The walking dead : The bandit king

He exited the house with some canned food and a weapon. His search had been fruitful as he had found a baseball bat. He also had a couple of ideas he wanted to implement.

"Both of you, get out," Erick ordered after opening the car door.

Lysa, who had been hugging Alexa, was the first to step out. However, the older sister remained in the car, hugging her legs with a blank expression.

"Alexa... Hello?" Erick called, confused by her behavior. He snapped his fingers several times in front of her face, which seemed to pull her out of whatever thoughts had taken over her mind.

She finally got out and stood next to Lysa, staring at him with fear and uncertainty.

"I told you I'd protect you, and while I'm a man of my word, I'm aware that I don't have eyes in the back of my head. So, I'll give you both a couple of weapons so you can at least defend yourselves," Erick informed them.

Alexa was given one of his knives, and Lysa received the baseball bat. The knife required a considerable amount of force to pierce a walker's brain, so Erick reasoned that only the older sister could use it effectively.

"Can you teach me how to fight? I'd like to protect you too," Lysa asked with a childlike kindness that took him by surprise.

Both sisters seemed intrigued by what he was going to say. Erick softened his expression at the sight of Lysa's smile, and although a few moments ago he might have mocked the idea, he now felt more tempted to accept.

"Alright, but don't expect too much since your age limits a lot of what you can do," he replied, walking around her and giving her a quick once-over. "Do you know a walker's weakness?"

"The head," Lysa immediately answered.

"Exactly," Erick confirmed. "The problem is, because of your height, walkers would have to lean toward you for you to hit their head, which is too risky. One wrong move, and they'll overpower you and kill you."

Lysa seemed discouraged by this news, but before she could respond, Erick continued.

"You're young, but not *too* young," he added, noting she was probably around 12 years old. "The best thing for someone your size is to aim for a walker's knees, bring them down, and then run away."

"Does that really work?" Lysa asked, a bit confused.

"Of course, since walkers are somewhat rotted. They won't have strong muscles protecting their bones and joints... In fact, I'll show you," Erick bragged.

Almost as if on cue, a walker crawled out from under a car and stood up, approaching them.

"There's our test subject," Erick said, moving toward the walker. He sidestepped its attack and tripped it, causing it to fall to the ground. "If you know what you're doing, it's not too hard to bring them down."

Erick placed his machete in the walker's mouth and, with a couple of swipes, removed its jaw. The walker tried to attack with its arms, but Erick quickly moved to the side and struck the back of its knees with the flat side of the machete, bringing it down again.

"You saw how it's done. Now, it's your turn," Erick said, gesturing to Lysa.

"Are you crazy?! My sister's not getting near that thing!" Alexa shouted.

"She'll be fine. I removed the walker's jaw, and I've got my gun if things go wrong," Erick replied calmly.

"But still—" Alexa started, but stopped when Erick growled, signaling the discussion was over.

"It's alright, Alexa. I know what I'm doing," Lysa reassured her before stepping closer to the walker, anticipating its attack and dodging it.

Lysa swung the bat forcefully, striking the back of the walker's knees. When she succeeded, the younger sister stepped back to celebrate.

"Well done. Now keep practicing so you can master that skill," Erick instructed, and Lysa nodded enthusiastically.

Alexa looked at Erick with panic, but he simply shrugged, unconcerned. He had everything under control.

Just as he expected, Lysa began dancing around the walker, dodging and bringing it down repeatedly, each success coming with more ease and confidence. But at one point, she got too cocky, and the walker managed to grab her arm. By then, Erick was already there, decapitating the walker with a couple of swift blows after knocking it down.

"You did well," Erick praised her. "Learn from your mistakes, and I assure you, you'll be invincible in a few years."

"Really?" Lysa asked with joy, and after Erick's affirmative response, she began to celebrate.

Erick handed her a chocolate as a reward and approached Alexa with an arrogant smile.

"I don't like my little sister having to fight," Alexa complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And she won't have to unless necessary... But life is unpredictable," Erick pointed out. "I think I deserve something for this, don't you? A kiss would be nice..."

Alexa hesitated, but then sighed, trembling as she leaned toward him and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. Erick felt disappointed but nodded anyway.

