Motor Inn - Time: 9:12 AM

Lee, Kenny, Mark, Ben, and Ethan ran quickly through the woods as quickly as possible while Mark held the man over his shoulder.

"How much farther is the freaking Motor Inn?! It feels like we've been running for hours!" Ethan asked until they all found the motel, which was heavily fortified with wood.

"There it is!" Lee yelled as he ran faster. "Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" They quickly opened the gates made of large trash containers and saw most of the adults, Lilly, Larry, Carley, Katjaa, and the only child, Clementine who now had a yellow stripped shirt under her dress.

"Who the hell are they!?" Larry asked in anger.

"NOT the time Larry!" Ethan yelled.

"What's going on?" Carley asked.

"We don't have any time to explain!" Lee said.

"Lee, Ethan, are you ok?" Clementine asked as the man was put onto the pickup truck.

"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked while Katjaa was shocked by it.

"Jesus Ken, I-I don't know!" She said as Lilly's rage grew a bit.

"Lee! What the hell?! You can't just be bringing new people here! What were you thinking?!" She asked in anger.

"Hey you want to calm down for a fucking moment?!" Kenny asked as Larry's rage grew largely.

"No I don't!" Lilly said before Larry could day anything. "I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea!"

"Those guys would have DIED if he left them!" Ethan yelled as Lee nodded.

"Yeah? So what?" Larry asked coldly in which caught Ethan's attention and made him a bit angry.

"We are NOT responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We have to focus on OUR group!" Lilly said in which made Ethan angrier.

"So you and your dad are WILLING to abandon somebody's life just to make yours easier? You wouldn't know morality or any of that bullshit that exists now even if it came out of any of your asses!" Ethan said in anger in which made Larry angry.

"You better watch what you say kid!" Larry said in which he and Ethan stared at each other in hatred.

"Well hang on! We haven't even talked to these people yet maybe they CAN be helpful!" Carley said as Mark nodded.

"Ethan's right Lilly! These are people trying to survive just like us! We've got to stick together to survive!" Mark said as Lilly looked at him.

"The only reason you're here is that you had food, enough for ALL of us. But that food is almost gone and we've got MAYBE a weeks worth left. And you guys aren't carrying any groceries with you, right?" She asked as she looked at Ben.

"Uh... no?" He asked in worry.

"Lilly, stop giving this guy bullshit and leave him alone." Ethan said in anger as Mark shook his head.

"Fine. You guys fight it out then." He said as he looked at Ben. "Welcome to the club kid." He then walked away, leaving them behind while Clementine walked over to Ben.

"Come over here and see what I drew..." She said as Ben looked at her.

"W-What? No I-" Ben said, but gave up as he let himself be pulled away, leaving them.

"You know, you think you're the leader of this little group?" Kenny asked as he and Lilly looked at each other. "But we can make our OWN goddamn decisions! This isn't you're own... personal dictatorship!"

"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 said as she walked off, with Ethan looking at her.

"...Screw it. I'm done." He said to himself as he walked off and sat against the RV and waited for the fighting to stop, until he sighed. "Why won't this bullshit end?"

"You think this is easy for me?" Lilly asked Lee, who was the only one left. "Everybody is starting to hate me because I'M the one rationing the food, and nobody wants to!" She grabbed a pack and took out four foods, one part of an apple, two pieces of cheese and crackers, and a piece of jerky. "You know what? I'm not doing it tonight, you do it." She shoves them in Lee's hand. "There's today's food rations, and there's not enough for everyone. Good luck!" She left Lee standing there as Ethan shook his head.

"...Things are only getting worse around here." He said quietly but pushed that aside and walked toward Duck and Clementine, who had Ben and Carley sitting next to them. "Hey kiddos. Everything going ok?"

"I'm ok. Me and Clementine is coloring." Duck said as Clementine nodded and showed him her one of her drawings, which was a cat.

"Do you like it?" She asked as Ethan smiled a bit and nodded, but also saw the other picture.

