Saturday, May 24, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
KEEP RUNNING Soundtrack, Vol. 1
01. "I Had Me A Girl" by The Civil Wars
02. "I Got A Name" by Jim Croce
03. "Antarctica" by The Bled
04. "Civilian" by Wye Oak
05. "Serpents (Basement)" by Sharon Van Etten
06. "Lead Me Home" by Jamie N Commons
07. "The Last Pale Light In The West" by Ben Nichols
08. "Real Love (iTunes Session Version)" by Beach House
09. "Django" by Luis Bacalov & Rocky Roberts
10. "Tautou" by Brand New
11. "All Through The Night" by Sleeping At Last
12. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash
13. "Sleeping Sickness" by City And Colour
14. "Live A Lie" by thenewno2 (Feat. Regina Spektor)
15. "Losing Sleep (Acoustic)" by Charlotte Sometimes
16. "I Will Still Be Dead" by Damien Jurado
17. "Break" by Rebecca Roubion (Feat. Jake Etheridge)
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Season 01, Episode 11: "Break"
*The scene opens to show Jace back in the forest. He is reliving that scene as Marcus talks to him.*
"What happened last night? Did you have another nightmare?" asks Marcus.
The view circles around Jace as we see trees full of walkers. The crows perched on their corpses as they stare Jace down.
"Yes."
The crows start to caw and fly away. Some start circling Jace.
"Was it bad?"
We get a close up at Ben hanging from the tree, snarling at Jace.
"Yes."
The walkers start to reach out and wriggle around the branches, growling and reaching out for Jace.
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
The crows suddenly take flight, and start to head towards Jace, attacking him.
"Not unless you can change the past."
*The scene cuts out.*
"I Will Still Be Dead" by Damien Jurado
*The scene changes to show Jace traveling down the road during the day by himself. The streets are littered with abandoned cars, garbage, blood, guts, and the occasional corpse. Jace holds his crossbow close as he ventures down the road. He rubs his face, his cut has just about all but healed up. Jace pulls an item out of his pocket again, looking at it. We can't make out what it is, but he grips it tightly, kisses his hand while holding it, then puts it back into his pocket as he walks on down the road.
We see Marcus and Julie gathering supplies, collecting food, gathering some weapons, axes, shovels, etc. They are rummaging through different abandoned houses, collecting what they can. We get a close up of Marcus' face, the cut that he suffered at the hands of Jace is almost entirely gone. Marcus pauses for a second and looks over at Julie as she rummages through some drawers. "Why don't you go see if you can find something fun upstairs," says Marcus. Julie smiles and pulls out her knife. Marcus smiles and nods to Julie.
Julie ventures upstairs and goes from room to room. She stumbles upon a room with pink walls, rainbow posters, and a rocking horse. Julie smiles and enters the room. She lays on the bed and hugs a stuffed bear. She then jumps off of the bed and gets on the rocking horse. Julie's smile fades away as she stares off into the corner. There, lays the corpse of a little girl in a blue sun dress, a single gunshot wound to her head. Blood is splattered all over the wall, staining the pink wallpaper. Julie gets off the rocking horse and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her, a single tear falling down her cheek.
We cut back to Jace. He suddenly stops as we get a shot from the side, as the view goes behind Jace, to show him standing in front of a Toys R Us. Jace quickly runs into the store. Jace makes his way past the double doors that are now broken, holding his crossbow out. The store seems to be abandoned, the floor still stained with blood from when he shot the Aces & Eights member in the head. Jace goes into the back room. He holds his crossbow out and secures the room. The chains still attached to the wall, the counter where Alexa was tied down is covered in blood. Jace kneels down and starts to cry. Jace notices his hat still on the counter, picks it up and puts it on. Jace gets up and notices a message on the wall, written in blood. "Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo." Jace gets up and punches the wall, staring at the message as he becomes enraged.
We see Julie walk down the stairs, a pale look on her face. Marcus, who is filling his bag with canned food stops for a second and looks at Julie. A concerned look comes over his face as Julie runs over to Marcus and hugs him. Julie starts to cry into Marcus' side. Marcus holds her close, then looks up towards the stairs.
We get a shot of the truck moving on down the road, Art driving with Zero in the front passenger seat, Ash sleeping in the back seat with Katniss. Art looks back and smiles as he continues on down the road. He looks in between himself and Zero at a map. Art then rubs his face, his bruises and cuts are starting to heal up. He adjusts his t-shirt, covered in blood. Art reaches over and pets Zero. "Just a few more miles, buddy," Art says.
Jace is seen walking out of the Toys R Us. Jace stops for a second in the street in front of the Toys R Us, as we start to see smoke. Suddenly the store catches fire. Jace has an angry look on his face as he starts to walk away from the burning building. The view starts to change as we get a shot of Jace gripping a black vest in his hand. The scene fades to black.*
*We see Art back in the truck, driving on the back roads. Ash starts to slowly wake up and realizes what is going on. Zero looks back at Ash then nuzzles her. Ash smiles and pets Zero, as Art realizes that she has finally woken up.*
"Rise and shine, sleepy head. Did you have a good sleep?"
"I had as good as sleep as I could have, all things considered. What happened to the horde?"
"The horde died out a good four hours ago. No pun intended."
Ash smiles and laughs and says, "Of course," nudging Art. "How long have you been driving for?"
"About an hour or so."
"Did you sleep at all?"
"No. I was up all night."
"Why?" Ash asks with a concerned look on her face.
"Because I promised you I would. I wanted to make sure that the horde went away and that we would be fine. I wanted to wait until daylight hit for us to start moving again. The back roads seem to be clear. And we should be in the middle of Antioch by the end of the day if we keep going at this pace. We can't really go any faster, the other tire might blow out."
"Can you please stop the car?"
"Why?" Art asks, looking back at Ash.
"Because you need to sleep. And I don't want you driving us as tired as you are. I can drive us from here."
"Ash, I got this."
"No. You need to stop and let me drive so you can get some sleep, no challenge." Ash smiles at Art. Art smiles back and steps on his breaks slowly. The truck comes to a screeching halt. The two laugh as the breaks make a horrible noise. Art puts the truck in park and gets out of the truck.
"Fine. Here you go. Just let me know when you are too tired and I will start driving again."
"Don't worry. I will get us to Antioch and we'll figure out what to do from there." Ash smiles and takes the keys from Art. "You're in the back," Ash says, lowering the driver's side seat for Art. "You too, Zero." Zero perks up and makes a sound, looking at Art.
"You heard her, in the back, buddy." Art starts to get into the back seats when Zero leaps into them, wagging his tail. Art nudges Zero to move to the other side as Katniss starts to meow and jumps onto the passenger seat. "Wake me up if you need to. I don't really need the sleep."
"Just shut up and get back there and get some rest will you?" Ash smiles at Art again. Art smiles back and lays down.
"Ok."
"Throw me a box of Poptarts, will ya?" Art tosses Ash a box of Poptarts, and Ash starts the truck back up, and they start to drive off.
*The scene changes to show Jace meeting up with Marcus and Julie. Marcus looks up at the cloud of smoke going into the sky.*
"What's with the smoke?" asks Marcus.
"There's a building on fire. We need to keep moving," says Jace.
"What's with the hat?" asks Marcus.
"It's a hat," says Jace.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" asks Julie.
"Not really," Jace says, tucking the vest into his back pocket.
The group starts moving. Marcus stays close to Jace and starts to talk to him.
"You had another nightmare last night, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Haven't we already talked about this?"
"What are you going off to do? I understand you want your privacy, but we hardly know you. We want to help, but you keep shutting us out. What is going on?" asks Marcus.
"I told you, I don't want to talk about it. I'm happy that you want to help, but it's not your problem."
"You're one of us now. If it's your problem it's our problem," says Julie, "right, Marcus?"
Marcus smiles, "Right." He looks at Jace. "We know we don't know you, we don't know your past, but you've helped us, and we've helped you. You are part of this group now. Given this group isn't a lot, but it's all we have...and we want to help."
"It's just not your battle, Marcus."
"You keep going out, going alone. You are putting us in danger. You are putting HER in danger!"
"SHE'S not MY responsibility!" yells Jace.
"You need to tell us what's going on."
