I'm Baaaaaack!

S7E02:

"Broadcasting to all outposts. Broadcasting to all outposts. This is Citizen Z with an emergency announcement. A high profile criminal from Altura has escaped custody. All outposts are to be on the lookout for one Roman Estes. He's a white male of average height, dark hair, beady eyes. Last seen fleeing Altura and headed south. If seen all outposts are advised to engage and detain. Prisoner is highly skilled with technology and robotics, keep him contained at all costs. Prisoner has a history of attempted homicide, arson, Talker discrimination and genocide, and employing, aiding and abetting murderers.

Repeat this is Citizen Z with an emergency broadcast to all outposts. A high profile criminal –"

Addy moved quickly around the farmhouse gathering what she'd need for a long trip as quickly as she could. Finn was by the bedroom door leaning against the frame watching her with his arms crossed but his usual carefree expression was on his face.

"So you're just going to go out, track down Estes and –"

"And beat the crap out of him before dragging his ass back to Altura." She said as she shut her drawstring backpack throwing it over one shoulder and resting her Z Whacker on the other.

"I don't like the idea of you going after that guy alone." Finn said giving her those sad eyes that he knew worked every time.

"You can't stop me." She said calmly, looking at him with a blank but stern look. "He's the reason Dante is dead, he's the reason his wife Margery and dozens of other Talkers and humans are dead. He's –"

"I know I can't stop you, but –"

"You can't come with me either." She said her tone getting softer as she approached him. "The Talkers here need you. We need to harvest our wheat so Ma and her sons can make the bizkits that keep this place running. And with Estes on the loose he may try and target the outposts that make the bizkits possible like he did last time. The sooner he's locked up again the better it is for everyone."

She walked past him and down the stairs as he followed and asked, "Why didn't George hang that guy from a rafter again?"

"Part of this Newmerican dream she's got." Addy said stopping at the front door, "We can't just give the death penalty to everyone. There needs to be a just civil system to keep the peace. Like it was Pre-Z."

"I'm not sure it will ever be the way it was Pre-Z." Finn said.

Addy ran her thumb over the bite on her hand that Lucy had given her to save her life after she'd pushed the Man over that cliff so long ago.

"I know." She muttered. Then she stepped closer to Finn and kissed him, "Make sure this place doesn't crash and burn while I'm gone."

She opened the door as Finn chuckled, "Love you too."

She smiled back at him before stepping off the porch and heading south, her grip on her Z Whacker tightening as she thought about giving a few swings at Estes' face.

10K POV

They'd spent a good hour or two sorting out guard duty. They locked down every entrance to Altura so Estes couldn't sneak back in, the last thing any of them wanted was him getting desperate and threating an innocent citizen. When things had calmed down enough George had called 10K and Dave into a meeting while the other guards held their posts. He walked into the conference room in the community building to find George standing at the head of the table with a map of Newmerica in front of her. Red was there too tending to Brendan, the guard who had been the one on cell duty when Estes broke out. He had a wound on his head and a swollen eye, Estes must have put up quite a fight.

"I'm sorry George. I should have been able to take the bastard – "

"No one blames you Brendan." George said understandingly, "Estes has always been clever, he waited, biding his time until he had an opportunity. It's not your fault. Estes has fooled even the best of us at times."

10K could see in her face she was thinking back to the bombings four years ago, how Estes had concocted his scheme under her nose and pinned the guilt on Dante. Though the reminder seemed to calm Brendan as he realized George wouldn't harbor any resentment toward him for his mistake.

Then George took a deep breath and rested her hands on her hips, "Warren and Cooper are both on their way. Kaya was able to contact them at the farm and they'll be here as soon as they can. They're going to keep their eyes peeled in case they run into Estes."

"So what's our plan?" Dave asked.

"We're keeping Altura in lockdown. The other outposts have done the same. We'll keep as many guards as we need to hold the fort, the others we'll divide into search teams."

"I'll go." 10K volunteered and George gave him a nod and he felt Red's eyes on him but he didn't turn to her.

"I'll meet with the guards, assign who stays here for rotation shifts and who's going with 10K." Dave said and George agreed.

