Season One Episode Seven
"Good morning, people, welcome to the third day of the sixth month of the year 03 .A.Z."Ellie heard Citizen Z's voice come across the radio as she was watching the scenery go by through the window. She also saw a 'Welcome to Kansas sign'.
After sleeping for a few hours Doc had woken her up when they all took a pit stop to give her more tablets and to make sure she drank some water. He had wanted her eat something too but Ellie didn't think she could stomach any food so Doc just settled on the water. Doc then decided that she needed a more comfortable place to sleep so with some help from Mack and 10k and multiply winces and grunts of pain from Ellie they had got her out of the bed of the truck and put in the back with Warren. Ellie was grateful that Mack had found a motorbike to drive and that Addy was happy enough to go on it too because it gave her the chance to stretch out on the back seat with her head resting in Warren's lap who glided her fingers through Ellie's hair as a sign of comfort and it lulled Ellie straight to sleep.
Which brings us back to the present where Doc was driving the truck with Murphy in the passenger seat, 10k and Cassandra were in the bed of the truck while Mack and Addy were on a motorbike driving in front of them. Ellie was still sat in the back with Warren who hadn't said a word since they left province all Ellie got off her were some looks and gestures every now and then. But she didn't push her she was grieving they all were, it was one of the reasons why Ellie wasn't still sleeping, every time she closes her eyes she just sees Garnett getting shot all over again. Before she was exhausted so she was able to sleep mostly in peace expect for the twinges of discomfort but not now that she was a bit more lucid and that's all she could see. It didn't help that her stomach was throbbing now, so she gave up on trying to sleep and now they were all listening to Citizen Z.
" If your listening to this, it means your still alive. So congratulations. Or condolences. You know, whatever. If you're noticing more despair in my voice than usual today, it's because we lost someone special. I know we lose people all the time. Getting your face chewed of is more common than making it to your next birthday. But this guy... This ones worth mentioning. Charles Garnett, first sergeant, Army national Guard Reservist, was an honest to god, real life, actual good guy. He fought for other people , not just for his own survival. And he did something that's pretty much impossible these days. He gave people hope. Remember hope? Remember thinking that we might actually come out on the other side of this thing?. Yeah. That. Sergeant Garnett died tying to give us a reason to hope. And for that...Sergeant Charles Garnett. On behalf of a grateful nation, or whatever the hell we are now, we salute you'.
They drove for a little while longer after Citizen Z had finished until suddenly they heard a pop and they could see smoke coming out of the engine forcing them to a stop. Luckily enough Addy had noticed and signaled for Mack to turn around which he did.
"Radiator?" Mack asked when he got off the bike
"Yeah" Doc replied as he lifted up the hood to see the damage and 10k climbed under the truck.
"Fixable?" Mack asked as she come up tp the hood to have a look.
"Don't know"
"Gee, if we only had a mechanic" Murphy said sarcastically form the side of the vehicle as he looked towards Warren who hadn't got out of the vehicle
"You've got to let her deal man" Doc said "She's got that post- traumatic stress"
"She's got post traumatic stress, the whole world got post traumatic stress" Murphy drawled on "Actually there isn't anything post about it. We all got plain ol' present tense, all traumatic, all stress all the time. What makes her so special?"
"Because she has just the love of her life" Ellie said suddenly behind Murphy making him jump a mile as he span around to face her.
"Jeez Vernez" Murphy grumbled his hand on his chest "How can you be injured and still be like a damn ninja"
"Well if you weren't so absorbed in your own little world maybe you'd notice your surroundings more" Ellie grumbled walking past Murphy and stopping next to Doc wincing slightly when it pulled on her stitches.
"Ellie you really shouldn't be walking around right now" Doc said with concern noticing her wince
"Doc I appreciate your concern, but I am going insane just sat in the truck, and it breaks my heart every time I look at Warren and I cant sleep because every time I close my eyes I see..." Ellie broke off tears coming to her eyes. "I'm not gonna strain myself but I just want to stretch my legs ok?"
