S5E13:
They ran past old Newmerica signs with George's silhouette that said 'United we live, divided we turn' which now had been covered over with signs that said 'Vote Safety' 'Vote Sanity' 'Vote Security'. Warren had the strap of the insulated bag that had Sun Mei's preserved brain thrown over her shoulder as they quietly hustled along the walls of the buildings. Warren stopped them at one corner and peered around; when she turned back to them she took the strap of the bag from around her torso and passed it to Red.
"Wish we could've given Sun Mei a proper burial." She said.
"She died for a reason." George said hoping that brought some justice. "That's more then most people can say."
"Yeah, stash her brain someplace where Estes can't find it." Warren instructed both of the girls, "Anything happens to us you get her to Murphy."
Red and Bailey nodded and took off as the intercom kicked on and they heard 'Remember to report any suspicious activity to the nearest militia member. A reminder for all citizens, don't forget to vote. Remember you'll need two forms of ID. . . '
"Don't let that get to you." Warren told George after the two girls had left.
"I know. Was just thinking. Remembering. I put that poster up. . . me and Dante. . .the artist who designed it. . . Talkers who helped, they're all dead. And now Sun Mei. What if we win? What if we kill all the zombies and there's no one left to know but Talkers –"
"We're not there yet." Warren said trying to snap her out of it, "There's still a lot of people with the will to survive – including you."
"At what cost?" George questioned and Warren knew she couldn't have all that floating around in her mind if they were going to beat this.
"Keep your head in it, let's go."
«»
They snuck their way into the community building, it was easy since there weren't many militia out. After George had 'given up' their plan they knew Estes would send most of his forces to get the Talkers he was so desperate to keep out of the election. It worked out well for them since George's white shirt was still covered in blood and her eye looked pretty bad but at least she could see out of it.
"You look like you held up for a long time." Warren said noting the blood splatters on George's skin and clothes and the bruises on her face.
"I could have gone the distance, if that was the plan."
"I'm sure you could've. Let's find Kaya and CZ, they've got a lot of work to do before we're done." Warren said before they pushed on, weaving through the halls, looking for the vending machine Citizen Z had described.
"Can't believe I'm not going to vote." George said as they passed another poster.
"Oh we're voting, just not at the ballot box." Warren said, "CZ said that the vending machine is up this way."
"You think they have diet?" George asked before they paused at the last turn. Around the corner they saw three guards heavily armed moving to stand in front of the vending machine. More were coming and once they were all in position Estes and Pandora appeared. They stood behind the guards as they prepared to raid Kaya's hideout.
"Shit." Warren whispered.
"Remember I want them alive." Estes instructed.
"Save the mercy for me." Pandora called dibs.
"We gotta get them out of there." George whispered urgently.
"It's too late." Warren told her knowing they were too outnumbered to try anything and win.
There was a loud BANG as one guard stepped forward and shot the hinges off the door of the machine and opened the front. But when he pulled it open there was no one inside.
"Hey guys, what's shaking?" a voice said from behind them and they turned and saw Citizen Z and Bailey standing there smiling.
"Oh good." Warren said relived, "We thought –"
"We were busted?" CZ asked, "Me and Kaya got out just in time."
"And Red and I stashed Sun's brain, she's going to meet us at the next rendezvous point. I went to warn Kaya and CZ when we split up." Bailey explained as she tied her hair up into a high ponytail using 10K's old red bandana. She knew she wanted her hair out of her face for the next phase of Warren's plan.
"Where is Kaya?" George asked concerned.
"She's safe." Citizen Z assured them, "She's with Nana and JZ. What now?"
"We stick to the plan." Warren said as they left and snuck out the way they came in.
10K POV
He and Doc had just finished hooking up the last of the audio system to the speakers and megaphones they'd set up around the camp. There was a new feel in the air since Addy and Murphy left with the Talkers. It was almost like it was too quiet, thankfully, Doc broke the silence.
"This has got to be Warren's most half baked plan yet." He said as they left the tent where the audio controls were. "So you feeling lucky Kid?"
"No."
"Good cuz it's going to take more than luck to pull this off. You know what you're doing?"
"Pretty much." He shrugged. Aim and shoot, that was about it but something about this time seemed more surreal. He knew so much could go wrong since, honestly, this was Warren's most half baked plan. He wished there was a way to know if they'd gotten to Bailey, that she was safe and wasn't being beaten or tortured. The desperation he'd seen in Estes back at Limbo didn't reassure him, it only confirmed that the guy was at his wits end which meant Bailey was at even more risk.
He shrugged that off and turned to Doc knowing when they parted it could be the last time too. If this didn't work the militia would take them out, no arrest, no more trials, just instant mercy. Doc must have been thinking along the same lines regardless of how much Z-weed he'd had to try and take his mind off it.
"Hmm. . . love ya Kid." Doc said a little awkwardly. 10K couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face before he hugged Doc but his antler went into Doc's back making him cringe.
"Ooo, sorry." 10K apologized as he pulled away but Doc shook his head.
"No worries. Get going." He replied as 10K grabbed his gun off the barrel next to them and went to the location he'd scoped out earlier.
Bailey POV
They ran across Altura to the polling building and saw a short line out the front door.
