Endangered/Original Plans

Volume 3 So I left of at Issue 29. Issue 30 was going to be focused on the newer characters. One of them was to be Ryker’s group, giving more depth to the characters associated with him. Nyssa (Lena Headey), one of his top soldiers, would be shown wishing to leave this life of violence and finally settle down with her husband, Isaiah. Isaiah, however, is plotting to overthrow Ryker, who he distrusts. Isaiah was to be the inverse of James. A man who, over the course of years, has lost his sense of responsibility and began cheating on his wife and now power hungry. So Isaiah would be trying to recruit people. At first no one really agrees. Gabriel is continued to show to be a shady dude who has his own plans. Eventually, a group of people sent by an unknown person (will be revealed down the line) tries to assassinate Ryker, but fails and all hell breaks loose, including infected breaking into the airport. Ryker, during the chaos, would try to save his son but then be forced into a dilemma: sacrifice himself to save his son, or allow his son to perish so he can live. Ryker chooses the latter, which is witnessed by others. Ryker justifies it that “he is trying to save humanity and thus people need him”, but Ryker is shown to be wrecked with regret and guilt. Also explored would be the Frankford Train Station (where Allen, Hunter, Daniella and Ivan Merecer would be), the SugerHouse casino (where Desse, Aiden and Wiz would be) and Baseball Park (Emily, Hunter, Percy, Christina). Ending of issue 30 would have been Allen Price, leader of the Frankford Train Station, arriving at Neshaminy to speak with James.

Issue 31 was to be focused on Allen informing James about the other communities out there. James is doubtful on whether to continue fighting Ryker (due to the attack from Issue 28), but decides to secretly plot with the other communities to potentially overthrow him. James wishes to keep everything under the bus, but other people don’t express these same opinions and wish to fight back in the open. James heads off to meet with a group at Citizens Bank Park, while Allen goes to meet with a group at SugarHouse Casino. With James gone, Ethan plots to attack one of Ryker’s storage facilities at a school where there are supplies and weapons (they learn lots of info about Ryker’s operations from Haley, who was once a member of the organization). Ethan assembles a team of himself, Dre, McCoy, Haley, Michael, Lisette and Vicky to strike. Haley/Michael go before everyone to stake out the area. As they camp out in an apartment, the two bond over their pasts, regrets and proceed to make love. Michael is reluctant, but goes along with it. Meanwhile, Lara/Vicky would track down Lara’s family to her old home, as Lara wants to fix her mistakes (as she ran away from them). They find her parents gone, but her step-siblings home. Lara decides to take them to Neshaminy to take care of them. Ryker is growing paranoid, believing everyone to be against him, due to his guilt over his son’s death. As he descends into madness, Isaiah is able to recruit more people to his side. James/Sandra had a big ineraction where she ends up giving him advice on how to lead a divided mall, while he encourages her to step up and pursue what she wants. Haruka heads off to track down a mysterious man who may know information about the infection, and Sandra (tired of not speaking up to people) decides to peruse her as she believes Haruka is going insane over finding the origin of the infection. Reyes would also be suspicious of Joel and try to spy on him. Issue 32 had James meeting with the leader of the baseball park, who turns out to be his ex-wife, Emily. Emily, who is a vain person, tries to bond with James again out of loneliness, but James turns her down, although he is tempted due to his own feelings of loneliness. Despite this, she agrees to fight Ryker. As does Desse, the leader of the SugarHouse casino. Meanwhile, Isaiah would lead his faction against Ryker. Ryker ends up trying to escape with Gabriel (who appears to be his only loyal man left), but Gabriel betrays Ryker and hands him over to Isaiah, who locks him up alongside Daniel (who tried to escape but failed). Meanwhile, the attack would go on as planned. Joel would try to warn Ryker, but couldn’t due to the chaos. So, at the school, the attack starts off successful and they are able to gather supplies. However, chaos begins to happen and the school catches on fire, infected show up, etc. Trying to protect Dre, McCoy would end up bitten and sacrifice himself so Dre can escape. Dre would escape with the help of Mike Pineda, a member of the Station who was in the area spying on the school for the station. Haruka would discover a group of people that study the infection, but it turns out that they also kidnap people to experiment on them. They capture Haruka to test on her. Issue 33 would start off slower pace, with Dre, Vicky and Lara mourning McCoy. Michael would want to start a relationship with Haley, but she turns him down and says he was just a one night thing (making Michael now on the opposite side of his womanizing ways from early on). In her grief, Vicky would try to turn to Michael for release (Vicky would have begun a relationship with McCoy by this point), but Michael turns her down and instead tries to console her about her grief. Knowing retaliation to be coming, and that Joel is a rat (due to Reyes’s investigation), they plot to have Reyes go undercover in the organization and be their own mole. Reyes would be hesitant, as he has since left that life, but would agree to do so out of the greater good. Eventually, Isaiah would attack the mall for their attack on the school. Mostly redshirts like Sam would be killed. Isaiah announces he is the new leader and doesn’t take shit. To prove this, he takes prisoners. These prisoners include Haley, Michael (after he tries to stop them from taking Haley) and Tate (as Fitzpatrick wants Tate taken). Meanwhile, the other zones would be gathering their weapons. Hunter/Mike Pineda would track down a mysterious man known as Prospect to assist them in the upcoming battle. Joel, having been exposed, would leave with Isaiah but vouch for Reyes to join them. Sandra arrives where Haruka is being kept and helps free her. As she does, some of Isaiah’s men attack, as Isaiah learned of them and does not want a cure. As they try escaping, Haruka looks over their data to see there is no chance for a cure and the origin is unknown. Sandra/Haruka are both among those taken prisoner by Isaiah’s men.

