Chapter 66 Lily and her Family

John led Kenny up to the second floor and the women were already waiting for them. They had heard them coming up the stairs. The women led them into the room and sat them at the table, where Megan and the old man were already sitting.

Lily who had finally introduced herself and Tamara, came over with plates full of SpaghettiOs. When they had all been served, they started to eat. Megan didn't eat though; she was being picky. John seeing this smiled at her and pulled a piece of taffy out of his pocket.

John looked at Megan and said, "If you eat your food, I'll give you 3 pieces of taffy. How about it?" Megan looked between John and the candy for a second before she picked up her spoon and began to eat.

Lily asked John, "Where did you learn that?"

John chuckled before he responded, "My daughter is like that sometimes. She loves to give me trouble. Sometimes I think she does it just to get the candy."

Lily said, "Oh, I didn't expect you to have children. You look pretty young."

John laughed and said, "Well, I hear that a lot. People say I look older when my face gets serious though." John then made a "serious" face, and everyone laughed looking at it, John had his eyes crossed and his tongue out. Even Kenny who was still brooding because of the death of his family chuckled some.

While they were eating Lily and Tamara explained how they survived here so long. They also explained what happened to them right in the beginning. Lily said, "Dad was a truck driver, he was driving that truck out front. The day they closed down the highway--"

Tamara interrupted, "When the S-H-I-T hit the fan."

Lily continued, "He grabbed Megan from school, picked me up from the hospital--"

Tamara said, "She stole a bunch of oxygen tanks from that dump."

Lily said, "Then the three of us rushed over to get Tara."

Tamara said, "I was at the station working, booking."

With everything going on, the attacks, the Army going to Atlanta, he wasn't about to let us out of his sight."

Tamar said, "Lucky for us, the old man's truck was pretty much stocked floor to ceiling with sketti rings, roni sticks, and turkey chili."

When they finished eating, Lily asked them, "Can you help us move Dad back to the chair." John nodded and walked over to the old man. He gently picked him up in a princess carry and brought him over to the chair. John then set him down softly onto the chair.

John and Kenny were about to leave, but they were stopped by Lily, she said, "I'm sure you have seen my father condition. He has stage four lung cancer. He is almost out of oxygen. Could you please go to the Senior living center nearby and get oxygen tanks?"

Kenny was about to refuse as they had just met these people, but Lily said, "Please, even just one tank. My dad is the only person who can make Megan smile, even for a second."

Kenny sighed, remembering what he would do to see his boy smile at him once again. Kenny then nodded, John nodding as well. John said, "We'll get you what we can."

John and Kenny then walked out of the apartment and went down the stairs. They walked out the front door, a walker came shambling over, but John just stabbed it in the face and kept walking. John got in the car and Kenny followed him.

John started the car, and they were off to the senior living center. On the way to their destination, Kenny was looking out the window and thinking about his family. He kept sighing loudly while looking at the buildings they passed by. Some of the buildings were still intact, while some were burned to the ground, and others had broken front windows or broken-down doors.

John who was getting annoyed by the constant sighing, turned on his cd played and blasted some rock music. Kenny didn't even react to the sudden loud music. He just kept staring out the window with a depressed look.

When they arrived at the senior center, they hopped out the car and took some duffle bags from the backseat. Kenny smacked a walker with his baseball bat, splattering brains all over the ground. John and Kenny then walked to the entrance, it was a fully glass entrance and there was some blood on the glass.

The door was partially opened, so John just pulled the door some and opened it. John stepped back and whistled sharply, some noise came from the inside, but no walkers came out. John and Kenny then looked at each other before they made their way inside.

They walked past a couple closed doors, walking through the hallway. The hallway had a whole bunch of random stuff cluttering the floor, towels, pieces of paper, and even some clothes. They arrived at a small reception area, a desk with some papers and other office supplies. The desk was very organized, but it was clear that someone had left in a hurry.

John and Kenny then decided to split up and search the place for the oxygen tanks. John continued to walk forward while Kenny turned down another hallway.

As John continued forward, he saw a female walker in a wheelchair. John walked up to it, while it tried to grab at him. John stabbed it in the head and looked into the room behind it, the room was empty. John pushed the walker into the room and shut the door, then he continued forward.

John closed any door he passed by, shutting in a couple walkers that weren't making any noise. He came to the end of the hallway and turned right. Sitting right in front of him was a cart that had around 7 oxygen tanks, John grabbed another tank that was sitting on the counter and put it on the cart before he backed up into the hallway he cleared and started down it.

Some walkers came from behind him suddenly, they were attracted by the clanking. John started jogging forward evading garbage on the floor, maneuvering around. John shouted, "Hey, Kenny. Hurry up and leave, I'm bringing company!"

John pulled his revolver out and shot back at the walkers 5 times. Accurately hitting 5 walkers, John then put his pistol back and continued forward. John saw Kenny barreling from around the corner, Kenny stopped at the desk and looked over at John.

