Sarah was patiently waiting for Duck to finish using the blue crayon when she saw Carlos approaching her again, and she held up her paper for him to see. "Dad, look!"

"That's very nice, Sarah," Carlos praised. "Is that Pepper?"

"Yup!" Sarah chirped. "I'm waiting for Duck to get done so I can color her eyes."

"Sarah was just telling me how she got her," the woman in the chair spoke up. "She really hid cats in her room?"

Carlos couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yes, Sarah found stray cats around the neighborhood and wanted to take care of them, so she hid them in her room. It didn't last very long." Here he chuckled. "I got her the gray kitten for her birthday, and that's when she stopped."

The woman smiled. "Nice story. Your name's Carlos, right? I'm Carley."

"Nice to meet you Carley," Carlos replied. "Lilly told me to go and introduce myself to everybody. I'm a doctor, so if you need anything, just let me know," he explained.

"A doctor, huh?" Carley asked. "It'll be nice to have you around then. Katjaa's a vet, so she does what she can."

"Dad, I'm really hungry," Sarah said, interrupting their conversation.

"I know, sweetie," Carlos responded. He wished that there was something he could do. It would seem pretty rude of him to approach Lee and ask him to give his daughter food that didn't belong to them.

Just then, Travis walked over to them. "Hey, Carlos? Mr. Parker just woke up. That woman's checking him over."

"Will he be okay?" Ben inquired from his spot next to Sarah.

Travis shrugged. "I think so."

Carlos figured it would be best to go check on David himself, since he was the doctor and all. He told Sarah that he'd be right back, and he headed over to the truck once again. David was partially sitting up, looking around confused.

"How're you feeling David?" Carlos asked as he checked the bandages. All the bleeding seemed to stop, so that was one good thing. "Are you in pain?" Carlos asked again.

David nodded. "My leg is burning," he answered.

Carlos looked over to Katjaa. "Do you guys have pain meds?"

"Only a little," Katjaa admitted. "We may have enough for him, though."

She disappeared into the motel room again, this time coming out with a brown paper bag. She pulled out a prescription bottle and opened it, taking out a pill and handing it to David, who put it in his mouth.

"Thank you," David stated gratefully. He glanced around. "Oh, uh, I suppose you can tell that to Lee, too."

Carlos was confused for a moment, until he remembered that Lee was the one who had cut off David's leg in the first place. But at least it had saved David, so that was something to be grateful for. He figured that he should probably introduce himself to Lee, and then that was everybody.

He made sure that David was okay first, and asked Katjaa to keep an eye on him while he went to go thank Lee properly. He found the man talking to Kenny, and approached them both hesitantly. "Lee?" Carlos asked, and the man turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" he asked in reply.

"I never really got to properly introduce myself. My name's Carlos, and over there's my daughter Sarah," Carlos said, pointing over to his little girl who was now engaged in a conversation with Clementine.

"I'm Lee," Lee said, extending his hand for Carlos to shake it.

"I just wanted to say thank you for getting us out of those woods," Carlos continued after he shook Lee's hand. "We are lucky you three showed up when you did. I appreciate it, and Sarah does too."

"Don't mention it," Lee answered with a small smile. "We couldn't just leave you all out there." He looked over at the truck where David was. "So, how is he? He'll be okay?"

"He should be fine," Carlos nodded. "We've gotten the bleeding to stop and we've patched him up. He was lucky to not have bled to death. Thank you for getting him out of there."

Lee was about to open his mouth to say something else, until Carley interrupted them. "Back off!" she yelled pointing her gun to some people outside of the fence. This of course, got the attention of everybody, and they all looked over to where she was pointing.

"Whoa, lady, relax!" some man with dark hair said. He was also carrying a gas can, "Me and my brother, we... We just wanna know if y'all can help us out," he said, holding up the gas can. The man behind him just stood with his hands up, not wanting to be shot by Carley. Carlos thought that these men looked awfully strange, and he wanted to keep them away from Sarah.

"I said back off!" Carley yelled again.

"Carley..." Lilly trailed off in a warning tone.

"We don't want any trouble!" Lee yelled.

"Neither do we!" the man with his hands up replied.

