Chapter Text
Lee released a long, deep sigh as he made his way down the dim corridor of the sewer tunnel.
Savannah’s sewer system was old, made of stone. From the looks of it, it hadn’t been properly maintained even before all the workers were probably eaten by walkers. As Lee marched forward, squinting to see through the dark, his boots splashed through a thin layer of water and God only knew what else.
His heart had stopped pounding by now, but Lee’s anxiety was still high.
Clementine was out of immediate danger at least. Her, Kenny, and the new girl. Molly. But who knew what kind of troubles they’d face getting back to the house?
Stop. Lee couldn’t think about that right now. He just had to focus on getting out of here. Back to them.
The tunnel ended ahead of him in an intersection, splitting off to the right and left.
Lee slowed his pace, listening carefully for any sign of walkers as he approached. Couldn’t be too careful, especially after the day he’d had so far.
Taking slow, careful steps, Lee reached the intersection, peaking around the corner to the left as he-
A shovel swung at his head, and Lee backpedaled, letting out a cry of shock as he nearly slipped on the water under his feet.
“Lee?”
As Lee got his bearings, he focused on his assailant, already reaching for his gun until he recognized the sound of the voice.
“Chuck?”
The old man looked about the same as he had when he’d gotten separated: long brown coat, scruffy grey hair and beard. He had a little more filth and dirt on him than before, but other than that Chuck was no worse for wear.
“You’re alive!” Lee smiled. He’d hoped to find the man, but in all honesty he hadn’t expected it.
“What in God’s good name are you doin’ down here?” Chuck questioned, lowering his shovel.
“We’re holed up in an old mansion now,” Lee explained. “Kenny and I went out to go look for you and, uh… find a boat.”
Of course, Kenny had only really been interested in the latter, but Lee thought it best not to mention that.
“That so?” Chuck frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Well, ya got one ‘a those things. How ‘bout the other?”
“No luck,” Lee admitted. “We met this girl-Molly. She said there’s a community of survivors here in Savannah, and they’ve looted just about everything. Any boats that weren’t already taken out to sea were stripped for parts.”
Again, Lee left out a few details. Like the scuffle they’d had with the girl.
“Well, so much for that plan you folks had,” Chuck said dryly, and Lee couldn’t help but cringe a little remembering the older man’s criticism on the train. “Still, that don’t explain how you ended up in the sewer. Not that I’m complainin’ you found me or anything, I just don’t think yer likely to find many boats down here.”
“Walkers showed up,” Lee sighed. “The others escaped up to the roofs, but I got cornered and had to come down here.”
“Glad you made it out of there,” Chuck said genuinely, and Lee nodded.
“How did you end up down here?”
“The kind ‘a life I’ve lived, you learn how ta hide real quick,” Chuck smiled sardonically. “Jus’ lucky none of those things followed me down.”
“You can say that again,” Lee said. “You wouldn’t happen to know a way out, would you? I can take you back to the house, but the way I came isn’t exactly an option.”
To Lee’s relief, Chuck nodded.
“Been down here a minute, so I had time to explore. Lots ‘a different tunnels, just didn’t know where to go.”
“Well, I still have this map of Savannah from the train,” Lee told him as he pulled the brochure out of his pocket. “If you can get us up to the surface, we should be able to find our way back to the mansion from there.”
It was a good thing he’d paid attention to the street names. With any luck, they’d be back to the others in no time.
Chuck nodded, resting his shovel on his shoulder. “I think I can do that.”
“Lead the way,” Lee urged, and Chuck did just that.
Once they were back up in the streets, thankfully with no walkers in sight, Lee took the lead. He followed the map, feeling more and more confident with every familiar street sign until finally he saw their group’s hideout up ahead.
Like before, it was into the backyard through the unlocked gate, and then into the house through the dog-friendly back door.
As Lee stepped inside with Chuck close behind, his attention was caught by the sound of creaking hinges.
Molly was to his left in the kitchen, rooting through the empty drawers and cabinets.
“You’re not gonna find anything,” Lee said plainly, making Molly jump as she whipped around to face him. “I already checked those.”
Molly huffed, clearly annoyed by the jumpscare. “You’d be surprised what people miss.”
She walked over to Lee, slowing down as she caught sight of Chuck behind him.
