Neo Soul King Yhwach

[Third Person Pov.]

Yhwach's eyes narrowed as the tension in the bar grew thicker. He weighed his options swiftly—Blut Arterie or a reishi dagger would be enough to eliminate both Frank and Felix before they could react, but that would raise too many questions from Doug and Mark. It wasn't time to reveal his true nature or abilities. Revealing too much, too soon, could jeopardize everything.

His mind flickered to Hershel's advice, a warning that felt eerily relevant now. Trust was a precious thing in this world, one that could be spent or saved depending on how well it was managed. For now, maintaining his cover was paramount.

Hershel's words echoed in his mind: "You're gonna have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're gonna make it. And if those same people get to questioning yours, you're gonna be in trouble."

Yhwach exhaled slowly, feeling a surge of irritation rise within him. These fools were pushing him into a corner, but he needed to remain calm and calculated. He noticed Felix's hand inching closer to his pistol, and Yhwach knew he had to act quickly to prevent a full-blown firefight.

He sighed, letting his irritation show for a brief moment before masking it with a steely resolve. "Turn around and leave," Yhwach said, his voice low and commanding. "This doesn't have to end in violence."

Frank's eyes widened slightly, and he forced a chuckle. "Whoa, hold on. No need to get jumpy friend. We're just talking here."

But Yhwach wasn't buying it. Frank's hands were still dangerously close to his holster, and Felix looked like he was ready to make a move at any moment. Yhwach could sense the desperation in their eyes, and he knew that men like them were dangerous when cornered.

"We can't take you in," Yhwach stated flatly, his tone brooking no argument. "Our base is full, and we don't have the resources to spare. It's not personal, but we have to look after our own."

As Yhwach spoke, he subtly motioned to Mark, indicating that he should be ready. Mark, finally catching on to the gravity of the situation, quietly reached for his rifle. The shift in Mark's demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Frank and Felix, who exchanged a glance, their earlier bravado slipping away.

Now, it was a standoff—a 2v2 with everyone on edge. Yhwach's mind raced, calculating every possible outcome. Will they blink first? he wondered, his grip tightening on his pistol.

Frank hesitated, his bravado faltering as he realized the gravity of the situation. He glanced at Felix, who seemed to be waiting for some kind of signal. The tension was palpable, each side waiting for the other to make the first move.

Finally, Frank took a step back, raising his hands slightly in a gesture of peace. "Alright, alright," he said, trying to sound casual. "We'll be on our way then. No need to make this more complicated than it needs to be."

Yhwach didn't relax, keeping his eyes locked on Frank and Felix as they slowly backed away toward the door. "A wise choice," Yhwach said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Now leave."

As Frank and Felix made their way out of the bar, Yhwach didn't lower his guard until he was sure they were gone. Only then did he allow himself to breathe a little easier, Mark and Doug exchanged glances, the weight of what had almost happened sinking in.

"Thanks, 'Jugram,'" Mark said, his voice slightly shaky. "That could've gone south real quick."

Yhwach turned sharply toward Mark, his eyes narrowing with a mixture of irritation and cold disapproval. His voice, low and controlled, carried the weight of his displeasure. "Mark, why did you mention our group? We can't afford to be careless with information. You have no idea what those men might do with it."

Mark flinched under the intensity of Yhwach's gaze, realizing the gravity of his mistake. "Sorry… it just popped out," Mark stammered, his voice filled with regret. "I thought we were being friendly with them. We accepted the drink and everything."

Yhwach's glare remained fixed on Mark, his expression hard as stone. "This isn't a world where we can afford to be friendly with strangers. Especially not ones who pry for information. A single slip of the tongue can endanger everyone back at the motor inn. You have to be more careful."

Mark nodded, swallowing hard as the weight of his error sank in. "I won't let it happen again," he muttered, his voice barely audible.

Yhwach didn't respond immediately; his eyes were still locked on Mark as if searching for any sign of weakness. Finally, he spoke, "Let's make sure they're actually gone. We can't afford to leave anything to chance."

Without another word, Yhwach turned around and walked slowly toward the entrance of the bar. His every step was deliberate, his senses on high alert as he approached the door. The tension in the air was still thick, the possibility of an ambush lingering in the back of his mind.

Doug, who had been silent throughout the exchange, finally spoke up, his voice cautious. "Do you think they'll come back?"

Yhwach paused at the door, his hand resting on the handle. "They might. Men like them don't give up easily when they smell an opportunity." He pushed the door open just enough to peer outside, scanning the empty street for any sign of movement.

The street was empty; there were no signs of Frank or Felix. He turned back to Mark and Doug. "They're gone. For now."

Doug exhaled, his tension easing slightly. "I guess they were telling the truth. They hightailed it out of here. We should probably do the same. Was there anything in this bar that they didn't take?"

Mark glanced around the bar's interior. "No, there doesn't seem to be any guns. Just bottles of Jack Daniels and other alcohol."

Yhwach nodded, his expression hardening. "Alright, we got what we came for. Let's get out of here before we run into more company."

The trio moved quickly to the truck, Yhwach's eyes constantly scanning the surroundings for any signs of pursuit. The once comforting silence of the town now felt oppressive, as if something—or someone—was watching them.

It feels like we're being watched. Yhwach thought, a grim realization settling over him. He climbed into the driver's seat, Mark took the passenger seat, and Doug squeezed into the back. As Yhwach started the engine and pulled away from the bar, he kept his focus sharp, checking the rearview mirror for any sign of follow-up.

Doug, his gaze fixed on the rearview mirror, glanced back with a concerned expression. "Do you see something?" Yhwach asked, his voice tense.

"No, I'm just making sure we're not being tailed," Doug replied. "I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of those guys."

Mark, trying to inject some optimism into the situation, said, "We'll be prepared this time. Let's just get to Hershel's farm."

As they drove away, they failed to notice a man on top of a building near the edge of the town. He peered through his binoculars at the direction that Yhwach's car had gone.

"Yo, RC. You got something?" asked another man.

"Yeah, they're heading west from here. I think there are a bunch of farms or something in that area. It was mostly countryside, so I don't see why else they would go that way. We tried to see if the area was suitable to live in, but half of the farms were pretty much destroyed, so Frank told us not to worry about it, remember?" asked RC.

"Yeah, we probably should have checked the rest of them, but it was getting late. You want to tell Frank, Felix, and DD about their location?" asked the man.

"You bet, Gerald. Let's get down there."

The two men traversed down the building before heading the opposite way past the bar. They met up with Frank, Felix, and Double R who were in two beat-up trucks.

"Did you see where they were going?" asked Frank.

"Out west towards those farms we looked at earlier," confirmed RC.

"Good. Remember that we need all the supplies we can get. If they're not going to let us in voluntarily, we'll just take what we need by force. Now, let's follow them and see what Old McDonald's got cooking up for us." stated Frank.

[Scene Break Location: St. John's Family Dairy]

"Here it is. St John's family dairy," stated Andy proudly. "Y'all can see how we've kept this place so safe."

Lilly took a quick look around. The electric fence spanned the entire width of the farmland surrounding the main house. She guessed that's where the St. John Family lived.

The place looked almost idyllic in nature. Even she had to admit that the view was breathtaking. There were no signs of walkers and the farmland looked relatively untouched. You would be forgiven for thinking the world was normal if you stumbled on this place.

It looks like they're telling the truth from the outside. But there's always a rotten core underneath. Lilly thought.

"This is a nice setup you guys have here. But is it enough to keep the walkers out?" questioned Lilly.

"It's safer here than out there," replied Andy. "We're pushing 4,000 volts through that thing with generators and amps."

"Oh, wow, you guys must know a thing or two about running wire," exclaimed Travis.

"Had a guy who did, yeah," said Danny.

"This place looks amazing. It's definitely better than the shitty motor inn we're in right now," said Kenny.

"It's worth protecting, hence all the juice." smiled Andy.

Wow, Kenny. I wonder how you feel about the Motor Inn. You haven't made your feelings very clear.

"I thought I saw y'all with company comin' down the drive!" stated a voice. Lilly turned and saw an older woman coming down the driveway. She had auburn hair and a huge smile on her face. Her outfit was pretty plain with a red top and gray pants. In her right hand was a basket.

"Guys, this is our mama!" introduced Andy.

"I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John Dairy." greeted Brenda. Lilly could feel the comforting aura radiate off Brenda. She reminded her of what her mom used to be like when greeting new folks. It was a stark contrast to her dad who was usually gruff and short with people he didn't trust, which included anyone that wasn't his immediate family.

