(Flashback)
Lee POV
After steadying his nerves, Lee meticulously combed through the cafeteria, a palpable sense of disappointment settling in as he found himself in a supply drought. No fresh provisions had graced his presence since his arrival, leaving him with the modest hope of stumbling upon canned food or perhaps some reliable knives. The lunchroom sprawled before him, its dimensions stretching about 15 feet wide and likely 20 feet tall, a cavernous space that echoed the emptiness of his findings.
Minutes melted away in careful inspection, guiding Lee to the main kitchen area where a concealed cache of energy bars awaited discovery. Their presence lifted his spirits, injecting a spark of hope into his otherwise dismal situation as he pressed on toward the kitchen. Stepping into the culinary domain, Lee's initial findings included kitchen knives—seemingly practical against the threat of walkers. However, their dulled edges betrayed a history of neglect, their once-sharp blades untouched by the caress of a sharpener for quite some time. Cautiously, Lee picked up one of the knives, attempting to test its edge by cutting his palm, only to find the blade so blunt that it failed to break the skin. Safely storing the knives in a rigid container within his bag, Lee prioritized safety, acutely aware of potential accidents during more strenuous tasks.
His vigilance reached its zenith when an unfamiliar noise echoed from the unexplored back area. Both hands clutching his Glock 19, Lee took deliberate breaths as he approached the freezer door—the epicenter of the mysterious sound. Uncertain of the potential threat—whether one or more walkers—Lee reassured himself that he would unravel the situation when push came to shove.
Standing before the freezer door, Lee grappled with the decision to break it open. Locked, perhaps for a reason, yet the unmistakably human-like noise urged him to proceed. A fruitless search for a key in the lunchroom left him with limited options, leading to the resolution to shoot the lock off. Bang! The gunshot reverberated, shattering the lock into scattered pieces on the floor. As Lee swung the door open, a burst of cold air greeted him, revealing a man inside with black hair and pale white skin, lying on his back, barely moving. The man's labored breaths relied on an air tank. Puzzled, Lee grappled with the mystery of how everything ended up in this freezer and how the man succumbed to such a dire situation.
His heart raced as he took in the scene, the suspense thickening the air. Lee's attention shifted to the man in the freezer, and he carefully hoisted him by his shoulder, disconnecting him from the air tank. Exiting the freezer, the man gasped for air, taking a deep breath before succumbing to unconsciousness.
"Well, s***," Lee muttered to himself. "Can this day get any worse?" he pondered, feeling the weight of the impending challenges ahead. The echoes of uncertainty loomed, and Lee could sense the ominous trials that awaited him.
(A few hours later)
Lee had been waiting for the man to wake up for a few hours, maybe three or four. He thought the guy would never reach, but he was relieved when he finally did.
"Oh, I feel so warm," the man said, and Lee couldn't blame him. He had been in that freezer for who knows how long. The man noticed Lee and sat up, offering a smile. Lee returned the smile.
"So, who are you, man? And how did you end up in that freezer, locked in there?" Lee asked, curious to know the man's story. The man's expression changed as if he remembered something unpleasant.
"My name is Mark. I was a pilot. Well, how I got into that freezer is a long story, but I guess we don't have anything better to do, so I'll tell you," Mark said, still wearing a frown.
(End of flashback)
Naruto POV
Naruto had been jumping through the trees for about an hour. With no smoke in the distance, he assumed that was where the pastors who took Emily were. When he turned to his left, to his surprise, he saw Emily running through the forest in the opposite direction. So, he was right; Emily was over there.
Quickly changing his plans, Naruto made sure to step in front of her or jump down in front of her. "Hey, Emily, are you okay?" Naruto asked, concern evident in his voice. He could tell how shaken up she was.
Emily's expression changed to one of relief and happiness when her eyes met his. "Oh, thank God you're here," she said, relieved but scared at the same time. Naruto noticed her trembling. "Are you alright? What exactly happened?" Naruto inquired, wanting to get all the details of the incident when they took her.
"No, I'm fine for the most part. I just got shaken up, you know," she said unconvincingly, but Naruto decided not to pry. She would tell him when she was ready, or so he thought.
"Alright, I think we should go back. We're probably about 10 miles from the dairy. Naruto said eagerly, wanting to return. He didn't want to stay in the woods longer than necessary.
"But how? It'll probably take us hours upon hours to get back," Emily said, sadness and fear in her voice. Naruto could feel that she knew something he didn't, which made him curious, but he decided not to pry for now.
