And now we come to the final chapter of this story. I want to thank you all for reading and supporting me, and especially those who even helped out when they could. I appreciate each and every one of you. :)

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"Against the tide we struggle with the skin we're in, the skin we're in. Against the tide we struggle to keep our heads above the deep and our hearts above the lie."

The lyrics to the song that Sarah's mother would sing for her brought the dark-haired teenager great comfort that late afternoon. It was now five days after sheltering at the hut, and according to Kenny, the group of four were closer to Wellington than ever.

There was still a couple of nights where Sarah had cried herself to sleep (when she made sure no one was listening, of course) because she still missed Carlos, but she really was getting better. She was beginning to function in a zombie apocalyptic world, and Clementine couldn't be more proud of her friend.

During that period of time, Clementine had found herself telling Sarah her whole story, her entire journey since the very beginning. She even told her about a cannibalistic family called the St. Johns, and how they have chopped off the legs of a man named Mark and served them for dinner.

"You really ate some guy's legs?" Sarah had asked incredulously. She felt very squeamish, she never knew that people could eat other people.

"I almost did. Lee stopped me, though," Clementine closed her eyes and turned away.

"Eww!" Sarah had squealed. "I can't believe that they would actually kill people, and eat them!"

That had been on the sixth day.

It was now nine whole days since Sarah, Clementine, Kenny, and AJ had left the spot where Jane had been killed. They had endured another blizzard and a very low number of supplies during that amount of time, but they all came out unscathed.

Right now, Sarah and Clementine were standing at the bottom of a hill, gazing ahead. There was a dark cloud of smoke up ahead, signaling a fire. The two girls could faintly smell it.

Clementine turned around to talk to Kenny, who was coming up from behind. "It's just a little further. We're almost there."

"I sure hope that's a cook fire...oh, we could use a hot meal right about now," Kenny answered, his voice sounding tired. "Might be all I need."

The bearded man stopped, and turned to the girls. "Hey, I'll race you both to the top." He took off running with AJ in his arms, laughing in rare delight.

"Hey!" Clem called, she and Sarah running after him.

Kenny continued to laugh and run. For once, he seemed to have no worries. "Come on, Alvie! We got this!" he exclaimed to the baby in his arms.

He stopped at the top of the hill, gazing ahead in surprise. Clem and Sarah had finally caught up to him.

"You cheated!" Sarah accused playfully.

That was when the two girls noticed what Kenny was looking at. There was a very tall wall, looking to be very protected. A big red gate was at the very front, and there was a window just above it.

"Is that..." Sarah trailed off.

"Holy shit..." Kenny breathed. "We did it, girls! I..." He laughed. "I can't believe we found it!"

"It's about time," Clementine agreed.

"Well, what are we waitin' for? Come on!" Kenny began walking forward, as did Clementine and Sarah. "This one's gotta be the one. Look at those walls. We'll finally feel safe, girls! Be able to sleep at night..."

A gunshot went off, stopping the three in their tracks. Sarah screamed lightly and jumped back, while Clem flinched.

"That's far enough," a woman's voice on an intercom ordered.

"Just stay still, both of you, just do what she says," Kenny assured them. "Put your hands up, Clem. Sarah, you too."

Both of the girls obliged.

"Drop your weapons," the same voice commanded.

The girls looked up at Kenny hesitantly, and the older man nodded. They pulled out their guns and dropped them to the ground. Sarah was afraid that hers would somehow go off, but luckily it didn't.

"Approach the gate."

The three walked over, AJ still in Kenny's arms. A woman with brown hair, probably the owner of the voice over the intercom, showed herself at the top window. She was talking into a walkie-talkie.

"Just a few people at the front gate," she said. "They don't look like trouble...sounds good."

The woman looked down and smiled lightly. "Hi, I'm Edith."

"Name's Kenny, and this here's Clementine, and that's Sarah," Kenny introduced them.

