Pilgrimage (DD)

This article, Pilgrimage (DD), is property of KeepOnKeepingOn.

Pilgrimage

Season	Episode
2	1

Release Date

July 1, 2020

Writer

KeepOnKeepingOn

Chapter Guide

←	→
"Manifest Destiny"	"Home"

This is a legacy page.

"Pilgrimage" is the first episode and season premiere of Season 2 of Dark Days. It is the fourteenth episode overall. It premiered on July 1, 2020.

Synopsis[]

"After being forced out onto the road, tensions run high as the remaining group is forced to learn a few key rules about survival."

Plot[]

The sun manages to shine through the grey clouds enough to provide a dull, dirty overcolor of light across the desolate neighborhood. As it continues to rise, bathing the streets in its healthy glow, only the occasional, far off chirping of a few birds can be heard. There’s no breeze, so trees do not sway and rustle. The suburbs, looking destroyed and unkept, show no signs of life.

Not even those who have come back from the dead seem to be wandering the streets of Alabama any longer.

What were once packed homes, full of families, neighbor to neighbor, were now large, dark, narrow, dangerous rows of tombs, full of loot, and death. Reminders of a world long gone, yet not forgotten.

And a chair soars through one window, quite literally shattering the silence as it flies out of the house, and rolls off the patio to the grass below.

The snarls of several walkers break from the house, and a stool exits the window now, being held by two hands. The stool is used to clear the remainder of the broken glass.

Warren Dotson turns around in the dark living room, the sunlight illuminating the approaching dead, reaching for him. He swings the stool back and smashes it across the face of one biter, and then drops it, turns, and leaps out the open window.

He stumbles upon landing on his feet, the glass crunching beneath him. The man swivels around and pulls a knife from his belt, and takes a fighting stance, ready to attack.

The walkers congregate at the window, and shove their bodies out, reaching for him -- only to get stuck, with the few stragglers bending over being weighed down on the sill by those atop them.

Warren sighs in relief, taking another step back and relaxing.

The front door to his right slams open as more of the undead pile out.

“J-Jesus--!!” Warren jumps to attention, but slips off the patio, slamming into the ground on his side and grunting in pain. Disoriented, he haphazardly and blindly begins to scoot away across the terrain, bumping into the chair he had thrown moments before. He glances at it over his shoulder for one moment, then looks back up at the oncoming wave of death and destruction, shambling towards him.

One stray that nears him is suddenly brought down with a swift machete slice to its head, courtesy of a blond, curly haired girl in a beret. Gina wastes no time in dashing for Warren to help him to his feet, and she pulls him back from them, waiting for him to get steady as she readies her weapon.

“You ready?” She asks rather calmly.

Warren exhales, rolling his shoulders and holding up his knife. “I guess I am now.”

“Eh, I’ll take it.” Gina chuckles, before she and Warren charge forward in unison, striking at the dead.

Warren’s blade punctures one skull, and he pushes it back into two more, knocking all three down and trapping the two active walkers underneath. Gina swings her machete across, slicing two heads in half and kicking one back, before she drives the blade through another biter’s face.

The two adolescents gradually back up as they attack more of the dead, bringing back their offense and putting up more of a defensive front, with careful stabs of their weapons. By the time they handle the last biter, which drops dead at Warren’s feet, they turn around to see they’ve crossed the street, and are almost pressed up against a picket fence.

Gina puts her machete away, sheathing it on her belt, and she begins to walk away from the path of corpses they’ve created. “I’m guessing you didn’t find anything in the house?”

“Nope… picked clean.” The blond man sighs and puts his own knife away, following her. “Tons of boxes crammed in the basement, too many to go through… most of the dead were upstairs but, well, they got out obviously.”

“You wanna go back and check those boxes together?” Gina suggests.

“Nah… probably tons of spiders in them.” Warren shudders. “I hate spiders.”

“Fair point, fair point.” Gina nods. As they reach the street intersection and turn right, the sun, by now, has poked through the clouds to properly illuminate the road. A soft breeze picks up as they walk, allowing them both to relax.

“Has Virgil figured out where we are yet?” Warren asks. “I mean, I dunno if you’ve gone back to the group yet or anything.”

Gina shakes her head. “Last I checked he was still reading the map.”

“Ugh, all I know is, with how many days we’ve been walking, we’re definitely not in Tuscaloosa anymore.” Warren sighs. “That much I can be sure of.”

The girl looks at him. “Is there any place you’d want to go?”

Warren thinks on the question for a moment. “... I don’t know really. I’ve lived my whole life in Tuscaloosa, so now that my hometown is miles behind us, I don’t know what lies ahead. I don’t know what I want.”

Gina bites her lip. “... are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Warren asks.

The girl looks ahead. “I know it’s only been a week. I’m just making sure.”

“I said I’m fine.” Warren shrugs it off. “I just wanna find somewhere. I don’t wanna keep doing this.”

“Same.” Gina nods. “Not like we even know what we’re doing anyways.”

Warren chuckles dryly. “True that…”

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Virgil is leaning over the hood of an old, abandoned blue pickup truck, running his finger across a large map of Alabama, and continuously looking up to find street signs. Oliver walks over from behind the truck, finishing taking a sip from a bottle of water, before he caps it and sets it down.

“Anything?” The young man asks.

Virgil shakes his head. “Tch… nope, nothing. I thought I had something yesterday, but after we left Port Ave., I lost track of where we were.”

Oliver sighs, and chuckles dryly. “You’d think we’d know our home state.”

Virgil laughs a bit and shakes his head. “You spent a whole year living in a university to stay alive and you didn’t bother to keep up with your education? Shame.”

Oliver looks up and frowns a bit -- sitting on a dilapidated, chipped paint porch step nearby, staring at the ground, body still, almost statuesque, is Wilkes. His hands are clasped together, and his only movement, aside from his blinking, is his slowly breathing chest.

The adolescent man shakes his head and looks back to Virgil. “... he’s been with us the whole time and he’s been broken as hell.”

The older adult nibbled lightly on a pen he picked up, before he started to circle a few roads. “I’m aware, and what do you want me to do about it?”

Oliver blinks and almost scoffs. “Excuse me, what the fuck? Aren’t you a counselor?”

“He’s grieving the loss of his son, and he doesn’t trust any of us.” Virgil doesn’t look up from the map. “Hell, why he’s bothering to stick around with us is beyond me -- I don’t really trust him, but we’re done with the fighting. Live or die, he’s not our responsibility.”

Oliver opens his mouth to reply, but Virgil looks at him.

“You know I’m right.” He begins, rather matter-of-factly. “I’m not here to pick a side on this. This can of worms isn’t one I’m opening. And that’s final. I admire your empathy, and I haven’t lost mine -- but that’s a ticking time bomb, and no matter what side you get on, you’re on the wrong one. I’m going to stay out of it.”

“I have ears, you know.”

The two turn over, seeing Wilkes looking up at them. He offers a pitiful, somewhat smug grin and a forced shrug. “Not like I’m in any position to argue. Do whatever the hell you want.”

Oliver starts. “Hey, I’m on your side here--”

“No you’re not. Heh, no you’re not.” Wilkes stands up slowly, grunting a bit before approaching the pickup. Virgil keeps Oliver behind him, much to the younger man’s confusion. He narrows his eyes, watching Wilkes closely.

“Relax.” The homeless man reaches for a small sack leaning awkwardly against the windshield, pulling out a small combat knife, before he turns and starts walking back to the house he had been sitting in front of.

“Hey, we said no weapons.” Virgil rounds the truck to go after him, but Oliver quickly stops him, grabbing his arm.

“If you’re going to call me a time bomb, then I might as well go blow up somewhere.” The man replies almost bitterly, pulling open the screen door to the house and then shoving the front door in. “Don’t bother covering me, whatever happens, happens.”

He disappears into the darkness as the door closes, and Virgil rips his arm away from Oliver, briefly glaring at him. “Why’d you stop me?”

“He’s not hurting anyone.” Oliver argues. “Why do you care if all he did was walk away? I thought you weren’t gonna get involved.”

Virgil bites his lip and shakes his head, sighing. Running a hand through his hair, he turns and goes back around the truck to the map.

Oliver just offers him a bit of a smirk. “You know I’m--”

“Don’t say a word.” Virgil spits. However, when he glances at Oliver’s face, he can’t help but snort and chuckle a bit. “Sheesh, heh, what’re you even happy about?”

