Episode 55 (E2)

"Thicker Than Water" is the fifth episode and mid-season finale of Season 6 of KeepOnKeepingOn's Walking Dead: Edition Two. It is the 55th episode overall. It premiered on February 25, 2018.

Synopsis
"The White Flower Garden runs into a few problems."

Plot
As Diana's body collapses to the ground, dead, a lock of shock, horror, and pain permanently etched into her face for eternity, the survivors back up in fear, before looking up at Gabriel. He lowers his gun, huffing out angry breaths as all of the survivors of the White Flower Garden scream and run away in terror.

"You all KNOW she SUCKED! You all have to LISTEN! EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He screams as his voice cracks. However, people keep fleeing. "I can lead you, we can find the promised land! SO JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND--"

Gabriel's screams of anger and lunacy are cut short as he starts to scream in agony, a walker grabbing him from behind and tearing into his cheek before biting his nose, ripping it off in a bloody mess. The angered teen collapses to the ground as another walker, crawling across the dirt, rips into his ankle, and the first walker begins to chew on his throat.

More walkers-- an entire herd-- pile into the overrun community and devour people left and right.

The main group scatters to evade oncoming zombies.

"AH! G-Get OFF OF ME!" Hilda screams as a walker grabs her and begins to bite at her face, but before it can tear off any flesh, Stefan shoots it in the head with a pistol, saving her. The woman pants as he grabs her hand, and they run off to hide behind a few boxes with Holly.

"Where the fuck did this herd come from?!" Stefan asks, reloading his gun and keeping an eye out for any stragglers who notice them.

"I have no fucking-- hey, ow!" Holly is interrupted as Hilda hits her with a bag.

"You cunt, I almost died! How could you leave your sister?!" Hilda shouts.

"Don't shout unless you want us all to die!" Holly whispers loudly. "And don't call me a cunt, I had to run or I'd die too!"

"Oh no you don't bitch, listen, you'll forever be a cunt if you don't cut me some slack and help your provider!" Hilda shouts again. "Now shut the fuck up and be a good little bitch and save us all!"

A gunshot rings out as a walker collapses between them, Stefan glaring at them. "Both of you shut the fuck up and start moving! We gotta get out of here, climb up on the hill and go west into the trees!"

Without another word, the two sisters follow Stefan's orders. He stays behind to shoot a few more walkers, before he follows. The three begin to make distance as he tries to round back to find the others and keep them all safe.

Dwight uses a large, fine machete to slice through several members of the undead, pushing them back a fair amount. A community guard, Mark, panics as he tries to shoot several walkers approaching the two.

"Stay calm and fight!" Dwight shouts at him, stabbing another walker in the head. "If you don't fight, you will die! There is no opportunity to flee right now! Do I make myself clear?!"

"F-Fuck, I can't do this!" He keeps shooting. "They're everywhere man... fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

And just like that, a walker comes from the side and tears into his arm. He screams in agony and drops his weapon, collapsing to the ground. Dwight goes to save him but stops, backing up as he squirms underneath more walkers. The man cries and pleads for help, but Dwight simply hurries off as walkers tear into the man more, unable to get to him to put him out of his misery.

Larry and Carol back up against each other, shooting down circles of walkers in an orderly fashion. As they clear out a fair amount, Mike appears, using his shotgun to take down several groups of lurkers.

"I didn't think there'd be a full blown herd out here! Where are the others?!" He shouts.

"I have no idea, but it's hell in here! Things are getting worse fast!" Carol shouts, aiming and firing a bullet straight through one walker and out another.

Larry watches the walkers through the treeline and his eyes widen. "They're going south-- towards the cabin! We have to get back there now and warn them all!"

Mike spots Stefan along the treeline and Dwight fighting a group nearby. "You two help Dwight, I'll meet up with Stefan! Find Zach and Skylar, and double back to the entrance!"

The two nod as Mike runs off, leaping over a few boxes and shooting down more walkers as he goes to reach the others. Larry and Carol maintain formation and successfully get to Dwight.

Skylar runs for the treeline as Sonia pulls her right up on the hill, and the two back away from oncoming walkers.

"Dear lord, this was our home... and now it's all gone!" Sonia shakes her head, backing up past Skylar. "I fucking told Diana we should've worried more about the walkers... if only Patty was here..."

"What... who?" Skylar shoots a few walkers who try to climb up as she gets no response. After a moment, she turns around, only to see walkers feasting on a corpse. She gasps at the sight and hurries off, spotting Mike and Stefan nearby.

