Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

A seemingly ordinary summer play-date between Clementine and her lifelong friend, Rachel, takes a harrowing turn when they find themselves confronting the dawn of the end of the world.

Just hours after their close call, Clementine and Rachel hunker down in Clementine's backyard treehouse. With no grown-ups around and just a trusty walkie-talkie in hand, the girls start plotting their next moves.

Lee Everett, a former convict, goes on the lam after crashing a police car in the woods. As he escapes certain death, he stumbles upon a deserted neighborhood and discovers a bunch of kids hiding out in a treehouse.

After escaping the overrun neighborhood, Lee and the kids stumble upon the Greene family farm, hoping for some form of relief amidst the chaos.

Lee, the kids, and Kenny's family head for downtown Macon, only to discover the city in ruins and infested with the undead. When all seems lost, they come across a group of survivors in a rundown drugstore, offering a glimmer of salvation.

Three months into the apocalypse, the world is harsher to the survivors than ever. When they're down to their last scraps, a couple of new faces make them an offer that's hard to refuse...

After accepting the brothers' invitation to tour their family dairy farm, Lee and his companions encounter a few unsavory characters on the way.

After a rocky trip, the members of the group make themselves comfortable at the dairy as Lee begins to notice discrepancies within the farm.

As the group gathers for dinner, chaos ensues when they stumble upon a horrifying secret...

A week after the events of the St. John's dairy, tensions are sky-high within the group, making already strained relationships even worse. Right in the middle of all the drama, Lee is given the job of unraveling a conspiracy swirling around the motor inn.

After Lee shares his discovery with Lilly, the group is unexpectedly ambushed by bandits. Now, the focus shifts to identifying the suspected traitor among them...

After the grisly conclusion to Lilly's interrogation, and the hard decision to leave her behind, a new problem stirs within the group when it's revealed that one of them has been infected. And the road ahead is not as clear as it seems...

As the train sped down the tracks, it was clear that Katjaa's time was running out. With their group shrinking and circumstances worsening, Lee must step up to get the kids ready for the long road ahead.

Ben struggled to come to terms with his new reality, one where surviving high school was no longer his biggest challenge. Instead, he now faced murderers and the living dead. And when an old threat reemerged to remind him of that, he has to hang onto his newfound lifeline even tighter.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

July 19th, Day 1

“Grr! Pour me some tea, lassie!” a girl's voice growled playfully. She leaned in, her fingers wrapped around a green stuffed dinosaur hovering over the pink tea set. The other girl across from her giggled, holding the teapot with both hands.

“Dinosaurs don't drink tea!” she replied with a grin, laughing at her friend's antics.

The girl with the dinosaur pointed to the tiny tiara crudely glued on top of the toy's head. “Yeah, but princess dinosaurs do! Isn't that right, Captain... huh?” she said, glancing around for another toy. 

The other girl looked up from the tea set, following her friend's gaze. “Hey, where's Captain Yellowbear?” she asked, a small frown creasing her forehead. She looked around, eyeing the grass surrounding them for any sign of their missing party member.

The dinosaur girl sighed and stood up, her toy dropping from her hand. “Be right back!” she called out, heading towards the glass door behind her friend.
As she disappeared inside, the other girl sat alone with the tea set, listening to the sounds of nature around her. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees nearby, and a distant bird chirped in the distance.

The glass door slid open with a faint hiss, and Clementine's gaze darted towards the entrance, anticipating the arrival of her friend. Yet, instead of the familiar sight of her best friend, she was met with the face of her babysitter, Sandra.

“Lunchtime, Clementine! I made a bunch of sandwiches with apples, so you better hurry in and get them before Rachel eats them all up.” Sandra's voice echoed through the room, beckoning the young girl inside.

Clementine sprang up from her seated position. “Coming!” she called back.

 

---

Clementine slid the door shut behind her and took in her surroundings. Sandra was cleaning up the kitchen while Rachel was happily eating away at the bar counter, her previously missing stuffed yellow bear sitting patiently beside her plate. Rachel, pulling away from her mission to shove as many apple slices into her mouth at once (without choking), called out to her. “Clem! Come sith here! These are so good! She put thurkey in them!” Rachel exclaimed with a mouthful of food; her words slightly muffled as she gestured towards the empty seat beside her.

Sandra huffed. “Rach, what did I say about talking with your mouth full?”

Rachel pointed to the refrigerator. “Can you ged me somefin to drink?” Rachel, speech obscured by the food in her mouth as she looked up at Sandra.

Sandra crossed her arms and gave the girl a poignant look. “Can you get me something to drink...?”

“Before I choke?”

Sandra sighed before grabbing a cup from the cupboard and pouring both girls a glass of milk.

“Hey, Rachel? Is your brother picking you up today?” Sandra asked, placing the glasses in front of them.

Rachel swallowed and toyed with the edges of her plate. “No, he said he had a field trip or something today.”

“Can you sleep over? We can stay up late and watch T.V.!” Clementine asked excitedly, her excitement rubbing off on Rachel as she looked to their caretaker’s for approval.

Sandra dried her hands with a dish towel. “I dunno, girls. Rach would have to ask her mom about that. And Clem, your parents told you that you’re not supposed to stay up all night.”

“Awww…”

“But, if you girls don’t cause any trouble—” Sandra eyed Rachel, who stuck out her tongue in response. “We’ll go to the Zoo.”

The girls perk up at the mention of a Zoo.

Rachel practically stood up in her stool. “Can we see the lions and the lizards?!” the girl asked gleefully. 

“Only if you both behave for the rest of the day. That goes double for you, Rach.” Sandra checked her watch for a brief second. “Perfect timing. That show you both like should be on right about now. What’s it called? Disco…Veggie?”

“Disco Broccoli!”

“Yeah, that one! Alright, hop to it! Remote should be on the table. I’m going to use the bathroom.” Sandra added before disappearing up the steps. Clementine and Rachel skipped down the steps leading to the living area and climbed upon the couch. Rachel gives Clementine the remote control.

“C’mon, Clem! Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!”

“I’m trying!”

After fumbling with the buttons on the remote for a few seconds, they’d finally manage to land on the channel hosting their favorite show. Only, as soon as they did, the screen flickered from an image of Disco Broccoli… to a black screen. Following that was a string of white letters that read while emanating a piercing alarm:

Emergency Alert System
[A civil authority has issued A LOCAL AREA EMERGENCY for the following counties or areas…]

Rachel and Clementine exchanged glances, their furrowed brows showing their mutual confusion. Rachel picked up the remote and examined it closely. “Did you accidentally hit the wrong button?” she asked. 

“No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I always remember which channel it’s on,” replied Clementine with a hint of frustration. 

“Hmm…maybe the TV’s broken?” Rachel suggested, scrutinizing the remote. Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from upstairs, and they turned to see Sandra, leaning over the couch to look at the screen. She muttered to herself for a moment before reaching out to turn off the TV and patting the girls’ heads. 

“How about you two go play upstairs in Clem’s room?” Sandra suggested with a gentle smile. Clementine eagerly hopped off the couch, and Rachel followed behind her, though they’d rather watch T.V instead.

8:00 P.M.

The two girls were lost in their own world, huddled beside the chair by the window, with the soft rays of dim setting sunlight and the standing lamp illuminating their faces. Rachel was flipping through the pages of her fifth book that afternoon, her eyes glued to vivid illustrations. She pointed to a character and tapped the picture, eyes filled with excitement. 

“Her!” she exclaimed. The picture showed a woman with long, flowing golden hair that she was using as a zipline to escape from two menacing pirates behind her. A small paragraph above the drawing read, ‘Daisy, a tall, brave woman, fled from goblins who wanted to steal her treasure…’

Clementine peered over Rachel’s shoulder, “Who’s she?” she asked.

Rachel beamed. “That’s Daisy the Danger Duchess. See her hair? It’s like some kind of magic rope or something. It can grow and shrink whenever she wants!”

Clementine looked the artwork for a moment before turning to the page next to it. As she read, Rachel leaned in closer, her eyes scanning the page. The story described Daisy’s story with her running through forests and crossing rivers. The drawing above showed Daisy being carried on a large basket by a crowd of villagers, with a crown on her head showing off that she was seen as the village’s leader: ‘After days of running, she made it to a nearby village and became a legend for her bravery.’

The girls were so engrossed in the book that they didn’t notice Sandra enter the room until she cleared her throat. “Girls, how about we take a break from reading and play a game before getting ready for bed?”

Rachel and Clementine looked up, slightly disappointed to be pulled away from their books, but nodded in agreement. 

Sandra looked at the haphazard pile of books scattered across the floor and sighed. “Well first, let's put away all these books,” she said. The girls eagerly jumped into action, their hands quickly scooping up the books and sorting them back onto the shelf. Clementine lifted her father's engineering books, while the girls handled the old hand-me-down books and finally the children's books, placing them last with care. Clementine reached out for the final book, but it slipped from her grasp and hit the floor with a thud.
Rachel looked up from her bookshelf rearrangement, “Oh, you okay, Clem?” she asked, gently pushing her own book into place.

Clementine nodded and picked up the book that had fallen. “Yeah, it's okay,” she replied before turning her attention back to Sandra. “We're ready!” she exclaimed with excitement.

Sandra smiled down at the two girls. “Alrighty, we're going to play hide 'n seek,” she said, the excitement in her voice mirroring the girls. “I'll count to thirty while you girls hide somewhere in this room.”

The girls' faces lit up at the mention of hide n’ seek, having played it many times before. Clementine ran over to the dining table and grabbed two two-way radios. She handed one to Sandra, while she and Rachel kept the other one.

“We can use these to give you clues!” Clementine suggested excitedly.

Rachel nodded. “Like Hot 'n Cold! I play that with my brother all the time!” she added, eager to show off.

Sandra tested the radio by clicking the red button on the side and then turning it off again. “Alrighty, I'll count to twenty while you girls go hide. Ready? Go!” she said. Sandra turned around, blocking her eyes with her hands as she began to count backwards from twenty. The girls wasted no time, darting towards the closet near the backdoor, jostling each other as they scrambled inside. Clementine slid the door shut behind them, and they were engulfed in the soft light seeping through the keyhole in the door.

Sandra's voice drifted over, “Six... five... four... three... two... one! Ready or not, here I come!” And so, the game of hide and seek began. Sandra prowled around the living room, peering under the coffee table and then venturing up the stairs slightly. Suddenly, her radio crackled, and a whisper emerged.

“Coldest!”

She must be close, the girls thought. Sandra checked the bottom cabinets, but no one was there. She returned to the living area and listened as the radio chirped again.

“Colder!”
If she was colder in the kitchen, that meant the girls were hiding somewhere near there. Sandra's gaze fell on the closet, and she made her way towards it, step by silent step.

Rachel leaned to the right and peered out of the keyhole. She saw Sandra creeping closer to the kitchen, her eyes fixed on the closet door. Rachel tapped Clementine's shoulder and placed a finger to her lips. “She's coming!” she whispered.

Clementine pressed the button on her radio to give Sandra a clue, but before she could say anything, the closet door swung open, and Rachel leaped out, catching Sandra off guard.

“Raaaah!” Rachel shouted, laughing as she pointed at Sandra's slightly flustered expression. The teenager quickly regained her composure and snatched Rachel by her dress, holding her like a pillow under her arm. Sandra's gaze shifted to Clementine, who attempted to dash past her but was caught up in her playful wrath.

“Oh-hooo no you don't. C'mere!” Sandra grabbed the loose girl while still holding a giggling and squirming Rachel under her right arm. “Gotcha!”
“Ha-ha-ha! No fair, we're too little!” Clementine exclaimed.

Sandra playfully swung them around, saying, “Well, the littler you two are, the easier it is for the tickle monster to get you!” With that, she launched into a frenzy of tickling, her fingers running all over their arms. The room practically echoed with laughter.

As they settled down, the girls collapsed onto the soft rug, breathing heavily and grinning from ear to ear. Sandra plopped down beside them, looking every bit as satisfied as they did. “That was fun,” she said, “but I think it's time for bed.”

“But we’re not really tired yet,” Rachel yawned, “can we stay up a bit longer?”

“C’mon, Rach. One game and we’d get ready for bed. That’s the deal.” Sandra reminded them. “How will you make it to the Zoo if you’re falling asleep on the way there?”
“Are we really going to the Zoo?!” Clementine chirped.

“Well, that depends if you girls can—”

Scritch-scritch…
The trio stop their conversation and look towards the direction of the front door. The girls look at one another before Sandra stood up and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole, trying to make out whosever face was blocking her view. But she could only make out a blurry, distorted silhouette.

“Is it the mailman?” Clementine asked, curiously. Sandra shook her head.

“I don’t think so, it’s almost eight-thirty. Besides, they would’ve just left the mail in the mailbox…” Sandra noted. 

“Maybe it’s a stray kitty?” Rachel wondered.

The scratching noise at the door was a harsh and almost grating sound that echoed through the living room. It was a persistent and rhythmic noise, almost as if someone was scraping their fingernails against the hard surface of the door. Each scratch seemed to grow louder and more insistent, a feeling of unease settled in the pit of Sandra’s stomach. The sound continued, it seemed to increase in intensity, becoming more and more frantic. The noise was accompanied by faint tapping sound, like something… or someone, was trying to gain entry into the house.

It was clear, at least to the oldest of the group, that this was not a cat.

Sandra turned to face the two girls, who looked at her with puzzled expressions. Concern etched across her face, Sandra gestured for them to step back behind her, allowing her to take the lead. With cautious hands, she turned the lock on the door knob before doing the same to the lock above it. As Sandra turned the knob and pulled the door open a dark figure lunged forward, grabbing her by the shoulders with a dead weight grip as if they were pushing their whole body upon her. Sandra's body jerked backward, her feet slipping on the smooth surface, as the sudden force sent the two girls behind her stumbling into each other. 

The young girls screamed in terror, their eyes wide with shock as they watch the stranger overpower Sandra. The suddenness of the attack left them frozen as Sandra and the attacker tumbled to the ground. The stranger was on top of Sandra, pinning her down with their weight, and she struggled to break free. Her muscles strained as she pushed against the stranger’s face with force, but to no avail.

In a moment of desperation, Sandra clawed at the stranger’s face with her free hand, digging her nails into their skin. Even as she clearly drew blood, the assailant didn’t flinch, their grip on her arm only tightened as they leaned in and sunk their teeth into her bare flesh. Sandra let out a sharp cry of pain, her body writhing as she tried to shake the attacker off.

The girls, still rooted in fear, watched in horror as Sandra continued to fight for her life. They knew they had to act fast, call the police, maybe even hit the stranger with something, but their bodies refused to move. The air was thick with the sound of Sandra’s grunts and the stranger’s growls, the struggle for dominance playing out before their eyes.

“S-Stop it!” Clementine managed to blurt out. The attacker stopped their feast on Sandra’s now mutilated arm. They turn their head towards her and she could see their face clearly. Their skin was a sickly grey, and their eyes were dull and lifeless. The stranger’s clothes hung off its emaciated frame, torn and stained with blood and dirt. Its limbs seemed to drag and move without any conscious control, crawling forward and back as it struggled to maintain its balance. They emitted a low, guttural moan, a sound that sent chills up the young girl’s spine the minute she heard it. Its movements were slow and sluggish, but there was an obvious sense of menace and hunger that made it clear that this person… no… this thing wasn’t human.

Rather, it just happened to look like one.

The wretched thing detached from Sandra’s limp body and dragged its mangled form towards form towards the girls, its movements erratic and unnatural. Its decaying limbs twitched and waved as it approached them, its rotting stench in the air suddenly more obvious to them. With a guttural moan, it moved towards them, its gnarled fingers outstretched and grasping for them.

Clementine and Rachel bolted from the monster and toward the back door, their hearts pounding with fear. But the creature once again got the upper hand, and its cold, lifeless hand caught hold of Clementine’s ankle, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. She cried out in surprise and terror as the creature dragged itself towards her.
The creature’s attention snapped to Sandra as she tugged at its leg with her good arm, using all her waning might to pull it away from Clementine. The monster made no move toward her but Sandra’s distraction had worked—Clementine was able to scramble back slightly. But the monster noticed this and renewed its attention back to her and once again snatched at the girl’s ankle.

Rachel didn’t hesitate. She let go of Clementine’s hand and darted to the girl’s aid, her heart pounding loudly in her chest and to her ears. Summoning all her courage, and using what her mom taught her to, Rachel landed a solid boot to the monster’s head, her foot connecting with a sickening thud. Clementine, emboldened by Rachel’s bravery, followed up with another kick to the monster’s face.

With a sickening thud the monster’s grotesque face smashed into the cold hardwood floor. Finally, its grip on Clementine’s foot loosened and she scrambled to retrieve her walkie-talkie. The girls waste no time in making a break for the door, their adrenaline fully running. As they dashed out into the warm sunset, Clementine slammed the glass door shut behind them, the sound echoing through the backyard.

Breathlessly, they sprinted towards the safety of the treehouse. It wasn’t until they heard the sound of Sandra’s hand hitting the glass door that they slowed down, cautiously looking back. Through smeared glass, they saw her bloodied hand trailing down, her body going limp.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

Lee Everett limped away from the rotting creatures that rapidly surrounded him as fast as he could manage, his injured leg slowing him down. They emerged from the trees, growling and reaching out to him as he hastened past. He stumbled on the incline, but managed to crawl his way up until he spotted a wooden fence. He pushed himself up and stole one last glance at the approaching walkers. For a group of shuffling, slow-moving corpses, they seemed to be moving faster and faster to him.

Lee reached the fence, pulled himself up, threw his good leg over, and let his weight carry him across. He fell to the ground with a thump, but quickly recovered and shuffled away from the fence until his back hit a platform of a house. He watched breathlessly through the gaps of the fence as the walkers moved dazedly, their hands clawing and slamming against the wood.

 

BANG

Suddenly, a distant gunshot rang out, its muffled sound echoing through the woods and causing birds to scatter from the treetops. Multiple shots followed, at least three more, and pulled the dead’s attention from Lee and towards the source of the noise. Lee waited as the banging on the fence stopped, and the horde shuffled in another direction. As soon as it sounded clear, he took that moment to finally catch his breath.

Using the foundation, Lee pushed himself up and walked to the center of the backyard he’d stumbled into. He looked around at his surroundings: a red wagon, a lawn chair, and a swing set tied to a sturdy looking treehouse. But no one in sight.

“Hello?” he called out. “Anybody?”

No response. Only the sounds of insects buzzing, birds chirping, and a distant wind chime.

* * *

Lee glanced over to the large tree. The treehouse looked sturdy enough, but there was no easy way up there due to his injury.

“No ladder…” Lee muttered. “I’m not getting up there anyways, this leg the way it is.”

He went over to the tree and spotted a set of tea cups resting underneath. Lee joked to himself that he’d fill one of them up with some good old bourbon if he had any, since damn if he wasn’t thirsty. Lee turned to try the door but stopped himself. He looked back around and at the tea cups again.

They were small, pink, and looked like they belonged to a child. He vaguely remembered seeing two of them at the top of the hill back in the woods. Lee looked back up to the treehouse.

“Anybody up there?” he called. “Hello? Anybody in there?”

Again, no response.

“ I thought I saw a couple of girls in the forest… Are you up there? I’m not one of those things…!”

Silence .

“I guess it’s empty,” he concluded, disappointed.

Lee limped across the grass, his injured leg aching with every step. As he approached the patio, he noticed the sliding glass door. The blinds were partially open, and he couldn't help but wonder if someone was inside. With a sense of desperation, he pounded on the glass, his eyes darting around the room for any signs of movement.

“Hello? Anybody home? I need a little help,” he called out, hoping for a response. But once again, there was only silence.

It was starting to feel like a cruel joke.

Lee hesitated for a moment before reaching for the handle of the glass door. His heart was racing as he considered the risks. But he knew that standing outside and yelling could probably attract unwanted attention, and that was the last thing he needed.

With a deep breath, he slid the door open slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements. “Coming in. Don’t shoot, okay?” he announced, his voice wavering slightly. He stepped inside cautiously, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of danger. It was a gamble, but he had to take it.

 

---

 

Lee gingerly stepped over the fallen shelf and continued his exploration of the dark, wrecked house. He winced as a fresh wave of pain shot through his injured leg, reminding him of the awful situation he was in. Despite his discomfort, he kept moving forward, cautiously calling out to anyone who might be listening.

“Ah, shit .” Lee hissed through his teeth. “Hello? I’m not an intruder… or one of them ,” he announced, hoping to avoid any potential misunderstandings. As he scanned the room, his heart sank at the sight of the chaos around him. Chairs overturned, blood smeared on the walls, and a trail leading to the door he had just entered through.

“There people might need more help than I do.”

Desperate for some sustenance, Lee began searching for food. His eyes landed on an abandoned coloring book and a dinosaur toy, which suggested that a child did live in the house. His gaze then landed on a bowl of fruit on the dining table. He rushed over, only to discover that the bananas were plastic. “ Damn .”

Determined to find something , Lee pressed on, stopping at the staircase which was blocked by a fallen shelf. He noticed the blood trail leading from the front door to various areas around the house, and his stomach turned. The scene was a horrifying mess.

“Furniture overturned… blood everywhere… Jesus …”

He approached the window next to the TV and saw a framed drawing of a sunrise over mountains, with a painted handprint underneath that read 'Clementine' . He shook his head, hoping that the child who lived here was alright, and her absence had nothing to do with them . Lee pulled the blinds down and looked through them. The street was a mess, wrecked cars everywhere and no signs of life.

“This whole neighborhood is deserted… what the hell…”

He turned his attention back to his first mission. Finding some sort of food, hoping to find more than plastic fruit. Lee made his way back towards the kitchen, stopping when he noticed a puddle of dried, black blood and what looked to be hand and shoe prints mixed in and around it.

“Jesus…” he muttered to himself, feeling a creeping sense of unease. Lee decided to shuffle around the dried mess.

 

BEEEEP

* * *

Lee spun around; his attention drawn to the sound of a beeping answering machine. His mind raced as he realized that there could be a phone somewhere in this deserted house, and he could finally call for help. He made his way back out of the wrecked kitchen and spotted a table with a blinking red light. The number ‘5’ flashed on the screen, indicating five unheard messages.

Lee eagerly pressed the button underneath, waiting anxiously for the messages to play.

Five new messages.

Message one. Left at: Five-forty-three P.M

“Hey, Sandra, this is Diana. We’re still in Savannah. Ed had a little ‘incident’ with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get in back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he’s not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we’re staying an extra day. Before I forget— Emily just paged and told me that she’ll be staying an extra three days here in Savannah, so Rachel’s welcomed to sleepover if she wants. Thanks so much for looking after them, and I promise we’ll be back in time before the end of summer break!

 

Message two. Left at: Five-fifty-five P.M

“Hiii, it’s Emily. I’m so sorry for leaving Rachel with you on such short notice, but if she behaves herself she can spend the night since my eldest said he won’t be home until late tonight. Oh, I ran into Diana and Ed here at the hospital. Poor Eddie had to get check into the ER. Apparently, it’s not anything too serious, thank God. Anyways, I know Rachel can be a handful but I promise I’ll pay you extra for your troubles when I get back. Goodnight!

 

Message three. Left at: Eleven-nine-teen P.M

“Oh my god, finally! I don’t know if you’ve tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They’re not letting us leave and aren’t telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take the girls back with you to Marietta. I’ve- I’ve gotta get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you’re safe.”

 

Message four. Left at: Six-fifty-one A.M

“Sandra?! Sandra, mierda… Sandra, listen to me. Do not take the girls to Marietta, if you haven’t left already. Rachel, sweetheart, listen to Sandra, okay? Don’t be scared, alright? Momma loves you. H-Here, Diana, talk.” The phone sounds like it was given to someone. Another voice, presumably Diana’s, sniffled into the receiver. “Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That’s nine… one…one. We love you… we love you… we love y—”

 

Message five. Left at: Seven-fiftteen A.M

The only sound emitting from the answering machine is muffled, choppy static. The message ends with a click.

 

BEEEEP

…

God .

Lee picked up the family portrait that had been knocked over. The picture showed a man, his wife, and their daughter. Lee assumed that the daughter was Clementine, and judging by the voice messages he had heard, it sounded like the things had got them, all of them. Lee placed the picture back in its proper position.

“ Daddy?” Lee was startled, but he knew he wasn’t imagining it. He went into the kitchen and saw that it was a mess. Dishes were left haphazardly across the area, and most of the cabinets were hanging open. Lee spotted a cup of water by the sink and drank it all before looking for the source of the voice.

“Helloooo?” said another voice, and Lee realized it was coming from a phone or radio. He searched through the cabinets and drawers until he found a two-way radio. Lee picked it up and walked toward the glass door. Clicking the button on the side, he spoke into the radio, “...Hello?”

“You need to be quiet,” the voice said.

Lee looked around but didn't see anybody inside the house. “Who is this?” he asked.

“I’m Clementine. This is my house.”

Lee remembered the family portrait he had seen earlier and realized that Clementine was the girl in the picture. “Hi, Clementine. I’m Lee.”

“Hi, Lee! I’m Rachel! Are you nice?”

“Shh! Get over, you’re crushing her!”

“H-Hey…!” Clementine groaned.

Lee frowned. “How many people are with you?”

“Me, and my friends Rachel and Travis.”

Lee continued to wander around the house and asked, “Hi kids. Where are your parents?”

“My momma and Clem’s parents went out of town. To Savannah, where the boats and stuff are?” Rachel added.

“Where are you kids?” asked Lee.

“We’re outside in my treehouse. They can’t get in.”

“That’s smart,” said Lee.

As he looked out the kitchen window, Lee saw two girls waving from the entrance. “See? Can you see us? We can see you through the window.” He waved back.

Suddenly, the girls yelped and ducked back into the treehouse. Lee turned around only to be lunged at by a woman, snarling and covered head to toe in blood and grime. Her body leaned towards him, and Lee immediately put his hands up defensively, struggling to keep her at bay as her limbs flailed and swiped at his face. Finally with one strong move he pushed the undead woman away, her body slamming against the oven. It clicked then and there to Lee that she was just like one of those things that chased him through the forest. He turned and ran from her, but slipped in the puddle of blood he’d seen before.

His head collided with the edge of the counter as he fell to the tiled floor. Lee tried to see through his blurred, dazed vision and through the haze he made out the figure of the undead woman clawing her way towards him from the opposite side of the kitchen. On instinct, Lee’s foot shot out and slammed against her rotted visage, sending her flying backwards and giving him more time to gather his bearings and stand up. He moved to run again but the corpse grabbed hold of his leg, sending him crashing back down to the floor.

* * *

Lee crawled backwards toward the sliding backdoor as the monster drug itself closer and closer after him. The rotting woman grabbed hold of his foot, dragging him closer toward her as she crawled her rotted body atop of him, snapping her jaws at his face. Lee grabbed hold of the dead girl and kept her at bay before mustering the strength to kick her, sending her away as his back collided with the glass door. The door slid open and a small girl clutching a hammer for dear life stood by.

“Here…!” She extended the tool out to Lee who immediately grabbed the hammer and swung it into the corpse’s skull. With the woman finally off him, Lee quickly rose to his feet and pinned the corpse down with his foot before striking its rotted head with the hammer once again. It still gurgled, prompting him to hit the monster again.

And again.

And again.

And one more time for good measure.

Until its face was caved in, and no noise or movement escaped it.

“ Man … Hi there,” Lee greeted them, catching his breath as his injured leg was still aching. He had forgotten to check for a first aid kit, but if the blood on the floor and the wall was anything to go by, then he doubted there was one nearby.

The three children slowly stepped away from the body, now oozing black blood on the rug.

“Did you kill it?” The girl with the hat asked.

“Yes…”

“It’s okay,” The girl responded. “I think she was a m-monster…”

“I think so too…” Lee replied.

“Are you kids okay?” asked Lee.

* * *

The trio nodded collectively. The oldest of the group stiffly stuck his hand out, introducing himself. “I’m… uh … Travis… hi.”

Lee shook his hand, eyeing him a bit before saying, “It’s Lee.” He could tell that the kid was nervous, just like the younger ones.

The girl with the rabbit waved slightly. “I-I’m Rachel, pleased to meet you…!”

Lee knelt down to the height of the girl with the baseball cap and smiled. “And you must be Clementine?”

Clementine nodded, swaying her arms about. Lee stood up and looked over the kids. There were two girls and one boy, and he was going to assume the corpse he had just maimed was Sandra, the babysitter their mothers had mentioned over the answering machine.

“Sandra got attacked by one of the monsters two nights ago. We’ve been hiding in the treehouse since…” Clementine revealed.

Lee shook his head somberly. “Two nights ago? You’ve all been by yourselves through this?”

“Yeah, Travis came a little while ago… I just want our parents to come home now…” Clementine said.

As Lee reflected on the messages he heard on the answering machine, his face contorted with pity. He wanted to tell them the truth, yet the words stung like a wasp in his throat.

“I think that might be a little while, you know?” he said, the words heavy on his tongue.

“Oh…” Clementine's face fell, and Lee motioned for the trio to come closer.

“Look, I don’t know what happened. But I’ll watch over you kids until then.” he said with unwavering determination. Lee was just as confused and unsure as these kids, but he wasn't about to leave them to fend for themselves any longer.

“W-What do we do now? Should we go find someone? I’m not really sure if anyone’s… you know… left .” Travis asked with uncertainty. He was used to the treehouse, even if he’d only been inside for about a day and a half. It kept them all safe so far (well, when they weren’t sneaking out to go investigate car crashes like the Mystery Gang) . The treehouse had been their sanctuary for a while, but without food or water, he knew they couldn't survive there for very long.

“We need to get out of this neighborhood; it’s not safe. We’re less likely to be seen if we move at night.” Lee strategized. The two girls nodded in agreement.

“My parents might come home.” Clementine said hopefully.

“Yeah, maybe my momma will, too.” Rachel added.

Lee stood up, determined. “We won’t go far. We’ll try to find shelter and come back here with others.”

“That sounds good. We can hide in my treehouse until then.”

Lee shook his head, remembering his bad leg. “It’ll be a tough climb with this leg. How about we stay indoors for a bit. That okay?” Lee suggested. The kids looked at each other and nodded, now grateful for Lee's new presence.

 

---

 

9:30 P.M

* * *

Lee took a seat on the worn sofa, sinking into its faded cushions. Clementine sat beside him, her small frame barely making a dent in the old cushions. Across from them, Travis perched on a striped chair, while Rachel pulled a stool from the floor to join the makeshift circle.

Lee turned to Travis, hoping to distract the kids from their dire circumstances. “So, you came down from Stone Mountain?”

Travis nodded; his face etched with exhaustion. “Yeah, my school was coming down for the playoffs but I overslept and missed the bus here. I was just gonna wait until it was over then drive into the city and hang with my friends, but… yeah .”

Lee leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What made you come out here?”

Travis hesitated before finally speaking up. “R-Rachel? Her brother’s my best friend. He called me around three in the morning yesterday and told me the school was on lockdown. He asked me to go check on her but the phone disconnected, and then I didn’t know where she was. I probably wouldn’t have found these two if they didn’t use that walkie-talkie.”

* * *

Rachel piped up, voice quiet. “I wanted to go find him but… Travis doesn’t have a car. Do you?”

Lee shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

Clementine, who had been listening intently to the conversation, spoke up. “Oh, your car is broken. In the woods behind my house, right?”

Lee sighed, running a hand through over his hair. Clementine had no idea that the car he had crashed in was a police car. “No,” he admitted. “It wasn’t my car. It belonged to a police officer.”

Travis’ eyes widened. “Police…? Were you arrested…?”

Lee gave a solemn nod. “Yes.”

Travis nodded and decided not to push it, falling back into silence, while Rachel asked the next question, swinging her legs back and forth. “Do you know where we're going?” she asked, with trepidation.

Lee shook his head. “Not yet, but there has to be some sort of safe area nearby. That probably explains why the neighborhood is abandoned.” He hoped, trying to keep up the morale.

Travis looked out the blinds, considering their next move. “It's dark. You think we should go now?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lee looked over to Clementine, and she nodded. Then he turned to Rachel, who also nodded.

“Let’s go.”

 

---

 

Lee slowly slid open the glass door, allowing the three kids to tiptoe out into the inky darkness. The only sources of illumination were the pale glow of the moon and a few flickering street lights scattered throughout the neighborhood. They were all on edge, but the youngest members of the group was trembling with fear. Neither of them had ever been out so late, and they had never been without their parents for this long. The chorus of cicadas and crickets seemed to almost make it feel like a typical summer night, even though it was far from it.

Lee dropped down to their level and spoke in a hushed tone. “Now let’s stay quiet; we’ll head out to the front yard and follow the road out of the neighborhood.”

“Okay.” Clementine whispered, gripping Rachel’s hand tightly.

“It’ll be okay,” assured Lee. “Stay near me and we’ll move as fast as we can.”

Rachel and Clementine dashed towards the gate while Travis hung back, offering to help Lee walk. However, Lee politely declined.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Okay, just… let me know and I'll try, okay?” Travis replied.

Lee gave him a curt nod. “It’s nice of you, you know, to offer.”

“It was nicer when you chose to help us. Uh , thanks for that, by the way.”

Lee led the three to the iron side gate, and pushed it open, revealing the dimly lit street ahead. As they walked down the driveway, a sudden gunshot shattered the quiet night air, and Lee instinctively hit the ground, pulling the kids down with him. Heart racing, he motioned for them to crawl to safety behind a nearby car. They huddled together, their bodies tense with fear as they heard a voice shouting out in the darkness.

 

“I found the bastard!”

Lee's mind raced as he tried to make sense of the situation. He peered through the car window, but could see nothing in the darkness. The only sounds were the rapid breaths of the children, and the pounding of his own heart. Rachel buried her face in her toy, while Travis covered his ears to block out the noise. Clementine looked up at Lee, her eyes wide with terror.

* * *

“Are we going to die?”

Lee tried to remain calm, for their sake. “No, I'm sure we're fine,” he lied, hoping to quell their fears, including his own.

As he peeked out from behind the car, Lee saw the unmistakable silhouette of a police cruiser, its lights off. Damn , he thought to himself, they'd come for him. On top of the previous crime he'd committed, now he’s going to be accused of killing that cop in the woods.

 

“Stay down! Georgia State Patrol!”

“Dude, he won’t listen to that.”

Lee slowly, slowly stood up and held his hands up in surrender. He might be a bit more reckless on his own, but he couldn’t risk the lives of the kids under his care, not for something he was already in trouble for.

“I’ll come quietly! There’s kids here!” Lee called out to the officer with his arms raised in surrender. The kids followed his lead. The officer cautiously approached them with his weapon drawn, followed by another man who didn't look like law enforcement. As they neared the group, their expressions shifted from authoritative to surprise.

* * *

“ Oh shit! You’re not one of those things!” the officer realized.

“Neither of us are.”

Lee and the kids lowered their arms, and the officer holstered his weapon. He studied them for a moment before asking. “Wait; why’d you say you’d come quietly?”

Lee quickly thought up a reason for his surrender since the cop didn't recognize him. “You're the law, you know? You don't mess with that,” he explained.

“ Aw , man, no shit. I’m sorry about that.” The cop felt guilty for aiming his weapon at the group and apologized. His partner gave him a disapproving look for aiming at a bunch of survivors.

“Sorry about that. Well, Andre’s sorry about that.”

Andre's sheepish look quickly returned to a more formal expression as he corrected him. “It's Officer Mitchell,” he corrected.

His friend shot a glare at him before approaching the group. “My name’s Shawn, Shawn Greene. This is Andre—”

“Officer Mitchell.”

“Did you see any of those things? One of them just got our buddy, Chet.”

“I saw a lot of them in the forest, but that was a while ago,” Lee replied, pointing to Clementine's house. “And we saw a girl inside that house earlier.”

Shawn and Officer Mitchell exchanged a look, their expressions filled with disappointment. “Nah, wasn't them,” Officer Mitchell said, his tone heavy with regret. Shawn noticed Lee's leg, which was visibly injured and clearly a recent wound.

“Oh shit, you hurt your leg pretty bad,” Shawn exclaimed, noticing the injury. “Look, help us find the thing that got our buddy and we'll take you and your kids down to my dad's farm to safety. He should be able to fix your leg up too.”

Lee hesitated, “I'm not their dad. I'm… just some guy,” he confessed.

“Some guy?” Shawn asked in disbelief.

Lee nodded. “Yeah.”

“They’re alone?” The realization hit Shawn like a brick when he noticed the kids collectively nodding in agreement.

Officer Mitchell interrupted, “Whoever you are, let's get a move on.”

Before they could even take a step, a guttural noise made them all freeze. Turning around, they saw a figure rounding the corner, clothes stained in blood and a face that could only belong to one of the dead.

Chet, their missing friend now turned undead. The group slowly backed away as Officer Mitchell aimed his pistol at Chet.

“LET'S GO! GET TO MY CAR, GO!” he ordered, as the remaining members rushed to the cruiser for safety. Officer Mitchell kept his aim on Chet, but he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. He holstered his pistol and ran to the driver's side, sliding in next to Shawn. The survivors squeezed together in the back of the car as Officer Mitchell started the ignition and drove through the street blockade. Looking out of the rear window, Clementine watched as her house got smaller and smaller until it was no longer visible.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

“My mom says I’m not allowed to swear until I pay someone called ‘Bill’,” Rachel recalled tiredly.
“I think she means bills, you know, like the kind you pay for your house,” Lee explained with a soft chuckle. Rachel looked even more confused, and soon curled into herself, yawning.

…

“I miss my mom and dad…” Clementine whispered sadly. Rachel nodded silently into her side, joining with her friend’s lonesomeness. Lee gave them a nod, completely understanding that they were all missing their families, just like him. A part of him wondered if their parents were still even alive . If they were trapped in a building with those things .

Lee couldn’t help but to recall about those recordings he’d heard earlier, which didn’t bode well with him, at all. Yet still, quietly, he hoped against all odds that he was wrong, that they will find their loved ones safe and sound.

That they would all find their loved ones safe and sound.

“How far is Savannah?” Clementine asked.

“It’s pretty far,” Lee admitted.

“Oh. Okay,” Clementine yawned, drifting off. “I’m glad I’m not in the treehouse tonight…” The girls had finally settled into the sleeping bag, and lulled off to sleep.

As Lee drifted off to sleep, he reflected on the events of the day. He never could have predicted that his commute to his new life in prison would lead up to him running from man-eating dead people and taking care of three lost kids. It all seemed so surreal , like a bad dream within a bad dream that he couldn’t quite wake up from.

He began to consider their next move, already knowing they couldn’t stay at the farm for more than one night. They needed to keep moving, but he had no idea where to go. The city was probably teeming with the dead or no people at all, and he hadn’t a clue of, or if any safe areas or checkpoints were set up by the government. Lee almost instantly thought of his family’s pharmacy down in rural Macon, but hesitated on entertaining the thought just as instantly as he wasn’t even sure that they would welcome him home. Still, he wanted to know if they were okay, at the very least, and it might even be a good place to take the kids. They were good people, great even. Lee knew that even if they didn’t welcome him home, they would still help the kids on way or another.

Lee was interrupted by Clementine’s sleep-talking. He could tell she was dreaming, and whispered gently to her to calm her down. Lee couldn’t imagine what she was going through, what any of these kids were going through. Not having the comfort of your parents and suddenly being thrusted into this even more dangerous version of the world.

As Lee finally drifted off to sleep, the only sound in the barn was the soft rustling of hay and the occasional snore from Travis.

…

…

…

* * *

Lee awoke suddenly, his breaths coming in heavy pants as he surveyed his surroundings. His eyes landed on a small figure in the dim light of the barn, and as his vision adjusted, he recognized the figure as Rachel, who was holding out the stuffed animal she had been carrying with her throughout their journey.

* * *

“Here,” Rachel yawned, offering him the toy. “This is Captain Yellowbear. He’s my friend, and he helps keep all the bad things away.”

Lee looks at the rabbit for a moment before accepting it, feeling a sudden pang of gratitude towards the young girl. Rachel flopped back down and fell asleep without another word, leaving Lee alone with his thoughts. He knew that the toy may not do much to alleviate his own nightmares, but appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

---

July 22nd, Day 4

“Hey. Get up.”

Lee stirred from his sleep, feeling groggy as he tried to shake off the drowsiness. Morning had arrived too soon for his liking. He noticed a man with a thick mustache standing nearby, eyeing the yellow stuffed toy in Lee’s hand that Rachel had given him to “keep the bad things away”.

* * *

"Nice bear.” The mustachioed man gestured to the stuffed animal in Lee’s hand and he returned the toy to its owner.

“Did he keep the bad dreams away?” Rachel asked curiously. It was, after all, Captain’s best skill.

Lee affirmed that it did the trick. “It did. Thank you.”

Clementine, on the other hand, seems to be in a less than pleasant state. She scratched at her arms, feeling the aftermath of having slept in a barn. It felt like hair and feathers had fallen all over her while she slept.

