Welcome back to Second Chances. I hope you all enjoy chapter four.

Second Chances

Chapter 4: Lucky Break


Shepard slowly approached the walker she had spotted from behind. She got right behind it and put it down with her ax in one smooth motion.

It died instantly and silently.

"Damn it. What'd they get this time?" Mark asked as he walked up behind Shepard.

"A rabbit." Shepard answered

"Well, that's another meal lost." Mark sighed

The pair walked off, wanting to be rid of the smell of dead walker.

"I still can't believe that we went through that commissary food in two months. It seemed like so much at the time."

"Maybe you shouldn't have opened the door." Shepard suggested

"Yeah, except I'd probably BE food by now. Trust me, I have no regrets."

"A rabbit isn't much of a meal, but I'd take almost anything right now." Shepard muttered

"No kidding."

There was a minute of silence as they continued on, looking for something to hunt.

"When I accidentally grabbed for Carley's rations the other night, I thought she was going to take my hand off!" Mark said

"We're all on edge, cut her some slack."

"Yeah, you're right. I wish I knew for sure how much food we have left." Mark commented

"You'll have to talk to Lilly, she's handling the rations." Shepard remarked

When Lilly volunteered for that job Shepard had been tempted to stop her, after all it was easy when there was lots of food around … but the second things got bad everyone would start to turn on her.

Which is exactly what happened.

The only thing that had stopped was that she had other issues to focus on at the time. Mainly getting their water stores at a more comfortable level, which she had.

"Or mishandling it if you ask Kenny." Mark replied

"He's worried about Duck getting enough to eat. I worry about the same thing for Clementine."

"I noticed when you tried to smuggle food to her without her seeing, again." Mark chuckled

"Yeah, the operative word being TRIED. I don't understand how such a little girl can be so perceptive at times." Shepard sighed

Ever since Clem had caught her that time right after they rescued Mark, Clementine seemed to become hyper-aware of her food. Shepard had only succeeded half a dozen times between then and now.

The only good thing that came out of that whole situation was that Clementine was learning to become very aware, which would be something that she was going to need these days.

"You think Kenny is having more luck out here than we are out here?"

"I sure hope so." Shepard replied

"Yeah, between the lack of food and Kenny and Lilly fighting all the time, things are getting pretty tense at the Motel. You know Kenny's been talking about taking off if he can get that RV working." Mark stated

"Kenny won't abandon us. He's a good man, just a bit rash at times."

"I guess we'll see." Mark replied

There was a hint of doubt in Mark's words though.

"I can't blame him, though – did you hear Larry going off on him last night?" Mark asked

Who didn't hear that? I thought walkers were going to break through the gate.

"What's the old guy's deal, anyway? Seems like he's got a problem with you in particular." Mark continued

"Larry has had it out for me ever since I beat the shit out of him in front of everyone." Shepard replied

"Well, he needs to find a way to get over that and start finding a way to pull his weight. Heart problems or no, we should all be out looking for food. And I know Lilly thinks he's getting weaker, but the guy's all muscle! He's a walking pile driver! I know that I wouldn't want to be locked in a room with him." Mark exclaimed

Shepard looked through some of bushes, looking for small animals.

"I don't know how you got in a fight with that guy and won." Mark remarked

"Well I doubt I'd be Special Forces if I lost to everyone that was bigger than me." Shepard chuckled

Mark chuckled as well, until he saw something.

He sprinted to a nearby toppled tree and used it to help steady his aim.

Shepard quickly joined him.

Shepard could already make out what Mark had seen, a bird.

It was too small to be practical.

"Don't. Gunshot will bring the walkers and it's not worth the headache for a bird that small." Shepard ordered

Mark sighed and lowered his weapon.

"Yeah, I know … I'm just … really frickin' hungry."

A very pained scream rang out, scaring off the bird.

"Shit! Was that Kenny!?" Mark yelled

"I don't know. Come on!" Shepard barked

The pair tore through the woods towards the origin of the scream.

Shepard took a moment to try and figure out which direction the scream had come from.

The scream rang out again, letting them correct their course.

They ended up in a large clearing, where there was a total of three people. All of them strangers.

When they got close Shepard recognized some sort of trap, which had caught the oldest person in the group.

He was letting out pained groans.

He was conscious, and his injury looked very painful.

"Jesus Christ …" Mark whispered

Their whole group turned to them.

"Oh Shit! No. No … please don't kill us! We just want to help our teacher! We've leave, I swear!" The kid with black hair said quickly

Kenny burst from the bushes.

"Shepard! You guys ok?" Kenny asked

"Get if off! Get it off, God Damn it, get it off me!" The trapped man screamed

"Travis, maybe they can help!" the blonde kid said

"These might be the same guys that raided our camp … and we barely got away from that!" Travis answered

"What the Hell happened?!" Shepard asked

"Mr. Parker said we should stay off the streets! We were trying to be careful but …"

Mr. Parker let out a particularly pained groan.

"Shepard, this is fucked up! We've gotta help them!" Mark stated

"PLEASE!" The blonde kid exclaimed

"Ben, shut up! My dad was Special Forces, I know what I'm doing!" Travis yelled

"That sort of thinking doesn't work when the other person IS Special Forces." Shepard stated

The two kids paled a bit.

"Just see if you can get him out! After that you can leave us or whatever, I don't care! Please!" Ben begged

"We've gotta get him out of there!" Shepard said to her people

"Oh God thank you."

"Shepard, this trap's been altered. It doesn't have a release latch." Mark said frantically

Shit

"Oh no." Travis muttered

Shepard looked up and noticed the problem immediately.

Walkers were coming from everywhere.

"Cover my back."

"Fine, just hurry." Kenny stated as he took aim at the first walker.

Mark was right, the release latch was missing.

Shepard yanked at the chain but that was surprisingly sturdy. Whoever had set this thing knew what they were doing. The trap was also in good condition so Shepard wasn't able to break its components off.

Shepard tried to peel the thing of his foot, but she was weak with the lack of food. It didn't work.

That only left one solution.

Shepard pulled out her axe.

"No please, check the chain again!" The man frantically screamed

"I'm sorry, no other choice."

Shepard crouched down and used a piece of cloth and a thick branch that was on the ground as a tourniquet.

Shepard stood back up.

The walkers were almost on them.

Shepard swung, cutting though his entire leg in two swings.

He passed out.

Mark turned towards Shepard.

"Is he ..."

"He passed out." Shepard replied as she lifted him onto her shoulders in an advanced fireman's carry.

