A/N: Woah, I'm not dead! Don't worry everyone, the story isn't abandoned, finals are just a pain in the butt right now, so things are moving a bit slower than I would like. But to make up for it, here's another chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Telltale's The Walking Dead, only my characters.

St. John's Dairy

October 12th, 1214 Local Time, 2003

Clementine let out a giggle as Zoey pushed the swing forward, the little girl's mood having improved since their talk on the stairs. It had been some time since Kenny had gone out in search of the bandit's camp with Danny, not that she was complaining, but his lengthy absence was starting to make her slightly worried. She had full confidence in his capabilities, but even she knew that everyone had their limits.

Thankfully she had Duck and Clementine to keep her company while Kenny was gone. It was the first time in a while that Zoey had actually gotten the chance to properly play around with the two children, so it was rather refreshing to get away from all the busy work that came with surviving the apocalypse.

Honestly, she was quite content with staying at the dairy. The St. Johns had proven themselves to your everyday caring people who just wanted to help. That being said, she still remained slightly cautious around them in case it was all a façade, but so far there had been nothing about them that raised any concerns. At least, until Katjaa spoke with her a few minutes ago.

The veterinarian had informed her that there was a putrid smell coming from the back of the barn, almost like rotten meat or something similar. Strangely, when she went to investigate, she found that the doors leading to the smell were sealed with an industrial grade pad-lock. When she asked Andrew about it, he made up an awkward excuse about it just being the game they hunt for meat.

But why would anyone store meat in a barn? I'm no farmer, but something just isn't right. Zoey thought as she tried to think of solutions to her own question.

"Zoey?" Clementine asked, bringing her back to the present.

"Yes Clem?" She replied, curious about what Clementine was about to say.

"Do you think I can have a swing back at the motel?" She asked.

Zoey stayed silent for a moment with a contemplating look. "We'll see. If we're able to, then I don't see why not." Zoey replied nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders before pushing the swing again.

A look of pure excitement and happiness overtook Clementine's eyes as her hopes skyrocketed. "Yay!" She gleefully exclaimed. The sight made Zoey's heart melt as she smiled at the little girl.

"DAD!" Duck suddenly shouted in excitement.

She saw Duck run towards the front gate and, sure enough, Kenny and Danny had finally returned, and without a scratch from the looks of it. Danny was carrying a crossbow which was a good sign to Zoey. It meant that they must have found and killed the bandits, but there was only one way to actually find out.

"I'll be right back Clem, I'm going to talk to Kenny for a sec, ok?" She told her as she pushed the swing one last time before stepping out of the way.

"Ok." She quickly replied.

Leaving Clementine with the swing, Zoey walked over to Kenny who was hugging his son. She made sure to avoid eye contact with Lilly or Larry on her way over, the former of which kept her gaze on her. Zoey didn't mind, in fact, she could care less about what the air force Captain thought of her. She was nothing more than a tough guy wannabe with a power complex.

"So how'd it go? Find the bandits?" She asked when she got to the front gate.

Kenny gave her a disappointed look as he shook his head. "No. We found one of their camps, but no luck on people. There were a lot of save-lot boxes though, so we think that's their main base. Problem is, we have no fuckin' clue where it's at." Kenny answered. "We did find someone though, a lady named Jolene. She snuck up on us while we were looking around, aimed a crossbow at us."

"The one Danny was carrying?" Zoey asked for clarification.

Kenny nodded. "Yeah. She told us that she managed to kill all the bandits in the area. They were apparently holding her and her daughter hostage, fucking bastards." Kenny stated in disgust. "She was in the middle of telling me something when Danny just shot her. She kept calling him a monster and 'no better than the dead', whatever that means. It was like she was trying to warn me or something."

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she processed all the information Kenny had provided. Now she was sure that there was something going on, and whatever it was, it wasn't good. First a horrible smell in the barn, and now someone was trying to warn them and calling the St. John's monsters? If she was cautious before, now she was practically on edge about the farmers.

