A few people yelled out when Lee fell unconscious, but were immediately silenced when Andy loaded his gun again. He turned to Kenny and Larry, his eyes down to narrowed slits. "You two, carry him. The rest of y'all, follow me."
The group had no choice but to obey his orders, and stood up from their chairs. Brenda grabbed David, who was either unconscious or officially dead, and began to drag him none-too gently back upstairs. Andy and Danny led the group outside, where it had begun pouring rain, with their weapons aimed.
"Dad, I'm scared," Sarah whispered, squeezing Carlos' hand tightly. She was violently shaking like a leaf.
Carlos wished he could say something to comfort her, but he didn't know what words would do to him. The group was walking towards the barn now, and when they arrived at the door, Andrew held up his hand to stop the group.
"Danny, take the vet and the boy back in the house, we may need them for awhile," he instructed. The younger brother nodded and poked Katjaa quite hard with his rifle, starting to lead her away. But Andy stopped him, and said the words Carlos was dreading to hear: "You might want to take the girl, too."
Sarah froze in position, as Danny grabbed her roughly by the wrist, causing her to let out a scream. "D-Dad! DAAAAAD!" she wailed, trying to reach for him.
"Sarah!" Carlos called, attempting to step forward, but Andy aimed the gun at him.
The poor girl was helpless as she was practically dragged back into the house along with Katjaa and Duck. Kenny was heard yelling out angrily, demanding that they bring his family back. Sarah had never felt more terrified in her life. She heard some exchange of words between Danny and Brenda, and the next thing she knew, she found herself in a dark room, the door locking behind her.
"You better not touch my daughter," Carlos spat.
Andy laughed, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Keep walking." He pointed his gun directly at Carlos, so the Hispanic man had no other choice than to follow the rest of the group into the barn. They watched as Andy approached the door, and began fiddling with the lock to get the door open once again. "In," he ordered, and the group obliged and walked into the room that was locked off.
"Where the hell are you taking us?" Larry demanded to know.
"You'll find out soon enough," Andy replied grimly, and soon the group knew as the older brother led them into a deep freezer.
"What the fuck?" Lilly questioned. "You're locking us in a freezer!?"
Andy laughed, "Gotta keep the meat fresh."
"You sick fuck!" Kenny yelled. "Bring me back my fucking family!" But it was too late, he had already shut and locked the freezer, and the remaining group of survivors were now stuck in there, with no way out.
"Jesus Christ," Lilly growled. She stumbled over to the corner and immediately began to puke what she had eaten of David. Travis placed his hands to his head and sat on some of the nearby salt licks, while Larry and Kenny placed Lee on the floor, Larry doing it a bit hard.
As worried as he was for his daughter, Carlos realized that he better check on Lee, who was still unconscious.
"I'll look for a way out," Mark offered.
"OPEN THE GODDAMNED DOOR!" Larry demanded, pounding on the door. "YOU CAN'T KEEP US IN HERE! I WILL TEAR YOU FUCKERS APART WITH MY BARE HANDS!"
"Will you stop that banging? We gotta find a way out of here!" Kenny yelled.
There was quite the string of events going on in that meat locker. Larry was pounding the door and screaming obscenities, Lilly was vomiting, Mark and Kenny were searching for a way out, and Carlos was examining Lee with Clementine close by. Luckily, Lee's eyes were starting to flutter open, and he sat up.
"Lee!" Clementine exclaimed, running over to him.
"Are you alright?" Carlos added.
"Ugh...I'm fine," Lee responded.
"It...it was a person! They tried to make us eat a person!" Clementine cried.
"But you didn't do it," Lee reminded her.
"No..." Clementine said.
"But the rest of us did, goddamn it!" Larry yelled.
"Come on, Dad, now's not the time," Lilly interrupted.
"That evil fucker invited me to eat the meat! When the whole time, he knew what it was!" Larry yelled again.