“I’m itchy.” She grumbled.

“Well you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don’t have spiders in your hair.” The mustached man joked, causing Clementine to jump and paw at her curls. “But I bet your daddy scared ‘em all away, huh?”

“I’m, uh , not their dad. Name’s Lee.”

“I’m Kenny.”

A boy, appearing to be around Clementine and Rachel’s age ran up to the entrance of the barn, smiling ear to ear.

“Dad! We’re gonna build a fence! There’s a tractor and everything!” The boy spouted before running off.

Kenny sighed. “We better get going, or we won’t hear the end of it.”

 

The group walked out side-by-side from the barn and into the sun, the iconic Georgia summer heat beaming down on them, the sound of crows and bugs filled the summer air. Clementine holding Lee’s hand, and Rachel holding hers.

“That’s my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though.”

Lee cocked his brow at the strange moniker. “Duck?”

“Yeah. Nothing bothers him. Like water off a ducks back, y’know?”

“That’s a valuable trait lately.”

“No kidding. But frankly I think it’s because he’s dumb as a bag of hammers.”

“Daaad!”

“But he makes up for it with enthusiasm.” Lee and his group stopped next to Duck and his mother, who were sitting on hay bales in front of the porch. “The word is you were on your way to Macon,” Kenny said to Lee.

Lee confirmed it, “My family’s from there.”

“Well, Macon’s on the way and, personally, I’d appreciate the company of a guy who can “knock a couple of heads together” if he has to,” Kenny said.

Lee looked to the kids for their approval. Travis nodded, and the girls quietly agree. Lee turned back to Kenny, “Sure, we’ll tag along.”

“It’s a plan, then.” Kenny introduced Lee to his wife and son. “Honey, Duck, this is Lee and, uh , what’re the kids’ names?”

Clementine lets go of Rachel’s hand and hides behind Lee. “Clementine,” he points the other two. “Rachel, and that’s Travis over there.”

Rachel waves, but Clementine remains hidden. Kenny’s wife smiles kindly to the hidden girl. “That is a very pretty name.” she said, hoping to ease the girl’s shyness.

“Thanks…” Clementine said, a bashful smile forming on her face.

Shawn came over from the side of the house, dusting his hands. “Well, we should get to work. We’ve all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better.”

“I wanna build a fence!” Duck proclaimed excitedly.

Shawn grinned, “Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break.” He joked.

“On the tractor? Cool! ”

“Duck and I will hop to it.”

Rachel’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Ooo, a real tractor? Like Superman’s parents had? Can I come?” she asked, looking up at Shawn with eager anticipation. Shawn turned to Lee, seeking his approval.

Lee nodded with a reassuring smile. “Sure. Just be careful,” he says to Rachel, who jumped with joy before thanking Lee and rushing off with Shawn and Duck to see the tractor.

Meanwhile, Kenny’s wife offered to keep an eye on Clementine while they work around the farm. “I can keep an eye on your little girl here on the porch. We can visit.” she suggested kindly.

Travis, feeling a bit useless, asked what he can do to help.

* * *

“You know how to fix a car?” Kenny asked, as he lifted the hood of his truck.

Travis nodded in confirmation. “My dad taught me a few things.”

Kenny welcomed him with open arms. “Well then, the more the merrier,” he said with a grin, motioning Travis over to help with the repairs.

---

Rachel giggled as she perched on the front of the tractor, imagination running wild. She pretended that she was straddling the nose of a powerful mechanical dragon, with General Foreman Duck in charge of the controls behind her.

* * *

 

“Full steam ahead! Fix the magic gate, already, Shawn!” she exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah! Lift with your back, Shawn!” chimed in Duck, who was starting to feel like he was actually on a mission.

Shawn let out a long sigh, starting to feel the strain of their impatience. Almost immediately he was beginning to regret enlisting the company of two hyperactive kids.

Rachel pressed Captain Yellowbear up to her ears, pretending he was speaking to her. “What’s that, Captain? He says we have to fix the magic anti-monster gate before the army of monsters and their robo-raptors show up! Drive faster, Duck!” she urged, completely absorbed in her imaginary adventure.

As Rachel and Duck continued their wild tractor adventure, Lee walked around to the back of the house to find Shawn working on the fence.

 

                                                                                  

Shawn glanced behind him. “Hey, Lee.”

“Need a hand?” Lee asked, taking in the nice view of the backyard. Plains, trees, it was really serene. The open field in the distance give a sense of peace and normality to the scene.

“That’d be great,” Shawn stood up. He motioned to a stack on wooden planks by a saw. “If you could cut those two-bys to length, that’d sure speed things up.”

Lee moved over to the saw and wood and began cutting the wooden planks as Shawn continued to hammer away and reinforce the fence, the two started to converse.

“My dad doesn’t know how bad it is,” Shawn started.

“He knows what happened to your friend out there.” Lee replied.

“Yeah, but I’m not really talking about those things . I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face.”

Lee grimaced. “Damn…” was all he could really say to that. That was horrible.

“No shit, damn,” Shawn stared at his handiwork for a moment before continuing. “He did even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between this kid’s eyes, and pulled the trigger.”

Shawn’s memory was crystal clear, like it had happened just minutes ago. He and Chet had been in Atlanta that afternoon, searching for something he couldn’t quite recall. They were downtown when shit hit the fan. Shawn spotted a few of those things lurking in the streets, which quickly multiplied into a horde. They took refuge in an old shop for a couple of hours until the number of creatures dwindled, allowing them to make their way to Chet’s truck. Shawn remembered staring out of the window for what felt like an eternity.

On the third glance, he saw it - a young boy, dressed like any other, approached the Man. Shawn couldn’t hear what was said, or if anything was said at all, because in less than two seconds after the Man turned around the boy was laid out, blood spurting from his skull.

“You don’t see things like that. It—It’s not like in the movies.”

Lee could agree to that all too well now. “They don’t fall like you think.”

“Did you have to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Kill,” Shawn said. “Have you had to off one yet?”

Lee paused, his eyes drifting to the saw as he remembered the two he had killed, or rather, dispatched. He had taken out the cop who was taking him to prison, and then the babysitter who had attacked the girls at Clementine’s house. But he couldn’t exactly tell Shawn about the cop, so he parroted what he had told him before. “I bashed a poor girl’s brains in.”

“Whoa,” Shawn muttered. “I couldn’t do that. I could shoot one, maybe, if it were far away. I’m just glad we’re getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe… and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever’s out there. How about yours? How’s your family?”

“My brother and parents are in Macon,” Lee said, before brief flash of what-ifs cross his mind. “I hope .”

“ Oh , man, I hope so too. Maybe it’s not too bad there.” Shawn said, trying to offer some much needed optimism.

Lee finished cutting the two-bys and Shawn thanked him.

“And Shawn, I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Thanks, Lee. I appreciate it. Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn.” As Lee turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of Hershel walking into the barn. He waved to the kids and set out to help the older man.

Rachel looked up as Lee walked away. She didn’t know about Duck, but she’d at least overheard a bit of Lee and Shawn’s conversation.

It sounded scary, and Rachel had snuck and watched scary movies with her brother and Travis before, so she had seen some scary stuff . But Shawn had said it was scarier than any scary movie she had ever seen.

Rachel had seen Lee kill, or “get rid of,” Monster Sandra, and that was scary, because she had been a monster that Rachel knew before she turned into one.

She had a dream last night in the barn, where she saw Sandra turn into a monster in front of her. But even so, it wasn’t as scary as it should’ve been. Instead, Rachel just assume as if her dream was telling her something. That monsters could turn other people into monsters. It would explain why she turned into one after getting attacked by one a few days ago.

That’s probably what happened to Shawn’s friend, too.

“Hey, Shawn?”

“Yeah?”

“Do… monsters turn other people into more monsters?”

Shawn’s hammering came to a halt as he looked up. “I think so. Yeah. That’d… probably explain why there’s so many of them.”

She didn’t need to ask him if his friend had turned into a monster. Rachel already knew the answer. After a beat, she returned to playing with Duck.

“General Foreman Duck! Captain says there’s a bunch of robo-raptors... uh ... that way?” she pointed behind Shawn. Duck had shrugged in response.

“I’m bored. I don’t wanna be a general. I wanna run a farm!” Duck said.

“Can it be a dinosaur farm?”

“Cool!” Rachel smiled, turning her head to see Clementine walk around the corner. She waved at her.

“Hey, Clem! We’re playing dinosaur farmers, you wanna play?”

“No thanks… I can watch you, though.” Rachel bounced before she held Captain Yellowbear to hear ear once again.

“Farmer Captain Yellowbear says we have to go over there and plant a bunch of prehistoric stuff. Onward!” She shouts.

* * *

Duck give one good pull of the lever next to the steering wheel and it actually moved.

…It actually moved?

It moved…

And…

The tractor suddenly turned on, and it quickly moved over what was probably not a rock. Rachel heard a sickening crack and squelch underneath as Shawn screamed out in agony.

 

“AHHHH!”

Shawn’s bone-chilling hollering shot past the roar of the tractor engine. Duck and Rachel froze in horror as they watched first-hand the result of their horse-playing. Rachel jumped off the trunk of the tractor and rushes over to grab Shawn’s flailing left arm, pulling with all her might and apologizing profusely. She couldn’t tell if she was making it worse or if she even moved herself, but she definitely moved when she heard Duck’s terrified shriek.

Meanwhile, Lee, Kenny, and Travis rush over from the front yard, their faces covered with something akin to pure panic. Lee raced to Duck’s side, while Travis hurried to assist Shawn. Lee delivered a harsh swing to the corpse’s head, causing it to stumble and loosen its grip on Duck. Taking advantage of the moment, Kenny rushed over and tried to pry Duck away from the monster’s decayed grip.

With one final blow to the walker’s face, the monster released its hold on Duck, causing it to fall back onto the ground. Kenny quickly scooped Duck up and carried him away to safety. Travis, on the other hand, strained to pull Shawn free from the tire, as the man’s leg remained trapped.

Shawn’s panicked voice echoed across the yard. “Get this tractor off of me!” Kenny hesitated for a moment, torn between helping Shawn and protecting his son. Ultimately, he chose the latter and ran back to safety with Duck in his arms. “LEE, HELP ME PLEASE! ” Travis swung an uncut two-by and smashed one of the walkers pushing against the fragile fence.

“Push that tractor back!”

Lee sprang into action, scrambling onto the tractor and frantically searching for a way to reverse it. “How do I reverse this thing?!” he yelled over the chaos.

“P-Pull the steering lever in the opposite direction and mash that pedal!” Shawn shouted back. Lee followed the instructions and the tractor shuddered to life Lee follows Shawn’s instructions and pulls the steering lever in the opposite direction while mashing the pedal, sending the tractor in reverse and freeing Shawn’s trapped foot. It was too late however as the fence collapsed due to the dead weight of the corpses. The creatures fall on top of Shawn, seeking their teeth into his flesh and chewing out chunks. Travis jumped back and scooted away. Hershel arrived on the scene, rifle in hand, and took aim at the approaching walkers. One of the undead stumbled forward into down the already weakened fence. Hershel took it out with a single shot. Another walker, the one that had attacked Duck, rose to its feet again. Hershel wasted no time in firing another round, putting the dead down for good.

Shawn’s form twitched as he reached for his throat, the excruciating pain forced him to pull away. His foot was twisted in a grotesque angle, and Travis was certain he saw bone amidst the bloody mess.

The group congregated, their eyes transfixed on the massacre. Katjaa stepped forward, using her body to shield the younger kids from the gory scene.

Hershel hurried to his son’s side, examining his life-threatening injuries. After a brief moment, he realized that Shawn’s neck was chewed open, and leg is more than severely wounded—it was barely hanging on. The sight of his son in agony hanging on death’s step fueled his anger, compounded by the realization that these strangers have caused chaos in his once-peaceful home.

“Get out,” Hershel’s voice dripped with anger as he rose to his feet, facing the group. “Get the fuck out of here!”

“I’m okay, Pop... I’m okay,” Shawn managed to grit through his teeth.

“I know, son. Don’t worry, we’ll stitch you up.” Hershel’s voice softens slightly as he reassures his son.

Shawn gasped for air as he surveyed the crowd around him. “It almost... it almost got me, man. They tried to save me...” he managed to say, his voice quieting until he was gone.

Kenny’s head drooped low, clearly feeling guilty for what had happened. “I’m sorry...” he muttered.

“ Sorry? ” Hershel’s voice was laced with venom. “Your son’s alive . You don’t get to be “sorry” .” He turned to Lee and Travis. “I thank you boys. You helped him, but this piece of shit left him to die .”

Lee nodded slightly, but he remained silent. Hershel turned away from them, his sadness and anger palpable.

“Please, just go,” Hershel said somberly. “ Get out and never come back.” He returned to tending to his son’s body.

Kenny regarded Lee. “You’ve got that ride to Macon if you want it.” he and his family made their way back to their truck. The group exchanged glances.

That brief farm invitation had been thoroughly rescinded.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

“We can’t take risk like this!”

“And we can’t just let people die , either!”

“When I say “that door stays shut no matter what”, I fucking MEAN IT. We don’t know who these people are; they could be dangerous…!”

If the group hadn’t braced themselves for the horde outside, then they sure as hell weren’t even remotely prepared for the downright hostile atmosphere that ran rampant within the cramped aisles of the drug store.

Two women locked eyes, their gazes completely written with animosity. The woman with the gun fixed a steely stare upon the woman with long hair whose posture stood a silent challenge to the other’s aggression. Meanwhile, the man donning the baseball cap positioned himself nearby them, ready to intervene in case things got physical, which he and (mostly) everyone was hoping it wouldn’t.

“Worse, they could’ve led ‘em right to us!” An old, imposing man, resembling a goddamn mountain in both size and temperament, spouted his venom upon the new arrivals

“Where the hell is your humanity?!” The woman with the gun, her hands firmly planted on her hips, shot back with equal ferocity. “They would’ve died out there!”

“Then we let ‘em!” Defiantly, the old man maintained his stance, refusing to yield an inch. His gaze swung through the group, more specifically at Lee.

Lee attempted to appeal to their sense of humanity, “We have kids with us.” He emphasized the presence of the younger ones among them, believing that it would sway their judgment. That surely they couldn’t turn away a group with more innocent lives at stake to face the onslaught of the dead.

“I see ONE little girl…” The old man dismissed Lee’s plea with a sneer. Clementine clung tightly to Lee’s hand . Lee noticed Rachel sought to stand behind him, obviously uncomfortable with the strangers (especially the loud ones) .

Clementine gently tugged at Lee’s hand, seeking his attention. “What is it?”

“I… I have to pee.”

“In a minute, Clem.” Lee replied back, speaking in a hushed tone. Clementine reluctantly released her hold on his hand as the group they found themselves amidst engaged in a heated debate.

 

“They’ve got kids , Lilly,” the man in the baseball cap pleaded for her to exhibit a shred of reason, hell, a flicker of humanity that surpassed the callousness of her old man.

The long haired woman, Lilly, cast a glance at him, “Those things outside don’t care.”

Kenny, his patience fraying, snapped in response, “Maybe you should join ‘em, then. You’ll have something in common!”

“Goddammit, Lilly,” The old man fumed, “You have to control these people!”

“Carley and Glenn just ran out there!”

“I don’t give a flying fuck! We’re in a warzone !”

---

Rachel silently sidled away from her previous hiding spot behind Lee, inching further away and finally beside Clementine, who stood nearby with a hint of idleness in her crossed legs. Leaning toward her, Rachel’s voice barely audible, she whispered.

* * *

“They’re kinda scaring me…”

“Me too… I don’t want to go back out there…”

Clementine’s gaze flickered to the restroom, then back to Lee, who was engrossed in a conversation with the other adults, or arguing with them, it was a mixture of both, really.

“I have to go ,” she whispered to Rachel, “Can you come with me?”

Rachel looked over their group one more time. Kenny and Lee were embroiled in a heated dispute with Lilly and the old man, while Travis attended to Katjaa and Duck. That meant she was the only one available to accompany Clementine.

“Okay,” Rachel held Clementine’s hand as the two slowly walked to the restroom near the front of the pharmacy.

---

“Holy shit … Son of a bitch , one of them is bitten! ” The old man’s voice rang out in disbelief.

Lee’s tone turned resolute as he countered, “He wasn’t bitten.” While he might not have witnessed Duck being grabbed initially, Lee knew the boy wasn’t bitten. The walker hadn’t had enough time to hurt him before Carley killed it.

“Hell he wasn’t!” The old guy seethed. He pivoted sharply and marched toward Duck, who was being tended to by his mother and Travis, “We have to end this, now .”

Kenny stepped in, shielding the man from them. “Over my dead body.” He threatened.

“We’ll dig one hole.” The old man snide.

“No! We’re cleaning him up; there’s no bite! He’s fine!” Katjaa interjected with frantic urgency, meticulously wiping away the blood from her son’s face.

“Don’t you fucking people get it?!” The old man snarled, his rage uncontainable, “We’ve already SEEN this happen. Wet let someone with a bite stay and—and WE all end up bitten!”

“Shut up. ”

“We gotta throw him out, or smash his head in!”

“What?! No!”

“Kenny! Stop him!”

Kenny turned his gaze towards Lee, “Lee, what do we do about this guy?”

“Dad, it’s just a boy, it—” Lilly interjected, attempting to reason with the old man, but he dismissed her.

“Lilly, I’ll handle this.”

---

Clementine pushed the restroom door, but it doesn’t budge. She tried again and it still doesn’t move.

* * *

“I think the door is locked.” Clementine whispered; her voice barely audible. Rachel, wanting to confirm, pushed it and it doesn’t move still. But she does notice a slight shift in the gap between the door and the frame when she shoved it.

“Ohh, I think something’s blocking it. Let’s both push it…!”

---

Lee folded his arms across his chest, adopting a resolute stance, “We reason with him.”

“With the bloody end of an axe-handle, maybe. Nobody threatens my boy. ” Kenny’s eyes hardened as he locked his gaze with the old bastard. He knew that if this man, or any of these people put their handed on his wife or son, it will end with the bloody end of an axe-handle.

“Everyone chill the FUCK out!” Carley intervened, her voice cut through the mounting hostility. At this rate they’ll kill one another before the walkers even get a chance to break down that gate and maul them to death.

“Nobody is doing anything, ” Lilly’s voice hissed with frustration as she confronted her father.

“Shut up, Lilly.” The old man retorted sharply. His eyes locked onto Carley, and he absolutely had a bone or eight to pick with her specifically. “And you. Shut the fuck up. They will find us, and they will get in, and none of this will fucking matter.” His fury shifted back onto Kenny. “But right now, we’re about to be TRAPPED IN HERE with one of those things!”

Kenny glared right back, “What the hell are you talkin’ about?” he demanded.

With an accusatory finger, the old man pointed directly at Duck, “He’s BITTEN! That’s how you TURN!”

Despite the escalating argument, Katjaa and Travis continued their diligent effort to cleanse Duck’s arms of the grime and blood. “He’s not bitten! Lee, stop this, it’s upsetting him!” Katjaa pleaded, her voice saturated with desperation.

“Ooh, I’m “upsetting” him? Upsetting is getting eaten alive! ”

“Dad, we get it,” Lilly huffed. “It’s a big deal.”

“Do you? You’re not fucking acting like it!”

“It- It’s Larry, right? Man, this is his son. ” Lee tried to reason.

“Look around, dumbass. I got a daughter in her, you got a daughter in here. Get your head outta your ass, boy!”

“We’ve all got people in here and we can figure this out without killing anybody. There’s another way.”

“Yeah, with a shovel .”

“What if this was your daughter?” Lee’s words brimmed with frustration, evident in his voice.

“Never woulda’ happened.” The old man shrugged dismissively, “She’s not some snot-nosed toddler, okay?! She’s United States Air Force!”

“Oh, fuck you and her!” Kenny spat back, his voice dripping with disdain. “I’m gonna kill him, Kat. Just worry about Duck.”

Amidst the heated exchange, Clementine’s voice called out urgently from the vicinity of the restroom door. “ Lee!”

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone in there…”

“It’s just locked. Key’s behind the counter— probably .” Lee replied. However, the argument at hand demanded his immediate attention.

---

“But…” Clementine opened her mouth to speak, but the weight of the intense conversation silenced her. She recognized the adults were preoccupied with matters far more urgent than her need to use the restroom. Rachel looked back to Clementine, who looked more uncomfortable now than she was before.

“What do we do?”

Rachel shifted her gaze towards the locked restroom door, contemplating their next course of action. Travis, engrossed in assisting Katjaa, caught Rachel’s attention. Maybe she could borrow him for a few seconds?

“Um… I’ll be right back.”

---

“Hey, I’m not the bad guy here, I’m just looking out for my daughter!” Larry asserted defensively.

“No, you’re just the guy arguing for killing a kid! ” Kenny shot back.

“He’s covered in muck! ” Larry argued, “She’ll find the bite, watch! ”

“She won’t. ”

“And if she does? ” Larry eyed the group, “The first thing he’ll do is sink his teeth into his mom’s face. Then once she’s dead , he’ll probably pounce on your little girl! She’ll turn fast, and then they’ll be three. And that, boy, is the ballgame.”

Lee shook his head resolutely. “He’s a little boy; I think we can handle him.”

“A little boy?!” Larry rang in disbelief, “He’ll be an uncontrollable man-eater! ”

“Then we deal with it then . But right now we’re just freaking everybody out.”

“Then get ready to deal with it because that boy is bitten. ”

“It’s not gonna happen!” Kenny barked.

“It is and we’re tossing him out NOW! ”

Lee found his voice and didn’t hold back. “ No! You don’t touch that boy, you don’t touch anybody! I’ve got kids I’m trying to protect in here too. You wanna get violent, you old fuck?! Well, come one! You better have a plan to kill me though because it’s me , before anyone else in here!”

 

“AHHHH!”

A scream tore through the air, causing the group to jolt in alarm. Their eyes darted towards the front of the pharmacy, pinpointing the source. And there, amidst the chaos, Clementine tried desperately to escape from a walker that had somehow lurked in the restroom all this time.

“Jesus!”

“Clementine!” Lee’s heart pounded as he sprang into action, racing to rescue the girl. In his haste, he collided with Lilly, jolting his already injured leg and throwing him off balance. The world spun around him as he tumbled to the ground, his head connecting with a thud.

Through his haze of dizziness, Lee’s senses sharpened, catching a glimpse of Clementine desperately fending off the clawing and grasping walker. Determinedly, he bolted up and snatched the walker by its shoulders, creating an opening for Clementine to break free and flee to safety.

“Get away from her, you son of a bitch!” Lee’s voice erupted in fury as he forcefully shoved the undead man away. It spun around, its decaying hands now latching onto Lee. Lee struggles with the undead man, whose deadweight made it harder for Lee to fully push it away completely.

“Ah— God, get off! Ugh—”

 

BAM!

A deafening gunshot reverberated through the air, punctuated by the sickening thud of the walker’s lifeless body hitting the floor. Lee stumbled backward, bending to catch his breath, “Man…” He turned, anticipation building within him as he sought the identity of his unexpected savior.

Carley, her hand trembling, slowly lowered her gun. “You okay?”

Their eyes locked on the motionless corpse sprawled before them, the grotesque remnants of the once-threatening dead man.

“Just great, thanks.”

 

Bang… bang…

The sound of growling and handed banging at the barricaded windows and the door start up again, and worse than before, it sounded like they were starting to do more damage to their defenses. Terror and unease washed over the group, urging them to retreat from near the windows.

“Everybody down! Stay QUIET.” Lilly whispered urgently as they all ducked down between crouched between the narrow aisles.

“They’re gonna get in!”

“Shut up!”

The next sound surprised the group: Gunshots echoed outside—a relentless barrage of automatic fire that rained down like a hailstorm. Eyes darted, trying to pinpoint the source of the shots, yet the gunshots seemed to envelop them from all directions.

* * *

“Is that the military?” Lee asked in hopeful anticipation.

“I don’t know…” Lilly replied, uncertain.

“Thank God for whatever it is…” Glenn muttered gratefully.

Unfortunately, the onslaught of gunfire paled in comparison to the sound of Larry’s barking.

“We almost DIED because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was— agh, AHH! ” Larry’s face contorted with pain as he clutched his chest, his body folding in on itself before collapsing to the tiled floor.

Lilly rushed to her father’s aid, “Dad!”

“W-What’s wrong with him?!” Lee’s eyes widened in alarm.

“It’s his heart!”

Larry choked out, “My pills…”

“Uh, um … nitroglycerin pills?” Katjaa spoke up.

“Yes, we’re out! We’ve been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here! Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter, where the pills are!” Lilly’s words spilled out in a rush.

“There’s probably another entrance,” Lee’s mind raced as he searched for a solution, “Maybe through the office.”

Carley’s gaze locked onto Lee, curiously. “How do you know that’s an office?” she asked, eyeing him.

“Eh , educated guess.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lilly interjected, desperately, “We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there, I’ll keep an eye on my dad.”

“Everyone else get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here a while.” Kenny directed.

Glenn’s eyes scanned their surroundings, “I’m starting to think this drug store isn’t a permanent solution.”

“You’re right, this ain’t exactly Fort Knox.” Kenny chimed.

Lee looked to Glenn, “What do you suggest?”

“We need as much gas as possible so we can ALL get out of downtown Macon. Fast.” Glenn proposed.

“Agreed.” Lee replied with a nod.

“Then I’ll head out and get gas. There’s a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I’ll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can.” Glenn said confidently.

“You know you’re way around? Local?”

Glenn smirked, “Born and raised.”

“If you’re gonna do that, here’s a walkie-talkie if you get in a tight spot. Hopefully you won’t need it.” Lee handed him the radio.

“Cool.” Glenn replied, appreciative and ready.

“Clementine’s got the other one. Check in with her and get back her as soon as you can.”

Kenny turned around, facing Lilly. “And you,” he motioned towards her. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Lilly. My dad’s Larry.”

“Keep a good eye on him. These boys will work on getting you your medicine.” Kenny reassured her. He then shifted his attention to the blond man standing near the door. “And you, you keep an eye on that front door. You’re our look-out.”

The man stepped forward, introducing himself. “It’s Doug, you got it.”

The woman with the gun, who had been listening attentively, chimed in, “And I’m Carley.”

“Okay, Carley, you’ll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest—you’re a good shot and I’d like to keep it that way.” Kenny instructed.

Carley nodded. “You got it, boss.”

Lilly glanced back at the group from her crouched position, her expression unreadable. She remained silent, focusing her attention on her father.

---

“Are you okay?” Clementine and Rachel approached Lilly, her small figure stepping closer. Lilly lifted her gaze, taking in the sight of the girls—one with curls bouncing, baseball cap, and clutching a walkie-talkie, the other with blue-eyes, rain boots squeaking, and hugging a stuffed doll. She recalled Lee mentioning having kids with him, but the first girl was the only one she’d seen. But then again, amidst the fighting, Lilly hadn’t paid much attention to the details.

“Yeah,” Lilly nodded, her attention shifting back to her father. “I’m fine.”

Rachel knelt beside Lilly, holding her rabbit tightly. “Don’t worry, Lee is super-duper fast, and he helps everyone, so your dad is going to be okay, okay?”

Lilly turned her gaze to the little girl, who smiled at her. A small smile tugged at the corners of Lilly’s lips.

“Thank you, kid. What’s your name?”

“I’m Rachel. That’s Clementine.”

“Lilly.”

---

Travis ran his fingers through his disheveled strands and sighed. Christ—what a fucking day. He just wanted to sleep, to sleep until all of this was behind them, until this undead nightmare was nothing but a memory and he could return back home and go to school again.

God. Listen to him, he was yearning for school.

His gaze drifted towards the shelf before him, cluttered with leftover magazines and a sparse collection of items—sleeping aids, rubber earplugs. His stress levels skyrocketed and boredom gnawed at his sanity so much so that he took to scrutinizing each package, reading every word over and over. If he knew shit was going to get this bad outside, he would’ve gladly opted to stay in the treehouse, even if it meant starving a little while longer.

* * *

Katjaa placed the towel aside, her attention shifting from Duck to the teenage boy. “Thank you for helping me with Ducky, Travis.”

Travis nodded in response. “No problem, Mrs. Katjaa. How is he?”

Katjaa gently stroked Duck’s hair. “Shaken up, but he’ll be fine. How about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’ve been very quiet since we left the farm. How are you feeling?”

Travis’ gaze fell to his worn-out sneakers, scuffing them across the tiled floor. How was he feeling? Did he have to explain it in three words or less or could he just ramble on and on like Rachel would?

Well, for starters he was fucking exhausted. Not the kind of exhaustion that stems from lack of sleep but rather the weariness that came from being fed up with their dire situation. The blood, the violence, the dead people, the constant running, the endless sound of gunshots. Questions like “Where is everyone?” “Where are the gunshots coming from?”, “Where are we going next?”, “Why is this happening?” plagued Travis’s mind throughout the past few days of this nightmare. He longed for his dad, his video games, his friends, and the normalcy of life. Mundane routines devoid of reanimated dead bodies and gunshots echoing just three feet away.

Truth be told, once they reached Macon, Travis had contemplated leaving the girls under Lee’s care, entertaining thoughts of finding a car or a bike to make his way back to Stone Mountain. He trusted Lee enough to take care of them, for some reason. Lee didn’t fit the mold of a bad guy in Travis’s book. And besides, he just wanted to see if his dad was even home yet.

He had never been one to steal, but two days in, he could feel a sense of desperation growing inside him.

Kenny’s hand landed on Travis’s shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. Travis turned to face the man, and Kenny spoke reassuringly, “Hey, kid. We get it. This shit’s got everyone feeling some kind of way.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of Travis’s lips as he replied, “Yeah, I just miss my folks is all.”

“Where do you think they are?” Katjaa inquired.

Travis paused, contemplating his response. “My dad’s in the military.”

“That means your old man’s out there fighting the good fight,” Kenny’s voice carried a sense of confidence. “Sounds like he can handle himself. I’m sure your folks are fine.”

Travis’s gaze shifted towards the boarded-up windows, as if he could peer through them into the unknown. With a nod, he acknowledged, “Yeah, I guess they are.”

Kenny looked over to Doug, who remained vigilant by the door. “Tell you what, go see if Doug needs help with anything, take your mind off it.”

Travis stood up, “Got it. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

 

---

Clementine and Rachel stood beside the door while Lee moved a pallet that blocked access to the prescription area. The room was in complete disarray, covered in bloody prints and trails. Lee’s face strained to keep from showing grief, witnessing the grim scene. He shook his head and moved over to the pharmacy door to rid it of clutter.

As Lee shifted the pallet, a wooden stick tumbled out and clattered onto the floor. He maneuvered the pallet towards the adjacent wall, then picked up the stick, a smile gracing his lips as he examined it closely.

Curiosity piqued within Clementine, and she asked, “What’s that?”

Lee proudly held up the wooden tool, “This was my dad’s cane. He’d zip around here on it from time to time.”

Clementine and Rachel regarded the cane with intrigue, and Clementine asked, “Was he sick?” Her mother had told her that people typically used walking canes when they had trouble walking.

“ Nah , he was okay,” Lee chuckled. “I actually saw him whoop shoplifters with it. This cane’s protected this place better than any guard dog ever could.” Placing the cane against the pallet, he continued, “Plus he knew how to make it look cool. Like you, with your hat.”

A smile adorned Clementine’s face as she remarked, “My dad gave it to me.”

Lee nodded appreciatively. “See, dads are smart like that.”

Lee’s attention then shifted to the wooden desk that blocked their path. Memories flooded his mind of his parents sitting there for hours, engrossed in their work. Sometimes, he and his brother would join them, giving them company until they eventually got on their nerves.

He missed that.

“Better clear this door, huh?” Lee remarked.

Eager to assist, Clementine interjected, “Can we help?” She and Rachel stood ready.

Lee’s smile widened as he replied, “Sure.”

 

The trio positioned themselves at different points along the desk, preparing to move it. Lee offered a word of caution, “Here we go. Watch your fingers near the drawers.”

It was apparent that Lee shouldered most of the weight, but with the girls’ assistance, the process seemed a bit quicker. The desk always felt as heavy as a fridge to move, which prompted a break.

Lee inquired, “How are y’all doing?”

“Yeah, it’s not that heavy,” Clementine assured him, with Rachel nodding in agreement.

“How about with everything outside?”

“It’s not good,” Clementine confessed.

“No, it’s not—”

“But I think it’ll be okay,” Clementine added, a hopeful smile gracing her face.

Rachel chimed in, “Yeah, and we’ll have something crazy to tell everyone at school.”

Lee smiled. “Okay, here we go.”

They resumed pulling the desk backward, the wooden surface scraping against the tiled floor. However, Rachel stopped.

“Lee, do you have kids?” she inquired.

“No,” Lee replied, his gaze still focused on the desk.

Clementine glanced over; her curiosity piqued. “ Oh , you don’t have a family?”

“…What do your parents do?” Lee quickly redirected the conversation away from himself.

“My mom is a doctor, and my dad is an engineer,” Clementine promptly responded.

“And my mama’s a teacher.” Rachel recalled.

Lee nodded. “Those are good jobs.”

Curiosity lingering, Rachel persisted, “What’s your job?”

Lee inwardly sighed, realizing the topic had circled back to him. “I, uh , teach history and writing, things like that.”

Clementine sought to make a connection, “Like... um ... social studies?”

“Yeah, like that,” Lee affirmed.

“ Oh , I think I like social studies. My mama teaches P.E, and I really like P.E.” Rachel turned to Clementine, who responded with a brief “Yep.”

…

Wait.

…

“You didn’t answer my question—”

“Alright, a little further,” Lee directed, his focus returning to the desk. Clementine’s brows furrowed, but she resumed pulling the desk to the side. Once it was positioned sideways, she turned back to Lee, her curiosity still lingering.

“…Why don’t you want to talk about your family?” Clementine pressed. “Do they like… hate you?”

Lee closed his eyes briefly, contemplating his response. He couldn’t fault the girls for their inquisitiveness; after all, they were just children who wanted to know more about him. But damn was this girl Clementine astute, and her astuteness and persistence made it difficult to evade the question any longer.

Lee sighed. “I wouldn’t blame them.”

…

“Why? Did you fight? I fight with my mom sometimes.” Clementine murmured.

“We didn’t fight. We just didn’t talk for a while.”

Lee knelt down in front of them, trying to alleviate any lingering guilt. “Look, my family is gone and I wish things would’ve been different.”

“…Yeah.” The girls responded; gazes casted downward.

An awkward silence hung in the air, neither of them unsure of what to say next. Lee decided to offer some explanation, albeit veiled very vaguely.

“I got into some trouble and then I didn’t talk to them for a while. This used to be their store. But let’s just keep that between us, okay?”

“Okay. Because of the trouble?”

“That’s right. Now, let’s get this done.”

Clementine and Rachel nodded.

“Did your parents make medicine?” Rachel asked.

“No. They just sold the medicine that other people made.” Lee clarified, noticing the girl’s nod of understanding.

“Oh . Do you think people will make medicine to make the monsters feel better?”

Lee contemplated the idea for a moment before responding with a nod. “I think they will. People have a way of coming together in times of need, and helping others.”

“Not the old guy.”

Lee chuckled. “Yeah, not everyone.”

 

The three of them finished pushing the desk against the wall, and just as they were catching their breath, Clementine suddenly jumped back, cradling her index finger in her other hand.

“Are you okay?” Lee immediately asked.

“I hurt my finger…” Clementine replied with a hint of discomfort.

“Is it bleeding?”

“A little…” Clementine confirmed, her eyes fixated on her injured finger.

Lee swiftly lifted her up and gently seated her on the desk they had just moved. “I’ll find you a bandage,” he assured her, making his way over to the nearby red first aid kit placed on the table.

Curious, Rachel asked, “Can I see?” Clementine carefully extended her hand out so Rachel can look. Personally, Rachel didn’t think it look too bad, and she’s gotten quite a few cuts in her life. But then again, she and Clementine had fallen out of a tree once when they were little, so she considers that to be her worst injury.

“Ow, does it hurt?”

Clementine nodded, “Mhm.”

 

* * *

“Is it as bad as that time we fell out of your treehouse?”

“No... But you broke your arm,” Clementine replied, a faint smile forming on her lips.

“I know, but it was still fun,” Rachel giggled.

Clementine mirrored the smile, with a touch of amusement. “Kind of.”

Lee returned with a Band-Aid and carefully wrapped it around Clementine’s injured finger. She smiled, appreciative of his care, but the smile wavered as another question began to form in her mind.

“Lee?” Clementine spoke up, her voice tinged with a hint of uncertainty.

“Yeah?” Lee responded, attentive to her concerns.

“What if my parents come home and I’m not there?”

Lee had anticipated this question, it weighed heavily on his mind as well, and the biggest one he’d been thinking about in regards to these kids the most. On the chance that their parents did return home, how would they even know? That their children were safe, but travelling around with strangers?

He went back to the grim recordings he’d heard once more, but chose not to voice his concerns. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they were in Atlanta, maybe they made it out safe. Then again, by the sounds of it, maybe not. Though Lee didn’t want to scare the children with unnecessary worries, especially if there was no concrete answer.

Even if he had his own doubts.

“They’ll, uhh ... Track us down. Don’t worry.”

Clementine accepted his response, finding some comfort in it. “Okay. We should keep a lookout, right Rachel?” she turned to her friend, including her in the conversation.

“Mhm!” Rachel nodded in agreement.

“I’ve got my walkie-talkie in case they try that way,” Clementine reminded them, her words serving as a reminder to herself as well.

Rachel looked down sadly, “…My mom doesn’t have a walkie-talkie…”

Clementine’s expression softened, and she showed Rachel her own radio. “Maybe if my parents picked up, they’ll be with your mom...!”

“But what about my brother…?” Rachel’s voice trailed off. Clementine tucked the radio away, realizing she had almost forgotten about her brother since they left her house.

“Don’t worry,” Clementine tried to reassure her, drawing from Travis’s words. “Travis said that they’re at a school, so there’s lots of people there to protect him, okay? Please don’t go out there… ” She pleaded.

“But…”

Lee knelt down to Rachel’s eye level, his gaze gentle and understanding. “I know you’re worried, and we’ll find them. But for now, you girls have to stay close to me until then, okay?” he reassured them, hoping to alleviate their concerns.

Rachel stood still for a moment, contemplating his words, before reluctantly nodding.

 

Lee continued to search the room scanning for any sign of the key to the pharmacy. His shoe stepped on scattered glass, causing him to pause. He moved his foot and noticed a broken frame underneath. He picked up the familiar photograph that lay within.

In the photo, his family stood proudly in front of the drug store they were currently in, his parent’s pride and joy (besides their two sons).

It was a moment frozen in time. They were happy, just normal and happy , but Lee couldn’t help but focus on himself in the picture, feeling like a blemish amidst the apparent perfection. A wave of sadness washed over him, and his smile faded.

With a mix of sentimentality and pain, he carefully tore himself out of the photograph, separating his image from the rest of the family. He tucked the picture of his family into his pocket.

 

“Find anything?”

Lee’s heart skipped (several) beats at the sudden intrusion of Carley’s voice, causing him to startle and pivot. A torn fragment of the photo slipped through his fingers. Carley stood at the entrance, eyes fixed on him with the same scrutiny she had maintained since their arrival at the store. Lee’s brain still felt like it hadn’t caught up with the rest of him yet, he couldn’t exactly formulate a response, only blink.

Carley’s gaze flickered toward Lee’s pocket, lingering there for a moment before returning to meet his eyes. “Let me have a look.”

Lee shook his head, “I don’t know about that—”

“I know who you are.”

Those words reverbed deeply within Lee’s mind, finally registering with undeniable clarity. Yet, he found himself unable to come up with the right words in response. Instead, he stood there, fixated on Carley, silently awaiting her next revelation.

And reveal she did.

“You’re Lee Everett. You’re a professor at Athens who killed a state senator who was sleeping with your wife. This is your parents’ store; folks around town know the owner’s son got himself a life sentence, but I’m a reporter for WABE, in Atlanta,” Carley unveiled the intricate account, as if she’d been the one who penned it all herself, “I paid attention to that trial. Maybe you’re a murderer. But I don’t really care. Frankly, that’s a skill that might come in handy.”

“ Hmmph .”

“Did you tell anyone out there who you were, or that you were tied to this place?” She questioned.

Lee’s head shook dismissively, a hint of frustration etching across his features. “No. I’ve been sticking to first names for a reason.”

Carley’s disapproving gaze bore into him, clearly unconvinced by his response. Lee could sense her skepticism, realizing that she had detected something beyond his words. Then, he recalled earlier when he’d briefly mentioned the pharmacy’s entrance through the office. To which Carley, and seemingly only Carley had managed to pick-up on. A tinge of embarrassment washed over him as he averted eye contact with the woman.

“You seem like an okay guy, and the last thing we need is drama out there. You've got these little girls to take care of, and… look, don't make me wrong on this.”

