Chapter 5

  Safe Haven

  The adrenaline was fading, and the pain was coming back.

  Lee sat on the kitchen floor, leaning against the cabinets. His chest heaved as he stared at the body of the babysitter. The hammer was still in his hand, slick with black blood.

  Clementine stood a few feet away, her small hands gripping the hem of her purple dress. She hadn't looked away from the body.

  "Are you okay?" Lee asked, his voice rough.

  Clementine nodded slowly. "I think so." She looked up at him, her golden eyes wide and searching. "Is she... dead?"

  "Yes," Lee said firmly. He needed her to understand. "She's dead. She can't hurt you anymore."

  He groaned as he tried to stand up. His left leg screamed in protest, sending a fresh wave of agony up his spine. He grit his teeth and grabbed the counter, pulling himself upright. He couldn't stay on the floor.

  "We can't stay here," Lee said. "It's not safe. Do you have a backpack? Anything we can take?"

  Clementine nodded again. She turned and ran out of the kitchen. A moment later, she returned with a small, colorful backpack.

  "Good," Lee said. He limped over to the sliding glass door. "Stay close to me."

  They made their way to the front yard. The street was chaos. Abandoned cars littered the road and smoke rose from the city. But right in front of the house, a pickup truck was idling.

  Two men were standing in the street. One was young—Shawn. The other was older—Chet. They were trying to clear the road.

  "Whoa!" Shawn shouted, raising a shovel.

  "Stay back!"

  "We're not bitten!" Lee called out, raising his hands. "I'm hurt. We need help."

  Shawn lowered the shovel. He looked at the blood on Lee, then at the little girl beside him.

  "We're heading out to my dad's farm," Shawn said quickly. "Safest place I know. We can give you a ride."

  It was pitch black by the time the truck crunched onto the gravel driveway of the Greene Family Farm.

  It was beautiful. A big white farmhouse with a wraparound porch, a massive red barn, and miles of wooden fences.

  An older man was waiting on the porch. He had white hair, a stern face, and suspenders. This was Hershel Greene.

  "Dad! We brought folks," Shawn called out.

  Hershel walked down the steps, his eyes narrowing as he saw Lee limp out of the truck.

  "Bring him inside," Hershel said, his voice like gravel. "Let's look at that leg."

  Inside the warm kitchen, Lee sat on a wooden chair while Hershel cleaned the wound. The alcohol stung like fire.

  "You got a name?" Hershel asked without looking up.

  "Lee."

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  "Well, Lee," Hershel said, wrapping a bandage tight around Lee’s thigh. "You want to tell me how you really hurt this leg? Because that looks like a car accident. And I see a lot of police cars smashed up on the highway."

  Lee froze. Hershel was sharp.

  "I... I was getting a ride," Lee lied carefully.

  "Officer was driving me out of Atlanta."

  Hershel finished the knot and stood up. He looked Lee dead in the eye. "I hope you're telling me the truth. I don't invite trouble onto my farm."

  He pointed to the door. "You two can sleep in the barn tonight. It's warm and dry. We'll talk more in the morning."

  The Barn

  The barn was huge and full of hay bales. It was quiet, except for the soft sounds of horses sleeping nearby.

  Lee set up a makeshift bed with some blankets Shawn had given them. Clementine sat down on a hay bale, scrunching her nose.

  "It smells," she whispered.

  Lee chuckled, sitting down painfully. "That's manure, Clem."

  "Manure?"

  "Cow poop."

  Clementine giggled, covering her nose. "See? It smells like poop."

  "Yeah, well," Lee smiled, leaning back against the wood. "It's better than where we were."

  He watched her for a moment. She looked so small in the big barn.

  "Get some sleep, Clem," Lee said softly. "I'll be right here."

  She curled up on the hay, pulling her knees to her chest. "Goodnight, Lee."

  The Next Morning

  "Hey! You folks in there? Rise and shine! We’re burnin' daylight!"

  The loud voice startled Lee awake. He heard heavy boots crunching on the gravel outside, then fading away as the man walked back toward the house.

  Lee sat up quickly, blinking against the bright sunlight streaming through the barn slats. His leg felt stiff, but the bandage held.

  He looked over at the hay bale next to him. Clementine was still fast asleep, curled up in a tight ball with her thumb near her mouth.

  Lee reached over and gently shook her shoulder. "Clem? Time to get up."

  Clementine groaned softly and rubbed her eyes. She sat up, her hair messy, and looked around the barn, momentarily confused until her eyes landed on Lee. She reached for her baseball cap immediately, pulling it tight over her head.

  "Did you hear that man?" she whispered.

  "Yeah," Lee said, standing up and brushing the hay off his pants. "Sounds like Hershel's got other guests. Come on, let's go see who it is."

