Animals We've Become/The Fallout

The Fallout is the eleventh episode in Animals We've Become.

Plot
Sonnie clapped his hands together loudly to gather the group together. We just finished dragging all of the bodies in a pile, making sure they didn’t turn into the zombie. Collin, Brent, Nick and Tom. All dead. Joe and Chris managed to get away though, but they would get theirs one day. Mark my words.

It had been maybe 30 minutes since then? Or an hour? I don’t know anymore. Without clocks it seemed the world just stopped turning like a clock stops ticking. But what I do know is that Sonnie was determined to tell us something important, and we listened, standing in a half circle while Sonnie stood on the picnic bench that me and Ethan were previously thrown on.

“Alright, listen up butterbutts! Now that the fighting has stopped, and the fallout has settled, we must rebuild. Not just walls, not just buildings but hearts and minds and ultimately America itself.” Sonnie looked very boss-like on top of that table, gesturing like a leader while he spoke. “Yes, I do believe we can achieve big things. Good things. As long as we work together, and settle our differences. As a team, as a family.”

I looked over at Trace. He has tears in his eyes and nodded when Sonnie spoke. Mark looked hopeful, so did Amber next to him, holding his arm. Wait, what?

“So… I will propose something. The first step is to find and regain our humanity. And we will do that by holding a funeral. Even if they were our enemies.”

“What? What the fuck are you on about fatso?!” Ethan burst out, pushing through the crowd and closing in on Sonnie, pointing a finger at him. “These people were monsters! Murderers! They cut off my FUCKING HAND! I’m never gonna forgive them for taking away such a vital part of my life!”

As if he ever needed his hand, I thought. Ethan probably never had to use his hand in THAT way, he always had lots of girls around him… including my Sarah. God, I miss her. Her perky breasts and her milky thighs made every day at that high school a little better.

Sonnie just looked at him sternly. “I understand your frustration, Ethan Walker. But if there’s something I’ve learned not in the army, but in real life, it’s forgiveness. And when I was about to kill that guy Tom seconds away from pulling the trigger, I looked into his wet eyes. And something hit me, a feeling of regret. But it was too late, he was dead. And it was all my fault. You learn that life will take things away from you but it can be impossible to change. So we will be the better men and bury them rightly, no matter what they did.”

Ethan sneered and turned, storming away into a trailer and slamming the door shut.

“I think you’re right, Sonnie. In life we often take the good things for granted, and let the bad things take overhand. So let’s give them a righteous burial.” AJ smiled.

Mark looked at Amber, who nodded. “Yeah! I- we think so too!”

Trace also nodded, shedding a tear. “Absolutely.”

It was all up to me now. They all looked at me for approval for the funeral. I sighed, even though it kinda hurt to say it, peer pressure got to me just like in school.

“I… yeah. Let’s do it.”

“Ethan wait!” Mark called out but it was no use, Ethan had slammed the door shut. “Hold this Amber.” Mark says handing Amber his gun.

“Let me come with you.” I cut in.

“Of course Glenn, I can’t imagine having a one on one with Ethan without you.” Mark says, smirking. “He is your brother from another mother, after all.” He gave me a thumbs up but I couldn’t focus on it. There, between his thumb and his fist, I saw AJ in the distance kicking a can. AJ...

The two of us walk towards the trailer as Sonnie continues to plan out the funeral with AJ, Amber and Trace.

I knock of the door, “Ethan, it’s Glenn. Open up.”

“Go away Bitchardson.”

“Ethan come on, it’s cold out here, we want to talk to you about this.” Mark reasons.

We hear him sigh as he opens the door with his remaining hand, blood still pouring from the other.

When we get a look at his face after he opens the door it’s clear he’s been crying. Snot leaks from his nose and his eyes are puffy red.

“Ethan, I get why you’re upset.” Mark says, “I can’t imagine losing my arm, especially to crazed people like that.”

