Chapter 4: Long Road Ahead

September 15, 2010/Day 60 of the global outbreak

It's been about a week since the group had their horrific visit to the St. John dairy, and so far the only problems they've had weren't from the St. Johns - not that any of them could have survived. A couple of days after they'd found the supplies in the abandoned station wagon, bandits began shooting up the motel. They never made it inside, but they had caused quite a scene.

The place was filled with bullet holes and enough arrows to last Quinn a lifetime, if only her bow wasn't still at the dairy. After a few long days, they stopped shooting. It was odd and definitely suspicious. Had they grown bored? Had they given up on trying to get in? Or had they finally realized that all they were doing was wasting their ammo and drawing walkers to them? Whatever the reason, it was now relatively safe to go on supply runs again.

Kenny, Lee, and Quinn moved silently through the streets of Macon, keeping their eyes peeled for walkers and bandits. Normally, they wouldn't need three people for a simple supply run, but not knowing for sure what happened to the bandits that had been shooting at them, they needed to be extra careful.

Lee carried the axe from the motel, in case there was a chance of a quiet kill, instead of having to use a gun and draw more walkers. Kenny carried a rifle. Not just for the range, but because the scope allowed him to see better from a distance, if there were walkers or bandits they needed to avoid. Quinn, in addition to being the pack mule, carried a simple Berretta M9 that was tucked into the waistline of her pants – it was all she knew how to use, aside from a bow.

To even get into Everett's Prescriptions, the three had to climb the ladder on the side of an 18-wheeler cargo that was blocking the entire road. Though the ladder was a bit rickety, and it felt like it was going to break at any moment.

"Your girl still upset with you for agreeing to take that stuff from the station wagon?" Kenny asked.

No one had said anything the whole way into town, and into the store. But now that they were safely inside, it seemed okay to carry on some light conversation.

"I think she understands," said Lee.

"I hope so. Not like we had much of a choice," said Kenny. He hung his head, and sighed to himself. "Duck was askin' about that guy at Hershel's farm last night."

"It was a scary situation for him," said Lee.

"I'm just worried he'll always think it was his fault."

"That what was his fault?" Quinn asked, looking back and forth between the two.

Kenny and Lee shared a look, as though trying to decide who should tell her. Finally, Kenny opened his mouth. "Before we showed up at the CVS, we were on a farm. A man named Hershel owned it. The day we left, a couple of walkers attacked, and one of them bit Hershel's son, Shawn."

"Hershel said the boy would be okay, but that was before we knew that a bite was what did it," Lee added.

"I don't get it," said Quinn. "Why would Duck think that was his fault?"

Lee looked at Kenny, before answering. "Duck was playing on the tractor next to Shawn. He accidentally made it drive forward a bit and ran over Shawn's leg. He was pinned down, when the walkers came."

Now Quinn understood. Duck probably thought that if he hadn't been playing around with the tractor, Shawn would have been free to get away from the walkers. He wouldn't have gotten bitten and turned, possibly having killed his entire family by now.

The trio finished their work in silence, then made their way back outside. As they were passing the sporting goods store, Quinn stopped and stared. Lee noticed that she wasn't walking with them anymore, and stopped himself.

"Everything okay, Quinn?" he asked.

Quinn looked back at him and Kenny, who had now stopped as well. "I was just thinking we might want to have a look inside. I could use another bow, and any ammo still left inside-"

"We can't risk that," said Lee. "Not with only three of us. Besides, the bandits could start attacking again any minute; we need to get back."

"I know, but that's my point. If we had more ammo, we could shoot back. And with all those arrows they've been leaving in our walls, I could make use of those," Quinn argued. "Arrows are quieter than bullets, and replacement arrows can be made a hell of a lot easier than bullets. It's why I used one in the first place."

"She makes some good points," Kenny agreed. "There may not be much ammo still left inside, but we might be able to get her a new bow."

