Alive Inside Chapter 6: Starved for Help, a walking dead fanfic

Chapter 6: Starved for Help

Jay's Log.

Day 92: It's October 22, I think? Without a clock, it's hard to keep track of time. I've only managed so far because of my journal. Two months have passed, with the outbreak starting in July, so that makes it three months in total. We've been handling the apocalypse well so far but it's getting harder to make it out here. Doug's set up an alarm system and even a rain collection system for when the weather's got spotty. Due to that, we've been able to keep our clothes clean and have baths and stuff.

Getting the barrels out of the Macon mall without becoming walker chow was tough. But we managed.

We had to start hunting for food, since most of the food in Macon was picked clean, and the mall was getting too dangerous with the amount of walkers holed up in there. Lilly suggested heading to one of the Air Force bases to look for help... and maybe find some more food.

The base was completely overrun with walkers when they got there. That's when I knew... when everyone knew, that the military wasn't coming to save anybody. In other words, we were fucked. But I knew that from the get-go.

Luckily we came across a guy named Mark. He had food that could last us a while... to be honest I'm pretty sure that was the only reason Lilly let him come with us. Larry wanted to steal his stuff and leave him to the walkers. Too many mouths to feed or something stupid like that. I don't like Larry at all. He's a jerk.

... ever since then, we've been running low on food again. Lilly's been trying to ration everything and things are getting tense back at the inn. Mostly between her and Kenny. It's getting pretty exhausting and frustrating. We won't survive if this group is dysfunctional.

Lee, Mark, and Kenny are out hunting right now. I wanted to go but I was told to sit out. I had no experience with a rifle and Carley was still training me with the crossbow to the best of her ability.

...

Clementine closed my journal softly and hummed, sitting on the edge of my bed and kicking her legs back and forth as she regarded me with a curious stare. "So you write in this every morning?"

"Yep," I responded.

It was awkward... being shirtless with a girl in my room, but Clementine didn't seem to care. So I decided to push away the minor discomfort. She just enjoyed my company a lot, and so did I... although I wouldn't admit it to anybody. Duck was cool but he could be way too loud and obnoxious for us sometimes.

Whenever we were alone we'd just... talk about stuff. Things we liked to do for fun, what we did at school, what we wanted to do in the future, stuff like that. Clem wanted to grow up and become a police officer. Which was cool. I wanted to become a baseball player, though.

"So it's like a diary!"

My brow twitched at her exclamation. "No, it's a logbook." I corrected her.

Clementine's brows furrowed. "Sounds like a diary to me."

"Diaries are for girls. Logbooks are for boys "

"Boys can have diaries!"

I shot her a look. "When's the last time you've heard of a boy having a diary."

Clementine opened her mouth to retort, paused, and hummed in confusion. "... Huh."

I smirked. "Exactly!"

I grunted, hopping to my feet after I reached my 50th rep. My arms and legs felt like jello and ached badly. Every day I made a new record with the amount of reps I could do for each new exercise. I planned to hit 100 and beyond. Soon enough I'd be doing these without breaking a sweat. Speaking of which...

I made my way over to the bathroom and grabbed one of the clean rags I had left, dipping into one of the barrels with water saved up. The weather's been mostly humid and hot throughout the past three months, but there were times when it would rain. That's when Doug decided we could use a rain collection system. With the power out, it'd be hard to take baths and wash up. We had to use water bottles for that, but that was a waste of a precious resource to keep ourselves hydrated.

We could clean up in rivers... but that was risky. Walkers were practically everywhere in the forest.

"Maybe I should get a logbook too..." Clementine said to herself, flipping through the pages.

I threw on a red T-shirt and looked over at her, raising a brow. "I'll see if Lee can find one the next time he heads into Macon."

Clementine's smile was brighter than the sun. "Thanks!"

I smiled softly. "No problem."

Clementine blinked, squinting at the previous page. "It's October 22nd...?"

I blinked. "Yeah? Why?"

Her eyes sparkled. "My birthday is in a few days!"

My eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? When?"

She nodded happily. "October 26th!"

I hummed. "Huh. My birthday is on November 1st."

Clementine's expression dropped at that, making me look at her in confusion. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We only get to be the same age for a few days before you're older than me again." she dully replied.

I snorted, ruffling her curly hair. She squeaked in shock. "Hey!"

"You're such a dweeb," I said fondly, smirking. "Guess I just hit the luck of the draw, huh? Sucks to be you~"

Clementine pouted, smoothing out her curly locks. "Mmn. Doofus."

Clem's hat mysteriously vanished a few days ago. Nobody knows where it went. She was upset with it and was still coming to terms with the possibility that she lost it. It was the last thing that connected her to her parents - aside from her broken walkie-talkie. And now that was gone too...

It felt... I don't know - wrong, seeing her without her hat. But I kept that to myself.

"Yeah, yeah. That's me!" I sat next to her on the bed, kicking my legs back and forth gently. "Don't wear it out."

I felt her shuffle next to me and rest her head on my shoulder, making me stiffen. Clementine spoke softly, her expression blank. "When's Lee coming back...? I'm hungry."