"If he's alive then grab him and let's go."

"Let's go!" Shepard screamed.

She watched as Kenny and Mark disappeared into the bush.

The kid name Ben was also right behind her.

That was one person short.

Travis was puking by a lone tree, probably because of the man's leg.

Walkers were right behind him.

"TRAVIS!" Ben screamed as he moved to help.

Shepard managed to grab his arm before he could go.

He's already dead.

Travis turned to realize that he was cornered, and as Shepard had guessed he panicked, leaving him an easy target for the walkers.

Travis was overpowered and consumed.

Shepard was sick of kids dying in front of her.

Shepard bolted back towards the Motel, with Ben right behind her.

When they had caught up to Kenny and Mark they had just about reached the Motel.

Shepard emerged from the bushes to find herself standing in front of the Motel.

"OPEN THE GATES! WE HAVE WOUNDED!" Shepard yelled out

The gates were almost immediately opened.

Shepard rushed, ignoring most of the comments as she lowered the man into the back of a pickup truck.

Katjaa was at her side almost instantly and the two of them set to work.

It was strange being considered the best doctor among the group.

During N7 training at the Villa one of the many required courses was First-Aid. Shepard had been very well suited to it, not panicking at the sight of blood and her almost inborn inability to panic.

Her training came in handy in situations like this.

The problem was that Shepard was no Chakwas, and she didn't even have Medi-gel. The medical supplies they had to work with were ... inferior.

It certainly didn't help that Shepard had removed this man's leg with an axe that she had killed several walkers with, one five minutes before the hasty amputation.

She had wiped it as best as she could beforehand but there was no way to know if this man had been infected until a few days later.

Shepard would be watching him carefully.

It took about ten minutes but they stabilized him. The tourniquet certainly had helped matters.

Shepard wiped the blood off her hands on a nearby towel that was brought out for them.

"Shepard!"

Shepard turned to see a very angry Lilly.

"Something wrong?" Shepard asked, faking ignorance.

"What the Hell! You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!"

"Hey! You wanna calm down for a fucking minute?!" Kenny angrily retorted

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Larry yelled

"No, I don't! I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea?!" Lilly screamed

"He would have died if we left him." Shepard explained, her nerves starting to fray.

"So what?" Larry asked coldly

Ugh

"We are NOT responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We have to focus on OUR group! Right here. Right now." Lilly said

Lilly's hand got dangerously close to Shepard's face as she ranted. Lilly was lucky that Shepard hadn't taken it off.

"Well, hang on. We haven't even talked to these people yet! Maybe they can be helpful!" Carley noted

Shepard gave Carley a small grin for the assistance.

"Come on, Lilly. These are people! People trying to survive just like us. We've gotta stick together to survive!" Mark said

If that line of reasoning didn't work on the Council is sure as Hell isn't going to work on Lilly.

"The only reason you're here is because you had food. Enough for ALL of us. But that food is almost gone, we've got maybe a week's worth left, and I don't suppose any of you are carrying groceries, are you!?" Lilly sneered

"No" Ben answered lamely

"Fine. You guys fight it out, then. Welcome to the family, kid." Mark said as he left

"Come over here and see what I drew." Clementine told Ben, obviously trying to get him away from Lilly and Larry.

"What? No I …"

"Just come on, ok." Clementine replied

Clementine pulled him away.

Shepard gave Clementine a small smile to show her appreciation.

"You know, you like to think you're the leader of this little group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship!" Kenny said accusingly at Lilly

"Oh, come on! You're being dramatic! Everything always turns into a power struggle between you two. I'm not going to be a part of that." Carley spat as she took her turn to leave

"Hey! I didn't ask to lead this group. Everyone was happy to have me distributing the food when there was enough to go around, but now that it's running out, suddenly I'm a goddamn Nazi!" Lilly retorted

To be honest Lilly was right, at least about the food part.

"This is all a little irrelevant. If we don't get food soon it won't matter who the Hell is in charge." Shepard pointed out

"No, Shepard, 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 to have to decide what side you're on!" Kenny ranted right before he left.

Shepard sighed.

I should have dealt with this problem before.

Normally Jane was great at making sure people didn't kill each when they had to work together … Jack and Miranda were perfect examples. However, this time she had been so focused on Clementine that she ignored a real problem, and now it had blown out of proportion. It would take some serious work to fix this.

"I don't see any of you stepping up to make the hard decisions! My girl has more balls than all of you combined!" Larry retorted

"Dad, please. Why don't you go help Mark with the wall?" Larry asked

It worked, and soon Larry was walking away, grumbling as he did went.

Lilly soon turned her frustration towards Shepard … again.

"You think this is easy for me?! Everyone's starting to hate me because I'm the one who rations the food. But NOBODY else wants to!" Lilly exclaimed as she walked towards the bag carrying todays rations.

"You know what? I'm not doing it tonight. You do it. There's todays food rations, but there's not enough for everyone. Good luck." Lilly continued as she thrust the food into Shepard's hands.

Shepard looked down at the rations. Two cheese and crackers, half an apple, and a strip of Jerky.

This was their mid-day rations.

Shepard looked up to see everyone eyeing her. They all had this sad hungry look in their eye.

It was heartbreaking to look at.

Shepard had already made her choices however.

Shepard walked over to Clementine, who was drawing near Duck, Carley, and Ben.

Clementine looked up from her picture and smiled at Shepard.

"Hey" Shepard said with a smile.

"Hi, Jane."

"How are you doing?" Shepard asked

"Okay." Clementine said with a shrug, though the tone suggested that she actually meant not that great.

Shepard then noticed that Clementine wasn't wearing her hat.

Shepard cocked her head to the side and asked "Where's your hat?"

"I don't know. Can you help me find it?" Clementine asked

"Of course. When was the last time you had it?"

"I had it a couple of days ago."

"Alright, I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Thank you."

Shepard noticed that Clementine had her walkie-talkie out next to her drawing.

Isn't that thing broken?

"That thing doesn't work anymore does it?" Shepard asked

"No. Not since it broke at the drugstore." Clementine replied sadly

"Just gonna keep it?"

"Yeah. If that's okay. I, uh, need it."

"Fine with me." Shepard replied

"It's nice to think that maybe my mom can find me."

Shepard frowned slightly.

"I'm not stupid, Jane. I know it's just pretend. But it makes me feel better." Clementine explained

Jane nodded. She could understand how something like that could help was interesting to note that she didn't mention her dad. Knowing Clementine she already knew that her dad had been bitten by a walker, not some crazy dude, as her mother had said on the radio. It was sad to know that Clementine already knew when to give up hope. That was something a child should never know how to do.

