Evolution/Episode 2

"Time To Become" is the second episode of season one and the second episode of Evolution overall. It was released on 11th January 2017.

Previously On...
(Enter different scenes of the previous episode to serve as flashbacks.)

The world is thrown into chaos as an unknown Alien species invade and Humanity is put either on the run or into hiding while the Aliens dominate. In an effort to survive, William Hayes has set himself up with a small group of survivors in his own hotel but in need of power he was forced to lead Beta squad into the city of Charleston in order to get a working generator which resulted in him losing one of his people but gaining a group of civilians, a working generator and a long range radio in trade. Now, with their group a little larger, the group is one step closer to retaliating against their world invaders.

Synopsis
In need of some medical supplies, William volunteers to lead a team to the hospital just outside of Charleston in order to retrieve some but when the team run into another group who want the supplies for themselves, a deal has to be struck between the two groups. Meanwhile Victoria is placed in charge of helping the teenagers of the Charleston refugees group become accommodated to their new temporary home and devises as a plan to do it.

Episode 1 - "Time To Become"
20th August 2049 - 07:00 - Hayes Hotel, America "TAKE COVER"

An explosion rocked the surrounding area as a mortar hit the ground, shaking every tree and every wall that wasn't close enough to be destroyed in its blast while soldiers all around took cover and prayed they wouldn't get hit.

"You have to wake up."

"Everyone move" was yelled causing soldiers all around to run in retreat for their lives as a second mortar came down into the area, this time hitting some of the unfortunate soldiers and sending them in all different directions through their body parts.

"Baby it is okay. Just wake up."

Screams of horror could just be barely heard over the multiple mortars that hit the ground, causing a once beautiful landscape to be nothing but a destroyed rubble of chaos as each and every soldier done their best to escape. Most only making it a few feet before joining the dead.

"William!"

William desperately grasped for breath as he crawled along the ground, too many dead bodies around him to count as he somehow managed to survive the mortars that were dropped down near him. He was sure he should be dead by now, yet somehow he was still breathing, still moving.

Why?

"WILLIAM, WAKE UP"

Finally William woke up with a jolt on his hotel bed, sighing as he laid there, facing up at the ceiling above him before reaching up with a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes, letting out a groan of disappointment along with a soft yawn.

Apparently fate had decided he wouldn't get to sleep properly this time.

However when he heard a sudden voice speaking to him, he came to the realization that his dream wasn't over.

"William, baby, you forgot to take your medication. You were told these dreams would happen if you forgot to do so" Rebecca said, soft and smooth, as she sat on the edge of his bed, reaching to gently stroke William's cheek which he accepted but only very warily.

"Look, i'll go get you your medication so you can have another try at sleeping, yeah?" Rebecca asked, offering her husband a soft smile but William just shook his head, letting out a sigh as he gently took her hand and moved it off his cheek.

"You aren't here. Don't make me go through this again."

"Not...here? Will are you ok-" Rebecca's question was interrupted as there was a sudden few knocks on William's room door, both William and the hallucination of Rebecca turning their heads to look at the door before William sighed and put his head back down on the pillow.

Those knocks were the sign that it was time for people to have waken up by now. He knew the General would likely let him sleep a while longer but he didn't even dare think about trying to get more sleep.

"I'm not doing this now" William told the Rebecca hallucination as he rose from the bed, shaking his head a bit to rattle some energy into him before he made a quick process of shoving some clothes on, whatever would work.

"Okay..." Rebecca said, saddened as she also rose from her bed, her eyes lowered to look down at the floor "just...don't forget to take your medicine" she told him quietly as she moved herself towards the door, disappearing from William's sight as soon as she reached it as if she was a ghost who just went through the wall.

Letting out a sigh to himself, William shrugged his jacket onto himself, taking a moment to look at himself in the mirror, offering a light chuckle at his messy state, before he grabbed the key to his hotel room and exited into the hallway.

On either side of him he could see other residents of the hotel exiting from their rooms, he had counted that their numbers should be fifty five unless if they had people join over night, which he thought was a good number for now.

"Morning Will. The General says you can take the morning off if you want" Butterfield reported as he came to knock on another one of the doors, William quickly figuring he had been the one given the duty of waking everyone up in the morning for today.

"I appreciate that but i'll have to get some extra rest another day. Can't sleep until I know the people in this place are better suited."

