We finally made it back to the house, Lee shot a walker with no hesitation before we reached the shed. When we turned the corner to the shed door, it was opened...and the boat was gone.

"Holy..."

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph..."

"What the fuck?!" Kenny groaned, Omid went inside the shed to look around. "Come on. Just...come the fuck on!"

"Well, we're not coming back here after we find Clem."

"Who?! Fuck! How could this happen?!"

"...Vernon," Everyone looks at me as I conclude. "He did this."

"You think so?"

"Definitely," Lee backs up my theory.

"Hey, guys..." Omid comes back outside with a slip of paper in his hand. "They're right. It was Vernon and that support group."

"Mother fuckers..."

"No fucking way! The invalids?!" Kenny exclaimed in understandable anger.

"Their actions, uh...contradict your characterization, but yeah, the invalids."

"He's right," Christa says. "They're not invalids. They're just people. People who have been dealing with shitty situations even longer than we have. No wonder they got the jump on us."

"I don't give a fuck if their Make-A-Wish was a fucking boat ride! When I find 'em, I'm gonna rip their throats out!"

"Fuck 'em," said Lee. "Cancer, no cancer, saints, sinners, who gives a shit. They're people who knew what they were doin'."

"Yeah, screwing us!"

"Exactly, they knew exactly what taking the boat would do to us, to Clementine," I add. "And they still stole from us, If I ever see him again...so help me, God."

"He says he feels bad about it," Omid continued reading the note. "Leaving us...and Clementine behind. They...they even took Elijah's duffel."

"Oh, cry me a fucking river. If they really felt bad they wouldn't do it in the first place. They put us up shit's creek with no paddle!"

"Exactly," Kenny agrees. "They fucked us!"

"Omid, can you go over the fence and let us into the backyard? We shouldn't be out in the open."

"Yeah," Omid nods at Christa and leaves to do what she asks.

"This is not happening..." Kenny paced around. "Everything is so fucked!"

"Clementine is still out there," I add.

"So we get Clementine and then what?"

"We get out of the cities. I'm done with cities," Christa proclaimed. "We go into the countryside and make a go of it."

"Yeah," Ben nods. "that seems like a good idea to me."

"Nobody asked you."

"You just did."

"..." I mean, Kenny, he has a point."Don't get fucking smart with me, Ben."

"Kenny, calm down," I say.

"Son, do you remember we had a boat?! A boat!"

"Get over it!" Ben exclaims.

"Everyone keep it together!" Lee steps in. "Nothing has changed, has it?"

"'Nothing has changed'?!"

"I mean, immediately," Lee corrects himself. "We stay the course and don't turn on each other."

"Yeah, chill out, Kenny." Ben receives a cold scowl from him after saying that, Omid opens the opposite door of the shed leading into the backyard.

"We can do this in the yard," Christa suggested, Ben and Kenny joined Omid and left me, Lee, and Christa, alone for a moment.

"Ben, I swear to god..."

"What do we do without a boat?"

"Get the fuck out of this city and keep away from all cities for that matter," I say.

"That's right," Lee agrees. "We get to the countryside. We've dicked around with cities and coastlines and boats for too long. You guys take her out there and live as safe as you can, okay?"

"Stop talking like that, you're not dead yet."

"He's right, Lee. Look, I agree with you, I think out in the country is the safest place to be. But Elijah is right, you're not dead yet, so put a pin in that, okay?"

The three of us head into the backyard, finding that Kenny is going off on Ben. "Where the hell do you get off?"

"I'm just saying we should all chill, not just you."

"'Chill'? Lee's bitten and God knows how long he has left, Clementine is who the fuck knows, and we're robbed of the only hope we had!"

"So?"

"So, Elijah should've left your ass in Crawford! We got enough problems."

"Fuck you, Kenny!" Ben shouts at him as soon as Kenny finishes his sentence.

"Whoa, Ben..."

"Guys, just-"

Christa stops me and lee from stepping in. "No, let him."

"I am so, so, SO sorry about Katjaa and Duck. I am! A-And I know I fucked up, but stop pushing me around and stop wishing I was dead!" Kenny opens his mouth to speak. "NO!" But Ben wasn't done. "You know how they died. You've said goodbye... I never got to see my family, my parents, my little sister...do you get that? Your family is gone but at least you had them to lose," ...Oh, fuck. "I never made it home. They could be alive or dead or Walkers and I don't know! So give me a fucking break!"

