The Trotting Dead: VG

E 1 Ch 6: Rescue Mission

Edited by-Solar_Flicker

Twilight and Doug had been snickering for quite some time as they exchanged witty yet intellectually complex jokes that really only they would understand.

"Okay, okay, that was a good one." Doug wiped a tear away. "But I've got another one. Okay, so, if a pizza has a radius 'z' and a depth 'a', how could you define it's volume?"

Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. "I think I know the answer, but tell me anyway." She grinned.

"You could define it's volume as Pi-z-z-a." Doug delivered the mathematic punchline. To anyone else, the joke most likely would have been passed off as cheesy, face-palm worthy, and perhaps even downright confusing, but Twilight appreciated his humor probably better than anyone else in the store would have.

Twilight smiled and had a small giggle fit. "Ha ha ha! Trigonometry jokes; I like it." Naturally, Doug had been extremely unsure of the unicorn at first, just as anyone would have. However as the short amount of time that they spent talking at the door stretched on, they happened to find more common ground, and similar interests. Doug had been with Lilly's group for some time, but now it seemed he had finally met someone he could call a friend.

"Yeah, an old colleague of mine told me that one." Doug chuckled, and looked out through the front door to check on the situation outside.

Twilight moved closer to the door, and listened for any noise. "How are things looking out there?" She asked.

Doug sighed "It's gotten much darker, and there's still a lot of them wandering around." He brought his eye away from the small gap. "Y'know...we could just go out and have a look around."

Upon hearing so, Twilight smirked, assuming he was joking, but when he appeared serious she replaced it with a blank stare of anguish. "Why in the name of Celestia would we do that?"

"No, you don't understand. The security gate out there is like a barrier between them and us, so we can hang out in front of the store and be fine."

Twilight moved him aside, and peeked out at the padlock that held the security gates closed. "Oh. Um, yeah, okay." She shrugged, still reluctant of the idea.

"Alright, let's check it out..."

Rainbow had returned with the bandage, and Lee gave his thanks. He turned back to Clem who was still holding her finger. "Let's get this cut covered up."

"Yes, please." Clementine replied politely. Lee nodded, and wrapped the bandage around her index finger. He stood back up after he was done.

"How's that?"

"Much better." Clem smiled, but soon her smile faded. "Lee?" She spoke with worry.

"Yeah?"

"What if my parents come home and I'm not there?" She was straightforward.

Lee took a second to consider the possibility, even if it was incredibly slim, but figured it would be best to assume her parents would know better. "They'll uh, track us down. Don't worry." Lee replied, unsure if he could have confidence in that prospect.

"Yeah, okay. We should keep a look out." Clem added.

"Stay close to me until then, okay?" Lee concluded.

Dash was busy looking through the desk for anything they could use. She opened the far left drawer to find a few old pens, paper, and a T.V remote. "Hey, Lee?" The cyan pony addressed. "What is this thing for?" She clasped the rectangular device with both of her hooves.

"It's the remote to my dad's T.V." Lee took it from her grasp. He looked it over, and then pointed it to the small television set that rested high up on one of the top shelves. He powered the box on, but the only result was a blank grey screen; not even static gave any sign of activity on the set. "That's what I figured." Lee powered it back off. Rainbow curiously floated up to the box, and tapped the rounded glass front.

"Was it supposed to do something?" She shifted it to look at the back.

"Well, I was hoping the news or something could give us an update on exactly what's going on, but I guess the airwaves aren't that busy anymore." Lee frowned, but held onto the remote.

"The news, huh? We have newspapers for that kind of stuff." She hovered back down, and sat next to Clem on the desk.

"You mean you guys don't have T.V?" Clem looked at Dash, awestricken as the pegasus pony shook her head. "So you've never heard of Spongebob Squarepants?!"

Rainbow's brow elevated. "Sponge...bob...who...what?"

Lee chuckled, and walked over to the office exit. "We cleared the way for the pharmacy, but we still need to find the keys. I'm going to head back into the store, you two coming?"

"Yep."

"Right behind ya." Rainbow Dash and Clementine caught up just before Lee put his hand on the knob.

Clementine stared at the ground and held her wrist. "Lee?" Lee stopped, and turned to her. "You're not bad, right?"

"I uh... Why are you asking me that?" Lee frowned.