Issue 34 would be mainly focused on Anahi, exploring her past and her belief that there are more spies in the mall. It would be revealed that she was a former cop who, during a tense hostage situation, acted hotheaded and got the hostage killed. Haunted by the death of the hostage and her murder of the criminals, she grew PTSD and ended up retiring from the force. The hostage situation from Issue 29 would respark this. Eventually, one of the spies capture Lisette (who was onto them) and Anahi pursues them. Anahi is terrified of repeating her mistakes, but manages to overcome her fear and save Lisette, while also working to combat her trauma instead of running from it. At Ryker’s camp, Michael would be forced into fighting matches and forced to kill people. He’d form a bond with Daniel, his cell partner, and is also kept separated from Haley. Tate is being tortured by Fitzpatrick, while Haley is kept unharmed due to her sister Alex’s intervention. Ryker continues to go mad in his confinement and brags about how he was a part “of something bigger than all of them and he has powerful allies who will come for him”, but Isaiah writes it off. Reyes would be forced to murder an innocent man to get initiated into the group.

Issue 35 would have mainly focused on the groups gathering together to plot their attack on Isaiah’s compound. Daniel/Ryker would interact as prisoners, with Ryker accepting that his daughter’s death was not on Daniel and he was just trying to shift the blame from himself. Ryker would have been killed in front of his former men by Gabriel, which hurts Ryker as he believed Gabriel to be loyal but Gabriel assures that “there is no loyalty to me. Don’t take it personal, it’s just survival”. Seeing Daniel was worthless, Isaiah allows Daniel to leave. Daniel drives away and plans to leave Philadelphia. James convinces Walsh to stop being a coward and help lead, and Walsh would step up to act as a leader during the incoming battle. Haruka would be driven mad by her obsession of finding answers, and Sandra would be the one to snap her out of it, saying sometimes in life we can’t know the answers to everything and Haruka needs to move on and focus on the now.

