𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
[ around every corner; part one ]
━━━━━━━━━━
Savannah was deserted.
There were no walkers. No people. No tires on cars.
Kassidy walked beside Kenny, who still wouldn't look at her. The atmosphere was tense as they walked through the street with weapons in hand, eyes peeled for any walkers or unfriendly people.
Lee had Clem's walkie-talkie in his pocket so Kass had suspected him of knowing about the man who had been lying to Clem, saying how he had her parents with him.
"Can't I just hold it?" Clementine asked Lee who only looked at her, disappointed, and carried on. "Just for a little while? We're getting really close to where my mom and dad are, maybe I can-"
"Not now, Clementine. Right now, I need you to focus and keep your attention on the street," Lee told her, turning toward Christa. "How's Omid?"
"His leg's hurt pretty bad," she responded, worried.
"I'm fine," Omid insisted as Christa frowned. "You're not fine, you need to rest," she told him, turning back to Lee, " he needs to rest."
"Kenny, how much further to the riverfront?" Lee asked the man ahead.
Kenny looked back at them, sighing. "Should be just a few more blocks up ahead," he replied quietly.
"Will there be boats there?" Christa asked.
"Sure as hell better be..." Lee huffed out.
"There'll be boats. Have to be, have to be," Kenny concluded, holding out hope. God knows they could do with some right now.
"I trust Dad. If he says there are boats, there are boats," Kass chimed in, giving them some reassurance and hope. "Me too," Clementine added, smiling.
Church bells suddenly started to chime, causing the group to halt to a stop. "What the hell...?" Ben questioned, confused as everyone looked around. Lee looked up at the Church steeple, watching the big bell moving from side to side.
"Maybe this city's not so dead after all..." Christa remarked.
"Keep moving. No one's ringing that bell, it's automatic, on a timer," Kenny told them.
Lee glanced at his watch, "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?" he asked, before Kenny could respond, Lee looked back up at the church and saw someone running across the roof, jumping down on the opposite side. "Someone's up there!" Lee exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Ben asked, confused. "I don't see anything."
"I know what I saw! I'm telling you, there's someone up in that bell tower! Someone alive!"
Clem's walkie talkie suddenly made a static noise from Lee's belt. "I'd get out of the street, if I were you..."
"I thought you said that thing didn't work?" Christa raised an eyebrow.
Lee ignored her as he spoke into the walkie talkie. "Who the hell is this? Hello? Hello? I said answer me!" he snapped, getting no reply and only static.
"What the hell was that?" Omid questioned just when the bell stopped. "Is someone trying to fuck with us?"
"Sounds more like a warning," Ben murmured, glancing around with a worried look.
Chuck glanced down the street, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls..."
Kenny turned to look at him, "What the hell are you yammering about?"
They all followed his gaze, and saw dozens of zombies stumbled toward them.
"It tolls for thee..." Chuck finished.
"Everybody, run!!!" Lee exclaimed as Kenny aimed his pistol at one of the walkers and fired, killing it instantly before the group started running.
Some walkers manage to cut Kassidy, Clementine, and Ben off and trap them up against the wall as they slowly approached. Clementine clutched onto Kass' arm as she takes out her gun and kills some of the walkers.
"KASSIDY!" Kenny exclaimed in fear.
"Ben-" Kass starred, only to watch Ben run, leaving Clementine and her to fend for themselves. "Ben!" she snapped.
"You son of a bitch!" Lee exclaimed in fear, Kenny yelling something about him being a shitbird.
Clem yelped as walkers went to grab her arm, but fell to the ground as a shovel hit it in the side of the head, Chuck appearing in it's place.
Chuck looked at Lee as he ran over. "Get them the hell out of here. I'll catch up with you."
Lee nodded, grabbing Kass and Clem's hands and running towards Kenny with them.
"Move your asses! River Street's right up ahead!" Kenny exclaimed as the rest approached him.
