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His eyes scanning the treeline in front of him, Lee’s lookout shift for the motor inn was going uneventful this afternoon. Other than the occasional Larry snooping in and out of his room, eager to see if the hunting party came back or not, it has been a quiet day.
Before long, however, Lee heard some rattling noises under him, right before looking and seeing Clementine, trying to climb the RV he was standing on.
“Wanna help me with the watch?” Lee asked in between his subtle laugh to her effort.
“Can I?” Clementine looked up and asked, binding her hands in front of her with her adorable fashion.
“Sure…” Lee replied, feeling like he had to give in.Just when he was about to stand up from his seat and lend her a hand, he saw the enthusiastic girl swiftly climb up the vehicle and stand beside him.
“Careful…” he felt like he had to say as she sat on the rooftop, her legs hanging on the side but she seemed comfortable with what she was doing. Not sure how to react, Lee decided to sit back and continue his duty, with his new company.
His eyes occasionally would glance through the little girl beside him, checking to see if she was alright. She seemed a bit bored, but thankfully untroubled as she was vigilantly looking out for any danger.
“Not ‘lotta things to do for a kid around here, huh?” Lee asked after a while.
“Yeah…” she answered, her head down looking at the pavement of the motor inn. “... but it’s OK.” she added as she turned back towards Lee with a smile. Realizing her effort to not seem like she’s complaining, Lee had his own smile as he said:
“I’ll see what I can find, next time I’m outside.”
“Thanks.” she said as she went back to her watch. Glad to see her spirit’s livened up, Lee did the same.
During his watch, Lee couldn’t help but ponder about his little friend. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how tough it was for someone so little to be apart from her family. And yet, he seldom saw her saddened. Despite her initial shyness, Lee saw her start to interact with people other than himself in recent days. Whenever he was there to witness it, Lee felt like she was carrying a calming aura with herself. Even when people were at their worst, her spirited presence would cut it short.
“Lee!” Clementine called out to him as she was nudging his leg, putting a stop to his thoughts. Her pointer was towards Kenny and Carley coming out of the treeline.
“Oh, sh…” Lee was about to spill out as he jumped down the RV.
“What the shit is this?!” Larry yelled out as the hunting party was going over the wall of cars closing the alley of the motor inn.
“This…” Kenny started, presenting a couple of bloody hares in his hand: “...is dinner for your grumblin’ ass.”
“Poor excuse, more like…” Larry retorted. “...those things are shred to bits!”
Estimating what this bickering was leading towards, so was with pretty much every conversation involving either Kenny or Larry, as soon as his feet hit the ground Lee turned back towards Clementine to say:
“You should head back to the room, Clementine.”
“Why?” she asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
“Just do it, sweet pea.” Lee insisted lightly as he turned back towards the fight, slowly approaching it. Even though there was inherently more than enough around her, Lee didn’t want Clementine to be exposed to any more violence than she had to.
Thankfully, Lee heard her get down by herself and draw away from the scene, while he arrived at the thick of it as Katjaa and Lilly were also out and about.
“Dad…” Lilly was about to reach out as Larry turned to her:
“Look, Lilly…” he pointed at the game. “..we have lead and gunpowder for dinner.”
“Screw you, asshole.” Kenny responded, with Carley following shortly after:
“They wouldn’t go out with one–” as she raised her pistol.
“If you don’t shoot ‘em right, they won’t!” Larry cut her.
“Hey, you know what…” Kenny started as Katjaa tried to hold him back by his shoulder, to no avail as he added:”... how about you get your own posh meal, next time.”
“Guys, shut it.” Lee tried to intervene, but Larry started yelling:
“Exactly… it’s my fault for expecting a couple of sissies to do a proper man’s job.”
“Enough, Dad…”
“Eat shit, prick.” Kenny let out. Larry walked up and went past Kenny as he hit him shoulder-to-shoulder while saying:
“You go ahead. I’m good.”
And with that, Larry began walking towards the car-wall as the others watched him.
“Ugh… goddammit.” Lilly said under her breath, seemingly ready to follow after him. But Lee acted before her by grabbing his fireax leaning beside the RV.
“I got it. You guys stay safe here.”
“Don’t die for that asshole, Lee. “Kenny warned him.
“What's the worst? I save his life again?” Lee said with a smirk.
“Oh, think of how grateful he’ll be… again.” Kenny had to join in on the mockery.