The final issue of the volume had the big attack. Reyes would shut of the power to the compound to help his friends. He’d then free Michael, Tate, Sandra and Haruka from their prisons. Michael would go on to free Haley with Tate’s assistance. After freeing Haley, Michael/Haley would join the larger battle, while Tate would track down Fitzpatrick. He’d find his former friend and defeat him in battle, but spares his life as he believes his former friend is still in there. Joel would realize Reyes betrayed them and try to kill him. Seeing Joel was beyond helping, and in order to save others, Reyes accepts that sometimes lives must be taken and kills Joel. Walsh would die saving James, who goes on to fight Isaiah. The two have a brutal battle atop the roof, but James overcomes him and kicks him off the roof. Isaiah would survive the fall and be found by Nyssa, who leaves and allows him to be devoured by infected. Gabriel, seeing the battle was going to be lost, leaves Alex (his girlfriend) for dead and escapes. Haley convinces Alex to be better than what their parents raised them to be and help them. Daniel, who previously was going to leave the city, overhears the battle and decides to be a better person and arrives back to help, saving Anahi’s life in the process. The rest of Isaiah’s group is defeated and the battle is won. People celebrate. Michael/Haley get together, as Haley realizes she does indeed like Michael, while James/Sandra also grow closer following the battle. Volume 4 Following the defeat of Ryker, the remaining safe-zones have formed a committee between them. They trade, help each other, and it is working fine. The remaining scientists who were testing on people form their own community in the sewers, but no longer partake in testing. Another group forms at an abandoned prison led by Nyssa, which leads to tensions with the other groups, but Nyssa means no harm. Another group was to be introduced led by a man named Nathaniel. Allen’s group also would have settled in at Franklin Mills as the bus station proved unsafe. Despite tensions, everything is relatively peaceful until a man arrives claiming to be from the government. He wishes to take full control of the city in the government’s efforts to rebuild the country. Some people are fine with this (as they have been waiting for the government to return), while others do not believe this man to be who he claims. Emily (Baseball Park), Nyssa (Prison) and the Head Scientist (Sewers) would be opposed, while James (Franklin Mills), Nathaniel (Fairmount Park), Desse (casino) and the Government Dude, named Damien, would be in agreement that he should rule. After an assassination attempt on Emily’s life, a civil war breaks out between these factions.

Tensions would rise in Franklin Mills, as some people there believed they should not join Damien. The anti-government group was to be headed by Michael, leading to constant bickering with James. Eventually, the mall would be split and Michael would take his own followers to Neshaminy Mall. The main cast of characters would be split like:

