II - The Wake

A manhole cover slid open. A figure then came out from the manhole. The figure quickly slid the manhole cover back and used the darkness to his advantage as he ran towards Girl Jordan's house.

Chandler panted as he made his way to the backyard. He then tried to open the door before finding it locked.

"Crap," groaned Chandler.

He then heard a click. He let out a deep sigh as he turned around, raising his hands. His frightened eyes surrounded by the blood of roamers painted on his face looked back at Lincoln, who pointed a gun at him.

"Hey, man… I can explain everything," whispered Chandler.

"Be quiet," said Lincoln.

Chandler glared at Lincoln, becoming enraged as he felt Lincoln wasn't going to hear him out. However, before he could utter another word, he was smacked across the face with a crossbow.

He collapsed to the ground as Ronnie Anne stood over him, unimpressed.

Ms. Johnson handed a glass of warm milk to Carlitos and Lily as Lana and Simon remained seated next to them.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" asked Ms. Johnson.

"I should be out there helping," said Simon. "Not in here being treated like a baby. Are you really okay with this, Lana?"

Lana shrugged as she caressed her puppy.

Ms. Johnson knelt down.

"Well, no one doubts you could help," said Ms. Johnson. "But for your sake, it's better for you to be here."

"But if I could help, why not let me help? Do you guys even know what I'm capable of? I can kill those roamers better than everyone in here."

"Simon… are you aware that is not a good thing?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, you poor thing. It was necessary for your survival, yes, but now that you're inside the walls… you're safe. You don't have to keep fighting."

"I do. Because if I don't, I get weak like you guys. That's just the truth."

"I don't think so," said Lana. "The longer we stay inside the walls, the longer we live. And the longer we live, the stronger we get. Besides… can't we just take a break from all the fighting? I have a puppy now… and I want to be with her as much as possible."

Simon looked at the puppy. The puppy panted and smiled back at him.

"Yeah, but… how long is this place really going to last?" asked Simon.

"Who knows? But at least we got five other places to go to. That's more options than what I had before."

Ms. Johnson smiled at Lana. She felt pity for her, yet she couldn't help but admire her mental strength.

"You two will be just fine in here," said Ms. Johnson. "After this all ends, classes will resume. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fine to me," said Lana.

"Simon?"

"Yeah, whatever," said Simon.

Ms. Johnson nodded and walked away.

Simon sighed as Tucker approached him and Lana.

"H-Hey…" murmured Tucker.

"Hey," said Lana. "Something wrong?"

"Can I… pet him?"

"You mean you can pet her. And yes, go on!"

Tucker smiled as he walked up to the small puppy. He moved his hand closer to the dog, who was licking her mouth while panting. He then touched the soft fur and petted it. The puppy turned her head around and licked his fingers. He smirked.

"Do you have a name for her?" asked Tucker.

"Not yet," said Lana. "Why, do you have a suggestion?"

"No, not really."

Tucker continued petting the puppy before his hands came to a halt.

"Lana… you traveled with my sister for a long time, right?"

"I have."

"Do you know why she's doing all this?"

Lana looked down. She knew that Becky had suffered a lot. But so did everyone else in the group, she thought.

"I don't," said Lana.

"My mom and dad say that she's going through some issues and that she needs therapy. But other people want my sister dead instead. What about you? What do you think?"

Simon knew what answer he would give. He's never had a pleasant interaction with Becky, and based on his impression of her, she was always an impulsive and aggressive person. He looked at Lana to see what she would say.

"I… I don't know," said Lana. "If someone wanted to kill Lori, I'd do anything to stop them from doing so. I know how it feels like to lose a sister, and I wouldn't want you to go through that. But every time I think about Becky… I think of Kimi. She was a small dog, just like this one. She was one of us… and Becky just shot her. I know we were all starving… but seeing her face, it's like she wanted to do it. Like she enjoyed it."

Lana began petting her puppy.

"I think it would've been better if she had killed me instead of Kimi. Kimi was just an innocent dog. But me? Not so much. I've done things. Really bad things. But your sister's done worse. Maybe we should've killed her then. Maybe… the world would have been better for it."

Tucker removed his hand and sniffled. Lana couldn't tell whether he was sad or angry. The boy then walked away.

"Think I was too harsh?" asked Lana.

"Doesn't matter," said Simon. "You told the truth."

"What would you do if you were in his shoes? If it were Sam instead of Becky?"

"I'd join her. My survival and Sammy's survival are all that matters to me."

Lana swallowed hard as she went silent. She grabbed her glass of milk and looked away.

Carol swirled her spoon around her empty cup of tea as she watched Clancy with his hands clasped together. Tucker joined them, plopping himself in between his parents while sighing.

"Are you sure you don't want any tea?" asked Carol.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Clancy. "Thanks, anyways."

"I would like a refill," said Ms. Carmichael.

Carol nodded and grabbed her cup. She walked over to the kitchen and saw Will eating a cupcake.

"Oh, hey there," said Will.

"That's your third cupcake today, isn't it?" asked Carol.

