A/N: I'm back, I am so sorry its been so long. Life as been manic and then I struggle about where I was going with this story. But I got there in the end so you should see more frequent updates now. So without further ado here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy
Season 2 Episode 3 part one
The group were currently hiking through Wyoming, the van ran out of petrol a little while back so they had to ditch it. They were all quiet especially Addy, still reeling from the lost of Mack even Murphy was quieter than usual.
While Ellie was sad about the loss of Mack, she was more concerned about watching Cassandra who was at the back of the group just incase whatever control Murphy had over her lost effect.
"We are going the wrong direction. Again" Murphy complained. So much for Murphy being quiet, Ellie thought to herself
"You left us no choice" Warren said "Too much fallout in the west"
"Again. That That was not my fault"
"How is that not your fault" Ellie said they same time Doc said
"Murphy, don't make me have to explain the term 'failsafe doomsday weapon'
again, please"
"How do you even know California's still there?" Murphy said ignoring both of them
"You're looking ripe. You better hope it's still there" Vasquez said stepping up behind Murphy and pushing him in the back forcing him forward "Move"
"You are not the boss of me" He said whirling round to face him as Vasquez got into his face "She is... and Ellie..." He said pointing at Warren and then Ellie. Who raised an eyebrow at him.
"I can handle this" Warren said stepping up to Vasquez putting a hand on his chest to stop him from going forward.
"Move" she said turning back to Murphy giving him a little shove
"Gladly" He said sarcastically before walking off
"You'll get used to him" Warren told Vasquez and Ellie snorted holding in her laughter as they carried on walking after Murphy
Walking towards the edge of a small cliff they could see smoke coming from the bottom and Warren turned to 10k
"10K, let me see your scope" handing it to her she looked down at the vehicles
"Oh, looky here" she said looking at the truck currently on fire
"What are we gonna do about her?" 10k asked turning to look at Cassandra who was currently giving Murphy a back massage while they sat on a rock a strand of grass in his mouth
"Cassandra?"
"She's not Cassandra" 10k said firmly "Not anymore"
"I still think theres something of her in there" Ellie said turning to look at them
"Maybe there's a way back for her,when we get to California" Warren said
"Maybe" 10k said nodding and he turned to look back at Cassandra with Ellie and as they did Cassandra made eye contact and they both saw a small smile appear on her face before she snapped out of it again. Going back to give Murphy a massage.' maybe there is something of Cassandra left' Ellie thought
"Is that some kind of post-apocalyptic wagon train?" Doc said walking over to them as a big modified 18 teen wheeler truck drove past
"Well, it ain't the 3:10 to Yuma" Warren said as more cars pulled up and gunfire started forcing the big truck to pull over
"Don't get out of the truck" Warren mumbled as people got out and returned fire
"lt's gonna be a slaughter" Addy agreed
"Can't expect to travel through a valley without an ambush" Murphy said unhelpfully "Didn't nobody ever watch Westerns growing up?"
"Only you" Ellie quiped not still looking at the people.
A quad bike soon joined with more people who also starting firing but the people from the modified truck seemed to be managing
"Looks like they're holding 'em off, for now" Doc said impressed
"Not bad for a bunch of sitting ducks" Warren agreed
"Well, you think we should, I dunno, help 'em?" Doc said and Warren lifted up 10s rifle again when it was pushed back down
"Think less like a missionary and more like a mercenary." Vasquez said hand holding the rifle down "Let's wait and steal the vehicles from the victor"
"You cant be serious" Ellie said looking at him with an appalled look on her face
"We may not be able to save the world. But maybe we can save them" warren said agreeing with Ellie as she pulled the rifle away from Vasquez and gave it back to 10k. "10K, Ellie and Vasquez, that way. Addy, you're with me. Doc, you watch him. And her" Warren said pointing at Murphy and Cassandra.
Going opposite ways 10k, Ellie and Vasquez made their way down the little slope connecting to the cliff, where they were hidden behind some rocks.
