"Alright, Shawn, I gotta run, Mama's gonna be real angry with me if I miss dinner again. Nice meeting y'all." Chet spoke after hopping off the back of the truck, giving a quick wave to his companions and turning to walk off, down the extending rural road.
After quickly exchanging goodbyes with Chet, the remainders of the group, Clementine, Ethan, Lee and Shawn headed towards the large house in the middle of the farm.
An older looking man with white hair and a white beard exited the house, quickly greeting his son with a hug and thanking him for making it home safely.
"Ah.. I see you've brought some guests along with you. Mind introducing me to them, son?" The man spoke in a soft voice. Turning to face the three others in front of him.
"Oh.. uh yeah, this is Lee, Clementine and Ethan. They found me and Chet out in the road, we'd been blocked off by some cars. They helped us out, made sure we got outta' there okay." Shawn informed his dad of what happened, pointing to each individual in front of him as he introduced them.
"Hm, I see. Lee is it?" Hershel spoke, obviously looking to the tallest of the three strangers. "You these kids father? Uncle maybe? Guardian? You know them?"
"Act-" Lee spoke, but he was quickly interrupted by Ethan, who spoke in a much louder voice than Lee had.
"Nope. Not our dad or anything. Lee is a neighbour, he was a good friend of our parents. We know him pretty well, no need to worry. We're in good hands here." Ethan put on his best smile and seemed relatively convincing in his words.
Lee was quite confused as to why Ethan was 'looking out for him'. They didn't know each other well at all, and they certainly weren't neighbours. He would have to try and figure out why Ethan had protected him from any suspicion.
"I see now. Nice to see you looking out for these kids Lee. According to my son here, things are so bad, most people would've up and left by themselves." Hershel responded, seeming to relax a bit after Ethan eased his suspicion of Lee.
"Speaking of that Dad.. we really need to reinforce the fence around the farm. Things are getting really bad out there, and we're gonna need more protection than just a regular picket fence." Shawn looked around the farms fences. It was definitely in need of improvement if they were to be protected from the walkers.
"Shawn.. If you really feel it's necessary you can. Waste if you ask me though." Hershel replied to his son.
"It's not, dad. I'm telling you. It's real, what's happening out there is scary as hell and we're gonna need to protect this place. We can't just passively sit by and wait for something to happen."
"Shawn, please. I already said you can do whatever you feel like you need to, just don't back talk me."
Shawn seemed to back down after this and turned back to Lee, turning his attention to the wound that was still open and dangerous to Lee's health.
"Dad.. Lee he's.. He's hurt kind of badly, think you could patch him up? Or atleast see what you can do?" Shawn said, in a quieter than normal voice. He seemed to be a bit upset at his father's tone to his advice.
"Sure can. Shawn.. Please go check on your sisters. I'll check out your friends knee here." Hershel said, after quickly glancing at Lee's knee. "Come on up, I'll give it a quick look over and fix you right up." Hershel smiled at Lee and motioned to a chair on the short porch.
"Doctor?" Lee inquired as he sat on the chair Hershel had invited him to rest himself on.
"Vet actually. Normally with farm animals, but I think i'll be able to patch you up." Hershel affirmed Lee and quickly rolled up his pant leg to check out the wound.
"It's a tractor for doing.. Stuff in the fields, I think. Farmers sit on it, and drive it around.. And it makes food or something." Both Hershel and Lee turned their heads to the left and saw Ethan pointing to the tractor on the opposite side of the farm. Ethan seemed to be explaining what the tractor did to his little sister.. Or was trying to explain it at least.
"Real noble of you, taking these kids under your care Lee. Bigger man than most, these days." Hershel didn't look up at Lee, instead he took a close look at the cut on Lee's leg.
"Yeah.. uh thanks, Doc. I.. I don't think I actually got your name?" Lee responded, nodding his appreciation to the Vet, before inquiring about his name.
"Hershel. Hershel Greene. As you have probably already figured out, this here is my farm. Or my families farm, I suppose. Been around for a few generations actually. Damn miracle how I've kept it running this long, Lee." Hershel explained the history of the farm as he seemed to dig in on the leg, apply some disinfectant, cleaning the wound, dressing it and rolling down the pant leg.
"Wow. Feels brand new." Lee laughed a bit as he spoke and slowly stood up. "Thanks Hershel." Lee extended a hand to thank his healer.
"Not a problem, Lee. Anything for someone who will help my family like you helped my son today." Hershel shook the hand of Lee before his eyes darted towards the barn at the back of the large plot of land. "You and your company are more than welcome to sleep in the barn back there for tonight. There's family of three in there as well."
"Thanks Hershel, I really do appreciate it. We'll have to repay you somehow." Lee honestly seemed a bit surprised by the hospitality of a stranger.
"No need. You've already done enough. Have a good night Lee. You too, kids!" Hershel responded with a wave to the two younger kids before entering the house.
Lee quickly walked down the steps towards the two kids. He informed them of the offer to sleep in the barn for the night. There was no disagreement whatsoever, they all knew they needed rest and the barn seemed to be a good enough place for the night.
"So.. Ethan. Why did you do that?" Lee asked the young man as they made their way towards the barn.
"Do what?" Ethan replied, innocently. Obviously pretending like it wasn't quite clear what Lee was talking about.
"Lying back there. About us being neighbours. There was no need for you to lie to that man." Lee responded, not seeming angry at all. Just confused.
"Lee, think about it. Which sounds better? A nice friendly neighbour looking out for us? Or a random guy whose life I saved after he crashed inside of a cop car just outside of my house. Use your head man. You'd be out there on your own if he heard the real story. You're welcome by the way." Ethan laughed as he finished his little spiel.
Lee had no real response, though he now understood why Ethan had lied. He wasn't wrong. The three made it to the barn a few seconds later. They sorted out where they were going to sleep and all quickly settled in. Clementine and Ethan talked for a few minutes before they said goodnight to each other and turned in for the night.
A new day tomorrow. Their new life had begun.
A/N: Wow! A chapter that didn't take 3 months to write. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one. Thanks for reading and take care!