The group gathered outside the farmhouse beneath the darkening sky, a half-empty pot simmering over the campfire. They devoured their meals as the rich, savory aroma hung heavy in the air.
David nudged the empty bowl toward Lee with an easy smile. "Plenty to go around, friend. Why not get seconds?"
Lee opened his mouth to decline when Lilly cut in sharply. "One bowl per person." Her spoon clattered against her own half-finished portion. "Even with full pantries, we ration. That's how we don't starve later."
Larry didn't bother looking up from his meal, though his grip on the fork tightened. The silent judgment rolled off him in waves.
David shrunk under the weight of Larry's disapproval. "I just meant—it's not like leftovers keep in this heat—" He withered completely when Larry's glare finally lifted to meet his. "Never mind. Bad idea."
Lee intervened before the tension could boil over. "One's enough. Besides," he nodded toward the empty chairs, "Kenny and Mark'll want their share when they get back."
Kenny and Mark has left on a supply run towards Macon. Supplies in town had been picked clean weeks ago, but you could never have enough bullets, bandages, or canned goods when the world had ended.
BANG!
The single gunshot shattered the farm's uneasy peace. Every head snapped toward the tree line.
"D-D'you think that's them?" Ben's voice cracked as he fumbled with his pistol.
Lilly squinted at her watch, then the road. "Too soon for them to be back unles--"
BANG-BANG-BANG!
"Guns! Now!" Lee's shout sent bodies scrambling. He snatched his rifle, sprinting to the gate in time to see dust rising from the distant road. The others took positions behind barrels and fence posts, barrels trained on the approaching cloud.
A battered station wagon erupted from the trees, fishtailing on the dirt. Sunlight glinted off fresh bullet holes peppering the driver's side.
"It's them!" Lee wrenched the gate open just as the car skidded inside, its doors already swinging open before it fully stopped. Kenny tumbled out, his hands tighly clutchicng his gun. "We got company comin'! Lots of 'em!"
"Ambush! Sons of bitches were waiting for us!" Mark spat, diving behind a stack of tractor tires as dirt kicked up around him from incoming fire.
Lee scanned them for injuries. "You hit?" Two sharp headshakes answered him.
Kenny's bellow cut through the gunfire as Katjaa and Carley emerged from the barn, Clementine and Duck trailing behind. "RV! NOW!" The two didn't hesitate, ushering the wide-eyed children toward the armored vehicle.
Lilly's rifle barked before anyone else saw the threat. A quarter-mile down the road, the lead bandit vehicle's windshield spiderwebbed red. The truck veered wildly, plowing through their perimeter fence in a shriek of twisting metal. "Flanking left and right!" she warned as shadowy figures fanned out through the cornfields.
"Goddammit!" Mark sprinted toward Larry's position, his shotgun booming as he fired blind into the stalks where movement rustled.
Kenny racked his bolt-action with a snarl. "Lee! Hold the road with Lilly!" He jerked his chin east where figures advanced. "I'll gut any bastard who makes it past the fence!"
Lee rose from cover just long enough to squeeze off a shot. The bullet punched through a bandit's sternum, sending him crumpling into the dirt. Another raider screamed in fury, spraying bullets wildly.
"You think we're fucking around?!" Lee ducked as a round whined past his ear, close enough to feel the air displacement.
[Eric Lance killed. Reward: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Lv. 1)]
New instincts flooded his muscles - proper stance, pressure points, takedown angles - even as he popped up to fire twice more. The first shot shattered a kneecap; the second tore through ribs in a spray of crimson.
"Fuck you, cop!" A bandit behind the wrecked truck took potshots, one round pinging off Lee's cover. He returned fire until his rifle clicked empty on a chambered round.
"Ben! Ammo!" The kid was frozen behind the RV until a pebble bounced off his forehead. "NOW, goddammit!"
David emerged instead, hurling a mag pouch that Lee caught mid-air. He reloaded with practiced speed just as a raider breached the fence - one precise shot sent the man sprawling backward.
[Paul Newman killed. Reward: Stealth (Lv. 1 → Lv. 2)]
The recoil flared white-hot pain through his wounded shoulder, but Lee barely registered it. Survival had become arithmetic: one less threat, one more breath.