“I don’t plan to.”

“Good. Because if this lasts longer than a few days and you’re a detriment to the group, then we’d have a problem.” She warned.

Lee bristled slightly at the implicit threat. He understood where Carley’s coming from—looking out for everyone’s well-being—but he refused to be coerced or doubted. Lee knew he posed no danger to the group or anyone else. However, he chose not to escalate anything and instead chose conveyed his understanding with a look. “I hear you.”

“I’ll just keep this to myself.” Carley said.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Then, with a sense of camaraderie, Lee and Carley broke the tension, allowing a sense of ease to settle between them.

“Thanks.”

Carley flushed red and look away for a moment, returning with a grin of her own.

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

---

 

Clementine and Rachel settled on a couple of sturdy boxes near Carley, engrossed in their own thoughts. Lee, on the other hand, felt the need to check on Lilly and her father, update her on the progress of opening the pharmacy and whatnot.

“How’s he doing?”

“I’m not sure I got your name.” Lilly retorted, guarded.

“It’s Lee.”

Lilly rose to her feet, “Lilly. My dad’s Larry.”

Larry glared up at Lee, but said nothing.

Lilly frowned, “I was just doing what I had to earlier.”

“Everyone was.”

“Now his heart’s acting up again and I’m powerless to do anything. And that violence before, with my dad—that didn’t help.” she confessed bitterly.

“What’s… wrong with him?” Lee asked.

“He’s got a heart condition. He took nitroglycerin tablets pretty regularly. I’ve seen a few bad attacks he couldn’t get over and needed to go to the hospital.”

“Yeah, that’s, uh… not really any option right now.” Lee noted.

Lilly rolled her eyes, “I’m just trying to keep him relaxed .”

Lee nodded, “Well, he’s got a temper—”

“Ah, fuck you.” came Larry’s voice, sharp and defensive.

Lilly grimaced, “Yeah… he doesn’t mean it.”

“It’s just that…” Lee trailed off.

“Yeah?” Lilly prompted. Lee shrugged. He didn’t want to risk provoking another argument with the people who could barely handle the last one.

“Never mind, I’m sure he’s a good guy.”

Lilly nodded, “He is. He just has his issues…” Her gaze shifted towards the two girls, seated together and engrossed in hushed conversation while hovering over a two-way radio. “Where’s their mom?”

Lee hesitated, unsure of the exact details. “They’re both in Savannah, I think,” he responded.

“Oh, so you aren’t together with…?” Lilly questioned, Lilly’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She had assumed that Lee was the girls’ father. Lee shook his head.

“ Oh , no, I’m not their dad. I found them in a house when getting out of Atlanta. They’d been surviving by themselves, the boy too.” Lee nodded over to the displaced children. Leaning closer to Lilly, he spoke in a hushed tone, “I think the girls’ parents didn’t made it.”

Lilly cast a pitied look at the girls from a distance. “Oh...” she murmured softly.

“I heard a bunch of answering messages; sounded like they were in the same place, the girls were at home with a sitter. It wasn’t good.” Lee explained, his brows furrowing.

Lilly lowered, “Well, they’re lucky to have you.” she said sincerely.

“Was anyone here when you guys got here?” Lee couldn’t help but ask the de facto leader.

Lilly sighed, “No, the place was pretty wrecked. We pulled a couple bodies out of the office.” Lee’s breath caught in his throat, shock and grief written on his face. Lilly noticed his reaction and asked, “Are you okay?”

Shaking off the initial shock, Lee composed himself. He had already knew his family weren’t okay, the state of the back office painted a pretty dark picture, but damn if he wanted to hear it. “Yeah… I’m fine.”

“Did you know anybody here?”

Lee nodded solemnly, “Yeah, the owners. They were… we were close.”

“I’m sorry… we found an older couple in the office. Dad hauled them out in… case they weren’t really dead. ”

He could only nod.

---

 

“Hey, there, this is Glenn, and, uh… I’m kinda in a jam here. Uh, little girl, if you’re there, can you put your daddy on the phone? Or on the talkie, or whatever?” Glenn’s voice crackled through the two-way radio, reaching Clementine’s ears. She handed the device to Lee who took charge of the conversation.

“This is Lee, what’s up?”

“So… I’m down at that motor inn and, well, I—I’m stuck.”

“Stuck?” Lee echoed.

“Yeah, I, uh, saw a chance to get some medical supplies and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me. I’m hiding over here, but they won’t leave.”

Kenny, nearby, overheard the conversation and chimed in, “What’s up?”

“Glenn’s trapped down at the motor inn. Hey, Glenn, we’re gonna talk it over and send a group to come get you, alright?” Lee relayed through the radio. Glenn audibly sighed in relief.

“Phew, awesome. I’ll sit tight ‘til then.”

“Sounds good.” Lee ended the call with a click.

First the gas, then the heart attack, then the missing keys to the pharmacy, and now Glenn’s trapped down at the motor inn. This night couldn’t get any longer. Lee clipped the radio to his belt buckle.

Lee looked to Clementine, “I’ma hold onto this until we get Glenn back, okay?” He noticed her uncertainty, “I’ll take good care of it.”

“What do you think?” Kenny asked Lee.

“I think Doug’s not great around monsters, and you’ve got your family here. I’ll take Carley and her dead-eye down to the motor-inn, get Glenn, and get back here as fast as I can.”

“If that’s what you want to do—”

 

“I’ll go with you guys.” He turned around and noticed Travis standing nearby.

“You sure?” Lee asked.

 

* * *

“Yeah, I’m going half-crazy just standing around… not really doing anything. I wanna help.” Travis was serious, too. He felt like he was trapped inside the drug store, more than he already was.

“More the merrier, I guess.” Carley added.

“Good, it doesn’t sound too bad there now.” Lee remarked.

“We’re ready when you are.” She and Travis return toward the front door.

Before leaving, Lee turned his attention to Clementine and Rachel, kneeling down to their level. “Hey there.” He said.

“Hi,” they replied in unison.

“You girls need anything?”

“I’m okay,” Clementine looked off, thinking about it, “Maybe I’m a little hungry.”

Rachel chimed in, echoing Clementine’s sentiment, “Me too.”

“I’ll see about that.”

---

 

Lee approached Kenny’s family, greeted by the patriarch himself. “Hey, Lee,” he said, “You really gave that old man hell.”

“We got pushed, you know?”

“You don’t have to tell me; I was ready to tear the man’s head off,” Kenny said, expressing his frustration. “Anyway, we, Kat and I, ‘preciate your support.”

Katjaa nodded appreciatively. “Thank you, Lee.”

Lee’s concern turned to Duck. “How’s Duck doing?”

“He’s okay,” Katjaa reassured. “It’s just a shock.”

“We’re lucky as hell nobody got nabbed on the way in here.” Kenny remarked.

“No kidding.” Lee agrees.

Katjaa shifted her attention to the two children at the front. “How are the girls?”

“Good, I think.” Lee confirmed, they’ve been pretty positive all things considered.

“Couple of tough ones, right there.” Kenny commented.

“They’re just little girls, Ken.” Katjaa reminds her husband.

“What we’re you sayin’, Lee? They spent a couple days surviving on their own?”

“That’s right.” Lee confirms. He could hardly believe it himself and he’d been the one to find them. They had Travis there with them, sure, but he was, what? Fifteen? Barely seventeen himself? And he’d apparently found them just hours before Lee had stumbled upon them all himself.

“Don’t think just any little girls can do that.” Kenny claimed. He could even picture his own son holding out that long without them, and he didn’t want to.

Lee switched the subject, “What’s the plan?”

“Hang tight, I supposed,” Kenny shrugged. “Seems pretty dangerous out there, so… we oughta wait for things to clear up.”

Katjaa spoke up, “You said your family was from here in Macon?”

Lee looked off, “That’s right.”

“W-Where are they? Should we go looking for them?”

“They owned this place,” Lee admitted. “They pulled some bodies out of the office before we got here. They’re… gone.”

Katjaa gave him a sympathizing look, “ Oh , sweetie…”

“Kat…”

“They were good people,” Lee stated. “I wasn’t around much, but yeah, they’re dead.”

Katjaa and Kenny nod. No further words were necessary; they sympathized with him. Lee made his way toward Travis and Carley, who stood by the counter near the door. Along the way, he grabbed two energy bars and handed them to Clementine and Rachel, ensuring they had something to eat while he was away.

---

 

Carley was engrossed in examining the radio when Lee approached them.

“You’re a pretty good shot,” Lee complimented.

Carley glanced at Lee and smirked, “Well you don’t fuck with a reporter, especially one that’s three days out from her last cup of coffee.”

Lee’s gaze shifted to the radio resting on the counter. “What’re you messing around with there?”

“A radio. I can’t get it to work though. Travis took a shot at too but couldn’t figure it out either.”

“Here, let me have a look.” Lee offered, picking up the device and turning it around. He opened the battery compartment and his expression changed to one of surprise.

It’s empty.

…

“There’s no batteries in this thing…” he muttered. Carley and Travis cock their brows.

Carley and Travis exchanged puzzled glances, their eyebrows raised in confusion. “Huh?” Carley questioned, while Travis chimed in with a perplexed “What now?”

“You two know that there are no batteries in that thing?”

Carley and Travis glanced at each other, then turned their attention back to Lee, their faces flushed with embarrassment. They mumbled their responses in unison, trying to save face.

“Yeah, of course,”, “Totally.”

“I mean, yeah.”, “Yeah…”

“No,” they admitted simultaneously, their gazes averted in an attempt to escape the awkwardness.

“You didn’t even ask Doug for help?” Lee asked. The two don’t respond, only looking elsewhere to avoid the embarrassment. Lee let out a sigh and gently placed the radio back down on the counter. “I can try to find some when we get back. Needs two.”

Carley and Travis nodded, discomfort lingering as they awkwardly followed Lee to the office.

---

 

The three made it down the road without having to shoot or run from anything trying to eat them, which a fortunate stroke of luck considering the limited visibility in the dense woods. And though Carley’s eyesight was top-tier, even she could barely made out anything in the woods. Nonetheless, their luck quickly shifted as they neared the inn, where a lurking walker nearly caught them off guard. Lee swiftly motioned for them to take cover, and they promptly dropped to the ground behind a low brick wall, crouching until the walker moved on.

Once it eventually hobbled away, Lee let out a sigh of relief. Peering cautiously over the wall, the trio surveyed their surroundings. They spotted at least three walkers lingering on the ground level and an additional two figures upstairs.

A creaking sound caught the attention of Lee, Carley, and Travis. Their gaze shifted towards the origin of the noise, where they noticed the rapid opening and closing of an ice freezer door.

“Did you see that?” Carley questioned, her eyes locked on the peculiar sight.

“Sure did…”

“Oh, shit…”

Carley instinctively gripped her gun and aimed it at the freezer, her companions equally on edge.

“Be ready to shoot…” Lee’s voice barely audible, he whispered the instruction. The trio braced themselves as the freezer door swung open, revealing a relieved Glenn.

“Guys! Oh man, I’m glad you’re here,” Glenn exclaimed in a hushed tone. Carley, Lee, and Travis’s tension eased, and Carley lowered her gun.

“Jesus, Glenn!” Carley whispered sharply, a mix of relief and frustration. She had nearly put a bullet in his ass. Glenn hopped over the wall and joined them on the other side, and the four of them crouched down once again.

“All right,” Lee sighed, a sense of relief washing over him. “That wasn’t so hard.”

Carley, however, wasn’t as relaxed as him. “Can we get out of here before any of these things notice us?” she urged quietly.

“Not yet,” Glenn pointed up to the second floor of the inn, where two walkers were seemingly banging on a room door. “There’s a survivor trapped up there.”

Carley shook her head, “No way, we gotta go. Now .”

“ Listen. I was out here looking for gas. And then, up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from inside.”

“Who is it?” Lee asked.

“It’s a girl,” Glenn said. “We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her and she started yelling and saying I was bitten.” He shrugged . “I tried to convince her I wasn’t and that’s when all these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me and ended up hiding in the ice machine.”

“Lucky you,” Carley replied sarcastically. “Now let’s go! ”

Travis looked at her, “We can’t just leave her.”

“Damn right we can’t,” Lee replied, and Glenn nodded.

Carley looked at them incredulously, “You guys are suicidal . Over a girl! ”

“I’m saving her, with or without you.” Glenn made up his mind.

Lee agreed, “Think about if it was you .”

“Yeah, we can’t just leave someone to die .” Travis added.

Carley rolled her eyes. Shaking her head, she obliged the three wannabe saviors, “Fine. Let’s go save Glenn’s damsel in distress.”

The group quietly made their way over to the other brick wall on the right and took cover behind it. Lee looked at the other three. “Okay, this is the plan: we don’t know how hard it’s going to be to get her out of that room.”

“Yeah, it’s boarded up,” Glenn noted.

“So we have to kill every one of them in here,” Lee said as Carley loaded her gun. “ Quietly . Noise attracts these things. Now let’s have a look around.”

 

Lee peered over the wall and spotted a walker feasting on the remains of a hapless victim. Quickly retreating, he glanced to the left and noticed a pillow lying nearby.

“There’s a pillow over there,” Lee informed the group.

Glenn sighed, “That’s as far as I got when it came to supply gathering.”

Curious, Travis turned to Lee and asked, “What do we need a pillow for?”

“I might have an idea,” Lee replied. He leaned back to the left, carefully dragging the pillow towards their side.

Carley interjected sarcastically, “Good luck smothering them to death…”

Lee clarified, “That’s not really what I have in mind.” He motioned for Travis to follow him quietly. The two sneaked over to the RV parked in the middle of the lot, concealing themselves at the front. Lee glanced to the left and spotted a walker mindlessly staring at the side of the trailer, while another was scratching at the wall of the admin office. He turned to Travis and remarked, “Well, I’ve got one pillow and two corpses.”

“Yay?” Travis responded, sounding deflated. Lee and Travis retreated back to the brick cover where Glenn and Carley were waiting. Lee noticed a pick-up truck parked at the corner of the room and signaled for the others to follow him towards it. They took cover beside the vehicle. Glenn questioned, “You think there’s anything in here we could use?” Lee shrugged.

“Only one way to find out,” Lee replied as he approached the passenger side window. He peered inside and noticed an object sitting in the middle seat. “I think I found a pretty damn good way to stop these guys quietly.”

“Now we just have to get it without attracting attention,” Glenn whispered back. Lee crouched down and glanced to the left of the pick-up, spotting a walker slouched in front of a car propped up on bricks. The walker’s movements were barely noticeable, limited to subtle shifts of its head.

“Get out your gun,” Lee instructed Carley.

“But the noise—”

“Just follow my lead and stay right behind me,” Lee directed. Holding the pillow, he crouch-walked toward the lone walker. The undead man noticed Lee and let out a snarl, but before he could make any further noise, Lee forcefully smashed the pillow into his face. Carley swiftly followed up by placing the barrel of her gun against the walker’s head and pulling the trigger.

“Whoa...”

“That was sick!”

Travis and Glenn joined them near the red car, taking cover. Lee tried the door handle, and to their relief, the car opened quietly without triggering any alarms. The interior light flickered on, and Lee inspected the gear shift, finding nothing useful. As he prepared to close the door, something caught his eye—a peculiar metal object resembling a plug. He picked it up and examined it.

“It’s… uh , a sparky thing?” Lee showed it to Travis.

“It’s a sparkplug,” Travis corrected. “Hold onto that. We could use it.”

Lee placed his hands on the top of the car and gave it a firm push. It rolled off its makeshift support, continuing backward as he pushed it with force. He kept going, guiding the car directly into the path of the walker near the admin building, pinning it against the wall.

“Fucking wicked…” Travis muttered in awe. The group regrouped at the pick-up on the opposite side of the inn and approached the passenger side window. Lee prepared to throw the sparkplug at the window, but Travis intervened.

“Hold up a second,” Travis interrupted, extending his hand. “Let me see that. One time, I saw my weed dealer cracked one of these things open a chuck it at a window. He said the porcelain turns glass into tissue easily.” He placed the sparkplug on the ground and stomped on it with his shoe, retrieving a shard of porcelain. Handing it to Lee, he said, “Try it.” Lee took the porcelain shard and hurled it at the window, shattering it completely. The sound of the trapped girl’s cries grew louder as they approached the corner room, causing Lee to grimace.

Finally, Lee retrieved the awl he had noticed earlier inside the truck. Travis glanced at the tool and remarked, “Could probably pick a brain or two with that.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Lee replied. He motioned for the group to follow him back to the brick wall. Peering over the wall, Lee spotted the walker that had been feasting on human remains. He slowly crept up on it, ensuring it wouldn’t turn around. With a swift motion, he drove the pick into its decayed skull, ending its existence with a sickening squelch.

Lee and Travis took cover in front of the RV, and Lee gestured for them to be prepared in case anything went wrong. Peering over, Lee spotted a lone walker at the side of the RV and whistled to catch its attention.

The walker turned and slowly shuffled towards the sound. Lee readied his pick, gradually standing up as the footsteps drew nearer. As soon as the walker approached within range, Lee leaped out and drove the pick forcefully into its chest. Quickly, he pulled it out and thrust it into the corpse’s decaying eye, piercing its brain before it could react. The lifeless body thudded to the ground.

Carley and Glenn joined them, and they moved towards the final walker, which was pinned to the wall by the car Lee had pushed earlier. The walker growled and groaned, futilely attempting to grab Lee, seemingly undeterred by the obstructing car. Lee reached out to grab the fire axe from the broken emergency case but recoiled when the walker swiped at him, narrowly missing by an inch.

Realizing he needed to deal with the walker using the pick he already had, Lee rammed it into the creature’s forehead. The walker slumped forward, driving the pick further into its skull as it crashed face-first into the trunk.

Glenn approached and examined the scene. “Dude, where did your weapon go?” he asked.

“Into that icepick-sized hole,” Lee replied.

“Haha , holy shit,” Glenn laughed. “It’s cool, now we’ve got this .” He pointed to the axe.

Carley rolled her eyes, “Are you two done?” She was eager to move this along so they could finally leave the place. Lee grabbed the axe from its mount and looked up at the room where the survivor girl was trapped.

“Two more,” Lee observed.

“Should be easy with that cool axe,” Glenn remarked.

The group approached the stairs cautiously, but Lee stopped them. “Why don’t you guys hang back, just in case things go south?”

Carley nodded. “Okay. We’ll be right behind you.” Travis and Glenn agreed.

 

Lee stepped slowly up the concrete stairs and turned the corner past the wall. He spotted the two walkers, groaning and pounding on the wall of the room. Crouching and moving stealthily, Lee approached until he was within sight of the first walker. As soon as it noticed him, its focus shifted from the girl inside the room to Lee. The walker limped toward him, and when it came within range, Lee swung the axe, striking its head. With the first walker dispatched, the second one took notice and began hobbling toward Lee. He prepared the axe once more and swung it forcefully, severing the walker’s head from its body.

“Alright, Lee!” Travis’s voice cheered from the stairs.

Finally, the four arrived at the room. It appeared burnt and filthy from the outside, with a completely barricaded window and a door barricaded from the outside as well. Lee pressed his ear against the door and knocked.

“Hello in there? We’re here to help—”

“Please, just go away!”

“Let’s go, guys,” Carley urged.

“In a minute,” Lee replied. “If you open up, we can take you to a safer place. We have a group in town.”

“No, no, no! Please, no!” the panicked voice of the girl inside pleaded.

Glenn looked at Lee. “She’s in trouble!”

Lee stepped back, holding the axe up. “Miss, we’re coming in!”

With one chop, Lee cut through the wooden board blocking the door. However, when he tried to turn the knob, it was locked. Left with no other choice, Lee began kicking the door, attempting to force it open.

“Stop, just stop!” the girl inside yelled. “I’m... coming out.”

The door slowly opened, revealing a sickly woman. Her skin was deathly pale, her eyes red and swollen from tears, as was her nose. She clutched her side, which was covered in blood. She looked severely injured.

“You’re hurt...” Lee stated, shocked along with the rest of the group.

“I... I told you to stay away,” the woman whimpered.

“We need to get you help!” Glenn insisted.

“Y-Yeah! We’re hold up at a drugstore in town. We could patch you up,” Travis added.

The girl shook her head. “It’s... too late for that.”

Carley focused on the woman’s injury, clearly visible through the torn side of her shirt. It was no ordinary wound.

“Guys, she’s been bitten .”

“What?!”

“I told you! I said go away , I’m bit! But you wouldn’t just leave,” the woman sobbed.

“Let’s calm down; you could be fine,” Lee attempted to reassure her.

“I won’t be fine. My boyfriend was bitten. You get bit, and you die a-and you come back and you kill anything you can find.”

…

“You have a boyfriend?”

“Glenn!”

“I don’t want that,” the woman sobbed. “It’s not Christian! Please, just leave me... please go.”

Lee nodded, understanding the woman’s plea. “Okay, we’ll leave. Just... try to take care of yourself for whatever time you have left.”

The woman nodded quietly, but her gaze fell upon Carley’s right hand, specifically what she held in it.

 “You have a gun…” the woman noticed. Carley eyed the woman cautiously. “Can I... borrow it?”

“What do you mean ‘borrow’?” Lee questioned.

“Give it to me? I can just, you know, end this and then... then there’s no problem!” the woman pleaded, her desperation evident. The group was immediately taken aback.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...”

“PLEASE!” the woman’s tears flowed freely. “I don’t want to be one of them. They’re... they’re satanic .”

Lee shook his head, adamant. “We can’t let you do that to yourself...”

“Then do it for me!”

Carley exchanged a glance with Lee. “We need to get going.” The woman looked at Carley with desperate eyes.

“Give it to me, please!” she pleaded, reaching her hand out.

“Oh god,” Glenn muttered, bewildered. “This is crazy!”

“Please,” Carley warned her, her voice gentle but firm. “Step back.”

The woman continued to approach Carley, with her eyes trained on the gun. “It’s just two seconds, just one bullet , and I can be with my family and it’ll all be fine,” she muttered, her desperation growing. Carley cautiously stepped back, keeping a safe distance.

“Miss...” Lee intervened, attempting to caution her.

“Back up!” The woman glared at Lee before suddenly lunging for Carley’s gun.

“PLEASE! ” The woman shouted, gripping at the gun. Carley found herself pressed against the railing as the two women engaged in a struggle for control. Lee, Travis, and Glenn rushed to pull the woman away, but the balcony creaked and gave way, causing everyone to plummet.

 

They all hit the ground with a thud and lucky enough to have escaped any injuries. Lee grunted as he picked himself up. Carley’s eyes darted around, searching for her gun, and she spotted it in the trembling hands of the dying woman.

Lee cautiously extended his hand. “Whoa, take it easy. We just want to help...”

“You can’t...” the woman’s voice quivered as she pressed the gun against her own temple, her hand shaking uncontrollably.

“Miss, just relax now...” Lee tried to dissuade her, “You need to think this through. We can find you a doctor, it’ll be okay. Let’s all just...”

The woman’s gaze remained fixed; her decision unchanged.

“...We’ll find a way, we’ll find help,” Lee continued, desperation creeping into his voice. “Please, don’t do this.”

But the woman’s finger wrapped around the trigger, and panic gripped the air. “No, no, no, no, no!”

 

BAM!

The woman’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground, and marked an end to her desperation. Travis instinctively covered his eyes, Glenn’s stomach churned as he emptied its contents, and Carley simply reclaimed her gun.

“...Let’s get out of here,” Carley muttered.

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the surroundings, drawing the attention of the lurking walkers in the dark woods across the road. They emerged in droves, a horde of over a dozen, drawn in by the gunshot.

“Shit,” Lee cursed.

“Here they come!”

Without hesitation, the four of them scrambled into Glenn’s delivery car, seeking refuge. The engine roared to life and they sped away from the area.

---

 

The four of them entered the store quietly, using the office door as their point of entry. Kenny glanced over at the group.

“Everyone alright?” the mustached man inquired.

“Yeah. We had some close called but Glenn is fine, and… well, yeah… we’re okay.”

Glenn chimed in, sounding a bit dejected, “I managed to grab a few cans of gas for the pickup truck from the trunk of my car...”

“Good to hear it.” Kenny acknowledged, appreciating the effort.

“And things back here?” Carley asked.

“Quiet,” Kenny replied, gesturing towards Larry. “Our “friend” is still in and out over there. He won’t survive anymore stress.”

Lee nodded, “Our next order of business is getting those pills out of the pharmacy.”

---

 

Lee approached the girls, who were still seated on the boxes.

“Hey there, girls,” he greeted them.

“Hi, Lee,” they responded.

“How’re you two holding up?” Lee asked them.

“Good,” Rachel replied. “We’re just bored .”

“We’ll be out of here soon, so make sure you two are ready to go when it’s time.” Lee reminded them.

“Where are we going?” Clementine asked.

“I’ve got somewhere in mind but I have to run it by Kenny first. Don’t worry, where ever we go will be a lot safer than it is here.” Lee assured her. He noticed Rachel holding an uneaten energy bar. “You haven’t touched your energy bar yet?”

Rachel shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry right now. I was gonna save it for later… did you want it?”

Lee declined, “Nah, I’m good. You keep it. I’m going to go out with Doug and have a look around outside.”

---

 

Travis inserted the two batteries Lee had given him into the radio. He raised the antenna and pressed the power button.

Nothing.

“ Ugh . Why can’t I get this fuckin’ thing to work?”

“Swear,” Rachel whispered, peering over the counter at him. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Travis held up the radio in his hand. “It’s a radio. Carley wants to listen to the news reports. Problem is, the fucking thing won’t turn on.”

“Swear,” Clementine reminded him.

Travis let out a frustrated sigh. “I think it’s broken.”

* * *

Rachel glanced at the radio, then back at him. “Did you put batteries in it?”

“Yes, I put batteries in it,” Travis exasperated.

“Did you put them in right ?”

“How can you put them in wrong ?” he asked.

“You flip them around,” Clementine explained. “They’re supposed to tell you which way to put them in.”

Travis looked at her with disbelief before examining the radio. He flipped it around, opened the battery compartment, and sure enough, the battery labels indicated to place them positive to negative. He removed the batteries, flipped them, and reinserted them. “Well, shit, kids.”

“Swear.”

Travis shot a look at the young girls and shooed them away. He called over Carley and turned on the radio, adjusting the volume for both of them to hear.

“You fixed it...!”

“Well, the girls did, but yeah.”

The radio tuned into the station, and the voice of a newsman could be heard.

 “As the unknown affliction continues to spread unchecked, the estimated death toll continues to skyrocket. WABE urges you to stay indoors, and avoid any contact with individuals you suspect may have been exposed.”

Carley breathed a sigh of relief, “The station is okay!”

“In the event of a full… uh, my producer is telling me we have to get off the air.”

“Steve…” Carley murmured. That must’ve been one of her colleagues at the station.

“WABE wishes you and your loved ones…” The crackling static clung to the transmission, drowning the airwaves with its persistent interference. Throughout the chaotic noise, an explosion erupted in the distance, reverberations echoing through the air. The sounds of panicked screams pierced through the static. “…God bless you all.”

 …

The area fell into a heavy silence as both Travis and Carley stared at the radio, their expressions reflecting the weight of the somber message. Travis shifted his gaze towards Carley, noticing the sadness etched on her face.

“That… didn’t sound good at all. You okay?” Travis asked, genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine.” She quickly responded.

Travis could hear she wasn’t being honest, not really at least. That message nearly made him run away from the radio himself, it sounded so… surreal .

“… You think they got out?” He said.

A weary sigh escaped Carley’s lips, “I’m sure people got out,” she said. “Maybe they’re all being rescued. Then again, maybe not.”

Uncertainty hung in the air as the two lapsed into silence. In an effort to shift the focus from the distressing broadcast, Travis decides to ask her something else he was curious about.

“So,” Travis began. “How’d you end up here?”

---

 

Rachel wandered aimlessly through the store aisles until her eyes fell on an unclaimed energy bar. She always loved going to the store and just snatching candy from the aisles, bugging her brother until he caved in and bought it for her. But things had changed now. They weren’t really buying anything anymore; instead just they were simply taking what they needed.

Rachel knew that Lee wouldn’t scold them for it. After all, he had already given her and Clementine two bars earlier, and besides, this store belonged to him—or rather, it belonged to his parents.

She held the energy bar in her hand, lingering on it for a moment. She had already decided to save one for later, so an extra bar wasn’t necessary. Instead, she decided to give it to Duck. Living through a one-on-one monster attack made you hungry, she would know.

Making her way toward the area with the soda fountain, Rachel spotted Kenny and his family.

“Hey, Duck,” Rachel called out. The boy looked at her, but didn’t—or couldn’t find any words to speak back.

“Hello, Rachel. How are you?” Katjaa spoke on behalf of her son. Rachel extended her hand, showing the energy bar.

“I got this for Duck!”

Kenny accepted the treat graciously. “ Aw , thanks Rach. He appreciates it.”

“That’s sweet, Rachel.” Katjaa thanked.

---

 

Lee and Doug hurriedly dashed back into the building, swiftly shutting the door behind them. Doug exerted his strength and threw his weight against the barricaded entrance with a sigh of relief.

“Man that was close.” Doug expressed, relieved. Lee took a moment to compose himself, his eyes briefly closed, before responding.

“But we did it, that’s all that matters.” He approached Lilly, revealing the key to the pharmacy. “I’ve got the keys.” he showed her the key ring.

“Great!” Lilly exclaimed, a wave of relief washing over her. “God, you’re amazing. Let’s get in there.”

---

 

The blaring sound of the drug storm alarm echoed through the air downtown, instantly rekindling the attention of the horde that had only just subsided, their numbers gradually growing by the dozens. In a matter of seconds, a horde of at least thirty undead figures pressed against the gate, their collective weight causing it to creak and tremble under the relentless pushing and banging. The defenses, strained and vulnerable, were on the verge of collapse. And everyone knew—it was time to get out of dodge.

“Duck, c’mon baby it’s time to go.”

“I’m gonna get that truck pulled up ‘round back.” Kenny called out with urgency as he sprinted toward the office door.

Lilly supported her father, helping him to his feet. “Do it fast, I’ve got to get my dad out of here!”

“I don’t plan on dilly-dallying.” Kenny replied sharply. He turned to his wife. “Honey, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me. Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, start getting people outta here!”

“You got it!”

“Doug, Carley, Travis and Lee, you guys made sure out defenses stay up ‘til then,” Kenny ordered. “And Lee, I better take that axe, in case I run into any of them on the way to my truck.”

“Here you go!” Lee tossed the axe to Kenny who caught it easily.

The screeching sound of the front gate opening only intensified the urgency of their plan.

“Guys, that door’s not locked anymore!”

“Shit,” Kenny motioned to the door and rushed to the office back door. “You three get on it! I’ll get back as fast as I can!”

Glenn, Doug, and Carley pressed their bodies against the fortified entrance door as the walkers began weighing against the entrance door.

“Travis, watch them. Stay away from the windows.” Lee instructed the three children. Katjaa’s voice echoed from the office.

“Glenn, we need your help! Please hurry!”

Lee lightly tapped Glenn and gestured for him to go, and he’ll take over for him. Glenn rushed off to assist Katjaa, while Lee positioned himself between Carley and Doug.

“Hey, Lee…” Doug strained as he pushed against the door. “If we don’t make it through this, you should know… I think you’re a great guy.”

Lee glared at him, “Shut up, Doug!”

“Doug, if we don’t make it through this, you should know—”

Before Carley could finish her sentence, the walkers exerted a sudden surge of force causing Lee to lose his footing for a second. He stumbled forward but quickly regained his balance, going right back to pushing the door shut.

“I should know what ?” Doug asked.

“Huh?”

“You said I should know—”

To the left of Doug, the walkers managed to breach the barricaded window, toppling the shelf that had been covering it in the process. They began wriggling their bodies through the narrow opening.

“On it,” Carley responded, her hand instinctively reaching for her Glock.

“Are you sure—”

“Oh shit!” Carley swiftly drew her pistol and aimed it above Doug’s head. She squeezed the trigger, sending a round towards a walker that had gotten dangerously close to grabbing him.

“ Wha ...? Oh, shit! ” Lee instinctively ducked as the gunshot rang out. “Okay then, you got it.”

Carley rushed over to the aisle to keep the walkers pouring in at bay. Clementine stood by.

“Girls!” Lee called out, urgently. “Can you look for something to stick in-between the handles? Something real strong, okay?!”

“Okay!” The girls hurried off to search for something that could help him. The walkers, once again, constantly pummeled against the door with growing dead weight, causing Lee to lose his footing temporarily. Pushing against the door became more challenging as it was now only Lee and Doug working together. Just as they managed to get the door closed, Travis rushed over and slammed his weight against it, taking Carley’s place.

“Did you find anything?!” Lee urgently called out.

“Nothing!” Clementine’s voice echoed back, filled with frustration. “ Oh , wait!” Suddenly, a spark of recollection lit up in her mind, and she and Rachel darted off towards the office. Meanwhile, the window next to Travis shattered.

“That window is screwed!” Doug panicked.

“Go!” Lee commanded, urging Doug to take action. With a moment of hesitation, Doug ran to fortify the shattered window, leaving Lee and Travis to face the door alone. The door was forcefully shoved once more, causing both Lee and Travis to stagger forward. Determined, they pushed with every ounce of strength they had, straining to shut the door and then pressing their combined weights against it to keep it closed.

Clementine returned, clutching a long stick in her hands. “We found something!” she exclaimed, holding it out towards Lee. It was his father’s cane. He grabbed the cane and wedged it tightly between the handles of the front door.

“No! Get off, get off! Lee, help! Get off me, get them off! Get them off me!!” Doug’s desperate cries pierced the air, filled with terror as the walkers’ bony hands reached through the makeshift barricade gripping onto him.

“Shit! I’m out! I’m out! Someone, help! Ammo! In my purse!” Carley’s voice trembled with panic as she desperately tried to reach for her purse, perched atop a nearby shelf. A persistent walker tugged at her ankle, threatening to pull her down.

Lee’s heart pounded in his chest as he assessed the dire situation. He knew he couldn’t save both Doug and Carley in time. Heavy realization weighed on his shoulders as he turned to Travis, locking eyes with the young boy who looked to him for guidance.

For him to save both.

That’s when Lee made a split-second decision.

“Travis, go help Carley!”

Without hesitation, the boy nodded and dashed off towards Carley’s purse, tossing the reporter her much-needed ammo. Meanwhile, Lee rushed to Doug’s aid, freeing him from the hold of the walkers. Kenny burst through the office door.

“Let’s GO!” Kenny’s voice boomed, urging everyone to move quickly. Doug, Carley, and Travis sprinted towards the door where Larry stood, holding it open.

“Oh god, they- they almost go me…” Doug’s voice trembled with fear

“It doesn’t matter, you’ve gotta move! ” Larry urged them forward as they dashed through the door.

Clementine and Rachel sprinted towards the door, their legs carrying them as fast as they could. Just as they neared the exit, a crawling walker lunged forward and snatched hold of Clementine’s leg. In an instant she lost her grip on Rachel’s hand, her scream rippling through the air. Rachel called out for Lee, who had already moved once he saw the walker grab Clementine. He slams his shoe onto the walker’s head, immobilizing it as Clementine crawled away. Rachel pulled Clementine up from the ground and together they hurried toward the office door. They look to Lee, eyes pleading for him to hurry up. But before he could reach safety Larry blocked him, hand pressing against Lee’s chest to prevent him from leaving.

“You’re not coming with us, you son of a bitch!” and with that Larry sent powerful punch that sent Lee falling to the floor.

“No!”

The force of the punch sent shockwaves through Lee’s body, causing his vision to momentarily blur with a blinding white light. His consciousness teetered on the edge as darkness threatened to engulf him.

What one hell of a way to die. Risking your neck to help some ungrateful old man, only for him to leave you for dead in return. Through his fading sight, Lee could make out the figure of Kenny rushing back into the room, wielding the axe high above his head. Lee braced himself, preparing the final blow from Kenny, a mercy kill, but instead, the swing of the axe narrowly missed his head, crashing into the skull of a walker that had been dangerously close to sinking its teeth into his ear.

“I’m not letting somebody get eaten today,” Kenny declared. He extended his hand towards Lee, who grasped it tightly, relying on Kenny’s support to regain his footing. “ Especially a good friend.” Together, they enter through the office door, but not before slamming it shut behind them.

 

---

11:53 P.M

Lilly heaved another walker corpse onto the growing mound of lifeless bodies, adding it to the grotesque heap that included the woman Lee and company had attempted to save prior. Disgusted, she wiped her stained hands on her jeans, the repulsive remnants (if any) hopefully clinging to the fabric. Her gaze shifted towards the two young girls, their faces contorted with a mix of revulsion and dolor. Sensing the need for distance from the macabre pile, the girls silently agreed to turn away, steps carrying them back toward the safety of the group. Duck, now feeling a lot better, caught sight of them and detached himself from his parents’ side to join the duo.

“Oh, man, guys! It was so awesome…”

 

“Meanwhile, inland, Atlanta has been downgrading temporarily to an eight, with attacks and rioting being reported in all precincts. Citizens are currently advised to stay in their homes or move towards the cities of Charlotte, Atlanta, and Orlando. If citizens choose to stay in their homes, they are urged to be near their radios and await further instructions. Moving in the cities of Charlotte, Atlanta and Orlando may become necessary to ensure the safety of all citizens…”

Lee stood near the desolate street, clutching the torn photograph of his family in his hand. Suddenly, the distant echoes of gunshots and anguished screams pierced the air, jolting Lee out of his thoughts. He approached Glenn, who was listening to the radio in his car.

“Hey, Glenn,” Lee said, trying to get his attention. Glenn motioned for him to be quiet as he focused on the radio.

“With uncountable severe emergencies in all counties, Georgia cities and their current level of disaster are as follows: Atlanta, stage nine catastrophe. Augusta, stage eight disaster…”

“I think I need to go,” Glenn said firmly.

“To Atlanta?”

Glenn nodded, “Yeah… I got friends there, and I just can’t stay here knowing that they could be trapped in that city.”

“It sounds like nobody knows what’s happening there,” Lee noted. “When we left a few days ago it could’ve gone either way.”

“I gotta take my chances.” Glenn insisted.

Lilly looked at Lee, ready to say something, but he shook his head and extended his hand. She understood his silent message and walked away.

“…Columbus, stage six infection zone; Savannah, stage nine catastrophe; Athens, stage eight disaster; Sandy Springs, stage seven outbreak; Macon, stage nine catastrophe; Roswell, stage nine catastrophe; Albany, stage nine catastrophe. Once again, Savannah is now a stage nine catastrophe.”

“Find your friends and be safe .” Lee asked of him.

Glenn nodded, “Thanks, Lee. Means a lot. I don’t mean to abandon you all, but this seems like an okay setup, and I’m sure things with be back to normal around here in no time.”

“Let’s hope.”

“You guys be safe.”

“We’ll try.”

Glenn’s eyes lingered on the broken balcony, a hint of sadness in his eye. Lee reached out and gently placed a hand on Glenn’s shoulder, a gesture understanding. Without the need for words, Glenn climbed into his delivery car and set off towards Atlanta.

Shifting his focus, Lee approached Kenny and Katjaa who were busy unpacking boxes in the back of their pickup truck. “Hey, Ken.” he greeted.

“Close call back there.” Kenny remarked.

“Thanks for picking me up.” Lee shook Kenny’s hand firmly, expressing his gratitude.

“No problem.” Kenny replied, nodding in understanding. “We have to take care of each other.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“Hey, about those girls...” Kenny began.

“Yeah?”

“Earlier, I said there’s some stuff out there that might screw up precious little girls like them.”

Lee nodded, “You did.”

“Well I still think that’s true,” Kenny admitted. “But after what I saw today, I think, between you and me, you taking care of them and them taking care of themselves, you all are going to be just fine.”

Lee smiled, “Thanks, Kenny.”

“I’ve got your back, pal.”

A bond had been established.

---

 

Lee approached Carley and Doug, who were engrossed in their respective tasks. Carley was carefully sorting through the boxes that Kenny had unpacked, while Doug was preoccupied in tinkering with a gadget.

“How’re you guys doing?”

“I’m okay.” Carley replied. “You know, all things considering.”

“Doug? Doug?” Lee called out, catching Doug’s attention as he paused his tinkering.

“I almost died back there.”

“But you didn’t.” Lee reminded him.

“Yeah, thank you by the way.” Doug expressed his gratitude.

“Yeah, and thank Travis for me. I wanted to, but he kind of just vanished.” Carley added. Lee noticed a familiar pair of sneakers behind the RV where Clementine, Rachel, and Duck were. He nodded in acknowledgment and left to check on the kids.

---

 

“And then this one time, Derek and Super Dinosaur got ambushed by Squidious, but Derek had an underwater mega-laser, it was so awesome!”

