Chapter 4

Macon Sucks (In Percy's Opinion)

Percy had volunteered to sit in the truck bed for the journey. There had only been five seats in the truck and while Clementine had insisted on sitting with him, Percy didn't trust Kenny's driving enough for the young girl to not be wearing her seat belt. On the plus side, it gave Percy plenty of time to think, and the wind felt nice.

His gaze trailed down to his crimson stained hands, Herschel hadn't afforded them the time to wash up before kicking them out. Meaning Percy's hands, arms and the front of his shirt were stained with Shawn's blood. It certainly wasn't the first time that Percy had been covered in blood, but usually it was his own. He understood Herschel was grieving for the loss of his son, but Percy was still slightly bitter. Hoping to have a place where he could keep Clementine safe.

Percy lost track of time as he contemplated many things, but eventually the truck rolled into a clustered group of brick buildings. As they rolled by a liquor store the truck lurched forward before making a sputtering sound. The engine died in the process, causing them to roll to a stop.

Percy groaned at their luck before jumping out of the truck bed and gazing up and down the streets, looking for any sign of trouble. An ominous feeling sank into his stomach, as his instincts tingled that danger was close. He watched as the five occupants of the truck slowly got out, each of them looking around but only barely. They all really needed to be more cautious.

They began walking down the street, Percy had his sword in his right hand while Clementine tucked closely to his left leg. Cars were littering the street as they walked by, almost all of them damaged beyond repair. One of them had crashed into an electrical pole, causing it to sway dangerously. He looked out for the sign of any corpses but didn't see any. Although he did see startling amounts of blood on the streets, sidewalks and more.

He frowned, the sense of danger in his chest growing larger with each step. All of the small angles and alleyways allowed for lots of places for these monsters to hide, they could be surrounded in mere moments if they weren't careful.

The six of them ended up stopping in front of a pharmacy building, the gates on the front protecting the door. His gaze caught Lee looking up at the sign with a flash of regret, but it was gone so quickly Percy wasn't sure if he had imagined it. This had been Lee's hometown, he must have known the place.

Percy looked around, a semi was blocking off one of the streets, with a hardware place across from them that could have had some good tools. Before he could completely look around he heard Duck's shrill voice.

"Look!" he said excitedly. Pointing toward what appeared to be a man kneeling near a flipped over car. Before Percy could react, Kenny walked forward waving his arms and shouting.

"Hey there. You friendly? Truck's run out of gas."

"Shut up." Percy hissed at them, but it was too late. The corpse had looked up and it snarled, its decomposing face covered with fresh blood.

"Fuck." Kenny said as in seemingly moments, dozens of corpses walked out of corners of alleys, from wrecked cars and more.

"We're trapped." Katjaa shrieked in fear. All three of the adults were standing there stunned and shivering in their places.

Percy snarled and pushed Clementine behind him. He really wished they would use their heads, otherwise they were going to get them all killed. They were surrounded by well over a couple dozen. Percy sliced through the skull of one that got too close before kicking one in the chest, sending it hurtling back and knocking over a couple more of them. "Screw this city." He muttered.

He was back in his zone, in danger and fighting off monsters. Riptide flashed in the light as it sliced through another while Clementine squeaked from behind him, while remaining as close as possible. He looked at the others to see they were still motionless as the other corpses approached.

Shaking his head he froze as he heard Duck scream. Despite the boy being annoying, he was still a child, one of the corpses reached for him, his parents doing nothing but standing there in fear. He sprinted toward the kid as the rotting corpse tackled him, driving Riptide through its squishy skull without hesitation. He kicked the corpse off the boy and hauled him to his feet without a word.

Duck stood there shivering, his eyes looking at Percy in a stunned awe.The young boy's face was covered with the dead man's blood, but Percy knew he had saved him in time.

"Come on, get behind me." He snarled to the rest of them, as he cleaved the head of another off. There were still double digits of them, and Percy wasn't sure if he could kill them all while protecting five people at once. Especially with all of the directions they were coming from.

Kenny snapped out of his stupor and picked Duck up effortlessly, throwing him over his shoulder, his free hand pulling Katjaa along with him. The corpses seemed to have multiplied, he couldn't even count how many were coming toward them at the moment. Perhaps hundreds of them. He looked around quickly, the only place to go was beneath the semi to the other side, but he wasn't sure if they would have the same problem over there. He grit his teeth and killed another and kicked it away when a voice he didn't recognize came from behind them.

