Episode 2 "DC"
Some days I wonder what would have happened if we were able to win the whole thing at the start with nobody dying. Somedays I wonder what would have happened in the future if events played out differently with Hailey, John, Mel… Everyone living to see it, I picture it everyday, I sorta blame myself for not doing enough to save them, I wonder some days what it would be like if I never crossed paths with Sarah that one day… I thought I was happy with what I had, then everything fell apart, most of us are gone now… The incident in Monroe was the breaking point, that day will be a scar on all of us moving forward… or those of us that are left alive…" Dex looked at the streets of DC with a feeling of guilt and sadness washing over him, he felt as if things could have been better, he felt as if they should have been better but he tries to ignore all of that as he moves forward to continue his final journey.
Walkers roamed the streets of DC, there was a small herd passing through, Dex was in the middle of them covered in guts trying to make it down the street. He slowly walked with his machete in one hand ready for it to go wrong. Dex looked at the rotting faces looking at him, he wasn't scared at that point since he's done it so many times. Dex was holding his breath as much as possible throughout it. He listened in on the sounds of walkers peacefully shuffling their feet around, he proceeded to search for an opening to get out of the herd quickly. Dex looked around frantically because he couldn't just turn around due to the tank in the middle of the road, he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Dex saw a gate leading into an old military camp, he slowly walked over, his hear and walkers were all he heard. Dex knew he couldn't keep doing that for too much longer or the scent and guts would go away. He reached the gate and looked around, no walkers in sight, he saw a watch tower that was high up, he figured he could use that to see where he's going.
Dex tried to open the gate but it was stuck to the ground, walkers heard the noise and were starting to walk to Dex. Dex turned his head and the fear struck him, there wasn't anywhere else to run, he struggled, eventually it was open enough for him to squeeze through it. Dex took his bag off and threw it in as he slid through with ease. He was in a battle with walkers at the gate, he pushed hard to close it, they pushed to open it, Dex pushed with all he had, eventually he closed it. He ran over to the old generator and pushed the heavy machine in front of the gate to keep them back as long as possible.
Dex looked around and tried catching his breath, he rushed over to the watch tower and began his climb to the top. He was heavily breathing as he struggled to the top, as he made it he found the decomposed corpse of a soldier with a bullet wound through his head. Dex ignored it as he caught his breath, he looked around and saw a lot of walkers around the area. He looked all over the place and eventually set his eyes on the white house in the distance, the building itself was burnt a lot but it looked like there was a camp fire beyond it's fences, a fresh one. Dex looked at it and smiled, "they can't be far, I should check it out for clues." Dex looked over to see an exit on the other end, he climbed down fast and looked at the front gate, it was on the verge of giving into the weight of the walkers. Dex hurried around the old tower, he walked through the first military tent.
Dex stopped in the middle of the tent when he saw a massive trail of dried blood. He looked at it in confusion and slowly walked through, medical beds were flipped and it seemed like things went south bad. There was a ripped up doctor on the ground by a bed, it was an old corpse, Dex's mind was taken off of the walkers near and off of the caravan for a bit as he looked over at the exit sign above a small opening. Dex slowly walked up to it and opened the flap, he looked around to see a dozen bodies burnt to a crisp. He was shocked by this, he slowly walked through, he even saw little children in the mix, he stopped by one child's corpse specifically, it had a drawing next to it. He kneeled over and picked it up, Dex looked at the drawing of the little boy and his family, happily safe at the camp. Dex saw the boy and his parents on the ground beside him as he slowly stood up, "the hell went on here?" Dex walked through the bodies, trying not to step on any of them.
Dex slowly put his machete away as he picked a file up from a dead soldier who appeared to have shot themself. Dex opened it to see 'COBALT' written on the top, "operation Cobalt… I heard of this… They must have been grouped up here and shot, then burned… How can people be this cruel…" Dex took a minute to get it together as he looked at the corpses, he threw the file down as he heard a loud crashing noise, "shit" Dex hurried out of the area and through the second tent, hr ran fast as he eventually got through the camp and to the back gate where he opened it and slid through it. Dex closed it and looked to see if it would hold as he took a minute to relax. Dex turned and walked through the old park he found himself in, he looked down at his watch and let a small smile out as he continued.
