THREE MONTHS LATER

You couldn't believe three months had gone by. A few things have happen since the day all of you moved to the motor inn. A new guy named Mark came to the inn and he had a huge supply of food. It looked like it could last you guys a lifetime but unfortunately...that didn't happen.

Just in three months all of that food has already gone through. And Lilly was being very strict about the food since the supply started to go dwindle. Instead of everyone get a ration of food, only a few people would get food while a few others had to go without.

You hated that some people had to go without food so you would try to give your rations. But Carley kept insisting that you eat and make you keep your helping of the food.

But it wasn't all bad, you, Clem and Duck became close friends in the three months you guys stayed at the inn. The three of you would either play tag, color pictures or play with the soccer ball one of the adults found for you three.

Heck the other day, you thought it would be funny to take Clem's hat as he never took it off. So you walked up behind him and grabbed the hat off of his head. "Hey!" He exclaims as he places his hands on his head. You giggled as you wave the hat around. "Give it back!" Clem said to you as he tries to grab it from your hand. "You'll have to catch me!" You said with a grin on your face and you begin to run.

"Oh you're on!" Clem said, smiling as well, as he chases after you. The two of you ran around the inn a few times until he tackled you down on the floor of one of the motel rooms. Both of you began to laugh at this until you calmed down and handed the hat back to him. "Okay, okay...you win." You said as Clem takes his hat back and places it on his head. He stands up and holds his hand out to you and helps you up to your feet.

That was just a couple of days ago and now Clem lost his hat. He asked if you or Duck took it but you told him that you hadn't touched it since you played keep-away with him while Duck said he hadn't touched it at all. Clem was alittle upset about this as the hat was a gift from his dad.

You knew how he felt as the necklace that your mom got you for your eighth birthday was missing as well.
You had it on since the day of the outbreak until one night when you took it off and set it on the little table next to your bed. The next morning, you saw that it was nowhere to be found. You told your mom about it and the two of you looked all over the motel but couldn't find it.

Now here it was a couple days later and you hadn't found the necklace and Clem hadn't found his hat. Duck was laying on his stomach as he draws and colors while you and Clem kicked the soccer ball back and forth to each other. Lilly was keeping lookout as she sits on top of an RV. She looks out towards the woods, keeping an eye out for Lee, Kenny and Mark who were out hunting, then she watches you and Clem kick the ball back and forth and smiles.

That is until she heard a rustle in the woods. She stands up and aims her rifle at the woods and stares at it for a while. Then she looks down towards everyone and whistles, meaning for everyone to be quiet.

You and Clem stopped kicking the ball and got down as everyone looked out towards the woods in fear. Lilly glares at the woods until she heard a rustle then saw movement as Lee runs out of the woods. "Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" He shouts as Kenny and Mark come up behind him, carrying a man while a teenage boy runs up behind them.

"Shit. What the hell are they doing?" Lilly growls as Katjaa and Carley run up to the gate while Lee pushes it open. Everyone started talking over each other, asking questions to Lee, Mark and Kenny. Mark and the teenager take the man, who's left leg was cut off thanks to Lee since the man's leg was caught in a bear trap, lay him on the bed of the truck as Katjaa said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked her. "Jesus, Ken! I....I don't know?!" She exclaimed while Lilly comes up to them and shouts, angrily. "Lee! What the hell?! You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!"

"Hey! You wanna calm down for a fuckin' minute!" Kenny shouts at her, annoyed. "Hey! Watch your mouth!" Larry shouts.

"No, I don't! I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea?!" Lilly asked, angrily. "He would have died, if we left him!" Lee replied. "So what?!" Larry asked. "We are not responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We have to focus on our group! Right here! Right now!" said Lilly.

"Well, hang on! We haven't even talked to these people yet! Maybe they can be helpful." Carley suggests.
"Come on, Lilly. These are people! People trying to survive just like us. We've gotta stick together to survive!" Mark argues. "The only reason you're hear is because you had food. Enought for all of us. But that food is almost gone, we've got maybe a week's worth left." Lilly sneers at Mark.

Then she turns to the teenager and said. "And I don't suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?!"

"Um...no." The teen stammers. "Fine. You guys fight it out, then." Mark scoffs then he turns to the teen and said. "Welcome to the family, Kid."
Then he walks away. You walk up next to the teen and said to him.
"Come over here and see what I drew." You knew that the adults, or at least Kenny, Lilly, Larry and Lee, were about to have another argument and honestly it was better to just stay clear of it. You grab the teen's arm as he looks down at you. "What? No, I--" he stammers but Clem comes up next to you and helps you drag the teen away from the adults. "Just come over here, okay?" Clem said and the three of you get away from the adults.

