"You've been doing more runs into town than anyone else these last few months," Andre pointed out, "You didn't even take a break after we got our supplies from the base; the next day, you were going there with Carley,"
Scott shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see anything wrong with it; I mean, I've brought us back tools, food, sundries, just little things to keep us going." Scott explained, "I was trying everything to stop exactly what's happening right now from happening,"
"You really are starting to sound like Lilly,," Andre smirked, and Scott gave a shrug, "I was being serious when I said you're one of the only ones she listens to around here. You two go out scavenging, and she always comes back in a better mood. You've even gotten her to cool off Kenny and dodge some fights,"
"Not that it's won me over any with Kenny…." Scott lowered his head, thinking of the fisherman. When things had started out, he was nearly a friend to the father, but over these last few months and his shift away from the RV project, Kenny was slowly turning cold to him. Kenny looked to Lee most days when things were going wrong, and as of most recently, Scott even heard Kenny making side comments that he and Lilly were one in the same. "Katjaa's the same, it's like they suddenly think I'm against them because I'm getting along better with Lilly,"
"You can't make everyone happy, Scott," Andre reminded the man, "I know you're trying to, but it's just like with Larry, you can't be everyone's friend. You have to pick a camp and stick to it; people will respect you more in the long run,"
Scott's ears perked as he heard the sounds of leaves crunching. He and Andre crouched low and snuck up closer to the sound, "The long run is what I'm worried about," Scott whispered as they peeked through the trees spotting a rabbit happily hopping along a trail, "If we split the camp, stay at each other's throats…it's not going to be good," Scott leveled his rifle, "What do you think?"
Andre raised his brow, inspecting the rabbit as it quickly scuffed behind its ear with its back leg, "Not worth the noise," Andre denied, "It's too young, rail thin, wouldn't even feed two people," Scott nodded, lowering his rifle and the men stood up causing the rabbit to immediately take off.
"If the others haven't found anything, we're going to be playing Lilly's lottery again tonight," Andre gave his eyes a toss. Mark had coined the term the other week; with food so low at camp, on the worst days, some went without food, and that was all decided by Lilly's "random chance" lottery picks. Though Scott had to wonder if she was always being honest about that, or if she took some liberties here and there.
"Let's save that kind of talk until after we find out if Lee or Kenny found anything," Andre gave Scott a light pat on the shoulder, and the two turned, heading back up their trail, "Close to noon anyhow, we should start heading back now," As the two marched, Andre began to inspect his shotgun, "When we get back, I think this old girl is due for a cleaning. I'll need to -"
Andre's absent chatter was abruptly cut short as a distant wail filled the woods, undoubtedly a man. "Oh, shit…was that Kenny?" Scott pulled his rifle back off his shoulder,
"Could have been Mark," Andre suggested, only for the men to hear another screaming cry, "It's coming from this way, let's go!"
Without hesitation, Scott and Andre took off, sprinting through the woods and heading for the occasional but consistently pained shouts of what they hopped weren't their friends. Following one final yell, the pair burst out of a set of shrubs and overbrush, stumbling upon a horrific sight. Two teenage boys, both in varsity jackets, were crouched down alongside an older man with a jacket of matching color. The older man whimpered and writhed on the ground as his left leg was snapped in a bear trap, and a thick pool of blood was starting to form underneath it.
"Oh shit…" Scott whispered under his breath while Andre immediately lifted a gun toward the boys,
"T-Travis, behind y-you," The man weakly warned the fit, black-haired teenager,
"Whoa, whoa, please don't shoot us!" The taller of the two boys immediately pleaded as he and his friend both scrambled to their feet, throwing their hands into the air,
"Are you alone? Where is the rest of your group?" Andre narrowed his eyes, glancing over his shoulder briefly, "This some sort of trick?"
"What?! N-No! W-We're not with anybody; it's just us!" The teen fearfully replied,
"Ben, shut up, don't tell them anything! They have to be with the guys who attacked our camp!" His dark-haired friend snapped back,
"What in the hell?!" Lee's voice exclaimed. Andre and Scott glanced back, finding the man and Mark running up from the northernmost trail of the forest, "What's going on?!"
"Lee, Andre, you guys okay?!" Kenny suddenly came rushing out from the west end of the woods, "The fuck?!"
"We just stumbled up on them," Andre explained while Mark pushed his way ahead, intently looking at the man trapped in the bear trap,
"Jesus, this is so fucked; we have to do something!" Mark exclaimed,
"Yes, please, you have to help us!" Ben pleaded,
"Ben, I said shut up! My dad was special forces; I know what I'm doing!" Travis berated his friend briefly,
"Please, just get out of there; then you guys can do whatever you want with us, please!" Ben defiantly continued, his voice quivering and face so white he looked as though her might nearly break down at any moment.
Lee and Scott shared a look with one another, then nodded, "Mark see what you can do about that trap," Lee immediately began while Scott motioned for Andre and Kenny,
"He's making a hell of a lot of noise, Andre you keep an eye out behind us, we need to know if we can follow the trail back to the motor inn," The officer nodded and spun around, keeping his shotgun raised, "Kenny keep an eye on the woods, make sure nothing is -"
Before Scott could even finish the thought, the group heard the low hungry growls and the shuffling of leaves as the walking dead slowly began to lumber out of the woods and into the clearing, "Oh no…." Travis softly gasped, nervously taking a step back and bumping into Ben,
"Shit!" Scott raised his rifle and took a few steps forward, "Kenny, help me keep them back!"
