This is a Z Nation flashback movie.
Some days you try to do good. Some days you survive. Then there are other days when you pray. Pray to forget there's no mercy for the living. Like so many billions of souls, the past is gone. But you try not to think about it. But sometimes our darkest moments hold the key to our future.
We have been walking for miles looking another car to use. Lucy was getting cranky and tired and I felt like I couldn't move my legs anymore. When all of a sudden 10k came over holding a kid.
"Hey guys, look what I found." He said as the kid was squirming and making loud noises.
"Shhh. Puppies and kittens." Warren said trying to get him to quiet down.
"Was anybody with him?" I asked.
" He said something about a doctor."
"The Man gonna kill them." said the kid.
"What?"
"He's gonna kill them. You kill man." He said looking at all of us.
"Oh no, no, no. We no kill man. We on mission. Scram, kid." Murphy said
"Caw."
"He just caw at me?" Murphy asked. I started to laugh.
"Murphy. Get Lucy some water." Warren said.
"Can you get this one some too?" I said as Murphy handing me a cup. "You thirsty, sweetheart?" I asked as I handed him the cup. The poor thing couldn't figure out how a cup works.
"Poor kid doesn't even know how to drink out of a cup." Doc said.
"Must've been four or five when all this started. Apocalypse is all he knows." Warren said.
"Where's your mama and your papa?" I asked.
"Just sister."
"Okay. Is she with the others? The ones that are in trouble?"
"Yes. The Man will kill them if the doctor won't talk to them."
"Doctor? Who's this doctor?" Warren asked.
"Did I mention that we are on a mission?" said Murphy.
"Yeah. We got Lucy to think about too." said Addy.
"Yeah, but we can't just let some man kill a whole bunch of people." I said.
"Sure we can. We do it all the time." said Murphy.
"I vote we help the kid." said Doc.
"As much as it pains me to say it, Blue Face is right. We're on a mission. Okay, we don't know what we'd be walking into. And we can't take a chance like that." said Warren.
"So what are we gonna do? Just leave him? Can we talk about this?" I said.
"Hey!" 10k yelled the kid grabbed his gun and ran. 10k chased after him and tackled him as a girl came out of the forest and held a sword thing to his neck.
"You much as twitch, and brains will be the last thing you think about." She said.
"We're good. I swear. I just want my gun back. That little thief over there stole my gun. Ask him. That's mine." said 10k as we were starting to run over.
"That his gun?"
"Caw."
"Sorry. He was raised by crows. I mean really, he was raised by." She fell over as 10k kicked her in the legs as she went down and held her sword to her neck.
"Now you freeze. Tell him to drop my gun."
Then the kid jumped on 10k's back so Warren went to grab the girl while Doc and I grabbed the kid.
"Hey, hey, hey. That's enough! Fight's over! Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey, Fight's over. Fight's over. Girl, you better."
"Calm down." I said as I grabbed him and try to hold him still.
"Leave him alone. He's just a kid!" She yelled.
"He's more like a wild child. Time out, Mowgli." Doc said as he helped me.
"Shhh. Hey. Stop struggling, okay? Stop. Hey. Stop struggling. Okay? Nobody's gonna hurt you. Stop trembling. We're good. Okay? You're safe, okay? Okay. That's it. Alright, that's it, right?" I said as he started to calm down. "Everybody, just chill out. Nobody's gonna get hurt. Nobody's gonna get mercied. We're just gonna talk. Okay?"
"You wanna tell me what this child is so afraid of?" Warren asked the girl.
"There's a man going around with a list of names looking for people. One of the names is a scientist hiding among the survivors we're with. Doctor Teller."
"What does The Man want with the people on the list?" Addy asked.
"Nobody knows. They disappear."
"So where's The Man now?" Asked 10k.
"I dunno. Said he was coming back in the morning. If this Teller guy wasn't waiting for him, he would kill my brother. Then all the rest of us, one by one, till he finds the doctor. How'd you get away?" She asked the kid.
"Caw! Caw, caw caw."
"Did you catch any of that?" Doc said.
"No. He lost me at caw." said Murphy.
"So what does this Man fella got against doctors?" Asked Warren.
"People say he's some kind of avenging angel. Making people pay for the Apocalypse."
"Well somebody should pay for all this." said Murphy.
"Where are the survivors?" Warren asked as the girl started to lead us back to the place they came from. Once we got to the place, it was like a factory.
"They got vehicles. We could use some transpo." said Warren
"And we're down to puddle water and orange peels." Said Doc.
"Is this the part where I drop my pants and show you the tattoo on my ass? You know, the one that says, "never get off the boat." said Murphy.
" Keep your pants on. Okay? We're just gonna check it out. She said The Man's not coming back till tomorrow, which gives us plenty of time to get out of Dodge if we don't like what we find." said Warren.
