AN: Glory be to God
Lee closed out Clementine's status screen. This time he did it in a more subtle manner so that it looked like he was swiping at a fly. Lee looked Clementine in the eyes, "So Clementine how are you and your um sister doing", Said Lee. Clementine is lightskined after all, maybe they're half sisters.
"We're doing okay. But she's not my sister she's my babysitter… um actually I'm hungry and thirsty", said Clementine with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah I feel you Clementine",the last time I ate was almost two days ago, feels like a there's a hole in my stomach,"I was planning on taking back your house from the walkers, actually do you know where I could find something to use as a weapon here?", asked Lee.
After giving some thought Clementine said,"well there's some shovel in the garden shed and daddy keeps some tools in the garage, why don't you just use your gun?" Clementine asked with a puzzled face.
"Well I don't know how many are in there so I'd rather do it quietly and I don't want to waste the ammo", Lee explained.I don't remember seeing any shovels in the shed but it was pretty dark last night.
"How's your leg?", Clementine asked, interrupting Lee's thoughts.
"It's doing good, I think I'll be fully recovered by tomorrow. Let's go check out that shed", Lee and Clementine walked over to the shed. Now that Lee had daylight he saw it had a lot more stuff than he thought. There was a flat shovel, a pointed shovel, three bikes, some pool toys, and gardening supplies.
Lee took the pointed shovel, This'll do. Just then Lee felt that someone spotted him. He turned his head head and looked up to the treehouse and saw Sandra looking at Clem with relief. After she scanned the area she climbed down the treehouse and walked over to them.
"Morning guys, so I guess it wasn't a dream then.", Sandra joked with a disappointed face.
"I wish", Lee replied.
Sandra took note of the shovel in Lee's hand. "So what's the plan, hope you're not leaving us yet", she said with a light tone but inside she was very nervous.
Lee smiled back,"No I'm not leaving you guys, yet", Lee saw Sandra's smile leave for a second, Okay maybe I shouldn't joke about that, "I'm just preparing myself. I plan on taking the house back from the walkers"
"Oh great, Lemme help", Sandra said eagerly while grabbing the other shovel. She was desperate to proof herself useful to this man. He was strong and she didn't want to take care of Clementine by herself. Honestly she didn't know if she could.
"I don't think that's a good idea. It's going to be dangerous and I'm not going to let a teenager put her life at risk", Lee said firmly. Not to mention making her kill something, even if they are monsters.
"Don't worry Lee. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Also I'm 18 so technically I'm an adult.", Said Sandra with all the false confidence she could.
"Still Sandra. I don't want to make someone so young kill whatever those things are. They use to be human too", Said Lee not budging.
"You killed some and didn't even flinch. I'll be fine", Said Sandra, getting a little defensive.
"Sandra I jus- ", Lee started before he was cut off.
"YOU'RE NOT MY DAD. I'LL DO WHAT I NEED TOO", Sandra yelled, frustrated at his overbearing nature.
After some silence Lee replied, "You're right, I'm not your dad. But as long as you're with me in whatever the hell this is, I'll be looking out for both of you, whether you like it or not"
Sandra just half glared at him. Unsure if she should apologize or stay frustrate.
"If you really want to help I could use some help with something", Lee offered.
"I'm listening"
"Taking over the house will be hard if the front door stays opened. While I distract the walkers I'll need you to close it. This is going to be dangerous and-"
"I'm in", Sandra said cutting off Lee again. Her eyes shining with determination. She'll show him that she isn't weak. That she won't be a burden.
"Ok thanks. Um Clementine how bout you stay in the treehouse while we do this ok.", Lee directing his attention to Clementine.
"Ok but make sure Sandra doesn't get hurt", Clementine said trusting Lee.
"Ok I won't", Lee said smiling and a determined look in his eyes.
"You promise?"
"I promise"
As Clementine climbed into the treehouse Lee and Sandra walked into the sliding door. As they walked Lee brought up his Status screen. I have three stat points I can use. I'm decently strong and I don't think I need to upgrade the other stuff right now. My best bet is to use my advantage against those things which is my speed. Lee put all his points into dexterity. Instantly Lee could feel himself become lighter, faster, and more in control of his movement. Whoo I feel GREAT, Lee grinned to himself
Dexterity:lvl 8 lvl 11(out of 35)
Lee crouched down once they got to the sliding door with Sandra crouching behind him. He looked into the house while also using Revelation.
He saw a walker in the kitchen, three watching the broadcasting TV, and one behind the corner of the staircase. Lee faced Sandra and told her what he saw. Then he told her, "Okay I'll take down the one in the kitchen and distract the ones on the TV. You make a run for the door and knock down the one behind the corner. If you have to then do what you need to do"
Sandra nodded gripping the shovel in her hand tighter. She tried to get her hands to stop shaking but they wouldn't stop. Lee looked at her and gripped her shoulder, "It's okay, I won't let them get to you"
Sandra nodded and took a deep breath, steadying herself. Lee then opened the door and quickly approached the walker in the Kitchen. Instinct took over and he swept the walkers legs with his shovel. Then as soon as it hit the ground he got stood over it and slammed the shovel into its head with all his weight.
