S1: E8: Shoot and Cut

            Lee is barely conscious as he shifts his body through the gravel blackened with fire and ash. He could hear the crackling fire burning what remained of the car the exploded. Lee remembered seeing Timothy fly off the car with half his clothing on fire, and seeing him impact into the ground unconscious. On top of the sound of burning metal, Lee could hear even more clearly the sound of rovers tripping towards him. Slowly rising to his feet, Lee pulls out his knife. His head hurt more than he couldn’t see, but it didn’t stop him from driving his knife into a rover’s skull just as it came near. Lee ran to Tim’s body; his pants and jacket still in flames. Lee beat Tim’s clothing with his hands, grabbing handfuls of dirt and rubbing it into his friend’s clothes. The fire quickly died, just as Lee spun around to counter an attacking rover’s advancement. Taking it down with ease, the numbers of the rover horde moving towards Lee and Tim were increasing. A few of the rovers had caught fire, and yet were stilling stumbling towards their next meal.

[Lee]: Come on, Tim, I need you, man!

            Tim doesn’t respond; he is still unconscious from the blast. Lee then raises his hand and slaps Timothy across the face. A split second later, Timothy opens his eyes.

[Lee]: Tim get up now!

            Pulling Tim up to his feet, the two stumble away from the horde.

·        

            Just outside the fence line within the woods, Zach, Maddy and Kelley are completely covered in blood gathered from the corpse Zach ripped open.

[Kelley]: How do you know this will work?

[Zach]: I’ve already tested it. The rovers are able to tell who’s alive and who’s not just by smell alone. If we smell like them, we might as well be them.

            As Zach finished speaking, the sound of gun fire goes off out in the distance. The origin of the noise coming from somewhere on the property.

[Kelley]: What are they doing?

[Zach]: They’re killing the rovers; their trying to salvage the property; take it for their own.

[Maddy]: So what are we gonna do?

[Zach]: There’s a gap in the fence a few feet from here, we’ll get there and then I’ll show ya’ll what we’re gonna do.

            Continuing through the woods they reach the five-foot wide gap in the fence that hadn't yet been repaired. The three knelt behind the fence line set behind the white house. Rovers by the dozens were shuffling through the grass and dirt as if they had nothing better to do.

[Zach]: Alright. Kelly, you see that big tree next to the tractor? I want you to get behind it so your eyes are facing the back of the house. If you see anybody, play dead, and don’t move. Maddy, I want you to get behind the large tree in front of us a few yards. I’m gonna climb up on top of the R.V parked behind the house and when I say so, each of you fire off two shots and only two. Got it?

            The two girls agreed. The three broke from their hiding spot. Kelley and Maddy were at first skeptical of how well their fleshy camouflage was going to work. They were anxious and afraid; up until they came within inches of some of the rovers who simply brushed passed them.   

            Reaching the top of the R.V, Zach lay down on his bare stomach and gave thumbs up to Maddy and Kelly. The two girls then lifted up their guns and fired off two shots each. It was just a few minutes later two of the strangers pulled around the corner behind the house and began shooting at the dozens of the rovers.

[Stranger 1]: You heard those shots; they were coming from right here!

[Stranger 2]: I don’t know, man. I don’t like this.

            Just then, Zach leaped off the RV with his machete raised. As he hit the ground, he used the momentum to bring down his melee into one of the men’s skulls. Letting the machete go because it was stuck inside the man’s head, Zach yanked out his dad’s Colt 45 as the second stranger began to spin around. But before the stranger could do anything, Zach shot the man in the quadriceps. The man quickly dropped to the ground growling in pain. Kicking away the rifle, Zach knelt down beside the wounded man clutching his bleeding leg.

[Stranger 1]: (Voice cracking) Get away from me, man! Screw you!

            The man pulled a knife out, but his hand was quickly shot by Zach’s revolver, several of the man’s fingers and chunks of flesh blasted in different directions. The man yelled in pain once again. Pulling out his own knife, Zach looked deeply into the man’s eyes as rovers began to stumble towards the two.

[Zach]: Scream louder for me.