"You know, you like to think you are the leader of this little group, but we can make our own damn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship!" Kenny yells at Lilly. "Oh come on! You're being dramatic!" Carley shouts at Kenny. "Everything always turns into an power struggle between you two. I'm not gonna be apart of that." And she walks away from them as well, Leaving only Kenny, Lilly, Larry and Lee standing.

"Hey! I didn't ask to lead this group!" Lilly said to Kenny. "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 damn Nazi!"

"It doesn't matter who's in charge! Those people are here now. I guess we just have to decide what happens next." Lee said, trying to be neutral.
"No, Lee, it does matter! 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 whose side you're on!" Kenny said before he walks away.

"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! Larry shouts at Lee. "Dad, please. Why don't you go help Mark with the wall?" Lilly said to her dad, calmly. Larry looks over at her before he glares at Lee then walks away to go fix the wall.

Lilly turns to Lee and said. "You think this is easy for me? Everyone's starting to hate me because I'm the one that rations the food. But nobody else wants to!" She turns and walks towards a backpack by the RV and digs inside of it and pulls out a few food items. She turns around to face Lee and said. "You know what? I'm not doing it tonight. You do it." She holds out the food items towards him.

"There's today's food rations, but there's not enough for everyone. Good luck!" She said as Lee takes the rations and she walks away.
Lee looks down at the food he had: half an apple, two crackers and cheese and a beef jerky. Four food items for eleven hungry people. What was he going to do?

Lee looks around before he comes up to you, Duck and Clem, who stands up to Lee. "How ya doing, Clement?" He asks. "Okay." Clem replied. "Where's your hat?" Lee asked, noticing that the hat was gone. "I don't know. Can you help me find it?" Clem asked him.

"Sure. When did you lose it?" Lee asked him. "I had it a couple of days ago. (Y/N) was playing keep-away with it but she gave it back and that's the last time I saw it." Clem replied. "I promise if I find it, I'll let you know." Lee said.

"Do you think you could find (y/n)'s locket too? It's gone too." Clem said to Lee. "Sure. When was the last time she had it?" Lee asked him. "She said a couple of days ago as well, sometime after I lost my hat." Clem replied. "Well I'll let either of you know if I find them, okay?" said Lee. "Okay." Clem said before he comes back to you and Duck and begins to draw on a piece of paper with you two.

Lee then kneels down to you three. "Here Clem, you need something to eat." Lee said as Clem turns around to face him. Lee hands the apple to Clem. "I love apples! Thank you. Are there more?" Clem asked him. "No. That was the last one." Lee replied, frowning.

"Oh...um..." Clem stammers, nervously. "Enjoy it. You deserve it, kiddo." Lee replied, smiling. Then he turns to you and said. "How about alittle food, (y/n)." You turn to him and smile. He smiles back as he hands you one of the crackers and cheese. "I love these! Thank you, Lee!" You said, appreciatively. "You're welcome, sweet pea." Lee said as he looks over and sees Carley giving him a smile.

Then he turns his attention to Duck and said. "Here, Duck. Have something to eat." And he hands Duck the jerky. "Yeah! Oh, man, I'm so hungry!" Duck exclaims as he takes the jerky and eats it. Lee looks at the last food item, thinking if he should keep it for himself or give it to someone else. He shakes his head and pockets the food and thought. Some of these people have gone longer than me without food. And he goes over to Katjaa to check and see if she needed help.

Meanwhile, you, Clem and Duck continued to color until you held up your picture to the others. "Can you guys guess what I drew?" You asked them. "Um...a dog?" The teenager said in a dejected tone. You shake your head as Duck shouts. "Oh! I know! A goat!"

"Nope!" You said while Clem looks at it and noticed that the animal that you drew had stripes on it. "A tiger!" Clem exclaims and you giggle as you nod. "Yep!" You giggled and Clem smiles at this.

Meanwhile, Lee helps Katjaa with the man for a moment before he leaves and checks up on everyone while also trying to figure out who to give the last piece of food to. He goes over to Mark and Larry, who was yelling at Mark, and asked if they needed any help. Larry at first said now but Mark said that they could use the axe, so Lee hands the axe to Mark. Larry, of course, had to be an ass about it and Mark told him that being a racist is outdated. Larry gets angry about this and told them to leave him alone.

Lee rolls his eyes and gives the last food to Mark, who thanks him. Lee sighs as he goes over to the RV. "Not such an easy job, is it?" Lilly said to him. "Never said it was." Lee replied, honestly. "I don't envy you. I don't know how you have the strength to do this every day."

