Chapter 5: Starved for Help.
A month has passed since the incident at the air force base. And currently Arthur Morgan was out with young Clementine in the woods. The little girl nervously holding onto a small knife, as Arthur shot off his bow nailing a squirrel on the tree. "There we go. See? Quick and painless." Arthur showed as Clementine quietly nodded.
"But he's so small…" Clementine whispered.
"Yeah, well. When animals in the wild are hungry, they won't care if the prey is small. Remember that, okay?" Arthur told the little girl, as a way to teach her that not everything out there would care if she was a little kid. "Now, see these tracks? What do they tell you?" Arthur pointed to the ground, and Clementine squinted her eyes as to see.
"I-I don't know… I don't see anything." Clementine seemed lost as she was searching for foot prints.
"Heh, now see. You are not only looking for footprints. Here… take a look at the grass here. Looks like something stepped on it, doesn't it? Something small." Arthur pointed towards a few small blades of grass that were crooked and bent. "And here, we have a little broken stick. Now… you see how it's broken like someone bent it or crushed it. That is how you can tell something walked over it. Of course, bigger animals tend to leave foot prints. And sometimes given the right terrain, so could smaller animals."
"I see… that makes sense. But… how can you see it so easily?" Clementine asked a little curious, as Arthur seemed to have a keen eye for detail.
"Hehe, practice, kiddo. Lots of practice. I've hunted everything from rabbits to deer's and wolves to bears. In time, you will learn too." Arthur ruffled Clementine's head, and went to retrieve the dead squirrel. "Now, let's see you try and skin it. Just like I showed you." Arthur hands the squirrel over to Clementine, who is a little nervous over holding the small dead animal.
"O-Okay…" Pushing her thumbs into its chest, Clementine winches as she feels its bones crushing. "I-I can't do it, it's too gross." Clementine threw the squirrel to the ground, and Arthur sighed.
"Hey, don't worry kid. Let's try another way, okay? Grab your knife and make a small cut right here." Arthur said as he stroked the dead squirrel's belly with his finger to show Clementine. "Be careful now, try and not go too deep, you will hit its organs. Could taint the meat if you hit his bladder."
"I… can we maybe try it on a bigger animal." Clementine said a little hesitant as she held the knife shakingly. Seeing she wasn't ready, Arthur nodded in understanding.
"We won't find any bigger animals anytime soon, hon. But okay, for now, I will show you again how to do it." Grabbing the squirrel, Arthur pushes his thumbs into it, and peels the skin off the squirrel right off. "There, easy as that. Not a lot of meat on this little guy, but it will help us survive. And we can keep his pelt, make some blankets or clothes that could warm us in the winter. Though I must admit, I'm not good with a needle and thread. Anyway, this little guy didn't die for nothing, is what I am trying to teach you."
"Y-Yeah… I understand. That makes me feel… a little better I guess." Clementine carefully nodded, and Arthur smiled as like any kid Clementine absorbed this information like a sponge.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lee whispered as he found them, looking frantic as he quickly looked to Clementine. "Are you okay sweet pea?" Lee looked stressed, having searched all over the woods.
"She's fine." Arthur said with a casual shrug, he was with her after all. Lee however, turned to look at Arthur with a glare.
"She shouldn't be out here, it isn't safe." Lee said and Arthur just rolled his eyes at him.
"She shouldn't have to do a lot of things, but she is going to need to. Sooner or later, we have to leave that motor inn, and then she will be out here." Arthur retorts to Lee, who doesn't really have a good comeback.
Lee however, then notices Clementine holding a knife and his even more shocked. "You gave her a knife? She's a little kid, what if she hurts herself?"
"Lee… I-I know it's not a toy." Clementine spoke up, showing she treated the knife with respect and knew the importance of it not being a toy.
"See? That's why I gave her the knife." Arthur says, showing he has taken time to teach Clementine the importance of weapons not being toys to play with. "I wanted to give one to Duck too, but Kenny was even more uppity than you about the whole thing. And… I honestly don't think that boy wouldn't treat the knife like a toy no matter what I said."
"Duck's going to be so jealous…" Clementine smirked as she held her small pocket knife. To which Lee looked at Arthur with a deadpan expression, while Arthur awkwardly looked away.
"Well, she is still a kid in some ways…" Arthur awkwardly chuckled, while Clementine looked confused at the awkward pauses between the two men. Lee rolled his eyes, and took the knife from Clementine.
"Fine, when she's out here, she can have it. I will hang onto it in the meantime, okay sweet pea?" Lee gently told Clementine, who looked a little pouty as she wanted to make Duck jealous over her having a knife, but she understood.
"Okay…" She sighed, and held Lee's hand as they all walked back to the motor inn.
While walking Lee looks to Arthur. "By the way, Kenny and Mark are ready at the motor inn with the rifles. They think we all should go hunting today." Lee said, as food supply had been low lately. Arthur had tried to tell them there is too little game in these woods, and that they should expand their hunting grounds. Kenny agreed with him, so that is what they have been given permission to do today by Lilly. As long as four of them went hunting together.
"Okay… Can't promise we'll find anything out there though. I've kept telling Lilly that the motor inn is a lost cause and we should cut our loses and move on." Arthur sighed, as he really didn't want to deal with Lilly who had become more unhinged as time went on. Her time as a prisoner at the air base had made her more cautious and anxious.
"But where are we supposed to go?" Lee asked as they didn't have many destination options.
"Savannah!" Clementine eagerly pointed out, as that is where her parents were before the world went to shit.
"Uh…" Arthur and Lee awkwardly exchanged a look with each other, as they were both sure that Clementine's parents might be dead. "Well… maybe, yeah. I know Kenny wouldn't be opposed to it. He would want to try and look for a boat there." Lee pointed out as Kenny had changed his attitude about staying at the motor inn, now that they knew the military was of no help. Now all Kenny talked about was taking the RV, head to the coastline and find themselves a boat.
"Sure… but first we need to get everyone onboard. Wouldn't sit right leaving people behind." Arthur sighed as it was as good of a plan as any. Maybe Savannah wasn't as bad as they imagined.
As they got close to the motor inn, Arthur gave a whistle to signify they were here, and the gates opened up. With Mark and Kenny on the other side. "There you are. Where have you been?" Kenny asked, as he also noticed Clementine with them.
"Taught her a little tracking. Also, got some meat out there." Arthur said as he held up the skinned squirrel that he tossed towards Doug who nearly didn't catch it.
"Well, it's a start. But now that we have the appetizer, we should go out and find us dinner for tonight." Kenny said as he tossed Arthur the M14 rifle, and Mark handed Lee one of his hunting rifles. "We'll be back in a few hours hon." Kenny told his wife, giving her a quick kiss.
"Be safe." Katjaa wished them well, as she took Clementine's hand and took her over to Duck who was playing with a slight deflated soccer ball.
The four men went out with their hunting rifles, and headed into the woods. Kenny bringing forth a map. "Alright, so I talked to Lilly. And she said this, is as far as we should go." Kenny said as the map had lines drawn around it.
"That's barely two miles outside of the old safe zone." Arthur pointed out, as he grabbed the map. "We should go way further. The deeper we get into the woods, the better chance we have of catching something big."
"Yeah, but also the bigger chance we have of running into walkers." Mark pointed out and shivered slightly, as he remembered the herd Arthur brought to the air base.
"If we let walkers scare us away, we won't be able to catch a rabbit." Arthur spat to the ground as he shoved the map into Mark's hands. "We need to go further out, at least 5 miles. We can at least go as far away as the old air base. We already know what's there."
"Yeah, he's right." Kenny agreed with Arthur, as did Lee.
"O-Okay, yeah sure." Mark shakingly nodded.
As they walked, Kenny began with some small talk. "You know, I actually went back to the air base. To check if there was anything to salvage. But that place is still overrun with walkers. I don't see them clearing off anytime soon."
"They really haven't moved on yet?" Arthur asked with a raised brow.
"No, what's worse, it looks like new walkers are coming in. The sound of the rest must have drawn more of them in. I could even swear, that I saw that Butch guy as a walker." Kenny said.
"The jolly green giant?" Arthur asked, remembering the big guy he and Kenny fought and left to get eaten by walkers.
"Not so big anymore. Was crawling on the ground with no legs. I nearly didn't recognize him as he was missing half his face and muscles." Kenny shakes his head, as it seemed the walkers had eaten most of Butch.
After a few hours of walking, Arthur stopped. "Alright, I reckon here is a good spot. We should split up, see if we can find more that way." Arthur suggested, as if they all went together and with Kenny insisting, they used rifles, the more ground they covered the more chance of them getting more game.