"That lady said you killed someone, was that because he was one of the things trying to eat you?"

Lee glanced at Rainbow Dash, hoping to silently ask what the best response would be, but Dash just shifted her gaze away, not wanting to be preassured. Lee sighed, and looked back to Clem. "No... he wasn't." He confessed.

"Oh..." Clementine paused for a moment. "...Was he bad?"

"He was." Lee simply answered, and Clementine nodded, leaving the office. Lee was about to follower her until Dash stopped him.

"Lee?"

He rolled his eyes, knowing there were more difficult questions in store. "Yeah?" He turned to her.

"I know that things are tense enough, and the last thing I want to do is make your situation even worse, but... My friends..."

"Yeah." Lee prompted her to continue.

"I...don't think I should be keeping something like this from them. I have to tell them." Rainbow sincerely didn't want any more trouble or drama to come Lee's way, but she also knew that keeping such a secret from her friends would go against a lot of morals that she stood for.

"Rainbow..." Lee began, but Dash interrupted.

"You told me yourself that they're safe around you, so at least back that up by letting me do this." Dash used Lee's words against him, but Lee knew very well that she had a point.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. "Alright... go ahead, tell them." Dash smiled with relief, glad to have his trust in her as well as her friends. "But Rainbow, please please please do not let it go any further than that. At least not for now." Lee beseeched.

Dash nodded. "Don't worry, I understand... And I won't." She walked back into the store, as Lee followed behind her. He watched as her and Clem occupied the same spot in the store as before, leaving him to himself. Larry was still in rough shape, but seemed to be managing. Lee brought his attention to Applejack as the orange mare approached him.

"Howdy, Lee."

"Hey there, Applejack."

"Did y'all uh, find anything in there?" Her tone sounded somewhat frightful since she expected some grim news concerning Lee's folks.

"Not much to salvage, but we did clear the way into the pharmacy, so now all we have to do is find the keys." Lee left his parent's out, but Applejack chased the topic anyway.

"And... yer folks...?" She ventured.

Lee looked away, and closed his eyes. "I was right before. They're gone..." Lee spoke softly. AJ stared at the ground; sadness, and regret tugging at her.

"Ah...Ah'm so sorry, Lee. Ah..."

"It's alright, right now we just need to focus on getting the keys." Lee stated, determined.

AJ nudged him. "Hey, that ol' fogy has time." She chuckled, referring to Larry. "But you should make the time to remember your parents. It's only right, Lee." She knew it was none of her business, but she felt that Lee was taking the death of his parents a bit too in stride.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Lee understood Applejack's point.

"That's good." She tipped her hat to him, and turned to leave.

"AJ." Lee stopped her. "Thanks." He smiled. She smiled back, and rejoined Kenny and his family. With nothing to do, Lee decided now would be a good time to search for the batteries that Carley needed for the radio. He checked the batteries of the remote from the office, but they weren't the same size. He scanned the shelves and aisles for any compatable ones, and came across one near the barred counter next to the back of the pharmacy. He found the second near the gift cards, close to where Rainbow and Clem sat.

"What are you looking for?" Clementine asked him as he came near.

"Just some batteries for the radio Carley's working on." Lee glanced at Clem's bandage. "How's your finger?"

"It's much better, thank you for fixing it." She grinned.

"Of course."

"Rainbow Dash was just telling me about how she got her cutie mark!" Clem exclaimed, obviously enthralled by Dash's tale. Lee gave a very perplexed look at Rainbow, and she responded by showing her mark.

"Awesome, right?" The pegasus smirked.

Lee didn't ask questions, instead, the only thing he uttered was, "How the hell did I not notice that before?" Wanting to change the subject, Lee wondered if he should take the time to get to know Clemetine and Rainbow better, the only problem being that he wasn't sure where to start. "So...umm..."

"Are you okay?" Clem interrupted his train of thought.

"What? Oh, um yeah, I-I'm fine... I just uh, I'm good." Lee fumbled with his words, and Dash gave him an amused look.

"That's good." Clem added.

"Yeah uh, I think so. Being good is... good. Despite the circumstances." Lee's best attempt at a conversation sailed out of the window.

"Yep." Clem simply replied.

"Awkward." Dash whispered in a playful sing-songy manor, and Lee took that as a cue to try again some other time.