"There isn't a limit, right?"

"No, but you should be saving some for the kids."

"Comfort food, right?"

Carol nodded as she grabbed a kettle. She poured hot water into an empty teacup and placed the kettle back on the stove.

"Hey, about yesterday… you went on quite a rampage," said Will.

Carol grabbed a tea bag. She felt her heart beat faster.

"I was under the impression you were harmless. After all… you told me you could barely even muster the strength to kill a roamer. And yet, you were capping enemies like nothing."

Carol placed the tea bag inside the teacup, not looking back at Will.

"Not gonna lie, it kinda scared me a little. You weren't at all the person I thought you were."

Carol felt her heart sink. She felt like her secret was out now. Of course, she wanted everyone to treat her like a harmless person, but now people saw her for what she truly was. A monster.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Everyone hides their true selves, don't they? I had a brother once. He was about Lincoln's age. Bubbliest kid you'd ever meet. He was killed about a year into this new world. I went after the people that killed him. Safe to say… they're not around anymore to take any more lives. But then… trust issues took over. Call it paranoia. Or something. But I did things I'm not proud of to strangers who probably didn't deserve it. And every day, I try to move away from that part of me. Yesterday… I felt those impulses come back… until I saw you. Then, I thought to myself… maybe I'm not alone."

Will sighed as he went to grab another cupcake. However, he slowly moved his hand away and looked at Carol, who kept looking down at the teacup.

"Anyways, just thought I'd share that with you."

Will went to walk away before Carol grabbed his arm.

"Wait," said Carol, finally looking at Will in the eyes. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"I don't know. Maybe I didn't want to feel like I was hiding a part of myself from you."

Carol took a deep breath.

"There was a man I used to travel with when this all started. Richard. He was the first man I thought I fell in love with. So I let him impregnate me. I was just a teenager and I felt very lonely, especially without my parents around. I was a very vulnerable person. But he had just lost his wife and his mental state was not the best… so I guess we took advantage of each other, didn't we? That's what I keep wondering to myself. But then he lost it and turned me against my friends. I followed him until his end, and I had done things I wasn't proud of either just to satisfy him. A good girl turned bad… is what I thought of myself. And it's what Lori thought too as she had a gun pointed to my head, ready to pull the trigger. Then, Becky convinced Lori to not pull the trigger. It's so strange… knowing how different she was back then."

Carol swirled the warm tea around.

"I gave birth to a baby girl months later. Zoey was her name. She was the love of my life. But as you can see… Zoey's not here with me right now."

Will felt his heart sink.

Carol took another deep breath.

"When she… died… I became depressed. More so than ever. Then… I became angry. Angry at the world. Angry at the people I knew and loved. I took out my anger on my enemies… not caring if it tore my humanity down. The world didn't grant me any mercy, so why should I? At least that's what I thought… and so I embraced the brutality of my actions. But I wasn't the only one."

"Becky did too?" asked Will.

"Yeah. She did too. I'm not ashamed at all of what I did to my enemies back then and now. They deserved it for sure. But I wanted to forget it all because I wanted to live a normal life. To be that vulnerable teenage girl I was before the world went to shit. But things can never really go back to normal, can they?"

"Probably not. But I don't want to be who I was before the world ended. I want to be better. Don't you?"

Carol stopped swirling her spoon. She looked up at Will and slowly nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Do you think it's too late for Becky?"

"Don't know. I can't shake the feeling that she's irredeemable, yet again… we all got second chances… so who's to say only we deserve it and not her?"

Carol looked at Will at a new light. She wondered too.

Luna walked through the open doorway of the infirmary, carrying her M110 rifle. Her heart pulsed with fear as she saw the blood stains on the wall and the bullet holes on the windows.

"Looking for Aiden?" asked Haley.

"Yeah."

"He's there."

Haley pointed at a bed before walking away to tend to a patient. Luna's heart calmed as she saw Aiden lying in bed, hooked to a blood bag. His chest was rising up and down and his face seemed to regain its color. She smiled before seeing Schoffner appear in front of her, her bruised face catching Luna off-guard.

"Luna Loud," said Schoffner. "Is Melissa still at City Hall?"

"I don't know, dude," said Luna. "I think? If she is, I don't think she'd be in a talking mood with you."

"I bet… everything that's happened… it's my fault. But that's why I have to talk to her. I have to apologize for everything I did."

"Really now?"

"What?"

"You mean that?"

"I do."

Luna crossed her arms and tapped her boot lightly.

"You better apologize to Lori too then," said Luna.

"I will."

Luna took a short breath, hesitating to reveal the whereabouts of Lori and Melissa. However, the guilt written on Schoffner's face indicated that she was being genuine.

"They're at the church," revealed Luna. "At least, that's where I last saw 'em."

"Thank you. And I'm sorry."

Luna nodded as she kept her arms crossed.

Schoffner walked away. Now, Luna was free to check up on Aiden.

Then, her walkie-talkie activated.

"Lunes, this is Sam. Could you come here? Your sister and Jace are being stupid right now."

