Yet Another Obstacle

"**Yet Another Obstacle**" is the seventh chapter in MrPotassiumK's **Loud House: Infection of the Dead**.

## Synopsis

In the aftermath of the Piranha attack, the group must decide whether they want to continue heading to Albany or take an alternative route to escape New York. However, the group comes across multiple obstacles that make every road they take a difficult one. Tension between Tad and Becky reach a breaking point.

## Plot

**Part 1: Dry Drowning**

A flashback from six years ago shows George getting called into work early. Emma, his daughter, has just now woken up. She is disappointed to learn that she won’t be having breakfast with her father. George consoles her and states they’ll have dinner later on. Emma then gives her gift to her father, which is a small figurine of a police officer. George is overjoyed by the gift and tells Emma he is the best daughter a father could have. George then leaves for work. Hours pass, and in the evening, George comes back home with a cake. However, he is horrified to see that his wife and daughter have been shot dead and he breaks down in tears. A Piranha symbol left in blood shows this was the work of the Piranhas.

In the present day, Lisa works quickly to treat Missy and D, who have been wounded by gunshots in the earlier gunfight. Carol helps her, and is able to keep up with Lisa moving all over the place. Richard admits he wanted to save his own skin, but David states it doesn’t matter, since Richard stayed back to save the kids. After a few minutes, Lisa manages to remove the bullet fragment from Missy’s neck and save her life. Richard at first is surprised at the fact that a kid saved his wife, but is then grateful. He also thanks Carol. Lisa and Carol then walk over to D, who’s still in a lot of pain despite the treatment. As Lisa prepares to remove the bullet from his leg, D lets his fear be known. This leads to Becky comforting him with a kiss. D, satisfied with the kiss, calms down and lets Lisa proceed. Lisa removes the bullet from his leg and uses a tampon to patch his hole up. Upon learning the tampon is Carol’s, Becky laughs and thanks Carol, though it is unclear whether it’s genuine or sarcastic.

Upon learning that Francisco is dead, Lincoln feels guilty. He believes he should have come up with a better plan, one that wouldn’t have led to Francisco’s death. However, Lori tells Lincoln he wasn’t at fault and that she was the one who was responsible for Francisco’s death as she froze up until it was Lynn who was in immediate danger. Lori then hugs Lincoln.

Ronnie Anne is relieved to see that her brother is still alive and hugs him. Bobby then comforts Darcy. However, Darcy is still scared that the Piranhas aren’t gone yet, and Lori admits that they will continue to be a problem until the group leaves New York. Lori then convinces Bobby to skip Albany, though Ronnie Anne resists against this plan. Lori believes it’s too dangerous to go to Albany, and despite Ronnie Anne’s objections, she doesn’t back down from this stance. Ronnie Anne leaves in anger.

Meanwhile, Leni can’t get Lily to stop crying. She herself is in a lot of distress as well, so Lori decides to get the two of them formula milk mixed with chocolate. Her other sisters join in the request as well, leading Lori to get all of them chocolate milk to comfort them. Rusty, however, gets upset at hearing the sisters, especially Lucy, talk about chocolate milk. He walks away, which leads Liam to check up on him. Rusty tells Liam that Rocky used to like chocolate milk, and that he’s still upset with Lucy and Lori. Liam tells him he won’t judge him for that, getting a smile out of Rusty as he recognizes Liam as being genuine with him.

Lincoln and Clyde walk over to Lynn to check up on her. Lynn is giving them the silent treatment until Lincoln tries to explain how guilty Lori feels, which makes Lynn upset. Lynn believes Lori is a coward who won’t even talk to her. Lynn then tells the boys to go away. However, before they leave, Clyde hands over the baseball that Francisco gave him earlier. It’s signed by Francisco, like the baseball he gave her a long time ago. Lynn takes the baseball and thanks Clyde.

Lisa delivers bad news: Missy and D can’t move for at least a week, so they have to take shelter somewhere. She does state that they have to move them to a safe place now though to avoid contact with roamers. To make a bad situation worse, it is revealed that a lot of the group’s canned food and fuel have been shot up and destroyed by the gunfire. As the group prepares to leave, George runs down the road and catches up with the group. However, an enraged Richard punches George, blaming him for Missy getting shot. Letting his paranoia take over, Richard suspects George of working with the Piranhas and points a gun at him. Vonda then aims her bow at Richard, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t let George go. Richard lowers his gun and George explains that Gus revealed the plan to Sherry. Richard then questions why George shouted Vonda’s name, to which Vonda angrily explains for George, stating that was the only way George was able to buy the group time to get to cover. Richard is shaken up and shamefully realizes he was wrong. He apologizes but David quickly gets things moving along as he orders him and a few others to move Missy and D to the highway using stretchers. Tad, jealous of Becky and D, wants to join, but David doesn’t want to spread the group too thin. As the group get ready to split up, Benny kisses Luan. Benny then leaves and Luan enters the RV. There, George thanks Vonda for protecting him. He then apologizes for trusting Gus, but David and Vonda apologize themselves for not telling George about Kevin and Madison, whose deaths they believe Sherry knew about. David then asks Vonda if she was really going to kill Richard earlier.

