The sun has finally set behind the horizon and the darkness of the night sky has consumed the land with its eerie beauty. I don't know exactly how long Shawn has been driving, but it's long enough that my ass is starting to feel sore from sitting in this truckbed for so long. Thankfully, we pull into the front of a farmhouse. I guess we're finally at Shawn's farm. I feel a lot safer out here than in town where all those things are creeping about. Shawne parks the truck and turns it off. Chet, Sandy, and I hop out of the back and Clementine and Lee step out of the passenger side.
"Hey, Shawn," Chet says, stretching his arms. "I'm'a run on home. My Mama's gonna be in a snit."
"No sweat, man. I'll catch you tomorrow night."
Chet turns to the four of us after saying goodbye to his friend. "It was nice meetin' y'all."
Lee waves goodbye, Sandy and Clementine offer a smile, and I offer a nod and Chet makes his leave. The opening of the front door of the farmhouse brings my attention to an old man emerging from within. He's wearing dark green coveralls and he bears a relieved expression.
"Thank God you're okay," He says to Shawn.
"I was worried it'd be bad here too." Shawn hugs the elder, I assume he must be his father.
"Been quiet as usual the past couple of days," The man hugged Shawn back. "Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gon lame but hat ain't nothin' new."
Shawn releases the elder. "I wouldn't have made it back without Chet."
"Well, I'm glad you took him with you then." The man looked to the four of us as we approached the porch and placed his hands on his hips. "You've brought a few guests."
"Your boy's a lifesaver," Lee says.
"Glad he could be of help to somebody."
"Yeah, he saved our butts out there." I point out, making sure I don't swear.
"So it's just you and your family?" He asks.
"Oh, they're not a family," Shawn answers for us. "Sandra here is Clementine's babysitter, Elijah's her neighbor, and Lee, he's...well, just some guy who found them all alone."
The elder looks skeptically at us before he kneels down in front of Clementine. "Honey, do you know these people?"
Clementine nods without hesitation. "Yes."
"Okay then." He stands back up and looks down at Lee's leg. "Well, looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there."
"Yeah," Lee looks up from his injury. "it's not doing so good."
"I can help you out. Shawn, run on in and check on your sister. You, take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I have."
Shawn and his father enter the house, Lee sits on the porch bench, and Clementine, Sandy, and I stand near the top of the stairs. The elder returns shortly, holding a roll of bandages. He looks at the three of us for a second, mostly eyeing Clementine. I understand the skepticism, I'd question a grown man traveling with three kids. Well, one kid and two young adults.
"Let's have a look," The farm man kneels down and inspects Lee's leg. "Yeah, this is swollen to hell."
"It hurts like hell." Lee points out.
"I bet it does."
"I didn't get a good look, but I don't think it's that bad." I try to ease the tension.
"Well, let us hope that's the case," The man looks up to Lee. "What did you say your name was?"
I don't think he did.
"It's Lee." He answered.
"Nice to meet you, Lee. I'm Hershel Greene."
At least we know his name, and Hershel knows his.
"How'd this happen?"
"Car accident."
"Oh, shit..." I say under my breath.
"Cono..." Sandy gasps.
"That so?" Hershel questioned. "Where were you headed? Before the accident?"
"I was getting out of Atlanta."
"The news says stay."
"Yeah, well, that's a mistake." That's putting it lightly, sir. "We hit a guy, one of those things you've been hearing about, on the road."
Wait... I thought I heard a car crash near my house before I helped Sandy, could it have been...? No way...
"Who were you with, the girls, the boy?"
"...I was with a police officer. He was giving me a ride?"
Wait, huh? Didn't he call in sick?
"Awful nice of him," Hershel seems to believe him.
"I'm an awful nice guy."
Am I the only one who feels like this is a country folk's version of an interrogation?
"House is full up with mine. We've got another displaced family of three sleeping in the barn. You and your bunch are welcome to rest there, when we're down here." Hershel turns to the three of us. "I didn't quite catch your names."
"Elijah," I speak first.
"Sandra."
"Clem...Clementine."
