Dead Season

re-sync by ~piqim~

It was 57 weeks ago. Got a standard cardiac arrest call.

I went out... couldn't revive the guy.

Pretty normal.

Then after a couple of minutes... That's when it all started.

Three days later Pittsburgh was on lockdown. Then the state,

and everywhere else.

A couple of months before all this, my wife, she left me. She got the kid.

I had no way of contacting them.

There were no phones or internet of course... So I went out to find them...

I buried them.

I just kept walking... 62 days,

I didn't really know what else to do, you know?

Anyway... A guy I used to work with

retired to coral cove in Miami. It's a small marina.

I contacted him a few days ago and I guess he's made a living

helping people get boats and escape into the waters.

And I figured, hey, why not try my hand at that?

You're free to join.

Elvis? Elvis? You still there?

Yeah, I'm Here. Sorry about that. So what about you?

About the same as yours, I guess. Been on my own about a year now.

Two months ago I met this kid,

and we worked our way down to Florida.

Who's the kid?

His name's Cody. He's pretty quiet, but he's a tough little dude.

Look, I don't know how much longer we're gonna last here on our own.

You know, just the two of us.

I could always use some company.

Probably be working our way down south soon.

Maybe we'll stop by your place for a beer or something.

Alright, but you're gonna have to pick some up, cause I'm all out.

Need anything else at the store?

Some whiskey? You have my address. Any chance I can get your name?

Guess Not.

Stop!

Didn't mean to scare you. Here, eat this.

I'm not hungry.

Huh? Alright.

Here you go Buddy. Lean up.

My name's Elvis. What's your name?

Tweeter.

Tweeter?

OK. Tweeter... So how old are you?

Ten.

Well, that's cool. Well, if you want, umm, you two can rest...

I've got more blankets in the closet.

King Me.

You are good at this! You know... I didn't have any parents growing up either.

I used to get really lonely.

I don't feel that way anymore.

My turn?

Yeah.

Elvis? You there? Elvis!

I'm here!

Well, your boat's ready to go. It's got a full tank too.

Thanks, I really appreciate this.

Just to let you know, I got a list of people waiting.

I'll be there tonight with everything.

Alright, see y a then.

Thanks.

How far away is this guy?

I dunno... six hours, eight hours... Half a day maybe.

You trust him?

Yeah, I do trust him. If he can get us to a place without

walkers... I'm willing to take that risk. Coming? Or staying?

Yeah? Who is it?

Elvis.

Elvis? Who are they?

They're fine. They're friends. Still good?

Yeah... Come on in. - Oh, man!

Haven't had those in a while. Yum!

The only way out is down through the warehouse.

Sabrina Lee. She's at the end of the pier. Everything else...

Is in here. The map is from the warehouse to the pier.

The other is to the island. The fish are toxic,

so ration your food.

Don't get surrounded. You'll be fine.

You know you might want to consider... Maybe coming with us.

Man, I got too good of a thing going here.

Alright. Take care.

Awesome. We have to go through em'.

Just stick with me OK? You know the drill.

C'mon, Cody.

Cody!

Go!

Go!

The boat!

Hey, Cody, There's Probably a bed down there.

Damn it!

Oh God!? Cody, let me see are you OK?

Come here. Come on. Let me see.

You're tough.

Arrr I gonna turn into one of them?

I'm not gonna let that happen. OK?

Hey, Cody?

I don't feel good.

I know sweetie. What's this?

My mom gave it to me. It's for good luck.

Come here, sweetie.

It's time to go Cody.

You gotta go, Cody.

Elvis?

You gotta let go, Cody.

Come here buddy. Come here.

You got it?

Disgusting.

You alright?

You alright?

Tweeter?

Yes.

Alcoholic.

Hey, I'm on vacation. hey y a know...

See if you can find any of those silly straws, or those little umbrellas.

I'm gonna go check the back for food. Watch my back.

I'm watching your back... and you're good.

Elvis!

Tweeter!

Where are the weapons?!

On the table!

Get on the bar! Get on the bar!

Grab the machete!

Away!

Elvis get down!

This side's clear!

Over here too.

Up on your feet! Nice and slow!

Put your gun on the counter, sir.

Turn around, hands on the counter!

Wakey, wakey. Eggs and Bakey.

The good news is you're both alive, which means you're not bit.

So now I'm going to ask a couple questions.

Ladies first. Name!

Name!

Want to play the bitch card... Fine.

Hey! Wait.

Put her in three twelve.

Good Evening

My name is Kurt Conrad. I am the administrator of this facility.

Up front I want to apologize for any bumps or bruises,

I think you can understand our need for security... and

my need to ask you some questions.

So... Let's start with... how you got here?

What exactly do you hope to achieve... by not talking to me?

You think you're going to gain some power over this situation?

My daughter pulls that shit. She's seventeen.

Is that what you're doing?

Are you pouting like a teenage girl about the end of the world?

World still here.

Let's try it again, something simple. What's your name?

Elvis.

Where you from, Elvis?

Nashville, Tennessee. By way of Tupelo, Mississippi.

I kind of lost my accent along the way.

I was good... wore a cape... sold out a lot of concerts.

It was insane, man.

Well the state of Pennsylvania says

that your name is Aaron Strawbridge.

They also say that you are a highly qualified E.M.T.

You're a medic.

I guess this was your wife. And that was your son.

And by the fact that they are not here

I assume they didn't make it.

We are the last surviving human community, on this island.

Our survival is held in a very delicate balance.

It's my job to maintain that balance.

So it falls on me to determine,

if and how, you can be of benefit to us.

Now in your case it is very simple.

You're a medic. We just lost our medic. But, your lady friend.

I'm not sure what she brings to the table.

All we know about her so far,

is that she has a loud mouth, and she's quite unpleasant.

Two qualities we don't really need.

Look, my priority is

keeping myself and loud mouth as you call her safe.

Leave her alone and I'll see what I can do, OK?

Are you Aaron... or you Elvis?

I'm Elvis, man. But you can call me "King" if you want.

Okay Elvis. See you in the morning.

Come on.

What are your neighbors like?

Pretty nice, right? We're trying to do more than just survive here.

Come on.

And there's the beach you came in on, goes from east to west.

Those structures up there are all death traps. Avoid those at all costs.

We have a solar panel, got electricity, but not much to use with it.

We collect rain water from all around the compound,

and we purify it, and we store it... in thanks tanks in the hill.

This infrastructure is all courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

Before that it was a gunnery range.

Dropped all kinds of nasty shit here.

Depleted uranium, phosphorus, tested nukes here.

And that's the down side, because most of the stuff that grows here you can't eat it.

I mean don't even think about eating the coconuts.

Get the problem?

See, that's the thing, we have a limited ability to feed people.

Which is why we have to go through this screening process,

before we bring in new members of the community.

So what happens if they don't pass the screening process?