"Pretty low turnout." George noticed.
"Lots of people are afraid to travel." Citizen Z told them, "Or dead."
"By the looks of this the yes vote for safety first is really a vote for marshall law."
"People have given up on Newmerica." CZ said sadly, "They don't care who's in charge as long as they feel safe."
"Estes played off people's fear and desperation. Made them feel like it was day one all over again." Bailey added, it was a good play she had to admit; no one wanted to relive the start of the outbreak especially when life was finally settling down and communities were starting to pop up across the northern map.
"Without the Talker vote Estes will win in a landslide, Altura will take control of everything with him at the helm for as long as the threat remains." Citizen Z said and they all knew a threat would remain, bombings ordered by Estes himself and carried out by Pandora.
"It's a vote for endless war." George whispered.
"Poll will be closing soon." Warren said looking around. "It's up to Addy and Doc now, we need to get in position."
Third Person POV
"Zero hour." Doc said looking at his Mickey Mouse watch before he flipped the switches on the soundboard and played the recording Addy had helped set up. It was mostly just voices of multiple conversations meant to fool the militia into thinking they had every Talker in Newmerica stashed there.
"Okay everybody bizkit time! Come get your bizkits!" Doc shouted through a megaphone as he crouched down in the circle of sandbags they'd made within the tent to protect him when the shooting started.
"We've made visual with the Talker camp." Colonel Keeler radioed in to Estes, "Sounds like hundreds, maybe all of them."
"Excellent. And they haven't spotted you yet?"
"No sir. They're right where your source said they'd be."
"Soon as your forces are in place execute your orders. Let's show them the meaning of mercy and end this now."
"Yes sir." he said as their militia moved in and readied their weapons. "On my orders."
From across the camp 10K was looking through his scope and saw the militia appear over the other hillside. He aimed at a tree and fired seeing his shot make them all flinch.
"They've spotted us." Keeler said, "No prisoners! Charge!"
They all ran in as Doc hit another button starting the recording of gunfire. The militia bought it thinking the Talkers were firing at them and they returned fire unloading most of their ammo on nothing but tents and random gear. Doc ducked in his tent with his joint in his mouth and he grabbed the megaphone again.
"Here they come! Fire! Fire! Fire!" he shouted.
"Forward men. Kill anything that talks." Keeler ordered as they swarmed the camp. Their bullets tore holes in the tents but the sandbags protected Doc as he made more gunfire sounds into the megaphone adding to the chaos. As the men swarmed the tents they quickly realized there was no one there and the sound was coming from a series of speakers set up.
Keeler moved in on Doc's tent and came up behind him aiming his gun at his head. Keeler cleared his throat and Doc turned and raised his hands.
"Put the bullhorn down." Keeler ordered and Doc dropped it before they pulled him out of the tent and shoved him outside.
10K kept an eye on Doc as the Colonel pushed him around and the other militia regrouped around the pair waiting to hear answers as to why the camp was empty. 10K swallowed nervously before licking his lip.
"Where's everyone else?" Keeler demanded.
"There's no everybody else, just me." Doc replied as Pandora's Talker friend grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. From his place on the hill 10K watched them interrogate Doc, he had his finger on the trigger of his gun and was trying to wait to shoot for the best moment. He wanted to shoot the Talker that had Doc by the throat but knew then the militia would open fire on him and he'd be done for. He had to wait until Doc was in a better position to run from the camp when he started to shoot.
"Estes to Mercy One. Estes to Mercy One, come in Mercy One." Keeler's radio went off. "I'm waiting to hear our Talker free future has begun."
"Not yet sir, there's been a setback."
"Setback?"
"Yes sir, there's nobody here. The camp is a decoy, they set us up."
"That's impossible. I made sure George was telling the truth." Pandora sneered at Estes' side overhearing the Colonel.
"The- the Talkers aren't there?" Estes asked nervously.
"Nobody here just an old man with a bullhorn."
"A bull – find out if he knows where the Talkers are."
"Yes sir. If he knows where they are he'll tell me. Right before I mercy him." Keeler said before pocketing his radio and taking out his handgun and aiming at Doc's head and the Talker let him go and he caught his breath.
"Where are the Talkers?" Keeler asked again.
Doc stayed calm as he warned Keeler, "You might want to save your bullets."
Then a shot went off and blood splattered over the side of Keeler's face. He turned and saw a hole through the Talker's head as he dropped. Off on the hill 10K counted with a smirk on his face.
"8,999."
"In case that happens." Doc told Keeler as 10K shot again hitting a guard in the heart. He shot one more in the chest before they started shooting back at him and he had to duck for cover. Then the first guard he shot got up as a Talker - a starving Talker.
"Get away from me." Keeler said as he began shooting at his own freshly turned men.
"That's my cue." Doc muttered before putting on his circular sunglasses and getting out of dodge. Once he was clear 10K took off too. More guards turned Talker and attacked living guards and it kept going and going as their screams filled the air – and the radio.
"Colonel Keeler!" Estes shouted into the radio hearing the screams, "Colonel Keeler! Can you hear me Colonel? Operation Mercy can you hear me!" there was nothing but gunshots and screams, "What the hell happened?"
Then he turned to Pandora, "What happened to the Talkers?"
