Mark's POV
(Flashback)
This story started nearly 24 years ago. I was around 10 years old or something like that; it's really hard to remember now. I didn't always live down in Georgia; I used to live in Brooklyn, New York and was mostly raised on the streets. I can tell you, this time is not one I would like to think of fondly, let's put it that way.
A boy was slammed against the brick wall; his head and back stayed against it, but the boy didn't show his pain. He just spat in one of his attackers' faces. They were in an alleyway, like all alleys in Brooklyn.
"Well, well, look what we have here. We have a little soldier boy over here," the man said, acting childish. "You guys disgust me. Randall, get out of here so I can go on with the rest of my day, or you won't like what I do to you," Mark threatened.
Randall just smirked and laughed. "Really? Is this dude serious, Jeffrey? He said he'll kick my ass. Isn't that the funniest joke you've ever heard, Randall?" Laughing, he didn't take Mark seriously, which only made Mark angrier. But there was nothing he could do; these guys were bigger, and he was outnumbered. Mark was screwed.
He then immediately switched to being serious and grabbed a switchblade from his pocket. "So you're going to give us the money you owe us, and I'll think about not killing you right here," Randall demanded.
Mark eventually gave in, about to give them their money, until Randall was punched in the face, releasing Mark to the ground. He was able to get his footing. "What the f***? Oh, it's you. What are you doing here, and how dare you lay your hands on me? You know what happens to people who do." He gestured to his switchblade at the unknown figure that Mark couldn't see yet.
"Not yet, Randall. Let me tell you something. Every time you deal with me, it doesn't end well for you. So tell yourself, do you want to face me now, knowing what I did last time? Because it wasn't pretty," the man said. It didn't even sound like a man's voice; it sounded like a boy, sort of like his age. Mark shivered in fear, and Randall and his goons were unsure what to do.
"Well, fine. You can have him. He probably didn't have anything anyway. Let's go, boys," Randall said, and the group of thugs ran out of the alley, leaving just Mark and the unknown man. Mark wasn't sure what this man would do, but he braced himself for the worst. When nothing came at him, he saw a hand. The figure was right in front of him, but he just gave a handout to help him up, which confused Mark, but he accepted the help. The man helped Mark up to his feet; he wasn't injured, just scuffed up. This was an odd occurrence, though; Mark doesn't usually get out of these situations unscathed. Sometimes he came back to his parents' house near death, and then the true hell would happen. Luckily, those days were behind him now, but Mark didn't focus on that. He wanted to know who this man was, or if he was even a man at all.
To his surprise, when he got a good look at him, he was like his age. He was slightly taller than him, but he was about 10 years old. However, he looked way more adult-ish; that was how Mark could only put it. He looked like he had a man's face but a boy's body. Great, strange. "Thank you for helping me out, man. You really didn't have to," Mark said gratefully. The boy just smiled. "Don't worry about it. I hated those thugs anyway," the boy said, smirking to himself about something.
Then Mark didn't even want to know. "What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Mark said, curious. "No, don't worry. My name is Jackson Palmer. What's your name, boy?" Jackson said, smiling at Mark. "My name is Mark. I don't have a last name, so it's just Mark," Mark said. His last name just gave him too many bad memories that he would rather never remember as long as he lives.
"Well, it's nice to be meeting you, Mark. I guess I'll be going," Jackson said. Before Mark could say anything else, he was already leaving the alleyway. Mark didn't know why, but he felt he needed to follow him. He needed to know where he was going because he had nothing else left in Brooklyn. Both his parents were dead, and most of his family was killed, as far as he knew. So, he decided to join Jackson, and that's when things got crazy.
For 7 years, Jackson and I were wandering, not having much of a plan for our lives. We were taking it one day at a time, getting food and the essentials. The winters were cold as hell, and the summers were hot, maybe not as hot as the Sahara Desert, but pretty damn close. Eventually, we got recruited into the Air Force and started boot camp, which was an interesting time for me and Jackson. We did everything we were told without complaints.
When we got shipped to Georgia to Robins Air Force Base, Jackson and I were excited to finally learn how to fly planes, helicopters, and maybe even jets when we went to air school. Well, that's when the craziest stuff happened. We always tried to outdo each other in any flying machine we learned, whether it was planes, helicopters, or especially jets. The jets were the only things we raced in for like 3 years. When we finished school, we were shipped to Iran to start some bombing campaigns. That was a terrible time; we barely survived a few encounters with the enemy, but we made it out okay. The war ended a year later, luckily.
Over the years, Jackson and I started drifting apart because we had two different lives. I was more focused on work while he was more focused on things outside of work. So, we hadn't talked for a while. It wasn't until 3 months ago that he contacted me after so long. He told me to come down to the base. I needed clarification, so I asked him why. He said he could only tell me that something big is happening and it might change the entire world or some crazy shit like that. Well, it's not so crazy now, but at the time, it was, at least to me. Despite that, I left my apartment and went towards the base.
I exited my car and met Jackson near the base's entrance. He looked different, more reserved and smiling, but not in a happy way – more in a sinister way. I asked him why he wanted me here, and he just said, "I'll explain. Just follow me. Where I'm taking you will answer all your questions. And by the way. I hadn't contacted him for years, but I still trusted him. We walked over to the cafeteria, which was weird, but I just shrugged it off.
We went into the kitchen, and immediately, I knew something was up. Jackson was paler than usual and more sluggish in how he was walking. "Jackson, I think I should—" I was cut off by him. He said, "Nonsense, we're already here," and gestured to a freezer. Not understanding where he was getting at, I scratched my head. "You got me out of my bed over here just for a f****** freezer?" I said, understandably angry.
"Listen, Mark, it has been fun with you, and I think of you as my greatest friend. But I can't have you stop me, not with what I'm going to do," he said sinisterly. I was taken aback. I didn't know what he meant by that, but I certainly didn't like it. "What do you mean by that, Jackson? What are you going to do?" I yelled at him.
"Like I said, I need to take you out of the picture. But I don't want to go through the trouble to kill you, so I'm just going to put you in this freezer and have you be killed that way," he explained. I wasn't sure why he was telling me this, and even now, it's strange to me. Looking back, I pleaded with him, "Jackson, please don't do this. Think about what you're doing here. If you try to put me in that freezer, I won't allow you to do that. I will fight you. Do you really want to go through the effort to do that? Because I can tell you, it won't be that easy to just shove me in there. You will have to fight me."
