The Beginning

Benjamin leads a team into his building in downtown Denver. Jon finally comes to terms with Angela's death.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

The episode begins inside a flashback; Benjamin Taylor wakes up in a hospital room next to Sarah Taylor, his frail and sick looking daughter. Benjamin smiles and assures her that she's going to be okay, commending her for how brave she has been. Sarah knows that her mother went through cancer as well, and since her mother died--she believes she'll die as well. Benjamin frowns, telling Sarah that he wouldn't let that happen.

Benjamin leaves the hospital while talking to one of his employees on the phone, demanding that they double the company's resources going into the cancer research division. Outside, Mike Simpson is waiting by a limousine. He takes note of Benjamin's stressed appearance as he gets into the back. Mike then gets into the driver's side as Benjamin tells him that Sarah hasn't gotten any better.

Mike drives Benjamin across town to the Taylor & Co headquarters in Denver. Inside, Shane Haywood is there to greet Benjamin. As they're walking to the elevators, Shane informs him that the company's shareholders aren't happy about the resources going into cancer research. Stepping into the elevator, Benjamin says that he'll deal with them later, and thanks Shane as the elevator closes.

Benjamin arrives near the top of his building, and quickly enters one of the rooms. There, Cornelius Dance and Anton Lesser are sitting at a table. Benjamin quietly sits across from them, and Cornelius then begins the meeting by offering his condolences about his daughter. Benjamin isn't here for condolences, however, and he knows they only care about his money. Cornelius is taken aback, and reminds Benjamin that business did not have to be so cold all the time. Anton Lesser steps out of his chair and begins explaining to Benjamin that they were close to creating a cure for cancer, but that it required lots of funding--funding they were hoping to get from Taylor's company. Cornelius backs him up by pointing out how much money they would make in return for creating the cure. Benjamin tells them that it's not the money he cares about, before stepping out of the room, saying that he needed some time to think over their offer.

Benjamin returns to the main floor, where he sips on a coffee, thinking to himself. Suddenly, Mike's phone rings, and he quickly hands it over to Benjamin; it was the hospital. Benjamin stands up, alarmed, as the hospital tells him that his daughter has had a minor stroke. Benjamin drops his coffee and rushes out to the limousine, which Mike is already starting up. Benjamin and Shane bump into each other in the lobby, where Shane is told to accept Cornelius' deal on behalf of Benjamin. Shane worries that the shareholders might drop their shares, to which Benjamin replies: "Fuck the shareholders."

He arrives back at the hospital and rushes into Sarah's room, where a nurse tells him that she's stable. After giving her a hug, Benjamin promises her that they're going to find a cure for her to make her better. Sarah smiles and thanks him, excited that she'll finally be able to go out and play with her friends again. A tired Sarah asks her father if she can sing to help her sleep, and Benjamin, for his daughter's sake, does it. She slowly falls asleep while Benjamin sings quietly to her.

Back in the present, Benjamin wakes up inside the RV, where Edward Remar is there to inform him that they'll be back on the road soon. Edward asks about what they're going to find in Denver, and Benjamin says that besides a ton of supplies, there will be documents confirming all of what Benjamin told the group. Rolling up his sleeve, Edward shows and asks Ben if he wants Sarah's friendship bracelet. Benjamin refuses, telling him that it was Edward who was there for Sarah, and he'll be in his debt forever because of it. Benjamin brings up how unhappy Edward has seemed lately, even after he killed Badrick, and he hopes that Edward gets whatever he's desiring. He then gets up, patting his shoulder and walks out. Edwards glances out the window at Clyde Rollins and Claire Noble, who are chuckling away together while clearing the road, before he looks away.

Outside, Jon Matthews and Austin Kingston return from the bar, which surprises Marcus Downes, Kate Bloodstone, and Aldus Paxton standing nearby.

Ed Anderson walks over to Layton Zimmers, who's standing by the cement mixer, frowning and talking about how he's missing her already. Ed believes that Layton is talking about his wife, but when he mentions his wife, Layton says he's talking about the cement mixer, which was damaged by the landslide and won't start up, leaving the group with two less seats.

Randall Forster finishes clearing the last of the rocks off the road just as William Reynes, Lloyd Waller and Jared Kellings return from the lodge. Ed approaches William to let him know that they're all ready to go. After thanking him and sending Lloyd and Jared inside the RV, William walks over to Rebecca Dawson, who's sitting outside the RV. William tells her that the trip to the lodge went well--and that Jared even helped save William's life by clearing the zombies. Rebecca doesn't believe what she's hearing, and still is starting to believe that Jared is actually a good person. William feels the same way.

