Lee and I reach the bottom of the ladder, we take a second to catch our breath before I look back up at the top of the ladder, "Look out!" I push Lee back a little before a Walker falls from the ladder, its head crashes to the ground and blood pours from its brain. Cono...they can still follow us if the fall won't kill them.

"Shit..."

"Clementine! Kenny!" I shout, hoping that they can hear me. "Can you hear me?!"

"If you can, just get back to the house, okay? We'll meet you there!" Lee looks at the ladder again, seeing the walkers try to reach down to us. "Shit, no going back now."

"Speaking of..." I smell the air... Yep, just what you'd expect. "How the hell are we gonna get back?"

"No idea," Lee sighed. "But we're not gonna do any good just standing here. Come on."

I nod. "Right behind you, Lee."

We walk down some steps, which leads us down lower into the sewer. I can feel the wet cobblestone underneath my boots, the floor is littered with paper, debris, and some tires, there's even a mattress down here. Damn, I don't know if I'd wanna be living here in the apocalypse. I take a look at Molly's weapon in my hands, it feels pretty good. My sickle is pretty handy against the walkers, but this ice pick can be used for so much more than killing. I wonder if I can find one out in the city.

"Over here," Lee points to a tunnel sloping downward with sewage running through it. He starts to carefully walk along the side, leaning against the wall as he slowly makes his way down. Lee reaches the bottom of the slop and jumps down. "It's clear down here, come on."

I nod and head down myself, keeping my right hand against the wall as I walk down the slope. I hop down, feeling something squishing underneath my boot. I look down and I see...dead rats. "Eugh..."

"They're half eaten..."

"Cono, don't tell me that Walkers are down here too."

"Let's not hang around here too long to find out."

Lee and I keep moving through the sewers, we see many drainage pipes and mechanisms that keep the city's underbelly running. We eventually turn a corner...and Walkers are feasting on a corpse.

"Shit!" I retreat behind a corner, Lee does the same.

"How many are there?"

I peek around the corner. Let's see... Three...five... "Six, and there's one at the other end of the tunnel. I think we could take them, but we'll have to be smart."

"What are you thinking?"

I take a second to look around. "There's a little passageway right there," I point to said passageway that's only a few feet away from the Walkers, I look behind us, seeing a small gate that's connected to it.

"It doesn't take much to outsmart the dead. Bunch of dumbasses. You just gotta move fast, get in and out before they start to wander back again."

An idea pops into my head as I remember Molly's words. "I'll go in there open the gate on this side of us, then you draw the walkers with a loud noise. They start coming this way and we just slip right past them in the little pathway."

"Damn, that's not bad of an idea."

I nod. "You ready?" Lee returns my gesture.

"Ready when you are."

I crouch down and slowly make my way to the small path, treading every step with the weight of a feather. I think Lee and I could take them all on with no problem, but we can't risk any more loss. I enter the pathway and continue moving down it until I eventually get to the gate, Lee sees me approach from the other side.

"Nicely done."

I nod. "Thanks," I try to open the latch that kept the gate locked, but it doesn't even move an inch. Damn, locked tight. I try to use the ice pick to pry it open, using my foot planted against the wall as my leverage. The latch comes loose and I open the gate. "Alright, Lee, bring 'em over."

He nods and takes a deep breath. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Lee's scream echoes through the sewers, I wave to him to get in the tunnel with me and I close the gate behind us.

Lee and I crouch along the pathway, seeing the walkers leaving their meal to find out the source of the screaming. I count three...five...six. I peek around, seeing the walkers get further away. Nice, we did it. Lee and I stand up straight when we leave the small tunnel.

"Nice work," Lee whispers and we continue down further into the sewer.

"Thanks, Lee. Now let's..." When I see what the walkers were feasting on, my jaw drops to the floor. "Cono...Chuck..." His intestines have been pulled from his belly, and there's a bullet hole on the side of his head. His gun...still in his hands.

"Shit, he must've tried to hide out down here. Poor bastard," Lee picks up the revolver and checks the cylinder. "No bullets... He must've used the last one for himself." That's...not a bad idea, save the last bullet for yourself. He put it away in his pocket. "You deserved better, old man."

"..." Thanks for all the advice, Chuck.