Lee felt the TV walkers spot him and saw them walking towards him. He looked at Sandra and she spirited to the front door. He spirited to a walker and slammed its face with a baseball swing. It fell to the floor and he swiftly did the same to the others.
Taking a glance at Sandra he saw that she closed the door and was now facing a walker. Shit, Lee started moving towards her but Sandra without hesitation slammed the walkers face with an angled overhead swing, knocking it down. Guess she can take care of herself, Sandra went to go for the kill but froze before she made the final swing. Or maybe not
Lee rushed to the walker before it could get up and like an axe chopped into its head. Maybe I shouldn't have done that, Lee thought with disgust fighting off the urge to throw up.
Sandra did throw up and Lee looked with pity, she shouldn't have to go through this. Groaning was heard and Lee saw that the walkers had gotten back up. To make things worse he felt that more walkers had spotted him. He looked to his right and saw four walkers tumbling down to stairs.
"Shit, Sandra move!",Lee grabbed Sandra by the arm and sprinted out the house with her. As soon as she closed the door he jammed it again. As they caught their breath, the zombies started slamming on the door again. There's seven of them. Should I just shoot them? I have nine in the chamber… no it'd be a waste.
Lee looked to Sandra. She had her eyes downcast in disappointment and embarrassment. She failed to prove herself useful. She was a burden. Again.
Lee put his hand on her shoulder and spoke" Hey you did good"
"Right", was all she replied. She looked up and turned towards the sliding door, "So what now?"
"We can wait and try again. Or I could just shoot them", Lee suggested.
Sandra looked at the tire swing, "I think I have a better idea"
—
"Ok sounds good", Lee said, honestly impress by the young woman's strategic mind. After Sandra grabbed what she needed, she got into position. Lee did the same and crouched at the edge of the sliding door.
He remove the small pole from the sliding door and opened it. Immediately the Walkers started walking out. When there were three out of the house Lee slammed the sliding door shut as hard as he could. Quickly he jammed it back shut. He saw that a hand was stuck between the door and frame but it didn't look like it was going to be a problem.
Before the walkers got too close, he ran away from them to the edge of the pool. Slowly the walkers walked to the middle of the yard. Lee sprinted into action, running around the walkers and getting behind them. .
Lee yelled, "Sandra", and she jumped out from crouching at the side of the house, throwing a long rope to Lee. Once Lee caught it the two braced themselves and ran parallel, sprinting as hard as them could.
The walkers collapsed as the rope swept their legs. With haste Lee and Sandra grabbed the shovels they placed on the floor. Lee shoved the shovel deep into the closest walkers's skull and slammed the other one back down. Sandra slammed the walker closest to her, keeping it down until Lee could take care of it.
After Lee shoveled the other walkers, they got back into position and repeated the process with the rest of the walkers. Seven bodies littered the floor.
CONGRATS QUEST: My House Now
COMPLETE
REWARDS: 30 xp, 2 stat points, 1 skill point
Lee closed the screen deciding to deal with it later. He looked at the dead walkers and only frown. We have the house but I don't feel very accomplished. He turned to look at Sandra who was frowning in the same way. Lee said, "Hey that was a genius idea you had, I'm genuinely impressed"
"Thanks", Sandra beamed. Her shoulder relaxed, like a burden was lifted off of her.
Lee looked back to the walkers,"We should probably clean this up", he looked to the shed which Sandra found the left over rope in. "We can empty the shed and I'll put them in their"
"Okay", Sandra replied and got to clearing out the shed.
—
After they finished they got ready to go back into the house and make sure it was clear. Lee didn't think there were any walkers left but he wanted to verify with his own eyes. "You ready?"
"As much as I can be", Sandra replied.
Lee opened the door and used obverse. Like he thought nothing show up but loot. He went to the fridge and grabbed some water bottles for him and Sandra to drink. As they were drinking Sandra walked to the voice machine and pressed play.
"Three new messages. Message one. Left at 5:43 PM:
-Hey, Sandra, this is Diana. We're still in Savannah. Some crazy homeless guy bit Ed near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break! Hehe haha
Automated Voice: Message two. Left at 11:19 PM:
-Oh, my God, finally! I don't know if you tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe.
Automated Voice: Message three. Left at 6:51 AM.
-Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you...we love you...we love y-AHHHGHHH!"
Lee and Sandra just stood there in shock. Neither knew what to say. Eventually the reality sunk in and Sandra started sobbing. Lee went to give her a hug and she took it.
They stood there like that until Sandra collected herself.
"Lee she's all alone now. I'm all she has", Sandra confessed.
"Hey you guys have me now. I won't leave you", Lee promised her.
"Thank you"
Lee gained a new look of determination. Sandra gained one too. A screen popped infront of Lee: New Quest: Sweet Pea- Take care of Clementine until you die, Reward: Clementine lives a good life
Lee accepted without hesitation, that's what I was going to do anyways. Lee went to check the upstairs and found it was safe. Going back down stairs he grabbed some food from the kitchen and told Sandra, "The house is clear, we should get Clementine and eat"
"Sounds good, I'll grab the waters"