Lee left the farm with Danny, the three kids spent time playing with the swing but soon enough, they became bored and began wandering around the farm. Andy had been suspiciously quick in stopping the childrens adventures, rather directing them to the barn that held Maybelle, the sick cow. Naya had been fairly excited about petting the cow, she giggled when the creature let out a moo. "Happy, Moo?" Hayden asked his daughter from where he stood by the stables, he had decided to keep his eyes focused on the kids until he could trust the St. John family.

"What is that?" Naya asked as she spotted a big white block near the cow. "It's called a salt lick," Kenny answered her with a smile on his face, he had become an uncle to the girl in the almost five months they had been surviving together. "I dare you to lick it," Duck whispered to the blonde girl, she was hesitant. "I don't know..." Naya muttered with an uncertain expression. "Scaredy cat," Duck teased with a grin. "Am not!" Naya told Duck with a pout. "Are too!" Duck replied to her with his smug smirk. "Fine, you do it!" Naya told him with a smirk of her own. "I'll do it if you do it!" Duck negotiated. Naya, not wanting to seem like a chicken, got up and approached the block.

Naya immediately gag upon licking the block, she spat as the boys laughed and the adults looked over at her. "That was so gross!" Naya exclaimed as she pouted and sat away from the boys with her arms crossed, both boys shared a look and didn't like the distance she was sitting away from them while on a farm with creepy vibes. "Nala... I didn't do anything..." Clement whined making the blonde sigh before she walked back over and sat down next to him, he grabbed her hand in his and smiled at her before focusing back on the cow. Hayden and Kenny shared a smile, both had a feeling that friendship may become more one day; even if it didn't, both were glad the kids had each other in this world.

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Meanwhile, Danny and Lee had found a very small camp not to far from the farm, the two began looking around cautiously. It was just a tent, some chairs and a couple of tables with empty boxes and cans and a firepit. Danny checked the tent eagerly only to deflate at the sight of no one inside, he was hoping that someone would be inside. Lee had found a little camera, he picks it up and pushes the power button but it doesn't turn on. After Danny moves away from the tent, Lee decides to take a look inside of the tent himself. Inside he finds two sleeping bags, a stuffed animal -- that was not a cow -- and a picture of a woman and a little girl.

At the end of one of the sleeping bags, there was a fairly large lump gaining Lee's attention. Lee pulls the blanket back to reveal Clement's hat and Naya's stuffed cow, Beef. "What the Hell!?" Lee mutters as he picks up both items, his eyes were wide as he looked at them. "Don't you fucking move!" A woman's voice threatens causing Lee to jump, he turned around to see a woman with wild brown hair and a crossbow aiming at him some feet away. Lee and Danny are quick to draw their guns and aim them at her, two against one. "Put your guns down!" The woman orders harshly, "I ain't goin' back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't going back!"

"Hey! We had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food!" Danny shouts at her, his eyes crazed as he looked at her, "What the fuck happened!?" Jolene turns her eyes from Lee to Danny as she replies shakily, "You had a deal with them. I ain't them!" She watched Danny for another moment before speaking, "I know you. I know what you are, I know what you do." Lee looked from Jolene to Danny, the latter seemed to be more agitated by the woman's words and it set alarm bells off in his head. "You don't know me," Danny told her defensively. "Steal my shit! Steal everything from me!" Jolene snapped at the two.

"We had a deal, you people broke it first!" Danny shouted back, it was obvious he had ignored her words about having no connection to the bandits. "Why are you alone up here? What happened to you?" Lee asked calmly in a way to defuse the tense situation. "That's a hell of a question, mister. They told me I'd be safe with them... Men who lived here. But it wasn't safe. Not for me and not for my girl. They didn't treat her nice. Not at all. They took her away... into the woods. Wouldn't tell me where. And I begged 'em. Every way I could think. They just laughed... so I killed 'em," Jolene rambled before laughing, "And I'm staying here 'til she comes back to me. One way or another... she'll come back."

Her dazed expression snapped back and she glared at Lee and Danny before speaking, "Now maybe you didn't hear me last time when I asked, 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 damn brain. You're all 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!" Lee knew this woman was unstable and all it would take is one single word to make her snap, he had to be careful with his choices but he also needed answers -- answers that the St. John's won't provide.

"Where did you get this hat and teddy?" Lee asked her first, he needed to know. "Those little kids," Jolene answered him. "You stole it from them!?" Lee exclaimed before taking a breath, "Why? And how?" Jolene was angered again, "So what if I did? You stole her from me!" Lee looks at her with confusion, it was clear that the woman was nine kinds of crazy. "What the Hell are you talking about!?" Lee questioned her. "You know what? I changed my mind... I'm putting this arrow right through your balls. Yeah! Right through. String 'em up in that tree. Then imma head down to that farm and shoot every damn person I see!" Jolene growled with a deranged chuckle leaving her lips, her eyes wide and unblinking.

