A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long hiatus. I had no idea how to proceed with this fic. Basically, I wanted to continue the plot, but I also wanted to have more moments of Clementine and Danielle being fun, goofy, and adorable toddlers… I'm hoping that I can finish this fic soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

Lee entered the house as quietly as he could. It wouldn't have mattered how he would have entered. Inside, it was very loud. He could hear the toddlers' cries and a man ranting. Lee went in the direction of the yelling and crying.

"You… You have no idea how I feel! You don't know my suffering, but now… you will." A man's voice was heard. Lee got closer and closer to the voice. He was in the living room. He heard a pained groan which was followed by the man shouting. "Where is the rest of your group? Where are those bastards that left my family to starve!"

"I don't know what… you're talking about!" A hoarse voice replied. It was Vince.

"That is a f****** lie and you know it!" The man hissed.

Lee peeked out from the hallway to see Vince in a chair. He was strapped to the chair with an unknown man in front of him. It appeared that he was torturing Vince.

Lee huffed before he went for his handgun. This would only end in one way. In a flash, he pulled out his handgun and fired a bullet into the unknown man's head. The man's body fell onto the ground.

The two toddlers cried from the gunshot. Lee ran over to get Vince out of the chair. As he ran over, he noticed that Katjaa and Duck were injured. Duck was in worse condition. It appeared he had been shot in the abdomen, while Katjaa was bleeding from her arm.

"Lee… good timing…" Vince said.

Lee sighed and he said, "Not good enough… Is everyone else alright?"

"Physically… yes…" Diana said with a frown. "Emotionally… no."

Lee cut the straps that kept Vince in the chair. He groaned as he got up. "You might want to take it easy man. You don't look too good."

Vince huffed and he said, "I know…" He looked around and he said, "Where's everyone else?"

"Crawford's got two of them…" Lee said. He noticed Diana's eyes widened when he mentioned Crawford.

"Crawford?" Vince said. He looked to Diana and he said, "Do you know about this guy since you mentioned him?"

"Yes…" Diana said. "Crawford oversees the community that I was at." She looked over to Duck and Katjaa before turning to Clementine who was whimpering in her arms. "Baby, I need you to go to Lee for a little bit. I have to help Katjaa."

"No!" Clementine exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to." Diana said. "I have to help Duck." She managed to give Clementine to Lee before she went over to Katjaa much to Clementine's dismay.

"Don't worry. I'll take over. I was a doctor before all of this." Katjaa was still worried but nodded. "Put some pressure on the wound." She grabbed her backpack. Diana then gestured Katjaa to follow her and the two women rushed upstairs with Duck.

Lee bobbed the girl in his arms hoping to soothe her. "Whoa… I didn't think I would have ever seen babies again." Molly said as she approached Lee. "I'm guessing you're the dad."

"Not exactly." Lee said. "But I have been looking after her since day one."

Clementine's whimpering ceased, and she looked to Molly who smiled at her. "She's a cutie. I'm sure you spoil her rotten." Molly said.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do at this age?" Lee asked.

Molly scoffed and she said, "Yeah if you want to end up with a little monster by age five."

"Touché." Lee said. He continued to bob the girl in his arms who seemed to be calming down now. He looked over to Vince who managed to calm Danielle down. "So… what the heck happened here?" Lee asked.

"I don't know…" Vince said. "He just came in here and started waving a gun around. We were completely off guard." He made a gesture to the dead man on the ground. "Before I knew it, he shot Katjaa and Duck and started to make demands. He kept saying that his family died because of us."

"Hmm…" Lee said.

"What… What is it?" Vince asked.

"Do you remember when our group went to the St. John's and came back with all of that stuff?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… I remember. Why?" Vince said.

"You remember what Wyatt told us? The vehicle that they took the food and supplies from was a Volkswagen. There's a Volkswagen outside right now. I think it might be the same person that we robbed from." Lee said.

"That is nuts." Vince said. "Wy said that they left half of the food and supplies."

"I guess that wasn't enough…" Lee said.

"Dammit… We should have done something… Could have prevented all of this." Vince said.

"That bad word." Danielle said.

"Sorry." Vince said. "We should probably go upstairs. The girls shouldn't have to see that."

"I can keep an eye on them." Christa said.

Vince nodded and he said, "Thank you." The toddlers were less fussy now and were willing to let Christa look after them. Christa took them in her arms and went upstairs so that the rest of the group could talk.

"Alright. So what happened out there?" Vince asked. "I thought you, Kenny, Bud, and Chuck were on your way to get a boat… and who's this?"

"The name's Molly." Molly said. "Your friends got too close to Crawford." She turned to Lee and she said, "You're lucky you escaped."

"So what's this Crawford all about?" Ben asked.

"Well… it's a community full of assholes. They think it's survival of the fittest. Anyone who won't or can't abide by those rules are either killed or removed." Molly said. "I try to keep my distance from them."