Most people cram into the RV, while Marcus, Kate, Solomon Reed, and Jon get back into their car. The two remaining vehicles drive off from the site of the landslide, getting closer to Denver.

After another while of driving, the group arrives at a gas station on the outskirts of Denver. Daniel Rockwell and Isaac Moses help the still injured Lolida Windfield into the gas station after Clyde and Claire clear it out. As he's propped down against a shelf, Lolida remarks that he misses Grant Carver and Nick Parker, wishing they were still here. Isaac kneels down next to him, telling a story about one of his old students (Isaac was a college professor) who had lost his girlfriend after the apocalypse, and let the death of her consume him until he let himself get eaten by zombies. Isaac doesn't want the same thing to happen to Lolida. Daniel points out how strong Lolida has been so far--having survived two car crashes in a matter of days, and tells him to rest up.

Outside the gas station, Daniel, William, and Benjamin are discussing how they should approach Denver. Daniel suggests taking a small group, while everyone else stays at the gas station. With no objections from William or Benjamin, they turn to the rest of the group to see who'll go with them. Marcus and Kate are the first to join them, then Aldus, followed by Jared and Albert Hanson. Lastly, Isaac decides he wants to go as well. The nine people venturing out into the city gather their weapons and prepare to go.

Before leaving, William stops to speak with Rebecca. After admitting that he was feeling uncertain about the trip into Denver, William gives Rebecca a kiss. "You continue to surprise me, William Reynes," she tells him, before wishing him good luck.

While walking down a unsettlingly quiet city street in Denver, Benjamin, leading the group, stops everyone to remind them all to avoid using guns. As they continue to walk, Daniel, with an annoyed tone, questions Benjamin on how he managed to be manipulated by Cornelius and Anton. Benjamin knows what he did, and isn't happy about it, but tells Daniel that he isn't going to stand here and listen to him complain about it. Daniel goes quiet. While they continue walking, Benjamin is pressured by Kate and Marcus into admitting that they most likely won't be able to create a cure or even track down Cornelius and Anton. The group turns down into an alleyway, where Isaac looks up at all the tall buildings in amazement, having never been to a big city before.

After William and the other volunteers leave, Randall, Jon, and Solomon are chatting inside the gas station. Randall wonders why Jon didn't want to go into Denver, and Jon says it's because he has something else to deal with. He picks up his shotgun and heads for the door.

Clyde and Claire are standing on guard duty later that day. Clyde mentions how he's been worried about Edward recently, and isn't sure what to do. Clyde convinces him that he should go talk to him. Before he gets up to do that, Clyde, staggering with his words, admits that he's been enjoying spending time with Claire, and is about to kiss her, but he backs out. The second Clyde turns around to leave, Claire grabs him and kisses him, telling Clyde that she felt the same way. Now with a smile on his face, Clyde gets up to go find Edward.

Jon walks out into the woods, relieved that he wasn't hearing Angela Jaegar's voice anymore. He gently places her shotgun onto the forest floor, waiting to see if she would call out to him - but she doesn't. Smiling, Jon heads back to the gas station.

Benjamin and the team arrive outside of the Taylor & Co headquarters. The group carefully make their way through the revolving door and enter the building. Inside, the place is a mess; tables flipped, garbage littered everywhere. Suddenly the intercom of the building comes on, and an angry voice belonging to Steffan Webber tells them all to stop where they are. When Steffan says he can see them, Jared points his middle finger up, angering Steffan even more. Steffan demands that they put their guns to the floor, and everyone reluctantly does--except for William, who keeps one hidden in his pants. Steffan then dares one of them to step forward. When no one else does, William takes a step forward--and a giant log trap comes swinging down. If it weren't for Marcus tackling William to the floor, he would have been dead. Cackling to himself, Steffan tells them all that this is what they deserve for killing two little girls. William and the others are confused as to what he means, but it doesn't matter. Loud music begins playing on the speakers outside the building, attracting zombies from nearby over to the front doors, blocking them in. Benjamin says he knows where Steffan is, but before he can say where, Steffan opens up a door nearby, and a large group of zombies swarm the lobby. As Steffan laughs to himself, everyone picks their weapons back up to try and eliminate the horde. Benjamin leaves the group, beginning to make his way up a flight of stairs. William tells Marcus to hold the fort down here, before he too goes up the stairs. Daniel also goes after William. Meanwhile, Isaac and Jared become separated from everyone else. The two of them are backed into a corner and forced into a different room. Marcus, Kate, Albert and Aldus are also backed into a corner, and they too force their way into another room to escape the horde.

