I was so excited to post this chapter. I'm so proud of how it came out, mostly because I take Bailey's story on a turn I haven't seen anyone else do, so I hope you enjoy it!
S3E04:
Bailey POV – flashback
They heard an engine approach the gate to Mercy Labs and everyone went to see the Man step out from a vehicle with a body across his shoulders. The person he carried had a sack over their head so Bailey couldn't tell who it was, though she did feel a sense of relief that it wasn't one of her people. The Man was bald and had broad strong shoulders but that wasn't the surprising part to Bailey, what shocked her was how well he dressed, in a light grey suit, dress shirt and vest and not a drop of blood on any of it. When they'd told them this man was collecting people Bailey expected more of a dirty apocalyptic blood covered bounty hunter type like Vasquez – speaking of, where had he run off to anyway? Bailey shook her head, if he had snuck off to check that damn Spanish radio again and missed out on all the action she'd have to make sure Warren slapped him for it.
"There you are." The Man said looking through the bars of the gate at the boy behind Red. "We were worried sick. When we popped the trunk and you weren't there we thought maybe the zombie had eaten you. Glad to see you're A-okay." He said in a calm polite voice before he threw the body to the ground, "Unfortunately, one of your guards misunderstood our intentions when we came back to check on the boy's welfare. So we had to show him mercy. How 'bout we avoid any other misunderstandings by you turning over the doctor to me. Now."
"You said we had twenty four hours." One survivor called to him.
"I know. I lied. Tell the doctor to present himself right now, or bad shit's gonna happen. It's time for you to step up!"
Then Warren took a step forward, "I am Doctor Teller."
Then Addy followed Warren's example, "I am Doctor Teller."
Then more people from Mercy Labs spoke up too. A man with a scraggly beard stepped up. "I am Doctor Teller."
Then a woman, "I am Doctor Teller."
Then Doc, "I am Doctor Teller."
"I am Doctor Teller." Red called.
"I am Doctor Teller." "I am Doctor Teller." Two more men from the lab shouted.
"I am Doctor Teller." Bailey said with one hand on her hatchet.
"I am Doctor Teller." 10K said after her, his rifle around his shoulder and his hands in his pockets.
"I am Doctor Teller." "I am Doctor Teller." "I am Doctor Teller." "I am Doctor Teller."
Then the Man looked around at them, "I see the doctor has made some new friends. Spartacus is one of my favorite movies. You all remember how it turns out? Spartacus and all of his. . . clones are crucified, upside down. Gotta admit, the Romans did have style."
"Why don't you let these people be?" Warren asked with an edge in her tone that said it would end badly for him if he didn't. But the Man only stepped up to the gate getting as close to Warren as was possible.
"And you are?"
"Dr. Teller." she replied with a straight face.
"All right. If that's how you want to play this I'll give you a little more time to think through the consequences of. . . cooperating. I'll return at the originally scheduled time. Have the real Doctor Teller waiting or I will find him. Through process of elimination." Then he turned back to Warren, "Don't be a hero." He advised.
"Don't come back." Warren replied.
Then the Man got back in his vehicle and drove off while 10K leaned over to Bailey and whispered, "That's from a movie?"
10K POV
He was looking out one of the tall windows in Murphy's new HQ. Down below were two rows of chain link fence that ran parallel to each other and the space between them was slowly filling with Z's every day. It was the moat Murphy had designed to protect his home, a moat that only a blend could get through. Needless to say that meant 10K had been trapped inside ever since the fence went up.
"No matter where you run, they will always find you." Murphy was saying as he looked out the window to 10K's right. "Looks like we have some Murphy seeking squatters out in the cheap seats."
"Just finished repairing that section of fence." The father of the little girl – Will Chaffin – said standing at the window to Murphy's right, now with a bite on his face too. "Would you like to show me where to put the compost pile?"
"Yes." Murphy replied smiling and Will followed him out of the room, "I'll check out the zombie moat while I'm at it." He said. 10K held his rifle in his hands looking out the window and shrugging every now and then still adjusting to his new clothes. He'd been given a black jumpsuit to wear with a brown belt and a grey shirt for underneath. He still wore a bandana but had gotten rid of his goggles.
When Murphy got back from checking the zombie moat he went in for an appointment with Dr. Merch while 10K continued to stand guard at the window. He saw two of the people who'd been camped outside suddenly inside the fence, probably why Murphy wanted to get more Z's into it, it was too easily breached.
He turned and walked into Merch's lab, "Some of the refugees won't take no for an answer." He told Murphy, "I just saw two of them inside the fence."
"The natives are getting restless." Murphy said getting up from his seat, "We need that vaccine now."
"It should be ready within forty eight hours." Merch replied.
"And you're making sufficient quantities?" he asked as 10K rested his gun against one of the cabinets and crossed his arms.