"Argh! Shit!" A wet, guttural scream cut through the gunfire. Lee spun to see Larry collapsed in the dirt, both hands clutching his stomach as dark blood seeped between his fingers. A gut shot.
Every cloud has a silver lining. The thought flashed coldly.
"DAD!" Lilly abandoned her position in a heartbeat, sprinting through the crossfire without hesitation. Bullets kicked up dirt around her boots, but she didn't slow until she skidded to her knees beside him.
Now alone at the gate, Lee alternated between cover and precise shots. The bandit behind the wrecked truck kept up relentless fire, pinning him down. Until—
[Debra Honeyworth Killed. Reward: Hand-to-Hand (Lv. 1 ->Lv. 2)]
Lee blinked at the notification. Then he saw it—the bandit he'd wounded earlier. Now a twitching, snarling walker dragging its ruined leg through the dirt, milky eyes fixed on the truck.
"Should've... stayed out of our way, dumbass!" the surviving raider taunted, oblivious to the danger creeping up behind him.
A sickening crunch silenced him mid-sentence. The walker's jaws clamped onto his neck and yanked—ripping out a fist-sized chunk of flesh. The bandit's scream bubbled wetly as he collapsed, arterial spray painting the truck's side crimson.
"Lee! Plan B—we gotta move NOW!" Kenny's voice was raw with urgency as he sprinted toward the gate, firing wildly into the swaying cornfields. The gunfire wasn't just drawing bandits—walkers shambled toward the perimeter, their hollow moans threading through the chaos.
Lee barely had time to reassure him. "Fences are still—"
BANG!
A wild bullet struck the generator in a shower of sparks. Steam hissed from its ruptured casing as the electric hum died—along with their last line of defense.
"Well, shit." Lee's grip tightened on his rifle.
"LEE!" Lilly's scream cut through the din. She staggered under Larry's weight, his massive frame slung over her shoulder, blood dripping down her side. Mark covered them with desperate shots, but the horde kept coming—bandits and walkers now, a tidal wave of teeth and bullets. "HELP ME! HE CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!"
It was the last thing he wanted to do.
Then he saw Lilly's face—her usual steeled composure shattered, her hands trembling as she struggled to drag her father's massive frame. This wasn't about Larry. This was about a daughter watching her father die.
"Mark, help her! I'll cover you!"
The words tore from Lee's throat like gunfire as he lunged forward, his rifle lighting up the encroaching shadows. Mark didn't hesitate—he hooked Larry's other arm and hauled him toward the RV, boots kicking up dirt.
Kenny was already braced against the rear wheel, his gun booming. "Come on! Now I'll cover you!"
Lee's heart hammered wildly, his wounded shoulder screaming in protest, but he forced his legs to move. Every step felt like wading through wet concrete, but he didn't stop—couldn't stop. With a final burst of speed, he threw himself through the open door, crashing onto the RV's floor.
Kenny slammed the door shut and vaulted into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life like a wounded beast, tires spinning before lurching forward. The RV plowed through the farm's gates, metal screeching.
Through the shattered rear window, the farm was a nightmare unfolding—bandits and walkers tearing into each other, the earth turning to mud under spilled blood.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit—" Ben hyperventilated into his hands, his whole body shaking. David gripped his shoulders, but the boy's terror was beyond soothing.
"Lee!" Carley rushed forward, her hands flying over him in search of wounds as Clementine clung to her side, small fingers twisted in her sundress. The girl's wide eyes mirrored the terror within.
Lee gave a stiff nod, his mouth opening to reassure them—
"DAD! DAD, WAKE UP!"
Lilly's scream cut through the RV like a knife. She cradled Larry's massive frame, her tears dripping onto his ashen face. His breathing came in wet, uneven gasps, his shirt saturated with dark, spreading red.
"Katjaa! I need you!" Lilly's voice cracked with raw desperation.
Katjaa paled but moved without hesitation, her medical kit already open as she dropped to her knees beside them. Her hands worked frantically, but the grim set of her jaw told the truth before she did—this was bad.
