Fear the Walking Dead - Season 5 Rewrite - Episode 13

Click here for Episode 12

Episode 13 – Clean Up

Plot: A supposedly easy trip down south leads to some unexpected troubles.

Synopsis:

Our episode begins with a new community in the desert during the morning. This small group of around 35 to 50 people (mostly native Americans since this is Navajo Nation territory) are living in a at the top of a tall hill, with a cave network underneath them. People are waking up and we see a few people walking down into the cave with buckets, indicating they are getting water underneath the ground from a well or spring.

Everyone seems like they're having a hard time as we watch one native American cover their eyes from the heat of the rising sun and another nearby groans about the weather. The man shading his eyes looks about, then he squint to see what's coming from the north. Sudden worry comes over his face and he takes a rifle, using the scope to get a better look. Then the worry turns into pure horror as he realizes what he's seeing. As the realization comes to him we'll softly begin to fade in the sound of infected getting closer. Suddenly the sound of the dead is blasted at full volume and at the same time we'll cut to later on the day as the whole community is under siege by a horde of walking dead. The defenses are failing as while a lot of the hill's slope is too high for most of the undead, there is a pathway made by the community to get to the ground that has become overrun by the infected coming up. Most of the undead walk by the hill, pushed away by the land and by their fellow undead, but what is left attacking the community is in the thousands!

The gunfire from the living begins to lessen as guns run out of ammo and soon enough the other barriers set up begin to fall. The survivors begin to be overrun and many start getting dog piled by the undead. Desperate, those that remain run into the cave for safety. One person who was bitten on his side, knowing his life is forfeit, starts up a truck and drives it to the front of the cave entrance, blocking the sides. Before dying of blood loss, he locks the vehicle in place and collapses, succumbing to his wound. The undead push in the vehicle, unable to move it as it presses against the stone edges of the entrance, continuing to groan as we see how large the horde (attacking and walking past the community) is with a birds-eye view. As we continue to zoom out we cut to the intro!

After the intro, we cut to Bloomfield, where Farah is working at the oil rig with some of the other workers of the community. She’s dirty like the others, feeling a splat of oil on her as she helps fill a barrel with the black, sludge that the Bloomfield greatly uses. While it’s barely mid-day, the team has worked hard by amount of fuel/gas they’ve managed to collect. But the hard work they’ve done also shows as they all look tired. Knowing that they’ll be hitting the hot times of the day soon, Farah calls a halt and they begin to slow things down, finishing their current batch and turning off the equipment. Okay, to be honest, I’m not the most knowledgeable on oil fields/ rigs, so I’m mostly guessing. Sorry.

With their break started, Farah and another work begin to move what they have so far into storage on the field. Strand will come by and ask how its been, to which the engineer will answer that they’ve made good progress today. As the two are moving the barrel into storage, Farah will for a hand in getting it inside. Strand is reluctant to touch anybody or anything dirty though and only with a grimace and a shiver does he help the container. As they move the barrel into the room, Farah voices out loud, “I thought you weren’t afraid to get dirty? Or at least that’s what Daniel has told me.”

Strand huffs and responds, “That’s different! And I’m not afraid… just unused to it.”

Farah will smile at this and slyly rubs a dirty finger across Strand’s face. The former con-man is furious and tries to rub off the sticky substance, but soon chuckles at Farah’s laughter. He’ll then mutter to himself that laughter like this… it’s a real treat (might change dialogue). However, their brief, fun moment is gone when a guard calls out that they got dead coming at them. We’ll watch Strand, Farah, and their third companion head to the wall and see a small group of around 12 infected are almost at the wall. As Farah goes to get her weapon, Strand tells her to stop and let him “get dirty” this time. He and a few volunteers go to the gate away from the infected and head out, inciting a small battle with the group of ghouls. We’ll focus on Strand of course as he once more shows he’s not as weak as he used to be.

