𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ━ 𝐭𝐰𝐝𝐠

[ 016 ]

"Why?"

"Let's just say they have a zero-tolerance policy for people who won't or can't- live by their rules," she scoffed.

"So how'd you know we weren't them?" Lee asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Molly turned to look at Clem and Kass, with a sad look upon her face. "Because there are no children in Crawford. Not anymore."

"What do you mean, no children? Why not?" Lee asked her, brows furrowed I'm thought.

"No children, no elderly, no one with an advanced medical condition," Molly walked over to the large barricade of dead bodies, walkers hanging on spikes above it. "Basically no one who will be a burden on the community. That's how they survived, while the rest of the world went to shit around them."

Kenny scoffed, shaking his head, "Jesus Christ..."

"Well, just the opposite, when you think about it."

"What exactly did Crawford do with with all these 'burdens'?" Lee asked. "What happened to them?"

Molly gestured to the walkers behind them, "Well, you met some of them already."

Kenny shook his head, grumbling, "Fuck me..."

"Yeah. Anyone who got sick. Anyone they thought was too old. Anyone they figured wasn't strong enough to survive. To them, those people were just mouths to feed. A drain on their precious resources."

Kassidy looked over at her suspiciously, eyes narrowed, "How do you know all this?"

"Everyone in Savannah knew what was going on in Crawford. It was passes around like a ghost story," she turned away from the walkers, walking down the street as the others followed. "Except this one was true."

"Any idea who was ringing those bells all over town?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. That would be me."

Kenny's face scrunched up in anger. "I knew it! Lee, I knew she was the one watching us, fucking with us!"

"Get that finger out of my face, grandpa, before I jam it up your ass. I haven't been watching you. Hell, I don't even know who you people are."

Kass snorted in amusement, "She called you grandpa!"

"Relax, Kenny," Lee said, trying to diffuse the situation. "The guy on the radio was a guy, remember?"

"Yeah, well," Kenny turned back to look at Molly. "Ringing that bell this morning almost got us all killed. Raised the dead all around us."

"That's the idea, genius," Molly huffed out. "I ring the bell in one neighbourhood to get all the local geeks towards it, then it buys me some time to scavenge the areas they cleared out."

"Geeks?" Kenny scoffed, bewildered. "Is that what you call them?"

"Yeah, you know, like the the carnival. They'll eat anything, alive or dead."

"That's pretty smart," Lee praised the young woman, "what you do with the bells."

"It doesn't take much to outsmart the dead, they're a bunch of dumbasses. Just gotta make sure you clear out, get in and out quickly, before they wander back again." Molly crossed her arms, "Now. I'm going to ask you people one last time- if you're not from Crawford, who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?"

"Down here looking for a boat," Lee told her. "Hoping to get our people out of here, get them someplace safe."

Molly scoffed, "Yeah, good luck with that. Those who had boats got out of here as soon as people started eating each other. Any that got left behind got stripped for parts. Cars too."