S7E04:
Bailey POV
She'd been up most of the night worrying about TJ. What he'd said about missing 10K broke her heart and her mind seemed unable to rest until she came up with a solution for her son to feel better.
That morning she thought she'd go see Kaya, they'd become close, bonding over parenting tips and raising young boys. Kaya was good at staying calm in stressful situations and her advice meant a lot to Bailey. Her son had grown up without his dad for the first several years of his life, Kaya must have gone through this too and maybe would have an idea that would help.
Bailey brought TJ to the building where the election had been held – the first one that Estes had tried to sabotage by blowing it up – and the building was now where CZ and Kaya stored a lot of tech that was responsible for sending out their transmissions across Newmerica. She found Kaya exactly where she thought she'd find her, sitting at a computer in a dimly lit room with a pair of headphones over her ears. Bailey smirked as she had TJ sit in a chair with one of his books as he flipped through it and she walked over to Kaya-in-the-Skya. She pulled off her headphones and laughed when the girl jumped in her seat, turned and put her hand over her pounding heart when she saw it was only Bailey.
"Don't do that." She said partially laughing and Bailey chuckled.
"Sorry." She said pulling a diet soda out of her bag and offering it to Kaya, "Does this make up for it?"
Kaya nodded and eagerly accepted the soda. After she'd taken a sip she asked, "So what's up?"
Bailey sighed and sat down in the other chair that must be CZ's as she explained to Kaya about last night. She kept glancing at TJ to make sure he wasn't listening and she smiled when she saw him grinning as he read his book. She knew his love of books was something he got from her.
"Well, when Simon was gone and it was just me, Nana and JZ it helped to send messages on the radio." Kaya suggested with a shrug, "I never knew if he got them or not, but it made me feel better thinking that maybe he was holed up somewhere listening to us, knowing we were still there for him."
Bailey nodded and thought about it, then Kaya kicked her knee lightly, making her look up. "If you wanted to, I could put TJ on the air."
Kaya's grin made Bailey smile and she nodded knowing it would make him feel like his Papa was listening, hopefully he would be.
10K POV
He and Addy had found a movie theater early in the day that they decided to check out. Addy was hoping to score some chocolate for breakfast and even though they had packed enough food to not worry about scavenging she admitted she missed it sometimes and it felt like the 'good ol' days'. The red head was behind the candy counter looking for anything that might have been kicked under the display case and popcorn machine while he strolled around with his rifle ready as he looked at old movie posters. He'd never been to see a movie but didn't feel like he'd missed out. The concept of a screen so big and bright hurting your eyes, with sound blasting in your ears, he didn't understand how a person could find that enjoyable. But then again, maybe it was one of those things you had to experience, like riding a roller coaster until you threw up.
Then static from the radio caught his attention and he turned around and Addy popped up from behind the counter.
"Ten. . . thousand. . . Addy. . . come in." they heard Kaya's voice and Addy took the radio off the countertop and hit the button.
"Kaya, this is Addy and 10K, we read you over."
"Addy, 10K, do you copy?"
"Why can't she hear us?" he asked approaching the counter.
Addy shrugged, "It could be all the equipment in this place. Something could be screwing up the signal."
He looked back at the device in her hand as a new voice took over, "Papa we miss you!"
Hearing TJ made his heart melt but even with that slight pain in his chest he couldn't keep from smiling a little at hearing his son.
"When are you coming home?" TJ went on, "I love you!"
He grabbed the radio from Addy and hit the button hoping it would work, "TJ. TJ?"
But there was no response, only TJ calling, "Come home soon Papa!" before the radio went silent.
«»
He and Addy walked for the next three days until they came across a town called Great Falls, Montana. They had been spending most of that time talking about what trouble they could be walking into and trying to prepare for it. Addy already had a theory about who was transmitting the coded message.
"It's Zona. It's got to be." She said for the thousandth time as they walked and the numbers station kept on going. "Who else could have survived this long after the nukes?"
"Addy you've got to stop." He said taking the radio from her and once her hand was off the button the transmission stopped and he had some peace and quiet again. Addy had been obsessing over the coded messages like she was upset at herself for forgetting about them so many years ago.
"They could be transmitting to the Man." She went on, "Think he's still out there?"
"According to Warren Zona went down the tubes when Dr. Teller sent her and Murphy on that Black Rainbow mission. I doubt there's anyone left there. And even if the Man still is alive, Zona can't be employing him anymore. He either went down on Zona or found someplace to settle where there aren't zombies."