Dex had a feeling of guilt wash over as he blamed himself for what had happened to Mel. Dex pushed onward as he saw the white house get closer and closer the more he ran. Dex didn't slow down as he kept going, the street he found himself on was fairly quiet and empty since it was mostly blocked off. He looked at the supported wall around the building, he saw a big gap in it with rubble around. Dex walked slowly up to it and saw and heard nothing. He slowly stepped into the yard where he saw the grass growing taller and taller but there was a path through it as if someone cut through to make it easier to get through. Dex walked that path for a minute until he reached a small campfire with, the camp he saw before.
Dex looked around and saw burnt corpses with a wagon by them that was also burnt to a crisp. He picked a note up that was soaked in blood as he looked around with caution, "Mark… While you were out there looking for Sherry we got attacked by the Ferry, they must have picked up on our trail…" he couldn't read the rest since it was bloody but he looked over to see a man's body on the ground, a sense of despair and hopelessness washed over him as he saw a family photo… His family, Dex saw this and dropped to his knees over the ripped up corpse and started crying. Dex looked at it and wanted to not believe his father's eaten body wasn't in front of him but he knew it was him. Dex looked at the freshness of the bodies and said, "if I got here sooner, if I didn't allow myself to stop then this wouldn't have happened…" Dex was in a lot of pain, he stopped crying eventually as he pulled his gun out, he has been keeping his emotions and anger contained, he has let his guilt and sadness take over, it's all being released now. He blames himself for Mel, Hailey, Wilmington, The Colony, everything bad that happened he blames himself for allowing it, he makes sure his last bullet was in the chamber as he held it up to his head. Dex looked at the body and was taking a deep breath as he calmed himself, he was beginning to squeeze his finger on the trigger, eventually the only sound he heard was the sound of sticks breaking and bushes moving, eventually the only sound left was the ringing noise of a gunshot.
Birds flew off as silence filled the air, a note from Sarah hit the ground along with her necklace. It was a goodbye letter, something happened in Monroe that night a couple weeks prior. The gun fell beside the letter as a bloody hand hit the ground beside it. Eventually the sound of the gun faded and silence remained in the air.
Wilmington:
Back at Wilmington Lamar sat on the watch tower watching the walkers roam around the street, his happy attitude was gone, sadness filled the air. He looked at the walkers next to the street eating away at a dog, the only noises coming from anywhere was the sound of walkers. Jack climbed up the ladder slowly and sat beside him and watched the walkers with him, "so which one looks the coolest?" Lamar snapped out of it and looked at him, "how could things go so wrong, it was going so well… We lost so much." Jack sighed as he realized there was no dancing around the subject, "look we lost a lot in the past 2 years, we have been through so much shit… Yes what happened down in Monroe was terrible, yes it was tragic but do you really think they would want us sitting here dwelling on it, hurting…" Lamar grabbed his bag and began to climb down slowly, "where are you going?" Lamar got to the ground as he looked back up at Jack, "going out to the town…" Jack climbed down and loaded his gun slowly, "then lets go" Lamar looked at Jack and knew he couldn't convince him not to leave so he decided to just let him follow along with him on the journey.
The two walked through a more fixed up Wilmington, still messed up but getting there. They slowly walked by 5 crosses in the ground. Lamar couldn't even look at them, he feared he would break down if he saw the names on them. Jack turned to one of the crosses and smiled as he kneeled, "nobody blames you for what he did that night, he got bit and didn't wanna hurt you…" Jack was showing signs of emotion as he took a deep breath, he put his hand on the cross as he slowly got up to catch up to Lamar. Lamar looked at Jack and wanted to say something but didn't, Noah looked over at them from the still standing watch tower and said, "I don't know where you two are going but be safe, very few walkers around the area, but that could be a good and a bad thing." Jack saw Lamar just keep walking, he nodded to Noah as he caught up to Lamar. The pair walked down the lonesome road for a little while with the sun in the sky burning them up.