Leaning around Vasquez shot at one of the men but missed, hitting his gun instead and the man wasted no time and ran. But didn't get very far when Ellie quickly aimed her gun shooting him in the head and he fell to the floor.
Vasquez then fired at the other man and hit him in the shoulder. The man ran getting on the quad and started to drive away and when 10K and Ellie saw that Vasquez wasn't going to finish him off. 10k aimed at him and shot him in the head.
"That's one way to play it" Vasquez said
"If 10k had left him he would have bled out and turned, we want less zombies not more" Ellie said to him, justifying what 10k did and she saw him give a small smile in thanks.
Walking further down the slope and coming to the road they saw Warren and Addy appear from around the truck just as a jeep went past and Addy knocked the rider flying with her whacker as he past.
Going where he landed roughly on the floor Warren aimed her gun at his head
"Good luck where you're going" she said before firing
Once the bandits were taken care of Ellie went to follow Warren when she saw her going to approach the driver when she hesitated, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of dread going through her body. Like something was coming. Something bad.
"Ellie? Ellie you ok?" Feeling a gentle shove on her shoulder Ellie turned her head to meet the concerned eyes of 10k "Are you ok?" He asked her again
"Yeah... yeah im ok... just a bad feeling" Smiling at 10k to ease his concern she said again "I'm fine, promise"
"You sure?" He asked again not moving his hand of her shoulder
"Definitely... and you'll be the first to know if somthings wrong" she said smiling at him "we should go see what the others are doing.
Once 10k had taken his hand of her shoulder Ellie turned to go after Warren but not before seeing 10k still with a look of concern and Vasquez looking at her with a conflicted look on his face.
Ignoring both looks Ellie saw Warren approaching the driver of the truck as he started to climb out and she rushed to reach her.
"On your toes, people! They'll be back!" The man said once he was fully out of the truck and he approached Warren and Ellie, soon followed by Vasquez who was now standing the other side of Warren. "Sam Custer" He said holding his hand out to Warren
"Roberta Warren" she replied taking his hand "This is Ellie, and Vasquez"
Ellie gave a small wave while vasquez just looked at the man, who just smiled back in greeting.
"Your timing is what we might call fortuitous" Custer said
"Sometimes things work out"
"We were on our way to Edmonton,trying to outrun the fallout. How about you?"
"Headed east too...This is quite a set-up you got here"
"Yes, ma'am" sam said proudly "Well, pre-Z, I used to run long haul. Diesel's easier to get these days. My son and I rebuilt the Charger from the ground Comet, I used to driveto high school my senior year. My son and I were gonna rebuild that '49 Willys Jeep. This is my retirement now. The refugees have shelter and we carry what we need when we find it"
Hearing someone approach Ellie turned only to see Vasquez aim his gun at an overly excited man but quickly lowered when he saw he wasnt a threat.
"Jumpy" Ellie teased him
"Hey, you are one bad-ass lady. You...you...you were like... Boom! Just...stone-cold killer" The man praised her before walking away.
"Well that was a very energetic man" Ellie said with a smile on her face
"We call him Wrecking Ball" Custer said smile on his face too "He's my sister's boy. Cheese slid off that cracker a long time ago. He fits in pretty well these days, though"
"What's in Edmonton?" Vasquez asked
"Peace. Tranquillity" Custer said reaching inside is coat to pull out a picture when Vasquez flinched and went to pull out his gun but Warren stopped him. "And freezing temperatures. Zombies hate the cold. We're gonna be safe there. All of us. Together."
"What about them?" Warren said pointing to a trailer at the back of the other truck
"They're dying. Radiation. My, uh... My job is to get everybody to Edmonton.
Now, you're welcome to come along with us. You're not gonna get far out here on foot. And to be honest with you, we could use the firepower"
Warren looked towards Ellie and then Vasquez who both nodded. 'At least we no longer need to walk' she thought to herself
They were all currently sat at the edge of the truck drinking water and eating some food. Ellie was sat next to 10k with Murphy a little futher down from her.