"Dammit… And you're telling me that Bud, Kenny, and Chuck were caught by these guys?" Vince asked.

Lee shook his head. "Worse… Two of them were caught… One of them is dead." Lee said.

Vince was shocked to hear this. "Shit… I can't believe this."

"We have to get them back." Lee said.

"Are you crazy?" Molly asked. "There is only a few of us. Crawford has a whole army of mindless idiots at his disposal."

"I didn't say it was going to be easy." Lee said. "I can't just do nothing… They got my brother."

"Lee… we need to think this through… We don't have enough people. I'm pretty beaten, Katjaa barely knows how to hold a gun, and we have two toddlers and an injured kid with us." Vince said.

"I know… but who knows what those crazy f**** are going to do to them." Lee said.

"I know." Vince said. "I would have done anything to keep my brother safe… but we have to be smart about this." He turned to Molly and he said, "How many mindless idiots does Crawford have?"

Molly thought for a second before she replied. "There's about forty or so. There's some people within his group that aren't completely loyal to him."

"Why's that?" Lee asked.

"Well some of the people he has are parents." Molly said. "And they aren't too happy that Crawford forced their kids to leave."

"Are?" Omid asked.

Molly looked up to him and she said, "I meant 'were'. Anyway, they don't like the rules that Crawford's forced on them, but they're too nervous to do anything about it. Anytime someone doesn't want to follow the rules, it usually gets them killed."

"So… we could get some help from the inside?" Lee asked.

Molly sighed and she said, "Maybe… if we don't die first. Crawford is well armed. We'll die before we even get anywhere close to them."

"There's got to be a way." Lee said. "We can't just leave them to die." He contemplated on a plan for a few minutes, but he couldn't think of anything.

Molly sighed and broke the silence when she said, "I don't know what to tell you guys. I think you should cut your losses while you still can."

Everyone was surprised to hear her say this. "You have got to be kidding me?" Vince said.

"We can't just give up on them." Ben said.

"Ain't no way I'm doing that to Bud. I left him once already. I ain't going to leave him again." Lee said. The other two men and the teenager nodded.

"Look… I… Dammit… Fine. I may know a way to help you guys… but I really don't want to do it." Molly said.

"What do you mean?" Vince asked.

Molly sighed and she said, "All those kids that Crawford tossed aside and some of the people who had medical problems are… safe. They're in a morgue right now which used to be an old bomb shelter. It was a simple routine. I would go out, scrounge up supplies and try to make as much noise as possible."

"Why?" Lee said.

"So she could cover for me." Diana said. Lee and the group looked over to the women as she approached them. "While Molly created a distraction for Crawford and his men, I would grab medicine for the people who needed it. The system worked for a while, but then I got caught last time. I had to kill my assistant and make a run for it away from Crawford."

"I see… and that's when we found you." Vince said.

"That's right." Diana said. "I don't want them to get involved, but a couple of people in that group know the sewers inside and out. Perhaps I can go talk to those two members. We could use the sewers to get into Crawford."

"Is this actually possible?" Omid asked.

"It seems that way." Lee said. "Alright. The rest of us will get ready."

"I'll go with you. I'll watch your back." Molly said.

Diana nodded before she looked to Lee. "Lee… words can't express how thankful I am that you looked after my daughter all this time. I want you to make me a promise. If I don't survive, promise me that you will continue to look after her."

"Don't say that. You're all that she has left." Lee said. "You will make it."

Diana frowned and she said, "Life's not a guarantee anymore. I wish I didn't have to talk that way… Just… promise me, okay?"

Lee sighed and he said, "I promise."

"Good. Thank you." Diana said. She looked to Molly and she said, "I need to say goodbye to my daughter. I'll be ready to go after that."

"Yeah… take your time." Molly said.

"Okay. Thank you." Diana said. She and Lee went upstairs to find Clementine.

"How's Duck doing?" Lee asked.

"Hard to tell… Katjaa and I stopped the bleeding, but he still has a weak pulse." Diana said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Lee asked.

Diana shook her head and she said, "Just let him rest for now. He might feel better in a couple of days."

Lee nodded. They checked the rooms until they arrived at one of the doors and opened it. They saw Christa with both Clementine and Danielle in her arms. The two toddlers were fast asleep with pacifiers in their mouths.

Christa smiled at the two. Diana walked over to Christa and picked up Clementine. She carried the toddler over to the bed and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye baby girl. I got to go help my friends right now. You be good." Diana whispered. She placed the toddler on the bed while Christa placed Danielle next to Clementine. They then made their way out of the room.

"So… how was it?" Lee asked Christa.

Christa huffed and she said, "Babysitting them was not easy. They decided to make it into a game by making me chase after them up here."

"I thought I heard some squealing and giggling." Diana said with a smirk.

"Yeah… I went along with it until they wore themselves out." Christa said. "Then I grabbed them and started to read one of those baby books to them. Soon enough, they were fast asleep."

