BANG!
"..."
"..."
The gunshot echoed through the trees like a thunderclap.
For one terrible heartbeat, everything froze.
Then—
Blood erupted in a crimson spray as the body jerked violently. The head snapped back at an unnatural angle as the corpse crumpled towards the ground. Lifeless eyes—wide and unseeing—stared into nothingness even before the body finished collapsing.
A wet, final thud.
Silence.
Lee's breath caught in his throat as he watched crimson pool beneath Lilly's head, her glassy eyes still fixed in that final, accusatory stare. He forced himself to swallow past the lump in his throat.
"I-I had no choice," Carley whispered, her voice breaking. The pistol trembled in her hands like a leaf in a storm, her face as pale as the moonlight. "She would have killed us both."
Kneeling beside Lilly's body, Lee gently brushed his fingers over her eyelids, closing them with a tenderness that belied the violence of her end. The warmth was already leaving her skin. The weight of her body still slumped across her father's, their final embrace frozen in death.
"It's okay," he murmured, pulling Carley into a brief but firm embrace. Over her shoulder, shadowy figures shambled closer through the trees. "You protected us. That's all that matters now." His hand found hers, squeezing once before turning them both toward the waiting RV. "Come on. We need to move."
The RV door creaked shut behind Lee like the closing of a tomb. Every eye in the vehicle turned toward him - some wide with shock, others dark with understanding - but he offered no explanations. Only a single, solemn nod to Kenny, whose reflection in the rearview mirror held a look that needed no words.
The engine growled to life as Lee sank onto the bench beside Clementine. The girl's small hand immediately found his, her fingers cold and trembling. When Carley collapsed next to them, her face still bloodless, Lee didn't speak. He simply wrapped an arm around each of them - one shielding the child, one steadying the woman who'd pulled the trigger - as the RV lurched forward into the swallowing dark.
Clementine's forehead pressed warm against his arm, her small voice muffled. "I don't feel good... What happened to Lilly?"
Lee's breath caught. He remembered how Lilly would save scraps of paper for Clem's drawings, how she'd sometimes patiently correct the girl's grip when joining their target practice - firm but never unkind.
His fingers tightened slightly around Clem's shoulder as he chose his words like stepping stones across a river. "When people lose someone they love... sometimes the hurt changes them." The RV's tires hummed over cracked pavement. "Lilly couldn't see past that pain. It made her... dangerous."
Clem's sniffle was barely audible over the engine. "But she was nice to me."
Lee looked down but her eyes were hid under her cap. "People aren't just one thing, sweet pea." He exhaled slowly. "That's why we have to be careful who we trust."
Clem didn't answer. But when Lee lifted his gaze, he found Carley watching him—her knuckles still pale around the pistol in her lap, her expression hollowed out by what she'd done. Yet at his words, she gave a slow, almost imperceptible nod. Not just in agreement, but in quiet recognition. Maybe they even soothered her.
Lee tightened his arms around them as exhaustion dragged at his bones. The day's weight pressed down like stone, and when his eyelids finally fell shut, the darkness came swift and deep.
---
"You gotta be kidding me!" Kenny's voice snapped Lee awake as the RV lurched to a sudden stop.
Lee's eyes flew open, instantly scanning for Clementine. She stirred beside him, rubbing sleep from her eyes as the engine died with a shudder.
"What's going on?" Lee asked, stifling a yawn as he followed Kenny, Mark Ben outside into the crisp morning air.
Before them, stretching across the tracks like a sleeping metal giant, sat an abandoned train. Rust streaked its sides, and weeds curled around its wheels where it had clearly sat for months.
Mark squinted down the endless tracks."Do you think there is anyway around?"
Kenny paced, kicking at the gravel in frustration. "Doesn't really look like it. Not unless we wanna ditch the RV and hike through God-knows-what." He spat.
Lee studied the dense forest flanking them. "I'll have a look around. For the meantime we can stay here, the thick brush should stop anything creeping up on us—but stay sharp."