I tried to dissuade him in any way I could, but he wouldn't have it. We eventually fought each other, and despite all my best efforts, he was strangely stronger than me. He was always stronger than me, but he was weirdly stronger than usual. Everything I tried to do, he would just repel away, and none of my attacks did anything to him. That scared me the most. I eventually got shoved into the freezer, but before he closed the door, he said one last thing: "I can't let you interfere with this new world order that I will create. This world will end, and a new one will begin – one greater than the last one."
He did close the door, but luckily, the base engineer director had left an air tank in there for some reason. I can't remember when he did it or even why he did it. There was just an air tank in there, and I knew it would be a matter of time before I would suffocate in there. I'd either freeze to death or suffocate to death, so I used the air tank, and here I am. That's when you found me.
Lee POV
Mark, I'm so sorry that happened to you," Lee said, feeling bad about Mark's situation.
"The thing I need now isn't pity, so I would really suggest you don't pity my situation. I'm more to blame for my situation and for my friend's actions," Mark said, looking down on himself.
Lee got up from the floor and extended his hand in front of Mark. "How about you come with me? My group would like to have someone like you, and if you ask, we don't leave friends behind. I'm not the type of person who would do that," he said with conviction in his voice.
Mark smiled and grabbed Lee's hand. "Okay, that actually sounds good. I'd like to meet this group that you have. But first, we have to get out of here. How long was I in there?" Mark asked.
Lee knew it had been three months since everything started, but Mark must have been in there recently. He couldn't have been there for like three months; that's impossible. His air would have run out before then, so it had to be nearly a week ago or something.
"It's been 3 months since the outbreak happened, and maybe some dating inconsistencies, but other than that, it's been 3 months," Lee explained.
"Oh s***, it's been 3 months. Quickly tell me, what day was it when the outbreak happened?" Mark said, getting freaked out.
The last time I could recall it was March 12th. Why do you ask?" Mark's face faltered like he had a huge revelation, and he sat down.
"I was in that freezer for 3 months. Holy s***, how... how am I even alive?" Mark said in disbelief.
Lee didn't blame him; he could barely believe it himself. This man survived in a cold-ass freezer with just an air tank that would last him a week. How... how is that even possible? Lee was puzzled like it was a miracle or something. It just disagreed with all the logic of his adult life. This was like a fairy tale or a grand adventure or something like that. Mark was still soaking it in, still couldn't believe that he survived such a situation. But they knew he had to get back to the group. Lee looked at his watch, and it was past the set time when they all said they would be back. Yet Kenny and Lily were probably back waiting for him, so he should probably get going.
"Mark, we should go. My group's probably waiting for me, so we need to go. I'm not sure how long my makeshift lock thing is going to hold," Lee said, trying to get Mark to come with him, which he didn't need much convincing, as Mark was immediately out of the kitchen before Lee knew it. He then quickly followed Mark.
"Do you know how to get out of here or a faster way?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, sure, I do. It's the front door," Mark said, making Lee's face falter.
"Well, if we can't use that, that's the thing I barricaded. It was the entrance to the lunchroom, so we can't use that unless we want to go and try to hack our way through," Lee said. Lee then remembered Mark should probably have a weapon if they were going to try to get out of there, so he grabbed his Glock 19.
"Hey," Lee said, offering the weapon to Mark.
"Mark, here's my hand. You're probably way better with this than I am, you know, because you're military trained," Lee said, holding out the Glock 19. Mark gladly took the firearm and cocked it.
"Okay, thanks. But what are you going to use?" Mark asked, worried about Lee not having a weapon.
"Don't worry; I have a weapon." Lee then grabbed his fire axe from under his bag, the one he got from the Motor Inn three months back when they were helping a woman get out of a motel room. In unfortunate circumstances, they realized that the fire axe could be a nice weapon, and with his receipt, he was able to swing it effortlessly.
"Well, that is a cool axe. I really do hope you didn't steal it," Mark said, cautious.
"Maybe when the world goes back to the way it is, I'll give it back to the fire department. But I kind of don't want to, but that's probably what I'll do," Lee said, honestly.
Mark smiled. "I have a good feeling about you, Lee. You're a good man. I have no doubt that your group will be as nice as you are," Mark said, having his hopes up.
Lee smiled at the compliments, but they should focus on getting this door unblocked. Hopefully, they can maybe fight their way out. "So, I see that's our only option at this point," Lee said.
Lee walked over to the front door where he emerged, and he was pretty sure that there were a bunch of walkers behind it. But with Mark with them now, he feels way more confident about getting out of here.
Mark and Lee are on each side of the two doors. "Okay, on three, I will pull up this rod, and we'll open the door. Hopefully, we can push through. There are two things I want you to know before we do this, Mark," Lee told him.
"All right, what are these things I should know?" Mark said.
"They'll have a really putrid smell. It might stun you for a moment, but don't think about it. Just shoot your way through, even if the smell is tough. And for the other thing, make sure you don't get bit. As we're getting through, if you get bit, it's over. You'll become one of them, which is worse than death," the last thing that Lee told Mark made him shiver. Lee and William blamed them. The description they gave them seemed like Mark didn't like these things as much as he did.
"Alright, on three. One, two, three, go!" and then they opened the doors.
(End of flashback)
Ben POV
"Are you okay, Ben?" Mr. Parker said, his kind smile ever-present. He was one of Ben's favorite teachers, not just because he was the band teacher, which was a part of it, but not the main reason. Mr. Parker was always supportive of all the students, no matter how bad they were or how nasty a student was to him. He could always find the good in them. That's what Ben wanted to be as a person, but he thought he could never be that person, someone who could find good in someone else. He tried over and over, but he could never do it.
"I'm okay, Mr. Parker. Just thinking about something," Ben lied.
"Is it about the bear trap in Incident?" Mr. Parker said grimly.
"No, it's not about that, but I am sorry. If I just wasn't so clumsy or knew the surroundings, you wouldn't have had to push me out of the way, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt," Ben couldn't say more. He was choking up, and tears started rolling down his face.
"I hope, Ben, you're still a boy. You shouldn't be going through this. You should be trying to find girls or have exams. You shouldn't have to deal with this shit," Mr. Parker said, disappointed at the world for allowing this situation to take place.
That's when Travis came over with some drinks that he got from the sink in Carly and Doug's room. They didn't have assigned rooms yet. "It's been crying again. What is it now, throw up, Ben?" Travis asked hoarsely.
"Travis, I wish you would show more empathy to your classmate. Think about people's feelings before your own," Mr. Parker lectured.
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Ben. It's just been a hard day for me too," Travis admitted.