“If he wanted to die he would’ve taken care of it a week ago.” Oliver responds. “He wants to live and he’s trying to find reason.”

Virgil smiles a bit at him from across the hood. “... you’re starting to sound like a counselor ya know.”

“I learned from the best.” Oliver winks.

“Damn, Kate must’ve taught you well.” Virgil jokes, laughing a bit as he earns a middle finger from the younger man.

Oliver’s attention is grabbed by a dragging sound -- dull, thick, rusted metal scraping against the hot concrete. He looks over and sees Monica nearby, pacing in slow circles at the corner of the sidewalk, right at the edge of the road, fire axe sliding across the pavement, lazily clutched in her grasp.

“Ey, that’s not exactly a nice sound.” He calls out.

Monica looks up, a bit surprised, before she pulls up the axe and puts it over her shoulder. “Sorry, I’m just bored as hell.”

“Well we can’t exactly keep being careless.” Oliver approaches her. “We don’t have any walls that let us make all the noise we want anymore.”

“I know, I know, I know.” Monica rolls her eyes. “So we need to be careful, we don’t know what we’re doing, yada yada yada… I’ve heard the same shit from Principal Parker every time I wake up in the morning.”

Oliver chuckles. “Really? I figured you’d sleep in ‘til the afternoon.”

Monica rolls her eyes, but she can’t hide the smirk growing on her face. “You better hope I find some walkers to kill, Ollie. Or else you’re getting the chop first.”

“We’re here cause we have enough people running already, and we need to stay in one place so we can meet back up before sundown.” Oliver sticks his tongue out. “I know you wanna live a little, but try and not get too viciously bored. And that’s coming from me.”

“Ah yes, you -- the quirky jokester who is totally known for being a serious leader.” The girl walks around him.

“Hey, I’m best under pressure.” Oliver scoffs. “Walking down a street isn’t exactly the most stressful thing in the world.”

“It is when you’re being chased by countless biters.” Monica retorts. “You couldn’t lead a group even if you tried. That’s why Virgil wanted you to stay behind instead of commanding a run.”

Oliver smirks wryly. “My lady, are you issuing unto me a challenge?”

“Yep. Take my axe.” She holds out her weapon. “Go kill Virgil and take charge.”

“What?” The man looks up from the truck, only to see the younger students start to laugh.

He shakes his head and looks back down at the map, tracing the pen across several road lines, reading over multiple street names. Virgil continues to mutter to himself, reading each street, city, and town name he sees, still glancing up to find where they are.

He catches sight of the nearest street sign and reads it -- “Delano Way”. Quickly, he looks back down at the map, dragging his finger along to find the familiar name.

An intersection. “Delano Way”.

“Wait by the supplies, go get Wilkes if he doesn’t come out.” Virgil suddenly commands to the two, who look at him confused, as he grabs the map and turns, running down the road.

The man constantly glances up from the map as he runs, following the street signs. Taking a right, Virgil dodges a red car turned over on the road. He takes a couple more turns, evading a few walkers as he sees them, keeping his eyes on the signs. He passes more and more, before finally turning one more right, pulling out a knife and thrusting it into a walker’s head as it approaches, and pushing the body into the nearby foliage. And he stops when he sees a large sign.

“WELCOME TO BIRMINGHAM”

Within the dark, abandoned household, Wilkes’ soft footsteps reverberate off the walls of the narrow corridor he patrols. He stares straight ahead, but keeps his ears open for any growls of the undead. Despite the bright sun outside, the light shining through the windows is dim and dull. Boards against the panes suggest the house was once a safe haven, perhaps for a small family, but was abandoned now, or worse.

The weight of his walk causes soft creaks and thumps in the floorboards, even under the carpet between them. The only time his eyes scan his surroundings are for possible supplies, though he already feels the house is entirely ransacked.

Still, the quiet is peaceful, yet harrowing. To be left alone with his thoughts, both good and bad…

He reaches the top of a set of stairs, which curves left into another long, narrow hallway, with a door at the very end, and four others along the way, two on each wall. The four along the hall are closed, and the one at the end is slightly ajar.

Without a second thought, and with little hesitation, Wilkes approaches the door slowly and calmly.

He pushes it open further, and steps into a dark, messy room -- a young boy’s bedroom.

His heart sinks. He looks around. A race car bed, stripped of its sheets and pillows. No blood anywhere in the room, thankfully. Toys strewn across the floor. A toppled desk, and a TV face down on the ground beside it. A bureau sits by a window, and it’s the neatest looking thing in the room.

Wilkes grips his chest a bit, biting his lip. Images flash through his head. His shoulders tighten.

He imagines the walls closing in on him. The basement of the University of Alabama appears before him, and he shakes his head, trying to suppress the memories.

A muffled cry in the back of his mind, echoing softly… he ignores it, and approaches the bureau.

There’s photos on top. Family photos. He ignores them. His eyes scan across posed action figures, a stack of baseball cards, a signed baseball near the edge, sitting on a stand. He picks it up, and feels it in his palms.

Another cry in the back of his head. He can make out a cry for help.

His hands tremble, clutching the ball tightly.

An image of his son jolts through him. He can make out the sounds more clearly. But he doesn’t focus.

His son calls out to him. Yelling for his father, but Wilkes ignores those thoughts. Tears well up in his eyes, and they fall onto the baseball in his hands.

More images of Trevor run through his head. He grips the ball tighter. A home. Something he didn’t have. Something they lost before the end times. Something they thought they found again. With… with…

Dahlia. Her smiling face. He can see her. She turns around. The gun is in his hand. The rage in his eyes. The heartbreak. The pain. The one bullet he never expected to fire.

A creak behind him.

His heart skips a beat. He can hear the door open further. He grabs the knife from his belt, turns…

“GRAH!” He hurls it with surprising force, and it slices the air, striking the wall and getting stuck, just beside Monica’s face. Wilkes calms down surprisingly fast, but he sighs in abject disappointment, before turning away with a shake of his head.

Monica relaxes, no longer feeling threatened. “... you should work on your aim.”

“You should leave me alone.” Wilkes scoffs. “What’re you doing here? Why did you follow me?”

“... Virgil ran off and told me and Ollie to make sure you’re okay.” Monica crosses her arms. “... how’re you holding up?”

“You know damn well what the answer to that question is, now shut up and leave.” Wilkes responds over his shoulder.

“That’s not happening.” Monica argues.

“Why do you care what happens to me?” Wilkes turns back around. “Why do any of you care? You took my friends, my home, my son… everything. Gone cause of you.”

Monica doesn’t respond, though her gaze shifts to the floor. She bites her lip, and grips her sleeve tight, fidgeting a little in place.

“I know I don’t really know everything that happened, and I wasn’t there for all of it,” she begins, taking a step into the room, “but I do know that you lost your son, and you’re grieving. And I’m not here to stop that.”

Wilkes glares at her, making her stop approaching. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“Well you’re getting it. You’re not a prisoner here. We can’t bring back your son, but if you’re trying so hard to keep going, at least try and be there.” She continues. “We survive as a group. And if you don’t trust us, you can leave. But if you don’t want to leave, then don’t drag us down with you.”

“Big talk, this isn’t on me.” Wilkes smiles a bit. “Everyone’s at fault here. I get why you did what you did, but you all better be damn sure you understand why I did what I did.”

“... some of us understand, others…” Monica looks away. “Look, just come back out when you’re ready… I think Virgil knows where we are. We’ll regroup soon anyways, so we’re gonna get going.”

Wilkes pauses. “You tell me I can leave if I want, and then you tell me to come join you anyways?”

“Of course.” Monica nods. “Ollie says you’re trying to find a reason to live… and I believe him. So instead of going off alone… stick with the people who fucked up but wanna make things right.”

The girl takes the knife out of the wall, and then hands it over to the man.

“No more bloodshed.” She says. “Promise.”

Wilkes looks at the knife, and then up to her.

A walker snarls, shambling about in circles on the hot pavement, right outside of an old wood home sitting surprisingly close to the sidewalk. Warren and Gina slow to a stop as they see it, and it doesn’t seem to notice them, despite how close they are.

“You wanna take it, or should I?” Gina asks.

“I got it.” Warren pulls out his knife. Gina looks at him, and he nods. “I got this. I’m fine.”

“You know you can talk to me.” The girl nods.

