Embers

"*Rise from the ashes...*"
—Official description**[src]**

***Strain Zero*** **Presents: "*Embers*"** is a post-apocalyptic horror story set in the relaunched continuity established by *The Walking Dead: Strain Zero*, also called the *Remake* Universe. Like *Dead Gold*, it is set between the *Bloodlines* and *Descendents* arcs. A limited series, it will follow Emma's quest to her hometown, post-pandemic Detroit, to bury the ghosts of her past. It will be written in 2024.

## Plot

*Determined to bury the ghosts that have haunted her since the beginning, Emma sets out on a dangerous quest for peace that will take her through the ruins of her former home - the once-flourishing city of Detroit - and cross paths with desperate survivors, deadly radiation and new breeds of infected unlike anything our survivors have ever faced.*

## Synopsis

### "We Hope For Better Things"

Six years have passed since the Battle of Adams Air Force Base. Emma and Abigail, still a couple, have moved to the ruins of Prescott, far from the noise of Bastion, to care for Tonks, who has set up shop in one of the abandoned hangers. Happy and considering marriage, the pair also discuss having a child of their own. Emma is now a successful author, having written the so-called "Idiot's Guide" on survival.

For whatever reason, Emma has begun suffering from debilitating nightmares, causing her to avoid sleep entirely. During the day, she suffers panic attacks and avoids cars. Abigail tries to get Emma to talk about what's troubling her, but Emma is physically unable to do so. One evening, while playing with Tonks, Emma suffers a violent panic attack that triggers a similar reaction in Tonks, prompting Abigail to threaten to leave unless Emma seeks help.

A week after the nightmares began, Emma and Abigail host Henry for dinner; afterwards, Emma and Henry share a drink while Abigail leaves to play with Tonks. Henry, now older, at peace and a far cry from the violent man he used to be, recognises the same signs of distress in Emma that he saw in himself, and deduces that something from her past is troubling her. Emma confirms this, but again is unable to elaborate. Henry describes how all the anger he had felt since the outbreak simply vanished once he had put James to rest, and suggests that Emma seek out the rooot of her trauma. To keep her safe, he lends her his long axe.

Armed with Henry's axe, Emma prepares to leave that night, only for Abigail to discover her. Emma reluctantly says that she is "going home" but won't say where exactly. Abigail threatens to send the rangers after her and bring her home, but Emma decides to leave anyway and says goodbye to a confused Tonks, unsure about how long she will be away.

Emma takes a bike and drives southeast, then east along the interstate roads. She is found by a patrol, but they only ask her to sign their copies of the "Idiots' Guide" before letting her move on. A day after setting out, she passes the borders of the Commonwealth.

Three days into the journey, Emma scrounges the outskirts of Chicago for fuel and sees a massive dust cloud above the city, deducing that a gargantuan herd is wandering endlessly through the streets. Her nightmares continue during her week-long journey; they slowly become clearer, and turn out to be memories of a fatal car accident when she was a child. Among the dead is her brother, Jesse, whose demise is revealed to be the source of Emma's nightmares. After a week of travelling, she reaches the outskirts of her hometown: Detroit, Michigan.

### "Renaissance City"

Emma finds most of Detroit to be flooded and overgrown; nonetheless, she successfully navigates to her former neighbourhood in the city's north. There, she finds the ruins of her former home, cleared of furniture. She enters her old bedroom and sleeps on her bed; her nightmares become memories of her playing with her brother Jesse, adopted shortly before Emma herself was born. The memory ends with the death of Emma's family in a car crash, leaving her the sole survivor. She suddenly remembers that she left a photo in her closet and retrieves it: the last photo of Emma, her brother and their parents.

Emma's grief is interrupted by a walker outside; to her shock, it is suddenly shot dead. Emma watches as five well-armed survivors emerge from the bushes and converse about a "red-haired woman" sighted in the area. Realizing that they are searching for her, Emma decides to stay hidden rather than engage. Arn, leader of the soldiers, enters Emma's house and searches her bedroom, he comes close to finding her, but finds the photo instead. He summons another soldier, August, and they agree that the boy in the photo, Jesse, resembles somebody named "Isaac". August pockets the photo, forcing Emma to follow her stealthily. She is almost caught by another soldier and is forced to hide in a compost bin; paranoid, the soldier opens the bin and held at knifepoint by Emma. Despite her warnings, the soldier calls to his companions, forcing Emma to cut his throat. She manages to take his rifle and escape before Arn and the others run over, and they renew their search for her.

Emma corners Arn in a garage and holds him at gunpoint; she says she is just a visitor and wants to leave peacefully, which Arn says isn't possible now since she killed his friend. A walker emerges from beneath the car in the garage, catching Emma off-guard and allowing Arn to escape; in the resulting chaos, Emma accidentally pushes August into the arms of a walker, killing her. Emma herself is caught in a snare as she tries to flee. Arn gloats as he knocks her out.

Emma awakens in a classroom and interrogated; she refuses to reveal where she came from and demands the photo. Arn and the others recognise her as the girl in the picture, and demand to know how she knows "Isaac", revealed to be their group's leader; they also claim to have no idea who "Jesse Goode" is. At that moment, they receive new orders from Isaac; all outsiders are to be executed. Arn prepares to kill Emma, but a report comes in of a second outsider sighted in their district. Emma takes the chance to escape - breaking her thumb to wriggle from her bounds - and finds some gear, including a crossbow. She kills several people in self-defence and follows Arn to retrieve the photo. Fighting her way through the school, Emma is cornered and forced to use the axe; Arn watches in terror as Emma butchers several people. Emma demands to know where "Isaac" is; Arn's answer is Detroid Command's H.Q., the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit. Emma takes the photo from him and turns to leave; with her back turned, Arn pulls out a concealed revolver and fires. Shaking with fear, Arn's bullets catches Emma in the leg. Emma collapses, leaving her at Arn's mercy. Arn is suddenly shot by a man in the darkness; helping Emma to her feet, he tells her to follow him.

Emma and the outsider fight their way through the school and into the surrounding neighbourhood. Emma threatens the man with her axe, learning that his name is Andrew and he is searching for his crew; he heard about a red-haired woman in the area and thought it was Chloe, one of his missing crewmates. He claims to be the captain of a merchant ship looking to trade in Detroit that was attacked by the main group in the city. Emma agrees to protect Andrew in exchange for treatment for her wounded leg.

## Characters

### Main

* Emma Goode: a survivor from the Commonwealth who returns to her hometown of Detroit on a personal mission
* Andrew: leader of a group of outsiders
* Isaac Colton: leader of Detroit Command, the primary faction in Detroit

### Supporting

* Moe: member of Andrew's group of outsiders
* Tara: mechanic for Andrew's outsiders, sister of Chloe
* Chloe: medic for Andrew's outsiders, sister of Tara
* Henry Ward: Emma's guardian and leader of the rangers
* Abigail: Emma's partner and co-guardian of Tonks
* Tonks: an autistic savant with a talent for engineering and Emma's ward

## Trivia

* The miniseries' title is derived from Emma's nickname "Ember", given to her by Tonks after he initially mispronunces her name.
* *Embers* will be set approximately fifteen years after the global outbreak.