"..." Kenny was just as shocked as the rest of us, his eyes actually squinting with sympathy. "Oh, Ben, I'm-"

"Eeeeuuuaaaagh!"

"Raaaahhh!"

We all look outside the fence...and more Walkers than I can count are surrounding us. "Hijo de puta..."

"Oh, shit! Here they come!"

"In the house!"

Everyone runs inside, I grab the shovel beside the shed and close the doors, jamming the shovel between the handles. It won't hold forever, but It'll buy us some time. I head inside and shut the door behind me.

"They shouldn't be able to get into the backyard, right?" Kenny asks me but we hear the shed door break, walkers can be heard afterward. "Maybe not..."

"We can secure this place!"

"Christa! Get on the windows in the front room. Check the boards," Lee starts giving orders.

"Got it." She leaves.

"Kenny! Move anything you can against the doors and windows."

"That's what I was thinking!" Kenny gets moving.

"Ben! Help Christa!"

"Got it!" He leaves.

"Omid!" Lee looks at him...but Omid is staring at something in shock.

"What's wrong?" Omid ignores my question to deal with the real problem... the front door is completely wide open.

"FRONT DOORS!" Lee calls to the others. I run to the front door but I stop when I hear Lee groan, I look behind me to see that a walker has grabbed onto his leg through the dog door.

"Lee!" I grab his right arm as he tries to kick away the walker's hand. He eventually resorts to using the pet door and cutting it off by brute force.

I help Lee up to his feet as we hear the others calling from the front door, they're keeping the walkers from getting inside. "Boys! A little help here?!"

"Cut their fucking arms off!

"There's gotta be a knife or something in there!"

I pull out my sickle and run over to the others, Lee follows behind me with a cleaver he found in the kitchen.

"Lee, I go high, you go low!"

"Got it!"

I swing my sickle, cutting off the walkers' arms as they pry through the double doors above our eye level. Lee uses his cleaver to sever the walker's limbs below the doorbell. The others finally close the doors, Kenny locks the doorknob and chain lock, and the walkers continue pounding on the door.

"Now what?"

"Get ready to fight," Lee takes the words right out of my mouth as I check my pistol.

"This place seems sturdy to me. I think we're fine."

SMASH!

A walker's arm breaks through one of the windows, clawing in the air and wanting to get at us.

CRASH!

The walkers from the backyard break the door down and start pouring into the kitchen. The ones at the windows start crawling inside the mansion.

"Sturdy my ass!" I yell. "Everyone upstairs, go!"

Everyone goes on ahead of me upstairs as I watch our backs with my 1911 at the ready. I watch as one of the walkers gets to its feet...and I immediately recognize it. It was Brie...

BANG!

I'll kill the rest of you invalid fucks if I ever see any of you again. I head upstairs, and Omid covers me with his revolver. Once I'm at the top, Lee and Kenny are pushing a desk to block the hallway leading to the attic door.

"Everyone, get to the end of the hallway!"

Once Lee and Kenny block the hallway with the desk, they hop over and join the rest of us at the end of the hall.

"What do we do now?!"

Kenny pulls out his pistol, we all do the same. "Let's get as many as we can. And when we see an opening, we go for it. How many bullets y'all have?"

We all check our weapons and ammo. I know I have an extra ammo box in my bag, but my extra magazine isn't loaded. "Six."

"Three."

"Five."

"Four."

"Two."

"Y'all know where to aim..."

"Get ready..."

We aim our guns at the end of the hall, and the walkers' groaning and growling grow louder as they come closer and closer. One of them peeks around the corner, snarling at the sight of its favorite food.

BANG!

Lee's the first to fire his pistol...and more walkers come around the corner.

"Bring it on..."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"I'm out!"

"Me too!"

"Fuck, where do we go?!"

"There's no goddamn opening!"

"Up!" I say before I reach up to the cord that opens the attic hatch, I pull it down and the ladder unfolds. "Go! Now!"

Everyone runs up the ladder, Lee and Ben follow behind me and I shut the attic door after they climb up. I double over, placing my hands on my knees and taking deep breaths.

"That was close..."

