We've been driving for hours in Kenny's truck. Lee is in the passenger seat as Kenny drives, Clementine, Duck, and Katjaa are in the backseat while Sandy and I lay in the truck bed. At least Kenny was kind enough to provide some blankets for us so we wouldn't be entirely uncomfortable. Sandy and I just looked at the sky in silence as we rode along, seeing an occasional tree or two in the corners of our eyes as they passed by. The sun is setting, leaving a color-painted sky of orange and pink.
Eventually, we start slowing down as we enter downtown Macon, at least that's where I think we are. Sandy and I lean up and we look inside Kenny's truck. I see that the fuel gauge is on empty.
"Well, this is as far as we're going," Kenny says exactly what I'm thinking.
"Then it's far enough," Lee says before he steps out of the car.
Everyone soon follows his lead and exits the truck. I throw my backpack on and hop out of the truck bed. The seven of us walk down the street, seeing what's become of this town. Abandoned cars, sidewalks riddled with trash and broken glass, and not a single person is in sight...or those things. I really need to come up with a name for them other than 'things' or 'monsters'.
I see Lee stopping in his tracks as he looks up at a building, the front of it has the word 'drugs' laid out with neon letters. If memory serves me right, I think I remember Lee saying his parents owned a pharmacy in Macon. Maybe they're all right in there? I hope so. I step beside him with concern in my eyes.
"You okay, Sir?"
"Huh?" He looks at me, shaking off what he's feeling. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"...If you say so," I shrug it off like it's nothing, but I still feel like there's something he's not telling me. He has no right to, but I can't help but wonder. Especially after how he explained his leg injury
An idea pops into my head as I turn my gaze back to the street. This is a perfect opportunity to capture what this entire situation is doing to the world around us. I remove my backpack from my shoulders and pull out my Polaroid camera. I aim the camera down at the street, making sure that the street, the drugstore, and the others are in view.
CLICK!
In a few seconds, the instant shot slips from the camera. My shot is almost perfect, I only wish the actual situation were more tame but someone has to capture what's happening in this dark hour. This feeling... This must've been what it was like for World War Two photographers when they had to show the rest of the world what was truly happening in Europe...especially in those concentration camps. I put my camera back in my bag along with my new photo. My pistol is still in my bag reminding me of my mistake. I pull it out and holster it in my right pocket. I internally tell myself to make a habit of having it on me at all times. There should be a bullet still in the chamber as well.
"Look!"
We hear Duck call out. We all turn to him and see that he's pointing down the street. Our eyes follow to where he points to and see what looks like a person kneeling beside a car in the distance. Kenny waves his arms to try to get his attention.
"Hey there! You friendly? Truck's run out of gas." The person looks over to us...revealing that he's one of those things eating a corpse. "Fuck!"
The monsters' growling grows louder as many more creep out from all around us, circling us and leaving us with no way of escape.
"We're trapped!"
"AAH!" Duck screams as one of those things knocks him over and tries to attack him. "Ahh! No, no!"
Shit! I reach for my gun, I won't let someone else die if I can do something about it...
BANG!
But someone else beats me to the punch...or shot so I should say. The monster collapses on Duck, covering his face with its blood. He crawls away from the dead thing and runs to his parents, hugging them both. I look to where that shot came from and see a woman with short, brown hair wearing a white button-down shirt and a black skirt. She continues to shoot at the other monsters while a man accompanies her, a foreign-looking man wearing a baseball cap. He looks at all of us and yells.
"Run!"
The woman fires a few more shots as the rest of us follow the man in a baseball cap, leading us into the drugstore. I lag behind in making sure everyone including the two new people gets inside, once they are, Baseball Cap, as I'll call him for now until I know his name, closes the metal gate in front of the building and puts a padlock on it. Damn, this guy's good. We head inside with the others, another guy keeps a lookout when we close the door and are immediately met with the sound of an annoyed woman's voice.
"We can't take risks like this." The woman with long brown hair and a black tank top scowls at the one who shot those monsters out there.
"And we can't just let people die, either!" She retorts.
"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!"
Dangerous? Right. Dangerous people would willingly travel with a little girl and two young adults.
"Worse," A tall, slightly overweight old man angrily looks at his people. "they could've led 'em right to us!"
"Where the hell is your humanity?!" The deadeye woman shouts. "They would've died out there!"
"Then we let 'em!"
"We have kids with us." Lee tries to plea our case.
"I see one little girl."
Well, fuck you too, old man.
I can feel my anger already rising. Clementine holds Lee's hand and looks up at him. "What is it?"
"I...I have to pee." She shyly says.
"I'd go out there again in a second," Baseball Cap says to Tank Top as Lee tries to figure out what to do with Clem.
"I bet you would. You're a dumb, careless kid."
"I would too!" Deadeye added.
"In a minute, Clem." Lee says and she lets go of his hand.
