WALKING DEAD
"ARROWHEAD"
A tribal feud between reservations had long been the focus of this small rural native community for three generations. Javi Bloodgoode's Grandfather, Cody and his brother, Braum were friendly rivals. But as in many families, there is always the most favored among the two. Braum often had to share the spotlight or received the brunt of much of the discipline reaped from his brother. When the time came for them to be mentored into tribal governing as Chief, the stakes were higher, the brotherly comradery was minimal. When Braum realized that the decision in his brother's favor had already been made despite his best efforts, Bram decides to depart from the reservation for a time. Cody tried to discourage him from such a decision. Reluctantly, Braum sticks around. His little brother was the only one who supported and believed in him. Cody wasn't quite sure he was up to the task of ruling a tribe.
The time for the young Chief to choose his intended bride had now come. The other tribes had come together in celebration to present their daughters in their best ceremony outfits.,Theah's Mother Luna was one of those who would hopefully be chosen. Cody had noticed the maiden who his brother had favored and being his brother's best only support system had begun to make efforts to woo her on his behalf. But it backfires when his father mistakenly assumes his favored successor had finally chosen his bride and arranges the joyous ceremony for the young lovers. Cody tried to explain the misunderstanding to his father but his father would not hear it. Luna was quite smitten with Braum. Seeing his intended fiancé get betrovedbet roved to his Chieftan brother angered tried to explain the mix up to Braum but he was too bittered to hear it as well. This was the last time Braum would allow something he loved be given to his spoiled brother. He emancipates himself from the reservation and the tribe and departs without a trace that night as everyone sleeps.
Upon the announcement of the Vietnam Draft, Braum takes it as an opportunity to transform totally from within. He was now a man of the times. A man without a past or regret. A man whose only focus is to that very present moment and completing the mission. Meanwhile, back at the reservation, his brother, now the official Chief, laid awake at night riddled with guilt and worry of what became of his forsaken brother. He glances up at a necklace Braum had given him when they were just carefree kids. He takes the Arrowhead in hand and studies it until his eyes could no longer bear the burden of his lids and falls asleep with the arrowhead clutched in his palm. Cody was now also a proud father to two sons. Learning what happened between his brother and him, he tried his best to not favor one son over the other. However, as they grew into young men, he knew he would still have to make that choice of choosing just one.
One Indian summer morning, the arrowhead is missing. He scolds his sons and warns them of the consequences if it is not returned. Both had adamantly pleaded that neither of them had seen it, much less taken it. Disappointed at their reply, he reluctantly released them from their punishment.
A biological airborne malady has been released into a selected remote area as an experiment for warfare. Little did the local reservations realize that they had been chosen as mere lab rats for a war that wasn't there's. It wasn't until the Great Grandfather's funerary ceremony that the community noticed the infestation. The ceremony was interrupted by a few uninvited guests. The other guests scattered in panic. The chief had tried to keep the crashers at bay. The chief and his appointed warriors had barely succeeded in stopping hoard at least not without getting bit and infected themselves. The survivors had burned the slain and abandon the reservation in search of new and safer territory.
New laws are passed, without a reservation, the homeless Natives are now subject to common federal laws and could no longer hide behind culture and heritage. Cody enlists so they could have an income to raise his growing family. During basic training, he runs into a familiar face. Hoping to receive a kindred embrace, Cody's brother, Braum, merely glances at him, and brushes him off like any other common stranger. Cody is disappointed to discover that his brother was a very different person; a stranger in his brother's skin.
Cody was a temper mental young man whose anger often got him into altercations with others of equal temper. Braum remembered this about his spoiled little brother and often had to get him out of trouble or risk both of them getting discharged. Reluctantly, Braum found himself doing what he did well, keeping his brother busy. Braum eventually warmed up to having a little bit of home right there at camp. Braum began inquiring about the reservation and their family back home and discovers there is no reservation and the tribes had scattered to the winds. Compared to what they had begun to hear about events back home, they realize being there in the midst of war was actually safer.
Cody invites Bram to stay with his family during their three day pass. Reluctantly Braum obliges. When Braum enters he is greeted with the painful reminder of his old flame.
"Braum, you remember my wife, Luna, right?"
"Braum, it's been too long. I'm glad Cody and you found each other. What a small world?" she exclaims as she embraces him with a welcoming kiss on his left temple.
"These are our boys. This is Javi and Bram Jr.; Named after his Uncle."
"You named one of your sons after me?"
"Of course. And now he can know you the way his father does."
"You mean I get to be the "cool Uncle"?"
"The man, the legend."
"Cody, why don't you show Braum his room so he could get settled in and freshen up for supper."
With his beloved lost brother in his life again, he feels empowered. They return to the battlefields and come home on leave. Braum has taken permanent residence and fills his time being the perfect mentor to his growing nephews.
Meanwhile, back home at their reservation, the infestation has grown steadily worse. So much to the point that the CDC had strongly advised to never enter those territories. It was heavily guarded by riot-geared clad squads instructed to use deadly force to all trespassers.
The populaces were afraid for their lives so much that they forget why the war started in the first place. They align together to overcome this common threat that no one could even see yet everyone was a potential victim until they could figure a way to contain it to a controlled area. Once again proving mankind's most constant flaw: the worst things imaginable are often created with the best of intentions.
An old flame between Braum and Luna was being rekindled. Cody begins to be aware of the glances. The war over seas had been postponed yet all military personal were sent on tours to assess the situations concerning the infestation on several bases around the US. On an assignment to one of them bases, Bram meets and falls in love with Theah. She was also a native from an extended branch of the Bloodgoode's reservation. She was a descendant from one of the tribes that had scattered during the first scare of the infestation. She was a second ranking class communications officer.
Within months, they marry. When Braum was away on another assignment, Theah sends joyful news of the conception of their first child. Theah continues her work at home. Theah then learns of their second child on its way. When Braum returns on leave, there is very little time to celebrate. He brings alarming news that he is must uproot his family to his new post. He and a chosen few newly promoted special ops officers are assigned the post known as Terminus.