"Why not just go together?" Mark asked a little anxious.
"Because, if one of us shoots our rifles, the sound will scare off any other game for miles. Plus, attract the unwanted attention of walkers. If we are split up, but not too far from each other. We still have more of a chance to catch more game, and scatter the walkers attention in multiple directions." Arthur showed on the map, drawing four arrows going in separate directions from this spot.
"I-I don't know guys." Mark sounded a little unsure, not wanting to go alone.
"I can go with Mark. No need to split into four." Lee offered, easing Mark's mind a little.
"Alright, Ken, you good by yourself?" Arthur asked, and was met with a firm solid nod.
"Yeah, I can go by myself no problem. I will holler if I need any help." Kenny said as he held his rifle ready and loaded.
"Alright, I will take the right, Kenny will take the left. You two can go down the main trail there." Arthur instructed, and then they all split up to hunt. Despite carrying his M14 rifle, Arthur also had his bow and arrow. Knowing he was better at hunting than the others, he figured he could catch some animals before any of them fired off a shot to scare most animals away.
Arthur walked around with his bow drawn and ready should he spot some game. Having searched for nearly an hour, Arthur groaned. 'Waste of time… there ain't no game left in these woods. Just squirrels.' Arthur could tell with the lack of tracks in the woods, it all mainly belonged to small animals. Or walkers.
Making a turn, Arthur saw a shadowy figure standing behind some trees, watching him. Ducking behind a tree, quickly, Arthur eyeballed the figure, it wasn't a walker as it stood perfectly still. Turning its back to Arthur, it walked away. Was this guy following him? Was he spying on their camp? Arthur snuck after the man, as he reached a clearing, he saw the man in black come into view.
He had his back turned to Arthur, and wore a big top hat. Raising his bow with the arrow drawn, Arthur ended up caught off guard as the man spoke. "Hello Arthur. Arthur Morgan." Arthur was caught by surprise, and lowered his bow.
"Do I know you?" Arthur asked, as something was strangely familiar about the man yet for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.
"I hope so, I seem to know you." The man turned around to face Arthur, he had slight hollowed eyes and wrinkles on his face. His eyes dark, and his mouth hidden underneath a bushy fancy mustache.
"Now friend, I'm usually pretty good at remembering faces, but I've never seen you before." Arthur gets a little hostile, as something about this man was bothering him.
"Do you now? Do you remember Juliet Harrison's face?" The Strange Man asked which had Arthur raise his brow in genuine confusion.
"Who?" The name was totally unfamiliar to Arthur.
The Strange Man would then say something that sent chills down Arthur's spine. "She was the girl you and Glenn Rhee found in that abandoned motor inn. Pretty girl, before she got sick that is… And before you shot a window through her skull out of mercy."
"Juliet, huh? We didn't have the chance to exchange names…" Arthur is now visibly growing weary of the man, and even places his hand onto his holstered gun. "Have you been spying on us?" Arthur growls threatening at the strange man.
"Eh, in a way. I just happened to witness it. But that is good you remember her. At least you can remember people far more important than me." The Strange Man brushes Arthur's threat off like it was nothing to him. That is when Arthur took notice of something about this Strange Man that had him even more confused.
Originally, Arthur hadn't given it any thought as he was used to seeing clothing like that all his life when he went to a big city. But this, this was the year 2010, and this strange man was dressed like he was from 1899. "Who are you?" Arthur asked in a low weary voice.
"No one important, clearly." The man shrugged as he walked past Arthur. "Good luck looking after that broken group of yours. They seem to be on the verge of collapsing. Oh, and just a little warning. There are others out there who seek to consume human flesh besides walkers. Have a good day now." The Strange Man walked into the woods, and disappeared between the trees.
"Wait!" Arthur ran after him, but quickly discovered the Strange Man was nowhere to be seen. Looking around with his gun raised in panic, Arthur turned around frequently and found no trace of the Strange Man. Instead, two walkers spotted Arthur and snarled at him.
With a heavy sigh, Arthur holstered his gun and pulled out his hunting knife. As he ducked away from the first walker trying to grab him, Arthur gave it a sideways stab to the temple of its head, giving the blade a twist inside its rotting brain before yanking it back out. Grabbing the second walker by the throat, Arthur ran his blade through its right eyeball, and both walkers dropped dead to the ground.
Before Arthur can resume his search for the Strange Man, he is interrupted by the sound of a painful scream further away on the main trail. Being where Mark and Lee had gone, Arthur abandoned his search for this strange man, and rushed to help his friends. As soon as he heard a gunshot, Arthur began running faster. The closer he got, the more he heard a man scream and groan in pain.
"Jesus Christ…" Arthur heard the sound of Mark's voice, and took a sharp turn around a corner coming into a small clearing. Spotting Mark and Lee standing in front of three new people.
"What the hell?" Arthur asked out loud, as Mark and Lee turned to look at him. And Arthur saw a grown man with his leg stuck in a bear trap. With two young boys that barely looked eighteen trying to help the man loose.
A nervous skittish boy with light brown hair stood up with his hands held up. While a shorter, more anxious looking boy with dark hair stared at them with wide eyes mixed with fear and anxiety. "Oh shit! No. No… please don't kill us! We just want to help our teacher! We'll leave, I swear!" The shorter boy anxiously backed up a step.
"Take it easy son, we're not going to kill you." Arthur holstered his weapons, and carefully approached with his hands held up.
"Lee! Arthur! You guys okay?" Kenny came running out from the woods with his rifle in hand, having heard the screams as well.
Before any word or explanation could be given, the teacher stuck in the bear trap cried out in pain. "Get it off! Get it off, God dammit, get it off me!"
The tall lanky nervous student looked to the short one. "Travis, maybe they can help!"
The short one, Travis shook his head. "These guys could be the same once that raided out camp… We barely got away from that!"
"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here?" Kenny asked a valid question, as this wasn't a very dense forest area. There shouldn't be any bears roaming around here.
"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you." Lee tried to talk down the anxious boys.
"Don't listen to them, Ben!" Travis told his taller friend Ben, who seemed to back off a little. Travis then looked to the group, and pleaded. "Please, just let us go! We're not a threat to you!"
"… Well, clearly." Arthur snorted a little. With his hands still held up, he carefully approached them. "Listen, you guys are not a threat to us, great. But we're not going to hurt you, and you need our help. But first, shut the hell up."
"Yeah kid, are you trying to attract walkers with all that screaming?" Kenny agreed with Arthur.
"Lee, this is fucked up. We've got to help them." Mark sensing the urgency of what limited time they possibly had to get out of here, wanted to help these people and get out of here quick.
"Please!" The kid Ben pleaded with them for help, but Travis quickly shut him down.
"Shut up Ben! My dad was Special Forces, I know what I'm doing!"
Ben not having confidence in Travis words, continued to plead in his loud pitched squeaky nervous voice. "Just see if you can get him out! After that you can leave us or whatever, I don't care! Please!"
"Shut up." Arthur said in a small grunt at the two boys, causing them to flinch. "Now, I'll try and help your teacher. Just stay quiet."
"Oh God, thank you!" The teacher laid back, clenching his teeth from the pain. Arthur knelt down next to the bear trap holding the man's leg, taking a moment to analyze it.
"Fine, but you got to hurry Arthur." Kenny looked around with his rifle held up in case he spotted walkers coming their way.
"Hurry… please! Hurry!" The teacher groaned, when suddenly the rustling of leaves came from around them along with groans of the dead.
"Shit, they're here." Arthur grumbled as he checked the bear trap, and noticed something. "Shit, it's been tampered with. There's no release latch." Arthur cursed, and the teacher began to look anxious as he saw walkers coming.
"Please! Please! Don't leave me!" The man pleaded with Arthur.
"Calm down, I will do it the old-fashioned way. Lee, Kenny, Mark, cover me. This will take a minute." Arthur grabs onto the mouth of the bear trap, and starts pulling them apart with all his strength.
"What are you doing?" Kenny asked shocked, as he thought there was no way this was going to work.
"Prying it open!" Arthur muffled through gritted teeth, as he continued to pull at the bear trap. His muscles tightening in his arms, as the bear trap shakingly began to move.
"Argh!" The man screamed as the blades of the bear trap dug around inside his leg. "Get it off! Get it off!" The man cried, alerting more walkers.
"Shut the hell up!" Arthur groaned, as he continued to pull.
"Oh God! Oh God!" Ben and Travis began to panic as dozens of walkers came out from the woods, alerted by the screams of the teacher and the smell of his blood.
