AN: Thank you for all the feedback, ladies and gents! Your support for this thing is absolutely unreal!

"How long is it supposed to be before he starts speaking?" I ask inquisitively, playing with AJ's hands as he sits on my lap.

"I have no idea," Jane admits, warming her hands up against the fire while struggling to stay warm. I told her to bring her jacket with her out to the pen, but she wouldn't listen. "I'd read a parenting book if we had one somewhere, but the only reading material I've ever seen is some stupid magazines up in the office – snowboarding magazines, mostly."

"That actually sounds like fun," I point out, grimacing as I'll likely never be able to try it… among the thousands of other things that I won't be able to do.

Rolling her eyes, Jane rubs her arms in a vain attempt to get warm.

"Rub your chest instead," I explain to her, shrugging as she looks over at me. "That's the more important one – your arms will take care of themselves."

"Who taught you that? Lee?" she asks, obliging as she shivers when a gust of wind picks up.

I shake my head solemnly. "No… that was Christa. I was with her right before I met Luke and them."

"You seem to know more about this whole survival thing than I do – that's not an easy accomplishment," she acknowledges, as I shrug in response. What do I get? A cookie for a job well done? It's nothing special, really. It's like shooting a gun – you just do it to stay alive.

Although, come to think of it, I really would like a cookie right about now.

"As for your first question," she ponders, biting her lip as she gazes upon a smiling AJ, "I don't think you'll have to worry about him talking back to you anytime soon. He was just born a little while ago, after all."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I reply, smiling with content as he puts his hand over top of mine. It's so weird how small he is, but a part of me wishes that he never changes. I guess this is why my mom and dad always used to call me their little girl, even when I was eight years old. "I don't remember which comes first, though – the walking or the talking."

"We'll figure it out," she assures me, before standing up and walking back towards the staff room. "Fuck this, I'm bringing a sweater."

"Told ya so!"

"Stuff it, Clementine!"

Chuckling quietly to myself, I take my hat off for a moment and run my fingers through my curly, black hair. I found myself liking it a lot better short, and not just because walkers couldn't get at it as easily. My old hairstyle was honestly just a jumbled up mess, and I've sort of grown into my own person since then.

"I hope that I'm raising you right, buddy," I whisper to AJ, even though he has no idea what I mean. He coos innocently, and I can't help but be amazed that such an untainted kid still actually exists in this world. Just when you think that life is officially over, something gets up and surprises you.

Like Lilly, for instance, as she sits in a chair off by herself; looking out into the night for any potential intruders. I've gotta say, she's taken to working around here pretty well so far. I haven't heard her complain once, or try to take on a leadership role or anything.

Do I trust her though? No, not yet. That'll come slowly with time.

Cradling AJ, I decide to walk over and invite her to sit with us by the fire. That might just be the first step on the long road to recovery.

"You need to eat something," I inform her quietly, watching as she stares out into the distance as if she was on watch at the motor-inn. Some things never change, I suppose. "Come on over to the fire with us. We've still got some canned corn you can have, and it's a lot warmer over there."

"Aren't you two still worried that I'm gonna steal all your supplies?" she asks suspiciously, turning her gaze away from the parking lot for only a brief moment. "Shouldn't you be watching me to make sure that I don't take off?"

"Well, you're still here, aren't you?" I point out the obvious, raising an eyebrow as she sighs heavily.

"Fine," she relents, hopping off the ledge and following me over to the burning embers. Funny how just over a month ago I was sitting here with an entire group… and now there are four of us, two of which weren't here the last time. Lilly takes a seat beside me in one of the fold-up lawn chairs and rubs her hands together in front of the fire for warmth.

"Why are you still here, anyways?" I ask once the silence of the night settles in. "You could've taken off last night with a bunch of food, some medicine and guns. Nobody would've been able to stop you – we were all sleeping."

"Maybe I'm not as horrible a person as you think I am, Clementine," she remarks slightly bitterly, opening up one of the corn packages and tossing some into her mouth. She seems to savour every last bite, and it makes me wonder when the last time she had a proper meal was.

