Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

24. George

Deafening shots and glass shattering rang out through the lodge. Clementine dove under the table for cover. She started crawling forward, when a section of the table in front her erupted from a shotgun blast. Clementine covered her ears as blast after blast sounded around her, petrifying her. She heard people running and shouting, followed by more gunshots. From under the table she could just barely see Pete dive for cover behind the couch.

Clementine tried moving towards him from under the table, but another volley of earsplitting shots stopped Clem in her tracks. She watched as someone very tall and very big fired three more shots at the top of the couch while approaching it, almost as if he wasn't trying to hit Pete himself. The mountain of a man swung around the couch just in time to meet Pete as he came out of cover to attack. They froze as they locked eyes, their guns waiting at the ready.

"Bill was so sure I wouldn't find you," growled the man in a deep voice. "But like I told him, Pete may not be stupid, but Pete's predictable. Doddering old fool couldn't do anything without rambling out loud about it first."

Clementine inched closer for a better look. The man had dark skin and a very long black beard that stopped just short of his bulging stomach. He wore a thick camouflage trench coat with a matching skull cap. He positively towered over Pete, his massive paws loosely gripping a long black shotgun as if it were nothing important. Looking at the terrifying man, Clementine couldn't help assuming that this was George.

"I knew you were hiding something during all those long trips up north. And when you didn't come for it I knew you lay low in the woods. Still, I was thinking you might put up more of a chase than this. You practically left us a damn trail to follow." Pete kept silent, staring at George with his hands tightly wrapped around his revolver. "Then again, you never did know when you were beat."

Pete drew his gun, but George knocked it clear out of his hand with a swift and vicious swing of the barrel of his own gun. George smashed the butt of his gun into Pete's face before planting his foot in Pete's chest, kicking the older man into a wall. As the bloodied Pete hit the floor, he looked up at something in desperation.

"Sarah grab it!" Clem spun her head around and saw a horrified Sarah trembling in the corner, Pete's gun lying at her feet. "Hurry! Get—" George kicked Pete in the chest just as Sarah reached for the wayward revolver. Just as she picked it up, George spun around and took aim. Clem watched in horror as George pulled the trigger, prompting Sarah to scream out in terror.

A loud clicked sounded from George's gun, but nothing else. He hastily pulled the trigger twice more, producing two more clicks before examining the weapon in surprise. He tossed the empty gun aside and marched toward the terrified teenager.

"Fucking shoot him Sarah!" Pete's order reached the girl, who took hold of the pistol and pointed it right at George, stopping the man in his tracks. Looking at a whimpering Sarah trying to steady her hands, Clem suddenly remembered her own gun. She turned around and saw it just behind her, not realizing she even dropped it. She reached out for it when she heard a new voice.

"Drop the gun kid!" Clementine froze in place. She looked over her shoulder and saw a man with a pistol, aiming at Sarah.

"Put her down Byron!" ordered George.

"No!" Carlos's scream spurred Clementine into action. She grabbed her pistol and spun around just in time to see the other man cocking the hammer on his gun.

"Kid! Drop the damn gun!" Clementine couldn't see this Byron person's face from under the table, so she aimed at his chest. Just as she thought she had the shot, Pete lunged at Byron with a knife, moving right into the line of fire. Clem hastily lowered her gun just as Byron moved backwards with shocking speed, training his gun on Pete instead.