Something wasn't adding up about this place, and she was going to find out what.

Over by the barn, Zoey saw Andrew enter with a toolset. Danny was on the porch looking over his new crossbow, and Brenda was talking with Larry on the porch swing. If she was going to investigate, it would have to be soon and quick.

"Meet me in the barn in a few minutes. I'll explain then." Zoey told him in a hushed voice. "Something's off about this place and I have a bad feeling about it."

Kenny raised an eyebrow at her concern but eventually agreed to her plan. He trusted her judgement just as much as she trusted his, and if she said something wasn't right, then he would believe her until proven otherwise. It was how they had managed to last for so long at the motel, and now it would help them here.

With that, the two broke apart and Zoey made her way over to the barn. As she neared, she could see Clementine peeking out the door with a smile as she waved at Zoey. Zoey waved back before walking inside.

The Barn

October 12th, 1220 Local Time, 2003

The inside of the barn was dark with very little light coming from the few bulbs that lit up one of the stables. The graying clouds outside gave the barn an eerie atmosphere that sent a chill up Zoey's spine, causing her to pull her bomber jacket slightly tighter against her body. The unease she felt whilst in there didn't help the situation either.

Katjaa was sitting nearby with Andrew as they both kept watch over the dairy's sole animal resident: Maybelle the Cow. She, like the rest of the group, had been told that Maybelle was pregnant, which meant that Katjaa had to stay nearby in case the cow gave birth. Clementine was in the middle of petting Maybelle's head when she let out a soft moo, resulting in Clementine letting out a soft giggle.

Zoey took a quick look around the area, pretending to be interested in the few sights the barn had to offer. She was about to greet the trio, but her stomach had other plans as it unexpectedly let out a growl of hunger. Zoey gripped her stomach with one hand while Andrew let out a short laugh.

"Hungry huh?" He asked in a lighthearted tone, to which Zoey gave an embarrassed nod. "Don't worry, mama's almost done with dinner. Y'all should be eatin' any minute now." The smile he gave slightly unnerved her as paranoia continued to flood her mind.

Deep breaths Zoey, you don't know anything yet. Maybe you're just overreacting. She thought, trying to reassure herself.

"Yeah. Thanks again by the way for, you know, everything. You've done so much for us that we couldn't ever repay you." Zoey said.

Andrew shook his head and waved off her concerns. "Oh you people don't have to worry about that, meeting good folk like y'all was payment enough." He replied.

"Hey Andrew," Katjaa butted in, "Can you get me some water please? I'm feeling a bit thirsty." She requested.

"Yeah, sure." Andrew replied before giving Zoey a nod, effectively cutting the conversation short.

With his leave, Zoey let out a sigh of relief as the previous tension that filled the room was gone. Not having one of the St. Johns nearby as she went towards the back of the barn was a welcome relief.

Kenny entered soon after Andrew left, making sure to give his wife a comforting smile before making his way to Zoey and the padlock. There was no time to waste after all. Unsurprisingly, Katjaa was telling the truth, as a heavy duty pad-lock barred them from opening the backdoors. That made Kenny raise his eyebrows, his prior judgement in Zoey only being further confirmed.

"So fill me in on what's going on." Kenny instructed. The way he spoke was in such a way that screamed 'no-nonsense.'

"Earlier, Katjaa told me that she had smelled something horrible coming from the back of the barn, similar to rotten meat before Andrew closed the door and locked it." She said, telling him everything as she motioned towards the pad-lock. "And after what you told me about Jolene, I just couldn't help but think that they're definitely hiding something."

Kenny took the information with a straight face before looking away at Katjaa and Clementine for a moment. It was clear that he was thinking about what she said, as a few seconds later, he looked back at her. "Alright, got any ideas on how to get past the lock?" He questioned.

Zoey smirked at Kenny. She could tell that although he was hesitant at first, he still had her back. What would I do without you Kenny. Zoey thought before giving a response. "Yeah, there's a toolbox over by the barn's entrance. Go see if there's any bolt cutters, maybe we can break our way in. I'll stand by the door and let you know when they're coming."

