Without hesitation, Clementine accepted the carton of sweet, sweet ice cream, downing a ton of it with her spoon. It wasn't quite like the ice cream she remembered from before, but it was still pretty good, especially considering how long it had been since she had had a frozen treat. She moaned with every bite. "Oh my god.. Thank you."

Wyatt laughs. "No problem, kiddo."

"Lemme have some, now." Carley demands, playfully smirking. Clem delivers the stuff to her, letting her eat off of her spoon. The reporter can't help but drool. "Ooh.. I missed this."

"Car, we're gonna need to bathe you in a bit." Bonnie says. Carley and Clem nearly break their necks with how fast they turn, eyes wide.

"Did you say bathe?" Carley asks.

"Yep, we have a.. Well it's not perfect, but we have a tub full-a water that'll take the dirt outta that nasty wound, if there is any." The southern girl replies.

"It's probably gonna sting like shit." Justin adds.

"But ya can't complain. It's a bath." Johnny says, still eating.

"Right." Eddie nods in agreement.

"That sounds amazing." Carley mutters. The group smiles.

"Shel and I'll take care of you, then we'll all try to get some rest." Bonnie says.

"Yeah, Bill's gonna have us working pretty much all day tomorrow before that herd comes down on us." Shawn remarks.

"If it comes down on us. Wishful thinking, remember, Shawn?" Bonnie reminds him.

"It probably will. I bet they can smell blood." Eddie says, completely serious.

"Don't be ridiculous." Justin disregards.

"Is that really that ridiculous to think after everything that's happened?" Shel questions. Justin shrugs.

"Fair enough."

Wyatt climbs onto his bed, taking his shoes off. "Hey, enjoy it, guys. It's yours. That stuff makes me fat."

"Thank you, again. What's your name?" Clem asks, devouring piece after piece of fluffy ice cream.

"I'm Wyatt, Eddie's friend before this all started. We all knew each other before we came to Howe's, actually."

Shawn sits on his bed. "Yeah, I rescued them, including Danny, who unfortunately is stuck in the pen."

"Fuckin' guy just had to help the prisoners." Justin mutters, shaking his head.

"He's a good guy, to a fault." Shawn says with a nod.

"Can we stop talking about this?" Becca requests, sounding exhausted.

"I thought you were going to sleep?" Shel cheekily asks.

"Can't sleep when you're all talking." She mumbles into her pillow.

"Fine, whatever. Let's conk out for tonight, for Becca." Johnny aggressively puts his ice cream away, throwing his jacket off.

"You ready, Carley?" Shel asks, walking up to her side.

"Yeah. Clem, stay here until I get back, okay?" Carley tells her daughter as Bonnie and Shel help her up.

"I have nowhere else to go, so yeah, of course."

"That's my smartass." She shakes her head, smirking as she walks into the bathroom. Clem turns back to Wyatt as he gets cozy. The lights shut off, though some wall lights stay on, illuminating the way for some of the other people who sleep in here. Troy, Tavia and Stan seemed to be out on duty, whilst Bill.. Well, he was in his office with Sam. Everyone else got into bed.

"Hey, Wyatt..?" Clem whispers.

"Yeah?"

"How did you guys get ice cream anyways?"

"We made it ourselves, actually." He replies, laying on his back.

Eddie adds, "Yeah, we used to have cows here until a few months back."

"What happened to them?" Clem questions. The group cringed.

"This group came in, they were a family. They knew who we were and when we asked if they wanted to stay, they refused." Eddie explained.

"So, we let them go. But they came back, with guns and rope, trying to steal our cattle." Wyatt continues. "We didn't have a choice but to put our guns on them. They tried to run, but Bill told us that they could come back, with more and start a war. He put a hand on my shoulder, and.. We didn't have a choice. They did end up using the cows as shields though, which is why we've got none. After that nobody else came to steal anything from us."

"That story sucks, dude." Justin whispers.

"No shit, but she was curious. She's a part of our group now. They oughta know even the horrible shit we've done." Wyatt replies.

"You didn't want to shoot them, right?" Clem asks, worried about the coldness of the survivors around her.

Eddie scoffed. "Of course not. If it were up to me, they'd be in the pen. But.. we're safe. We're alive. Bill made the right call. It's kill or be killed out there. At least here, we can decide that together."

The room was silent, until Shawn finally spoke. "We should get some rest now. Long day tomorrow."

"Finally.." Becca whispers, clutching her covers to herself. Clem rolled her eyes at the girl's attitude before closing her eyes and attempting to rest.