"Okay. Next guy I see with an ink gun, I'm getting that tattoo."
"Hey, stop right there." A couple of guys yelled through the gate."Who are they?"
"Friendlies. They've come to help." said the girl.
"We don't want any trouble. We're just delivering the kid home safe." I said holding up my hands.
"You shouldn't have brought them here! I'm afraid you guys are gonna have to leave."
"That's gonna work out cuz we ain't planning on staying." said Murphy.
"Doctor." The girl yelled as a man with a hood came out to meet them.
"Is he okay?"
"He escaped from The Man. These people saved him from a z-pack." She said pointing to us
"Are you okay?" He asked the boy as he shook his head yes. "Thank god."
"So, you're the man on the list?" I said.
"The girl told us. She thought we could help." said Warren as they let us in. We started to follow the doctor as he was talking to us.
"We don't get many visitors out here. A few traders used to stop by. We had enough chemicals and tools to trade for seeds and cooking oil. Some weapons. But live humans have been fewer and farther between. Starting to feel like Black Summer again."
"Why don't you leave?" Warren asked.
"And go where? This is all we have left."
"Can you help us?" Doc asked.
"I'm not sure how much help we can be. I mean we're actually in the middle of some very urgent matters. Lives are at stake for us too. We can't take on these men alone. We don't have the weapons or the skills. But you do. I know you have other priorities But we can help you too. We have vehicles and fuel." We heard yelling and saw some trucks come to the front gates and a bunch of military guys came out along with a guy wearing a suit and flip flops.
"There you are. 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. 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." said The Man.
"You said we had 24 hours." Someone yelled.
"I know. I lied. Tell the doctor to present himself right now. Or bad shit is gonna happen. It's time for you to step up!" He yelled. I looked around and stepped forward.
"I am Doctor Teller." I said.
"I am Doctor Teller." I turned and saw Warren and everyone else follow along.
"I am Doctor Teller. I'm Doctor Teller. I am Doctor Teller. I am Doctor Teller. I'm Doctor Teller." One by one everyone stepped forward.
"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. Got to admit, the Romans did have style."
"Why don't you let these people be?" I yelled as I stepped forward.
"And you are?"
"Doctor Teller."
"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. Don't be a hero."
"Don't come back." I said as he turned around and left. After that, 10k and the girl who's name is Red decided to go out and search for food.
"Be careful out there." I said as I hugged 10k.
"Yeah. We'll be careful." He said
"Caw!"
We turned and saw the kid was holding a slingshot and kinda was dressed like 10k.
"What happened to you?" asked Red.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be? 5K?" Doc said as we all started to laugh.
"We should get moving." Red said as they started to walk away.
"So this is the only road in and out of here?" I asked watching 10k and Red leave.
"The only entrances are the main entrance here and the emergency exit you came in through."
"How secure is your perimeter?"
"Chain link and barbed wire mostly. It keeps the Zs out. But I'm not too sure about humans."
"We can scavenge the sheet metal off the shelters and build a more defensible barricade." Addy said
"Still time to make a run for it." said Doc.
"They'd only catch us out in the open. At this point we stay and fight. Use home court advantage." said Warren.
"Thank you. We wouldn't stand a chance without you."
"Yeah, well don't thank us yet. There's at least four men that we've seen. They're heavily armed." I said.
"That's what I don't understand. Why haven't they just come in, taken you hostage, killed you one by one?"
"He said the people he worked for wanted to show mercy."
"He's got a funny way of showing it. And who are these people he works for?"
"Nobody knows."
"What do they want with you?" I asked.
"I dunno."
"Really?"
"Really. I don't know. We were a small pharma lab. A startup developing new pain drugs. Unless you're interested in the healing power of mold, it was pretty boring stuff. We hadn't even brought our first product to market when the lab was overrun."
"Okay. Seems like fortifying the lab is the best bet." said Warren.
"That won't work. The lab is contaminated. It's a no-go zone. Okay."
"Okay. Let's see what you got in the way of manpower." Warren said as I followed.
"I know they aren't much to look at." Teller said as he should us a group of people who looked like they never even been in a fight before.
"Show of hands. Who wants to live to see tomorrow?" Warren said as everyone raised their hand. "All right. If you do exactly what I say, you might just live to see another day." She gave everyone a gun with no bullets and started to train them as I cleaned the guns and watched. After a while I saw Murphy go into the lab so I decided to follow him. I went in with him and went up to the window to see Z's with boils all over them.
"Murphy, what the hell is this?"
"What are you doing here? Get away from there." Teller yelled as he grabbed Murphy.
"Who are they?"
"That's none of your concern!"
"Get your hands off of him now!" I yelled pointing the gun to his head.
"You heard the lady!" Murphy said as Teller let go of him.