"I dunno, Clem." I sighed. I chewed the inside of my cheek, hesitating before speaking up. "You can have the last of my rations."

Clementine lifted her head off my shoulder, her eyes widening in shock. "What? No, Jay, that's yours..."

"It's fine," I said, hopping off my bed and walking over to the desk, opening the drawers, and pulling out a small wool bag. I picked it up and tossed it at her side. "There you go."

Clementine hesitated, looking at me with uncertainty and a hint of shame before grabbing the back and opening it. She pulled out a chocolate-flavored energy bar and peeled the wrapper away, chewing quietly. I ignored how my stomach churned silently, desperately wanting to eat as well. But I squashed the feeling down.

She... she needed it more than I did.

We sat in comfortable silence - or Clem did. I walked around my room out of boredom, inspecting the setup. There wasn't much to do to personalize it. All my stuff was back home and I couldn't go back over there to get it back...

My hands traced the sheathed hunting knife resting on the coffee table on the left side of the room. Then my eyes landed on my bat. During one of our trips to Macon for more supplies, we passed by a place called Sporting Goods. There we found a bag holster for baseball bats and I ended up getting it for mine. Alongside a soccer ball for Clem.

In the first two weeks of getting it, she'd kicked Duck's ass a total of 20 times in several soccer matches. He no longer liked playing soccer against her.

I do not envy him at all.

"I heard Kenny is going to leave."

I paused in my thoughts, glancing at Clementine as she stared at the floor with a sullen look on her face. I glanced away with a sigh. "Yeah. That's no secret, Clem. He's made that clear. With how things are going, he's looking out for his family."

"... Aren't we family too?"

My jaw tightened at her words. It's been three months, but we've all grown closer as a group. Kenny's family has been with us since the start of this whole mess. So it was no wonder that Clementine was sad about the prospect of them possibly leaving.

The thing is, though, with Kenny and Lilly always arguing, relations are becoming strained. On top of us running low on food, it's giving Kenny all the more reason to bounce. And with Larry always running his mouth, it makes things worse. He and Lee are always getting into it, too.

"I think we're stronger together," I spoke up after a long lapse of silence, staring into Clementine's hazel eyes. "But things are slowly falling apart..."

"Because of the arguing?" Clementine asked softly.

"Yep." I sighed, pacing around the room. "Whenever friction happens in a group, two things will happen. Either we'll patch things up, or there'll be fallout."

"Fallout?"

"We're all screwed and have to split apart before we possibly kill each other."

"O-Oh."

Her scared expression made me wince, so I quickly backpedaled and I ran a hand through my hair. "A-Anyway, what would you want for your bir-"

"OPEN UP! WE'VE GOT WOUNDED!"

Lee's voice made us both jolt. Exchanging a stunned glance, we ran out the door and down the stairs in a hurry, jogging into the parking lot to see the gates being pushed open, allowing Lee, Mark, and Kenny to run in. But there were new people. A lanky high school kid with shaggy brown hair and a growing stubble; and a man with a bloody stump, who Lee was carrying over his shoulders.

"Lee, are you okay?!" Clementine called out amidst the echoing voices of the group.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"In a minute, Duck! Katjaa! Can you fix him?!"

"Jesus - I-I don't know, Ken?!"

"Lee!"

"Who is this guy?"

"Just hold on-"

"LEE!"

Lilly's voice culled everyone into silence as the professor set the unconscious man on the truck for Katjaa to tend to. He turned to Lilly, who stormed up to him with a scowl. "What?"

"Don't 'what?' me! What the hell are you doing bringing more people in here?!" Lilly roared.

Kenny was quick to come to the man's defense. "Hey, do you wanna calm down for a fucking minute?!"

"You watch your fucking mouth!" Larry snapped from the back.

"No! I won't calm down!" Lilly growled, momentarily shifting her glare over to Kenny before directing back at Lee. "I want to know why the hell you've brought more people into our home!"

"They would have died if we left them out there!" Lee argued.

"So what?!" the professor briefly glared at Larry before focusing on Lilly.

"We are not responsible for every struggling survivor we meet out on the road!" Lilly retorted fiercely. "We need to focus on OUR group! Right here, right now!"

"So just because it's difficult you just expect us to let people die when we can help them?" Lee snarled.

"We haven't even talked to these people yet, maybe they can be helpful," Carley added.

"We should at least give them a chance before throwing them to the wolves..." Doug said.

"They're all right, Lilly." Mark cut in, frowning. "These are people! People trying to survive just like us - we have to stick together to survive!"

Lilly glared at them before focusing all her frustration on Mark, pointing to the man. "The only reason YOU'RE here, Mark, is because you had food. Enough for all of us. But that food is almost gone and we have MAYBE a week's worth left." Mark stared at her in shock before gritting his teeth and glancing off to the side. The woman placed a hand on her hip and shot the skittish high-schooler a snide look. "And I don't suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?"

"U-Uhm... n-no?" he stuttered meekly.

"Fine. You guys fight it out." having enough, Mark scoffed and spared the high schooler a glance before walking off. "Welcome to the family, kid."

