HEATH'S POV:

I had no idea what to say as Cindy and I trudged our way through the forest, not speaking a word to each other. Cindy kept looking ahead, not even bothering to look my way, which I didn't mind at all. In the meantime, I kept thinking back to Beth, and how I hit her while saying the exact truth, and exposing me for what I really was.

I was never protecting her, I was shielding her.

I pushed the thought out of my head and continued following Cindy, who still wasn't watching me. Having enough of the silence, I decided to speak up. "Cindy?" Cindy didn't respond. "Cindy?" I asked again, and still no response. "Cindy!" Cindy angrily turned around. "What?!" Cindy's knuckles turned white as she clutched her fists. I mentally groaned at what I was going to say next.

"I'm sorry for punching you." That was actually the first time I said sorry, and I mainly did it out of desperation, as I didn't like the silence that was present throughout the trek. Cindy kept her glare at me. "I know you aren't really sorry, you're all the same." I raised a brow. "All the same, what do you mean?" Cindy sighed. "Of course you don't know, all of you don't know." I paused for a moment until I realized what she meant. It was males.

"Men aren't like that, not all of them." Cindy shook her head. "They are, they're the scum of the earth, and they don't deserve to live." Cindy said. "The only reason I'm leaving Tyler alive is because he's the cure for this shithole of a world." I raised a brow. "If he wasn't the cure, I'd guess you wouldn't give him a chance." Cindy nodded. "They're all the same, nothing can change that."

"Why do you think that?" I asked, and Cindy didn't say a word. "Cindy, maybe we could get along better if-" Cindy cut me off. "We will never get along, ever, I'd rather die than respect you." I sighed. "I never said you would respect me, I just want to know about you." Cindy glared. "You want to know about me, fine." Cindy said.

"I was born in Minnesota, and I never knew my dad because he left when he found out mom was pregnant with me, so I never knew him." Cindy began. "Mom told me that until I was convinced." I decided to cut in. "You didn't believe her at one point?" I asked, and Cindy nodded. "Yes, because I didn't want to believe it, but it was true."

"Do you trust yourself, or your mother?" I asked. "I had to trust Mom, she knew him better than I ever had." Cindy said. "She put me in an all-girls school, all the while preaching that men were evil, and I believed her because I had no other people to talk to." I raised a brow. "What do you mean?" I asked. "The girls at my school didn't want to talk to an autistic girl who hated men."

"You got autism?" I asked, and Cindy nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I do, and people took advantage of that." Cindy replied. "Do you think your mom took advantage of that?" Cindy paused, as if pondering this, then angrily glared at me. "You don't know a damn thing, you don't know anything." I raised my hands slowly. "Alright, I'll stop, just continue." Cindy nodded. "Anyways, I tended to do poorly with the male teachers in my school, and no matter what I did, they'd give me a F on every single damn assignment."

"Why is that?" I asked. "Mom usually came to check my assignments, and she told me to never question her, or she would disown me." Cindy replied. "I later realized she edited my assignments to fit her agenda, and she changed things such as the first person on the moon was a woman, and Mary Tudor was a kind and generous woman and a man was the person who did all the horrible things she did."

"Why didn't you speak up?" Cindy sighed. "Because I was afraid she'd do something to me, like leave me to fend for myself." Cindy started walking forward again. "I joined a radical feminist movement when I was twenty-two, mainly because my mother forced me to, and I was actually part of the Washington D.C. march in 2017." Cindy grinned. "Good times, but it didn't last unfortunately."

"What happened?" Cindy rolled her eyes. "What do you think, the world went to shit!" Cindy walked on, and I proceeded to say something that was rather risky. "Your mom manipulated you." Cindy froze and glared at me. "She didn't, she told me the truth." Cindy coldly declared. "She told me nothing but the truth, that men are just killers and rapists."

"Then why did you come with me and me only?" Cindy paused and shook her head. "That's not the point, I'm only going so we can find Beth." Cindy replied. "Here's the thing, I could kill you or rape you right now, we're alone, there's nothing in sight, just you and me." Cindy backed away slowly. "But I'm not, because that's not who I am, and who I never will be."

"Bullshit, you are and you know it!" Cindy yelled. "Then why aren't you going for your gun?" I asked, and Cindy hesitated. "Because…" Cindy paused. "...because I'm waiting for you to make a move!" Feeling a bit cocky, I took a step forward, and Cindy took out her gun. "Don't get closer asshole!" I kept slowly moving forward. "Cindy, you have hatred towards men, but do you have the strength to shoot one that isn't wounded?" Cindy kept her glare. "I'll shoot, back off!"

I finally got close enough and put a hand on her gun and slowly took it from her, then backed away. "See?" I asked, and I tossed the gun back to her. "I could've shot you right then and there, but I didn't, you know why?" I asked, and Cindy shook her head as she put the gun back in her holster. "It's because I'm not the enemy, and no male at that base is." I saw Cindy bow her head.