That response earned a chuckle from Butterfield as he offered a nod "still working as the hotel manager huh? Alright sir. Good luck" Butterfield offered before he continued walking down the hallway, knocking on doors as he went leaving William to smile softly as he began walking down the corridor, deciding to not bother his daughter by knocking on her door just yet.

"You're up early" Dannisha observed as she came to walk aside William, offering his shoulder a little nudge with her own "I get that you want to help out but you don't have to push yourself too much to help out. You've already got us all a generator and long range radio. Take the day off."

"Who says I'm not just going down to the bar for a morning drink?" Will offered with a soft smirk that caused her to chuckle as she shook her head, taking a hold of his arm to stop him in the corridor, the two of them moving out of people's way as they walked past.

"You can't trick me Will. You're going straight to Edward to get yourself signed up for the medicine run."

"You're wrong."

That brought a raised eyebrow to Dannisha's face as she looked at him confused while asking "how am I wrong?" causing William himself to chuckle and grin.

"First I was going to get myself some breakfast. THEN I was going to go to Edward" William teased, sending a wink her way before he continued walking towards the stairway, earning a shake of her head as she moved to walk after him, watching as he arrived at the stairway door and held it open for her like a true gentleman.

"Thank you. Smart-ass" Dannisha said in a teasing tone, walking past him and earning a laugh from him before he followed her down the stairs to get himself something to eat, missing as yet another hallucination of Rebecca appeared to him, watching him with a sad look on her face. ---  20th August 2049  - 07:25 - Hayes Hotel, America "From what we can tell, the Aliens seem to have a good hold on Charleston and we can presume they have the same type of hold on every other city" Edward told all of his soldiers whom had been gathered into their makeshift military office.

"So basically if we plan on going on a supply run into the city for anything, we can expect to be ganged up on by more Aliens than we can handle. Especially after that little rescue mission before that basically sent the Aliens a message saying "hey, Human resistance here, come fuck us" Daniel stated as he leaned back in his chair, giving a quick glare over to William that only William himself and Edward picked up on.

"For now" Edward admitted as he leaned over the large table in front of them all, a large area map showing the entire city of Charleston as well as the surrounding area sitting on the table as they all looked over it "but we can assume that after a little while of no activity in the city that the Aliens would see no reason to keep that many forces in the city so then we ca-"

""We can assume"? We don't know shit about these Aliens. We can't just-"

"Enough Pratt. You're right, we don't know shit about the Aliens which means we HAVE to assume. Unless if you want to sit on your ass all day, slowly starving?" Dannisha told Daniel who sulked down into his chair a bit, sighing while Edward held up a hand to Dannisha, giving her a sign to hold off on him a bit before he continued speaking.

"We're all on edge, I understand that. Aliens have invaded our planet and as far as we could tell, we might be the only Humans alive in the entire of this planet. That doesn't mean we can just go off at each other. We don't know anything about these Aliens for the moment which leaves the only option of assuming until further information BUT we be careful still. Are we all at an understanding?"

There were nods all around the room, everyone silent as they all agreed with what their General said. That was until Charlie raised his hand, as if he was in school, putting the attention on him as Edward gave him a response.

"What is it Jenkins?"

"Uhh sorry sir but I just had to point out that we do know one little bit of information on them...sir."

"And what is that?"

"The want to kill us sir."

As Charlie said this, looking around the room nervously he earned a few sighs, Daniel giving him a "i'm so done with you" look while Edward just offered a soft smile at Charlie and nodded.

"That's right Jenkins" Edward said, earning a small smile out of Charlie, before he returned to the main subject at hand "As of the moment, I am putting all travel into Charleston off limits which means we'll have to look around the city for supplies which brings me our mission."

This statement gained everyone's interest as they moved a bit closer to observe the map while Edward moved one of his fingers to point to the location of a hospital not too far from Charleston, a hospital William had no fond memories of.

"Before we make any other moves, we need medication. Nada tells me that she barely had enough to fix up Spike's foot so if anyone gets cut badly while out there at the moment, it is very likely they wont go out again" Edward said, noticing a few nervous glances going around the room until Dannisha broke the silence.

"So I take it that us squads are going down to get said medication?"

"No."

There was confused looks on everybody's faces while Charlie leaned forward in his chair a bit "then sir...what are we doing?"

"A single squad is going down to the hospital in order to bring back all that you can carry, i'm not sending out multiple squads at once until I know we have the supplies to take care of any possible wounds."

No one decided to question this command as Edward looked around the room so he stood back up straight in order to look at them all at once as he asked the important question "So who volunteers to lead the squad?"