  They walked out of the barn and into the bright morning sun. The farm was busy, the air smelling of fresh grass and gasoline.

  Over near the house, a pickup truck had its hood popped open. A man with a thick mustache and a mullet was buried waist-deep in the engine block, wrenching on something.

  He pulled his head out as Lee and Clementine approached, wiping his grease-stained hands on a rag.

  "Mornin'!" he shouted with a friendly grin. "I saw you folks pull in last night. Hershel didn't say we had company."

  "Yeah, we got in late," Lee said, shielding his eyes from the sun. "I'm Lee. This is Clementine."

  "Kenny," the man said, shaking Lee’s hand with a firm grip. He pointed over his shoulder to a blonde woman sitting on the porch steps and a boy running in circles in the yard. "That’s my wife, Katjaa. And our boy, Duck."

  "Duck?" Clementine asked quietly.

  Kenny laughed. "Ken Jr., really. But he's loud. Like a Duck. Put two and two together." He looked back at Lee, his expression getting a little more serious. "You guys come from the city? We saw the smoke."

  "Yeah," Lee nodded. "It's... it's bad down there."

  "I bet," Kenny spat on the ground. "We're from Fort Lauderdale. Coming back up from visiting the in-laws in Memphis when the world went to shit. We're trying to get back to the coast. I figure a boat is the best place to be. Walkers can't swim, right?"

  "That's a smart plan," Lee admitted.

  "What about you?" Kenny asked. "You got a plan? Or just seeing where the road takes you?"

  "We're trying to get to Macon," Lee said. "I've got family there. Parents and a brother."

  Kenny nodded thoughtfully, looking at his truck. "Macon, huh? That's on our way."

  He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Tell you what. If we can get this pickup running, we've got room. Hershel’s been kind enough to let us tune it up, but we aren't staying. If you need a lift to Macon, you're welcome to join us."

  Lee looked down at Clementine. She was clutching her backpack straps, looking at the strange man with big eyes. He didn't want to just drag her along with strangers without checking on her first.

  "That's really kind of you," Lee said. "I'll ask her. See what she thinks."

  "Fair enough," Kenny smiled.

  Just then, the little boy, Duck, stopped running in circles and zoomed over to them. He got right in Clementine's face, grinning wildy.

  "I'm Duck!" he yelled. "Like a duck! Quack quack!"

  Clementine froze. She didn't say a word. She just looked up at Lee, her golden eyes asking for permission. Is it safe?

  Lee smiled gently and nodded at her. "Go on, Clem. It's okay."

  Clementine relaxed. She turned back to Duck. "I'm Clementine."

  "Wanna see the tractor?" Duck asked.

  Clementine nodded, and the two kids ran off toward the back fence where Shawn was working.

  Lee spent the next hour helping Hershel around the yard. It felt peaceful. For the first time in two days, he wasn't running for his life.

  Until the screaming started.

  Lee was by the porch, sawing a piece of wood for Shawn. He looked up to check on the kids.

  They were near the back fence by the tractor. Shawn was there too, fortifying the wood.

  "Dad said to make it stronger!" Shawn yelled to Hershel across the yard.

  "Just be careful!" Hershel yelled back.

  Lee watched them. Shawn was talking to Duck. Clementine was standing a few feet away.

  "I saw something!" Duck yelled suddenly.

  "Behind the fence!"

  "Don't go near it, Duck," Shawn warned.

  Duck ignored him. He leaned close to the wooden slats. "It looks like a..."

  A grey, rotting hand shot through the gap in the fence.

  It grabbed Duck’s shirt.

  "DADDY!" Duck screamed.

  The walker pulled violently, slamming the boy’s chest against the wood. More hands appeared, clawing at him, trying to drag him through the broken slats.

  "Duck!" Kenny shouted, dropping his wrench.

  Lee dropped the saw and sprinted. His leg burned, but he ran faster than he ever had.

  Shawn jumped off the tractor seat to help. "Let him go!"

  Shawn grabbed the walker's arms, trying to pry them off the boy. But as he shoved, the fence gave way slightly.

  Shawn stumbled back. His boot hit a patch of mud.

  He slipped.

  He fell hard, tumbling right into the path of the tractor.

  And then, another walker lunged from the bushes.

  It grabbed Shawn’s leg.

  "LEE!" Shawn screamed, kicking desperately as he was dragged toward the tractor’s heavy wheel. "HELP ME!"

  "DADDY! HELP!" Duck shrieked, the walkers pulling him closer to their snapping teeth.

  Lee skid to a halt in the mud. He looked left. He looked right.

  Kenny was still running from the house.

  Hershel was too far away.

  It was just Lee.

  Shawn was being dragged under the fence.

  Duck was about to be bitten.

  He couldn't save both.

  And he had one second to choose.

  Q: You have 1 second. Who do you save?