A/N: Here's the next two episodes. Hope you enjoy and please leave me a review loved to know what you think. I'm a gonna try to upload two chapters every two weeks now so you should get two episodes a month
Season One Episode Ten Part One
The Black Hills- South Dakota
"Is this entire state up hill" Murphy complained for about the thousand time "Where are we anyway?"
"According to this map, we're in the Black Hills South Dakota" Warren said looking down at the map in her hands.
They had managed to find another truck with some fuel in it to get them so far but that gave up the ghost a few miles back. So now they were all currently on foot walking through the forest. All of them were exhausted, sweaty and hungry. That meal they had in Nebraska feeling like it was years ago and the heavy backpacks full of supplies didn't help. Every single on of them had something to carry including Murphy which was the pink spiky bag he found in Nebraska even though he complained about it.
"I miss the truck" Cassandra said breathlessly from her place near the back of the group.
"At least we're out of that damn horde" Warren responded sill looking down at the map
"There's nothing to kill out here" 10k complained
"That's fine by me" Warren said
"Yeah 10k, Don't jink us" Ellie said jokingly as she walked next to 10k who was at the back of the group. Warren was leading with Doc and Murphy in the middle.
"We need to find a place to make camp soon" Doc said also out of breath "My dogs are getting tired"
"Well there's supposed to be a little town near bycalled Edgemont" Warren explained "Ill take a compass reading at this next ridge up here"
"Cant we just take a break" Doc asked border lining begging
"A quick one" Warren agreed turning to look at them
"Oh my god" Cassandra said "Look"
"Now who in the hell did that" Warren asked walking towards Cassandra and the rest followed.
"Some daredevil with a sick sense of humour" Doc responded
"Is that Mount Rushmore?" 10k asked
"How did they even get up there?" Ellie asked somebody had painted blood on all the faces and put a z with a cross going through it on the statue.
"This is why we cant have nice things" Murphy said sarcastically
"Probably he same jackass who tagged the liberty bell" Doc said
"I think it's awesome" 10k said smiling making Doc hit him lightly on the shoulder making them all chuckle
"If I ever catch who did that, they're gonna get a whoopin" Warren promised "Come on lets find that town. Its gonna get dark soon" She said turning away from the statues and stared walking in the opposite direction
"I though we were taking a break?" Murphy asked annoyed
"Break times over" Warren said simply and they all followed.
They continued walking as they tried to find the town but the forest seemed never ending and they were currently walking by a river.
"We've been walking for hours" Murphy complained "Admit it Columbus, you're lost"
"Give it a rest Murphy" Doc snapped at him "Warren knows where she's going. You know where you're going, Warren" He said quietly to Warren. Who looked a bit annoyed at everyone staring at her
"Wee we should've hit the town by now" Warren said looking down at her map and Murphy huffed in response throwing his arms to the side "And for the record, Columbus was lost when he discovered America"
"Yeah and look how that turned out" Murphy grumbled
"Check this out" 10k suddenly said looking behind Murphy and they all turned to see what looked like a few white warehouse's
"That's not a town" Murphy stated
"Thank you captain obvious" Ellie grumbled fed up of Murphy's constance complaining "Any more helpful information you want to give us like how we're surrounded by tree's" and Murphy just responded by pulling a face at her.
"Well now being Doctor Brightside for the moment maybe there's something useful inside" Doc said
"Yeah, Lets check it out" Warren agreed walking forward and the rest followed.
"Oh just like home" Murphy said as the others got their weapons out just in case, Ellie's bow was ready an loaded.
"You know, this actually might be a safe place for us to get some rest and load up on supplies" Warren said as they walked past some buildings
"I could use an hours sleep" Cassandra said as they approached a door with a sign saying Building B- Upflow Filtration- Blue water technologies
"Hey Doc get the door" Warren said her wepon ready and Doc tried the handle but had no such luck
"Why do they still lock doors?" Doc complained "Luckily we have a skeleton key... Ellie" Doc said turning to look at Ellie who had already let her cross bow go so it hung around her lower back on a strap and had her knife in hand.
