The Trotting Dead: VG

Episode 2 Chapter 6: Fall of the Dairy
Written by: bobby ray
Proofread/Edited by: KJay

"Open the god damn door!" Was the first thing thing Lee heard as he slowly became conscious. His eyes opened, the first thing he saw was a stack of those salt licks near the spot where he laid. Everything was coming back to him, all that had occurred, but it returned slowly and in no particular order. He couldn't make out who it was yet, but Lee heard someone vomiting no less than six feet away. The same man who spoke moments ago, who Lee could now recognize as Larry, yelled out again, "You can't keep us in here!" Larry was pounding on a metal door as he kept barking these unheeded orders. Lee's eyes were only open so much, he still was unsure as to what was going on at this moment. He could see people moving around and that was about it, "OPEN UP!!" Larry kept yelling, "I will tear you fuckers apart with my bare hands!"

"Will ya stop that racket?!" Applejack, or at least Lee believed this new voice to be Applejack, asked the short tempered man, "It's not gonna do us any good!" Larry didn't listen and kept beating on the solid door. The same person as before vomited, Lee was seeing everything much clearer and could make out some of what was going on. They were in a small, windowless room. One, maybe two lights on the ceiling kept the room lit bright enough to see. The room only had the one door and Larry had it well covered. Lilly was in a corner opposite of the one Lee found himself in. She was the one vomiting, getting the disgusting meal she had eaten out of her system. He wasn't sure where Applejack was yet.

Larry looked as his daughter regurgitated again. His pounding worsened, "You sick fucking bastards!" Lilly threw up once more. When she was done she leaned against a wall, one arm keeping her up while the other clenched her stomach, "OPEN THIS DOOR GOD DAMMIT!!" Larry wasn't tired yet, his rage kept him going in this futile effort to get out of confinement. Lee turned his head to see the rest of the room. Clementine and Rainbow Dash were near him, watching over the scene being displayed in the nearly cramped space. Mark and Applejack were beyond them in another corner. They were fawning over Twilight, who was curled up there. The morphine had mostly worn off by now, though it still kept her from thinking as clearly as she normally does. Kenny was pacing around the room impatiently. Katjaa and Duck were nowhere to be seen.

Rainbow turned to check on Lee, who was now waking up, "Lee!" She flew lightly right up next to him. Clementine followed, running to Lee and bending down to match his eye level.

Larry kept at it, "I will knock the god damn door down!"

Lilly looked up at him, "Dad, stop!"

Lee shook himself awake the rest of the way. He was completely aware and alert as Clem and Dash checked on him. Clementine looked at him with concerned eyes as he turned to her, "It-it was Doug!" She told him, "A person! They tried to make us eat a person!"

"But you didn't do it..." He wasn't sure if he had stopped her from taking a bite or not.

"She didn't." Rainbow made Lee aware of his success, "Thanks to you."

Larry halted his pounding to look at them, "Well the rest of us did! If you and that hick hadn't taken your sweet time coming downstairs..."

"C'mon, dad." Lilly pleaded, "Now's not the time."

Lee looked from Dash to Clem, "Are you two alright? Th-they didn't hurt either of you, did they?"

Clementine shook her head, "Mm-mmm."

Rainbow disagreed, "They did Celestia knows what to Twilight, they did we all know what to Doug, and they had the gall to lay their hands on her!" She pointed her hoof to Clem, "When we get out of here, I'm going to make them pay!" Dash punched her front hooves together as a sign of her eagerness to get to the St. Johns.

Larry went back to his current occupation, "OPEN UP!!!"

Kenny walked up to his awakened friend, "Lee, those psychos have my family, and we're stuck in a damn meat locker! We've gotta get the fuck outta here!"

Larry turned to look at Lee, "This goddamn thumbsucker is one of the people who brought us here! Along with those two in the corner!" He spoke of Applejack and Mark.

Kenny turned to him, "Will you just shut the fuck up?!" Larry ignored him and went back to the door. He kept calling out to the cannibal farmers, Lilly began begging him to stop. Ken went around the walls of the room, looking for any way out of the locker.

"I'm scared." Clementine told Lee as he got to his feet.

"Don't be. It's gonna be okay..." He tried to reassure her, but Lee couldn't tell if that was the honest truth. The only known exit so far was the locked, steel door, and the walls themselves were even thicker. Still, he had to keep Clem and Rainbow's hopes up, "I'm gonna find us a way outta here..."

"Can we help?" Clem asked for her and Dash.

"Sure, honey! You both should keep an eye out for exposed screws or loose panels, anything we can pry away to open a passage out of here."

Clem began her search almost immediately, Dash didn't start at all. The Pegasus lifted herself off the ground, "I'm not gonna be able to help out right now, Lee. I really want to get my hooves on those three right now. But now that you're awake and alright, I have to help keep an eye on Twilight." She hovered over to the trio in the corner. Lee followed her to check on the mare as well, she couldn't be doing too well with all that happened back in the house. Dash landed next to Applejack, "How's she doing?"

AJ shook her head, "Not well."

Twilight was speaking in a hushed, worried voice which held hints of hysteria. Lee could barely make out a word she said as he bent down near the others, "Wh-why? How could... they ju-just... D-Doug was merely... how did..." The rest couldn't be heard.

Mark turned to Lee, who was the only one who hadn't heard it, "She was speaking a little more clearly half an hour ago. She went inside the house to check on Doug, found Andy up there with him. He had a hacksaw and..." He trailed off.

Rainbow finished for him, "Twilight saw what happened to Doug as it went down."

"Oh God." Lee was at a loss with this. These ponies have seen some horrible things since they got here. But this...

"I was complainin' 'bout what I'd seen, and none of those things even come close ta seein' a man get his legs taken off!" Applejack was beating herself up, "Can't believe how selfish I was."

"You weren't being selfish." Mark told her, "You saw something that you couldn't properly deal with and it put you in a bad way, but you got past it. Now I just hope the same will go for her." The Unicorn before them didn't look at anything or anyone, she just starred aimlessly at the ground.

"Can we do anything to help her?" Lee asked.

"Not until we get away from here and back to the Motor Inn." Mark told him.

Applejack looked at Lee and Mark both, "Could you two help Kenny look for a way outta this place? I don't want Twi staying here longer than she has ta."

"Sure." Lee told her. He and Mark rose off the ground, "Holler if something happens." They left Rainbow and Applejack with the unstable mare.

Twilight silenced her mummer until it went below a whisper. The Pegasus and farm pony looked at her with worry over the sudden silence, "Twi?" AJ lowered herself closer to the Unicorn, "Are ya alright?"

She didn't reply, and her speech ended completely. Rainbow moved in closer, "Twilight?"

The mare slowly came to realize her immediate surroundings. She raised her head up to see her two best friends, both of which were watching her like observative hawks. Twilight had the image of Doug, and the recording of his muffled screams, glued tightly inside her mind. All she could do was watch, the morphine rendering her helpless to stop it or even look away. She lost her friend in that house and was powerless to do anything about it. This was something she wouldn't let repeat, not for any price. She starred intently at AJ and Dash, the only two beings in this world she honestly cared about when it came down to the bottom line, and spoke as clearly as she could, "I w-will n-not let any... thing hurt eith-er of you. A-anything..."

Mark went to the pile of salt licks and tried to pick one up, "These things are pretty heavy." He picked one up with some strain.

Kenny looked back at him, "Think we could heave one of those through the door?"

