A/N: Hello! I'm so very sorry that I forgot to tell you all that I was going to take a break. So no, I haven't forgotten about the story, I've just taken a break that I really needed. Anyway, onto the story!

"The fuck do y'all want now?"

The sudden burst of sunlight put a strain on her eyes momentarily, the last person Kirsten wanted to see was Troy. Yet she had a nagging hope that the next time the truck door opened, it'd be Luke on the other side. The least she could say was that "hope" stayed at the back of her head. As her eyes adjusted, Kirsten looked past her group members and laid eyes on an antsy Sarah who cowered behind her father, adjusting her glasses by the rim.

Carlos took a worried glance at his daughter before looking back at Troy, "Can we stop for a moment? My daughter needs to use the restroom," he informed him.

Troy gave the man a snobbish look, the corner of his top lip pulled up. "There ain't no fuckin' "restroom" in the middle of the woods, Doc. She gets to piss on a tree like the rest of us," he spat, gesturing his thumb behind momentarily. He gave the frightened teenager an expectant look, unknown to Bonnie appearing next to him. "Well? Get your ass up," he pressured as she warily stood up.

"Take the girl with you," Bonnie insisted, prompting Troy to give her a disapproved look. "They ain't goin' no where, not with the rest of 'em held up in here," she whispered to the man. As he looked back at truck's occupants, he eyed Clementine to stand up.

The little girl turned to Sarah and mimicked her movement, standing up, she followed her out of the truck where Bonnie cut off the girls' restraints. The last thing Kirsten saw was the two girls disappearing into brush of the woods before the truck door was slammed shut, darkness replacing nature.

"Fuck that guy," Kenny angrily muttered, earning a hush from Sarita.

Kirsten rolled her eyes, despite the lack of vision and mental agreement with Kenny. She just couldn't believe that they wound up like this, now investing her father into the mix. He couldn't possibly know what he's got in store for him and she doesn't want him to test the waters against Carver, she knew from experience that a smart mouth and a brave attitude is only going to get herself hurt― or worse, killed.

As Adrian could barely hear a conversation between Bonnie and what sounded like Carver, he let out a sigh. "How the hell did we get here?" He asked in a low voice, nudging his daughter next to him with his elbow. The woman sat silently, she didn't feel like talking, she felt exhausted. "Sitting here, rope around our wrists, in a storage truck." He huffed, "I don't even know if we're going to die or not," he admitted.

She let out an exhale, shaking her head as an her eyes lowered. "If we don't get on Carver's bad side, we probably won't," she told him. "He's gonna force us to work in his community that we don't want to be apart of, all while he feels some sort of stupid superiority. I'd rather sleep in and eat dirt for the rest of my life." Kirsten then shifted in expression, her face pulled together as she let out a shaky breath. "And I was stupid enough to get caught and force you guys to surrender. Now Luke's God knows where out in the cold, he could be hurt or starving... and I'm sitting here, trapped in the fucking dark."

"This isn't your fault," Nick spoke out from next to her.

"Bullshit," she harshly replied.

"It ain't anyone's fault but Bill's," he responded. She sat silently, she wished she could believe him. "Trust me, Luke is out there tryin' to get to us, there ain't no reason to leave us behind."

Kenny rolled his eyes as he scoffed, "Oh, come on. You think that idiot's goin' to be our golden ticket out of here? You're out of your fuckin' mind," he insulted.

Before either Nick or Kirsten could get a word in, the sound of a loud smack had halted their conversation. The group were stunned into silence as Carver began to threaten either one of the girls. After the talking outside had stopped, they heard the door to the passenger side of the truck open and then close. Soon enough, the truck door had slid up. Sarah, and a red-faced Clementine entered the group's vision with a pistol pointed at them.

"In," Troy demanded the girls with a gesture of his gun. The girls stumbled inside the truck.

Sarita looked over at the girls worryingly, "Are you guys okay?" She asked, followed by Kenny's protective rambling.