"Shut up!" Kenny mumbled to the kids through gritted teeth, as he raised his rifle as did Mark. They fired off shots at the advancing walkers, while Arthur focused on prying loose the bear trap.
"Come on!" Arthur groaned as it was a struggle, without a release latch it made prying it open near impossible.
"Ow! Ow! Stop! Stop!" The teacher cried as the pain became too much to handle.
"Shut the hell up!" Arthur roared at the teacher, and continued to try and pull the mouths of the bear trap apart. "Okay! I think I got it! I'm gonna count to three, and you push your leg upwards, got it?!" Arthur groaned as he struggled to hold the bear trap mouths apart. The man nodded through pained moans. "Okay! One! Two! Three!" Arthur gave one last pull, and the man pushed his leg upwards and cried as he did.
"Argh! Ah! Ah! Ha! Ah!" The teacher's leg got loose, with a few of his nerves and muscles torn but he still had his leg. "Fuck!" He cried as he rolled around on the ground with blood dripping from his leg. Arthur released the bear trap, as the mouths slammed shut.
"Hold still!" Arthur took the belt around the teacher's pants, and tightened it around his leg. Pressing his legs together, Arthur pushed his own body onto the teacher to put pressure on the wound.
"You got him out, let's go!" Kenny rushed as they were running low on ammo as it was. Lee tried to take down as many walkers as he could with the fire axe, but more just kept coming.
"Shit! Shit!" Travis and Ben backed up in shock. Travis seeing that their teacher was free, rushed for Arthur's M14 rifle and quickly picked it up. "Stay back!" Travis aimed the rifle at them.
"Shit! Hey kid! Stop!" Arthur tried to warn Travis, as suddenly a walker came up behind Travis as he was backing away from Arthur and the rest, and sank his teeth into his neck tearing out a chunk of his flesh. "Argh!" Travis as a reaction pulled the trigger on the rifle, with the bullet hitting his teacher in the stomach. "Fuck kid…" Arthur rushed over to Travis, and kicked the walker off him. Taking back his M14 rifle, Arthur shot the walker in the head.
"Oh shit! Travis!" Ben backed up in fright. While Mark rushed to the screaming teacher who had been shot in the stomach. Checking the damage, and seeing if there was an exit wound.
"There's an exit wound, we can treat him back at the motor inn." Mark suggested, as Lee was quick to lift up the teacher's body.
"Travis…" Ben shakingly looked at his friend, who was gargling up blood with dark blood pumping out from the torn flesh on his neck.
"Fucking hell kid…" Arthur shook his head. It didn't have to be this way. The kid was scared and did something stupid that got him killed. Knowing there was no way to save him, Arthur put Travis out of his misery and shot him through the forehead.
"Fuck!" Ben whimpered, and was shaking in fear.
"Come on kid, we can still save your teacher, come on!" Arthur pushed Ben in the direction Lee, Mark and Kenny were running. Leaving behind the body of Travis to be torn apart and consumed by the rest of the walkers.
They rushed through the woods, and eventually reached the gates of the motor inn. "Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" Lee shouted out as they reached the gate, and Lilly was quick to react from her sniper nest atop of the RV.
"Shit. What the hell are they doing?" Lilly mumbled to herself as she didn't recognize two of the people Arthur's hunting group had brought back with them.
"Who the hell are these people?!" Larry was quick to share in his daughter's sentiment, and didn't like this new surprise addition to their camp. A fit broke out, as people in panic began asking a lot of questions on what happened. They carried the shot teacher to the back of the truck, to give Katjaa a chance to get a look at him.
"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked his wife, who looked stressed and confused.
"Jesus, Ken, I don't know… I will try." Katjaa got to work, checking the man's injured leg and the gunshot wound in his gut.
"Lee!" Lilly's shrilling voice suddenly called out. "What the hell?! You can't just be bringing in new people here! What are you thinking?!"
"Hey you wanna calm down for a fucking minute!" Kenny was quick to defend Lee and go against Lilly.
"Hey! You watch your mouth!" Larry shouted at Kenny.
"I made the call." Arthur's voice rang out, and quickly everyone's attention was on him.
"You?" Lilly asked a little surprised and shocked, as she expected Arthur to have more common sense as she viewed it.
"Yeah, me." Arthur reaffirmed, standing strong and tall as his words had everyone's panic die down. Lilly looked baffled, blowing out a little air as she shook her head.
"And, when the rest of these two's group comes here armed to the teeth, what then, Arthur?" Lilly tried to keep her composure, showing her status as group leader, or at least trying her best to tell everyone she was in charge.
"Guy was trapped in a bear trap with two scared boys trying to get him loose. They don't have a group. And the other kid died." Arthur reassured in a calm dominating tone of voice. Lilly had really gotten extremely cautious when it came to new people since the air base. "They didn't even have any weapons on them. And were begging for help."
"Help? Oh yeah, sure… we got plenty of help to give around here! In case you haven't noticed Arthur, we're low on food, water and medicine. We don't even know these people! And you expect us to waste our resources on them?!" Lilly argued, snapping at Arthur while pushing her finger into his chest. She was getting really riled up, her chest heaving with anger as she wanted to scream more, but restrained herself a little.
"Last time you didn't want to help someone. And Carely did help them. They ended up saving your ungrateful father's life." Arthur pointed out, hitting Lilly where it hurt. As back at the pharmacy when they all first met, Lilly was the first to express her opinion on not saving Arthur, Lee, Clementine, Kenny and his family on the streets of Macon. "I won't let people die needlessly, knowing I could have helped them. But make no mistake, I will shoot and kill any fool that dares to hurt us. If I had shot every damn fool, I came across that I didn't like. Your daddy would have died in that pharmacy."
"Heh, well Arthur… acting like a regular old hero will lead you into an early grave. We're not responsible for every struggling survivor we come across. Our group should always come first. I will admit, helping you, Lee and the others wasn't a mistake. But that doesn't mean that helping these two was right either." Lilly scoffed, done with this conversation she left in a huff.
Arthur stared at Lilly as she was walking away, and Larry disappointingly shook his head at Arthur and followed his daughter. Arthur's glare softened, and he suddenly felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I think you did the right thing…" Carley whispered to him with a light smile.
"Time will tell." Arthur sighed, as he did agree with Lilly that not everyone out there could be trusted. But at the same time, his consciousness weighed heavily on him. He had killed and let far too many people die in the past. One for an even dumber reason than the last. "How's Doug doing?" Arthur asked as he knew Doug was still recovering from his torture session with Butch at the air base.
"Oh, he's doing fine. I let him rest mostly." Carley sighed lightly. "I… I want to help Doug. He saved me at the start of it all. Heh, but sadly I'm useless at taking care of people."
"Oh, now I'm sure you are doing okay." Arthur lightheartedly chuckled, as he and Carley walked together through the motor inn. "I bet Doug feels really lucky having you nurse him back to health." Carley rolled her eyes at Arthur and punched his shoulder. The two sharing a brief chuckle, and then locked eyes, standing in silence for a moment.
"Heh, what?" Carley broke the awkward tension, looking a little flustered as she looked away and back at Arthur.
"Nothing… just… like I said, Doug probably feels lucky having you look after him." Arthur looked away from Carley, awkwardly coughing and looking away. "Anyway, uh, I also needed to speak with Doug. About the… security system he set up."
"Okay…" Carely smiled awkwardly, and followed Arthur to Doug's room where he was resting. "He probably should get caught up to speed too. About the new people."
"'Course." Arthur and Carley walked together in awkward silence until they reached Doug's room. Giving a light knock, Arthur opened the door. "Doug, you awake?"
The man groaned in his bed. His bruises were mostly healed. But his broken bones were still healing. "Yeah… hard to sleep like this."
"Don't get up too quick now." Carley rushed to Doug's side, helping him sit up straight. Arthur watched this, smiled and chuckled a little. Seeing Doug smile, and look a little flustered as Carley supported him up. And Carley's eyes were filled with care for Doug, as she gently stroked her hand across his back.
"What was all the shouting about?" Doug asked, having heard Lilly's tantrum outside.
"Found a few unfortunate fools on our hunt. One was injured, so we brought them back. Lilly didn't like the idea of having more mouths to feed." Arthur gave the quick rundown of the situation, and Doug nodded seeming to understand the situation well enough.
"I see… Are they… a threat?" Doug had to ask to be sure, brushing his hand across the healed scar of Butch's blade having cut him across the chest.
"I don't think so. One is passed out and being looked after by Katjaa. And the other is a skittish skinny kid." Carley saying that she didn't view the newcomers as a threat seemed to ease Doug.
"Then… you were right to help them." Doug looked to Arthur with an approving smile.
