Missing

"**Missing**" is the ninth chapter in MrPotassiumK's **Loud House: Infection of the Dead**.

## Synopsis

Sherry's morals clash with Vonda's wishes as a glimpse of her past is shown. Tension between the group members grow as the possibility of rescuing the hostages become more hopeless.

## Plot

**Part 1: Corrupted**

A flashback from ten years ago shows Sherry mentally preparing herself to leave her family. She gives a sleeping Vonda a kiss then packs up her things, including a Colt M1911 pistol. Before she leaves, Tim catches her, wondering where she is going. Sherry explains she is headed back home to New York, much to Tim’s confusion. She doesn’t explain why she’s leaving, though she assures Tim that it’s not his fault. She then enters her taxi and leaves. Vonda, having woken up by her parents, asks where her mother is, which a saddened Tim is unable to answer.

A few days before the present day, Vonda looks at the lighthouse at the Hudson base, with only an hour having passed since the gunfight in Albany. Sherry and Vonda interact privately for the first time in a decade, with Sherry being apologetic for Vonda being in the circumstance she’s in right now. However, Vonda is hostile towards Sherry, not wanting anything to do with her. Sherry asks about Lynn, believing she may be Vonda’s stepsister. Vonda, however, quickly denies that possibility, which leads to John dragging Lynn out of the cabin for questioning. As Sherry questions her, she finds out about Lola and her unfortunate fate. She gives her condolences, though Lynn doesn’t accept it and is instead angry at Sherry and John for having killed Francisco. Sherry justifies it by stating that Lynn’s group should have never allied with George. She then asks her the last time she saw Tim Crowley. When Lynn answers that she never met him, John takes her back into the cabin. Sherry then questions Vonda about the last time she saw him. Vonda reveals that Tim Crowley and her aunt, Meredith, are dead, though only the news of the latter shocks Sherry. Sherry isn’t convinced that Tim is dead and intends to prove it to Vonda.

The next day, Vonda, still inside the boat, worries about her group members, who have been held inside the Hudson base. While eating ramen noodles, she talks to John, inquiring about her group members. John is uncertain what is happening to Vonda’s group members, though he does state that Sherry tends to be very secretive even with her Piranhas. He believes Sherry does truly love her, though Vonda is more worried about her group members.

Inside the warehouse, Benny is tied to a chair inside a shipping container— the same one Boomer was interrogated in. Sherry enters the shipping container and begins the questioning by attempting to seduce Benny. She goes as far as kissing him, but Benny only feels discomfort. Still unable to get answers out of Benny, Sherry uses an iron to burn his chest and then threatens to use it on Becky if he tells anyone about what just occurred. Benny understands and reveals the group is headed for Houlton. Sherry, knowing about the rogues, is intrigued by the implication. She leaves Benny alone, who is traumatized by the whole experience.

After the hostages are given food and a place to shower, Vonda is still unable to find herself at ease. Some of the group members like Becky and Lynn still want to seek revenge while some like D and Benny want to sit still and wait out their situation. Boomer unties the rope and allows Sherry’s boat to leave. While keeping up a polite appearance with her Piranhas, Sherry tells Vonda that some of the Piranhas are worse people than her.

Two days later, in the present day, Lincoln is observing the rescue mission from afar using a pair of binoculars. Roamers, having heard the gunshot, begin to arrive, though Zach is able to fend them off for now. Lincoln sees a tugboat arriving at the dock close to where the group are holed up in, but he’s unable to identify it due to the lack of light. David then tells Lincoln over the walkie-talkie to tell Lisa and Carol to get ready to treat some injuries. Lincoln meets up with David’s group as they arrive at the dock, learning that Lori is injured. George rushes past them, leading Lincoln to take over in helping Lori walk.

George runs inside the RV and packs up a few supplies, including a gun and ammunition. He tells the group that the rescue group couldn’t find the hostages. He uncuffs Bruna, hands her the supplies, and urges her to leave for her safety. Bruna is confused but listens anyway and leaves. The group inside the RV are confused as to where George took Bruna, though once the rescue group arrives, George explains he freed her. An upset Lori wonders why, though the rest of the group are more concerned with the hostages and bombard George with questions. However, it is David that answers their questions, telling them that the hostages were now in New York City. Once Richard finds out that George freed Bruna, he gets angry, though George argues that she wasn’t safe since Richard killed Boomer despite him cooperating with the group. Richard fears Bruna may warn her people. As the argument escalates, David shuts it down and tells the group they have to leave before more roamers arrive. Lisa, treating Lori all this time, tells her sister that she is lucky the Piranhas didn’t cut any major arteries. However, she is unable to drive, so George takes over for her and Carol takes it upon herself to drive Chunk’s van. With this, the rest of the group learn that Chunk and Liam are dead, which breaks Lincoln and his friends.