"Or what?" says Jace, looking at Marcus. "Let me leave then. Let me get this burden off of your shoulders. You don't need this."
"Like it matters. You keep waking up in a cold sweat at night. And then you stay up, wandering the streets so that you don't have to sleep. And you keep looking at something in your pocket." Jace puts his hand in his pocket and turns his body away from Marcus. "What's going on man? Let us help."
"Just leave me alone. I never asked for either of your help."
"You would have died, Jace," says Julie.
"You should have just let me, then," replies Jace.
Julie looks at Marcus and motions for them to go. "Jace, we can't leave you here," says Marcus.
"Yes you can. I know where I am now."
"We don't. We don't even really know where we are going. We've been following you for days now. We need to find a place to stay and regroup. Just let us know what you're searching for and we can help."
"You can't help! I can't even help myself! How are you going to help me?!" Jace pushes Marcus away from him. "Just go. GO!" Marcus looks at Julie and frowns. Jace pulls his crossbow off of his back and aims it at Marcus. "Just go."
Marcus nods, looks at Julie and says, "Let's go. He doesn't need our help anymore."
"Jace," says Julie. "I hope you find what you are looking for."
Jace looks at Julie, and lowers his crossbow. "I'm sorry. But I can't drag you guys into this. Just go." Marcus puts his arm around Julie and pulls her towards him as the two venture off down the road together.
"We'll be in the neighborhood, in case you change your mind," says Marcus.
"Stay off the main roads," says Jace. Jace puts his crossbow on his back and pulls the item out of his pocket. He looks at it again, grips it tight, then puts it back into his pocket as he walks on down the road.
*The scene changes to show Ash sitting in the truck, crying. The truck is still running, but it's stopped. Art starts to move a bit, waking up as he notices Ash crying.*
"What's going on?" asks Art as he starts to make his way to the front passenger seat.
"I can't," says Ash. "I can't do this. What if there's nothing there? What if they aren't even alive? What if we get there and they are walkers, just like the rest of my family?"
Art moves all the way to the front passenger seat, moving Katniss to the back next to Zero. "Ash, you can't think like that. We've come so far. We can't give up now. We have to find out." Art looks out the windshield and realizes that they are in town. The streets look war-torn. There is blood, and bodies, buildings that look as if they have survived explosions, and walkers moving around aimlessly. "We can't stay here."
"I can't do this. It's just too much."
"Let me drive. You get some rest."
"What if there is nothing there, Art? What if we went through all of this for nothing? Even if they are there, it's not going to be the same. The fence won't be up, the doors won't be as blue as I remember them. Everything will be different. It'll be beaten up, bloodied, it won't be home anymore."
"Ash-"
"I can't do this. I promised him I'd come. It took so long. I should have just stayed with him. This wouldn't be happening right now. I'm not strong enough for this, Art. I can't do this. Look what happened last night. I had to fall asleep, in your arms. I couldn't have done that by myself. I needed you to get me through it. Now I need to find my father. I just- I can't keep needing people like this."
"It's not a bad thing to need people. We all need people-"
"But to what extent? To stay alive? To hang on to hope? If it weren't for you I'd be dead. I'd be one of them walking around outside killing others like you. You're strong, and I'm not. I was gonna take that gun and end it myself, but even then I couldn't pull the trigger."
"That's because you weren't meant to. Ash, you can't keep looking at this as weakness. You're strong. You have fought with everything that you have so far. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now. You can't think like that. We're so close, Ash."
"So close to what though? We don't even know what's out there."
"Do we ever?"
"I just can't do this. I don't want to get there and have it be gone. I can't deal with it if we came all the way out here for nothing."
Art moves over to Ash and holds her hands. "It wasn't for nothing. Ash, we survived a horde of walkers. We worked together to survive. I wouldn't have given us a chance to be able to spend five minutes alone in the same room together, and somehow we've made it this far. Don't give up now. We're so close. And even if we don't find anything, as corny as it sounds, we have each other. And if it's different then so be it. Home doesn't have to be a building with white picket fences and blue doors. Home is where your heart is...as corny as that sounds."
Ash looks up and wipes a tear from her eye. She starts to smile. "You're right. You're always right."
"No I'm not. I'm just right in this instance." Ash leans over and hugs Art, kissing him on the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"For being there for me. For not giving up."
"Let me drive. You need some rest. I'll be good to get us there. I'll wake you up when we get there, alright?"
Ash nods, unlocks the car and gets out. The two walk around the front part of the truck. Ash reaches out and grabs Art's arm, pulling him into another hug. "Thanks for coming back for me."
"No thanks are required," says Art, moving the hair out of Ash's face, tucking it behind her ear, staring into her eyes. Ash smiles and nudges Art.
"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," says Ash, smiling at Art before she gets into the passenger side of the truck.
Art sighs, smiles, and gets into the truck, putting it in drive as Ash covers herself with a blanket. "Alright, little troublemaker."
*The truck drives off as the scene changes to Jace walking alone down the street at night. He seems paranoid as he keeps looking over his shoulder. He continues on as the wind blows leaves around him. Crows start to fill the night sky, as caws are heard all around. Jace starts to pick up the pace, until he trips and falls, his hat falling off. Jace looks up and sees two silhouettes and smiles, but his smile quickly turns into a look of fear as he realizes who it is.*
"Well now. Look what we have here." Jace is picked up off of the floor, as we see two members of the Aces & Eights. "Romeo, oh Romeo. Where for art thou, Romeo?" the taller of the two says, laughing.
"You picked a bad day to be out past crewfew, princess. It's way past midnight. Did your chariot turn into a pumpkin?" asks the shorter of the two.
"I thought we got rid of you. Didn't we take you like 18 miles out?" asks the taller of the two. Jace starts to realize these are the two that drove him out. "You know, you cost us our group. By the time we came back from dropping your sorry ass off the gang was gone."
"Where is Alexa?" asks Jace.
The shorter of the two moves close to Jace, grabbing his crossbow off of Jace's back. "Your girl? The boss probably took her. She was his favorite piece of meat. She screamed the loudest too. I know he liked that." Jace holds his head up high as the taller of the two holds him by the back of his collar. The taller one pulls out a knife and holds it to his throat. "I'm sure he took her with him. I don't think he'd throw her away just yet. Besides, I think he might have known you'd be a little cockroach, coming back to try to save her, not dying and all."
The taller one holds the knife closer to Jace's throat. "What do we have to do to kill a cockroach?"
"I heard you cut off it's head. Then it's body will run around for a bit, in search of an answer, then eventually it will stop moving, and it will die."
"Are you really sure that works?" asks the taller one, inching the knife closer and closer to Jace's throat.
"There's only one way to find out. Let's test out the theory, shall we?"
"I think that's a great idea," we hear in the background. Suddenly the taller of the two is hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat, and the shorter of the two is hit in the back of the head with a frying pan. We see Marcus and Julie standing over them.
Jace's eyes open wide. "You came back for me?"
"You're one of us, remember?" says Julie, smiling, picking up Jace's hat and handing it to him.
"We'll have time for the thank you's later. Right now we gotta go," says Marcus.
Marcus and Julie start running off as Jace picks up his crossbow. He takes aim at the taller one as Marcus grabs him and pulls him away. The arrow misses the target and bounces off of the pavement.
"What was that?!?" asks Jace.
"We don't kill the living!" says Marcus.
"You don't know those guys, do you?"
"Nope, and we don't care to," says Marcus as the group stops for a second. They look around and Marcus says, "We gotta find a place to hide. They're gonna come looking for us."
"Well, now you're involved in MY issue."
"It's OUR issue now, Jace," says Marcus. "We gotta do something."
Jace looks around and see's tire marks on the ground, and slowly realizes where they are, and smiles. "How about that place?" Jace points to a house, and the view pans up to show Art's house. Jace walks up to the house and lifts a rock in the front yard, finding a spare key. "This place will have to do."
*The three get into the house and lock the door behind them as the scene fades out.*
*Jace and Marcus are in Art's living room, as Julie sleeps on the couch.*
"You mind telling me what that was all about?" asks Marcus.
"Well, I guess it's about time you found out. You know they're gonna be coming after you too, right?"
