Soon: Hello! This may (or may not) be Soon, who may (or may not) be back with a new part of "The Remnants" for you all to enjoy. And yes, you can rest assured that, I am not, in fact, dead. Well... Not yet, anyway.

In any case, I'm sorry for taking so ludicrously long between updates. I've just had so much going on recently offline, on top of having many other online projects to cope with, too (several of which already sponge up much of my rather limited free time), that it's just been proving difficult to find any spare time left to work on this story. I've been slowly adding a little to this new part nearly every night for several months now (almost since the last update dropped), but I've just been too busy (and too tired) to really sit down and work on it in earnest. So, if any of the part below ends up looking a little awkward or unpolished to you, then that's ... probably why, to be honest. I'll no doubt talk about this in a little more detail (as well as the overall situation of this story going forwards) after this part, but for now I think that I've kept you all waiting long enough.

On the bright side, I notice that we received nine reviews for the last chapter (a new record for this story on the site), so ... um ... yay? ... Yes. Yes, definitely "yay", I think.

I'm probably going to have to start doing something special if we end up breaking ten reviews for a chapter at any point. Maybe I'll start taking dares from you reviewers as a form of pre-chapter Skit or something? I mean, who wouldn't want to see me try and switch Clem & Kenny's caps around without them noticing? Or maybe perform a slap-and-run on Larry? Or watch me enlist Carley's help to try and rewire a laptop? Or else try and convince Duck that his parents are, in actual fact, aliens? Or see me coax Doug into taking some "sexy" pictures for Carley's benefit? Or perhaps sneaking up behind Lilly and shouting "BOO!" while she is still unawares (I may not survive this one, however)? The possibilities are endless! Hehe. So, be sure to keep up the support if you'd like to see some of that kinda stuff, peeps. ;)

For now, however, let's work on replying to all of the reviews that we received for the last part. This may take a while, as there were quite a few of 'em. So, you know the drill by now - if you aren't particularly interested in reading what's contained within the various responses below, then please feel free to skip ahead to the actual story content, if you want to.

Here we go, then...

Reply to Sean the Artic Fox: ...You know, I still harbour hopes that you might one day comment on the actual story content, Sean. These hopes may seem rather foolish at this stage, but ... I harbour them nonetheless. XD

Larry: You're a pansy because you think that you're safe to sit behind a computer screen and insult people! And then you just up fuckin' fly away whenever the goin' gets tough! Sean the Cowardly Fox, that's what they should call you! Why not try comin' and sayin' this stuff to my face, huh? Tough guy? Or are you too chicken to see what would happen?

Soon: *rolls eyes* ... I'll just leave you two to it, shall I?

Larry: Nah. I'm just about done with this clown as it is. He ain't gonna be willin' to settle this like men, 'cause he knows that he doesn't have the necessary balls to get the job done properly.

Soon: Uh-huh. Well... Thanks for stopping by again, man.

Larry: Not a problem. Happy to put these little ingrates in their place every once in a while.

Soon: No, I was talking to- ... Agh, never mind.

Reply to leafs nation: Hey! Nice to see you stopping by to drop a review again, after a brief hiatus during the previous part. I was starting to worry that we'd lost you for a while there... ;P

"but he didn't really seem to get along with anyone (other than Clem) in the group as far as I know." - Well, as mentioned in earlier parts, the implication is that Larry actually got along quite well with Katjaa as well at times, simply because she seemed to be quite fond of him, and he is also never seen to directly bad-mouth her within any of the in-game material (which, for someone like Larry, is really saying something). But yeah, the amount of people in the group who Larry grew to like/tolerate can almost certainly be counted on one hand. Quite easily, I would wager...

"He couldn't have actually thought that they were ALL morons... right?" - Ah, I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you. You ever heard of the - "Everyone's stoopid 'cept me." - meme? Well, that's basically Larry most of the time ... pretty much. Haha!

"I always wondered why Larry seemed so angry or annoyed most of the time. The only other possible explanations I can think of (besides the apocalypse and Lilly of course) would maybe be his military background (wasn't he in the army or something?), and the death of his wife. Maybe he just didn't want to get close to many people, so he acted cold and unapproachable in many cases. It's not as if I can really ask him or anything :P" - Whaddya mean? Why of course you can ask him. That's partially what these review responses are even for, after all - to give the readers a medium in which they can communicate with the main characters of the story, if they should wish to.

You hear that, Larry? Our old buddy leafs nation would kindly like to know why you're so angry and annoyed all the time. Would you care to oblige him for a moment?

Larry: Hmph. I don't have to explain myself to him, or anyone else, for that matter. You wanna know why I'm so annoyed all the time, boy? Because the world that we live in has now become one humongous shitpile from one pole to the next. So, tell me - what the fuck is it that I'm supposed to be so happy about, exactly? Come on, boy. Why not lay somma your supreme wisdom on me, huh? I'm all ears!

Soon: ...Hmm. Maybe you were right, leafs nation. Maybe you can't just ask him about this sort of stuff straight up. Either way, you can rest assured that the answer to your questions about Larry's temperament and overall demeanour will be covered (in length) over the course of this story. It ... might take a while for us to get to that point, however. ^_^;

"I can see that happening, too - in season 1, it was almost as if everyone she met ended up liking her at some point. Not so much in season 2, depending on your actions, but definitely season 1. Even with the people you don't want to be around her *coughStrangercough*." - Well, I actually know quite a few people who would probably also class Jane in that bracket of undesirable individuals to have developed an unhealthy fascination with Clementine. Granted, it may not be a comparison which I entirely agree with, but I'm just ... throwin' it out there, you know? :P

But yes, you're right in the fact that nearly the entire cast of season 1 (save for the minor characters and a few major villains, like the St. Johns) displayed at least a passing interest in Clementine's welfare and/or general safety. Such is natural, I suppose, since Clementine's loving personality and all-around nature just seemed to breed good will around her, thus helping to bring out the best in everyone that she came into extended contact with.

However, season 2 I would rather not discuss here in any great detail (not least because I think that the writing for Clementine's character was largely atrocious last season), but I will at least say this much:

I would in fact argue that Clementine's influence was actually even more extreme (and also rather unrealistic) during season 2, since she was actually capable of acting like a contemptuous, scheming little brat most of the time (should the player so choose to), whilst still somehow having everyone fawn over her like the second coming of Christ. Now that, I would say, is a far more impressive achievement than having almost everyone care for her well-being throughout season 1 (back when she barely had a bad bone in her body for anyone to dislike).

In any case, thanks for reviewing again, man. It's good to have you back on board. :)

Reply to smeake: Nice to hear from you again, smeake. But as much as I enjoy these little chats of ours, did you, uh ... happen to read the previous chapter at all? If so, then what did you think of it? Did you like it? Because you didn't actually comment on it at all during your last review, so ... I've no real way of knowing, you see?

"Kenny: Thanks man, I appreciate that, if I saw people who wronged me after the dead started walking around, i would still give up my life for them."

Kenny: Well, that's real admirable of you, pal. Jus' be careful that you don't overdo it, okay? 'Cause the last thing that yer friends and family need is fer you t' lose ya life tryin' to protect some random asshole, y'know what I mean?

"Lilly & Larry: My Uncle actually served in the Air Force during his 20s he served for 2 years (which was the years that the Air Force had at that time), he was honorably discharged, he served in the Korean War (I can't remember of the top of my head where he was stationed). he is in his mid to late 40s now. He works (currently) in South America I can't remember what part though, but I know it was in the news (I believe in the 80s or 90s) for something bad, he lives in Pennsylvania, close to Mount Pleasant, which is about 100 miles from Pittsburgh. My grandfather served in the Korean War, thank the Lord above that he was stationed in Puerto Rico."

Lilly: ...Wow. See, dad? I told you that their family sounded honourable...

Larry: Ah. Korea, hmm? You mean back in the 50s? Yeah, I hear that was a real shitshow. I was still a bit too young at the time to play a part in the action myself, though. Hell, I was still wet behind the ears back then. Hadn't even tasted real combat yet, back when all'a that was still going on. It sounds like your grandfather was one of the lucky ones. We lost a lotta good men in that war - loyal, honest men who were willing to lay down their lives to protect their country. The kinda men who're in scarce supply these days, unfortunately...

Lilly: Hold on, though - how did your Uncle also manage to serve in the Korean War, if he's still only in his forties? I mean, surely he wouldn't have even been born back then, right?

Larry: ...Aha! Good thinking, Lilly! You see?! I told you that there was something fishy about this story of his!

Lilly: Well, let's not jump to any conclusions just yet, dad. We should at least hear him out first. Maybe there's some kind of reasonable explanation for this...

Larry: Hmph. Give 'im a chance to try an' to cover his tracks, is more like it. Don't think that you can go pulling the wool over my eyes, boy! You're not speaking to some goddamn greenhorn here, ya know?!

Soon: Eesh. Good luck sorting this one out, smeake. Xo

"I do have other friends, no one is as close to me as Amber is though, she was there when my Uncle (not the one that served) died, she came to my HS graduation & she came over to my house to hang out with me on my 19th birthday. She has been busy but I hope to hang out with her soon." - Wow. She sounds like quite a friend. Hopefully you two will be able to continue the good thing that you've got going on in the years to come. She obviously cares about you a great deal. It's refreshing to see, honestly. :)

Anyway, thanks again for yet another review, buddy. You're on a roll! Just try and remember to actually comment on the story content next time, if you can, won't you? 'Cause I'd really appreciate that, if you did. ;)

Reply to Guest: Hello, hello! Another newcomer, I take it? Welcome to my humble (fan-fiction) abode!

Clementine: Hello, Mr. or Ms. Guest person. Would you like a glass of apple juice? :)

Soon: Huh? Wait, why apple juice?

Clementine: *shrugs* ... That's what my mom used to always offer our guests, every time that they came 'round our house for an afternoon visit.

Soon: ...Do you even have any apple juice to give them, though?

Clementine: Um... I don't really know. I don't think so... :(

Soon: ...Hmm. Well, maybe we can ask Kenny & Carley to pick some up for you in the part below or something. In any case, thanks for stopping by and dropping a review Mr. or Ms. Guest person. Hopefully you'll be willing to lend your support to the story going forwards as well. :D

Reply to Prettyprincess45: *dramatic gasp* ... It - it's you! But ... b-but how?! ... I mean, er ... howdy! Welcome back ... and stuff. ^-^

"I can always go back to review the other chapters." - Well, that much is up to you, I suppose. I mean, I'm obviously not going to hold a gun to your head if you don't want to (I wouldn't really read too much into this, though, as guns are rather tricky to come by in this country), but I'd still love to hear your thoughts on each/some of the earlier parts of the story as well. Ultimately, the decision is yours, however. ;)

"And yeah, I'm a CarLee fan and still going. Amazing huh?" - *Yoda voice* ... "Much fortitude, this girl has."

"anyway, your skits always crack me up. I love good humor, and you certainly have it. Skit 25 had me dying in my algebra lab... XD" - Yikes. I hope that I didn't get you in any trouble? And if I did, well ... I think that I'll just blame it all on Larry. He does have a quite spectacular face, after all. :P

"I've never learned to ride a bicycle. XD" - Ah. Well... erm... Crap. Quick, think of something else that you're good at! I mean, c'mon - you must possess some kind of talent that I don't, right? If not, then that sort of renders my entire point last time out completely meaningless. ;(

Can you skip/jump rope very well? Because I'm absolutely appalling at that ... which is a shame really, since it's a pretty fantastic form of exercise that's both quick and easy to do. Alas, I'm terrible at it. And so the world weeps...

"Yeah, I thinki can learn a lot from you. Lol I'm just a noob at writing." - Hmm. Well, I could try and spare a bit of time to help you out (if you wanted), but ... I don't really know how happy you would be about that possibility coming to fruition. I'm quite a hard taskmaster, you see (some might even call me "brutal"), since I tend not to pull any punches when giving people my honest assessment of things (as you may have already noticed by now, if you've been reading the various add-ons of this story so far). I mean, I'm great to have around if you're looking for honest critique to help you hone and fine-tune your own writing, but ... I'm probably not the best person to have around if you find yourself lacking in confidence and self-esteem. I'm not the type of person to tell someone that they're doing "great" and "amazing" work, simply for the sake of making them feel good about themselves, is what I'm basically trying to say here.

I have actually already read one or two of your pieces (in passing), and so could be well placed to give you a more balanced opinion of your overall writing, but ... that's really your call, at the end of the day. I won't be forcing any of my views on you if you'd honestly prefer not to hear them, you know?

"Lilly: I'm a kid at heart! Got a problem? Fight me. Haha, just kidding. I could go on for an hour about why I chose this user."

Lilly: Look, I'm just going to be honest with you here, kid: I don't really care.

Soon: That's, uh ... kind of rude, Lilly.

Lilly: What did I just say?

Soon: ...Oh. Well, uh ... huh. Okay, then. In any case, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing why you chose the particular username that you did, P45 (yes, that's your new nickname around here, reasons being: (1. Calling you either "pretty" or "princess" - or, indeed, any combination of the two - would a little too weird for my tastes. (2. Because the abbreviation "PP" isn't much better. And also... (3. Because the name "P45" is downright hilarious), even if Lilly isn't necessarily that interested. :)

"Carley: Girl, let's be besties."

Carley: Oh, hell yeah. You wanna go and get a coffee or something? Because, not gonna lie, I could literally murder a latte right about now. ;)

"I love how you write interactions between characters, did I already mention that?" - Erm ... I actually don't think that you have mentioned that before, no. Certainly not in that exact sequence of words, anyhow. So, uh... Thanks, I guess.

And that about does it for this response. It was certainly a nice surprise to hear from you again. Hopefully you'll be willing to become more of a regular fixture around here, as it's always good to get a little bit of variety going in terms of opinions, favourite characters, etc. I look forward to (potentially) hearing from you again. ^_^

Reply to Nemesis Anonymous: S.T.A.R.S! *roars and charges at you* ... I sincerely hope that this reference isn't completely lost on you, as otherwise this just became horribly awkward for all parties involved. XP

"you truly never cease to amaze me!" - In a good way, I hope? ^_^;

"it's good to see Larry being portrayed as a normal human being who, deep down, just wants to protect his daughter (as well as Clementine), rather than being portrayed just as a "complete monster/bastard/mean person/bad guy" sort of thing..." - Well, that's the general idea of this story, yeah: to take a look at each one of these individual characters from a fair and unbiased point-of-view. The aim of this story is to try and be completely free of any kind of hidden agendas or bias, which is sadly something that you cannot really say for many of the other fan-fictions that I've read on this site. You see, I'm not writing this story in an attempt to say - "This character is an irredeemable piece of shit." - and nor am I writing this story in order to say - "This character is actually a flawless angel who can do no wrong." - because the fact of the matter is that almost every single character (or, at least, every character in this assembled cast) exists somewhere in between those two opposite extremes.

I'm not here to try and make excuses for Larry's attitude and behaviour (nor for any of the other characters, for that matter), or else to try and claim that he's really a pretty swell guy deep down, because that would honestly be an extremely one-dimensional way of looking at things, and would therefore make me no different to the writers who do allow their own personal feelings to dictate their writing.

The simple truth of it all is that Larry is a deeply flawed man - a man who unashamedly allows his own personality flaws to dominate both his words and his actions, which, by extension, then has a negative impact on the lives of many of the people who come into contact with him on a daily basis. In short, Larry is not a very pleasant individual for the vast majority of people to be around most of the time. This much is really beyond debate.

But (and this is a very big "but") he is also not a monster. He is not the heartless devil or tyrant that many people like to make him out to be. He is actually a fairly complex human being in his own right, with many different individual layers and hidden depths to his personality.

One subject that not a lot of people seem to be willing to tackle around here is the fact that Larry is the way he is for a reason, and it this reason which I will be seeking to explore over the greater length of this story.

Will these reasons be enough to explain his various thoughts and feelings to you all? Will they be enough to justify the (at times) extreme nature of his actions and opinions, and thus help you all to empathise (and possibly even sympathise) with his character in due course? ... Well, this I do not know. That much will mainly come down to the individual reading the story, at the end of the day. My role here is not to force feed you all the answers as to whether or not the character that you're currently reading about is good or bad. My job is simply to provide you with a canvass which will give you all a chance to see the fuller picture of the man (something that we certainly weren't treated to within the game itself, sadly enough), which will then hopefully allow each of you to make up your own minds as to whether you can eventually grow to like him or not.