"That's not all..." Ben muttered, gulping as they looked back to see more walkers approaching.
"Oh, gimme a fucking break!" Kenny exclaimed as Christa looked around.
"Wait," she paused. "Where's Chuck?"BThey looked over to see him knocking down walkers in the middle of a crowd.
"Shit, he's in trouble! We gotta help him!" Omid exclaimed as Chuck hit another walker to the ground. But the amount of walkers was too much. They couldn't get through.
"There's too many!" Kenny yelled. "We gotta get out of here, now!"
"I'll be fine!" Chuck knocked down another one. "Just go!"
They ran down a street, turning into a small alley that led to the backyard of a boarded up house.
"I'll get the door," Kenny said as he ran over to the back door.
"Gah!" Omid cried out in pain as he fell to the ground and landing on his injured leg.
Lee closed the gate behind them as he turns to the others. "Everybody alright?" he asked.
Omid zat up against the wall. "Ugh.... yeah," he replied, hissing at the pain as Christa knelt beside him.
"You opened up your wound, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed as Omid looked up with a frown. "Shit, that's gonna get infected. We've got to get him inside, clean him up!"
Lee nodded and turned towards Kenny. "Kenny, how's that door coming?" he asked.
Kenny snapped, annoyed, "I'm working on it, I'm working on it!"
"Well, work faster, will you? It won't be long before those things outside figure out where we went. You know they can smell blood!" Christa exclaimed.
"Lady, I ain't the one who's bleeding!" Kenny snapped back as Christa glared at him.
"Calm down, both of you. Now is not the time for this. Let me see if I can find us away in. That work for everyone?" Lee asked, raising his hands as a gesture to calm down.
"Fine..." Kenny muttered and turned back to the door.
Kass looked around before sighing. She ripped the sleeves off of her flannel before getting on one knee and wrapping Omid's wound with the ripped sleeves.
"Who knew we had a doctor in the house? Well outside the house anyway," Omid joked as Kass chuckled.
"Quiet, honey," Christa murmured.
"What? Laughter is the best medicine, babe," Omid grinned as he kissed Christa.
"Well, so are antibiotics and other stuff to make your pain go away," Kass smirked. "We'll probably need some Bacitracin, Polysporin, or Neosporin. Um... Hydrogen peroxide or povidone-iodine. Clean the cut with soap and water. And we're gonna need some real bandages. And, uh... Pain meds. Yeah, pain meds. Percocet or Vicodin are some good ones. And you'll also probably need some stitches," she rambled.
"Who taught you to do this anyway?" Christa asked, her tone seemed half-amused, half-impressed.
"Her mom... She taught all of us how to bandage our wounds and which medicine to use as well," Clem muttered sadly. They looked over at Kenny who was getting frustrated with the door.
"Yeah. My mom, Katjaa, was a vet. And I've always wanted to be a surgeon," Kass shrugged nonchalantly.
"Poor guy, no one should have to go through what he is right now," Omid murmured sympathetically, looking over at Kenny.
"Yeah, well. I'm still here," Kass muttered sadly. A blast boomed not too far from them. It was loud enough to make Clem flinch.
"Okay. What the actual fuck is going on in this city?! First, a guy in the radio is stalking us, then some asshole is ringing bells and bringing the dead upon us and now explosions are going off!" Kenny exclaimed.
"Kenny, be quiet. Listen," Lee shushed, making them fall silent. They heard walkers growing farther and farther away from them.
"What was that? Do you think that was Chuck?"
"If it was, he pretty much just saved our asses. We still need to get inside this house," Kenny replied.
Kass sighed before standing up, "Stay still, Omid." She turned and walked towards Ben. "What the hell was that, Ben?" she snapped.
"I-I'm sorry. I just got scared and... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you both there..." he apologized.
Kassidy sighed, crossing her arms. "It's-it's fine. Just... Think next time, 'kay?" she asked, squinting her eyes up at him.
