Lee watched with a critical eye as a walker devoured a small rabbit, that would have become their food anyway. Lee slowly stood up, as Mark shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat. Lee then raised the axe above his head, before bringing it back down onto the walker's skull, and the undead creature slumped forward, producing no more noise.
Mark then walked forward, and the bespectacled man shook his head as he inspected the mess of guts and blood. "Damn, what'd they get this time," Mark asked, disappointed that they didn't acquire another meal.
"Looks like a rabbit," Lee muttered, and he too stared longingly at the deceased animal.
"Well…that's another meal lost," Mark sighed, and the two began walking through the forest, which was vibrant with the sounds of insects and birds "I can't believe we went through that commissary food in three months…it seemed like so much at the time…"
"Maybe you shouldn't have opened the door," Lee suggested, monotone, and although he didn't mean for his words to have ill intent, the dark skinned man saw that as Mark's face flashed guiltily that the Caucasian man had perceived it that way.
"Yeah, except I'd probably be food by now," Mark defended softly, his grip on his gun not slacking at all "trust me, I have no regrets." Lee couldn't hold it against the other man; Lee would've done the same.
"Well that's hardly a meal Mark, but I'd take it," Lee shrugged, and with a grumble of his empty stomach, the dark skinned man added "we're all hungry."
"Last night, I heard Kenny and Lilly arguing, again," Mark said quietly, as he scanned the surrounding area for walkers "they never stop, do they?" Lee let a gentle smile appear on his face, and he nodded.
"Can you blame them," Lee replied, listening out for any potential meals or for anything that would make the two men potential meals "both headstrong..both thing they're right..and if you add in the fact that everyone's hungry, then you got a recipe for disaster.." Mark nodded in agreement.
"I wish we knew for sure how much food we have left," Mark muttered, yet her ignored his hunger so he didn't come off as needy. He knew there were hungrier people in the group.
"Not enough," Lee said vaguely, his eyebrows furrowing and a frown slipping onto his face "according to Lilly, we've just about hit the last of our food reserves. Some people might have to go without tonight." It was true. Lilly had pulled Lee aside last week and urged him to take any morsel of food he could, as they were nearing the end of the food they had attained. Last time anyone had ate was yesterday, and that was the kids, Lilly and Katjaa. It was an arbitrary system they had. It was all up to whoever was distributing the food.
"You mean Lilly's lottery again," Mark questioned, and Lee nodded in response "Kenny's gonna be pissed." That would be a surprise to no one, as the most minor of provocations sent the two into a spiral of arguing.
"Lilly thinks everyone should have an equal chance of missing a meal," Lee stated, and the dark skinned man himself disagreed. He thought that the kids shouldn't go without and only rarely should they miss a meal.
"You think Kenny's havin' any more luck than we are out here," Mark mused. Lee certainly hoped so, because then there'd be a slender chance that everybody would be able to eat tonight.
"I sure hope so," Lee vocalised his feelings.
"Yeah, between the lack of food and Kenny and Lilly fighting all the time, things are getting pretty tense back at the motor inn," Mark stated "Kenny's been talking about taking off if he can get that RV running." The vehicle in question was the catalyst for most of the arguments in the motor inn. Lilly proclaimed that remaining in a stable environment was the best bet they had, but Kenny had retaliated that they can't make any progress in any way if they stayed in one place.
"He's got a wife and son to look out for," Lee sighed, and the faces of Duck and Katjaa flashed in his mind.
"And they're safest in a big group," Mark said, and his words were said somewhat pointedly "going out on his own will get them all killed." Lee shuddered to think what that would do to the irritable Floridian.
"Can't blame him though," Mark continued "did you hear Larry go off on him last night? What's the old guy's deal anyway? Seems like he's got a problem with you in particular." Lee pondered a response. He didn't want to incite drama between the members of the group, but he longed to let out his frustrations about the elderly man.
"He thinks I'm a danger to the group; and Clementine," Lee said, somewhat sadly. Lee didn't want to divulge why Larry thought such a thing about him, but he wasn't lying. Larry had said that before. Lee would never hurt Clementine, or any of the group, for that matter.
"I think he's the one putting us in danger," Mark uttered his own to cents about the divisive man, as he gazed at a lone bird flying overhead "the way Lilly worries about his health..I wouldn't be surprised if he started skimming rations for him. And I know Lilly thinks he's getting weaker, but the guy's all muscle! He's a walking pile driver. I know I wouldn't wanna be stuck in a room with him. Didn't he punch you in the face one time?" Admittedly, if Lilly did start showing bias towards her father, Lee wouldn't have too much sympathy for the chestnut haired woman if Kenny turned on her.
"Knocked me flat," Lee said, somewhat venomously, staring at the ground, recalling the incident. Before Lee could say anything else, Mark suddenly surged forward and dove behind a rock, with Lee following, but less urgently.
Mark aimed at a bird, which sat in a tree, not realising the danger it was in. Lee stared at Mark curiously before uttering "can you make the shot? I'd hate to waste the bullets.."
