· · ─────── ·✞· ─────── · ·

Duckie was getting way worse and Naya dreaded saying her final goodbye. Chuck looked towards the two kids before directing his attention to Lee and Hayden who stood closer to him. "Got to be hard on ya, eh? Four adults taking care of four kids..." Chuck said then he turned to Ben, "No disrespect, son." Ben glared at the man before turning his head away, the seventeen-year-old was silent as he processed everything that happened over the last few months. "It is," Lee replied to Chuck before Hayden spoke, "But we are making it work as best as we can."

"Your son is something else," Chuck told Lee as he motioned towards Clement who was softly talking to Naya in hopes to keep her mind distracted from Duck's fate. "He's a survivor. Has been since day one," Lee replied to Chuck, he had been so proud of how Clement's handled everything and despite wishing that the boy could be a kid, he was impressed by how mature Clement had become in their new world. "And your daughter, she seems strong despite what's happened," Chuck added with his eyes on Hayden, the blond man smiled with a sigh as he looked towards his daughter. "I don't know what I'd do if Clement wasn't around," Hayden replied.

The men were disrupted by Duck who coughed up blood, Naya closed her eyes not wishing to see it. "LEE!" Katjaa exclaimed fearfully, "Lee, I need you. Right now." Lee walked over quickly and handed her a cloth, she used it to wipe the blood from the boys face. "I need you to go get Ken," Katjaa told Lee, her eyes wide and fearful despite knowing what they needed to do. "He's out of time. We need to stop this train," Katjaa said with a sniffle, she fought back the urge to cry. "Okay," Lee assured her, he frowned deeply before moving towards the front cab to stop the train.

"Kids, this may be the chance to say goodbye," Hayden spoke up, both Clement and Naya shared a look before the blonde got up and approached them. She rested her hand on the side of Duck's face, he tiredly opened his eyes and looked at her however, they were no longer the sweet, bright green but a strange pale blue. "I'll never ever forget you, Duckie," Naya whispered to him before she leaned forward and rested her head against his own, "I'll see you in Heaven's Garden. My mommy will be there waiting for you." Katjaa had a tear fall hearing the girls words, she listened as Naya spoke again, "Love you, Batman."

Duck managed a smile at her words, he cleared his throat before muttering, "...Love you... Wonder... Wo--woman." Naya moved out of the way so Clement could say his own goodbye, the girl fell into her father's open arms a distance away from the scene. "I'll miss you, Duck," Clement told the boy. "...Protect... her... always..." Duck replied with a wheezy breath between each word, "Never... leave... her... alone..." Clement promised him as the train finally came to a stop, Lee ─ despite having to take a few hits from Kenny ─ managed to get the man to accept the situation and stop the train.

Katjaa had laid Duck on the train floor in the door of the Boxcar, she stood outside the train by him as Lee and Kenny approached from the cab. "Ken, it's... I think it's time," Katjaa informed her husband, sorrow in her voice and expression. "The boy's been bit. In case you haven't figured that out," Kenny said to Chuck with a deep frown, the man gave him a sad look before he turned away from the scene. "Take as long as you need," Lee assured the husband and wife. "There ain't no time left to take," Kenny replied, the two kids peeked out at them with frowns on their faces; silent guilt consuming Naya.

"What are we gonna do?" Kenny asked his wife sadly. "We can't allow him to become one of those things," Katjaa replied to him with tears burning in her eyes. "But what if... what if he doesn't?" Kenny asked her helplessly, he didn't want to lose his little boy. "Kenny, I love you very much. I love our son more than life itself. I need you to hear me. What you are saying, that he may not turn, is foolish," Katjaa expressed to her husband tearfully. "But--" Kenny was cut off by Katjaa, "No." Clement hugged Naya as the two continued their discussion, the delay only leaving the boy in more pain.

