Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.

Yeah I know I've been gone for a while. This chapter for some reason was hard for me to write. Don't really know why. Maybe I was just procrastinating. Anyway here is chapter 10 hopefully I'll have chapter 11 out soon. God bless you all!

"mmmm…." Groaned Howard as he stirred awake. Looking around the room he noticed there wasn't much. A practically empty house with one chair at the end, and a fireplace behind him.

"Fire?" He called.

"Oh you're awake." Said a voice from upstairs.

Doug came running down. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"What happened?" Howard asked back as he sat up.

"You passed out. I had to carry you here."

"You carried me?" Howard asked in shock.

"Well sort of. I put our packs underneath you pulled the straps." Replied Doug.

"Oh… well that's quick thinking there."

"Yeah just blessed I found a home with a fireplace."

"Yeah. How's the weather?"

"It's worst; we got in right at the nick of time." Doug stated.

"You think the others back home are all right?" Howard asked.

Doug leaned over the fireplace.

"Well they can't be in a worst position than we are. If this thing doesn't clear up soon we could starve to death, I had to dump most of the food out so I could drag you."

Howard let out a small chuckle. "Well when it rains it pours I guess."

"Snows more like it." Doug replied as he returned the laugh.

"You're the meteorologist." Howard said "When do you think this'll be over?"

"Don't know. The clouds weren't too dense, hopefully it'll just last the night."

"Do we have enough firewood to last the night?" Howard asked.

"Don't worry, if we run out we can just burn any random things we find in the house."

"That makes sense."

There was a short silence but it seemed to last a while as Howard pondered what Doug had actually done out there.

"Thanks Doug, I know you could have left me out there." He said finally.

"Don't mention it man, we have to stick together you know."

"Not really ever since this thing happened it seems like people have just been turning on one another."

"Yeah we've seen our share of that. Christa once told us to be more afraid of groups of living men then dead ones."

Doug moved from the fire place and sat down next to Howard.

"But trust me in the end when those walkers attack in large numbers you want as many "living" people with you as possible."

The mess hall wasn't overly cold, but it's not as though the heat worked. Mark estimated it to be about fifty degrees inside which was livable but certainly not enjoyable. However things could have been worse. They had more than enough food to outlast this storm, and the hall was spacious enough to accommodate them. All and all things were looking pretty good.

"Hey it's time to get those potatoes in the pot." Madison said.

"All right." Mark agreed as he took the potatoes from the container and placed them in the boiling water.

Technically no one should have been eating. Dinner was the last meal, and even though they had a lot of food it was rationalized pretty strictly.

Still there was a crowd of people, and it had been five hours. People were hungry.

"So how long do you think we'll be stuck here?" Madison asked.

"I've never seen a snow storm like that before, could be a couple days."

"Well thank God we happened to be in the mess hall." She said. "At least we have plenty of room and most importantly plenty of food."

Mark smiled. Maddie was good company, especially nowadays. Sure she was constantly annoying him her ability to always look at the bright side of things was a real joy.

"Hey you gonna salt the pot or what?" She asked.

"Oh yeah I'll get right to that…" Answered Mark as he realized he had been gazing again.

Mark looked around the room as the vegetables were heating up. Katjaa and Christa were playing cards with the kids, Joe and Gregory were talking in the right hand corner, while most of the others were simply sitting down, either in groups or alone.

"So how do you think Lee and Tavia are doing?" He asked.

"I think their all right. Probably held up in one of the buildings around here. I actually am more worried about Howard. Out there in the middle of this."

"I'm sure they're okay." Mark told her.

"Not Howard. I told him, stop volunteering to do the patrol. He kept saying it was an easy job. That idiot!"

"No point in worrying about it. Not like there's anything we can do." Said Mark.

"I know, I know." She replied.

"Plus Doug's with him and that guys pretty smart, I bet he was able to tell there was a blizzard coming hours in advance."

"Yeah he did look pretty nerd….. um knowledgeable."

"He is pretty erm "knowledgeable" replied Mark.

"Anyway I'm gonna go check on that ham." Madison stated as she went to the oven.

"Um Mark." Called Kenny as he approached the counter.

"What's up man?"

"It's freezing in here. You got anything the kids could cover up with?" He asked.

"Nothing back here. We have boxes; think I've seen homeless guys cover up in them before."

"Yeah… I think we need more than a few cardboard boxes."

Mark looked behind him. There weren't many materials they could use. A lot of vegetables, some meat, water and…. An idea suddenly popped in Mark's head.

"I have just the thing."

"It's freezing in here." Complained Tavia

"Well it's better than out there." Lee replied.

The two had to keep moving to stay warm. Though there wasn't much space to move, not with the massive generator in the middle of the room.

"I'm getting tired." Tavia complained again.

"All right let's um stop moving and just sit down."

Tavia agreed and the two leaned over against the right hand corner of the room.

"Now I'm cold." She complained.

"Are you ever satisfied?"