"Ok Ellie" Doc said gently tapping her on the shoulder
"And Murphy I get what your saying, but just give Warren some time to grieve yeah?. We all lost someone and we all just need some time to get our thoughts together and you rushing us all isn't gonna solve anything"
"Like you said she's not the only one who lost someone, but we are all still trying to keep going, hell you got shot for crying out loud and here you are up and about. So why can't she?" Murphy complained as he walked around the truck to the back window where Warren was sat. "Hey. Wake up. Hey" They all heard Murphy say to Warren "No, you can't just check out. We got a job to do. And I am running out of time. And California is still 2,000 miles of bad road away. And we are not gonna make it without you. Cuz it's not like they're gonna follow me. Or the old man or the wonder twins out there, they may follow Vernez but she's still young, grieving and wounded. Hey" But hearing no response from Warren they saw Murphy making his way back to them with a deflated look on his face.
"All right, Addy and I will scout up ahead. See if we can get some help" Mack said
"We will?" Addy asked not sounding comfortable with leaving the group.
"Yeah" He said walking towards the bike
"Yeah, I dunno guys" Doc said turning away from the engine to face Mack "I think we should stick together"
"No, Doc. Don't worry" Mack said chuckling lightly trying to ease Doc's nerves "We're just gonna scout ahead and circle back around and find you, I mean its not like you're getting far in the truck. Come on, Addy" He said turning back towards his bike
"What if we get the truck started and your not back" Ellie spoke up making Mack stop "Its probably not a great idea for us to be hanging around here in the open especially with nightfall only a few hours away. And I don't feel comfortable leaving and not knowing where you are"
"Ellie don't worry" Mack said turning to look at her "If you can get the truck started just keep driving and we'll meet up at some point. OK?" But Ellie still didn't look sure
"Ellie" Addy said walking towards her and taking her hand in hers "We wont go far ok? You're not gonna lose us. We're coming back" She said smiling softly trying to reassure her and Ellie returned the smile slightly and nodded her head.
Taking that as a ok to go Addy let go of Ellie's hand and stepped back and walked towards Mack but not before sending a wave to the group. She then got on the back of the motorbike when Mack roared it to life and they went soaring off down the road.
"I found the leak in the radiator hose" 10k announced shuffling out from under the truck "Taped it up a little bit, but we're not going anywhere unless we get some water in there"
So Doc started collecting all the water bottles which none of them had a lot in but they hoped it would be enough and he poured It into the engine. Murphy watched longingly and then took a long swig out of his water bottle before Doc tried to snatch it out of his hands. But Murphy was quicker and moved it out of his reach
"I get thirsty"
"We all get thirsty" Doc said grabbing it out of his hands before Murphy could stop him this time and poured the content into the engine.
"I'll drive" 10K suddenly announced
"Knock yourself out kid" Doc said as 10k got into the drivers seat and Murphy climbed in next to him followed by Doc which left Ellie getting in the back next to Warren and Cassandra next to her. 10K put the truck into gear and put his foot on the gas making the vehicle jerk forward along with the occupants. Which also made Ellie gasp out in pain as the movement jarred her wound.
"Ah, easy on the gas ten" Ellie said grasping her stomach at the same time Doc said.
"Woah! Woah, easy there, kid! "He said glancing at Ellie "who taught you how to drive?"
"Ah... no one" He admitted "and sorry" he said looking at Ellie in the mirror who just grimaced at him before both her and Cassandra rushed to get their seat belts on
"Hands on ten and the two" Doc instructed "And Easy on the gas" He said repeating what Ellie said
Addy's Pov
They drove for a little wile before they came to a stop after finding nothing on the roads.
"Nothin' out here" Addy said getting of the bike an walking to the edge of the road "No people. No gas. Not even Z's. Nah, we got to go back. There is no help out here" she said walking back to Mack
"There's no help back there either" Mack grumbled taking of his glasses to look her in the eyes
"We have to go back, Mack. We have a mission. We made a promise"
"No we didn't. We never did. Addy the only promise we ever made was to each other. To stay alive"
"Look yeah okay. Maybe we didn't say the words and we didn't sign an oath. But... we all stand for each other. We don't leave each other behind. Garnett came back for me when those cannibals kidnapped me. Ellie risked her life to try and stop it. And now you want to leave her and Warren? They both needs us. They all need us"
"I just think maybe we have a better chance on our own. Like in the beginning"
"I made a promise to Ellie that we would come back. We all just lost Garnett and now you want us to leave them too. Ellie was on the verge of tears when she saw us leaving. I can't do that to her... to none of them"
"She'll be alright, she has Warren"
"M mm-hmm m" Addy said nodding her head "So how long?"