"Can't imagine what y'all have been through."
"I'm looking after them until we find their families, Clementine's parents most of all."
The front door of the house opens and Shawn walks onto the porch. "Hey, Dad, so I'm thinking, first thing tomorrow, we gotta reinforce the fence around the farm."
"That doesn't seem necessary."
"I don't know what you saw on TV, or heard on the radio, but there's some serious..." Shawn looks at Clementine, then back to his dad, and says his next words in a whisper. "Shit hitting the fan. I don't think anyone knows how big it is yet."
"Your son is right. You're gonna want to fortify this place."
"Yeah. It was awful in town, can't imagine what it's like in the cities, I don't wanna see how it is out here." I add.
"Stuff like that doesn't happen around here, Shawn."
"Dad, I'm serious. Lee, Elijah, come on, tell him what you guys saw out there."
"..." I can't...
"I saw a cop come back from the dead," Lee answers.
"Well, do what you think you should. We've got plenty of chores as it is."
"Lee, Elijah, and those folks in the barn can help out in the morning. We gotta do it, really."
"I already said okay." Shawn heads back inside. "Well, I'm all done here. It should start to feel better tomorrow." Hershel stands.
"Thanks."
"If your leg gets hot or the swelling doesn't go down, you're probably dealing with an infection."
"What do we do then?"
"We'll probably just have to shoot you."
Lee, Sandy, and Clementine looked shocked at Hershel's words, but I could tell it was only a joke. "He's only messin' with you, sir."
"Right..."
"Boy's right. If that's the case, we'll clean it, re-dress it, and you'll be fine."
"Okay, that'd be preferable."
"There's blankets and such in the barn. We'll be seeing you bright and early. Come tomorrow, which way do you think you're headed?"
"Towards Macon, I suppose."
That's right, I think he mentioned his family having a pharmacy back when I first started his class.
Herschel nods, looks at the three of us, and smiles before heading back inside his house. Guess that means we should head for the barn.
"Alright then."
"At least it's not the treehouse again," I say to Sandy and Clementine as we walk to the barn.
"You could say that again."
We enter the barn, seeing the two makeshift beds on the hay-covered ground. I think I can hear the family that Hershel said was in the barn on the upper floor. Only one of them is snoring though, at least it's not too loud.
I look at Sandy. "You and Clem can take one, I'll just sit over there against the wall,"
"Huh? but-"
"Thanks, Elijah." Clementine is already lying down on the makeshift bed. Sandy looks at me in concern.
"We're already sleeping in a barn, I don't want you even more uncomfortable."
"I'll be fine, Sandy."
"Are you sure?" Lee asks me. "I don't mind taking the ground."
"You're the injured one here, you better take it." I set my bag down and pull my gun from my pocket and put it in. I sit down on the barn floor as the others get comfortable in their beds.
"It smells like..." I hear Clementine say, knowing exactly what she means.
"Manure." Lee finishes her sentence.
"Manure? Like when a horse...plops?"
"Just like that."
"I prefer the term, 'kaka'," Sandy says, making me laugh.
"I have my own term, but there's a little one here."
"Since when do you care about that?"
"...Touche." A few seconds of silence go by, and then it's broken when Clementine speaks up again in a sad tone.
"I miss my Mom and Dad."
"I bet, Clem."
"We'll find them." I try to reassure her.
"How far is Savannah?"
"Pretty far."
"Oh...okay."
"..." Poor kid... I can't imagine what she's feeling. What about Sandy? Her mother is all the way back in Marietta, she's gotta be okay too, right? I can feel all my rising questions come to a halt when I feel the exhaustion from today takes its toll on me. Some sleep oughta do me some good.
Lee...during the night...
Lee tosses and turns in his sleep, and the voice of a woman rings through his head as he dreams.
"I love you, baby..."
The voice laughs, and something shatters...and then the woman screams. Lee is disturbed by this dream and wakes up suddenly. He breathes heavily for a few moments before looking around, and seeing Clementine alone in her bed beside him.
Wait...where's Sandra?
