Lee swallows his pride. He doesn't have to mean it 100%, but for now it's best to tell Carver what he wants to hear. Besides, if they're staying here, they need to have friends in high places, and there's no place higher than William Carver's circle. "I'm with you."

Carver remains serious. "I figured. Thank you. I wanna know a bit more, too."

"Such as?"

"About your past. I want the whole story, tell me how you got along in this new world. Carley can add in if you forget anything."

Lee glances at Carley, then back at him. "..It's not some grand tale, Carver."

"You can call me Bill. You made it two years with your entire family intact and then some. That's grand to me. I'll tell you mine if we have time." He looks at Tisha, who shrugs. He then gives his full attention to Lee.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning. Before the plague, I mean."

"Go on." He leans over, a seatbelt over him.

Lee searches for the words, deciding to be honest. "I was a professor at the University of Georgia. I was married, but we had some problems. I wanted kids, she didn't. Before I was married I worked in my family's drug store, but we grew distant. My brother always used to tell me I made the wrong choice with her. Her name was Sam."

"Sounds like you had a good thing going. What went wrong?" Carver questioned. Carley squeezed his hand.

"Like I said, no kids. I spent most of my day teaching, then went back home and argued with my wife. We used to be happy, but at 37 years old I was starting to become depressed. I wanted more. And yet, I wasn't the one who cheated. She worked too, as a secretary at the senator's office. I found them together, and shot him dead."

"That was you?.. Lee Everett. I see. I remember you. You were on national news. A little overshadowed by.. Let's call it current affairs, but yeah, I remember you."

Carley clears her throat. "I covered his story, actually. That's sort of how we grew closer."

"That so?"

"Yeah, but I'll get to that. I killed the guy, and Sam saw everything. She was traumatized. Now I have no idea where she is. Alive or dead, we're divorced now. I was on my way to prison in the back of a cop car when we hit a walker on the highway. We sped off the road and I woke up with a huge cut in my leg. I killed the cop when he turned and eventually found Clementine."

Carver chews on his inner lip. "The girl.. How old was she?"

"Eight. She was surviving off of crumbs at that point. Her babysitter got bit and turned overnight, so Clementine hid in the treehouse outside her house for days until I found her. She helped me when her babysitter came back from the dead and tried to get me."

"So she's always been capable."

Lee nods. "Always."

"How'd you two meet?" He looks between Carley and Lee. Lee explains.

"Well, Clementine and I left her house together, since I knew her parents weren't coming back. We found Shawn and a friend of his, can't remember his name, and helped him out, so he gave us a ride back to his farm, where I got my leg fixed up and met Kenny, the guy with the beard in the back, and his son Duck, the boy with the brown hair. Back then he had a wife too, but.. She killed herself three months into the apocalypse.

Carley moves the topic along. Carver looks a little sympathetic for a split second, but goes stone faced quickly. "We met when he and his group were ambushed by the dead. I saved their lives and our group let them stay with us. We've been inseparable since."

"I like a good, strong couple. That's how I see me and Rebecca. Alvin is holding her back; you guys know that, right?"

The two remain silent.

"You will, trust me. Tell me about your friends in the back."

"Kenny's hot headed and stubborn, but loyal and passionate. Duck is more of a kid than anything but he can handle himself. Ben used to be a clumsy idiot, but now he's tougher and has his shit together. Molly and Chuck are best friends, Christa's.. A mess, since she lost Omid, and Sarita and Walter aren't really close to me. I met them yesterday, but Sarita's Kenny's girlfriend and Walter used to be their leader. He's a nice guy."

"Hm.. good to know. Tisha, how much further?"

She speaks in a thick Russian accent. "Twenty minutes."

Carver turns back. "Tell me about the arm."

"I cut it off with Christa's help." Carley states. "He got bit looking for Clementine after she was abducted by this sicko, and I couldn't lose him. So we cut it off."

"What about her? The girl? What kind of emotional baggage is she carrying? Kids go through so much shit, and I can tell she's been through worse than Carlos's sissy daughter." That remark rubbed them the wrong way, but Lee answered anyway.

"She's lost her parents, some of her friends and she had to save me from the guy who kidnapped her. He was choking me out and she shot him in the head. She hasn't been the same optimistic sweetheart since. Then, recently, we lost a good friend, Omid, and Christa lost her first baby before that."

Carver looks disheartened. He puts a heavy, hot hand on Lee's shoulder and stares him in the eyes. "I'm so sorry that happened."

He looks down, unable to keep eye contact. He's uncomfortable. "It's.. thank you."