Are people genuinely this nice? After everything that has happened? If they've heard about the bandits, they can't just be bringing new people to their base like this unless they were incredibly naïve.

From what she had seen, the brothers seemed like they had a good handle on things. Maybe they were the ones to go out and do the heavy lifting, while their mother stayed and took care of the household. Some things just stayed the same no matter what the state of the world was.

"This is Lilly. Her group is staying at the old motel 'round the way," said Andy.

"Oh my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable. Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?" asked Brenda in a worried tone.

"Yeah, that's me. I've taken the liberty of setting up training missions for most people in our group, so they can learn how to shoot. We've also built a wall to make it easier to defend our homes. Trust me, we're well equipped to deal with any threats." stated Lilly. She looked at the two brothers as she made that last statement, trying to gauge how they felt. Danny seemed like he didn't really care, while Andy looked a bit impressed.

Maybe they're not assholes like the bandits. However, if they try to stiff us on this trade or fuck us over in any other way, we'll be prepared to retaliate.

"Well, that's good to hear. That motel ain't the safest place. Now that y'all are here, we'll make sure you're safe and comfortable." replied Brenda.

"Thanks for having us. We brought you some gasoline in exchange for the food that was promised to us," said Kenny.

"We're starved!" added Travis.

"These are for y'all! Baked fresh this morning!" stated Brenda, as she revealed the contents of the basket to be full of bread. Lilly's mouth watered at the sight. Seeing something as normal as baked goods just made her feel like she entered heaven.

I'm salivating over bread. Fucking bread. Even after the food that I already had.

"Holy moly!" Travis cried out. He started reaching for one of the bread pieces before Lilly slapped his hand away.

"Travis, wait until we share this food with the rest of the group." chastised Lilly.

"Sorry, I was just really hungry," mumbled Travis.

"How did you get the bread that fresh? You run a factory in there or something?" asked Kenny.

"No, we have a cow. Her name is Maybelle. Although, she's been having a lot of trouble lately." revealed Danny.

"None of us really know what's wrong with her. Hopefully, Maybelle gets through this bout of whatever she's got and be with us for a good long while," stated Brenda. Lilly saw Kenny start to open his mouth and she knew what he was about to say before he even spoke.

Don't. Don't. DON'T.

"My wife is a vet. She could come take a look at your cow if you need it. I mean, we should help each other out if we want to be friends, right?" asked Kenny.

I swear to god that I'm going to strangle that motherfucker someday. Why would he reveal such a valuable asset of our group just like that? Even if it's for a good cause, we still barely know these people.

"Of course! I can't believe you found a group that had a vet, boys. I'm sure that someone is still answering our prayers!" said Brenda excitedly. "How about this? Y'all go get your veterinary friend and I'll prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls."

Man, I just wanted to get the food and leave. Now, it's looking like we're going to have to socialize with these people for the rest of the day.

"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?" asked Brenda. She and Danny left to go to the house, while Travis spoke up.

"Someone should probably go and round everyone up for the trip back here. 2 teams of 2 would make sense in case we run into any trouble in the woods."

"Sounds smart, Travis. Now let me think," said Lilly.

The St. Johns seem good on their word. After all, they gave us food and have been pretty welcoming to us so far. I can't say that I would do the same. But everyone knows the saying "It sounds too good to be true" is usually right. Maybe I should stay here, so I can learn more about them. Travis seems good with socializing, Kenny has his head so far up his ass that he'll probably assume these guys are squeaky clean, and the kid, Ben, is a fucking nervous wreck. Honestly, I forgot he was even here considering he hasn't said a word. To be fair, he barely knows us more than the St. Johns. I want to gather as much information as I can, but do I trust someone else to do it?

If I left with the food, I would pretty much be running away from my primary goal. Kenny would have a field day with my actions, and my leadership would not look as strong. I can't just run away from the dairy. I said I was the leader of this group. Don't I mean it? Is running away what a LEADER does?

There's also the fact that we have to deal with those bandits in the woods. There is a chance that we could be caught unaware by them. It would make sense to at least send someone back who is adept at shooting to protect the food we just got. Sending Travis or Ben back might also be for the best. I have the feeling that if I ask the kid to do anything harder than rounding people up, he might piss his pants out of fright. Even if he gets killed by the bandits, it's better than one of our group members dying.

There are so many angles I can take with this. I just hope I'll make the right choice.

"Alright, I'll go back to the Motor Inn with the food. Ben, you're coming with me," ordered Lilly.

"O-okay." stuttered Ben.

"So, the fearless leader is heading home, huh?" chuckled Kenny.

"Yeah. I want to make sure everyone else is okay. We've been here long enough. Besides, I'm sure you can handle yourself over here, right?" retorted Lilly.

Kenny just stared at Lilly but opted not to say anything. Travis decided to cut the thickening tension.

"Wait. Kenny, you should give your rifle to Ben. He doesn't have anything to protect himself with." said Travis.

"Ain't that why Lilly is going with him?" questioned Kenny.

"Kenny, you still have your pistol on you, right? Surely a man of your caliber doesn't feel dangerous at a place like this?" challenged Lilly.

"This place is pretty safe. The bandits usually don't come around these parts anyway, so you and your friend should be okay here," replied Andy.

"Tch, fine," muttered Kenny as he handed his rifle over to Ben.

"We'll see you later," said Lilly as she and Ben walked off the farm back into the woods.

The woods still had an autumn glow about them. A sign that the seasons were changing. That brought so many questions that Lilly couldn't even begin to unpack.

How much food are we going to get from Hershel's? Where else can we look that isn't Macon? How will the weather affect our hunting? What happens when we clear out the pharmacy entirely?

So many questions and not enough answers. Well, being a good leader just meant that she would have to provide those answers. The one thing that she knew in her heart to be true was that the motor inn would work. Shelter was the one thing they were lucky to have. If they hadn't got lucky, they could have been living in the woods like animals.

Kenny doesn't see any of that. He only cares about what there is that he could gain rather than all the things he could lose. And he WILL lose his family if he goes off chasing a pipe dream.

Speaking of problems, there was another problem that she had to address. Ben seemed incredibly nervous and he was cradling the rifle almost like he was afraid it would break if he dropped it. He was not the best companion to have on this journey, but Lilly didn't really trust him back at the farm.

"So, uh, w-what do we do if we see someone?" asked Ben.

"We figure out whether they're friendly or not. If they aren't, then we shoot them if we need to. We know what the bandits are like, and I'm not about to waste any time trying to become friends with them." answered Lilly.

"Right, shoot them," muttered Ben uneasily.

"You have a problem with that?" demanded Lilly.

"Uh, n-no..it's just that...I..." stuttered Ben.

The way he's handling a gun and his nervous attitude towards seeing others. It can't be?

"Ben, have you ever shot a gun before?" asked Lilly.

".....No?" asked Ben.

Jesus fucking Christ.

"No? What do you mean, no?" asked Lilly.

"Well, I shot Travis with a BB gun in the eye once. He didn't like that, but the video went viral on Newgrounds. I honestly wasn't trying to land there, but…"

"Ben! That doesn't answer the fucking question! You haven't shot a real gun before? You took a rifle from a man and neglected to mention that you didn't know how to shoot?" questioned Lilly.

"Ah, yeah. I guess I did." gulped Ben with a nervous chuckle.

I should have sent his ass back with Kenny.

"Just let me do the talking. I don't need them to realize that you don't even know how to use your only weapon," ordered Lilly.

"Sure," said Ben. It was quiet once more. Lilly was constantly looking at the nearby woods. The breeze was slight, but it rustled the bushes a little bit. That made Lilly uneasy.

I'm waiting for the bandits to just pop out and rob us of everything we have. Staying on my guard won't be enough to stop us at that point.

"Do you think the bandits are out here?" asked Ben.

"They could be anywhere. Shut your mouth. You're giving our position away." replied Lilly.

"Sorry," whispered Ben.

Since when did this moron become such a chatterbox?

Just then, a sound emanated…from Ben's stomach. He was clearly hungry and looked sheepishly at Lilly who eyed him with disdain. Ben didn't focus on her, but on the box of bread that Lilly had in her hands.

"Uhm, Lilly. Could…could I have just like half a piece of bread or something? I haven't eaten in a full day." pleaded Ben.

"This bread is for the group. We're taking it back first before anyone gets anything," replied Lilly.

"Can I just eat my share now, then?" asked Ben.

"Who said you were a part of our group? Who said you get to eat anything?" challenged Lilly as she stared straight at Ben. Intimidated, Ben dropped his gaze and mumbled an apology. As they kept walking, Lilly started to feel a little weird about what she had just said.