I clenched my fists in frustration. Lilly was raising good points but that didn't mean we had to be jerks about it... nobody said anything about letting them stay!

My eyes trailed over to the man Katjaa was tending to. I swallowed the bile in my throat at the sight of his chopped-off leg. '... then again... I doubt he'd be able to survive out there with one leg.'

Noticing the growing distress and tension, Clementine tugged on the teenager's sleeve and began pulling him away. "Come over here and see what Duck drew..."

"W-What, no, I-"

"Just come on, okay...?"

"You know, you like to think you're the leader of this little group," Kenny stepped forward challengingly. "But we can make our own damn decisions! This isn't your own... personal dictatorship!"

Doug sighed and backed off. "I'm gonna make sure the alarm system is still up to par."

"This always devolves into a power struggle between you two!" Carley shook her head and walked away. "Nobody wants to be a part of that!"

"Listen, I didn't ask to lead this little group-"

Alright, I've had it. This is getting annoying.

"All of you SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

A chilling silence washed over the entire motel, earning everyone's stunned gazes. I took in a deep breath and glared at the adults present. "This always happens! One of you two does something the other doesn't like, and then you always have something to say, and it ends up becoming an argument! And it's tearing the group apart!"

"You need to get your acts together. Either learn to work together or maybe we need a new leader, someone who can make things work, because of this. Isn't."

"Now you listen here, you little shit," Larry glowered at me, his form towering over mine as he began to step forward. "My daughter's got more balls than all the men in here combined, she's done more for this group than any of you fuckers, LONG before you came along!"

"Dad-"

I stood my ground, clenching my trembling fists. "I'm not saying Lilly hasn't done a lot. But it's clear her way of thinking clashes with everyone else's. She said she didn't ask to be the leader, anyway! So maybe it's about time someone new is in charge."

Lilly clenched her fists and bit her lip, glaring off to the side. Several thoughts swam through her head, I could tell, but it looked like my words were having some kind of effect on her. Her expression darkened and she exhaled through her nose. "I make the hard decisions and suddenly everyone treats me like I'm fucking Hitler..." she grumbled under her breath, though I could catch a hint of veiled pain in her voice. I restrained the urge to grimace and put on my best poker face. "Fine. Who do YOU think should be the leader, since you seem to know so much?"

"Lilly-"

"Dad. Just..." she sighed harshly and waved him off. "How about you continue working on the wall? Please?"

Larry clicked his mouth shut and scowled, shooting me, Kenny, and Lee a thunderous glare before walking off. Lilly's eyes landed on me and she crossed her arms, her expression blank. I swallowed thickly, flexing my hands nervously before taking in a deep breath.

"... Lee."

Lee sputtered in shock. "What?"

"He keeps a level head and takes everyone's feelings into account. He's strong and tries to keep things together, even when you and Kenny argue a lot." I said, rocking on the heels of my feet. "That's my thoughts. Doesn't have to be now. Think about it... and then maybe after we've all calmed down, the group can come to a vote."

We stood there in silence and Kenny broke it with a sigh before tiredly glancing over at Lilly "Fine with me. Just know that Lee made a choice, and that's that."

Lilly closed her eyes took in a deep breath, and turned to Lee with tired eyes. "I need to cool off. Can you hand out today's rations?"

"Uh... yeah, of course," Lee muttered, blinking owlishly.

The woman walked off, which left us two alone. Awkward silence ensued and Lee looked at me with furrowed brows. I blinked and looked up at him in confusion.

"What?"

...

Clementine smiled and looked away as Jay managed to de-escalate the situation. She didn't like how he swore, but at least nobody was arguing anymore. She didn't like it when everyone argued. And the idea of group fallout happening was scary. She didn't want to be alone again. It was scary alone... but things were less scary with friends around.

"I-Is your group always like this?" the high schooler, Ben, she came to find out, stuttered.

"Not always," Clementine mumbled, drawing her family on a blank sheet of paper. "Everyone's just upset because we don't have a lot of food."

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Duck piped up, scribbling silently. "When are we getting food?"

"Lee's handing out today's rations, but it isn't a lot. Speaking of which..." they turned to greet Jay as he made his way over, offering half an apple to Clementine and a pack of cheese and crackers to Duck. "He wanted me to give you guys these."

"Awesome! I'm starving, thanks!" Duck sat up and took the crackers with a grin.

Clementine frowned, sitting up. "You haven't eaten anything at all."

Jay shrugged. "It's fine, I-"

"You already gave me some of your food this morning, eat it."

Jay stared at her in silence and sighed, raising his hands in defense so that she'd ease up on her glare. "Alright, alright... yeesh." he took a bite out of the apple and shot her a haughty look. "Happy?"

She smiled. "Yes!"

The boy rolled his eyes and sat down next to Ben, glancing up at the awkward teen. "Yo, I'm Jay."

"Uh, I'm B-Ben."

"Damn dude, stutter much?" Jay quipped, causing Clementine and Duck to giggle. Ben shuffled awkwardly.

