door. "My mom and dad can't be too far now, maybe we could look for them on the way to the river."
"… We don't have time to check every building, Clementine. We'll look for them later. You stay here and wait for us to come back." Arthur gently told her no, but that didn't go well.
"But I want to help."
"Clem, me Arthur and Kenny can handle this. You're going to stay right here where it is safe. No arguments." Lee stood by Arthur on this, and Clementine pouted. "Okay…" She mumbled.
"Daylights burnin'. I'll grab my gear and we'll head out." With that, Arthur, Lee and Kenny headed out into the city. Every building they passed by, had the windows boarded up. Some even had banners on that read "Infected" made Arthur not wanting to open the boarded-up door that's for sure.
Also, every car they passed on the way, were stripped off parts. "I don't like the look of this." Arthur noted as he saw the car was stripped off its wheels, engines and even the doors and the seats inside were missing.
Kenny however didn't have time to hear any of what Arthur or Lee had to say. And just kept walking. When suddenly, a bell started ringing again. "Son of a bitch!" Kenny pulled out his gun, as did Arthur and Lee. "That bastard's fucking with us again! It's another trap!"
"Don't think so… it's not coming from up ahead. It farther off back there." Arthur took a look down the street they came from.
"Yeah, I hear it too. It's also a different bell. And that means the dead are going to be moving over there." Lee pointed out, which meant this bell in a sense was a blessing in disguise.
"We might want to get to cover." Arthur whispered as he moved to hide behind one of the looted cars. Kenny and Lee were quick to follow, as the sound of many groans and moans were coming closer to them. Walking down the street they came from towards the bell, was a herd of walkers.
"What in the hell's going on?" Kenny whispered, as they all hid from the walker herd passing by.
"Whatever it is, it might help us. I think… whoever rings those bells, are using them to lure walkers away from across the city. Downside, that means all the walkers in this city are gathered into one giant herd."
"Yeah, they might be doing us a favor." Lee noted.
"Whatever man. When I find whoever is ringing that, I'll ring their motherfucking bell for 'em." Kenny's comment had Arthur roll his eyes a little.
"Good one." Lee stoically added, as they watched the last walker crawl by. Kenny got up, and slowly moved towards river street. "Let's keep moving."
When they got to river street, Kenny froze up. "Oh my god…" Lee widened his eyes, while Kenny looked distressed.
"There's got to be a boat… there has to be." Before them was the river, and only sunken wrecks of a few boats remained, but the rest of the dock was empty.
"… I don't think so." Arthur sighed, to which Kenny in his frustration turned to them in anger.
"Well, there has to be! This is the plan! Your plan to head north can take weeks, months! And that is if we're lucky! We can lose almost everyone on the way! Now shut up and help me look!" Kenny rushed for the docks with a dying hope of finding any boat. Arthur and Lee exchanged a look, and with a sigh they both followed Kenny to look for anything they could use.
"Hate to say I told you so." Arthur walked down the waterline, while Lee went to talk with Kenny that was checking the wreck on their side. While walking, Arthur saw nothing but wrecks and remains. Arthur wished he had brought his sniper rifle, maybe binoculars. So that he could see to the other end of the river, a fog was coming in making it harder to see with just his eyes.
Arthur stopped himself, as he heard the sound of walker groans. Looking to the source, Arthur widened his eyes in horror. "My god…" It looked like something those damn hill cave folks would do. A wall with a sign that read "Stay Out" and walkers stabbed onto pikes. Dangling and unable to move, just acting as a warning.
"Jesus Christ…" Kenny and Lee found their way over to Arthur, and both looked at the walker spike wall.
"What is this? Some kind of sick warning? Who would do something like this?" Lee sounded in disbelief, as this just seemed too cruel. Some walkers even had their eyes peeked out by scavenger birds.
"Someone trying to scare us, that's who." Arthur remained stone faced, this wasn't the first time he had seen these types of warnings. "How's the boat thing coming along?"
"Ain't gonna work. The haul is cracked beneath the water line. Plus, someone stripped out the battery." Kenny groaned in frustration, as if things weren't bad already.
"Just like those cars we walked by on the way here… If there are survivors in this city, maybe they've scavenged any parts they can use." Arthur suggested, as that might be the case. The city was fully boarded up, and there were these strange symbols everywhere on the boards etc.
"Well… I'll take a look through this telescope. Seeing if I can see any boats on the other side." Lee went to the telescope, putting in a quarter as he scouted out the other side of the river. "Ain't nothing out there… nothing up river either. Just a few more wrecks but that's it… Wait, what the hell?" As Lee moved the telescope to the side, he spotted something. "Get down! Get down!" Lee whispered, as they all quickly went to cover.
Peeking out, they saw someone in an orange hoodie walking through the streets wearing a facemask. Wearing a backpack, the person walked into the newsstand.
"Why are we hiding?" Kenny asked, as they could undoubtedly take one person out. "Could be our bell ringer, how about we go an find out?"
"Sounds like a plan. I'll go up the middle, Kenny takes the left, Lee you go right." Arthur waited for Lee and Kenny to rush to each flank. Then he made a move, sneaking towards the mysterious hooded figure at the newsstand.
Sneaking up, the hooded person had their back turned to Arthur. His gun at the ready, Arthur snuck up close. But the person ducked behind the newsstand. Reaching the newsstand, Arthur peeked over the counter with his revolver pointing down. Only to see no one there.
