Say Goodbye to America/ Scatter 35

"Where We Were" is the thirty-fifth episode of Say Goodbye to America: Scatter and the third episode of season 4

Synopsis[]

War has been declared. Apex and Waterfront meet up to discuss plans, unaware of the danger the O'Connor Compound possesses and of the new survivors making their way towards them.

Where We Were[]

Eli: So what’s the word on him?

J.D.: Artie? Custodian. Weird guy but everybody loves him

Jarrod: There were always rumors that he was kooky but he’s gentle. Too gentle, though, if you ask me

Eli: How so?

J.D.: Can’t kill the dead ones

Quinn: He at least know how to shoot?

J.D.: No way I would ever put a gun in his hands. I barely trust him with a knife

Jarrod: Doesn’t get outside much

Eli looks at the gangly, uncoordinated older man with fogged up glasses and messy hair. As he tries picking up his things to leave, he keeps dropping them on the floor

Roger: Hey Artie! You want a bag?

Artie: Huh? Oh, no no no it’d weigh me down

Quinn: But what if we come into trouble along the road? And you have to drop your things and pull out your weapon?

Artie: That won’t happen

Quinn: It could

Artie: But it won’t. I’m too fast for them

Quinn: all righty then. Gonna be hard to fit everything in the car, though

Hannah: Ah, shit

The guys turn to watch Hannah reaching down to fix her back, which had torn open and dropped her things to the ground. J.D. runs over to help her

J.D.: Let me help you with that

Quinn watches J.D. run to her and turns back to Jarrod

Quinn: Anything going on with that?

Jarrod: What do you mean?

Quinn: You always hear stories about professors and their students you know… knocking boots, as it were?

Jarrod: Well if there is anything, I haven’t noticed. Besides, it’s not wrong now. Beauty of the end of the world

Quinn: It’s not a beauty

Quinn walks away in a huff, and Jarrod and Roger look at each other and shrug their shoulders. Elle struggles to carry her back and drops it on Jarrod’s foot, making him hold it while hopping on the other one while Roger laughs. Brooks watches from his vehicle and sighs. He looks towards his left as a younger boy walks up to him. He has a pale face with dark rimmed sunglasses, underneath which hides his boyish looks

“Brooks, right?”

Brooks: Uh yeah. And you are?

The boy reaches his hand out to shake with Brooks, who obliges but still appears wary

Francis: Francis David Marino. Andrew’s younger brother

Brooks: Charmed

Francis: I wanted to talk to you about this place we’re going. Now is it in the town of Apex or is it named because it is located on a sharp curve?

Brooks: Uh.. the first one

Francis: And how many people are there?

Brooks: Not entirely certain. No census report

Francis: Right and…

Brooks: Hang on, kid, we’ve got biters incoming. Look alive, people!

About eight biters begin moving towards the group, spread out enough to not make much of a hassle. Francis puts down his bag, unzips it and pulls out a billy club as Brooks pulls out his knife and begins to walk towards the dead ones. Brooks takes out the first one as Francis takes out the second and pushes past him towards the other six. He takes out the next two with a swing forward and a swing backwards. He runs towards a lone one and smacks it in the knee, bringing it down before smacking it twice in the head. As he pulls back to swing a third time, another biter moves grabs him. As he is pulled towards its mouth, he throws his whole body to his left and flips the biter onto the ground before bringing the billy club down on its head. He walks up to the last one, sweeps it to the ground and smashes its skull.

Sylvester: Where the hell did that kid learn that?

Becky: Apparently he has a black belt in karate

Fish: Can he teach me?

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Ned: Well, Asher, now you have a friend. Peanut came back

Asher, breathing heavily and with eyes wide, looks up at Ned. He pushes slowly drying blood out of his mouth with every breath

Ned: You know how much he likes to sing. He’ll probably talk within a day or two

Karim: I’m guessing we won’t need Asher after he talks, will we, Ned?

Ned: You are absolutely right, my friend. So you wanna sing a song?