"No," Lee told them both as he approached Lilly, "Door's too solid for that." He stopped next to Lilly, she was grasping her recently emptied stomach as she leaned on the wall. Lee looked at Larry, who was still making a racket, before grabbing Lilly's attention, "Your dad's not making things any easier for us..."

Larry struck the door again, "Open the fucking door!"

Lilly looked up at her father once again, "Dad, stop!"

He didn't listen and kept at it, "Goddammit!"

Mark dropped the salt lick he was holding back on the stack, "C'mon, Larry. Is this really smart? What do you plan to do even if they come?"

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do..." He looked at Mark through the corner of his eye, not turning around at all, "I'm gonna wait until they come in and then I'm gonna tear them to bits and serve them up to the first walker I find!" He struck the door again.

"Guess your new girlfriend wasn't all she was cracked up to be." Lee mumbled under his breath. Unfortunately, Larry still heard it.

Larry turned from the door, "What the hell is your problem?"

"Larry." Mark tried to intervene, "Now just..."

"Just shut up." He told him plainly. Larry turned his attention back to Lee, "You refused to give me my day's rations back at the motor lodge, AND you went out of your way to be an asshole to me since this morning." He eyed Lee for another second, "You must really hate me." He stood up straight and proud, as proud as someone in that situation with that many anger problems could get, "But guess what: you're stuck with me! I plan to stick around LONG after you're gone. And if you turn..." He paused briefly to give Lee the full effect, "... I'll be the one to put your own axe through your skull."

Lilly looked up, "Dad!"

"I'm not your enemy..." Lee tried to convince Larry this when Rainbow flew over to join what she would turn into another fight.

Larry turned to the Pegasus as she spoke, "Why don't you just cool it, huh?! If anyone's been mean to anyone lately it's been you!" Rainbow should have stayed with Twilight, with the state she's in. But Dash's stubborn nature wouldn't allow Larry to get away with any of what he just said.

"Oh, for god's sake, can't you ever just mind your own business!?! We're trapped in here!! Why don't you try and do something to help us get out instead of worrying about book brains over there?! We all saw Doug, and even the little girl is better off than she is!"

"It's different with her and you know it!!" By now everyone had their attention turned to the escalating conflict: everyone except Kenny, who kept looking for a way out of there and to his family.

"Rainbow, now's not the time..." Lee tried to calm her down.

"Shut it!" Larry told Lee. He cared little for what he had to say at this point.

Dash glared at him, "What's your problem with Lee, anyway?! What's he ever done to you?!"

"That's none of your business, mule!! And if Lee doesn't do anything stupid, that's the way it'll stay. Now get outta my face and worry about your horned cow if that's what you really care about."

"Insult me all you want, but NEVER talk about my friends like that!" She got even closer, "And if you EVER threaten Lee, or anyone else like that again; I'll be more than glad to teach you a lesson!"

He laughed at this, causing Rainbow to actually grow red with anger, "You-you really think you could take me on, don't you!?!" He instantly went serious, "I would have put you in your place months ago if I didn't know you'd just cry and moan about it afterwards like the little BITCH YOU ARE!"

What little self control Rainbow had left in her was all that kept a proper beating from befalling the hateful old shit. Mark, Lee and Applejack knew they had to try and stop this right now, "Okay, now. Let's all just take a..."

Dash ignored them entirely. She moved closer to where her face was less than an inch away from Larry's, "Now you listen...!"

"NO YOU LISTEN!!!" Larry kept her from speaking. His heart was racing with the intensity of the situation, "Because I'm not gonna say this EVER again!!! We are living in a world were corpses eat people, bandits are loose murdering people, and inbred farmers are turning people into meat. We are living in HELL!! And as if my life wasn't bad enough: I gotta deal with your shit ever two minutes! Now we're trapped in a god forsaken meat locker, and it won't be long before those sick fuckers try to turn more of us into supper! All you can think to do is pick another fight with me; which seems to be the only way you deal with your own problems!! YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE WORTHLESS DEAD WEIGHTS!!! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO...!!! To..."

Larry stopped his rant as he lost control of his breathing. Everyone, even Kenny, all noticed this sudden, screeching halt. Lilly got closer as her dad grasped his heart, "Dad, take it easy! Take it..."

She was too late. Larry grabbed hold of his chest tighter and closed his eyes for a moment. Rainbow's anger swiftly went away as the old man's problem worsened. She watched as he opened his eyes again, possibly for the last time, and spoke two words in a weak voice, "Oh God..."

"Larry, what...?" Mark tried to ask what was wrong. Suddenly Larry dropped to the floor and laid on his back, a thud created from the fall. Clementine gasped as he fell since this was the first time it happened without Larry making a sound or an effort to keep up.

Everyone got closer to the fallen man, except for Twilight who only watched from where she was. Lilly got down next to him and put both hands on the sides of his head, "No! Dad, c'mon! DAD!!" His eyes were closed and his chest was still, he wasn't breathing. Lilly put both of her hands on his chest and started pushing down repeatedly, performing CPR as best as she could, "Oh God. He's stopped breathing." She informed everyone, "I think he's had a heart attack!"

Rainbow had no idea what had just happened until Lilly said it, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he'd..." She absolutely hated Larry, in fact that was an understatement. She'd wish he'd get a heart attack every now and then when he was way too outta line. However, when it would actually happen she knew it was serious and she would regret it immediately. Not that he didn't deserve them, he earns every single one rightfully, but each one could end with Larry becoming really weakened or worse. She kept apologizing, "I mean we fight all the time but he never got that worked up..."

"It's alright." Lee told her, "It's not your fault."

Kenny had been searching the wall near the salt licks when Larry fell. He grew worried, "Shit! Is he dead?!"

Lilly dismissed that, "He's not dead. Somebody help me!" Nobody was quite sure what to do yet.

"Fuuuuuuuck..." Kenny let out, "... If he's dead..."

"HE'S NOT DEAD!!" Lilly yelled at him.

Mark looked at him, "Maybe he's not dead..."

"Look at him!" Kenny made Mark look, "Does he look alive to you?!" Mark wasn't really sure; just looking at Larry gave him no clear indication. Kenny turned to Lee, "... You know, better than anyone, what has ta happen, Lee." A few people looked at Kenny questioningly, "Think about it. You saw that poor bastard at the motel. How fast he turned."

"What are you getting at?" AJ asked. She joined the group, leaving Twilight for the moment.

"Look, I'm sorry, Lilly." He told her, answering Applejack's question with an apology to Larry's daughter, "I truly, truly am. But in a few minutes, we're gonna be stuck in a locked room with a 6-foot-four, 300 pound, SERIOUSLY pissed off dead guy!"

Lilly glared at Kenny, "FUCK YOU!! We can bring him back! Lee, Mark, anyone help!"

Kenny looked at her, "We'll mourn him later. But right now, we have to keep him from comin' back."

Clementine was frightened by everything, especially what Kenny was suggesting. She was the first to openly disagree with it, "Noooo!"

Lilly kept pressing down on her father's chest, "God dammit, Kenny! He's not dead!"

"We can't do anything unless he's really dead." Lee stated.

"And he isn't!" Lilly agreed.

Kenny turned to Lee again, "Lee, you remember how hard it was to get that monster off of Katjaa? And Larry's twice his size!" He shook his head at the ugly truth, "It's him or us."