Arthur looked to the side, seeing a foot just move behind him. Turning swiftly around, Arthur had his revolver knocked out of his hand. "Shit!" The person pulled out an ice pickaxe and tried to swing it at Arthur. Taking a step back, Arthur avoided the swing, and grabbed the assailant's wrist keeping them pinned. Then Arthur smacked them across the face with a solid hit knocking them over.
Arthur quickly sat on top of the assailant, with his knife out and pointed to their throat. The person breathed heavily through their mask. Upon a closer inspection, Arthur saw a tuff of blond bangs under the hood. And blue eyes staring back at him. The person was slim built, small. A woman?
"Arthur?" The tiny voice of Clementine came from behind him, turning his head around Arthur was baffled. And Lee rushed out of hiding to grab her. "What are you doing here?" Lee asked her.
Arthur looked back at the pinned down masked woman. She stared at him for a few moments, then pulled her hood down, revealing her short blond hair. "You're not from Crawford…" She mumbled.
"Crawford?" Arthur raised his brow at her.
"Mind if I get up." She asked, and Arthur slowly pulled his knife back. Grabbing his gun that laid on the ground next to him, Arthur kept the gun aimed from the hip as he slowly got off the woman.
As she got up on her two feet, she pulled down her mask. Revealing her face, she was young, relatively in her late twenties. Arthur also noticed the bruise mark left on her cheek from where he hit her. Awkwardly coughing, Arthur holstered his gun as he saw the woman smile.
Meanwhile, form behind the woman Kenny walked out from the alley. His gun drawn and aimed at the back of the woman's head. She reacted to hearing light footsteps behind her, and Arthur was quick to shout. "Kenny! Don't!" But too late, as the woman moved down and spun kicked Kenny off his feet knocking him down. To which a gun shot went off from Kenny's gun. "Argh!" Kenny groaned as he laid there for a moment. "Fuck!" The woman kicked Kenny's gun aside, and raised her ice pickaxe.
"No! He's with us!" Lee shouted, and she stopped. Arthur looked to the wall of spiked walkers behind them, seeing them acting up from the sudden gunshot.
The woman seeing she was surrounded by three grown men, and a little girl had her bewildered. Looking at the girl, she lowered her ice pickaxe and crossed her arms. "Who the hell are you people?"
"Who are we? Who the fuck are you?!" Kenny shouted.
"Okay, let's all just calm down! Try and not make too much noise." Arthur shushed them, trying to hear for any other walkers approaching. That gunshot might lure more of them over here.
"I'll calm down when she tells me who the fuck she is!" Kenny however, wasn't having it. The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Back off, asshole. The name's Molly." She told Kenny off, and introduced herself.
"Molly…" Arthur mumbled, briefly picturing the red-haired Irish Molly O'Shea and how that all ended. Seeing she was strangely eyeing him for mumbling her name, Arthur awkwardly coughed. "Name's Arthur. Arthur Morgan."
"I'm Lee, that is Kenny, and this here is Clementine." Lee finished up the introductions. Clementine beamed with a bright smile, as she greeted Molly with a wave. "Hi!" Seeing the happy little girl, had Molly looking awkward. As she lowered her head, and gave a nod to greet back.
"You guys really aren't from Crawford, are you?" Molly asked them as she took one last look at Clementine.
"You said that before, what the hell is Crawford?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, what's the deal with this Crawford place?" Kenny eagerly asked, maybe there was some valuable information to gather.
"You sure you wanna know?" Molly ominously asked, to which Arthur scoffed.
"Guaranteed it's not going to be the worst place I've heard of. Go ahead." Arthur said, and both Lee and Kenny nodded in agreement. Wanting to hear the story of this Crawford. Could be dangerous, and therefor they wanted to know about it.
"When everything started going to shit, some people got together and sealed off that whole neighborhood. Folks willing to do anything to stay alive, stop the dead getting in. I try to avoid 'em." Molly added, which was suspicious in of itself. Why would anyone avoid a place that sounded safe?
"Why?" Kenny, having reached the same conclusion, asked.
Molly turned around to look at Kenny, and sighed. "Let's just say they have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who can't- or won't- play by their rules." At that Arthur only lightly shook his head in agreement. Sounded like society. The type of thing Dutch would want to destroy in these times.
"Then how did you know we weren't with them?" Arthur asked the obvious question, to which Molly looked a little sad. As she took a look at Clementine. "Because there are no children in Crawford. Not any more." That had Clementine look a little spooked.
"None? At all?" Arthur sounded in disbelief. Did all the kids die? Or did the people at Crawford kill them because they were of no use?
"None… no children, no elderly, no one with any advanced medical condition. Basically no one who might be a burden to the community. Crawford's all about survival of the fittest. That's how they survived. While the rest of the world went to shit." Molly affirmed.
"But still… children? You're not saying that they?" Lee was a little nervous to ask, but Molly's silence and glance to them was all the affirmation they needed.
"In God's name, why?" Kenny looked visibly disturbed. Especially since he recently lost his own son.
"No one stays in Crawford, unless they can pull their own weight. Otherwise, you are just another mouth to feed. Another drain on their precious resources."
"What does that mean? Pull their own weight?" Clementine nervously asked.
"It means to earn your keep. By… doing chores… hunting that kind of stuff." Arthur informed the young Clementine, and Lee added. "Helping out basically, stuff you do for us all the time." Lee wanted to assure Clementine of her safety, that she wasn't dead weight.