**Part 2: Twelve O'Clock**

Later that afternoon, Bobby wakes up late and panics at the thought of his sister being hungry. However, Ronnie Anne already ate and is simply sitting on the couch, cooling herself with a fan she found in Sid’s apartment. Tension still present between the two, Bobby leaves Ronnie Anne alone.

The story’s perspective switches to that of the hostages, who are in a house across the road from a shipyard where Sherry’s boat is at. They are fed food rations while Vonda and Lynn are fed fresh sandwiches. Sherry reveals that she learned how to bake bread when she was on the Coast Guard. When asked about why they aren’t headed for the Dust Zone at the moment, Sherry explains that they were originally going to Diamond Point, where she and Tim Crowley used to go for vacation. However, Diamond Point was attacked by the Barracudas, a group that Sherry states are much worse than the Piranhas. The Hudson base was attacked and no Piranhas from the Dust Zone responded to her radio messages, leading her to believe both areas were also attacked by the Barracudas. Thus, Sherry wants to play it safe and wait until there are no signs of the Barracudas.

Later at midnight, we switch back to the main group’s perspective as they set up camp in the field of an abandoned farm. The group members are in pain as they grieve their loved ones or reel from traumatic incidents. Lincoln approaches Tabby and tells her she doesn’t have to be alone, though Tabby corrects him by revealing that no one wants to approach her because every other grieving person wanted to be left alone. Tabby makes it clear that Liam would have approached her already to comfort her and that Lincoln is the only one who’s attempted to do so. Despite this, Tabby didn’t understand why Liam had been pushing her away the past few days, believing that perhaps he didn’t like her anymore. Lincoln, knowing the truth pertaining to the logbook and Liam’s family, reassures her that he still liked her, and that Liam only didn’t want to risk her life. However, Lincoln was starting to doubt how well he understood Liam as well, unable to figure out why Liam acted like he had nothing to lose when Tabby was there for him.

Lori asks George how his experience was when he was captured by the Piranhas. George doesn’t want to tell Lori for fear that it will only cause her anxiety and panic, but Lori is already assuming the worst and only wants to know the reality of the situation. George understands and begins to tell his story as a captive. A few days before the GIE, he got captured by Sherry after ignoring his boss’s order to pursue his vendetta. In his cage, he met a girl named Cassandra, who was infected with HIV. Sherry brought in a roamer who bit Cassandra and turned her into a roamer. George was forced to kill her. When the FBI raided the Albany warehouse where George was being kept at, he was rescued, but it was the day New York became infested with roamers. The roamers attacked the Albany warehouse, killing many inside. George’s boss managed to get him out of the chaos, but was in turn killed by Sherry.