"No, don't worry. We'll get there in like 3 hours tops," Naruto reassured her.
"Get on my back," Naruto proposed, revealing his back and gesturing for Emily to climb on. Emily, rightfully confused, replied, "Come on, man, I don't think jokes are necessary right now. I'm not doubting you're fast, but I don't think you're faster than a car or a truck."
"You have to trust me on this one, please," Naruto said, a pleading look on his face. Emily sighed, "Fine, I'll do it, as long as I get there faster, okay?" Naruto smiled, "Alright, what are you waiting for? Get on."
Emily got on his back, and to her surprise, he lifted her quite easily. Even more surprising, he bolted. The speed was inconceivable to her at first, but after some time to adjust, she was able to process things around her. The only thing she could put into words about this entire situation was, "Today has been crazy."
Lee POV
(5 hours ago Until dinner)
Lee, Danny, and Mark were walking through the forest, searching for the Bandit camp to give them some payback for what they did. Lee, curious about Mark's feelings on the attack, asked, "So, Mark, how are you feeling about the attack?"
Mark frowned. "I don't know how I feel about it. I guess I'm just glad that I was able to get out of there alive," he said, mirroring the sentiments of others. Lee noted and understood what those words meant. Aside from Mark, he had spoken to everyone back at the dairy. Lily regretted going to the dairy, and Lee couldn't help but notice how she could be hot when she was nervous. He quickly shook his head, dispelling those intrusive thoughts.
Lee had talked to Lily about Larry, wanting to know how they could hash out their differences. She wasn't much help, but that wouldn't stop him from clearing the air with Larry. "I just want to be right with him. I'll keep trying after Lily," he thought.
After Lily, he talked to Kenny about his opinion of the brothers. Kenny didn't care about the brothers; he just wanted his family fed, which was understandable given the circumstances. Lee thought both Lily and Kenny had good points in wanting to leave the group, and he considered their perspectives. The two of them just needed...
"Can't say that I disagree with that thought," Lee pondered. He thought the brothers were suspicious as hell, but that was pretty normal considering their circumstances. They hadn't been accused of anything by Steven so far, but Lee would keep his guard up for now. He hadn't kept his guard up the first time they met the brothers, though. He attributed that to the Bandit attack, making him on guard this much. It was a mix between those two.
"We're almost there," Mark ordered, and Lee and Danny complied. They both crouched and crept up on the camp very slowly, alert to every sound. "Do you guys see anything?" Danny whispered.
"No, nothing yet," Mark answered. "I think I can see at least some smoke," Danny whispered to Lee and Mark. When they got closer, Lee noticed something on the ground. He used his gun to push it to the side for no particular reason, just checking all his bases, ready for a possible ambush. It's like they say, safer sorry these days; it's imperative to be that way, at least according to Lee.
"It seems like nobody's here," Mark said, looking around as they walked more into the camp. Lee, seeing the coast is clear, goes with Mark, with Danny following their lead. "Lee and Mark, check my back. I'm going to check the tent," Danny ordered, walking towards the big main tent. Lee and Mark trained their guns at the tent, ready for whatever might come when Danny opened it.
He saw nothing. "This camp is too small; it can't be their main base," Danny said, sounding let down at that revelation. "Do you know of any other camps than this one?" Mark asked, eager to find the bastards who attacked his group.
"Sorry, dude, this is the only camp I know of, but let's search around, see if we can find anything useful. They might have taken some of the food from us," Danny said, suspicious of how Mark was acting. At least, that's how Lee felt right now.
Mark checked a brown table to the left, searching for any supplies that would be useful for the group. "Clear," Mark said, disappointed. Lee knew how that felt; it was scary not to find anything. It reminded him of the base, but he shook that memory away. Bad stuff happened during that day, and he barely got out of there alive. But he must focus; focus on checking this place out. There may be something useful.
Lee walked up to Danny. "This is a pretty new tent," Danny shrugged. "There are just two sleeping bags. One of them's kid-sized, though." He smiled when he said "kid-sized," which Lee couldn't help but find amusing. It could be something, but it probably needs to be something. Probably.
They went to the other table to the right. There were way more boxes of supplies. Lee looked at some empty cans; he knew they were emptied of their contents recently. So...