Lee looks over to where Elijah set himself to sleep, seeing the young woman pressed up against him and leaning her head on his shoulder. Lee's earlier fear is replaced with content at the sight.
I guess those two are really close...
Lee leans back onto his bed, falling asleep with better ease than before.
"Hey, get up."
Lee wakes up to the sound of a man's voice. A man with a pretty awesome mustache and an orange cap. Lee gets up from his bed to greet the man, he sees that Clementine, Sandra, and Elijah have woken up as well. The little one scratches her arm.
"I'm itchy."
"Well, you slept in a barn, little lady," The mustachioed man says. "Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." This makes her gasp and look up at her hair in worry. "But I bet your daddy and these two scared 'em all away, huh?"
"I'm uh, not her dad." He corrects him. "Name's Lee."
"I'm Kenny."
"I'm Elijah," I say. "Besides, this one's scared of spiders too." I gesture to Sandy, making her elbow me in the side again.
"Cabron."
"Dad! We're gonna build a fence!" A boy's voice comes from the front of the barn. "There's a tractor and everything!" The boy runs off.
"We better get going or we won't hear the end of it," Kenny says and leaves the barn. Lee, Sandra, Elijah, and Clementine follow after, the little girl holds onto Lee's hand. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him 'Duck', though."
"Duck?" Lee asked in confusion.
"Dodging or quacking?" Elijah asked.
"Yeah. Nothing bothers him. Like water off a duck's back, y'know?"
"That's a valuable trait lately." Lee points out.
"No kidding. But frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers. And to answer your question, quacking."
"DAD!" Duck yelled.
"See? But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." They all meet up with Kenny's son and a woman, the latter of which is sitting on some hay bales in front of the porch. "The word is you were on your way to Macon."
"My family is from there."
"Well, Macon's on the way, and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a few fellas who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to."
"I'll ask what the girls and boy what they want."
"Ah, gotta consult the kids. I understand." Kenny turns to his wife and son. "Honey, Duck, this is Lee, Elijah, and...uh, what are the girl's names?"
"Clementine." He answers.
"I'm Sandra."
"Clementine and Sandra." Kenny says.
"Those are very pretty names." The woman says with a slight foreign accent. It could be Dutch or Belgian.
"Thanks," Clementine and Sandra smiled.
"This is my wife, Katjaa."
Shawn comes from around the corner of the house and approaches the group. "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better."
"I wanna build a fence," Duck says happily.
"Yeah? Well, I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break."
"On the tractor? Cool!"
Shawn and Duck leave, Clementine sits on a bale of hay next to Katjaa, Kenny begins to work on his truck, and Sandra and Elijah just stand next to the house to have their own conversation. Lee decides to talk to the new group before he and Elijah go help Shawn around the farm.
Lee approaches Katjaa and Clementine first. "Hey there, girls. You two actually looked relaxed."
"I think we're doing just fine. Clementine was just telling me about first grade."
"Oh, uh, how is that?" He asks Clementine.
"It's easy."
"Well, yeah," He says like it was obvious, reminding himself that he's not used to caring for a kid yet. "So...you're good?"
"Anyway," Katjaa saves the conversation. "it's almost like we didn't see people eating each other for the past couple days. It's peaceful here, no?"
Lee learned Clementine is a first grader. "How did you handle getting through the city?"
"Kenny just...drove. We passed so many people that needed help. And...we just...passed people, over some," Katjaa looks down to her lap, slightly shaking. "Just...just..."
"It's okay," Lee reassures. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything more."
"I want to go home tomorrow, but even then I can't take away the things we...the things Duck went through," Katjaa looks up at Lee with a saddened frown. "Don't you want to go back to the moment before you knew about all this?"
"Anybody in there right mind would. Families and barbecues and beers with good friends."
"All those things." Katjaa agrees.
"Those are the things we live for, right? With those gone, what's the point?" Lee thinks of another thing to talk about to lighten the somber mood. "So, uhh, what do you do when...corpses aren't walking around?"
"I'm a veterinarian back in Fort Lauderdale, like Hershel here, except more with dogs and cats and not horses. What is it that you do, Lee?"
