BDD9 – Issues

#### Terrence POV

The story starts off showing a group during the outbreak led by Terrence Brodmir and including his colleagues Keith Vasey, Randall DeSantos, Paul Townsend, Hannah Walsh, Louis Moyer and Jodie Warner; as well as Terrence's daughter Nancy, Keith's divorced parents Marion and Warren, Marion's new partner Harold, Paul's mother Margaret, and Louis' wife and son Sarah and Ralph.. They are on an underground train evacuating them out of the city when it stops and the doors open due to a technical malfunction. They are aided in their escape by three others – Yaz, Liam and Mai – however Nancy and Randall are split off from the group. Margaret, Sarah and Ralph are all killed, and most of the group piles into a lift being held open by an engineer for the Underground, leaving Terrence, Keith and Hannah to fight their way up the escalators. When they reach the top they're reunited with the people who went up in the lift, and they turn to see Randall appear at the top of the escalators, alone. Randall lies to Terrence that he saw Nancy die, to prevent him going on a suicide mission; and eventually the group gets out of the way. Terrence breaks down, and only gets his head straight when he sees the mass of walkers coming their way. He tells the others to stay behind him, and charges at the walkers.

### Issue 01

#### Terrence POV

While out on a supply run, Keith and Terrence discuss what has happened since the events at the train station. It is revealed that Warren is becoming increasingly problematic, and that no one has died since the prologue. Louis has descended alcoholism, and no longer has anything to do with the rest of the group, except for checking in after supply runs to see if they've found more alcohol. They also talk about a man named Bill Davison, a broadcaster who claims to be leading an effort to rebuild society, and whose location they are getting closer to every day. They reach the camping shop they were aiming to loot, and break inside, however they set off the burglar alarm. They decide to take as much as they can before walkers arrive, and as soon as they start to fill their packs, they hear a voice tell them "Don't bloody move".

#### Lance POV

Lance Taylor is chatting with Carson Monroe on a small wooden bridge over a stream in Northleach, while their friend Maxine Crayton and her sister Rachel play in the water. Rachel tries to pull Lance in by his legs, so he slides in and splashes her, much to the amusement of Carson and Maxine. The horesplay continues until Maxine and Rachel end up pushing Lance onto his backside in the water, and he stops and tells them to look at the sunset. The four of them sit on the bridge and watch the sunset, only to be interrupted by a man emerging from the woods with a little girl. The man asks who's in charge, and Lance says he is, with Carson muttering in the background that he's little more than Lilly's second in command. The man, Brian, says that he and his daughter Mindy don't want trouble, they're just looking for Bill Davison. Lance says he can take them to Bill, and Rachel asks if Mindy can stay and play with her. Brian agrees, and goes off with Lance to speak with Bill.

#### Brian POV

Brian and Lance walk through the centre of Northleach, which Brian is shocked to find is empty, however Lance says that Bill will answer all his questions. He asks Brian why he was so willing to leave Mindy with Rachel, Maxine and Carson; and Brian says that he watched them all playing in the stream, and thought that these were the sort of people he wanted to keep close to. Lance thanks him and takes him into Bill's house, a cluttered mess of paperwork and books. They go into the cellar, where Bill is listening to *God Save the Queen (the Sex Pistols song, of course)* while writing at his desk, and Charlotte Sykes is sitting at a small table reading *1984*. Lance introduces Brian and explains how they met, and Bill asks him to pull up a seat, also asking Lance and Charlotte to go find Lilly. When they leave, Bill starts to tell Brian about his plans, including the preservation of pre-apocalypse knowledge and the rebuilding of society as a Social-Anarchist utopia. Brian seems receptive, however he grows cautious when Bill doesn't try to quiz him on how he and Mindy have survived so long. He tries to question Bill as to why Lance called himself the leader, and why Carson called Lilly the leader, but Bill says they're just running the group while he works on his plans for rebuilding. Brian asks why there aren't any adults doing it, and Bill admits that there the only members of the community so far are him and ten teenagers, which infuriates Brian, who lost people trying to get to Bill's location. He asks Bill why on earth there aren't any adults around, because surely at least one other survived, and Bill simply replies "I killed them."

