Authors note: Alice was made by my good friend from Tumblr t-bird510 and he collaborates with me in creating new ideas for this fanfic

Chapter 3: Tensions

"Are you a criminal? Wait a minute, did you touch children or something?"

"No Ken… I… I killed a man" Lee replies with shame written on his face.

The fisherman looks at his friend seriously "Were you some kind of serial killer? Should I be worried?"

"Nothing like that. I only did it once, I let myself be guided by the anger of the moment" the former professor replies with his head down

The fisherman looks at Lee for a few seconds and then turns towards the road. Lee begins to wander with his mind *What is he thinking now? Did he take it well? Will he treat me with distrust?* The man is a little worried, he is afraid of the consequences of this confession, but at the same time he already feels lighter, he is freeing himself of a weight that has tormented him for months now. The only ones who know about this burden are Carley and Alice, they have been understanding with him and have not judged him for his mistake. he could have met some unscrupulous people ready to blackmail him, instead he found the two of them. Life never ceases to surprise.

the two men are a few dozen meters from the motel, they are covered in blood and tired. They have faced a traumatic adventure that they hope to forget and not have to face again. they can't wait to reunite with the group and show off the loot. Lee breathes a sigh of relief seeing the motel still intact and everyone still alive. The bandits are still out there, they are still a danger to the group, but seeing everyone safe the man becomes more hopeful. *Maybe we can do it, we can all survive together*

the two arrive at the entrance blocked by the two dumpsters and in front of them they have a panoramic view of the members of the group. Ben is on top of the camper, sitting on that uncomfortable chair, he stands guard with Lilly's rifle. Next to the boy is Alice, the two are chatting. in these months they have become friends, being the only two teenagers in the motel has brought them a lot closer. Lee looks down and sees Carley and Katjaa sitting on the couch at the side of the camper, entertaining Clementine and Duck with some battered toys found during their various expeditions in search of supplies. Soon some members of the group, noticing Lee and Kenny's return, approach, intrigued by the supplies and happy that the two are alive. The first to arrive is Alice, who gets out of the camper, runs towards the large dumpsters and moves them, approaching them.

she is a girl with long golden hair, milk-colored skin, sweet features and those freckles that look like constellations. Her body is like a twig, thin and slightly smaller than Carley. she never misses an opportunity to show herself brave and understanding with the other members of the group, but sometimes she can be a little grumpy and childish. she wears brown sneakers, blue jeans, a white short-sleeved shirt and a wool hat.

"give me the backpack" the girl exclaims anxiously

the surprised former professor "calm down Alice, there's nothing special in there"

The girl forcefully takes the backpack from the man's shoulders and opens it. she puts her hands inside, moves the supplies a bit with her fingers and once she sees the contents she starts to grumble

"ugh, more energy bars. Is it possible that there is nothing else in Macon?"

"girl, settle for it. It's already a lot if we found this stuff" Kenny replies annoyed.

Alice drops the backpack on the floor and heads annoyed towards her room, which is on the first floor on the left, together with lilly's in the center and Kenny's on the right. The two teenagers, Ben and Alice, share the same room. Months ago, when they first reached the motel, the survivors realized that there were too many of them for the structure, so some of them had to share the rooms as best they could. The former professor knows very well how frustrating this apocalypse can be. having to live isolated, sharing a room with others, being armed and with only energy bars as their only source of nourishment. *it's already too much for me, I don't dare to imagine for such young kids*

after a short reflection Lee lifts her backpack and heads with Kenny towards Lilly's room. Carley and Katjaa catch up with the two men, but the former has a more serious look, almost annoyed and bites her lip as if trying to hold back from saying something, but in the end she gives in and speaks

"was it really necessary to take it personally Kenny? She's also going through this shit like the rest of us, it's normal that she wants something more than simple energy bars."

"Carley, don't start it too" replies the fisherman with evident tiredness and boredom on his face.

The journalist remains silent, annoyed. In recent months she has spoken to Lee several times about how much Kenny and Lilly's behavior makes her furious, they constantly argue and are quarrelsome with everyone. The former professor has done his best to reduce the conflicts within the group, but all his interventions have been in vain.