"They might come back, maybe when they're long gone," Lee thought, feeling some chills down his spine. He sucked it up and kept searching. He didn't notice the gas canister. "S***, it's just fumes, though," Lee said, disappointed. They could still use the gas container, though. He didn't notice the shopping cart; he quickly deduced they were carrying a lot of stuff. Now, they thought about it, those things would be really good at taking supplies but really hard to get out if they had to run from walkers or other threats. So, Lee decided against taking that shopping cart; there were just too many risks to it.
Lee then went back to the boxes to search through them. They were filled with empty cans. "Whoever these people were, they ate a lot of food in a short amount of time. That should be our record, believe it or not," Lee thought to himself.
"Huh, what did you say, Lee?" Mark asked, walking over. "Oh, nothing, really," Lee quickly said. Mark shrugged and looked through the boxes with Lee. They didn't notice the box from the dairy.
"Boxes from the dairy are here," Mark said, surprised. Lee wasn't quite surprised; he just hadn't quite heard that they were dealing with them. But the thing that did surprise him was that there were just two people. Something ain't right here. The brothers aren't telling him something or any of the group members, and Lee doesn't like it. But he goes with it anyway because he doesn't want to rile up the rest of the group on a wild goose chase that might not get them all killed. So, he stays cool for now until he gets more evidence, and this is pretty big evidence, but it's just one big difference. He'll need way more.
"Probably all that food we've been giving them," Danny said, angry at the bandits. Then they pushed the dairy box to the side, and Lee saw a video recorder that caught his eye, as well as Mark's. Lee picked up the video recorder.
"What did you find, Lee?" Mark asked, curious about what he found. "It's a video camera," Lee said, trying to turn it on but finding out it had no batteries. Or it did have batteries, but they were dead. Lee smiled at that; it made him think of Carly and the first encounter at the drugstore. Doug and Carly were meant to be with each other. Now that Lee thought about it, they filled each other's weaknesses, making them a formidable team.
But Lee then noticed Danny was acting strange when he said that video camera. "Don't worry, the batteries are dead," Lee said, hopefully getting Danny off his back, which worked. "What else do they have here?" Danny asked, coming over to where Mark and Lee were, and he started searching through the boxes. This gave Lee...
It was finally time to go and search the tent, to search way more thoroughly than Danny probably did. Lee walked over to the tent and went inside the opening. While Mark helped Danny with the search, Lee heard Danny say, "Are you a hunter, Mark?"
"Well, I used to hunt when I was a boy, but no, not anymore. My gun skills were more from my time in the military. My sergeant, that bastard, but he was a good teacher, though," Mark replied, grimacing at what Mark told him years ago. Or was it just a few months ago? It felt like years. But you know, it's the picture. He grabbed it and saw a woman and a girl the same age as Clementine. They looked happy. Lee smiled at that picture but felt a pang of sadness when he put it down, thinking about what could have happened there. He then looked at the sleeping bag, and Danny was right; it was a kid's. Jesus, there's a kid mixed up in all this. Lee felt horrified at the thought of what could happen to that child, but he shook off those thoughts and kept looking.
He didn't notice an interesting lump; it looked familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was covered by a blanket, and when he took away that blanket, he was surprised and confused. Around his hands was Clementine's hat. "The hell?" Lee said.
Lee then heard, "Don't you f****** move, everyone!" and saw a girl with a crossbow aiming straight at their heads. Mark got up, not worried because there were two other people aiming guns at her. Lee also raised his gun at her.
"Listen, you are outnumbered. Just drop the crossbow, and we can talk this out," Mark said, trying to end this peacefully. Lee also wanted to end this peacefully as well. He didn't have his finger on the trigger, not yet at least. She mainly aimed her crossbow at Mark.
Jolene, glaring back, the woman said, clearly deranged, "Hey, we had a deal. No shooting unless we gave you food. What the hell happened?" Danny asked, wanting answers as well as hiding something.
"You had a deal with them? I ain't them," Jolene said, dismissing the St. John's comment. She then looked at Danny, saying, "I know you. I know what you do. And I know what you are." Jolene had Lee's attention more than ever.
"You don't know me," Danny quickly said, his suspicion rising. "We had a deal; you guys broke it first," Danny said, clearly covering his hide. Lee didn't know what it was, but he was going to get to the bottom of it one way or another, and this girl might have information.
"Who in the f*** are you?" Lee asked harshly.
"Lee, that's kind of harsh, don't you think?" Mark asked, not sure about Lee's methods right now. Before Lee could respond, she was just... deranged. Which...
made everyone stiffen, other than her. Mark's trigger finger was shaking, but he got ready. He took a few breaths, and his trigger finger stopped shaking, for now, at least.
