A Long Road Ahead (Remake)

**"A Long Road Ahead"** is the third episode of *Season 1: Remake* of *Strain Zero*, the remake of *The Walking Dead by EDStudios.* It is the third episode of the series overall.

## Plot

*Faced with two agonizing choices, the group devise a desperate plan.*

## Synopsis

Eight months have passed since the events on Andre's farm, marking one year since the global outbreak. Since their confrontation with the Family, the Clarkson Survivors have been living off the canned food they recovered from the farm, but once again are running low. Despite seemingly being the only survivors remaining in Renton, every house and street appears to be cleaned out. Jess' pregnancy has advanced significantly, and she is in her final few weeks.

Henry, Sarah and Ben decide to go out on a supply run to a collapsing supermarket, cutting forward to the prologue of "*It Begins*". Trapped beneath a helicopter blade, Henry shouts to Sarah and Ben and tells them to leave him. He is almost caught off guard by a walker, but is able to pierce its stomach with his hatchet before stabbing it in the head with a small knife. Covered in the walker's blood, Henry is able to crawl out from under the helicopter blade and prepares to attack the other walkers around him. Strangely, however, they ignore him and don't appear to even know he is there. Taking his chance, Henry evades a couple of runners and flees outside, still covered in foul-smelling blood.

Making his way back through the streets, Henry sees Sarah and Ben up ahead, pursued by runners while other walkers continue to ignore him. Theorizing that the walker blood covering him is masking his scent, Henry is able to move among the dead and slowly kill them one by one. When he finally reaches Sarah and Ben, however, Henry collapses to the ground in pain, having fractured several ribs when he fell.

Waking up back at the school, Henry is cared for by Holly, who wraps bandages around his torso to apply some compression. While Holly gives her prediction for Jess' due date, Henry changes into his cleaned and ruined clothes before hearing an argument outside his room. Investigating, he finds Alex and Sarah once more at odds, with Alex claiming that they should have left the school a long time ago and it is time that they leave Renton for what they believe is a safe-zone 100 miles away in the state capital of Port Collier; Sarah advocates for them staying put and perhaps attracting other survivors to build a community inside the school.

In pain, Henry once more excuses himself from the discussion. After taking a nap, he decides to walk the school grounds, where he discovers a large group of walkers has breached the fence. Noticing nobody is on guard, Henry rushes back into the school and orders everyone to pack up, the herd being too big to defend against. Inside, he finds everyone has fallen asleep and hastily wakes them, ordering them to collect supplies. Shocked at the danger, the group mobilise and collect various medical supplies, weapons and other essential items.

Justinas radios Henry, telling them a large group of walkers has breached the hasily-repaired hole on the western side of the school. Rushing over, Henry finds James and Daniel carrying fuel cans full of food and water, pursued by walkers. Daniel, panicked by the dead, rushes up to the roof, with walkers, Henry and James in pursuit. The two are too late, however, and find Daniel on the roof, several walkers biting his body. Although they kill the walkers, they remember that a bite is certain death. Before Henry can calm Daniel down, however, James coldly shoots Daniel, his ward, in the head, saying it is for his own good. The two then realize why Daniel fled to the roof: they discover Emma hidden behind an air duct, having been playing on the roof and just having witnessed Daniel's demise. James attempts to comfort Emma, but she acts cold towards him. Henry shouts to them that they have to move, forcing James to carry Emma downstairs. The group evacuate the school, which has become flooded with the dead, and flee into downtown Renton.

After hours searching for a suitable hideout, they stumble upon their old student residence and seal themselves inside. Overcome with grief over Daniel and the loss of their home, the group splits up for some private time. Henry discovers a dog in a neighbouring garden and shoots it upon discovering that it has eaten its own puppies to survive. He is found by Alex, and Henry finally decides that the group need to abandon Renton and head for whatever safe-zone that may exist in Port Collier.

Alex tearfully and reluctantly confesses that he sabotaged the school fence, as he wanted to demonstrate that the group could not take on a larger group of undead and would struggle to defend the school; for good measure, he drugged everyone's water so they could not stop the walkers attacking. He adds he never intended for them to lose anyone and that everyone needed to see his point. A rageful Henry grabs Alex by the collar and shoves him to the ground, growling that Daniel's death was his fault, as is the death of anyone else. However, he agrees to keep Alex's secret as any more grief could tear the group apart for good.

The group gathers in the living room that evening to debate their plan. Although Sarah suggests that the group make their way to Andre's farm and try to rebuild it, James reminds her that they burned it down. Henry then says that they are going to Port Collier, the origin of the emergency broadcast. With Jess' due date close, they decide to cut the journey time by taking a train from Renton to Port Collier. They plan to leave early in the morning, splitting into teams to gather anything that could be of use before all heading to the train station.