Lee tried to make an argument, "Look, Kenny, back at the drugstore when a lot of us thought Duck was bitten; I gave him the benefit of the doubt... Maybe we should do the same now."

"That was different." Kenny argued back, "Duck wasn't bitten. But, come on, we know he's not gonna make it!" He paused and thought back to earlier, "Remember what Ben said. Gotta destroy the brain..." Twilight, from where she now tried to sit up straight, overthought Kenny's argument. Had her mind been in the right place she would have disagreed with Kenny entirely. But multiple thoughts, consisting of everything that was going on, entered her mind and she couldn't decide what was right.

"No." Rainbow said, "No! We can't just do that!" She was the last living thing in this room Kenny thought would say that.

"She's right." Applejack said aloud, "We gotta try and save him."

Kenny looked at both of them, "You two always have my back. Always! And this isn't just some other argument, this is life or death!"

"It is life or death!" Mark told him, "But the only life at stake is Larry's. They're right, we can't kill him."

Kenny was alone. He couldn't believe nobody could see what was going to happen if they didn't act. Lee was the only person left he could count on, "Come on, Lee. You can't be in the middle on this one. You know what's gonna happen, you've gotta have my back this time!"

"God dammit guys!" Lilly called out, "I NEED help here! PLEASE!!!"

Lee thought about it in the little time he had to do so. Maybe Kenny was right, maybe he wasn't. But Lee couldn't bear to think of killing anyone, even Larry, if there was no reason behind it. Lee wasn't who the trial made him out to be; he wasn't a cold blooded murderer and wasn't about to become one. He ran over Lilly's side and got down next to her. Kenny starred at him, "Lee!?!"

He looked over at Kenny, who was too hot headed right now to think straight, and Clementine, who was scared by the situation she was stuck in. Lee had a feeling Kenny would do something stupid if left unchecked. He glanced to everyone else as he spoke, "Rainbow, I need you to keep Clementine calm. Applejack, Mark, keep Kenny back." Everyone moved to where they were told. Lee looked to Lilly, "Is he breathing at all?"

She shook her head, "No, no I don't think so."

"Okay, let me take over!" He let her move her hands before he put his down, one on top of the other as he prepared to try CPR on the unconscious Larry. He gave her another instruction, "Keep checking his pulse!" Lee pushed down once Lilly was in position, "One... Two..."

"Are you serious?! You're all putting us in danger!" Kenny continued to argue he was right.

"Three..." Lee kept pushing down as hard as he could.

"Ya don't know that for certain!" Applejack argued.

"Four..."

"Yes I do! And I'm not gonna stand by while he trys to save a dead man." Kenny went to pick up a salt lick, they immediately moved to stop him.

"NO!" Mark yelled as he pulled Ken away.

"Get off me!" Kenny wrestled Mark to the ground. No punches were thrown, but a thrall between the two was still going on. Applejack did what she could to try and stop them.

Lee had no choice but to ignore them, "Five..."

"Shh..." Rainbow tried to calm down Clem, who was really unsettled by all that was happening. She rapped a wing around her and held the girl close to herself with her front hooves, "It's alright, everything's gonna be fine." She was doing everything she could think of.

"Six..."

Clem looked to Dash, "Is Larry going to be alright?"

She gave her the most reassuring look there was, "Yes, he's going to be fine. With any luck he'll be feeling up to another argument this time tomorrow."

"Seven... Eight... Nine..."

Everyone was engaged in something. Lee and Lilly were trying to save Larry; Applejack, Kenny and Mark were focusing on each other; and Rainbow had her time spent on keeping Clem calm. They had all of their attention on something, so none of them noticed it. They didn't see the salt lick that was slowly rising into the air, reaching the ceiling before slowly proceeding over it's objective. They didn't see the purple aura that swallowed the block of cement. And they didn't see the equally purple aura surrounding the tip of Twilight's horn as she moved the salt lick with levitation. She couldn't risk it. That's what she kept telling herself; she couldn't risk Larry coming back while her friends were locked in this room. It was too dangerous... He was too dangerous. This was a risk she just couldn't take. The salt lick halted straight above Larry, waiting for the right moment.

"... Thirteen..." Lee was pushing as hard as he could, "Fourteen..." Lilly was tearing up. She genuinely believed Larry wasn't going to wake back up, "Fifteen..." Kenny broke free and got to his feet, "Sixteen..." Mark and AJ went after Kenny as fast as they could, "Seventeen..." Mark grabbed Kenny and spun him away from the pile, "Eigh..."

Larry's eyes shot open and he grasped in a heavy breath of air. Rainbow sighed softly, Clem eased up a bit as she looked at the revived man. Kenny, Mark and Applejack starred at him, truly surprised and relieved by his revival. Lee took a breath of his own as he brought his hands off of the man's chest. Lilly, overcome and now sobbing with joy, nearly grasped her father in a hug. Everyone saw that Larry was alive... except for one. Twilight was too overcome with her mis-matched thoughts, and she mistook Larry's revival for a resurrection. The moment of joy for the group was short lived, literally less than two seconds, before the salt lick fell. Twilight didn't notice her mistake until the cement block was half a foot away from making contact. She was unable to prevent it from landing on its intended target.

All of Larry's head, from the upper jaw up, was gone and replaced with a salt lick. Bits of brain and skull went under a foot in every direction. Blood splattered all over the floor, as well as Lilly and Lee who were close enough to catch much of it. The sudden change happened so fast that it took everyone a few seconds to process it. One moment everything was chaos; the next Larry was alive; and lastly, he was dead with a salt lick replacing his head. Lilly looked in horror at her dad, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Clementine broke from Dash's grip and went to the corner, sobbing and whining softly over what she had just witnessed. Lee, Rainbow, Applejack, Mark and even Kenny starred at Larry with wide eyes and lowered jaws for some time. Lilly buried her face into her dead father and sobbed over her loss.

Lee's first thought was Kenny. He was the one who suggested killing Larry, and was fighting Mark over one of these very salt licks. But when he turned he saw the man several feet away. Kenny was just as surprised as everyone else, and had seen his mistake in wanting to off the man. Lee didn't know who else could have done this. He kept asking himself how this just happened, "I'm sorry." A very soft, shaky voice forced out. Lilly was the first to turn towards the source of the voice: Kenny, Mark, Dash and AJ soon followed. Twilight was starring at Larry, guilt and sadness claiming as the dominant expressions in her look. Twilight didn't look away from the man she'd just killed, "I-I was just... He wasn't going to make... I couldn't risk..."

Kenny knew his mistake. But still, only one thought dominated his mind; getting to Katjaa and Duck. So Kenny cared the least out of everyone in the room, allowing him to be the first to move from the scene. Mark looked at Twilight in disbelief, "Twilight?! Wh-What the fuck!?!"

"I'm so sorry! It's just..." She looked at Lilly, "Lilly, I..."

Lilly raised her head a little, "Don't talk to me."

"But I..."

She raised herself up entirely. The look she gave to Twilight was one full of hatred, "I said don't fucking talk to me!" She made sure the mare had gotten the message. Lilly knelt over her father and cried softly, taking deserved time to mourn while she could. Rainbow and Applejack looked at Twilight, they couldn't speak or think at all. Clementine's cries grabbed Lee's attention, he got up and walked over to comfort her. Mark got down next to Lilly, seeing if there was anything at all he could do.

Twilight's two friends approached her slowly. The purple mare was crying, wallowing in pity for herself. She couldn't believe the act she'd just committed. What had she been thinking? Nothing could justify this! Twi looked up at the approaching duo, "I... I was... Y-you were... Ke-Kenny...!"