**Part 2: The Message**

Six days have passed. We follow Benny, Tad, Vonda, and Wavehead. They are headed for another grocery store in search of food and water. Before they enter it, a roamer with half of its body missing crawls out, spooking the group members. Tad takes out the roamer and smacks the store window to draw roamers out. The other three interpret this as Tad being bitter that Becky is spending more time with D. Tad denies this, though Wavehead wonders why Tad would choose Becky over Carol. This leads to a discussion about the love life of each of the four members, with Wavehead admitting he has a crush on Carol and Vonda implying she likes girls. The four then enter the store.

Back in a motel, Richard is feeding Missy almonds while being affectionate with her. Missy believes Richard should be rationing food better, though Richard lets her know they’re finding enough food to keep them going. Lori then asks them if they know where Lynn is. After receiving a no for an answer, Lori leaves. Worried for Lori, Missy convinces Richard to help Lori look for Lynn. Richard catches up to Lori and tells her he’ll help look for her. Lucy then pops up out of nowhere and reveals that Lynn may have gone to the bridge where the group had the gunfight with the Piranhas. Lucy then convinces Lori to let her come as she may know how to talk to Lynn. Lori reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, far away from the motel, David is teaching the rest of the group how to properly fire a gun while using cans as targets. After talking about the basics, he asks if anyone wants to try out shooting. Luna and Liam both want to go first, though Liam allows Luna to go before him, believing he would set too high of a standard if he goes first. Though nervous at first, Luna successfully takes down the cans without missing. Liam then goes next, now nervous about keeping up with the standards Luna herself set. After making a few mistakes in posture and gun safety, he manages to take down a can, allowing him to sigh in relief.

Back at the grocery store, Tad’s group finds cans of food after seeing rows of empty aisles. The group are relieved to find something after many failed attempts at looting, but Benny senses something is off. He believes the canned food belongs to someone, though Tad reassures him that whoever it belonged to must be dead now. However, they hear the sound of roamers nearby, leading them to walk over to a meat locker behind the deli counter. There, they find dismembered roamers on the floor spelling out the word ‘PiR NHA’, earlier having taken out the roamer that spelled the missing ‘A’. Believing the Piranhas did this, Tad wants the group to leave the store as soon as possible. Benny puts down the roamers, but before they leave, Tad checks the roamer’s back neck, finding out that the roamers were actually Piranhas. He comes to the horrific realization that another group did this.

Back on the bridge, Lynn contemplates crossing it. However, just before she starts, Lori and the others catch up to her. Angry at Lori, Lynn walks away, walking further down the bridge. Lori and Richard try to convince Lynn to come back, though Lynn is not willing to hear them out, believing they shouldn’t sit back like cowards and let the Piranhas get away with killing Francisco. Lucy then tells Lynn that she understands how angry she is and reveals that she wanted to seek revenge on the roamers for having killed Rocky, but she knows that she can’t take them on alone. She then states that she believes Francisco’s spirit is not yet gone. Lynn decides to return to the motel, but bluntly shuts down the idea that Francisco’s spirit is out there.

Back at the motel, Dana is playing with Lily, remarking how cute she is. Dana reveals she wants to have many children, though Becky herself can’t see herself having any children. She believes babies are too much to handle, and reveals she was a troublesome baby herself. Then, Tad’s group returns, with Tad asking for David and Lori. The group are clearly shaken up, which Becky and the others notice. However, Tad waits until everyone comes back to reveal why they have to leave soon. When the rest of the group returns to the motel, Becky interrupts what the group members were talking about to get them to hear Tad out. Tad reveals what he found, which gets the group nervous. The group agrees to leave soon, especially after hearing from Lisa that Missy and D are ready to travel. David tells the group about their new travel route options now that the group have come to an agreement about skipping Albany. The first option is taking the Vermont route, and though it’s a shorter route with less traffic, the group risk being stranded due to the empty nature of the route, which comes with a lack of fuel. The second option is the long route through Montreal, where fuel is almost guaranteed. David doesn’t know which route to choose, but he won’t have to choose until they make it to Lake George, where the road diverges into the two route options. George reveals he’ll come until the group leave New York, where he’ll then stay back and take down Sherry. Just as the group gets ready to leave, Tad tells Carol that he’ll be at the RV. Carol is fine with it, knowing Tad wants to repair his relationship with Becky. Tad denies this, but Carol lets him go anyway. The group now leave.