Asher just looks down and breathes heavier. Ned walks over to the wall of the room and puts his hand over his eyes, breathing in hard as he slides it down his face

Ned: I understand. I have a doctorate in psychology from one of these American schools. You need some incentive, don’t you. Now it just so happens to be chicken pot pie night, and I know that’s your favorite. And I’ll make it easier. All you have to do is tell me if the place they went was number one, Apex, or number two, Waterfront

Asher looks up at him and continues to breathe heavily. Ned raises one eyebrow and tilts his head down towards him, watching one tear roll down the boy’s cheek

Asher: One. Apex

Ned smiles

Ned: Karim. Untie the boy. Let him stretch out. He’ll be eating two nice helpings of chicken pot pie tonight

Ned walks out of the room and looks towards George, Noah and Dave

Ned: We’re going to Apex, boys. Come, let’s get dinner

The four head down to the hall, where several dozen members of the compound chatter away while enjoying some of Packer’s chicken pot pie. As Ned enters, the chatter stops and they all stand up and put their left hands on their hearts. Ned waves them back down

Ned: Sit down, enjoy the pies. That’s what I’m here for

He walks over to the kitchen area, where Packer has a plate ready

Packer: Ned. Anything to drink?

Ned: I don’t need anything right now. By the way, Karim will be down here shortly. He’ll need two pies for our mutual friend from the kitchen

Packer: Asher finally spill?

Ned: When the promise of your pies were mentioned, yes

Packer: Well, these did get me a five star rating when the restaurant was still around. Before that rating, we didn’t now where we were going. Seems the rating also killed us

Noah: How so?

Packer: We made too much money. That and I pocketed most of the money coming in. I mean, jail would have been great for me, but I’m glad the world ended before the trial

While the conversation continues, George sneaks away to a table where a lone man sits tinkering with his watch

George: Not hungry, Zeke?

Zeke: Recently gone vegan. What’d you come here for? Shouldn’t you be with the king of shit himself?

George: He’ll be coming to you anyway

Zeke puts down his watch and looks at George

Zeke: Why?

George: Ned is going to ask you for something. It’s C4 related

Zeke: Not too much of an issue

George: He wants us to go to war with these people. I don’t want that. Half of us don’t want that

Zeke: And you want me to…?

George: Leave some for him. I’m sure you’ll know what to do with it

Ned: George, I hope you didn’t ruin the surprise

George: Nope. Just old buddies talking about the women back in the day. I’m telling you, Zeke, Emma B. was hotter than Emma C. back in school

Zeke: Yeah, but Emma C. was a much nicer girl. Wonder what happened to them

Ned: Gentlemen, I do not mean to interrupt, but I do have a proposition for you, Zeke

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Several cars pull up out front of Waterfront. In the first car, Jenny steps out and greets Chester with a hug, before sharing more with Vazquez, Nate and Milo

Chester: Did not expect to see you so soon, Jenny

Jenny: Heard from some of my best that there might be some trouble brewing around here

Vazquez: So you brought fifteen vehicles full of your best fighters?

Jenny: Exactly

Vazquez: A little foolish

Chester: What I think Vazquez is attempting to say is we’re fine here. What if they planned to attack us to draw you away and then destroy your home while you were gone?

Jenny: I didn’t think of that

Nate: You feeling okay?

Jenny: Yeah I just… I don’t know where my mind is today

Chester: Even with all that has happened, we double the size of Apex. Send your back five cars home and we’ll send you 20 of our top 50 fighters. Vazquez will take them

Vazquez: Sure thing

Chester: You sure you don’t want to sit down?

Phillip: You should. I’ll tell them to go

Phillip walks over to some of the vehicles

Aaron: Everything okay?

Phillip: Yeah, it’s all good. Jenny says some of you should head back to Apex. And 20 guys from Waterfront will meet you there

Aaron: All good. We’ll radio you if anything goes bad

Phillip: Don’t say that. You’ll make me feel horrible if something bad happens to you. You were my first friend here

Aaron: So we’re friends?

Phillip: Of course, why wouldn’t we be?

Aaron: You’re sending me home

Phillip: You just so happen to be one of the last to arrive, it’s easier if you leave

Aaron: Whatever, man. You owe me a drink when you get back

Phillip: Okay. I’ll make sure to swipe something

Olivia: You better be getting me something as well

Phillip: Fine. Alice, you want anything, either?

Alice: If you’re offering, I’d love a margarita

Phillip: Wine it is, then. Have a safe drive

Meanwhile, on the road back from Appalachian State, Becky’s car begins to stall. She honks the horn to get the others to stop

Elle: What’s wrong, Beck?