"What's that?" Ethan asked as Clementine looked and picked it up, showing it was a drawing of her and Ethan holding hands like a brother and sister, which surprised him.

"Do you like that one too?" She asked as Ethan smiled bigger.

"I don't like it. I love it. Thank you." He said as she hugged Ethan, to which he hugged back until he noticed something a bit off about her; not wearing her hat. "Hey now, where's your hat?"

"I don't know, I lost it." Clementine said as she stopped hugging.

"You be sure to let Lee know about that, ok? I'll be sure to keep my eye on it if I do." Ethan said as Clementine nodded.

"Ok... thank you." She said as Ethan nodded and looked at Ben.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked as Ben looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah... I'm ok." He said silently, but shook his head. "I can't believe he chopped of his leg."

"I know... But there was no way out of it." Ethan said until they both looked at each other. "So... your name is Ben right?"

"Yeah. I'm Ben; Ben Paul." Ben said as he looked at the man. "That over there is Mr Parker, the band director at my school. We were all heading to Stone Mountain for the playoffs when..." Ben said until he sighed a bit.

"I understand. I'm Ethan; Ethan Vann. It's... nice to meet you Ben." Ethan said as he offered Ben his hand, to which he looked at for a bit but smiled and accepted it. "Just thought I'd... welcome you to the group."

"Are they always like this?" Ben asked as Ethan nodded.

"Those who will keep howling their heads off until one of them gives up. It's not easy, it never is and gets harder everyday." He said as Ben nodded slowly until Ethan got up. "Anyway, I think I need some time alone. Gather everything that just happened, you know." Ben nodded again as Ethan walked away and stopped at the edge of the barricade, looking over a bit in thought for a while until he looked at his pendant; Emmy's pendant. "...I miss you..."

"Hey Ethan." A voice said as Ethan looked to see it was Lee. "Thought I'd give you something to eat." He gave him a piece of jerky, which made him smile a bit but realized something.

"Wait... Did Clem or Duck get anything?" He asked as Lee nodded.

"Yeah I gave them something." He said as Ethan then looked at Ben.

"What about him? Did he get much of anything?" He asked as Lee too looked and shook his head. "Give it to him instead. He needs it."

"Are you sure? You need food too." Lee said as Ethan nodded.

"Yeah, I do need it. But that guys needs mean more than mine." Ethan said as he looked at Ben more. "I mean... look at him. He needs it, and so does Clem and Duck."

"Are you sure?" Lee asked as Ethan chuckled a bit and showed Lee a few of his scars and burns.

"Lee. I've been beaten, bruised, burned by cigars, and nearly starved to death. I can handle it." He said while he crossed his arms. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Lee nodded and walked off, leaving Ethan in thought once again and also gave the last of it to Ben and Larry, making him sigh. "Well... I guess there's always next time, huh?"

"Ken! Lee! Come here please!" Katjaa yelled as Ethan watched them walk to her, with Ethan hearing he didn't make it due to blood loss, walked away from the conversation and sat down next to Clementine. She looked at him.

"Is that man ok?" She asked as Ethan looked at her and shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry pumpkin. Katjaa tried the best she could." He said while looking down.

"Oh..." She said as Ethan became saddened a bit.

"Clem... look I-" He tried to say until he heard a yell from Katjaa.

"SHIT! KATJAA!" Lee yelled as Ethan immediately got up and looked to see Mr Parker as a walker.

"THE FUCK?! I THOUGHT HE WASN'T BITTEN!" He yelled until he looked at Ben. "YOU LIED TO US!"

"NO I DIDN'T!" Ben yelled back until Ethan looked around until he saw a plank of wood.

"THE AX! HURRY!" Lee yelled as Ethan picked up the piece of wood and saw the undead Parker trying to bite him, to which he ran to it.

"GET OFF OF HIM!" Ethan yelled as he hit the walker with the wood, but it broke instead with Lee pushing it off of him and Larry trying to hit it with the ax, but missed and hit the window instead.

