Life and Death

With Skittles and the snipers dealt with, Jacob and his group turn their attention to the final enemy standing in their way.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

After the battle in Wonderland Plaza, the survivors return to the security room to rest and recover. Randall Forster continues to question who the hooded men who attacked them could be, but he has no leads. Meanwhile, Felix Quarterman discovers something peculiar in Paradise Plaza: a number of unopened crates which he suspects could have supplies. He and Jacob Feldman also warn that it could be some sort of trap, but are still willing to go check it out. Jacob, Erin Monroe, Albert Hanson, and Clayton Freeman volunteer to go out and investigate.

As they make their way through the Entrance Plaza, a crashing sound is heard as a dead zombie falls through the window of the book store. Albert and Clayton move forward to check it out. In the store, they find Jared Kellings, a former popular internet entertainer. Jacob and Erin enter the store after, telling Jared that he can come along if he wants to. Jared decides to follow them, and Jacob explains to him that they come from the security room.

On the way to Paradise Plaza, Jacob talks about Leslie Staunton and the North Plaza to Jared, and how it would be wise for both groups to team up against the hooded men. Jared suggests that he should sneak into Leslie's group to steal some of their supplies, but Jacob is against that idea.

In Paradise Plaza, the group discovers the crate to be already gone. As they take a look around the different shops, Jacob spots a group of five people going through the crates, and beckons for everybody to get down. Jacob suggests that they return back to the security room, not wanting to get in their way, but Jared has other ideas, and begins moving up towards the crates. Within a matter of seconds, Jared is spotted by the men inside the shop. The men rush out to confront Jared, and during the chaos, Erin is seen as well, and has a knife thrown into her chest by one of the men. Jacob immediately opens fire with his SMG, running forward and picking Erin up. He tells Albert, Clayton, and Jared to kill the bandits and take the crates. He rushes off with Erin. During the battle, William Reynes shows up, standing on the balcony above them. He uses his newly acquired sniper rifle to assist his friends, killing one of the bandits. Albert and Clayton continue fighting three of the bandits, while Jared sneaks into the shop where the crate is, battling one of the bandits himself. Jared overpowers the man, stealing his gun and shooting him.

Out in the plaza, Albert, Clayton, and William finish off the remaining three bandits. Jared steps out of the shop, celebrating the victory. They loot the dead men, and go to open the crates. Inside, they find them to be full of supplies. William takes a nearby shopping cart and brings it over to the crates, placing them all in the cart. Albert drops all of the weapons he collected from the bandits in the cart, and they all head back for the security room.

Jacob rushes Erin into the security room, setting her down onto the bed while he frantically explains what happened in Paradise Plaza. Edward Remar glances over from his own bed, making jokes about how many wounded there are. Jacob isn't interested in his jokes. After hearing about how Erin was injured, Edward gives Jacob a lesson: that he needs to adapt sooner rather than later, and take no chances with anybody. Felix enters the room, stating that the others in the Paradise Plaza were able to get the crate. He also brings up the new person, Jared, and what he's like. Jacob explains that he's a little foolish and relies on them killing people. Edward picks up on this, and uses it as another point for Jacob to adapt quickly like Jared. Jacob understands what Edward is talking about, but says that he doesn't want to have the blood of innocents on his hands.

William and crew push the shopping cart through the Entrance Plaza and carry it up the stairs. They enter the security room, where Felix is waiting patiently. He briefly welcomes Jared before examining the crates. One of the crates is packed with ammo, the second with canned goods. He's happy to have it, but knows that this didn't just show up there magically - somebody put it there, but who? Felix approaches William, letting him know that he should go have a chat with Jacob.

William enters the waiting room and sits next to Jacob, asking about Erin's condition. She'll make it, but will need time to heal. Jacob admits that he's struggling to adapt and learn when it's right to kill. As Jared enters and overhears this, he claims that it's "them or you", which Edward agrees with.

Back out in the main hall, Clyde Rollins knocks loudly on the door, asking to be let in. Albert answers, and soon the others from the waiting room step out to see what's going on. Clyde is here to deliver a message from Leslie, a deal she's proposing. She wants them to follow Clyde into the basement to pick up a batch of supplies and return it to the supermarket in exchange for guns and ammo. Jacob leaves it up to the others to decide. In the end, they decide to go through with it. A group of four volunteers go with Clyde: Jacob, William, Clayton, and Randall.

Clyde leads them through the Entrance Plaza, constantly looking around nervously. Randall notices, but doesn't think much of it. He continues taking them through Paradise Plaza, which is now clear of the dead, and into Leisure Park. They battle the undead in Leisure Park before Clyde takes them down into the basement.

As they walk through the basement, Jacob and the others begin to question where the supplies are. Clyde explains that they're just up ahead. He then learns about Helen Cullen's death through Jacob, and Clyde gives his condolences. As they continue walking through the dark basement, Clyde suddenly runs ahead and vanishes into the darkness. It's then that a bunch of hooded men step out from the darkness, the same ones who attacked them before. The group take out their guns and try to broker a deal with the hooded men. Clyde steps out, revealing himself to be apart on the side of the hooded men. "It's nothing personal, my friends," he tells them, attempting to sound confident. However, once the hooded men begin attacking, Clyde yelps and runs away. Jacob, William, Randall, and Clayton are able to take down all the hooded figures with their guns, and soon, they chase after Clyde.