"The hell did he do to you? Did he hurt you?" He frantically asked Clementine, soon turning his head over to Troy with anger as he began to shut the truck door. "Hey! Hey!"

SLAM!

The group sat in a fear-filled silence, only a cough or soft mumble was heard every so often. As the truck hit bumps and pot-holes, swaying them all side to side, Kirsten kept her eyes plastered onto the red mark on Clementine's cheek. A bubbling anger was felt in her stomach, how anyone could strike a child somehow baffled her, despite knowing that it was unfortunately quite common. His actions didn't feel new to her.

As the anger began to eventually sub-side, Luke wandered back into her thoughts and so did her guilt. If he was still out there, he couldn't have gotten far from the lodge on foot, meaning he was probably out in the storm. They'd been driving for what seemed to be a day and had made so much distance from the lodge. It worried her that he'd never get to them before something happened, let alone find them. She felt as if she was on the verge of a panic attack, her breathing would begin to quicken but she'd pace herself enough to calm her nerves. She never really knew what to do before or during a panic attack until she met Sarah. As much as Sarah wasn't good with physical defense in a world so dependent on it, she sure did know a good mental one.

The truck bounced as it hit another bump, it dragged Kirsten out of her thoughts and she realized she was staring at Clementine the whole time. She looked over to her father who patiently watched and waited for an eager Kenny to start talking again.

And he did.

"Alright, we gotta do somethin'. Come on, anyone got anything sharp? Anything?" He asked, almost begging the group in the vehicle. As they sat in silence, Kenny grew louder. "We need to get these bindings off!" He growled, "Hey! Clem, help me find something to get these off, anything sharp that could cut these."

"And what good is that gonna do?" Rebecca asked, raising her eyebrows to Kenny.

Kirsten leaned her head back, "Kill us, I hope," she muttered.

"Jesus, Kirsten," Adrian exclaimed.

Clementine looked down at the bindings on her wrists before replying, "Why bother?"

Kenny's face turned from grit to appalled as the truck shook it's occupants, "What?! How can you say that?" He defensively asked, his eyes wide.

The girl grew a bit timid, looking away from the man. "I just don't see how it's going to help," she replied.

As his eyes narrowed, his voice grew louder. A sense of fear washed over Kenny as it was a reminder of the past, he was stuck in captivity. Again. "We're in a fuckin' precarious situation here, we gotta do somethin' about that―!"

"Settle down, Kenny," Carlos demanded, keeping his eyes directly on the enraged man. "They took everything, we have to keep a level head," he insisted.

Rebecca nodded, adverting her eyes to Kenny. "He's right. You don't know Bill like we do," she told him.

Kenny raised an eyebrow at the woman, "Bill? This whole time it's "Carver, Carver, Carver," now he's fuckin' Bill?" He grimaced.

"I don't think his name is going to be an issue when he puts a bullet in your the back of your head," Kirsten assured, much to his dislike as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Everyone here besides Rebecca are just pawns in his fabricated, little world. We're as good as dead as soon as you give him a reason for us to be."

"Oh, I see what it is. Y'all are just gettin' a ride home, aren't ya? That's what's goin' on here." Kenny spat belittlingly, looking around to those who'd hung their head in shame.

Nick gritted his teeth as he turned to the older man, "Say that again," he threatened.

"I'd stay out of this, boy," Kenny retaliated.

"Right, you're a man."

Adrian turned to Kenny with a stern look, "That's enough! Matter of fact is, they know what we're dealing with here and we don't. There's no point in getting ourselves killed trying to fight something we clearly can't," he told him with a raise of his voice.

"We don't know that until we try!" Kenny growled back.

"Adrian's right," Rebecca agreed. "Carver's different, he's... he's worse!"

Kenny turned to the woman bitterly, "The fuck are you talking about?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at the man's jagged words, but shrugged it off. "He wants to punish us for leaving when he didn't allow us to. He thinks he's got some... authority over us now, especially since he's got us back."

