Dean Howards

"*Hey, thank you man. Seriously, I appreciate it. If I see you again out here- I'll try to make up for all the help you've done. Keep doing what you're doing but- be cautious. Some people out there are... not good. I'm sure you already know, but be safe. Please. We need more people like you out in the world.*"
—Dean to Waylon[src]

Dean Howards is a main character and a survivor of the outbreak in Route to Paradise. He possesses an unhealthy drinking problem, turning to it as a vessel when he is feeling upset or guilty and using it to forget his problems such as his belief that he is a failure and his divorce. When he first meets the group in Willamette Parkview Mall, he tries his best to prove to them he isn’t just the worthless drunk they found him as, and attempts to step up and help out, something that proves difficult for him due to his tendency to cave in under pressure. He finally begins to see the mall as a viable home and realizes the people in it are worth fighting for.

After Willamette Mall is overrun during the battle there, Dean loses any optimism he once had for sustaining a home in the apocalypse, believing that the group constantly moving around is hopeless. He ends up in the clutches of Damerae Badrick, where he is tortured and tormented relentlessly by the psychopath, who goes as far as to have Dean be responsible for the death of Jim Butterman, his good friend and supportive mentor.

During the battle of Willamette High School, Dean is finally freed from his captor’s chains when he is saved by Owen Gliefield, who sacrifices himself for Dean despite his prior misgivings about him just being a worthless drunk. After the battle, Dean, traumatized by the entire experience, is found by Edward Remar and his group. Following some time to mourn his fallen friends and recuperate, he joins up with them and their goal to eliminate Badrick once and for all.

Following Badrick’s death during the final showdown with The Rastas at the football stadium, Dean, relieved that the nightmare was finally over, begins to work on reforming himself and dealing with his PTSD.

Dean joins the group as they travel to Kansas on the road. After over a month of constant travel, he begins to question if settling somewhere permanently and sustaining a community is even possible, beginning to doubt the possibility of surviving on the road forever. Due to the stress of this, he begins to turn to old habits to help him see it through, taking up drinking again in secret. When Kate Bloodstone discovers this, she helps Dean through his difficult time, and through a series of conversations, Dean lays the bottle down.

Later, Dean is apart of Kate's team who leave the group in secret to try and rescue a group of survivors in need that William Reynes had turned away. But after a series of mishaps, Dean ends up on his own, the mission being an utter failure. He loses all hope, and believes himself to be a goner until a stranger by the name of Waylon saves him. Waylon tends to Dean's wounds, feeds him, and even supplies Dean with information on supply caches in the area, restoring Dean's faith in humanity.

Dean would travel alongside his group to the community of Worthwood later on.

## **Post-Apocalypse**

### **Season 1**

#### **"Buddy"**

In the Americana Casino, an intoxicated Dean stumbles around like a zombie. He drinks from a bottle of whiskey as he taunts what he thinks are other people, only to soon realize that they're zombies. As he continues staggering around the casino, Dean notices a man sprinting down the hall being chased by zombies. The man is tackled to the ground by a sneaky zombie. As other zombies pile onto the man, ripping him apart, Dean watches impassively before he chuckles a bit, believing it to be an act. Dean then stumbles off into another casino.

He wanders through the Atlantica Casino, talking to himself. Realizing his bottle of whiskey is nearly empty, he curses at God for not allowing him to drink. As he continues around the casino, a zombie accidentally falls onto one of the slot machines, causing it to break and spill out money, bringing Dean back into a happy state. After picking up some of the money, he comes into contact with a zombie - a zombie that reminds him of his ex-wife. He throws the zombie to the ground, complaining about his ex-wife leaving him for another man. He then stumbles off, cursing at the zombie, before changing his mind and exclaiming that he still loves her. As he looks around the casino, he notices a store that sells alcohol. He smiles, giddy, quickly approaching the store. However, he stops, having to vomit, before collapsing to the ground, too weak to get back up.

This is the state that Quincy Atherton, Monica Reynolds, and Curtis Van Horn, a group of criminals on the run, find Dean in. Curtis tries talking to the drunkard, but Dean is completely out of it, mistaking Curtis to be his father. As the criminals prepare to leave, Dean suddenly jumps up, stopping them. Curtis asks for the location of the gun store, but Dean is only interested in alcohol, having no idea where the gun store is. Quincy gets ready to leave, but when Dean mocks him, Quincy turns back around and threatens him, grabbing his collar. Monica gets him to back down. Quincy then comes up with an idea to bring Dean with them, so he can help them steal guns. Dean, stumbling around, agrees to join them on their mission. When Dean fails to give them his real name, Curtis suggests that they call him "Buddy". Dean, still drunk out of his mind, vomits again, slurring nonsense. In order to wake him up, the three criminals take turns punching Dean. After falling over and getting back up, Dean decides that he no longer wants to help, but Quincy grabs Dean, forcing him to stay. Terrified, Dean stands down and says that he'd be happy to help. Curtis takes Dean aside and tells him to find a weapon for himself.

Dean stumbles off to go find a weapon in the casino, struggling to do so, and struggling even more in fighting off the temptation to look for liquor, but in the end, caves in and enters one of the nearby liquor stores. However, he finds that the store has been practically emptied of its alcohol. Dean yells out in frustration, picking up a broken bottle on the ground to use as a weapon. He rejoins the criminals outside, who begin questioning how Dean is even still alive in his drunken state. They explain to Dean what a zombie is, and how one of their associates was bitten by a zombie and turned within minutes. Dean is taken aback by everything, unsure what to think of it all. When Quincy asks him once more if he'll be joining them, Dean says that he will. Dean and the criminals begin moving through, and they eventually make it to the end of the casino and continue on into the casino plaza.

While walking around looking for the gun store, Dean and the criminals come across Jacob Feldman and Erin Monroe. Quincy immediately goes to question them on the whereabouts of the gun store. Jacob, not knowing who these people are, doesn't give out that information. Curtis unintentionally brings up the fact that they're criminals, but Dean is quick to state that he isn't. Monica then remarks that Dean is just there to help them loot the gun store, giving away their plan to Jacob and Erin. The pair decide to help out the criminals in return for some of the guns, and so the group begin heading towards the North Plaza while Dean prattles on about the time he shot his brother with a BB gun. All of them share names before entering the North Plaza.

In the North Plaza, the group fights through a group of zombies blocking their way to the gun store, while Dean watches with horror. It doesn't take long for them to reach the gun store, and once they make it in, Teddy Powell, the owner of the shop, points a shotgun at them. When Teddy doesn’t allow them to just take his guns, Quincy knocks him out. Dean, appalled at Quincy's actions, goes to leave the store, but stops when he realizes that the horde of zombies is still outside. Curtis reminds Dean that part of their deal was he was allowed to take a gun for himself. Dean takes a pistol. After the three criminals finish getting all the weapons they require, they say their goodbyes and leave, not wanting to stay in the mall. Dean is offered to join Jacob and Erin in their journey back to the security room, and with no place else to go, Dean agrees to it.

While heading there, the three of them encounter Edward Remar and Steven Philips, two men who tell them about three snipers in the Entrance Plaza. They all decide to go together to fight off the snipers, though Dean is visibly afraid of what’s to come.

When they get into the Entrance Plaza, the group comes under fire, and Dean hides away in fear.