"Hello," Edith replied. She finally noticed the baby. "Aw, what a handsome boy. Look at him! What's his name?"

"Alvin...Junior."

"Aww, he's gonna be a little heart-breaker when he grows up," Edith cooed.

"Is there someone named Christa in there?" Clementine questioned.

Sarah didn't ask who Christa was, because she had been told of this woman, her boyfriend Omid (who had faced a tragic death just over a year earlier), and all of the people Clem had been with, so she just glanced at her.

"I don't think so, dear," Edith responded.

Clementine looked away, a dejected look on her face.

"Sorry, Clem," said Sarah, giving the younger girl an apologetic look.

"So...this is Wellington, right?" Kenny called. AJ had gone to sleep in his arms.

"A lot of people call it that," Edith confirmed.

"Okay, so...what do we do to get in?"

Edith looked remorseful, and Sarah grew a little worried.

"Well, I'm afraid this is the part where I give you the bad news."

Oh no, are we not allowed in? she thought.

With that, Edith disappeared for just a second, and then reappeared with a generous-sized bag. She dropped it down to the group, leaving everyone confused.

"The hell's this?" Kenny almost demanded.

"That's some supplies," Edith explained. "Food, water, some medicine, a first-aid kit-"

"What?" Kenny interrupted.

"Why are you giving us this?" Sarah asked, speaking up to this woman for the first time. "We won't do anything bad!"

"No one thinks you'll do anything bad, hon, but..." Edith truly looked sorry. "...unfortunately, our community isn't accepting new members. We're over-capacity as it is, and there's just not enough room to go around if we keep bringing people in. We might change in a few months-"

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me," said Kenny, looking totally dejected.

And Sarah couldn't blame him. They had been searching for this place for over a week now, and now that they had found it...they were being turned away like this?

"I'm sorry, I really am."

"But, but...we have a baby!" Clementine pleaded.

"This..." Edith turned away. "This is hard for me, too. I don't want to turn anyone away, especially children, but-"

"Just take the kids!" Kenny interjected.

"What?" Clementine asked, and Sarah looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Please, just take the kids! It's too dangerous out there for them!" Kenny begged.

"Kenny, I-"

"It's just a little girl, a baby boy, and a teenager! You can make room for that. You can take back the supplies you gave us if that helps. Please, I just...I just need them to be safe. And it's safe in there, I know that. Just...ask someone...please? They won't make it out here...none of them will...please!"

"I'll...I'll ask...just give me a second," Edith decided, disappearing again.

Sarah was genuinely shocked that Kenny had even included her into this. She looked down at the ground and kicked some of the snow, not really knowing how to feel.

Kenny placed a hand to his head and sighed. "You don't need to look at me like that," he told Clementine.

"We're not staying here without you!" Clem protested.

"Yes, you are."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, you are!"

Clementine walked forward, wanting more out of him. Sarah stayed back.

"It's safe here...you all will be safe, that's what important now," Kenny continued.

Edith returned, and Sarah ran the few steps forward, standing to the right of Clementine.

"We can take the children, but...just the children," Edith confirmed. "I made the case that-"

"Thank you! Thank you!" Kenny called gratefully, walking forward. He looked down at Clementine and began talking to her. "Listen. Okay? Listen. This is your chance, for you, and Sarah, and this boy." He handed the sleeping Clementine to AJ and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I don't trust myself to keep any of you safe. Not anymore. Please...I'm begging you, please stay here...stay here where it's safe...where all of you will have a chance!"

Sarah looked from the gates of Wellington, to Edith, and finally back to Clementine and Kenny. She knew she had to make a decision, and quick. But deep down, she knew that wherever Clem would go, she would go. She felt the safest when she was with Clementine.