"We're okay with that. We knew what was up when we saw you being held up like that. Just tell me what we're in for. Start from the beginning."
"It's kind of a long story."
"I've got all the time in the world, Jace." Jace smiles and starts to tell Marcus the story about the Aces & Eights.
"Break" by Rebecca Roubion (Feat. Jake Etheridge)
*We see Jace and Marcus talking by the fireplace. Julie is still fast asleep. We see Jace using hand motions, but we cannot hear a word he is saying. Marcus looks focused, hanging onto Jace's every word.
We get a shot of Art driving through the night. Ash is asleep in the front passenger seat. Her makeup is running from her crying earlier. Art looks over to her and sighs, and thinks to himself:
"I still have no idea what the fuck I'm doing. I'm glad she thinks I'm strong, but I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. I'm scared. I'm scared that we'll get there and there isn't anything there. I'm afraid that we came all the way out here for nothing. I'm afraid that we left Jace, all alone," we see a shot of Jace still talking to Marcus as Art's inner-monologue continues. "I want everything to work out so badly that I'm afraid of one little thing going wrong. The truth is, I'm not as strong as she thinks I am," we get a shot of Ash sleeping next to Art, as the view changes to see Art's eyes as he drives. "I'm not strong at all, but I won't give up. We've made it too far to give up now. I won't dare look back, but I have no idea what to do if this doesn't work out. And even if it does, where do I belong? Where do I go? I can't stay here. This is her family. I'm going to get her there, no matter what. And if there is something there, then I guess it's what she was looking for. I'm terrified that this isn't for me, and that this isn't where I belong. To be honest, I'm terrified of taking her home, because I know it's not my home...and once she's there, she won't need me anymore. How fucked is that? I'm afraid of what we might not find, and what we might find. I almost want to be lost with her out here forever...but I can't do that to her. I made her a promise, and I intend to keep it...even if it costs me everything."
We see Jace still talking to Marcus, as the scene changes to show Jace back in the forest. He is still staring up at the opening of trees, walkers, and crows. He looks around, crying as he notices Ben in the trees. Then Jace drops to his knees, and covers his mouth. He yells, "NOOOO!!!" as the view slowly pans up Ben's legs, slowly up to his torso, as the view goes to the left, to show smaller legs, a dress, and slowly the view creeps up, as we realize that it's a little girl, until the view pans up to her face, and we see that it's Hannah, a rope around her neck, as she hangs from the tree, with two playing cards stapled to her chest, an ace and an eight. Jace cries and lays face down on the ground as the crows start to flock around. Jace looks up, still crying, and pulls the item from his pocket. It's Alexa's locket; the one he gave her. He holds the locket close, engraved with a tree on it, as he looks up at the bodies that are scattered throughout the branches. Jace grips the locket tight and yells, "I'm sorry!" as the crows start to caw loudly, flocking about, filling the night sky.
Art keeps looking at the map, until he puts it down. He sighs, makes a right turn and starts to drive slowly looking for something. He suddenly smiles, and looks at Ash. Ash, still asleep, makes a little bit of a noise as she gets comfortable. Art laughs and pulls over to the side of the road. He looks at the map once more, then out the windshield. He looks over to Ash and nudges her.
"Hmm, what? What is it?" Ash asks as she starts to wake up.
"Wake up," Art says. Ash gets up and rubs her eyes. Her eyes widen as a huge smile comes across her face, as the view pans out of the truck to show a white picket fence, and a big blue door, and a house that looks straight out of a magazine. Ash begins to cry, then looks at Art. Art looks over to her and simply says, "You're home."
"For once, you're not right."
"No?" asks Art.
"No. WE'RE home," says Ash, smiling at him as she leans over to hug him.
The scene fades out as the sun begins to rise behind the house with the white picket fence.*
Music From This Episode:
"I Will Still Be Dead"
Damien Jurado
"Break"
Rebecca Roubion (Feat. Jake Etheridge)
Break Single
Thursday, May 8, 2014
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Monday, May 5, 2014
+Single.jpg)
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Season 01, Episode 10: "Days Gone Bye"
*The scene opens showing Jace traveling on his own at night, trees all around him. We hear Marcus' voice ask, "What happened before? Before you joined us." We see Jace continuing on, looking at something in his hand, gripping it tight before putting it back in his pocket. We hear Jace say, "A lot happened. I don't like to talk about it." Jace is again at the forest, walking deeper into it as he looks around. There are very tall trees with very twisted branches all around. "Is there anything we can do to help?" asks Marcus. We see Jace going further into the forest as he stops, kneels down, and has a terrified look on his face. "No. There's nothing you can do. Just stop asking me about it." Jace stands up, as we get a shot from behind him, as he looks up to a tree. "Is it bad?" Marcus asks. We see legs dangling from the tree, as the view continues to slowly creep up. Jace drops his crossbow and covers his mouth. "I just don't like talking about it." We get a shot of Jace's face, his eyes opening wide, as the scene cuts out.*
"Live A Lie" by thenewno2 (Feat. Regina Spektor)
*We get a shot of Marcus and Julie walking up to Jace. Marcus picks Jace up and wakes him up. Jace looks around then grabs his crossbow. He points it at Marcus. Marcus puts his hands up as Julie looks on, frightened. Jace looks at Julie then realizes what's going on. He puts his crossbow down then picks up a few things. Marcus walks up to Jace. The two start to talk, but we cannot hear anything. Julie looks on.
Jace starts to walk away, but stumbles and nearly falls to the ground. Marcus catches him, helping him stay up. Jace breathing hard, pushes Marcus away. Julie walks up to Jace and puts a hand on his right arm. Jace shrugs it off and sees the little girl. She backs away and stands next to Marcus. Jace sighs and nods.
The scene changes to show the three, Marcus, Julie, and Jace traveling together, Jace following behind the two. Marcus looks back at Jace, then looks at Julie. Julie shrugs, slows down and keeps pace with Jace. Jace walks away from Julie, keeping his distance. Marcus slows down and wraps his arm around Julie, pulling her closer to him. She shrugs and continues on. All three keep the same pace, but Jace is noticeably distant and off to the right of the two.
They continue on, rummaging through abandoned cars, collecting supplies. Jace starts going through different cars, picking up supplies and putting them in his bag. Julie finds some food and gives some to Marcus. Marcus looks at Julie, then looks at Jace, motioning towards him. Julie smiles then walks up to Jace, offering him some of the food she has found. Jace looks at her, then turns his back to her, getting into another car, trying to start it up. Julie stands there, her facial expression changing as she lowers her hand with the offering down to her side. Marcus walks up to Julie again and pulls her away from Jace. Jace is trying to turn the car on, but is having no luck. He slams his fists against the steering wheel, leans against it, sighs, then gets out of the car, slamming the door. He then takes his crossbow and slams it into the windows; breaking both diver's side windows before slamming it into the windshield. Jace starts to walk along side the car when he notices that a message is scribbled on the back of the car, "Alexa, stay here." Jace reads it, then slams his crossbow into it, shattering the rear windshield, and removing the message. Marcus and Julie look on. Marcus pulls Julie away turning her around as they search through another car. Jace picks up his bag and starts to head on down the road ahead of the two. Marcus and Julie gather their things and start to catch up to Jace.
Jace then stops to drink some water from a bottle that he has in his bag. Marcus and Julie stop to wait for him. Jace looks at them and gives them a dirty look, taking his time. Marcus motions for the group to continue on but Jace shrugs them off. Marcus looks at Julie and decides to sit down for a while. Once Julie and Marcus sit down to rest Jace gets up and starts walking off. Marcus sighs and looks at Julie, who makes a face. They both get up and continue on down the road.
Jace reaches in his pocket as the group is walking. He pulls something out and looks at it again. Julie notices Jace doing this, and when Jace sees Julie looking at him he quickly tucks the item back in his pocket and picks up his speed, creating distance between the two.
