The Rusty Tavern (SWB)

Synopsis
Looking for gas, Mike and the others come across other survivors.

Plot
At the restaurant, Cal and Ashleigh have entered. It's dark, not a soul in sight. Cal shines his flashlight over the counter. There’s dry blood on smeared all over, looking like someone was attacked there at one point. “I don’t think there’s any help here.” He mutters.

Ashleigh is scanning over the room, looking from the menus on the floor up to the spilled dishes on the counter. Behind the counter, she sees the silhouette of a man. As the stranger points his gun at them, Ashleigh cries, “Cal, look out!”

Cal shines the flashlight to the man as he fires. The bullet zips between them, Cal instantly grabbing Ashleigh and leading her to cover behind an overthrown table, shielding her in case the man fires again.

The door opens again, Mike running in this time.

“Mike, get down!” Ashleigh cries.

“He has a gun!” Cal shouts.

Mike ducks before the man fires again. Mike acts fast, grabbing a plate off the counter and chucks it at the man, who ducks just before it hits him. The plate shatters against the wall as Mike charges while the unknown man is down, running behind the counter and throwing a punch.

The man tries to hit back but Mike ducks and punches him in the jaw, then slamming him against the counter.

In the back, Amber opens the door into the kitchen, quietly entering. She makes sure the door doesn't make noise as it shuts, the only sound heard is Mike and the stranger fighting.

Amber readies herself, setting her rifle and walking towards the door to the dining area only to find an elderly couple, a young woman, a middle aged couple and a teenage girl crouched together, all staring at the door.

Amber stops and shouts, “No one move!”

They all turn their heads and stare at her in horror. She hears the fighting out front and runs through the door to the counter. “Mike!” She yells as she sees he gets punched.

The man slams Mike’s head against the counter, holding him down. Amber aims the rifle at him. “Let him go!” She demands.

The man looks at her. “We told you. We don’t want a deal with you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Mike grunts, struggling to get free from the young man’s grip.

He looks down at Mike. “Are you… not with them?” The man asks, loosening his grip and allowing Mike to tug himself free, shoving the man away.

Ashleigh and Cal slowly move away from their cover. “Who is ‘them?’” Ashleigh asks.

“Keyshawn?! What’s happening?” One of the women shout from the back.

“Quiet, Donna!” The young man hushes.

Keyshawn looks to the kitchen door. “It’s okay, everyone. Stay calm!” He looks to the other survivors and sighs. “Look, I’m sorry for shooting at you, but I thought you were someone else.”

“You clearly don’t like these people.” Cal states, crossing his arms. “Why is that?”

“It’s a long story.” Keyshawn says.

Keyshawn crosses his arms. “These men have been coming here to take our supplies - our people. We think they might start getting forceful.”

“Well, we wish you the best. But we have somewhere we have to go to. We only came in to see if there was any gas." Mike says.

“Where are you heading to?” Keyshawn asks.

“A place called The Trading Post.” Mike replies.

Keyshawn’s eyebrows rise. “Oh… Well, you might want to change that plan. The Post was overrun a few hours ago. Heard it go down on the radio.”

“What do you mean?” Amber questions, worried.

“Some woman freed a bunch of biters they had contained into the locker rooms where people were sleeping. They turned and overran the place.” Keyshawn explains.

Amber gapes at him, turning to the door and walking towards it. Ashleigh follows. “Amber? Are you okay?” Amber pushes out the door and walks towards the truck.

“Oh, thank God, you’re alive!” Devil says before seeing Amber open the truck door and get in, slamming it shut and locking herself inside. “What happened?”

In the morning, Ashleigh wakes up on the floor of the kitchen with a blanket over her and a pillow beneath her head. She sits up and sees the teenager cooking something on the stove. Ashleigh stands and walks towards her.

“Good morning.” Kendall greets.

“Hi. Where’s my group?” Ashleigh asks.

Kendall nods her head towards the door. “Outside. Tara and Keyshawn are getting them some gas.”

The door opens and Cal walks in. He smiles at Ashleigh. “Oh, hey! You’re up.”

He then sees Kendall and turns to her, smiling at her. “Hi. I’m Cal.”

