Chapter 3, six days later

Philip adjusted the rifle in his arms, he had turned out to be a good shot, and the gun felt familiar to him, perhaps he had been taught previously.

He was with Matthew, hunting in the woods surrounding the lodge. A pheasant was in his sights, if his gun were any stronger he wouldn't risk the shot, what would be left wouldn't be worth the bullet. He breathed deeply, slowly exhaling as he fingered the trigger.

He missed.

"Damn it" he sighed, trying not to draw any more attention to himself, lurkers were sparse around here, but if you were unlucky you could find yourself surrounded quickly. Matthew was at his side in an instant, "language" Philip chuckled to himself, then spoke as if reciting poetry. "Damn the bastard pheasant, for it has foiled my plan of meat for dinner." Matthew just frowned in confusion… if he was being honest, Philip didn't even know if his attempt at humor could be called a joke. "... well, maybe the fish traps are a bit more reliable than my aim." Philip rose from his crouch, before making his way to the bridge, Matthew a few steps behind him.

The boy's babysitter (though Philip didn't like to admit it) nodded "we haven't checked them in awhile, good idea by the way." a week or two after Philip had joined the group he had started wondering what fish tasted like, he suggested fish traps, Kenny jumped on the idea. "I jus' wanted some fish"

Philip didn't like hunting with Matthew. The two of them could never converse properly, the only thing they could do was attempt conversation, or play twenty questions.

"Plant, animal or mineral?" it was the perfect question to start the game, though it wouldn't really help if the subject was an idea. Matthew half-smirked "animal" It may seem dumb, but this is how him and Matthew interact with each other. "Vertebrate or invertebrate?" Philip always won.

"Invertebrate" that means it's an arthropod or something else, like a jellyfish. "Is it an arthropod?" Matthew shook his head "nope"... Guessing time.

"Jellyfish?"

"No"

"Worms?"

"Nuh-uh"

"Snail?"

"Close"

Well now it's obvious "slug" Matthew golf-clapped. "Ding ding ding, you got it."

They had reached the bridge. On the other side Philip could faintly make out the shapes of people, he nudged Matthew with his elbow. "Survivors"

"Looks like it"

They started to make their way across the bridge, Philip cradling his rifle tightly in his arms. As they got closer he could see the survivors more clearly. One of them was a young girl, probably around his age. The other was a man that didn't look much younger than Matthew.

They met the two survivors about halfway across the bridge. Matthew stepped forward "who are you?" The man looked at the little girl, who remained silent, staring at him with a look of amused spite. Philip liked the girl already(though I feel that I must say he doesn't like her in a romantic way, obviously.)

"Who's asking?"

"We are."

The stranger stared at Matthew before turning to look at the boy, and suddenly, surprise lit his face. "Wait… Phil is that you?" Phillip immediately felt suspicious, and slightly curious, okay, really curious.

He shoved Matthew out of the way "How do you know me?" He demanded.

"Phil! Jesus Christ! We thought you were dead, it's me Luke, we didn't talk much, but I was a friend of your brother."

That information pierced Philip like a bullet. "I… I have a brother?" Confusion spread across the man's face before Matthew stepped forward once again. "He's, um... He's suffering from amnesia. The only thing he knows about himself is his name. Is his brother still alive?"

All hostility was completely gone from the situation. The girl seemed slightly out of place, and so did Philip, to an extent. He was no longer the Philip they knew, or at least he didn't think he was. Regardless, he no longer knew them, to him they were strangers, there was no feeling of familiarity like he got with the gun.

The man turned around and waved his arms "It's all clear, y'all can come out! It's Rob's brother" a group of 6 people appeared from the woods, walking towards them. This worried Philip, were they to attack they would no doubt have the numbers.

While we waited the little girl introduced the two of them. "I'm Clementine, and this is Luke." Matthew walked closer to them.

"Huh. You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes? No offense or anything, but you know how it is out here."

Clementine narrowed her eyes "we're not the ones with guns"

"Touché"

Philip squinted past the two, their group was getting closer. "They have guns"

A girl, that seemed older than Clementine, broke off from the group, and ran toward him. She tackled him in a hug "Philip!" Philip was perplexed.

He could already tell that this would get either awkward or complicated, or god help us, both. "Hello. And you are?" Her excitement deflated as if he had popped a balloon, and as far as he knew he had never done that.

"He, um, he doesn't remember anything" 'well, that's not necessarily true' thought Philip 'I mean, I remember how to use a gun, I just don't remember how I learned to use a gun.' "You mean, he doesn't remember Robert?"

"Would it be bad to say this situation makes me want to shoot myself" Luke looked at me as if he had been smacked. Matthew just chuckled "then maybe you shouldn't be holding a gun."

"Luke, it's honestly more worrying that he's here, what if he's with Carver" said a fat lady. Or, was she pregnant?

The rest of their group had arrived.

List Time! They had introduced themselves one by one.

Rebecca was the suspicious one, and yes, she was pregnant. She and her husband Alvin, who was really nice by the way, were African-American, like Clementine, though they're probably not related.

Sarah was the girl that nearly tackled him, she was… naive? yep, that's the word. She didn't seem like she would kill a bunny, much less a lurker, not to mention she had glasses. How was she still alive? 'Her group most likely' he reasoned. Apparently they used to be friends, though he can't imagine it. It's up to him to rekindle their old friendship! Or not make her hate him at least.

Then there was her father Carlos, he seemed really condescending. That's it. Philip didn't like him.

Nick was a kid. He was pretty sure Nick was even more of a kid than he was, and he was twelve(apparently it had been two years since he had gone to school.) Nick was pretty immature, and a little whiny, but he was alright.

Luke and Clementine were pretty cool. Luke was like the big brother he never had, though he apparently did have a big brother. And Clem was cool, sarcastic, spiteful, funny. She would make a good friend. Honestly she would make a better friend than Sarah, which he guesses was already his friend, sort of.

The last of 'em was Pete.

(A/N Yes Pete's alive, I really liked Pete, therefore I would like him to die on my terms.)

Pete was like their leader or something, his leg was gone so Philip couldn't imagine any other reason for keeping him around, though he probably had decent upper body strength considering he constantly used crutches. Maybe he was their designated arm-wrestling champion… no, that idea was weird.

"Who's Carver?" One look was all that it took to understand that his lack of knowledge was about to be explained once again.

"Nevermind, let's just go back to the lodge, we can talk over dinner." Philip grumbled

"Kenny and I'll just check the fish traps in the morning." He muttered under his breath before turning around and walking back toward the lodge.