I look to Sandy who's been holding mine ever since we stepped in here. When did she grab onto me? "Go take Clem to the bathroom, I'll take care of things here."
She nods. "Okay,"
"They've got kids, Lilly." Baseball Cap says to the woman in the tank top as Sandy takes Clem to the restroom. So, her name's Lilly. Good to know.
"Those things outside don't care."
"Maybe you could go join 'em then," Kenny offered a sarcastic suggestion. "You'll have something in common!"
"Goddamn it, Lilly, you have to control these people!" The old man orders.
"Carley and Glenn just ran out there!"
Carley and Glenn, that's good to know too. "And who are you to say who needs to be controlled, old man?"
"I don't give a flying fuck, boy," He scowls at me. "We're in a warzone!"
"She's not wrong," Lee points out. "They took a risk."
"Yes, we did."
"And we appreciate it. Now let's settle down."
"You're the alleged 'leader' here," I point out. "yet you don't seem to have a firm grip on things."
Lilly noticed what I said and burrowed her eyebrows at me. "If you were in my shoes, kid you'd be th-"
"Holy shit..." The old man gets my attention when he looks behind him and at Katjaa who's been trying to clean Duck's face the entire time we've entered the drugstore. "Son of a bitch, one of them is bitten!"
"He wasn't bitten." Lee firmly says with a frown, I do so as well.
"That's just blood from one of those things the woman shot!"
"The hell it is! We have to end this now," The old man walks over to Duck and Katjaa but Kenny stands in front of him, blocking his way.
"Over my dead body."
"We'll dig one hole," He says sending a chill down my spine. Okay, officially, fuck this guy.
"No!" Katjaa shouts. "I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!"
"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!
"Shut up!" Kenny yells at the angry old man.
"We gotta throw him out, or smash his head in!"
WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THIS GUY?!
"Kenny, stop him!" Katjaa begged.
"Lee, Elijah, what do we do about this guy?"
"Dad, it's just a boy," Lilly says. So this old man is her day, now I see the resemblance. "It's-"
"Lilly, I'll handle this."
"But your heart, dad. You need to calm down."
"It's either him or your son," Lee crosses his arms in anger. "I say it's him!"
"Goddamn right, out on his ass with those things!"
Couldn't said it better myself, sir. I take my place beside Lee. "No one is threatening a kid while I'm here."
"Everyone chill the fuck out!" Carley shouts at the top of her lungs.
"Nobody is doing anything!"
"Shut up, Lilly!" The old man turns to Carley, scowling. "And you, shut the fuck up! They will find us," He turns to the rest of 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 the hell are you talking about?"
"He's bitten! That's how you turn!" He answers Kenny.
"He's not bitten!" Katjaa keeps cleaning Duck's face. "Lee, Elijah, stop this! It's upsetting him!"
"Oh, I'm 'upsetting' him?! Upsetting is getting eaten alive!"
"Dad, we get it, it's a big deal."
"Do you? You're not fucking acting like it!"
"What if it was your daughter?!" Lee retorts.
"Never woulda happened. She's not some snot-nosed toddler, okay? She's United States Air Force!"
"Oh, fuck you and her!" Kenny shouts.
"Sit down, or else, old man." This guy may be towering over all of us, but I don't give a damn.
He scoffs at my threat. "You gonna whoop me? You and what homo parade?"
"This one!" Kenny answers, backing me up.
"Ha, that's good! Little boy!" he calls to Duck. "Before you eat your mommy, you can watch your dad get his nose broken!"
"I'm gonna kill him, Kat! Just worry about Duck."
"Lee?" Clementine calls to him as she and Sandy stand in front of the bathroom door.
"Yeah?"
"There's someone in there."
"It's just locked. Key's behind the counter," Lee rolls his eyes. "Probably."
"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just looking out for my daughter!"
I scoff. "By wanting to kill a fucking kid? Dad of the year, everyone!"
"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite, watch!"
"She won't!" Kenny says.
"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!" He looks at Lee when he says that, then turns to me. "He'll turn fast and then...they'll be three, then she'll pounce on that greaser girl, that'll be four. And that boy...is the ballgame."
"..." I feel my blood begin to boil when this fucker called Sandy that. "You wanna say that again, you old fuck?"
"Then we deal with it then!" Lee steps up before I do anything rash, he glances at me without turning his head at me before looking straight back at the old man. "But right now we're just freaking everybody out!"
"Then get ready to deal with it because that boy is bitten!"
"It's not gonna happen!" Kenny says getting even angrier.
"It is...and we're tossing him out now!"
"..." There's no reasoning with this fucker... My hand unconsciously reaches for my right pocket...
"No!" Lee's angered shout stops me from grabbing my gun. "You don't touch that boy, you don't touch anybody! I've got a little girl and these two kids I'm trying to protect in here too. You want to get violent, you old fuck?! Well, come on! You better have a plan to kill me though, because it's me, before anyone else in here!"
