The Acorn

"The Acorn" is the fourth episode of season one of The Last Ones. It was originally published for the first time on Wednesday 9th July 2014. The episode focuses centrally on the characters of Sean O'Hara and Jai Patil.
==Plot==
The survivors leave the Thompson house and move into Joyce and Gilbert's house as there's more room and plenty of supplies. Meanwhile, Jai accompanies Sean to his local pub, where the two bond over their very different life stories.
==Synopsis==
Sean stands guard on the porch of the Thompson house where he watches as a zombie approaches. He bides his time until it's close enough and then shoots it in the head with his shotgun. The noise alerts Shiro, who comes outside and scolds Sean for using a gun and making noise when there was just one of them. Sean states that the only good thing about the apocalypse is that if he sees someone he used to hate as one of the undead, he gets the chance to kill them, as he just did with Jimmy Doyle, a man who used to go to his local pub. Shiro tells Sean to use a knife next time and requests that he come inside as they're doing the burial soon. Sean humorously says under his breath that if Shiro ever turns, he wants first dibs.
That evening, the group all gather in the garden of the Thompson house to bury Ollie, Joyce and Gilbert. Lorna makes a heart-warming tribute to her elderly friends and neighbours as the others listen. Sean follows suit and says some nice words about Joyce and Gilbert too, which takes Peter and Lorna by surprise, until he ruins the moment and hints that he would've been interested in Joyce if he was a few decades older. Aimi is next to speak, as she thanks Ollie for saving her and coming into her life when she most needed him. She confesses that she loved him, which visibly moves Shiro, who distances himself and walks away from the graves, as Joy and Jai comfort Aimi.
Sometime later, the group arrive at the large house that belonged to Joyce and Gilbert before their demise. Milo asks why they can't stay there forever as there's plenty of room for everyone, but Peter tells him it's not safe as there are too many undead lurking around town. The group then enter and make themselves at home. Karen asks Jai if he's all right as she's noticed that he has been quiet all day. He politely insists that he's fine.
During the night, the majority of the group are all sleeping, but Jai is unable to do so. He goes downstairs and finds Sean drinking alone in the kitchen. He joins him and confesses that he hasn't been able to sleep because the funerals reminded him of his wife, Suzanna, and daughter, Jasmeet. Sean asks what happened to them and Jai explains that he was working late at the surgery the night the outbreak told hold in his town and he was treating people for the symptoms after being bitten, but nobody knew what exactly was going on. He phoned home to Suzanna and told her he'd be home late, but she insisted he come back to see Jasmeet, who had not long been home from university. When he returned he found his street devastated by the undead and when he entered his house he found only the remains of his family. Sean tells Jai he's deeply sorry to hear it, which Jai thanks him for.
When Jai picks up on something bothering Sean also, he manages to convince him to share. Sean explains that Jimmy Doyle, the zombie he killed earlier in the day, reminded him that just a few nights before, he was in The Acorn, his local pub as he always was, but tomorrow the group will be moving on from Winterhodge Hollow, perhaps for forever. Sean decides to hell with it, he's going back to The Acorn for one final drink. Jai tells him it's not a good idea and that he'll have to to tell the others, but Sean is determined on going anyway. Jai comes around, but insists on going with him, which Sean relents on. As they leave Joyce's house and make their way there, Jai is alarmed when Sean says that the pub was "undead central" the last time he was there.
As the gentlemen arrive, they find the pub to be deserted. Sean jokes that the atmosphere used to be better. Jai refuses a drink and waits behind as Sean heads down to the cellar to fetch the "stronger stuff". A zombie sneaks up on him and takes him by surprise. Jai rushes down when he hears Sean's cry for help, but he discovers that Sean managed to take care of the problem on his own. Back upstairs, Sean toasts to the group's continued survival and drinks. 
Shortly after, Jai reveals that he can't sleep most nights as the memory of what happened to his family and how he failed to protect them haunts him. Sean tells him he can't do what-ifs and there was nothing Jai could have done, as nobody saw this new world coming. Jai says if that's true, then why does Sean continue to torture himself. After some gentle persuasion, Sean reveals that he had a wife and son called MaryAnn and Patrick. Sean reveals he had a family to be proud of, but that the drinking got in the way. His wife accused him of missing his son grow up as he spent his time at the pub when not working. She gave him lots of chances, but he refused and thought she was unreasonable for trying to clip his wings and not let him have fun. Sean says that they left and he hasn't seen them since and his son would be sixteen now.
Sean tells Jai to not feel bad about what happened to his family as he is a fine man and he'd happily trust Jai with his life any day, which touches him. Sean tells Jai that MaryAnn and Patrick are probably dead now anyway, but Jai tells him he doesn't know that for sure.
Sean confesses that part of him hates The Acorn and that he didn't like Jimmy Doyle much either, because unlike him, he knew when to go home to his family, when Sean never did. Sean remarks that the pub isn't so cheery anymore, and Jai says he doesn't think Sean came back for the place, which Sean agrees with. They get up and decide to leave. Upon exiting, they see a large group of undead passing and run back inside to avoid them. Jai says they'll never be able to outrun so many, but Sean has an idea. He tells Jai to go and get a barrel of the "strong stuff".
A short time after, Sean runs outside and yells at the zombies to lure them inside. They follow him in, only for Sean and Jai to circle round and exit the pub from the back. A fire then starts, setting the zombies and building ablaze. Sean and Jai watch as the pub burns. Jai tries to tell Sean that all is not lost and that he might see his family again someday. Sean doubts it, but thanks Jai anyway. The two then walk away as the The Acorn burns down behind them.
==Deaths==
*Jimmy Doyle (Zombified)
*Ed (Zombified)
*Numerous counts of zombies.
==Trivia==
*First (and last) appearance of Jimmy Doyle.
* First (and last) appearance of Ed.
* First (and last) appearance of The Acorn.
* First appearance of Joyce and Gilbert's house.
*First mention of Suzanna Patil.
*First mention of Jasmeet Patil.
*First mention of MaryAnn O'Hara.
*First mention of Patrick O'Hara.
* This is the first episode to not feature any minor characters, aside from various named undead.
*The title of the episode refers to The Acorn, Sean's regular pub where the majority of the episode takes place.