"No, no, no!" Clementine pleaded, tears falling from her eyes. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because it's the only way, for all three of you. Think about Alvie here," Kenny himself was crying as well. Sarah had never seen a grown man, other than her father, ever cry. "Please, Clem. Just...do as I'm askin'. This one last time." As Clementine just sobbed, Kenny continued. "You'll meet people here, you'll make friends. People better than me...good people. That don't have to look at you...and feel ashamed at what they've put you through. Please, Clem, please. Where you won't have to sleep with a gun next to you every night...where you can be a kid for a while..."

Sarah hugged herself tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. By now he was only talking to Clementine, but she didn't really care because she was caught up in her own thoughts again. Would Carlos have left her here, to be safe, if they could only accept her? Most likely not, but Kenny wasn't the father of any of the kids. She really wanted Carlos here now...

That was when Clementine came to her decision. With tears still fresh on her cheeks, she declined. "No! We're leaving! All of us. Together."

"Clem, please. It's safe here, you need to think of the-"

"Stop! Stop, okay? We're not staying, so just stop. That's that."

"Sounds like..." Edith spoke up in a teary voice. "...sounds like she means business."

"Yeah, yeah it does."

Both Kenny and Clementine turned to Sarah, who was still hugging herself, but now she was looking back at them. Kenny approached her with a sigh.

"Well, Sarah, what do you want to do?" he asked, placing only one hand on her shoulder. He was no longer crying. "I'm givin' you an option. You're allowed to stay, but you're more than welcome to come with Clem and me." He was speaking to her like an equal, and not like some dumb kid.

Again, Sarah looked from Edith to Kenny a couple times. For just a split second, she wanted to stay, but she didn't want to be alone with people she didn't know. Plus, who knew if this place was hiding something, like Carver's camp had? Sarah looked Kenny straight in the eyes (eye?).

"I'll stay with you," she offered the older man a small smile. "Clementine taught me how to protect myself."

Kenny nodded, and took his hand off her shoulder. "Okay, Sarah, if that's what you want to do." He smiled back.

"Come on, we're leaving," Clementine announced, only now having stopped crying.

Much to everyone's surprise, Edith dropped another bag of supplies down.

"I'm only supposed to give out one per group, but...look, if you're in the area, check back in a few months. We might be accepting people then."

"Thank you for the help, and, uh...sorry for the language," Kenny apologized.

"Well, it's a shitty situation...we're all doin' the best we can," Edith shrugged in reply. "You all stay safe out there."

And with that, Edith disappeared again. Kenny went and grabbed one bag, Sarah grabbing the other so that Clementine didn't have to carry two things at once (since she was now the one holding AJ).

Kenny and Clementine looked at one another.

"You're as stubborn as a damn mule," the man commented.

Clementine smiled at him. "Wonder where I got that from," she answered sarcastically.

So the four of them set off, wandering to parts unknown. Sarah was feeling really good for the first time in awhile. She decided that she wanted to become some kind of doctor, like Carlos, and help people. She glanced at Kenny and reminded herself to be the one to change his eye bandage later, since they now had medical supplies. Perhaps she could start on him. Maybe they could return to the cabin, and Sarah decided to make that suggestion later. It would be safe at the cabin, with lots of room.

But with any given situation, Sarah was going to be strong. And now she knew that Carlos was proud of her.

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And there's the final chapter. Again, I thank all of you sincerely for going on this journey with me, it was fun to write. And about Kenny, I believe that he could possibly have begun to care for Sarah after some time. Maybe not as much as Clementine or AJ, but at least care about her well-being. I wish they'd interacted in the game at least a little. Now, I may have told you about the one-shot I have planned for this weekend (don't worry, this one won't be so sad). Also, I'm willing to RP (roleplay) with anyone who is interested. Now...please review, and hopefully we can make it to 100 this time (wink wink nudge nudge). ;) Thank you all once again!

My Episode Choices:

I protected the baby

I helped Luke

I didn't ask to leave with Mike

I didn't shoot Kenny

In the end, I'm with Kenny and AJ