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"Back off!" Carley's shout pulled everyone from their minds and they turned their heads to see two men just outside of the wall, Carley had her gun drawn on them. "Woah, lady, relax! Me and my brother, we... we just want to know if y'all can help us out," The man in a striped long sleeved shirt and jeans said as he held up a gas can with a polite smile on his face. "I said back off!" Carley demanded again. "Are you armed?" Lee questioned from beside Carley, his eyes watching the two men cautiously. "Yeah... for protection... dead could be anywhere," The second man with a blue shirt and tan pants replied.

"But, uh, I think you've got the upper hand here," The first man spoke up pointing out the fact that he and his brother were outnumbered. "Why do you need gas?" Carley asked the two men. "Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity," The second man answered her politely but something about his presence rubbed Hayden the wrong way, actually, the two brothers made Hayden feel uncomfortable. "Our generators run on gas. Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If y'all be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade," The first man told the group of adults, Lee and Hayden shared a look on uncertainty.

"How are y'all doing on food? We got plenty at the dairy," The second man offered causing everyone's ears to perk up in interest at that. Lily looked over at Lee, "Lee, why don't you and Mark check the place out, see if it's legit?" Carley spoke up lowering her gun, "I'm going with you. I got your back if anything seems fishy." Lee sent her a grateful look at that, he nodded his head. "So, uh, what are y'all thinking?" The first man asked them. "You've got a deal," Lee called out to him, "We'll bring some gas to your dairy. In exchange, you give us some food to bring back. We'll see how it goes from there." The first man nodded, "Sounds fair. A couple of gallons should power one of our generators for a while."

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Naya and Clement kept their eyes on the woods across from the motel for Lee, Ben, Carley and Mark's return from the the St. John Dairy farm they had gone to alongside the brothers, Andy and Danny St. John. Some time later, Naya looked away from playing rock, paper, scissors with Clement and spotted Carley and Ben walking back towards the motel with a basket of food within her hands. "Food!" Duck cheered before hugging Naya, she laughed and fist-bumped Clement who had been just as excited as the other two. Carley explained to Lily, Larry, Hayden, Kenny and Katjaa that Lee and Mark had stayed back to check out the farm.

Lily was intrigued by the legit and safety of the St. John Dairy farm and wanted to check it out herself. Ben mentioned that the St. John's had a sick cow and Katjaa immediately offered her assistance as a trained veterinarian. With a small conversation, the adults decided to head to the farm for their own inspection however, Lily had demanded that Carley and Ben stay behind to watch over the motel due to the fact they had consumed a fair amount of the food within the basket. And so, with that decided, the kids and adults made their way to the farm leaving Ben and Carley behind to guard their home.

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It took around an hour to walk to the Dairy Farm that was surrounded by electric fences that protected a two storey house with a large red barn to the side. Up ahead, the group spotted the brothers with a heavyset woman talking to Lee and Mark. "Hey y'all!" Kenny greeted them before they were all shocked to see an arrow within Mark's shoulder. "Mark! Oh my God, what happened!?" Katjaa exclaims in fear as the group rush up to him. "He got shot with an arrow," Lee replied to her. "Shit! Are you gonna be okay?" Lily asked Mark who was clutching his injured shoulder panting from the clear pain that he was in.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I should just... pull it out," Mark told them but even Naya knew that it wouldn't be that simple. "Oh no, honey, c'mon, Brenda's got you," The woman, Brenda, offered as she walked up to Mark with an overly polite smile. "C'mon inside now. We'll have you all sorted out," Brenda encouraged further and so she, Katjaa and Mark walked up to the home. "What kind of shit is this!?" Larry shouted at Lee, angrily. "We ran into some people on the way up here... bandits, I guess. I think it was them that attacked us," Lee explained to the man as Naya looked around, she didn't like the way Danny kept looking over at her and so she shifted to stand closer to Clement.

"They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning, killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get 'em to stop by makin' a deal," Andy informed the group of survivors. "You knew about these people?" Kenny asked him, suspiciously. "Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin' us," Danny replied to Kenny. "Damnit! Carley said this place was locked down tight," Larry growls. "Maybe it isn't as safe here as they thought," Hayden spoke up, he looked around feeling uncertain about the place. "We're sorry!" Andy immediately spoke up, "We've never had them screw with us like this!"

Clement grabbed Naya's hand in his own and moved to stand with Hayden and Lee upon noticing the subtle glances Danny St. John were sending Naya's way; it made him uncomfortable so he assumed it would make Naya feel worse. "Not since we started givin' 'em food. Listen, we may have had an agreement with those people, but we will not stand for this shit!" Andy continued, angrily. "Ain't no way we're gonna let those son o' bitches get away with this!" Danny added with determination set in his tone and eyes. "You know where these assholes are?" Kenny questioned them despite the clear suspicion he held towards the brothers.

