The group tried not to get too far from the Motor Inn in case they had to head back. Eventually after about a half hour of searching, they ended up finding a reasonable size two story ranch house on the end of one of the side-streets. The house looked stable enough to shelter eight people.
Kenny stopped the RV in the house's driveway, trying not to make a lot of noise.
Lee was first to exit out of the vehicle, Kenny following him from behind.
The house was a dark red, secured with a fenced backyard, about 6 feet high. All of the houses in the town had boarded up windows. There was no way to see what lays inside.
Lee slowly ran up to the front door of the house with his hand-gun to his side. With anxiousness, he twisted the door knob to find it locked.
"Dammit. It's locked." He said back to Kenny who was behind him.
Kenny shook his head. "Yeah, I figured."
Lee peeked around the front entrance to possibly find some sort of a secret key. Sadly, he didn't find one.
"How about we go check around the back? Tell everyone to stay in the RV and if one of us yells, come and find us." Lee said to Kenny, who was already heading around the back without warning.
Lee ran up behind Kenny who spotted a gate to the backyard on the side of the house. Sadly, that one was locked too.
"Hey, don't you have some... experience with climbing fences? Give it a try and see if you can unlock it from inside." Kenny said.
Lee nodded. Fortunately, he was tall enough to look over the fence on his tippy-toes. From what he could see, it was all clear.
He raised both of his hands to the top of the fence and pulled himself over and plopped down on the other side.
There was silence.
"Lee? Lee, are you there? Hello?" Kenny asked, trying to get a look over the fence. He became worried, not knowing what happened to Lee and not being able to see over the fence.
There was a click. Kenny backed away from the fence, raising his gun to whatever was about to come out.
The door opened. "Whoa, whoa. Put your gun down old man, it's only me." Lee said with a laugh.
Kenny didn't look too amused. Lee led him into the backyard to see a full porch, swing, an empty dog house, and a small swimming pool.
Kenny's eyes lit up. That was the first time he had seen an area of land that wasn't damaged by the undead.
The backyard reminded Lee of Clementine's house. It had everything except a tree-house.
The two of them walked over to the back door, looking inside for anything moving or anything useful. The house looked pretty protected and from what they could see inside, it had plenty of supplies.
Lee hit the latch of the back-door, sliding it open. Both Kenny and Lee had smiles on their faces.
The inside of the house looked like nothing happened to it. Maybe the people that lived here left it in a hurry and didn't pack anything.
Lee walked inside of the house. It was silent. He didn't hear anything moving or just any noises at all.
"I'm going to go get the group to come check this out. This is great." Kenny said, running out of the house.
Lee decided to investigate. Once you walked into the back of the house, you went into the living room that had all wooden floors. There was 2 couches, 3 recliners, and a coffee table with a flatscreen TV on one side of the room and on the other it was a fireplace.
Next, he walked into the next room which was the kitchen. It had marble counters and pale white checkered floors. He opened up the fridge to see it turned off, remembering there was no power. Sadly, majority of the food was spoil. There was some dairy and meats that just made him sick to the stomach. He opened up some cabinets to find cereal, cans of food, mixes, almost anything you can think of.
He then had investigated the whole downstairs of the house which led him to the upstairs.
He had his gun to his side, aware of anything that might happened. He tried to be as quiet as he can, but the stairs were very squeaky.
He reached the first room, quietly opening up the door to find a computer/book room. He walked inside, looking at the collection of different genres of books, magazines, brochures, etc. There was a HP laptop sitting on the desk in the room. It looked pretty dusty, probably been turned off for a while.
He opened up the laptop to find the power button above the keyboard. He clicked it, and it light up to a bright white color.
He jumped up with surprise to see that the laptop turned on. It had probably been turned off for a while, and the battery was saved over time.
Once he logged into the account, of course there was no wifi.
Lee had a crooked smile on his face as he shut off the laptop and closed it.
The next room he approached was a children's bedroom. There was two small beds in the middle of the room, with toys scattered around here and there. He'd leave that mess later for Clementine and Duck to work with.
He'll admit that the house was gigantic. From the hallway, he could see that there was four rooms left.
The next room must of been a guest room. There was a full size bed with a TV, and another desk but with no computer.
He walked out into the next room which was across the hallway and was another guest room. It looked exactly the same except that the first room was a cream color and a light green, and the second room was a cream color and a sky blue.
The second to last room he walked into must of been the master bedroom. It was huge, with another full size bed in the middle of the room, a huge dresser, a TV, a closet, and another door leading to another room.
He walked inside the room, heading over to the door. He again raised his gun, slowly opening the door to find the bathroom.
The bathroom looked fancier than fancy. The bathtub was huge, the mirror on the wall was so clear, the sink was long, and the toliet was just very fancy. The room was a light brown atmosphere.
He walked out of the master bedroom, opening the last door that led to the bathroom again. He's checked the whole upstairs and downstairs, and it's all clear.
As he walked back down the stairs, he heard hollering.