"Here," Ben hands Lee back his gun. "I'm not very good with these, you dropped it down there." Lee takes his gun back and I pat Ben on his arm.

"It's a start."

"That could've gone better."

"Could've gone worse too, Kenny," I add.

"Everyone okay?"

"Lee's still bitten."

"Shut up."

"Okay, let's get out of here and keep moving."

"He's right; we gotta keep moving," Kenny agrees with Omid. "Think there's a chance we get Clem and catch up with those goddamn thieves?"

"I don't know," said Lee, furrowing his brow.

"We'll, we're not going out through this window," Omid pointed out as he came back from checking it out. "No latches, no roof access, and thirty feet straight down."

"Damn..."

"Anyone have any ideas?"

"I bet this guy would," Omid bends over as he admires a stone statue of a head. "He's got a resourceful air about him."

"Knock it off."

"Dixon Kent the third," He reads from the plaque. "industrial..."

"Omid!"

"Christa!" He faces her. "I'm just trying to lighten the fucking tone."

"We need solutions, not stupid jokes!"

"..."

Jeez...

"I'm sorry," Christa apologizes, seeing that she may have overreacted.

"So, no ideas, then..."

"There's gotta be another way," Lee wipes some sweat from his face with his only arm. I decide to check his temperature with the back of my hand.

"...You're warm, Lee." Fuck...did it not work?

"I'm fine, Elijah...don't..." Lee looks like he's about to pass out again, I ready myself just in case that happens...

ZZZTTT!

The radio on his belt crackles and Clementine's voice is heard on the other side. "Lee? Elijah? Lee, Elijah, I'm okay! I'm where my parents... Oh, no!" The radio cuts off as soon as Lee held it in his hands.

"Oh, shit..."

"What did that mean?"

"She's at the motel where her parents were staying."

"The Marsh House...he hasn't moved her."

"Yet."

"Yeah," Christa agreed with Kenny. "yet."

"We need to start thinking about more than just Clementine when it comes to our...urgency."

"What do you mean?"

"What are you on about, Kenny?"

"How do we get out of here?"

"That's the whole point; we don't know."

"Okay, now your life depends on it. How do we get out of here?"

"I...don't know," Omid answered again.

Wait...is he thinking-

"Stop it," Lee interrupts my thoughts. "We can't panic."

"Do you think that worked?" Kenny gestured to Lee's missing arm.

"I...I don't know. I hope so."

"Either way, I think we need to have...an 'adult' conversation about what happens if Lee takes another spill."

"Kenny..." I don't like where this is going.

"We could be looking at a Larry situation here." Okay, now I definitely don't like where this is going.

"Who's Larry?"

"It don't matter."

"I think it's best if we just worried about getting to Clem right now."

"We're not gonna do her any good if you've attacked us."

"That isn't gonna happen."

"How do you know that?"

"Kenny!" I shout. "I don't know what you think's gonna happen, but save it."

"Guys," Christa speaks her mind. "I don't know what happened before Omid and I showed up, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Look, I'm not advocating here, but how is this not a thing? We're all so worked up about Clementine that we're forgetting what the fuck happened to you!"

"My arm isn't the issue!" He counterargues. "He's not the problem. The five hundred Walkers in the house and no door in this room are the goddamn problem."

"Yeah, maybe at the moment...but who's to say when it becomes an issue? And at that point, there may not be any time left to deal with it!"

"This is getting out of hand..."

"You're gonna listen to me!" Kenny gets close to Lee. "We will get Clementine back, with or without you. Because I haven't given up everything to die just because we were stupid."

"Kenny, back off..."

"You're not touching me. Do you understand that? Everyone here knows exactly what to do if I turn and that's enough. Do you hear me?"

"You might become one of them. Do you understand that?! How can be fucking calm about that?!"

"We can't do this right now! Clementine is out there and she needs us!"

"We're gonna have to, son!" Kenny picks up the stone head and raises it over his head, my hand hovers over my pistol. "NNGGHHAA!" But I sigh in relief when Kenny just throws it at the wall, leaving a decent-sized hole.

"...You ruined that dude's face." I try my best not to laugh at Omid's remark about the statue, but it comes out as a small snort.

"Shut up, sweetie. Look."

Kenny examines the hole in the wall, pulling out another chunk of it with ease. "It's corroded to hell."