"You guys need some more water?" A woman asked walking past and 10k accepted
"Thank you" he said shyly to her
"You're a hero, kid" Doc said and Ellie saw the woman smile at 10k as she past once his cup was filled
"You know, um, you can have soup" The energetic man with the red coat said to Doc who was scooping out soup out of a tin with his fingers "You know, you just add water"
"Cream of shrooms, dude" Doc said shaking his head "Water just dilutes the flavour"
"You sure you don't want some?" The man said to 10k moving from Doc
"I had minestrone loaf for breakfast" 10k said shaking his head. Which Ellie did the same when he looked at her.
The man carried on moving untill he decided to sit in the space between Ellie and Murphy, hilding the bottle out to Murphy
"Hydration?" To which Murphy shook his head looking very uncomfortable
"Is there somewhere else you can sit?" He grumbled
"Yep" The man replied quickly getting up and walking away and Ellie couldn't help but giggle and she saw Murphy smirking a little too. Ellie turned to observe the area but she could still feel his eyes on her.
Turning back to look at him he saw him staring at her with a conflicted look on his face, like he was trying to figure something out
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing" He said getting up and walking away leaving Ellie no choice to drop it.
Looking up Ellie saw Warren, Vasquez and Addie gathered in a small circle a few feet in front of them in what looked like a serious conversation. So she decided to head over and see what it was all about.
"Kill 'em all and take their stuff" Ellie heard Warren say as she approached them "I already know what you think"
"We've got strength in numbers. Food, water, shelter. Certainly beats walking, but..." Addy said hesitating
"But what?"
"But the sick - I highly doubt they're gonna make it to wherever it is that they're going"
"Edmonton" Vasquez said
"Thats a whole lot of people who could turn before we get there" Ellie said
"That medical wagon is a zombie bomb waiting to go off" Warren said agreeing with them both.
"We may not be able to save the sick but we might be able to help the living and right now I think they could use your help Vasquez" Ellie said pointing behind him to see 10k and a few other men attempting to flip over a car to get it out of the way.
Nodding Vasquez went over to help while the others went back over to the truck and once the car was flipped Custer gathered them around to talk to them
"Three days ago, we tangled with some bounty hunters"
"Bounty hunters, huh?" Murphy said
"We don't want to kill you,they 're just thirsty, they said. But I think they were out of their minds. They kept rambling on about some half-zombie, half-man with telekinetic powers. Like a world overrun with zombies isn't strange enough"
"Those...those crazy rumours" Doc said trying to act normal which he did very badly but luckily enough Custer didn't notice
"Let's get on the road. Saddle up! Edmonton awaits!" Custer said walking away
"Those guys were nuts" the man in the red coat said "Being able to control zombies with your mind - I mean, how bad-ass would that be?"
"Um, supremely bad-ass?" Murphy said praising himself
"Oh, he's a bad-ass" Doc said "You know, I hear he can levitate" he said mocking Murphy
"Ooh, levitate?...You guys want to levitate,I got what you need.
Z-Weed"
"Z-Weed?" Doc said
"Yeah im out" Ellie said walking away "Have fun with your z weed" Walking over to the truck pulling the trailer with the sick. Ellie climbed up onto flatbed sitting there while Addy sat in the trailer. 10k was sat on the modified truck in the section with a makshift cage made out of 4 metal walls around and bars going above it. With his rifle perched on the bars
From this position Ellie could hear and see Custer walk over to the car that Doc, Murphy and the other guy were currently getting high in and knock on the window
"Let's go. Let's go." He said to them but no one moved "Now!" He said more firmly which got them all moving laughing as they went
"Look at me. Right here" Custer said to the guy in the read jacket trying to get his attention "A jet airliner departs Toronto headed for O'Hare-"
"Excuse me, stewardess?" Murphy interupted both of them still laughing "Will there be snack service on this flight?"
Ignoring them he continued " 150 passengers on board, 20 of them in first class. The plane develops catastrophic engine trouble. The pilot puts it down in Lake Erie. The wreckage straddles the international border. Now, according to maritime law,How many of the survivors get buried in Canada?
Go!"
"OK, there's...there's 150 passengers. There's 20 in first class. Wait.
