Winter Wasteland

A small team sets out from Jim's cabin in search of supplies and a new home. Edward and Clyde travel through Willamette looking for shelter.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

Two days after the fall of Willamette Mall, Edward Remar and Clyde Rollins are traveling through the snowy town looking for shelter. They soon come upon a seemingly deserted bus depot, and decide to try getting into one of the buses parked outside. However, they find the vehicle to be locked, and Edward yells in frustration. Then, a familiar man inside the bus opens up the door, and they recognize him to be Jared Kellings. After clambering to get inside and out of the cold, the three recall the events of Willamette Mall and wonder if anybody else made it out alive. Edward reveals that he has no plans of staying in Willamette, and wants to get as far away from here as possible, and Jared is with him. Clyde on the other hand wants to stay and search for their friends. Edward reluctantly agrees to search once the storm dies down, and only when they find the keys to the bus they're currently in. Edward and Jared briefly debate whether the real reason the mall fell was because of zombies or because of Damerae Badrick. Edward concludes that it was Badrick, as he looks down at Sarah Taylor's friendship bracelet. Clyde looks on sadly, telling him that she was in a better place. Edward quickly changes the subject and gets up, leaving the two of them in the bus while he travels into the bus depot to search for the keys to the bus.

In the middle of the woods, the majority of the group that escaped the mall is resting inside a cabin. As William Reynes is busy chipping away at a stick to make a spear, he notices Jacob Feldman sitting alone by the window. He approaches Jacob to ask how he's doing. Jacob admits that although he killed Erin Monroe's killer, he doesn't feel any better. William says that he should use that feeling to motivate him, and reminds him that Erin would want him to be happy. Jacob appreciates his words, thanking him.

Jim Butterman steps into the living room of the cabin, distributing cups of coffee out to Aldus Paxton and Albert Hanson. As Albert scans a map looking for any location that could possibly still have supplies, he's reminded by Kate Bloodstone that most of the town was destroyed during the battle between Benjamin Taylor and Badrick.

In the woods, Marcus Downes, Fraser Stiller, and Zac Barnes are trudging back towards the cabin. As they walk, a zombie suddenly reaches its hand up through the snow and grabs Fraser, pulling him down. Zac stands, telling Fraser to deal with it himself. However, as it becomes apparent Fraser can't kill it, Zac stabs it through the head for him, complaining that Fraser was useless. Marcus steps over, stopping them before they break into another argument. Marcus tells Zac that what he did was out of line, before turning and continuing on towards the cabin.

Teddy Powell enters the room, laying eyes on Apollo, which reminds him of Robert Morgan. Pretty soon, Marcus, Fraser, and Zac return from their scouting trip with good and bad news. They located a hardware store that appeared to be untouched by the fighting, but the only way to get to it would be by going across a frozen lake. Zac bitterly complains that his advice to go around was ignored, but Marcus tells him that going around would mean going into the middle of town. The best plan they have is to walk across the lake slowly. With their supplies dwindling, the group see no other choice but to go check out the store, and a team is formed.

Back at the bus depot, Edward returns to the parked bus with a set of keys. He, Clyde, and Jared come to the conclusion that they'll need to wait until the storm subsides before they can get the bus moving, as it's likely snowed in any way. Suddenly, they hear a knock come from the door, and a man asking to be let in, claiming to be friendly. Not trusting of the mysterious voice, Edward trains his shotgun at the door while he sends Clyde forward to open it. Solomon Reed steps inside, and the first thing he tells them is that Texas is far worse than it is here. Edward and Jared bombard him with questions, and learn that he's new to Willamette, and that his former occupation was running a strip joint. After sharing names, Solomon sits down and shows off his right arm, which is prosthetic, and he claims to have lost his arm to a cult in Texas. Robin Clarke then nonchalantly strolls into the bus depot, closing the door behind him. Edward stands up and yells at Clyde for not locking the door, before turning his attention to the man that entered. He recognizes him from Benjamin's group, and decides to question him. Robin says that they sent Benjamin away because he was insane, and that Shane Haywood took over, but he doesn't know where Haywood is following the battle at the mall. He sees the keys to the bus in Edward's hands, and begins explaining how they could modify the bus with spikes and armour on the sides, something Edward likes the sound of. Although Edward is still distrusting of Robin, the man is allowed to stay on the bus with them.