"That could be a way out," I say.

"What's on the other side of that wall, a thirty-foot drop?"

"No," Omid answered. "this mansion butts up against the one next door."

"I'll be damned..."

Hmm... I pick up a nearby metal coat rack and use the bottom of it to start hitting the wall. I set it down after a few hits and inspected the damage. "This wall ain't shit."

"Is this really possible?"

Kenny takes the coat rack and starts hitting the wall, he smiles when he sees how easily it's being broken down. "Yeah. We can do this. We'll work in shifts. Omid, Christa, Elijah, and me. Lee, you rest. We have to work fast." The rest of us go to sit down, but Lee and I stop when we hear Kenny speak again. "I'm sorry, boys. Just...shit, I still can't believe it."

"Don't worry, Ken. I get it."

"We can deal with it when it comes."

Kenny nods. "We will, son. Y'all go sit down."

Lee and I join Omid and Christa who are sitting on a couch, Ben is off sitting by himself in the corner on the floor. I take off my backpack and try to relax for a moment but the faint sound of Kenny hitting the wall and the walkers right underneath our feet doesn't really help.

"I'm glad you told us when you got bitten," Christa is the first to speak up. "it would've been so easy not to."

"Yeah, well..." Lee glances down at his missing arm.

"We probably would've let you go alone if you hadn't told us. Which would've been a mistake."

"I would've gone with you regardless, Lee."

"Thanks." He nods at me.

"If I were you I would've been scared shitless."

"If you were me you'd be a foot taller," I laugh a little at Lee's joke.

"Hey!"

"And about fifty pounds heavier. You, uh, wouldn't get scared as much."

"With your arm and my leg, I'll cripple fight you right here, buddy."

"My money's on Lee."

"I've still got this one. I can put my right palm on your forehead and just let you swing away."

"Ha, fine. You win, jerk."

"It's so weird," Christa looks down at Lee's missing limb. "I keep doing a double-take on your arm, expecting it to be there."

"I'm hoping whatever's in their bite is gone too."

"Or at least slowed down the process, at least," I add.

"What do you think the odds are of that?"

"...I don't know, Christa. With how warm he is, I'd say it's around sixty-forty...and the odds aren't exactly in his favor."

"Even if it slows down the process, I'd be happy," Lee pats my shoulder, but it does nothing to reassure me.

"So, when we meet this guy...what do you guys think?"

"We make sure he never takes anybody from anyone again."

"Permanently, no more loose ends," I add. "This world already has enough evil in it."

"And...you know..whatever happens to you...uh..."

"Can we not talk like that for five fucking minutes?!" The others flinch from my outburst, I take a second to calm down and relax the tension in my shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay, dude. I get it."

"Thanks, man."

"...You know, the entire time we were at the hospital, I could sense you think you're as good as dead."

"I was bitten, Christa."

"We cut it off," said Omid.

"What good is it to plan around that workin'?"

"What good is it for you to give up?"

"I haven't given up," Lee looks between the three of us, smiling warmly when his eyes meet my own. "I know you'll take care of her when I'm gone."

"Lee, stop..." I try my best to fight my sadness.

"I want each and every one of you guys to look after her when I'm gone."

"Stop it."

"I'm serious. She'll be safe with all of you here, and relatively happy with you."

"What about Kenny?" Omid questions.

"You didn't know him like me and Lee did," I point out.

"That's right," Lee agrees. "that man went to hell and back for his family. I know he'll do the same for her."

"We're not doing this right now."

"Christa, listen to them."

"It's what I want. Okay?"

"..." Omid looks off to the side where Ben is sitting. "What about him?"

"What do you two think?"

"He's a risk to the group, but..."

"I feel bad for him."

"Yeah," Christa nods. "I feel bad for him too."

"We gotta support him all we can," I say. "we're all he has left now. He's still a kid, and it's ready to forget that these days."

"You're still a kid too, technically."

I laugh at Lee, he's not wrong, after all. If I'm right about what month it is, I should be nineteen in a few months. "Shut up, man.."

"He lose his shit like that often?"

"No," Lee shakes his head. "that was a first."

"It's good that he did;" said Christa. "Kenny couldn't pull that shit on me."

"Kenny's been horrible to him. He blames Ben for his family's death and...it's just more complicated than that."