"Guess we'll see…" Arthur appreciated Doug having his back. He stood in the doorway, watching as Carely brought a bottle of water to Doug. "But uh, if you are done with being pampered like a priced chicken by your woman. Could we maybe discuss the security system you had set up last week?"
Doug and Carley collectively looked flustered, with Carely looking unamused at Arthur's comment. Doug awkwardly coughed. "Uh, yeah sure…" Standing up, Doug wobbled over to Arthur and whispered. "Dude, chill it with the jokes, okay? M-Me and Carley aren't like that yet… don't make it awkward."
"Heh, the only awkward thing here is that you haven't made a move." Arthur lightheartedly joked.
"Dude!" Doug sounded really stressed.
"Boys… I'm still here." Carley pointed out with a light clearing of her throat. Standing with her hands to her hips, while giving them both a glare. Despite Arthur towering over her, he felt a little intimidated by that glare. Seeing her raise her brow at them, had Arthur awkwardly chuckle.
"Alright, enough nonsense. Anyway…" Moving away from the subject, Arthur defused the situation and returned to his discussion with Doug. "So, the fishing lines and cans are placed around well enough. But I was wondering if we had anything that could alert us to other people who may approach the camp."
"I thought you said the new people were good…" Doug mumbled sounding a little concerned as he did.
"Well, we don't really know them. But they are not a threat to us. And I'm fairly certain they don't have more people out there. But, one of them mentioned their camp was attacked. One of the kids was so scared he tried to grab my rifle. That's how the teacher got shot… and how that kid got killed by walkers. But, there might be a group of bandits lurking about." Arthur didn't want to bring this up back in his discussion with Lilly in the open, to avoid spreading fear to the rest of the group. That is why he went directly to Doug who knew a few technical things that could be helpful.
"I see… I might have a few ideas. It involves more fishing lines, only this time, a bell." Doug started getting really excited, as he was eager to help out the group. "We can have a bell hanging from the RV. And lines going from it to outside our walls. Even if people are smarter than walkers. They won't see the thin fishing line in the streets. And if they touch it, the bell will give a gentle ring so they won't be alerted either. But we will."
Arthur nodded, stroking his chin. "Yeah, that could work. But, do we even have a bell?"
"I checked the place when we got here. The front desk had one. I thought it could be useful so I kept it around." Doug noted, and with the fishing line Arthur had collected from one of his many supply runs into the city. They had what they needed.
Arthur sighed a little though. "Shame, I had hoped we could use these for fishing one day. But security comes first." Arthur relented and went to his room to fetch the fishing equipment he had collected. Taking the fishing line from the rod, they got to work on making Doug's little alarm system.
While they did that, Katjaa tended to the wounded teacher with Ben nervously sitting nearby. Lilly was on her sniper nest on the RV, looking over the walls of the Motor inn for any threats. Lee was handing out the portions of today's food supply. It wasn't a lot, but enough for a few people to get some food. Making sure the kids were taken care of first, Lee now had the tough challenge of deciding who would eat, and who would go hungry.
"Arthur…" Lee called out and walked towards Arthur, Doug and Carley who were moving towards the gate with Doug's new security system. "Hey Arthur, have you seen Clem's hat?" Lee asked, and Arthur took a moment to look at Clementine where she was drawing pictures with Duck. And noticed her hat was missing.
"No. She lose it?" Arthur asked. And then remembered, she didn't have her hat when they were out tracking earlier either.
"Yeah, I was wondering if she maybe lost it when you two were out earlier." Lee pointed out, as that would make things a little harder to find the hat.
"No, sorry. Come to think of it, she didn't have it when we were out tracking either." Arthur made a mental note himself to keep a lookout for Clementine's hat.
"Well… maybe it's somewhere around camp." Lee mumbled to himself. Then he reached into his pocket holding a piece of beef jerky. "Here… you should eat something." Lee knew that Arthur hadn't eaten much in the last two days, so he knew he must be hungry.
"Oh… thanks Lee, but I'm okay. Other folk need it a whole lot more." Arthur turned it down, as Lee had expected.
"Come on Arthur… Have you even eaten anything these last two days?" Lee asked, earning a few reactions from Carley and Doug.
"Arthur, answer the question." Carley seemed eager as well to find out the answer.
"I'm fine." Arthur tried to reassure them, but the sound of his rumbling stomach had other ideas. Lee practically had to shove the piece of beef jerky into Arthur's hand.
"Eat, okay? We need you strong man." Lee insisted. And Arthur took a quick look around, seeing Clementine and Duck snacking on something meaning they had eaten.
"Argh, can't be bothered…" Arthur groaned and accepted the piece of beef jerky. "What about you two?" Arthur asked Doug and Carley.
"I'm fine, I ate yesterday." Doug assured, and then looked to Carley. "But, give some to Carley. She's been stressing around me all day, she should eat something." Lee agreed with Doug, and handed Carley half of an apple.
"Thanks. So, Lilly took her anger out on you, huh?" Carley was able to see through Lilly and her little scheme. Lilly who usually handed out food, was known to have a bias with her father Larry. Making sure he got his rations quite often. And with the little stunt Arthur and Lee pulled bringing Ben and his teacher here. Lilly seemed to want to teach Lee at least a lesson on "responsibility" for the group.
"I guess…" Lee was unsure of what to say, and just shrugged. It sucked being the one in charge of the food, sure. But the food problem could have been solved if Lilly just listened to Arthur's advice and expanded the hunting ground of the safe zone.
"What's left?" Arthur asked while munching on the jerky. Lee showed the other half of the apple.
"I was planning on giving it to Kenny. But he wanted Katjaa to have it… But she's kind of occupied." Lee noted as Katjaa was currently trying to patch up the injured teacher. Lee then looked off to the side where Mark and Larry were fortifying the wall. "And I'm pretty sure Larry's gotten food for the last two days so he's fine. Mark seemed okay too."
"What about you?" Arthur asked, and Lee looked a little unsure. Sure, he was hungry but he imagined so was everyone else. "If I eat, you eat." This time, Arthur insisted. Lee was a little hesitant, but relented as hunger overcame him.
A few people who went without food, mainly Larry cast a glare in their direction. But the rest like Kenny, was satisfied with seeing his son eating. Arthur moved outside of the walls with Doug and Carley. Helping Doug set up the alarm system, while Carley acted as lookout with her gun drawn watching the tree line for any sign of movement.
"Alright, that should do it…" Doug noted as he tugged the line a little, hearing the faint sound of a bell from inside the walls. "Yup, we're good." Doug smiled, and Arthur gave an approving nod.
"Well done." Arthur praised Doug. But then, the shrilling scream of Katjaa came from the inside. Not wasting any time, Arthur, Doug and Carley moved to open the gate and headed back inside the motor inn. And they were greeted with the sight, of the teacher having turned into a walker, and wrestling with Lee against the truck while snapping his teeth at Lee who held him back inches from his face. Katjaa was getting pulled back to safety by Kenny, who later rushed in to help Lee.
"Move it!" Larry barked, swinging the fire axe down he cleaved face of the reanimated teacher in half. Then Larry turned to bark at Lee. "Why'd you bring him here in the first place, asshole?! You're going to get us all killed!"
"The hell happened?!" Arthur, Carley and Doug entered the scene.
"The fucker you brought turned!" Larry pointed accusingly at Arthur.
The skinny kid Ben looked sad over losing his teacher, but backed away in fright as Kenny suddenly walked up into his face. "Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!"
"What?" Ben asked in genuine confusion.
"He was bitten! And you didn't say a goddamn word!" Kenny was of course outraged, as his wife had nearly been munched on by the reanimated teacher.
"He wasn't bitten, I swear!" Ben said in panic, but obviously that was hard to believe.
And Kenny clearly didn't believe the kid. "Well, you're "non-bitten" friend, came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" The teacher's injuries had been too serious. By the look of the truck, he had lost a whole lot of blood.
"What?! Wait… y'all don't know?" Ben asked in a little disbelief. And now everyone was gathered around Ben, many eager to kick him out.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny demanded.
"… It's not the bite that does it! You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. It's gonna happen to all of us." Ben's revelation had everyone dead silent. Arthur in particular was trying to wrap his brain around the whole thing.
"We're all infected?" Lee asked in a hushed whisper of disbelief.
"It all makes sense." Mark pointed out. "In those first few days, it spread so fast."
"Car accidents, suicides, everything was making more of them." Lilly said, sounding just as convinced as Mark.