Katjaa tries to intervene with the sweetness that distinguishes her "maybe Carley is right honey, being grumpy all the time won't help us in this situation"

"Bah" concludes the fisherman with an apathetic look and a simple sound, which however is enough for the others to understand his dissent.

Clementine immediately places herself in front of Lee and hugs him sweetly. Carley and Katjaa smile influenced by the tenderness of the moment, while Kenny heads towards Lilly's room, stopping a meter from the door, waiting for Lee to reach him.

"You're back!"

the man kneels down and stares at her with a loving look "don't worry, I'll always come back, honey"

"Duck and I made a drawing for Lilly" the little girl exclaims satisfied

then continues showing the drawing "it's her with her dad"

it's all very stylized, the woman's body is thinner, it almost looks like a stickman. his father's instead is wider, his body is a set of circles and ovals, his legs are very oval, while the torso is a large circle. They both smile among these light green hills, which seem tiny compared to them.

Lee with a slight smile "it's very beautiful Clem. How about I bring it to Lilly? Maybe she'll smile a little thanks to your drawing"

"yes!" she answers enthusiastically to the stars.

The man with a playful expression "clem, now I have to go to Lilly with the others. I have to deliver the loot to the captain"

Carley imitates the typical pirate hook with her hand and turns to the little girl with a stern look "arrr! Get ready sailor, later we'll sail the seas"

"arrr! Of course" concludes the little girl putting a hand in front of her eye simulating a blindfold.

the three love to pretend to be pirates, using the two single beds in the former professor's room as if they were ships and using small branches found in the forest as if they were swords. Carley and Clementine on one bed and Lee on the other. The woman and the little girl have to defend themselves from the man's attempts to board, which punctually fail. In these months they have often played together in this way, when they are together the apocalypse seems to vanish for a short time. There are no more walkers or bandits, but only the three of them who live moments that are a luxury in this world.

Kenny with a serious look decides to turn to the two friends and his wife "Come on guys, we have things to do"

After the sweet conversation Clementine leaves the drawing in Lee's hands and then runs to Duck to play with him. The man instead, gets up, puts the drawing in his backpack and heads with Carley and Katjaa towards Lilly's room.

The three approach the room and the fisherman already there knocks on the door. The woman opens and shows a wasted face. The dark circles under her eyes are evident and her gaze shows apathy and sadness at the same time. The two men hand the rifles to Lilly and immediately Kenny turns towards the camper says not very confident

"it seems that the boy is on guard today"

"what did you get?" She replies with a tired voice

The fisherman ignores her and continues his rant

"You might as well put a sign out there that says: we're gone, come and rape women and children"

The woman with a light sarcastic laugh turns and heads towards the table, on which she places the rifles. The room where she is staying is very similar to the others, but the apocalypse seems to have barely touched it. The former professor can never get used to that room, even though he enters it every now and then, it's like taking a little leap into the world before this apocalypse, when there was no blood or scratches on the carpet and the furniture wasn't massacred.

She then goes back to the four members of the group and speaking to the two men asks, with a more serious look "so what did you take?"

"a lot of stuff" Lee replies confidently.

After this statement the two men enter the room and show their backpacks. Lilly immediately takes them, puts them on her bed and opens them to examine them. She didn't bother to check Lee and Kenny's health, so Kenny, noticing this, exclaims slightly annoyed

"we're fine by the way"

the woman remains focused on the contents of the two backpacks and once she's finished examining she says with a slight smile

"good job, this will keep us alive"

then she continues with more enthusiasm "if we continue like this, we'll spend the whole winter here"

the fisherman remains incredulous "winter? We'll freeze our asses off here. Kat and I won't stay in this dump, in the cold, with bandits who could fuck us over at any moment."