"I wouldn't shoot if I couldn't make it," Mark retorted, with good a good natured smirk, before lining up the shot, and pulling the trigger. However, the crow quickly flew off, as the sound of the gunshot echoed into the wood. Before anything else could be said or done, a loud, female, yell suddenly echoed through the area.
"AHH!"
"A-A woman? Is Lilly out here," Mark stuttered, shocked and confused at the sudden development "should we go help her?!"
"Let's go check it out first, see if we can help or Kenny's there first," Lee said, his mind running a mile a minute "c'mon!" And with that, the two men sprinted through the wood, dodging the undergrowth, and their weapons readied to kill.
The run through the forest was tense and Lee could hear his heartbeat in his ears. There was no activity in either of the men's vision and they couldn't hear anything besides their own panting and their footsteps crushing whatever they landed on. The same female voice rang out again, and Lee and Mark continued running in the direction of the voice.
Eventually they stumbled on Kenny, however he was accompanied by nine unknown people, one of whom was in the clutches of a bear trap. The woman in the bear trap was being talked to by a Hispanic man, and a pre-teen girl, presumably her daughter, was rocking back and forth against a rock, while she was talked to by a larger woman.
"Jesus Christ," Mike uttered, and Kenny whipped around to meet them, his face contorted in an expression that was a mixture of confusion, anger and exhaustion.
"Lee! Mark! Thank Christ you're here," Kenny exclaimed, as two men, one with hazel eyes and hair and the other with a black mullet, turned to face him, a gun in each of their grips "I-I don't know what to do! These folks are tryna free this woman, Maria I think her name is? She got caught in a bear trap, and we're tryna free her, but I don't think it's lookin' good…"
"Be quiet," the Hispanic man snapped, and checked the woman's ankle, and as he spoke to her, his voice softened "Maria, your ankle may have to be amputated if we get out of her quickly. Not unless this bear trap can be damaged enough." Maria, at the mention of her ankle being severed, went pale, but quickly quelled the fear. However, a dark skinned woman then stepped forward, her eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure Carlos? I mean, this guy has an axe! Maybe he can cut the chain," she advised, gesturing to Lee and his weapon "it's worth a shot!" Carlos turned to Lee, and stood up, approaching Lee.
"Hello, my name is Carlos," Carlos introduced himself, then gestured to the woman "that is my wife Maria. That is our daughter, Sarah." Carlos gestured to the almost comatose teenager, and the woman who had been comforting her, stood up with a warm smile on her face.
"Hey there! My name's Jessie, but you can just call me Jess," she said, and gestured to the chain "if you wouldn't mind, could you help free my friend?" Lee was stunned and somewhat unnerved by the woman's nonchalant tone, but nonetheless, Lee obliged, mostly out of fear for what this new group would do.
"Stand back-"
"Shit! Lurkers," the black haired man yelled, and raised his gun, and the Hazel haired man beside him copied his actions, and a larger, dark skinned man and a white haired man did the same. Kenny turned to Lee as Mark join the men and began firing.
"We'll cover you; just get that woman outta there," Kenny yelled, and soon, the six men were mowing down walkers with their firearms, and Carlos knelt next to Maria.
"Maria, I won't lie to you," Carlos sighed and brushed Maria's hair from her face "this will hurt. But just scream your heart out, because the lurker's already know we're here. And squeeze my hand, ok?" Maria nodded, biting back tears, as Jesse and the dark skinned woman from earlier blocked Sarah from witnessing such a thing.
Lee raised his axe with a churning feeling in his stomach, before bringing it down just above where the woman's ankle was caught. Maria let out a horrendous screech, as Carlos kept his hand on her stomach and held back tears. "Just h-hold on Maria, ok," Carlos uttered, as he squeezed Maria's hand gently.
Lee removed the axe from the deep incision made in Maria's leg, before seining it back down mercilessly. Maria then emitted a guttural roar, as the incision was made deeper. Carlos didn't say anything, but instead placed a kiss against Maria's forehead, which was dripping with sweat. Jesse was covering Sarah's ears, while the dark skinned woman kept watch in case a walker stumbled upon them.
Lee then stood back up, and removed the axe again, and blood poured from the wound, and Maria flopped bad, exhausted and crying weakly. "Please…just cut it off," Maria begged, not even having the energy to writhe in pain. Lee closed his eyes, before bringing the axe down again on the open wound.
Finally, the bone gave away and tendons and muscles were severed, and Maria was free. Carlos immediately picked her up, careful not to irritate the wound, and the men then started to fall back. "Ok, let's get out of here," Kenny exclaimed "you can come back to ours, but then you have to leave once Maria's better!" Carlos nodded, before the large group started running, except for Sarah who was being carried by the Hazel haired man.
Lilly is not going to be happy.
Yeah so I know there's two stories now, but I had this idea and had to get it out of my system! Ben is not found in the forest and instead is replaced with the cabin group, and the members of said group will be younger and Rebecca will not be pregnant, as that only occurred during her initial stay at Carver's Camp. Other than that, thank you!