**Part 3: Executed Plan**

The next day, Liam attempts to cheer up an upset Ronnie Anne. He explains why it is not likely for her family to be in Albany. In addition, he explains why it is actually better for the group to make it to Houlton as fast as possible. Ronnie Anne is not totally convinced, but remembering that Liam’s parents’ names weren’t on the logbook, she decides to not contest Liam’s explanations. Lori, overhearing this conversation, feels guilty for Bobby and Ronnie Anne, knowing their family weren’t around anymore.

The vehicles come to a stop right before a congested bridge. David believes he may have to turn the vehicles around and take a different road, but that would require adding a whole day to the trip. However, after noticing many keys left behind in the abandoned cars, Lincoln has an idea. He deduces that the cars were left behind due to panic, so the keys for the cars must also have been left behind for nearly all, if not all the cars in the bridge. This would allow the survivors to move the gear selector and set the cars to drive/neutral. Then, they would be able to push the cars to the side of the road to allow enough space for the group’s vehicles to cross the bridge. Lincoln calls this idea his Traffic Removal Method, or TRM for short. He lists a group of people strong enough to push the cars out of the way. David has these people, including himself, work on the TRM while the rest of the group loot the abandoned cars.

As the group work, Becky is hanging out with D, who was ordered to stay behind so he could rest. However, a jealous Tad confronts Becky and tells her to stop being lazy. Becky, annoyed, walks to the bridge. Now away from the rest of the group, Tad asks Becky if she’s trying to make him jealous. Becky is initially surprised and plays along before getting angry when she perceives Tad as being controlling. Tad wants Becky to stop playing mind games with him, but Becky wants Tad to admit he’s jealous. When Tad denies having feelings for Becky, the latter accuses him of being the one playing mind games. She then leaves angrily.

The TRM plan ends up working, causing Lincoln to be proud of himself. The rest of the group are happy as well, though Tad himself is bitter from what happened with his conversation with Becky. He wants to return to Chaz’s car, but Carol doesn’t want him to since she ultimately doesn’t want to be the victim of Becky’s wrath anymore, knowing that Tad being with her would only upset Becky more. Tad agrees and heads to Chunk’s van instead. The group then crosses the bridge and leaves.

Three days have passed. Chunk tries to give advice to Tad to help him repair his relationship with Becky, though Tad is reluctant to go through with it. Their conversation is cut short when the vehicles are forced to come to a stop again. The group have come across another traffic congestion, this time on a highway with wrecked or destroyed cars, presumably from a large accident. Knowing that the original TRM won’t work to clear a path for them, Lincoln modifies it so that they create a snake-like pattern instead of creating a straight path for the group. That way, the vehicles can push all the destroyed cars into a single spot, before alternating. Lori then discovers the highway is not abandoned; there are roamers still hanging around. David fires his weapon to draw them out before the group works on taking them out. However, Lynn gets ahead of the group and unleashes her anger on the roamers. She manages to clear out all the roamers, but makes her group worry in the process for her. Nevertheless, the group gets to work on clearing a path for the vehicles.

While the group are at work, Lori takes a break and checks up on Lucy, who is writing in her diary. However, Lucy makes it obvious that her diary is for her eyes only. Lori then leaves Lucy alone and checks up on the rest of the group. She learns that Lincoln found a gas canister, which may have led to the crash site left behind. The group, unnerved again, want to leave as soon as possible. Lori returns to her van and finds Lana bothering Lucy, wanting to read her diary. Lori tells Lana to leave Lucy alone. The group then crosses the highway and leaves.

The next day, Carol struggles to speak Russian as Sergei tries to teach her. She eventually gives up, remarking that Becky can pick up a language much better than her. She hopes to be her friend again, which is why she chooses not to date Tad, despite having some feelings for him. Sergei wonders why Carol speaks so positively of Becky, despite the latter hating her. Carol then reveals what she did during Spirit Week. She pulled a prank on Becky, which resulted in her breasts being practically exposed to the school, as well as her falling in front of her classmates when trying to escape from the embarrassment.

