User blog:Joeaikman/Wiki: Apocalypse - Chapter 20 - Homeward Bound

Joel is on his horse, and is joined by Judith and Duke, as they travel through the woods. They are in silence first, and Duke is hacking at the foliage

Duke: We aren’t ever going to get there.

Joel: Home is only two days walk away. If we carry on through the night then we should be there by morning.

Judith: The dead seem to be less active at night, but our vision will be worse. It still isn’t ideal.

Joel: I know, but it’s the only way. We have to get a message to Clyde and Jasper, to tell them where Morty is taking us, so that they can follow us when they are ready.

Judith: If Clyde and Jasper aren’t already dead,

Joel: Don’t… Don’t say that.

Duke: They’ll both be fine. I know it.

-

Morty and Jordan are sat either side of Tigar. Dev is putting wood on a fire that they have got going. Tigar is gnawing at some meat.

Jordan: Are you sure that he’s alright?

Morty: He seems it I don’t know, though.

Jordan: Maybe we should just…

Morty: No. We need friends. That is how we will survive long enough to meet the others.

Tigar: You do realise that I can hear you both, right?

Morty: Oh… Erm…

Tigar: It’s fine. You considered killing me. That makes sense. It’s the sane thing to do. You don’t know how mad I could be.

Jordan: Are you mad?

Tigar: Aren’t we all?

Jordan: No. I’m not. Neither are my friends.

Tigar: And yet you are wandering around in the wild whilst the dead rise and eat the living. Sounds like something a mad person would do, to me.

Jordan frowns, and looks at Morty, who shrugs

Tigar: You said that you needed friends. I know a place. We could go there, if you want.

Morty: Where is it?

Tigar: Not far from here. In an abandoned factory. It’s my community. We are called the Four Stars.

Dev stops, and stands still when he hears the name. He looks scared, but neither Morty or Jordan notice it.

Morty: Why is it called that?

Tigar: We have four leaders. It’s only a small group, but they welcome in new strangers, to be assessed and approved, usually. Some people get rejected, though.

Tigar pointedly looks and Dev, who sighs and turns around.

Dev: You turned us away because Dennis was mad. I’m not Dennis. I killed him. I can be trusted.

Morty: He comes with us.

Tigar: Very well. Does that mean you are coming with me?

Morty: Yes. When our friends get back.

Tigar: Excellent.

-

Sierra is walking down the street, awkwardly holding hands with Tommy, who is looking despondent and depressed. Sierra looks like she’d rather be anywhere else.

Sierra: Are you okay, Tommy?

Tommy doesn’t respond. He is looking off into the distance.

Sierra: I guess that’s a no. Look, your dad is gone, and your mum is a- She’s a traitor. She isn’t going to be coming back. We have to get used to being together. I- I’m not exactly mum material, but I can try.

Just then, Dirk and Davis walk around a corner and almost bump into them Tommy looks excited to see them.

Tommy: Davis!

Davis: Hi Tommy…

Dirk: Oh. It’s you.

Sierra’s eyes light up as she looked at Dirk.

Tommy: Did you miss me?

Davis: Not really.

Tommy: Oh…

Sierra: Look at them! Don’t they got along well!

Dirk: yes. They do. Why do you say that?

Sierra: Maybe-

Dirk: No. He isn’t staying with me.

Sierra: But you see how well they get on! Do you really not want your daughter to settle in?

Dirk looks down at Sierra and Tommy, who are chatting away. He is clearly undecided.

Dirk: Fine. He can stay with us for the rest of the week. Then I’ll think about it being for longer.

-

Kung is stood in the living room. He is clearly deep in thought. Brandon enters. He is wearing a towel at his waist and is drying his hair.

Brandon: You should go shower, bro. You know we only get like a half hour of hot water a day. I tried not to be in too long.

Kung: I showered yesterday. We need to talk.

Brandon: Right now?

Kung: Yes.

Brandon: Can’t I even go get dressed?

Kung: No. It’s best that we do it now. We need to get it out of the way. You have to stop seeing Jose and Dirk.

Brandon: What? Why?

Kung: Justin doesn’t trust them. If you associate then he won’t trust either of us. He has given us a second chance, Bran. We can’t ruin that. We are safe here.

Brandon: Are we? Wasn’t Clyde meant to be safe here? You can’t trust Justin. One day he will just decide he wants to kill someone, and it could easily be one of us.

Kung: Jasper and Clyde-

Brandon: If you dare tell me that they deserved it…

Kung: They did.

Brandon turns around and storms towards the stairs.

Kung: Where are you going?

Brandon: I’m going to get my stuff, and then I’m going to live with Jose. I don’t care if Justin doesn’t trust me.

Brandon vanishes upstairs, and Kung closes his eyes and breathes a deep breath.

Kung: You should.

-

It’s dark, and Duke, Joel, and Judith are still walking. Duke is leading the party now, and Joel is walking too, leading his horse beside him. Duke is cutting at the foliage with a machete retrieved from Dennis’ camp.

Judith: It’s too dark. I can barely see anything. If we were attacked now….