“Remember when The Exile took Derek to Inner-Earth, so Super Dinosaur, Erin, Erica and Elliot team up and made Super Force Team Awesome ?”

“Yeah! Oh, and then, check this out, Doometrodon had this mini-gun on his shoulder, it’s all, like, pow, pow, pow! I thought Super Dinosaur was toast! But you know what? He wasn’t . Oh, and then ...”

“Hey, you two wanna cool it for a minute?” Lee interrupted.

“Ok, sorry”, “Sorry”

Lee crouched down in front of Clementine, “What’s on your mind, Clem?”

“It’s… I got grabbed again.”

“I was there, though.”

“I fell… and my walkie-talkie broke. Glenn and the other one.” Clementine said sadly.

Lee looked at her with sympathy. “Aww, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I know I need to be tough, I’m just sad.” Her voice trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s how I used to talk to my mom and dad. And now they’re gone. It’s gone.”

“Maybe we can find you another one.” Lee suggested.

“I’ll just keep this one, I guess.” Clementine looked down at her damaged radio and sighed. Rachel noticed her friend’s sadness and joined her on the back bumper of the RV, offering a comforting hug.

“Lee, come here for a second,” As Lee turned to respond to Larry’s call, he couldn’t help but make a skeptical face.

He glanced back at Clementine. “Let me go deal with this.” With that, he left to see what the old man wanted.

Duck took the opportunity to step forward once Lee walked away. “Oh, man, and another thing!”

---

 

After receiving another more serious threat than the one Carley had given him back at the pharmacy, Lee felt a bit relieved that Lilly had called him over just in time. It had taken all his willpower to restrain himself from swinging on Larry right then and there.

“My dad would be dead if it weren’t for you.” she told him. She appreciated his help, despite them all getting off on the wrong foot.

“I wish there was more I could’ve done…” Lee replied. Not just for their group, for the woman who sought the desperate way out, for his family he left behind, who needed him most and he couldn’t be there for them went it mattered.

“You can’t be like that,” Lilly chided him gently. “You’re only one man.”

Lee looked down, “I don’t know…”

“We’re lucky to have you.” Lilly complimented. And she meant it too. He came in clutch for the entire group that night, he saved Glenn, got the pills for her dad even when he treated them poorly, fended off the walkers while they prepared to escape. He was essentially their one-man army. Lee felt a grin when she said that.

The distant sounds of military helicopters and gunfire caught their attention. Kenny joined them. “I hope that’s the sound of us winning this thing!” he exclaimed optimistically.

“Me too,” Lilly replied.

“This motor inn’s pretty damn defendable,” he observed, motioning to the scattered cars in the parking lot. “We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch, we could stay here until the military rolled through.” The three walk to the entrance of the motel, onto the sidewalk.

“I actually agree with that plan.”

Lee added his agreement. “Me too,”

“We’ve got beds, we’ve got water and most importantly, we got light.” Kenny noted. “There are worse placed to call home.”

Lilly nodded, feeling a sense of reassurance. “Yeah, you’re right… you know, guys, I think it’s going to be okay.”

 

Hum-clunk…

 

Hum-clunk… hum-clunk…

 

Clunk…

The lights flickered and dimmed, their glow gradually fading away, one by one. Darkness engulfed their surroundings, shrouding not just the inn, but seemingly the entire world, in an inky blackness.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

---

 

Rachel kicked the soccer ball to Clementine, who kicked it right back. Back and forth, back and forth.

That was the game for the past thirty or so minutes. It wasn’t a real game of soccer, but it was a game nonetheless. It was a good distraction for them while Lee was out hunting with Travis, Mark and Kenny. Neither of them was particularly worried, not as much as they were when they first started hunting. Lilly had told them once before that they were strong and always come back as usual. They were just lucky like that.

Kicking the ball also distracted them from the hunger that was slowly creeping its way back. The girls weren’t used to not eating every day. At home, they’d always have dinner, even if it was leftovers. But for the past three months, they’ve eaten every other day .

Now, it was probably once or twice a week .

Lee explained to them that it was Lilly’s decision, that the grown-ups had to eat a bit more now because they had to be strong enough to go search for more food for the group. Clementine kind of understood it, and Rachel tried to at first, but after Clementine pointed out to her that they haven’t been returning with a lot of things to eat, she’d taken the step of asking Lilly for an alternative.

Lilly tried to beat around the question at first. “The guys will come back with food, don’t worry” , “Just wait, you, Clem and Duck will eat something soon” . But after a while, she told them that the best way to combat hunger was to put your mind towards something else.

And so there they were, kicking a soccer ball that Lilly had found for them back and forth, back and forth.

 

“Whh~!”

A sharp whistle from Lilly, who was sitting on watch, was everyone’s signal to stop what they’re doing and hide. Everyone crouches down, deathly quiet.

. . .

. . .

“Get the gates open! We’ve got wounded!”

Lilly lowered her gun and glowered at the returning party. “ Shit . What the hell are they doing?!”

Katjaa and Carley rushed over to the makeshift dumpster-gate to aid Lee, Mark, Travis and Kenny as they seemed to be carrying somebody. A frenzy of questions come their way as the party make their way through the gate:

“What happened?!”

“Who the hell are these people?!”

“Who’s that?”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t have time to explain.” Lee interrupted.

“Get him into the truck.” Katjaa instructed. “I’ll see what I can do, okay?”

“Kat, can you fix him?” Kenny hurriedly asked.

“Jesus, Ken! I… I don’t know!”

“Lee…LEE! What the hell?! You can’t just bring new people here! What are you thinking ?!” Lilly snapped at the man. The thought of them not bringing more food, but more mouths infuriated her to no end.

“Hey, you wanna calm down for a fucking minute?!” Kenny retorted.

Larry defended his daughter. “ Hey! Watch your mouth.”

“No, I don’t ! I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea!”

“I thought we could save his life! I’m the one who took his leg. That makes me responsible.” Lee argued. When he and Mark followed to screaming, they had found the poor guy, his leg caught in a modified bear trap. Mark had searched for a release latch in the short window they had but alarmingly noticed that there was no release latch.

Their last resort was relieving the man of his damaged leg.

“Well, that was a stupid thing to do.” Larry huffed.

“We are NOT responsible for every single struggling survivor we come across!” Lilly angrily tried to remind Lee. “ WE have to focus on OUR group! Right here. Right now.”

“Well, hang on! We haven’t even talked to these people yet. Maybe they CAN be helpful!” Carley tried to reason.

“Come on, Lilly. These are people! People trying to survive just like us. We’ve gotta stick together to survive!” Mark added.

Lilly turned to Mark, pointing a finger at him. “The only reason you’re here is because you had food. Enough for ALL of us. But that food is almost gone, we’ve got maybe a week’s worth left, and I don’t suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?”

“ U-Um … no?” The new boy replied, arms slumped.

 

* * *

“C’mon, Lilly. I can vouch for them. We went to the same school; you can trust them.” Travis interjected, handing his rifle to Mark.

“That’s not. The. Point. We can’t afford to feed every stray we come across out there! A weeks’ worth of food isn’t going to feed all of us as is. Vouching isn’t going to change anything! ”

“Maybe more people means we can find more food! Think about it!” Mark added to the mix.

“I am thinking. And I’m thinking that I’m the only one here using my goddamn head!” Lilly rubbed her hand across her face.

Travis crossed his arms. “Lee, what do you think?”

“I—”

Larry cut him off. “The fuck kind of say does he get in this? He’s the one who brought them back in the first place!” The rail old man shouted, crossing his arms indignantly. Between him and Lilly, who were pretty much the same person at this point, they’ll be going all day with this argument.

Kenny angrily walked up to Lilly. “You know, you like to think you’re the leader of this little group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn’t your own personal dictatorship!”

“ Oh, come on. You’re always being dramatic!” Carley rolled her eyes, here they go again. “Everything always turns into a power struggle between you two! I’m not gonna be a part of that!” she walked away, annoyed.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to lead this group! Everyone was happy to have me distributing the food when there was enough to go around, but now that it’s running out , suddenly I’m a goddamn Nazi!”

Lee stepped in, tired of being cut-off and frankly, tired of the dick swinging contest between the two. “It doesn’t matter who’s in charge. Those people are here now. I guess we have to decide what happens next.”

“No, Lee, it does matter!” Kenny turned to him. “One person can’t be in charge of everything! You know, it might feel safe for you to sit on the fence; but sooner or later you’re gonna have to decide who you’re on.” He said, before walking away with his son following behind him.

Which left Lee, Lilly, Travis, Mark and…

“I don’t see any of you stepping up to make the hard decisions! My girl’s got more balls than all of you combined!”

“Dad, please . Why don’t you go help Mark and Doug with the wall?” Lilly asked. Grumpily, the old man obliged. Not before bumping into Doug’s shoulder as he walked away. Ouch .

 

* * *

“Whatever,” Travis sighed in frustration before a sudden realization struck him. “Hey, Clem, Ray…! There's someone over here I want you to meet!”

 

* * *

The girls, engrossed in their drawing, looked up to find Travis standing beside the new boy. He stood as tall as ever, clad in the same varsity jacket Travis always wore. Both girls' eyes widened, and Rachel jumped up, bolting over to them.

The new boy followed Travis' gaze and froze.

* * *

 “Rach—”

 

“Ben!” The young girl practically tackled him to the ground, aiming for a bone-crushing hug. Laughing, she buried her face in his side. “ You’re here! I knew I’d find you! I missed you sooo much!”

 

* * *

The teenager, utterly shocked and caught off guard, couldn't find the right words. Ben gasped, hesitating as he cautiously hovered his hands around her, afraid to make direct contact. After a moment, he gently patted the girl on the head and drew her closer. Clementine followed suit, running behind them and embracing the boy on his right.

* * *

Lee uncrossed his arms, surprised by the girls' reactions. “You two know him?”

Rachel nodded and laughed, keeping a tight hold on Ben. Clementine turned to Lee with a smile.

* * *

“Ben is Rachel's big brother!”

And that’s when it clicked for Lee. Travis told him months ago that Rachel’s brother had sent him to go find her. They went to the same high school in Stone Mountain, hell he was even wearing the same school jacket. And Rachel had mentioned her brother constantly , every other day almost. There were days when she’d ask Lee to help her go out there and find them, and those same days he’d have to turn her down, telling her it was too dangerous. Such phrasing only made her ask more .

Mark turned to Lilly with a smug look on his face, quietly communicating something to her that only she picked up on. Lilly caught his eye and scowled.

Lilly turned around and stomped over to the RV. “You know what? I’m not doing it tonight. You do it. There’s today’s food rations.” She opened the backpack next to the RV and pulled out today’s menu: half an apple, two sticks of beef jerky, and two packages of crackers. “There’s not enough for everyone. You decide who gets to eat.” She handed Lee the food.

Lee looked at her as if she were handing him the keys to the White House. “Lilly-”

“No, I’m serious. Pick up that food, and start handing it out. You see how it feels to not have enough food for everyone.”

She was serious, and kept her hands held out until Lee picked up that food. The minute the burden was out of her hands she walked away.

Lee stared at the food—if he could call it that, really—in his hands. Such a small amount could go a long way for someone, but again, it was such a small amount . Four items of food in his hands.

And they had thirteen hungry people .

And with a heavy sigh, Lee looked around, at the hungry eyes that followed him. From Larry and Doug at the fence, from Kenny and Carley at the RV, to the kids standing next to him.

Mark patted Ben on the shoulder before leaving to aid Larry and Doug at the fence. “Welcome to the family, kid.”

Rachel eagerly tugged Ben’s sleeve, trying to pull him toward the RV. “Come over here play with me and Clem!”

“What? No, I—”

Clementine grabbed his other hand and did the same. “Just come on, okay?”

The two managed to convince the teen to follow them, albeit reluctantly, he would rather stay by his teacher just in case. But he’d be lying if he said his legs weren’t seriously tired.

As the three walked away, Travis looked to Lee. “Hey, Lee?”

“Yeah?” Lee replied back, hoping he wasn’t going to ask for any food.

“Whoever you chose today, I know you’ll make the right call… but, if it were me … I’d feed the kids today, is all.”

As Travis went to go aid Katjaa with his former band teacher, Lee looked to the items in his hands one more time. He and most of the people who’d scavenged had eaten something recently, as per Lilly’s rationing decision dictated. But he couldn’t remember the last day any of the younger kids had something to eat, and pinching of Lee or Kenny’s rations didn’t count.

Lee ultimately heeded Travis’ suggestion and went to give the youngest members over the group their daily bread.

 

---

“How ya doing, Clementine?” Lee asked as he walked over.

Clementine looked up from her drawing. “Okay.”

“Where’s your hat?”

“I don’t know.” Clementine admitted. “Can you help me find it?”

“Sure. Where did you lose it?”

The girl shrugged. “I had it a couple days ago.”

“I promise if I find it, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you.”

“Here. You need something to eat.” Lee said, handing the girl an apple halve. She beamed with satisfaction.

* * *

“I love apples! Thank you. Are there any more?”

Lee shook his head. “No, that was the last one.”

“Oh, um …” she looked at the apple, hesitant on taking it.

“ Enjoy it. You deserve it.” Lee assured the girl, who then bit into the fruit with no more qualms. He turned to Rachel and handed her the package of crackers and cheese.

Rachel smiled widely and graciously took the snack.

* * *

“ Ooh , thanks, Lee! Can we get marshmallows next time?” she giggled.

Lee chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Clementine looked to Lee. “If you have any more food, Duck’s hungry too.”

Duck nodded. “Yeah, I wanna eat, too!”

Lee held out the piece of jerky. “Here.”

 

* * *

Duck grabbed it with no hesitation. “Yeah! Oh, man, I’m so hungry!”

“So, how’re ya doing, Duck?”

“I’m okay! We’re coloring.” Duck grinned.

Clementine held up the drawing she’d been working on. “Guess what it is?”

“I don’t know… a dog?” Ben answered.

“Nope.”

“Oh, I know! It’s a goat, right?”

“No!”

“Is it a horse?” Rachel asked. Clementine flipped her work over towards herself and looked at it, then flipped it over on the back, annoyed. Lastly, Lee turned to Ben.

“Hey, is my friend going to make it?” Ben gazed at Lee full of worry.

“I don’t know, but Katjaa will do her best, I promise.”

“I… can’t believe you chopped of his leg …”

“There was no other way.” Lee looked at boy, noticing the disturbed look on his face. “So, who are you people? Our group’s gonna want to know.”

“I’m Ben. Ben Paul. The man you saved is Mr. Parker, the band director at my school. We all came down from Stone Mountain for the play-offs when… when everything happened.” Ben looked away. “You’ve met Travis; we were in band together… And… you already know my sister, so…”

“Well, how you holding up, kid?”

“ Uh , well, I, uh …” Ben looked to the ground. “I keep wondering if I could have done something to help, you know? Some kind of… I don’t know. Something. ”

“I’m sure you did all you could.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Lee sighed. “Relax, we’ll get your teacher back to normal in no time.”

“I sure hope so…”

“In the meantime, here. Want something to eat?”

Lee holds out the last packet of crackers, to which Ben just stared at it, unsure.

“If your camp got raided, probably means you haven’t eaten in a while.”

“I… am really hungry, but… you should… probably feed your group, first.”

Lee frowned, but respected his choice nonetheless.

Rachel, however, did not .

“Bennnn!” the girl whined. “You gotta eat! You said you were hungry!”

“No, I’m… it’s fine, Ray, really.”

The girl wouldn’t have any of it, however as she took one of her crackers and stuck it out to him. Ben looked it, then at Lee, who only shrugged.

“Eat something, pleeeeeease ?” she insisted.

Ben sighed and took the cracker. “…Alright, geez.”

Rachel beamed as took it from her, as long as he ate something, she’d be content.

Before Lee stood up, he noticed a familiar-looking, broken radio sitting on the wooden board that the kids used as an outdoor table.

“That things doesn’t work anymore, does it?”

“No. Not since it broke at the drug store.” Clementine replied.

“Just gonna hold onto it then?”

“Yeah. If that’s okay. I, um , I need it.”

“It’s okay, hon.” Lee nodded, assuring the girl that he wasn’t judging her for keeping it.

“You said they’d find us.”

“I know, I did.”

“And until then…” Clementine trailed off.

“Look, Clementine—”

Her brows furrowed. “I’m not stupid , Lee. I know it’s just pretend… but it makes me feel better.”

Lee folded. “Okay. You take good care of it, then.”

Clementine nodded, gingerly patting her radio. “I will.”

Lee stood up and looked to Carley, who was sitting nearby.

Carley got up from her chair and nodded him over the furthest room from the inn. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

 

---

He leaned on the wall while she took to standing next to him. Carley looked over to where the kids were sitting, and then back to Lee with curious eyes.

“So, what’s the story with the new guy?”

“The kid’s camp got raided a little while back.”

“Damn. Why is Rachel trying to feed him her rations?”

“Apparently, he’s her brother.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Talk about a coincidence.” Carley looked up Lilly, who was back on watch at the top of the RV. “Do you think she’ll still kick him out?”

“Lilly? I’m not sure. Why?”

She gestured over to Rachel and Ben, both of who were talking to one another. It seemed like Rachel was having more fun with the conversation than her brother as the girl kept laughing.

“You’ve noticed that Lilly has a soft spot for the girls, right? Personally, I don’t think she has it in her to kick him out, knowing that it’ll make both of them upset.”

“Travis knew him, and she was still gonna throw them out herself a little while ago.” Lee reminded her.

“Yeah, but that was before she had two of her “favorites” vouch for him as well.” Carley smirked, her jacket ruffling as she crossed her arms. “No, I think she’ll let him stay. If he proves that he can be helpful.”

“What about his teacher?”

“The guy in the truck?” Carley looked over to where Katjaa was treating the man with half a leg. Travis stood nearby the truck, if only just to watch. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you guys tried to help him, but I don’t think he’s going to make it.”

Lee folded his arms and looked around the inn, then back to Carley. “You think so?”

Carley nodded. “Yeah, and… Look, I’m sorry, but he was bleeding like a stuck pig when you guys carried him back here. And even if the guy survives, Lilly’s more than likely not going to extend whatever mercy she may or may not give the kid to him.”

He’d have to agree with her on that. Ben was one thing, both of them was another. Twelve of them was already a lot, thirteen’s company, fourteen’s a crowd.

“Lee!” He looked up to see Katjaa calling his name from the truck. “Could you come here for a minute?”

 

---

Lee had walked from the wall of the admin build over to Katjaa. The closer he got, the more he could smell the familiar metallic scent of blood now pooling at the end of the truck bed.

“Hey, Katjaa. Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know.” She shakily replied. “Can you give me a hand real quick?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Just apply some pressure here while I try to close this up.” She instructed, pointing to the man’s amputated leg. Lee followed her instructions as she sewed. “You know, I thought I was starting to get use to this… sewing up people’s injuries. But I mean, cuts and bruises are one thing, but Lee, this man has no leg…! ”

“I did the right thing.” Lee spoke. It felt more as if he was asking her rather than telling her.

“Yeah… I know you did.” She affirmed, quietly. “The right thing is just scary sometimes, I guess. Well, you’ve done all you can, Lee. Thanks for the help. Go ahead and check in the others, I need a little space here anyways. Travis could probably use a friend right now.”

Lee looked over to the Travis, who was leaning next to the burnt wall beside the truck. His hands were tucked into his pockets as he stared blankly at the ground in front of him.

 

---

“Travis.”

Lee’s voice nearly made the boy jump out of his skin. He looked up to see the man standing in front of him, a more concerned look on his face rather than the stoic one he was expecting to be met with for the past fifteen or so minutes.

Ever since they found Ben and Mr. Parker in the woods and brought… well … one and a half of them back, he’d been feeling… ill . Was that the word? Ill? The shock had worn off a while ago, and the adrenaline in Travis’ veins had soon dissipated, soon turning into dread as the thought of his favorite teacher missing a leg while bleeding out to death right beside him and his best friend being sent out to fend for himself, alone, most likely without his only family here, loomed over his skull like an anvil on a rope.

He’d tried to help Katjaa, but maybe he wasn’t being helpful enough. The sight of him looking as if he were going to puke all over the truck was probably enough for the woman to tell him to go and take a breather.

When he heard her call Lee over, he assumed that she was going to tell him that he’s dead and it’s time to throw Ben and Mr. Parker’s body out of the inn and to the walkers. And when Lee suddenly called his name, it only served to further fuel that thought.

“Y-Yes?”

“How’re you feeling?”

“…I’m fine… I think. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“I dunno, man… this is all so fucked .” Travis strained. “I finally found Ben, but now Mr. Parker…”

Lee frowned. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.” he sympathized.

“I just don’t know what do. I wish I could help…”

“You know, Ben over there said the same thing.” Lee said. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him; you did all you could do.”

Travis sighed. “I guess so.”

“Tell you what. How about you go see if Ben wants company. Seems like Ray over there is talking his ear off.”

Travis looked over to where Ben and the rest of the kids were sitting. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Lee.”

 

---

“…And after that we set up here!”

For the last… however many minutes Ben had been sitting there, his eagerly minded eight-year-old sister had been giving him detailed recounts of the first few days of the end of the world. At least from her perspective. He couldn’t tell if he was amazed by her ability to accurately recall the events of every single walker encounter, she’d ever had or absolutely horrified by it.

The way she’d talk about narrowly dodging death was as if she was detailing a fairytale, normally he’d be impressed by her talent to keep him engaged. But this wasn’t like the stories of her books or of her friends that he was used to hearing her back at home. She was telling him how she and Clementine just barely escaped a walker that ate their babysitter, how they hid out in Clementine’s treehouse for three days until Lee, the guy who cut off Mr. Parker’s leg, rescued them. How they nearly took a guy’s leg off with a tractor and got thrown out, and how they barely escaped certain death in a drug store in Downtown Macon a couple months prior.

It was like nothing she was explaining had bothered her the way it bothered him , like all of this was just something from one of her fifty or so comic books scattered about their house. As if this wasn’t the apocalypse.

“I got the flu last month after I played in the rain. But I’m okay, though!” she smiled, proudly showing off a missing tooth.

Travis came over and sat to her right, between them. “Hey, man.”

Ben looked over to his friend and nodded. “Hey.”

“So… how’ve things been out there?” Travis asked.

“ Uh , bad? Like, really bad.”

“Figures…”

“We were stuck in the gym for about two months or so. It was okay for the most part. We had enough food for the rest of us that didn’t get grabbed on the way inside. It was mostly just what was left our band, five of the cheerleaders and Mr. Parker. It got real bad about a week ago.”

“You said your camp got raided, what was that all about?”

“O-Oh, right. After a while… a few people started to leave. Mostly because they wanted to find their family and “didn’t want to die in a gym” .” Ben scratched his neck. “We went from twenty of us… to ten in three weeks. We had to leave the school at some point, so we starting camping in the woods, then the bandits came back and… God .”

Travis nodded and patted his back sympathetically.

“What about you?” Ben asked.

“I was at home when this mess started, remember? You called and told me to go find Rachel. It took forever, though. The line went dead before you could tell me where she was.”

“Ray said you guys stayed in a treehouse?”

“Clem’s treehouse, yeah. For like two- ish days almost. Sandra got, uh , you know.”

“Yeah…”

“Heard nothing from your parents either, huh?”

Ben shook his head. His phone died two months ago, and before that he tried his best to call his mom, Travis, hell even his dad. But once the power shut off, so did the cell towers. He wanted to go out there, back to Stone Mountain and at least try to find their mom. But he knew he wouldn’t last a minute out there on his own, and nobody in their right mind would even dare attempt to go into Atlanta with him.

The only thing he could do, was pray to somebody that his parents were alive, somewhere, preferably with other people. Good people.

“My mom was visiting her friend in Savannah, and I have no clue where dad is. I tried calling them… but nothing went through… I want to think they went somewhere safe… but… I don’t know. What about your parents?”

Travis shook his head, and the boys fell back into silence.

 

---

“Ken! Lee! Come here, please.” Katjaa called once more from the truck. The two men give each other a knowing look before making their way over from the RV.

“He didn’t make it, did he?” Kenny asked solemnly.

“He… lost too much blood.” Katjaa told him.

“ Goddammit .” Kenny scowled before storming off, throwing something against the RV. “I’m getting sick of this shit .”

“Ken, come back, there’s nothing…” she sighed.

“Let him go, Katjaa.” Lee said, shaking his hand.

“But…”

“He just needs time.” Lee assured the woman. “It’s been a rough morning.”

“That man you brought… I tried, but he was never going to survive.”

“Well, at least he’s not our problem anymore…”

Katjaa looked over to where Ben and the other younger members were sitting. “What about the other kid?” Lee opened his mouth to respond when the sound of groaning and creaking from the truck bed caught them both off guard too late as a pair of cold, lifeless hand stretch over towards Katjaa and grabbed her upper body.

“Shit! Katjaa!”

Lee rushed over and put his hands between the turned man and her head and began pushing him away from her. He finally pried Katjaa away from the walker and she stumbled forward and away from danger. Lee turned to Mark and Larry, who were further away working on the fence in the distance.

“The axe! Hurry!” Lee called before the walker suddenly grabbed and pulled him into the truck bed, its jaws snipping as Lee desperately kept it at bay. He began smashing its head into either side of the truck, over and over until Larry came with the axe.

“Get out of the damn way!” Larry raised the axe above his head readying the strike. Lee quickly shoved the walker away, its head hitting the back window shield; it sunk down right as Larry swung causing him to miss and devastate the window with a shatter. “Damn it, I had it! Fuck!”

“I got him!” Doug shouted holding up a broken two-by. He smashed it into the walkers head, yet it didn’t do much but phase it as Lee kicked it away. The walker recovered and grabbed Lee’s foot, and he kicked it twice before it backward into the back window shield again. But with the axe that Larry used stuck, embedded in the window, Lee could only crawl backwards until he inevitably fell over the edge of the truck bed and onto the concrete. The walker launched itself at him, and Lee caught it by its head as he dug his fingers into its rotted eyes.

Carley appeared above Lee’s head loading her gun.

“Shoot it!”

Carley doesn’t hesitate and aimed the barrel at the corpse, pulling the trigger. The corpse ceased its attack, and Lee pushed it off of him.

She crouched down next to Lee. “You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.” He replied, standing up.

“Why’d ya bring him here in the first place, asshole?!” Larry barked as the rest of the group crowed the scene.

“Dad, calm down—”

“You’re gonna get us all killed! ” Larry shoved the axe back into Lee’s hands before walking away, Lilly tailing him.

Kenny pulled away from hugging his wife as Ben and Travis approached the group. “Why didn’t you tell us he was bitten?!” he regarded the tall boy angrily.

“What?!”

“We asked you, point blank, “Was he bitten?” and you said “No” !”
“But he wasn’t bitten, I swear!”

“Well your “not-bitten” friend here came back to life and tried to KILL MY WIFE! ”

“What?!” Ben slowly lowered his defensive stance, looking over the group. “ Wait , you all don’t know?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kenny demanded as the group closed in.

“It’s not the bite that does it…!” Ben started. “You come back no matter how you die… if you don’t destroy the brain, that’s just what happens. It’s gonna happen to all of us…”

The group stared on in silence.

“We’re all infected…?” Lee looked on in disbelief. “Everyone?”

“I-I guess so. I don’t know… I... All I know is that I’ve seen people turn who I know were never bitten. When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in a gym and everybody thought we were finally safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher, I think, I guess she couldn’t take it. She took some pills, a lot of them. Someone went in the girls’ room the next morning and… God .”

 

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring

A set of bells started melodically chiming behind Doug, causing him to duck, along with everyone else.

“Doug,” Mark whispered. “It works!”

“Of course it works! I told you!”

Off in the distance, voices could be heard. Two men, from the sound of it.

 

“Shit, where’d this string come from?”
“Watch where you’re walking, man.”

 

Ben moved closer to peak through the gaps and see who was on the other side. Lilly, who was next to Lee, glared at the boy.

“Who are those people?!”

“I…I don’t know!”

“Are they the people who raided your camp?” Lee asked him.

“I don’t think so. But they all had their faces covered, so I don’t know.”

Kenny snuck up to the fence with his rifle and stood beside Lee. “There’s just two of them. We need to make a stand.”

“No.” Lilly whispered back. “We have a routine. We don’t confront them if we don’t have to.”

Mark returns to them, now holding his own rifle. They pause when they heard the voices speak again.

 

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just gettin’ untangled…”

“I don’t know how you’re still alive, man.”

 

Kenny was getting sick of crouching there and acting helpless, especially when they have guns, big guns , and know how to use them.

“Sorry, Lilly, we gotta do this.” Kenny said, gripping his gun. He shot up and aimed his gun at the men. “That’s far enough!”

One of the men held his free arm up. “ Oh, shit! Okay, okay… no problem!”

Lee stood up and joined Kenny. “We don’t want any trouble.”

The man stuttered. “O-Of course, uh , n-neither do we! Uh , I’m Andy St. John. This here’s my brother, Danny. We’re just out here looking for gasoline. Looks like you folks got the motel locked down, w-which is fine, but, uh , if you could spare any gas, well, we’d be much obliged.”

“What do you need gas for?” Lilly asked.

“Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity…” Danny explained.

“Our generators run on gas. Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If… y’all be willing to lower guns, we- we can talk about some kind of trade?” Andy requested of the group.

“How y’all doing on food? W-We got plenty back at the dairy.” Danny asked.

The group paused at the mention of food.

Food… They were offering food? When was the last time they all had enough food to eat? For all of them?

Lilly looked over to Lee. “Lee, why don’t you and Mark check the place out? See if it’s legit.”

Travis nodded. “I’ll go too, it’ll improve the numbers, you know, in case we run into anything dead.”

“So, uh , what do y’all think?” Andy asked them.

Lee pondered for a moment. They don’t know these men from Adam, they came out of nowhere, and claim they’re looking for gas for a generator that powers an electric, walker-frying fence. They could be lying, taking them off somewhere to get the jump on them and rob them. Or the dairy might not be as cracked up as it’s said to be, and they’re wasting their time.

On the other hand, his people are starving, and are practically eating crumbs to survive. And if he could get them a meal from these people, that would go a long way. Plus, the only thing the brother’s ask for in return is a potential trade? The least they could do was check it out.

“You’ve got a deal. We’ll bring some gas to your dairy. In exchange you give us some food to bring back. We’ll see how it goes from there.”

Andy smiled. “Sounds fair.” He nodded. “Couple gallons should power up out generators for a while.”

And so, a deal was made.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

---

 

The group of men finally and onto the sunny property that belonged to the St. John’s. It was a sight to behold for the newcomers. Golden leaves on the trees lights waved to them as they walk up the path to the farm. A white sign welcomed them with the family’s name and number.

“Here it is. St. John’s family dairy.” Andy proudly introduced. He stopped and pointed to the wired fencing with his free hand. “Y’all can see how we’ve kept this place so safe.”

“This fence keeps them out?” Mark asked.

“You betcha. They fry like bugs in a zapper…”

Travis curiously knelt down to inspect the electric fencing for a moment before catching up.

“…We’re pushing four-thousand volts through that thing, with generators and amps.” Andy continued as the approached the gates.

“Woah… you guys must know a thing or two about running wire!” Travis said, thoroughly impressed. He couldn’t wait to run this all back to Doug at the motor inn.

“Had a guy who did, yeah.” Danny replied.

Lee gave an approving nod. “This is a really brilliant setup.” He complimented.

“Yeah, this place looks so normal. It’s like… completely different to what’s outside!” Travis agreed. After seeing the fence and hearing that it runs enough volts to fry a walker dead, on top of the free food and the generators that give the whole place electricity, he wouldn’t mind taking up the offer of moving the group to the dairy instead of the motor inn.

“It’s worth protecting.” Andy stated. “Hence all the juice.”

From the white farmhouse on top of the hill, two figures walk out of the front door and down the pathway. A woman, rotund with curly red hair carrying a picnic basket, and behind her a girl with a Walkman in her hand.

 

“I thought I saw y’all with company comin’ down the drive!” the older woman spoke, her bright country accent shining through.

“Guys, this is our momma.” Andy stepped aside and allowed for the ladies to join them.

“I’m Brenda St. John, and welcome to the St. John Dairy!”

Andy gestures to Lee. “This here’s Lee, he’s from Macon.”

* * *

“A couple of our old farm hands were from Macon. They grow ‘em good there!” Brenda mused. She turned slightly and gestured for the younger girl behind her to step forward. “Oh, where are my manners. This here’s Margaret St. John, my youngest.”

“Mornin’, y’all.” Margaret beamed, swinging the tape player in her hand slightly. “My friends call me Margaret, so go right ‘head and consider me ya friend!”

“They got a few more friends staying at the old motel.” Danny told Brenda.

The older woman shook her head concerned. “Oh, my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable. Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?”

“We work together. Plus, we’ve got plenty of people with military experience.” Lee nodded.

“Well, that’s good to hear. That motel ain’t the safest place.” Brenda cautioned. “Now that y’all are here, we’ll make sure you’re safe and comfortable.”

“Thanks for having us. We brought some gasoline on good faith—”

“We’re starving.” Travis blurted out.

Brenda held out the basket in her hands. “These are for y’all. Baked fresh this morning.”

“They taste best with milk, I’d know, I took one this mornin’- Hm!” Margaret squeaked and embarrassingly averted from her mother’s gaze. The men in front caught a glimpse inside and to their surprise saw freshly baked biscuits.

“Holy moly…!”

* * *

Lee went to thank the woman for her generosity, but heard subtle but obvious chewing. He and Mark turn to see Travis now holding the basket, scarfing down a biscuit. He paused when he noticed them.

“Sorry.”

“Can’t get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that’s for sure.”

“True that. Hopefully Maybelle will get through whatever bout she’s goin’ through so we can keep on eating mama’s biscuits.” Margaret nodded.

“Your cow is sick? What’s she-”

“We have a vet! We could bring her here! We can help you folks out!” Mark interrupted.

Brenda glowed. “A vet? Oh, my! Our prayers have been answered!”

“Maybe our whole group could come? For the day!” Lee and Travis share a brief look of uncertainty.

“Well, how about this? Y’all go get your veterinary friend and I prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls. It’ll be nice to have some folks to help out around here again. Danny, why don’t you come help me out in the kitchen?” Brenda said before returning up the steps once again, Danny in tow.

“Mama, can I help?”

“Oh! How about you go show Lee and his friends around the farm?”

Margaret feigned a pretend look of excitement at the offer and put her hands on her hip. “Yay… I always wanted to do… tours.”

“Well then, Mark, Lee, why don’t ya follow Peggy and have a look around? Once ya get settled in, I could use some help securin’ the perimeter.” Andy said.

“Is there a problem?” Lee asked.

“Sometimes, the dead get tangled up in the fence before they fry and end up knocking over a post. It’d be a big help if you could walk the perimeter. You can learn a li’l something about our fence. I’m gonna go top off the generators before the run dry, come get me when you’re ready. And Peggy—” Andy pointed a finger. “Momma said don’t go near them fences, now, ya here?”

“I hear you, I hear you.”

And with that, Andy went off to fuel the generators.

Mark turned to Travis and Ben. “You should head back and round everyone up for the trip back here.” He said, handing Travis his rifle.

Travis took in and slung it across him. “Thanks. Come on, Ben, let’s go.”

Margaret quickly tiptoed around Lee and behind the two teens. She stopped with her hands behind her back.

“Well, now, look who we got here! What’s y’all names?”

Travis and Ben look at each other, seemingly caught off guard by the redhead.

“I’m… Travis. This is Ben.”

“Travis and Ben. Well, follow me.” Margaret began to skip down the drive.

The remaining men look around, confused.

Lee spoke first. “Uh, didn’t Andy say for you to stay here?”

* * *

Margaret stopped looked back. “Andy ain’t my daddy.”

“What about the tour?”

“Y’all don’t need me for that. The barn, the generators, the garden, and the fence. That’s really all there is to look at ‘round here. I’m bored and I never get to walk the forest no more.”

“We don’t want you to get in trouble—” Mark started before she cut him off.

“I ain’t getting in trouble if you just say I went to the washroom, now get to it. Let’s go, boys.” She happily continued down the drive way, plucking a pitchfork that was stabbed carefully out the ground, Travis and Ben simply following along.

Mark and Lee just shrug, and hoped Andy or any of the other St. John’s didn’t blame them if either of them noticed the girl’s absence. They just got invited here, and they’d be damned if they messed it up so early.

 

---

So far, so quiet.

At least, that’s what Ben noticed as they walked the road back to the motor inn.

They hadn’t run into any of those bandits the St. John’s warned them about earlier, nor had they stumbled across any walkers waiting to get the jump on them. Which was great, all things considered. Ben knew that Travis could maybe hold his own since that Mark guy gave him his gun, but him? He couldn’t defend himself even if he tried to. He couldn’t do it when their camp got raided, he couldn’t attempt it in the forest twice already, and if they eventually wanted to kick him out, which he was seriously, seriously hoping wouldn’t be the case, even if Lee said he was their newest addition to the group. He felt like Lee, Doug, Travis and the kids were the only ones fully on board with him staying.

He didn’t notice Margaret marching on his right until she tapped his arm.

“So, Ben, you from around here?”

“No… I’m from Stone Mountain.”

“Oh, neat. Have you been to Macon before?”

“Yeah, sometimes, but… there really wasn’t anything here that I was interested in, you know?”
“Really? The woods were the best part when I was little.” Margaret hummed.

“The woods?”

“Yup. The raccoons here love fruit and music. I used to come around here and play the old guitar for ‘em back when noise was allowed.”

“R… Raccoons?” Ben questioned, looking at the girl.

“Cute little guys, too. They would come out in droves when I’d play daddy’s old guitar.” The girl reminisced, extending her arms a bit to show her exaggeration. The teen could remember all of it vividly, sitting on a rock somewhere deep in the forest, playing ‘Little Boxes’ until Andy came and told her it was getting dark, and even then, she’d strum the strings once again on the way back.

Danny told her the music was annoying, but Mama thought it was lovely, and would sort of sing along with her. After the walkers came, Mama wouldn’t let her leave the dairy alone, and then after a while, not at all. For some time, she wasn’t allowed to play the guitar, they thought it would attract walkers. One day, she found a Walkman in a box somewhere in one of the dressers upstairs and showed it to Mama, who then told her it was in the lost and found for years but nobody sought to claim it. So, Margaret did just that and started her new hobby of collecting tapes.

“Don’t those things have rabies or something?” Ben asked, scratching his neck.

Margaret shrugged. “Probably, I dunno. None of them ever bit me, soooo…”

Ben sighed. “You sound like my sister…”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, she’s back at the motor inn. She’s like… obsessed with animals that can kill you, for some reason.”

“Killer animals? Like snakes, rats, komodo dragons, stuff like that?”

“Yeah.”

“Neat!”

“Oh jeez.”

 

---

The sound of Lilly’s now infamous whistle had pulled everyone out of their current task. It was nearing noon since Lee and his backup had left to go check out the dairy those two brothers were speaking about. She aimed her rifle at the figures coming down the road, and as they got close enough for her to identify them she lowered her gun and motioned for someone to push open the makeshift gate.

Kenny and Doug made their way over and let them in, but their eyes had immediately landed on the basket in Travis’ hand.

“Holy shit, is that bread?” Kenny asked incredulously, staring at the small, buttered rolls of bread piled in the picnic basket.

“Yeah, the dairy’s legit! They have a generator, an electric fence, the whole nine yards!” Travis handed the treats over to Kenny who held them up as everyone grabbed one for themselves. “Lee and Mark stayed behind to check out the place more. The St. Johns even invited everyone for dinner!”

The group looked shocked at the news, a few of them breaking into small grins of relief. Lilly looked over at the unfamiliar face standing next to Ben. It was a girl, looked to be around Travis’ age, round glasses, and in her hand was a Walkman.

“Who’re you?” Lilly asked.

The teen squeaked in surprise and quickly stood straight. “I-I’m Margaret St. John! Call me Peggy…!” Margaret introduced, “My family runs the dairy up the road, and I just wanted to tag along, hm!”

“Well, Margaret, it’s nice to meet you.” Katjaa greeted, causing the girl to smile.

“So, will you guys come to dinner?” Margaret asked. “My mama’s real good at cooking, I promise!”

The group look at one another, looking for a sign of approval from one another.

They all nod.

“Well, if Lee says they’re legit, then I trust him.” Kenny nodded, watching as his son fished the basket for a second biscuit.

“We’re gonna need people to stay behind and keep an on things here while we’re out.” Lilly turned to face the group. “Any volunteers?”

Carley stepped up. “I’ll stay.” Ben and Travis step forward as well, along with Doug.

“Alright, then, you four hold down the fort.” Kenny looked over to Margaret, “You know your way home, hon?”

Margaret eagerly nodded and motioned for the traveling group members to follow her back up the road.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

---

 

The journey to the dairy was surprisingly normal as the traveling motor inn group strolled along the road. They encountered no traces of wandering walkers or, more importantly, any other people. The midday sun cast its warm glow through the trees, occasionally interrupted by the cawing of crows, which broadcasted the otherwise relaxing, not as tense atmosphere as the group moved through the forest. Everything seemed oddly ordinary.

