"Dallas, could you come in here for a second?" Lee called. After the conversation had died down, Dallas had gone to sit with Clementine and watch her draw, feeling content with just sitting in silence. He had been wondering if she was actually talking to someone on that walkie talkie, but it wasn't possible, who could be picking it up? She knows not to speak to strangers, right? He had just been about to ask her, when Lee had called him over to Lilly's room just now, disappearing back into the room.
"I'll be right back, and then I need to ask you something, okay?" Dallas said, standing up and looking down at Clementine.
"Okay," she said, going back to her picture. Dallas walked over to Lilly's room and opened the door, closing it behind him as he entered. Inside, Lilly was still sitting on the bed, looking quite defeated, and Lee was sitting in a chair across from her, looking worried.
"What's up guys? Is this about the stolen supplies?" Dallas asked, leaning against the cabinet once more.
"It is. Someone has been taking from our stores. It has only been small things here and there, I was lucky that I noticed at all. The fact is, I'm sure it has to be someone in the group, it just has to," Lilly explained, looking out the window.
"Surely no one here would do that to us. We've been through so much together," Dallas argued. He had known these guys for three months now and he had gotten to know them, had a chance to connect with them. Hell, he even trusted Ben, and it was only one week ago he arrived.
"I agreed with Dallas on this Lilly, these are good people, they could never do this to us," Lee said, agreeing with Dallas.
"Just because they are good people, it doesn't mean they would never do bad things. Hell, you and Kenny let that girl out in Macon die, just so you could get that supplies," Lilly pointed out.
"I let her die as well Lilly, they aren't the only ones to blame here. As much as I didn't agree with doing it, we had good reason for doing it. If someone from our group has been stealing, then they must have some reason for doing it," Dallas said, appealing to both Lilly and Lee, even if the latter was mostly on his side.
"I don't care about their reasoning, I just want to know who did it okay? Can you guys please do that for me?" Lilly asked, looking between the two boys in front of her. Lee and Dallas exchanged looks, both of them deciding on a decision at the same time, and turned back to look at Lilly.
"Of course we will," Lee answered, standing up from his seat, ready to investigate.
"Thank you, both of you. I think I know a place to start," Lilly said, pulling out one of our flashlights.
"What's this got to do with anything?" Dallas asked, as she handed him the flashlight, noticing it was broken.
"Whoever did it was moving around in the night, when we were all sleeping. If you can find out who it belongs to, or at least try to find the broken glass, you might be able to get somewhere," Lilly explained, sitting back on the bed.
"I guess we will start there then. Let's go Dallas," Lee said, leading Dallas out of the room. When they walked out, Dallas noticed Lee glance up at Carley, before turning to face him.
"You're going to go talk to her now aren't you?" Dallas asked, a smirk on his face.
"I am. You start looking around, I won't be long," Lee said, walking away to the nearby stairs.
"I highly doubt that," Dallas sniggered, turning around to go look around for any broken glass, when he almost jumped out of his skin. Standing right behind him, was none other than Duck, who seemed to be scratching his chin in thought.
"A mystery aye?" he said, looking thoughtful still.
"You weren't eavesdropping on us were you?" Dallas asked, once his heart rate had returned to normal.
"What are eaves?" Duck asked, a blank look on his face.
"Never mind, what do you want?" Dallas asked him, rubbing his temples with his forefinger and thumb, feeling frustrated.
"I want to help you solve the mystery of course," Duck said excitedly, pretending to pull out a spy glass and putting it to his eye.
"Maybe you should sit this one out bud, let Lee and I take care of it," Dallas said, kneeling down so that he was eye level with him.
"But I know I can help, just give me a chance. I'm good at solving mysteries," Duck said, pretending to examine Dallas' face.
"Okay, fine. If you find anything, I want you to come and find me straight away okay?" Dallas said, giving Duck a firm look.
"Of course. Detective Dallas and Detective Duck are on the case!" Duck exclaimed, turning around and running away, disappearing behind the RV.
"That boy is gonna be the end of me." Dallas stood back up and turned to find Kenny, who must've walked up behind him while he was talking to Duck.
"He is a handful, but what child isn't?" Dallas joked, glancing at Clementine nearby, who was examining her picture closely.
"At least your girl behaves, mine just runs 'round like a headless chook. However, I wouldn't trade him for any other child in the world," Kenny said, watching Duck looking at the ground with his pretend magnifying glass.
"As I'm sure every parent ever would agree," Dallas agreed, watching as Duck picked up a bug, looking at it closely, before throwing it over his shoulder, continuing to stare at the ground as he kept walking. Taking the opportunity, Dallas pulled out the broken flashlight and handed it to Kenny, letting him examine it. "While I have you, do you by chance know how this got broken?"
"No clue. Haven't been movin' around at night lately, so I'm not the one to ask. I think Ben was on night duty, you should ask him," Kenny said, handing the flashlight back.
"I'll do that, thanks. See you later," Dallas said, moving over to the nearby ladder at the back of the RV, before Kenny grabbed him by the arm, turning him back around.
"Listen, I want to apologise for how I was actin' in there, you were right, we were being childish," Kenny told him, his voice full of regret.
"It's fine, I'm sorry for snapping. You were just worrying about your family, wanting to get them out of here safely, it's understandable," Dallas reassured him. Kenny let go of his arm and crossed his arms, looking directly at Dallas.
"You are a part of that family, ya know that right?" Kenny asked, a small smile forming on his face.
"Of course, you guys are all I have. Everyone here. Ben, Carley, you guys, Lee, Clementine, even Lilly. All of you are going to be my family, no matter what the world throws our way," Dallas replied, retuning Kenny's smile.
