Season One Episode 12 Part 2
Ellie's Pov
They dove for a little while longer before coming to a stop by a lake after Murphy constance whining that he needed the toilet. Brett got out with his gun followed by Murphy who started walking away from them
"Hey! Where we can see you" Brett said
"I got a bashful bladder" Murphy remarked
"Don't mistake me for somebody who cares!" Henry said also getting out of the truck, Ellie stayed in he truck sitting on the edge of the seat with her feet resting on the ground with Janice standing next to her with her gun raised, daring her to try anything. But Ellie was more focused on Murphy who was looking at a big electric road sign with a camera on top and she knew then that he had a plan. Not wanting to draw attention to him Ellie looked the other way.
"Mr. Murphy! Get over here" Brett shouted
"Just shaking the dew off the lily!" Murphy shouted back staying in line of the camera before strolling back to the truck and they all climbed in. Murphy sent Ellie a subtle smile which she returned and they took off back down the road. Hoping that Citizen Z saw them.
"So you were what before the apocalypse?" Murphy asked Brett
"I worked security"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was getting that vibe. Oh, so what? Military, Special Ops, Navy Seal?"
"Shut up!" Brett shouted and Murphy smiled slightly before turning to look out of the window.
They drove for a little while again till they pulled to a stop in some sort of forest area next to a caravan. They were all gathered around the truck and Murphy and Ellie's handcuffs'' were still firmly in place. They clearly didn't trust her or Murphy. But she could get out of them if she wanted to but she didn't want to draw any attention to her.
"So General, wanna tell me what the hell we're doing?" Murphy asked
"Six miles from here, up and over that peak, is the Mesa Pharmaceutical Storage and Transfer Facility" Brett explained
"Stunning news. And after that, can we please, oh, please go to Disneyland?" Murphy said sarcastically
"Mesa is the Fort Knox of the Zombie Apocalypse. It's filled with unused pharmaceuticals, mostly oxycontin. Mr. Murphy, you know the value of drugs in this world. You can trade them for anything. They're money"
"So you want to liberate some oxycontin from Mesa. Be my guest"
"It's full of Zs" Janice said
"Dozens" Henry elaborated
"Bummer" Ellie said
"Some of them are hopped up on speed" Henry said ignoring Ellie
"So, Mr. Murphy, you do your walk through zombies trick, open the gates for us, and when we ride out, you're a free man"
"Well, why didn't you just say so earlier? I love oxycontin. Why do we have to go on foot?" Murphy asked
"Meth zombies are extremely responsive to sound. So we can only sneak up if we're walking" Brett
explained
"So why am I here, I cant walk through zombies" Ellie asked
"Well your friend here speaks in high regards to your abilities to fight the z's, and we saw some of that earlier so you'll be helping him and you were also leverage for Mr Murphy to behave"
"Well you took the wrong person for that one, he never listens to me"
"He hasn't tried anything yet, and your skills were to good to pass up. And I want this road blocked so some other vehicle doesn't drive in and set off the Zs" He said looking back to his friends Henry, give me a hand
with the truck. I don't want it tampered with while we're gone" He said and him, Henry and Janice made their way to the front of the truck as Brett messed with the key ignition leaving Murphy and Ellie alone.
Ellie could see Murphy looking at them suspiciously like he was up to something and when he saw they weren't looking he picked up one of their water canteen.
"Murphy wh-"Ellie whispered but Murphy shushed her putting a finger to his lips before tuning slightly and she saw him spit into the canteen before turning back around and putting the canteen back. Ellie furrowed her eyes at him wondering what he was doing but he shook his head slightly before she could
"A new low" He mumbled quietly but it was loud enough for Janice to hear him
"Did you say something?" She asked looking back at him and he just shrugged. She looked at him weirdly before coming over and picking up the water canteen, she then took a sip and Ellie had to try her best not to gag while Murphy just observed her "What?"