"For all we know, Luke could be an order to 'shoot on sight,' all because he was fortunate enough to get away," Kirsten suggested.

"But is... is he going to kill us?" Clementine asked, wide eyed as she rubbed where the bindings tied around her wrists.

"I― I don't think so..." Rebecca uneasily replied.

"He ain't goin' to get the fuckin' chance!" Kenny growled, leaning forward as his eyes narrowed.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with!" Carlos shouted, trying his best to tame Kenny's confidence. He grew angered by Kenny's blind threats. The lack of sense for other people's safety and thought to kill his way out of situations was only going to get himself and everyone else killed.

"Oh, he gave me a pretty good goddamn idea back at the lodge, and I don't intend to sit around here and let that happen to the rest of us!" Kenny replied boldly. "I'm tryin' to help, here!"

Carlos scoffed as his eyebrows raised, "I'm sure Walter really appreciated your help," he spat, much to Kenny's disheartening expression.

"That's not fair! You are blaming him for the actions of a mad man," Sarita objected, looking at Carlos with a stern eye.

Carlos shook his head in disagreement, "I am pointing out that regardless of intent, there are consequences to rash actions. Something he seems to be misreading as capitulation!"

Kenny gave the man a confused look, raising a corner of his top lip. "I don't know what the fuck you're saying, but I know it's bullshit! We have to do something!"

Kirsten raised her eyebrows at the man before turning to her father, "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered in reference to Kenny's sheer negligence.

Rebecca overheard the girl and shook her head in agreement, "You can't reason with him," she pointed out.

Soon, Kenny's eyes shifted to a broken steel beam along the side of the truck. He lit up as he began to get up and stumble over to it. "Jackpot!"

Carlos glared at the man as he watched him make his way across the truck, "Sit down, you're going to get us all killed!" He demanded.

The man scoffed as he bent down and began to use the jagged edges to cut through the ropes around his wrist. "Y'all don't know what you're talking about, we get cooped up in a kennel like a bunch of fuckin' dogs, it's over!" He spat, continuing to cut away.

"We don't know what we're talking about?" Kirsten pointed out. "The whole reason why we were on the run is because we knew what he could do!"

"Yeah, well, I've been in this situation before," Kenny told her. "You ever been a prisoner?"

"Why do you think we left? We got out of here for everyone's safety, something you seem to forget about whenever you want to pull the trigger on someone," she remarked. "The more think you're pulling a fast one on him, the more you seem to forget that he's got the upper hand. He's got guards, he's got guns, he's go ammo. We have nothing, and we'll keep on having nothing if you give Carver a reason to."

As Kenny let her words go through one ear and out the other, the rope had finally been cut through and fell off his wrists. "Alright, now we're talkin'!" He exclaimed as he stood up and rubbed his wrists.

Kirsten gave the man an appalled look, "You're just going to ignore me?"

"Carver will be on the other side of that door with ten people," Carlos pointed out as he looked up at the man. "At this point, maybe Luke might be the only hope we have."

Kenny scoffed as he rested his hand against the truck for support, "If he was gonna do something, he'd have done it by now."

"You mean after you told him to piss off on his own?" Kirsten answered back in an insulting tone.

Rebecca looked up at the man with a raised eyebrow, "Who knows what he's dealing with. Anything can happen out there."

"I'll tell you what happened," Kenny said, switching his gaze to Kirsten. "He abandoned us."

"The fuck?" Kirsten hissed with narrowed eyes.

"You don't know that," Nick bitterly replied.

"I know he ain't here."

"And I know that he sure as hell didn't abandon us," Kirsten added in a hostile tone. "He didn't abandon Clem in the woods, and he didn't even know her. He could've let her been torn apart and you would have never seen her again, but he saved her life because that's just how he is."

Adrian, although wanting to believe her, didn't know where he stood about Luke's intentions. All he knew was Kirsten's seemingly sworn word. One side wanted to believe that Luke was somehow coming to help them get out of this, but the other side thought that Luke could have a change of heart and that maybe all of this wasn't worth coming to save.

