Smack!

From inside the truck, that was the only thing that could be heard. Carver and Carley's dialogue was hard to understand from inside the four walls. Johnny and Shawn looked away from their prisoners, the former of which taking a smoke while he stared outside and sat on the edge of the truck's back entrance, while the latter shamefully looked down, deep in thought.

"Hey." Chuck whispered to Molly, who looked at him almost immediately.

"What?" Her voice was impatient and distant.

His expression softens. "..We lost. And it's all my fault." Shawn looks up and begins listening in. Molly rolls her eyes.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's that crazy bastard outside's."

The older man shakes his head. "I got caught. I separated you from the group. I separated Carley from her lover, and from Clementine."

"Christa was the one who exposed everyone when she shot too quickly, but I don't hear you blaming her."

"She's going through a lot."

"We all are."

He looks down. "Hm.. I guess so." Then he looks back up to see her looking into the corner with a hint of disdain. "Anyways.. I'm sorry. Truly, Molly. I don't think we're going to live through this. " He swallows, forcing a small smile as she looks into his eyes sadly. "I miss my guitar, heh."

"The cabin bunch have it." She whispers.

He looks down at his lap, his hands tied behind his back. "If we ever see them again, I don't think it'll be for long."

"Jesus.. What a mood killer." She exhales humorously.

"My bad. I tend to speak what's on my mind."

"I'm always thankful for that." The conversation dies for a bit. They try to listen to Carley and Carver's discussion, but can't understand a word. Johnny blows smoke into the cool night air, Shawn goes back to staring into space. Molly breaks the silence. "So…"

"Yeah?"

"With impending death or worse soon to come.. What's your biggest regret?"

Chuck looks sadder than she expected him to be. He still huffs out a laugh but it's almost humorless. "Before the apocalypse, I had a beautiful family. I used to be everyone's favorite uncle. My sister adored me and she had these wonderful kids that I loved more than anything in the world. My parents were great people too, though very strict. We were Jewish, me not so much no more. My faith is kinda done, generally speaking."

"I had no idea you were Jewish."

"It never came up. And I'm not, anymore."

"Fair enough."

He continues, recapturing Shawn's attention. Johnny ignores them. "Used to have a wife too. I wanted babies of my own and she weren't ready. That was when we were 20. Then we were 30, and she said the same thing. Then, 40. You get it."

"So..?"

"So… I got fed up. I.. left her after she had a stroke, around her early forties. We divorced at her most vulnerable and I then went on to rush into a relationship with another girl, lonely lady in her fifties. She was a sweetheart, enjoyed my music and made good money. That was enough for me. My sis and her kids were disgusted with me. Sally was like a member of the family and I.. I practically abandoned her to have kids. I had a family, I had children who loved me like an uncle. That should have been enough."

Molly, frustrated with his self pity, replied, "You don't have to settle for second best, dude. You made the right choice."

He glares sternly at her, like an upset parent. "No. No I didn't, Molly. I abandoned my wife so I could find a new family that could appeal to my fantasies of being a dad. I was immature and stupid, if anything." He looks back down as his voice cracks. "Wanna know the worst part? I was infertile by 46, when we tried to conceive. It didn't work out and we found out my eggs were no longer working. Strange, ain't it? That ain't supposed to happen naturally for a loooong time, for men anyways. Ain't that weird?"

"It was.. Karma? I guess? You don't deserve that."

"I deserved it. She was okay with me being infertile, she liked me for me. Only I refused to marry. I broke her heart too, and then started livin' in the streets to punish myself. I wanted to pay for everything I had done. For three years, I lived on the land, homeless by choice. Nobody liked me among the homeless community, saw me as a white suit taking a vacation from being rich. My coworkers laughed at me behind my back, civilians dodged me and I was shunned by charities and soup kitchens." He let a single tear pass by before placing his tied up hands in his lap. Shawn looked depressed. Molly was just bummed.

"So, what, your biggest regret is leaving your wife?"

"Almost. My biggest regret was never reaching back out to her, my sister, my nieces, my nephews. Everyone. I threw my phone into a storm drain and neglected my family for years. And then… this all happened right around my sixtieth birthday. Now I got no clue where they're at."

"..How come you didn't tell me any of this?"

"It's not fond memories, Molly. I don't like talking about any of this. But I don't wanna die with all this kept with me to the grave. You of all people deserve to know the real me."

Shawn allows a small tear to escape him before he wipes it away. Molly just stares at the floor while Chuck waits for her response.

"...My biggest regret was joining Crawford."

"I know. You told me."

"...My second biggest regret was fucking Nick."

The two chuckled. Then laughed. Then they sobbed through their laughter until Johnny turned around and saw not two, but three blue faces. He raised a brow before standing up, assault rifle in hand. "You keep up this noise and I will kill you, right now." He threatened. Shawn wiped his face.

"Whatever, asshole. We're gonna die anyway." Molly spat back.

The farm boy stood up and cleared his throat. "Leave em be, Johnny. They're gonna behave." Johnny rolled his eyes before stepping out and enjoying his cigarette whilst guarding the truck. He quickly put it out when he noticed Bill coming back.

"I didn't know you banged that guy."

"It wasn't too bad. He's kinda charming when he isn't fucking annoying."

Chuck kicks her foot, genuinely smirking at her. "Thanks for everything, Molly."

She kicks him and smiles back. "Thanks to you too, old man."

