Dead Weight/Issue 23

This is the twenty-third issue of Dead Weight. It is entitled '*The Cause’*. It is the fifth issue in Arc 2 of Dead Weight. Issue 23 was released March 9th, 2018.

## Previously on Dead Weight

The groups found The Specifics, a growing community that, unknowingly to Jessica and Robbie, held an old friend. Melissa discovered she wasn’t pregnant but Sally found out she was. Carlos and Melissa got together again. Jessica’s suspicions of The Specifics were overheard by Haley. Meanwhile, Bri made it back to the community with the supplies, much to the shock of Haley and Connor. She now has a decision to make.

## Story

*“Hello?!” Jessica yells, holding her mobile phone to her ear. Her hand violently shaking . “GOD DAMN IT!” She looks at the phone screen, dialing another number, pushing it against her ear again.*

*The phone rings, and rings, and rings again until the ringing stops and the phone falls silent. “Derrik?!” She questions, not knowing if she had connected or not. “DERRIK?!”*

*She throws the phone down, defeated as she moves over to the television. She begins pushing at many buttons to try and turn it to a channel that worked. Static blurred in front of her eyes as each channel was a dead mess.*

*And then, a knock at the door. Jessica jumped from her skin as she whipped her head around.*

*“Jessy?!” Robbie’s voice called from outside. Jessica ran to the door, opening it and letting Robbie inside. She threw her arms around his neck as the door closed after Scrap, Robbie’s dog, trotted inside.*

*“I can’t get ahold of Derrik.” She said, blubbering as tears started rolling from her eyes. “I don’t know-- I don’t know where he is, where Nat is. I d-- I d--” She couldn’t finish her sentence, stuttering and wailing as Robbie tried to comfort her.*

*“It’ll be okay, We’ll find them. Listen, we have to go.” He told her, pullign her into a tight hug as he put a bag on the floor. “I don’t know what’s happening, but we have to go.”*

*“N-- No, I want to stay. Have you looked outside-- I--”*

*“I know…” He said.*

*“Oh my god-- Oh my god--”*

*“I promise you, We’ll find them, but right now we have to do something.”*

*The next three months were a blur. A messy blur of blood and survival. Things Jessica and Robbie could never comprehend. Their lives turning completely upside down as hell had ripped through America and claimed it as it’s own.*

*This was their lives now.*

*“I’m so sick of you, Carlos.” Darryn spits, pushing him backwards as they stand in a narrow hallway. Carlos hits Darryn’s hand away.*

*“I’m just trying to help, but you keep making everything worse!” Carlos fights back, Darryn raises the hammer that he holds. “What?! Are you going to hit me?!”*

*Darryn looks for a moment before swinging the hammer at him. Carlos ducks, the hammer smashing into the wall. Carlos stumbles backwards, adjusting his jacket. “Really?”*

*“What the hell?!” Melissa calls out, stepping out from the apartment a few doors down.*

*Darryn shoves the hammer into Carlos’ hands, pushing past him.*

*“What did you do to my wall!” A man yells as he comes up the stairs, pointing to the wall and then looking towards Carlos with the hammer. “I knew I couldn’t trust you!” He calls out.*

*“It--”*

*“I want you out!”*

*“Darryn!” Melissa groans as Darryn pushes inside the apartment.*

*“Out!! Out, out!!!” The man calls, approaching Carlos and taking the hammer from his loosened grip. “This hotel belonged to my husband, you cannot go wrecking it!”*

“Hey!” Tanya said, almost for the hundredth time as Carlos shakes himself awake. He bounces upwards, wide awake. “C-- Calm down.” Tanya tells him, taking a step back.

“Sorry, I just fell asleep.”

“It’s okay.”

“What’s up?” Carlos asks, getting up from the seat and rubbing his eye.

“I was looking for Abreham, have you seen him?”

“I haven’t, sorry.”

Tanya squints at Carlos, looking at him for a moment too long. Carlos looks at her with furrowed eyebrows, a confused expression on his face. “Are you okay?” He asks her.

“You look tired. Are you tired?”

“Well, just a little. But I’m alright, really. I think everything is just catching up on me! You know how it is.”

“Yeah,” She says quietly, removing her gaze from him to look down, awkwardly picking at her nail for a second. “I should go! Let you sleep.”