"It's okay, Twilight," Rainbow knew enough to know the delicate situation this was, and how carefully this should be handled, "We... We don't blame you."

She found no comfort in these empty words and laid herself down, burying her head under her arms. Applejack was still shocked by what just happened, "Twi, we..."

"Just leave me be." Twi asked plainly. Tears were flowing to the floor and the mare was sniffling. Dash and AJ didn't what to do or say, so they backed off a ways and gave Twilight her personal space as requested.

Lee had gone around the room to check in with everybody after he did what he could with Clem. He told Lilly that, though Larry and him had their differences, he knew that he had been a good father. Kenny didn't apologize for wanting to take out Larry as he should have, but held no apparent grudge or anything against Lee for not siding with him. Rainbow and Applejack were fine, considering, but were really worried. Twilight wouldn't even respond to Lee in any way. Now, at this point, Lee, Kenny and Mark were back to checking for an exit. Mark was near the spot Lilly had rejected her dinner, and possibly may have found something, "Hey Lee."

He walked over, next to Mark, "What have you found?"

Mark pointed up. Above them, hanging out of the wall on two wooden frames, was a common household air conditioner. Nothing special about, "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Lee shook his head, "Behind that air unit; there's gotta be an air duct behind. Maybe one big enough for one of us to fit through."

Kenny walked up closer to the unit, "I don't know. Seems like a real long shot."

Clementine got to her feet, "Does the air conditioner come off?"

Lee was not sure for a moment, "I think I could take it off... If I had something to remove the screws..." It hit him, "The multi-tool!" he reached into the back pocket he was keeping it in. "Of course they took it. Shit."

"Maybe there's something else we could use." Mark began to think.

"I've got a rock." Clem offered up.

"A rock won't help..." Lee quickly thought of a good alternative to a screw driver, "But a coin might do the trick. Do you have a coin?"

She shook her head, "Uh-uh..."

Mark thought of something, "Lee, I know someone who has a coin."

"Who?" He pointed past Lee... to the deceased Larry. Lee looked back at Mark, "Are you sure?" He didn't want to search Larry unless he was sure that he had anything.

"Positive. He told me back at the Motor Inn that he had sixty cents in his pocket, he even showed it to me."

"Why did he show you his pocket change?"

"As he put it, I was 'being a panzee' about being hungry. Said he'd give it to me if I'd stop complaining."

Lee nodded, "Yeah, that sounds about right." He looked back at Larry, Lilly was currently mourning over him and probably wouldn't be too happy to have someone search his body. He looked at Mark, "I'll see if I can get it."

Lilly looked up as Lee approached, "Please. I need to be alone."

"God knows you deserve time to grieve, Lilly." Lee said as he knelt down near her, "But if we're gonna get out of here, we need your help. And Larry's..." Lilly looked down as he continued, not sure if she wanted to hear where this was going. Lee told Lilly the idea, "Mark may have found us a way outta here, but we need something to remove the screws on the air conditioner. Now, I know this is a terrible time for it, but..." Lee mustered up the will to say it, "Larry might have some change in one of his pockets. He had it earlier at the motel and, if it's still on him, it could get us out of this room."

"What do you want?" Lilly turned to him, "My blessing to loot his corpse?!"

"Your permission." He wasn't proud to ask for this.

Lilly sighed as she looked back down, "Do what you have to do."

Lee moved around to were he had easier access to Larry's pockets. He stood there for a moment, "Oh man. Any idea which pocket he keeps his change in?" He checked the front left pocket first. What he pulled out of it was small, gold wedding band, "A ring?"

"My mother's..." Lilly told him.

He immediately put it back, "Don't worry. I'm not taking it." He searched the back left pocket next, pulling out a brown wallet. Lee looked at the old leather with some interest, 'Huh? He still carried his wallet.' Without any use for it, Lee put the wallet back where it belonged. The last pocket he checked, Larry's front right, held what he needed, "Here we go..." Lee pulled out the spare change. In his hand he now held two quarters and a single dime: sixty cents exactly.

Lee thanked Lilly for allowing him to do what he had to. Mark moved out of the way as Lee returned, now possessing what they needed. Rainbow flew over as Lee used one of the quarters to take out a screw, "You found a way out?" She had been talking with Applejack and wasn't sure how their search had been going.

"Yeah, maybe." Mark answered her, "We'll see once this thing's out of the way." Kenny came over as well, Lee was nearly done loosening the other screw.

Kenny stepped forward as the second screw was removed. He grabbed the air unit from on side, Lee from the other. They lifted it out of its frames and lowered it slowly to the ground. Mark was right: an air duct had been lying beyond the conditioner, "There's our way out." Mark stated with some hint of pride.

Kenny nodded, "Looks like this thing'll take us straight into that back room..."

Lee had been examining their exit. While the duct itself was well sized, the entrance from their end was not exactly wide, "It's too small for us to fit through."

"Betcha I can fit through." Rainbow said. Before anyone could object, or encourage the act, Rainbow had already flew up to the air duct and was making her way in. The only problem was her legs; she had to maneuver around a bit to get them in without bending them the wrong way. Once she was in there was plenty of space to move. Applejack had trotted over to stop her but arrived too late to even try.

Lee knew he couldn't stop her, even before she had gotten in the duct completely. He looked at her before her figure disappeared, "Alright, see if you can get to the other side of the door and..."

"I got it, Lee." She called back, "Don't worry." They could only wait as the Pegasus made her way through the metal air channel. Applejack hoped nothing would happen.

Rainbow had no room to fly so she was forced to use her hooves. Ever small step caused a metal pop as she raised her hoof, she wasn't worried at all that someone might be able to hear her. As she went along a few things went through her mind. This Dairy, and their sick source of food. Dash had never really gotten to know Doug and felt a little guilty that she'd never get the chance. But Larry, Twilight, and that whole scene in the meat locker dominated her thoughts at the moment. She didn't regret her non-stop argument relationship with Larry one bit; someone had to stand up to him when he was being a raw flank. But why couldn't she just let that one go? They were in a bad position, this could have been the one time she let Larry let off some steam. And Twilight...

How could she have done that? What had been running through that smart brain of hers? Yes, she was in a bad way. And was still off because of that, what'd Applejack call it? Morphine? Either way, Twilight did what she did. She took someone's life. Dash had to think it aloud in her head a few times to fully grasp it. Twilight killed Larry. Twilight killed Larry! Twilight KILLED Larry! She stopped and shook her head, remembering who Twilight was. Rainbow let the subject go as she continued to the end of the duct.

There was a vent covering the way out, fortunately it was poorly attached. Dash turned around completely, and with one swift buck the vent came loose and fell a foot from the duct onto the floor. The clang it caused was just a tad louder than she would have preferred. Dash crawled out of the small space and allowed her wings to go back to work. She was in the back room Kenny had mentioned... She starred at the room with widened eyes. There was more blood on the floor here than their had been in the back room of the drugstore. Not to mention all the sickening objects that littered it. Dash's attention fell on the pile of traps, they were all different but came together with the same horrid feel you'd get just by looking at one. The same feeling she'd gotten from the trap in the woods. Then suddenly, it came to her; that trap in the woods belonged to the St. Johns!