Kenny nodded and the pair made their way back to the front of the barn, with Zoey opening the door just enough to see outside while Kenny began his search. It was a risky move to do such a thing, as not only would it possibly garner unwanted attention, but if they were caught, then they were screwed. But that was a chance that they, she, was willing to take. After all, if they were caught and things went south, she still had her pistol.

As Kenny continued to fish through the multi-layered toolbox, Zoey saw that Andrew was walking back to the barn. In fact, he was just about to pass the main gate. Zoey quickly alerted Kenny who did his best to put everything back as fast as he could. When the task was complete, they barely had enough time to stand off to the side and lean against the stables, acting as if they had been talking the entire time.

Andrew flashed them a smile and nod, one that they both returned, before handing Katjaa the bottle of water. With his back turned from them, Zoey looked at Kenny with wide eyes before silently letting out a sigh of relief. "That was too close." She softly whispered.

Kenny nodded in agreement. "Damn right it was. We need to find a way in there. Why don't you go take a look around the farm for bolt cutters, lockpicks, anything you can find for that lock. I'll keep him distracted." He replied in a similarly quiet voice.

Zoey nodded and was about to respond before Andrew turned towards them. "Say, what're you two mumblin' about?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing much, just talking about the dairy. It's the first time either of us have been on a farm." Zoey said, hoping he would buy her lie.

Luckily she had nothing to fear as his attitude swiftly changed into his original friendly tone. "Alright then. If you two got any questions, feel free to ask me or Danny."

"Will do / Ok." Kenny and Zoey replied at the same time. With that out of the way, Andrew returned to his previous task of helping Katjaa with Maybelle, giving Kenny the opportunity to use his head to motion towards the door. Zoey knew exactly what to do as she nodded and walked out of the barn.

Although gray clouds were starting to gather, the afternoon sun was still exposed causing her to raise an arm to block the sunlight and let her eyes adjust to the difference in brightness.

I really need to find some sunglasses. I wonder what I would look like with aviators? Zoey curiously thought. "I would totally look badass." She then said aloud with a smirk. "Now where to find bolt cutters…"

Naturally, her first instinct was to check the house. Not only would it give her the chance to look for something to get through the lock, but also check in on Mark. She was fairly confident that he was doing well, especially now that he no longer had an arrow in his shoulder. All she had to do was pass Larry and Brenda on her way up to the front door, which wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that the older man practically hated everything about her.

As she made her way to the gate that separated the farm house from the main area, heavy thunder began to crackle in the distance, a bad sign. A few storms had passed through in the early fall season, bringing large groups of walkers with them that had forced the group to bunker down and hide from, meaning she had to quickly figure out what the St. Johns were hiding before any sort of storm rolled in. While she had confidence the electric fence would fry whatever it touched, its usefulness was quite limited when facing a horde of undead and rain.

Making her way to the house, she passed by Brenda and Larry who were in the midst of an intense conversion, so much so that Larry didn't even acknowledge her presence with his usual grunt or stare. Stepping inside, Zoey immediately went towards the living room hoping to find him recovering on the couch. When she got there however, there was no sign of him save for some blood that had stained the couch. Assuming that Brenda and Katjaa had moved him to another room, she quickly looked around the first floor of the house, finding no sign of him.

Probably on the second floor. A bedroom maybe? Zoey thought as she sped towards and up the stairs.

The second floor wasn't that different from the first, with the wall being the same color paint as expected. There were three doors and a pantry in a lone hallway. If Mark were to be anywhere, it would be here. The aging floorboards creaked as she stepped towards the nearest room, its door doing the same when she pushed it open. From the doorway, she could see Mark sleeping on a pink bed with bandages wrapped around his shoulder.