“No you can’t Mark… Y’know what? I don’t give a fuck that they cut my hand off. This bitch of an earth can do whatever the fuck it wants to me, I don’t care anymore! I’m useless!” He turned away. I could tell he was crying. “I care about Sarah. That British guy with the snakeskin boots… he could have saved her. That’s what I care about… I care that he watched her die WHILE I LIVED!” He punched a wall. “I would have been okay if he let me die… nothing matters when you die… but he let me live. He could have saved Sarah but he let me live. WHY?!”

Mark sighs, “But Ethan, I can’t relate to losing an arm but I can relate to losing a part of me. Let me tell you a story.”

Losing a part of him? What’s Mark talking about? I had to hear this.

“Fine but make it quick.”

“Back before the apocalypse, I lived out in San Francisco with my friends. I was a police detective as you know and was assigned my first real big case with my friend Fad. We were tracking down this big shot hit man. Complete basketcase let me tell you. While we were on the job we split up to capture him, I went right and Fad went left. I cornered the bastard by the docks and thought I had him that is until a spot light hit me and some maniac with a sniper rifle shot me. Ouch... Turns out Fad was working with the hitman and betrayed me, he was the sniper. He was my best friend and my partner in crime fighting, to be betrayed like that was almost like losing my hand, you could say he was my right hand man.”

We were both silent, “I didn’t know…” I say.

“I’m sorry Mark, but that doesn’t exactly make me feel any better about this.” Ethan complains.

“I’m not done yet.” Mark continues, “Two years later I managed to corner him during a routine patrol. He told me that betraying me wasn’t personal and it was just business and I believed him. I put my gun down only for him to raise his, luckily for me I have a quick trigger finger. I shot him through the chest and as he laid on the ground bleeding out I realized that holding onto grudges would only lead to things like this. I could’ve shot him in the leg and brought him in but because I held onto that grudge I shot to kill. I don’t want to see something like that happen to you. Holding onto grudges even to the dead only makes you angry and violent. You’re my friend Ethan and to show you that I care I wanna give you something.”

Mark reaches into his pocket and pulls out a detective badge.

“Mark is that your police badge?” Ethan asks.

“Close,” He smirks, “It’s my detective badge. It’s the most important thing to me. I want you to have it.”

Ethan looks dumbfounded, I admit I was pretty dumbfounded too. Mark really knew how to make someone feel better.

“Thank you Mark,” Ethan says, “Y’know, I may still not be for the funeral but...you’re right. I shouldn’t hold onto grudges like that.” Ethan takes the badge and places it on his jacket, over the big E letter. A perfect fit.

“Got anything for me Mark?” I laugh gently elbowing the man.

“Yup, a hug.” Mark comes close to me and gives me a bear hug. I haven’t been hugged like this since my last birthday, it felt nice to be close to someone like this, I’m glad I can call Mark my friend.

I left the trailer. Damn, it was weird to see Mark stepping up. He was always my friend but I never thought he was capable of that kind of stuff. I always saw Mark as being kinda like the Ned to my Peter Parker. But now I can see he’s more than that.

In the background, AJ, Trace and Amber were all working on digging a big hole in the ground for the bodies. Next to them, where the face off happened, I saw Sonnie on one knee, inspecting something on the ground. He touched it with his finger, then licked it.

“What’s going on here Sonnie?”

“Blood. Donnie’s.” he said, looking to where the bloodtrail led.

“Oh fuck… how do you know?”

Sonnie looked down. “Four eyes…” He mumbled.

“What?”

Sonnie shook his head. “Uhh… he was shot here. Wasn’t enough time to save him. All happened so fast. Poor bastard probably managed to drag himself away, god knows if he’s alive.”

“We should follow it. See if he’s nearby.” I said, trying to one-up Sonnie. Gotta say, I wasn’t a huge fan of him taking the leader role now that Donnie wasn’t here, and especially seeing AJ being so okay with it. I would have imagined him supporting me at least, and this was like my only chance to finally step up. I had to try to convince people I was worthy too.

Sonnie looked at me and nodded. “You got your gun? Might not be pretty.”

I nodded too. “Yep.”

“Let’s haul ass then.” He got up, pumped his shottie and we were off, following the blood trail leading into the treelines.