Luna groaned. She took one last look at Aiden before walking out of the infirmary.

Luna jogged over to the main gate, passing by the guard post where Sam and Mazzy stood. She walked over to Sully, who opened up the gate.

"They're out there," said Sully.

Luna nodded. She walked out of the main gate and past the soldiers that were shoveling the remains of the burnt corpses to the side.

"Hey!" shouted Luna, catching Luan and Jace's attention.

"Easy there," said one of the soldiers. "Keep the volume down."

"Sorry."

Luan sighed and rolled her eyes as Luna jogged over to her.

Jace kept his eyes away from Luna as he walked his motorcycle away from the barbed wire.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Luna.

"We're going to look for Benny," answered Luan.

"In Ann Arbor? No, no, it's way too dangerous to be going out there, dudes."

"He was supposed to be back by now. Almost all the soldiers that went there are safe and sound now. Almost all our people are accounted for. Everyone except for Ruby and… Benny."

"We can send a team out there tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"It's too dark out there. There's still a herd very close by. We can't risk going to Ann Arbor to save one person."

"Well, I have to go. If Benny's in trouble… he's in trouble because of me. He's only over there because of what I did to him… and if I don't go there now, I will regret it for the rest of my life."

"You really are gonna go no matter what I say, right?"

Luan nodded.

Luna crossed her arms. She then looked over at Jace.

"Hey, greaser."

"What is it?" said Jace.

"Are you really going to take Luan on this suicide mission?"

Jace kept quiet, simply getting his motorcycle ready.

"Why are you going?" asked Luna.

Jace kept quiet.

"Please talk to me here. I'm sorry about how I acted the other day."

"No," said Jace, looking at Luna. "No, you were right. I was stupid. I should have listened to you. And now Benny's out there in trouble because I was too stupid to see through Becky's manipulation."

"You're not stupid. You just have a good heart. You only saw the good in her because she treated you kindly."

"Yeah. Last time I ever make that mistake."

Jace got on his motorcycle, keeping one foot to the ground as Luan climbed onto the back. Luan wrapped her hands around Jace's waist as Jace revved the motorcycle.

After a few seconds, the motorcycle disappeared into the foggy night.

Luna sighed and headed back to the main gate and entered the community. Her girlfriend then called out to her.

"Lunes!" exclaimed Sam. "You gotta hear this."

Lori and Melissa were next to Roger, who stood before a grave.

"I… I still don't understand. Why?" stammered Roger. "Why do something like this? Why do something so… extreme?"

Lori stared down with her sunken eyes, seeing Whitney's name engraved to the tombstone.

Melissa stared ahead, seeing the residents remove the fence next to the church. The residents wanted to expand the small cemetery into the backyard of the neighboring house as there was no space for the rest of the bodies that needed to be buried.

"Maybe you should rethink the whole leadership thing."

A hint of anger could be sensed from Roger's voice.

"Schoffner was right. You should have never brought her here."

Lori looked at Roger with a grave expression.

"What? You're gonna blame us for turning her in? Were we wrong for doing that, especially knowing what she is now?"

"No," said Lori. "You're right. There were many things I could have done. What I did for Becky… I know I'll lose sleep over it. An event like this surely would have never happened if I didn't try to become the leader… right?"

Roger gulped.

"And an event like this will never happen again… because someone else will step up to the role. Isn't that right… Roger?"

"Melissa will… right?" asked Roger.

Both Lori and Roger looked over at Melissa, who shook her head.

"Do you understand what Lori is trying to tell you, dear?" asked Melissa.

Roger remained silent as sweat formed on his forehead.

"There's no better leader to stop an invasion like this."

"Maybe it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for—"

"This was inevitable," said Melissa. "We lost almost all of my son's officers before any of Becky's people even touched this place. It is true that Becky organized them. But do you think this place would have stayed hidden from the Laborers forever anyway? And if Lori had kept Becky out, would that have stopped an invasion? Do you know anyone who can stop an invasion inside these walls? And don't you look at me."

Roger's breath shuddered as he looked at Lori.

"Schoffner shouldn't have taken away your guns," said Lori. "I'll make sure that never happens again."

Roger clenched his teeth.

"Or maybe I'll just go to a different community," said Roger.

"If you feel like your chances are better in some other place, then go ahead."

"Look at you. No tears. Whitney was your best friend, and yet, you can't even cry for her. Maybe Becky wasn't the only one who was out there for too long."

Roger sniffled before walking away.

Lori took a deep breath and looked down at the grave.

"You don't think this entire thing is my fault?" asked Lori.

"Well, you did hold yourself accountable."

"Only because I have to… but be honest with me. Is this all my fault?"

"A significant portion of it, yes. You were warned about Becky after all."

"And yet, you still decided to support me."

Melissa rolled her wheelchair away.

"Come," said Melissa.

Lori followed Melissa as they strolled across the cemetery together.

"Maybe you shouldn't have snuck Becky in. Maybe Schoffner shouldn't have had an arrest warrant for her. Maybe I should have just conceded earlier. People make mistakes all the time. Leaders do. I have. The man who used to sleep in my bed did. Well, sometimes in my bed."

