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Lily turned to Lee with her arms crossed now that it was just the two of them rather than a choir of voices disagreeing with her personal views, "You think this is easy for me? Everyone's starting to hate me because I'm the one that rations the food. But nobody else wants to!" Lily turns and walks towards a backpack by the RV and digs inside of it, pulling a couple of food items out of it. She turns back to face Lee, "You know what? I'm not doing it tonight. You do it." She holds out the food items to Lee, "There's today's food rations, but there's not enough for everyone. Good luck!" And with that, she walks away leaving Lee to the job.

Lee looks down at the food within his hands; half an apple, two crackers and cheese and a piece of beef jerky. Four food items for thirteen hungry people, how the hell was he supposed to do that? Well, it was simple, Larry ate the day before and so did Carley along with Katjaa and Lily. And Lee wouldn't eat unless Clement had eaten first, a view that Kenny and Hayden shared with him in regards to their respective kids. He sighed and turned his attention to the three kids sitting with Ben, he could give the pieces to all of them; Ben had been through a lot and he was probably hungry.

He shook his head and walked over to the children, his eyes landing on his own boy first and he knelt down to the boy who was sitting back to back with Naya; the girl writing using Clement as a backrest. "How ya doing, Clement?" Lee asked his boy. "Okay," Clement replied vaguely, "Have you found my hat yet?" Lee frowned at that, "Not yet, buddy." Clement frowned, "Which means Nala's stuffed cow, Beef is still missing then." Lee nodded at Clement's words before smiling, "Hey, it just means you three get to have more sleepovers." Clement smiled at that, he knew Lee was right about that, the three loved their slumber parties.

"Here Clem, you need something to eat," Lee held out the apple to the boy who smiled at the sight of it. "I love apples! Thank you, are there any more?" Clement asked. "No. That was the last one," Lee told him causing the boys smile to falter, "Maybe someone else--" Lee waved him off, "Enjoy it. You deserve it, Bud." Clement smiled at Lee, "Thanks." He took a bite into the apple enjoying the sweet taste of it while he could. Lee then turned to Naya, he ran his fingers through her messy hair with a laugh removing the dirt that had ended up in it when she tackled Duck to prove her strength. "How about a little food, Moo?" Lee asked the girl, she turned to him and smiled.

"Wait... what about my dad?" Naya asked, she lowered her head, "He needs it more than I do." Lee smiled at her, "You and I both know he won't eat unless you do." Naya sighed knowing that Lee was right. "Okay, Lee. Thank you," Naya told him, Lee handed her one of the cheese and crackers. "Oh, yum! Thanks Lee!" Naya said with a smile as she took it into her hand. "You're welcome, Sweet Pea," Lee replied to her before noticing Carley watching him with a fond smile on her face. Then he turns his attention to Duck, "Here, Duck. Have something to eat." He hands Duck the piece of beef jerky. "Yeah! Oh, man, I'm so hungry!" Duck exclaimed happily.

Lee nods at the boy, ruffling Clem's hair while playfully poking Naya's side as he got up and approached Ben. "Hey there, how are you holding up?" Lee asked him with concern in his eyes. "Uh, I don't know... it all happened so fast," Ben replied to him with a frown. "Yeah, it did," Lee spoke softly before holding out the final bit of food to the teenage boy. "Oh no, I don't wanna upset that woman," Ben told him fearfully, "Or the old man." Lee scoffed, "I'm in charge today and you've been through it. Have some food and just relax." Ben was hesitant as he reached for the cheese and crackers, "Uh, thanks Lee." Lee patted him on the back before walking away from him.

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Lee made his way over to Katjaa, she was thankful that Lee gave her son food and she held no negative feelings about missing out; she was glad the kids were being put first. Lee helped Katjaa with the man for a moment before leaving to check up with the others in the small compound they had created. "Thanks Lee," Hayden spoke as he turned away from the gun he was cleaning. "No worries," Lee replied knowing he was thanking him for feeding his daughter. Lee made his way over to Mark and Larry, the latter was yelling at Mark, and offered to help however he could. Larry refused his help but Mark asked to borrow the axe in his hands.

Lee handed the axe over to Mark and as per usual, Larry had to be an ass about it towards Lee. Mark snaps at Larry about his attitude problem directed at Lee, stating that being racist is outdated. Larry gets angry about the accusation and told them to leave him alone but they took note of the fact he didn't deny being a racist; something that Hayden heard loud and clear. Lee rolled his eyes at Larry before leaving Mark to continue working, he sighs and makes his way back to Lily by the RV. "Not such an easy job, is it?" Lily asked him with a certain look in her eyes. "Never said it was," Lee defended in response.

"I don't envy you. I don't know how you have the strength to do this every day," Lee told Lily who appreciated the words. "I don't have a choice," Lily responds to him. Kenny made his way towards Lee, the man turned to him with a sympathetic look, "Kenny, I know I ran out of food before--" Kenny cut him off, "Hey, it was a tough choice, but you took care of the kids. That's what a real man does. You've earned yourself a place on the RV, Lee. Still, I guess some people aren't gonna be happy with your choices." Larry looked over having heard the conversation and angrily asked, "You're out!? What happened to my food!?"