“Woah, who’s the hobo?”
“Watch it,” Lee snapped, not liking her tone. “This man saved Clementine’s life before. He deserves some respect.”
“Name’s Chuck,” Chuck introduced himself, genial despite her words. “Charles if you’re fancy.”
“Uh… Molly,” she returned, not seeming to know what to make of him. Molly focused her attention on Lee, face turning serious. “You have something of mine.”
“I know, I know,” Lee handed over her icepick, which she immediately began to inspect. “I appreciate you lending it to me.”
“Right, sure,” Molly said as she looked over the weapon, barely paying attention to him.
“Where’s Clementine?” Lee asked, only to get a shrug from the young woman. “I asked you a question.”
Molly was here, so that must’ve meant that Clementine and Kenny made it back as well. Still, Lee wouldn’t feel content until he’d made sure she was safe with his own eyes.
“Beats me,” Molly rolled her eyes. “I’m not her babysitter.”
Before Lee could start to lose his temper, he noticed Christa running down the hallway towards them.
“Lee, Omid is-” Christa paused for a second, doing a double-take as she caught sight of Chuck, but he didn’t hold her attention for long. “It’s Omid. He’s gotten worse. Much worse.”
Lee cursed internally. Out of one problem, into another.
He fought down his desire to check on Clementine for the moment. As much as he hated to put it off, Lee would have to take a look at this first.
“Let me see him,” Lee said to Christa, as kindly as he could.
“I’ll stay down here, find the girl,” Chuck offered, and Lee nodded in thanks before following Christa.
It wasn’t looking good.
From the fever Omid had, he was clearly dealing with some kind of infection. Even worse, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, barely able to communicate even when his eyes were open.
They didn’t have the medicine to treat him. Not even painkillers.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got anything we could use?” Lee had asked Molly out of pure desperation.
“Nope,” Molly said quickly. “Even if I did, why would I share it with you? You already owe me for the save out there, and I haven’t survived this long by doing favors for people.”
“Do I look like I’m in the mood to be jerked around?” Christa hissed, voice pitched high from stress. “If you’re not gonna help, why don’t you just leave?”
Lee had broken up the argument before it got any worse, but things didn’t get easier after that.
Chuck had found Clementine outside. And she had found a small boat hidden in a shed.
It would’ve been some kind of miracle, if Kenny hadn’t told them that there was no battery or gas.
Medicine, a battery, and gasoline. All things they needed if they wanted to get anywhere fast. And if what Molly had said about Crawford stripping the city clean was true, Lee didn’t have much optimism about finding any of it.
“What about Crawford itself?” Christa asked as all of them, except for Omid, gathered in the living room. “Can’t we just… ask them?”
“What, and tell them you’ve got someone injured?” Molly scoffed. “Might as well shoot him now.”
Molly launched into an explanation about Crawford. How they treated outsiders. How they’d weeded out everyone who ‘couldn’t contribute’. The sick, the elderly… even the children.
No. Asking them for help wasn’t an option.
“What about sneakin’ in?” Chuck suggested. “I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t think I’ll lose much sleep stealin’ from folks like that.”
“If I had a way to do that, I wouldn’t be scavenging for scraps out here,” Molly said as she crossed her arms. “They’ve got the place locked down tight. If there’s any kind of way in that they won’t notice, I never found it.”
‘And if I haven’t found it, you don’t stand a chance’, her tone seemed to imply.
So taking what they needed by force wasn’t an option, either. What did that leave?
“We can’t just give up,” Christa insisted, eyes wide. “Omid needs medicine. There’s gotta be something somewhere.”
“Even ignorin’ that,” Kenny spoke up, earning a dark look from Christa. “That boat’s our ticket to safety. If all it needs is a battery and some gas, it’d be real stupid of us to just give up on it.”
“Yeah,” Ben agreed. “Plus, there’s that guy following us, remember? He can’t follow us on the water.”
“Exactly,” Kenny nodded, looking pleased to have some support.
Lee thought over it in silence for a moment, until he realized that everyone was looking at him for some reason. Like they were waiting for what he had to say.
“...I don’t see why we can’t do both,” Lee said after overcoming his surprise. “Either way, we’re stuck in this city until the boat is fixed and Omid is feeling better. I say we get out on the streets, see if we can find what we need. Even if Crawford took most of what’s out there, they have to have missed something.”