"I will" William said, finally speaking up after his while of silence as he studied the map before him, interrupting Dannisha who was just about to volunteer herself as he looked directly to Edward "just give me a squad and I can get it done."

"Actually you'll be picking the squad yourself" Edward said to the surprise of everybody in the room "from today, there are no more official squads. We are all in this together. No Alphas. No Betas. Anyone can volunteer or be picked for missions, just don't tire yourself out. Dismissed."

With their ordered dismissal, the gathered soldiers began to exit from the room, William about to join them until Edward gently pushed him back down into his seat, indicating for him to remain seated which William complied with, the two men waiting in silence until everyone else had left and they were alone.

"You're aware that you don't have to do everything by yourself, right Will?"

"Of course I am and i'm not. I'm taking a squad with me."

This caused Edward to sigh as he moved to take a seat next to William, shaking his head as he done so "that isn't what I meant."

"I know sir but trust me, I don't plan on taking an entire city of Aliens on by myself anytime soon. I know what I'm doing. Right now i'm filled with the energy to get us moving...so let me do that."

Edward thought about this for a moment. He knew that William was his best soldier, his best chance to get shit done. However he was one of those few who also knew how weak William could become, one of the few who knew William was only just a Human.

"Alright but i'm not letting you lead whatever the next mission is. You can kiss your own ass before I let that happen, now go on" Edward said, offering William a smirk that William returned as he stood from his seat and exited from the room, leaving Edward completely on his own as he leaned back and sighed.

"Good luck Will." ---  20th August 2049  - 07:30 - Hayes Hotel, America "I've asked this before and i'll ask it again. How did your father's hotel not become a five star?" Nathan asked as he lounged back a bit on his chair, an empty plate on the table in front of him while Victoria chuckled at the side of him, taking a sip of her water.

"Do you really wish it had become a five star? Would have meant less amazing food for us to enjoy" Victoria pointed out with a teasing smirk before returning to eating her breakfast, Nathan thinking this over for a moment before he nodded.

"True. You can never be wrong with more food."

"Of course you would say that. We'll have to make sure you don't sneak in and eat all our food" Brian teased from his area of their little table, leaning back in his own seat and sending a sly smirk over to Nathan who just smirked himself as he gave his own response.

"That won't work quick shooter. I'll just stay up longer than you."

That taunt nearly caused Victoria to choke on her food in laughter while a heavy blush appeared along Brian's face as he looked away from the pair of them "that was one time man. One time."

"Still more times than i've ever actually eaten more than my share" Nathan pointed out with a chuckle, the two boys sharing a playful glare with each other while Victoria finally recovered from her choking laughter and smirked at the pair of them.

"Alright boys, save the fighting until later. Yesterday was practice, today I want some actual bets on who can be better with my father's crossbow."

This confused both boys as they turned to look at their female companion, Nathan just looking completely confused while Brian quickly got over his confusion and just sent a smirk towards Victoria "and what are the bets? It isn't like we have much to give."

Instead of replying straight away, Victoria just shook her head and tapped the side of her nose, finishing her meal before she gave them a trademark grin "Uh-huh. You don't find out until its over. Gives more reason to not loose as you don't know your punishment."

"I would say the reward better be worth it but it's not going to be hard to beat the two of you" Nathan said, crossing his arms over his chest as if making it a rule set in stone while he sent a grin over to Brian who gave a soft growl as he offered his own response.

"The more you talk all this shit, the more i'm going to smile when I beat you."

"Oh? Is that what you think? Well don't worry Bri, i'll make sure to have tissues for you once you loose" Nathan teased while Victoria, staying out of the two boys bickering for the moment, noticed her father entering the cafeteria and excused herself silently from the pair of them as she took a stand from her seat and walked over to greet her father.

"Hey daddy. I noticed you'd already came down to breakfast sooo let me guess, you're going out on a mission?" Victoria teased, leaning against the nearby wall and offering her father a smirk which he returned. His daughter was always observant.

"You got that right Vicky. The General wanted a squad to go down to the hospital just outside of Charleston for medical supplies. I volunteered."

"You volunteered again?"

"We both know i'm going to be fine Vicky."

"Oh I know. I'm just surprised the General allowed you."

That brought a chuckle out of William as he lightly shook his head "He didn't want to but i'm a very convincing person. Although there is no way i'm going to get a chance to lead the next mission."

"Good" Victoria replied as she kept her eyes pinned on her father, offering him a small smile as her hand came out to give his arm a soft pat "you need rest sometimes too. If mother was here she'd have barricaded your door already so you better be glad i'm here and not locking you up instead."

