Plot Twist
What if Molly was the Stranger? Prompt Submitted by BetterThanBrainiac on AO3
Requests On Hold
"It's nice to hear you're coming to Savannah, Clementine." Came a woman's voice from Clementine's radio, "I think I've managed to find your parents. I'll show you when you get here."
Lee and Kenny stared at the radio.
"I thought that thing didn't fucking work." Said Kenny, looking at Lee.
"So did I." Answered Lee, grimly.
Lee glanced down at the yellow radio they'd found in the station wagon they'd stolen from. He and Carley had gone back to where the car had been, only to find tracks leading away from the clearing. A couple days after that, they found some Walkers that looked fresh and out of place compared to their surroundings. Carley assumed that they were the people they stole from, with both of them relaying the news to the rest of the group.
Katjaa didn't take it well, Lilly had given them filthy looks, it completely went over Duck's head, Clementine had been upset and Kenny had brushed it off. Lee and Kenny had a disagreement over it but put it aside for the benefit of the group.
"What do we do?" Asked Kenny, getting a sigh from Lee.
"I don't know."
PT
The group made their way through Savannah's streets, Clementine nervously tried to get Lee to give her the radio back.
"When we're safe, Clem."
Christa asked why he didn't just give Clementine the radio, only to be cut off by a bell tolling. Kenny dismissed it as a timer, before Lee asked, "What clock chimes at twenty past the hour?"
Before Kenny could respond, the radio crackled to life, "Get out of the streets, now!"
"Who is this?" Demanded Lee, pulling the radio off his belt.
"I'll explain later," said the voice, "There's a house with a closed off garden, just a block away from here, run ahead to the crossroads, turn left and then right, I'll meet you there!"
Lee wasn't in a position to argue, not when he spotted Walkers lumbering towards them. Growling, Lee grabbed Clementine, picked her up and followed the voice's instructions. They arrived at the house the voice told them about, entering the yard as someone climbed down the drainpipe, while Kenny tried to get the back door open.
"I take it that you're Clementine's group." Said the owner of the voice, as she reached the ground, lowered her hood and removed a mask on her face, "I wanted to meet you by the train, but I didn't know where it was."
"Who are you?" Demanded Lee, glaring at the woman.
"Name's Molly," Introduced the woman, "I stumbled across your radio's frequency by mistake. I was trying to contact the military."
Lee frowned, before looking at Clementine, "You said you found her parents."
Clementine's eyes brightened, getting a sigh from Molly.
"Yeah…" Molly looked at the ground, "They were Geeks."
"What?" Snapped Kenny, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"You know," Molly gestured around with her hands, "dead, Rotters, Walkers, whatever you call them."
Lee frowned, "So… they're dead?"
"Unfortunately," Nodded Molly, as Clementine buried her face in Lee's leg, "I, er, I dealt with them."
Lee nodded, "What happened with the bells?"
"It's how I get around the Geeks." Shrugged Molly, "I ring a bell on one side of the city and I run to the area they've left."
"Oh, and you just happened to ring the one right next to us?" Demanded Kenny, getting an eyeroll from Molly.
"I thought you were coming by one of the commercial lines, dickhead," Molly gave Kenny a glare, "I didn't know you had a freighter."
"Maybe," Lee cut into their argument, "we can discuss thing when we're inside the house, away from the Walkers."
Molly gave a nod, while Kenny went back to the door. After examining it a bit, and verbally noting that the pet door was locked, Omid mentioned that his neighbour had a pet door unlocked itself when a microchip in the cat's collar got close to it.
Which, of course, resulted in Lee digging up a dead dog's grave and retrieving the collar from the dead dog's carcass. They'd just unlocked the pet door when Clementine scurried in and opened the door from the inside.
The group checked the house, when they started to discuss their plans, with Kenny bringing up the boat plan, only for Molly to drop a bombshell on them.
"There aren't any boats." Molly crossed her arms, "I mean, it's a good plan, but Crawford's stripped and cannibalised all of them."
"They'll have missed one." Scoffed Kenny, crossing his arms and glaring at Molly.
"No, they haven't." Retorted Molly, "They tore the city apart, hording everything they found."
"Sounds like you know them pretty well." Christa eyed Molly suspiciously.
"I was with them." Confessed Molly after a moment, "They didn't start out crazy, and we were surviving. Then… they started expelling the elderly and sick, then any children under fourteen. Everyone they kicked out were killed almost immediately."
"They left them to the Walkers?" Asked Lee, disgusted.
"No." Answered Molly, "The guards used them as target practice. I lost my mom and my sister to them."