Team Benjamin (For Government) Team Nicholson (Anti-Government) All the groups try to make peace, which fails, and a battle happens at Pennypack Park, although there are no causalities. Tensions grow, as do the battles. The Sewer group is destroyed by the Pro-Gov team. Sarah tries to broker a peace between Michael and James, who agree to meet. Reyes and Haruka, believing a mysterious third party to be involved, team up to investigate. As James/Michael meet with a small army of theirs (consisting of the characters above) at a neutral location, they are attacked by an unknown party. In their absence, Franklin Mills falls due to an attack led by Emily, while Neshaminy falls due to spies on the inside. Reyes/Haruka are killed by Gabriel Parker (although Reyes manages to kick Gabriel’s pussy ass first), who is among the leaders in this mystery third party. Also killed is Lara Drake, who sacrifices herself for Vicky to escape and is devoured by infected. Ivan Mercer would also die to save his friends, as would Noah Drake. Sarah was to be bitten, but escapes with Michael. Alexandra’s fate would go unknown. The Casino would also be attacked by Emily/Nyssa forces, leading to it’s downfall. As Volume 5 started out, the core group of characters were to be separated into groups. Think of TWD S4 Part B. The groups of characters would have been: Each issue would focus on sets of groups. Starting off Issue 59 focused on 1 and 2, with Michael coming to grips that Sarah is dying while James/Sandra look for her. After sharing an emotional moment with her, she begins to turn but Michael is to weak to put her down, so Daniel does it for her. The next issues would focus on these sets of groups as they travel and slowly reunite. When Michael/James reunite and he breaks the news to him, James attacks Michael and the two have a brutal fight that is broken up Sandra. James/Michael later grieve together. Outside of these groups, the civil war would continue to rage on. Emily/Nyssa would take out Damien, leaving only Natheniel. After Natheniel takes out Emily’s faction, Nyssa and Nathaniel make peace, as they no longer have reason to fight due to Damien’s death. It would turn out that Nathaniel was behind the third party and pulling Gabriel’s strings. Nathaniel would end up betraying Gabriel, after he becomes a loose end, and leaves him for dead.
 * James Benjamin
 * Sandra Dufrane
 * Vicky Cummings
 * Lara Drake
 * Francis Bale (one of Lara’s siblings)
 * Dre Ocean
 * Allen Price
 * Ivan Mercer
 * Daniela Bermudez
 * Ethan Brash
 * Haruka Saito
 * Michael Nicholson
 * Haley LaFontaine
 * Tate Levine
 * Daniel Brown
 * Anahi Cruz
 * Alexandra LaFontaine
 * Reyes Young
 * Mike Pineda
 * Emma Bale (one of Lara’s siblings)
 * Sarah Benjamin (pressured into joining this side by Emma)
 * Noah Drake (a sibling of Lara who only joined to look after Emma)
 * Lisette Arroyo
 * 1) Michael, Daniel and Sarah
 * 2) James and Sandra
 * 3) Anahi and Ethan
 * 4) Vicky, Dre and Tate
 * 5) Haley and Lisette
 * 6) Francis and Emma Bale
 * 7) Allen, Daniella, Mike Pineda
 * Wiz, Aiden, Desse, Percy (once a part of Emily’s faction but joined Casino after the war)
 * 1) Hunter, Christina and Prospect (who all escaped Emily’s faction after she accused them of being traitors)

All the groups, save for 4 and 6, reunite. 4 (Vicky, Dre and Tate) and 6 (Lara’s siblings) meet up on their own. Vicky’s team join a group of strangers. These strangers turn out to be dangerous and eventually take the group hostage. Turns out these people are bandits who are led by Fitzpatrick (who escaped during the civil war). He and his men torture the group for pure enjoyment. Dre was to be beaten to death, the children also beaten, Vicky raped, and Tate personally going through brutal treatment by Fitzpatrick. The main group would find them and begin to rescue them (Vicky would personally escape and kill her rapist after he is about to rape Emma). Fitzpatrick would hold Tate hostage with a grenade, threatening to kill everyone, but Tate pulls the cap of the grenade and tackles Tate out a window, killing them both. After everyone reunites, supplies run low as does morale as they try to make it to Natheniel’s zone. Lisette would end up stealing supplies and leaving the group. The city would soon be bombed by the military, showing proof that Damien was correct in claiming who he was. Desperate for supplies, the survivors would come across an injured Gabriel, who promises to help them get supplies as long as he can keep some. Gabriel, James, Ethan, Vicky, Michael and Price go on the dangerous mission to get supplies from a place covered in infected. During the mission, they betray Gabriel and leave him to be eaten. Ethan, who has slowly given into anger and blames James for everything, would try to kill James. In turn, Vicky would be forced to kill Ethan to protect James. Gabriel, after being betrayed, would try to kill them, but Price would burn Gabriel and once again leave him to die. The main group of survivors, after evading a horde of infected, would eventually arrive at Nathaniel’s zone and be accepted in.

Volume 6 would begin with the group of survivors settling down after their brutal battles on the road. Lisette is revealed to be at this zone following her betrayal of them, leading to tensions. James/Sandra would get married and Sandra revealed to be pregnant. After their marriage, James tries to once again get involved in helping run a zone, but believes there to be some shady stuff, as some weird deaths and other events happen around the zone, including the assassination of a man protesting against Nathaniel. James is eventually captured by Nathaniel’s private organization, and in order to protect Sandra, takes the fall for the deaths around the zone. This leads to his death by hanging.