Mr. Parker smiled, then looked out towards the forest they were in just a couple of hours ago. But then he started looking distressed, quickly shielding Ben. Ben didn't know what was happening. One moment they were on the ground, and blood was everywhere. At first, he thought it was his blood, but it wasn't. It was Mr. Parker's. Then they noticed gunshots, and Ben put two and two together.
"Ben, you may get scared, but I will be okay. Don't—" he died. He didn't even get to finish his final words. Ben saw his dead face right in front of him, as well as the blood. His mind couldn't handle it. The last thing he saw were the bandits that raided their camp. Not long after, in just 10 hours, Ben only felt one thing—unconsciousness.
Carly POV
Carly woke up; her boyfriend, Doug, wrapped his whole body around her. It was warm and comfortable, both of their naked bodies pressing against each other. There was just a sort of shiver that she felt to not wake up Doug. Stealthily, she got out of his clutches. She did look at the analog clock that was amazing to her—the power was still on. It was almost their time right now; probably, Lee and the group were having a pretty nice feast, or whatever they wanted to call it, Carly thought to herself.
She put on her clothes. At this point, Doug knew that she was gone, and he got up too to put on his clothes. "How are you feeling, Car?" Doug asked, concerned for her well-being. That made Carly smile. "No, hun, I'm fine," she simply said, getting her white button-up shirt on. She then grabbed her pink jacket; and sat down with her fully clothed boyfriend. Ever since she met Doug, he was nothing but wonderful to her—kind, caring, as well as brave when he needed to be. This might just be hormones working up. She always felt safe with him.
"Car, I am the luckiest man in the world to have met you, my love," Doug said, smiling. That made Carly blush. "You know I'm more than just your girlfriend, right? I'm a pretty crack shot, so remember, don't make me too angry; I might shoot you in your sleep," Carly jokingly said. Doug just nodded.
Carly walked over to the window; the curtains were closed, which made Carly embarrassed. What if those boys and the teacher were looking at them while they were having sex? Carly thought to herself, getting stressed out. But then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and all the anxiety just went away like the tides do on the beach. She heard some banging noises coming from outside, and that made Carly notice what was happening outside. She did notice people shooting outside of the Motor Inn; no, they weren't just outside; they were pushing through the gates.
Carly immediately shifted into so-called leader mode. "Doug, grab the gun," Carly said, running towards her side of the bed where her dresser was, and she grabbed from the drawer a Glock 19 with some ammo to spare. She gave it to Doug, who came out with the Marlin rifle. Thanks to Lily giving everyone drills on good guns and gunsmanship, Doug could use a rifle decently well, not as well as her or Lee, but he could probably get the job done.
She heard Doug taking shots through the window that got shot. "Doug, we're going to move in; we're going to get out of this room, find better cover," Carly explained. Through peripheral vision, she could see Doug nodding. Carly got in front of the door; she quickly opened it, and both of them headed out.
Travis POV
"Shit, what do I do?" Travis thought to himself as gunfire bombarded the truck he was behind. Travis decided to get a look at where he could go, so he looked to his right and saw Mr. Parker as well as Ben. They looked dead, making Travis tear up. He may be the only survivor from his original camp group. Houston forced him to duck back behind the truck because if he didn't, he would have been dead, just like his teacher and his best friend.
When the gunfire died down, he decided to take a chance, and he ran towards the RV.
The biggest cover that he could find, for now, you numb skulls! Get that kid!" He heard that, and it just made him run faster. He then heard gunshots, but luckily, he didn't get hit. He's now in the safety of the RV. He didn't notice the girl named Carly and her boyfriend named Doug coming out of the room. They quickly saw him, and as Doug took potshots at the people, Carly could get to him.
"What in the hell happened?" Carly said, clearly distressed by the situation they are now in.
"I don't know. One moment, Mr. Parker, Ben, and I were having some drinks. Now, this moment, we're just getting shot at," Travis explained.
"That doesn't make much sense, Carly," Doug said. "Stay back, kid. Let me see what we're working with here."
That's when Doug came over, taking a chance like Travis did. Unlike Travis, Doug got hit in the shoulder. Luckily, it was just a shoulder shot, but then he fell on his ass next to the RV.
"Doug, are you okay? Holy s***," Carly said, fear in her voice.
"I'll be fine. Luckily, they just got my shoulder, but it hurts like a b**** though. I won't be able to wield a rifle now," Doug said, grimacing at his injury.
"What can I do to help?" Travis found himself saying.
"Well, kid, how good are you with a rifle?" Doug asked, jokingly. "I'm actually a pretty good shot. My dad was in Special Forces, so he took me and my mother to the gun range a lot when I was a kid—well, I'm still a kid, but it's not the point," Travis corrected himself.
"I'll be damned. I guess we'll have to take a risk," Doug said, handing Travis the rifle.
"I'll try my hardest," Travis said with determination.
"This is good and all, but I can't gun all these guys down by myself," Carly said, taking out some of the bandits from her side.
Travis immediately sprung into action, trying to remember how to wield a rifle. Right before he knew it, he took down two bandits with straight headshots.
"Two of us are down!" he heard one of the bandits say. From what he could see, there were initially 10 bandits, but now, with two down, there were six to go. Travis felt confident they could do this. He quickly took cover when a bandit with a black bandana wielding a shotgun shot at Travis. He got out of the way, thinking, "Just wait until they're reloading, and then take that shot."
Travis quickly went out of cover, aimed at the bandana-wearing bandit, and shot him in the neck. Then he heard another gunshot; it must have been Carly taking down one. Travis rationalized to himself, but then he started seeing walkers getting into the equation, which made him even more scared. They did help kill some of the bandits, but they'd kill any of them, bandit or not.
"Fall back! Fall back!" one of the bandits said, probably their leader, and just like that, the bandits were gone—just walkers. Luckily, it was easier to kill walkers than actual living people, so they were able to kill the walkers pretty quickly.
After the battle, Travis immediately checked Mr. Parker and Ben to see if they were dead. Sadly, Mr. Parker was dead, but luckily, he was killed by a headshot when he was being gunned down. On the bright side, Ben was okay; he had just passed out unconscious. So, Doug took his best friend into his room. They laid him down on the bed to be more comfortable; he was covered in blood—so much blood. Travis didn't know how to feel. He killed three people today without batting an eye. Was he a monster?
Doug put his hand on Travis's shoulder—the hand that got shot, which was all bandaged up. "What's on your mind, kid?" Doug asked. Travis didn't know how to answer that. He just walked over and started looting the bandits, and Doug did the same. Out of all the five bodies they killed, as well as Mr. Parker's body, he and Doug put his body on the back of the truck so they could bury him.
