It's almost been two months since ff started having all these issues that have yet to be addressed. So, would you, please, kindly, dear ff team, fix the site already?
If this goes on, I may seriously consider taking a break from posting. The bugs are insufferable at times and I don't like people not being able to properly access my stories. That wouldn't mean I'd stop writing altogether, just take some time off while we all wait for the site to go back to normal. Also, I'm on the waiting list to set up an AO3 account where I plan to post all my stories. I'll let you guys know on my profile if I end up doing so.
For now, enjoy!
~ Chapter 7 : Detour ~
"Haaah..."
Naruto couldn't help but take a moment to relax as he leaned his back against the sofa he was sitting on. They had managed to escape the motel, but at what cost? All their supplies, medicine, and other stuff was still in their rooms, and they'd been forced to leave everything behind. Naruto was grateful that at least the clothes he had from Konoha were still on him, as well as the goggles Iruka-sensei had gifted him.
He didn't want to think about what he'd do if he ever were to lose such invaluable possessions of his. They meant a big deal for him, as they were the only reminder of the people he knew and the place he still felt as home.
"That was close."
Naruto opened his eyes at Clem's voice, who was currently sitting right next to him and had her arms wrapped around his waist. She had been so relieved to see him back that the Uzumaki couldn't help but berate himself from even thinking about leaving. As long as she needed him, he would never think of abandoning her ever again. "Yeah", the blond nodded, absently caressing her neck with his hand. She enjoyed his ministrations, and she was soon closing her eyes in delight.
"Thank you for coming back", he heard her tell him silently before resting her head against his chest.
He gave her a sincere smile, one that reflected his happiness at hearing her say those words, but decided to speak no further. The grins Lee and Carley were sending his way were too obvious to ignore, and the blond quickly grew embarrassed under their stares.
"Hm, I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you", Lilly stood up from her seat by the table at the back and approached Naruto, her face twisted into a scowl. "We still have a little meeting to conduct."
"Oh shit", behind her, Ben seemed to grow alarmed at her words and folded his arms, looking down with a worried look.
Carley seemed to notice his discomfort from her position next to Lee and said, "relax Ben, everything will be fine."
"No, everything will NOT be fine. We just lost all we had back there", Lilly's tone was calm and composed, though it was clear just by looking at her that she was an inch away from exploding.
"Hey, calm down back there", Kenny interceded, not taking his eyes off the road. "At least we have the RV and nobody died. Kat's hurt, though."
"I'm fine, Ken", she tried to reassure him, but her husband was not letting it go that easy.
"No, you're not. But you will be."
Lilly shook her head and steeled her nerves. They had to deal with this now. "The reason those bandits attacked us in the first place was because someone", she glanced Naruto's way out the corner of her eyes as she said this, "was giving them supplies. They didn't get their last package, so they got pissed."
"What? You're not making any sense", Carley shot the woman a nasty glare, one that she merely shrugged off.
"Lee found a bag of supplies hidden outside the motel."
As all eyes now turned his way, the aforementioned could do nothing but incline his head. "It's true", was all he said before he grew silent, not wanting to add his two cents to the conversation. He didn't have any suspects at the moment, though he knew Lilly had their own.
And she didn't waste any more time by accusing him.
"So... Naruto, anything you want to say?"
"Huh?", the blond blinked, confused. Wait, were they really blaming him? He had nothing to do with the bandits! He'd never work with them!
"Wait a second, why do you think he's the one responsible?", Kenny shouted from the front, sounding genuinely surprised.
By Naruto's side, Clementine pulled away from her friend at hearing Lilly speaking about him and faced the woman with a scared look. "No, he didn't do it! Naruto would never betray us!"
"Yes Lilly, back off! You can't go around pointing fingers at people when you haven't got any proof!", Carley backed the girl up, much to the latter's and Naruto's appreciation. She ignored the way Lilly scoffed at her, and said, "You just don't like him, that's why you put the blame on him."
"Yeah, how do you even know it was him!?", Lee demanded next, having had enough of this madness.
Lilly found herself cornered on all fronts, with nobody willing to side with her. But she wasn't going to give up just yet. "I don't, but that's what I was hoping our friend here could explain to us...", she tried to shift the focus onto the frowning kid, who didn't seem to like being called a traitor.
"Give him a break! How can you not trust Naruto, after all he's done for us? It obviously wasn't him!"
At hearing Ben defending the boy so eagerly, the woman turned to glare at the teen, making him avert his eyes in fear. "Oh? So, I take it you know who did it then...", Ben Paul noticed that not only her, but everybody in the room was looking his way, and he grew nervous at being the center of attention.
He felt his heart thump wildly in his chest, knowing he had to say something, anything, that would make Lilly stop and just forget about the whole deal. Naruto didn't deserve to be treated his way either, but what could he do to help?
"I..."
Whatever was it that Ben wanted to say next never made it past his lips as the RV crashed into something, making everyone lose their balance and almost fall to the floor. "SHIT!", Kenny exclaimed as he lost control of the vehicle for a moment. He managed to get a hold of it before it could get off the road and crash into a nearby tree, much to everyone's sudden relief. "I hit something, we gotta make a quick stop!"
There was a rattling noise coming from beneath the motor home, which signaled everyone that whatever was it that Kenny's RV ran into, it was stuck under it.
After hearing that, Lilly turned to Naruto with a scowl, staring him right into his azure eyes. "Good. We can deal with this then. Maybe get out a confession out of him."
Naruto inched forward until all he could see was her face. "Try", he spat. His tone was threatening, much to everybody's shock. He didn't like acting like that, but he wasn't going to let anyone falsely accuse him. And much less after all he'd done for the group.
He was done feeling bad about what Lilly thought about him, especially since she was someone who clearly didn't want him around. The only one, he hoped.
Kenny quickly pulled to a stop by the side of the road, leaving the engine on. He didn't plan on staying there for long at all.
The whole group minus Katjaa and Duck got out the van, Naruto gesturing for Clem to wait by the door, which she did, albeit worryingly. Once they were all out, Kenny made his way to the front of the RV and cursed at what he found. "Fuck! Listen, I've got a walker under the wheel. I'm gonna try to pull it out quick. Be ready to leave as soon as I'm done."
"Be careful Kenny", Lee told him, before shifting his attention back to the tense group. This wouldn't end well, he could feel it.
"You know what, we are going to give you a chance to come clean, confess. And then, we'll hear what everybody thinks about what you did."
Though Naruto merely pulled his tongue out at her, refusing to speak up. That only served to annoy Lilly even further, and Lee noticed her hands were twitching by her sides. "Baaaaka, baka, baka! You're stupid!"
"What the fuck did you just say to me!?"