Richard is convinced Sherry is evil and thus irredeemable. Seeing Lori anxious, George states he didn’t want to tell the story, though Lori assures him that she’s fine and that she’s just worried about Bobby and Ronnie Anne— though it is not clear whether she’s telling the truth or not. Tabby then confronts Lori for worrying about Bobby, believing that it is Bobby’s fault the group lost Tad, Chunk, and Liam. Lori defends Bobby by stating that she should take the blame instead since she knew about Bobby’s family as well. She adds that Bobby has done nothing but good things for the group and that she took it upon herself to save Liam, but ultimately, she didn’t tell Liam to come to the rescue mission. She tells the group to blame the Piranhas instead and gets angry at Tabby for blaming Bobby in the first place. Tabby decides to leave the group and packs up her things. Rusty joins her, sparking resistance from David, who thinks it’s too dangerous for them to leave at night. Lincoln, in an effort to stop Tabby from leaving, reveals the logbook secret, stating that the families of multiple group members, including Tabby’s, are not at Houlton. He states that he and Liam kept it a secret because he didn’t want the group members to lose hope and leave the group. Tabby states Liam was right and chooses to head back for Royal Woods instead. Other group members join in, including Dana and Wavehead, who want to leave the group after they rescue their friends. With the group at the brink of breaking apart, David urges the group to calm down before they suddenly find themselves at the mercy of a couple bandits holding them hostage with their melee weapons. The bandits circle around the group members, with the leader stating that he only intends to rob them, but if they fight back, his group will kill them. Lori tells a bandit to take his hands off Leni before calling the leader and his group creeps. This provokes the leader, causing the bandits to get distracted before Richard, David, and Lori all attack a bandit each. George joins in, and soon enough, they kill off the bandits brutally in front of the other group members, terrifying some like Lana and Lincoln. Lori, in particular, unleashes all her anger on the bandit that touched Leni inappropriately, showing a darker side of herself. After a gruesome hacking of the bandit’s face with his own hatchet, Lori processes what she has done and realizes just how terrifying she may have come off as to her group members. However, Leni hugs her, thanking Lori for saving her and the group. David tells the group that they’ll burn the bodies as he doesn’t intend to waste a good spot to sleep over. Tabby, having seen the entire thing, is terrified at the thought of going out alone and decides to stay with the group.

**Part 3: Together**

Morning comes and Andrew and Gina switch turns watching the shipyard. The hostages are in the living room, passing time in their own ways. Becky tries to leave the living room, claiming she wants to use a bathroom away from the group, but John tells her to wait for his brother to come down to accompany her. She decides to use the bathroom next to the living room instead and enters. Creating some noises to pretend she’s using the toilet, Becky makes an escape attempt and ends up leaving the house through the bathroom window.

Inside the living room, Lynn is attempting to do yoga meditation with Missy, but grows frustrated because of John’s presence. She then demands to know why he killed Francisco. John tells her that he had orders and that he only listens to Sherry because the Piranhas are the winning side in this new world. Lynn stands up but Lucy holds her back. She wonders if Lucy doesn’t care that the Piranhas killed Luan, but Lucy doesn’t think Luan is dead. Lynn and Benny think Lucy is in denial, but Lucy explains that acting on her anger won’t help anyone.

Andrew passes by the group members to talk to Sherry outside in the backyard. He wants to know when they are leaving since no boat has passed by the shipyard the past few days. Sherry is still somewhat paranoid that the Barracudas may be waiting for them, but Andrew convinces her that they should leave anyway. Suddenly, Becky sneaks up on Andrew and puts a knife against his throat, demanding Sherry remove all her weapons. As Sherry does so, Andrew retaliates, freeing himself from Becky. Andrew grabs his gun and aims it at Becky, but Sherry stops him from shooting her as she has plans for her.

Meanwhile, back in Albany at the Casagrande apartment, Bobby wakes up and checks up on Ronnie Anne’s room. However, he finds it empty and sees no sign of his sister anywhere. He panics and gets ready to look for her before Ronnie Anne enters the apartment, having gone outside. He gets upset at his sister, but his sister continues to display a rebellious attitude while stating that she’s capable of looting on her own, showing the cans of food she was able to find on her own. She then insults Bobby’s cooking skills before locking herself in her own room.

On the farm, the group prepares to leave. Tabby approaches Lincoln, telling him that he understands why he kept the logbook a secret but she is unable to forgive him yet. Lincoln, knowing Liam kept the same secret, believes that would mean Tabby can’t forgive Liam yet either, and as the two continue to talk about Liam, Tabby realizes she’s not ready to talk extensively about him yet and leaves. Before the group leaves, Lori is worried her family may see her differently, but David tells her to be proud that she protected them. The group members get in their vehicles and leave the farm.

While in Vanzilla, Darcy asks questions about a map she’s trying to read. Lisa helps her out before Darcy asks what happened to the bandits, not knowing about their fate. George tries lying to her, but Lori doesn’t want to lie to her. Since Lori now knows she’s responsible for Darcy as her parents’ names are not in the logbook, she wants Darcy to be aware of the dangers of the new world. Lori tells Darcy the truth, which leads her to ask why the bandits wanted to kill the group members first. When Lori answers, Darcy listens and accepts her answer while remaining composed, much to Lori’s relief.

