The Walking Dead

Chapter 26

Lee decided it would be a good idea to ask around about the broken flashlight. He head over to his young charge, "Hey, Clementine."

"Hey, Lee!" she peered up at him under her fuzz of hair and purple cap. The notion looked so adorable and innocent that Lee just knew it couldn't be her. Could it?

"You didn't accidentally break a flashlight, did you?"

"No…did Duck say I did?" Clem frowned.

Duck? He wondered how the young boy's name had come up.

"No. Did Duck break the flashlight?"

Clementine explained, "No, I don't think so. He's just always blaming me for stuff."

"Like what?" Lee's tone darkened unconsciously.

"Putting a bug on his pillow." She grimaced in disgust.

Oh.

He arched his brow, "Did you do that?"

Her grimace paused, before melting into a sly grin, "Yes."

Lee held back his giggle, plastering on a stoic and professional face, "Well, see you then, Clementine."

He walked over to the couple still on the couch, "Do you guys know anything about this broken flashlight?"

Kenny expressed, "Fuck, we don't got many of those."

Lee nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it's a problem. The glass and the bulb inside are all busted out."

Katjaa added in helpfully, "I saw some broken glass over by the ice machine. I meant to clean it up before the kids hurt themselves when playing but…I forgot though."

"Thanks, I'll go check it out." It was a good opportunity to check for clues.

On the way to the ice machine, the teenager on watch caught his eye, "A flashlight was broken. Was it you?"

"No." Ben straightly replied.

"You're not in trouble if it was. I know you get nervous and maybe you went out to go to the bathroom, broke it, got worried and tossed it." Lee pressed.

Ben stumbled over his words, "What's with the third degree? I didn't break any flashlight."

It seemed suspicious, but Lee decided to trust him for now. He didn't have any proof against the boy anyway, "Okay then." He relented.

Lee sauntered over to the supposed area with supposed glass. Sure enough, by the fluorescent chalk doodles on the asphalt, there were shards of glass lying about. Lee carefully picked up the largest piece, examining its shape and placing it inside the flashlight's broken lens; fitting perfectly. So did the other pieces. Well, there was his first clue. Whoever had broken this flashlight had obviously not cleaned up after themselves.

He suddenly got a strange impulse to check out the wall on the other side. Lee placed a hand on the corner, taking a look. Unless he really was becoming the world's greatest detective; Batman, he had no idea how or why he check it in the first place. Gut feeling, he supposed. There was a quite large 'X' that hadn't been there before. Lee squinted, scrutinizing the pink sign. He brushed against it with his index and middle finger, taking a powdery and soft material back with them. Huh. Chalk.

Out of the blue, Duck popped out of nowhere, also examining the potential clue, "Pink. Hmm."

"Duck!" Lee scolded frustratingly.

"A clue!" He grinned, waving his finger in the air.

"Maybe."

"What do you think it is?" Duck's eyes grew wide with curiousity.