At the cabin, the previously mentioned team that was formed prepares to leave. Among the team is Jon Matthews, who Kate finds untrustworthy for being so distant with the group. Jon explains that it's just who is. Jacob also chooses to go with them.

Out in the woods, Dean Howards collects firewood for the cabin. When he returns, he finds many members of the group gone, and Teddy informs him about the hardware store. Dean doesn't see why they would want to leave the cabin to stay in a hardware store, and complains about it out loud. Owen Gliefield hears him, and walks over, telling him that a hardware store would be far safer than a wooden cabin to live in. Dean, however, continues to argue that they should stay here, and Owen argues back, eventually leading to Dean getting up and walking out. Zac, having heard it all, agrees with Owen that Dean is simply weak.

In the woods, Jacob, Jon, Kate, Marcus, and Albert travel towards the hardware store. Kate approaches a sad looking Jacob to ask him if he's alright to be out here. Jacob says that he'll be alright. Eventually, the team reaches the frozen lake that was mentioned by Marcus, and carefully begins crossing it, making sure to spread out across the ice. A zombie on the other side of the lake begins approaching Jacob, and he's forced to kill it. The corpse falls through the ice, and Jacob almost goes with it, but he manages to stay on top. The ice below Kate's feet begins to crack as she moves across. Marcus goes over to help her, taking her hand and pulling her away from the cracked ice just as it breaks, saving her. Before anybody else can fall through the ice, they all safely make it across and quickly approach the hardware store in front of them.

Out in front of the store, a group of zombies roam about. The survivors approach, promptly dispatching all of them with ease. Kate takes off her backpack, handing out flashlights to everybody before they head inside. As they head into the dark building, the group come upon a strange sight: a group of thirty or so zombies encircled by large shelves. Marcus then points up to an office on the second floor, insisting that he saw a light flick on and off. As everyone diverts their attention to the office, somebody suddenly drops down from a shelf, putting a knife to Jacob's throat and demanding that they all drop their weapons. They all do so hesitantly. Rebecca Dawson, the person with the knife to Jacob's throat, questions the survivors and where they come from. Jacob explains that they came from the mall, to which Rebecca remarks that "everybody these days is from the mall". She explains that she encountered a police officer and an older man also from the mall, a pair that sound strikingly similar to Randall Forster and Curtis Van Horn. Rebecca takes her knife away from Jacob and steps back, explaining to the curious survivors that she would point them in the direction of Randall and Curtis if they helped her get a working car. Jon says he'll easily be able to do it. A small group of zombies enter through the side door of the building, and one of them lunges onto Jon, causing him to tumble backwards into a shelf. The shelf collapses, creating a chain reaction of other shelves collapsing one after another, which creates an opening for the thirty zombies that were seen encircled before. Rebecca hurries up a set of stairs towards the office, calling for the others to follow her. Jacob, Marcus, and Kate do, but Albert and Jon are cut off by the zombies and backed outside, where they become completely surrounded. The two men become separated amongst the horde as they fight them off. Eventually, Albert spots an opening. Jon yells for him to go, and Albert does so, sprinting into the woods. Jon is left by himself to fight off the horde.

Dean wanders through the woods, frustrated. He mutters quietly, calling himself worthless while also cursing at people such as Owen for always being rude towards him. He sits down next to a zombie that was practically frozen in the ground, staring at it. He then looks down, thinking back to when he struck his ex-wife, and how he didn't mean to do so. Suddenly, the zombie beside him claws at his jacket, scaring him. Dean moves away, picking up a stone and crushing its head in. He asks the now dead zombie if it thinks he's worthless, before stumbling off deeper into the woods. He eventually plants himself down under one tree, sighing to himself.

At the bus depot, the storm outside finally lets up, allowing Edward to start up the bus. He tells everyone that they'll start looking around Willamette for survivors of the mall. Everybody takes their seat, and the bus departs from the depot, carefully driving down the icy streets of Willamette.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

* Kate Bloodstone
* Marcus Downes
* Aldus Paxton
* William Reynes
* Dean Howards
* Jon Matthews
* Edward Remar
* Clyde Rollins
* Jacob Feldman
* Albert Hanson

#### **Also Starring**

* Fraser Stiller
* Zachariah "Zac" Barnes
* Jim Butterman
* Robin Clarke
* Owen Gliefield
* Theodore "Teddy" Powell

#### **Guest Starring**

* Solomon Reed
* Rebecca Dawson
* Jared Kellings