“I’m okay. Really. Don’t freak out.” Warren replies, before going off ahead, Gina watching after him.

The biter glowers in his direction and harshly stretches its maw to spit out some kind of roar, but just as Warren closes the distance, raising his knife to strike, out from the house comes someone else.

Alex Michaels hurries out, grunting as he swings a knife down in his remaining hand, jumping off the front porch and stabbing the blade through the side of the walker’s head. He almost goes down with it, but manages to yank the knife out. He pants, and then looks up to see Warren.

The blonde smiles for a second. “Alex, I--”

The younger brown-haired boy just furrows his brow, flips him off, and then sheathes his knife without another word.

At that moment, another voice joins in. “Alex! There you are!”

The three look up the road, in the direction Warren and Gina had been heading, to see Grace and Melissa jogging down towards them. Alex’s breathing picks up, he shakes his head, and he turns and runs for the woods across from the house, hurrying into the foliage just as the other two girls catch up.

“What the hell?” Gina asks. “What’s his deal?”

“We don’t know, after we started our supply run together, he took the first chance he could to run off. He won’t speak to either of us.” Melissa shakes her head.

“He’s clearly pissed about something…” Warren purses his lips. “What’s his beef? Did you say something to him?”

“He’s been avoiding us as much as possible. I don’t know what we did.” Grace sighs. “I’m glad we ran into you two.”

“Yeah, at least this means we aren’t as lost as we thought…” Melissa crosses her arms. “Can you two go get him? He’s probably just gonna keep running, and if we all get lost, we’re as good as dead.”

“I’ll go.” Gina nods, looking up at Warren. “Head back to the meet-up spot with them. I’ll handle this.”

Warren shakes his head. “I can handle this too--”

“No, if he’s mad and freaked, let someone else talk to him.” Gina responds. “He’s got a lot on his mind… ya know. Lost an arm, lost…”

She goes quiet for a second, just staring at Warren.

“... lost, uh… more things too.” She shakes her head. “Just let me take care of him, okay? Get back to Virgil and the others and I’ll be there soon. It’s only midday, we’ll be back before nightfall.”

“... okay, fine. But I’m holding you to that.” Warren nods. “Otherwise… I dunno.”

Gina chuckles. “Heh, nice. I expect a good comeback when I’m back.”

The young man rolls his eyes. “Just go already.”

The girl turns and hurries into the woods, leaving Warren with Melissa and Grace, who idle a bit awkwardly.

“I hope Alex is alright…” Melissa shakes her head. “I wonder what’s gotten into him. He’s been like this the whole time…”

“Well… I’ve got one theory.” Warren sighs. “And I don’t think he’s gonna be okay for a while.”

Alex pants, dashing through the woods, avoiding trees and jumping over shrubs. He glances over his shoulder to see if he’s being followed, but failing to pay attention for that brief moment causes him to trip over a tree root. He yelps and careens forward, body thrown to the air and right to the ground.

He groans, and slowly pulls himself up, coughing as he struggles to get up with only one hand.

“Alex?”

He tenses, and coughs a bit more. After standing up, he leans against a tree and turns around.

Gina.

“... what.” He mutters.

The girl approaches him slowly. “Talk to me. C’mon.”

He sighs. “Why did you follow me?”

“Well, why’re you running?” She counters. “Melissa and Grace said that you’ve been avoiding them. Plus, you seemed pretty pissed at Warren.”

“Can you leave me alone?” Alex groans. “Please? This has nothing to do with you.”

“You’re gonna get your dumbass lost in the woods and killed if you keep running away. So suck it up and spit it out.” Gina spits. “I’m here for you, and if you don’t like that, tough shit.”

“Gina, seriously. Go away.” Alex glares.

“No, not without you.” The girl shakes her head. “And if that ain’t happening then you better give me a damn good reason to abandon you out here.”

“I’m not doing this right now!” Alex argues, approaching her. “Just go away!”

“No, not without my friend! What’s gotten into you?!” Gina throws her hands up.

“I can’t face them! Not after what I did!!” Alex shouts, tears starting to form in his angry, painful eyes. “I-I got their friend killed! My dumb fucking ass got Jack killed, I can’t look at them!”

Gina blinks, her body relaxing a bit. She slowly shakes her head. “... no, that wasn’t… on you. That was with those homeless fucks.”

“A-And I let the asshole walk away.” Alex shakes his head. “I wasn’t there to save Raye, I wasn’t able to protect Jack… and I lost an arm, and I…”

Gina smacks him across the face.

He winces and touches his stinging cheek.

“Get the fuck ahold of yourself.” She glares. “That wasn’t on you. Yeah, I get it -- human lives were taken and none of us wanted them to die. But shit went down. You were there. But it’s not your fault.”

Silence. Alex looks at the ground.

A twig snaps.

The two look up and around.

Another twig snap.

Gina squats down, and moves behind a nearby bush, beckoning Alex to come. He follows her, mimicking the crouched position.

“Is it a walker?” Alex whispers. “A person…?”

“Shut up and listen!” Gina hisses.

Another twig snaps, and out into the open before them, comes a deer. Big, broad, majestic… meaty.

Gina blinks, and she and Alex share a look.

In another part of the neighborhood, two people step out of a house, each carrying a duffel bag -- Colton Drake and Olivia Dent. They both head over to a tree in the front yard and set the bags down.

“Not full, but at least we found something.” Olivia says, leaning against the tree and wiping sweat from her forehead. “You got a list of what we’ve got?”

“It’s not much…” Colton looks down at a notepad in his hands. “I hope Blaine’s having better luck… and I hope all the kids are safe out there.”

“Agreed, and I-- oh, shit!!”

Olivia is taken by surprise by a walker that comes from behind the tree, latching onto her side and forcing her back.

“Shit, OLIVIA!” Colton drops the notepad and fumbles for the gun holstered at his waist. Just as he pulls it out to fire, another gunshot rings out, and the walker is killed with a single bullet to the head.

Olivia gasps as the blood sprays across her, and the two see Blaine Parker approach from the road, lowering a smoking revolver. He jogs to her and checks her for bites. “Are you okay Olivia? Did anything happen…?”

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine Blaine… I’m fine.” Olivia nods profusely, stepping back. “Really, thank you… any luck in your search?”

Parker looks between the two, as Colton picks up his notepad. “No, not really… where the hell are Chad and Erika? I told them to stay out here and be on watch.”

“We haven’t seen them, we just got out.” Colton shakes his head. “You don’t think they abandoned us, do you?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised…” Parker mutters. “You two go back to the meet-up spot and bring what you found to Virgil. I’ll handle those two.”

“... are you sure Blaine? We can help look for them.” Olivia suggests. “You shouldn’t stress yourself out.”

“You’ve been pushing yourself a lot, Blaine.” Colton notes. “All week you’ve been handling every run. You’ve been away from the group more than you’ve been with it and you’ve earned more than a break.”

“I am fine, you two. Please.” Parker looks down. “I understand the concerns, especially regarding… certain circumstances. Both now and prior. But I assure you, I am rectifying my mistakes from the past. I’m not an effective leader, so I must pull my weight as I should have long before.”

“Bullshit, you’re a great leader. And so is Virgil. You two should be in charge together, instead of weighing yourself down like this.” Olivia argues.

“Olivia that’s enough.” Parker softly responds, opening and closing his fists. “I respect both of your opinions. But my time as leader ended long before we left the school and I have no desire to bear that weight any longer. Now please, return to the meet-up spot. That’s the last time I’ll ask.”

Colton frowns, but he picks up his duffel bag, as does Olivia. “You know we’re here for you Blaine… please, don’t push yourself.”

He walks away, Olivia following, and Parker watches them go. When he’s left alone, he sighs and looks down at his hands. His fists close and open slowly, and numerous thoughts run through his head. Parker idles quietly for a bit longer before he looks up after hearing a door open, seeing Chad Zachary and Erika Monroe both exit from the house next door.

Parker glares and quickly approaches them. “What the hell were you two doing? Olivia was almost killed cause you two weren’t out here on watch!”

“What the-- hey!” Chad steps back as Parker gets in his face. “Jeez, sorry Mr. Parker… I had to piss.”

Parker sighs and rubs his temple. “... I forgave you both for trying to kill me because, lucky for you, or maybe idiotically for me, I’m a kind man who can see the good in even the worst people. The least you can with your second chance is to not fucking blow it.”