Lee and I continue moving forward. I think he deserves a proper burial, but we don't exactly have the time. At the end of the path, I see the last walker we have to deal with. I hang the ice pick on my belt and grab my sickle...and my blood begins to boil Just how many more people do we have to lose?!

SHING!

In one swift motion...I cut the walker's head clean off from its body. It falls to the ground and blood spills from its neck. "Elijah," Lee places a hand on my shoulder. "you okay?"

"...I'm fine," I put my sickle back at my side and looked up, seeing a broken ladder to an open manhole in the ceiling. That could be our way out. "I'm gonna try something," I take out Molly's ice pick again, I don't exactly know if I can do what she can, but I have to try. I give myself a running start and back up a few steps.

"Be careful."

I nod. I run to the wall and jump, planting my foot against the sign on the wall. Just when I think I had it... the sign slips off the wall and I fall on my ass. "Augh..."

"You okay?" Lee helps me to my feet.

"Yeah. What the hell was that?" I pull the sign off the wall...and there's a hole broken into the wall that leads to another room. "...You ever see Shawshank Redemption?"

Lee nods. "At least we won't have to crawl through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness."

I chuckle. "Damn straight," We step through the hole in the wall. On the other side, it appears to be some sort of fallout shelter. Great, now if only there's a jumpsuit around here. There are shelves riddled with food and supplies. "What the hell?"

"Look at all this. It's enough to keep people alive for months."

"Yeah...but Molly said the city's been picked clean. So...who's food is this?"

"Let's not wait around to find out," Lee opens the door leaving the shelter and he stops. When I join him...I see the reason he stopped. There were survivors on the other side, I counted at least four and they looked just as surprised to see us as we are to see them.

"Who are you?" An old man points his revolver at us as it shakes in his hands. Make that five... Lee and I slowly raise our hands and show him we're no threat.

"It's alright. It's okay," Lee tries to calm things down. "We don't want any trouble."

"Neither do we. Which is why you'd do well to turn around and leave. Right now."

I really don't like the way his finger is shaking on the trigger. "Look, we didn't mean to disturb you guys. We'll just be on our way and that'll be the end of it."

"You can't let them leave," A slightly overweight woman said. "They're from Crawford! If they go back there and they find out we're down here..."

"Are you two from Crawford?" The man holding the gun asks us. "Don't lie to me, I'll know."

"Where else can they be from? Everywhere else is dead."

"We're not from around here. I'm from Athens, grew up in Macon."

"...I have a brother in Macon," He said. "You two were there? How was it? As bas as here?"

"...I'm sorry."

"What about you?"

"I was born in North Carolina, but I went to UGA before all this."

"You can't trust them, Vernon," The woman speaks up again. "You can't let 'em leave."

"What do you want me to do, shoot them in the head?"

"Why not? That'd be more of a mercy than anyone from Crawford ever showed us," What the fuck is with this bitch? "Think, Vernon! What do you think they'll do if they find out we're down here, right under their feet?!"

"How do we know you people aren't them?" I retort. "We saw what those fuckers do to people up there, using people as an intimidation tactic...fucking sick."

The overweight woman scoffed. "Are you stupid or somethin'?! You think we're like those bastards?!"

"No, I don't," I say looking directly into Vernon's eyes. I've seen killers before, but this guy couldn't do it, not with the way he's shaking. "I don't plan on dying today, and I don't think you want to kill me either." I slowly step forward.

"Keep back! Or I swear I'll shoot!"

No, you won't. I slowly and calmly take the revolver from his hands. "It's alright. It's okay."

"Vernon, what the hell are you doing?!" The woman steps in front of the old man, shielding him. "Vernon!"

I put the gun away and Lee speaks up. "We're not here to hurt you."

"...You two really aren't from Crawford?" A colored elder asked.

"No," I shake my head. "We're really not."

"Well...we are," Vernon said. "Or were. We got out of there when they started sealing up the place, starting weeding out the sick and the old so their perfect survivor society wouldn't be threatened. No room for weakness or vulnerability in their little master race."

"You don't look that old," Lee remarked.

"So you guys are sick?"

"Were sick," He corrected me. "We're all members of a cancer survivors group that used to meet here at the hospital. We're in remission. But that wasn't good enough for Crawford. They'd already rounded up five of us before the rest managed to hole up and hide from them down here. This old basement's been abandoned for years."