"Look, it's not safe in the middle of the woods. Come back with us to the dairy where it's safe," Lee said, trying to reason with the crazy woman. She chuckled at Lee's response.
"Oh, it's a hell of a lot safer here than in that hellhole you guys have there, for more ways than one," she said, obviously delusional. "Now, again, I'm not sure if you guys are stupid, but drop your damn guns down. You don't think I'll kill you? I have this bow and arrow aiming at one of your guys' foreheads into your goddamn brain, and that's just what's going to happen. So, drop your goddamn guns down," she ordered.
Her threats worked on Mark; he just dropped his gun right there. "What the f***Mark?" Lee said, shocked, as Danny was also stunned. Was this pansy going to—get us all killed? Lee put his finger on the trigger, knowing that Mark's life may be at stake here. So, he must make her talk more so he can draw her attention to him, hopefully.
"I'm sorry, Lee. I just fumbled. I don't work well under pressure, not anymore, not after—" Mark couldn't bring himself to say more, which Lee didn't blame him. That was a messed-up situation that happened. But then, they were both snapped out of their understanding.
"Where did you get this hat?" Lee asked, more yelled than anything, redirecting her attention to him. "A little girl," she said simply. At least, Lee was getting angry, and he yelled, "You stole it from her!"
"So what if I did? You stole her from me," Jolene said, deranged. Lee was sweating, but he did what he set out to do. Her aim was now on him, giving Mark enough time to grab his gun, but he didn't do it quickly so she wouldn't notice right away. "We just need to keep her talking just a little longer," Lee thought to himself.
"When the hell are you talking about?" Lee said, distracting her, as well as he was also curious. She ignored his question. "You know it. I won't aim at your head. I'll shoot this crossbow right—"!
ChatGPT
"Put down the crossbow, and nobody has to get hurt," Lee tried to reason with her.
"No, sir. I'm going to need this thing so I can both kill you, then string up all your balls, and maybe cook them in the fire. Maybe use your hair as well," Jolene said, the psychotic grin on her face. At this point, we knew that she was too far gone, not coming back. Lee was about to pull the trigger himself, but somebody else did it for him.
But the last thing she said was, "Come on, boy. Tell him. Tell him what you guys are choosing."
Cut off. She was shot in the head, silencing what she was going to say, and she fell to the ground, her body going limp.
Lee quickly looked toward Mark to see if he had taken the shot, but he was as confused as Lee. He didn't notice; it was Danny who took the shot. Both of them were willing to take the shot, but damn. That made Lee's suspicion even more skyrocketed than before. Those last words sealed it for him. There was something wrong with that Dairy.
"You straight up murdered that woman," we heard Mark say to Danny, and Lee agreed. Danny just shrugged.
"Hardly. That one had a crossbow pointed at my forehead," Danny said. Lee sighed.
"So is that it? We go back, then?"
"Yeah, it seems that they're not here. But when they look at this scene, they'll get the message," Danny said, smiling at the work.
Lee and Mark looked at one another, both disgusted with Danny's thinking.
"But that's a good shot, though. Right through the forehead. That's good shooting right there," Danny said, and she started walking, getting out of the camp. This prompted Mark and Lee, without any words at this point, to follow Danny back to the dairy.
Emily's POV
(2 hours until dinner)
It took us a while, but we finally got home. It's strangely the same as when she left it. Emily snapped out of her thoughts, "Alright, we're here. I'm not sure what you want us to do at this point. That situation was insane. I'm not sure if you want to tell anyone."
"I'll leave that to you. Ask Emily if she wants to tell everyone what happened, but she decided against it. She questioned her brothers first about the human flesh thing. But another question she asked herself was, 'Does she even want to know?' And those two questions built in her mind, but her curiosity wanted out.
"Don't tell anyone. I want to keep this on the down low for now. I just need to ask something first. We'll talk about my experiences later," Emily suggested their next course of action. Naruto found it reasonable, "Alright, I'll find Lee and Clem and the rest of the group," he said and started spotting some of the group members, but not all of them. He saw Lily and Larry at the gazebo.
" Your group over there," Emily pointed at Lily and Larry. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. There are more of us, quite a few more, but I'm not sure where most of them would be," Naruto said honestly. "But I'll find them eventually. They must be here somewhere." Before Emily could say anything else, Naruto left over the gate of the dairy and started looking for his group.