"I used to teach up at the University of Georgia."
"We need to hope that we can go back to our jobs soon, Lee. back to normal. It can't stay like this."
"..." Lee considers his next words carefully. Either to tell the truth or to shrug it off for now. "No, I used to. I was let go a little while back."
"That's too bad. Well, I hear people always clamor back to college after a big disaster. People don't want to die ignorant, I guess."
Lee nods and looks to Clementine. "You having a nice time with Katjaa, Clementine?"
She nods and smiles. "Yeah."
Seeing that the little one will be alright with the woman, Lee leaves them to have their conversation and approaches Kenny as he continues to work on his truck. He seems like an okay guy.
"Hey there, uh, Kenny. So what's your family's plan?"
"Get back on down to Lauderdale and let this mess get sorted out. Government'll start handing out shots and the national guard'll do its thing. On the odd chances things got too bad, we could hop on my boat, I guess."
"You've got a boat?"
"I'm a commercial fisherman, catching mackerel, dolphin, whatever's bitin' and payin'. Katjaa wouldn't be wild about it, but the boat's not that bad."
Lee just learned about Kenny's boat. "How's your son doing?"
"Good, I think. Katjaa's got a sister up in Memphis; we were coming back from visiting her," Kenny pulls his head from the engine of his truck. "We were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy. I thought he was kidnapping him. I was on the fucker in about two seconds and... Christ. Just lucky I was there. We saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's. But we're a tough family, Lee. Ain't nothing gonna faze us."
"I can tell," Lee shows genuine interest in Kenny's family. "Need any help?"
"Naw, I think I got it. Do you need any help?"
Lee turns back to Kenny just when he is about to walk away. "What fo you mean?"
"I mean, in taking care of those three kids. You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?"
"I have no idea what I'm doing."
Kenny chuckles. "At least you're honest. Shit, better than I was when Duck showed up. You'll figure it out."
"Thanks."
"And Lee?"
"Yeah?"
"...With how everything is, and those things out there, you gotta ask yourself if you're the type of guy to step up if their parents don't show up."
"...I'll keep that in mind." Lee leaves Kenny to tend to his truck and heads over to Elijah and Sandra. Seeing that it's best to start helping around the farm, but he would at least want to converse with them first. "Hey, you two."
"Hello, sir." Sandra greets Lee with a smile.
"Mornin' to ya."
Okay, how to start this... "So, how do you two know each other?"
"Sandy-" Sandra elbows Elijah, stopping him from speaking for a moment. "Sandra here has been my best friend since we were kids."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah," Sandra answers. "Believe it or not, this guy used to be shorter than me back in grade school."
Elijah rolls his eyes at this fact. "You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"
"Nope!" Sandra smirked. "Not even when you're six foot three."
"Six foot two," Elijah corrects her, making Lee laugh a little. They seem really close.
"You know, Elijah here was one of my best students?"
"Is that so?" Sandra once again smirks at Elijah. "Even in college, you're still a nerd."
"That's just part of my charm, isn't it?"
"I once recommended him to become a teacher, too."
"Really?" Sandra asked in curiosity.
"I don't really think that's a choice right now. Besides, I still want to be a photographer."
Lee wants to ask this next question, but he knows it may be a sensitive topic for these two. "So...where are your guy's parents?"
"..."
"..."
Lee notices their silence along with their uneasy looks. "It's alright, you don't have to say anything."
"...My Mother works in the city," Sandra answers, Elijah just looks off to the side. "so... I don't know if she's alright or not, but... Ayudame Dios... I have to keep up that hope, right?"
Lee nods. "Yeah, that's right." He looks to Elijah, who can't even look back at either of them. Poor kid, who knows what he's had to deal with in the past couple days. "...Elijah, how about we go ahead and help out Shawn?"
"...Yeah, sure thing."
"Will you be alright, Elijah?"
"Yeah, I will," He says behind a forced smile. "Keep an eye on Clem, yeah?"