"Damn, that feels soooo much better," Jane comments as she walks back in, not noticing our guest yet, "Thank god it hasn't snowed around here, otherwise I'd be – oh."

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Jane goes silent as Lilly continues to not look at anybody. Now this right here… this is awkward as hell. After what I told her about Lilly the other night, Jane has had nothing but disdain for the other woman.

From what I can tell so far, I'm pretty sure the feeling's mutual.

"So Jane, I was thinking," I start off slowly, picking AJ up despite his protests to go exploring, "maybe you and I should go out to look for some more supplies. Medicine, formula, things like that."

Glancing over at the brown-haired woman on the opposite side of her, Jane narrows her eyes and shakes her head.

"I think one of us should be at Howe's at all times," she replies, and glances over at me as an afterthought. "You know, for the baby and all."

"If you don't like me, then fucking say it to my face," Lilly snarls lowly, glancing up to match Jane's steely gaze. "Don't be a god-damned coward and hide behind an eleven year old girl the whole time."

"Alright, fine! If we're gonna be so blunt about it, then yeah! I don't like you or trust you!" Jane shouts accusingly. "You're always skulking around, looking through our shit! Do you think I'm stupid or something? I know your type – take first, ask questions later!"

"You don't know anything about me!" she retorts, making my insides clench uncomfortably. Jane wouldn't… Please?

"Oh yeah? Then why were you out there all alone then, huh?" Jane questions, making me sigh in slight relief. Maybe she won't blurt out what I told her! "Maybe it had to do with the fact that you killed one of your group members!"

Shit.

I bury my head in my hand to try and avoid eye contact with either of them (mostly Lilly, because this is gonna go downhill fast). God damn it! Is it physically impossible for anyone to have secrets anymore?!

When I poke my head back up, the two of them are simply fighting with each other, so I feel that now's as good a time as any to step in.

"Guys! You're scaring AJ!" I hiss as the baby watches the exchange with wide eyes. That doesn't seem to bother these two, however.

"You're so full of crap! With you leading, this place will probably fall within the next few weeks!" Lilly jabs, getting more agitated by the second.

"We haven't had any problems at all here since we've been back! Right Clem?" she asks, looking at me as I reluctantly nod my head. "See? We were doing just fine until you came along! Things were nice and peaceful, but then you show up with your snotty attitude and everyone's suddenly on edge!"

"It's a wonder that you've managed to survive this long! Clem seems to be the only one with any brains!" Lilly argues, surprising me as she's actually giving me a compliment. "Maybe if you weren't such a dumbass, then you would've stopped to think that I was doing inventory for you!"

"Fucking hell, you and Kenny would've been a perfect match for each other!"

That silences the area, save for AJ's crying after that whole fiasco. I'd be more attentive to him right now, but I'm in shock. Did Jane just say what I think she said?

"How the fuck do you know him…" Lilly snarls, not swayed by the fact that there could possibly be more than one Kenny's in the world.

"Great – we both hated him. Fantastic," Jane comments sarcastically, rolling her eyes and looking up to the stars. "Looks like we had something in common after all."

"What do you mean had?" Lilly questions, turning her calculating stare towards me. "Clem, what's she talking about? Where's Kenny?"

"In a park where we left him…" Jane mumbles as Lilly glares fiercely at her.

"Was I talking to you?!" she snaps, giving me a look that demands an answer right now. Lilly deserves to know what happened to him, I suppose – even if it's so hard to relive in my head.

"I…" I stutter, breathing in sharply, "I killed… Kenny…"

Lilly's jaw hangs open as her eyes become two gigantic saucers. That definitely wasn't what she expected to hear.

"You what?!"

"I had to!" I cry out, tears forming in my eyes as the memory of Kenny and Jane fighting floods back to me. "Kenny lost everything, and he just… snapped…"

Oh boy, I see where Lilly's going with this now as she gives me a knowing look. This sounds familiar – Lilly loses her dad, she lashes out and kills someone. Kenny loses his family, he tries to kill Ben, Arvo and Jane. I shoot Kenny… and, yeah.