"What?"
"How long before you think that you have a better chance on your own?" Addy said tearing up
"Wha- Addy. Woah" Mack said taking his helmet off "Hey, I came back for you. The cannibals. I came back for you. I'll always come back for you. You know me"
"I'm not so sure any more, about anything"
"Alright" Mack sighed putting his helmet back on "We'll go back"
"Okay" Addy said getting back onto the bike and they drove of in search of their friends.
Ellie's Pov
"Go right" Murphy directed 10k when they came to a fork in the road
"Why right?" Doc asked
"Why not?" Murphy countered back and they drove a little while down the road when they passed a sign with a letter Z on it and a cross going through it.
"No Z's, that's a good sign" Doc said hopefully. "Getting interesting" He said when they passed a sign that said 'Gun show today'. "Liquor! Now your talking, Murphy we're gonna have to let you navigate more often" He said to Murphy and they both chuckled.
"Congratulation son, You're now the designated driver" Doc said to 10k who looked confused
"What's that mean?"
"It means step on it!" He said laughing with Murphy and 10k put his foot down making them go faster.
They soon pulled into a farm land surrounded by trees and some buildings. 10K pulled the truck to a stop when a guard stepped forward.
"Stop" The man said and once they had he stepped up to docs window and looked inside the truck "Y'all armed?"
"Obviously" Cassandra muttered
"Good we don't have time to babysit anyone" The man said stepping back to allow them past and they drove into a makeshift parking lot full of load of different vehicles. 10K pulled into space right in-front of the bar.
"Guns and liqueur? What could go wrong?" Murphy grumbled as he read the sign
"Did anyone say liqueur?" Warren piped up and they all looked surprised that was the first thing she had said since Garnett had died.
Warren wasted no time in getting out of the vehicle which they all followed. Ellie was a bit more reluctant, she was in pain and she wasn't in the mood to watch people be idiots with guns and booze. But she knew the others wanted to go in and she wasn't gonna sit in the truck on her own with her own thoughts, plus Mack and Addy might be in there so she followed them. They made their way to a gate with two people sat there. One man and woman but the man had a hat covering his face.
"Welcome to S&S Limited, the finest gun show in the west, entry fee is seven" The woman informed them
"Seven what?" Doc asked
"Bullets, oxy, grams of whatever DIY super fun time substance you got"
"Well I think I got crystal back in the truck, it's the good stuff too"
"Back off with the toilet bowl cleanser meth" The man said suddenly lifting up his hat so you could see his face "We only take that genuine vein splittin' take you right out of this beautiful apocalypse and into a hell-hole meth" He finished stepping up to Doc who had a smile on his face
"Well slap my ass and call me sally, if it ain't sketchy McClain" Doc said hugging the man who returned the hug "How'd you get way out here?"
"We traded our way up in the world, here" He said grabbing Doc by the shoulder and leading them to a building with a big truck full of weapons. "You see zombies, they move in mysterious ways. We were on our last legs when we come upon this truck load of sweet weaponry under attack. We had to give the former owners mercy. And in return, they gave us this wonderful vehicle with enough gas to get us here to Kansas. Hey skeezy!" He shouted to a guy standing by the truck "Look what the living dead dragged in!"
"Doc!" The man shouted back "I heard you were toast back at Camp blue sky, don't just stand there, get your ass in here. We need another sucker"
"Bite me, skeezy" Doc said laughing
"Hey I got to show you the new and improved Z-Whacker" Sketchy said picking up a barbecue tool with two prolonged forks on it off the table which held a load of other weapons. "Hey, speaking of the Z-Whacker what happened to the girl you were with? Did she..." He dragged his finger across his neck and made chocking noises.
