Telltale's Walking Dead: Last Man Standing

Episode 1, Chapter 3

Cain is woken up by a slow, loud knock on the barracks door. For the second time this week, Cain jolts up into consciousness and for a moment forgets where he is. Although this time, for a minute, he thinks he hears the screams and fire of Pyne, but he quickly realizes he's still in Barracks B. There's another rap on the door, and Cain quickly swings his legs over off the bed and bites out a curse as he knocks the half empty bottle of alcohol onto the floor, where it rolls under the cot. He figures he must have fallen asleep while drinking, but he doesn't remember much after he and Becca parted outside. He's not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Frantically trying to comb his hair back with his hands, Cain crosses over to the doorway. His head is throbbing slightly, probably an aftereffect of the scotch, but Cain is careful not to let it or the emotional turmoil of the night before show when he swings open the door. He does so with a fake smile, but it turns into something closer to genuine when he sees Lilith standing outside.

She's leaning up against the doorframe, and turns to smile a greeting at Cain when the door opens. Her shoulder length hair is pulled away from her face and braided in a simple but effective style, and those emerald eyes seem to light up a bit when she sees him, although her brow quickly furrows in concern.

"Damn Cain, did you sleep with a walker last night? You look like shit."

He chuckles a bit at that, but shakes his head. "I'm good. Rough night is all."

"Yeah, 'night'. You slept almost a full twenty four hours, man." At that, her smile drops and she adds, "Are you sure you're fine? Maybe I shouldn't have given you that scotch, I just thought that maybe-"

"Li, I'm alright." He says, then seeing the disbelief on her face, adds, "I'll be alright, just something I have to work through myself."

Lilith nods at that, and her reassuring smile comes back to her face. "Okay then. You know I'm here if you need anything, right? I got your back."

Cain does know that, and he appreciates it more than she knows. Lilith is probably one of the only close friends he has left, and even if he can't tell her everything his mind is going through, he knows that she'll always stick around to try and help, even if that means just sitting alone with him in a room without talking just so he doesn't feel alone. Ever since he came to Mountainview a few years back she's been almost like an older sister to him, and he doesn't know where he'd be without her.

"What did you come for?" Cain asks after a few seconds pause. "I doubt it was just to check on me, right?"

Lilith fakes offense at that, but then shakes her head. "It was part of it, but I came because Abram wanted to speak to you. He asked me to bring you cause I was your friend and all that."

"Shit, you make it sound like you're bringing me under arrest or something," he says jokingly, but his heart is racing. This doesn't seem good. This doesn't seem good at all.

"Nah, I don't think it's like that. All Abram said to me was that it was something about a scouting mission, but he wanted to let you get enough rest so he let you sleep all day yesterday. They were going to wake you earlier, but I convinced them not to when I mentioned you were having trouble sleeping lately, and that this was probably the most you've gotten in weeks."

Ah, something about a scout mission, that really helps clarify things, Cain thinks bitterly. Then aloud, he says, "Thanks, Lilith. I appreciate it, and you're right. I feel rested and refreshed which... is a first for me." Which is true. Although Cain is pushing down a surge of panic about his meeting, he feels oddly at peace with the world. Maybe that's what sleep is supposed to do. He wouldn't know.

"Good to hear, now come on. I don't wanna leave the big boss waiting," she says with a touch of her trademark sarcasm, then turns to head back up the path to the council building. Cain follows her silently, looking around Mountainview as they walk. It seems as though the sun has just come up, and although everyone is already awake and preparing for the day, things are much more quiet than when he came by yesterday. Most people are inside kitchens helping start the breakfast preparations, except for some of the crop workers, who are out early in the fields. The sun is slightly less bright and seems... softer somehow, and as he walks behind Lilith, the only sounds that interrupt his thoughts are the quiet chirps of birds far above them.