Mark shook his head as the stranger went behind the snack store's counter. "No, you guys stay back here and cover, I will talk to him. I'm sick of seeing so much violence, I'm going to confront him in a more relaxed and peaceful way."

"You're fucking crazy. Whatever, fine, it's your funeral." Kenny prepared himself next to his son as Mark stood up, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath as he slowly approached the register.

"Hello? Uh.. Look, I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to know who you are." He greeted hesitantly, slowly approaching the frozen stranger. The hooded person ducked behind the counter, confusing the already frightened Mark. He continued walking forward, looking over the counter to find no one there. "What the..?" Suddenly, Mark was hit in the cheek, knuckles sending him straight to the ground. He tried to get up, only to feel the person's shadow enveloping them. They were blonde, pale and wore a facemask with the red hoodie. They brought a hook from their back pocket and prepared for an attack.

"STOP!" Duck yelled, a bullet going off and striking the stranger in the shoulder. They yelled out in pain, revealing their voice to be that of a woman.

"Duck, n-no! We agreed no violence!" Mark scolded, peering his eyes toward the young boy's shaky hands holding a pistol.

"Oh.. I'm sorry.." Duck looked down at the ground, disappointed in himself for being so quick to draw.

"Sorry?! You're sorry, kid?! Ah.. Fuck.." The woman yelped out, taking out a bag of various supplies.

"I'm so sorry, we have some bandages, let me patch you up." Mark offered, trying to find some spare ones in his pocket.

"Back off, limp dick, I can do it myself." She spat, taking out a gauze and alcohol. "Damnit, running low too. What the hell are you assholes doing here? Don't you know what.. Ah, territory this is?" She asked, struggling to speak. She seemed calm around them for some reason.

"Why aren't you scared? If I were you I'd be crying like a baby." Mark asked, gently kneeling down next to her.

"Well one, I'm not you. Two, if you wanted to kill me, or worse, you wouldn't have him with you." She pointed in the direction of Duck with her left hand, patching herself up relatively quickly.

"Kenny, come out." Mark called to his ally. Kenny stood up, his gun tucked away in his pocket. Him and Duck revealed themselves fully, standing up next to Mark.

"Who the hell are you people? You clearly aren't from Crawford." The girl asked impatiently.

"I have a few questions for you first, lady. Were you the one stalkin' us?" Kenny asked angrily, approaching her before Mark took his wrist.

"Kenny, stop." Mark muttered, getting frustrated with the man's temper.

"Listen to your friend. I don't know who you are, so no, asshole, I'm not." The blonde replied, slowly standing up. She looked dizzy but still very strong, her teeth gritted and her eyes fully aware.

"Well, then were you the one ringin' those bells?" Kenny questioned once more.

"Yup, that would be me." She answered smugly, smirking for the first time that day.

"Hold on, why?" Mark asked.

"Because it's the only safe way to get around this hellhole. The entire city is raided and infected. Using the bells attracts the geeks to the tower, distracting them and buying me escape time." She explained. It actually made a lot of sense.

"Geeks, is that what you call em?" Kenny asked, never hearing that definition for walkers before.

"Yeah, you know, like the ones at carnivals? They'll eat anything, alive or dead." She replied, rubbing her injury.

"Well, look, I'm Mark. This is Kenny and Duck. We're out here looking for a boat for our group. It's.. Been a rough day for everyone." Mark explained, properly introducing everyone. The woman looked at Kenny and Duck who seemed to tense up and become saddened. She understood and nodded.

"Yeah, well, just.. Don't go so crazy on strangers next time, junior, okay? I'm Molly." Molly responded, removing her mask to reveal her entire pale face. Mark thought she was actually kind of pretty..

"Okay.." Duck said, looking up at her for a split second before shooting his eyes back at the floor.

"Say, you mentioned a group, Crawford? Who are they?" Mark asked the woman. She rolled her eyes before looking at the wall of impaled walkers.