Staying quiet so as to not wake him, Zoey took a quick look around the room but found nothing of value that could help her in her and Kenny's endeavor. With a sigh of disappointment, she left the room and opened the door across the hall. Inside was a blue room with a brown bed, a t.v, a shelf of books, and a nightstand. A fairly standard room all things considered, besides the hatchet that was laying on the t.v. stand.

Score! Zoey excitedly thought. Although she was curious as to why there was a random hatchet just sitting there, she was not about to stick around and find out. She hastily snatched the hatchet and rushed back downstairs. Before exiting the house, she made sure to hide the hatchet in her empty backpack so she wouldn't arouse any suspicion.

Of course, she would have to be careful as to not cut herself or her clothing with it, but that was the least of her worries at this point. Upon her return, she saw Andrew talking to Katjaa again while Kenny stood off to the side. She smirked at him as she gave him a nod, a clear indication of her success.

Just after he nodded back a bell was rung over by the farmhouse. Duck, who must have joined them in the barn during her time in the house, was so excited at the prospect of eating that he immediately began jumping up and down in excitement while bugging Kenny about dinner, something that Katjaa reinforced by telling her husband to come with her to dinner.

"Alright honey, I'll be right there." Kenny told her before turning back to Zoey for a moment. "Use whatever you found and open that door. I'll keep them distracted, hurry." He whispered before leaving the barn with his family and Andrew.

Once Zoey was sure that the coast was clear, she pulled the hatchet out from under her jacket and swung at the thin metal latch rather than the lock, confident that her newfound weapon would slice right through. True to its purpose, the aging hatched cut the latch in half, allowing her to drop the weapon and pull open the doors.

The smell was the first thing to hit her, causing her to gag and stumble back before using her left hand to cover her nose and mouth from the horrid stench of whatever ungodly thing was back there. Pushing the doors open further, a wave of crimson colored light splashed onto her face as she managed to finally get a look at what the St. Johns were so desperately hiding.

The whole room was covered in several layers of blood, remnants of limbs strewn about the tables that line the wall. On one such table was a chop saw with its blade completely consumed by the red liquid. On another set of tables across the room sat multiple bear traps, similar to the one that had caught Travis and Ben's teacher. The thing that made her utterly sick to her stomach however was the body laying in the tub.

Zoey could not hold in her disgust much longer, as she turned away from the sight and began to throw up. When she saw Mr. Parker's leg, she thought that that would be the worst thing she would ever see, but now she saw that she was wrong. This... this was a million times worse. Now her mind was in overdrive as everything she had learned throughout the day was starting to make sense.

Zoey's eyes went wide as panic quickly set in. Oh shit.

Leaving the room behind, she grabbed her pistol and ran back to the house at speeds even she never thought she couldn't reach. Many thoughts rushed through her mind as she crossed the field, fear of the worst case-scenario.

With no real plan, Zoey slammed her shoulder against the front door, the force nearly breaking the old door off its hinges. Coming into the doorway of the dining room, the sounds of the door, running. And the sight of her breathing heavily with her gun in her hand caught everyone's attention.

"DON'T EAT THE MEAT!" She shouted as loud as she could before raising her pistol at the St. Johns, all of which were sitting at different parts of the table. "THEY'RE CANNIBALS! THEY'RE EATING DEAD BANDITS!"

The shocking information had the exact effect she was hoping for on most of the group, with Clementine and Kenny dropping their forks onto their plates, his family quickly following suit. One person who didn't believe what she had said was Larry who was quickly backed up by a somewhat hesitant Lilly, the old man immediately insulting her for saying such a ridiculous thing.

Things quickly took a turn for the worst as Danny slowly and silently tried to reach for his rifle whilst glaring at her from over his shoulder. Zoey trained her pistol on him and told him to not even try or else she'd shoot. During the brief distraction, Andrew hastily stood with his own rifle and aimed at Zoey, causing horror and fear to consume her.

Kenny was fast at intervening however, as he stood up as well and grabbed the rifle making Andrew's shot miss. In the chaos of everyone now screaming, Zoey saw Clementine duck under the table which boosted her confidence. Taking her newfound opportunity, she shifted her focus back on Andrew and pulled the trigger three times, two of which hit him in the chest, killing him. When she tried to point her gun back at Danny, she felt a hard smack hit her across the face, sending her to the ground.