Melissa let out a small chuckle before stopping in front of a grave.

"We all have soft spots for someone, especially for the people we care about. There was my father and then there's my son. For Schoffner, it was Plesko and every other officer who thinks they're above the law. For my late husband, it was Calvin and his people. People like to think they aren't biased, but they are. Very much so. I am willing to bet those that criticize your actions would be willing to have this entire community slaughtered if it means saving the ones they love. And I am willing to bet you are not any different."

"That's harsh," nervously smiled Lori.

"But this is your home and you are willing to do anything to save it. And truth be told… I don't have any faith in our residents. They can make all the promises they want. But hindsight is 20/20. You… have actual experience. You… have single-handedly made our community stronger. It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make. No one else can do better."

Lori nodded.

The two continued to stand by the grave of Melissa's mother.

The light fog reflected the light from the headlights. The trucks came to a stop near a picnic spot next to a creek. A sign showed that they were in Hawk Woods.

Lynn watched through the eye holes in her mask. The Vultures inside the SUV came out, along with all the other Vultures from their respective vehicles. She made sure to come out too.

"This is her?" asked Becky.

A Vulture nodded, holding a nude Yellowjacket by the hair. The Yellowjacket had bruises all over her body and face and a large gash on her cheek connected to her lips. Blood was dripping from her gash.

Becky knelt down in front of the Yellowjacket.

"How long until they get here?" asked Becky.

"H-Hours, maybe…"

"Exactly how long?"

"M-Midnight. They'll be here by midnight, I think."

"And how many of your kind are back home?"

The Yellowjacket continued to shiver. However, she swallowed hard and kept quiet.

"I asked you a question."

"I—I'm strong… I'm strong…"

Becky reached for her dagger before smiling, realizing Carol took it from her earlier. She then looked over at Shiwen.

"Hey, Shiwen, why don't you hand me one of your machetes?" asked Becky.

"As you wish," said Shiwen.

Shiwen handed Becky her right machete.

Becky then looked down at the Yellowjacket. She then placed the blade of the machete against the Yellowjackets.

"Answer me… or I will cut you," said Becky.

The Yellowjacket shivered as she stood up.

"I…I won't let anyone… else scare me into submission…" said the Yellowjacket.

Becky then whipped the machete at her stomach, causing blood to squirt out.

The Yellowjacket shrieked before the Vulture behind her covered her mouth.

"Wait, wait, let her scream," said Becky.

The Vulture released her hand, allowing the Yellowjacket to cry in agony.

Lynn's eyes widened as she looked at the sight in horror.

"What was it that you said? You weren't scared?"

The Yellowjacket sobbed as her intestines could be seen poking out of her stomach gash.

Becky then swung the machete down, slicing into her shoulder. The Yellowjacket fell down to the ground, groaning as blood poured onto the dirt.

"Let me see you stand up again. Come on!"

The Yellowjacket placed her hand on the ground, struggling to lift her face up from the damp dirt. She let out a pained cry before Becky lifted her face further up.

"Shush, shush, shush…" whispered Becky. "Why don't I sing you a lullaby to help you calm down?"

The Yellowjacket whimpered heavily as Becky hummed.

"Never mind the darkness… never mind the storm…"

Lynn felt goosebumps throughout her arms. She recognized the song. However, Becky's low raspy voice made it sound more menacing than the way Carol sang it.

"Never mind the blood red moon… the night will be over soon…"

The Yellowjacket continued to whimper before Becky cut her throat open with the machete blade.

"...the night will be over soon."

Becky released the Yellowjacket's hair, letting her face plop into the dirt. She stood up, moving away from the body and looking at the rest of the group as she took a couple breaths, calming down from the joy she felt killing the Yellowjacket.

Lynn watched the Yellowjacket's body lying face down. The fact that her clothes were completely stripped away only made her death seem more degrading, she thought.

"Doesn't matter how many there are," panted Becky. "We have guns and fire. They don't. We'll kill every last Yellowjacket and take this spot. We'll send wave after wave of roamers into the communities. They don't have the resources nor the energy to fight them off. They'll have no choice but to flee."

Becky grabbed her fire ax from her truck.

"Let's go."

As the Vultures grabbed their weapons, Lynn slowly walked away, disappearing into the fog.

Becky looked at the remaining Vultures.

"How many archers do we have left?" asked Becky.

"Just Sydney," said one of the Vultures.

"And where is Sydney?"

Lynn panted as she ran across the foggy woods. The robe and the mask she wore made it difficult to navigate through the rough environment cloaked in dark fog. Without even a flashlight to help her navigate, Lynn simply walked around the thicket of trees blind. She then took out a walkie-talkie.

"This is Lynn Loud," she whispered. "Becky and the Vultures are in Hawk Woods. I repeat, they are in Hawk Woods."

Lynn groaned as she stumbled around the bumpy ground and thick branches. Her run grinded to a halt as she stuck her arms out and walked slowly, trying not to bump into any trees.

