Because of Me (SWB)

Synopsis
The Mansion Survivors place a problem after another confrontation.

Plot
It’s night. The Mansion is dark except for candles in a few windows.

A biter approaches from the road, stumbling closer to the gate. Before it can make it, a member of The Mob, Ben, suddenly pulls it back and stabs it in the head, shoving it down after.

A chuckle comes from behind him as Jefferson, Alison and Leo walk towards him. Leo is about to step forward when Jefferson stops him. He takes his flashlight and shines it on the ground.

The four stare at the severed body parts of their friends, all arranged to say, FUCK YOU. Jefferson chuckles.

“They must think they’re funny.” Jefferson mutters.

“I doubt funny is what they were going for…” Alison mutters before looking to him. “We should just go. They’re not worth it.”

“Yeah, they don’t even have any good supplies. The only thing they have is the gate.” Leo adds.

While the other two are nervous, Ben is ready to fight. He snickers at the pair. “Pussies…” He mutters.

“The girl is right.” A voice says in the dark, making them all jump in surprise, Jefferson aiming the flashlight to the source.

It’s Lorenzo emerging from the hedges. Jefferson smirks at him. “Always in those damn hedges. God, you’re a freak.”

“What do you want, Jefferson? If it was to see where your men are,” Lorenzo points his own light to the bodies. “They’re right here.”

“Do you want us to do the same to you, old man?” Ben sneers.

There’s a rustling in the hedges before Maggie and Tobias emerge, pistols aimed. Alison takes a step back, bumping into Leo.

“We can take a few assholes with pistols.” Jefferson says.

Tobias smirks. “But can you take a sniper?”

A bullet suddenly hits near Jefferson’s feet, making the man step back in surprise before looking at them. “Wh-Where did you-?”

“One of your men had it.” Tobias replies. “You know… before we killed him.”

Jefferson glares at them. “I’d get going. It’s dark and our sniper can’t see that well up there… Might accidentally shoot one of you next.” Lorenzo says with a smile. Jefferson continues to glare before mumbling, “Let’s go.”

They turn to leave, Jefferson shaking his head before walking away behind them. “This isn’t over.”

Maggie and Tobias lower their weapons. “God…” Maggie whispers to herself as Lorenzo steps over the corpses to open the gate. Maggie follows. “Are we really going to fight them?”

“If it comes down to it.” Tobias replies as they all head inside the gates, the three walking towards the mansion.

“Well, I don’t know how much I want to.” Maggie mutters to herself, frowning. Tobias and Lorenzo both hear and turn to her, staring questioningly, making her look down. “I’m sorry… Nevermind.” She pushes past them and goes to the door.

As she walks in, Tobias enters behind her. “What do you mean you don’t want to?” He asks.

“Forget it, Tobias.” Maggie says, trying to walk away but he walks faster to catch her. “No, tell me why you don’t want to fight for this place.” He demands, earning the attention of Billie, Stevie, Clair, Angel and The Andrews’ group.

Maggie steps towards him angrily. “The Garden of Eden fell, Tobias. We fought for that, didn’t we? I don’t want to stick around and watch more people die and another home fall. I don’t want to risk my life or my brother’s life for this place! It isn’t worth it.”

“That’s what life is now, Maggie. We fight for what we need or we die.” Tobias argues.

“We don’t need this place! We can survive out there just fine, and we could probably find another community to take refuge in. Not a house with a gate. A community. A home.” Maggie explains.

“Is that what you want to do? Because you need to choose now if that’s what you want.” Tobias says.

Maggie takes a second before she nods to him. “Yes.”

Mitch comes in with Caroline, Lola and Cleo following. “Hey, what’s going on here? No one’s going anywhere.”

Maggie crosses her arms, leaning back against the wall. “Yes, I am. I’m not fighting for this place. Not for these people.” She looks to Billie. “Are you coming with me?”