As the victorious humans stand above the slain undead, Strand looks south and calls out that it looks like it’s time to clear it out the pit and replace the batteries there. But first he begins to drag the unmoving bodies to the burning pit where bodies are disposed of. Farah goes out to join him at the pit and she, taking a wrapped torch and lighting it with a lighter and a bit of the collected fuel, throws the brand into pit and watches the undead light up easily. As everyone watches the bodies burn, Strand takes a step back and pulls out his walkie. Here we’ll cut to Madison outside with Alicia, both of them about to take a lunch meal with plenty of other members of the community. After her daughter gets her meal and Madison goes to her spot, she hears Strand’s voice on her radio and answers. Listening closely, Madison discusses with Strand that last time he went out (with Farah) they were attacked and nearly killed. So this time they’re going to need to go in with more force. When Strand asks what she’s thinking, Madison answers that Daniel and some extra people will be good. Seeing her meal is ready, Madison takes her food and goes off to be with Alicia, holding the walkie talkie with one hand and holding her tray of food in the other until she sits down and puts down her food.

She’ll tell Strand to wait a second and switch stations to the one for the river community, asking for Daniel. After he responds, Madison will tell him to switch to the Bloomfield channel. Once that’s done Madison, Strand, and Daniel begin to discuss this new cleanout. As they talk, Alicia will watch her mother, then notice Martha sitting down with Paul and begin to eat. She’ll watch them and Martha will notice, smiling and giving a small wave in response. Alicia does the same, but with her prosthetic right arm. She’ll then look at her mom, having listened to this new cleanout. She knows this won’t be for her, but she does have an idea to give her mom. We’ll focus back on the conversation and Strand, who makes final agreements on who will go. But just as they’re about to turn off, Farah will ask to take over for Strand instead. At first everyone except Daniel (who remains silent) refuses the offer. But Farah will argue that she’s faster than this than Strand and they’ll have more people this time. Still, Strand and Madison say no. But Daniel, to the surprise of the two leaders, says she should go out, especially if they want to get everything done quick. The weather is hot and he’ll watch her while they’re out. There is still some refusal at Farah’s request, but Daniel is the most experienced survivor of the group and, knowing that they want to not stay out as much as possible now with possible human enemies about, Madison and Strand agree.

After Daniel switches channels to get off the conversation, we’ll switch back to Madison who quickly concludes the talk with Strand by telling him that she’ll pick out some people for the cleanup soon. Madison puts down her radio and takes a bit of her meal, noticing Alicia looking at her. Swallowing her food, Madison explains to Alicia that the southern trap needs looking at, so they’re sending a group down. Alicia asks if it’s safe to do so after the raiders and now this new group, The Family, is about. Madison nods at Alicia but explains that this time the attending group will be in extra force. Better safe than sorry. It needs to be done.

Both Clarks continue to eat their meals and soon enough Madison finishes her meal and gets up. With so many people about she begins recruitment starting with one of her experienced soldiers, Ian. She’ll have him help her pick some people and we’ll watch the two select people for the mission, totaling around seven (including Ian). Before she begins to explain the mission though Madison, looking at Martha and Paul on their own, goes to them and asks for Martha to come with her, then tells Paul to go join Alicia after lunch to work with her. After Paul acknowledges, Madison leads Martha to the small squad where she explains that the southern pit needs clearing out and after the ambush from the northern pit they’re taking less chances. Everyone except Martha agrees, with the former teacher asking what these pits are. Madison will explain them as a defense against the undead, keeping swarm attacks to a minimum by luring them into pits with noise. With everyone up to date, Madison sends everyone on their way to the oil field to meet with the others.

As the new team is walking off we cut back to Strand and Farah, the former putting on new clothes for her journey while fixing her head scarf. While Farah is taking off her dirty clothes, Strand will look at her in worry, asking Farah if she's ready to go back out after what happened last time. Farah, though clearly nervous, says she can't hide away. Strand will nod and says he knows this, but also admits he’s found himself more useful on the inside.

“But you will have to go back out sometime… we all will,” Farah will voice.