Becky: The piece of shit is falling apart again

Scott: Again?

Becky: Had to get it check ups a lot. It’s pushing 250 thousand

Aidan: Why didn’t you take a more reliable one from the lot?

Becky: Cause this one is mine

Fish: Anyone know how to fix a car?

Ryo: I do. Trade school. Automotive

Fish: Perfect. We’ll get moving in no time

Andrew: I’ll help you out, man. Dad was mechanic

Francis: No he wasn’t. He was an author

Andrew: Your dad was. Geoff wasn’t my dad

Brooks: Hey guys, let’s do this later. We need to get a move on

Andrew: Sorry, brother. Didn’t mean to snap at you

Francis: It’s okay. I’m used to it

He walks away as Andrew watches. He sighs and helps Ryo and Becky with the car. Brooks walks up to the boy as a few tears start to form

Brooks: You okay?

Francis: He’s always hated me. Mom and his dad were happy until my dad slept with mom and then I was born. They split when he was three and he was the product of a legal battle for years. He thinks if I was never conceived, his parents would have still been together. It’s my fault

Brooks: It’s not your fault, kid. Things like that happen. Even at the end of the world, I guarantee they will still happen. Your mom was happy with your dad and even happier with you and your brother. And he’s dealing with some shit too deep to realize he loves you

Francis begins to cry and hugs tightly to Brooks. Brooks is too stunned to react at first but pats Francis on the shoulder.

Brooks: It’s all right. Just let some tears flow

Just then, the horn on Becky’s car starts to blare continuously, causing Ryo and Andrew to hold their ears tightly

Scott: Hey! Get that thing off!

Andrew: We’re trying!

The sound of the horn attracts the nearby biters, which, as they come closer, begin to make noises louder than the horn

Fish: Look alive, everyone, dead is coming!

He pulls out a revolver and shoots one in the head before aiming at another and taking it down. He slaps the vehicles as he runs by them

Fish: Get your asses out of the cars, we gotta go!

One by one they file out of the cars, all except for Artie

Jarrod: Artie, man, you can’t sit this one out

Artie: I, I think I better stay here

Jarrod: C’mon man, we need your help. There’s a lot

Artie: That’s why it’s better if I stay

Jarrod: Artie, man. A-bomb. You’re stronger than you think. I believe in you. I know you can kill the dead ones. Now take this fucking knife and stab them the dead in the head

Artie nods his head, unbuckles and takes Jarrod’s hand before pulling out a knife and moving towards the dead alongside Jarrod and Sebastián. Boone, Maxwell, Gutierrez and David clear out the West end. Elle and Hannah provide cover for Ryo and Andrew, still working on the car, turning every-so-often to shoot one getting too close

J.D.: How’s it coming on the car?

Ryo: Got the horn off so far

J.D.: Barely even noticed. Still hear the ringing

Fish, Scott and Sylvester shoot at the larger amounts of dead coming in from the Eastern woods, missing almost no shots, but still making very little headway. Roger, Brooks, Aidan and Francis clear the ones getting towards the front of the vehicles while Sebastián, Jarrod and Artie clear the ones on their end. Jarrod watches as Artie, while squeezing his eyes shut at every kill, still manages to clear at least five biters.

Sebastián: C’mon, putos, tengo bailar!

Sebastián slashes and stabs at the dead but is knocked down by another. He wrestles it as it tries to bite him and comes inches from his face before it stops. Artie pulls his knife out of its head and pushes it off Sebastián. He begins to help Sebastián to his feet

Sebastián: Thank you

Suddenly, Artie feels a sharp pain in his shoulder and drops Sebastián to the ground. Artie yells in pain as he pulls away and moves a few paces forward, turning before stabbing a biter in the head. He looks down at his shoulder and notices it starting to bleed and marks of teeth grained into his skin

Artie: Oh, man

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Karim: Slow down there, kid, you’ll burn yourself

Karim watches as Asher devours the first of the pies he brought up for him. Karim then begins to laugh

Karim: Whoops, I forgot. You enjoy burning things. Eat up, asshole. Last hot meal you’ll enjoy for a while

Asher gives him a dirty look as he places the first bowl on the table and reaches for the next one. Karim smacks him in the head