Chad is taken aback, and he opens his mouth to respond, but he catches himself, and lowers his head. “... you’re right. But it’s my fault. I was dumb, and I made Erika come with me for no reason.”

Erika looks between them and shakes her head. “I-I should’ve stayed out here. It was dumb, and just... I’m sorry, and…”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Chad stops her, before he looks back to Parker. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s smart and understands when she’s in a bad spot. She deserves a second chance. I don’t. And I’m fucking up real bad. You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t blame her.”

Parker once again looks between the two, and shakes his head. “You’re a lot smarter than you appear, Chad. You’re not this airheaded jock with anger problems. When you enrolled with your scholarship, and when you did so very well in your classes… you’re a bright young man. Yet you’ve made stupid decision after stupid decision, and it disappoints me.

“And you, Erika, you really do have a good, reasonable head on your shoulders. You’re a smart and refined young lady with an edge to her and I’m proud to see you as strong. But I feel Chad’s been a bad influence on you and I wish to see you do better.

“I’m glad you both want to do better… but you have to actually do better.” He finishes. “I forgive you both because you want to try… please keep trying. Don’t give up.”

Chad bites his lip. “After what happened with William, I’m afraid of what’ll happen if I piss you off again…”

Parker eyes him cautiously. “... William was… I just…”

He shakes his head again and quickly turns away. “Please, return to the meet-up spot before sundown.”

As the man walks away, Chad stares after him wearily. “... yeah, uh, we’ll be there.”

He doesn’t stop. He keeps walking. Parker sighs and keeps his head down as he goes down the road. He looks down at his hands again, closing and opening his fists. They feel numb.

He shakes it off, and continues walking.

Erika continues to watch him leave, before turning to Chad. “Should we follow?”

“Not yet.” Chad shakes his head. “I just… need a sec to clear my head.”

He turns and starts to walk down another road, and Erika follows. “Uh… yeah, alright.”

They walk up a somewhat steep road, and Chad takes a rifle slung over his shoulder and readies it. “Just be ready in case of anything.”

“I know.” Erika nods, pulling out her pistol. “No bullets wasted.”

They slow their walk down the road, but remain relatively casual, eyeing around.

Chad sighs again. “Look, I’ve been thinking…”

“You’ve been thinking a lot these days.” Erika notes.

“Yeah, I know, but just… look, I’m stressing a lot.” Chad shakes his head. “Everything that happened just… kinda got to me, y’know? Like some big bloody wake-up call. I’ve been a huge moronic idiot and I know I’ve got a temper. But I gotta be smarter and better cause nobody’s given up on me yet for some reason.”

“... well we can’t just be good people over night.” Erika notes.

“No, and I’ll probably never be a good person at all.” Chad shrugs. “My goal is just… to be a better person. You’re the one who can be a good person.”

“Probably, I’m the one who actually has a brain.” Erika chuckles.

“No I’m serious.” Chad nods. “You’re way better than me. You can be a better person, you’ve done plenty bad cause of me.”

Erika looks at him confused. “... what’re you saying?”

The young man sighs. “I dunno, maybe we should just… take a--”

A front door opens.

Chad raises his rifle quickly, and Erika raises her pistol.

“Oh thank god…” Kevin mutters, exiting the house with his sister Nancy. “Damn, lucky we found you two.”

“Jesus, Kev…” Chad lowers his rifle. “Don’t freak us out like that.”

“Hey, have you guys seen Kylie?” Nancy asks.

Erika shakes her head. “She’s not with you?”

“We were scavenging with her but she just… up and vanished.” Kevin adds. “We’ve been trying to find her all afternoon.”

Chad bites his lip and looks at Erika, before looking back to the siblings. “C’mon. Four’s better than two. Let’s find her.”

Kevin and Nancy nod and turn to walk ahead, and Chad follows. Erika watches Chad a bit worriedly, before she jogs to catch up with them down the street.

Warren, Melissa, and Grace turn at the road’s corner to finally head back to the meet-up spot, where they see a few people have returned; namely Parker, Colton, and Olivia. Additionally, Oliver and Monica are with Wilkes, though Virgil is nowhere to be seen, and the others who have gone out have yet to return.

“Not everyone’s back yet…?” Warren mutters.

Grace bites her lip. “I hope everyone’s okay…”

“Hey! You guys!”

The three turn to see Gina and Alex emerge from the woods… both pulling along the corpse of a deer.

Gina pants, smiles, and waves them over. “C’mon and help! We’ve got dinner for tonight!”

“Holy shit…!” Melissa stares at the deer, wide-eyed, as she goes down to help. Grace follows with a smile, and Warren smiles after them, though he doesn’t follow.

Gina watches him a bit awkwardly, but pays no more mind as she focuses on helping the others bring the deer over.

“God-DAYUM!” Oliver exclaims, standing up from his seat on the porch and gawking at the deer. “Ha! Tonight we eat like kings and queens! Holy shit, dudes!”

Monica approaches with a smirk just as the four bring it over, and Gina lets go and turns to see her. “Damn bitch, you were busy.”

Gina chuckles. “I work ‘em hard.”

Monica smiles and pulls her in for a hug, which Gina returns. “Nice job girl.”

“How’re things back here?” Gina asks, pulling away.

“Things are… fine I think.” Monica shrugs. “Virgil ran off… might know where we are.”

“Seriously?” Gina smiles wider. “God, finally! I’m so sick of the damn wandering, I wanna take a damn load off!”

“Well hold on, hold on…” Parker steps in. “Just because Virgil may know where we are doesn’t mean we can just stop moving and settle down. We need to find somewhere secure, and having a grasp on our location will help with that.”

“Ugh, I know Parks…” Gina groans, crossing her arms. “I’m just saying.”

Parker, however, just chuckles and nods. “I know what you’re saying. I too would love to take a damn load off.”

Gina’s smile returns at that.

“Well great! We’ve got dinner, we’ve got a location…” Oliver nods, smiling. “Things are looking up guys, seriously. Today went from “eh” to “EYYYY” in a matter of hours!”

Monica snorts and shakes her head. “God you’re an idiot… I didn’t actually want you to be in charge.”

“Excuuuse me, princess, I’m totally in command til Virgil gets back.” Oliver jokes. “Boss man said so.”

Warren chuckles, then glances at Wilkes, who is once again quietly sitting on the porch step, looking down. He frowns and approaches Oliver. “How’s uh… he doing?”

Oliver looks at Wilkes, then back to Warren. “He’s… holding up. Why?”

Warren shrugs. “Just checking in, cause, ya know… everything.”

The curly-haired man purses his lips. “You holding up yourself bro?”

“I’m fine.” Warren sighs. “Please, I’m okay.”

“Okay, okay.” Oliver holds up his hands defensively. “You’re my friend, dude, I’m just making sure.”

“Hey, everyone! Everyone I’m here!!”

“Oh damn.” Monica looks over her shoulder. “Speaking of Virgil…”

The man runs down the road towards them, waving the map in the air and grinning wide. He slows to a stop and looks around. “... wait, not everyone’s back yet?”

“The only groups that have yet to return are Kevin’s group, and Chad and Erika.” Parker notes. “Oliver and Monica said you might’ve figured out where we are?”

“Dammit, you guys spoiled the surprise?” Virgil jokes. “Okay, whatever -- we’re in Birmingham. I found our streets, I found the sign, we’re basically bordering Birmingham right now.”

A few cheers and sighs of relief are exchanged within the group.

“Birmingham?” Warren asks, his interest piquing. “That’s…”

“Well lookie here, it’s the Fantastic Four.” Oliver interjects, motioning over to the four approaching people -- Chad, Erika, Kevin, and Nancy.

“Jeez, where’ve you guys been?” Virgil asks, looking over to them. “And… where’s Kylie?”

Chad bites his lip. “... um…”

“She got separated from us.” Nancy explains. “We found her, but…”

“Is she okay?” Warren quickly approaches. “Did something happen?”

Murmurs of uncertainty spread throughout the group. Chad looks at Warren warily. “... we could use some help.”

“Then let’s hurry the hell up.” Warren jogs past him, ahead of the group. Chad watches him go, before he, Erika, Kevin, and Nancy follow, leaving the rest of the group confused and concerned.

