Carley

Gender Female Hair Color Brown Eye Color Brown Age Late 20s to Early 30s Occupation Pre-Apocalypse WABE Atlanta News Reporter Post-Apocalypse Former Guard of the Motel Survivors (Determinant) Post-Apocalypse

Former Guard of the Motel Survivors (Determinant) Family Unknown Ethnicity Asian-American Compared to Doug, whose personality within the group is more neutral and passive, Carley plays a more active role in group discussion and isn't afraid to speak her mind. Between them, Carley's storyline offers players more drama during group discussions and a romantic interest for Lee, although saving Doug would provide players with an equally interesting plot to enjoy. Carley is first introduced as a no-nonsense reporter, who, along with Glenn, chooses to save Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck upon their arrival in Macon. Having spent her time in war-zones as a correspondent, she presumably acquired basic knowledge of firearms and survival tactics that allows her to hold out during the outbreak. Her excellent marksmanship is often remarked by Lee and Kenny as a "dead eye" precision. Like the rest of the group, she cares about the members' welfare. Unlike Lilly or Larry, who she claims have no "humanity", Carley tends to save every survivor she could that her group comes across. In fact, she was one of the earlier members in the group to know about Lee's past and goes out to warn him about it, stating that his past better not be detrimental to the group. She is, however, a respectful and thoughtful individual as well. When Lee chooses to admit his past to her, she reassures him that she'll keep it to herself, although later on she urges Lee to reveal his past to the group. During Lee's showdown with Andrew in the farm, punching Andrew long enough will trigger Carley's appearance to stop him from inflicting any further injuries, saying that he'd had "enough".

Regardless of who Lee saves in "A New Day", both Carley and Doug will display immense loyalty to Lee for the remainder of the game, and later on towards Ben Paul. Both will express interest in having Lee as the group's leader, although only Carley will trigger the topic about Lee's past. Her strong relationship with Ben would later lead her to defend him when he's accused of being the traitor in the group by Lilly. Due to her active participation, Carley is blunt about her opinions and isn't afraid of defending her comrades if threatened. This is shown when she reprimands Lilly's paranoid accusations towards Ben and says they are a cover for her fear. However, it is due to this very trait which unfortunately earned her own untimely demise under the hands of Lilly (who was close to an emotional breaking point). Ironically, the very person whom she defended (Ben) was the cause of her death after it is revealed that he actually was the traitor, and Carley's fierce defense of him was in vain. Before her untimely death, Carley's relationship with Lee developed to the point where she showed romantic interest in him. Depending on the choices, Lee can choose to reciprocate her feelings as she gives Lee a kiss on the cheek. The relationship would have certainly been explored if it weren't for her death. Later in a conversation with Katjaa, Lee admits he also felt a spark with Carley, but knew it wasn't the time for romance.

Little is known about Carley's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except that she was raised Lutheran. Before the outbreak, Carley was a regional news reporter for WABE in Atlanta, Georgia and worked with fellow co-worker, Steve. Having spent time as a correspondent in various war-zones, she is experienced in surviving under extreme circumstances and is also proficient in the use of firearms. It is unknown if Carley had been sympathetic to Lee's sentencing before the outbreak. Right before the outbreak, Carley and her production crew drove to Macon to cover the Cherry Blossom Festival. While at the festival the crew was attacked by walkers, and she was forced to watch as her producer was eaten alive just a few feet away from her. She was suddenly saved by Doug and joined him. They both later meet up with Glenn, Lilly, and her father, Larry. Carley is first seen when she saved Duck from nearly being bitten by a walker. Carley and Glenn brought Lee and the rest of the group into the drugstore to hide as more walkers approached them. The pair were blamed for saving the group, to which Carley defended their actions by saying that they can't let people die off. However, Lilly felt that the pharmacy group needed to be protected by not taking any extra risks. Things get worse as Larry joins in the argument, which causes a commotion between Kenny, Lee, and himself. Unbeknownst to the group, a walker that was hidden inside the bathroom of the drugstore nearly killed Clementine and Lee (Determinant) if it weren't for the timely intervention of Carley's gun. Unfortunately, her gunshot alerted the rest of the walkers outside the drugstore. This forced the group to hide and remain silent until the walkers' attention subsided thanks to heavy gunfire outside.

Just as things were starting to calm down, Larry is struck by his heart disease and Lee is tasked with finding the keys to the drugstore in order to obtain his medications. Glenn eventually leaves the drugstore to search for gasoline. Lee is then given a chance to interact with the remaining survivors. It is revealed that Carley is actually a reporter working for the WABE in Atlanta. She is complemented by Lee on her dead-eye accuracy, to which she replies nobody messes with a reporter who's three days from coffee. When Lee picks up his family photo from the office, Carley reveals to Lee that she knows of his past, to which he can choose to trust her to keep it a secret or not, but she will regardless. Additionally, she revealed that Doug saved her and she expresses interest in him, thinking his cute in a sort of "mom's basement" way. Later on, she tags along with Lee when Glenn gets trapped in the motor inn and calls back for help. Carley and Lee find Glenn hiding in an icebox. Carley and Lee prepare to leave, but Glenn alerts them to the fact he heard a survivor barricaded on the balcony of the motel. Carley and Lee both reluctantly go along with Glenn's rescue mission as he's doing it either "with or without" them. Lee, using a pillow and Carley's gun, is able to kill a walker blocking his way to a car silently without attracting the attention of the others. After overcoming the obstacles at the inn, the group is introduced to Irene, a survivor who had been hiding out in the motel after being bitten by her boyfriend. However, the moment is short-lived when she requests to take her own life using Carley's gun. Lee can convince Carley (determinant) to give Irene the gun, which she does so with reluctance, or can side with her (determinant) and argue against allowing Irene to commit suicide. Regardless of either option, Irene gets hold of the gun (either by force or by mercy), and shoots herself, causing the group to escape back to the drugstore before more walkers