### Issue 02

#### Brian POV

A dumbstruck Brian is confused by Bill's answer, and when Bill reaffirms that he killed several people, Brian pulls a knife and threatens to kill him right there. He's interrupted by a girl telling him to put it down, that girl being Lilly Mason, who has been brought back by Lance and Charlotte. She threatens Brian and intimidates him into sitting down, which he reluctantly does. He says that Bill has five minutes to explain exactly what happened, and Bill hesitates until Lilly tells him to speak up and get on with it. Bill tells Brian about how his leadership caused the deaths of Marcus and Lynne Blake, several of his students, his colleague Harriet Marks, and Carson's father Dave; all at the hands of walkers. Brian, sympathising with Bill, says it wasn't his fault; however he also says that it will be Bill's fault if his dream fails and leaves every survivor in the country without hope. They agree to work together on building something that Bill's dead friends could be proud of.

#### Charlotte POV

Charlotte, Lance and Lilly leave the room, saying that it has gone rather well. Brian comes out and apologises for threatening Bill in front of them, and they accept his apology. He heads off with Lance to go back and see how Mindy is getting on. Charlotte and Lilly go into the Sherbourne Arms, and Charlotte pours herself a glass of Scotch, Lilly refusing to drink until she's sure that Brian has setlled in. They chat about him and whether or not they think he'll fit in, Charlotte being very optimistic about him while Lilly is more sceptical. Their chit-chat is interrupted by Jake Hughes, who comes in acting in his usual arrogant way and orders them to pour him a drink, to which Lilly responds by casually pouring a bottle of cider over his head. Jake tries to lash out and Lilly floors him, telling him to start showing some respect lest she forget how to stop herself from breaking arms. He storms off, and Charlotte looks at Lilly admiringly, revealing that she has a crush on Lilly.

#### Keith POV

Keith and Terrence turn to see an overweight man pointing a butter knife at them, and Keith laughs that it won't hurt them, prompting the man to shout at him. Terrence calms the situation and says they're better off getting out of the way because the alarm will be drawing in walkers, and tells the man that he can come back with them. The man, Joe McCrick, accepts, and tells his family (his younger sister Teresa and her fourteen year old daughter Faye) that they're going with Keith and Terrence. The five of them manage to fight their way out of the shop, but Faye is almost killed, however Terrence manages to save her. They get back to the van, and hop in. They arrive back at their own group's base (a budget hotel), and Randall checks the new arrivals for bites, jovially treating it as just a precuation. However, he finds that Teresa has been bitten.

### Issue 03

#### Terrence POV

The group freezes as Joe runs to Teresa and hugs her, however Warren breaks the silence by telling everyone that Teresa needs to be killed. Joe tells him to back off, and the others back Joe up, however Randall reluctantly says that Warren has a point. Hannah asks Randall if they just kill her because of that, and Randall says it's probably too late to risk amputation, and that it would be the most humane thing to do. Joe says that they need to amputate, and Hannah interrupts, saying that Teresa should be making her own decisions. As the group continues to argue, Hannah feels something yank at her side, and turns to see that Teresa has stolen her gun. Teresa apologises to everyone, and tells Joe and Faye that she loves them, before forcing them to let her outside at gunpoint; saying that her daughter doesn't need to see what happens next. She forces them to lock the door, and a few moments later, they hear a gunshot. Paul tries to offer the idea that she just killed a walker, but Terrence tells him that there were no walkers outside. Faye runs over to Joe, and he falls to his knees and hugs her. Everyone leaves the room, leaving the pair alone.

#### Yaz POV

Yaz heads out for a smoke on the roof, and is joined by Mai and Hannah. They talk about how depressing what happened is, however the talk quickly becomes lighthearted, and the conversation moves on to the subject of who the hottest man in the group is. Yaz says Randall and Hannah quickly agrees, and they expect Mai to say Liam, however she says she finds Keith quite attractive for an older man. The other two laugh as they're sure she's with Liam, which Mai has repeatedly denied despite the fact that they share a room, simply calling Liam her friend. Mai goes on to ask if Keith would ever go for someone like her, however Hannah tells her that she thought she was joking, because Keith is gay. The conversation grows awkward, and Mai and Hannah both eventually decide to go off to sleep, leaving Yaz on guard duty. When they leave, she asks an unknown person if he heard all that, and he laughs and says that he did. It's revealed to be Randall, who she kisses passionately, and the pair start to make out. He slips a hand inside her underwear, and she says that Paul will be joining them for guard duty in a second, however Randall just replies with "I don't care, let him watch..."