Lee had to admit that switching her back to a bow would save on some ammo, and she'd have an abundance of ammo of her own to use. His concern was what might have changed on the inside, since the last time they'd gone in. This store was how they had the guns and ammo they did now, and he doubted there'd be much of anything, aside from walkers, still inside.

"It's either this, or we trek all the way back out to the dairy for my old one," said Quinn.

"Absolutely not," said Kenny.

That place was swarming with walkers, when they left it. Worse than that, the road there went right through bandit territory. They'd never even make it there.

"What makes you think there's even a bow left inside?" said Lee.

"Because I only grabbed one, and there were at least another half-dozen in there," said Quinn.

"So? Others could have taken them."

"I don't think so," said Quinn. "Most people only want the easy weapon – a gun. And when it comes to a choice between bow and crossbow, they choose crossbow. Even though a crossbow as a slower reload, and requires a lot more muscle to draw that string back; all because it has a trigger, like a gun, so they think it'll be easier. No one picks the bow, unless you already have some kind of skill or understanding of it."

Kenny looked at Lee. "Makes sense to me."

Lee looked away from the boarded up store to look Quinn in her oceanic eyes. "Alright. But no guns. If things get bad enough that we need our guns, we run. Bow or no bow. Agreed?"

Quinn and Kenny nodded in agreement. Such close quarters, not knowing where any of the sleeping ones were, or how many there were; running is what would keep them alive. And dying for a single bow was, agreeably, stupid.

Since Lee was the only one with a quiet weapon, he took the lead. Quinn followed behind him, leaving him enough room to get away from walkers, if he had to; while Kenny watched the street for any sign of walkers or bandits.

There was no knob left on the door, after breaking in the last time, so Lee reached out and pushed on the door lightly. It didn't appear to be blocked by anything, which meant no one had taken shelter in there – if they had, they'd have braced the door. Still, they were cautious. Someone might have gone in there to die, or they could have barricaded themselves in the back somewhere, or there could even be someone hiding inside that had gotten there just moments before them. There were any number of reasons why there might be dangers lurking in the dark just beyond that door.

Quinn pulled out the flashlight from her bag, and she and Lee stepped inside, their eyes scanning the interior for any sign of movement. There was none, from what they could see; but that didn't mean things were safe, just yet. Their next challenges were the walkers all over the floor. Were any of them fresh? Or were they all the dead ones they'd left behind the last time they came here?

It wasn't an overly large store – this was a small town, after all. But when you had limited lighting, and needed to watch for walkers and other people, anything larger than a bedroom seemed massive.

Quinn moved the light's beam towards the back right of the store, where the archery section was. She smiled at the sight of bows still left on the racks behind the counter. She moved the flashlight to illuminate the path there, to make sure it was clear. There were a few walkers on the ground along the way, but the question of whether they were old or new was still an unanswered one.

"I'll go first," said Lee in a hushed voice.

"How will you see?" she challenged. "If I'm behind you with the flashlight, your body's gonna block the light in front of you."

"Give me the flashlight."

"You can't swing an axe and hold a flashlight," Quinn argued.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Let me go first with the light. If anything pops up, I'll move so you can get at it."

Lee didn't like that plan. But she'd made a point about not being able to do both things; and she was much shorter than him, so she couldn't hold the light above him. The aisle was too narrow for them to walk side-by-side, but it was too risky to spread out across multiple aisles just to get to the same place.

He stepped aside, reluctantly, and held out his hand for her to continue forward. Quinn took a slow, deep breath, as she began making her way down the aisle. She scanned their path constantly with her flashlight; not just straight ahead, but down below by their feet, for any stray hands.

Quinn's heart was pounding in her chest the whole time. It only seemed to stop, when she saw a walker's foot lying in her path. She stopped and pointed it out to Lee, before checking to see if it was alive or not.

Quinn stuck her own foot out, and tapped the walker's, gently. Nothing happened. She tried again, this time a little harder. The walker still didn't react. Satisfied that it must be dead, Quinn and Lee got moving again.

