Clementine knew Lee didn't expect her to do anything. She could see it in his eyes when he stopped trying to argue with Kenny and gave her a look of stern parental authority. However, she also knew that Troy and Carver were dangerous, much more dangerous than Kenny and Carlos. When it came down to her options, they were limited. Still, she yanked on Kenny's arm, causing him to look back.

"Kenny! Stop!" She hissed.

"Clem, let go! This isn't your fight-"

SMACK!

Whilst Kenny's attention was diverted, Bill's backhand clashed against Duck's mouth, cutting his bottom lip open as he fell to the ground, sobbing as soon as he hit the floor. For a moment, the whole world stopped spinning for the boys father. The fire in his eyes aimed at the greying leader of the hardware store burned black with wrath, his teeth gritting. Before he can put a hand on Bill, Sarita gets down on her knees and hugs Duck close to her chest, coddling him as he weeps. Kenny slowly turns around to see his boy, his face softening.

As quick as he could, Carlos followed Carver's example, smacking Sarah across her cheek. She went down, cradling the developing red mark on her face as she whimpered and cried next to her crush. After a few seconds, guilt crushed him. He tried to approach her. "I'm so sorry, Sarah-" Carver puts a hand on his shoulder and tugs him back.

"No, you're not coddling that girl anymore. Let her sit there and think about what she's done." He demands, sighing. Kenny kneels down to check on Duck, but Troy gets in front of the small family and aims down his sights at them.

"You heard Bill. Up." Troy commands. Kenny and Sarita slowly leave Duck's side.

"But.. but he's just a boy-"

"He's a man in this world. You either live or die, Sarita, there is no young or old. Now," Bill huffs, turning back around at the shocked and appalled faces and muttering voices among the crowd. Lee makes eye contact with Clem and nods at her. She walks away from the group she stood with before to stand with her surrogate parents. Carver pulls out a piece of paper and clears his throat. "Reggie, take Duck and Sarah upstairs with you to the greenhouse."

"Y-yeah.. Come on, guys." Reggie awkwardly walks forward, holding out an arm for Duck. Neither of them stand up for a few seconds until Carlos helps Sarah up.

"Go on, honey. I-I'll be with you soon." She ignores him, hugging herself whilst trembling. Duck gets up by himself after her, wiping his tears away with a few sniffles.

"Ready? Let's go." Reggie says, leading the two kids away from the pen and outside of it. Sarita can't help but let out a few tears, which she quickly dries. Kenny holds her with his arm over her shoulder.

Carver continues. "Jane is already on the roof, planting." Clem looks up and sees Jane looking down on them, pulling a bag of soil upward. "Walter, Alvin, stay here until Shel gets here to pick you up. You'll be planting today." The two men are quiet, looking away distantly. "Shawn, Carlos, take Ben with you to the infirmary. We need more hands helping there."

"Why me?" Ben asks.

"You're physically fit. Don't question it, it's your job." Troy replies for his boss.

"..Thank you, Troy." Bill says.

"Don't worry, it's a pretty slow job. Come on." Shawn tells Ben. Carlos is already walking away once the two begin their way outside.

"Onto the expansion job: Charles, Molly, Kenneth, Troy will bring you down to the new wing so you can help build new walls."

"If it ain't miss Molly and me again. What a nice surprise." Troy says, flashing a creepy grin. Molly groans, taking a few steps back. Kenny gets in front of her.

"Hey, watch your fuckin' mouth, creep." He jabs a finger into Troy's chest. The man hits Kenny in the cheek with his fist, causing him to stumble. Troy's rifle finds itself trained on the fisherman.

"Kenny!" Sarita yelps, reaching out for him.

"Or what?" Troy asks him, smug as usual. Bill sighs.

"Just go." He demands impatiently. "We're burning daylight."

"As you wish, sir." With that, the brunette leads Kenny, Chuck and Molly away, none of them very willing to go. Carver looks back down at his paper.

"Danny, you know where to go. Becca and Stan are waiting for you outside. Lee, you'll join him soon, but for now, you're gonna go to my office. We need to chat."

"Alright. Sure." Lee sighs.