"I don't have a choice." Lilly said, shrugging, as Kenny comes up to Lee.
"Kenny, I know I ran out of food before-" Lee started to say but Kenny cuts him off. "Hey, it was a tough choice, but you took care of the kids. That's what a real man does. You might earn yourself a place on the RV after all. Still, I guess some people aren't gonna be happy with your choices."

"You're out?! What happened to my food?!?!" Larry asked, angrily.

"There's none left." Lee replied. "You keep treating people like this and your days in this group are numbered." Larry sneers. "You're one to talk, old man!" Kenny spat. "Yeah, well I don't see you working on that wall!" Larry shouts and he turns away and heads back to the wall.

"Ken! Lee! Come here, please." Katjaa calls out. The two men make their way towards her as Kenny asks. "He didn't make it, did he?" Katjaa shook her head as she says. "He....lost too much blood."

"Damn it!" Kenny grumbles before he walks away. "I'm getting sick of this shit!"

"Ken, come back! There's nothing--" Katjaa started to say until Lee talks over her. "Let him go, Katjaa."
"But..." she started to say. "He just needs time. It's been a rough morning." Lee replied. "That man you brought....I tried, but he was never going to survive." She said. "Well...at least he's not our problem anymore." said Lee. "What about the other kid?" Katjaa asked, pointing at the teenager.

Before Lee could speak, suddenly the dead man comes up and grabs Katjaa. She screams as Lee runs to her aide. "Shit!! Katjaa!!" And he pulls the walker off of Katjaa. She runs away as Lee shouts at Mark. "The Axe! Hurry!" Then the Walker grabs Lee and pulls him towards itself.

Lee tried to bash its head on the side of the truck before Mark came to the side and raised the axe. Lee shoves the Walker back and Mark swings but misses as the Walker moves. "Shit! It's stuck!" Mark exclaims as he tries to pull the axe out of the back window of the truck while the Walker goes after Lee, who backs away from it until he falls onto the pavement.

The Walker falls on top of Lee and he holds the head away from him until Carley comes up and shoots it in the head. Lee shoves it away from him as Carley kneels down to him. "You okay?" She asked with concern. "Yeah. Thanks." Lee said to her.

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place, asshole?!" Larry shouts at Lee, angrily.

"Dad, calm down!"

"You're gonna get us all killed!"

Kenny hugs his wife just as the teen walks up to see his dead teacher. Kenny glares at him and asked. "Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!"
The kid jumps in surprise and shock as he asked. "What?"

"He was bitten and you didn't say a damn word!!" Kenny growled. "But he wasn't bitten! I swear!" The kid said. "Well your not-bitten friend here came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" Keeny shouts. "What?!!! Wait..." the teen looks around at everyone before he says. "...y'all don't know?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny asked him. "It's not the bite that does it!" The kid reveals. "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."

"We're all infected? Everyone?" Lee
asked as everyone stares at the teen in shock and horror. "I--I guess so. I don't know....all I know is that I've seen people turn who I know were never bitten. When j first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in the gym and everyone 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 the. Someon went in the girls' room the next morning and, God..." the teen said.

Everyone was silent, reeling from this information, until Carley shouts. "Back off!" Everyone jumps and turns to see two men just outside of the wall, Carley had her gun drawn on them. "Woah, lady, relax! Me and my brother, we...we just want to know if y'all can help us out." The man in the striped long sleeved shirt and jeans said as he holds up a gas can. "I said back off!" Carley orders.

"Are you armed?" Lee asked.

"Yeah...for protection...dead could be anywhere." The other man with a blue shirt and tan pants replied. "But, uh, I think you've got the upper hand here." The first man said.

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked the men. "Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity..." the second man replied.

"Our generators run on gas. Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If y'all be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade." said the first man.

"How are y'all doing on food? We got plenty at the dairy." said the second man as everyone's ears perked up at this. Lilly looks over at Lee and said. "Lee, why don't you and Mark check the place out, see if it's legit."

"I'm going with you. I got your back if anything seems fishy." Carley said as she puts down her gun. "But mom..." you said as you run up to her. She kneels down and said. "It'll be okay, sweetheart."

"So, uh, what are y'all thinking?" The first man asked. "You've got a deal." Lee replied. "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."

"Sounds fair. A couple of gallons should power one of our generators for a while." The first man said.

(A/N: Fun fact the man that does the voice for Andy St. John, also does the voice for Bigby in The Wolf Among Us.)