Karim: Don’t give me a dirty look, fire boy

Asher breaks the crust around the pot pie to let the steam escape. He then turns and throws the burning mess into Karim’s face. Karim screams and holds his face with his hands, closing one eye

Karim: You little shit

Karim tackles Asher into the wooden table, which breaks as the pair land on top of it. Karim begins to choke Asher as the boy tries to save himself. Asher grabs on to the now broken table leg and knocks Karim off of him. Asher stands and brings the table leg over his head and down onto Karim’s over and over, yelling with each more powerful strike until Karim’s head is the same consistency as the pie tossed into his face

Elsewhere, in Waterfront, Chester holds a meeting in the theatre

Chester: We all know why you are here. And currently we are not having issues of any kind. But we need to plan. And we would like your input

Chester, Jenny, Nate, Leo, Haynes, Hazel, Roscoe and Garrett stand on a stage in the theatre looking across at the large audience filled with members of Apex and Waterfront

Luka: Do you know how many they have? How many soldiers and such?

Hazel: Total people? Probably around three hundred. Maybe four. Not sure if they can all fight, though

Jasper: So what do you want us to do?

Chester: We’ll begin training for those of you who are unfamiliar with weapons. For those of you who do not know them, standing here with us is General Haynes and Colonel Jefferson from the U.S. Army. General

Haynes: Thank you, Chester. We’ll begin training at first light tomorrow. Those of you who are unfamiliar with firearms or want to hone your skills should meet here at sunup

A murmur comes across the crowd

Stan: Sunup? I need my beauty sleep

Roscoe: We need to be awake most hours of the day for when they attack

Evan: If they attack

Hazel: They will! I know these guys. If they attacked once, they will again. And they were crafty last time.

Jed: Crafty? How so?

Leo: They used the skin of the dead to walk among them and sneak attack us. If they attack, they might attack at dawn, when most of us are sleeping

Sharissa: Is it even safe to sleep at night, then?

Nate: It is. We will have guards every single hour watching over the community. It’ll be in shifts, each one lasting three hours, and about fifteen guards every shift

Mark: We’ve never had that many guards before

Chester: We need everybody

Robert: Is that why I’m here and not in a cell?

Chester: >sighs< Yes

The crowd begins to murmur again

Milo: You forget that son of a bitch tried to kill you?

Dexter: Some of the guys sitting here tried to kill us as well! We aren't even from here

Ethan: This is not right, Chester. I agree we need people but not mutineers

Nate: Enough! We need everyone! We have no idea what these people from the Compound are capable of. They eat people, for Christ's sake. Those people are monsters. I'd feel much safer with Robert or Emil or Nathaniel here than with them. Robert here could be the difference between you living and dying. I’d rather have an extra person to have my back than not

The crowd goes silent

Chester: Everyone up here, myself included, is a guard shift leader. If you have worries, we will be here. When you hear your name called, stand up and then join them

Garrett: All right, my group. Seth, Ethan, Emil, Dustin, Will, Horatio, Nathan, Ilene, Evan, Jackson, Traci, Mark, Phillip and Nick. We have the first shift, so follow me. We start in ten

The fifteen of them walk out of the room as Nate begins reading his list out

Nate: Sharissa, Milo, Jed, Robert, Jasper…

The door closes behind Garrett’s group

Garrett: Okay so… they didn’t tell me where the armory was.

Ilene: How did we get stuck going first?

Garrett: I drew the shortest straw

Nick: Armory is this way. I’ll lead. Nobody take my M16

Jackson: What makes it yours? I enjoy the M16, don’t wanna take it

Nick: I carved my name into it

Nathan: Why?

Nick: It was what I used to put my father down when he turned

Nathan: Oh my. I’m sorry

Nick: I’m not. He would have gotten my sister if I didn’t put him down

Will: Don’t believe I’ve met your sister yet

Nick: She’s dead

Will: Oh. If you don’t mind me asking, how?

Nick stops and pushes his way towards Emil, who backs up against the door of the armory

Nick: This son of a bitch was part of a rebellion which killed her

Emil: I did my time, man

Nick: Not long enough

Dustin: Nick… chill out

Nick: You’re not free of this either. You were not supposed to come back

Nick wraps his hand around Dustin’s throat and lifts him up against the wall

Seth: Nick, man, chill the hell out

Emil: She joined of her own volition! She got herself killed!