"You two hang tight." Lee stood, and made his way over to Carley. He reached into his pocket, and presented the batteries. "Here, Carley, these should fit the radio." He handed the batteries over.

"Thanks." Carley happily took them.

Lee turned and noticed that both Doug and Twilight had gone from the door. "Where did those two get off to?"

"They went outside to the front of the store for... some odd reason." Carley shrugged.

Twilight scanned the length of the street, but almost every foot of it was occupied by a walker. The sub-humans stumbled aimlessly in each direction. A small group of them took it upon themselves to finish a half-devoured carcass that rested past some wrecked cars. Greedy snarls, and noisy chomps made Twilight's face scrunch in disgust, but at the same time, it broke her heart to see such a repulsive scene by the hands of what used to be normal people. She brought her hoof to her mouth as if she was ready to hurl.

"They just..."

"...Eat." Doug finished for her. "As far as I can tell that's all they care about."

"And if one gets you..."

"They eat you, and whatever's left comes back as one of them."

"Mother of Luna." Twilight grimaced.

"I think it might be more than a couple of days before this all gets sorted out."

"With this haunting scene, I think you may be right." Twilight took a few steps away from the gate. "We'd better keep it down out here." They both kept low to the ground and observed the outer street and neighboring buildings. Twilight glanced at the building across from them; the entrance was partly blocked in a makeshift mess of lumber. "That's some fortification job over there." Her words dripped with sarcasm.

"Yeah, it didn't work out so well." Doug replied. Twilight turned her attention to the padlock that held the gate shut. She shifted it a bit with the use of her magic. "What are you doing?!" Doug whispered loudly.

"Oh, sorry, I was just looking at it." She released the lock.

"You scared me there, for a second I thought you were taking it off." They both were quiet again, as they looked the street over once more. The sound of the front door opening behind them almost made them shout in surprise, as Lee peeked out of the door.

"What are you guys doing?" Lee brought his voice to a whisper as well.

"Heavens, Lee. You nearly made me jump out of my coat." Twilight glared at him.

"Oh, sorry." Lee apologized, but couldn't help but find her reaction humerous. "But seriously, what are you guys doing?"

"We just came out here to have a look around." Doug answered. Lee crouched down next to them, and scanned the area. He peered at an abandoned hardware store across the street.

"Did you guys try to get in there and get weapons?" Lee asked Doug.

"I did, but it was too risky. Then a bunch of guys showed up and they tried..."

"And what happened." Twilight added.

"I think they're most of who you see wandering around out there." Doug responded grimly.

Twilight frowned at the walkers, trying to picture them as regular people. "Geez." She uttered. Lee looked directly across from where they stood, taking note of a trapped walker underneath a fallen telephone pole.

"Look at the one trapped over there." He pointed. Twilight and Doug followed his finger to the immobile zombie.

"Poor guy." Twilight commented.

Lee did a double take on the walker, and noticed a familiar uniform accompanied by a name tag. His eyes turned to saucers as he read the name: B. Everett, his younger brother

"Oh, shit." Lee gasped, and looked away.

Doug and Twilight took notice of his outburst. "Lee, is everything okay?" Twi asked.

"Do you know that guy or something?" Doug added.

Lee gave them a worried look, but calmed himself and regained his composure. "He... could be a drugstore employee." He casually replied.

Doug took another look at the walker, and noticed the scrubs on him. "So, you're saying he might have the pharmacy keys?"

Lee frowned, at looked at his helpless sibling. "I'm saying he might have the pharmacy keys."

Doug was skeptical on the idea. "I don't know, man. Could be anyone, I mean they start rotting and get all chewed up..."

"Ugh, Doug! Disgusting." Twilight cringed.

Lee shook his head a few more times, trying to focus. "Look at the uniform though, he could've worked at the drugstore and died with the keys in his pocket."

"Maybe, but it would take a lot of effort to make it safe enough to go out there and see if he has the keys." Doug pointed out. "If we could somehow prove that he worked here, I think it'd be worth it."

"And how do we do that?" Twilight chimed.

"How about this?" Lee reached into his pocket, and pulled out the photo from his parent's office. "I found this in the office. That boy in the photo worked here, so the keys being on him is as good of a bet as we can make." Lee showed them the picture.

"I guess they must have been his parents." Twilight observed the older couple.