"Long story short, there were these bandits who would take half of whatever we scavenged in Macon. They must've got to Ben and threatened him, scaring him to his core to give them extra from our stash. They missed their 'extra shipment' and they came to the motel where we were held up. All hell broke loose because a bitch just couldn't hold back from pulling the trigger..."

"...What happened to her?"

"We left her on the side of the road...after she killed one of our own." I look down at my lap, hearing the banging come to a stop.

"Jesus..."

"I'm sorry about that..."

"Alright, I'm outa gas," Kenny comes over to us, breathing heavily. "You look well and rested."

"Sure, if you don't count an infected leg."

"You want me to do it?"

"Nah, hon, you can hop in after me." Omid leaves and starts breaking down more of the wall, Kenny takes his seat on the couch.

"Shouldn't be long now. It's good we're forced to take a breath. That uh...feelin' any better?" He refers to Lee's severed arm.

"I can handle it; the pain, that is. I'm just really goddamn tired."

"I mean, do you think it worked? Did it...did it help at all?"

"I feel like a man who got bitten. So take that for what it's worth."

"I still can't believe you went and got chomped. Just..." Kenny sighs. "fucking hell."

"At least he told us."

"Took some brass. I don't think I woulda..."

"I should've cut it off sooner," I put my head in my hands. "so goddamn stupid..."

"You did what you could," Lee pats my back.

"There's no way you would've known."

"..." I groaned as I looked back up, and I saw that Kenny was holding his head in his head like I was. "You okay, Kenny?"

"I'm..." He looks back up but doesn't make eye contact with any of us. "I don't know how to answer that, son."

"I'm sorry," said Christa. "You've lost more than anyone. Well, as much as anyone."

"It'll be alright, Ken."

"Yeah, you still got us," I add.

"I appreciate it, from all of you. A lot of us have lost families..." Kenny looked off to the side as he finished that sentence, looking straight at Ben.

"Maybe take it easy on him from here on out?" Lee advised.

"I'm angry as hell."

"Not at him, though?" I ask.

"Maybe...maybe not."

"You heard what he said outside."

"I did," Kenny nods. "I never really thought about it that way."

"...He wanted to die, you know?"

Kenny raised an eyebrow. "What's that now?"

"Back in Crawford, when...I held onto him from the bell tower. He wanted me to let him go, basically demanded me to."

"Jesus... I'm glad it was you making that call and not me," Kenny leans over the couch, rummaging through the contents of a cardboard box and eventually pulling out... Of course. It was a bottle of whiskey. "These guys tell you much about what we've been through?"

"Bits and pieces," Christa shrugged.

"the aforementioned 'Larry' fella? See, Lee, Elijah, and I got trapped in a fucking meat locker with him. He had a heart attack. So, there's this guy who, I would say, was built like a brick shithouse."

"Smelled like it, too," I add.

"Heh, no doubt. Anyway, we were terrified he's gonna come back and eat all of us."

"...What'd you guys do?"

"We were...resourceful."

"Larry didn't make it out?"

"No," I say. "We did, though."

"...What's your story?" Christa questions me. "I mean, I know you wanted to be a photographer and all, but since we're getting things off our chest..."

I sigh. "I was just like any other college freshman, I was just getting by with classes by the skin of my teeth trying to pay for it all."

"Least you never have to pay off those loans, son."

"Heh, no shit. It was just me and my mom against the world, and Clementine was my next-door neighbor. Her babysitter was my best friend."

"...What about your dad?"

"That's true, you've hardly said anything about 'em," Kenny adds.

"...I hope he's rotting as a walking corpse wherever he is." The others look at me with a mix of shock and confusion in their eyes. I know I've only mentioned my deadbeat dad a handful of times, but I never shared the full story. I may as well since we have the time. "...Back when I lived in North Carolina..."

Fourteen years ago...

"I had just come home from kindergarten..."

I sigh as I hear yelling coming from inside the house. Oh, no... Maybe I should sneak in through the window again, but Mama would worry about where I am. Seeing no other option, I just opened the door and my ears were pierced as the sound of my parents yelling grew louder. I set my backpack down besdie the shoe rack and peek around the corner, listening to what they're arguing about this time.

"I don't know where you get off teaching my boy to do sissy things like this!"