"As you instructed, ten thousand doses. But I need to do more testing before we use it on humans. I don't know if it's safe –"
"Blah, blah, blah the apocalypse is one giant human trial!" Murphy snapped, "The future is here. My people need the vaccine now." Murphy said storming out of the room as Dr. Merch stood beside 10K with her hands in her pockets. Once Murphy was gone he saw her move quickly, then felt a sharp pain in his neck before he collapsed, hit the floor and passed out.
Bailey POV
She was making her way east through Seattle and immediately she began to question if she'd followed the right tracks. The further she went the more she was reminded why it was a good idea to avoid cities in the apocalypse. There was red spray paint everywhere with red handprints. One bridge she came to had the word THIEVES in huge letters on the underpass and on the other side were four bodies that had been hung and their stomachs sliced so their entrails hung out like long bloody ropes. There were people on the top of the bridge but they didn't see her, their attention was on the four Z's hanging off the side of the bridge – must have been friends of theirs, she thought and she ducked further out of the way to make sure they wouldn't notice her.
"The Red Hand are going to die for what they did here." One was saying and at the words Red Hand Bailey turned to the wall behind her back looking at the spray painted handprints again.
"And we'll make sure of that." Another man said, "But first we need to cut our friends down, then we'll go after them and their damn leader Escorpion."
Bailey's attention peaked when she heard the name Escorpion, but last she knew Hector was still with Warren and the others, he wasn't the one doing this. Maybe a copycat? Then she shook her head, what is it about the apocalypse that makes everyone suddenly want a nickname?
She'd been returning with Doc and Addy after taking a lap around Mercy Labs checking to make sure the perimeter was strong. They hopped through the tear in the back fence – they really should have some kind of locking system on that – and walked back along the thin path that circled the camp, fence on one side, a tall wall of cinderblock on the other. They were passing Red and 10K as he was leaving to scope out a good spot to snipe from.
"Be careful out there." Addy said to 10K.
"Yeah, uh, we'll be careful." 10K replied with a shrug and a bit of a stutter as he looked to Bailey, the look in his eyes said 'we'll talk later' and she looked anywhere but at him. Damn, he still wanted to talk about what happened after the nuke, she thought as the embarrassment made her blush, luckily it was sunny and hot so she could always blame the change in her color on the heat. Then there was a caw and a shadow blocked the sun and they looked up to see the boy perched on top of the wall. He'd changed his look, his hair was black and flatted more against his head under a bandana and goggles and he had a new jacket that looked like 10K's. He'd even smeared dirt under his left eye, to imitate 10K's black eye and cut a line in one eyebrow too. Man this kid paid attention to detail.
"What happened to you?" Red asked.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Doc questioned, "5K?" then he and Addy chuckled earning them a glare from the original 10K, when he turned his eyes to Bailey she just gave a shrug, she thought the kid looking up to him was cute.
"We should get moving." Red said as Doc's laughter calmed down.
"What did he use to black his hair?" she heard 10K ask as she turned and left with Doc and Addy.
"You don't want to know." Red replied and Bailey couldn't help but look over her shoulder one more time watching the three of them go. 'He's not yours.' The little voice in her head spoke up, 'It's better not to get attached anyway.'
That voice in her head might have been right, maybe she shouldn't have let herself get attached. But it was too late now, she had let 10K have her heart and when he died he'd taken it with him. She shook her head to clear it, if these Red Hand were dangerous now was not the time to get lost in her thoughts. As the men plotted and began getting their friends down Bailey took the long way around to avoid them.
10K POV
When he came to he saw Dr. Merch's blurry face looking down at him.
"Hey how are you doing?" she asked as the world came into focus, "Can you sit up?"
She helped him slowly sit up on the floor as he took a few deep breaths.
"What happened?" he asked, then it all came back, "You stabbed me."
"You were under Murphy's control." She started to explain, "The bite on your neck." his hand immediately went to the back of his neck where he felt the two crescent scabs from where Murphy had bitten him. He felt his heart rate pick up as everything since the submarine explosion suddenly made sense and he mentally scolded himself again for being such an idiot.
"I gave you a dose of the original HZN1 vaccine. It counters his bite and frees us from Murphy's control. I've been taking it too. I need your help." She said getting up and grabbing a satchel. "Murphy wants to save humanity by turning them into human-zombie blends."
"What are we gonna do?" he asked getting off the floor watching her throw tubes into the satchel.
"We need to destroy the vaccine." She said holding out the bag full of tubes, "These injectors are our boosters. Without them we will slowly slip back under his control."
"When do we take them next?"
"You'll know when. Just don't wait too long. And be careful, we're immune to Murphy's control but not to the zombies anymore. And the Z's know it. Go get a vehicle. I will meet you out front after I destroy the batch."