"Stupid!", Naruto repeated, grinning mischievously. He was really getting on her nerves, and it showed. The others looked seriously taken aback at the blond making fun of her. "You think it's me, I'm not! Baka! I'm a good guy!"
Trying to ignore the foreign word Naruto'd used to address her, which she didn't doubt was nothing nice, she folded her arms over her chest with a frown. "Yeah, that's what you say. But what about today? You knew the bandits were coming for us", she paused, allowing her words to sink in for everyone. "I think your friends got really mad at you when we found the supplies you had hidden from them. You got scared and came to us for help..."
"Is that your argument? Are you serious right now!?"
"Lilly, think for a second, what you are saying makes no sense!", Lee tried to appeal to her reasoning, make her see the craziness in her accusation. "I'm sure it wasn't him. It has to be somebody else."
"Yes! You can't blame Naruto! He's my friend, not a bad person!"
Naruto gave Clem a thankful smile at her words, before turning back to Lilly, nodding his head defiantly.
"Is that so? Was it you then, Carley?"
"WHAT!?"
"Yeah, you're always defending Naruto. Maybe you two had something to do with it..."
"Lay it off! You're scaring everybody here!"
"Ah, so Ben is in it too?"
Lee frowned at that. She was going too far now. "Just stop Lilly! You're accusing everyone who doesn't agree with you. What if someone sneaked into our camp while we weren't looking and stole our supplies?", he offered in a futile attempt to put an end to this nonsense. They had just escaped some crazy bandits who'd tried to kill them; instead of fighting among themselves, they should be resting and making a plan.
"Are you kidding me? That's what you think?", Lilly asked in incredulity, her face growing even more surprised at seeing him nodding his head. "This has to be a joke. All right, let's put this to a vote then. Kenny?"
The aforementioned raised his head from behind the RV's front where he was crouching to take care of the stuck walker and shrugged. "I don't know, just give me a minute! I'm busy right now."
"No, we don't need to vote!", Ben suddenly exclaimed with a terrified face. It was clear he didn't want to be blamed, because if that was the case, he'd be kicked out the group and thrown to the world, where dangers lurked around every corner. "It wasn't me, or Naruto, or Carley! What do I have to do for you to trust me!? I'LL DO ANYTHING, I SWEAR!"
There was panic written all over his face as he kept on trying to defend himself, offering to go out looking for more food, keep watch for longer periods, anything that could help him get Lilly off his back. But all he was doing, was making Lilly more and more suspicious of his alleged innocence.
"Do we need more evidence than this!?", she suddenly snarled, pointing an accusing finger at Ben. "He clearly had something to do with it. So, Ben, you have until Kenny deals with that walker to tell us it wasn't you but Naruto OR Carley, or both."
"Stop! Shut up, Lilly!", Naruto exploded, an act that brought all eyes on him again. He was looking very angry and now stood in front of the teen, shielding him with his extended arm. "Stop, please, stop!"
"Or what? You're going to kill me like you killed Andy St. John when he hurt Clementine?", she ignored the many gasps her words got as a reaction from everyone present, excluding the Uzumaki, who just lowered his head, allowing his bangs to shadow his eyes. "I bet you want to hurt me right now, you little demon."
Naruto visibly flinched at that, but made no sound and kept his head lowered. He didn't even notice Clem placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and giving Lilly her nastiest look, showing how mad she was at her for treating her friend like that. Lee wasn't far behind; his eyes were wide and he looked about to explode after hearing what she'd just said to him.
But it was Carley who reacted first.
"Lilly, that's enough!", she walked up to her and smacked her right across the face, hard. A furious look crossed her features as a gobsmacked Lilly brought her hand up to her now reddened cheek, touching it gingerly. "You think you're so tough, huh? You're just a bitch, a scared little girl who thinks everyone but her are bad people. Grow the fuck up and try being like Lee a bit more, at least he has good judgement, unlike you."
Both women stared hard at each other for a moment, until the sound of Kenny crushing the walker's skull under his boot made everyone shift their attention towards him. "Finally! I got him", the man let out a tired sigh before approaching the tense group and hoping his presence would help to settle things down. "Now, what the fuck is the problem...?"
The very first thing Carley saw as she turned her sight back to Lilly was a gun aimed at her head.
"Lilly, no...!"
A gunshot was fired, and everyone present jumped up at the sudden noise before finally widening their eyes as their minds caught up with what happened. Lilly had pulled her gun and shot at Carley, taking her by surprise...
...or she would have, if not for someone who'd stood in her way.
"...!"
It was Naruto.
He looked absolutely furious as he gritted his teeth, his hand now clutching the weapon Lilly had fired a moment ago. Carley's heart pounded madly in her chest as she soon realized what'd taken place: Lilly had tried to kill her, and Naruto had somehow saved her life.
"What the fuck!?"
The blond had the Lilly's hand locked in a vicious grip, the gun aiming at the sky. She was staring at him in complete shock and didn't even make an attempt to free herself from his grasp, not even when he took a step forward and stared at her in the eye with his cold azure orbs.
"You tried to hurt Carley. She's my friend."
"Kenny!? What's happening!?"
"It's alright hon, just stay inside!"
"How... How did you do it? You pushed the gun out of the way! I'd have killed her, Naruto!"
By then, Lee was slowly coming out of his shock and letting anger cloud his mind. "Are you fucking nuts!?"
"You... Y-You tried to kill me!", Carley gasped, the thought that she could have died right then and there filling her with a sudden fear that made her take a step back. Ben did the same too, terrified of what Lilly could do to them if they weren't careful.
"Drop the gun", Lee told her, knowing that Naruto had her hand immobilized but not willing to take any risks. When she didn't move, Lee pushed her roughly against the RV, making her wince. "DROP IT!"
That got Lilly to blink and soon discard the weapon, as though she didn't have a need for it anymore. Naruto walked to it and picked it up, giving it to a scowling Kenny.
"We have to leave her, Lee! I ain't having that crazy bitch in the RV!"
Carley tried to open her mouth to say anything, but she was so shaken she couldn't even speak, so merely hurried back inside, afraid to even look at Lilly in the eye. The latter was too engrossed on her own incredulity to even notice she was gone, and was now looking at Lee for mercy. Her eyes staring into his darker ones.
"Lee, please...", she begged, but instead of finding some sort of compassion or pity, she found nothing more than disgust, anger and a bit of hatred, all focused at her.
"You're not coming with us."
His decision was final, and there was no changing his mind. His tone was severe and left no room for argument, not that anyone outside seemed willing to oppose to it anyway. "But I'll die out there!"
"You should have thought of that earlier", Lee coldly said as he pushed himself away from her, putting some distance between them. The more the better.
"Hell yeah! You're a murderer Lilly, we can't have you with us!", Kenny agreed, folding his arms. By his side, Naruto didn't show any feeling, any emotion, his face was just blank. Gone was his previous coldness and hurt, all being concealed under an emotionless mask that at the same time spoke volumes of how he felt about her.
