𝟷.𝟷𝟿 | Lee's Bitten
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After a few close calls, the group minus Brie had made it back to the house where Omid had been left alone upstairs. Thankfully, Omid was all right and Vernon was able to administer the medication he needed to help his leg. Naya walked away from the tense air of the group since Ben's reveal about being the reason behind Duck's death, she was heartbroken over the fact that one of her best friends was gone as a consequence of another's actions. Clem had followed Naya, he walked up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder as she looked out the window where Kenny had walked off in order to work on the boat.
"Hey kids," Lee greeted as he walked into the room, he smiled at Clem who had been reassuring Naya that everything would be okay. "Kenny's working on the boat," Clem told Lee. "I know," Lee replied to the boy. "What are we going to do after he fixes it? Where will we go?" Naya asked Lee, she wasn't too keen being out at sea but if it was the only safe option; then she'd push through that. "Some place else. Some place better," Lee answered her. "Before we leave tomorrow, will we have time to look for my parents?" Clem asked Lee with hopeful eyes. "Sure. We'll look before we leave," Lee answered him. "Really? You'll take me to Crawford so we can look?" Clem asked but Lee looked down leaving Clem disappointed.
Clem sniffled before curling up into a ball on the windowsill seat, Naya frowned as he pushed her hand away when she tried to comfort him. Naya and Lee shared a sad look before Lee sat on the couch nearby, Naya got up and made her way out of the room. "Daddy?" Naya said as she noticed her father whispering to himself, he seemed to be distraught. "Hey Moo," Hayden greeted as he knelt in front of his daughter, "Are you okay?" Naya shrugged, "As okay as I can be in the apocalypse, right?" Hayden chuckled at those words, "You were always stronger than me, you know that Moo? Just like your mother was." Naya smiled with pride hearing those words before they shared a hug.
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While everyone was sleeping or busy, Clem snuck out of the home to met with the man on the walkie-talkie. He felt bad for leaving Naya behind but he had to find his parents, so with one last look at the house; Clem left with the man who had lied and when the man took Clem forcefully, his hat had fallen and landed on the ground with his walkie. Meanwhile, Lee had noticed that Clement was missing; he soon located the boys hat outside in the yard along with his walkie that lay in the alleyway. Lee jumped over the fence and reached down to grab the item making static when a Walker jumped out and tackled him. Lee fought back against the Walker, killing it before looking at his wrist to see he had been bitten.
Having heard the commotion outside, Christa and Omid rushed out with Hayden, Naya, Ben and Kenny following behind the couple. "Lee, what are you doing out here? It's not safe," Kenny spoke as he looked around cautiously. "Where's Clement? He's not in his room," Naya asked with a frown on her face. "Vernon ain't in the house either! What the hell is going on?" Kenny asked confused. "Whose blood is that?" Christa questioned noticing the fresh blood on Clement's hat. "It's mine," Lee replied as he revealed the bite on his wrist. "No!" Naya exclaimed as tears formed in her eyes, "Uncle Lee... no..." He smiled sadly at the girl as a tear fell down her face.
"No way. No, no fucking way!" Kenny exclaimed in disbelief, he and Hayden were distraught seeing they would be losing their brother-in-arms. "There's no time to worry about me. Clement's gone," Lee told them, he needed to save Clement and then worry about his fate. "There's no chance he just wondered off on his own?" Omid asked Lee but they all knew that Clement knew better. "Naya, do you have any idea where Clement went?" Christa asked the girl. "No, I don't..." Naya replied with a sniffle. Lee was dying and her best friend was missing; she felt like she was drowning. "Then who the hell took him?" Kenny questioned. "Well, last night, Vernon approached me offering to take the kids with him. Said they'd be better off," Hayden expressed.
"Son of a bitch! I knew we couldn't trust that fucker!" Kenny growled with a sneer. "Wherever he is, I have to find him," Lee told them with certainty. "Okay. What do you need from us?" Christa asked him, she and Omid were more than willing to help Lee find Clement and bring him home. "Clem may not have much time. We have a better chance at finding him if we all go together. Who's with me?" Lee asked the others, he wanted them to decide for themselves. "We're all responsible for Clement. And in your condition, you make not make it to him in time. He needs our help ─ ALL of our help," Christa replied to him with a soft smile on her face.
"Damn right! We can't let you do this alone," Omid expressed in agreement with his wife, a kind smile on his face while determination burned in his eyes. "So that's settled then, we'll look for Clement together," Christa added. "Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it. Really," Lee told the husband and wife. Lee turned to Kenny who stared for a moment before sighing, "Lee, man. You know I care about Clement. And I'm a Christian man. But I keep asking myself, if this was me asking you for help, asking you to put your life on the line, would you be there for me? Because they're have been plenty of times you ain't been," Kenny said with a frown making Naya furrow her brows, Lee had been there by Kenny's side in practically everything; he should be helping Lee save Clement.
"Hayden?" Lee asked making the man look down before looking back at him. "Okay. I've got your back, Lee. Always. You're my brother," Hayden told him, Kenny looked away at those words but he wouldn't back down from his decision to stay. Ben agreed to go with Lee to prove himself leaving Kenny with the boat, the man sighed and assured them that if they made it back, they had a place on the boat too. "Moo, you need to stay with Kenny," Hayden told his daughter, the girl immediately shook her head at him. "I have to help you find Clement! He's my best friend and I need to make sure he's okay! He'll need me," Naya pleaded with her father but Hayden shook his head and knelt down. "We'll bring him back, Moo. So stay here," Hayden told his daughter before nodding at Kenny.