Later, once the group returned, they gathered the items they found while dealing with the bandits. They acquired a few new weapons, including crossbow hunting rifles, a shotgun, bows, and arrows, as well as Glock 19 pistols. Additionally, they secured some food rations and water. Making sure to find a suitable place to store these weapons, they designated one of the unused rooms as an armory.
After that, they began waiting for the rest of the group to return. Travis and Ben successfully solidified themselves as members of the group, at least in Carly and Doug's eyes.
Lee POV
With beads of white sweat dotting his forehead, it was a tough time figuring out how to get that lock off. Lee believed he had figured out a way to do it. After orchestrating shenanigans to divert Andy away from the barn, he then had to figure out how to disassemble it. Luckily, Lee found a multi-tool when he was looking around. While outside, he witnessed a cute scene between Larry and Brenda. However, he had a weird encounter with Danny that gave him the creeps even more than the other two.
Unfortunately, he had to do this all by himself because dinner was happening right now, and he'd have to take the fall for this one. Lee grabbed the multi-tool and flipped it towards the screwdriver section, starting to unscrew the screws that attached the lock to the door. He managed to take it off and grabbed the handle. For a moment, he felt anxiety, asking himself if he even wanted to know. Despite all of his anxiety and fear, he pulled open the doors. He was horrified; he saw blood everywhere in that room. There were saws with blood on them and a tub, for whatever reason. At least suspicions were valid now; everything just clicked. He didn't know what they were doing in there, but it couldn't be good.
He jumped when he heard Andy's voice right behind him. "Boy, didn't you hear the bell? It's dinner time," Andy said, smiling as if anything in that room didn't faze him at all.
"What the hell is in that room?" Lee asked, angry at what he had seen—or trying to act angry.
"Look, we have food here. Me and Danny still have to do a lot of hunting to keep everyone fed. When we catch something in the woods, we skin it and dress it back there," Andy pointed to the room behind Lee. "Mama doesn't like us to make a mess, as well as Emily's innocence being at risk if she sees that gross stuff. So, you see, there's nothing to worry about—just precautions," Andy said, trying to explain himself.
When Andy mentioned hunting, something clicked in Lee's mind. As he was walking out, he started remembering the bear trap, the scene where it was slashed, and altered. Luckily, Naruto was able to get David out there. Why would they not need to release it? It didn't make sense unless they didn't want them to run away. He didn't notice the bright light in the distance; there was just one that he could see, but that gave him a bad feeling, a really bad feeling. But he began to walk towards the house, now more hesitant to eat dinner than ever before.
Emily's POV
(1 hour ago)
Emily ensured that every step she took was as quiet as possible until she found herself upstairs. Her room was to the left, but it seemed Danny hadn't gone there; he had entered the spare room to the right. She walked quietly to the spare room, and nearby was a closet they used for random stuff. She had no reason to check it, but curiosity got the better of her. Upon opening the closet, she discovered an unusual abundance of medical supplies. A faint light beamed through a wire hole. She hesitated but decided to look inside and was horrified by what she saw.
Her brother Danny was sawing off a leg from a person—she couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. "This is going to be a nice feast. I can't wait to package this up, and that meal she's cooking up, that's going to be a good one. I'm wondering if those bandits have the same nutritional value as those people. It's a shame we'll have to share it with them, but that's just life," Danny mumbled to himself as he continued to see off another body part.
Emily covered her mouth, feeling the need to throw up. She quickly ran downstairs, not caring about making noise. She shut the bathroom door and vomited into the toilet. After finishing, she sat and got up from her knees, walking over to the mirror. She looked at herself, thinking about Naruto. If he was nice, maybe those people were too. Even if they weren't, she couldn't let them share the same fate as the person being cut in that room. It wouldn't be right. She needed to warn them somehow without raising suspicion.
"I think I have an idea," Emily said to herself, remembering she had sticky notes upstairs. She could write a note to one of the people, giving them a vague warning. Hopefully, their curiosity would lead them to check it out. One thing was for sure: Emily's view of her brothers and her mother had changed. They were not the people she once knew, not since her father died. He had warned her about the emotional distress that would turn them into monsters, but she believed they could come back—at least, she hoped so.
Ben POV
Ben's vision was hazy; he could make out a fan or was that a light? He couldn't tell; he was so disoriented. He heard muffled voices, and he thought he could make out, "Ben, are you okay? Oh man, I was worried sick that you might have never woken up." Ben tried to respond, but his head hurt too much, and he started seeing flashes of Mr. Parker and him dying to protect him. That was when his mind snapped out of haziness, and he was more conscious and aware of where he was. He could hear completely now. Travis was right by his side of the bed, and he saw Doug and Carly behind Travis.
"You okay, kid? Do you feel like you can discuss?" Doug said, worried for Ben's health.
"Now I feel okay, at least I think so. I just can't believe he would have protected me." Ben couldn't say more; he just started tearing up. "Why did it have to be me? Why did Mr. Parker have to die so I could live?" Ben asked, to no one in particular, maybe himself.
"What are you talking about, then?" Travis asked. He didn't know what happened during the shootout; he just saw Mr. Parker and Ben being gunned down by the bandits. "I couldn't quite remember it in detail, but the last thing I remember was Mr. Parker was on my stomach. It looked like he was taking the bullets for me, and he didn't even get to finish his last words, which stuck with me. It's the only thing I could think about when I was unconscious—just those words and the idea that he never got to finish them. He had something to say, but they would never be heard, at least not finished. He could have saved himself; he could have let me get gunned down, but he didn't," Ben sadly ranted.
Travis and Doug didn't know what to say. They just looked down to the ground, contemplating what Ben had said. After a moment of silence, Carly spoke again.
"Let me tell you something. I've seen many cases during my time as a reporter. I've seen even more situations than yours, and they all ask the same question you have asked. All of them come to different conclusions—some worse than others, and some better than others. You just need to find that answer in your own way. I can't quite tell you what you should do or how to answer that question, but what I can do is help guide you to that question and help you answer it," Carly said with kindness in her voice. She also held out her hand towards him.
Ben didn't say anything for a minute; he was contemplating Carly's words. Eventually, he grabbed her hand and smiled. "Thank you, Carly. That really means a lot. I'm not sure why Mr. Parker protected me; he could easily have protected himself, but he didn't. I guess that's always been his nature. I guess I'll never know for sure; I can only find my own conclusion, and I will someday. But not now. I'm ready to help do anything I can to help the group. So what should we do?" Ben said.
Carly smiled, but to his question, she didn't quite know what to do now. The group hadn't been there for like 5 hours, and she was starting to get worried about them. Maybe they just slept over at the dairy, but she didn't know for sure. They didn't have any long-range communication from there, so the only rational course of action she could think of was going to check.