Don't you have a heart? This kid is helping you bring back the food after all. The least you can do is give him something to eat.

....

He's not helping with shit. He doesn't even know how to shoot a gun. I'm the one doing all the work.

....

He already had rations. Plus, it doesn't matter. They're not full members of our group until I say so.

....

Lee already brought them back here. Whether you like it or not, they're considered members of our group by virtually everyone. You're the only one being stubborn about this, Lilly. It wouldn't reflect well on our leadership if you denied food to a starving teenager. What if someone made a power play?

....

You're right. It wouldn't look good.

"Here. Since you didn't eat today, you can take one. But only ONE. Understand?" clarified Lilly.

"Got it. Thank you," said Ben as he greedily snatched a piece of bread and started eating. Lilly looked at the basket. The energy bar that she had earlier was barely enough to sustain her, and the bread was hungrily calling her name. The fluffiness of the exterior, the golden-brown crust, the rich smell. 

It was all becoming too much. Looking at the basket, there seemed to be enough for everyone who didn't eat, so Lilly figured she would help herself. She took one piece of bread out and started digging in. Ben looked at her in shock.

"Uh, aren't we saving those for the rest of the group?" questioned Ben. Lilly glared at Ben in response.

"Well, we're the ones bringing this food back, so we should get a taste of the spoils. Unless you tell someone that we ate this, in which case, you and your friend won't be getting shit." threatened Lilly.

Ben got the hint and decided to stay silent. The two of them kept munching on their food while keeping an eye out for any strangers that came their way.

"Well actually, I have to ask. Does this make us...part of your group?" asked Ben.

Well, I did promise Lee I would give them a chance. And they haven't done anything to fuck us over so far. Plus, I'm feeling generous right now.

"For now it does. You still have to do your part like everyone else," said Lilly.

Ben looked eternally grateful. "Oh, thank you, Lilly. I promise I'll do whatever it takes! I'll pull watch shifts, take out the trash, do your laundry, shine your shoes, clean-"

"Okay, calm down. How about you learn how to shoot a gun first?" asked Lilly.

The thought of Ben handling my panties makes me want to throw up.

"Oh, okay. That would be nice," said Ben.

"I'm going to put you all on the training program that we have in place. All of our members know how to shoot a gun, so you better start showing competency real soon," responded Lilly.

This is a good idea, Lilly. If you want to strengthen your leadership, you're going to need allies. Making the teenagers indebted to you is a good start. After how you treated them, it will be a struggle, but it will be worth it. Besides, teenagers are easily manipulated anyway.

While Lilly and Ben were occupied, they unintentionally kept eating more of the food. Brenda St. John was a very good baker because the bread was just too good to keep their hands off of. Surprisingly, there seemed to be no bandits in the area. Maybe today was their lucky day.

"Uh, Lilly?" asked Ben. He gestured towards the basket and Lilly noticed that more than half of the bread pieces were gone.

"Fuck. We ate a lot, didn't we?"

"Yeah. I think so," replied Ben.

"Well, someone's got to defend the motor inn. I guess we're staying behind," stated Lilly.

[Scene Break Location: The Motor Inn]

"Hey, look!" exclaimed Carley. Lee saw Lilly and Ben coming back from the farm. Lilly was carrying a rifle while Ben was holding a basket.

"Ben's got food!" said Clementine. Carley's mouth watered at the taste of food. She pushed her way to the front next to Ben and Lilly to get a look at what was inside the basket. Nearby, she noticed Katjaa was already marveling at what was inside. Her heart stopped when she saw pieces of bread inside the basket.

Oh my god, that looks delicious. Carley thought.

"Alright! Everyone settle down!" boomed Lilly. The entire group hushed down.

"Where's Kenny and Travis?" asked Katjaa.

"They stayed back at the dairy. Kenny wanted to check out their dairy and I left Travis there with him, so he didn't have to stay alone," explained Lilly.

"So, are these guys legit?" asked Lee.

"Oh, they're more than legit. Their dairy looks like something from the old world. They have a lot of dairy products still. They have a farm that helps supplement their diet. They even have a cow that's still alive. Although, it's sick with something." replied Lilly.

"I could go over there and take a look at it. It's the least we can do for having them give us food," said Katjaa.

"That's what I wanted to talk about. In exchange for Katjaa checking out their cow, they've offered to feed our entire group dinner," said Lilly.

"Dinner for a whole group? Are they really up for it?" questioned Carley.

"They have a lot of food, so it won't be an issue for them," answered Lilly.

"What about the bread in the basket? Are we dividing that among the people who didn't eat?" asked Carley.

"That would be the fairest way to do things." agreed Lee.

"We will do that. However, that brings me to my next piece of news. Ben and I will not be going on the trip to the dairy with the rest of you." stated Lilly.

"What? Why not?" asked Larry.

"Someone has to guard the motor inn while everyone else is gone. We don't want our place to get raided by bandits, do we?" Lilly replied to her father.

"Bandits?" asked Carley.

"Yeah, we ran into a couple of bandits while we were heading to their dairy. We were able to observe them from afar, but they aren't the friendly type. They're also somewhat close to our location, which means they could find us at any moment. We need to make sure that we don't get caught with our pants down." said Lilly.

"So, why don't I stay here and help guard this place? 2 people surely can't be enough." volunteered Lee.

"No. Lee, you haven't had a meal, and…Ben and I already ate some of the food on the way back here. I don't think either of us is hungry," explained Lilly.

"Yeah, I'm full." agreed Ben.

"We're wasting time. Just give us the rest of the bread, and we'll be good to go," growled Larry.

Lilly started handing out the rest of the food. Carley took one piece of bread and split it with Lee. As she put a piece into her mouth, her tastebuds sang like they were part of a choir. She felt like passing out at the warm, tingling feeling she was getting. With each chew, she got softness, richness, and kindness all at once. All packed into a little piece of bread.

If this is a taste of things to come, this might be one of the best dinners of my life. Carley thought.

[Scene Break Location: St. John's Family Dairy]

Kenny watched in satisfaction as Lilly left the farm. For all her talk of being a leader, she didn't seem to want to be present when it actually mattered.

Thinking she can dictate everyone's lives and take all the spoils. I don't fucking think so. Kenny thought.

Lilly might have seen doom and gloom by coming here, but Kenny didn't expect anything less from her. He saw hope and safety. He saw a place where his son could run around, his wife could walk around, and he could look around and feel content. He saw an opportunity.

Might have to put that coast plan on hold if this works out the way I want it to.

"Kenny, Travis. Once you two get settled down, I could use your help with something if you're up to it. Of course, you don't have to, but it would be a big help." smiled Andy.

"Of course. It's the least we can do considering your hospitality," answered Travis.

"Yeah, we're your guys. You need to get this place in tip-top shape, just ask us." agreed Kenny.

"Well, that's really appreciated. I could actually use some help securing the perimeter of this place. 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 two could walk the perimeter. I'll gonna go turn off the generators before they run dry. Come find me when you're ready." explained Andy. 

Kenny looked around at the surrounding scenery. The sun was starting to set, but it still rose high above the survivors. Kenny couldn't really describe the scene in front of him, but the landscape just looked beautiful. Simply beautiful.

And Lilly still thinks that Rundown Motor Inn is a better place to hole up. This is where we can actually build a life for ourselves.

Helping these people with whatever they needed was the first part of his plan. Somehow, he had to convince the St. Johns to let the group stay on their farm. If they combined the manpower of their group with the setting of this dairy, they could live and prosper for a long time.

If we can't convince the St. Johns to let us stay, we still have enough firepower to take this place over if we have to.

It was a thought that should have bothered Kenny but was one that he instead relished. He would do whatever he needed to in order to protect his family. He preferred not to have to resort to threats, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.

That's another reason I'm glad Lilly's gone. I can interact with these people without her badmouthing me. Kenny, you've really outdone yourself this time.

Before he went over to Andy, he decided to head over to the house to see if Brenda and Danny needed any help. While he was here, he might as well ingratiate himself with the entire family. It would make his plan easier.

On his way over, he noticed that there was a broken swing.

When was the last time my son got to play on a swing? I should ask about fixing that up when I get the opportunity.

Kenny knocked on the door and Brenda answered it after a couple of seconds.

"Hi there, Kenny! What can I do for ya, sweetie?" asked Brenda.

"Can I help you with anything around the house?" asked Kenny.

"I think with Danny's help I've got things pretty well squared away in the kitchen, but feel free to check with Andy. He's got a lot of weight on his shoulders, so I'm sure he'd love any help he can get," said Brenda.