"Doesn't sound like any kind of way to live to me." Kenny added as he looked at the wall of mounted dead corpses.
"Couldn't agree more." Molly quietly added with a bitter look in her eye as she looked at the wall.
With a brief silence, Lee decided to change the topic. "Do you know who's been ringing those bells all over town?"
"Yeah, that would be me." Molly confirmed, and instantly Kenny looked pissed.
"I knew it! Arthur, Lee! I knew she was the one following us! Fucking with us!"
"Calm down Kenny, the voice on the radio was a man. Not a woman." Arthur put his hand on Kenny's shoulder, pulling him back from Molly.
"Get that finger out of my face, grandpa, before I jam it straight up your ass with the rest of your bullshit." Molly's comeback, had Arthur look visibly stunned and even crack a light humorous smile. "I haven't been following you! I don't even know who the hell you people are!" Molly retorted back into Kenny's face, having the Florida man looking even angrier.
"Arthur's right Kenny, the voice on the radio was a guy. She's not been following us." Lee said, and after thinking a little clearer, Kenny seemed to calm down a bit.
"Yeah, well… still, ringing those bells this morning nearly got us all killed. It got Chuck killed. Raised the dead all around us." Kenny did have a point there.
"Well, I didn't intend for you guys to get killed. But raising the dead is kind of the idea, genius. It's how I get around. I ring a bell in one neighborhood to attract the local geeks towards it, buys me some time to scavenge the areas they cleared out." Molly reasoned, and Arthur had to admit it was smart.
"Geeks? Is that what you call them?" Kenny scoffed at the name Molly had for Walkers.
"Yeah. You know, like at the carnival. They'll eat anything, alive or dead. What do you call them?"
"Walkers. They ain't alive, but walking, so Walkers." Arthur shrugged, and this time Molly scoffed.
"Pfft, that's creative."
And Arthur broke into a light chuckle. "Sounds still more intimidating than geeks."
"… Point taken." Molly smiled at Arthur, finding herself giggling a little.
With that, Lee turned to Clementine to ask her a question. "Clem, what are you doing here? How did you get out of the house?"
"Omid started getting really sick, Christa and Ben had to take him upstairs. And Carley was looking after Katjaa. Beatrice just kind of… sat there by herself. I didn't just want to sit around there. I wanted to come help."
"I told you we didn't need any help." Lee told her off, to which Clementine looked upset. Sad as she apologetically looked at Lee for disappointing her.
"Well…" Arthur seeing this, awkwardly coughed. "If she hadn't been here, Molly might have died. And we wouldn't have learned about Crawford. But still, Clem, don't sneak out on your own. You could have asked Carley to come with you. It's too dangerous for you to be out here alone." Arthur said a little more gently, and Clementine solemnly nodded. "Okay… I'm sorry." Arthur got on his knee, and lightly ruffled her head. "Hey. That's okay. You're still learning." Arthur smiled, he was a little proud she had gathered the courage to come here on her own. Despite there being walkers in the city, showed she could learn and adapt.
"Back to Crawford… if you are not a part of them. How do you know so much about them?" Arthur looked to Molly for answers, as he smelled something fishy here.
"Everyone in Savannah knew. What was going on inside Crawford got passed around like a ghost story. Except this one was true." Molly added, looking bitter and even clenching her fists.
Arthur picked up on it, meaning she had proof it was all true. But didn't want to share it. "Alright…" Arthur sighed, seeing there wasn't a point in bothering Molly with more questions. Instead, she had her own questions. "Look. I'm gonna ask you people again. You're not from Crawford, so who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?"
"We came down here looking for a boat. Hoping to get our people out of here and find someplace safe." Lee replied, to which Molly scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, good luck with that. Anyone with a boat took it out of here as soon as people started eating each other. Any that got left behind, Crawford stripped 'em for parts. Cars too." Molly said, which made sense. They had seen the stripped cars themselves, and the parts missing from these wrecked boats. All of this, had Kenny looking visibly upset. Arthur figured it wasn't the time for a "I told you so" not that he would say that anyway.
"There's got to be something." Kenny foolishly held onto the hope of a boat.
"If there was, do you think I would still be here?" Molly cheekily added. "I've been over every inch of this city, this whole place is picked clean."
"Goddammit! Fuck!" Kenny went off to the side, cussing and kicking up a fuss. "Shit…"
Molly not wanting to discuss anymore, looked to Lee and Arthur. "Since you're not getting on any boat, I'd advise you folks to go back where you came from, before-" Arthur quickly shushed her, as approaching moans came from the corner. "Shit!" The walkers were coming back, they had heard the gunshot.
"Great. Just great." Molly scoffed as if this was at the best a mild annoyance.
"That's the way we came from. Gunshot must have brought 'em back." Kenny slowly started backing up, while Clementine clung onto Lee. Arthur had his gun drawn, though it wasn't going to help much.
"I hate this city…" Arthur groaned underneath his breath.
"Isn't there another way back to the house?" Clementine nervously asked.
"Molly." Arthur turned around to their new friend, but she was already gone. Going down the back alley behind them. They saw Molly scaling onto the wall, and climbing onto the metal staircases on the side of the building.
"Is there another way out of here?" Lee asked.
"Don't know, don't care." Molly crudely answered as she was about to continue her climb.
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Kenny shouted.
"I refer you to my previous answer."
"Damn, that's cold…" Arthur said looking stunned.