#### **"Guardian Angel"**

Hours later, Dean is sitting in the security room with the rest of his new group. Said group is in the middle of having an important discussion about whether or not they should return the guns they stole from Teddy, when Dean interrupts and starts babbling about wanting liquor. When the group decides that they will be returning the guns, Dean tries to get out of going, but is told that he'll only get the liquor he craves if he does this. With loath, he agrees to go. When the group goes to vote for who should lead them on their mission, Dean votes for Randall Forster just based on his appearance, but in the end it’s Clyde Rollins selected as leader. Dean looks at Clyde, remembering that he is a famous movie star, and he’s thrilled to have Clyde as their leader.

Clyde takes his team out into the main hall of the security room and tries giving a motivating speech, but is practically met with silence from his crew. While all of this is happening, Dean believes he's in a movie, only to come to the realization that this is real life right before the group heads out.

The group walks along the roof and takes the elevator down to the storage room. During the walk, Dean goes on explaining who the criminals were to Randall.

As they enter the Casino Plaza, Dean begins stumbling off towards the Americano Casino, wanting to get his liquor. Randall goes with him to watch his back.

In the casino, Randall takes care of a zombie while Dean searches for liquor. He manages to find a couple cases. Both men take one case and head back into Casino Plaza.

When the group finally makes it to the North Plaza, they have a brief encounter with Leslie Staunton, leader of the community in the plaza, before Dean, Randall and Albert Hanson head for the gun store to speak with Teddy.

At the gun store, Randall asks if they can do anything to earn some weapons. As they're discussing the possibilities of trading, Jeffrey Cortez enters, getting a shotgun from Teddy, and bumping into Dean on his way out, annoying him. Teddy tells them that he'd be willing to trade a few weapons in return for liquor. Randall looks at Dean, before saying that they don't have any. However, when Clyde enters, and Helen Cullen checks in on them via the radio wondering what was happening, Randall admits that they do have liquor. Teddy is disappointed to find that he had already been lied to, but allows them to go collect their liquor and bring it back to trade.

Dean exits the store with the others and returns to everybody out in the North Plaza to inform them of what the deal was. Before they leave, Helen radios Clyde once more, telling them all to return back to the security room. As she's about to tell them something else, loud banging is heard through the radio. Helen curses before the radio cuts off. Jacob snatches the radio from Clyde attempting to get Helen back on the radio to no avail. A panicked Jacob says they should get back, but all Dean is concerned about right now is the liquor he desperately needs. “FUCK THE LIQUOR!” Jacob yells at him, as he sprints away. Dean and the rest of the group follow.

On the run back, the group are stopped by the surviving two snipers, who pin Dean and the others into cover, keeping them from going anywhere.

When the snipers run out of ammo and run off, the group gets out of cover, preparing to go. But Randall gets blindsided by a zombie. Seeing this, Dean hurries over to try and save him, but he can’t kill the zombie, so Erin does it for him, telling Dean that he needs to be quicker.

The group continues heading back to the security room quickly, realizing that Clyde is no longer with them; he presumably stayed in the North Plaza.

The group would eventually make it to the security room, finding that Helen has been killed by Skittles the Clown.

#### **"The Last Laugh"**

Dean is present during Helen’s funeral on the roof of the mall.

Later that day, Dean is resting in the security room, exhausted. He looks around, eyes stopping on Felix Quarterman, asking him if he’s got any snacks here, since he’s hungry. But Felix only gets angry at Dean for only thinking about himself. He continues, ranting to Dean about how he’s going to kill Skittles the Clown when he gets his hands on him, all while Dean watches and listens worryingly.

#### **"Life and Death"**

In the security room, Dean looks over to an injured and unconscious Erin, who’s just finished being treated by the doctor, Owen Gliefield. Dean whispers to Owen, asking if Erin is dead, believing that if she’s not then she probably won’t make it. “Don’t be an inconsiderate prick,” Owen responds, telling the man that he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Dean slumps into his seat, muttering angrily that Owen is old and probably can’t save anyone. Owen frowns at him in no kind way, and demands that he get out. Dean does, going with Clayton Freeman into the main hall to meet with Jacob and the rest of the group.

In the 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. Everyone is in, but Dean isn't sure if he wants to go, and only wants more liquor. However, when Jacob hands him a pistol and William Reynes 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 charges into the North Plaza and are immediately fired upon by the inhabitants. Everybody runs for cover before they're shot. While his companions start making moves, shooting back at the enemy, Dean sits in cover, terrified, hearing voices in his head that are mocking him for being a drunkard. 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.

Dean, still in shock about the man he shot, hurries into Seon’s supermarket with his group, pushing back the enemies. 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, hesitating at first, but shooting Jeffrey in the head and saving William. Dean falls back behind cover, unable to comprehend the fact that he's just killed someone.

#### **"Adaptation"**

In the security room, Owen scolds Dean for being a drunk and states that he has no respect for the man. But Dean doesn’t argue back; he simply wipes his bloody hands with a rag, trying to forget the fact that he’s a killer.

When Albert and Clayton enter the room, they tell the two men to come with them, and together they head to the mall’s basement, meeting up with Jacob and Erin along the way. The mall was attacked, but the attackers left in a hurry. Still, Jacob thinks that they’ll be back, so they need all hands on deck. In the basement, the group decide to allow Teddy, Clyde and Jim Butterman out of their cell to help defend the mall, but not before Dean rambles on about how they should just leave the mall instead of fighting, something Jacob won’t be doing.

They arrive in the North Plaza with the newly released prisoners, and Dean goes with Owen into Seon’s Supermarket to push some shelves out to the back entrance. In the supermarket, Dean takes a seat, hearing the sounds of gunshots in his head, reliving the battle that had taken place not a day earlier. He again suggests that they leave the mall. Owen shakes his head as he pushes a shelf, complaining that Dean is nothing but a letdown.

When they’re back out in the plaza and getting ready for the fight, Owen tells Dean that this is the time he can try and prove his worth.

Dean refuses to pick up a weapon, not wanting to kill again. But after being reminded of what'll happen if they don't fight back by Randall and Teddy, Dean finally gives in and picks up a shotgun.

When the North Plaza comes under attack, and smoke begins to fill the room, Dean’s first reaction is to try and run away, but the bullets flying overhead pins him down and in cover. He witnesses Jim get shot, and seeing the old man cry out for help, Dean clenches his teeth and runs out, dragging Jim to safety. During the chaos, Dean saves Owen's life when a zombie collapses onto him, earning Dean the respect Owen had been wanting. As the battle rages forward, Dean is grazed by a bullet in his leg, but he fights through the pain, rushing to cover with Owen and working with him to try and save Jim, who’s bleeding out. While Dean is wrapping his coat around Jim’s wound, a grenade goes off, and a legless corpse flies over Dean’s cover, landing beside him. His jaw gapes in horror, before he turns to the side and vomits. Eventually, the fighting becomes too intense for the group, and the group begins to pull back into Wonderland Plaza. Dean and Clayton help Randall along, who had been shot in his back.

In Wonderland Plaza, Dean continues to panic, believing that he can’t take much more of this. But Owen snaps him out of it by ordering him to put pressure on Randall’s wound. He keeps this up as a drunken Felix goes around ranting about how they’re all going to die anyway, ignoring Dean’s pleas for him to stop.

