Safe House/Issue08

The is the eighth issue of Safe House. It is titled Two's Company.

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Previously On
Lucy warned Paul not to do anything stupid. Clay, the mall’s security guard was bit and his screams woke Helena, amongst others, up. On her way back to her room, she was attacked, beaten and raped. Zach and Deputy Cindy could not stop the rapist, Paul, the man who had previously attacked Lucy. Robbie killed Paul and saved Helena, leaving them to dispose of the body. Robbie later received a blackmail note, ordering him to murder Rosa. Jordan Harris is still alive and with a small band of survivors.

Summary
In the aftermath of Paul’s death, Robbie and the others struggle to keep it a secret. Bessie decides to try and hook up with Zach. Cesare and the other survivors take shelter in a church, unaware of the dangers inside, and a new survivor’s arrival makes things interesting in Fort Bargain. Two’s Company

Solus ran. He ran very fast, but even as fast as he was running, he could not escape the past and the memory of him leaving Ida for dead. He had no choice, she made him leave. She was going to turn, she was bit. He knew that he had to leave but he could still not forgive himself for his cowardice and inability to prevent her reanimation. Maybe we were wrong. He thought. Maybe you don’t turn. But if that were the case then how would it spread. Whatever happened, Ida was dead and that was not his fault. The others are probably dead as well. Philip, his tragic friend. Cesare and Paris, who were to get fired and just started dating. Edward, that asshole. And Desmond, Tessa and Tharman, he knew nothing about them. All dead. Dead, dead, dead. But I’m alive. I live. Eventually the forest stopped and Solus saw what he presumed was a street. About twenty seconds later he reached it. It was indeed a street. Solus glanced past a few cars and saw three zombies still walking. No. A fleeting thought that the zombies might have all been dead vanished and left Solus with a bitter feeling. Looking up the street he saw a wall with a gate. Not a wall, a fence and a man on top of it. Then the gate opened and a man and a woman, both wearing police uniforms and carrying a body walked out. They carried the body into an alleyway and dropped it. They walked out and noticed Solus. “Help me.” He said. “Are you okay?” The man asked, his badge shone in the sunlight, John Farmer, it read. “John?” “That’s me. This is Cindy. We’re both deputies.” “I’m Solus. My-my friend just died, her name was Ida. We escaped a restaurant. It was overrun.” He struggled to keep his voice steady. “I’m sorry for your loss.” John said, frowning. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Cindy said, looking to John for answer. He nodded. “Come on. Follow us.” Cindy said and they took him inside. ”How’d you come to work here?” Sheriff Adede asked as he stabbed his shovel. “What? Being a stupid mall cop?” Clay replied. “It’s not stupid. You were doing a good thing. Especially with Black Friday and all.” Phil said. “Trust me, sheriff. Being a mall cop sucks. Deep enough?” The grave was in fact, deep enough for Trudy’s body. Joanna had insisted that they bury her and they didn’t complain. “I’d say so. Grab her feet, I’ll take her arms.” They picked up the body and struggled at first to move her to the hole. “We tried to stop Joanna from bringing her into the room, since she was dead and all, but she sure put up a fight.” They put down the body and rolled it into the hole. “She didn’t know what would happen.” Phil reasoned. “With the reanimation and all.” “Do you think I’ll reanimate?” Clay asked as she started to shovel dirt into the hole. “I don’t know.” Phil told the truth. “I think I will. I’m already feeling sick. I threw up before and I keep getting dizzy.” What do I do? Phil questioned. “I think that you should go visit Jacqueline and get her to watch you.” Phil said. “What about Trudy?” “I’ll finish burying her.” “Really? Thanks.” “No problem. I doubt that you’ll turn. It’s probably an infected bite or something but if you do, I want you to know that I appreciate your work here. Protecting the people here, coming to the police station and helping clear out the motel. I couldn't have done it without you.” They shook hands and Clay smiled. “I’m not dead yet.” ”We need to stop and rest.” Tessa said. “We need to keep moving. We need to find somewhere safe.” Tharman argued pushing forward. “I can hardly stay awake!” “That’s my problem why?” Tessa slapped him, he pushed her. “Guys stop!” Desmond said to no avail. “Stop, stop it!” He pushed them apart. Tharman shot him a