Chapter 5: Friendly Faces, Dark Intention

Authors Note: Thank you and sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter, please disregard the ending of my last chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Telltales walking dead.

It was another bleak and cold morning that day. The sun hadn't even risen yet and I could already tell we were in for a rough one. All that food we raided from that air force base was all but gone.

Lilly said we would have maybe a week's worth, if a few people go without food every day or so. It was a rough, but fair trade, at least until we found more food. For now everyone was keeping busy.

We actually turned the parking lot into a nice living area. Duck and Clementine were both coloring in the parking lot, while Carley napped on the couch near the RV. Lilly was sitting on a lawn chair on the roof of the RV with a scoped rifle in her lap. Her father Larry was using a rock to hammer in some nails on the boards of our reinforced fence. I still can't believe we couldn't find a hammer after all this time.

As for me, I was taking care of security and patrolling the fence. It wasn't long before Clementine started kicking a soccer ball to an old oil drum. I didn't care though as long as the kids were happy.

This went on for a minute before the sounds of a ball hitting a drum was joined in by the sound of a few twigs snapping and a rustle in the bushes. I looked up at, Lilly and she heard it to. She looked down at me and nodded. I took my position on our gate, which was a couple of dumpsters chained together and filled with heavy rocks and garbage, but they worked.

I aimed my gun out into the forest as Lilly did the same. She let out a whistle and everyone started to take cover. Carley got up from her couch and grabbed her Glock and aimed into the woods. I waited for what felt like forever, until Lee jumped out of the woods looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Get the gate open!" He shouted. "We got wounded!"

I set my gun down against the wall and started unchaining the dumpsters. Carley came over and helped me open up the gate. Lee ran in, followed by Mark and Kenny who were accompanied by a young boy wearing a blue letterman jacket who was helping a man who was bleeding out from his severed left leg.

"What the fuck happened out there?" I snapped as Lee carried the man into the parking lot and set him into the back of the pickup truck.

"Accident, or something, I don't know!" Lee shouted. "All I know is that the poor man got his leg stuck in a fucking bear trap!"

"Shit…" I whispered. The new guy's arrival started to stir up a commotion amongst our group. Larry and Lilly of course were pissed off at us for either bringing in strangers, bringing in mouths to feed or both.

Katjaa started working on our new guest while Lilly chewed out Lee.

"What the hell?!" She shouted, not caring that little kids were around us. "You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!"

"We left the other one behind." Lee sighed with remorse. I guess there were more out there he tried to save. Lilly and Larry didn't give a rats ass though, they were still pissed about the new guys being here.

"Other one?!" She snapped. "Jesus, Lee! What if there are more of them?! What if they followed you here?!"

The boy who was standing near his friend pleaded to us.

"There wasn't anybody else." He cried out. "Just us!"

"How do you know he's not lying?!" Larry shouted. It was time I stepped in.

"Larry, one is a man with a severed leg and the other is a kid who looks scared shitless!" I shouted. "Besides, if this was a ruse I sincerely doubt that he planned on losing a fucking leg!"

"And we haven't even talked to these people yet." Carley weighed in. "Maybe they can be helpful."

"And many hands make light work, Larry." I said with a smug grin. "Especially if they don't have a bum ticker."

"Why you…!" Larry growled, stepping closer to me. Lilly stood between us.

"Devon, even you have to admit that there are some lengths people won't go to for food!" Lilly shouted in my face.

"Come on, Lilly." Mark pleaded. "These are people. People trying to survive just like us. We've gotta stick together to survive!" Mark made a good point, but Lilly always had to get the last word.

"The only reason you're here is because you had food. Enough for all of us." She argued. "But that food is almost gone, we've got maybe a week's worth left, and I don't suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?!" She said with a snooty tone in her voice.

"Knock it the hell off, Lilly!" I snapped.

"Um, no." Ben mumbled during our argument. Mark had had enough and started to storm off.

"Fine. You guys fight it out then." He looked over at Ben. "Welcome to the family, kid." He walked over to the wall and started to reinforce it. I didn't know what to do now especially with, Ben. His friend was bleeding badly and I wouldn't be surprised if the shock hadn't killed him.

Clementine grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards her area near the RV.

"Come over here and see what I drew." She offered, she was such a sweetheart.

Ben was resistant at first, but he eventually followed her over to her and Duck's drawing area. That left Kenny and Lilly to argue with Lee and myself in the middle, yay, me. Kenny stomped up to Lilly.

"You know, you like to think you are the leader of this little group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions!" Kenny shouted at Lilly. "This isn't your own personal dictatorship!"

Carley rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on." She groaned. "You're being dramatic! Everything always turns into a power struggle between you two. I'm not gonna be a part of that." Great, now Lilly was starting to get more pissed off. I couldn't really blame her, but she didn't have to abandon everyone who needed a helping hand. Carley stomped away and Lilly glared at us.