Doc moved back to allow Ellie same space and she quickly knelt down and placed her pen knife in the lock and after a few seconds of jiggling they heard the lock click signalling it was open. Stepping back she put the knife away and opened the door. Grabbing her crossbow again she quietly walked through the door followed by the others. They came to some stairs and Ellie could see the light of Warren's flash light shine behind her so she let her go first and she went up a couple of steps and tried to see at the top.
"Well being Doctor Dark side" Doc said " We're not gonna find much food or ammo in here"
"Yeah If we wanted industrial pipes, this would be the place to be" Warren said coming back down the stairs and walking past some units.
"I don't like this" Cassandra complained as they walked past some shelves and pipes
"Oh look" Murphy said excitedly grabbing a carton full of what looked like water off the shelf
"Hey, hey, Hold on." Doc said coming to his side "You can't just drink that. What do think this is the local piggly wiggly?... That could be some kind of you know industrial type water that'll rot your insides"
"Spare me the details" Murphy said completely ignoring him and taking a sip of the liquid before shrugging his shoulders when it tasted ok.
"Shh, over there" Cassandra said suddenly and they all turned direction see a zombie stumbling towards them but what shocked them was to see that the zombie was glowing
"Take cover, come one" Warren whispered gesturing for them all to come over to her. Every body sit quietly" Warren said raising her gun as they all crowded behind a wall while the zombie shuffled around growling until suddenly they heard a fart and they all turned to look towards Murphy
"Sorry" He whispered as Warren lifted up her collar to cover the smell "It got away from me"
"If I die because you farted , I am taking you with me" Doc complained putting his gun in the direction of the zombie
"Shh" Warren shushed them as they could hear the zombie shuffling closer until it rounded the corner and snarled when it saw them. Ellie quickly fired her crossbow hitting the z in the head sending it to the floor.
"What in the livin' hell" Doc said looking down at the glowing zombie "It's glowin"
"It's like a zombie ghost" Cassandra said
"Whys it glowing?" 10k asked
"He looks like he swallowed some florescent dye turning him into a glow stick" Ellie said
"He's got friends" Warren said shooting the zombie closest to her and going to shoot the other one but all her gun did was click "Shoot"
The door was suddenly kicked in and in came two people wearing yellow quarantine suits
"Don't touch them" One of them shouted, a man judging by the voice and he shot three of the z's in the head while the forth one charged at 10k and he used his gun to push the z against the wall.
"Back away for the z's its not safe" Another voice said a woman this time and she shot the z in the head.
Once they were all down Warren went to nudge one of them with her hatchet but was stopped by the man.
"No! Don't touch them!" He warned
"Are they contagious?" Doc asked
"Radioactive"
"Radioactive" Warren asked shocked "How is that possible"
"Ill show you" The man said lifting up his mask to reveal a pale face and dark eyes. He led them back outside and back through the woods for a short distance until they came across two large circular like building with smoke coming from the top.
"There you go" The man said
"This is gonna be one of them days, ain't it? Doc mumbled under his breath
"Yep" Warren agreed before following after the guy who led them all into the town they had intended for.
Edgemont South Dakota
"If you don't mind my asking what were you folks doing wandering out there near the reactor" The man asked as he led them thought the town. The suits they were wearing was now undone and tied around their waists.
"We were lost" Murphy said
"We weren't lost" Warren disagreed "Our vehicle ran out of gas 20 miles from here, we took a shortcut through the woods so we could avoid the z's".
"Your not lost any more" The man said "Welcome to Edgemont, South Dakota. Population three, not counting you. Names Wilbur Grady, This is my daughter, Amelia"
"Nice to meet you" Amelia said turning to look back at them as they walked
"Nice meeting you, I'm Roberta Warren, this is Murphy, Doc, Cassandra and 10k and Ellie at the back" Warren said introducing them when suddenly Wilbur started coughing, leaning on a gas pump while his daughter rubbed his back. "His he ok?" She asked once he had stopped coughing
"No radiation poisoning" Amelia said
"I'm fine, lets get you folks checked out and get you some food... our place is just around here down the road a little way"
They led them into a hanger with a plane in the middle, surrounded by a large field. Ellie and 10k were sat on a crate on the one side of the hanger with Warren and Cassandra standing at the right of them and Murphy and Doc on the other side. While Grady used a Geiger counter on them all to test their radiation levels.