The two reached the archery section with no further delays or issues. Quinn shined the light up at the bows, ready to point out the one she wanted so Lee could grab it for her; but there was one slight problem. Where there had been several bows left the last time they were there, there were now only three. Two of the three were broken, and one of those two was the only remaining compound bow.

Lee grabbed the only remaining intact bow – a recurve bow. Through the dim torchlight, he could see the disappointment on Quinn's face.

"I know it might not look as cool as the other one, but-"

"It's not about looking cool," said Quinn. "The compound bow holds more weight back for you, so you can aim more accurately. This one…"

Lee looked back at the broken compound bow. "Maybe we can fix it."

Quinn gave him a look. "I have absolutely no idea where to even begin fixing that thing. It's far too complicated."

"Then maybe it's a good thing this is the only one left," said Lee. "When this one breaks, you'll be able to fix it."

Quinn pondered that for a moment. She'd never thought about her bow breaking. Of course it was an inevitability, but she'd been too focused on learning to shoot and surviving to ever really think about what she would do if it broke.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

Quinn turned to follow him out, but stopped and stared, when she saw the rack of archery accessories. She heard a voice in her head. "You're gonna need something to protect your arm, or that's only gonna get worse. You can't just wear long sleeves and jackets forever," said the voice.

"What's wrong?"

"The last time we were here, we were in such a hurry, I never got the chance to grab anything besides the bow, some arrows, and a quiver," said Quinn.

Lee made a face of confusion. "What else is there for you to grab? We have plenty of arrows back at camp for you."

"We were in such a hurry, I never got to look at the other stuff I might need," Quinn argued. "And I only grabbed the first quiver I saw, which wasn't a very good one, and now resides at the St. John's Dairy."

"Quinn, we don't have time for you to browse and shop," said Lee. "We need to get back to the motel."

Quinn ignored him, shining her light on the quivers. There were the modern ones, that held your arrows securely in place; but the drawback was their small capacity. Then there were the ones that strapped to your side, but Quinn didn't think they would work very well, if she needed to run. And, of course, there were the small ones meant for crossbow bolts. Then her eyes fell upon it – the perfect quiver for her.

It was black, with a fairly decent-sized pouch for the arrows. There were a couple of velcro straps meant for holding other items, and two extra zippered pockets. There were two straps, starting at the bottom of the quiver, running under each arm. The two straps met in the center of the chest area with a third, which curved up and over the right shoulder.

Next she turned her attention to the archery accessories; more specifically, the gloves and the arm covers. Like the voice in her head had been telling her, the bruising and burns from the rebound of the string would only get worse, if she didn't get something to protect her arm.

There wasn't much variety in the arm guards, so she just grabbed one that seemed right, and tossed it inside one of the quiver's pockets. The gloves, however, had more styles than she knew what to do with.

They had some covering the middle three fingers, the first three fingers, the first two fingers, the index and middle fingers, some which covered the palm and back of the hand, some that only covered the fingers, etc. Then there was, of course, the fact that they came in different sizes. Quinn had no idea where to even begin finding the right glove.

Quinn's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the screams of a woman outside. She and Lee's eyes shot towards the door instinctively, even though they couldn't see a thing from inside.

"Quinn? Lee? Quit screwin' around, and get your asses out here!" Kenny called.

Lee gave Quinn a look that expressed the same sentiment. She grabbed a handful of the different gloves, and shoved them inside of her quiver, too. She zipped it up, and followed Lee out of the store.

There was a woman down the street, covered in filth, and screaming her head off at the walkers rising up all around her. She was calling for help, while also screaming at the walkers to leave her alone and go away, as though they would oblige.

"What the—What the hell is that?!" Kenny asked. "A walker?"

"Walkers don't scream," said Quinn.

"We gotta help her," said Lee.

"How? There's no gettin' to her."