“Makes sense to me,” Chuck nodded agreeably. Everyone else stayed quiet, waiting for Lee to continue.
“Molly already figured out the right idea,” Lee said. “Ringing those church bells to draw walkers away from one part of the city so she can search it. If she’s helping us, that’ll make it a lot easier to get around.”
“And why exactly would I help you?” Molly raised an eyebrow. “I’m not running a charity here.”
“I don’t expect you to,” Lee told her. “You can take the lion’s share of whatever we find out there. So long as we get what we need, and have enough food to survive, you can have whatever else we find that you want.”
“Hold on a second,” Kenny scowled. “I don’t think-”
“If it means getting medicine for Omid, sure,” Christa cut him off. “Let’s do it.”
“...Alright,” Molly said, looking faintly surprised. “That works for me.”
It was a tough deal, but Lee doubted that she’d go for anything less. Best to just keep the negotiating to a minimum and get back out there as soon as possible.
“And we can look for my parents too, right?” Clementine asked hopefully.
Lee hesitated for a moment. This was the time to say something. To tell her about the messages he’d heard at her house, that her parents… probably hadn’t made it.
But Lee didn’t say that.
“Of course, Sweetpea,” Lee nodded at Clementine, who smiled brightly. “We’ll keep an eye out.”
The others looked more dubious about it. Chuck was outright disapproving, but thankfully none of them said anything right then. Most likely they thought Lee was just saying it to keep Clementine happy, to stop her from making a fuss.
In truth, Lee just didn’t want to break her heart. Not until there was no more choice.
“Are we all agreed on the plan?” Lee asked, getting a round of nods and affirmatives in response. “Okay then. Let’s get back out there and find what we need.”
And so they set out into the streets.
It was a simple system Molly had, made even simpler with extra hands on deck.
Ring a church bell. Wait for all the walkers in the area to chase after the noise. Raid the places that the walkers had just left.
It wasn’t perfect; some of the walkers were slower and fell behind. Others were trapped within houses. For those, it was imperative to deal with them quietly, so as to not draw the other walkers’ attention back to the area.
Lee, Kenny, Molly, and Chuck were the ones handling the scavenging.
Clementine wouldn’t be leaving the mansion again any time soon if Lee had anything to say about it. Christa wouldn’t leave Omid’s side. And Ben…
Everyone else agreed it was better to keep him out of the way.
Clementine wasn’t allowed out with them, but true to Lee’s word, he kept an eye out for any signs of other humans still alive in the places they searched. No luck on that front, but at least he could content himself with the knowledge that he’d tried.
With every house and building they searched, Molly’s words proved more and more true: Savannah was picked clean.
Very rarely they’d find something; a can of beans tucked away at the very back of a cabinet, a roll of bandages that had fallen behind a bathroom sink.
It was almost spooky, how barren the city was.
Cars stripped of their tires and parts. Windows all boarded up with strange symbols marked on the doors. It was unsettling.
In a way, the lack of walkers almost made it worse. At least in Macon there was something inhabiting the ruins.
Savannah was safer, sure. But also emptier.
The other thing that made Lee nervous was the lack of any movements from Crawford. Molly had warned them that running into patrols might be possible out here, that they had to keep their heads down. But so far… nothing.
Maybe it was just their lucky day. Maybe those patrols were in a different part of Savannah at the moment.
By the time the sun was setting, the group was forced to face facts: outside of a few cans of food, a couple rounds of ammunition, and a dusty old roll of bandages, they hadn’t found anything useful in their search.
The group returned to the mansion with little to show for their efforts, frustration bubbling in their guts.
Lee released a quiet sigh as Clementine left the living room, her head hanging low.
He didn’t like telling her there was no sign of her parents, but what else was he supposed to say? Lee couldn’t lie to her any more than he already had.
It wasn’t like anyone else was in better spirits.
Ben was grumbling and feeling slighted at being sidelined, as if they didn’t have good reasons not to trust him. When Christa had found out that they’d come back without any antibiotics, the look in her eyes was accusatory, like it was their fault there was nothing to find.
Molly wasn’t happy either; this deal hadn’t yielded the results she’d clearly been expecting. Lee wouldn’t be surprised if she took off in the night at this rate.