After thinking about her next action, she turned to Doug. "How's your shoulder doing?" Carly asked, concerned about her boyfriend's health.
Doug just smiled, "I'm fine. It just stinks, but it's a wound. What are you going to do about it? Why do you ask?" Doug said, reassuring his girlfriend.
She was also wondering where she was going with this. "Ben, Travis, are you two good to travel?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, I'm good to travel, but I'm not sure about Ben, though," Travis said, concerned about Ben.
"Don't worry; I feel good. I can travel. Don't worry about me," Ben said, standing up, and he had a determined look on his face.
Carly smiled, "Alright, guess we're going to check on our group in case anything went wrong there. We'll need some answers."
"Firepower, if you know what I mean," Carly said, beckoning the others to follow her down to the room where they made a makeshift armory. "I hope you guys know how to shoot these things. Well, I do know Doug and Travis can shoot them pretty well."
Carly then turned to Ben, "Can you wield the gun and shoot it?" she asked.
"I can try, but I don't think I'll be as good as Travis, though," Ben said, scratching his head awkwardly.
Carly just sighed, "Well, I guess it'll be good enough for now." She handed Ben a Glock 19. "This is a pistol. You point it and shoot it. When you see a walker, you shoot it in the head. Body parts won't matter. If it's a person, shoot them in the head or the body; it will get the job done. Preferably the head, because they might come back as a walker. So, you got all that, Ben?" Carly explained.
Being unsure of himself, Ben gave a hesitant nod. "Good," Carly simply said. "Also, if you don't have a gun holster, tuck that gun in the back of your pants. The person you're trying to kill won't see you draw it that easily. If you're quick enough, you can take them down before they even drop theirs," Carly quickly added. She didn't turn to Travis and Doug, who both had their firearms. Travis had the shotgun, the same one the bandit with the bandana had. It was a pretty good shotgun—quick reload, nice aim. The dude was a bandit, but he knew his guns. Doug grabbed a crossbow they got from one of the bandits. Honestly, it's easier to wield than a rifle.
Everybody armed, Ben felt confident for once in his life, with everyone else appearing confident as well, at least that's what he could read from their faces. Ben stared at the moon as they were leaving the motor inn and thought to himself, "What am I getting myself into?" Having some doubts but mostly touch confidence.
Lee's POV
Lee heard many voices as he was coming through the front door of St. John's house. He noticed the big bookshelf. Then he saw Lily coming out of the bathroom, probably washing her hands. She looked at him with a curious look that Lee couldn't figure out the meaning of.
"Sorry about the mess over there," he said, gesturing towards the bookshelf blocking something. "A walker got in from there. Don't worry; that was a while ago, and nothing like that has happened since," Andy explained.
As Andy walked past Lee, Lee noticed he had a gun behind his pants, which didn't help ease his nerves at all.
Then, he hit someone by accident. He wasn't looking where he was going, but he saw it was Emily, their little sister.
"Sorry about that," Lee apologized.
"No, it was my fault. Don't worry about it," Emily said, smiling. She did walk towards the dining room, where everyone seemed excited for dinner. Mark and Duck, especially.
"Everybody sit down, and I'll go and get dinner in a minute. Oh, this is such a delight," Brenda said happily.
"I could eat a horse," Kenny said, excited for dinner. Lee couldn't blame him; they hadn't eaten in days. Of course, he wasn't sure what they were feeding them, which made him more afraid for Clementine as well as everyone. He did notice Clementine was sitting right next to Naruto, which lessened his fears that she would be alone with these people. But then he realized Naruto too could handle protecting her as well as the rest of the group members. He must trust in them; he can't do everything himself, but he can do a lot himself. That's when he noticed a sticky note on his chest. He quickly grabbed it so nobody would know. Luckily, nobody noticed. He quickly read it, "Something's upstairs." That's it. That's pretty vague, Lee thought to himself. Did Lee have his suspicions? Well, now he has more of an idea of what St. Johns are than ever before, and this just gives him the incentive to check out what was upstairs and finally get to the bottom of this and what exactly they are hiding. Lee does know something for sure: he won't like what it is, that's for sure. He snapped out of his thoughts by Brenda.
"Would you be a sweetheart and go and wash your hands before dinner? You've been mucking out in the dirt all day. If it's no trouble," Brenda asked, kind as ever.
"That seems reasonable to me. I'll be back," Lee said, turning to Naruto and Clementine for one more time. He then left to go and wash his hands because, to be honest with himself, his hands were pretty dirty, so he'd do that first.
Naruto's POV
Naruto didn't know why, but he was nervous right now. It was like he couldn't shake off this feeling that everything would go wrong very quickly. That's why he scooted closer to Clementine. He hadn't been around and hadn't interacted with her too much, but he did care about her a lot, as well as everyone else in this group. He would do anything for these guys, even if they don't do it for him; he would still do it for them.
He saw Emily walking in, and he thought this was intentional. She sat right next to him, and it looked like she was nervous. She was shaking, and in her eyes, there was worry, anticipating something. This made Naruto even tenser than before; something bad was coming.
"Here are the dinners, everyone," Brenda, her name is, started laying them out. They didn't look too bad, but then that's when Naruto smelled a terrible odor. He didn't know where it was coming from, but it made him want to gag. He pressed his nose with a napkin to muffle the smell. It wasn't a terrible smell; it was a smell like danger, and he wanted to get away from it. None of these smells made any sense to him. That's when Naruto knew that Emily was even more distressed when she looked at the meal like she knew something that everyone else didn't. He also knew something that no one else did. It looked like nobody else could smell the terrible odor, not even Emily, but he did.
Naruto thought, "Think, think, you stupid," chastising himself. "It smells so bad; this doesn't make any sense." He was then snapped out of his thoughts when he heard somebody coming down the stairs fast. That's when he saw Lee, and he also noticed Clementine starting to eat that stuff.
Lee POV
(3 minutes ago)
After a few minutes of looking around upstairs, Lee figured out there was a room behind the bookcase. He pushed it aside, and it took him a minute. He hoped nobody would come up here as he was doing this because the bookcase was making a lot of noise. Luckily, nobody did, or he would be screwed.
Behind the bookcase was a door. Lee felt scared and anxious. He asked himself what could be behind this door. Were the dairy farmers using all these medical supplies for something sinister? He found a bear trap in the forest, and what did that entire room in the barn mean? So many things, but there was one piece of the puzzle he didn't have or he would receive. Maybe if he opened the door, but what if he was wrong? He would have been blaming these people for no reason. He'd feel pretty terrible about himself if he did that. For a moment, he took his hand away from the door in contemplation. But with all his resolve, he opened the door, and he was horrified by what he saw.