"What are these" Doc asked Amelia who handed everyone a pill
"Iodine"
"Oh" Doc said rather disappointed
"It's keep the radiation from accumulating in your thyroids"
"Yeah right" He said popping the pill in his mouth
"Looks like you're still within safe level" Wilbur said putting the machine away "But you're lucky we came along when we did, most of the z's around here are highly radioactive"
"As if being brain eating zombies wasn't bad enough" Doc complained
"Okay question" Murphy said "Shouldn't we be in one of these suits too?"
"Radiation levels aren't to bad out here" Wilbur explained "But you'll probably get cancer in twenty years"
"Some how that's way down on my list of worries" Warren said
"Yeah but our more immediate problem is the reactor core melting down, we don't fix it soon, then everything within a 300 hundred mile radius will be glowing... not just the z's" Wilbur explained chuckling slightly like it was no big deal.
"Ok.. well..." Murphy said walking forward to grab his bag "It was nice meeting you, we have paces to be, places at least 300 hundred miles from here"
"Good luck with that" Wilbur said "Every vehicle in town is gone or can't be driven"
"Then I guess we better start walking"
"You wont make it, we have less than 48 hours before the core stats to melt down"
"Why are you still here" Cassandra asked
"Because there's still chance to shut this thing down and save a bug chunk of god's country from being irradiated for the next 10,000 years. Besides..." Wilbur trailed off looking down at his hand "I'm already a goner"
"Well what about your daughter?" Murphy asked walking forward "Did she sign up for this suicide mission too?"
"I am sticking around to help my dad" Amelia explaned
"I told her I didnt need her help, but she wouldnt listen" Wilbus said
"I'm a pilot. I'll fly us out of the hot zone"
"Well perfect" Murph said We'll just hitch a ride"
"Yeah" Doc said happily aggreeing
"Has you can see there's only room for one passenger" Wilbur explained "And i have enough bullets for all of you, so dont go getting any ideas"
"Mister Grady" Warren said scrathing her head as she tried to find the right words "Wilbur... I know it doesnt look like it but thsi man...this man is the only known survivor of a zombie bite"
"Thought there was somthing wrong with him" Wilbur said chuckling as he turned to look at Murphy who looked offended at what he said
"His blood carries antibodies for the zombie virus. He's our last best hope for humanity"
It was quiet for a few seconds while they both digested the information before Wilbur started laughing "Yeah right, and I'm the Easter bunny"
"Show him" Warren said to Murphy who undid the top button of his shirt and pulled it away to reveal the bite and walked towards Wilbur so he could see it, and once he could see it he immediately stopped smiling a shocked look when across his face.
"Oh my god" Amelia said and Murphy did his top back up
"Now look man, this dude here is the real deal" Doc explained looking towards Murphy who was looking rather smug "And a lot of people got killed getting him this far"
"A lot of good people died" Ellie said sadly "And they all die in vain if he dies".
"So tell us what we need to do to shut down that reactor so we can be on our way" Warren elaborated
"Unless of course you have eggs to lay Mister Bunny" Murphy said sarcastically
Wilbur led them back towards the reactor and they could all hear an alarm blaring.
"Okay so here's the plan" Wilbur said he led them to the gate "I need to get to the control room to see if I can figure out why the fuel rods aren't dropping down to the cooling pool to stop the reaction. I haven't been able to get in there cuz of this gauntlet of zombies. That's where I need your help"
"Killing zombies, that's what we do" Warren said
"Radiation level are only slightly elevated outside the containment building. So you should be safe for at least too minutes. Long enough to get me to the door before you have to retreat back here. Use whatever you have to keep the z's from getting to close. They're very contaminated. One hug and you'll be dead in a few hours" As they stopped a zombie charged at the gate.