"Now tell me what the hell going on here?" I asked as Warren, Doc, and Addy came in.
"That's none of your concern."
"The good doctor here's got some sort of zombie freak torture chamber going on in there." said Murphy.
"That's a lie."
"I heard them! Crying in pain!"
"That's insane."
"To be honest, I'm not sure. Seems impossible they're still alive. But they aren't zombies. They have wants and needs. They still have souls."
"Does this have something to do with why your name is on The Man's list?" Addy asked.
"I was the Founder and CEO of Mercy Labs. My wife Sarah was also my partner. Brilliant scientist in her own right. Mercy was developing a new class of antibiotics to fight super infections. We were genetically modifying a fast growing super fungus to to kill germs. When the HZ1 virus broke out, we shifted everything toward finding a fungus based cure. But nothing worked. We were able to stop the virus from spreading. But the side effects were too horrible. Zombies overrun the lab. There was an explosion. And the lab was contaminated with the experimental anti-Z fungus before everybody could be evacuated. They were exposed to a virulent form of fungus. It stops the zombie virus from killing you, but the side effect is that the fungus spreads uncontrollably throughout your body. I had no choice. I could not let the fungus escape the lab. I had no choice. We've been trying to take care of them as best we can. Nobody can bring themselves to mercy them, so I've been feeding and trying to keep them as comfortable as possible. We thought that they wouldn't live long. But it's been four years now."
"If you leave, they'll die. Won't they?" said Murphy.
"Seems like a lot more going on around here than a local bandit problem." Doc said.
"Maybe we should get the hell out of here while we still can." Addy said.
"I agree. Those poor souls trapped in that lab are begging for mercy. I say we move on and let Darwin sort this out." said Doc.
"So we're all just okay with abandoning the people." I said.
"This is the definition of a lost cause. We take what we need and go. I've got a baby to think about." Murphy said.
"You're being awful quiet, Chief." said Doc
"Yeah. You and Lucy are our priority. But if we leave now, these people will die tomorrow morning. And we will not be far behind, without food or a vehicle." said Warren.
"So we just stay here and go out in a zombified blaze of glory?" asked Murphy.
"Listen. I'm not saying that either. But we have a good plan of defense. Maybe if The Man sees we intend to put up a fight, we can reason with him."
"Yeah. Cuz he seems like a perfectly reasonable guy." said Murphy as he walked away.
"You know what? There's still a lot to do. And there's only a few more hours left of daylight. We need to be ready in case The Man decides to come back again early." I said.
"You really think we're gonna be able to scare that guy off?" Addy asked.
"He's not insane. He wants Dr. Teller alive." said Warren.
"Yeah, but what what if he won't leave well enough alone?" asked Doc.
"Then shit gonna get crazy." I said.
"Uh uh."
I decided that I was going to search the perimeter and make sure the Man hasn't tried anything.
"Caw!" I looked over and saw 5k holding up his slingshot at me.
"Stand down. It's just me." He shot his sling shot and hit a rattlesnake behind me.
"Nice shot." I said. He went and grabbed it and started to eat it.
"Mmm? That's all you. You deserve it. You deserve it." I said grossed out that he's eating it raw. "Why don't you back to your sister and get ready for the fight."
He looked at me and ran off. I continued walking around until I saw someone standing near the fence. As I got closer, I noticed it was just The Man. I went up behind him and held up my gun.
"If you so much as move, I'll shoot you in the spine and leave you for the zombies." I said. He turned around and started to walk towards me. "I said I'll shoot!" I yelled as he grabbed me by the neck and everything went black.
I woke up and I had my hands tied behind my back with a bag over my head.
"You know that's completely up to them, right? You just make sure you have the transport standing by and ready for x-fill." He said as came up in front of me. "This will all be over soon. Except for you. You are not going anywhere." He said as he ripped the bag off my head.
"You know they're gonna kill you."
"Maybe." He said as he leaned in closer.
"Look. The doctor will go with you. He just doesn't wanna leave his wife. She's dying."
"It's the Apocalypse. Everybody is dying. I have a schedule to keep." He said as soon as he was close enough kicked him in the shin and head butted him.
"Bite that bitch." I said as the other guys grabbed me and tied my legs.
"I'm gonna enjoy killing you Spartacus." He said as he was grabbing my hair. I spit in his face and he let go of my hair stood up, started to walk away when he turned around and slapped me. I hit my head against something and everything started to fade into blackness.
Addy P.O.V
"Sun's coming up." said Warren.
"You think they got her?" Asked Doc.
"Yeah."
"What's the move?"
"We stick with plan A. If he's got her and she's alive, he's gonna want to trade her for Teller." I said.
"We don't have much time." Said Warren.
"I'd trade a kidney for a cup o'joe and a quaalude." said Doc.