Ben continued with his story of when he first saw it happen. With his class hiding in a school gym, and a girl overdosing on pills turned in the bathroom. But Arthur didn't hear a word of it. His ears were ringing, as he backed up in disbelief. Arthur was as shocked as anyone here, but for him it all held a deeper meaning.
"A-Are you sure?" Arthur mumbled, sounding so lost as he looked up at Ben.
"Positive…" Ben confirmed, crossing his arms and looking a little uncomfortable with all these people around him.
"N-No…" Arthur put his hand over his eyes, he refused to believe it. If everyone was infected, that meant he was infected with this virus. And if he had it. And if he went back to 1899, it meant he would bring the virus with him. Arthur felt like falling to his knees, he was about to have a mental crisis.
But before he could say or do anything, the bell attached to the RV began ringing. "Back off!" Carley called out, her gun drawn and aimed at two men on the other side of the wall.
Two men with dark hair stood outside of their walls, and with no time to reflect on the revelation of them all being infected. Arthur pulled out his own guns, dual wielding as he aimed them at the two men. "Whoa! Relax!" The bigger of the two men showed a jerry can in his hand, while the other man held his hands up. "Me and my brother, we… we just want to know if ya'll can help us out."
"Back away from the wall first." Arthur calmly instructed, and both brothers took a few steps backwards. "What do you two want? We don't want any trouble here."
"Of course. Neither do we. I'm Andy St. John, and this is my brother Dan. We're just out looking for gasoline. Looks like you folks got the motel locked down, which is fine, but if you could spare any gas, we'd be much obliged." Andy, in his thick southerner accent requested. Both brothers clearly didn't have any weapons at hand, and it was clear Arthur and Carley could kill them on the spot.
"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked. They certainly had some to spare, but Kenny might protest as he was saving most of their gas for the RV.
"Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity." The brother Dan revealed, and instantly a few members of their group looked intrigued by the safety of this electric fence.
"Our generators run on gas." Andy revealed the obvious reason why the needed the gas. And then he said something that intrigued people further. "Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If ya'll be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some sort of trade."
"How ya'll doing on food? We got plenty at the dairy." It all sounded too good to be true, but many people looked hopeful considering their starving bellies. Arthur on the other hand, kept his guns up as even Carley lowered hers.
"Arthur… Arthur…" Lilly put her hand on his shoulder, seeing his guns were still up. "We need the food." She whispered to him.
"I know… But… something doesn't feel right." To Arthur this sudden coincidence seemed too good to be true. With the Strange man he met in the woods, Arthur wondered if perhaps more people were spying on them. Arthur holstered his Glock in his side holster, still holding his revolver he moved towards the gate. "No sudden moves now… I don't want to kill you, but I shall if you try anything." Arthur warned, and the brother nodded in understanding.
"Arthur, Lee, Mark, why don't you three go check the place out. See if it's legit." Lilly suggested.
"I'm going too. Someone's got to have your back." Carley looked to Arthur, as she put her gun away.
"Alright… Y'all got a deal. We'll bring some gas to your dairy, in exchange for food. We'll see how things go from there." Arthur said as he holstered his revolver. "Lee, Mark, get two cans of gas." Both men gave a nod, and went to their reserves to get some gas canisters.
"Thanks. A couple of gallons should power our generator for a while." Andy sounded appreciative. Once Lee and Mark came with the gas, Arthur opened the gates as he walked out with Carley. Mark and Lee shortly followed, and made sure to stay behind Arthur and Carley who were armed.
After a short walk through the woods, Mark seemed eager to learn more about the dairy farm of the St. John brothers. "So, this dairy… you guys really have food?"
"Sure do. We've lost most of our cattle, but we still have lots of milk, butter and cheese stocked up." Mark continued to talk about food with Andy and Dan. While Arthur was focused on the tree line to see if anyone was watching.
"It's nice to get out of that motel for a while. This feud with Lilly and Kenny is starting to get ridiculous." Carley who walked next to him, continued to talk oblivious to Arthur focusing on their surroundings. "Personally, I would be happier if you or Lee started to take charge more." Then Carley looked to Arthur, noticing he wasn't paying attention. "Hello, earth to Arthur." Carley waved in his face, snapping him out of it.
"Huh? Oh, sorry… What were you talking about?" Arthur put his focus on Carley as she looked at him with a suspicious look.
"Are you okay? You haven't been yourself since Ben said we're all infected." Carley was a little worried, it wasn't like Arthur to lose focus like that.
"Yeah… I'm fine. Just… checking our surroundings. Making sure we ain't walking into a trap." Arthur whispered so the brothers wouldn't overhear him.
"Oh, that's… a good idea." Carley looked a little flustered, here she had been yapping instead of looking out for potential threats. "I came here to have your back, and instead you end up having mine."
"We all have each other's back." Arthur encouraged her with a little grin on his face. It couldn't be helped that he was more experienced around these sorts of things. He had walked into many ambushes in the past, and sometimes seen them coming from miles away.
"See? This is what I mean with you taking charge more." Carely's praise had Arthur shake his head and lightly chuckle.
"Hehe, nah, I ain't no leader… I'm a fool." Arthur's tone carried a hint of defeat as he remembered the fall of his old gang.
"Pfft, yeah, a fool for not taking the reins away from either Lilly or Kenny." Carley lightly chuckled at him. "You and Lee could both be good leaders. People look up to you. More so than Lilly and Kenny for that matter. When you take action, and take charge, people follow you. I think that's a strong quality for a leader."
"In that case, Lee might be the better choice. At least he's got a brain." Carley seemed to get a little upset with how Arthur was putting himself down like that, and she wasn't the only one.
"I may be book smart, but you Arthur… you have skills that would take me years to learn." Lee joined the conversation, trying to boost up Arthur's moral. "Besides… more people trust you than me. You both know why…"
"Larry is still the only other person that knows though." Arthur pointed out, that it was mainly the old man that didn't trust Lee.
"Not sure… I'm getting the feeling Lilly might know as well. It would make sense for Larry to have told her." Carley made a valid point.
"Maybe… But if so, she certainly doesn't show it." Lee acknowledged the possibility, but that would mean Lilly either didn't care, or plotted to hold it over Lee's head at some point.
"I mean, thank God for Arthur or we would have never escaped." Mark seemed to be engrossed in a discussion with the brothers. Telling them about their escape from the air base.
"Yeah, why don't you tell us more about yourself, Arthur?" Andy asked, seeming interested.
"Where are ya' from?" Dan asked, also interested.
"Around…" Arthur gave his usual cryptic answer. "Up North mostly… been drifting around the country since I was a boy."
"A traveling man? What did your folks do?"
"Mama died when I was a kid. And my daddy… well he weren't a nice man. And it got him killed… I watched him die. And it weren't soon enough. Since then, I got… taken in by a couple of fellers that became my mentors. They traveled a lot. And taught me everything they knew." Arthur's revelation of his family background, earned him a few surprised looks from even his own friends. Clearly, they didn't know that about him.
"You've… never told us that." Carley looked stunned, clearly Arthur had a difficult upbringing. But he seemed to think highly of his two mentors.
"No one asked." Arthur shrugged. "It uh…it ain't really anything worth talking about. Long time ago now."
"What about your brother? John, was it?" Mark asked.
"John isn't my brother by blood… But he was another orphan my two mentors took in. We grew up together."
"Huh, and where is your brother now?" Andy continued to pry.
"Blackwater Missouri, last time I checked. He has a family up there. Before this all went down, I tried to travel up there." Arthur tried to reveal as less as possible, but give enough answers to satisfy some curiosity.
"Family is important… hope you find him." Andy seemed to be satisfied, but then asked another question about their group. "Y'all seem pretty settled in at that motor inn. Who's running things over there?"
"Depends who you ask." Was Arthur's short simple reply. "Kenny and Lilly are both fighting over leadership."
"Huh, that doesn't seem right… There are too many people already, fighting over stupid pointless things like that." Andy seemed to disapprove of their leadership situation.
"I agree." Mark interjected. "I always say that Arthur would be a way better leader."
"Why is that?" Dan asks.
"Well, he is our best hunter, he is good with a gun and thinking of plans for our supply runs. Everyone also has a high enough respect for him." As Mark continued, Arthur decided to shut him up before he would say too much to these strangers.
"Alright, enough of that. Let's just focus on the walk ahead." Arthur had Mark quickly shut his mouth before he blabbed about anything unnecessary.
"How many people you got over there anyhow?" Dan however continued to pry with his questions. This strange line of questioning had Arthur get even more suspicious.
"Enough." Was all Arthur said, which seemed to slightly annoy Dan.
"You're not a man for many words, are you Arthur?" Andy looked at Arthur with a suspicious glance.
