System Of The Undead

Chapter 192: Season Finale 1/2

Everyone was back and Mariam was briefed on what happened by Glenn, whom she trusted a lot more than others.

She was amazed that Franklin had the galls to abandon Jason and Clementine in the middle of a mission and this tossed Bella’s theory right into the trash.

It was said that he couldn’t do so because what he did was for the sake of the community but it was clear that he was capable of murder.

Mariam proceeded to tell Glenn everything that happened and he was equally as shocked.

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing but the fact that they had enemies within was dangerous.

What Mariam told him aligned with how Franklin behaved so it was believable.

"Have you seen Franklin since he returned?" Glenn asked but Maraim shook her head.

She didn’t even know he had arrived because he was yet to see her and no one had informed her. After all, they all assumed that was what he would do.

"I haven’t but I wasn’t informed of his arrival either," Mariam confirmed and this was uncharacteristic of Franklin.

"We need to find Franklin, I believe he might be a bigger threat than we thought," Glenn warned, to which Mariam nodded in agreement.

Mariam immediately issued an arrest warrant for Franklin, an order to be executed by Dimitris himself.

Dimitris was quick to answer this, even though Bella wasn’t in his unit, he ordered her alongside a few others to raid his house but there was no one home.

Franklin was nowhere to be found and this only confirmed their suspicion.

Whatever Israel had said was true, Franklin had to be the one responsible or he wouldn’t be on the run.

Eventually, it became a full-on manhunt but no one had seen him, almost like he had disappeared into thin air.

-

News reached Jason’s ears, he was with Rachel, whose head was resting on his lap.

She could finally sleep because, unlike Mathias, there was no uncertainty when it came to Jason.

Mathias helped Jason with his fractured fingers from his fight with the zombie but he occasionally looked Jason right in the eyes.

He didn’t know what it was about Jason but those eyes were intimidating but that was to be expected.

Ever since the apocalypse started, Jason had done unspeakable things to stay alive and he would do it all over again even though he showed mercy to some.

Jason found his purpose after the world ended and maybe this was always how the world was meant to be.

"Aren’t you going to help them out? Franklin is the man you’re looking for," Mathias suggested.

"Franklin was with me, the man responsible for laying a hand on Lillian was within these walls..." Jason responded, running his fingers through Rachel’s hair.

He didn’t seem bothered by the news that Franklin was wanted because the most important person to him right now was right before him.

That was Rachel and by extension, Lillian and Mathias robbed him the wrong way.

He couldn’t place it but Mathias felt like he was wearing a mask and Jason didn’t trust him enough to leave him with them.

Allison had given him the abridged version of what was going on and this allowed him to make his guess.

Whoever was responsible for this had to be skilled in the medical aspect to give them just enough dosage to render them incapacitated.

The person didn’t want them dead otherwise it would have been fatal so why did they want these people in the hospital?

"Mathias... How long have you been working here?" Jason questioned him.

"I would say since the world ended..." Mathias responded but he knew there were ulterior motives to these questions.

Jason realized that whoever was doing this had to have contacts in the hospital because there was no way a random person would do this.

Jason smiled at him but Mathias was creeped out by this, it didn’t feel genuine at all.

"Forgive my manners, I was just curious. I can’t have an inexperienced doctor handling her wounds because you see... I’m the type that would be willing to kill for the people he cares about." Jason threatened Mathias.

This could have easily been seen as a joke but Mathias knew this man meant business and he had no plans of testing him.

"I’m sure you will..." Mathias said before leaving the room, he couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

"What the hell was that tension? It felt like my life would come to an end if I looked at him the wrong way..." Mathias muttered to himself, a cold bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

Unbeknownst to the doctor, there was a thin layer of smoke originating from one of the rooms.

Someone had set fire to the hospital but how did they accomplish despite the security outside?

-

The search for Franklin intensified and an announcement was made informing the citizens that resided within the walls.

Anyone who helped or aided him would face the same punishment, he was still within the walls otherwise he would have been spotted.

Bella was glad that they had made a breakthrough but something told her there was still a missing piece to this puzzle.

Who gave the anonymous tip exposing Israel, if Israel was the kind of person to spill such valuable information, it was unlikely that Franklin would have trusted him with such valuable information.

Someone was pulling the strings and Bella knew she had to be the one to find Franklin first so she could ask him these questions.

Because if Dimitris found him, Franklin would be killed without her knowing the answer to what he has to say.

She ran into Allison soon after, Allison was searching for him too.

He had stationed men on the watchtowers to make sure he couldn’t leave the community with the instruction to use force should it call for it.

Things were reaching an exciting conclusion but no one knew what the final destination would be.

"Any luck?" Allison asked Bella but Bella shook her head. Bella was covered in sweat and her breathing was heavy.

"Why are you working so hard?" Allison asked Bella, she was working herself to exhaustion which seemed unnecessary because they had so many people on the case.

"I will explain once all this is over but we need to find Franklin first!" Bella said under her labored breath and Allison being Allison listened.

She knew that Bella must have her reasons and the search for Franklin continued.

They searched for a couple of minutes more and Allison noticed footprints imprinted on the floor.

This was an unsearched area so the probability it would be one of the men searching for him was low.

They decided to follow it and they soon found the person they were looking for.

"Oh Franklin, what the fuck have you done!" Allison said, eyes widening in shock.

Bella saw him and quickly rushed towards him to hold him up from the legs.

"Cut him down!" She urged Allison and Allison responded by tossing a knife right through the noose.

Without hesitation, she moved in to resuscitate him through CPR but Franklin wasn’t responding. Franklin had taken his own life and judging from the state of his body, this happened a few minutes ago.

Bella clenched her fist in anger before punching the ground in frustration.

Allison watched her express her frustration but this was a good thing, the man responsible had taken his own life but she noticed a piece of paper sticking out of his front pocket.

"Bella, his pocket," Allison pointed out and Bella instantly retrieved it.

"It is a suicide note..." Bella muttered and she didn’t hesitate the read it.

And the more she read, the more disappointed she looked.

"He was the one that did it..." Bella said, sounding dejected because her carelessness nearly let him off the hook, she nearly let the man that had a hand in Lillian’s attack off the hook.

Bella noticed he had written at the back of the paper too.

"This...!" Bella thought to herself. Franklin gave up all those that played a hand in all of this alongside their final plan which was rather shocking.

"We need to get back now!" Bella barked.

-

Mariam was left alone in her office, everyone was far too busy trying to find Franklin and this meant that she wasn’t as well protected as she would have otherwise been.

Mariam knew that she might be a possible target but she couldn’t place her protection above any other person.

This was her way of showing her people that she didn’t value her life above theirs, it was a genius political move but would it cost her?

That question was answered by a man in uniform barging into her office, he had disposed of the two guards standing guard.

"I see, so I was your final target..." Mariam muttered to herself, looking at the man before her or was it more accurate to say, boy.

"... Jack,"