He quickly glanced back to see Clementine sat sketching with Duck, her small face pinched in concentration. Carley caught his eye and gave a reassuring wave before he turned his attention to the rusted train.
As he climbed the metal ladder, the rungs cold under his palms, he found Ben already surveying the other side. "Ben," Lee called, his voice carefully neutral. "A word."
Ben turned, his boyish features brightening. "What's up, Lee?"
"You and David happy traveling with us?" Lee kept his tone casual, leaning against the railcar.
"Absolutely!" Ben's grin was almost painfully earnest. "If you guys hadn't found us in those woods... well, we'd be walker chow by now... or St John chow."
Lee pushed off the railing, his posture shifting subtly as he closed the distance between them. "Good." The single word carried an edge that made Ben's smile falter. "Then understand this - if you freeze up again like you did at the farm, if your panic puts Clem or Carley in danger..." He stepped closer, close enough to see the sweat beading on Ben's temple. "I won't wait for the walkers to handle it. Clear?"
Ben's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. The cheerful mask had shattered, leaving raw fear in its place. "Crystal."
Lee didn't waste another glance at Ben as he moved toward the conductor's cab. The slumped figure in the seat made his finger tense on the crossbow trigger. With practiced caution, he nudged the door open and put a bolt through the back of its skull. No twitch. No snarl. Just the hollow thunk of steel in dead flesh.
"Can't take chances," Lee muttered, yanking the arrow free. The body crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud, revealing a pale face frozen in peaceful rest. This one had died human.
"Guess he didn't turn..." Ben's voice came from behind, edged with nervous energy as he eyed both the corpse and Lee.
"Look!" Ben suddenly pointed to a blinking red button on the console. "Push it!"
Lee shot him a withering look. "Are you fucking serious? You wanna explain why pressing random shit on a train sounds smart to you?"
Ben didn't hesitate. His palm smacked the button before Lee could stop him. A hiss of releasing air echoed through the cab as the brake lights flickered off. "It's just the brakes."
"Well I'll be damned," Lee admitted grudgingly.
"I can pull my weight," Ben said, squaring his shoulders despite the tremor in his hands. "It won't happen again. Promise."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Lee countered, just as Kenny came barreling in, his grin stretching ear to ear.
"No shit it works?!" Kenny slid into the conductor's seat like a kid at an arcade, fingers dancing over the unfamiliar controls. "Alright, geniuses—which of these fancy doohickeys makes this hunk of junk move?"
"I think I can figure it out - just need a minute," Lee said, his fingers brushing against a notepad left on the control panel. The top sheet had been torn away, but the ghostly indentations of handwriting remained pressed into the paper beneath.
Kenny leaned over his shoulder, the stale sweat scent of him mixing with the train's oil smell. "Well I'll be damned. Looks like our luck's finally turning." His calloused finger jabbed at a particular deep groove in the paper. "That there's gotta be the ignition sequence."
Lee's finger hovered over the faint indentations. "There's a pencil in the front of the RV, right?"
Kenny's eyes lit up with understanding. "We can rub it over the page - bring up whatever was written." He was already halfway out the cab before finishing his sentence, his boots clanging against the metal steps.
Kenny returned in a flash, vigorously rubbing the pencil over the page until the indentations darkened into legible text. "Got it," he said, thrusting the notepad at Lee with ink-smudged fingers.
Lee's eyes darted between the instructions and the console, his hands moving with practiced precision. Then, he hurried outside to the engine compartment and after flipping the final switch the train shuddered to life with a deep, bellowing whistle.
"Hell yeah!" Kenny whooped, slapping the metal siding. "Now we just need to know where this rust bucket's headed."
"I'll check the boxcar," Lee said, already moving down the length of the train.
The sliding door groaned in protest as he forced it open. Inside, a makeshift living space told its own story - a stained mattress, an empty water bottle, and the lingering scent of body odor. Chuck's hideout.