"I'll make sure to follow up with him. I appreciate the effort you're making to take in our entire group for the night. If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask." said Kenny.

"Oh, Kenny. Your presence has helped us enough. We were wondering what would happen if we ran out of gas. Now, we don't have to worry anymore. You don't know how much you've helped us. I can't ask anything more of you than I already have." smiled Brenda.

"I understand, Brenda. I'll leave you to it," said Kenny. He walked down the steps and went over to Travis and Andy.

"Andy. I'm ready to go clear the fence with Travis," stated Kenny.

"Oh, good. The fence'll stop a walker in about three or four seconds, but gets overloaded if we leave the husks out there," explained Andy.

"If you want to stay here with the generators, The kid and I can clear the fence ourselves." offered Kenny.

Andy smiled at Kenny's generosity. "Well, that'd be great! I'll turn off the northwest section, and if you guys could strip 'em off and look for any weak points, that'd be a big help."

"Should be easy enough. We'll take care of it, no problem," replied Kenny.

"Stay attentive. You never know what could happen," warned Andy.

"As long as the fence stays off, there shouldn't be any accidents, right?" questioned Kenny.

"Yeah, but I haven't checked the area for any dead ones. So…there could be a couple there if they were attracted to the noise and all…" explained Andy.

"Don't worry. Kenny knows what he's doing." supported Travis.

"If you're confident, then go ahead. Thanks," replied Andy. Kenny and Travis started walking towards the northwest section of the farm. Kenny was just smiling to himself at how his genius plan seemed to be working.

These people have no idea what's going on either.

"So, what do you think about this place?" asked Kenny.

"The change of scenery is nice. For a couple of guys who don't know much about electricity, they really know how to run a fence. Mr. Parker always said Knowledge is wealth and I can't wait to tell Ben about this." replied Travis.

Kenny ignored what Travis said as he saw the burnt husk of a walker with an arrow stuck in its neck. A crow was eating little chunks out of the walker before it flew away upon the men's arrival. He had to admit that the scene was a bit disgusting.

"Let's just get this thing off. How do we know that the fences are turned off?" questioned Kenny.

"See that switch?" replied Travis. Kenny saw a light switch that was turned off on a wooden post next to the fence. "That light is currently turned off which means this section of the fence is turned off. If the light turns on, then the fence turns on."

"That seems really obvious now that I think about it," muttered Kenny. He took a look at the arrow and pulled it out of the walker's skull. The edge seemed to be sharpened a little, which probably made it easier for whoever shot the arrow to punish their target. Once the arrow was gone, Kenny kicked the walker backward and it fell to the ground.

That wasn't so hard. Kenny thought.

"I think I see another one over there." Travis pointed out. They kept walking towards the next body before Travis continued to speak.

"What do you think about the brothers? I think they have a good head on their shoulders, but I wanted to get your thoughts." Travis asked.

"I think they're helpful. They know what they're doing and that's a rarity today. Just look at the kids we brought back. They were scared shitless. We need to keep our relationship up with them. Maybe we could even stay here for more than just a day." replied Kenny.

"You think they'll let us?" asked Travis.

"They will once they see what we're capable of," answered Kenny.

They'll let us in one way or the other.

Once Kenny and Travis got closer to the second walker, Kenny immediately noticed that the walker's hands were fused on the fence.

"How the fuck does that work?" asked Kenny.

"Uhhh, probably because the voltage of the electricity must have been so high that at the moment, the walker touched the fence, its hands fused together," explained Travis.

"Let's get it out of this position," responded Kenny. He didn't have a sharp enough object on him, but the arrow he just picked up could prove useful. The tendons inside the hand were pretty severed, so he just had to angle the arrow until he could sever the hands.

Kenny grunted as he severed off the right hand with the blade as well as the left hand. As he nailed the final stretch of the left hand, the arrow snapped in two and broke along with the walker's body. Both the remnants of the arrow and the walker fell to the ground.

"I guess that's one way to do it," said Travis.

Kenny just shook his head in annoyance before he kept walking down the property. This was starting to become a bit bothersome, but he needed to put up with it in order to gain the St. John's trust.

Next time, I'm making Lilly do this shit. Kenny thought.

"I think I see where they're getting in. This one must have knocked it over trying to get through." Travis said. The two of them were currently looking at a walker who was tangled in the fence. As a result, the structure had leaned in, so that the fence was bent at an angle rather than upright.

"Come on. We'd get better leverage from the other side." said Travis. He jumped over the fence and Kenny followed. The two of them heaved until the fence was finally back in its proper position.

"Alright, now let's-"

Before Kenny could finish speaking, he heard a crackle and the sound of something sizzling. Alarmed, he backed away from the fence as it turned back on. The walker started to fry, but it was long dead.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" asked Kenny.

"Yeah. The fences are on." Travis confirmed. "But why would he do that? He knows we're out here."

Before Kenny could reply, Travis cried out in pain as an arrow hit his shoulder. Kenny jumped to the side as another arrow landed near him.

"I told you what would happen, you son of a bitch!" yelled someone. Their voice seemed gruff and antagonistic, so Kenny knew these guys weren't looking to make friends. As if the constant arrows in their direction weren't enough.

"Over here!" yelled Kenny as he hid behind the tractor. Travis followed him while clutching his shoulder. The arrow was still embedded inside him, but Kenny didn't have the time to dwell on that. Right now, he had to focus on getting the pair of them out of there.

"Do you think it's the bandits? They're using bows and arrows like their archers," said Travis.

"Yeah, it probably is those fuckers. I got a little something for them as well," yelled Kenny. He took out his pistol and tried firing a couple of shots to buy them some time.

"Those fuckers are shooting at us!" yelled a voice.

"Keep attacking them!" yelled the first voice. Based on his tone, Kenny assumed he might have been a leader of some sort.

I'm not going to be able to aim long enough to actually hit them from this distance. I need another plan.

"What if we start the tractor and just travel behind it as it moves along?" asked Travis.

"You know, that's a good idea," replied Kenny. He fumbled around with the controls, but the tractor wouldn't start. The tractor's spikes were still stuck in the dirt, so Kenny raised them and the tractor started. Kenny and Travis crept behind the tractor following its motion, so that they wouldn't be riddled with arrows.

"If we reach the gate, we can make it back to the house," explained Kenny.

"Good a plan as, agh-, any" groaned Travis.

Meanwhile, the bandits kept shooting at them without any sign of stopping. Secretly, Kenny hoped that they would run out of arrows before the two made it to safety.

"They're moving!" yelled a voice.

"We had an agreement! You think you can just back out without our approval? You're fucked now!" stated the gruff voice.

Agreement? What kind of agreement did these farmers have with them?

Suddenly, the tractor stopped moving. Kenny looked at the front and saw the dead body of one of the walkers they pushed earlier on the road.

"What happened?" asked Travis.

"It's one of the dead we pushed down earlier. I'm going to have to move it," answered Kenny. He grabbed the walker and quickly pushed it aside. The tractor started moving once the path was clear again and the two men rushed to take cover. The bandits kept shooting at them, but they were horrible shots.

There has to be at least a few of them and they've only managed to hit the kid in the shoulder. Thank God they don't how to fire.

The tractor came upon another walker body and stopped once more.

"How many of these things did we push down?" asked Kenny. He immediately grabbed the walker, but this one was still alive. It started growling while pulling Kenny's hands toward its mouth.

"Shit!" yelled Kenny. He tried stomping on the walker's head once. It didn't work, so he tried once more and simultaneously started pulling his hands away from the walker. The walker latched on for dear life, but Kenny was determined to not die here. He kept pulling away with such force that the walker's top half detached from its bottom half.

"Jesus Christ!" Travis exclaimed. Kenny just looked at his work in shock, before he tossed the walker aside. Unfortunately, it was still alive, since Kenny hadn't taken care of the brain. The tractor kept moving and the two survivors hoped that their plan wouldn't be foiled due to a rogue walker who was crawling behind them. Luckily, one of the arrows embedded itself in the walker's head right as the tractor stopped in front of a silo.

"I see the gate! Come on!" yelled Kenny as he made a break for it. Travis followed right behind him as the bandit leader screamed at them.

"Go ahead and run! You can't hide forever!"

Kenny didn't pay any attention to their threats and focused on making it back to the house. He saw Andy look at them in surprise. Danny was standing on the porch but quickly stood up once he saw the two men return.

"Kenny, what happened?" Andy asked.

"The fucking electric fence turned on while we were out there! You knew that we were out there and we almost got fried, before the bandits started attacking as well! What the hell was that about?" confronted Kenny. He pushed Andy back with a shove as he talked at him. To his credit, Andy looked extremely apologetic.

