A low humming echoed around the room. Indistinct footsteps were distant. A cough filled the room.
Lynn opened her eyes and blinked twice. The stone ceiling had small pieces of dust falling off of it. She lifted her head and looked around. She was inside a small cage with Benny, who was sitting down in a fetal position next to a corpse. She then looked further out the room where she saw Becky sitting below a table and D sitting next to an empty chair. She then looked at her little sister who was pacing around the room, looking for something to pass time. Lynn lowered her head to the cold and damp stone floor.
"So it wasn't a dream," whispered Lynn.
"Indeed it wasn't," responded Lucy. "You slept for quite a while."
"Really? What time is it?" asked Lynn before sighing in realization. "Nevermind. I forgot that there is no way to tell time in this goddamn desert of a room!"
"Oh my god! Why is it so hot?" yelled Becky.
"Why am I still in a cage?" asked Lynn.
"The Piranhas mentioned something about you and Benny being the most rebellious out of all of us," replied a shirtless D. "They were going to put Becky in there too, but then they noticed that it would be way too tight in there for three people."
"Oh. Hey, Benny. Are you alright?"
Benny lifted his head up. Lynn inspected his face. Benny's eyes were red and dry, his skin was red, although there was not a sweatdrop to be seen anywhere. He was breathing slightly heavier than normal and his lips were parched.
"You're severely dehydrated. I think you're about to have a heat stroke," said Lynn. "Take off your shirt."
Benny did not move at all. It seemed as if Lynn's words passed through his ears, with his brain receiving no understanding of what she just said. Benny continued to look ahead into nothingness. Lynn stood up above Benny and leaned closer to the boy. Benny was breathing faster.
"Did you not hear me? Take off your shirt!"
Benny shook his head nonchalantly which surprised Lynn.
"You must be dazed and lightheaded. Let me take it off for you."
Lynn grabbed the collar from Benny's shirt and began to pull it up. As she pulled up, Benny grabbed her wrist and gripped it hard. Lynn pulled the collar and Benny pulled down her wrist. Lynn then removed her grip on Benny's shirt.
"What are you doing?" asked Lynn, puzzled about Benny's behavior.
"I'm okay. I'm-"
Benny coughed into the ground. His raspy voice prompted Lynn to start pulling on Benny's shirt again. Benny tried to grab Lynn's wrist again, but she managed to grab his wrists first. Lynn pulled his hands up while she took off his shirt. Benny continued to struggle.
"No! Keep it on!" cried Benny.
"What's wrong with you! I'm… only… trying to help!"
Lynn removed Benny's shirt, revealing what Benny has tried to hide for so long. Benny's face turned red as the others stared at his chest and his left shoulder, with even Lucy appearing surprised.
"What happened to you?" asked Lynn.
"I-I-I got cut. And burned."
"Yeah, we can see that burn mark right there," said Becky. "Your bandage looks stained."
"Benny! You should've told us about this sooner!" cried Lynn. "It looks like you're falling ill from some sort of infection. Did you get bit?"
"No. Sherry did this."
"What did she do to you exactly? Were you guys fighting or something?"
"She kept me chained to a wall. She pushed a knife into my chest and cut me up. She then ironed my shoulder. But nothing else. There were no roamers involved."
"She had Missy chained up to a wall as well," said Becky. "She threatened to shoot me and D if Missy wasn't going to reveal our destination!"
"I'm surprised she didn't force a roamer on us," said D. "That would've suited her style. She's insane!"
"Do you think the apocalypse is making her lose her mind?" asked Lucy. "Or has she been like this before it all happened?"
"Who knows? Maybe Vonda does," said Lynn. "If only we were able to tell her what she did to us."
Lynn faced Benny and grabbed his shirt. She handed it back.
"I wouldn't want you to put this back on. But if you feel the need to, then wear it back on."
Benny refused to put his shirt back on. The room was cooking all of them. Benny continued to look at Lynn.
"How are you calm? You haven't shed a tear ever since we arrived."
"Why would I shed a tear? I know it seems as if we're going to die in this room, but maybe not."