"Gate three to Estes over."
"This is Estes. Go ahead Gate Three."
"You better get down here sir I-I think you need to see this."
He and Pandora exchanged a glance and hurried through Altura. When they got to the gate they saw Murphy and Addy flanked by all the Talkers they'd been searching for.
"St-state your business." the guard stuttered.
"We're here to vote." Addy said.
"You'll need two forms of ID." Estes said as he and Pandora arrived on the scene.
"And a pulse." Pandora sneered.
"I'm not seeing many likely voters here." Estes said obnoxiously, "Not even sure you qualify."
"What's the matter Estes?" Murphy asked, "Hard to mass mercy while they can still talk?"
"The militia will be back soon –"
"We both know that's not true!" George said as she, Warren, Red and Bailey all showed up holding more guards at gunpoint as Red used her ax and Bailey her knife, holding their blades at the guard's throats. They forced them to their knees as Estes and Pandora turned from the gate at their arrival.
"Your militia aren't coming back." George said.
"At least not as humans." Red added smirking.
"This cycle of death can end now." George told Estes.
"You say that like it's a good thing." Pandora sneered.
"It's over Estes. The people have already opened the other gates and let the Talkers in." Warren told him, "All they want to do is be with their loved ones."
"You have no idea what you're doing." Estes said with a look on his face like he was watching his world burn around him.
"Oh shut up." Pandora sneered again this time pulling out a gun and firing.
"Gun!" George shouted in warning as they ducked behind the guards they were holding hostage and Pandora shot the one in front of George in the heart and took off with Estes.
"Open the gate!" Murphy cried, "Estes! Don't let him get away!"
"He's turning feral!" Red shouted as she helped George restrain the Talker guard as Bailey used her free hand to grab her hatchet from her belt before she brought it to the neck of the guard Red had held hostage, making sure he and the one Bailey had didn't get away.
"I have lithium!" Addy called rushing in once the gate was opened and fed the new Talker.
"Come on get them in here, the election polls close in fifteen minutes!" Warren shouted, "George you and I go after Pandora and Estes, you two hold the fort."
"Save some beat down for us!" Murphy called back as he ushered the Talkers in.
Bailey POV
Once Addy had fed the Talkers and they calmed down Bailey and Red let go of their guards who had surrendered knowing that surrounded by all those Talkers and their allies they didn't stand any other chance. When things were settling down Addy hugged Bailey tight.
"I'm so glad you're okay."
"You too." She replied happily as the Talkers flooded through the gates. "They're all well fed right?" she asked knowing now was not the time for any Talker to walk into the vote hungry.
"Yeah." Addy said nodding, "I still have some lithium."
Bailey nodded, "Alright, then let's get them to the polls."
Third Person POV
"Warren, over here." George whispered to her when they crossed paths. They had split up early in the chase, George had gone after Estes and Warren had gone after Pandora. Warren had lost the masked lady but if George needed her help with Estes she'd give it, odds were that pair would try to find their way back to regroup anyway.
"Estes is inside." George told her nodding at the last door in the hall in the lowest level of the community building.
"Pandora?" she asked and George shook her head silently letting her know she hadn't seen the woman, "Alright on three. One, two, three."
The room they entered was below everything, even the basement, and was covered in a blue light. They saw a few pools of who-knew-what that stood a story high and up on a metal walkway was Estes standing between the pools typing things into a touch screen panel. They went up the metal ladder and joined him seeing the pools had no covering on them and from here a person could fall right in.
"Hello George. Lieutenant Warren, welcome to the beating heart of Altura. Come on, let me show you what all the fuss is about." He said moving from the panel and walking along the pool. As they got closer they could see in the water was more lithium like the tanks they saw at the mines only on a grander scale. "Energy, security, to build our new world upon."
"All the fuss, for a battery?" George asked shocked and confused.
"I'm sorry George I know all this has been very hard on you. Learning that you can be wrong is part of growing up." Estes said as Warren held her gun on him.
"We'll see who's teaching who a lesson." George said as Warren threatened him.
"It's over Estes." Warren told him keeping her finger on the trigger, "We're gonna let everybody know what you did, taking lithium from the Talkers so you could have a battery."
"Not so I can have a battery, so that what's left of humankind can have a means to power the future. Reliable storage, twenty four hours a day. So at night when the solar power's gone we have lights and communications and an electric fence around us."
"While others are left to starve and turn." George sneered.
"These are desperate times. Choices have to be made. Hard choices. The kind of decision you can't just leave up to a traumatized mom. Radical change always involves collateral damage. Darwin doesn't have a heart."
"Neither do you." George said.
"It's not about me." Estes denied, "It's about the future of humanity. Yes I staged the attacks, a necessary evil to push a reluctant population into action."
"Starving the Talkers was a necessary evil?" George asked, her voice now outraged.
"Do the math. Our known reserve of lithium would be used up by the Talkers at the current rate of consumption in less than three years. And then what?"
"Sun Mei found an alternative." Warren told him.
"It's too late. By the time a working vaccine was ready we'd have used up the lithium. We'd be left with a large population of feral Talkers and no electricity."
"You paid for batteries with human souls." Warren said, she'd seen a lot of evil in the world in the past decade but Estes was something else, just like everyone else from Zona who thought that they were so much better then everyone else.