"I-I'm just nervous, okay? My friends are all gone or dead, a-and I don't know if Mr. David is going to make it and it's just..." Ben groaned, burying his face into his hands.

The three kids exchanged a glance before Jay looked at Ben.

"... That's the guy with his leg missing, right?" Jay asked, sparing the man a casual glance and shrugging. "... I mean, even if he were to survive that, there's no way he'd last long out there with one leg."

"Jay!" Clementine glared at him.

"What?"

"That's not nice." she scolded the boy lightly, sending Ben an apologetic glance. "Don't worry, if anyone can fix him up, it's Katjaa! Right, Duck?"

"Yeah! What Clem said," Duck said absentmindedly, hardly paying attention to the conversation and focusing on his drawing.

Clementine sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Boys...'

"S-So you guys have been living in this motel for how long...?" Ben looked around skittishly.

"Three months!" Clementine chirped.

Jay munched on his apple quietly. "We've been surviving just fine if you're wondering. We've got three ex-military, Carley's a good shot, Lee and Kenny are strong, Katjaa's good at patching us up, and Doug's good at making gizmos."

"It sounds like you guys have it all figured out..." Ben mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Where's MY food?!"

They perked up at Larry's voice, turning around to see the large man storming up to Lee. The professor stood his ground and crossed his arms with a frown. "There's none left."

Larry scowled. "If you keep treating people like this, your days in this group are numbered."

Lee narrowed his eyes. "You don't have the authority to make that kind of decision."

Larry stood up to his full height, glaring down at Lee and sneering, growling under his breath. "Have you forgotten what I know? I can have you out of here in seconds!"

Lee arched a silent brow, glaring back at the man in defiance. Mark stepped in between the two and pushed them apart. "Alright, that's enough! We've had enough drama today as it is." he turned to Larry and squinted. "So cool it already, will you?"

"You aren't the boss of me." despite saying this, Larry walked back over to the wall.

Mark sighed and shook his head, jabbing his thumb over to the wall. "Hey, you mind if I borrow your axe for a bit? It'll speed up making this barricade."

"Sure." Lee nodded, taking his axe off his back and handing it to him.

"Thanks."

"Lee, can you come over here?!"

The professor sighed and clasped a hand on Mark's shoulder before making his way over to Katjaa. "The work never ends."

Mark chuckled. "Got that right."

"... I guess you can say we have it figured out." Jay drawled, rolling his eyes. "Larry is an asshole and makes it harder for everyone, though."

"Swear." Clementine and Duck chimed in unison.

Jay glowered at the two in silence. Then he looked at Ben again. "What happened to you anyways?"

"W-What?"

"Your group. Where are they?"

"Gone," Ben muttered, a hollow look entering his eyes as he stared at the ground. "Bandits got to them..."

An uncomfortable silence washed over them. Jay eventually broke it by groaning. "Great, there's bandits now. As if things weren't already bad enough...!"

"AAHHH!!"

"KATJAA!"

Their hearts leaped in their throats and they all stood up in alarm. Upon hearing his mother's screams, Duck's eyes widened in fear and he scrambled towards the commotion. "Mom!"

Jay and Clementine shared a stunned glance before running after him, with Ben not far behind. Lee was pushing the zombified version of Ben's teacher off of Katjaa. Clementine gasped in fear and stepped away from the scene. Jay clenched his fists and looked around for a weapon as Lee shoved the walker back and fell onto his back.

"Argh!" Lee grunted and grasped the walker by the skull as it lunged at him while he was down. Pushing him away with a groan. He noticed a figure rushing in from the side. Pushing his knees against Parker's chest, he shoved him back with all his strength as a plank of wood crashed against the walker's head, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Jay discarded the broken piece of wood as Lee shuffled back and onto his feet. Carley loaded her gun and put a bullet through the corpse's skull before it could get up and attack anyone else. Lee sighed in relief. "Thanks."

The two nodded silently as everyone began to gather around, the shock of the situation slowly abating. Kenny whirled around and glared at Ben, and began storming up to the boy. "Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!"

"W-What?!"

"Kenny, calm down." Lee held the man back.

Kenny snapped in the professor's direction. "Calm down?! My wife almost fucking died because THIS asshole-" he pointed at Ben. "Didn't tell us his friend over here was bitten!"

"He wasn't bitten!" Ben argued with a fearful expression on his face.

"BULLSHIT!"

"I'm telling you! He wasn't-" Ben paused, looking around and focusing on everyone's skeptical and borderline hostile expressions. He took a step back and blinked. "... w-wait, y'all don't know?"

"Know what?" Lilly narrowed her eyes.

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat, flexing his hands nervously. "The bite isn't what infects you. We're all infected. It happens no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain that's just what happens..." he hugged his arms anxiously, staring at the floor. "... it's gonna happen to all of us."

Doug shook his head in denial. "T-That's insane! There's... no way that's-"

The sound of shuffling clothes drew their attention. Jay was messing with Parker's corpse, before taking a fearful step back and sucking in a shaky breath. "... there's no bite marks. He's telling the truth..."

"... Fuck." Mark nursed the bridge of his nose and groaned.