Sandra nods but she still looks worried. "Okay." She leaves and takes a seat by Katjaa and Clementine. Lee and Elijah head behind the farmhouse where Shawn is hammering some planks against the fence and Duck is sitting in the seat of a tractor and pretending to drive it.
"Kid's got an active imagination." Elijah points out.
"No doubt," Lee agrees as they approach them, he offers Duck a friendly wave and Duck happily waves back.
"Hey, Shawn," Elijah speaks to the young man. "Still need our help?"
He looks back to Lee and Elijah and nods. "Yeah, that'd be great. Elijah, you keep these next few planks steady while I hammer them in. Lee, if you could cut those two-bys by length, that'd be sure to speed things up."
They nod in response. Elijah kneels down and takes a plank so Shawn can hammer it down as Lee approaches the bench nearby and starts cutting a two-by-four in half with a handsaw.
"My dad doesn't know how bad it is," Shawn says as he starts hammering.
"No, he doesn't." Lee agrees.
"Let's hope he starts seeing sense."
Shawn nods, setting his hammer down for a moment. "I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face."
"Damn..." Lee says as he cuts a plank in half and starts on another.
"No shit, 'damn'."
"Was the kid one of those...things?" Elijah asks.
"I don't even know. He was either attacking the guy or asking for help. He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun between this kid's eyes...and pulled the trigger. You don't see things like that. It's not like in the movies."
"They don't fall like you think."
"No...they don't." Elijah looks off to the pasture.
"Did either of you two have to do it?"
"Do what?" Lee asks Shawn.
"Kill. Have you had to off one yet?"
"Oh, uh..." Lee cust through a second plank and begins on a third. "I had to shoot one."
"I could shoot one, maybe. If it were far away. What about you?" Shawn looks at Elijah.
"...I uh...had to bash one's brains in," Lee thinks back to the body he found back in Clementine's house, mostly how badly his head had been beaten. Damn, he did that? Kid's tougher than he looks.
"Whoa, I couldn't do that." Shawn won't forget what Elijah said. "I'm just glad we're getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there. How about yours? How's your family, Lee?"
"My brother and parents are in Macon, I hope."
"Oh, man, I hope so too. Maybe it's not too bad there. What about you, Elijah? What about your folks?"
"...My deadbeat dad's back in North Carolina. Hopefully dead."
"Damn, what about your Mom?"
"..."
"Sorry," Shawn sees the boys' rising annoyed expression. Something bad I can imagine... Lee finishes cutting a third plank. "That's probably all I need cut for now, Lee. You're good to go, too, Elijah. Thanks."
Lee leaves the saw by the bench and Elijah stands up beside him. "And, Shawn, thanks again for the ride."
"Yeah, you really saved our asses."
"No problem, guys. Couldn't leave you and those other two behind," Shawn looks back at them both. "Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn." They nod and leave Shawn to tend to the fence, Lee sees Hershel entering the barn with a pitchfork.
"Hey, Elijah, you go ahead and rest for a bit, I'll go lend Hershel a hand."
"You sure, sir?" He asks and Lee nods.
"Yeah, and you can just call me Lee, you know?"
"Sorry, force of habit."
Elijah heads to the front of the house where Clementine and Sandra are and Lee makes his way to the barn. Inside, he finds Hershel scattering hay with his pitchfork. He stares at Lee but says nothing for a moment.
"How'd you get out of Atlanta?"
"I gotta ride then I was in a wreck. I walked until your boy found me."
"Hmm. Well, you're no worse for wear."
Lee looks around and smiles. "This farm's a nice plot of land."
"Heh, had you told me twenty years ago I'd still be doing this, I woulda told you that you were full of crap. Never was the plan, having a place like this. It was in the family, and I guess so was I. Family's important, it's all that matters. You agree with that?"
"Was brought up to it, yes."
"Where's your family now? Parents? Wife? Girlfriend?"
"My parents are in Macon, with my brother."
"Well, I hope they're alright. But now you got those two kids and this little girl to take care of. Clementine, is it? You just stumbled on her and the other two?"
Lee nods. "Yeah, I was looking for help in her house."
