At that moment, from just beside where Doug and Carley were standing, one of Doug's bells had begun to chime; somebody was approaching from down the road. The entire group promptly ducked behind the front wall and gate.
"Doug! Hehe, it works!" Mark whispered to Doug with a grin.
"Of course it works; I told you." He whispered back.
As the group peaked their heads over the fence, they looked to the road to find two middle-aged, Caucasian men with black hair. One was fairly well-built, and wore a dark sweater, while the other one was quite skinny, and wore a blue polo shirt.
"Shit, where'd this string come from?" The skinny man asked himself with confusion.
"Watch where you're walkin', man." The other said.
Ben crawled behind cover beside Lilly. "Who are those people?" Lilly demanded of Ben.
"I don't know!" He whispered back worriedly.
"Are THEY the people that raided your camp?" Lee asked Ben.
"I don't think so." He answered. "But, they all had their faces covered, so I don't know." He clarified further.
Kenny then crawled to Lilly. "There's just two of 'em!" He whispered to Lilly. "We need to make a stand!" He said with determination.
"No!" She whispered back. "We have a routine. We don't confront them if we don't have to!"
The two strangers were still in the same spot in the middle of the road. "Ya all right?" The bigger man aske, still oblivious to the survivors beyond the barricade.
"Yeah, just gettin' untangled." He answered.
"I don't know how you're still alive, man." The bigger one remarked.
"Sorry, Lilly; we gotta do this!" Kenny whispered, before standing up and pointing his hunting rifle at the two strangers. "That's far enough!" Kenny called out.
"Oh SHIT. Okay! Okay! N-No problem!" The bigger stranger said to Kenny, taking by surprise.
"You're outnumbered here." Lee boomed. "Just turn around and go back."
"Okay; that's fine." Said the bigger man. "Uh… bu-but you'd really be helpin' out a fellow survivor if you could part with dome extra gas before we leave." He said as he held up an empty jerry can to illustrate his point.
"... Whaddya need gas for?" Lilly asked with suspicion.
"We don't want any trouble." Lee boomed.
"Of course! N-Neither do we!" The bigger man responded again. "I'm Andy Saint John. This here's my brother Danny. We're just out lookin' for gasoline. Looks like you folks got the motel locked down, whi-which is fine, but, uh… if ya could spare any gas, well… we'd be much obliged." Andy explained, while Danny stayed quiet."
"Why do you need gas?!" Carley repeated louder and more threateningly than Lilly, pointing her pistol at the two.
Danny then spoke. "Our place is protected by an electric fence! Generators provide the electricity!" Danny had a raspier voice, compared to Andy's hardy voice. The two brothers had strong southern accents, even compared to Kenny.
"Our generators run on gas. Look; we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road, if… y'all be willin' to lower your guns, we-we can talk about some kinda trade."
"How y'all doin' on food?" Asked Danny. "W-We got plenty at the dairy!"
After a few seconds of silent consideration, Lilly spoke up. "Lee, why don't you and Mark check the place out; see if it's legit." She suggested.
"I'm going with you." Carley said to Lee, as she lowered her pistol and turned to face him. "I got your back if anything seems fishy." She assured him.
"I'll go, too." Said Doug. "We can prove the numbers, in case we run into anything dead."
"So, uh… what're y'all thinkin'?" Asked Andy.
"I think we'll stay here." Lee told them. "We're startin' to develop a good vibe here at the motel."
"Good VIBE?" Larry argued. "Well CHRIST, daddy-o; I'm sorry the folks with a food supply, and DEFENCES, didnt tickle your pretty, pink ass!" Larry scolded Lee.
Mark then looked at Lee. "We need to think like a GROUP, Lee. This affects everyone."
"Then, we vote." Said Lilly. "If everyone agrees, then we'll send you guys with some gas to check the place out."
"And if we don't?" Kenny asked Lilly.
Lilly scowled at Kenny. "Then, we'll stay in this wretched roach motel with your recreational paperweight over there." Lilly then looked at Larry. "Plus, we stay close to Macon, where we have access to the pharmacy… for dad." Lilly then looked back at Kenny. "Kenny? Katjaa?"
"... We go." Said Kenny.
Lilly looked at Larry. "Dad?" She asked her father.
"You betcha, Pumpkin." Larry said with a smile. Lilly then asked Carley, Doug, and Mark, to which they also agreed to go.