Addy didn't seem convinced but didn't say anything else and neither did 10K. He could tell she was still coming up with other ideas behind who could be transmitting those numbers and as curious as he was he knew he really didn't want to find out who it was anytime soon. Right now all he wanted was to find Estes and throw him back in a cell in Altura. He wanted to get back to Bailey and he was starting to question if he ever should have volunteered to leave at all. He could have stayed behind as part of the guard duty to keep watch and make sure Estes didn't return. He still would have been doing his part. But this, walking all the way back to Montana had not been what he'd planned. They kept walking and walking until Addy raised her Z-Whacker and pointed at something up ahead.
"Hey look at that." She said smiling with a chuckle in her voice. Up ahead he could see a clothing store with huge posters in the windows advertising an upcoming sale. There were numbers on the signs like 40% off and dates the sales would be. One of the large windows had torn signs taped to it creating a new message that read '1,094/10,000'. He chuckled as they got closer and passed by it. He remembered when Bailey had told him about the time she'd been out here alone – it still made his chest hurt that he hadn't ever thought to look for her, that it never occurred to him that Murphy could have lied – and she had left him signs that only he'd be able to interpret that would lead him to her.
"1,094." He said smiling to himself as he shook his head and looked down at his shoes. He remembered that kill. He took another drag from his cigarette before dropping it into a small holder by his scope. Bailey inched a bit closer as he used the smoke from the end of the cigarette to gage the strength and direction of the wind. He took aim and fired but none of the zombies in the field dropped so he adjusted his aim.
"1,093." He said as he fired again and this time when he shot two bodies fell, "No. . . 94." He said smirking.
"Looks like you've got another chance to get that number up." Addy said as he looked back up and saw she was right. A pack of ten or so zombies was hobbling down the road heading their way. He threw his rifle over his shoulder, set up his antler sling again and got ready.
"9,224." He counted when he let the gear fly and it hit the Z right between the eyes as it dropped and Addy readied her Z-Whacker stepping up to take another few out as he covered her. He'd noticed more zombies the further south they traveled. Thankfully they weren't the hordes or Zunami's that they'd seen further south in the U.S. but his count had been climbing quicker than it had been in a long time.
"Hey, check out this one." Addy said pointing her bat at the last Z on the street. It ran at her but she ducked and it missed. Then she whistled and it whipped its head around again. Where it's eyes should have been were nothing but deteriorating sockets – it was blind. He laughed as he joined in, each of them making a noise the Z would chase before they'd jump out of the way and it'd stumble, sometimes tripping over its own feet and falling. When they got bored Addy mericed the poor thing and they each looked around.
Now that they were done with the pack they were splattered with blood and had puddles of carnage at their feet. Addy picked a building nearby that looked good to hole up in for the night. It looked like it had been one of those houses with a business on the first floor and an apartment on the second. He hadn't noticed the sun had been steadily dropping closer and closer to the horizon until Addy had said something and he started to realize how tired he was. And according to CZ and Kaya they still had a long way to go before they got close to catching up to Estes.
CZ POV
"Alright, let's see who you've got working your transmission." He muttered to himself as he typed across his keyboard. Kaya had left to give Nana a break from babysitting while she took JZ to get something to eat before they joined Bailey and TJ for a playdate. Meanwhile, he was hoping he'd be able to trace the signal of that odd numbers-only station and be able to make contact. Newmerica could always use another community and if they could add one so far south it would be fantastic for their progress. However, if Estes had already fled there then he could already be using his wit to turn the community against Newmerica. But if CZ could contact whoever was sending out the coded transmission he could warn them that they had a fugitive in their midst. Two birds, one stone.
He also had to admit he wanted to get in touch with the community because he was very impressed. He'd run the string of numbers through every Morse, cipher, cryptography and every other code system he knew and none of them seemed to be what these people were using. They could have come up with a code on their own but he was amazed that between him and Kaya they hadn't been able to crack it.
"What could you possibly be talking about?" he wondered out loud, "And who could you be talking to? There aren't many communities still functioning out there – most of them travel up here – but if you have enough people that you can send them by truck all the way to Montana then you must be thriving."
He watched as his algorithm ran across the screen before it pulled up a map and started drawing lines across the northern half of the continent. Then as that worked he turned to another computer screen and started checking in on Addy and 10K.
"Citizen Z reaching out to search party. Addy do you read me?" he waited a moment but got no response, "10K? Ten Thousand? Anyone hear me?" he waited again, for a minute longer then last time but still got no response.