I looked over and saw 10k worried. "Hey. We're gonna get her back."
As everything was ready, we saw The Man and his trucks coming.
"Everybody in position! Nobody fire till I do! We might just get out of this alive." Yelled Doc.
"Open up! Just like the 300. Minus a few hundred. I like the paint job." He yelled.
"Cut the crap, Mister Clean. If you hurt our friend, there will be consequences." Doc yelled.
"I'm not interested in her. She's not on my list. Doctor Teller is on my list. Bring him to me, nobody gets hurt. He is here, isn't he?"
"He's here."
"Finally. We're making progress. Bring me the doctor, and I'll give you Spartacus."
"Her name's Autumn, Buzz Nuts. And nobody's going anywhere until I know she's safe." Yelled Doc.
"You know we've got a whole truck load of pain here for you right?"
"Well you have no idea what we've got waiting for you. Right? Now I need proof of life."
"Of course you do." He said as he grabbed his walkie. "It's me. Put Spartacus on the radio." He said as he held up the walkie. Still nothing was coming through so he tried again. "Put the walkie by her mouth, so we can hear her say a few words to prove she's alive. In case we need to kill her later. Over."
"Just get her to tell them she's alive and well so we can make this swap. Over."
Autumn's P.O.V
I woke up as I heard the trailer door open. I was ready to fight again when the bag was removed from my head and I saw 5k.
"5k!"5k untied me and I looked at the guy 5k took down. I hear The Man through the walkie telling us to pick up so I picked it up.
"This is Autumn. I'm alive all right. But your man, not so much. Mercied. I'm coming for you next."
I looked over at 5k and gave him a hug.
"Let's finish this." I said as he started to lead me back to the group. We got back and there was like an all out war happening in front of us. He should me the back way to get into the place and went around the get behind everyone.
"Where have you been?" Addy asked.
"He saved me." I said looking at 5k. "I saw the others on the list."
I took out my gun and started shooting to get my way over to Doc.
"Autumn! How'd you get away?" Doc said hugging me.
"The kid saved me." I said.
"5K? Chip off the ol' block."
"Miss anything fun? Oh, loads of fun. But if I know the Apocalypse, and I think I do, I'd say you got back just in time for all the crazy shit to start happening." Doc said.
The Man saw me and I held up my middle finger.
"Release the Kraken." He said. Then zombies with steel over their heads came out.
"Fire!" Doc yelled.
"I can't get a headshot! Steel plates bolted to their heads."
"They've been mercy-proofed!" yelled Addy.
"Mercy-proofed? That's not fair." Doc said as they got close. " Prepare for impact."
They Z's hit our barrier and kept pushing onto it.
"Can't hold them much longer!" Red yelled.
"Get ready to open up!" yelled Warren.
"Seriously?"
" Ready!"
"Oh shit!"
"Now! Fire in the hole!" Warren yelled as we shot a cannon full of nails and explosives.
"Yeah! I'd pay money to see that again!" Doc yelled in excitement as he got up.
"Get em?"
"Got em."
"Good! Save your ammo!" Warren said. All the Z's started to get up and we knew we were screwed..
"Fall back to the lab! Fall back!" Doc yelled. We all started to run back into the lab and hid in there.
"They're still out there!" Red said as she waited for her brother and as I waited for mine.
"Come on. Don't worry. 10K's got him." I said to her as we followed Murphy to the back.
"She says we'll be safe here." Murphy said as we followed one of the Z's.
"Doctor Teller! It doesn't have to end like this There's still time for you to stop this madness." Addy said.
"Hey! Spartacus! Just send out the doctor and all is forgiven!" He yelled we stayed quiet and ducked down. All of the sudden guns started blazing and the others Z's came out and started to fight them so we can leave. We all got out of the building when I noticed that Teller was gone.
"The Man got Teller." Warren said as she ran out. I looked around and noticed it was just our group and Red.
"Where's everybody? Survivors? Nobody?"
"I told you, never get off the boat." Murphy said as he looked at Warren.
I was standing next to Red when 10k came back covered in blood.
"Oh My God."
"Where is he? He's not dead. He's not. You're lying." She said looking at him and hitting him.
"I tried to get to him."
"You're lying."
"There was too many."
"I don't believe you!" She yelled as she started to run towards the horde of zombies. 10k turned and started to run after her.
"10K! No!" Warren yelled at him as Doc ran over and tackled him.
Sometimes we forget the worst thing that can happen to you in the Apocalypse. The worst thing than can happen to you isn't dying or turning zombie. The worst thing is surviving. But sometimes, that's all we got.
The Man P.O.V
"Yes, the packages are on there way as we speak. My list is completed and I have your next list in my hand." I said as I turned off the walkie. I opened the envelope to 2 names.
Allen Murphy
Autumn Shaw
"Guess I better get started."
