The Aftermath

S2E8: Alone

Several Days Ago:

       The gunshots that echoed in the bunker still lingers in Rosie's mind. There's a distant explosion that comes from behind her, but she doesn't look back. She can only imagine the amount of pain that the commoners had to go through in that explosion.
       She's wearing her prepared purple backpack that's loaded with supplies along with a bat accompanying her. At least that makes her feel somewhat safe.
       Rosie can be seen speed walking away from the bunker as tears endlessly stream down her face. She wishes that Zach was here. She wishes to have the opportunity to see him again along with the rest of her family. She just wants a normal life.
       Rosie picks up the speed until she comes to a halting stop and nearly collapses by the decomposing tree. She lays there with a dead eyed expression. She looks so weak and vulnerable in her current state. Her fingers tighten around the strands of grass as more tears fall.
       "God damnit!" Rosie yells incoherently while sobbing into the palms of her hands.
       She's all alone. Just her emotions and the sound of the cicadas surround her. Its overwhelming. She grasps her head and vigorously shakes it side to side.
       Negative thoughts soon begin to rush to her head as her original light sobs quickly escalate. Zach died for you. You did nothing, you are nothing. If it weren't for you, you're child would still have a father. Rosie thinks to herself as she completely breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
       "Shut up!" Rosie roars with her remaining energy in response to the harsh thoughts that encase her every move.
       Suddenly, Rosie hears a loud snarl-like sound in the near distance. It's around evening time, and the sun is a few hours away from setting. She quickly stops her crying and slowly rises from the tree stump.
       She scans the vicinity and tightly clenches her bat. Her entire body is filled to the brim with anger. She wants justice. She wants revenge. A fearless look quickly washes over her emotions as she walks out of her cover.
       She looks to her right and sees a highway not so far away from her. Broken down cars are scattered around the dark ominous looking road.
       "It's getting dark soon. I can take refuge in a car," Rosie says to herself with a rather melancholy expression.
       She cautiously approaches the broken down vehicles as night finally sets in. There are no street lights or natural lighting present in order to help her.
       Rosie repeats the process of looking over her shoulder in paranoia. The misleading sounds of the night fulfills the air as an awkward tension let's itself in.
       The sound of footsteps inch closer towards her as she quickly shuffles her feet to the nearest car in sight. Her knuckles turn pale as she clenches her weapon even tighter.
       Suddenly, a twig snaps behind her. Silence. She stands still with mixed emotions of fear and excitement. She quickly turns around as the footsteps increase rapidly. She swings. Makes contact.
       The humanoid figure gets sprung back from the impact as it lays lifeless on the pavement. It's decomposed head is crushed, and black blood is splattered on the highway. Rosie looks at the creature in bewilderment as she recovers from the adrenaline rush.
       "What the hell is that," Rosie says in a hushed whisper.
       She slowly back pedals and retreats back to the safety of the car. She tries the lock. No luck. She tries again. Locked. Rosie keeps on repeating this tedious process until she finally succeeds in this broken down black SUV.
       She jiggles the car door open and her face lights up as she nearly collapses in the backseat. She sighs with relief and looks up at the sunroof where the stars showcase themselves.
       Rosie reaches for the door and shuts it. The interior of the car is dusty and has torn leather seats with material sticking out from under it. Rosie sees a photograph underneath the seat and grabs it.
       Rosie sets all of her attention onto the picture and sees a happy family at the Grand Canyon. The mom and dad look exhausted in the picture, and the kids seem to be going stir crazy.
       She pays closer attention to the kids and nearly gasps when she realizes the similarities. There are two older sisters and one younger brother. Teardrops fall from her eyes as the memories of her siblings come rolling back.
       "God damnit. I miss them so much," Rosie says as she wipes away her tears.
       She shuffles around in the cramped car and bumps into the car seat. She reaches inside her pocket and pulls out the radio. She admires it for a moment. Contemplating on whether or not to contact Jeannie and Chris.
       "Whatever. It's too late anyways," Rosie says as she stores away the radio back into her pocket while drifting off to sleep.
       Rosie awakens from her uncomfortable slumber as she continues the process of finding her family. She follows the highway and scavenges the cars for any sources of food.
       Sometimes she's lucky and finds medical equipment while she finds nothing on other days. She goes through a couple altercations with crawlers, but it isn't too frequent. She actually looks forward to seeing crawlers now.
       Days and nights pass as Rosie continues this repetitive process over and over again. She opens her backpack and is unamused to see only one can of food left and a half empty bottle of water.
       She starts to feel hopeless. Hours feel like months. Days feel like years as she travels down this endless highway. The sun beams down on her as she trudges along the isolated road. Sweat drips down and fatigue rushes over her.