"I'm in." Said Mark. "If they're offering food, we gotta at least check it out."
Lee then walked to Clem. "Clementine… whadda you think?" He asked the little girl.
"Lee… I'm VERY hungry…" She answered.
"All right… Looks like we're goin' to a dairy." Lee then looked back to Andy and Danny. "You've got a deal." Lee told them. "We'll bring SOME gas to your dairy. In exchange, you give us some food to bring back. See how it goals from there.
"Sounds fair." Andy responded with a smile. "A couple gallons should power one of our generators for a while."
A few minutes later, Andy and Danny were seen walking with Mark and Ben through the woods on a dirt pathway, with Mark's hunting rifle on his shoulder.
"So… this dairy…" Mark began. "You guys really have food?" He asked with hope.
"Sure do." Answered Andy. "We lost most of the cattle, but we still have lots of milk, butter, and cheese stocked up." He explained.
"And, with the vegetables we grow, we got plenty of food." Danny added, while Ben just stayed silent. Lagging a few yards behind were Lee, Carley, and Doug. Carley and Doug were walking side-by-side, about two metres behind Lee.
"So, um…" Doug began, turning his head to Carley. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save your friends and colleagues that day. I still see 'em in my dreams. Or… nightmares." He said with a regretful frown.
"It's fine, Doug." She replied. "I mean, you still managed to save me, which is more than I expected from a total stranger… and I'll never forget it." She added, turning her head to him and giving him a reassuring smile, to which he smiled back.
"Besides; I wasn't exactly 'friends' with any of them." She said with a playful smirk. "I'm actually amazed that you even managed to pull it off, anyway; I don't think even Lee could've done a better job." She added, with a sheepish grin.
"I heard that." Lee said from in front of them, grinning to himself, not turning his head.
This caused Doug and Carley to lightly chuckle at each other, before Carley kissed Doug on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me, Doug." She smiled.
Doug blushed, before smiling back. "You're welcome." Doug then approached Lee's left side.
"Thanks for comin' along, Doug." Lee said to Doug with a smile as they walked beside each other, while Carley was just behind them.
"Sure!" He replied happily. "I'd like to get a look at that electric fence they talked about. It might… give me some ideas for something I can rig up at the motor-inn."
"Can an electric fence really stop walkers?" Asked Lee, not looking terribly enthusiastic.
"Well, as long as the walkers aren't completely dehydrated, and the fence has enough juice… Yeah. Seems plausible. The electricity basically cooks you from the inside out, right?"
"I… guess so." Said Lee. Carley silently grimaced to herself at this thought.
"SO, if a walker stays in contact with the fence, it'll eventually cook its brain. Probably takes a while, though…. And that CAN'T be a good smell." Doug went on. "Unless it smells like jerky. Man, I could go for some jerky…" He said, regretting the refusal of the jerky that he was offered about half an hour ago.
Lee then caught Doug pulling a device out of his pocket to look it over. It looked like a small, thin torch. "What's that you got there?" Lee asked with curiosity.
"Oh! Nothing… It's just a laser-pointer I picked up, during our last trip to the drugstore." He answered. Doug then picked up his pace slightly, catching up with Andy, Danny, Mark, and Ben. Carley then walked to Lee's left side, where Doug had just been.
"It's nice to get away from that motel for a while." Carley told the two men. "This 'Lilly-Kenny' thing is starting to get ridiculous. Personally, I'd be happier if YOU started to take charge more." She said to Lee.
"Kenny keeps us motivated. He believes in hope, and knows how important it is for us not to give that up. I can't fault him for that." Answered Lee.
"Or… maybe, you just don't wanna be in charge." Carley said with a 'Don't bullshit me' frown.
"You think they'd want me for a leader?" Lee asked Carley.
"Sure! Everybody looks up to you." She told him with a reassuring smile.
"Well…" Lee began. "Not everyone thinks I'm so trustworthy."
"Because of your past…?" Guessed Carley. "Does anyone else know?"
"... Larry knows."
"Great." Carley lamented. "THAT can't be easy."
"Clementine knows." Lee went on. "She was there when we were talkin' in the drugstore… and asked me about it… I couldn't lie to her."
"What exactly DID happen with the senator?" Asked Carley.