"Are you sure everything is alright? You seemed pretty down the first time I asked."

"Yeah. Is that man going to be ok?"

"I'm not sure." Shepard replied honestly

Sure they had managed to stop the bleeding but there was the possibility for infection, from the axe and the elements.

"I hope he will." Clementine replied

Shepard was about to respond when Clementine continued.

"I'm so hungry, Jane. I hope I get to eat soon."

Shepard pulled out the half apple from her pocket.

"Here" Shepard said

Clementine's face lit up instantly.

"I love apples. Thank you. Are there more?"

"No sweetie. That was the last one."

"Oh, um …"

Clementine eyed the apple regretfully. She tried giving it back to Shepard.

Shepard chuckled.

Clementine was such a sweet girl.

"Enjoy it. You deserve it." Shepard said

Clementine nodded … hesitantly.

Shepard gave Clementine a quick hug before getting back up.

Duck was the next person to receive food, getting a piece of jerky. Which he took the same way he took just about everything … with a contagious smile.

Shepard pulled a nearby seat next to the one Carley was sitting in.

"Hey, Shepard. You alright? Lilly went down pretty hard on you."

Shepard shrugged.

Compared to most things she'd been through that wasn't really that bad. It was just irritating.

"Lilly has a right to voice her concerns. I just wish she would be ... more tactful about it." Shepard carefully replied

Carley snorted.

"You doing alright?" Shepard asked

"Good enough, just wish that Kenny and Lilly could get over their issues."

"Don't we all?"

"Apparently they don't." Carley replied

Shepard nodded.

Shepard held out a thing of cheese and crackers.

"I know you said I don't owe you anything … but I want you to have it." Carley

Shepard sighed.

"Bye Carley." Shepard said, she knew there was no point in arguing further.

Doug was near the wall … messing with some bells.

Shepard approached.

"Hey, Doug."

Doug hit his head on the bells as he rose up.

"AH! What's up Shepard?" Doug said when he was finally standing.

"What's that?" Shepard said, pointing towards the bells.

"I've worked up a little 'warning system' for outside."

"How does it work?"

"I set up trip-lines at four locations, and each one triggers one of these four bells. So …"

"So we'll know where they are and how long until they get here. Smart." Shepard said

Shepard always liked Doug. He was a hardworking man, and he had some great ideas. In fact the only thing he lacked was firearm training. However, the group was pretty solid in that department.

Shepard held out a cheese and crackers.

"I want you to have it, I owe you more than a cheese and crackers."

Shepard sighed.

Doug and Carley never let it go that she had saved their lives once.

It was appreciated but it made doing things for them much more difficult than it had to be.

"I'm assuming that's your final answer." Shepard stated

Doug nodded.

"Ugh … Carley gave me the same explanation. You guys are a little too generous and thankful some times to fit in this group. See you later Doug." Shepard chuckled

Doug nodded and went back to work.

Larry and Mark were working nearby.

Shepard approached Larry.

"Will you hold the damn board steady?" Larry demanded

"I'm trying. I didn't realize I was getting this weak already." Mark explained

"What do you want? A handout. I've got sixty cents in my pocket if you'll shut up and stop being such a pansy." Larry retorted coldly

"Hey, back off Larry. Unlike you he hasn't had that much food in a while." Shepard sneered

Larry gave her a death glare, which she returned with her own.

They were like that for a minute or two.

"You need to talk to Lilly about getting along with Kenny." Shepard stated, moving the conversation along.

"Lilly can make her own friends."

"It's not about making friends, it's about working together. They are going to tear this place apart if they don't get their act together soon." Shepard explained forcefully

"Eh, stuff all that. We'd be fine without you." Larry retorted

Shepard felt her teeth clench, she was determined not to start a fight though.

"Lilly thinks we should throw these new people out." Shepard continued

"Damn right. There's too many people hanging around here as it is."

"Need any help with the wall?" Shepard asked

"Nope."

"Actually, we could use your axe. Mind if we take it?" Mark asked

"Yeah, give us that thing for a bit." Larry said in agreement with Mark.

"Here, Mark. This should help." Shepard said as she passed on the axe.

"Thanks"

"Hey, I'm the one doing all the work over here. You didn't think to give ME the axe?" Larry replied

Shepard should have realized that she would have offended Larry.

"Come on, Larry. Give it a rest. I know that Shepard might have beaten you down that ONE time but we need to work together now."

Larry grumbled before returning back to work.

At least he didn't try to deny it.

Shepard could respect that a small amount.

Before Mark went back to it Shepard passed him a cheese and crackers.

"Thanks"

Shepard was left with one more piece of food.

She could eat it.

Others have gone longer without food than me.

Shepard stashed it in her pocket and headed back to Carley.

Shepard held out the food to Carley again.

"Shepard, you need to eat. You should have it." Caley stated

"I'm fine, you need to eat." Shepard responded

Carley looked over to Clementine.

Don't you dare.

"Clem, can you help me out."

"Jane, when was the last time you ate. I don't even remember the last time Lilly gave you food." Clementine said immediately, like she was waiting to be asked her opinion.

Shepard was about to answer when Carley did it for her.

"Yesterday."

Clementine gave Carley a confused look.

Shepard winced, knowing what was about to happen.

Yesterday, Shepard passed on a pair of cheese sticks to Clementine, pretending that they were for the eight year old.

"Those cheese sticks were supposed to be for Shepard." Carley said, sealing Shepard's fate.

Clementine looked back at Jane with a face full of hurt and anger.

"You said they were mine." Clementine stated, a hurt tone coloring her words

"Clem, I …"

Clementine just started at her with those puppy dog eyes.

"Eat … please." Clementine begged

Shepard submitted to Clementine's wishes.

Shepard felt extremely guilty as she wolfed the food down.

She looked back at Carley.

"Bitch."

Carley smile was ear to ear.

"Swear" clementine said

Shepard sighed and went back to Lilly.

"Not so easy, huh."

"Never said it was, actually." Shepard remarked

Kenny soon joined her.

"Kenny I'm sorry …"

"Hey, it was a tough choice, but you took care of the kids. Still, I guess some people aren't gonna be happy about your choices."

"You're out?! What happened to my food?" Larry demanded

"There's none left."

"You keep treating people like this and your days in this group are numbered!"

"You're one to talk old man." Kenny retorted

"Yeah, well I don't see you working on that wall!"