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked, still not putting her gun down.

"Our place is protected by an electric fence," the man holding the gas can said. "Generators provide the electricity. Our generators run on gas," he answered. "Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If y'all can lower your guns, maybe we can work out some kind of deal."

"How are y'all doing on food?" the shorter man inquired. "We got plenty at the dairy."

The faces of the group members looked pretty stunned, as it seemed to be a rare thing nowadays. Lilly seemed to think about it for a moment, then turned to Lee. "Lee, why don't you and Mark go check the place out, see if it's legit?"

"I'm going with you," Carley added as she finally put her gun down. "I've got your back if anything seems fishy."

"So...what are y'all thinking?" the man with the gas can asked.

"You've got a deal," Lee called after a moment. "We'll bring some gas to your dairy. In exchange you give us some food to bring back. We'll see how it goes from there."

"Sounds fair. A could of gallons should power our generators for a while."

Lee nodded. "Okay, then."

Lilly glanced around for just a moment. "Carlos, why don't you and Ben go too?" she suggested.

"I, um..." Carlos trailed off and turned around to glance at Sarah. "I'm not sure if I should. I've got my daughter here now."

"We can keep an eye on her until you come back," Lilly offered.

Carlos weighed the pros and cons of leaving Sarah here with these people that he only just met moments ago. They seemed nice enough, but still, Sarah wouldn't let him go so willingly either. The dairy farm was only a few miles up though, so it shouldn't be that bad.

He nodded, "Okay. I'll go."

"Thank you," Lilly replied.

Lee, Carley, Mark, and Ben walked to the exit of the motor inn, while Carlos walked over to Sarah, who was standing near the RV. He knelt down to her level and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Sarah, I'm going with Lee and Mark to check out this farm," he informed her. "You need to stay here with Lilly and the others, where it's safer." This caused her eyes to widen, and a look of fear was evident on her face.

"Do you have to?" Sarah asked timidly.

"Yes, it may improve our relationship with these people," Carlos responded. "I promise I'll be back soon, honey. You can play with the other children, or ask one of the adults if there are any books for you to read."

Sarah looked at the ground, still not wanting her father to leave, but she knew that she had no say in this matter. "Okay..."

"I'll be back before you know it," Carlos smiled slightly. "And we'll bring back food too."

"Okay, Daddy," Sarah smiled. "Be safe."

"I will sweetie," he replied and went to meet Lee, Carley, Mark, and Ben at the gates. Hopefully this dairy farm was as safe as the strangers said it was. He needed it to be safe, not only for he and his daughter, but for the other survivors as well. "Katjaa, Travis, keep an eye on David while I'm gone," Carlos said before he and his group left for the farm.

A few minutes after Carlos had left, the kids had gotten bored from coloring and decided to do something else. Sarah was too shy to ask Clementine and Duck if she could play with them, so she decided to find something to entertain herself with.

She looked around at the adults. Kenny had taken watch, and Katjaa and Travis were with Mr. Parker. And she definitely didn't want to talk to Larry, he seemed mean and scary.

Lilly was walking around the motor inn, possibly checking up on things. Sarah looked down at the ground, debating on whether or not to talk to her. But maybe she knew if this place had any books...?

So she decided to be bold and approached Lilly near one of the rooms. "Excuse me?" she asked quietly, tugging on the older woman's sleeve.

Lilly turned and looked at the younger girl, "Sarah, right?" she asked.

Sarah nodded, "Mhm."

"What's the matter?" Lilly asked. "Your dad should be right-"

"It's not about my dad," Sarah said. "I was just wondering if you guys had some books around here," she asked shyly, her cheeks burning slightly.

"Oh. Well..." Lilly trailed off, turning around. She wasn't all that good with kids, Sarah being no exception. But she decided to try and be as nice as possible. "I think I might have a few in my room. Wait here."

Sarah nodded and obliged, hoping that she would get to read something. She missed reading a lot.

Lilly returned a minute later with a couple of books, slipping them into the young teen's hands. "I read these when I was a bit younger. You might like them."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and hugged Lilly as tightly as she could.

Lilly desperately fought to hide a smile...and failed.


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