Tanya left, leaving Carlos to climb into the bed to properly sleep. She walked down the hallway. She was alone, it gave her an opportunity to think, a calming quiet that only Tanya was privileged to be in. She wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t sad. She’d cried so much that she’d forgotten how to cry, her ocean ran dry.

Turning the corner, he ran into Robbie, who seemed to be rushing. They said a brief hello before Tanya continued walking. Reaching the stairs, she heard the sound of light laughter from a woman. She pushed open the already ajar door, looking over the railing. Bellow her, she saw Tracey and Abreham standing on the interval between the stair cases.

Abreham was standing against the wall, rubbing the back of his neck. Tracey leaned on the stair’s railing, pushing herself out as she brushed her hand against his arm as she laughed.

“Hello.” Tanya said, quickly interrupting the scene.

“Tanya! Tracey, I must go. But I’ll see you around.” Abreham told her, Tracey smiled at him as he lifted her hand and kissed it. Tracey watched as Abreham made his way up the stairs, offering Tanya a gentle smile. Tanya smiled back as she turned to walk by Abreham’s side as they made their way back to the hallway.

“So, that’s what you’ve been getting up to?” Tanya asked as they walked.

“Tracey?! Oh, no. We’re just friend, I think.”

“You think?”

“Well, I don’t like people like that. Do you think I was being overly friendly?”

“You would win an award for most overly friendly.” Tanya said sarcastially, Abreham pouted.

“Huh… Didn’t think about that. It’s just my natural charm.”

“Thank you so much, again.” Vicky tells Bri, looking over the newest supply of medication.

“You’re welcome, It’s fine.” Bri replies. Vicky stands, brushing down her skirt briefly as she moves over to Bri, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing her into a gentle hug. Bri hugs her back, “Really, It’s no big deal.”

“I don’t know if it’s enough for long term, but it’ll get us through the next few months.”

“That sounds good, gives you time.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Vicky tells her, pulling away and moving to sit back down at the desk.

“Is something wrong?” Bri asks.

“I think someone is stealing,” Vicky blurts, putting her head into her hand. “I mean-- I don’t know for sure, I told Haley but, I don’t want to worry too much about it but… I just am.”

“What’s missing?”

“Maybe I’m just going insane.” Vicky says.

“What’s missing?” Bri repeats.

“A few bottles of pills, I think one of the new girls took the pregnancy test but I’m not really fussed about that.”

“Haley will sort it out, I’m sure.”

“Yeah-- She probably will.”

Jessica wandered the market. Many people surrounded her, she felt as though she was back in the real world, with shopping malls. Although, Jessica wasn’t interested in anything that was being sold, she was searching, looking for somebody.

“Excuse me.” A voice said, catching Jessica’s attention. She turned, a girl smiling towards her, she seemed young, around the age of sixteen. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.”

“I don’t recognize you, are you new around here?”

“Yeah. I’m Jessica.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Beth, do you need help with anything?”

“I was just looking around.” Jessica tells her.

“Okay, well if you need anything, let me know.”

Jessica walked down a pathway until she reached a dead end, a door which led into a fenced off area. She turned back around, taking a deep breath as she walked back over to Beth.

“I actually do need something.” Jessica told her. Beth looked over, shocked by the sudden voice.

“What is it?” She asked.

“I’m looking for a man, his name is Derrik.”

“Derrik? Hmm. I can’t say I’ve heard that name, but you never know! If you wait here I can go get Haley.”

“He had a child, too? Right. He had a baby.”

“Is this somebody you knew before?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

“Oh, okay. Can you wait here? I can see if I can help you.”

“Okay.”

Beth left, leaving Jessica by the table. She sat down on top of it, waiting for Beth’s return.

Molly lay on the bed, bored out of her mind. Just as she decided to sit up, Mark wandered in to the room.

“Do you want to do something?!” Mark asks.

“L-Like what?” Molly asks, getting off of the bed and walking over to Mark, who stands at the door.

“I dunno.”

“Oh.”

“We should go outside!” Mark suggests, “C’mon!” He leaves as quickly as he came, Molly sighing before closing over the door and following behind him.

“But what are we going to do?!”

“Just look around!” Mark tells her.

“But what if something happened?”

“It’s safe, we’ll be fine!”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Where are you guys going?” Grace asks as they turn the corner, bumping in to her in the hallway.

“Outside!” Mark tells her.

“Alone?”

“Yeah, It’s not a big deal, we’ll be safe.”