"This is Lynn Loud," she repeated. "Becky and the Vultures are here in Hawk Woods! Hawk Woods! Becky and the Vultures are in Hawk Woods!"

Growls could then be heard as Lynn stopped. She grabbed onto a tree and removed her mask as she looked around. The fog seemed to get thicker as she moved her eyes around, feeling terrified as the growls grew louder.

She then put her walkie-talkie back into her pocket and grabbed her bow tightly. She was ready to swing it at the nearby roamers, but she couldn't even see them. She couldn't even smell them as the smell of the robe she wore gave off a putrid odor, masking the scent of everything around her. Then, she realized. The robe she was wearing masked her odor too. She placed the mask back on and slowly stood still as a small glowing light came into view. Then, a roamer growled as it walked by her, its face barely visible. However, its eyes were very visible, and in the moment where it stood in front of her, Lynn could see the pupils inside its glowing eyes moving around, as if a person was trapped inside.

The roamer walked away, ignoring Lynn as she remained still.

"God," whispered Lynn as she let out a breath.

Lynn continued walking, albeit very slowly, being careful not to make noise. She couldn't stay too long and risk getting caught by the Vultures, and she also didn't want to risk getting mistaken for one if she was caught by a Yellowjacket.

Then, the blurry light from a flashlight came into view. Lynn gasped as the light grew brighter and brighter. Someone was on her trail. She jogged ahead, using her bow as a walking stick, though every time it tapped a tree, it made a noise. She pulled the bow away from the ground and took her chances and jogged as the light grew bright enough to spot her.

She then slowed down and panted as she closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she turned around and walked towards the light.

"Sydney?" whispered a Vulture.

"Yeah?" whispered Lynn back.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I… I tried using the bathroom… and I got lost."

"Again? How much water did you drink?"

"A lot… hydration is important after all."

"Well, come back with us then."

Lynn followed the Vultures, hoping that anyone nearby got her message. She felt terrified as she knew she was about to join the Vultures and witness them enact a terrible massacre against the Yellowjackets.

"She's here," said the Vulture. "Had to take a quick leak and got lost."

"No flashlight?" asked Becky.

"I dropped it earlier," said Lynn. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize…"

Becky studied the 'Vulture' in front of her, seeing her red bow and black quill. She looked at the red and black fletching on the arrows in her quill.

"...at least you still have your bow and arrows. We're gonna need you to do something important for us."

Lynn nodded.

"There's gonna be two guards right across that creek. You see that boat over there?"

Lynn peered into the distance. There indeed was a boat. She nodded again.

"What color is it?"

"It's…"

Lynn squinted her eyes. It was too dark and foggy to make out the color of the boat.

"Need to get closer?" asked Becky.

Lynn looked up at her. Her blue eyes met with Becky's green eyes.

She then swung her bow upwards. However, Becky quickly dodged the swing and elbowed Lynn in the face. Her mask protected her from Becky's elbow, but she was disorientated as the mask tilted to the left, blocking her vision. She removed her mask, only to see Becky's boot moving rapidly towards her. Then, her vision blacked out.

Lori stared down at the grave of Melissa's mother before seeing Schoffner walk into the cemetery. She stiffened her back as Melissa folded her hands.

Schoffner took a deep breath as she walked towards them. However, April quickly ran past her to talk to Lori.

"Lori, we got a message from my people, saying they got a message from your sister Lynn. Apparently, Lynn is in Hawk Woods where Becky and the Vultures are at. My people haven't made a move yet as they want to verify whether it's the real Lynn or an imposter."

"What is she doing all the way over there?" asked Lori.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," said April.

Lori sighed.

"Not the first time she would have done something like this," said Lori. "Dammit. I thought she would learn by now."

"So, you think it's really her?"

"Time to find out."

Lori grabbed her walkie-talkie.

"Hey, Sam. Has Lynn entered the walls by any chance?"

"No, but we just got a message from the Queendom saying that they heard a message from her. Apparently, she's in Hawk Woods with Becky and the other Vultures."

Lori gulped as she looked back at April with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, Auburn Hills got that message too. Alright, just stay there and tell Spencer to get the gate ready. I'm going to get some people ready and we'll head out."

"Got it."

Lori placed her walkie-talkie back into her pocket and looked at April.

"I'm going to get my people ready too," said April. "You're going to—?"

April's walkie-talkie crackled.

"We got a quick message for you, Captain," said one of the Auburn Hills soldiers.

"—I'll repeat this again. For anyone who's hearing this, I have one of your own captured. Lynn Loud. I see that she's been trying to contact you guys. So I assume you know where we are, right? I demand that Lori come and no one else. Shall anyone else come… I will kill Lynn on the spot and send a herd to consume your community."

"It's Becky," said Lori. "Dammit."

Lori groaned as she rubbed her head.

"I'll have someone accompany you," said April.

"Didn't you hear her?"

"They won't get caught."

"And if they do? This is my sister we're talking about!"

Melissa folded her hands together and looked up at Lori, wondering what decision she was going to make.