"And I don't see you looking for food with the rest of us." Shepard retorted

Larry stormed away in rage. Kenny sighed and also took his leave.

Shepard looked back up to Lilly.

"I wanted to let you know that not everyone hates you for doing the best you can. You actually have my respect for it."

Lilly tried to hide it but Shepard saw relief and a bit of joy creep into her features.

"Shepard. Kenny" Katjaa called

They both answered quickly.

"How is he?" Kenny asked

"He's good for now but that could change quickly. Can you two take him to one of the rooms?" Katjaa asked

The pair brought him back to one of the back rooms.

Normally this room was their store house for food but … it still was in a way. It was just an empty store house now.

Shepard put him gently on the bed.

"Thanks, you know … for everything."

Shepard turned to see Ben at the door.

Kenny didn't say anything, choosing this moment to leave.

"You're welcome, and don't worry about what Lilly said. I'll make sure she doesn't kick you out."

Ben nodded and left.

Shepard closed the door to the room, leaving Mr. Parker to recover.

Shepard spent the next few hours cleaning their weapons. She had been imposing this task on herself more and more lately. By the time she was done the sun was starting to set.

Kenny took his place for the night-shift tonight.

Shepard was relieved that it wasn't her tonight, she was exhausted.

Shepard slowly crawled into bed.

She closed her eyes when she felt a familiar smaller body wrap around Shepard's midsection.

"Still mad at me?" Shepard asked

"No" Clementine whispered

"Good" Shepard said with a smile

"Is that man ok?"

"For now. He wasn't conscious last time I saw."

"What are we going to do with them?"

"I'm assuming you mean the new people. I don't know really. Lilly and Larry want to kick them out, but … I'm not sure I can do that. What do you think?"

"I think they should stay."

"Why?" Shepard asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"It is. Don't worry I'll make sure Lilly doesn't do anything drastic."

Shepard smiled at the thought that Clementine still had her better nature despite everything that had happened so far.

The same could not be said for either Lilly or Larry or Kenny. It was an unfortunate truth that bad situations could turn decent people into monsters. Not that they were there yet. But they were all on the road to it.

It was something that Shepard was afraid she was going to become.

Ever since she had become a Spectre, Shepard had always played on the side of morally right. It was a rule that she stuck by when everything else failed. Some people called her weak for it, saying that she couldn't do what needed to be done. But in the end everything that she had done had paid off.

But here, there was no sign of the end. It had been three months and the military never showed up. So either they had been abandoned or this was happening everywhere.

Shepard shuddered at the thought that this could be happening everywhere.

Shepard relaxed and soon was asleep.


Shepard awoke to the sounds of yelling.

Shepard sighed.

Shepard was surprised that Clementine wasn't still sleeping, in fact she wasn't in the room.

Shepard quickly pulled on her clothes and headed back outside.

As expected there was an argument.

It was slightly surprising to see it wasn't Kenny who was arguing with Lilly.

Since it was Carley it wasn't that surprising either.

Shepard made her way down.

"Damn it, Carley! That isn't yours to give."

"I just thought the guy who lost his LEG could at least have a snack bar. Are you really so cold as you won't allow that?"

"He's not our problem!"

"Of course he is! He's missing a fucking LEG! He can't leave even IF we wanted them to." Carley continued

Shepard immediately pushed her way in between the two, before something happened.

"Lilly come on, the least we could do is part with ONE snack bar. It won't make a huge difference."

"Well then someone needs to forfeit their rations for the day. Do you think that anyone is going to do that?"

There was only silence.

Lilly smiled smugly.

"I will."

Shepard turned to look at Clementine.

"Clem-"

"I've had food for the last two days." Clementine pointed out.

Shepard gave Clem a disapproving look.

"Ugh, fine. You guys want to waste food on strangers go ahead." Lilly sneered before she stormed off

Carley shook her head disapprovingly at Lilly's retreating form.

"Thanks for the help." Carley said

"No problem." Shepard replied

Shepard turned back towards Clementine to see her giving the snack-bar to Mr. Parker.

Shepard smiled at Clementine's generosity. It showed just how selfless she was.

She just wished Clem could have done that and eat.

Clementine walked back to her when she was done speaking to Mr. Parker.

Shepard crouched down.

"That was a nice thing for you to do." Shepard said

"It seemed like the right thing to do."

"It was, and I'm proud of you for having the courage to do that."

Clementine beamed at the compliment.

"I'll going to go talk to Mr. Parker. I'll come back when I'm done."

Clementine nodded and went towards Duck.

Shepard made her way over to Mr. Parker.

"Is there anything else you need?" Shepard asked

"No … I'm fine, well as fine as I can be."

Shepard nodded.

She was glad he wasn't yelling at her for taking the leg off.

"Have you been introduced to everyone?" Shepard asked

He shook his head.

Shepard took a moment of point everyone out for him. Being a teacher he had some experience with having to learn people's names fast.

"So what were you doing in the woods?"

Mr. Parker paused.

"Running."

"From?"

"There … there were these bandits that raided our camp. They rounded up all of us and separated the men and the woman."

Shepard did not like where this was going.

"They … they made us watch as they … raped a few of my students to death. Once that was done they took everything of value and sent us off."

Shepard sighed. She wasn't surprised that shit like this was going down.

That was the scary part. That she wasn't surprised.

Disasters really did bring out the inner monsters in people.

"I'm sorry. I can't even imagine what that was like. Did Ben …"

"Yes"

Shepard sighed again.

Shepard decided to move on, there was no point staying on this topic.

"My name is Shepard by the way. Forgot to mention."

"David"

"Well you can feel safe here. We rarely have to deal with walkers … and never bandits. You and Ben will be safe here."

David looked surprised by that revelation.

"You're not …"

"Going to kick you out? No, I'm not. Don't worry about Lilly and Larry. Their bark is worse than their bite. I'm not going to leave a kid and an injured man out there." Shepard replied

Thank you" David sighed in relief

Shepard nodded.

"If you need anything, just ask me or Carley."

"I was wondering, do you have anything I can use to … walk."

David had a hard time saying that last part and she didn't blame him.

Shepard racked her brain for ideas.

Shepard snapped her fingers as a light bulb went off.

"Yeah, I'll be right back."

Shepard quickly got the pair of crutches that were in the garbage pile in the back of the Motel.

Originally there wasn't anything to use them for so they just tossed them in the back.

Shepard helped David adjust the crutches until it fit his height.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Shepard nodded.

Shepard turned to leave.