"Where are we going?"
"I. . . I don't know. Away from Murphy."
He nodded grabbing his gun as he went to find a vehicle they could take but there was a problem. There was a loud bang and suddenly the refugees from outside were coming up the stairs as he was trying to go down.
"He has to help us. We can't wait any longer." One man said holding a woman who was clearly on the edge of death. Then Murphy and Will Chaffin showed up behind 10K and he put on his best act, holding up his gun playing the role of Murphy's guard.
"You have to bite us. We've seen you save them. Save us." The man begged.
"I told you, I can't bite everyone, I'm sorry."
"I've seen what your bites can do. Look, have mercy on us please. Just a few more, have mercy."
"I'm sorry but I can't, it would kill me, and then we all die." Murphy said.
"Then her. Ju-just her. Just bite her." The man begged, "Everybody else can wait. Please. Just take her." Then the woman collapsed on the steps, "Shelly. Shelly. Shelly, no Shelly." When she got back up she was snarling and had turned, 10K aimed but Murphy stopped him telling him to wait. He moved forward and with Shelly as a Z controlled her so she wouldn't bite any of the others. Then Murphy turned to the man.
"She can be part of the moat guard if you like. Sorry for your loss." Then Murphy turned as a blend guard came to take Shelly to the moat, "I need that vaccine now!" Murphy shouted and 10K was frozen as the man sobbed. What if that had been Bailey? Would 10K have begged for Murphy to turn her into a blend? He shook his head clearing it of that idea, he had a job to do, he had to get out of there with Merch and the vaccine.
Bailey POV
As Bailey made her way through Seattle she found more traces of the Red Hand, from graffiti, to more bodies hanging from buildings and bridges, to cars that had been set on fire, to Molotov cocktails that were still burning in the streets. She even saw the space needle that had toppled over and briefly wondered if the Red Hand were behind that too or if it had been zombie hordes migrating south. She heard hollering every now and then and avoided that at all costs. Then she crossed another block and heard struggling coming from an alley. She peered down between the buildings and found a couple of men beating up a young woman, probably around Bailey or Addy's age. They weren't the men she'd seen on the bridge before but they kept shouting at the woman asking about Escorpion and the Red Hand.
Not my problem Bailey thought as she continued on her way then something made her stop. 10K would help that woman. One side of her said, but 10K wasn't here, another argued. But what if that girl means something to someone the way 10K had meant something to you? She gave a sigh, then drew her gun and turned back down the alley. She fired one shot hitting one of the men in the arm making him let go of the girl as she fell to the ground.
"That's a warning shot." Bailey called stopping at a fair distance away. "Let the girl go and I'll let you live." She said but they didn't move. "Her life for yours, it's a fair deal. Take it."
"Your hands are clean." One of the men said and Bailey realized the back of the girl's hand was red from the spray paint the Red Hand used. "We don't have a problem with you, but you try and take our justice from us, and we will."
Bailey didn't move and she didn't lower her gun which made the men smile with an evil gleam in their eyes.
"Fine." One said and moved to grab his gun.
"You are surrounded by a hundred Red Hand. And they will feed your heart to Escorpion." The girl said smiling making everyone else stop and look at her. Then a brick came and hit one man in the head. Shouting and hollering started and suddenly the alley was swarmed with people. Bailey saw them grab the men and start to beat them and stab them. One grabbed her and she struggled to get free but then the girl rushed forward and started speaking in Spanish to the one holding her. Her captor let her go a moment later with a muttered apology. Bailey turned to the girl.
"Thanks." She said putting her gun away and turning to leave but more Red Hand blocked her way.
"We can't let you leave." The girl said and Bailey turned back to her, "You tried to help a member of the Red Hand. For that Escorpion will want to thank you, in person."
The way she said it made Bailey believe that to the Red Hand that was a great honor and she knew if she turned it down she'd seem rude and unappreciative. Given that she was surrounded she really had no choice but to accept.
She followed the members of the Red Hand out of the alley as they began leading her to Escorpion. As they walked Bailey saw one of them knock a trash can over and the garbage inside spilled out, including a gear that rolled across the sidewalk and hit Bailey's foot before it fell over on the cement. She stared at it for a moment before continuing down the road.
More crows were cawing overhead as Bailey made her way out of Mercy Labs and into the grassy hills where she found 10K, 5K and Red. Red was crouched down by herself holding 10K's rifle, for some reason seeing that gun in Red's hands irritated her, and further off 10K was with 5K showing him how to use a slingshot. He pulled the gear back and let it go and Bailey's eyes followed it as it knocked a finger off a zombie hand he'd set up in the distance. 5K got excited, even more so when 10K passed him the slingshot and a gear.