"Holy shit! Are you okay?" asked Danny.

"Listen, I heard Travis yell and thought y'all were giving me the all-clear! I'm real sorry." apologized Andy.

"Oh, my Lord! What happened to you, sweetheart?!" Brenda asked with a horrified expression.

"It was those bastards in the woods, mama," Andy explained with contempt.

"I think I can just pull it out and be fine, but it kind of hurts." whimpered Travis.

"Hey, everyone!" said a familiar voice. Kenny turned and saw Lee waving at him. It seemed like he had brought the rest of the group, but Kenny noticed that Lilly was not among them.

"Travis! Oh my god, what happened?" Katjaa screamed as she quickly went over to him.

"He got shot with an arrow by bandits," explained Kenny.

"Bandits? Lilly mentioned those briefly. Apparently, you guys ran into them while you were coming over here and they're definitely not the friendly kind from what we've been told." explained Lee.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Katjaa.

"I think so…I should just…pull it out." groaned Travis.

"Oh, no. Honey, c'mon. Brenda's got you. C'mon inside now. We'll have you all sorted out." soothed Brenda. She led Travis to the house while Katjaa followed behind her.

"Look, we're sorry about the bandits. They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning and killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get 'em to stop by makin' a deal." Andy explained.

"Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin' us." Danny added.

"Goddamnit! We were told that this place was locked down tight! Now, we've been led into a death trap!" yelled Larry.

"Maybe it isn't as safe here as we thought," Lee said.

"We're sorry! We've never had them screw with us like this! Not since we started giving' them food!" Andy defended.

The two brothers looked like they didn't want the group to renege on their deal, and Kenny couldn't blame them. After all, they needed the gas to survive more than their group needed the food from the dairy.

"Listen, we may have had an agreement with these people, but we will not stand for this shit," Andy exclaimed.

"Ain't no way we're gonna let those sons of bitches get away with this!" declared Danny.

"You know where these assholes are?" questioned Kenny.

"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," stated Danny. He and Andy walked away and Kenny turned back to the rest of the group.

"Maybe this place isn't that safe," said Lee.

"Not safe?! No offense Lee, but you haven't been around long enough to see that this place is a hell of a lot safer than the Motor Inn. What we need to do is get our whole group out here to stay. That's what will help us survive." Kenny declared.

"Let's not do anything to get us thrown out before we eat. These are nice people," said Larry. Kenny didn't really care what the old man had to say. As far as he was concerned, making the opposite decision of Larry was always the right one.

"Yeah, maybe we should make friends with the St. Johns now that our whole group is out here," Lee stated.

"Well, that's easy. I've got charm coming out of my ass." Larry declared. Everyone just looked at him in disgust except the kids. That comment was definitely not charming at all.

"Where's Lilly and that other kid?" asked Kenny.

"They ate some of the food on the way back to get us, so Lilly volunteered them to stay behind until we get back," explained Lee.

Just then, Andy addressed the rest of the group.

"Hey, I remembered seeing kids in your group, so I went ahead and fixed that swing while you were out. Hope you kids liked swings!"

Clementine and Duck marveled at the simple contraption. To them, it was a symbol of the world before. A time when they could just focus on being kids. Kenny was especially delighted at seeing the look of joy on his boy's face.

"A swing! I love swings! Just look at my treehouse! Come on, Duck!" Clementine exclaimed. The two of them ran towards the swing in delight.

"Thanks, Andy. They appreciate it." smiled Lee.

"No problem," Andy replied.

"Dad! Can you push me on the swing? I want to go first!" asked Duck.

"Alright, Duck. Don't blow a gasket." Kenny mused. He still couldn't get what happened out of his mind. Even if the brothers didn't anticipate the bandits coming onto their property, that still didn't explain why Andy turned the fence on. As far as he remembered, the fence turned on before Doug got shot, so Andy couldn't have heard anything.

I thought I was playing them as fools. But are we the ones being played?

Sometime later Lee was seen pushing Clementine on the swing while Kenny was talking to Danny. She moved closer so she could hear the conversation.

"I think I'm ready to go deal with those bandits now," Kenny stated.

"Remember: we're just doing reconnaissance for now. No use getting ourselves killed." reminded Danny.

"You sure this is a good idea? There could be tons of them in the woods. You two could get ambushed." warned Carley.

"You saw what they did to your buddy. Nobody's safe here until we start to fight back." retorted Danny.

"Well, if we want to stay here, then we'll have to handle them one way or the other." stated Kenny.

Wait? Didn't this guy want to take his family and leave? Carley thought.

"Let me just break the news to Duck," said Kenny. He walked over to Duck who was sitting on the ground near the swing.

"Duck, I'm going to leave with Danny to go try and find the bad men who hurt Travis. I want you to stay safe, okay? I'll be back soon."

"Aww, Dad. Who's going to push me on the swing?" asked Duck.

"Uhm, I'm sure Lee can handle it. Maybe you could ask someone else," suggested Kenny.

"I'll do it. I need something to keep my mind off of what happened, anyway." volunteered Carley.

"Thanks, Carley. I appreciate it." smiled Kenny. "If Katjaa asks where I am, just tell her that I went out with Danny to do some scouting. Make sure to put the SCOUTING part in there, so she doesn't think I went to war."

"I will, Kenny," Carley said. Kenny went back over to Danny who gave him an extra rifle. The two of them walked towards the fence that would leave them out of the property. Carley had half a mind to join them, but she didn't want to impose. Bandits were bandits and she wasn't exactly Rambo in the wilderness.

"Carley, is Travis going to be ok?" asked Clementine. Carley looked and saw both Lee and Clementine were eyeing her with interest.

"He'll just be fine. It was a small wound. All he needs to do is rest and he'll be back on his feet in no time." reassured Carley.

[Scene Break Location: Forest]

Kenny trudged through the overgrown wilderness behind Danny. He always viewed himself as an outdoorsy man, but this was not something he was used to. If there was too much brush in the way, he would usually try to find another angle. He wouldn't just try to move through the overgrown wilderness, but that was exactly what he was doing.

"Do you see anything?" Kenny asked Danny.

"Not yet. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Danny responded.

Kenny kept walking until he heard the clanging of metal against his boot. He looked down and realized that he had kicked a soup can. That meant there were humans in this area at one point. He followed the direction that the soup can was in and saw what looked to be the outlines of a tent.

"Here!" announced Kenny. Danny turned and walked over in his direction.

"Oh, shit! You found it?!"

"Sure did. But is there anyone here?" asked Kenny. The two men had their rifles raised in case and they quietly moved over to the camp. From the outside, it seemed empty. There was a singular lawn chair beside a pitiful makeshift fireplace. There were a couple of tables with boxes everywhere. The main thing that interested Kenny was the tent that was zipped up in the middle of the camp.

"Watch my back, Kenny. I'm gonna check out the tent," said Danny. He slowly approached the tent with his rifle at the ready. Kenny watched in anticipation as Danny got closer and closer to the entrance of the tent. Danny quickly unzipped the tent and peeked inside with his rifle to find ...one. Absolutely no one.

"Clear," muttered Danny. To Kenny, it almost seemed like the man was disappointed he didn't get to find anyone.

Is he trying to kill them on purpose? How far does his hatred go?

"This can't be their main base. It's too small." Danny observed.

"That's what I was thinking. There's also no one here. They should have regrouped somewhere after they attacked us." Kenny noted.

"Take a look around, anyway. There's probably some shit they stole from us." Danny advised. He started messing around with some boxes while Kenny went to the other table. He saw a bunch of boxes from Save-Lots. He started searching through them, but couldn't find much.

"Why are all these boxes from Save-Lots?" asked Kenny.

"The first few days they told folks to gather at the Save-Lots by the interstate. Probably where these sons of bitches formed and started having their fun," explained Danny.

What did interest Kenny were the St. John's dairy boxes that were behind some of the Save-Lots boxes. From the looks of things, the bandits had actively taken supplies from the farmers, but their deal might have been going on recently.

They said they did, so they wouldn't get attacked. What changed in a few days?

Using his brain was tiring. It made Kenny think and he didn't like to do much detective work. Surveying the rest of the table, he caught a glimpse of a small object. He moved some of the boxes to reveal what looked like a video recorder.

"What'd you find?" asked Danny.

"A video camera," said Kenny. Danny looked nervously at Kenny, before asking "Let me see that."

Kenny tried turning it on, but it didn't start up. "Looks like the battery's dead."

"Oh, good. Let's see if we can find anything useful and then get a move on." Danny finished.