"Nothing." Murphy said shaking his head, he then walked around Janice grabbing Ellie's arm as he passed and they made their way to the front of the truck
"Science project?" He asked them looking thought the window from behind Brett's back
"Insurance policy. We have to leave this truck here for a while. I want it to be here when we get back."
"You just can't trust anybody these days" Henry said
"Copy that" Brett said laughing and once he finished what he was doing he turned to face Murphy
"It's Zero Hour" He said handing him the handcuff key and soon him and Ellie were free they must of figured Ellie wasn't much of a threat with no gun and they soon made their way on foot to their destination.
Brett was leading followed by Janice then Murphy with Ellie by his side and Henry was at the rear. As they were walking Janice continued drinking from the water canteen Murphy had contaminated.
"I see you're wearing a wedding ring. Your husband?"
"Among the lost. The Zs got him last time we tried this" She explained
"You guys tried robbing this oxy before?"
"A month ago. He and Zimmerman cooked up the whole idea"
"What was his name?"
"Jason"
"How long were you guys married?"
"Five years. He was a cop"
"Knock off the questions, Murphy. This isn't " Brett shouted a few metres in front of them
"I'm sorry for your loss" Ellie said sincerely and Janice nodded. They may have kidnapped them but no one deserved to lose their loved ones
"Hold up a minute" Henry said stopping them from walking in a part of the wood surrounded by trees and some big tree trucks fallen over on the ground
"I'm gonna scout up ahead" Brett said "Henry!" He said turning to face him "Keep an eye out. We'll be expecting Zs soon" he said loading his gun and he walked on ahead.
"That must be tough" Murphy said sitting down on the tree trunk and Ellie sat down next to him she pulled her leg up in front of her pretending to tie up her boot laces when really she was checking to see if she knife was still in there and she smiled slightly when she saw it was. After everything that happened with Garnett when they all found them selves without weapons she hid a knife in each of her boots knowing people didn't really check there and she was right. "Your husband dead while a wannabe like Zimmerman lives"
"Jason knew the risks" Janice said checking her gun
"Still, it worked out pretty well for Zimmerman"
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing. Just your husband gets to walk among the dead and Zimmerman gets you"
"Shut up"
"Sorry. I'm just a chatty Kathy. I didn't mean anything" Murphy apologized and they could both see she was getting tearful, and while er back was turned Ellie pulled the knife out of her boot and stuck it in her holder using her jacket to hid it.
But then the unexpected happened while Janice had her back to them she saw Murphy close his eyes and had a concentrated look on his face and then she saw him raise his right arm up slowly his hand open like he was holding a gun and what surprised her was that Janice did the exact same thing. Her right arm which was holding the gun slowly lifted in time with Murphy until she seemed to snap out of it with a gasp before turning to look at Murphy with a surprised look on her face. She then turned back around
"Murphy what-" Ellie stared to say not understanding what was happening
"Shh" He shushed her again standing up and he looked back at Janice but this time he didn't close his eyes or move his hand, he concentrated on her and Ellie saw her hand go up slowly again aiming the gun and she could see Janice's hand shaking as she fought the control. Ellie looked back at Murphy who's face concentrated harder when suddenly Janice's gun went off making them both jump.
Janice looked around confused and Ellie looked shocked while Murphy rushed forward and pulled the gun down "Let's be careful" He said taking the gun off her
"Hey, hey!" Henry said rushing over to them to see a gun in Murphy's hand "Give me that!" He said struggling to take the gun.
"Let go!" Murphy strained and in the struggle Murphy managed to scram him drawing blood making Henry let out a gasp as he let go of the gun
"What the hell is going on here?" Brett said coming out of no where "Who fired that shot?"
"He went for her gun and it went off" Henry said
"Liar" Ellie said
"Is that true?" Brett asked Janice who looked confused before answering
"No. It was an accident. I was reloading and it just went off"
"I was just trying to be helpful, and this idiot tackles me." Murphy said pleading innocents and he looked towards Ellie warning her to stay quiet. Which he didn't have to as Ellie was struggling to understand what just happened let alone explaining it to them.