He ran down to find a door open besides the kitchen which he thought was a pantry but led to the basement.
"Guys? What's wrong?" Lee asked, as he went down the stairs.
"Lee... You need to see this..." Carley hollered back.
As he turned the corner to see the group, he put his hand over his mouth in surprise.
There in the basement, must of been the family that had lived here. They were hanging from the ceiling, ropes around their necks. There was two adults, must of been the parents, and two small children.
"Oh my god..." Lilly said, as tears streamed down her face.
Everyone felt disgusted yet horrible that it had to happen to a whole family.
Clementine stood in a corner whimpering as she did at the St. John's. Lee went over to comfort her, bringing her back upstairs.
"I'm sorry you had to see something like that, sweet pea." Lee said, with sorrow in his eyes.
Clementine wiped away a tear on her face. "Is... Is that going to happen to us, Lee?"
"No, no, honey. It won't, I promise." Lee said, hugging Clementine.
Lee went to lead her to the children's room he found. She went from sorrow to joy in less than a second.
"I'm going to tell Duck to come here and play with me!" She said, running down the stairs.
Lee followed behind her, watching as she stood from the top of the basement stairs hollering for Duck.
"Duck? Duck, c'mere! I have to show you something awesome!"
"Okay!" He said, running up the stairs and following Clementine.
Lee thought, that'll keep them busy for a while.
He went back down the stairs to see the group in shame.
The sound of Lee coming down the stairs startled everyone. Kenny turned around to see Lee.
"Hey... I think we should get them out of here." He said, looking down.
Lee understood. He didn't want any of them to see what these poor people went through because of the cause of the outbreak. It was just all madness.
They unhooked the ropes from the ceiling and carried the bodies up one-by-one.
They found an alley between the house they were at, and the house behind them. It was just grass and dirt. They figured they deserved a real burial.
Lee wasn't one for crying, but he felt a tear stream down his face while setting the bodies into the ground.
Kenny had found a shovel leaning on the side of the house. He gave it to Lee who began scooping up the dirt onto the bodies.
Kenny had went back inside to check on the group really quick. Lee was pretty much done with the burial until he heard something moving in the backyard of the house behind him.
He wasn't so sure what it was. I didn't make any moans like a walker would, yet any voices like a survivor would.
Lee shoveled the last bit of dirt in the hole, then set the shovel down to lean against the fence.
He brought himself over the fence of the other house, seeing a clear backyard with a small dog house.
Lee hopped over, bringing his gun out of his back pocket. He walked around the backyard to find nothing. He even walked over to the backyard door, looked inside, and everything looked empty.
With disappointment, he went to hop back over the fence until he heard something move behind him.
He slowly turned around to see a dog. It was black and tan, skinny of course, with it's tail down.
Lee knelt on the ground. "Hey boy, c'mere."
The dog slowly walked over, cautious of anything that could happen.
Lee pet his head, all the way down to his butt.
He wasn't very good at classifying breeds of dogs, but this one looked like an Airedale Terrier.
From what he's heard and learned, they used to be police dogs before German Shepherds.
Lee got up, and the dog slowly backed away from Lee. "Hold on, boy."
He walked over to the dog house to find a worn out squeaky toy, an empty food bowl, and a leash and collar. He knelt down again to reach inside the dog house to grab the items that were inside.
As the dog walked over to Lee, he put the dark blue collar on the dog. As he looked at the collar, there was a tag on there that had his name.
As he read the tag, he found out that the dog's name was 'Bear.'
He hooked the leash onto Bear's collar. He was about to leave the house with Bear until he realized that they didn't have any pet food.
"There has to be something in there." Lee said, walking over to the glass door. Though everything looked empty, there might of been something in one of the cabinets.
He went to go pull the door to find it locked. He sighed.
He realized he was standing on a mat that said 'Wipe Your Paws!'
He hopped off of it, picking it up to find a key.
"Finally someone around here keeps a key nearby."
He unlocked the door, and pulled it open. A bad scent of decay hit him in the face as he opened the door. He wanted to be quick with finding the dog food, if there was any, and really didn't want to investigate and find trouble.
He walked inside, leaving Bear in the backyard. He silently tip-toed into the kitchen, opening up cabinets and finding them empty.
He opened one below the sink to find a bag of 'Natural Choice Large Breed' dog food.
He grabbed the bag and headed back outside to bear, quietly closing the door and locking it, putting the key in his pocket.
He grabbed Bear's squeaky toy, dog food and bowl, and his leash and headed back to the house his group was staying at.
As he went back into the backyard of the house, he locked the gate tightly and let go of Bear's leash so he can investigate the new backyard.
Lee headed to the dog house and set his bowl down as well as the squeaky toy and dog food.
"You stay here Bear, I'm going to get the others to come and see you."
Lee walked inside the house to see Kenny, Katjaa, Carley, and Ben playing Monopoly in the living room. They must of found it in one of the rooms. They were sitting on the couches and recliners and had the game set on the coffee table. Clementine and Duck were near the unlit fireplace playing with some toys they probably found in the room upstairs, and Lilly was laying on one of the couches, resting.