Lamar took a deep breath as he got himself together a bit more, "what happened… It… it seems like we can never catch a break, I mean we can't just settle down somewhere without people dying or having to move on… I miss those old days at the start…" Jack looked at the trees by them, at the carvings the people of Wilmington made at the beginning, "we had it so well then, but at the pace we were going, we would not have ever made it, I guess it's the world's sick way of telling us this…" Lamar thought about the past a lot as they came across an old sign planted by them after the fall of Wilmington, they could barely read it since it was covered in mud, blood, and nature. They continued for a little while until they eventually reached the town they all were in for a while after the siege of Wilmington. They proceeded to walk through the now empty streets until they reached the burnt down police station, the fire took a few buildings around it down with it. They slowly walked up to the remains, Lamar stood right where he, Jack and Sarah stood when they threw the molotovs that burnt the place down.
The duo looked at the remains as the smell of burnt wood and corpses still filled the air, it was a smell that never left them. Jack looked at the building as they entered the charred remains. They walked through the burnt building and looked around, they saw the cell block where they all slept in on their last night before going to the Compound. Jack looked at the stairs that led to the second floor, "bad shit happened here." They walked up the stairs and entered the second floor where the bodies of everyone who died that night rested, burnt, and covered in nature as the big hole in the roof allowed for nature to enter. Lamar kneeled by the corpses of Jenna and Jim who were the ones who got everyone there and tried their hardest to keep them in tact. Jack looked down at it and didn't know why Lamar took him there.
Jamar let a tear fall slowly to the bodies below, "I remember the feeling I felt when entering this room for the first time, the feeling of grief… Jenna and Jim knew it was over and got all the kids to settle down, they sat there with them made them all calm, they knew what was coming and they wanted them to go out in a peaceful way… It's the shit world we live in, the shit life we all live… " Jack realized he was just trying to find closure in all of this. Jack took a deep breath and said, "come on, let's take the van, I gotta show you something." Lamar wiped the tears aways as he slowly stood up, they walked out of the building and left to return to Wilmington to get to the van where they would begin their journey to the old Compound. They were silent on the road the whole time until they arrived at the Compound, upon arrival the place looked cleaned out as if someone came through, killed the walkers, moved the bodies and took the supplies.
The pair got out of the van and slowly walked through the gate where they once had a standoff with Ryker at. Lamar looked around and saw the bodies all buried along the fence, "when did this happen?" Jack smiled and said, "it's something me and some of the others went out and did, we buried everyone, no matter the side, we put the past behind us did all of this. This place can be something in the future." Lamar looked around and saw the basketball court where they all were at when they were surrounded by the herd. "Is that why you brought me here? To see the place where all hell broke loose?" Jack looked at the science building for a second and said, "come, it's not really here, it's the science building… Dex and Sarah took Hailey's body out they found something for you in particular, it was a letter she wrote not long before the fight. They never brought it to you because I told them not too, I wasn't sure if you were mentally ready for it after Gate City but I think you need it now."