"You know my dad gave me one of these when I was just about your age." 10K told him and Bailey caught the hint of sadness in his tone. Then he crouched down and pointed, "Right there."
5K tried it and the gear hit the log the arm was propped up on. He looked frustrated in himself as he groaned but 10K was patient with him like he had been when he'd taught Bailey how to shoot.
"This time don't aim. Just look at exactly what you want to hit, and the gears gonna follow." He said passing him another gear. He pulled back and this time when he let go the gear went right through the palm of the hand. 10K stood up as 5K cawed in delight.
"Yeah. Like that." 10K said patting the kid on the back.
"Hey." Bailey called making herself known.
"Bailey." 10K said seeing her approach, "What's up?"
Bailey filled them in on Warren and Dr. Teller's plan, Warren was going to train the survivors while the group helped stabilize the perimeter with spare steel sheets from the lab. They'd also talked about Red and how Bailey had told them what she'd overheard earlier about how nothing says I'll kill you in a heartbeat like the color red, so the trio shouldn't be surprised when Mercy Labs suddenly gets a paint job, which made Red smirk. When she finished going through the plan 5K went back to practicing with the slingshot and Red joined him clearly not wanting to ever be far from her brother, which left Bailey alone with 10K.
"So. . . listen." He began nervously and she quickly interrupted keeping her eyes on 5K and Red.
"Do you think she really understands when he caws and claps his hands like he was doing before?" she asked and 10K stuttered not having been prepared for her to change the subject.
"Uh, yeah I guess so." He finally replied.
"Secret code. It's clever." She said impressed and nodding as she watched the pair. Then she noticed 10K smiling at the ground, "What?"
"Nothing, it just. . . reminded me of when I was a kid. When I'd be outside or by the lake and my mom wanted to call me in. . . she'd use bird calls."
"Bird calls?" Bailey asked.
"Yeah, you know like. . ." and 10K raised his hands to his mouth like in a double fist and waved his fingers as he blew air and a high whistle like a bird came out.
"Damn." She said as he lowered his hands, "I can't even whistle."
"Well maybe I can show you sometime." He offered.
"I'd like that." She said smiling then she saw that look enter his eyes again and she quickly made an excuse to leave, "I should get back and help the others get ready for The Man." She said and 10K nodded though his eyes looked a bit dimmer as she left him on the hill.
The Red Hand led her through Seattle, they passed a wall where in large red letters was the phrase 'Only the Righteous Have no Fear.' Along with more red handprints. As they walked the young woman she'd helped stayed close to Bailey and every now and then Bailey would turn to see her smiling at her. She did her best to smile back even though she was nervous. She didn't know these Red Hand, they could end up being like the Zeros, or like Jacob's cult or Tobias' cannibals. But she kept walking, she was too outnumbered to do anything else. All she could do was hope for the best.
They kept walking until they passed a car of dead bodies each with a head injury, each with a red hand spray painted on their faces. On the windshield was another message in red, 'Car Thieves will be Hung First, shot later. No Questions Asked. Escorpion.'
"Signed by Escorpion himself." The girl said next to her with a smile noticing Bailey looking at the message. "We're not far now."
"Well, well, well." Came a new voice as a man came around the corner, he had long blonde scraggly hair and a goatee. He wore dark glasses that made it impossible to see his eyes and he had a wide smile though it seemed a bit out of place.
"Got ourselves a new one I see." He said getting closer and the Red Hand let him, he must be one of them, Bailey thought. "Name's Hopper. You are?"
Bailey hesitated looking at his held out hand, then after a moment she accepted it and replied, "Hawthorne."
"We're taking her to Escorpion." The woman explained.
"Well all right." Hopper said smiling as he joined their rag-tag group and headed for the Red Hand's lair.
They ended up in what looked like an industrial district, brick buildings all around them with tall smokestacks shooting from the roofs. They came to a thin alley between two of the buildings with a red loading dock door. Hopper walked up to it and pulled it open revealing nothing but darkness. The members of the Red Hand went inside, Bailey turned to the girl who gave her a reassuring smile and nod before they followed the others in. Hopper was at the head of the group as they made their way through the building and down a flight of stairs into some tunnels underground.
"Welcome to Underground Seattle!" Hopper shouted his voice echoing off the walls, "When they built the new Seattle on top of the old, old Seattle they left all these catacombs underneath. It was a real cesspool of humanity til the Red Hand cleaned it out."
There were flickering blue lights lining the ceiling and Hopper led them to a metal door and down more dark hallways. Then there was a rapid scratching sound like rats and Bailey saw in the flicking light crawling zombie hands, they moved up the walls like spiders which made Bailey's skin crawl. No one else seemed creeped out so Bailey moved on with the rest of them. Thankfully the hall of hands didn't last long before they came to another metal door and went on to a room cloaked in red light, it came from a sign that illuminated the word 'Guilty'. There were a few pillars and three men were bound to one with barbed wire.
