The Road Ahead

The survivors hit the road headed for Denver, but run into an issue that stops them in their tracks.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

Early in the morning, Jon Matthews, still mourning Angela Jaegar, goes over to her grave and picks up her shotgun that laid before the grave. With the shotgun and his axe, he goes over towards the front entrance and sees a few zombies rattling against the fence. He debates whether or not to use the shotgun, but he decides to use the axe instead, swiftly dealing with all the zombies. As he finishes clearing the zombies and ventures out into the parking lot, he hears Angela's voice in his head again, alarming him. Trying to ignore the voice, he heads over to the RV, where he finds Austin Kingston hungover. He remarks that if he knew there was alcohol in here, he would have joined him. Looking down at the shards of broken glass bottles on the ground, he tells Austin that he should clean up before the rest of the group wakes up.

An hour or so later, Ed Anderson is inspecting the group's vehicles with Layton Zimmers. To fit the entire group, they have one car and an RV, but Layton points out that they still have the cement mixer that they first drove to the stadium with.

A little later, Randall Forster shuffles past Austin into the RV with a bag of supplies, noting that the mess of broken glass still hadn't been cleaned. Nearby, Marcus Downes and Aldus Paxton are approaching the RV carrying a box of weapons. Aldus remarks that he's going to miss Willamette.

A bit later, William Reynes and Rebecca Dawson approach the RV, with William carrying all of her bags and opening helping her inside first. Before William gets in, Lloyd Waller asks if he can come in the RV with William, since he's most comfortable being with him. William, of course, allows him to.

Daniel Rockwell, Isaac Moses, and Lolida Windfield come driving into the parking lot with their own car that they went out and found during the morning. Approaching William, Daniel asks if knows what to expect going into Denver, and William says he has faith they'll be able to pull through. Daniel, Isaac, and Lolida get back into their car as everyone is getting ready to go, with Isaac driving.

Clyde Rollins and Claire Noble come walking out towards the RV together, both smiling happily. Edward Remar sees them, and when Clyde asks if he'll be joining them in the RV, Edward coldly declines, and says he'll be going in Daniel's car instead.

Benjamin Taylor is one of the last people to come walking over, wondering what vehicle he should get into. William tells him he should get into the RV, saying that everything that's happened before this is water under the bridge, and he's part of their group now. Nodding slowly, Benjamin gets into the RV.

The very last person to exit the stadium is Jared Kellings, who asks to sit in the RV. William ponders whether or not to allow him, but in the end, he lets him in, half-jokingly telling him not to sit near Rebecca.

Ed and Layton hop into the cement mixer, while Marcus, Kate, Jon, and Solomon Reed get into the last car. As the convoy of vehicles leave the stadium, they drive through the destroyed Willamette, passing by the mall and the burnt down high school one last time, before leaving Willamette and heading towards Denver.

Now on the road, Albert Hanson and Dean Howards are sitting in the back of the RV chatting about books. Dean, realizing he hasn't talked much with Albert since he's known him, formally introduces his full name and reminisces about Jim Butterman being a mentor to him.

In Marcus' car, Kate and Solomon try playing 'I Spy', but it doesn't work out. Jon, sitting in the back, sees Angela standing by the side of the road, but as he shakes his head and looks back, he sees it's just a regular zombie. Kate asks if he's alright, and Jon says he's fine.

Back in the RV, Randall, driving the vehicle, gives his condolences to Benjamin for his daughter after remembering he never did. Benjamin appreciates it. William then approaches Randall and learns from him that they're still at least a full hour away from Denver. In the back of the RV, Jared, having not listened to William, takes a seat beside Rebecca. He awkwardly apologizes to her for being an asshole, and says he's going to try and be a better person, which Rebecca is stunned by. William, not hearing their conversation, approaches them and demands to know why Jared is there. Not answering, Jared promptly gets up and says he'll sit somewhere else. When he goes away, Rebecca tells William about what he said. Both of them aren't sure whether he's being genuine, but hope that he is.

In the cement mixer, Layton is telling Ed about the time he found his wife having an affair with him, a story that Ed has heard several times already. As Layton continues on, he says that he still loved his wife, even though he knew she was cheating on him, which Ed, having not heard this part of the story, frowns upon hearing. Layton quickly moves on, telling another story and chuckling to himself. Ed then hears a loud rumble, and when he looks ahead, he sees a part of the mountain next to them cracking up, creating a landslide that made its way down to the road, smashing into the convoy of vehicles.

