Guardian

Failure

Chapter 10

"What are we doing?" Clementine asked curiously.

Percy put the station wagon in park less than a mile away from the motel, having siphoned the gas of a nearby car to get it started. He turned to her but she continued on. "Are we leaving?" Her amber eyes wide and innocent as she looked at him.

He gave her a stiff nod, last night as he held a sobbing Clementine in his arms, he decided it would be better if they went off on their own. Looking at Clementine, he was expecting more of a negative response.

But rather, she beamed at him brightly. "Good! I'm mad at them for leaving you." Was all she replied with.

That was easier to convince her than he thought. Opening his door, he stepped out and walked to the back before opening the trunk. Clementine waddled up to his side. "Woah, those look scary." She said bubbly.

Percy grabbed a long silver knife with a brown handle and crouched down to her level to look her in the eyes. Pulling it out he showed Clementine. Her eyes warily analyzed the blade.

"We're leaving tonight. Okay?" She nodded her head furiously, her eyebrows scrunching slightly in confusion. "From now on, I want you to carry this."

She reached out toward the knife but Percy raised a hand to signal her to stop, she did so immediately. "This is not a toy, this is for your safety. I'll show you how to use it better while we're on the road, but you need it to protect yourself."

"From walkers?" She asked innocently as she slightly bounced on the balls of her feet.

He nodded. "And bad people, people who are trying to hurt you too."

Percy helped her attach the knife to the inside of her pant leg, then used her shirt to cover it. "Better to keep it concealed so others can't see it." He patted her side quickly before standing.

"You don't conceal your weapons?" She asked, a look of confusion on her face as she gestured to Riptide, the Ka-Bar attached to his hip, pistol in his waistband and the automatic rifle slung over his back.

"People will expect me to have weapons anyways. They might not expect you to have any." He told her.

Percy used some brush to cover the car for the most part, with Clementine's help. It didn't completely conceal it, but would be good enough for just the afternoon until it got dark.

"Why aren't we just leaving now?" She asked.

Percy gave a small smirk, the inquisitiveness of children. He had dealt with it a lot at Camp Half-Blood and it always amused him. "All of our stuff is still there. Plus, leaving under the cover of darkness will help keep the rest of the group from finding out for quite a while. We don't want them coming after us thinking we're in trouble." She nodded in satisfaction at his explanation as the two began their trek back to the motel.

He winced every so often as he took a step, his ribs were still tender. Katjaa believed that they were fractured but that there was nothing they could do for it right now. He just needed to push through it, and so he did.

It took them almost half an hour to get back. He saw Ben sitting on top of the RV with the rifle in his lap and he felt his cheek twitch slightly. But it was no longer his concern after tonight, Clementine and himself would be long gone. It was dangerous for their lookout to be so out in the open.

As they entered through the gate, they were met with a stern looking Lilly with her arms crossed. "Nothing?" She growled out.

"Seems like the rest of the bandits took the car and the rest of the guns." He lied.

Lilly huffed. "Did you need to take Clementine? You're putting her in danger."

He could see Clementine glare at Lilly from the corner of his eye. "She needs to learn, plus I don't trust any of you to watch my back at the moment." Lilly frowned, a guilty look quickly crossing her face before it vanished almost instantly. "I see Ben is on guard duty, are Lee and Kenny still here?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, they're planning for another trip to scavenge."

Percy crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright then."

He turned to walk away when the unmistakable sound of gunfire tore open through the day. Percy turned and watched as bullets peppered through Ben. Blood splattered from the sky as he fell over and off the back of the RV before anyone could even move a muscle.

Percy's eyes widened as Clementine screamed. "Shit, Clem run to my room and get your stuff. I'll meet you there. NOW." He screamed as he slung the rifle off his back. The little girl took off quickly. He turned back to where Lilly had been but she was long gone. He scowled and sprinted toward the RV as bullets peppered the ground near his feet.

"PERCY." He heard Lee yell as he turned to see both Lee and Kenny behind a dumpster, both had their pistols in their hands. "What the fuck is happening?" Percy turned and looked at Ben's dead body just a few feet away from him with a sad grimace.

"I don't fucking know." He snapped back. Shots were ringing out from the front entrance in droves, peppering toward the RV and the dumpster Kenny and Lee were behind, but nothing was seemingly hitting.