"No, ma-
"No she's not dead" Ellie spoke up "And it would be nice if you had a bit of sensitivity when you ask things like that, people dying is not a joke. We may of not lost Addy but we did lose someone"
"I'm sorry no offence intended" Sketchy said lifting his hands up in a peace gesture " and I'm sorry for your lost"
"We're still travelling together" Doc said after clearing his throat "They went ahead looking for help. Kinda thought they'd end up here"
"No haven't seen them" Sketch said "And I'm pretty sure I'd notice. Here we've got our latest innovations in zombie fighting technologies. Small arms. Hot potato. Siege weapons. Brain- obliterators. You name it, we got it. Just sit back, relax, and forget about the apocalypse"
"Aren't you worried about the Z's?" Cassandra asked
"Look around. We're in the middle of nowhere Kansas" Sketching said obnoxiously "We're surrounded by hundreds of square miles of nothing but fallow farmlands. There's no Z's here. Nothing for them to eat. They've all moved on to the big cities. Don't you worry, I'll protect you" He finished creepily and when no one looked amused he laughed awkwardly " Yeah, but anyway, if one were to come amble by, to say we're prepared is an understatement, right?"
"But it's not just gonna be one is it?" Ellie said getting fed up of this guy thinking he's all that and putting everyone at risk. "They tend to travel in groups and what you said before about the big cities was true before but not any more, they've taken what they can out of the cities so the Z's are gonna search else where, and this is like a feeding ground to them. Loads of guns going off, drunken people making a fool of themselves, your basically shining a flash-light saying food. So any Z's wandering past are gonna make their way here and do you really think these people are gonna handle a heard if it turns up? Because I don't think so. Alcohol lowers people perceptions, they do stupid things. And I get you want to give people a good time and with everything that's happening we all deserve it. But instead of acting all high and mighty maybe you should take the threat more seriously instead of treating everything like a joke"
"Wow alright" Sketchy said not really sure what to say "Who invited Debbie downer to the party?" He joked with Sleezy who laughed
"Are you-"
"Hey Ellie" Doc said grabbing her shoulder seeing her going to step forward "I get where your coming from and he does to, don't you?" He said looking back at Sketchy who dropped the smile and nodded his head. "But taking your mood out on him isn't fair, I no you're in pain so why don't you have a drink or just have a rest in the bar for a bit ok?"
"Fine" Ellie grumbled pulling away from Doc
"Yeah over there is the FU-Bar. Home to the finest and probably actually the only corn whiskey and moonshine between here and the miss-" He cut off when Warren sped past him going to the bar. "Whoa somebody's thirsty" He laughed "And just for you, ill throw in a free drink to try and calm your nerves" He said looking at Ellie
"No thanks" She grumbled glaring at him before following Warren and as she was walking she could hear Doc explaining why she was like that and she did feel a bit of guilt for the way she acted but she had already lost someone and she was gonna let some idiot cause another one. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps behind her and turning around she saw Murphy walking towards her. "Not in the mood for a conversation Murphy"
"Me neither I just want a drink and for my safety I probably shouldn't be alone" He said back to her and she just shrugged before opening the door to bar where they could see a guy playing western music on a guitar.
They saw Warren sat at the end of the bar drink already in hand so they sat in a table a few paces away. Murphy sat facing Warren like he was debating going over to her while Ellie sat on the chair closet to the wall to lean on it and had her feet resting on the other chair while hissing slightly and closed her eyes. She had almost fallen asleep when she heard the door open and she heard Murphy get up and opening her eyes she saw the others walking towards them.
"Hey" She heard Murphy try to whisper they got closer "We got to do something about her" he said looking over to Warren who downed another drink "Ellie too" He added "I'm not waiting for anybody"
"I know Murphy keep your shorts on" Doc said and Ellie sighed before getting up and making her way to the group
"You know" She said once she was behind Murphy making him jump and spin around "The whole point of a whisper is so only the person you whisper too can hear it. I could hear that so no doubt Warren could. And you have no choice in waiting as you know you don't have a chance of survival on your own and none of us is gonna leave her behind, the way she's drinking though it wont be long before she's drunk and we could probably just coax her into the truck. And also there's nothing wrong with me so you don't have to do anything.