"Stay calm, Dad, we'll deal with it later," Lilly tried to reason.
"They took Sarah," Carlos said to Lee, "and Kenny's family too." He wondered why they hadn't taken Clementine as well.
"Don't worry," Lee replied. "We'll find a way out of here." He then turned to Clementine, "How are you doing Clem, they didn't hurt you did they?" he asked and the little girl shook her head no.
"OPEN UP!" Larry continued to bang on the door.
"Lee, those psychos have my family, and we're stuck in a damn meat locker! We gotta get the fuck out of here!" Kenny said angrily.
"He's the one that fucking brought us here!" Larry yelled, pointing to Lee.
"Dad, stop!" Lilly begged.
"Lee, I'm scared," Clementine said, pulling on the bottom of Lee's shirt.
"It's okay," he said to her. "We're going to find a way out of here."
"Can I help?" She asked.
"Sure, sweetie," Lee nodded. "Just look around for any loose screws or loose panels. Anything we can use to make a passage out of here."
"Okay," Clementine nodded, and began to look around.
Lee walked over to the back, where some wooden boards were placed against the wall, and pulled it back. He couldn't see anything. "Any chance there could be a hole back here?"
"I already looked, nothing's there," Mark replied with an annoyed sigh. "There's got to be some way out of here..."
"Dad, please, calm down!" Lilly shouted as her father continued to pound on the door and yell. Needless to say, it wasn't helping in the slightest.
"YOU'RE WORSE THAN THE WALKERS!" Larry hollered, clearly ignoring his daughter.
Lee finally walked over to the salt licks, Travis having stood up. He picked one of them up, feeling its heavy weight. Carlos noticed this and crossed his arms, sighing. "I don't suppose we could heave that through the door."
"Nah, the door's too solid," Lee agreed, placing the salt lick back where it was.
"I'll break the damn door down!" Larry yelled.
"Dad, you can't get-" Lilly began.
But she was cut off when Larry stopped pounding on the door and let out a cry of pain, placing his hands on his chest where his heart (or lack thereof) was. He began to grunt, while Lilly had a look of genuine fear on her face.
"Easy..." she coaxed.
"Hhhrrrgggtt...oh, God," Larry whispered.
"Dad?!"
At that, Larry fell to the floor in a heap, causing Clementine to gasp out. No one knew whether Larry was dead or just unconscious; hopefully it was the latter. Lilly knelt beside her father and grabbed his head.
"No! Dad, come on! DAD!" Lilly screamed. "Oh God, he's stopped breathing! I think he's had a heart attack!"
She began doing chest compressions on him, while everyone else stood around and watched. "Somebody help me! Carlos, come on!" She begged. Carlos obliged, and bent down to help Lilly revive her father.
"Everybody get back, give me some room!" he nearly yelled as he began helping Lilly with the chest compressions. "I think there might be a chance we can save him," Carlos said, listening for a breath to come from Larry.
"Really?" Lilly asked incredulously.
"Is he breathing yet?" Carlos asked.
Lilly shook her head, "I don't think so."
"Keep checking his pulse," Carlos ordered and Lilly obliged. "His heart is trying to start beating again, I can feel it."
"Come on, Dad," Lilly encouraged, "It's not your time yet." The rest of the group watched in curiosity as Carlos tried to revive Larry. Clementine was amazed at Carlos' abilities.
"I've almost got it," Carlos said, continuing the compressions.
Suddenly, Larry's eyes opened slowly. "Dad!?" she almost yelled, tears beginning to come from her eyes. "You're alive!?" she asked incredulously. "Oh my God, thank you so much, Carlos!" She then wrapped her arms tightly around her dad. "I thought I lost you."
"I'm here, Lilly," Larry said gently.
"Holy shit...good job, man!" Kenny praised Carlos. "I thought he was a goner."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Larry eyed the mustached man briefly, then looked at his daughter again. "What the fuck happened?"
"You had a heart attack, Dad," Lilly replied. "Just stay where you are, you need to rest."