"Quick, this way!"

Laura suddenly sprints through a narrow opening, still surrounded by walkers. Zach hastily follows, dodging walkers along with her.

"C'mon, over here!" Laura beckons, Zach nodding and following her through the overrun community as he tries to shoot as many deadheads as he can.

He looks around at all the zombies as his face pales. The fear of being in the center of the herd-- the eye of the storm-- starts to get to him. His vision blurs, and he loses sight of Laura for a moment as a walker tackles him from behind.

"What-- GAH!" Zach scrambles for his gun but it falls into the crowd of zombies, lost as he struggles to get the walker off of him.

And suddenly Laura is there again, kicking the walker off of him and stomping hard on its head. She pulls him up quickly. "C'mon you dumbass, we have to hurry!"

She turns and pulls him, but immediately runs into a group of walkers. As she turns, they grab her and begin to pull, as Zach tugs hard to keep her from being devoured.

"Fuck!" Laura tries to shake her other arm free, using Zach as leverage without trying to push him in. "D-Don't let go, I've almost got myself free!"

"I'm holding on, fucking hurry!" Zach shouts, pulling. He stumbles a bit and lets go, but her hand is still firmly gripped on his wrist. He almost falls forward a bit but pulls back.

And suddenly a bullet flies through her wrist.

"Ah, FUCK!" Laura hisses as her limp hand lets go of Zach, and she instantly screams as biters swarm her and drag her down, devouring her and tearing her neck and face apart.

"NO!" Zach scrambles back panting, with wide eyes. He looks around to see who shot her, when suddenly, Ethan is there.

"Are you alright?!" He shouts, more walkers being gunned down by Trace, Trent, and some other survivor.

Zach notices the rifle in Ethan's grasp and he smacks him across the face. "You fucking asshat, I was trying to save her! Why did you shoot her?!"

Ethan's eyes widen. "Dude, fuck, I'm sorry, I thought she was trying to pull you in with her!"

"You can't just make those calls, you dumbass!" Zach shouts.

Now Ethan smacks him across the face, glaring. "Hey, we're in the middle of the herd, I'm trying to save the people I know! I'm sorry for whoever that was, but c'mon! We have to go, NOW!" Ethan hurries off with the others, and Zach takes one more look at Laura's devoured corpse, before he glares once more at Ethan before following.

The two meet back up with Trace and the other two; Trent and Tate.

"Everyone else is back at the entrance." Trace says, as Ethan nods.

Trent nods as well. "Your call boss, we round back and head home?"

"Duh, we gotta get everyone out of the cabin before the herd catches up, otherwise they'll follow us. And we can't have that. We have to get them out of the path." Ethan says.

"Well then let's hurry, I have a nephew that I kinda, sorta, really want to not die today." Tate huffs. They nod and hurry off, Zach lagging behind a bit, as they attempt to rally their group and get back to the cabin.

Evening sets in pretty quickly as Amy looks out from the porch of the cabin, cradling Charles. She sighs, the group still not back yet. Charles whines a bit, and she gently bounces him.

"Shh, it's okay buddy... you wanna see a sunset?" She almost talks a baby-voice to him. "Can you say 'sunset' buddy? Sunset?"

Charles calms down as Sarah, Matthew, and Max walk out to stand with her.

"I hope they come back safe..." Max rubs his arms, shivering at the somewhat chilly air. "I don't want my dad and uncle to vanish on me..."

"They'll be fine." Sarah smiles at him. "My brother Trace... he's super strong. Physically, emotionally... him and Ethan are a good pair. And together with Mike, they're all strong leaders. They'll get back here safe and sound, I know it."

"I don't doubt them." Matthew smirks. "After everything at the manor... I used to think that outside of my granddad, everyone else was scary, but really weak in the end... I didn't know what trust really was. Or faith. So I just gotta believe in them... we've been through war, we can handle a day of going north and back."

"War...?" Max asks. "Like... like the stuff in history books? Like, the world wars and stuff?"

"No... not exactly." Amy shakes her head. "But... we fought an army, lost a lot of people, our old home... we lost our leader, too. A boy named Jake."

"Jake taught me how to shoot. How to survive..." Matthew looks down.

"He never wanted to be leader." Sarah shakes her head. "He wasn't... that good of a leader. Jake could tell a motivational speech, but he was always so stressed and unsure... not good leader qualities."

"But he was a good person. I think we expected way too much from him. I mean he was just a teenager." Amy sighs.