At his funeral, Sandra would express doubt over the accusations against James (as would many others) and vow to find the truth. The funeral would then be shot up by masked men and a massacre would occur. Sandra, her unborn baby, Vicky, Emma Bale, Percy, Wiz, Aiden and Daniella would have been killed. This would outrage the zone, who demand justice over the massacre. Mike Pineda, who had a complicated relationship with Daniella, would blame Nyssa. He’d go to attack her zone, and after being captured, demanding a trial by combat. He duels Alexandra (who is alive and joined Nyssa’s group) and is killed, but Alex discovers Haley is alive. Daniel would come out and prove Nathaniel was behind the massacre, as well as setting up James. People would revolt and kill Nathaniel, and Daniel would take over the zone.

At some point in Volume 6, there was to be a standalone issue that took place in a world where the outbreak never happened, showcasing where the characters would have went had the outbreak not changed their lives. While some would have lived good lives, it would also show how the outbreak helped change some survivors into better people. Below are some of the examples of what would have happened in the issue: Going into Volume 7, Anahi, however, is still suspicious and continues her own investigation. She would later uncover that Daniel Brown has been behind it all. He teamed up with Nathaniel to start the civil war, was the one to suggest making James a fall guy, used his own bandit army (led by a heavily burned, insane Gabriel) alongside Nyssa to massacre the funeral and blame it on Nathaniel. Daniel would discover this and confront her. He’d go on a monologue on how he is the hero of the story and how everything he did was to make sure he became the leader of the city, as Daniel believed he was the one who could lead them to greatness. To cover his tracks, Daniel kills Anahi (who has been one of his best friends along with Michael). It is also revealed that Nathaniel was a part of the larger organization that Ryker was a member of, and came to Philadelphia to reclaim it after Ryker failed. He also sent the men to kill Ryker in Issue 30 as his organization believed Ryker to be a weak link and to “insane”.
 * Michael would have continued to go down a slope of despair. Sarah would fully push him away and Michael would later discover he fathered a child and has been an absentee father to that child. As his life hits rock bottom, Michael would end up committing suicide, believing himself to be a failure. His funeral would practically be empty, with the only attendees being Sarah, James, a few people he drank with, and old classmate Haley, who was in town and heard about his death so went to the funeral to pay her respects.
 * James still would of survived the attack by Reck Thum. James, in his efforts to provide for Sarah, would soon grow corrupt as a lawyer and get tangled up with criminals. His activities, alongside his associates, would be brought to light and James would be arrested (by officer Ethan Brash). This, alongside Michael’s death and the pressures of her friends and high school, would result in Sarah dropping out of high school and running away.
 * Daniel would have been assassinated by Jake Ryker
 * Vicky would of honestly had a normal life. She’d graduate, become a writer and eventually meet a nice guy who proposes to her. Ethan, as well, would continue to live a normal life.
 * Lara would of gotten AIDs and go down a bad path, including dropping out of college and becoming a drug addict. She would of rejected Vicky’s offers to help, and eventually, run away to start a new life in a different city. McDre would still have become friends, although they would have never been close friends with Vicky or Lara.
 * Reyes would of gotten killed by the hitman sent to kill him. Joel would survive the attack, but in order to protect himself, would go to the police to rat out the activities of Daniel Brown.
 * Tate would of married Destinee, had their child, and go on to become a popular singer. As he got famous, he would use his money to give to charities and help people from lower-class achieve their dreams.
 * Sandra would continue to live a life as an isolated PI and not let anyone into her life. Haruka would of continued being a reporter, but after trying to expose the activities of Jake Ryker, would have been killed by Gabriel Parker.
 * Anahi would of never conquered her PTSD, and after a severe breakdown, would enroll herself into a mental institution.
 * Lisette would have got caught up in criminal activities once more and join Ryker’s cartel.