"I'll join you when Warren and Cooper get here, the three of us can –"

"No offense George but maybe you should stay here." Red spoke up once Brendan's head had stopped bleeding. Everyone turned to her but she didn't back down, "The last time Estes tried something he almost took over Altura and all of Newmerica. If you leave he might try that again. Might make up some lie like you abandoned everyone, or how you aren't a good leader. But if you're here, he can't do that and with you here odds are he won't try to attack this place again."

They all knew Red had a good point. Estes had been gunning to overthrow George since the group had first met her. She was a critical part of keeping Newmerica together, she couldn't go. George seemed to understand this and looked at the ground and shook her head clearly wishing she could be part of the action, maybe even catch Estes herself and bring him in.

"You're right." She finally said before biting her lip, "But you can't go either." Red opened her mouth to protest, "You're our only doctor, we can't risk you going out there."

She closed her mouth and looked a little mad George had turned her own logic against her but she nodded anyway in agreement. George dismissed them and - after she'd made sure Brendan was okay - Red jogged after 10K in the hall catching up and grabbing his elbow.

"You know Bailey won't like you going out there." Red said and he gave a deep breath. Deep down he knew she was right. Bailey, like Red and George, would want to go with him. She'd want to give Estes a swift kick in the groin like they all did and he'd go through hell talking her out of it.

"Any advice?" he asked.

Red smirked, "I'd stay far enough away that you're out of punching distance."

«»

When he got home he was practically tackled by Bailey as she wrapped her arms around him. He had to pry her off him because her hug was so tight he was worried about the baby squished between them.

"Did they get him? Is he locked up again? Did anyone get hurt? How did he get out? Are they going to kill him this time?. . . What?"

"Take a deep breath." He said with a smile a little amused by her reaction and he waited for her to catch her breath, "Where's TJ?"

"In his room playing." She said and he noticed the thigh holster and handgun she must have taken from the locked drawer when she got home. Good, he thought, he knew Bailey could take care of herself, and keep TJ safe, especially with what was going on now.

"Estes got away." He said glad TJ wouldn't overhear them.

"What?" Bailey asked crossing her arms as they walked to the couch her eyes darting back and forth to TJ's room checking to make sure he didn't come out and overhear, "What are they going to do?"

10K took a seat, resting his elbows on his knees, "George is sending a search party out, so are the other outposts. Everyone's on red alert looking for him. There's no way he'll be able to hide for long. I shouldn't be gone longer then a week or two –"

"George assigned you to the search party?" Bailey asked sitting next to him and he took a deep breath, Bailey knew George wouldn't send him anywhere while she was expecting a baby, he had to come clean.

"I volunteered."

He expected her to ask questions, or shout or demand why. But instead she sat there quietly as she looked down at the couch cushions looking deep in thought.

"Bailey?" he asked after a moment of quiet and he started getting concerned.

"How many of you are going?" she asked still looking at her lap and he was confused by her question.

"I'm not sure. Dave is putting together a team to stay here and a team to come with me after Estes."

She nodded, "Maybe I can get Ted and Laura to watch TJ –"

"Bailey you're not going with me." He cut her off knowing this had been coming.

She looked up at him, "You can't tell me what to do." She said harshly, getting defensive.

"Bailey, you're five months pregnant. I'm not going to let you go out there with zombies, a fugitive on the loose and the occasional starving Talker. It's insane. You have to stay here with TJ where it's safe. And in your condition –"

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm crippled."

"Don't do that." He said sternly shaking his head, "Don't put words in my mouth. You know I don't think of you like that, but you have to think about the baby."

"I'm the one –" she began but he cut her off.

"Don't tell me I have no say because I'm not the one carrying it. I have every right to worry about our child even before it's born. It's small, it's delicate and your skin isn't bulletproof. Can you honestly tell me you'd be okay risking our child to satisfy your ego?"

