Bethany's lying in and out of consciousness, immediately starting to run a fever in the passenger seat at the front of the RV and Lindsey's sitting in the drivers seat, hands together and chin resting on them just looking depressed.
Evelyn is in pain, and after minutes of examination, "Noah, I think the baby is stuck. Labor will progress, but she won't be able to push it out.
Her uterus could be to small for it, there's quite a few different things it could be." Lyla tells him.
"Baby, it's going to be okay." Noah tells her, holding her hand, hugging her. "I don't want to die, but I don't want to become a zombie." She cries.
"If she ends up dying from this, Noah, she will come back a zombie. There's no way to stop this, there is no way to get her baby out alive.
We can slice open her stomach, but any tools won't be clean, we won't be able to sew her up properly, and that will kill her instead." Lyla tells him.
"What do you suggest we do then?!" Noah yells at her. "If you love her, Noah, you will put her down so she doesn't have to become one of them." Slate tells him, and then bends down to Evelyn.
"You know there is no way out of this, Evelyn. But you do have a choice on how you go out. You're either in pain for hours, not able to push the baby out and it kills you and you come back as a zombie and then your loved ones shoot you in the head.
Or your loved ones shoot you in the head before you get to the zombie stage. It's either pain and death or a swift death by the ones who love you where you feel little pain and you can die with your humanity intact.
And I don't know if you're religious, but if you believe there is something after dying, you will live in a much better world then this zombie infested world we're stuck in.
So, what do you want to do?"
"Shoot me." Evelyn responds. "I'm also the reason, Opal is dead anyway."
"Okay, come on. I got you, baby." Noah whispers, kissing her on her cheek and he helps off the table, and slowly pushes the RV door open, making sure it's clear as the two stumble outside.
"See you in five minutes?" Slate calls out.
"Yeah, sure!" Noah calls back, the RV door closing behind them.
"I'm going to miss her." Paisley whispers. "I never asked her if she wanted a boy or a girl. She'll never know the gender of her baby and they won't get to grow up either, who knows who they could have become."
"Paisley, come here-" Lyla begins, but she's pushed away and Paisley heads to the bedroom. "Lyla, give her space." Gideon tells her.
Slate looks to the front of the RV and sighs. "We've ignored you both long enough, I'm sorry." and heads up there, followed by Lyla and Gideon.
"Hand me that toolbox up there." Lindsey tells him.
Slate opens one of the overheard compartment bins, pulling it out and opens it. There's not much in there and a axe. "This?"
"Yes, I'm not going out like this." And Lindsey takes it, laying his arm out flat on the dash, aiming the saw just above where his hand connects to his arm. Lyla prepares a towel and Gideon pulls out extras.
Lindsey gulps, then takes a breath in and the axe slices into his flesh. There's blood, but he doesn't make a sound, biting his tongue.
Once it's off, pressure is applied to his arm, it wrapped up and with gloves, his hand is tossed in a plastic bag and tossed out the window. They don't need it to stinking up the RV.
"What if it doesn't work?" Gideon asks him.
"Don't know, it might not. But I'd die for sure if I left it attached. At-least this way, I have a shot at survival." Then he holds the saw out to Slate.
"You wanna..." And he looks to Bethany who's lying unconscious. "Uh, I don't know. It should be her choice." And he moves to Beth, gently shaking her.
He feels her forehead. "She feels warm."
"It could be the bite, Slate. Or it could be regular illness, we are all underweight and it's winter out here. It's been a few minutes since she was bit, but we don't know how being bit works.
Does it go straight to the heart and brain, other organs or does it take a long time, or does it not even work that way. We're not the ones who made this, Solayo and the others did." Lyla points out.
"Exactly the reason I'm content with cutting off my hand." Lindsey cuts in.
"Slate?" Bethany groans, waking up. "Bethany?" Slate says, going in for a hug.
"No, no, don't. I'm infected probably." Tears streaming down her face.
"Beth, do you want to, or me to cut off just above your ankle? It might not make a difference, but if it does-"
"No, I want to keep my foot!"
"Okay, you can keep it."
"Promise me you'll shoot when if I turn."
"If?"
"Slate, it's the blood loss. Her leg was bit, she's not thinking straight." Lyla tells him. "Beth, we need to wash your leg out, okay? It won't save you... maybe, but it does need to be cleaned out. It could buy you some more time."
She nods and Lyla fills up a small bucket with water, antiseptic and so on. They clean it and wrap it up.
When they're done, Gideon looks at the clock on the wall. "It's been 15-20 minutes. Noah's not back, Slate."
"Shit." Lindsey says, and like speak of the devil they hear a gun shot followed by a second.
"Okay, yeah. His not coming back..." Lindsey trails off, standing and pulling the map lying on the other side of the dash near Beth and handing it to Slate and a compass.
They see a location in the middle of nowhere circled red. "What's there? There's nothing." Slate tells him.
"Slate, use your brain. This world we're in now is not the same as the old one. That red circle there is indicating a settlement, it's just not printed on the map for obvious reasons, duh."
"I'm sorry-"
"It's fine. I'm being to harsh on you, I was always a hardass."
"I forgot what you said you we're before-
"A parole officer."
"Right."
"Look, Slate. This map, the compass. Take it, this RV is yours. It belongs to all of you.
Go to that settlement, it's better than you bunch being stuck out here in this snowstorm. It's safe there, they have food, medicine.
We left Qunatuamn after Opal died and got Evelyn out and when we received a tip off about back the way we came, but past Quantuamn, there was a community. That's where we we're headed when we came across you bunch running around in the show like headless chickens.
I am infected though now, I can't go there. They'll shoot me, all my friends are dead and I can't look after you all like you deserve, I can't do this alone.
I'm sorry.
"What are you saying-"
"I'm leaving."
And Lindsey stands, rounding up a small backpack of stuff. "Lindsey." Bethany whispers, a few tears falling.
He bends down to her, hand on her knee. "I'm sorry, Beth." He says, giving her a hug.
Then he rises, and heads to the door, stopping short and places a hand on Slate's shoulder. "You can lead them, you're capable. You've got this."
And then his headed out the door, walking away from the RV as the sun is heading towards dusk.
"His really leaving us." Lyla whispers. "That son of a bitch." Gideon adds on. "Slate." Bethany cries.
Slate takes a shaky breath in and sits down in the drivers seat opposite her, placing the map and the compass in his lap and he takes her hands.
"I'm right here with you, and I'm not going anywhere."
"Shoot me when it's time. Promise me."
"I promise."
Then he looks at the others and back to her. "Do you want me to lead you all though? Do you think I have what it takes?"
"Slate. You got us out of the compound, you've taken us this far. You're more than the others thought you ever we're. They we're wrong about you, they we're wrong about us and everybody else." Lyla tells him.
"You can do this, bud. That map, let's go there. It's our best shot at survival and if they believe it's safe, well, they're more knowlledgable than we are. We should trust their judgment." Gideon adds on.
"Okay. Someone want to go get Paisley though and break the news to her? Feed Zekey as well. I'll get started on dinner-"
"Slate!" Beth cries. "No, you won't. I'll start on dinner. Lyla will talk to Paisley. You just stay there and be with Beth. She's going to die, Slate." Gideon argues.
Slate nods and sits back down beside, Beth.
Gideon heads to prepare dinner, Lyla heading into the bedroom.
ns 18.68.41.179da2