"There's none left," Lee answered him honestly, his head high to show he wasn't afraid of the older man. "You keep treating people like this and your days in this group are numbered," Larry sneers. "Wait a minute! You ate plenty yesterday and the day before and the day before. Ain't no one taking pity on you, old man," Hayden told Larry as he walked over, he stood tall against the older man, "You got a problem, why don't you walk out those gates off your lazy ass and find some damn supplies." The two continued to glare at each other while Lily looked to Lee to calm the situation.

"Ken! Lee! Hayden! Come here, please," Katjaa called out interrupting the tension between the adults. The three men made their way over to the woman who held a sorrowful expression telling them exactly what they needed to know. "He didn't make it, did he?" Kenny asked his wife. "He... lost too much blood," Katjaa replied to him with a slight shake of her head. "Damn it!" Kenny grumbles before walking away, "I'm getting sick of this shit!" Lee and Hayden watched Kenny with concerned looks, they knew the man was very emotional and there would only be so much he could potentially take before he snapped.

"Ken, come back! There's nothing--" Katjaa started to say but Lee talks over her, "Let him go, Katjaa." Hayden nods in agreement with Lee while Katjaa frowns, "But..." Hayden placed his hand on her shoulder, "He just needs time. It's been a rough morning." Katjaa turned her eyes in the direction Kenny had walked, she frowned feeling terrible for her husband. "That man you brought... I tried, but he was never going to survive," Katjaa told Lee who lowered his head. "We did what we could, that's all we can do," Hayden told the two. "What about the other kid?" Katjaa asked pointing towards Ben who was watching the three kids tussle with each other.

Before Lee or Hayden could speak, the dead man jumps up and grabs Katjaa prompting a scream to leave her lips alerting everyone causing the kids to stop and turn to the sight with wide eyes. "Shit! Katjaa!!" Lee called out as he and Hayden quickly responsed, Lee pulled Katjaa away from the Walker while Hayden safely grabbed hold of the dead man. "The axe! Hurry!" Lee called out to Mark as Hayden tried his best to stay out of the jaws of the Walker. Hayden shoves the Walker back and Mark swings but misses as the Walker moves. "Shit, it's stuck!" Mark exclaimed trying to pull it loose.

The Walker reaches out for Hayden again when a sudden and single gunshot echoed through the air, the bullet hitting the center of the Walkers forehead causing it to fall back staring blankly at the blue sky. All of the adults turned their heads to see Naya standing there with her fathers gun in hand, her hands were shaking and her eyes were wide as she panted. "Moo, it's okay. You did good, you can lower the gun now," Hayden encouraged his daughter, the nine-year-old lowered the gun letting her father take it from her hands. Naya turned and fell into Clement and Duck's open arms, both boys whispering to her; Clement saying soothing comments while Duck praised her quick thinking.

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place, asshole!?" Larry shouts at Lee, angrily. Clement glaring at the older man as he felt Naya jump from the sudden yelling, she was already under enough duress as it was. He pulled Naya away from the crowded adults, Duck following the two with his own upset expression caused by Larry. "Dad, calm down!" Lily shouted at her father. "You're gonna get us all killed!" Larry snapped out with a harsh glare towards Lee. Kenny hugs his wife to his chest, his eyes closed as he realised how close he just was to losing her; it proved just how short their new era of life really was. Ben walked up to see his dead teacher and Kenny glares at him as he asked, "Why didn't you tell us he was bitten!?"

Ben jumped at the aggression directed at him, "What?" Kenny stepped closer to the teenager, "He was bitten and you didn't say a damn word!" Ben furrowed his brows, "But he wasn't bitten! I swear!" The three kids looked over, listening to the conversation while Clement subconsciously ran his fingers through Naya's hair. "Well, your not-bitten friend here came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" Kenny snapped out at him. "What!? Wait..." Ben trailed off in realisation, he sent them a sympathetic look at the lack of knowledge they carried. "Y'all don't know?" Ben questioned them, he felt terrible to be the one to tell them.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny growled out. "It's not just the bite that does it!" Ben shouted at Kenny before lowering his voice, "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 reveal stunned every single person to complete silence, they had no clue how to respond to such information like that. "We're all infected? Everyone?" Lee asked Ben, his eyes trailed to the three children who had wide eyes and frowns full of fear. "I--I guess so. I don't know... all I know is that I've seen people turn who I know were never bitten," Ben replied.

"When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in the gym and everyone thought we were finally safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher, I think, I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them. Someone went into the girls' room the next morning and God..." Ben trailed off leaving the rest to their imagination. Everyone was clearly reeling at this information, Hayden looked over at his daughter who had her eyes closed and head resting in the crook of Clement's neck, Duck's hand within her own and Hayden frowned at the knowledge that he couldn't prevent his daughter becoming one of those things; if things were to go their way, she'd at least live a good life before it came.

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Rosemary Speaks

Naya shot her first Walker... yikes!?
Also, for better clarification in case I screwed it up; Naya is currently Nine, Clement recently turned Eleven and Duck is Ten.

Thoughts, questions or suggestions?

See you in the next chapter!