She got up from the couch and crossed her arms as she paced around, keeping her back to him. He took a deep breath and leaned back, when he was calmer he went on, "Look, I'm just trying to protect the baby, I'm not trying to be mean and the last thing I want to do is seem like a sexist jerk but –"

"No." She interrupted turning to him, "No, you're right." She paused and looked at her feet before looking back up at him, "A good parent puts the needs of their children before everything else. And as much as I want to go and help and be useful. . . I need to swallow my pride and stop being selfish."

He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at her, "Bailey you know just because you're staying here doesn't make you useless."

She took a deep breath, "I know I contribute a lot by staying here and going to work and doing my job but. . . I still miss being out there. I miss killing Z's and feeling like –"

"Like each one you kill saves someone." He finished knowing what she was feeling. She looked up at him and their eyes met before she walked back over to him and brought her hand to run through his hair as he rested his hand on her hip.

"I know you don't think I'm weak because I'm a woman or because I'm pregnant." She said giving him a small smile that barely tugged the corners of her lips, "And just because I'm the one carrying the baby doesn't mean you have no say. You have the right to your opinion. It's your baby too. We're a team in this, we always have been, we're equal. And you're right, I need to stay out of the action for the good of our child. If anything happened to our baby before it even had a chance to live. . . I'd feel guilty for the rest of my life, for every second of every day. I don't think I'd be able to cope knowing I failed our baby like that."

"I would never want you to have to live like that. To go through that. And nothing like that will ever happen, you know why?" He stopped her from going down that dark path he knew haunted her mind, "Because you're a great mother, and you do whatever you have to do to protect our children." He glanced down at the gun in the holster on her thigh and smiled. She didn't miss where his eyes fell.

"Thanks." She said smiling back at him, still running her fingers through his hair, "You're a great father too. I know you're just looking out for us. I'm sorry for what I said, this pregnancy is just making me frustrated all the time."

"Hormones or not, your feelings still always matter." he said still looking up at her in front of him as she looked at her feet clearly regretting the things she'd said and all he wanted was to wipe that look from her face, "And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you -"

"Don't." she cut him off looking up at him, "Please don't validate my feelings by invalidating your own. Your feelings matter too. I said we're equal. I want us to always be equal."

He smiled at her then he grabbed her hand and brought it to his face kissing her wrist right over her pulse before looking back at her, "I love you. And I won't be gone that long. Everyone in Newmerica is looking for Estes. We'll get him." He reassured her.

"You'll stay in radio contact with Citizen Z and Kaya?" she asked and he knew she just wanted to keep tabs on him to make sure he was alright. It was odd how two people could fight over essentially the same thing. They just wanted to make sure the people in their lives were safe.

"I promise." He said standing up and pulling her to him. She rested her head on his chest as she wrapped her arms around his torso under his jacket. He rested his cheek on top of her head and waited before pulling back. "I should go say bye to TJ."

"Yeah." She agreed pulling back and looking up at him. "Are we okay?"

He kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, "Yeah, we're okay. . . I don't like it when we fight."

"You had a good reason to this time." She muttered, "I was being unreasonable. Though I do like this part, after the fight."

"We're just trying to look out for each other." He whispered before he chuckled, "And once the baby is born we'll be too busy to fight."

She chuckled too, "Yeah, a newborn and a toddler in the house. What could go wrong?"

«»

The search party headed out of Altura not long after 10K left Bailey at home. Altogether they had fifteen able bodied guards who were going, 10K included. They pulled out a copy of a map of Newmerica and divided up into pairs, each pair covering a different direction, north, northeast, northwest, east, west, southeast and southwest. With their odd number 10K volunteered to go out on his own south, if he needed help he'd radio to the other two groups that would be nearby. They were also expecting to run into other search parties from the other outposts so they knew they outnumbered Estes ten to one.

"Everyone clear on the area they're to cover?" 10K asked after they'd divided up the map.

"I'm still betting Estes comes running back to us." Luke said stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Weasel never could survive on his own. He'll come to us once he gets hungry enough."

"Let's hope it goes that well." Paige muttered checking her gun and counting her ammo. "He was seen going south."

"If he continued that way then he'll have all of America to hide in." 10K said looking at the map with worry.

"We'll send Warren and Cooper your way once they get briefed by George when they get to Altura. Maybe when we've looked under every rock he could possibly hide under here we can set up a line of guards along the southern border. Someone will spot him." Paige suggested tucking her gun into her belt.