"AAAHHH!" Clementine's screaming brings our attention to the bathroom door. it opens and a monster emerges from it, trying to attack her and Sandy.
"Jesus!"
"Clementine!"
"Sandy!"
Lee and I try to run over to them. Lee bumps into Lilly, falls to the ground, and hits his head. I get him back up on his feet as soon as possible and we continue to get to the monster as it grabs Clementine's leg. Sandy tried to pull her away but the monster's grip is too strong. Lee pulls the monster away as I shield Clementine and Sandy with my body.
"Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" Lee wrestles with the monster in his grip as it tries to bite him. I go for my gun in my pocket, pull it out, and aim it at the monster. But I can't soot it in the head with Lee still in the way. Fuck! I can't get a shot!
"Ah, God, get off! Ugh..."
BANG!
The monster falls to the floor as it's shot in the head. But the bullet didn't come from my gun. "Man..." Lee and I turn around seeing Carley's pistol smoking from the barrel. Damn, she's good.
Carley lowers her gun and looks to us. "You okay?"
I nod. "Yeah."
"Just great, thanks."
I hear more of those things outside, they start pounding harder and louder on the outside gate and boarded-up windows at the sound of the gunshot. "Uh...guys?" Baseball Cap looks at the front door in fear. Their growling grows louder.
"Get down!" I shout in a whisper as I take Sandy and Clementine behind the shelves in the drugstore. Sandy takes my hand and Clementine hides behind Lee. "Be quiet!"
Kenny and his family are huddled together by a soda fountain, Carley, Baseball Cap, and Lookout huddle kneel by some more shelves and so do Lilly and her bastard of a father. He peeks up from behind the shelf and looks at the front door of the store.
"They're gonna get in!" He whispers.
"Shut up!" Kenny whispered back.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of gunfire comes from outside the drugstore. Those sound like assault rifles, or they could be LMGs. Either way, they not only gained our attention but those things' attention as well. The growling and pounding on the building die down.
"Is that the military?"
"I don't know," Lilly answers Lee's question.
"Thank God for whatever it is." Baseball Cap remarked.
Old Man Dickwad stands up and marches across the room in anger. "We almost died because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was- Augh...augh!" He groans, grabs his chest, and falls to the floor.
"Dad!"
"AAAUUUUGGHH!" Lilly runs over to her dad who is now lying on his side on the floor.
"Shit..." I hear Kenny whisper under his breath.
We tried to get him to back off.
"What's wrong with him?!" Lee asks in concern.
"It's his heart!"
"My pills..." Lilly's dad groaned.
"Nitroglycerin pills?" I ask, Lilly looks at me as she stands.
"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!"
How the tables have turned. Now the bastard who threatened a kid is the one who needs help.
"There's probably another entrance. Maybe through the office." Lee suggests.
"How do you know that's an office?" Carley questions.
"Uh, educated guess."
"It doesn't matter," Lilly says. "We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there. I'll keep an eye on my dad."
"Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful," Kenny adds. "We could be in here for a while."
"I'm starting to think this drugstore isn't a permanent solution." Baseball Cap inquired.
"You're right," Kenny agrees. "this ain't exactly Fort Knox."
"What do you suggest?" Lee asks.
"We need as much gas as possible so we all can get out of downtown Macon. Fast."
Lee nods at Baseball Cap. "Agreed."
"Then I'll head out and get gas. There's a motel not too far from here, out towards the end od Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can."
"You know your way around? Local?"
Baseball Cap nods. "Born and raised."
"If you're gonna do that, here's a walkie-talkie if you get in a tight spot," Lee hands him the radio from his pocket. "Hopefully, you won't need it."
"Cool."
"Clementine has the other one," I add. "Just check in with her every now and again and get back here as soon as you can."
He nods at me. "You git it, dude."
"By the way, what's your name?" I ask.
"It's Glenn."
"And you," Kenny looks to Lilly who's set her dad against a wall as he sits on the floor. "what's your name?"
"It's Lilly. My dad's Larry."
"Keep a good eye on him. These boys will work on getting you your medicine."
"That's right." Lee agrees.
"...Yeah," I reluctantly do so.
"And you," Kenny looks to the guy who's been on the lookout during the entire argument. "you keep an eye on that front door. You're our lookout."
"It's Doug, and you got it."
"And I'm Carley."
"Okay, Carley, you'll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest. You're a good shot and I'd like to keep it that way."
She nods. "You got it, boss."
"Elijah and Lee, you two best search if there's anything left here. You two might wanna check that office when you get the chance."
I nod to Kenny. "Got it."
"...Right."
"Now get him those pills."
Kenny stands next to Katjaa and Duck, now cleaned up from the monster's blood. Lilly tends to her deadbeat dad, Glenn leaves the drugstore through the back exit, Doug looks out through the planks near the entrance, Carley works on what looks like a radio, and Clementine and Sandy sit on a cardboard box nearby. Clem holds onto her radio so she can be ready if Glenn decides to call in.