"Souls? Talkers are a small price to pay for security. They're freaks, a mistake."
"Is that what you tell Pandora? How romantic." George mocked.
"She's a useful tool. But in the end she's a mumbling corpse like the rest of them."
"We'll let everybody know how you were behind all the attacks." Warren reminded him.
"No one would believe you." Estes said with certainty as a small drone the size of a bee came down from above and rested by Warren's head.
Bailey POV
Outside on every screen and speaker in Altura citizens both human and Talker watched as Estes admitted his own guilt. Bailey was standing with Addy and Red at the entrance to the polling building as they all listened. She saw movement in the corner of her eye and saw Doc and 10K show up in the distance, looking at another screen and catching the action too.
"No? But they'll believe you." Warren said, "Did you get all that CZ?"
"Yes mam." Citizen Z's voice spoke over the footage, "Every word has been broadcast live."
"I don't believe you." Estes said thinking they were playing some trick.
"Crank up the volume CZ, the man doesn't believe us." Warren said louder.
"This is insane!" Estes shouted but now the echo seemed to reach his ears as he spun hearing his own voice through the PA system.
"You're right, this is insane but how 'bout you go back and tell us how the Talkers are freaks and a mistake?" Warren quoted him.
"A mumbling corpse!" Pandora snarled showing up behind Estes. She seemed to have made a wardrobe change and her mask now looked skull like with red where tendons would be. It reminded Bailey of the masks some of the Zero's women used to wear. She was also wearing a metal corset with small spikes decorating it and a metal shoulder pad. But even with only one good eye you could still see all Pandora's rage blazing inside her. "That's how you see me?"
"That isn't how I meant it baby." Estes whispered trying to cover his tracks as he walked up to her but even as a whisper the volume was so loud Altura heard it anyway.
"Then how exactly did you mean it? Baby." Pandora snapped.
"Shit about to get real." They heard Warren murmur and Bailey smirked and crossed her arms.
"This is ridiculous." Estes shouted again, "This proves nothing, what I did I did for humanity."
"What if there's a new definition of humanity?" Warren asked.
"There's only one direction that goes, the dead will be all that's left. What happens then? When we've traded our future, buy a few more years for the Talkers? When there's no more living to feed upon? How long before the last vestige of humanity rots away and turns to dust?"
"You can't get rid of the Talkers just because they're inconvenient." George said still sounding appalled, "Or mercy them just because they're dead."
"The Talkers are rotting bags of putrefied meat, and we must cleanse them from society before they drag us all down to their level!"
"Is that what you think I've been doing?" Pandora asked shoving Estes' shoulder so he was turned to her again, "Dragging you down to my level huh?"
"We talked about this, you're different."
"Oh, ho, ho, am I?" she asked drawing her knife and holding it to Estes' stomach, "Or am I just a rotting bag or putrefied flesh? What is it baby?" she asked dragging her knife up his chest scaring him but not cutting him. "Maybe if you were a Talker you'd feel different about this whole dead thing." She said bringing her knife to his throat. The drone flew closer to her but Pandora wasn't in the mood to be recorded.
"Buzz off!" she shouted slapping the drone with her knife and it broke making the screens go fuzzy. Everyone let out a collective groan wishing they could see what was about to happen next and Bailey couldn't repress her smirk.
The guards at the polling building looked back and forth to each other before opening the doors and letting the Talkers in to vote.
"Red! Addy! Bailey!" they heard a shout and turned to see Doc rushing over to them. He smiled and waved when he got to them and started talking to Addy asking her how things went on her end of the plan while she asked how things on his side went. 10K showed up only a moment after Doc did, joining their group outside the building while other Alturans filed in to vote. He was smiling as he walked over but once he saw Bailey his grin fell and his steps quickened as he approached her.
"Are you alright?" he asked bringing his hand to her face and gently using his finger to trace the bruise on her cheek. She knew she must have looked pretty bad after Pandora had taken out her anger on her face but overall, she was just happy her head wasn't spinning after the last fight she'd had with Pandora in the field. 10K looked at the scabbed over cut, the one running diagonally across the side of her eye. She nodded to answer his question and pulled away from his touch, knowing it was just slightly too intimate if they weren't together. She saw the light in his eyes dim a little but both of them were then distracted by Doc.
"Went pretty much like we thought it would." Doc was saying to Addy and Red, "They played right into it then the Kid started shooting and they didn't know what to do." Doc gave a laugh.
"Getting that number up." Addy smiled at 10K with her Z Whacker over her shoulder.
He smiled back at her, "1,001 to go."
«»
After she'd gone in to vote Bailey lingered around the courtyard taking a seat in the grass under a small tree, watching the people and the Talkers funnel inside to cast their votes. She knew after the broadcast there was a slim chance of the no vote winning and just watching the Talkers and humans conversing in line was enough to make everything they'd gone through worth it. Well. . . not everything. When she saw Red and Addy by the entrance chatting she remembered that Red had hid Sun Mei's brain, that the doctor wouldn't be here to see everything Altura – and hopefully Newmerica – would flourish into. She started to get choked up and rubbed at her eyes wondering why she seemed so happy one minute and so sad and depressed the next.