Clyde finds Edward sitting on a flatbed truck parked near the gas station. He props himself on the truck next to Edward and asks him if everything is okay, telling him that he was here to help him. Edward looks down while biting his lip, and says that he can't be helped. However, Clyde persuades him to open up. Nervously, Edward confesses that he's developed feelings for Clyde. The smile that had been on Clyde's face turns into a frown, and he slowly nods. Speaking slowly, Clyde says that he's flattered... but that he was already with Claire. Edward understands, telling him that he just needed to get that out of his system. He stands up and limps off as Clyde calls out for him to come back.

Marcus, Kate, Albert and Aldus are quickly debating what they should do. Their only way out of the room--that isn't through the door with a horde of zombies behind it--are the windows. Seeing a horde gathering outside as well because of the music, the four of them agree that the best thing to do is head back to the gas station, even if Kate feels terrible leaving everyone else behind. However, Marcus devises a last minute plan.

Isaac and Jared quickly run down a hallway as zombies chase after them. Jared runs ahead of his companion, speeding around a corner and approaching a doorway. When Isaac turns the corner, his foot gets caught up in a rope, and he's raised off the ground, getting strung upside down. "I'm sorry," Jared says. "I am." He steps through the door, closing it and leaving Isaac behind. Isaac yells, begging for Jared to come back--but he doesn't. As the horde catches up to him, Isaac is ripped apart and killed within seconds.

Benjamin, William and Daniel make it to the top floor of the building, where Benjamin points to a door, telling them the intercom was in there. Suddenly, Steffan emerges from that very door carrying an M60 machine gun. He opens fire, forcing the three men into cover. As the gunfire stops, Benjamin tries talking to Steffan, telling him that he too had a little girl who he lost, but Steffan doesn't listen to him. He instead retreats back into the intercom room. Benjamin and the others step out of cover and approach the door. Benjamin enters the room first, finding it to be clear of anybody. With the only other door in this room being the one that led into Benjamin's old office, he figures that Steffan went into there. As Daniel is scanning through a bunch of security cameras next to the intercom, he sees Isaac's strung up corpse. Believing that it was Steffan who killed his friend, Daniel storms over to Benjamin's office, kicking it over. As expected, Steffan is there with his M60, and he opens fire. Benjamin fires his pistol back, hitting Steffan in his shoulder, but taking multiple rounds to the chest himself. The bullet causes Steffan to drop his gun, and Daniel promptly executes the man. Benjamin falls to the ground, quickly bleeding out. William desperately tries to stop the bleeding and save him, but Taylor knows he's done for. He points to a safe in his office and gives them the code. William hurries over and opens it, finding a box inside. He brings the box over to Benjamin, and when he opens it, sees that it's a family photo album. Smiling, Benjamin says that all he wants is to be with Sarah and his wife again. Benjamin requests that Daniel help him over to his office chair so that he can stop himself from turning in fashion, looking down at his pistol. Daniel does so, leaving the photo album beside him. Benjamin tells the two of them to go. After a final goodbye, William and Daniel leave the office, beginning to walk down the hallway. They then hear a single gunshot come from within the office.

Marcus, Kate, Albert and Aldus manage to steal a car and use it to lure most of the zombies outside the building away. As they're driving back around the front of the building, they pick up Jared, who had just made his way out, and then wait as William and Daniel are seen leaving the building through the lobby. Once the two of them hop into the car as well, the car speeds away out of the city.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

* Jon Matthews
* William Reynes
* Edward Remar
* Clyde Rollins
* Randall Forster
* Kate Bloodstone
* Marcus Downes
* Benjamin Taylor
* Austin Kingston
* Aldus Paxton
* Albert Hanson

#### **Also Starring**

* Daniel Rockwell
* Jared Kellings
* Solomon Reed
* Rebecca Dawson
* Lloyd Waller
* Claire Noble

#### **Guest Starring**

* Isaac Moses
* Layton Zimmers
* Lolida Windfield
* Ed Anderson
* Mike Simpson *(Flashback)*
* Sarah Taylor *(Flashback)*
* Shane Haywood *(Flashback)*
* Cornelius Dance *(Flashback)*
* Anton Lesser *(Flashback)*

## **Deaths**

* Benjamin Taylor
* Isaac Moses
* Steffan Webber
* Steffan's two daughters *(Confirmed Fate)*