Kenny raised an eyebrow at his tone. When he had first met the brothers, he was eager to show that their group belonged on their farm. Now, he was starting to question the honesty of these two men. First, they had neglected to mention the fact that they were in a deal with the bandits. Now, Danny was becoming jumpy about a video recorder, the contents of which Danny didn't want Kenny to potentially see.

There's more to this family than meets the eye.

"I see you handle that gun I lent ya pretty well. You a hunter?" Danny asked. He was clearly trying to change the subject.

"No, but I knew how to shoot a gun. Lilly gave our group some extra training to polish our skills, but I already knew the basics," answered Kenny.

"Lilly, huh? She seems to be a good leader." Danny said.

Yeah, fucking great.

Kenny just decided to check out the tent. It was the last big thing and maybe there were some clues about where the bandits could potentially be. He saw two sleeping bags inside and one of them looked to be that of a child.

Jesus, there's a kid involved in this?

Shaking his head, Kenny picked up a photo that was off to the side of the bag. He saw a woman with her daughter. The two of them were cooking something and were clearly happy with their lives. The same lives that had been wrecked by this event. Kenny sadly put the photo down and noticed there was a lump under the adult sleeping bag. He removed the sleeping bag and found what appeared to be…Clementine's hat.

"What the hell?" Kenny muttered. How did Clementine's hat get here?

"Don't you fucking move!" yelled a lady.

Kenny turned to see a lady with a lion's mane full of brown hair. She had dirt marks and other stains on her face and she was holding a crossbow. She looked deranged and was aiming at Kenny with a face of utter contempt.

"Shit!" yelled Danny who aimed his rifle at her. The woman became distracted by Danny's rifle, which gave Kenny the chance to train his weapon on her.

"Put your guns down!" ordered the woman. "I ain't going back! You tell em' Jolene ain't goin' back!"

"Hey, we had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food! What the fuck happened?" demanded Danny.

Jolene laughed mirthlessly. "You had a deal with them! I ain't them. I know what you are, and I know what you do."

"What the hell is she yammering about?" asked Kenny.

"You don't know me!" denied Danny.

"Steal my shit. Steal everything from me!"

"We had a deal! You people broke it first!" said Danny.

"Why are you alone up here if you ain't with the bandits? What happened to you?" asked Kenny.

Jolene just laughed once more. Her laugh was devoid of any sanity. "That's a hell of a question, mister. They told me I'd be safe with them…Men who lived here. But it weren't safe. Not for me and not for my girl. They didn't treat her nice. Not at all. They took her away, into the woods. Wouldn't tell me where. And I begged 'em. Every way I could think. They just laughed."

Jolene started laughing before continuing to speak. "So I killed 'em. And I'm staying here till she comes back to me. One way or another…she'll come back."

Jesus Christ. What the hell did those sick sons of bitches do?

Jolene aimed her crossbow at the two men with a vengeance.

"Now, maybe you didn't hear me last time. When I asked you sweet, put your damn guns down! You think I won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow and put a nice sharp arrow, right through your eyeball. And into your goddamn brain. You're not men, you're monsters. All men are monsters. Take what they want, and then destroy it all. Take a can of beans, take a little girl... it's all the fucking same to you!"

As the woman started to rant, Kenny thought about Clementine's hat. How did it get in the possession of this woman?

"Where did you get this hat? Have you been spying on us?" demanded Kenny.

"I got it from the little girl. You stole her from me!" said Jolene.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Kenny.

This crazy bitch could have stolen my son and I would have been none the wiser. For all of Lilly's talks on security, she let some random crazy lady slip by the cracks.

"You know what? I changed my mind... I'm putting this arrow right through your balls. Yeah! Right through. String 'em up on that tree. Then I'm gonna head down to that farm and shoot every goddamn person I see." Jolene stated.

This woman is crazy. Maybe I should just kill her. She does not want to make friends with our group. Although, I could get more information out of her if we can somehow capture her. She seems to know a lot about the bandits. We need all the info we can get.

"Alright, we'll put our guns down. You win," said Kenny. Jolene looked a little surprised that Kenny agreed to put down his gun. Meanwhile, Danny looked at Kenny in indignation.

"What the fuck?! She's going to shoot us." Danny protested.

"No. There seems to be a misunderstanding here. We need to show her that we are not her enemies. Nobody wants to kill anybody here. We just want to find the bandits who shot Doug." explained Kenny.

"Put 'em down nice and slow!" demanded Jolene.

"Fuck that! I ain't doing this." Danny shouted. Jolene just aimed her crossbow at him in fury.

Fuck! I need to find a way to get her guard down before she gets killed.

"Alright, how about this? I'm going to walk to you slowly and hand you my gun. Once I do that, Danny will do the same. You put down your weapon and we can all have a civil chat about what we're going to do next. Do you understand?" asked Kenny.

I want to shoot her with every fiber of my being. But this is a smart thing to do.

"Ok. Start walking," Jolene stated. She aimed her crossbow in Kenny's direction as Kenny walked over to her, rifle in hand. He turned and quickly winked at Danny to let him know what was going down. Danny just looked back at him and understanding seemed to dawn on his face.

"Hurry it up!" yelled Jolene.

"Of course. Just give me a second," said Kenny. Jolene had a look of absolute craziness plastered on her face. Kenny was hoping that this wouldn't backfire heavily on him, but this was the only way to enact his plan. He stopped a few inches from Jolene. She held out her hand to take his weapon while holding the crossbow with one hand towards Danny.

I can't believe she's falling for this. Now, she has no leverage and her focus is gone.

As Kenny handed the weapon to Jolene, he quickly grabbed her crossbow and pushed it down. Jolene struggled with him for the weapon, but her right finger was still on the trigger and she accidentally fired an arrow into her foot. She howled in pain and fell to the ground dropping Kenny's rifle.

Kenny quickly picked the rifle up and brought the butt of the rifle down on her head, knocking her out. He was breathing heavily.

Holy fuck! I fucking did it! That will teach you to mess with a Florida man. Kenny thought as he smiled from ear to ear.

Danny lowered his weapon and walked over to Kenny.

"That was a smart idea! I'll admit that I didn't know what you were thinking about surrendering to that crazy bitch. Thought you had taken the same crazy pills she did."

"Luckily, I still have my sanity. This is better than killing her. Unless you know where the bandits might be, we have the perfect landline for them. From the nonsense she was spouting, she knows a lot about them. She might even know where their main base is." Kenny explained.

"Yeah, if they ain't here, then I don't know where they are. And it ain't a good idea to go tromping through the woods looking for them. Can you carry her while I take that crossbow? I can't do it all myself." asked Danny.

Kenny nodded and picked up Jolene along with his rifle while Danny handled the other two weapons. The two men walked back, victorious in their pursuit. While they weren't able to avenge Travis, they found a means to do so.

"Once we get back, I'll bring her inside the house. When she comes to, we could get something out of her then. And when she starts singing, there will be hell to pay for those nutty fuckers." smiled Danny.

Kenny was a bit unsettled at the joy Danny got from this. The guy was definitely a bit creepy and antisocial, but it was more than that. Somehow, Kenny got the distinct impression that Danny didn't want Jolene to be kept alive at all.

I could just be thinking wrong, but there's something more to this farm than meets the eye. Once I get back, I'm going to try and find answers. Kenny thought.

[Scene Break Location: St. John's Family Dairy]

Lee watched as Carley was pushing Duck on the swing. The boy was hooting and hollering with every push, and Lee smiled at that. Such simple expressions made him smile these days. It was nothing special. Just a kid having fun.

Not like they have much to have fun with. Any day that I can make life somewhat "normal" for these kids is a good day. Lee thought.

"Lee, do you think this place will be safe?" asked Clementine. Lee looked over at the little girl whom he had befriended 3 months ago. Since that night in the drugstore, the pair had grown closer. A LOT closer. Lee didn't realize how much Clementine meant to him until she started greeting him almost every day and the two of them discussed their how their day was going.

Sure, Clementine talked to everyone. She always had a kind word to say. But she had grown to trust Lee a lot in the 3 months that they had been together. Lee, in turn, had grown to trust her a lot too. The two of them were quickly becoming closer and closer.

I hope my family is seeing this. I know they would be proud of me.

"I don't know, Clementine. As long as the bad men that hurt Travis don't show their faces here, we'll be just fine." soothed Lee.

"That's why Kenny left, right?" questioned Clementine.

Lee nodded his head, but he was secretly confused by something. Before Kenny had left, he had a quick conversation with Lee about what he felt about the St. John dairy.

[Lee's Flashback]

"Lee, can you do something for me while I'm gone?" asked Kenny.