"Will y'all shut the hell up back there!" Kenny's roar cut through the chaos as he white-knuckled the steering wheel, the RV swerving slightly on the darkened road.
The arguing ceased instantly when Katjaa sat back on her heels, her voice hollow. "He's gone... There's no pulse."
A terrible silence fell over the group—broken only by Lee stepping forward. "We need to get him off the RV. Now. Kenny, pull over—"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!" Lilly launched herself between them, her tear-streaked face twisted into something feral. Her fists clenched at her sides, trembling with barely restrained violence.
Kenny jerked the RV onto the shoulder with a screech of tires. "Christ alive, what now?!" he barked, storming toward the commotion.
"He's dead, Lilly," Lee said gently but firmly. "And he won't stay that way. We have minutes—maybe seconds—before he turns."
Kenny's face softened but he didn't hesitate. "Lee's right. We'll grieve proper later, but right now we gotta—"
"I SAID DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Lilly's scream was raw enough to make Clementine whimper, the girl burying her face in Carley's shirt as Carley tried to shield her from the scene.
Lee moved before Lilly could react, gripping her arms from behind. "I'm so sorry," he murmured as she thrashed like a wild animal. Kenny and Mark seized the opportunity, hauling Larry's massive frame toward the door.
"LET GO! HE'S NOT DEAD! HIS HEART STOPS SOMETIMES—HE'S COME BACK BEFORE—" Her plea turned into a guttural scream as her father's body thudded onto the roadside gravel.
Lee couldn't react as Lilly's elbow slammed into his groin. The pain hit Lee like a lightning bolt—white-hot and paralyzing. By the time he could move again, Lilly was already outside, a whirlwind of grief and fury as Kenny and Mark struggled to restrain her. She fought like something possessed, their shouts meaningless against her screams.
"Goddammit," Lee hissed through gritted teeth, the ache still pulsing as he stumbled forward. Then he saw it—the subtle twitch of Larry's head.
"Lilly, stop! You're gonna get yourself—" Kenny's warning died in his throat.
All three men froze as Larry's corpse sat up with unnatural precision, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal milky-white voids. A guttural, hungry sound rattled from his throat—
BANG!
The gunshot echoed across the empty road. Larry's head snapped back, his skull cracking against the pavement. The fresh bullet hole between his eyes oozed dark blood as his body finally stilled.
Silence.
Lilly stumbled forward, her legs buckling as she collapsed onto her father's corpse. Her sobs were muffled against his bloodstained shirt, her entire body shaking with grief.
Lee lowered his smoking gun, his voice urgent but gentle. "Lilly...we have to go." The gunshot would lead every walker in the area to their location. When she didn't respond, he repeated, "Lilly—"
"Just leave her, Lee!" Kenny called from the RV door, his voice strained. "We ain't got time for this!"
Lee turned back, opening his mouth to try one last time—when his blood ran cold.
The barrel of Lilly's pistol stared him dead in the face. Her eyes were hollow pits, her tear-streaked face twisted into something unrecognizable.
"Lilly, what the hell—" Lee's voice was heavy with disappointment. This was it—the moment Lilly from the games would have snapped. He'd hoped to change that path, to steer her toward something better. But that hope was crumbling fast.
"You never liked him," she whispered, her voice trembling with barely-contained hysteria. "I tried...I tried to make him see you weren't so bad...but he was right about you." Her grip on the pistol tightened. "You were just waiting for your chance."
"That's not true—" Lee stepped forward.
BANG!
The bullet kicked up dirt at his feet.
"Next one's between your eyes," Lilly hissed. "What's next? Gonna put me down too? Clean up all the loose ends?"
"You're not thinking straight!" Lee pleaded, his eyes darting to the shadows shifting in the treeline. "I helped you save him!"
The RV door creaked open. "What's going on out—" Carley's voice cut off as she took in the scene. In an instant, her own pistol was drawn and leveled at Lilly. "Drop it. Now."
Lilly's aim shifted smoothly to Carley—and Lee knew, with terrifying certainty, what came next.
"Lilly, DON'T—"
BANG!