“I’ll be fine. You guys keep this place safe.” Lee insisted, as Carley barged in:
“I’m with you too.”
“He’s my father…” Lilly tried to refuse, but Carley was already on her way as she said:
“And I have the gun.”
Lee turned to Lilly: “Three’s manageable, but four people leaving would leave this place defenseless...” To somewhat relax the worried daughter, recalling what Larry said, Lee added: “...plus, I think I know where he’s going. You just got out of an all-nighter, stay here and rest.”
Without giving her any chance to oppose, Lee started following Carley. As he was on the other side of the cars, he called out to Kenny, who was preparing to skin the game: “Tell Clem I’ll be back in a bit.”
“You got it.”
Lee found Carley waiting for him around the corner while Larry was walking a bit far down the road. After some time, they caught up to him and Carley asked:
“Hey, Larry…” To his grumpy look backwards, Carley continued while pointing to her right: “...forest’s this way.” After a grunt as he turned back to the road, Larry said:
“If you want to keep wasting ammo and mess up more hares with that pea-shooter, be my guest.”
“What are you trying to do out here, then?”
“Something we should’ve done days ago, and…” Larry stopped and turned his irritated face briefly to add: “...I don’t need babysitters!”
“Tell that to your heart, old man.” Lee said.
“Fuck you…” Larry cussed and went back on his way, seemingly putting in more effort to walk faster. After letting him get some distance between them, Carley let out in frustration:
“It never ends with him, does it?”
“They do say people grow old to become babies again.” Lee answered with a mocking tone. Carley let out a tiny snicker as she asked again:
“Why are you chasing after a baby, then?”
“Not that I want to…” Lee sighed and started, in a more serious tone. “...but, if we want what we have back there to stand till the help comes, we gotta have all of us. Take care of each other.” Carley noticed how Lee talked slightly louder than normal, to make sure what he said reached Larry. After the lack of any response coming from the old man, Lee turned back to Carley to ask with a smile:
“So, why are you chasing after a baby?..” Immediately after, he got more serious and added: “...Why’d you shut Lilly off?”
Carley slowed down and held Lee for him to do the same. After making sure there was no way Larry hearing her, she said:
“Kenny mentioned what happened at the drug-store.”
“Oh…” Lee expressed, as Carley kept going:
“I didn’t want to leave you alone with him.”
“I’m not afraid of him, Carley. He just… caught me off-guard…” Lee responded. With a slight squint in his eyes and clenching on his ax harder, he added: “...Won’t happen again.”
After a while, within which Carley didn’t know what to say to that, back again with his mocking tone:
“Plus, I’m sure his daughter would’ve backed me up.” Lee let out.
“Yeah, right…” Carley responded as both shared a brief chuckle.
After some silence as both kept following the grumpy old man to his unannounced destination, Lee noticed Carley’s troubled look down the road.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“It… feels odd…” Carley started to admit. “...having a casual conversation while death’s up and running all around us. How… I mean, did we just get used to all this?”
“It’s… human nature...” Lee started to explain his own view. “...Coping with whatever shit thrown at them.”
“How, though?--”
“Hey…” Lee felt like he had to cut her. “...try not to go down that rabbit hole. It’ll just lead you to–”
“Yeah… I know...” Carley gave in, understanding Lee’s worry. “...Even self-awareness can be crippling in copious amounts.”
“Damn right…” Lee backed her up. “...Besides, believe it or not, barely anything changed for me...”
After seeing Carley’s bewildered face towards him, screaming the expression “What?!” , Lee kept going with a slight smug tone:
“...Still caring about ungrateful pricks and chasing after them for their own sake…” Recalling his former occupation, Carley rolled her eyes to his joke and shook her head with a smile. Gladdened that she seemed to feel better, Lee decided to press on with his not-completely joking stance.
“...Losses… do hurt. But it’s nothing new. We just… have to do what we always did before this. Move on… and care for the rest.”
Her eyes on the road, Carley felt the need to insist:
“Not everyone can do that, Lee. I’m… not really a family person, but still not an hour passes without thinking how my people are doing. And… how I can’t do shit about it…” After a brief silence, Carley tilted her head towards him to add: “...I’m from Chicago.”
“Can’t argue with that…” Lee gave in. “...First thing I did was look for my folks…” With a quick, pitying chuckle, he added: “...I now know, at least.”