To his left Katjaa and Duck were hiding behind a pallet and some scrap pieces of plywood. He leaned out from behind the RV to try and see the gates of the motel opening. He watched several bandits come through the gates before he was forced to duck back behind the RV as gunfire quickly swept toward him.

One of their voices rang out. "You shouldn't have fucked with us, we know you killed some of us. You're going to pay for that." The voice snarled.

"Fuck you." Percy snarled back loudly.

He just hoped that Clementine was staying in the room.

"Katjaa, Duck!" Kenny roared as he sprinted across the opening toward the RV. He hit the asphalt hard as a bullet ripped through his leg. But Percy quickly grabbed him and pulled him to safety.

He grunted and looked at Percy appreciatively. "Thanks. Cover my family and get them over here, I'm going to get this RV started."

Percy nodded as Kenny hobbled into the RV, a light blood trail following him.

Leaning back out from behind the RV, he took aim with his rifle and fired. A bullet ripped through the bandit's skull that was creeping up on Katjaa and Duck before he turned and took aim at the bandits enclosing Lee. The poor man couldn't even move as the dumpster he was behind was getting peppered with bullets. Percy shot the two closest in the head before their aim turned to him rather than Lee.

Quickly he ducked behind the RV as bullets flew. He cursed in Ancient Greek before breathing deeply. He should have expected some sort of retaliation from the bandits after killing a bunch of them. He had hoped they didn't know it was them. That was foolish of him.

"I'm going to try and make it across." Lee said to him.

Percy peeked out, to almost get his face taken off by a fresh wave of gunfire. "No." He vigorously shook his head toward the man. "Get to my room, Clementine is in there. Please." He begged. Lee nodded before his gaze turned toward Percy's room .

He needed to make sure Katjaa and Duck were okay, and where the fuck was Carley? He snarled in his head. He turned his attention back to Katjaa and Duck who were cowering behind their cover as he heard the RV's engine sputtering.

Calmly and quickly he popped out from his position and shot any bandits getting closer to Katjaa and Duck when his eyes narrowed. A bandit popped up from behind his spot of cover, he took aim at Percy but before he could, a walker grabbed him from behind and crunched down on his neck.

"Fuck." Not only were there bandits inside the motel area right now and in the treeline, but dozens of walkers were suddenly walking through the front gates. The only benefit from that is they were distracting the bandits for now, but soon they would be descending upon them. Then they would be screwed.

He turned to Katjaa and Duck. "Come on." He said quickly before firing a few more rounds as bandits ducked down away from his shots.

They sprinted across easily. "Get in the RV." He told them before turning toward his motel room. His eyes spotted Lilly up on the stairs with a rifle in her hands. Taking shots at bandits and walkers alike.

She nodded at him. He gave her a brief nod back.

He stepped inside the RV briefly to hear Kenny cursing and slamming his hand into the steering wheel. "Come on you piece of shit." Kenny turned around to look at him. "We've got to go. Now." Kenny barked.

Percy nodded quickly. "Let me get the others." He stepped out to a few walkers approaching him. Quickly he fired his rifle, only to hear a clicking sound. Signalling it was empty. He shook his head, unsheathing Riptide and slicing through the walker's skulls easily as he made his way toward his room. He peered out from the edge of the RV to see bandits crawling around the woods, but all the ones that entered the motel seemed to be dead and replaced with dozens of walkers.

The bandits in the woods seemed to be patiently waiting for the undead to rip them apart. He shook his head before sprinting toward his room, he felt a sharp, extremely hot pain in his side, but he ignored it. He needed to make sure Clementine was safe. He quickly opened the door and slid inside.

He froze as Lee aimed his pistol at him. "Shit, Percy." Lee cursed.

He sighed in relief at seeing Clementine perfectly okay, Carley was by her side. Her own pistol was out and ready to fire at a moment's notice. "Clementine wouldn't come with us. She said she was waiting for you." Carley said, a frown on her face.

Probably because she no longer trusted the two of them, Percy thought wryly. But there was no time. "Come on, we've got to get to the RV."

"But Percy…" Clementine started but he just shook his head vigorously.

He opened the door to hear the RV's engine roar to life. He watched as Lilly sprinted across the parking lot and through the open door. Before he could even do anything the RV began moving, it slammed into the motel's gates and took off down the road, bullets peppered it but it kept moving.

He scowled as he sheathed Riptide. "They're leaving us!" Carley shrieked in exasperation.

