Episode 2 (E2)

"The Big Annual Meet and Greet" is the second episode of Season 1 of KeepOnKeepingOn's Walking Dead: Edition Two. It is the second episode overall. It premiered on May 21, 2017.

Synopsis
"One group settles into another, and a rocky encounter at the start may just be leading to a trusting friendship."

Plot
After a moment of heated silence, Trace and Jake lower their guns, still staring at each other. Nobody is quite sure how to react, though Trace scans Jake's group and sees he is vastly outnumbered.

"Just the eight of you, or...?" Trace mumbles.

"Just the eight. Just the three of you, or...?" Jake responds.

"More than three. Total of nine, including me." Both teens catch on to the hesitation and disdain in their voices.

Jake puts his gun away and looks over his shoulder. "Alright guys, guns away."

"Are you sure?" Mike asks, hesitantly lowering his shotgun a bit. "How can we trust these guys? For all we know, they could be bandits ready to rob us. Remember what happened the last time we trusted a group? Jim got bit, and then they shot your dad."

"I know what happened, and I want to forget about it... Please, Mike." Jake glares a bit at his friend. "We all know what happened and how fucked things got after that. But I have a feeling we all would've be shot, killed, and looted by now if they were bandits. Two months into the apocalypse, you just get straight to the fucking point."

"...fair enough." Mike lowers his gun, as does everyone else.

Trace forces a smile and offers an awkward hand for a handshake. "Trace. Oxford. Trace Oxford, that's uh... Yeah, my name. Leader of my group."

Jake firmly shakes his hand, still very serious, and a tad skeptical. "Jacob Barley, but I prefer Jake. Don't forget it."

Trace slightly nods. "Yeah, noted... Uh, this is my girlfriend Elizabeth, and my friend Pete."

"Sup?" Elizabeth nods slightly and places a hand on her hip.

"Have you all just been out in the woods? Scrounging up whatever food you can find like a bunch a' raccoons?" Pete asks, somewhat concerned.

"Pretty much, yeah." Brody speaks up. "Things are kinda suckish out here."

"Really suckish." Zach adds.

"Absolutely suckish." Ashley also adds.

"Well, we have a campground back that-a-ways, near Macon... You guys were just bordering it, really. We can take you back there." Trace offers. "And you can keep your weapons too, as long as you don't shoot any of us. Promise, nobody's gonna open fire."

Jake is about to respond before he is pulled back by Ethan, and the group huddles around to discuss what to do. Though Jake is all for it, everyone else is skeptical and suspicious.

"We could easily get fucked." Stefan whispers. "They could just be luring us into a trap. Why don't we kill them?"

"Because killing the living isn't who we are!" Jake argues.

"Not yet, anyways." Colin says. "It's only a matter of time before we have to start killing to survive."

"All of you guys, be quiet. Jake's the leader here." Ethan hushes everyone before looking to his best friend. "C'mon, buddy. I trust your judgment all the way. No matter what, I'll be by your side. Now, what do you think we should do?"

Jake smiles, already knowing his answer, and turns to Trace. "Give us a tour."

The eleven of them walk all the way back to the wide open campgrounds, and are eyed by those who are already there. Trace quickly explains that these eight survivors can be trusted and that he wants to let them into the group. Maria walks up and smiles, hugging her son and looking to Jake's group.

"If my boy trusts you, then I welcome you all with open arms." She says. "It would be nice to have more people around, we could all use some fresh faces."

"Hold on a sec, Maria." Lucas intervenes. "Anyone these days can be a backstabbin' sonuvabitch. Now are you gonna let eight kids sway you into letting in eight more people? We're already runnin' low on supplies as is. Fuck, for all we know, they could up and steal our supplies during the night, if they haven't killed us already by mid-afternoon."

"Now you hush, Lucas." Maria says sternly. "We put faith in our boy to make the big decisions here. It's up to him to do what's best for all of us. He's growing up, it's his choice."

Before Lucas can argue once more, Trace steps back and opens his arms. "Welcome to the group!"

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * This episode features the merging of the two groups.