A breeze blows through the afternoon sky, brushing past Kylie Washington, as she sits in the middle of the road, legs crossed, head tilted up, eyes closed. She takes in a long breath, inhaling and exhaling through her nose. Beside her is a small pouch, containing a small amount of supplies.

“... Kylie?”

She doesn’t move at all, even when she hears Warren’s voice approaching her -- the young man having let the other four stay well behind.

He stops right behind her. “... are you okay?”

No response.

“... can I sit?”

No response.

He sits anyways, right beside her. “... talk to me. You’re acting kinda weird.”

She’s silent for a moment. “... there’s nothing for me to talk about.”

“You’ve been really distant since…” Warren shakes his head. “Really, Kylie, I know something’s up… you’re not eating much anymore and you’ve gone super silent…”

Kylie winces a bit, grimacing as her eyes open. “Warren, I… really, please--”

“Hey, I neglected being your friend and I almost saw you die because of that.” Warren argues. “I was so happy when you showed up again at the gates… it gave me one more chance to be a better friend to you. Please let me be that better friend.”

Kylie slowly looks at him, worriedly.

“You’re not alone. Not anymore. You’ve got us.” Warren reassures with a smile. “You’ve got me. I’m still your friend. And I’m gonna be here for you, no matter what you’re going through.”

The girl takes a moment, before she smiles. “... thank you, Warren.”

“Hey, no prob. Now c’mon.” He stands up and offers her a hand. “Gina and Alex caught a deer, and Virgil found out we’re outside Birmingham. We’ve still got a ways to go and you’re not missing out on this journey at all.”

Kylie looks at his hand for a moment, and she contemplates. She slowly reaches to take it… and pulls back, standing up herself and grabbing her supply pouch, to Warren’s visible confusion. However, she retains her smile and nods. “You’re right, let’s go.”

She walks off towards where she sees Chad, Erika, Kevin, and Nancy, and Warren quickly goes to follow her and join the rest of them on the long road ahead.

When the seventeen survivors of the university fully regroup, they make their move and get on the road again, Virgil directing them all to where he found the Birmingham sign. As they walk, most everyone carries their bags of supplies, either backpacks or duffels. Parker has the deer slung over both of his shoulders, and he carries it with ease. Beside him is Gina, and beside her is Monica. Warren walks with Kylie, Virgil leads the group in front with Oliver, and everyone else is interspersed, with Wilkes lagging behind in the back.

As they round the corner, Virgil gestures up to the sign when it comes into view. “Here it is folks, proof’s in the goddamn pudding!”

Oliver is the first to take a look, and he chuckles. Spray painted over the “WELCOME TO BIRMINGHAM” message, in black, messy calligraphy, is the phrase “WE’RE ALIVE MOTHERFUCKERS”.

“Seriously?” Oliver shakes his head with a laugh. “You had the time to do some stupid shit like that?”

“Hahaaa, all I got’s time!” Virgil laughs, smacking Oliver’s arm a bit.

“Ha! WOO, Birmingham HYPE!” Oliver jumps a bit, starting to jog on down the road. “Let’s get moving!”

Parker chuckles as he follows. “It’s getting to be evening. We can keep walking, but it’s best we finally find somewhere to settle for the night.”

Gina looks up at him. “... you sure you’re good Parks? You don’t need any help with that deer?”

“I’m fine, Gina, thank you.” The man nods, before he smirks. “And it’s Principal Parker, young lady. Even if we’re not at school anymore.”

Gina rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say, Parks.”

Kylie looks at Warren. “Have you ever been to Birmingham before?”

“Hm?” He shakes his head. “No, not that I recall. Never left Tuscaloosa much growing up. You?”

“Once, my dad and I went to a public roller rink.” She smiles. “There was a daddy-daughter dance going on and we went for my eighth birthday.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” Warren chuckles a bit. “Maybe we can find that rink and go blading ourselves. I haven’t been rollerskating in years so I could be super rusty.”

“That makes two of us.” Kylie laughs a bit. “Can you imagine walkers in rollerblades?”

“Ha! I can’t tell if that’d be hilarious or terrifying!” Warren laughs at that thought.

“Hmm… hillarifying?” Kylie quips.

“Doesn’t matter, you could handle them.” Warren prods. “Ms. Herd Survivor.”

Kylie doesn’t laugh at that. Her smile falls. “... can we talk about something else?”

“... right, yeah, sorry. My bad. That was… dumb.” Warren nods quickly. “... and uh, I do miss them. Caroline was… she deserved better.”

Kylie nods without another word.

Ahead, Virgil looks up as he continues to walk, noting the sky becoming darker slowly. “... yeah, it’s getting to be that time. We can go for a bit farther, but we’re gonna have to find some place to camp for the night.”

“Camp? For real?” Oliver asks, hope in his voice. “Sick!”

“Well duh, how else are we gonna cook that deer?” Melissa speaks up.

“A bonfire would be fucking amazing.” Oliver beams.

Virgil chuckles. “... alright, alright.” He stops and turns to the woods. “Let’s go off the beaten path then, yeah? See if we can find somewhere to set up camp. Make it authentic and shit.”

Many murmurs and nods of agreement, including an excited cheer from Oliver, are only challenged by Warren raising his hand. “Um… is that safe? Is that really a good idea?”

“Well where else can we camp and get firewood?” Oliver asks. “Might as well go camping.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. We’ve got plenty of people to be on watch too, so it’s not like shit will get really bad.” Gina encourages. “Lighten up Dotson. It’ll be fine.”

Warren stills his tongue, and as everyone else is reinvigorated to go camping, he begrudgingly follows them all into the woods.

By nightfall, the survivors have gathered in a clearing out in the woods, away from the treeline considerably. Their supplies are piled up, and a few stones are used as both tables and chairs. However, the main attraction is the crackling bonfire in the center, put together haphazardly by loose twigs and logs of wood.

Surrounding the blaze are the twelve remaining university students, laughing and talking amongst each other, with the cooked deer being cut up and spread for everyone to eat on paper plates. Aside from them, by the supplies, are the four remaining councilmembers from the university. Colton, Olivia, and Virgil are together while Parks is more off to the side by the supplies.

“Alright, there we go…” Virgil stands up from where he’s crouched over, and hands Olivia and Colton two bottles, while he carries two more.

Olivia looks at the bottle of liquor in hand. “... beer? Really? At a time like this?”

Virgil shrugs. “We’ve earned it. Live a little.”

Colton shrugs and looks at Olivia. “Cheers?”

She smiles back and clinks her bottle against his. “Cheers.”

Virgil chuckles and then makes his way over to Parker. The man doesn’t notice him at first until he clears his throat, and turns to look at him. Virgil half-smiles and offers a bottle. “C’mon. Take it.”

“Oh, no.” Parker shakes his head, then looks back out to the kids.

“Blaine, c’mon.” Virgil urges. “I’m not asking you to get shitfaced, I’m asking you to unwind.”

“I’m a recovered alcoholic.” Parker replies.

“I know, and I’m the guy who helped you recover.” Virgil nods. “I’m not here to fuck you over again, I’m here cause I’m your best friend and we’ve earned this. Now c’mon.”

He practically forces the bottle into Parker’s hand, uncaps it, and clinks his own against it.

“Cheers.” Virgil mutters, before sipping his own.

Parker looks at it, then chuckles a bit. “Cheers, old friend.”

Around the campfire, laughs are shared and deer meat is devoured. Oliver suddenly claps his hands. “Alright alright, okay everyone! Listen up, okay? We’re gonna play some ‘Never Have I Ever’!”

“Aw c’mon, c’mooon!” Kevin groans and laughs a bit. “The fuck are you, a kid?”

“Jesus Ollie you are such a dork.” Monica shakes her head with a smirk, earning more laughs.

“Okay maybe maybe maybe, I’m TOTALLY a kid and TOTALLY a dork, but those facts aside, we’re gathered around a campfire!” Oliver giggles. “It’s either this, or I sing that one Spongebob song.”

“No, Jesus fuck no.” Gina cringes. “I would rather get eaten by a walker than have to listen to you try and sing.”

“Game time it is! I’ll start!” Oliver cheers, earning a few groans. “Okay, never have I ever… well, to be frank, never have I ever had a bonfire before.”

Most people raised their hands, with a few interesting absences -- Kevin, Nancy, and Melissa.

“Ooh, I can smell some juicy ass stories here.” Oliver quips. “Alright you three, spill the beans. Tell us everything.”