"Nope." Arthur casually shrugged, and they continued their walk in silence.
Andy looked a little unsettled by Arthur casual reply, yet his distant demeanor. Smearing on some more of the southern hospitality, Andy added. "Well, we'd love to get you all out to the dairy. We got plenty of food. We'd love to have the extra hands to help us out."
"Well, guess we'll see." Arthur had some experience ranching, not much thought. He wasn't much of a farmer, but he had done a few small jobs here and there in the past.
"Momma's been running the dairy for… well as long as I can remember… but now it's getting-" As Andy was about to tell them a little more about the dairy, a sudden new voice came from the other side of the clearing.
"You think you're gonna cut me out of this?!" On instinct Arthur got down and pulled out his gun, Andy quickly then told the rest to get down as well.
"No one is trying to cut you out of anything!" Another voice argued. They all snuck up hidden behind some bushes, and peeked over at the other road. Seeing two masked men standing arguing, one armed with a rifle the other with a crossbow.
"Fuckin' bandits." Dan whispered.
"Who?" Mark asked.
"Fucking assholes is what they are." Andy shushed as suddenly the bandit with the rifle knocked the other one down. And started unloading bullets into the other bandit. "Fuck you! Fuck you! Asshole!" Then the bandit walked off leaving his companions corpse behind.
"The whole world's gone to shit. Come on, let's get to the dairy where it's safe." Andy sighed as they watched the bandit walk away.
Arthur remained behind a little, as the rest walked back onto the path Arthur stared at the bandit corpse. "World's same as it's always been…" Arthur mumbled to himself as he walked together with the others towards the dairy.
After a short walk, they arrived at the dairy. A big beautiful white farmhouse came into view, with a red barn on the side. "Here it is. St. John's family dairy." Andy presented the dairy farm with great pride. They walked by a fence and heard the buzzing sound of electricity. "Y'all can see how we've kept this place so safe."
At least they weren't lying about the fence, Arthur thought as he kept a watchful eye. "The fence keeps them out?" Mark asked, looking amazed at the whole scenery.
"You betcha! They fry like bugs in a zapper! We're pushing 4000 volts through that thing, with generators and amps." While everyone else looked around impressed, Arthur already began investigating.
The place looked untouched by the apocalypse itself. Maybe it was just worth protecting. But Arthur still wasn't sold, something just felt off. But before he could give it any thought, a friendly looking woman walked in with big red hair. "I thought I saw ya'll with company comin' down the drive."
"Guys, this is our mama." Andy introduced.
"I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John dairy." Arthur noticed Brenda was carrying a basket with what looked like freshly baked biscuits.
"This here's Arthur, Lee, Carley and Mark. They all live down at that old motel right down that way." Andy introduced them to his mama, and then Dan chipped in.
"They got a few more friends staying at that old motel."
"Oh my goodness that place is pretty vulnerable." Brenda said looking very concerned. "Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?"
"Arthur here, actually." Mark replied, to which Arthur shot him a look.
"I know a few things… but we all really try and work together." Arthur tried to sound modest, and not present himself as too big of a threat. In case the St. John's weren't up to no good. "Besides, Mark and another in our group are the ones with… military experience."
"Well that's good to hear. That motel ain't the safest place." Brenda looked somewhat relieved and then she took a good look at Arthur. "No need to be so tense. No one is attacking this place."
"… Sorry ma'am. Quite the place you got here." Arthur put on a smile, as he took a look around the property. Seeing Brenda and Andy both beam with pride, while Dan however was looking at their group. Looking like he was checking them out or something.
"Well, now that ya'll are here. We'll make sure that you are safe and comfortable." Brenda sounded like a reassuring mother, gentle and kind.
"We're all awfully hungry…" Carley mentioned as the sound of her stomach growling did give it away.
Brenda then smiled and handed Carley the basket with the biscuits. "These are for ya'll. Freshly baked this morning."
"That's amazing." Carley and Mark both seemed enthusiastic on seeing all that food. Arthur however raised a brow. How did she know her sons would bring people with them?
While Arthur was too caught up in his own world to pay attention to the rest of the conversation. Until Lee asked. "Your cow is sick? What does she-"
"We have a vet! We could bring here her! Help you folks out!" Mark offered enthusiastically.
"A vet?! Oh my, our prayers have been answered!" Brenda looked ecstatic at the offer. Brenda then went on to offer them a deal, if they brought Katjaa to look at their cow for them she would cook up a nice big dinner for them.
Arthur looked at Lee, clearly uncertain but Lee seemed a little more enthusiastic. "Why don't I bring the food back and round everybody up for the trip back over here…" Carley suggested as she held onto the basket.
"Yeah, I will come to." Arthur quickly offered; those bandits they saw on the way could mean trouble after all.
"Okay, but watch out. Those roads can be quite dangerous." Andy warned them, and at hearing that Mark handed Arthur his rifle.
"Here." As Arthur accepted the rifle, he checked if it was loaded first and have a nod at Mark.
"We'll be back before you know it." Arthur and Carely headed back out on the road back towards the motel. Leaving Lee and Mark behind at the Dairy.
Once they were on the road, Carley took a roll from the basket and quickly chowed down. "Oh my god. It's delicious. Mm, haven't had freshly baked goods since this whole thing started."
"Yeah…" Arthur mumbled, and Carley must have noticed his lack of enthusiasm.
"What's wrong?" Carley looked at him with a raised brow.
"Nothing… just. A little strange, that she would have freshly baked some goods for us new arrivals. Like she knew we were coming." As Arthur mentioned it, Carley seemed to widen her eyes in slight shock and began thinking about it herself.
"… Maybe she just baked it for her sons when they came back. And she gave them to us instead as hospitality?" Carley sounded a little unsure of herself, she kind of didn't want Arthur's suspicion to be right as they needed a break.
"Maybe. I don't know." Arthur wasn't sure, the St. John's seemed like decent folk. But at the same time, it all seemed too good to be true. "Still, we should leave a few people at the motor inn. For all we know, they work with those bandits and plan on having them raid our camp."
"Yeah, you might be right… I think I will stay behind. After all, I think I'm going to be full before dinner time anyway." Carley awkwardly chuckled to herself as she took another roll from the basket.
"Heh, I can tell. Pass one over." Carley tossed Arthur a roll. "Mm, you were right. This is good." The two shared a light hearted chuckle, as they walked back to the motel.
As soon as they got back, Lilly and Kenny opened the gate for them and were quick to ask. "Where's Lee and Mark?" Kenny took a look behind them to see if they wre lagging behind.
"They are back at the dairy. Brought some freshly baked goods back though. Place seems nice enough." Arthur said as Carley handed the basket to Lilly who began distributing some of it around to the others.
"They wanted to make another deal…" Carley mentioned as she looked over at Katjaa. "They have a sick cow… and if we bring Katjaa to take a look at it. They would prepare a big feast for us." At the word feast, a lot of their faces lit up.
"Really?" Kenny asked in somewhat disbelief.
"Food?" Duck peeked his head out from behind his dad, and instantly Kenny looked to be in deep thought.
"And? What do you think?" Lilly looked to Arthur, seeming to trust his judgment.
"… Well, place is pretty alright. And protected by that electric fence like they said. They seem to be well stocked on food too. But I don't know, seems a little… odd somehow." Arthur still wasn't sure about the dairy, and to this Larry blew a raspberry at him.
"Oh please, you are just overthinking it. We've just been offered a meal! And you said they were well protected. I say we go for it." Larry voiced out his opinion loudly.
"Well… it wouldn't hurt to check out." Kenny surprisingly agreed with Larry, the idea of a feast sounded pretty promising to all their hungry bellies. Katjaa and Duck seemed onboard as well.
"Alright…" Arthur sighed, as he could see where the majority of the vote was going. "We still need some people to stay behind though." At this the group now looked confused, some of them weren't going to get dinner? "On the way, we saw a group of bandits. Probably the ones who raided Ben's camp. They were heavily armed. For all we know, the St. John's might be luring us away so the bandits can sneak in and raid our camp while we're gone."
"Arthur might be right… The place did seem too good to be true. But I hope it isn't." Carley sided with Arthur, and seeing this so did Doug. "I will stay behind… I already ate some of the food on the way here anyway."
"I will stay too." Doug said, being too injured for the trip to the dairy anyway. Arthur nodded and handed Mark's rifle to Doug.
"A-And me…" Ben volunteered to stay behind as well. He didn't want to risk running into those bandits out there. Here he at least had walls to protect him.
"Alright… the rest of you, come with me and I will show you the way to the dairy." Arthur ended up having to guide the rest of the group back.