Daniel, despite being perfect on the exterior, is falling a part due to his guilt. He keeps hallucinating Anahi and his father haunting him. Slipping into paranoia, he believes his former friends to be onto him and demands them locked up. The group (now consisting of Michael, Haley, Lisette, Allen Price, Desse, Hunter, Prospect, Francis Bale and Christina) would have escaped the city. Now knowing Daniel was behind all of this, and that Nyssa has helped him, they demand revenge. However, they are hunted by the combined armies of Daniel and Nyssa, with Gabriel leading the search for them. Alex, wanting to help her sister but believing herself to much of a monster to be with her, tries to kill Daniel but is caught and killed by Nyssa. The group hides out at a run down mansion to plot their next move. Gabriel would find them and attack them, but the group planned for this and has set up many traps. During the battle, child Francis would be killed, but the rest hold off the attack. Michael kills Gabriel after a grueling fight. After torturing information from a soldier, they decide to strike against Daniel/Nyssa. Michael and Lisette go to assassinate Daniel, while the others strike against Nyssa.

Price leads the battle against Nyssa. Haley, after finding her sister’s corpse, goes after Nyssa. As they are both highly skilled people, they have a very action-y, brutal fight, but Haley would eventually get the upper-hand and impale Nyssa with a machete. After burning her base down, the group escapes. Meanwhile, Daniel/Lisette sneak into Daniel’s zone and confront him in his highrise. Daniel would briefly try to fight back, but is brutally beaten by Michael. Realizing he cannot escape, Daniel yields and slumps into his chair, reflecting on how he has become the very thing he always told himself he’d never be: his father. After hallucinating Anahi again and accepting his guilt, Michael executes Daniel with a shot to the head. Michael/Lisette would meet back up with the others and plan to leave Philadelphia. They plan to leave on a yacht they found. Michael, who has hit rock bottom, plans not to join them and sneaks off, as he pretty much wants to kill himself. However, after overdosing, Michael would go through hallucinations about his own guilt and regrets until he finally learns to accept these things, as well as grasp the ideas of purpose and faith. (This will be expanded more on in Michael’s section and would have been my favorite issue, as the entire issue would just be Michael). With this epiphany, Michael finds meaning in life and races to the yacht before it takes of, which he makes it just in time. In the closing scenes, Allen Price would be thinking about the idea of starting a national group to find safe-zones (he is the founder of the U.S.S.R. from Sin City), Hunter’s middle name is revealed to be Joseph (he is the father of Ash, and his girlfriend Christina is the mother). Michael apologizes to Haley (as they went through major relationship problems) and proclaims his love and how he is ready to change. He proposes to her and she accepts. The two embrace and look at the sunset, remarking on the ideas of purpose and faith. And that’s the final scene, with the final words would haven been about Michael being happy and smiling, and genuinely meaning it.

Character Arcs

(I gonna post all of them eventually. Until I do, here's Michael's) Michael Nicholson Of all the leads, Michael was always the one who best fit the “protagonist” tropes, as well as having the most complex character arc. Starting in volume 3, Michael would have continued to be much more optimistic in life due to his building relationship with Sarah and strive towards being a person. He’d stop his sexual addictions in favor of making meaningful relationships with people, which is where Haley would come in. The two would instantly hit it off. After Haley reveals herself as a former member of Ryker’s camp and reveals it to James and co. in hopes of helping, they initially distrust her and propose to lock her up for the time being. While Michael sticks up for her, he does not stop them from locking her up, as he still wants to be liked by James and the others. After realizing how he let his own insecurities allow them to lock her up, he confronts James and gets her released. While Haley was initially upset Michael didn’t stop them, she forgives him and the two make up, continuing to be good friends. After an one night stand, Michael is denied a relationship. This would mimic how Michael treated people in earlier issues, such as Vicky, and now he is on the opposite side of it, continuing to teach Michael humility and atoning for his sins. As he feels the need to make up for his guilt, Michael would be among the front soldiers during the school attack, as he believes either a.) he survives and continues helping others or b.) he dies for the greater good for other people who have more meaning than him. Michael would take his first human lives, although it wouldn’t phase him much, as he knows he’s doing it to help others. After the attack, Isaiah would strike the mall and take prisoners. After Haley is taken away, Michael would of tried to protect her, leading to his own arrest. At Isaiah’s jail, Michael would be forced to partake fighting matches, while also making a friendship with cellmate Daniel. The two would bond over their respective guilts over the death of a loved one, the mistakes they’ve made in their guilt, hopes for being better people, etc. Michael admits to Daniel that one of the reasons he likes Haley is because she is from his life before Zoey’s death and was a good friend of Zoey, and thus, she reminds him of her and a better time. During the final battle, Michael is freed by Reyes. After freeing Tate, Michael/Tate go to free Haley. Upon freeing her, Michael/Haley battle side-by-side. Following the battle, the two decide to start a relationship, furthering Michael to becoming a better person.

