The wind bites at the skin of my bare forearms, but it doesn't really affect me as I wander out to the back field. Lilly's asleep and Jane is on watch, while the prisoner is locked securely away in the cellar near the house. I'm all alone out here, and right now I've never felt so free – free from that stupid wheelchair, and free to finally move around on my own.

I'm like a bird out here, and it feels so nice to have the wind gusting against me.

Taking my hat off for just a brief moment, I close my eyes and smile as the gusts blow through my curly locks of hair and against my face. I don't want to do anything right now other than… just sprint around like a crazy person! For once in my life, I am truly free of the cage that's been surrounding me. With no walkers around the fields, I can rest assured that I won't be disturbed.

"Haven't you ever wondered what it's like to live your own life?"

Jane's words have never felt more true than right now, as I kick my shoes off and feel the blades of grass scrunch up beneath my feet. It's almost as if I can feel the earth within me right now, and I've never felt more alive.

Never have I felt so grateful to walk before.

Taking a few steps forward, that sweet, Texan air fills my lungs as I breathe deeply and absorb some of the dark, western sky. What might seem simple and stupid to somebody else is pure magic for me, as I chuckle heartily and take a few more steps forward… and another… and another.

I get up to the point where I'm no longer walking, but jogging in circles all around the field. For once, there's nothing weighing me down – the troubles of the world are at the very back of my mind, and for once I feel as though I can finally be a kid again. Playing in the sand, running around in the park, being silly with my friends… I close my eyes and try to imagine all of that great stuff that I've been missing out on over the past two and a half years. I didn't realize how much I had missed it.

"YAHOOOOO!" I belt out, not caring that Jane can hear me as I continue to run around. I feel like an airplane flying away, or maybe even a spaceship soaring up into the sky.

That was a huge dream of mine growing up – going to space. I wanted to be the one girl from my school to go up to the moon, and maybe bring back some cheese while I was at it… I was convinced that the moon was made up of Swiss cheese at one point.

Unbeknownst to me, Jane did hear the commotion and went to the back to investigate, but she smiles as she watches me out in the field. It isn't until I turn to see her with a slightly happy look that I laugh even harder and continue to use my legs to their full use.

You don't fully appreciate something until it's gone.

…

Sometimes I wonder who exactly we have become – Lilly, Jane and I. We're definitely not the same people that we once were, but has it been for the worse? Have we become just as bad (if not worse) than the monsters that roam the countryside? Walkers don't lie or cheat or steal; all they do is eat. It's not as if they can help it after all – they don't have minds of their own, and walkers aren't people.

Honest, trustworthy people…

Lilly killed two guys right on the front porch, Jane forced the guy to stay in the cellar and hold him like a hostage, and I… I stood there and didn't do a damn thing. I didn't even try to find another way; didn't make a fuss when we stuffed him inside and threw away the key.

Nope, all that I did was complain that the guy might get scared. No shit he's scared, genius! Two of the people he was with were gunned down beside him, and he's lucky that Lilly didn't decide to kill him as well! I'd be freaking out at this point.

That's why I'm giving him a plate of some fresh vegetables – I'm gonna head out to the back and try to make a sort of peace offering. It likely won't work on the first try, and it'll probably be a work in progress, but I reckon that it'd be better to start early.

Neither Lilly nor Jane argue with me about what I'm doing (not that they would since they're so preoccupied), so I slowly make my way out to the cellar. I'm still getting used to walking again, so the trip's a little more treacherous than I would like.

But just like this peace offering, it'll come slowly.

"I thought you might be hungry…" I remark quietly, setting a tray down in front of the man as he continues to hug his knees to his chest in the corner. His face is buried against his knees, and you can tell that he's been pretty upset over the last day or so.

Inching the tray closer to him, I awkwardly rub my arm as he continues not to say anything.

"You might as well eat up," I suggest, knowing fully well that he doesn't want to. "Hey, at least it's me in here and not Jane or Lilly. They'd probably just forget about you… on purpose, probably."