He saw an entire human being chopped up. It looked like a man. He didn't know who this man was, but this must have been a terrible fate. His head was in the middle of the sink, and Lee was horrified. That's when it clicked in Lee's head—the bear trap. That meant they must have captured people. That's why they altered the release.
After discovering the gruesome scene behind the door, Lee realized that those people who went missing must have been captured for more sinister purposes. They were not just looking for gas; they were using the area as their hunting grounds. The deranged woman he encountered in the woods probably intended to reveal this before she was killed to keep everything hidden. The skins of the humans in the back of the barn weren't to prevent the kitchen from getting messy; it was to hide their horrifying secret.
Before he could finish processing this revelation, Brenda called out to him, "Lee, did you fall in there? Dinner's ready. If you don't mind, we're going to eat without you."
Lee's heart dropped, and he immediately thought of Clementine. Without hesitation, he bolted into action, rushing down the stairs as fast as he could. He couldn't let Clementine or anyone else eat that disgusting stuff; it wouldn't be right. Just in time, he reached them, and before Clementine could eat any of the food, he yelled, "Clementine, no!"
Everyone was surprised, and Clementine, along with Naruto and the others, stopped. Lee had been successful; Clementine didn't eat any of the food. Larry sarcastically asked if Lee had found something, and Lily expressed concern, but Lee knew it was a lie.
"Sit your ass down, Lee. This lady has made you a meal. Have some decency, for Pete's sake," Larry said angrily.
"Come on, Mr. Larry, maybe Lee has a good reason for stopping us," Naruto suggested, not knowing what to do in this situation.
"Yeah, Lee, what's gotten into you?" Lily asked, concerned and cautious. Brenda urged him to sit down, but Lee could see through the kindness on her face.
"It didn't have to be this way," Danny said honestly, looking outside. Lee followed his gaze and saw lights blinking in unison. Everyone else noticed the lights and the confusion and fear in the room grew. Kenny voiced his confusion, wondering if more people were surrounding the dairy. The synchronized blinking lights looked like a group of about 20 people, which was terrifying to Lee.
"You guys are eating human meat," Lee found himself saying, not sure why he said it. Perhaps he hoped to alert the group that they were consuming human flesh and needed to stop. Everyone was taken aback, except for Naruto and Saint Johns, especially Emily, who looked even more distressed. "So, it is true," she whispered.
to herself. "Come again, dear," Brenda said in her motherly voice.
"So you guys do eat human meat? That means that man was right. We are cannibals. Holy s***," Emily said, in absolute disbelief and disgust, mostly disbelief. Her loving brothers and loving mother—she didn't blame them at all. She didn't know this was happening.
"That's crazy," Lily said, shocked. "What the hell," Kenny added, also shocked.
"Settle down now," Brenda said, trying to shut down the conversation. "You're scaring the kids, Lee," Kenny said, sounding scared himself, especially with those lights blinking outside. "What in the hell is wrong with you?" Lily said, sounding scared and in disbelief at what Lee was saying. Well, he didn't blame her. If he hadn't seen what was in that room, he wouldn't believe it either. But they needed to know, so he kept pushing further, trying to convince them. He had to keep his cool, despite his fear and frustration with Larry. This was a dangerous situation, and he must keep his cool no matter what if they were to help themselves stay alive. "They're picking us off to trade as meat, maybe to those bandits. Remember, Mark?" Lee then turned to Mark, who was just staying silent, still unable to believe what Lee was saying. He did believe it, though; he was just in shock. When Lee talked to him, that snapped him out of it. "Remember when I got attacked by those bandits? They're probably going to trade us as meat," Lee said, making Mark horrified. He believed what Lee was saying, and that was a start.
"You're out of your skull," Larry said, not believing that anything Lee said was true. It was making Lee frustrated, but he kept his cool, taking two deep breaths.
"There's a man literally upstairs chopped to pieces. You can go up there and check. I don't care!" Lee yelled, not as calm as he thought he would be, but it did what he needed it to do. He started getting through to everyone, and they all looked horrified, tense, and scared.
"Brenda, tell me if we're not eating human flesh or not," he said, wanting to hear it from her. With everybody watching her, she just sighed. "It's true," Brenda said simply. Everything would have turned out good with you folks," Danny said, still looking at the blinking lights, which they now knew were getting closer, making everyone even more scared.
Andy argued, "He was going to die anyway, that man you found upstairs. We have to think about living."
"Settle down, honey. Growing up in rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised, and that's how I raised my boys, as well as my daughter. But she was a slow study, though," Brenda said to herself, adding, "Figures." She sighed. "Now you just have monsters roaming around that do nothing but eat people. We think we can use that meat for better use."
When Brenda said this, it was like he was on cue. The doorbell rang, and it was a more ominous one, making everyone jump. They had time for the brothers to pull out their guns.
"The door's unlocked. You can come in!" Andy yelled as the door opened. That's when five people with fully loaded rifles came through the door, aiming their guns at the group. One of the men signaled to leave, and he had to put his hands up. "Holy s***," he said, surprised but also terrified.
"Do what your friend says, man," a man with black sunglasses said, which everyone did, other than the St. Johns, who just got up with the people. "What the f*** is this?" Kenny said, clearly angry but scared.
"You wonder what this is," a man said behind the four men, which made Mark's eyes widen when he heard that voice. "No, you can't be. Oh s***, it's you, isn't it? Isn't it, Jackson?" Mark yelled, making the rest of the group surprised.
A man came out of these four men. He had brown hair and a good beard, trimmed every day to make sure it was perfect. His eyes were red, not bloodshot red, just a crimson red iris that made Lee shudder. And that wasn't the most terrifying thing about his eyes; they were slit like an animal's as if all of them were his prey. When he came closer to the light, his skin was as pale as snow, unnatural. His hands had nails sharpened like he'd thrown them out and then sharpened them; they looked razor-sharp. He then smiled when he saw Mark. That's when everyone knew his teeth were sharp, straight, and serrated. Two of his canines were longer than the others; it was unnatural. They didn't think a person like this could even exist. There was something about him that made them all scared—scared more than they had ever been in their entire lives. They felt like they wanted to run, but they couldn't. They were just paralyzed with fear. They could probably see the same fear in all of them.
"Mark, it's been a long time. I thought you would die in that freezer," Jackson said, his voice disgusting. It was just silent; nobody could say a word.
"Jackson, why? Why are you doing this, man? What happened to you?" Mark asked his old friend. Jackson just smiled, a disgusting smile.