A walker on the ground reached out and took hold of the girl's ankle. It sunk its teeth into her flesh, and took a bite out of her. The girl screamed in pain.

Lee reached for Kenny's rifle. "Fuck, we gotta shoot her. Put her out of her misery."

"They'll know we're here," Kenny argued.

"What do you mean?"

"If we leave her alive, she'll draw them all to her, buying us time to get away," said Kenny.

Lee looked shocked at his suggestion. Quinn seemed to be thinking it over.

"Think about it! We're always worried about the ones we can't see – she stays alive and brings them all out of their holes."

"He's right," said Quinn. "It's awful, but if we take that shot, they're all going to come for us."

Lee hated himself for it; but he grabbed Quinn's quiver, and let the walkers converge onto the girl, as they made their escape.

"So what did you get?" asked Lily.

"What was left," said Quinn, handing over her bag. Lee did the same.

"Which was a lot, actually," said Kenny.

Lily snatched up his bag, too. She brought them to her bed, and began digging through them.

"We're fine by the way…" said Kenny.

Lily smiled to herself, pleased with their haul. "Nice work. This will keep us going. If we carry on like this, we'll get through the winter here."

"The winter? We'll freeze our asses off here!" said Kenny.

"What part of 'that's all that's left' was unclear?" Quinn added.

Lily narrowed her eyes at them. "Because piling into that truck with you three, after what you did to my dad, is so appealing."

"Why wouldn't it be? Cause you know we'll do what it takes to keep everyone safe," said Kenny.

"We're already safe," Lily argued.

"Take a look at the wall, Lily. That's not graffiti, those are bullet holes. And we've got enough arrow shafts sticking out of it to dry our laundry."

"We have to go eventually, Lily," said Quinn.

"We don't have to do anything."

"We're strongest together. It can't be you versus us, Lily. We're sorry for what happened to your dad, but we're in this together now," said Lee.

"How has this not been working?" Lily asked. "We have everything we need."

"Look, Macon and its people aren't savable. It's not a town. It's full of walkers and the people who were left are dying and wandering out onto the streets. It's hell on earth and it's coming this way," said Kenny.

"It's not going to be easier out on the road!" Lily snapped.

"How would you know?"

Lily seethed. She'd had enough of Kenny, and the three of them always sticking together as a team against her. "Get out!"

Kenny, Lee, and Quinn backed out of Lily's room and closed the door behind them. Lily was reaching her breaking point, and soon they were going to have to either leave or stay.

Lee looked around at their sad camp. Everything looked grey and depressing. This was no way to live, especially for the two children they had. They deserved a better life than this. As Lee looked around, he noticed Carley cleaning something up by the ice machine.

"What happened here?" Lee asked, now noticing it was glass.

"I don't know, I just found it," said Carley. "Thought I should clean it up before Clem, or Duck, or even Kuru cut themselves on it."

Lee knelt down to help her.

"Lee?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about," said Carley.

"What is it?"

Carley looked around, making sure there was no one within hearing range of the two. "I think you need to tell people about what you did. You know, before all this? Not because they deserve to know, and not because you're a bad man. I think the opposite of those two things."

Lee wondered where this was all coming from. She'd let him know, shortly after they met, that she knew about his past; but she'd told him she didn't find it necessary to tell the group, if they didn't already know. It would have only caused more drama, which they had enough of at the time. She had warned that she'd tell everyone, if he became a detriment to the group. Was she saying that's what he'd become?

Then, as though reading his mind, "People need to know because we're hanging by a thread here, and I can't see Lily talk about you without thinking it's the next thing she's going to say."

Lee thought about that, as they walked towards the dumpster to dispose of the broken glass. It was obvious that Larry knew – he'd fully admitted it to Lee – and if Larry knew, Lily surely did too. Hell, she'd made hinting remarks towards it enough times.

"You don't have to tell everyone, but think about who you trust and take the opportunity while you have it."

"You're probably right," Lee admitted.