In Volume 4, Michael would be in a happy relationship with Haley and is continuing to be happy. However, a part of him still feels guilty. During this time, he turns to a priest and the two discuss religion and faith. Michael comes to believe in more religious ideas, as he desperately wants to believe everyone has a purpose and can be good. He turns more spiritual and looks into many religions. This takes effects on his personality, as he becomes more mellowed, peaceful and curses less. He is still devoted to Haley, but doesn’t force his ideas on her. He does, however, wish to start a family. One day, he believes “something” to be guiding him and James somewhere, so him and James head to where Michael believes fate wants them to go. During this, the two debate faith vs science. Upon arriving at the location, they discover the presence of Damien. However, Michael believes Damien is not who he says. When James agrees to back Damien and the civil war breaks out, Michael speaks against James. Michael, believing that fate wants him to help stop this, takes his own followers to a different mall to join the opposing team. Sarah would eventually convince him to interact with James and bring about a truce, but their sides are attacked by a third party. In the chaos, Michael and Daniel team up to find Sarah. Michael would find her, but sadly, she has been bitten.

In Volume 5, Michael would deny that Sarah was going to die and try to ignore it. Sarah would eventually convince him to stop running and Michael would break down, saying he can’t lose her and he feels like a failure, but Sarah tries to convince him that this isn’t his fault. As he lays with his dying daughter, she’d admit she views James as her father, but that Michael was a good man who she indeed loves. When she begins to turn, Michael cannot put her down, so Daniel does it for him. Following her burial, in which he takes her to the graveyard where Zoey is buried, Michael seems to try and ignore her death, instead being focused on finding Haley. Daniel would try to talk to him, but Michael brushes it off, clinging to the hope of finding Haley and his ideas of fate, saying that this all has to be happening for a reason. He’d eventually reunite with Haley and continue to go forward. Upon reuniting with James and telling him what happened to Sarah, James would attack him. The two would have a brutal fight, with Michael only trying to defend himself from James who is trying to kill him. Luckily, Sandra/Haley would break up the fight. In private, He’d interact with James and the two would make peace, reminiscing on Sarah and Zoey. James would ask Michael for advice on his spiritual views and says he’d like to believe Sarah/Zoey are safe in a peaceful afterlife. As more people reunite, they eventually come across the strangers in their torturing of Vicky/Tate/the kids. Tate’s death would devastate Michael, as the two were pretty much best friends. Despite this, Michael would continue to say “it is happening for a reason”. After he is called out by Haley for “not caring”, Michael breaks down in tears, saying he the deaths of Zoey, Sarah, Tate, everyone else, are all he thinks about and the idea of fate is the only thing keeping him alive from his guilt.

In Volume 6, Michael would continue to grow a downfall. While he expresses a need to marry Haley and have a family, Haley believes he is only doing this to run from it all. The two have a fight, where Michael admits he is not happy and that he is dating Haley because she reminds him of Zoey. She breaks up with him. Following the breakup, Michael goes on a downward spiral, but tries to keep himself in grounded. However, he slowly becomes isolated once more and returns to self-loathing. After the death of James and the massacre at his funeral (which Michael didn’t attend as he felt couldn’t bear to face the death of another Benjamin), he completely collapses and gives up on his spiritual ideas. He goes back to whoring around and even goes back to alcohol, which he gave up after Zoey’s death.