"Don't hug the zombies" Doc said as he picked the zombie through the fence "Got it"
"You two stay here, 10k,you cover us from up there. If we don't get back, you get him to California somehow" 10K nodded and walked towards the other end of the gate as Doc unlooked the chain on the gate
"Tomcat, you ready?" Wilbur asked giving his daughter a hug
"Lets do this, 10k!" Warren said and 10k aimed his rifle at the closest zombie.
"Two thousand, three hundred and four" He said as he mercied the zombie then carried on shooting the others.
"Remember, two minutes!" Wilbur said "No more, go!"
Wilbur pushed the gate fully open and ran through it with the others following they're weapons raised. Looking quickly behind her to make sure none were trying to sneak up on them Ellie saw Amelia and Murphy pulling the gate shut. Turning back around Ellie aimed her cross bow at an approaching zombie who quickly fell to the floor before she dropped her cross bow down to her hip and pulled out a knife and threw it and an oncoming zombie impaling him through his head and he too dropped to the floor. Looking around she saw the others making quick work on mercying the zombies and once they were all dead, she went to retrieve her knife and arrow and put them away.
"Come on!" Warren shouted and they all ran towards the control room.
"You got one more minute" Wilbur said as he stumbled through the door leading to a corridor for the control room. The alarm was getting louder the closer they got but they could also hear the snarling of the zombies as they approached the stairs.
Doc stared walking up the stairs first to see another glowing zombie coming down them and he used his crow bar to knock him over the railings and to the floor.
"No hugging!" He shouted to the zombie and him Warren and Ellie ran up the rest stairs to another corridor and more glowing zombies.
Warren quickly mercied the one running to her with her hatchet and Ellie quickly shot the other one in the head.
"Come on, Let's go" Warren shouted and Wilbur with Cassandra's help walked up the stairs and they made their way down the corridor and Ellie grabbed her arrow on the way past.
"Time to you to go" Wilbur said as they got to another set of stairs and he stumbled towards the elevator door and pushed a button. "You got to go. Go!"
"Heads up" Warren shouted seeing a glowing zombie come around the corner and Cassandra quickly ran towards him and went to swing her wooden pole at him but the z got hold of it and pushed her into the wall. But she managed to kick him away and she whacked him in the head knocking him over the banister and to the ground.
As the zombie landing they all heard a ding signalling that the elevator had arrived but once the door had opened a zombie ran out and went straight for Wilbur and he slammed back into the wall.
"I got it" Warren said impaling him in the head with her hatchet sending him to the floor and Wilbur stumbled back to the Elevator
"Get out of here" Wilbur said "You're out of time. You have to go, go!" He said nudging Doc's shoulder gently and the all ran as Wilbur went into the elevator. Ellie hesitated slightly looking towards Wilbur but he just sent her a small smile. "Go" He encouraged and with a little bit more of hesitation Ellie smiled softly before going after the others.
They ran back out of the building and towards the gate that Murphy and Amelia opened up for them and once they were though it they closed it again.
"I'm almost to the control room" Wilbur said across the radio
"Great. Keep going, Dad"
"What do we do now?" Murphy asked
"We wait" Amelia said
They waited a few minutes and the alarm never went off. They could then see Wilbur running towards them or more like stumbling towards them and they knew that he wasn't successful.
"Hey, here he comes" Warren said and Murphy opened up the gate and Amelia ran towards her father
"Dad" She said once he was closer and he stumbled even more, before he fell through the gate an onto the floor "Dad, dad, dad, dad... Dad are you ok?" She asked lifting up his mask "Look at me, Dad"
"I didn't make it" He mumbled and he did not look well
"Dad, dad, no, no" She said starting to get hysterical she could see her dad was close to giving in. "No, hang on, hang on, hang on" She begged him but it was no use and his eyes rolled back into his head "Dad. No!No!... no! Daddy" She cried "No wake up. Please, No-" Wilbur suddenly shot up and grabbed Amelia growling and he spat out black blood. He had turned.
Warren grabbed onto Wilbur trying to pull him off and Doc did the same to Amelia but she was resistant "No! No! No, no, please, not you dad!" She cried trying to get Doc of off her but Doc held firm and Warren managed to pike him in the head and gently laid his head back onto the floor.