"Over here, run!"

He turned his head to see an asian man waving them toward the now open gates of the pharmacy. Next to him was a pretty young woman with a pistol, she shot three corpses in quick succession that were close to the pharmacy. It was enough of an opening in Percy's mind and their only chance.

"GO." He roared. Kenny hauled toward the pharmacy, his wife and Lee behind them quickly. Percy cut both arms off the closest corpse near him before turning around and picking up Clementine with his left. The girl buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around him as he sprinted to the doors.

He was just inside the gates when the asian man slammed them shut and slapped a lock through them. The corpses piled against the gates, but it didn't budge whatsoever despite that. Percy sighed in relief before stepping side the pharmacy. He set Clementine down gently, the young girl was shaking furiously and Percy gave her a small reassuring smile. To which she replied with one of her own, although her small form kept shaking.

He kneeled down. "It's okay Clem. I won't let anything happen to you." She nodded her head furiously at him before she wrinkled her nose at him, her gaze trailing up and down his arms and clothes. Percy frowned and looked down, realizing he was covered in even more blood than before. He was snapped out of his musings when arguing started sounding all around him.

A woman's sharp voice snapped at them. "We can't take risks like that." She growled, Percy's eyes snapped to the woman in question. The woman was wearing a dark tank top, her long brunette hair behind her. Her brown eyes glared at the woman and man that had helped them. Her face was set in a scowl, almost like that was how it always was. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the rest of them.

Her eyes settled on Percy, before glancing at his sword and then back up to his face. He glared harshly at her, causing her to flinch, satisfaction welled within him. Thank you, Lady Lupa. He thought to himself.

The woman with the pistol snapped back at her. "And we can't just let people die, either." Percy gave a small smile, glad that despite the craziness of everything going on. There were still kind people out there willing to help others.

"When I say 'that door stays shut no matter what', I fucking mean it! We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!" Percy wasn't sure what qualified the woman to be making the decisions for this group, but it was clear there was a large amount of tension already between them all. They were trapped inside this pharmacy with no way out. Percy especially wasn't liking her tone, his hand flexed on Riptide's handle in irritation.

"Worse, they could've led 'em right to us!" A man's voice sounded. Percy's gaze snapped to him, the man was large. All muscle, and probably a good four inches taller than Percy himself. His face was similar to the woman yelling at the others, so Percy figured it was her dad, noting his graying features and the prominent wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. Probably from the permanent glare and scowl that was plastered across his face. The man was wearing a white polo and slacks, his sharp brown eyes glaring at each of them.

"Where the hell is your humanity?! They would've died out there!" The woman argued passionately.

"Then we let 'em!" The man snapped back and Percy's hands clenched in anger. He was about ready to start beating the crap out of the old man. The man willing to let six people die, two of which were kids.

"We have kids with us." Lee argued, the man didn't look mad like Percy was, but he was clearly uncomfortable. His arms were crossed over his chest and his gaze met Percy's, his face showing his worry.

"I see one little girl…" The man said, his arms also crossing over his chest.

Percy was about to respond when he felt his hand shake slightly, he frowned and looked down at Clementine who gave him an embarrassed look.

"What is it?" He asked softly and concerned.

"I have to pee." She said,

Percy tuned them out for a second before looking around the pharmacy and spotting a bathroom in the corner. "It's over there." He pointed, his gaze was sharp. "I will take you in one second, okay?" He looked at her seriously. "Do not go over there without me. Understand?" The little girl nodded her head and smiled at him. Percy wasn't sure what was behind the bathroom door, but you couldn't be too careful right now.

"They've got kids, Lilly." The asian man said to the woman scowling at them all. So her name was Lilly then, Percy mused.

"Enough." Percy barked exasperated. The eyes of everyone turned to him in surprise, his voice was loud, commanding and sharp. Annabeth had said that was his leader's voice, whatever the Hades that meant. But it didn't matter, these people needed to stop fighting. "We're in here now, so let's all just calm down and figure out a way to get out of this mess." Everyone looked like they could agree, except the old man. He scowled.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but we wouldn't be in this mess without them going out there." He snarled.

