70 Chatting with Larry

I was walking around, aimlessly. Bored out of my mind, until I saw Lily and Larry in the dairy's gazebo, Lily looked a bit stressed while Larry looked like... well, he's Larry. So, either pissed off, angry or having heart problems.

I also saw Lee walking in the same direction as I was, towards the gazebo. Probably wanting to talk to Lily about Mark.

"Hey there, Lily," I said, as I walked up to her, Lee a few feet behind me.

"Lee, oh my god I'm so glad you three didn't get killed out there. Do you think Mark will be okay?" Lily asked, completely ignoring me.

"Bitch..." I muttered under my breath.

"Wish I knew. But I think he's in good hands now" Lee said in a hopeful tone.

'Yeah, really good hands... so good that they must be butchering him up now with those "good hands" as we speak' I thought, still annoyed at the fact that I was completely ignored by Lily.

"Yeah? It's not too bad?" Lily asked.

"He'll be fine, I've seen guys go through worse" Larry cut in, trying to reassure his daughter.

"How could you all bring us to this place?" Lily asked.

"I take it, you and Kenny didn't exactly make up on the way here" Lee said.

"I tried seeing things from his point of view, having a wife and kid and everything. But gambling with your family's life is pretty stupid if you ask me" Lily said.

Lee just kept silent, allowing me to get a few words in.

"Yeah, not the greatest of ideas, but hey... he's probably living life in the moment, right? Since we can't exactly look to the future with the world this... well, fucked" I said, as I leaned back on the bench that Larry was sitting on.

"Wait, what?" Lily asked.

"Well, you can't look at the future when you know that if you die, well... that's it, you turn and probably eat your loved ones... especially if they don't have the heart to do what's right" I said.

"What's... right? What do you mean by that? Could you elaborate?" Lily asked.

"Okay, well... in simple terms, if your loved ones get bit or are going to die... well, it'd probably be easier to kill them before they turn... at least they wouldn't die as one of those... things," I said, my voice laced with disgust.

"That's... that's just horrible... expecting someone to kill their own loved ones... it's actually sort of disgusting, expecting someone to actually do that" Lily said in disgust.

"Okay then, look, you fucking idiot! If you don't kill them, they'll turn! And I sure as hell know that NOBODY wants to turn into a fucking MONSTER!" I shouted angrily, "So, it'd be far easier to just... kill them before that... let them keep their humanity..."

"Hey! Don't fucking snap at my daughter you asshole!" Larry shouted angrily.

"Hey, I'm not being an asshole here, I'm being a realist. There's a difference... not much of one, but a difference nonetheless" I said with a smirk.

"Fuck off," Larry said angrily.

"I'm just saying... I'd much rather keep my fucking humanity then turn... but, fine... I'll leave, if that's what makes you happy" I said.

"So, how do you feel about leaving the motor inn?" Lee asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's a welcome change of scenery," Larry said.

"I don't know, if we'd just stayed where we were, then Mark wouldn't have ended up with an arrow in his shoulder," Lily said.

"...Hey, ah... can I talk to you in private for a second?" Lee asked Lily.

"Okay," Lily said, as she walked off alongside Lee, leaving me behind with Larry.

"Hey... uh, sorry about what I said before... I... kind of lost my cool there..." I apologised awkwardly.

"No, no... it's alright, you were just saying what you believed... and frankly, I support that belief... better to die a human then as a walker" Larry said, a sad smile on his face, "You know... I'm probably going to be the first to go in the group, on account of my age and heart problems..."

"What? No, no man, you're going to survive this whole ordeal, we all are... we're all going to make it, and hey... just in case..." I said, as I pulled out a jar full of nitroglycerin pills, "You won't be having a heart attack for a while"

"Why do you have those?" Larry asked.

"Well, I kind of predicted that we'd all come here... so, I thought... "Why not be prepared? Like, what if Larry has a heart attack? We probably wouldn't be able to save him and if he died, we'd have to kill him in front of his daughter..." and well, I just didn't want to do that... so, I took some with me on the off-chance that we'd come here... and voila, we're here" I said with a smirk.

"Ha, well... it's better to be safe than sorry... you know, you really eased a few of my worries there" Larry said with a grin, "You're not bad kid... not bad"

"Uh... thanks..." I said sheepishly, "Well... it looks like they're coming back from their private conversation any minute now..."

"Yeah..." Larry said.

"You know, I'm beginning to think the conversation's about you... and by the way... don't mind me asking, but... why are you such a dick to Lee anyways?" I asked.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Larry said, as he moved closer to me, "He's a murderer... killed a man before this whole thing, in cold blood... I don't trust the guy around my daughter"

"Okay, well... I already knew that..." I said.

"Wait, you did? Then why are you so close to him?" Larry asked, confused.

"Well... to be honest, I've also killed people before the apocalypse..." I said.

"Wait, what!?" Larry asked, shocked.

"Well, I was a child soldier... it's kind of in the name, "Child SOLDIER", it was my job... get in a village or something, take out the prioritised targets, get out..." I said.

"Fuck, man... does anyone else know?" Larry asked.

"Yeah, some of the people who came here first do..." I said, "And probably a few others around the world... if they're still alive"

"Alright then... well, looks like they're coming back... so, we should end this little conversation... and I'll... I'll try to be a bit nicer to Lee... he may be a murderer, but he's probably got his reasons... and I'll try to find out what those reasons were... I'll be honest, I didn't really read into the whole "why" just the "how, when and where"..." Larry said with a smile.

"Alright then... well, I've gotta go," I said, as I left the gazebo.

"See you later, kid," Larry said with a grin, as Lily and Lee walked back to them.

'Well, that went well' I thought, a smile surfacing on my face.