"No!No!No!" Amelia cried out sagging back against Doc not having the energy to fight
"I'm sorry" Warren said trying to comfort her "Lets bury him" She said as Amelia continued to cry and Ellie went and sat down next to her seeing Doc was a bit uncomfortable and she pulled her into a hug and tried to comfort her as she cried.
Once Amelia and managed to compose herself she pulled away from Ellie and wiped away her tears, before standing up and walking away from them down the path. The rest of them dug a grave for Wilbur to rest and once they had done that, they went to find Amelia. They found her sitting on a rock no longer in her suit just in normal clothes, They didn't approach her just stayed close.
"So that thing is still ready to cook off" Doc said sounding a little panicked "Well I''d like to know what we're supposed to do about it"
"Well I think panicking is not gonna help anyone" Ellie said patting Doc on the arm "So lets calm down a little bit"
"Can't run, We're still within the blast zone" Cassandra said before walking towards Amelia
"We go in" Warren said
"And do what?" Doc asked "Grady was the one who knew how to shut that thing off..I'm a Doctor, dammit. Not a nuclear physicist".
"Well how about we go ask the one person who might have an idea on what to do" Ellie said nudging her head in the direction of Amelia before walking towards her and she heard the other two follow.
"He was so close" She heard Amelia say to Cassandra as they got closer. Warren went to squat down next to her, while Docs stopped next to Cassandra and Ellie walked around to stop in front of them.
"Your dad gave it a good try" Cassandra said trying to console her "Sometimes that's the best we can do"
"It wasn't dying that he was afraid of. He really didn't want to become a z, even for a few seconds"
"Amelia, we need to know..." Warren said waiting for her to look at her and once she did she carried on "Can you shut this thing down by yourself if we protect you?"
"I know air planes, not nukes"
"Awesome" Murphy said turning to look at 10k who didn't say anything. They both were standing a few paces behind them but in Ellie's line of sight.
"I mean there's one guy"
"Here, here in Edgemont?" Doc asked her and she nodded
"Yeah, Homer Stubbins, He was the chief engineer at the plant for 20 years. He was Dad's boss. He's been holed up in the woods since the apocalypse. He's armed and dangerous. He became a recluse after the death of his son"
"How do we find Homer?" Warren asked
"He wont talk to you" She argued
"We have to try"
"Other wise, your dad died for nothing and so do we" Ellie said
Amelia led them through a different part of the woods until they came across a wooden structure with a dead zombie caught in some barbed wire and in building in the distance when Amelia stopped.
"We'll have to stop here"
"We're still fifty yards away" Murphy pointed out an annoyed look going across his face
"My dad said this place was booby trapped" Amelia explained as 10k crouched down to look at the ground "I told you Homer's crazy
"Great" Ellie mumbled under her breath as she walked over to 10k and crouched down next to him.
"Have we completely dismissed the idea of a phone call" Cassandra said "Just sayin'"
"Hey" Warren said to 10k as she crouched down by Ellie "This is your kind of set-up. How do we get in?"
"Without us getting killed. I do like to keep that in mind" Murphy piped up behind themselves
"I think that goes without saying Murphy" Ellie said
"Uh, well one thing. Homer's set up is aimed at stopping z's not a team so if we keep a sharp eye out for any land mines, trip wires-"
"We'll be fine" Warren said finishing is sentence and he nodded "Okay" Standing up she looked towards Doc, Cassandra, Ellie and Murphy. "The Four of you guys stay here, give us a 40 second head start. We'll flank him and come up from behind"
Warren, 10K and Amelia went towards the front of the building while the others waited 40 seconds and then made their way around the back. Doc led the group with Cassandra following then Murphy and Ellie followed up the rear.
"Okay watch for mines" Doc said
"Watching them" Cassandra grumbled as they made their way around dodging any landmines they came across.