"Alright, I agree." Doug concurred. "But now we just need to figure out how to get out there and get them."

"Is there no way to get this lock off?" Twilight spoke up.

"Um... well, no." Doug answered. "At least I don't know the combination."

"Well, then maybe it's best if we head back in for now." She proposed.

"Yeah, there's not much else we can really do for now." Lee added. Doug stood, and quietly opened the front door. Twilight followed him in, while Lee was last as he turned to look once more at his brother. B lie dormant underneath the pole, as if he were simply sleeping, but Lee knew the glazed eyes and uneven skin tone meant otherwise. As the three of them returned inside, Clementine's walkie-talkie buzzed to life as Glenn's voice resonated from the speakers.

"Hey there, this is Glenn and uh, I'm kind of in a jam here. Uh, little girl, if you're there, can you put your daddy on the phone, or the talkie or... whatever?" Lee walked over to Clem as she handed him the talkie.

"This is Lee, what's up?"

"Soooo... I'm down at that motor inn and, well... I'm stuck." Glenn reluctantly admitted.

"Stuck?"

"Yeah, I uh, saw a chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me. I'm hiding over here, but they won't leave." Glenn frantically whispered.

"What's up?" Kenny asked.

"Glenn's trapped down at the motor inn." Dash answered since she had been listening.

"Hey Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send a group to come get you, all right?" Lee talked into the device.

"Um, awesome. I'll sit tight until then."

"Sounds good." Lee let go of the feed button and turned to Clementine. "I'm gonna hold onto this until we get Glenn back, okay? I'll take good care of it."

"What'ya think?" Kenny began the discussion.

"I think Doug's not great around zombies, and you've got your family here. I'll take Carley and her dead-eye down to the motor inn, get Glenn, and get back here as fast as I can." Lee proposed.

"If that's what you wanna do." Kenny shrugged.

"Hey, can I come with you? Huh?!" Rainbow was eager to get out and about.

"No, can't you stay here?" Clem pleaded with the cyan mare. She hated the thought of both Lee and Rainbow leaving her there.

"Would it be alright if you stayed here with Clementine and kept her company?" Lee asked the pegasus.

Dash sighed in frustration. "I guess..." She pouted.

"If it's alright with y'all, Ah'd like to head out with ya and see what Ah can do." Applejack offered.

"You sure?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I've been sittin' on my rump for the longest time now, maybe I can give ya'll a hoof."

Lee shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"It's settled then, Lee, Applejack and I will go find Glenn." Carley concluded. "You guys ready to head out?"

"Yeah, let's get going."

"Ah'm ready too." The trio made their way to the office that would lead into the back alley. Twilight stopped AJ as she approached the door.

"If you're going to do this, please be careful. Please." The purple mare wanted her friends safe.

AJ smiled, and tipped her hat. "Don't worry, sugarcube, Ah can take care of mahself." With that, she brought up the rear and followed Lee and Carley out of the exit. Twilight turned to join Doug back at the door, but as she walked fear and worry was present in her expression.

"Don't worry so much, Twilight. Applejack's a tough pony, and Lee will look out for her." Dash tried to ease her mind.

"I know, I just keep letting my imagination run away with me." Twilight bit her hoof.

The motor inn soon came into view. The neon post glowed brightly as the sun had gone, and night took over. Carley led the way while Lee was second, and Applejack brought up the rear. AJ caught up with Lee to talk.

"So where did Glenn say he was?" The farm pony was keeping a sharp eye out.

"He didn't say really, he just told me that he was hiding from the walkers somewhere."

"Well where should we..."

"Shit, get down!" Carley interrupted her, as a walker showed himself from the corner of one of the apartments. The three crouched behind a low brick wall, and waited for the growling zombie to wander back into the parking lot. They cautiously peeked over, and spotted a couple more walkers in the lot, as well as two on the upper floor walkway. The doors of the ice machine shifted, making the three survivors flinch.

Carley aimed her gun. "Did you see that?"

"Sure did." Lee replied. "Be ready to shoot."

"Wait, don't be too hasty." AJ added, watching the machine closely. Finally the door opened to reveal Glenn curled into a ball. He smiled when he recogized some friendly faces.

"Guys! Oh man, I'm glad you're here." He proceeded to climb out of the cramped hiding spot.