You don't bury survivors"
Satisfied he wasnt to stoned to function he turned his attention to Murphy "You! Look at me... You don't look right to me"
"I don't know how I look, but I feel pretty good" Doc said to murphy leaning towards him and they both started laughing again while Warren gave them daggers which they just ignored
"Your friend has to ride in the medical wagon with the sick" Custer said to Warren refuring to Murphy
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? I don't even get a riddle?" Murphy complained
"We can afford compassion for the ill only because we have rules. That gonna be a problem?"
"No" Warren said looking towards Murphy gestering for him to not say a word "Not a problem"
"Will there be snacks?" Murphy asked
"Munchies" Doc piped up and Ellie couldnt help but giggle
Once they managed to get Doc and Murphy to calm down and into the designated locations which was Muprhy with the sick and Doc driving the car with wreaking ball in the passenger seat. While Warren and Vasquez was up the front just behind the drivers cabin of the modified vehicle.
"Wagon train, ho!" Custer said starting the vehicle, with Docs car behind follwed by the sick.
"Come on, girl. This train is leaving the station" Ellie heard Murhpy say, he was standing at the edge of the trailer watching Cassandra who was currently running trying to catch up to the vehicle.
Getting close Murphy reached out for Cassandras hand but he struggled to pull her up and when he almost lost her hand another hand reached forward latching onto Cassandras hand allowing Murphy to grasp the other one and pull her up.
That other hand belonged to Addy, much to Ellies delight. Dont get her wrong she was glad she was here but she still wasnt completley over the fact that Addy abandoned them all and here Addy is acting like it never just needed more time to come to terms with that.
"Everyone, this is Cassandra" Murphy said knocking Ellie out of her train of thought "Cassandra, this is...uh, whatever" He said when he relaised the sick wasnt paying any attention "She's shy"
Surveying the area Ellie could see from the corner of her eye Addy leaning down to give a man who was coughing some water.
"Thank you" The man said smiling
"Hey." Addy said holding his arm for comfort "Things will be better in Edmonton, OK?"
"It's OK. We all know what's coming" The man said and that made Ellie sad. No matter what they did, they couldnt change their fate and thats why get her and Murphy to the lab was so important. Getting the cure was their main priority. Well heres anyway.
Looking back at Murphy, Ellie could see him currently smoking some more z-weed before pressing his forhead agaisnt Cassandras and breathing out towards her so she enhaled the smoke. Ellie could also see Addy watching with fasination or disgust she couldn't tell, maybe both.
"Z-Weed" He said and Cassandra took a few seconds before repating z- weed back to him so he took another puff and repeated the same action. Which was a disturbing scene to witness but then Murphy has always been a weird guy
Like he could hear her thoughts Murphy turned to look up at her again. The same look as early, he looked conflicted and when he saw he pull a confused face he smiled but it didnt ease her nerves infact it made her more nervous.
Hearing gunshots behind them Ellie went to take a look when she saw two quad bikes coming towards them fast, so Ellie jumped down into the wagon making her way to the back followed by Addy
"Everybody wants a piece of The Murphy"
"Not everything is about you Murphy" Ellie said coming to stand next to him, pulling out her gun she aimed it at the quad bikes.
Jumping slightly when they fired, the bullets ricochets off the walls. They werent very good shots. Returning fire Ellie saw Addy back up towards the sick as she tried to get them to huddle
"Huddle up, everybody!" She said pressed against the wall "Get small!"
Cassandra was also using her body to protect Murphy from the bullets.
Hitting one of the men in the head, the body flew off the quad bike as the other guy on the same bike took the wheel and drove past them, the second quad bike following. Soon followed by Cassandra who jumped of the wagon and ran after the bikes.
Putting her gun away Ellie turned to look at Murphy a confused look on her face but he just shrugged turned away and went and sat back down. Ellie knew then that Murphy was up to sometthing, Cassandra didnt do anyhting without Murphys say so. But she didnt know what he was up to.
None of this belongs to me except Ellie and any original story lines the rights go to the wonderful creators and publishers of z nation