Then, his antics made her smile. His charm was starting to grow on her, and something else was growing too, something that could be another thing to talk about for another time. She had some questions, and she wanted answers, so she walked over to her house. She opened the door, intending to talk to her mom, but she did notice a photo of her father holding her as a child. She smiled, remembering that time like it was yesterday.
(Flashback)
"Look what I do, Emmy," Terry said, smiling at Emily. He held out his hand to Mabel, their cow, and she eagerly ate some of the grass that Terry had in his hand. Emily was really happy.
"Can I try, Dad? Can I try?" Emily said, unable to contain her excitement. He chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Yes, hun, you can. Just grab some of the grass from the floor and feed it to Mabel. She's a good girl."
She did as she was told, and at first, it felt weird, but she felt pure excitement at the prospect of feeding an animal. Terry looked at Emily more seriously, "Can I ask you a question?"
"What do you want to know, Dad?" Emily asked, curious.
"If anything happens to me and your brothers aren't there to help you, remember this: animals know when people are lying. They just have that sixth sense that us humans do not have. Well, not all of us, but some do," Terry explained honestly.
"What do you mean by that, Dad?" Emily said, not fully understanding.
"Some people have this sense where they can read people so well they can see through their hearts and emotions. Certain people exist, but not many. You, me, we don't have it. At least, you haven't shown any of it. Are you keeping something from me?" he joked in the last sentence.
"No, I would never lie to you, but it's true. I just have my five senses, I think," Emily said.
He chuckled, "That's never reassuring. The reason I'm telling you this, Emily, is because you're not like Mom, Andrew, and Danny." He grimaced when he mentioned Danny's name. "What are we ever going to do with that boy?" he whispered to himself, getting off-topic.
"But, Dad, I think you're getting off topic again," Emily corrected her father.
"See, that's why I need you around. You keep my thoughts in line. You and me, we're not like the rest of them. Our family, it pains me to say this, but they don't handle bad emotions that well. I'm afraid they'll become something they will never come back from," Terry said, thinking about the worst-case scenarios. Some of those worst-case scenarios horrified him. "So, I need you to hear me here," he added.
"I hear you, but what do you think could make the others become monsters, or even worse than that?" Emily couldn't quite understand; her family seemed like the nicest people.
"People are interesting things. You might think the nicest person would never hurt anyone, but given the right situation and everything being taken away from that person, that person could become the most dangerous on the planet," Terry said grimly. Emily was starting to understand what he was saying.
"So, are you saying it's just in our nature to do evil things? No matter how good you are, we'll always make the same mistakes?" Emily supposed, not quite understanding.
"Not exactly like that, but you're kind of close. I'm just saying, even when stuff gets tough, never break your sense of morality. Promise me that on your life as a St. John. There's a reason why we are called St. John," Terry said, grabbing Emily's shoulders, and they were face to face.
"I promise I will keep my convictions, even if everyone is taken away from me," Emily declared to the sky as thunder clapped.
"Good girl. I hope you stay true to that promise," Terry said. She just looked at him, staring off into the distance, contemplating something.
"Come on, Emmy, let's go back. Your mother's probably done with dinner. I'm hearing it's steak with some mashed potatoes," Terry said, watering at the mouth just at the thought of his wife's cooking. Emily's mouth also watered; she did feel hungry right now.
"Let's go, Dad," she ran forward towards the house, then turned back to her dad.
(end of flashback)
Emily's eyes were watering, with some tears coming down her cheeks, but she had a smile on her face, thinking of all the good times with her father before he passed. She kept remembering that promise they made, telling herself she would never break it. When she walked over towards the kitchen to go and ask her mother about what Jackson said, still thought he was lying, though she didn't doubt her family for a second that they would ever do anything so disgusting. But then her brother Danny was walking out of the kitchen, and he said, "Don't worry, Mama, I'll go get the meat upstairs. So just take a minute," Danny said like that was the most normal thing to do, but that piqued her curiosity. So she waited when he went fully upstairs, and she looked up towards the stairs, sighing to herself. Like she said, again, this has been a crazy day.
Naruto's POV
Naruto walked over towards Lily and Larry. Lily smiled when she saw the boy.
"Hey, Lily, do you know where we and the others are?" Naruto asked, trying to get straight to the point.
"Well, the last I saw them, they were in the barn. Before you go, how have you been?" Lily said, concerned for his well-being. Naruto smiled.