"But you have to help us, please!" Clementine pleaded, and Molly hesitated. Turning back to look at them, she groaned. "Come on! Make it fast!" She reached her hand down to them. Lee didn't hesitate to hoist Clementine up, being the tallest one here, he had better reach. Molly grabbed Clementine by the hand, and pulled her up.
"Oh fuck me…" Kenny cussed as the walkers were coming down the alley.
"Here, I'll give you a boost." Arthur held his hands down, Kenny stepped onto Arthur's hands and was boosted up and reached the railing. Kenny managed to climb up. "Okay, now you." Arthur looked to Lee.
"Man, I'm taller. You first."
"I'm stronger." Arthur and Lee briefly debated.
"Will you quit the debate and just climb the hell up here?!" Molly angrily shouted down. Both men looked at each other, and Arthur relented as Lee grabbed him and lifted him up. "That's us told then…" Arthur mumbled as Kenny grabbed Arthur's hand, and helped him climb up.
"Lee! Come on!" Arthur held his hand down, and Lee tried to jump up to grab it. But whiffed as he fell back down on his ass. "Shit!" Arthur started shooting the walkers from above, taking out the ones closest to Lee. "The dumpster! Go for the dumpster!" Kenny shouted, as Lee with no time to waste headed for the dumpster in the back.
But walkers were on the other side of it. "Shit!" Lee cussed and pushed the dumpster into the walkers on the other side. As he did, he noticed a manhole cover underneath. "Shit! This might be my only way out!" Lee tried to pry it open with his hands, but to no avail as he couldn't get a good enough of a grip.
"Here!" Molly tossed down one of her ice pickaxes, and Lee caught it midair. Using the ice pickaxe, Lee was able to pry open the manhole cover and slip down into the sewer bellow. "Lee!" Clementine called out after Lee.
"Ah shit! Lee! Lee!" Arthur called after his friend, as he could only watch walkers fill the alleyway as Lee vanished into the sewers. "God dammit!" Kenny angrily slammed his fists against the railing. Looking to Molly who stared at them with an indifferent look. "He better make it back!"
"That's not my responsibility." Molly retorted back, turning away from Kenny as she scaled further up to the roof of the building. "Well? You coming or what?" Molly impatiently asked as she climbed up.
Arthur with a heavy sigh, looked to poor little Clementine who continued to stare down at the horde of walkers' bellow. "Come on sweetie. I got you. Lee will be just fine." Lifting her body into his arms, Arthur gently helped her as they made their way to the roof.
"Lee will make it, right Arthur?" Clementine asked, concerned for her second protector's safety. Arthur could feel her trembling in his arms, and he put on a brave face as he enthusiastically said. "Ah, he'll be fine. Guys like Lee are smart enough to survive. He just has to take a little detour. Come on, we need to get you back to the house."
"Okay… you are right. Lee is smart, and they are not." Clementine said as she looked down at the herd of walkers, all hungrily reaching their arms to the sky for them but unable to reach. Once they made it to the roof, out of sight from the walkers, but their moans still echoed through the city.
"Okay, how do we get back?" Kenny asked seeing there were plenty of buildings in the area to jump onto. But he needed a concreate plan.
"Follow me old man." Molly rolled her eyes, as she jumped over to another nearby rooftop. Arthur while holding Clementine, nodded as he jumped after and made it across without any issue. The gap wasn't too big after all. Kenny shortly followed.
"Hey… thank you." Arthur stopped Molly and offered her his thanks. She paused, and took a moment to look at Arthur. Seeing him still gently holding Clementine in his arms.
"No sweat." Molly brushed him off, and continued moving. Arthur put Clementine down as all four of them walked across these rooftops.
"I uhm…" Arthur awkwardly coughed to gain Molly's attention. "I hope I didn't hit you… too hard back there, miss." Arthur's awkward apology was met with brief silence. Even back in the old west, Arthur wasn't much for hitting women. Well, unless they tried to rob him or kill him. And granted, in this case, Molly did try and kill him. But still, she had saved them. Even if only because of Clementine.
"Pfft, don't worry about it. I get it. Survival instincts and all that. Sorry I scared you." Molly cheekily glanced at Arthur who was visibly stunned at that comment.
"I wasn't scared. A little rattled maybe, but not scared." Arthur's rebuttal was met with a few giggles from the woman.
"Whatever country man." Molly teased him about his accent, causing Arthur to grunt from mild embarrassment. She was a strange woman though, reminded Arthur a little of Sadie Adler.
"Okay, well, still… sorry for knocking your cheeky ass to the curve little lady." Arthur decided to act a little cheeky himself with his comment. Earning him a sideways glance from Molly, who had a curious glance in her eye as she raised her brow at him. "I do hope nothing broke." Arthur continued, and Molly just rolled her eyes.
"My ass, is just fine." Molly replied as she smacked her own hand onto her ass, to which Arthur awkwardly glanced quickly away. "You lucky you're cute, or else I would have stabbed this through your nutsack." Molly smirked playfully while holding her remaining pickaxe.
"Cute? Get your eyes checked lady." Arthur scoffed at the comment.
"Would you quit flirtin' with the ninja woman." Kenny rolled his eyes at witnessing this back and forth. And Clementine even laughed a little at them.
"I wasn't…" Arthur turned around to look at Kenny, and then to Clementine. "What you laughing at?"
"You being silly." Clementine cutely replied to which Arthur himself chuckled.