Unfortunately, not too many authors on here seem to take this more sensible route when writing their own versions of the characters from the game. They instead tend to let the leftover emotions, carried over from their time spent playing, to dictate their individual portrayals, and so effectively settle for writing an elaborate form of - "i HTE LARI! hE FUKIN SUX!" - played out in story form, rather than merely taking a step backwards and actually writing a fair and objective assessment of his overall character. Indeed, many of the stories which I've seen include Larry on this site have merely had him exist as a constant point of tension and strife (only for him to eventually go on and die a death which the author makes perfectly clear was thoroughly deserved), without actually making any conscious effort to delve deeper into the specific reasons for his attitude and behaviour ... which is a shame, really, as there is definitely a lot more depth to his personality than most people are willing to admit.

Larry isn't just some random caricature of a stereotypical asshole, you see. People have got to give Telltale's season 1 writing team a lot more credit than that. He is actually quite a complex man, once you allow yourself to look past the harshness of his actions and actually start to explore the inner workings that make him tick.

Honestly, I would say that Larry is actually among the more complex personalities in the game (with his daughter perhaps being one of the few characters who bests him in that regard). So, if you're one of the people who enjoyed having a closer look at Larry's thoughts and feelings during the previous part, then - fear not, for we shall definitely be returning to his character again in future installments, where I will once again be presenting you all with the opportunity of looking at things from his point-of-view for a change, as opposed to you merely witnessing events from the perspective of the person/people that he is actively known to abuse. ;)

"To be honest, I never really hated Larry, I actually respected him..." - Mmm. Well, he does have his fair share of redeeming qualities, for sure ... even if that may occasionally be difficult for some people to acknowledge at times.

"So when it came for the meat-locker incident, it kinda made me sad to see Larry die that way; and it broke my heart to see Lilly and Clementine's reaction to his demise (I was like: "God damn it Kenny! couldn't you just wait for a few more minutes? Or better yet, made sure that he truly turned BEFORE dropping the saltlick on his head?")." - Yes, well, I'll agree that the meat locker choice is definitely one of the most harrowing/testing decisions in the game that players are forced to make (and is actually the undisputed number 1 in the entire game series, in my humble opinion). And of course, as with many of the decisions in this game, we're never actually presented with the opportunity to perform the most sensible course of action (which, in this case, would be trying to revive Larry whilst also taking precautions against him turning), and so we're merely left to try and decide which of the two flawed options available to us is the lesser of the two evils ... and for me, personally, that is most definitely the decision to try and save Larry.

Now, true, making the aforementioned decision means that you're effectively leaving everyone in the meat locker (Lilly & Clementine included) completely at risk, but ... the alternative option is just far too hasty and brutal for my particular tastes. As further investigation of the various outcomes of that event will reveal, the evidence suggests that Larry was actually still alive at the time when Kenny unreservedly brought the saltlick down. And even when choosing to bypass that rather crucial nugget of information entirely, I still find the option of siding with Kenny here just far too brutal to bear, as you're effectively turning on Lilly, and betraying her (already fragile) trust in people whilst she is at her lowest, most vulnerable point. The choice itself may have been made with good intentions in mind (to protect those who are still living, at Larry's expense), but the actual fallout of said decision makes Lee seem like a bit of a backstabbing bastard, in truth ... and that isn't really the kind of person who I wanted my Lee to become, hence the decision that I made here during my first time playing through the game.

Of course, I don't for one minute believe that Larry was ever walking out of that meat locker alive (even if he was still among the living when the saltlick eventually came down). Contrary to what has been portrayed within several of the other fan-fictions on this site, people don't just up and recover from a cardiac arrest so easily. Alive or not, Larry would have still been rooted to that meat locker floor for at least the foreseeable future (which wasn't really a very practical option, given the dire circumstances that the group had found themselves in at the time).

However, even in full knowledge of this fact, I still believe that trying to help Larry is the correct (or rather, more preferred) course of action here, as the alternative option is just far too harsh and cruel on poor Lilly. Say what you will about Larry (and he certainly didn't help himself by steadily working his way into a heart attack), but Lilly simply did not deserve to experience the horrors that she was forced to endure inside that meat locker ... not even a little.

"As for the small interaction between Doug and Carley in this chapter, I just found it so cute! I must admit that they would have indeed made a good couple in the game (had they both survived the drugstore incident)." - Innit, doe? And yet, practically the only person who you ever see Carley being paired with is Lee. Why can't people show a little more humility and actually allow Carley to be with the man who she would have preferred to be with for once, huh? Peeps be so selfish...

Not me, though. Nope. I has duly granted Carley's dearest wish. ;P

"Plus, I find it funny how Lilly's all irritated and grumpy during that moment (I'm like: "Oh come on, Lilly! Let them be; they're so cute together! And besides, maybe that can happen to you too; you never know...")." - You so badly want it to be true, don't you? Hehe... Well, why don't we simply ask the woman herself for her opinion on the matter? You hear that, Lilly? Nemesis Anonymous over here seems eager for you follow Carley & Doug's example, and potentially discover a little post-apocalyptic lovin' of your own. I mean, you've already admitted for us in earlier chapters that you're single at the moment, right? So... You lookin' to hook up with anyone right now?

Lilly: Oh, for god's sake, no! What the hell is wrong with you people? The whole goddamn world is ending all around us, and yet you're here worrying yourselves over whether or not I'm currently looking to fuck anybody? Ugh. Seriously, you guys need to get a life.

Carley: *rolls eyes* ... Yeah, well, it's all well and good for you to be dishing out that condescending attitude right now, but are seriously expecting me to believe that if some hunky guy came over to you with an enticing offer one day, then you'd immediately tell him where to go?

Lilly: Yes, I would. Because I'm not some fucking idiot who thinks that the apocalypse is an ideal time to be falling in love with somebody!

Carley: *shrugs* ... Suit yourself. I mean, it really is your loss, so...

Lilly: ...Why? Has ... Has someone said something to you about me, or-?

Carley: Pfft! Looks like somebody's feeling pretty desperate.

Lilly: Oh, just fuck off, will you?!

Carley: *smirks*

"As for the skits, I especially liked skit 26: "bear wrestling" (poor Lee; he just couldn't say no to Lilly's "puppy-dog eyes")." - Well, they are rather effective weapons, aren't they? There aren't too many people who can resist them at full-power, from what I've heard... Haha!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by again, Nemy. :D

Reply to TheDarkestMind: Oh, hello. I didn't really expect to be hearing from you again so soon. I'm glad that I did, though. :)

"Lilly! Don't be such a sourpuss. Carley and Doug are cute together!" - Ah, but you're asking for the impossible there. Don't you see? I mean, "sourpuss" is practically Lilly's middle name. Lilly "Sourpuss" Caul. Ain't that right, Lilly?

Lilly: ...Wait, what did you just say to me?

Soon: You. You're a mean ol' grumpy-grump, aren't you?

Lilly: ...

Soon: What?

Lilly: I will hurt you. Like, I'm not even kidding...

Soon: ...Well. That rather sounds like my cue to skedaddle, then, doesn't it? While I still can... *nervously adjusts collar*

"She needs to know that even in the apocalypse, you can't let your emotions get in the way of survival. Especially when it comes to being in a group. Calmly discuss things. Same with Kenny. Thankfully Lee is there to intervene." - Well, in fairness to Lilly, I wouldn't necessarily say that being over-emotional is her problem (most of the time, anyway). If you take the time to look past her brashness and actually listen to what Lilly is saying (both in the game itself, and within this very story) then you'll more often than not find that she is actually talking a fair amount of sense. Even on those rare occasions where she finds herself completely and totally enraged, it's actually very rare for Lilly to open her mouth without some kind of clear point or objective behind her comments. In fact, Lilly seems to have mastered the art of harnessing her anger and then directing it toward constructive thought and action (which is lucky for her, really, as she honestly seems to spend a fair portion of her time being angry at people, hehe). Basically, she doesn't just spout out a load of spiteful nonsense for the hell of it, is what I'm trying to say here.

One of the reasons why what Lilly eventually went on to do on that roadside was so shocking for everyone involved (including Lilly herself, I think) is simply because of this previous control that she had demonstrated over herself, even whilst in the midst of the most towering of tempers. Alas, this aforementioned control (which she honestly seemed to pride herself on) slowly began to evaporate after she was forced to witness the brutal death of her father in episode 2 ... and I think that it was this realisation that contributed (in part) to her depressive state in the early scenes of episode 3. She could feel herself starting to slip from the rails, despite her best efforts to prevent it, and I think that this knowledge frightened her quite as much as it frightened those around her.

No, I would say that Lilly's problem isn't so much that she an excess of emotion clouding her judgement, but more that she an excess of (at times, needless) attitude to her, which is what makes her thoughts and feelings that much harder for others to appreciate and rally behind at times (a rather essential ability for most leader-like figures to possess, of course, but something which Lilly quite often struggles to generate). If she took the time to get her various views and points across in a more friendly and constructive way, then she'd probably find that a lot more people would be willing to follow her (or at least listen to what she has to say), since she does usually have some pretty solid points to make in the vast majority of cases.

Kenny, however, I will grant you. His main problem (or one of them) is that he allows his immense passion to rule over his more rational mind at times, which tends to breed an "act first, think later" approach towards survival/leadership. Of course, such a tactic can at times be useful within a group, since there are times when such drastic action is necessary in order to survive, but ... more often than not, it simply ends up causing more long-term harm than it does good, as we saw first-hand on many different occasions throughout the game itself.

For sure, though, they both have their own individual personality flaws that they'd need to try and iron out if they were to make for idealistic leaders. But then ... I wouldn't necessarily say that Lee is completely faultless in that regard, either. This is the man who beat another man to death for sleeping with his wife, after all. So, I wouldn't really go and make the mistake of assuming that he has his shit together just yet, if I were you. ;)

"Larry... at times I know he wants to protect his daughter, but he doesn't have to treat everyone like shit just because. The least he could do is tolerate them. He doesn't have to be nice to them per say, just not be so much a dick to them." - Ah, but you're asking the impossible there. Don't you see? I mean, "dick" is practically Larry's middle name. Larry "Richard" Caul.

...What? Hey, I'm being completely serious here! ... Maybe. :P

"They are people who want to live and become a Walker happy meal." - I think I'm just going to assume that you originally intended to put an extra "not" in there before the word "become", because otherwise that would be one rather exclusive fetish, I would imagine. XD

"Clementine. Props to her for confronting Larry. For a young girl, she knows her way around people. She is probably the only person brave enough to talk to Larry straight forward. And the way she twists his words? Good job Clem! She is definitely one of my favorite characters!" - Nice! It's good to see that Clem's power of drawing forth ample amounts of undiluted love from the fans is still in full effect, even for a story such as this one (where she hasn't yet been given as much screen-time as I ideally would have wanted).

Thanks for the info. Knowing which characters are proving to be popular among the readers is a rather important facet of building up a sizable story like this one, you see, as it helps me to work out which personality traits are eliciting a positive response (as well those that aren't so much). You hear that, Clem? Looks like you've already won yourself a fan!

Clementine: Hooray~! Thank you~! You're my favourite reviewer now, too. ^-^

"As excited as I am for the story to continue, I am nervous about episode 2. Specifically with Mark. To me, his character wasn't fleshed out enough. Sure he was nice and helpful, but that was it. No backstory. He was just there and gone the next. Tell Tale should work on not offing characters right off the start. At least let the character be more dimensional. I just hope you do a good job of making Mark more multi-dimensional." - Well, I obviously won't be confirming too much for you here about what will be taking place in future chapters. As mentioned in an earlier response to a previous reviewer, I'm not yet willing to let on whether Mark will be taking an active part in this fan-fiction or not.

However, what I can confirm for you here is that Mark will not be suffering the same fate as he did in canon. Does that mean that he'll face an altogether better fate? Does it mean that he'll face one even worse (if such a thing is even possible)? Or does it mean that we simply will not be seeing him at any point throughout this story? ... Well, that much I shan't be spoiling just yet. Just be sure to try and keep in mind that there will not necessarily even be an "episode 2" in this story, since certain upcoming events will be causing the plot to shoot off in an entirely different trajectory from the main canon (meaning that events simply will not match up with the in-game material after reaching a certain point). As for how that relates to Mark's eventual fate? ... Well, I suppose I'll just have to let you decide that one for yourself. Feel free to theorize on it, if you want. ;P

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by to leave a review again. I'm sorry to see that you've seemingly lost interest in the story since leaving your last review, but ... hopefully you'll keep reading, at the very least, which might one day give me the opportunity of winning back your lost support. Alternately, if your problem has less to do with the story, and more to do with me personally, then I'd be more than willing to hear about that at some point as well.

All I can really say is that I hope to hear from you again some time.

Reply to ZombieGuy96: Like the sun rising into the sky each morning, and so comes another ZombieGuy96 review. Nice to see you again, my friend.

"sorry it's taken ages to get around and review!" - Hey, don't sweat it. I mean, compared to how long it's taken me to get this next update out for you all, your reviewing speed now looks positively rapid, wouldn't you say? XD

"I actually felt like laughing with Lee at Lilly's comments and gestures towards everyone (probably other than Lee himself)" - Heh. Don't go thinking that Lee is safe from the flames just yet, though. Because as I always like to say: fire doesn't discriminate on who it burns.

Still, you're perhaps right in assuming that Lee is now the only remaining person (out of her current travelling companions, at least) who has yet to truly feel Lilly's bite. All of the others seem to have already succeeded in peeving her off in one way or another, so ... I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how long Lee's stay of execution lasts, won't we? ;P

"Carley and Doug's little romance is written brilliantly" - Aw, shucks. Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that it is "brilliantly written" just yet (since we're still very much in the infancy of their relationship at this stage, after all), but ... I am hoping that it will get there eventually, yes. There will certainly be a lot of twists, turns, and emotionally-gripping moments to come from those two yet, so be sure to stay tuned for all of that heart-wrenching goodness, won't you?

"Never the less I am looking forward to some Kenny and Carley dialogue as we don't seem them interact much in game and I'm sure they'd have interesting conversations" - ...Is this what it has come to now? That the only thing you're looking forward to from (or expecting out of) this story is further "interesting conversations"? ...Haha! Well, I suppose that I can see why. Rest assured, however, that there is actually a greater plot in play here (even if it hasn't really reared its head as of yet). This story isn't just going to be comprised of a bunch of characters standing around and talking to each other all the time, I can promise you ... even if there will be numerous parts which end up playing out exactly like that. ^_^;

In any case, although I'll agree that Kenny & Carley had relatively limited interaction in the game itself (with it only really spanning the course of a handful of lines apiece), I at least gave you some interaction between the pair of them during my other story on here, right? ... Even if it wasn't exactly what you might call "casual chatter", hehe.

But yes, they will be sharing quite a number of different scenes together throughout the duration of this story (including a few which are coming up right now), so ... you can maybe look forward to that in the not-too-distant future?

"Lilly and Doug also didn't interact much in game (other than when Lilly shot him, by that was by mistake) so although she shows some distaste towards Doug, I get the impression she could still have a civil conversation with him and he doesn't really seem like the type to argue back like Carley would." - He's a lot more willing to allow someone to walk all over him in order to keep the peace, you mean? Hehe.

Still, I see what you're saying, though - one sure-fire way to ensure that you have a neutral-to-positive relationship with Lilly is to bite your tongue and just follow along with whatever it is that she tells you to do. Of course, that strategy isn't exactly guaranteed to win you her respect, but ... it should at least guarantee that she doesn't target you as some kind of weak-link in the group ... er ... usually, anyway.

As for whether Lilly & Doug will be sharing any kind of meaningful interaction with each other during the upcoming parts, I can indeed confirm for you here that they will be, yes. Although... Whether or not you could describe that interaction as "civil" may be another matter entirely. Xo

"Larry sure gained some respect for her because of this, it's a shame he doesn't feel the same about the others particularly Katjaa as I imagine he would (at least) be a little less harsh on her after opening up to her, yet I suppose his hostility keeps him in character." - Well, the fastest way for me to explain that one away would be with the following snippet, taken from the previous part: "He was also in an exceptionally bad mood right now", which is a line that pretty much already explains a lot of the things that we saw Larry thinking and saying last time out.