"Well, we can't let you go alone. Not when we know where Becky is," said April. "We can't let this opportunity go. Had we just wasted her earlier when she had Taylor—"

"I won't go alone," said Lori. "But I'm not going to give up easily and sacrifice my sister like that."

"Who are you taking?"

"I'm taking the Yellowjackets. Becky won't suspect them being around the area. And I'm also taking Carol. I'm sure she wants to see her friend again."

Lori walked away as April looked surprised.

April turned towards Melissa.

"This is a bad idea, isn't it?" asked April.

"Just trust her. But just in case… have your soldiers get ready to enter Hawk Woods."

Melissa then rolled away as April scoffed.

"Can't tell if you're being clever or foolish right now," said April before she followed Melissa. "But I'll be damned if I miss the action."

Lori walked into the church, seeing Carol sitting by Becky's parents drinking tea. She walked past all the survivors, who were wrapped in blankets and were surrounded by backpacks. She approached Carol.

"Hey," said Lori.

"Hey," said Carol.

"Did they find her?" asked Kari Carmichael.

"Yeah," said Lori. "She's in Hawk Woods."

"Where's that at?"

"It's in between Auburn Hills and Orchard Lakes."

"It's the home of the Yellowjackets, isn't it?" asked Clancy.

"Yeah."

"W-Well, what is she doing there?" asked Kari.

"I don't know, but she has my sister. And she's probably going to kill her if I don't submit to her demands. But that's not going to happen. Carol is going to come with me. And we're going to rescue my sister. And we're going to stop her."

"I'm supposed to let her guard down?" asked Carol.

Lori nodded.

Carol closed her eyes softly as Kari trembled.

"S-Stop her?" said Kari. "What do you mean, like kill her?"

Lori nodded.

"No, wait, please don't kill her. I think she can be talked down to, I really do. Let me come. Let me talk to her."

"She's not the same daughter you knew," said Lori.

"Well, she's not a lost cause! Some of her still has to be in there! If you just let me talk to her, then I'm sure we can work something out!"

"Kari…"

"I don't care if you have to kill the other Vultures! Just please… not my little girl…"

Lori swallowed hard. Her heart sank, seeing the desperate mother in front of her beg. However, she just had a feeling Becky can't be reasoned with at all. In her mind, she was just too far gone.

"I'm with her on this," said Clancy. "Let me come too. She needs to know we love her no matter what."

Lori remained silent as she pondered on how to let them down easily. Then, Carol opened her eyes.

"We have to let them talk to her," said Carol. "We have to give Becky a chance, no matter how slim it may be. It's better than baiting her and then killing her, wondering whether we could have done something differently."

"I don't know…" said Lori. "Becky made it clear for me to come alone. Just bringing you is a risk."

"They're her parents. She's not going to feel threatened by them. She will make an exception for them."

Lori sighed. She continued to think deeply.

"You don't want them to come because you think your sister's life is at risk?" asked Carol. "Or is it because you think it will work… and you just don't want to give Becky another chance?"

"The last thing I wanted to do was kill her."

"I know. And I understand what she did to Whitney is unforgivable. But I'm not ready to let go of her yet, Lori. That's our family. We're supposed to have our family's back."

Carol was tearing up at this point.

Lori gulped as she fought the urge to tear up too.

"Okay," said Lori. "If we can guarantee Lynn's safety… then we'll give her a chance. But if she refuses to take it… then you know what has to be done."

Kari sniffled as she nodded. Clancy let out a sigh of relief. Carol smiled.

Lori looked at Tucker, who frowned as he looked up at her.

"Who's going to watch him?" asked Lori.

"I'll bring him to Quinn's place," said Kari.

"Okay," said Lori. "Let's go."

A lantern lit up a dark and damp basement.

Chandler blinked his eyes open. He found himself tied to a pipe with his hands behind his back. He looked ahead and saw Ronnie Anne sitting on a chair with her arms crossed.

A lantern sat on the floor between the two.

He then looked around and saw his friends as well as Lincoln looking at him.

"What's going on here?" asked Chandler.

"You tell me," said Girl Jordan. "I was gone for a few hours and when I came back, I found out you guys were trying to kill each other in my own house."

"Nope," said Mollie. "Just Lincoln and Chandler."

"You weren't going to kill Lincoln, right?" asked Trent. "Come on, tell 'em, Chandler."

Chandler groaned as he felt a growing pain in his jaw.

"Shut up, guys," said Ronnie Anne. "I'm asking the questions."

Chandler smirked.

"Come on, Ronnie," he said. "This ain't elementary school no more. We ain't scared of you."

"Good," said Ronnie Anne. "Last thing I want is for you to fear me. I would've given you up to Lori, but then she would've killed you after interrogating you. Not that I have a problem with it, but Stella here is nice enough to convince me to keep you here instead. So what you're going to do is answer my questions. If I feel like I'm not doing a good enough job, then I'll just hand you over to Lori and she'll take it from there."

"Come on… she's not going to kill me."

"You're a Vulture. She will treat you as such."