“Shit, sorry…” Carley apologized to Lee’s immediate head shaking to imply it’s not her fault. Afterwards:
“You know the saddest part?..” Lee queried. “...All this…” he added as he gestured a circle between them to refer to what they’re talking about. “...is not even the half of what Clem’s going through.”
“Ugh…” Carley sighed in genuine pity. “...Don’t remind me...” On that note, Carley got inquisitive: “...How’s she holding up?”
“Good, I think…” Lee answered.
“You think?”
“Not sure, Carley. Whenever I ask, she says she’s OK and brings up something else. It’s clear she’s shook up about it all and she should be, but…” As Lee was lost at words, Carley took the helm:
“Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s working. She’s sweet and cheerful whenever I see her.”
“I disagree…” Lee objected while escaping his gaze, to Carley’s surprise as he added: “...lying is… seldom good.”
“About what?”
Lee, after a long exhale:
“She thinks her parents are alive and coming back.”
“Oh…” Carley let out her initial dolorous expression, followed up quickly by: “...Well, they might–”
“No…” Lee cut her, shaking his head.
“What makes you so sure?..” Carley had to ask. “...It’s not impossible…” With a snicker, she added: “...Not really far off from us, waiting for the military.”
“Right before we met…” Lee started in a downbeat tone. “...inside her house, I heard… some messages from her parents…” Locking his downhearted gaze unto Carley, Lee finished: “...the last one was… bad.” Taking some time to digest it, Carley eventually asked:
“She has no idea?”
Lee just turned back on the road and shook his head slowly. While Carley was unsure how to react or what to say, Lee kept going:
“Lies upon lies, for over a week…” Looking over at Carley again as he added: ”...Not sure what else to do… other than waiting for her to catch the gist of it.”
“She’ll hate you by then…” Carley shared her unfortunate estimation, to Lee’s nod. Afterwards, eyes back on the road:
“Not about me though, Carley… It shouldn’t be.”
“Hey…” Larry’s irritant holler cut through the duo’s conversation. “...wanna be even remotely useful and stop babblin’?..”
Through their irritated looks in return, Larry finished:
“...We’re close, so shut your gobs.”
The group set foot on Macon’s streets once again. Even though they were empty of walkers, the scenery of hundreds chasing them down last time they were here was starting to get to Carley.
“Why are we here, again?” Carley asked with a tiny unintentional flicker in her voice.
“To do somethin’ proper, have somethin’ proper.” Larry said, pointing at the gun store at the end of the street. Slightly relieved that his guess on what Larry was doing was accurate, Lee couldn’t help but wonder:
“Where did all the walkers go?”
“A noise must’ve herded them away.” Carley guessed, right before the group made it to the corner that led to the drugstore as the distant growls they started hearing proved her otherwise. Lee rushed to the front to peek from the corner to see no walkers on the street, but tons of them inside the drugstore and around it, crawling around.
“The alarm must’ve kept going for a while after we left. Cleared out the whole neighborhood.” Lee estimated. Larry went past him shortly afterwards, towards the gun store.
“In and out, heel it.” He said right before started running. As the group made it into the empty store, Lee noticed Carley stopping right before the gate. Her gaze was towards the drugstore as Lee approached her.
“You OK?” he asked, which seemed to have startled her as she suddenly turned her face towards him.
“Yeah… yeah. I’m good.” She kept saying as she walked past him to enter the store, avoiding eye contact. After taking a look at it himself, Lee understood why the poor woman froze as he also remembered who they lost while they had escaped the drugstore. However they were on borrowed time, Lee needed to focus on the task at hand rather than dwell on her for now.
He saw Larry boltz into the office of the store as Lee took a look around. The stands and shelves still had some hardware on them. The place not being completely looted felt like a long shot to Lee, but he sure was delighted to be wrong about it.
“You… fuckin’...” Lee heard Larry cuss from the office. He entered it to see him try to pry a bag from a corpse. He at last managed to hoist the body enough to yank out the empty bag under it.
“Enjoying the show?” Larry let out, right before shoving him aside to leave the office. Carley was already checking shelves as he went beside her and went:
“Look out for walkers outside, leave me alone.”
“Larry…” Carley started, clearly starting to get annoyed. “...it’ll go faster together.”
“And, even faster if you people stop getting in my way! ” Larry snapped, trying to whisper-yell. Lee, having had enough now he was shouting at Carley, rushed to him to pull him from his shoulder to face him.