Make no mistake - Larry hasn't entirely forgotten about his little chat with Katjaa during "The First Night", and nor will the positive repercussions of that scene be forgotten/ignored in the many parts to come. However, you also need to take into account here that one (relatively positive) conversation with Larry does not automatically guarantee you a place in the man's eternal good books, you know? It would honestly take a long time for someone to build up a meaningful bond of trust and respect with Larry, such is the type of man that he is. He doesn't particularly like/trust anyone much by default. Such luxuries have to be hard-earned, and worked for over a greater period of time. Hell, even Lilly (his own beloved daughter) isn't exempt from being the subject of his rage and/or ire from time-to-time, as you may have noticed during both the previous part, and one or two of the earlier parts of the story as well?

So, fear not - Larry still likes/trusts Katjaa more than many other members of the group, but ... don't go making the mistake of assuming that this means he will be friendly towards her all of the time. Because that's not really something that you could ever reasonably expect from a man as harsh and stern as Larry generally is, y'know?

"Many people may hate Larry after this chapter, but strangely enough this only made me like him more" - Well, to be honest, the overall reader-response to Larry after the last part has actually been near-unanimously neutral-to-positive, strangely enough. Of course, I've no doubt that there are still some people reading out there who despise Larry with a passion (and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future), but ... most people's default reaction so far seems to be either curiosity (wanting to know or understand more about the man's outlandish behaviour) or else sympathy towards him, which is ... interesting for me to note. I'll be sure to keep tabs on how people's opinions of the man change and shift as the story progresses...

"If I hadn't played the game and knew how good of a person Lee truly was then I'd actually find myself siding with Larry and his thoughts actually made me think, what if Lee isn't as perfect as everyone else makes him out to be?" - That's the general idea here, yeah: to present you all with an opportunity of seeing the relationships that we know from the game in a slightly different light. Does witnessing things from Larry's point-of-view alter your opinion of the situation at all, or not? These are the kinds of questions that I'm hoping to be able to ask as time goes by, and we get to see more and more events from character perspectives other than Lee's. :)

Larry: Finally, someone gets it!

"and it's only a few weeks in at this point" - Much less than that, in fact. As of right now in the story, it's only been six days since the apocalypse first got underway (three days of which expired before the group first congregated in the drugstore, as well as the three days which have expired since). It might feel like slightly longer than that for you guys reading it (since everything has been developing so slowly until now), but I can assure you that it is not.

"So all in all Clementine made me proud this chapter and I can't wait to see how she further grows and evolves as the apocalypse goes on." - Well, you might have to be patient on that front, unfortunately, since Clementine's early-story involvement is going to be fairly limited in nature (with her having so many competent adults around to ensure that she stays well out of harm's way and everything). However, her time to shine will eventually come, you mark my words. :)

"Also the Larry-Clem deal, I don't like to say things are "cute" but I called Carley and Doug's relationship "cute" a few chapters ago and once again you've done it once again. The grisly old guy and the little girl sharing a deal to keep an eye on lee, it was a cute sort of bonding moment between them" - Geez, you and Nemesis Anonymous might as well start some kind of club together at this point. You can both name it "Totes Adorbz", or something along those lines... Haha! All we need now is for you to start finding Lee & Lilly's interactions "cute", and then you two will become the perfect team. XP

"the relationships you craft between the characters so far has been phenomenal so defiantly keep on writing!" - Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet, boi! ... But thank you for the compliment, all the same. ^~^

Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy the upcoming part as well, 'cause it's certainly not going to be short of content for you to analyse and rifle through at your leisure, I can tell you that now. ;)

Reply to santiagoponcini20: Well, no, you didn't... Although, I certainly would have enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the contents of previous part. If you ever find yourself in any doubt as to whether or not you've already reviewed a chapter in the future, then you can always just click the "Reviews" button beside title of the story and have a scroll down the page. Doing so should then tell you everything that you need to know about your past reviewing exploits on the story in question... :P

Doug: Actually, I have that problem sometimes, too. Like, I'll set off for work in the morning and then forget whether or not I let my uncle's cat out ... or whether or not I remembered to take out the trash. You know, just ... general, day-to-day stuff like that.

Soon: Mm ... hmm. Welp. Cool anecdote, Doug. Thanks for, uh ... thanks for sharing.

Doug: Hey, no problem. :)

Soon: ...I hope to hear from you again, Santi. (Do you mind if I call you that? 'Cause I know a Spanish friend whose name is Santiago, and he likes to go by the name of Santi, so...) It would be especially nice to hear you comment on the actual chapter next time, too, as I'd obviously love to know your opinions on the story itself at some point. ;)

Soon: Hopefully that was everyone covered. To all of you who left reviews for the last part, all I can say is - thank you so much for supporting the story. You guys rock! As for those of you who didn't review, well ... blergh ... BLERGH, I SAY! And without further ado, let's get on to the actual part itself now, shall we?

This one is going to be by far the longest part of the story to date (which is partly why it's taken me so damn long to get it typed up for you guys in the first place), so be sure to buckle up before reading this one, won't you? If any of you actually manage to read the entire part (plus all of the assorted add-ons) in one single sitting, then ... well, fair play to you, is all that I can really say about that. Haha!

The two main characters of the upcoming part will be Carley & Kenny, although Lee, Lilly & Doug will also be having a notable presence in this one as well (particularly in the early-to-mid sections of the part). This is actually the first time in a while that we haven't had all of the main cast members playing an active role, but... I suppose that all good things must come to an end eventually, right? We had to break our streak at some point or another, after all...

The main theme of this chapter will be developing relationships, and so you should expect to see certain relationships begin to, erm ... well, develop, basically.

And with that being said, let us now get Part 5 of "The Remnants" underway at last... Enjoy.

Chapter 2: The Remnants (continued)

Lilly had spotted it first. It was another one of those creatures - a lone straggler, by the looks of things - hovering near the exit of a side-alley directly ahead of them. She immediately spread her arms wide to bar the progress of her companions, and then silently alerted them to the danger with a pointed flick of her head.

Lee slowly nodded in acknowledgement of this and, crouching low to the ground, cautiously led the way forwards, eventually coming to rest behind a totalled blue Sedan that had now mounted the sidewalk, which would provide them all with adequate enough cover for the time being. Lilly followed him in hot pursuit, her brow furrowed and her jaw locked tight, with her careful footsteps barely making a sound against the concrete - an impressive feat, given that her attire wasn't really suited to such stealth. Then a loud crunching noise sounded out quite suddenly from behind them both, causing the pair of them to flinch badly.

Fortunately, it turned out that the sound had been produced by Doug, rather than anything more sinister; his sandal-clad foot merely coming down on an unforeseen shard of glass from a nearby, shattered shop window. Lee glanced back at him tensely, unsure whether he should be feeling annoyed or relieved. Lilly's feelings on the matter seemed to be far more clear-cut, however, as she fired off a fresh glare in Doug's direction, one which might well have sent small children home crying to their mothers.

"S-Sorry", murmured Doug in hushed tones, looking slightly embarrassed, as he crept over to join them behind the car - although, Lee noticed that he was careful not to get within striking distance of Lilly, possibly for fear of being strangled. And judging by the fierceness of look she was currently giving him, Lee would have agreed that this was probably a wise decision all-around.

Feeling that it was perhaps best to make sure that Doug's slip-up hadn't cost them anything worse than a glower from Lilly, Lee tilted his body slowly to the right, which allowed him to have a slight peek over the heavily-dented trunk of the car.

The creature was gazing around blankly, having presumably been jolted out of its trance-like state by the sudden noise, but it didn't appear to be aware of their presence just yet. Lee's grip on the fire axe tightened once again, though he was silently praying that he wouldn't be forced into using it just yet. Taking out this one, lone enemy would be a simple enough task, of course - particularly since this one appeared to be quite old and frail and, now that Lee had gotten a closer look at it, also appeared to be missing a large part of its lower jaw - a fact which would no doubt inhibit its biting capacity; therefore nullifying the beast's most lethal weapon. But Lee also knew that there were many more of these things lurking around here somewhere, and the sounds of combat - however brief they may be - would no doubt attract more of them to the scene quite quickly.

No. It would have been a stupid risk to take. Laying low was definitely the correct way to play this one, as his comrades already seemed to have figured out for themselves. Both of them were still hunched awkwardly beside him, with neither one so much as daring to even breathe, from the looks of things.

Thankfully, they were all granted an opportunity to draw breath a mere split second later, as the now-active corpse of the once-elderly resident gave a feeble groan of its own, and then staggered pitifully off down the alleyway to their right.

Lee edged slowly around the car, watching and waiting until it was safe for them to move clear of their cover. It suddenly struck him that this woebegone monster bore a slight resemblance to his father's old friend from his jazz club days, Jeremiah Brown, a man Lee hadn't laid eyes on for well over a decade now. But then he realised with a pang that this man - this creature - very well could be his father's dear friend Jerry … or rather, all that was left of him now. Truth be told, Lee couldn't be entirely sure, since many of these things were too badly torn up to resemble anything much anymore. Even their previous skin colours were often difficult to distinguish, since all that remained now were varying shades of yellow, and purple … and grey.

Perhaps Lee would just tell himself that this creature wasn't Mr. Brown, and hope that he'd be able to believe himself in due course. He didn't really need his thoughts to be clouded with anymore sadness and regrets right now. He already had more than enough of those to last him a lifetime, as it was.

"You okay?" breathed Doug hoarsely into his right ear, staring thoughtfully at Lee's expression, after having crept up behind him unannounced.

"…Yeah", sighed Lee quietly, trying to push his concerns out of his mind for the time being. He needed to focus. For the sake of his friends' lives, as well as his own. It was only then that he noticed that Lilly hadn't yet budged from her previous station. "…Lilly? You comin'?" he hissed back at her, though he could see from his current position that she was now bent over something, and was currently in the process of scooping whatever it was off of the ground.

"Lilly?" he repeated curiously, raising his voice as much as he dared, with danger still lurking close by. "What's the matter?"

"Bullets", she whispered cryptically - a response which would have made little sense, had she not proceeded to then open up her right palm for them both a second later, displaying the couple of empty cartridges now contained within her fist. "Looks like they're all standard 9 millimetre cartridges."

"Hmm…" mused Lee, reaching out and taking one of the bullets from her to examine for himself.

"There's more over there, too", Doug pointed out, rather observantly, nodding towards the centre of the very road that they were currently in the process of navigating. "…And there's some more over there, look", he added suddenly, sounding a little bemused by it all now. "Wow… That sure is a lot of bullets. What d'you guys think happened here?"

"Military?" Lee suggested off-handedly, though aiming his query more at Lilly than Doug.

"…Could be", was her rather vague response to the question, her eyes seeming somewhat restless in their sockets, as she stared down at the damaged cartridge in her hand. "Only one way to know for sure, isn't there? Come on…"

And with that, she streaked past them both, leading the way down the street as quickly as her crouched stature would allow. Doug watched her go, his features creased slightly in his anxiety. He looked to Lee, who was still studying the bullet clenched between his dusty fingers. Lee pondered the empty casing for a few further seconds, before eventually allowing it to fall harmlessly to the floor. The gentle tinkle of hollow metal on concrete sounded out, as Lee glanced back at Doug, motioning for him to follow with a simple, "Let's just get this done."

The pair of them then hurried off after Lilly, who now had a significant head-start on them both. As he passed it, Lee glanced down the side-alley where that somewhat familiar-looking creature had recently vanished. His head was full of a hundred thoughts just then, and not one of them was good.

More and more empty bullet casings met their eyes as they continued to close in on Lilly, who seemed to be lost in a world of her own at that moment. She hadn't even checked back to make sure that they were following her yet. Not even once.

"Wow", panted Doug again, as he and Lee both got within earshot of Lilly at last. "This must've been some battle here, huh? I wonder what happened…"

"…Mm", grunted Lee, his tone non-committal. "I don't see anybody here." His eyes lingered on the back of Lilly's head as he continued, "And if those things are still actively roamin' the streets, an' there are no soldiers in sight, well … it probably means they ain't doin' so hot right now."

Apprehension filled Doug's face as he whispered tentatively, "…You don't think that they're all-?", though he seemed unable to even finish the question aloud.

"We shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet", said Lilly from the front, still refusing to look at either of them. "They may have simply gotten overwhelmed by the sheer number of those things and been forced to beat a hasty retreat…"

"But...?" prompted Doug delicately.

Lilly heaved an irritable sigh. "Well, it doesn't exactly seem like we're winning this fight right now, does it?"

There was a slight tetchiness to her voice that time, as though Doug were pressuring her into admitting something deeply unpleasant. As Lee had suspected upon seeing her face earlier, she seemed to be taking all of this quite personally. Not that he could entirely blame her… Even he was feeling slightly deflated by it all. Any hopes that they might have harboured of a glorious rescue were fading fast, slipping through their grasp like sand.

He was eager to keep the conversation going, however, as he was honestly curious to get Lilly's take on this business, despite her obvious reluctance to discuss it. "Well, assuming for a second that they're not already dead, where d'you think that the surviving soldiers might be now?"

"No idea", Lilly conceded briefly, her tone sounding rather disinterested now, in truth. "They could be anywhere, really. They might have gone back to base, or they could still be hauled up around here somewhere. We should probably keep an eye out for any signs of a military barricade nearby. If they're still in the area then they'll probably have already established a perimeter of some kind to try and keep those things out."

Doug nodded his head vigorously in the background, while Lee merely gave a consensual roll of his shoulders - both rather pointless acts, really, as Lilly was still resolutely staring straight ahead of her.

"Either way, we should just continue on as we have been", she continued into the silence. "Whether we come across any military presence here or not, we're still likely to need those supplies going forward. So, let's just focus on actually getting them for now, shall we?"

Lilly spoke with such an abrupt finality here that both Lee and Doug were left in very little doubt: this conversation was now over. They exchanged a subtle glance behind Lilly's back, and then simultaneously turned their attentions back onto the road around them.

Now wasn't the time to be dwelling on any niggling concerns, after all. They needed to stay alert if they were all going to make it through this alive.

"Is that the place we're looking for?"

"Where?"

"Just across the road there. Look."

"Hmm… Sure as hell seems that way, doesn't it? C'mon."

Kenny led the way across the street, the map that Lilly had given him held out in front of his face; Carley with her gun already clutched firmly in hand, ready to act upon the first sign of trouble. The two survivors seemed to automatically check both ways as they crossed the road together - fairly standard behaviour for anybody, perhaps - and yet … it wasn't traffic that they were on the lookout for today.

"Looks like this is the place, awright", panted Kenny in a low voice, no sooner had the two of them made it to the other side of the street. "'Shellie's Quick Mart', huh?", he added in an undertone, reading the faded green sign above the small, backstreet store aloud, before briefly referencing the map once again. "Yep. This is definitely the joint that Queen Bee sent us to check out first."

Carley gave the smallest of chortles upon hearing the nickname, her right hand now resting idly on her hip. It seemed fitting to her, somehow. Just like a bee, Lilly seemed to have something of a one-track mind when it came to survival, and she often wasn't willing to allow anyone or anything distract her from this overriding goal. She almost seemed to be more like a well-oiled machine than a person at times. And, just like a bee, she was likely to sting first and ask questions later, upon encountering something that she perceived as a threat to her precious daily routine. There was also the fact that she was stubborn as hell. Even if you had opened a window for her, Carley was fairly sure that Lilly would just adamantly continue flying blindly into the glass, convinced that her methods would yield the desired results eventually, just like a bee. And unfortunately for Carley, it was perhaps also true that Lilly's presence was required within their little band of survivors for the impending struggles ahead. Just as bees were necessary for the continued stability of the local eco system, Lilly's unique knowhow and skillset were quite possibly also vital in keeping them all safe and alive throughout this mess, meaning that Carley was now forced to tolerate her and her many … social deficiencies. At least for the time being.

It wasn't easy at times, though, that was for certain. The woman had been proving to be an enormous drain on Carley's patience so far. If she hadn't had Doug here beside her, to keep her company and allow her to mellow out during times of stress, then she thought that she quite probably would have already swung for Lilly some time ago. Possibly several times over by now, in fact. As it was, Carley had so far been able to keep a firm lid on her temper … just about. She only hoped that poor Doug would be able to manage in the presence of such difficult company. Lee, too, for that matter.

"Shit", she heard Kenny curse to her immediate left, causing Carley to be jolted from her thoughts quite abruptly.