"Of course I'm probably right. People might be pissed, and telling them might cause some trouble; but it will be a far cry from what'll happen if they don't hear it from you," said Carley.

"You're right. It's not going to be easy, but it will sound better coming from me," he said.

Carley smiled. "Good."

Lee lifted the lid for them to toss their glass into. As they did, something inside caught their eyes.

"Is that one of our flashlights?" Carley questioned.

"Yeah." Lee picked it up to better examine it. It was broken, and the pieces of glass in their hands were a perfect match. "What's it doing in here, though? We don't toss out equipment, we fix it."

"You'd only try to get rid of a flashlight if you were using it when you shouldn't," said Carley.

"What would someone be doing over hear that they'd be that scared of getting caught?" Lee wondered. "Who would be that paranoid?"

"Why don't you look into it? Ask around, while you're telling people about…you know."

"Why me? You're the reporter," said Lee.

"Because everyone here likes you, and respects you. They're more likely to tell you what they know than me."

"That'll probably change, once they hear what I did."

"I think you'll be surprised," said Carley optimistically. "You've done a lot for this group, and you've earned their trust and respect. I don't think something you did that long ago is going to change that."

"Alright. I'll ask around," he relented.

"Good. I'll look around and see if I can find anything else out of the ordinary." Carley flashed a smile, and headed off.

Lee looked around the courtyard, and thought about what Carley had said about people he trusted. Who's opinions mattered most to him?

He looked at Clem first. The little girl that looked to him for protection, and who had come to think of Lee as a second father. Her opinion above all others was most important to him.

Next were Kenny and Katjaa. Kenny had become a good friend to Lee, and he'd come to trust Lee with the safety of his family. If anyone deserved to know about his past, it was Kenny; and if he were to hear it from Lily first, there was no telling how he'd react. Would he even listen to Lee at that point, when he tried to explain?

Lee thought about the rest of the group. Ben was new and not all that tightly bonded in just yet. For now, he was just a kid in need of a group to survive, that didn't really need to know about Lee's past. As for Doug, he would likely hear it from Carley; and even if he didn't, Doug could wait until after Lee spoke to the only other person he really felt he needed to tell: Quinn.

Quinn used to be like Ben, just someone too scared and too weak to be alone, so she stayed with the only people she had, but now she was so much more. She had become an important member of their group, and a friend to Lee and Clementine. She likely wouldn't have been comfortable around Lee, if he'd told her before they got to know each other, but now he was certain she'd be able to handle it.

Lee's eyes went back to Clementine. She was doing leaf-rubbings with Kuru and Duck. Lee took a deep breath, and began walking towards them...

"They seem to be taking it well," Carley observed, as she approached Lee. He'd just finished talking to Kenny and Katjaa.

"A lot better than I expected," Lee agreed.

Clementine hadn't seemed to hate him or become afraid of him, which was a relief; Quinn had confirmed what he already knew about her reaction before they were friends versus now; and Kenny and Katjaa didn't care, as long as he hadn't been going to prison for harming a child. It felt good to know he had such good friends.

"I think I found something," said Carley. She handed him a piece of pink chalk. "I found it over there by the gate."

"So what? Clementine draws with her chalk all the time. She could've just dropped this," said Lee.

"She could've. But she couldn't have drawn a big 'X' on the wall near where we found the flashlight," Carley countered. "It was well above her reach."

Lee kept his thoughts to himself, as he approached their makeshift gate. There was a scuff of pink chalk on the ground. Even if Clementine had been over here to be able to drop it, there were no drawings here. So why would she have the chalk over here, but not draw? She wouldn't.

"I should take a look outside," said Lee.

"I'll cover you from here," said Carley.

Carley helped Lee open the gate, then took watch for any sign of walkers or bandits.

Lee looked all over, along the fence, and found nothing. It wasn't until he was reaching the motel wall, that he found a vent with another pink 'X' next to it. This definitely couldn't have been Clementine. He removed the vent's cover and found a brown paper bag inside. It was full of supplies.