The next morning at first light, Henry and James head into downtown Renton and search through every building they find. James asks Henry if he really thinks this plan could work, to which Henry says that they have no other choice and will slowly starve to death if they stay in Renton. James then suddenly says that from now on he is only looking out for Emma and himself, with everyone else just providing safety in numbers. Henry angrily says that they have to stick together and, ultimately, Jess and her child are the priority. When James insults Jess, Henry accuses James of using Emma as an emotional lifeline, to which James briefly raises his rifle at Henry. Henry punches James across the jaw and the two begin wrestling on the ground, with Henry ultimately coming out on top. A bruised and bloodied James tearfully hints that he spent time in a psychiatric ward as a child and is now having "dark thoughts" that he is afraid of acting on. Henry promises James that he will look out for him before helping him to his feet.

Reunited with their group at the train station, they discover mountains of corpses, presumably the students that were evacuated from the school a year ago. They suddenly come under attack by gunfire: the few remaining Chester Woods Bandits have followed them and vow to kill them for their actions eight months ago. Although the group are able to kill the bandits - with Justinas, Ben and Aaron taking their first lives - Sarah is caught by surprise and bitten on the leg by a walker. Henry carries her inside the train station and resolves to amputate her leg to prevent the spread of the infection. With Sarah's permission, the others hold her down while Henry removes her leg with his hatchet.

Several hours later, having rested, the group begin their long walk along the train tracks in search of a locomotive. Working in shifts to carry Sarah, progress is slow and they camp for two nights on the side of the empty tracks. On the third day, however, Henry spots a train in the distance and the group hurries over. They arrive to find the train mostly derailed, having collided with traffic; they find the locomotive and two train cars intact, however, and decide to get it moving. While the others rest, Henry, Aaron and Ben - a train enthusiast - investigate the train and discover a lone survivor inside, a fidgety man with a guitar named Liam. After Liam gifts Jess some of his rations, the others allow him to rest with them.

Henry and Aaron siphon diesel from nearby cars to partially fill the train's diesel engine, and after several failed attemps due to the diesel's age the train engine finally starts. Before they climb aboard, however, Sarah tells the group that she can feel herself dying and she wants to be killed so as to no longer be a burden. Despite their arguments, Sarah does not change her mind and asks to be shot so she does not reanimate. Henry volunteers and carries her into the woods, where they have a final conversation about the kiss they shared back on the farm before Henry places the gun to her head. The others hear a gunshot and watch as Henry walks back, refusing to speak of Sarah and giving Alex a glare. Climbing aboard, the group rams the train through the crashed vehicles, now fast on their way to Port Collier.

With fuel low and the brakes damaged, the group are forced to run the train at low speed. Henry leaves the cab when he hears crashing waves and joins Justinas on the roof of the locomotive. The two have a conversation wherin Justinas thanks Henry for all the risks and sacrifices he has made as leader, and says he will continue to follow Henry because he believes that he is their best hope for survival. He finally agrees with Henry that they have to do anything they can to survive, even if that means killing others, and that Henry was right from the start, calling him a soldier and a warrior. While they talk, they spot Holly walking to the front of the locomotive and sit down; Justinas gestures to her, encouraging Henry to speak to her.

Meanwhile, in the front train car, Alex and Jess sit and discuss their unborn child. They struggle to agree on a name, but Alex assures her that he will be there for her and confesses that he still loves her. Jess does not answer and simply hugs him tight, thanking him for his bravery. Alex hides his guilt-ridden face from her before bursting into sobs.

At the front of the train, Henry greets Holly and sits beside her. She asks how his chest is and Henry says he has barely noticed the pain because of everything that has happened. She inquires about James' bruised face, but Henry brushes it off and asks about Jess. Holly reveals that Jess is further along than previously thought and could go into labour within a matter of days, making it imperative that they find somewhere safe for her to give birth and raise her child. Holly also admits that she quite liked the sound of Sarah's idea to turn the school into a community. Henry expresses hope that, somewhere, such an idea has been made into a reality: a community of people, working together, accepting outsiders as one of their own to create a beacon of hope in the new world.

Holly asks how Henry has remained so hopeful despite everything, to which Henry says that he credits it to the hope that Jess and her child offer to humanity, but also to Holly: "brave healers that provide a light in the darkness, ridding woes and pains". Holly asks where that is from, and Henry replies that he once made it up in a literature class. Holly brands him a dork before they share a kiss, and the two sit in silence, watching the landscape around them.