"What's up?" she asked him, her tone now hovering between concern and outright confusion, after a brief scan of their surroundings had assured her that they weren't yet in any imminent danger.

"Shutter's down", Kenny replied, though rather needlessly, in truth. That much had been obvious at a mere glance, after all.

"Well… Can't we just lift it up?"

It was a subtle enough prompt, with Carley trying her hardest not to sound as though she were patronising the man. Lifting the thing couldn't have been that hard though, surely?

"Not wit' that padlock and chain boltin' it to the floor, we can't", said Kenny distractedly, pointing the underlying issue out to her, as he bent down to examine it more closely.

"Ah. Well… Shit", Carley muttered dispiritedly, echoing Kenny's earlier sentiments. "So... What now, then?"

"Just gimme a second", breathed Kenny, now crouched down and apparently in deep concentration, as he twisted the lock around in his hands, and then gave a few rather firm tugs on the thin metal chain that was connected to it. But to no avail. "Nah, we ain't gettin' past this gate any time soon", he sighed, straightening up as he massaged the back of his head in frustration. "Fuck…"

"Well, didn't Lee and Lilly draw up a list of alternate locations for us? You know - just in case this one was a dud? How about we give one of those a try next?"

She indicated towards the open road with her free right hand (her handgun still clutched loosely in her other), and had actually already turned to leave before Kenny called her back.

"Hold up. D'you reckon that gun o' yers can shoot off this 'ere chain?"

Carley glanced briefly at her Glock, and then to the aforementioned chain with a dubious eyebrow raised. He was right, though. From the look of it, it was certainly doable. However, still, her caution remained…

"…Quite possibly, yeah. But doing it that way is gonna make a whole lot of noise. Is it really worth it, d'you think?"

"The fact that the owners o' this place got the shutters down in time prob'ly means that they haven't bin looted jus' yet", Kenny pointed out rather sagely, his keen observation striking Carley a little by surprise. She saw his moustache twitch slightly as he continued his musings aloud. "So, we've got ourselves a decision to make here - either we shoot off this chain to get at the goodies that're waitin' for us inside, an' risk bein' swarmed by somma those things when we try to make our getaway; or we give up on this store altogether, an' go huntin' for another one instead, which might end up with us gettin' cornered anyway. We've bin lucky enough not to have run int'a too many of 'em so far, but I'm not really keen on pushin' that luck any further than I have to, y'know?"

"…Hm. Fair point, I guess", Carley conceded at last, after a few seconds of contemplation herself. "It could be risky either way." She placed her hand back on her hip, casually tilting her gun through the air, as she added, "So, what do you wanna do?"

More frantic moustache fidgeting followed here, as Kenny seemed to be silently weighing up the pros and cons of either course of action. Perhaps to buy himself further thinking time, he turned to Carley and said, "…How 'bout you? You got any opinion on the matter?"

Carley shrugged. "Not especially. It's a tough call, for sure. But it's yours to make. I'll go along with whatever you decide to do, just … do it fast, okay? 'Cause my only "opinion" is that we shouldn't really be standing around in the open like this. It's making me nervous…"

"Awright, awright", grumbled Kenny, somewhat impatiently, although he appeared to appreciate her vote of confidence all the same. Kenny had never been one to shy away from responsibility, after all, and so such pressure was nothing really new to the man. However, he was also well aware that this decision, in particular, carried with it a little extra weight. Make the wrong call now, and it might just cost them their very lives…

He drew a steadying breath. "…Come 'ere an' shoot off this thing for us, then", he muttered bracingly, having evidently come to the decision that he thought was best. "An' try t' be quick about it, won't ya?"

Carley didn't obey immediately, her brow ever-so-slightly creased as she observed the man before her. "…Alright. If you say so." In truth, she didn't sound completely sold on the plan just yet, but she obliged him, nonetheless.

Kenny duly stepped back to make room as Carley approached the metal gate, purposefully disarming the safety latch on her Glock as she did so.

"You're going to need to stand a little further back than that", she advised him silkily, as she carefully knelt down beside the lock and chain. "The last thing we need is for you to go getting some kind of nasty injury from a freak ricochet, y'know?"

"Mm", grunted Kenny, obediently retreating a few paces backwards. "Good call."

Carley placed the tip of her gun against the weakest-looking part of the chain, holding it at a slight angle, so as to not be in the way of any potential backfire. She gritted her teeth and looked away, then gently applied pressure to the trigger.

She became aware of her success almost instantly, since there was really no mistaking the sound of a bullet shredding through metal like that; the noise of it echoing off into the surrounding neighbourhood. The flimsy little chain had proved to be no match for her trusty pistol, it would seem.

"Yes!" whooped Kenny excitedly, momentarily forgetting to keep his voice down. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Good job, Carley."

Carley tried not to look too pleased with herself, as she casually massaged the shoulder of her left arm. It hadn't actually been that difficult of a task, all things considered, but then modesty had never really been something which came naturally to the woman. She and her Glock could kick some serious ass when called upon, after all, and she knew that better than anyone. Nevertheless, she rose up to meet Kenny as he approached, returning the glowing smile that he gave her as he uttered triumphantly, "Let's hurry up an' get this thing open then, shall we? Before any o' those things show up here lookin' for an easy meal…"

A swift nod was exchanged, before they both bent down to lift the shutters together. Kenny yanked the severed metal chain out of the way, and then tossed the now-useless padlock to one side. "Alright then, on three. One… Two…"

No sooner had they both clasped the bottom of the shutters than their efforts were halted by the sound a sudden scream in the distance. Carley immediately ceased what she was doing and spun around, her expression betraying both her concern and alarm. The initial scream had belonged to a woman, but now the panicked yells of a young man seemed to have joined the chorus as well. What worried her the most was that the sounds were coming from the direction that Doug and the others had headed in earlier. Thankfully, however, Carley was fairly certain that this second, male voice did not belong to either Lee or Doug … and she would have sooner eaten her Glock than believed that Lilly could utter a high-pitched shriek like that. The sound was surely far too feminine in nature to have originated from that beastly woman…

Nevertheless, the relief that had fluttered so briefly inside Carley's chest was quickly tempered by the awful realisation: these people were in trouble. Deep, deep trouble, by the sound of things. Carley turned back to Kenny with a questioning stare, silently waiting for him to cast judgement over the proceedings.

Kenny looked deeply uncomfortable as the distant screams continued to increase in volume, his conscience seeming to do battle against his more rationale mind. "…There ain't a damn thing that we can do", was his eventual conclusion. "They're much too far away from us an', besides, we've got a job to do here. Let's jus' be thankful that it wasn't us on this occasion, hmm? With any luck, those screams will start drawin' the dead over in that direction now, an' they'll leave us well alone…"

Carley bit down on her lip and then shifted her stance awkwardly, clearly deliberating on Kenny's words. Using other people as bait wasn't exactly something that she was entirely comfortable with, but she also couldn't really argue with Kenny's logic on this one. They needed to look after themselves, first and foremost. Finally, with a small grimace and a sullen nod, she crouched back down to help him raise the shutters once more.

Hopefully those poor people, whoever they were, wouldn't have to suffer for too long. And hopefully Doug and the others were all far away from there by now…

Lee had stopped in his tracks, his head turned curiously towards the piercing screams which had ripped so suddenly through the deadened silence of the street. It sounded like the despairing pleas of a young woman, probably having been cornered by another group of those things. And then there was a second voice, too; a man's this time, issuing out panicked commands and frantic yells, as though he were trying - and failing, by the sound of it - to fend off the beasts himself.

Without even really realising what his body was doing, Lee took a tentative step forwards, trying to discern exactly where those harrowing screams were coming from. They sounded close by.

He took another few unwitting paces in that direction, but was then yanked forcibly backwards, as he suddenly felt a firm hand latch painfully onto the upper regions of his limp right arm. He twisted his head quickly to the right, momentarily fearing the worst, only to discover that it was Lilly, rather than anything dead, who had a hold of him, much to his relief. Her current expression was both serious and stern, but Lee was feeling far too taken aback at that moment in time to be worried about why she was presently looking so dour.

Had his eyes not been telling him something completely different, then Lee would probably have assumed that he was currently trapped in the clutches of a large, burly man, such was the continued pressure being applied to his arm by Lilly's intense, one-handed vice-grip. The woman was clearly far stronger than she appeared at first glance. Her slender build was apparently rather misleading in that regard…

"You can't help them", said Lilly suddenly, her low tone now just as firm as her unyielding grip on his arm. "It's pointless to even try."

Lee didn't entirely understand what she was talking about to begin with, his mind having been temporarily wiped blank by the sudden shock of being grabbed unawares like that. Before he could do anything more than gap at her, however, Doug had piped up, "But … it sounds like they're quite close by. Maybe, if we were to hurry, we could-?"

But Lilly had already mercilessly stomped this suggestion into the ground before Doug could even manage to get his sentence out. "No", she stated flatly, twisting around to cast her eyes onto Doug now instead. "Listen, whatever's going on over there is obviously happening several blocks over from us. By the time that we get there, it'd already be too late."

Doug initially seemed quite keen to try and contest this point further, Lee noticed, but then appeared to somewhat lose his nerve, as his own gentle eyes locked onto Lilly's relentless, iron gaze. Instead, Doug merely took to fidgeting restlessly on the spot, looking rather like an overgrown child who was desperate to go and use the bathroom.

Perhaps noticing this blatant hesitation in Doug's body language, Lilly heaved a sigh of forced patience and added, "Look, we're not a rescue team here. We're not equipped to go haring off across town whenever it takes our fancy, answering to everyone else's beckon call."

She glanced quickly between the pair of them before continuing.

"Our duty should to our own people, and that's it. We've got people back there who are depending on us. People who are counting on us to return to them safely. I've still got my dad to take care of, so I can't afford to go putting myself at risk over something like this."

She tossed her head in Doug's direction again. "And what about you? You've still got your girl waiting on you, haven't you? It'd be a pretty poor showing if you let yourself get eaten now, don't you think?"

Apparently, it was now taboo to refer to Carley by name, Lee thought wryly, although that was obviously who Lilly had meant. Doug himself looked rather taken aback by this unforeseen attack on his feelings; his face immediately collapsing into lines of sorrow and guilt.

Then Lilly turned resolutely back towards Lee, adding questioningly, "And what about little Clementine, huh? Didn't you already promise her that you're going to look after her from now on?"

Lee bristled slightly at this. Was she seriously suggesting that he didn't have Clementine's best interests at heart? He shook himself free from Lilly's grasp. "I did, yeah", he muttered hoarsely, his hackles still clearly raised by the implied accusation. "What's your point, exactly?"

The quelling look which Lee gave her here was so fierce that it probably would have been enough to deter most people from responding at all. However, Lilly's gaze didn't even appear to so much as waver, her own stance remaining equally firm.

"My point is that we need to use our heads here. There's often quite a fine line between heroics, and outright stupidity. And it's our job to make sure that we all come down on the right side of that line, because the last thing that our friends and family need right now is for us to lose our lives trying to play the hero, when we should have just been looking out for our own."

Lee's frown only intensified at this, a flicker of outrage now merging with the disbelief already present on his face. He wasn't about to let himself be lectured by the woman, after all, whatever her intentions might have been.

"Is that what you think of me?" he asked her quietly, his lowered tone somehow cutting through the continued screams of the trapped survivors. "That I enjoy 'playin' the hero'?"

Lilly leant backwards, languidly resting her right hand on her hip, and appeared to survey Lee carefully through those rather piercing eyes of hers. One could only guess as to what she may have been thinking in that moment, as the tense silence between the pair of them stretched on. But whatever Lee may have been expecting, he certainly couldn't have anticipated what came out of her mouth next.

"Well, don't you?"

Lee blinked at her. The sheer casualness of the question had caught him completely off guard, causing much of his anger to disperse in an instant. She clearly wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest. He had expected her to back down, or possibly even apologise to him for the sheer nerve of her accusation - both of which seemed like rather foolish hopes now. No. This was something completely different, altogether. It was a direct challenge. Lee almost had to admire the balls on the woman, if anything.

Suddenly, he became aware that his thoughts were no longer being clouded by the panicked cries on the afternoon air. Everything was eerie and still once more.

"I … I think they're gone", murmured Doug sadly, his expression still wracked with both guilt and remorse. "I guess they just … couldn't hold out any longer."

Lilly exhaled slowly, gently shaking her head, as she drew her right hand up to press her fingers firmly against the now-closed lids of her tired-looking eyes. Lee watched her closely, out of the corner of his own eye, thinking.

She had been right on this occasion, of course. Even if they had set off to try and rescue those people immediately after hearing the screams, and even if they had managed to stumble upon some kind of miraculous shortcut along the way, it was perhaps still somewhat unlikely that any of them would have reached the young couple's location in time to save their lives.

Both Doug and Lilly seemed to be taking a moment to mourn the passing of these unfortunate strangers, but Lee was instead still dwelling upon Lilly's previous words. And he suddenly found himself asking the question: did she have a point? Did he have a thing for, as she had so callously put it, 'playing the hero'?

He'd certainly never seen it that way. In truth, Lee had always seen himself as the type of man who would do right by others whenever necessary - the kind of man who would try to help people out, if he ever thought that it was within his powers to do so. And yet, although this may have been true enough, he also had to admit that he had perhaps been developing something of a fixation on saving people lately. He'd sometimes found himself dwelling on the ailments of others more frequently than his own, and every single one of his more recent failures had acted like a dagger to the gut for the man, the wounds of which were still refusing to heal.

But why was this, Lee asked himself? Why was it that he suddenly felt such an overwhelming need to perform these acts of good, when such things had always come so naturally to him before now? Was he trying to prove a point to himself, perhaps? To try and make himself feel better for all of the pain that his recent actions had caused? To try and convince himself, first and foremost, that he was not, in essence, a "bad man"? And had Lilly already noticed this trend in him? Had she perhaps already worked out that there was slightly more to Lee than him merely being another Good Samaritan?

He honestly wasn't sure what the answers to any of those questions were. Maybe he really did enjoy 'playing the hero', after all… But now was probably not the time for such soul-searching. The only thing that he knew for sure was that Lilly's words had stirred something in him - something deep inside of him that he would have preferred she had left well alone.

It was only then that he became aware of the fact that Lilly's eyes were now upon him once more. He had been so lost inside his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed initially. She had one eyebrow raised in a quizzical gesture, and was watching him carefully, as though trying to get a read on his thoughts from the outside looking in - it was becoming something of a characteristic look for her, in truth. Some people might have called it being nosy, or even downright rude, but Lee was fairly certain that Lilly would have instead labelled it as "knowing your surroundings". He'd already heard her come out with that little gem once or twice, over the course of the last few days. Apparently, "knowing your surroundings" also included staring incessantly at people sometimes, to try and get a better read on them. And right now, it was he who appeared to be the object of her scrutiny…

Lee drew a deep, calming breath, feeling that it was perhaps best for him to concede some ground to her, at the very least, even if he wasn't prepared to admit defeat just yet.

"Alright, I see your point", he admitted finally, his somewhat weary tone acting more like a peace offering than anything. "Don't worry. I'm not about to go jettin' off across town any time soon", he assured her earnestly. "I know that we can't save everybody… It'd be a fool's errand to even try."

Lilly squinted at him suspiciously, as though not entirely convinced by his sudden resignation. She did at least look mildly appeased, however, which was a start…

"...Okay. Well… Good", she sniffed briefly, apparently having nothing more pertinent left to say on the matter. "Glad to hear it."

"We … We can't just leave people to die either, though", came Doug's hesitant voice from behind Lilly's back. "R-Right?"

Lilly turned to stare at Doug again now instead, observing him rather thoughtfully, as though he were a mildly interesting display in a nearby shop window or something. Lee, however, was feeling far more sympathetic to Doug's plight. He understood quite well how difficult it was to leave people to their fates, especially when there was every possibility that they, themselves, were still capable of saving additional lives.

Lee mulled this all over for a few further seconds, his thoughts momentarily lingering on the horrific screams of the recently-deceased couple. At last, he came to a decision; one which he hoped might benefit everyone - a compromise, of sorts.

"…Okay, how's this?" he said suddenly, with the air of a man proposing some ambitious new business plan to his fellow shareholders at a board meeting. "None of us will actively go lookin' for trouble, but … if trouble finds us, an' someone nearby needs our help-", his eyes flicked briefly in Lilly's direction before finishing his sentence, "-then we help 'em. Agreed?"