"I'm just saying. It's not like these are thermal jackets."

Lee put his arm around her and brought her closer to him.

"Better?" He asked.

"Much." She replied.

"Doesn't this remind you of the hail storm that trapped us at the University?" Lee asked.

"Are we going to do what we did to keep warm during that particular storm?" Tavia jokingly replied.

Lee chuckled.

Tavia drew slightly closer after the saying that causing Lee to edge up against the wall.

"So how long do you think we have to be in here?" She asked.

"I don't know, the hail storm only lasted about an hour but these things tend to go for a bit longer." Lee replied.

"Well it better not last too long, we don't have any food in here."

"Starvation is the least of our worries; we'll probably freeze to death first."

"Thanks for the optimism." Said Tavia in a voice riddled with sarcasm.

"Don't worry our bodies are sharing heat in a sense, we stand a better chance if we of surviving together." Said Lee.

Tavia let out a brief giggle.

"Well then, guess we should move in a little closer."

"Got any three's?" Asked Ben.

"Go fish." Duck Answered causing Ben to take a card from the top of the deck.

Sure this game was boring, but it was something to do as everyone waited for the storm to pass.

"Got any sevens?" Travis asked Clementine.

"Sure" She answered as she handed it to him.

"So Ben?" Travis Asked.

"Yeah?"

"How about we make this game interesting?"

"Interesting?" Duck pondered.

"I thought go fish was already interesting." Clementine stated.

"He's talking about gambling." Adam stated.

"Oh my mom says you're not supposed to gamble." Stated Duck.

"It's not really a gamble." Travis said. "Just a little bet. How about if I win this game then you have dish duty by yourself tonight."

"No way man. Dish duty sucks it's bad enough when there's two people. I wish we had better jobs."

"Oh really" said Kenny from behind. "Like being on watch?"

"Or not removing a garden tool from in-between two doors?" Travis stated.

"Or looking out for me?" Clem chimed in.

"Okay, I get it!" Ben shouted back. "I guess washing dishes isn't so bad."

"Now that that's been established." Said Travis "You in or what?"

"I told you….."

"Everybody!" Called Madison. "Food's ready!"

"Saved by the bell." Travis said as they all rose to get in line for food.

As Ben waited in line he thought about Lee and Doug. Other than Travis and Carley they were the only people that he could truly depend on. If something happened to them then his status in the group would drop significantly.

No Stop! He thought to himself. Here Lee and Doug were out there most likely freezing to death on all he could think about was how their deaths would affect him.

"Hey earth to ben." Travis said from behind.

"We're next in line man and I don't know about you, but I don't plan on starving tonight."

Ben moved ahead to grab his food. There was no point in worrying about anything really. Like it or not he couldn't do anything to help Lee or Doug.

For now all he could do was eat.

"Well I can't be sure, not without a full exam, but based on my primary analyses it would appea.."

"Just give it to me straight doc. Is it what I think it is." Carley asked.

"Most likely, but like I said once we can get to my office I'd like to do a full examination."

Carley thought to herself. She saw the signs she knew it was possible but why did it have to be now. For nearly two months now she had experienced, headaches, had stomach problems and dizziness, but she had managed to keep it mostly hidden. Now everything was out in the open.

It felt unreal.

"You have a husband right?" Asked Doctor Ambristor

"Yes."

"Well he should be one of the first to know about this. Not like this is something you can hide for long?"

"I know, thank you." She replied.

"Just doing my job." He replied as he went to join the food line.

Carley let out a long deep sigh. First she was concerned about Doug, being out there in the middle of this. Now even if he came back alive she would have to alert him of recent discoveries. She began to wonder how the news would affect him. Would he be mad? Sad? Happy? She wasn't sure.

She then forced herself to calm down. Not like there was anything she could do about either situation.

None of this would really matter unless Doug made it back. If he just came back alive she would happily break the news to him.

And if he didn't… NO! She wouldn't think of that. Doug was smart and resourceful. In fact knowing him, he was probably in a better and more comfortable situation than they were.

The first crack of sunlight hit his eye like a lightning bolt.

Doug's didn't want to get up. The night had been anything but peaceful. They had practically burned every piece of miniature furniture, to keep the fire going, while the torrential winds threatened to break down the not so thick walls. Still somehow the house remained standing and somehow he remained alive. Doug still half asleep looked over to his right where another body lay close beside him.

"Morning honey." He said.

Suddenly the other person turned around.

"That's right baby give daddy some sugar." Said Howard obviously still in a dream state.

Just then both eyes met and both men simultaneously came back to reality.

"AAAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHHH!" Together they screamed.

"What are you doing?!" Howard screamed.

"Me?! What was with that whole "Give me some sugar" line?"

"That was meant for a beautiful blonde. Not you. And why did call be honey?"

"I thought you were Carley….. O my gosh, Carley!" Doug exclaimed.

"The Blizzard!?" Said Howard.