"Thank you, for everything that you've done for me and Ben." David said

Shepard turned back and gave him a small smile.

DING!

Shepard turned to see that one of Doug's alarms had gone off.

Everyone crouched down.

Shepard made her way to Doug, who was near the tripwire system. Carley joined them.

From where they were she could see a pair of men coming from the right of the Motel. Though one had tripped over the wire, causing the other to help him up.

Carley took the moment to gain the upper hand.

"BACK OFF!"

The pairs head's snapped up to stare at Carley's raised Glock.

"Woah, lady, relax. Me and my brother, we … we just want to know if y'all help us out."

"I said BACK OFF!"

Lilly approached the gate.

"Carley." Lilly whispered

"We don't want trouble." Shepard cut in, being the diplomat … as usual.

"Of course. Neither do we. I'm Andy St. John. This here's my brother Dan. We're just out looking for gasoline. Looks like you folks have the motel locked down, which is fine, but if you could spare any gas we'd be much obliged."

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked

"Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity." Dan answered

That's an interesting idea.

"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."

"How y'all ding on food? We've got plenty back at the dairy."

Shepard felt her stomach grumble at the word food.

"Shepard, why don't you and Mark check the place out, see if it's legit." Lilly suggested

"I'm going with you. I got your back if any thing seems fishy." Carley answered

"Me too. I want to see this fence. Might help with a few ideas I have about the wall." Doug added

"So what y'all thinking?" Andy asked

"We have a deal. We'll bring SOME gas to your dairy. In exchange you'll give us SOME food to take back. We'll see where it goes from there." Shepard replied

"Seems fair. A couple gallons should power one of our generators for a while." Andy answered

Shepard nodded, directing the group that would be going toward the gate.

"Please be careful." Clementine said

"I will, promise." Shepard replied with a mile.

Clementine nodded and gave her a little wave before Shepard left.

The beginning part of the journey was awkward silence as both groups sized each other up. No one had started to shoot, meaning that things were going better than Shepard had expected

I've become rather cynical haven't I?

About an hour later Mark broke the silence.

"So, this dairy … you guys really have food?" Mark asked

"Sure do. We've lost most of the cattle, but we still have lots of milk, butter, and cheese stocked up." Andy answered

"And with the vegetables we grow, we've got plenty of food."

Shepard started to slow down just a bit so that she could talk privately with Doug and Carley.

"It's nice to get away from the Motel for a while. This Lilly/Kenny thing is starting to get ridiculous. Personally I'd be happier if you started to take charge more often." Carley said

"I agree. It would certainly be quieter." Doug replied

Shepard chuckled.

It was strange that Shepard was not automatically associated with being the leader, at least to her. Normally she always took charge and everyone looked to her as the leader. The Reaper War showing that occurrence at the extreme.

Shepard was convinced that subconsciously she had withdrawn from it just a bit. She was sick of being in charge all the time. It was nerve wracking having everyone's lives riding on you. Especially after years of that already.

Shepard knew that she would end up taking back the mantle of leader, but she was determined to enjoy what small comforts she could get while it lasted.

"I mean thank God Shepard showed up when she did!" Mark said to the brothers and Ben.

"Right Shepard?" Mark continued, looking over his shoulder towards her.

"Yeah, why don't you tell us more about yourself, Shepard?" Andy stated as he slowed down to walk next to her. Danny followed Andy's lead.

"Where are you from?" Danny asked

Mindoir.

"Baltimore." Shepard lied

Her mom had been from Baltimore, though.

Andy nodded.

"Y'all seem pretty settled in at that Motel. Who's running things over there?" Andy asked

"Depends who you ask. I'll like to think that we all work together as a group, looking out for each other." Shepard replied

"I hear that! There are so many dumbasses out there fighting each other these days … it's just stupid." Andy remarked

"Who many people y'all got over there?" Danny asked

"Enough to defend ourselves." Shepard answered vaguely

That response had served two purposes. First, to let the brothers know that they were capable of defending themselves. Second, to make sure they didn't know their exact numbers for now, just in case things went to shit.

"Well that's good! It's getting dangerous out there, well, you guys know." Andy replied

Thankfully it didn't sound like he had gotten offended by that answer.

"Well, we'd love to get you all out to the dairy. Like I said we've got plenty of food, and quite frankly, we could always use an extra helping hand." Andy continued

"In the summers, I used to help out on a goat farm." Ben stated

"Yeah, that's great. Everything helps!" Danny replied

"Momma's been running the dairy for as long as I can remember but now it's getting …"

"You think you're going to cut me out of this!?" Someone yelled

"Shit! Get down!" Andy whispered

Everyone crouched down immediately.

They made their way to a small overpass. One that happened to let them see the two strangers they heard arguing.

"No one is trying to cut you out of anything!" the second person replied

"Fucking bandits." Danny whispered

"Who?" Mark asked

"Those guys look like the people that raided my camp." Ben stated

"There's only two of them." Carley whispered

"Oh no, there's a lot more of 'em." Danny answered

"Don't worry. Danny and I got you covered if something happens, but let's just wait this out and hope they move on." Andy said

The first man they heard gave the second a kick to the groin, and a shotgun blast to the chest.

Ben gasped.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!" The man repeated as he continued to shoot his former companion in the chest.

"Jesus!" Carley whispered

The man walked away calling his former brother-in-arms an asshole just before he disappeared.

Damn.

"The world out here has gone to shit. Come on, let's get to the diary where it's safe."

"Wait, that guy didn't scavenge from his buddy. I'll be right back." Shepard said as she took off to grab the man's weapons.

She heard some protests but she was in the open before anyone could do anything.

The man was missing a very large chuck of his chest.

Shepard started to go through his pockets, finding a generous amount of ammunition, when she heard a groan.

Shepard looked up to see the 'man' do the same.

His eyes were glazed and grey like a walker.

It tried to tackle her to the ground but she threw it off in time.

Shepard picked up the man's rifle and beat the walker to death with it.

Did the other guy know that he was bitten?! Was that really why he killed him? Why didn't he destroy the brain?

"You alright?!" Carley asked as she sprinted out of the tree line with everyone else right behind her.

"I'm fine, I'm just surprised our friend here was bitten."

"How do you know he was bitten?" Ben asked

Shepard resisted rolling her eyes.

"Wait … you don't know?" Andy said

"Know what?" Shepard asked

"It's not the bite that does it. You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain that's just what happens." Ben explained

"What … we're all infected?"

"I guess. But I've seen people turn who I KNOW weren't bitten."