"All right, all of you. Knock off the bullshit and pull yourselves together" Brett said "The Mesa plant is just ahead. We need to get going before it gets dark." He said walking away and Janice followed, but Henry hesitated glaring at Murphy wiping away the blood from his hand. He then gestured with his gun for both of them to move. None of them noticed Murphy look back to see his jacket let on the trunk except her.
They continued hiking through the wood for about 20 minutes until Brett got them to stop when they came to a bit of a hill
"Stop. Everyone."
"About time" Murphy grumbled
"Don't worry. Our target is just over this ridge"
"And your troubles will soon be over." Henry said coming up behind them before walking past
"I don't like the way he said that." Murphy shouted
"Yeah me neither" Ellie grumbled and when Murphy didn't get a response he stalked over to Henry who was leaning against a tree taking a drink of water. Ellie stayed where she was but could see them both clearly
"You want something?" She heard Henry mumble going to take another sip but he pulled away and by the look on his face Ellie knew he didn't do it willingly Murphy was up to his tricks again. He then held out the bottle to Murphy.
"Henry, check the perimeter. I don't want any surprises" Brett shouted over and Henry snapped out of it
"You too. Over here with me" He said pointing to Ellie and Murphy
"Why does everybody think they can boss me around?" Murphy grumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Ellie whispered "How are you doing that?"
"Later" Murphy whispered back before walking towards Brett and Ellie followed
They made their way up the ridge to come to a bank and the closer they got down it the louder the snarls become
"They look even faster than last time" Janice said staring at the z's
"You want me to walk through those?" Murphy said looking down at the zombies sprinting across the compound. "They're like the Usain Bolt of zombies. What are they on, meth?"
"Actually Ritalin. They love the stuff."
"Great, just what the world needs, ADHD zombies"
"We tried a front assault and it failed, got Janice's husband killed. But you should be able to waltz right through all the Zs"
"Oh yeah, you make it sound so easy" Murphy grumbled
"I never said it was easy. Just possible"
"Look here, soldier of misfortune. You may not care if I get killed,but I'll bet the rest of humanity does There's no way I'm doing this" Murphy said truing back around and he tried to walk past Brett but he pushed him back against the tree. Ellie went forward but she hesitated her head went fussy and she stumbled, shaking her head she tried to clear the fog to see Murphy staring at her and she just assumed he was worried about her and she put the dizzy spell as a result of the drug still being in her system.
"I don't care about you or the rest of humanity, and to make sure you actually do your job she's coming with you" Brett snarled and once again Murphy did the unexpected he tuned back to look at Brett and then he bit him and Brett groan out in pain as he pulled away
"Son of a bitch. You bit me." Brett snarled taking out his gun and he aimed it at Murphy "I ought to shoot you right now."
"But you won't."
"No but I could shoot her" Brett said aiming his gun at Ellie who froze but they were all interrupted by Janice who gasped out
"God. I see him" She said stepping forward. She was looking at a z in a police uniform "Jason!It's Jason"
"You knew he might be here" Brett said his gun still aimed at Ellie.
"I've been trying not to think about it. But now it's happening,and all I can think is you're the one that got him killed." Janice shouted back
"Why don't you think about how I saved your life? What's it gonna be?" He said the last part to Murphy
"Let's do this. I've got some place to be" Murphy said walking away from him and toward Ellie
"Ok just to be clear I cant walk through zombies" Ellie said panicking
"No but your good at killing them" Brett said leading them closer to the building, Janice was next to him
"Which I cant do without a weapon" She had her knife but it wasn't gonna be any good against those zombies.
"Not my problem, improvise" Brett said
"Impr-... If I have to go down there at least give me a gun" Ellie argued but she was ignored
"Relax Ellie" Murphy said grabbing her arm to keep her walking "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you"
"Murphy I know it worked for a few of them before but have you seen how many there are?" Ellie said trying to not sound scared but she as failing miserably and Murphy noticed. Pulling to a stop he turned to face her and grabbed both of her arms and because of how close he was she was forced to lift up her head to look at him her 5 ft 4 frame was a lot smaller than his.
