Desperation

"Desperation" is the sixth episode of season one of The Last Ones. It was originally published for the first time on Wednesday 23rd July 2014.
==Plot==
We're introduced to a new group of survivors taking refuge in a penthouse in Summerlyn City, until they are visited in the middle of the night by a mysterious, creepy man. Meanwhile, Peter refuses to listen to advice and gets reckless as he desperately searches for his missing family.
==Synopsis==
The city of Summerlyn City is completely overrun by the undead. Living in the penthouse of one of the tall towers is a small group of five survivors. It's revealed that the apartment belonged to the father of Victoria Franklin, one of the survivors. She approaches her friend Jack and tells him she's worried about Angie and Maddison Collins, who have gone down to the other apartments below to search for food, as their supplies have gotten scarce. They then discuss the zombies and Jack tells Victoria she's lucky when she reveals she hasn't yet come face-to-face with one. He asks what happened to her family, which is a question he has been wanting to ask her for a while. She reveals she last saw her father the morning the outbreak told hold in the city, but hasn't seen him since. She also mentions a brother, who she hasn't seen in months. Just then, Angie and Maddison return, shaken but unscathed. 
Maddison reveals that they ran into some of the undead and that she froze and was unable to defend herself, forcing Angie to come to her rescue and deal with them. Alexis, who appears cold and distant, asks if they got any food. Angie breaks the news that they've come back empty handed. Alexis tells the group they need to leave the penthouse and try their luck out in the open, which takes the group by surprise. Victoria, in particular, is insistent on staying put, even when Alexis points out that if the undead get inside they'll be left with two options: barricade themselves inside and starve or jump out the window, either way they end up dead. Angie stops the debate and tells them there's no point even talking about leaving until they get enough supplies. She excuses herself and leaves to get some sleep. As she walks away, Alexis tells the others that she doesn't belong with them and that she never even liked them before the dead started rising. When Victoria asks what point she's trying to make exactly, Alexis says they should keep an eye on her.
After a rest, Angie awakens from her slumber and heads downstairs to the living area of the penthouse. As the lights are all out, she assumes the others must be in bed, but when she quickly discovers that they are being held hostage by a strange man, the same who was watching over Peter's group in the previous episode. He introduces himself to Angie as Eli Loche and he states that he is "a friend" which she doubts. He asks her to take a seat and join her friends, but she doesn't. She asks what he wants, but he doesn't reply. Jack begs Eli not to hurt them and tries to insist that they're good people. Eli makes it clear he won't hurt them and remarks that hurting them would be the last thing he would want to do, which Alexis scoffs at. Angie uses the distraction to run away. Eli watches, without attempting to stop her. At that moment, Alexis jumps up and punches Eli in the face. He grabs her by the hair and makes it clear that if she touches him again, he'll pull her hair out. He punches her in the stomach and she falls to the floor, in agony. When Eli confesses to Jack that he's going to keep them alive because he'll enjoy toying with them, a winded Alexis calls him a bullshitter and says he's just one scared, pathetic, little man with a gun and that they'll be able to overpower him. Almost on cue, a scared Angie rushes back into the room and falls to the floor. Alexis watches in shock as it's revealed she was chased and by four armed men, who are clearly in league with Eli, who is smug to see the look on Alexis's face.
Meanwhile, at the survivors camp, Peter takes off alone while the majority of the other survivors sleep. Sean asks Shiro if Peter's going again, and he confirms he is. It's revealed to be over twenty-four hours since Lorna, Henry, Milo and Ben went missing and that the group were unsuccessful in trying to find them. Sean goes after a determined Peter, who refuses to come back to camp or have Sean accompany him in his search.
The following morning, Joy is irritated to discover that Sean and Shiro let Peter, who has not returned, wander off alone. Jai says that Peter will be fine, when Joy asks how he can know that, he explains that Peter can handle himself and that if there was a chance of Jai's wife and daughter being alive out there somewhere, he'd be doing the exact same thing as Peter. Sean and Aimi suggest going out to look for him, but Joy refuses as she says the group can't risk splitting up even more. Sean realises she is right. Joy tells the others that if Peter isn't back soon they may have to consider the possibility that he might not have made it, which they don't want to hear. In the background, Georgie plays with Beatrice.
Back in Summerlyn, Eli and Alexis are shown talking alone in the kitchen of the penthouse. He reveals he finds it astonishing at the lack of time it took for civilization to fall and that the government must have thought they were so secure, only for it to collapse in such a short space of time. Alexis tells Eli she's bored of listening to him and asks to be locked up with the others, as she doesn't understand why he wished to talk to her alone. He admits he wanted some time to pick her brain. Eli says he knows that Alexis isn't scared at all, in spite of the situation she is currently in. He tells her he can see it in her eyes and he knows that if he was to point his gun at her head, she wouldn't care. Alexis doesn't vocally confirm this, but she looks away, hinting that there is truth to what he's saying. Eli smiles and says "I guess that makes two of us."
Peter, who is revealed to still be alive, continues on his search through the woods for Lorna and Milo. He shoots a lone wandering zombie and makes a breakthrough when he finds the car Lorna was driving. He is devastated to find it empty, with no clue given as to what happened to them.
In the penthouse, Eli's men stand guard outside the master bedroom where Angie, Victoria, Jack and Maddison are being held. Victoria paces nervously and asks Jack and Maddison what they're going to do. Jack tries to calm her down, but she refuses and when he suggests that Eli might just want the penthouse to himself, Victoria makes it clear that it belongs to her. Maddison asks them about Angie and if she's all right, as she's acting "weird". Jack hushes her as Angie is in the adjacent bathroom, huddled beside the window, visibly frightened.
That evening, Peter, who has clearly admitted defeat, makes his way back to the camp. He comes to a bridge and a stream where there are several undead waiting for him. He takes them out with his gun, but runs out of ammo when there are just two left. He backs away as they near closer, unaware that two more zombies are approaching from behind. He turns just in time to avoid being grabbed and screams. Suddenly, arrows go through the heads of the zombies, who all drop dead to the floor. Peter spins around to find a woman, armed with a bow, aiming an arrow at him. They introduce themselves to each other in what is a very random first meeting. She tells Peter her name is Charlotte Layton and she proceeds to ask him questions, presumably to try and work out what type of person he is. She finds out about his camp and the people close to him who are missing. He discovers that she has been living alone in the woods, sleeping in trees and hunting to survive. Charlotte then walks away, in the direction Peter was heading before the undead found him. He asks where she's going and she says "back to your camp." Peter is slightly bewildered but doesn't take issue with her coming with him. They walk away from the stream together, in silence.
==Deaths==
*Numerous counts of zombies.
==Trivia== 
*First appearance of Alexis Norton.
*First appearance of Jack Lucas.
*First appearance of Victoria Franklin.
*First appearance of Angie de Luca.
*First appearance of Maddison Collins.
*First appearance of Amar Patil.
*First appearance of Sid.
*First appearance of Donald.
*First appearance of Terry
*First appearance of Charlotte Layton.
*First appearance of Summerlyn City.
*First appearance of the Franklin Penthouse.
*First appearance of Charlotte's bow.
*The title of the episode refers to the bleak situation in the city of Summerlyn, as well as Peter's desperate determination to find his loved ones.
*Charlotte mentions Katniss Everdeen, the popular title character from The Hunger Games series, to Peter when describing how she has been surviving in the woods. Like Katniss, Charlotte's weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.
* Desperation is the first full episode to take place outside Winterhodge Hollow.