Mitch looks to Billie as well, as does Stevie. Billie looks to him, then Stevie, then back to Maggie. “I’ll go get my things.” He says.

“Billie, no-” Mitch begins.

“You don’t get to tell me whether I get to leave or not.” Billie says to him harshly, pushing past him to walk up the stairs. Mitch begins to follow, running up the stairs after him.

Stevie frowns at Tobias. “What the hell are you doing?”

“If they don’t want to stay, so be it. We need people who want to be here to help us win the fight.” Tobias says.

Stevie rolls her eyes. “Maggie is one of our best shots, Tobias.”

Maggie walks to Stevie. “Stevie, you’ve got to understand I’m doing this to protect Billie. This place isn’t a worth his life… Or yours, for that matter. Come with us.”

Stevie looks at Clair, seeing her whispering to Leonard in the living room. Maggie turns to everyone else. “Does anyone else care to join us?”

No one says anything, just look to one another. Maggie nods. “Okay then. Just making sure.”

Upstairs, Mitch follows Billie into their room, where Billie picks up his guitar and bag, placing them on the bed. “I’m coming with you, then.” Mitch says, but Billie looks at him. “No, you have a group to lead.”

“Yeah, and you’re apart of this group, too. I told you, I’m going to protect you.” Mitch argues.

“That’s just it, Mitch!” Billie shouts at him before taking a deep breath and trying to speak calmly. “Your protection is something I shouldn’t need. I need to learn to protect myself. The best way to do that is by getting experience out there.”

“Billie, I just lost my father and my girlfriend. I can’t let you go-”

“You lost them because of me. Don’t you see that? All your pain and loss is because of me. I’m the reason Robin killed herself. I’m the reason you killed your dad. I’m scared that I’ll be the reason Ashleigh dies, too.” Billie says, voice cracking.

Mitch steps towards him and reaches to cup his cheek, but Billie pulls away, not making eye contact. He sniffles, wiping one of his eyes before going back to grabbing his things. “I’m sorry, Mitch, but… We have to end this before more people get killed.” He makes eye contact with the taller boy, stepping towards him. “But you can’t give up. You’re the leader until Mike gets back, and I don’t know how much I trust Clair. You need to make sure that everyone in the group is safe. Okay?”

Mitch stares down at him, nodding slowly, wiping the tears that threaten his eyes. Billie grabs his things and begins walking to the door before Mitch says, “Please… Just… Stay alive. And keep your sister safe.”

Billie doesn’t look back. “That goes for you, too.” He says before walking out of the room, leaving Mitch alone.

Downstairs, Billie meets with the others. Maggie looks to him. “Are you ready?” She asks. Billie nods. “Almost.”

He walks to Stevie, who is in the next room alone now. She looks up at him and stands. “So… That’s it? You’re just leaving?” She asks disappointed.

“Yeah. I’m not losing my sister, Stevie. She’s the only family - real family - I have left.” He says before taking her hands and lowering his voice. “Come with us.”

“Bill… I love you more than anyone else in this world, but I can’t. Clair… She’s hiding something. I don’t think she’s a bad person like Jeff or Peter, but… Something about her makes me feel like she isn’t the most trustworthy. I need to know what she’s hiding and keep the others safe.” Stevie whispers back.

Billie nods, gripping her hands in his. “Alright. If you’re staying, I need you to promise me you’ll make sure Mitch does the right thing. He’s not the best leader, but he’s trying his best. And,” He releases her and takes the guitar case. “Take care of Bessie for me.”

“I can’t believe you’ve hauled this thing around throughout all of this.” Stevie chuckles as she takes the instrument. “Fuckin’ weirdo.”

Billie smiles, looking down as she takes the guitar. She places it on the table and pulls him in for a hug. The two hold on to one another before Stevie pulls away. “Get going. Your sister’s waiting.”

Stevie kisses his cheek before he turns away. “We’ll find each other again, Stevie.” Billie says as he walks to the foyer.

