"Lee," Kenny asked. "Jesus, man, did you find something?"

"Oh, sit your ass down, Lee," Larry said. "This lady has made you a meal."

"Yeah, Lee," said Lilly, "what's gotten into you?"

Larry's face was twisted in anger and annoyance. "He could use some goddamn manners."

"It didn't have to be this way," Danny said, his eyes not looking up from his plate.

"You're eating human meat," Lee said. Sam felt his stomach turn.

"That's crazy," Lilly said.

"What the hell?" asked Kenny. "You're scarin' the kids, Lee."

"Lee, what the hell is wrong with you?" Lilly asked.

"Don't indulge him, Lilly," Larry said, giving Lee a dirty look. "It's always somethin' with this guy."

Duck took another bite of his food but Katjaa took his plate away. "Mom, I was eating that!"

"They're picking us off to trade as meat," Lee said.

Sam thought Larry's face couldn't possibly show any more anger, but he stood corrected. "You're out of your skull," Larry snarled.

"Mark is upstairs right now with no legs!" Lee shouted. He looked at Brenda St. John. "Brenda, tell me he's not being eaten right now."

After a minute, Brenda sighed and said, "It's true."

"Everything could'a turned out okay for you folks," said Dan, taking another bite of what was a cooked sliver of Mark's leg.

"He would'a died anyway," Andy said, trying to defend his family's cannibalism. "We gotta think about livin'!"

"Settle down, honey," said Brenda. "Growin' up in rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised, and how I raised my boys. Now you got monsters roamin' around that do nothin' but eat people! And for what? To continue to rot until they eat some more! We think we can put that meat to better use."

"Just let us go," Lee said.

Brenda waited a moment before responding. "Andy is right; we go after people who were gonna die anyway, one way or another."

Dan finally looked up from his plate. "Like y'all."

"Clementine, run!" said Lee. The girl, having been seated on a bench between Sam and Andy, couldn't get up before Andy pulled out a pistol.

"Nobody's goin' anywhere!" Andy shouted, waving his gun around. His brother stood up and backed into the corner of the dining room, a rifle aimed towards the table.

"We got lots of use for y'all right here," Dan said.

"Put your guns down," Lilly demanded, "we're walking out of here!"

"You don't come near my fuckin' family!" shouted Kenny.

"Everyone!" Lee yelled. "Everything will be okay."

"Lee," Clementine called out. "Lee . . ."

Andy St. John reached out and grabbed her hair, pulling her back off the bench. Oh, God, Sam thought. I knew this place was bad. I fucking knew it. Oh my god.

"I'll kill you!" Lee shouted, lurching forward only to be stopped by the tip of Danny's rifle prodding his neck.

Before anyone said anything else, there was a dragging sound soon followed by thuds. Something was coming down the stairs. It was Mark, pulling himself across the floor with his arms.

"Please," Mark said weakly as he dragged himself by the doorway of the dining room. "Someone . . ."

Everybody save for the St. Johns gasped at the sight. Lee turned back around. "Clementi-" Danny St. John knocked Lee to the ground with the butt of his rifle.

"Everybody fuckin' stand up," Andy ordered, waving the pistol around again. "You two," he said, pointing his gun at Katjaa and Duck, "in the kitchen." Brenda St. John ushered them into the kitchen.

"Don't you fuckin' touch my family!" Kenny shouted. "You fuckin' cannibal psychos, let my family go!" Danny St. John pointed his rifle at him.

"The rest of you," Andy said, "line up by the front door. We got use for y'all." Andy stepped over Lee, who was out cold. "Danny, get him."

By the time Andy had everyone in a line, Danny had dragged Mark up halfway up the stairs. "For fuck's sake, Dan," Andy spat. "I meant get Lee."

"Look, if you let us go, they can keep giving you gas," Sam suggested, trying to avoid whatever the St. Johns had planned for them. "Right?"

"It's past time for deal makin'," Andy said.

"No, no, no, wait," Sam said. "What else do you need? I'm- I'm sure they can supply it if you just let us go."

"Would you just shut the hell up?" Andy asked.

"I will, I swear, but please just-"

"What part o' 'shut the hell up' don't you understand?" Andy spat, pointing his gun directly at Sam. "Dan, gimme your rifle. I'm gonna knock this sonuvabitch out."

You've really done it now, you idiot, was the last thing Sam had time to think before darkness shrouded his vision.


Slowly, Sam regained consciousness. He instinctively raised a hand to his forehead where Andy St. John had hit him with the gun. Sam looked around to find that he, Larry, Lilly, Lee, Clementine, and Kenny were in a meat locker. Larry was banging on the door and yelling, Lilly was trying to calm him down, Kenny was feeling up the walls which Sam presumed he was doing to try and find an exit, and Lee was talking to Clementine in a corner.