"I've heard of wrapping barbed wire around a baseball bat. But never around a whole damn zombie." Bailey muttered before turning to Hopper who looked at the men with a smile, "Why are they here?"
He shrugged turning to her, still smiling, "The sign says they're guilty." He said before chuckling.
"This way." The girl called from the next doorway which led to a staircase which they went up. The steps let out into a huge open room with no walls, held up only by more pillars. It was dark, lit only by lamps all with red shades making everything look more intimidating. She was led to an empty space circled with metal barrels filled with fire with holes like failed jack-o-lanterns. They pushed her into the circle facing another doorway. Through the darkness stepped out a man with a hood covering his face. Bailey gulped knowing even armed she wouldn't be able to take him down. The girl tugged on her sleeve and Bailey took the hint to drop to her knees. As the man walked closer she saw he was in a red vest with a black jacket over it. He came and stood in front of her then raised his hands to his hood.
"Yo soy Escorpion." He said dropping the hood to reveal – Vasquez? His hair was longer and slicked back and he wore a dark burgundy bandana. It hurt Bailey a little remembering how 10K used to wear his bandanas the same way but she held that in.
"You seek the Red Hand?" Vasquez asked looking down at her but there was no recognition in his face. Bailey opened her mouth to explain but then the young woman stepped forward and gave him a bow before speaking to him in Spanish no doubt telling him how Bailey had tried helping her. Then Vasquez turned to her with a smirk but his eyes were still not the same.
"So, you tried to save one of my people. Why?" he asked.
"It was the right thing to do." She said quietly and he scoffed.
"No one does anything because it's the right thing anymore." He said still looking down on her and making her feel small. "So again I ask – why?"
"I was going to leave her for dead." Bailey said and he shifted his weight bringing his hands together in front of him looking like a body guard ready to defend his turf, "But even these days, we all still have people we care about. For me, I lost that person. But if she was that person to someone else. . . I didn't want to be responsible for another person feeling this pain."
Bailey thought she saw something flash in his eyes, she had, after all, just inadvertently told him 10K was dead. Then he held his hand out and she took it as he lifted her from the floor.
"Gracias." He thanked her.
"De nada." She replied with a shrug, using the only Spanish she knew. He still hadn't let go of her hand.
"And you aren't wrong. The Red Hand are a family, we take care of our own. And each one of them, mean something to me." He said his eyes flashing to the girl then back to Bailey, "So you have my gratitude." he pulled her in bumping their shoulders together in a one armed hug, "It's good to see you Bailey." He whispered so no one would hear him and she fought to contain her smirk.
"You too Javier." She whispered back.
10K POV
He walked out the front door with a bag over his shoulder and another in his hand. He made the mistake of getting too close to the fence and the Z's piled up trying to get at him. He quickly moved away and saw that – luckily- none of the blends had noticed. He hurried through the gate with more of the blends hoping to disguise himself to the Z's. Once he was out he loaded his stuff, including his rifle into the back of a truck he'd found for him and Merch. He looked up, her lab's window was right above the vehicle but he didn't see her, she was probably packing up too. He made his way back inside as discreetly as he could and went straight for her lab. She had her back to him as she worked over a table and he walked over.
"I'm all loaded up. Let's get your stuff and let's go." He said but she didn't turn, "Dr. Merch?" He said again but still nothing, "Dr. Merch." he said this time turning her to face him and he saw she had a fresh bite on the other side of her face now. Then he heard footsteps and saw Murphy enter from the hall.
"I'm sorry. You looking for these?" he asked holding up the satchel of injectors. "Sorry but these are for me." He said walking toward him, "But you do look like you could use a little Murphy booster to keep you in line." He said as Merch moved to a cabinet and Murphy started walking closer placing the satchel on the table, "Don't worry. I don't have to bite you again. You can be the first to try the new blend vaccine." He said taking out a needle at least six inches long from behind his back. Murphy lunged for him but 10K was stronger and was able to push him away and grab the satchel.
"Now, now, we don't take what isn't ours." Murphy said as Merch returned with a taser, "I'm trying to help you damn it! What's the matter?" he asked as 10K was forced to back up to the window, "You're not one of those anti-vaxxers are you?"
With no other option but become Murphy's slave 10K jumped out the window and landed on his back in the truck below. He groaned in pain as he sat up and his eyes widened as he saw Will Chaffin in the driver's seat. He leapt out with the satchel of injectors and took off as Murphy shouted, "Catch him! He's got my medicine! After him! Everybody after him!"