Later, while driving Chunk’s van, Carol notices that Luna and Sam weren’t talking to each other. Carol tries to break the ice, though without much success, that is until Sam gets the conversation going, talking about how she was going to learn how to start driving at 16. Carol states that the girls can still drive— they just need an instructor— and Carol is willing to be theirs if they wish. The conversation slips into silence again before Sam apologizes to Luna for being a burden in gunfights, which she believes led to Chunk’s death. Luna states she wants to protect Sam and that Chunk’s death is the Piranhas’ fault. The two girls then apologize to each other for not communicating their feelings to each other. Sam then lays her head against Luna’s shoulder, bonding with her again.

Meanwhile, at the shipyard, Becky finds herself tied up in the basement where the hostages are being kept. Sherry and Andrew drag D into the basement. D tries to fight back, but Sherry points a gun at Becky, causing him to stop resisting. Andrew ties him down while Becky pleads with Sherry to let him go. Sherry insults Becky, asking her what Tad would think about her feelings towards D. She then begins to beat D as she angrily states that she treated the hostages well only for Becky to attempt murder on her. Becky gets angry, trying to free herself. However, it is only when Sherry threatens to kill D that Becky finally relents. Sherry forces Becky to apologize to her. Once Becky does so, the Piranhas untie Becky and D, allowing Becky to check on D. Sherry insults Becky’s relationship with Tad once more, but Becky knows she cannot do anything about it since it would be D who gets punished, not her. Sherry and Andrew then drag Becky and D to the living room where the hostages witness the injuries Sherry caused to D. Sherry uses D’s injuries to serve as a warning to the hostages should they step out of line.

At midnight, Lori wakes up after getting bombarded by images of every person she’s killed. She walks out of the house to get some fresh air, though she finds David sitting on the front porch. Lori sits next to him, and the two talk about not being able to sleep well. She wonders if it’s because David is getting closer to his home city, but he explains it has been like this for a while. Lori reveals that her grandfather has sleeping problems as well, which leads to David learning that her grandfather served in the Navy. Lori’s grandfather taught her and Rita how to use guns, which leads David to reveal that it was similar for his wife, who was taught by her grandfather, a WW2 veteran. After his time in the military, David became disillusioned with the military, encouraging his son to pursue a different career path, though his wife retained a more optimistic view. David did not want Sandy to join General Black on his mission, though he couldn’t stop her. He believes that she is being held in Houlton along with the others, and hopes that his son is away from the cities near Miami. He explains that he was in Michigan during the GIE, and that he initially thought of returning to New York before hearing Tim’s broadcast revealing Black’s presence in Detroit. The broadcasts were how he learned that Detroit was going to be bombed and that Black was going to enact Operation Exodus. When Lori asks why Sandy joined Black, David explains that Sandy is an exceptional soldier and wanted to use her talents to be a hero. Lori then asks if David intends to look for his son as well, though David admits he hasn’t thought of that yet since he can only focus on the mission at hand. Lori reveals it is the same with her, not having thought about what to do after Houlton. The two decide to save those thoughts until after they free the hostages at Houlton.

Meanwhile, in Albany, Ronnie Anne enters Margarita’s salon, intending to loot it for supplies. Some roamers arrive at the front door, forcing Ronnie Anne to use the back door as a way to leave. However, the back door is blocked by something on the other side, trapping Ronnie Anne as the roamers break their way into the salon. She runs to the bathroom and locks it, now being trapped in the small dark room as the sound of the roamers knocking on the bathroom door attracts other roamers.

**Part 4: Change of Heart**

Later that afternoon, an impatient and worried Bobby thinks about looking for Ronnie Anne. However, he decides to stay behind and wait for her. In the meantime, Ronnie Anne wakes up, still inside the bathroom. Dehydrated and fatigued, she decides to use her flashlight to fight away the roamers, but upon leaving the bathroom, she finds out that the roamers have left the salon already. She leaves the salon and heads back for the apartment.

