Mannn...
I understand WHY she did what she did, but...
Poor, poor Kenny...
**warning!**
There is a suicide in this chapter!
...
..
.
The train flies on the tracks past walkers, (Y/N) sitting on the ground with her legs hugged to her chest. Clement sat besides her, leaning on the wall and looking at the side of her face in concern every so often.
She didn't notice, her eyes fixated on Katjaa and Duck, who had gone from pale to a ghostly white.
Lee also kept his eye on Duck and Katjaa, wary of the boy turning. A tense silence was over the group, the unspoken acknowledgement of the situation heavy in the air.
"... Gotta be hard on ya, huh?" Chuck comments, leaning on the boxcar door and looking out. "Three adults takin' care of four kids."
He glances back at Ben.
"No disrespect, son."
Ben huffs, frowning and looking away with a pout at being grouped with the little kids.
Lee lets out a sigh, crossing his arms. "There were more of us."
Chuck resumes facing forward. "Dead get 'em?"
Lee thinks back to everyone they have lost so far. Mark, Larry, Carley... Even Lilly, he supposed.
"... No."
"Ah," Chuck nods, humming. "Livin' got 'em."
Duck suddenly jerks, violently coughing up blood and gagging as Katjaa's eyes widen. "Lee! Lee, I need you, right now!"
Lee rushes over, quickly dropping to his knees in front of the two.
"I need you to go get Ken," Katjaa pleads, cradling Duck's head to her chest. "And... Can you get that off his face? My hands are full here."
Lee's gaze lingers on Duck's face, blood smeared across his cheek. He picks up the rag, holding it to Duck's face and gently wiping away at the blood.
He looks down at the rag, his expression falling as he and Katjaa share a look.
She closes her eyes tightly, "he's out of time. We need to stop this train. Please."
Lee rises, still holding the rag as he nods. "Okay."
He turns glancing at Clement and (Y/N) with worry before leaving the boxcar, carefully walking on the platform towards the engineer cab.
Kenny doesn't react to Lee opening the door, though his hand does tense slightly on the panel.
"You need to stop the train," Lee says quietly.
Kenny silently looks over his shoulder, glaring at Lee before looking ahead.
"Katjaa needs you, Kenny."
"Duck will be fine!" Kenny snaps, banging his fist on the panel.
Lee remains silent, watching his friend sympathetically.
"Go back there and tell my wife everything will be fine." Kenny firmly demands, huffing as he glares down the tracks. "What is the Goddamn deal? He's a little sick, but we can't just quit! It's a scratch! He's not like the others! Jesus, all y'all are just makin' it worse!"
The others?
Lee pauses, his face falling and his eyes slowly widening with realization. "This isn't about Duck."