"Wow anti-Estes border patrol." Luke said softly under his breath with a chuckle.

"Alright, let's move out before we lose our daylight." 10K said and they all went their separate ways.

Bailey POV

Bailey had brought TJ to the park Altura had built to help cheer him up after his Papa had left. She watched from the park bench as he played with Julie running up the plastic steps, climbing the jungle gym and going down the slide. Hearing him laugh and seeing him smile always cheered her up and she rubbed her stomach hoping to feel her baby kick. She still had her thigh holster on with her handgun just in case she needed it and knew 10K had been right. She wasn't useless, she could still protect her family, in her own way. It may not be as badass as 10K's way but being there for her children was the most important job she ever had and she wouldn't fail it. She refused to.

"Texas Hatchett Massacre!" she heard and groaned as she turned and saw Murphy approaching her. He had his arms spread wide and a smile on his face as he walked over to the fence that wrapped around the playground and rested his arms on the top of it. She got up and walked over to him crossing her arms.

"What the hell are you doing here Murphy?" she asked. "Don't you have more important things to do like run Limbo and work on that cure?"

"The cure is exactly why I'm here. I've hit a. . . bump in the road. Was hoping maybe Red could fill in some blanks. She was close to Dr. Sun."

"Well Red isn't here, you'd have better odds of finding her in, I dunno, the infirmary? She is a doctor after all." she said knowing Murphy wasn't an idiot. The infirmary was in the other direction and she was still wondering what he was doing on this side of the community.

"Well how would I know? Maybe she'd come down here to patch up a few scraped knees." He said looking over her shoulder to where she knew TJ was. "Cute kid." He mumbled sourly.

Bailey dropped her arms to her sides and rested them on her hips, one hand going over the gun at her side. Murphy didn't miss the discreet action and raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, hey, no need to get all protective Mama Bear on me, I'm going." He said taking a step back. "Hey speaking of overly-protective parents where is stump boy?"

"He's not here." She said crossing her arms again. "He's out with a search party looking for Estes."

"Oh yeah, Ramón. Heard the skunk got out. Well as long as he doesn't get his hands on another mega sized lithium battery I think we'll be alright."

"It's Roman, and I don't think it's smart underestimating him."

"Momma!" she heard TJ shout and she turned to see him running toward her. When he got to her he looked up at her and tugged on her arm, "Momma, Julie asked if I can go to her apartment for dinner tonight, they're making mac and cheese. Can I go? Can I?"

"Of course you can sweetheart." She said smiling at her son, "If you promise to behave."

"I pwomise." He said before he noticed Murphy standing there. Then he pointed at him, scrunched his face and shouted, "Mean Mister Murphy!"

Bailey chuckled as Murphy looked deeply offended and she patted TJ's soft sandy hair, "Don't worry TJ, your Momma can handle him." She said quietly but knew she was still getting a glare from Murphy, "Why don't you go back and tell Julie you can come over tonight?"

TJ still looked at Murphy with his little face scrunched up angrily before he stuck out his tongue at him and went back to the playscape where Julie was.

"Cute kid." Murphy said again only now it was more of a grumble.

"Do you need anything here Murphy? Or are you just hanging around to annoy me?" she asked turning back to him and he raised his hands again.

"No, no, I'm going." He said backing away again, "I'll tell Red you said hi."

Bailey rolled her eyes before going back to watch TJ play, something in her gut churned and she made a mental note to keep an eye out for Murphy while he was in Altura.

Murphy POV

Damn, he thought, he'd been hoping ten cent would have been there. He could have bought him a drink in 'congratulations' of Bailey's pregnancy, got him a little drunk and gotten a small vial of blood no muss no fuss. Now he'd have to wait around for the sniper to come back and he hated waiting around, it made him anxious.

He turned on his heel as he continued to walk backwards away from the park and watched Bailey, his eyes going from her larger stomach to the squirt on the jungle gym. Maybe he didn't have to wait for the one-handed wonder. There were a couple more sources of 10K's blood already here.