“The fuck’s your problem?!.” Lee growled. “...We’re here to make sure you don’t get yourself killed and you keep…”
“Didn’t ask for–”
“And yet, you got it, old fart...” Lee cut him. “...So, stop bitching like a wuss for a damn minute, and–”
“What’d you ju–”
“GUYS!..” Carley called out to them, from the store’s gate. “...There’s some coming our way.” Lee immediately let go of Larry to check out Carley’s pointer to see a couple of walkers from the street they came from, alerted to their presence and coming their way. Lee looked behind him for a second to say:
“Hurry.” and went outside, hearing a cuss and rattling noises from Larry’s way shortly after. Thanks to where the walkers were coming from, the ones clustered in the drugstore were oblivious as Lee made quick work of them with his axe. Turning back to see Carley leaning on the gate’s framework outside and Larry tinkering inside, Lee stood beside Carley and assisted her watch.
“We’re good...” Carley said as Lee approached her, her eyes locked towards the drugstore. For a moment, she shifted it to the walkers Lee just dealt with and added with a smile: “...they cooled you off?”
Lee had a snicker right before saying: “I’m fine…” He whispered as he continued: “...Just pictured Larry’s head on top of em. It helped.”
Carley’s smile grew bigger with the remark for a moment, to focus on the drugstore’s residents once again. After some time in relative silence, within which the duo kept their guard duty and Lee watched Carley’s smile slowly wither away while locked on the drugstore once again, he couldn’t help but say:
“You really miss him, huh?”
Carley just nodded. Lee didn’t pursue any further, initially feeling guilty and a bit ashamed for asking something so obvious, but thankfully Carley didn’t take it in any wrong way as she looked at him and started:
“I… just want to understand… why did this all happen? What exactly is it? What caused it? Why does it even exist?! .” With the emphasis on her last remark, she turned back to the drugstore as she finished: “...So many damn questions.”
After a long exhale, Lee agreed: “And nothing else to do, but wa– it–” Towards the end, Lee started hearing a strange noise. It reminded him of gunshots at first, but as it got closer…
“Tell me I’m going crazy…” he said as Carley also started looking confused as her eyes were on the sky. They both continued scanning it as the helicopter sound kept getting louder. And eventually:
“There!” Lee yelled as he saw the vehicle and pointed at it.
“Holy shit!” Carley went as she was still struggling to believe what she was seeing.
“What the shit?!” Larry let out as he walked outside. Carley and Lee started waving their hand in the middle of the street while laughing… But their glee was about to be short-lived.
Both their hands and their smile gradually stopped as they noticed the black smoke coming from the helicopter's tail rotor. Not long after, it exploded and the helicopter started spinning and losing altitude.
“...Holy Shit.”
“No, no come o–”
“Motherf–…”
The group’s heart sank deeper and deeper as the helicopter got closer to the ground. With a deafeningly loud bang, it crashed on the drugstore’s roof.
“No fucking way…” Lee expressed, his hands pressing hard on his head from both sides.
“We… we gotta get out. Walkers’ll be all around us!” Carley barely made out the words out of her shock, but suddenly Lee rushed past them, running towards the crumbling drugstore walls.
“What the…” Larry was trying to comprehend, as he noticed a couple of dangling legs behind one of the letters of the store’s sign.
“Mother… fucker…” Larry let out. His initial instincts failed him as he noticed the apparel of the survivor Lee was rushing in to help.
“...Grab the bag!” He shouted to Carley and started running towards the soldier himself. Lee was close to reaching the store as a gunshot from behind him downed a walker nearby. Under Carley’s cover, Larry and Lee saw the survivor fall down the sign and land on the pavement with a loud thud, and a scream that immediately followed.
A shot landed onto a walker near Larry on its chest, quickly followed up by another on its head, they hoisted the wounded soldier from his arms and all three started running towards Carley, the soldier in the middle hopping along the way.
Back on the road towards the motor inn, Larry was first to give up running as he crashed on the sidewalk, gasping to catch his breath. Lee carefully landed the soldier near a tree by himself as everyone had no choice but to take a breather like Larry.
“It… looks clear.” Carley made it out as she kept looking around to see no walker nearby, the bag hanging from her shoulder. After a while, Lee tried to reach out for Larry to see if he’s alright, which resulted in him slapping his hand away and turning around to sit on the ground. After he also made sure that they were clear of the walkers swarming the crashzone, Larry was the first to address the soldier.
“Son, what the hell happened?”
The soldier’s eyes were closed and his head was completely resting on the tree’s trunk, seemingly enjoying the rest from the hellhole he just escaped from.