            Jamming his knife into the stranger’s bullet wound, the man screams even louder than before. Zach pulled the knife out and took a step back as rovers piled on top of the man and began to feast on his flesh. Zach watched the man get torn apart. His face was in complete shock at seeing what he did. Maddy and Kelley numbly watch as their friend commits horrible murder. For a moment, Zach was frozen, but then we remembered the mission, and clicked back into action. He picked up the man’s rifle and looked back at Maddy and Kelley.

[Zach]: There will be more. Take the shot when you know for sure you can pull the trigger.           

            Zach knelt down amongst the rovers that were eating the man and set down the rifle behind all the bodies to hide it. From a distance, he simply looked like another rover eating a victim. Several seconds later, three more strangers come around the corner and begin killing several of the rovers. Then by surprise, a gunshot goes off and one of the men grasps his shoulder and falls to his knees. The two remaining gunmen shoot back at the line of fire till Maddy picked off one of them with a head shot. The man was dead before he hit the ground. The wounded man began firing at Maddy and the other man at Kelly. The two girls were pinned behind cover till suddenly, Zach grabs the rifle and stands up from the pile of rovers and picks off the two strangers with ease.

[Zach]: That’s all of them, right?

[Maddy]: No there’s one more.

            Leaving their spots, Kelley and Maddy walk towards Zach.

[Zach]: Ok, I think we still have the element of surprise, but we need to find out if there are more of these guys beyond the walls. So we won’t kill the last man.

[Maddy]: When we get the information that we want  thenI will.

[Zach]: We can talk about this stuff later but for now, we all need to play dead.

            Lee and Tim reach the road where the two vehicles from the property were completely destroyed by the strangers. Worried for their loved ones, the two call out their names hoping to find them.

[Lee]: Maddy!

[Tim]: Kelley!

            Appearing out of the woods is Dylan.

[Dylan]: (Sharp whisper) Guys, shut up! The rest of us are in here.

            Reaching the remnants of the group, Lee sprints towards Brittany who is sitting on a fallen tree. Her face is blank from emotion and her shoulder is wrapped up and bleeding.

[Lee]: Hey...are you ok, what happened?!

[Dylan]: We were attacked, man.

[Tim]: Where’s Kelley and Zach?

[Lee]: Where’s Maddy?

[Tim]: Dylan, where is everyone?!

            Hearing all the questions at once, Dylan breaks into tears.

[Dylan]: EVERYONE IS DEAD!!

            Lee and Tim are dead silent for several seconds.

[Dylan]: Zach, Maddy, and Kelley are out there trying to stop the guys that killed everyone, ok!

            Immediately grabbing guns, Lee and Tim speed back out of the woods and towards the property to aid their friends and family.

[Lee]: There’s no way everybody’s dead. There’s no way.

[Tim]: The bad guys are probably holding them captive. We gotta be careful. Stay quiet, keep your eyes peeled. This isn’t airsoft, this is real; you get shot…there’s no respawn.

           

            The last of the strangers quietly stepped into the back of the house. All the rovers were dead, leaving nothing but pools of blood, and piles of bodies. The stranger hugged the corner of the house as he turned it, kneeling low to the ground for cover. The air was silent, save the few gusts of whistling wind. The sky began to sprinkle water, and a few seconds after, it began to pour. The stranger soon advanced from behind the RV to standing out in the open. He knew everyone was dead. He saw the bodies of his friends: a few of them unrecognizable because of how much flesh had been peeled from their bodies. But he recognized the guns. He knew he was the only survivor. Suddenly, the stranger heard the sound of footsteps running towards him from the other side of the house. Tim came within the man’s sights. The two fired shots at one another as they both scrambled for cover. Lee fired a third shot, wounding the man’s left arm below the elbow. Just then, Zach, who was playing dead amongst the piles of rovers jumped to his feet and dismembered the man’s fingers gripping the gun. The man fell to his knees, then Zach pulled out his knife and without hesitation or remorse jammed it into the man’s right leg.  

[Tim]: Guys back away!

[Zach]: We need answers!

            The stranger shoved Zach back. The man scrambled to his feet until a bullet ripped through the man’s left leg; the bullet’s origin from Tim’s AR-15. The stranger fell to his knees just before Zach swung his revolver, banging against the man’s temple, knocking him unconscious.

[Zach]: Maddy, there’s some rope in the garage, we’ll tie him up.

[Tim]: Zach, what are you doing?