His fingers closed around a clipboard left on the floor. He jumped out the opposite side of the boxcar, his gaze falling on the coupler pin connecting the boxcar. Gritting his teeth, he wedged his axe beneath it and heaved. White-hot pain lanced through his shoulder, forcing him to abandon the attempt.
"Ben!"
The lanky teen appeared with cautious steps. "You're not gonna, uh... you know..."
"Just get this pin up," Lee said, passing the axe.
To his surprise, Ben's wiry frame proved effective. With a final grunt, the coupler released with a metallic clang, sending the other boxcars rolling backward down the slight incline.
"Let's move all the supplies into the boxcar," Lee said, thrusting the clipboard into Ben's hands. "Get this to Kenny first."
Ben hesitated, his eyes lingering on the rumpled mattress. "But... whoever was living here—aren't we just stealing their home?"
Lee's jaw tightened as memories flashed—Chuck's disembowled body, the way he'd slumped against the sewer wall as walkers gorged on him. "Trust me," he said, voice low, "we're doing them a favor."
Lee coordinated the supply transfer, the group working together with renewed energy now that the train was operational. Boxes and bags passed from hand to hand until the RV stood empty.
"Oof!" Clementine grunted as she set down a crate of canned goods, wiping her dusty hands on her hoodie. "Lee?" Her voice lifted with curiosity. "Where's this train taking us?"
He sank against the boxcar wall, exhaustion weighing on him as the others settled in around them. Only Kenny remained up front, tending to the controls. "Somewhere special," Lee said, forcing a smile. "That place I promised you—Savannah."
Her entire face brightened. "Then we can find my parents?" The hopeful lilt in her voice sent a pang through Lee's chest, sharp enough that Carley glanced over with sympathetic eyes.
"Yeah, sweet pea." His smile felt brittle, but he held it. "We'll find them. What was that hotel they stayed at called again?"
Clem's nose scrunched in concentration. "Um... The Marsh House!" she declared triumphantly, pulling the memory from some bright corner of her mind untouched by the horrors outside.
"Then we'll definitely go there," Lee said, his eyes flickering to the walkie-talkie now adorned with colorful stickers. The sight should have been comforting - a rare spark of childhood in this broken world. Instead, it made his stomach clench. "Clem... has anyone tried contacting you on that?"
The train lurched into motion just as Clementine hesitated, her small fingers tightening around the device. "Yeah... they have."
Lee's body went rigid. "And you remember our precaution?" His voice was calm but firm, the way he'd speak when she'd wandered too close to the electric fence line back at the farm. "Tell me immediately. No exceptions."
"I was going to!" The words tumbled out in a rush, her guilty expression resembling a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "But they... they said they're with my parents and that I shouldn't tell you..."
"Clem." Her name came out sharper than he intended, laced with a dangerous edge. Not anger at her - never at her - but at the The Stranger using a dead couple's memory as bait for their child. His fingers curled into fists at the thought. I'll tear him apart.
A small sniffle drew his attention back. Clementine's chin trembled as she stared at her shoes. "I'm sorry, Lee."
Lee exhaled slowly, tousling her cap with a gentleness that belied the tension in his shoulders. "Remember, people aren't just one thing." He tilted her chin up until their eyes met. "He may seem nice but ask yourself, can you trust him?"
Clem nodded solemnly, small fingers flipping the walkie's power switch with finality. The cheerful stickers seemed to mock the gravity of the moment. "No," she whispered, offering a tentative smile. "but I trust you."
"Good."
As the train rumbled onward, Lee watched the autumn forest blur past - a golden tide swallowing the tracks behind them. The breeze carried the scent of pine and damp earth through the open boxcar, cool against his skin. A fleeting peace.
But beneath the calm, the truth gnawed at him. This train wasn't just carrying them toward Savannah. It was barreling toward the fate he'd seen in his memories - that bloodstained store, the cold metal biting into his wrist, Clementine's screams and crys as she held up a gun to his head.
Not this time. His jaw set. The future wasn't written yet.