Fear the Walking Dead - Season 5 Rewrite - Episode 02

Click here for Episode 01

Episode 2 – Ner Tamid

Plot: After days on the road, the group makes another stop at a synagogue to rest. But one of their number needs more rest than the others and their stop might not be as safe as they hoped.

Synopsis:

Yes, I am using the same episode name from the official season five, episode twelve. It fits with what is going to happen this episode! So sue me. Nah I’m joke, please don’t sue me. Though I am going to be using some elements from that episode in this one, I’m going to try and keep this as mostly my own creation. This could also be called “The Promised Land,” the original title for the official episode, but I think some feedback might be needed for that decision.

It’s been a few days since the events at Flagstaff and our group is continuing north. There are less cars on the highway since they’re heading more into the wilderness of the southwest, but they do have to drive through a few tight spaces as they travel and those, along with the occasional herd of infected, have slowed their process. In real time, they’ve gone about 80 to 120 miles. We’ll see them watching the road in their cars, as well as look through their supplies. This intro sequence is going to feel like a waiting game to the audience, like the wait will tell us that something is about to happen to our heroes.

And it does, as John Dorie, who is driving the back car, notices that his vehicle is about out of gas. Using his walkie-talkie, he tells Madison in front of him that his vehicle is done. Madison acknowledges this and slows down with his car until both come to a stop. Everyone gets out now and Farah checks over the seemingly finished vehicle. A quick analysis later and she determines that they’re now down to one car. June will ask what do they do now, they all can’t fit in one vehicle. Madison will propose that if they use some of the supplies (food, water, etc), they could maybe make enough room for the others to fit in. Alicia will counter that that might not be best since they don’t know where more of these supplies might be. Strand will agree with Alicia, but also add that staying out too long in this heat and sun might not be best.

Meanwhile Daniel, who is keeping look out on top of a vehicle, spies something in the distance. Looking more closely, he calls everyone and points out a building not too far away, just a couple of miles away: A church of some sort. Madison, Strand, and Alicia join him, with Madison asking if he can see anyone. Looking through his scope, Daniel replies that there’s nobody, but there are fences up. Suddenly he has a short coughing fit and falls to a knee. When pressed about it, Daniel shrugs it off, saying he’s just thirsty. As Daniel goes for some water, Madison declares that they’ll break for a bit and after they’ll go for that building. We’ll watch as all the group move the supplies in the disabled car into the working car and while this happening is camera slowly angles upwards until it points at the clear sky and the sun shining down on them all. Then we’ll cut to the intro title.

After the intro, we see the car moving slowly while Daniel, June, Alicia, and John are walking alongside it. They’ve already made progress since the intro, and we see them not far from the church. As they get closer they see the makeshift walls, but also a few infected walking about the entrance of the building. Strand will be frustrated and say that the place is overrun and they’ll have to move on, but June will chime in and say they could get in and see if they can still scavenge anything. Strand will then be like, “Look, you see those dead guys? There’s probably nobody left, and even if there is they’re probably screwed.” Madison, looking over the wall, sees a hole in a piece of the chain-link fence and points it out, heading through it with hammer in hand. The rest follow, Strand and Daniel a little reluctant to do so, but still following. We see all of them fight at close range against the dead, each using a tool of their choice to fight. At one point during the fight though Farah loses her weapon and Daniel saves her before the dead woman she’s facing can get on her. But just after that he has a coughing fit and is unable to react fast enough as another infected gets right up in his face, pinning him against a column outside the main doors of the church. We see him trying to hold back the dead, struggling a bit, until suddenly the dead man suddenly goes motionless and makes a final groan before falling.

As the body drops, we see that Daniel’s savior isn’t one of the group. It’s a woman holding a rifle with a knife attachment. When the last of the dead are taken care of everyone stares at the newcomer as the woman looks nervously at them. Daniel, now recovered from the sudden attack, pants and thanks the new woman as he gets slowly up. Once he’s fully up, the new woman will say that she was going to handle things. Madison will then say, “Not with this many,” pause for a sec, then add, “You’re welcome.” John Dorie will notice the woman with her gun, looking like she’s about to raise it, notifying the newcomer that they mean no harm and puts his weapon away. The rest of the group notices this and puts away their weapons.