"Hey, I didn't ask to lead this group!" She shouted defensively as she pointed to the rest of the group. "Everyone was happy for me to distribute food when there was enough to go around!"

I didn't need to listen anymore. I wouldn't have told her that she was right, that we needed to ration our food better but, if I did then, Kenny would have thrown a hissy fit about how I took her side. Then there was the matter with, Kenny.

He was close to fixing up thee RV that was left in the lot since we moved in here. I played my cards right by him by getting food for his wife and kid, but if I did anything to piss him off then I could kiss my ride goodbye and risk my chances out on the open road alone.

I watched Lilly pull out some nibbles from her back pack. It wasn't much, just a piece of jerky, half an apple and a couple of those cheese and cracker snack packs my mom use to pack in my lunch from when I was a kid.

I didn't notice it until now but, from the moment Lee had accepted those items everyone was looking at him, me included.

I turned away from Lee, and just kept looking out into the woods for anymore walkers. From time to time I looked over at the kid and to his friend. I was curious as to how he lost his leg. I would need to talk about this with, Lee.

Lee gave out food to Larry, Mark, Doug and Clementine. I guess he gave food to, Larry to avoid any more shit he'd have to throw at him. Mark was weak from missing a meal last night and the kids of course, because that is what a man does.

"Hey, Lee," I called out to my partner. "Can I speak to you for a second?"

"Sure," He walked over to me on the far side of the hotel. "Sorry about the food, I just thought…"

"Don't worry I had a granola bar last night. That isn't what I wanted to talk about." I assured him. "How did that man lose his leg?" His face fell when I brought that up.

"He was stuck in a bear trap set up in the woods. I tried to break him out of it, but there was no release latch and it was chained to a tree. Then the Walkers started to gather around us and I had to…cut it off." Lee muttered.

"You didn't know how to open the trap?" I asked. It isn't that hard to open a trap. My grandpa showed me how to open one when I was nine.

"Mark tried to, but he said it was altered. There was no release latch." This sparked something from my old cop days. I raised my thumb to my lip and started chewing on my nail.

"Hmm, did you know you needed a permit to hunt or lay traps in these woods?" I pondered out loud. Lee just gave me a shrug.

"No, but what does that have to do with Ben and Mr. Parker?" He asked.

"We've had a few incident reports in the past with traps being stepped on by civilians." I explained. "So, the town made it illegal to hunt in these woods without a permit. I'm not saying that some hunters didn't leave a trap in these woods, but who would leave one out without a release latch? That would constitute as assault with a deadly weapon and charged with attempted murder."

"That is strange, but more importantly why would they take the latch out at all?" Lee asked. "Were they afraid someone would steal their buck?"

"Maybe, there were some violent incidents like that with hunters in the past, but I don't know. Something just ain't sitting right in my stomach." I stated as I ripped the nail out of my cuticle.

"Old cop feeling or hunger?" Lee joked. I smiled and spit the nail out of my mouth.

"A little bit of both." I chuckled. It was nice f him to try and relieve the tension. I still couldn't shake this feeling I had though. I took one long look out into the woods. There was something out there hiding deep within the trees, something other than walkers.

"Lee, Devon!" Katjaa called out to us from the truck. We both made our way over to her and I felt an empty pit in my stomach when I saw the man, Mr. Parker Lee had called him, lying still in the back of the truck. Kenny approached as well and he let out a deep breath when he saw the teacher.

"He didn't make it, did he?" Katjaa shook her hear remorsefully.

"He…lost too much blood." She explained. Kenny didn't want to hear it and started to throw another fit.

"Goddammit!" He shouted before throwing something at the RV. "I'm getting sick of this shit!" He stomped over to the RV kicking away some garbage in his path.

I was getting tired of losing people as well. In the end though, maybe it was for the best. I hate thinking like that, but he would never be able to get around without help and in a tight spot I doubt he could rely on Lilly or Larry would help them. In the end it was for the best.

I was broken from my thoughts when, Katjaa started screaming. I looked over to her and I was shocked to see a walker grabbing onto her, wait, not just a walker, Mr. Parker.

"What the hell?!" I shouted. Lee and I were on the two in a second. The newly revived walker had its fingers in Katjaa's shoulders, but Lee was pushing on its forehead, keeping its mouth away from her neck.

I grabbed Katjaa's shoulders and pulled hard enough to break its hold on her. The two of us fell back onto the concrete as Lee shouted out for the axe. Wait, why didn't he have the axe?

Then I remembered he loaned it to, Mark who was using it to fix the fence.

"Shit!" I shouted before standing to my feet. Lee struggled against the walker and he finally managed to pin it against the rear window of the truck. Mark ran over and told Lee to get down before swinging the axe at its head.

The walker ducked, causing Mark to miss and smash the axe into trucks seats. He tried to pull the axe out, but it was stuck. I quickly pulled out my berretta and aimed it at the walker, who had Lee pinned on the ground.