Calling him a monster for protecting Clem? He could deal with that.
But when she'd tried to hurt one of the very few people that was nice and kind to him, she had crossed a line from where there was no turning back. She was dead to him, and so he couldn't care whatever happened to her out there.
"I'm a murderer? You KILLED my dad! And if that's not enough, you've had Lee with you this whole time. He killed someone before all of this, and I bet he never told you about it!"
Lee scowled at her, but was secretly pleased at seeing Kenny shrug his shoulders. "Ah, this again, I already said I don't care what Lee did before. He's a good guy, and you're not. End of the story", the look of surprise in Lilly's face at hearing the news didn't go unnoticed by anyone, though that expression soon turned to one of despair a moment later. "Come on Lee, Naruto, let's get away from this crazy bitch."
"You can't do this to me, I have nothing left..."
Nobody took pity on her. Nobody, and much less Naruto who simply stared at her in silence before he took Clem by the hand and walked inside, followed by Ben and finally Lee a minute later. Lilly didn't try to fight back, to beg for mercy - she just watched as Kenny drove the RV into the night, away from her, away from everything else.
From the van, some in the group watched as she became smaller and smaller in the distance until they were no longer able to distinguish her amidst the darkness of the night.
Lee glanced at Ben as the latter sat by himself at the table on the back. He looked to be deep in thought, as if he was currently going over the events that had just transpired a moment ago. Their group had suffered yet another loss, though this time no one seemed to be missing that person they left behind. Still, Lee couldn't blame him for feeling depressed or in shock - he knew for a fact most of their people were going through something similar at the moment.
He himself couldn't still believe Lilly had tried to shoot Carley for no reason.
At the thought of said woman, the man turned to look her way and saw her sitting next to the kids on the sofa. He didn't miss the absent look on her face, the look of a person who'd faced death and had barely escaped it.
And it all had been thanks to Naruto, someone who was clearly much more than just a child. A boy who was content at the moment with just letting Clem hug him and use his shoulder as a pillow. Said girl seemed about to fall asleep in his arms, though Lee saw she struggled to keep her eyes open even when the Uzumaki encouraged her to get some rest.
His face fell at the scene. The poor kids had seen so much death and other horrible stuff that he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty himself. In a way, he felt responsible for making them go through what they should have never been exposed to in the first place. Then again, in a hostile world that could bring the worst out of some people and the best of others, could he really shield them from all of it?
The answer was clear, yet Lee tried not to think about what could be waiting for them in the future. It was hard, but he needed to keep his head straight if he wanted to keep moving forward.
"Lee, could you come over here for a second?"
Katjaa's calm voice broke the man out of his daze and made him look forward, away from the silent pair of children. He noticed Carley staring at him for one moment, a pleading look on her face, before she turned away, hoping he'd get the message. Lee would have given her a smile but she had stopped looking his way, so he decided to head for the front of the RV.
When he got there, Lee placed his hands on the edges of both seats and nodded at Kenny. "Hey guys, everything ok?", his eyes then trailed to Duck, who was resting on his mother's lap and had been oddly silent ever since they'd left the motel. Lee couldn't help but grow worried the minute he noticed how pale the boy was. "Is Duck feeling alright?"
Kenny and Katjaa exchanged a wordless look at his question. Without saying a single word to him, Katjaa slowly moved her hand away from his waist and pulled his shirt up a little to expose part of his skin. Lee instantly let out a gasp at what he saw.
Duck had been bitten.
"Oh no...", he breathed out, lowering his head in despair. This was just too much to deal with in one day. Things kept on getting worse and worse, and Lee couldn't help but wonder for a second if there was still more to come. "What's the plan then?"
Kenny scoffed at his reaction. "The plan hasn't changed. We head to the water, grab a boat, and we get the hell away from all of this. Duck will pull through."
Despite the conviction in his voice, it was clear Kenny didn't even want to talk, much less think about what would eventually happen to his son. What happened to everyone who was bitten. Lee's expression grew mildly grim, but he decided not to say what was really on his mind. At least not for now. Everybody was too exhausted, after all, so he guessed he could wait for a bit.
Katjaa seemed to disagree with her husband's opinion, or so Lee thought after seeing the light glare she sent his way, but he was relieved at realizing she too had had enough of arguing and fighting for one day. "Anyway Lee, we were hoping you could tell Naruto and Clem. Me and Kenny would appreciate it."
"Yeah, and tell Naruto I'm sorry for being a dick to him after all he's done for us", Kenny said, ignoring the kid was now sound asleep next to Clem and couldn't even hear him. "He protected my family even after the way I treated him. And I don't care who he is or the secrets he's kept hidden, he's a good kid. That's all that matters to me."
"Yes, Lee", Katjaa smiled kindly. "Give him our thanks."
Said man nodded with a smile of his own. "I think that'll have to wait until he wakes up, but sure, I'll let him know."
After glancing at Duck one more time, Lee turned around and headed back to Carley and the children. The woman saw him coming and inched closer to Naruto, leaving enough room for Lee to take a seat next to her.
He practically slumped on the sofa a moment later, taking a moment to stretch his legs forward with a pleased grunt.
"Long day, huh?"
Lee smiled at Carley. "Yeah, too damn long", his dark eyes then found hers and they both stared at each other for a couple of seconds. She looked better than a few minutes ago, like she'd finally come to terms with almost dying at the hands of Lilly. "How are you doing Carley? You want to talk about... You know..."
It was as if his question suddenly brought back bad memories because her visage twisted into a nervous look, yet one she quickly managed to turn into a more relaxed one. "I... I guess", she quietly mumbled, looking away from him. Lee let her take all the time she needed to organize her thoughts, not pressuring her into talking until she was ready. It was a few minutes later that Carley sighed, and said, "she was going to shoot me, Lee. I was almost done for. If it wasn't for Naruto, I... I..."
"I know", Lee placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. She seemed to find comfort in that as she inched closer to him, her leg touching his'. "But it's okay now, you're safe."
"Yeah, but for how long Lee? How long until someone else decides that they've had enough of me and tries to shoot me?", there was fear and despair in her face as she spoke, her eyes searching his' fervently. "What if walkers get to me and I fail to take care of them? What then?"
Lee grew silent and let her vent all her fears and worries, only allowing himself to keep rubbing her back as she did so, to show her he wasn't going anywhere. Eventually, she stopped, and there were tears running down her eyes by the moment words stopped coming out of her mouth. Honestly, it broke Lee's heart to see her like that.
