That Sweet Temptation

Solomon and Claire search a hospital. Marcus distances himself from the group. In need of more transportation, Ed leads a small party to search for vehicles.

You can read the transcript here.

## **Synopsis**

Solomon Reed and Claire Noble march down a path in the woods on their way to the hospital. To pass the time, Solomon and Claire talk about their pasts. Claire was a receptionist who found life boring, and she mentions how she lost her boyfriend after the apocalypse; sometime later she'd meet Wilbur Wright and decided to work with him. On the other hand, Solomon owned a strip club in Texas, and during the apocalypse he had joined a group, fought off a cult, and then fled Texas. The two of them eventually arrive outside the hospital, but are unable to get in the front because of a horde. Claire tries distracting them away, but it doesn't work, forcing them to go around the back of the building.

After making their way around back, Claire and Solomon clear five zombies through a fence before hopping over and trying the back entrance--but it's locked. In a risky move, Claire decides to smash open a window and use that as their entry way. They quietly climb through and begin exploring the hospital warily. While searching for a prosthetic arm for Solomon, Claire discovers through a medical report that there's one on the third floor. Slowly, they approach the stairwell door, and when Claire opens it, she lays eyes on thirty zombies clumped together. One of them immediately pushes out, blocking Claire from closing the door. She and Solomon turn around and book it through the halls, eventually coming to an out-of-service elevator with a hatch open above it. Lloyd Waller peaks his head through the hatch and reaches a hand down, telling them to climb up. With no other choice, Claire takes his hand and climbs up, and then Solomon does the same, with only seconds to spare as the zombies swarm the elevator below them. Claire thanks Lloyd and asks if he's alone, to which Lloyd confirms that he is. She then asks if there's a way up to the third floor from here. Looking up the elevator shaft, Lloyd asks "Well, can you climb?"

At the stadium, William Reynes gathers everybody into the pitch, with the only people missing being Daniel Rockwell, Isaac Moses and Edward Remar. William reestablishes the fact that they can't stay at the stadium, and that they'll be leaving Willamette sooner rather than later. He asks for any suggestions on where they should go, but nobody speaks up. After his speech, Austin Kingston approaches him to ask if they can stop at his bar before leaving town. William is interested, and tells Austin to speak with him afterwards to see if the trip would be worth it.

Towards the front entrance, Kate Bloodstone, Aldus Paxton, and Alex Weiss are clearing zombies. Kate notices that Alex seems to have calmed down since the mall, and believes him when he says that he's "totally different" now. As they continue clearing zombies, Kate notices Marcus Downes walking off far in the distance. Aldus decides to go after him to try and talk to him. Kate and Alex head back into the stadium, leaving the rest of the zombies. Sitting down, Kate tells Alex that she wishes she could help Marcus. "You can't help someone that doesn't want help," Alex replies. "It's as simple as that." Still, Kate worries that Marcus is endangering himself by leaving the stadium, but Alex assures her he'll be fine.

Inside the stadium, William and Austin are in a hallway discussing what was so important at Austin's bar. Austin claims that there's food and ammunition he kept stored in the back. As William is questioning how transportable it is, Ed Anderson comes walking over, properly introducing himself to William and then telling him that he was planning to go out and search for transportation in order to fit the entire group when they leave. Austin decides to tag along with Ed and stop at his bar during the trip. As Austin and Ed walk off to get ready, William sees Jared Kellings approaching him. To his surprise, Jared actually apologizes for the way he's been acting, even admitting that he deserved the beating from Jon Matthews. William nods slowly and accepts his apology, but lets Jared know that he needs to start pulling his own weight.

In the parking lot, Ed is surveying the current vehicle the group has. Randall Forster suddenly appears behind him, startling him. When Randall learns about where Ed and Austin are going, he opts to join them. Walking over to them, Jon tells them he's going as well. Randall worries that Jon might not be in the right state of mind after Angela Jaegar's death, but Jon claims to be fine. As they begin getting into one of the two cars they have, Ed explains that they'll be stopping at Austin's bar to collect some things, which Jon takes as Austin going to collect his alcohol; Randall agrees with him. Just then, Austin comes wandering over and gets into the car with them. Ed then drives off.

On the pitch, Clyde Rollins finds Edward sitting alone. He walks up to him, wondering where he had been during William's meeting earlier, and he relays what was said about leaving Willamette. He asks if Edward is going to stay with them when they leave, and Edward admits that he doesn't feel like he belongs. However, Clyde tells him he's wrong, explaining that everyone here suffered because of Damerae Badrick just like him; it brought everyone together. He even reminds Edward that it was because of Badrick that the two of them became best friends. Edward nods, realizing Clyde is right, and decides on staying with the group. Switching topics, Edward points out how well Clyde and Claire were getting along at the school, and Clyde confesses that he's starting to like her, and hopes she returns to the stadium okay. Edward nods slowly as Clyde gets up to go keep a lookout for her and Solomon.

On a rural road some distance from the stadium, Daniel and Isaac are heading towards the site where Grant Carver was killed, hoping to find Lolida Windfield there, who hadn't been seen since the battle with the Rastas. Soon, they arrive there, and as expected, Lolida is there, having just finished burying Grant into the ground. Daniel approaches his friend, letting him know that they beat Badrick, and that Nathaniel Shepard was dead as well. Remaining by Grant's grave, Lolida questions where they went wrong, and Daniel says that Grant's death was because of Nathaniel. Isaac agrees, backing Daniel up in saying that there was no way he could have known Badrick would kill Grant. Lolida stumbles into the ground, tears welling in his eyes. Isaac helps him back up as Daniel tells him to escort Lolida back to the stadium. As they walk off, Daniel stays next to Grant's grave, apologizing for not listening to him earlier for his concerns about Nathaniel's delusional state.