When his face slowly rises to match my gaze, I can finally see how much turmoil the kid's actually under right now. Deep, dark circles hang below his eyes, dirt mats his cheeks and his hair is all dusty and wild-looking, even though it's pretty short. His lips are permanently etched into a frown, and underneath all of that expression I can tell that there's rage – anger that's completely consuming him. This reminds me so much of Kenny that it's not even funny.

"…can you at least tell me your name?" I ask, watching as he reluctantly picks at his food and munches on a celery stick; begrudgingly so. "You might be here a while, so we might as well get to know each other, right?"

"Why would they send a little pipsqueak like you down here?" he interrupts, completely ignoring my question as he snaps the celery stick in half. "Do they really think that I'm that weak? Am I not worth their fucking time to check up on?! It's all the same to you people… take what you want, trample everybody that gets in your way. You all just think that I'm a waste of space…"

"You're still here," I point out, not giving him the satisfaction of caving in. "You and your friends were going to attack us – don't act like we're the bad guys here."

"So that's why you've got me caged up like an animal in here then, huh?" he continues, tossing the tray loudly to the side and clenching his fists. "Grow the fuck up, you ignorant little shit! This isn't some motherfucking fairy tale that you're living in – you people aren't the good guys! You and your people are evil, and you'll burn in hell for what you've done!"

"Yelling at me won't change anything," I tell him calmly, not swayed by his "too cool to care" attitude that he's running here. This only seems to make him even angrier, however, as he stands up to his full height and glowers at me darkly.

"You butchered the people here like cows to the slaughter, sneak your way inside and then kill my friends," he lists off on his fingers, moving his way closer towards me. "Yelling's about the only thing that I've got left, you little piece of dog shit! So don't you DARE try and make me calm down! I could snap you like a twig with my bare hands!"

He keeps moving forward, so I on instinct move back until I hit the cement wall behind me. This guy seems to think that he's intimidating me, and he seems to enjoy the fact that he has power over somebody else for once in his life, so I let him keep up the little charade he's got going on right now.

That is, until I poke my pistol right up against his chest.

Glaring up at the guy, his face visibly whitens a little bit as he realizes what I'm capable of. I wouldn't have lasted this long if I couldn't handle myself with a weapon, and the size difference won't matter if he's got a bullet in his gut. Realizing that he's at a disadvantage, he slowly retreats to his previous spot, with a little encouragement from the pistol as I motion for him to sit back down.

"Maybe we can try this again some other time," I comment, feeling slightly bitter since I was the only one willing to even try and talk to the kid. Yeah, I can understand where he's coming from, but at least I'm actually making an attempt!

As I slowly grasp the rung of the ladder, I stop when I hear his small voice calling out to me.

"It's Kyle," he mentions, nodding towards me, "my name's Kyle."

Nodding back towards him, I tell Kyle my name before disappearing back outside; shutting the cellar door behind me.

A name might not seem like much, but at least it's a start. Honestly, it's one hell of a lot more than I thought I would get.

…

"I don't know why you're even bothering with that bastard, Clementine," Lilly remarks, leaning over the kitchen counter as she scans over an old travel brochure of Houston. "He's been nothing but an asshole to you, and there's no point in trying to get close to him. Kyle's just gonna end up stabbing you in the back when he gets the chance."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't shot both of those guys!" I argue, chipping in my two cents and letting her know that I won't just automatically agree with every decision the group makes. "We all make mistakes, Lilly, and he's no different! We just need to give him a chance."

"This kid isn't our friend, Clem! He's dangerous, and he's not a good person! Don't forget which group he comes from…"

Unfortunately… Lilly's got a point there. It took quite a bit of convincing, but Kyle spilled the beans that he was in fact a part of one of those trading groups around Texas. He was holed up in Dallas when they got concerned about a lack of communication from the Houston Hills base, and when the scouting party that they sent ahead never came back (the same duo that tried to take Lilly away) he was sent to investigate.

Too bad for him that we don't give up so easily.

"What else has he told you?" Lilly asks me, waving as Jane walks in after going on a small scavenger run.