Even though he expected more enthusiasm from Alexa, he decided not to make a fuss about it. But she would see him as her man eventually.

It was then that gunshots echoed from a nearby forest leading to the road out of Atlanta. Whoever it was, they'd better get out of the area quickly because they were only attracting more walkers with each shot.

Erick instructed the sisters to follow him since, with armed people nearby, it was better to stick together. Erick took care of clearing out another house of walkers and ordered the sisters to gather anything useful and stay alert.

At one point, Lysa approached him with a full backpack on her back, staring into his eyes in a way that made him feel uncomfortable.

"Um... Where's Alexa?" Erick asked.

"She's in the bathroom... Actually, I wanted to talk to you and ask you something," the girl replied. When she saw him nod, she continued, "Are you a bad man?"

Erick didn't expect that question... nor did he understand what the girl was trying to achieve, but he tried to answer as best as he could.

"Why are you asking me that?" Erick asked.

"I don't know..." She shrugged. "... You made Alexa cry, and she looks uncomfortable around you, but you've also protected both of us... I don't know what to think of you."

Erick looked the girl in the eyes as he took a moment to think about what to say. Lysa didn't seem to have any malice toward him, but it was clear she was worried.

"Listen, kid... I'm not a bad person... but I'm not really a good one either... I'm just someone who doesn't pretend to be something they're not to get others to like them... A lot of people have hated me for that over the years, but I'm not going to change just to please them." Erick sighed, remembering all the times his school had called his parents to complain about his inability to get along with other kids. His father had whipped him with a belt for causing problems, and Erick still had scars all over his back.

"I... I think I understand," Lysa nodded. "But why do you make Alexa cry?... She's really sad, and nothing I do makes her feel better... Ever since you made her bend over the table in the apartment, she hasn't been the same, and she won't tell me what's wrong... The same thing happened after you hugged her in the patrol car, and now I'm starting to get scared..."

Erick had forgotten the girl was there when he did it with Alexa in the vehicle... but he hadn't expected Lysa to dare watch them last night... He couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable about all this...

"Listen... what's between your sister and me... It's complicated to explain..." Erick exhaled, unsure what to tell the kid. If her parents never gave her "the talk," that wasn't his fault.

"Complicated?... But you like Alexa... You want to be with her and be her boyfriend, right?"

"Well... yeah... Something like that," Erick nodded, not wanting to explain his relationship with her sister since Lysa probably wouldn't understand it anyway.

"Then you should be kinder to her and have some patience... She's never had a boyfriend, and she doesn't know what it's like—neither do I—but you haven't been very kind since we met you," she said, accusingly.

Erick sighed but admitted to himself that she was somewhat right... He hadn't been interested in anything serious with Alexa before, so he acted accordingly, but things had changed.

"Alright, kid... I'll take your advice... but I'm not getting old waiting," he replied. Though he'd already been with her twice, he still hadn't seen her naked, and Erick wanted to witness her full beauty while taking his sweet time...

They both stayed quiet for a while after that, until finally, Alexa came down from the second floor to join them.

"Shall we go?" Erick gave her a friendly smile, or at least tried to, as he rarely smiled while offering his hand without forcing anything.

Alexa looked at him for several seconds with doubt, and Erick was about to pull his hand back, swallowing his pride to act like nothing had happened, but she finally took it.

The three of them went out the back door, and on the way, Erick couldn't help but intertwine his fingers with Alexa's. Her hand felt soft and warm, the sensation making his heart race while his day seemed much brighter...

Unfortunately, the good moment had to end, as while they approached the neighbor's house, they heard screams coming from inside...

"We have to see who it is and help..." Alexa murmured, waiting anxiously for his response...

Under normal circumstances, he would've told her to forget it and mocked her. There was no reason he should risk his neck for a complete stranger. But he had promised her sister he'd be nicer... and it wouldn't hurt just to check out what was going on.

"Alright... You two stay here and stay alert... I'll go see what's happening," Erick ordered. He was willing to investigate the situation, but if it was too dangerous, he wouldn't take the risk.

Erick ran ahead, leaving the sisters behind, trusting that Alexa would make good decisions if faced with danger. He jumped a fence and entered the backyard, then climbed some stairs to a sliding door into the house, which curiously had a treehouse and a pool in the yard.