       Rosie begins to formulate harsh thoughts in her head. You're never going to see your family again. You might as well just die. They won't forgive you after abandoning your supposed husband. She ignores the cruel thoughts and battles through her hopeless attitude.
      "Just keep pushing. I'll see them soon," Rosie says with a fake smile.
       A few days pass, and Rosie finally branches off from the highway. She walks into a desolated town. Stores look insecure with shattered windows.
       Rosie notices the amount of crawlers in the area and quickly takes refuge behind a building. This is an unfamiliar sight for Rosie as she lays eyes on several unidentifiable creatures.
       She doesn't break eye contact from the startling creatures as she sits down behind the building. She digs through her near empty bag and pulls out a sharp military knife.
       Rosie peeks around the corner once again and sees a huge supermarket that's ransacked with supplies. Her mouth gapes open from all food that she sees within the cracks of the poorly boarded up windows. She hesitates on going in.
       "I can't risk it. It's way too dangerous. Maybe I could search the other small buildings along the outskirts," Rosie says rather perplexed.
       Suddenly, she hears a sea of footsteps and murmurs in the near distance coming from the supermarket. She hears the sound of a body hitting the floor.
       She peers back at the supermarket and sees a teenager stabilizing from the attack. She darts her eyes on him as more people start approaching. They look familiar. She even recognizes their body types.
       Rosie stays there for a moment, praying and hoping that she has finally found her siblings. She listens closely to the distant murmurs and recognizes Chris and Jeannie's voice.
       She jolts up and quickly makes her way to the side door of the supermarket. She runs behind the buildings to avoid any confrontation, but she doesn't care about that right now. She found them! She finally found her family.
       She takes off into a full sprint as the waterworks start coming down. She has a wide smile as she sees Jeannie and Chris alive and well. I've finally found them! We can be together again, like old times! Rosie thinks to herself as her hope finally starts to return.
Suddenly, Rosie gets forcibly stopped in her tracks as she's flung against the wall. She's dazed. She takes a moment to recover and sees Chris enter the supermarket. She reaches out her hand and mutters his name under her breath incoherently.
She's weak. She's too tired to move. A hand rests on her shoulder and it flings her upright, facing towards him. Rosie looks up and gasps at the horrid sight. It isn't a crawler. It isn't one of those unidentifiable creatures. It's the Admiral.
The Admiral gives her a sadistic smirk as he reaches out towards the same purple backpack that Rosie took with her. He grabs her knife and bat without sharing a single word with her.
Rosie looks at the tyrant with disbelief as he rummages through her backpack. She's as still as a statue. Her entire body begins to twitch. She's filled with anger, but she can't act on it. She's way too fatigued.
"Well hey there sunshine! Looks like I finally found you," Admiral Johnson says with a creepy and unsettling look.
Her body trembles with both exhaustion and rage every time she looks at this monster of a human. Rosie can't even look at him. She can't talk to him. She's too disgusted.
"No words huh? Makes sense I guess. But I should probably tell you now, you're never going to see them again," The Admiral says as he leans with animosity.
Rosie quickly jolts up and head butts Admiral Johnson square in the nose. He recoils in pain and grunts with anger. He has a fearful glint in his eye as he tries to stop the blood that drips from his nose.
Rosie quickly tries to vacate the premises as he hauls toward her. He carries the bat and starts swinging it like a maniac. He gets a hold of her shirt and hurls her face first onto the concrete, and everything goes black.
Rosie wakes up with a throbbing headache and unclear eyesight. She's in a narrow dark alleyway that branches out into a parking lot. There's a dried up patch of blood on her forehead as she stabilizes from her previous tussle with the Admiral.
She tries to move but is held back by something unknown. She struggles to break free but quickly comes to a halt when she sees Admiral Johnson coming closer. Rosie soon realizes that she's tied to a chair.
"Rise and shine Rosie!" Admiral Johnson exclaims excitedly.
"Where the hell am I? What do you want from me?" Rosie quickly responds impatiently.
The Admiral smirks in response as he holds up Rosie's radio. He dangles it in front of her as she tries to break free from the chair once again. Fails. She keeps on trying. Fails again.
"Woah calm down there angry pup! I don't want much. Really! Just for you to send your group into my trap," The Admiral says, sounding like a demented mental patient.
Rosie looks at him in utter disgust. She tries to scan the area for any possible piece of scrap that can help her cut through these overbearing ropes. Nothing. There's nothing that she can reach.
"Why on Earth would you think that I'd do that? And don't you dare say that you'll kill me as some type of threat," Rosie snarls back at Admiral Johnson.
"Well, you sure have a loud bark little pup. To start you off I'll answer your previous question. Where are we? We're at a nearby stadium where they hold football games. There's a lot of crawlers in there," The Admiral says while pacing back and forth in the enclosed space.