Clyde runs through the basement in fear. After a zombie lunges out at him, he runs off into a gated area, closing the gate and preventing the zombie from getting to him. Jacob and the others then show up, killing the zombie and simply locking the gate the Clyde ran through, locking him inside. Now being held at gunpoint, Clyde spills the truth, admitting that all of this was Leslie's plan. She wants the mall to herself, and that means people like the security room survivors need to go. Now armed with the truth, Jacob goes to leave. Clyde begs them not to leave him here, but his cries are ignored, the four men walking away.

As Jacob and the others leave the basement, Jacob says that they're finishing this tonight - they will gather everybody up and confront Leslie herself.

Jacob storms into the security room, ordering Clayton to bring everyone into the main hall. Clayton does so, entering the waiting room and telling Dean Howards and Owen Gliefield to join them. Owen states that he must stay by Erin's side. Dean argues with Owen, which irritates the old man, who demands that Dean leave the room immediately. Dean slowly gets up and joins the others in the main hall.

In the main hall, Jacob addresses everybody, informing them all about Leslie and her plans for controlling the mall. "We tried being nice, but it's clear she's not wanting us here," Jacob says, before asking who'll come with him to take down Leslie before she gets anybody else killed. William, Randall, Clayton, and Albert are all in. Dean isn't sure if he wants to go, and only wants more liquor. However, when Jacob hands him a pistol and William knocks some sense into him, Dean finally agrees to go with them. After everybody gears up on weapons and ammunition, the group heads out.

The group travel through the plazas and come to just outside the North Plaza to devise a plan. They decide that it'll be best if they target the gun store first and worry about the other shops after.

As they charge into the North Plaza, they're immediately fired upon by the inhabitants. Everybody runs for cover before they're shot. Jacob yells over to William to see if he can get to the gun store. William nods and runs out of cover while he's covered by his companions. Jacob and the others continue to be pinned down from the gunfire, unable to push up anywhere. Sitting in cover, Dean is terrified, hearing voices in his head that are mocking him for being a drunk. He snaps out of it when an armed man rushes at him. Dean shoots him, but the man continues running at him and tackles Dean. Seeing this, Clayton shoots the man in the neck, saving Dean. During the chaos, Jeffrey Cortez mounts a gatling gun and wreaks havoc throughout the plaza, bullets ripping through windows and furniture. Eventually, the gatling gun is emptied of its ammo, and Jeffrey runs off.

William charges inside the gun store and comes face to face with Teddy Powell, who holds him at gunpoint. William stands there and tries to reason with the man to no avail. He tries explaining to Teddy what Leslie had done, but Teddy claims that he had no part in sending the hooded people to them. Hearing this, William tries to get Teddy to side with him and put down his gun, but Teddy refuses to, and is about to shoot William, who refuses to leave the store. Randall suddenly bursts through the door, shooting Teddy in his arm. William takes the chance to rush over and knock Teddy out.

As William and Randall rush back out of the gun store, the group push up towards the supermarket. In the supermarket, Jeffrey and many other North Plaza survivors await with defenses already set up. Kate Bloodstone runs out of the store screaming in fear. Jacob and Clayton take off towards Leslie's office, intending to confront her and end the fighting. In the office, they find it to be empty.

In a different room, Leslie is with Jim Butterman. She orders Jim to defend the supermarket and kill the attackers, before rushing out of the room. Jim points his revolver at the door just as Jacob and Clayton kick it down. They try to convince Jim to put the gun down, but a conflicted Jim shoots at them, missing. Jacob rushes forward and knocks Jim out. He looks to the ceiling, noticing a hatch that Leslie escaped through. While Jacob climbs up, Clayton stays behind, covering him.

Back out in the supermarket, William and the others are battling the North Plaza survivors. During the shootout, Jeffrey makes a desperate charge at William, shoving him to the floor and putting a knife to his throat. William tries to push the man off him, but is unable to, and Jeffrey begins slicing into William's shoulder. Dean notices the fight and aims his pistol, shooting Jeffrey in the head and saving William. Dean falls back behind cover, unable to comprehend the fact that he's just killed two people in the span of a few minutes. Albert, William, and Clayton push up towards the last of the North Plaza survivors, killing all those who don't surrender. However, even as a man places his weapon down and surrenders, William executes him, much to the disapproval of Clayton.

Jacob chases Leslie onto the roof of the mall. There, he finally confronts her. Backed up to the edge of the roof, Leslie begins breaking down, yelling and screaming that Jacob had ruined her visions for the future. Jacob tries getting her to relax to no avail. "It's over for me," Leslie mutters before she shoots Jacob in the shoulder. Leslie is quickly shot in the head by Jacob, and she falls off the roof to her death. Jacob holds his shoulder, falling to the ground.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

* Jacob Feldman
* William Reynes
* Clayton Freeman
* Randall Forster
* Felix Quarterman
* Edward Remar
* Erin Monroe
* Albert Hanson
* Dean Howards

#### **Also Starring**

* Owen Gliefield
* Clyde Rollins

#### **Guest Starring**

* Kate Bloodstone
* Theodore "Teddy" Powell
* Jim Butterman
* Leslie Staunton
* Jared Kellings

## **Deaths**

* Leslie Staunton
* Jeffrey Cortez
* Numerous counts of unnamed North Plaza survivors
* Five unnamed bandits