The group eventually retreats all the way back to the cafeteria, where the injured are laid down in cover, and then the others put up a last stand against the attackers pursuing them. Dean and the others manage to fight them off, and they end up becoming the pursuers, chasing Robin Clarke and his remaining soldiers all the way back out into Wonderland Plaza, before Dean ends up getting shot in his leg by Robin - and this time it isn’t just a graze. He falls, squirming in pain as the soldiers flee the mall. The pain of being shot proves too much for Dean, and he passes out.

Dean is later carried to the security room to be treated for his injuries.

### **Season 2**

#### **"The Mentor"**

Two weeks later, Dean is struggling to sleep in the security room. He hears himself and his ex-wife yelling in his head before she tells him that she wants a divorce. Dean's eyes shoot open as he sits up, groaning in pain because of his leg. William, sitting near him, speaks up, telling Dean that he should get his own bed in his own room. Dean ignores him, instead stating that he needs his liquor. Jacob then enters the room, followed by Kate Bloodstone, who's just come off her shift on the roof. Erin and Albert arrive shortly after, looking for any others who'd like to join them in going out of the mall to scavenge an electrical store in town. Jacob suggests that Dean should go out and help. At first, Dean is unwilling to, but he's persuaded into going. With the help of Jacob, Dean gets to his feet and hobbles out the door after Erin and Albert.

The three walk down into the Entrance Plaza where they find Randall and Clayton and tell them about where they're going. As they walk out into the parking lot, Dean asks if they could stop at a liquor store while out there, but his suggestion is quickly shut down by Erin. The three climb into a truck in the parking lot and speed off towards the electrical store.

On the streets of town, Dean, Albert, and Erin come to a stop on the side of the road to deal with a few zombies. As they finish, Dean notices a truck speeding towards them. He yells out as the truck slams on its brakes, stopping just in time as to not hit Dean. Erin orders the two men out of the truck at gunpoint. Austin Kingston and Logan Carlson step out, apologizing and asking if they needed any help, but Erin states that they don't. Just then, they all hear a single gunshot come from down the street. Without thinking, Erin sprints down the street to investigate it. Dean and Albert follow her, leaving Austin and Logan standing on the side of the road.

Erin, Albert, and Dean arrive at the construction site where the gunshot came from, where Albert recognizes a group trapped on the scaffolding - it’s Marcus Downes and his three friends. They’re on scaffolding, surrounded by a horde of zombies. Immediately, Albert and Erin rush ahead to start fighting, while Dean hesitates, thinking this is a terrible idea. Eventually Dean walks forward to try and help, taking out a knife and going to kill a zombie. But he fails at killing the zombie, and desperately holds it off of him before being saved by Aldus Paxton.

While Albert takes Marcus and his friends back to the mall, Dean stays with Erin to search the electrical store.

Dean and Erin arrive at the electrical store in downtown Willamette. As they walk through the shop looking for the solar panels, Dean brings up Edward, and they wonder where he went after leaving the mall. Before they can find the solar panels, Erin hears a rumbling outside - a limousine had pulled up outside of the store. She ducks down with Dean, watching as Damerae Badrick steps out. With Badrick: Edward. The two of them overhear Badrick talking with Edward - and they learn that Badrick has come to Willamette to set up shop. Badrick wants to be Edward’s mentor. Edward remains silent as he and Badrick get back into the limo and drive off. As they do, Erin is finally able to explain to a confused Dean that Badrick is the head of a notorious gang known as The Rastas. They quickly grab a few solar panels from the store and head out onto the streets. After loading the panels into the truck, Dean and Erin head back to the mall.

Dean and Erin arrive at the mall, where they encounter Albert and Marcus's group just out front. They explain to Albert what they witnessed at the electrical store, all the while Marcus and his friends listen in confusion.

#### **"A Common Enemy"**

In the morning, the group prepares to go out looking for Felix, who has disappeared. Dean tries to slip away, not wanting to go look for him, but Jacob stops him, suggesting that he go out with some others to search for Felix. When Dean sulks, looking at the ground like an angry child, Jacob simply tells Dean that he will be going, whether he wants to or not.

He goes down to the Entrance Plaza with them, and they head out of the mall, following a trail of alcohol that Felix presumably left. As they walk through the parking lot, Dean prattles on about wanting some of the alcohol Felix has, prompting Marcus to ask if he talks about anything other than liquor. “It’s none of your business,” Dean grumbles in response. Jacob proposes that once they find Felix, they need to ensure he gets off the bottle. Everybody but Dean agrees with him. The group then continues out of the parking lot and onto the streets.

When they find Felix not far from the mall, hungover in the back of a car, they prepare to go right back to the mall. But just then, they see three people sprinting down the street towards them, a zombie horde chasing them. Dean almost immediately recognizes two of them - it’s Quincy and Monica, and another criminal, Jon Matthews. Dean rejoices, glad that he came out here after all. But before they can get to chatting, they need to deal with the zombies, and so everybody opens fire on the horde, while Dean cowers down and plugs his ears. When the zombies are dealt with, Dean stands back up, asking where Curtis is, and they tell him that he’s doing fine, and is back at their warehouse. After a long talk, Jacob, William and Aldus agree to go with the criminals to their warehouse, while Dean chooses to go with Felix and the others back to the mall.

#### **"Partners in Crime"**

After an attack from Benjamin Taylor again, Dean and the others are forced to barricade themselves in the food court while zombies bang at the door surrounding them. Dean rattles on about his need for liquor and how he hasn't had any in too long. Hearing him, Quincy and Monica, who have since moved into the mall, walk over to greet him. But as they start to talk, a disgruntled Owen grumbles from nearby about how it makes sense that Dean would involve himself with the criminals. A fight nearly breaks out between Quincy and Owen, and then Teddy, while Dean urges them to stop.

Later, still in the food court, Dean continues rambling about how he just needs some booze. Kate and Jim tell him that there's liquor all over the mall, he just hasn't made an effort to look for some. Quincy, who’s been heated and unpleasant since almost getting into that fight earlier, listens in on their conversation, then gets up and grabs Dean, dragging him across the food court over to the doors. He presses his face against the glass and shows him the horde of the zombies on the other side, shouting at him that he needs to get his priorities straight. Suddenly, as Quincy lets him go and Dean stumbles back, the glass doors shatter, and the horde swarms inside. Dean scurries back to escape the incoming zombies, and goes to hide while his companions fight back. When the group begins to push forward into Al Fresca Plaza, Dean gets cut off, and is backed into a corner by three hungry zombies. But before they can devour him, Clayton saves his life, shooting the three zombies dead.

The group clears out all of the zombies after some time, and Dean joins the rest of his group in the Entrance Plaza, examining the damage that’d been done. While there, Dean sees Austin, another new member of the group, stumbling in with a bottle of whiskey, and asking if anybody wanted some. Instantly, Dean dashes over as if he’d been waiting all his life for that bottle of whiskey, and chugs it, while Quincy and Monica watch disappointingly. After chugging down some whiskey, Dean begins to make jokes, laughing quietly to himself, until an angry Owen grabs him and tells him to keep his mouth shut.

At the mall, Jacob joins the others in the Entrance Plaza, telling the others that Erin is missing and how he's worried. Dean, the drunk that he is, tells Jacob that he should leave Erin as she isn't worth his time. Owen eventually steps in to stop Dean from saying anything else.