Inside, there was a young, pretty girl about Alexa's age with reddish-brown hair struggling with a walker. Erick didn't think twice; a single walker was hardly a threat, and the girl was too cute to let her die...

After sliding open the door, Erick smashed his fist into the walker, knocking it to the ground. Then he stomped on it until its head was reduced to pulp.

When the situation finally calmed down, the girl suddenly started crying, and Erick looked her over for bites. To his relief, he found none...

"Hey... It's okay... It won't hurt you anymore," he said, trying to comfort her. He wasn't sure if what he said would help since he wasn't good at this.

"She... was... my mom..." the girl sobbed, pointing at the walker.

"I see... I'm sorry..." Erick patted her on the back in an attempt to console her, not knowing what else to say.

To his surprise, the girl threw herself onto him, hugging him and crying into his chest. If she had been ugly, he probably would've pushed her away, but instead, he returned the hug and tried to calm her down.

"My name is Erick... May I know yours?" he introduced himself.

"My name is Sandra..." she replied while looking at him with her green eyes. Erick was about to say something but noticed a figure moving in front of the sliding door.

"Wait... What..." Erick drew his machete and stood in front of Sandra but stopped when he realized it was a girl, about 7 or 8 years old. "...Hello, little one... Are you lost?"

"Lost? But this is my house..." she responded with a giggle that made him frown. "I'm Clementine, and I came here because I wanted to help Sandra... I would have come earlier, but I saw you arrive and got scared... I was hiding in my treehouse," the girl explained.

The girl was holding a hammer in her small hands and wore a baseball cap with a "D" on it. Erick couldn't help but remember a certain Telltale video game with a girl just like this one as the protagonist.

Is this world set in the video game? Or the comic... Or the TV show? Well... it doesn't matter. Maybe it's a mix of all of them, or maybe not, but what matters is that Erick was going to thrive here.

"She's telling the truth... This is her house, and I was here because I'm her babysitter... Her parents are out of town..." Sandra explained, wiping the tears from her face.

"Well, in that case..." He approached the girl and crouched to her level. "My name is Erick... Nice to meet you, little one..." He offered his hand to Clementine, and she gladly took it.

She's an adorable girl, and surely she'd become a beautiful woman if she managed to survive that long... But would she really make it?

"I've never seen you around before... You're not from here, are you?" Sandra asked.

"No, I'm from Atlanta... I came here because I was looking for supplies," he explained.

"Why did you leave Atlanta? There's supposed to be a refugee center guarded by the military there... In fact, I had planned to go there with Clementine..." Sandra questioned him.

"The refugee center has fallen, and the city has become a death trap... I saw it with my own eyes..." Erick informed her. "There's nothing left there but terror and danger..."

Sandra looked at him in horror, and Clementine seemed scared too after hearing that.

"I have a couple of friends outside... Do you mind if I call them to come here?" Erick noticed the tense atmosphere and wanted to change the subject.

After receiving a positive response, Erick went to the backyard and found the sisters there. He smiled and signaled for them to come into the house with him, then explained the situation to everyone so they could introduce themselves.

"And what do you plan to do now, Sandra?" Erick questioned her while watching Lysa talking with Clementine, and she said something that made both of them laugh.

Sandra looked at him from her side of the couch for a few seconds as if already exhausted from everything, then sighed...

"I don't know... I thought I'd wait for news from Clementine's parents before going to Atlanta, but that's no longer an option... And I know I can't stay here forever because eventually we'll run out of food... But the idea of facing those monsters out there terrifies me..." Sandra trembled, but Erick put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Listen, Sandra... You don't have to do this alone... You can join me, and I can protect you both... as long as you're willing to accept the deal, of course..." Erick smiled mischievously.

Negan was absolutely right—screw the old world's rules. This is a world where only the strong thrive, so why not have as much fun as possible?... Nothing forced him to settle for just one woman...

"A... deal?" Sandra looked at him, confused.

"Ask Alexa, she'll explain everything to you..." He responded, pointing to the young woman watching over the two girls.

[New mission available: Loot the neighborhood.