Madison then explains their position and asks if they could stay, at least for a day? The woman, looking at them all, agrees to let them in. As they enter with their supplies, she introduces herself as Rabbi Yoana Bensoussan. I’m changing the character’s original name (Jacob Kessner) and gender because I know there are going to be a lot of male characters being introduced this and next season, so I thought I’d change things up for this character and try to keep a balance. Plus, Jewish women can be priests. Thank you, Orthodox churches. As everyone enters, they see the place is very clean, despite the apocalypse. It seems that Yoana has been taking great care of her synagogue. The place has food, water, electricity, and tools to keep it repaired.

There’s a bit of amazement over how much there is, but Strand finds it a little odd that a single person has so much supplies with them. Immediately, he’ll ask where all this came from, to which Yoana will reply that there used to be a bigger community here, but the place got overrun some time ago. Strand will still be suspicious and pry a little more into it. Yoana will elaborate more, telling how she was on a several day supply run and when she came back everyone was dead. That last part will get under her skin some and she’ll fidget some, showing how lonely she’s been and her nervousness around new people.

“And you got rid of them?” Strand will inquire.

“Yes, they’re all gone. I led them all away,” replies Yoana.

June will reply that it definitely seems like some have gotten back inside and that the group should look about for tears in the wall to fix. Yoana is hesitant at first, saying it was probably that one hole at the entrance, adding that she hasn’t found the right materials to close it up. Madison will come in, saying that if they are going to stay the night, they should at least help make the place safe. Yoana will relent and say she’d help show them around. Madison holds her off at that moment though, say her group need to get the vehicle and their supplies in as well. They can’t leave it out for others to steal. Madison, John Dorie, and June go for the car while the others and Yoana wait about.

Here Yoana remembers something and runs off into a side room of the church. Before anybody can follow her though she returns with a long ladder, setting the former up under a lamp of sorts hanging in the room. As Yoana begins to climb, Alicia asks what she’s doing. The rabbi explains Ner Tamid, the eternal light of Jewish culture, how it needs to be always lit, and of how it’s a reminder the light that living people must bring to the world. “Especially now…” Yoana will add. This’ll go several minutes to fully explain this tradition to the characters and audience, as well as show some of Yoana’s character. Small tangent here, but watching the original “Ner Tamid” episode, I found it odd that the Ner Tamid itself was electric instead… well, fire. It feels out of place, not very religious. It’s almost as if having it as an electrical light forced the group to come to the rabbi’s aid with an easily salvageable item…

Back to the story, after Yoana little lesson on Jewish culture, Strand will comment her devotion to her religion is something he has scene in a few places since the end of the world. It’ll be a good callback to some of the culture in Mexico in season two. Yoana will then talk about T'chayth HaMeitim, how the Jewish have their own belief the dead will rise again. Though not like this. Giving a small huff, Strand will then say that it seems a lot of religions have predicted this end of the world situation. The Rapture, this T'chayth HaMeitim, lot of people seem to think that one day we’ll all be happy in a “promised land.” After saying this though Strand will have an expression on his face that says, “Okay, maybe that was a little harsh on her, we only just met”, then he’ll ask Yoana if she thinks that one day this’ll all be over, that maybe one day people can sit down in these seats (gesturing at the rows of benches) and sit down and pray for things other than living another day. Yoana will take a few seconds before answering that she hopes so. Strand will nod and says that he hopes so too.

Alicia will join the conversation at this point and talk about how she and the group have seen some and done some horrible things. It was everyone for themselves. But then she’ll talk about the conflicts between themselves and the Proctors, going into how they eventually won and now those people being oppressed are free. Yoana will ask why they left if they won. There will be a small pause before Alicia begins:

“My mom… she fought hard to keep people safe. She didn’t used be to like that, she thought too much of people close to her and nobody else. She had to make some tough choices and those people didn’t like that, even if she helped save them. I wanted to stay, we could have stayed. But mom… she didn’t want any more trouble for them.”

Alicia will then gesture about her and proclaim that that’s why they’re here now. Yoana will be silent for a bit, before saying she’s going to talk to Madison when she’s back.

Meanwhile, Daniel is sitting on a bench by himself and doing nothing. Farah goes over to Daniel to ask him if he’s alright. Daniel will try and put off his little coughing aside like it’s nothing. Though it seems like Daniel is not looking good. Looking worried, Farah tries to put a hand to his head, but Daniel bats the hand away and stands up, declaring that he’s okay. But soon after he gets to his feet he looks at the Ner Tamid and just stares at it. We’ll have a full shot of his face and little voices will fade in, filling his head with words from the people he’s lost, the noise slowly growing until sudden he stops looking and starts coughing. Immediately after he falls to his knees and a bit of vomit comes up as he continues to cough. Everyone was staring at Daniel after he refuses Farah’s help, but now they all run to him as Daniel keeps coughing. We’ll have a birds-eye shot of everyone gathering around Daniel, slowing moving upwards as we cut to black.