"We still need to find a way out of here," Lee spoke up.
"Right," Kenny agreed. "Keep looking for anything useful."
Travis heard this and began to look around, along with Kenny, Lee, Mark, and Carlos. Lilly stayed by her father's side, and for once he wasn't yelling at everybody. The teenager finally caught sight of the air vent, and announced this to everyone. "Hey, guys? Maybe there's something behind this unit?"
Lee walked over and examined the unit briefly. "Hmm, you're right. Maybe it's big enough for one of us to fit through."
"Does the air conditioner come off?" Clementine inquired.
"I think I could take it off...if I had something to remove the screws," Lee answered. Then, he remembered something. "The multitool!" He reached into his pocket, only to find that it was gone. "Of course they took it, shit."
"Maybe there's something else we could use," Clem suggested. "I've got a rock."
"A rock won't help, but a coin might do the trick. You got a coin?"
Clementine shook her head. "Uh-uh."
"Here," Larry said, digging into his pockets. "I always carry around loose change." He gave the coin to Lilly, who proceeded to get up and give it to Lee.
"Thanks Larry," Lee said, and began to unscrew the screws out of the wall. Finally, when he was done, he was able to lift the air conditioner and sit it down on the floor.
"Well, there's our way out Lee," Kenny said. "Looks like it'll probably lead right into that back room..." he noted.
"Clementine can fit," Carlos said, looking down at the little girl.
Lee walked over to her, and bent down so he was eye level with her. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he said to her. "But do you think you can?"
"I'm scared," she said quietly.
"It's okay to be scared," Lee replied.
"We need you Clem," Travis said with a small smile.
"You can help all of us, and then we can get right back to the motor inn," Lee tried to persuade.
Clem then took a deep breath, "Okay," she nodded, and Lee hoisted her up inside the vent where the air conditioner just was. "What do I do when I get out?" she asked, turning back to look at Lee.
"See if you can get to the door on the other side," he said, and Clem continued to make her way through the vent. The rest of the group inside the meat locker, waited, and watched the door with hopeful eyes for Clementine. They so desperately wanted to get out of this damned place. They heard a gasp from Clementine, and suddenly the door opened.
"Good job, Clem," Kenny praised.
"Are you okay?" Lee asked, "Did anyone see you?"
"No, but there's a man outside," she answered.
Kenny walked outside of the meat locker, then quietly called back, "Lee, I can see him! Come on!"
"I'll be right there," Lee replied. He walked a few steps, then turned to Clementine. "Stay here with Carlos and Lilly until it's safe to come out, okay?"
"I will," Clementine answered with a few short nods.
"Lee, please, try to be quick," Carlos spoke up. "I need to find Sarah."
Lee nodded and followed Kenny out to the barn, back into the slaughtering room. It felt even creepier inside, and it pained him to know that Clementine had to bear witness to all of this.
"I told you there was something up with this room!" Kenny said. "They made it into a goddamn human slaughterhouse!" He tiptoed over to the door and peeked in on whoever was out there, while Lee looked around. He noticed a mini cattle prod sitting on the edge of the bloody tub, and picked it up.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lee nearly hissed as Kenny opened up the door.
"Gettin' my family back!" the other man responded.
"What are you gonna do, go up and grab his gun?!"
"Good a plan as any." Kenny opened up the door and stood near the center of the barn, getting into a stealth mode. Lee shook his head; this was probably a dumb idea. But he followed Kenny and got into a similar position. Danny St. John was seated at the front of the barn with his rifle, guarding.
"Who wants some? I dare some dead asshole to try and cross my fence tonight!" Danny challenged nothing in particular.
"Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?" Andy approached his brother, nearly in sight of Lee and Kenny.
"Oh, shit," Kenny whispered. He and Lee sneaked into the nearest stall and closed the door.
They heard Andy talking outside, "Mama said we can't keep that many folks and not expect trouble. Pick one to keep, and kill the rest," he said.
