naruto to go help them, when he saw he was already on his way, trying to open a path through a bunch of walkers that had showed up from nowhere and were now trying to slow him down.

'Get away from me!', the Uzumaki visibly scowled as one after another they fell, but more and more prevented him from reaching his friends.

As Naruto fought, Ben glanced Lee's way with a look of pure incredulity, almost as if what he was asking him to do was simply impossible, and then moved his blue eyes until he was staring at a shocked Clementine. "I...", Ben froze, finding it incredibly hard to move his body even as Carley's shooting made him jolt.

"WAKE UP, BEN!"

"Ben, help, please!"

The young man backed away against the wall to his back, shutting his eyes in fear as the monsters came closer and closer. He clenched his fists...

...and ran away.

"No!"

"Naruto, Lee!"

"Goddammit!"

Just as Carley realized there were no bullets left in her weapon, a bloody Naruto Uzumaki showed up from above, like an assassin falling onto unsuspecting targets, in this case two walkers that were almost at arms-reach of Carley and Clementine. The girls could do nothing but watch as the young shinobi apprentice took them out by plunging his blades into their brains, using the force of his descent to smash their faces against the ground.

As soon as those two were dead for granted, Naruto's eyes turned to the monsters that had gathered around them, and immediately lashed at them with a war cry. Lee took the chance to reload and help him create an opening for Carley and Clementine to run his way.

"Now, come on!", he yelled after killing a bunch of them, though not ignoring the way Naruto cut through them as if they were nothing but butter. It was like watching a master at work, the kind who'd trained all his life to handle situations like this.

Lee brought his attention back to his surroundings, covering the girls as they made their escape.

Just then, Omid, Christa and Kenny yelled at the trio to hurry up and follow them towards River Street, which was just up ahead. Carley took Clem's hand and started running with her in said direction, Ben following not so far behind. Lee was about to go too, when he remembered Naruto was still fighting for his life.

"Naruto, let's go!"

The aforementioned was in the middle of throwing a kunai at a close walker, as the other one was currently stuck in the skull of a fallen corpse. As he did so, he never noticed the one sneaking behind his back, stretching its pale arms his way.

Lee was about to warn him, when a shovel came crashing down on the monster's head, crushing its skull instantly. "Get him the hell out of here! I'll catch up with ya!", Chuck shouted from the distance, dodging a walker that tried to lunge itself at him. Naruto retrieved both kunais and immediately turned Chuck's way, ready to help him fight the monsters that kept on coming. "I'll be fine, kid! Just go, now! Clementine needs ya!"

The mention of Clementine had the Uzumaki widen his eyes for a moment, his expression growing anxious at the idea of his best friend being in danger as he stood back and fought. As Lee screamed for him to move and kept shooting his gun, Naruto nodded in appreciation at Chuck and turned around, dashing towards the other man with the sole thought of keeping his best friend out of danger.

They both made their way towards the others, with Lee only looking back to see Chuck desperately fighting against a ton of walkers, who kept growing in numbers by the minute. Kenny and the rest had been forced to make a detour towards a lone mansion on the street to their left, as the path to River Street was blocked by dozens of walkers coming from said direction. And that was exactly where everyone headed a moment later, leaving the old man and the walkers behind.

Naruto in particular felt bad at leaving like that, but he promised himself he'd go back for Chuck after making sure Clementine was fine, no matter what.

"This way!"

All eight of them ran past the entrance and through a gate by the side, which luckily for the survivors was not locked. As Kenny pushed it open, the group hurriedly made their way towards what seemed like a backyard, with a dog house at the corner and a big shed covered by vines on the other side.

"I'll get the door!"

Omid was the last person to run into the yard, but as he did so, his wounded leg finally gave in and he fell to the ground. Christa was crouching by his side almost immediately, her face contorting with evident worry.

Some meters away from them, Lee struggled to catch his breath, watching as Carley collapsed next to him, her face red.

"Hah... hah... we almost didn't make it."

Lee could do nothing but nod his head. That had been close. Too close. If it wasn't for Naruto and Chuck, Clementine and Carley wouldn't have made it out of there alive. Heck, the boy had probably saved all of them with the way he fought back there. His dark eyes glanced Naruto's way and saw him cleaning the blood of his kunais on his already dirty orange pants; Clem was saying something to him, her big hazel eyes wide in what he guessed was the adrenaline still running through her veins after what she'd been forced to go through just now.