"Seemed like you were in a good spot before, you know, stuck in this pharmacy." Percy retorted, the old man grunted and stepped forward. Puffing his chest out further and seemed like he might even take a swing at him.

"Stop dad." Lilly said, putting a hand on his chest. "He's right. We all need to calm down." Lilly flashed him a look of appreciation despite the tension around them. It seemed to die down for a minute, with everyone standing around in uncertainty.

He grabbed Clementine's hand and they walked toward the bathroom while the rest bickered, although slightly less. He grabbed the door handle to the restroom cautiously but frowned as it didn't budge. "Locked", he grunted. He slid Riptide between the door and the doorframe and pulled, grinning in satisfaction as it clicked. He swung the door open, and came face to face with a corpse. It tried to grab him, but Percy was quick, driving Riptide through its skull without hesitation.

"Jesus." The old man yelled. Percy paid the rest of them no mind and tossed the body aside. Clementine looked up at him with thanks. Percy checked the bathroom out and made sure no other surprises were waiting for them before assuring her it was safe.

The rest of them looked at him in shock and awe. "What?" He snapped at all of their looks. They just shrugged in response to which Percy scowled.

All of a sudden the old man muttered. "Holy shit." Percy frowned and followed his gaze over to where Katjaa was currently wiping the blood off of Duck. "Son of a bitch, one of them is bitten." Percy groaned, the man clearly just wanted to escalate things right now. There was no other explanation.

"He wasn't bitten." Percy snapped tiredly at the old man, Percy had made sure of that.

"We have to end this, now." The man turned toward Kenny and his family, Percy snarled and jumped between them. Causing the old man to look down at him with a glare. Percy could vaguely feel Kenny behind him but didn't care, he wasn't going to let this man do anything to the young boy if he could help it.

"Out of my way." He snarled and shoved Percy, but he didn't budge.

"Dad!" Lilly said desperately. Trying to get him to stop, at least she wasn't too much of a hardass like her father. Despite not wanting to save them.

"No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!" Katjaa shrieked.

"Don't you fucking people get it?! We've already seen this happen! We let someone with a bite stay and... and we all end up bitten!" Percy scoffed, even if Duck had been bitten. Percy would hope that they would be able to handle a young boy.

"Shut the hell up, old man." Percy snarled, the two were chest to chest. Despite the man's size difference, Percy wasn't going to back down. Percy felt Kenny step up next to him, the man looked ready to throw a punch and Percy didn't blame him.

"We gotta throw him out, or smash his head in!"

"Over my dead body." Kenny roared.

"We'll dig one hole." The man replied, his eyes snapping between the two of them. He vaguely heard Katjaa cry something out to Kenny.

"Dad, it's just a boy, it's…" Lilly argued, the hard look on her face had softened dramatically and Percy thought it was weird that all of a sudden she was on their side.

"I'll handle this Lilly." He barked back.

"But your heart, Dad. You need to calm down. We'll get this kid out of here." Percy scowled at her, but she didn't look at him.

"You'll have to go through us." Percy heard Lee say as he stepped behind them.

"I think I can take you three pipsqueak homos." Larry roared.

"Everyone, chill the fuck out. Larry, stop this." The girl with the gun said.

"Shut the fuck up!" The old man barked at her. "They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter! But right now we're about to be trapped in here with one of those things."

"What are you talking about?" Lee asked.

"He's bitten! That's how you turn!" He argued passionately.

"He's not bitten! Percy, stop this! It's upsetting him!" Katjaa cried out.

"It's Larry, right? Man, this is his son." Lee tried to reason with him, but Percy was well past the reasoning phase, one more step and Percy was going to knock this old fuck on his ass.

"Look around, dumbass. I got a daughter in here, you got a daughter in here. Get your head out of your ass, boy." He growled. "Hey, I'm not the bad guy here, I'm just looking out for my daughter!" Larry argued.

"No, you're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!" Kenny snarled, Percy had to wonder how the man hadn't already jumped the guy for talking about killing his son. It might have been because of the man's size.

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite, watch!"

"She won't." Percy growled back, his hand clenching.

"And if she does? The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his mom's face. Then once she's dead, he'll probably pounce on your little girl! She'll turn fast and then they'll be three. And that, boy, is the ballgame." Percy frowned at the visual, but he didn't think that the corpse would magically gain strength regardless. They could easily handle it if Duck was bitten. "Enough of this shit." He shoved Percy in the chest, but Percy didn't budge an inch.

