"But... why?" Quinn asked.
"Your father and I decided that we need some distance from each other." Mrs. Savage said.
"But we still love you two." Mr. Savage added.
"No! If this is a joke it isn't funny!" Dirk stated.
"We just want you to know that this isn't your fault."
Quinn immediately snapped.
"NO!"
"Quinn, please just listen..."
In tears, Quinn stormed away. Dirk watched as his sister ran upstairs and silently followed her as well.
"Guys?" Courtney yelled over the train wreckage.
The young woman sifted through the rubble until she found Quint, alive but recovering. Jack emerged from the wreckage as well.
"June? Anyone?" Jack called.
The group scanned their eyes until they saw a tragic sight. Quickly, they rushed over to find June and Peter keeping their distance from a still-living Quinn.
Courtney gasped. "Oh no..."
Dirk was motionless, his face heavily disfigured. Everything became silent...
"You..."
Quinn broke down in stress.
"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!"
"But... I..." Peter began.
"THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
In angry tears, Quinn ran off.
"Wait, Quinn!" Jack shouted.
Jack and Quint quickly ran after her. This left Peter alone with Courtney and June.
Day turned into night. Quint and Jack came back empty-handed.
"We didn't find her," Jack said.
Peter curled up into a lonely state.
"Leave me alone..." He moped.
June and Courtney started a fire to warm everyone up. They salvage what was left from the train crash to serve as dinner.
"Should we have a quiet moment for Dirk? Maybe Quinn too?" June asked.
"Yeah..." Jack said.
The group buried Dirk peacefully.
"I remembered Dirk." Jack began. "He was usually the guy who took my juice boxes."
"Dirk would take my sandwiches and call me a nerd," Quint added. "But the good kind."
"He loved cooking and gardening," June added.
"I never met him, but may he rest in peace," Courtney concluded.
"We better get some shut-eye," June said.
The group turned to Peter, who was still silent about everything. Several zombies were off in the distance.
"Let's take shifts," Jack said. "Peter can keep watch, then Courtney, me, Quint, then you."
With a full group, everyone got enough sleep.
After a night and morning of no incidents, the group had breakfast. Quint was planning out what to do with where they were. A cloud of blackness flew over them, and it wasn't from the fire they put out.
"Hey, is that smoke over there?" Jack said.
"Fire! There must be people around in there!" Quint concluded.
The group gathered their stuff and headed into the woods.
With the group traveling in silence, Courtney decided to speak up first.
"So who are we looking for, other survivors or Quinn?"
"Maybe someone else would find Quinn," Jack suggested. "Maybe that fire was started by Quinn?"
"Yeah, like a bully's younger sister can start a fire," Peter grumbled.
"Now you speak," June said with sarcasm.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Peter asked Quint.
"Positive."
Eventually, the group arrived at the spot of the fire. It was already put out, but there was still smoke.
"Well, at least we know someone was there," Quint said.
With still no signs of Quinn, the group set up camp. But was hard for them to focus because of Quinn's absence. Dirk's sacrifice also shook their minds.
"Ow!" Jack yelled.
"Sorry, I didn't see your hand!" June apologized.
"It's okay." Jack breathed.
Quint also had trouble cooking like Dirk. "There's always a saying that we should move on, but Dirk... He made the best spaghetti!"
Courtney arrived at the campsite with more firewood.
"Guys, Peter's missing."
Everyone jumped. "Oh no!"
"Where could've he have gone?" Quint asked.
"I think he blames himself for what happened to Dirk," Jack said.
"I don't think so."
The group split up, with Courtney staying beside to watch over the fire.
Elsewhere, a weakened Peter trudged through the woods. He collapsed by a tree side to regain his strength. He was so tired that he could barely think. A bright light shone in his eyes.
"Newton?" He muttered.
Whatever shone at him spoke in Newton's voice.
"Peter? What are you doing out here?"
"I failed, man." The exhausted mumbled.
"Failed at what?"
"I ended up getting one of my friends killed."
"Yeah, stuff like that always happens."
"But my friends now blame me for his death."
"I understand how they feel."
"You know? I missed you."
"Yeah, I missed you too."
"How's Unikitty doing?"
"We're doing great. The Wenja are now prospering under us. We even have plans for a child."
"Yeah... that's great..."
Peter then closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, the group was left feeling hopeless out in the woods.
"I guess everything means nothing in the end," Courtney said to herself.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"We lost several of us. Dirk. Quinn. Now Peter."
"I'm sure everything will work out."
"What does it matter?!" Courtney shot back. "We're all alone, running out of food, and we have no plan on where to go!"
"Excuse me..." A voice said.
A weird young man came up to greet the group. Strangely, he seemed overenthusiastic compared to everyone else.
"I'm unarmed and I come in peace."
"Who are you?" Jack asked.
"My name is Zack. Zack Kayes."
Everyone paused.
"Have you seen a guy? Black jacket, blue denim pants, worn sneakers, black socks, and black hair?" June asked.
"Yeah, I have seen him," Zack said.
Jack breathed with a sigh of relief.
"Thanks! You're a lifesaver!"
Courtney stopped him.
"You're just going to trust a guy we just met?" She asked.
"Well, I think he knows what he's talking about." countered Jack.
"We're also looking for a girl. She's younger, yellow shirt, blue jeans, braided brown hair?" June asked Zack.
"Yeah, I've seen her too," Zack added.
"We'll just keep our weapons to ourselves. If he has a group that will ambush us, we'll be ready." Jack said.
Courtney couldn't fight back on that one. "Fine."
The group gathered their stuff as they followed Zack's direction.