#### Hannah POV

Hannah is dreaming of her first party after joining the police, where she met Nancy Brodmir for the first time and developed a crush on her. She hears a door creak in her dream, but realises that there is no door in sight, and then she wakes with a start. She sees that her door has been opened, and she turns on her lamp to see Joe standing in the corner with a knife in his hand. She tries to talk him down as she gets out of bed, but he forces her to stay seated on the edge at knifepoint, saying that she doesn't get a say in anything after what she did to Teresa. Hannah says she didn't do anything, Teresa did it herself, but Joe blames Hannah for having the gun; as well as Terrence and Keith for disrupting their home at the camping store. Hannah tells him that all three of them would have died back at the store if Terrence and Keith hadn't found them, and that Teresa would prefer him and Faye to be safe. Joe says she doesn't know what Teresa would want, none of them do, because she's dead; however Hannah says that Teresa will never leave his heart. Joe shouts that his heart is broken without his sister, and the lights come on outside the room; Randall, Yaz and Paul come running in to see what's happening, and the rest of the group follows shortly after. Yaz aims at Joe and tells him to put the knife down or she'll shoot, however Faye runs out and gets between them, and tells Joe it's alright. She takes the knife from him and throws it to the side, at which point she hugs him and he begins to cry. She reassures him that Teresa will never leave him, and says that they're safe now.

#### Danny POV

Danny Hinton is visited by two of his men, Leo and Luke, who tell him they heard a gunshot coming from the other side of town. Danny guesses that it might be "the radio bloke", and says that they'd better get ready to move.

### Issue 04

#### Carson POV

Carson is sitting with Lance, Maxine, Lilly and Brian in the pub; the five of them are joking around as they watch Rachel and Mindy play in the corner, while Jake Hughes guts a rabbit in the next room, barely visible over the bar. They're joined by Anton and Caitlin, who introduce themselves to Brian, and then cause Carson to reflect on some rumours from school about them when their banter becomes close to flirting. It's revealed that Anton and Caitlin have a sister, Madison, who's currently working in Bill's basement with him and Charlotte. Brian asks why the others aren't joining them to relax for an evening, and he's told that Bill hasn't left the house since his direction caused those deaths, Madi only goes to keep him company, and Charlotte doesn't really like social events. Mindy approaches Jake and asks what he's doing, and he tells her to fuck off, causing him to argue with Brian. Lance steps in and tells Jake to leave Mindy alone, and tells Brian that Jake isn't the best person to have around little girls, causing Jake to punch him. Carson lunges forward to help, but Brian beats him to it, and pins Jake to the ground. Lilly walks over and tells the others that they'd better head back to the houses so that Rachel and Mindy can get to sleep, and she offers to make sure Jake "gets home safe". As they walk across the square, Carson thinks he hears a scream from back at the pub.

#### Keith POV

Keith and Warren get back to their room, and as soon as Keith shuts the door, Warren says that he knew Joe was trouble. Keith tries to explain why Joe did what he did, and tells his father that it would have been easier if he hadn't kicked up such a fuss about Teresa, but Warren immediately starts ranting about "council estate types." Keith reminds Warren that he was born on a council estate, but Warren says he's different because he was born in a terraced council house rather than an inner-city flat, which he claims are populated by "chavs, coons and other freaks". Before Keith can respond, he's mocked by Harold, who's at the door with Marion. Keith leaves to talk with the pair, forcing Warren to stay behind while he does so. As soon as they're outside, Keith asks if they heard everything, and they say that they did. Harold says he's losing his patience, and that Warren will get someone killed if he keeps provoking total strangers, which Marion agrees with; reminding Keith about what Warren did at the tube station (hinting that he was responsible for the deaths of John and Megan Townsend). Keith says he'll keep an eye on Warren, and make sure he doesn't get into trouble, but Harold tells Keith to make sure he knows where his priorities are. Keith grabs Harold by the collar and tells him that his priorities are his family, all of them, and then he lets Harold go. Harold apologises, saying he knows that, but that Keith needs to decide whether Warren matters more or less than everyone else in the group. Keith says he knows, and then asks them to excuse him, before heading back into his room. Warren tells him that he just remembered that Keith's late husband Robert was born on a council estate, and says "they must breed fags there as well", at which point Keith grabs him by the neck and says he should remember which of them is in control here. He lets Warren go, and as the old man falls back onto the floor, Keith thinks to himself that maybe it's time his priorities changed.