"Hmph," Hershel plants the pitchfork in the ground and walks closer to Lee. "Can I give you a piece of advice?"
"Sure."
"I don't know who you are or what you did. Let's say things don't get better back in the cities. Or they get worse before they do. You're gonna have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're gonna make it. And if those same people get to questioning yours, you're gonna be in trouble. But at least you got the common sense to listen to a man giving you advice."
In the distance, there's a noise of an engine being turned on, making Lee and Hershel look to the outside of the barn. "What the-"
"AAAHHH!"
Lee and Hershel leave the barn. "Go! I'll get my gun!" Hershel leaves to retrieve his weapon.
Elijah...moments before...
Lee heads for the barn while I go check on the girls. I find them both sitting on a few hay bales and holding their pinkies together. "Whatcha doing there girls?"
"Didn't you know?" Clementine says with a smile. "Sandra and I are secret sisters!"
"Is that so?" I ask. "If it's a secret, then why'd you just tell me?"
"Because I know you'll keep a secret, duh!" Clementine exclaimed.
"Ha!" Sandy mocks her remark. "This guy? Keep a secret? Please."
I roll my eyes and kneel down to Clementine. I hold out my left pinky. "I promise, Clementine, your secret is safe with me." She smiles at me, making me feel somewhat better. I stand up straight again and look at Sandy. "Hey, can we talk for a minute?"
She nods then looks down at Clementine. "You think you'll be alright on your own for a minute?" Clem nods and I take Sandy by the hand and around the corner of the farmhouse.
"...You okay?" I ask.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean with all of...this. I know you said you have hope for your Mom, but we still don't know how bad it is in Atlanta, and we're about to head all the way to Macon. Are you...really okay with that? I mean, I don't know if we should-"
"Elijah!" Sandy shouts in a whisper and holds my lips together with her thumb and middle finger. "I know, I'm just as worried as you are, but remember," She lets go of my lips and smiles reassuringly. "My Mom is tougher than most. You remember that she used to scare the living heck out of you when we were kids, right?"
I laugh a little, that woman could put the fear of God even in the most heartless of men. It took her a while to warm up to me but once she did, she's one of the sweetest people I knew. She even called me 'Pequeno Periito' when Sandy and I were little. Never really understood why though. Even...Mom loved her like a sister.
"Besides," Sandy continues. "I have a responsibility to look after Clementine until we find her parents, and I promised that I'd stay with her." Sandy looks off to the side for a moment. "Elijah?"
"Yeah?"
"You..." She looks back at me, her cheeks have a slight shade of pink to them, complimenting her mixed-colored skin. "You won't leave me, right? Leave us?"
"..."
I feel a slight ping in my chest. I knew that we never kept in touch when I started high school and college, but I never knew how much it affected her. We would usually talk every now and then, but we never hung out like we used to when we were kids. I wonder what changed? I wonder...how I changed? My after Sandy's question causes a small amount of tears to come from her eyes. I immediately wipe them away with the sleeve of my jacket, this makes Sandy look up at me in shock as her amber eyes sparkle thanks to her tears.
"I'm not going anywhere. Never again, that's a promise to you both."
"..." Sandy smiles, nuzzling her face in my hand as it remained close to her cheek. "Gracias, Mi-"
"AAAHHH!"
The sound of someone screaming and an engine turning on brings my attention to the back of the farmhouse. That...sounded like Shawn. I separate myself from Sandy, just in time to see Lee come from the barn and run toward us. Katjaa comes out of the house to see what all the commotion is about.
"Stay with Clementine!" I say to Sandy. "I'm gonna go help Lee!"
She nods. "Okay!"
I follow Lee back to where we worked on the fence with Shawn, his screaming gets louder as we run...along with the sound of growling from those things. Shit! Lee and I reach the fence, where Shawn's leg is trapped under the wheel of the tractor as a few of those monsters try to reach Shawn through the fence. Wait, did Duck accidentally turn it on? Who left the keys inside of it?! In seconds, Duck is grabbed by another one of those monsters, but he grabs onto the wheel to keep himself from being bit. Both Duck and Shawn scream as Lee and I figure out what to do.