"Who wants some?!" A familiar voice called out, Dash quickly tensed and looked around, "I DARE some dead asshole to try ta cross my fence tonight!" Danny called out again. Rainbow realized the sound of his voice was coming from the other end of the barn. One of the double doors to the room was creaked open. Rainbow flew over and peaked around, finding a lone Danny sitting on a hay bale just outside the door at the other end of the barn. He was guarding their prisoners, his rifle setting upright next to him. Fortunately, he was completely oblivious to their immanent escape. Rainbow flew around for a few seconds until she finally spotted the door. She could only open up the thing with her mouth, and with the blood stained condition of the room she took a moment to work up to it.

Everyone looked anxiously as the door opened up. A cool wave of relief washed over them as Dash floated in the doorway. Applejack, who had been worried for her rainbow maned friend, trotted over to her, "Ya alright, Dash? Did anyone see ya?"

"No," She replied. Her eyes moved over to Lee, "but our friend Danny is just outside the barn.

Kenny and Mark went past Rainbow to the other side of the door. Applejack made sure Rainbow was fine before following Kenny out, her current goal to help save Duck and Katjaa from the St. Johns. Rainbow was waiting for Lee, who went to Lilly first, "Lilly, I'm sorry. We gotta go..."

"I know." She told him. She didn't budge from her spot next to her father, "I just need a minute." Lee nodded, knowing she needed this time. He was about to head out, "Hey." She looked up at him, "Thank you for trying."

She referred to Lee's attempt, and momentary success, at saving Larry's life. Lee looked down at the dead Larry, then back to Lilly, "I'm sorry he didn't make it."

"It's not your fault." She stated bitterly. Her gaze turned to a hateful glare as she glanced at the Unicorn. Twilight felt worse as she caught the mourning woman's glare, she laid her head on the floor again.

Kenny returned to the door, "Lee, I see that asshole! I got an idea, get in here."

Lee walked over to the door. He turned to Dash, who was ready to follow, "I need you to stay here for now."

Dash's initial response would have been 'why' or 'no'; But, for this one time, she just nodded her head yes. Lee left the meat locker to join the other three outside. Mark, who had seen the room already, just tried to ignore the sight. But Kenny and AJ, especially AJ, surveyed the room in horror, "Oh by Luna..."

Kenny turned to Lee as he came up to them, "We told you there was something up, Lee! It's a goddamned human slaughterhouse!" Lee looked around the room once more. How this Dairy, which was once an older man's pride and joy, came to be a farm of horrors was beyond him.

They all crouched down to make less noise as they moved about. Lee and Kenny both went to the first item they spotted that could be used as a weapon; which there was plenty of. Kenny grabbed up a curved blade, known as a sickle, and Lee found a mini cattle prod on the side of the blood tub. Mark was near Lee and got a good look inside, "Jesus Christ! Look at all the blood in here!"

"Must be where they butcher people." Lee told him. He was fully disturbed by the rooms décor, just like Applejack and Mark.

Kenny shook his head, "Sick bastards. All of 'em!"

Moments later all four of them were gathered near the doors. Kenny peaked through the open door, Applejack was to the right of him, "So what's the plan here, Ken?"

He pulled his head back into the room, "That dumbass is so caught up in his own rant that we could probably sneak right up on." He turned to everyone, "I'm going to sneak up on him and grab his gun. Applejack; you and Lee are gonna come with in case something goes down. Mark'll stay back here and cover us, and warn the others if anything goes sideways."

"Sounds good to me." Mark stated.

"Alrighty, then." Lee agreed, "Let's do this quickly."

Kenny opened up only one of the doors, "You two stick close." Applejack and Lee followed past the open door. Mark stayed right behind the door: listening, and occasionally poking his head out, to keep a check on what was going on. Danny continued to speak to himself as the group of three approached him from behind.

They stopped their approach as Andy came out of nowhere. He looked down at his younger sibling, "Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?"

"Shit!" Kenny swore. Having nowhere else to hide: all three of them dove into the nearest stall to avoid being seen.

"Just guardin' the place," Danny responded to his older brother, "like ya said."

"Well, quit sittin' out in the rain like a damn weirdo. Mama says we..."

Kenny looked at Lee, "Dammit! We were so close!"

Applejack turned to both of them, "What do ya reckon we do now?"

Lee was listening to the siblings talk outside, their discussion being about which of their prisoners do they kill and who they should save for food. He looked at his friends, "Those bastards are talking about butchering us right now!"

Kenny was already thinking of a plan B to get Danny. After a few seconds the sounds of Andy faded and ultimately disappeared, leaving the sound of Danny talking to himself again. Ken looked at the other two, "Alright, new plan. That bastard has to get past us to get to the meat locker. When he walks by; we jump him." He gripped onto his sickle, "Ya grabbed a weapon, didn't you, Lee?"

"Yeah." Lee showed him the cattle prod in his possession.

Applejack looked back and forth at the weapons in their hands. Her gaze went up to Kenny, "We aren't planning on killing 'im, are we?"

"Not unless we have to." Kenny told her, "Keep an eye on Danny, Lee. Let us know when he comes by."

Lee opened up the stall door enough to peak out. Danny was talking to Maybelle, the cow, about how much Andy and mama didn't think he was smart. He had hold of a bear trap and was setting it up on the ground. He wasn't going to kill them all right away, he wanted to have a little fun while he was doing this. Lee closed the stall door so he could talk with Kenny, he didn't notice Danny's gaze falling on the closed door, "Sick fucker thinks this is a game."

"What's he doing?" Kenny asked.

"Setting up one of those traps for us."

"One of those metal things from the back room?" Lee nodded yes to answer Applejack's question, "Those things looked like they could really hurt a fella."

Lee began opening the stall again, "I think that's the point." He peaked out again. The trap was lying on the floor but its owner wasn't near it. Lee looked out for a few moments, no sign of Danny. He closed the door again, "I don't see him anymore!"

Applejack was a bit unnerved by this, "What do ya mean? Where'd he go?"

"I don't know."

Kenny was listening the entire time. Danny couldn't already be going to the meat locker or else he would have heard it, "Well look again, dammit! He didn't go past us!"

Lee had a bad feeling growing in his gut as he slowly opened the door another time. As he pushed it open he looked up, directly into the dark barrel of the gun pointed at his head. Danny was standing there with a pleased smile on his face; Lee would be the first to die. Lee acted quickly, however, and pushed the barrel of the gun away before it could go off. The loud bang of the rifle went off right next to Lee's ear, he gripped it in pain. Danny struggled to grab another bullet and reload Charlotte, succeeding in reloading his 'girl'. Fortunately, Lee gathered himself before he could fire and rushed him. He put the prod to Danny's chest, electrocuting him for less than a second before Danny used his rifle to knock Lee to the ground.

Danny raised Charlotte and aimed her right at Lee's head. Mark ran out from the back room towards them, "Fuck, LEE!!" Danny raised the rifle up and prepared to shoot Mark. Without warning the stall door, which had shut on its, flew open and knocked the rifle away from him. Kenny came out and sliced Danny with the sickle. The farmer tried to back away, putting him only a few steps away from the trap. Applejack came out right behind Ken, she turned around completely and proceeded to buck Danny's leg. The reduced force behind it still broke a few bones. The sickle was raised and Kenny prepared to get the cannibal with it again. Danny backed away in fear of another blow; his good leg got caught in the trap he had set up, he called out in pain as he fell to the floor. Kenny threw the sickle to the ground now that their was no further use for it.