Lilly swayed on the spot for a moment, subtly shifting her weight from one foot to the next, as she appeared to be weighing up Lee's request. But then she simply shrugged her shoulders and muttered offhandedly, "Er … Yeah, sure thing", a slight briskness now returning to her voice.

And with that, she was off again; stalking past him, without so much as even establishing preliminary eye contact with the man.

Lee heaved another sigh. He had the distinct impression that they hadn't yet heard the end of this matter. Lilly was clearly only humouring him to prevent another argument from taking place, and potentially acting to slow them down even further. And yet … he supposed that this would have to do, for the time being. He didn't really want to make a bigger deal out of this than was necessary, after all - they had wasted so much time here already. His only hope was that their new-found resolve to rescue people would never need to be tested in earnest…

"That hardware store that I told you about should be just up the road here somewhere", Lilly called back to them suddenly, her voice somewhat muffled by her own left shoulder. "Let's get a move on."

Lee exchanged yet another hopeless glance with Doug. It was entirely possible that they were both thinking the exact same thing in that moment: which was that this woman could be a real handful at times…

With a solemn shrug of his shoulders and a subtle shake of his head, Lee motioned for Doug to follow him once again, as the pair set off to try and keep stride with Lilly.

"Shouldn't we close this thing? Just in case?"

"Nah. We don't even know if this place is safe jus' yet. The last thing that we need is to go trappin' ourselves in here."

"…Alright. Fair enough."

The shutters had been lifted easily enough, allowing both Carley and Kenny to quickly slip inside of the dusty, dingy, backstreet convenience store. The old-fashioned bell above the door had rather unhelpfully decided to release a gentle tinkling sound as they had entered, thus announcing their arrival to anything nasty that may have been lurking within. Carley had thought for a moment that she had heard a rather telling bump and a crash from above them as they had first crossed the threshold - although, on reflection, it was entirely possible that such noises had simply been produced by the shutters themselves. Tense situations like this tended to breed paranoia in even the most sensible of minds, after all.

With her earlier gunshot having potentially drawn the attention of the countless dead now wandering the nearby streets, Carley had figured that closing the shutters again behind them was a given, so that they could work on gathering the supplies that they needed in peace, without having to worry about being spotted through the shop windows. Kenny seemingly had other ideas, however…

"Goddamn, it's dark in here", he grumbled from somewhere close by, as Carley carefully peered through the grimy glass windows of the store, checking both ways to make sure that they didn't have any unwelcome company already headed their way. "I doubt we'd have even bin able to see what we were doin', if we'd gone ahead an' pulled that shutter down again behind us…"

Carley released a low sigh as she slowly turned her back on the shop entrance. "Okay, okay... Point taken."

"Well, let's get to work, then. Come an' take a look at this list again, will ya? That way we can easily jus' split our efforts and gather everything that we need in double-quick time."

"…Shouldn't we at least make sure that this place is secure first?" inquired Carley curiously, once again trying her best not to sound too impertinent.

"Sure, but there ain't a whole lotta places in here for anything to hide", Kenny pointed out for her patiently, indicating towards the seemingly empty store before them. It certainly was quite small. Smaller than expected, in fact, with only three relatively short aisles segregating the different sections of everyday items that were on display here.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you", Carley warned him pointedly, glancing sideways at the man as he continued to squint into the gloom around them - apparently waiting for his eyes to fully adjust to the dim light. "You'd be surprised by how sneaky those things can be when they want to. And I've seen them pop up out of nowhere once too often to feel completely safe here just yet."

Still, Kenny seemed unmoved. "…Looks like the only real place for somethin' to hide in here would be behind the counter over there. If you'd, uh … care to do the honours?"

He stood aside and gestured for her to take the lead. Carley hesitated for just a fraction of a second, and then duly obliged his request.

She made sure that her footsteps were as quiet as possible, as she steadily made her way down the littered floor of the right-hand aisle; although, even then, she couldn't help but make a little bit of noise - the tips of her jaded mules unable to avoid clattering into the stray tins, cartons and packages that lay strewn there. Such attempts at stealth were largely irrelevant, however, since Kenny, who was now currently in the process of meandering his way down the left-hand aisle instead, was honestly making an even bigger racket than she was.

If anything was still in here, then it would doubtlessly already be aware of their presence by now.

Carley braced herself as she reached the counter; drawing in a subtle breath and readying herself for action. She had her handgun stretched out in front of her, so as to immediately fire upon anything that may have been about to lunge her way - and then, with a burst of sudden speed, she sidestepped dramatically to her left. However, the small space behind the counter was just as deserted as the rest of the cramped store. A wave of blissful relief surged through her body like blood.

They were safe. For now. Although, this place still gave her the creeps, for some reason…

"…Shit! Looks like someone beat us to the punch, 'cause half'a the stuff in here's already gone."

Carley turned towards the sound of Kenny's frustrated voice, the man's confusion evident, as he hastily rooted through the collapsed magazine stand at his feet. It was at this point that Carley thought she heard another bump from above their heads.

"Wait. Did you hear that?" she asked swiftly.

"Hear what?" A somewhat irritable response.

"...No. Uh... It's nothing", Carley murmured in hushed tones, though still she was frowning up at the ceiling. Had it just been her imagination? "Never mind."

Kenny straightened up with a low growl, scratching the back of his head as he did so. "Dammit. This place must'a already been turned over by somebody before we got here. But, how the hell could they have-? I mean, the damn shutters were down, for Christ's sake!"

Carley gave a subtle roll of her shoulders, feeling thoroughly unconcerned by it all at that moment. After all, the place still had an awful lot of supplies left to offer their cause. Better than they could have hoped for, in fact. And on their very first try, too. "Dunno", she said briefly. "Maybe they got in quick, before the owner closed the store up? Either way, the place seems safe enough. There's nothing hiding back here, at least…"

"…Yeah", muttered Kenny absent-mindedly, still looking slightly unsettled by the state of the store around him. "Yeah, maybe."

"There is a door back here, though. Look", Carley added as an afterthought, pointing towards the partially-concealed doorway to the far left of the counter. "Where do you think it leads? Some kind of storeroom, maybe?"

"Mm. Could be", grunted Kenny, though sounding rather disinterested now. "Although, I wouldn't'a thought a joint this small would've had room for a whole lotta storage space. It prob'ly leads upstairs to some kinda apartment or somethin'. Either way, it's no concern of ours. Best jus' to leave it be f'now."

Carley spared the doorway one last curious glance. She sighed, and then obediently made her way over to Kenny to check the supply list one more time. "…Well, that's encouraging. It looks like we should be able to find most of this stuff in here, at least."

"Awright, good. You get to work on combin' the right-hand side then, and I'll start pickin' up the stuff that we need over here. Then, whoever finishes up first can start workin' on the middle aisle, too. That sound fair to you?"

"Fair as can be expected, I suppose", said Carley amicably.

"Well, we bes' get to it, then. Daylight's a burnin'."

Kenny twisted around to get a better idea of his immediate surroundings - consorting the list when necessary - as Carley turned and retreated back to the opposite side of the room, taking care not to trip on any of the stray items that were cluttering up the floor around her.

The pair of them worked in silence for about thirty seconds or so, picking up the various different products and then double-checking to make sure that it was something they needed, before either bagging them or tossing them idly to one side. Kenny glanced up at Carley several times during this period, however, and seemed to be deliberating on whether or not to speak his mind. Eventually, the urge to voice his thoughts seemed to overwhelm the man…

"So. You, uh … You still unhappy with the fact that you got paired up with me, instead o' Doug?"

Carley turned her head towards him in slight surprise, clearly having not anticipated such a blunt question. She seemed to consider her answer for a second or two, but then smiled rather guiltily and said, "Well, there's no point in me lying to you - I'd have much rather gone with Lee & Doug if given the opportunity, but … I'm sure that much must have been pretty obvious, right?"

"Sure was", Kenny confirmed with a smirk. "Can't say that I blame ya too much, though. Hell, separatin' from yer nearest and dearest fer a few hours is pretty much a challenge in itself, with things the way they are right now. I mean, at least I can be safe in the knowledge that mah family isn't in any danger at the moment, but … I can still appreciate what you're goin' through, f'sure."

Carley had listened to him talk with a rather passive expression this time. She tried to smile at him again, to let him know that she appreciated his sentiment, but … she wasn't sure that she could really manage it just then. Not when her insides were currently twisted with concern for Doug. And Kenny's words had certainly not aided her in this regard, either...

"…Thanks", she eventually settled on saying. "It's nice to know that you're not offended, at least."

"Naw. Not at all", Kenny assured her, sweeping the notion aside with an airy wave of his hand. "Still, you prob'ly shouldn't let yerself get too down about it. I mean, look on the bright side - at least you didn't get stuck with Lilly, right? Now that would'a bin worth cryin' about…"

Carley gave yet another appreciative chuckle at the joke, altogether louder than the last one - although, she quickly stifled her laughter with her free right hand, for fear of drawing attention to their location from anything lurking nearby. She had to admit it, though: that one was funny … and also rather true. Ending up being paired with Lilly was pretty much the only thing that could have possibly made this little outing even more of a trial for Carley to contend with. Mercifully, however, such a daunting ordeal had not yet come to pass on this occasion.

"Yeah", she conceded cheerfully, having evidently rediscovered her smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that…"

"Well, I'm often right about a lotta things", Kenny quipped back, with a telling twitch of his 'tache. "You'll eventually find that out for yerself, if ya stick around long enough."

"Can you believe the attitude on that woman, though?" asked Carley incredulously, presumably having been coaxed into the question by the topic at hand. "Because I know for a fact that her reasons for splitting us up like this were total bullshit. Doug was telling me that he's only been living in Macon for the past few months, and he's spent most of that time busy working for his uncle. He probably doesn't know the layout of this town any better than we do, for Christ's sake. I'm telling you, the only reason why Lilly even wanted to split us up in the first place was just to spite me. I'm almost sure of it. God, talk about being petty…"

Kenny simply gave a non-committal grunt in response to this. "…I think she probably also thought that you'd both be able to focus on the task at hand a little better, if you each weren't constantly checkin' to see what the other was up to, y'know?"

Carley turned back towards Kenny with impatient snort, placing her right hand back onto her hip as she did so. "Well, so much for that logic. Because the only thing that separating us has achieved is to make me worry about him even more. And I'm sure that it must be the same for him, as well…"

Kenny raised an accusing eyebrow as he glanced over at her again. "Hey, try an' keep yer mind on the prize if ya can, won't ya? I need you an' that dead-eye o' yours to stay focused, ya hear me? 'Cause I'd be in some pretty deep shit without ya, that's fer sure..."

"You can relax", Carley assured him with a smile. "I've got your back if anything goes down. Just … don't expect me to be 100% focused on the job, alright?"

"…Okay. Fair enough."

He had tilted his head casually to one side as he spoke, seemingly content with her reply, and then bent down to start rooting through more of the supplies on the shelves and floor around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carley do the same. Kenny wasn't one to simply leave it that, however. He hated awkward silences - it had always been one of the man's biggest pet peeves. Frequent communication was important to Kenny and, in his honest opinion, if you ever found yourself running out of things to talk about with somebody, then … well, you probably just weren't trying hard enough.

And Kenny found that he didn't have to try too hard to think up new topics of conversation here. After all, he'd not really been presented with too many opportunities to share a proper, one-on-one discussion with Carley so far. They still had plenty left to talk about. Not least the topic which was now hovering at the forefront of Kenny's thoughts, right at that very moment…

"So… You an' Doug, huh?"

It was a rather forthright comment, in truth. But then, tact had never really been one of Kenny's strongest attributes…

Carley stopped again and looked around at him suddenly, having apparently been caught off-guard by the question. But then she flashed him an indulgent smirk and confirmed, "Yep. Me and Doug."

"How'd that happen, then?" asked Kenny, still without any sense of tact or boundaries, as he glanced over at her beneath his currently furrowed brow. Yet another painfully transparent question, perhaps, but Kenny was on a roll now. And when he found himself on a roll, there was often no stopping the man. Better to press the home advantage while you still have it, as his old man had always liked to say.

In Carley's defence, however, she didn't seem to be overly perturbed by the frank nature of this little inquisition. Instead, she simply shrugged her shoulders and said openly, "I … don't really know the answer to that one. I guess it just kind of … crept up on us before we'd even realised what was happening. And the next thing you know, well … here we are. I think it took us both by surprise, if I'm being completely honest with you."

She took a brief pause to ponder all of this for a moment. And after a few more seconds of staring dreamily into space, the coy little smile had returned to her face as she murmured, "But … it is what it is, you know?"

"Yeah. I do", said Kenny genially, a knowing little smile now creeping past his moustache as he watched her. This was clearly a woman who was currently in the process of falling head-over-heels in love with somebody. Kenny had seen it all before. Hell, he'd even lived through it himself. And so he was now perfectly capable of distinguishing the real deal, particularly when it was swimming so contently within his pool of vision.

"So, what's the plan with you two, then?" he pressed on, seemingly now quite enjoying the positive vibes that the conversation was producing within the room. "I mean, this isn't exactly ideal circumstances for two people to meet, if you, er ... catch my drift?"

He noticed that Carley was beginning to look a little embarrassed by it all now. In fact, it appeared to him that she might well have been attempting to frantically fight back a blush. Far from clamming up on him, however, she instead heaved a deep sigh and muttered, "No clue, really. I suppose that we'll start dating properly once this mess is all over and done with. I mean, there's only so much that we can do together right now, while living in such close proximity to you guys, you know? Especially with you-know-who breathing down our necks twelve hours a day." He saw her roll her eyes again here. "Honestly, you'd think that we were doing something immoral, with all of the dirty looks that she keeps giving us."

Kenny gave a bark of coarse laughter at this - a rather raucous sound that had seemed to bounce around the small, enclosed spaces of the grocery store, long after it had ended. The noise of it all had shielded from the survivors the sound of yet another subtle bump from overhead.

"Ah, try not to let 'er get to ya", Kenny chuckled, still oblivious to any noise that wasn't being issued from his own mouth. "Some people are jus' born with a chip on their shoulder, I guess." He shrugged, and then added earnestly, "Anyway, if ever you feel the need to talk to somebody about all'a this, you jus' come an' find me, alright? I've got a bit of experience with this sorta thing, y'know? Hell, it seems like only yesterday that me an' Kat started datin' fer the first time."

Carley had raised a dubious eyebrow at this offer, and seemed to be struggling to contain her mirth, as she responded with a simple, "Uh… Don't you think that it might be better for me to ask Katjaa about that sort of thing? You know - seeing as in we're both women and everything…?"

"…Hmph", grunted Kenny, somewhat awkwardly, as he reached up and adjusted his ball-cap in an attempt to disguise his embarrassment at being shot down so quickly. "Well, I suppose that's true. Maybe I'll just save my tips an' tricks fer Doug instead, then." He glanced back over at her before adding, "I mean it, though. If ever you guys need anythin', then don't you hesitate to come an' ask me an' Kat fer advice. 'Cause we're here for ya, if you need us."

A few seconds were taken to ponder this offer, before a warm smile was beamed in Kenny's direction at last. "Thanks", she murmured appreciatively, though her tone gave the impression that she was still only humouring the man at best. "I'll try and keep that in mind for if we ever run into any difficulties in our relationship. And I'm sure that Doug would be grateful for the offer, too. He … could probably do with the help", she added with a chortle. It was true, after all, that poor Doug was still a little rough around the edges when it came to the many finer points of romance...

Kenny flashed her another one of his knowing grins, clearly confident that his offer had now been accepted in good grace. Still smiling, he bent down to pick up a box of cereal from between his feet, and then double-checked to see if it was listed on the piece of paper in his opposite hand.

Now it was Carley's turn to do some silent observation - watching Kenny work with a small, thoughtful smile on her face. She cleared her throat as she turned back to her own supply-foraging, and then said airily, "So… Katjaa was telling me that you work as a fisherman in your day job. Is that right?"

"It sure is", chirped Kenny happily, glancing up at her again, as he casually discarded several more items to one side, presumably deciding that they were not needed. "Seine fishin', if I were t' get all technical wit'cha."

"Huh. Whereabouts do you usually work from, then? 'Cause from what I can gather, the three of you aren't exactly local, right?" She picked up a pack of kitchen wipes as she spoke, and then deposited them into the blue backpack in her other hand, having felt fairly certain that they were indeed on the shortlist of items for them both to collect.