Percy snarled and shoved him back, forcing the large guy back a few steps. The old man looked at him in surprise, probably because of the strength behind it before he stepped closer and swung a wild right hook.

"Dad!" Lilly shrieked in the background.

Percy ducked beneath the blow and responded with one of his own. A thunderous punch to the side of the man's face. He went down without a word, his body slamming into one of the shelves and knocking a bunch of stuff off of it before he hit the ground, his head snapping back as he landed. Percy grinned murderously while the rest of the group looked at him stunned once again.

"Dad." Lilly shrieked again and crouched down next to him, her eyes looked up as she glared murderously at Percy.

He shrugged in response. "He swung first." The old man shrugged Lilly off and pushed himself shakily to his feet, his cheek shockingly swollen already.

"I'll fucking kill you…" He suddenly groaned and clutched his chest, before he fell back to the floor, spasming.

"Dad." Lilly cried again.

"What's wrong with him?" Lee asked, there was an actual look of concern on his face.

"It's his heart." She cried out, she looked like she was about to start crying.

"My pills…" Larry gasped out weakly. Percy was surprised at how all of a sudden how frail and weak the man looked, it almost made him feel bad for the guy. Almost.

"Um... Nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa asked, she had made her way toward the group after having finally cleaned the blood and gunk off of Duck to shockingly reveal that the young boy hadn't been bitten.

Lilly stood up. "Yes. We're out. We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here. Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter, where the pills are." She said exasperated and worried, Percy was pleasantly surprised at how much better she looked when her face wasn't set in a permanent scowl.

"Why would we help him?" Kenny asked with a glare, both Lilly and Larry looked at him with a glare but no responded to him. Percy felt the same way as Kenny, but he knew that he couldn't just let someone die if he could try to stop it.

"There's probably another entrance. Maybe through the office." Lee remarked as he gestured toward the other closed door in the pharmacy.

"How did you know that was an office?" Percy asked curiously, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Lee. A flash of panic appeared on his face before it was gone in an instant. This place was more than just somewhere in his hometown, Percy was sure of it. For some reason, the man didn't want them to know his ties to this place.

"Educated guess." He said while crossing his arms.

"It doesn't matter. We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there. I'll keep an eye on my dad." Lilly practically pleaded.

"Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here a while." Kenny remarked.

"We need as much gas as possible so we can all get out of downtown Macon. Fast." The guy who saved them said.

"Agreed." Percy remarked back.

"Then I'll head out and get gas. There's a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can." He said, taking his hat off and rubbing the back of his neck.

"You need help?" Percy asked curiously, willing to go with the man and help him out. He'd prefer that to staying and trying to get pills for the man he had decked.

"No, no offense or anything but you'd probably just slow me down. I'm quick and I know the area around here very well." He replied. Percy shrugged, he didn't take any offense to that. The man was probably right.

"Local?" Lee asked.

"Born and raised." He replied with a grin.

Percy's eyes flickered to Lee's as the same look of panic appeared on it. Before he grabbed the walkie-talkie hanging off his belt. "Here's a walkie-talkie incase you get in a tight spot. Clementine will be on the other end." He nodded toward the girl who beamed at him. Giving her a responsibility to help keep her mind off the terrible things going on.

"I'm Percy." He reached his hand out toward the man who grinned back at him and shook his hand.

"Glenn. That was a wicked right hand you threw there." The broad grin on Glenn's face told Percy that the guy had probably wanted to do it himself. His dark eyes were glinting in the low light with a mischievous feel, Percy was kind of reminded of the Stoll brothers by his demeanor.

Percy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "He rubbed me the wrong way, plus he swung first."

"No issues there, man. Wanted to do that myself a couple times." He said before turning away from the rest of them.

Percy turned to the woman with the gun. Now that he looked closer, she was pretty. A kind face, warm brown eyes and brown hair that fell down to the collar of the white button up she wore. The man that stepped up next to her had blonde hair, bushy eyebrows and was shorter than the rest of them. Wearing a green shirt and shorts. Percy pointed at the man.

"Keep a lookout on the front door." Percy told him.

"I'm Doug. You got it." He replied, his tone was friendly.

"And I'm Carley." The woman told him.