Mark helped Lee off the ground as Kenny and AJ began to question the downed farmer. Applejack looked at him; disgusted by what he did and tried to do, as well angered over the two people his family was holding hostage. She held a firm tone as she asked the Dairy farmer about said hostages, "Where are Katjaa and Duck?"

He didn't answer her and gripped his leg in pain. Kenny was getting too clouded with anger by now, "Where's my family, asshole?!"

"You can't have 'em!" Danny finally looked up, "We need the vet!"

As he mentioned her, Katjaa's voice carried out from the house to the barn, "NOOOO!"

Kenny looked out the barn door, "KAT!!!"

Applejack looked from the door to the others, "Lee, Mark! C'mon!"

"You two go." Lee told them. He looked over at Danny, "We won't be far behind."

Kenny and AJ didn't argue or agree, they simply left the barn quickly to make their way to his family. Danny gripped his leg in pain, his attention barely on anything else. Lee put his hand on the handle of a pitchfork that stuck out of a hay bale next to Dan; When Danny looked up the prongs of the pitchfork were inches from his face. He groaned in pain before speaking, "Ya see!?! You understand now, don't ya?! You can have me!" Mark watched the sick, twisted man talk with disbelief over what he was saying, "It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself..." He grimaced once more. One of his legs was broken and the other was burning with pain. He looked back up, "So others can live!"

Mark got right beside Lee as he held the pitchfork, "Lee should put you out of your misery."

"Cannibalism is NOT the answer!" Lee responded to Danny's claim, "Aren't the walkers eating enough of us?!"

Danny ignored them both, "Ya gotta keep me alive." He instructed, "If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! Ya can't eat it!"

"You're already tainted." Lee retorted.

Dan leaned back, "You ain't gonna kill me, just like you didn't kill Jolene..." He declared, "You don't have what it takes!" Danny truly believed Lee could never kill someone; it was more of a matter of he didn't want to. Danny shook his head at him, "... Fucking coward."

Lee launched the pitchfork forward. Danny covered his face and shrieked as it struck the hay bale inches from him. He slowly realized it didn't hit him and looked up at Lee, "This is NOT how the world works now." Lee told the St. John, "You won't make me kill you!"

Mark wasn't sure if letting him live was smart, but knew that he could never bring himself to kill someone else so didn't complain. They both turned as Lilly, Rainbow, Clementine and Twilight approached. Lilly grabbed up Charlotte before looking at the breathing Danny: she agreed with Lee's decision, which all four of them had witnessed. The pitiful soul wasn't worth it. Rainbow and Clementine were glad to see Lee hold firm and not kill. Twilight didn't have much of an opinion, in fact she looked fairly awful.

Lee looked at the door to outside. He was worried about Kenny, his family and Applejack. Mark put a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's get them."

"I should come with you this time." Rainbow told him, "Just to be safe."

Lee thought about it. Lilly, at the moment, seemed to have her mind on the current situation rather than just her father and Twilight. He nodded, "Alright, let's go." He looked at Lilly, "Keep Clementine safe."

"Will do."

Rainbow gave Clem a positive look before they left, "We'll be right back." Clementine nodded as they left. Lee and Rainbow looked at Clem one more time before they left the barn, she was confident that they would be alright.

Danny waited until they were out of the barn before grabbing Clementine's attention, "Ya know you're not gonna see 'em again, right? Mama and Andy are gonna kill them nice and slow." Lilly went over to the wounded cannibal. She raised Charlotte and hit Danny in the forehead with the butt of his own rifle, knocking him out as he had done to Lee earlier.

Carley led Ben through the cornfield as they approached the St. Johns Dairy. They weren't taking the path up to the gate because of a feeling Carley had, a feeling that something wasn't right. Nobody had returned to the Motor Inn yet, they should have finished that dinner and gotten back by now. It wasn't smart to leave the Inn unguarded but the feeling had evolved into a true belief something had happened. Hopefully Lilly wouldn't get angry. Carley stopped Ben as she heard odd footsteps. They were ten feet away, she believed, from the electric fence. She looked through the corn stalks as best she could. The outline of a humanoid figure was discovered several feet ahead, it was moving stiffly and was easily recognized as a walker. It was moving towards the dairy; attracted by something.

She whispered to Ben, "Walker up ahead. Stay here until I deal with it." He answered 'okay' as Carley slowly approached the walker. She stayed in a low, sneaking state as she moved. The walker didn't notice her at all. In fact, its lifeless eyes were fixated on something up ahead as it stumbled forward. Carley pulled out her gun as she got right behind the ghoul, and, knowing it would be highly stupid to fire a bullet off, she pistol whipped the walker in a softened area on its skull.

She could make out three more figures ahead, just beyond the now visible fence. They were all crouched down outside of the red barn she'd noticed earlier. They caught sight of her after she took down the walker and were trying to make out who it was. One of them suddenly called out in a hushed voice, "It's Carley!" She recognized who it was right off the bat.

Carley took a few steps closer and stood up. She could see all three of the figures almost perfectly, "Lee? Rainbow? Mark?"

Ben, noticing the walker falling and believing he'd been called forward, walked up next to Carley. One or two of the stalks he tried to pushed out of the way actually seemed to slap him in response, "Ow!"

Carley turned to Ben as he approached, "Shh!" He stopped just left of her. She looked back at her friends beyond the powerless electric fence, "Is everyone okay? You guys have been gone WAY too long!"

"They attacked us!" Lee told them. He was surprised to see them here.

"I knew it!" Ben said aloud. He looked at Carley, "I told you we couldn't trust 'em."

Carley turned from the teenager back to Lee and them, "Shit. How many of them are there?"

Lee answered her, "Two left."

She looked at the rest of the Dairy to see if she could spot them, "Where?"

"In the house, we think." Rainbow told her, "Things here aren't going so well. Larry died just inside the barn!"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, and you won't believe what they did to Doug."

Carley had become relieved that they were alright, but that relief turned to shock when she learned about Larry. And that shock turned to worry as she heard Doug's name, "What happened to Doug?"

Lee didn't want Carley to learn about Doug yet, even though she would have to be told before the day was over. But Mark was one of the few who was not fully aware of Carley's feelings for the computer genius. Therefore, he did not treat it as such a delicate situation, "The cut off his legs and tried to serve him up to us on a silver platter!!"

Rainbow wanted to buck Mark in the stomach for blurting it out like that. Ben was disgusted by the thought, while Carley was trying to grasp the concept, "Wh-what? They what?"

She was slowly dissolving into a bad state of mind, similar to Twilight's minus the guilt of murder. Lee got to his feet and walked closer to the gate, "Listen, Carley, we're in a bad spot here. I feel your pain, but for right now we need to keep our minds on the problem at hand."

Carley was still trying to think clearly. It took what little will she could find to speak to Lee, "What do you n-need me to do?"

Lee could tell the second that the full concept of Doug's demise hit her; she wouldn't be able to help them. He couldn't ask her to go back to the Motel with only Ben to accompany her, either, "I need you and Ben to wait near the gate, just until it's safe enough to come in."

Ben glanced at Carley, who couldn't answer even if she'd heard Lee completely, "We're on it." Ben told Lee. The kid had to direct Carley in the right direction else he'd lose her in the corn.

Rainbow looked up at Mark, "Not cool." She gave him a glare of disapproval.

Mark knew that was troubling news, but didn't think Carley would take it that harshly. He tried to piece it together as he spoke, "I'm sorry, it didn't occur to me that's the way she'd take it. I thought..."