An intense amount of pain shot from her cheek. Fueled with anger, she looked back up and saw Danny raise the butt of his rifle before slamming it into her face once more.

The last thing she heard was a single gunshot before everything went black.

Suburban Home, Georgia

June 9th, 1337 Local Time, 1990

A red-haired teenager opened the blinds of the window allowing the soft sunlight to shine through, giving the living room extra light. Over by the couch, a young girl no older than five was watching an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the t.v, it being her favorite show. The teenager went over to the kitchen to grab two plates of sandwiches she made for them, making sure to put extra mayo on the girl's this time.

Since it was a Saturday, she didn't have any assignments from school to work on, which gave her a chance to actually relax whilst babysitting, and while cartoons weren't exactly her thing, she wasn't about to object to just sitting on the couch and mindlessly let time fly by. Today was going to be a lazy day, and she was perfectly fine with that.

She made sure to grab a chocolate milk from the fridge for the girl before making a glass of orange juice for herself. Setting her food and drink aside, she brought the girl's food first, placing them on the coffee table that sat in between her and the t.v.

"Don't get any food on the couch ok? Your daddy will be mad at us if you do, so eat over your plate." She instructed.

The little girl smiled at the sight of her meal. "OK!" She gleefully replied before taking a bite of her turkey and cheese sandwich.

The teenager playfully rolled her eyes before going to the kitchen to fetch her own food. Returning to the living room, she saw the girl laugh as the ninja turtles once more defeated Shredder and ruined his plans. Taking a seat next to her, they sat in silence as they continued to watch different episodes of the show for the next few hours.

It was some time in the afternoon when she heard the sound of a car pull up in front of the house. The girl she was babysitting was too infatuated with the current scene to notice, so she got up and went to check the window. Recognizing the police issue 1982 Ford, she waited for the man to walk up to the front door before opening it for him.

"Oh hello officer, is there something you need?" She said in a loud enough voice that carried over to the t.v.

When the little girl overheard the teen and turned around, she quickly jumped up in excitement before running towards the door. "Daddy!" She exclaimed happily.

The police officer knelt down and scooped the girl into his arms. "Hey pumpkin, did you have a good day?"

The little girl nodded. "Yeah! Wendy and me watched ninja turtles!"

"Oh, did you now?" He asked with a raised eyebrow before facing the teenager. "Thanks again for babysitting Zoey on such short notice Wendy. I know you'd prefer to be with your friends on weekends, so let me pay you a bit extra this time."

Wendy shook her head and waved off his concerns. "It wasn't a problem Mr. Melnikov, I was actually looking forward to doing nothing today." She replied.

"Well let me still pay you a bit extra for today, my treat." Officer Melnikov said before putting Zoey back on the ground. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out five ten dollar bills and gave them to Wendy. "There you go, fourteen extra."

"I- I… Thank you Mr. Melnikov!" Wendy exclaimed, surprised at the amount of money she just made. If it were like any other day, she would have made around thirty to thirty six or so dollars, but fifty for a single job? Absolute score.

"Don't mention it. Thanks again for taking care of her. I don't want to hold you up any longer than I have to, so go hang out with your friends. Have a good day Wendy." He told her with a kind smile.

"You too Mr. Melnikov! Bye!" Wendy said with a wave before walking out of the house. Zoey was a bit sad to see Wendy leave, but her father then said something about having pizza for dinner.

That got her excited for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

Forest

October 12th, 2143 Local Time, 2003

Hunger and fatigue. That's all the group felt as they trudged through the forest back to the motel. They weren't going to stop, not until they reached the safety of the place they had labeled as their home. Mud, sweat, and growing stomachs weren't going to stop them, especially after they managed to escape the shitshow that was the dairy.

