TWD Fanfic: Lee's Second Chance - Ch 1 Part 1

Prologue: "fav.me/d5mpljf"

CHAPTER 1 – A New Beginning

Part 1

The sound of a car hitting gravel in the road, an old man humming to himself and other vehicles speeding by… This is what I woke up to. I was lying down in the back seat of a police car, unsure of what had just happened. All I knew is that Clementine shot me and then I found myself talking to a weird enigmatic smiling man who told me he was giving me a second chance?

As I pushed myself up into a seating position, I was filled with shock. I saw a cop driving the car. He wore a beige uniform and had white hair. He was slightly balding and had a large chin. There's no doubt that this was the same police officer who was driving me to prison almost 4 months ago.

I looked outside the window and realized that everything had gone back to the way it was before the Walkers. There were cars all around us being driven by living people. The roads weren't littered with corpses but instead old takeaway boxes and road kill.

Was that all a dream… The prospect of that idea filled me sadness. Despite the horrible situations we were in, and all the lives that were lost I still couldn't help but feel sad. Some sick and twisted fantasy, huh? I sighed deeply and placed my hand on my forehead as I was contemplating why I had such a dream, and why it had affected me so deeply. That's when I realized that the cop in front was talking to me, "Hey, you alive back there?"

As I snapped back into reality I realized that he had been staring at me from his rear view mirror, "Oh! Uhh…"

"Hmph." he scoffed, "Y'know it surprises me that a man in your certain predicament can fall asleep so easily. Sometimes I feel like asking some of the people who're up in here if they're able to sleep at night, knowing the things they done." He squinted his eyes, "Well, I guess you just answered that for me."

Slightly dazed I asked him, just to be sure, "W-what date is it today?"

"Date!? Hah, that's a new one."

"Huh?"

"Never had someone pretending to be a time traveller before."

I raised an eyebrow and then stated, "I'm serious."

The police officer frowned, "You must have some real nerve to not know the date of your own incarceration." He then sighs, "But, I can't kid ya, you seem like an alright fella to me. At least you're not like those fuckers who sit back there screaming on about how they 'didn't do anything'  or that it was just all some 'big mistake.'"

This conversation seems familiar, I thought to myself.

"I did follow up a bit on your case, by the way. Interesting situation you managed to get yourself into. Now, I bet you're wondering why someone like myself is interested in a mess like yours."

I took a brief pause and thought I'd take a wild guess, "You from Macon?"

The police officer widened his eyes and then smiled, "uh… Yeah. How did you know that?"

Trying to think of a quick answer I said, "I've… just seen you around is all." I turned my head and looked out the window, How could I have known that? Could that dream have been somehow real?

He looked at me and squinted, "Really? You see I moved up to Atlanta in the 70s and barely visit home nowadays. Chances of you seeing me around are quite low."

I decided to change the subject, "Tough work at the Georgia state patrol?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. This job is very demanding of my skills." He said, triumphantly.

"Skills?" I asked turning my gaze from the window.

"Well you haven't gotten out of this vehicle yet, right?"

"I haven't tri—"

"Yep, I got some unique skills right there!" He stated, interrupting me.

I paused and looked out the window again. The scene was familiar; police cars speeding into the city with their sirens on full blast. Everything had played out like the first time with the minor exception of dialogue.

Suddenly the car hit a bump in the road and I snapped out of my window gazing. "Goddamn it, I hit something… again." The officer said, rolling his eyes.

"Shouldn't you go and check on that?" I asked.

"Nah, it's probably just some animal or something."

Things were definitely playing out differently from the first time… Did what I say to the cop act as some form of 'butterfly effect' to cause the death of whatever we just hit? Did that mean that every step that I took could change the future negatively? Should I tell him to watch the road? It might save him… but what if he goes past the walker he's supposed to crash into. I'll never get to Clementine. I'll never be able to save her.

I decided to stay quiet let the cop carry on talking to himself. After a while I saw a figure shambling in the distance. It was on the road. I knew that, that figure was the same Walker that would soon lead to the officer's death. Even though I had the chance to tell him what was going to happen if he didn't watch the road, I stayed silent. Then he turned to me laughing, taking his eyes off the road, "Can you believe that? He said to me--" the car crashed into the walker and drove off the side of the road into a forest. As the car flew off, I put my hands behind my head and put my knees to my chest; hoping that I could minimize any damage done. I felt something hit the back of my head and I was instantly knocked unconscious.

Time passed and I opened my eyes, it was dark out. I closed them again and when I reopened them I saw daylight. H-how long have I been in and out? I thought to myself looking around. I was still stuck in the back of the police car. Oh shit, my leg! I quickly checked both my legs to see if there were any wounds but, to my surprise, both my legs were fine.