"We don't let children waste in my base. Christa and Rebecca are gonna have healthy, strong kids that'll lead the next generation. You have my word on that." He takes his hand off.

Carley scratches behind her ear awkwardly. "We.. appreciate it."

After a few seconds of silence, Bill returns to questions. "What have you taught her?"

"How to shoot, how to let go, who to trust, to keep her hair short, to avoid big cities and a ton of other survival basics." Lee says.

"Good. I like you guys. Hopefully the rest of your friends can join you in economy class when the time comes, eh?"

"I hope so too." Carley agrees.

Lee raises a brow. "The details are lost on me - who's getting in with us?"

"You two and Clementine, for now. The others have to stay back. Charles, Christa and Molly caused too much trouble, while we don't know Kenny, Ben, Duck, Walter or Sarita yet. If they can prove themselves, they might be able to join you by the end of the week."

"Okay. You wanna tell me about your past now?"

"..Not now. I gotta think. Thank you for your cooperation thus far, Lee. You too, Carley." He looks out the passenger window, deep in thought. Lee and Carley look at each other and nod before trying to relax.

The truck enters the garage of the hardware store, which appears big and clean, a well maintained space in an otherwise dirty, rusty world. It's refreshing. Standing outside, guiding the truck inside, is Shel. Carver jumps out of the front as it comes to a stop, while Tisha walks around the back and unlocks it. The moon shines on the prisoners as they're guided out by the two women. It's night now.

She looks at Tisha as she asks, "How's the fuel?"

"Running low." She replies simply, writing notes on a clipboard for the other woman.

"Gotcha. I'll tell Stan when I get the chance." She turns to the angry, tired and depressed faces of the new prisoners, and some of the old ones. She holds an automatic rifle. "Move up, guys." Kenny, Sarita, Duck, Ben and Walter pass by her. Sarah and Carlos linger when she smiles at the young girl. "Good to see you back, Sarah."

Sarah looks down nervously, frowning. "Um..-"

Carlos shields her, standing in Shel's way. "Don't talk to my daughter."

Shel looks unhappy to see Carlos. "Don't talk to me then, traitor." They move along, with Clementine following closely behind them with Luke and Chuck. Molly and Walter are ungagged by Johnny and Bonnie. Sam jumps out of the truck with Shawn holding his leash and Pete is wheeled out by Alvin and Rebecca. Justin exits when everyone else is out. Carver, Lee and Carley soon stand in front of them all.

"Everybody's here, right? Any incidents, injuries?" Carver asks.

"Not one. We're good." Bonnie answers.

"There might be soon if you don't unbind us." Molly barks. Troy opens his mouth to talk back, but Bill restrains him with one hand on his shoulder.

"Just ignore her, Troy. She'll shut her mouth unless she wants to get punished again." Molly's eyes glare, but her mouth does indeed shut.

"Damn right." Troy mutters.

"Punished? The fuck did they do to you?" Kenny demands. Before any more conversation can be had, Bill yells.

"Listen up!" All eyes are on him. "I'm only gonna say this once. All of you have been generously brought back into the fold. I have to make an announcement to ensure you won't be completely segregated by a very upset community now, so let's move along. You put us in danger when you ran away the first time, but luckily we're very forgiving people. Troy is gonna take all prisoners down to the pen. Carlos, Alvin and Christa, I want you down in my office, Johnny will make sure you don't get lost along the way."

"Already? We're all very tired, we just want to take a rest." Carlos says, Sarah already anxious about her dad leaving her.

Carver narrows his eyes at him."You're already on thin ice, Carlos. Do what I say." The doctor looks down at his daughter.

"Be good, sweetie. Stay with Clementine."

"Dad.."

"Sarah, just.. Let him go." Clem consoles her, brushing her fingers against Sarah's. Duck looks sympathetically towards her.

"Why me?" Christa questions, her voice hoarse and her body language tired.

Carver stares at her. "We need to talk about your little secret." He then looks at the big man next to her. "Alvin, we have private matters to discuss. I'll be with you all momentarily."

"You touch him and I'll know who's the bigger man." Rebecca threatens as her husband glares into Carver's soul. The graying man chuckles.

"There's a tasteless joke I could make, but it's below me. Johnny, go." He tilts his head.

"Yes sir." Johnny points his gun at the three. Christa begins moving, but Alvin just continues to glare at Bill.

"Got something to say?" Just like that, Alvin shakes his head and moves along. He turns to watch Rebecca as he goes, mouthing an 'I love you' as he and the three accompanying him pass by Tavia, who walks toward the group with her own gun in her hand.