Lilly's eyes slowly began to widen as the realization dawned on her. "That's how the infection spread so fast. There's no way the military would be overpowered through bites alone. The numbers would be too small." she shook her head. "Suicides, car accidents, old age, fatal diseases... all of that. All it did was create more of them - and increase their numbers."

"...all over the world," Carley whispered in shock. "Like wildfire."

"Jesus Christ..." Lee and Kenny muttered under their breaths.

Katjaa hugged Duck, and Clementine let out a soft whimper, shakily reaching out and grasping Lee's hand for comfort. He squeezed gently and closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose.

'The virus was airborne this entire time.' Jay grimaced. 'Next thing you're gonna tell me is that the walkers are gonna start mutating...'

The alarm system jingled, followed by a couple of curses down the street. Everyone looked at one another before Doug rushed near the barricade and crouched down for cover. "Everybody down!"

"Shit, where'd this string come from?"

"Watch where you're walkin', man."

"Holy shit..." Mark grinned, looking at Doug. "It works!"

"Of course it works, I told you," Doug smirked.

Lilly rolled her eyes at their brief exchange, glaring over at Ben. "Who are those people?"

"How would I know...?!"

"Think they're the ones that raided your camp?" Lee asked quietly.

"I don't think so..." Ben muttered, unsure. Then he shook his head. "But they all have their faces covered, so I wouldn't be able to know either way..."

"There's just two of them, we need to make a stand," Kenny spoke, rifle in hand.

"I agree." Carley flashed her pistol, sending the fisherman a nod.

"No...!" Lilly hissed with urgency. "There could be more of them lurking around the corner, and we still have the kids here. We have a routine. We don't engage with them if we don't have to."

"You doing okay?"

"Yeah. Just trying to get my foot untangled."

"I don't know how you're still alive, man..."

"Let's not jump the gun," Lee interjected, looking between the two. "We still don't know if these are bandits. We'll get answers out of them first... maybe they aren't bad people."

They looked between each other with contemplative frowns, and Carley eventually nodded, easing up. "Alright. I'll follow your lead."

Kenny sighed. "... fine, then. Let's do it."

They turned to Lilly. The woman looked at them, sighing harshly and frowning. "Whatever. Let's get this over with."

Lee nodded. "Katjaa, Doug, get the kids to safety, just in case. Mark, you're with us. Be ready to shoot if needed... and keep a look out for anything suspicious."

Katjaa and Doug nodded, leading Duck, Clementine, and Jay away from the barricade slowly and around the RV and couches. Mark nodded and grabbed his rifle. Larry glowered at them. "And what the hell am I supposed to do? Sit around and suck on my thumbs?!"

"Might be the most useful thing you can do right now." Kenny snarked.

Before they could argue, Lee stood up and flashed his firearm at the two men approaching the inn. The others followed his example, aiming their weapons at them. The men stumbled back in shock, raising their arms in surrender.

"W-Woah, there! Easy! We aren't looking for any trouble!"

"Who are you people?" Lee asked sharply.

"And don't think about lyin'. We've got itchy trigger fingers." Kenny growled.

"I-I'm Andy St. John," the dark-haired man in the brown sweater stuttered, looking between them before gesturing to the man in the blue polo shirt. "This is my brother, Danny..."

Carley narrowed her eyes. "... you armed?"

Danny nodded slowly. "... Yeah. For protection. The dead could be anywhere."

Andy chuckled sheepishly. "But uh, I think y'all got the upper hand 'ere..."

Lilly's eyes landed on the gas canister in Andy's hand and squinted. "What's that for?"

"... Gas?" Andy muttered, his brows furrowing. "We knew there was a motor inn down here, but we didn't bother comin'. 'Ya see, our place is guarded by an electric fence. Gas and diesel fuel the generators. Danny had the idea of siphoning some gas from the inn... we didn't know survivors had taken refuge here."

They stared at each other in tense silence, and Andy spoke up again. "Look, we own a dairy a few miles up the road. If y'all are willing to lower your guns I'm sure we can figure somethin' out!"

Danny nodded. "How are y'all doing on food? We've got plenty at the dairy! We'd be willing to trade!"

The prospect of food made everyone perk up. From behind the RV, Jay listened in on the conversation and narrowed his eyes. Clementine looked at him and whispered. "Who are they talking to? What are they saying?"

"Seems to be two farmers or something." Jay muttered, leaning back. "Apparently they've got food. They're willing to trade some for gas."

"Food?!" Clementine and Duck gasped with elated grins.

"We might've just lucked out today." Doug muttered with wide eyes, earning a nod from Katjaa.

"If we play our cards right, this can be exactly what we need to last us a few more weeks at the least..." Katjaa smiled, then frowned. "Ah, depending on how much food they have, that is..."

"And how much they're willing to share," Doug sighed.

"... I don't know." Jay's lips curled down. He was hungry, half an apple wasn't enough, and he'd normally be excited about something like this, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy about the entire thing. "Something doesn't feel right. Those guys... look off. Feel off."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Jay," Katjaa admonished softly, shaking her head. "They could be very nice people."