That guy had a gun, Sam thought. These people are cannibals who obviously wouldn't hesitate to murder you. But no, you just had to open your mouth, you idiot. Sam pulled himself to his feet. He had the worst headache he'd gotten in years. He walked over to Kenny.

"Did you find a way out?" he asked.

"Does it look like I found a way out?" Kenny asked, raising his voice so Sam could hear him over Larry's shouting and pounding on the door. "Those sick fuckers have my wife and child. If I found a way out, we wouldn't still be in here."

"They wouldn't kill your wife," Sam said, trying to comfort Kenny. "She's a veterinarian; they need her."

"That doesn't mean I'm just gonna sit here and wait for them to come an' kill us," said Kenny.

"You're . . . you're worse than the walkers!" Larry shouted, banging his fist against the door again.

"Dad, please," said Lilly.

"I'll . . . I'll rip your goddamn heads off," Larry yelled, "and make you swallow them!"

Sam walked over to Lee. "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?"

"I'm looking," said Lee.

Sam glanced around the meat locker. "Lee, look." He pointed to one of the corners of the ceiling. "There's a vent."

"I'll break the damn door down . . ." Larry said, giving an unenthusiastic last bang on the door.

"Dad, you can't get-"

Larry moved his hands to the left side of his chest and made a pained, "Aah."

"Easy," Lilly said.

Larry grunted. "Oh, god . . ." He collapsed to the floor.

"Dad?" Lilly dropped to her knees and hunched over her father's unconscious body. "No. Dad, come on. Dad!" She pressed her ear to his chest. "Oh, god, he's stopped breathing. I think he had a heart attack." Lilly started frantically performing chest compressions on Larry.

"Shit," Kenny said. "Is he dead?"

"He's not dead," Lilly said. "Somebody help me!"

"Fuck . . ." said Kenny. "If he's dead . . ."

"He's not dead," Lilly repeated.

"You know what has to happen, Lee," Kenny said. "Think about it. You saw that poor bastard back at the motel. How fast he turned."

"What are you saying?" asked Lilly.

"Lilly, I'm sorry. I truly, truly am," Kenny said. "But in a few minutes, we're going to be stuck in a locked room with a six-foot-four, three-hundred pound, seriously pissed off dead guy."

"Fuck you! We can bring him back," Lilly said. "Lee!"

"We'll mourn him later," said Kenny, "but right now we have to keep him from comin' back."

Clementine gasped and brought her hands up to cover her mouth. "No!"

"Goddammit, Kenny, he's not dead," said Lilly.

"Lilly can still save him," Lee said, looking at Kenny.

"I wish she could," said Kenny, "believe me, I do. But that man is dead. You both know what happens next."

"Look, I don't know what kind of personal vendetta you've got against this guy, Kenny, but are you seriously just gonna kill him?" Sam asked. "Without even trying to save him?"

"Kid, look at him," Kenny said. "He's not comin' back."

Sam shook his head and went to his knees beside Larry's body, across from Lilly. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Never as bad as this," Lilly said.

"Remember what Ben said," Kenny said to Lee. "Gotta destroy the brain."

"You're right, Kenny," said Lee. "Let's get this over with."

"You fucking monsters!" Lilly shouted. "Both of you!"

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Sam asked as he checked Larry's pulse.

Lee went over to Lilly and grabbed her arms, pulling her away from her father. Sam looked over at Kenny, who was lifting a salt lick from a stack. Lilly was struggling as much as she could to get free of Lee's grip. Clementine was facing a corner, shaking, her hands covering her face.

Sam slowly stood up and turned to look at the man who was about to kill Larry. "Kenny, think about what you're doing."

"I've already thought about it," Kenny spat, carrying the salt lick over to Larry.

Sam looked at the man restraining Lilly. "Lee, are you really going to let this-"

Kenny dropped the salt lick on Larry's head, brain matter and blood splattering the floor and the people next to him.

"No," Lilly cried out, letting herself fall over Larry's officially dead body once Lee let go of her. Kenny backed away from Larry, his jaw dropped and eyes wide.

Kenny shook the look from his face. "God help us," he whispered. He crouched beside Lilly. "I'm sorry. I know it-"

"Don't you fucking touch me," Lilly said, glaring at Kenny.

"Clementine," Lee said, turning to look at the girl who was crying in the corner. He walked over to her.

Oh my god, Sam thought. He looked down at his pants, on which the lower half had been sprayed with Larry's blood. Oh my god. He looked over at Kenny and instantaneously the look on Sam's face went from shock to anger. Sam had known that being in the apocalypse would make people do bad things but that guy had just murdered a member of his own group on the assumption he was dead which was a major red flag.

Lee walked over to Sam. "You were saying something about that vent?"

"Yeah," he said. "Do you think it would come off?"