Wait...is that my drawing I made this morning for Mama?

"Honey, he's just a boy and it's a sweet gesture. Why are you overreacting?"

"'Cause that ain't what my son should be doing. Otherwise, he'll never be a man if you keep indulging your insignificant delusions in him!"

"Stop it! I'm teaching him to express himself in ways that make him happy! He loves us and Elijah just wants to let us know each and every day."

Dad scoffs at what Mama just said. "At this rate, he'll let the entire world walk over him, and when he's at his lowest, it'll be all your fault because you taught him to be weak," Dad was about to continue on...but his eyes met mine.

Oh, shoot!

"Hey, son," He smiled and his gravelly voice made my leg shake. Dad walks over to me and drags me my the back of my shirt into the living room. My drawing is placed in the middle of the coffee table and Dad scowls down at me. "...You made this?"

"..." I look down at my feet but Dad forces me to look at him by lifting my head up forcefully.

"You look at me when you're talking to me, boy."

"...Y-Yes, sir. I did."

He released my chin and crossed his arms. "You think it's fun making shit like this? Does it make you feel like a man? 'Cause let me tell you something, it doesn't." Dad leans down closer to me, the smell of something strong and stinky burns my nose. "Do you understand me, boy?"

"...Yes, sir." I nod.

"Now get out of here, your mama and I need to have a little chat."

"...Yes, sir." I slumped my way into my room, closing the door behind me. I run over to my bed and hide my face in my pillow. Don't cry, you're not supposed to, a real man doesn't cry.

"Your old man sounded like a real piece of shit."

"That's putting it lightly."

"Anyway, I just sat in my room for a few hours until I heard something shatter coming from outside..."

CRASH!

"Huh?" I got out of bed and left my room. Did someone break in? I get into the kitchen...and my jaw drops to the floor when I see Mama on the ground surrounded by broken glass...and bleeding from her forehead Dad was towering over her, holding a broken bottle in his right hand.

"Next time, you think twice before testing me again!"

"Mama!"

"You stay out of this, boy!"

"Elijah, sweetie," Mama looks over at me, smiling despite she's hurt. "...run." She mouthed that last word to me.

"..." Mama...you're hurt, I can't... Why...? Why did you hurt her, Dad?

"No!" Dad yells, forcing Mama to look at her. "You're not coddling my son anymore."

"He's my son too!"

SMACK!

"...Stop it."

"I'm growing tired of this bullshit of yours, Ashley!" He looks over at me. "And if you don't want what your Mama's gettin' I'd be smart and go back to your room! And as for you..." Dad...grabs Mama by the throat and starts squeezing. "I've given you enough chances, you will not teach my son to be a weak crying bitch!"

"Stop it..." My legs shake...as I grabbed a kitchen knife off of the counter.

Mama sites to claw her nails at Dad, trying to get him off of her. Her breath comes out in desperate coughs. "Get...your hands...off me!"

"It's about time you learned something about respect."

"LEAVE MAMA ALONE!" I run over to Dad with the knife in my hand...and I stab him in the leg.

"Augh!" He lets go of Mama and she crawls away from him, I stand in front of her with the knife out in front of me. Dad tries to cover the bloody spot on his pants as he stands up, he looks at me...but he isn't angry. "Real cute, son. Now drop that knife before I-"

"NO!" I swung the knife when he tried to reach his hand out at me, slashing his palm. Something wet dripped on my face but I ignored it as I stared at my Dad...no, the man who hurt my Mama. "Never hurt Mama again! Or I will kill you!"

"I think that was the first time I have ever hated anyone in my life..."

"...Hehehe..." The man laughs at me and looks at me with a smile. "That's my boy. Finally...you're becoming a man."

Mama carefully takes the knife away from me and steps in front of me. "We are leaving...and we are never coming back."

Present day...

"And that was the last day I ever saw my father again, my Mom took us back to her folks and we stayed there until Mom got enough money to move us down here to Atlanta. She even went back to using her last name after filing for divorce."

"Jesus Christ..."

"I'm so sorry, Elijah."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it, it was a lifetime ago."

"Wish I could put that son of a bitch in his place, you don't hurt your wife, 'specially your own boy."

"Well, at least he couldn't hurt you or your mom after that day," Lee pointed out.

"Yeah, fuck that guy."