Shepard massaged her head. This was a nightmare to hear. Everyone, no matter how you died, came back as a flesh eating nightmare.

At least they head about this before an incident happened.

"We haven't actually run into people for months. No wonder we didn't know." Shepard sighed.

The man had a rifle on him, which Shepard took, and another dozen rounds for it.

It was better than she had been expecting. That other bandit had been an idiot to leave all of this stuff here.

"Let's go." Shepard stated

It was about another thirty minutes before they started to see the outlines of the diary.

"Here it is. St. John's family dairy." Andy stated

Shepard had to admit that this place looked as if the apocalypse had completely missed it.

"Y'all can see how we've kept this place so safe." Andy said as he gestured towards the electric fence, just a touch of pride coloring his tone.

She couldn't blame him, the fence was pretty impressive and a clever idea.

The only problem that she could see would be with the children. By 'children' that meant Duck, Clementine wasn't stupid enough to touch it. Duck however was … Duck.

"The fence keeps them out?" Mark asked

"You betcha. They fry like bugs in a zapper. We're pushing 4000 volts through that thing, with generators and amps." Andy answered

"I'm going to assume that's a lot." Carley muttered

Doug crouched down near the fence to take a look at it.

Shepard guessed that he approved.

"Ever had any accidents?" Shepard asked, already weary of the fence.

The fence itself looked homemade so there was a good chance that things could get bad if someone did something stupid.

"Nah" Danny replied

"It's safer in here than out there." Andy said

"This place looks untouched! You'd never know the rest of the world was in ruins." Carley noted with excitement

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

"I thought I saw y'all with company comin' down the drive!" Said a woman coming down from the house.

Shepard guessed this was Mrs. St. John.

"Guys, this is our mama."

"I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John Dairy!" Brenda said, announcing herself.

Shepard noticed that she had a picnic basket with her.

"This here's Shepard. She's been living down at that old Motel round the way." Andy said

"They've got a few more friends staying at the old motel." Danny continued.

"Oh, my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable. Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?"

You have no idea.

"We all work together. Plus a few of us have military experience." Shepard replied, gesturing towards Mark and herself.

"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."

"Does that apply to the rest of us?" Shepard asked

"We're all incredibly hungry." Carley cut in

"These are for y'all. Baked fresh this morning." Brenda said, handed Shepard a basket of biscuits.

"Amazing!" Carley said

Shepard wondered if Carley was going to start drooling.

"Can't get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that's for sure." Danny commented

"That's right. Hopefully Maybelle will make it through this bout of whatever she's got and be with us for a good-long while." Brenda added

"Your cow is sick? What's she-" Shepard started

"We have a vet! We could bring her here! We can help you folks out." Mark interrupted

"A vet! Oh, my! Our prayers have been answered!" Brenda replied

"Maybe our whole group can come … for the day. Mark said, barely adding that last bit.

"Well how about this, y'all go get your veterinary friend, and I prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls. It'll be nice to have some folks to help out around here again. Danny, why don't you come help me out in the kitchen." Brenda replied, sealing the deal.

Brenda and Danny went off towards the house.

"Why don't I head back with the food and round up everyone for the trip back here." Carley said

"You might wanna take someone with you. Remember, those roads can be dangerous." Andy suggested

"I can handle myself." Carley replied

"Take this." Mark said, handing Carley his rifle.

Carley slung it over her shoulder.

"Why don't you go ahead and take Ben along anyway." Mark continued

"Take care of yourself, Shepard. See ya in a while." Carley replied

Carley was about to leave when she handed out a biscuit to everyone.

Everyone tore into them. They were gone within a few moments.

"That was amazing." Mark said

"No kidding." Shepard replied

"Mark, Shepard, why don't ya take a look around. Once ya get settled in, I could use some help securin' the perimeter." Andy said

"Is there an issue?" Shepard asked

"Sometimes, the dead get tangled up in the fence before they fry and end up knocking over a post. It'd be a big help if you two could walk the perimeter. You can learn a lil somethin' about our fence. I'm gonna go top off the generators before they run dry. Come get me when you're ready." Andy explained

"You betcha." Mark said as Andy went towards the generators.

Mark turned back to her.

"This place is INCREDIBLE! It's got food! And that fence … oh man that fence! If we play our cards right, this might turn out to be a place we can stay. So how do you want to play this?"

"Before we rush off to claim our rooms we need to figure out if this place is as safe as they say." Shepard replied

"Right. Obviously THEY think it's safe, but is it safe enough for the kids? I noticed a broken swing over there. Not a big deal, but maybe there's other things not working that we just can't see yet." Mark noted

"And checking the perimeter gives us a decent way to check the defenses."

"All right, I'll keep my eyes open and you find out what you can from Andy." Mark said as he left to go check the fence.

Shepard went to check on Doug who was still looking at the fence.

"So, what do you think?" Shepard asked

"Should work as long as the walker isn't completely dehydrated."

"Should?"

Shepard hated that word.

"This is the dead we're working with."

"Good point."

"Will the kids be safe here?"

"If they don't touch the fence they'll be fine."

"If they do?"

"If we're lucky they'll be fine eventually. If not … well, there won't be anything we can do about it."

Shepard nodded.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Do you think that this Kenny/Lilly thing is going to blow over soon, because it's starting to drive me crazy."

"It better, if not well then I'm just going to have to do something about it. I'm fed up of them whining like children, especially since the children act a lot better than they ever do." Shepard remarked

Doug chuckled.

"Doug, keep an eye out for anything interesting. I want to know as much as possible about this place before we try to make this a permanent home."

Doug nodded to show his understanding and went back to work.

Shepard went back over to the broken swing that Mark had spoken of.

The board was broken in half and the rope to one side was missing.

"Too bad it's broken. Bet Clementine and Duck would have loved something like this. It's been months since they actually got to be kids." Shepard remarked

"Kids used to like that old swing even more than the tour sometimes!" Andy remarked

Shepard chuckled

"Mind if I fix it?" Shepard asked

"No problem! That'd be great! Momma sure does appreciate you all helping out." Andy replied

Shepard walked towards the house. She wanted to have a word with Brenda before she went to work.

She opened the screen door and knocked.

Brenda answered very promptly.

"Well, hi there Shepard! What can I do for ya, sweetie?"

"Is there anything that you need help with around the house?"

