The Aftermath

S1E10: Loss

Tension in the bunker is at an all time high due to the announcement on the loudspeaker which is bringing about many questions. Is there another bunker? Should I take a risk and leave the bunker? Should I trust the Admiral? Rosie thinks to herself while packing up supplies to head out onto the surface.
       Her hands begin to shake in fear as she simply tries to pick up a can of food.
       "Do you still want to go through with this," Rosie asks Zach still unsure of what to do.
       "With you I'll go anywhere," Zach says while going in for a kiss.
       "I'm scared Zach! Of course I want to meet up with Jeannie and Joey, but I'm still unsure on whether or not this is safe for the baby," Rosie says while a tear streaks down her flushed face.
       "I know it's a big decision. But if we stay here, we have to put our trust in the Admiral. What do you want to do?" Zach asks Rosie. 
       Rosie begins to way through her options of meeting up with her only family left or staying here in constant fear for the baby.
       "We're going. We're not being the Admiral's pawn any longer," Rosie says with confidence.
       "Alright we have to hurry than so we can escape between the guards shifts," Zach says while comforting Rosie with a hug.
       They get the supplies and are walking over to the door. Rosie's hand is trembling over the handle as she's about to make this impactful decision. She takes a deep breath as she pushes the door open into the dark ominous hallway.
       "Let's do this!" Rosie says with determination.
       They begin the long walk to the airlock as they prepare to start their new life. While the two are walking to the airlock, the Admiral and Lieutenant are on the way to raid Rosie and Zach's dorm.
       "Are we going through with this?" Lieutenant Smith asks the Admiral.
       "I have to protect my family at all costs. The captain of the project isn't a very forgiving man," the Admiral says while showing a hint of fear in his voice.
       Should I go through with this? Will the captain of the experiment actually allow me to see my family again if I kill anyone that gets in my way? Admiral Johnson thinks to himself while biting his nails out of fear.
       They arrive to the door as they get ready to force it open. The Admiral's eyes twitch as his hands tremble realizing that he's about to end someone's life. Lieutenant Smith takes the Admiral's hands in attempt to comfort him while a slight blush arises on his face.
       "I'll follow you anywhere. I've got your back. I'll always have your back," the Lieutenant says to the Admiral with a smile on his face.
       The Admiral doesn't open as he kicks down the door ready to unload his ammo on this poor family. His expression is wide eyed as he notices a rummaged down dorm with no one in sight.
       He's speechless. Did they already leave? Why do I feel so angry that I can't kill an innocent family? Admiral Johnson thinks to himself.
       "They must be escaping. We have to find them, and kill them," Admiral Johnson says with a sudden spark in his eye.
       He begins to run towards the central part of the bunker where all the residents are located in order to find Rosie and Zach.
       Rosie and Zach continue to walk in the main hub that's crowded with people. There's stations to get food and water, shopping areas and training grounds.
       "How far away is the airlock from here," Rosie whispers to Zach.
       "It shouldn't be too long," Zach whispers back to Rosie.
        Rosie continues to observe her surroundings in constant fear of running into any military guards. Will we be able to get out of here? What do we do if we run into the Admiral? Rosie thinks to herself while looking in all different directions like she's crossing a street on a highway.
The Admiral continues to run in the center of town as he pushes people out of the way in hopes of finding this couple. He has a clear sadistic look in his eye while the Lieutenant follows close behind trying to catch up with him.
       "Johnson slow down", Lieutenant Smith yells while trying to avoid knocking in to people.
       The Admiral's facial expression, turns into a sadistic smirk as he finally located the two picking up their pace.
He begins to laugh as he tightens his grip on his gun and pulls it out. He aims the gun at Rosie's head as he gets ready to pull the trigger. He shoots the gun. He feels relieved with this amount of power that he had when he finally did this heart wrenching task.
       He looks at the residents and back at the body he just shot. However, he didn't shoot Rosie. He instead shot a little boy cradled in his mother's arms as tears begin to fall.
       "How could you!", the mother yells.
The Admiral remains there for a moment as he contemplates what he just did. Should I keep going after Rosie and Zach? Did I really shoot the little boy? Admiral Johnson thinks to himself before getting a reality check by the Lieutenant.
       "Sir?" Lieutenant Smith questions the Admiral worryingly.
       "Go find Rosie and Zach. I'll take care of this...situation," the Admiral says. The Lieutenant doesn't share a word as he runs off from the scene to hunt down Rosie and Zach.
Admiral Johnson rubbed his head as all the residents were yelling at his actions. Suddenly, The Admiral snaps as he begins to unload his ammunition on all the residents of Bunker 03.
       There were lifeless corpses as blood slowly oozed out of their bodies, families being broken apart, the horrific sound of blood curdling screams. Gunshots can be heard in the distance as Rosie and Zach continue to run to the airlock in a desperate attempt to save themselves.
Rosie and Zach finally make it to the airlock as they begin to sneak pass the guards as they run to the main hub to help the Admiral.
       "Do you think they're all dead?", Rosie asks Zach while out of breath.
       "The Admiral snapped. We're not safe around him or the military anymore. As soon as we escape, we have to contact Chris", Zach says for the first time expressing a hint of worry in his tone.
Suddenly, Lieutenant Smith charges at Zach with a knife in an attempt to accomplish the Admiral's wishes for his family. Zach dishes the knife as he sends the Lieutenant to the ground.
