Lee was scanning the inside of the tent, looking at the doctors, supplies, and medical devices scattered around the place.

He was a bit confused about what to feel, a bit lost in the whole situation.

When he woke up that morning, he just knew it would be another day of walking into nothingness, not finding any living thing except the animals he hunted. Just another day where he wandered through the world of the dead.

And now he was in a medical ward, surrounded by busy doctors and patients pacing back and forth.

James, next to him, was the same way, he didn't even know how to act in this whole situation. The people who took them there just told them to wait.

- Do you know those people?

James asked after a while, looking at Lee curiously, and wanting to distract his mind a little.

- Sort of. When I met them, they didn't kidnap people, though.

Lee answered, observing a man lying on one of the beds in the place, his leg fully bandaged. He had a relaxed expression on his face and was quietly reading a book.

- You are the new recruits, right?

A middle-aged woman approached the two of them, lowering her eyes a little and looking at them analytically, focusing her eyes on Lee's amputated arm.

- A teenager, and a cripple, amazing. State your names.

She said, and Lee noticed a slight mocking tone in the woman's voice, smiling slightly at this.

- Rick.

Lee said, arching an amused eyebrow at James, who looked at him a bit confused.

- James.

He said, and the woman started to write down some things in a notebook.

- Okay, all those who agree to stay with us must pass some medical examinations. You will be taken to a tent in the back, where you will be asked some questions and then taken to Delta, where you will be examined by experienced doctors with more equipment, please follow me.

The woman said, turning and walking out of the tent.

Lee and James looked at each other for a moment, and followed her out.

Honestly, Lee wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but he wouldn't complain about a medical inspection. Medicine was more than rare in those days, it was almost impossible to find.

They entered some separate tents.

As soon as they entered, Lee looked somewhat curious at the man with glasses who was sitting in the corner, writing something on a notebook and leaning his arms on the table.

The man looked up and pointed to the chair opposite him.

Lee looked back, already missing having a knife hidden in his waistband, and the weight of his backpack on his back. There were guards everywhere, as James had said, it would not be easy to get out of there, that is if they were not taken somewhere else before he even discovered the weaknesses of that farm.

He sat down in his chair, looking analytically inside, finding some scattered things that could be used as weapons.

- Say your name.

The man said, and Lee looked at him with a bit of pity as he noticed him trying to look intimidating. He also noticed the knife and gun under the man's coat.

Lee smiled slightly, he must not even be realizing that the weapons were lightly marked by the lab coat.

- Daryl.

He said, watching the man write his name down on a blank sheet of paper in his notebook.

- Okay, Mr. Daryl. Well, how long have you been on the road?

He asked, standing up and putting his hand in his coat pocket, only now realizing that Lee was missing an eye.

The man stared at the scar on Lee's face for a while, wondering how big the wound was to cause such a "grotesque" scar.

- Too long.

Lee replied, looking somewhat suspiciously at the small flashlight the man held.

- When was the last time you ate, and what did you eat?

The man asked, pointing the flashlight into Lee's eye. At that distance, he would catch the knife in the doctor's coat faster than his brain could process it.

He didn't have to worry too much at the moment.

- This morning. Half a fish, and the remains of a rabbit.

He answered, looking at the scissors on the table next to the notebook.

The man sat back in his chair and took a bag from the side.

Lee arched an eyebrow as he placed an apple on the table, along with a glass of water.

- You are a little dehydrated. Eat, and drink. If you want to

He said, writing something else in his notebook.

Lee looked suspiciously at this, and remained quiet.

He doubted they would poison him after bringing him there, but they could have put some drug, or something into that glass of water, and maybe into the apple, although he didn't really know how someone would do something like that.

- How many people have you killed, Mr. Daryl?

The doctor asked, standing up and grabbing a medical kit, then he walked around Lee and looked at the wound on his arm.

- Too much to count.

Lee replied, looking at some pens on the table. Those things could easily pierce an ear.

Maybe he could take the man's lab coat and pretend to be a doctor.

"That would be stupid" He thought, laughing at the very thought.

- Do you have any kind of training?

He asked, taking a pair of tweezers from the medical kit and starting to remove the bullet from Lee's arm.

- No.

He answered, looking at the bullet that the man placed on the table, stained with his own blood.

- What kind of weapons are you familiar with?

He asked, bandaging Lee's arm, and putting away the medical kit.

Lee arched an eyebrow at the question, and looked down at his amputated arm.

- One-handed weapons are my specialty, but every now and then I like to play with a sniper rifle.

He answered, finding the question amusing.

- Do you know how to use melee weapons?

- Yes.

Lee answered without interest, looking at Lilly, who had just entered the tent.

- Change of plans, this one has already been confirmed.

The woman said, taking the notebook from the man's hands and pulling out the sheet on which he was writing, looking at the notes with an arched eyebrow.

- Daryl?

She asked, looking at him amused, and Lee just smiled.

- Come on. Dinner is ready.

Lilly said, turning and walking out of the tent.

Lee looked at the doctor for a moment, before standing up and following the woman.

- What a most... interesting medical examination.

He said, looking at the tent where James was standing, and noticing the boy's clear discomfort in answering those questions.

- Believe it or not, not many pass. There are twenty questions in total, and people usually fail the first ten.

Lilly said, looking at Lee, who was looking at what seemed to be the cafeteria of the place.

There were several people eating at tables scattered around the area, some just enjoying their food, others looking around in obvious discomfort, and others not even touching their plates.

- Yeah, figures.

Lee said, watching as some children walked by accompanied by armed people.

He felt his blood boil, if those children were rescued, fine, but if they were taken from their homes, or from their families, or from the people who took care of them, that place was even worse than he could imagine.

