"Vernon, get out here! There doesn't have to be any trouble here! All I want is the girl! Give her back and nobody needs to get hurt!"
"Lee?"
"Ellie, are you alright? Where are you? Vernon, you son of a bitch."
"Hello, Lee."
"Who is this?"
"It's not Vernon, if that's what you're thinking. And you should really watch your tone. Ellie's fine. But if I were you, I'd choose my next words very carefully."
"What do you want from me?" Lee asked. "Whatever it is, I'll do it and you can let her go."
"I want you to never hurt anybody again. This isn't a kidnapping, Lee."
"Then what is it?"
"A rescue," the stranger replied, before the radio cut off.
Lee stares at the walkie talkie. "Just hold on, Ellie. I'm coming for you.
Kenny walks up behind Lee. "Don't worry, pal. We'll get her back."
Lee turns around to face the group. Christa looks at his wrist where the bite is. "How's that feeling?"
"Not great. My hand is hot and it's thumping a little bit," he replied.
"You seem okay for now," Kenny said.
"Yeah, totally," Omid agreed.
"We don't have a lot of time," Christa said.
The group turns around to see walkers heading towards the door.
"We're about to have a lot less! We'll all make sure nothing gets in," Kenny said. He turns to Lee. "You're still the smartest fucker outta all of us. Try to find another way out of here."
Lee looks around for a way out. He opens a cupboard and finds a rib spreader. "Looks like a car jack... I don't want to imagine this being used on a body," He picks it up and heads over to where the door is. He places the rib spreader in between the doors. He Lee cranks the rib spreader and the elevator doors open. Lee falls down and loses consciousness. He partially wakes up when the others find him lying on the floor.
"Fuck! Is he alive?" Kenny asked.
"Shit," Christa said.
"This is bad..." Omid trails off.
"Fuck!"
"Help me move him!" Christa said.
The group move Lee to one of the operating tables.
"Okay... This has to be done... Sorry, pal, I gotta do it..."
Lee wakes up and sees Kenny holding a bonesaw above his arm. "I'm awake!"
"Stop! He's awake!" Christa warns.
"He's still bitten!" Kenny stated.
"So?!"
"This about trying to save him! At the very least, buy him some time."
"Do we have to cut it off, though?" Ben asked.
"Do we know it works?" Omid asked.
"We don't know anything," Kenny replied.
"Is there gonna be a lot of blood?" Ben asked.
"There's gonna be a shitload of blood," Christa stated.
"What if he dies?" Omid asked.
"Then the rest of us go after Ellie and get the hell out of Savannah," Christa answered.
"Damn right. Let's do this. If there's a chance it stops you from turning, we have to take it!"
Lee sits back up. "Hey, I'm laying right here."
"Sorry," Kenny apologised.
"It's not really our call anymore," Christa explained.
"Yeah, no shit."
"If we take off the arm and you don't die of blood loss, well, maybe you won't die from the bite," Omid said.
"What do you think?" Kenny asked.
"No. We leave it," Lee answered.
"Are you sure?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah, I feel like I've got time; just keep an eye on me. If I get my hands on the bastard who's got Ellie, I'm going to be happy to have them both."
"But...you're gonna die," Omid said.
"Yeah, but not in here. You guys keep an eye on that door, I'll work on getting us out of here."
"Lee-" Christa starts.
Lee cuts Christa off. "No. This is what we're doing and I don't want to hear anything else, okay?"
Christa nods. The group go back to watching the door while Lee goes back to the elevator door. Lee cranks open the rib spreader and the doors open and the device falls down. Lee pushes the doors open more. Lee looks up the ladder. "Alright, up we go."
"We're going to have to go as quiet as possible and see if we can make it to an empty floor or even the roof," Christa said.
"Sounds good."
The group begin to climb up the ladder.
"Nice and quiet, everybody..." Omid whispered.
"There's some light up there..." Kenny said.
"Good. I gotta get my ass off this ladder," Lee replied.
A walker falls down the ladder, past the group.
"Oh, man, oh, jeez..."
"Shut the fuck up, Ben," Kenny whispered.
"Everything okay up there?" Lee asked.
"I think I just peed myself," Ben replied.
"So, yes, then."
Lee suddenly passes out and lets go of the ladder, his legs getting stuck in the rungs and preventing him from falling.
"Lee! Lee! Oh, God, are you alive?" Christa asked. "Get up!"
Lee regains consciousness and finds him hanging upside from the ladder. "I'm alive... I think."
"You have to pull yourself up!" Christa tells him.
Lee manages to pull himself up and starts climbing the ladder again. The group reach the roof of the hospital. They look down to find the streets filled with walkers.
"Remember when Savannah was empty?" Kenny asked.
"Those Crawford bastards did one thing right, I guess," Christa replied.
"There must be thousands of them," Kenny stated.