"Sure. Is it taking care of Duck?" asked Lee.

"No...I just need you to keep an eye out for anything that might look a little weird." Kenny answered.

"What kind of...weird?" asked Lee.

"The kind that they don't want us knowing about. Those motherfuckers lied to my face multiple times, and something ain't sitting right with me about that. We have children here, Lee. We can't afford anything to creep up on us."

"Kenny, don't you think that you're being a little paranoid? I mean, it seemed like the brothers made an honest mistake. How were they supposed to know that the bandits would change their strategy? They got taken by surprise just as much as you."

"It's not just about that, Lee. Those guys turned the electric fence while we were out there. We were lucky nobody was hurt from that. Andy says that he heard screaming, so he thought that we were telling him that we finished checking up on the fence. Bull. Shit. The kid didn't scream until after the fence was turned on." revealed Kenny.

"Alright, I get it. If I find anything that seems off, I'll make sure to let you know." Lee promised.

[End Of Lee's Flashback]

"Lee…LEE?" said a voice. Lee shook his head clearly and saw that Carley was addressing him.

"You okay, there? Feels like you have more on your mind than me." joked Carley.

"Eh, you know me. Always a thinker and never a do-er." smiled Lee.

"So what are you thinking about now?" asked Carley.

"You don't have to help me with everything, Carley. You've probably got enough on your plate as is." Lee said.

"Yeah, I do. But I'm your friend and friends help each other out, so what I can help you out with?" inquired Carley.

Before Lee could speak, Clementine called out to him. "Lee, can we go see the cow?! I've never seen a cow before!"

"Sure thing, Clementine. I'll take you and Duck over there right now." Lee replied.

"Hold on a minute, Lee. We can watch the kids from here. All they're doing is going to the barn. Katjaa should already be in there, so they won't be unsupervised." reminded Carley.

Lee could tell Carley wanted to speak with him. He wasn't going to get away from this, so he just looked at Clementine and Duck.

"Go straight to the barn and do not touch the fence. Do you understand?" Lee asked firmly.

"Yes, Lee." Clementine replied. She and Duck walked over to the gate leading to the part of the property with the barn. While they were watching the kids, Carley started to speak to Lee once more.

"Ok, spill it. What's got you so down?"

"It's…the dairy. More importantly, the safety of the dairy. Actually, before I say anything, what do you think about this place? Do you think that it is safe?" asked Lee.

Carley thought about Lee's statement for a few seconds. Lee could see the wheels turning in her head. It was a question that, at first glance, seemed like it had an obvious answer. Now, the answer was starting to become a little less clear.

"I think…it is pretty much safe from the dead. If we had to worry about other people, that's where there seems to be a problem. Especially if they're shooting at us. An electric fence can't stop bullets…right?"

"Yeah, it can't stop bullets." chuckled Lee.

"So, the point is, we still need to be on our guard if we want to defend this place. If we're even allowed to come back here. The deal's already gone pretty well, and there should be an incentive to have more people now that we have to deal with these bandits." Carley explained.

"You know what incentive means?" asked Lee in a shocked tone. Carley just rolled her eyes and flipped him off, which caused a smile to break out on his face.

"Yes, I know what incentive means, dick. You do realize that I was a reporter? I have an astute vocabulary." smiled Carley. Lee rolled his eyes back.

I have to admit it's nice having someone to joke around with. Is this the right time to joke around, though? Probably not. Lee thought.

"I think I'm going to go to the barn. I'm kind of itching to see that cow." Lee said.

"Is that the only reason?" asked Carley knowingly.

"Well, I do want to make sure the kids are ok, too," Lee replied bashfully.

"Come on. I'll walk with you. You want to hear a joke?" asked Carley as she got up.

"Shoot."

"You know what would best complement a person?" asked Carley.

"What?" asked Lee.

"Salt and pepper," replied Carley.

Lee just shook his head in silence, but a smile betrayed his emotions.

"Hah. I got you. It's a good thing that we only have to be worried about being eaten by walkers. Imagine if everyone decided to dine on each other instead." Carley stated.

"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that. If it does, I won't eat you first." Lee said.

"I appreciate that," replied Carley.

Lee opened the barn and walked inside. To his immediate left, he saw a cow lying on its stomach while Katjaa seemed to be doing some kind of medical procedure. Andy was sitting on a chair nearby while Clementine and Duck seemed awed by the new creature that they had laid their eyes on.

I don't actually know if they've ever seen a cow before. It's always nice watching kids discover new things.

"What's the cow's name?" asked Carley. She had followed Lee inside the barn and was looking at the animal with hints of interest in her eyes.

"Maybelle," Andy answered. "We're sure glad you folks came with the vet when you did. I don't know how much longer Maybelle could have taken without us knowing she was going to have a baby."

"She's pregnant?" asked Carley.

"Yeah, Katjaa says Maybelle could have her baby tonight," Clementine explained.

"We'll see, Clementine." mused Katjaa.

"What is that thing?" asked Carley.

Lee looked at Carley and saw a rectangular block sitting on the ground next to the cow. It smelled distinctly of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Mom said it was called a salt lick," replied Duck.

"Yeah, but don't lick it. It's gross," stated Clementine. Lee smiled and folded his arms in a joking manner.

"Did you lick it?"

.....

....

...

"I don't know."

Clementine's wide-eyed and innocent-looking face almost made Lee burst out into laughter. Carley shook her head in exasperation at Clementine's behavior.

Kids. Always know how to lighten the mood.

"Where's Kenny? Is he not with you?" asked Katjaa.

"Oh, Kenny went out to do some scouting with Danny on where the bandits might be located," Carley answered. Seeing Katjaa's face quickly turn to worry, she immediately clarified "He's only going to do scouting. They're not going to try and attack anyone. Don't worry. He wouldn't do something like that."

Katjaa just took a deep breath and muttered, "Stupid. So stupid."

"My brother knows what he's doing. He'll have your husband back here in no time," reassured Andy.

"This is a nice farm you have here, Andy. I don't think I ever got around to telling you how much I appreciate that you're letting our group eat dinner here. I'm sure it's a hassle for you." thanked Lee.

Andy just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's really no trouble at all, Lee. We're here to help each other out. I can't let you guys go hungry after you came out all this way."

"So, can we get a hint on what dinner is?" asked Carley.

Andy laughed. "Oh, that's a surprise. Don't worry. Mama's cookin' up some good grub."

Lee decided to check out the rest of the barn. What caught his eye was the huge door at the back of the barn. He could see that the door had a padlock on it, but it was almost out of place in a barn.

Does the barn connect to something else?

"Huh, that's weird," noted Carley. She had followed Lee and was now looking at the door warily. Something about this door seemed to be very unnatural to the rest of the property.

What secrets are behind this door?

"So, we need to find out what it is." finished Carley.

Lee took a quick look at the padlock. The lock seemed to be held in place by 4 screws.

Ok, maybe we can remove the screws for the chain attaching the lock to the door. That will allow us to take off the lock and that will allow us to open the door.

"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," explained Lee.

"Sounds like a plan. I will go distract Andy while you work your magic here." Carley said.

"Can I help you two find something?" asked a voice. The two turned to see an inquisitive Andy looking in their direction. Lee gauged the man's face for any signs of nervousness, but he seemed surprisingly calm. He didn't seem like the kind of man to be hiding anything malicious.

Maybe we're just intruding on their privacy. Is this really something I want to do?

"Just checking out the barn here. Never been to a dairy farm before." Lee smoothly replied.

"Just don't roam around without me or Danny. The farm can be a dangerous place. You know, the bandits and all. Sorry about your friend." explained Andy.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the group. It seemed as though Andy had realized what the two were trying to do, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. At least, that's what Lee thought initially.

"Hey, uh... do me a favor. Don't fuck around with this door, okay? Just, you know, Mama gets nervous." Andy said.

"Andrew, I need your help again!" yelled Katjaa.

"No problem! Right away, doc!" answered Andy. He quickly left to go assist Katjaa while Lee and Carley looked at each other.

"Looks like he doesn't want us to know what's behind the door," Lee observed.

"I mean…he could just be valuing his family's privacy. Is it really our business to go snooping around when it's probably just some mundane farm stuff? I'm starting to have second thoughts about this whole thing." Carley replied.

"Carley, we have people that we care about on this farm right now. If we're wrong, then…we'll figure out a way to redeem ourselves, but we're going to have to do this." Lee stated.

The barn door opened and Lee saw Kenny walk in with an uncertain look on his face.

"Dad, you're back!" said Duck as he went up to his father.