"Hehe, well… I suppose I'm not good for much than laughing at then. Glad you are so entertained." After a brief walk, Molly checked over the side of the building seeing it was relatively clear. "Which house is the one your group is in?" She asked, as Arthur pointed at one of the houses across the street.
"Great, coast is clear. We can make it there without being noticed." Molly said while sliding down a ladder. Kenny shortly followed, then Arthur and lastly Clementine. Sneaking through the streets, which were empty as most of the walkers in the city had gathered by the pier by now. They made it safely back inside the house.
The moment they opened the door, they were greeted by Carley who had her gun out. "Oh, thank God!" Carley noticed Clementine, and relaxed her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Arthur. Katjaa had walked off to the kitchen, and in case she was looking for something sharp I had to follow her. When I got back, Clementine was gone."
"It's okay. She found us, and is fine. Clem, apologize to Carley for making her worry." Arthur lightly nudged the little lady, who carefully approached Carley.
"S-Sorry…" She quietly mumbled, and Carley only sighed. "At least you are okay kid." Carley smiled, then looked up to see the rest. Only noticing a new face, and someone else missing. "Wait… who's that? Where's Lee?"
"Oh, well… this is Molly. Our bell ringer." Arthur said, and instantly Carley tightened the grip on her gun. "She didn't know we were in the streets when she rung it though. She uses the bells to get around, lure the walkers away from other neighborhoods to scavenge them." Arthur quickly calmed Carley, down, who eased her shoulders but still kept a suspicious glare of Molly.
"Okay… what about Lee? Where is he?" Carley asked, but Kenny just walked past her. Having had enough, and tired as he realized he had brought them all down here for nothing. Grabbing the whiskey bottle they had found, Kenny started drinking. "What's with Kenny?"
"We… didn't find a boat." Arthur sighed, seeing Kenny was taking it hard.
"Jesus, is a boat that important for the old timer?" Molly cheekily asked, but sensing the mood of the room, she quietly walked by. "I'm… going to check around, cool?"
"… Sure." Carley hesitantly agreed. Christa came walking down the stairs with Ben, both startled at the new face. But seeing the rest, they assumed she was let in on purpose. "Who was that?" Christa asked.
"Molly." Arthur replied, to which Christa raised her brow. "Okay, why is Molly, here?"
"She helped us." Clementine replied, and as that was good enough. Ben just walked down the stairs without any further questions.
"How's Omid?" Arthur asked.
"He's getting worse…" Christa said looking defeated, and worried. She was near tears.
"Can we cut back to my question, where is Lee?" Carley frustrated asked a third time.
"We got separated. Walkers filled the alley, and while we managed to climb onto the side of the building. Lee had to escape into the sewers. He's alive." At Arthur saying that, Carley seemed to calm down.
"Okay… but what happened? Are you okay?" Carley double checked with Arthur.
"Just fine. Got a little spooked by our new arrival. But we learnt some useful stuff. I'll fill you in when Lee get's back." They all walked into the house, shutting the door behind them and walked into the living room.
The moment Arthur stepped in, Beatrice was quickly in his face. "Arthur, you made it. I heard gunshots, and got worried."
"We're just fine. Had a little run-in with walkers after we met Molly." At hearing a new woman's name, Beatrice visibly frowned. "Who's Molly?" She asked in a dangerous sounding tone, that had Arthur a little shocked. "A woman in the city, she helped us escape the walkers. She's around the house now, probably scavenging for anything. But it's fine, I'll keep an eye on her." Beatrice didn't seem satisfied with that answer at all, in fact she looked even more annoyed that Arthur said he would keep an eye on her.
"Do you like her? Do you think she's cute?" Beatrice asked, her expression darkening a little.
"Whoa, easy there, lady. What's with the attitude?" Arthur looked genuinely confused, but he also remembered Carley's warning. "Look, Molly just saved us. And has some information we could use. Odds are, she's not here to stay." At that, Beatrice seemed to calm down. But she was still upset.
Arthur shook his head, not having time for this. He went to check on Katjaa. She was with Kenny, both sitting there in silence with Kenny drinking. Not wanting to bother them, he went upstairs. Peeking into one of the rooms, where Christa sat by Omid's side. With Omid visibly sweating and trying to sleep on the bed.
As for Molly, she was scavenging through the empty rooms. Watching her to make sure she didn't take any of their stuff, Arthur leaned against the door with his arms crossed. "Ain't much here to take I'm afraid."
"Eh, we'll see." Molly casually said, throwing a book aside as she continued to look around. "Keeping an eye on me country man?"
"Well, yeah. Got to make sure you don't steal from us." Arthur casually replied, and Molly looked slightly offended. "I'm not a thief." But Arthur brushed it off with an amused chuckle. "Maybe not, but a survivor will take what they need to survive. Survival instincts and all that."
Molly looked at Arthur briefly, smiling. "Heh, well I guess we have an understanding. Can't say I dislike that."
"Uhuh, just so you know. I dislike being robbed. And I'm quick with a gun. Just in case you want to try something." Arthur held his hands onto his gun belt, and Molly didn't look in the slightest impressed.
"A real gunslinger, huh?" Molly playfully held her fingers out in the shape of a gun, and said "pew" as she pretended to shoot him. "Aren't you a bit far down south?"
"A bit. But I've been drifting most of my life."
"Didn't ask for your life story cowboy." Molly brushed him off, the moment he began speaking of his past life.