Carley lowered her gun. "Jesus, Glenn." Glenn smirked and hopped the low wall to join them.

"All right, that wasn't so hard." Lee commented.

"Can we get out of here before any of these things notice us?" Carley peeked back at the parking lot.

"Yeah, we got Glenn, so let's go." Applejack agreed.

"Not yet, there's a survivor trapped up there." Glenn nodded to a boarded door on the second floor of the inn, where two walker's hungrily pounded to get in.

"No way, we gotta go, now." Carley quickly dismissed the risky idea.

"Ah don't know 'bout that, Glenn. Ah'm not sure there's much we can do." AJ reasoned.

"Listen, I was out here looking for gas and then up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from inside." Glenn tried to convince the others to help, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Who is it?" Lee asked.

"It's a girl." Glenn answered. AJ and Carley immediately exchanged amused looks, and rolled their eyes. "We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in to help her and she started yelling and saying I was bitten. I tried to convince her I wasn't, and that's when all these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me so I ended up hiding in the ice machine."

"Lucky you, now let's go!" Carley was getting anxious.

"We can't just leave her." Glenn argued.

Lee nodded. "Damn right we can't."

"You guys are suicidal over a girl!" Carley whispered.

"Look you two, Ah want to help her as well, but look at our chances here." AJ wanted to help, but she had told Twilight she'd make it back safely, and she planned to keep that promise.

"I'm saving her, with or without you." Glenn frowned at Carley and AJ.

Lee did the same. "Think about if it was one of you." It was two versus two, and it didn't seem like the girls were winning. Carley looked at AJ, who gave a frustrated sigh and shrugged. Carley shook her head in defeat.

"Fine, let's go save Glenn's damsel in distress." She remarked in a sour tone. Lee followed Glenn over to the next low brick wall that gave them minimal cover from any walkers that wandered the parking lot. AJ and Carley followed as well, but not before smiling at one another.

"Guys will do anythin' for a piece of flank." The farm pony grinned.

"Isn't that the truth." Carley chuckled. When all four of them were in position, Lee began talking them through their course of action.

"Okay, this is the plan. We don't know how hard it's gonna be to get her out of that room."

"Yeah, it's boarded up." Glenn added.

"So we have to kill every one of them out here." Lee said grimly. He noticed Carley checking her clip, and reloading it. "Quietly." He glanced at her. "Noise attracts these things, now let's have a look around." Lee peeked over the wall, and spotted one enjoying a sloppy meal in the middle of the lot. He hastily ducked back down when he saw the moster slowly turn it's head. "Okay, we've got one eating something in the lot."

"There's another lying next to that car on the ramp." Glenn pointed.

"And another just around that huge... contraption." Applejack glanced around the corner of an abandoned RV to find a heavier zombie lurking around. "So, what now?"

Lee moved left, and peeked out from the low wall. Another hiding place revealed itself in front of the RV, but Lee didn't want to risk moving yet. He spotted a pillow about a foot away, and grabbed it.

"Good luck smothering them to death." Carley commented.

"Ah don't know, me and mah friend Rarity sure know how to make a pillow fight hurt." AJ chimed.

"Yeah, that's not really what I had in mind." Although Lee wasn't really sure what that was quite yet, he held onto it anyway.

"Hey, could we check to see if there's anything over there?" Applejack pointed to a truck on the opposite end of the lot.

"Might as well, there doesn't seem to be anything else over here." Lee quietly moved to the truck, as the others followed. When they arrived, they took a moment to see if anything new could be viewed at a different angle.

"Ah can see that one walker Ah mentioned much better now, and it looks like there's one just snoozin' next to that thing over there." AJ reported, nodding toward an immoblie walker propped up to a car on a ramp.

"Yeah, that's the one I was talking about." Glenn added. Lee didn't say much, but stood to peek inside of the truck.

"See anything?" Carley whispered to him.

Lee observed a lone screwdriver resting in the passenger seat. "I think I might've found a way to kill these things quietly."

"Now we just have to get it quietly." Glenn chimed. Lee tried the door, but to his expectations, it was locked.

"Of course." He sighed.

"Ah guess smashin' the window there isn't the best way to go about it?" Applejack asked, aware of the noise risk.

"Not unless you want all of them on us at once." Glenn replied. The four of them stayed put for a few minutes, debating the next course of action.