Relationships

Lee: 14/15

Carley: 15/15 (She's happy to get free ice cream)

Christa: 12/15

Molly: 13/15

Chuck: 15/15

Kenny: 9/15

Duck: 15/15

Ben: 14/15

Walter: 6/15

Sarita: 7/15

Luke: 10/15

Pete: 13/15

Nick: 10/15

Carlos: 10/15

Sarah: 12/15

Alvin: 9/15

Rebecca: 10/15

Carver: 7/15

Tavia: 5/15

Stan: 5/15

Shel: 6/15

Becca: 4/15

Bonnie: 7/15

Johnny: 5/15

Shawn: 7/15

Wyatt: 6/10 (You accepted his offer, opening up to him)

Eddie: 6/10

Troy: 2/15

Justin: 6/15

Sam: 5/15

Carver's office is a standard supermarket office, a square room with a window that leads to the roof, a window that looks out to the rest of the store and a desk, set with drawers full of his personal possessions, guns and favorite foods. A microphone and CD player sit on the desk overlooking the store. A wheelie chair rests in the corner of the room.

Presently, Sam is tied up to a beacon in another corner of the room. Bill is sitting down in his chair, a small, loaded pistol in his hand, not pointed at Carlos, Alvin or Christa, but out so they know he can defend himself. All of their hands are tied, except for Carlos'.

"So you get the jist right? Your duties will return to normal, on account of you and Shawn being our only on hand medical professionals." Bill explains to the Spanish doctor.

Carlos has an exhausted expression on his face, his eyes directed at the groomed carpet. "I understand."

"Stan's gonna see you out, he's waiting outside the door. You'll work with some fevers, flesh wounds and colds down in the medical bay for two hours, then you can clock out until morning."

"Fine." He turns around, walking away.

"Carlos, you have an opportunity to save your daughter from a miserable, preventable death in the future. Don't fuck it up. She could end up outliving you if you play your cards right."

Carlos stops, opens his mouth to speak, but closes it and growls under his breath, fists tightening as he leaves the room. Stan nods at Bill, holding a rifle, escorting Carlos away. The door closed. Bill's eyes trained themselves on Alvin. "Christa, sit and wait over there," he points at the wheelie chair in the corner. "Alvin and I need to discuss where to go from here with our little love triangle."

Alvin sits down in front of his desk. "Is this funny to you? My wife cheated on me with you in a moment of weakness, you beat me for questioning you and now here we are. I'm unable to see my baby-"

Bill puts a finger up. "Ah, ah, we both know who the father of that kid is. Don't mince words."

"MY baby, that's my kid."

Carver leans forward. "Even if that were true? It's mine now."

"You're a fucking monster." Alvin whispers back.

"And you're too weak to accept that we all are. You were willing to shoot me a few days ago, in cold blood."

"In self defense!" Christa jumps up from her seat, unable to remain silent. Carver and Alvin look at her. "He was going to kill you in self defense!"

"Quiet down, Christa. I told you to wait your turn." He replies calmly.

"You think I lived this long to be talked down to by some - some dictator? Some child murdering, home wrecking tyrant playing war hero?" Christa begins stalking toward him, her vision becoming misty red.

Bill sits down again, grabbing a firm hold of his gun before slowly standing up, pointing his gun at her. "You're hysterical. Sit down before you get into trouble."

Alvin stands up too. "No, she's right! You ruin everything you touch, and this camp is next! You didn't trust Pete, and look what happened, your ranks betrayed you and now two of 'em are in the pen with empathetic, sweet people who genuinely want the best for the world. They don't want your utopia."

"You call this a utopia? This is a prison! I won't let you take my baby too, I won't let you!"

"Christa, enough! I never said this was a utopia, this is MY home, and I won't let the likes of you destroy it for your own selfish desires of some mamby pamby kindergarten where everyone gets along all the time. Remember: Lee wanted this."

"God knows why.. He's gone." She whimpers out, voice breaking as she sits back down sobbing.

Alvin's eyes meet Carver's. "..What do you want?"

"I want to make a deal." He announces, cutting to the chase.

Alvin tenses up, brow raised. "What kind of a deal?"

Bill sits back down across from him, arms folded on the desk as he looks Alvin dead in his eyes. "I'll let you live and be around my kid on the condition that you make Rebecca hate you. Make her doubt that you ever loved her, push her into my arms. She doesn't need to love me; she just needs to hate you. She has to want nothing to do with you."

Alvin nods, sighing. "...Or?"

"Or I kill you, but she'll always prefer you. Well, for a while anyways. No one else can know, either. Including you." He looks at Christa. She looks back up and shakes her head.

"Don't take that deal, Alvin! Be strong. We'll take care of Rebecca and her kid, not him!"

"Tch, yeah right. Come on, we both know you don't wanna die." Alvin looks between Carver, Christa and the window outside looking into the prison. He can see her, cradling her belly by the fireplace, being talked to by Sarita and them, undoubtedly filled with anxiety over her precious silly bear being in danger. Will he give up the loves of his lives for a chance at survival, or is it time to throw in the towel so they always remember him fondly? Or.. maybe there's another way.

Choices (Alvin)

A: Agree to the deal

B: Tell him you'll do it (LIE)

C: Refuse

Hey ya'll, Jay here. Yesterday's chapter left me feeling a touch unsatisfied with Christa's death, the story of the cows, Carver's character and the vibe of it as a whole. Christa is back and still alive, for now anyways. The votes from before are null, so please try voting again. Thank you.