"I promise you the z's wont get to you. We will get out of this alive" Murphy said to the scared girl "Just trust me" He said nodding at her and she slowly nodded back.
"You too, keep up" Brett shouted and Murphy frowned
"Come on let's go" "He said to Ellie backing up. Ellie nodded again and she walked forward turning her head slightly she saw Murphy following with a look of pure determination on his face.
Brett led them to an open part of the complex with a big metal gate stopping the z's from getting to them, they walked past a caravan with the words Mesa Pharmaceuticals written an it and waiting by the gate was Henry.
"It's all clear." Henry explained
"Good. Murphy, Ellie this is your moment" He said just has a few z's noticed their presence and ran for the gate including a big guy wearing a blue top.
"Zimmerman, looks like these Zs are happy to see you" Murphy snarled
"Shut up. Here's the plan" Brett snarled Head for the first door past the corner. It'll be unlocked. Go inside and immediately turn to your right. You'll see a power panel inside a cage. Open it. Turn on the main generator"
"Door, right, cage, generator. Anything else?"
"Once the lights are on, proceed directly across the room in front of you, taking the right hand door into the storage area"
"All right. Should I be writing this down?" Murphy said and Ellie rolled her eyes they were in a deadly situation and he was making jokes
"I'll all be obvious once you see it"
All right. Okay, anything else? Could I get you a chai latte while I'm in there?"
"Get serious. Your life depends on it. Especially hers" He said gesturing to Ellie and Murphy's face went serious again "Once you're inside the staging area, you'll see an office up a flight of stairs. That is inventory control. Go inside, look for an alarm bell. Set it off. That'll draw the Zs away from the gate so we can get inside. Then bring me the keys to the van. They'll be-"
"Jason!" Janice suddenly shouted as they looked at the gate to see the zombie in a police uniform biting the gate trying to get to them.
"Jason's gone" Brett said walking forward followed by Henry but Janice hesitated and Murphy used that. He went and stood behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"That must be hard, seeing him like this and living with the man responsible" He then closed his eyes and and had that concentrated look on his face and Janice took her hand from her mouth and went to take out her gun from her holder but Murphy's hand stopped her
"Not just yet" he said to her as she put her gun away but she looked different. She looked like she was there physically but her mind wasn't and she was waiting for someone to tell her what to do.
" Ready when you are, General" Murphy said pushing past her but she didn't move and neither did Ellie, she was to focused on Janice until he grabbed her arm pulling her with him. He pulled her to the gate and came to a stop and pulled Ellie to stand in front of him.
"Stay in front of me" He said leaning down to whisper in her ear "Don''t make any sudden movements and defiantly do not say anything, or use your knife ok?. Most of them have a glance and move on but if one comes close you should be fine as long as you stay by me"
"Ok" Ellie said taking a deep breath and Murphy patted her should while he used the other hand to open the latch but waiting till Ellie nodded before opening it
"What are you waiting for? Go!" Brett said getting impatient and Murphy opened the gate and walked inside and Ellie had no choice but to move.
They walked slowly through the compound, Murphys hands never left Ellie shoulders steering her forward and Ellie tried her best to keep her breathing slow and quiet which was very difficult when her heart was pumping so hard. None of the z's paid them any attention they just carried on running around until they got closer to the main building and a z in a blue top came running towards them and Murphy stopped pulling Ellie to a stop too. The z got into there faces well more Murphy's as he was taller and sniffed them and Ellie tried her hardest not to flinch as she tried to reach her knife. Her panic was clouding her judgment but her thoughts went fuzzy again and her vision blurred so she was forced to stop trying to reach her knife and she could feel Murphy turn his head so it was resting on top off Ellie's. It wasn't long before the zombie lost interest and moved on and Ellie let out a sign of relief her thoughts clearing again and they carried on walking.