[Zach]: We need answers from these guys. We gotta know if there are more of them.

[Lee]: Zach, it was just them-

[Zach]: And we’ll know for sure after we question him.

[Tim]: Zach…this is wrong.

            Walking slowly towards Lee and Tim, Zach’s blood covered face slowly began to cleanse from the rain, but the rain couldn’t cleanse the grim look in his eyes.

[Zach]: It was wrong for them to kill our family…our friends. Shane, Roger, Josh, Aunt Kay, Uncle Chad, Nick, Ethen, Julia, Nathan, Glenn, Robyn, Haven, Emily…Hannah.

            Tears began to stream down Zach’s face. He backed away from Tim and Lee before stumbling backward and falling on his back out of pure emotion. He covered his face with his hands as the sky showered on top of him. Maddy had already come back and tied up of the stranger. Zach slowly got back to knees and knelt beside the stranger with his knife again.

[Zach]: (Angrily) where are the rest of your friends?

[Stranger 6]: You killed them...Look at them!

[Zach]: And you killed mine, so I’m a little low on patience.

            Zach jammed his knife into the man’s gun wound. The man screamed. Kelley sobbed and walked behind Tim. Maddy watched blankly. Lee and Tim are in shock.

[Zach]: (Furiously) Where’s the rest of your group?!

[Stranger 6]: (Wailing) I don’t have anybody else, please!

[Tim]: Zach back off, he doesn’t know.

[Zach]: HE’S LYING!

[Stranger 6]: (Crying) I’m telling the truth!

[Zach]: Who has a school bus and enough fire arms to raid a community? Where did you get the school bus from? Did you kill for it?

[Stranger 6]: I found it I swear!

            Zach proceeded to twist the knife inside the wound. Blood bubbled and sprayed out of the bullet hole as the man screamed horrifically. Finally, Tim stepped towards Zach and raised his rifle at him.

[Tim]: Walk away from him, Zach. He’s telling the truth. I don’t wanna have to do this.

            For a few moments, the kids were dead silent. Zach stared at Tim for a while before slowly rising to his feet. Suddenly, his eyes widened as his conscience kicked in. He looked down at the man he was torturing. He looked at his fear stricken friends. They weren’t afraid of the strangers that killed their friends and family. They were afraid of their friend. Zach slowly backed away from his friends. He looked at each of them closely, before turning around and running into the woods. Tim lowered his gun and wiped the tears from his face.

[Lee]: No. Not Shane. Mom and Dad…

[Maddy]: (Monotone) they’re dead.

            Lee set the gun down on the ground and covered his face with his hands and cried. Tim walked over to the man and pulled out his knife to cut the bonds till suddenly Maddy pulled her gun out and shot the man in the face. Tim jumped back in surprise. Everyone looked at Maddy. She put her gun back behind her belt on her pants and walked away. Kelley fell to her knees and sobbed. Lee leaned his head against the wall of the house and sobbed uncontrollably. Tim only stood in complete shock, unsure of what to do.

·        

            The rain stopped. The day was slowly growing darker. Tim, Kelley, Lee, Brittany, Maddy, Alissa, and Dylan were all soaked to the skin in rain water. All seven of them were sitting in the living room of the white house. All of them were silent. They were too broken to cry at this point. Several minutes went by until Tim finally took initiative.

[Tim]: I know we’re down. We’ve lost a lot. But we need to figure out what we’re gonna do-

[Alissa]: I don’t wanna be here anymore.

[Tim]: We can repair the damage and-

[Brittany]: (Sobbing) I don’t wanna be here either. Every time I look outside or walk around this house it’s gonna remind me of them.

[Tim]: You understand we’re gonna have to go out there and try to survive?

            The group didn’t respond. But Tim understood where they were coming from. He nodded and stood up from the couch he was sitting in.

[Tim]: Alright then. Here’s what we’re gonna do: we’re gonna gather up all the supplies from both houses: food, clothes, medical supplies, guns and machetes, and we’re going to take the bus and find someplace safe.

[Kelley]: What about Zach?

            Tim thought about for a while. Everyone looked at Tim waiting for a response.

[Tim]: We’ll leave him a note to stay here till the end of the week. I’ll come back here at the end of the week and hopefully…things will be better.