"Shh Carley, it's okay, it's okay", he pulled her into a hug, which she herself welcomed eagerly, sobbing silently. For a few moments, Lee just held her there, watching as she began to calm down and breathe normally after a while. It was then that he spoke, albeit choosing his words carefully. "I can't promise you we won't die or that I'll always be there to keep you away from danger, because that's the world we live in right now, and me, you, hell anyone could meet their end tomorrow."
The man took a moment to think about the near future. The boat, Duck's situation, keeping the kids safe, the uncertainty of what would happen next, all worried him, but he didn't allow it to overwhelm him. He knew that somehow, someway, they'd be able to get over this, and things would start improving from there. It was wishful thinking, yet it helped him be more positive about their current predicament.
"But even then, what would be the point in giving up? If we did that, we wouldn't be better than Lilly, or the St. John's, or those bandits by the forest. We are alive for a reason; we just have to make the most of it and keep moving forward as long as we can."
Carley's first reaction was to pull away from his arms so as to stare at Lee, long and hard, and then chuckle, making the man raise an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Oh nothing", the woman shrugged, smiling mysteriously as she cleaned the tears off her face. "I was just thinking how good of a politician you'd make if you decided to run for president, or ruler, or chief or whatever form of leader people choose for our country when this is all over."
Lee laughed at that. "I take it you would vote for me, then?"
Surprise was written on Lee's face as Carley suddenly inched forward and placed a soft, yet brief kiss on his lips, catching him off guard. "Does that answer your question?", she asked with a sly smirk, one that did not go unnoticed by the man on the couch.
Lee had the decency to look slightly embarrassed as he nodded. "It does", he wanted nothing more than to steal a second kiss from her, but he quickly refrained himself from doing so, given the fact they didn't have much privacy to begin with, and instead settled for going back to hugging. It felt good to have Carley in his arms. She was one of the very few good things that had happened to him ever since the apocalypse began, and he was making sure he wouldn't screw that up.
A relaxed silence settled over both of them as the van continued its journey. They could hear the sound of calm breathing coming from their right, where Naruto and Clem slept without a care in the world. Lee smiled at the sight. "They're out like I've never seen before", he commented, making Carley pull away from him and glance in the direction he was looking.
Her lips curled into a touched smile before she nodded. "They deserve it. Poor kids. They've been through so much..."
Lee nodded absently. "Yeah, I just hope we can catch a break for a change after today. We could all use it."
Carley didn't answer right away. Her eyes were fixed on the blond's sleeping face, and she stared at the way he kept Clem close to him, his body seemingly relaxed but at the same time ready to act. It was hard to explain, but even when asleep, Naruto looked as if he'd open his eyes the moment he sensed danger and stab the enemy right through the heart. Or head, if they were dealing with a walker.
"He's one hell of a kid, isn't he?"
Lee seemed to read exactly what was on her mind, though Carley wasn't really surprised. She knew that even Lee, who was the closest person to the blond apart from Clementine, couldn't shake the feeling Naruto was different. Special. That didn't make him a threat or someone to worry about, as he had proven himself trustworthy countless time in the past, but still... The curiosity was there.
"I still can't believe he pushed Lilly's gun out of the way the moment she pulled the trigger", Carley began, shaking her head in disbelief. "I mean, how fast do you need to move to pull off something like that? It's like he has super speed, or incredible reflexes, or... I don't know", she turned her eyes to Lee again and noticed the troubled look on his face. He was having similar thoughts, she could tell. "Do you think he's connected to whatever is it that happened to the world?"
"What do you mean?"
Carley shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure, but I believe it's too much of a coincidence we ran into someone like him right after all of this started", slowly seeing where she was going with all that, Lee's face lit in recognition, though he decided to let her elaborate before adding his two cents. "Just think about it. People get infected with a lethal disease that turns you into a mindless, blood-thirsty monster if you die and your brain is intact or if you get bitten by one of them. That in itself doesn't sound like something that came out of nowhere, you know what I mean?"
"You're saying someone made all of this happen?", Lee cautiously asked, feeling a cold shiver going down his spine at the thought. If that was true...
"I don't think it was just one person, but rather a group of people", she hypothesized. "Could have been a terrorist group, the government… Christ, even a bunch of mad scientists who thought the world was too rotten for their taste and decided to create a disease that would drastically reduce the population."
The more possibilities Carley mentioned, the more apprehensive Lee felt. He hadn't stopped to think about it before, but although he hated to admit it, the fact that human beings could have been behind the infection made more sense than just putting the blame on nature itself. It was horrible to think people would create such monstrosities for their own twisted reasons, eradicating almost the entire population on Earth. He didn't know how things were in other countries, but if the US government hadn't been able to cope with it, he doubted any other nations could do a better job.
Then again, he'd probably never know.
"Damn, Carley", was all Lee could say as he closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the mental image of people working in a lab and creating a powerful virus to kill them all. He failed to do so, for the moment. "Maybe you're right, I don't know. But what about Naruto? Why do you think he's somehow connected to all of this?"
He knew the answer she was going to give him, but still felt the need to ask. He wanted her to say it, to confirm his suspicions.
Which she did, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Because of his... powers, I guess?", she offered, ignoring the way Lee then looked at her. "Look, I'm not saying he's part of a group of bad people, just that maybe they were experimenting on young children to give them unique abilities and he's one of the kids that survived. Remember what happened back at the dairy? You told me he just snapped at seeing Clem in danger and went under some sort of shocking transformation."
Carley was aware all of this was pure speculation, and so did Lee, yet she couldn't help but feel Naruto was certainly one in a million and that all of this was connected somehow. She may very well be wrong about him, but even if that was indeed the case, she saw no harm in trying to come up with a plausible explanation until the boy opened up about it and shared what he knew.
If he knew anything, that is.
From the front of the RV, Kenny, who had been quietly listening to the conversation going on in the back decided to share his thoughts with them. "She's right you know, we did see him turn scary for a minute", he told them, watching his tone so as to avoid waking the kids and now Ben up. The latter had fallen asleep on the table and was now snoring quietly. "That shit back at the dairy ain't like anything I've ever seen. He looked like some sort of, I don't know, animal or something. I was scared shitless."
"Yeah, I remember", Lee sighed, the memories of that fateful night at the dairy still fresh in his mind. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to forget the look on Naruto's face as he mercilessly pounded on Andy St. John. "Naruto was completely out of it, he didn't seem aware of what he was doing until I calmed him down", the man closed his eyes and then felt Carley's hand on his', a gesture that made him relax somewhat. "I tried asking him about it many times, but all he'd say was: 'I don't know. I don't know'", as he spoke, he turned to the woman by his side and stared into her eyes. "I don't believe he even knows what happened to him. Just that maybe that took place because he's a 'shinobi'. I remember Glenn saying that means 'ninja'. A mythical Japanese warrior that is said to have existed centuries ago."