"... It was an accident." Lee said honestly. "I mean, I pretty much knew about the affair. Sometimes, I wonder if I should talk to the group about it." He added.
"You don't HAVE to." Carley responded. "Whatever happened before things went to hell, doesn't matter anymore."
"Not sure everyone would see it that way." Lee said in a hopeless tone.
"Maybe you're right…" Carley admitted. "Listen; over the years, I've reported on some pretty messed up shit. I've seen situations like yours a hundred times. It doesn't have to make you a bad man."
"I, uh… really appreciate that." Lee said with a grateful smile.
At this point, as Mark was talking to the St. John brothers with Doug and Ben beside them, Lee and Carley heard Lee's name come up into the conversation. "I mean… thank GOD Lee showed up when he did." Said Mark. "Right, Lee?" Mark looked behind his shoulder to Lee.
As Lee and Carley sped up a bit to get close to the others, Andy then spoke. "Yeah, why don't ya tell us a little more about yourself, Lee?" He asked politely.
Danny then looked at Lee also. "Where are ya from?" Danny asked casually.
"I move around a lot. Hard to call any place home, I guess." Lee answered vaguely.
"I used to move around a bit myself, but… the dairy'll always be home to me." Danny said with a smile.
"I grew up in Macon." Lee added with a friendly smile.
"Right here in the Heart of Georgia! That's what I like to hear." Andy said with a grin. "Y'all seem pretty settled in at that motor-inn, uh… Who's runnin' things over there?" Andy curiously inquired.
"We work as a group." Lee answered. "All of us lookin' out for each other."
"I hear that!" Andy agreed with the ideology. "There's so many dumbasses out there fightin' each other, these days… It's just stupid." He added.
"How many people you got over there, anyway?" Danny asked Lee.
"Enough to defend ourselves." Lee answered with a confident, stern expression.
"That's good." Said Andy. "It's gettin' dangerous out there. Well… you guys know…"
"Well, the kid here is our newest arrival. But, we're all lookin' forward to some food. We really need it." Lee informed the men.
"Well, here's to helpin' each other out!" Said Andy.
"Well, we'd love to get ya ALL out to the dairy. Like I said, we got plenty of food, and… quite frankly, we could always use an extra help' hand."
"In the summers, I used to help out on a goat farm." Said Ben.
"Yeah, that's great!" Said Danny. "Everything helps!"
"Momma's been runnin' the dairy for… as long as I can remember, but… now, it's-" Andy was cut off by an angry stranger's voice.
"You think you're gonna cut me outta this?!" He shouted from out of sight.
"SHIT, get down!" Andy whispered to the group.
"No one's tryna cut you out of anything!" Another stranger was heard arguing back with the other one. Andy, Danny, Lee, Mark, Doug, Carley, and Ben all ducked down and approached the source of the noise, which was revealed to be two men in balaclavas.
"You and Gary are always pokin'...!" The first man continued to shout.
As the two men argued on another pathway, they were oblivious to the group watching them from behind trees on a hill. "Fuckin' bandits…" Danny lamented with annoyance.
"Who…?" Asked Lee.
"Those look like the people who raided my camp." Ben whispered to the group as he lay on his front.
"Who are they?" Asked Lee.
"Shh! Fuknin' assholes is who they are…" Said Andy.
"What should we do?" Asked Doug, with a hint of desperation.
"There's only two of them." Carley noted as she said back against a tree, pistol in hand.
"Oh no, there's a lot more…" Danny corrected.
"Don't worry." Andy whispered. "Danny and I got ya covered if somethin' happens, but… let's just wait this out, and… hope they move on."
"FUCK YOU!" The first bandit yelled to the other as he kicked him in the abdomen, before shooting him in the head with his hunting rifle. This sudden burst of anger surprised the group, and made Ben gasp in shock.
The bandit then shot the other's corpse three more times out of anger. "Fuck you! Fuck you!" He shouted as he did this.
"Jesus!" Carley whispered to herself.
"Oh, SHIT!" Doug whispered to himself.
The bandit then walked away from the corpse, turning his head back to it. "Ass-HOLE." He said, before turning his head back in front of him and walking off.
"The world out here has gone to SHIT." Andy whispered in frustration, before speaking up. "Come on. Let's get to the dairy where it's safe." The group then took a last look at the bandits' body, before turning around and getting back onto the pathway.