“Son…” Larry tried again, which got the soldier's attention and looked at him. However, he failed to say anything as his eyes lacked any expression, just looking around himself.
“Where… did we land?” He eventually made out the words.
“Macon, we’re in… about a mile west of it.” Lee answered.
“None of’em made it, did they?” The soldier asked, the gravity of his question sank his heart deep.
“Saw no one else.” Carley gave the bad news, sharing the saddened frown of the soldier as he just nodded and dropped his gaze to the ground, not saying anything else.
“We, uh…” Lee took the helm. “...we’re holed up in a motor inn nearby. We shoul–”
“Noo, nono…” The soldier cut him. “...Every damn step stings.”
“We can help you, man… We have a doc–” Lee’s words were cut short by the soldier revealing his calf muscle till a deep bite mark was clearly seen.
“Yeah… about that…” Soldier let out with his shallow voice.
“Fuck’s sake…” Carley slipped, right before turning around to stroll on the road in her disappointment. After a long exhale, Lee felt the need to ask:
“Did it happen back there?”
“Nah…” Soldier simply replied at first. Then started: “...Fort Benning.”
“You’re stationed there?” Larry immediately asked, which soldier nodded to reply. The information of there actually being a working governmental element was initially thrilling. However it didn’t last long as the soldier continued:
“Had a triage there… couple hundred people…” After a pitiful chuckle, he finished: “...Woke up to people screaming this mornin’.”
“Jesus…” Lee expressed, afterwards Carley approached to ask:
“Where’s the military?”
The man slowly lifted his head to face the question, but started smiling.
“Ta daaaa…” he let out while raising his arms and sneering. His sneer turned into a frantic laugh that lasted till he started coughing.
“Sorry…” The man said in between his coughs. “...this fever’s… melting my brain like a motherfucker .” His voice was getting even shallower and whispery.
“No one’s comin’?” Larry had to ask, his voice having uncharacteristic genuinity. Soldier faced him and shook his head:
“No sir…” he calmly replied. With these words, chilling the survivors’ bones, the soldier dropped the conversation and his gaze. Within the ensuing silence in which everyone was struggling to digest this horrifying news and the soldier starting to wheeze, Larry was the one to break it.
“Give me the pistol, Carley.” He said while extending his hand towards her expectantly. Both soldier’s and Carley’s head jumped up to look at the old man. Understanding what it’s for, the soldier wore a crooked smile but Carley’s hesitance was apparent from her lack of action.
“Give it to me for Christ’s sake…” Larry pursued. Pointing at the bag she was carrying with his chin, he continued: “...You’ve an arsenal in there, just hand it over, I won’t eat it.”
“Please…” The soldier tried to say, but his throat was clogged up as he immediately started coughing again. After the soldier’s plea, and having witnessed a similar and equally saddenning situation back at the motor inn, Carley saw no reason resisting it and handed the gun over. After she did:
“I’ll… head back.” Carley said and started walking in the motor inn’s direction.
“Right behind you.” Lee reassured, and turned back to Larry. He saw the old man holding the gun on his crossed leg, looking at the soldier. He never saw, and never thought he would, the man this downbeat. The anger that was so deep within him that Lee had gotten used to see him pour out was nowhere to be seen. Even when he was asking for the gun just now, the man’s expression reflected tiredness and defeat, almost mirroring the way the bitten soldier in front of him was feeling.
“I’ll send Lilly out.” Lee said in a low tone, before turning back on the road and following after Carley, leaving the old man with the soldier and whatever devils he was dealing with. Larry didn’t peep, his eyes were locked on the handgun. Eventually, the soldier grabbed his attention as Lee got distant:
“You don’t… have to be around, sir… Just get the gun afterwards.” The soldier said. Larry’s subtly shaking hand unto the pistol stopped as he replied:
“No soldier should die alone, son… Especially not like this…” Looked around a bit to continue: “...We’re fine. I’ll stay with you till the end.”
The soldier couldn’t help but smile, not knowing what to say. Guessing why, from his effort to hide his shaking hand, he gladly let the old veteran keep him company as he slowly felt the pain on his body slip away.
Suddenly, wanting to properly thank this man in some way, the young soldier went for his jacket’s inner pocket.
“Ahh, shit…” he expressed as he found it to be empty. Upon Larry’s questioning eyes, the man asked:
“You… don’t have a map, I reckon?”