Outside, Carver awaits Carley's response. She sighs, looking down at the floor when she admits defeat.

"Okay. We surrender. When we find the others, we'll tell them to give in."

The leader smiles confidently. "Good girl. You're making the right choice." He leans inward, whispering so quietly only she could hear him.

"Everything's gonna be okay."

Back at the lodge, Clementine turns to Duck after looking around. "Sorry, Duck, but I should check on my group. Do you mind coming outside with me to see Luke and Pete?"

"Not at all! I missed you like crazy, it doesn't matter what we do." His bright smile returns after a stressful discussion with the group.

"Thanks." She smiles at him before leading the older boy outside to the pair of leaders. On the way, she asks, "How did you guys find this place?"

"We met Sarita after Travis died. Dad fell in love with her and she let us come back to her group. How did YOU guys find this place?"

"Oh, we just followed the map Pete made."

Duck gasps. "Man, topography is one of my hobbies! I gotta show you my maps sometime."

"Really? That's awesome." She smiled back at him before opening the door leading to the back. Luke and Pete turned to see the duo. Pete coughed into his fist, tarry smoke escaping his lungs.

"Hey guys, this is my friend, Ken Jr. We call him Duck."

"Duck, huh? That's a quirky nickname." Pete says.

"I am quite quirky." He grins. Luke and Pete laugh.

"Why didn't you guys follow us upstairs? Catching up?" Luke asks.

Clem replies, "Yeah. Um, actually, I wanted to ask what you guys were doing outside."

"Catching a smoke, discussing what we're gonna do next." Pete answers, taking another drag of the old cigarette.

"I am not catching a smoke. I do not smoke." Luke adds, waving his hands up in defense of himself.

"Good, smoking is nasty." Duck says.

"Agreed." Clem teases Pete, folding her arms with a serious look of disgust. Luke gets a good chuckle out.

"Oh, hush. Let an old man enjoy his bad habits."

"If you don't mind me asking, what are our plans?" Clem asks. Luke and Pete look at each other seriously now.

"We.. we're not sure." Luke replies, trying to act coy. He still thinks the lodge group has no idea about their situation.

"You guys should probably know that we know about that Carver guy." Duck blabs.

"Duck!" Clem yells, glaring at him. Pete and Luke look surprised.

Duck waves his hand. "It's fine. We trust you guys. And we're with you! My dad and I wanna help. We can help you."

Luke paces, fist slamming into his open palm with frustration. "Shit, goddamn it, Clementine. Why did you tell them that?"

"Calm down, Luke, we were gonna tell them too." Pete says.

"Yeah, but- shit.." the southern man stops and sighs, looking down at the kids. "Does Matthew or that Walter guy know?"

"No. Should we tell him?" Clem asks.

Pete wheels himself over. "Depends on what we're doing. I gotta talk to Lee. Where is he?"

"Talking to Kenny, Christa and Ben." Clem answers. Luke walks past both kids and goes inside, ready to confront Lee.

"Look, you're not in trouble, but.. Just ask us before you say stuff like that next time, okay?" Pete pleads. Clem looks downward while Duck looks a little confused.

"Sorry.."

Pete smiles and touches her hat after stomping out his cigarette. "I'm sure it weren't your fault." Then he wheels himself inside, following Luke.

"Why were they so angry? The freckled boy asks.

"What? Dude, are you serious? Why would you tell them that?"

"Soorryy. Geez. It's gonna be a while until dinner. Wanna go do something else?"

Choices (Clementine)

A: Help Walter and Matthew with the cooking with Duck

B: Help Walter and Matthew with the cooking without Duck

C: Catch up with Rebecca, Nick, Alvin and Carlos with Duck

D: Catch up with Rebecca, Nick, Alvin and Carlos without Duck

E: Decorate the tree with Duck, Sarah and Sarita

F: Decorate the tree with Sarah and Sarita, without Duck

Relationships

Lee: 10/10

Carley: 10/10

Christa: 8/10

Molly: 8/10

Chuck: 10/10

Kenny: 9/10

Duck: 9/10 (He senses you're upset at him, but isn't sure why.)

Ben: 8/10

Walter: 7/10 (He's.. suspicious of your group's wellbeing. And worried. He likes you though.)

Matthew: 7/10 (See Walter's reason)

Sarita: 6/10 (Still don't know her much yet. Maybe it'd be worth it to hang out with her?)

Luke: 7/10 (He's somewhat mad you jumped the gun and told your group about them and Carver)

Pete: 9/10 (He's a bit disappointed in you for revealing their past to a group they barely know.)

Nick: 9/10

Carlos: 8/10

Sarah: 10/10

Alvin: 8/10

Rebecca: 7/10

Carver: 0/10

((Heeeyyy. Do you like choice based fics like But Your Choices Actually Matter? You must if you made it this far. Wanna read MORE choice based fics? Here are some stories you might love by fellow fans of BYCAM and great friends of mine!

A New World by Litmus: Follow the story of Lee Everett as he tries to navigate the unfamiliar world he finds himself in inside this choice-based work.

Link: /works/37883167/chapters/94599616

No Tomorrow, by writer of chapter 127, 404: You wake up at the beginning of the apocalypse, transported into the world of TWD. Every time you die, you find yourself in a new body. Will you ever return to the real world? Or will you lose your sense of self first? - A TWD CYOA Story (OCs Accepted)

Link: /works/37840600/chapters/94488790

Thank you!))