As they reached the conclusion of the hot dirt path, the seven of them spotted Mark and Lee standing alongside the St. John's, senses of relief washing over them. Kenny's eyes locked onto the familiar figures, and he excitedly waved in their direction, pleased to reunite with the two.

* * *

However, the reunion was immediately spoiled and cut short once they finally noticed an arrow jutting out of Mark's shoulder blade, and a crimson stream of blood cascading down his arm and dripping past his fingertips.

Upon seeing Mark's injury, Katjaa let out a gasp. “Mark! Oh, my God, what happened?!”

Lee quickly filled them in on what had happened during their absence, explaining that they were out picking walkers off the electric fence when these crazy people had attacked them from the forest edge, and shot Mark with an arrow. The other members gathered around him with panic collectively written across their faces.

“Christ! Are you gonna be okay?” Lilly's questioned.

Mark tried to reassure them, his own voice strained with pain. “Yeah, I'm fine. I should just… pull it out,” he grunted, clutching his shoulder tightly as he spoke. The intense pain was almost numbingly unbearable, clouding his mind and making it extremely hard to even speak.

Brenda quickly approached him and firmly grasped his free hand. “Oh no, honey, c’mon, Brenda’s got you. C’mon inside now. We’ll have you all sorted out.” she reassured, leading him up the steps towards the farmhouse. Katjaa walked alongside him, the two women exchanging brief introductions as they made their way up the steps.

“What kind of shit is this?!” Larry stormed towards Lee.

“We ran into some people on the way up here… bandits, I guess. I think it was them that attacked us.”

Andy's voice joined the conversation, “They gave us a bunch of problems in the beginning,” he admitted. “Killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get ‘em to stop by makin’ a deal.”

Kenny's eyes widened with a cross of surprise and indignance. “You knew about these people?”

“Food for protection.” Danny answered honestly. “Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin’ us.”

“Goddamn it!” Larry fumed. “Those boys said this place was safe!”

“It was just a fluke thing…” Lee rationalized. “We can’t stop assuming there aren’t bad people out there.”

Lilly shot him a look. “What the hell do you mean ‘a fluke’?!”

“It could’ve happened anywhere.” he explained. “It could happened to us at the motor inn.”

“We're sorry! We've never had them screw with us like this! Not since we started givin’ ‘em food!” Andy eased. “Listen, we may have had an agreement with those people, but we will not stand for this shit.”

“Ain’t no way we're gonna let those sons o’ bitches get away with this…” His brother agreed.

Kenny crossed his arms. “You know where these assholes are?”

“They're hard to pin down, but I think I know where at least one of their camps are. When you're ready to go scope out that bandit camp, come find us.” Danny said before he left.

“Christ almighty…” Margaret sighed.

Andy turned before left with Danny, “And you.” He pointed at the girl, eliciting a small squeak from her. “Peggy, I told you to stay here. Dammit, you got cotton in ya ears? Coulda run into anything in them woods…”

“It was fine.” The girl glowered. “You always act like this. Weren’t no walkers on the trail or nothing. And we had guns!” Margaret waved him off. “You act like I can’t do fine all by myself!”

“I don’t wanna hear it. Go on and do something else. Inside the fence. And don’t think I ain’t telling mama.”

“But—”

“But nothin’. Now get.” Andy shooed the girl off. Margaret huffed and stabbed the pitchfork in the soil before stomping off towards the barn with a huff. “That girl, I swear to God…” he muttered before rejoining their brother on the porch.

Ignoring the family tiff, Lilly scowled. “Bandits? Are you serious? This place isn't safe, we can't stay here.”

“Not safe?!” Kenny glared. “This place is a hell of a lot safer than that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows! What we need to do is find a way to get our whole group out here to stay. Take this place over if we have to.”

“Whoa! Cool your jets there, Rambo.” Larry interjected. “These are nice people. Let's not do anything to get us thrown out before we eat!”

Lee carefully weighed the words of both parties in the back of his mind. Lilly had a valid opinion, as did Kenny. However, at the moment, his main priority was to focus on the task at hand: tracking down the bandits responsible for shooting Mark, and stop them from getting any ideas about coming back.

“I'm gonna head out and help Dan deal with these bandits. You guys should try to make friends with Andy and Brenda while I'm gone.” Lee said.

“Well, that's easy. I got charm coming outta my ass.” Larry puffed out his chest. Lilly rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that's... real charming, Dad.”

“Where’s everyone else?” Lee asked.

“Well since Travis ate half the biscuits on the way to get us, and Doug killed the rest, I had them stay back. Carley volunteered to stay behind and watch the motor inn since she’s the only one who can properly use a gun.”

Andy and Danny engaged in a brief conversation before pivoting around and making their way back to the group.

“Hey, kids, look what Lee got working for ya!” Andy exclaimed, pointing towards the swing that had been broken but was now fully repaired. The children's faces instantly lit up with excitement.

“A swing! I love swings! Just like at my treehouse! Come on, guys! Thanks, Lee! You're the best!” Clementine beamed.

“Yeah!"

“You’re awesome, Lee!” The kids, accompanied by Kenny, eagerly sprinted towards the swing.

 

As Duck took his turn on the swing, with Kenny giving him a push, Clementine and Rachel positioned themselves nearby, simply talking with one another.

“It’s really pretty out here, Clem.” Rachel reflected, her gaze fixed on the surroundings.

Clementine nodded. “Mhm. It’s kind of like that field trip we went on.”

“The one to the… uh, the flower place?”

* * *

“Yep. When Mrs. Moore taught us leaf rubbing. Oh, I found this pretty leaf on the way here. You can add it to your scrapbook!” Clementine suggested, presenting the leaf to Rachel. It was a vibrant red leaf with streaks of orange and yellow. Rachel's face lit up as she pull her scrapbook from her bag.

“A red… silver maple leaf…! Thanks, Clem!” Rachel exclaimed gratefully. She carefully positioned it on the next blank page of her scrapbook.

“You should take more pictures before we leave, with the camera Lee got you.” Clementine suggested.

“Oh, yeah!” Rachel exclaimed, settling down on the grass, with Clementine joining her. Rachel retrieved a pencil and tape from her belongings. “Here—you can help me tape the leaf!” she offered, handing Clementine a piece of tape.

The two girls enthusiastically began working on the new addition to Rachel's scrapbook. Over their time those past three months, the scrapbook had evolved into a shared hobby between them. They would search for small or intriguing items around the motor inn, then carefully tape or doodle them in the book.

Around a month earlier, Lee had actually noticed their keen interest in documenting their experiences and had given them a Polaroid camera he and Kenny had come across during one of their scavenging trips. Since then, Rachel had actively sought out an array of subjects to capture with the camera, with Clementine serving as her dedicated photographer. They went on mini-adventures, exploring the various raggedy surroundings of the motor inn seeking unique moments and objects worthy of being preserved in scavenged Polaroids.

Taking out the camera, Rachel handed it to Clementine, and the pair scanned their surroundings in search of something to photograph. Clementine's gaze landed on Duck and his dad on the swing.

* * *

“I got it!” Clementine exclaimed, aligning the shot and capturing the moment by pressing the shutter button.

Clementine covered the Polaroid for a brief moment, allowing the image to develop. With anticipation, she removed her hand, displaying photograph. The picture was a perfect moment of Duck swinging high up on the swing, with Kenny positioned just behind him waiting to give him another big push.

Perfect!

“Look, Duck! It's you!” Clementine exclaimed, waving the freshly developed photo in the air. Kenny slowed down the swing slightly, allowing Duck to catch a look of the image.

“Wow, that's so cool!” Duck exclaimed, his face beaming with excitement. He hopped off the swing, filled with newfound interest. “Hey, can I take a picture, too?!” he asked eagerly. Rachel hesitated for a moment, contemplating Duck's request, before nodding.

“Okay, but I want to go with you,” she agreed. Rachel then turned to Clementine and asked, “You wanna come with us, Clem?”

Clementine looked towards the fence gate as it opened and smiled, “No thanks, I want to play on the swing!”

Rachel nodded in understanding as Duck eagerly pulled her along, starting on their quest to find more subjects worthy of her camera.

---

‘Got a doll baby, I love her so

Nothing else like her anywhere you go

Man she's anything but calm

A regular pint-sized atom bomb’

 

* * *

Margaret worked on Daddy’s old truck as the sun dipped low. Dirt on her purple dress as she fished around inside the hood of the car, the stereo cassette on top the roof playing ‘Atom Bomb Baby’ as bit of a backdrop to her irritated mood.

Stay in the fence this, don’t do that. Margaret was getting far too old to keep being handled like a baby. She did way too much work around there to be treated like one of those children that came over on field trips.

Margaret felt like she was at her wits end with Andy and Mama. If it wasn’t Mama coddling her and keeping her trapped doing boring housework, it was Andy treating her like a baby made of china.

At the very least she didn’t receive the same treatment from her other brother, Danny. Sure, he was still protective of her, just as Mama and Andy were. But he wasn’t overdoing it like either of them. At least Danny didn’t give her an eight o’clock curfew.

The creaking of the wooden gate pulled the girl from her venting thoughts, looking up to see her visitor was none other than Lee.

 

“Hey, Peggy.”

“Nice to see ya, Lee. Back from hunting those bandits? Did ya find ‘em?”

“You could say that. We ran into some trouble out there.”

Margaret frowned, “Y’all didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“Not us…” Lee muttered. “Before she died, we met a woman out there, at her camp. She wasn't one of those ‘bandits’. It sounded like they did something pretty bad to her, and your marauders are still out there.”

Margaret nodded, shaking oil off of her gloves. “Mama did say they have a drug problem.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Means they’re all shifty, you can’t trust none of ‘em. They’re all… dog eat dog out there. It’s horrible.”

* * *

Lee decided to shift the conversation. “What’re you working on?”

Margaret popped her knuckles before stand aside and letting the man bask in her work.

“I’m workin’ on daddy’s old Yugo! He use to drive it, then he gave it to Andy, and now it’s back here. Been a pet project of mine the past year.” She smiled. A red GV, stood proudly as a product of its time. “Poor thing’s a lemon, but she’s ‘bout as family as Maybelle is.”

“Your dad’s Terry, right?” Lee asked, she nodded. “Brenda mentioned him. He passed not too long ago, from what I heard. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah, dead got in through the backdoor and Daddy held them off for long as he could. After Daddy died, things changed. Everything did.”

Lee nodded. Life and perspective changes hard when you lose a loved one, he would know by heart.

“You don’t seem to get along with your brother much.” Lee noted.

The girl scoffed, “Which one; the kiss-up or Danny?”

“Erm, Andy.”

“Hm! Andrew in there is a regular ol’ worrywart. He’s been making this place feel like a penitentiary since he came back home, when the dead first started poppin’ up. Keeps making me stay this side of the fence.” Margaret tightened a loose bolt. “Heck, he and Daddy are the reason the fence runs electric. Thankfully we don’t have any more livestock, or we’d been eating more barbeque than we can handle…!” She joked.

“I see why he’d want you here, and not out there. Especially after what just happened to Mark earlier…”

“You startin’ to sound just like him.” Margaret pointed to the toolbox sat on the wood table across from her, “Hand me that can right there.”

Lee handed her a spray bottle. She took the can shaking it for a second before speaking.

“…Y’know, I killed one.”

Lee looked up, “Huh?”

Margaret placed the cap back over the spray, “T-Those bandits, in the woods. One of ‘em snuck on the farm some weeks back, I was walking the fence. I don’t even remember what happened—I just had the fork and…” she recounted with a shudder. “Only one who knows about it is Danny. If Mama knew she’d have a snit.”

Lee frowned, “Jesus, I know that wasn’t easy.” He empathized. “But why only Danny?”

Margaret shrugged, not looking up from the engine. “He took care of the body.”

…

“Sorry, it’s just… I can handle my own, and I’ve been wanting to tell Andy about it for a minute now but…” Margaret sighed.

“Peggy! Could you come in for a minute, hun? I need your help with dinner!”

Up on the porch stood Brenda leaning out the door. She waved her daughter down until the girl signaled that she heard her, before returning into the house and letting the screen door shut behind her.

“Ooh! Sounds like dinner’s almost ready~!” Margaret clapped her hands together gleefully. “Sorry I talked your ear off, Lee! Go on and join Andy and the kids in the barn, hopefully dinner’ll be ready shortly.”

Tossing the wrench on the grass, Margaret skipped out the gate and to the farmhouse. Lee watched as the girl eventually fell out of sight and indoors.

---

For the past hour or so, Duck and Rachel had roamed around the dairy, exploring its surroundings and diligently capturing various subjects with their camera in hand. They drew big mossy rocks, admired the leaves of big trees, and even met a real, live cow inside the barn during their little field trip.

Suddenly, the cow was way more interesting than whatever else was going on outside. Duck and Rachel decided to move on from their trip and join Katjaa, Andy and Clementine in the barn, where Katjaa was currently attending to the cow inside, Maybelle.

The barn door gave a faint creak as it slid open, revealing Lee, who had finally returned from the trip he had taken with Danny earlier. Lee smiled at the heartwarming sight of the kids filled with nothing short of fascination as they studied the cow.

Clementine, positioned near the door, watched Maybelle from a slight distance.

“It's alright, Clementine,” Katjaa reassured, “You can pet her.” Clementine glanced towards Lee, seeking his approval.

“It’s okay,” Lee gently urged. “Go ahead.”

Upon receiving his reassurance, she felt a sense of encouragement and nodded with a small smile. Slowly taking a step closer to Maybelle, she extended her hand, ready to gently pet the cow.

“Whoa…” Clementine whispered in awe as her hand made contact with the cow's fur. She carefully stroked Maybelle, feeling the softness of the animal's coat beneath her fingertips. “Katjaa says Maybelle could have her baby tonight!”

Katjaa smiled. “We’ll see, Clementine.”

* * *

“She’s so cool,” Rachel commented, briefly lifting her gaze from the portrait she was drawing of Maybelle. “I’ve never seen a baby cow before. Have you seen one, Lee?”

“Can’t say that I have. It might pretty neat to see one.” Lee replied, a hint of intrigue in his voice. The idea of witnessing a baby cow left him a bit curious, he had to say. New life in this new world, and all that jazz. However, his attention was shifted as he noticed something odd in his peripheral. He glanced over and saw an odd, pinkish-white brick situated to the right of Duck. He then moved a bit closer and bent down to examine it more. “What’s this thing?”

“Daddy said it’s called a salt lick.” Duck chimed in.

“Yeah but don’t lick it. It’s gross.” Clementine cautioned with Rachel nodding in agreement, sharing a similar expression of disgust.

Lee crossed his arms and wore a playful smirk, clearly amused by the situation. “Did y'all lick it?” he teased.

The two girls exchanged a quick glance, barely noticeable, and looked back to Lee in unison:

“… I don’t know.”

Smiling at the playful exchange, Lee shifted his attention towards Andy, who was seated nearby, close to the cow. “Hey there, Andy. Um...” Lee thought on how to word the question. “When do you think, uh, we might eat?” he asked.

“Hungry, huh? Don't worry,” Andy reassured, a smile on his face. “Mama’s cooking up some good grub,” The children exchanged smiles.

Lee felt satisfied with Andy's response. And he was confident that the feast Brenda and mentioned would taste heavenly to majority of the group who’d gone long without a home cooked meal, that’s for sure. But he couldn’t help but remember earlier, how Kenny had said he had gotten dizzy on the way to the farm, most likely from the lack of food. It didn’t sound good at all. Lee only hoped that whatever was being prepared would be done before anyone actually did fall to any hunger-related reasons.

Duck wrinkled his nose, “It smells funny in here.” He said, making a sour.

“Like shit, right, Lee?” Clementine, ever candidly asked.

Clementine kicked up a burst of laughter from Rachel. “Yeah, like shit?” she giggled.

Duck looked at Clementine and Rachel, visibly taken aback by their use of swear words then back to his mom. Katjaa glanced at Lee, silently requesting his intervention.

Understanding the need for guidance, Lee cleared his throat. “Hey, don’t use swear words, okay?”

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “But… you say it all the time?” she pointed out, with Clementine nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, you say it a lot.”

Lee nodded his head, “You're right,” he acknowledged, offering a wry smile. “But remember, do as I say, not as I do,” he advised.

The girls frowned, clearly disappointed they’d gotten in trouble. “Okay.”

Rachel looked up at him once again. “Can we swear after we pay bills?”

Lee chuckled softly. “Sure, but that's a long time from now,” he replied with a playful tone. Before preparing to move on, he had one final item to share. Slipping his hand into his jacket pocket, he retrieved a familiar blue and white baseball cap. With a warm smile, he extended it towards Clementine. “Here, Clementine,” he said, offering her the hat.

Clementine's eyes sparkled with delight as she recognized her hat. “My hat! You found it!” she exclaimed. Gratefully accepting the hat from Lee, she wasted no time in placing it on her head. “I knew you'd find it! You said you would!” she declared with a giddy bounce.

Lee's expression straightened, “Listen, did you give your hat to anyone?” he asked.

Clementine shook her head firmly. “No.”

“Did either of you see any strangers around the motor inn who might've taken it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Lee dismissed it with a gentle smile. “It's probably nothing. Just let me know if you girls ever see anything like that.”

“Okay, we will.” Clementine nodded. “Hey, Lee. Do you think you'll ever have kids?”

Lee couldn't help but notice that these girls had developed a peculiar fascination with asking him about his ideal life. It didn't bother him as much as it did months ago back at the drugstore. Ever since they overheard Carley discussing his criminal past, they would occasionally inquire about his old life. Questions like “Was your wife nice?” would come up. And he, not wanting to speak ill of the (possibly) dead, had simply replied:

“She was okay.”

“I don't know. I haven't thought about having kids in a long time...”

Rachel leaned in closer, interest piqued. “If you could, would you have a girl or a boy?”

Lee's gaze softened, a small smile forming on his lips. “Yeah, I would. Maybe a little girl like you, or Clem.”

“I could teach her about leaves and bugs. And she’d be super smart, too, ‘cause you’re a teacher like my mama!” Rachel's face lit up, imagination already running wild for ideas on how to befriend this hypothetical baby.

“And Lee would be a good daddy, too.” Clementine nodded in agreement, “Well, thanks for finding my hat.”

“You're welcome, Clem.”

“Do you wanna pet the cow with us?”

“Nah, but you go on ahead.” Lee declined. The girls resumed what they were up to before, and Lee decided to explore the barn a bit before dinner.

 

---

The barn housed several empty stalls, presumably designated for cattle. Towards the back, a nondescript door briefly caught Lee's attention. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was normal things that spoke of the daily routines and practicalities of farm life. Which stood for something, since after returning from the bandit camp with Danny’s tense standoff with a woman who held them at bow-point, an action that got her life ended by round to the skull via Danny’s rifle—it had incidentally raised a flag about the St. John family, to him at least. And it seemed relaying what had happened back to Lilly unnerved her, too.

While Lilly had downplayed his and Kenny’s worries, warning them not to disrespect the St. Johns and risk losing everyone their meal privilege (despite her own uneasy feelings about the “Backwater type” family), she didn’t necessarily dissuade Lee from keeping an eye out for anything bizarre or dangerous.

Lee glanced into the nearest stall to the right of the door. Inside, a metal wheelbarrow filled with hay caught his eye. On a closer look, he noticed something strange on top of the hay—a bundle of dirty clothes. The worn fabric and musty smell suggested they had been there for some time. Beneath the layer of clothes, Lee discovered a cardboard box nestled in the wheelbarrow. Its contents revealed a collection of empty bottles and discarded saline drip bags.

What’s all this junk doing here? Lee thought. The old clothes seemed to bear the signs of an old farmhand, just like the brothers had mentioned was the case before the bandit attacks had begun. But the IV drips?

He shook it off, though. Yeah, weird it may be, they do still have a sick cow on their hands.

Putting aside his musings for the moment, Lee shifted his focus to the back door that had caught his attention earlier. The double door was securely locked, with a sturdy bolt and a padlock keeping it tightly sealed.

“You found it too, huh?” Lee turned around to see Kenny approaching him. “Lee, they're hiding something. Behind this door. I got a quick look. They got boxes of stuff. And something metal and sharp.”

“Don't get paranoid,” Lee cautioned, trying to keep a level head. The last thing they needed was to blow things out of proportion and create a mountain out of a molehill.

“It's my job to be paranoid, Lee. I got my whole family on this farm right now. How about you? What about Clem? What about Ray?”

“I’ll protect them girls no matter what.” Lee replied firmly.

“I know you will,” Kenny acknowledged. He turned around, his hand pointed towards the area where Katjaa and the children were gathered. “Look, that guy with Katjaa… What's his name? He locked it up real tight the second we came in. I definitely heard a noise back there, Lee.”

“What?” Lee shrugged, clearly skeptical.

“My point is, we gotta know for sure. So go find a hammer or something, and I'll have this thing off in a second. You back me up in case them farmers come running.” Kenny suggested, although Lee wasn't too keen on the idea.

“Hang on, man. Think this through.” Lee interjected, preparing to reason with Kenny. “You smash the lock. Then what if it turns out you're wrong? You just fucked your chance to get a good meal and those kids you're trying to protect. Use your head, Kenny.”

Kenny crossed his arms. “Alright, professor. What'd you have in mind?”

“Let me have a look at what we're dealing with first.” Lee took a step closer, his eyes fixed on one of the four screws securing the bolted lock. This door was tightly guarded, no doubt about it. Setting aside Kenny's paranoia, there could be numerous reasons for such a heavily locked door. For one, it could be dangerous equipment that the kids could easily get a hold of. Given the three kids’ tendency to explore where they shouldn't, Lee would be glad if Andy did take that precaution.

“Hey, Lee. You know how to pick a lock, right?” Kenny whispered abruptly, catching Lee off guard.

“No!” Lee turned to face Kenny. “Why would you say that?”

Kenny awkwardly shifted his gaze. “Well, you're... you know, urban?”

…

“Oh, you are not saying what I think you’re saying.”

“Jesus, man! I'm from Florida! Crazy shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes. Sorry.”

Shaking off the remark, Lee refocused his attention on the bolted lock. How could they open the door without drawing any attention? If they just break the lock, the St. Johns would undoubtedly notice, and it would definitely cause an issue. Hell, they might even risk being booted from the farm, losing their only stable source of food. Unless…

“Hmm…”

“What?” Kenny asked.

Lee pointed to the latch. “See those screws? Instead of breaking the padlock, we can just take off the assembly, have a peek inside, and then replace it all again, like nothing ever happened.”

Kenny grinned. “Alright. Sounds like you have a plan. I'll hang around and keep an eye on that guy with the cow.”

“Andy.”

“Shit. I-I thought that was Danny... whatever.”

“Can I help you boys find something?” A familiar country voice called out from behind them, breaking their concentration. Kenny and Lee quickly turned around to face Andy, who stood there with a questioning look. The two men both realized they needed to come up with a quick excuse.

“Kenny thought he heard a noise.” Lee lied.

“He's a little jumpy, huh? Well, we're all sure glad his wife is here. She's a lifesaver, you got no idea.” Andy’s tone wavered a bit before he spoke. “Hey, uh... do me a favor. Don't fuck around with this door, okay? Just, you know, mama gets nervous.”

“Andrew, I need your help again!”

“No problem! Right away, doc!” Andy responded, promptly heading back to the front of the barn. Kenny gave Lee a nod, silently instructing him to get to work.

 

---

With the multi-tool he had found minutes ago, Lee deftly opened the panel on the front of the generator outside. The plan was to create a distraction by pretending that the generator had stopped working, which would then prompt Andy to come outside and check it out. It was a gamble, but it would buy them the time they needed to remove the lock from the back barn door and, hopefully, replace it without raising any suspicions.

“There ya go.” Lee muttered under his breath as he opened the panel door. He watched the belt spinning rapidly, knowing that he could grab it while it moved, he pressed the “off” switch on the generator, causing the belt to gradually slow down and come to a stop. Carefully, Lee dislodged the belt from the generator and tucked it away in his pocket. Closing the panel door, he walked away nonchalantly just as Andy emerged from the barn door.

Andy huffed in frustration as he approached the generator. “Fuckin’ Danny. Where did he find this piece of shit?” he grumbled, opening the panel with annoyance. A click of his tongue escaped his lips as he quickly identified the issue. “Aw, fucking thing threw a belt! Damn it to all… son of a… fuck! Gah, this’ll take forever...”

Lee made his way back through the fence and into the barn.

 

---

Lee had just reentered the barn when the sound of the dinner bell rang through the air, coming from the direction of the farmhouse.

The sound of dinner finally being finished drew smiles from the three kids. Duck, filled with the most excitement, sprang to his feet.

“Mom, Dad, dinner time! It's dinner time!”

Katjaa's smile grew wider as she spoke. “Okay, honey. Let’s get Dad.”

Without a moment's hesitation, Duck sprinted off to retrieve his father “Dad! Dad! C'mon, let's eaaaaaaat!”

“Kenny? Come along, honey.” Katjaa called as she guided the kids to the exit. “Kenny, c’mon, don’t make the children wait.”

Kenny sighed as his son tugged him forward. “I'll make an excuse for you. Get that thing off.”

Lee looked at the locked door. It was now or never. As they all exited the barn, Lee lined up the screwdrivers over the screws.

One after another, the screws fell to the hay as he pulled them off. Once undone, Lee plucked the deadbolt off the front of the door and let it fall to the floor. Slowly, he pulled open the double doors.

 

The horrifying state of the room hit him before the all-too-infamous metallic stench of blood reached his senses.

 

The humid room was almost entirely coated in red. Skids of blood swirled around the tiled floor and between the grout. A metal table, with a buzz saw attached, was saturated in both dried and wet plasma. Crimson dripped from the blade to the table and onto the floor below. Nearby, a tiled wash area was soaked in water and blood, a limp hose hanging over it. On a makeshift workbench, bear traps, stained and dirty, lay beside bottles of rust removal and peroxide.

Lee stared, mortified, at the scene as he backed away slowly. It resembled a room straight out of a horror film—a crime scene that he had just happened to stumble upon, arguably by his own volition.

He hardly registered the shadow that quickly brushed past him before slamming the doors shut in his face.

“My, my,” The voice chimed, all too calmly. “I thought the dinner bell woulda brought all you inside!”

* * *

Lee finally snapped out of his stunned daze and looked over at Margaret. “Why the hell was that room covered in blood like that?!”

Margaret said nothing as she knelt over and picked up the removed screws, examining them with her fingers. “Oh, well,” she muttered, glancing around the barn, particularly at the stables. “Mama hates the mess. She makes them take care of whatever game they catch back there instead of her nice kitchen. Saves me the chores, too, so win-win! Well, anyway, we best get moving. I'll tell Andy to fix this door later.”

As the girl bounced out of the barn, Lee took one last glance at the slaughter room, discontentment lingering in his mind, before reluctantly deciding to follow behind her.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

---

8:30 P.M

 

Thump, thump, thump

Well, isn’t it just a delightful symphony of kicks and thumps down there, Carley couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the never-ending cacophony of that goddamn soccer ball being jutted around the parking lot.

It was like a masterclass in auditory torture, and Carley was stuck front and center. She had to really, really try and resist the temptation to offer them a “standing ovation” for their outstanding mediocrity in soccer via the end of her foot.

I mean, seriously, who the hell needs actual skill or coordination in a game, right? She thought to herself. Just keep on with that half-assed display of athletic prowess, boys. It’s truly awe-inspiring, in the most annoying way possible.

 

Thump, thump, thump

For the past five or so hours, Carley had staked her claim on top of the RV, playing the role of the all-seeing sentinel with about as much enthusiasm as a cat on bath day.

For the past five or so hours, her eyeballs straining as she scanned the damn tree line, hoping against all odds to catch a glimpse of their group members emerging the forest, maybe food in hand and smiles on their faces telling them that the deal went through swimmingly.

And for the past five or so hours, Beanpole, Short-stack and Geek Squad hadn’t even offered to swap places or broadcasted a concern in the world.

No, they’d rather just toddle around, leaving her to soak in the sweet sound of their apathetic foot-bumping as they thump, thump—

 

THUMP

At that goddamn ball for the next five or so hours and drive her mad.

* * *

Without another second thought, Carley jutted her leg out with a swift kick sending a stray empty can flying straight at Doug’s wide-open forehead. The satisfying clunk and the dumbfounded noise to come out of his mouth were like music to her ears.

“Ouch...” The geek looked up at his girlfriend and gave a half-hearted shrug. “Uh... hey?”

“Don’t you think it’s odd how I’m not the only one here who can use a gun, but I’m the only one here on watch?” Her words fueled with sarcasm as she stared down at the trio of boys below, who exchanged confused glances with one other.

Doug looked at her, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Seriously, did Carley mean him? He couldn’t shoot a damn rifle without ending up on his ass. Maybe she was talking about the new kid instead?

Ben, for his part, glanced back at Travis, confusion dancing all over his face. He hadn’t even held a gun before, let alone knew how to really fire one.

But Travis just looked to his feet. Obviously, she was calling him out. Even if it was in a weird, subliminal, embarrassing way.

“So… uh, why didn’t you ask to switch?”

Carley felt her eye twitch.

So Travis rescinded his question for a better one.

“Um… it’s pretty late don’t you think?” He scratched his neck. “You think the others are okay?”

Carley looked to the trees again before sighing. “Yeah, that’s what I was worried about. I know they invited everyone to dinner but…”

“It probably takes a while to cook a meal for a full room of people.” Doug surmised.

“Yeah, but they left in the afternoon. It’s already way past dark out. It’s going to harder for them to walk all the way back in the dark. We should check in on them.”

“But wait—what if we accidentally meet them half way? Lilly’s gonna be pissed if we leave this place unattended.”

Ben shrugged slightly. “Yeah, I don’t know… shouldn’t we stay here and wait for them? Lilly told us to watch the place, I-I don’t want to get in trouble…”

“What, you scared of her?” Carley asked.

“A little, yeah…”

“Ben. You’re forgetting your sister is out there too.” Carley reminded him aptly. Ben looked down for a second and sighed. He didn’t exactly know if he trusted the St. John’s. They seemed legit enough (though they gave him a weird vibe), and the group had a lot more people there to watch over each other, but it was really, really late, and dark to top it all off.

Not ignoring, of course, the fact that he let his little sister go to a place that he himself had barely spent five minutes at for majority of the day, with a group of people he had just met that same morning. Mom would kick his ass if she knew that.

“Y-Yeah, okay. I’ll come.”

“Doug? Travis?”

“Yeah, I’m game.”, “I guess so.”

Carley placed the rifle a top the R.V and climbed down. She pulled her pistol out from her back pocket and checked her rounds before tucking it back. “Alright, let’s go.” She motioned for the boys to follow her as Doug and Travis pulled open the makeshift gate to the road.

“And for the record, kid. I’m not scared of Lilly.”

---

 

 

* * *

Everybody was sat at the dinner table, ecstatic to finally have a hot, home cooked meal after all these months. Cheers about biscuits came from Duck and Rachel as Katjaa tried to keep them from rudely reaching over the table and grabbing them.

“Kids, did you wash your hands?” Katjaa asked. The two nod rapidly. “With soap?” The two look at one another and nod again.

* * *

Brenda smiled warmly as she returned with a cart carrying a big tray of food. “Ooh, it’s been so long since I’ve got to serve a big meal like this!” she beamed as she sat a bowl of green beans beside the bowl of buttered rolls in the middle of the table. The main course being a large dinner tray of barbequed meat.

* * *

Duck waved to Rachel from across the table with a grin, “Oh man, Ray, look! Barbeque!”

“Wow, it’s been forever since I had this! Clem, do you see it?”

“Yeah, it looks so good!”

The adults served the children before helping themselves. Sat down, the adults had begun to make conversations with one another as they dug in.

* * *

“What do you do for a living, Ken?” Andy asked.

Kenny looked up from his plate and swallowed, “I, uh, was a fisherman down in Fort Lauderdale. Commercially, Snapper and Yellowfin mostly. But in the summers, I’d take tourists out for some sailfish!” He smiled. “I tell ya, there ain't nothing like fresh tuna straight from the sea—to the grill—to the plate. Especially the way Kat cooks it up.”

“Man, that sounds nice! Daddy used to take us out for largemouth bass when we were kids,” Danny replied. “If we were lucky we'd bring in a Sturgeon or two, but man… Never been out in the deep sea.”

“Did you always work here at the dairy?” Kenny asked.

Danny gestured to himself before promptly shaking his head, “Me? No, that was Daddy's business. I ran an insurance company over in Decatur.”

Lilly glanced over from her seat, “Decatur?”

“Yeah, well Dan felt it would be best to get away from Macon for a while. Had some… trouble.” Andy replied.

“Yeah, anyway, it was good business. But then all this shit went down, and I had to come home. Family's more important, ya know?”

Kenny couldn’t agree more, “I hear that.”

Margaret set her cup back onto the table, “So, Katjaa! Where ya from? I don’t think I’ve ever heard an accent like yours ‘round Georgia before.”

“Of course! My family is from Belgium, but we came to Florida when I was around your age.” Katjaa mused. “I met Ken after I opened my veterinary office. He came in with a sick octopus.”

The man slightly bristled as the table snickered at his expense, “What? Where else was I gonna take it?”

* * *

“What about you, Margaret? What was school like before everything?” Katjaa asked.

Margaret clasped her hands together excitedly, and Danny muttered an ‘oh lord’ from his seat. “Well, when I wasn’t baking pies for the football team in home ec, I used to perform in my school’s drama club!”

“My li’l Peggy has the voice of an angel. Wins awards in every show, she does!” Brenda doted.

“Mama here’s my biggest fan, hm!” Margaret noted. “She takes a front row seat, every time…!”

Andy set his glass down and asked, “How the kids been dealing with everything?”

“Kids are resilient, you know?” Katjaa responded. “I hate that this is the way they have to grow up, but under the circumstances, I think they're doing well.”

* * *

“Lilly says we’re really brave.” Rachel said, chewing on a buttered dinner roll.

Clementine nodded, “Yeah. We’re really good at being brave.”

“Big girls, these two.” Larry praised. “Stronger than the damn thumb sucker in there. How long does it take to wash your damn hands?”

“Let the man clean up. He'll be done in a minute.” Katjaa replied.

“Yeah, well his plate might get cold if he don’t hurry up.” Kenny said, chewing on a slice of meat.

Duck had wasted no time digging into his plate, much to his mother’s chagrin. Rachel gleefully took her time cutting at another roll with a butter knife and eating it. Clementine managed to cut through her serving of meat on her own and bring it to her lips…

 

“DON’T EAT THAT!”

 

She stopped. The whole table stopped (save for Duck, Danny and Andy) and looked to the archway where none other than Lee stood. Panting, he leaned his hand against the frame. Clementine looked up to him in shock before setting down her fork.

“Lee, Jesus, man! Did you find something?” Kenny asked, a bit startled.

“Sit your ass down, Lee. This lady has made you a meal.” Larry snipped at Lee.

Lilly nodded, “Yeah, Lee, what’s gotten into you?”

“Oh, he just had a start.” Brenda surmised.

“He could use some goddamn manners.” The old man chastised. The whole table was a bit rattled by Lee’s sudden outburst.

“It didn’t have to be this way.” Danny muttered, not finished eating his meal.

“Mark is upstairs with his fucking legs cut off! You’re EATING him!” Lee snapped as he pointed upstairs. The group looked at one another unsurely.

“That’s crazy!”

“What the hell?”

“What on Earth?”

“Now, now…”

 “You’re scaring the kids, Lee.” Kenny said.

“Lee, what the hell is wrong with you?!” Lilly frowned. Larry rolled his eyes.

“Don’t indulge him, Lilly. It’s always something with this guy.”

The girls had long since abandoned their plates at Lee’s first outburst, save for Duck. In which Katjaa noticed and hurriedly snatched the plate away from her son.

“Mommm, I was eating that…!”

She whispered back. “Quiet, honey.”

“What is going on?!” Lilly snapped.

* * *

“This is a dairy, not a ranch! Think about it! We need to get the kids, everyone, out of here. We need to go now!”

“You’re out of your skull!” Larry huffed.

“Mark is upstairs right now with NO LEGS!” Lee sharply turned his gaze towards the matriarch seated at the front of the table. “Brenda, tell me he's not being eaten right now…”

The table silently shifted its focus to Brenda, anticipating her response. The older woman sighed, gesturing defeat. “It's true...”

“…Everything coulda turned out okay for you folks…”

“He woulda died anyway!” Andy objected. “We gotta think about livin’!”

“Settle down, honey.” Brenda cautioned her son. “Growin’ up in rural Georgia, you’re taught not to waste. It’s how I was raised and how I raised my kids. Now, you got monsters roamin’ around that do nothin’ but eat people. And for what? To continue to rot ‘til they eat some more! We think we can put that meat to better use.”

A few gagged noises flooded the table as the group reeled away from their respective plates. Lilly shoved her plate away. “Ugh... I’m gonna puke.”

This is fucked and Lee knew it. These people weren’t sane, they were mental. Mental and dangerous. He should’ve pieced that together when Danny shot that woman in the woods. He should’ve pieced it together when he opened that barn door and saw nothing but bloodied walls and tools. Hell, he should’ve told the group it was too dangerous to stay when those bandits attacked him and Mark from the woods.

“Just let us go.” The only way to dispel anything more from happening was for them to not do anything provoke these people further.

Clementine quietly grabbed Rachel’s hand who gladly held it back. Katjaa pulled Duck closer to her, and Lilly hovered her hand near her dinner knife.

Margaret pushed her plate away slightly, “Now, now… we can talk about this like adults…! This don’t have to get violent… Everybody just calm d—”

“Screw that! We're getting the hell outta here!” Kenny immediately rose to his feet. Andy yanked his revolver out of his back pocket and aimed it at the man.

“Nobody’s going anywhere!” Danny stood up as well and drew his rifle to the group.

“We got lots of use for y’all right here…” Danny drawled and he panned his rifle over the table. Andy, gun still aimed at Kenny, motioned for him to sit back down. Reluctantly, he complied.

“What’re y’all doing?!” The youngest farmer hissed. “Goddamn it, Mama! Stop them! They’re just makin’ it worse!”

The matriarch looked as if she was going to speak, but shut her mouth with a resigned sigh, and the oldest boys kept their guns drawn on the group.

“What the... what... the fucking... what... fuck!” Larry finally sputtered out.

“Put your guns down! We’re walking out of here!”

“You don’t go near my fucking family!”

Duck turned to his mother, distressed. “I don’t wanna die…! Mommy, what did I eat…?”

“Everyone, everything will be okay!” Lee tried to reassure his group. He wasn’t entirely sure of that himself, but if nobody made any sudden moves…

* * *

“Lee! Lee...!” Clementine called from across the table. The girls, still holding onto on another let out a gut-wrenching shriek when they were violently snatched away from the table as Andy managed to snag both children by the scalp and yank them beside him.

“Let go of them, you son of a bitch!!” Lee charged forward but is cut off by Danny with the tip of his rifle to his jugular.

 

Thump…

thump-thump-thump-thump

CRASH!

Sounds of thumping came from the hallway. Everyone ceased and slowly turned to look at the archway as they heard something dragging along the floor.

“Pllleeease... someone…”

Mark drug what was left of himself down the stairs. The motor inn group gasp in collective horror as Mark’s bloodied and dismembered body came into view and collapsed at the archway. Lee turned back to look at the girls, who were trembling and wincing.

“Run—”

THWACK!

---

…

…

BANG…BANG-BANG

“Open the goddamn door! You can’t keep us in here! Open up!”

Sounds of Lilly retching in the corner along with Larry’s fist pounding at the door flooded the meat locker as Lee slowly started to come to consciousness.

“I will tear you fuckers apart with my bare hands!”

“Will you stop that banging?! We gotta find another way out of here!” Kenny snapped. The younger girls huddled together in the furthest corner near their guardian, terrified, mortified of what was going on.

“You sick fucking bastards! Open this door, goddamn it! I will knock the goddamn door down!”

“Dad, stop!”

Clementine noticed something moving in her peripheral and turned. “Lee!” the girls move to him and kneel down. Lee finally blinked awake. “It... it was a person! They tried to make us eat a person!”

“But you didn’t do it…”

“No...”

“The rest of us did, goddamn it!” Larry snapped from across the locker. “If you hadn’t dragged your feet…”

“C’mon, Dad. Now’s not the time.”

“Are you girls okay?” Lee worried. “They didn’t hurt you two, did they?”

Clementine shook her head. “Mm-mm.”

“He pulled my hair really hard…” Rachel murmured, subconsciously rubbing her head.

“Open up!” Larry continued to furiously (and fruitlessly) pound at the locker door.

Kenny, who was pacing back and forth, stopped over near Lee. “Lee, those psychos have my family, and we’re stuck in a damn meat locker! We gotta get the fuck outta here!”