Having found the keys to the drugstore, Lee and Lilly break in to get the medications that they need, unintentionally setting off the alarm and alerting the entire group of walkers within the area. While Kenny rounds up the rest for the survivors to escape; Lee, Doug, Clementine and Carley were left to hold the walkers back. She takes on a broken window with her gun while Doug takes another, leaving Lee to hold the door on his own. At this point, Carley runs out of ammo and is mauled by a pair of walkers while Doug is grabbed by a pair of walkers and left defenseless which forces Lee to choose either one of them, choosing Carley results in Doug's death and vice versa. Lee will have to choose to save either Carley or Doug from the walkers when they are attacked at the pharmacy. Save Carley (Alive): If Lee chooses to save Carley, Lee tosses her a magazine and she kills the walkers, but, they fail to save Doug and he is dragged out through a window and eaten alive. At the motor inn, she thanks Lee for saving her and does not blame him for not being able to rescue Doug, although she is clearly disappointed and wished that the both of them could have made it. With Glenn gone and Doug dead, the rest of the group are left to fend for their own. Just as things were starting to seem better, the power at the inn shuts off.

Carley will only appear in this episode if she is saved in "A New Day". Three months down the road, she is one of the survivors from Macon that holds out in the motor inn. It is revealed that along with the rest of the survivors, she had been placed under intensive firearm training by Lilly and served as one of the team's watchmen (where she had performed most of the work). If Lee gives one of the food rations to her, it will strengthen the relationship between the two. Relying on her trusty Glock, she rescues Lee and Katjaa from the reanimated David Parker/Travis by shooting him in the head. When Andrew and Danny St. John approach the group for gasoline with food in return, she voluntarily tags along with Lee to the dairy to provide cover. On the walk to the dairy, she is horrified by the fatal confrontation between two unnamed bandits in the woods. Depending on Lee's action and response to her in "A New Day", Lee's relationship with her will be portrayed on the trip to St. John's dairy farm. In the conversation, Carley expresses her interest in having Lee as the leader in the group, stating that the group looks up to him. She also questioned him about his past and displayed her loyalty towards him by placing her faith and support in him. When Brenda provides the group with food, she goes back with Ben to round up the rest, taking Mark's rifle along; leaving Lee and Mark alone with the brothers. Having eaten some of Brenda's pastries on the way back, she and Ben stayed back to watch the inn while the rest of the group proceeded towards the dairy.

The St. Johns are later discovered to be cannibals and lock most of the group away in the barn while Katjaa and Duck are held hostage. After sensing something gone wrong, Carley and Ben decided to head back to the dairy to check on the group and arrived just in time to help rescue Kenny's family. During the ensuing fight between Lee and Andy, Carley attempts to shoot Andy in the head but misses and hits him in the ear instead, but Duck is released nonetheless. She later leaves the dairy with the group and discovered a huge amount of rations in an abandoned car, to which the group later grabs. Having found some batteries for Lee's camcorder and Clementine's walkie-talkie, she plays Lee's new camcorder. The pair watches in horror as a video of the survivor's motel camp from just days ago is played. Alternatively, if Carley does not appear in this episode at all and died in the previous episode, then Doug can reference her death making him feel guilty even three months later.

Carley continues to appear in this episode if she is saved back in "A New Day". Carley defends Lee and Kenny when Lilly goes on an angry rant. When Lilly mentions about some of their group not being above murder, Carley glares at Lee after Kenny reveals what Lee did to the screaming woman in Macon (determinant), as she is still the only person in the group who knows about Lee's past (except for Larry, Lilly and Clementine, who knew a small part if Lee told her in "A New Day"). Shortly after, she tries to convince Lee to speak to Lilly in order to calm her down about the traitor situation. Carley also suggests that Lee should reveal his past to some of the survivors in order to gain their trust or at least ensure that they hear it from him and not someone else. She warns Lee to be careful about who he tells, as some of the group may react differently to the others. He doesn't understand but agrees when he knows Carley cares about him and is right. She kisses him on the cheek and goes on with her day. During this conversation, Lee can tell her that he thinks about her, suggesting that they may be starting a relationship. This is further backed up by a conversation that Lee has with Katjaa at the train when he tells her that a proper romance wouldn't be possible in the apocalypse, but he did have feelings for her.