"...Thanks, guys."

"Well, cheers." Kenny raises his bottle and takes a drink, he offers the bottle over to me and Lee.

"I shouldn't," I say.

"Come on, son. Share a drink with me."

"..." Why the hell not? I take the bottle and have a drink, immediately regretting it as the liquor burns my nose as it goes down my throat. "Yep, never gonna get used to that."

Kenny chuckles as Lee takes the battle from me. "Ya never do." Once Kenny takes the bottle back from Lee after he takes a drink, he offers it to Christa. I know she's probably thinking that she shouldn't on account that she's carrying for two...but she snatches the bottle away from Kenny and takes a long swig of it. Lee and Kenny are shocked by how much she drinks but I say nothing. As the only 'medical expert' here, I'd say this can be an exception.

"I'm through!" We all look over to Omid as he sets the coat rack down, the wall now has a medium-sized hole. Omid pokes his head out. "No walkers. Things are looking up."

"Let's move," I sling my backpack over my shoulder, everyone crawls through the hole in the wall and into the next house. Inside seems to be a master bedroom.

"Everyone keep a goddamn eye out."

"This place seems pretty sealed off," Christa notes...but I was more occupied with what was on the king-sized bed.

"Well..." Everyone looked to where I was, seeing the dead bodies on the bed. I assume that they must've been a couple before all of this with how they are still holding each other's hands. The man is holding the gun in his other hand...and their blood and their brains are splattered all over the pillows. "...Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

"God..."

"...Let's keep moving," said Lee. "We gotta go."

"Yeah," Christa agreed. "We've seen so many people...I don't know why these ones break my heart."

"What's heartbreakin' is not givin' yourself a chance," Kenny stated, his eyes lowering to the floor. "...It's what Katjaa did."

"..." Hijo de puta...

"Jesus...I'm sorry, Ken."

"She left me...my son...the people that cared about us..." Kenny's voice began to break...but he looked at me and Lee with conviction. "I forgive her, but it don't make it any less wrong. You don't just end it cause it's hard. You stick it out, and you help out the folks you care about. Lo let's figure a way outta here," HE smiles at us. "and get that little girl."

"..." Couldn't have said it better myself.

"We should move."

Kenny takes the gun out of the dead man's hands and checks the chamber. Lee, meanwhile, heads over to a door that leads to a small balcony hanging off the side of the building. "Got at least one shot left."

"Hey, guys," Lee gets our attention. "This might be a way out."

"Lemme check," Kenny peeks his head outside for a moment to look around. "Looks like we can stay off the street all the way to River Street if we're careful."

"Let's go."

"I'll go first, we need someone on the other end to help the rest," I volunteer to jump across the alleyway. At least it's not a three-hundred-foot drop. I climb on the railing of the balcony and I leap across the alley, my feet land on the roof. "Phew...good hop," I turn back and reach my hand out to the others. "Come on."

The next one to come across was Lee, he jumped and I grabbed his good arm, and he made it to the roof. Next was Omid, then Christa, then Kenny. Ben climbs on top of the railing...but I heard the sound of metal bending...followed by a snap.

"Ben!"

SNAP!

The railing falls from under his feet...and he falls. "WAAAAAUUUUUGGH!" We all heard a loud thus as Ben hit the ground, we looked over the edge...and Ben wasn't moving.

"Me and my fuckin' mouth..."

"Holy fuck! What are we gonna do?!"

Kenny wastes no time and rushes down to a nearby ladder that leads to the alleyway below, despite how much he's hated Ben for the past day or two, Kenny's the first to help him. "You guys stay back," Lee says to Omid and Christa. "The three of us can handle it."

"Dude, let me help; you're already hurt."

"All the more reason we all don't need to risk it," I point out.

"He's right, you two just worry about Clementine. And if it all goes bad, you might be Clementine's last hope."

"We'll keep an eye out."

Lee and I head down the ladder, I'm the first one down and I check the alley, no walkers are in sight for now. I look over to where Ben landed, Kenny is kneeling down beside him...and I can see blood on the ground beside them.

"...Ow...I'm...I'm okay!"

"Shh!" I shush him. "Keep it down, Ben. Or they'll be on top of us."

"Yeah, try and keep your mouth shut."

"I'm sorry," Ben's voice shakes. "just get me up... My leg's hurt, I think."