"No... more..." Duck whimpered silencing everyone, his head tiredly turned to look towards his parents, "Too... tired... hurts..." Kenny lowered his head at the boys mutterings, he knew his wife was right but it was so painful to admit. "Well... fuck! just... who then? You want me to?" Kenny questioned his wife. "You don't have to," Katjaa assured him. "I'll do it," Kenny replied, his voice firm. "No, you don't have to," Katjaa told him. "I'll do it," Lee spoke up, he didn't want the parents to carry that sort of burden. "No. It should be a parent," Katjaa tells Lee. "No parent should have to do something like this," Lee replied to her.

"Lee's right, Kat. We can say our goodbyes and... just let that be it," Kenny said to Katjaa, tears in his eyes. "I don't know..." Katjaa trailed off as she looked at Lee, "Lee, you'd be doing this family a great service." Lee nodded at her words before Katjaa turned to her husband and said, "Why don't we take him into the forest. So Clement and Naya don't have to see." Kenny agreed in a defeated tone, Katjaa picked up their son and the husband and wife headed into the brush away from the others. "You sure about this?" Hayden asked Lee, he would be fine with taking the place. "I'm certain--" Lee was cut off by a sudden gunshot echoing through the air.

Lee and Hayden both rushed off towards the husband and wife while Naya buried her head into Clement's chest, Chuck and Ben watching over the two of them. The two men froze once they reached the small clearing where Kenny was on his knees with tears falling down his face, Duck sat, eyes closed, leaned back against the tree and finally, Katjaa's body lay on the dirt with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Kenny looked up at the two men, his expression broken over the loss surrounding him and both Lee and Hayden looked back with sadness.

Kenny grabbed the gun, he aims it at his son but his arm is unsteady as it shakes, tears streaming down his face endlessly. Lee gently took the gun from Kenny's hand, he took in a slow breath before he raised the gun, aiming at Duck's head and firing the gun. The three men slowly returned to the train in a heavy silence, the others quick to notice that Katjaa was gone. Naya broke into tears as Clement held her, he let a few tears of his own fall but in the end, he did his best to push his own pain aside and focus on the girl in his arms. Kenny was silent as he walked to the cab, Lee and Hayden watched him disappear into the front car before Hayden decided they'd leave the man alone for a while.

· · ─────── ·✞· ─────── · ·

It had been some hours since the loss of Katjaa and Duck, the air was still heavy with tension but Hayden had volunteered to keep an eye on Kenny having been the only one who had experienced a similar loss to the broken man. Naya and Clement sat together on the edge of the train car, the open door allowed them to hang their legs and watch the environment pass by them. Lee walked over to the two of them, he sat down next to Clement and sighed as he looked out in silence for a few minutes just admiring the serenity. "You wanna talk?" Lee asked them breaking the silence, he wanted them to be comfortable with talking.

"Yeah," Clement assured him. "You two understand what happened?" Lee questioned them in reference to Katjaa's passing. "Yes," Naya answered him with a frown. "Okay. What are you two thinking about?" Lee asked them. "What Chuck said," Clement spoke up with a deep frown, slight anger in his eyes mixed with fear while Naya sniffled sadly, feeling defeated. "What did Chuck say?" Lee asked them noticing the expressions of the two kids faces. "That what happened to Duckie would happen to us," Naya answered him, a tear rolled down her face while Clement grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers in hopes to reassure and comfort her.

"What? The fuck he did," Lee growled out angrily. "Swear," Clem said to him causing small smiles of amusement to appear of Lee and Naya's faces for a moment. "Sorry. I'm gonna go talk some sense into him," Lee told the two of them. "Don't be mad," Clem said to Lee, the man nodded before heading towards Chuck leaving Naya and Clement alone again. "Do you think Chuck was right?" Naya asked Clement. "I don't know but I know that I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive," The eleven-year-old swore, his promise was something he was determined not to break. "We get through this alive together, right?" Naya asked him. "Yeah, together always," Clement promised.