Rosie thinks about that for a minute. Why would he take me to a stadium? Is he planning on killing me? What's he going to offer in return? She gets lost in her thoughts until returning back to her harsh reality.
"And now, if you don't comply, I will lead a horde of crawlers into that supermarket that your group entered not too long ago. How you ask? Well, with my little hostage from the bunker of course!" Admiral Johnson chuckles to himself sadistically as he brings out a teenage girl.
She looks rather malnourished and weak. She's in tears as the Admiral drags her out by her arm. She struggles to keep up. She looks to be the same age as Chris and his friends. They lock eyes. Those puppy eyes could kill anyone just with one look.
"Please. Please help me!" The girl mutters out in between sobs.
Admiral Johnson smiles to himself with complete satisfaction. He's treating this situation as if it were a game. He slightly chuckles to himself while hearing the pleads of this helpless girl.
"Oh shut the hell up!" Admiral Johnson yells as he slaps her hard in the face.
The girl stops her crying as she runs back from the direction she came form. Rosie is in shock from all this information. Admiral Johnson comes closer as he squats down to meet her at eye level.
"That's all I want. This simple trade of information can not only save that girl's life, but it can also allow you to see your family again. I can't guarantee that if I unleash the horde however," The Admiral says in a softer tone.
Rosie contemplates to herself as she cowers in constant fear from whatever decision she makes. Her decision can decide whether or not her group dies. Whether her remaining family members die.
She avoids his horrid glare and starts trembling. She's scared. She's lost this sadistic game that the Admiral made up for her. Should I have faith in them? They'll have a plan right? Rosie thinks to herself frantically.
"Fine!" She yells out defeatedly.
The Admiral gives off a satisfying grin as he approaches her and plops his hand on her shoulder. He looks her dead in the eye with his disgusting smug expression.
"That's my girl! When you talk to them, ask for Chris. He's a character that one," Admiral Johnson says with a strange smile as he pulls out the radio.
"You better not do anything stupid," Rosie says as she gives off her death glare.
"Likewise," Admiral Johnson chuckles as he gets off the floor.
Suddenly, a transmission comes in. Rosie didn't press the button. She didn't initiate anything. She recognizes the voices. They contacted her first.
She freezes. Rosie's in shock. She doesn't know whether to be happy or to be sad. They call out her name a few times before she finally answers. She doesn't even have recollection of the first words she said to them. It's like she's paralyzed.
Rosie realizes that Chris has the radio in his hand. He starts to speak and tears instantly formulate when she hears his voice. She breaks down. Her body trembles as she finally mutters out some coherent words.
       "I'm so happy to hear from you guys! I'm located a town over from a huge supermarket. The town is practically a dead zone, but the crawlers are still there so make sure you take weapons—," Rosie says before the Admiral rips the radio out of her hand and smashes it into smithereens.
       Rosie looks down at the last thing that Chris gave her before he left. She screams in anger, veins popping out while her face turns a new shade of red.
       "You piece of crap! How could you do that you little prick?" Rosie roars as more tears drop down her cheeks.
       The Admiral ignores her. He keeps walking and calls out for the same helpless teenage girl. She wanders out timidly and completely vulnerable. Admiral Johnson chuckles and pulls her closer to him.
       Rosie looks at him with bewilderment as he grins sadistically. He pulls out a gun from his holster and puts it to the girl's head. Rosie's eyes widen as he pulls the trigger. Blood splatters on the walls as the gunshot echoes in the dark alleyway. Her lifeless body falls to the floor.
       Rosie can hear the crawlers and mutants going wild inside the stadium as they claw on the metal gate that keeps them out from the outside world. That metal gate is like Bunker 03. Holds many secrets and brings about utter chaos.
       "By the way, I already unleashed my horde. One died and one's crippled, but that's irrelevant. You've been out for a couple of days. I made sure of it," Admiral Johnson says with a wide smile as he walks off.
       Rosie trembles with anger as she hears the words that come out of the Admiral's mouth. Her body trembles with anger as she tightens her grip onto the arms of the chair.
       "You little prick! We'll kill you! Mark my words you waste of space!" Rosie roars as her nails scrape against the arms of the chair.
       Admiral Johnson walks off, proving to be more dangerous than any other creature that she's laid eyes on. Did I just send my family to their demise? Will they be able to handle whatever he's got in store for them? Will they forgive me? Rosie thinks to herself as tears streak down her face.
       Rosie remains there, helpless in the chair. She has a determined look. A slight smile formulates on her face as she breaks out into a fit of laughter.
       "They'll give him hell," Rosie says to herself with a smirk.
       Rosie mentally prepares herself for the absolute bloodshed that's about to commence. No one knows what to expect, but the Admiral better expect a fight. They'll have to be in sync. They'll have to be ready, in order to survive.