In Harm's Way (Remake)

**"In Harm's Way"** is the fourth episode of *Season 2: Remake* of *Strain Zero*, the remake of *The Walking Dead by EDStudios*. It is the ninth episode of the series overall.

## Plot

*Forced to work together, two groups with different goals and destinations flee a common - and dangerous - threat. Revelations are made high in the cold mountains.*

## Synopsis

Several miles from Hometown, finally clear of the herd, the two allied groups rest by a road. While the rest of the group relaxes by the fire, Carl checks the unconscious and severely wounded Henry. As night falls, Carl returns with the prognosis: although Henry will survive his injuries and his eye is undamaged, his face is severely scarred and he may have sustained brain damage. He remarks it could have been far worse had Henry not stabbed Stoffman and weakened him. The group then discuss what they can do for him; Stephan, an outspoken member of Drew's group, argues that they need to leave Henry behind for their own safety, adding that carrying Henry will slow them down, allowing "him" to catch them. Justinas strongly argues back, reminding the group that Henry almost died making sure they all escaped Hometown, so they all owe him their aid. When Stephan shouts that their debt was repaid simply by carrying Henry out of Hometown, Drew shouts at them to shut up in case they draw walkers. He then orders Carl to continue tending to Henry until he wakes up, after which he is on his own. Drew leaves to patrol the area when Becky says she can feel her baby kicking, and Holly rests at Henry's side alongside his dog, Boy.

The next morning, the group continues moving away from the herd, which according to Drew is heading in their direction. Still carrying Henry, the group begins to climb into the foothills of the Sylvania Mountains. That evening, Justinas guards the still unconscious Henry and thanks him for everything, apologising for hesitating at Hometown. Henry unexpectedly stirs and whispers that no apology is needed, drawing Holly and Emma over to him. Their joy is broken by Stephan, who strictly sticks to Drew's words from yesterday; however, Carl refuses to stop his care and continues to tend to Henry with Drew's permission.

More days pass as the group climbs higher into the mountains, eventually encountering snow. Henry slowly gets his strength back; with Justinas' help, he is able to get to his feet and walk with support. Carl gives him a bandage to wear over his swollen head. The group camp in a forest clearing, where Henry is able to walk unaided. Believing nobody to be watching, he silently undresses into a spare set of clothes with his back turned to the fire; Emma and Holly see him and finally see the full range of Henry's scars, bruises and burns, including the vast range he sustained from the dog pack and the battle in Hometown. Henry feels them starring at him, but remains silent. Resting by the fire, he asks Drew why they are heading into the mountains, as well as how they came across Holly and Emma. When he adds that they owe him an explanation, Drew and his people finally spill their secret.

The group all hail from the same community, a small safe-zone called Sanctuary in the city where they grew up. Sanctuary was led by Harold Carter, an honour student and Drew's best friend. They were safe for a year until a group of squatters moved into several houses within the safe-zone. Petty conflicts quickly evolved into arguments over food, medicine and other supplies; negotiations were destroyed when Harold's younger brother, William, violently and publically murdered the squatter chief, igniting an all-out war between the two groups. The group was forced into the wilderness; when the squatters ran out of food, they began hunting the group. Months later, Harold was killed after a zombie bit him; with his final words, he gave the group his blessing to abandon William if he ever put them in danger again. Sure enough, William's recklessness and violence led to the group becoming surrounded by walkers in an abandoned factory; however, the group were able to escape, but not without Drew stabbing William in the face with an arrow. The group continued moving north and discovered William had not only survived but had taken charge of the remaining squatters, assembling a convoy of vehicles that enslaved other survivors. Although they managed to avoid him for months, they were finally caught by him in Iron Mountain State Forest. With the help of Holly and Emma, however, they were able to escape and eventually made it to Hometown. Drew concludes that Henry knows the rest.

