A Better World

Chapter 4

The words 'Husband and Wife' rang in Clementines ears. They kept repeating in her head like a song in a repeat loop. The day had finally come where Lee and Carley could enjoy their new life together, though still stuck inside the walls of the base, which had grown vastly over the six months. They had started dating only a little under a week after they had settled in. To say that the dates had gone well was an understatement. They not only found a lot more in common than they had originally thought about each other, but they also found that they could trust one another with literally almost anything. Clementine could see something blossoming between them ever since they met, she just didn't quite understand what it all meant.

Things of the normal world had started to take off once again. Things like businesses, schools, offices, and farms were just a few of the things starting to rise. But of course, came politics, and the annoying ones at that. Things like congress, the treasury, FBI, CIA, heck even the IRS was starting to take back the country. Lee was not looking forward to paying taxes this next year, especially since they weren't going to be cheap either. Ever since the apocalypse, supplies were very high in demand, and you were lucky if you found even a crumb of food at an all you can eat buffet, or what was left of it at least.

Today was the last day for the group and, well, everyone really to be inside the walls of the base. The Navy hadn't really been used as far as being on the water to hunt down the walkers. Most of the military had been assigned night missions with other special operations teams from around the globe to take care of the remaining zombies that were still derping around. Man, they were dumb. It would have been something else if they were even able to figure out what water was.

As Lee, Carley, and Clementine prepared to leave, Kenny walked up to Lee, ready to spring up an idea that hed had for a while.

"Hey, Lee, do you mind if I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah, man, of course. Whats up?" asked Lee in return.

"I was just thinking, with everything going back to normal, to the way it was, me and my family were wondering if we could join you in looking for a place. Were asking if we could be neighbors, so to speak?" asked Kenny. This was Lee he was talking to, he wouldnt reject this offer. Would he?

"You got a resounding yes from me, Kenny," said Lee, extending his hand for a shake. Kenny smiled at this and shook his hand in return. Things were looking up for the both of them.

"Its a plan then. What do you say we get the rest of our things packed up and hit the road?"

"You definitely got my attention now," said Lee, laughing with Kenny as they two walked over to their supplies. The military had fixed up other vehicles for each of the families that they had hosted during their stay. Both Kenny and Lee had received Chevrolet pickups, Larry and Lilly on the other hand, had been supplied with a Dodge, which Lilly insisted on. Each family had also received a good chunk of money to get them started with living normally again. Lee and Carley had decided that they were just going to put it into a bank account and save it, seeing as they couldnt really use it until they got to their home, wherever it was.

The two families got their things packed into their trucks, started the engines, and looked around to make sure they hadnt forgotten anything. Everything looked good to Lee, so he decided to hop into his truck, but before he did, he saw Larry and Lilly walking up to him. He wondered what their plans were after leaving, so he decided to ask.

"Are you guys leaving too?"

"Yeah, we're staying an extra day though so that my dad can rest," said Lilly, looking over to her father.

"Makes sense, so whats your plan?" asked Lee.

"Were going back down to the Air Force base that I was assigned to, itll be nice to get back there," said Lilly, thinking about her previous days on the base.

"Yeah, I bet. I wish you both luck then," said Lee.

"Thanks, I appreciate it, and uh, you too. Youve got a lovely family their Lee. Well, we should let you guys get going, youve got a long drive ahead of you," said Lilly, holding out her hand for him to shake, which he did.

"That we do," said Lee.

"Hey, Lee," said Larry, as Lee was about to walk off. Lee turned around to face him, thinking he was going to get another punch to the face, but he didnt. Larry also stuck out his arm for a handshake, at least thats what Lee hoped it was, so he obliged and shook his hand.

"No hard feelings, alright? I just want to wish you guys luck as well," said Larry. Lee was surprised by this, this was weird, but at least it was something good coming from him.

"Thanks Larry, I appreciate that," said Lee. All he earned was a nod from Larry before he walked off to join his daughter. They were never going to see each other again, but in Lees opinion, that was probably for the best.

The drive, if Lee was being honest, wasnt as exciting as to be expected. Even though things were back to normal, there was still tons of construction that needed to be done. But Lee was glad to be looking at all the rebuilding. If the world hadnt been infected with zombies, Lee would have hated dealing with this construction while driving to work, but instead there was so much hope in his eyes. He had taken so much for granted before, and now that he realizes that, it was almost as if things like the internet were being discovered by the human race for the first time again. All of these things that Lee could look up to, brought a smile to his face.

His smile faded though when he looked into his rearview mirror and saw what looked like a police car chasing him down. Even though he was in trouble most likely, this event brought nostalgia back to him too. The number of tickets he had to pay off were too great of a number to count, at least to him. He pulled off to the side and saw that the cop followed his action. What was happening?

He turned off the truck and rolled down the window. He saw another cop car park behind the first car. As both the cops walked up to the truck, Lee wondered what they were wanting. He was slightly nervous that things werent going to go so well for him.

"Hello sir, are you Lee Everett?" asked the cop. Lee nodded.

"Step out please," said the cop. What on earth was going on? Lee did as he was told and stepped out, closing the truck door behind him.

"Turn around," said the officer. That didnt sound good. Well surprise, surprise, it wasnt. As Lee turned, he was being handcuffed by the cop that had just pulled him over.

"Hey, what are yo-," said Lee, but was interrupted.

"You are being arrested for the murder of State Senator, Sam D. Lawrence. Anything you do or say will be used against you in the court of law. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you, any questions?" asked the cop. Lee was too shocked right now to even focus, but he asked the one thing that was on his mind right now.

"What's going to happen to Clementine and my wife?" asked Lee. He wanted Clem to be safe, that's all he wanted right now, was for his family to be safe.

"Clementine is going to be put into foster housing, where she will be put under an adoption listing. As for your wife, she will simply go on with her day," said the cop. Lee wasn't able to say anything to Clem or Carley, as he was already being walked over to the police car to the back seat. He looked over and saw the other cop walking Clementine over to his cop car. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks and knew right then and there that he was going to adopt her someday, he just had to figure out how. But for right now, all he knew was that he was right back to where he started. On the way to jail.