It was true, more than anything they needed a break. Lee nodded at Pete's proposal. "We could use a break before we head off. Thanks for the offer." The two shook hands, Clem, Chuck and Molly smiled at Lee's choice. Carley couldn't smile now, but she certainly preferred this decision.

"You're kidding me. How can you just trust complete strangers?" Christa was not as happy, but to be fair she had just witnessed strangers rob them of Clems backpack and Omid's life. One of them was even still on the loose.

"They have had every chance to kill us so far, and yet we're still alive." Lee defended, pulling his hand away from Pete. Nick looked pissed and Carlos looked skeptical, but Luke and Pete seemed happy enough.

"That's right. We're good people, we just got precautions." Luke told the grieving woman. She glared at him before her face softened up. She couldn't do this, so she simply turned away, her lip quivering. Carley grabbed her arm and comforted her.

"Which we're sorry about." Pete added, sensing the sadness in the poor woman. There was a silence before Carlos broke it.

"At any rate, the house meeting starts in two hours. It's going to rain tonight, so nobody should be approaching the cabin just yet."

"Hopefully not." Pete replied, watching as Nick pulled his rifle back. He aimed at the group, his finger off the trigger thankfully. The group began walking towards the shed with Pete leading them alongside Luke. Carlos separated back to the cabin.

"Can we get this over with?" Nick muttered, rolling his eyes at how friendly the two closest friends he had were being with these possible thieves, murderers even!

Pete looked back at his nephew. "You gotta be somewhere, son?" No response, so Pete ignored him.

"..I just don't wanna stand out in the rain all day." It was getting quite cloudy. Nick lowered his rifle a bit in response to the death glares he was getting from Clementine and Molly. Eventually, they made it to the shed. It was brown and kinda old looking. Quiet thunder sombered itself into the background, playing like a soft requiem in honor of their fallen comrade. Pete and Luke opened the doors as Nick 'stayed guard'. One by one, they all walked in. Lee and Carley stopped at the door.

"You better explain all of this when we get out." Carley said to the older male. He gave her a sad look, trailing his eyes to his feet to avoid her concerned gaze.

"..I'll explain everything I can, but that doesn't mean I'll explain everything. I'm sorry, it's a complicated affair." His gravelly voice croaked out as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Carley sighed as she walked past them. Lee followed her skeptically. The doors slowly closed behind them, leaving the sad, desperate group alone.

Christa sat down in a corner, softly crying her eyes out. Carley decided to leave her alone, since she figured she's spent enough time with people. Clementine folded her arms and leaned against the wall, whilst Lee joined her. Carley smiled at the eleven year old, patting her head. It was a fake smile, but it made Clem happy to see it.

"So.. what do we do now?" Molly pondered aloud.

"How about you start by telling us what happened after we separated." Lee questioned, hoping to hear that they at least found the town.

"Okay, we found the town." Well, there ya go!

"Really? That's-"

"It was overrun."

Lee's face dropped and he sighed. "..Okay, nevermind."

"We found a dog, he led us to some food and we got to eat." Clementine tried to balance Molly's sarcastic with something optimistic. It got a smile out of her father figure.

"That's good, sweet pea. At least you're not hungry. But goddamn am I starved." He rubbed his stomach, a loud gurgle filling the room came from it.

"They didn't let ya'll eat?" Chuck asked, skeptical since they weren't completely ravenous by now.

"Luke snuck us a few apples, if you can call that a meal." Carley confirmed.

"Damn.." Chuck muttered. Guess they weren't all so trusting after all. It did seem like a big group, they probably need to feed all of them every day.

"Well, I'm sure they'll feed us soon." Clementine said, trying her damndest to lift her depressing group's spirits.

"What happened to you guys after we split?" Molly asked either of the two. Lee ended up responding.

"We got cornered by walkers. Nobody got nabbed, but it was a close call, and we barely escaped. We stumbled through the forest for the rest of the night until we found Pete and Luke hunting."

"It was a total mess. At least nobody else got hurt." Carley added, resting her chin on Lee. The sentence she had just spoken reminded her of the man who just sacrificed his life for her. Eyes were turned to Christa as her sobbing attack subdued, at least a little. Clementine approached her, though only by a foot or so.