Recognising details in the story, Henry reveals he too has met William Carter and killed several of his bandits during his trek to find Holly and Emma, and he also considers Carter an enemy. Deciding to stick together for mutual protection, the two groups head further into the mountains. The following evening, they come across a ski resort; while Drew and his group check it out, Henry assembles his group and tells them they need a plan. He reveals his discovery of the relay station in the forest and of "Greencole", including the fact that "Greencole" continued to remain active a whole three weeks after the outbreak, meaning that there is a small chance that the area remains safe. While they discuss the details - including the fact that "Greencole" is at least 1000 miles away - Holly brings up that Henry should invite Drew and his people to join them. Shouts are then heard coming from the ski lodge; checking it out, Henry discovers Drew's group locked in an argument with the survivors inside the lodge. Deciding to intervene, Henry is stunned to discover one of the lodge survivors is Ben, believed to have died by suicide on the train a year ago. Recognising each other, the two men embrace, quickly followed by a reunion between Ben, Holly, Emma and Justinas. With the argument settled, Ben invites the group inside and introduces the other survivors: Terry, Kate and Joshua, who is confined to a wheelchair.

Joshua invites the group to dinner; at their table by the fire, Ben reveals his story: despite sustaining severe injuries from his jump, he survived his suicide attempt, much to his own shock. Crawling from the ditch in which he had landed, Ben managed to limp along the train tracks until he found a station. Taking shelter inside an abandoned house, he slowly healed from his wounds before driving the short distance to Port Collier. Although he found the train that the group had used, he saw only smoke covering the city. Assuming his friends were dead, Ben took the train further along the tracks until it ran out of fuel completely. Treking on foot, he somehow ended up in the mountains, where he encountered Terry, Joshua and Kate in the ski resort. Accepted into their fold, Ben developed a new lease on life thanks to the paralysed Joshua, who had managed to remain alive and upbeat despite his inability to walk. He expresses regret for his suicide attempt and listens to the others as they each reveal what has happened in the past year, including the fact that they are being chased by bandits. Nonetheless, Ben invites both groups to stay and rest.

After dinner and a shower, the group are shown to their rooms by Ben and Joshua. In his room, Henry finds a battered guitar; deciding to play after so many years, he plays an acoustic rendition of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" as it begins to snow outside. He is interrupted by Holly, who complements his singing and playing. The two awkwardly exchange compliments and questions about their well-being until Holly says it is cold in her room. When Henry offers literal solutions, a frustrated Holly asks if she has to spell everything out for him. Although Henry catches on, he asks why him; Holly walks up to him and says she wants this, but Henry demands that she look at him. Holly says she doesn't care about his scars, but Henry repeats to look at him. He then admits everything he did to find Holly and Emma, justifying almost anything by telling himself he was doing it for the right reasons. He calls himself a monster, a description Holly quickly refutes by saying she doesn't consider him a monster, nor does Emma. She asks him if he wants this; when he remains silent, Holly decides to leave. Before she walks out, however, Henry summons her back and passionately kisses her, admitting he only wants her. Next door, Carl stops reading his book and listens as they have sex.

On the balcony outside, David smokes a cigarette and introduces himself to Bethany, a quiet member of Drew's group. He offers to share his cigarette, which she accepts. Bethany admits that she has few survival skills and has relied on the others the entire time, while David claims that he followed Stoffman from the start and that Henry was the first to actually consider him an equal. Both wanting a distraction for the evening, they finish their cigarette and have sex in Bethany's room.

In their room, Drew and Becky have an argument over Drew distancing himself from her; it is revealed that Becky's baby may not be Drew's, and it is hinted that Becky was raped by William Carter. Becky realizes that Drew blames her for not defending herself and slaps him. Drew appears to fight back, but stops himself and leaves. In the lounge, Justinas and Ben share a bottle of rum and catch-up; Justinas says that, although the two never really spoke, he always considered Ben to be very brave and reveals that he knew how to treat his burns by overhearing Ben as he read a medical journal aloud.

