Open up, Survivors Inside

Chapter 12

Puffer fired at another bandit as the group took cover, giving Travis and Elizabeth enough time to get in. Right before Tess could, a shot his her in the chest, sending her to the ground. "Mommy!" Elizabeth cried out.

"Get her in!" Puffer ordered, and Travis pulled Elizabeth in while Puffer dragged Tess out of the blast zone.

"Don't let...anything happen to her..." Tess begged, "R...Run..." Tess went limp, and the light faded from her eyes. Puffer felt himself go pale at this, but as Tess was hit in the chest, he had no choice but to put an arrow in her head to keep her from turning.

As this happened, Lee and Carley gave enough cover for all to get to the RV, only for a walker to fall on Katjaa and Duck. Thankfully, Lee managed to put it down. "Save your arrows, I got you!" Lee said. Puffer looked back to Tess, then nodded and headed inside. As soon as Kenny got the RV running, Lilly jumped in and slammed the door closed, the RV driving off.

"Did we lose anyone?!" Kenny asked.

"Tess..." Puffer replied, "She was hit in the chest. Fuck, the bastards got a lucky shot."

"I'm sorry," Ben mumbled.

"Everything's fine Ben," Carley said.

"Everything's not fine," Lilly snapped, "We need to figure out how this happened."

"Someone was giving them medicine, and they got pissed about not getting another batch," Puffer added, then paused, "But trying to figure out who while we're in this state is a bad idea."

"We just lost everything!" Lilly argued, "Somebody in here caused this, and we're not safe until we throw them out of the group."

"Like, look, maybe we should vote or something?" Ben suggested.

"A vote? What?" Lilly questioned, annoyed by the suggestion.

"Everyone just calm down!" Puffer snapped, "We can figure this out when we're in a safer spot."

"You can't abstain from this!" Lilly argued.

"I'm not abstaining! But is arguing in a moving vehicle really a good idea?!" Puffer retorted back.

"Lilly, stop waving the finger at everybody," Lee started, "We know something's going on and we can get to the bottom of it if we keep our heads."

"I know what we found," Lilly said.

"Nobody was stealing anything!" Ben said.

"Shut up Ben, you're making it worse!" Travis said. Elizabeth was at the table, quietly sobbing.

"Lilly please," Doug started, "You're not thinking straight."

"Maybe it was you!" Lilly snapped at Ben, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't have anything to do with it." Just as Ben was about to do just that, the RV slammed into something, causing Kenny to pull it over. When it did, Lee, Kenny, Ben, Travis, Puffer, Carley, and Doug got out, with Kenny going to deal with the walker he had hit.

"Chill out lady," Travis glared, but backed up when Lilly looked over with anger.

"I'm not doing this," Lee stated.

"Neither am I, this is fucking pointless right now," Puffer said.

"Come on Puffer, you're the one who found them, you can't just abstain," Lilly said.

"Fuck all that, this is nuts!" Lee stated, "We're out here on the side of the road!"

"It wasn't Ben!" Travis practically shouted, "So stop blaming him!"

"Then it was you!" Lilly snapped, "Because the only other suspect is dead!"

"What?! You're insane!" Travis replied with shock.

"What do I have to do for you to trust me, I'll do anything!" Ben begged, and Puffer was starting to notice how guilty Ben was acting.

"Stop panicking!" Lee said, "Seriously Ben, you need to stop and just take a breath!"

"Lilly lay off already, can't you see he's had enough?" Doug said, and Lilly turned to him.

"Do you need any more evidence than this?!" Lilly questioned Doug.

"Fuck evidence! Stop treating him like this!" Carley started.

"Shut up Carley!" Lilly snapped, but Carley continued.

"You think you're some tough bitch, don't you?" Carley sneered, "Like nothing can hurt you, but you're just a scared little girl. Get the fuck over it. Take a page from Doug and Lee's book and try helping someone for once." DAMN, Puffer was glad he was not on her bad side, as he wouldn't want a roast like that.

Kenny managed to pull the walker out from under the RV and smash its head in before walking over, "Now what the fuck's the problem?"

Doug seemed to catch something before anyone else as he tried to pull Carley away. A shot rang out, and both Carley and Doug collapsed to the ground, dead. Lilly had the gun pointed out, and after a few seconds she managed to process what she had just done. As did Lee, as he quickly moved to disarm Lilly. "Drop it," Lee hissed.

Lilly did so, letting the gun fall from her hand. Puffer stared down at the dead bodies of Carley and Doug, and it felt like his world was crashing on him. He had failed to keep three people safe now. He slowly turned to face Lilly, "You're staying here," Puffer said, his tone icy cold. It was enough to make a few people freeze as it was a tone Puffer never had. His anger was more of the loud anger, not the silent anger.

But this time was different, because he fucking knew Lilly was a danger and yet he did nothing to prevent this from happening. But now, he would make damn sure no one else died because of her. "I'll die out here," Lilly said, and it was clear she was panicking.

"You could be torn apart by walkers for all I care," Puffer replied, his voice eerily calm as he spoke, "That was strike three. If I ever see you again, I'll make sure you do end up dead or eaten."

"You're a murderer Lilly!" Kenny added, "We can't have you with us!"

"I'm a murderer? You've had Lee with you this whole time," Lilly argued.

Kenny looked shocked, but he had no time to question Lee on this before Puffer spoke up again, "I don't give a fuck what he did before the dead started walking, he is far more trustworthy that you are. Get bent," he then turned to the others, "Go back inside, we're leaving." No one needed to be told twice. Puffer was the last to get on, slamming the door closed and locking it so Lilly couldn't try and jump back in last second. As the RV drove off and Lilly ran into the woods, Puffer made a promise: If he saw Lilly again, he would put an arrow in her skull.