"You never know in times like this." the boy muttered neutrally, glancing around the RV again.

Lee exchanged a few more words with Andy and Danny. Jay couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but it seemed as though they came to an agreement. The group exchanged some looks and backed away to regroup. Jay took that as their cue to leave the safety of the RV and walk up to them.

"So? How'd it go? Are we getting food?" Doug blurted out excitedly.

"How did you-?" Lee paused, and turned to Jay. The boy offered a shrug and the professor chortled, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Alright, here's what we're gonna do. Me, Carley, Ben, and Mark will head to the dairy, see if things are safe, and if things go well, we'll exchange some gas for food. You all stay here, and we'll come down to bring everyone over when we know things are in the clear."

Everyone nodded, and Jay stepped forward. "Can I come with you?"

"No." Lee and Carley firmly stated at the same time, exchanged a surprised look, before turning back the frustrated child. Lee knelt down in front of Jay and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I need you to stay here and look after Clementine. Can you do that for me?"

Jay dully stared at Lee before huffing. "Fine."

Lee smiled and glanced at Clementine. "Make sure he doesn't get up to any trouble, alright?"

Clementine gave Lee a sloppy salute and beaming smile. "Okay!"

Jay grimaced. "Why're you making me out to be some loose cannon that needs to be put on a leash?"

"Because you are." everyone drowned out in unison.

Jay groaned.

Chuckling, Lee stood back up. "We'll be back soon." he turned to Kenny and Lilly. "You two will hold down the fort while I'm gone?"

"Do you even gotta ask?" Kenny smirked.

"Be careful." Lilly nodded and handed a gas canister to him.

Lee, Carley, Ben, and Mark waved goodbye and left the motel, following after Andy and Danny. As they disappeared into the woods, everyone slowly began to disperse, with Doug walking off to make sure the alarm system was up to snuff once more, mostly out of habit, Larry stalking off to continue working on the wall, Kenny and his family going to their room, and Lilly taking her position on the RV to stand guard again.

Jay let out a puff of annoyance and walked off. Clementine blinked and followed him as he made his way towards his room. Swinging the door open, he looked around grabbed his baseball bat and slung over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Clementine asked with furrowed brows.

"I'm gonna follow them." Jay commented calmly, grabbing his hunting knife and strap and wrapping it around his leg.

"What?!" Clementine yelped and shook her head fervently. "No! Lee said to stay here. You can't go! You'll get in trouble!"

Flipping a hood over his head, Jay brushed his curly bangs out of his face and turned to Clementine. "I'm not worried about that. What are they gonna do? Ground me?"

Clementine bit her lip and clenched her fists, standing in front of the doorway and spreading her arms out. "Lee told me to make sure you don't do anything dumb!"

Jay frowned. "Those guys... something about them isn't right, Clem. It's a gut feeling, but we could be walking into something bad."

"You don't know that! What if you're just being... para... para-"

"Paranoid,"

"That!"

"Well being paranoid helps in surviving a zombie apocalypse." Jay snarked and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Clem, I'm going."

"No! You could get hurt!"

"Clem..."

"I-If you try to leave, I'll tell!" Clementine stammered, pouting at him fiercely.

Jay clicked his mouth shut, his expression tightening. Clementine licked her lips nervously and she glared at him determinedly. "L-Lee will protect us if something goes wrong! And Carley, and Kenny, and Mark, Lilly, Doug, Katjaa, even Larry, even if he is mean!"

"We have to trust them..." Clementine said, her shoulders slacking. "S-So... let's just draw o-or play soccer until they get back! Okay?!"

Jay closed his eyes and let out a harsh breath, walking up to Clementine. She tensed and squeaked when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "You're right... and that's exactly why I have to do this."

Clementine yelped as Jay roughly shoved her out the room and slammed the door shut. Her eyes widened in horror as she heard him lock it, and she began hanging on the door. "Jay! Open up, this isn't funny! We're supposed to stay here! Jay!!"

Staring at the door, he closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose and walked towards his window. He opened it and peered down, inspecting his method of escape. Clumsily, he stood on the window seal and reached out, grabbing the pipeline bolted to the wall. Once he knew he had a solid grip and footing, he swung out window and hugged the pipe right as he began to inch his way down.

Leveling himself towards the gate, Jay took in a deep breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He angled himself and pushed off with a sharp gasp, his feet finding purchase on the stone wall. He fumbled and quickly found his footing; jumping off the other side and landing in the bushes.

"That was awesome..." Jay chuckled, taking in another deep breath to calm his racing heart as he crawled out of the bushes and dusted stray leaves off himself. "Now..."

He narrowed his eyes and dashed off in the direction where Lee and the others had left.

"Time to see if those guys are really clean!"

X-X-X-X-X-X

I let out a breath, grumbling to myself as my stomach began twisting knots. I fought the pangs of hunger and shook my head, looking around in frustration. So far I hadn't found any sign of Lee and the others. I'm pretty sure I'm lost. Which is not good at all, obviously. I'm taking huge risks going out on my own as is. Clementine's probably already told everyone else back at the motel about my little stunt.