The hostages were now in the boat as it traveled down the Hudson River. An upset Vonda asks why Sherry punished D for something Becky did just as she punished George’s family for what George did. Sherry avoids answering directly and instead attempts to justify her actions by stating everything she had done was to reunite Vonda with her father. She even states that she knew George was bluffing back when he held Vonda at gunpoint in Albany and thus, Vonda’s life was never in any danger. Vonda wonders how Tim ever fell in love with Sherry and begins to question her father’s morality. The boat then arrives at the Dust Zone, where they see the aftermath of the nuclear explosion that destroyed New York City, leaving nothing but debris and dust. The boat docks into a pier, which is shielded from the rest of the city by a makeshift wall of rubber tires. Sherry is unable to find any sign of Burner and Katrina, the two Piranhas entrusted to guard the pier. The only sign left behind are two large X’s painted on the wall with blood, presumably the Piranhas’. Sherry thinks it may have been David’s group, but Gina doesn’t think so, and she also doesn’t think the Barracudas are responsible either. The Piranhas are on alert and the hostages are placed back into the boat, which leads Vonda to think they’re leaving already. However, Sherry only wants to be prepared to leave. Vonda fears something may have happened to her father if he was supposed to be here, though Sherry reassures her that he is fine.

Back in Albany, Bobby decides to wait no longer and leaves the apartment. However, he finds Ronnie Anne walking up, but fatigued and covered in roamer blood. Ronnie Anne breaks into tears and hugs Bobby, realizing how much she needs him. After she apologizes to him, the two go back into the apartment.

Later that evening, Sherry talks to the Piranhas and the hostages, expressing her concerns about Tim’s lack of presence in the pier. She asks Vonda if she left any clues for her father, though Vonda didn’t think she had to as she believed— and still believes— that her father is dead. Sherry is offended at the fact that Vonda doesn’t believe her, but a frustrated Vonda vents that the two can’t have a long conversation together. She decides to let Vonda talk to her, and Vonda uses this as an opportunity to ask her mother the questions she had. Vonda asks about the plan that her parents made, which Sherry reveals: Tim was to escape from Detroit after his friend uses himself as a distraction for the rogues. He was then to head to Ann Arbor to pick up Meredith and Vonda then meet up with Kevin and Madison, who would have escorted the family to Diamond Point. If Diamond Point was compromised, then the group were to head for the Dust Zone. Tim was to maintain constant radio contact with Sherry, though Sherry admits Day 9 was the last time she heard from him. Vonda questions the complexity of the plan and asks Sherry why she couldn’t just come to Ann Arbor. Sherry wanted to stay in New York so that she could kill George in order to guarantee safety for herself. When Vonda talks back to her, she scolds her, though Vonda continues to rebel. Now in tears, Vonda explains that if her father was still alive, he would have found a way to return radio contact with Sherry. However, he hasn’t done so because he is dead and she believes that the Piranhas wouldn’t be able to protect anyone in this new world. She tearfully states that she doesn’t want to stay with Sherry any longer. Sherry, hurt from this statement, implies that she will kill the hostages tomorrow and return Vonda to her group. Sherry then leaves. Guilt and fear takes over Vonda as her group members fear for the worst, though Missy is grateful that Vonda has kept them alive this long. The two hug, which further hurts Sherry’s feelings as she realizes just how broken her relationship with her daughter is.

The group take camp near the river as Luan decides to equip Benny’s katana and its scabbard. When asked about it, Luan states the sword is giving her the strength to keep her head up. Lori tells Luan that she is tougher than she thought and compliments how the sword looks on her.

The next morning, the hostages await their execution by comforting each other. When Sherry returns to the boat, Vonda prepares an apology, though her mother doesn’t seem to care and has her come out of the boat. Sherry walks Vonda out of the pier and to a bench in the waterfront. While the two are seated, the sight of the river and Jersey City in front of them, Sherry explains why she and Tim decided to meet here. She stated that Tim had an affinity for both cities and nature, and that one day, the two hoped to see the view without all the noise pollution from the city. She believes that if she had reunited with Tim, then perhaps the two would fall in love again. When asked if she believes in second chances, Vonda is unsure, but she is willing to stay with her mother if she would spare her group members. However, Sherry doesn’t want to let go of the hostages as she sees them as a way to make sure she remains alive. This upsets Vonda, who believes Sherry put herself in this situation. Sherry states that she wished to travel the world and confesses that she never wanted to have her and that at one point she attempted to abort her. However, when Tim started preparing for Vonda’s birth, Sherry began to fall in love with the idea of having a daughter, and thus named Vonda after her mother. However, when Vonda was born, Sherry didn’t get the happiness she thought she would receive and felt trapped in her life. Thus, she joined the Piranhas with the intention to save up enough cash to travel the world with her family. Unfortunately, she fell in love with the life the Piranhas provided her and she hasn’t returned with her family ever since, but she has now come to regret that decision and hopes to get a second chance with Vonda. Now coming to terms with the fact that Tim is dead, Sherry hopes that Vonda will come with her to Nova Terra, a place where they can live out their lives in safety from the roamers. However, Vonda doesn’t want to go with Sherry, not having forgiven her yet. Sherry decides to let Vonda stay with her group and wishes her luck in taking out General Black, a statement that catches Vonda by surprise. Vonda then subtly promises to go to Nova Terra after taking out General Black to find her mother. The two return to the boat and leave the pier, now heading northwards.