#### Lance POV

Lance is reading in bed and reflecting on the day when Maxine knocks on the door, and he invites her in. She sits on the bed and they talk, and she tells him that Rachel is in bed, obviously implying something. He gets nervous and starts to stammer, however Maxine stops him by kissing him on the lips. He reacts with shock, but she says he deserved it, and then she kisses him again. She asks if she can climb in, and he stutters again, but she promises not to do anything. He lets her come under the covers, she cuddles up to him, and they chat. After a while, she asks him why it took her so long to figure out what she wanted, and he asks what she means. She simply replies "You", and turns to kiss him again.

### Issue 05

#### Bill POV

Bill is snoozing in his chair when he's awoken by Jake, who has his arm in a cast. Bill asks what happened, and he says that Brian, Lilly and Lance beat him up for no reason, breaking his arm in the process. Bill knows Jake is lying, but dares not say it, though Charlotte calls Jake out on his bullshit from her chair in the corner. He turns to her and make half an insult before Brian interrupts him, having come down to talk to Bill. Jake asks Bill what he's going to do about this, and Brian says he's here to ask the same question, which seems to confuse Jake until Brian asks what Bill's going to do about such an arrogant and ill-tempered member of his community. Jake tries to interrupt, but Brian threatens to break his other arm if he doesn't shut up, which makes Jake whine even more. Bill asks Jake to leave, and Brian asks if Charlotte would mind leaving for a moment as well. Bill says she can stay if she wants, but she leaves voluntarily. Brian then tells Bill that he didn't break Jake's arm, and explains what really happened at the pub, suspecting Lilly of actually doing the breaking. Brian asks again what Bill is going to do about it, and Bill says that he'll talk to Lilly, at which point Brian clarifies that he's far more concerned about Jake's behaviour. Bill tries to make the excuse that Jake has been punished enough by the broken arm, but Brian makes it clear that he won't be staying in a place where Mindy is threatened. He tells Bill to start acting like a leader, and leaves.

#### Charlotte POV

Charlotte visits Lilly in her room, a weirdly decorated place full of unlikely items (for example: martial arts books, a Hello Kitty nightlight and a collection of stoat ornaments). Lilly asks what's wrong because Charlotte is normally working with Bill at this time, however Charlotte interrupts and asks what happened with Jake. Lilly says he had it coming, but Charlotte isn't satisfied and forces her to explain. After Lilly does so, Charlotte sits with her and explains that she needs to start thinking before she acts. Lilly says that she does, but Charlotte says this is like "what happened in London" all over again. Lilly says that was different, and Charlotte says it wasn't, because she flipped out just the same. Lilly tells her that those men deserved to die after what they did to Lexi, at which point Charlotte warns her that she would have gone to prison for killing them if "that copper" hadn't interfered. Lilly says there aren't any policemen around anymore, to which Charlotte replies that the absence of police doesn't allow her to be Judge, Jury and Executioner. Lilly laughs and says "Don't you remember what they used to say at school, babe? We can be anything we want to be..." Charlotte looks her in the eye, and says "I want you to be my friend, the Lilly I know...the Lilly I love...not a monster..." She tells Lilly to get her act together, and leaves.

#### Yaz POV

Yaz comes into the communal lounge area of the hotel and tells Edward that she's ready to get working on the coach, and he gets up from his chair in the corner to join her. He tells Yaz that they'll need one more helper to pass them the tools, and when she asks everyone else, Jodie volunteers. The three go out to work on an almost undamaged coach outside the back of the hotel, which just needs some work doing underneath it. As Yaz and Edward sort the tools out, he starts to open up for the first time, mostly because of Jodie attempting to flirt with him. Yaz turns the stereo inside the coach on, and puts in a Simple Minds CD that they found inside it. Yaz goes under the coach on a creeper and starts to work on it, however she soon hears gunfire, and asks what's happening. She hears Edward tell her to stay where she is while they get help, and then hears a thud, followed by Edward shouting Jodie's name. She tries to wheel herself out from under the coach, but someone grabs her by the legs and drags her out. It's revealed to be Danny Hinton, who kicks her off of the creeper and onto the ground, where she sees Jodie lying with several bulletholes in her back and one in her head. Yaz tells Danny to go ahead and do it, and he refuses, saying Jodie was just a message.