"He was going to kill Jane…" I explain sadly, lowering my gaze to the floor. "She told us that AJ died, and Kenny thought that she did it on purpose. So they fought, and Kenny was about to put a knife in her chest. So I shot him… all Kenny wanted was for someone to end his misery."

"You two are hypocrites," she accuses, glaring at both Jane and I before standing up to leave. "You keep berating me about stealing and murdering, when you guys have done the exact same shit as I have. How about instead of accusing me of being some heartless bitch out in the woods, you look at yourselves and question your own actions?"

Jane looks ready to fight back for round two, but she simply huffs and looks at the ground in annoyance. She really doesn't like to lose arguments, especially with people like Lilly. She's okay when it comes to me, as we seem to be on the same page most of the time.

But god damn, do I feel guilty…

"I don't know where all that came from. I'm sorry, Clem, I just…" she cuts herself off, shaking her head and letting the embers die down low.

"I'm gonna head out with Lilly tomorrow morning," I inform her, not acknowledging her look of protest. "You two need to spend some time apart, and I'm not so sure that Lilly would know how to look after AJ."

"And I do?" she asks disbelievingly, putting her hands in her pockets as the two of us stand up to head off to bed.

"You've got the basics down, I think," I try complimenting, though it doesn't do much. "Plus… I think you and Lilly wouldn't make it out of the parking lot without killing each other."

"Well hey, come on! I've got a little bit of self-control!" she retorts with a smirk, chuckling as I give her a look. "Okay… but I still think we'd at least make it out of the parking lot."

"Whatever you say, Jane."

…..

The dense, thick trees of the forest block out much of the sunlight as Lilly and I silently walk down the pathway. There are birds, squirrels and all manner of wildlife around here… including walkers if we're not careful.

But thankfully for us, we're always careful.

I know the area pretty well at this point, seeing as how I've been through the forests several times now. However, the town that we're going to across the river from Parker's Run, I'm not very familiar with at all. We never really got a chance to stop there after we took off, what with the Russians attacking us and Rebecca dying along the way.

Lilly seems like she knows where we're going as well, and it makes me wonder just how long she's been in North Carolina for now.

Walkers shouldn't be much of a problem for us, as we've already dealt with two of them and we're both armed. Lilly's a beast with her rifle, but she shouldn't be a threat to me.

Well, at least I don't think she is, anyways.

"I'm sorry," I mention to her, shocked that I'm the one apologizing after everything that's happened between us. "It wasn't right of me to treat you that way… and you were right about that whole Kenny thing; how it wasn't anything different from you. So, I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm sure it was more complicated than that," she admits, scanning the area for any potential threats. "It always was with him. I had a feeling he was dead when I saw you alone with Jane… but I just didn't figure that it'd be you of all people to pull the trigger."

"…I had to shoot Lee, too. He… he got bit, and I had to put him down before he turned."

"…god damn it…"

"What is it?" I ask, worried that there might be a walker or something up ahead. My worry only grows when she rubs her eyes tiredly and sighs.

"Remember when I took off in the RV?" Lilly asks as I nod, walking alongside her now instead of behind her. "Well… I asked him before I left if he… wanted to come with me. He told me yes…"

"Really?" I ask in disbelief. Lee wanted to take off with her? Even after she killed Carley?! Wow… never would've guessed that. "Well, why'd you leave then?"

"Panicked, I guess," she confesses, taking out a knife and jabbing it into the back of a walker's brain. "I was getting paranoid at that point – when he went off to find you, I thought that he'd just tell Kenny what I was planning on doing. Add to the fact that you were probably scared shitless of me at that point, and I didn't want to take you away from them. So I left, and never looked back."

"Was it quick for him at least? Lee didn't suffer at all, did he?" Lilly asks, making me realize that she must've cared for him quite a bit.

"He tried cutting his arm off," I sigh, wincing at the thought of doing something so horrible. "It was all my fault… if I had just stayed with him instead of trying to find my parents… I was stupid."