'I'm gonna get an earful if I make it back alive...' I sighed, clenching my fists.

But I felt like I had to do this. A little reconnaissance never hurt anyone. Those two brothers rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. Don't know what. But I'm gonna find out. No amount of sidelining me is gonna stop them.

And when I do find out... it'll be a big fat 'I told you so!' then that'll show everyone I'm capable enough to hold my own. Tsk, I've killed as many walkers as the adults at this point.

Disregarding my frustration, I looked up and found a clearing in the road. Sliding down the ledge, I looked around and stilled, my eyes going wide. Lying in a pool of body was corpse. I made to take a step forward but I ended up stopping myself, slowly pulling my bag out after remembering Ben's words.

We were all infected. Didn't matter how we die... if the brain isn't destroyed, we'll turn.

On closer inspection, it was a chubby looking guy in some dirty clothes with a black shiesty worn over his face to obscure his features. A crossbow was on the ground next to him. His chest was riddled with bullet holes... fresh, too.

Someone gunned this guy down. Recently.

"A bandit, maybe? Probably got in a fight or something..." I mused, tensing when I heard the corpse stir and growl. Right. His brain wasn't destroyed.

As the reanimated corpse began to rise, I bashed my bat against it's skull, driving it into the dirt again. I quickly pulled out my knife and drove it into the center of the walker's head, silencing it. I let out a breath and sheathed my bat and knife, stepping away from the body and frowning. "Alright... now..."

I closed my eyes, a bout of nausea washing over me. Not because of the walker, but because of hunger. I stood there to gather my bearings before continuing my trek down the road. "Just gotta find this stupid farm... going straight always seems to be the right option."

I don't know how long I'd been walking through the woods. But my legs were starting to hurt, and this hunger was starting to mess with me. The exhaustion was slowly catching up... maybe... maybe I should have stayed back and waited... was I being stupid? Maybe I was...

Dah... what would Mom and Dad have done...? Probably scolded me... they'd want me to stay back where it was safe... should have listened, should have-

"We're runnin' low on food, man."

"Why do you think we're heading over to the farm? Those bastard St. John's haven't been holding up on our deal lately... it's about time we take what we want."

I paused, blinking at the conversation in distance. I turned in the direction of the voices and slowly began to make my way over, careful to make my steps slow and quiet. Peering over a tree, I blinked to see a group of men making their way down the road and over to a nearby ledge. I began following them closely.

"Ever thought of taking that place over? With our people, it'd be easy! Lot better than staying in campsites n' shit."

"We're fine around Save Lots."

"Yeah, George. Keep your trigger finger steady. Christ, man."

"All I'm saying is that little fence they've got is pretty fucking nice!"

"... Hold up. What the hell is that?"

Peeking past the bushes, all the men were armed. Some with rifles, and others with bows. I shifted my attentions past the ledge and squinted. Down below was a farm, the St. Johns Farm... which was where the brothers took Lee and the others... wait.

'Near the tractor.' I gasped. Lee and Mark were down there! Pushing up the fence.

"Those motherfuckers weren't there before!"

"They bringing in new people?! They skipping out on us?!"

"Well let's send them a fucking warning, then!"

I saw one of the bandit's notch an arrow on their bow. My heart hammered in my chest and I looked around, lifting up a decent sized rock, I took aim and hurling it at his head with all my strength. It cracked against the side of his head, earning a sharp cry of pain as he misfired his arrow.

"ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

I looked down the hill and let out a breath of relief to see that Lee and Mark were fine, but they were definitely alert.

"Is that a fucking kid?!"

"Must've been the brat that threw that fucking rock at me!"

And speaking of alert...!

"HE'S RUNNING AWAY!"

I spun on my heel and ran in the opposite direction. Gunshots echoed through the woods, followed by enraged screams and padding boots. Bark exploded through the air as bullets struck the trees I maneuvered around, my eyes were wide with fear as I looked over my shoulder to see two bandits gaining on me.

"Get back here you little shit!"

"You're gonna pay!"

As they reached out for me, I swerved to the left and stumbled into the open road, tumbling into a heap. I groaned and pushed myself up, my chest burning from exertion and my stomach eating itself from the inside. It hurts... it hurts so bad... but I have to keep going!

"You fucker!"

I gasped and whirled around, rolling to the side one of my two assailants burst out of the bushes and lunged at me. As he tumbled to the ground, I frantically reached for my knife. As I did, the collar of my jacket was pulling and the bandit's bloodshot eyes bore into mine.

"I don't know who you are, you little shit, but you've done fucked up!" he snarled.

My eyes widened with horror and I whipped out my knife. He realized far too late before I drove it into his chest and slammed my feet into his stomach. He let out a shrill gasp and let go of me as I wrenched my weapon away and crashed onto my back, a sharp gasp escaping my lips.

The bandit clutched his bleeding chest with a pained gasp. He groaned and glared at me, stumbling over himself. "Y-You...!"

I swallowed thickly as he collapsed to the ground. My eyes trailing down to my bloody knife. I was shaking... my hands were shaking... what did I just do? I-I just killed someone... I just...

