Consequences

**"Consequences"** is the third episode of *Season 3: Remake* of *Strain Zero*, the remake of *The Walking Dead by EDStudios*. It is the thirteenth episode of the series overall.

## Plot

*As their torment worsens, our group find themselves fractured. Someone makes a difficult choice. Holly evades hunters.*

## Synopsis

A disorientated and confused Henry wakes up in the middle of his beating at the hands of Liam. His eye has heavily swollen and his vision is obscured by his own blood. He faintly hears the cries and yells of his group nearby as Liam takes a breath and looks behind him at a smiling Bart, who nods his approval. As Liam prepares himself, a blonde woman suddenly leaps onto the stage and demands that Bart stop him. Bart tells the woman, Jane, to keep out of it. As Liam begins a second wave of punches and kicks to Henry, Jane jumps from the stage and runs over to Liam to deliver a sharp kick between his legs. Her attack has little effect on Liam, who turns and smacks Jane across the face. Bart orders Jane to be removed from the area as Liam continues his barrage on Henry's face.

Meanwhile, Holly, Drew and Boy find themselves surrounded by an unnamed and heavily armed group as a nearby Innocents group screams and cries, accompanied by the sound of heavy gunfire. Holly says that the survivors might as well kill them, as that's all "you Innocents" seem to do. One of the survivors, a young man with a thin beard and a scar over his right eye, steps forward and says they are not Innocents, "we *kill* Innocents". Suddenly, a ferocious shriek erupts from nearby, accompanied by several others, near the battle site. The lead survivor curses and instructs his group to run; he tells Holly, Drew and Boy to join them if they want to live. Further shrieks convince the trio to join the group. Unseen, several shrieking figures enter the park, organized and angry.

Holly, Drew and Boy are led into a collapsed portion of the street where a small trench has formed. The group charge through it, while the trio are told to stay low by the young man with the scar. Behind them, the shrieks become louder and closer; the young man says the figures can smell their trail. Boy barks at the shrieks but is pulled back by Holly. The group emerges from the other side of the trench into an overgrown street torn apart by sinkholes and rushing water. The group jump over remaining sections of road and into a maze of partially collapsed buildings, the source of the shrieks not far behind. As they come to a second trench, a figure suddenly leaps from the darkness; as flashlights hit its skin, its true form becomes clear: a creature with pale, wrinkly skin, torn army fatigues and piercing black eyes. The creature shrieks and one of the survivors calls out in panic: "DARKDWELLER!". A hail of gunfire rings out as Holly, Drew and Boy duck away. The creature moans as the bullets pierce its skin and it falls back out of sight.

Back at the Fort, Henry wakes up yet again, bleeding and bruised with Liam standing over him, his knuckles bloody. Through his daze, Henry hears Bart expressing his disappointment and orders Henry be stood up. Two guards try to force Henry to his feet, but he cannot rise any further any on his knees. Bart smiles and says Henry is finally kneeling. He steps down from the stage and kisses Jane on the forehead, calling her his sister, before approaching Henry. He wipes blood from Henry's face and asks him if he is willing to die for his people. Henry is only able to nod, but Bart slaps him in response, saying that obviously isn't true or he would have willingly died at Liam's hands. He further says that it is not Liam's fault as he has seen many a man, woman and child die to Liam's fists. Bart adds that Henry has faced his punishment, and now must face the consequences of his actions. He instructs Henry to choose two members of his group to sacrifice.

Henry silently refuses by shaking his head, but Bart slaps him again. Henry begins to cry and tries to beg, but Bart grabs him by the cheeks and tells him no amount of begging will save him or his people, and if he doesn't choose he will start randomly shooting. Jane demands that Bart stop the madness, but Bart ignores her and orders Henry to pick. Several members of the group try to volunteer but the Innocents around them bash them with the butts of their rifles to shut them up. Henry is unable to choose as he cries and begs. Angered by Henry's indecisiveness, Bart randomly waves his gun over the heads of the group and fires, hitting Kate in the throat and splattering Emma in her blood. Kate falls backwards and begins to suffocate while Emma, having slipped her bounds, desperately tries to put pressure on the wound. She is stopped by Innocent soldiers who forcibly drag her off Kate's body and smack her, causing Henry to try to stand and fight, only for Liam to strike him in the solar plexus. As Kate's body is dragged away by soldiers, Bart prepares to shoot again; Justinas, crying and guarding Laika behind him, whistles a code to Henry and volunteers. Desperate, Henry tells Bart that he has chosen Justinas. Laika cries out in English as Justinas is dragged away onto the stage, while Bart reminds Henry that he has a second choice to make. Henry scans his group and spots Stephan, isolated from the others and ignoring a crying Emma, and picks him to Stephan's shock.

Justinas and Stephan are marched up onto the stage where Bart awaits. The two are seated at a wooden table dragged onto the stage as Bart removes a small revolver from his pocket. He opens the chamber and loads a single bullet before placing it onto the table. He instructs Justinas and Stephan to engage in a game of Russian roulette, or everyone else will die, starting with the children in the group. One of Bart's personal soldiers, Mikhail, steps forward and flips a coin into the air; Stephan calls heads, and it lands on tails, allowing Justinas to go first.

While Laika screams "Papa!", Justinas takes the gun and places it against his temple, crying as he pulls the trigger but keeping his eyes fixed on Stephan. The gun fails to fire and Justinas drops the gun on the table. Stephan takes the gun at gunpoint and reluctantly places it against his head, but again it fails to fire. Henry weakly asks for it to stop, but he is silenced by another punch from Liam.