"A morgue?" I question.

"Yeah," He nodded. "Irony's always high on my list when I'm looking for a place to survive. How did you two find your way down here?"

"We got boxed in by walkers up on the street," Lee answered. "We came down here trying to get away. Now me and my boy here just want to get out of here and get back to my own people."

"That sewer system you two came through runs all over the city, it'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Yeah, but they're like a damn maze," I say. "We're lucky to even start walking in circles.

"Any chance you could help us find our way back?"

"...Look, I'd like to help you, but we've got our own problems. Two of our group are sick and need constant care. And I'm the only doctor here."

"Besides," The woman chimes in again. "why should we help you?"

"Yeah, you see that whole," I gesture my hand to her. "thing you're doing right now, attitude? Not helping."

"Easy, Elijah," Lee says to me. "Look, we're sorry we scared you folks. We just want to get back to our people, back to Clementine."

"She's your daughter?"

"...No. She lost her real parents. I'm doing what I can."

"She's my little sister," I lie through my teeth. Well, it's not a complete lie. "and nothing is stopping me from getting back to her."

"You're not seriously considering going with them," Does she have an off button or something? Cause I'd slap it silly.

"It's alright, Brie," Vernon says to her. "I had family too. Lost her in the first few days. I'll be damned if I'll just sit back and let that happen to someone else."

"We need you here!" Another colored man says.

"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it," Vernon looks to us. "Let's go."

The Mansion...

It took longer than Lee and I hoped, but we knew it would've been much longer if we didn't have Vernon leading us back. We finally reach the house and we go through the backdoor, I'm ready to give that kid the biggest hug of her life.

"Clementine?"

"Hey, Kiddo! We're back!"

I look around the kitchen and I see Molly searching the cupboards and drawers. "Molly?"

She stops rummaging around and smiles. "Oh, hey. You two made it back."

"Who's this?" Vernon asked.

"They didn't tell you about me? I'm the one who saved their asses back there. Who's the fossil?" She asks me and Lee that last question.

"This is Vernon," Lee answered. "He's a doctor, he helped us get back here after we got separated."

"Where's Clementine?" I ask and Molly shrugs.

"She's around here somewhere. Relax, I got her and Kenny both back here safely."

I sigh in relief. "Thank you."

Molly approaches me and places her hand on her hip. "I think you have something that belongs to me."

Huh? Oh, right. I hand her her ice pick back and Molly takes it and walks away, Christa soon comes from where Molly did and she looks terrified.

"Lee. Elijah. Thank God, you guys are back."

"What's wrong?"

"It's Omid. He's gotten worse. Much worse."

Shit...

"We have a man wounded," Lee told Vernon.

"Who's this?"

"This is Vernon, a doctor," I answer her.

Christa widens her eyes and smiles. "Oh, thank God!"

"Could you take a look at him?"

"You have to help us...please," Christa was practically begging on her knees.

"...I'll see what I can do. Take me to him.

The four of us head upstairs, Christa leads us to a children's room where Omid is resting. "Omid, Honey. You're gonna be alright. Lee and Elijah brought a doctor."

"Alright, let's take a look," Vernon kneels down beside Omid, I do the same on the opposite side of the bed and feel his forehead.

"...He's running a fever."

"Do you know what caused this?"

I nod. "He got a cut on his leg yesterday, I cleaned it as best I could but we ran into some trouble and most of our medical supplies are gone."

"...You have meds?"

"Just saline, bandages, and morphine, no antibiotics." I think for a second of what could be happening to Omid. "He could have Tetanus."

"How can you be sure?" Christa asked me.

"See here?" I point to his neck and jaw. "There's some slight muscle tightness already rising in his neck and jaw."

"You have a good eye," Vernon noted. "How do you know all this?"

"My mom was a nurse, she's taught me a lot before all of this."

"I see. I can take it from here, I work better without an audience. And I'm sure you and your friend have more things of your own to attend to."

Lee and I leave the room, giving Vernon the space he needs to help Omid. "Clementine...Clementine?"

"Clem! We're back!" Lee and I start searching the second floor of the mansion, Clementine is nowhere in sight. Where the hell is she? We eventually open another bedroom and find Molly searching under the king-sized bed. "Molly? What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know," She stands, facing us. "Just poking around."