Bailey POV
"So. . . how did this happen?" she asked when 'Escorpion' had brought her to his private quarters. It was a room also cloaked in dim red light but she could still make out that he was living as well as one could in the apocalypse.
"I started out by helping people." Vasquez said giving a sigh, "But the thing about saving people, is they tend to stick around you, even if you don't want them too." He said sitting on the end of his king sized bed, "And I didn't discriminate, no matter who was in trouble, a good person, a bad person, a sane person or a crazy person. I helped. Soon they all just. . . merged into one. And we became the Red Hand." He said resting his elbows on his knees and bringing his hands together again. "They want the peace and security that I bring. But that peace only comes from the methods that I use, methods many others think are cruel. The work of a madman. But right now, what the world needs is a madman. Would you agree?"
"The right kind of madman." She said taking a seat next to him. "A madman like Murphy, is a disease that needs to be killed before it can spread."
"Well you've changed your tune." He said clearly thinking back to the mission they'd both been part of once.
"This was always my tune." Bailey said, "I just kept it to myself."
"So why are you all the way up here?"
"I'm following Murphy." She said looking at her lap.
"Why?"
Her answer was short and simple. "10K."
"So. . . he didn't make it." He said with another sigh, "Too bad. I liked that kid."
Now it was her turn to sigh, "The CDC submarine blew up, Murphy got away on a boat, he left 10K behind."
"So you blame him for the death of your lover?"
"Because he's to blame." She said her tone getting fiercer before she calmed down a bit. "Everything 10K survived, would have killed anyone else ten times over. He only died because Murphy abandoned him on the submarine." She looked down at her hands, "Murphy's only ever cared for himself. Not because he's the cure, because he's just a selfish prick."
"Well, from another who knows that kind of loss, that pain. From a man who also sought revenge, a word of advice. Don't let anyone talk you out of getting your revenge." She turned to him and saw the seriousness in his eyes along with regret, "That's what's keeping you going right now, right?" she nodded, "I was like that after losing my wife and my daughter. The pain swallows you up and you don't understand how the world is still going on around you, how time can go forward. But it does. And that rage fueling your revenge, it helps settle that, makes you think this might be why the world is still spinning, so you can get justice for the ones who are gone. You don't stop until its done okay? Until you've killed that blue son of a bitch for what he took from you. Warren and the others might try and talk you out of it, don't listen to them." he said with a shake of his head as his eyes turned hard. "I let her talk me out of my revenge and I've felt empty ever since. I feel like I failed and that feeling. . . it's like a stabbing in my chest every minute of every day."
"Is that why you helped people after you left the group? To make up for that?"
He nodded, his eyes still hard, "I thought maybe if I helped enough people, did enough good it would make up for failing my family."
"I got better with each shot and figured. . . I could still do some good in the world if I took out enough of them, if I made enough of a dent, so I picked the biggest, reasonable number I could think of."
She looked back down at her lap trying to block out the memory of what 10K had told her that night when he'd been thinking back to the beginning, the look he'd had in his eyes, the sound of his voice. Vasquez must have been able to see the pain in her eyes. He'd been where she was, and unlike the others telling her everything would be alright he understood her grief and he was honest about the fact that maybe it'd never be alright again.
"Come on." He said standing up and changing the subject, "I'll show you around."
«»
The underground lair that was home to the Red Hand was massive and using the underground tunnels meant they could travel faster across the city at Escorpion's command. They might be a group of manic killers who thrived in causing destruction but with Vasquez leading them they were also well organized, he used their need for violence and channeled it into doing good, killing those who would otherwise kill the innocent. They were also well stocked. They had food, water and medical supplies they'd either taken from their victims or looted. There was enough of them that Vasquez could send them far from Seattle to loot other small towns and cities and bring back more supplies and still have enough people to guard their home. He brought Bailey to a catwalk that looked down on a room that had a few zombies mulling around in it. One of them had long thin tubes of explosives strapped around its torso.
"Bomb zombie." He explained leaning on the rail in front of them and looking into the pit. "My people may be a bit unstable but they come up with some badass ideas. We strap explosives to them then throw one of these at our enemy like a grenade." He said reaching behind them and grabbing a wind-up toy from a large wooden box, the kind that played music, "One of our men, Hopper, used to have a novelty shop. So we wind it up and throw it in, and light up the Z. It follows the noise and while our enemy is looking at the toy trying to figure out our plan, the Z gets closer then ka-boom."
"Clever." She nodded leaning on the rail too staring at the red explosives strapped to the zombie, red explosives, red spray paint, red, red, red.
"Okay we're sticking with plan A, Full Tilt Boogie just like we talked about." Doc instructed.
"Without Warren? Are you insane?!" Murphy shouted, "We'll get slaughtered –"
"I don't have time for your bullshit right now Murphy!" he shouted back, "Now we're sticking with the plan that Warren laid out, now just get where you're supposed to be."