"Oh, man, Emily and I were playing out near the shed in the woods. After that, we just played around in the forest and searched the farm for anything unsafe," Naruto gave his report. "But you didn't have to lie about being captured by the bandits just for Emily's sake."
Lily gave a smile. "I see. Are you and that girl, John, getting along? Does she seem fishy to you? Anything giving away her true intentions?" Lily said, being paranoid as always. Naruto gave a nod.
"She seems like a pretty kind person and a really cool one as well. She gained my respect, that's for sure," Naruto praised. He wasn't sure how she got out of that bandit camp, but it must have been difficult. He started with the things that impressed him, and she deserved praise. He wasn't going to tell her about the bandits, assuming they already knew due to the attack.
Naruto noticed Larry wasn't saying anything, and he was slouching, but he had his hand on his chin like he was pondering something.
"What's the deal with Larry right now?" Naruto asked. Lily frowned.
"I don't know. He's just been like this ever since we got here," Lily said, worried about the man. Naruto, who was also concerned, walked right in front of Larry, who seemed like he didn't even notice he was there, right in front of him, which was strange.
"Are you okay, Mr. Larry?" Naruto asked, concerned about his well-being. Larry, for the first time, looked up at Naruto. He smiled.
"Don't worry about me, sport. I'm just pondering on life," he said, then ruffled Naruto's hair, which always annoyed him, but he secretly enjoyed it. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you during dinner, Mr. Larry," Naruto said, giving a goofy salute that made Larry chuckle.
"You're something else, son. I know I am. See you," Naruto said, walking towards the barn, hopefully finally.
Lee POV
Lee was thinking about what happened when they went to that bandit camp. That woman wasn't a bandit; he could tell. She was just a woman who had lost everything and went crazy. So why would Danny say this was a bandit camp? It wasn't. It could just be that Danny saw a camp while he was hunting and mistook it for one of the bandit camps. That's a possible possibility.
He sat near the cow, lost in thought about the base and what happened there. It was a terrible situation. He was broken out of his thoughts when Naruto walked in. It was a welcome surprise. Lee smiled. Ever since they found that boy, saving his ass, Naruto had been a treat. He was always a bright spot when he was around, so good and so innocent.
"How's it going, guys?" Naruto said, smiling as he always did. He could smile even in the darkest of situations. That smile was like a shining glimmer of hope for this world.
Lee shook his head. "It's been all right, sincerely," Lee said, looking over to Clem, to whom he had given his hat. Naruto also noticed this and connected the dots. He smiled as well.
"Hey, Naruto, do you want to pet Mabel? She's soft and warm," Clem asked. Naruto wasn't sure and seemed nervous. It was a surprise; Lee had never seen Naruto nervous like this. Naruto glanced over to Lee, seeking some assurance, which surprised him again. Naruto usually did what he wanted within reason, but it was very rare for him to ask for permission, especially not to prank everyone. Lee smiled at that thought.
"Go ahead, it's okay," he said, giving Naruto the go-ahead. Naruto stretched his hand out, genuinely curious about how it feels, probably when you...
"Felt it, you're right. Clem is soft and warm," Naruto said excitedly. Clementine smiled at his response. They didn't notice Naruto noticing the salt lick that Clementine left, which made him laugh. But now he was curious. He decided to get back at him for all the pranks pulled on him in the past three months.
"What is that?" Naruto asked, analyzing the strange block. "Lick it," Lee said, trying to keep in his laughter. Naruto gave him a dumb look. "Don't worry, it tastes like salt. That's why it's called a salt lick," Lee said, trying to convince him. Being curious and not the sharpest tool in the shed (though he had become sharper lately), Naruto fully believed this joke. He licked it and immediately jolted up, spitting out what he just licked.
"Ew, what the f***Naruto!" he yelled. Everybody burst into laughter – Lee, Mark, Katjaa, Duck, and Clem. That's when Naruto got angry. "Not funny, guys," Naruto said angrily. "Just like your pranks. You say the exact same excuse every time. It's just a prank, people."
Lee antagonized Naruto. Without anything to say, he just sat down, acting like it was fake. He came into the barn, confused by the scene. "What's going on in here?" Andy asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, Andy. We're just playing a prank on Naruto here," Lee said, ruffling his hair. Naruto tried to look angry, but he knew he wasn't really angry. Andy just smiled. "Well, is that right?" he simply said.