"You won't find anything," said Lee. "we already searched the place."

"You'd be surprised what people miss. Trust me, I've been doing this for a while."

Well, she's not wrong. Especially since it was Ben who helped search the second floor in the first place.

"Do you know where Clementine is?" I ask.

"Don't ask me, I'm not the little one's keeper. You tend to lose her like this often or something?"

"Hey!" What she said struck a nerve with me. "Does it look like I'm fucking around? That 'little one' is the only family I have left and I'm practically the same for her, both me and Lee here! So if you'd be so kind to just tell us where she could be, we would appreciate it!"

"...Alright, shit, my bad. Last I saw, she was downstairs with your redneck fried and that other kid who hangs around him, okay?"

"Thank you," I say more annoyed than I intended before Lee and I head back downstairs. In the living room, we find Ben and Kenny sitting down...and Kenny is drinking from a whiskey bottle.

"Kenny?"

"Oh, hey. Y'all made it back," His speech is slightly slurred. "Good job. That's my boy."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?" Kenny takes another drink of whiskey.

"Where'd you get the bottle?"

Kenny smirks. "Fooound it. First good thing that's happened since..."

"Kenny, just take it easy," I say.

"Elijah's right, you've had enough."

"To hell with you both!" Kenny stands, this is starting to remind me of my time back in North Carolina.

"Getting wasted like a fool isn't going to help us!"

"Yeah, well what is, son? We...are...fucked!" He sits back down on the couch. "Molly said there's not a single boat left in Savannah. No way out. We got Walkers all around us, that crazy fuck on the radio messin' with us... Hell, if now ain't the time for a drink..."

Kenny takes another sip before he offers it to Ben, he was about to take it until he saw my glare and I'm pretty sure Lee is doing the same. Don't even fucking think about it, boy. Ben ultimately decides not to take a drink.

"Have either of you seen Clementine?" Lee asked.

"Damned if I know. Gotta be around here somewhere."

"Ben, I gave you one fucking job," I say. "Keep an eye on Clementine and you couldn't even do that! She wandered the streets of Savannah on her own and found us on River Street! What happened?!"

"Come on, man. Don't put that all on me. Omid took a turn for the worse and Christa asked me to help. I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can here. She was frantic and things got kind of crazy. I told Clementine to stay put, what else could I do?"

"That's not good enough, Ben."

"...Whatever."

"Don't give Lee and me that 'whatever' bullshit, Ben! Where the hell is Clementine?!"

"I think she went out to play in the backyard?"

"On her own? With no one watching her?"

"Have you learned nothing?"

"Will you guys just get off my back? She's fine out there!"

"She better be," I tower over him. "Or it's your fucking ass on the line." Lee and I head straight to the backdoor and into the backyard. "Clementine?"

"Clementine!"

We search the backyard, from the backyard gate to the inside of the doghouse and there's just no trace of her anywhere. Where the fuck did she go?! There's only one other place for us to look but we haven't even looked there when we first got to the mansion, who knows what-

BUMP!

Something bumps against the door from inside the shed, causing Lee and I to look at each other. "You saw that too, right?"

I nod. "Yeah."

Lee and I grab our melee weapons and we each grab a handle to the shed door. I mouth the words, 'on three' to him and begin counting down. When I silently say 'three', Lee and I pull back on the doors, but something from inside pushes against it, causing Lee and me to fall back onto the grass and on our asses. When we look up...

"Lee! Elijah!" The little one smiles and runs up to us, we hug her tightly.

"Hey, Kiddo." My voice slightly breaks.

"Hey, sweet pea."

"What the heck were you doing in there?" I ask after we pull away from our hug.

"Exploring. And look! Look what I found!"

Lee stands and helps me up to my feet, Clementine runs over to the shed door. Lee and I open it and we find...a mother-fucking boat.

"Holy shit..."

"Swear."

"This was here the whole time?!" Lee said with a smile.

"I know, right?"

Footsteps from beside me grabbed my attention, Kenny had come outside with his whiskey. But when he sees what we, no, Clementine found, he smiles...and the battle falls to the ground. I nod to him.

Thank God, maybe things can finally start going our way.