"Bailey?" she heard and turned to see 10K standing there, he looked concerned as his eyebrows pulled together and he moved closer and sat beside her. She didn't have the energy to move, she felt drained and couldn't wait until everything calmed down and she could take a nap. But it wasn't over, not yet, not until the votes were all in.
"Are you okay?" 10K asked her folding his arms over his bent knees in front of him.
She sniffled, "Fine. Just. . . thinking about Sun Mei." She admitted looking at the grass, "If we had just been there a little sooner. . . "
10K didn't object, he didn't say anything, just let her sit there in silence. They both knew what it felt like to be just a minute too late, and they'd both spent a fair amount of time after losing a friend wondering what could have happened differently.
"You know." He began, breaking the silence, "Even though we aren't together. . . I can still be your shoulder to cry on."
She nodded, "Thanks, but I don't need one." She told him trying to be strong. Keep it together, she told herself, this isn't the first time this has happened to you.
But he clearly didn't believe her, "You don't?" he asked watching her carefully.
She felt her eyes sting and knew she was failing, she could feel the break down coming. A tear escaped her eye and her lip began to tremble.
"Yes I do." She said already sobbing and hunching forward. He moved closer and wrapped his arm around her as she cried into his shoulder. Internally she was pissed at herself, why are you being so emotional? But even then, she stayed leaning on 10K's shoulder enjoying the small comfort he still brought.
Third Person POV
"Pandora please." Estes begged. The tense situation in the lithium room still unfolding as the vote continued several floors above them.
"Stop whining. I hate it when you whine!" she sneered still holding her knife to him, "You know I had big plans for us Roman, it's a pity."
Then she stabbed the panel behind him and broke whatever system was maintaining the lithium, she laughed manically as Estes turned to the panel horrified.
"What have you done?" he screamed, "If the lithium overheats it'll kill everyone in Altura!"
"Well George was right about one thing, humans and Talkers are equal, I guess we all deserve a final mercy in the end." She said as an alarm started blaring in the room.
"I have to restart the pumps." Estes said moving toward George and Warren trying to pass them to get to the stairs that led down to the pumps and pipes that held the lithium pools and kept them running properly. However, neither George or Warren moved as he stopped in front of them. "We only have a few more minutes before the coolant boils off!"
Not trusting him by himself, Warren went with Estes to the pumps while George and Pandora faced off – literally in Pandora's case.
"What are you doing?" Warren asked with her gun on Estes as he went to a panel of pressure gages.
"Stopping a catastrophe! I can't get in to control the power flow." He said pressing buttons on the panel but nothing happened, "The lithium can catch fire and explode if we don't get these pumps working!"
He moved to a manual wheel over one of the pumps like back at the Waterkeeper's dam but he wasn't strong enough to crank it on his own.
"Help me!" he shouted and Warren put her gun away to help. Estes might have a twisted view of how to save humanity but for now they were on the same side, the side of not letting Altura explode. She helped him but the wheel only turned slightly, it would take a lot more effort and time before they had it open enough to cool down the lithium.
"The coolant is starting to boil!" he said looking at a panel on the machine beside them. "We have to get this valve open and restore circulation. If the lithium is exposed to oxygen it'll start an uncontrolled burn."
Warren let go and looked around the floor, there was a long piece of thick metal almost like Doc's old crowbar and she grabbed it.
"Move!" she shouted at Estes and he stepped away as she slid the metal into the valve and started to push on it making the wheel turn. The metal started to bend as the wheel cranked and some steam was let out. Estes jumped back as it blew in his face and Warren looked at the panel but couldn't tell what it meant.
She turned back to Estes hoping he'd be able to read it and give some good news.
"You're burned." She noticed as Estes looked at the panel, half of his face blistering.
"I know." He shrugged it off, "The main coolant pump is burnt out, we need to bypass it using this hose. Hook it up over there, hurry!"
He quickly grabbed a hose from the floor and secured it to one side of the pipes while Warren took the other mumbling, "Damn apocalypse piece of shit."
The alarm kept blaring as Estes screwed the end of the hose on and the panel kept flashing emergency signals. Warren heard George and Pandora fighting on the walkway above them that surrounded the pool, but couldn't focus on them right now. When she looked back at the panel it looked like levels were dropping back to normal as the alarm stopped.
"I think it's working." She said before she felt someone take her gun from its holster and she turned to Estes who was aiming at her, "What are you doing? It's over."
"You're ruining humanity's last chance. I can't let that happen." His expression was blank, he wasn't like Pandora he took no joy in having to kill, in his mind it was just necessary and he'd been pushed to the edge. He fired the gun and she felt the bullet pierce her stomach but it didn't hurt, at least not as much as when she'd been shot by the Man. Estes shot again, and again, and three more times after that until the clip was empty and his eyes widened. Then suddenly, George was there and she quickly disarmed him before she looked at Warren in shock too.
"Warren?"
She looked down at herself and felt her stomach.
"There's no blood." She said before she passed out.
Bailey POV
After Bailey had regained her composure and all the group had gotten in to vote they hurried on their way and went into the building where they knew Warren and George had followed Estes and Pandora into. They all ran through the halls searching for them before they found George with Estes' hands behind his back.
"George!" Addy cried, "Where's Warren?"