"Did they follow us here?" Ben asked.
"It sure seems like it," Kenny answered.
"That's crazy, they can't track. They just roam," Christa said.
"Is it?" Kenny asked. "That fucking train wasn't exactly discreet."
"Well, what do we do now?" Omid asked.
"Ellie's out there, somewhere, gobbled up in all of that," Lee mentioned.
"We'll get to her, Lee. We'll do whatever we have to," Christa assures him.
"Look, let's get our bearings and see if we can figure out a way to make it across town. Good? Good," Kenny said.
Lee picks up a ladder and heads over to where the bell tower is. He places the ladder over the gap between the roof and the belltower.
Christa walks over to Lee. "The bells..." she trails off.
"Yeah, could buy us some time. Draw as many as we can this way, get down off the roof on the opposite side and bust our asses getting back to the mansion," Lee said.
Kenny walks over to Lee. "You think you should be the one to go?" he asked.
"My leg's feeling better, let me do it," Omid said.
"I'll do it," Ben spoke up.
"Yeah, Ben'll do it," Kenny agreed.
"If we have to decide who takes a risk like this, it should be the buy who's got the least to lose. What's the worst that could happen, I get bitten again?" Lee said. Everyone looks down. "So we're agreed, then," Lee asked.
Lee climbs up the ladder. When he gets halfway across the ladder, the extensions of it starts to break. "Oh, shit!" Lee jumps to the belltower as the ladder falls onto the street below, crushing a walker. "Ah, fuck," Lee muttered.
"Holy shit, man!" Omid shouted.
"Are you okay?" Christa asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lee replied.
Lee pulls the rope to ring the bell. Walkers start move toward the sound. Lee looks down the gap between the bell tower and the roof. He then looks at the others. "I think I have to jump! There's no way back!"
"You can make it! It ain't that far!" Kenny shouted.
"You got this. You got this, motherfucker," Lee whispered to himself.
Lee backs up to the other side of the bell tower and then runs back to the other side and jumps. He grabs grabs onto the ledge on the other side and pulls himself up.
"Good goddamn leap, pal!" Kenny praised him. "Let's get the hell off this roof!" he tells the rest of the group. They run across the roof and go down the fire escape.
The group returns to the house. Lee shoots a walker nearby. They reach the shed, and see that the door is open and the boat is gone.
"Holy..." Christa trailed off.
"What the fuck?! Come on. Just... come the fuck on!" Kenny said, angrily.
"Well, we're not coming back here after we find Ellie," Christa stated.
"Who? Fuck! How could this happen?" Kenny asked.
"This was Vernon," Lee said.
"You think so?" Christa asked.
"Definitely," Lee replied.
Omid finds a note in the shed. "Lee's right. It was Vernon and that support group."
"No fucking way! The invalids?!" Kenny shouted.
"Their actions, uh..." Omid trails off. "Contradict your characterization, but yeah, the invalids."
"He's right. They're not invalids. They're just people. People who have been dealing with shitty situations even longer than we have. No wonder they got the jump on us," Christa said.
Kenny scoffs. "I don't give a fuck if their Make-A-Wish was a fucking boat ride, when I find 'em, I'm gonna rip their throats out."
"I can't believe they did this to us," Lee said.
"It's sick! It really is. They use your goddamn sympathy for sick folks and then stab us right in the back," Kenny said, angrily.
"They didn't "use" shit, they did what anybody would've done. They've been living like ghosts forever and they were fed up. That's it," Christa said.
Omid looks at the note again. "He says he feels bad about leaving Ellie behind, but the boat was an opportunity they couldn't pass up."
"Vernon probably planned this out the second he laid eyes on that boat," Christa explained.
"They fucked us!"
"Omid, can you go over the fence and let us into the backyard?" Christa asked. "We shouldn't be out in the open."
"Yeah," Omid said before leaving to open the gate.
"This is not happening. Everything is so fucked!" Kenny said.
"Ellie is still out there," Christa said.
"So we get Ellie and then what?" Kenny asked.
"We get the fuck out of cities. I'm done with cities. We go into the countryside and make a go of it," Christa replied.
"Yeah, that seems like a good idea to me," Ben agreed.
"Nobody asked you," Kenny snapped.
"You just did."
"Don't get fucking smart with me, Ben."
"Chill," Christa said.
"Do you remember we had a boat?! A boat!" Kenny shouted.
"Christa's right. The boat was a pipe dream; we still go after Ellie and then we all get out of Savannah and rethink our entire plan," Lee said.
"Rethink?! How about we just think for once?"
"That what I'm saying we do! Calm down, Kenny."
"Yeah, chill," Ben said. Kenny glares at him.
Omid opens the door of the shed leading into the backyard.
"We can do this in the yard," Christa said.
"Ben, I swear to God..." Kenny said following Ben into the backyard.