Clearing my throat in order to explain some things, I pull up a seat and try to explain it as clearly as I can.

Flashback…

"You know who those are, don't you?"

"Who? The walkers?" I ask, shrugging my shoulders as I pretend not to be bothered by it. "Just monsters that used to be people, I guess. Nothing new there."

"Don't lie to me, Clementine. I can see right through that," Kyle frowns, patting the fallen bookshelf as I hand him his dinner once again. "They were workers, once upon a time."

"Prisoners," I mutter bitterly, clenching a fist in anger. "They were prisoners."

"So you do know."

"I know that Papa John and Sandro were evil, heartless bullies!" I exclaim, having my cover blown wide open. "They kidnapped us and forced us to work in the fields all day long out in Mexico! Sandro would kill you if you didn't do what he wanted, and Papa John traded us off for freaking food! How… how could you even stand to be in a group like that?"

"It… it was either that or starve to death," he admits, stuttering as he fumbles to try and find the right words to say. "I didn't know what they were capable of at the time… Most of 'em used to be farmers, truck drivers and construction workers before all o' this shit started happenin'. I joined up about a year and a half ago, thinking that a big group with food and supplies would be perfect. By the time that I saw what they were doin' to people, it was too late…"

Closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead, I try to absorb this information while questioning who exactly is in the wrong here. He hasn't outright said it, but Kyle at one point was definitely in on enslaving the people around Texas and the US-Mexico border. Should I feel sorry for somebody like that?

Maybe not… but at least I can tell that he still has a conscience.

"That doesn't make up for what they've done," I mention, anger slowly deflating as he stares at the floor. Maybe he's not such a bad dude after all. "Do you honestly think that they're coming back for you?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Kyle shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and sighs.

"If not for me, then definitely for the house," he explains as he traces his fingers along the dusty floor. "They'll probably end up deciding that enough is enough, drive on over here and shoot you all down."

"That won't happen."

"They do it all the time, kid. I don't see why it'd be any different now."

"We don't die that easily," I respond simply, causing him to chuckle and shake his head. However, if he knew all the crap that we've been through, then his opinion would most definitely change a little bit. We're a force to be reckoned with, even though we're short-staffed. "How do you think that we took Houston Hills over in the first place?"

That shuts him up a little bit, as he recalls just how many people they had lost contact with over here. Not just anyone would be able to pull off the stuff that we did at the house, not to mention break out of prison and slaughter anyone who got in our way. Ruthless? Yeah, but there's no time to be timid or afraid when you're trying to survive.

Why do you think Ben didn't last that long out here?

"Everyone's luck runs out eventually," I admit, recalling numerous conversations with Jane about this. "But it doesn't have to be that way – maybe there's some way that we can work this out. Some kind of trade or something."

"All they want is you three either to leave or die – that's what their treaty's gonna be," he says darkly, not beating around the bush. "Trust me, they won't just play nice. If you want to live, then I'd suggest that you let me go, pack your bags and hide. It wouldn't be hard, Clem – you could do it right now!"

"You know I can't do that, Kyle," I mutter, picking up the tray after he finishes the little meal. "We're not giving this place up after all of that. Besides, where would you even go?"

"…somewhere else."

"That's stupid."

Not saying anything, Kyle returns to his grumpy state as I sigh and look back over at the bookshelf that covers the trap door. The walker moans are still present, but they're not quite as pronounced as they were before. I wonder how far it goes down there, and WHERE it even goes for that matter.

"Still want to know about them?" Kyle asks quietly as I nod with intent. The boy looks solemn as he begins his explanation. "Well then…"

"The walkers in the cellar…" I explain, weary as Jane walks in to join our conversation, "they're definitely prisoners, but… it's supposed to be some kind of mine down there. Instead of having them work the fields, they'd dig down there. When the outbreak happened, instead of just letting them leave, Papa John and the rest… they locked the doors. Left them to rot in their own filth. Never gave them food, water or medicine, and just left them down there until they starved to death. Kyle said they did it because the food was drying up, and there wasn't any point in doing mining anymore."

