Season 2 - Episode 27: Patient Zero

## Synopsis

Bjorn, Henry, Sammie, and Oliver find patient zero. He is a young, teenage boy with blond hair and appears to be very sick. Sammie looks through his memories and sees him crying in front of a tomb stone where an entity that appears to be made of nothingness asks him if he wants her back. Sammie tells the group and Henry informs them that the creature Sammie saw is the same one that killed his mother - Miguel says his name is the Empty Man. Sammie realizes that Judson must have been patient zero from the last outbreak and she asks him to meet them at the hotel. Stanley and Miguel realize that if they didn't stop the outbreak last time that Miguel's wife Lucy must have.

## Episode Description

Our heroes finally have a way to find patient zero, the only person that could hold answers for how to stop the zombie plague.

## Key Events

* Bjorn, Henry, Sammie, and Oliver find patient zero. He is a sickly young, blond boy.
* When Sammie looks through patient zero's memories, she catches a glimpse of a creature known as the Empty Man - the same monster that killed Henry's mother.
* The crew realizes that Judson was the patient zero of the last outbreak 30 years ago.
* Stanley and Miguel realize that if they didn't stop the zombie outbreak last time, Miguel's wife Lucy must have.

## Summary

Oliver pulls out of his hug with Sammie and asks her if she's okay. Sammie brushes it off, saying she wasn't scratched too badly. Oliver shakes his head and and runs his hands along the new tattoos that cover her arms, pointing out that she doesn't look well. Sammie admits that she's been doing research, trying to find runes that will keep Jadis from taking control and tattooing them onto herself. At the mention of Jadis, a reflexive fear crosses over Oliver's face and Sammie's stomach twists with guilt.

Sammie makes eye contact with Oliver and he asks her to stop shutting him out. He knows that she's trying to keep him safe but he reminds her that he's pretty good at getting into trouble on his own and would rather have her with him when he does. Sammie smiles and agrees. They then go to find Bjorn and Henry.

As Sammie and Oliver walk out onto the street, they see Bjorn and Henry wrangling the zombie. Bjorn has pulled the donut 'O' off of the storefront and then squeezes the zombie into the 'O' to keep it restrained. Before they can come up with a plan to get the zombie back, Henry collapses with pain once again. Sammie rushes over to him to look at his wounds and catches Oliver up to speed on what's happened. The wounded flesh is beginning to turn green and rot. Through gritted teeth, Henry tells Sammie that he thought maybe Sammie could find patient zero by connecting with the zombie they captured, which is why they have it restrained.

Sammie crouches down by the zombie, placing her hand on its leg where it can't bite her. She closes her eyes and latches onto the energy of the creature. She finds her mind jumping around to different parts of town before settling on a teenage boy. His consciousness doesn't feel like the other zombies. He is at home, watching TV, about two or three blocks from Henry's school. Sammie snaps back to herself and tells the other what she's seen. They pile into Oliver's car, zombie in the trunk, and head to the house Sammie saw.

Henry runs up to the house and kicks the door in. He sees a teenage boy with blond hair that goes to his shoulders. He's sitting in the couch, seemingly catatonic. He looks awful with bloodshot eyes. Bjorn calls Miguel to tell him they think they've found patient zero. Miguel admits he's not sure what to do next as they never found the patient zero of their outbreak. Sammie walks up to the boy and tells them that they're here to help. The boy tells them that they can't help him. Sammie says they can try and asks if she can touch him so that she can understand more. The boy agrees.

When Sammie places her hand on the boy's head, she realizes it feels familiar. His skin is cold, just like Judson's. Sammie closes her eyes and tries to look into the boy's memories. His memories are slow and sluggish, but Sammie is able to get bits and pieces. She sees a memory from earlier the same day. The boy seems sick but not quite as bad. He's telling his mom goodbye before she seemingly leaves for work. Next, she sees the boy sitting on the couch again. He's still looking sick, even more so. A dark-haired teenage boy sits beside him and the boy leans over and nicks the dark-haired teen with his tooth. The dark-haired teen eventually leaves and the boy starts to cry afterward.

Then, Sammie is pulled farther back into his memories. It's the day before. The boy is standing in front of a headstone at a cemetery, he has rosy cheeks and appears to not be sick. However, he's crying. Tears pour down his face. He collapses down onto his knees in front of the tombstone. He puts his head against the stone and continues to cry. Suddenly there is a dark, deep, unnatural voice from behind him. It asks if he wants her back. The boy turns and Sammie is only able to see what is standing behind him for a brief moment before she is pulled out of his memories. It is a dark, shadowy figure with no face, made of nothingness.

Sammie blinks as she comes back to herself and the boy apologizes. Sammie looks over at the crew with a panicked look on her face. She tells them what they saw. Henry suddenly hears the description of the creature standing behind the boy at the grave. Henry, filled with rage, tells them that this is the monster that killed his mom. Miguel, who's still on the phone with Bjorn and can hear their conversation, says that they call the creature the Empty Man. Miguel emphasizes that the Empty Man is not the priority right now, that they'll never be able to find him, and they need to bring the boy back to the hotel with them so they can figure out how to stop the spread of the zombie virus.

Sammie suddenly puts two-and-two together, realizing that Judson must have been patient zero last time there was a zombie outbreak. She explains to Miguel that when she looked into Judson's mind, she could tell he was undead and that the boy's mind feels the same way. They're obviously both zombies, but alive somehow. Miguel agrees and suggests they also bring Judson to the hotel.

Bjorn, Henry, Sammie, Oliver, and the sick boy get into Oliver's car to head back to the hotel. On the way, Sammie calls Judson and asks him if he can meet them at the hotel. She tells him that they found someone who is dead but also alive like he is. Judson agrees to meet them there. Bjorn also calls Angelina and Agent Thor. He updates them on the situation. Angelina offers to help and Bjorn accepts it. They arrive at the hotel to find Judson has already arrived. They all walk up to the hotel room.

They guide the boy into Miguel's workshop and put him down on the couch in the room. Miguel comments on how awful he looks and begins to examine him. River follows them, asking questions about who everyone is. Henry plops down onto a sofa in the living room, exhausted from his injuries. Sammie eventually turns to Judson and tells him in more detail why they asked him to come. Judson reminds Sammie that he doesn't remember anything from when he was alive. Sammie nods but counters with the fact that he told her he thinks he's been a zombie for about 30 years. Miguel confirms that the last zombie outbreak was, in fact, 30 years ago. Miguel says that they never found him last time. That if he is patient zero, they weren't the ones that found him last time.

Henry confronts Stanley about why he couldn't tell him that the Empty Man was responsible. Stanley insists that he'll tell Henry everything later when this was over. Sammie and Bjorn ask Miguel if there's a way to reverse whatever was done to Judson and the boy. Miguel says that first they need to figure out how to stop the spread. He says Judson must have had something to do with stopping the spread last time, but they don't know how or why.

Miguel says they didn't stop it last time, so someone else must have. Sammie asks if it wasn't them, who else could have done it. Stanley says they were the only Dragon Knights in the area at the time, then seems to have some kind of realization. He looks over at Miguel, who is frozen in his chair. He finally says that they weren't the only ones in the area at the time, that his wife Lucy would have been there too.

## List of Appearances

* Sammie Overbrook
* Oliver Allen Evans
* Bjorn Olafson
* Henry Marlowe
* "Patient Zero"
* The Empty Man
* Miguel Rodriguez
* Judson Stone
* River Hanson
* Stanley Marlowe

## Roll Tracker

 Andrew/Bjorn
 Hannah/Sammie
 Hannah/Sammie
Glitch: Effect is Weakened