And before anyone can say anything else, the shouting starts.

"GET INSIDE, PACK UP, GET OUT!"

Ethan and Mike sprint out of the woods towards the cabin, Trace and Tate following, and everyone else shortly after, plus two new female survivors Amy had never seen before.

"Guys, what the-- what the fuck are--"

"Get inside and pack up as much shit as you can, go out the front and run to the river path!" Ethan shouts. "There's a herd coming! DON'T ASK QUESTIONS! DO IT! NOW! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

Eyes wide, Amy nods, running back inside with the kids, the others following, as masses of zombies begin to pile out of the woods towards the cabin.

The moment everyone is inside, the back door is barricaded shut as food is bagged, and as many tools and supplies as they can find are shoved into backpacks and other holders.

Larry holds Charles and walks around the cabin amidst the panicked survivors, looking solemnly at the house. "It's time to say goodbye to our home Charles... so suddenly, yes, but..."

"Quick, out the front door!" Mike shouts as walkers slam against the back wall. A window breaks, but people don't bother. They hurry out the front door and to the treeline, trying to make sure they block themselves with the cabin so the herd doesn't spot them.

The survivors run off into the evening.

It's late evening as the survivors continue down the path, far away from the cabin. They talk quietly amongst each other, solemnly continuing on in hopes of finding some kind of shelter before nightfall.

"Fucking walkers, of course... ruining everything..." Ethan sighs and stomps hard on the ground. "Dammit! We fucking lost a new home just as soon as we find it! Fucking hell...!"

"Hey, calm the fuck down dude. Seriously." Mike grabs his friend by the wrist, and the two lock eyes. "We've got Tate and Trent to follow, and we've got Holly and Hilda with us now. They're talking about a place we can find."

"... what place." Ethan turns and glares at the new survivors.

"... Trent, Max, and I have been searching for it. That's why we've been hesitant. That's why we've been distrusting. We've had our goals..." Tate explains. "The promised land. Or something. We heard a call about it on a radio one day. We've been searching. It's some kind of community, we think, and they have those kinds of connections."

"Diana knew about it, she had some kind of... relations with it. But she never talked about it." Holly explains.

"Shut up, we don't know these people." Hilda hisses at her. "Don't tell them anything."

"Fuck off, Hilda, we have nothing left. We might as well tell them something so we have a better chance of getting there together." Holly argues. "We all deserve a home."

"Hush, sister. Your job is to get me there." Hilda glares. "Okay? Capiche? Comprende?"

"Hey, listen, you're being a cunt. Shut up." Stefan suddenly says to her.

"Excuse me?" Hilda glares at him now. "Are you a part of--"

"Stop abusing your sister. Stop being a cunt. Stop talking." Stefan holds up his pistol and aims it at her. "Or I'll shoot you on the spot."

Hilda goes quiet, more out of anger than fear. Holly smiles at Stefan and walks up to be with the rest of the group.

"Um, excuse me?"

Everyone turns.

A man walks out of the woods behind them, smiling and nodding, looking them over.

Nobody does anything.

The man clears his throat. "Sorry... I-I didn't mean to scare you all. I assure you, I'm alone. I promise. But I... just wanted to talk. This is not a robbery or anything of the sort. And now I have your attention. Your response?"

Silence.

Tate speaks first. "Wait, we know you... we saw you a week ago. My family and I."

"Oh, yes... Mr. Ford, yes? Right, I remember you..."

"Wait, you know this guy...?" Ethan looks at Tate, then at the man. "... who are you?"

"Sorry, sorry... I'm a tad disorganized. It's late, we're all tired... I'm nervous talking to a lot of people." He clears his throat again. "My name is David Tesner. I'm... just a normal survivor. I try to keep confidence and positivity... because I want my trust to seem real. Because it is. And I come to survivors with an offer.

"Now I... have been following you all for about a day or so. But only because I had to know if you were all good people... reasonable, right? I mean, trust is important, you never know if there are any bad--"

"What do you want?" Ethan asks bluntly. "Stop following us, spit out whatever you wanna say and go the fuck away."

"... I'm offering you all a spot at my community." David nods. "I have a large compound secured, it's a multi-level building. Survivors occupy the two basement levels. We work on the ground floors. Several other rooms function as a medical bay and food storage. It's... advanced. Nothing too spectacular but it's remote and out of the way. We're protected from walkers. We are... safe. Secluded. Surviving."