Percy shook his head and turned to see Lee's downcast face. The dozens of walkers that were inside seemed to notice them standing there and began hobbling toward them. "Shit." He snapped and quickly slammed the door.

"New plan." He muttered before sprinting toward the window at the back covered in wooden boards. Effortlessly, he tore the panels off and out of the way. Ignoring the gasps of surprise coming from Lee and Carley.

He slung the rifle around and into his hands before slamming the butt into the glass, shattering it instantly. He turned back to Lee and Carley. "I'll go first, then Carley, then Clem and then you Lee, wait for me to say it's safe then come out. Do not cut yourself. Let's go, hurry. We have no idea if they're surrounding this place or not." He pulled out his pistol to keep himself ready before crawling through the window.

Quickly, he scanned the surrounding area to see it empty. No walkers, and no bandits. "Alright, come on." He whispered, helping Carley through the opening, before doing the same with Clementine. Lee helped them both from behind before Percy helped haul the man through.

He heard Lee hiss in pain and he turned to the man in alarm. Seeing blood drops speckling the shards of glass on the ground. "Shit." Lee hissed as he held the palm of his hand that was now bleeding profusely.

"Are you okay?" Carley asked in alarm.

Lee nodded. "I'm fine, we need to get out of here."

What they needed to do was get to the station wagon that Percy had just hid less than a mile away. "I can't believe they fucking left us." Carley cried out. "We're dead." She said somberly.

"Shut up." Percy hissed. "We're going to be fine, as long as we stick together. I know where we need to go. Come on, stay close." Percy moved as quickly and quietly as he could, while still allowing the others to tail him closely.

Every so often, he looked back to make sure Clem was close. Lee was taking up the rear, he had wrapped something around his hand, but blood had already seeped through it. In his non-injured hand, he had his pistol out. A look of pain was etched on his face, but he followed quietly at the end of the group.

Percy felt a sharp stinging pain in his side still and the creaking in his ribs, but he ignored it. He needed to get these three, especially Clementine to safety. He saw walkers in the distance, but they weren't a concern at the moment. He needed to make sure bandits weren't crawling around the car.

"Where are we going?" Carley hissed.

Percy ignored her.

The sun was beginning to set. Only adding to the crap that was going on, he could random bursts of gunfire in the distance. But it was in the direction that they had just come in, and it was pretty far away.

It took them longer than he wanted, but eventually, they got to the station wagon. He quickly moved the brush out of the way, Clementine helped him quickly. "What the fuck is this doing here?" Carley asked. "How did you know it was…" She paused for a moment, a look of realization overcoming her face as Percy turned to her. "You were going to leave us." She accused, a harsh scowl set on her face.

Percy narrowed her eyes at her, Lee gave him a look as he holstered his pistol and put pressure on the cut on his hand. "Not the time." He snapped before throwing his empty rifle in the back and sliding into the driver's seat. "There's some gauze in the back, put it on your hand Lee. Hurry!"

Effortlessly he started the vehicle as Lee and Clementine slid into the backseat while Carley jumped in the front. Without another word to his companions, he took off into the night. He started heading Northwest away from the Macon and the motel. Eager to get that shit show as further from his sight.

"We're going the opposite way than the rest of them in the RV." Carley pointed out to him. "We need to go back and find them."

Percy shook his head furiously. "No, they left us. I'm not heading right back into those bandits and walkers."

"But…"

"No." Percy barked furiously, causing all of the passengers of the car to jump. Including Clementine. He looked down at the fuel gauge, seeing that it was now barely past half a tank from him filling it up previously. It would be enough to get where they needed to go.

Slowly and carefully Percy continued making his way through rural roads while avoiding interstate 75.

While he vaguely knew the direction he wanted to travel, it was really hard for him to read the road signs with all of the words swimming around in his head.

Surprisingly, for around an hour their travels were uninterrupted. So much so that the rest of his companions were all asleep. He looked back in the rear view mirror to see Clementine sleeping somewhat peacefully, it brought a smile to his face.

He shifted and winced, looking away from the road for a moment to take his right hand and touch his side where he felt that sharp stinging pain. He looked at his hand and was unsurprised to see his own blood between his fingers. He cursed quietly, so he had been shot on the way out of the motel.

Hopefully it wasn't too serious of a wound.