"You really need to stop sneaking up on me" He grumbled glaring at her
"And as I said before, if your weren't so far up for own arse you would notice when someone's behind you" She countered also glaring at him "What the plan Doc?" She said looking at Doc not giving Murphy the chance to respond.
"Err have either of you seen a guy in here named Wannamaker?" He asked them not wanting to upset her while she was in this mood.
"What are we making friends now?" ,Murphy grumbled and Ellie just shrugged so Doc changed tactics. "Anybody know anybody named Wannamaker?"
"Who wants to know?" The barman asked
"Oh we're just looking to trade, You know just a little business. Yeah my friend said he might have a vehicle"
"Yeah, Wannamakers got cars" The barman said
"Do you know where he is?" He asked and the man just looked towards a table to Docs right and they could see a man sat on the chair and a guy under the table "Uh, hey!, Uh Hello!" He said as Murphy took a seat a few paces behind them.
"He's not gonna wake up" The man in the chair said "Once Wannamakers down he's down, check back in forty eight hours" He said closing his eyes
"Well what about you?" Doc asked the man "You look like a car man"
"I don't drive cars, I drive machines"
"Any, uh, any machines you'd be willing to let go of?"
"Depends" He said looking towards Cassandra "What do you got to trade?" And Cassandra gave him the finger "Don't worry darlin'. Your not worth it" He said and then he turned his attention to Ellie
"Yeah not happening buddy, I don't care what machine you have. I'm not that type of girl"
"No worries, ain't nothing as sweet as the formanmobile"
"What about that 50 calibre first prize?" Doc asked trying to persuade the man
"Ha!, Even if you do win, and that's a big if, the formanmobile is not for sale. Bio diesel, solar powered quiet as they come. Kitchen, bathroom, fully regenerate internal plumbing system complete with marine grade PEX fittings. Built in we got an NSV machine gun, flame thrower, cattle gun, grenade launcher, doom whistle, plus the usual, wheel spikes all that" The man trailed off before sighing "Look at me teasin' ya. Aint no way you're getting your hands on my baby"
"Oh ok" Doc sighed turning away from the man to look at the others "Well he drunk. Lets go get you signed up kid"
"I got to drain the lizard king" The man slurred as Doc, Cassandra and 10k left while Murphy stayed sitting and Ellie walked over to Warren with a sigh at sat with her back resting against the bar. She could see Murphy glaring at the man and she had a gut feeling he was about to do something stupid. And sure enough when the man got up from the table and stumbled his way outside Murphy put on his coat and followed so with a groan Ellie followed to.
She saw Murphy go around to the side of the building and when she got there she saw him standing at the edge of the wall looking towards the back of the building assumingly at forman. He stayed there for a few seconds until he suddenly disappeared and Ellie rushed to see what he was doing.
"Hey Forman!" She heard Murphy shout and when she reached the end she saw Forman unconscious on the floor. "Foreman you okay?, Foreman"
"You're not gonna get much of a response out of him" Ellie said announcing her arrival and once again Murphy jumped and span around to face her.
"Why are you following me!?" He growled a look of annoyance on his face.
"Because you have a habit of getting into trouble and Garnett died to save you so I'm not gonna let that go to waste" She growled back
"Fine, whatever" Murphy signed knowing she wasn't gonna give up "Just keep quiet" He said kneeling down to the unconscious forman and checked his pockets where he found the key to his truck. Holding it up to Ellie he smiled and she smiled back too before he stepped over forman or at least he tried to because Foreman wasn't as unconscious as they thought because he grabbed Murphy around the ankle making him fall over.
"Murphy!" Ellie shouted and at the same time foreman yelled
"What are you doing?" He then dragged Murphy towards him by his feet as he tried to grab the key
"Get off me!" Murphy shouted struggling but was cut off when Foremen punched him in the face
"Hey!" Ellie shouted taking out her gun and running towards them "Get off him" She said to foreman but she was ignored and they both continued to struggle with each other and through the struggles forman had caught Murphy's top forcing it open to reveal his zombie bites
"Zombie. Hell" Foreman said shocked and Ellie took that opportunity to kick him of off Murphy and helped pull him up. "What are you?!" Forman asked as he stumbled off the floor and got out his knife.