Lilly turned away from him and walked towards the makeshift kitchen they had made, taking two plates of food and beckoning Lee to sit at a table a little further away.

- You look different. I have to say that you have also gotten better with age.

Lee said, looking at the plate the woman put in front of him.

Roast beef, rice, some beans and salad.

He had to admit that he hadn't seen a "colorful" dish like that in quite some time.

- Thank you, that's good to know.

Lilly said, sitting down and starting to eat, staring at Lee with that same strange glare he had seen earlier.

- And so, I hope I don't have to pay for all of this, you know, I'm kind of broke.

Lee said, eating his salad, enjoying the taste of fresh food that he had not felt for a long time.

- You don't have to pay for anything, this is all given to our members. The main camp is even better.

Lilly said, leaning her elbows on the table and leaning her body slightly forward.

- I'm more interested in you. Where have you been? Did you manage to get to Wellington after you left the village?

Lilly asked, a low, soft tone accompanied by a small smile on her lips.

- Yes, I made it. But the place was destroyed. The new frontier attacked there too. I spent hours searching through the rubble, until I decided to leave when I couldn't find Clementine's body. I did find the body of one of the women who was in her group, though.

He answered, also leaning his body slightly forward, looking deep into Lilly's eyes.

- You spent all these years looking for her... how long has it been? Since you left Savannah?

Lilly asked, finishing eating and putting her plate aside, leaning her head on her hands.

- Ahh, I don't know. Many years... time for me can only be summed up in days, and nights.

Lee said, also finishing his meal and putting his plate aside.

- Are you still hoping that you will find her?

She asked, and Lee sighed slightly, lowering his eyes to the table.

- One day... maybe I will be old, maybe I will just see her from afar... or maybe she will find my reanimated form. Yes, I hope to see her again.

He said, with the image of the girl's smiling face fixed in his mind.

He always found himself wondering how she looked at that moment. She must have grown a lot, almost to the point of becoming a woman, if she hadn't already.

He always wondered how her face had matured, how her bright eyes had become more adult, how that childish smile had been hidden by the seriousness needed to face the world.

He did nothing but walk, he had nothing to call entertainment, so thinking was the only thing he could do to pass the time.

That, and imagine what a fight between two zombies would be like, and which one would win.

He laughed humorlessly as he thought about it, the craziness to him was already normal, and the normality seemed more and more like something crazy.

- As I said, we at Delta can help you with this. We have hundreds of people in the community, and large groups that go out looking for more survivors.

Lilly said, and Lee gave her a warm smile, accompanied by a slight look.

All lies, Lee was a great liar, and an actor, which meant he had twice the advantage.

They kidnap survivors, and if Clementine refused, they would force her. And if she, like him, tried to fight back, they would try to kill her.

"Where do you find that helpful, Lilly?"

- Thanks, it would be great to see her again.

He thanked her, leaning his arm on the table.

- So, what kind of work does a guy with no arm have to do to contribute? I'll tell you right away that I'm not cleaning toilets, or standing in the cafeteria.

Lee said with amusement, watching the small smile that broke out on Lilly's lips.

- All you have to do is help protect the community. You are a very good fighter, and losing an arm has hardly limited you at all. Someone like you would help a lot to protect our home from bandits, from people who want to take what we have.

Lilly said, and Lee could notice a slight difference in the woman's tone of voice, a certain stutter, a small pause in the way she spoke.

She was hiding something, despite her unchanged face. And Lee noticed.

Lee smiled, Lilly was also a great liar, but not as good as him.

You couldn't lie to a liar.

- That seems simple enough to do. What about those children who passed early, do you have schools in this Delta?

He asked, looking away from Lilly for a moment, looking at the path on which the children were walking earlier.

- Not schools, exactly. They learn basic education, and after that, they are taught how to use weapons, how to protect the community. Children are the future, we need strong kids to survive.

Lilly said, and Lee smiled a little, nodding in agreement.

"You guys turn kids into soldiers, huh? God damn it, Lilly" Lee thought.

He didn't want to kill the woman, or hurt her in any way, all he wanted so far, was to find a way out of there, since being kidnapped and forced to fight in a battle that had nothing to do with him wasn't really a good experience.

However, the more he found out about that place, the more twisted he became.

- That makes sense. So, when do we go to the main camp?

Lee asked, remembering the vehicles he saw as soon as he stepped out of the van. There were many cars, many vans, and probably many people who were still out there looking for survivors to kidnap.

- As you already have confirmation, tomorrow morning. The "leaders" are suspicious of you because you killed some of our people, but at the same time, impressed that you did it alone.

Lilly said, looking at Abel further ahead, who was walking with a plate in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

- Hey, I didn't kill them, they died from terminal stupidity. Who still points a gun so close to someone's head nowadays? Anyone knows that's a bad idea, and a good way to have your gun taken away from you.

Lee said, looking at some of the people being taken away.

- Hahaha, some of these idiots think they own the world, I have to admit. Well, at this point, I should be taking you to your tent...

Lilly said, looking again deep into Lee's eye, who arched an eyebrow.

- But, we haven't seen each other for so long... I still think about that night, you know? One of the best.

Lilly said, looking slightly sensual at Lee, saying in a low, soft tone.

Lee stared at her for a few moments, and then smiled at the woman.

- Why not? I haven't had a companion in a long time.

Lee said, and Lilly smiled cheerfully, getting up and walking toward the tents further away.

Lee looked around one last time, momentarily undoing the fake expression on his face, and looking somewhat disdainfully at the place. A moment later, he walked towards Lilly.