-Quentin's POV-

The next day, Andrew and I got into the car I drove with Amanda and Daria on that day. Andrew, noticing my unease about driving, had elected to drive whilst I sat in the passenger's seat, which I was grateful for. Before leaving, I checked up on Amy, who was still out of it and being checked on by Jane and Judy. Additionally, I did notice Noam also unconscious and bandages were wrapped on his left side. According to Judy, the when the bullet hit Jeffrey, it ricocheted off of the vertebra, which was lucky as had it not, the bullet would've hit Noam's lung.

"So, Andrew, where are we heading first?" I asked. "Lincoln college, it'd be better to start with that group, considering the history we got." Andrew replied. "Also, what happened with them?" Andrew sighed. "Basically, I met two of them on a patrol, and they were open to trade. They also took me back to the college to show that they were serious, had a depot set up and everything." Andrew replied. "When I told Thomas about it, he basically told them to fuck off and that we didn't need to trade to survive."

"Why am I not surprised?" Andrew chuckled at my response. "It really didn't help that there was a really bad winter that followed soon after, and they just barely survived." I vaguely remembered that two years ago, there was a particularly bad winter that I was just barely able to survive, albeit not without getting a number of blisters from frostbite. Looking back at Andrew, I saw him holding his right hand out, where I noticed a slight discoloration on Andrew's skin. "Frostbite is a bitch." Andrew then paused for a brief moment before speaking again.

"We're here."

Andrew stopped the car and stepped out, as did I. I quickly noticed the tall wooden walls looming over us. The walls appeared to be rather sturdy, and looked as if very little damage had been done to them. In front of us were large wooden gates that seemed to be the same size as the gates. "Come on." Andrew said. As he stepped forward however, a shot rang out, followed by some dirt kicking up in front of Andrew.

"Hey!" The two of us looked up to see a bald man with a light brown beard standing on the wall holding a rifle. "Shit, Oney?!" Andrew yelled out. The man, Oney, lowered the rifle a bit to look at Andrew, but then glared at him. "Andrew, here to fuck us over more?" Oney asked. "No, I just want to talk with Johnny."

"Why?" Oney asked. "To make more false promises?" Oney aimed at Andrew. "Do you realize how we almost died during that winter?!" Andrew raised his hands. "Oney, what the hell are you screaming about?!" Another voice ran out. The source came into view seconds later as a young, brown haired tan man with a thick beard wearing a green hoodie. Once he saw Andrew, he gave him a nasty look.

"Andrew." Andrew simply raised a hand in response. "Hey Johnny, can we talk?" Andrew asked. So this was Johnny, looked younger than I expected, especially for six years into the apocalypse. "Fine, but this better be good." Johnny gestured for Oney to open the gates, and as the gates opened, I got a look at the large college in front.

Lincoln College.

To my surprise, no one else was outside, likely because it was early morning and everyone was just waking up. Considering that Oney was the only one up on the wall guarding, he was likely on the night shift. Walking inside the college, Johnny led us up to what I presume was formerly the Headmaster's office. Fitting I suppose, considering he was the leader. Inside the office was two people, one being a woman around Johnny's age with blonde hair and a man with a bald head and dark brown beard. He looks a bit similar to Oney, but he was a bit older and had a much more intimidating look.

"Who are these two?" Andrew asked. "The woman is my wife, Candice." Johnny leaned over and kissed Candice on the cheek. "The other guy is Tommaso, he's my second-in-command and sort of my lieutenant." Tommaso gave Johnny a brief nod before Candice left the room and Johnny sat down across from me and Andrew.

"He's here because of protection." Johnny replied. "I'm surprised he knew to be here." I replied. "He knows when he's needed, that's why he's my second-in-command." Johnny gave Tommaso a smile, then turned back to us. "So, what're you doing here?"

"We're here to hopefully establish an alliance." Andrew said. Johnny just laughed. "Let me guess, Thomas put you up to it just to rub it in our faces?" Andrew shook his head. "No, Thomas is dead." A small pause followed before Johnny spoke again.

"Well, I hope he suffered." Johnny replied. "Why do you really want to ally with us?" I decided to speak up. "We're in trouble, there's a group that's attacking us and we need help." Johnny raised a brow at my words, then turned to Andrew. "Who's this?" Johnny asked. "Quentin, he's the new leader." Johnny stood up and outstretched his hand, and I shook it, feeling his firm grip.

"Look, I'll be honest, even if Thomas was dead long before, I'm not sure who you're fighting against." Johnny said. "Some guy named Seth, he's a cult leader of some kind I think." I replied. "Listen, I have a lot of people to protect here, my wife, kids, all these people here. I'm not sure if I want to fight against a group that we haven't even met."

"We can make an offer!" I abruptly said, causing Johnny to jump a bit in surprise. However, he calmed down and stared at me intensely. "What kind of offer?" Johnny asked. "Look, whatever you need, you got it, this can be a new start, and I'm willing to cooperate with you if you help us out, and when we win this war, we can set up a trading line and maybe even expand the communities." Johnny rubbed his beard in deep thought, and I grabbed onto the pockets of my jacket to keep my hands from shaking.

"If you can give us food, then we got a deal."