"Why? Because I'm hungry, of course. I love eating human flesh; it's the tastiest thing in the market, especially for little girls and boys. They're the most juicy," he looked over towards Clementine and Duck, especially preteens. "And they're gross, too sweaty for my taste, but I'll still let my boys eat it," gesturing to Emily and Naruto.
Andy had a problem with that immediately. "Hey, we had a deal. You could have the rest, but you're not having my sister, okay, man?" Andy said.
Jackson just smiled. "Yep, you're right. I guess it's just the boys. You'll just get him," he said. When Lee saw Naruto's face, he was disgusted, but he couldn't do anything because there were so many people who were armed and pointing at his friends. Honestly, if he would have done something, it wasn't for that fact.
"Damn you, Jackson. I'm not letting you kill these people or even eat them. You're disgusting, man. Have you always been this—what happened? Tell me why," Mark said, angry as well as confused, confronting his friend.
"It was never like this; exactly what happened to him, I guess you're going to die and be eaten anyway. I guess I could tell you, well, you know, those little, what do you call those things, the Dead? Will you call these things again? We called them walkers," Naruto said, looking at Jackson without any fear.
"Oh yes, walkers. Well, they're not the only things that returned. You see, during the Victorian times in the Gothic era, we vampires - well, I may be the only vampire to my knowledge, but there are others. Walking corpses have existed before this point, but they haven't happened on a world scale. There was a person named Garfield and his family, sworn to hunt us all down. He did, he killed a lot of us, but you can't kill all of us. There are so many of us that he had to seal us away, along with other magical monsters. So, you see, March 12th was when an energy disturbance served the seal, and it broke, releasing the dead, as well as other magical creatures like myself. I was originally a vampire. I got turned into one three days before the outbreak. Of course, the reason why I pushed you in the freezer was because of this fact, Mark.
But now, I have no other words. I'll now rip you to shreds and then rip your remains and then consume your flesh," his mouth started watering as he was thinking this. Everyone was shocked. Vampires exist. We couldn't believe it. He thought they were only stories.
"You guys must think I'm just telling a story, I'm just lying," he started laughing. "You guys are all wrong. Why do you think crosses exist? It's to ward off creatures like myself. But you guys don't have a cross, do you? Or any blessing from God. You're going to die here, but I won't make it fast. I'll slowly make sure you're conscious when we cut you into parts to the last slice of your human flesh." The bloodlust was getting so bad; that most people were starting to hurl. Lily, Katjaa, Clementine, Duck, as well as Emily, were all terrified. Naruto was also terrified, but he didn't show it. Lee, honest with himself, was terrified as well. He didn't see any way for them to get out of this. How he saw it, they're all dead.
"But we can't give up. If I have to die protecting the Clan, as well as everyone else, then so be it." Before he could get up, Kenny had the same idea. He merely got up and tried to run towards Jackson with a knife, attempting to stab him, but Jackson effortlessly hit him with the back of his hand, just bitch-slapped him to the ground, knocking him out. Such a gross thing to do, blood butts, I guess.
"Consume it so it is what it is. He really thought he could beat me. He really did," Kenny looked out cold, not dead. That made, at least, a relief. Now he was unsure if he should even try as Luke. Kenny tried, and he got himself knocked out, but then Andy came over towards Clem and grabbed her, which ticked Lee off immensely. He couldn't control himself. We just gave this primal roar; he didn't care if he would die here. Nobody touches his girl. But Danny made sure to let me know that he was not in control by shoving a gun near his neck as he was trying to lunge at the older St. John brother. This amused Jackson a lot because he started laughing. Human emotions, they're such finicky things. I love seeing them; it's how imperfect they are. I'm not even sure why God even gave you guys these emotions. They have only done you guys no good, Jackson said, pondering to himself.
We had no choice but to sit down, but he was angry. It also made Naruto angry, but he knew he couldn't do anything, not with everyone at risk. He just sighs, but sadly we can't restrain you guys all, or we don't have enough people or enough vehicles to get you guys all in there without escaping. So, Andy, Jackson turned to the oldest St. John who was holding Clementine, "Do you have any place to put the adults as well as some of the children?" Jackson asked.
"Actually, yeah. We can put them in the meat locker. But can I make one request?" Andy asked. Jackson thought about it very well, "What is your request?" Jackson said.
"Well, our cow is sick, or she's pregnant. If we want this deal to work proficiently, we need Maybell to be in top-fit shape, as well as her baby could be used to make more biscuits and bread that we could give other groups so you guys can get more food. So, we would like the blonde lady right there, as well as her son as leverage, so she'll work on her, you know, for incentive. You see where I'm coming from, right, man?" Andy proposed.
"You're showing some reasonable points. I guess that's why we leave you guys alive and not other groups. Very well, we will allow you to have the woman as well as the boy to stay out of the meat locker, but we'll make sure two of my men are with them at all times," Jackson said, quickly ordering two of his men to do the task that he said.
"No, it's going to be harder to get you guys in there without killing you guys, so I guess we'll knock you out. It will be hard to get you guys there because I'm pretty sure you're all pretty heavy, other than the children, of course. They'll be pretty light, but it's a price to pay. You guys know the drill, boys," Jackson ordered. All four men started knocking out everyone one by one. Lee was one of the first to get knocked out. The last thing he saw was Clementine as well as Naruto being knocked out. Clementine, no. Everything went black, and Lee went unconscious, not knowing what the fate of his group would be.
Naruto's POV
Naruto heard voices yelling; he thought one of them was Larry. He got up from the floor, shaking his head. The haziness went away, and he could hear now.
"Open this goddamn door!" Larry yelled, pounding on the door of the meat locker, not letting up anytime soon. Then, he saw Clementine. She walked over to him.
"Are you okay?" she said, scared.
"I'm all right. Where's Lee?" Naruto said, looking around. He then saw a man knocked out. "Yep, that's Lee. It's going to wake him up," Naruto said to himself.
He walked over to Lee, trying to push him awake, but he wouldn't wake up. So he decided to slap him awake, giving him a good hard smack, and he immediately jolted awake.
"What the f***?" Lee yelled, clearly surprised. Naruto then heard Larry say, "You can't keep us in here!" Larry yelled, still slamming on the door. "Open up! I will tear you f****** apart!" Larry yelled.
"Well, you stop that pounding. We've got to find another way out of here," Kenny said, frustrated. Naruto noticed Lily throwing up in the corner, which was honestly pretty gross. But given what they had consumed, he didn't blame them, not at all. When Naruto thought about it, he could have done more to prevent this. He was a damn ninja, after all. He could only blame himself, but they're in this situation.