Strand will nod again and repeat that he knows this. The dead, or the living, will come for them and he’ll be ready when they do. But he’ll put a hand on her shoulder and say to be careful still. She’ll nod back, a serious expression on her face, then walk off with her spear/ club combo in hand. While she walks away, Strand will sigh and turn to help the workers out with the oil field. While he has done this plenty of times before, all the filth still feels off for him, even with all the times he’s had blood and guts over him. Switching back to Farah, we watch her exit the field to hop in one of the trucks that had just pulled up. She’ll sit across from Martha and both share a smile as Ian resumes driving south.

Here we’ll cut to Daniel, who has a group of five with him getting into their own truck. As he’s about to join them, he talks to John, who is standing next to him and going to watch them leave. The old man will tell his companion to keep a look out, but as he says this John will interrupt him with the rest of the message.

“I know Daniel… but we’ve got this. We won’t be caught off guard.”

Still with a serious expression, Daniel will nod and get into the truck. As the engine roars to life, the vehicle will go out the open gate and take a right, heading towards the meetup point. As it turns the corner, we’ll cut to black.

When we return we’re with our team from Bloomfield as they head south. Soon they reach an open area and park, but not turn their engines. Soon a third vehicle, the one from the San Juan River Community, joins them and all three drive together until they reach the pit. As predicted, the pit is filled with infected and Ian wonders out loud how there are so many about. Daniel will suggest that there are probably a lot of people coming up from the south, indicating some undead Mexicans among the crowd in the pit. Close range weapons are handed out, with Daniel and Martha both taking spears and Farah using her own weapon. We’ll watch the party begin to take down the trapped ghouls. As they attack the helpless undead, Martha’s expression slowly grows angry, her blows becoming more violent as she kills each infected in the pit. As they're clearing the pit, from behind Martha another infected is seen walking to join the fray. Nobody hears it over the noise of the infected in the pit, but soon one of the other members looks up and calls out just as the infected lunges at Martha. The two have a small tussle and Martha holds the snapping ghoul back until Daniel slays it with a stab to the head.

Pulling out the spear, Daniel helps Martha to her feet after she throws the unmoving body off her. With a contemptuous kick, she knocks the body into the pit with the few remaining undead. In few moments later all of the infected are slain and a burning torch (made with oil) is throw into the pit to burn the bodies. As everyone takes a break, Daniel notices two other undead following the first and notice a hill not far away from the distant figures. He and Ian kill the newcomers and look at the hill together. Daniel opens believes that there’s something at that hill and talks with Ian about it. After a conversation, both will agree and announce to everyone they’re going to the hill. Everyone begins to pack up, but Martha and Farah are little flustered, with the latter saying that maybe they need to talk with Madison and the others before going on another mission. Daniel shakes his head and tells her that they got to at least check because with how frequent these infected are coming at them, they have to be coming from somewhere close. Martha on the other hand is a little on edge after that attack and doesn’t seem to want to go out and fight more infected. She keeps these thoughts to herself though as everyone piles into the three vehicles and drive further south.

The trip isn’t as long as they soon reach the hill and find some dead infected laying about. Seeing at the path up is wide enough, they move their vehicles up the gentle slope, being careful not to fall off the edges. When everyone reaches a small flat for everyone to park, they all notice the walls at the top of the hill. Some have fallen over. Daniel will mutter something in Spanish, probably something like “Not good…” before getting out of his truck. He’ll order a few people to stay behind and watch the vehicles, then takes a rifle with him. Those coming with him take guns too, but Martha is excluded. The reason for this is because they don’t want to draw too attention and she’s “too new” to have a gun just yet. Before they march up though, Farah is given a pistol by Daniel, with the former mercenary asking:

“John has been teaching you, right?”