Lamar followed him into the science building where they walked up to where Hailey's body once was, it was all overgrown and looked beautiful in a way. Jack kneeled over the blood stain on the floor and picked the letter up slowly and handed it to Lamar. Lamar opened it and began to read it slowly. He eventually put the letter down when they heard the sound of walkers getting in, Jack looked over and got confused for a second, "there shouldn't be any go damn walkers here." Lamar ran up to the window where he peaked out and saw the walkers moving in a weird way, the pair walked out the front door and got their knives out as they walked up to the three walkers. They both took one out and as Jack went to kill the third one, it dodged and caught his hand, the man was staring deep into his eyes, "lower your weapons." Lamar looked at the person was shocked, "I know I did not just hear a god damn walker talk, please tell me I'm seein shit" Jack was shocked as he put his knife down, "who are you?" The man took his mask off and looked at the both of them, "I have no name, not anymore… not for a long time… I ran with a group not long before, we called ourselves the Whisperers, or still call ourselves that… I broke away from the group after witnessing tragedy… " The man slowly looked at the ground, "I didn't expect to see anyone here… Not after we were attacked 2, maybe 3 years ago here…" Jack looked at Lamar and said, "attacked?" the man looked at them and said, "I was with a bad group, did anything to survive, we had different beliefs as a group who lived not far from here, fighting broke out and people died, me and a few others fell into this group way later up around Baltimore, they took me and my sister in, along with my little brother… Down the road we saw horrific things, I was stupid… I didn't listen to her sometimes and she gave me a choice to either prove my loyalty and kill them or leave and never come back… Alpha showed mercy and I took it, I knew it meant the others would live, for a while at least, it kills me everyday…"
Before he could continue he looked at the looks on their faces and said, "why do I get the impression that you knew exactly what I was talking about…" Jack looked at the science building and said, "we did that…" The man got a little scared and said quickly, "shit that was you… Did anyone else make it? We left when it got bad, we saw Ryker leaving but knew he would kill us if we followed and left our posts." Lamar resisted the urge to kill him for being apart of it all, Jack noticed this and calmed Lamar when he took his knife out of his hand, "just about every prisoner made it, most of the Wilmington militia made it until Ryker slaughtered them as well as the children. We killed Ryker, Jax and all of them, including Amir, and I assume the other Amir as well, didn't know there were two of them but it doesn't matter, we ended the bloodshed, few remain, Wilmington is starting to prosper again, same with Monroe… Remember that town? Yeah you do… Hell Clara, you know her? She is with us… Shit so much happened and all of the shit started with you helping him, so explain why we shouldn't kill you now"
The man looked at them and calmed down, he understood their pain, "listen we all did shit to survive, I'm sorry, I left because I didn't wanna be apart of it, I didn't want Mikey to grow up in that life, I promised our parents I wouldn't allow that… " Lamar looked at him, "so why leave them if you swore to protect them, especially Mikey?" , Christopher looked up at Lamar and said, "leaving was protecting them… It was the only way to keep them alive, I know they'll find a way out of the Whisperers, I trust they'll make it out but it would be impossible if I was there and that's the reality of it all." Jack looked at him and said, "obviously the Whisperers aren't here so why increase the distance between you all? "Christopher liked how they don't stop until they have all the answers, "because we were meant to meet up here, and figure out what's next in our journey after that." Lamar eventually came to his senses and realized they all were just trying to survive an that in the end they were all just people trying to get by, Jack looked at Christopher and knew he wasn't any danger and was in just as much pain as them, "come with us back to Wilmington, wait there for the others." Christopher looked at him and said, "I can't go back there not after what I helped do…" Jack put his hand on his shoulder and said, "we are all trying to start fresh there, we all did some messed up shit, plus we could use some more people, that could be the next chapter in your journey."
Christopher liked that idea and nodded slowly as they saw some more walkers emerge from the trees, they hurried back to the van where they would head out back home.
Washington DC (earlier that day):
A man walked to the top of a hill after hearing a gun shot, he was wearing a leather jacket with a symbol on it that had a picture of wheat, seeds, a gun, and clothing to symbolize what the caravan does. He looked through his binoculars and looked at the White House, he was shocked to see what he saw, "holy shit, how'd you end up here?" a woman walked up to the man and looked through and was shocked, she pulled her mask off, it was Riley from Wilmington, she was a member of the militia who fought alongside the others before being split from the group. She looked at Marcus who was standing by her, he ended up there some time after leaving the Colony. "Can you see if he's alive?" Riley looked down the street and said, "Lambert's group was meant to be down in that area, the gunshot could have been them or him, I can hardly make out what's happening there." Marcus looked down there and slowly said, "we have to catch up to them, see if Mandy can maybe put her doctoring magic to good use." The forgotten pair stood there in shock, they didn't think anyone from their past was even alive still, they were shocked.
END