His words were met with silence at first, with both Carley and Kenny taking a moment to think about it. The latter merely shook his head and went back to driving, opting not to make any more comments of the matter. Kenny felt it wasn't fair to talk about Naruto when he wasn't even awake to be a part of the conversation. After how mean he'd been to him, the man felt he owed him that much at least.
Carley was about to say something else, but felt very tired all of a sudden and decided to just drop it for now. Tomorrow would be another day.
"Maybe we should continue this conversation later. I don't want to wake the kids up", she claimed, resting her head against Lee's shoulder.
The man put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, making himself comfortable. "Good idea", Lee smiled. "Sleep tight, Carley."
Both were fast asleep a moment later, their worries and fears vanishing to give way to a dreamless sleep. As Kenny soon forgot about the conversation that had taken place just some minutes ago and focused on getting everyone safe to the coast, neither he, nor Katjaa, Duck or anyone else noticed the way Naruto Uzumaki cautiously opened his eyes and glanced around, making sure nobody around was awake.
He'd heard every single thing the adults had said about him without them knowing.
The very next morning, and after hours of travelling through the country, Kenny had been forced to pull his RV to a stop as an unexpected obstacle got right in his way, blocking the road ahead.
It was a freight train, and abandoned it seemed.
At first, Kenny thought he could just go around it or take a detour, but he soon discovered there was no side road going off the main path, nor did he see any way his van would be able to squeeze through the wagons the train had attached or the broken cars and other stuff that blocked the road along the railway.
Under different circumstances, he'd have been absolutely furious at this new setback that impeded them from reaching the coast, but after all he and his family had gone through in the past hours, he only managed to give a sigh in resignation and immediately start wondering how they'd be able to get past the train. He tried to sound positive and kept his mind busy in an attempt not to fall victim to despair, though nobody could blame him for trying. His son, Duck, was bitten, and didn't seem to be getting any better any time soon.
On the contrary. With every hour that went by, he'd only look worse. He was having trouble breathing and running a fever, which only served to put Kenny more on edge. His anxiety was through the roof, and it showed.
He had made everyone get off the van and approach the train, slowly at first just in case there was someone waiting around the corner. When they made sure it was safe, at least on the outside, Kenny took a seat on a log next to his family, Naruto and Clementine, pausing a moment to rub his temples before addressing Lee.
"Why don't you, Ben and Carley go and take a look inside, see if it's safe? I'll stay and keep an eye on things while you're at it."
Lee and the others had merely needed to exchange careful nods before they climbed aboard, the former going with Carley to the boxcar closest to the train to take a look there first.
As they did that, Clementine took a seat next to a silent Naruto, and smiled at him. "So, what do we do while we wait?"
The blond shrugged his shoulders, his eyes falling to his lap. "I don't know", he simply said, his tone void of his usual cheerfulness and energy. Something Clem didn't fail to notice.
She noticed he was looking down, like he was still affected by what'd happened the previous night. And if that was the case, Clementine would do her very best to cheer him up.
"Ah, I know!", she told him, pulling her kunai out from her holster. "Why don't you teach me how to use this? This kun… kun… kunsai!"
That got Naruto to smile lightly and say, "kunai. It's kunai."
"Yeah, that", Clem proceeded to swing the blade around and pretend she was stabbing invisible enemies while doing her best to dodge their attacks.
"Whoa young lady! Be careful with that thing, you could hurt yourself!"
"Sorry", Kenny's frown made her stop and sit quietly back next to Naruto, something to which the latter chuckled a bit more vigorously. "So… will you teach me? Pleeease?"
Unlike many other times in the past where the Uzumaki would resort to using his secret 'puppy-eyes' technique to convince Clem about doing something, he now found himself being the target of said technique, much to his own shame.
He hated to admit it, but the student had easily surpassed the master, and Clem's version was good. Really good. It was actually so good that Naruto was on his feet a moment later, and trying to ignore the pleased look on the girl's face.
"Okay", Naruto told her with a grin of his own, and one that was soon imitated by his best friend. "But it's a secret."
She quickly understood what he meant by that and gave him an excited nod, before turning to a curious looking Kenny and Katjaa. "We are going to go train with kunais", Clem briefly explained the adults, pausing to glance at a pale Duck. She and Naruto grew worried at seeing him in such state, but Kenny prevented them from saying or asking anything about it when he spoke next.
"Why can't you do it here?"
Clem noticed the way Kenny's eyes narrowed and turned to Naruto for support. The latter merely shook his head as a response. "Secret training", was all he told the man before gesturing for his friend to walk with him towards the open wagon, leaving no room for argument.
"But- Ah fuck, go on then. But be careful and don't wander off too far or we'll leave without you!"
"Eep!"
Naruto didn't miss the way Clementine widened her eyes in fear of being left behind and patted her head gently. "Relax. He lies."
"I know, I know", she inhaled deeply and exhaled a moment later, calming down somewhat. "It's just… I'm afraid they'll leave me behind like they did with Lilly. It's a bit silly, I guess."
Suddenly, and upon hearing her words, Naruto inadvertently pulled to a stop, his face twisting into a troubled look as his eyes fell down to the ground below their feet.
'I'm afraid they'll let me behind like they did with Lilly.'
'…I bet you want to hurt me right now, you little demon.'
'He looked like some sort of, I don't know, animal or something. I was scared shitless.'
'Do you think he's involved somehow?'
One after the other, Naruto's mind presented him with fragments of the things he'd heard people saying about him the previous day, making him feel mortified the more he remembered. His thoughts shifted to the stares Lilly would send him back at the motel whenever he was around, or the way Kenny had Duck avoid him out of fear, fear at what he could do to the innocent boy.
It hurt. It hurt so much he couldn't keep pretending he was fine any more.
'Why?' he wondered inwardly, never noticing he was now covering his ears with his hands and keeping his eyes shut, his face twisted into a desperate look. 'Why does everybody think I'm a monster!? Are they going to leave me behind too!?'
"Naruto…?"
'No, I don't want to, please, don't!'
"Naruto, please listen to me!"
"…Huh?"
Amidst all the darkness, fear, despair, anger, sorrow, that kept tormenting his poor mind, Naruto suddenly felt as if someone had walked past all that and stretched a hand in his direction, dissipating all the negative feelings and imbuing him with warmth and love.
That hand belonged to his best friend, to Clem.
She reached down to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. One that soon brought Naruto back to reality.
"C-Clem?"
"You're okay, you're okay", she soothingly whispered as she allowed her small hand to rub his back in a comforting manner.
The blond did only then realize he was crying, wet tears falling down his whiskered cheeks. He hesitated for a moment before allowing himself to return the hug and let out all the pain he'd been experiencing ever since that time back at the St. John's dairy.
"It's going to be okay. I'm here, I won't let you go."