And Chuck… he’d been giving Lee looks, but he hadn’t said anything yet.
The only one who didn’t seem that bothered was Kenny; as soon as they’d gotten back, he’d gone off to check on the boat again. As if anything would’ve changed in the time they’d been gone.
Lee was left alone in the living room to dwell on their failure.
It was late at night by now, but he couldn’t bring himself to go to sleep. Not with everything weighing on his mind like it was.
“Lee.” That was Chuck, walking in from the kitchen.
Here we go, Lee sighed to himself.
“What do ya think yer doin’, telling the girl her parents are alive?” Chuck demanded, crossing his arms.
“They… they could be,” Lee defended himself weakly, not even believing it. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You need to stop lyin’ to her,” Chuck frowned deeply. “Even if they are alive, I doubt they’d have stuck around long. That is, assumin’ they’re not in Crawford.”
“I doubt that,” Lee said quickly, at least sure of that. “They wouldn’t be there.”
Chuck regarded him for a moment. “Alright. So they’re dead, or out of the city. You need to tell it straight to the girl; leadin’ her on like that is only going to make things worse. Hope’s a terrible thing when you lose it.”
“I… I know you’re right,” Lee sighed. “I’ll tell her. First thing in the morning.”
Chuck nodded, satisfied. “Good. Now, we need to talk about-”
Before he could finish his sentence, a bloodcurdling scream rent the air, and Lee’s heart skipped a beat.
That had come from upstairs. It sounded like…
“Christa!” Lee’s eyes went wide.
“I’ll get my shovel!” Chuck said, already running back to the kitchen. “Get up there!”
“Right!” Lee nodded, running for the stairs.
He sprinted right up those stairs, taking two or more at a time. Clementine, Ben, and Molly stood near the top of the steps, the former trembling as she looked at Lee.
“It-it came from-” Clementine tried to say, but Lee already knew.
“Molly, Ben, keep Clementine back!” Lee ordered, not giving them time to respond as he rushed over to the bedroom where Omid was resting.
As Lee stepped through the door, he was met with a sight that made his stomach turn.
Omid was sitting up on the bed, eyes milky white and blood smeared across his mouth. He groaned at the sight of Lee, and at once it was clear that he’d turned.
That wasn’t the worst of it though.
On the left side of the large bed, Christa laid curled up on the floor, blood pooling on the wood boards from where her throat had been torn out. Her eyes were blank. Her body still.
For a moment, Lee could only stare dumbly, barely able to register the horror in front of him.
But then Omid began to crawl across the bed towards him, dragging his wounded leg, and Lee was snapped back to reality.
He drew his pistol out of his belt, able to hear Kenny yelling questions from the first floor. Before he could take aim though, Chuck was next to him.
The older man charged forward, slamming the blade of his shovel sideways into Omid’s forehead. The edge of the shovel head, surprisingly sharp, dug deep into his flesh, but didn’t quite finish the job as the walker continued to snarl and reach out for Chuck.
With a grunt, Chuck pulled the shovel free, then brought it down again. And again.
The third time did the trick, piercing through the skull as Omid jerked and then finally went limp, falling forward on the bed and staining the sheets red.
Chuck breathed hard, winded as he held his shovel loosely by his side.
By now, Kenny had made it into the room, standing next to Lee as he stared at the sight in front of them.
“What… what happened?” Kenny breathed, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.
“He was just… too far gone,” Lee said sadly. “The infection went too far, and he just couldn’t last any longer. Christa must’ve been next to him… when he turned.”
It was strange. Lee had barely known the couple, and yet he felt grief. Just two more innocent lives torn apart by this apocalypse. Two more people that had been relying on him, that he’d failed to save.
“We still gotta deal with her…” Chuck said slowly, carefully as he looked at Christa on the floor. “You want me to?”
Chuck reached into the pocket of his coat, taking out a revolver that Lee hadn’t even realized he had.
“No,” Lee shook his head slowly. “You’ve already done enough. I’ll handle this.”
Lee’s pistol was still in his hand. Walking over to Christa’s body, he aimed the pistol carefully as he let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry we let you down.”
Lee pulled the trigger.