"Aww… You do a good job looking after them." Diana said.

"Thanks." Christa said as they went toward the stairs.

"You're welcome." Diana said. She looked over to Lee and she said, "Before I forget, I already fed Clementine. She had some peaches for lunch."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." Lee said.

"You're welcome." Diana said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Lee watched Christa enter the living room to join Omid, Vince, and Ben while Diana went over to Molly. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Okay. Stay close to me." Molly said.

Diana nodded before leaving the house with Molly. Lee went into the living room and looked over to the body on the ground. "Anyone want to help me with this?" Lee asked.

He was surprised when Ben got up and he said, "Yeah… I'll help."

"Thanks kid." Lee said.

The teenager nodded and helped Lee carry the body outside.

"What should we do with it?" Ben asked.

Lee shook his head and he said, "I don't know. Never really knew the guy. We usually burn the dead and anyone we didn't know or didn't care about." He recalled doing this back at the motor inn in Macon. "Can't exactly burn him… We might set the house on fire by accident and there's not enough walkers out there to get rid of him that way." He noticed Ben shutter. "You okay kid?"

Ben shook his head and he said, "I just… I never want that to happen to me… To be eaten alive."

Lee gave the teenager a sympathetic look before he said, "I understand, kid. Don't worry. We're going to do everything we can to keep you safe."

"I… Thanks… I know I'm not always there for you guys and… I did mess up at the motor inn… in more ways than one." Ben said.

"It's okay, kid." Lee said. "Look, we didn't know that was going to happen."

Ben shook his head and huffed. "It's all my fault, Lee… Everything…" Ben said. He huffed again before looking over to Lee. "I was the one who was giving the bandits supplies. I'm so sorry, Lee."

Lee looked to Ben with a horrified stare. "You… You put everyone in danger! We could have died, Ben!" Lee exclaimed.

"I know… I'm sorry… I wish I could take it all back…" Ben said. He seemed to be shaking.

Lee huffed to calm himself down and he said, "Just… why? Why would you do this?"

"I… I thought I could protect you guys. I thought if I gave them what they wanted they would leave us alone… but then Wyatt found it and… it all fell apart." Ben said. "I never meant to betray the group… I swear."

Lee sighed and he said, "Alright kid… I get it. You were… trying to protect us, but Ben, you should have talked to one of us at the very least. We could have taken action to prevent the attack."

"I… I wanted to, but I didn't think anyone would listen to me…" Ben said. "I won't ever do it again. I swear."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Lee said. He huffed before he said, "We'll talk more about this later, but for now, we need to take care of this guy."

"Okay." Ben said with a frown.

Lee looked around the backyard for any shovels. Burying the man was their only option. Upon seeing none, he went to the shed. He huffed as he tried to open the shed's doors. It appeared that the doors were stuck. After a few yanks, he finally pried it open; however, he wasn't ready for what was inside. "Holy shit…" Lee muttered.

"What… What is it?" Ben asked.

"It's a boat." Lee said as he stared at the large, white boat within the shed.

Ben got closer and looked in the shed. "Whoa… What are we going to do now?" Ben asked.

"Hmm… I'll talk it over with the group." Lee said. He grabbed a couple of shovels. "In the meantime, we got some digging to do."

"Okay." Ben said. He and Lee proceeded to dig up a grave for the unknown man.

After burying the man, they went back inside. "Thanks for the help, Ben." Lee said.

"No prob… It's the least I could do." Ben said. He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner and he said, "Could… Could you keep what I told you a secret? I'm afraid that… you guys won't want me to stay… knowing what I did."

"Yeah… I'll keep it a secret until you're ready, but you will have to tell everyone what happened eventually…" Lee said.

Ben nodded and he said, "I know." He walked away as Omid entered the room.

"So… job's done?" Omid asked. "Please tell me you got rid of the body as far away from here as possible."

Lee shook his head and he said, "No… We buried him in the backyard."

"Well that sucks. He's going to start haunting us now." Omid said. "He'll be our resident ghost. I wonder if we can start charging him for rent."

Lee scoffed and he said, "I don't know, Omid. How exactly is he going to pay us for rent?"

"That's a good point… Dammit… we won't be able to force him to leave for not paying rent since we can't touch him." Omid said with a disgruntled look on his face. "Who would have thought that having a resident ghost was going to suck."

Lee chuckled and he said, "I guess we'll figure it out. By the way, I found something in the shed in the backyard that could be useful. Can you go get Vince?"

"Sure." Omid said. "What did you find?"

"A boat." Lee said.

Omid's eyes widened and he said, "Nice dude. I guess our resident ghost will get an upgrade." He started to walk away while Lee just shook his head. "He'll go from being a resident ghost to a ghost pirate. That is so much better, and it's badass. Our neighbors are going to be so jealous."

…To be continued.