"Damn." Muttered Lee, as Omid let out a groan.
"I've been meaning to ask," Molly changed the subject, "what's wrong with him?"
"He hurt his leg." Said Christa, "we need medicine."
Molly let out a sigh, before glancing around, trying to think up a response.
"Kenny and I'll go to the waterfront," Said Lee, looking around, "check for any boats, we'll see if there's anything that'll help us."
Molly rolled her eyes, as the two men left.
PT
Lee and Kenny returned, with Kenny grabbing a bottle of alcohol and dropping onto a couch, taking a swig from the bottle as he did.
"No boats?" Asked Molly, looking up from Clementine.
"None salvageable." Confirmed Lee, before sighing, "Alright, what do now?"
"Find some medicine and get out of the city." Said Christa, immediately, making Chuck look up from Omid.
"Where?" Asked Chuck.
"I don't know, but it'll be safer than here." Said Christa, as Ben sat down.
"I've got an RV." Said Molly, after a moment, "Just needs some gas and a battery."
"Why doesn't it have a battery?" Asked Lee, frowning.
"Because Crawford stripped it," Answered Molly, "I've been putting it back together… mostly."
"Where'd we find those?" Demanded Christa, giving Molly a scrutinising look.
"At Crawford," Answered Molly, "…Probably."
PT
Lee frowned as he, Chuck, Christa and Kenny followed Molly into Crawford. They'd had the bright idea of going through the sewers, since they couldn't climb the fences or walls, and all the gates were locked. They'd left Ben and Clementine at the house with Omid.
Molly said they'd have to be as quiet as possible, since the guys here would kill them on sight. They left the sewer, and Lee spotted a guard and went to dispatch him with a hatchet, only to find that the 'guard' was a Walker. After dealing with it, they rushed inside. Molly told Christa and Chuck where the medical office was and took Kenny to the where they could find some gas, Lee made sure there weren't any Walkers lurking about the halls. Molly and Kenny returned, and Lee went with the former to get a battery, while Kenny worked on getting the armoury door in a classroom open.
After collecting the battery, Lee went and helped Chuck and Christa with getting the medicine. After getting rid of some Walkers, Lee found them trying to get a safe open, as well as a video camera that was still working. They saw the doctor in it pocket a video tape and Lee found himself going back outside and rummaging through a dead Walker's pockets, finding a video tape and a code. On his way back, Lee tried the code on a locker and found another tape.
When they checked the tape, they found that the first tape Lee found, in the pocket of the Walker, had the code for the safe clearly visible, allowing them to take all the medicine inside. When they rejoined the others, they found that Molly had gotten the door open, and they left Crawford.
PT
"Guys?" Lee glanced over at Christa, "Omid?"
"Ben?" Lee joined in, frowning, "Clementine?"
They heard shuffling, making Lee pause. They each pulled out their guns and Molly raised her icepick above her head and pulled the door open. Clementine stood there, looking up at them.
"Clementine?" Lee rushed over, noticing that she was covered in blood, "What happened?"
"A Walker got in." Said Clementine, shakily, "I… I dealt with it and found Ben s-strangling Omid."
"What?" Christa froze, "Clementine, what happened?"
There was a thud up the stairs, before two Walkers stumbled out. Omid's eyes were bulging and they could see the finger marks of Ben's hands on his neck, and Ben had a hole in his neck. Lee had little doubt that the blood covering Clementine was Ben's.
"The gun ran out." Said Clementine, as Molly rushed forwards and impaled Ben in the head, as Chuck put Omid down. Swallowing, Lee looked at the others, before looking at Molly.
"Where's the RV?"
PT
Lee silently watched Kenny and Molly work on the RV, while Chuck loaded the medicine and other supplies they had. Christa was expanding on what Lee taught Clementine, teaching her how to load the different types of guns and the correct way to handle them.
Slinging the rifle he had over his shoulder, Lee heard the RV's engine kick into life. Boarding it after Clementine and Christa, Lee saw Kenny hop into the driver's seat and Molly ride shotgun. Not for the first time, Lee found himself thinking of Carley and how Lilly shot her. He'd told Kenny that Ben had been acting strange on the train, but he didn't say Ben had confessed to him, they needed to be safe before they could process anything. Sitting down, Lee sighed as he felt the RV pull off.
"So," Christa's voice caught his attention, "What do we do now?"
"Find somewhere safe," Answered Lee, "preferably somewhere that can keep the Walkers out."
Christa gave a small nod, before glancing at Clementine. Lee knew that they needed to ready Clementine for when one of them needed putting down, but that could wait, they had a long road ahead of them, and none of them knew where it would lead.