"Oh, yeah, Andrew. Can you help me with Mabel over here?" Katjaa said. Andy, without a second thought, sprang to help Katjaa with Mabel. They just remembered what they wanted to ask Andy. The reason he was in this barn was to give Clem her hat back, but he also had another reason: to find Andy and ask him a few questions.
"When do you think we might eat?" Lee said awkwardly. He didn't like prying into the kitchen. His mother always scolded him if he ever asked for dinner. So, he always had this mental anxiety – if you talked about dinner and it's not done, something bad would happen. Lee was ready for the consequences, but he had to ask that question.
"Hungry, huh? Don't worry, Mama's got some good grub right now," Andy said. Both Clem and Duck smiled at the prospect of getting a meal. It had been a long time since they ate a normal meal, not just apples or cheese and crackers. Mark was also smiling at the prospect. He was excited for dinner.
Lee went and lied that he was pretty excited for dinner as well. He hadn't told anyone, but he had been getting weaker because he couldn't keep giving food to others but himself. So, he had been feeling pretty weak. This wasn't him at his best, but considering what he had done today and with an empty stomach, he thought he did alright. He then had to ask another question, this one about Danny. He saw a woman in the woods who seemed to know your brother," Lee said, which made Mark perk up when he heard. "Oh yes, I questioned her."
Seemed like he also wanted to know how that woman knew Danny's name. His eyes widened for a second; that was suspicious. You don't widen your eyes like that unless you've done something you don't want to tell. He knew that very well. When his students lied about not doing their history essay, he would see their eyes widen when they heard the essay was due today, giving him some notion that the student hadn't done his essay or had just started its day.
"Yeah, well, probably talks too much," Mark said, and his face returned to his smile. But Lee wasn't done. He knew Mark was thinking of an excuse or a way to cover something. Naruto was also narrowing his eyes, clearly reading into it, which Lee was grateful for. Where would they be if they didn't have him? Everyone else bought it, even Mark, who wasn't the most perceptive type of person. But Lee threw that thought in the back of his mind for now.
"Thank you for the answers. It cleared up some things," Lee said. His suspicions were higher than ever, so he decided to poke around and see what he could find that was suspicious. He walked to one of the stalls in the front, opened it, and saw a metal basket full of a bunch of clothes. Why would they need these men's clothes in a barn? It also smelled like someone had relieved themselves in it, so he immediately went out of the stall because it was impulsive. Luckily, Andy didn't notice he was poking around. Lee looked in all the stalls, and there wasn't anything except for the stall with clothes. It wasn't a lot of evidence to go by, but with the evidence he had, he could now make a foundation to build off of. The thing that caught his eye the most as he was looking through the stalls was the locked back door.
"You found it too," Kenny said, coming up behind him. It looked like Naruto was also interested in the door, so both Naruto and Kenny were side by side, looking at the door.
"Lee, they're hiding something behind the door," Kenny said, paranoid. Lee couldn't blame him; he was also getting paranoid.
"I've got to take a quick look. They've got boxes of stuff."
"Something metal and sharp," Kenny said, sounding worried and irrational, but he was thinking more rationally than he sounded. "Don't get paranoid, Lee. It's my job to be paranoid. I've got my whole family on this farm right now. How about you, and how about Clem?" Kenny said, leaving it hanging like he was going to do something rash, something he would regret.
"I'll protect her no matter what," Lee said, conviction in his voice. "Look, this guy never caught you. What's his name? He locked the store tight when we came in here. I definitely heard a noise back there," Kenny said, sounding paranoid, but the evidence that Lee had made his worries rational and more reasonable.
"What's your point?" Lee asked, not seeing where Kenny was going with this.
"My point is we've got to know for sure," Kenny said, determined. Naruto, also here in this conversation, was filled with determination.
"So go and find a hammer or something. You'll have this thing off in a second. You back me up in case those farmers come running," Kenny said, not breaking his conviction. Naruto cracked his fist, Lee, was not entirely sure about the evidence he was given, as well as this being a pretty risky way to get the answers they sought. He doesn't disagree but thinks they can do it smarter.
"Hold on, man. Think for a moment. You smash the lock, what if it turns out that you're wrong? You may have messed up your chances to feed the kids you're trying to protect. Use your head, Kenny," Lee said, snapping some sense into his friend.
"Alright, Professor. What do you have in mind?" Kenny asked, frustrated. Lee isn't entirely on his side.