Warren's Pov
"What in the hell is Murphy and Ellie doing down there?" Doc asked from their place on the hill above them
"The Zs must think he's one of them" Warren explained
"Why ain't they attacking Ellie?" Cassandra asked
"Maybe being close to Murphy is confusing them" Warren said "That must be why Zimmerman and
the others kidnapped him, so they can get to the drugs"
"Now, I like drugs as much as the next guy, but there ain't enough dope in the world that's gonna make me
want to be out there walkin' around with them Viagra Zs"Doc said
"Let's go" Warren said loading her gun and leading the group to her left.
Ellie's Pov
They managed to make it to the door without any other z's getting close. Murphy let go of her shoulders and she opened the door and walked in followed by Murphy who shut it behind him.
"Well I don't want to be doing that again in a hurry" Ellie said letting out a sigh of relief and Murphy smiled
"You did good kid" Murphy praised tapping her shoulder again as he walked past her and she turned to follow him
"To the right. To the right." Murphy said going towards an open door and he popped his head inside to see a cage and a few zombies inside "And cage. Slow ones. Never thought I'd be happy to see you guys. Stay here" He said to Ellie as he opened up the gate and shut it behind and Ellie had no issues in complying.
As he walked in the zombies all cowered away from allowing him a clear path to the controls at the back
"Okay. Main power. Main power. Main power" He said looking around for the right panel
"Murphy I think the zombie is trying to help you" Ellie said in disbelief and Murphy turned to face her and Ellie gestured to the female zombie who running her hand down a lever on the opposite wall
"Well, thank you. I believe, I will try that one" Murphy said going towards it and the zombie moved allowing him access and he pulled the lever up with a bit off a struggle and the lights come to life "Okay. Step two"
Murphy came out of the cage shutting it behind him again and led Ellie back out out to door and went in the other direction. Which led them to a storage area full of boxes, they walked around the boxes until they came to a set of stairs. Ellie went up them first followed by Murphy, opening the door at the top they came into a room with a computer
"Now that's the ticket" Going over to the computer and turned it on and right next to the computer was the button for the alarm and Murphy turned it on and the sound blared through the compand. Murphy continued on the computer while Ellie looked around to see if she could find a weapon and she happen to find a crow bar they must use it for opening crates. She managed to slot in in her pocket and hid the rest behind her jacket. She didn't want to give Brett a reason to try and shoot her, she then made her way back to Murphy.
"NSA. Org." He said as he typed and once he was in he turned the web cam so it faced both her and Murphy
"Come in. Come in, Northern Light. Come in, Northern Light. This is Murphy and Ellie for Citizen Z.W here are you, you useless bastard? Come in, Northern Light"
"You're alive" A voice said suddenly and the screen lighted up to reveal citizen z's face
"Yeah, no thanks to you. Look, we don't have time to chit-chat. We're in the middle
of a situation here. Have you found Doctor Merch? And what's going on with this lab in California?"
"I still don't have a location for Merch. Last contact I have on record, she was en route to California by way of Fort Collins, Colorado. The trail goes dark after that"
"Why there?"
"I'm not clear. Her transport landed at a military base, maybe to refuel, maybe to pick up more passengers.
I don't know. There's nothing conclusive, but I am still digging"
"Just find her" He said but there conversation was interrupted when they heard voices coming from downstairs, there friends were back.
"Murphy! Ellie! Get down here!" Brett shouted up to them "The job's not done yet! And bring the keys to the van!"
"Duty calls." Murphy said to Citizen Z shutting off the video feed.
"That guy is really starting to piss me off" Ellie grumbled as Murphy got out of his seat.
"Yeah mine too" Murphy agreed and Ellie grabbed the key while he turned the alarm back off and they made their way down the stairs
"I'm comin'." Murphy said as he got to the bottom of the stairs and Ellie was close behind
"Get over here and help. Things will go faster."