"No, I'm not a Vulture. Not anymore."

"You tried to kill Lincoln. That's all she needs to hear."

"Me? He tried to kill me first!"

"You were going to hand me over to Becky," said Lincoln. "What did you think she was going to do to me? I had to do everything I could to prevent that."

"It's okay," said Ronnie Anne. "You don't have to explain yourself."

"No, he does! I only wanted to protect Stella! And if I didn't do what Becky told me to do, she would've killed me!"

"No one told you to go to Becky," said Stella. "You went there because you were too afraid of getting caught. That was your own mistake!"

"Stella, we were going to get caught. The Vultures were going door by door looking for him."

"If you had just held out… you were going to see Lori and all the others rescue us from the Vultures."

"And how was I supposed to know that?"

"Shush," said Ronnie Anne. "We're wasting too much time here. Tell me… what do the Vultures plan to do now?"

"Wha… I don't know! I told you, I'm not a Vulture!"

"So you weren't just with them, helping them lead a herd here?"

"Only because I would've been killed if I hadn't!"

"So you knew they were going to lead a herd here. What else did they tell you? Anything at all."

"I-I don't know. They didn't tell me much."

"But what did they tell you?"

"I don't know! Polly just wanted me to keep my head down and not draw any attention to myself. I've mostly just been around her… and she has gone on topics that were so unrelated to any plans or whatever!"

"So what you're telling me is… you don't have any useful information to give. I guess I should just call Lori over here then."

"Already?" asked Stella.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Stella let out a deep sigh, one of worry as fear set in Chandler's eyes. Maybe Ronnie Anne wasn't bluffing.

"Wait, come on, don't you have anything else to ask me?" exclaimed Chandler. "Anything at all!"

"No, just the questions I asked."

"I'm telling the truth. I don't know anything."

Ronnie Anne stood up from her chair and began walking away.

"Come on, Chandler, just tell 'em what you know," said Trent.

"Shut up!" growled Chandler.

Stella turned around to follow Ronnie Anne.

"Wait! Stop! Stella, you're really going to let her do this? You know I was only trying to protect you!"

Stella raised her hand. There was a bandage around it, though it was stained with blood.

"Look at this. This is what you caused," said Stella.

"If Lincoln had just given himself up, you would've been fine!"

"And why should he have to give himself up?"

"Come on, do you really care about him? He's just like all his friends. Assholes who don't care about anyone but themselves. Like back then! He left you to die! It was me who saved you!"

"Because I told him to run away! What's wrong with you? He had his little sister with him!"

Stella panted as she realized how loud she was. She gulped and whispered.

"I don't trust you anymore. You let your vendetta against him get the better of you. And unlike his friends, he didn't even do anything wrong. That's the worst part."

Lincoln clenched his jaw.

"Oh, he did plenty wrong," said Chandler. "And he will get us all killed. Look at what happened when he and his people arrived— they've been nothing but trouble! That's what Lincoln is— he's trouble! And the longer he stays… the more in trouble this place is."

Stella shook her head as she turned around.

"Come on, dude," said Richie. "Just chill."

"I told you guys to shut up! Look at Lincoln, Stella! He heard you say that his friends did something wrong. Oh… that got him mad. That's 'cause he's a psycho. He gets angry just from hearing his friends get insulted. You know, Becky wasn't even planning to kill Lincoln… not until Lincoln tried to kill her first. And the only reason why Lincoln tried to kill her was because she insulted Rusty… man, that got Lincoln all crazy from what I heard."

"Stop," said Lincoln.

"He's dead already. You didn't need to defend his honor or whatever."

"Stop it."

"Get over it already."

"Dude," said Trent.

"And you didn't even hear what I said about them back at the farm, did ya? You completely ignored what I told you about those assholes—"

Lincoln stood up and approached Chandler.

"Hey, I told you to stop!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Why should I? You know, no one really cares what the fuck I have to say because it's not something they wanna hear. Or do my words really matter that much to you?"

Lincoln turned around, avoiding eye contact with Chandler.

Girl Jordan scoffed.

"Boy, I think you really upset him," she whispered to Stella.

"Because if they do, then hear this, asshole— I'm glad your friends are dead. And I hope they're burning in Hell too," growled Chandler.

Lincoln's eyes popped open with rage. He turned around and approached Chandler.

"Don't you touch me," scoffed Chandler. "Or else you and your girlfriend are gonna regret it. So why don't you—"

A fist slammed across his bruised jaw, cutting it open. Another fist slammed across his face, cracking a piece of his eye socket.

Ronnie Anne gasped as she ran towards Lincoln.

Chandler's friends shouted as they ran over to save their friend.

Lincoln grabbed Chandler by the collar and continued punching him.

"They didn't deserve to die, you asshole!" screamed Lincoln. "But you do!"

Trent tried grabbing Lincoln before being pushed away.

Lincoln then wrapped his hands around Chandler's neck and began strangling him as his legs flailed.

"Lincoln!" shouted Stella. "Stop!"

Ronnie Anne grabbed Lincoln's arms, though he refused to let go.