“Really? Alright, um, if you insist.” Melissa chuckles. “Kev, Nancy, you wanna go first?”

“Nah, our story isn’t that interesting.” Kevin smiles. “Go for it. I need to hear Miss Melissa’s daring bonfire story.”

Melissa rolls her eyes. “Well, it was more of a house fire than a bonfire.”

Oliver’s eyes widen. “Do tell?”

“My sister Cleo and I, we grew up on a houseboat out in a lake for a year or two. And our dad totally promised to take us camping someday at the shore.” Melissa begins. “Problem is, Cleo and I could not wait… pro-tip, don’t try and start a campfire in your very wooden houseboat.”

“For real? Are you fucking serious?” Oliver laughs. “Jesus! That’s insane!”

“Damn Melissa, you’re crazier than I thought!” Gina jokes. “Did that thing sink??”

“No, no! Not at all!” Melissa shakes her head and laughs awkwardly. “We managed to put it out with our dad’s help but the front deck was almost entirely destroyed and it took two months to be able to get it repaired. Needless to say we never got that camping trip.”

“Fuck, now our story is gonna be even more boring now.” Nancy smiles. “We can’t top that.”

“Hey, go for it!” Chad beckons, smirking. “Hell, you can lie and we won’t know. Make it something nuts.”

“It’s really nothing special, we used to do scouts growing up so we had a bonfire camping trip one time.” Kevin rolls his eyes. “We got all hopped up on sugar after the campfire and some kid kicked me in the nuts and it sucked.”

“Ouch, oof…” Oliver snorts. “So we’ve got an arsonist, and a limp dick. Damn, bonfires are scary.”

“Shut up, dipshit!” Kevin mockingly flips him off, earning more laughter from them all. “At least I had a story!”

“Dude? That’s rad.” Oliver shrugs him off. “Now who’s next?”

“... I guess… I’ll go?” Grace raises her hand with a shrug. “Um… sorry, I’m not super good at this. But, never have I ever… caused an explosion. I don’t know.”

A few pings of guilt over the basement flood through people’s minds, but for the sake of levity, all hands go up.

Except one.

Erika is the first to notice. “... Warren? Seriously?”

All eyes fall on the man, who sits between Kylie and Gina. “... well, not directly caused one, but I was kinda involved in one. Sorta. Weirdly.”

Oliver blinks. “... alright I gotta hear this.”

“Heh, well… it’s not really me I guess. It was my sister, she’s three years older than me and a walking Anarchist Cookbook.” Warren explains with a subtle smirk. “When I was ten, and she was thirteen, she made this crazy powerful molotov while at sleepaway camp. She brought it home and took all her younger siblings out to test it… and we all threw it in this empty lot and fire went fucking everywhere. Not a big boomy explosion but, jeez. Never seen a fire pack that much punch in my life. It spread super fast too and thankfully nothing was destroyed -- except empty abandoned dead grass.”

There is silence all around, as they all simply just stare at him.

Warren rubs his arm tensely. “... was… it something I said?”

Gina elbows him softly. “Nobody expected some crazy shit like that outta you.”

“Ah! Hey, well, it was my sister… I just… was there.” Warren shrugged. “... I wonder if she’s still out there. I hope she’s burning walkers to hell.”

More silence. A more somber silence.

“... hey, c’mon, let’s keep things light!” Oliver says, looking around. “Uhh… Alex! You go next. Give us a good one!”

All eyes fall on Alex, who sits next to Kylie, and looks down at the ground. He shrugs his shoulders.

“I got Jack killed.”

More silence. Melissa and Grace watch him anxiously.

“It’s my fault he died and I’m really sorry.” Alex sighs. “I couldn’t… be there for Raye, I couldn’t help Jack… my dumb, depressed ass got him killed.”

Gina fidgets. “Alex, that’s not--”

Warren stops her. “Let him speak.”

Alex looks up to see Melissa and Grace across from him, over the flames. “... I basically made him stay with me in danger, and even when a guy came in and confronted us, my stupid speech got Jack killed… and I couldn’t do anything. The guys just ran away… I know he was your friend but, it just proves how useless I am. I lost an arm, I lost my boyfriend, I watched an innocent guy get killed…

“And he barely even knew me…” Alex shook his head. “And he stayed behind to help this guy he didn’t know that well… and I pushed him away and kept him in danger and got him killed. And if you hate me for that… then that’s fine.”

“We don’t hate you.” Melissa speaks up. “We never did. We’re not gonna blame you for what happened.”

“Yeah Alex… it’s not your fault.” Grace shakes her head. “Jack was… he was really sweet, and a good friend, and I miss him… and he was just a victim of that homeless war garbage.”

“Don’t blame yourself Alex.” Melissa tries to offer him a smile. “There’s nothing we can do about it now, but I’m not gonna blame you. It’s not wrong to not blame yourself.”

Alex blinks, and looks back down silently, contemplating her words.

“... I hate to interrupt but, speaking of homeless…” Oliver points behind him. “... are we gonna… feed him or something? Has he even eaten?”

They all look over behind Oliver, and well ahead in the field, sitting by a lantern alone, is Wilkes. He stares at the ground as shown in the dim light, and is entirely separate from all of them.

Warren stands up and stretches a bit, going over to gather some more venison on a plate. “I’ll go bring him something.”

Gina swallows, feeling a pit in her stomach. “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea--”

“I’m fine, Gina. Jesus.” Warren scoffs, walking over and stepping past Oliver. “Relax, all of you.”

They watch him go through the darkness, and he re-emerges at the light of the lantern, standing over Wilkes, looming before him. The man briefly looks up, and then back down without another word.

“... you hungry?” Warren asks simply.

“Not particularly.” Wilkes replies.

“Well, this is dinner for the night.” The blond squats down and sets the plate on the grass, then stands back up.

The older man looks at it, and then looks away. “I don’t want it.”

“Too bad. It’s all we got and you’d just bitch if we let you starve.” Warren crosses his arms.

Wilkes looks up at him. “I really don’t want to go through this again, but why do you care? You don’t care about me. You don’t want me here, Warren. I know you don’t.”

Warren’s body tenses. “... yeah well we all deal with shit we don’t like or don’t want. I don’t like how you shot my girlfriend.”

Wilkes clasps his hands together tightly. “I don’t like how she shot my son. But I guess you needed a meat shield so badly.”

The boy clenches his fists. “... shut up.”

“Or maybe you needed a scapegoat.” Wilkes continues.

“I said shut up.”

“The nerve of someone like you, to forgive someone like her.” Wilkes smirks. “I’m glad I murdered her.”

“I said SHUT UP!!!” Warren delivers a swift kick to Wilkes’ head, sending the man sprawling to the side. The sudden outburst causes people from the bonfire to get up and make their way over quickly.

Warren, however, just keeps kicking the man while he’s down, in the head and the torso, making Wilkes grunt more and more in pain. Blood starts to pour out of his nose and his face begins to bruise.

But he lays there and takes it.

“I loved her, I FORGAVE HER!!” Warren continues to scream, beating down more on the man.

Until he’s grabbed from behind by Oliver.

“NO! LET GO OF ME!!” He thrashes and kicks, and Oliver is forced to hug Warren tight from behind and fall forward, slamming him chest first into the ground and keeping him pinned.

“Whoa there big cat, I know you’re hurting… just breathe bud, breathe…” Oliver mutters, as a few people surround Wilkes, offering him hands.

He rejects the assistance to stand up, and instead gets up on his own, wobbling, beaten, bloody, slightly hunched. He coughs a bit, and looks down at Warren, who continues to squirm and cry out.

Tears begin to flow from the young man’s eyes, and he finally gives up fighting, laying weakly on the ground under Oliver’s pin, and he sobs.

“I-I loved her…! Sh-Sh-She killed my b-best friend and I-I wanted to forgive her…!” He weeps. “I-I didn’t mean for anyone to d-d-die…! I wanted… I WANTED HER TO LIVE!!”

“SHE KILLED MY SON!!!” Wilkes suddenly screams, silencing everyone aside from the crackling of the bonfire, and Warren’s sniffling. “I don’t give a FUCK what you wanted.”

Warren chokes out another sob, but no longer argues.

Wilkes looks around at the people nearby, all looking at him. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!”