look. “We do need to rest.” Philip said from in front. “We’re all exhausted. We need to rest or we’ll die.” He glanced over to Edward. “What do you think?” He asked. “I thought you hated me.” “You used past tense. I still do. We all do, but we don’t want you to die. I want your opinion.” “My opinion? I think that we should keep walking for a little and then rest.” “Are you kidding me?” Tessa raised her voice. “I need to stop and rest!” “Shut up!” Tharman yelled at her. Desmond moved to push them apart again. “We don’t have time for this.” Cesare said. “We need to move or we’ll die. Like Paris did. Like Solus and Ida probably did. I know you’re all died. I am too, but we need to keep moving or else.” “Don’t you miss her?” Philip asked. “I do. I loved her. So much.” He looked down. “But we don’t have time to mourn yet. Not if we want to live. We need to find somewhere safe.” Cesare turned around and continued to walk. “I’m sorry about Paris.” Desmond said moving up to Philip. He was using a quiet voice. No-one else heard. “What do you mean?” He asked. “You loved her.” Philip nodded. “Is that?” Tharman asked. “No way in hell.” Philip said. “You can’t say that. It’s a church.” Desmond smiled. “It’s our safe place.” “Hey Zach.” Bessie said as she walked into the diner. “Oh hey.” Zach said as he continued setting the tables. Skye and Tammy were not in the diner. “It’s Bessie, remember?” Surely he had remembered her name since they had gone to school together. Zach had graduated two years before Bessie and was two grades above her. “No, sorry. Have we met before?” “We went to school before. Remember? Bessie Whyte?” She asked. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really know many people in my grade.” “We weren’t in the same grade.” She said, surprised that he had forgotten her. “Sorry if I upset you or anything.” He said. She slowly checked him out, making sure that he’d see. He clearly did and creased his brow. She smiled. “Knock, knock.” Deputy Cindy whispered at the door. “Come in.” Joanna replied. Cindy opened the door to find Joanna lying down on her bed, her face was pale, she had a hive on her right cheek, most probably caused by stress. Her eyes were wet and red, as was her nose. “How are you doing?” Cindy asked. “Pull up a chair.” Joanna answered. Cindy grabbed a bar stool and dragged it over to Joanna’s bedside. “Still wearing your uniform?” She asked. “Yeah. I figured I should look the part. John and Phil aren’t in uniform but Garrett and I are. Can I get you anything?” Joanna curtly shook her head. “Okay.” Cindy thought for a second. “You wanna talk about anything?” She twisted her mouth in contemplation. “Phil and Clay just finished burying her. I thought that you might want to know.” Joanna smiled. “Thank you.” She looked down at her hands, she had bit all of her fingernails. “You said that I could kill however killed Trudy?” “I did.” “When you came into the mall, you killed the man that killed her. One of you anyway.” Cindy nodded. “Thank you, I didn’t want to have to do it. I’m not that strong yet. I’m going to have to be, but not right now.” “I understand.” “When Trudy and I were attacked, I dropped my phone. It broke. The thing is, my husband is in the city. He works at Prestige Paper, I don’t know if he’s okay or anything. He left for work early. He always does. I’m so scared for him and for myself. I’m all alone.” “When my sister died, I always used to pretend that she was still alive inside of me. I used to pretend that I could communicate with her. It was stupid, I know, but it got me to the stage where I could let her go. My point is that Trudy’s still alive inside of you. As long as you think about the good memories, you won’t need new ones.” Joanna smiled and leaned over, hugging Cindy. “You are one hell of a great friend.” ”Phil! Phil!” Niall screamed, running down the main corridor. “What?” Rosa asked stepping out of a shop. “Some.. is…. the gate….. someone’s at…. it.” He bent over catching his breath. “Later, Rosa.” ”Bye?” She awkwardly watched him run away. As they approached the church, Cesare began to have several ideas about what may lay inside. It might be filled with zombies or survivors or just be entirely empty. Whatever lay inside of it, it had to be better than what was outside. Since the forest ended outside the back of the church, they found a door on the left side. It was a glass door but it was barricaded. “Shit.” Tharman said, trying to wrench the door open. “Give me a hand?” He asked. Desmond shrugged, stepping forward and pulling to no avail. “It’s jammed.” “Barricaded.” Tessa corrected. “I’m going to try the other side.” With