Later, Dean continues to be an annoyance, and eventually Jacob has enough. He grabs Dean and curses at him for being a pathetic drunk who's done nothing for them. Dean sobs, relating Jacob’s words to how his ex-wife used to speak to him, before he pushes Jacob back and staggers out of the plaza.

Sometime later, Dean quietly enters the Entrance Plaza again, where he hears the group discussing something about a train robbery they’re planning on doing to try and hurt the Rastas, who need those supplies. When volunteers are called upon, Dean steps forward, wanting to finally do something useful.

The group arrives at Wilbur Wright’s warehouse, and they separate themselves into different cars, preparing for the train heist. Dean gets into a car with Curtis.

Late that night, when the train comes zooming by in an open field, the cars speed up alongside it, starting to jump on. Dean and Curtis are the last two people to jump, and although Dean is frightened, thinking that this isn’t safe, he eventually hurls himself out of the car and onto the train, Curtis following him.

It’s complete and utter chaos on the train. Rastas fire back at the attackers, and Dean sits behind a wooden crate, as one bullet after another rips through the crate. Albert slides one of his pistols to Dean to fight back with, and Dean actually does try, blindly firing overhead, but not hitting anything. Then, when another bullet pierces through the wooden crate, one of Dean’s middle fingers is hit. Dean lifts his hand to look at it - and sees his finger hanging on by a thread. Then, the screams start, and he feels immense pain.

For much of the rest of the heist, Dean remains behind cover, trying to keep his finger from just falling off. Curtis reassures Dean that they’ll take care of it when they get back to the mall. But eventually Dean has no choice but to fight back when one Rasta charges at him, and Dean shoots the man in a panic, killing him.

When the train finally stops at the Willamette Train Station, Dean and his group are horrified to see Benjamin Taylor and his army waiting there for them. They open fire, and Dean jumps off the train, sprinting away.

#### **"Promise"**

Having returned to the mall, Dean lays on the roof in an unwell state. Owen yells at a drunk Austin as he walks along the edge of the roof, remarking that alcohol is nothing but a poison. "A good poison," Austin replies, looking to Dean to back him up. Dean asks to be left alone as he goes back to resting. He flips over onto his side and tries to catch some sleep, but is unable to, thoughts of his ex-wife filling his mind.

Unable to sleep, Dean sits up and asks why he's here, to which Owen tells him that he was here for the funeral of Clayton. Dean notices Owen glaring at him, and tells him to stop judging. "You didn't do anything. As always," Owen states, which bothers Dean. William chimes in to say that Dean did save him, referring to when he killed Jeffrey. Owen too remarks that Dean may have saved him, but that he still considers Dean to be nothing but a drunken bastard. Dean scowls in anger, finally having enough of the old man's negative comments, and gets up, punching Owen in the face. Before Owen can get back up, Dean storms off down into the storage room.

Down in the storage room, Austin, who’d followed him, approaches Dean, questioning him for punching Owen. Dean tells him that he just had enough of Owen and wanted to be left alone, which Owen refused to do. Austin can understand, but says that punching him wasn't the right thing to do. Nearby, the elevator opens up and William steps out, immediately punching Dean to the ground. Austin tries intervening, but William warns him to stay out of it. William looks down to Dean and tells him not to go attacking members of their own group. Dean holds a rag to his nose as it bleeds, and asks to be left alone, saying that he wouldn't do it again. William apologizes for hitting him in the nose, but tells Dean that he should take some time alone here to sort out his problems.

#### **"Warzone"**

Dean sits in the storage room thinking to himself when he suddenly hears footsteps nearby. Standing up, he finds Zac Barnes sneaking around, yet he fails to remember who Zac is. When Zac remarks Dean as being nothing but useless, he clenches his fist and tells Zac to leave him alone. Zac, however, continues pushing Dean around, telling him that he should pack up and leave the group. Still raging over his confrontation with Owen earlier, he finally grabs Zac and throws him into a wall, and in return, Zac charges him into a shelving unit. He calls Dean pathetic before stepping back and leaving the storage room. Marcus comes speeding in after hearing the ruckus, and helps Dean to his feet. Dean shakes his head, almost crying, as he tells Marcus what happened, and that Zac was right in what he was saying to him. He admits that his ex-wife left him because he never treated her right because he's "a nobody". To try and cheer him up, Marcus reminds Dean that he's been stepping up recently, like with the train heist, and that he should stay on this path. Jim then enters the room having heard the commotion as well, and sits down next to Dean, telling him that he can be honest with him. Marcus leaves the two of them as Dean opens up about his life to the old man.

Looking up, Dean asks if he can be completely honest with him, and Jim tells him to go ahead. Reluctantly, Dean admits that he hit his wife in the face when she divorced him, and he still feels terrible about it. Jim leans forward, telling him that people do things out of their control when they’re upset, and he says that Dean would only be a monster if he didn’t regret it, but the fact it’s eating Dean up shows that he’s grown beyond the person he was back then. Jim frowns, placing a hand on Dean’s shoulder as the man wipes away tears. He explains to Dean that people come and go in their lives. When Dean explains the reason his wife left him, Jim nods, and says that he understands. Dean asks why, which leads Jim into telling Dean a story about his family. He tells Dean about his own family tragedy where, after his son was killed, his daughter began vigorously trying to bring the killer to justice. Jim was forced to send his daughter away and abroad to a special school after she attempted to kill her brother's killer. Jim's wife, outraged at the decision to send their daughter away, went out drunk one night and was killed in a car accident, leaving Jim without any family. When Jim looks back up tearfully, he tells Dean that the point is that everyone makes mistakes, but that you can move past them, like he himself did. Jim knows that Dean is more than capable of becoming a good man. He makes sure that Dean knows he was never a man that had bad intentions. “We have our own family now, Dean,” Jim says, “And you’re part of that family, whether you like it or not.” Dean smiles, nodding, before he hugs Jim and thanks him. Jim then stands up and tells Dean to get some rest.

#### **"Fractured Beyond Repair"**

Dean is seen up on the roof for a little while, before getting up and climbing down the vent to the security room.

Dean enters the waiting room and takes a seat, starting up a conversation with Jared Kellings. The two talk about their past, and Jared doesn't think that Dean is a bad person, even after hearing about his past with alcohol and his relationship issues. Robert Morgan suddenly enters the waiting room, telling them all about the incoming horde of zombies. Everybody gets up and makes their way to the roof.

On the roof, Dean looks out at the giant horde of zombies in the parking lot. Afterwards, he walks up to Jim, telling him that he’s doing better. When Derek Monroe and Jacob come up with the plan to lead the zombies to a Rasta outpost, Dean, among many others, volunteer to go. Quincy is both surprised and proud of Dean for offering to go.

The group gets ahead of the horde of zombies and begins leading them through the streets on their way to Derek's hotel. On the way there, Dean opens up more to the others, explaining that he’s trying to set himself right and become a better person. Curtis and the other criminals are happy to see Dean finally staying off the bottle and cleaning himself up, and Jacob too is beginning to lighten up to him.