Farah will nod and say he has and Daniel will tell her to keep it on hand. Everyone then walks up the smaller path slowly, Daniel in the lead with his rifle at the ready. Moving closer, everyone can hear faint moans, indicating some infected about. When they reach one of the fallen walls, everyone sees a group of around twenty infected shambling about. Among them is a massacre, torn, eaten, and broken bodies of former living and ghouls are everywhere! Oddly, some infected are very rotten while others are fresher. Ian will voice quietly out loud that this must have been a settlement. He’ll step forward, telling Daniel to have his back as he pulls out his personal hatchet. Daniel, though snorting in derision at this “young pup”, follows his lead and stays near the wall, spreading out with a few others as some step forward for an close combat fight. The dead will notice and begin their walk towards the living. We’ll see everyone, including Farah, Martha, and Ian, taking on the dead in an action sequence. We will have one moment where Martha is struggling against one particularly large ghoul until Daniel shoots it in the head. By this point the fight is over and everyone looks properly about the area.

It's clear that people used to live here some time ago. What has become of them though is obvious: Overwhelmed by the walking dead. As the party begins to search things out and discover only a few useable supplies. Not a very good haul. A few people, including Daniel and Martha, look at the cave that’s being blocked by a truck. He’ll walk towards the vehicle and notice a squirming figure in the driver’s seat. Recognizing it for what it is, he calls Farah over to take care of it since she’s got longer reach. After she walks over she’ll nod at his request and stab the infected through the head, ending its life. As she pulls the spear out though she notices something. A can of food near the truck. Getting on her knees, picks it up and smells it, immediately learning that whatever is inside is now rotten due to the heat. As she throws the junk away however she’ll notice another piece of canned food under the truck. And in the mouth of the cave a bottle of water. Slowly getting back up, she’ll peer into the cave and suddenly begins to hear something.

The engineer will poke Daniel and tell him to listen as well and together can hear it: The undead. Both come to the same conclusion that some of the infected must be trapped in the cave. Then yet another discovery is spotted as they notice the truck has been moved some, leaving a bit of a gap for a ghoul to escape the cave. Soon the pair realize something: The few shots they made, or even just the groans of the dead they just fought, might lure what’s down in the cave up the surface. Daniel, knowing the danger, starts to plan their exit, but Farah, being a thinker, tells Daniel they need to check the cave for several reasons: First, how many infected are down there? A few? A lot? Whatever number it is, they need to know in case they need to take care of it now or later. And second, that trail of food might mean there are supplies down there. They can’t leave this place abandoned without knowing what’s inside.

Reluctantly, but seeing Farah’s wisdom, Daniel agrees and begins to gather the group. With everybody together, Daniel tells the party the situation and informs them of their path ahead. At first, some of them say it would be very unsafe to go down into the caves. Farah though tells them that they all don’t have to go down and those who do will be safe. Walking over to one of the recently slain infected, Farah gets on her knees, a look of disgust and trepidation on her face, she pulls out a knife and disembowels the undead stomach. She orders one of her people to grab some large clothes or covers as the knife rips open the stomach. Pulling out guts and organs, the Arabic woman tries to keep herself from not throwing up like last time and, after putting on a raincoat, slathers herself in the gross fleshy bits and blood. After she finishes her gorey disguise, she offers her companions the bloody organs for their own disguises.

Martha has a look of utter horror and repulsion on her face and she outright refuses to put on the undead guts. Farah tries to reassure her:

"You'll be okay, it's safe. You just can't get it in your body." She'll look at Daniel as she says this, who nods and, a little nervously, puts on a coat and guts himself up beside her.

This does not calm down Martha in the slightest.

"You've done this before?!"

Nodding, Farah helps paint the blood and guts on Daniel’s coat.

"Me… and a few others."

The look on Martha's face becomes even more revolted at this news and she crosses herself, muttering that this is evil. Daniel, ever the level-headed survivor, tells Martha this is survival. Soon a group of five people, including Farah and Daniel, are guts up. Daniel tells Ian to keep an eye out and be ready to shoot in case they have to flee. Ian nods and the party in the center watch as the five-person team climb over the truck and into the darkness of the cave. Martha will watch them more closely, a mix of disgust, yet also worry on her face.