[Lee]: What do you mean “be better”? Zach’s our friend, and even though what he did was…

[Kelley]: Insane. Sick in the head.

[Lee]: But he’s family! And without him, those guys probably would have killed all of us. He’s not just our friend but he’s also a valuable member of the team.

[Tim]: I never said he wasn’t our friend, or that he hasn’t been valuable, but he’s also taken all of this to the extreme. I think he needs time to himself; you saw him realize what he did before he ran off. If he gets the note and spends the week to himself to mull over what he did he’ll be better.

            The group was silent again.

[Tim]: We’ll leave tomorrow morning.

·        

            The sun rose the next day. It was nearly seven o’clock by the time everyone had loaded up the supplies and sat down inside the bus. Tim was still inside the house. He looked around the house looking at all the pictures of Zach and his family. They were all gone now. Zach was out there somewhere, but he was going to get better. Tim left the house with the note resting on the kitchen table.

            The group is driving down the road. It’s completely quiet in the bus. No one wanted to speak a word. While Tim drove the vehicle, he dug through the glove compartment and found a CD. He placed it in the CD player and the song “Sweet Dreams” began to play. Maddy was reminded of the good old times when she would sing with Lee while driving down the road.  Tears rolled down her face. She her mother, she missed Shane and Haven and Emily...and she missed her daddy.

            Lee got up from his seat and stood beside Tim as they drove down 242.

[Lee]: We should stop at the Nichols and pick them up.

[Tim]: You know how to get there?

[Lee]: Yeah.

            Driving towards the Nichols house, they pass a beer lounge and meat processing facility till they came upon the mobile home. There were several dead corpses spread throughout the three acre property. The bus came to a halt and Tim grabbed his AR-15.

[Tim]: Come on Lee, we’ll check it out. The rest of you are on the lookout. Watch over them, Dylan.

[Dylan]: Yeah.

            Exiting the bus, the two carefully tread towards the front door.

[Lee]: Knock on the door first.

[Tim]: Right.

            Tim tapped the door a few times with the barrel of his rifle. It was silent inside the abode. Lee nodded to Tim, giving him to the chance to step inside. Quickly moving inside the house, Tim scanned the area with his rifle, Lee watching his back.

[Bailey]: Lee?!

            Lee turned in the direction of the voice and it was Bailey wielding a bow. Audrey and Jenna were armed with a shotgun and a Glock 47.

[Lee]: Hey, Bailey!

            The three girls lowered their weapons and their faces lit up with complete joy. Lee and Tim tried to smile, but they couldn’t.

[Bailey]: I honestly thought I’d never see you guys again.

[Audrey]: (Placing her hands on the sides of her face) I KNOW! It's like those awkward dysfunctional family reunions! 

[Tim]: Where’s everyone else?

[Bailey]: Ian and a friend of mine named London are out on a supply run. They’ll be getting back within the hour.

[Lee]: Where are Candace and your mom? Where’s Mr. Nichols?

            The three were silent for a few seconds.

[Audrey]: It was the day after our dad picked us up from Zach’s place. He went on a supply run with Candace. They thought that they’d find a gun and some ammo at the beer lounge down the road. It was the next day when Bailey and mom went to find out what happened when we found out what happened to them.

[Bailey]: Then Ian, Jenna, London, and a few other youth group members and their families came here, but I guess it attracted too much attention. We were constantly fighting off the rovers and other people too. One by one we lost people. 

[Audrey]: We’ve been holding the place up ever since.

            Lee’s numb emotions gave no response. He simply stood there, accepting the death of more people he knew and cared for.

[Tim]: I’m…so sorry for all of that. We’ve been through just as much, if not worse.

            A look of worry fell over the three girls’ faces.

[Jenna]: Who’s left?

·        

            Dylan is sitting in one of the seats looking out the window when he suddenly sees two figures out in the distance. He lifts his crossbow and carefully steps out of the bus using the vehicle as cover. He waits patiently as the two figures get closer. Waiting for the right moment, Dylan waits anxiously to jump out into the open. As soon as he leaps out, Ian and London are standing ten feet away from him with their rifles raised at him.

[Dylan]: Ian?

[Ian]: Oh. It’s you.

[Dylan]: Yeah, Lee and Tim are inside.