### Issue 06

#### Terrence POV

Edward runs into the lounge and says they're being attacked, adding that they killed Jodie and probably Yaz too. They all agree to split up and meet back at their last camp, a garden centre, however as they do so Terrence realises that Louis isn't with them. he says he'll go to find him, and Paul and Keith offer to help him. Terrence tells Keith to go and help Marion get away, heading upstairs with Paul at his side. They find Louis passed out on his bed, surrounded by empty beer bottles, and the room is filthy. They try to wake Louis but he refuses to move, so Terrence carries the man out over his shoulder. The three of them make it down the fire exit, Terrence killing one of Danny's men in the process, however they turn the corner to find all of their group being held at gunpoint. Danny tells Terrence to "drop the drunk", but Terrence refuses, at which point Danny aims a gun at Harold's head. He asks Terrence who he wants to die, and moves his gun along the line of people, but Terrence speaks out when Danny comes to point it at Hannah, only to feel something strike the back of his legs and fall to the ground. Danny says he was waiting for Terrence to get distracted, and the man who knocked Terrence down offers to shoot him, however Danny refuses. He says that Terrence will learn the hard way, and approaches him, however his attention is caught by a small white square on the ground near Terrence. Danny takes it despite Terrence's attempts at resistance, and he turns it over to reveal it as a picture of Nancy. Danny asks if she's Terrence's daughter or granddaughter, and when Terrence doesn't reply, he jokes that she must be Terrence's dirty little secret; at which point Terrence tries to get up and charge at Danny only to be punched in the face, knocked to the ground and stamped on. Danny continues to taunt him, saying that he found a walker looking like Nancy on his way out of London, which he raped. Terrence tries to get up once again, only for Danny to grab him by the hair and hoist him to his knees. He tells the others that this is their second warning, after Jodie, and then he pulls out a knife. He pushes it into Terrence's eyesocket, and Terrence screams as the Simple Minds CD continues to play in the background.

#### Lance POV

Lance is walking up a long and empty road near a copse when Brian approaches him, saying that Maxine said he could be found there, and remarking that the road's name "All Alone" is rather bleak. Lance says he just needed to think, but Brian says that people in the group have been doing too much thinking, that Bill is so busy thinking that he doesn't realises the problems going on around him. Lance says that Bill has his reasons, but Brian says that's no excuse for inaction, at which point Lance suggests that it might be more apt for them to talk inside the copse instead of out in the open. They head down the slope and sit on a large log, and Brian says that they need a backup plan, in case something bad happens. He says that he can tell how much Maxine and Rachel mean to Lance, and that he worries what extents someone like Jake might go to when it comes to getting their own back. Lance says that he can protect Maxine and Rachel, and Brian reluctantly tells him that jake caught him off-guard in the pub. Lance asks Brian what he should do, and Brian gives him a butterfly knife, saying that next time he should be the one to take Jake by surprise. Lance refuses to take it, saying that he won't kill anyone, however Brian tells him a tale about rapes and murders during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He says that even the nicest people can turn into monsters at times like this, let alone vindictive people with a grudge like Jake, and asks Lance if he wants to risk Maxine and Rachel's lives by being unarmed. Lance says he doesn't, and takes the knife.

#### Terrence POV

Terrence wakes up from unconsciousness, lying on the floor, only able to see out of one eye. Simple Minds is still playing, and Danny realises he's awake, saying that he waited to rape and torture the others until Terrence was conscious again. He says that he has to arrange for some serious questioning first, however, as he needs to locate Bill's community on the orders of his father, who he seems to idolise. He has one of his men take Paul inside the hotel to be questioned, and tells him to do the job properly, before going over to Hannah. Danny laughs and says he'll start with her, but never finished his sentence, as he's gunned down. The rest of Danny's men are shot and killed, and Terrence immediately sprints off to find Paul, only to see the van drive off with Paul's shouts coming from the back. He almost falls, however Keith catches him and brings him round to the rest of the group, where he's introduced to Trent Cooper and the rest of his group, who saved them. As Trent asks Terrence if he's alright, they hear Danny chuckle, and Terrence runs straight for him. Danny is shown to be still alive, and Terrence grabs him by the neck and pins him against the wall, before stabbing him through the eye with his own knife over and over again. Terrence feels Hannah grab his arm, and she says that it's over. He feels his legs go weak, and collapses.