"What did you find?" Carley asked. She hadn't moved from her position, but she could still see that Lee had found something.

Lee walked back over to show her.

"Holy shit! That must've been why the bandits stopped shooting at us – someone made a deal with them," said Carley.

"But who would do that?"

"Do you think Lily…?"

Lee shook his head. "Lily knows how much we need these supplies; she'd never give them away."

"She might, if she thought we could replace them. Which we would have the chance to do, with those bandits off our backs," Carley argued.

"Then why fight so hard to stay here? If Lily had a deal with them, she'd have had us all pack up to leave, as soon as they left us alone," Lee countered.

Carley was about to press her suspicions of Lily further, when she was cut off by a loud "POP!" in the distance. Someone had fired a gun. Instinctively, Lee snapped his head around to look in the direction of the sound. His attention was quickly drawn back to Carley, as her lifeless body hit the ground. She'd been shot in the head.

Lee's shock wore off quick, when someone else took a shot at his head and missed. He pulled out his gun to return fire, and ducked back inside the gate. He tried to push it closed, but the bandits moved in faster than Lee's group could react to help him. Lee had to make a run for cover on the other side of the truck.

Kenny and Katjaa grabbed the kids and ran into one of the rooms for safety. Quinn was headed to join them, but Kuru wouldn't come. He was being brave, trying to bark at the bandits, angrily. She had to run over, and grab him by his collar, to get him to come inside.

Ben and Doug tried to run for a room, too, but couldn't make it. They had to drop and duck for cover where they were.

Lily, on the other hand, exited her second floor room to begin shooting back.

"We gotta get out of here!" Kenny shouted.

"No shit!" Lee called back.

Kenny ran out to the truck, and began shooting back with Lee and Lily. "Everyone get to the truck, we'll cover you!"

Ben and Doug made a run for it first. Ben climbed into the back as fast as he could, while Doug hesitated.

"Where's Carley?" he asked Lee.

Lee looked at him sorrowfully, and shook his head.

Doug looked devastated. His grief was cut short by more bandits pushing in from the other side of the motel. Now they were facing a fight on two fronts. Doug hopped inside the truck with Ben, while Kenny moved to the other end of the truck's cover to start taking down the bandits on that side.

Kenny aimed at one of the bandits, but never got the chance to fire. A walker had crept up behind the bandit, and grabbed him.

"Shit, we got walkers now!" said Kenny. "Let's get a move on, people!"

Quinn grabbed Clem and Kuru, and made a run for the truck. Quinn lifted Clem inside first, then tossed her new bow and quiver in, while Lee hoisted Kuru inside.

Katjaa grabbed Duck and ran for the truck. They barely made it halfway when stray walker, that had made its way inside, lunged at them. Lee was busy helping Quinn with Clem and Kuru; but the moment Katjaa screamed Lee, Kenny, and Quinn reacted. Lee shot the walker that was on top of mother and son, and lay down cover fire, while Kenny and Quinn ran over to help them back up and over to the truck.

Katjaa and Duck were loaded into the drive section, where they'd be with Kenny. Quinn closed the door for them, and ran along the side of the truck for cover, towards the back. She tapped Lee on the shoulder, "That's everyone."

Lee gave her a single nod, before moving out from behind the truck to lay down cover fire so she could get into the back. As soon as she was safely inside, he ducked for cover and looked up at Lily. "Let's go, Lily!"

"Screw her! Leave her!" Kenny called, as he ran for the drive section of the truck.

Kenny didn't hesitate. As soon as he was inside, he turned the ignition, and got going. Lee hopped in the moment he heard the engine turn over. Lily was lucky to have made it at all.

They were a good ways away from the motel, before anyone spoke. Everyone in general was trying to come down from the adrenaline high and shock of what had just happened. Kenny was more focused on the road, and making sure they got as far away from the bandits and the walkers as they could, as fast as they could.