Everyone but Christa and Lee enter the backyard. "What do we do without a boat?" Christa asked.
"Get to the countryside. We've dicked around with cities and coastlines and boats too long. Take her out there and live as safe as you can, okay?"
"Look. I agree with you, I think out in the country is the safest place to be. But you're not dead yet, so put a pin in that, okay?"
Christa and Lee enter the backyard to see that Kenny and Ben are arguing.
"Where the hell do you get off?" Kenny asked.
"I'm just saying we should all chill, not just you," Ben replied.
"Chill? Lee's bitten and God knows how long he has left, Clementine is who the fuck knows, and we're robbed of the only hope we've had!"
"So?"
"So, Lee should've left your ass in Crawford! We got enough problems!"
"Fuck you, Kenny!" Ben snapped. "I am so, so, so sorry about Katjaa and Duck. I am! And I know I fucked up, but stop pushing me around and stop wishing I was dead!"
Kenny opens his mouth to speak but Ben cuts him off. "No! You know how they died. You've said goodbye, I never got to see my family, my parents, my little sister... do you get that? Your family is gone, but at least you had them to lose. I never made it home. They could be alive or dead or walkers or worse and I don't know! So give me a fucking break!"
Kenny looks at Ben sympathetic. "Oh, Ben, I'm-" A herd of walkers approach the house.
The group run into the house. "They shouldn't be able to get into the backyard, right?" Kenny asked. He hears the walkers getting closer. "Maybe not."
Lee gives orders to the rest of the group to help secure the house. Soon walkers start coming through so the group run upstairs. They get cornered in the hallway and starts shooting the walkers until they start to run out of ammo. Lee pulls the string that opens the attic door and everyone goes up into the attic. He closes the attic door.
"That could've gone better," Kenny said.
"Everyone okay?" Christa asked.
"Lee's still bitten."
"Shut up."
"Okay, let's get out of here and keep moving," Omid said.
"Kid's right; we gotta keep moving. Think there's any chance we get Clem and catch up to those goddamn thieves?" Kenny asked.
"I don't know. Maybe," Lee answered.
Omid looks out the attic window. "Well, we're not going out through this window. No latches, no roof access, and thirty feet straight down."
"Anyone have any ideas?" Kenny asked.
Omid looks at a statue bust. "I bet this guy would. He's got a resourceful air about him."
"Knock it off," Christa said.
Omid begins to read the plaque on the bust. "Dixon Kent III, industrial-"
"Omid."
"Christa! I'm just trying to lighten the fucking tone."
"We need solutions, not stupid jokes!" she snapped. "I'm sorry."
"So, no ideas then," Kenny said.
"There's gotta be another way," Lee said.
"Check the floor for any other access, a vent, anything," Christa said.
"Or we wait for the house to clear out and stick to the high ground," Kenny suggested. "Whoa, Lee, you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm gonna...have to...just..." Lee passes out and wakes up a short time later. The walkie talkie crackles again and Ellie talks. "Lee. Lee. Lee! Lee! Lee! I'm okay, I'm at some hotel that begins with an M I think- oh, no!"
Lee grabs the radio and stands up. "She must be at the Marsh House. It's the only hotel I can think of that begins with an M."
"We need to start thinking about more than just Ellie when it comes to our...urgency," Kenny said.
"What do you mean?" Omid asked.
"How do we get out of here?"
"That's the whole point; we don't know."
"Okay, now your life depends on it. How do you get out of here?"
"I don't know. I don't get it."
"Stop it. We can't panic," Lee said.
"How long you think we have?" Kenny asked.
"What?" Lee looks down at the bite on his wrist. "I...I don't know."
"We should've cut it off. At least then there would've been a chance."
"Well, you didn't, and it's too late now."
"I think we need to have... an "adult" conversation about what happens if Lee takes another spill."
"Hey, look..." Omid starts.
Kenny cuts him off. "We could be looking at a Larry situation here."
"Who's Larry?" Christa asked.
"It don't matter," Kenny replied.
"He looks fine to me..." Omid said.
"Okay, what do you wanna do?" Lee asked.
"Just... talk about it," Kenny answered.
"Does that conversation end with me getting something dropped on my head?"
"Now, hey..."
"Guys. I don't know what happened before Omid and I showed up, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it," Christa said.
"Lee, I'm not advocating anything here, but how is this not a thing? We're all so worked up about Ellie that we're forgetting what the fuck happened to you!"
"My arm is not the issue. I'm not the problem. The five hundred walkers in the house and no door in this room are the goddamn problem."
"Yeah, maybe at the moment... but who's to say when it becomes an issue? And at that point, there may not be any time left to deal with it!"
"This is getting out of hand..." Omid said.
"You're gonna listen to me! We will get Ellie back, with or without you. Because I haven't given up everything to die because we were stupid," Kenny said.