"That's not necessary" Ellie said trying to diffuse the situation but she was once again ignored and suddenly Murphy started growling before he lunged himself at forman. They struggled for a few seconds until Murphy some how managed to knock the knife out of his hands and he then bit him in the neck.
"Murphy!?" Ellie shouted while foreman screamed out in pain. She ran towards Murphy and tried to pull him off Forman but he shoved her back harshly making her fall to the ground with a cry of pain. Which seemed to snapped Murphy out of it as he let Forman go who dropped to the floor groaning in pain and turned to look at Ellie, and the pain etched across her face and the way she was holding her stomach he went to walk forward to help her up but stopped when she shuffled backwards as she struggled to pull herself up.
"Ellie" Murphy said softly as he tried to calm her down which seemed to have the opposite affect as her eyes widened and she looked around anxiously probably for her gun which fell out of her hand when she landed.
"You don't need your gun, I'm not a zombie, Ellie let me he-" He went to say trying to step forward again to help her up, but stopped when Ellie shuffled backwards a little bit again. "Ellie I'm not gonna hurt you just let me... you could've pulled your st-"
"Zombie" Foreman interrupted them and Murphy quickly turned away from Ellie to grab a rock and whacked him around the head knocking him unconscious before Ellie could do anything, and then picked up the key. He could here shuffling behind him and when she turned he saw that Ellie had successfully managed to pull herself up and she found her gun which was now pointed at him.
"You better start explaining what the hell is happening before I put you down" Ellie threatened and Murphy backed away slightly fear going through his expression before he brushed it off he could also see Ellie's hands shaking slightly and he knew she wasn't sure what to do.
"Ellie I'm still me" Murphy said "I haven't turned" He tired to step towards Ellie with his hands raised in a gesture of peace but stepped when Ellie tightened her grip on her gun "I'm not gonna hurt you Ellie" he said again
"Why did you bite him?" Ellie said trying to wrap her head around the situation "You've been acting stranger than usual for a while now, first you didn't want to kill the z's, then they completely ignored you and now this?. What the hell is that vaccine doing to you?"
"I don't know ok?, this vaccine is changing me and to be honest with you it's scaring me. It's like I share a connection with them, I understand them and I feel sorry for them. And that there I don't know he pissed me off, he was stopping us from getting away and I snapped ok?"
"Getting angry doesn't mean biting someone, I mean you growled before you did that. No wonder he thought you were a zombie. Even I wasn't sure, still not"
"Zombies can't speak. I just got angry and then I snapped he was threatening me and you would have got hurt to"
"So what if someone else threatens you or if one of us try to stop you from doing something, you gonna snap then?!"
"No!" Murphy shouted appalled she would think that "I wouldn't hurt you or the others"
"You just did!" Ellie shouted her Welsh accent coming out strong "I tried to stop you and you pushed me back, you know I'm wounded I could have pulled out my stitches"
"That was an accident and I tried to help you as soon as I realised. I was hyped up on adrenaline and didn't realise it was you. I would never hurt you on purpose" He said and he sounded sincere
"No you just bite at innocent bystanders, we need to tell Warren" She said putting her gun away and going to step around Murphy but he stepped in-front of her blocking her path.
"No!" He shouted "You tell her-"
"And what?" Ellie shouted back "She's not gonna kill you, not when your still human. But if we have a similar situation like this again they need to know to be careful so your don't lash out again so back off and lets go... and wipe your face you have blood all over it" She said pushing Murphy backwards and walked back towards the bar.
"Ellie wait" She heard Murphy say and she could hear his footsteps following after her. "Ellie hold up" Murphy said again grabbing her gently by the arm to stop her from walking, and she slowly turned to look at him. "Tell Warren if you want, but we have the key now and our truck isn't getting far so don't you think we should at least try to find this vehicle.
"Fine" Ellie sighed and they made their way to the car park.
The first car they came across was red one and Murphy immediately tried the key with little success so he leaned in through the open window to see if there was a key already in the ignition.
"No key. Come on" He sighed before he was interpreted by the sound of approaching footsteps and Ellie pulled him down to hide behind the car. Popping her head up Ellie could see three men muttering to each other as they passed and once they were cleared Ellie and Murphy continued their search for the vehicle.