The train continues at a relatively slow pace across Sylvania, and day turns to night. Henry is stationed once more in the cab of the locomotive when he hears an argument over the noise; Emma stomps into the cab followed by James, who continues to shout at her. He says he will not lose her like he lost Daniel; in response, Emma spits at him she doesn't want to be protected and wants to look out for herself. Henry cuts in and James says that Emma wants to learn how to shoot a gun, which he refuses to show her. Henry argues that Emma is right: she should be able to defend herself, especially now that they have no home to flee to. James puts his face up to Henry and says "you do it" before storming off to the front of the train. Henry sighs and shakes his head before leading Emma to the rear car.

Henry loads his Glock with a spare clip before passing it to Emma and drawing a rough circular target on the opposite wall with a sharpie. He instructs Emma to aim for the centre of the circle, to keep her elbows loose, and to not be afraid of either the gun or the target. While she aims, she asks why James didn't want to show this to her; Henry sighs and responds that he is just worried for her and still sees her as a kid, while Henry does not. He continues to encourage her by promising to treat her as an equal, and Emma is able to fire three consecutive shots on target. Henry congratulates her and informs her to always aim for the head, be that human or walker. Emma hugs Henry and squeezes his fractured ribs. They are interrupted by Ben, drawn by the noise, who also congratulates Emma and gifts him his own Glock 22.

In the cab, Henry and Aaron decide to stop the train so as to allow the engine to cool, and to give the others a rest from the noise. Using wood pallets they find in the back of the train, the group build a fire in the rear car and huddle around it. They share stories about their favourite walker kills and drink from Justinas' secret stash. Aaron asks Liam to tell them about himself, and Liam reveals that he travelled with another group "for a while" until they abandoned him, leaving him alone to live on the train. He confesses that he has killed before, but that he had "good reason". He then plays the group a song on his battered guitar, an acoustic rendition of New Order's "True Faith", that even Justinas sings along to. For the first time in a year, they each realize that they are truly happy. Their joy is cut short when a walker appears in the open doorway, attracted by both the music and their laughter. Cutting festivities short, they decide to rest. Henry takes up watchman shifts with Justinas and falls asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

The next morning, the group discover the train surrounded by walkers, who are unable to climb up and attack them. They decide to continue their journey to Port Collier; in the front car, Henry, Holly, James and Aaron sort out what supplies they could offer to any survivors in Port Collier to secure entry to the safe-zone. Unbenknownst to them, Ben has secluded himself in the rear car to scratch his favourite lyrics - "*Swing from high to deep, extremes of sweet and sour. Hope that God exists,* *I hope, I pray*" - into the floor with his knife before leaping from the moving train car.

Noticing Ben's absence, Henry decides to investigate the rear cab and finds the note, as well as Ben's hunting knife. Realizing what has happened, Henry collapses to his knees and screams in agony, punching the hard floor repeatedly. Holly attempts to comfort him but he throws her off, having finally reached his emotional breaking point. He begins pacing madly before standing on the edge of the doorway. He asks Aaron to stop the train so they can fetch Ben's body, but Holly is able to break through to him that they don't have time. Henry desperately tries to convince them and collapses once more onto his knees, sobbing as Holly hugs him. Alex steps forward to offer an explanation for Ben's decision, but Henry roars at him to shut up, barely able to stop himself from revealing Alex's secret.

Some time passes and once more Henry sits in the locomotive, head in his hands, looking over Ben's hunting knife. Aaron enters the cab and speaks to him; Henry does not hear him and simply says that he is fine. Aaron suddenly raises his voice, demanding to know how Henry can be "fine" given everything that has happened, and laments that, if Henry has reached his breaking point, everyone else can't have long before they break down too. Henry stands up, apologises for how he was and says that they need to focus on Jess and the child now. Aaron agrees before he asks what is going on between him and Alex. Instead of answering, Henry looks past Aaron and beckons behind him. Together, they finally see the city of Port Collier in the distance.

## Characters

### Main

* Henry Edwards
* Holly Parker
* James Cottingham
* Sarah Terringham
* Justinas Garin
* Aaron Dayal
* Alex Sutton
* Jess Black
* Ben Appleby
* Emma Colton
* Daniel Miller

## Deaths

* Daniel Miller - bitten repeatedly by zombies and shot in the head by James to prevent reanimation
* Sarah Terringham - bitten on the leg by a walker, later shot in the head by Henry to prevent reanimation

## Trivia

* First appearance of Liam
* First appearance *(in Strain Zero continuity)* of Port Collier
* First (and last) of the train
* Last appearance of Daniel Miller
* Last appearance of Sarah Terringham