"You're not touching me. Do you understand that?" Lee asked. "You know exactly what to do if I turn and that's enough. Do you hear me?"
"You might become one of them. Do you understand that? How can you be fucking calm about that?!" Kenny snapped.
Lee picks up the statue and throws it at the wall.
"You ruined that dude's face," Omid said.
"Shut up, sweetie. Look," Christa said, pointing at the wall where Lee threw the statue.
Kenny examines the hole in the wall and pulls out another chunk of the wall. "It's corroded to hell."
"What's on the other side of this wall, a thirty-foot drop?" Christa asked.
"No, this mansion butts up against the one next door," Omid replied.
"I'll be damned."
Lee picks up a coat rack and smashes the wall with it, then inspects the damage. "This wall ain't shit."
"Is this really possible?" Omid asked.
Kenny smashes the wall with the coat rack. "Yeah. We can do this."
"Okay," Lee said.
"We'll work in shifts. Omid, Christa, and I. Lee, you rest. We have to work fast."
Kenny continues breaking the wall with the coat rack.
"I'm sorry," Lee apologised.
"Me too. I get it. Go sit down," Kenny said.
Lee sits on one of the couches across from Christa and Omid. Ben sits on the floor in the corner.
"I'm glad you told us when you got bitten, it would've been easy not to," Christa spoke.
"Yeah, well..."
"We probably would've let you go alone if you hadn't told us. Which would've been a mistake."
"If I were you I would've been scared shitless," Omid said.
"I am"
"And when it happened?" Omid asked.
"I panicked. But now, I feel it inside me. Like the day before you get the flu."
"That's horrible."
"You wish you would've taken it off?" Christa asked.
"Don't think it matters much now. I'm losing a lot of feeling in it," Lee replied.
"Really?" Omid asked.
"Yeah. It's hot, like when you break a bone, but tingly, like it's asleep." Lee answered.
"So when we get this guy, what do you think?" Omid asked.
"We figure out who he is and why he's doing this; we can rescue Ellie, but she won't be safe if this guy's not gonna stop."
"So, did your crew get into any shit before you met up with us?" Omid asked.
"Is it possible to have survived and not gotten into some shit?"
"And... you know... whatever happens to you... uh..." Omid trails off.
"Seriously, can we not talk like that?" Christa asked. "The entire time we were at the hospital I could sense you think you're as good as dead."
"I'm bitten, Christa. We all know that's a wrap."
"There's gotta be somethin'."
"I want you guys to take her," Lee said suddenly.
"Stop it," Christa said.
"I'm serious. She'd be safe and relatively happy with you two."
"We're not doing this right now."
"Christa, listen to him," Omid said.
"It's what I want, okay?"
Omid looks over at Ben. "What about him?"
"We gotta support him. He's only a kid still; it's easy to forget that," Lee said.
"He lose his shit like that often?" Omid asked.
"No, that was a first," Lee replied.
"It's good that he did; Kenny couldn't pull that shit on me," Christa said.
"The kid killed his family, so there's been some tension there," Lee explained.
"Really? What happened?" Omid asked.
"Kenny's son got bitten during a raid by some gang that Ben was secretly helping. They used him. Kenny's wife... died because of their son."
"Jesus..." Christa muttered.
Kenny approaches the group. "Alright, I'm outta gas. You look good and rested."
"Sure, if you don't count an infected leg," Omid said, rubbing his leg.
"You want me to do it?" Christa asked.
"Nah, hon, you can hop in after me."
Omid takes over smashing the wall with the coat rack. Kenny takes a seat next to Christa. "Shouldn't be long now. It's good we're forced to take a breath... I still can't believe you went and got chomped. Just... fucking hell.
"At least he told us," Christa mentioned.
"Took some brass. I don't think I woulda," Kenny puts his head in his hand.
"How are you?" Christa asked.
"I'm... I don't know how to answer that," Kenny replied.
"I'm sorry. You've lost more than anyone. Well, as much as anyone."
"Lee's family's gone, too."
"It'll be alright, Ken," Lee said.
"Why you acting like what's happened ain't happened?" Kenny asked. "Anyway, I appreciate it, from both of you. A lot of us have lost families."
The group look over at Ben. "Maybe take it easy on him from here on out," Lee said.
"I'm angry as hell," Kenny said.
"Not at him."
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"You heard him outside."
"I did. I never really thought about it that way," Kenny leans down and takes a whiskey bottle out of a cardboard box nearby. "This guy tell you much about what we been through?"
"Bits and pieces," Christa answered.
"Before y'all, we had this woman, Lilly, with us. Lord knows where she is now. Anyway, we had to...make some tough calls with her dad. She came between Lee and I pretty good, and I spent a lot of nights hating this guy's guts."
"I'm sorry for hurting you in any way, Kenny. It's impossible to go through life without causing some sorta pain, but sometimes I can't help but wonder if I coulda caused a little less."