We followed it for nearly a mile. There was way too much and it was starting to go black near the end. Eventually, the trail stopped near a tree… and there we found him… or what was left.

Donnie was laying against the tree, holding where the bullet had hit him. “Holy fuck…” I said.

“Yeah,” Sonnie agreed.

I didn’t know they could come back without being bitten. Despite everything, he was still moving. Still breathing. Someone had to do it. Someone had to be the one to put him down. Donnie was our friend our… our leader. As much as I’d hate to admit it. Donnie was a good man. I raised my gun and readied myself to put him out of his misery. I killed Brent… I could do this…

“Fucking try it kid…”

I looked around trying to find out where the voice came from. Sonnie smirked. It wasn’t him. Then it was… Donnie?

“Oh my God…” I said. “We were gonna kill you.”

Donnie reached into his jacket, pulled out a cigar and put it in his mouth. “You ain’t gettin’ rid of me that easy.” he smirked weakly.

He took one pull of the cigar and looked at it. The top was burning red. He sighed, “Fuck my life,” and lifted up his shirt. “Here it goes…” With that, he pushed the lit cigar against his wound, barely reacting as it burned his skin. When it was done, he put it back in his mouth and got to his feet. “I won’t forget that, by the way,” he said. Glaring at me. “Let’s hope you never get shot, kid…”

Finally we were back at camp. Everyone, even Ethan, was gathered around the big hole where the bodies had been put in, and they stared at us in shock as we helped the limping Donnie with each of his arms around our shoulders.

“Holy moly! They’re back!” Mark yelled.

“Donnie! Is he alright?” Amber asked.

“Never been better, sugar plum.” Donnie grinned.

He shook us off and stumbled over to the pit, where the bodies of Collin, headless, Brent, Tom and Nick were piled. Donnie frowned and turned to us.

“What the fuck is this?”

Sonnie stepped forward. “We’re holding a funeral.”

He looked around, seeing the faces of everyone else. “You’re joking. You’re actually joking.”

“I’m not. Starting a new life in the end times we need to keep our humanity, and we will start by being humans by burying them. Deal with it.” Sonnie sternly responded.

Donnie looked at him, then started laughing. He laughed himself to tears. “What the-- I can’t believe it, are you people fucking STUPID? Like genuinely, this is fucking retarded!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Ethan commented.

“Shut up, I don’t need your support, you one handed pirate.” Donnie sneered. He kept laughing, one hand over his face. He sighed. “I fucking hate my life. Okay, carry on.”

Sonnie shook his head, then grabbed the shovel. Slowly he started shoveling dirt on the bodies, until it was completely filled. He then wiped the sweat off his forehead, threw the shovel aside, then stepped back up on he picnic bench, acting at a podium.

“We’re gathered here today to bury the bodies of Collin. Brent. Nick. And… Tom.” Sonnie said. “Though they were bad people, trying to kill every one of us and failing, we’re still here and we’re still putting them to rest today…

When we were fighting them, all I saw was red. I was only intending on killing. But these people were people too. People with families, loved ones. Hell, Collin killed himself for Brent. They saw us as we saw them. Enemies. But when I was with Tom in his final moments, I knew that they had some good in them. And we are bringing that good forward today. So God, if you’re up there, take care of them for us. Rest in peace, Claimers.”

Trace clapped. Then Mark and Amber. Then AJ. Then me. I noticed Ethan and Donnie not clapping, in fact Donnie walked away limping, towards one of the trailers we hadn’t been into yet. Curious, I followed him while the others were occupied with the funeral.

“Yo Donnie, what you doing?” I ask, honestly I was curious about what he was doing.

“Might as well take a look around the place. I mean we just got here and all we’ve done is fight a miniature war.” Donnie says.

“I’ve been here a little bit longer then you.” I remind him.

“Right, sorry kid.” Donnie says, “What’d they do to you and Ethan besides y’know the whole hand cutting off thing.”

“They insulted us and threw us around like we were just some dolls to them. I never wanna feel like that again.” I reveal.