Naruto only seemed to sob harder at her words as he pulled her closer to him, desperate to cling on the comfort she was so willing to provide. Not many people had been there for him when he really needed it throughout his life, but he always knew he could count on Clem. She was only a ten-year-old girl, and yet, she had become so important to him that Naruto feared what would happen if he failed to protect her.
He felt so happy to have her met her that even the thought of going back to Konoha one day paled in comparison.
"Hey! Are you kids all right?", Kenny came running the moment he sensed something was off, with Katjaa looking on from her position with a worried look.
Naruto forced himself to pull away and rub the tears out his eyes with his arm as Clem turned to Kenny with a sad face. "It's Naruto, he's sad."
"I-I'm okay", the aforementioned argued, refusing to meet Kenny in the eye.
"Oh, Naruto", understanding filled the older man's face and his features softened immediately. "This is about what Lilly said, right?"
He realized he was right on track after he noticed the way Naruto trembled at the mention of said woman, and seeing him so worked up about it made him feel even guiltier about the things he himself had done to the kid.
"Listen, it's okay to be upset about it, but if I were you, I wouldn't mind her, that bitch has some serious issues!"
"Swear", Clementine pointed out, though there was a smile on both her face and Kenny's.
"Besides, if there's something you are not, it's a monster. Or whatever was it she called you. It was so random that I forgot."
Naruto sniffed, tilting his head to the side to show his right eye to Kenny. "…Really?"
"Of course! You may be different, but that doesn't mean you are what other people say you are", as he spoke, the man placed a hand on his shoulder and offered him a fatherly smile. "Don't let anyone judge you. Just be who you want to be, as long as you don't hurt other people."
The boy thought long and hard about what the man had told him, his face growing serious for a few minutes until he finally nodded, giving Kenny a determined smile. "Yeah, okay! Thanks Kenny!"
"Anytime kid, now go on. I'll go back to Kat and Duck."
"Yes, let's go, Naruto! You promised you'll teach me!"
Naruto nodded at Clem who was now walking the way of the open wagon, though before leaving he risked a glance towards Kenny and his family. The moment the man took a seat next to Katjaa his face shifted to the previous worried look he'd seen on him before, when they'd just arrived.
His eyes then moved onto Duck. The boy was bitten. He'd heard Lee talking to Katjaa about it, and even though they hadn't really mentioned it, he knew for a fact the only way the boy could look as bad as he did was due to being infected.
Naruto was aware of what would happen to him eventually and felt terrible at knowing there was no escape, no turning back from it. If only he'd been faster, more attentive, none of this would have happened and Duck would be safe and sound, yelling at him to come and play with him.
The blond shook his head. There must be something he could do, anything, that could save Duck's life.
But what, exactly?
"Naruto, come on already!"
"Oh, right!"
Maybe he could come up with something before it was too late.
Naruto and Clem carefully headed for the empty box car, the latter helping his friend get up before going in after her. He took a quick look around and saw the place was a dump. There was dried blood on the floor, a filthy mattress and some blankets, alongside some empty food cans and a couple of boxes in the back. Yes, he resolved, this would do as a training place. He'd seen Lee checking it out before with Carley, so it should be safe and also offer some privacy from prying eyes.
Not that the Uzumaki was planning to teach Clementine any shinobi stuff -he wasn't even sure people there had chakra- just everything he knew about kunais. Lee hadn't been so sure about letting her keep the weapon when she had showed it to him, and it was due to Carley insisting it was alright for Clem to have something to defend herself with that he reluctantly allowed her to keep it.
In any case, it'd better if he didn't find out they were training right away, just to make sure.
Naruto saw Clem looking a bit down as they got here, her eyes examining the blade of the kunai absently, as if lost in thoughts. He was about to ask her if she was okay, when she beat him to it. "Duck's not feeling good", she mumbled, her face falling.
The blond realized where this was going and couldn't help but nod. "Yeah."
"Can you help him?"
"What?"
"I think he's going to become one of those monsters", Clem elaborated. She couldn't help but feel very sad about the fate that awaited the poor boy, yet there was a glimmer of hope in her orbs as she glanced at her friend. "Can you stop it?"
Naruto was taken aback by the suddenness of her question. He'd been thinking about doing something himself, but nothing useful would come to mind. The only thing he could think of was one of those medic-nin his sensei had invited to class one time. Naruto had been fascinated at seeing that woman heal a wounded cat by using some sort of green chakra that got the cat as good as new in no time, and he'd wondered back then if something like that could be easy to learn if you trained hard enough.
His enthusiasm had died soon after Iruka told them healing techniques required exceptional chakra control, which he clearly lacked, and that such a skill could take years to master. Naruto realized back then that there was no way someone would be willing to put up with him in said training, so he quickly lost interest.
But now...
Would a medic-nin be able to prevent a person from turning? Could that really be possible? He didn't understand how it worked; all he knew was that the person doing the healing applied their chakra into the affected area. Why and how exactly, Naruto had no clue. Maybe it was a matter of using the right amount of chakra and keep it flowing until the job was done.
Then again, Iruka had said it was an extremely difficult technique, so there had to be more to it than just that, which meant he could be putting Duck's life in danger if he decided to give it a try and ended up messing things up.
"Naruto?"
The blond shook his head to get rid of those thoughts the moment he realized Clem was still waiting for an answer, and said, "I don't know", he shrugged, his face growing troubled. "Maybe."
"You can?", the hopeful glint he had seen on her eyes before now extended to her entire visage at hearing there was a chance Naruto could save Duck.
Then again, how could he explain to her the risks that putting his crazy idea into practice entailed? He simply didn't have the words to do so, and besides he wasn't really sure it'd work, but if he tried... perhaps...
"It's...", he struggled to find the appropriate term for a moment. He wanted Clem to know it wasn't as easy as she thought it could be, "danger?"
"Dangerous", Clem saw him nodding at the word and grew worried once again. "Can you try at least? Maybe it'll be fine..."
Naruto sighed before scratching his head. Duck would die if he did nothing, and could get even more hurt if things went wrong. But if there was even the slightest chance this could work...
"I... Later, I think."
"Oh", the little girl seemed to understand her friend was asking for a little more time before trying and nodded her head enthusiastically, giving him a smile. "Sure! Thank you so much Naruto. You know... you're kinda like a superhero."
The blond couldn't help but tilt his head to the side at the term she used to describe him. "Superhero?"
"Yup! Like those action figures from the comics. They save innocent people and beat the bad guys. And they have really cool powers too! Like you when you get super angry."
Naruto grinned at that. Superhero... he liked that. He didn't really understand what it meant to be one, but just hearing Clem talk about them as if they were really awesome guys made the blond puff his chest in pride. Was that how she saw him, as a hero that saved people? It made him feel very happy.
"Hehe, thanks Clem", he told her, rubbing his nose.
