Part 2 (Homeland)

"Usual Gambit`" is the second episode of the Edition Two: Homeland webisode series. It premiered on January 7, 2018.

Synopsis
"Constant maintenance on the house worries the survivors; Brody hears a voice from his walkie-talkie."

Plot
The following morning, three men come up from the basement and step into the living room, wiping sweat from their foreheads. Kate notices and smiles.

"Dante, you guys must've been working all night! Please, take it easy now, get some coffee."

The man known as Dante chuckles. "Thank you, Mrs. Campbell, but we don't need a reward for setting up a generator in complete darkness."

"Well considering you missed dinner, you at least need some breakfast before you get some sleep." Kate leads them off to the kitchen as Brody watches.

"You okay?" Ashley sits beside him. "You've been very off all morning. You barely even ate."

He smirks. "I'm fine Ash, just... tired, kinda stressed, the usual."

"The usual gambit?" Colin approaches. "We're protected, and we're capable of killing those... things. Plus, you're the one with his home intact, his family alive, and his partner by his side. Why are you so distressed?"

Brody glances out the window.

"I just... keep thinking about all the other people out there. The people we've turned away, the people who we hear outside our walls, screaming for help before they get swarmed... and we never bother." He says. "And I worry, if we're gonna do that to our friends, if they're even alive... and I want to leave, to find them. Bring them here. Here, a place where they'll be warm, well fed... safe. Why turn them down? Why turn down that chance... when we've done that enough for others who needed this more than we do?"

Ashley and Colin exchange glances, not saying anything. Brody sighs and stands up, stretching.

"Fine, I'll just... go and take a nap or some shit." He brushes the two off as he goes upstairs, passing by the others in the dining room and ignoring their calls to him.

Brody enters his bedroom and sees Isaac sitting on his bunk. He looks up and smiles, but his smile fades as he watches Brody sulk on the couch.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Isaac gets up and hastily sits beside his younger brother.

"... I keep stressing out over my friends." Brody answers. "Not the ones here, I mean... the ones that aren't here. The ones who could be dead."

Isaac sighs and looks down, twiddling his thumbs. "Look, I... I hate to be silent, but mom and dad... they don't want any of us to think about the outside of the walls. That's not our place anymore."

"But that's not fair!" Brody argues. "We've turned so many people away! And for what, to just... curl up and--"

They hear flickers and sparks as the lights shut off, the whole house going dark. The rumbling of the generator in the basement can be heard as the lights come back on after a moment.

"What the fuck...?" Isaac looks around, confused. "Dante and the others must've gotten the generator to work, but what's with the random power surge?"

They hear another spark before it's replaced with crackling. Brody's gaze darts over to a nearby toolbox, near the supplies they had scavenged on their way back home before the Homestead was boarded up and created. He opens it and pulls out a walkie-talkie.

He clicks it on. "Hello...?"

It crackles, before a voice comes in and fizzles out. "B... B-- Br-- Brody-- ?? Can't-- C-Can't-- hear y-y-ou-- ou."

Brody's eyes widen as he sets the walkie-talkie down. Isaac looks at him, confused.

"Well...? Who was it?!"

Brody slowly turns to look at his brother.

"It was Jake. He's alive."

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * First appearance of Dante.
 * First appearance of Sherman.
 * First appearance of Wally.
 * First appearance of Jacob Barley. (Voice Only)
 * The voice of Jacob Barley is heard on the walkie-talkie, though Austin Abrams remains uncredited, possibly to prevent spoiling his cameo.