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Lee bursts through the door to the underground bunker in the sewer with Christa, Omid, Ben and Hayden following behind him. "Vernon! Get out here! There doesn't have to be any trouble here, all I want is Clement. Give him back and nobody needs to get hurt," Lee shouted out however, their was no reply and no person present in the bunker. The small group looked around hoping to find anything however, nothing seemed to tell them where Vernon had gone or if they were responsible for taking Clement from the house. Until the walkie-talkie started to make sound, Lee grabbed it and focused on the communicator as Clement's voice came through it, "Lee?" His voice filled with fear.
"Clement! Are you all right? Where are you?" Lee asked the boy but he didn't reply prompting Lee to add, "Vernon, you son of a bitch!" However, Vernon wasn't the man on the other side holding Clement hostage. "Hello Lee..." The man greeted. "Who is this?" Lee asked, angrily. "It's not Vernon, if that's what you're thinking. And you should really watch your tone. Clement is fine. But if I were you, I'd choose my next words very carefully," The man warned Lee. "Please don't hurt him!" Lee pleaded. "Hurt him? I'm not the one who hurts people. There's an ocean of dead between you and me, and if I can thank God for anything anymore, it's that," The man told Lee who lowered the walkie-talkie sadly. "Just hold on, Clem. I'm coming for you," Lee promised.
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Now informed about who has Clement and an almost scare that resulted in Lee almost losing his arm before deciding he'd rather keep it, the group headed back to the house they were previously staying in. Upon reaching the house, they noticed the shed had a shovel wedged in the door and someone inside banging against it aggressively. Lee pulled the shovel free from the doors allowing Kenny to escape the shed where he had been trapped. "What the..." Lee breathed out. "They fucked us!" Kenny shouted before frowning while Hayden looked around for his daughter. "What? Who!?" Lee asked Kenny. "Vernon! He didn't have Clem. So where the fuck is he?" Kenny asked Lee as Hayden walked back over.
"With someone else. We're going after him," Lee answered Kenny. "Fuck, just... Jesus," Kenny growled. "Kenny, where the fuck is my daughter!?" Hayden asked with a glare making Kenny's face drop, he sighed in defeat. "I'm so sorry, Hayden. They got the jump on me and... they took Naya," Kenny replied to Hayden who turned around and began pacing frantically. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUUUUUUCKKKK!" Hayden exclaimed as tears built up in his eyes, the only person that mattered more to him than anyone else was gone. "I have to go after her," Hayden told them with determination burning in his eyes. "They could already be gone," Christa told him. "It wasn't too long ago," Kenny added, he felt guilt for not fighting harder to protect Naya who was screaming for his help.
"You lot, go find Clem. We can meet outside the city," Hayden told them with a nod, he grabbed out his gun and made his way towards the gate. "Hayden!" Kenny and Lee called out to the man, he turned to his brothers-in-arms. The three of them had been a trio since pretty much the start of this apocalypse, Hayden gave both a hug and wished them luck. "I'll see you two on the other side," Hayden told them before nodding to Omid and Christa, placing his hand on Ben's shoulder for a moment before walking out the gate and away from the only family he had ever known in the apocalypse. He had to find his daughter and no one would get in his way for that very goal, he just hoped that he would save her in time.
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"This is not happening... everything is so fucked," Kenny muttered with a sigh as Omid climbed the fence to let them into the house. "Clement is still out there," Christa reminded Kenny. "So we get Clement and then what!?" Kenny asked the woman. "We meet Hayden and Naya outside the city. I'm done with cities. We go to the countryside and make a go of it," Christa told him. "Yeah, that seems like a good idea to me," Ben spoke up in agreement with Christa's plan. "Nobody asked you," Kenny snapped at Ben who glared back. "You just did!" Ben replied to the older man. "Don't get fucking smart with me," Kenny warned the teenager. "Everyone keep it together. Nothing has changed, has it?" Lee questioned though they all knew that it had.
"Nothing has changed!?" Kenny asked him in disbelief. "I mean immediately. We stay the course. Don't turn on each other," Lee reminded him, they didn't have time for these arguments. "Yeah, chill out, Kenny," Ben added with a look towards the older man who glared back at him as Omid opened the other shed doors. "We can do this in the yard," Christa told them, they all headed back into the yard while Kenny and Ben spat arguments at each other. "What the hell do you get off?" Kenny asked Ben, shoving his chest with his pointer finger. "I'm just saying we should all chill. Not just you," Ben replied while Omid watched in case he needed to interfere.
"CHILL!? Lee's bitten and God knows how long HE has left. Clement is, who the fuck knows. Naya was taken and Hayden left, and we're robbed of the only hope we've had," Kenny snapped back. "So?" Ben questioned him. "So Lee should've left your ass in Crawford. We've got enough problems," Kenny answered Ben making the teenager gasp to himself. "FUCK YOU KENNY!" Ben snapped loudly startling everyone including Kenny who was wide eyed. "Careful..." Lee was stopped from interfering by Christa who knew that this conversation was needed between Kenny and Ben; they had to deal with it before it only got worse.
"I am so, so, SO sorry about Katjaa and Duck. I AM. And I know I fucked up, but STOP pushing me around and STOP wishing I was dead," Kenny went to say something but Ben stopped him, "NO! 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. I never made it home. They could be alive or dead or Walkers or WORSE and I DON'T KNOW. SO GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!" Everyone was silenced by Ben's words, they never really thought that deeply about this and he was right; even Kenny knew that. But everything was bound to get worse before it got better.
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Rosemary Speaks. . .
Oh no! Clem and Naya have been split apart!
Will they find each other again?
I feel bad for Ben. He was only a teenager doing what he thought was right... Kenny needed to hear his breakdown about his family, it really shows the pain of the world.
Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions
Next chapter is the last for act one!
See you there!
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