"Two, eight, eight, two, two, five, one."
"That thing again." He muttered now getting annoyed, "Hold on."
He turned to his radio and turned a few dials and enhanced it with his computer before he swallowed nervously.
"That signal is coming in a little too clear." He realized, "But they couldn't have gotten that close to Altura so fast, not with so many search parties out. Someone would have reported a suspicious vehicle." He started typing again.
"Alright let's see what's going on in your neck of the woods." He said as he started looking for other frequencies. Then his screen turned red and a new black window opened as white text began scrawling itself across the screen. He recognized some of it. Whoever he was dealing with seemed to be a former government agent like he was.
"Locked out." He said before he got to work trying to undo the bug that he'd caught. "Good move for your own protection but when you mess with my team you better expect to get hacked back." He said as he reverted to his old hacking ways, he always loved an excuse to do this as he typed away.
"Seven, four, three, seven, four, three, two, six, one, nine, four, five, eight, seven, four, four, seven, three -"
"Why does that keep coming in? I'm not even working on that signal on this hard drive." Then it hit him, on this hard drive he was trying to contact Addy and instead was picking up the numbers station. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Addy, 10K get out of there." He swore typing even quicker to try and get their signal working again hoping they heard what he was saying into the receiver, "Possible hostiles near your position. Guys please, please get out of there."
10K POV
He and Addy had been walking for another five days when he asked if they could turn back. Addy wanted to keep going, she'd been on her own before back when she was part of the Talker Underground but she understood his agitation. This was taking much longer and taking him much farther then he'd anticipated and with a pregnant wife and a three year old at home he was starting to become desperate. Walking around Newmerica was one thing, few zombies, surrounded by allies, and always having plenty of rations. But here, walking across the United States, seeing more and more zombies the further south they went, putting himself in more danger, walking into the unknown, not knowing if the next human you saw would try and kill you for a single cracker. It was too risky. Especially now that he had a family he had to get back to.
"Citizen Z, this is Addy do you read me?" Addy said into the radio for the twelfth time that hour. She'd been trying to contact Altura ever since 10K decided he wanted to go home. She said she'd wait with him at the gas station they were at until Warren and Cooper caught up and 10K could go home with one while the other continued the search with Addy. But CZ hadn't been responding, no matter what Addy did to try and strengthen the signal, it was like something was blocking the frequency entirely.
"Kaya in the Skya, this is Addison Carver. . ." she tried again. 10K leaned on an old gas pump while she paced around nearby repeating the same thing over and over. Then out of nowhere there was a quick, pop,pop,pop,pop,pop,pop,pop and they both hit the ground trying to find cover from the sudden spray of bullets. He hadn't heard that much gunfire in a long time and it made his heart pound in his chest.
"Get down!"
"Don't move!"
"Hands where I can see them!" voices shouted as the shooters appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them. One grabbed his hand and his wrist and pulled them behind his back before tying him up while another stood in front of him pointing their automatic rifle at his head. He saw Addy further away in a similar position as he realized the people who had ambushed them were all women. He hoped this wasn't going to be another camp like the Sisters of Mercy, if it was he was definitely screwed. I hope they don't have a zombie bear.
Murphy POV
He hadn't stayed in Altura much longer after he'd gotten his hands on that blood sample in the Memorial Wall. The following week he was back at Limbo keeping the alcohol flowing, the bizkits baking and ensuring all his customers were happy. When business was slow he'd go to his suite in the back and flip through the pages of Sun Mei's notebook he'd gotten from Red. This book had a lot more of her personal touches, like the things she'd kept out from the files she'd submitted copies of to Estes, the same ones Murphy had taken three years ago. No wonder he'd been missing so much.
As he read he realized something very obvious, something that had been poking him in the back of his mind for a while that he'd tried to ignore but just couldn't anymore – he'd need help. He'd need professional help, no one like Wesson or any of his blends had the kind of knowledge he needed on his side. He spent most of the week wracking his brain for someone who could fill Sun Mei's shoes. If only Dr. Merch hadn't offed herself, he thought, she would have worked so well with Sun Mei. Together their brains could accomplish so much. Then another thought hit him and he wondered. . . was it possible? There was of course decay to worry about, but that could have been altered by the injection. There were too many what if's to not take the chance, so why not?
"Wesson!" he called and the door to Limbo opened and let in the red light momentarily as Wesson walked in.
"Yes Mr. Murphy?" he asked grinning as always.
"I have. . . a very important task I need you to do." He worded it carefully.