"Tim, what the fuck - oh my God," the other bandit came into the open road and gasped, staring at his companion's unmoving body. He turned to me with wide eyes, his expression of shock quickly morphing into fury. "You fucking devil! You killed Tim!"

Devil?

I scrambled back as he took aim with his rifle and hurled myself to my feet as he fired. The bullet nearly grazed me as I tripped over myself and rolled into the bushes. I barely had time to react as a walker came out of nowhere and lunged at me. "GAH!!" I kicked my feet against the ground and slammed my back against a tree, avoiding a gnarly bite, yet inadvertently knocking what little wind I had in me.

The walker tumbled to the floor but quickly locked onto me. I could see the figure of the bandit quickly running through the bushes. I forced myself onto my aching legs and ignored the burning in my stomach, and rushed off. Walkers were making their appearance, likely due to the sounds from the guns.

As a rotting corpse of an old woman reached for me, I slashed outwards with my knife, gutting open her stomach. Her blood splattered against me but she continued to reach for me, undeterred. I shivered side-stepped a swing of one of her boney arms before stabbing her in the skull.

A walker grabbed my arm from behind and tried to pull it into it's teeth. I always kept my arms wrapped in duct tape, though, so I was protected from a bite as it tore through my jacket sleeve with rotting teeth; giving me ample time to stab it in the skull and shove it away.

"Found you, you little shit!"

I screamed in alarm, my heart beating loudly in my chest as the bandit suddenly yanked the back of my hood and pulled me towards him. I thrashed wildly in his grip. "L-Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"No way in fucking hell, you killed Tim... I'm gonna make you pay for that in blood."

Is this sick fuck really about to kill me?!

"Y-You're insane!" I stammered, doubling my efforts to break out. "An actual lunatic! You're a fucking bandit, you probably killed more people than me, asshole!"

"SHUT UP!" his fist crashed against my cheek and I collapsed to the floor, my head ringing and my jaw sore. I felt the taste of metal in my lips as I rolled onto my back. The man grabbed my hood's collar and aimed his rifle at me, his eyes wide with hysteria and rage. "You think I like killing people? This is how the world is now, you brat. Already tainting the children here... killing without mercy like wild animals, FUCK!"

I blearily stared at him with indignation. As he continued to rant, I could see a walker crawling towards us from the corner of my eye. I could make it out of this... just had to... j-just had to stall.

"I don't know what you're talking about... but you were gonna... hurt my friends..." I slurred, trying to stay focused. But it was hard... hurts... "So I stopped you..."

"Fucking shit... doesn't matter anymore. Most of my men are dead 'cos of you." the bandit growled. "It was your people's faults for tangling with those St. John's fuckes. Now you're gonna pay the price..."

The walker shambled closer and I closed my eyes and I mumbled. "...fuck you..."

"What was that?"

"...I said..."

PTEW!

"ARGH!!"

I spat a glob of blood into his eye, causing the man to lurch back and let out a series of curses and shouts. My leg snapped outwards and came in contact with his family jewels. He let out a pained wheeze as his rifle clattered to the ground. I pushed again and shoved in back and into the open arms of the walker behind him.

I glowered coldly. "Fuck you."

"N-No! No! Fuck! You goddamn little shi--AAARGHHH!!!" his screams were horrific as the walker took a chunk out of his neck. He was dead in seconds.

I groaned, shakily pushing myself to my feet and slowly moving away from that... mess. I began to shamble past the treeline. I was tired, hungry, in pain, and I smelled like fucking walker blood and guts because of killing some of those bastards on the way here and getting their blood all over me.

But I was... safe-

*Ggrgghh...

A lump formed in my throat and I went still at the sound of walkers. Two shambled out of the bushes near me and I could only stare in horror. Too tired to move. Too stunned to. I unconsciously gripped my knife and screamed internally to run, move, do anything!

... and yet, they just... walked past me. Like they didn't even see me. I was confused, but was too tired to care. Maybe... maybe God decided to spare me this time...?

'So tired... hungry.' another wave of nausea washed over me. My vision started blurring. 'Hard to breathe...'

Everything went black for a moment. As my vision returned, blurry and unfocused, I realized I had fallen over. My body wouldn't respond to me. Too tired. Too much pain... can't move. I need to... rest...

A blurry figure began to make their way towards me. Couldn't make out who they were... until they spoke... they were the last thing I heard before I ended up blacking out.

"Shh... rest now baby, momma's got you... they won't be able to hurt you anymore..."

What... the fuck...?

Before I could even think about what was said to me, or process it, I passed out.

A/N.

And we're back. With another showcase of kids doing reckless and stupid shit in the apocalypse! This time, our subject is Jay himself.

Decided to switch things up, since I didn't want to just regurgitate the entire episode of Starved for Help, even if the streams lead to the same pond... so why not spice things up by having Jay do stupid shit? Which is slowly becoming a trademark.

His heart's in the right place, I guess...

Anywho. That's enough for today. I'll be seeing you guys next time. Haven't updated rhis story in a while, and with recent stuff... well, you know how it is. Getting better.

Hope you enjoyed. Peace.