"Got a boat pitched up jus' off'a the Stranahan River, Fort Lauderdale. She ain't exactly the most extravagant fishin' vessel in the world, but … she gets the job done, well enough. Ol' Muriel, we like to call 'er. Hehe!"

Carley snorted slightly at this, too. Trust Kenny to name his boat, his very livelihood, "Muriel".

"I hope that she's still doin' awright back home", Kenny continued thoughtfully. "We got 'er locked up pretty good though, so ... I doubt that anybody would be able t' steal 'er. Not without havin' some serious equipment at their disposal, anyway..."

"Florida, huh?" said Carley with interest. "I hear that's it's nice down there this time of year."

"Heh. Yeah, it ain't bad. Hell, Lauderdale's pretty sunny all the year round. We get a lotta tourists and amateur sportin' competitions cloggin' up the waterways durin' the summer, which is a bit of an annoyance to us fisherman, but … well, it brings some good money to the local businesses in the area, so we can't complain too much. We still manage to scrape a good enough livin' out of it. I've even got a bit o' friendly competition goin' with some of the other guys who are hauled up in our docks." Then he puffed his chest out slightly as he concluded, "Which I usually win, o' course."

Somehow, this didn't surprise Carley in the slightest. For even though she had not yet known Kenny all that long, she could already tell that the man had a killer competitive streak. It therefore made sense that he would look to transform his daily work into some kind of ongoing competition for the local resources.

Nevertheless, she still found this all relatively interesting to hear about. She had always enjoyed listening to people, Carley - being given the chance to learn and grow as a person, through taking in the experiences of others. It was often the closest thing to a real life adventure that she could get these days, seeing as in she was now no longer gifted the opportunity to do much travelling herself. Deciding to pursue the subject further - it wasn't like they really had much else to talk about, after all - Carley stooped down and picked up a bottle of bleach, which she clearly recalled as being one of the most crucial items that Lilly had highlighted on the list for them, and then said conversationally, "You got yourself a good crew? What size is your boat?"

"She's a 45-footer. An' that's pretty darn big for a localised vessel, if I do say so myself", boasted Kenny proudly. "The crew varies from time-t'-time, but we've managed to fit as many as six guys on board on occasion. I've got my two main work buddies, Phil an' Mac - or, "Big Mac", as we call 'im, 'cause, hehe, y'know … he's packin' a few extra pounds these days - an' they've both been with me for a good few years now. Almost since the very beginnin', in fact. A fair few other guys have come an' gone over the years, too. Some of 'em simply found themselves jobs that paid better, others just wanted to move on an' have a fresh start with their families, an' as for somma the others, well … let's jus' say that we had ourselves a difference of opinion, an' leave it at that, shall we?"

"…Hm. What kind of crewmates do you normally look for when you're recruiting, then? Do you tend to just keep it local, or-?"

"Oh, I take on all sorts", said Kenny, cutting across her question with a lavish wave of his hand. "I had a couple o' guys from Sweden workin' with me one year. I employed a Portuguese fella a while back, too. Hell, I even had a Korean guy on board for a time. Spent the first few months thinkin' that he was Chinese, 'cause the dude could barely speak a word of English! Hehe!"

"So you're not afraid of employing minorities, then, huh?" probed Carley, looking somewhat impressed. "How much do you usually pay these guys? A decent rate, I hope?"

"…As much as I can afford to spare, yeah", Kenny replied slowly, a slight frown now creeping onto his face as he glanced over at Carley again. What was she suggesting here, exactly?

"And what kind of catch do your nets usually target?" Carley ploughed on relentlessly, seemingly oblivious to Kenny's mounting discomfort on the opposite side of the room.

"…Jus' tuna. Mackerel. Maybe the occasional shrimp or two. Nothin' illegal, if that's what you're thinkin'", said Kenny defensively, looking mildly offended by the intense line of questioning which was now coming his way. "And ya know", he added sternly, whilst folding his arms firmly across his chest. "I don't much appreciate you media types always snoopin' around in our business, castin' us hard-workin' fisherman in a negative light."

Carley looked up at him curiously, seeming surprised by the man's sudden shift in tone and body language. Apparently, she was still of the impression that they were merely sharing a friendly discussion.

Realising that she had perhaps stepped over the line of Kenny's personal boundaries in her haste, she gave a guilty little smile, and then mumbled, "Oh. Heh. Sorry about that. I suppose I'm just inquisitive by nature - it pretty much comes as a natural part of being a reporter, you know? My old boss used to tell me that I was "irrepressibly tenacious", and I … think that he intended it as a compliment."

She saw Kenny's murky expression clear slightly at this. "…Hmph. Well, jus' so you know, I usually charge the goin' rate for an interview, if ever I'm asked t' give the press a 'lil info about the general state o' fishin' in Lauderdale."

And now his smirk had returned with a vengeance - proof enough that Carley's innocent prying hadn't yet caused any significant damage to their relationship. And she made sure to return the smile that he gave her, uttering passively, "Alright, well … I'll try and bear that in mind from now on, then. Okay?"

"Yeah. You better", Kenny warned her with a pointed finger, though he still seemed to be in good spirits.

Carley raised her hands in an act of surrender, and then crouched down to begin scanning the items on the lower shelf to her immediate left. She clutched briefly at a carton of apple juice, before tossing it meekly to one side - she was fairly certain that it wasn't one of the items jotted down on Lilly's list, after all...

Kenny simply scratched at his chin absent-mindedly, and then set about shuffling his way further down the aisle before him, in search of additional supplies. It was only after a few seconds had passed that he decided to break the lingering silence once more, "So, uh… You do radio, is that right?"

"...Yup", breathed Carley shortly, now heaving a weary sigh, as the conversation turned predictably towards her own line of work.

"An' how's that bin workin' out for ya lately?"

No answer. Instead, she took to fidgeting a little in silence, not seeming altogether keen on the idea of being any more forthcoming about her job. Kenny surveyed her for a moment, peering curiously over the top of the shelving units between them, but then merely shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his own supply-gathering, muttering fairly, "'S'okay. You don't have t' talk about it if ya don't wanna."

Carley gave a light shake of her head. "…No, it's fine. It's just … not exactly the most glamourous post for an aspiring journalist to find themselves in, put it that way", she admitted ruefully.

She hesitated again for a fraction of a second before continuing. But then, as though someone had simply flipped a switch inside her mind, the floodgates seemed to open up before him…

"I mean, I had some pretty big ambitions when I first started out in the industry. I had it all planned out - make a name for myself as an edgy reporter who would take even the most dangerous of jobs; thoroughly research each and every case that I might eventually be tasked with before getting it; bat my eyelids at the higher-ups and kiss a bit of ass here and there; and then slowly, but surely climb the proverbial ladder, until I found myself in amongst the big leagues. Unfortunately, it … doesn't always quite work out as you intend it to. In a profession like mine, you're left almost entirely at the mercy of whoever is calling the shots directly above you. And if you manage to piss off the wrong person, and then they just so happen get a promotion before you do, then … well, you're pretty much screwed. Because once you find yourself stuck beneath some asshole editor, who's apparently made it their life goal to destroy each and every one of your hopes and dreams for a better career, then there isn't really much that you can do about it. You could always try and cut loose and jump ship to another broadcasting station, of course, but then … who's going to be the one giving you your reference? Your bitch of a previous boss, that's who."

Kenny had listened in politely whilst Carley had launched herself into her rant, feeling that it was perhaps only fair for him to show as much of a passing interest in her profession as she had shown in his. Added to that, it struck him that the poor woman had clearly been dying to get that off of her chest for a very long time now. It also sounded like she'd been playing this journo game for quite a few years by this point. He momentarily toyed with the idea of asking her age, out of sheer curiosity, but eventually decided against it. He'd learned from his time spent wooing Katjaa - many years ago now - that asking a woman her age was one of the big taboos for any self-respecting man to abide by. Such information was sacred or something, apparently. And so, with this little pearl of wisdom in mind, he decided to simply settle for showing a little basic sympathy towards her circumstances instead.

"Oof", he huffed with a pained grimace. "Sounds like you've had it pretty rough in recent times."

"Yeah, well, you don't even know the half of it", said Carley bitterly. "It's been a pain in the ass, that's for sure. My career was progressing just fine up until a few years ago, which is when I first got stuck working under Bitchface McGee. Ever since then, the only direction that I've been going is backwards. To say that I'm feeling a little bitter about it would probably be an understatement."

Carley paused to dwell on this for a moment, and then added solemnly, "Still, I suppose she's dead now, isn't she? So...", she sighed. "Rest in peace, Julia … even if you were a total bitch."

Kenny offered her an understanding smile here. It must have been strange for her, to be vigorously bad-mouthing the woman who she had worked alongside for years, only to suddenly remember that this person was now no longer among the living. It must have conjured up a vast array of different emotions in her, Kenny was willing to bet.

Deciding that it was perhaps best to try and steer the conversation away from her dead work colleagues, Kenny subtly changed tact. "…Even so, I bet you must'a still seen some pretty gnarly shit over the years, right?"

Carley scoffed a little as she looked up at him again. "Yeah, you could definitely say that. Especially back in my early twenties, which is when I was first given the opportunity to do some overseas travelling as an up-and-coming journalist."

A packet of sliced ham was currently being closely examined. Was it even still safe for them to eat at this stage? Kenny honestly couldn't tell. Keeping his eyes trained on the slightly suspect packet of meat, he added casually, "Any cool stories to share? Or are you more the "private an' confidential" type? Hehe."

"Well, I did a bit of field reporting in Bosnia during the US military strikes against the country, if that's of any interest?"

Kenny nearly cricked his neck as he looked around at her this time, his mouth falling open rather comically as he did so. He looked simply flummoxed. "Wait, seriously? …Holy shit. I didn't realise that you were some kinda combat reporter…"

Carley smiled at the look of shock and disbelief that was currently plastered across the man's face. It was always immensely satisfying for her to receive such a reaction from somebody. After all, most people took one look at Carley and merely considered her to be more the prissy type of woman, but such a crude presumption of her overall character had so often been proven to be foolhardy. No, the truth was something entirely different. The truth was that Carley had always been more than willing to place her own neck onto the line, and muck in with the best of them, provided that it was for the purpose of furthering her own career. "Well, I wasn't, really" she conceded finally. "Not to start with, at least. But I did tell you that I was an edgy reporter who was willing to take a few risks every now and then to get a good story, didn't I?"

"…Well, fuck me", quipped Kenny transparently, his face still blank with shock. "An' jus' when you think that you're gettin' to know somebody, too…"

She tried not to look too pleased with herself again here. But she failed.

"That must'a bin pretty tough on you, though, right? With you bein' so young at the time, an' ev'rythin'…"

"It was pretty intimidating at times, yeah. Especially for those first couple of days", she confessed freely. "I don't think I'd ever even experienced any real sense of terror before, until me and my team first stepped out onto the frontlines to begin recording - or, you know, as close to the frontlines as they'd allow a rookie reporter and her team to get, I mean."

She stared thoughtfully at the topmost shelf in front of her for a moment; presumably swept up in the tide of her own memories, for there didn't appear to be any items within her line of vision that were deserving of such intense scrutiny. And then he saw the light of reminiscence shining across the room at him, through her eyes, as she murmured heavily, "But, you know … even though it was nerve-wracking to say the least, and even though I saw some things on that trip which have left a lasting scar in my memory - I still wouldn't take back those experiences for anything. It was one of the most trying, but also the most exhilarating times in my entire life. Heck, it was on that trip to Bosnia that I first learned to shoot a gun, would you believe? One of the soldiers stationed on the ground there was nice enough to teach me, and it turned out that I became something of a natural. He even playfully suggested that I should enlist myself into the military to help 'em all out", she added with a laugh.

But then her fond smile faded slightly as she said, "There were some pretty horrible moments, too, but … I think that I was happy, back then. I've always kind of been the adventurous sort of person, you know? And the most exciting story that I've covered recently was a Chihuahua would could almost bark the alphabet…"

She rolled her eyes as Kenny chuckled appreciatively. Now that he wouldn't have minded seeing for himself. As his curiosity over her time as a frontline news reporter was still piqued, however, he decided not to pursue the Chihuahua topic for the time being. Perhaps they could save that particular tale for another day… During one of their evening meals back at the motor inn, maybe?

"Still, I bet you must'a seen some shit over there, right?" Kenny pressed on. "In Bosnia? 'Cause I remember hearing about it all on the news, an' … well, it sounded pretty bad from where I was sittin'."

"Plenty", was her rather pronounced response. "Most of which I'd rather not describe for you here, if that's alright? I did have a few … 'interesting' encounters over the course of my trip, though. That was actually the first time that I came into contact with old bossy boots, too."

Kenny looked around at her suddenly, once again stalling in his now-dwindling efforts to gather up the various supplies that were still clustered around him. "Hold up. You talkin' about Lilly?"

Carley smiled once more, just barely managing to suppress a chuckle this time. It certainly amused her that the mere term "bossy boots" had immediately caused Kenny's mind to jump towards Lilly. And he hadn't exactly been wrong to do so, either…

"Yep", she confirmed with a grimace. "The one and only."

"…But I thought you two had only jus' met?"

She gave a doleful shake of her head "No. We bumped into each other once before, many years ago, back in Bosnia. I think that she must have been serving there as a part of the Air Force's terrestrial division. She can't have been much more than a Grunt at the time, though, judging by the look of her. She was certainly a lot fresher-faced back then, put it that way. Truth be told, I didn't even recognise her to begin with. It probably didn't help that she was also lacking her helmet and combat gear this time around. But it was definitely her, I'm sure of that now. I mean, who could ever forget a scowl like that, right? And I pride myself on the fact that I hardly ever forget a face. Because it's quite a handy talent for any aspiring journalist to have, you know what I mean?"

Kenny's features had creased into a slight frown, with the man feeling more than a little confused by this rather unexpected revelation. "…Strange", he muttered slowly, speaking almost more to himself than anyone. "I figured that either you or Lilly would'a brought it up by now, if that was the case. 'Cause I was under the impression that you guys had only known each other fer a few days now, but … well, it sounds to me like the two'a ya go back years."

"I ... don't think that she even really remembers it, to be honest", Carley explained with a gesture of indifference. "Or, if she does, then she certainly hasn't let on to me so far. We only met just the once, after all, and it all happened so long ago now. I wouldn't exactly be shocked if she doesn't remember me. We've … both changed quite a lot since then, too. At least to look at."

"…Mm. I guess it's true what they say then, huh? Must be a pretty small world out there after all", mumbled Kenny philosophically, now turning around and reaching out for a week-old loaf of bread, intending to inspect it more closely - waste not, want not, as his mother had always used to say. Then, bread still in hand, he glanced back in Carley's direction again. "So, uh… What actually happened between you two?"

The question was slightly tentative on his tongue, in truth, as though he were dreading hearing her response. After all, Kenny had already seen more than enough of their interaction to know that any previous run-ins between the two women were not likely to have been altogether friendly affairs...

"Nothing much, really", shrugged Carley evasively. "Just her being her usual self, I suppose." But when Kenny raised his eyebrows at her in the form of a silent inquiry, she sighed, and then yielded the information at last. "She just strolled on up to us one day - my crew and I - and said, and I quote: 'I'm giving you all twenty minutes to get yourselves, and all of your shit, out of our way, before I impound the lot of it, and then detain you all for interfering with our operation. The last thing that we need right now is a bunch of third-rate journalists snooping around here, so just pack up your equipment and scram, will you?'"

Kenny let out a low, sympathetic hiss as he drew breath. "Ouch. I bet that one stung a bit, huh?"

She gave a huff of disgust. "I was absolutely livid at the time. I mean, there I was; a young, hungry reporter, just starting out on the most daunting assignment of my life, only to then have some stuck up blue-collar come along and trample all over my confidence, first day on the job. I half considered following her when she set off back to the barracks afterwards - I was all riled up and ready to give her a piece of my mind. But my news editor, who I was travelling with at the time, David Marshall, ended up talking me out of it in the end. Told me that she was just an asshole grunt who was on some kind of mad power trip, that I should get used to dealing with her type while working around the military, and that I'd probably never even see her again, anyway…"

She gave a dry, humourless titter. "And yet, here I am, years later - stuck living alongside the woman, at world's end … Sucks to be me, I guess."