Quinn sat on the right side of the truck, with a scared Clementine curled up in her arms. Kuru sat at her feet, and Lee sat on the other side of Clementine, gently rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be okay. Ben and Doug sat on the seat to the left side of the truck, while Lily stood up, holding onto the metal frame above them.

Once they were safely away from the walkers and the bullets, Lily drew everyone's attentions back to the elephant in the room: why had the bandits attack? Why leave them alone, just to turn around and do this? Some of them theorized that maybe they were just lulling them into a false sense of security. Lee debunked all of their theories when he told them what he and Carley had found, right before the bandits started their attack.

"They didn't get their last package, so they attacked." Lily's face twisted into her usual bitter snarl, as she looked at Ben. "So, Ben. I think we need to talk."

"Whoa, what?!"

"Lily, let's think about this logically, no?" Doug objected.

"Logically? The new guy who could have easily been a plant? I think that's pretty logical, Doug," Lily snapped.

"You think I'd do anything to hurt you guys?" Ben was beginning to sweat. He was scared. Not that any of them could blame him. Emotions and adrenaline were still running pretty high, and Lily could be extremely intimidating at times.

"Don't play dumb," said Lily.

"Lily, come on."

"Why Ben? What makes you think it was him?" Lee asked.

"He's always so eager to see what supplies we found. He came into this crew a stranger from the woods. It's pretty cut and dry to me," Lily explained.

"I know I don't get wrapped in the politics around here, but we really need to think before we start stringing somebody up!"

"Doug's right. Let's give everyone a chance to calm down a bit, and then we can talk this out like adults," said Quinn.

"Why give someone who almost killed us the opportunity?" Lily snapped. She looked to Lee now. "Lee, you're the one who found it!"

"Just let me out of the car! I'll go! I didn't do it, but I'll go!" said Ben.

"Good! That sounds great to me," said Lily. She leaned in to intimidate him more, and press for a full confession.

"Shit!"

There was a loud bang, as though they had hit something, and the truck swerved. They all had to hold onto something to keep from flying around the back, until the vehicle skidded to a stop.

"What's going on up there?!" Lilly called.

"I hit somethin'." Kenny opened his door, and hopped out to take a look. "God dammit. There's a walker stuck underneath."

"Need some help?" Lee offered.

"No, I got it. Everyone keep your eyes peeled."

Lee jumped down out of the truck to help keep an eye out, while Kenny was busy taking care of the walker.

Lily returned her icy gaze to Ben, her stare making him more uncomfortable by the second. "Doug's right," she finally spoke. "We shouldn't just kick you out, we should hear what everyone thinks."

"This isn't the time, Lily," Quinn snarled, still holding onto Clementine.

"I think you should chill out," said Ben. He began begging uncontrollably to not be kicked out, and swore up and down that it wasn't him.

Lily ignored his pleas and tried to take a poll on what everyone thought they should do about Ben. No one wanted to even talk about it right then, much less vote on it.

"Ben, you have until Kenny kills that walker to tell me it was you," said Lily.

"No!"

"Lily!"

"This is about trust, and I've never trusted you," said Lily.

"I did it!" Lee snapped. He finally turned to look at Lily. "Yeah, it was me. That get you to lay off the kid?"

"I think you're capable of being a real piece of shit, but I know it wasn't you." Lily gestured to Quinn and Clementine. "Not with them in your life."

Lee glowered at Lily. He didn't want to back down, but it was more important that he watch for walkers, than having a staring contest with Lily.

"Easy. Let's just get back on the road, and we can talk about-" Doug began.

"That's not happening," Lily interrupted.

"There! Got 'em." Kenny announced. He'd finally managed to safely get the walker out from under the truck, and put it down with the sole of his boot. With that out of the way, he started making his way around to the back of the truck to find out what was going on.