He looked over to his daughter, the determination on her face couldn't be played with. She had her heart set on him, and he could see that. He hoped for her sake that Luke would make his way back to the group.

"Oh, please. That guy's a flake," Kenny insulted, "I could tell the second I set eyes on him."

"Fuck you," Kirsten retaliated. "You don't know a damn thing about him. He's going to help us get out of this."

Again, he scoffed. "Oh yeah? When? After that crazy fuck's killed us all?!" He replied in a hostile tone, leaning forward.

"At this point, you're giving Carver a fucking reason to!" Kirsten growled.

Before Kenny could reply with a response, the truck began to violently bounce as it hit a speed bump, the brake lights in the truck flashing at the group.

"We're close," Carlos informed.

Kenny nodded, "Okay, let's do this."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me―"

"They've got guns," Rebecca told him. "What do you expect to do?"

"I'm gonna punch the first son of a bitch I see," he began, "then I'm gonna take his gun, and use it to shoot the next son of a bitch I see."

Kirsten had given up at this point, it was like trying to get through to a determined brick wall. All she could see was watch this play out, even if he was content with getting himself killed, then by all means would she not stop him.

The truck had taken its last big halt before the reversing alert started to go off, the group swayed to the back of the truck as began to reverse.

"Just sit down," Carlos bitterly replied, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Shut up, Doc," Kenny demanded. "This ain't your call."

Kirsten rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the truck wall. "Yeah, Carlos. Let him go for it. You're just cutting off the entertainment on our end."

Kenny ignored the girls' comment and turned around to face the gate of the truck. With balled fists and a determined face, he was ready for whatever was to come. "Alright, everybody ready―"

Maybe not the truck suddenly halting.

The man was flung forward and slammed his head against the gate of the truck, sending himself backwards and onto the ground. Sarita immediately bounced up off the ground and rushed over to Kenny's side.

Kirsten began to hold in her giggled, letting out a few before her father nudged her to stop.

"Kenny!" She gasped, "Kenny! Are you okay?"

"Jesus, Ken," Adrian exclaimed.

Rebecca, with wide eyes, looked over to Sarita. "Is he okay?"

"I- I think so?"

The man groaned, lifting his hand to his face and rubbing it. "Ugh... what hit me?"

Kirsten looked down at the man with a smirk on her face. "A truck driver with great timing."

A/N: Woweeeeee, not the best ending to a chapter. I'm honestly not all that happy with how this chapter turned out, but there's just so much dialogue and not enough actions, and I just really wanted to get something out to you guys. I promise that the next chapter will be 100 times better, though! Oh, and again, I'm really, really, REALLY sorry that I didn't tell you guys about taking a break. It was the most ridiculous move I've pulled.

Anyway, onto other business. I'm really glad that you guys enjoyed the little part that Natalie (OC) had, there's definitely more to come.

But I need to say that when I first started the rewrite of this story, I was much more fruitful and was hardly in writers block like I have been for the past 6 months, which made me accept about 8 OC's. Kind of a big mistake, and I really do want to give out the best content that I can for you guys, which is why I'm sorry to say that I've got to take some out of the story. But fear not! These characters won't just vanish into thin air and out of the story, they still exist! I'm just going to write in closure for their character arcs as it's too difficult for me to incorporate them into the current story.

Now, I'm assuming that you'll want to know which OC's are going, but I'm going to leave you guys hanging on that one. For "creative purposes" lol. But seriously, I really hope you guys can understand where I'm coming from and not give me shit for it? Again, I'm doing this so I can provide the best content for you guys. So it's for all of you, and to take some stress off my mind.

Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And if you're new and for some reason on the last chapter, I'd suggest reading the first one and giving this story a follow+fave :) Other than that, a review helps a ton! I want to know what you guys think of the latest chapter and/or the recent news I just had to break.

Next chapter should be up soon, and until then, happy reading!