We see Marcus yell as a few walkers start to head toward the group. Marcus takes his baseball bat and swings away at one walker, knocking him down. Marcus tries to swing at the other walker but it lunges towards him. Julie starts to scream as Marcus wrestles with the walker. Jace continues to walk on down the road, ignoring the situation. Julie looks at Jace for help, but he ignores her. Marcus finally turns the walker over onto his back and smashes it's head in with the end of the baseball bat. Marcus gets up and looks over at Jace, who is still walking down the road. We see a walker start to get close to Jace, who then shoots it in the head with his crossbow. He pulls the arrow out, then keeps going. Marcus and Julie look at each other for a second with concerned looks on their faces, but then continue on down the road behind Jace.
Jace starts to wipe the blood from the cut on his face. Marcus and Julie catch up to him, as Marcus gets along side him, looking at him. Jace turns the other way and continues off. Marcus grabs him by the shoulder and turns him around. Jace kicks the baseball bat out of Marcus' hand, then hits Marcus in the chest with his crossbow, knocking him down. Julie runs to Marcus' side. Marcus looks up at Jace as Jace stands above him. Jace bites his bottom lip as his hand shakes, he starts to aim the crossbow, but then drops it, shrugs, and walks off.
Marcus gets up with Julie's help, then goes right back to getting in front of Jace.*
"What's your problem?" asks Marcus. "You really just gonna walk away. Be a man! You don't like it here with us? Then leave!"
"Get out of my face," says Jace.
"Or what? You gonna shoot me with an arrow? Do it! You are an ungrateful piece of shit."
At that very moment Jace hits Marcus again with his crossbow, this time in the face, knocking him back down, pointing the crossbow at his head. Marcus touches his face, a cut from the crossbow across the side of his face slowly starts to bleed. Jace looks on and cringes a bit, reaching up and touching his own cut. "I never asked for your help," Jace says, one eye open, aiming at Marcus.
"You needed it," Marcus says, looking up at Jace. Julie stands near by, crying. Jace sees her then lowers his weapon.
"I didn't need it from you."
"You needed it from someone. And you were lucky enough that we were passing by. That zombie would have bit you and you would have turned into one of them." Marcus starts to stand up, as Jace turns his back to him.
"You should have just let it."
"Are you serious? We helped you. And this is how you are going to repay us?"
"I don't need your help!" Jace yells as he starts to walk away.
Marcus starts walking up to Jace and yells, "Then why are you still here?!"
At that very moment a walker lunges out from the side of the road and attacks Julie. Julie screams. Jace turns around and realizes what is going on and runs up quickly and hits the walker in the head with his crossbow, then stabs it in the head. Julie runs up and hugs Marcus. Another walker comes out from the side of the road as Jace fights it off. More and more walkers start to appear, as Marcus runs up and hit them with his baseball bat, helping Jace.
"Let's get out of here!" Marcus yells, as the three start to run down the road avoiding a large group of the undead. "We need to leave, now!"
*The scene changes to show the three out of breath, near a residential area. Marcus walks up towards a house and breaks the door knob off after trying to open it manually.*
"We need to hold up for the night. This place will do," says Marcus.
*The scene changes to show Marcus and Julie by a fireplace, Jace off to the side of the room laying on a couch. Julie walks up to Jace and hands him some food.*
"You need it. Please, just take it," says Julie.
"Thanks." Jace says, sitting up, eating the can of beans that Julie just handed him. Julie walks back over to Marcus. Jace looks over to Marcus and Julie and nods. Marcus nods back and goes back to tending to the fire.
*We see Julie laying down on a couch, asleep, as Marcus covers her with a few blankets. Jace starts to pull cushions off of chairs and starts to make himself a little cot in the corner to sleep. Marcus goes over to the fire and tends to it before walking over to Jace.*
"You never did answer my question," says Marcus, handing Jace a few blankets.
"I don't know," replies Jace. "I don't know why I'm still here, I don't know why you two even tried to help me, and I don't know what to do now."
"What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Jace quickly unfolds the blankets and sets them down on the cushions.
"You know, sometimes things just happen. You just gotta go with it. Take Julie...her parents were killed, by those, those things. I found her in a tree house, all alone. I didn't have to stick with her, or take care of her, but I felt like I had to. She's been with me now for weeks. I can't imagine leaving her. I found her for a reason. To have purpose. Then we found you. Sometimes you just find things when you aren't even looking for them."
"Well, I'm looking."
"For what?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Jace says, as he starts to load up his crossbow.
"Can we help at all? Or are you just going to leave?"
"Look, Marcus, I don't know. I have something to do tonight. I'll be back, but if I'm not, don't wait up. I should be back by morning."
"Why would you make yourself a place to sleep if you are just going to be gone all night?"
"That's for you. Now don't go saying that I'm ungrateful." Jace says, looking at Marcus. Marcus sighs and nods.
"Thank you, Jace. I hope you find what you are looking for."
*Jace gathers his things and walks out the front door. He looks back at Julie sleeping, then at Marcus. He nods then closes the door behind him. Marcus stands up and looks out the window at Jace until he wanders off out of view.*
*The scene changes to show Jace walking down a deserted road at night. He starts to walk into a forest. There is dense fog that is about waist high, and crows flying through the trees as the wind rustles leaves on the ground. Jace holds his crossbow close, going further and further into the forest. Jace walks past a sign that has been knocked down and broken in half, reading "Play your hand at your own risk." Jace continues walking deeper into the forest. Jace starts to move between the trees, hiding from walkers that are passing by. He shoots one in the head and retrieves his arrow quickly. He continues on, looking around.
Jace notices spray paint on the trees. There are arrows, and symbols, aces, and eights. Jace smiles and continues on, following the arrows. He holds his crossbow close, looking around, scoping anything he can. Jace finds an old shack, and secures the perimeter. Jace kicks the door in and aims his crossbow. He finds a walker, half-eaten, wearing an Aces & Eights vest. He shoots the walker in the head and pulls the arrow out. Jace sighs then leaves the shack.
Jace continues on his search in the forest. He hears a girl scream. Jace starts to run as fast as he can through the forest to the sound of the screams. Jace trips up, falls, and gets right back up, picking up his crossbow and running. Jace swings his crossbow and takes out a walker on his path and continues on. Jace stops for a second, hears the screams again, and continues on through the forest. Jace reaches a bit of a clearing in the forest, and walks through. We get a side shot of Jace, his hands on his knees as he slows down to catch his breath. As he starts to stand up we notice feet and legs dangling from the trees. Jace looks up as his eyes widen. We hear the scream again as we see a little girl with a branch through her torso hanging high in one of the trees, a walker feeding on her legs. Jace looks around and sees more and more bodies in the trees, hanging by ropes, stabbed with branches through their bodies, chained up, etc. The walker turns around and snarls at Jace. Jace pulls his crossbow out and shoots the walker through the head. The walker drops to the floor. Jace looks up at the tree, and drops to his knees. He covers his mouth as the angle changes behind him, the view going up, to see that the person handing from the tree is Ben. Jace yells, "NO!" Suddenly crows start to fly out of the trees as the bodies start to move, waking up. We realize that all the bodies in the trees have become walkers, including Ben. They all start to snarl and growl at Jace as the crows feed on them.*
"Losing Sleep (Acoustic)" by Charlotte Sometimes
*The scene changes suddenly as Jace wakes up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Jace starts to tear up a bit, looking around the room. He gets up and scoots his things closer to Marcus and Julie, and looks at them as they sleep. We notice that they are in a different house than they were before, Jace and Marcus have noticeably grown more facial hair, and Jace's cut on his face is healing up. Jace lays back and tries his hardest to sleep. He tosses and turns for a bit before reaching into his pocket. He pulls something out, but we can't make it out. He cups his hands and holds the item in front of his face. He puts the item close to his forehead as he starts to cry. The scene starts to pull away from the house, out of the window, as it focuses on the full moon, and fades to black.*
Music From This Episode:
"Live A Lie"
thenewno2 (Feat. Regina Spektor)
EP002 EP
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"Losing Sleep (Acoustic)"
Charlotte Sometimes
Waves And The Both Of Us (Bonus Track Version)
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Season 01, Episode 09: "Triggerfinger"
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash
*The scene opens with Jace waking up on the side of the road. He looks dirty, worn out, and bloodied. He is gripping something gold in his hand, but then he quickly puts it in his pocket. Jace gets up and dusts himself off and looks down the road.