"We ain't got the ammo for this shit, Scott!" Kenny barked back but still stepped next to the man with little hesitation, raising his hunting rifle as well,
The two men began to fire off shots while Mark fumbled and pulled at the trap, "Mark, you gotta hurry the fuck up, man, get his ass out of there!" Andre took a step forward, spotting a single walker, and immediately pulled the trigger of his shotgun, blowing its head clean off its shoulders,
"I'm fucking trying! The trap's been altered; there's no release latch!" Mark exclaimed with a shake of his looking up at Lee in bewilderment, "We can't open it!"
"Damn!" Lee waved Mark off, "Mark, keep the boys back!"
"How we looking back there, Lee?!" Scott called out as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a few fresh rounds to reload his rifle,
let out a whimpering scream as Lee attempted to pry the trap open with his ax to no avail, "N-Not good!" Lee grunted back,
"P-Please get me out of this!" pleaded. Lee got to his feet, looking between the trap and a few times before his eyes landed on the ax in his hands. "Oh god…" realized what Lee was thinking at the very same moment,
"I have to cut you out," Lee lowly stated, his tone a mixture of disgust and sorrow, but more so apologetic,
"No, wait, try the trap again! Anything else, please!" pleaded, but Lee readied his ax,
"Hell, I'm just wasting ammo now, we gotta go!" Kenny called out as he lowered his rifle,
"Lee, cut his fucking leg off!" Mark shouted, and Scott looked over just in time to see him swing the fire ax down, sliding through a third of leg and snapping the bone. The teacher clutched at his leg, howling with pain as Lee went for another swing with his dull ax, hacking away again and again until, on the fourth and final time, he severed it completely.
let out a final whimper, staring at his stump that pumped out blood before promptly falling backwards, unconscious. Mark wasted no time, taking off his belt and tying a tourniquet around his thigh, doing what little they could to stop the bleed out.
"Oh god, I'm gonna be sick!" Travis gagged, stumbling away from the sight, what little that was in his stomach flying back up and out of him while Ben rembled like a fall leaf, unable to look away from his mutilated teacher.
The walkers grew ever near as the group gathered back together, "Got him?!" Scott quickly asked while Mark hoisted the teacher over his shoulder, "Good, let's get the hell out of here!"
"Path is clear, let's go! C'mon, guys!" Andre called out, and Kenny wasted no time, taking point and leading Mark up the trail toward camp,
Lee shook out of his slight haze, grabbing Ben, "C'mon, kid, let's go."
Ben took a few steps before his eyes went wide, "W-Wait, Travis…" Ben looked back, finding his friend now a distance away, still throwing up, unaware of the walkers nearly on top of him, "Travis!" Ben screamed out,
Lee all but caught Ben in his arms as he attempted to run to his friend, "No, there's nothing we can do!"
"Wha - Oh shit, no! No, no, help me!" Travis screamed, jumping back, tripping over a stone, and scrambling back as walkers closed in on him,
"No, please, we have to help him! Please!" Ben begged one last time, looking at Scott with begging, tear-filled eyes.
Lee looked to Scott, a silent look of denial on his face. In turn, Scott's eyes landed on Andre, who he clearly could tell was merely waiting for him to make the call. Time felt as though it slowed, and Scott let out a slow breath, watching as the walkers closed in on young Travis while the rest of the group inched further and further toward the trail back to ca
Does Scott Go To Save Travis?
A) It's too big of a risk, leave the kid; he's dead already.
B) He's still alive! We can't just leave him!
Relationship Status:
Andre 10/10 - Andre is your best friend in the camp; you two have each other's backs, as always. Just say the word, and he's with you like always.
Doug 9/10 - You and Doug didn't end up working together much over these few months, but that has affected your friendship. Doug thinks you're a great guy, and you think it right back.
Carley 9/10 - These last few months, you've done a lot of runs to town with Carley, grabbing supplies for the camp. You've grown closer, and she often vents that she wishes you or Lee were in charge of the camp rather than Lilly or Kenny.
Lilly 8/10 - These last few months with Lilly have been far better than the first. She has started to trust you, become more open, and even more agreeable when it comes to altering her decisions. She looks to you for support in more ways than one.
Larry 5/10 - Life with Larry in the Motor Inn will never be easy, but it's certainly been quiet for you, at least. Larry doesn't say much to you, but considering that he yells at just about everyone else, you figure that means he at least tolerates you better than most.
Lee 8/10 - It took some time and plenty of hunting and scavenging trips with Lee, but you feel like you've gotten back to where you were before the trip to the air base. You two talk regularly and when it comes down to it, trust each other in a pinch.
Kenny 6/10 - Things with Kenny have certainly gone south, he doesn't hate you, but he certainly doesn't seem to like you much anymore. When it comes down to it, he believes you're on Lilly's side, and that's enough for him not to pay you much mind.
Katjaa 6/10 - Following her husband's lead, Katjaa doesn't interact with you very often. If asked for help, she gives it, but beyond that, you've probably spoken to her the least these last few months.
Mark 8/10 - You and Mark don't work together too often beyond hunting, but you two have shared a friendly relationship. He tends to keep his distance, however, since he and Andre haven't been getting along, and he doesn't want to start trouble.
Clementine 7/10 - Due to you spending so much time with Lee these last few months, Clementine is really starting to warm up to you. You've received a few drawings from the little girl in these last few months.
Duck 6/10 - It would seem that Duck is told not to go near you most days; rather, he is kept at the RV or with Clementine only by Katjaa or Kenny's word. So while he is still nice and waves at you, you've rarely spent any time with him.
Hey, guys just wanted to let everyone know here that I've decided to make a switch over to AO3 to continue this story. So if you want to keep voting and see where this story goes based on your votes, come on over! Same username and title as it is here, and it's the exact same story as it is now!