“This goddamn thumb sucker was the one who brought us here!”

“Will you all just shut the fuck up?!” Kenny snapped. Lee stood up and took a good look at the room. Practically empty, save for a few sturdy shelves and cardboard boxes. Boxes that probably stored “meat”.

“I’m scared…” Clementine grabbed hold of Rachel’s arm.

“I don’t wanna get eaten…”

“Nobody’s getting eaten. It’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna find us a way outta here.” Lee assured them. Since he was the only one here with a level head, he guessed it was up to him to find a good way out of there. “We’re gonna find a way out of here.”

Rachel sniffed. “C-Can we help?”

“Sure, sweetheart. You girls keep your eyes open for exposed screws or loose panels… anything we can pry away to open a passage out of here.”

The girls nod. “Okay,”, “Yeah.”

Lee moved around to investigate the locker. Clementine looked to the walls and Rachel stuck to the ground like Lee said. Looking for openings, screws, something.

Nothing.

* * *

“I don’t see anything, Clem…” Rachel stood up.

“There has to be something…” Clementine replied. Rachel sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“I don’t wanna get eaten…”

“Maybe… Maybe Carley’s on her way to help?”

“But she doesn’t even know we’re in here…!”

“W—”

 

“I’ll break the damn door down!”

“Dad, you can’t get—”

“Aah!” Larry grunted as grabbed his chest. “Urgh…”

“Easy…!” Lilly cautioned him as she moved closer.

“Hrrrggggttt…! Oh, God…”

“Dad?!”

 

THUMP

Larry’s face twisted into an unreadable expression as his body folded, collapsing to the floor. Lilly rushed to him. Dropping to her knees, she placed her hands on either side of his face.

“No! Dad, come on! Dad!” She leaned over and placed an ear to his chest. “Oh, God, he’s stopped breathing. I think he’s had a heart attack!” she stated before quickly beginning chest compressions.

“Shit, is he dead?” Kenny asked.

“He’s not dead. Somebody help me!”

“Fuuuuuck… if he’s dead...”

“HE’S NOT DEAD!”

Kenny looked over to Lee. “You know what has to happen, Lee. Think about it. You saw that poor bastard at the motel. How fast he turned.”

“What are you saying?” Lilly snapped.

“Lilly, I’m sorry. I truly, truly am. But in a few minutes, we’re gonna be stuck in a locked room with a six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound, seriously pissed-off dead guy!”

* * *

“FUCK YOU! You’ve never liked my dad! Even after he apologized for thinking your kid was bit, you still go out of your way to pick fights with him… But THIS?! You have no right!”

“We’ll mourn him later. But right now, we have to keep him from comin’ back.”

“No!”, “Don’t!” The youngest girls cried from the corner of the room.

“Goddamn it, Kenny!” Lilly hissed, still working on her father. “He’s not dead!”

Lee turned to Kenny, “Lilly can still save him.” He attempted to reason with him.

“I wish she could. Believe me, I do. But that man is dead, Lee. You and I both know what happens next.” Kenny turned to Lilly. “Let him go, Lilly. Please… do the right thing. Don’t let him become one of those things…!”

“I can’t let you do this, Kenny.” Lee intervened, blocking him from Lilly.

“Lee.”

“No! Look, Kenny, back at the drugstore when we all thought Duck was bitten, I gave him the benefit of the doubt! Maybe we should do the same now!”

“That was different! Duck wasn’t bitten! But come on, we know this guy’s not gonna make it!” Kenny retorted. “Remember what Ben said: Gotta destroy the brain. Come on, Lee, you can’t be in the middle on this one! You’ve gotta have my back this time!”

“Goddamn it, Lee! I need you! Please help me!” Lilly begged. “Come on, Dad. Come on! Wake up. Wake up! Come on! This has happened before…”

Lee didn’t hesitate to step in and help Lilly. Regardless of how he felt about Larry and all the bullshit he put him and the others through these past couple of months… he wasn’t going to kill the man or leave him for dead.

* * *

Kenny grabbed Lee’s arm attempting to pull him away from the old man. Lee quickly rose to his feet and shoved the mustached man backwards. Kenny stumbled, nearly falling off balance as his back hit a nearby pallet.

“Both of you, stop it and just help me!” Lilly shouted, quickly resuming chest compressions. Lee sat back down and continued aiding Lilly.

“Lee? Lee!”

Even if Kenny hated him for it.

---

 

The front door shut as Andy came in. Pounding at the locked living room door were the veterinarian and her boy, whom Brenda had locked up after Andy and Danny hauled everyone into the barn. Margaret glanced up from her seat and frowned.

* * *

“Why didn’t you lock the damn door back?” the oldest brother criticized. Margaret set her fork down with a loud clatter.

“Now, I know damn well you ain’t blaming me for any of that shit,” Margaret glowered. “At least I tried to keep it from gettin’ violent. But nah, you and Danny just had to go waving y’alls guns ‘round like dumbasses. I expected it from Dan, y’know, but not you.”

Andy grumbled and returned to his own seat. “Well if you just locked the damn door back after doping that guy up, none of that woulda happened, all I’m sayin’.”

“Tch. Whatever. I ain’t letting my plate get cold~!” She grumbled, peeved her and her mother’s hard work was going to waste.

The stairs creaked from the hallway, and the two siblings turned to see their mother entering the dining room.

“You okay, mama?” Andy asked.

Brenda sighed. “I’m fine, just had to haul him back upstairs. Peggy, you don’t mine mopping up the mess later before it dries up, would you?”

Margaret nodded, “‘Course, mama.”

Brenda quietly began collecting the abandoned dishes on the dinner cart. “Oh, what a waste,” she mumbled. “And here it was going so nicely.”

Margaret kept her mouth shut; she could already smell a lecture coming along.

“Peggy, honey. Did you forget to lock the door?”

Margaret sighed and shrugged.

“You gotta remember these things, Peggy. We can’t keep having slip-ups like this—”

Margaret tossed her fork down one last time and stood up. “Peggy this, Peggy that. That boy Lee broke the damn lock to the back room, and I wasn’t even in there; it was him.” She pointed to Andy. “And it don’t matter if they find out anyway! You don’t think they was gonna find out sooner or later? What’s done is done, and I’m walkin’.” Margaret pushed back, slamming the house door with a huff.

---

 

First it was dark, and now it was raining.

Great.

Travis took the lead with Doug, Ben and Carley tailing the back since he knew how to get back to dairy.

Personally, Doug thought they were better off staying at the motor inn like Ben said. But Carley was adamant that something was holding the group up and they had to go check it out. He rather nothing be amiss at all and just get chewed out by Lilly and Larry for leaving the inn instead of anything actually be wrong.

Preferably by Lilly.

* * *

“I can’t see anything out here.” Doug complained, squinting ahead. “How do we even know we’re going in the right direction?”

“Because, it’s a straight path. How hard could it be to follow a straight path?”

“You’d be surprised how many people get lost on a straight road. Believe me, I’ve been in a lot of news vans.” Carley smirked.

“Well, luckily we’re not in a news van.”

“Yeah, but how do you know this is the right way?”

“I just know, okay?” Travis huffed. “Ben came with us earlier, he knows too. Right, Ben?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah.”

“What do you mean ‘Oh yeah’?”

“I dunno… whatever you said?”

“Were you even listening?”

“No?”

“Tch.”

This was going to be a long walk.

---

 

 

“NO!!”

“Kenny… what the fuck?!”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just... It had to be done!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes, I do, Lee! And so do you! I was counting on you, man!”

* * *

The voices mangled together as Clementine and Rachel hugged themselves away from the gory mess that was Larry’s now imploded skull and brain matter.

People dying is scary. It’s worst when people die by other people.

It’s mortifying when it’s by other people you know.

So, when Clementine and Rachel only caught a brief glimpse of the large salt lick in Kenny’s hands plummet towards Larry’s unresponsive face before they both instinctively jerk their heads away and cover their eyes. The sickening squelch from the impact made them burst into tears.

Lee moved over to the young girls. “You girls okay?” he knelt down.

Clementine’s trembling voice broke through her tears, “Is it over?”

Lee somberly looked away. “Yes. For now. But we still need to find a way outta here. One of the brothers could come back any second.”

Everything was just too overwhelming. The girls clung onto Lee and cried.

“Shh... I know, I know. But you gotta be strong right now. I need you two to be strong. Think about something else, something hopeful.”

“Like what?”

“How about your walkie-talkie? Your rabbit? Those pretend talks you girls do, don’t those make you feel better?” Lee suggested.

They nod. “Sometimes…” Clementine replied. “We’re gonna get out, right? You found a way out?”

“I’m workin’ on it.” He assured them. The two quietly sit down against a box without another word, just clinging onto on another. Lee looked at them sadly and sat up. ‘I know it was necessary, but... I just wish those girls didn’t have to witness shit like this. I worry what it’s gonna do to them.’

Kenny wiped the blood and gore on his jeans. Turning to the mortified girls, he apologized.

* * *

“… I’m sorry, girls.”

Lee glared at the man. “Not now, Kenny.”

“Look, I don’t mean to sound like a prick, but we still gotta find a way outta here. If those guys come back, we’re all dead.” Kenny reminded him quietly, but angrily.

“Kenny—”

“You think I liked doing what I did, Lee? I’m the guy who couldn’t bear to watch the family dog get put down. But if we wanna survive this shit, we gotta have the balls to do the hard thing. Or at least, one of us’s got to…”

Lee crossed his arms. “You talk a big game, but could you do the ‘hard thing’ if it was Katjaa or Duck?”

“It’s never gonna come to that, not if I have anything to do with it!”

“For all we know, the St. John’s might’ve—”

“No!” Kenny shook his head. “They… they need Katjaa, remember? She’s the whole reason they brought us here. And no doubt they’re usin’ Duck as a bargaining chip.”

“I hope you’re right…”

“I know I’m right! I just gotta get to ‘em, that’s all.” Kenny urged before he stood off in the other corner of the locker room. Lee looked over to Lilly, still slumped next to her father’s disfigured corpse. He stepped closer and knelt beside her.

 

“He was still alive, Lee. He was still alive…” Lilly sobbed, drenched in Larry’s blood.

“I’m sorry, Lilly. I truly am. Larry and me, we might not’ve got along so great, but I know he would’ve done anything to protect you. He was a good father.” Lee told her. It was true, he might’ve not liked Larry, hell, might’ve even hated him most days. That rail old man deserved better than… well, Lee looked to the bloodied salt lick. That.

“Thank you… I just… I need to be alone.”

He nodded. “God knows you deserve time to grieve, Lilly.”

---

 

The four members come up on the farm’s front sign. Drenched and slightly agitated, Travis looked up ahead… but suddenly stopped.

The gate looked like it was locked.

“Shit.” He cursed out loud. That’s not good, right?

Doug looked over his shoulder. “What’s up?”

* * *

“The front gate’s locked.” Travis replied, trying again. “Why is the front gate locked if everyone’s still inside?”

“Maybe to keep everyone safe? It’s probably one of those gates that lock from the inside.” Doug answered, but Carley shook her head.

“Or maybe it’s to keep everyone in.”

“Come on, Carley.” Doug gestured to the house. “Maybe they’re all inside having dinner or something.”

“I dunno…” Ben pointed to the white farm house atop the hill. “The lights inside are off.”

“Maybe the generator’s out…?”

“Actually…” Travis looked over to the familiar humming orange machine just ahead of the gate. “That orange thing over there is the generator.”

…

“Crap.” Doug caved. “Alright, something’s up.”

“Gee, you think?” Travis remarked before turning to Carley. “What do we do? If something’s wrong, we can’t just call for these people to open up.”

“I know. We’ll have to find another way in.”

“But how?”

“Maybe—”

 

“AAAAGH!!”

The four jump and look toward the barn before they all hit the deck. “The fuck was that?!” Carley quietly shouted.

“It came from in there!” Ben pointed at the red barn.

“Dammit. How the hell are we supposed to get over there?” Travis fussed.

Doug looked to the left of them. Tall corn grew in a small field. Good cover, maybe even a way to get closer.

“Follow me, we’ll double back and use the corn field as cover.”

“But the gate—”

“We won’t get inside but we’ll be close enough to get the attention of whoever is. Travis, you still got that laser pointer I gave you?”

Travis pulled out the silver pen.

“Good. Follow me.”

---

 

[Rewind…]

  

* * *

Lee loosened the screws holding the air conditioning unit in place with a coin he had to borrow from Larry’s corpse (with Lilly’s consent). It was a tedious process. Having to manually turn the coin wasn’t as easy as turning a flathead. But when the first screw came off successfully, he had no more complaints.

“Hurry the fuck up, Lee! We don’t have all day here.” Kenny rushed from behind him.

Well, he had no complaints.

With the final screw off, Lee along with Kenny lift the unit off its support and set it on the floor.

“Well, there’s our way out, Lee.”

Except the fact that the passage was way too narrow for either of them to crawl inside. “It’s too small for us to fit through.”

* * *

“Me…! I can do it.” Lee looked down to see Rachel standing by, ready. He knelt down in front of her. “I-I think… I’m not sure…”

“I know you’re brave enough. Remember the treehouse? You girls held out for days.”

“Yeah! And we saved you, too!”

Lee chuckled. “That’s right!”

Rachel smiled and Lee lifted her up to the vent. She crawled through the opening and turned to face him. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“What do I have to do?” She asked.

“See if you can get to the other side of that door and open it.” Clementine looked up from her spot on the floor.

* * *

“Be lucky.” Clementine asked.

“I will.” Rachel nodded before crawling further into the vent. Everyone is quiet, listening as Rachel crawled through the vent. Lee couldn’t tell the any noise apart out there until they heard her gasp, causing them to flinch.

After a moment, the freezer door unlocked then opened, and in came a visibly shaken Rachel wiping a bloodied hand on her sweater.

“Are you okay?! Did anyone see you?” Lee whispered.

“N…Nuh-uh. B-But there’s a man out there…” She whispered back.

Kenny marched angrily towards the freezer door, only to be abruptly stopped by Lee. “Where the hell are you going?”

“What do you care?” He replied back, before turning and leaving.

“Kenny!” Lee whispered sharply, but his words fell on deaf ears as the mustached man stubbornly trudged ahead, paying no attention. Lee clicked his teeth in frustration, then shifted his gaze downwards to Lilly. Kneeling, he spoke, “Lilly, I’m sorry. We gotta go.”

“I know… I just need a minute to say goodbye.” she acknowledged softly. Taking a brief moment to collect herself, she then turned towards him. “Hey, we’re good. Okay?”

“Yeah. This is good.” Kenny’s voice echoed from the other room.

Lee scowled and rose to his feet. “Shit, he’s gonna get us all killed!” he cursed, making a move to leave. However, he paused for a moment and looked directly at Clementine and Rachel. “Stay here. Take care of Lilly, okay?”

The girls nodded in unison. “We will.” Clementine assured, speaking for herself and Rachel. With that, Lee made his way, hurrying to catch up with Kenny. Clementine and Rachel go to stand near Lilly.

“Are…you gonna be okay?” Clementine asked the woman. Lilly looked up from Larry’s body and to the girls. “Lee tried to help…”

Lilly simply nodded. “Yeah. Yeah he did.” She reached her hand into Larry’s left pocket and pulled out a ring. Lilly stared at the band longingly before tucking into her back pocket. “I’m fine.” She slowly rose to her feet. “I’m fine…”

“We could have a funeral… When we get back?” Clementine suggested.

A numb smile crossed Lilly’s lip. “Yeah… okay. Okay. Thank you…”

 

---

Kenny and Lee creep out the barn door that led into the slaughterhouse. Through the slightly ajar main door they could see Danny, sat down on a hay bale with his rifle propped beside him. Kenny shot Lee a look and they both knew that grabbing that rifle was their best bet to disarming him, so they began to creep. As they got closer and closer to the adjacent side of the barn, they could hear Danny blabbering to himself about God knows what.

“Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?”

“Oh, shit!” Kenny hiss quietly as he and Lee dove into the nearest open stable.

 

“Just guarding the place, like you said.”

“Well, quit sittin’ out in the rain like a damn weirdo. Momma says we can’t keep that many folk alive and not expect trouble. Pick one to keep and kill the rest.”

“Can I pick which one to keep alive?”

“Not the girls. Not enough meat on ‘em to trade.”

 

With that, Andy seemingly walked away. From the stall beside them, Maybelle moos.

“Oh, I know, Maybelle. This is my favorite part too. When I let one think they can just walk right out.” Danny chuckled. “They never even look down…” Lee peaked outside the stable door to see Danny setting a bear trap.

That looks like one of the same rigged bear traps we saw out in the woods, Lee connected the dots. So those traps were made for human beings… these people are sick.

Lee slowly let the stable door close before looking over to Kenny.

“What’s he doing?” Kenny whispered to him “Lee…”

“Sick fucker thinks this is a game!” Lee scowled. “We’ll take him out together.”

“How?”

“He doesn’t know we’re out. He’s gotta walk past us to get to the meat locker. We can take him out when his back is to us.”

“See what he’s doing now,” Kenny whispered in response. Lee gently pushed open the stable door, only to find himself face-to-face with Danny and his loaded rifle. Lee reacted quickly, grabbing the rifle and pushing it away as it fired. The bullet whizzed past his head, causing him to instinctively cover his ear and stumble backward. Sensing an opportunity, Danny quickly began reloading his gun.

Without hesitation, Lee regained his composure and grabbed a cattle prod he had taken from the slaughter room. He zapped Danny in the chest, prompting a cry of pain from the man before he brutely knocked Lee to the ground. Danny aimed his rifle directly at Lee’s face, with his now infamous crooked smile. Lee looked at Kenny, who remained crouched in the stall, as his eyes pleaded for assistance.

He doesn’t come.

But Lilly, however, did, driving a sickle into Danny’s shoulder, forcing him to release his grip on the gun. With another reach back she struck him again, knocking the farmer backward until he stumbled and became ensnared in the very same rigged bear trap he had just set. The agony in his cry echoed through the barn.

Lee pushed himself off the ground, his eyes narrowing as he locked his gaze on Kenny emerging from the stall. Kenny opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could escape, the piercing sound of Katjaa’s voice echoed from the farmhouse:

“No!”

 

Kenny looked to Lee, his words hanging in the air, before ultimately dashing out into the rain, leaving Lee, Lilly, the girls, and Danny behind in the barn. Lee composed himself before picking up a pitchfork and pointing it at the farmer.

Danny peered up to the man, wickedly smiling, “Eerrgghhh…! You see?! You understand now, don’t ya?! You can have me!” he groaned. “It’s how the world works now! Give part of yourself... so others can live!”

“I should fucking kill you right now.” Lilly seethed.

“That’s why you killed that woman in the woods! She was about to spill everything!” Lee shouted.

“You weren’t ready to hear yet, Lee! Had to stop her!” Danny croaked out. “You gotta keep me alive! If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can’t eat it!”

“You’re already tainted!”

Danny grinned, “You ain’t gonna kill me, just like you didn’t kill Jolene! You don’t have what it takes! Fucking coward!” he taunted. Lee tightened his grip on the pitchfork and forcefully thrust it into the hay bale behind Danny. The farmer let out a fearful cry, recoiling as the handle protruded near his neck.

“This is not how the world works now,” Lee spat out with conviction. “You won’t make me kill you!” He held onto his knee, taking a moment to catch his breath. As he looked over, he saw the girls standing beside Lilly. Deep down, somewhere, he knew he had made the right call. He couldn’t bear to let those girls witness any more unnecessary bloodshed that night. If he could prevent it, he would.

“Go. I’ll cover you.” Lilly nodded, holding Danny’s rifle.

“Just stay here and keep the girls safe. I’ll be right back.” He said before stepping out of the barn.

 

---

 

Lee snuck out outside, rain pour down and pelting him as he called for Kenny.

Lightning struck; Lee looked left to see the same farm house Katjaa was heard shouting from. Damn it.

* * *

He moved to go through the gate but stopped when he noticed a red… beam? Laser? Pointing at a pile of hay flickering oddly. What the hell? Where’s that coming from? Lee wondered, inching closer until he could see past that cornfield.

“Doug? Ach!” He winced as the laser shined in his eye. “Doug!”

The geek came closer to Lee, along with Travis.

“Doug, what the hell was that?”

* * *

“Morse code!”

“Pretty neat, right?” Travis beamed.

Lee deadpanned. “You almost blinded me!”

“Oh, sorry about that. But I did get your attention!” Lee gave him an unimpressed look, so Doug promptly shut up. Rustling leaves come from the corn field beside them. A familiar purple jacket peeked through the stalks.

“Carley!”

“Lee?”

“Ow.” Ben pushed through the long crops.

Carley shushed him. “Is everyone okay? You guys have been gone way too long!”

“We heard screams from the barn! What’s going on?” Ben asked.

“We need your help!”

Carley crossed her arms, “Yeah, when you guys didn’t come back, I figured something was up. What can we do?”

“Larry’s dead! They chopped off Mark’s legs and tried to feed them to us!”

“Jesus! That is sick!”, “Holy fucking shit!”

“Shit! Is everyone else okay?” Carley panicked.

“They’ve still got Duck and Katjaa in the house, and I don’t know where the fuck Kenny is!”

“Alright, we’re coming in to help.” Travis said.

Lee shook his head, “No, if we storm the house, we’ll cause a panic. You guys try to find a way around to the back. I’ll head to the front. Do any of you have a weapon?”

Carley pulled out her Glock. “I don’t leave home with it. Ben, stick close. And Lee, be careful.” She said before taking Ben back through the cornfield.

“We got it. Come on, this way...” Doug said as he and Travis snuck away.

“You sure about this?”

“Yes! No... Yes.”

Lee rolled his eyes before he continued sneaking up to the house through the fence gate.

---

 

“I said don’t move, asshole!”

“Don’t you fucking hurt him!”

Lee and Katjaa rush out the farmhouse after rescuing her from Brenda (in which a now undead Mark dealt with her). In the front lawn was Kenny and Andy in a standoff, the latter had a rifle pressed right up against Duck’s head.

“Let him go, goddamn it!” Kenny yelled.

“That ain’t gonna happen!”

Lee reached out, “Andy, don’t—”

“SHUT UP!” Andy aimed the rifle away from Duck and at Lee. Kenny took the opportunity to charge at Andy but was quickly caught by a bullet to his stomach. Katjaa screamed in horror and ran to Kenny as he fell to the ground.

“DAAAD!”

Lee tore his eyes off of them and back to the farmer. “Andy…!”

“Who the fuck do you people think you are?!” Andy snapped, “Look at what you’ve done!”

“You brought this on yourself.”

“No! Uh-uh! You did this! All we wanted was some goddamn gasoline!”

A small beam of red light struck Andy directly in the eye, causing him to hastily use his free hand to shield himself. Taking advantage of the distraction, Duck managed to wiggle free from the farmer’s grasp and made a quick break for it. Now without a hostage, Lee charged at Andy, gripping the rifle tightly. He yanked it back and forth before finally smashing Andy in the face with the gun, causing both of them to stumble off balance. They tumbled down the hill, crashing through the picket fence.

Lee moved to stand up but a sudden and forceful kick connected with his head, sending him crashing back down to the ground. Dazed and disoriented, Lee struggled to regain his bearings as Andy, with a noticeable limp, hobbled over to the generator and flicked the switch, powering it on.

“Get up! Get the fuck up!” Andy shouted, firm grip on the back collar of Lee’s jacket as he forcefully dragged him forward. Andy then seized Lee’s arms from behind, attempting to force his face into the heated electric fence. Lee pulled back exerting every ounce of strength, but he could feel the searing heat intensify as Andy inched him closer to the barbed fence.

* * *

Lilly and the girls emerged from the barn, catching Lee’s attention. He urgently called out to her, “Lilly!”

Without hesitation, the woman steadied the rifle and took aim, firing a single shot that tore through Andy’s neck, forcefully knocking him away from Lee. Andy gripped his bleeding throat, gurgling as he stumbled around, wavering side to side until his body dropped like lead, eventually stopping any struggle altogether.

It’s over.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, the physical manifestation of his rage, and rose to his feet once again. Stepping back, he put some distance between himself and the scene of the outburst.

“Lee, behind you!”

* * *

Lee turned around to see no one other than Margaret, soaked in rain water standing atop the hill where her house stood, armed with a pitchfork. Her gaze moved towards the body of her oldest brother, laid out on the grass with a sizeable hole through his throat, still in puddle of his own blood. Margaret turned back to Lee, and horror was quickly replaced with sheer and utter shaking malice.

* * *

“Fuck. YOU! Fuck you, fuck you, FUCK YOU! How FUCKING DARE YOU?!”

“Just walk away, Peggy!” Lee warned. “It’s over…!”

Wordlessly, the girl charged Lee, at extremely quick speed. Pitchfork aimed like a spear; Margaret moved to skewer him like meat. Lee only had a second to react before a gunshot rang out and the teen tripped onto the rain-soaked gravel with a thud. Margaret hollered like a hit dog as she writhed around, clutching at her now bloodied torso. As she does, Carley re-holstered her Glock.

* * *

Despite the farmer’s struggle to raise her head, Margaret managed a defiant screech in the group’s direction, “I’ll get you. I’ll get ALL of you...!”

“It’s over!” Lee shouted back, unwavering.

“Fuck you!!” she spat venomously. “Watch. The minute Danny and Mama get out here, y’all are dead. You hear me, boy?! DEAD.” A wicked giggle escaped her lips as she managed to rise to her feet, all the while wobbling.

Lee shook his head, meeting Margaret’s gaze with a resolute stare. “They’re not coming,” he stated firmly.

Margaret glowered, her face contorted with confusion and anger. “What you say?” she demanded, fixing a piercing glare upon Lee. Slowly, realization began to dawn upon the girl. “What did you do? Lee, what the fuck did you do?!” Lee, unfazed by Margaret’s outburst, turned his head and walked away, retracing his steps toward his group. Margaret, overcome with rage and desperation, raised her hand and pointed accusingly.

“Don’t you dare turn away from me, boy! Finish what the fuck you started!” Margaret demanded; her voice strained as she tumbled to her knees.

The plea for confrontation hung in the air.

Lee halted abruptly, positioning himself between Margaret and his own group. His gaze lingered on Margaret for a brief moment, contemplating the course of action that lay before him. He ought to finish this, give Margaret exactly what she wanted—what she deserved—and be done with this, as Lilly had aptly put, backwater type family.

And yet, as Lee’s eyes surveyed the faces of his group, a different resolve took hold. He looked toward Kenny, who grimacing in pain as he clutched his bleeding stomach, and Duck, weary and frightened, tucked into his mother’s side. His gaze shifted to Lilly, her being soaked in her own father’s blood, to Rachel, who stared at the assault while clung tightly to her brother’s hand. And finally, his eyes settled on Clementine, the young girl who observed his every move with unwavering trust and reliance.

And that’s what tied the deal for Lee.

He promised those girls, even if he never said it out loud, that he wouldn’t let them see any more unnecessary bloodshed tonight.

Not if he could help it.

And now that he could, Lee chose to walk away.

“You’re a goddamn coward, Lee! Get the fuck on! Go! Go ahead and run, boy!” Margaret choked out. “Leeeeee!!”

The fence generator emitted a whirling sound, drawing the attention of the group, before abruptly smoking and shutting down. With its demise, the once-muted sounds of walkers grew more distinct to the group as Clementine pointed to the fence beside the barn.

“They’re getting in!” Her voice rang through the group as a small group of walkers descended and toppled upon the now-defunct electric fence.

“Let’s go,” Lee signaled for the group to move forward, and they followed without hesitation. Lilly cast a final glance at the defeated farmer before joining the others in their retreat. Amidst the onslaught of walkers converging upon the farm from every angle, Margaret’s voice echoed one last time as he called out to them:

“Leeeeeee…!”

---

 

The group is silent as they trek through the dark forest. Nobody having much to say, less someone wanted to recount what had happened at the farm.

And nobody wanted to talk about that.

Doug and Carley caught up to Lee at the front of the group. “Hey, Lee, I’d say we’re sorry for leaving the motel unattended, but, y’know…” Carley said.

“I’m glad you showed up when you did. Who knew a laser pointer would be the thing that saved our lives.” Lee chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, we gotta stick together.” Doug nodded. The blond looked at the road, face slowly morphing into disgust. “Were they really chopping up people? For food?”

“Yeah, and those girls almost ate some.”

“Man, that is sick. Clem and Ray, they don’t know, right? They didn’t see… or…”

Carley turned her head, “Did they?”

“I stopped them. This fucking world now. It’s hiding just unspeakable shit at every turn.”

“Oof…” Doug shuddered. “…Were you guys able to salvage anything good from the dairy?”

“Not really.” Lee admitted. “St. John’s took everything I had before the place got completely overrun with walkers.”

“Damn, I’m sorry.” Carley apologized.

Katjaa caught up with the three, a few items in her hand. “Oh, I was able to grab a couple of your things back while Brenda wasn’t looking...” She said, as she pulled out the camcorder Lee had found earlier at the bandit camp. “I even gave the girls their belongings back.”

Lee took the camcorder and studied it. No, still won’t power on. “It doesn’t work. You have any use for it, Doug?”

“It’s just a basic camcorder. A Save Lots cheapie. Let me check it out, see if I can get it working.”

---

 

“What a shitty night.” Travis said beside Ben. If Travis had to pick a “good” outcome of all this, if any, was that he and everyone else didn’t get chewed out by Lilly for leaving the motor inn unattended.

“Tell me about it.” Ben sighed as he ran a hand across his face.

“I’m glad everyone is… well not everyone, is you know… okay. For the most part.” Travis awkwardly fiddled with the sleeves of his letterman. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Better?”

“Yeah. I mean… I didn’t really trust those dairy guys. But I just got here so I didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to start any problems, y’know?”

“Oh. Gotcha.”

“What about you?”

“Me? I’m fine, all things considered. I was just… thinking.”

Ben tilted his head, confused. “Thinking about what?”

“I overheard what Lee said. They were killing people to eat them. A-And those bandits… do you think they were, um, trading with them?”

“L-Like… trading people?” Ben shuddered at the thought. He’d probably never eat anything meat-related again if he had eaten whatever the hell everyone else had for dinner. Just the notion, that those guys were kidnapping people to eat. To Ben, they were no better than the undead.

“Yeah. Like, I can’t help but think… maybe… maybe they traded people from our school? If those were the same bandits who raided your camp...” Travis looked to the dirt path, uneased. “I don’t know. Maybe the bandits traded people from our school that they kidnapped for food… but that means they were eating those people that they traded. It sounds stupid and insane… it’s just my guess.”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t think the bandits really know that they were eating people.” Ben replied. “They probably wouldn’t find survivors just to trade them in and eat them. I think the St. John’s were like… doing that stuff before and then made a deal with the bandits. I’m pretty sure the bandits either killed or did God knows what to everyone they grabbed from our camp… I’ve… I already know what happened to most of them…”

“Oh… So, the dairy people were just hunting for survivors to butcher… fuck. I just… hope it wasn’t any more people we know.”

…

“Oh, shit…”

“What?”

“Mr. Parker…” Ben folded his arms and tucked them into his torso. “I think I know why there were bear traps so far out in the woods…”

---

 

“There’s gonna be fallout.”

Kenny and Lee stood face to face. Lee looked over to Lilly, walking quietly at the back of the group. “For killing Lilly’s dad? Yeah, I would imagine so.”

“What do you think?”

Lee let out a tired sigh and shook his head, knowing that anything he said now would likely be taken the wrong way by Kenny. They had been somewhat at odds practically all day, from morning until just an hour ago. That night, Kenny didn’t exactly play the hero. His so-called ‘solution’ and what followed were just fucked up. It ended up ruining not just one life, but two: The life of an unruly old, stubborn bastard gone (debatably) too soon and his daughter, whose attitude and leadership toward the group were only going to turn sour because of all it.

What had transpired in the meat locker especially screwed things up for the foreseeable future, that Lee had no doubt about it.

“Fine, then. Fine. I saved Duck on the farm and didn’t save Shawn. Now, I kill someone before it can put your little girls in danger, and I’m even more of a monster. I don’t care. You do what you have to do, I’ma keep doing what needs to be done.” And with that, Kenny walked away. Soon after, Clementine and Rachel approach Lee.

“Come on, girls, stay close.”

Rachel toyed with the strap of her bag for a moment before speaking, “Lee? Did all of those bad people die?”

Lee knelt down to the girl’s level. “I don’t know. Some of them might have been able to get away from the walkers, but I’m sure whatever happens, they won’t be coming after us.”

The girls both nodded, satisfied with Lee’s answer. “That’s good.” Clementine murmured.

Lilly walked up to Lee from behind the rest of the group. “Lee.”

Lee looked her way, “Yeah?”

“You know, my dad told me about you… about what happened with the senator.”

“Lilly, I—” Lee’s eyes widened a bit.

“Look, I don’t care what happened in your past,” Lilly cut off. “Tonight, I saw what kind of man you are. You could’ve killed every one of them, but you didn’t. I think that says a lot.”

Lee gave a faint nod, and with that Lilly continued ahead. For now, it seemed like there were no hard feelings.

---

 

“Hey, Dad? What’s that noise?”

Kenny took the lead and walked a bit further up ahead. Getting closer, the sound grew louder and clearer to him. “Sounds like a car...”

“Oh God…” Ben muttered. “Not more strangers…”

On instinct the group all drop down to their knees and snuck along the dirt road leading up to the source of the noise. Lee and Kenny take lead, the two of them stopping once the vehicle came into sight.

It was a station wagon. All the lights inside were on, as well as the headlights and the passenger side door were ajar. Whoever car this belongs to, they must’ve left quickly, or they’re still close.

“Don’t shoot! We’re here to help.” Lee called out, not taking any chances. No response. Great. He motioned for Kenny to follow his lead as he inched further and further to the car until he reached the passenger side door. Peaking inside, Lee saw nothing but a few empty and crushed drinks. He leaned over and checks the gas gauge only to see that it’s on empty.

“Figures.” He sighed and took the key from the ignition.

“Oh, crap!” Kenny’s voice came from the back of the car. “Baby, you gotta see this…! There’s a shitload of food and supplies back here…!”

Everyone stood and rushed to the car after hearing that. Sure enough, in the back trunk of the wagon was a smorgasbord of different supplies from boxed and canned goods to what looked to be bottles of water and medicine.

“This food could save all of us…!”

“Not all of us.” Kenny looked away from Lilly and sighed.

Ben spoke up, “Look, we don’t know if these people are dead.”

“If they come back, then we’re just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives.” Lilly added.

“This stuff isn’t ours…”

‘Dad, whose car is it?” Duck looked to Kenny.

“Don’t worry about that, Duck. It’s ours now.”

“It’s abandoned, Ducky. Don’t worry.”

“But what if it’s not?” The group collectively turned around to the two little girls. Clementine and Rachel stood nearby, hand in hand. “What if it’s not abandoned? What if it is someone’s?”

Rachel nodded and joined, “If it is someone’s, then that’s stealing. We’re not thieves. We don’t steal from people.”

The group quietly looked amongst themselves, most with their minds already made up, others on the fence. Lee nodded and went to stand next his girls.

“You’re right. We shouldn’t take this.” He agreed.

“What?! Did you get some meal back there the rest of us missed out on? We have to take this stuff.” Kenny exasperated.

Lee crossed his arms, “You’re on a real tear today, huh?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Come on, Kenny. Between this and the meat locker, you know what it means.”

Kenny glared at him. “Fine. Suit yourself. The rest of us are taking this stuff.” He held out his hand. Lee reached in his pocket and tossed him the key.

* * *

 

Lee, Clementine, and Rachel watched as the rest of their group raided the car, grabbing all the supplies they could get their hands on. It was like a frenzy, with boxes being passed around like Christmas presents. In that moment, Clementine reached out and held Lee’s left hand, while Rachel gripped his right.

Rachel couldn’t help but notice the joy on her brother’s face as he hauled out the stolen goods given to him by Kenny. And it bugged her. It bugged her really, really badly.

Ben was always the one to keep her in check when it came to doing bad stuff. Like the time she managed to swipe a bunch of scented pencils from the teacher’s jar, the kind with the funky little erasers, and happily showed them off to him. He made her march right back to the teacher and give every single pencil back. Which sucked, because she got in trouble with Mom.

But now, she wondered, what made stealing stuff from this car any different than taking those pencils? Wasn’t this way worse? Kenny argued they needed the stuff, but didn’t the people who owned it first need it too, then?

Rachel knew better than to take things without permission, to steal things that were never hers to begin with. It was the grown-ups had drilled that into her head in the first place. But now it seemed like she, Clementine and Lee were the only ones who really believed that anymore.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

---

October 29^th, Day 99

 

Lee’s knuckles rapped on the door way of Lilly’s room. A moment later, the door creaked open, Lilly full opened the ajar door to see him and Kenny standing there.

“Looks like we got the kid on watch again.” Kenny said, his tone flat.

Lilly rolled her eyes as Lee handed her the rifle, “What’d you get?”

“We might as well leave out a sign that says ‘the men are gone, come and rape our women and children’.”

“Ha.” She replied monotonously. “So, what did you get?”

“A lot of stuff,” Lee replied. Kenny took off his backpack and handed it to Lilly, who rummaged through it.

“We’re fine, by the way,” Kenny said with a scoff.

Lilly surveyed the supplies, her eyes widening at the sight of the bounty they gathered; boxed goods, medicine, and more. She nodded in satisfaction and zipped up the backpack.

“Nice work,” she said to Lee and Kenny. “This will keep us going. If we keep this up, we’ll make it through the winter here.”

“The winter?” Kenny echoed, his voice laced with disbelief. “We’ll freeze our asses off here!”

“Because piling into an RV with you, after what you did to my dad, is so appealing.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You know I’ll do what it takes to keep everyone safe.”

“We’re already safe.”

“Take a look at the wall, Lilly. That’s not graffiti, those are bullet holes.” Kenny gestured to the ramshackle fence behind him. “And we got enough arrow shafts sticking out of it to dry our laundry. And that’s all beside the fact that Macon is busting at the seams with walkers…”

“We have to go eventually, Lilly.” Lee said. Macon was running out of resources, and the walkers had eaten most of the game. He couldn’t see them lasting the winter, especially with the bandits making things more difficult than they already were.

Lilly sighed. “I know, Lee, I know. Eventually is different.”

Naturally, Lilly’s and Kenny’s infamous bickering was once again drawing the attention of their group. Curious onlookers gathered around to see what the commotion was about.

“So, you two are, uh, having a disagreement?” Doug asked, appearing behind them.

“Cool it, Doug.” Kenny said dismissively.

Lilly shot him a glare. “Don’t boss people around.”

“I’m sorry.” Kenny said, crossing his arms. “Somebody needs to make executive decisions for the group though, and I don’t think you’re capable anymore.”

“And don’t start with me, either.”

Katjaa placed her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Ken,” she said softly, “We’re all losing it with the attacks and lack of food...”

* * *

“We’re strongest together.” Lee said, looking at Lilly and Kenny. “I know you think I’m on her side, but there are no sides, damn it. Everything can’t come down to the same disagreement.”

Kenny’s scowl deepened. “Oh, here you go with your neutrality again.”

“Lilly’s concerns are valid, you know?” Lee said.

“Of course you think they are.”

“Goddamn it, I’m not on anyone’s side, Kenny. This is about everyone. Our situation could be so much worse. When's the last time someone got bitten?”

“Are you… counting the St. Johns?”

The group look over to the RV where the two teens were sat, eavesdropping.

“Jesus, Ben…” Kenny muttered before rejoining the argument.

“We're all going a little nuts, but we can't tear each other apart.”

“What about the food situation? What about protection? What about when this place falls? Somebody’s gotta be thinking about this shit!”

“How has this not been working?” Lilly asked with frustration. “We have everything we need.”

“‘Cause of me, Lilly.” Kenny retorted.

“No, because Lee knows how to take care of people, not just things.”

“What about medicine?”

“What about medicine?”

Lee looked to Kenny, “We deal with shit as it comes, just like we always do.”

“And when fifteen bandits hop over that wall in the middle of the night? What then? You’re just gon’ deal with that?”

“Everything that happens to us is another excuse for you to pull this crap about leaving.” Lilly said tiredly. “All I want is a week of peace; of not hearing it.”

Kenny snorted derisively, “Do you know how we got these supplies? Your pal and I got lucky and let a girl get eaten out there.”

Katjaa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, “What?”

“Some girl came screaming out of an alley. She had dead hanging all over her.” He continued. “She gave us enough time to get everything we could out of the drugstore.”

“You just let her suffer, like what, like bait?” Lilly shook her head slowly, “God, what is happening?”

“You weren’t out there.”

“You guys couldn’t try to save her?” Carley asked.

“Don’t take that tone with him. It’s the first smart thing he’s done in a while.” Kenny said.

“Glad to know you think being a killer is smart.” Lilly spat.