"I am not your stock boy" Murphy grumbled "And she isn't helping you either"
"I don't have time for this" Brett growled pulling out his gun and he aimed it at Murphy
"Drop it!" Warren's voice said suddenly coming around the comer followed by the others
"Not happening, Warren. You need to turn around and get out of here before I kill your big ticket"
"Then how will you get out of here?" Warren said not lowering her gun
"We can drive. Don't know what you folks will do" Brett said but they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a few growling zombies.
Henry was too slow and one of the zombies got hold of him followed by more and the room was filled with his painful screams as his flesh was torn from his body.
She saw Brett turn to shoot a zombie coming his way and she assumed Murphy would be safe as long as he was distracted so she pulled out her crowbar and her knife. She threw her knife through one of the zombies heads that was munching on Henry she then used her crow bar to pike the other ones around him. She heard a gunshot go off suddenly behind her and when she turned she saw a dead z on the floor and 10k was aiming at it.
"Thanks" She said and he nodded before he was distracted by more zombies and so was the others. Ellie retrieved her knife from the z and stabbed Henry in the head before he turned she then made her way around a pile of boxes to see Janice aiming her gun and what was her husband but she hesitated and before Ellie could stop him he stepped forward and took a chunk of her flesh from her neck. Ellie knew there was nothing she could do for her then so she used her crowbar to pike him in the head and he fell to the floor but Janice went with him barley hanging onto life and Ellie knew she didn't have long till she turned sh she piked her in the head too.
"I give you mercy" she said sadly she didn't like killing z's let alone someone who hadn't turned yet but she knew if she hadn't it wouldn't off been Janice any more. Soon the room went quiet, all the z's were dead.
"Well, now that that's over, we're right back where we started." Brett said and they all looked up at the voice to see Brett had Murphy held at gunpoint at the top of the stairs and they all quickly made their way to the end of the stairs except for 10k who was supporting Cassandra, her leg was bleeding again. But there wasn't like they could do much Warren may of had her gun but the others didn't and Murphy was firmly planted in front of Brett so if she tried to take a shot Murphy could be hit. "Once again, Warren, you're on the losing end"
Murphy looked at Ellie then and gave her a small smirk and she relaxed a little bit knowing her had a plan
"Actually, this is totally different" He said in a calm voice and Brett removed his gun and stepped away but he didn't do it willingly. Murphy had control over him. Tuning to face him Murphy continued "You're weak, Zimmerman. You're a weak little man" He said to him and they could all see him shaking as he fought the control, but Murphy managed to get him to point his gun to his throat.
"Should we stop them?" Doc asked
"Only if he points that gun at Murphy" Warren said
"He wont" Ellie said she knew what he was able to do when he had control
"You were gonna kill me and the others. You're pathetic." Murphy said
"It's the apocalypse" Brett strained out
"The apocalypse is better off without you" Murphy said turning away and he walked down the stairs but Brett continued to hold the gun to his throat
"Murphy, what are you doing?" Warren said lowering her gun
"Me? Nothing" He said closing his eyes and Brett fired the gun and he fell to the floor.
"Murphy" Warren said in shock, they all looked a bit frightened about what he could do but also grateful he was still alive.
"What?" Murphy said throwing her the keys to the van which she caught and they made their to the van. Murphy climbed into the passenger seat while Ellie climbed in behind him while Doc and Cassandra were in the boot, Doc was attending to Cassandra's leg.
"Mercy granted" Warren said climbing into the drivers seat. She just put down a now zombie Brett
"I'm not sure that was necessary" Murphy said and Warren looked a bit concerned about his lack of concern but pulled out of the warehouse when 1ok lifted up the shutters. Once they were fully out she stopped allowing 10k to climb into the back.
"Go!" He said once the doors were shut and they drove out of the compand and they were back on their track to California.
Ellie only hoped Murphy would make it that far and judging by the looks Warren was giving him while he was looking out the window she felt the same way. He hadn't tried to hurt any off them and he actually protected her using his freaky abilities so hopefully he would continue being on there side. But only time would tell.