"No, it's not about that," said Benny, his voice shivering. "It's about your older sister."
"I don't believe it. If I haven't seen her, then she can't be dead. People had survived gunshots to the head before."
"You're in denial, Lynn. She's dead! I saw her get shot! I-,"
Lynn walked towards Benny and hugged him. Benny's eyes were stinging him as he couldn't cry anymore. His tears have been dried up and used. Lynn lied her head on his right shoulder and closed her eyes.
"We're all here for you," whispered Lynn. "We're like family. You won't leave us and we won't leave you."
A tear from Lynn's dry eyes fell into Benny's shoulder. He felt the warm teardrop run down his chest and into his bandage, where it absorbed the salty water.
"It's not denial," said Lynn. "It's hope."
Footsteps became more distinct as it came closer to the small room. The tunnel echoed the naturally quick pace of the Piranhas' footsteps. The knob of the door was twisted, and the door was then opened. Andrew, Gina, and John walked inside the room.
"It's showtime," said Gina.
John grabbed Becky's arms and forcefully escorted her out of the room. Andrew pointed his pistol at D and forced him to leave the room with him. Gina grabbed Lucy's wrist and walked out of the room. Lynn and Benny were left alone in the room, locked in a cage together.
"You know what has to be done!" said Sherry through a walkie-talkie. "We're going to be there in about a minute!"
The van arrived in the headquarters just as D, Becky, and Lucy stood together. The sunset had disappeared out of the horizon, with only a moon to illuminate the late evening. Sherry stepped out of the van with Doug with their pistols in their hands.
"Ponytail and the katana boy are still down there," said Andrew.
"I'll get them," said Sherry. "If David and the others arrive, and I'm still not here, shoot them, but don't kill them. I want to try something out."
Sherry walked inside the hot room and towards the cage. She and Doug pointed their guns at the two young teens.
"You know this cage's not locked right?" said Sherry.
She pulled the cage upwards to Lynn's dismay. Benny seemed to not care. In fact, he would rather stay in the cage so he can deal with his grief in peace. Sherry grabbed Benny's arms and Doug grabbed Lynn's wrist as they moved out of the room.
The refreshing air of the warehouse could not calm Benny's fear of what was going to come next. Sherry kicked Benny's calves, causing him to fall to his knees in order to be in line with the other hostages. Lynn lowered herself, and held Benny's left hand. Benny looked at Lynn.
"Go. Do it with the others. We're family, right?" whispered Lynn.
Benny nodded and grabbed Lucy's left hand with his right hand. Lucy did the same with Becky, and she did it as well with D. Sherry looked at the group and smiled.
"How sweet. Just to let you all know, what I'm going to do is nothing personal."
The RV, Vanzilla, the SUV, and the van arrived in front of the warehouse. The headlights shone on the hostages. David, Lori, Jason, George, and Richard saw their people once again, relieved that they are alive, but frightened that they might lose them again. D, Becky, Lucy, Benny, and Lynn looked at the familiar vehicles and smiled.
Sherry walked towards a shipping container and opened it. Inside the shipping container was a roamer with a snare attached around its neck. The snare was connected to a grabber which was held by a hook in the shipping container. Sherry removed the hook and held the grabber, controlling the roamer as she moved out of the shipping container. The roamer's growls increased the heartbeats of every hostage, even Lucy, for she feared for the life of the others.
The group got out of their vehicles and took cover behind them. David pointed his gun at the Piranhas while they pointed their guns at the hostages. Sherry revealed herself while she held the roamer by the neck with her grabber. Lori noticed that the roamer was extending its arms and clawing at the air, trying to bite the hostages. Vonda knew that her mother was using fear and intimidation in order to make the group seem weak.
"I'm going to make this very clear to you all!" yelled Sherry. "Hand over George, or else these children will die a slow death! Lower your guns! Want to test me?"
"So, what's the plan?" asked Lori.
"You guys have lost enough already. It's time to do what I should've done in the beginning," said George.
"No. Don't go yet," whispered Vonda.
Vonda walked away from the RV and towards the Piranhas.
"No! What is she doing?" whispered Lori loudly.