“Okay. Don’t get in to trouble, please.” Grace tells them and before she can even say anything more, they disappear.

Beth arrived back to Jessica, who was still sitting patiently at the table. Many people had passed by her, some asking if she was okay as her face was pale, her hands shaking in anticipation. Jessica looked at Beth, noticing nobody was with her.

“Haley will be down, she just had to deal with some things.” Beth tells Jessica, “She wants me to let you know that she’ll help you the best she can.”

“Thank you… How old are you?” Jessica asks out of curiosity. Beth smiles at her.

“Sixteen, ma’am.”

“You don’t seem it.”

“I’ve been told that alot,” Beth tells her, “But I guess it’s just how I am.” Beth slips back behind the table, returning to where she stood before.

“What do you do here?”

“My mother’s a florist and gardener, she’s outside right now and I just help along with it.”

“That’s nice, d--”

“Make way people!!” A man called out, “C’mon!! MOVE IT!”

Jessica looked around, three men entered the market place with the undeadtrapped to long, metal poles clamped barely around their necks. The men dragged them like they were some sort of animals, through the area as people screamed out. Residents scattering out of the way as the dead continued to snapped it’s jaws towards everyone.

“KEEP A’HOLD OF IT!” Yelled a man behind the larger, black man in front. As the three men entered and headed towards their location, Connor sauntered out behind them, Haley following.

“IM TRYIN’, DEAN.” Yelled one of them.

“This is stupid.” Haley complains, looking around at the unnerved people who’s days had been ruined by this awkward event.

“CONNOR, HELP.” Called out the man in the back, his weak looking arms seemingly struggling to keep a grip on the dead.

“Are you stupid?!” Connor asked him, taking the pole off of him. “Put them in. Quickly.” Connor demanded. The black man turned the undead he held, holding it as far from him as possible as he took out a key, reaching over to unlock the gate.

That’s when the undead slid from the clamped grip, the man feeling the weight disintigrate from his hand as the metal pole angled to the ground as the dead stumbled forward, quickly, almost running into a sprint as it growled menacingly. The people around them screaming out as the other two tried to stop the other dead from doing the same. Connor pulled out his gun, shoving the pole he held back into the arms of the other man.

The dead lurched forwards, creating such a crazed panic that Jessica and Beth didn’t even know what was happening. Beth used the table in front of her as a defense as she backed away from the approaching dead as it had it’s eyes locked on it’s target, the men not being able to react fast enough as it jumped, like a lion on it’s prey and sunk it’s teeth into the helpless blonde, she struggled against the dead as it ripped a chunk from her shoulder, a scream escaping her lips as blood gushed from her shoulder and down her arm. Connor pressed his gun against the dead’s head and pulled the trigger.

Jessica’s face was full of shock, her pale face replaced with the splatter of blood from the blood of her attacker. As quickly as it had happened, it was over. She collapsed to the floor in a puddle of her own blood as Sally watched on from the stairs, horrified as she recognized her friend she’d once lost.

And now she’d lost her all over again.

## Cast

### Main

* Drew Van Acker as Robbie Starn
* Melissa Benoist as Jessica Starn
* Allie Lewis as Grace Berry
* Brooke Hyland as Sabrina Berry
* Imogen Poots as Sally Middleton
* Liam Hemsworth as Flake
* Josh Pudleiner as Carlos
* Melissa Kirk as Melissa
* Andrea Boehkle as Bri
* Jackson Rathbone as Abreham

### Supporting

* Q'orianka Kilcher as Tanya
* Ariana Greenblatt as Molly
* Noah Schnapp as Mark
* Billy Burke as Connor

### Also Starring

* Janel Parrish as Haley Reed
* Antonia Thomas as Vicky
* Troye Sivan as Sam
* Alexandra Breckenridge as Tracey

### Guest

* Alyssa Diaz as Officer Scarlette
* Kaia Jordan Gerber as Beth
* Kendric Green as Dean
* Eric Mendenhall as Unnamed Man #1 (Oli)
* Kyle Clements as Unnamed Man #2 (Andrew)
* Unknown as Scrap
* Unknown as Pig

## Trivia

* this issue is so bad im so sorry sweaty
* predicting right now this is the issue that’ll make me want to end it all
* This issue was originally titled “Sins”
* The Darryn and Carlos fight is a reference to the conversation Melissa and Carlos had in Issue 19.