He looked back up at the road to see headlights encroaching on them. It caused him to take a pause, as this was definitely the first sign of life that he had seen in their entire travel so far. He started to slow down when the vehicle's lights suddenly swung across the road.

Percy slammed on the brakes bringing their car to a stop and listening to the groans of his three passengers as they were violently woken up. Before he even had time to react, multiple guys were outside of their car. Each pointing a gun at them, whether it was a rifle, shotgun or pistol.

"Percy." Clementine said weakly in fear.

"It's going to be okay, honey." He said as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Driver, get the fuck out of the car." One snarled.

Percy nodded without a word, taking his seatbelt off and opening the door. The one aimed his shotgun toward Percy's skull. "Drop all of your weapons now." He did so, setting Riptide, his knife and guns on the asphalt road.

"We'll give you whatever you want, just let us go." He said as he looked around. There were four of them. The one with the shotgun was a fat, greasy looking guy, wearing a stained shirt and pants. His belly was nearly hanging out. To his left was another larger man with a bolt action rifle. To his right was a skinny guy wearing a cut off t-shirt and jeans, he had a pistol trained on the car. The last one made Percy pause, he was just a kid. Maybe a little younger than him. A skinny white boy with dark hair and dark eyes.

"Yea, you'll give us whatever we want anyways." The fat guy said, before his eyes traveled to the inside of the car. "Ooh, that's a hot piece of ass." He gestured toward Carley, the rest of them leered toward the car as Percy growled.

"Someone's defensive." The skinny guy said with a smirk before he pointed his gun at Percy's head as well. "Tell them to get out of the car, and leave their weapons." These couldn't have been the same bandits that raided the motel. They all covered their faces, what the fuck was wrong with people now? Percy snarled in his head. It seemed every single group of people they had come across devolved into an animalistic state.

Percy said nothing, instead just glaring at the men surrounding him. The skinny guy scowled quickly, before he clicked his safety off. "I'm not kidding, I will blow your brains out. Then I'll drag them out here myself." He snarled.

Percy gestured for them to step out of the car.

They did so hesitantly, each of them leaving their weapons in the car. All of them had their hands raised, he could see the looks of fear in each of their eyes. Especially Carley as the group of men leered at her, Clementine looked at him in worry.

He mouthed to her. 'It'll be okay.' To which she nodded, although tears were beginning to travel down her face.

"Listen…" Lee started but he was quickly cut off.

"Shut up, boy. I don't wanna hear shit from you." Lee scowled and anger flashed in his eyes but he kept his mouth shut momentarily.

"That's a good looking little girl too, Don." The fat guy said to the skinny one. Percy's eyes flashed with rage at the comment and he turned and decked the fat guy, knocking him flat on his ass. He was about to keep beating his ass when the wind suddenly was knocked out of him as the butt of a gun slammed into his stomach.

He gasped in pain and fell to the ground, "Oh, that's fucking it." The fat guy snarled as he got to his feet, his hand on his nose as blood poured from his nostrils. Swiftly he kicked Percy in the ribs as hard as he could. Percy, whose ribs were already fragile, gasped in pain as he heard them snap from the blow.

"Percy!" He heard Carley and Clementine cry out in unison. The man kicked him again, causing Percy to wheeze violently.

"We were just going to kill you, but now we're gonna make ya watch." He turned to the boy in their group. "Randall, keep an eye on the nigger. If he moves, shoot him."

"But I want to…" Randall complained.

"You'll get your turn, boy." The man said as he grabbed Percy by the hair and roughly pulled him up, Percy hissed in pain as the man made Percy watch the other big guy force Carley to the ground onto her back as she kicked and scratched at him. All the while he laughed maniacally as he grabbed the waistline of her pants.

Clementine screamed as the skinny guy grabbed her too and pinned her down.

Percy's blood began to boil, his vision began to tint red as the skinny guy gripped Clementine tightly, each of them laughing like they were having fun.

Clementine and Carley both screamed out, before the fat guy covered Carley's mouth and shushed her, he had already pulled Carley's jeans to her ankles.

"Oh fuck," The skinny guy roared in pain. "The little bitch has a knife." Percy watched the guy viciously slap Clementine before wrenching the knife out of his size and tossing it away.

Percy roared before slamming his head backward into the guy's face, he heard a disgusting snap as the guy's nose and hopefully face was crushed from the blow. It forced the guy to accidentally fire his weapon. Blasting Percy's eardrum caused all of the sound around him to start humming as he could hear nothing but a dull ringing.