"Anything sir."
"I need you to take three or four of your most trusted Blends and go on a little search party of our own."
10K POV
He was relieved slightly when they hauled him and Addy to an old U-Haul truck and he saw men among the women who'd taken them prisoner. Okay, so he wasn't going to be killed instantly just for being a guy, that had to be good news right?
He and Addy were thrown in and the door was shut and locked behind them putting them into total darkness. He took a deep breath and leaned his head back against the wall as they were knocked around as the truck shook when the engine started and they were driven away.
"Addy?" he called quietly in the dark not wanting their conversation to be overheard by the driver.
"Mmm?"
"If I don't make it out of here –"
"Don't talk like that." She snapped at him but that didn't stop him.
"If I don't make it, promise me you'll look after Bailey, TJ and the baby." She was quiet and after a moment with no response he kept going, "Take them to Heartland with you and Finn. Make sure they're safe, that they'll be alright without me."
"10K, you are going to make it home." She repeated, this time sterner, "I'm going to do whatever I have to do to make sure you get back to your family."
He took a deep breath again now making out her silhouette as his eyes adjusted to the dark. "I know you will. But just for my peace of mind. . . so if I do die I can die somewhat happy knowing someone will watch out for them."
Addy was quiet again for a long time before he heard her let out a long sigh and she whispered, "I promise." He smiled to himself in the dark before leaning his head back again and Addy went on, "You're a good father 10K. You're gonna get home."
"Thanks Addy." He muttered.
"Mmmm. You remind me a lot of my dad actually." She said and he looked at her, he'd never heard her mention her father, he knew from talking to Bailey that Addy had to put down her mom and brother the night of the outbreak but no one had ever mentioned her father.
"He was the kind of guy who'd do anything for me and my brother." She went on and he wasn't sure if she was talking to him anymore or just talking to fill the silence. "Mom was always distant, parenting wasn't really her thing, she wasn't the mothering sort. People always think the mother should get all the rights and the credit when it comes to her children but. . . for me and my brother, it was dad."
"I don't remember you mentioning him before." 10K replied softly not wanting to break her from a good memory. "Did he. . . walk out?"
"No. He never would have, no matter how bad mom got. He, uh. . . he died Pre-Z. Drunk driver hit him, it was a head on collision. He was pronounced dead at the scene. My brother was so young he never remembered him. I had trouble too sometimes, remembering his face, or what his laugh sounded like."
"I'm so sorry." He said genuinely, "I know what that's like. . . losing a parent when you're still too young to really understand what death is. To really. . . get the finality of it."
He felt Addy look at him and he turned his head down to his lap trying to keep himself together.
"It was your mom right?" Addy asked, "I remember Bailey saying something once, briefly."
He bit his lip and paused, "Yeah. I remember when she got sick, how I didn't get why my Pa seemed so sad. Mom just looked like she was resting all the time. And. . . after. . . it was like she was sleeping, it took me a very long time before I really understood she was never coming back." He took a deep breath, "I don't want TJ to have to go through that. And Bailey. . . I don't want her to bring a child into the world that will never know it's father –"
"Hey." Addy said kicking his foot, "I told you that's not going to happen. I'm not going to let it."
Then they both shook as the truck came to a stop and they heard the slam as doors opened and shut and they could make out voices but not what they were saying. Then their door was pulled open and 10K recoiled from the sudden light as four people jumped in. One woman grabbed Addy and lifted her off the ground while another man took 10K by the collar of his shirt and threw his back against the wall before shoving his shoulder to the open back of the vehicle. The other two people were armed and kept their weapons aimed on them as they were brought out and to a gated community with high walls like Altura had and off to the side of the road 10K saw an old worn down sign that read 'West Park'.
Bailey POV
Bailey was on her way to work after dropping TJ off at school hoping that it would be busy enough today to keep her distracted. Tommy had been gone for a week and a half now and she hoped he'd be home soon. Citizen Z had told her a few days ago that 10K was heading further south with Addy, following a possible lead they had on Estes. She hoped they found him soon, or that the trail would go cold and he'd come home. Every time she felt the baby kick or move she'd get sadder remembering that Tommy wasn't here to feel it. She knew one of his favorite parts of her pregnancy with TJ was feeling the baby kick under his hand. The way his eyes would light up and he'd smile at her made her get all warm and fuzzy inside and now without him she just felt cold. She tried to hide it for TJ's sake and played off Tommy's absence as normal and nothing to worry about when on the inside she was falling apart and she worried the stress would affect her health. Or worse, the baby's.