"They're talking about killing us," Lee whispered to Kenny.
"No shit," Kenny replied.
"We'll take him out together," Lee confirmed.
"How?"
"He doesn't know we're out. He's gotta walk past us to get to the freezer. We can take him when his back is to us," Lee explained.
"See what he's doing now." Kenny ordered, and Lee slowly peaked his head outside the stall. When he looked out, he was face to face with the barrel of Danny's rifle. Acting quickly, Lee hurried and grabbed the gun before Danny could fire. The gun went off anyway, causing Lee to grab his ear from the loud noise. But the rifle was still in Danny's hands. That's when Lee used the cattle prod to electrocute the younger St. John brother.
But it was still no use, Danny was able to knock Lee to the ground, and had the rifle pointed right in his face. Lee waited for Kenny to do something, that was when Lilly ran and attacked Danny with a sickle. She stabbed him multiple times, causing him to walk back into the bear trap he had set up moments ago.
Kenny opened the door to the stall. "Lee, Jesus, man, I'm real sorry. I was about to help."
Lee was about to say something when they heard Katjaa shriek out, "Noooo!" At that, Kenny bolted out of the barn to save his wife, and seconds later, a loud scream erupted from what undoubtedly had to be Sarah. By now, Carlos and Clementine had also emerged from the meat locker, and hearing his daughter's screams, Carlos ran out after Kenny.
When they were gone, Lee picked up a pitchfork and aimed it at Danny, who was groaning out in pain from his leg being caught in the bear trap.
"Ergh...you see? You understand now, don't you?" Danny asked of Lee. "You can have me! It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself...so others can live!"
"I should fucking kill you right now," Lilly hissed.
"Just kill him already, Lee!" Larry ordered. "Do something useful for once and off this sick son of a bitch!"
"David never volunteered to be food!" Lee yelled at Danny, his pitchfork still aimed.
"You gotta keep me alive!" Danny continued his sick rant. "If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!"
"You're already tainted!"
"You ain't gonna kill me...just like you didn't kill Jolene!" Danny taunted. At that, Lee finally threw the pitchfork...into the haystack that was next to Danny. He was proving him right, but he wanted to set a good example for Clementine. Danny flinched away, but seemed surprised that he was alive.
"This is NOT how the world works now!" Lee shouted. "You WON'T make me kill you!"
Lee looked at the barn door, ready to go help the others. "Go," Lilly said. "I'll cover you."
Lee shook his head, "Just stay here with your dad and watch Clementine," he ordered. "I'll be right back." He then made his way outside the barn, and it was more than dark outside by now, and the rain was pouring everywhere. "Kenny?" he yelled out, but received no answer. "Carlos?" he yelled as lighting flashed in the sky.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling over by the fence, and much to his surprise, it was Carley and Ben. "Carley!" he almost shouted.
"Is everyone okay? You guys have been gone way too long," she replied.
"We need your help," Lee answered.
She nodded. "Yeah, when you guys didn't come back I figured something was up."
"Is Travis okay?" Ben asked, "And what about Sarah?"
"They're both fine," Lee answered, "But I don't know about David."
"Mr. Parker?" he questioned. "What happened?"
"They chopped off his other leg and tried to feed it to us!" Lee answered.
"Oh my god!" Carley exclaimed.
"They've still got Katjaa, Duck, and Sarah in the house, and I don't know where the fuck Kenny or Carlos is," he said. "But Larry, Lilly, Clem, Mark, and Travis are back in the barn."
"Alright, we're coming in to help," Carley said.
"The main entrance is too dangerous. Go around the fence and see if there's another way in," Lee ordered. "I'll keep looking for Carlos and Kenny. Do you have a weapon?" he asked.
"I don't leave home without it," She answered, holding up her pistol. "Ben, stay close. And Lee, be careful."
Lee then decided right then and there that he had to make his way to the house.
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