"You're right, no one there is the enemy, not a single person, and I've just been horrible to them, giving women more opportunities while keeping men at a lower position, and not caring if they die or not…" Tears welled at her eyes. "I sent at least ten males to their deaths, and I didn't give a damn, because mom told me that they deserved to die...but now…" Cindy heaved. "I sent a little boy to his death, just because he was a male, and I told myself it was because he was evil, but in reality, he was just a little boy, and now he's dead because of me…" I hesitantly walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her, which she returned as tears dripped down her face. "I should've never listened to her, then people would've respected me…"

"Cindy, they respect you, they praise you when others bring you up." Cindy looked up, her eyes watery. "What did they say?" Cindy asked. "They respected you because you could do what no one else could do." I replied. "You could make tough decisions and stick by them, you could put people down without hesitation, and you could stay brave in the face of danger…" I put a hand on Cindy's shoulder. "You're a great leader, and the people there believe you are."

Cindy smiled, then hugged me tightly. "Thank you Heath, thank you." Cindy released the hug. "Let's go find your sister."

TERRANCE'S POV:

We arrived five minutes later and immediately, we called for a medic. Homer rushed over and gasped at the sight of Hiroto's bleeding stump. "What the hell happened, and where's Bert and Cody?!" He asked. "Bert's dead, Cody we don't know." I replied. "Hiroto got bitten, and Leon chopped his leg off to avoid infection."

Homer ran his hands through his grey hair as he processed this. "Christ, and who's that?" Homer pointed at the man, still groaning in pain. "We don't know, we accidentally ran him over, and he's been shot." Homer called over for Sean and Gabe, and the two of them proceeded to take the man and Hiroto to the medbay. As I watched, I noticed Benji sitting on the ground, looking like he had seen something horrible, which he definitely had.

"Benji, you alright?" I asked, and Benji shook his head. "How the hell can I be alright when I just watched my best friend get his fucking leg get chopped off?!" Benji angrily yelled, taking me back while Benji took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it wasn't your fault, it was that bearded bastard who did it."

"He did it to save his life, that's the only way to stop the infection." Benji glared at me. "We have the goddamn cure for Christ's sake, we could give him the cure, we could've took a chance!" Benji yelled. "Benji, we don't understand Tyler's immunity, if we just-" Benji cut me off. "It's better than cutting his fucking leg off, now he can't move like normal, he can't have a normal life without remembering that day where he lost his goddamn leg!"

"Benji, none of us have a regular life!" I yelled back. "At least you'll probably recover, the apocalypse will be a thing in the past, but Hiroto won't be the same, not anymore…" Benji turned away. "Just leave, please…" I hesitantly stepped away and went to the medbay, where Homer was trying to stop Hiroto's bleeding with moderate success, and the man was awake and being tended to by Nikki. I decided to speak to the man, and noticed his shirt was off, likely taken by Nikki, and as I stared, I noticed a mark on his shoulder in the shape of a bite, causing me to gasp. However, when I touched it, there was no texture. I guess it was a tattoo, but who in their right mind would have a bite tattoo in this day and age, let alone on their shoulder? The man glanced up at me.

"You were the one who hit me." The man said with a gravelly voice, although it was likely the injuries causing this tone of voice. "Yeah, sorry about that, someone was injured and we had to hurry." The man grinned. "Ah, that's a good excuse." I glanced back at his tattoo. "What's that about?" I asked, and the man sighed. "Have you heard of the Revivalists?"

My blood ran cold at this, but I nodded. "Yeah, they killed one of our own." The man sighed. "They keep prisoners there, including my best friend Craig." The man explained. "The people there, they're given little food or water, and when they finally drop, they join the wall." I thought back to the sea of beasties chained to the wall, and I realized that they looked rather slim, and I held back bile. "Christ, how many people are in there?" I asked. "There's at least twelve there, including Craig." The man said.

"How'd you get out?" I asked, and he paused. "I pretended I was dead, and when a guy took me to get chained up, I knocked him out and ran, but I still got shot by the guard up there." I glanced at his leg. "Hey, maybe we can get your friends out?" I asked, and the man grinned madly. "Really?" He asked. "You will?!" I nodded. "There might be a chopper coming to get us soon, we have a cure."

"You're kidding me, right?" He asked, and I shook my head. "I'll prove it, but after we get your buddies." He nodded in response. "Thanks, by the way, who are you?" The man asked. "Terrance, and you?"

"Clyde."