"Ah, she ain't that bad, really", Kenny offered up with a chortle. "Once you manage t' get past the initial bitchiness of the woman, that is…"

Carley quirked another dubious brow. "Well, you might be saying that now, but … just wait until you've had a chance to get to know her a little better. Trust me; people like her are always going to be trouble."

"You reckon, huh?" asked Kenny casually, now motoring through his supply-checking at a heightened pace, possibly in an effort to make up for precious time spent nattering.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. She reminds me a bit of my old boss, Julia, to be honest. I had to put up with the exact same kind of bullshit from her on a daily basis, too. People like that are the ones who tend to crave power and authority, but then find that they don't have the faintest idea what to do with it once they've obtained it. She's the kind of person who believes that being in charge of people means that you have to frequently walk all over them, and keep them all nice and downtrodden, in order to ensure that they remain loyal to you … her and her father, both. And believe me, assholes like that are not the kind of people who you want to find yourselves trapped with over a lengthy period of time, least of all during a crisis situation like this."

Kenny had stopped abruptly at this, and was now in the process of mulling over the rather stark warning which Carley had, so bluntly, just relayed to him. True, he had already been given ample cause to distrust both Lilly and her father, but … it still struck him that Carley was possibly being just a tad harsh on them here. Well, on Lilly, at least. Electing to voice these very musings aloud, he uttered composedly, "Well, y'know … Lilly has already helped us all to adapt and come to terms with all'a this, don't ya think? I mean, sure - she's not exactly my favourite person in the world, but … she still has her uses, y'know what I mean?"

"Yes, she has", Carley admitted, though only in the midst of a poorly-disguised roll of her eyes. "And that's because we've all so far been doing exactly what she tells us to. But trust me on this - she'll start showing off her true colours soon enough. Just as soon as we all stop doing everything that she wants us to do."

Kenny gently stroked at the tips of his moustache, thinking. Was she perhaps speaking some manner of sense here, after all? He was already fully aware that he could only trust Larry about as far as he could throw him - which probably wasn't very far at all, of course - but … was it also true that his daughter, Lilly, could yet become a real threat? Could she really be trusted around him and his family heading forwards?

These were the very questions that Kenny needed to ponder, each and every day, lest his carelessness end up putting his own family at risk. And putting either his wife or his son in jeopardy would have been simply unforgivable to the man. He'd sooner have embraced death itself, than knowingly compromise their safety…

"You see, that's exactly why I feel that we need to have a change of leadership around here", came Carley's voice suddenly from out of the gloom, rousing Kenny from his solitary concerns with a jolt. "We need somebody who is going to be willing to consider the needs of others before their own. Somebody who's going to be able to look at the bigger picture here, instead of just using some faux title to fuel their own sense of self-importance. Somebody … Somebody like you", she concluded evenly, twisting her body around to fully face Kenny from across the room - her eyes seeming to shine in the darkness, and her face suddenly alive with a blazing sincerity.

Her sudden passion had certainly caught Kenny off guard, but he was also left in no doubt as to its authenticity. For one quick glance up at her face had already answered the man's unasked question for him - she wasn't simply pulling his leg here. She was being deadly serious about this.

He blinked back his obvious surprise and then cleared his throat awkwardly, attempting to buy himself a few precious seconds of extra thinking time, before responding to her rather generous appraisal of his character. Honestly, the man had rarely ever heard someone speak about him in such glowing terms before - hell, probably even Katjaa - which certainly left him feeling a little unsure on how he was supposed to react.

"You, uh … You think that I'd make fer a good leader 'round here, do ya?"

He made sure to keep his tone sounding aloof, not wanting to come across as being too eager or desperate.

"Oh, without a doubt", Carley responded with gusto. "I mean, you've got to be a better option than Lilly at least, right?"

Once again, Kenny reached up to gently pluck at his moustache, the gears in his head now working some real overtime today. And as Kenny churned all of this over in silence - his thoughtful frown now drifting off into space - Carley was also doing some thinking of her own.

For her part, she obviously realised quite well that Kenny wasn't exactly what you'd call an ideal candidate for the role of group leader, either. She had already witnessed first-hand, over the course of the last few days spent living and working together, that the man was an irrepressible hothead at times, and that his temper would often cause group conflicts to get worse, before they got better.

But he was also the best option they had. At least in her opinion.

Kenny, at least, was a family man, one who possessed a great deal of compassion for those around him. And despite his obvious flaws, if it was a straight choice between that and the alternative, then Carley already knew where her vote was going. Surely any form of leadership that Kenny could muster up would at least be better than living under Lilly's intensive regime, after all? Because life under Lilly's boot was certainly not proving to be an enjoyable experience for anyone so far … least of all for Carley herself, who Lilly seemed to have already developed a particular distaste for. And Lilly was not one to hide such blatant contempt under the guise of preserving group harmony. On the contrary, she often preferred to let people know exactly what she thought of them, at every available opportunity. And it was beginning to wear down on Carley's dwindling nerves now, too. She honestly didn't know how much more of this she could take…

"…Well", Kenny began slowly, immediately jarring Carley out of her reverie. "While I 'ppreciate the support an' everything, we, er … we seem to be goin' more for the whole "joint leadership" thing at the moment, y'know? 'Cause with me, Lee, an' Lilly all here, I … I wouldn't really feel comfortable with rockin' the boat too much if I didn't have to, y'see what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean", she reassured him with a smile. "But even so", she pressed on doggedly. "If this ends up lasting for a little while longer, then we're definitely going to need a strong, leader-like figure to start calling the shots for us. Because it's one thing for you all to cooperate with each other when everyone's in agreement about what needs to be done, but … what happens when dissent starts to emerge within the ranks? Don't you think that we could use someone inside the group - a figurehead, if you will - who can put their foot down and make the decisive calls when needs be? And wouldn't you prefer that person to be you, as opposed to it being … someone else?"

Kenny shifted uncomfortably on the spot. He hadn't even really considered that outcome, if he was being completely honest with himself. Nevertheless, he set to thinking once again…

In truth, the man had always viewed himself as being pretty solid leadership material, he had to admit. Being captain of your own fishing vessel wasn't always easy, after all. All sorts of shit tended to go down once you found yourself out on the open waves; his list of past problems ranging anywhere from trouble with his fellow crewmates, to trouble with his equipment, and occasionally even trouble with the very elements themselves. Quick decisions often needed to be made out at sea, in order to ensure the success of the catch, as well as the safety of those aboard the boat as well. And in Kenny's own humble opinion, he was one of the best in the business when it came to steering his peers safely through such adversities.

It was also true enough, however, that the responsibility which Carley was currently attempting to thrust upon him was notably different to what he was usually accustomed to dealing with. Hell, they would probably have required the Messiah himself to lead them all safely through this mess, never mind a simple fisherman from Fort Lauderdale.

And yet … Carley's glowing praise of his abilities had stirred something inside the man, for sure. Something which had probably always been there, merely lying dormant until now: a desire to lead - to experience the feeling of having his fellow man look to him in times of strife, and being able to offer them all hope in return. Kenny may not have possessed all of the answers to the group's current problems, as certain others often pretended to, but … he could at least still offer them all hope, couldn't he? Surely that much was the very least he was capable of?

"I'll, uh … I'll have to think about", was the rather cryptic answer which he had decided upon giving her.

Carley appeared to study him over the top of the shelving units for a moment, and then graciously nodded her head in respect of his decision. "Okay, well … you go away and have a think about it, and then get back to me once you've decided what you wanna do. Because if it ends up coming down to a group ballot of some kind, then you should know that you've already got my vote. And I'm sure that Doug would be willing to support you as well."

Kenny raised yet another eyebrow in surprise. "…He actually said that?"

"...Well, maybe not in so many words", Carley conceded sheepishly. "But … I'm almost certain that he'll be on your side, too. Or at least, he will be, once I've had the chance to fully bring him up to speed about it all, somewhere private."

Another thoughtful scratch of the chin from Kenny. He was honestly running out of fresh objections to make with the idea now. "...Well, thank you", he eventually settled on saying. And there was a glimmer of pride shining in his eyes as he added earnestly, "The both o' you. It means a lot to hear you say that … truly."

"Hey, don't mention i-", Carley had cheerfully started to say, but she was cut off by yet another bump from upstairs - a much louder one this time; more like a crash than anything, as if something big had just been knocked over directly above them.

The heads of both survivors immediately flew upwards to stare worriedly at the dusty ceiling. A series of smaller thuds and clattering noises then proceeded the first, indicating that either someone, or something, was now freely moving around upstairs.

"I'm guessing that you at least heard that one, right?" asked Carley with a hint of sarcasm, keeping her voice low, as her gaze fell back upon Kenny. Everything upstairs had suddenly gone quiet for a moment, which did nothing to ease the growing unrest that had now been conjured between the pair of them.

"…Yeah", growled Kenny quietly, his eyes still transfixed on the ceiling that was separating them from the upper level, as though he might actually be able to see through to the room beyond, if he stared at it hard enough. "Seems we ain't alone in here, after all…"

Lilly crept up to the furthest edge of the building leading off of their current street. Her two trailing companions caught up with her mere seconds later, but she ignored them on this occasion, electing instead to cautiously lean around the corner of the property, in an attempt to scope out the terrain which lay ahead of them.

And here it was at last: the Riverside Ace Hardware store, sitting almost directly beyond the wall that they were all currently crouched beside, just as the map had indicated. Their only remaining obstacle now was to cross the rather large parking lot which was currently separating them from their goal. There were already some of those things wandering aimlessly between the cars that were still dotted about the parking spaces - their clothing in tatters, odd limbs now missing, and their rotting skin hanging off of them in folds - but their numbers didn't appear to be too great of an issue just yet. They could take them, if needs be.

And now the stench was here, too. That same stench that had seemed to follow them everywhere they went, ever since they had first stepped foot back into this godforsaken city. Lilly frantically shook her head to try and rid herself of it, and then turned her attention back towards their actual destination instead.

The outer building looked to have sustained a degree of damage, which was good news for them, as it would almost certainly ensure them several alternate routes into the structure's interior. Unfortunately, however, it also made it all-the-more likely that there would be additional monsters already lurking within.

It was only then that Lilly noticed the back of some kind of military truck protruding from the far side of the hardware store, having presumably crashed into the outer wall at some point over the last few days. But as several of the dead currently seemed to be congregating around it, searching the truck for extra supplies and weapons was probably a no-go for the time being.

She released a low sigh. "Could really do with one of those old golf clubs right about now", she mused to herself under her breath.

"…What?" whispered Lee from behind her, oblivious as to what she was talking about.

"Huh? Oh. Uh... Nothing", she mumbled distractedly, having apparently forgotten that Lee and Doug were even there for a moment. "It doesn't matter…"

"So, what now?" hissed Doug from the rear.

"We sneak up and try to find an easy way inside, preferably without any of those freaks spotting us first." She swivelled around to face her comrades, and then added seriously, "Are you guys ready for this?" - Her eyes seeming to scan them both for signs of weakness or hesitation in the process.

Lee looked first towards Doug, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so", was the final verdict, though his face currently seemed to be split between a half-smile, and a half-grimace.

Turning back to face Lilly, Lee nodded his head with a simple, "We're ready when you are."

"Then let's move", murmured Lilly, her tone heavy, and that rather familiar look of grim determination now coming over her once again. She stepped out from behind the wall, and then began steadily making her way to the next point of cover, the other two still hot on her heels, with all three now walking as low to the ground as their stooped frames would allow.

Soon: And with that, Part 5 of "The Remnants" is now officially done and dusted (and not before time, some would say). Yeah, I did warn you all that it was going to be a much longer part this time, didn't I? And the reason for this is quite simple, really...

Basically, I'm aiming to make this new and (hopefully) improved version of "The Remnants" a total of seven parts long, which unfortunately means that I've got quite a lot of material to try and cram into the next couple of parts, if I'm hoping to successfully meet my target. The problem here is that I've just got so much ground still left to cover (as you partially saw in the rather bloated part above), which means that it's going to be a little difficult to pull off a seven-part chapter at this stage, I think. I've already had to make this part slightly longer than I would have liked, and yet there's still so much stuff left to cover with the hardware-store group as well. Ultimately, I might end up having to make this chapter eight parts long, after all (depending on whether I decide to trim/cut certain upcoming scenes or not), which is far from being an ideal situation, honestly. Still, there isn't much that I can really do about it at this point, without straight-up cutting some of the material that will be fairly crucial to the story going forwards (which I am most definitely not looking to do right now).

I mean, I was originally planning on making this part even longer, would you believe, since I had intended to wrap up all of the relevant Kenny & Carley scenes all in one go but, upon further reflection, that would have simply ended up making the part way too long, in my opinion (like, at least 50% longer than it is now). I also didn't really want the upcoming Kenny & Carley material to interfere with the overall tone and mood of the next part, but ... when it came down to a straight choice of ruining either one thing or the other (the tone of the next part, or the length of this one) I eventually decided that length was probably the more pressing concern of the two. After all, people aren't likely to stop reading the story if the tone and mood is a little wonky, but they might well choose to stop reading if the parts themselves start becoming far too lengthy for people to handle. So, yeah. There you have it. :/

And now we move on to some analysis-type stuff...

Soonian Analysis: Okay, so, I've obviously got quite a few things that I'd like to cover with you all this time around. Firstly, however, I'd like to begin by commenting on the references to the in-universe military forces that occurred in this chapter. Now, although I'd usually take some time to talk about these scenes in greater detail with you all, I'm actually going to refrain from doing so on this occasion, since ... there may still be additional opportunities to discuss this story's military presence after the coming parts and chapters have been released. Hint ... hint. ;)

Secondly, I'd like to take a moment to reassure you all that you were not hallucinating whilst reading the part above. Yes, Kenny did actually (somewhat) defend Lilly in this one. So, you can cancel that appointment that you were about to make with your doctor/therapist over this. And no, it doesn't mean that "the end of the world is nigh", or something stupid like that, either ... or, at least, I don't think that it does, anyway.

On a slightly more serious note, however - you will all, of course, have noticed that the tried and tested leadership debate has now finally reared its head in this story at last. And as such, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you all what your opinions are on the subject, as things stand within the current storyline? I mean, I know that Nemesis Anonymous has already thrown her support behind Lilly during an earlier review (with Lee acting in a kind of support/co-op role), and I seem to recall ZombieGuy96 saying that he prefers Lilly's way of thinking over Kenny's, in his review for the opening part of "The First Night" (though, such thoughts may have shifted since then, I suppose), but ... what about the rest of you? Where's your money being placed at the moment? Or, alternately, if you're not really the gambling type, then - who's got your vote? Lilly? Kenny? Lee? ... Clementine? Hehe.

But if you're still feeling undecided on the matter then, fear not, for you still have plenty of time left to deliberate/chop-and-change your mind on this one, as the leadership debate within the group is something which is going to be running for quite some time yet. So, if you'd rather refrain from supporting any one individual for the time being, then I suppose that's acceptable, too. :P

And as we can also see from the part above, it seems as though Carley has already well and truly thrown her lot in with Kenny, doesn't it? This much is merely a case of me following on from the canon material, however, where Carley had seemed to latch onto Kenny as potential leadership material, within minutes of the man first entering the drugstore.

Carley: "You got it, boss."

But for those of you who are now rather astutely calling back to your time spent playing the main game and thinking - "Hang on. Didn't Carley end up supporting Lee for the group leadership in the end, though?" - well, yes, that is true. However, let me again take a moment to remind you all here that things will not be following the exact same path in this story as they did during the main canon, which naturally means that certain character relationships may not change and develop in quite the same way as they ordinarily would. Will Carley actually stay true to Kenny's attempts of becoming the group leader this time? Will she still eventually move on to supporting Lee in this story, too? Or will something entirely different be occurring this time around? The only thing that I feel we can safely say for sure at this stage is that, just as it was within the main game itself, Carley is probably still going to be quite firmly rooted in the "ABL" camp for the foreseeable future of one this.

What is "ABL", you ask? Well, "Anyone But Lilly", of course. Haha!