We see Jace entering a house, crossbow in hand, pointing it down empty hallways. He secures the kitchen then starts rummaging through cabinets for anything he can find. He finds a few boxes of Poptarts, canned foods, among some other things. Jace collects them and puts them into his bag.
Jace walks out of the kitchen, into a new room. He sees a man leaning against the wall, gun in hand, with what seems to be a self-inflicted wound to the head. On the wall behind him are splatters of blood, with a message. On the once white wall written in blood is the message: "Never Let Them Take You Alive." Jace smiles, walks up to the man, takes the gun and checks it for ammo. Jace then tucks it into his belt and says, "Thanks. I don't plan on it." Jace then turns around to meet a walker sneaking up from behind. Jace pulls out his knife and stabs it through the head, kicking it down to the floor. Jace wipes off the knife then makes his way out of the house.
We then see Jace from behind, crossbow on his back, continuing on down the road as he starts to walk up onto a walker feeding on it's victim. Jace takes his knife out of his pocket and stabs the walker through the head. He looks down at the victim and smiles. Jace starts to take the vest that the victim corpse is wearing off. He holds up the vest; it was a member of The Aces & Eights. Jace smiles even more, looking at the dead walker, saying, "Thanks," as Jace dusts off the vest and puts it on.
Jace is now seen sitting on the side of the road, eating some Poptarts. He starts to touch a cut on the side of his left eye, stinging a little bit. Jace winces, and finishes up the Poptart, gets his crossbow and continues on.
Jace is seen walking into a group of walkers. The walkers don't seem to have too much fight in them, as they snarl and growl at Jace. Jace just stands there as the walkers start to surround him. Jace smiles, pulls his crossbow off of his back, and the scene cuts.
We then see Jace pulling an arrow out of a walker's skull. There are about 6 to 7 slain walkers laying around him. Jace smiles, puts the arrow away and continues on as we get a close up at the vest that he has on.
Jace walks up to an entrance to what seems to be the border of a crossroad and a forest. A sign is posted high up on a tree, reading: "All Trespassers Will Be Dealt With. Play Your Hand At Your Own Risk." Jace smiles, pulls the crossbow off of his back, loads it up and enters the forest, as the scene fades to black.*
*The scene changes to show Jace inside of the Toys R Us. He is holding a gun to a biker's head while about twenty other members of The Aces & Eights are pointing guns at him. Jace takes a step back, his finger shaking on the trigger as one of the members of the biker gang puts down his gun and steps up.*
"My worst nightmare, huh? I think you're in your own nightmare, kid. What do you think is going to happen? You think you're gonna walk outta here alive? There are twenty plus guns pointed at you."
"I'll kill him." Jace says, his hand shaking while holding the gun.
"You think we care?" the biker says, as members of the gang start to surround Jace. "You're trapped. You are surrounded, no way out of here, and your ace up your sleeve is holding that weak piece of shit hostage?"
"PLEASE, BROTHER! DON'T LET HIM KILL ME!!" yells the biker Jace has at gunpoint.
"You're not my brother. My brother wouldn't be so weak. You have wounds everywhere. You're as good as dead. Even if we save you, you're no good to us," says the biker, raising his gun at the injured biker. He looks at Jace and smiles. "I'd keep my gun pointed at his head if I were you. He means nothing to me. He is dispensable. And you, you are no one to me. I could kill this man, this man that I've called my brother...I don't even know you." The biker starts to put his finger on the trigger, his skin wrapping around the cold steal.
"PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!" screams the injured biker.
"Why shouldn't I? You are weak. And I hate the weak. You failed. You led him here, didn't you?" the biker looks straight at the hostage. The hostage looks down in shame, as the biker smiles. "I knew it. You're weak. You've always been weak, Jason. Now you've put us in a situation, a situation that YOU caused! Why should I show you any mercy?"
*Suddenly a voice is heard in the background. A door opens and closes, as we see a silhouette of a man. The man takes a few steps forward. Lurking in the shadows the man stands up straight.*
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him," says the man lurking in the shadows. The man starts to make his way out from the back, and steps into the sunlight. He is revealed as a bald, tall, skinny man, holding a revolver, tattoos covering him from head to toe. He has the design of a skull head on his face. He licks his lips, smiles and takes a step forward.
"BOSS! PLEASE DON'T LET HIM KILL ME!" screams the hostage biker.
"Jason, please. He won't lay a finger on you," says the tattooed man. He looks at the other biker who is still pointing his gun at the hostage. "Axcel, I'm shocked. You would really kill your own brother? For what? His weakness? Isn't that a conundrum?" The tattooed man starts to pace between Jace, the hostage, and the biker holding up his gun. "We seem to have a problem here that is bigger than an intruder in our home. We have two brothers, in a dilemma, but one brother finds no value in the other, while the other is struggling to convince his brother that there is still value on his life." The tattooed man pulls holds his revolver up, scratching his chin with the tip of it. "What to do, what to do. The way I see it, it's the pot calling the kettle black. And I have no patience for hypocrites."
At that very moment the tattooed man shoots Axcel through the head. He then points the gun at the hostage, Jason, and smiles. "Boy, I'd keep my gun pointed at his head if I were you. That may have been the smartest thing Axcel ever said. You see I will not tolerate the weak calling others weak. And Axcel, well he was power hungry. The only way to curb that hunger was with lead. Now, you obviously want something from me, and I'm assuming you haven't brought one of my own men into a toy store in order to get your hands on a Boba Fett action figure; so that begs the question, what do you want?"
"I want the girls."
"You'll have to be more specific than that, I'm afraid."
"The two girls your men kidnapped this morning. One in her early twenties, Alexa. The other is a little girl. Goes by the name Hannah," Jace says. Jace holding Jason close, his finger twitching on the trigger.
"Why'd you have to go and do that? It just ruins the allure of everything when we know what they are called. Boy, you have just ruined my day even more. Well, since we know their names, what's yours?" The tattooed man takes a step closer. Jace takes a step back with Jason, still at gunpoint.
"What does that matter?" Jace asks.
"I want to know what to tell the girls. I want to know who the dashing young hero is that came into my house holding a gun to my brother's head. I also want to know what to put on your gravestone."
"My name is Jace. And I'm not leaving here without those girls."
"Well Jace, allow me to introduce myself," the tattooed man puts his gun down, holding it by his side. "The name's Tattooie. I see you've already met my boys. We're the Aces & Eights. We're a simple group. We rob, pillage, rape, kill. Not specifically in that order, mind you."
"I want the girls, now," Jace says, taking a step forward.
"Or what? You kill Jason? Then what? I kill you?" Tattooie points around at the rest of the group. "Or they kill you? We all kill each other?"
"How about you hand over the girls, and I hand you him?" Jace proposes.
"That's your bargaining chip, kid? This watered down piece of shit? He's damaged goods. He's about thirty minutes from bleeding out. This is what you want to trade for? Kid, you are wearing a red jersey at a Raider game. Luckily when we spill your blood your jersey won't get stained."
"TATTOOIE! PLEASE! JUST GIVE HIM WHAT HE WANTS!" yells Jason.
"I don't think I negotiate with terrorists. Especially ones who bring such a horrible hand to the table. You want a trade? You've got nothing."
"I have your brother."
"No. You had my brother," Tattooie says as he shoots Jason through the head. He then quickly points his gun at Jace. "You've got nothing now, kid. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Now, you've already ruined my morning by busting in here. Three of my men are dead now, two by my hand. And now you have ruined my appetite by telling me their names. You really think I'm just gonna hand them over to you and let you walk, Jace?"
*We hear screams from the back rooms. A loud shriek fills the air, as we hear someone scream out "JACE!"*
"ALEXA!" yells Jace, as she steps forward. Tattooie points his revolver right in Jace's face.
"Well now. I think I found my ace up my sleeve. You put your gun down otherwise the girl gets it."
Jace reluctantly puts his gun down on the ground, putting his hands up. "Please. Just let them go. I'll do whatever you want. Just let them go."
Tattooie walks up to him, smiling. "I like the way you beg, boy." Tattooie then hits him in the face with the butt of his gun, cutting Jace across his face. Two members of the Aces & Eights run up to Jace and pick him up, holding him by each arm. Tattooie takes another swing at him, punching him in the face, then in the gut. Jace now bleeding from the cut, and from his lip, barely able to stand up.