"I'll see you soon, man." Danny awkwardly mutters, still shaken up by what he saw as he exits.

"Nick and Sarita, Wyatt and Eddie will be here for you soon. You're on janitor duty with them." Carver doesn't get a vocal reply from the two, so he moves on. "Carley, Christa, Rebecca, you'll be helping Johnny cook tonight. If everyone else is good for the rest of the day, y'all might just get fed tonight. Pete, you're with Justin on hunting duty." The girls don't respond as Johnny shows up just in time and nods at them to follow him. They all leave to the kitchen.

"You really think it's a good idea to let him outside the walls?" Justin asks, pointing at Pete.

Carver turns to him. "This might be our last day to hunt, Pete's pretty damn good at it and he knows better than you. 'Sides, he ain't running anywhere."

"Very classy. Let's get this over with." Pete wheels himself out with Justin leading the way. As he's leaving, Carver steps on his foot and leans forward, staring down at him. Pete grunts, holding onto the arm rests of his chair.

"You try anything and I'll kill you. You're on thin ice, Peter." He pushes Pete, spinning him out. Shaking his head, Pete continues outside of the pen. Carver turns to Bonnie. "Take Clementine with you to the armory. Luke you go too. They're loading mags with you. Lee, follow me. The rest of you, get to work." Bill waits at the exit of the pen, folding his arms. He's willing to broker patience when Lee gets down and hugs Clementine.

"Do what you're told and stay calm, honey. This'll all get better soon." He whispers gently into her ear.

"I don't know, Lee.."

He stands back up. "Well, I think I'm about to argue our place here, so we shall see. I'll talk to you later." He pats her head before walking behind Bill. Clem looks down at her dirty shoes and lets out a quiet, mousy sigh. Luke places a hand on her shoulder from behind.

"Hang in there, kid." He consoles as Bonnie approaches, just as Wyatt and Eddie come to pick up Sarita and Nick.

"Come along, darlin', we got work to do." She says, a friendly smile on her lips. She then looks up at Luke and her smile falters, becoming more of a guilty frown. "All three of us." She directs them to the armory, the girl giving Nick and Sarita a passing, worried glance as she leaves the pen.

Carver opens the door to his office, letting Lee enter first. "Take a seat." He instructs the amputee. He sits down across from his desk, with Bill taking his usual seat.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"A few things. To start, I want to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Danny told me; last night you got your group under control before anything could get out of control. You haven't known Luke's group for a month yet and already they bow down to you. That's the sign of a good leader."

"I've always had to play the leader, usually alone."

"I can tell. Listen, Lee.. before I go forward with any of my questions, I wanna know your thoughts. I want you to be transparent with me: what are your biggest problems with the way things are run here? No judgment. I wanna know."

Several ideas popped into Lee's head. It was time for him to use them all. He knew partnering up with Bill was the smart choice considering the situation they were all in, but what other questions or concerns may he have? And the criticisms? They certainly weren't few.

Choices

In the reviews, write out what you think Lee should bring up, whether it's a question, comment or critique. Nothing longer than one question per reviewer, please.

Relationships (Lee)

Clementine: 15/15 (You believe she made the right move and possibly saved Kenny from a nasty beating)

Carley: 15/15

Christa: 11/15 (You brought her back to reality.. Slightly, for a short burst of time)

Molly: 12/15

Chuck: 15/15

Kenny: 5/15 (Now you've let his son be beaten.)

Ben: 11/15

Duck: 11/15

Walter: 3/15 (He is no longer open to any of this)

Sarita: 5/15 (She just wants to get out of here and fast)

Luke: 11/15

Pete: 12/15

Nick: 11/15

Carlos: 9/15

Sarah: 6/15

Alvin: 13/15 (For keeping his secret safe, he feels indebted to you)

Rebecca: 11/15

Reggie: 8/15

Danny: 7/15

Bonnie: 7/15

Carver: 7/15 (For your good behavior)

Tavia: 6/15

Stan: 6/15

Shel: 6/15

Johnny: 6/15

Shawn: 7/15

Troy: 5/15

Justin: 6/15

Wyatt: 5/10

Eddie: 5/10

Shel: 5/10

Becca: 5/10

Sam: 6/15