"You and me both, doc. Well, cheers." Kenny takes a sip and offers the bottle to Lee. Lee takes a sip and passes the bottle back. Kenny offers the bottle to Christa. She hesitates for a while, then grabs the bottle and takes a drink.
"I'm through." Omid sets down the coat rack and looks through the medium-sized hole in the wall. "No walkers. Things are looking up."
Everyone goes through the wall and drops down into the the other mansion. The group look around the room. "Everyone keep a goddamn eye out," Kenny said.
"This place seems pretty sealed off. Well," Christa said, glancing at the bed.
Two corpses holding hands lie in the bed, a gun in one of their hands, and their blood and brains splattered on the pillows.
"God..." Kenny trailed off.
"Let's keep moving. We gotta go," Lee said.
"Yeah. We've seen so many people... I don't know why these ones break my heart," Christa said, sadly.
"What's heartbreakin' is not givin' yourself a chance. It's what Katjaa did."
"Jesus... I'm sorry, Ken," Lee whispered.
"She left me... my son... The people that cared about us... I forgive her, but it don't make it any less wrong. You don't just end it cause it's hard. You stick it out, and you help the folks you care about. So let's figure a way outta here and get that little girl," Kenny takes the gun from the corpse. "Got at least one shot left."
"Let's clear the room before we move on. Lee, figure out where we're headed," Christa said.
Lee opens the balcony door.
"Nothing other than personal items in here," Christa stated.
"Looks like we can stay off the streets all the way to River Street if we're careful," Kenny said.
Lee gets onto the railing of the balcony and jumps to the other roof. Omid jumps next, then Christa, then Kenny follows, loosening the railing. Ben gets on the railing, but it collapses.
"Ben!" Lee shouted.
Ben screams and falls to the alleyway below.
"Me and my fuckin' mouth..." Kenny muttered.
"Holy fuck! What are we gonna do?!" Omid asked.
Kenny climbs down a ladder on the side of the building.
"Stay up here. Keep an eye out," Lee ordered Christa and Omid.
"Okay, but I can't see much from up here," Omid said.
"Just let us know if they start coming down the alley. We'll be back."
"Be..." Christa starts to say before Lee runs off. "Careful," she finishes.
Lee follows Kenny to see Ben lying on the ground, covered in debris. "Ow! I'm okay... I'm okay, just get me out of here..."
"Shh! Quiet, Ben, or they'll be on top of us," Lee whispered.
"Yeah, try to keep your mouth shut!" Kenny said.
"I'm sorry, just get me up... My leg's hurt, I think."
"We're gonna get your ass up," Kenny said.
"Really? I thought you-"
Kenny takes the debris off Ben, and they realize he has a piece of rebar impaling his stomach. "Fucking hell..."
"What is it?" Ben asked. "I'm okay... I'm okay..."
"We can get you up. We can..." Kenny tries to pull Ben off the rebar and Ben screams. Kenny stops pulling Ben off.
"He's quiet. We can take our time and save his life," Lee said.
"I can be super quiet-"
Walkers take notice and start to approach.
"Fuck!" Kenny tries again to free Ben, but fails, and his screams attract more walkers.
"Oh, God, don't let them get to me!" he pleaded.
Kenny draws his gun. "Do you have any bullets left?! This has only got one left in it."
"I'm out!" Lee said.
"Shit! Get the fuck out of here."
"What?!"
"Go back! She needs you, Lee!"
"Kenny!"
"This is not a discussion!"
"Okay, I'm going!"
"Good! Get back up there! Now!"
Kenny shoots Ben and Lee climbs up the ladder back to the roof top. The herd of walkers now covered the alley and Kenny can't be seen anymore.
Christa runs over to Lee once he gets up the the roof. "What happened?!"
Lee walks past her. "They're gone," he admitted. "Goddamn... God," Lee puts his hand on his head.
"I heard a shot," Christa said.
"Kenny made sure that Ben didn't feel any more pain than he had to," Lee said.
"Wha- what?" Omid asked.
"It was Ben's biggest fear, you know? Kenny had one bullet and that's how he used it. God, poor fucking kid," Lee said.
"You saw them die?" Christa asked.
"Nobody was getting out of there," Lee answered.
"I'm sorry, Lee."
"Well, maybe he did get away. I don't know."
"We should go."
"Right behind you."
Sometime later, it's almost sunset and the group walks across the rooftops.
"Do you want to talk?" Christa asked.
"Nothing to say. We need to stay focused on what we're doing," Lee responded.
"I know we can't just take a minute, but... you're not a machine," Christa said. "Look, Lee, this is a shitty time, but I want to clear something up."
"What is it?" he asked.
"Now with Kenny...gone...means Omid and I have to stay safe. For her."
