((Thanks to 404's review for the introduction! Some others also made good suggestions, this one was just my personal favorite. Enjoy.))

Christa had been showing ever increasing paranoia and Lee was fairly certain her brain was not in the right place for strategics. "Christa, I understand you're anxious about these people. Ever since the St. John's, it's been difficult for me to trust strangers as well, and them not giving us back our guns isn't great either... but, what if we're overthinking things? Clementine and the others asked Luke and Pete about this 'Carver' figure, and according to them, there seems to be some bad history. Nothing along the lines of a booby trap. Please Christa. I'm just saying we should give them a chance. We've been on the road so long that a week of rest won't kill us. Besides, there's safety in numbers." This argument perplexed the woman. She had no response until Carley approached them.

She got on her tippy toes and gave the man a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Lee, stay safe out there today. Maybe you can try and convince this Alvin guy to give us a longer stay, and our weapons back."

"A longer stay? Are you for real?" The couple looked over at a fuming Christa, her cheeks red and her eyebrows forming deadly weapons.

The ex reporter looked confused. "What?"

"Christa doesn't think we should stay here for even a week." Lee explained.

"Because it's dangerous! These people, they don't care about us! They might imprison us again, or they could be hiding something! Aren't you tense that they have your glock and still haven't given it back?!" Carley looked at Christa funny, shaking her head. The three were so engaged, they didn't feel the presence of the chubby husband of Rebecca behind them.

"Uh.. Lee, it's time to go." Alvin told the leader. Lee looked back and forth between the two parties.

"Go ahead. I'll talk to her." Carley took Christa's arm, nodding Lee off. The man looked at Christa, who still looked mildly pissed.

"Christa.. Please, listen to Carley."

"Keep your eyes peeled, Lee. We'll be here." Christa begrudgingly replied, turning her heel to the back door. The bearded man sighed, walking towards the front door with Alvin.

He noticed Clementine wrapping her pinkie finger around Carlos' daughters own, but only waved as he left. Clem nodded at him before staring back at Sarah. "A pinkie swear is forever." the teen girl enthused.

"I know. Friends forever. But, we'll need to get to know each other more when I come back."

"Aww.. You can't stay?" The nerdy girl asked as Clem got out of her seat.

"Sorry, Sarah, she's got an important mission to run." Pete stated, patting the girl on the shoulder roughly.

"Maybe next time she can stay. Sorry, kiddo." Nick gave Sarah a sincere smile. Molly knocked into him with her shoulder purposefully.

"We goin' or what?" The blonde questioned the older leader.

"Molly.. Be nice." Chuck said from his place at the table.

"Yeah, yeah. You too, Charles." She rolled her eyes, leaving the cabin.

"Bye, guys!" Sarah waved, watching as the group left. Carlos approached his daughter just as everyone left, sitting down with her.

Lee and Alvin walked side by side, Alvin with a rifle and Lee with a combat pistol of sorts. The man in glasses was generous enough to hand him the gun, though he warned Lee to never tell anyone in his crew about it. Lee's lips were sealed.

"So, I just want to say, on behalf of my entire group, I'm sorry for imprisoning you all when we first met you." Alvin spoke up.

"If it helps, I get why you did it. We'd probably do the same. You guys have a kid, a nice, secret cabin and strength in numbers. I doubt you'd want some strangers to just ruin that all."

"You got that right. That, and Bec is pregnant."

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't go all Papa Bear on us. If I were you, and my wife was nine months pregnant, shit, I'd have probably killed you."

"Fair enough. I guess I got a good heart or something. I ain't weak of course, but.. Sensitive." Alvin looked to the ground, shaking his head. He probably got that a lot, despite his appearance.

"I get you. Oh, and thanks for the gun, even if it is only to hunt for rabbits and birds." Lee said, examining the gray combat pistol. It was small, but fired at a much faster rate than most pistols.

"Yeah, don't sweat it. You guys should be able to defend yourselves too."

"If we end up staying long, maybe we'll be able to protect this place from whatever is scaring you guys."

Alvin cracked a smile that faded seconds later. "That'd be appreciated. I can't go into detail about what is specifically hunting us, but I can say it ain't a herd of lurkers."

"I didn't think so. The only thing herds track is noise, and you guys are extremely quiet."

"Say, I wanted to ask. What's the deal with you, Carley and Clem? I know you and Carley are together, and you used to be married to another woman before, but.. Are you two married or..?" Lee sighed, thinking it over. They were technically Clem's adopted parents, but Lee and Carley were not 'married.' Boyfriend and girlfriend, sure, lovers, definitely, but traditional marriage was not a thing they had settled on yet.

