Chapter 11

  Echoes

  "My name is Irene," the girl whispered, clutching the doorframe. She looked at the bite on her ankle, then up at Lee. Her eyes were wet, trembling with a fear that went beyond death. "I was... I was waiting for my boyfriend. Frank."

  She let out a choked, bitter laugh. "He went to get ice. He said he’d be five minutes. He’s been gone for two days."

  Glenn—the group's scout—stepped forward, his face desperate. "You don't have to do this. We can take you with us. My group has a doctor. Maybe... maybe there's something..."

  "There isn't," Irene cut him off softly. She looked at Lee. She saw the darkness in his face, the way he held himself like a man who had already lost everything. "You know there isn't. Don't you?"

  Lee didn't answer. He just nodded.

  Irene closed her eyes. Tears squeezed out, tracking through the grime on her cheeks. "I don't want to turn into one of them. I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want... I just want to see Frank again."

  She opened her eyes and looked at the pistol in Carley’s waistband.

  "Please," she whispered. "I can't do it with a knife. I tried. I'm not brave enough."

  Carley looked at Lee, her voice low and urgent. "Lee, the noise... a gunshot out here will bring every walker for miles. We’ll be swarmed."

  Lee looked at the herd shuffling in the courtyard below. He looked at the dead bodies of his parents and brother on the balcony. He felt a hollowness in his chest so deep it felt like he was drowning.

  "Give it to her," Lee said, his voice rasping like sandpaper. "She deserves to go on her own terms. She deserves peace."

  Carley hesitated, then pulled the pistol. She checked the chamber. "One round," she said, handing it to Irene handle-first. "Make it count."

  Irene took the gun. Her hands stopped shaking. A strange calm washed over her face.

  "Thank you," she said to Lee. "For being kind. Even when you look like you want to die yourself."

  "Go inside," Lee said gently.

  Irene nodded. She stepped back into the darkness of Room 10. "You guys should go. It's gonna get loud."

  Lee turned to the railing where his brother’s body lay. He had one second. He knelt down, ignoring the blood, and reached into B's pocket. He pulled out a wallet and a heavy set of keys. He shoved them both into his pocket without looking.

  BANG.

  The sound cracked the night open.

  Immediately, the low moan of the herd pitched up into a shriek. The walkers in the courtyard turned toward the motel room. The ones on the street began to surge against the gate.

  "GO!" Lee roared.

  They sprinted down the stairs, vaulting over the railing just as the first walkers stumbled into the courtyard. Lee didn't look back. He just ran, his lungs burning, chasing the ghost of the man he used to be.

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  The Pharmacy

  They crashed through the front door, Carley slamming the deadbolt home just as fists started pounding on the glass. The bell above the door jingled aggressively, announcing their return.

  The room erupted instantly.

  "You're back!" Kenny yelled, stepping out from the aisle, wiping grease from his hands. "Did you get the gas? Is the truck ready?"

  "What happened?" Lilly demanded, rushing forward, her eyes scanning the group frantically. "Where is the survivor? Glenn radioed that you found a girl!"

  "Is anyone hurt?" Katjaa asked, her motherly instinct kicking in as she saw the breathless state of the runners. "Let me see!"

  "We got the fuel!" Glenn gasped, leaning over his knees. "But we... we barely made it out!"

  "And the girl?" Lilly pressed, her voice sharp. "Did you leave her? Was she bitten?"

  "Lilly, back off!" Kenny snapped. "Let the kid breathe! We need to focus on the gas!"

  The adults were a whirlwind of noise and panic—arguing about fuel, shouting about survivors, checking exits. They were so focused on the mission that they didn't see the man.

  Lee walked past them like a ghost. He didn't answer Kenny. He didn't look at Lilly. His boots felt like lead weights on the linoleum.

  He slumped against the main counter, sliding down until he hit the floor. He rested the axe across his knees and buried his face in his hands, shutting out the argument.

  But someone saw him.

  Clementine stood by the candy aisle. She wasn't looking at Glenn or Carley. She wasn't listening to Kenny shout about the RV. She was looking only at Lee.

  She walked past the shouting adults, clutching her stuffed bear. She sat down on the dirty floor next to Lee. She didn't say anything at first. She just leaned her head against his arm, offering the only comfort she had—her presence.

  Lee took a shuddering breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crinkled photograph he had taken from his brother’s wallet.

  It was a picture from Thanksgiving three years ago. Lee, his brother B, and their parents. They were laughing.

  Clementine looked at the photo, then at the drying blood on Lee's shirt. She connected the dots in a way the adults hadn't.

  "That's your family, isn't it?" she whispered.

  Lee nodded slowly, his thumb rubbing the edge of the photo. "Yeah, Clem. It is."

  "I miss my parents too," she said softly, hugging her bear tighter. "But... I'm glad you're here, Lee. You keep me safe."

  Lee looked at her. The darkness in his mind receded just a fraction. "I'm glad I'm here too, sweet pea. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

  Suddenly, the shouting stopped.

  Lilly had turned to ask Lee a question, but the words died in her throat. She saw Lee broken on the floor. She saw the little girl trying to hold him together.

  Kenny stopped pacing. Katjaa covered her mouth. The argument about gas and supplies evaporated.

  "Oh god," Carley whispered to the group, seeing their realization. "His family... his parents, his brother... they were all at the Motor Inn. Lee had to... he had to end it."

  Lilly’s expression softened instantly. She looked at her own father, Larry, resting in the corner, and realized how close she had come to being in Lee’s shoes.

  "We can't stay here," Glenn said, breaking the heavy silence. His voice was shaky. "That gunshot... Irene... it's going to draw everything in Macon. We have the gas. We need to leave."

  "Leave?" Kenny asked, his voice much quieter now. "And go where? The coast?"

  "Anywhere but here," Lee said. He stood up slowly, helping Clementine to her feet. As he stood, the heavy set of keys in his pocket jingled loudly.

  "Wait," Lilly said, her eyes narrowing at his pocket. "What's that sound?"

  Lee reached in and pulled out the keys he had taken from his brother. "My brother's keys. He was the manager here."

  Lilly’s eyes widened in horror. She pointed to the wall right behind Lee's head—the security panel behind the counter where he had just been sitting.

  "Lee," she whispered. "That square fob. That's a proximity key."

  Lee looked at the fob in his hand. Then he looked at the blinking red light on the panel inches from his face.

  "My dad said those systems have a delay," Lilly said, stepping back. "If you bring the master key within range of the sensor..."

  BEEP.

  The red light on the panel turned green. It had recognized the key the moment Lee sat down. It was just waiting for the system to arm.

  "Oh no," Glenn whispered.

  WHEEEEEEEEE-OOOOP! WHEEEEEEEEE-OOOOP!

  A deafening, high-pitched alarm began to blare from the ceiling. It was loud enough to wake the dead. Loud enough to signal every walker in the city.

  Outside the front window, the shadows multiplied. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. The glass began to vibrate under the force of the pounding.

  "THE ALARM!" Kenny screamed over the noise. "IT'S CALLING THEM!"

  CRACK.

  A massive spiderweb fracture appeared on the front window.

  The glass is cracking. The alarm is deafening. The herd is seconds away from flooding the pharmacy. What is Lee's immediate reflex?