Progress: 2/10

Rewards:

- New feature unlocked: "Sacrifice Resources" 

(You can sacrifice resources in exchange for improving your attributes... For example, food for physical conditioning, ammunition for ranged combat, etc... but the resources you sacrifice will be lost forever, and the cost increases exponentially based on how high your attributes are.)]

Erick stood up from the couch immediately and put on his motorcycle helmet before walking toward the door...

"I'm going to collect the remaining supplies from the neighborhood... When I return, you can tell me what you think." Erick gave her a smile before crossing the door and closing it behind him.

As he looted the neighborhood houses, Erick felt like he was slowly becoming an expert at this... His strategy was simple: enter a house, make some noise, and when the walkers came out of the rooms, he'd kill them.

It wasn't a perfect strategy... If it weren't for his padded clothing with reinforcements, he would have been bitten twice... But he was getting better little by little, becoming more competent at picking his battles, which was important.

[Melee : C+ → B-]

He parked the patrol car in front of Clementine's house at dusk. He had gathered a lot of canned food and filled the gas tank thanks to the abandoned cars, but didn't dare look for more since he was exhausted.

He had accumulated so much canned food that it no longer fit in the trunk and was scattered across the back seats of the vehicle. However, he didn't find any firearms. It seemed people fled their homes with whatever weapons they had hidden, but most didn't think to bring food. Such carelessness would surely cost them dearly.

He decided to try out the "sacrifice resources" function. It seems this feature doesn't give you an exact price for how many resources you need; instead, it gives you a percentage of what you currently have. In this case, to improve his physical condition, he needed to sacrifice 50% of his food.

Erick decided to pay the price to see if it was worth it. Magically, the cans accumulated in the back of the patrol car disappeared, and probably some in the trunk as well. However, Erick's body didn't feel much different. He felt a bit more energetic and stronger, but not a significant boost.

[Physical condition: C+ → B-]

Well… that was a little disappointing, considering it cost him half of his food. While the feature was good for saving time if he had surplus supplies, it's best not to risk it again until he had a stable source of resources.

Erick did a quick count and decided that if he rationed the food without starving his group, they would have enough for 15 days. That was assuming Sandra and Clementine joined them, as it would last longer if they didn't.

When he arrived at the back door, Erick noticed that the walker he had killed was no longer there. They had probably thrown it somewhere. The two girls were playing a board game while the older women were preparing dinner.

Erick entered, greeting and announcing his presence. Clementine and Lysa smiled at him, while Alexa looked at him with fear… Sandra didn't even turn to look at him, which was a bad sign.

"So… have you made your decision?" Erick approached Sandra, who was busy with the soup.

"You're a disgusting pig…" Sandra spat without looking at him. "You and that other degenerate…" She said while looking at Alexa. " And the fact that you think I'd ever accept such a deal is just…"

"You could've just said no," Erick interrupted. "Anyway, I don't know why you're mad at me… I was honest. Would you rather I lied and then took advantage of you?"

"It's not even about that…" Sandra lowered her voice, probably so the girls wouldn't hear. "Do you really expect me to sleep with you in exchange for your protection? What kind of example would I be setting for Clem if I did that? What message would I be sending her?"

"That not everything in the world is rainbows and sunshine? Life isn't a Disney movie?" Erick suggested.

"Forget it… I don't even know why I'm justifying my decision to you… I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Well… just think about it," Erick replied. "The world has changed, and if we want to survive, we need to change with it."

Erick walked away from the babysitter, grabbed a chair, and sat down to rest while waiting for the food to be ready. He looked at Alexa, who was standing nearby, averting her eyes after overhearing their conversation. He motioned for her to sit on his lap, and she obeyed.

The young woman trembled slightly in his lap as he played with her hair, carefully tucking a strand behind her ear.

"It's okay… I'm not mad. I just… well, I wanted to apologize for the patrol car. I forgot Lysa was there and didn't think about your comfort." Erick hugged her and enjoyed the scent of her hair.

"You… you hurt me… It hurt… a lot." Alexa shed a few tears, which Erick wiped away.

"I know… But those things happen when you make me angry… I just want to tell you I care about you, and it doesn't have to happen again," he responded.

Alexa nodded, and Erick simply intertwined his fingers with hers while talking about the neighborhood situation and the things he had to do, hoping she would appreciate his efforts.