“Alright,” Donnie says, “Well let’s get exploring.” The two of us enter what must’ve been Brent’s room due to the amount of chains hanging around and the massive amount of truck parts lying around the place. I could see the red stained chains were Tom was caught. Made me cringe.

“Wait a second, is that his bed?” I ask. I point towards a bed shaped object made up of truck parts and tires. “This guy really liked trucks and chains.”

“A little too much if you ask me.” Donnie points out. He roots in a shelf, all CD’s from the band Alice in Chains. “Case in point.”

I turn around and walk into another room covered with almost entirely yellow objects with several cardboard boxes lying around the room. Must’ve been that guy Nick’s room. I opened his closet to find nearly 30 duplicates of the same suit and hat hung up perfectly. “How did he even claim all this?” I flicked through the repeated clothes, making sure they were all the same.

Donnie picked up what looked like an alarm clock. The glass had been painted over. “What the actual fuck,” he said, turning the clock from side to side. The yellow paint made it impossible to see the time. “This fucker really liked yellow.”

“Jesus, get another color palette.” I mutter, glad he’s dead.

“Holy shit, kid check this shit out.” Donnie calls me over. I turn around and head to the room he’s at. Inside the room was nothing but a toilet and a moldy stained mattress. Not a single piece of evidence hinting at toilet paper ever being present in this room. Disgusting, I can’t imagine walking around without wiping. We’re grown men for god’s sake, ugh I can imagine the smell and the feeling of feces being smothered between my boxer briefs and my skin. Not to mention that anyone who wanted to take a… you know… had to drop one in front of the red bearded, huge man. Staring at them… watching them… Made me shiver.

“Something tells me that this is where that huge bearded man lived,” I said, looking up at the insane writings and drawings on the walls. Pentagrams and shit. Chris wasn’t just crazy, he was a satanist.

Donnie looked at the mattress. It was stained brown in the corner. He pinched his nose in frustration, “Fuck’s sake, let’s just... keep moving.”

Next we walked into the trailer that must have been Tom’s. It was empty, all except for the pile of jackets that made a makeshift bed in the middle of the room.

“Did this guy seriously sleep on a pile of jackets?” Donnie said. “Seriously what the fuck.”

“Oh my God…” For a second I thought Donnie was speaking, then I saw Trace walking past us. He picked up a brown leather jacket. “This was…” I could see a tear in his eye. “Some of these belong to my group… they’re… they’re… gone…”

“Ok,” Donnie said. I wanted to stay and talk to Trace, but Donnie was already heading into the next trailer. Trace didn’t look too up for talking, so I left with him.

It was easy to tell who the next trailer belonged to. Looks like that Grendel guy didn’t just have his name on his shirt and sweater. This dude put his name on fucking everything. “Did he really have to put his name on his God damned toothbrush?” I said.

Donnie puffed a cloud of smoke into my face. Wow ok. “This guy was fucking nuts,” he said, picking up a TMNT Michelangelo action figure with the name ‘GRENDEL’ written on it. “Didn’t even have the good one, fucking moron. More of a Leonardo guy myself.”

“I’m glad I never got to meet this guy, properly.” I said.

Donnie lit another cigarette. “Too right, brother,” he replied. “Let’s move on.”

We went through a doorway and found a room that had nothing but an old rocking chair inside it. It was still kinda rocking, as if a ghost had taken the place of the original owner. “Is this Joe’s room?” I asked.

“Dude, I don’t care.” Donnie limped into the next trailer.

There was only one trailer left. I took a deep breath… I knew whose trailer it was. I opened the door to Collin’s room. It was a lot cleaner than the other trailers, with bookshelves across every wall. I took a look at what books he had. Good taste. He had the Stephen King of horror’s complete collection. All except for Rose Madder. I was kinda mad that he missed one of his greatest books, until I saw it, still open on his bedside table, next to a picture of Brent. There was a red lipstick mark beside his handsome face. Gross. I turned back to the bookshelves.