"But Joseph said to them, 'Do not fear, for am I in the palace of God. As for you," Tattooie walks up to Jace and holds his face with one hand, looking into his eyes, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today," we hear Alexa screaming in the back as Jace looks over to the back rooms. Tattooie forces Jace to look at him again, as a smile forms across his ink clad skin. "So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.'" Tattooie then punches Jace again in the stomach. "Take him away."
*The Aces & Eights take Jace to the back room, as the door slams shut, and the scene cuts out.*
*The scene reopens with Jace chained up to a stone wall. Tattooie enters the room and smiles at Jace. He holds Jace's face with one hand again, and smiles at him.*
"I trust we had a good night's sleep, princess? I hope her screams didn't keep you up."
"Where is Alexa?" Jace asks, gritting his teeth.
"Now, boy. Don't you worry yourself with those little details."
"Where is she?"
"She's fine. She's resting, in my bed. She had a long night, boy. Didn't you hear it? She's quite the screamer." Tattooie says, smiling from ear to ear.
"Go to hell."
"And the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death...and Hades. Kid, not only am I already in hell...I'm the fucking king. I am Satan himself, and you, you are just a poor lost soul."
"You gonna kill me now?" Jace asks, barely able to keep his head up.
Tattooie smiles, stands up and motions for his men to unchain Jace. They hold Jace up, as Tattooie rubs his chin again. "After last night, I think you've been through enough. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them." Tattooie walks up to Jace and holds his face once again. "I am the keeper, and you will die when I see fit." Tattooie punches Jace over and over until Jace passes out.
One of the members of Aces & Eights walks up to Tattooie. "Should we kill him?"
"Sleeping Sickness" by City And Colour
*The scene changes, to show Jace, tied up, and being put in the back of a car. The Aces & Eights cover his face with a pillowcase. They slam the door shut and drive off. Jace collapses in the back seats, barely able to keep his eyes open. The car starts up and their journey begins.
Jace looks through the pillowcase, flashes of light and shadows taking turns as Jace's eyes start to close. Jace tries to remember every bump and turn, but eventually Jace cannot stay awake, as he dozes off. They drive Jace out pretty far, as they pull over on the side of what appears to be a country road. They open the door, and pull the pillow case off of his face. We see the men start to dispose of Jace as we hear Tattooie's words in the background.*
"No. Leave him on the side of the road, far away from here," they drop Jace to the floor and begin to untie him. "Let him live with his failure. Knowing that he couldn't do anything," the men finish untying him, then kick him in the stomach. "Knowing that he wasn't able to save his precious Alexa," they then throw his crossbow at him, smiling. "Having to live with knowing that he may never see her again," the men then get back into the car, start it up, and close the doors, driving away. "That is a fate worse than death. He will long to die," Jace rolls in pain, he starts to pass out on the side of the road. "But death will flee from him, because he will hold on to hope...or he will hold on to revenge."
*Jace's breathing gets heavier, as he starts to wince, then finally passes out, as the scene fades to black.
Jace wakes up after a while, rubbing his head. He realizes that he is holding something, as he quickly puts it in his pocket. He holds his head in his hands and begins to cry. He gets up and looks around as he sighs. He picks up his crossbow and begins to run back in the direction that he came.
We get a close up of Jace, as his breathing becomes heavier, labored, as his legs give up, and he falls to the floor. He gets up and wipes his face, road rash covering his right cheek as the blood starts to leak from his wounds. He looks around and realizes a couple of walkers coming at him from out of the trees. Jace gets his knife out of his pocket and stabs one walker through the head. He then hits another in the head with his crossbow as he falls on his back. He begins to cry again as he rolls over, trying to pick himself up, but falls. He lays there on the ground, face down, as he closes his eyes.
We see a man and a little girl running down a road. The man is hitting walkers in the head with a baseball bat, as the little girl screams. The girl is white, brown hair, wearing a baseball cap. The man, older, African American, bearded. He continues to smash walkers in the skull with a baseball bat. Even more walkers start to chase them, changing the direction that they were going in. The man kills a few more walkers as he grabs the girl's hand and runs down the road.*
We see one of the walkers Jace failed to kill crawling over to him, focusing on Jace's fingers. Jace's hand is palm down on the floor, fingers spread. The walker begins to growl, crawling closer and closer towards Jace, as the man and the little girl begin walking towards the scene. The little girl notices the walker and yells, "IT'S NOT DEAD!"
The man holds the little girl back, as he walks up to the walker as it inches closer to Jace. "Julie, stand back. I got this." The man holds the baseball bat above his head, the walker inching closer and closer to Jace, snarling as it opens it's mouth trying to bite Jace's fingers. The man smashes the walker's skull with the baseball bat. Blood splatters, getting all over Jace, as he groans and rolls over.
"Marcus. He's still alive," says the little girl, as the two stare at him. The man nudges Jace with his foot, as Jace rolls over onto his back, coughing and wincing. The man looks at the little girl.
*The scene starts pull out, showing the girl and the man looking at Jace, as the man bends down to pick Jace up. The scene fades to black.*
Music From This Episode:
"God's Gonna Cut You Down"
Johnny Cash
American V: The Man Comes Around
"Sleeping Sickness"
City And Colour
Bring Me Your Love
Monday, April 14, 2014
+Single.jpg)
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Season 01, Episode 08: "Still"
*The scene opens with a horde of walkers. They are slowly making their way near a freeway. A gunshot is heard and the group suddenly changes course, walking towards a forest.
The scene changes to show Art and Ash in the truck, driving along as the sun starts to set. They are driving along a road in what appears to be a heavily forested area. The trees are full of brownish leaves, the wind rustling as leaves are blown around on the ground. The shot goes from the side view of the cab, to the back passenger side tire. We see more leaves being heaved behind the car as the shot changes back into the cab. Art is driving, as Ash sits in the passenger seat. Zero and Katniss are sleeping in the back seats.*
"Tautou" by Brand New
I still don't think I've come to grips with all of this. I mean, here I am, driving along this dirt road on my way to Antioch with my ex girlfriend. I haven't gotten a hold of my best friend, I have no idea where my family is, and I feel like I'm living in an episode of The Walking Dead. I wonder, how long til it finally hits me? And how will I take it? I think I'm worried that I won't be able to handle it well, or that these feelings will start to drive me insane.
*Art looks over at Ash and smiles.*
I'm glad that she's here with me, I really am. But part of me worries all the time. I worry that she's mad that I saved her, or that she's mad that she has to be on this journey with me of all people. It's hard. I feel like we've been walking on eggshells ever since we left town, but then there are moments, glimpses of the girl I used to know; the girl I used to love.
*Ash looks at Art and smiles back.*
I want to hold on to hope, but I can't let this take me over. There are much bigger things to deal with in life now. Unfortunately for us this isn't the routine visit to her dad's house. We are running, for our lives. We're getting closer, and making progress. So at least that's a good sign. We haven't fought the entire way here, but then again we haven't really talked. But we should be there soon. I'm only hoping for something to be out there, because if it isn't, we're 60 miles away from home, with nothing but a truck with two bad back tires, and a dog and a cat. I don't know how much longer we can last with what we have, but at the very least we'll have each other. At least I hope that's how she sees it.
*Art looks off down the road, focusing on driving. Ash looks over at him and realizes that he's in his own head-space. She smiles and sits up, looking at him.*
"What are you thinking about?" Ash asks me, looking at me with an inquiring look on her face.
"Just stuff."
"Good stuff? Or bad stuff?"
I look at Ash, and say the only thing I thought I could say at that time. "I don't know yet."
"Yet?"
"I guess it's a work in progress."
"Just like you?" Ash smiles at me and nudges me.
I smiled a bit, said, "Yeah, I guess," but then got back into my own head-space.
It's hard to have moments like this, when the thought of her not feeling the same as I do creeps back in my head. I feel bad to admit it, but part of me knows that I wouldn't have gone back to save her if I didn't care about her the way that I do.
"Are you thinking about us?" Ash asked, to my surprise.
"What? No."
"You are. 'What' means you're stalling. You needed to think of an answer."