“No. Why?”
“There’s this…” the man coughed a bit as he continued. “...supply department we were in contact with. Had some stuff coming for the triage the first few days. It was… in Warner Robins, ugh…” while the man was struggling to describe the location, Larry jumped in:
“Near Elberta?”
“That’s the one.” the soldier corrected.
“Yeah, I know where that is. They have food?”
The soldier nodded. Feeling relieved that the old man knew where it was, the soldier kept going:
“They went… radio-silent a couple days ago… If… they’re still up… they can help you folks.”
“That’s…” Larry was lost at words. “...thank you, son.” The soldier smiled as he responded:
“Just helping out a fellow Joe…” upon seeing the old man smile back to him. His eyes went back to the pistol in his hands as he acknowledged:
“Not that hard to guess, huh?”
“No sir…” The soldier chuckled respectfully. “...My old man wouldn’t even touch a .380 after discharge.”
“Don’t fault him for that, son.” Larry said, a grim nostalgia swallowed his expression.
“Never…” The soldier reassured. He lowered his gaze as he tiredly added: “I’m just … doing what I can… till I can’t...”
As Lee got closer to Carley, he looked back on the straight road to see Larry. He was reaching out for the soldier’s neck, but it was too far for Lee to understand why. His eyes caught the black smoke on the sky, rising high above the trees. And not long after, a single gunshot.
Lee closed the door and entered his pitch-dark room. He found the gaslamp and lit it just enough for Clementine when she was done with her dinner, and sat down on his bed. His arms resting on his knees and head falling into his palms, the tired man went through what happened today.
What he learned was… a lot to take in to say the least. Military, government… A whole damn nation crumbled within weeks. The one thing everyone was expecting, waiting, and frankly the only thing his dysfunctional group could manage to agree on; a military save, was gone to dust. All they had left was their own will to survive, and Lee could feel it dwindling.
Larry, without uttering a single word, even to Kenny who was asking him a bunch of intimidating questions ever since he came back, took his platter and conceded to his room. Carley wouldn’t even touch the stew, just keep mixing it with the spoon over and over until she left it on the ground and did the same. The remaining group’s queries fell to Lee, who asked for the answers to be left till tomorrow morning. Everyone, even the kids, gathered that something happened, but thankfully no one pursued it any longer, after Lee’s plea.
None had the will nor the energy for that night since all three of their minds were completely filled with their future. Their loved one’s future. Lee couldn’t help but reflect on Carley’s anxiety earlier today. And sympathize with it… God knew what she was like now, considering the man who kept relieving her throughout the day began feeling even worse.
Lee’s head felt like it was about to explode. This, irritating… high-pitched screech that crept up was intolerable. It was almost like his brain was fighting with his body, not letting him gather his thoughts. He tried hitting his head with the palms to get rid of it, to no avail. It just kept getting louder and louder.
Fallen electric pole… Courtroom… Treehouse… Jail… Bedroom… Car… Farm… Amphitheater… Accident… Crash!.. WALKERS!... SCREAMS!!!
“Lee?..”
Hyperventilating Lee, raised his head to see the little girl wearing a baseball cap look at him from the open door’s frame, with worried eyes.
“...Are you OK?”
His struggling and jumbled-up mind mustered itself against the incoming question as he straightened himself. While blinking rapidly to get rid of his frantic gaze:
“I’m fine, Clem. C– Come in, close the door.” He tried to smile while he said it, but from the looks of it -how Clementine’s worried look got even more intense- he failed to instill any confidence.
“OK…” Clementine in her soft voice and let herself inside. While she walked in front of him and got on her own bed, Lee saw her throw a couple of looks. And as she sat down and her gaze got locked on him once again, Lee realized the luxury he didn’t have anymore, on her ever-growing concernful expression.
If he can’t appear self-assured, then what chance a kid that was starting to look up to him being so. Even if he wasn’t anywhere near confident, like now, he had to be vigilant. For people that look up to him, because hardly anything was, and shouldn’t be, for himself at this point.
“Lee… are you sure?” Clementine’s question brought Lee back from his thoughtful state again, as he immediately wore a much more genuine smile as he responded:
“Everything’s fine, Clem. I’m a bit… tired. That’s all.”
His second attempt, being after the awareness check he just had, seemed to bear more fruit as he saw Clementine’s expression starting to unwind. She felt more relaxed as Lee had the conversation going:
“Are you full?”