“Hey, if you don’t agree with it, then we’ll take everything we’ve got in these bags and put it in a pile marked “no hypocrites” and you can use everything else.” Kenny pushed back sarcastically. “I don’t like living like this. But Christ, folks, it’s not getting easier.”

“It was a mistake,” Lee admitted, “We got our supplies, but we should’ve tried to save her or put her out of her misery.”

“Well, you had Kenny with you, so some options were off the table.” Lilly said bitterly.

“You should be thanking Lee for not shooting that girl.”

“It’s not so easy for him.” Lilly said.

“Look, Macon and its people aren’t savable. It’s not a town, it’s full of walkers. And the people who were left are dying and wandering out onto the streets. It’s hell on Earth, and it’s coming… this way.”

Lilly snapped, “IT’S NOT GOING TO BE EASIER OUT ON THE ROAD!”

“How would you know?”

“What I know?! I know you’re not above murder! I know somebody has been stealing our supplies! That’s right, STEALING, and I know the list of people I can trust here gets smaller every DAY!” Lilly’s voice filled the room as she shouted at the group, “Now, everybody GET OUT.”

 

 

The door slammed behind them as the five looked at each other. Lee turned to Kenny and folded his arms.

“Happy, Kenny?”

“My family’s alive and that RV is runnin’. You’re goddamn right I am.”

Katjaa sighed, “Everyone is under great stress…”

“All I know is whenever this shit happens, I’m the fucking bad guy! I’d like a “thank you” for once. For once!” Kenny stormed off. Katjaa gave Lee an apologetic look before following her husband.

Doug cleared his throat, “Uh, rough day, I guess.” he said.

Lee nodded. “Yep. I’ve just been calling ‘em “days” lately.” he replied. Doug dryly chuckled and walked away.

“Well, I think you did good today.” Carley said. “We all do, even if it’s hard to show it these days.”

“Thanks.” Lee nodded.

Carley reached over and plucked a stray piece of debris from Lee’s shirt, “It’s probably worth following up with Lilly about what she was saying about missing supplies. With her wound up the way she is, I don’t wanna see her paranoid.”

“No question.”

Carley and Lee stopped walking. Carley turned to face Lee. “Oh, and I’d like to talk when you’ve got a minute.”

 

---

 

Duck and Rachel looked up from their shared Batman comic when they heard Lilly shout and sequentially slam her room door.

It was relatively normal to hear the adults arguing these days. In fact, all they ever seemed to do anymore was walk around, talk, and argue, before walking around some more.

Duck had asked his mom about it before, about why everyone was always mad at each other. But she had simply told him to not fret about it. “Everyone is just tired, baby, don’t worry.”

He didn’t understand what that meant, though. If you were tired, then why not go to sleep?

That’s when Duck started trying to figure out why everyone was so “tired” all of a sudden. If he could figure out the reason why everyone was so “tired”, then he could fix it and “wake everybody up”, hopefully making them nicer again in the process. Dad used to drink coffee to wake up, but he hadn’t seen any coffee lying around for months. So that wasn’t an option.

At first, Duck thought it had something to do with the bad people who shot things at their fence all the time. Maybe they’re “tired” of that, right? Or maybe not, since they haven’t asked them to stop yet.

No, it has to be something else.

* * *

“Hey, Ray?” Duck looked over to the girl, who had since gone back to reading the comic book.

“What?”

“Have you noticed that all the adults are being weird?”

Rachel looked up from the book and shrugged. “The grown-ups are always being weird.”

Duck laughed, “Yeah, but lately they’ve been acting really weird.”

“I guess so.” She muttered before looking up at the RV.

Duck watched as his dad stomped over to the couch he and his mom normally sat at, with mom right behind him. He looked over to Lee, who was standing with Doug and Carley. Doug walked away, then Lee and Carley moved closer to the stairs, where Duck could finally hear their conversation.

 

 “It’s probably worth following up with Lilly about what she was saying about missing supplies. With her wound up the way she is, I don’t wanna see her paranoid.”

“No question.”

 

Missing supplies?

…

Missing supplies! That’s why everyone was so mad a minute ago. Because supplies were missing!

Suddenly, Duck jumped to his feet and waved goodbye to Rachel. “I’m gonna go check it out!”

“Check out what?”

Duck pointed over to Lilly’s door just as Lee knocked and went in.

“There’s a mystery going around, and I want to solve it!”

 

---

 

“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, removing her face from her hands. Lee sat in the wooden chair across from her.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Lee said.

“Did you come in here to give me hell or to coddle me?”

Lee sighed and looked at her, signaling that he wasn’t there to antagonize her. Lilly understood and frowned.

“I’m sorry, I know. I’m trying. I’m trying, I just... I feel like a crazy person.”

“Can I do anything for you?”

“Yes. I need help.” Lilly pointed outside. “There’s a traitor, somebody, one of us, out there. He or she or they have been taking things.”

“You haven’t really been sleeping...”

“Don’t start in on that.”

“You’ve been through a trauma and you’re not taking care of yourself.”

Lilly ignored him, “The count’s off and it’s the good stuff. Antibiotics, oxy, fuck, anything with opium in it.”

Lee wasn’t entirely convinced, “I see the count and it’s fine.”

Lilly shook her head. “I keep my own. That one’s getting messed with.” She gestured to a box sitting on the ground. “I’m a fucking mess right now but I’m not stupid. I know what happens if I start a witch hunt.”

“So you want me to start one?”

“I want you to poke around.”

Lee sighed, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to let this go. “What’s there to go on?”

Lilly reached under her bed and pulled out a large, yellow flashlight, which she gave to Lee. He took it and immediately noticed the broken bulb in the front of it.

“I found this tossed into the garbage.”

“Hmm.”

“We don’t toss out equipment. We fix it. You’d only try to get rid of a flashlight if you were using it when you shouldn’t.”

“It’s just a few things. It’s not a big deal,” Lee tried to rationalize.

But Lilly shook her head. “Bullshit it’s not,” she replied. “You know it is, and I’d really appreciate the help.”

 

---

 

Lee shut Lilly’s door behind him and sighed. Great, he thought, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. When he’s not dealing with Kenny’s new attitude towards him after what happened a week ago, he’s dealing with Lilly’s new attitude towards everyone after what happened a week ago. And now she has him playing detective and chasing what he personally thought was a wild goose chase.

The med count is fine. He and Katjaa check it often, especially after Kenny was shot at the dairy last week. He hadn’t noticed anything that warranted an investigation or a freak out like Lilly had done earlier.

After what happened with Larry, she hadn’t been exactly herself. And Lee wasn’t the only one who noticed that fact. If Lilly had a rocky relationship with everyone before, then she was on the verge of burning bridges with them if this didn’t get sorted out. The chances that she was just feeling paranoid weren’t completely off the table for Lee, either.

“A mystery!”

Lee jumped and looked to his right to see Duck rising from the ground.

“Jesus, Duck!”

“I’m sorry,” the boy sheepishly apologized. “Um, I heard you guys talking.”

“You need to un-hear all of that,” Lee said, turning around.

Duck jogged up next to him. “Can I help?”

“What did I just say?” Lee asked.

“You’re the greatest detective, and I can be Dick Grayson! Your ward!”

...

“That’s Robin,”

“I know who it is.” Lee pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You can’t help. And if you tell anybody, it will be trouble.”

“Secrecy!” the boy whispered as he backed away.

Lee looked at the boy like he was crazy. “Did you hear what I just said?”

“I won’t tell a soul,” Duck said.

“The part about not helping,” Lee said. “You can’t help.”

“I will live in the shadoooows!” Duck laughed as he ran the opposite direction.

It looked like the boy was going to help him anyway. Lee just sighed. Remembering Carley wanted to speak to him, he put a small pin in his investigation for a moment.

 

---

 

Carley’s words lingered in the back of Lee’s mind as he leaned against the wall near the staircase. After checking in on what she wanted to talk about, Carley had told him (or rather greatly encouraged) that he should consider telling the group that he was a convicted murderer. Worried that with the way things are going, she didn’t want the truth to come out of anybody else’s mouth but Lee’s.

“I'll tell you what I would tell anybody, apocalypse or not, there comes a time when you can get out ahead of something like this and discuss it on your terms. Do it before that chance is taken away.”

And as much as he hated to admit it, she was right.

The rate everything was going, a pen drop could shatter whatever sanctity was left within their cobbled-together group. And if Larry knew what he’d done, and Lilly did as well, then there’s not a snowball’s chance she wasn’t going to relay at least part of it to someone else the next time something goes wrong, accidentally or not.

So now Lee had to form a list of people he’d have to tell this news to. Clementine and Rachel were obviously first on the list, right? They were old enough to hear the truth, or at the very least a short, gist of it. Lee just had no clue how a couple of eight-year-olds would react to hearing he was a convicted murderer.

Next on his list would have to be Kenny. And though he’d immediately thought of telling him next, the fact that he and Kenny had been so at odds lately was seriously making him doubt his decision. Knowing Kenny, he’d either shrug it off or use it as ammo the next time Lee decided to piss him off by not being on “his side”. Maybe if Lee told Katjaa instead, she could relay it back to Kenny for him and save Lee the trouble.

After Kenny would have to be Ben, Doug, and Travis. He’d known the latter just as long as he’d known the girls, and since trust was the key factor in this choice, Lee knew the boy wouldn’t exactly react too badly. Besides, he (and the girls) were vaguely aware that he’d been arrested before. And he might have had a close call a month prior during dinner, when the topic of crime had suddenly came up, so it was best to just hurry up and tell him the truth. Ben, on the other hand, would probably take it differently, if he knew how to take it at all. He would probably just be satisfied that Lee told him anything outside of reminding him to do his watches. Doug might take it well, but Lee would just have to be prepared in case the geek decided to give him “fun facts” about the American judicial system.

He might as well get that over with.

 

---

 

Though it took a bit of pestering, Duck had finally convinced Rachel to join his “top secret” investigation (all though she acted like she’d rather be anywhere else). The boy had dragged her around the parking lot looking for “clues” for the past five minutes, and she had almost walked away if Duck hadn’t spotted Lee standing near the wall beside Lilly’s room.

Sneaking over to him, Duck examined the wall with the man. Written on it was a large “X” written in chalk, more than likely the same chalk they and Clementine used.

“Pink. Hmm.”

Lee folded his arms. “Duck.”

“A clue!”

Lee glanced at the marking on the wall again. “Maybe.”

 

* * *

Rachel tilted her head slightly. “What’s this?”

“Ray? What’re you doing here?” Lee asked before immediately looking over to Duck. “What happened to secrecy?”

“I asked her to help! She can be Jason Todd!”

...

“That’s Robin.”

“I know who it is.” Lee sighed. “Alright. But don’t tell anybody else. I’m serious, Duck.”

“Got it. Noooobody else.”

Lee frowned in annoyance. “Even though I told you, you couldn’t help.”

“I’m curious.”

“You don’t say.”

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think it’s anything.”

“Me neither,” Lee agreed.

“Maybe it’s a sign!” Duck added, eagerly.

Lee eyed the wall. “It could be. It’s pink chalk, which is weird.”

“Clem has chalk, maybe it’s hers?” Rachel noted. Duck grabbed her hand again.

“Okay, back to investigating!” The boy said before taking off once again. Lee wiped the chalky residue off his hand and started to leave the alley before he noticed something. He noticed chalk drawings on the ground, one of which is pink. Lee then looked over to Clementine, who was, Rachel had pointed out, currently sat beside a pile of chalk.

 

---

 

“Psst. Lee!”

Lee looked over to the other two children standing by the RV. Duck motioned for the man to come over to them. Lee, even though he was a bit skeptical, went over to see what the kids had discovered.

“I found something,” Duck said, taking something out of his back pocket.

“What is it?”

The boy stuck his hand out, and in his palm was something pink. “I found this piece of pink chalk and a scuff of it over by the gate!”

“Really?”

“Totally!” Duck said, giving the man the chalk.

“It’s probably nothing,” Rachel huffed.

“No, it’s totally a clue! We were combing the scene for clues and—”

“Yeah, Duck, I got it. Good job,” Lee quickly said before going over to the gate. Duck rushed after and hopped in front of him with his arm up.

...

Lee gave the boy a high-five.

“Cool!” Duck said.

“Have you two found anything else?”

Rachel shook her head. “Nope.”

“Just the chalk. I also found some bugs underneath the stairs... Don’t tell Clementine.” The two kids rapidly nodded.

“Okay? Hmm.” Lee weighed the piece of chalk in his hand, then subtly eyed the two. “You two seem to know a bit about all this… the chalk, you found the scuff here, this is going to sound crazy, but you kids aren’t involved, are you?”

“No! I’m a good guy,” Duck proclaimed with a heroic pose.

“This game is kind of boring…” was all Rachel replied with.

“Then why’d you help Duck investigate?”

“Because he made me do it!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yeah-huh!”

“Alright, alright. I get it.” Lee interrupted their bickering before returning back to his own investigation. Pushing one of the dumpsters forward, Lee noticed the scuff of pink chalk Duck had mentioned was underneath one of its wheels. Meaning whoever used it must’ve went outside the gate with it as well. “Somebody was over here too...”

“See, we did good, huh?” Duck asked.

Lee nodded. “Yeah, Duck, you did,” he praised. “I suppose I should go out there and look around. You two stay here this time. Seriously.”

“Okay,” the two nodded as Lee pulled the dumpster gate open and squeezed through. Once he was on the other side, Lee began scanning the ground for any more signs of the pink chalk. He looked around at the concrete and the fence as he walked, but couldn’t spot any more of it.

 

Lee looked at a part of the fence that was covered in arrows and bullet holes. Those bandits had given them hell the day after they returned from the dairy, and a couple more after that. But for the past three days they’d been radio silent. Lee couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a problem, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t glad to not be ducking behind the RV from arrows anymore.

As he neared the end of the fence, Lee stopped at the start of the charred wall of the inn. So far, he hadn’t seen any more markings or chalk dropped anywhere out here, as if the trail had finally run cold.

 

There’s something I’m missing, Lee told himself. Even though he wasn’t seeing it, the chalk trail led him out here. Maybe there was something tucked underneath… something. He wasn’t entirely sure, but at this rate, he couldn’t go back to Lilly with everything he (or rather Duck) had found so far and nothing to show for it.

Lee crouched down and tried to study the darkened ground for any other “clues,” as Duck had so aptly put it. He even went as far as to sift through the charred debris. Nothing, except soot and rocks. Lee sighed, frustrated, and reached over to use the wall to pull himself up. His eyes then ran over a grate in the wall.

“Huh. There’s a grate down there,”

Lee scooted closer to the grate and grabbed between the bars. With a quick yank, he removed the cover and set it aside. He bent lower to get a better look into the dark alcove, and within its barely illuminated hold was a brown paper bag. He reached in and grabbed it. And once he opened it, he knew he owed Lilly an apology as he stared down at the baggy full of pill bottles.

 

“Son of a bitch.”

 

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

Lee entered Lilly’s room and knocked. Lilly looked up at him, anxiously. “You haven’t come up with anything, have you?”

“I came up with this.” Lee pulled out the paper bag and handed it to her. “It’s got a bunch of meds in it. It was in a grate on the outside wall. And there’s a sign on the other one.”

“Holy fuck...” Lilly replied, shakily.

“Yeah...”

Lilly stared at the bag for a moment before rolling it back up. “Okay. We need to line everybody up. Everybody.” Lee frowned, knowing she meant involving the children as well. “Somebody is killing us. Stealing from that supply is the same as slipping into your room at night and cutting your throat while you sleep. You die. What is the difference? What if one of the girls gets sick again and we don’t have what we need?”

He would argue with her, but not on that point. If they were bleeding supply that badly, and with Macon in the state that it’s in now? Lilly wasn’t wrong, it was hurting them, if not immediately.

Lilly tore her attention away from Lee and tilted her head toward the window. She suddenly jumped to her feet. “What the hell?!”

 

“YOU DON’T FUCKING STEAL FROM US!”

 

Lee whipped his head around and looked out the window, then back to Lilly.

“Who the fuck is that?!”  Lee asked, looking through the glass. At the gate, Lee could see about five people in masks, their guns pointed at the group, who were all lined up on their knees with their hands behind their heads. “They’ve got our people out there!”

“Oh, shit!” Lilly hissed. She rushed to the other end of the room and grabbed her rifle off the dresser. “They’re gonna start kicking in doors any second!”

“Lilly, what the hell are you...?”

“Stall them.”

“What?”

“Just keep them talking.” Lilly opened the bathroom window, “Do whatever it takes to stop him pulling the trigger!” she said before climbing out.

 

“YOU MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIVES!”

 

Lee sighed, “Shit.”

 

---

The bandit leader impatiently paced back and forth between his accomplices. Fed up, he shouted, “Enough of this bullshit! Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!”

“Yeah!”

Lee walked out of Lilly’s room, his hands raised. As soon as he was in sight, the leader aimed his pistol at him.

“Hold it, asshole!” the leader shouted.

“Take it easy,” Lee calmly replied. “We have more supplies. We can keep the deal going.”

“Too late, shithead!” the bandit spat. “We ain’t giving second chances!”

“It… It was a mix-up!” Lee said quickly. “We’ll make it worth your while!”

“…I’m listenin’.” the leader said.

Good, Lee thought. He had them right where he needed them.

“We can split the supplies. Spread them around!” Lee offered.

The bandit scoffed. “Or we could just kill you and take it ALL!”

“A-And what about when they run out? When you don’t have us out there collecting them for you?” Lee reasoned. “What will it take to reach a deal?”

“About twice as much as you’ve been giving us!”

“You got it! Done!”

“Is that so? Well… I suppose we oughta hash out some terms, then.”

“I don’t like no hash.” Another bandit said from beside the leader.

“Man, shut up or I’ll—”

 

BAM!

 

In a fraction of a second, a bullet went clean through the leader’s head and his body slowly crumpled to the concrete.

“Christ!”

“Oh, shit!”

The group scrambled to their feet and ran for safety in opposite directions. Lee looked over to see Lilly at a vantage point, aiming down the scope of her rifle. The remaining bandits stood there, seemingly stunned. Carley snatched the discarded weapon and fired two rounds into two of the three shocked bandits before the gun clicked, signaling it was out of ammo. As Carley ran for cover, the last remaining bandit ran for the fence. But before they could fully make it over, Lee fired a bullet into his leg.

The bandit fell to the ground on the other side of the fence and whistled, calling a mob of his companions to flock out the woods like birds. Seeing this, Lee ran behind the RV as the bandits began breaking through their defenses.

 

“Get back there! Smoke him out!”

Ben, who had been hiding behind a pile of furniture, tried to run over to Lee. A bandit fired at him and missed, luckily hitting the window behind him instead. Ben quickly dove to the ground and crawled back to his hiding spot.

Kenny ran out of his room with a rifle. “We gotta get out of here!”

“No shit!” Lee replied.

Kenny handed Lee the rifle. “Get those bastards! Cover our people and get them to the RV!”  he said before heading into the vehicle.

 

Across the way, the three children huddled closer to Katjaa and Travis as bullets bounced off the walls and barrels surrounding them.

Clementine peeked over the furniture protecting them as more bandits entered the motor inn.

“Lee!” Katjaa shouted. “Over here! Help!”

Once Ben, Carley, and Doug reached the RV, Lee turned around to see the five of them crouched behind a pile of furniture.

“Katjaa! Kids! Hold on!”

Lee quickly switched to the right side of the RV and took aim. As Lee began trying to dispose of the incoming bandits, the gunfire started to attract the attention of the walkers, who began stumbling out of the woods in droves and attacking the bandits who were too focused on their retreating group.

With one last shot, Lee finally cleared the area where Katjaa and the kids were.

“Katjaa! Come on, hurry!” Lee urged. Clementine and Rachel ran over to him without any hesitation.

* * *

“Lee!” The girls ran up to him and he wrapped his arms around them.

“Girls, get inside the RV! Everything is going to be okay. Go!”

Clementine and Rachel hurriedly run inside the RV. Katjaa, Duck and Travis get up and try to run to Lee but before they could make it a walker had come from behind them and knocked Katjaa over. The suddenness of it caused her to push Duck into Travis, tripping them both over as well. Lee wasted no time shooting the corpse.

“Kat! Oh, Christ!” Kenny came running out of the RV to help his family. Katjaa pushed the body off of her as Kenny helped her stand up. Just ahead of the couple, Travis had used his body to shield Duck from the impact of the ground.

* * *

Kenny moved over to help them. “Crap, are you boys okay?!”

Travis gingerly touched his bleeding forehead before nodding. “Y...Yeah. We’re good. Let’s go!”

They all piled into the RV. Finally, Lee looked over to the balcony where Lilly was firing from.

“Lilly! Get in the RV!”

“Screw her! Let her stay!” Kenny yelled from the exit of the vehicle before rushing back inside. He hopped into the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition. He turned it over, and over, and over, but the engine refused to start.

The alarm system Doug had set up began to chime. Carley looked out the driver’s window as walkers began to pour into the warring lot.

“Shit!” she cursed. Carley jumped out and drew her gun, covering the opposite side of Lee.

“Shit! Kenny, hurry up with that thing!”

Doug shouted as he instructed them on where to shoot. “The right bells! Watch the left side, Carley! The bells! Right side! Left! Right side! Walkers on the right! Lee! The right!”

Lee and Carley fired their weapons on their respective sides, clearing out any encroaching walkers as Doug came barreling out of the RV with a hammer.

“Doug?”

“It’s the starter solenoid!” the geek replied before taking the tool and tapping the engine a few times. Surprisingly, the engine finally started as he and Carley rushed back into the RV.

“Lilly, last chance! Get down here!” Lee shouted before he too headed inside.

Lilly looked away from the scope and down at the scene below. Their base, the place they reluctantly called home for months, was completely overrun by thieves and the undead. Their defenses crumbled as the dead began multiplying. She realized the futility of her efforts, and begrudgingly folded.

“Shit.”

Lilly rushed down the stairs and leapt into the RV as Kenny peeled out of the parking lot, leaving the motor inn behind and running over several bodies in the process.

 

---

“Kat! Jesus, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!”

“God, fuck, my head’s killing me.”

“Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, sh—” Ben pulled his face out of his hands and looked up. “I’m sorry.”

“Calm. Down.” Lilly hissed. “We need to figure out why this happened.”

“Nobody died.” Doug said, thankful. “We’re okay, right? Katjaa, you’re okay?”

* * *

“We just lost everything.”

“Well, we’re lucky as shit to have this RV!” Kenny said from the driver’s seat.

“And nobody died.” Carley replied.

“We. Lost. Everything.” Lilly repeated.

“But we have our health!” Doug tried to reason.

“Kat’s head is split open!” Kenny yelled back.

“I’m… I’m fine.”

Lilly eyed down everyone in her vicinity. “Somebody in here caused this.”

“Settle down back there; the bandits have had our number for weeks!”

But Lilly disagreed, “This is different. Somebody was working with them. Whoever it was, was slipping them our meds. They didn’t get their last package, so they attacked.”

“Calm down back there! That’s nuts!”

“Lee found a bag of supplies hidden outside the wall.”

“… It’s true.” Lee admitted.

“So, Ben.” Lilly looked over to the teen. “I think we need to talk.”

“Whoa, what?!”

“Lilly, let’s think about this logically, no?” Doug interjected.

“Logically?” Lilly glared, “The new guy? Who could have easily been a plant? I think that’s pretty logical, Doug.”

* * *

Travis looked up from the table, clutching his bleeding head. “Lilly, please… don’t—”

“Don’t?” the woman glared at him, causing the boy to flinch. He quickly took a deep breath and sat up straight.

“I…I don’t know who did what, or what just happened—but I know for a fact it wasn’t Ben. I’ve known him my whole life, I trust him—YOU can trust him…!”

“That’s cute, but like I told you before, “vouching” doesn’t mean shit anymore. First time any of us met him, he was coincidentally running from bandits. The same bandits that just took everything we had. But I guess, you “vouching” for him proves he’s innocent…”

“You think I’d do anything to hurt you guys?” Ben asked, looking around at everyone.

“Don’t play dumb,” Lilly said. “Were you hoping they would eventually kill us all and you could join them?”

“Lilly, come on.” Doug said. “This isn’t right…”

“You guys are like my family!” Ben pleaded.

Carley stood next to Travis. “Lilly, leave the kid alone. God, just fucking relax!”

 “Relax?! Relax?! How can all of you people just sit here and pretend this isn’t wrong?! We lost everything! That was all we had left! One of you screwed us over, and you let them have EVERYTHING!” Lilly shouted at the group, “What the hell is wrong with you…”

“Lilly, stop!”

“Knock it off!”

“This isn’t necessary!”

Lilly stared at them, enraged. “What the hell is wrong with all of you?!”

“You’re insane…!”

“Why Ben?” Lee asked. “What makes you think it was him?”

“He’s always so eager to see what supplies we found,” Lilly said, glaring at Ben. “He came into this crew a stranger from the woods. It’s pretty obvious to me.”

“I came into this crew as a stranger,” Doug said.

“So did I,” Carley added.

Lilly looked at the couple. “Oh, so you’re saying one of you did it?”

“Nobody did anything!” Ben argued.

“You know, the odds of it being the two of them isn’t exactly off the table, either. A real Bonnie and Clyde situation, if you ask me.”

Carley rolled her eyes. “Please.”

“We have to get it out of you, then?”

“Back off.” Carley warned.

“You’re in no position to make demands.”

Carley scoffed, “Now you’re just pointing fingers at people. You don’t even have anything to prove it was anybody in here!”

“I didn’t just come up with this, I’ve had my suspicions.”

“Lilly,” Lee touched her arm, “This seems like a stab in the dark. You can’t just accuse anybody if you have no pr—”

“She can fight her own battles. Unless there’s something going on here that implicates all of you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Carley said.

“Like, look, maybe we should, uh, vote or something like that,” Ben suggested, his voice trailing off.

Lilly leaned into his space, her eyes narrowing. “Vote? What?”

“Just, look, Carley’s a stand-up gal and... maybe this was all just a mistake.”

Carley sighed, rubbing her temples. “We need to look at the facts. Let’s calm down, we’ll eat, and we’ll deal with it.”

Ben nodded, his eyes downcast. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Lee, again, put a hand on Lilly’s shoulder. “Let’s just let it go. People make mistakes, and yeah, this is a fucking doozy, but it’s not worth it.”

“Then what do we not forgive? Honestly, tell me. Kenny can kill my dad, these idiots can steal from us? Where’s the line?!”

Doug cleared his throat. “I know I don’t get wrapped up in the politics around here, but we really need to think before we start stringing everybody up…!” He tried to sound calm and reasonable, but his voice wavered slightly.

Lilly waved him off. “Doug, I appreciate your concern, but we have all the evidence we need.”

Kenny spoke from the head of the RV, “You have evidence?”

“Not here,” Lilly said. “But Lee found the meds, we found an entire signaling system. Chalk...”

“Signaling system?!”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Lilly said.

“It is!” Ben yelped.

“Carley’s right; let’s just get on down the road. We can talk this out like adults.” Lee eased.

Lilly turned to Lee, her eyes flashing with disappointment. “Why give someone who almost killed us the opportunity? Lee, you know what we found.”

“Just let me out of the car!” Ben asked, fed up with the accusations, “I’ll go! I didn’t do it, but I’ll go!”

Lilly glared at him. “Good, that sounds great.”

“Lilly, look at him—” Lee said.

“I... fuck... Jesus, I didn’t.”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Lilly, lay off of him.”

“I—”

 

THUNK!

“Shit!”

“What’s going on up there?!”

“I hit something, we gotta stop!”

Lilly’s voice was cold and hard as she spoke. “Alright, well, we can deal with this now, then.”

The three people on the couch looked at her warily. Kenny pulled the RV to a stop and opened the door.

“Kenny, is it safe?” Lee asked.

“Should be,” Kenny replied.

Lilly stepped out of the RV and turned to face the others. “Everybody out.”

“Lilly…” Lee warned.

“Out.” She pushed past him.

 

---

The five of them exited the RV onto the road, leaving Katjaa, Duck, and Travis inside. Kenny stepped out of the driver’s side as Lilly crouched down to examine the underside of the vehicle.

“Kenny,” she said, her voice tight, “the RV has some surface damage, but there’s a walker trapped underneath.”

“Goddamn it,” Kenny cursed under his breath. “Everyone, keep your eyes peeled,” he said, going to work.

 

“You know what, we shouldn’t just kick you out, we should hear what everybody thinks.”

“I think you should chill out.” Ben replied, “Please, look, it wasn’t me, please stop accusing me.”

Lilly just glared at the boy, unfazed. “I’m really sorry you’re upset, Ben. Just tell us you did it.”

“No!”

“ Gah , this dumb-fuck walker!”

Lee looked over to Kenny, “You okay over there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Son of a bitch…”

“Ben, you have no other options here.”

“Leave him alone.” Doug said.

“Stop fucking with him, for god’s sake!” Carley scolded.

“I think you both are protesting a bit much.” Lilly seethed, “Don’t you think so, Kenny?”

“I’m not doing this.” Lee crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to endorse Lilly’s unfounded blame game. Sure, maybe someone in their group did have something to do with what happened that day. But yelling and hollering out like idiots isn’t solving the problem, and neither is doing it on the side of the road.

Lilly shot him a look, “Come on, Lee. You’re the one who found them. You can’t just abstain.”

“Fuck all that, this is nuts! We’re out here on the side of the road!” Lee retorted.

“Okay, fine, then. Kenny?”

“I don’t know, fuck! Just stop , would ya?!"

“Well, your vote counts for you and Katjaa.”

Ben couldn’t take the constant berating and yelling coming from Lilly. “We don’t need all these votes! What do I have to do for you to trust me?! I’ll do anything! I’ll—I’ll do watches for months!”

“Ha, the hell you will.”

“I’ll get more food, more medicine, anything, just—”

“You think any of that is good now?!”

“Just let me stay, please! God, please!”

Lee looked to her, “He’s broken, Lilly.”

“I can see that,” Lilly turned to face the group. “Do we need any more evidence than this?!”

“Evidence or not, this isn’t any way to treat one of us!” Doug countered.

“I’ve heard enough out of you, okay, Doug?”

“No—quit bossing people around, goddammit!”

“Shut up, Carley!” Lilly snapped her head over to Kenny once again. “Kenny, what’s it gonna be?!”

“Just gimme a damn minute!”

“Ben, you have until Kenny kills that walker to tell me it was one of them and not you!”

“No!”

“Ben.”

“Stop!”

“Lilly!”

“This is about trust, and I’ve never trusted you.”

“I did it.” Lee folded his arms.

Lilly turned to face him, “What?”

“Yeah, it was me. That get you to lay off the kid?”

Lilly looked the man up and down, her eyes assessing. “I think you’re capable of being a real piece of shit,” she said, her voice cold. “But I know it wasn’t you. Not with them in your life.” She gestured to the two girls, their faces frightened as they stood watching the dispute go down in the doorway of the RV.

“Please, let’s just get back in the RV.” Ben pleaded.

“That’s not happening.”

“I can’t handle this!” Doug stood in front of Ben, “That… That’s enough, Lilly,” he said stammered. “You can’t keep going around accusing everybody of being a traitor!”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!”

“S-Stop, Lilly, please.” Ben begged.

“Then say it!”

“It wasn’t me!”

Somewhere off in the front of the car, Kenny finally pulled the trapped walker from beneath the RV and stomped its head in with his shoe.

“There! I got ‘em!” Kenny dusted his hands off as he approached the group. “Now, what the fuck’s the problem—”

* * *

“Ben!”

Clementine’s voice rang out in warning as she watched Lilly inched for the Glock tucked behind her waistband. Carley dove for Lilly’s gun, but the minute she did, Lilly whipped around and instinctively changed her aim from the teen to the reporter.

 

BAM!

 

…

 

In the blink of an eye, and before anyone could fully grasp what was unfolding before them, Carley’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground with a thud. And a 9mm bullet, embedded right in the side of her face as blood pooled from the crater that formed in the side of her face and onto the dimly lit grass.

Dismay took everyone as they stood back, all eyes locked onto Carley’s corpse. Horrified. Even Lilly, as if she had merely been a bystander to what had just happened herself. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide with shock.

She almost looked like she was lost in a trance.

Lee slowly traced his eyes over to Lilly and with a scowl he immediately seized her wrist before slamming her against the RV.

“Drop it.”

Lilly allowed the gun to fall from her grip. It clattered to the ground, echoing in the silence.

The rest of the group huddled around Carley’s body. Doug slumped to his knees, futilely shaking the reporter’s corpse.

Rachel had moved from the doorway and rushed over to her brother, slinging her arms around his arm.

“Holy fuck...” Kenny muttered, his voice trailing off.

“Kenny, what’s happening?!”

“Keep Duck away from the windows! Jesus Christ!” Kenny stepped over Carley’s body and over toward Lee. “Get in! We’re leaving this crazy bitch!”

“I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t supposed to be her…”

Ben tore his eyes away from Carley’s corpse, “What… what are we gonna do with her?”

“Leave her for the walkers!” Kenny answered, sharply.

* * *

Travis, who’d been rudely awoken from his concussion-fueled nap, finally reared his head out the RV door. “What the… fucking shit…?! The fuck happened?!”

“She fucking killed her, that’s what happened!” Kenny told him. “Lee, she’s NOT coming with us!”

Lee hesitantly released his hold on Lilly. “Just get in. We’ll figure out what to do with you.”

“What?” Travis looked up from beside Doug, “Lee, NO. God, look at what she just did to Carley! Fuck, man… she’s fucking dead. Who the fuck just does that?!”

“I’m agreeing with the kid here, Lee. I don’t want this nut-job around my family, around them girls.”

“I was trying to protect all of us!” Lilly defended herself, voice wavering. “I don’t have anything left…”

Lee glanced at the woman, and she looked him right in the eyes. For once, he couldn't read her. Over the past three months, Lee had easily deciphered the attitudes of the majority of his fellow group members. Larry always had an attitude, whether it was rain or shine; Travis was religiously fed up with everything around him; Mark was a helpful busybody, and Lilly was one hundred percent no-nonsense. Even in the days after her father died, the grief and detachment were so easily readable, even on a person like her. However, at that moment, he couldn't fully read her. The expression on her face—it looked like fear. It also looked like she was asking for pity, which was something Lee knew she solemnly hated.

He didn't want to leave her behind, as an action like that is identical (if not worse) to sentencing someone to death. Yet, her actions—how she came undone and accused almost everyone of treachery without a shred of proof it was any of them, and her hostile method of goading a confession out of someone—led to the death of one of their own. Kenny didn't want her around his wife and son anymore, nor did he want her around the girls. Lee doubted she'd do anything to hurt them, not out of spite nor accident. But Lee felt outvoted. His stance on allowing her to stay seemed outweighed by everyone else's desire to make her leave.

So, Lee reached down and handed Lilly her gun. “… You can’t come with us.”

“I’ll die out here…!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“You’re a murderer, Lilly! We can’t have you with us!” Kenny argued.

“Murderer?!” Lilly exasperated, “Lee’s killed before and I forgave him. You’ve killed before and I’ll forgive you! We both know we do what has to be done!”

“Bullshit, you will! You’ve been planning to get me this entire time!” Lilly then fell into silence. Kenny shook his head, disgusted. “Get in, Lee. Let’s go, you guys.”

Travis helped Doug into the RV. Ben paused and gave Lilly one last glance before Rachel pulled him inside. Lee reached inside of his back pocket and handed her something. She looked down at her palm and pocketed it as he headed inside the car.

The car started, and the remainder of the group continued down the road, two members short, and nine members grieving.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

“Lee, can you c’mere a minute?”

 

Lee, who had been looking out the back window ever since they left Lilly behind, turned around at the sound of Kenny’s voice. Clementine and Rachel sat quietly on the couch, faced forward. Not saying a word.

“You okay?” Lee asked them.

“… Kenny needs you for something.” Clementine answered for both of them.

Lee frowned, but didn’t bother them any further as he made his way to the front of the RV.

 

* * *

“What’s up?” Lee asked once he reached the front seats. For a second, the couple don’t respond, Kenny’s eyes wander over to Katjaa, and Lee’s followed. When he saw her, he couldn’t help but notice her entire demeanor was… off. Eyes lidded; the woman was slouched toward the window. And even in the dimly lit vehicle, Lee noticed that Katjaa was a bit paler than usual. “Is Katjaa feeling alright?”

* * *

With a silent hand, Kenny pointed to Katjaa’s neck. Lee honed in on the woman’s neck and saw a ring-shaped blemish in of human teeth prints dented in her skin.

 

* * *

“What the fuck…” Lee whispered.

“Happened during the raid.” Kenny told him.

“…What’s the plan? We’ve never had a bite victim in the group before.”

Katjaa’s eyes fluttered open for a second, and she glanced over to Lee. “I’ll … Keep an eye on it, in case it passes.”

“God…” Lee muttered quietly.

“We… know it’s shocking. Please… try and keep the children calm.”

“We keep the same plan unless something changes. East .” Kenny said, focused on the road. “Christ, what the hell are we gonna tell Duck when he gets up…?”

“I’ll… talk to him when he wakes up, if you want.”

“I’d appreciate it, pal. You should tell the girls, too. They should know.”

Katjaa drifted back to sleep, and the two men fell silent.

Kenny broke the tension. “Can you take Duck back there? I don’t think Kat’s up for holdin’ him the whole ride.”

Lee nodded and carefully reached over Katjaa, picking up the boy. He slowly made his way back to the couch where Clementine and Rachel huddled together, dozing on and off. He laid the boy down next to Clementine.

Lee looked down at the boy sadly. He sat down on the couch between the girls, and they scooted closer to him on either side. He put his arm around them and sighed, looking away.

 

“Katjaa’s bitten.”

“Huh?”, “What?”

“She got bit by a walker trying to escape the motel.”

“O-Oh …” Rachel curled in closer into Lee’s side, “T-That’s…”

“…What about Carley?” Clementine asked Lee.

“Gone. But won’t come back.” He replied.

“Because she was shot in the head.”

“That’s right.” Lee nodded sadly. “It’s horrible.”

The four of them sat in silence, the soft humming of the RV on the endless road filling the gaps between them.

“Why did Lilly do that?” Rachel asked quietly, hugging her rabbit. “She… she was gonna shoot Ben, right? But she shot Carley instead…”

“She was sad,” Lee replied honestly. “And sometimes being sad can make you do awful things.”

“Oh, I guess so,” Rachel said. “I’ll never do that, though. That was awful… ”

“All we got is each other,” Lee said with a small smile. “I’m glad I have you two.”

“Me too,” Clementine smiled back. “We heard you outside my treehouse that day, and I thought about dropping a hammer on your head.”

“What? Why?”

“In case you were up to no good. Before you there was this other guy. He was yelling and trying to get into my house. He wanted to take the TV and tried to break the glass door with a rock. Then some walkers came and scared him away.” The girl explained.

…

“The door was open.”

“He was dumb.”

 

The trio sat quietly for a few more moments before Rachel spoke again. “I like you, Lee. You’re like a dad to me.”

Lee smiled. “What was he like?”

Rachel sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him before, not like Ben. It’s always just been momma.”

“I’m sure he'd loved you all the same,”

Rachel nodded. “Maybe. But I met you first , so I like you better…” she yawned, finally drifting off to sleep along with Clementine.

 

* * *

Lee awoke with a start, a nightmare startling him out of his sleep. He looked down at the two peacefully sleeping girls on either side of him, as well as Duck, who remained in a blissful, undisturbed sleep. Carefully, Lee lifted them and arranged them on the couch, then quietly moved toward the front of the RV.  Up ahead of them was a derelict train laid bluntly across the railroad, blocking the other half of the path forward.

“Damn it. Road’s blocked. Now we gotta deal with this,” Kenny said, dejected.

 

---

 

As the RV came to a halt, the rest of the group stirred to life. The more able-bodied and motivated members began to climb out, including Lee, Ben, Kenny, and Travis. They approached the wreckage and surveyed it briefly.

“Is there any way to get around it?” Ben asked.

Kenny shook his head, “Doesn’t look like it. On foot, maybe. Can’t really afford to do that now.”

“Shit,” Travis sighed. “Anytime this RV stops it’s nothing good.”

“This seems like a safe area.” Lee noted, observing the thicket surrounding them. “All this brush will stop anything from creeping up on us.”

Clementine, Duck, and Rachel stepped out of the RV with their bags on, while Kenny helped Katjaa to a nearby tree stump.

“Why don’t you and I go look around, Lee?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, everyone else relax. Clem, Ray, stay close to the group, okay?”

Travis glanced at Katjaa. “Hey, do you think there’s any water in there? I think Katjaa needs it.”

“It’s a freighter, son,” Kenny reminded him. “Be careful.”

“What, you think there might be something dangerous inside an abandoned locomotive?” Lee asked sarcastically. “Hadn’t crossed my mind...”

 

Rachel scooted off the log and rummaged through her bag for a camera. “I’m going to take pictures of the train,” she muttered.