I decide to take a look around the drugstore and scrounge up anything I can find if these new guys haven't picked it clean already. After a few minutes of searching through shelves, shelves, and even more shelves, I managed to scavenge a few protein bars, a battery, and surprisingly someone's wallet but I left that on the floor. I think I should give these to the others. But who?
I obviously choose Sandy and Clementine first, so I approach them both and they look up at me. "Hey, guys."
"Hey."
"Hi..."
Well, they seem enthusiastic. I don't blame them. "You guys okay? Need anything?"
They both shake their heads and Clementine says, "I'm okay, maybe I'm a little hungry."
"Well, you're in luck." I grab two protein bars from my pocket and hand them to them both. "I found some of these, you two haven't had anything all day."
"Thank you," Clementine takes one and smiles.
"Of course," Sandy still hasn't taken hers. "Sandy?"
"...Are you sure that you don't need it?"
I shake my head and offer a reassuring smile. "I'm alright, don't worry. It's you two that I'm concerned about."
"..." Thankfully, Sandy takes the protein bar from me. "...Thanks."
"Of course." Alright, that's two down. Now the other two... I head over to Kenny and his family, just in time as Lee approaches them, too.
"We can't let anything happen to Ducky," Katjaa rests a hand on her son's shoulder.
"I know, hon," Kenny sees Lee and I approach and he offers a grateful smile. "Hey, Lee. You really gave that old man hell."
"Yeah. We got pushed, you know?"
"You don't have to tell me; I was ready to tear that man's head off," He looks to me next. "Thank you for trying to protect my boy, you're a good kid."
I shake my head. "It was nothing, sir."
"That's 'Kenny', to you." He smirked.
"Sorry. Force of habit, I suppose," I scratch the back of my head.
"Anyway, we, Kat and I, appreciate y'all's support."
"Thank you both."
We nod. "How's Duck doing?" Lee asks.
"He's okay, it was just a shock."
"We're lucky as hell nobody got nabbed on the way in here."
"No kidding," Lee agrees with Kenny.
"How are they doing?" Katjaa looks over to Sandy and Clementine.
"They're good, I think."
"Yeah, they'll be alright. I gave 'em a couple of protein bars I found. Speaking of," I grab another from my pocket and hold it towards Kenny. "It's not much but here, for Duck."
"Aw, thanks, Elijah. He appreciates it." Kenny takes the protein bar from me.
"Thank you, Elijah."
"It's no trouble."
"What's the plan?"
"Hang tight, I suppose," Kenny answers Lee. "Seems pretty dangerous out there so we oughta wait for things to clear up."
"Not too bad of a plan," I add.
"You said your family was from here in Macon?" Katjaa asked Lee.
"That's right."
"Where are they? Should we go looking for them?"
Oh, boy... I think I already know where this is going.
Lee looked around, making sure only the four of us could hear him. "They, uh...owned this place. That Doug guy mentioned they pulled some bodies out of the office before we got here. They're...gone."
...Damn.
"Oh, Sweetie..." Katjaa covers her mouth slightly.
"Kat..."
"They were good people," Lee continues. "I wasn't around much, but, yeah, they're dead."
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Kenny looks to us. "Lee, Elijah, you got a second?"
Lee nods. "Sure."
"What's up?" I ask as we walk a short distance away to talk in private.
"...Back on Hershel's farm..."
"Yeah?"
Where's he going with this?
"We couldn't save him. That blood is on our hands, you know?"
"It all happened pretty fast," Lee tries to ease Kenny, yet I'm reminded of my mistake.
"I tried...but I couldn't do anything. I could've done better, now a man's son is dead because of me."
"No, It's my fault," Kenny counter-argues. "I panicked and I just...ran."
"Hey," Lee says firmly to both of us. "It's no one's fault for what happened."
"...I just can't stop seeing him in my head."
I silently agree with Kenny. I can sometimes even hear his agonizing screams, even the way he looked grateful to me that I tried to save him.
"We can't kill ourselves over it."
"We killed that boy. The three of us could've saved him together." Kenny insisted.
"We did what we could. Bad things happen. We didn't make a choice that killed Shawn. You think you do when you look back on it. But in a moment? When things are really out of control? You don't have a choice."
"Yeah."
"I guess."
Lee rests a hand on mine and Kenny's shoulder. "Try to let it go."
Kenny stands for a moment, contemplating Lee's words as I do the same. He then turns to Katjaa and Duck and they share sad glances. Kenny goes back to his family and Lee looks at me.
"You okay?"
I nod. "Yeah, thank you, sir."
Lee smiles. "Of course. Besides protein bars, what have you found?"
"I found a battery and someone's wallet."
"You might wanna go talk to Carley, she needs another for the radio she's working on."
I raise an eyebrow. "She didn't know it didn't have batteries?"