She just nodded and played with the kunai on her hand, being careful not to hurt herself with it. "Do you want to teach me now?", Clem couldn't help but ask, growing a bit impatient. She'd been waiting for him to teach her how to use a kunai just like he did, and they were finally going to do it that day.
Instead of answering, Naruto pulled his own weapon and twisted it around expertly with his finger. Clem tried to imitate him and failed, much to her embarrassment and the boy's amusement. "Don't laugh", she frowned, noticing he was at the verge of doing so.
"Sorry", was all he said before he held the kunai in a reverse grip on his right hand, stuffing the other hand in his pocket. "Now, come. Kill me."
"W-What?"
Clem was expecting him to burst out laughing and say he was just joking, but when she saw how serious he was all of a sudden, her face grew pale and alarmed. "Attack. Kill me", he patiently said, putting some more distance between them so that both were on opposite sides of the boxcar.
"But... I don't want to hurt you..."
Naruto flashed a reassuring smile her way. "It's okay! Come."
Clementine stood in her place for a few more moments, her eyes analyzing Naruto's expression to see if he actually wanted her to do as he said or was messing around with her. Like before, the Uzumaki just waited for her there, not looking scared in the slightest of what could happen even if she wasn't careful.
"...Okay", the girl took a deep breath and grabbed the kunai with both hands, holding it tight. She tried to calm down her beating heart and took a step forward, and another, and another.
Until she was actually running at the boy, kunai aimed at his heart. Clementine expected him to move and intercept her or do something, anything, but he did nothing. He just stood there and waited for her to attack him. She had shortened the distance that separated them in a second, though at the very last moment, her eyes inadvertently shut in fear of what would happen to her best friend when the kunai connected.
By doing so, Clem failed to see the way Naruto moved out of the way right at the very last second and put his arm on her belly to prevent her from running into the wall. A gasp escaped her lips at the sudden obstacle she felt, and she quickly opened her eyes to see Naruto grinning at her.
"Did I do something wrong?", her face fell at the thought she'd made a mistake, which was soon confirmed by the way the blond chuckled.
"Yes", he told her, raising one finger in front of her face. "One. Eyes open. Always", at seeing her carefully nod, he raised a second finger. "Two. Use one hand. Not two", she repeated the previous gesture, so he raised one more finger. "Three. Don't fear. Enemy don't fear. They hurt you if you fear."
Though his English still needed some work, Clem understood all he wanted to tell her. He was teaching her to be brave, to not hesitate. If she did, either she or someone else close to her would get hurt. She sighed. She could be brave in front of Naruto, but she wasn't sure the same would happen in a real fight or against a walker.
"R-Right. Sorry."
Naruto grinned like a madman. "It's okay! It's okay. You are student today. I'm the sensei."
"Sensei?"
"Teacher", the blond shrugged, making Clem smile. So that's how one said teacher in his language. She'd make sure to remember that word. "Now, ready? Again."
"Yes, sensei!"
The smile Naruto gave her then made Clementine feel instantly happy she'd chosen to call him that way.
Lee had just finished checking on Duck and Katjaa when he noticed neither Naruto nor Clementine were there with them. He looked around for a moment, hoping to find them somewhere close, but didn't see them anywhere and decided to ask the visibly concerned woman sitting on the log.
"Hey, have you seen Naruto and Clem? They were here when I left..."
The man felt instant relief at seeing Katjaa nodding. "Yes, actually, they went on to that boxcar to play for a bit", her eyes then turned to a silent Carley by the man's side, "I thought Kenny had told you."
"He didn't", Carley said, placing a hand on her hip. "He is busy trying to figure out the controls for the train. Said he wants to see if we can go anywhere on it."
"Yeah, won't let anyone get near it, though", Ben added, walking up to them with a disappointed look on his face. It just wasn't fair. Why did he have to keep an eye on the kids and Katjaa while Kenny got to work on a mega cool train?
Lee nodded at that. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like the idea of riding a locomotive towards Savannah, their current destination, but still... they had yet to deal with Duck's current predicament, and the more they waited, the harder it'd be for them to do it. Kenny didn't seem to be in a hurry to sit down and address this problem - his only concern was getting to the coast, and fast.
"Oh, and is that possible?"
"We are looking into it", Lee said, offering Kat a reassuring smile, before turning to Carley. "I'm gonna go and check on the kids."
"Do you want me to come with?"
The man shook his head at the short haired woman. "Nah, it's fine", he gave her a short kiss on the forehead at her thoughtfulness, much to Ben's surprise. "I'll be right back."
As Carley and Ben stood behind with Katjaa and Duck, the ex-news reporter telling Ben to shut up as he started asking her about what Lee just did, the latter made his way to the boxcar he'd been to before. He tried to see if they could spot them inside, but was shocked when he saw an old man standing there instead, his arms folded over his chest as he seemed to be talking to somebody else.
"It's not nice to be inside someone else's home without being invited, ya know?"
Lee instantly frowned and attempted to pull out his gun, ready to stop the intruder from trying anything on whom he suspected were the kids. Just then, he heard a second voice that made him pause just as he was getting to the door. "I'm... We're sorry", it was Clem, and she sounded scared.
"Hmm, did you take anything from here?"
Lee was about to go in and take that guy out but a hand on his shoulder prevented him from moving. He hurriedly glanced over his shoulder and calmed down at seeing Carley behind him. "What's going on!?", she whispered, pulling him to the side of the boxcar so that the intruder wouldn't spot them.
"I don't know", Lee whispered back. "Looks like an old man is threatening the kids!"
"What?"
From the inside, Clem's careful voice made both adults stop talking and listen in silence. "No..."
"No", Naruto answered next, though he sounded cautious, ready to step up and protect Clem if that man tried anything stupid. Not that Lee or Carley were planning to let him, anyway. They were waiting for the right moment to catch him by surprise.
Though everybody was surprised at what his reaction to those answers turned out to be.
"Okay then", was all he said, before his dirt covered face twisted into a friendly expression. "Name's Chuck. And you two are...?"
"...Clementine."
"Naruto."
"Huh, weird name, that", Lee and Carley exchanged a confused look as they heard the old man chuckling to himself. "You kids want some candy?"
"Candy?"
"Yes please!", Lee frowned at hearing Clementine so naively accepting stuff from a stranger. That wasn't what he'd taught her to do! "It's okay Naruto. Candy is just food. Reaaally tasty."
"Oh, okay. Sure."
Both adults hiding outside decided they had heard enough and stepped out of cover, jumping onto the boxcar. "What's going on here?", was the first thing Lee said once his eyes took sight of the kids and the old man standing in front of them.
Clementine jumped a little at seeing Lee coming out of nowhere, but was soon smiling at him. "Lee! You're back! We heard the train, is it moving?", she couldn't help but ask, with Naruto looking a bit unsure by her side. Carley thought she saw a bit of fear on his face, though it was gone a moment later.