Kenny nodded. “Alright, just don’t go too far.”

“Can I come?!” Duck asked from beside Travis. Rachel quickly shook her head.

“I wanna do it alone this time.” Duck’s enthusiastic smile faded, and he sat back down with a huff. Rachel wandered off.

Duck stared at the back of her head until she vanished in front of the train. Then he turned to Clementine, who was preoccupied sorting through leaves on the ground. “Psst , Clementine. Is Rachel mad at us or something?”

Clementine shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Why?”

“I dunno. She looks kinda... sad?”

“Everyone is,” Clementine replied. She held up a leaf. “Maybe we can give her something for her book. Like a leaf?”

Duck grinned. “Yeah! I’ll collect all the best leaves out here!” He bent over and scooped up a handful of dirt, sticks, and leaves. Clementine grimaced slightly.

“I meant... the pretty ones.”

 

---

 

Lee stepped off the ladder beside Ben and joined the rest of the group. He noticed that the kids were gone, but everyone else was there.

“Where are the kids?” he asked Kenny.

Kenny pointed to the head of the train. “Over there. They wanted to collect leaves or something. Travis is keepin’ an eye on ‘em . Don’t worry.”

Lee’s worry eased, and he glanced at the RV behind him. “Have you heard anything from Doug?”

Kenny sighed. “Not a peep. Poor guy’s probably grieving. I know he was real fond of her.”

“Yeah, he was.”

“Shit . Fucking Lilly…” Kenny shook his head. “How’s that train coming on?”

“We’re still looking around and haven’t figured much out yet.” Lee replied.

“It’s fine. Radiator could use a rest as it is...” Kenny looked over at Katjaa, who was still slouched on the tree stump.

“How’s... Katjaa feeling?” Lee asked.

“Tired. Which could mean a lot of things.”

“Yeah, her body’s probably fighting whatever’s in it.”

Kenny nodded. “Exactly. I’ll keep everything tight out here while you go ahead and see what we can do about that train.”

 

---

Click

Rachel looked down at the Polaroid as it slowly developed. A spotted ladybug came into view, sitting on a leaf, carefree. For the past few days, she wished she was a ladybug too, or another cool beetle. And everyone else could be a bug with her. Walkers didn’t eat bugs, as far as she knew.

Nope. Just people. People and rabbits. Rachel quietly squeezed the stuffed rabbit that sat patiently on the ground.

Thankfully, Captain wasn’t a real rabbit.

“Hey, Ray, I found a bunch of leaves over there by the trees!” Duck’s voice called out.

“Okay,” Rachel replied. She pulled out the scrapbook she had been carrying with her for the past few months. Clementine sat by her, simply watching around them as Duck dug around in the dirt.

“Are you okay?” Clementine finally asked. Rachel shrugged. “... Are you sad about Carley?”

Rachel closed the book and toyed with the spine slightly before nodding.

“Me too. She was nice.”

“... I don’t like Lilly anymore,” Rachel muttered. “I mean, I thought I did. Because she was nice to me, and you, and she even helped Lee take care of me when I was sick. But... she shot Carley...”

Clementine nodded. “I know... because she thought she stole things from us...”

“But she didn’t.” Rachel frowned.

“I don’t think she did, either,” Clementine agreed, breaking a leaf apart between her fingers. “Who do you think did?”

Rachel shrugged. “I dunno. It wasn’t Carley, though...”

The two sat on the dirt in silence, the only sound around them the sound of Lee walking around the train and Duck pawing around in the muck. Rachel tucked her legs up a bit and looked at the ladybug now crawling on her rabbit.

“I’m mad too, I think...”

“Mad?”

Rachel nodded. “Because Carley’s gone, and the motor inn is gone. And now Katjaa’s been bit too, and w—”

* * *

“What...?”

 

The two looked over to the right and saw Duck standing nearby, a pile of sticks and leaves in his arms. The boy looked between the two, waiting for a response.

* * *

“W-What do you mean? Mom got bit? ” Duck asked. “Isn’t she just tired...?”

Clementine looked away from him sadly, while Rachel gave him a quiet apology as an answer. Duck stepped away before throwing his pile of debris back down and making a full sprint back to the group.

“I’m sorry...” Rachel muttered again.

 

---

 

Travis watched as Duck barreled past him and clambered over Kenny and Lee to reach Katjaa. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but the look on Kenny’s face and the way Lee was speaking to Duck told him everything he needed to know.

Travis quickly turned away, unable to bear the sight of Duck’s grief. He focused on the nearly barren trees around them, his mind racing. He knew that Katjaa had been bitten, and he had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to the infection.

He didn’t know exactly what happened to you when you were bitten, but he had seen and heard enough to know that it was a fate worse than regular death. Katjaa, who had always been so active and strived to keep up with the kids, was now being quickly reduced to a shell of her former self. She could barely move, speak, or even sit up straight on her own. Her skin was pale as paper, and she was so feverish that she burned to the touch. Nobody should have to watch their mom suffer like that.

Hell , nobody should have to suffer like that.

Travis concluded that whatever a bite did to you, one thing for certain was that it made you sick as a dog. And if you didn’t go ahead and kill yourself, the infection will do it for you. Then you’ll come back, as a walker. Unless someone went and put a bullet in your brain like Ben told them.

The teen sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. Travis knew that sooner or later, they would have to make a difficult decision: should they let Katjaa ride out the infection, or should they… end it for her?

He just hoped that she would somehow recover, that she would just bounce back, eventually. Hopefully.

He wasn’t optimistic.

 

 

Travis, Clementine, and Rachel rejoined the group at the clearing. Kenny told Travis that Lee had found a map of the freight train’s route in one of the boxcars. If they could get the train running, they could ride it straight down to the coast.

A small smile broke across Travis’ lips as he scanned the map. Maybe they could catch a break after all. Ride the train down to Savannah, pick up a boat, and sail out of Shit-Outta-Luck, Georgia, for good.

And as if God had decided to bless them one last time, the train beside them hissed to life, smoke and dust billowing from beneath its wheels. Kenny shot to his feet and smiled, before he and Travis rushed over to the cab.

 

“This fucker WORKS?!” Kenny asked, stepping through the doorway of the train cab.

“Looks like it,” Lee replied. Kenny sat down in the conductor’s seat.

“I’ll be damned...” Kenny took a quick look at the lights, meters, and cranks in front of him. “How the hell do we get it moving?”

“I don’t know,” Lee said. “Ask Mr. Amtrak over here.” He nodded to Ben, who was dragging a corpse (presumably the former conductor) out of the car.

Ben looked up. “No clue.”

“Well, let’s look around. Maybe it goes somewhere we’d like to be.” Kenny said as the teen reentered the cab. “Ben, if you could keep an eye on the girls and Duck, I’d appreciate it. Travis and I are going to make sense of these controls.”

Dejected, Ben went back outside.

“Oh, man, this is great! ” Travis grinned. “God, imagine if we actually get this thing moving . We could probably get out of Georgia on it.”

“That’s the plan,” Kenny confirmed.

Lee leaned against the dash, his brow furrowed. Travis glanced over at him.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Why the long face?”

“Been thinking… I don’t know about leaving Lilly back there,” Lee said. “Abandoning someone on the side of the road is the same as murder.”

“Well, what she did to Carley was the same as murder,” Travis replied with a shrug. “It’s fucked, but I don’t think letting her stay with us would’ve been the safe thing for anyone . Who knows how long it would’ve been before her next ‘interrogation’ ? Everyone getting bullied over a missing stick of gum or something… I don’t know, but I don’t want to end up with a bullet in my face.”

“I think she only saves those for anyone she thinks is guilty.”

“You think Carley was guilty of something?” Kenny asked.

Lee shook his head firmly. “No. I don’t.”

“Me neither,” Kenny said. “I wouldn’t worry about it. What’s done is done. We just would’ve had to deal with her eventually.”

“Maybe,” Lee said. He moved from the back of the dashboard and started to leave. Then he stopped and turned back. “Shit , this is it…!”

“What?” Travis asked.

“Instructions on how to start the engine,” Lee said. He looked at the notepad and saw that it was torn, right through the instructions. “Damn. The pages are gone. I can kinda see the indentations from the writing…”

“No luck?” Kenny asked from the front seat.

“Not yet. Do any of you have a pencil?” The two shook their heads. “I’m gonna go see if I can do something to make the instructions on the notepad legible. I’ll be back.”

 

---

 

Lee stepped into the dark RV and closed the door behind him. Doug sat at the back table, staring out the rear window. He didn’t acknowledge Lee’s presence.

 

* * *

“Hey, Doug.”

No response.

“Doug?”

“I’m fine,” Doug replied monotonously.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Doug didn’t look away from the window.

Lee frowned and took a seat across from him. “You know, it’s probably better if you come out there with everyone else. The RV is pretty dark, and it’s more ‘comforting’ outside than it looks.”

“I’m fine,” Doug repeated. “Besides, I heard you guys release the train brakes. I’ll come out when everyone’s ready to go. Sorry, Lee… I just want to be alone right now. I know it’ll probably be harder to do that on a boat or on a train, so I want to get it out of my system while I still can.”

Lee nodded in understanding.

“How’s Katjaa?”

“Truthfully? She’s not looking too good…” Lee replied.

“I figured. You know, I’ve been to Belgium before.”

“Belgium?”

“Yeah… It’s where Katjaa’s from. Home seems further and further away these days…” Doug said, finally looking over at Lee. “I just hope that we all get to see our families again someday.”

“Yeah,” Lee nodded. He didn’t like the melancholic tone radiating from the once (oddly) upbeat man. He had half expected Doug to spontaneously give him facts about RVs or… something .

Lee stood up and walked to the front of the RV. Inside the cup holder was a small, luckily sharpened pencil. He picked it up and held it out to Doug. “What can you tell me about this pencil?”

Doug glanced over and stared at the pencil in Lee’s palm before shrugging. “I don’t know. It’s been here for weeks.” He looked back out the window.

Lee looked at him, disappointed. He pocketed the pencil and left the RV.

 

“Perfect,” Lee said.

Kenny looked over at him. “Can you read it now?”

“Yeah, I should be able to follow the steps to start the engine.”

“Sounds good,”

Travis clasped his hands together. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Lee and Travis stepped over to the console and studied the instructions on the notepad. Even though the steps were labeled, they still looked a bit strange.

“Alright, let’s see,” Lee said as he looked over the steps for panel number six. “These two stay down, these ones go up, this one down, and this one up.” He flipped the switches in order. Once he flipped the last switch up, the rest of the lights on the console turned on.

“Son of a bitch!” Kenny grinned, “Whatever you did lit the dash up!”

“So far, so good.” Lee checked the notepad for the next set. “Alright Travis, you take this one. Number five, turn the first dial sideways and leave the second dial up.”

“Got it…!” The boy turned the first dial, and the red light beside it switched to green.

“Now we’re talkin’!” Kenny smiled.

Travis took a look at the notepad for the last set. “Alright, next is nine…” he looked over the dash for a few seconds. “Where’s… where’s number nine?”

“It’s not up here.” Lee pointed out. “Is it over there with you, Kenny?”

“No, not up here. Probably out back somewhere. You mess around in the engine compartment yet?”

“Hmm, I’ll go check it out,” Lee said as he stepped out of the cab. A minute later, the engine roared to life. Travis reached over the dashboard and high-fived Kenny before exiting the cab.

 

“Holy shit, we’re golden! ” Kenny cheered.

“Yeah, we are. Golden.” Lee agreed with a smile. “ Man , feels good.”

“In a minute, we’re gonna be barreling down the tracks at forty miles an hour!” Travis smirked.

“Let’s fucking enjoy this.” Kenny said. The three men stood around their handiwork, soaking in the morning air for a moment. This was good . “C’mon, let’s see if she’ll move.” He nudged Travis, and the two of them made their way back inside, with Lee following them.

 

Kenny scooted over in the conductor’s seat. “All yours, Lee.”

Lee pushed the throttle to the right, and the train slowly moved forward. The three men smiled briefly, but their smiles quickly faded as the train lurched forward and stopped. They could hear the sound of something metallic yanking as the train pulled back.

“Damn it,” Kenny said, running a hand along his face. “Of course we’re still attached. Can you go find out where we’re stuck and get us un stuck, Lee?”

“Yeah,” Lee replied, stepping out of the cab.

 

---

 

“Woah, so you’ve lived here this whole time?” Rachel asked the man.

“Yup,” he replied.

“Cool!” Duck beamed. “Annnnd the walkers don’t try to eat you?”

“Not really.”

“You’re lucky,” Ben said. “I guess it’s like Katjaa said before—all we’ve seen so far are walkers. And bandits.”

“Well, when they do come by, the dead, and there’s too many for me to handle… I just shut that there door and wait them out,” the man replied, pointing to the boxcar. As he did, they saw Lee walk out of the front cab and over to the car. “Well, now. Who’s that?”

“That’s Lee,” Clementine answered. “He’s nice. You should meet him. You’ll like him.”

The man placed his guitar against the log and stood up. “I think I will,” he said, walking over to the car as Lee disappeared from view.

 

---

 

A minute later, the man returned with Lee in tow. Clementine and Rachel looked over at Lee and jumped up, smiling.

“You met Chuck!” Clementine said excitedly.

“Yeah, I did.”

“He’s super nice. Did you know he lives in the train?” Rachel asked.

“I’m learning that now, I guess.”

“It’s so cool. Can we live in a train, too, Lee?” Duck asked, biting into a chocolate bar.

“And he gave us candy. Ben, too!” Clementine exclaimed. Ben looked up at the mention of his name and awkwardly darted his eyes around before turning away.

Lee turned back to Chuck, eyeing him suspiciously. “What’s your game, man?”

“Keepin’ alive.”

“That’s not bad.”

“I like it.”

“You met Kenny?”

“Not yet,” Chuck said as he sat back down on the log. “But it sounds like the man shares my love of the road.”

Lee scoffed. “That’s for certain.”

Katjaa coughed briefly from her seat on the stump. Duck looked over at her, concerned.

Chuck knelt beside the boy. “I’m awful sorry your mother’s not feeling good.” he said.

Duck nodded. “It’s okay. She’s gonna be fine ‘cause Dad said so.”

“Well, with a little TLC, I’m sure she’ll be fit as a fiddle in no time,” Chuck said, standing up. “And I can offer y’all whatever I got, although it ain’t much…”

Kenny and Travis rejoined the group from the front. Kenny opened his mouth to speak, but Katjaa’s hoarse voice cut him off.

“Thank you… we’ll do the same.”

“Why don’t we hold off on, uh …?”

“Stay with us, we’d… like… the company.”

Kenny looked over at Katjaa, who was already drifting back to silence. He knew there was no point in arguing, so he walked back to the end of the train. Chuck returned to his seat, picked up his guitar, and began to strum.

“Why are you alone?” Lee asked the old man.

“Why not?” Chuck shrugged without looking up. “Seem to be doin’ alright.”

Lee looked away. “Fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Chuck said. “I do like being around you all, actually. It’s nice.”

“You just caught us on a bad day,” Lee admitted.

“Eh, you still got a couple’a kids, and these one’s got good spirits.” Chuck nodded at the three youngest members. “That’s some kinda something.”

“Guess so,” Lee agreed. The children didn’t seem as downtrodden as the rest of them. Before heading over to Kenny, Lee paused to ask Ben, “How ya doing, Ben?”

“I’m watching the kids and not working on a mega-cool train. What do you think?” Ben grumbled.

“You didn’t miss much.”

“That’s not what Travis said…”

“Yeah, well...” Lee awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He had to admit, letting Travis work on the train with them and not Ben was a choice. But Travis watched the kids all the time, so he deserved a break every once in a while. It wasn’t a case of favoritism… this time.

 

“So that’s it? We’re cut loose?”

“Seems that way, yeah.”

“Great,” Kenny said with a smile. “We don’t got much left, so just gather whatever you have. Let’s go. Ben, go get Doug and tell him we’re rolling out.”

The rest of the group, including Chuck, gathered their things and headed to the boxcar. “Want a ride?” Kenny asked.

“Well, it sounds like you’re taking my home,” Chuck replied, with a hint of sarcasm.

“That’s a yes, then?”

“Haven’t found anything better for keeping the creepy-crawlies out than that boxcar.” The old man replied before hopping into the train.

Clementine and Rachel walked up to the car, quiet and subdued. After a moment, Clementine spoke. “Katjaa’s sick...”

“Get on the train, Clementine ,” Kenny glowered. The two girls complied. Lee shot Kenny a look as Travis returned with Katjaa, helping her walk to the train. Travis looked over at Kenny, nervous.

“She’s... she's getting worse,” Travis said. “I mean, she can barely walk now.”

“Let me look at her.” Kenny stepped over to them. When Katjaa craned her neck, he recoiled at how sickly and ghastly she looked.

“We can’t ignore this,” Lee stressed. “Look at her, Kenny. This is happening .”

“Ain’t shit happening. And if it were , what can we do here? We get on the train and we find something better . That is the plan.”

“Kenny, I think we should just talk this through and—”

“It’s TALKED THROUGH. Get her on, dammit.” Kenny snapped. “I’ll be up front. I don’t want to hear any nonsense until we get where we’re goin’.” He stormed off toward the front cab.

Travis looked over at Lee, worry etched on his face. With Lee’s help, they got Katjaa onto the train. Once everyone was seated in the boxcar, Lee made his way up front with Kenny.

Pushing the throttle on more time, the train hissed as it slowly began to move down the tracks.

Written by JunoBox

Illustrations by JunoBox

 

* * *

Everyone in the boxcar was silent as the train chugged along the tracks. Most of the group had chosen to sit away from Katjaa, who was now gray-faced. Only her son sat close to her.

She had gotten worse since the train started moving, and everyone could see it.

No one said a word.

“Got to be hard on ya, eh?” Chuck broke the silence. “Four adults taking care of five kids; no disrespect, boys.” He looked over at Ben and Travis, who both frowned and looked away.

“We’ll be fine,” Lee replied. “We’ve gone through just as much as anybody else.”

“These one’s are gonna grow up quick.”

“We already are,” Ben murmured.

“I don’t doubt it, son.”

Katjaa coughed again, this time worse than before. She coughed up blood, and Duck, spooked, scooted away. Travis cautiously moved over to Katjaa and picked up a rag lying next to her. He carefully dabbed away the blood from her face, then pulled back to look at the ugly red blotches that stained it. He showed the rag to Lee.

“Shit. Lee, it’s not getting any better. Katjaa’s out of here, man.”

Duck shook his head frantically before moving back over to his mother. Lee frowned and stepped closer to the boy.

“Duck,” Lee began. Duck didn’t look at him, but burrowed closer to his mother’s side. “We have to go and stop the train now… you understand why, right?”

“… Dad said mom is gonna be okay.”

“I know he did. But that was before… well, before we knew how bad it really was.” Lee said. “When you’re bit, you get sick. But you don’t feel better.”

Duck didn’t respond, but looked away from Lee. Travis looked at Katjaa, then at Lee.

“Go,” he said. “I’ll try and talk to him.”

Lee thanked him and exited the boxcar. Travis moved to sit closer to Duck. “Hey, Duck.”

Duck didn’t respond.

“I know this is scary as hell,” Travis said. “Things aren’t really going as planned, huh?”

Still no response.

“And I know Kenny told you that… that your mom would bounce back. But, Duck, that’s just… not happening.”

Duck sniffed, “Y…You don’t know that.”

“Duck—”

“Mom just needs medicine. Like… the kind I get when I’m sick. Ray got sick before, and nobody tried to get rid of her!”

“But Ray didn’t get bit.”

Duck persisted. “She’s just sick.”

When the boy turned away from him Travis sighed and backed away to join the other passengers. He didn’t know what to say to make Duck understand why they had to stop the train. But then again, how does someone tell a kid that his mom is dying and they have to pull over on the side of the road and put her down?

Clementine quietly moved from her corner and took Travis’ place beside Duck. “Katjaa’s sick,” she said quietly.

Duck looked at her briefly, then looked away.

“And, it’s not like a cold. There’s no medicine to help her,” Clementine continued. “I think if there was, there wouldn’t be so many walkers…”

Duck slowly pulled away from Katjaa’s hip and looked at Clementine. “Then… what can we do?”

Clementine looked down. “I don’t know. But Lee’s asking Kenny to stop the train so they can help her.”

Duck glanced at Katjaa’s face. She was gray, sunken, and sweaty. The more he looked at her, the more he realized that she wasn’t just simply sick. He couldn’t remember a time when he looked this miserable when he was sick. At least he could still stand on his own. But his mom couldn’t even do that. She didn’t even have the energy to sit up anymore.

Duck begun to understand why they were stopping the train. It all just meant that they were about to help his mother. Because she was getting too sick to travel. Sicker than he’d ever been. Sicker than anyone in their group ever was.

So if stopping the train to help her was their plan to make her feel better, then that was fine, right?

Duck knew that there might not be any medicine to help his mother, like Clementine had said. But she had also told him that his dad and Lee would do something to help her. Duck slowly retracted away from Katjaa as the train came to a slow, creeping halt.

 

---

The train stopped and Doug and Travis helped carry Katjaa to the entrance of the boxcar. Travis stepped out of the car and saw Kenny and Lee approaching from the front cab. Kenny reached out and felt Katjaa’s forehead. She was burning up.

“We’re so sorry, Kenny,” Doug said, speaking for the first time since they had left the railroad crossing.

Kenny looked away from Katjaa. “She’s been bit. In case you haven’t figured that out.” He glanced at their newest member, Chuck, who slowly nodded and sadly turned away with his arms crossed.

“Take as long as you need,” Lee told Kenny. Kenny looked at him sadly.

“There ain’t no time left to take,” He looked back at Katjaa. “What’re we gonna do?”

“Katjaa doesn’t deserve to turn into one of those things,” Doug said. “It’s not right…”

“But what if... what if she doesn’t?” Kenny asked.

“Ken, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now,” Lee said, putting his hand on Kenny’s shoulder. “But you know what’s gonna happen if we don’t deal with this now.”

“But—”

“No, Kenny.”

“There’s… come on, y’all.” Kenny looked at the three men. “Isn’t there some sort… some sort of pill, or something we can just give her so she can just drift off to sleep…? I mean, Jesus, this is my wife!”

“We know, Kenny. But you know what we gotta do. It's either here,” Lee pointing to his head. “Or else.”

“Well, fuck.” Kenny gripped his hat, “Just... who, then? Y'all want me to?”

“You don’t have to, it can be… one of us…” Travis offered.

“I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to…”

“Jesus, fuck, I can. I can do this—”

Lee spoke up, “I’ll do it.”

Kenny looked at him, “No, it should be me. She’s my wife…”

“A husband shouldn’t have to do something like this.” Lee replied.

“Lee’s right, Kenny.” Travis said quietly. “We can all say just our goodbyes and... let that be that…” He stepped aside, allowing Duck to get off the train. Kenny nodded quietly in agreement. He and Lee helped Katjaa to her feet and began to walk into the forest, followed closely by the rest of the group.

* * *

Duck pushed to the front of the group and walked beside Lee. “Where are we taking Mom?”

“We have to—” Lee started to say, but Kenny interrupted.

“Nothing, Duck. Don’t... Don’t worry ‘bout nothing. We’re gonna take care of her out there, is all.” Kenny stopped and looked over to the older members of the group. “Just stay back here with everyone else.”

Lee looked over at Kenny, shocked. That wasn’t what they had discussed. Everyone was supposed to go into the woods and say goodbye to Katjaa. Everyone.

Now, suddenly, Kenny was hiding the fact that Katjaa was about to die from his own son.

* * *

“Out there?” Duck asked confused. “What’s out there?”

“Kenny—”

Kenny said nothing as he continued into the woods with Katjaa. Lee glanced at the group again before following him.

 

---

Almost everyone at the train jumped at the gunshot. The crows nearby scattered from their branches as the echo rang out. The group stared into the brush as they saw Lee and Kenny emerge from the trees.

Solemn.

That was the easiest word to describe them.

Duck stepped forward from beside the girls and stared into the trees behind Lee and Kenny, searching. When he didn’t see what he was looking for, he turned to his father.

“Where’s Mom?” the boy asked. “Dad…?”

The group looked at each other, no one exactly having the heart to explain. Lee stepped over to Duck and kneeled to his level.

* * *

“We… had to go out there and make sure she didn’t suffer anymore,” Lee explained to the boy.

The look on Duck’s face shifted almost instantly from confusion to pure horror as his eyes darted to his father, who only looked away ashamed. Duck looked over to Lee, lost for words. Tears welled up in the child’s eyes and his shoulders began to shake. Duck took a deep breath and tried to compose himself, put on a brave face, but it was no use. The tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks in droves. He covered his face with his hands and sobbed.

Kenny tried to reach out to his son, to comfort him. But the boy shrugged him away, harshly.

“I thought you said she would get better! You said so!” Duck shouted, wiping his nose.

“Your dad was just trying to keep you safe,” Lee told him.

“B-But he lied…!”

“I know, and he should’ve been honest. But he only did it because no child should have to see something like that happen, especially to their own mom,” Lee explained. “He did it to protect you. I’m sorry.”

Duck wiped the tears from his eyes, before quietly returning to the train. Travis helped him onto the train as well as helping the other kids.

And no one else said a word.

---

 

“What are you thinking about?”

“What Chuck said.”

“What’d Chuck say?”

“That what happened today… would happen to us, too.”

 

Lee stomped through the train until he reached the front. There quietly stood Doug along with the homeless man, leaning on the rails, calm as he’d always been. Lee stood behind Chuck, arms crossed as he glared at the old man.

“Hey.”

“How ya doin’?” Chuck replied, nonchalantly.

“I don’t care what reasons you had for doing it, no reason to go and tell my girls they’re gonna end up dead!”

“‘Cause they will.” Chuck repeated back, clear as rain. “I don’t know much about you folks, but I can tell you, sure as the sun’s gon’ come up tomorrow, that y’all keep going on like this and them girls ain’t gonna make it. That boy in there’s gonna be right with ‘em if his old man keeps treating him like that.”

“What do you know?”

“I know that you don’t have a goddamn plan. We get to Savannah and then what?”

Lee thought to Kenny’s plan, the one he’d been pushing since they had met. Get to the coast and out the cities. “We find a boat,” Lee replied.

Chuck shook his head, disapprovingly. “You think that’s a new idea? You got even the foggiest idea ‘bout where you’re gonna find one of those? Look, sit down with the girls and hash it out. Find a map for Christ’s sake, I’d give you one if I had it. And if something were to happen to you—”

“It won’t.”

“If it WERE, you gotta prepare the girls. Teach ‘em to use a weapon, and for criminy, cut their  hair.”

Lee crossed his arms, “They’re just kids.”

“They’ll die ‘just kids’ if you treat them that way. You gotta consider them a living person. That’s it. You’re either living or you’re not. You ain’t little, you ain’t a girl, you ain’t a boy, you ain’t strong or smart. You’re alive. Look at their hair. You got ‘em running around with mops that’s gonna act like Velcro to any hands swingin’ their way. Find some scissors in my pack and take care of their hair before a walker does it for you. And then show ‘em how to use a gun, because like it or not, that’s what saves your life from here on out.”

Chuck told him how it was, straight and to the point. Lee stood on his words for a minute trying to take it all in. He started to understand that the old man was right, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Since day one their group had nothing but close calls, and too many of those revolved around the kids. At the rate they were all going, those kids were nothing but dependent on them for protection. And sometimes it felt like the kids couldn’t even do that.

They were losing people by the day at it felt like. Larry, Mark, Carley and Lilly. Now Katjaa’s gone. They have Doug, but he’s hardly one to pick up a gun himself. Ben is just learning how to hold a gun, and Travis is more of a babysitter than he is a fighter. And the two of them need almost as much protection as Clementine, Duck and Rachel. That just left Lee and Kenny, plus Chuck if decided to stick around.

“I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job, but too many people have died already...”

Lee nodded, “They have.”

“And seein’ another little girl die might just do me in.”

“I hear you. A plan, a haircut, and a gun. It’s good advice.”

“It’s something.”

 

---

Lee returned to the boxcar after his conversation with Chuck. He talked to Kenny, explaining Chuck’s concerns, but Kenny refused to expose Duck to a gun. He said he would always be with his son and would protect him himself.

Lee wasn’t convinced. He knew Kenny was mourning and not mentally up for much except getting to Savannah and finding a boat. But Chuck’s doubt about that plan lingered in Lee’s mind, and he too began to question the logistics of Kenny’s idea.

* * *

Duck had sat quietly beside Clementine and Rachel. Lee walked over to Chuck’s backpack, took out the loose scissors Chuck had mentioned, and sat down beside them.

“Hey, kids.”

“Did you talk to him?” Clementine asked.

Lee nodded. “I did, he had some, uh… he explained himself and made some good points. Look, we’re not going to let anything bad happen to you. But there are some precautions we have to take.”

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense,” Clementine agreed, and Rachel nodded along.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart.”

“What should we do?”

“Well, we’re gonna figure out a plan for when we get to Savannah, teach you three how to protect yourselves, and, uh, tidy you up a little so you can’t get grabbed so easily.”

Clementine smiled, “I’d like that.”

“Good.”

“What are we going to do first?” Rachel asked from between the other two.

Lee stood up. “You need to know how to protect yourselves.”

“Like hiding or running away? Got it.” The three nodded in agreement.

“I mean with one of these.” Lee pulled out a pistol. The kids stared at the gun, visibly uncomfortable. “First, don’t be afraid of it. It’s just a thing. Take it.” He cocked the gun and handed it to Clementine.

“But know where your finger is all the time. And don’t put it on the trigger unless you want to hurt somebody.”

Clementine nervously took the gun from Lee, holding it with both hands and weighing it up and down. “Okay. Okay...”

“See, it’s not scary.”

“It’s heavy.”

“You’ll get stronger. To aim, you look right down the top, through that notch. Line up the sight at the end with your target.” Lee instructed.

Clementine looked at him. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“I know these are just bottles, but you have to aim for the head.” Lee reminded them.

“I know. Only the head.”

“Unless it’s not a walker and it’s someone trying to hurt you.” Lee continued.

“Then what?” Duck asked.

“Head or body. Anywhere.” The children grimaced.

“I-I don’t want to think about that…” Clementine said.

“Me neither,”, “Y-Yeah…”

“You’re right. It might be a lot for your first day.” Lee apologized. “You ready?”

Reluctantly, Clementine sighed. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

 

Lee moved to the other side of the train and placed an empty bottle on top of a crate. Then he walked back to the three.

* * *

Clementine awkwardly raised the gun and leveled it at the bottle. “Good. Don’t lock your elbows.” Lee adjusted her arms. “Okay, let’s take the first shot. Squeeze the trigger smoothly and I’ll cover your ears. You two cover your ears. Nice and easy.”

“Nice and easy…”

 

BAM!

“Eep!”

The kids jumped and instinctively hid behind Lee when the bullet missed the bottle.

“You okay?” Lee asked.

“My hands hurt. I don’t like this,” Clementine complained.

“Let’s stick with it, okay?” Lee said.

“Do I have to?”

“Yeah, you do,” Lee covered her ears again. “Steady now... a little higher.”

 

BAM!

“Aim lower.”

 

BAM!

The glass bottle shattered.

 Clementine beamed, “I got it!”

“Excellent! Good shot!” Lee praised her, placing another bottle on the crate.

 

BAM!

“A bit to the right… keep it steady…”

 

BAM!

The glass shattered.

“Nice shot!” Lee said, setting up another bottle.

Clementine didn’t need Lee’s help the next time. She landed the next shot on her first try.

“I did it! I just pretended they were walker heads.” she said, smiling.

“Good, just like you should,” Lee said.

“They’re not walkers, though.”

“No, far from it. But you know how these things work now. We’ll graduate you to walkers one day.”

“Okay. I feel good,” Clementine said.

“Not so scary, huh?” Lee asked.

“Nuh-uh,” Clementine said, handing the gun back to Lee.

He turned to the next two kids in line. “Who’s next?”

Duck immediately shot his hand up excitedly. “Me! Me! I wanna go next!”

* * *

“Alright, alright,” Lee said. Duck took his spot where Clementine had stood. Lee handed him the gun and repeated exactly what he had told Clementine. “Don’t lock your elbows. Squeeze the trigger, steadily, okay? Don’t give it a quick yank or pull.”

“Got it,” Duck said.

“And quit standing like that.”

“But that’s how Batman holds it!”

…

“In The Dark Knight Returns.”

“Duck.”

“Sorry.”

Lee returned to the crate and placed another green bottle on top of it. Then he returned to Duck and covered his ears. “Alright. Elbows down. Take the first shot…”

 

BAM!

The bottle shattered.

“I did it, Lee!” Duck exclaimed.

“Yeah, good job, Duck!” Lee praised.

“And on my first try! Aw, man, I’m so awesome!” Duck boasted.

Two more bottles later, Duck had hit every single one. Lee had to admit, the boy had a damn good aim. Duck hopped over to Clementine, and Lee turned to give Rachel the gun next.

He whirled around, his eyes scanning the car. There she was, back pressed against the non-exit, eye glued on the passing trees.

“Ray? What are you doing?” he called out.

Rachel froze and turned to face him. “Um... I don’t... I don’t want to learn how to shoot. Sorry.”

Lee sighed. “You have to, Rachel. You kids need to know how to protect yourselves.”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?”

Lee nodded. “I will. But just in case I can’t, you’ll need to be able to protect yourself. And that means knowing how to use a gun.”

Rachel looked at the gun in his hand and backed away. “But it’s loud. And scary...”

“I know. But you’ll get used to it, I promise.”

Duck grinned. “I hit all the bottles! Clementine hit them, too.”

Clementine nodded. “Just pretend they’re walkers. It makes shooting them easier.”

Rachel pouted and looked to Lee for help.

“It’s okay,” he said gently. “Just try your best.”

Hesitantly, Rachel took the gun from his hand and walked back to the shooting gallery. Bottle readied, Lee covered her ears and gave her the same instructions he had given the others.

* * *

“Take a deep breath. Aim for the center of the bottle. And squeeze the trigger smoothly. When you’re ready to shoot, make sure you’re not breathing too hard, and then hold your breath right when you pull the trigger.”

“Um, like… when you’re underwater?”

“No, just for a quick second. I found that if I did that I was a lot more accurate. It’s tough, but it’ll help.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

Lee covered her ears, “Not too close to your face. Steady… Okay, aim a little bit more to the left.”

 

BAM!

“…I missed.”

“You’ll get it. A bit to the right, then up.”

 

BAM!

“Shoot.”

“You went down with it. Move it back up.”

Rachel huffed and stretched the gun out further.

“Steady…”

“I’m not good at this…”

 “Don’t worry, just keep it steady. Just aim it a bit more up and—”

 

BAM!

…

“I did it? I did it!”

“See? Told you you’d get it,” Lee said with a smile.

Rachel held the gun out to him. “It’s kinda heavy. Can I get a smaller one? And can I paint mine? I want a yellow one.”

Lee patted her head. “Let’s just try and get used to this one for now.” He put the gun away and turned to the girls.

“So, you girls are probably not gonna like this...” Lee sighed.

Clementine frowned, “Oh no, what happened?”

“Nothing. We have to talk about your hair. It’s not safe.”

…

Duck snorted.

* * *

“Hey…” Rachel pouted.

“That’s not nice.”

Lee tilted his head, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “What?”

“My hair’s not that bad…”

“Mine’s too. Are you saying it smells?”

“No.” Lee replied.

“Because it does, kinda…” Clementine muttered.

Lee shook his head, “Do you two remember when Andy St. John grabbed it? And I got mad?”

“Yeah…”, “It hurt.”

“Well, that could happen again,” Lee said gravely. “And if it’s a walker, well... we need to trim it.” He pulled out the scissors he had taken from Chuck’s bag. The girls exchanged a brief look of uncertainty.

“Just a trim... right?” Clementine asked hesitantly.

“I need to cut it short enough so that it can’t be grabbed,” Lee admitted truthfully.

The girls sighed. That’s what they had been afraid of. Guns were one thing, but shaving their heads was another.

Still, neither of them wanted to be grabbed again like they were a week ago. And especially not by walkers. Reluctantly, they caved.

“Okay...” Clementine sighed, voice heavy with disappointment.

“Mind if we do this now?” Lee asked gently.

“I guess not.”

“Don’t mope,” Lee said. “It’s a good thing.”

“Clem can go first,” Rachel said, scooting away with a shrug.

Clementine glared at her. “Why me?”

“‘Cause I don’t wanna.”

With a huff, Clementine removed her cap. “Do you know how to do this?” she asked Lee.

“How hard can it be?” Lee replied with a smile.

“I’m going to look like a boy...” Clementine moaned.

“But think how much safer you’ll be,” Lee said.

“I’d rather be dead.”

“Shush now.”

 

…

 

“So you did kill someone, before.”

“…Yep.”

“I’m glad you finally told us.”

Duck looked over, puzzled. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Lee killed someone.” Rachel told Duck.

The boy shrugged. “I thought everyone did. Um, before we left?”

Lee shook his head, “No, not the bandits. Before all of that. Before the plague.”

Duck nodded, slowly. “Oh. But, you’ve killed a lot of stuff now, so it’s fine.” The girls agreed.

“This is different.” Lee explained to them. “I was sent to jail, you know.”

“But I don’t think you would be now. Because you kill things to protect us.” Rachel added. “And only bad people go to jail.”

“No, not always.” Lee said.

“Oh, did people ever go to jail when they shouldn’t?” Clementine asked.

“All the time.” Lee replied truthfully. Pulled out of his thoughts, he finally stopped snipping at the girl’s hair. “Okay, I think I’m about done. I can probably tie these pieces back with something.”

Clementine handed Lee two hair ties. "Here, I have some hair thingies."

“You do?”

“Uh, yeah. Lilly gave them to me for sleeping.”

Lee tied the strands neatly with the two hair ties. “There. All set.”

Clementine reached back and felt around at her new hairstyle. “Does it look dumb?” she asked, pouting slightly.

Lee patted her on the head. “Ha, no. You look cute, and a lot harder to grab.” He handed her back her cap. One haircut down, one more to go.

Realizing it was now her turn on the proverbial “chopping block”, Rachel tried negotiating a hairstyle with Lee.

* * *

“Just... not too short,” she said. “I don’t want to look like Travis.”

Lee chuckled. “Alright. Not too short.”

Rachel took off her headband and anxiously waited. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Lee made the first snip.

“Y-You’re not cutting it bad, are you?” she asked.

“No, of course not,” Lee replied.

...

“I don’t think I believe you,” Rachel said.

“Good,” Lee replied.

“Good?”

“It means you know when someone is lying to you, which is another valuable survival skill.”

...

“Oh, jeez...”

 

A few snips later, and Lee had finally finished cutting both girls’ hair. Rachel reached up to touch her back, only to realize that her hair was no longer down there, and was now too short to lie flat. Cringing, she huffed in defeat.

“It’s not that bad,” Duck shrugged.

Clementine crossed her arms. “But you’re a boy.” He stuck his tongue out in response.

“I think it looks cute, though,” Lee said.

“…I don’t think my momma’s gonna like it,” Rachel groaned.

“My mom too...” Clementine muttered.

“I think they’d understand,” Lee said.

Rachel sighed. “Sure, I guess... momma’ll probably make me wear a hat for a while.”

“Oh... um...” Duck shuffled in his spot, clearly uncomfortable. “Can we talk about... can we talk about something else?”

Clementine noticed and apologized. “O-Oh, I’m sorry...”

“It’s okay...”

* * *

A quiet air hung around the four of them as they sat there, letting the train’s chugging fill in the gaps for conversation. Until a sniffle broke through the silence. Lee looked over at Duck, ready to comfort the boy, only to notice Duck looking over at Rachel, who had buried her face in her palms.

“Ray? Ray, hon, what’s wrong?”

* * *

“I’m sorry, I really am. I didn’t mean to lie, honest...” The girl hiccuped. “I was just scared, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

“Don’t apologize, Rachel. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“Y-Yeah...” Duck said. “I’m not mad...”

Finally, after a minute, Rachel pulled her hands away from her face and looked at him. Her eyes were irritated and her eyebrows were furrowed.

“It’s not that... it’s about what happened before.”

“‘What happened before’ what?”

“At the motel,” she said, lowering her head and whimpering. “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I was scared…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Lee reassured, moving back a bit and inviting the girl to come closer. She instantly wrapped herself around his neck, her tears soaking into his shirt. His hands gently cradled her head and back, tracing soothing patterns with his thumbs. He held her tightly, staying with her until her sobs finally subsided. Rachel eventually released her grip on Lee and pulled away from him, sniffling and wiping at her nose with her sleeve. Her eyes were red and puffy.

She rubbed the blurriness from her eyes. “I’m sorry...”

“You’re not in trouble, hon,” Lee assured her. “Tell me what happened. At the inn?”

The girl nodded slowly. “Okay... okay. Just don’t be mad...”