that she left. “I’ll help her.” Cesare said, starting to follow her. It turned out that Tessa was onto something and they found a door that was not barricaded. Some idiot forgot. Cesare smirked as they got the rest of the group to come around. “Par-” And then he remembered that she was dead. They entered the church and closed the door behind them. “Hello?” Edward shouted. “Anybody in here?” No response. “Hello?” Tessa added. “Is someone there?” A voice called out. “Yeah.” Tharman said as he opened the door to where the voice came from. A young woman stood in front of them. Cesare couldn’t tell if she was in her twenties or thirties. “Hey.” Tharman said. “What are you doing here?” The woman asked. She seemed friendly. “We needed somewhere to go. Can we stay here? We’d be willing to help out.” Philip said. “Just one second.” She said as she walked back out. A minute later she returned. “Father Walter is the priest here, he is the leader. He’ll let you stay.” She ushered them into the common room where they were greeted by Father Walter and two others. “I’m Father Walter.” He began. “I’m the priest at this church. I am in charge of everything that happens around here. Nothing goes without me hearing about it. God has willed me to be a leader and so I am.” He smiled at an elderly woman. “This is Elaine. She is the oldest member of our church. Both in age and superiority. She plans and coordinates events. Elaine is in charge of services and assists in how things run. She also plays the organ.” Father Walter gestured towards another man. “This is Isaac. He is a newer member of the c-church.” Walter stuttered. “He has recently returned from a missionary program in Sudan.” Isaac smiled at the others. “Isaac is a good person. We all are here.” Walter gestured to the last person, the woman who led them into the room. “You have already met Karen. “Karen is the newest member of the church. It’s quite a small group currently. She is still not a member to the extent that Elaine, Isaac and I are. We have a few other members of the church that left to find family. Danielle and Dalton are their names. If they return, I’ll make sure to properly introduce them.” Father Walter turned around gesturing to Elaine. “Follow me.” She said. “I’ll help you to your rooms.” She smiled. After they left, Father Walter stood with Karen and Isaac. “You told them Dalton’s name.” Karen said in a concerned tone. “Don’t worry. They won’t ever meet him. He’s in position” She nodded. “I want you to keep an eye on them, Karen. We need them to stay for your ritual. You do want to be a full member of the cult, I take it.” She once again nodded. “Good. Now leave Isaac and myself alone for a minute.” She left towards the kitchen. “That was clever of you, Father.” Isaac smiled, unable to wipe a smirk off of his face. “Like I give a fuck about Africa.” They both had a small laugh. “But why would you let a new member go to Sudan as a missionary. I thought in Christian churches you needed to be a longtime member.” Walter twisted his mouth, considering. “You have a point. Consider it an initiation sort of thing.” Isaac nodded. “About Karen?” “We’ll choose one.” “Since you’re a girl, I have a separate room for you.” Elaine said sternly. “But I would prefer to stay with the rest of them. I trust them.” Tessa replied. “We won’t have any of that here. I won’t have you sin.” Cesare would have found that funny, had it been any other day or situation. “Either you split or you leave.” Tessa looked at Cesare, he nodded. “Okay.” Tessa said. Phil stood beside Niall and Cindy. He had sent John to Tammy in the diner as she wanted to give him knife lessons. The survivor from the street, Solus, stood calmly as the others talked. “He can stay.” Phil said immediately. “I knew that you’d say that.” Cindy said, smiling. “We can still help people. That’s what’s important.” She said. “True, dat.” Niall agreed. “You can stay.” Phil said as walked over and shook hands with Solus, once again. “Thank you.” He smiled. “Niall. Can you please get him a room in the motel?” “Yeah, sure.” After they had left, Phil stood beside Cindy. “I also wanted to thank you.” Phil said. “Oh?” Cindy awkwardly muttered. “I’ve taken you for granted.” He pat her on her back. “You’ve been a massive help around here and I’m sure that you’ll continue to be.” She nodded. “Phil!” An alarmed voice shouted. It was Becca. “Becca? Everything okay?” He asked. She shook her head. She had a panicked look on her face. Something was wrong. “It’s Clay. He’s dead.”

Deaths

 * 1) Clay (offscreen)

Trivia
This marks the last appearance of Clay
 * This marks the first starring character’s death