Everyone's attentions were turned away from Lily. Then again, they never expected her to do what she did next. When Doug turned his attention back to her, she already had her pistol out, ready to fire it at Ben. Doug reacted quicker than she acted, and pushed Ben out of the way. Lily still pulled the trigger, but it wasn't Ben that took the bullet, it was Doug.

Lily's eyes widened, as she stared on in shock at what she'd done. She hadn't meant to shoot Doug, she was aiming for Ben. Kuru reared up, barking and growling at her. Quinn held Clementine tighter, doing her best to keep the little girl from seeing their dead friend.

Ben stared down in horror at the dead man at his feet – the man who had taken a bullet for him, and died because of it. His guilt flared. He'd never intended for any of this to happen, and yet here they were. Two of their group were dead, and it was all because of him.

Kenny picked up speed to get around back. He saw Lee aiming his gun at Lily, and joined in before even noticing Doug's corpse.

"Drop it," Lee commanded.

Lily was in such a state, she obliged automatically, her eyes not leaving the bullet hole she'd put in Doug's head.

Quinn released Clementine to pick up the gun, and aimed Lily's own gun at her.

"Get out," Kenny ordered. "We're leavin' this crazy bitch!"

"I didn't mean to." Lily turned around to face the two men outside of the truck. "It wasn't supposed to be him." She pointed to a shaking, terrified Ben.

"You're not coming with us," Lee affirmed.

"I'll die out here."

"I don't care."

"You're a murderer, Lily. We can't have you with us," said Kenny.

"I'm a murderer?!" She spun around to look at Kenny. "You've had Lee with you this whole time!"

"I don't care what he did before," said Kenny.

Lily looked surprised. "You know?"

"Yeah, he told me. I don't give a shit what he did before. If we keep you with us, how long until you get me?"

"I was trying to protect all of us," said Lily. "…I don't have anything left."

Quinn wanted to feel sorry for her, but just couldn't muster it. She raised her aim on Lily, further emphasizing that she was completely willing and ready to do whatever she had to do to get rid of her. "He said get outta the fuckin' truck."

Lily turned her head to look at Quinn. She'd never seen her so fierce, nor the hatred in her eyes. Lily never thought her capable of it. Still, she complied with jumping out of the truck, and walked a few paces away. She turned around to look at Lee pleadingly, her eyes begging him to change his mind. If anyone could have the heart to forgive and convince others to have sympathy, it was Lee. But it did no good. Lee looked just as furious as the other two, his eyes confirming that he was willing to do whatever he needed to keep Clementine safe – safe from her.

Quinn looked down at Doug's body. Lily had managed to shoot him in the head, preventing him from ever becoming a walker; but his lifeless, bleeding body was still something the children shouldn't have to see.

"Lee," she called.

Lee looked at Kenny, the two silently communicating that he'd keep an eye on Lily, while Lee went to see what Quinn wanted. "What is it?"

Quinn moved closer, her eyes scanning the tree lines for movement. "I know it isn't all that respectful, but I think we should leave Doug's body here. The kids don't deserve to have to look at that, until we get to Savannah, and we don't exactly have the tools or time to bury him."

Lee's eyes shifted to Clementine's face, as he contemplated Quinn's words. She wasn't wrong. Lee wished she hadn't had to see it happen in the first place. But they could at least spare her having to look at Doug's corpse for who knows how long.

"Ben, help me get Doug's body out of the truck," said Lee.

Lee tucked his gun back into the waistband of his jeans, then reached out to take hold of Doug's arms. Ben shakily stood up and grabbed Doug's legs. Together, the two men hoisted Doug's body out of the truck, and down onto the side of the road. They couldn't bury him, but they could at least keep him from being run over but the next person to drive down this road.

Kenny kept his aim on Lily, until Ben and Lee were back inside the truck. Lee took over for him, until he was back behind the wheel, and the truck was moving again. At that point, he put her out of his mind altogether, and refocused his attention on Quinn and Clementine.

Lily continued to watch them, until the truck was so far down the road, she could no longer make out the individuals sitting in the back. She was on her own now.