Once again, the vehicles are stopped by another obstacle, though this one was as a result of the deliberate placement of a truck surrounded by nails and garbage bags. David climbs the truck to check out the other side. Using his sniper rifle, he scans ahead, spotting Lake George ahead, as well as what looks like Piranhas patrolling the area. In addition, there was a herd blocking the road to Vermont. Due to this, David refuses to travel ahead and plans to go ahead to Albany instead, the alternate route plan having failed. Ronnie Anne is relieved at first, before becoming worried. The group enter their vehicles and turn around and leave.

**Part 4: The World is Ours**

The next day, the group members are training with guns. Benny and Luan are flirting with each other, annoying Lori. Benny then gets serious, stating that he wishes for Luan to have his sword in case anything was to happen to him. Luan becomes scared, but Benny only wants her to be prepared. He then lightens up the mood again while promising to teach Luan how to use the sword. A roamer, attracted to the noise the guns are making, makes itself known. Luna shoots it down, along with another roamer, impressing the group. In the meantime, George teaches Vonda how to repair and maintain guns, and Lincoln enters Vanzilla to ask Lucy for Liam’s whereabouts. Lucy then reveals he’s not the only one missing.

In a town away from the woods, Liam and Tabby loot a gumball machine and head up to the roof of a building. There, they look around while chewing gum. They settle on looking at the river while sitting by the edge of the roof. As the two watch the slow river, the two talk. Liam reveals he has wanted to do this for a while, since the start of the post-apocalypse, they were free to do anything they wanted. He also subtly confesses his crush to Tabby, who reciprocates those feelings by holding his hands as they watch the river.

Back at the woods, Tad approaches Bobby, concerned about him. Tad knows something is off about him, but Bobby doesn’t want to say anything. The two walk away from the group and to a more isolated area. Bobby then reveals to Tad that his family is dead and that he has been lying to the group this entire time. However, Bobby didn’t see his mother, so he still has hope that his mother is alive. Tad wants Bobby to tell the group, but understands if he doesn’t do so. If Bobby tells the group, then he could save some lives, as Tad states, but he would also risk damaging his relationship with Ronnie Anne forever. Nevertheless, Tad decides to not tell anyone.

In the town, Ronnie Anne catches Liam and Tabby. She intends to snitch on the two, revealing she doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with Rocky. Liam explains that he doesn’t want to die without having experienced anything as freeing as sightseeing alone with Tabby. Ronnie Anne doesn’t care, which leads Liam to subtly threaten her with exposing Lincoln’s secret. Ronnie Anne ultimately backs down, but wants Liam and Tabby to return to the woods with her. As they get ready to leave, Ronnie Anne reveals she doesn’t care much for Liam, instead only doing this because she doesn’t want Lincoln’s secret ever going out.

Back at the woods, the group finishes up their gun training. As the group packs up, Tad uses this as an opportunity to talk with Becky alone. Becky reluctantly follows Tad. The two, now away from the group, face each other. Tad apologizes to Becky and reveals that he still does have feelings for her. Not only that, he wants her to be back in his life, even as friends. However, Becky tearfully refuses because Tad is friends with Carol. Tad tries to explain that Carol is a different person and that even Lori and Dana have befriended her again. However, Becky doesn’t want to be friends with Tad— she wants to be his girlfriend— but not if Tad doesn’t drop Carol. Tad wants to know why Becky hasn’t forgiven Carol yet, to which Becky confesses just how much emotional and mental damage Carol has caused her, to the point where she had suicidal thoughts. Tad is heartbroken to hear this and tries to console Becky, but she leaves in tears.

Lincoln tells Lori that Liam, Tabby, and Ronnie Anne are missing. Lori alerts David. However, just as the group gets ready to search for them, they return, lying about where they were. Becky and Tad also return, with Becky being visibly upset. This leads Dana and D to distrust Tad. Carol wants to know what happened, but Tad doesn’t tell her anything. The group gets ready to leave.

The next day, at sunset, the group arrives at Albany. Some of the group members worry there may be scouts around, but David makes the assumption that there is too much ground for the Piranhas to cover, so they would only patrol around escape points. For now, they should be free to go to Bobby’s apartment building. The conversation then deviates to Vonda playfully messing with George. This leads to Vonda finding a scar on the back of George’s neck. George reveals that it’s from when he was undercover as a Piranha.