"We don't have time to discuss this." Lee told them, they were pressed hardly for time, "C'mon."

Lee lead the way over to the house, remaining low to keep quiet and unseen. Mark followed in a similar fashion. Rainbow could not risk flying without attracting undue attention; so she remained firm and low to the ground. As they got close, Katjaa could be heard once more, "No! No! Please, God! No!! NO!!!"

"Just shut up...!" Brenda yelled back at her from within the white structure, "... and he'll be fine!" The trio kept going for the house. They kept their eyes peeled for any other living soul out here, anyone at all. Their was nobody else out here; not Kenny, not AJ, not even Andy.

Speaking of Andy; his voice was heard from inside the farmhouse. He was speaking to Brenda, "Somethin's up. I'm gonna take the boy and have a look around back..."

"No, please," Katjaa begged them, "don't take my boy!"

Andy continued to, Rainbow correctly assumed, pry Duck away from his mother, "Let go, woman!" Lee quietly opened the gate to the picket fence. They began their ascension up the hill.

"Settle down." Brenda said after some seconds of silence, "I don't wanna hurt ya'll." Lee was followed closely by Rainbow and Mark, they remained as silent as they possibly could on the short trip up. They all stopped suddenly as Brenda's shadow blocked light that was escaping from the screen door moments ago. Brenda had heard something out front and came to investigate. She looked out to find the outlines of three people, one of them obviously one of those ponies. They had gotten out, and God only knows what they most likely did to Danny. Frightened; Brenda backed away from the door, "Oh God..." Mark and Lee stood up, knowing their cover was blown. Rainbow allowed herself off the ground as they continued on up to the porch, "Come here..." Brenda's voice was heard from inside.

Katjaa's struggle against the woman was lost, "Let me go!" Lee was first to reach the porch, Rainbow being next after. Through the screen they could see Brenda at the base of the stairs, holding Katjaa captive with a revolver to her head. Both women saw Lee's shadow through the screen, "Lee!"

Brenda tensed up as the other two came into moderate view. She held her voice at a firm pitch, "Get back! Don't come in here." They took a few more steps until Lee was at the door. Brenda was frightened beyond mental recognition, "You just HAD to go snoopin' around, didn't ya?!"

Rainbow was next to Lee, looking through the screen, "Let Katjaa go, or else."

Lee could do without anyone threatening the woman. He pulled open the door and stepped in, but stopped immediately as Brenda raised the gun over at him, "All of ya, don't any of you take another step!" Rainbow flew slowly inside, stopping to the right of Lee.

Mark entered, moving left of Lee, "Brenda, you know that you don't wanna do this."

Brenda put the gun back to Kat's head, she backed up one step up the stairs, "Just go away and leave us be!"

Rainbow and Mark began moving forward, Lee stopped them immediately. He whispered slowly to them, "I'll handle this. Just stay here and watch my back." Lee began approaching the women with cautious steps, Mark and Dash stayed put and watched the upcoming events unfold.

Brenda tensed up even more as the man came over. She soon pointed the gun at him again, Rainbow nearly took off at the woman for aiming it at him. She spoke over at him clearly as she could, "Stop right there, I mean it!!"

Lee tried to think of something he could say to calm the woman down. His gaze went to the portrait of Brenda and Terry, the man looked proud in that portrait: proud of his wife, his family, and of his home. Brenda followed his gaze, her eyes falling on the photo as well. Lee soon turned and gazed up at her, when she returned the attention Lee pointed to the picture "Think about your husband, Brenda! Would he have wanted his Dairy turned into a... a slaughter house?!"

She glanced from Lee to the portrait. Terry had always been a good man, took care of his family and his home. There was a moment when she felt ashamed for what the Dairy had become. She did her best to shake it away, returning the gun to Kat's head, "I'll kill her, Lee!" She backed up another step.

"Don't do this..." Katjaa begged softly to Brenda. Lee resumed his slow yet efficient approach towards the two. Mark looked up from Brenda and Lee as something caught his eye. Up there, reaching thought the wooden railing at the top of the stairs, was Doug. He was dead, undead to be precise. On the track Brenda was moving on she'd eventually get close enough that he'd grab her. Mark looked up sadly at the walker Doug: he couldn't imagine sharing that same fate.

Brenda aimed her gun at Lee again as he got to close, "Stay back! Don't do anything stupid."

Out of the corner of Lee's eye he could see the diplomas on the wall. A sign of how well educated these people were, "What happened, Brenda?" He asked, "Your family was obviously smart! How did it come to this?!"

She was allowing his words to sink into her mind. Brenda asked herself how things got this way, how the world went to hell like this. It brought on sorrow, throwing much emotion into her voice as she put the gun back again to her hostage's head, "Just stop!" She went back another step.

"Brenda," Katjaa begged again, "please..."

Lee kept proceeding forward once the gun wasn't on him. Brenda was turning into a wreck, everything was running to ruin around her and she had no control. Lee was enclosing, she pointed the gun at him to make him stop again, "I don't wanna kill you, Lee!"

Lee thought back to everything the St. Johns had said about their home, this Dairy. They loved it, long before and after the dead began walking. This place was their only sanctuary from the outside world which was coming to ruin. Yet, this place was worse than the outside, "This Dairy was your pride! Look what you've done to it!!"

Brenda had almost put the gun to her head instead of Katjaa's. The truth had crossed her before, but not in this way. She backed up two steps and failed to dismiss the thoughts from her mind, "Stop! I-I mean it." She was on the verge of a full blown breakdown. Lee continued up to them; Taking slow, easy steps. Brenda backed up several more steps the second Lee reached the bottom of the stairs. She was inches away from the husk of Doug when he growled at her, grabbing her attention. The woman turned to see the walker that had failed to sneak up on her.

Rainbow had been waiting for a chance to do this. Though Lee said he had this, she wanted payback for everything these people had done. Without second thought: Dash soared the small space between her and them. Katjaa managed to get out of the way enough to allow Rainbow to strike Brenda in the chest. She was stunned from the unexpected blow; she lost her grip on Katjaa, who bolted down the stairs, and the gun, which flew away from her to the base of the steps. Unintentionally, Dash had knocked Brenda into Doug's grip. He sunk his teeth into her neck and that was it. Brenda screamed in agony.

Dash starred in horror at what she had caused. She indirectly killed her. Rainbow would NEVER kill anyone on purpose unless she absolutely had no choice. The difference between her and Twilight, thought; she wasn't going to let this drag her down. Katjaa ran up to Lee, she was desperate to get her son back, "They took Duck! Where's Kenny and Applejack?!"

Andy's voice was heard once again, this time he was the one outside, "I said don't move, both a ya!"

"Don't ya dare hurt him, Andy!" Applejack's warning was heard as well.

Katjaa ran toward the door, "Oh my god!" Lee followed her out. Rainbow took her eyes off the now dead Brenda to fly outside, following the sound of her friends voice. Mark did not follow right away. Instead; he looked over at the revolver Brenda had dropped. It was a good, reliable model by the looks of it. And chances were they could find ammo for it in Macon the next time they searched it. Mark went over and picked up the gun, examining it a few moments before going for the door.

"Let go of him, goddammit!" Kenny demanded, his parental instincts overshadowing all other thoughts. Katjaa and Lee ran outside as he spoke. Just outside the house, near the edge of the hill top, Kenny and Applejack were facing off against Andy. The farmer kept them at bay as he held Duck hostage and pointed his rifle at them.