"You guys would be great for her. Keep her safe."
"We'd do our best, you know that."
They reach the end of the roof and in front of them is a makeshift bridge of planks that leads to the next roof.
"Fuck, be careful across here," Christa warns.
The group crosses the bridge. They come across a hole in the roof; the room below is full of walkers.
"Whoa, careful," Omid said.
"Even the buildings are full..." Christa said.
"They never know where their next meal is."
Lee glares at him. "No. They don't."
"I... I didn't mean-" Omid stuttered.
"It's fine. Let's go."
They reach River Street, which is swarming with walkers. The only way to the next roof is over a sign saying "Maccabe Imports".
"The Marsh House hotel is around the corner up the block. We have to cross here," Lee stated.
"Well, at least it doesn't look like a death trap," Omid joked, while Christa glared him. "Who's going first?" he asked.
"You've got a busted leg, and Christa is walkin' for two. I'm obviously not doing so hot. Decision doesn't make itself," Lee said. "You two should go across first."
"You're the lightest, Omid. I'll follow right after you," Christa said.
Omid starts to climb across the sign. Christa turns around to face Lee. "I meant what I said, about Ellie."
"I didn't doubt it. I appreciate it," he said.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
Lee looks down at his wrist. "Good enough."
Omid reaches the next rooftop. "Christa, you next!" he shouts across.
Christa climbs across the sign. When she's almost to the rooftop, the sign breaks and falls. Christa manages to hang onto the remaining piece still attached to the building and climbs up to the roof.
"What are you gonna do?!" Omid shouted across to Lee.
"Fuck it. I'm going for it," Lee said.
"Going for it?" Omid asked.
"What does that mean?" Christa asked.
"It means I'm already bitten! I just have to push my way through," Lee replied.
"What the fuck?!" Omid shouted.
"Find me when you get down!" Lee said.
"What the fuck does that mean?!" Omid asked.
"It means what it sounds like! Hotel's around the corner! Find Ellie and me as soon as you can!"
"You're crazy!" Christa said.
"There's no other way!"
Lee climbs down to the street. He takes out his cleaver and steps on some shards of glass. He picks up a shard and holds it tightly. It cuts him and blood runs down the glass and his hand. Lee begins to walk through the herd, killing walkers and getting covered in their blood.
He enters the hotel and opens a door to find an empty room. He looks at the door, which has a rope tied to its handle and connected to the closet door. He turns around and sees the stranger pointing a gun at him.
"I got us adjoining rooms," the stranger said.
"Hello," Lee said, calmly.
"Okay, this is civil. You look horrible," the stranger said. He gestures with his gun, "Go over there." Lee takes a few steps to the side. "Put your things down," the stranger ordered.
Ellie bangs on door. "Let me out! who's out there?"
The stranger puts the gun next to Lee's face and puts his finger on his lips. "Shh."
"Quiet, please, sweetie!" the stranger said. He looks at Lee. "Your things," he gestures with his gun again, "There."
"Just be cool," Lee said.
"Do I not seem cool?" the stranger asked.
Lee puts his cleaver and radio on the table.
"Good. Go sit down."
Lee and the stranger sit in chairs facing opposite each other.
"Do you know who I am?" the stranger asked.
"No. I don't know anything about you," Lee replied.
"You wouldn't. People like you don't. Now you're thinking, "Who would have it out for me?" huh? A few weeks back, there might have been a station wagon in the forest? Full of all sorts of food, water, things you need to survive. Yeah. I'm not some cannibal, Lee. Some killer out in the woods. Some...villain. I'm just a...dad. I coach little league."
"Everything was just out there for the taking. We were starving. Do you-"
"For the taking?!" the stranger cuts Lee off. "Do you know what you took from me?!" he snapped.
"I'm sorry. Whatever it is, whatever happened, you have to hear that I'm sorry," Lee apologised.
"That doesn't mean anything to me. I wish it did. I'm not a bad man. I don't believe in vengeance, but I've got nothing left." The stranger takes a deep breath. "Have you ever hurt somebody you care about?"
"Not on purpose," Lee answered.
"If it were on purpose, you'd be sociopath... I hurt her so bad. My son, Adam, went missing. I took him out hunting even though my wife said he was too young. I figured he had to learn. I came back without him and the look on her face said... "You are a monster." We all went out looking for him. We never found him. I hurt her so bad. Then you took all of our things. You robbed us. I could've earned her trust back, Lee, but not after that."
"I'm sorry."
"The hungrier we got, the more she blamed me. Until she finally took our daughter, Elizabeth, and left. They didn't get far... I... found them a day later. In the road. Do I look like a monster to you?" the stranger asked.
"No."
"I'm not like you. You killed a man with a pitchfork right in front of a little girl."
"I did what I had to."
"You let a boy get yanked out of a window and into the night so you could protect a pretty girl with a gun."