He then noticed the way Clem pinched her nose in disgust at the blood on his clothes and on his face, which made the blond rub the back of his head like he always did when he was feeling awkward about something. That had Lee smiling slightly. All he needed was to watch their funny interactions to forget for a moment that he'd been at the verge of death... once again.

"Wait, where's Chuck?", Lee then heard Christa asking as she looked everywhere for him in a futile attempt to find the missing old man.

"Wasn't he with Lee and Naruto?", Carley wondered aloud.

Kenny and Ben, who were currently inspecting the boarded mansion for a way in, turned their attention towards the group.

"I don't remember him running after us...", Clementine mumbled before her eyes moved to Naruto for answers.

The blond's face grew grim as Lee lowered his head in guilt. "He... stood behind to give us a chance to escape", he explained, making some of them gasp and the rest to widen their eyes at the news. "He's the reason we got out of there in the first place."

"Shit... we have to go help him!", Omid immediately said as he tried to get up, but failed miserably. After he'd forced his leg more than he should have, there was no way he was getting back on his feet any time soon.

"Yeah, he might still be alive", the sound of Carley reloading her gun with the only ammo she had left attracted all eyes on her for a moment. Even Lee and Naruto were more inclined to believe he'd made it out of there alive, and the latter was more than ready to go out at any moment's notice.

Kenny, however, shook his head with a frown. "Forget it. It's too late", he said darkly, and this did not bode well with the rest, especially with the other adults in the group, who stared incredulously at him. "What? You want to go out there when probably every walker in this damn city is looking for us? Then by all means, go ahead! I ain't going nowhere until it clears out."

His latter argument, although some might have argued was rash and cruel, did make a good point. More and more monsters had been alerted of their presence in the neighborhood, and there was no doubt getting back to the streets would be suicide - even if nobody wanted to admit Kenny was right, to an extent at least.

Christa had to bite her lip to prevent herself from saying what was on her mind. She had Omid to worry about, and there was no way he was going to drag him through Savannah with his leg in such a bad shape.

The others, including Lee and Carley, didn't look too keen on facing the never-ending horde of walkers again, especially considering how low they were running on ammo.

Everyone except Naruto decided it was better to stay put for now, the latter cleaning the monster's blood out of his face with his sleeve.

"I go find Chuck", he suddenly announced, stashing his kunais inside his holster. His words were met with surprise and incredulity from everyone around, which was something Naruto was expecting to happen.

"What? No, it's too dangerous!", Clementine told him, her face contorting in evident concern. She trusted him, she really did, but even for someone like Naruto it was practically impossible to face against so many of them at the same time. "What if you get hurt?"

Naruto instantly flashed his trademark foxy grin at her. "It's okay. Don't worry, Clem", he'd told her those words too many times those days, but he couldn't help it. They always felt oddly appropriate for most circumstances. "I'm a shinobi. Remember? I'm strong, fast. Monsters can't get me."

"Wait, what is he talking about? He's just a kid! We can't just let him go like that. He'd die out there!", Christa stood up from her position beside a wincing Omid and faced the others with an exasperated look on her visage.

Carley glanced at Lee out the corner of her eyes, feeling uncertain. She knew very well Naruto was more than capable of taking care of himself, and that he always went out exploring on his own, but still... this time it was extremely dangerous to go out there.

The man ignored both Christa and Carley for the time being and just stared at the determined blond in a contemplative silence. "I know what you are thinking Naruto, and yes, you're right. We owe our lives to Chuck. He's the reason we made it out of the streets alive", feeling all eyes on him, the man took a moment to organize his thoughts and choose his next words carefully. "And I too want to go and find him. But think about it, probably every walker in the city is out there, trying to kill us. If you head back right now..."

Lee intentionally avoided finishing his sentence as he feared his words would further frighten Clementine, who was scared enough as it was. A few meters away, Christa couldn't help but nod her head vehemently, totally agreeing with Lee. She was relieved at least someone had the sense to see things from a logical point. It wasn't like she didn't want to help Chuck, but she'd rather keep the kids safe if she'd to make a choice. They were the future of that decaying world, after all.

"No, Lee. I wanna go", the blond responded with a shake of his head. He was adamant about leaving to go save Chuck, which made Lee sigh in frustration.

"Maybe we should let Naruto go", Ben casually suggested, causing Christa to widen her eyes in surprise. He flashed a smile at the little blond before adding, "if there's someone who can help Chuck right now, it's him. We all know how capable he really is."

"What?"