When we return, all of the group are in the building and have put Daniel onto a soft surface. The man is delirious, mind not fully there as his fever pulls him in and out of consciousness. June is checking on him, being careful not to touch him too much. Everyone is quietly waiting on her analysis and after a few more seconds we she proclaims that he’s burning up. John Dorie will say they’ve been out too long, the sun has been harsh on them all. But June says it can’t be just the sun. Alicia will then remember that as they left the mall an infected bled all over his face, maybe something in that got in Daniel. June will swear at this, saying that if that is the case, then there could be endless diseases that Daniel is sick from. Collecting her thoughts, she’ll then ask Yoana if she has any meds, any herbs, any first aid kits on her. She does and takes June to her medicine stash.

Everyone else starts to discuss their situation. Madison and Strand are up for staying more while Alicia and John are trying to figure out ways so they can leave since they kind of promised they’d only stay for a day. Farah is quiet at first as both parties try to come to a group decision, but eventually she sides with Madison, stating that even if it’s just a few more days, they need to rest. Especially Daniel. Alicia and John are still hesitant, even though they get Farah, Strand, and Madison’s reasons, with Alicia stating that they still don’t know much about this Yoana, she might be hiding something. They only just met her like… an hour ago?

Farah and June return, June with some meds in hand. Madison tells Yoana about how they need to stay a little longer, saying “I know we said we needed a day, but we can’t take him out on the road like this.” To drive the point home, Daniel has a small coughing fit. Madison tries to lessen the damage of her words, saying they already lost one of their cars and so need to figure things out before moving on. This scene is going to try and paint Madison still as a changed woman, but there’s leaks of her former self in her coercion of Yoana. It does persuade the rabbi though and she agrees for them to stay for a bit more. Yoana, after a small reminder from June, agrees to show them the herb garden nearby, though admits that the weather makes it hard at times to grow them.

Madison then makes the call, deciding herself, Yoana, Strand, and June will go out while Farah, John Dorie, and Alicia stay behind with Daniel to tend to him. Before team A leaves, June gives a little advice to team B, showing them what meds to give Daniel and a few other pieces of advice. Once outside, team A heads left and follows Yoana. While Yoana’s ahead, Strand whispers to Madison that she should have tried to convince her they can stay full time, turn the place into a real home. There are plenty of resources about that could be shared. But Madison tells Strand that Alicia was right, they barely know her and if they tried to immediately live there it would be like if they robbed her of her home. If they want to stay, they got to convince her they’re good people. Strand acknowledges this, but mutters back that something still feels off about the place. He can’t put his finger on it, but something is not right.

We’ll cut back to team B in the synagogue, where they’re mostly waiting about and keeping an eye on Daniel. Alicia has taken over for June, though her limited medical skills aren’t much. She first tries to give Daniel some meds to take, and he coughs a little. Alicia then tells John to go for some water and a cloth to cool his brow, to which he promptly does. As for Farah, she tells her to stay close to keep an eye on Daniel. The former mercenary, disgruntled, tells the two they’re fussing over him like he’s a child, he’s not that weak. Just after he says this though he has a little heat-spell and lays his head back. John returns then with a large, plastic water jug and a cloth. They wet the cloth and place it on Daniel’s head.

Farah will try and reassure Daniel that it’ll be okay, June will be back with something for him soon. As Daniel tries to refocus on them, he looks at Farah and an odd smile appears on his face. “Ophelia… no need to worry. I’m just fine.” Alicia’s face whitens some, while Farah and John’s become confused. Alicia strokes his brow for a sec, then before either of the other two can do anything, she motions them to step away for a bit. When they’re far enough away from Daniel, Farah asks who Ophelia is and Alicia tells them both about Daniel’s former daughter and what happened to her. John will be anxious, worrying how he seems sicker than he seems. Worry is on all their faces as they return to Daniel and the sick man takes Farah’s hand, muttering on about his dead daughter.

After that gloomy moment we come back to team A as they walk around the synagogue. Soon they reach a small garden with fruits, vegetables, and herbs that look in decent condition, though seems a little worn due to lack of care. June and Yoana step forward and look over the plants, with June picking out a few she thinks might be useful. She’ll remark that herbs aren’t her specialty, but she knows a couple of things that could help Daniel. While they’re standing about though a moaning is heard from around the corner. All four look to their right and see a small crowd of infected (around 15 to 25) walking into view. They quickly notice our group and begin to shamble towards them that instantly notice them. Our group, including Yoana, fight them and we have at least one moment where a character is in a difficult spot with an infected. Once they’re dead though June is going to ask loudly to herself where all these dead are coming from. Strand will look at Yoana and say that the hole in the front can’t be the gap where the dead are coming from.