"Wasn't planning on sharing anything. I tend to keep my business to myself." Arthur added, and instantly Molly looked a little more interested. "Something else we have in common." Arthur casually added, showing Molly, he had picked up on signs of her story with Crawford being more than she told.
"Guess we do…" Molly stopped scavenging, and kept her focus on Arthur. "Okay, cowboy. You have my attention."
"You know more about this Crawford than you are letting on. It ain't my business to know, and I don't want to know. But, if there is anything dangerous you are hiding from us about this city, or Crawford that will put my people or Clementine in danger…" Arthur slowly approached Molly, holding his finger out in the shape of a gun "Pew." Arthur mimicked Molly's move from earlier, and looked into her eyes. "I will kill you." Arthur's threat, wasn't met lightly. And Molly for once, looked impressed.
"Damn, and you called me cold." She smiled, pushing her hand against Arthur's chest. Holding it there briefly, feeling his calm and steady heartbeat, leaning in closer to his face. "Heh, well at least you aren't lying about it. Good to know." She added and pushed him back. "Don't worry… I'm not with Crawford for a reason." Molly added, as she briefly thought on Clementine.
"I know, otherwise you wouldn't have helped us." Arthur calmly added, he started looking strong, big and intimidating to Molly. In her eyes, Arthur was a strong person. Someone she didn't want to cross. But Arthur, likewise could tell Molly was a strong woman. She had taken his punch, and still continued to fight. Not only that, she was smart and resourceful. Hence, he didn't want to underestimate her.
"Arthur, was it?" Molly asked, and Arthur nodded in confirmation. "I will say this… this city is obviously dangerous. And Crawford is dangerous. But I swear, any vital information you need, I won't hide from you. But private stuff, stays private."
"Heh, that we can agree on. Once Lee get's back, we'll gather the group to have a chat. Feel free to come along." Arthur said, and walked out of the room. Leaving Molly with her thoughts. Although she didn't have an overall good opinion of their group, Arthur at least seemed competent and like someone she could trust to a certain degree.
With that out of the way, Arthur walked downstairs and was met with Ben. "Just who I wanted to talk to." Arthur grumbled a little, sounding angry which had Ben spooked.
"I-Is this about…"
"Clementine, yes. You were supposed to watch her." Arthur menacingly approached Ben.
"Look, Christa needed help moving Omid upstairs. I was gone for a minute, two tops! When I came back, she was gone. I'm sorry." Ben shied away from Arthur. Afraid he was going to knock some of his teeth out.
Arthur sighed. "Checks out." Arthur mumbled as Ben's story checked out with what Clementine said. "Relax kid, I ain't gonna hit you." Ben seemed to finally relax. "But maybe I should." Arthur added to which Ben flinched, and backed away in fright. "I'm joking." Arthur chuckled, to which Ben looked visibly annoyed.
"Not. Funny." Ben told him off.
"Kid, thought about what you are going to do?" Arthur asked, as he knew Ben had to leave at some point. Checking in to see if the kid thought about his advice or not.
"I… I don't know. Arthur. I… I don't… I won't survive out there, I just know it." Ben trembled, visible with fear on his face. But still, he also carried the guilt every time he looked at Katjaa or Kenny. And because of that, sooner or later they were going to notice.
Arthur kept himself busy for nearly an hour, cleaning their guns and double checking their ammunition. They were running really low. One good gunfight, and they wouldn't have any more bullets left. Then from the living room, Arthur heard the front door open. "Clem! Clementine!" Lee was finally back.
Lee instantly found Molly in the kitchen, checking every cabinet. "Molly?" Lee called out to her.
"Oh, hey. You are back." Molly greeted, and seeing Arthur was walking out from the living room. Arthur noticed that Lee wasn't alone, he had an old balding bearded man with him.
"Who's this?" The man asked.
"He didn't tell you about me? I'm the one who saved his ass back at the river. Who's the fossil?" Molly rudely asked, to which the old man took offence.
"This is Vernon, he's a doctor. He helped me get back here after we got separated." Lee introduced the newcomer, and instantly Arthur walked in. "Doctor huh? Nice to meet you doc, I'm Arthur Morgan." Arthur greeted the doctor in a friendly manner, which was a nice change of pace from Molly's welcome.
"Yeah, yeah." Molly walked up to Lee, holding her hand out. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." Lee reached for the ice pickaxe, and gave it back to Molly's waiting hand. Molly took it, and walked away.
"She been a handful?" Lee looked to Arthur.
"She's… restless." Arthur played it off with a light shrug. "So, you found Vernon here in the sewers?"
"Yeah… he and his group are… hiding down there. I uh, I also found what was left of Chuck." Lee revealed, as he showed Chuck's revolver. "Old man took himself out before he could turn."
Arthur sighed, and took the gun from Lee's hand. "Saved the last bullet for himself, huh?" Arthur took the gun over to the living room table where the rest of their guns were. Rifles, scoped hunting rifles, one shotgun and a dozen handguns. Vernon took notice, and looked spooked.
"Well… that means you really would have killed me if you had the chance. Now, where's your daughter?" Vernon asked Lee, but his question had Arthur raise a brow.
"Daughter?" Arthur asked out loud, to which Vernon reacted.
"You mean… she's not your daughter?" Vernon looked sternly at Lee.
"Clementine is not my daughter. I said that for sympathy, not gonna lie. But she our responsibility." Lee firmly declared, to which Vernon sighed.
"Well, I ain't happy with you lying to me. But do you even know how to raise a kid?" Vernon strictly asked, a little pushy, too pushy for Arthur.