"Back there!" she shouted nodding toward the door she'd just left, "She needs help hurry!"
They all rushed in to a blue lit room and Addy, Doc and Red went below while Bailey and 10K went up to the pools. They didn't see Warren but Bailey did see a shattered porcelain mask on the walkway and in the pool saw a skeleton that must have been Pandora. The lithium pool had melted her skin and her flesh and nothing but boiling bone remained.
"Warren!" They heard Addy shout below and when they got to the bottom of the steps again they saw Doc and Red each with one of Warren's arms around them while they helped her to the door hoping she'd regain consciousness. Once they were in the hall again Murphy and another man in a cowboy hat came around the corner.
"Guys!" Murphy shouted.
"Roberta!" the second guy cried and Bailey wondered how he knew her.
"We have to get her help." Red said urgently.
"Wait, she ain't bleeding." Doc noticed confused.
"Yeah." The guy in the cowboy hat said, "There's something you all should know."
He quickly explained how he'd found Warren after the Black Rainbow drone crashed and he'd tended to her wounds. "I did all I could but she bled out. She. . . died."
"She's dead?" 10K asked, his eyebrows pulling together confused.
"She's a Talker." Bailey said in realization.
"But she's never had any bizkits." Addy said also trying to piece it all together.
"She's like a Talker but different, maybe it was the Black Rain she got exposed to inside the drone, I don't know. She didn't know - about any of it." the man – Cooper – theorized.
"You never told her?" Doc asked knowing Warren would have mentioned something like that to them.
"I thought something like that might change her." Cooper mumbled.
"He's telling the truth." Murphy said which shocked all of them, Murphy didn't back people up unless there was something in it for him. Yet here he was doing it for Warren. "I can explain more later but we really should get her somewhere where she can rest."
"I can stay with her, explain things when she wakes up." Cooper offered as they moved down the hall.
10K POV
"Hey, can we talk?" 10K asked, grabbing Red by the arm gently, keeping her at the back of the group with him. He knew he had to speak up while he and Red had the chance to be alone. With Pandora dead and Estes going into custody things seemed to be winding down for the group so he figured now would be a good time to bring this mess up. After all he knew he had strong feelings for both Bailey and Red, but Bailey. . . he had just been finding himself thinking about her when she wasn't around, everything from the major I hope she's not fighting for her life to the more normal I wonder how her day is going? In the end he could feel a tug in the very deepest pit of his heart like the answer he been there the whole time, he'd just finally dug it out. And if he knew the answer it wasn't fair to Red to keep wasting her time.
"Sure." Red said turning to him as the rest of the group continued on around the corner and out of sight. He looked shyly at the floor then over to the wall trying to think of where to begin.
"So, -"
"You picked her." Red said and his gaze snapped to her and as surprised as he was that she'd somehow known that, he was more shocked to see her smiling, genuinely smiling.
"Yeah." He said watching her for a second while his confusion grew, "Why are you smiling?"
"Because I'm happy for you." She said like it was obvious and he couldn't see any falseness in her eyes. He knew his befuddlement was spread out on his face and knew if Bailey were here and not helping with Warren she'd call him an open book.
"Tommy." Red said in a partial sigh as she leaned against the wall and put her hands in her pockets. "I know that it's not because you don't care about me anymore. But I also know that what you and Bailey have is. . . deeper. And I know she's been able to help you in ways that I just. . . couldn't. Maybe because she knows you so much better –"
"Well that's just from her reading people thing."
"No." Red said smiling and shaking her head, "It's because she loves you. I could see it when we were traveling north together, the look in her eyes when she'd talk about you. You mean everything to her."
He looked at the floor as his shyness took over again and he put his hand and his antler in his pockets. When he didn't respond Red kept talking, "Do you remember when I told you I didn't want to have kids?"
He looked back up at Red, "Yeah, course I do." He replied not really knowing where she was going with this.
"And you were so kind about it, and you didn't try to change my mind–"
"Why would I try to do that?"
"Because you want kids." She said again like it was obvious and his confusion came back and doubled, he knew he'd never told her that, "I could tell by the look on your face when I told you. How sad you were, but you tried to hide that, you still supported my decision, you respected it."
"Well. . . I understood why you thought that way, after 5K –"
"I know." She said quickly not wanting to get too deep into that conversation, or the memories. "Bailey wants kids too." She said and he wondered if he underestimated how close Red and Bailey had gotten while he'd been gone, "Take away everything else, how you both feel, everything you've been through, take away all of that and strip it down it its bare bones, . . . shouldn't you be with the person who wants the same things as you?"
"I honestly wasn't thinking like that when I decided." He said with a shrug.
"No, you were thinking with your heart. You always do. That's why you always do the right thing, even if it risks your safety. That's what makes you such a good person."
"Why are you so okay with this?" he asked not being able to hold back that question any longer. This wasn't what he'd heard about break ups, not that he expected Red to be a crier, but he hadn't thought she'd seem so. . . mature about the whole thing. Maybe it was something the apocalypse brought out in people, you had to grow up quicker, you had to make real life, mature decisions. You couldn't break down and cry just because something didn't go your way, you had to make yourself keep going. That was second nature to all of them now.