"Hey, Applejack, could you use your hooves to smash that guy's face in?" Carley tilted her head to the dormant walker. "You've got a powerful kick don't you?"

AJ's face lost color at the thought of smashing someone's skull like an apple. "Are y'all bein' serious?! Ah don't wanna hafta do that!"

"Well, do you have any other ideas?" Carley argued.

"There's gotta be somethin' better than me just up an' murderin' folks!" AJ countered.

Lee gave the farm pony an understanding look. "Applejack... they're not really people anymore. If we want to stay alive... if you want to stay alive, there may come a time when you have no choice."

"Ah know that!" She spat, but calmed herself before continuing. "But that don't mean Ah'm gonna do it every chance Ah get. People or not, Ah'm still not gonna feel right 'bout it."

"We understand, Applejack." Lee whispered. "We're not trying to put preassure on you, it was just a suggestion." AJ thanked him for understanding, and resumed brainstorming. Lee glanced at Carley's gun, and pictured a silencer on it. In his hand, he still held the pillow, and a new idea came to mind.

Lee moved over to the back of the truck, and turned to Carley. "Get your gun ready."

"But the noise." She protested.

"Just follow my lead; stay right behind me." Lee left the cover of the truck, and approached the walker. He held the pillow with both hands, and shoved it into the zombie's face just as the monster spotted him. Carley picked up on what Lee was doing, and placed the tip of the barrel in the middle of the pillow. She fired as the feathers, cotton, and other materials muffled the shot. The walker fell over, dead.

"That was sick!" Glenn snickered. With the walker dispatched, the four of them were now able to hide behind the car, getting a closer view of the lot. Lee checked to see if the car was locked as well but this time, to his delight, the door opened and he searched inside.

"Okay, that's one down. Now we have the one eating, one by the far wall, and the two up at the door." Carley evaluated.

"Wait, we've got another." AJ spoke up. "There's one right next to that huge thing over there."

"The RV?"

"Yeah."

Lee searched the seats to find a sparkplug. "I found a... sparky thing." The object's name slipped his mind.

"A sparkplug." Glenn corrected him. "You'd better hold onto that, could come in handy." Lee glanced over at the walker near the far wall, and realized it was lined up exactly with the car's path. He poked his head back into the car, and gave a sly look at the gear shift. He put the vehicle in neutral, and proceeded to push the car off of the ramp.

"Uh, Lee... What are y'all doin'?" Applejack looked at him funny.

"Just get back to the truck." Lee strained to roll the car and then watched as the two-ton machine slowly rolled toward the walker. The zombie turned around, and growled as the car easefully pinned him to the wall with just enough momentum to hold him, but not too much to cause a racket.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Carley commented as Lee arrived back at the truck.

"He's not done for, but at least he isn't going anywhere." Lee confirmed.

"So now all that's left down here is the one eating something, and the other next to the RV." Applejack did a short evaluation.

Lee stood again, and looked into the window of the truck. "If only I could get to that pick." Lee remembered the sparkplug he had taken with him, and searched his pocket for it. He wondered if he should just go ahead and smash it since they were already wasting a lot of time trying to rescue this stranger. Before he could cause any noise, Glenn stopped him.

"Wait, let me see the spark plug." Lee complied and handed him the tool. "The porcelain inside these things turns car windows to tissue paper." Glenn took his foot, and smashed the plug, letting out the porcelain that would allow Lee to get to the unconventional weapon. Lee took a small fragment of it, and collided it into the glass, causing the window to pop without too much noise resonating from it. Applejack froze in fear when she thought one of the walkers above them had heard, but sighed in relief when it turned it's attention back to the door. Lee reached in and aquired the screwdriver.

"That could scramble a brain pretty good." Glenn stated.

Lee rotated the tool and nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Ugh, this is gonna get messy, isn't it?" AJ scrunched up her muzzle in disgust. Lee led the small group back to the low wall where they started, and peeked over the cover one last time.

"Okay, I think I can handle this from here on out, but if anything happens..."