Lee chuckles at my question. "Yeah, I had that same look."
"Guess I better go lend a hand." Lee checks on Sandy and Clementine while I head near the entrance of the drugstore where Carley is still fiddling with the radio. "You're a damn good shot, ma'am."
She turns to me after my compliment and smiles. "Well, like I told your friend, you don't fuck with a reporter, especially one that's three days out from her last cup of coffee. And you can just call me Carley."
I nod. "I'm Elijah. My friend said you that needed batteries for your radio?"
Carley nods at me. "Yeah. He found one already, I just need another. Did you find one?"
I nod. "Yeah," I pull it from my pocket and hand it to her. She takes it and begins meddling with the radio again. While she works on it, a question pops into my head when I think back to how she saved Lee earlier. "...So, I got a question for you."
"Yeah?"
"Could you...teach me how to use a gun?"
Carley puts down the radio and looks over at me like I'm crazy. "Why are you asking me?"
"Well, you're a good shot and I've only fired a gun a handful of times in my life. I'm not asking you to completely train me, but...could you at least give me a few pointers?"
"...I don't see why not." She smiles and pulls out her pistol, making sure it's not loaded as well. "Okay. So, the first rule is, and you should obviously know, this isn't a toy."
"Painfully obvious."
Carley chuckles at my remark. "Yeah. The second rule, you never want to put your finger on the trigger unless you're ready to hurt someone. And you don't pull the trigger, you squeeze it."
I nod. "Got it."
"Rule three, the grip on your weapon should always be firm, and don't lock your elbows. You never know when someone could snatch it from you."
I nod again. "Makes sense."
Carley smiles. "You're a good student so far, can't wait to see how you do in the field."
I laugh a little. "You're a pretty good teacher."
"Thanks," Carley goes back to the radio, pressing the power button but it doesn't turn on. "Damn it..."
"Still nothing?"
"Yeah, I can't figure it out."
"I can have a look at it."
"Go ahead."
Carley moves aside so I can see if I can do anything. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing but I want to at least try to help. I flip the radio around and open the battery door. No way... I look at Carley with an expression that just screams, 'really?'
"What?"
"You do realize you put the batteries in backwards, right?"
"...What?"
I nod and flip the batteries around. Once they're in the radio properly, I close the little door, pull up the antenna, turn up the volume, and press the 'on' button. The radio buzzes to life and I set it back on the table.
"You fixed it!"
"As the unknown affliction continues to spread unchecked, the estimated death toll continues to skyrocket. WABE urges you to stay indoors and avoid any contact with individuals you suspect may have been exposed."
"The station is okay!" Carley says in hope
"In the event of a full...uh, my producer is telling me we have to get off the air."
Oh, no...
"Steve..."
"WABE wishes you and your loved ones..." Static comes through the radio, along with the sound of screaming and growling. "...God bless you all." More static comes and then the radio shuts off.
I look to Carley, she looks down at the radio in slight sadness. "You okay? That... didn't sound so good."
"I'm fine..."
You don't sound so sure yourself. "You don't have to be, you know?
"Well, I'm sure that some people got out. Maybe they're all being rescued. Then again...maybe not."
I think I better leave her alone for now. "I'm gonna get back to looking around."
"Yep."
I leave Carley alone. I was just about to check on Sandy and Clementine when I saw Lee enter the office, Clementine was close behind him. I decide to go help. I feel a pit growing in my stomach at the reminder that they said that they had to drag some bodies out the back of the drugstore. I hope Lee's alright...
Lee
Lee steps inside the office of his parent's drugstore, not knowing that Clementine and Elijah have followed him inside. He looks around, seeing that the wooden desk has been pushed against the door leading to the pharmacy. In the middle of the room lies a mattress...covered in blood. There's a small blood trail leading to the door that goes into the alley behind the drugstore.
"I can't... I can't think about them in here." Lee's voice falters for a moment, Elijah takes note of this as he looks through the shelves. My parents came in here hoping to survive...but it looks like one of them was hurt. I wonder if it was my dad. Trying to be a hero, maybe. Or protect her, at least.
Clementine just stands by the door that goes back into the store, twiddling her thumbs patiently.
"You okay, Clementine?" Lee asks her.
She nods. "Yeah."
"Have you heard from Glenn?"
Clementine shakes her head. "Not in a little while."
"I'm sure he's alright, Clem," Elijah tries to reassure her.
"Okay."
"Did everyone out there seem alright to you two?"
Clementine nods at Lee, answering her. "Yeah. Well, maybe not the sick guy."
"Yeah," Elijah agrees. "His daughter didn't exactly help things either."
"I know. We'll keep an eye on them though."
"...There was that thing in the bathroom. It tried to get me."
"I know."
"But you stopped it. And Elijah shielded me and Sandra from it."