The group would eventually come to the hotel where Rastas have set up an outpost. After the horde that they were leading begin to ravage the hotel, Dean and his group open fire on the Rastas as well, though Dean fails to hit anything. When most of the Rastas have been killed, or fled, the remaining zombies turn their attention to Dean’s group instead. With no other choice, they start to flee into a nearby nightclub for shelter. Dean, Jacob and Teddy are the last three people not inside the nightclub, when Teddy suddenly has his hand blown off by a Rasta with a shotgun. Dean doesn’t see what happened, but upon seeing the Rasta standing over Teddy, he aims over and shoots the Rasta dead. Dean and Jacob sprint over, and help Teddy up, bringing him into the nightclub.

#### **"Family Business"**

Following up immediately after the last episode, Dean looks down at the unconscious Teddy in a panic, wondering what they should do. Curtis takes charge and begins covering up the wound using a medkit full of supplies he'd found. As that's taken care of, Dean begins looking around the nightclub in an attempt to find a way out of the building. He has a close call with a zombie, but manages to find a path up to the roof. Quincy comes to deal with the zombie and brings Dean back downstairs. As he returns to the bottom floor, Jacob calls Dean over for some advice. He shows Dean a ring that he found in the club and says that he plans to propose to Erin when he sees her again. He also shows him a necklace he wants to give as a gift, and Dean says that the ring and necklace are nice, agreeing with him that he should propose to Erin. Jacob thanks Dean and respects that he's doing his best to become a better man.

Dean later helps carry Teddy upstairs to the roof as the group looks for a way to escape the nightclub. On the roof, Dean shivers at the sight of the undead horde below them, though the criminals assure Dean that they've got his back, something Dean is thankful to hear. When the topic of religion is brought up, Dean admits that he doesn't believe in a God per se - but rather some kind of entity that created everything.

Some time later, Dean joins the others as they escape out of the nightclub thanks to the distraction Kate provided. While hurrying down the street, Dean comes face to face with a zombie, but he's saved by Randall, and the group continues moving as Dean expresses his gratitude to Randall.

When they make it back to the mall, Dean goes up to the security room, helping Teddy along. When they make it to the security room and Jim sees the state of Teddy, he rushes over, hyperventilating, scared for him. Dean reassures Jim that he'll be okay, and helps him into a chair.

Later on, Dean agrees to go with part of his group to attack the Rastas, who are said to be hiding out at an office building in town.

Soon, they arrive near the office building, parking closeby, but not too close as to give away that they're here. Dean stocks up on ammo, as the group prepares their attack.

His heart pumping, and his breath trembling, Dean rushes into the office building with the others in his group, and the battle begins. They move up floor by floor, with Dean remaining near the back of the pack, leaving most of the killing to the rest of his companions. Gunshots ring out constantly, as men are killed. Dean himself does get in on the action eventually, shooting one Rasta twice, before they get sniped by William from across the street, the man's blood splattering onto Dean. There's hardly any time for Dean to break, as another Rasta pops out. Dean blasts him through the throat, before he staggers away, continuing up to the next floor, then the next, keeping pace with everyone else. Eventually, during one shootout, a bullet grazes Dean on his shoulder, but it leaves no serious damage. After making sure of this, Dean steps back out of cover and takes aim at another Rasta, shooting the man in the gut. He falls to the ground like a sack of bricks, dying on the spot. Rushing up more stairs, Dean shoots another Rasta dead, and moves aside as the man's corpse tumbles down the steps. After one more battle with another Rasta, in which Dean kills the man, he heads up to the top floor with the rest of his group. Panting, Dean gets into cover, wiping blood from his face. But after just a few seconds to catch his breath, the fight continues, as Dean's group bursts through a door to fight against the last Rastas still in the building, including the Rasta leader himself, Badrick. In the chaos, Dean kills another man, before the building is suddenly struck by RPGs. With the building now on the verge of collapsing, Dean and the others begin to rush back downstairs, having killed many Rastas, but failed to kill Badrick, who escaped through a fire exit. While on his way down, Dean shoots another wounded Rasta dead, before he and the others from his group escape out onto the road - where Dean is horrified when he sees the corpse of Erin splattered on the pavement. His eyes well up with tears, as Dean watches Jacob get into a separate vehicle from the rest and speed away. With nothing left they can do, Dean gets back into the truck with the others in his group, and they drive away.

#### **"Home"**

Having returned to the mall, Dean is present on the roof for Erin's funeral. Afterwards, the group begin to argue with each other about what to do now, especially since Jacob is still yet to return from wherever he sped off to. Dean and Jim both just want everyone to quit arguing, and remind them all that they're a team. The criminals decide that they don't want to stay here and fight a losing battle - but before they can walk away, Felix convinces them to stay - and Dean helps too, telling Curtis specifically that if they die, they'll at least die doing something. Jacob eventually returns, and with him is a sack full of Derek Monroe's body parts that he dumps on the roof, while Dean watches in horror. Just a few minutes later, after the group comes to the conclusion that they're staying here at the mall, even if they get attacked, Robert is suddenly sniped in the head. Rastas begin charging into the parking lot below.

Dean, among a few others, rush down to the Entrance Plaza to try and keep the Rastas at bay. While waiting, it goes suspiciously quiet. Dean looks out at the front doors periodically, wondering when the Rastas were going to attack - but they don't, not yet. Dean begins to quiver in fear, having a bad feeling about what's to come. Then, an explosion that blows open the fences at the front entrance, and Rastas pour in. Dean shields his face as bullets rip through the plaza.

The battle rages on in the Entrance Plaza, and Dean fires blindly into the thick smoke filling the room, hearing a distant scream. Then, in a panic, Dean drops his gun, and while trying to pick it back up, almost has his hand shot off. Then, when William yells for everyone to run back, Dean gets up, sprinting - but as he is, a stray bullet catches him in his heel, and Dean falls with a scream, blood oozing out. He crawls all the way to Paradise Plaza.

Soon, others come running into Paradise Plaza with him, and Aldus helps to bandage up Dean's foot. When Austin arrives in the plaza, he tells them that Monica was killed. Dean looks up, and grabs at his face, shaking his head.

After fending off another wave of Rastas that follow them into the plaza, Dean gets up, and hobbles into the Casino Plaza with the others. There, Dean slides down against a wall in pain, his foot throbbing. He begins to fear that this is it for them, but Owen tells the man not to give up yet. Before the Rastas can catch up to them, they start to get back to their feet, while Curtis and Randall opt to stay behind and hold the Rastas back for as long as they can. Dean urges them to stay safe, before he stumbles out of the plaza with Owen and the others.

They end up in the North Plaza next, where Dean blows another Rasta's head off, before getting into cover. Dean then shoots another Rasta, but only wounds him, since his shotgun runs out of ammo and Dean isn't sure how to reload it. The battles continues on for a little while longer, and after Dean successfully gets his gun reloaded, he shoots down one more Rasta - before the plaza begins to flood with the dead. Dean gets up, worried, and begins to drag Owen, who'd been shot. He yells for some assistance as the zombies close in on them, and William comes out to help hoist Owen up a ladder to the roof. After Owen is up, Dean goes back to open fire on some of the zombies, providing cover fire while some of the others escape up to the roof behind him. Dean then has a close call with a zombie that nearly takes a chunk out of his wrist, but he blows its head off with his shotgun before it can. Breathing heavily now, Dean retreats, limping, and gets up to the roof.