"Damn it! I almost had it!" Larry yelled while Lee began to back up away from the walker and Ethan trying to find something for him to use.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Ethan swore quickly and ran to find something quickly until he heard a gun going off, seeing Carley shot it.

"You ok?" Carley asked as Lee nodded.

"Just great thanks." He said while breathing heavily and getting up.

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place asshole?! You're going to get us ALL killed!" Larry asked in rage with Lilly running up to him.

"Dad, calm down!" She said as Larry looked at her, then shoved the ax back into Lee's hands.

"You said he wasn't bitten!" Kenny said in anger while he held Katjaa and looking at Ben, which shocked him. "Ethan asked you point blank if he was bitten and you said no!

"H-He wasn't!" Ben said in fear until he realized something. "Wait... you all don't know?"

"Know? What the hell are you talking about?" Ethan asked in anger as Ben took a deep breath.

"It's... It's not the bite that does it!" He said as everybody looked at him in shock. "You... You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain that's just what happens. It's... Going to happen to all of us." Everybody stayed silent from that and looked at each other.

"...No, that's a lie. I can't believe that it's..." Ethan tried to say until he shook his head.

"I'm telling the truth, I've seen it. All I know is that I've seen people turn who I KNOW wasn't bitten." Ben said sadly.

"Maybe he's right." Katjaa said while she and Kenny looked at each other. "That would explain on why there's so many of them."

"Shit... Then if a family of five dies from a car crash, then they just become a family of walkers." Kenny said as Ben nodded.

"When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding in the gym and we thought we were safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher I think, I guess couldn't take it anymore. She took pills, a lot of them. Someone went in the girls room the next morning and... god..." Ben said as Ethan and Lee looked at Clementine, and Katjaa and Kenny looking at Duck.

"God help us..." Lee said silently.

"Back off!" Carley yelled as everybody looked outside of the walls to see two men, who looked very much like brothers, with one being much taller and southern while the other one was short.

"Whoa lady, relax! Me and my brother here were just wondering if you can help us out!" The tall one said as Lilly looked at Carley.

"Carley, put it down." She said as Carley disobeyed.

"Are you armed?" Lee asked as the short one nodded.

"Yeah, for protection! Dead could be anywhere!" He said as the tall one chuckled a bit.

"But uh... I think you all have the upper hand." He said as Carley looked at him in question. "I'm Andy St John! And this is my brother Danny!"

"Why do you need gas though?" She asked.

"We need it for our electric fence which has our place protected! Generators provide the electricity!" Danny said which caught both Ethan and Larry's attention.

"Electric fence huh? Sounds... Nice actually." Ethan said as Larry nodded a bit.

"Our generators run on gas!" The Andy said while thinking a bit. "Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If you all lower your guns maybe we can help you folks out!"

"A trade? What kinda trade are we talkin?" Kenny asked in question.

"Well how about food? You low on that? We've got plenty at the dairy!" Danny said in which made everybody look at each other, until Lilly looked at Lee.

"Lee, why don't you and Mark go and check this out? See if it's legit." She said as Lee nodded.

"I'm coming with you." Carley said as she put up her pistol. "I've got your back in case anything happens."

"...I'm coming too. I'm curious about this place." Ethan said as Lee nodded.

"So, what are ya'll thinking?" Andy asked as Lee smiled.

"You've got a deal." He said while smiling more. "We'll bring some gas to your dairy but in exchange, you bring us food to bring back and see where it goes from there." Andy then thought a little a bit but then nodded.

"Sounds fair enough!" He said as the group being sent started packing up some gas for them.

"I guess we're ready then?" Ethan asked as they nodded, with him seeing Clementine and crouching down to her. "I'll be back soon Clem, I promise."

"Please be ok." She said as she hugged him, to which he hugged back.

"Don't worry... I will..." Ethan said as he got up and followed the St John's to the dairy.