"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 these days so I'm sure he'd love any help he can get." Brenda answered

"How have you guys been holding up since … you know?" Shepard asked

"My boys have been my saving grace. They both left their jobs and came home to help out after the attacks started happening. I think it was hardest on Andy. Dan was always more of a mama's boy, but don't tell him I said that!" Brenda chuckled

Shepard smiled at the comment.

"Your family has done an amazing job keeping this place up." Shepard noted

Amazing was an understatement. Carley was right when she said you won't have known that the rest of the world was in ruins.

"Well now aren't you sweet, thank you, She pard. The boys and I have tried to adapt as best we can, but we still keep some of our old routines to help remind us of better times."

"What happened to your staff?"

Shepard had a fairly good guess, though she hoped for a better answer.

Brenda's joy seeped away.

"We've had our share of tragedy here … just like everyone else I'm sure. Some of our staff took off to find their families soon as they heard the news. The few that stuck around … well … we lost most of 'em the first night those things showed up here. It was … a tough night." Brenda replied

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you dear."

"If anything comes up, feel free to let me know."

"Well, Shepard, I sure appreciate it."

"No problem."

Brenda closed the main door and Shepard closed the screen door.

She was about to leave when she noticed some of the ribbons up on the side of the house.

It was a pretty nice little collection.

Shepard also discovered a chest on the end of the patio.

Shepard opened it up to find rope that was long enough for the swing. She took it out of the chest and started her search for a board.

Near Andy there was a little board cutting station.

Memories of Shawn immediately reared their ugly head into Shepard's mind.

Shepard sighed.

"Mind if I use one of these boards?" Shepard asked Andy

"Already making some repairs, huh? I like a woman who takes some initiative. Yeah, go right ahead!" Andy replied

Shepard set to work and was soon rewarded with a plank that was the perfect size for a swing seat.

Before long the swing was working again.

"Clementine and Duck will love this." Shepard remarked

"Hey, nice job with the swing. Thanks for the help." Andy said

Shepard nodded and went back to go get instructions from Andy.

"I'm glad you guys decided to help us out. I noticed back at the Motel that you folks are pretty well armed. You been stockpiling, huh?"

"Anyone tries to screw with us, they'll regret it." Shepard replied

"Well, protecting your people is important, but in my experience, having that many guns around is when people get dangerous."

"Mark and I are ready to go check the perimeter now."

Mark walked up behind her.

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

"We can go deal with the walkers ourselves if you need to stay and work on the generators." Shepard commented

"We'll, 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."

"Sure" Shepard replied

"Stay attentive, ya never know." Andy warned

Shepard and Mark took off for the northwest section.


They spent ten minutes out there so far and they hadn't seen anything yet.

"So how's the place looking? Is it safe enough for us to stay … if we can."

"It's impressive what they've been able to accomplish here … but let's see what's needed to secure the fence before we pass judgment." Shepard replied

"I can't wait until everyone's out here. Everyone besides Larry."

"No kidding."

"There's one." Mark said as he pointed to a nearby dead walker.

It was fried.

Shepard kicked it in the shin.

"Shepard, it's dead."

Shepard shrugged.

Shepard tried to push it off.

It was stuck however, probably because of the arrow in its neck.

"Is this guy target practice for the St. Johns?" Shepard asked

"Poor guy." Mark replied

"I don't know what got him first, the arrow or the fence. I just hope that he was already dead."

"Who do you think it was?"

"A person." Shepard sighed

Shepard yanked the arrow out of its neck, then used her axe to push the walker off.

"Let's go, I bet there is still a bit more." Shepard said as she continued along.

"Once this fence is patched up, this place will be a fortress! God, can you imagine not having to worry about the walkers anymore?"

"It's useless without gas. We might need food, but the St. Johns need gas too."

"Not many drivers these days, Shepard."

"Not a lot of people that make gas either."

"We could still scrounge up a year's worth of gas, easy."

Shepard shrugged.

"So, what's you take on the brothers? They seem to have this place tied down pretty well."

"These folks are just delaying the inevitable. This place is going to fall, just like everywhere else." Shepard sighed

Shepard hated giving bad news, but she hated giving false hope even more if she could avoid it.

"Maybe you're right." Mark sighed

"Another one." Shepard noted

"I see it."

This walker had grabbed hold of the fence and had bent it inwards just a bit when it fell forward.

"I think the hands fused to the wire." Shepard noted

Shepard chopped at the arms, leaving only the hands attached.

"You never get used to the smell, do ya?"

Shepard chuckled "Nope."

There was about a minute of silence before Mark spoke up again.

"Christ, I can't stop thinking about dinner. Thanks for the rations earlier. It's not easy eating in front of the kids, but it's all that's keeping me on my feet right now, well that and the biscuit."

"We'll go ask for more to eat after this is done." Shepard replied

"Alright, I can suck it up." Mark replied

They soon arrived at a piece of the gate that had fallen over, enough that someone could get through.

Only people, I doubt that walkers could do it.

"He's tangle up in there pretty good. Come one, help me get this thing back in place so we can get Mr. Crispy off of here."

"We'll probably get better leverage from the other side." Shepard noted

Mark jumped over.

Shepard followed him.

They pushed the fence up right. The fence turned on as soon as they got it up.

"Holy fuck! What happened?" Mark asked

"The fences are on." Shepard replied

"Why the Hell would he turn the fence on! He knows we're out here!" Mark yelled

Good question.

Shepard was about to reply when an arrow of all things struck Mark in the shoulder.

Shepard grabbed him before he hit the fence.

Shepard pulled out her pistol.

"Get to the gate!" Shepard ordered

They started to run that way when several arrows landed near them. They wouldn't be going through that way.

Shepard pulled Mark behind the tractor.

Someone was screaming at them from the forest.

Shepard tried to push the tractor.

It didn't budge an inch.

She noticed that there was a block under the wheel so she pulled it out and tried again.

Nothing.

An arrow flew straight above her head.

Shepard didn't have her barriers up. They burned too many calories to justify it when they had no food. Wouldn't even matter though, arrows traveled to slow for barriers to deflect anyway.

Shepard fired a single shot and laughed darkly when she heard someone scream in agony.

"You'll pay for that BITCH!" Screamed the leader.

Shepard switched the tractor into gear and tried pushing again.

It still wouldn't move.

Shepard swore under her breath.

"The plow!" Mark suggested

Shepard hadn't even seen it.

Mark was right, the plow was stuck in the ground. The lever in the back caused it to rise and Shepard gave tractor one push and it started to move.

They stayed next to the tractor.

The tractor soon hit the burned out corpse of one of the dead they had pushed off earlier.

Shepard pulled him aside and pushed the tractor again.