When they finally reached the back of the building they all took cover by one of the side walls. Ellie took out her gun just in case and Cassandra raised her crowbar. While Doc counted down with his hands for when they were gonna step out. When he reached three he stepped out followed by Ellie only to be whacked straight in the face with a gun and he went flying to the ground with a grunt of pain. Ellie went to raise her gun but it was quickly knocked out of her hands. Ellie then manage to pull out her knife but foud a gun pointed right at her face.
"Drop it" He ordered and Ellie reluctantly dropped her knife to the ground
"Don't move!" Homer warned when Cassandra ran to Doc said"You have three seconds to tell me what you're doing here... One, two-"
"If you could let us get a word in we can tell you why we're here" Ellie shouted trying to figure a way to get his gun but it was too risky
"Thr-
"Don't do that sir" 10k said suddenly appearing behind Homer knife at his throat and Ellie let out a sigh of relief when she also saw Warren and Amelia appear beside them guns raised.
"Go ahead. Do me a solid" Homer said accepting his fate" Just don't leave me a z"
"I'd never do that Mr. Stubbins" 10k promised "We just need your help"
"Hello to you too" Doc grumbled still lying on the floor Cassandra right next to him and Ellie went to retrieve her gun and knife.
Once everyone had calmed down and they were able to explain the situation Homer let them inside.
"Grady was a good man" Homer said "If anyone could SCRAM that reactor it was him" He said sadly resting his hand on Amelia's shoulder as he walked past
"SCRAM?" 10k asked
"Safety control Rod Axe Man" Homer clarified "Goes back to the first reactors. The only safety system they had was literally a man with an axe whose whole job in the event of a meltdown was to cut the rope holding fuel rods over the cooling pool"
"That's what dad was trying to do"
"How much time do you have?"
"How much time do we have" Murphy said "You're in the soup with us Homer"
"You've confused me with someone who gives a damn" Homer said firmly
"According to Grady less than 40 hours" Warren said walking over to Homer "And we do give a damn, Now are you gonna help us or are you gonna sit here and let us all die?"
"Well there's one thing we might try" Homer said "I'm gonna have to show you. We're gonna need weapons, equipment" He said leaning down to grab a bag before placing it on the table "Come on, load up.. Its not as if I'm gonna be needing this stuff"
Homer placed guns and bullets on the table and Cassandra quickly grabbed one followed by the others. Ellie picked up a nice looking handgun and checked the clip and smiled when she saw it was full. Knifes was her weapon of choice closely followed by her cross bow. But knifes required being close ish, guns didn't but they were loud, so even though she was good with a gun she preferred the quiet weapons. But none the less she put it in the back of her waist band just in-case.
"Hello Nurse" He said as he took a cloth of covering stacks full of vodka "Vitamin V. The elixir of the zombie apocalypse" He took one bottle and took a a big gulp of it before it was tugged out of his hand and placed on the table by Warren who pulled a face at him and he just looked confused.
"Priorities Murphy" Ellie said as she walked past and towards 10k who was looking at some papers.
"You know you're both looking at the original building plans for this reactor" A voice said behind them and tuning they saw Homer walking towards them "I was part of the design team, You're pretty handy with that knife for a kid"
"He's pretty good with a sniper too" Ellie said making 10k blush and Homer smiled.
"My son..." Homer said and they could both see he was struggling to say it "He had one like it but with a longer blade"
"Yeah older model" 10k said "Got to be good to make it work"
"Oh max was good" Homer said quietly and he let out a long sigh "I'm sorry I held a gun to your face"
"That's alright" Ellie said "But not everyone is out to get you, there are still some good people in the world. Maybe let the person explain themselves first before trying to shoot them. They might not respond well to that"
"Ill bear that in mind" Homer said smiling "You're not from around here are you? He said based on her accent.
"I'm from Wales"
"Always wanted to take my son they're, I heard it got some beautiful scenery"
"Yeah, it does" Ellie said sadly as she though about the home she would never see again.
"Okay lets go, lets do it" Warren said interrupting them
"We heard about your son" 10k said to Homer just as he was about to walk away "I'm sorry"
"We both are" Ellie said
"There's nothing worse than outliving your own child. Nothing" He said walking away