Yoana suddenly seems to have remembered something and audibly says, “Oh no,” before running in the direction the dead were coming from. Everyone follows after her and after a short chase all four stop in front of a large office building. The front door, boarded shut, is slightly open in the middle. And behind the doors we see a ton of infected pressed up against the glass, banging on it as they try to break free. From under the board holding back the dead and infected crawls out and begins to rise. It growls loudly as it spots the four humans and amble towards them. The growl seems to excite the other infect, who begin to pound louder on the doors at the sight of living flesh. Madison, still looking at the agitated dead, gently snarls at Yoana, “I thought you said you got rid of the dead!” Yoana tries to get a grip of herself, saying that she tried, but couldn’t, so she locked them away. Strand will come in then and say that her lock isn’t going to hold. Just before he finishes saying that there is an audible cracking noise and the board keeping the double doors shut breaks and the horde of dead comes marching out towards our group. As this happens we cut to black/ a break.

When we return we see get a shot inside the building of the dead going for our protagonists as they back up. Madison goes for her gun, but Strand warns her. “Look at them. We can’t take them all, we don’t have the ammo!” Not knowing what immediately to do, Madison pulls out her walkie talkie instead and calls Alicia. Her daughter will pick up and immediately get notified of the situation. But they still have just one vehicle and a sick Daniel. As the three start to pack everything up and figure out a way to transport Daniel, there is banging on the door. When they investigate, they hear the moans of infected. Thinking that a lot of the dead are blocking the door, they push a bench to block the entrance and plan what their next step is. As they’re bringing out suggestions, Alicia looks at a window and comes up with an idea. We’ll cut away then to the others as they make their way to the synagogue. They’ll easily outpace the dead, but when they get to the front doors of the building the four find a couple of infected outside. Quickly dispatching them, Madison, Strand, June, and Yoana try to open the door. But because of the team inside the doors refuse to bunch. Soon they’re banging and calling out for help as the horde approaches. A few of the front runners are fought off and it becomes really tense as the main body gets closer. But then the doors are opened and they’re all pulled inside.

With everyone together and the doors locked, everyone is now trapped in the synagogue. June is going to be the first to show frustration at their situation, followed by Alicia. As everyone is trying to figure out a plan, Yoana is going to break down, falling onto a bench and looking as if she wants to cry (but not actually doing so). As everyone (except Daniel) looks at her, Yoana will explain that the reason she left was that she was thinking of leaving. A few days before she and some of the community had seen a person outside the walls, doing something awful to another (I don’t have an idea on what it is as of this moment, but that’ll change in the future). The moment left Yoana horrified and when she went on a supply run she was away for a few days. But something in her mind told her not to abandon her people and she return. Except when she got back she found that all her people were either dead or turned. Then she’ll reveal that she did lead them away and locked them up, but she didn’t have the heart to kill them because she feels that it’s her punishment for loosing faith.

When this is over, Alicia will go over to Yoana and point at the Ner Tamid, reminding her that she told Alicia that it was a sign of hope. It is still burning, there is still hope in the world. Right now, they all need that hope if they’re going to live. Yoana is still a little disheartened from her meltdown, but pulls herself a little together. It’s then that John Dorie points at the ladder that was used for the lamp, maybe they can use it to get out a window. Madison will be like, “It doesn’t help if there are still infected outside,” but Farah says that maybe, if they can do it right, they can all get out and escape the dead by locking them inside! Just as this is said, there is a cracking from the main doors and all of them notice they’re starting to give way to the mass of dead. “Better that than dying,” Strand will say and everyone begins to pack up and get the ladder ready.

When they try to get the ladder to work, it’s just a bit short for the window, but they use a few items about to raise it a little more. Then they start to head up, starting with John, with Daniel behind being helped up by him (John) and June. Meanwhile, Farah, Madison, and Alicia head to the entrance and push open the doors open so they don’t break down. Before they do this Farah finds a spear and holds it, ready to fight. All three fight and push back against the tide of walking dead, but this doesn’t last long with how big the horde is and soon they have to run back away towards the others. We’ll cut to John, who has reached the open window and sees a big drop. He tells the others (especially June) to hang on as he drops to the ground and runs off. We’ll see the three defenders keeping the dead back, using the benches around to slow down their progress. Yoana joins them as all of them are pushed further and further back to the ladder.