Deeper in the RV, Becky and Dana talk. Becky asks Dana if she really has forgiven Carol. Dana nods and explains that Carol truly changed as a person, just as everyone is doing right now. She wants Becky to change so that she can adapt to their new social environment as well. Suddenly, the vehicles come to a stop once more, though this time, their new obstacles are a line of Piranhas behind the cover of their vehicles. Sherry, with a bullhorn, calls out to the group and tells them to come out. A few members come out of the RV, including Becky. An angry Sherry demands David to hand over George and Vonda or else she will kill the entire group. David seems to submit to her demand, calling out for George. George grabs Vonda and holds her at gunpoint as he comes out of the RV. David threatens to have Vonda killed if Sherry doesn’t let them through. Sherry is intimidated at first, but then suspects it to be a bluff. As the group get ready to return to their vehicles, Sherry tries to enrage George by telling him that his daughter suffered when Andrew shot her. George gets angry, but doesn’t harm Vonda at all. Sherry is now certain that David and George are bluffing and orders her Piranhas to kill everyone in David’s group except George and Vonda. A gunfight ensues.

Liam jumps out of Vanzilla to join the gunfight. Missy, once again, wants to get the group members to safety, but this time, Richard convinces Missy to remain inside the RV. Luna, like many of the other group members, fights back against the Piranhas. Chunk and Sam are still not comfortable with participating in a gunfight, so instead, they use their guns to prevent the roamers from getting too close to the group. Carol notes how much more disorganized this gunfight is compared to the one in Utica. Tad notices Becky alone behind cover near the danger area where bullets were flying between the Piranhas and David’s group. Meanwhile, David and Lori make it to Chunk’s van where they grab a couple grenades. David and Lori toss a grenade each to force the Piranhas deeper into cover. Some of the group members, including David and Lori, use this as an opportunity to move up closer to the Piranha blockade. However, roamers from the road perpendicular to them get in between the two groups.

The group’s vehicles have split up the group members into two sides, with the right one having the advantage and the left one close to the river being at a disadvantage as the Piranhas there, including Sherry and Andrew, were pushing towards the group. D wants Tad to run over to the RV, but the area between the RV and the cover where Becky is at is too exposed. Tad then convinces Becky to run to the RV at the count of three. Becky agrees. Tad counts down and at zero, he comes out of cover and provides cover fire as Becky runs to the RV. However, Sherry, unfazed, fires at Tad, managing to wound him. A shocked Becky tries to reach out to Tad to drag him inside the RV, but Sherry fires her pistol at her. Still, Tad uses himself to block the bullet from hitting Becky, his arm being shot in the process. Lynn drags Becky inside and D shuts the door. Becky cries out for Tad, which the group on the right side of the road hears. However, they keep their focus on the roamers and the Piranhas, who are now pushing forward as the roamers only acknowledge David’s group. One of these Piranhas is Gus, who Luna shoots and kills, causing the Piranhas to back up and take cover once more as the roamers now paid attention to them as well.

On the left side of the road, Tad is bleeding out and Sherry prepares to put him down. However, a few roamers attack her and the other Piranhas, though she quickly guns them down. Luan, hoping to use this as an opportunity to run to the RV, makes an attempt for it. However, Sherry doesn’t let Luan get near the RV as she fires a shot at Luan, striking her in the head. Luan collapses as the gunfight continues to rage.

## Deaths

* Mary Cane *(Flashback)*
* Emma Cane *(Flashback)*
* Gus *(Alive)*
* 5 unnamed Piranhas

## Trivia

* First (and last) appearance of Mary Cane. *(Flashback)*
* First (and last) appearance of Emma Cane. *(Flashback)*
* Last appearance of Gus. *(Alive)*
* The end credits song is *With or Without You* by U2.
* The title of the chapter, **"Yet Another Obstacle"**, refers to the fact that the group deal with multiple physical obstacles throughout the chapter.
	+ Such obstacles include the congested bridge, the jammed highway, the truck by Lake George, and the Piranha blockade in Albany.
* The title of Part 1, **"Dry Drowning"**, refers to a type of drowning where the victim doesn't get enough oxygen into their lung even after having already left a body of water. In this case, it alludes to the group's situation, since they are still dealing with the injuries inflicted by the Piranhas, even long after the gunfight stopped.
* The title of Part 2, **"The Message"**, refers to the message left behind by the Barracudas.
* The title of Part 3, **"Executed Plan"**, refers to Lincoln's plan to navigate through the jammed roads.
* The title of Part 4, **"The World is Ours"**, refers to Liam's speech where he talks about how the world belongs to people like him and Tabby since the lack of laws mean they are free to do whatever they want. He states, "We're completely free to do whatever we want. *The world's... truly ours*."