       "This should be fun", Lieutenant Smith says as he expresses a wicked smile. They tussle on the ground and exchange punches left and right.
       "Zach no!", Rosie yells as she hits the Lieutenant with a baseball bat from the supplies they packed.
       Zach gets on top of the Lieutenant and starts beating him till blood and teeth fall out his mouth. His face is covered in black and blue as Smith begins to lose strength.
       "F-for Johnson", Lieutenant Smith says in a mere whisper as he stabs Zach in the liver with a pocket knife.
       Zach winces in pain as he violently stomps on the Lieutenant's face repeatedly. A moment of silence fall before them as they sit there in shock with the Dead Lieutenant. Suddenly, Zach collapses to the floor as his face turns pale.
       "Zach!" Rosie yells while beginning to sob.  
       "Come on you have to stay with me! Live for our baby!" Rosie says to Zach.
       Rosie tries to apply pressure to the wound, but the blood keeps oozing out. What should I do? The bleeding won't stop! Rosie thinks to herself while she desperately tries to find a way to save him.
       "R-Rosie I love you so much. You're the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on. You must keep on fighting like how you always do best", Zach says while smiling as he begins to fade like a planet being sucked into a black hole.
"Don't be ridiculous Zach! You're making it out of here with me! I can't lose you too!" Rosie yells as she continues to sob.
       "Go Rosie...I love you so much," Zach says as he closes his eyes.
       "Zach! Zach! Stay with me please! I need you!", Rosie yells.
       The sound of gunshots keeps on getting louder as the military is coming back to finish the Admiral's job. Rosie slowly gets up while still sobbing as she opens up the airlock to her new life.
Her surroundings consist of the same destroyed city that they all once lived in. Rubble and debris is scattered all over as Rosie squints her eyes from the sunlight. She makes her way into the woods as she begins her new life.
       Back at the Bunker, Zach fades in and out of consciousness as he hears the soldiers' footsteps coming closer and closer. He looks to his left as he sees the pool of blood that he's lying in. He also sees Lieutenant Smith's bloody body as his eyes are still open. He looks to his right and he sees a gun.
In front of him he sees a large propane tank next to gasoline barrels. The soldiers desperately try to get the door open to see the damage. Zach struggles as he reaches for the gun as the sounds of the door being slammed on repeatedly keep on ringing in his ear.
       A little further Zach thinks to himself while groaning in pain. Finally he grabs the gun just as the soldiers enter the airlock.
       "Burn in hell!" Zach yells as he shoots the propane tank.
The sound of a loud bang can be heard in the distance as all the soldiers were hit in the blast. Back on the highway, the group continues to try and locate a new base for themselves.
       "It's going to get dark soon," Hayden says to the group.
       "Yeah we should find a spot to camp for the night," Jeannie says. They continue to wander as they find a wide open spot in the woods.
       "Let's set up a few tents here," Chris says. Sarah looks at Paige realizing that he looks shaken up.
       "Hey Paige are you alright? I heard what happened on the supply run. I assume you're pretty shaken up," Sarah says to Paige worryingly.
"I-I just don't want to get anyone in anymore danger. If I had just been aware of my surroundings, than Sasha wouldn't have died to that crawler. It should've been me," Paige says while avoiding eye contact with Sarah.
       "Don't say that Paige. That wasn't your fault. Think of it this way, if you hadn't shot the first crawler, than Jess wouldn't be here right now," Sarah reassures Paige.
       "Thanks Sarah that means a lot," Paige says.
Suddenly, the sounds of crawlers can be heard in the distance.
       "Over there!" Ricky whispers loudly to the group.
       "I can see them on the highway. Let's cut through the woods over here," Jill says. The group is cut off by a crawler as they're walking in the woods.
       "Move aside!" Hayden yells as he shoots the crawler. The sudden sound results in the crawlers on the highway to make their ways to the sound.
"Run! Come one let's go!", Jeannie shouts as she finishes off the crawler with a machete.
       The sound of their panting can be heard as their heartbeat rate increases. The sound of crunching leaves and twigs underneath them with the occasional sound of the mutants' screams.
       Suddenly, Jill trips over a hard metal object, and hits the ground. She soon realizes that it's an underground bunker. Not as large as their previous bunker, but it should be large enough to hold about 15 people.
"Guys back here! There's a bunker!", Jill yells.
       The group comes running back as Hayden, Ricky and Chris help open the rusted steel opening. The screams of the crawlers can be heard in the distance as it keeps on coming closer and closer. They open it. They all hurry inside and pant after getting out of that situation alive.
       "Is everyone ok?" Chris asks the group.   They don't respond. He sees their facial expressions as they're in full shock.
"C-Chris?" a familiar voice says. Chris slowly turns around not prepared on what he's about to see.
       "Tamara?" Meanwhile, back at the bunker, the Admiral slowly walks towards the airlock as he passes a countless amount of dead bodies with blood on his shirt. He comes into the airlock and sees his soldiers' dead bodies along with Zach. He makes his way to see the Lieutenant lying on the ground with blood everywhere.
"That idiot actually thought that I cared for his life," the Admiral sadistically laughs to himself.
       He turns and sees the airlock to be wide open and exposed to the outside world. He sighs as he walks out into the unknown prepared for anything that comes his way.