We’ll have a break here and when return we see our five walking into the cave, the entrance a bright light that becomes dimmer as they make their way down. Farah and another member will have flashlights on them, shining them into the darkness below. Everyone is silent, carefully walking down the rocky slop into depths. The only sound that can be heard is the groaning of the walking dead that becomes louder as they move deeper into the cave. Farah, in the lead with Daniel, is looking about and suddenly sees a steep drop and thrusts her hand out to stop everyone. She’ll move her light about carefully, spotting first a set of natural steps on her right. Then it shines upon the scene below.

It seems this cave used to be a tourist attraction since there are wooden paths and some lights in the cave. Most have gone out though, while the rest are continually being blocked out by the swarm of infected. Over 100 are crammed into the available spaces in the cave, some walking through an underground spring that has turned dark and disgusting with filth. As the five look down upon the dead, Farah notices an area on a ledge on the other side with supplies on it. Nudging Daniel, she’ll silently point at it, and he’ll nod, motioning them to move forward. Everyone is nervous going down the smaller steps and into the crowd of jostling, moaning dead bodies. Just before they enter the swarm, the group holds hands to not let go of each other, each tucking their weapons away as the maneuver through the undead.

It’ll be a very tense scene, with the occasional undead looking at them as they make their way to the opposite side. Some of them will have mushrooms and other underground fungi growing out them, a sign they’ve been in the cave for a while. We’ll keep this going for a bit until they reach under the ledge. Here, Farah climbs up the steep steps and checks on what’s there. To her delight, there’s a lot of canned food, medical supplies, and other useful supplies like toothpaste. She holds out a can above the four below to show them what she’s found, then begins to pack away the supplies. Once her container is filled, she hands it down and is given a new, empty pack. We see her do this multiple times, all while the dead hobble around the rest of the team below. Soon Farah is about to fill the last pack on them, but the can she grabs slips out of her hands, the blood on it making her grip unable to hold it. Clattering to the stone beside her, she tries to grab it again, but it rolls over the edge and out of her range. Quick on the mark, one of her team catches it before it can hit an infected in the head.

However, a few seconds after the catch, a noise is heard. Farah looks into the darkness and suddenly is hit by a swarm of bats. Covering her face, Arabic engineer scrambles down from the ledge, her slightly open pack dropping items it on the crowd of riled up infected. She sees her mistake just before she gets on the ground and zips up the pack, but the now loudly moaning undead being to push all five living members against the wall as they reach up at the now flapping bats. Knowing they have to get out, the group begins to make their way back to the cave mouth. Their problems don’t end there however as the dead suddenly push one of them into the dirty spring. Immediately losing their disguise when they surface, the man is attacked by the now aware infected and we watch him be devoured by the undead. Worse still, the man’s splashing in his death throws get water all over the rest, washing out their own gory veils.

With their disguises gone, the remaining four run for the exit, knocking undead out of their way. It’ll be a mad dash and during the run another one of them will be overwhelmed by the suffocating horde. Her screams echo throughout the cave with the aggravated moans of the walking dead. Daniel is the first to reach the steps out and, now on higher ground away from the dead, pulls out his rifle, unleashing bullets on the packed crowd. Farah and the last member follow up, but the horde is just behind. With the upward slope before them, Daniel knows they’ll be in trouble and might not make it out. Looking for a solution, he feels a drop of water on his head and looks up to see stalactites. Aiming his rifle up, he fires into the ceiling spikes and breaks one off. It falls down, just as an infected is about to grab at Farah. It spears the undead through the shoulder, pinning it to the ground where it is stunned, yet still tries to grab for them.

Everyone takes a moment here to catch their breaths and Farah stares at the infected that almost got her. It looks… familiar. She (and the audience) stare at it for a bit. Then it hits her… it was one of the former soldiers that tried to escape and abandon her during the siege of Bloomfield. Complete terror overcomes her and her hands begin to shake. She did this… by saving Bloomfield she doomed these people to death. Her breathing becomes heavy as she begins to panic until Daniel shakes her out of it. When Daniel sees her face and asks what wrong, all she can do is shake her head. Daniel, looking down, notices the dead body and wraps an arm around her, telling her to remain calm. By now the undead are pushing against and breaking down the fallen stalactite and Daniel tells them they need to run. All three race up the natural stairs with the undead in hot pursuit. We’ll get a shot from above of everyone going up the stairs and them dead following after them. Then we’ll keep following everyone as the hurry upwards. At one point the unnamed member slips, but Farah holds out her spear for him to grab and he’s saved just as one of the dead reaches out for them.