"We'll see about that, Clem", Lee crossed his arms and turned to 'Chuck', who was curiously staring at them. "Who are you?"
"Chuck", he simply replied. "Charles, if you're fancy."
Lee raised an eyebrow in suspicion. The kids didn't seem to be scared of the newcomer, not even Naruto, who'd usually be the first to voice his opinion when he felt they were dealing with bad people like the St. Johns. Instead, both Clem and Naruto were happily munching on some candy they'd been just given by the old man, a sight that made their guardian relax a bit.
"Lee."
"And I'm Carley."
"Nice to meet ya'll then", Chuck nodded with a smile, dusting off his pants. He was carrying an acoustic guitar on the back, and his clothes looked old and dirty, but overall, he seemed an okay guy. Lee wasn't about to lower his guard though. "Those folks out there with you?"
Both Carley and Lee glanced at each other before the latter shrugged. "Yes."
"And the one at the front?"
"Him too."
"All right", the old man seemed pleased at what he heard. "I think I have yet to introduce myself to that lady and kid out there, so I'll go ahead and do so then", without giving them a chance to reply, Chuck climbed down the boxcar and started walking away, though not before adding, "by the way, I can offer you what I have, though it ain't much. You look like good people, and these two have spirit."
He gestured towards the grinning pair of Clem and Naruto before finally walking away, sitting down by Ben and Katjaa and engaging in conversation. Lee eyed him for a moment longer before he finally tore his eyes away from him and towards Carley.
"So... what do you think?"
The woman folded her arms over her chest and frowned in thought. "I don't know. He seems all right, I guess. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful around him", as Lee nodded in agreement, she noticed the children were looking their way with curiosity written all over their faces and smiled. "You two okay?"
"Yeah, Naruto was teaching me how to protect myself with the kunai he gave me", for emphasis, she pulled the blade out of the holster Carley had made for her and showed it to them. "This one. I think I'm making good progress. Well, kinda."
By her side, the blond grinned and gave her a thumbs up, showing that that was indeed the case much to the girl's happiness. Both adults smiled at the scene, though Lee couldn't avoid but feel slightly worried at seeing Clem holding such a dangerous weapon. "Okay sweet pea, but be careful with that. It's sharp."
"It's very sharp", Clem agreed, not looking troubled about that in the slightest. "But I like it."
"Huh, I'd say Naruto has been doing a good job if you feel confident", Carley couldn't help but note, her smile turning the blond's way. "Who would have thought he would make such a good teacher."
As the aforementioned had the decency of looking mildly embarrassed about the attention he was getting, Clementine couldn't help but nod her head with a big grin on her face. "Yes! He's the best! He's patient and nice to me even when I make a mistake", Naruto blushed at the praise, but said nothing. All he could manage was an awkward chuckle as he proceeded to rub the back of his head.
"We don't doubt it Clem", Lee added with a smile. He found it amusing that the blond would get so embarrassed at being praised, given that he was usually a very centered kid. "Anyway, I'm going to keep working on the train now. Naruto, keep Clem close and be ready to leave soon. I'm hoping we can get this thing moving in no time."
Naruto gave him a careful nod and it was then that Lee and Carley hoped off the boxcar in the direction opposite to where they'd come from. They wanted to check on the derailed wagon behind the one the kids were on, and see if there was some way to detach it from the train. After all, that was the last obstacle that needed to be removed before the train could finally get moving.
It didn't take long for Lee to figure out a way to detach the wagon that was keeping them from leaving, having already followed the instructions on how to start the engine he'd found at the front, near that dead driver. At first, Lee wasn't sure whether what he was doing would work. He was careful to read each step as many times as possible so that he wouldn't mess up anything while toying around with controls that were way out of his league.
He was relieved beyond words at soon realizing the train was in proper condition and hearing the engine roar to life. Kenny especially had been ecstatic, putting all his worries and fears aside as he told Lee they should hurry and leave, though not before going back to let everyone know they would continue their journey by train.
Naruto had looked unsure for a moment, asking Clem if it was really safe. She'd giggled at his question and told him that a train was like a car, just bigger and faster. The blond wasn't really reassured by what he heard, but he agreed that it'd be better to travel like that than on foot.
Kenny had then asked Chuck if he wanted a ride, sincerely curious as to what the old man thought about joining them. His initial answer had been a shrug of his shoulders, before he said, "well, seeing as though you're taking my home... I might as well go with you. Besides, I'm kinda tired of being on my own."
Nobody had argued with that, and a few moments later, everyone except Lee, Kenny, Katjaa and Duck got up into the box car, ignoring the way Katjaa's face fell at hearing Duck tremble on her arms and gasp for air.
"He's getting sicker", the woman said, deciding to be upfront about their son with Kenny. After all, there was no denying it any further, and he was their responsibility. Which meant they had to deal with it themselves, no matter how much it hurt.
Kenny however felt she was overreacting. "Let me take a look at him", he expected him to be a little pale and tired overall, hence why he was genuinely shocked at seeing Duck looking like a ghost and barely aware of his surroundings. His face betrayed his previous conviction and twisted into a terrified look for a moment, something that both his wife and Lee didn't fail to notice.
"He doesn't have much time, we need to think about what's going to happen soon", Lee mumbled, feeling devastated. He hated being the one to say it, but he knew they needed to hear it. Even though the man next to him glared furiously at him for saying so.
"Nothing's gonna happen to him, Lee! We'll just stick to the plan and get somewhere BETTER. Now, I'll be up front. I don't wanna hear any more nonsense until we get where we are goin'."
Lee was about to retort and tell him denial wouldn't get them anywhere, but Kenny storming away prevented him from even opening his mouth. He made haste to the driver's cabin and slammed the door behind him. Katjaa and Lee glanced at each other, their look one of mutual understanding. No words were exchanged between them as they finally entered the box car before the train departed.
Once inside, Lee was mildly amused at seeing Naruto holding onto Clem with a little uncertainty in his eyes. She had patted his head and told him it'd be okay, that she too was a bit scared of it, when suddenly the train pulled forward, slowly at first, but gaining momentum with every passing minute.
Soon, the RV had been left behind and they were making their way directly to Savannah, their next destination.
To be continued…
With Naruto now teaching Clementine how to use a kunai, what else could the future have in store for her? Of course, I have the answer and it's going to be good, I promise. I have big plans for Clem too, not just Naruto. Also, Lee x Carley is a pairing I've always wanted to write. And though the focus won't be on them, their relationship will definitely grow stronger.
As always, let me know what you thought of this chapter. Next time, the group will continue on their way to Savannah. Important steps will be taken to ensure not only Clem, but Naruto are prepared to face the world.
Until next we meet each other again.
Luke.