"Don't worry, we're gonna get your ass up," Kenny starts moving some of the scattered trash out of the way.

"Really? I thought you..."

Kenny moves the last of the debris...and we see the damage from Ben's fall. I covered my mouth as I saw the piece of rebar that had impaled through Ben's body. "Cono..."

"Fucking hell..."

"What is it? I'm okay...I'm okay..."

"We can get you up," Kenny grabs Ben by his abdomen and tries to pull him up. "We can-"

"Ow!" Kenny sets him back down on the ground.

"...He's screwed," Lee shook his head.

"He's not screwed," Kenny denies. "He can't die down here."

My hand falls to my side. "...That rebar went right through his solar plexus, even if we got him out, he'll bleed out in-" I look up when I hear the faint sound of Walkers...once from the street looks directly at me...and he growls. "Hijo de puta..."

"Fuck!" Kenny sees the approaching walkers and tries to pull Ben off the rebar again, but the boy screams out in pain and it makes Kenny stop. The kid sees the walkers...and his eyes widen.

"Oh, God, don't let them get to me!"

"You boys got any bullets left?!" Kenny pulls out the gun he got from the master bedroom. "This has only got one left in it."

"Just one!"

"Fuck, that's not enough!"

"Here," I pull out my 1911. "I've got a few-" Kenny takes my gun away from me. "What are you doing?"

"You two are going after Clem!"

"What?"

"Kenny!"

'This is not a discussion!"

"Hell no, man!"

"We're not leaving you!"

"What did I just say?!"

"Let's grab Ben and get the fuck out of here!"

"The walkers are-" Kenny cuts me off as he shoved me and Lee behind the gate by the ladder, Locking it behind us. I grab onto the bars and look directly at him. "Kenny, what are you doing?!"

"What the fuck, Kenny?!"

"Lee, Elijah...It's okay."

"No, Ken! No, it's not!" Lee banged his hand against the gate, I shook it to try to open it.

"You can't do this!"

"...Son," He grabs onto my shoulder through the bars. "You're a good boy, but this is somethin' I gotta do. Both you and Lee know that." He lets me go and pulls back on the chamber of my pistol. "Y'all go get that girl!"

"Kenny!" I try to open the gate, Lee helps me as the walkers start filling up the alleyway.

"Damn it, Kenny!"

"Back you sons of bitches!" Kenny hits a few walkers with my 1911, they force him to back up further into the alley. "Agh!"

"Kenny!" Lee pulled me back as I tried to force my hands through the bars.

"Elijah, no!"

"KENNY!"

"Aah, fuck! Kenny, ple-"

BANG!

The lone gunshot stopped me from fighting Lee's grip on my shoulder. Ben...stopped screaming. I didn't even need to be a genius to know exactly what Kenny did. I try to hear Kenny but his voice is completely covered by the walkers growling.

"...No."

"...Come on," Lee pulls me back toward the ladder. Seeing no reason to linger in this godforsaken alley any longer, I follow him up the ladder. We're Immediately met with the shocked faces of Omid and Christa.

"What happened?!"

"Where's...?"

Lee and I just walked past them...and I fell to my knees. "...They're...gone," Lee could barely believe what he was telling them. "God...damn!" He put his face in his hand. "God..."

"..." How many more? How many more people do I have to lose before I kick the bucket?! "AAAAHHH!" I shut my eyes as I screamed up to the heavens, I hit the ground a few times out of anger...and grief.

"...I heard a shot."

"..." I can't bring myself to tell them what happened.

"Kenny made sure that...Ben didn't feel any more pain than he had to."

"Wha...what?"

"It was Ben's biggest fear. Kenny had Elijah's gun...and that's how he used it. God, poor fucking kid..."

"You guys saw them die?"

"...Nobody was getting out of there," I say as I struggle to get to my feet, Lee helps me and I wipe my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Lee."

"You alright, Elijah?"

"...Kenny did what he had to do. All the way to the end."

"Yeah," Lee pats my shoulder. "It's what he did best."

"...We should go."

"...Right behind you. Elijah?"

"...Yeah, I'm coming," I follow behind the others, I can't stop the tears from falling. We were all supposed to get out of the city together, on a boat as we sailed off to a place better than this living hell.

Kenny...I'm so sorry.