"Don't worry, sugarcube, we got yer back." AJ nodded. Lee nodded back and slowly crawled out of the safety of the wall. He cautiously approached the walker dining on a mess of guts; chills vibrating through him as the sound of crunching and tearing flesh became more audible. He stopped inches away from the crouching zombie, and raised the pick to strike. The walker began to turn it's pale head but not before Lee plunged the tool into it's scalp, destroying the brain and covering the metal of the screwdriver in a redish-black fluid. Lee hastily moved on to the RV, hiding at the front while yet another walker stared blankly at the side entrance of the moblie home. Lee wouldn't be able to just walk up to this one and finish it off; at least not without it seeing him first, so instead he peeked around the hood, and whistled for the walker's attention.

Like an obediant dog, the walker hobbled towards the noise, as Lee waited for the right moment to strike. When he thought it was close enough, Lee raised the pick and darted around the front of the RV, driving the weapon into the walker's torso. He wiggled the tool to get it free while the unfazed monster lunged.

"Shit!" Lee swore as he wrestled the snarling creature. Glenn was the first to react by snatching a nearby plank, and giving the zombie a much needed *thwack* to the noggin. The creature's head lolled from the impact, giving Lee a chance to yank the screwdriver free and go in for a second attempt. This time he made sure his aim was correct as the pick was thrust into the walker's empty eye socket, killing it for good.

Lee took a deep breath from the intense struggle. "Thanks."

"For sure." Glenn replied. With the roaming ones dealt with, the four of them casually made their way to the final threat. Lee watched as the creature reached frantically for him, despite having a ton of metal holding him in place.

"They just don't quit, do they?" Applejack said with a hint of sadness in her voice. Lee's only response was to finish it off, as he voilently shoved the pick into the monster's forehead. The screw buried itself in the walker's dome, and pushed even further in when the zombie's head fell onto the trunk of the car, leaving Lee with no means of close range defense.

Glenn looked at Lee's hand, noticing the absence of the tool. "Dude, where did your weapon go?"

"Into that ice-pick sized hole." Lee grinned, pointing at the gaping void that now made up the walker's forehead.

"Holy shit." Glenn snickered. "It's cool, now we've got this." He pointed to a fireaxe that rested in a shattered glass casing near the car.

"Are you two done?" Carley asked impatiently.

"Yeah, we need to get goin'." Applejack insisted. Lee grabbed the axe from the wall, and made his way to the stairs leading up to the second floor walkway.

He stopped at the first step and turned to the small group. "Why don't you guys lag behind just in case this goes to hell."

"Okay, we'll be right behind you." Carley nodded. Lee clutched the axe handle and crept up the steps, staying low and keeping his weight off of his feet so that the stairs wouldn't creak. He reached the top and rounded the corner with no problems, but started to get anxious when the two remaining walkers came into view. He stayed low, but slowly rose as he got closer and closer. The walker closest to the stairs noticed him first and forgot about the door instantly. Lee raised the axe and brought it down on the side of the zombie's head, splattering gore onto the wall of the motel. The second walker took notice as well, and lazily stumbled toward Lee. With all of the time needed to prepare another swing, Lee had no problem severing the creatures head from it's body with another powerful attack.

The decapitated zombie slunked to the floor, finally clearing the way to the trapped woman.

"Rad." Glenn playfully commented.

"Alright, we're finally here." AJ sighed. Lee glanced at the single plank that held the door shut. Before he decided to go all "Jack Torrance" on it, Lee knocked on the door to let the woman know the walkers had been dealt with.

"Hello in there, we're here to help."

"Please, just go away!" The girl cried from inside.

"Let's go, guys." Carley was happy to comply with the stranger's pleas.

"In a minute." Lee replied, and turned his attention back to the door. "If you open up, we can take you somewhere safer. We've got a group in town..."

"No no no, please!" Lee was interrupted by her frantic cries.

"She's in trouble!" Glenn yelled.

"Miss, we're coming in!" Lee stepped back, and raised the axe.

"Ah don't like the sound of this, maybe we should..." AJ tried to share her thoughts, but Lee had already splintered the plank, allowing him to try the handle. To his dissapointment, it was locked forcing him to try the next best thing; kicking the door in. After one kick, the woman finally gave up hiding.

"Stop, just stop! I'm... coming out." The stanger unlocked the door, and slowly stepped into view. The sight of her made AJ put a hoof to her mouth. The woman's eyes were discolored, and heavy dark bags sagged under them. Her skin was heavily discolored and pale in most areas. She held a bloody hand to her side with even more blood covering her shirt underneath.