In the trenches, Holly, Drew and Boy continue to follow the survivors, with Holly lagging behind. Drew asks the others to wait up as he goes back to help Holly, but he finds her vomiting into a pool of water with Boy comforting her. Drew tries to get her walking but she asks to stop, and Drew calls out for the others to wait. Drew helps Holly to her feet as she continues to retch; she then whispers that she believes she's pregnant.

Henry recuperates from the punch as Justinas picks up the revolver again. He casts a sorrowful look at Laika as he pulls the trigger and exhales sharply when it does not fire. Stephan refuses to take the gun and instead asks Bart if he can join his crew. Bart smiles that they'll have to see and points his gun at the group, ordering Stephan to take the revolver. Stephan does so; once more the revolver does not fire, giving both men just one more chance each. Justinas takes the revolver for the last time and gives his final look at the bruised, bloody and barely conscious Henry and gives a nod. He raises the revolver to his temple and fires. Henry lowers his head, unable to watch.

The gun does not fire. Justinas releases a stressed yelp as he drops the gun on the table, cursing in Russian. Bart smiles at Stephan, who once again refuses to pick up the revolver. In response, Bart says "fine" and fires randomly into the group. The bullet hits Bethany in the arm, causing her to drop baby Lawrence, who begins screaming. Justinas roars at Stephan to "pick up the fucking gun" and he is restrained by guards. A quivering Stephan picks up the revolver and inspects it, knowing full well that there are no more empty chambers left. He raises it to his temple and hesitates. His glare fixed on Justinas, Stephan removes the barrel from his head and points it at Justinas before firing.

The gun goes off, releasing smoke and a loud *BANG!*. Henry opens his one good eye and sees Justinas braced, the revolver pointed straight at him. To Justinas' shock, there is no entry wound. Stephan inspects the gun again and pulls the trigger a second time, but the chamber is empty. The two turn to look at Bart, who begins chuckling madly. The gathered Innocents slowly join in, erupting into a chorus of mocking laughter. Bart snatches the revolver from Stephan and reveals the casing inside: a blank. Henry screams in agony as the truth is revealed, causing the laughter to stop. Bart tauntingly asks if he is not entertained and congratulates Stephan on his ingenuity, telling him there is definitely a place in the Innocents for him. Stephan looks relieve and holds out his hand to shake. Bart instead places a hand on Stephan's shoulder and says there is just one problem: "I don't...like...*cowards*". Bart brings his pistol to Stephan's chest and pulls the trigger.

Stephan immediately falls backwards out of his chair and onto the stage, bleeding from his chest and coughing up blood as he slowly dies. Bart sees the look of horror on Henry's face and tells him that he did him a favour, as the two clearly had some disagreements. He then walks across the stage in front of Justinas and addresses the captive group: "Unfortunately...we're not done" he says as he brings his pistol around to Justinas, who flinches. Bart fires a single bullet, striking Justinas across his left cheek. Laika screams again as Justinas topples over, a portion of his left cheek carved away by the bullet.

"Now we're done!" Bart yells to a thunderous - but shocked - applause. Jane wrestles free of her guards and tries to help the bleeding - but still alive - Justinas. Bart ignores her as he rants about justice being served. Henry, his senses dulled by his brutal beating, whispers "I'm gonna kill you". One of the soldiers hears him whispering and calls Bart over. Bart jumps from the stage and approaches Henry, kneeling down to meet him at face level. He tells Henry to repeat what he said. Henry, despite his injuries, somehow manages to lift himself up, holding tense eye-contact with Bart:

"*You're* the weak one. *Fear* is your weapon. *You're a coward*" he says defiantly. Bart agrees mockingly as Henry continues breathlessly, his voice hoarse and dry, "I'm...*I'm gonna kill you*. I'm gonna make you *suffer*. I'm gonna make it *hurt*. Nothing...*NOTHING!*...can stop what's coming. *You're already dead*, understand? *Run*. *Hide*. *Beg*. *Pray*. Cause *nothing*, not your *army*, not your *walls*, not your great big mad attack dog can *save you!* Nothing can save you...*from me!"*

Bart's mocking smile slowly disappears as Henry speaks, and for the first time genuine fear appears to flicker in his otherwise cold and empty eyes. Henry smiles as Bart's bravado briefly slips. In response, Bart rises to his feet and places his pistol against Henry's forehead. As he applies pressure to the trigger, he realizes few Innocents are actually looking at him anymore, their laughter and taunts replaced with heads bowed in fear. With even Liam unable to meet his gaze, Bart holsters his pistol and orders Henry be taken to "the refrigerators" while the others are carted off to the Black Building. As his group are herded up and dragged to waiting trucks, Henry receives a final blow to the head, blacking out.

## Deaths

* Kate *(alive)* - shot in the throat by Bart Rhodes and died of suffocation and blood loss
* Stephan Lee *(alive)* - shot in the chest by Bart Rhodes

## Trivia

* First appearance of Gideon
* First appearance of Jane Rhodes
* First appearance of Mikhail
* Last appearance of Kate *(alive)*
* Last appearance of Stephan Lee *(alive)*
* This episode introduces creatures called darkdwellers.

 **Season 5: Remake** | "Blood" • "Rules" • "Dissent" • "The Game" • "The Coming Storm" • "Brotherhood" • "Call to Arms"