Walker? or Zombies? (Walking Dead Game x Strong OC)

Chapter 20: The Long Road

---

The world was dust and screaming. From the precarious ledge of the collapsing second floor, Lee watched the alley swallow Zack and Clementine whole. He saw the impossible landing, the boy standing amidst the wreckage of the dumpster, a small, precious bundle held tight to his chest. He saw the final, silent nod—a transfer of burden, a king abdicating his throne—and then they were gone, consumed by the shadows of the dead city.

"Lee!" Carley's voice, sharp with terror, snapped him back to the horrifying present. "The floor! It's going!"

The section of the bookstore they were clinging to groaned, shedding plaster and splintered wood into the churning vortex of walkers below. The roar of the dead was a physical force, a wave of sound that threatened to shake them from their perch.

Zack's last order echoed in Lee's mind, a clarion call through the fog of his grief. Get them out of this city. That's your mission now!

"The roof!" Lee roared, finding his voice. "Everyone, to the roof! Now!"

There was no time for panic, no time for debate. He grabbed Carley's arm, hauling her away from the crumbling edge. Kenny, his face a mask of numb shock, scooped up a crying Duck with his good arm while Katjaa grabbed his other. Omid and Christa, Ben and Travis, Beatrice—they scrambled like rats from a sinking ship, clawing their way toward the stairwell that led up.

Their retreat was a desperate, ugly thing. The building shuddered around them, threatening to collapse entirely. They reached the roof just as the floor they had been standing on gave way completely, plunging into the sea of walkers with a final, deafening crash.

They were on an island in a sea of death. The rooftop was their last refuge. Below them, the streets of Savannah were a river of the dead, thousands upon thousands, all drawn to the burning, collapsing Gilded Hotel and the chaos of the bookstore.

"The boat!" Kenny yelled, his voice hoarse. "Zack said there was a boat! On the river!"

"We have to get down first!" Lee countered, his eyes scanning the surrounding rooftops. Their path back was gone. The fire escape they had used was on the other side of the collapsed section. They were stranded.

"There!" Christa shouted, pointing. A neighboring building, a low-slung warehouse, was only ten feet away, its roof a story below them. It was a dangerous jump, but it was their only way out.

"We have to go!" Lee commanded. "One at a time! Kenny, you, Katjaa, get Duck down first!"

What followed was a nightmare of controlled falling. Kenny, his face grim, dropped his son into Lee's waiting arms on the roof below before making the jarring jump himself. They formed a human chain, helping the others down. Carley, Christa, Beatrice, then a terrified Ben and Travis. Lee was the last to jump, landing hard, the impact jarring his teeth. They were off the collapsing building, but they were still trapped in the heart of the city, with the horde closing in.

---

In a filthy alley two blocks away, Zack set Clementine down. Her small body was trembling, but she wasn't crying. Her eyes, wide and full of a terror too deep for tears, were fixed on his face.

"Are they... are they gone?" she whispered.

"They're alive," Zack said, his voice a low, certain growl. He was scanning the alley, his blades already in his hands. "Lee will get them out. He has to." He looked down at her, his gaze intense. The world had shrunk. The group, the politics, the petty squabbles—all of it had been burned away. All that was left was the mission. Her.