The siblings leave as Mitch watches from the stairs as they exit, the door shutting behind them.

Mitch sighs, lifts up his chin and says, “Alright, everyone. Just because they’re gone doesn’t mean we can’t win this fight.”

“We’re outnumbered, Mitch.” Angel says sadly.

“For now. But we have people like Spencer and Nathan coming back.” Mitch says. “Until then, we need to make sure we’re ready for battle.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Caroline asks.

Mitch looks unsure. Stevie notices and walks to his side. “Tomorrow we will reinforce the gate and make sure everyone knows how to defend themselves. We will train until they attack. Hopefully the others return before then.”

“What if your friends don’t come back?” Clair asks. “I’m sorry, it’s a negative thought… But they’re going to a dangerous place.”

“They’ll come back. And if they don’t, we fight to protect this place.” Mitch says.

Everyone is left in silence before Stevie says, “Okay, go get some rest, everyone. We have a big day tomorrow.” With that, everyone starts separating.

Mike looks over to Tina, Abbie and Tori. All three look worried as he approaches them. "Don't worry, everyone. We'll make it."

"Will we?" Tori asks.

"Mike, we should have left with those two. We don't know these people. Why should we be fighting with them?" Abbie says.

Mike frowns at his sister. "Because it's the right thing to do. I'd expect you to be willing to help them after they saved us."

Abbie stands up. "Caroline and Angel saved us. The rest of them didn't. All I'm saying is that I don't trust this place. Or these people." She says before walking past him and going upstairs.

At the stairs, Mitch looks to Stevie, smiling shyly. “Thank you.”

“Are you sure you’re up for leading? This is a big responsibility. You’re looking over a lot of people here.” Stevie tells him, to which he nods. “Good. Now go upstairs and get some rest.”

Mitch walks up the stairs, Stevie watching as he does. Clair approaches her, smiling. “I need to thank you. My family is grateful you’re all going to be helping us protect this place.”

“If we’re going to be on the same side, I need to know.” Stevie says before making eye contact with the older woman, almost glaring at her. “What are you hiding?”

Clair stares back at her before sighing. “This place… It doesn’t belong to my family.”

Stevie stares at her questionably, which Clair sees. She looks around before motioning for Stevie to follow her. “Come with me. I’ll explain everything.” The two walk up the stairs, Clair leading Stevie towards the room.

Clair's hand reaches for the doorknob and she turns it, pushing the door open. Stevie's eyes widen at the sight of four biters. They have ropes around their necks, tied to the bed to keep them there.

"C-Clair... Who are these people?" Stevie asks.

Clair stares at the biters with guilt. "Th-these are the owners of the house." Stevie turns her head to her, staring in disbelief.

"Parker, Cal and I, we... we lived in the town a few miles out. Valentina, Lorenzo and Leonard, they travelled with us until we found this place and we... we took it..." Clair explains, her voice shaking as she speaks.

Stevie steps away from the woman, shaking her head. "They didn't know how to survive. We had no food, Parker was injured, we needed a place to stay. It... It was for survival. We did what we had to. I had to keep my kids safe, Stevie."

The woman turns to the teenagers, who is staring back at her with shock. Neither of them say anything. The entire house is quiet.

"You fucking bitch." Stevie says before turning around and storming down the hall. "Everyone get up! Meeting downstairs!" She shouts as she approaches the stairs, turning to look at Clair one last time. She is angry. "Again."

Co-Stars

 * Danielle Campbell as Abbie Andrews
 * Emma Bell as Tina Andrews
 * Madelaine Petsch as Tori Hill
 * Leo Howard as Ben
 * Zena Grey as Alison
 * Denzel Whitaker as Leo

Deaths

 * Unnamed family (Confirmed Fate)

Trivia

 * Maggie Kyle and Billie Kyle leave the mansion and the group.
 * Stevie Leigh discovers that Clair Malloy, her sons and their friends had killed the original owners of the mansion.