Back in the stadium, Kate is talking with William in the cafeteria. She questions how William felt after Jacob Feldman's death, and he says he mostly felt guilty, and thought that distancing himself would make things better. He guesses correctly when asking if the question had to do with Marcus, and Kate says she's worried about him. She mentions how she told Marcus she loved him for the first time, yet he did not say it back. William reassures her that he does love her, and that he'll try and talk to him when he can. Benjamin Taylor comes walking in, intruding in on their conversation. Taking a seat next to William, Benjamin recalls what William said about leaving Willamette. Curious as to why Benjamin is bringing it back up, he asks if he has a suggestion for where they could go. "There's something I should talk about," Benjamin says. "It's about the outbreak... and how it all started."

Claire and Lloyd struggle as they climb up the elevator shaft. Solomon watches from below, unable to go with them--because he only has one hand. Eventually, they reach the third floor safely. Claire begins leading Lloyd towards the room with the prosthetic arm, and on the way they introduce each other. Claire wonders how Lloyd, as young as he is, was able to survive on his own, but Lloyd doesn't wanna talk about it. Pretty soon, Lloyd finds the prosthetic arm.

They return back to Solomon and drop him the arm, which he quickly fits into place. Using the new arm, Solomon begins climbing up the elevator shaft carefully. Meanwhile, Claire tells Lloyd that they're going to be going back to their group at a stadium, and that he's welcome to come along. When Solomon makes it to the third floor, they begin looking for a way back down. Knowing that most of the zombies would have cleared out of the stairwell by now, they decide to take the stairs. As expected, the stairwell is relatively clear, but there are still a few stragglers, which the three of them easily clear out. They soon reach the first floor and bolt down the hallway back to the smashed window they came in front.

After climbing out the window and making it a good distance from the hospital, Claire thanks Lloyd for his help and asks him whether or not he'll be joining them. Hesitantly, Lloyd decides to go with them.

On a road outside the stadium, Marcus grapples with a lone zombie, before killing it with his knife. He then slumps down next to a tree, just sitting there. Aldus approaches him from nearby, sitting beside a tree opposite him. Marcus is angered when he sees Aldus, stating that he was completely fine. Aldus senses otherwise, and tells Marcus that they need to stick together. He says that Fraser Stiller and Zac Barnes wouldn't want him to be acting like this, and reminds him that Kate still loves him. Marcus sighs, telling him that he just didn't want to be mourning in front of everyone, which is why he came out here. Continuing, he regrets closing Kate out, and says that he wants to go back and talk with her, but that he doesn't think he can. Knowing that the men who killed Fraser and Zac were dead leaves Marcus in a confusing place, as they can't be avenged, but that they can be honoured, which Aldus completely agrees with. He implores Marcus to come back and talk with Kate, which Marcus finally agrees to do. They both stand up, and Marcus thanks Aldus.

Far from the stadium, Ed, Austin, Randall, and Jon are heading out of town in search of a large vehicle to fit the group. When Randall questions Austin for what he's really going back to his bar for, a nervous Austin says that he's only going to have a little bit of alcohol. Soon, Ed goes up a long driveway, eventually stumbling across a large hunting manor. They drive through an open gate, which Jon finds concerning, but nevertheless, Ed parks the car and gets out. Around the corner, Ed finds an RV parked outside the garage. Ed excitedly approaches the vehicle and starts looking at its condition. Meanwhile, Jon goes off to deal with some nearby zombies, while Austin and Randall go inside the manor to search.

Inside the manor, Austin and Randall split up, with Randall searching upstairs, while Austin explores the first floor. While looking around, Austin discovers a bar room packed with alcohol. A huge smile dawns across his face as he forgets about clearing the rest of the floor, and immediately starts drinking.

Around ten minutes later, Randall finds Austin drunk out of his mind in the bar. He looks on, annoyed at the state of Austin. He tells Austin that he needs to take a break, but the drunk ignores his comment, walking over to an old rifle hung up on the wall. Randall tells him that he can admire it, but not use it. Grunting in annoyance, Austin agrees, stepping away from the gun. Randall says he's going to go check up on Ed, and warns Austin to take it easy. As soon as Randall leaves, Austin goes right back over to the gun on the wall and takes it into his hands. He glances through a nearby window, seeing zombies shuffling around, and grins.

Outside, Jon is clearing a few zombies in the backyard, when he suddenly hears a voice in his head telling him, "Good one, darling." He rubs his eyes, shrugging off the voice and continuing to clear zombies.

Around the front of the manor, Ed confirms to Randall that RV is in working condition, and that he even found the key to the vehicle. Nearby, Ed notices a few zombies slowly pushing their way out of a large hedge. After killing them, Ed realizes that there are zombies trapped in the hedges all the way around the property. Ed knows that any loud noise would wake up every zombie, and he says they should take the RV and leave quietly while they can. Randall's eyes widen as he remembers something: "Austin," he says. The quiet atmosphere breaks as a gunshot rings out nearby.

## **Cast**

#### **Starring**

* Jon Matthews
* William Reynes
* Edward Remar
* Clyde Rollins
* Randall Forster
* Kate Bloodstone
* Marcus Downes
* Benjamin Taylor
* Austin Kingston
* Aldus Paxton

#### **Also Starring**

* Daniel Rockwell
* Jared Kellings
* Solomon Reed
* Lloyd Waller
* Claire Noble
* Angela Jaegar *(Hallucination, Voice Only)*

#### **Guest Starring**

* Isaac Moses
* Layton Zimmers
* Lolida Windfield
* Alex Weiss
* Ed Anderson