And on that subject, you'll also have probably noticed that I have now finally started exploring/adding to the Lilly/Carley dynamic in this part as well. Now, the slightly troubled relationship that these two ladies share is something that has always rather fascinated me, personally, but which I rarely see any other authors on here exploring in any great detail. It's normally either portrayed as being a completely one-sided affair ("Lilly's a big meanie head who is constantly picking on Carley, while poor Carley just wants to be friends"), or else people choose to drag Lee into it, and then decide to go down the rather simplistic jealousy route instead, which is an annoyingly popular theory among the greater fan-base, in truth, and one which I have always resolutely fought against - mainly because it transforms what is actually a fairly complicated relationship, between two heavily contrasting personalities, into mere childish squabbling over the affections of one man. Thankfully, however, Nicki Rapp (Lilly's VA) has since come out and stated, on record, that she doesn't believe jealousy to have played any part in Lilly & Carley's ongoing feud during the main game, which has now made that particular fan-theory much easier for me to stamp out than it had been proving to be beforehand (since the theory itself still has some pretty darn adamant believers out there).

However, you rarely ever see anybody these days actually taking a fair and unbiased look at their overall relationship (making sure to analyse things from both perspectives, rather than just one ... or indeed, neither), which is exactly what I'm going to be doing during the early-to-middle parts of this story.

So, we've obviously now taken a brief look at things from Carley's perspective during the part above. Any thoughts? Do any of you agree with Carley's view points on Lilly? Do any of you disagree with them? Or are you still on the fence at this early stage? If so, then you need not fret, for we will also be taking a thorough look at the relationship from Lilly's point-of-view in the coming chapters as well, which may then help to give you a clearer picture of which one is truly in the right here ... or if they both are ... or, indeed, if neither of them are.

Only one thing is for sure at this stage, which is that I will not be making this decision for you. Who you end up supporting/sympathising with in this little tussle is going to be completely up to you, as neither woman is going to be expressly portrayed as being the clear "wrongdoer" in the grander scheme of things.

Last, but not least...

Let's actually take a second to analyse some of the interesting Lilly moments that we witnessed in the chapter above, shall we? Now, originally, I had intended to focus on the rather surprising nature of Lilly's raw physical strength for the purpose of this analysis, but ... having thought about it for a while longer, there honestly seems to be one other Lilly-related subject from the above part which is probably more deserving of receiving some greater exposure at this early stage of the story. And that subject just so happens to be her heightened levels of social awareness...

You see, one other tired cliché that I often see being trotted out for Lilly's character is that she is completely self-absorbed, meaning that she often takes no time to really pay attention to the wants and needs of the people around her. However, a deeper analysis of the in-game material instead reveals that Lilly is anything but.

We'll start with the argument at the motel, at the very beginning of episode 2, I think (when Lee, Kenny & Mark first bring Ben and his companion back to the motor inn to receive treatment). Now, you're obviously then given the option of siding with either Kenny or Lilly (or else playing it neutral) in the conversation that follows: Kenny will, of course, look perfectly smug and satisfied if you choose to back up his side of the debate, but ... what does Lilly do if you decide to go the opposite way? Well, she will start out by looking momentarily surprised (raising her eyebrows just a fraction of an inch), and will then turn her attention immediately towards Kenny instead. However, you can also clearly see that she isn't merely doing this to try and gloat at him here - she's instead using this rather unexpected development of Lee siding with her to try and learn something new about Kenny in the process. She's actually analysing him, in other words.

Whereas Kenny's smirking reaction is basically his way of saying - "Ha! Take that, Lilly."

Lilly's initial reaction is instead more along the lines of - "Wow. Really? ... I wonder how Kenny's going to react to that."

And then we see another example, after the roadside murder in episode 3. If you decide to take Lilly along with you in the RV after Carley or Doug has been killed, then Lilly will immediately look towards Kenny, as soon as she has had a chance to take on board Lee's decision, and realises that she isn't (yet) being left behind. You can only see it happen for just a split second before the camera angle changes, but you do actually see Lilly's head turn immediately in Kenny's direction, before he has even started talking.

So, again, Lilly's reaction to an unexpected show of compassion from Lee here was not - "Oh my god, Lee, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" - but is instead more along the lines of - "He's keeping me? ... What's Kenny going to have to say about that?"

And so we see again that Lilly is focusing her attention on the people around her, watching them and learning about them, in order to try and build a better understanding of the people within her group ... and even when she, herself, is reduced to a state of complete turmoil, this constant vigil of hers never seems to cease.

Those aren't the only two examples that I could have used to indicate this trend, either. During the argument in the drugstore (after Lee's group enters, and then are introduced to Lilly for the very first time), you will notice that when the shit starts to hit the fan, and Larry starts throwing his weight (and accusations) around about Duck, Lilly is to be seen (for the most part) carefully watching all of this unfold from the sidelines. She only speaks up on several different occasions during the entire argument, and this is because she was largely focused on watching and learning about the new people who had just so unexpectedly entered her midst. Her expression towards Lee & Kenny will then change slightly, depending on the dialogue choices that you elect to make throughout the course of the scene (ranging anywhere from annoyance, to anger, and from sympathy, to guilt). Lilly watches, and Lilly learns.

You also see this trend again when the St. Johns first turn up. Everyone else's attention is (quite understandably) focused solely on the two strangers who are currently outside their gates, but when the camera pans onto Lilly for the first time, you clearly see her glance over in Lee's direction for a second, because she's curious to see what his reaction towards these two unexpected trespassers will be.

And again, during the debate in Lilly's room at the beginning of episode 3. If you keep your eyes trained on her, you'll notice that Lilly's head seems to change direction (from Kenny to Lee, and then back again) more frequently than either of the other two. Even if the person she is currently looking at isn't actually talking at that moment in time, she will still make sure glance their way for a moment, if she's eager to note their reaction to one specific comment or suggestion. She watches, and she learns.

Lastly, and most tragically of all, it was in fact this careful vigilance of her fellow survivors that eventually contributed to Lilly's undoing as a leader/member of the group. For once the paranoia had started to set in (after she was forced to witness the brutal death of her father in episode 2), and once it began to cloud her judgement of the people around her, it transformed what had once been a key asset of Lilly's into something negative and dangerous.

Lilly: "Was it both of you? ... I've seen you two together. Was it BOTH OF YOU?"

Paranoia tends to effect the brain in many varying ways (sometimes these effects are subtle, and sometimes ... not so much), and one of the ways that it clearly effected Lilly was for her to start viewing friendly and/or innocent interactions between other group members as some kind of conspiracy or threat. And so, when she discovered that supplies were going missing, and she found that two of the people she had trusted the least among their number (this being both Carley & Ben) had been spending inordinate amounts of time together, which two people do you then think it was who became the sole targets of her later interrogation? ... Yep. It was Carley and Ben.

So, as we can see by carefully analysing the in-game material, Lilly was most certainly not self-absorbed. Quite the contrary, in fact, as her eyes and thoughts were often cast outwards instead, in an attempt to learn and discover new things about the people around her. In fact ... you might even say that she was perhaps a bit too observant, in the end, as she eventually starting seeing things that weren't even there to begin with.

And that concludes the analysis section for... this... uh...

Lilly: *watching Soon intently*

Soon: Um... How did you-? How long have you been-? ... What are you doing here?

Lilly: I'm just getting to know my surroundings a little better. That's all.

Soon: Ah, I see. Well, hehe... Any, um... Any thoughts on them so far?

Lilly: Yeah. I think that you're an ass.

Soon: ...You can go off people, you know? -_-

Lilly: *shrugs and takes an apple from the bowl on the desk*

Soon: H-Hey! Those are mine! D:

Lilly: Not anymore, they're not. I'm procuring these on behalf of our group. Don't whine. Our need is greater than yours... *takes a bite*

Soon: ...How did you even get here anyway? This is supposed to be a special space reserved for me, and me alone.

Lilly: *takes time chewing* ... *swallows* ... *stares for a moment* ... I walked.

Soon: ...Of course you did. Goddammit! I'm gonna have to go getting locks put on my office door from now on. Anyway, that finally concludes the analysis section for this chapter. And now it's time for the Skits once again. You're, uh ... You're actually in these ones, y'know? Hurry up and get ready, will ya?

Lilly: Okay, I'm going already. Take a chill pill. Jesus...

Soon: Did you, of all people, just tell me to-? ... Ah, whatever. There will once again be three Skits this time (which is now fast becoming the standard number for this story, it would seem). Although... I suppose you could also maybe say that there were four this time, if you wanted to count ... er ... whatever the hell that was that just happened above. How the hell did she even-?! Bah! I guess I'll just have to work it out later.

Enjoy, peeps...

Skit 28 (Nibbles)

Kenny: "Awright then, let's have a gander at this list you've written for us, Lilly…"

*his eyes quickly scan the page*

Kenny: "…Wait, what the hell're "nibbles" supposed to be?"

Lilly: "It's exactly what it sounds like."

Kenny: "Is that supposed to be, like, party food, or…?"

Lilly: "Yeah. It's just, like … nibbles … you know?"

Kenny: "Well, you're gonna have t' be a little more specific than that if you wan' us to go an' get it for ya. 'Cause I ain't goin' outta my way for ya, 'specially when I don't even really know what it is that I'm lookin' for."

Duck: "I want nibbles, too!" :D

Lilly: "…Yeah. See? Even your own son wants nibbles."

Kenny: *sighs* … "I guess I'mma have to try an' find us some "nibbles", then."

Carley: "Wow. You know what? That actually sounds pretty appetising. I think I might have some, too." :)

Lilly: "No."

Carley: "…"

Lilly: "…No nibbles for you."

Skit 29 (A True Patriot)

Carley: "So, Kenny, I take it that you must've employed people from many different countries to help out on your boat over the years, right?"

Kenny: "Yep. I find it's always healthy to have a bit of ethnic variety on board of a fishing vessel, y'know what I mean? It's like havin' my own little international community waitin' for me every time that I go to work in the mornin'."

Carley: *nods encouragingly*

Kenny: "Which naturally makes it that much easier for me t' jus' gather 'em all up, and tell how much their countries all suck in comparison to ours! AW, YEAH~! U-S-A! U-S-A! WOO~!"

Carley: /:

Skit 30 (Heroism)

*sounds of someone screaming in the distance*

Lee: *gasps* … "Someone's in trouble! This sounds like a job for … a superhero!"

*a bolt of lightning descends and strikes Lee*

Lilly: "HOLY SHIT! Lee?! Are you-?"

*the lightning fades to reveal Lee, clad in brilliant white armour, complete with facemask and flowing black cape*

Lilly: o_O

Lee: "Fear not, fair citizen! For "Professor Chokehold" is on the way!"

*dashes off heroically*

Lilly: "…What in the actual fu-? Hey! Lee? … LEE! Where the hell d'you think you're going? You can't just go running off like that and leave us to-"

Doug: "Hey, wait for me, Lee! You didn't forget your beloved crime-fighting partner, the magnificent "Tech Wizard", now, did you? Lemme just change into my gear and I'll be with you in a jiffy!"

Lilly: "Oh no, you don't! C'mere you!" *gets Doug in a headlock*

Doug: "A-Ack! She - She's got me! Someone help!"

Carley: *suddenly appears, wearing a skin-tight, violet-shaded bodysuit, with matching cape and facemask* ... "Unhand my nerd, you fiend! Or you'll soon face the wrath of "The Sharpshooter"!

Doug: "C-Carley! Yes!" :'D

Carley: "Ssh! Doug, be quiet. You'll blow my cover, you dummy."

Doug: "O-Oh, right … Uh … Sorry."

Lilly: "Wha ... What the hell are you even wearing?"

Carley: "Don't try to change the subject! Your diversionary tactics will not work on me, General Eyebrows. Now release him, villain! This is your final warning."

Lilly: "…Wait, General what?!"

Kenny: "Aw, man. Everyone else's havin' a blast, gettin' in-costume an ev'rythin'. Maybe I should come up with a super hero identity, too. I could be … I dunno … "The Fisherman", or somethin'."

Duck: "THIS IS, LIKE, THE BESTEST THING EVER!" :D

Soon: The bestest thing ever, indeed. Are you a secret superhero, too? Are you also a true patriot? Or do you simply feel like having some "nibbles" for lunch? Be sure to lemme know in the review section, won't you? ;P

And on that note, it's time for a little explanation/serious talk here, peeps. Now, most of you will no doubt be wondering why it's taken me so damn long to get this next part uploaded for you all, and you'll have had every right to do so. Well, the most obvious answer for this (as there are several that I could have given you here) is that I've simply been forced to prioritise certain other things, instead of this story. Because - as I was telling you all at the very beginning of the part - I have a lot of other online projects which run alongside this one, and many of those demand an even greater chunk of my time and energy than this one does. So, what's my system here? How do I go about deciding which of my various projects gets top priority each time? ... Well, I tend to decide that based on one simple factor alone - fan demand. I go wherever I feel that I am most wanted/needed, in other words.

Now, whenever I take a little time out to try and work on updating this story further, several fans of my other online projects often come to me, asking why it is that I can't host for them at the moment, and what exactly am I then supposed to say to them?

"Oh, I'm re-typing an old story of mine for about 10-12 people on another website. :)"

...Yeah. You see the problem here yet? One of my other, altogether more popular online projects has a much, much larger fan-base than this story currently does (we're talking dozens here, easily), and so letting all of them down, on behalf of you guys, is just ... not really something that I can justify to myself all that often. Especially when taking into account that I actually get paid to host some of my other projects, as well.

And so this is why I'm appealing to you all now. If you are a fan of this story, and have been reading/enjoying it so far, then I urge you to get involved in the project as much as feasibly possible. Because the only way that I'll be able to continue updating this story going forwards (never mind making it my top priority) is if I can see that I've got the numbers on side to justify the time spent writing all of this for you guys. Now, it's at this point that I obviously start to feel bad for those of you who have been taking an active role in things so far, as there is honestly not much more that I could demand from most of you guys. You're already doing everything that you can to help keep this project going and for that, I can only thank you, and encourage you to keep the support going from now on, if you'd still like to see more of this story in the future.

However, this message is more dedicated to those of you who are still sitting on the sidelines. Those of you who may have been reading the story with interest until now, whilst continuing to lurk in the shadows. And it is to these people that I speak when I reiterate this request for you all - please be sure to get involved in the story as much as you can.

You like the story, but are feeling too shy/uncomfortable to leave a review, and speak to me personally? Well, why not simply Fav/Follow the story instead, to let me know that you're still on board and eager to see more? You've been reading the story until now, but are still not sure if you're a big enough fan of it yet to click that Fav/Follow button? Well, why not post a review here and tell me why? It doesn't have to be positive. Negative/neutral reviews are always welcome here, too (in fact, they're sort of like a guilt pleasure of mine, if truth be told). Heck, you don't even have to address your review to me, personally. Why not take the chance to ask a question/make some comment towards the actual characters of the story themselves? That kind of activity is also more than welcome here.

Because, unless you take the time out of your day to actually get involved in the project, and give me a better idea of just how many people are reading/enjoying this story right now, then there is practically zero chance of me being able to dedicate any great amounts of time to this project going forwards. The only thing that I can say for certain, right at this moment, is that I will definitely be finishing up "The Remnants" for you all here, as I'm not really the type of guy to leave a job half finished. However, anything beyond that is (sadly) still up in the air at this stage.

Let's just say that I have some targets in mind, and leave it at that. If those targets are met within the next two or three updates, then I'll continue on with the story as planned (and probably also pick up the pace of the updates substantially as well). And if those targets are not met (as seems the more likely outcome at this point in time, as we've actually been losing Favs recently, rather than gaining them - though that's possibly only due to the sheer length between updates, I'm not entirely sure), then I'll have to take a step back and analyse what to do from there. We'll just have to see how we go for now, I think.

So, yeah. Be sure to leave a review and/or support the story in any way that you can, peeps, and you should find that the updates start flowing much quicker than they have so far. And I'll see you all next ti-

Lilly: You guys had better leave a review. Or else I'll come looking for you. And you don't want to know what I'm going to do to you once I've found you...

Soon: Are you still here? ... Listen, Lilly, I'd prefer if you didn't, uh ... threaten the readers, y'know? I don't exactly think that's the most optimal way for the story to start picking up some new followers...

Lilly: I wasn't threatening them. I was just giving them some ... friendly advice, that's all.

Soon: Uh ... huh. Sure you were.

Anyway, that's about it for this update, peeps. Be sure to keep in mind what I've told you, and try to get involved if you ever find yourself with a few moments to spare, won't you? Because the readers really are the lifeblood that keeps stories like this one ticking along.

And I'll see you all next time.