"When did you become a psychologist?" I asked, smiling at her, trying to throw her a curve-ball, but I don't think it worked very well.
"Sarcastic jokes are another form," she said. By this time I knew that curve-ball completely missed the mark. "So what about us where you thinking about?"
"Why do you think I was thinking about us?" I asked, hoping that this would derail her train of thought.
"We're on our way to my dad's after you made your way across town in a zombie apocalypse to save me and take me with you. You had no plan of action, and now you're driving me where I wanted to go because I threatened to leave. You obviously want to make sure I'm alright. So I think it's safe to assume that you are thinking about something to do with me, or us, or this trip. Am I wrong?" she asked, smiling at me. I almost hated her at that moment. I felt as if she had hung out with me way too much when we were together, because this seemed like the kind of shit I would pull. Unfortunately for me I don't know how to defend against a tactic like this. So I would try the typical guy thing, and piss her off.
"Allow me to quote you...not everything is about you," is all I could say. Ash's smile was quickly wiped away by my stupid comment.
"Whatever," Ash said with a tone. She looked up at the corner of the window and ignored me, muttering the words, "I'm over it."
"You keep saying that. I don't know why you have to keep bringing it up if you are indeed over it."
"Well, I just want to make sure. You can keep thinking about 'us', but it won't do you any good. I'm over you. I still don't know why you even bothered to come get me."
At that moment I stopped the car, got out and slammed the door behind me. I needed to get some air before my temper got the best of me. I leaned against the side of the car to catch my breath.
Ash got out of the car and looked at me with a sort of concerned look on her face. "Are you having another bipolar episode? I can't handle those if you are."
"I'm trying not to have one, okay?"
"What? You're mad at me now?" asked Ash.
"I'm trying not to be. It's hard, alright."
"So that's a yes on if you were thinking about us."
"Do you really have to be so condescending right now?"
"I can walk from here if you want. I'd hate for you to have to feel any discomfort. No one asked you to come save me you know. No one asked for you to do any of this. But you keep feeling sorry for yourself, why? Because I'm not in love with you anymore?"
"You're not in love with me anymore?" I asked.
"I mean, I can't be. It's just like you said, it's just too hard."
"Alright." I start to open the door to the truck, getting back in and sitting down, putting the key back in the ignition, but not starting it just yet.
Ash gets back into the truck and sits down in the passenger seat. She reaches over and puts her hand on my arm. "I thought you already knew this."
I look down, not making any eye contact. "No. I didn't. But it's fine. I was wrong to come get you. But I did. Nothing can change that now. I'll make sure you get to your dad's, then I'll be on my way."
"Please don't," Ash says, gripping my arm.
"Don't what?"
"Don't do this. I'm sorry. I thought you knew. I'm not in love with you because it's just too hard. I do care about you, but I can't be with you anymore. Especially when you get like this. I can't handle this. Right now we need to stay focused on what we need to do. We need to get to Antioch. After that we can talk and we'll figure everything else out. But I don't want you having this mindset of getting me there then leaving. We'll talk about everything when we get there, alright?"
I started up the car and started to drive a little, noticing that the ride was bumpier than usual. I stop the car and park it, turning off the engine, starting it up again, driving a few more feet, still feeling it. I park and turn off the truck again, getting out to see what's wrong, as I see the back passenger side tire is flat.
"What's the matter?" asks Ash.
"We have a problem."
*The scene changes to show Art working on lifting the truck with a jack, getting the spare tire ready.*
"I told you months ago that those tires were looking horrible." Ash says, pacing back and forth.
"Thanks, mom," is all I could say, looking up at her, smiling a condescending smile.
"Don't you start. We need to get this tire on and get back on the road."
"You think I don't know that?" I asked, looking up at Ash with an annoyed look on my face. "I'm going as fast as I can. It would be nice if I didn't have to look over my shoulder every three seconds. Maybe you should keep watch."
"Why don't you have your dirty mutt do it?"
*We see Zero in the back seat get up and look around. Art looks over at Zero as he motions for him to stay. Zero goes back to laying down, curled up with Katniss.*
I stopped what I was doing, dropping the tire iron to the ground, standing up and looking Ash in the face. "Don't you dare bring Zero into this. Why don't you have your little kitten stand watch, huh?"
"You're such an asshole, Art."
"Yup, that's me," I say, going back to work on the spare.
"I don't know why I ever dated you. You're such a jerk. All you ever cared about was work and yourself. And you only cared about work because of how good you were at it, because it made you look good. It was always all about you."
"Ash - " at that moment I realized that three walkers were heading our way. "Get under the truck!"
*We see Art grab Ash and force her under the truck as he starts to close the passenger door quietly. He quickly covers Ash's mouth as the first walker walks past the truck. Ash's eyes grow wide as she starts to realize what's going on. The second walker walks past the truck, then the third makes his way past the tail gate before Zero starts to bark and scratch at the back window.*
"Fuck. Zero, shh!" is all I could whisper. I realized that the walkers were turning around. The third walker started to hit the window, snarling at Zero. I could hear Katniss start to meow in the truck. I looked over at Ash and pulled out my knife. "I need you to stay here, and stay perfectly still."
"Don't leave me again."
"I'll be right back." I say, slipping out of under the truck, getting behind the walker. I stab him through the back of the head, throwing him down to the ground. I look at Zero and make a face. "Shh. Down boy!" I look over and realize the other two walkers are coming right at me. I manage to stab one of them in the head, but it starts to fall on me. I push him over as the third walker grabs my shoulders. I start to wrestle with him.
*We see Art knock the third walker down, but in the process he drops his knife. The walker lunges in to bite Art as he flips the walker over, grabbing his knife. We see a fourth walker starting to come over, then a fifth. The fifth walker grabs Ash's legs from under the truck and starts to pull her out. Ash screams as she is being pulled from under the truck. Ash tries to grab at whatever she can, getting a hold of the tire iron in the process. Art stabs the walker he has on the ground in the head, then quickly pulls the knife out and stabs the other walker that was coming towards him. Art gets up and runs over towards Ash.
Ash is pulled out from under the truck as the walker starts to lean in, ready to bite her. Ash smashes the walker in the head with the tire iron. At that very moment we see four walkers start to make their way from out of the trees. Art picks up Ash as they stand back to back. Art lunges forward, stabbing a walker in the head as Ash hits another in the head with the tire iron. We see the two fighting off the walkers, as more and more start to make their way out of the forest.*
"Ash! Get in the truck!" I yelled, making sure she got in, getting Zero and Katniss to be quiet. I grabbed my shotgun and started to shoot at the walkers.
*The shots ring out, as we see a horde of walkers take notice to the sound, as they change their course and head towards Ash and Art.
Art shoots every walker down, one by one. We see Art starting to relax thinking that he has killed every walker, as one comes up right behind him. Ash shoots the walker in the head before it can even touch Art.
We get a shot of Ash standing on the passenger side step of the truck, holding the gun as Art looks at her.*
"Holy fuck." I just stood there, staring at Ash as she held the gun out. "Good shot." Ash put the gun down and rushed over to me, hugging me tightly.
"Are you alright?" she asked, holding me close.
"Yeah, I'm good. Are you alright?" I asked, holding her at arms length in order to get a good look at her. I looked all over for any bite-marks or scratches.
"I'm fine," she said. Ash hugged me again, holding me close.
"Are you sure?" I asked, in a joking manner. Ash let me go, smiled at me and nudged me. She reloaded her gun and said, "I'll keep watch." She handed me the tire iron, walker blood dripping all over it as Ash laughed.
"Sorry about that," she said, still smiling.
"It's fine." I grabbed the tire iron and went back to work on the spare. Ash held her gun and kept watch.
*The scene changes to show Art and Ash get back into the truck, successfully changing the tire, as the two start to drive down the road, smiles on each of their faces, as the sun starts to set.*
"Where did you get the gun?" I asked.
"It was my step-dad's. I've had it, since the house."
"Why did it take you til now to use it?"
"Because of what I was going to use it for originally." I stopped the car, put it in park and looked over at her. "I didn't get a chance to. You got there just in time. I didn't want to you to know."