Both men ran to the window. The roads' were covered in snow, about 10 inches high, but it seemed peaceful.

"Come on let's hurry back." Said Doug as he began to get ready.

"Don't worry they had a better chance than us of making it out of this one."

"Still let's not drag our feet."

Doug grabbed what little he had and practically ran out the door.

"Wait up!" Shouted Howard from inside.

Doug did so though every fiber in his body wanted to just run home and jump into Carley's arms. Though in reality it'd probably be the other way around seeing he wasn't the lightest of men.

Just then something caught Doug's eye. Something was sparkling in the sunlight just a few feet away. As he approached he realized what it was.

"All right I'm all re…" Howard said from behind.

"Hey man do you see this, the frost caused this chain to completely snap. You know why that happens. Because metal tends to contract whe….." Doug explained before realizing Howard wasn't listening.

"Oh sorry." He said.

Howard remained silent. He seemed so focused on something directly behind Doug.

"What are you loo….." Doug stated before he too turned around and saw just what had Howard so absorbed.

"Do you see what I see?" Howard asked.

Doug swallowed hard. Was this even possible?

"Oh I see it alright." He replied.

"But I don't believe it."

His eyes rolled awake. He was surprised he had been able to sleep at all given the circumstances. As he let out a morning stretch Lee noticed that something was preventing him from moving too freely. Looking down he noticed that he and Tavia had fallen asleep in quite a position. Lee used to get out of this using the tuck and roll method, but wasn't sure if he could pull it off. Not with one hand anyway.

"Really takes ya back doesn't it?" Tavia asked.

"Yup." Replied Lee.

"I missed this." She said again.

Lee looked around the room. There were no windows. No way to tell if the storm was over.

"We should see whether things have settled down." He suggested.

Tavia looked up at him.

"Just a few more minutes." She said.

Lee smiled at her.

"Alright."

Lilly pushed hard against the doors of the mess hall. The dense snow didn't make things any easier. Joe and Molly rushed in to help her.

Finally the door opened enough for them to see that the blizzard was over.

"Yeah! We survived!" Screamed Joe.

"We did." Molly said. "We have to make sure the others did as well."

"Ah I'm sure they're fine." Joe stated.

"We need to search this base." Lilly said.

"And we will, but first let's get some of the shovels an….."

"Oh My!" Screamed Carley

"What is it? Lee?" Lilly Asked.

"Doug!" Carley shouted causing Lilly to turned around. She could clearly see two men in the distance.

"Howard!" Madison shouted as both she and Carley ran towards them.

The others followed including Lilly. She still wanted to find Lee,…. And Tavia of course, but Doug and Howard being alive meant that two more people had just been added to the search.

Outside was quiet. Almost too quiet. However Lee thanked God for quiet after a night like last night.

"Guess we should go find the others." He said. "You said they were in the mess hall right?"

"Yes." Tavia stated as she joined him outside. "But before we do can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What really is the deal with you and the brunette?"

"The "deal" with Lilly is that we were together before I got separated from the group."

"And now?"

"Why?"

"Just saying you gave her your mother's engagement ring."

"I thought you didn't care, something about you having the original."

Tavia looked down at the ring as he mentioned that.

"You're right I do… and I'd like to keep it." She said.

Lee was confused. Tavia's normal joking manner had departed and was replaced by a woman who seemed serious. That actually scared him, just a little.

"Listen Lee, I know what I did, and I know what happened between us, but that was then and this is an extremely different now."

"Tav." Lee interrupted "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying….." She said before taking a long awkward pause.

"I know that we've both been through a lot since this whole walker thing began, and I know it's changed us, but…."

"But?" Lee asked.

"One thing hasn't changed." She said.

Lee took a deep breath. He was not prepared for this…. Not at all.

"I still love you."

"Lee!" Called Clementine as she ran at them.

Looking around Lee noticed that everyone had made it out okay. Even Doug and Howard.

Thank God He thought. Then he noticed Lilly running at him. She practically leapt in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She said.

"Me too." He replied.

Lilly backed away slightly and the two eyes met.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked.

"Well….." Lee began before Doug approached him.

"Guys there's something you should know!" He shouted.

"Doug whatever it is it can wait until later." Kenny insisted.

"Trust me it can't" Howard Butted in.

"Wow, it takes a lot for you to get serious." Said Madison. "This must be important."

"It is. While we were out there we took shelter in a little town just fifteen miles southwest of here." Said Doug.

"Yeah what about it?" Kenny asked.

"There's something there."

"I know the walkers locked up in that three story building." Said Kenny.

"Not exactly." Doug stated.

"What are talking about?" Kenny asked.

"Trust me even, I can't explain." He replied.

"You're gonna want to see this for yourselves."

Thanks to all who made it to the end. Warning from here onward things get pretty tense both emotionally and physically. I feel like this chapter was the bump I needed to get over to drive smoothly the rest of the way.

God bless you all!