"Welcome back, Bill." She shakes his hand before he takes Sam's leash from Shawn. Her eyes glance toward the cabin group and lock in on Pete, her eyelids widening. "Holy shit, Pete, your leg! Guess you learned your lesson about the outside world, huh?"

Pete groans. "Shove it, Tavia."

"Still no sense of humor, huh? Fine."

"Just leave us alone." Nick claps back, eyebrows furrowed. She rolls her eyes.

"This is Tavia, one of the three Presidents of Howe's. She's in charge of jobs." He says mostly for the newcomers.

"Good to see you all back. I hope we can all forgive and forget what happened. I certainly have."

"Tavia, not all of us are in the mood. Could we try this tomorrow?"

"..Yeah, I understand. Just don't be stupid this time."

"Yeah, we'll try." Molly mocks a happy smile.

"Looks like we're gonna have our work cut out for us, huh?"

"You might wanna be a bit more respectful. Lee here's already told me he's fully with us, Carley too. You don't wanna be against your leader, do you?"

"Lee, seriously? Why?" Ben questions.

"You said what?!" Molly barks.

"Lee, is that true?" Kenny growls, defensive of his family behind him. Clementine waits for his reply. Lee looks back at Carver, who smirks at him and shrugs. He looks back down and sighs.

"...It's for the best, guys."

Walter shoots a glare at Lee, walking up to him only to be stopped by Bonnie's arms on his shoulders. "They shot Matthew, and you think it's for the best that we trust them? You're worse than the walkers." Lee winces.

"Guys! Settle, please. My head is killing me." Luke says. Carver nods, pushing Walter backward.

"Listen to Luke. I'm done with the headaches. We all are. But you're home now. You'll have to work hard, but you can rest easy here. Bonnie, Troy, Justin, take these ones back to the pen. I gotta run. Shawn, take Lee, Clem and Carley to the bedroom." Carver begins speed-walking away to his office.

"Yeah, okay. Come on guys." Shawn begins walking forward, keeping an eye on them at all times. As the cabin and lodge group (as well as Chuck and Molly) follow Justin to the pen, Lee ponders if this is the right choice - if maybe it'd be better to stick with his group and make sure the peace is kept, or to sleep with the elites and make sure he's well respected around here. Clem and Carley began following Shawn.

Choices (Lee)

A: Follow Shawn with Carley and Clem

B: Choose to stay in the pen with the rest of the group

C: Choose to stay in the pen, but let Carley and Clem stay with the elites

D: Follow Shawn and tell Carley and Clem to go to the pen

Relationships

Clementine: 14/15 (She isn't sure about your mind space at the moment, but is choosing to trust your decisions for now.)

Carley: 15/15 (She feels that telling Carver you're with him was the best possible choice)

Christa: 5/15 (Christa isn't sure who you are anymore)

Molly: 9/15 (She's very confused, but if it's true that you're with Carver, and by extension Troy, she's done with you)

Chuck: 15/15 (Chuck thinks you're playing Bill and is rooting for you)

Kenny: 5/15 (He can't tell if you're tricking Bill or not, so he hasn't made any rash judgements yet)

Ben: 10/15 (He doesn't know what to think, but he definitely thinks you have a plan brewing)

Duck: 7/15 (He's a little freaked out that you're bending to Carver's will so easily. He doesn't trust you as much anymore)

Walter: 1/15 (He's lost all respect for you)

Sarita: 2/15 (She's disgusted by your decision to stick by Carver)

Luke: 10/15 (Whether you're lying or not, Luke knows the best course of action is to fold)

Pete: 10/15 (Pete knows you made the right choice as well)

Nick: 9/15 (For now, Nick is skeptical of your claim. He's holding out hope that you're lying)

Carlos: 9/15

Sarah: 6/15 (She has no real reaction to your claim)

Alvin: 11/15

Rebecca: 11/15 (She understands and HOPES that you're playing Bill)

Bonnie: 6/15 (She's glad to hear you on her side, but still feels terrible for what happened)

Carver: 6/15 (Carver has a favorable opinion of you at the moment.)

Tavia: 6/15 (She can tell Bill likes you)

Shel: 6/15 (If you're with Carver, you're with her)

Johnny: 5/15 (He's suspicious of you, for sure, but for now he's willing to let bygones be)

Shawn: 7/15 (He's surprised at your willingness and forgiveness skills. He also feels terrible about everything that happened)

Troy: 5/15 (He's a bit jealous Bill likes you so much, but it's fine. He thinks you're okay)

Justin: 6/15 (See Shel's reason)

Sam: 6/15 (See Tavia's reason)