It doesn’t take long for people to move out, and Warren doesn’t fight Oliver pulling him up and bringing him back to the bonfire, leaving Wilkes alone. The older man sits back down and lays on the grass, and closes his eyes, shutting out the rest of the world.

Back at the bonfire, there is no commotion. Everyone prepares to go to sleep. The fire is put out, and everyone separates to find a spot on the grass to sleep on.

Oliver sighs and sits alone behind a rock, rubbing his forehead, when Monica suddenly sits beside him. “Hey Ollie.”

“... hey Monica.” Oliver mutters, sighing. “... fuck I’m exhausted. A good day ended so badly…”

Monica nods. “... well, hey… things’ll calm down. Yeah it got heated but, we calmed down pretty fast… think about that.”

“Yeah I know, but it’s stressful.” Oliver shakes his head. “I was hoping we could just move forward… put all the bullshit behind us and all just survive together now. But… I guess I was wrong. Warren’s a good friend, and Wilkes is in pain. Both of them are right, and both of them are wrong…”

He looks at her. “... am I wrong for not wanting to take sides?”

“No, no, that’s completely fine.” Monica shakes her head. “... you seem… wicked freaked.”

Oliver nods. “... been having a good time but… been paranoid shit will hit the fan again.”

Monica nods again. “... wanna have sex with me?”

The man looks at her bewildered. “What the fuck-- what?? No! Jesus Monica, where’d that come from!”

Monica chuckles a bit. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I know you. You’re my friend and, well… I needed to lighten the mood.”

Oliver purses his lips. “Sometimes I hate you.”

“Love you too Ollie.” Monica smirks and stands up. “Get some rest and don’t freak out. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

She walks away from him, and Oliver looks down, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Warren lays on his back, having finally calmed down. He stares at the starry sky, and listens to the crickets in the distance. The smell of smoke lingers in the air and keeps him awake.

“... you awake Gina?” He whispers openly.

“... kinda, yeah.” He hears her voice from nearby. “What is it…?”

“I need advice.” He mumbles. “Was I wrong or was I right?”

Gina sighs and rolls over. “... can’t we do this in the morning?”

“I can’t sleep and it won’t matter in the morning, so no.” Warren adds.

“Fine, well…” Gina begins. “Yes… and no. You were right and wrong. I get why you’re in pain… but that doesn’t automatically make your pain more important than Wilkes’ pain. And that doesn’t mean his is more important than yours.”

“... so what’re you saying?” He asks.

“I’m saying, stay away from him for now. You’re both grieving and it’s super clear you two don’t mix.” Gina advises. “Look, sometimes… sometimes you have to take the pragmatic approach to these kinds of things. And other times, you have to let it go. You gotta decide when’s what.”

“... I see.” Warren shrugs. “Thanks Gina.”

“Whatever, I’m going to sleep.” She rolls back over. “Night Warren.”

“Yeah, night…” The young man responds, before he pulls out two things from his backpocket -- a notepad and a pencil. He scribbles something down in the darkness, before reading back what he wrote.

Advice

1 - Be more like Dollie or I die.

2 - Be pragmatic or be thoughtful. Choose when.

The next day is bright, but not exactly sunny. The sun itself shines through a thick canopy of clouds, casting a dull glimmer over the Earth. Virgil leads the other sixteen survivors out of the woods, everyone wide awake and packed up again to keep moving.

“Alright, we’re not gonna let last night… make things harder for us.” He notes. “We’ve got a long way to go, I dunno what we’ll find or where we’ll find it… but we can’t give up.”

Silence.

“... right, well, anyways… take a moment to stretch, jog, whatever… make sure you’re wide awake, cause today is a day of walking.” Virgil continues. “In about an hour, meet right back up near the Birmingham sign, and we’ll continue our lovely, calm little pilgrimage to who knows where. All good?”

A few mumbles of agreement, but before people separate, Parker raises his hand.

“If I could have your attention, please.” He begins. “A reminder that we are still inexperienced out here… I know I say this every morning, but we can’t be careless. We are not equipped to handle real, outside world situations. We have no idea what kinds of dangers could be out there. Please stay vigilant.”

Once again, people mutter in agreement, before most disperse to look around the neighborhood. Virgil stays behind, and Parker does as well, watching everyone go or stick by the supplies.

“... you didn’t intervene last night. Why?” He asks Virgil softly.

“I didn’t want to.” Virgil shakes his head. “I told Oliver yesterday, what happens with Wilkes, I’m staying out of. I still don’t trust him. I don’t condone Warren’s behavior… but I’m not getting in the middle of shit like that.”

“Is that a good decision?” Parker asks.

“I don’t know.” Virgil replies. “All I know is it’s my decision.”

Kevin and Nancy walk down a road, and Oliver is to their right in a front yard. The curly haired man picks up a football and grins. “Yo Kev! Wanna toss the leather?”

“Maybe later! Nancy and I are gonna go scavenge or something.” Kevin replies, to which Oliver gives them a thumbs up. He looks back to his sister. “Why do you wanna scavenge again?”

“New town, new shit to find.” Nancy smirks, readying her pistol. “Let’s go wake up the neighborhood, take the ghost outta this ghost town.”

Kevin chuckles. “You’re, like, the worst at trying to sound cool. You know that?”

“Whatever.” Nancy rolls her eyes and turns to head up to the front door of a home. “Sup Birmingham! We’re fucking back--”

BANG!

Just as Nancy fiercely kicks open the front door, and it swings open, a shotgun blast from the other side sends bullets tearing through her, sending her body back and throwing it off the porch, where she smashes in a bloody clump on the ground, holes littering her torso, neck, and part of her face.

Kevin’s eyes widen, and he stumbles, barely managing a scream as he runs for his sister’s corpse. “N-NANCY!!”

He drops beside her unmoving body, trying in denial and vain to find any sort of proof she may still be alive, and barely notices a man, armed with a shotgun, dashing out of the house past him, and running up the road. Kevin’s breathing picks up and he quickly grabs Nancy’s gun from the ground.

Other members of the group rush over barely in time as Kevin catches sight of the killer running away.

Rage in his eyes, he pushes off the ground and breaks into a fierce sprint.

“KEVIN NO!”

“GET BACK HERE!”

“DUDE, STOP!”

Cries and screams behind him do nothing. He aims the gun and fires at the fleeing man. “GET THE FUCK BACK HERE YOU FUCK!!!”

Bullet after bullet, shot after shot, echo after echo, miss after miss, until finally one bullet catches the man through the right leg.

“GAH!” The shotgun flies from his hand and clatters against the pavement, as he falls forward onto his front. He wheezes and groans and rolls over, just as Kevin gets over to him.

The young man aims his pistol as the survivor holds up a hand in defeat.

“P-Please…! Please don’t--!”

“FUCK YOU!!” Kevin pulls the trigger over and over, and the man is dead after the first shot, but the boy doesn’t stop -- more and more bullets enter the other man’s head, and more and more blood covers the pavement.

“Kevin, STOP THIS!!” Parker grabs Kevin from behind, and he drops the empty clicking gun. The man holds Kevin, who squirms and cries in his arms, and behind him, the others stare at the scene, then look back to where Nancy’s corpse is down the road.

“Oh… oh god…!” Erika puts a hand over her mouth, and Chad shields her.

“Nancy, fuck…!” Oliver grabs at his hair. “What… what the hell…?!”

“... she got careless…” Wilkes mutters to himself, so nobody can hear.

He looks away from the scene, and notices… walkers. Three of them, approaching from nearby. “We’ve got company.”

He readies his knife and begins to walk over, and Warren notices. The man has his back to him.

He approaches the walkers.

Warren readies his own knife and follows.

His heart races. Images flash through his mind. Nancy is dead. Because of a man outside. They’re outside cause they have no home. They have no home cause of…

So many lost people flash through his mind.

Daniel.

Pam.

Candice.

Rocky.

Kenny.

Raye.

Dahlia.

The grip on his knife tightens, and he speeds up behind Wilkes, as he grapples onto a walker to try and kill it.

And another walker comes from his side.

“Fuck--!” Warren stumbles back and tries to swing at the walker, but it grabs him.

And Oliver is there to pull it away and stab it.

Warren pants and narrowly dodges another walker, backing up as Oliver joins Wilkes in taking them on, as more appear. And more. And more.

“Fuck, A HERD!” Oliver shouts.

“Oliver! Get away!!” Virgil yells, pushing past everyone in the group.