As Christa and, surprisingly, Lee glared in the young man's way –the latter still pissed at him for running away when Carley and Clementine were in danger–, Ben shrugged his shoulders and went back to inspecting the boards of the window next to the main door for a way in. A little further to the left, Kenny worked on the door, doing the best he could to get it open, to no avail so far. He was purposely avoiding to be part of that conversation, as he just wanted to get everyone to safety before walkers realized they were there.

"Well… Ben does have a point, Lee", said Carley. "When was the last time we didn't need to rely on Naruto to get out of trouble? Plus, don't forget he is as stubborn as it gets. He'd probably leave regardless of whether we let him or not."

At that, Naruto couldn't help but grin in evident agreement. Lee shook his head, knowing full well that Carley was right. They had tried to talk the blond down from going out on his own many times in the past, but he'd always end up doing so anyway.

"...I guess there's no stopping you, is there?"

"Nope."

Clem stared silently at the blond as he grinned like a madman. He was either the bravest person she'd ever met, or the craziest, depending on the point of view. To her, it was clear Naruto wasn't a lunatic who didn't know better than to risk his life without even being a little afraid. No, Naruto Uzumaki was far from being crazy. He was a bit silly sometimes, but he always looked out for the people he cared about, which included her.

"Are you going to help Chuck?"

"Yes", his face grew determined as he nodded at Clem, showing how serious he truly was about this.

"Okay", she managed to smile a confident smile his way – curiously, she didn't feel afraid anymore after seeing Naruto's resolve. She trusted him and somehow knew he'd be fine. Or so she hoped. "I won't tell you to be careful, I think you'll be all right."

Naruto gave her a thumbs-up. "Yeah! I promise."

"Good."

And under the stare of most people in the backyard, Clementine stepped forward and gave him a quick hug, trying to ignore the putrid smell coming from his bloody clothes. Right then, all she cared about was for him to know she believed in him, and would be waiting for his return.

"W-What? Are you even serious right now!? You're letting a boy walk to a sure death! How can you agree to such madness!?"

Christa was beyond dumbfounded. Her incredulity had reached astronomical levels, and so did her anger. She didn't understand these people, giving Naruto permission to face a damn horde on his own, and they expected him to be fine?

"Naruto has made his decision", Kenny's cold voice attracted Christa's shocked stare on him, but he never turned her way. "And so have we."

"You're crazy!", Omid gasped, his eyes growing wide. Gone was the sharp pain on his leg from his mind and replaced by the same feelings his girlfriend was having at the moment.

"You don't know Naruto like we do", Carley folded her arms over her chest, but she didn't look angry or pissed at them for not being aware of his 'abilities'. Not surprising though. After all, they had just joined the gang, and Naruto had not manifested his hidden powers in front of them yet. "He'll be fine out there."

Christa couldn't believe what she was hearing, and turned to Lee with a pleading look. "Lee, please, you can't allow this to happen. You know I'm right; Naruto will die out there if we let him go!"

But Lee didn't change his mind. He merely sighed before averting his eyes towards Naruto, not feeling like facing Christa. "Be careful out there. Avoid walkers for as long as you can, and if you find Chuck or the guy who was ringing that bell, just come back here as soon as you can and we'll discuss what to do."

Naruto nodded. "Gotcha."

"Yeah, just don't take too long. I don't plan on being here more than we absolutely have to."

The Uzumaki inclined his head in understanding, gave everyone his usual two-finger salute and left through the metal gate before Christa could even react and try to stop him. Neither she nor Omid could come to terms with what just happened, not even after everyone went back to work as though the previous exchange had never even transpired in the first place.

Needless to say, she was going to have a word with the others as soon as they were safe, and she'd make sure they answered her every question.

To be continued…

So here it is, the long-awaited start of Episode 4 of the first season of Telltale's TWD. There is so much stuff to cover, which will take roughly around 5 to 6 chapters to deal with, especially considering all the major events depicted in this episode and that ending. I won't comment on that mainly to avoid giving spoilers to all those readers who haven't played the game, but all I'm going to say is that I have mixed feelings about it. I'll talk more about it once we actually reach that part.

One character I'll be giving significantly more screen time than what is given in TWD is Molly, who will make an appearance next time. I really like her overall character, and she and Naruto will get along particularly well.

Before you go about your day, don't forget to let me know what you thought of this chapter in the review section. Spanish or English comments, that's quite all right, I can speak both languages fluently so whatever suits you better.

I'll see you all again soon, hopefully.

Kind regards,

Luke.