"Nah, we've never had time to be too romantic. For about a year, our entire group was clouded in misery, after Christa had the miscarriage."

"I don't know what I'd do if that happened to Bec."

"I hope to god that doesn't happen. Do you have any baby name ideas?"

"Eh, we have a few ideas. I like the sound of Alvin Jr., but Bec would probably call me an egotistical maniac." Alvin let out a chuckle, halting his movement to look around. "This is our normal spot. See if you can find anything. As soon as we have some meat, we run with it. Don't need too much undead attention." Lee nodded in understanding, separating from the teddy bear of a man. He held the weapon tightly in his firm hands, finger on the trigger. His eyes peeled out for any small animals.

After about three minutes, Lee stumbled upon a few creatures, all small rabbits. He gasped, but remained quiet. Aiming down the sights, he held his breath for the shot.

Minigame: Choose a number between 0-11 (1-10). Whichever number gets the most vote will determine how many kills Lee gets.

Relationships (Lee):

Clementine: 10/10

Christa: 7/10 (For disagreeing with you)

Carley: 10/10 (She fully supports your choice.

Molly: 10/10

Chuck: 10/10

Luke: 7/10

Alvin: 7/10

Pete: 7/10

Nick: 7/10

Rebecca: 2/10

Carlos: 5/10

Sarah: 5/10

Clementine walks next to Pete and Molly through the woods, Nick absent from the group. "Does he always hold you up on these expeditions?" The athletic woman questioned, annoyed.

"He just has to pee." Clem said, trying to defend him.

"Nick has his flaws, that's for sure. One time we were going hunting, figured he had to learn. The boy was younger, maybe sixteen, and we had been in the woods for about an hour," The three stopped walking. "We see this beautiful buck standin' there about fifteen feet away. The boy aims down at it, and.. Then I hear him start whining. He turns to me and says, 'I can't do it, I can't shoot it, uncle Pete.'" Pete imitates his nephew, smiling at the girls. Molly gives a smirk and full out laughs.

"Aww.." The eleven year old sympathetically whimpers.

"What a loser." Molly said in between chuckles. Pete shakes his head, smirking with her.

"Hey!" Speaking of, Nick arrives. "Why didn't you wait?"

"You expect us to stand around listening to you piss on a tree? You know where the river is, boy." The eldest man counters, turning back to the trail to walk and talk. "So anyways, I took the rifle from him, and the boy nearly gut shot me-"

"Why are you telling them this shit?!" Nick butts in annoyed. Molly rolls her eyes, turns around and pushes him back.

"Mind your own business, asshole."

"No, he's my uncle, you're the asshole!" Nick shoves his finger in her shoulder, glaring down at the woman.

"Guys.." Pete mumbles, trying to get them to calm down to no avail.

"How do you put up with such a loud mouthed jackass? All he does is complain and whine and-"

"And what? I'm just on edge!"

"That's everyone's excuse, I've heard it from everyone! Look at Lee or Chuck, I'm sure they're always on edge, they're really nice people!" The two are inches away from each other, arguing like children. Pete rolls his eyes while Clem looks on nervously.

"You barely even know me." The young man spits out.

"Then stop acting like you know me." Molly growls back, her fist clenched. Clementine couldn't take this anymore.

"Stop fighting!" She demands, catching both of them off guard. "Molly, Nick really is on edge. You know what it's like to lose someone. You don't get over it in- in a week! Nick, please, get that stick out of your ass and try to be less annoying. You're both acting like children, so please, stop."

"Whatever." Nick walks forward, purposely bumping shoulders with Molly. She mumbles a curse under her breath that not even Clem can hear.

"Where are you going?"

"The river. I know where the fuck it is."

"Tch.. So anyways, I found that buck later that season. Shot it right in the neck. Took it to my sisters to freeze some of the meat, and unfortunately Nick had to see that. He didn't speak to me for weeks."

"Funny story." Molly said nonchalantly.

"Nick's father wasn't around much, and he was a piece of shit when he was. That meant I had to be around more and help my sister raise him. It meant I couldn't always be nice ol' Uncle Pete. Sometimes, you have to make tough decisions, even when people you love hate you for it."

"He doesn't hate you." Clem reasoned. Pete knew that, but he showed the girl a smile anyways.

"I guess I feel bad for him? I dunno, my parents were pretty cool, it was our aunt who was a real bitch. When mom or dad weren't around, we became her personal ashtray. Glad she bit the big one." She spoke between gritted teeth near the end of her sentence, shaking her head at the memory.

"I didn't know that." Clem silently spoke.

"Yeah.. Not a fun story."