As the final volume rolls around, Michael has hit rock bottom, even now using drugs (as well as sex and alcohol) to fill the void in his life. He believes there to be no purpose in life anymore and hates his own character. After being captured by Daniel and discovering that he was behind it all, Michael dedicates himself to revenge, blaming Daniel for the deaths of Sarah, James, Tate, Vicky, etc. This need for revenge briefly makes Michael more motivated in life, and after their escape from him, Michael takes an active part in planning their next move. When Daniel’s army attacks them at their mansion hiedeout, Michael is brutal, showing no mercy to his enemies. He encounters Gabriel Parker and the two have a bloody battle, with Michael even biting of Gabriel’s ear. Michael would eventually choke Gabriel by pressing down on his neck with his foot, until it broke. Following the battle, and torturing information out of a surviving soldier, Michael would volunteer to kill Daniel. He/Lisette go back to his safe-zone to kill him, as they have the most personal connection to him. Lisette sneaks them in and the two hide out in his office. When he arrives, Michael ambushes him. Daniel tries to run, but Michael beats down on him until he yields and Lisette gets Michael off him. Daniel tries to explain himself, but Michael remains silent to his explanations. When Daniel says he is truly sorry for the deaths he caused, Michael simply says his sorrow doesn’t matter and it’s time he pays for his sins, and Michael is shown to place all his anger about the deaths of his loved ones on Daniel and shoots him in the head multiple times. Following their escape of the city, Michael does not join Lisette on her way back to regroup, saying he cannot go back to them. Instead, Michael would go to his old apartment to drink and takes drugs, planning on killing himself. He notes how he wants to be with the group and move on with Haley, but that he can’t escape himself. He’d overdose on drugs and wake up in a hallucination. He’d be in the night Zoey died and he is the driving car. He tries to avert her death by stopping the car, but “Zoey” says it won’t work. “Zoey” talks to Michael about his own sins and guilt of that night, but Michael tries to ignore her, instead focusing on trying to save her. However, he finds himself in a loop of trying to stop himself from driving but she continues to die. Still in this hallucination, Michael would find himself in a court, where deceased characters in the story (Sarah, James, Tate, Vicky, Lara, etc) would call out Michael for his sins towards them, as well as some saying he should have died instead of them. As he goes back to the loop, Michael breaks down to this version of Zoey, saying how much he blames himself for everything and doesn’t deserve to live, and how he used many things such as sex, Haley, fate, to run from his guilt rather than confront it. Zoey says he is alive, whether he likes it or not, and he has purpose as a person. Through her, Michael finally learns to accept her (and the others) deaths and his guilt over them, ready to move on. To symbolize this, when in the final loop, Michael doesn’t try to stop the car from crashing, showing he now accepts Zoey’s death. Upon waking up, Michael would rush to the yacht and make it just in time. Once aboard, Michael would meet with Haley on the roof of the yacht and talk to her about his previous mistakes and epiphany on life. Michael admits that he does not know what his purpose is, but he genuinely believes one to be out there and that it is their duty to find it. He says he loves her because of who she is and wants to be the man she needs him to be. He proposes to her, which she accepts. He puts a ring (which he found on the way to the yacht) on her and kisses her. The two overlook the sunset, remarking on how extraordinary the world and people can be. The series would end with Michael being happy and ready to start a new life.

Michael’s character arc would have been the most detailed with the overall themes of the story. His faith, redemption through forgiveness, belief in something bigger and love for humanity would have tied together to the story’s main theme of purpose: we forge our own purpose and destiny in life through what we believe in and our connections with others. He would have ended the series a much better man than when it began. Following the conclusion of the story, Michael would still have a role to play in the overall universe and would return as a major character (alongside Haley) in the final story of the series.