"Same offer this guy gave us... we declined." Trent says. "We said no, we still wanted to find the promised land. But we kept that part secret... we didn't want to risk any major groups attacking that place if we did find it."

"... but what if his community is the promised land?" Zach asks, stepping forward. "Well? Is it?"

After a moment, David nods. "Yes... I believe in fate, in destiny. I'm certainly not entirely sane, but... I'm not insane. This world makes people very quirky... but I see the good in your group. Which is why I'm forcing bravado to make this offer. Do you... accept? The invitation to... the promised land?"

Ethan looks up at the sky, seeing the moon begin to rise. "... it's so late, guys, we need a place. We need a home. We need something."

"But is this a good idea?" Skylar asks. "Are you sure we can trust him...?"

"No. I'm not. But we need something. We need to take the risk." Ethan says. He looks at the group, then looks back to David. "We'll... accept. For one night. And we'll judge if we want to stay or not."

David holds up his hands and nods. "Fine by me, I understand perfectly. It's your choice in the end. Just know that I'm trusting that you won't come back and try to kill us. I'm hoping for a mutual agreement on that end, if you decide to leave."

Silence again. Ethan walks forward, along with the others. "Lead the way."

David nods, and they continue off into the woods, following the man.

They walk for about an hour. Tired, groggy, and irritated, the group trudges on. Until finally, they enter a clearing with a small hill, leaves crunching under them as they look up and see the large, abandoned, dull building that seemingly is the very community that David was talking about. Everyone looks at each other, unsure of what to think. The whole thing seems ominous.

"Seems ominous, right?" David chuckles. "I know, I know, this is usually the hardest point to sell to new people. But trust me, just come inside and you'll understand. See the lobby, I'll talk to my staff and they'll interview you, get you acquainted... you'll be able to make your decision. I assure you."

"... I hold you to that." Ethan says. David simply smiles at him as they walk up to the entrance.

The inner lobby is cold, small, and dark. It is very drab looking, like an old manor, with shoddy, molded beige wallpaper and dark oak streaks of wood binding the walls, giving the look of the inside more of a rustic feel.

Sarah hugs her brother. "Trace... I don't like this..."

"It's for one night Sarah, trust me..." Trace looks around. "... I don't like it either."

David walks across the small lobby to the sole door, and presses a button by it. It looks like an intercom speaker is above it as he speaks into it. "Dolores? Yes, it's David. Just letting you know I've brought in another group. I'm coming up now, make sure they get to make their choices, okay? I need them to get the regular welcome wagon."

Once again, the group looks amongst each other, unsure of what to think. The door slides open, revealing it to be an elevator. David steps inside, turns, nods to the group, and the door closes. The elevator is heard rising.

The group disperses around the lobby. Stefan observes the intercom and elevator. "This feels... weird."

"This feels wrong." Zach says.

"I have... a bad feeling about this." Ethan looks around.

There is a clanking sound.

Everyone goes on alert, looking around for the source of the sound. They spot a vent shaft nearby on the wall, as something falls down through it and lands in the center of the room. Everyone backs up, but nothing happens. Tate looks at it, and his eyes widen.

"GAS GRENADE! EVERYONE OUT!"

However, the grenade explodes, engulfing the room in white smoke. Everyone coughs and wobbles around, and a few people are heard dropping. Ethan coughs and stumbles, making his way to the front door. He pulls on it, and it shakes.

Locked.

His vision blurs, and he turns, everyone around him having already collapsed.

Ethan drops to his knees, his head throbbing. He coughs, covering his mouth.

Blood covers his hand.

And he falls forward, losing consciousness.

Deaths

 * Gabriel Hemsworth
 * Mark
 * Sonia
 * Laura

Trivia

 * Last appearance of Gabriel Hemsworth.
 * Last appearance of Mark.
 * Last appearance of Sonia.
 * Last appearance of Laura.
 * Last appearance of the White Flower Garden.
 * This episode features David Tesner interacting with the group for the first time, and he is revealed to be an antagonist.
 * This episode marks the end of the first story to be told this season.

Letter Hacks
To write for Letter Hacks, submit all questions, comments, and concerns to this thread.


 * User:Shay elder
 * "Which season do you plan to introduce the guest characters"
 * "Can't really say, honestly. Somewhat spoilery territory as to when characters will appear. Some will appear in Season 7 though. The only thing I can say is you'll just have to be patient!"


 * User:AquaSoloSky
 * "Will Sarah Oxford be getting a larger role anytime soon?"
 * "Yep. Season 7."