"A simple please –"
"Murphy." Doc said holding up a finger like a parent ready to scold a child.
"All right." He shrugged then muttered under his breath, "Doctors."
Under Doc's direction they set up the front gate to prepare for a full assault. They didn't know what the Man had but they did their best to prepare for anything. Mercy Labs was covered in red tarps and paint and so were the people. Some had red hazmat suits from the lab while others had scraps of fabric tied around their neck like a scarf or around their head. Bailey still needed something red and felt around her pockets until something thin and silver fell out and rolled along the ground. She picked it up and uncapped it, it was Athena's lipstick the one that had fallen from her pocket after she'd been shot, the one she'd used like war paint. Bailey moved to the nearest vehicle and looked in its mirror, she drew a thick red line going down her chin like Athena had done and she put a few vertical stripes going over her left eye. Addy walked by and nodded in approval obviously remembering the girl from the wagon train too. These days that's how people lived on, in the memory of others and even though she didn't know her long Bailey had seen that Athena had been a badass and if she were with them she'd be going Full Tilt Boogie just like Doc had said. Speaking of Doc he now had on his red tinted circular sunglasses to represent as they prepped for battle.
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of humanity." Doc said from beside Bailey.
"Doc." She said tapping him on the shoulder and pointing to the hill where sunlight was reflecting off something shiny. That was 10K's signal.
"They're coming!" Doc shouted as everyone braced themselves.
«»
To say she was impressed by The Man's ingenuity would be an understatement. His first wave was an eighteen wheeler full of zombies that came charging at the gate. With the manpower they had those were easy enough to take out. The second wave was trickier, the Man had five zombies with metal plates welded to their heads making them mercy proof, they each had a chain around their necks and one man was holding each chain like a mass of leashes and in his other hand was a whip he used to spur the zombies on. In the middle of the chaos Warren and Red showed up, grabbed guns and started firing but it did little to help, luckily they had a backup plan.
Not far from the gate was a metal barrel filled with explosives and all the flammable materials they could find. Addy and Red readied the barrel and Warren called to open the barricade as Addy set it off shouting "Fire in the hole!"
It was enough to stun the zombies and kill the Man's partner giving them all time to evacuate into the lab. They had no power so the halls were dark as Bailey stuck to Addy and Red as the three of them wove down the halls.
"What happened to 10K and 5K?" Bailey asked quietly as they turned corner after corner.
"We got split up, but they should be together." Red explained with her ripped red shawl covering her head.
"Better than being in here." Bailey muttered as they went on. Then they saw the Man carrying an unconscious Dr. Teller from another room, they tried to go after him but he shot their way and they had to take cover. By the time it was safe to pop back out of hiding the Man and Dr. Teller were gone.
«»
When they regrouped outside the only survivor still alive was Red, everyone else was either dead or zombified inside the lab. Outside was still smoking from the blast they'd set off and it made it hard to see very far. They heard footsteps and turned and saw 10K emerge from the fog, his goggles were over his eyes and his whole face was covered in blood. For a moment Bailey feared he'd turned since she couldn't see his eyes and something about the way he walked seemed. . . off. He was moving slowly and partially limping but she was relieved when he lifted the goggles onto the top of his head displaying some sort of human movement, but her relief was short lived when Bailey saw the sadness, the loss and the guilt in his green irises. She also noticed 5K wasn't with him. Oh, no. Red turned and saw him too along with everyone else. 10K dropped a slingshot in front of her feet barely able to look up at her.
"Where is he?" Red asked but he only looked at her with his face still angled at the ground, "He's not dead. He's not. You're lying."
"I tried to get to him." 10K said with a small shake of his head.
"You're lying!" Red shouted and she shoved him.
"There were too many." He said still sadly shaking his head.
"I don't believe you!" Red shouted running off back the way 10K had come.
He immediately ran after her while Warren shouted. "10K! No!" and they all went after him.
Red was running right into the horde of zombies hoping to save her brother. 10K was running after Red trying to save her. Cassandra caught up to him first and tackled him to the ground as he shouted for her to get off and let him go as he struggled under her stronger half-zombie grip. The last of Red they saw was her getting swallowed up by the horde.
«»
"You've done well here, Escorpion." Bailey said when they'd returned to the main room where the Red Hand had led her. Most of them had cleared off now, going above ground to use the remaining daylight hours to spread more of their justice bringing chaos.
"Sustainability, comes in many forms." He said walking over to another large crate that had been turned into a table and had a map of Washington State spread over it which he leaned over and pointed at. "Now, I've had some of my people come back from supply runs with word that something big has been happening in Spokane."
"Murphy." She said remembering how the tracks she'd been following had cut east through Seattle.