"Yeah, I promise," he smiled at her before turning back to the boarded-up window.
That's when Lee walked over and noticed a doggy door on the door. "There's a doggy door here," he pointed out.
"I've tried that already. It's locked," Kenny told him.
"Who the hell has heard of a locked doggy door?" Lee asked.
"I have," Omid chimed in. "My neighbor had one just like it, the dog wore a collar so every time they got close, it would open."
"Well, shit, every day is a school day," Kenny scoffed, shaking his head with a smirk.
"So, where's the dog?" Kassidy asked, looking around the yard for even a clue for the little canine before finding something that confirmed her suspicions. "Oh, found him...." she muttered.
"I got it," Lee said, shovel in hand as he approached the grave and took a deep breath before plunging the shovel into the dirt, letting a disgusting smell free from down below.
"Oh god, the smell," Ben gagged, covering his face in disgust.
"What's down there?" Clementine asked curiously.
Lee gave her a look and sighed, "Nothing. Clem, go back with Kass to Omid and Christa."
"But I want to-"
"Just do what I say, okay?" Lee cut her off, causing Clementine to frown as she walked back to Omid and Christa, sitting down next to Kass.
After he dug up the hole, Lee reached down for the dog collar, but struggled to pull it off, and getting caught off guard as the head of the dog fell off, sending Lee stumbling a bit.
"Okay, that is so not cool!" Ben exclaimed in disgust as Christa threw up behind him, coughing.
"Are you okay?" Clem asked in concern.
Christa wiped her mouth and gave the curly-haired girl a reassuring smile, "I'm fine, honey, it's just the smell."
Omid gave her a concerned look, not feeling reassured by her answer. "Are you sure? Maybe it was-"
"I said I'm fine, okay?" Christa cut him off quickly, Omid frowned, but doesn't push on.
Kass looked suspiciously from Christa to Omid then back at Christa and glancing at her stomach. "Ohhh. That makes sense," she muttered, not thinking Christa had heard her until she asked, "What does?"
"Well, your stomach is a bit bigger than normal. You're sensitive to certain things- like smells. I know the difference between fat stomachs and pregnant ones and the symptoms," she shrugged.
Christa raised an impressed eyebrow as Omid laughed, "Yeah, you've got her alright, kiddo."
Kassidy just grinned at him, winking.
Lee picked up the dog collar and walked over to the doggy door, kneeling next to it as he waved the collar around, activating the sensor and making the light turn green.
"Yes! Goddamn," Kenny exclaimed.
Lee crouched lower, glancing around the inside.
"See anything in there?" Ben asked.
"No. Looks like it's been empty for a while..." Lee replied as he tried to reach for the door handle from the inside, but it was out of reach. "Gah! It's no use, I can't reach..." he murdered, placing a hand on his head.
"Here, let me try. I think I can-" Ben started before Clementine crawling inside, causing everyone to look in shock.
"Clem! You alright?" Lee asked worriedly, as he started feeling anxious when there was no reply. "Clem! Goddamn, answer me!" he exclaimed.
Just then there was a click as the door opened and Clem stepped outside. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed, sticking her hands in the air with a happy look on her face.
"Good job, Clem!" Lee praised.
"Yeah, way to go," Ben joined in as Kenny nodded his head, smiling at Clementine. Kass half-smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"I did good, right?" Clem asked, smiling in pride.
Lee smiled and knelt to her level. "Yes, you did, you did well," he told her, smiling at the little girl.
"Can we maybe have this conversation inside? My leg's starting to hurt like hell," Omid groaned as Christa helped him stand.
Kenny walked inside, inspecting the house and soon realizing that his suspicions on the house being empty were correct. It seemed deserted, and there seemed to be nothing there other than the furniture. The cabinets were open and empty, a bag of dog food sat on the kitchen counter, dust collecting atop it. "Seems okay enough."