He swooped Riptide off the ground and spun, slicing the front stomach of the fat guy as he cursed at the pain he felt in his own stomach. Percy watched as the contents of his stomach, intestines and the like spooled out from him and started hanging. The guy turned the color white before collapsing to the ground. He ignored the pain he felt in his own abdomen as he reached down and grabbed his pistol. The guy pinning Carley to the ground looked up just in time to see Percy pull the trigger. Blasting a hole perfectly into the center of his forehead. Carley quickly squirmed and wriggled out from under him.

The kid named Randall turned toward Percy but Lee quickly lept into action. Tackling him to the ground and sending him sprawling, knocking his gun away.

The skinny guy looked up to see the other members of his group all dead or weaponless before he jumped to his feet and raised his hands in surrender. "Hold on, just wait. I'm sure we can…"

Percy didn't listen, not that he could hear much except the ringing in his ears currently. Percy stepped toward him and swung Riptide, the man put his hands in front of him to try and catch the blow but his sword cut through them effortlessly.

He screamed in pain, his eyes widening as he stared at his stumps spewing blood. "Shut up." Percy spat before swinging Riptide again, severing his head from his body. Percy turned back toward Randall who was kicking backward before getting to his feet and scrambling off into the woods.

Percy made a step toward the fleeing boy, "Let him go." Lee said with a hand to his chest. "He's just a kid." Percy felt a surge of rage at the comment, that 'kid' was going to watch and partake in the rape of a woman and a little girl. It made him sick, he was going to growl at Lee and shove him out of the way when Carley's desperate voice hit his good ear.

"Percy, help!" Carley shrieked. "It's Clementine. She's been shot!"

Horror filled him as he sprinted toward Clementine, ignoring the pain he was feeling. The girl was sprawled out on the asphalt, one of her hands clenched toward her side, her eyes were closed and her breathing was faint.

Percy scooped her up effortlessly before grunting in pain as he felt something piercing in his stomach slide to a different spot, but he had no time to worry about himself. "Get the fuck in. We're close." He roared, moving his feet as fast as he could take them. "Carley, put pressure on the wound." He demanded as the woman slid into the back seat and did exactly as he said. Her hands pressing tightly on Clementine's side.

Percy knew Carley had just been through an extremely traumatizing experience. But there was no time, they needed to go. He could see the almost faraway look in the woman's eyes and her extremely pale face, but she was still listening.

Percy looked at Clementine through the rearview mirror and felt shame at seeing her. He had completely failed the young girl, she must have been shot when Percy had headbutted the guy. This was all of his fault, he couldn't protect her. He was nothing but a failure.

Lee slid into the passenger's seat, his eyes trailing down to Percy's stomach as Percy slammed on the gas.

"Uh, Percy…" Lee said shakily.

"What?" He snapped, turning to Lee before following his gaze. He looked down to see a knife embedded into his stomach, it wasn't a large knife, but it certainly wasn't a small one either. "Shit." He muttered, suddenly feeling very queasy.

"You need to…" Lee started but Percy waved him off.

"There's no time."

Only several minutes later they pulled into the drive of a very familiar farm as Percy tore through the dirt path up toward the house.

Percy slammed on the brakes as he saw someone exit the house. He couldn't see who it was on the porch through the glare of the lights but he pushed through. He scooped Clementine out of the back seat and sprinted toward the house. Carley and Lee were hot on his heels.

"Holy shit, Percy." It was Maggie sitting on the front porch, her green eyes swimming as she looked at all of them and the state they were in. She looked stunned, frozen in place as she took in the sight of them.

"Herschel, please get Herschel." He croaked, he could feel his own strength waning. It seemed to snap Maggie out of her funk.

"Come inside! I'll get him." She responded quickly, shoving open the door. He vaguely heard Maggie scream as his vision began to darken.

It was near moments later that a very tired looking Herschel who had just woken up appeared before them. His eyes widened as he looked at all of them. "Over here!" He cleared off a stainless steel table that Percy quickly and carefully set Clementine down on.

All of a sudden he felt all the adrenaline leave his body and his legs gave out. "Percy!." He heard Maggie cry as the woman tried and failed to stop him from falling to the ground. He could feel his energy waning completely as darkness overtook his vision. All he hoped for was that Clementine would be okay before he gave out completely.