"I think she's got a plan," said David. "Meanwhile, let's prepare ourselves."
"I'm going with and don't try to stop me I got this," said Jason.
"Fine just be careful," replied David.
Jason pulled out his knife and walked with Vonda. He kept it down and moved it around, the moon light flashed on his knife. The light hit Lucy's face getting her attention, she looked at Jason and saw him mouthed something.
"It's going to bit your neck. Be ready," mouthed Jason.
"Okay," mouthed Lucy.
Vonda and Jason stuck close to the RV, holding her bow. The Piranhas stood still, watching. Sherry was not ready to talk to Vonda face-to-face.
"Vonda! You gotta get away from here! Either go back into one of the vehicles, or run! I can tell shit is about to happen!"
"You think this is what Dad would've wanted?" asked Vonda.
"Your father would've wanted you to stay alive. The whole time you were with me, I was able to fulfill his and my wishes! But he doesn't give a shit about what I did!"
"So, you think he would've wanted you to be responsible for the death of Lynn's best friend?" shouted Vonda.
Lynn looked down at the tiles in the floor.
What about what you did to Tad! No one that young deserves to die like that! And what about Luan? How do you think those three feel?"
Vonda pointed at Lucy, Benny, and Lynn. They looked at Vonda, wondering what she was trying to tell Sherry. Lynn felt her heart drop. She got no confirmation that Luan was dead or alive.
"I don't think he would've given a shit, Vonda," hissed Sherry.
"But I do," said her daughter. "You need to stop."
There was silence except the growling of the roamer. Sherry and Vonda locked eyes. Sherry looked at the Piranhas and sighed.
"No. I can't stop. Not until George is dead," said Sherry. "I'm sorry, Vonda. I really am. I don't do any of that because I wanted to. It's because I needed to. And the things I'm going to do is because I need to do it. It's difficult to understand and you probably think I'm a monster, but the way I do things is to ensure the survival of myself and the people closest to me."
"You can go back! You don't have to do these things!"
"Go back where? You thought the apocalypse changed me? You can ask George. The apocalypse didn't change me. It only created a truer version of myself. I can't take any half-measures anymore."
Sherry moved closer to the hostages and looked at the group. Upon seeing that they did not budge, she released the snared roamer and pulled out her pistol. Vonda took out an arrow from her quill and aimed it at the roamer. She released the arrow at the roamer, which was stumbling towards Benny. The arrow pierced its cheek and forced its head to face D, Becky, and Lucy. Lori raised her gun, but could not find the confidence to shoot the roamer. Sherry crouched to the ground, hidden behind the hostages. Vonda drew another arrow and prepared to aim it at the roamer.
"Lucy," yelled Jason.
However, she was too late. The roamer sunk its teeth into its victim. Vonda's mouth widened and her eyes grew as she struggled to comprehend what just happened. Sherry looked at the roamer and was slightly shocked to who its victim was. Its victim scream as the roamer ripped the skin off of the back of her right arm. Lucy tried to dodge the roamer and almost got away before it grabbed her right arm. Lori cried out as Lucy fell to the ground with a gash on her arm.
D and Becky ran away from the roamer while Benny and Lynn ducked to the ground. Vonda saw her mother hiding behind Benny and she grew angrier. She lifted her bow and shot an arrow at Sherry, piercing through her right arm. Sherry yelled in pain.
Lori lifted her pistol and started shooting at the Piranhas. The Piranhas ran inside the warehouse and away from the chaotic scene. Gina took hold of the grabber and lifted the roamer upwards with blood in its mouth. The roamer begged for more of Lucy's flesh. Lucy crawled away, while holding her left hand on the back of her right arm. Gina aimed her pistol at the group and started shooting at them.
"Go! Sherry! I got them! Go!" yelled Gina.
"Ah! Fuck!" gasped Sherry as she looked at her lower right arm.
She grabbed Benny by his neck as they both walked inside the warehouse. George was unable to shoot Sherry as she was using human shields. Jason tried to shoot Gina but missed. Richard was not used to shooting with his left hand, so he was not able to hit Sherry as well. David tried to shoot the other Piranha, Bertie, but was unable to since he was hiding behind Lynn.