Finally, they all had dinner and went to sleep. Erick felt satisfied with what he had accomplished during the day, despite everything, and closed his eyes, happy to have Alexa sleeping in his arms on the couch…

…

Erick woke up to a strange beeping sound and opened his eyes to see a red light flashing, briefly illuminating the room.

He examined the room and realized it was the answering machine that had started beeping. Erick got up, disentangled himself from Alexa's arms, and walked toward the device, pressing the button.

An automated voice said, "Three new messages. Message one, left at 5:43 p.m." Then, a woman's voice began to speak.

"Hi Sandra, it's Diana. We're still in Savannah. Ed had a little incident with a crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to take him back to the ER to get checked out… Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we'll stay another day. Thank you so much for taking care of Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break!"

No… I don't think you will.

The automated voice spoke again. "Message two, left at 11:19 p.m." Erick could already tell this wasn't going to end well.

"Oh my God, finally! I don't know if you've tried to reach us… all the calls keep getting cut off. They're not letting us leave, and they're not telling us anything about Atlanta. Please… please leave the city and take Clementine back to Marietta. I have to go back to the hospital… Please, let us know you're safe." The mother sounded scared.

"Message three, left at 6:51 a.m.," the robotic voice said.

Erick looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was barely 7 a.m. He needed to take advantage of the day and decide his next destination soon, as this place wouldn't have supplies for much longer.

"Clementine, baby?… If you can hear this… call the police… it's 9-1-1… We love you… We love you… We love you…" The message cut off. The sound quality was grainy, and there was static. Diana, the woman, was crying at the end.

With this nightmare fuel… I doubt I'll be able to sleep again even if I wanted to…

Erick walked through the house until he reached Clementine's parents' room. He entered quietly to see Sandra sleeping on the bed in her underwear. The sight was quite... stimulating, but that wasn't why Erick was there.

"…Mmmm… Sandra…" Erick whispered as he gently shook her to wake her up. The young woman barely opened her eyes before quickly sitting up, looking at him with fear, using a pillow to cover herself.

"What are you doing here?! I told you I wasn't interested in your deal... Get out of here!" She shouted, covering herself.

"Relax, woman, I didn't come for that... There's something I need to show you, and it's urgent. Get dressed while I wait by the door..." Erick left the room, closing the door behind him.

After a few minutes, Sandra came out dressed, glaring at him angrily for interrupting her sleep. He ignored her expression as he walked toward the answering machine and pressed the button so she could listen to the messages.

The messages came one after another and with each one Sandra's mood became more and more depressed.

"…We love you… We love you… We love you…" the third message finished.

Erick watched Sandra's anguished face fill with tears and sighed. He hoped that with this, she could come to reason and understand the new reality of this world.

"They… could be okay… We should be optimistic and—" She was interrupted.

"You heard the same thing I did... They're dead... There's no reason to think otherwise…" Erick explained. "It's obvious from the first message that Clementine's dad was bitten by a walker, and bites inevitably turn people into those monsters…"

Sandra wiped the tears from her face as she nodded in understanding, but things were about to get even harder.

"Clem's mom could still be alive… We can't lose hope…" Erick placed his hand over her mouth to make her stop talking.

"She said they wouldn't let her leave... The military must've blocked all the exits from the city, and if she didn't die from the gunfire, then the walkers surely finished the job... Given that she was in a hospital... surrounded by bitten people, including her own husband... without weapons or training, and judging by her words in the last message, there's no reason to believe she survived." Erick concluded, then removed his hand, allowing Sandra to speak.

He could see that his words had reached her, as she remained silent, lost in her own thoughts, not attempting to argue.

"There's no going back now… You're Clementine's guardian… Her parents aren't coming back, and if you make poor decisions, that little girl could join them far too soon…" he reminded her.

He left Sandra with her thoughts for a moment as he poured himself a glass of water. When he finished drinking, she was still standing there, silently watching.

"I'm going to move the cars blocking the street, then see if I can gather some supplies before we leave this place…" he explained.

"I… well… I understand," Sandra muttered. The young woman seemed to want to say more, but she couldn't find the words.