"Look, there's two of us and one of you. No matter what happens, one of us is gonna kill you," Lee threatens her, he needed her to understand that her next action will have heavy consequences. "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!" Jolene snapped out at Lee before looking at Danny, "Go on, tell him, boy! Tell him what you got in mind for--" Jolene's words were cut off by Danny pulling the trigger of his gun, shooting her right between the eyes and her body falls forward on the ground; Lee jumps back in shock by the man's actions.

"Damnit!" Danny exclaimed in disappointment while Lee turned to him with wide eyes. "You straight-up murdered that woman!" Lee accused, still shocked. Lee wasn't stupid, he knew that the woman was saying something that Danny didn't want him to hear and that only reinforced the need to either find answers or walk away. "Hardly. She had a crossbow pointed at my head. It's a clean shot though... right through the forehead. That's good shootin' right there. Still, what a waste," Danny expressed to Lee however, his self-praise only made Lee feel more on edge than he did before. "So that's it? We going back?" Lee asked wanting to talk with Hayden and Kenny.

"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. Once they see this... they'll get the message," Danny replied to Lee as he walks over to Jolene's body and picks up the crossbow, taking it for himself. Lee grabs Clement's hat, Naya's stuffie and the camera he found before he and Danny walk away from the camp leaving Jolene's body behind. Lee was on edge but did his best to remain calm in Danny's eyes, the walk was silent and Danny seemed to be happy with the days outcome; Lee was not.

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Upon Lee and Danny's return to the farm, Lee headed straight into the barn and smiled seeing the kids admiring the cow that Katjaa sat by. "Lee!" The three kids exclaimed with smiles. "Hey kids," Lee greeted them. "Katjaa says Maybelle could have her baby tonight!" Naya exclaimed to Lee with wide happy eyes. "We'll see, Naya," Katjaa said as Lee looks at the salt lick. "What's that thing?" Lee asked causing Naya to shudder. "Daddy says its called a salt lick," Duck answers with a smile on his face. "Yeah, don't lick it. It's gross," Naya warned Lee, he turns to her with an amused smile on his face. "Did you lick it?" Lee asked her.

"Ducky challenged me!" Naya exclaimed as she let go of Clement's hand and crossed her arms leaning back against the wall. Clement and Duck laughed while Lee chuckled in amusement before shaking his head and turning to Hayden and Kenny, motioning them over to the side. "What happened out there?" Hayden asked Lee who sighed in exhaustion before explaining the situation that played out to both men. "Damnit, I knew they were hiding something," Kenny told his best friends. "Well, we can't risk setting them off. I say we thank them for the food and leave while we can on good terms," Hayden told the two, he didn't want to endanger the children.

"Listen, Andy locked that up real tight when we came in here and he seemed real paranoid about our kids playing around the grounds," Kenny began, keeping his voice low, "But I know I heard something behind there. We need to find out, make sure they won't be a risk. Clearly Danny boy has a happy trigger finger." Lee and Hayden weren't so keen about risking the dangers but even they knew that Kenny had made an important point. "Everything alright here?" Andy asked having spotted the three men huddled together. "Sure is," Hayden assured him. "Just making sure. Don't go snooping around," Andy warned only reinforcing the men's suspicion.

As Lee was walking out of the barn, he remembered the items he had found and turned to Naya and Clement. "Here Clement," Lee held out Clement's hat to him, the boy perked up and took the hat from Lee's hand before placing it on his head. "My hat! You found it!" Clement exclaimed in happiness. "And here you go, Moo," Lee added as he held out Naya's stuffie. "Beef!? You found him! Thank you!" Naya told him as she hugged the stuffie close to her chest, her eyes watery with happy tears. "I knew you would find them! You said you would!" Clement added with pride.

"Listen, did either of you... give your stuff to anyone?" Lee asked them despite trusting they hadn't. "No," Clement and Naya answered him in unison. "Did either of you see any strangers around the motor inn who might have taken them?" Lee asked them. "No, why?" Naya asked him with her head tilted, Lee knelt down in front of them with a reassuring smile. "It's probably nothing. Just let me know if you two ever see anything like that," Lee requested, both kids immediately agreed with his instructions which eased him. "Hey, Lee," Clement spoke keeping the man's attention, "Do you think you'll ever have kids?" Lee smiled at Clement as he spoke, "I'd like to someday. Maybe a little boy and a little girl, like you two."

Naya and Clement beamed at the compliment and they too hoped that Lee could one day have kids of his own. "That's nice, you'd be a good dad," Naya told Lee who smiled at that, his heart warmed at that. "Thanks again for finding my hat," Clement told Lee before Naya spoke, "Yeah, thanks for finding Beef." Lee grinned at the two sweet kids, "You're welcome, kids." He stood up and left the two in the care of Katjaa, he heads out of the barn and stops to look around. He was suspicious of the St. Johns and needed to be sure they weren't a threat to his people or the children with them.

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Rosemary Speaks

I love writing the friendship between Naya, Clement and Duck. They are my babies...
Oh man...

Bit of a warning for the next chapter, please read it with caution, while nothing extreme will happen; it will still potentially be triggering. Essentially, if you know the scene between Ellie Williams and David in TLOU, you may have an idea of what will happen.

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!