Andy shook his head, "That ain't gonna happen!" He was preparing to shoot someone.

Lee left the porch, "Andy, don't!"

He immediately pointed the gun at Lee, "SHUT UP!" Kenny charged at Andy while he was distracted.

Andy pointed the gun at him the second he moved and fired. The bullet hit Kenny and went through him missing all organs and arteries, and passed out the other side. Kenny dove to the ground as he got shot, grabbing his stomach in pain. Katjaa and Applejack both screamed, "KENNY!!!" They ran over to him.

Duck watched as his father hit the ground, "DAAAD!"

Rainbow made it out, her eyes falling on the downed Kenny. She watched Andy carefully and anxiously; waiting for an opportunity to rush him. Lee raised up his arms, "Andy!" He walked towards the last threat on the Dairy.

"Who the fuck do you people think you are?!" Andy asked, his rifle back to Lee. He'd had enough from these people who caused nothing but trouble since they got here, "Look at what you've done!"

"Calm down..." Lee couldn't risk agitating him while the gun was in his possession.

Andy had daggers in his eyes as he spoke to Lee, "Calm down?! What for, huh? All we wanted was some goddamn..." His rant was cut short as he received a bullet to the side. Mark stood on the porch, his hands tighly gripping Brenda's gun after he'd fired off.

Andy let go of Duck, allowing him to go to his father. Lee hadn't a second to figure out what happened as Rainbow took immediate action. Once Duck was free, she flew with speed towards the unprepared Andy. Dash collided into him and they both went tumbling down the hill in a sort of wrestle. Lee ran after them, Applejack left Kenny to chase after a falling Rainbow. Mark took AJ's place getting Kenny to his feet. A short struggle took place at the base of the hill: Andy trying to get to his gun and Dash trying to keep him away. Andy elbowed her in the nose and threw her on her back. He quickly grabbed up his rifle and aimed it at the downed Pegasus as she tried to get up. Dash had no time to flee, call for help, or even cover her face in a small hope it would do some good.

Lee had made his way down the hill by then; he tackled Andy to the ground as the man fired. The shot, originally intended for her head, was misguided from the rifle falling down and struck the bone in her left wing. Dash screamed in pain from the impact of the rifle round, she covered the wound with her two front hooves. Applejack reached the spot as Lee began struggling with Andy, he looked back at her, "Get Rainbow back, now!" AJ didn't answer and just proceeded to move Dash, grabbing her tail in her mouth and dragging the downed Pegasus. Andy and Lee brawled for some time before the Dairy farmer was able to knock Lee down and kick him in the side of the head.

With Lee down, Andy decided to finish him off. He would have gone for the rifle had a more painful death not crossed his mind. Andy walked over to the generator and activated the device once more, sizzling was heard as the fence came back on. He returned to Lee and grabbed him by the back of his jacket's collar, "Get up. Get the fuck up!" He dragged Lee, who resisted as best he could, over to the fence.

Andy used one arm to restrain both of Lee's while his free hand pressed hard down on the back of Lee's head. With the difficulty to maintain the hold on his opponent gone, Andy began forcing Lee's head closer and closer to the fence. The two struggled for less than a few moments before he was inches away from the wire. From the darkness of the barn, Lilly and Clem came into view to get a closer look at what was happening. Twilight followed them slowly. Lee was able to catch a glimpse of them as he tried to back away from the fence. He knew a certain somebody over their had a gun, "L-Lilly!!"

Lilly aimed her rifle over at Andy. She shot him in the shoulder, the impact alone sent him backwards onto the ground. Lee wasted no time and went over to him. Using his legs to pin him down, Lee got on top of Andy and started wailing on him. Punch after punch; Lee allowed himself to let Andy have it. Everyone gathered near the gate as the scene played out. Clementine, Dash, Applejack, Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Mark, Lilly, Carley, Twilight and Ben watched as Lee turned Andy's face into raw beef. It wasn't long before the man's face was bruised and broken.

Lee stopped his assault and started to breath. He looked down at the damage he'd done before raising to his feet. Andy huffed as he looked up at the rainy sky, "Is that all ya got, Lee?" He raised his head up to look at him, "... You ain't shit!" He let out a weak chuckle as he lowered his head back on the ground.

Exhausted in all senses of the term, Lee looked at Andy in utter disbelief, "IT'S OVER!"

Andy raised his head again, "Fuck you." He started moving to get himself off the ground. He threatened Lee as he moved, "As soon as Dan and mama get out here," He got to his feet, slouching, stumbling, and breathing in heavily as he continued to speak, "yo-you're all fucked!" He dished out another weak chuckle.

Lee looked away for a moment, remembering the fates of the other St. Johns. He returned to Andy, "They're not coming."

Andy gazed at Lee stupefied, "What do you mean?! Lee, what the fuck do you mean?" Lee did not answer the man. Now that there was no reason to stay, he turned and walked towards his friends and allies gathered near the gate Carley and Ben had opened. Andy stumbled after Lee and pointed his finger at him, "Don't you DARE walk away from me, Lee!" Andy stopped after a few step and slouched, everything had settled in, including the bullet in his side, and he fell to his knees. He was defeated, wounded badly, and still wasn't ready to give up, "Get back here and finish this Lee!"

Lee stopped to look back at Andy. He was halfway between him and his group, Lee's sudden stop as Andy practical begged for death worried some of them. Rainbow was still in pain as she gazed at her friend, worried he was preparing to do it. It would be difficult for him to walk away after all Andy had done; the man ultimately responsible for Doug and Larry's deaths. He starred back at Andy, a broken man who wanted to finish what he had started. The busted face, his shirt wet from rain, mud and blood, and his begging expression which was more pathetic then sad. He turned back towards his people who he'd known for these hellish months, and the new kid Ben. They were anxiously watching to see what he would do. Clementine, Dash, Twilight and Applejack were worried that Lee would actually do it. They were relieved as Lee began walking toward them again. It was very difficult for Lee to say no, with all that happened.

Andy watched him continue to walk away, "Get back here and fight me like a man, Lee!" He did not stop again. The gun shots fired within the last ten minutes attracted the attention of every walker in the area. They were now closing in on the Dairy from most sides. Andy called out again, "Leee!"

Clementine caught something at the edge of her eye. She was first to see the walkers just outside most sides of the fence, the others soon followed, "They're getting in!" The walkers tried to crawl through the wires, knocking over whole sections of the fence over in the process.

It was officially over; Andy had lost everything. He called out again, "Leeee!!"

Lee paid no mind to Andy or the walkers, only to leaving this place. The others gave him a path as he walked past them, he spoke to them without even slowing down, "Let's go." Lee walked through the gate and down the drive, followed by almost everybody else. Lilly stayed behind, watching as Andy wallowed in his own self pity. Though Twilight killed her father, Lilly knew it would never had happened had Andy and his family of cannibals not locked them in there. She knew what was about to happen to him and Danny, with all these walkers closing in on both of them. Lilly gave him this one last look before following her group.

Andy was as good as dead. In addition to all these walkers that were lured in, the walking corpse of his mother stumbled out of the house and stumbled down the hill towards him. He looked as the group left his ruined home, leaving him to die. All of this was well deserved, if only he could accept that. He called out one more time, before losing all ability to do anything other than wallow, "Leeeee!" The walkers soon enjoyed their meals, leaving nothing to reanimate.