"It was… a genocide…" Lilly concludes, running her fingers through her hair as she shakes her head in disbelief. "They slaughtered… everyone down there… How the fuck could they do that?!"

Jane stares at the wall in complete disgust, also unable to hear what she's heard. This is beyond messed up, and any amount of guilt that I may have had for shooting the guards, Papa John and all the rest pretty much vanished when Kyle told these things to me. I don't even think that Carver would stoop to that level, and he was one of the meanest guys I'd known!

"I'm heading out for a bit…" Lilly says with less spirit than she had before. Something about her eyes is kind of scaring me though. "I need some air."

"Lilly…" Jane stops her at the back door, biting her lip before meeting her eyes. "Just… be careful, alright? We're both right here if you need anything."

Lilly scans her face for any sarcasm or malice behind her meaning, but neither of us can really find any. Jane genuinely means it this time, as she goes up and places a hand on Lilly's shoulder.

Something… odd… is going on between them, and I can't really figure out what it is. Jane's hand is sitting on her shoulder for much longer than necessary… but Lilly's not pulling away like I thought she would. She's not telling Jane to get lost or mind her own business, but actually seems appreciative.

It seems that she actually kind of… likes it.

When Lilly notices my smirk, however, she immediately grunts and brushes her aside; stepping out into the early evening as Jane sighs and leans back against the wall.

I give Jane my best smug face as she looks at me like I'm crazy.

"What?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," I reply, swinging my legs back and forth as I fold my hands underneath my chin. "What was that all about? You're never that nice to Lilly."

"Hey!" she retorts, going slightly red as I chuckle at her embarrassment. "It… it was nothing, Clem. I just want her to be safe out there – you know how it is, with her not having much left to live for and all. I just want to make sure she knows we've got her back."

"Uh huh," I say, unconvinced as I roll my eyes playfully at her. "Whatever you say, Jane. You just keep telling yourself that that's what it is."

Taking my hat off my head and scraping some dirt off of it, Jane ruffles my hair around a little bit and chuckles.

"You're one crazy kid, sis," she remarks, making me swell with happiness. It's times like these that I know I made the right choice at the rest stop.

I'm about to say something else, when I pick up the scent of something really strong-smelling. And it's coming from outside, I think.

"Can you smell that?" I ask, scrunching up my nose as Jane nods in confirmation. "It smells like… burning."

Widening her eyes, Jane immediately grabs her pistol off the counter and sprints out the back, with me close behind as the scent gets more intense. It doesn't take long for us to realize where it is exactly that it's coming from.

"That son of a bitch…" Jane snarls, one hundred percent convinced that Kyle's behind this. "I swear, if I get my hands on him…"

"Why would he do something like this though? It doesn't make sense!" I ask, coughing as Jane opens the cellar doors and pokes her head inside. The smoke's definitely coming from inside here, but… where's the fire?

Quickly but carefully we climb into this gods-forsaken cellar, and watch in shock and slight terror as Lilly stands over the open trap door – a lighter in her hand as Kyle watches the exchange in fear from the corner.

"Lilly… what the hell…" Jane breathes out, with the woman not giving an answer as she wordlessly brushes by the two of us.

"You'll thank me later," is what she says briskly before disappearing back outside, leaving us to gape at the scene that's unfolding down here. Bodies are burning as their skin slowly melts away, leaving nothing but walking sacks of flesh as they slowly (extremely slowly) start to die. It's as if they don't even feel the effects of getting burned, but then again they don't seem to feel the impact of bullets either.

This is going to give me nightmares for quite a while, as I watch the beasts sizzle and get engulfed in flame and ash. They look like demons – demons from another world.

"Still believe hell exists?" Jane asks me, holding a hand over her nose and mouth to block out the smell.

Shrugging and grimacing as the scene continues, I sigh as Kyle looks upon me in fear. I've never seen him so terrified.

"Honestly," I admit, shutting the trap door and turning to Jane, "I don't think that I believe in anything anymore."