"...Christa? Are you okay?" The young girl asked, her voice full of caution and concern. There was no answer, not for an uncomfortable ten seconds. Finally, Christa inhaled, laid down on her side facing the wall, and closed her eyes.

"I… No. Just leave me alone, Clementine." The widow whispered, clutching herself like a teddy bear.

"Oh.. Okay." Clem looked down, understanding her pain. When she found out her parents died, it took months to get over the trauma, and even then she changed drastically since then. She spoke differently, she had a more negative outlook despite still being the second most positive member of the group, and she looked three years older than she really was.

"I guess we could just hang out here until they're done in there. I got cards if y'all wanna play?" Chuck offered, pulling a bunch of playing cards out from his pack. Molly nodded quickly, taking up the offer.

"Actually, I'm gonna try to rest." Carley followed Christa's actions, laying down underneath a shelf that looked.. Sturdy enough. Lee walked up to her.

"I'll gladly join you. These past few days.. They've been exhausting." The leader crawled down on the floor next to his girlfriend, allowing her to snuggle his chest.

"I'll stay up with you guys." Clem preferred hanging with the much chiller Molly and Chuck. They were a much needed break from the other half of the group.

"You sure? You've been up a while." Lee questioned, sitting up with those worried eyes. Clem nearly rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine, Lee. It's okay."

He sighed, nodding in understanding before laying back down. "..Alright."

"Here, shuffle the deck, kid." Molly handed the deck of cards to Clem, turning the notch of a lamp to lighten up the desk they were playing on.

An hour and forty minutes later…

Carlos, Nick, Rebecca, Alvin, Pete and Luke sat around the dining room table, a candle or two lighting up the room. "This house meeting, as I'm sure you all know," Carlos started, taking the lead of this one. "Is about the group currently in the shed."

"Before we get into any debate, I just gotta ask.. Did you see Bill out there at all?" Alvin asked Luke and Pete, his hands twiddling with nervousness. They had meant to ask, but this mess got them confused and stuffed with even more problems.

"No, no I think we gave him the slip." Luke answered.

"We've been out here for an entire month, and I still don't feel safe." Alvin told the group, putting his hand over his face before staring out the window.

"It's a possibility that he's still lookin'. Carver ain't the type of man to give up on us, especially not you." Luke clarified.

"Tch.. All the more reason to get rid of those complete strangers. They could be working with Carver, and you know that." Rebecca accused, already causing Pete to become frustrated. Rolling his eyes, the graying man stood up and began pacing.

"Do you really still think that after all the evidence against that theory? No communication, a map that doesn't even start at Howe's, minimal weapons, a broken group with a pretty believable story to me. Look.. When push comes to shove, and we know it has a high probability of doing so, we're outmatched. Pete, me, Nick, Carlos. That's it. There is no Reggie, the rest of you are either pregnant, willfully unprepared or have priorities set on something greater. If we expand our group, become more defendable, we could actually fight back when Bill comes back." The leader proposed, stopping just short of Rebecca. She glared at him.

Before she could respond, Luke interjected. "You're right, that's something else I was considering."

Rebecca looked to Alvin for support, but he couldn't face her. "To be fair, one of 'em, that woman, was really depressed. I think they said something about her husband. I don't even wanna know how my death would affect you." The teddy bear replied to her anger induced glare.

"Don't even go there, empathy won't work here. I don't empathize with manipulators." The pregnant woman said.

Nick was leaning against the counter, biting his nails out of habit. He developed the habit as a teen and it's never stopped since. He finally spoke up. "I don't know, Bec.. Luke's got a point."

"Finally, you grow some sense." Pete placed his hand on Nick's shoulder, the latter of which pulled back.

"Hey, shut up. I'm just saying.. They didn't seem like bad people. I think we might have jumped the gun. Besides, Pete makes a good point, Bill's bat shit crazy."

"That's what I'm saying! They seem like skilled survivors with good hearts, nothin' devious." Luke agreed, looking at the lanky man with a genuine smile. Nick smiled back.

"I can't believe you guys are actually considering letting them go." Rebecca begrudgingly butted in.

"Actually, we were considering letting them stay." Pete corrected. The curly haired woman looked like she was going to rip his head off. Carlos broke between the two with words alone.

"With that all said, what is everyone's vote?" Those words meant a vote was now in session.

"I vote we let 'em stay. You know my reasons." Pete stated.