Clementine was in tears when she found out what had happened. She’d gotten along well with Christa and Omid, and to have them taken away so suddenly…
Everyone else stood in grim silence.
Molly was keeping her distance from the rest of them, and Lee knew at once that she’d be jumping ship. She hadn’t signed up for their problems.
Lee and Chuck took the responsibility of digging a new grave in the backyard, with only the light of the moon above to guide them. Between the latter’s shovel and the one that was already in the backyard, it was a relatively fast process.
Not that it made the rest of it any easier.
“At least they’ll be together in death…” Lee muttered, staring down at the filled grave.
Chuck only let out a slight grunt at that, as the two of them stood together.
From there, what was left of their dwindling group gathered in the living room once more.
“Well…” Kenny began, a moment of hesitation stalling him. “At least we don’t have to worry about finding antibiotics now.”
“Kenny…” Lee said disapprovingly as Clementine flinched and stared at the man.
“I’m just being honest,” Kenny said with a grimace, putting his hands on his hips. “We just need to focus on finding what we need for the boat, and getting out of here.”
In truth, Lee was about ready to give up on the boat plan. It was becoming obvious that they wouldn’t be able to find what they needed, at least not anytime soon. And who knew how long they had before Crawford finally stumbled upon them?
“...Yeah,” Ben said after a moment of giving Kenny a strange look, nodding his head fervently. “That makes sense to me.”
“I disagree,” Chuck spoke up. “Way I see it, we should just get outta the city while we can. We ain’t gonna find what we’re lookin’ for, not here.”
“And how exactly would you know that, Charles?” Kenny scowled at him. “We just gotta look harder. The boat’s our best bet, and that’s that.”
“We can figure this out in the morning,” Lee spoke authoritatively. “We’ve all had a long day. Let’s just… get some rest. We could all use it.”
“...Fine,” Kenny huffed, stomping off.
Clementine moved to stand next to Lee, clutching his hand tightly. Chuck gave him another look, and he simply nodded in response.
Tomorrow. I’ll tell her tomorrow.
The two of them ended up taking one of the upstairs bedrooms as the others scattered around the mansion. No one wanted anything to do with the room where Omid and Christa had died, and Lee couldn’t blame them.
Clementine cuddled close to Lee that night, clinging to him tightly as he laid on his back.
“We’re gonna be okay, right?” Clementine whispered. “I don’t want anything else bad to happen.”
“You know I’ll do my best to protect you,” Lee whispered back, wrapping his arm around Clementine and drawing her close. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
And that was how the two of them fell asleep.
When Lee woke the next morning, Clementine was still fast asleep.
Poor girl; she was two young to be up so late like she had been. Lee decided to let her sleep a little longer while he checked on things.
Sure enough, Molly was nowhere to be found. Lee had expected as much.
No one else seemed to really mind. Chuck was unsurprised, while Kenny couldn’t care less, still focused on the boat. Ben seemed to have something else on his mind, from the way he paced back and forth in the kitchen muttering softly to himself.
Lee was just thinking about waking up Clementine when Kenny ran in from the backyard, his eyes wide.
“Lee? We got a problem.”
What is it now? Lee thought to himself as he ran over. The guy who’s stalking us? Crawford?
No. It turned out it was the same problem they’d been having from day one of all of this.
Walkers.
Peeking out through the back door, Lee immediately understood Kenny’s fear.
The street just beyond the backyard’s fence was absolutely swarming with the dead. They clogged the streets, shoving against one another as they flooded down the road in what seemed like an endless stream.
It made no sense; Savannah had been practically clear just yesterday.
And then it hit him.
The train! We already saw how that herd was following us when we were dealing with the gas tanker. Could they really have followed us all this way?
The question was absurd; obviously they had, and now they were flooding into the city in search of prey.
Lee closed the door quickly as he backed away into the kitchen, Kenny, Chuck, and Ben quickly gathering around him.
All of them stared at one another, as if waiting for someone to know what to do.
Unfortunately, Lee didn’t think any of them did.
The only thing that broke Lee out of his mounting horror was the sound of small feet coming down the stairs.
Clementine stood on one of the last few steps, rubbing at her eyes and yawning as she took in the sight of the frightened men in front of her.
“Lee?” Clementine asked with a frown on her face. “Is everything okay?”