But the chase isn’t over and the slope of the stairs is starting to slow them down. Meanwhile the dead are still on their trail, no tiredness in their pursuit of the living. Soon the light of the cave entrance can be seen above and the group goes for the final stretch. Daniel begins to lag behind here, his strength beginning to fade and his head suddenly hurting as his vision begins to blur some. Voices all around are abruptly foggy and he’ll look into the light. Standing with a pistol pointing at him is Ofelia. Unable to grasp what he's seeing, he stares at the gun in shock. Then a bullet flies by his face and lands a headshot on an infected about to bite his shoulder. In the tunnel entrance we see Ian, Martha, and a few others shooting at the multitude of undead coming after them. Daniel follows the rest, climbing over the truck that’s been pushed up against the entrance and into the nearing sunset.

With everyone safe now, our three survivors pant after the trek up the stairs. Ian orders some of his team to work on the entrance, keep the dead inside. Farah falls to her knees, tears in her eyes, and Daniel sits next to her and asks what’s wrong. She’ll explain that the people who were here died because she led the horde south. She killed those people. Daniel will hug her and pat her back, unable to think of anything to say due to his sudden headache and vision, along with being to think of anything that could comfort the woman. Instead, he just holds her and lets her cry. In the background, Martha is watching the pair, a look of sorrow of her face, and as we focus on her we cut to black.

When we return, we see the entrance has been enforced some so no dead can get out. While that’s been going on, Ian has been noting down how many dead are at the entrance so the place can possibly be cleared later. The new supplies from the cave about the camp have been thrown into the trucks and everyone is about to leave. Farah, still depressed over discovery, looks at the cave with a mournful look. Martha will walk up behind her and tell her they’re about to depart. The engineer remains sitting for a bit, then gets up. But instead of walking down the hill to the cars, she grabs two pieces of wood, a nail, and a rock and nails the two pieces of wood into a cross. She then lays her creation against the barrier to the cave and looks upon it with sadness. Only then does she head down the hill to the trucks.

As she sits down, Martha will sit beside her as the vehicles roar to life. We’ll watch Farah as she sees Daniel in another truck, who notices her staring. She looks away from him, staring at her feet. Martha will lay a hand on Farah’s shoulder and try to reassure her it’s going to be alright.

“Whatever happened… we can always make up for it. Somehow, some time, you’ll get your chance.”

Farah just nods, not even looking at Martha as she stares at her feet. We’ll switch here to Daniel, who is looking at Martha in suspicion. There is still something bothering him about Martha, but he can’t get a fix on it. But then a look of slight irritation appears on his face and he holds his head, cursing quietly to himself. His face changes some with worry, worry that he can’t trust himself now. His brain has been breaking apart ever since the apocalypse started. Is he cracking now? What’s going on? Will he be a danger to others?

We’ll follow Daniel’s team as the group separates, one heading for Bloomfield while the other heads to the river community. As the truck bumps about, Daniel will hold his head some, trying to keep himself focused on what’s around him. Eventually they’ll reach the community and be let in, where everyone unpacks their gear and their new supplies. Most of the others take the supplies while Daniel takes some and immediately heads home. As he’s a few yards away from his house he’ll see Yoana at a table reaching her holy book. He takes a step towards her direction, then stops and resumes heading home. After walking inside, he’s greeted by Skidmark, who jumps into his lap once he sits down. He’ll pet the animal and whisper to it, asking since it seems so wise if it knows what’s wrong with him. The cat merely snuggles closer to him and looks up at him with big eyes. Chuckling, Daniel pets it more and smiles down at it, murmuring softly as we zoom out and cut to black.

Click here for Episode 14