On the roof, the survivors from the mall group gather around, while Dean lays on his back, coughing with exhaustion, his clothes soaking with blood and sweat. It's here that Dean overhears William mentioning that Quincy was killed as well, leaving Dean stunned. He worries about Curtis, noticing that he and Randall aren't on the roof with them. But with nothing more Dean can do, he climbs down a ladder on the roof with some of the others, planning to go into the woods behind the mall and take shelter at a cabin that Jim knows about.

### **Season 3**

#### **"Winter Wasteland"**

A couple of days after the battle of Willamette Mall, Dean is out in the woods collecting firewood for the cabin his group has been staying at. When he returns, he finds many members of the group gone, and Teddy informs him that they'd left to scout out a hardware store they might move to. Dean doesn't see why they would want to leave the cabin to stay in a hardware store, and complains about it out loud. Owen hears him, and walks over, telling him that a hardware store would be far safer than a wooden cabin to live in. Dean, however, continues to argue that they should stay here, pointing out how isolated the cabin in, and that nobody would bother them here. It'd be the perfect place to live if they fortified it. Owen argues back, eventually leading to Dean getting up and leaving the cabin, slamming the door shut behind him.

Dean wanders through the woods, frustrated. He mutters quietly, calling himself worthless while also cursing at people such as Owen for always being rude towards him. He sits down next to a zombie that was practically frozen in the ground, staring at it. He then looks down, thinking back to when he struck his ex-wife, and how he didn't mean to do so. Suddenly, the zombie beside him claws at his jacket, scaring him. Dean moves away, picking up a stone and crushing its head in. He asks the now-dead zombie if it thinks he's worthless, before stumbling off deeper into the woods. He eventually plants himself down under one tree, sighing to himself.

#### **"On the Move"**

Dean steps into the cabin covered in snow and frost. Owen glances over and asks Dean if he had seen anybody returning from the hardware store, but Dean refuses to answer the old man. Sighing, Owen tells Dean that it's not his fault they're leaving the cabin, and asks him to put his argument to rest. Jim beckons Dean to come sit with him, and he does. Dean feels safe in the cabin, and doesn't want to keep running, but Jim reminds him that they need to trust the judgments of Jacob, William and others. Dean understands, but he's still tired of it. Jim feels for Dean, but tells him that everything will pay off in the end when they are safe again. "You have to be optimistic," Jim says. With a long sigh, Dean reflects on his past mistakes, mainly about how he wasn't a good husband to his ex-wife. Jim remembers back to the conversation they had at the mall, and reminds Dean that he's a better person now. "You're a survivor like everyone else here." Teddy then interrupts them to point out somebody walking up to the cabin - and seconds later William throws open the door to the cabin, stepping inside, bringing back the news of everything about the hardware store, Curtis and Randall's safe return, and the new girl, Rebecca Dawson. Without delay, the group begins packing up. Although Dean still doesn't want to leave, he reluctantly goes with them so that he'd remain with his group.

On the way to the hardware store, the group crosses over a frozen lake. Dean feels queasy as he crosses, hearing slight cracking at his feet, but he safely makes it across, as does everyone else.

At the hardware store, Dean smiles when he sees Curtis and Randall - before all of his good feelings immediately drop when he hears Jacob talk about moving once again, this time to Willamette High School. He sighs, going to sit down as Jacob, William and Kate leave to go check out the school. After they leave, Teddy approaches Dean, who's been sitting by himself. Dean tells Teddy that he's tired of constantly moving around, and wants to just stay in one place. Teddy says that the Rastas would have eventually found the cabin and easily taken it. He lifts his left arm, showing a stump where his hand used to be. "We need to keep running until we can't run anymore. Until we've found somewhere that we can properly catch our breath. That's when we bring the fight back to them," Teddy tells him. He lists out all the people that the Rastas have killed from their group, as Dean nods, holding his face, understanding what Teddy is saying. Jim chimes in at the end, telling Dean that they need to keep pushing, and eventually they'll make it.

#### **"Tracked"**

At the hardware store, Dean overhears Owen chatting with some others, mentioning the fact that he'd have gone depressed if they stayed in that cabin any longer. Dean glares at him, and Owen smiles when he notices his reaction. They still aren't getting along. When Zac gets up and taunts the group, Fraser Stiller also stands, finally confronting Zac for being a real piece of shit, before he storms away. Dean goes to follow Fraser, but Marcus stops him, offering to take both Fraser and Zac aside to hash out their differences and get back on the same team.

Later on, Kate arrives back at the store breathless, and says that there was a truck trailing her. Dean assumes the worst - it must be the Rastas, and he's quickly proven right when suddenly several vehicles pull up outside, and Rastas jump out, armed. Badrick fires a rocket at the store, and Dean dives to the ground, rubble flying everywhere, and shelves collapsing all around him. He crawls quickly, and scurries to his feet, getting to cover. Rastas swiftly enter through the hole in the side of the building, and a shootout begins. During the fight, Dean gets into a scuffle with one Rasta, and he struggles to kill the man. The Rasta beats down on Dean, until Dean is able to pull out a knife and stab the man, gaining the upper hand. But when Dean has the opportunity to kill him, he can't bring himself to do it this time, and so the Rasta fights back, almost killing Dean until Kate steps in to shoot the man dead. "You can't hesitate," she explains to him, helping Dean up. The battle continues, as it becomes more clear that Dean and his group have to try and escape, otherwise they're losing this fight. Dean takes hold of his gun, and shoots one Rasta in the throat, before getting back into cover, breathing heavily. In the end, everybody manages to make it out-- all except three. Dean, Teddy, and Jim sit trapped behind cover quickly running out of ammo. Seeing an opportunity, Badrick orders his Rastas to take the three of them alive. Surrounded by Rastas, Teddy and Jim surrender. Dean, however, puts up a fight, and is promptly knocked out cold.

A voice calls out to Dean, and he wakes up, dazed and confused. They're in a dark room, with their hands bound. Teddy immediately tries breaking free from his ropes, while Dean grabs at his head, trying to remember what happened. A door suddenly swings wide open, and Jim is launched into the room, having given Badrick no useful information. Jim, beaten and bloody, tells the others that there is no point in trying to escape; their best bet was to stay strong and not break when being interrogated. Teddy, however, insists that they try to break out. The door to the room suddenly opens up again, and Badrick is there to take another one of them for questioning. This time, it's Teddy who's hauled out of the room, leaving only Dean and Jim behind. Jim is confident that Teddy won't break under pressure, and that they'll be alright. Dean worries that Badrick is going to kill them, but Jim assures him otherwise, telling Dean that they have to stay strong. Jim then passes out from his injuries, leaving Dean in a state of panic.