"Hey guys, I want to show you something I found." Lee said, with a mysterious smile.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, unsure of what Lee was talking about.
"What is it, Lee?" Clementine asked, getting up from the spot she was, sitting on the ground.
"Come and see." He said. He led the group outside to see Bear.
Clementine and Duck were first to follow Lee. As he opened the door, Bear turned his head to see them.
"Oh my gosh! It's a puppy! Can we go and pet him, Lee?" Clementine asked, jumping up and down.
"Sure thing, sweet pea. But be careful okay?" He said.
Kenny and Katjaa smiled, seeing Duck and Clementine happy with Bear.
"Awe, he's cute Lee. What's his name?" Katjaa asked.
"His name is Bear. I found him in the backyard of the house behind us. I also find some dog food for him too." Lee responded, looking at Katjaa who was still smiling.
He figured Katjaa would like Bear because she's a vet and had to deal with dogs and other animals before. Kenny didn't mind it either as long as it made his family happy.
Carley walked out behind Katjaa and Kenny with Ben beside her. Lee was happy that Ben was finally getting along with someone besides himself.
"You found a dog?" Ben asked, with surprise.
"You bet I did." Lee said, laughing.
Ben went to walk over to the dog. "I used to have a dog back before any of this happened, too. His name was Apollo..." Ben said, traveling off with what he was saying.
Lee nodded, smiling.
"Where'd you find this cute guy?" Carley asked, with curiousness.
He looked at Carley, smiling. "I found him in the house behind us. Glad I came when I did because he probably wouldn't of lasted any longer." Lee said.
Carley walked over to the dog and knelt down to pet him.
Lilly was last to come out of the house. She looked at the dog, with anger. "You brought a dog here!? You know what that means!? That means we have another mouth to feed! Nine instead of eight. GOD! You people are idiots!" Lilly blasted, clenching her fists together with frustration.
"Will you chill out? I found dog food for him inside the house. It'll probably last for a while if you look at how big the bag is. And if you don't want to deal with him, then don't. We'll take care of him and you don't have to take in any part of it." Lee said, holding Lilly's shoulders so she didn't walk away from Lee.
She sighed, walking back in the house. Lee just wanted part of everyone's lives to feel almost back to normal.
Lee walked over to the dog house and poured food into the bowl.
Bear walked over, and ended up eating everything that was in the bowl.
Lee had remembered something they found in the house was a water bottle. He went inside to go grab it and brought it back out to Bear.
He poured the water into the bowl, and Bear drank all of it too.
Lee didn't really want to know how long Bear had went without food and water. He was lucky enough to even survive this long.
Bear went to go do his business, and after everyone went inside the house. Even Bear was let inside to investigate the remains of the house.
The group went back to playing Monopoly, having fun for once.
Lilly let the group know that she went to go take a nap upstairs.
Bear had brought his squeaky toy inside the house and Ben was throwing it for Bear to go and catch and bring back.
Lee looked at his watch on his left hand. It read, 4:43 pm.
As the group was doing their thing, it started to storm outside. There was rain, lightning, and thunder. Thankfully, they were in the house and not at the Motor Inn anymore.
For once, everything felt back to normal. It was storming outside, they had plenty of supplies, there was games to play with each other, a pet to take care of, and just a house to live in.
Lee was right about leaving the Motor Inn.
After some time of playing Monopoly and playing with Bear, the group decided that it was time that they all needed a rest.
Clementine and Duck slept in the Children's room, Kenny and Katjaa called the Master bedroom, Lilly was in one of the guest rooms, and Carley had the the last one. Lee decided that it was fine with him if he slept on the couches downstairs. He really had no problem with it as long as he had somewhere to sleep.
The house was silent as the group went to bed. Bear decided to sleep with Clementine and Duck in their bedroom. Lee had put a little towel down for Bear on the floor for comfort so he doesn't have to sleep on the cold ground.
Lee kept tossing and turning during the night. The couch wasn't as comfortable as he thought it would be.
During the middle of the night, he heard something.
He quietly whispered, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
There was silence, then Lee heard Carley's voice. "Hey Lee? You know it's fine with me if you sleep with me. I know those couches aren't comfy because I sat on them while playing Monopoly."
Lee didn't want to make Carley feel uncomfortable if he slept with her. "You sure?"
"Yep, I'm positive." Carley responded.
Lee got up from the couch, straightening his back.
"Thanks so much Carley. That couch was bothering my back so much and I probably wouldn't of slept." Lee said, heading up the stairs with Carley.
"It's no problem, I don't mind." Carley said, smiling.
They reached Carley's room. Lee took off his jacket and slept in his jeans and a t-shirt. He didn't want to make Carley feel uncomfortable, so he slept far on one side.
"Thanks again, Carley." Lee said, drifting off to sleep.
There was silence, then he was awaken. Lee had felt Carley cuddle up, next to him. He smiled, drifting off to sleep again.