The sounds of insects and other nocturnal wildlife filled the silence that plagued the group. Lilly was clutching her bleeding right ear, a small piece of it having been shot off in the ensuing brawl against Danny and Brenda. It wasn't difficult defeating the two remaining cannibals, as they had the manpower and strength to completely overwhelm them. No, the real issue was when Brenda pulled out a revolver on the group, giving Danny a chance to aim his rifle at whoever was closest to him after having knocked Zoey out.

Lilly had managed to close the distance however and shoved Danny against the wall. As she did however, Brenda had pulled the trigger on her gun, giving Lilly her current injury. Larry was quick to pounce on Danny and beat him to a bloody pulp while Kenny snuck up on a distracted Brenda and stabbed her.

The group had left them for dead, leaving their fates up to the oncoming walkers that had heard the gunshots and were encircling the farm.

The hit Zoey took was hard enough to slightly slice open her cheek, but would ultimately result in a large bruise. Just from the sight of it the group knew that it would sting like a bitch for her when she woke up. When that would be, none of them knew. It could be minutes, hours, or even the next day for that matter, so they had no other choice than to get home and wait.

Kenny shifted his arm to make it easier to carry the unconscious teenager. It was their plan that got her hurt in the first place, so being the good friend that he made himself out to be, he was the first to offer to carry her, a burden only he would let himself deal with. So now here he was, carrying Zoey bridal style with her head resting against his shoulder.

"Is she going to be ok?" Clementine asked him, breaking the silence that had befallen the group. Her question caused the group to stop for a moment and glance at her before turning their focus onto Kenny, a worried look on everyone's face, even Lilly's.

Although the ex-air force pilot and the teenager had their differences, and there were certainly a great deal of them, she still couldn't help but be grateful for Zoey's speedy intervention. It was because of her that they were walking out of that godforsaken place alive and almost completely unscathed, and that fact alone made her feel somewhat guilty about the way she had been treating her, her own words only a day prior playing in her head.

"You may think you have a say in what we do, but compared to us, you're still just a fucking kid, got it?" Those damned words played over and over in their unrelenting torment of her thoughts. She's just a kid, and yet she nearly took a bullet for us. Lilly thought.

"She'll be alright Clem, don't you worry. She's the toughest person here, you know that." Kenny answered in a more upbeat tone in the hopes of raising her morale.

"When will she wake up?" She then asked.

The question clearly caught everyone off guard as Kenny remained silent for a moment, a sorrowful look growing on his face. "...I don't know Clementine." He gloomy replied.

Clementine didn't respond but rather nodded before walking over to Katjaa, the Belgian veterinarian taking her hand and leading her slightly ahead of the group. Kenny let out a sigh before glancing at everyone else and saying, "We should keep moving."

Everyone nodded and the group continued on their way. As they did, Lilly slowed her pace so that she could walk side-by-side with Kenny. For his part, Kenny didn't look at her, preferring to keep his attention in front of himself as he stepped over fallen leaves and sticks. Lilly rubbed her neck and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She knew that by just walking next to him the tension had been raised tenfold, but at this point she needed to say something.

"Hey uh, I just wanna say that I'm…" She began to speak before trailing off. "...I'm…"

Kenny frustratingly rolled his eyes. "Just spit it out, would ya? Say whatever insulting shit you're going to say and get it over with." His tone was aggressive and filled with hate, a clear sign that he didn't want to talk to her.

"I'm sorry, ok? I know we haven't been on the best of terms since we met, and I've treated you like shit on more than one occasion, but after all… that, I just wanted to apologize to you and Zoey for, you know, everything." She confessed.

Kenny grit his teeth. "Oh, so you think one measly fucking apology is going to make everything you've said just magically disappear? You must be out of your goddamn mind Lilly, because if it weren't for this girl, we'd probably be nothing more than chopped liver." He angrily said.

Lilly didn't respond, but rather stopped for a few moments and watched Kenny continue on with the rest of the group. With a sign, she kicked a small rock before following once more.

Especially after the group noticed the lights that were up ahead.