"You were young," she corrects me, squinting her eyes as we approach the town that we were searching for. "Kids are supposed to make mistakes, Clem. It's just a part of growing up. We've all made mistakes…"

"…maybe…" I mutter, crouching as we slowly sneak up towards one of the buildings. That church that I had seen on the observation deck is pretty close by, so maybe we can start in there. There's gotta be something around this place – I don't want to have come all this way for nothing!

"Keep your guard up," Lilly orders as I pull out my pistol and hold it in front of me. Lilly checks her corners before sprinting over to a gift shop; me hot on her trail as we come to a halt. "How about we check this place out first, and then move on to the other buildings?"

"Sounds like a plan," I agree as she smashes the window pane on the door and undoes the lock.

Checking to make sure that we haven't been followed, I walk in after Lilly does a quick first search of the place. There's not a whole bunch in here, save for some stupid souvenirs of Parker's Run and some travelling pamphlets. There is, however, a vending machine that's still full of snacks inside.

"Trick or treat, I guess," I comment sarcastically, with Lilly walking up beside me to examine the machine.

"We're gonna have to shoot the frame," she explains, shrugging her shoulders as I point to the glass that she just smashed earlier. "This thing's part plastic – it's a lot harder to bust open. This is gonna make a shit-ton of noise though."

"Use my pistol then," I suggest, seeing's how we don't have any pillows or anything to block off the noise. "I'll watch the door."

As she gets set to fire the gun, I take a look outside to that big, white church with the large chapel going up into the air. I'm thinking that that should be our next stop – who knows what'll be inside?

BANG! BANG!

"Could we be a little louder next time?" I snip sarcastically as Lilly huffs and starts putting the food into my backpack. Yep, that part of Lilly I remember – always so serious all the time. I guess that it's kept her alive this whole time, but can't she just… I don't know. Live a little? Is that too much to ask?

"Church?" I ask simply after we've collected our treats, and she nods quickly as we exit the gift shop. This town seems almost deserted! Where are all the walkers and such? I thought for sure that we'd be encountering more resistance than this!

Of course, that's what I thought about Savannah too when we first arrived, and look at how that turned out. Better to always be on alert in places like this…

Quickly and silently making our way over to the church doors, the two of us hold our guns up and get ready to barge inside. One, two…

"Wait," Lilly interrupts, putting a hand up to stop our approach. "You hear that?"

Listening carefully, at first all I can hear is the river on the other side of this building. But after a couple of seconds, there's something else. It sounds like… talking. Are there people inside this church?

"Shit," she swears quietly, "Come on – we'll try looking through one of these windows."

"But they've all got pictures on them," I comment, noting that a bunch of them are stained-glass windows with pretty little designs on them.

Biting her lip, Lilly looks down the row of windows until she spots a clear one with a door beside it that's slightly ajar. We scurry on over without making a sound, and try to peek our way inside.

"I don't see anybody," Lilly whispers urgently, pushing the door more open to get a better view. I poke my head in as well, but I don't see any activity…

…until five seconds later.

"Shoot them," I hiss angrily, my grip on my pistol tightening significantly as I grit my teeth together. "Don't let them get away from this alive! Shoot them right in the head!"

"Are you fucking crazy?!" she retorts, not liking my planning skills at all. But I don't care! They fucked us and backstabbed us! "Why?!"

"If you won't do it, then I will," I conclude, carefully making my way inside without being spotted. Sighing angrily, Lilly follows me into the church with her gun raised.

"I'm telling you – Texas is the only option," I hear the bastard remark, rubbing his hand over his bald head.

"And how the hell are we even supposed to get there?" the jerkface replies, placing one hand on her hip. "We didn't take the truck, remember?"

But the tip of the iceberg comes when the third dickhead shows up; the bruises on his face still healing from his abuse over a month ago. I'm gonna give him for than just a few bruises though…

With absolutely no remorse, and Lilly here to back me up, I stand up and fire a bullet straight into Arvo's bad leg; causing him to collapse and cry out in pain.

Bonnie and Mike stare at me in absolute horror and terror, completely scared of me as I aim my gun directly at them.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!" I swear with as much venom as I can possibly manage, as Lilly stands beside me with her rifle raised as well.