[Ian]: Oh. Lovely.

            Stepping inside the house, Ian and London walk in on Bailey, and Audrey in tears, and Jenna struggling to fight the urge to cry.

[Ian]: What is…going on?

[Tim]: …We need to talk.

·        

            The group is all packed inside the mobile home; all of them struggling with tears and emotions.

[Tim]: There was nothing we could do, and Zach is still out there. Hopefully he sees the note and the Lord will heal him by the end of the week.

[Ian]: And if he isn’t?

[Bailey]: He will be. He has to be.

[London]: But what if he isn’t. I don’t who this Zach is, but what if he isn’t ok? What if he gets worse?

[Lee]: You don’t know Zach. He gets over things pretty quick. Even though what happened was terrible, by the end of the week there will be improvement…at least enough so that he doesn’t ever do stuff like he did yesterday.

[Audrey]: (Crying) I can’t believe any of this is happening. It was just a few months ago we were all watching Dustin sing at Dose Doe. Remember that?

[Ian]: I wasn’t there.

[Lee]: It was a good time. (Chuckles) Remember Zach? He was lip syncing almost every song.

[Bailey]: Yeah and he did that weird lip thing.

[Audrey]: And that one guy with the guitar who acted like he was trying to poop the entire time he was playing?

[Lee]: (Laughs) Yeah he was head banging and everything.

[Bailey]: And Shelby was hypnotized to that one guy on the piano. Remember that, Brittany?

            Brittany didn’t reply. Her eyes were still red and raw with tears of pain and agony. Everyone was quiet.

[Lee]: We’ll figure it all out. We’ll make it. We just gotta adjust to everything. 

[Alissa]: (Crying) I wish we all would have adjusted sooner. Maybe my family would still be alive.

[Bailey]: I don’t think anybody could adjust that quickly. We’ve been fighting the rovers and a couple of people every now and then since we got back home, and even still, I don’t feel used to the blood.

[Lee]: Zach was. He went through the worst of it. That’s why he is the way he is right now. We have to hold onto ourselves. We can’t adjust too quickly. We can’t so that we can still feel, you know? Once we stop feeling, I don’t even know what to call us even more. We might as well be the rovers. We might as well be the walking dead. 

            The room was silent for a few minutes.

[London]: So what are we gonna do now?

[Tim]: Well, I propose that you guys gather your supplies, and join us. I noticed the SUV out in the front. We can load the food supplies in there and have two people in that vehicle, and the rest of us in the bus.

[Dylan]: What’s our play now? Are we gonna go looking for the rest of us?

[London]: What do you mean “the rest of us”?

[Ian]: The youth group.

[Tim]: I haven’t really thought about it, but I’d say that’s a good idea. Get the youth group back, and others. We’ll find somewhere to fortify, hunker down, and survive.

[Bailey]: What about the church?

[Audrey]: Bailey, the rovers took it, remember?

[Lee]: Yeah, but we can take it back. Once we get everybody we’ll have enough people to take it back. We use team work and strategy to get the church.  

[Ian]: Plus the two lumber yards; one next to the church and the other one on Silverdale. We could use those and other hardware to build walls.

[Kelley]: We could always gather more supplies at the Golden’s. They had lots of sheet metal and construction supplies and I’m sure we could use the ATV, the tractor and sky lift.

[Lee]: Yeah, the sky lift could be a watchtower. 

[Tim]: I think right now we should all just take a breather. We’re moving too fast. We don’t know if the church is completely destroyed, or if it’s taken by another group, and even if it’s neither of those, we still have to gather up the rest of our friends which could take days. Maybe weeks. Let’s just take one step at a time and not overwhelm ourselves.

[Ian]: Well the way I see it: the more people that there is in a coup; the more likely mistakes will be made, the more accidents, and possibly casualties. There’s already a well numbered amount of individuals in our group as it is.

[Alissa]: Are you saying you don’t want to come with us?

[Ian]: No, that is not what I am implying.  

[Lee]: You don’t want any more people coming into our group.

[Ian]: I hate to sound like the jerk of group, but yes. Essentially that is what I am implying.

[Tim]: A group only does as good as its leader. That applies to any sized group. I think if we’re gonna increase our numbers we need someone to lead us.