"Let me look and see what we're dealing with first," Lee said, looking at the lock mechanism closely to see if there were any design flaws that he and Kenny could exploit. He did this quietly.
"Hey, Lee, you know how to pick a lock, right?" Kenny said, communicating something really bad. Naruto had this confused expression on his face, and Lee didn't like what Kenny was insinuating.
"No, why would you say something like that?" Lee asked, confused but also having an idea of what Kenny meant.
"You know you're urban," Kenny stuttered. They knew what Kenny was insinuating, and Lee felt disgusted by his friend. "Oh, you better not be saying what I think you're saying," Lee said, upholding his friend's racism. Naruto was so confused; why was he getting so upset at what Kenny said?
"Jesus, man, I'm from Florida. Just crazy s*** comes out of my mouth sometimes," Kenny defended himself. Lee focused on getting the lock apart. He knew the screws, and he had an idea.
"You see those screws? If we can just screw them all out, we can take off the assembly, put it back as it was, and no one will ever know," Lee said, feeling proud about his plan.
"All right, it seems like you got a plan. Keeping an eye on that guy with a cap," Kenny said.
"It's Andy," Lee corrected.
"S***, I thought that was Danny," Kenny said, shrugging off the naming tangent. Naruto liked this plan; it made sense. It was quick, fast, and nobody would know if they were fast enough – all the things a good ninja plan is. But then all three of them jumped when they heard a voice.
"Did you boys find something?" Andy asked suspiciously.
"Two men, one boy. Kenny thought he heard a noise," Lee quickly said, trying to cover up their activities. "Seems like he's a little jumpy," Andy said, buying what Lee said, or at least he seemed to think so.
"Well, we all are glad that his wife is here. She might have stayed the entire farm taking care of Mabel," Andy said, seeming genuinely thankful. He didn't have any suspicions yet; they were doing good so far.
"Hey, can you do me a favor and not f*** around that door? You know Mama gets worried," Andy said, with his eyes again indicating that he was lying once more. "Andrew, I need your help again," Katjaa called. "Can you immediately go to Katja to assist her with the cow?"
Andy gave them a 'what the f*** was that' look, and they just shrugged. He then walked over to one of the stalls and leaned on it with his head down, waiting for Lee to get that lock disassembled. They didn't realize they had their greatest asset right beside them – Naruto, who had done many amazing things before. Lee wondered if he could make another amazing miracle happen, the only way that Lee could describe it.
He leaned on his knee and whispered into Naruto's ear, "Find me a tool. I can get this lock open. I'll assist you in searching for it, but I think if both of us look for it at the same time, we'll be able to do it way faster. That make sense?" Lee asked. He had faith in the 13-year-old boy; he had done way more amazing things. Lee knew he would come back with results; he always did.
Naruto quickly ran out of the barn to find a tool to help Lee disassemble the lock. They hoped this wouldn't end badly.
Jackson POV
Randy, do you have a view on that dairy?" Jackson asked when he got out of the military combat Jeep. He was in a Gatling, armed to the teeth. "Yes, sir. It looks like all of them are heading for dinner. I see John's duty to fulfill their end of the bargain and capture that huge group. We can now receive our end of the bargain, maybe take more if necessary," Jackson said, licking his lips in anticipation.
To be honest with himself, Jackson didn't enjoy eating people, but survival sometimes demanded extreme measures. If he had to consume human flesh, so be it. However, Jackson also liked a little bit of fun. He had let go of the youngest sibling of the St. Johns. He enjoyed giving his prey a chance to defend themselves before delivering the final blow.
"I'm here to give you a status report," his radio said from the belt. Jackson took it out and clicked the button. "Are you guys there yet? Are you all in position?" Jackson asked, not expecting much intelligence from his men, but he kept that thought to himself.
"Yes, all of us are in position. We have a pretty good view of that motor inn. Just give us the word, and we'll open fire. The only people we can see there at the moment are two teenagers and one injured man who looks to be in his 30s," the radio crackled. Jackson absorbed this information, contemplating their next move.
"Stay put. Now all you guys have to do is get ready for the signal," Jackson ordered. "Copy that, sir. I'll make sure the rest of the men know," the radio responded before turning off for now.
Jackson smiled. He could barely see the dairy in the distance, but he couldn't quite make it out. The St. Johns thought they could get more from the deal than necessary. Well, they were going to be sorely mistaken. They would be the side that got more out of this bargain, and Jackson was looking forward to making it a memorable encounter.