"I agree." Nick raised his hand.

"I'm with Pete, we could use good folks." Luke told them.

Alvin hesitated before speaking up. "I.. I don't know. I abstain."

"Alvin-" Rebecca was about to scold him, when Carlos, once again, interjected.

"Silence is a valid option. That's fine. I vote to let them stay." The Spanish doctor said.

"They go, I don't care if my vote doesn't matter. I'd watch my ass if I were you guys." Rebecca began leaving the room, opening the kitchen door to head to the living room.

"Babe, come on." Alvin tried following her, but she sternly turned her heel and faced him with furrowed brows.

"Stay away, I need some air." SLAM. The room was left silent.

"Dinners ready in case anyone wants any. Nick and I will go grab the survivors in the shed, y'all set the table." Luke grabbed his machete and sheath, taking a bowl of butter beans as he headed for the door.

"I'm going to go check up on Sarah. It's nearly her bed time. They can sleep in the living room for tonight." Carlos headed out the door, but stopped at it and turned back. "If we're wrong about this.. Nevermind." And with that ominous sentence, he left. Luke and Nick shrugged at each other.

Meanwhile, Rebecca had gone upstairs, heading for the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind herself, beginning to cradle her own body in her arms. "Oh.. Oh god.." She grunted, a series of pains hitting her nether regions. Her hands caught the bathroom sink, and she looked up in the mirror to see herself.

"Let it be okay.. And let it be his."

Clementine watched as Chuck single handedly destroyed Molly in a game of war. "Nice one, gramps. I guess wiseness comes in handy even in a game of luck."

"Yeah, not going to lie, this game takes no skill." The guitarist chuckled, shaking his head as he began putting away the cards. They were all getting sleepy, despite the grumbling in their stomachs.

"Still pretty fun though." Clementine replied, rubbing her eyes.

"Agreed, kid." Molly smiled sadly, realizing the hunger must be pretty bad on Clementine, despite the earlier snack.

The door to the shed opened, causing anyone who was sleeping, Lee, Christa and Carley, to jolt up and stare at the outside world. It was raining a bit, but Luke protected the one bowl he brought out under his shirt. He brought it to show to the survivors he was serious. "Hey, we brought you some food if you're hungry! You can eat inside the cabin, or if you still don't trust us, you can eat in here. Your call."

Lee liked this idea, but what if they still weren't welcome? Christa slowly sat back down in the corner, shaking her head at the proposal, while Carley looked at Lee for a reply. "Yeah, we'll go! I'm starved!" Molly exclaimed, taking the bowl from Luke before furiously devouring it. The red head chuckled, Nick cracked a smile.

"How about the rest of ya?" Luke asked.

"Yes please." Clementine answered, stepping forward. Lee bit his lip, now this was a difficult choice. He might as well accept the offer to.

"Sure, I'd love something to eat." Lee walked next to Clementine, his stomach knocking on his metaphorical door for something to quench his hunger.

"What about Christa?" Carley questioned the leader, pulling on his arm to point at the woman. Lee looked back, as well as the rest of the group. The woman didn't spare a glance.

Choices:

A: Tell her to come with

B: Leave her

C: Ask her if she'd like to come.

Relationships:

Clem is honestly pretty happy you stayed at the cabin, she thinks these people could be nice, plus she doesn't want to die. 10/10

Carley likes this plan, but know what affect this will have on Christa. 10/10

Christa doesn't agree with this plan at all. She's lost a bit of faith in you. 8/10

Chuck is more than cool with your choice, he knows you always make the best judgements. 10/10

Molly also agrees. She personally doesn't care what Christa thinks, especially if she's going to be" all selfish." 10/10

Luke likes that you decided to stay, even if everyone else seems a touch skeptical. 7/10

Pete feels that you're a smart, caring guy and wants you to stay longer. 7/10

Carlos has a feeling you're safe, but doesn't exactly trust you. 5/10

Sarah barely knows you. 5/10

Nick seems to have come around and at least trusts you thanks to Pete's convincing. 6/10

Rebecca really doesn't like your choice. 2/10

Alvin seems sympathetic towards you, he doesn't mind that you're staying a bit longer, even if he tries to hide it. 6/10

((QOTC: Is there any cut content from any season you'd like to see in this story?))