"Yeah," Lee looks to Elijah who had a faint smile tugging on his lips. "Guess you're like her big brother in a way?" Lee whispers.
"Well, I don't know about that..."
Lee chuckles as he goes to move a wooden pallet that's blocking the door to the pharmacy. When he does, a wooden cane with a few white bandages falls out from behind it. Lee leans the pallet against the wall next to the door and picks up the can in his hands. He smiles widely because he knows whose cane this is.
"What's that?" Clementine asks.
"This was my Dad's cane. He'd zip around here on it from time to time."
"Was he sick?"
"Nah, he was okay," Lee answered Elijah. "I actually saw him whoop shoplifters with it," He chuckles at the memory as he sets the cane against the wall near the pallet. "This cane's protected this place better than any guard dog ever could. Plus, he knew how to make it look cool. Like you, with your hat, Clementine."
The little one smiles at Lee's words. "My dad gave it to me."
"See, dads are smart like that."
"I guess that means Elijah's mom was smart too, she always wore the hat that Elijah's wearing. Its butterfly is so pretty."
"Is that so?" Lee looks over to Elijah...who's looking down somberly at his feet. "That's your mothers?"
"...Yeah, it was."
Lee feels a ping of guilt in his chest when he hears how cold Elijah's tone is, and he especially feels terrible when he says, it 'was' her hat. Lee decides to drop the subject at that and turns his attention to the desk blocking the door.
"Better get this door clear, huh?"
"I'll give you a hand."
Lee nods to Elijah and sees Clementine approach the desk. "Can I help?"
Lee and Elijah smile at the little girl. "Sure," Lee responds as the three of them grab onto the desk. "Here we go."
"Be sure to watch your fingers, Clem."
They pull the desk back from the door and then stop. "How are you doing, Clementine."
"Yeah. It's not that heavy."
"How about with everything outside?"
"It's not good..."
"You could say that again, Clem," Elijah agrees.
"But I think It'll be okay."
They smile at Clementine's optimism before they continue to move the desk backward. Lee and Elijah then start pushing it to turn it to its side but stop when Clementine speaks to the former.
"Do you have kids?"
"...No."
"You don't have a family?"
"..."
Elijah looks off to the side as Lee tries to change the subject. "What do your parents do?"
"My mom is a doctor and my dad is an engineer."
"Those are good jobs."
"What's your job?"
"I, uh, teach history and writing...things like that."
"Like...um...social studies?"
Lee nods. "Yeah, like that."
"My Mom was a doctor too, one of the best..."
"Oh, yeah! I remember my mom saying that too." Clementine looks back to Lee. "You didn't answer my question."
"...Alright, a little further." They rotate the desk so that it's vertically in front of the door. Lee and Elijah move to push it against the wall, but Clementine keeps insisting.
"Why don't you want to talk about your family? Do they, like...hate you?"
Lee plants his hands on the deck and keeps his eyes shut. "Clem...that's enough," Elijah softly says.
"But-"
"Because they're dead." Lee finally answers.
"..."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Clementine looks down, feeling bad for insisting so much.
"You didn't know."
"I'm just sorry for being mean."
Lee stands up straight and kneels down in front of Clementine, Elijah stands behind her and simply looks stern. "Look, my family is gone and I just wish things would've been different."
"Yeah..."
"..." Elijah looks to Lee, not entirely sure if Clem should be hearing this conversation but he says nothing.
"I got into some trouble and then I didn't talk to them for a while. This used to be their store. But...let's just keep that between the three of us, okay?"
"Okay," Clementine nods. "Because of the trouble?"
"That's right," Lee stands and looks to Elijah who offers a nod in return. "Now, let's get this done." They start pushing the desk against the wall.
"OW!" Clementine suddenly jumps back and holds her right index finger.
"Are you okay?"
"What happened, kiddo?"
"I hurt my finger."
"Is it bleeding?" Lee asks.
"A little."
Elijah picks up Clementine and sets her on top of the desk. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it," The boy goes over to one of the shelves, remembering a med-kit box he found. "I can take care of Clem, sir," he says to Lee, moving the box next to Clementine. "Okay then..."
As Elijah searches through the first aid kit, Lee searches through the shelves and finds a television remote. This is the remote to my dad's TV. He's not so sure why, but he takes it and puts the remote in his pocket.
"Lee?" Clementine calls to Lee.
"Yeah?"
"What if my parents come home and I'm not there?"
"...They'll, uh...track us down. Don't worry."
"Yeah, Clem," Elijah adds. "I'm sure they want to find you just as much as you do."
"Yeah. Okay. We should keep a lookout just in case. I've got my walkie-talkie in case they try that way."
"Stay close to me until then, okay?"
"That goes for me and Sandy too." Clementine nods. Elijah closes the medkit, he has a band-aid, a wad of cotton, and a nearly empty bottle of disinfectant. He kneels down to Clementine. "Okay, let's have a look. Elijah holds Clementine's finger in his hand, examining it closely. "Well, there's no splinter, so that's good. This desk is pretty old."
