"I've got it right here!"

It should've been me. The words were right there in my mouth but I just… froze. Lee would be ashamed of me right now.

"I took it from you guys, it's my fault."

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"You've got some guts, kid, I'll give you that much. A hell of a lot more than the rest of your sorry excuse of a group."

Shit… Do something, Ken! Anything! You need to act fast.

"But you know the price of treason… Nothing changes, not even if you're a kid."

You son of a –

The first punch sends her to the ground with her in a complete daze. As soon as her head hits the concrete, I know she is seeing stars. The second punch comes, then the third… Her face starts getting bloody after the first blow, but now it looks like a complete mess.

"Get off her! Clemen – OOF!"

I wasn't sure what hit me, but it hurt like hell. This was nothing compared to what she must've been feeling though. I turn on my back to see that fucker Troy standing over me with the rifle pointed straight at my head, but I can tell that even he was uneasy about Carver beating the shit out of Clementine.

Troy hits me again as I tried to crawl over to her, whatever help that might have been. Thankfully, Carver seems to stop as one of the women (Bonnie, I think it was?) comes out and starts talking about a breach of some kind. I don't quite understand, and frankly I don't give a damn.

I remember back at that dairy farm, when we were stuck in the meat locker and Lee tried to save Larry. And I remember how furious I got when he didn't immediately side with me.

Fucking worthless is what I called him.

Now, it seems my words had come back to bite me in the ass.

I could hear Lee's voice screaming in my head…

I trusted you Kenny… I trusted you, and this is what you do? Leave Clementine to get beaten on by a madman? What do you think Duck would say?

There's a burning sensation on my cheek as the blood runs down from my cut, but all I can keep saying is Clementine, Clementine, Clementine.

Salvaging what was left of my manhood and my pride, I stand up and trudge over to the girl, despite Sarita's protests. As much as I love Sarita, she can be a bit too cautious at times. There are more important matters right now than my own safety.

"Oh my god…" is all I can say as I collapse onto my knees and look at the crumpled heap before me. Clementine… the sweet little girl that stumbled into our lives and made me think that not everything in this world has gone to hell… the one person who came back into my life after two years and gave me something to hope for again… can't even open her eyes.

She's bruised and bloody, and I'm pretty sure she's unconscious. Bonnie is on the other side of her saying something about leaving as soon as we can, but I tune her out along with everyone else.

Rebecca is crying. Yeah, you heard right. The same person whom Clem told me had been a complete bitch to her when she first arrived. How dare she! She doesn't have the right to be upset!

On the other side, Carlos is hugging his daughter Sarah extremely tightly – probably wondering how Carver could be so far gone. As far as I'm concerned, it's 'cause he's a crazy son of a bitch who doesn't deserve to live. Actually, he does – just long enough for the walkers to sink their teeth into his neck.

Then I realize, that's too good for him.

Without as much as a word, I scoop up Clementine in my arms and walk back to the beds. Nobody says a word to me – even that little turd Luke is too shell-shocked to comfort his pal Nick, who was rubbing his fingers through his hair.

I sit on one of the beds with her in my lap, taking her old hat off of her head and placing it down beside me. Not speaking for a bit, I gently rock her back and forth like I used to do with Duck when he was small; hoping that it somehow might make things better.

Of course it doesn't.

I'm in a daze, and I honestly don't plan on getting out of it. Not that I'd want to anyway, because as soon as I do I know that they'll start asking if I'm alright. What do they think my answer will be?! No I'm not fuckin' alright! I already lost one child, I'm not losing this one too!

Losing Clem might just well do me in…

Reluctantly, as the afternoon starts to pass, I allow Carlos to work on her while I go back to the fire pit. I don't say anything as I sit down in the lawn chair, but they all know what I'm thinking. My facial expression says it all.

Revenge.

I owed Lee and Clem that much.

About an hour passes, and I see Carlos come up to let us know what's going on. But I don't sit and listen. Instead, I go right back over to Clem and sit on an empty part of the bed. I take her tiny hand in mine and apologize over and over again.

Sorry for being such an ass all the time.

Sorry for not saying something when Carver asked about that stupid radio.

Sorry for not gutting the bastard right then and there.

But most of all… sorry that I let you down.

"This is bullshit," I hear Luke say, and I turn my head to watch them argue.

"What other choice do we have?" Nick asks, "I mean, come on, what if she doesn't make it? Carver hit her pretty hard. If she were here, she'd want us to move on."

Why that little bastard…

"He does have a point unfortunately…" Mike joins in, hanging his head in shame.

"So, what – was the shed not good enough for you people? Are we just going to let her die here now? Didn't work the first time so let's try again?! Is that it?!" Luke yells. Obviously they aren't telling me something that would probably end up making me shoot them in the balls, but at least Luke hasn't given up hope yet.

My thoughts are immediately forgotten as I feel a slight squeeze of my hand, and I look down in disbelief. Here's Clem, with her left eye just barely able to be opened and her right one covered by a bloody bandage. She's got a little smile on her face, and I can't help but smile back (albeit painfully).

"Did… I miss… anything?" she manages to choke out, and I wipe a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"Nothing at all, darlin'. Just rest, ok?"

"I can't, Kenny. I… I need to see the rest. I need to be strong…"

"Clem, there ain't nobody in this world stronger than you, I can promise you that. Are you sure you're up for it?"

She gives a slow nod, and I carefully lift her up without causing any more stress. When her knees start to shake and buckle, I ask her again if she still wants to see everyone. She nods, but instead of me letting her try to walk again, I scoop her up in my arms and start to walk over. Here comes the surprise of the century…

"Look, Alvin is dead, Clem's just gotten the shit beaten out of her, and I'm a god-damned mess! We can't go."

"Bonnie's agreed to help us tonight," Mike argued.

"And there's no reason she can't help us some other night," Luke retorted, despair written all over his face.

"What is it with you?" Rebecca asked.

"Why do you gotta be like that – no fuckin way…"

As Luke's eyes widen, everyone slowly turns towards me and see her in my arms. Emotions are mixed – relief, shock, sadness and regret – but everyone seems relieved that she's alright.

"What's up… guys?"

Over the next few hours, our plan is set in motion. Since Clementine isn't up for climbing anything at the moment, Luke climbs up the ladder and breaks into Carver's office. The ladder collapses when he gets to the top because of the weight, but it doesn't matter anymore.

All I've got on my mind right now is Carver, and all the ways I'm going to make him pay.

I may have chickened out at the start, but I'm sure as hell not backing down tonight.