Henry wakes up at dawn and decides to smoke a cigarette on the balcony, where he finds Drew carefully watching the horizon. Henry thanks Drew for everything his group has done to help Holly and Emma, while Drew replies with thanks of his own. Henry comments about Becky's pregnancy, but Drew shortly asks that the subject not be brought up. Henry then brings up his group's plan to cross the mountains and head west to "Greencole" and invites Drew and his lot to accompany them. Drew declines and says they will be heading north, maybe towards Canada, having learned not to trust strangers, "even the friendly ones". Henry replies that the offer is still open and for Drew to think about it, just before they both notice several bright lights in the distance. Panicked, Drew says that "they" have found them and rushes back inside.

Banging on the doors, Henry and Drew wake everyone up; Henry tells everyone to prepare for a fight, while Drew tells them to prepare to run. The pair briefly argue over their differing tactics until Joshua says that Terry has not returned from a hunt. Ben decides to head out and find him, and Henry, Boy and David agree to join him. As the four of them head out into the snow, the others blow out all the candles and board up the windows of the lodge to make it look abandoned. However, a large group of walkers, thought to be a split from the Hometown herd, emerges from the trees and begin banging on the windows and doors. Realizing the walkers will draw attention to the lodge, Drew leads a small team outside to clear them; they quickly become overwhelmed and resort to using their guns, creating further noise. Emma sneaks out to help and kills two walkers with her Glock.

Meanwhile, down the mountain, Ben, Henry, David and Boy find a wounded Terry limping back towards the lodge; once he spots them, he shouts at them to run just before a hail of gunfire cuts him down. Taking cover, the four watch as several vehicles approach from the path, firing randomly towards the lodge. Up the mountain, the others are forced to take cover as the lodge is peppered with bullets. Although the walkers are killed, the group are forced to surrender as the heavily-armed bandit convoy arrives at the lodge, surrounding it. William Carter reveals himself and taunts Drew about Becky's child. Angered, Drew spits at Carter's feet and comments about his face injury; in response, Carter raises his shotgun and shoots Drew's friend Gareth in the stomach, killing him. Carter orders his soldiers to bind the group, and is even able to quell Justinas when he threatens to kill Becky. Carter recognises Holly and demands to know where Emma is; outside, Emma avoids the bandits and meets Henry, Ben, David and Boy in the bushes. She reports what's happened as the five of them move toward the lodge to devise a plan.

Inside, Carter continues to demand Emma's location, revealing that she caused trouble during her captivity and wants her to serve as a soldier. Holly lies and says that Emma died; seconds later, one of the bandits is killed by a gunshot to the head. From outside, Henry demands that the bandits stand down, otherwise Carter is next. Carter laughs in response and orders his men to cover him; while he men fire in Henry's direction, Carter selects a random captive and chooses Joshua. Wheeling him out to the centre of the lounge, he drags Joshua from his wheelchair and shoves him onto the roaring fire.

William demands that those outside surrender, otherwise more captives will die. Ben, overcome by the loss of Terry and Joshua, begs Henry to stand down. Henry turns to David, telling him to take Boy and run before whispering a plan in his ear. David reluctantly agrees and flees with Boy into the trees, while Henry and Ben surrender. Forced inside the lodge, Henry is recognised by Carter, who tells him he will be punished for all of the bandits he killed. The bandits then place black bags over the heads of the group and force them into several trucks before the convoy drives down the mountain.

## Characters

### Main

* Henry Edwards
* Holly Parker
* Emma Goode
* Justinas Garin
* Ben Appleby
* Drew Stanton
* Becky Grace
* Carl McKenzie
* Bethany
* David
* William Carter

### Supporting

* Leyton Jones
* Stephan Lee
* Joshua
* Terry
* Kate

## Deaths

* Terry
* Gareth
* Joshua
* 1 unnamed bandit

## Trivia

* This episode features the return of Ben Appleby, who was presumed to have died by suicide in "*A Long Road Ahead*".

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

1. ↑ Ben returns in *"**In Harm's Way***", having survived his suicide attempt in "*A Long Road Ahead*"