Nick: She was manic! And you allowed the seed to be planted in her head

Ethan: She got people killed, Nick. Don’t do what she did. Put him down

Nick: He needs to die.

He pushes Dustin harder against the wall

Nick: You slept with my sister and told her to join with Ryan

Dustin: >struggling< I’m sorry…

Nick: No you’re not

Nick turns when he hears the familiar click of a magazine of an M16

Jackson: Put him down, man. Don’t make me have to shoot you

Nick breathes heavily and glares at Jackson, scrunching his face. He lets Dustin go as the man drops to the floor. Jackson lowers the gun and Nick takes it from his hands before walking away

Garrett: You don’t know where we’re gonna go and who is with whom

Nick: Just so long as those two assholes are not with me, I don’t care

Garrett looks at Horatio and Seth

Horatio: I’ll follow him.

The two men grab rifles and follow after Nick

Garrett: So looks like they are going West. Anyone have a particular interest in either of the other two directions?

Will and Traci: North

Garrett: Fine. You two take North

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Copper: Really? Why not?

Julia: I never was a fan of dark meat

Copper: But dark meat has the most flavor. Back me up here, Duke

Creighton: Dark meat does have the most flavor

Julia: I always preferred white meat

Hogan: You’re both wrong. The skin is the best part of the chicken

Tara: Only when it’s crispy

Copper: How the hell are you always right?

Hogan: Age breeds experience, my friend

Suddenly, Clove runs into the hall and heads directly to Ned

Clove: Ned! You need to come quick! Something’s wrong

She leads them upstairs and into Ned’s office. There is no sound coming from inside the small room

Dave: Open it

Noah opens the room and is jumped by Asher, who is knocked to the ground and held at gunpoint by Ned

Ned: Where’s Karim

Noah peers into the room

Noah: He’s in there. At least, I think the pile of brain matter is him

Ned looks at Asher, who sobs and begs to die

Asher: Kill me please

Ned: No. I have use for you

Ned smacks Asher in the head with the pistol. Elsewhere, on the road to Apex, Ryo and Andrew finally got the car working and most of the biters have been put down

Gutierrez: Are we all good to go?

Ryo: Pretty much. Start it up, Becky

Becky turns the key in the car and gets it to run

Boone: Finally. I’m ready to see this Apex

Jarrod: Can’t yet

David: Why not?

Jarrod: Artie got bit

The group looks as Artie reveals his shoulder bite to the group

Artie: I finally got to killing the dead ones just as they got to killing me. Figures. Go on, let’s hear some goodbyes

Elle walks up to Artie and gives him a tearful hug

Artie: Keep learning, girl. School might be out indefinitely but doesn’t mean to stp learning

Hannah and Becky share one quick hug with Artie before returning to their cars. Andrew gives him a fist bump and J.D. a firm handshake before returning to their cars as well. The soldiers each give him a solid hug before they go back to the rear vehicle. Sebastián walks up to him and shakes his hand

Sebastián: Thank you for saving me

Artie: It was nothing. Just pay it forward

Artie looks to Quinn, Eli and Scott

Artie: You keep these kids safe. They’re smart, strong and above all, good people

He looks towards Jarrod

Artie: Help me out one last time?

Jarrod: Yeah

Artie and Jarrod walk beyond the vision of the cars in the woods. Jarrod wipes tears from his eyes

Artie: No time for that, Jarrod. You helped me out when I needed it most. You’re gonna be all right

He gets on his knees and closes his eyes

Artie: Ready when you are

Jarrod places the gun to the back of Artie’s head and pulls the trigger. The former custodian turned friend flops forward onto the pile of leaves. Jarrod wipes his right eye one last time before heading to the car

Back at the O’Connor Compound, Ned, George, Noah and Will walk into the garage and automotive shop

Ned: All set?

Zeke: One hundred percent squared away. I hope you don’t mind, I had to use a little as a test run earlier. Needed to make sure it worked

Ned: Oh, that’s quite all right.

Ned gives the detonator to Will

Will: And how does it work?

Zeke: That button there arms it and this one over here makes it go

Zeke meets his eyes with George’s and snaps his fingers

Zeke: Boom

Ned: Merry Christmas, Will. I’m sure you’ll know when to use it

Will: The plan’s all set

Ned: Great