On the road up to the dairy, Kenny and his family walked up first with Larry and Lilly in the middle and Arthur and Clementine stayed at the back. "Are we going to be safe?" Clementine looked worried as she held onto Arthur's hand.
"Aw, we'll be fine. Don't you worry, if I see anything I will protect you." Arthur assured comfortingly. Ruffling the top of Clementine's head, who seemed a little more comfortable as she clung closely onto Arthur.
As they walked through the front gate of the dairy, Kenny saw the people near the porch of the farm house and called out. "Hey ya'll!" But as they walked up, they noticed an arrow sticking out from Mark's shoulder as he was hunched over in pain. Clementine seeing this let out a frightened gasp.
"Mark! Oh my god, what happened?" The group looked frantic and shocked, as they assumed this place was safe.
"He got shot when we were out patrolling the perimeter." Lee told them, and instantly people started looking scared.
"Christ, are you going to be okay?" Lilly checked on Mark who groaned and hissed in a little pain, that arrow must sting like hell.
"Yeah I'm fine… I should just, pull it out." Before Mark could even ask someone to help, Brenda St. John was quick to interject.
"Oh no honey, c'mon, Brenda's got you. C'mon inside now. We'll have you all sorted out." Brenda said as she guided him into the house.
"What the hell is this?!" Larry turned to Lee, and shouted like it was his fault.
"We got attacked while clearing out the fence of dead walkers. Then we got attacked by bandits." Lee explained, and everyone recalled Arthur warning them about the bandits they saw on the road.
"They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning, killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to make them stop by makin' a deal with them." Andy revealed, which had Arthur raise a brow. As Andy forgot to mention that part about the bandits when they first saw them on the road.
"You knew about these people?!" Kenny looked pissed, as he had potentially brought his family in harm's way.
"Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice." Dan added, looking a little defeated. "But they did stop hasslin' us."
Lilly looked to Arthur, starting to get anxious this was going to turn into another air force base situation. Andy then looked extremely apologetic. "Look, we're sorry. We've never had them screw with us like this. Not since we started giving them food. Listen we may have had an agreement with those people, but we will not stand for this shit!" Both Andy and Dan then looked very angry at these bandits.
"Ain't no way we're gonna let those sons o' bitches get away with this!" Dan seemed particularly a little blood thirsty. He had the kind of look in his eye Arthur had seen with many foolish men, some he used to ride with in the gang had looks like that.
"You know where these assholes are?" Kenny asked, looking ready for a fight.
"They're hard to pin down, but I think I know where at least one of their camps are. Any of you up for scooping out that bandit camp, just let me know." Dan offered, and Arthur at hearing this instantly stepped forward.
"Sure, I will go." This might be the perfect opportunity for Arthur to learn somethings about these bandits, and the St. John's even.
"I will go too." Lee also volunteered and Dan looked pleased.
"That's great. Give me a few, and we'll head out." Dan headed towards the house, exchanging a quick look with his brother before going in. Andy then shortly followed leaving the group to discuss amongst themselves.
"Bandits? Are you serious? This place isn't safe, we can't stay here." Lilly was eager to leave, especially with Arthur having mentioned the possibility of the bandits raiding their camp while they are out here.
"Not safe?" Kenny turned to Lilly, and instantly challenged her on that statement. "This place is a hell of lot safer than that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows! What we need to do, is find a way to get our whole group out here to stay. Take over this place if we have to." Kenny might not fully trust the St. John's but the safety this dairy offered with its fence was hard to pass up.
"Whoa, cool your jets there Rambo. These are nice people, let's not do anything to get us kicked out before we eat." Larry surprisingly seemed calm and relaxed about the situation. For a second it felt like he and Kenny had switched roles.
"While me and Lee are out with Dan checking out this bandit camp. Try and look around, and talk with Andy and Brenda." Arthur instructed, and they all seemed to agree on the plan.
"Well, that's easy, I've got charm coming outta my ass." Larry insisted to which even Lilly cringed.
"Yeah, that's real charming dad…"
Arthur began to prepare, counting his ammunition before they went out to face a group of bandits. He had about forty bullets for his Python, and another sixty for his Glock. Then about 6 shells for his shotgun. Looking from the corner of his eye, Arthur smiled as he saw Lee pushing Clementine on a swing set.
Arthur flipped out his hatchet, seeing if it was sharp enough. As he inspected his hatchet, he noticed Danny walking out from the house carrying a rifle. "Ready to go?" Dan asked, looking a little shocked as Arthur looked ready to go to war.
"Yeah, I'm good. Lee! Ready?!" Arthur called out to Lee, who stopped pushing Clementine on the swing.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Lee was handed a rifle from Kenny, and had his hammer attached to his belt.
"Okay, but remember we're just doing reconnaissance for now, no use gettin' ourselves killed." Dan pointed out, a little anxious at seeing the armory Arthur was bringing along.
"'Course, this is just in case." Arthur said as he also picked up his fire axe.
As Arthur, Lee and Dan made their way out of the dairy, Clementine ran up to them looking anxious at seeing both Arthur and Lee going. "Are you both going?"
"Yeah, we'll be back soon, Clementine." Lee assured with a confident smile, and Arthur gave her a wink.
"Not to worry kid. We'll be back long before dinner." Arthur looked confident himself, and Clementine seemed to get less worried.
"Take care of each other…" Clementine wished them luck on their scouting trip.
"We'll try." Lee light heartedly chuckled as they headed out. While once Arthur faced away from Clementine, he looked at Dan's back with a glance of suspicion. He was going to keep a look out alright.
As they walked further into the woods, Arthur started noticing that he was in the lead. And that Danny had purposely walked a little slower. "See anything?" Dan whispered.
"Not yet." Lee replied in a low whisper.
"Well… there are some tracks here. But could be a walker, or those bandits. Not sure." Arthur said as he kept an eye on the ground for any visible tracks leading them to the camp.
"I know it's around here. It's gotta be close." Dan whispered as he tried to get a view of the tracks Arthur was seeing. But by the look of Dan squinting his eyes, he most likely couldn't tell.
Lee suddenly knelt down, and touched his rifle against an empty soup can. "Someone has been here…" Arthur motioned for them to come to him, as he spotted a pitched-up tent and a small campsite.
"Oh shit! You found it?!" Dan and Lee motioned in closer, they had their rifles drawn and Arthur had his revolver in hand as they gazed around.
"You see anybody?" Dan asked as he continued to look down the scope of his rifle.
"Nah, place is empty… And too small for a bandit camp. You sure this is the right place?" Arthur continued to keep a lookout at the tree line for any slightest sign of movement.
"It has to be. Watch my back Lee… Arthur you keep a look around. I'm going to check the tent." Dan whispered as he crouched walked closer towards the tent. Arthur kept his eye on the tree line alright, but he also was careful to keep an eye out on Dan's movements. So far, nothing seemed threatening. "Clear." Dan whispered as he moved out of the tent. "Maybe you are right Arthur… this camp is too small. Can't be their main base."
"Yeah, could be a hideout or something. Maybe they keep their eyes on the dairy from here." Lee suggested as a camp this small to watch over a family of three made somewhat sense.
"In that case, take a look around. There's probably some shit around that they stole from us." Dan grumbled.
"Stole? I thought you said you made deals with them?" Arthur openly questioned which had Dan flinch a little.
"Yeah… but not voluntarily. So, I see that as stealing." Dan whispered back as they continued to search the campsite.
There wasn't anything of value, all the canned food had been eaten. There were empty bags of chips, beef jerky and empty water bottles laying around. Arthur went to check to boiling pot over the fireplace, removing the lid seeing a soup of some kind being boiled. "Whoever was here left… recently. They probably ain't too far off."
"Lots of stuff here from the Save Lots." Lee pointed out as he checked various empty boxes. "Hey, there's a box here from the dairy…" Lee pointed out, and instantly Dan looked slightly jumpy.
"Wh-What's in it?" Dan asked a little hesitantly.
"Nothing, it's empty." Lee replied and Dan's shoulders sank in relief.
"Probably what food we've been given them. Fuckers crossed the line." Dan said but then Lee found something behind the boxes. "What did you find?"
"A video camera." Now, Arthur had no idea how a video camera functioned, but he knew it worked like moving pictures. And seeing Dan quickly rush over to Lee had him raise his brow.
"Lemme see that." Dan sounded insistent.
"Batteries dead though." Lee pointed out as he couldn't get the camera to turn on.
"Oh… good." Dan mumbled.