"Watch it doctor. Kids got all of us looking out for her. And yeah, we have people here who have raised kids before." Arthur said, mainly referring to Kenny and Katjaa, even though he sort of counted himself.
"Well… alright. I can't say much about it. But where is she?"
Before anyone could answer, Christa came running down the stairs. "Lee! Thank God you're here! Omid is getting worse. Much worse." Christa sounded fully in distress.
"Yeah, we've tried to cool him down but… his leg is still messed up pretty bad." Arthur sighed as he had taken a look and check on Omid every now and then. "Well, now we might have a solution." Arthur said as he looked to Vernon.
"Who's this?" Christa asked.
"This is Vernon, he's a doctor." Lee introduced, and quickly Christa looked near to get on her knees and beg. "You have to help us, please."
Vernon looked stoic, then he calmly nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Take me to him." Vernon said, and Christa was quick to guide him upstairs. Meanwhile, Lee stayed with Arthur.
"Where's Clementine?" Lee asked.
"Out in the backyard with Ben watching her." Arthur said as he showed Lee the way, but Lee looked a little angry.
"You left her with Ben?" Lee asked, he didn't have much faith in the kid to protect Clem from danger.
"I told Ben to holler if needed. Besides, Carley is watching them too." Arthur said as they walked through the dinning room. Where Kenny sat with Katjaa, drinking from a bottle of whiskey. "Kenny?" Lee sounded surprised, seeing Kenny looking clearly drunk.
"Oh hey. You made it back. Good job. Good job." Kenny, clearly plastered drunk, having given up on survival with the lack of a boat fell into his bottle.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lee asked furrowing his brows at Kenny.
"What does it look like?" Kenny shrugged and took a sip. "Here hon… have some." Kenny offered Katjaa, but she was too depressed to even respond properly. "I'm fine…" She said without even looking at her husband. Not that she didn't understand why he was drinking. "No? More for me." Kenny happily laughed and drunk some more.
"What the fuck where you thinking letting Kenny get like this?" Lee looked accusingly at Arthur. Arthur stood his ground and looked at Kenny. "What was I supposed to do? Knock his lights out? Carley tried to take the bottle from him, and he screamed to high hell. Walkers would have been brought down on us. It was either this, or knock him out. I didn't think Clementine or Katjaa would appreciate the second option. An option I'm still strongly considering." Arthur said as he took one stern look at Kenny.
"Oh, you wanna throw down again like on the train? Because I fight better when I am shit faced drunk!" Kenny tried getting up to his feet, but just fell back down into his seat.
"Fight better against other drunken fools, maybe." Arthur rolled his eyes at Kenny, who once again tried to get back, but failed.
"To hell with you! Both of you!" Kenny said as Arthur tried to take the bottle from him, snapping at them.
"Getting wasted is not going to help anybody!" Lee sternly told Kenny off.
"Yeah, well what is? We are fucked! Molly said there's not a single boat left in Savannah! No way out. We got walkers all around us, that crazy fuck on the radio messing with us. My wife won't even look at me! Hell, if now ain't the time for a drink." Kenny visibly, even though drunk regretted the comment he made to Katjaa. But seeing as she wasn't even responding, just a trail of tears running down her face. Kenny shut up, and kept on drinking.
"… Come on, leave the fool alone." Arthur sighed, as he pulled Lee out of the room. "Sorry… should have… done something more to help him." Arthur apologized to Lee on the way.
"Nah, he's… going through a lot. He was going to be trouble either way. At least this way he's quiet. Sad, but quiet." Lee sighed, he really wanted better for Kenny. He was their friend after all. They walked into the kitchen, where Carley stood by the window trying to open up a can of soup.
"Welcome back Lee. We were worried about you. Clementine, needed a little distraction." Carley said, looking out the window she had full view and control which made Lee feel at ease.
"Okay… thanks." Lee said with appreciation, as he and Arthur headed out into the backyard. Although when they got there, they saw Ben but no Clementine.
"Ben… where's Clementine?" Arthur asked, sounding impatient and ready to murder.
"She's in the shed, exploring…" Ben said as he pointed to the shed in the backyard. Pointing at the torn off vent on the side, seeing the shed was all overgrown with vines at the door, there was no way anyone opened it from that end.
Arthur sighed, and went to the door. Grabbing onto the handles, Arthur pulled with all his might. "Clementine, let us in! Lee's back." Arthur grunted, and instantly the door opened.
"Lee!" Clementine ran into Lee's arms, unharmed and with a happy smile on her face.
"Ben, question… why did you tear off the damn vent instead of opening the door?" Arthur asked the angsty teenager.
"The door was too heavy from the outside. Those vines restricted it. I helped Clementine open up the vent… checked for any walkers while doing it too." Ben revealed, having just saved himself from a royal ass whopping by saying that.
"Arthur, Lee, come look. Come look at what I found!" Clementine eagerly pulled on Lee's wrist towards the shed. And Arthur smiled and followed after. "Heh, well I'll be…" Arthur looked at the object inside, and looked genuinely surprised. This was dumb luck, no doubt about it. A boat. A boat was sitting in this shed.
"Whoa." Lee couldn't say anything else to mask his surprise.
"I know right!" Clementine eagerly pointed out.
"Ben, go get Kenny. Tell him Clementine found a big surprise for him." Arthur told Ben, who scurried off inside the house. "You've done good kiddo. Way to earn your keep." Arthur praised Clementine, ruffling her head to which she happily giggled.