· · ─────── ·✞· ─────── · ·

After speaking with Chuck who had explained his words in a way that helped Lee understand that he meant no harm but wanted to point out that the kids were severely unprepared for the world, Lee had spoken with Hayden and received permission to do what was necessary to look out for the kids; Hayden wanting to continue his conversation with Kenny about healing and grieving, even if it was one-sided. And so, Lee headed back to the two children with the intent to teach them some very important lessons that should help prepare them for whatever may come next for their remaining group.

Lee stepped up behind the kids after collecting the things he needed, "Hey kiddos." The two turned their heads to him before they got up and moved further into the train. "Did you talk to him?" Clem asked Lee who nodded and said, "I did. He, uh, explained himself and made some good points. Look, we're not going to let anything bad happen to either of you. But there are some precautions we have to take." Naya tilted her head at his words, "What precautions?" Lee smiled, "Well, we're going to figure out a plan for when we get to Savannah, teach you how to protect yourselves and, uh..." He held up some scissors, "...tidy you up a little so you can't get grabbed."

With agreement from the two kids, Lee worked quickly to trim back Clement's curly hair to shorten it before turning to Naya's hair that hung down to her shoulder blades and cutting it to just above her shoulders so she could still tie it back. "All done," Lee told the two, Clem sent Naya a bright smile seeing her with short hair; he liked it better and it seemed she did too. "Now, you two need to know how to protect yourselves," Lee continued gaining their attention back on him. "Like hiding and running away, got it," Clem replied with a smile. "I mean..." Lee spoke as he pulled his gun out and showed them, "...with one of these."

Clement's eyes went wide at the sight of the gun while Naya chewed on her bottom lip, she had fired off multiple guns recently but knowing that they had reached a point where knowing how to use the gun was this important, it truly scared her. "First, don't be afraid of it. It's just a thing," Lee assured them before moving to teach Clem, "Now, Moo has already used a gun so we'll start with you, Clem." Lee placed the gun in Clement's hand, adjusting it comfortably while Naya stood behind them to the left with her arms hugging herself. "Know where your finger is all the time. And don't put it on the trigger unless you want to hurt somebody," Lee taught the two.

"It's heavy," Clement told Lee. "You'll get stronger," Lee assured him, "To aim, you look right down the top, through that notch. Line up the site at the end with your target." Naya spoke up, "And, uh, make sure you're not breathing too hard and hold your breath right when you pull the trigger. It's more accurate, right?" Lee smiled with pride at the young girl, it was clear that she was the daughter of a soldier in moments like these; it was why she knew how the guns worked in the past. Lee went over to the end of the car, he positioned some empty bottles for target practice before walking back to Clement who raised his arms up and aimed for the bottle targets.

Lee spoke as he positioned Clement's arms, "Good. Don't lock your elbows. Okay, let's try your first shot. Squeeze the trigger smoothly and I'll cover your ears. Nice and easy." Naya took the initiative to cover her own ears as Clement pressed down on the trigger, the bullet just grazed the bottle and Clement had yelped at the sudden recoil of the gun. "You okay?" Lee asked his boy. "My hands hurt. I don't like this," Clement replied to Lee with a frown. "Let's stick with it, okay?" Lee encouraged. "Do I have to?" Clement asked him. "You do. To protect yourself and Moo," Lee answered him, the mention of Naya encouraged Clement to continue despite the pain, he wouldn't let Naya end up like Duck.

After a few more tries, Clement managed to hit the targets perfectly. Naya was next however, she was more experienced with the gun so it didn't take as many tries to hit the targets. "Good job, both of you," Lee cheered for them, he was proud. "But they're not Walkers though," Clement spoke up, doubt gnawing at his chest. "No, far from it. But you two know how these things work now. We'll graduate you two to Walkers one day," Lee assured the two of them. Lee left the two kids to sit together against some boxes, Naya leaned into Clement and Lee smiled at the sight of them; he knew they'd make it through this.

· · ─────── ·✞· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·✞· ─────── · ·

Rosemary Speaks. . .

Despite my computer decided to render itself useless, my laptop continues to work perfectly allowing me to write this story.

So another update for y'all!!

Thoughts on this chapter?
Poor Duckie, may he rest in peace.

See you all in the next chapter!