"Yeah."
"It still hurts though," Clem added.
"Yeah, well..." Elijah takes the disinfectant and cotton and soaks it to clean Clementine's cut. "this sis gonna sting a little."
"Not too much, right?" She asked feeling slightly scared.
"Don't worry," Elijah smiled. "You and Sandy survived until I came along, right? That means you're tough. You can handle some of this."
"Really?"
"He- Heck yeah, you can!"
Clementine smiles. "Thanks, Elijah."
Lee smiles at them both, letting Elijah clean and bandage Clem's wound. Like a brother and sister, those two are. Lee takes a step backward, feeling and hearing some broken glass underneath his shoe. He looks down and sees a broken picture frame, Lee picks up the picture from within and smiles when he sees it. It's a photo of his parents, little brother, and himself in front of the pharmacy.
...Mom...Dad...Bud...
Lee then frowns sadly when reality finally sets back in. He tears himself out of the picture and puts the rest of it in his pocket.
"Find anything?"
Lee widens his eyes in shock at the sound of Carley's voice who had just entered the office. He turns around and looks at her, letting the picture shred of himself fall out of his hand and to the floor.
"It's a photo of the family who owned this place. It might help us track down the keys to the office."
"I know who you are." She says, making Lee stare back in question. "You're Lee Everett. You're a professor at Athens who killed a state senator who was sleeping with your wife. This is your parents' store. Folks around town know the owner's son got himself a life sentence, but I'm a reporter for WABE in Atlanta. I paid attention to that trial. Maybe you're a murderer. But I don't really care. Frankly, that's a skill that might come in handy."
Lee crosses his arms at that remark. "Hmph."
"Did you tell anyone out there who you were, or that you were tied to this place?" Lee doesn't answer, only looking off to the side. "For your sake, I hope the answer is no. Don't get me wrong, you seem like an okay guy, and the last thing we need is drama out there. You've got some kids to take care of, and...look, don't make me wrong on this."
Lee takes a step closer to Carley. "I don't plan to."
"Good. Because if this lasts longer than a few days, and you're a detriment to the group, then we'd have a problem."
"...I hear you."
"I'll just keep it to myself."
"..." Lee finds himself smiling. "Thanks."
Carley found herself smiling as well, with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Don't worry about it." Carley walks out of the office, and Lee looks back to Clementine and Elijah. "How's Clem doing?"
"..."
"He finished cleaning it and put a ban-aid on it." Clementine answers for the boy.
"Well, good. You two wanna head back into the drugstore?"
"Okay," Clementine hops off the desk and walks up to Lee, holding her wrist bashfully. "Lee?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not...bad, right?"
"I, uh...why are you asking me that?"
"That lady said you killed someone. Was that because he was one of those things trying to eat you?"
"..." Lee contemplates whether or not to be truthful to the girl. He looks up to Elijah, seeing an unreadable expression on his face. Then he looks back down at Clementine, bearing a sad frown. "No, he wasn't."
"Oh... Was he...bad?"
Lee frowns. "He was."
Clementine only nods and goes back into the drugstore. Lee is about to follow but is stopped when he feels Elijah's hand on his shoulder. "Can we talk?" The office door closes, and the silence grows along with the rising tension.
"...What is it?"
"...So it's true? The reason you didn't come to class that day, why you got a 'ride' from a police officer, and why you've seemed hesitant to say anything about this place..." Elijah can barely even look at his former college professor. "...Tell me, is it really true? You...killed someone?"
"...Yes," Elijah flinches a little when Lee tells him the truth, not even making eye contact. "...Elijah, I-"
"Stop," He interrupts. "You don't have to say anything more. You were willing to look after the three of us when you could've just left and never looked back. You even saved Clementine from that thing earlier. And I've been your student ever since I started at UGA. I know you're not a bad man, so..." Elijah's eyes meet Lee's. "Your secret is safe with me."
"...Thank you, Elijah."
"Hold on," The boy stops Lee from leaving once again. "There's...something else I need to ask."
"...What is it?"
"...You know something about Clementine's parents, don't you?"
"..."
"Every time either she brings them up, or a stranger asks about them, you always look like you're hiding something. Please, those two are like family to me, just...tell me the truth."
"...Okay."
Elijah
...Shit... They can't be gone...Diana...Ed... Maybe they got out, they had to...right?
Lee and I head back into the drugstore, just in time to hear Larry groan in pain. I do my best to not make any snarky remarks. Lee, being the mature one, looks to Lilly with concern. "How's he doing?"
"I'm not sure I got your names."
"It's Lee."
"I'm Elijah."
"Lilly," She stands. "My dad's Larry. I was just doing what I had to earlier."
"Everyone was."
That doesn't mean he had the right to try and kill a kid...