Suddenly John Dorie returns with another ladder he found lying about and he and June help Daniel through the window. Everyone begins to follow, with Yoana being last one up the ladder as horde fully enters the synagogue. Before leaving, Yoana stands at the top of the ladder, looking down upon all those people she knew before. Friends, loved ones, devoted church-goers… all dead. There are almost tears in her eyes as she looks away and climbs out the window. The dead are too distracted, arms reaching for the now gone Yoana. We’ll cut then to the group, who are now together, but now must find a way to keep the doors closed. Daniel begins to cough again, but Madison puts a hand over his mouth to muffle the noise. It’s then that she comes up with an idea! While the dead are occupied inside, they all go to an abandoned car in the premises and, after setting it to neutral, push it towards the doors. Two of them though (John, and June) close the doors and keep them shut as the dead notice the noise and make their way to the entrance. As they pound on the doors, there is some struggle as the weight pushes in on them. Just as it seems that one of them will pushed back and their door flung open though, the others manage to get the vehicle in front of the doors and block them from opening up. Everyone starts panting, finally free to relax as they hear the dead push against the doors, unable to escape. We’ll zoom in on the group, especially Yoana, before cutting to black.

When we return, everyone is gathering what supplies are left in the community that they can take on the road. Yoana is left out, still staring at the doors of the now overrun synagogue. Madison will walk over to her and ask if she’s alright. Yoana will look at her shoes in her sitting position and wonder out loud what she’s going to do now. Her home is gone. Madison, feeling a little guilty about their arrival being a possible reason for why synagogue is now overrun, is silent. Alicia joins the two and indicates the glass above the doors. Though not very visible since it’s still daylight, there is a flicker of light from inside the building. The Ner Tamid is still alight. Alicia will then say, “Whatever you do next, there is still a reason to live.” Madison will look at her daughter then, realizing now how much she has grown since the apocalypse again.

Yoana stares at the light and keeps staring at it silently. June joins the three and Madison asks about Daniel’s condition. The look on June’s face isn’t comforting, but she says that he’s doing better than earlier in the day and that the meds might be starting to work. As they look over at Daniel we’ll cut to him resting, though not asleep. Farah will be walking by and as she passes by Daniel he’ll call out to her. As she goes over to him, Daniel apologizes for calling her Ophelia. He tries to give a reason as to why he would (besides obviously being sick), but Farah cuts him off, saying that that he misses her. It’s a very reasonable explanation. Farah in this situation really doesn’t know how best to handle Daniel, but is trying to just be kind to him. But this act of kindness is going to change Daniel a lot and I feel here Daniel will look at Farah as another daughter. She was like Ophelia when the apocalypse began, really soft at heart. But Farah is changing, and I think Daniel will want to have her ready for any new dangers. But these thoughts disperse as he has another coughing fit.

Meanwhile, Strand and John are looking over the almost vacant community that they’ve stumbled upon. Strand will be disappointed that they couldn’t settle down here and John will agree. They could have grown food and maybe worked on the walls some more. John will then ask Strand what his ideal home would be. Chuckling, Strand will say his idea home would be, “One where I could freely sit in the sun with a drink in one hand and a friend by my side.” With a small smile on his face, John Dorie will reply that such a life isn’t very fitting for this world. Strand will smirk at this and say that maybe with the right conditions and the right people, maybe it can be. He’ll then add that if such a life was possible for Strand, a simple life for John and his lady would definitely be possible. “Let’s always keep our eyes open for an opportunity. There are not too many left now.”

By now everything seems ready to go and the main group is about to leave. Madison goes to Yoana first though and ask if this is goodbye. Yoana stands up then and turns to face the group, telling them all that she’s going with them. There’s nothing really left and in her prayers she thinks it’s best to find a new place for hope to blossom (oh god I don’t know if that would be good dialogue, I’m really tired right now). We’ll see a flat trailer attached to the back of the car with Alicia, John, Strand, and Farah sitting in it. Madison, Daniel, June, and Yoana all sit in car, with the June sitting with and keeping an eye on Daniel. As they begin to drive off, Yoana looks over her shoulder at her former abode and Madison looks at it using the side mirror on the car. The place doesn’t look any different, but the sounds of the dead can be heard as they drive away. We’ll get a wide shot of the car driving North and offscreen, then the camera slowly tilts upwards to show the Ner Tamid is still alight in the building, shining through the glass like a small ray of hope in the looming evening.

Click here for Episode 03