The door to the room opens again, and Dean looks up to see Teddy being escorted back in by a Rasta. When he gets there, the Rasta goes forward to grab Dean to take him for questioning. But as he does, Teddy takes the chance to bring his arms up over his head and wrap them around the Rasta's neck, strangling him to death. He steals a knife off his corpse and cuts himself, Dean, and Jim free from their bounds. Jim wakes up, and the three of them begin moving through the building looking for a way out. They overhear Badrick yelling from another room, impatient that Dean still hasn't been brought to him yet. Dean, holding the pistol that the Rasta had, considers kicking open the door and shooting Badrick - but he keeps himself doing that. They manage to get themselves out into a courtyard and up to a fence. Jim climbs over first, and as he does, a zombie comes shambling up. Teddy tosses the knife over and Jim stabs it in the head; his second ever zombie kill. As Dean and Teddy are applauding Jim for doing a good job, a bullet rings out, and Teddy's corpse falls forward into the fence. Rastas come running out of the building, quickly surrounding Dean. A horrified Jim turns and runs away, as Dean yells at the old man to keep going. Badrick screams for his Rastas not to let Jim get away. He then storms over to Dean and punches him to the ground. Dean gets back to his knees, coughing, before being punched back down, knocked out cold this time.

#### "**The Golden Goose**"

Inside of a warehouse, Derrick Williams, a Rasta, is beating the living hell out of Dean, while Badrick watches from nearby, casually. Eventually, Badrick gets up, holding out a bowl of fruit to a barely conscious Dean, whose face is beaten and bloody, swelling around his eyelids. However, he takes it away before Dean can grab one, and gives Derrick a fruit instead. After setting the bowl aside, Badrick reaches under a table to grab a bag, demanding that Dean open it. Dean does so, and inside it he lays eyes on Teddy's decapitated head. He covers his face in horror, yelling, but Badrick forces him to take his hands away or he'd cut off the rest of his fingers. In a desperate attempt to get the torture to stop, Dean decides to do the one thing he can think of - telling Badrick a lie about where his group is. He claims that his group fled back to Willamette Mall and are hiding out in a secret place underground there. Dean looks up, unsure of Badrick bought his story - but Badrick decides that they'll go check it out, and if Dean's lying, he'll regret it. Dean stares down, as he is hoisted up and carried outside by Derrick, being placed into the backseat of a truck.

Outside of Willamette Mall, Badrick pulls Dean out of a truck and shoves him towards the mall, instructing him to lead the way to the secret place he had told him about. Before Dean can do so, Curtis, Jon, and Angela Jaegar are seen exiting through the main entrance. Badrick immediately points a rifle up at them and opens fire, hitting Curtis in the chest several times. Dean looks on in disbelief, as he falls to the ground, speechless. Badrick praises Dean for ratting out his friends, unaware that Dean had done so accidently.

Dean is taken into the Entrance Plaza and left there with Angela and a few Rastas to guard them. Dean is completely out of it at this point, eyes fluttering as he wheezes quietly, unable to utter a single intelligible word. Eventually, Jon sneaks up to where they are and kills the Rastas guarding Dean and Angela. He then looks down at Dean, demanding to know what's going on and why he's here - but Dean can't give him an answer; he's still in shock, only thinking about Curtis and if he's okay. As Jon and Angela run off, Dean slowly limps behind them at a snail's pace, where he sees a firefight happening deeper in the mall. But he can't bring himself to do anything, so he slides down against a pillar, mouth agape. As Badrick and Derrick come running back with one other Rasta, Dean is lifted up by Derrick, and they run back outside into the truck. Dean doesn't put up a fight. He's thrown into the back of the truck, and they speed off.

#### "**State of Mind**"

Dean lays in the back of the truck not longer after they've escaped the mall. Badrick and Derrick are in the back with him, and one other Rasta sits up front, maneuvering through the streets of Willamette. Dean remains silent, closing his eyes tightly as he listens to Badrick radioing one of his Rastas in New York and having him send a ship full of Rastas to the Willamette docks. After signing off, Badrick looks down at Dean, who's now begging for a drink - specifically beer. He grabs Dean and says that he can have it if he gives up the rest of his friends, but Dean doesn't give in. He then lets go of Dean, stating that they'll be making base at the Willamette docks until his men arrive.

Not long after arriving at the docks, Dean, Badrick and Derrick notice some men searching one of the boats floating in the water - it's Jacob, William, and two others Dean doesn't recognize. Jacob notices them, just as Dean begins to beg Badrick not to hurt them, but the man ignores him completely. Desperate, he begins to yell, trying to break free of the hold that Derrick has him in, until Derrick punches him in the face. He coughs, blood flying from his nose - and then the fight begins when Badrick suddenly opens fire. Derrick raises Dean up, holding him in a choke hold in front him to force him to watch, and to use him as a human shield. The Rastas start to move forward, while Dean pleads with them to stop, saying that he can reason with Jacob and get them to surrender. But Derrick simply says that's not going to happen. He squeezes Dean's neck harder, continuing to push forward, as they near the ship. Then, just before Derrick boards the ship with Badrick, he whacks Dean across the head with his revolver, knocking him out cold.

Dean's unconscious body is later dragged to safety by Lloyd Waller after Jacob is killed in an explosion that supposedly kills Badrick as well.

#### "**Reunion**"

Dean goes to Willamette High School with Lloyd, William and Bruce Boseman, where Dean is present for Jacob's funeral, sitting shakily in the cafeteria, his clothing covered with blood, his sweaty hair hanging down across his face; he's a shell of himself.

Later, a disheveled and broken Dean, too traumatized to engage with other people, is sitting on the roof of the high school alone. He sits there for a long while, unaware that Kate eventually climbs up and notices him. When Kate approaches and tries talking to Dean, she gets yelled at, and Dean tells her to leave him alone. She keeps trying, but is continuously shut down; Dean doesn't want to talk about anything regarding Badrick. Even when Kate reminds him that Badrick is dead, Dean tells her that "he's already killed all of us." Realizing there was nothing she could do to get him to break, Kate turns and silently leaves. When Kate is gone, Dean frowns, turning around and apologizing for his behaviour--only to find her gone. He curses and slams his fist down.

That night, Dean hobbles out into the school courtyard, passing by Marcus and Austin heading inside. The only other person out here is Kate, and he beckons her over to him. Dean starts to apologize for how he was acting earlier - and informs her that all of Badrick's people are dead; they're gone, as far as he knows. Kate nods, but says that there's nothing Dean has to be sorry for - not with everything he went through. When Dean starts talking about all of the people they've lost, Kate reminds him that that's all in the past now. Badrick is gone, and they can focus on surviving now. Kate is about to head back inside, but Dean stops her - needing to tell her something. It's obvious that he feels ashamed about it -- and he tells her that it's his fault Curtis died, all because he tried to divert Badrick away from the group by leading him to the mall, not thinking anyone would be there. She frowns, but tells Dean that it's not his fault. She says that Dean is dwelling on something that is not his fault, and tells him that the best thing he can do now is to stop and take a breather; they're safe now. Dean nods, looking down. Two zombies are seen approaching the fence behind them, and Dean says that he can handle them. Nodding, Kate heads inside, and Dean walks over to the fence, stabbing the pair of zombies in the head. Suddenly, a shovel smacks Dean across the side of his head. He plops to the ground in a daze and looks up to see Badrick standing over him with half of his face hideously burned. Dean can't believe his eyes, and he tries shouting for help, but Badrick smacks him again, knocking him out. He picks Dean up and carries him away.