"Shoot it!" He shouted. Not needing to be told twice I aimed my gun at the side of its head and fired a round into the side of its head killing it instantly. It collapsed on Lee who pushed it off of him instantly.

"You okay?" I asked him, offering him a hand. He took it and I pulled him up as he nodded.

"Yeah, thanks." He said between frantic breaths. It didn't take long for, Larry to throw in his two cents.

"Why'd ya bring him here in the first place, asshole?!" He shouted at Lee.

"Dad, calm down." Lilly said, concerned for his health.

"He didn't know he was bit, asshole!" I shouted back at Larry. He glared over at me.

"You're both gonna get us all killed!" He shouted.

Kenny was comforting his wife before leaving her to confront Ben. He gave him a shove, startling the boy.

"Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!" He shouted. I noticed Ben was surprised look on the boy's face.

"What?" He exclaimed. Kenny pointed over at his now deceased friend.

"He was bitten and you didn't say a goddamn word!" Kenny shouted. I could tell he was angry about his wife's safety and not the boy's naivety.

"But he wasn't bitten!" He explained. "I swear!"

"Well your 'not bitten' friend here came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" I stepped between the two, mostly to protect the kid from Kenny.

"I know it was scary, but maybe he didn't know he was bitten." I said in the boy's defense. "We all know what happens when you get chomped."

"Wait, you all don't know?" Ben said skeptically. We all turned and looked at Ben. What didn't we know?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny asked.

Ben looked nervous, but he took a breath before telling us what we needed to know about the walkers.

"It's not the bite that does it." He started to make me nervous. "You comeback, no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, that's what happens. It's gonna happen to all of us."

Well, it's official, this is the worst day of my life and it is not even noon.

We were all infected with this thing. It would explain how it spread so fast. I never went a day without someone getting shot, stabbed or helping with a suicide. So, many people, oblivious to the fact that the person who just died would come back and bite them.

And it would happen to us one day. This world just looks bleaker every day. I looked over at Ben.

"You are sure?" I asked him. He was still nervous, but he confirmed it.

"When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in a gym and everybody thought we were finally safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher I think, I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them." He started to look pale as he told the story. "Someone went into the girls' room the next morning and…God…"

"Shit man, I'm sorry." I sighed, giving him a pat on the back. We both jumped when Carley shouted out.

"Back off!" She shouted, pointing her Glock at two strangers. I ran over to my shotgun, which was still leaning against the fence, and grabbed it and aimed at the two.

One was older looking with neatly combed black hair wearing a black long sleeved shirt with white stripes on it. The other almost looked just like him except he was young with messy black hair and wearing a blue short sleeved polo shirt. The older one had two gas cans in his hands that he held up defensively.

"Whoa, guys relax!" He called out to Carley and I. "Me and my brother here we, we just want to know if ya'll can help us out." I didn't buy it. These guys looked a little to clean to be scavengers. Hell, their clothes looked like they just came out of the laundry for God sakes.

"We said, back off!" I enforced. But, Lee took the more pleasant approach.

"We don't want any trouble." He reassured them. The older gentleman smiled kindly.

"Of course. Neither do we." He lowered the cans to the ground, and introduced himself. "I'm Andy St. John. This is my brother Dan. We're just looking for gasoline." He stared at our home and nodded approvingly. "Looks like you folks got the motel locked down, which is fine, but if you could spare some gas we'd be much obliged."

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked, her gun still trained on the two. This time the younger one spoke up.

"Our place is protected by an electrified fence." Dan informed us. I was standing next to Larry, and he started to look intrigued by this discovery. "Generators provide the electricity…"

"Our generators run on gas…" Andy told us. "Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If ya'll be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade."

"How are ya'll doing on food?" Dan asked. "We got plenty at the dairy."

My stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food that is how I am doing. That's what I wanted to say, but if they were offering I would give them all the gas we had.

We had plenty since Glenn took his car and Kenny's truck broke down. The RV was filled and we had siphoned all we could from the wreaked cars that were left in the lot. If this guy had food then we could spare a few gallons.

Lilly was hesitant, but she looked over to Lee.

"Lee, why don't you and Mark and check the place out, see if it's legit." Lilly told him.

"I'll go with you too maybe they still have some respect for cops." I suggested. The two seemed reasonable enough. But my Oldman always told me a wolf always looks friendly in sheep's clothing. Carley holstered her gun and offered to back us up as well.

"So what are ya'll thinking?" Andy called out. Lee stepped towards the gate and made them an offer.

"You've got a deal." He said. "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." Andy smiled at the sound of that.

"Sound's fair." He agreed. "A couple of gallons should power one of our generators for a while."

With that we let them take all the gas they could fill in those cans before wandering into the forest. So far, the morning was a huge kick in the ass for us, but now we have a chance to get some food and a safe haven. This may turn out to be a decent day after all.