Kenny came out with Ben, Carley and even Katjaa. Once Kenny saw the boat, he fell into silence. Looking at the smiling faces of Arthur, Lee and Clementine, brought a smile to Kenny's face. And he dropped the whiskey bottle onto the grass. Now, was not the time to be wasted.
While Kenny sobered up a bit, the rest went back inside while Kenny stayed with the boat. Checking it for any damages, or if it was operational. It could float, no doubt. But was it sea worthy?
Vernon came down into the living room, after having finished up with Omid. "How's Omid doing?" Lee asked the doctor.
"As well as can be expected under the circumstances. I did what I could for him, cleaned out his wound. But he's got a real infection, running a fever. Without antibiotics I…" Vernon sighed, as it was implied Omid wouldn't make it.
Molly sitting by the window, groaned. "Hey, would you quit pacing? You're making everyone nervous." Molly told off Arthur who was pacing back and forth.
"Why are you even still here?" Christa asked with a narrowed gaze, a suspicious gaze shared with Carley and Beatrice.
"Hey, if your friend can get that boat working, you're taking me with you as payment for saving your asses." Molly demanded, which wasn't totally unreasonable.
"Fair enough. But we'll have to see how things go, won't we?" Arthur pointed out, as he knew by the look of the boat. There wasn't room for all of them, five or six people at most. And he knew Kenny would be bringing Katjaa with him obviously. Then there was Lee and Clementine. Meaning at least only two spots were available. For Arthur, it didn't make a difference. Once Lee and Clementine were sailing off to safety on that boat, he could set out to find the rock carvings. At least, if he had them all sketched down. Maybe he could figure out what to do then.
Then, Kenny walked. "Well?" Lee eagerly awaited to hear the news.
"You want the good news or the bad news?" Kenny sighed, of course the luck wouldn't take them all the way.
"Let's hear the bad part first…" Arthur sighed with a disgruntled look on his face.
"Bad news is, she's not taking us anywhere in the state she's in now. Gas tank is empty, and the battery's dead."
"So, what's the good news?" Christa curiously asked.
"That's it. That's all she needs, some gas and a battery. Other than that, she's sea worthy." Well, that was well and good, but there was the glaring problem. "Well, how are we supposed to get that stuff?" Carley asked.
"Crawford…" Arthur said with a sigh, and the room went quiet. The rest had been filled in on what Crawford was, and Vernon and Molly knew all too well what it was. "It's the place that has everything in this city… that's where we'll find gas and the battery for the boat."
"Now hold on a minute." Vernon visibly frowned at the idea.
"Surely we have to try." Christa added, and as a bonus she said. "And we could find the antibiotics for Omid there too."
"Trust me, you don't know these people. I do. You showing up with-"
"Will earn us nothing more than a rain of bullets." Arthur interrupted, and looked to the old man. "I know the type. These fools ain't no different than what I am used to. We go there and ask, we're not walking out alive. We go, steal and kill anyone in our way. If any of the stories you two have heard are true, it is the only way. These people won't negotiate." Arthur in moments like these, showed his level of experience. "They aren't like the bandits that attacked the motor inn, they are worse. They aren't mere thieves. They are organized from the look of it."
"So, what? Go in guns and blazing? We're no doubt outnumbered!" Christa pointed out, as it was painfully clear they would not survive an all-out war.
"Out gunned, and outnumbered. On a suicide mission. But to survive… you have to be prepared to do whatever it takes." Arthur calmly said as he reloaded his revolver, and Chuck's that he now used as a secondary sidearm. "We sneak in, at the dead of night. Take what we need, kill who we need and get out. Before the rest notice we were even there."
"… I'm in." Lee sighed, knowing they didn't have much of an option. It was either that, or risk fighting all the walkers with the ammo they had to get out of the city.
"Fuck it, me too." Kenny stepped up.
"A-And me." Ben too.
"… Sounds risky, but I trust you boss." Carley smiled lightheartedly at Arthur.
"Ugh, fine…" Christa gave in.
"Sounds good to me." Molly seemed eager in fact to get back at Crawford for something.
"This is crazy…" Vernon however, was still not convinced. "But… if we sneak through the sewer tunnels. We could get in undetected. And even have a quick escape if it's too risky. You guys have a map?"
"Yeah, actually." Lee brought out the map Chuck had given them from the train. Folding it out, it showed all of Savannah.
"I think I could lead us through so we can pass under the perimeter and right into the center of Crawford, where they keep their supplies. We come up right underneath them, take them by surprise, and like you said grab what we need before they even notice we were there." With Vernon's guidance, the plan just became more possible.
"Not the worst idea I've heard, it's bad, but hey… it could work." Molly was still onboard with the mission. Especially as the plan seemed good enough.
"I've thought about it before… but never had the group of people needed to pull it off. If we work together, we might be able to do this." Vernon seemed eager to help now, but that left one question.
"And what do you want in return for all this help you're giving us?" Kenny asked.
"Crawford doesn't just have what you need for your boat, they're also well stocked with medical supplies like your friend here wants. Give me some of that, and we'll call it even."
"Deal. We need it too anyway. And whatever ammo we can find as well." Arthur pointed out, as it was all decided. Time to pay Crawford a little visit. 'Just like old times…' Arthur smiled to himself a little with nostalgia. At least he would be robbing people that deserved it. Just like the old days with the gang.