Lilly counters sarcastically "I can already imagine you and me in the camper together, especially after what you did to my father. The idea is so appealing"

so the two begin to argue, firm in their ideas. They have never managed to find a point of agreement on the management of the group. Kenny thinks that the motel will fall sooner or later, that it is better to stay on the road, far from the cities. Lilly instead thinks of the motel as a home, she believes that the group is capable of defending it and is sure that the search for supplies will not be a problem in the future. Lee has been hearing the same nursery rhyme for months now and tired of hearing them argue among themselves he leaves the room with his head down, scratching his eyes with one hand. A thousand thoughts hit his mind like a hammer hitting nails. *will the bandits attack us? Will we be able to defend ourselves from the walkers? What future will Clem have in this world? will this shit between Lilly and Kenny ever end?*

it's not enough that thoughts sprout like mushrooms, now they mix into one big mess, depression makes its way between the folds of his conscience and the man begins to feel helpless, unable to help the people around him.

"they are unbearable" exclaims Carley behind Lee, with an annoyed look. she too has decided to leave that room, she doesn't want to be part of the acid rivalry between the two litigants.

Lee turns around, stares at her with a bitter look and folded arms "I tried to make them see reason, but the more time passes, the more aggressive and stubborn they become."

The worried woman "Lilly has always been nervous since her father died and Kenny does nothing but make the situation worse by acting grumpy"

"what if he was right? So do you feel safe here?" Lee asks with uncertainty painted on her face

Carley raises her right eyebrow and with a hint of a smile replies "give me an apartment, a bathroom and Malbec. Then I'll feel safe."

she immediately continues with a more serious look "I don't know, this place is good, but we both know that this could change at any moment. In the end though, we should still find a permanent place to live, especially for the children. They can't spend their childhood as nomads"

The man is about to answer, but Lilly's shrill voice has attracted both of their attention, interrupting their conversation "WHAT DO I KNOW?!"

the two decide to approach the room again to understand what is happening. They find a frustrated Lilly, with flaming eyes, who like a river in flood, lets out everything she thinks

"I know you're not above murder! I know that someone STOLE our supplies! Yes, you understood correctly Kenny, someone stole our supplies and the list of people I can trust is getting smaller and smaller!"

a dead silence is created for a moment, everyone is incredulous in front of those words. someone stole supplies and the culprit could be among them. Trust collapses to a minimum between the members, who immediately look at each other with suspicion.

Lilly immediately turns away, with her arms folded and with an angry look she addresses the members of the group

"now everybody gets OUT"

the four are kicked out of Lilly's room, shocked and in disbelief. now a new problem has been added to the list, making their survival more difficult. Immediately the former professor turns to the fisherman with annoyance painted on his face

"Ken, You two have to stop this shit, please. No one will gain anything from these stupid Quarrels"

"I don't like this shit as much as you do. I just try to do what's right for the group and no one ever thanks me, not even once!" Kenny exclaims nervously

Katjaa immediately tries to make the man see reason "honey, no one questions what you do, but you're too stubborn with Lilly"

The fisherman then concludes bitterly "here someone has to make the decisions that are necessary and she is not capable of doing it. We can no longer indulge her madness, we will end up getting ourselves fucking killed like this"

After this outburst Kenny heads with his wife towards the sofa that is on the side of the camper. The expression on his face before walking away says it all, he is tired, nervous and worried. The situation is getting worse, the problems are increasing and he feels an ever stronger fear for his own family, he is afraid that in this world they cannot make it.

"oof, this is coming to a head" exclaims Carley who is two meters away from Lee

the former professor bitterly turns to her "you can say that"

she then continues "well, it was worth listening to Lilly about what she was saying about the missing supplies. Agitated as she is, I don't want to see her also paranoid"

"you're right, I have to shed light on this matter, I don't want to risk this affecting our survival" he answers confidently

she looks him in the eyes and hints at a smile. After half a second, she reaches out and gently cleans the man's face with her hand "I could give you a hand, I'm curious too to understand better what happened and plus I have the opportunity to brush up on my journalism skills"

"who would have ever say? the professor and the journalist investigating together" he replies with a hint of a smile.

She puts her hand on her hip and jokes "and who else should do it? that yokel Kenny?"

despite the irony shown by Lee and Carley, the situation is very delicate. Kenny and Lilly are nearing the point of no return and someone has stolen the supplies. Who could have done such a thing? And why? At this moment our two heroes can't trust anyone. They only trust each other. Lee wouldn't know how to explain it, but he has no doubts about her, he feels that she is reliable and innocent.