"I'll go for Duck," Lee says to me. "You get Shawn out of there!"
"Right!"
"Get it off of me!"
I go to hit one of the monsters but I back off when it tries to bite me. Shit, can't get close! I feel around my pants, trying to find my gun but I find nothing. Dammit! I left it in my backpack! I try something else, I grab Shawn's arms and pull as hard as I can to get his leg out from underneath the tractor wheel. I see Lee trying to pull Duck away from the thing that has a hold on him but the monster's grip is too strong.
"Don't let them take me!" The boy screamed out.
Thankfully, Kenny has come to help his son. Lee backs away and Kenny takes his place and starts pulling. Lee grabs a nearby plank and starts hitting the Monster, making it let go of Duck.
"I got you!" Kenny shouted as he scooped up his son in his arms.
"They're almost through!"
I fall on my ass when I lose my grip on Shawn's arms. "Shit!"
"Now Shawn!" Lee shouts.
"Get this tractor off of me!"
I get back up to my feet, seeing Kenny run to safety with Duck. I look at the workbench where Lee was cutting those boards and an idea pops into my head. I grab the same saw Lee used and swing as hard as I can into the monster's head. But my aim is a little off so it gets stuck in its neck rather than hitting it straight into his head. Lee runs over to us to give me a hand so we can save Shawn...but we're too late.
The fence breaks, and I jump back to avoid getting caught in what's about to happen. One of those things bites into Shawn's leg while another bites into Shawn's neck. I heard from the others of how they just...eat people but I never saw it for myself. I feel my stomach churn at this horrific sight as Shawn's blood-curdling screams echo across the farm.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
I look away, seeing Sandy and Clementine watching the same scene as I am. Clementine whimpers as she hides behind Sandy. Hershel runs up with his rifle in hand, his eyes widen at what he has to see. He raises his rifle, firing three shots in total, each one hitting a monster's head and killing them. Hershel runs over to his son and leans down next to him, putting his hand on his head.
"I'm okay, Pop. I'm okay..." Shawn says weakly.
"I can fix you, don't worry. We'll stitch you up." So Hershel says, but I can hear his voice breaking.
"It almost...almost got me, man," Shawn looks over to me and Lee...and smiles. "They tried to save me."
Hershel looks at us for a second then back to his dying son. "I know, son."
"I..."
Shawn lets out one last breath...and the light leaves from his eyes. Hershel lightly gasps and holds his son's dead body for a few moments. out of the corner of my eye, I see Katjaa approach, and her son is right behind her. She stands in front of Duck to block his view of Shawn.
"...Get out," Hershel stands up, angry...and sad at the same time. "Get the fuck out of here!"
Kenny looks down in shame. "I'm sorry..."
"'Sorry'?! Your son is alive. You don't get to be sorry!" He turns to Lee and me. "You two tried to help him, but this piece of shit let him die!"
"HEY!" I shout. "Don't you pin this on him! This wouldn't have happened if someone hadn't left the key in the damn tractor!"
"Elijah, calm down," Lee says to me before Hershel can speak to me. "It's no one's fault, no one is to blame for what happened."
"The hell no one is!" Hershel yells, he then looks at me even more pissed off than before. "You better watch yourself, boy. Just wait until it's those girls you got with you and you need help!" Hershel turns away from all of us. I feel my anger rising but I decide not to take it out on the old man, he's already in grief. "Please, just go. Get out...and never come back!"
I walk over to Sandy and Clementine, making sure they're okay. Kenny exchanges looks at both of us. I think he's contemplating whether or not that ride he offered is still on the table. Katjaa looks over at us, more specifically, at Clementine. Kenny notices this and sighs.
"...Y'all got that ride to Macon if you want it."
Kenny and his family walk away, leaving the four of us alone for a moment. I internally sigh at myself for what happened today. It was no one's fault for what happened...but I still couldn't do anything to save him. If I had my gun on me, maybe I could've saved Shawn. But now...we have to move on from here. Looks like we're heading to Macon.