"Now his heart's acting up again, and I'm powerless to do anything. And that violence before, with my dad, that didn't help."
So now it's our fault 'cause he couldn't keep his temper in check? Please...
"How did you know he needed nitroglycerin pills?" Lilly asks me.
"...My mom was a doctor, so I know a thing or two thanks to what she's taught me."
"That's a good quality to have in a time like this."
"...Yeah."
"So, what's exactly wrong with him?"
"He's got a heart condition," Lilly answers Lee. "He takes nitroglycerin tablets pretty regularly. I've seen a few bad attacks that he couldn't get over and needed to go to the hospital."
"Yeah, that's not really an option right now."
"But we'll get those pills."
"Thank you. I'm just going to keep him relaxed."
"So, you from here?" Lee asks.
"I work at Warner Robbins. The Air Force base."
"You're a pilot?" I ask.
"Nah, just mechanical admin stuff. I deal with a bunch of shitheads and bureaucrats all day. Sometimes a plane, if I'm lucky."
Lee leaves to go check on Clementine and Sandy, leaving me and Lilly to continue a conversation. "...So, what do you think of all of this?"
"what is there to think? The dead are up, walking around, eating people, and turning them into more...more...of them. I mean, Jesus."
"Yeah... But we all need to stick together to get through this, not be at each other's throats So..." I can't believe I'm saying this. "I'm sorry I got so angry with you, I was just looking out for a kid."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too."
"I think he's the one who should be apologizing, he's got a bad temper."
"Ah, fuck you, boy..." Larry barely looks up to insult me.
"Yeah...he doesn't mean it."
That remains to be seen... I won't forget that he called Sandy a 'greaser'. "Sure, it's just that..."
"Yeah?"
"...There are children here. Families."
"He and I are a family." Lilly counterargues.
"Even so, some people can't handle a temper like that. Hell, it barely seems like you can't."
"It's just his way. Don't make him the reason everything's screwed." I internally sigh, looks like we have another stubborn one. Guess it runs in the family. "Where's her mom?"
"Huh?" Lilly looks over to where Clementine, Sandy, and Lee are, the little one holds her walkie-talkie in her hands "Oh, Savannah, we think."
"Oh...you guys aren't together?"
I look back at her. "Oh, no. I'm not her brother. Sandra is her babysitter and I saved them both when one of those things attacked. We were all on our own until he came along. I don't think her parents...made it."
"Oh..."
"Yeah..."
"Well, she's lucky to have the three of you. I'm gonna get back to him now."
Liily kneels to her dad and I go over to where Lee and the girls are huddled up. I can't help but think about what Lilly said about those...things. All they seem to do is walk around and eat any living thing that moves. Eating, and...walking...
"Hey, there," Clementine's radio turns on and Glenn's voice comes through. "this is Glenn, and uh, I'm kinda in a jam here. Uh, little girl, if you're there, can you put your daddy on the phone? Or the talkie, or whatever?"
Clementine hands Lee the radio and holds it up to his mouth. "This is Lee, what's up?"
"So...I'm down at the motor inn and, well..I-I'm stuck."
"Stuck?"
"Yeah, I, uh saw the chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me. I'm hiding over here, but they won't leave."
"What's up?" Kenny asks after stepping over to us when he hears the radio turn on.
"Glenn's trapped down at the motor inn," Lee answers him before talking to Glenn. "Hey, Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send a group to come get you, alright?"
"Awesome. I'll sit tight 'til then."
"Sounds good," Lee turns off the radio and then speaks to Clementine. "I'm gonna hold onto this until we get Glenn back, okay? I'll take good care of it." Clementine nods.
"What do you think?" Kenny asks.
"I don't think Doug's great around those things,"
"Walkers..." I mutter under my breath. Lee and Kenny look at me in confusion. "All they do is walk and eat, seemed like a fitting name for them."
"Huh, not bad, kid."
"Agreed," Lee says. "Regarding that, you have your family here, Kenny. I'll take Carley and her dead-eye done to the motor inn, get Glenn, and get back here as fast as I can."
"If that's what you want to do..."
"Yeah, I'm in," Carley agrees after her name being mentioned.
"I'll go too," I say.
"You sure, Elijah?"
I nod at Lee. "Yes. I don't want to sit here knowing I could be helping you two."
"...Alright then," Lee complies, seeing my resolve. "It doesn't sound too bad there right now."
"Let's get going, then," Carley says.
She and Lee start heading to the office so they can leave out the back of the store. I was just about to leave myself when I felt Sandy grab me by my wrist. I look back at her, seeing her concerned frown.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."
"...You better, Perrito."
I chuckle at the sound of my old childhood nickname. "I promise, Hermosa."
Sandy finds herself smiling when I use her old nickname that her mother called her when we were kids, even a faint glow of red grows from her cheeks to her ears, complimenting her skin.
But there's no time to admire my friend's beauty. Lee, Carley, and I need to go save Glenn.