"Maybe," said Lee. "I'll take a look." He went over to inspect the vent. "I wonder . . . There ought to be an air duct behind this unit. Maybe big enough for one of us to fit through."

"I dunno, Lee," Kenny said. "Seems like a longshot."

"I think I could take it off," Lee insisted, "if I had something to remove the screws. The multitool!" He reached into his pocket. "Of course they took it. Does anyone have . . . a coin or something?"

Kenny, Sam, and Clementine exchanged glances. "Uh-uh . . ." Clementine said, shaking her head.

Lee crouched beside Lilly and started talking to her. Sam went over to Kenny. "Do you think he'll get the air conditioner off?"

"He has to," Kenny said. "It's our only way of gettin' outta here."

Sam looked over at Lee, who was feeling around inside Larry's pockets. "Here we go," Lee said, taking his hand out. "Two quarters and a dime." He walked back over to the air conditioner and lifted one of the quarters to the screws on the bottom of the vent.

After a couple of turns, one screw fell to the floor of the meat locker. Lee unscrewed the other one and then had Kenny help him move the unit to the floor.

"Well," Kenny said, standing up straight, "there's our way out, Lee. Looks like it'll probably lead right into that back room."

"It's too small for one of us to fit through," Lee noted. Sam's eyes travelled to Clementine.

"I can do it," the girl said.

Lee kneeled down in front of Clementine. "I know you're brave enough," he said, giving her a smile.

"I'm scared," said Clementine.

"Remember the treehouse?" Lee asked. "You held out for days."

"And I saved your life," Clementine said.

Lee chuckled as he stood up. "That's right."

Clementine sighed. "Okay."

Lee picked her up and raised her high enough to climb into the vent. "You're gonna be fine," he said.

"What do I do when I get out?" she asked.

"See if you can get to the other side of that door and open it," Lee said.

Clementine crawled through, her footsteps echoing throughout the meat locker. Everyone heard her gasp before it went silent where she had gone. They all were anxious, glancing from the door to the vent. After a moment, the door handle clicked and Clementine was standing behind it. She walked back into the meat locker.

"Are you okay?" Lee whispered. "Did anyone see you?"

"No," Clementine said. "But there's a man outside."

Lee walked over to the grieving woman. "Lilly, we gotta go."

"Leave me alone," Lilly said, not lifting her head.

"Lee!" Kenny whispered. Half of his body was outside the locker. "I can see him."

"It's not safe in here-" Lee started.

"For God's sake, Lee, I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Lilly said, her voice beginning to raise.

"Get in here," Kenny said, now completely outside of the meat locker. "I got an idea."

"Stay here," whispered Lee, looking at Clementine. "Take care of Lilly, okay?"

"I will," Clementine said, nodding.

Lee walked out of the locker to join Kenny, wherever he was. Sam looked at Lilly. "It's going to be okay," he said, trying to comfort her.

"He was still alive," Lilly said, her voice monotone.

"I know," Sam said. "Is Kenny usually that . . . impulsive?"

"From what I've seen," Lilly said.

"Oh . . ." Sam paused. "We should probably go."

"Just give me a second," Lilly said.

"Sure, yeah." Sam looked at the door. "Take as long as you need." He walked out of the meat locker and into the back room. There was blood everywhere; on the walls, on the floor . . . Sam looked at the table. There was a bear trap. A bear trap that looked identical to the one David's leg had been caught in. Sam felt like he was about to vomit. He noticed there was a miniature cattle prod lying on the edge of the bloody tub where Sam assumed they chopped people up. Sam picked it up and waited by the door for Lilly and Clementine.

Not even a minute after Lilly came out of the meat locker, there was a gunshot. Sam looked out through where Lee and Kenny had gone. Danny was desperately struggling to reload a rifle as Lee raised a sickle, swinging it into his chest. Danny cried out in pain and then slammed Lee to the ground with the rifle. He pulled the sickle out of his chest and was about to shoot Lee but one of the stall doors flew open and Kenny jumped out, rapidly slashing at Danny with a hay hook. Danny stumbled back with each swing Kenny took until he stepped on a bear trap in the corner of the barn. He yelled in pain again.

"Where's my family, asshole?" Kenny demanded, looking down at the younger St. John brother.

"You can't have 'em!" Danny said. "We need the vet."

"No!" The voice belonged to Katjaa. She was screaming about something from outside the barn.

"Kat!" Kenny yelled. "Lee, come on!"

"Just go," Lee said. He glared at Danny. "I won't be far behind." Kenny ran out of the barn. Lee picked up a pitchfork that was stuck in one of the hay bales. He raised it and pointed it at Danny's chest.

"You understand now, don't ya?" Danny asked. "You can have me. It's how the world works now. Give part of yourself . . . so others can live."

"That's why you killed that woman in the woods!" Lee noted. "She was about to spill everything."