Red shrugged looking like she was trying to phrase what was going through her head, "Well. . . I think it's so easy for me to. . . bow out, because I know she'll take care of you. Like you'll take care of her. And yeah, I could be bitter about it but. . . there's so much bad in the world already I really don't want to add to it." She took a deep breath, "And Bailey and I knew something like this was coming. We talked about it a lot. We aren't stupid, we knew if we all made it to Newmerica only one of us could be with you. We actually agreed on a lot, neither one of us wanted to start some over dramatized high school cat fight." She rolled her eyes, "We just both want you to be happy, no matter who it's with."
Then she chuckled, "Besides. . . I'll always be the girl who cut off your hand."
He scoffed, "I told you to stop apologizing for that. You know I don't blame you for it."
She smiled, "I know. . . but still, it doesn't make it less true. Besides, you love her, and you love the future you can have with her."
He thought about all she'd said for a minute before he smiled a little and nodded his head. Red kept looking at him like she was expecting something to happen until finally she said, "Well?"
"Well what?"
"What are you still doing here?" she laughed, "Go find her. That's where you want to be isn't it?" He nodded, "Then get out of here you dork."
"I. . . what do I say?"
Red laughed again, "10K you've taken on hordes of zombies, I think you should be fine asking a girl out."
"Sometimes I'd prefer taking on the zombie horde. It's easier."
Bailey POV
Once they got Warren to a room where she could lie down Bailey noticed Red and 10K weren't with them. She went back to find them and make sure everything was okay, especially after a day like today. She froze though when she heard a giggle and slowly made it to the corner and peaked around. Red was there smiling up at 10K who had that lovable goofy grin on his face. She felt her chest tighten a bit as she ducked behind the corner again and headed back the way she came. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She was a grown person, almost twenty eight years old, 10K was twenty five, she didn't know Red's exact age but they were all adults and she was mature enough to handle a break up. She knew Red and Tommy had been together after he thought she died, she knew that there was a good chance they'd continue that relationship even after Tommy found out about Murphy's lie. You went two years without him and you were fine. You'll be fine now too. You'll be okay. She told herself again and again as she looked for a distraction. The vote had just ended but it was going to be a couple hours before they'd tallied the results and made an announcement.
She decided to go to the supply and storage building and take inventory, she'd been gone a while and now with Estes locked up and the attacks ending Altura could come out of lockdown meaning they'd need to make more supply runs and she'd be critical in getting a list to the run teams. Altura needed her and she had a job to do. She took another deep breath and repeated her new mantra as she tried not to fall apart. What was that phrase again? If you love something let it go, if it comes back it's yours, if it doesn't it was never yours to begin with.
10K POV
"Just go ask her to lunch so you can talk. Visit her at work tomorrow, ask her about her day. You know, all that Pre-Z stuff." Red had advised him before he'd left and started walking around Altura trying to get the courage to go see Bailey. But once he'd done that he still had to find her. He weeded out the places she could be and ended up finding her back in the supply and storage building. She was alone since mostly everyone else was either voting or reuniting with their Talker loved ones who were now being let into Altura again until the election was over and they had a final result to announce. He walked across the gym and leaned on one of the tables at the end of the row she was working in.
"Hey." He said getting her attention as she was bent over counting supplies on one of the shelves. She straightened up and pushed her bangs out of her face.
"10K. I –I'm kind of busy right now." She stuttered clearly not expecting him to drop by. "I have a lot of work to do."
"Well I think for today no one's going to hold you to a schedule. And even if they did your shift would have ended fifteen minutes ago." He said with a chuckle but she didn't laugh with him, instead she squatted and pulled out a rubber bin from under the shelves and kept writing down how much of what she had on her clipboard.
"Well, something came up. You know how it is. I've been away and I should really catch up on everything."
He pushed himself over the table and landed on his feet before stepping forward and leaning on the end of the rack she was working on, "Well, what about later then? We could grab a bite to eat, go hear the outcome of the vote?"
"Later's no good for me." She said not even looking at him as she stood up and moved on to the next inventory bin.
"You're busy then too?"
"No. . . . " she trailed off like she was racking her brain for an excuse.
"Bailey please, -" he tried begging before she cut him off.
"You should go, Doc or Addy or someone's probably looking for you." She said barely glancing at him.
She started walking away moving further down the aisle when he called to her, "I talked to Red."
"I know." She said stopping at another shelf and marking something on her clipboard, "I heard you two in the hall."
His eyebrows pulled together in confusion, "Then why are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you." She denied still not looking at him.
"I thought you'd be happy." He said feeling his heart break a little, maybe while he'd been taking his time figuring things out Bailey had moved on. She had every right to after all, it wasn't like he could have made her wait while he chose between her and Red.
She took a deep breath and turned to him, "I am happy, I'm happy for you, for both of you." She said a little fast like she was rushing to get the words out before she turned away from him again. That terrible breaking feeling in his chest stopped as a light bulb clicked on in his head and he couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Bailey, did you hear what I said to Red?" he asked stepping down the aisle closer to her.
"No, but it wasn't hard to guess." She replied writing more things down.
He couldn't help but smile as he shook his head. "You're such an idiot." He whispered with a chuckle still shaking his head but she heard him and turned to him now looking a little mad.