"Uncle Pete!" Nick suddenly shouted out from the river. Pete, Molly and Clementine rushed to his voice. What they found was the river, littered with dead bodies, all full of holes.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph.."

"What kind of sick fucker could have done this?" Molly questioned, placing an uneasy hand on her face. Pete used his rifle to inspect a few of the bodies, poking them to see if they'd move. All of the bodies on this section of the river were shot between the eyes.

"You know who." Nick muttered to his uncle. Pete nodded.

"Carver?" Clem asked. Pete and Nick froze, not replying.

"Okay, look: I don't know jack shit about this 'Carver' guy, but if you could tell us, maybe JUST maybe, we might be able to help out?" Molly suggested.

"I.. I dunno if we're at that point of trust yet." Pete hesitated.

"You don't trust us?"

"I do. Not everyone is at that point with your entire group though. When we are, I'll tell you."

"Bullshit, old man." She got up in his face, folding her arms impatiently.

"Alright, enough! Look, we have no time for yellin'. What we need to do is inspect these bodies, find out why or how this was done, and maybe even find someone living." Pete lashed out in her face, walking away to the other side of the river.

"Who the hell cares if someone's alive?!" Nick yelled.

"Because they might be inclined to tell us who did this. We can't just guess. Molly, Nick, stay here and inspect these ones. Clementine and I will cross the river to see if there's anything over there." Clementine nodded, though she felt a bit uneasy here too, for obvious reasons.

"This is stupid.." Nick mumbled, turning back to inspect a body.

"For once, I agree. Either it was 'Carver' or it wasn't our problem, plain and simple. Right, Clem?" Molly asked, looking to where Clem was. She wasn't there. She was crossing the river with Pete. "Clem, the fuck? I thought you were on my side."

"I'm not on anyone's side, Molly. We have to work together. Go help Nick."

"When did you get so goddamn mature?" The adult muttered, walking toward Nick.

"Why didn't any of you notice?" Clem whispered back, though Molly couldn't hear her. She turned back around, looking at the grass for anything useful. After checking a few bodies, she hadn't found any ammo on a single body.

Pete finished killing a walker with a spear that was lodged into its chest. "No luck, huh? Whoever did this must have looted the corpses like a vulture."

Something behind the older man caught her eye. "Hey, Pete, I think I see more bodies over there." Pete notices as well.

"Yeah, this wasn't just some rinky dink pissin' match. Stay here and see what else you can find, I'll check that out. I wish I could give you a weapon, but.. Sorry, Clementine." He pats her hat once more.

"I guess I get it. You guys have to trust me eventually though." She shrugs, still not happy with the treatment she's receiving.

"We will. We all will, not just me and Luke." He chuckles, turning to the other side of the river to make his way to the uncharted territory. Clementine's search becomes disturbing when she hears the growl of a man near the edge of the grass. She pauses, her eyes looking in the direction of the noise. What she sees is her pink backpack from two nights ago.

"Molly!" Clem whispers just loud enough for the blonde to hear. She turns her head, raises a brow and then notices the backpack.

"Holy shit.. Nick, I'm going to check on Clem. Stay here." She begins moving to the girl.

"Don't talk to me right now." Nick murmurs, wallowing in self pity. Molly rolls her eyes.

"Ugh, whatever, asshole." She crosses the river, inspecting the body with the child. "Who.. Oh god, he's alive?"

"Egh, egh! P-please.." A shaking, bloody, raisin skinned Jeremy coughed out. His eyes were dark and yellow. He clutched his stomach where he was shot.

"You were in the woods, you helped kill…" The name of the man couldn't be spoken from Clementine. She was astounded that one of them managed to live through that night. They just seemed like petty scavengers.

"P-Please.. Water…" The man begged, reaching for Clem's bag. It still had water in it, an entire bottle. Clem and Molly looked at the bag, then at each other.

"It's uh.. It's your water, kid. Your choice. If we keep him alive, he might be able to say like two words? If we kill him, it'll be full retribution for Omid."

Choices:

A: Kill Jeremy

B: Give him the water

C: Let him die slowly

Relationships (Clem)

Lee: 10/10

Carley: 10/10

Chuck: 10/10

Christa: 8/10

Molly: 10/10

Luke: 7/10

Pete: 8/10 (From bonding)

Nick: 7/10

Carlos: 6/10 (From becoming friends with Sarah)

Sarah: 8/10 (From becoming friends for life)

Alvin: 6/10

Rebecca: 2/10

((QOTC: Favorite TWD song? Take Us Back is an obvious favorite but I also think Gun In My Hand is a banger and more than worthy of best song.))