"You sick f****** bastards!" Larry kept yelling, which was starting to get on everyone's nerves.
"Open the door, goddamn it!" Larry kept yelling. Naruto could give him one good point – he was persistent, that's for sure. But nausea shook his disagreements with how Larry was handling the situation. He focused on Lee, who was having a hard time coming to, even with that slap.
Clementine then noticed what Naruto was doing, and she saw Lee waking up. "Lee!" she yelled, running towards him. It made Lee smile despite the situation they were in; he must keep his spirits up somehow. "This is a good thing. Stop, Dad, it's not helping," Lily tried to get her dad to calm down, fearing that he might have another heart attack like at the drugstore.
"If it was a person, they tried to make us eat a person," Clementine said, clearly disturbed by what they tried to make her eat. This made Naruto angry. Eating human flesh was just disgusting – the worst thing. Not even the worst rogue ninjas would ever do that. There are certain things that ninjas, as well as people, don't cross, and when you cross that point, you're gone. There's no redemption for you, at least he didn't think so. No, Naruto thought, nothing like that. Even if they eat human flesh, they could still redeem themselves. Or can they? Naruto can't have this morality; he needs to stick to the situation. They need to get out of here, so he snaps back to reality.
"But you didn't do it," Lee said, still waking up.
"No," she simply said. "The rest of us did."
Larry turned towards Lee. "Goddamn it, if you didn't drag your feet, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation!" Larry yelled, clearly upset, and his dislike for Lee had only heightened. So, technically off, but he sort of thought more rationally. The first thing he thought: they needed to get out of there. This is what Naruto thought he was thinking, as he can't read him right now, but he's pretty sure that's what he's thinking.
"Come on, Dad, not the time right now," Lily said, still dry-heaving.
"Are you okay, Naruto? Clementine, they didn't hurt you, right?" Lee said, worried.
"Well, I'm not sure if they heard Clem, but I didn't. I got knocked out, just like you did. I think you did see it too if that's the last thing I saw – you watching me get knocked out," to explain his side of what happened.
"No, they didn't. I was pretty much the only one who didn't get knocked out, so I was just waiting for everyone to wake up," Clementine explained. Naruto felt terrible; she had to wait all by herself just for them to wake up. Poor girl.
One thing that worried him was Emily. He didn't know why he was so concerned about her. She might have been his enemy, but he had a feeling that she didn't even know this was going to happen. She might be a victim as much as we are. "I must have hope that she is a good person and not like her family, Lee. Those psychos have my family as well as a f****** vampire. After we get out of here, we're going to f****** talk about that s***," Kenny said, panicked and in disbelief.
"I know, man. A damn vampire," that's when he remembered. "Oh s***, where's Mark?" Naruto started, seeing Lee look around. Then they noticed Mark was under a crate. "Okay, I wonder how he got under there," Lee told himself, "and why didn't anybody wake him up?" We asked. Kenny then noticed Mark under that crate. "Holy s***, I did not notice him," Lee goes and tries.
To lift the crate off of Mark, Naruto decided to help him. With both of them helping, they were able to lift the crate from him. They didn't wake up Mark.
"Mark, wake up, man. We will need your help on this," Lee told Mark. Mark immediately jolted. "What happened?" he said, Paisley Jumpman. "We had to figure out how to get out of here. We're in a damn meat locker," Lee told Mark.
Mark immediately got focused and nearly got up. "So then, what should we do? Should we look around to see our best course of action or s***, man, I don't know what to do. I'm too shocked that my friend turned out like that. I was not expecting that," Mark said, still shocked by the revelation that his best friend, no mind you, was a vampire.
"Let's just focus on trying to get out of here, and after we get out of the dairy, we'll then talk about this. Trust me, we will," Lee tried to make Mark focus, and he succeeded. Mark was refocused and started looking for a way to get out of there.
Meanwhile, Naruto saw Larry slowing down and starting to take more gasping breaths. He knew this couldn't be good, so he needed to tell him to stop and calm down. Unless that's how it will go in his mind, not sure how it will go in real life or just need to see. He walked over towards Mr. Larry.
"Please, you want to attract their attention even more, Naruto tried to reason. Larry paused for a second, figuring out how to get a way out of there.
"Let me do my thing, Naruto, please," Naruto didn't know how to respond to that. That's when Lee walked over.
"Please, Larry, don't stress out your heart as you have been doing. You need to calm down and think," Lee reasoned or tried to. They decided to talk to Larry now; when will he get a better chance? It might be a terrible time, but Lee honestly doesn't care right now. He just wants to get this off of his chest.
"I guess your girlfriend wasn't all she was cracked up to be," Lee said, not trying to be subtle about how much he disliked him. Naruto didn't know how to react to this conversation; he just decided to let Lee work it out.
"What in the hell is your problem?" Larry asked, menacingly. "You are a prick. Back at the Motor Inn, even after I saved your f****** life, you went out of your way to be a ****** to me tonight," Larry said, recounting all the events of the day. Naruto saw them differently. Larry was just angry; he wasn't thinking clearly. He wasn't recalling actual events; he was just saying how he felt, not facts. Bernard just stayed quiet, seeing how Lee would handle the situation.
"You must really hate me, did you?" Larry asked, truly convinced that Lee hated him. "But guess what? You're stuck with me. I'm planning on living longer than you will. And when you turn, I'll be the one to put the ax in your head," Larry said, truly expressing how he feels.
Lee just sighed. "I'm not your enemy, Larry. I never was. I want to hash out our differences. Why you hate me, I can never understand, or you won't let me understand. But we can't be fighting right now. You see the situation we're in. We can't both be fighting this. We need to work together. I need your help on this, so can we please put aside all of our differences just to get out of here alive? Can we please do that because I have given you no reason to hate me? All those things you said, they're not true, are they? And you know that deep inside. So, please, help us get out of here. But don't just bang on the door. Actually, help us search for a way out of here. If there's any way that you can help us, please, because I don't think I can do this on my own. I need everybody's help. I could never do stuff on my own. I could do a lot."
"On my own, but not everything. What do you say, man?" Lee's speech captivated everyone in the meat locker, even Naruto, who was shocked. Larry's expression changed. He looked like he was going to say something, but then he started clutching his chest.
"God, you," then fell to the ground, having a heart attack. Snore was shocked. "F***Larry!" Naruto quickly checked his pulse; he had no pulse. "Can't let Mr. Larry die. I just can't. All those times, it just won't be right. You do something, come to mind. There must be some Jutsu that I can use. I can help get his heart started. I need to think."