Daniel's car flips over and wrecks into the ditch because of the landslide. Daniel, Lolida, and Edward crawl out of the wrecked car, with Lolida being the only one injured. Looking around, Edward sees the rest of the vehicles blocked by the landslide; they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. The rest of the group get out of their vehicles, examining the situation. Ed decides that the best thing they can do is work to remove all the rocks from the road to clear a path--which would take several hours. Isaac finally crawls out from the wrecked car with a bleeding knee. He gets helped inside the RV by Jared, thanking him for his kindness. William announces to the group that they all need to stay calm, and that they'll be okay.

Ed stands by the RV, inspecting the engine to make sure it was still good. William approaches Ed, and asks him for a favour--to take charge of the group for a bit while he leaves to go gather up some supplies. Ed is shocked that William wants to leave him in charge, but he slowly nods and agrees. Before leaving, William is found by Lloyd, who asks to tag along with him. As William is thinking about it, Jared walks over, having overheard them, and asks to come as well. Rebecca exits the RV, having also heard William and Lloyd, and tells him that he can't go looking for supplies by himself. Sighing, William agrees to let both Lloyd and Jared come with him, and even trusts Jared enough to give him a knife. Rebecca tells the three of them to be careful before she climbs back into the RV.

While Jon is clearing rocks off the road, he notices a zombie stumbling in the woods in the distance, and Angela's voice telling him to come. Jon shakes his head, trying to convince himself that the voice wasn't real. He picks up his axe and wanders off into the forest, which Randall notices.

Still sitting in the RV, Austin sees Albert pushing a rock off the road. He thinks back to when Albert confronted him the previous night, and decides to go talk to him. Austin says he's sorry, and swears that he won't ever touch another bottle of alcohol again. Albert accepts his apology then and there, and apologizes himself for getting angry with him. Randall approaches the two, telling them about Jon going off into the woods. Austin offers to go find and bring him back, which Randall is pretty surprised by, but tells him to go if he really wants to. Austin then walks off into the woods.

William, Lloyd, and Jared are walking through the woods when they come across an old lodge. Lloyd looks on at the building in amazement, while William warns them both to be careful. He walks up to the front door and opens it, slowly stepping inside. William trusts Jared to clear the second floor by himself, while William and Lloyd search the main floor together. While clearing, William notices Lloyd looking upset again. When he questions it, Lloyd admits that he doesn't know why he decided to go with him--considering the last time he went out with him, it ended with Jacob Feldman's death. William, as he had said many times already, tells him that it is not his fault. He tells the boy that he tried to help, that he tried to save Kyle Douglass and Bernie Ortan, which is all that matters. After their conversation, Lloyd thanks William again, before he steps outside to get some air. As William clears the rest of the floor himself, he ends up stumbling across five zombies. Jared, hearing a commotion, hurries downstairs, where he helps William clear the zombies out. Afterwards, William thanks Jared--something he never thought he'd say. Both of them then get back to looting the lodge.

After trudging through the woods for a while, Austin finds a group of buildings along a road--one of them being a bar. He enters and finds Jon sitting at the counter, who's happy to see that it's him and not someone else. Jon goes to get the man a drink, but Austin declines to have one, shocking Jon. As Austin sits at the bar with him, Jon recalls how it was his step-father who told him that people drink alcohol to forget--which is what he's doing right now. He offers a bottle of whiskey to Austin once more, but he refuses, instead opting to drink a can of soda. Jon admires him for refusing the drink, and wonders how it came to be. Austin recalls how Albert had mentioned him as being 'worthless', something that his wife always referred to him as. When Jon asks about what happened to his family, Austin tells him straight that he found them dead after the outbreak. After Austin tells Jon that he's really done with drinking, and that all it did was make him a worse person, Jon decides he doesn't want to go down that same path. He puts down his bottle and gets up, exiting the bar. Austin follows suit, and the two of them head back to the group.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

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

#### **Also Starring**

* Daniel Rockwell
* Jared Kellings
* Solomon Reed
* Rebecca Dawson
* Lloyd Waller
* Claire Noble
* Angela Jaegar *(Hallucination)*

#### **Guest Starring**

* Isaac Moses
* Layton Zimmers
* Lolida Windfield
* Ed Anderson