"Ash, why didn't you - " At that moment I felt something terribly wrong as I looked over and out of the windshield. The hill started to narrow down and I looked down, seeing a lot of movement. "Holy fuck." I got out of the car and started to walk down the hill slowly. I walked a little ways down, as the sounds of what was coming grew louder. I started to run back to the truck, turning the key all the way and pulling it out. I made sure all the windows were up and the doors were locked. I started to freak out a little bit, gathering whatever I could. Food, my shotgun, blankets, whatever. I started to toss them into the back seats as I looked over at Ash. "Don't say a word."
*We see Art continue to throw things into the back seats of the truck. He leans his chair back and moves into the back, moving Zero and Katniss in the process. He looks over at Ash and motions for her to come into the back.*
"Art, what are you doing?" Ash asks.
"Trust me on this one. Come back here, don't make any sudden movements, and don't make any noise." I pulled Ash to the back seats of the truck. I covered all four of us in blankets and laid down in the back perfectly still.
"Art, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Ash looked at me with a concerned look on her face as I petted Zero, trying to get him to be calm and go to sleep.
"Ash, trust me. We need to be quiet and still."
"Please tell me what is going on. I can't take this. What is going on?" Ash looks at me with a very angry and very concerned look on her face. I motion for her to be quiet, softly whispering 'shh' with a finger up to my lips. I let her come closer to me, lifting up the blanket so that she can look out the side window.
Ash lifts up the blanket looking around. By this time the sun was almost entirely set. "I can't see anything, Art." Ash kept looking around, then turned around to look at me. "Are you sure something is going on?"
"I'm positive. Just keep looking, but don't pull too much of the blanket up."
*We see Ash start looking around, squinting her eyes. She notices some movement, as she starts to make out what is going on. She is able to narrow her vision on one walker, then another. At that very moment the truck starts to shake a little. Ash looks back at Art as he keeps Zero down, holding Katniss close, petting her. Art nods at her, then Ash looks back out the window, as she starts to realize what is happening. Ash quickly drops the blanket and huddles with Art. Ash's jaw drops as she covers her own mouth, looking up at Art with a terrified look on her face.*
"What the hell are we going to do?" Ash asked.
"We're going to stay in here, and be as quiet and as still as we can. We have to get through this."
"How are we gonna do that?" Ash asks, the concern on her face growing as I see tears start to swell up in her eyes.
"Trust me. We'll be fine. We'll get through this, together."
*Ash reaches over and holds Art's hand. Ash sinks lower into the back seats of the truck as it starts to shake even more.
We get a shot of the view going out from the side of the window, over the truck, looking down the hill, as we see miles upon miles of walkers heading their way. The sea of walkers has already started to move past the truck, bumping into it, shaking it, not noticing that the truck contains any living beings. The walkers continue to walk past very slowly as the groans start to grow louder and louder. The sun finally sets over the horizon, darkness setting in as the trucks is almost lost in sea of walkers. We see a sign a few miles down, saying 'Welcome to Antioch', which is then knocked down and engulfed by the horde of walkers. We see the city of Antioch, it's in flames, cars turned over, bodies scattered. The city looks like a war zone. The scene fades to black.*
*The scene changes back to see Art and Ash under the blankets in the back seats of the truck. Zero and Katniss have fallen asleep, and the two talk very quietly.*
"Do you remember that?" asks Ash, smiling at me.
"That random dude eating a corn dog while driving? Priceless." Just as I finish making that comment the truck shakes more, groans getting louder as Ash moves from one side of the truck to the other, curling up next to me. I just kinda looked at her, wondering what she was thinking.
"Please don't ask me what's on my mind. I know you're thinking that right now."
"Damn, you're good." I smiled at her, then moved a little so she could get comfortable.
"You aren't going to leave me, are you?" Ash asks, looking up at me.
"Why do you have this weird obsession with me leaving you?"
"Because you've done it before."
"When?" I say in a surprised tone.
"When we broke up. You said we'd stay friends, but then you just disappeared."
"I -" I couldn't really say anything, because I realized that it was true. I looked at Ash, and I could see fear in her eyes. "I'm not gonna leave you. I couldn't if I wanted to. Not to mention that there are about a billion walkers in every direction at the moment." Ash smiled at me, scooting closer.
"Promise?"
"I promise." I say, just as Ash extends a familiar pinky. We used to pinky swear all the time. A smile formed across my face as I realized what this was.
"You have to pinky promise." Ash said, smiling at me. But it was a different smile. Not the ones that she had been flashing me all day, but a smile I hadn't seen in months.
I took her pinky in mine, smiled, and said, "I pinky promise."
Ash yawned right then. "I'm tired."
"Then go to sleep."
"I can't sleep knowing there are walkers everywhere. What happens if they break in here? They'll hear your snoring," she says, nudging me teasingly.
I laugh a little and smile at her. "Then I won't sleep. I'll stay up."
"All night?"
"All night. I'll see us through this. I promise."
At that moment Ash curled up next to me, laying her head on my chest. "If anything happens or you try to leave, I'll know by feeling you move." Ash wrapped her arms around me, holding me close as she yawned again.
"Good," is all I could say.
Ash curls up even more, sighing, then closing her eyes. She whispers, "Thank you."
"For what?" I asked.
Ash smiles, her eyes closed and says, "For everything."
"All Through The Night" by Sleeping At Last
I just sat there, trying to hold back a tear, as I said all I could, "You're welcome."
*The view starts to pull back, seeing Ash curled up with Art, Zero and Katniss sleeping close by, curled up as well. We see a close up on Art as a single tear runs down his face, as he lets his head fall back, as we get a montage of flashbacks.
The scene changes to see Ash and Art, sitting in a restaurant, talking. We see the two now sitting on a couch watching football, smiling at each other. We get a shot of them on the same couch leaning in awkwardly as they kiss. We get a new shot from behind as Art tries to hold Ash's hand, but Ash corrects him. They continue to walk down the road. We see the two in a store trying on peacoats, then the scene changes to see the two in Art's truck as they look over to the right, seeing a man in a car eating a corn dog, as the two of them laugh at the random sight. The scene shows the two at a party, wearing these really silly hats as lights flash in a room, the two pose next to each other for a picture as we see the couple smile, and then kiss after the picture is taken. We see the two sitting on a couch playing Mario Soccer as Ash gets up after scoring a goal, taunting Art, as he sits on the couch making a face. The scene shows the two near a Christmas tree, opening presents as Art holds up a shirt that says 'Trust Me, I'm A Jedi' as he smiles and kisses Ash. The scene now shows the two in bed, as Art spoons Ash, kissing her neck softly as she smiles, Ash turns around and kisses him on the lips. The two curl up as Art holds her, as they fall asleep. We see Art and Ash in her room, Ash is crying as Art holds her close, rubbing her back softly, kissing her cheek. We get a shot of the two arguing as Art throws his arms up in the air. Ash leaves the room as Art follows close behind. We see Art trying to talk to Ash while she sits in a car. Ash rolls up the window and drives off as Art stands in the street looking furious. We see the two now sitting in a car, Ash in the driver's seat, Art in the passenger's seat as the two hug, and Art shrugs. Ash tries to kiss Art but he pulls back. He makes a comment then the two smile and hug. We see Ash driving away as Art stands in a hospital parking lot, a single tear running down his face, as we see Ash in her car, a single tear also running down her face.*
I really don't know what to make of all of this. For some reason I couldn't help but think about everything. That word, one single word, just opened the flood gates. "Everything." Just like that I relived everything, and now, now I'm sitting in a car, where I should be fearing for my life, but all I can think about is how lucky I am that I even get this chance. I don't know what to make of any of this, I really don't, but maybe I don't have to. I know one thing though, I can't leave her. I don't think I ever really did.
*Art leans in and kisses Ash's forehead, whispering, "Good night, princess," to her, as a smile appears across Ash's face. The scene starts to move out of the truck, showing the walkers traveling past the truck, as the view goes up, focusing on the moon.
The scene changes to show Jace, bloodied, battered, and chained up to a grey wall. We see a shadow appear on the wall right next to him, as we hear a voice say, "Good night, princess," as the lights turn off, and the scene fades to black.*
Music From This Episode:
"Tautou"
Brand New
Deja Entendu
"All Through The Night"
Sleeping At Last
All Through The Night Single
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