"Yes, I am, son. I hope you didn't cause too much trouble to everyone here," replied Kenny.

"Oh, he was fine. Your boy was actually too interested by Maybelle to be too much of a nuisance," said Andy.

"Glad to hear it," Kenny replied curtly. Lee noticed that he didn't smile when he was talking to Andy.

"Did you find anything while you were out there?" asked Carley. Kenny looked at her before looking back at the kids. He had a weird expression on his face that Lee couldn't quite decipher, but it reeked of uncertainty and a little bit of suspicion.

"Why don't we talk about this outside?" asked Kenny. Lee and Carley quickly followed Kenny outside the barn door while Travis followed them, not wanting to be left alone in the barn with Andy.

"So, we went to the camp Danny was talking about and we didn't find any of the bandits. We did find some crazy ass woman who threatened to shoot us. She was screaming about something or other. Honestly, the bitch was just batshit crazy." Kenny explained.

"Did you kill her?" asked Lee.

"No, Lee. She wasn't making much sense, but she was saying a lot of shit about how the bandits took her daughter away and how she was going to make them pay. I also found a photo of her in the camp, so she might know something about their whereabouts. We were able to knock her out and bring her back to the dairy." said Kenny.

"Where is she now?" asked Lee.

"Danny brought her into his house. I didn't want to intrude and I wanted to see how my family was doing. We can get information out of her later once she comes to." replied Kenny.

"You brought her into the house?! Travis's resting in there! What if she comes to and attacks him?" asked Carley.

"Relax. Danny tied her up and said he would be bringing her to a room on the opposite side. There's no way that she's getting out without some kind of divine retribution."

"Can you be sure of that? What if there are some sharp objects in the room? Did you secure to a chair or bed? How exactly did-"stated Lee.

"Look! I trust that farmer boy to secure her properly enough considering she was about to kill him! Besides, she's going to be staying on this farm, so what she does isn't a problem after we leave. They're going to be the ones in danger if she gets away." growled Kenny.

Lee held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, I trust you. I'm just trying to make sure that we don't leave a bomb in close proximity to one of our own."

"That's not all," said Kenny. He looked around to make sure no one was listening to them. Lee followed his gaze and saw that Danny was sitting on a log near the swing. He seemed to be too engrossed in rubbing his gun which creeped Lee out a little bit.

Come to think of it. Danny's kind of a creepy dude.

"Okay. Listen up. When I was over there, I found this camcorder among some boxes," revealed Kenny. He pulled out the camcorder to show the group.

"The second I found it, Danny seemed real keen on knowing whether it still worked. The battery's dead, but I don't think he wanted to see if it was usable. You get what I'm saying?"

"You think he's trying to hide something?" asked Lee.

"Only one way to find out. I don't suppose you have any batteries, on you?" asked Kenny.

"Nope. Sorry." Lee said.

"No. Although, I wouldn't even know what to look for when it comes to camcorder batteries." Carley said. Lee and Kenny looked at her like she had three heads. Carley just stared at them with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing. Keep your guard up around these guys. I'm starting to think our hosts haven't been as straight with us as they should be." Kenny warned.

"Yeah, we figured that out. Especially once they locked the door in their barn as soon as we got in there. They're definitely hiding something." agreed Carley.

"Barn door?" asked Kenny.

"When Katjaa went to go check on the cow, Andy locked the barn door as quickly as he could. I didn't see much, but there were some sharp tools and probably some other things. He even told us not to mess around with it, because his mom "gets nervous"." explained Carley.

"Look, they could just be secretive people, but, based on what Kenny has told us, I'm starting to believe that there's more to this farm than what it first appeared. That's why I'm planning on looking for something to unscrew the lock, take a look inside, and lock it back up before they even know what's going on," said Lee.

"Sounds good to me." agreed Kenny.

Lee heard laughter drifting down to his ears and looked at the house. He saw Larry and Brenda chatting away with each other amicably. Larry seemed to be making a couple of jokes, which Brenda was taking well. Despite himself, Lee found it a little amusing that someone like Larry could actually make a woman laugh.

"Oh shit. One more thing," exclaimed Kenny. He took off his hat and pulled out a second hat that he had been storing. Lee's eyes widened in shock. The hat was a familiar shade of purple and had a D blazed on the top.

Is that Clementine's hat?

"Kenny. Where-where did you find that?" asked Lee.

"The crazy lady had it. She was rambling on something about how we took Clementine away from her and she needed her to be brought back. She must have gotten into the motor inn somehow and stole the hat from Clementine. Lilly needs to really tighten up her fucking security. Who knows what else she could have done." Kenny explained.

"Well, I think security's dependent on all of us." defended Carley.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that she knows who we are and knows who the bandits are. If we can get information out of her on where THEY'RE located, it's better than the alternative." said Kenny.

"And what's the alternative?" asked Carley.

"She gets so mad that we're not letting her take Clementine that she tells the bandits where we are," Lee stated.

"Do you think she'll do that?" asked Carley.

"Carley, I don't think any of us know what she'll do. She's not all there if you get what I mean. If she's a danger to Clementine, that means she's a danger to my family as well. Ain't no way in hell I'm letting some psycho harm my family!" Kenny said passionately.

This woman is a danger to Clementine and I didn't even know it. She was so close to her and I didn't know it. She could have kidnapped her and I wouldn't have known it. What kind of guardian am I? What kind of FATHER am I?

Father. It was a word that Lee had not used to express his relationship with Clementine. He wasn't her father. He wouldn't even be her father. But he had to take the role of a mentor along with Sandra and Darren to teach Clementine right from wrong. To help her have a normal life.

I'm just a father figure. I'm nothing like a parent. I'm a horrible parent. I couldn't even convince my own wife to start a family.

"Well, we should give that hat back to her. She asked me if I could look for it earlier today. I think she realized it was gone." stated Lee.

Lee, Kenny, and Carley all walked toward the barn. The sun was completely setting by this point and the autumn glow was evident by this point. Soon, the farm would not be filled with light, but, instead, shrouded in darkness.

I just hope that the night sky is the darkest thing on this farm.

Kenny opened the door and stepped inside. Andy looked up at their sudden arrival with a look of interest on his face. No one was really paying attention to him too much. They were all looking at Clementine.

"Hey, Clementine. Kenny found something that you might like to have," said Lee.

Clementine looked up in confusion before she noticed that Kenny had her hat in his hands. A wide smile broke on her face as she snatched the hat and put it on her head with glee.

"My hat! You found it!" said Clementine. She was bouncing up and down in joy. Lee was pleased that her worries over her missing hat were now gone.

"Kenny's the one you should thank, Clem. He was the one who found your hat after all." Lee explained.

"Thank you, Kenny! I really missed my hat!" exclaimed Clementine.

"Yeah, my dad's the best!" agreed Duck.

"Don't worry about it, Clementine." chuckled Kenny.

"Listen…did you give your hat to anyone?" asked Lee.

"No," Clementine answered.

"Did you see any strangers around the motor inn who might've taken it?"

"No. Why?"

"It's probably nothing. Just let me or any of the other adults know if you ever see anything like that."

"Okay, I will. Hey, Lee. Do you think you'll ever have kids?" asked Clementine.

Kids. I haven't thought about being a father in a long time. Of course, she asks me after I tell myself that I am nothing like her father.

"I don't know. I haven't thought about having kids in a long time…" answered Lee.

"Oh, ok. Do you want to pet the cow with me?" asked Clementine.

"Nah, but you go on ahead," Lee said.

"So, Andy, it must take a lot to maintain a place like this. How long has this dairy been in your family?" asked Carley.

"Oh, we've had it ever since I was born. It's not really that interesting of a story, though." Andy replied.

Carley is trying to distract Andy by pretending to be interested in how the dairy runs. Smart thinking by her. While she's doing that, I can find something to unscrew the lock.

Sensing there was nothing that could be found in the barn, Lee walked back outside while Kenny followed him.

"Hey, Lee. You know how to pick a lock, right?" asked Kenny.

"No. Why would you say that?" confronted Lee.

Kenny immediately became a bit nervous and just mumbled, "Well, you're…you know…urban?"

This racist mother-

"Oh, you are not saying what I THINK you're saying."

To his credit, Kenny immediately tried to backtrack.

"Jesus, man. I'm from Florida. Crazy shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes. Sorry."

At least he's being civil this time. I know that we're not exactly friends.

"Look, at least we're on the same page for once. You find something to pry open that lock and see what's up. I'll help keep Andy occupied. We're going to find out just how much shit these people are hiding." Kenny stated.

To Be Continued Due to Word Limit