He had a big pile of snakeskin boots in the corner of the room. I really had to wonder where he got them all from. After spending a good ten minutes at the pile, I decided he must have had them beforehand. I turned and saw Donnie holding the picture of Brent. “I didn’t realise they were a couple…” He said.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Collin killed himself after Brent died…” I turned my head, trying to forget the image of Collin’s severed head.

He threw the framed photo onto the bed. “Why the hell was that guy covered in chains? Anyway, let’s head back. You should pick up that British guy’s sword when you get the chance. Not many of them around anymore.” He glared at me. “This fucking earth ain’t Fallout 4, kid…”

We stepped outside again, we needed a breath of fresh air after that debacle, way too much in there to process. Outside I could see the group already beginning to settle in, making fires and stations outside and working on reinforcing some walls around to keep it safe. I could see Sonnie standing and ordering people around. I had enough, and approached him.

“Hey Sonnie.”

“What’s up, buddy?” he smiled and gave me a friendly pat. I was gonna call him out on just taking the leader role, but his friendly manners just made me not able to say it.

“I… um. Just wondering how things are coming along.”

“Oh, it’s dandy. Now that we’re all here and breathin’, we’re doing a great job making this home. Mark and Trace have been doing some lifting while Amber and AJ has been doing wonders with the garden. This is great progress for Step 2: Rebuilding.”

“That’s awesome. I’ll talk to you later, Sonnie.”

“Yep.”

I walked over to Amber and AJ who started a little garden in a dirt patch. I noticed Amber’s pants almost seem to enlarge her plump little rump. The black fabric detailed every little bit of her, it didn’t leave much to my imagination. I would do something right now with it if AJ wasn’t next to her. It was about time I let her know my true feelings and urges.

“Hey guys.” I say.

“H-h-hey Glenn. E-everything okay?” he smiled his toothy grin while brushing off his knees.

“I’m good, AJ. What about you guys?” My eyes were locked on Amber on her knees in the dirt, tending to the crops.

“A-awesome! H-hold on I n-n-need to tinkle.” AJ suddenly started walking, without his crutches.

“AJ! You’re… you’re walking!” Amber said in excitement.

“W-whoa…” he said, looking down on his legs.

I patted AJ’s shoulder like the great friend I am. “My goodness! Just 19 years old and walking like a pro!”

“I d-don’t know why it happened. I t-think…”

Suddenly I heard a horrendous shriek. It sounded like Mark.

“Oh no! That’s Mark!” Amber said, rushing past me.

I ran towards the sound, seeing Mark being pulled against the fencing by a group of zombies outside. Two of them had each of his shoulder, pulling at him with incredible force.

“Mark!” I yelled. Trace stood next to him, but didn’t know what to do, he had frozen up completely.

“Trace! Help him!”

Trace just looked at me, then back at Mark.

I shook my head, then reached for my gun. Fuck, I had left it with AJ and Amber. The zombies were pulling Mark harder, almost breaking the planks.

“Help!!! Help me please!!” he screamed, crying.

I ran over to Mark and tried pulling him off, but it was too hard, the force of the hungry zombies were too much. As I heard the planks start to break, tears formed in my eyes, I had to let go. “I’m sorry Ma--”

Suddenly a gunshot rang in the air. Then another. Suddenly the resistance stopped and Mark and I fell forward. We looked up, Amber had shot the two zombies holding him with the gun he gave her.

She ran to him and helped him to his feet. “Mark! Are you… are you okay?” she said, crying.

“Yeah… I am. Thank you.” he said, also teary eyed looking into her eyes. They looked at each other a little, then kissed.

I felt my heart sink once I saw their lips meet. But I didn’t have enough time to think about that. Zombies were surrounding us from every corner. A horde had been attracted by the noise from the war.

“EVERYBODY! GET IN THE VEHICLES, WE GOTTA MOVE!” Sonnie yelled, holding his triple barrelled shotgun and fending off the zombies closing in. “WE’RE GOING BACK!”

Trivia

 * This episode reveals Mark's back story.
 * This episode marks the start of Mark and Amber's relationship.
 * This episode reveals Donnie survived his injury.