[Bailey]: I think we should vote.

[Ian]: Anonymously, so that there is no friction. We will write our vote on a piece of paper and put it in the red salad bowl in the cabinet.

[Tim]: An hour from now we’ll count the number of votes and whoever has the most will be our leader.

[Lee]: And you can’t vote for more than one person, and it has to be someone you think would keep all of us alive and help us through any situation, you know?

[Audrey]: Sounds good.

[Bailey]: Solid.

            A few hours passed, every fifteen minutes or so one of the kids would place their vote in the red bowl. Lee is still sitting on the couch beside his sister, Maddy.

[Lee]: I’ve already voted.

[Maddy]: (No response.)

[Lee]: I think you should too; get your mind off of everything.

[Maddy]: Do you even miss him? Had he even crossed your mind yet? Shane is dead. Your parents and half of everyone we know are gone-

[Lee]: (Irritant) I know that, Maddy! But I don’t wanna think about it and get consumed by all this sick depression you’re putting yourself through. You’re choosing to be this way and the only way we can make it and keep ourselves is by keeping our minds busy with what’s important.

            It’s quiet for a few subtle moments before Kelley walks away from her observing spot. She sits quietly next to Tim.

[Kelley]: Who’d you vote for?

[Tim]: You can’t tell anyone. The last thing we need is friction between two or more students.

[Kelley]: I won’t.

[Tim]: I voted for you. You’re level headed. You’re smart. You’re good with people and I think if you were in charge they would follow you. How about you?

[Kelley]: (Chuckles) I had no choice but to vote for my brother.

            Kelley hugs Tim, and vice versa.

                        Ian and Jenna are sitting on the steps of the house outside the door. It’s nearly evening, and the sky is glowing with orange and purple streams of light.

[Jenna]: So we’re going with them?

[Ian]: Strategically speaking, it’s a bad idea. Like I said earlier the more people the more likely things will happen. But they are our friends, and we need their help just as much as they need ours. So we’ll go with them.

[Jenna]: Yeah. That’s why I voted for you.

            Her fingers slid gently into Ian’s. He held her hand tightly. He didn’t want to let go. Ever.

            The next day, a slight drizzle poured across the plains. The thirteen students were all sitting in the living room. Lee grabbed the red bowl and shook it up a bit.

[Tim]: Now guys, before we show the votes, we need everyone to know that we did this by the honor code. So no one should have voted for themselves, added more than one vote, or anything like that. This is potentially a life and death situation. We’re choosing a leader, so we need to be professional about this.

[Alissa]: I don’t know. Voting right now just doesn’t really seem like a good thing to do. Maybe if there were a lot more of us then voting would be good, but for a small group of kids, honestly, I would have preferred we waited for time to tell who was better under pressure and everything.  

[Ian]: As much as that is factual, to be completely truthful, there are a lot of people in here who would qualify to be a “good leader”. If we don’t have a leader as soon as possible, we would be butting heads and griping about stupid things like not wanting to do what we were told.

[Bailey]: Exactly.

[Tim]: That’s right. But you’re also right Alyssa. Maybe in the future when there’s plenty more of us, then maybe we’ll vote on another leader, maybe more than one leader. I don’t know we’ll have to see.

            At that, Lee pulls one piece of paper out at a time, unfolding the creases to reveal the names of votes. Different names like Ian, Lee, Kelley, and Tim were revealed multiple times. When all the sheets of paper were unfolded, they realized they were at a split decision, and that there were only twelve votes in. Lee looked at Maddy, knowing she hadn’t voted yet.

[Lee]: It’s a split decision. Four for Tim and Ian.

            Everyone looked at Maddy. It was a few minutes of silence before she got up, pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down on it, and left it on the counter face down. She stepped outside the mobile home and inhaled the fresh air.

            All the students stared at the paper; all except Lee, who followed his sister outside. It was always weird for him to give his sister hugs, but somehow in this situation, hugging her was the easiest thing in the world. 

[Lee]: Thank you.

[Maddy]: Thank you.

          

            Ian walked to the counter. All eyes soon fell on him as he lifted the paper off the surface. He saw the vote; the one that would determine who would either lead them to survival, or to their very death. He lifted the paper to all the students for them to see.

            It was settled.  

THE END OF SEASON 1