Luna, Sam, Luan, Sergei, Dana, and Wavehead left their vehicles to join the skirmish. Luan ran towards the roamer that bit Lucy. Gina saw Luan running towards her. She aimed her pistol at the girl while trying to control the roamer at the same time. The roamer moved around in a wild manner, causing Gina to miss her shot, her bullets hitting the river by the docks.
Vonda saw an opening, so she pulled back the string on her bow with an arrow and aimed at the Piranha. Vonda released the string, causing the arrow to be launched into her chest through one of her lungs. Gina fell to the ground and released the snared roamer. The roamer walked towards Lucy to get a second bite, but Luan quickly lunged towards the roamer and thrust her sword into its head. She took a close look at the roamer and noticed how many bullet holes were riddled into its body.
"Walk, girl," hissed Bertie.
Lynn continued to stare at Lucy as she crawled her way towards the vehicles. Luan was escorting her back to the vehicles with tears running down her cheeks. Lynn found herself unable to cry, but she was breathing heavily. Bertie looked at the girl's face and then at Lucy.
"Oh, I see. Here, let me end her suffering."
Bertie peeked at Lucy and aimed his pistol at the little girl. Lynn was breathing harder and harder until she was hissing, and finally letting out a yell. She turned around and punched Bertie in his stomach and then his face, knocking his glasses into the tiles in the ground. Lynn dashed away from Bertie and towards Lucy. Bertie picked up his pistol and was ready to shoot the girl.
"Oh, no you won't you little shit! You won't get away with-"
Jason ran slammed his foot on Bertie's arm, breaking his arm causing him to scream.
"Nice try dumbass, when you get to hell, tell Gus and Boomer I said hi," said Jason.
Jason ran towards Lynn to help Lucy knowing Lori has his back. Bertie grabbed his pistol with his other hand and was ready to shot Jason.
"Oh, your going to pay for that you-"
Lori pulled the trigger to her AK-47. The bullets roared as they escaped the chamber and lodged itself into Bertie's body. The trigger was not released until a few seconds later when the magazine was emptied out.
Lynn covered her head as she faced the concrete floor. She opened her eyes and looked back at the gangster. His corpse laid in the ground, riddled with bullets just as the roamer was. She quickly picked herself up and ran towards Lucy. Becky and D ran along with her, as two of their captors were now dead.
Inside the warehouse, Sherry, John, Andrew, and Doug made their way towards the back door. Doug entered his van while the others stood outside. Sherry, Andrew, and John were looking around the warehouse.
"Where did katana boy go?" asked John.
"Guys! It don't matter! We gotta get outta here!" shouted Doug.
"He's right!" agreed Sherry. "But first, take this shit off of me!"
Andrew took out a knife and cut the arrow so that the arrowhead would fall to the ground. Sherry's sweat ran faster down her face as she pulled out the arrow slowly. She then completely removed the arrow, tossing it to the ground and entering the van.
"I need some bandages," said Sherry as John and Andrew entered the van with her. "Damn, I can't believe Vonda did that. Remember guys, she's still off-limits!"
"Off limits?" asked Andrew. "She just tried to kill you!"
"She's my fucking daughter! Is there another option? And don't you dare say the other option or else I'll cut your balls out and shove 'em down a roamer's throat!"
The van was driven away from the warehouse, where Benny was hiding inside the shipping container that contained the snared roamer. He peeked out of the container and escaped it, wiping his hands on his pants. He looked out the ground where he saw his fellow group members surrounding a bitten Lucy. He then fell to the ground and looked at the ceiling before losing consciousness.
"Lucy!" shouted Lincoln.
He and his sisters ran towards the dying girl, who was holding her arm in pain. Even Leni understood what was going on with her little sister. Luna held her hands in her mouth in shock as she knelt down to the ground. Lola, Lana, and Lisa looked at their older sister, realizing that they might have to face huge loss. They held each other while Luan went to comfort Luna. Lori, Lincoln, and Lynn leaned close to their beloved sister as she started to speak.