In a house by the river, the group pack up and prepare to leave. Not yet anywhere close to New York City, some of the group members question whether Sherry is still even at the Dust Zone. George emphasizes that this is the reason why they needed to take Boomer alive so that he would have informed them about the location of any boats they had. Not wanting to deal with Richard and George arguing again, David tells the group that they will find a boat. When David turned on the RV engine, the radio came on, receiving Sherry’s broadcast. Sherry tells them to head to the Kingston Shipyard and forces the hostages to speak into the radio too in order to remind David’s group of the stakes.

On the other end, Sherry stops the boat by the Kingston Shipyard. She, Andrew, Vonda, and Missy step out of the boat, but she has the other Piranhas take the rest of the hostages away. The hostages are confused, though Sherry explains that this is the only way she can make sure she doesn’t get killed while also hearing from George that she will be given a second chance. The four walk towards the house they previously took shelter in.

At sunset, a few of the group members arrived at the shipyard. With only four group members, including David and George, looking for Sherry, they lower the risk of the group being lured into a trap. Sherry contacts them and tells them to head to the house. The four men barge into the house and hold Sherry at gunpoint. Missy and Vonda reunite with the group while George handcuffs Sherry. George asks Sherry where the rest of the hostages are at, though Sherry refuses to answer. The group takes her away from the room and moves her to the attic.

The rest of the group take shelter in the house as night arrives. Lori gives a short speech to give her group hope while Luan cuts her hair short. Despite being interrogated harshly, Sherry puts on a smile, knowing with each hit, she gains more of Vonda’s sympathy. Meanwhile, Lynn and Becky start to lose hope as they grieve Francisco and Tad.

## Deaths

* Burner *(off-screen)*
* Katrina *(off-screen)*
* 4 unnamed Midnight Bandits

## Trivia

* First appearance of the Dust Zone.
* First (and last) appearance of the Midnight Bandits.
* First mention of Nova Terra.
* Last appearance of Boomer. *(Flashback)*
* The end credits song is *Youth* by Daughter.
* The title of the chapter, **"Missing"**, refers to the hostages, who are missing members of the group.
	+ It also refers to Sherry and Vonda missing Tim Crowley.
* The title of Part 1, **"Corrupted"**, refers to Sherry's malicious personality being a product of corruption from being in the Piranhas.
* The title of Part 2, **"Twelve O'Clock"**, refers to multiple scenes occurring at midnight or afternoon.
* The title of Part 3, **"Together"**, refers to the group members bonding, as well as the hostages.
* The title of Part 4, **"Change of Heart"**, refers to Sherry deciding to change her mind and cooperate with David's group, simply for Vonda's sake.
	+ It also refers to Ronnie Anne deciding to no longer be upset with Bobby after realizing how much she needs him.
* Sherry mentions that Nova Terra is the place where people are given second chances, no matter who; she is referring to the K.H.A.N.'s policy where anyone who manages to cross the Wasteland or directly sail to Nova Terra is accepted into Nova Terra City, no matter the crimes the person have done. However, there were a few people who served as exceptions, such as Tim Crowley, which is why Nova Terra was not a viable place for the Crowley family to settle at.
* The X's left behind on the wall of tires in the pier in the Dust Zone foreshadows the X-Tribe. Since the X's are meant to mark areas where the X-Tribe killed their victims, the two X's in the pier implies that Burner and Katrina were killed. Furthermore, this also foreshadows Tim Crowley being alive, since if he were dead, three X's would have been painted on the wall of tires.