His eyes bulged and he yelled, "Holy Shit!" Then he began running in the opposite direction, going straight towards the door. He was so panicked that he tripped right before the door and cut his forearm on a piece of metal on the floor.

Kenny yelped, before he came back to his senses and ran out the door to the car. John was almost to the door and when he got to the door, he ran out. Closing the door behind him, John then ran over to the car and loaded the tanks into it. The walkers were banging on the door hard and there were already cracks forming on the glass.

Right as John loaded the last tank, the walker burst through the door, coming straight for them. John jumped over the car and got, before he turned the key. Kenny who was clutching his wound shouted, "Drive, Drive, God dammit!"

John stomped onto the peddle after switching gears and they jolted forwards, the tires squealing and leaving marks. The walkers who were at the car hit towards it, breaking the taillight before the car moved out of their reach. The walkers then shambled after the car as the distance between them increased further and further.

John looked over to Kenny who was clutching his arm and said, "That was an adventure."

Kenny looked at John and shook his head before he said, "That was fucking crazy man. Who knew seniors could move so fast?"

John hearing this chuckled as he sped forward, heading straight for the apartment complex. When they got there, Kenny walked into the building and up the stairs. John grabbed all the oxygen and put it in a bag before he also walked into the building.

Climbing up the stairs, John saw Kenny leaning against the wall. Kenny was really pale, and his arm was still bleeding heavily. John supported him as they made their way to Lily's apartment. When they got to the apartment Lily and Tamara were waiting at the door for them.

When they saw Kenny's arm, they immediately led him over to the couch as Lily began to treat Kenny's wound. Kenny had passed out right after he hit the couch and was muttering Duck and Katjaa.

Both Lily and Tamara looked at John with an inquiring gaze and John said, "Duck and Katjaa were Kenny's son and wife."

Tamara says, "What do you mean were?"

John said, "Kenny lost his family. His son was bitten, and his wife had lost hope, so she committed suicide. Kenny had to put down his son who turned into a walker."

Hearing this both Lily and Tamara looked at Kenny with pity. They had been wondering why the man's face was always frowning, now they knew.

Lily finished with Kenny's wound and wrapped it in some bandages, she turned to John and said, "What happened out there?"

John answered, "Well, the place was overrun and as we were escaping from a pack of walkers, Kenny cut himself on a piece of metal."

Lily nodded and said, "Well, Kenny can't move for a while. He lost a lot of blood. You should stay here for the night before you leave."

John nodded and said, "Thank you for having us."

Lily hurriedly said, "No need to thank us, after all, you got us that oxygen. It should be us thanking you."

John just smiled at her and said, "Maybe you can come with us."

Lily looked conflicted before she said, "I'd love to, but my dad can't travel."

John said, "Alright then." John then walked over to the dining table. John looked over and saw Lily taking care of Kenny, she seemed to be sweet on the man. John also saw that Megan and the old man were playing backgammon.

Tamara came over and sat with John. She said, "What is your camp like?"

John looked over at her and said, "We have strong walls and plenty of people. We bring in new people every now and then. We also have a farm, hogs, chicken, cows, the whole deal."

Tamara said, "Sounds too good to be true."

John said, "Well, any safe place sounds too good to be true. But if there were no safe places. How could anyone, have hope?"

Tamara had a deep look for a second, she looked like she was about to say something, but ultimately decided not to. Tamara stayed quiet for a while before she asked for John's story since the beginning.

John then told her his story; Tamara was shocked by how much he had done in such a small amount of time. He had been moving around so much, all within months of time.

When John finished his story, it was already getting dark out. Lily asked John, "Can you help move my dad over to his bed."

John nodded and went over to the old man before he lifted him up and walked him over to his bed. John set him down and put his feet on the bed before he walked out of the room. John heard the man say, "Thank you", as he left. John Walked over to the living room and sat down on the floor next to the chair.

Lily and Tamara brought Megan to her room and got her settled down, before they came walking out into the living room. They sat at the table and called John over, John stood up and sat down with them at the table as Lily poured him some wine.

They then started drinking and chatting, John learned about them quite well. They were very talkative drinkers, Tamara kept going on and on about how she hasn't gotten laid with any chicks in over a year. John laughed and said, "I been getting laid all the time. In fact, my son and daughter were just born a while ago."

Lily and Tamara were both interested, so John pulled out a picture he had taken. Lily and Tamara looked at the picture and saw two beautiful women holding two very cute babies, a cute little girl was also standing in front of them. Lily and Tamara then asked, "Which one is you wife?"

John smirked and said, "Both."

They were both shocked and they said, "Both?"

John said, "Yep."

Tamara said, "Damn, you have been getting around." Lily nodded as she stared at John. They then continued to drink for a while before they stopped. John helped the both of them back to their rooms before he walked back to the living room and lay down on the floor.