"Whatever he's up to, he's not being quiet about it." Vasquez said standing up straight, "Not a quick trip either. You'll be crossing most of the state. We can give you some food, water and medical supplies to last you, maybe I can see if there's a working vehicle out there we can get going for you and I'll spread the word that no member of the Red Hand is to get in your way."
"Thank you Jav – Escorpion." She corrected in case any of the Red Hand were still in hearing distance.
"De nada." He said with a small smile, "And you remember what I said okay?"
"I will." She said with a nod returning his smile. She wasn't sure what came over her next but before she knew it she had her arms around him in a hug which he returned.
"You finish your mission. I don't want you to have be empty like me." He said quietly before he pulled away, "And when you're done and are looking for whatever comes next, you can always join the Red Hand. I could use a second in command."
"I might just take you up on that offer."
10K POV
He ran as fast as he could away from Murphy's base and into the forest of Spokane. He didn't dare look back –he'd learned that after his first encounter with zombies – he just focused on moving forward. When the forest ended he ended up in a wide grassy park, his side started to hurt where he'd been shot and he prayed it didn't open up, not now, not now. He saw a fence come into view but before he could reach it he was tackled by one of the guard blends from the submarine. He was able to get an arm free and punch the man in the throat making him fall back. 10K turned and crawled across the grass reaching for the satchel but the guy grabbed his leg and pulled him back. He kicked him in the face with his free foot and kept crawling, hastily getting on his feet again. The guard caught up with him and grabbed the back of his jumpsuit smashing his face forward into a tree then pinning him to the trunk. His vision became blurred and by the time it came back into focus he saw Will Chaffin show up at the other end of the park, if 10K was going to get free it had to be now before he was outnumbered. He stepped on the guard's foot before elbowing him in the face, it wasn't enough as the guard grabbed him and threw him to the ground on his back. He started gasping in pain as the bullet wound he had flared up again. The guard stood over him and when he got close enough 10K used his feet to dislocate his kneecap making the man fall and scream in agony. 10K got up and took off but knew Will would be right behind him. He quickly scaled the fence and leapt over it taking off again. He was now on a rooftop and when he reached the edge there was nowhere for him to go, it was too far and the drop was too long. He turned back around as Will leapt over the fence and joined him on the roof.
"I don't blame you son." He said, "But Murphy cares about you. And he only wants to help." Will said walking to the middle of the roof and 10K walked toward him, Will held out his hand, "It's time to come home."
Then 10K put his plan into action and hoped he had gained enough distance. He turned and ran across the roof getting up his momentum and pushed off the ledge and jumped across to the next roof. He tucked and rolled getting up swiftly and kept running.
He didn't stop until he was on that bridge again and he saw a pack of Z's on the other side. When he turned back he saw the blends had regrouped and were ready to stop him. He had no weapon so going through the Z pack wasn't an option and he sure as hell wasn't going back to Murphy. He turned and looked at the water, it churned violently as it ran over the rocks and he gripped the rail of the bridge taking one last look to make sure this was his only option, Z's to one side blends to the other. He took a deep breath and turned back to the water, Bailey if this kills me, I'm sorry, he thought before reaching up and grabbing a cable as he pulled himself onto the rail. Will saw what he was going to do and ran at him but he'd never get there in time. 10K pushed his weight forward and let go of the cable, he felt the air rush by him as he fell then the slap of the ice cold water as it swallowed him up.
Murphy POV
He was sitting on his throne reading waiting for his blends to drag Ten Thousand back when he heard Dr. Merch's voice in his head. Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Just keep walking. There was a desperation to it as he dropped his book and walked toward the window. Below he saw Merch headed for the gate, but she wasn't running she was walking slowly and casually as the mantra repeated in her head. Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Just keep walking.
"Merch. Merch. Merch!" he shouted before going after her. When he got outside she was already deep in the zombie moat, the Z's left her alone because she was a blend but then he saw her pull something from her pocket.
"No, stop!" he shouted, "Stop don't do it! Stop!"
Then she injected herself with something and screamed as the Z's devoured her.
AN: the line about barbed wire is something Hector says in episode 309, it references Negan's bat Lucille from TWD so I just had to find a way to keep it. I also was glad to give Athena a little remembrance paragraph - I have my fingers crossed one day someone will write a story where she lives and travels with the group, maybe ends up with 10K?? - She was one of my favorites and I thought she seemed like she'd have potential in the show. I also noticed when watching 3x01 that Vasquez wasn't in it so I tried to come up with a small explanation as to why he wasn't around, I hope it worked.
I also hope you liked the bonding chapter between Bailey and Vasquez, I thought they had a lot in common at this point in their lives and wanted to explore that a bit deeper. I think it also gives a good insight into what's in his head and is driving his decisions when he sees Warren again in 309.