Prompt: After the deaths of Carley, Katjaa, and Duck, Lee and Kenny help each other cope. Just some bromance because I love Kenny :)
XX
"Hey man." Lee said as he sat by Kenny on the unmoving train. Kenny was once again drinking and sitting by himself. He had been doing this a lot lately ever since the death of his son. Lee knew it was hard for him. It was sort if difficult for him to see his best friend like this, it wasn't normal. But Lee knew exactly how Kenny was feeling. Lee himself was having his own problems too, namely coping with Carley's death. He had loved her, and he would admit that to anybody. When she had gotten shot, he was close to breaking down. The only thing that was stopping him from doing so was Clementine. He had to be strong for her, he had to take care of her. But Kenny, he had nobody.
"Hey Lee." Kenny said, sitting up and holding out the bottle of whiskey he was drinking. "Want some?"
"No, thanks. I try not to drink when Clementine is around." Lee said.
"Sorry. I forgot how it is having a kid around and how you can't drink." Kenny laughed and put the bottle up to his lips once again. "You know, Katjaa always used to get on me about drinking in front of Duck. She said it was irresponsible and that I was setting a bad example. Whenever I would drink, she would go on and on about all of the dumb things I had done or said in front of Duck. Most of the time, I would be too hungover to care. But sometimes, I would think about what I was doing. I would think that maybe I was setting a bad example for my son. Maybe, I wasn't doing the right thing. If I kept it up, my son was going to be a sorry ass like me. I suggested this to Katjaa multiple times. She would say 'Ken, you're not a sorry ass. You just don't always make the right decisions.' And I knew that she was right."
Lee let Kenny talk, thinking that it was the best thing for him to do.
Kenny put down the bottle. "You know, I wish I had another second. You know, so I could save her. So I could push that gun away."
"Me too." Lee said.
"What?"
"I wish I had another second, so I could save Carley. I loved her, I really did. I wish I could've caught what was going on and I wish they I could've stopped Lilly. But no. I was too slow. Sometimes, I feel like it's my fault."
"You weren't too slow, it just happened all too fast. You were turned towards me, and then next thing you know, Lilly had her gun out."
"The more I think about it, I realize that I should've been keeping an eye on Lilly."
"You didn't know that she was gonna shoot. Stop blaming yourself. I'm the one that should be doing that. I was right there, I could've stopped her."
"I was right there too."
"Yeah, but so was Ben."
"He wasn't going to do anything. In fact, he could've stopped it by just confessing, even if it really wasn't him stealing supplies."
"Yeah."
The two sat in silence for a few moments, unable to say anything. After what felt like an hour, Kenny turned to Lee.
"Do you ever wish... That it was you who died instead?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah, every day."
"Same. I mean, Kat didn't deserve that. Even though she did it to herself, I know exactly how she was feeling at the moment. I know that she couldn't handle losing Duck. When I saw that she had pulled that trigger, I wanted to die with her. But I knew that I just couldn't let my son turn. But at first, I was actually thinking about killing myself too. At the moment it just felt right."
Lee was stunned at Kenny's confession. He didn't know how to respond at first. "Well, if I had the chance, if take the bullet for Carley. I'd jump in front of it in a second."
"God... If anything I thought if be the first to die out of the two of us. I mean, seriously. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I knew deep down that I'd be the first to go. Not my wife. Hell, not even my son. I thought that he was going to grow up and be able to carry out his life."
"If he lived longer, would you have taught him to shoot?"
"Of course. I would've taught him ever trick that he could use to protect himself. If make him a master. Katjaa wouldn't have approved, but I would've talked her into it. You know me."
"Yeah. You know, if there's one thing I learned about watching loved ones die, it's take nothing for granted. Because a split second is all it takes to take all of that away."
"Yeah. And it's old school and cliché, but now I'm starting to believe the whole 'you don't what you have until it is gone.' thing. I mean, you never know when it can all be stripped away, so you have to love every second."
"I know, man." Lee stood up and stretched. He'd love to talk more, but he remembered that he had to go tend to his little girl, the only thing that he had left. "I better get back to Clementine now. It was nice talking to you man."
"Same to you. Talking... I don't know, it just makes me feel better." Kenny said. Lee agreed with him, this whole thing had made him feel better than he had in a long time. "See ya around."
"See ya." Lee walked away and headed towards Clementine. As he was doing so, he whispered "I miss you Carley." into the sky. He talked to her many times, it was a normal thing for him. But this time, he actually believed that she could hear him.