"Percy." He replied, shaking her hand. "Take shifts with Doug, for now get some rest. Everyone needs to stay sharp."

"You got it boss." She replied. If they were upset with taking orders from him despite his age, they didn't show it.

Percy turned to look at Lilly and Larry. "Lee and I will get you those pills, Kenny, stay with your family." He told the man, who just gave him a smile of appreciation.

Lee loitered around, talking to and introducing himself to the others.

Percy meanwhile, walked over to the office door and stepped in. Idly noting that Clementine was following him inside. He turned to her and looked at her, "What, honey?" He asked her as she grabbed his leg, a small uncertain smile on her face.

"I feel safer with you." She said shyly, Percy smiled widely at her, a warm feeling spreading throughout the entirety of his chest.

"You can stay by me sweetie." He told her. She smiled brightly at him.

He looked around and frowned, there was a large blood stain in the center and on the sleeping bag in the center of the floor. Boards covered the window and a large bookshelf blocked a door that presumably led to an alley. Everything was a mess, a broken picture was on the ground with glass all over the floor. There was a first aid kit sitting on a table in the corner and a desk was blocking the entrance to the pharmacy.

Percy quickly closed the door behind him. He walked over to the picture in the middle of the blood stain and knelt down and grabbed it. Pulling the picture itself free from the frame, a sinking feeling in his chest appeared as he saw Lee, standing with who Percy assumed would be his parents and brother. They were all smiling widely.

He frowned, looking at how they were standing in front of the place. It meant Lee's family owned it. Why would he want to keep that a secret? He wondered, the guilty and panicked looks that had been appearing on the man's face. What had he done?

Percy heard the door open behind him and turned to see Lee standing there, a frown was on his face and the same panicked look appeared when he noticed Percy holding a picture.

"So, Lee. Any reason you don't want us to know your family owns this place?" His shoulders slumped at the question and he looked crestfallen.

"Owned, they're all dead." Lee said sadly.

Percy frowned and felt slightly guilty about the question. "How do you know?" He asked softly.

"I saw my brother, pinned across the street under an electric pole. He's a walker now" Walker? Huh, that wasn't that bad of a name for these walking dead like creatures, Percy thought idly too himself. "and Doug told me they dragged an old couple out of the office when they got here." Lee looked like tears were about to well up in his eyes and Percy truly felt for the guy. Percy wondered if his family and loved ones were also dead and he felt incredibly sad for a moment before pushing it out of his system.

"I'm sorry, but it still doesn't change the fact that there's another reason." He pushed on.

Lee rubbed his arm. "Before all this, I was on my way to prison. I killed a man who had been sleeping with my wife, and I got myself a life sentence.." He stopped speaking after that, clearly his emotions were getting to him. Percy could tell just by looking at him he felt incredibly guilty about it and that he was torn up inside over it.

Percy had done plenty of things he wasn't proud of, especially in his rage. Choking Akhlys with her own poison coming to mind, but he couldn't entirely fault the man. Murder was a terrible thing, that was for sure, but his instincts continuously were telling him that Lee is a good man and can be trusted. The man wouldn't do anything to either him or Clementine, and Percy needed someone he could trust watching his back. Lee telling Percy this, meant that he trusted him, and Percy needed to decide if this was something he could deal with.

His mind then briefly thought what he would do if he caught Annabeth with another man. Even though he knew she would never have done that to him, and their bond was unbreakable. Especially after walking through literal hell for each other. The thought still made him fill with incredible rage before he calmed himself.

He looked Lee in his eyes, the man looked at him earnestly, as if awaiting for Percy to yell at him or cower away. "I can tell you're a good man Lee, we've all done stuff we're not proud of. I've done some bad things too. I need to know if you'll be there for Clementine if something happens to me?" He asked.

"I will." Lee said immediately and confidently. Percy's eyes met Clementine who looked slightly confused but her large amber eyes nodded at him.

"Then that's all that matters." He handed Lee the picture of his family. "Keep it, I wish I had one of my family."

As I would like to remind all of you, that in The Walking Dead universe, there has never been a zombie movie or anything like that. So these are things that none of the characters have ever seen before. I would also like to say that it is the same for Percy's universe as well. He has never seen a zombie nor has he ever heard of them.

Thanks for reading! Please review with some nice words and kind constructive criticism.