"You weren't there."
"The sweatshirt she's wearing was my boy's! You stole that from us!"
"That's not the whole story."
"The whole story?!" the stranger snapped.
"How could you know all this?" Lee asked.
The stranger sets his radio down on the coffee table. "You're a monster. You're a murderer and a thief and I'm gonna hurt you so bad."
"Just give me Ellie back," Lee pleads.
"I'd rather kill her myself. Because that's what will happen if she goes with you. After I heard Ellie on the radio and realized who you folks were, I came after you purely for revenge," the stranger admitted. "But the more I heard about the things you did and the danger she was in, our plan changed. Lee, listen to me. I need you to hear this before what happens next. I can take care of her. We can have a family. I bet you don't even know how old she is."
"She's eight."
"Wrong. She's nine."
"But-"
The stranger cuts Lee off. "Her birthday was six days ago. I know how to be a dad, you know? She wouldn't be exposed to what she has been with you."
"Look... I was bitten," Lee admitted.
"You were what?" he asked.
"Yeah. I probably don't have a whole lot of time."
"Wow. Okay, then."
"No, you're not taking her." Lee said, sternly.
"Lee..."
"I said no."
The stranger leans down and looks in the bag at his feet. "Hey, honey. I think this is all going to work out."
"What are you-?" Lee sees Ellie open the door, breaking the rope. She sneaks towards the stranger.
"I'm glad, too. I wish you wouldn't have had to get this bad, but it's all over, hon. Isn't it?" the stranger said. "I hate seeing you like this. I just miss your smile, honey."
Ellie takes the cleaver and slowly walks over to the stranger.
"I miss you so much, Tess. You're going to like Ellie a lot, though. She's not Lizzy, but she's sweet. She wouldn't hurt a fly," the stranger continued. Ellie chops the stranger's shoulder, and the cleaver gets stuck.
Lee jumps at the stranger, knocking his chair backwards. The stranger kicks Lee away and the two of them struggle with the gun. Lee kicks the stranger backwards and the gun flies out of his hands. The stranger limps towards the gun. Lee gets up, charges at the stranger and shoves him into the wall and starts to strangle him. The stranger pushes Lee backwards and tackles him to the floor, strangling him. "You son of a bitch... Just go away! Die!"
Ellie shoots the stranger in the head, then drops the gun. Lee kneels down to hug Ellie. "I... I... I..." she stuttered.
"It's okay. It's okay," Lee pats her back, trying to calm her down.
"I..." Ellie looks at Lee and frowns. "You look horrible."
"That's what he said."
"Let's just get somewhere safe. You don't smell good."
"Yeah, I know. Did he hurt you?" he asked.
"No, not really. I'm sorry, Lee."
"Ellie, it's okay. We need to get you somewhere safe and then we have to talk, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Everything's okay now. We need to figure out how to get out of Savannah as fast as we can."
Ellie looks at the stranger's corpse Lee picks up the pistol and turns around to look at the corpse then faces Ellie."Hey... You saved me. I'm sorry you had to. But I'm happy you could."
Lee opens the hallway door and finds a walker standing directly in front of it. The walker doesn't notice him but starts to approach Ellie. Lee knocks it to the ground and shoots it, noticing he's out of ammo.
"It... it didn't bite you," Ellie stated, confused.
"Yeah... I know, it... must've..."
Ellie wrinkled her nose. "You're covered in all that gross stuff."
"I had to get through a bunch of them to get here. That's how we'll get out of Savannah."
Lee takes the cleaver and cuts the walker's abdomen open, scoops out its guts, and smears them on Ellie. "Ew..." she said, in disgust.
Lee finishes covering Ellie in the walker's blood and guts. "There, that should do it."
"I hope so."
"And you're missing something." Lee gives Ellie her hat.
Ellie puts her hat on. "I thought it was gone."
"I thought you were gone."
"Thank you," Ellie said, with a smile.
"Stay right next to me and walk very slowly. Don't look around and don't panic."
"Mm-hmm."
"I'll keep you safe."
Ellie and Lee walk out to the street. They slowly move through the herd, unnoticed by the walkers nearby. Lee suddenly passes out again.
Lee regains consciousness a short time later.
"Lee, wake up! Please don't be dead. Please, no! Lee! I was so scared... I... I thought you left me."
"Come here, sweet pea," Lee gives Ellie a hug. "Ellie, we have to get out of here as fast as we can."
"We can't! There's thousands of them outside."
"We have to. I'll protect you. We'll push through them."
"No, no, that's crazy. I saved you. We're safe here, I locked us in."
"Get that door open."
"I can't!
"Do it!" Lee raises his voice.
"It was only a little open when I found it. I closed it to keep us safe."
Lee gets up, and he and Ellie go to the door. "Pull on three. One, two, three!" They both pull on the door but can't get it open.