"The worst kind of people. They were a group that settled in this school, seemed really safe, lot's of members. Next thing you know there are too many members, supplies are running low. So, they enforced a new rule: If you can't pull your weight, you're out. That meant children, elderly, anyone with a medical condition that required meds. All of those people were considered drains on their resources.."

"Sick fucks did this to kids?!" Kenny asked, outraged by such a disgusting act.

"Well, no. They let kids go off alone. Close to murder but no, they don't fire the bullet." Molly answered, picking her hook back up from the ground. It was covered in her own blood. She wiped it off and put it back in her bag. "Oh and about that boat? Fat chance you're finding one here. Crawford has picked this city clean. You're better off elsewhere honestly."

"Goddamnit.. FUCK!" Kenny vented in frustration, kicking a trashcan down.

"Hey, moron, wanna keep your voice down?" Molly beckoned, the walkers who were impaled squirming angrily for their next set of meat. Kenny stood for a few seconds before sighing.

"C'mon then, let's go back to the mansion and tell everyone the news." Mark told the group, beginning to make his way back. He was cut off by at least twelve walkers travelling towards them, cutting him off from the way back.

"Ah, shit! Gunshot must have drawn em." Kenny yelled, pulling out his pistol. Duck did the same and began firing immediately, shooting the walkers dead. All that did was bring more.

"Ah! T-there's too many!" Duck yelped.

"Molly, is there-" Mark looked behind him only to find that Molly was gone, missing. She must have run off. The group ran into the alleyway close by and found her climbing a brick wall leading to the roof of a building with her hook. "IS THERE ANOTHER WAY OUT?!"

"Don't know, don't care!" Molly yelled back, flinching as her wound reopened.

"You can't just leave us here!" Duck yelled, almost angry. Molly looked down at the three for a few seconds. Walkers were just about cornering them, so she decided to be generous and hold her good hand down.

"Come on, grab my hand." She said, annoyed. Kenny helped his son up immediately, getting him to safety. He then jumped up and managed to grab Molly's hand, being safely pulled up as well.

"C'mon, Mark, grab on!" Kenny ordered, lending his own hand. Just as Mark jumped up, a walker tackled him to the ground, knocking him to his ass.

"Shit, get off you fuck!" He screeched, pushing the thing off with the side of his rifle before attempting to run. There was no way out of the alley, walkers poured in on both sides. That is until Mark noticed a manhole cover. "Molly, gimme your hook!"

"Okay, here, but you better give her back!" The blonde, athletic woman yelled, tossing the weapon down. Mark struggled to get the cover open with the blade until he finally unlocked it, tossing the thing to the side.

"MARK, HAUL ASS!" Kenny screamed, but it may have been too soon. Mark was about to go down the ladder when a set of teeth chomped down on his arm. Blood gushed from the spot momentarily before the adult human was able to kick the walker down the manhole. "Holy shit.. He's.. He's bitten!" Those were the last, horrifying words Mark heard before jumping down the hole, catching the ladder on his way down and making his speedy way to the sewers below to avoid any falling walkers. Two attempted to get down and both fell to their deaths.

An exhausted Mark sat down next to their corpses and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a red bite mark, blood slowly pouring down the injury. It wasn't much but that was the least of his worries.

Choices:

A: Kill yourself

B: Continue on and find the group.

Relationships:

Kenny is mad Mark didn't follow his plan. 4/10

Duck is sorry for shooting anyways. 5/10

Lee has got to be around here somewhere, right? 10/10

Carley is Mark's closest ally currently. 10/10

Ben and Mark have been tight since the beginning. 10/10

Travis and Mark are also close. 10/10

Mark hopes Chuck returns safely to the group, as he'd like to get to know him better. 5/10

Clem and Mark don't know each other much but they're still close. 7/10

Omid and Christa seem friendly to Mark. 7/10

Molly is happy Mark was kind and peaceful with her. 6/10

The stranger is a danger to the group. 2/10

((Question of the chapter, since we've reached 1,000 reviews, what has been your favorite moment in the story thus far? Thank you all once again!))