"Excuse me?" she asked sounding insulted.
"Bailey, what do you think I told Red?" he asked still grinning as he kept making his way down the row to her.
"I don't care what you told her. That's between you and her. You're entitled to your privacy." She said going back to the inventory, then she muttered, "Whatever it was made her smile a lot."
He chuckled overhearing it, "Yeah that threw me off too."
She looked up at him confused, "What?"
He stepped closer to her, "Bailey," he said bringing his hand to cup her neck so she couldn't look away from him. He ran his thumb along her jaw though she tried to shake him off to make him stop. "I didn't pick Red."
She stopped moving her head and looked up at him, "You didn't?" she asked and he could see in her expression she was wondering if her radar was breaking. He moved to pin her back against the shelves and remembered when he had to do this years ago to get her to talk to him about their kiss after the nuke. Some things never changed.
"No, and I, I don't know if it was really a decision. It's more like. . . I just find myself wanting to spend more time with you, my mind drifts to you more wondering where you are, what you're doing, if you're okay. Wanting to kiss you goodbye when you leave, wanting to hold your hand when we're walking together. All the stuff I found myself wanting to do when we were walking all across Newmerica these past few weeks. Knowing I couldn't because you weren't really mine anymore. . . it made me feel, broken." He shrugged, "That's how I knew my mind had kinda already chosen for me."
"You didn't pick Red?" she asked again still processing it.
"No." he said softly before he leaned in and brought his lips to hers. She dropped her clipboard as she wove her hands around his neck before he scooped her up in his arms and her back hit the shelves again as they kissed.
Bailey POV
Bailey was sitting in a cushioned chair on the second floor of the Pale Horseman Tavern next to a glass pane part of the railing that allowed her to look down to where everyone else was drinking and talking and having a good time while they waited for the election results. Then Tommy joined her with a beaker in his hand filled with a bright red liquid like fruit punch.
"Zombie Shiner?" she asked as he sat in the chair beside her and put the beaker down on the table.
"Yeah, no thumb this time." he said and she turned to him a bit confused. "I'll fill you in later."
She giggled as he took a sip from the drink before putting it back down and leaning back in the chair.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked getting up.
"Yeah, sure." He nodded, "Anything."
She sat on his lap partially resting on the arm of the seat as he wrapped his arm around her waist and she brought one hand to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. He'd let it grow out and she liked the new style, especially how it was messy only on one side because he only had one hand to mess it up.
"I know you're sharing a room with Doc in the housing building. But if that's too crowded I thought. . . if you wanted to, we could move your stuff into my place." She suggested biting her lip nervously and toying with the end of her ponytail that was still held up by his old red bandana.
"You mean, live together?" he asked and she nodded now a bit more nervous, "Not like before when we'd all share one house for safety? And eight people would cram into just a few rooms? Like live together just because we want to? Like a real couple?"
She shrugged, "Only if you want you. I get it if you don't –"
"I'd love to." He interrupted as a small smirk appeared on his face and quickly became a full grin. Bailey stopped chewing her lip and smiled back before he leaned in and kissed her again. They kept kissing for a bit before they remembered they were in a public place and Bailey pulled away and rested her head on Tommy's shoulder as he held onto her waist tightly. They stayed like that while he finished his drink and when it looked like George was getting ready to announce the results down on the first floor they got up to join the others and go listen.
Third Person POV
"May I have your attention please?" Doc called through the megaphone as he stood on the steps with Addy, "Ladies and Gentleman living and dead and those in between, the polls are officially closed, the votes are now finishing being tallied."
"Hey." Addy said tilting her head to down below where Bailey and 10K were, "Glad that worked out."
Then Red walked in and approached Murphy with the cooler she'd retrieved from its hiding place.
"What's that?" Murphy asked.
"Sun Mei said to give it to you." Red said solemnly.
"She said you would know what to do with it." Warren explained moving from her place by George while Murphy looked at the cooler realizing what was in it.
"Hey everybody what do you say we get George up here to announce the results!" Doc said over the megaphone when the last of the ballots were counted and the whole room cheered for her as she smiled and went up to the landing where Doc was on the steps and took the megaphone after getting a hug from the hippie. Bailey stood next to 10K as he leaned on a pillar in front of a plant. They both clapped and cheered for George then 10K put his handless arm over her shoulder and held her close. Doc joined them and stood to Bailey's other side smiling happily.
"I lost a lot of friends getting here, we all did." George began, "But I gained some new friends too, friends who taught me the meaning of the words loyalty and courage. Who showed me what can be done when we have each other's backs. What can be accomplished when we believed in one another and carry each other forward no matter the obstacle. There were so many times I thought this moment would never come, yet here we are. So. . . without further delay, the moment we have all been waiting so very long for. Let's get to the results." She said as she opened the envelope in her hand. She looked at the results and smiled, when she made the announcement everyone cheered and hollered happily. Warren looked around before getting the attention of their group.
"Hey, where's Murphy?" she asked and they all looked around but he was nowhere in the room. Then a bad feeling very quickly hit Bailey and she turned and crouched by the pot of the plant and got sick as 10K bent down with her and rubbed her back, his eyes wide with alarm.
END SEASON 5
Happy New Year everyone!!