“Yeah… it was…” Clementine’s hesitance to either tell the truth or lie about how good it was did not escape Lee’s notice, which he frankly had to agree to.
“Not good, right?” He completed her sentence.
“It was smelly.” Clementine said to get it out of her chest, which made Lee have a little laugh.
“Yeah… Those were some big, old bunnies...” he explained. “...Little one’s are usually better.”
“Huh…” Clementine expressed and nodded. Glad to see her spirits were back up, Lee continued:
“Did anything happen after I left?”
“Two walkers came near the cars, but Lilly handled them… And then, there was this noise but Kenny said it’s nothing…”
“Hmm…” Lee expressed, relieved that the crash didn’t cause any panic here.
“...And I played with Duck, and then you came.” Clementine finished her report for today, smiling.
“That’s good…” Lee let out, still snagged on the fact that Clementine heard the helicopter’s crash.
“Uh… Lee?” He heard her call him.
“Huh?”
“Something’s… bugging me.”
“What is it?
“What you said to me, before you went out…” Lee squinted his eyes to remember what she was referring to as a hint from her made it more clear. “...sweet… something…”
“Sweet pea?” was the first phrase that came to his mind.
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“Wait…” Lee’s confusion was through the roof. “...I called you ‘sweet pea’?”
“Yeah, I… didn’t understand why...”
Her words were followed up by Lee’s chuckle.
“That… That’s what my grandmother called me when I was little.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!..” He nodded as he started recalling. ”...Yeah she’d go…” After adjusting his mouth so that he could speak with a lisp: “...Who’s my sour’n sweet pea? Where’s my sweet pea?”
Clementine couldn’t help but have a chuckle at her guardian’s imitation which kept growing his standing smile. Afterwards, he shook his head a bit to say:
“I always hated it.”
“What?.. Why?” Clementine asked immediately, her brows jumping in surprise.
“Because… she’d call my brother a lion …” He emphasized on the word before continuing: “but… I was always her favourite damn dish!” Lee complained. Accompanied by Clementine’s laugh, Lee kept shaking his head, trying to understand this injustice he received all those years ago with his frown, which was successful at making the whole situation even more enjoyable to watch for his little friend. During, he couldn’t help but ask himself: “Why would it come back up like that?..”
After some time, Clementine dropped her smile as she wanted to return the favor. Attached to a sigh, she revealed:
“My grandma calls me ‘goofball’.”
Delighted with this exchange they’re having:
“Now, see… that’s way better.” Lee claimed, but…
“No, it isn’t…” Clementine immediately objected. “...It sucks.”
After Lee having another laugh at the fact that they suffered from such horrible mistreatment:
“Well…” He wondered. “...is, uhh… sweet pea allowed?”
After playfully considering it for a while, her smile back to her face, she nodded to accept the offer.
Lee’s eyes opened to his room’s dark ceiling. He wasn’t sure if he even slept any, but it sure felt like some time had passed since his head hit the pillow. And turning his head to the side to see Clementine’s back, sleeping peacefully, confirmed it. He reached for the window and opened the curtain enough to see Kenny on top of the RV. With the relief of knowing everything was how it should be, safe and under control, he closed his eyes again. However, his mind wouldn’t seem to shut up, similar to how it was earlier this evening till Clementine saved him.
The worst of the thoughts, planted by the initial shock, were mostly gone. The extremes, morbid assumptions, hideous elements of the unknown… The only ones to truly muck up his consciousness were the “How?”s regarding their future.
How could they make the place safer?.. How would they fix their ever-growing food problem?.. How about when winter hits?.. How would they get any help?..
And, maybe the most important of them all, how was he supposed to find solutions to all these?
Deep in his thoughts, trying to figure out the seemingly impossible, Lee heard Clementine shift her body to the other side in her sleep. And as he looked, now that her face was towards him, he saw the equally sad but also uplifting scenery of her sleeping with a broken walkie-talkie in her arms. With a crooked, but genuine smile, he kept on pondering.
Thinking so innocently, and holding unto a desire so hard that you find yourself denying all the negative odds… Having a soul so pure that you make others around you forgo their displeasurements and share your own joy with them…
Seeing Clementine and witnessing her wonders tonight once again reminded Lee of his own advice to Carley he gave on the road. To keep moving, no matter how absurd it feels or how pointless. Not only for yourself, but for the ones around you.
Dreaming… Lee couldn’t help but think all this was.
Just dreaming…