Oliver looks to him, then looks back at Wilkes, who is on the other side of three stragglers, with more on the way. The young man gives one more look back to Virgil, then runs into the crowd of undead, stabbing a few to get to Wilkes.

“Oliver-- OLIVER!!” Virgil frantically aims his gun to fire, but more people run ahead of him.

“Monica, WAIT!” Gina yells.

“ERIKA! DON’T!” Chad shouts.

“Grace, GRACE!” Melissa tries to grab her friend, but fails.

The three women get ahead, and dodge the walkers to help Oliver and Wilkes get by -- but as more walkers flood in from behind houses, and from trees, and from other streets…

“OLIVER!!!” Virgil screams, having to be held back by Colton and Olivia.

“VIRGIL, I’LL FIND YOU!!!” Oliver screams back, as he and his small group run away, separated entirely.

As they vanish over the crowd of undead, more and more are upon them.

“Fuck… RUN!!” Warren yells, scrambling away. Parker pulls the defeated Kevin along and the remaining group members start to hurry away down another road, with a breakoff of the herd starting to follow.

It’s a fierce run. A deadly run. Though it’s not hard to outrun the undead, it’s harder to dodge them from up ahead. The remaining eleven survivors stab biters that offshoot from the herd, and mini groups surprise them but go down relatively easy.

As Warren runs ahead, nearing the part of the road that slopes down, he glances behind him to see the others following -- failing to notice a walker nearby that grabs him. He shouts and struggles with it, and then falls back, and rolls down the steep road with it.

“W-WARREN!” Gina shouts, hurrying over from the others and running down the road to follow.

Warren grunts and yelps in pain as the walker snarls, biting at him as they roll, and the blond tries desperately not to to get his face ripped off in one big chomp. They finally slow to a stop at the ground, and the fatigue of the roll leaves Warren unable to push the walker off from on top of him.

“F-Fuck…! G-Goddammit…!!” Warren grits his teeth and prepares for the inevitable.

BANG!

The walker is shot in the head, and its blood sprays over Warren’s face. He coughs, and the corpse is pushed off of him. A hand finds its way to him, and he grabs it… and he’s pulled up by a new face. A brown haired woman he’s never seen before.

The woman looks over as Gina arrives, and the younger girl readies her knife, looking cautious.

The brown haired woman just stares at her, and then watches the remaining group come down the steep road to join them.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” Gina demands.

“G-Gina!” Parker shouts.

“I-I’ve got this Parks!” Gina glares at the woman. “We’re dealing with a lot, and we ran from a herd. So if you’re gonna cause problems, you’re gonna die right the fuck here.”

“Okay, relax, I just saved your friend’s life.” The female stranger nods. “I get the apprehension… but I’ve never seen a group as big as this before, so I’m apprehensive too.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Virgil argues. “We need to get the fuck back there and save Oliver and the others before its too late.”

“Herds can’t just be dealt with like that. I’m sorry about your friends, but maybe they got away.” The woman responds. “Look, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I saw someone in need and I helped them.”

“We just lost one of our own a few minutes ago.” Parker looks at her warily, Kevin behind him instead of in his hold. “We’re not exactly keen on strangers right now.”

“... I’m sorry for your loss.” The woman replies, crossing her arms. “I’m Janice. I’m from the safezone.”

Silence. People look around confused and worried.

“Right, not everyone knows.” Janice shakes her head. “I’m a scout for the Birmingham Safe-Zone. I was out on a run, I heard there was biter activity… low and behold I accidentally find a big group.”

“... you’re from a safe-zone?” Warren asks.

“Guys, our friends, my girlfriend, they’re back there.” Chad interrupts. “Maybe they got away, but we can’t just loiter. We don’t have the time for this. We can’t go anywhere or do anything.”

“Sir, please -- maybe, if you come back with me, I can convince them to send out a team to find your friends.” Janice suggests. “We’re not far from the safe-zone, and the people there are good people. Hell, I can even be a part of that team. Maybe it sounds too good to be true, but I mean it.”

Virgil is about to respond when Parker looks at him. “This is our best option right now.”

“Blaine, we don’t know her!” Virgil argues. “We just lost Nancy… we got separated, there’s a herd back there…!”

“No, I think we should… we need a home, and we need the help we can get to find our friends.” Warren wipes the blood from his face, only to notice Janice looking at him. And her eyes are wide. “... uhm, miss? Are… you alright?”

“... forget the choice.” Janice shakes her head. “You all have to come back with me. Now. Especially you.”

She takes Warren’s arm and pulls him along down the road briskly. He stumbles, and the others follow, and Warren pulls away.

Janice looks at him.

But he continues to follow.

“Lead the way.” He shrugs. “If we… need to come back, lead the way.”

Janice eyes him, then the group, and then she picks up a walkie-talkie from her belt. “Decklan, this is Bravo Romeo. Janice reporting in. Coming back early, I found some people. Get the boss man to the gate, he’s gonna wanna see this.”

There’s no response, but Janice continues ahead. Warren follows her, and the rest of the group follows… with extreme apprehension.

Janice leads the group for another ten minutes or so, until finally, they walk past some homes, past some trees, down a long, wide, unmarked cement road… to a large metal gate, between some large metal walls.

Warren stares at the walls, shocked. As is the rest of the group, surprised to see something so large and out of place in the smaller part of the city.

“We’ve had the walls since around the beginning… the government wanted to set up some kind of safe space here in the city.” Janice explains. “They didn’t get super far, so… the people who made it here in the first place, picked up what was left unfinished. And since then… we’ve made a home, and a sanctuary.”

She looks over her shoulder. “I get the apprehension, but you’ll all be welcome here.”

No response. Everyone just continues to follow. Warren nods, as he stays beside Janice now.

As they get closer, they see a man on the top of a tower near the gate. He’s Native-American and has short black hair. The moment he sees the group, he narrows his eyes.

“Janice! I thought you said some people!” He shouts, holding up a rifle. “The hell kinda show is this??”

“Relax Decklan!” Janice shouts. “I said go get the boss man! He needs to see this!”

Decklan looks confused, until he looks at Warren. His eyes widen. “Holy… shit…!”

And then he’s gone from the tower. Janice and Warren wait before the gate, everyone behind them.

“This is weird.” Warren looks at Janice uncomfortably. “What the hell’s going on…?”

Janice looks at him. “... I need to see something.”

Then, the gate clanks… and it starts to slide open. On the other side of the metal sheet is a chain link gate, which slides the opposite way.

“Janice, what the hell is so important…?” A young man walks towards them, holding a pair of glasses and wiping them with his shirt, looking down. He’s got blond hair, and a green jacket over a yellow collared shirt.

Warren’s heart skips a beat.

The man looks up and puts his glasses back on.

He stops.

Decklan, who is behind the other man, looks between them. “... fucking alike.”

Warren’s mouth slowly drops agape.

“... P… P-Pierce?”

Your Rating[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Ross Lynch as Warren Dotson and Pierce Dotson
Skyler Samuels as Gina Lestrade
Leigh Daniel Avidan as Oliver Blake
Tony Todd as Blaine Parker
Jordan Woods-Robinson as Chad Zachary
Bridgit Mendler as Monica Styles
Chloe Grace Moretz as Erika Monroe
Amanda Arcuri as Kylie Washington

Also Starring[]

Weird Al-Yankovic as Virgil Black
Tom Holland as Alex Michaels
Morgan Freeman as Wilkes
Eve Harlow as Grace Grimmett
Nadia Hilker as Janice
Jennifer Carpenter as Melissa Brooke
Jake Thomas as Kevin
Jeremiah Bitsui as Decklan

Co-Stars[]

Chelsey Reist as Nancy
Dallas Roberts as Colton Drake
Tiffany Morgan as Olivia Dent

Uncredited[]

Jennifer Lawrence as Dahlia Dwelton ^{(archive footage)}
Nathan Kress as Raye Pence ^{(archive footage)}
Devon Sawa as Rocky Hartwell ^{(archive footage)}
Michael Landes as Daniel Noire ^{(archive footage)}
Rekha Sharma as Pam Anderson ^{(archive footage)}
Camryn Manheim as Candice Noire ^{(archive footage)}
Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Kenneth Jameson ^{(archive footage)}
RJ Cyler as Trevor ^{(archive footage)}

Deaths[]

SPOILERS BELOW, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Nancy
Unnamed survivor

Trivia[]