Then they hit yet another walker.

"Another one, how many did we push down?" Mark asked

Shepard started to pull when she realized that walker was not one they pushed down.

The walker seemed to sense that she knew when it tried to bite her.

"SHIT!" Shepard yelled as she pulled back.

Shepard ended up pulling the walker in half.

She tossed it aside.

The walker began to crawl after them but was soon put down by a stray arrow.

Shepard opened the fence, and then closed it behind Mark.

They sprinted all the way back to the house.

Andy met them right by the stairs to the house.

"Shepard, what's wrong?" He asked

"A fucking ambush. When you turned on the fence people started attacking from the woods. We were trapped in the middle." Shepard explained

Danny ran out.

"Holy shit! Are you ok?" Danny asked Mark

Shepard almost rolled her eyes.

"I … I heard Mark yell and thought y'all were giving me the all clear! Man, I am real sorry." Andy explained

"Oh, my Lord! What happened to you, sweetheart?!" Brenda exclaimed from the patio.

"It was those bastards in the woods, mama." Andy answered

Shepard's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah … I'll be alright once it's out, but, goddamn it hurts!" Mark said

That's when the rest of the group showed up.

Lovely timing.

"Mark! Oh, my god, what happened?!" Katjaa yelled

"Christ, are you going to be ok?!" Lilly asked

"Yeah, I'm fine. I should just … pull it out."

"Oh no, honey, c'mon. Brenda's got you. C'mon inside now. We'll have you all sorted out." Breda said, leading Mark towards the house.

"What kind of shit is this?!" Larry asked

For once Shepard couldn't blame Larry for being mad.

"We ran into some people on the way up here … bandits I guess. They attacked us, I recognized the leader's voice." Shepard replied

"They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning, killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get 'em to stop by makin' a deal." Andy said

"You KNEW about these people?" Kenny said accusingly

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

"God damn it, Carley said this place was locked down tight." Larry exclaimed

"It doesn't sound like this place is that safe after all." Shepard remarked

"We're sorry! We've never had them screw with is like this! Not since we started givin' em food! Listen, we may have had an agreement with this people, but we will NOT stand for this shit." Andy continued

"Ain't no way we're gonna let those sons o' bitches get away with this!" Danny said

"You know where these assholes are?!" Kenny asked

"They're hard to pin down, but I think I know where at least ONE of their camps are. When you're ready to go scope out that bandit camp come find us." Danny explained

The brothers walked back towards the house, no doubt to go get ready.

As soon as they were out of earshot Lilly voiced her opinion.

"Bandits? Are you serious? This place isn't safe, we can't stay here."

"Not safe?! This place is a Hell of a lot safer than that Motel! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows. What we need to do is find a way to get our whole group out here to stay. Take this place over if we have to." Kenny objected

Shepard had to agree with Lilly on this one.

They had never dealt with bandits before, just walkers.

Walkers were slow, stupid, and predictable.

People are messing, random, and can be just as smart as you. People had always been man's worst enemy.

"Cool your jets there, Rambo. These are nice people. Let's not do anything to get us thrown out before we eat!" Larry said

His stance was surprising … and refreshing.

"I'm gonna head out and help Danny deal with these bandits. You guys should try to make friends with Andy and Brenda while I'm gone." Shepard explained

"Well that's easy. I've got charm coming outta my ass." Larry replied

Shepard rolled her eyes.

"Yeah … that's real charming dad." Lilly replied

"Where's Ben, Carley, and David?" Shepard asked

"Since Carley and Ben ate some of the food on the way to get us she volunteered to stay behind and watch the Motel until we get back. Ben is staying there with his teacher."

Shepard nodded in understanding.

Andy approached the group.

"Hey kids, Shepard managed to fix that swing while you guys were at the Motel. I just wanted to tell you guys that you can use it." Andy said to Clementine and Duck

Their faces lit up.

"A swing! I love swings! Just like at my treehouse! Come on, Duck!" Clementine said

"Why don't you kids go and play on the swing, huh?" Kenny said

The pair ran towards the swing.

Shepard followed after Clementine just as Kenny followed after Duck.

Duck sat on the swing first.

Shepard sat down next to Clementine.

"How do you like the swing?" Shepard asked

"It's great. Thank you."

"You're welcome, honey."

"Will you push me on it?" Clementine asked

"Sure, happy to push you on the swing." Shepard said with a smile.

Shepard got back up to her feet.

"Mind if Clementine takes a turn?" She asked Kenny

"All right, Duck, let Clementine have a try for a bit." Kenny said

"Ok" Duck replied before jumping off.

Clementine got on and Shepard started to push her.

"What do you think of the dairy?" Shepard asked

"It's pretty. It reminds me of how things used to look before."

"It sure does."

"Do you think things will ever get back to how they were?"

"It will, some day. I'm surprised you forgot my answer when you asked before."

"I didn't, just … things have changed since then."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Shepard replied sadly

"How are you?"

"I'm fine I guess. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just worried a little about Mark."

"Is Mark going to be ok?"

"He got lucky. Could have been a lot worse."

"Are you going to find the people who hurt Mark?"

"We have to make sure they don't hurt anyone else."

"Be careful. I want you to stay lucky, too."

"Ever since I've met you I've had good luck, so don't worry."

"Ok"

"Don't worry, we're safe here."

"As long as the bad people don't get me too, right?"

"I won't anything happen to you, sweetie."

"Promise."

"I promise."

It felt strange to be pushing Clementine on the swing, though not in a bad way. It felt peaceful. It was a feeling she did not get very often and the times she got they were priceless to her. They were the best times of her life.

It was nice to feel this way again. It was nice to pretend that right now she was just woman pushing her kid on a swing. For the first time in years she felt normal again. Not a soldier that was fighting an undefeatable enemy with only a handful of allies.

She wasn't Commander Shepard right now. She was just Jane.

The feeling was indescribable.

Sorry for the long wait time, writing this chapter was awful. I went through FIVE other plot lines before deciding to go through episode two.

I know that we have touched the edge of AU but again I haven't decided on how AU to make it. I do know that the base episodes will happen. It's just how they happen that is up to debate.

I was going to post the entire episode in this chapter but then I looked at the word count and decided to cut it in half. After all this chapter is more than 10,000 words. I didn't think that most of you would want to read through it in one chapter. If you guys would prefer even longer chapters just let me know in a review or P.M, though I have a feeling that won't happen.

I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes that I missed.

As always I am happy to read any reviews and you guys send my way.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.