"You weren't ready to hear yet, Lee," said Danny. "Had to stop her." He paused. "You gotta keep me alive. If you kill me, the meat gets tainted; you can't eat it."

"You're already tainted," Lee spat, throwing the pitchfork into the hay beside Danny's head. "This is not how the world works now. You won't make me kill you!"

Sam waited for Lilly and Clementine and then started walking by Lee. Lilly had a rifle in her hands. "Fuck you, Lee," said Lilly. "You and Kenny murder my dad, but you leave this piece of shit alive? You're a fucking asshole."

"Oh god, don't hurt him!" It was Katjaa again. "Please, no!"

"You two," Lee said, looking at Lilly and Sam, "please keep her safe."

Lilly only glared at Lee, so Sam said, "Of course." Lee walked out of the barn.

Sam turned to Danny. "Was it you who set that bear trap out in the woods?"

"Yeah," said Danny, struggling to get the word out since he was in such pain. "Me an' Andy."

Sam looked down at the trap that Danny's leg was caught in. What goes around, comes around. He walked over to the exit of the barn. Lee was walking up the steps to the house. He turned around to look at Lilly. "Are you okay?"

"I just want to get off this fucking farm," Lilly said.

Someone screamed. It was a woman, but not Katjaa. "Was that Brenda?" Sam turned back around to look outside the barn. Lee and Katjaa were running out of the house. Kenny was standing on the front yard across from Andy St. John, who held a rifle in one hand and Duck's shirt collar in the other.

"Let him go, goddammit!" Kenny yelled.

"That ain't gonna happen," Andy said.

"Andy, don't-" Lee started.

"Shut up!" yelled Andy. Kenny tried running at him to get Duck but Andy fired the rifle into Kenny's stomach, sending him to the ground. Katjaa screamed and ran over to her husband.

Lee raised his hands into the air. "Andy."

"Who the fuck do you people think you are?" Andy asked. "Look at what you've done!"

Sam looked at Clementine. "Is Lee gonna be okay?" she asked.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about him," Sam said. Another gunshot sounded. He looked back outside the barn. Carley was there. She had shot Andy in the ear. Lee ran at Andy and Duck ran to his dad. Andy and Lee were both holding onto the rifle, trying to take it from each other's hands. Lee pushed the rifle into Andy's face and then they both tumbled down the yard, breaking the fence at the bottom. Andy got up first and then kicked Lee in the face. He dragged himself over to the generator and turned it on.

"Get up," Andy said, grabbing Lee by the back of his shirt. "Get the fuck up." He started dragging Lee to the electric fence.

"Should we help him?" Sam asked. All he had was the small cattle prod. Lilly was the one with the rifle, but it didn't seem likely that she'd want to help Lee. Lilly said nothing, only glared somewhere outside the barn. She and Clementine walked up by Sam, looking out at Lee who was now struggling to keep his face from touching the fence as Andy pushed his head towards it.

"Lilly, help!" Lee yelled. She did nothing. Lee fought for another moment and then swung his elbow at Andy's head. He stumbled back and then Lee pushed him to the ground. Lee sat on him so he couldn't get up and then started punching Andy's face.

"Let's go," Lilly said, walking out of the barn. Sam waited for Clementine and then followed Lilly out to the path in front of the St. John's house. Sam saw Ben standing among the group and was relieved for the first time that day. They all stood in silence as they watched Lee beat the hell out of Andy.

Carley walked over to the two. "Lee, that's enough." Lee got up off of Andy. "He's had enough."

Carley rejoined the rest of the group. Lee walked halfway from Andy to his group and then Andy said, "Is that all you got, Lee?" His face was bruised everywhere and some of his teeth were missing. "You ain't shit."

"It's over," Lee said.

"Fuck you," Andy said, sitting up. "As soon as Dan and mama get out here, you're all fucked!" He pulled himself to his feet.

"They're not coming," said Lee.

"What do you mean?" Andy asked. "Lee, what the fuck do you mean?"

Lee started to walk back to the group.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, Lee!" Andy shouted. When Lee kept walking, he dropped to his knees and shouted, "Get back here and finish this, Lee!"

Lee shook his head and left Andy where he was, walking back to the group. The generator shorted out and walkers started showing up. "They're getting in!" Clementine said. Walkers were pushing the fence down, getting into the dairy.

Lee walked to the gate. "Let's go."

And so the group left the dairy as the walkers started pouring in, with Danny still stuck in the bear trap and Andy on his knees watching them go.


A/N: I know nothing has really changed from the game yet but you should expect to begin to see this story differ from the game within the next few chapters. Thanks for reading! I know this was a grueling chapter and in all honesty you probably could have skipped it but I'm not going to just not write a part of it in case there are people who actually want to read this fic in its entirety. The next chapter should hopefully be up either later today or tomorrow! Have a nice day :)