Clyde proceeded to lay down and begin resting. Just then, Homer walked over to me with a solemn expression on his face. "Terrance, I need to talk to Benji…" Homer said. "Is he dead?" I asked horrified. "No, he's not, but I need to tell him something he may not like." We found Benji, still sitting by himself against the gate, and he looked up when he saw Homer. "Homer, is he okay?!" Homer took a deep breath. "Benji, I don't know how to tell you this, but Hiroto's lost a lot of blood…" Benji's face turned to horror, which Homer noticed. "He's not dead, but I need to let you know that we only have one plasma bag, and we're using it on the man you brought back."

Benji shot up in horror. "You're...you're gonna let him die?!" Homer nodded. "I'm sorry, but the man could be a more valuable member of the group than Hiroto…" Benji seethed with anger, then rushed at Homer. I grabbed him and held him back. "Benji, chill the hell out!" Benji struggled against me. "Don't fucking tell me to chill out, you're just going to let him die for some random bastard we don't know!"

"Benji, I don't want to do this, but we need able people." This riled Benji up more. "So you're killing him because he's crippled?!" He yelled. "Because he's lost his leg that he didn't need to lose?!" Homer proceeded to speak up. "We still-"

"Enough with that stupid fucking excuse that you don't know anything about Tyler's condition!" Benji yelled. "Its all I hear now, 'we don't know', 'we don't know', well you know what?" Homer began to move away. "That's enough, you know shit about Tyler's cure, but you're not doing anything because he's crippled, and for some reason, you let Cody live, you let Heath live, what the hell makes Hiroto any different?!"

"He's lost a leg for one." Homer said, and Benji struggled harder. "If you were crippled, would you be considered a liability?!" Homer shook his head. "I'm a doctor, not a guard or fighter." Benji began kicking like mad. "Yeah, because you can be crippled and be useful, Hiroto can help out, he can be an assistant!" Homer shook his head. "The decisions final, we'll be putting him down tomorrow." Homer walked off, and Benji gave me a look of disbelief as I let him go. "Benji-"

Benji proceeded to punch me right in my nose, sending me sprawling to the ground. "Dude-" Benji rounded on me. "Don't fucking call me dude, I'm not your friend, I don't want to be friends with a bastard who let a man die for being crippled and gave no fucks." I slowly stood up. "Benji, you know I care about Hiroto, and you as well…" I said, and Benji kept his glare.

"If you did care, you would try saving him!" I got close to him. "Benji, please-" Benji shoved me back. "I hate you!" Benji yelled. I stood there in silence as Benji seethed with anger, then collapsed to the ground. "Benji…" Benji heaved with sobs. "Go away, now."

I hesitantly walked away, and I wondered how Benji was going to deal with this. Was he going to kill someone, kill himself, leave?

It was none of those answers, and what he did was the craziest thing I've seen.

STATS

Alive

Unknown

Dead

Undead

ALABAMA: Leon, Chloe, Will, Timothy, Matt, Jake, Mitch

THE WOODS: Tyler, Franklin, Marvin

DREW'S GROUP: Drew, Samuel, Fiona

THOMPSON'S GROUP: Roy, Derek, Josh, Yvonne, Abby, Erik, Thompson

ELI'S GROUP: Jenny, Eli, Chris

NICOLE'S GROUP: Nicole, Ray, Charlie

PENELOPE'S GROUP: Terrance, Harley, Garrison, Maria, Bernard, Pete, Penelope, Zoey, Brady, Michael, Lola, Ross, Thomas, Wendell, Todd, Ernie, Paul.

THE WOODS: Elroy, Henry

HEATH'S GROUP: Heath, Beth, Jack, Bayley, Vanessa, Bill, Peter, Samson

THE BANDITS: Dan, Tara, Kimmy, Reese, Kal, Ross, Amelia, Jorge, Oliver, Walt.

JOHN'S GROUP: Noah, John, Xander, Alice, James.

CONSTANTINE: Eve, Sal, Kaitlyn, Zack, Riley, Issac, Pierce, Curtis, Bryan, Jeff, Gavin, Frank, Brianna, Brittany, Janet, Jack, Tyson, Zeke, Alicia, Philip, Gwen, Dennis, Tony, Trent.

INVADERS: Fredrick, Sally, Harold, Miranda, Kathy, Robert, Steven, Joe, Verne, Andre, Brie, Jacob, Luther.

HOWE'S: Lex, Quinn, Gage, Paige, Garrett, Kirby, Haley, Ben.

CODY'S GROUP: Cody, Tyrone, Mitchell, Eugene.

BENJI'S GROUP: Benji, Aiko, Hiroto, Takeda, Rico, Logan

THE MILITARY BASE: Cindy, Sasha, Nikki, Ronald, Homer, Gabe, Sean, Kent, Chloe, Joshua, Megan, Conrad, Bert

THE REVIVALISTS: "Emperor", Fred, Darrius, Holly, Darrel, Joel, Xavier, Joan, Ed, Louis, Bryon, Shane, Horace, Erick, Lila, Jeanette, Clyde, Craig, Perry, Hunter, Mia, Al, Noel