"Luan…" Lucy said softly, causing the katana girl to come closer, "You're alive!"
"Of course she is," sniffled Lynn as her voice started breaking down. "I knew it. We knew it. We knew she was alive. Isn't that right, Luce?"
"Don't cry," said Lucy, while moving her bangs away from her eyes. "Do you see me crying?"
"Sorry, I can't help it."
"Lisa, isn't there something you can do?" cried Lori. "There's gotta be something!"
"We have to amputate her arm fast!"
Jason ran towards the RV and grabbed Dana's machete and ran to Lucy and used his belt as a tourniquet.
"Everyone move. I got this. Lucy I'm not going to lie this is going hurt a lot be ready," said Jason.
"Just get it over with."
Jason lifted the machete and swung it down cutting Lucy's arm clear off. Lucy screamed in pain as Lynn carried her to the RV so Lisa can stop the bleeding.
David, George, and Richard walked close to the warehouse. George looked at the roamer that Luan killed and noticed something familiar about the monster. His face was similar to someone he knew. And that's when it hit him. Martin Briggs. George was painfully reminded that he was going to have to kill Sherry to achieve justice for not just the fallen agents, but for the other people that the woman killed as well.
They walked inside the warehouse and found Benny lying unconscious by the window of the warehouse. He was breathing, informing the three men that he was still alive.
"George, let's get him some water! Quick!" said David.
David, Richard, and George came out of the warehouse with a dazed but conscious Benny. He drank a bottle of water while observing the Louds prying for their sister's survival. Lori lifted the Python and handed it over to Richard.
Becky hugged Dana and Bobby, not saying a word as to be careful about respecting the fearfulness that the Louds were going through. Wavehead and D grabbed each other's right hands and gave each other a brotherly hug, patting each other's back softly. Carol walked over to Becky and was met with her tears as she realized that she was never going to see Tad again. Carol continued to embrace her as she looked at Benny, noticing how filthy his bandage was.
Benny looked at Lori, Leni, Luna, Lynn, Lincoln, Lola, Lana, and Lisa. Clyde was holding Lily, keeping her away from witnessing the amputation of her sister's arm. Benny then saw a girl with her hair similar to Dana's and a katana in the ground by her. He quickly realized that he was looking at Luan, and he was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.
Luan turned around and saw Benny, shirtless with a large bandage wrapped across his chest and a mark resembling peeled skin around his left shoulder. She silently stood up, leaped towards him, and embraced him tightly. Her soft whimpers told Benny that there was no time to happily reunite with each other and that there was never going to be any time for that.
"I thought you were gone…" said Benny. "I'm sorry, that's not what I should be worrying about."
"No, it's okay," sniffled the girl. "I want you here. I missed you. Just hold me."
The wind howled. The roamers were growling as they moved close to the group. They were killed off by Sam and Sergei, whose jobs were to prevent anything from disrupting the fearfulness of the Louds and the reunification of the captured members and their group. The wind howled stronger, prompting the group to enter the vehicles.
David, Jason, and Lori remained outside, Lori was worried that her sister might not survive. After Lisa stopped the bleeding Lucy passed out. The wind blew on Lori's hair, masking her sorrowful face.
"What are you two still doing here? You do realize what we have to do, right?" asked Lori.
"Come inside the RV then. If you want to see the pursuit, then you can."
"I just don't want to see the pursuit. I want to be the first one to catch Sherry," hissed Lori. "And then there's nothing you can do to keep me from ending her."
"George gets the honor," said David. "She's responsible for the death of his family. He's been chasing her for so many years. He deserves it."
"David is right Lori. George has to be the one to do it, and don't worry Lucy will be okay," reassured Jason.
David and Lori went back inside the vehicle. Lori had revenge in her eyes. She believed it would make her feel better and ignored the emotional toll that premeditated murder would have on her.
"Where do you think Sherry's going?" asked David.
"Upstate. Definitely upstate," replied Vonda, pointing at the map that Richard was holding. "Probably in the Adirondacks, near Lake George. That's where my dad and I went once."
"Then that's where we're gonna go," said David.