Erick nodded and went outside to get to work. A cluster of cars was blocking the path to the next set of streets, and he wanted the road clear in case they needed to make a quick escape.

Once the path was free, Erick walked toward another street and began looting inside the houses.

As he exited one house, he saw a man stealing a television and running away from one of the houses. Erick snorted at his stupidity. Those televisions would be nothing but scrap metal once the electricity was gone. Last night, when he tried to watch TV, there was no signal.

That distraction was enough for a walker he hadn't seen to pounce on him and knock him down. Erick cursed and punched the monster in the face before stabbing it in the brain. It served as a reminder to stay alert and not get distracted.

Erick was about to loot another house when he saw something that terrified him… A horde of at least a hundred walkers was moving down the street… He also saw some of them devouring the man who had been stealing televisions.

Not wanting to get trapped inside a house surrounded by walkers, Erick chose to return to the girls. After all, it was already past noon. As he ran back to Clementine's house, he heard a gunshot from somewhere. This confirmed to him that things were only going to get worse over time.

Erick arrived at the backyard, and Sandra, along with Alexa and Lysa, came out of the house in a panic.

"Clementine's gone... She was playing in the yard, and then I saw she wasn't there anymore!" Sandra shouted.

The sound of the gate opening was heard, and Erick turned to see Clem coming through the same place he had entered.

The girl was holding the same hammer from before in her hands and looked scared upon seeing the worried expression on Sandra's face.

"Oh God…" Sandra knelt and hugged the girl tightly. "Don't ever run off like that again, Clem… I thought I'd lost you…" Sandra wiped the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry… I heard a man screaming in the woods, and I wanted to help him…" Clem explained.

Erick had a feeling about who that man might be, and a sense of alarm flooded him… All his plans could fall apart if that guy showed up and joined their group...

Almost as if God was mocking him… everyone heard the sound of walkers, and they saw a Black man dressed in jeans and a blue jacket climbing the fence that separated the house from the woods.

The man fell into the yard, and the walkers chasing him began banging on the fence until they heard a gunshot from somewhere, causing the walkers to move away.

The man got up from the ground, clutching his injured knee, only to see Erick pointing a gun at him.

"Don't move…" Erick threatened as he tried to think of an excuse to get rid of him without looking bad in front of his companions.

The man raised his hands and obeyed, then spoke in an attempt to calm the situation.

"Hey, I… I'm not a thief… or one of them… I swear…" the man pleaded.

Sandra gasped suddenly, then placed Clem behind her in a protective gesture.

"I… I know who he is… He's Lee Everett… I saw him on TV… He killed a senator and was sentenced to life in prison…" Sandra explained.

The expression on Lee's face was priceless… He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Alexa, for her part, took out the knife Erick had given her, ready to use it if the man tried anything.

"Hey… she's right… That's him…" Erick agreed with Sandra. "How can someone like you be walking around free?... Did you kill someone to escape or something?" Erick asked.

"No… I didn't… There was a car accident… The cop driving me crashed… I didn't kill anyone… I swear…" Lee defended himself.

"Wait, Sandra, that's the man who was in the woods… I saw him shoot a cop with a shotgun…" Clem began explaining.

Before the girl could continue, or Lee could speak to defend himself, Erick shot the man in the head, killing him instantly.

The girls were horrified to see the man fall dead, but Erick sighed in relief, knowing that a threat was no longer in his way… That guy could've killed him with his bare hands if given the chance, and probably would've once he learned about Erick's intentions…

"You… you just killed him," Alexa murmured as she consoled her sister.

"Yes, I did… it was necessary," Erick explained.

"I… I thought we were just going to tie him up and hold him until the police arrived…" Sandra trembled.

"There's no police anymore… And that guy escaped and killed the cop who was transporting him… He would've escaped and killed me, then probably raped you all or something worse… I made the right call…" Erick justified.

Erick took Sandra by the shoulders, who was still staring at the body while Clementine cried into her blouse. He turned her away to get her attention.

"Sandra… Look at me, there's a horde of a hundred walkers out there, and they could be here any moment because of the gunshot… If you stay here, you'll have to hide for who knows how long, then scavenge for food by yourself for you and the girls…" Erick informed her.