“Kendall.” Kendall smirks back.

Ashleigh looks between them awkwardly. “Okay, I’ll leave you two then.” She says with a chuckle before heading to the door.

She walks into the dining area, where the rest of the survivors were.

Warren and Dahlia sat across from one another at a small table while Devil sits by the window alone. Donna and Ed were in a booth with Sam and Laila.

Ashleigh headed outside to the truck, where Amber, Mike, Keyshawn and Tara are. Keyshawn slides two gas cans onto the truck bed while Mike uses one to pour gas into the truck. Tara and Amber watch.

Ashleigh approaches. “Morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, Ashleigh.” Mike says. “We were discussing our plan.”

“And what is our plan?” Ashleigh asks as she leans against the truck.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to just go back to the mansion.” Mike says.

Ashleigh frowns, crossing her arms. “Wait a minute, Mike. What about our friends? Spencer, Chase, Nathan and the others? They might have gotten out.”

“We don’t know that-“

“They aren’t weak, Mike.”

“I know that, but we can’t risk it. We have to go back to the mansion and see if the others are okay.” Mike says. Before an argument can begin, a bullet hits the window beside her, making her duck down and scream. The others all looks for the source of the bullet, ducking as well.

“Fuck, it’s them!” Keyshawn yells, looking to Mike. “Get your friends out of here now!”

Mike nods to him. “Thank you! And good luck!”

He looks to the others as Keyshawn helps Tara run inside. “Everyone in the truck!” He shouts.

Inside, Kendall and Cal are in the kitchen, both looking out the door to see what was happening. Cal sees Mike getting in the truck through the window.

"Micah sent guns this time! I don't think he's going to take it easy on us." Sam says.

“Guys, let’s go!” Devil shouts to the others, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Warren shakes his head. “No way! Someone’s shooting at us out there! It’s too dangerous.”

Dahlia looks at him apologetically. “I’m sorry. We can’t risk it.”

“They’re going to get in.” Cal argues.

Warren points outside. “We can’t see where they are out there. If any get in, we can take them. Don’t worry about us, just get out!”

Devil looks to Cal. “Cal, come on!” He shouts.

Kendall hears the back door open and gasps, pushing Cal forward. “Run!” She shouts. “Get out now!”

Cal and Devil bolt to the door, dashing to the truck as Mike starts it. The two jump in the bed with Amber and duck as bullets are fired towards them.

Mike slams his foot on the gas, speeding towards the mansion.

In the night, Cal is driving while Ashleigh and Mike are passengers. Devil and Amber are sitting in the bed. Amber hugs her knees to her chest while Devil is watching the stars.

“Spencer and the others would get out, right?” Amber asks, looking to Devil.

“What?” Devil asks, looking down from the sky.

“Out of the post. It was overrun, but they’d get out… wouldn’t they?”

Devil sighs, shrugging his shoulders. “Your mom could have gotten out. But the problem is we don’t know which direction they went in. We’d have to split up to find them and we cannot risk that.”

Amber looks at him. “I know. I just… I want to find her. I need to make sure she’s okay. She’s the only family I have left.”

Devil looks down slightly. He is about to continue the conversation when the truck slows down to a stop. Amber looks through the windshield. “What’s happening?”

Inside, Mike and Ashleigh are staring ahead in shock.

Devil and Amber stand, staring over the truck to see Stevie, Mike Andrews and his family and Angel.

“What the fuck.” Devil murmurs.

Co-Stars

 * Joe Keery as Cal Malloy
 * Katherine McNamera as Kendall Dillane
 * Helen Jackson as Donna
 * Curtis Jackson as Ed
 * Chris Coy as Sam
 * Jenna Dewan as Laila

Deaths
None

Trivia

 * First appearance of Keyshawn.
 * First appearance of Donna.
 * First appearance of Ed.
 * First appearance of Tara.
 * First appearance of Sam.
 * First appearance of Kendall Dillane.
 * First appearance of Laila.
 * Mike, Devil, Cal and Amber discover Stevie, Angel, Mike, Tina, Abbie and Tori had left the mansion.