"You're hurt." Lee spoke.

"Oh, God..." Carley whispered.

"I said stay away." The woman sobbed.

"We need to get you help." Glenn chimed.

The woman looked at Glenn and shook her head. "it's... too late for that."

"What in the world happened to y'all?" Applejack asked. The stranger flinched upon seeing the orange mare, but withheld her surprise since she knew that time was running out for her, and that was really all she cared about.

"Guys... she's been bitten." Carley frowned.

"What?!" Glenn looked over the woman again.

"I told you, I said go away, I'm bit! But you wouldn't just leave."

"Let's calm down, you could be fine." Lee tried to ease her nerves.

"Lee has a point." AJ added. "Do we really know for sure if this will kill her? Ah mean, can't we at least try somethin'?"

"I won't be fine!" The girl shouted. "My boyfriend was bitten; you get sick and you die, then you come back a-and you kill anything you can find!" A moment of shicked silenece went by, until Glenn spoke up.

"...You have a boyfriend?" He said gloomily.

"Glenn!" Carley and Applejack snapped at him through clenched teeth.

The girl ignored him and continued. "I don't want that, it's not Christian. Please... just leave me, please go."

"Come with us, we'll find you some help." Lee offered, despite her current state. The woman didn't respond, instead, her eyes wandered over to the metal object that Carley held.

"You have a gun." She said blankly.

Carley eyed her suspiciously. "So?"

"Can I... borrow it?"

"What do you mean 'borrow'?" Carley replied.

"Give it to me. I can just, y'know, end this and then... then there's no problem."

Lee put his hands up. "Whoa whoa whoa."

"PLEASE, I don't want to be one of them. They're... they're... satanic." The group of four traded stares, uknowing of what to say.

"Now, hold on, we don't need to be makin' decisions so quickly." AJ reasoned.

"Applejack's right, we have to consider some things." Lee added. "It's like she said, there could be a chance."

"There's NOT!" The woman screamed. "Please, give me the gun!"

"Look, we can't let you do that to yourself." Lee wanted to wait until he was absolutely sure there was no other way, but the woman was already convinced that there wasn't.

"Ma'am, if you could just think for a second." AJ tried to talk her down.

The woman began to approach Carley. "Give it to me, PLEASE!"

"This is crazy!" Glenn was starting to panic.

"Please, step back." Carley inched away from her, but the girl continued to advance.

"It's just two seconds, just one bullet, and I can be with my family, and it'll be fine."

"Lady, you need to stop!" AJ stated just below a yell.

"Miss..." Lee walked towards her as she cornered Carley at the edge of the railing.

"Back up!" Carley shouted, but the woman ignored her warning, and went for the gun.

"PLEASE!" Carley wrestled with her, as Lee and Applejack joined in, trying to restrain the woman, and keep her from taking the weapon. The railing began to wobble and creak from the weight. After a few more seconds of struggling, the wooden walkway collapsed underneath their feeat, sending everyone sprawling into the parking lot. Lee, Carley, Glenn, and AJ landed closest to the rubble. The stranger had landed further away. Carley sat up and immediately searched for her gun. Her eyes shot open when the woman picked it up from the ground, a regretful stare plastered on her face.

Lee stood, and slowly approached the girl. "Whoa, take it easy, we just want to help."

The woman placed the cold barrel of the gun against her temple. "You can't."

Lee didn't give up on talking her through this. "Miss, just relax now. You need to think this through."

Applejack joined in. "Y'all don't hafta to this, we can find you help, please."

"Yeah, we'll find you a doctor, it'll be okay. Let's all just..." The stranger slowly squeezed the trigger. AJ galloped towards her.

"Nonono, no, NO!" *BANG* Blood, and skull fragments seperated from the girl's head as she slumped lifelessly to the ground. The short echo of the shot rang in their ears, leaving behind the only trace of whoever the woman use to be. Glenn wore an expression of pure horror as he reached down to pick up the glock. The weapon shook in his palms, shortly before Glenn let his nerves get the better of him, and vomited. AJ looked away in shock, mortified that someone could possibly end it in such a terrible way, even if it might have been better than most ways to go. Carley took the gun from Glenn and turned to the others.

"...Let's get out of here..." She said quietly.