---

Sandra panicked at his words and seemed to have forgotten about the corpse at least for the moment. Erick seized this opportunity to deliver the final blow.

"You don't have to do this alone... I can protect both of you and help you survive... I would really care for you two just like I do for Alexa and her sister... We could all be a family together... I'm not asking for much... Just a little affection and appreciation for my efforts... Isn't it the most human thing in the world to want to be loved?" Erick whispered this last part in her ear and analyzed the impact of his words.

Sandra seemed moved by his words and really appeared to be considering his proposal this time. Finally, she sighed and nodded slightly.

"Alright... We... will go with you, Erick..." Sandra murmured, not entirely sure.

It was then that a group of walkers began to bang on the fence in an effort to enter the yard. If they kept insisting, sooner or later they would surely succeed.

"Grab everything you need from the house now... Clementine, go help Sandra... Hurry... Alexa... You and your sister need to help her too," Erick ordered the four of them. They all complied and rushed to carry out his orders.

When he was left alone in the backyard, Erick slowly approached Lee's body and hoisted it onto his shoulder before heading to the fence.

"If it comforts you, I will take very good care of her... Better even than you, since I don't plan on dying." He gave Lee a wicked smile before throwing him over the fence into the walkers.

The banging on the fence stopped as the sound of flesh being torn took its place. At least the guy wasn't alive while they were eating him...

Erick began to think about the shotgun Lee had used to shoot the cop; that weapon would be incredibly useful if he could find ammunition, and more firearms would never be a bad thing...

[Optional Mission: "Recover the Shotgun"]

There is a shotgun in the woods with no owner using it... It would be incredibly easy to take if it weren't for the walkers... But if you get it, you'll have another advantage for your survival... However, with no risk, there's no reward...

Rewards:

- Shotgun ammunition x20]

That mission was really tempting... That ammunition is a great incentive in case the weapon is empty... But before he could think any further, another mission appeared.

[Optional Mission: "Escape Immediately"]

There is a great danger in your current location, and you can't afford to waste precious time.

Rewards:

- You and your entire group will escape without any risk of dying.]

Even though he felt tempted to look for the shotgun, he ultimately decided not to take the risk... The idea of searching in the middle of a walker-filled forest for who knows how long was too risky, and he didn't know where that horde was... Or how much time he had after the shot that killed Lee...

Should he have waited a little longer to kill Lee? Well... None of that matters at this point since it can't be undone...

The girls finally exited the house, and they all got into the patrol car while organizing their things. Before starting the vehicle, a truck sped past the house without looking at them.

The horde of walkers was heading toward them, and now it made complete sense why that driver was in such a hurry... Erick didn't hesitate to do the same and sped out of the neighborhood...

Once the neighborhood was finally behind them, Clementine began to speak while sitting on Sandra's lap.

"How will my parents find us if we're not home...?" Clem complained.

"Don't worry, sweetie... I'm sure we will find a solution..." Sandra comforted her.

Erick sighed, knowing that Sandra wouldn't have the heart to tell Clementine the truth. But he was going to resolve that issue by speaking to her privately... Maybe the girl would hate him out for a while, but it was for the best instead of just prolonging everything and letting her believe in a lie.

"Where are we going now?" Lysa asked.

"I have a place in mind..." Erick replied. "There's a supermarket on the road to Macon... It's a bit isolated, so there shouldn't be too many walkers nearby..."

Alexa opened the glove compartment and took out a map to check the place he was talking about.

"I think it's called... Save Lots store... And it's near Macon... Which isn't too far from here, so there shouldn't be many problems getting there," Alexa pointed out.

As he drove toward their next destination, Erick couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something important...

[Character Summary:

- Name: Erick Bolton

- Age: 18

- Combat Attributes:

(Take into account that C- is the average)

 * Melee: B-

  * Ranged: C-

 * Physical condition: B-

 * Stealth: B-

 * Plot Armor: Low

- Group size: 5

- Army quality: Very low.

- Inventory:

 + Pistol (ammo x9)

 + Revolver (ammo x5)

 + Thief's pistol (empty)

 + Small axe

 + Machete

 + Tactical knives x1

 + Backpack

 + first aid kit

 + Food (remaining days: 17 )]