"They're hard to pin down but I think I know where at least one of their camps are," Danny replied before turning his head to Lee specifically, "When you're ready to go scope out that bandit camp, come find us." Then Danny and Andy walk back towards their home leaving the group to discuss things amongst themselves. "Bandits? Are you serious? This place isn't safe. We can't stay here," Lily exclaimed loudly. "Whoa! When were we discussing the possibility of staying here? I thought it was trades work," Hayden spoke up, he didn't like the idea of the farm compared to the motel.

"Not safe!? This place is a Hell of a 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 this place over if we have to," Kenny rambled ignoring Hayden's words, the former soldier didn't like the ideas that Kenny had but he knew the Florida man held as much suspicion as he did about the farm and its family. "Cool your jets there, Rambo. These are nice people, let's not do anything to get us thrown out before we eat," Larry warned Kenny with a hint of aggression.

"Listen, I'm gonna head out and help Dan with these bandits. You guys should try and make friends with Andy and Brenda while I'm gone," Lee instructed the others. "Well, that's easy. I've got charm coming out of my ass," Larry said with a smile that fell upon the snort that left Naya's mouth that she covered with a cough while Duck and Clement tried not to laugh themselves. "Yeah, that's... real charming, dad," Lily remarked, sarcastically. "Where's Carley and Ben?" Lee asked having finally noticed the lack of presence with the settlement of their conversation.

"Since Carley and Ben ate some of the food on the way back to get us, she volunteered to stay behind and watch the motor inn until we get back," Lily replied as Andy walked back towards the group stopping by Lee specifically. "Hey, I remembered seeing kids in your group, so I went ahead and fixed that swing while you were out," Andy informed him before turning to the three children. "Hope you kids like swings!" Andy cheered at the three. "A swing! I love swings!" Duck exclaimed in pure excitement while Naya and Clement smiled politely at the man, their hands interlocked as they followed Duck to see the swing themselves.

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After some talking with others, Lee made his way over to the children by the swing where Duck was currently being pushed by Kenny. Hayden sat on a large tree stump with Naya standing next to him leaning her head on his shoulder watching Duck while Clement was watching between Naya and Duck almost protectively. "Hey Clem, are you doing alright?" Lee asked the boy he considered his own by this point. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just making sure Nala and Timon are too," Clement replied to him with a shrug, Lee smiling at the nicknames. "Well, then I'd say the two are in great hands," Lee told Clement who beamed at it.

"So, you and Naya, huh?" Lee teased the eleven year old boy about the nine year old girl who had become his best friend. "What is that supposed to mean?" Clement asked Lee, though you could only tell by the shy demeanour, Lee knew the boy was blushing. "I'm just teasing, bud," Lee assured him with a smirk but the boy knew what Lee was hinting at and the boy tried to brush it off. Sure, Naya was pretty and her blue eyes reminded him of the summer skies. But they were kids in a fallen world, best friends who had each other's backs no matter what. Maybe in the future but for now, he was happy with the friendship they had.

"Do you like the swing?" Lee asked Clement pushing past the previous subject. "Yeah, it's fun!" Clement exclaimed to Lee. "Be sure to tell Andy thank you, okay?" Lee instructed his boy, Clement agreeing happily. "Hey Lee, will you push me on the swing?" Clement asked Lee. "Sure, happy to push you on the swing," Lee replied before turning to Kenny, "Mind if Clement takes a turn?" Kenny nods as he stops pushing Duck, "All right, Duck, let's let Clement have a try for a bit." Duck agrees and jumps off the swing moving to stand near Naya who smiles at him as Clement climbs onto the swing and Lee moves to push him, both smiling.

"What do you think of the Dairy?" Lee asked Clement hoping to get the kids view of the place. "It's pretty. Reminds me of how things used to look before," Clement answered him truthfully. "Yeah, it does," Lee replied as he glanced around before focusing back on Clement on the swing. "Do you think things will ever get back to how they were?" Clement asked Lee. "Yeah. I'm not sure when but one day things have got to go back to normal," Lee answered him, it was an honest answer that he truly believed in wholeheartedly. "That's good. I hope its soon," Clement responded feeling a new sense of hope. "Me too!" Naya called out with a small giggle.

"Is Mark going to be okay?" Naya suddenly asked Lee and Hayden, the two men shared a look before Hayden spoke, "He got lucky out there. Could have been a lot worse, he'll be alright if handled correctly." Naya nodded in understanding while Clement asked the next question, "Are you going to find the people who hurt Mark?" Lee sighed, "We have to make sure they don't hurt anyone else." The kids understood that but they didn't want Lee to get hurt, the man had become very important, not just to the group, but the children too. "Be careful. I want you to stay lucky too," Clement said to Lee. "Ever since I met you, I've had good luck, so don't worry," Lee assured him.

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Rosemary Speaks

Honestly, I adore the kids trio... my heart is already breaking...

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!