She was crossing the lawn between buildings when someone started calling for her.
"Bailey!" she turned and saw Red running over to her and she stopped so her friend could catch up. "Bay, George is looking for us, CZ called me and said they wanted to talk to us about something."
Bailey could see something in Red's eyes like she was holding back information, but at the same time whatever it was George would probably tell her. So without questioning it further the two made it to the community building and George's office together. Their leader was standing looking over Citizen Z's shoulder while he typed away on her computer showing her something and both of them didn't notice she and Red gotten there until Red cleared her throat.
"Oh good, you're here." George said when she saw them.
"What's going on?" Bailey asked stepping into the room as Red shut the door behind her. George and Citizen Z shared a look before turning back to her and she felt her stomach tie up in knots. She could read the hesitation in their eyes, whatever they were going to say they were worried about how she'd take it. Oh God, she thought, Tommy.
"We can't find Addy or 10K." George said with a blank look on her face and Bailey felt everything in her world stop.
"I was keeping tabs on their location for you as they were following our lead but then it just cut out and I haven't been able to get the signal back. . .yet." Citizen Z explained with a sad look in his eyes, "I'm still running algorithms. And Kaya's been working all night." He gave a humorless chuckle, "She's gone through a lot of diet soda."
Bailey felt Red's hand on her shoulder and realized her friend had already known the news. George had probably wanted Red there when they told Bailey so if she reacted badly, like fainting, there would already be a doctor on site. Bailey took a deep breath and brought one hand to her large stomach and sat down, gripping the arm of the chair with her free hand so hard it made her knuckles turn white. Then she lurched forward a bit as the baby gave a strong kick. George quickly moved around her desk, CZ stood up and Red crouched by her side.
"Are you alright?" George asked.
"Yeah." Bailey nodded, "Just a hard kick."
George and Citizen Z looked to each other again as Red started to rub her back. Bailey remembered how just a few nights ago she'd been doing the same thing to TJ and if the situation wasn't so serious she would have laughed at the irony, how she'd gone from the consoler to the consoled.
"I can go find Kaya, Nana used to make her this special tea when she was pregnant, maybe it will help." He offered before he left the room. Then George walked in front of her, leaned back on her desk and looked her in the eye.
"We're going to find him." She promised, "I'm going to join Warren and Cooper now –"
"I thought you were staying here?" Bailey asked, "In case Estes came back and tried to take Altura from you?"
"I think by now we know that Estes turned and ran like the coward he is. I'm going to put Ray in charge as a regent while I'm away. But I'm not going to sit here while my friends could be in danger."
"You don't think they're dead?" she asked.
George shook her head, "No, Citizen Z said there have been odd transmissions mixing with our frequency lately. Odd codes of numbers. He thinks whoever is transmitting it is who took Addy and 10K. They were near the area when we lost track of them."
"Where was it?" she asked.
George paused possibly wondering if she should tell Bailey or if there was a chance Bailey would run off after 10K to go look for him herself. Bailey knew George shared 10K's worry about her safety and the baby's, George cared for all her citizens, even the ones who weren't even born yet. Then she took a deep breath, "Sheridan, Wyoming."
That rang a dull bell in Bailey's mind as she thought about where she'd heard that before. Then she remembered, that pilot Amelia was going to fly Murphy there while they shut down the reactor in the nuclear plant. She and her dad had heard that there were still a community of humans living there. She nodded to George knowing whoever was there must have 10K but that didn't worry her as much as the terrible thought that they could have already shot him point blank and he could be gone forever. She kept trying to take deep breaths as Red rubbed her back trying to calm her.
Then George crouched in front of her, seeing her start to fall apart, "Bailey, we're going to make sure he gets back here safe. Me and Warren won't let anything happen. Just focus on keeping you and the baby healthy ok? That's what 10K would want."
She nodded again and George shared a look with Red before she left to get ready to leave. Red stood and walked behind the chair she was in before leaning over Bailey and wrapping her arms around her in a hug as she rested her head on her shoulder and Bailey turned in her seat and started to cry on Red.
"He'll come back." Red whispered trying to be reassuring, "He will."
AN: So, anyone have any guesses as to what Murphy is up to?
Also, as I was rewatching the 5 seasons to get inspiration something hit me in season 1: anyone else think because Amelia was a pilot they named her character after Amalia Earhart? *shrug* just a theory.
let me know if you guys have any predictions of where Season 7 is going next! I love reading them!