"Cool, cool. I'm going to go back to Kat, see you later," Kenny said awkwardly, walking away to go and sit with his wife on the couch. Chuckling at Kenny's awkwardness, Dallas turned back around to the ladder of the RV and grabbed one of the rungs, pulling himself up to the roof. Once he was on it, he walked over to Ben and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him almost jump out of his seat.
"Shit! Dallas, don't do that, you scared me," Ben scolded, while still managing to have a small voice.
"Sorry, won't happen again, I promise," Dallas apologised, his fingers crossed behind his back.
"Did you need something? Or are you just up here for the view?" Ben joked, turning back to his watch.
"Because this is such a great view," Dallas laughed sitting down on the roof, letting his legs dangle over the edge. "I actually did want to ask you something though."
"What is it?" Ben asked, scanning the tree line, while listening to Dallas' words.
"I was wondering if you know how this flashlight got broken," Dallas said, pulling out said flashlight. A flash of fear crossed Ben's face, but it vanished in a split second, making Dallas wonder if he had actually seen anything.
"I was using a different flashlight last night, if that is what you are asking. Other than that, I don't know what happened to that one," Ben told him, trying to avoid Dallas' eyes.
"You're sure about that?" Dallas asked, looking up at his friend, trying to meet his gaze. Ben looked unsure of how to reply, retreating into the confines of his mind to find an answer.
"I'm sure," he replied after a minute had passed, looking down at his grimy shoes, still not meeting Dallas' gaze. Dallas stood up from his seat and moved back over to the ladder, looking at his friend one last time.
"Just remember, you can trust me," Dallas told Ben, before turning back around and going back down the ladder. Just as he hit the ground, he looked up at Lee and Carley who were still happily chatting away. He noticed the look in Carley's eyes, and knew that something was about to happen. The next thing he knew, Carley was moving towards Lee, planting a small peck on his cheek, making him go scarlet. Dallas tried his best to supress his laughter as he watched Lee's reaction, turning around to chuckle as quietly as he could. Once he had calmed down, Dallas turned back around to see Lee walking away from Carley, make eye contact with him, and come down the stairs. He made a beeline for Dallas as soon as he was on the ground, a grim smile on his face.
"Hey, can we talk about something?" he asked, gesturing to the space just around the corner of the building.
"Sure," Dallas said, following behind Lee. When they were out of earshot of everyone else, Lee turned around, ready to say something, before Dallas cut him off, a smirk on his face. "I knew you two were inevitable."
"What?" Lee asked, confused by what he was talking about.
"You can Carley. I saw that little kiss she placed on your cheek," Dallas teased, making Lee blush again.
"I uh… What I mean to say is… That's not what I wanted to talk about," Lee stuttered, trying to sound serious, but only succeeding in sounding like a boy with a high school crush.
"Okay, okay. What is it?" Dallas asked, becoming serious for Lee's sake.
"Now, what I am about to tell you may sound a little extreme, but I thought you should be one of the people I told," Lee began, his face becoming more serious than before.
"Whatever it is you know you can trust me. Just say it quickly, like ripping off a band aid," Dallas said, placing a reassuring hand on Lee's shoulder.
"When I came and found you, I was actually on my way to prison, for murder." Dallas took his hand away from Lee and looked at him in shock, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"You…you killed someone?" Dallas asked, staggering back a little.
"I caught my wife cheating on me. I was so angry and I just…" Lee trailed off, staring right at Dallas, fear in his eyes.
"So you didn't just do it for the hell of it?" Dallas questioned, running his fingers through his greasy brown hair.
"No, I'm not that sort of person, you know that," Lee said, his face staying fearful and worried.
"I know, I know. It's just hard to swallow is all," Dallas assured him, sticking his hands in his pockets, avoiding his friend's gaze.
"So, what are you thinking?" Lee asked, looking at Dallas hopefully. Dallas tried his best to look anywhere but at Lee while he tried to figure out how to answer. Finally, after a minute or so of thinking, he finally met Lee's eyes, a small smile appearing on his face.
"I guess I'm fine with it," he said, looking down at the ground.
"Wait, you are?" Lee questioned, surprise in his voice.
"Yeah, I am. It was before this shit started, before we got stuck in this situation. If you think about it, everyone gets a clean slate coming into this. What you choose to do, whether you go back to what you once were, or if you become a better person, that's your choice. So yeah, I don't care who you were, I only care who you are now, and you are my friend," Dallas told him, meeting Lee's gaze once more. A wide grin formed on Lee's face, as he pulled Dallas into a hug, almost squeezing the life out of him. When he heard Dallas gasping for air, Lee pulled away, looking sheepish.
"Sorry, I was just really worried that you might hate me or something" Lee said, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm not the hating type," Dallas joked, making both of them laugh.
"Well thanks anyway. Do you mind finding the missing supplies on your own? I want to talk to everyone else about this," Lee said, looking over at the couch where Kenny and Katjaa were sitting.
"Of course, go do what you need to do," Dallas told him. Lee nodded to him and walked away, leaving Dallas standing alone. He waited there for a few minutes before walking towards Clementine , before Duck jumped in front of him, blocking his path.
"I found the broken glass!" Duck exclaimed, looking quite proud of himself.
"That's great Duck, but could you just-" Dallas began to say, trying to move around him.
"Come on, let's go," Duck said, grabbing Dallas by the sleeve, dragging him away from Clementine. Knowing he didn't have much choice, he decided to put it off once again, thinking that getting this out of the way would leave time for him to finally have that conversation with her. Hopefully this didn't take too long.
I thought I would make up for the mishap with the previous chapter and give you guys another one :3
This is just so playful, I love Duck so much, isn't he awesome?
Anyway, the next chapter is a fun one, I hated myself a little after writing it though :c
The chapter is called Shattered Safety So I hope you are all ready for some tough times, because death is at the door.
Anyway, farewell for now fellow fanfickers :D