"Lincoln, let go of him!" exclaimed Ronnie Anne.

"Stop it, dude!" yelled Trent.

Lincoln screamed as Chandler gagged, tears falling out of his bloodshot eyes.

Ronnie Anne pulled as hard as she could, though she realized her strength no longer surpassed his. She looked back at Lincoln with fear in her eyes.

"Hey, stop it, Linc!" she gasped.

Lincoln looked at Ronnie Anne and gasped as he released his grip on Chandler's neck. He backed away as Chandler dropped to the floor, coughing and wheezing as he tried to regain his breath. He spat blood onto the dry floor, gasping as blood dripped from his black eye, nose, and lips.

Richie ran over to him.

"Chloe, get the first aid kit!" he said.

"Got it!" said Chloe.

Chloe ran past a shocked Stella, who held her hands over her open mouth.

Lincoln looked at his bloody knuckles. They were trembling along with his eyes as he felt a wave of fear and shame wash over him.

"Oh god…" he whispered.

"Lincoln…" gasped Ronnie Anne.

Lincoln looked at her, seeing her terrified. He then gulped and walked away, leaving the basement as the teens were all in shock.

Headlights shined through the road as a Humvee containing April's Delta Team drove quickly through a foggy road surrounded by trees. A few seconds passed by before a large herd of runners ran past where the Humvee was. The Humvee sped up past a trail of broken branches and logs in the ground. The trail of logs was then lit up on fire as the Humvee continued to drive away.

The runners growled as they ran through the fire. Their growls turned raspier before sounding like bones cracking apart. Their burnt bodies then collapsed as the fire began spreading amongst the runners.

The runners themselves scattered about as the fire spread, not knowing which direction to follow. A few Yellowjackets came out of the trees, being careful to move away from the trail of fire they created.

The Yellowjackets watched as the surrounding trees began to catch fire. The fire only attracted the roamers, who ran to them, causing those that weren't burnt to catch on fire. This also caused the fire to spread out even further, creating a small forest fire. Luckily, the forest was surrounded by a lake, so the forest fire was not going to go out of control.

The Yellowjackets walked northwards, following the Humvee as the plan continued to move forward.

Meanwhile, some miles behind, Errol was driving an SUV across the foggy road, leading part of the herd behind him. They consisted of the slower kind, though many of them were covered in fungal plates.

Sitting next to Errol was Lyberti. Behind the two were Theo and Vonda.

"Man, if I had known driving away a herd was this boring, I wouldn't have come," said Theo.

"Why did you anyway?" asked Vonda. "I can't imagine you were planning a road trip to Hawk Woods?"

"I was gonna be in the other car with my girlfriend, but Clyde really wanted to be in that car once he found out Lynn was going to be there too."

"So you switched seats?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't think you cared about Clyde that much to sacrifice spending time with your girlfriend."

"Well, he did say he owes me a favor now. So whatever favor I want, I can ask of him. I just thought… it wouldn't take this long."

"You picked the worst car to be in then."

"Wait, why? Vonda?"

Vonda looked away as Theo was confused.

"After we lead the herd away, we're going to stop by Orchard Lakes," said Errol.

"Why?"

"Unlike the other cars, we don't have a safe route back to Royal Woods. So we're going to have to wait in Orchard Lakes for a bit."

"Come on… really?"

"Really."

"If I had known that, I wouldn't have come either," said Lyberti.

"And why did you?" asked Vonda.

"I was hoping we'd find some Vultures along the way… maybe I could kill a few of them myself."

"Have you ever killed someone before?"

"I can't say I have. But how hard can it be? I have no problem killing roamers…"

The SUV drove past a few abandoned stores.

"...and the Vultures are monsters like them. That, combined with the fact that they took Leo, my best friend, away from me… how hard can it really be?"

Vonda pondered before feeling saddened.

"I won't lie to you," said Vonda. "Nameless enemies never gave me much trouble. If they threatened me or my group once… I had no problem taking their life. But if I were to see Becky… I don't know if I could do it. She was the first person I met after the outbreak. All those years aren't easy to forget."

"Yeah, I don't know if I could kill her either," said Errol. "I mean, Becky was a really cool person. Really fun too. She was just someone you can really goof off with. But now… I live in a world where she's my enemy and my ex is my ally somehow."

"Your ex?" asked Vonda confusedly.

"Your other group member. Carol Pingrey."

"Oh. That's weird. She never mentioned you."

"Yeah. Figures."

"Well, good thing I don't know her very well," said Lyberti. "Because if I saw Becky, I don't think I'd hesitate to kill her."

The car got silent inside.

Errol felt uneasy just as Vonda felt a mixture of conflicted feelings.

Theo looked out of the car and saw lights coming from the foggy buildings. They seemed to flicker in a pattern.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Yellowjackets," said Errol. "That's our cue to leave. They'll handle this now."

Errol pressed on the gas pedal and sped up the SUV. The car drove ahead into the foggy road, leaving the slow herd behind as a few Yellowjackets stepped into the road, now leading them.