#### "**The Mist**"

In a sewer, Dean is woken by Badrick. As he regains consciousness and sees Badrick's disgusting burnt face staring him down, Dean yells, not knowing whether Badrick was real or in his head. However, Dean comes to the conclusion that Badrick is real when he grabs his jaw, explaining that it was Derrick who saved him from drowning. Badrick then breaks into a coughing fit, spewing blood onto the floor, which tells Dean that Badrick is a dying man. After punching Dean to prove he's real once more, Badrick stands up, chuckling and telling Dean that he has a lot in store for the rest of his friends at the high school. Dean goes into a panic, but before he can do anything, Badrick picks up a shovel and hits him again, rendering him unconscious.

Much later on, Badrick returns to the sewers, where he finds a sleeping Dean being guarded by Derrick. He slaps Dean to wake him up and then has Derrick drag Dean, who's still only half-conscious, out of the sewers and placed in the back of a truck. After he and Derrick get in, they drive off.

The truck arrives at a quarry just outside town, where Badrick shows Dean a horde of hundreds of zombies kept inside the pit. He reveals that his plan is to lead them all to the high school with Dean being the driver. A desperate Dean looks up at Badrick tearfully, begging him not to do this. He tries brokering a deal with Badrick in a last ditch effort, but his idea is shut down when Badrick informs him about Nathaniel Shepard's group, a group that Badrick is working with. Dean continues sobbing and begging them to spare his friends' life, but now he's just being ignored by Badrick, while Derrick mocks and laughs at the pleading Dean. Then, there's a sound in the woods, and the three of them see Jim, Randall and Michael Hall in the woods. There's nothing they can do now that they've been spotted, and so the three men start running deeper into the woods, as Jim yells loudly to Dean that they're coming back to get him. When he hears Jim's voice, Dean smiles through his pain, and tries crawling away while Derrick leaves to pursue Jim and the other men. Badrick steps on Dean's hand, before turning, laying eyes on, and grinning at the horde waiting inside the quarry.

#### "**Red Asphalt**"

At the quarry, Dean and Badrick are awaiting Derrick's return. Dean has given up his begging, and is instead telling Badrick that his plans will fail and Dean will be rescued. As Badrick orders him to be quiet, Derrick returns, dragging along Jim. Dean immediately exclaims in anger, demanding they let Jim go. He tries to get up, but falls back to his knees before he can do anything, his body too weak to fight back. As Dean continues to beg, Badrick and Derrick walk off to prepare the horde waiting inside the quarry. Jim, barely conscious, is happy when he sees Dean still alive, and stays positive by saying that Badrick won't do anything to hurt them. Dean frantically goes over what Badrick's plan is, and how he wants Dean to lead them to the school himself. In a weak voice, Jim tells Dean that it's all mind tricks and he shouldn't give in. Dean understands, but admits that he's scared. When Badrick returns all set to go, he first approaches Dean and demands that he confess that his friends at the school deserve this. When Dean remains silent, listening to Jim’s advice to not give into his mind games, Badrick promises him he's going to regret not answering. Derrick then grabs Dean and forces him into the driver's seat of the nearby truck, while Derrick gets in the passenger seat to watch over him. Meanwhile, Badrick places Jim into the bed of the truck. Before they leave, Badrick says he has something of crucial importance to attend to first. Grinning, he walks around to the back of the truck.

On the road, Dean is slowly driving the truck, leading the horde of hundreds of zombies behind him. Badrick, sitting in the back, yells for Dean to speed up. Derrick forces him to do so by threatening him with a revolver. As Dean speeds up very slowly, Badrick reminds him about him not answering his question earlier, and that he was surely going to regret it.

Dean arrives at the school, bringing the truck to a stop, and then being forced out. Badrick grabs Dean, using him as a meat shield while he talks to the members of Dean’s group, who’re in the school courtyard. Then, Badrick brings Dean around to the back of the truck to show him the mutilated body of Jim, who had been chained to the back of the truck and dragged along behind it. All Jim can manage is a slight groan before he dies. Tears fill Dean's eyes as he looks at the corpse, before remembering what Jim had said earlier. He turns to Badrick and tells the man that he's pathetic and is going to die a painful death. Badrick hardly even listens to Dean, and instead gets back into the truck and leaves with Derrick, leaving Dean behind just as the zombie horde they’d been leading arrives.

As Badrick's truck vanishes down the street, Dean continues to lay on the asphalt out in front of the school, too weak and mentally drained to get up. As the horde starts to swarm the area, Dean finally clambers up, moving slowly, and collapsing to the ground every few seconds as he attempts to escape the pursuing horde. Members of his group, still in the courtyard, are fighting off zombies as they start to head inside. But Owen, seeing Dean out on the road still, can’t bring himself to leave him there, not after hearing him stand up to Badrick. He hops the courtyard fence and rushes into the road.

Dean does the best he can in his state to get away from the horde, but it proves to be fruitless. Nearby, Derrick positions himself and fires off the RPG at the gate, blowing it open and obliterating a large portion of the horde in the process. Dean, scared for his life, continues to try and flee. It's then that he gets noticed by Derrick. Derrick starts to move up on Dean, shooting him twice, once in his arm and then his leg. Wounded and unable to do anything, Dean accepts his death as Derrick stands over him--until Owen puts his shotgun to Derrick's head and pulls the trigger, blowing his head apart. He throws the corpse off Dean and helps him to his feet.

Owen helps Dean over to an area just down the street that’s clear of any zombies. He performs some quick first-aid on the man, patching up the wounds on his arm and leg, and luckily the bullets went clean through and didn’t hit anything important. Suddenly there’s a zombie who jumps out from the side, going after Dean. Owen sticks his hand in front of the zombie's face to protect Dean, getting his thumb chewed off by it in the process. Owen grunts in pain, but has no time to stick around. He grabs Dean and the two of them go across the street to an office building, where Owen smashes open a window and crawls through, helping Dean as well. The horde of zombies behind them breaks through the front door with ease, and funnels inside the building. Knowing that he's a goner anyway, Owen sends Dean up a set of stairs while staying behind himself to keep the zombies off him. Dean doesn’t want to leave him behind, but Owen yells at him to go. As Dean makes it up the stairs, he hears Owen screaming and getting devoured by the horde, the screams being stapled into his head. Dean stumbles into a dark room, closing the door and collapsing onto the floor, sobbing until he passes out.

#### "**What Comes After**"

Dean wakes up in the office block he passed out in. He sits on the floor, processing everything in his head before trying to get up. He falls into a chair almost immediately, and in the chair, he sees a dead man with a revolver in one hand, and a photo of a woman and a child in the other. He stares at the photo, remembering his own ex-wife, and then thinking about Jacob and how he wanted to marry Erin. The sight of the corpse tells him that nothing ever goes your way. Unable to get up again, Dean slumps back down and quietly cries, trying to forget everything.

Later, Dean stumbles down the road outside the school, horrified at the site of everything. He steps past bullet shells and corpses, and heads towards the back of the school. He tries to get inside, but when he finds the back door locked, he returns to the front of the school, and enters through the broken down front doors. Scared of what lies inside, but desperate to find his friends, Dean walks deep into the building.

When Edward and his group arrive at the school after seeing the state of it, they head inside and find Dean sitting in the middle of the hallway, curled up on the floor with tears in his eyes. Clyde approaches with a smile, but frowns when he sees the condition of Dean. Looking up at him, Dean mutters, "Badrick."

## **Killed Victims**

* Jeffrey Cortez
* 12 Rastas

## **Appearances**

Any episode with a checkmark over it signifies Dean Howards appearing in any way.