"See?"
"Ellie. Honey," Lee shows the bite on his wrist.
"What... what... wh- what happened? No. No, that's not... No. No, no, no!"
"Yes, Ellie, it is."
Ellie starts to cry. Lee looks at her sadly. "I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm supposed to take care of you. I can't now."
"I know."
The next room contains an exit, as well as a zombified police officer stuck in a chair.
"I think there might be a way out over there," Ellie said, pointing to the exit.
"Good. Good girl. Let's go. I might be a little slow."
Lee takes a few steps forward, stumbling and leaning on a glass display case.
Ellie rushes to his side. "I'll help you."
Lee slowly moves forward and Ellie helps him along. He falls partly, and Ellie helps him back up. "I got you. You can lean on me if you have to."
"I'm okay, I'm okay..."
"I thought I was helping by bringing you in here."
"Oh, you did, honey. It's awful out there, they woulda chewed me up."
"It was hard."
"I don't know how you did it, but you did good, okay?"
Lee reaches the end of the glass case and slumps to the floor next to a radiator.
"Get up, Lee. The door's right here."
Lee tries to get up but falls back down again. "I can't."
"You have to!"
"Ellie, I can't move. This is it for me here."
"Please, please, try to get up!"
Lee tries and fails again. "I can't. You don't have much time. You gotta do something, fast."
"Like what?" she asked.
"You're going to have to make sure I don't turn," he responded.
"You won't, though."
"Ellie, I will. You know what you have to do."
"No. I can't. There's no way."
"We'll figure it all out. Don't worry."
Lee spots a baseball bat for Ellie to use. "There's a baseball bat under the counter, Ellie. You can use that."
Ellie picks up the bat and brings it back over to Lee.
"Use the bat to shatter that window, so you can reach in, okay?"
"Okay..."
"Watch out for broken glass."
Ellie smashes the window with the bat. The walker claws at the air and growls at her.
"Good job. Don't be afraid of him, honey. You're smart. He isn't. You're smarter than all of them. Grab the chair, Ellie. Use it to reach in, to the lock."
Ellie pulls the chair in front of the door, reaches through the window, and unlocks the door.
"Ellie, open it."
Ellie opens the door. "He's... he's trapped."
"This'll be easy, then... he's got keys, probably to that door, and everything you need. There are handcuffs on the ground. Get them."
"Okay, Lee." Ellie picks up the handcuffs.
"Put the handcuffs on me. Attach me to this."
"What? Why?" she asked.
"No matter what happens, you're safe then," he replied.
"I don't know..." Ellie said, unsure.
"Just do it, sweetie. Make sure they're tight."
"I don't- I don't wanna do this."
"You have to. It'll keep you safe."
Ellie handcuffs Lee to the radiator.
"You only have to deal with him now. He's trapped over there...if you're careful you can get what you need from him," Lee said.
"The keys and then the gun."
"Yeah, the keys and the gun. Just don't be afraid. If anything gets dangerous, you're faster than he is."
"What should I get first?" she asked.
"Get the gun, Ellie. Always the gun."
Ellie reaches for the gun, but the walker breaks free. She tries to run, but it grabs her legs, tripping her, and she screams. Ellie crawls nearby a display stand, and it starts to fall. "Watch out!" Lee warns her.
Ellie crawls away just as the display stand falls onto the walker, trapping it; the sculpture falls onto Lee's head, giving him blurry vision. Lee sees the bat lying nearby and drags the bat and kicks it to Ellie. She grabs it and bashes the walker's head until it stops moving. "I did it. I got him."
"Great, Ellie. Good job," Lee said weakly. "Hey. You're strong, Ellie. You... you can do anything."
"But I'm little."
"Doesn't mean nothin'. You're going to see bad stuff, but it's okay."
"Please, please, don't be one of them. Please, don't become a walker," she begged.
"There's only one thing you can do. You know that."
"I don't know if I can."
"You have to shoot me, honey."
"Lee, no..."
"It's okay. It's okay. In Macon... the first days we met, do you remember?"
"Yeah, I do."
"When I went out to rescue that boy Doug, we met a girl. She'd been bitten, too. All she wanted was to not come back as a walker."
"Lee..."
"And I remember how hard it was to do that. But I'm glad I did. You don't want to see me like one of them."
"Okay, Lee... I can do it. I can."
"Find Omid and Christa. They're probably lookin' for us right now. Stay on high ground. Don't go too far. You'll find them. They'll take good care of you."
Ellie starts crying again.
"And, Ellie... Keep that hair short."
"I will. I'll cut it myself."
"Great. Good. And also..."
"What... what is it?"
"No, don't worry. Alright... I'll miss you."
"Me, too."
Ellie picks up the gun and stands back up. She hesitantly aims her guns at Lee with shaking hands. She looks away and shoots him and Lee takes his final breath.