Joel: We’d hear it. We just have to keep on going. We aren’t far away now.

Duke: Yeah. I’m starting to recognise it.

Judith: If you say so.

Duke: We should try to be quiet, though, just in case-

Duke brings his machete into the foliage, and it is met with a thunk. Then a zombie rises out over the underbush, the machete stuck in its shoulder. Duke lets go of the blade, and fumbles for his gun. Judith then shoots the zombie twice in the head. The sound of the gunshots ring out through the forest. They are met with the sound of slathering zombies.

Duke: Fuck.

Judith: Do we run back?

Joel: No. We can’t. Get in formation. We will survive this.

Duke pulls his machete from the corpse, and Joel draws his own sharp weapon, whilst Judith points her gun. They stand back to back, in a triangle formation.

Joel: get ready. They’re coming.

Just then, the zombies burst through the trees at them. Duke kicks the first back, whilst Joel cuts through his first one. Judith fires two bullets, and two of their assailants drop to the ground.

Judith: I think we are surrounded. We need to create an opening.

Duke: You’re the one with the gun!

Joel cuts down another two, and Duke skewers one, but loses his blade in the process. He kicks another two away, but backs up.

Duke: My weapon!

Judith shoots down three attackers, and then springs forward.

Judith: Opening here! Run!

The three of them set off running. Joel cuts down one more as he does, and Judith shoots two more in the head.

Joel: Come on!

The sound of zombies gorging on the horse can be heard behind them. Joel wipes a tear away from his eye. Duke then stumbles, but Joel and Judith don’t see, and they carry on going. By the time Duke gets back to his feet they have vanished into the dark. He steadies himself, and then turns. A child zombie is stood before him. It is emaciated, and the ribcage is showing, Duke stares at it. Another child appears behind the first one, and then another.

Duke: Fuck. It had to be like this didn’t it?

He falls to his knees, and starts to pant.

Duke: I won’t fight it. I won’t kill children. Not again.

The three zombies come forward, and converge on Duke. The camera then cuts away to Joel and Judith, who stop running when they hear Duke’s dying screams echo through the forest. Joel puts his hand to his mouth. Judith looks shocked.

Joel: I- I didn’t see-

Judith: Neither of us did.

They stand in silence, as the screams go on.

Judith: We should go whilst we can. There is nothing we can do for him now. He will draw the zombies away from us.

Judith starts to run, but Joel stays and looks in the direction of the screams a few seconds longer. He then turns and runs, with Duke still screaming.

-

Rob is still in his chair. He is struggling to breath properly. Cam is stood in the corner of the room, staring at him, a cruel smile on his face.

Rob: What are you waiting for?

Cam: Not what. Who.

Rob: Oh great. Is he coming?

Cam nods, and a few seconds later the door opens wide, and Justin steps inside. He had a wide smile on his face.

Justin: Hey dudes! Did you get that job done, Cammy?

Cam: Yes sir.

He hands the knife to Justin, who inspects it, and then looks over to Rob.

Justin: Did he do a good job? Were you watching him? I told him to make it noisy, so you couldn’t sleep.

Rob: He certainly did that.

Justin: Good. Well done, Cammy.

He walks over to rob, and rubs the point of the knife up Rob’s leg. Rob bites his lip slightly.

Justin: You know why it’s so important that you heard it being readied?

Rob: No. Why?

Justin: Because part of the pain is in the suspense. You want me to kill you yet, Rob? You should.

Rob: You won’t break me.

Justin: Not easily, anyway. I respect that. I really do. The thing is, I don’t have that much time. I want to make you beg me to end you, but I don’t think I have the time.

He stops in front of Rob, and places the tip of the knife over Rob’s chest.

Justin: Maybe I should save myself the bother. If I kill you now then I give myself a load more free time. That would be better right, Cam? I’d have time to put my feet up after a hard day’s work.

Rob: Just do it then.

Justin makes to stab forwards, but then stops at the last minutes, and turns away, laughing.

Rob: Pussy.

Justin cracks his neck, and grinds his teeth, before turning and bringing the knife down in one blow. It hits Rob on the wrist of his left hand, and goes clean through.

-

Morty, Jordan, Duke and Tigar are all awake, and sat around a fire. None of them are speaking. Just then Joel and Judith emerge from the forest. Morty stands, and steps forward.

Morty: Duke?

Joel shakes his head, and Jordan let’s out a whimper. Morty looks shocked, whilst Dev hangs his head in silence

Tigar: You friend?

Joel: He was.

Tigar: Then I am sorry for your loss.

Jordan: You don’t have any joke to make now?

Tigar: We have all lost people that we loved. All my friends are dead, probably. At least you all have each other.

That is met with silence. Morty then grabs a bag, and hands it to Dev.

Morty: This was his. You can carry it now. We should be going. Staying here doesn’t help anyone.

Joel: Morty-

Morty: We are going.

Morty walks into the forest. The others all exchange looks, before then following him.

-

Rob is sat in the chair. His breathing is raspy. Tenton is stood over him, slowly bandaging his arm. He keeps looking at the blood on the floor, and then he starts to cry.

Tenton: What have I done?