Good? Why would that be good? Arthur thought to himself as he continued to keep an eye on Danny's behavior. He was acting a little jumpy. "What else they got over here? Let's see if we can find anything useful and move on." Dan quickly changed the subject and moved towards the table with the boxes. "So, you two handle those guns pretty well… you hunters?" Dan asked changing the subject.
"Sometimes." Arthur gave a quick short reply.
"Not me… but Lilly keeps us on a training schedule. And Arthur here has taught us some basics." Lee said and Dan instantly got a smirk on his face.
"Heh, guess you would be a fitting leader after all, eh Arthur?" Dan pointed out, remembering the conversation on leadership they had on the road to the dairy. "But this Lilly… sounds like she is mainly in charge."
"She wants to be. But we get our own say in things." Arthur bluntly brushed off Dan's remark, and continued to keep a look on Dan's movements. Dan must have noticed as he was giving Arthur and odd look.
But before anything could be addressed, Lee was heard mumbling. "The hell?" As he was checking inside the tent.
"Don't you fucking move!" The shrilling voice of a woman who walked into the camp with a crossbow aimed at Lee.
"Shit!" Dan reacted and turned his rifle around to point at the woman, and Arthur already had his revolver aimed at this crazed looking woman.
"Put your guns down!" She demanded, a crazy look in her eye as she glared at them. "I ain't going back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't going back." The woman also rambled on like a crazy person.
"Put that bow down. You are outnumbered here." Arthur calmly talked her down, as he circled around the camp and closer to Lee while his gun remained pointed at this woman Jolene. And as he did, he got a quick look at Lee and noticed he was holding Clementine's missing hat.
"Hey! We had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food! What the fuck happened?!" Dan demanded as he also kept his sights on the woman through his scope.
"You had a deal with them! I ain't them!" Jolene revealed that she wasn't with the bandits from this Save Lots. Even though she was wearing a vest an employee of the Save Lots would have. "Oh, I know you. I know what you are, I know what you do." Jolene said as she looked at Dan, who was giving her a death stare.
"You don't know me!" Dan replied to defend himself, she was just a crazy lady after all.
"Steal my shit! Steal everything from me!" She just continued on her crazy rant and ramble, and Arthur was willing to let her.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Lee asked, but Jolene just laughed in his face. Lee then tried to negotiate as he put his rifle down. "Look, it's not safe out here in the woods. You gotta come back to the dairy."
"Oh… it's a hell of a lot safer up here than down there, you best believe!" Jolene said as she cast a glare over at Dan at that last part. "Now maybe you didn't hear me last time…. When I asked you sweet… put your damn guns down! You think I won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow, and put a nice sharp arrow, right through your eyeball. And into your goddamn brain! You're not men… you're monsters! All men are monsters! Take what they want, and destroy it all. Take a can of beans, take a little girl… It's all the fucking same to you!"
"Where did you get this hat?" Lee this time had enough as negotiation wasn't going to work and lifted his gun back up.
"The little girl." Jolene replied.
"You stole it from her!" Lee accused, sounding like an angry parent.
"So what if I did? You stole her from me!" She was clearly delusional, and insane.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Lee sounded just as baffled as one would expect. This woman didn't know Clementine, but she was most definitely crazy.
She didn't care to explain herself. "You know what? I've changed my mind… I'm putting this arrow right through your balls! Yeah! Right through! String them up on that tree! Then I'm gonna head down to that farm and shoot every goddamn person I see!"
"Don't be stupid. There's three of us, and one of you. Whoever you kill, the other two will kill you." Arthur tried to reason with this loon of a woman, but she didn't care.
"Like you could kill me. They couldn't kill me. They tried! Killin' everywhere. Take all the dead folks you want, we'll make more! Go on! Tell them boy! Tell them what you got in mind for-" Before the woman could say anything else in her frantic rant, the crackling shot of a rifle echoed in the camp and her forehead exploded open with a clean window view of the other side of her skull. Her body wobbled a little, as she collapsed into the dirt ground. "Shit!" Lee backs up in shock, looking towards the shooter, Danny.
"God dammit." Danny himself even looks shocked but also a little disappointed, as he lowered his rifle now that the threat was gone.
Arthur on the other hand, glanced at Danny for a brief moment with a look of suspicion. Before Danny could notice his stare, Arthur went over to the woman's body. "Clean shot." Arthur comments as he turns her head to the side.
"Yeah, right through the forehead. I'm a pretty got shot. Still… what a waste." Danny gleamed with slight pride, and then shook his head in disappointment that he had shot her. Or that he had to shoot her.
"Mm, not bad… For a close range shot." Arthur mumbled the last bit to himself, as he reached for the dead woman's crossbow. "Hmm…" Taking a moment, Arthur inspected the crossbow. It didn't take long for him to understand how it worked, and it was still loaded with a bolt. "Well, at least this could be useful for hunting." Arthur inspected the bow as he got back up, testing he weight and the feel of it in his arms.
"Yeah, I guess. Personally, I prefer a rifle." Danny shrugged, cautiously eyeing Arthur.
"So, that's it? We going back?" Lee asked, breaking the tension.
"If they ain't here, I don't know where they are. And it ain't a good idea to go tromping through the woods looking for them. So yeah, we head back." Danny was prepared to leave the campsite.
Arthur however, shakes his head and chuckles to himself a little. "Maybe we should… But just a thing Danny." Arthur held the crossbow aimed down, as he looked to Danny gaining his attention. Noticing how quick Danny was to hold tightly onto his rifle, almost like he was a little too jumpy.
"Yeah?" Danny asked sounding cautiously.
"You said you preferred rifles. And I agree, they are pretty strong and good for long-range. But at the end of the day, they make too much noise unlike a good bow. So, with that in mind. What do you reckon she was talking about before you killed her?" Arthur stood tall, looking confident and in charge of the situation as he positioned himself perfectly across from Danny.
Danny looks a little hesitant, but shrugs. "No idea… she was just a crazy lady." Danny denies anything, shaking his head while eyeing Arthur with suspicion himself.
"U-huh." Arthur nods, as he and Danny eye each other. A long silence filled the campsite. Danny slowly placing his finger over the trigger of his rifle, while Arthur lightly tapped his fingers on the trigger of the crossbow. Arthur didn't need to say anything else, as the jig was up.
Lee looked in confusion at the two. But jumped backwards, as Danny suddenly lifts up his rifle. But Arthur is way faster with the crossbow, having aimed it at Danny before he could even aim the rifle up at him, and instantly shoots off the bow. The bolt soaring through the air and nailing Danny right in the forehead. His head bopping backwards, as he drops his rifle to the ground and collapses onto his back.
"Shit!" Lee backs away in shock as he saw Danny's lifeless body before his feet. "Wh-What the hell just happened man?" Lee is a little startled as he looks towards Arthur. Who is just walking towards Danny's body.
Blood splattered over Danny's face, with the bolt sticking out through his forehead. His eyes rolled back up and is mouth agape. "Heh, clean shot." Arthur snorted out a laugh, as he and Lee stood over Danny's body. One thing was certain, something bad was going on at that Dairy.
That's the end for now!
Well, pretty sure Arthur has a good bullshit detector if I do say so myself. Considering all that he has been through in his outlaw life. I will get to work on the next chapter soon, as to not leave you all waiting too long for more.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone for the support thus far. This story has been real fun to write from my end, and I do so hope you all will continue to enjoy what I have planned going forward.
Now I would like to go over some general things mentioned in the reviews. Now, as of currently I would say Carley has feelings for Doug on the account she stated that he saved her and all. But Doug, although he to likes Carley is kind of too chicken to ask her out essentially. But hey, this story will be a little reality grounded in human relationships, so anything can happen or certain things can change. And give Arthur a harem? Pfft, they would eat that poor cowboy alive. Anyway, anything can happen. And even though some characters are younger than Arthur who is 36, doesn't mean those women in their twenties don't have a shot with the cowboy. That's all I'm saying.
And could Arthur take out Carver's group in season 2 by himself? Maybe, it really depends on the circumstances, the situation and location etc. Arthur is a skilled gunman, and a skilled fighter and survivalist, but not super human. A bullet can still kill him. But again, the possibility is there to be fair.
As for some additional crossover tropes and or OC's based of other characters. I don't think I will do that as of now, but anything can change. Also, as for character deaths, I have said as this is TWD hoping a character won't die is a mute hope. For certain characters I do plan on having some tasteful deaths, as one would call it. But at the same time, as to keep this story somewhat grounded to reality some sudden deaths may happen as well. I do have a lot planned, changes, and some characters sticking around longer whether they originally died or left.
Anyway, leave a review with your overall thoughts on the story and chapter, or if you have any questions that I can answer without spoiling anything.
-Later!