"Yeah, although you're a mix of both of us so i'm surprised I can leave you alone for five minutes and not have you run off" William teased, earning a "hey" in protest from his daughter as she whacked his arm, a chuckle escaping from him as he brought his hand up to stroke through her hair, ruffling it into a mess.

"Anyway, that's not the only reason i'm here" Will stated, earning a confused look from Victoria as she titled her head in curiosity.

"What's the other reason?"

"I noticed that a couple of the people I brought in are teenagers, must be about your age, so I was hoping you could make them feel at home a bit. I know you had some plans for today but is that alright with you?"

"As long as they like me then of course. They'll be here for a while so I might as well give them the full tour" Victoria replied, giving her father a grin which he returned as he patted her shoulders.

"Alright, you can go back to your boys then, keep them from starting a food fight or else they'll be the ones cleaning it up" William joked, earning a mock salute from his daughter before she turned around and walked away, William shaking his head in amusement as he moved to exit from the cafeteria, nearly bumping into Dannisha on his way out.

"I'm coming on the mission" Dannisha told him bluntly, William staggering back a little to give her some space before he looked her over, already noticing that she was geared up ready to go which sent him the signal that she wasn't going to take a "no" for answer.

"Alright, guess you're coming then" William told her with a wink before moving past her, walking through the corridors to exit from the hotel while Dannisha followed him from behind, raising her eyebrow in curiosity as she came to ask a question.

"So who are the other two you are bringing along? Daniel and Charlie?"

Hearing that suggestion, Will turned to raise an eyebrow at her before he gestured over to Daniel and Charlie, the two soldiers bickering over something that was very likely unimportant "you do remember that we are trying to go quietly. Yeah?"

"Then who are you taking?"

This time William didn't offer a response as he instead looked over her shoulder and towards the Hayes Hotel entrance with a grin on his face, causing Dannisha herself to turn around and see Anthony and Logan exiting from the hotel, a smile coming to form on her face as Anthony called out to them.

"Hell yeah this is going to be a fun field trip" Anthony joked, sharing a fist bump with Logan as they walked over to join William and Dannisha at the truck, Daniel now watching the group of four with a slight glare on his face as Charlie himself sighed and walked away, deciding not to bother Daniel anymore.

"You can bet it will be Ant. Everyone in the truck" William ordered, his three chosen friends quickly moving to get their seats in the truck, Anthony calling "shotgun seat" for himself while William yelled over to Daniel "get the gate open for us Danny!"

Growling to himself, Daniel quickly got himself moving and jogged over to the gate, pulling it open for the squad just as William got into the truck and started the truck up, driving them all through the hotel's gate and down the road, Daniel still glaring the entire time he watched them go. ---  20th August 2049  - 08:01 - Hayes Hotel, America Nancy sighed as she looked outside the window of her assigned hotel room, her fingers lightly toying with the cigarette between them while she watched the guards currently on duty pacing back and forth along the hotel's wall.

Anyone who was smart enough knew that no matter what they did, they wouldn't be prepared or able to handle any attack on the Hayes Hotel yet. She presumed that it was just to make the people who weren't smart enough feel a little safer as the world beyond the walls got torn apart by Aliens.

It didn't work on her though.

It was then her hotel room's door suddenly opened which caused Nancy to turn and watch as her faithful cameraman, Zackery Jenkins, came shifting into the room, closing the door behind him before he leaned against it and looked at her directly while asking a question that had plaguing him since arriving at the hotel "so what's the plan?"

"The plan?" Nancy asked casually with a curiously raised eyebrow as she pushed her cigarette into the ashtray, wasting away her last one before she closed the window and faced Zackery completely "there is no plan Zack."

"Oh don't give me that Nance, we're in the...uhh...headquarters of a military operation during an ALIEN INVASION. Do you have any idea how rich we can be by getting our hands on classified information?"

Nancy sighed, shaking her head as she moved away from the window and came to stand just in front of Zackery, sending a glare over to him "Yeah, we're in the middle of a Alien invasion. The LAST thing I care about is getting my hands on information so if you're looking to get rich, you go ahead but don't you drag me into it."

"Are you being fucking serious Nancy? This is our opportunity of a lifetime and you're bailing out because you're scared?" Zackery said with a growl in his voice as he brought himself closer to her "if we survive this, we can be rich."

"If we survive this, I'd rather focus on rebuilding, not living rich with more money than things to buy. Now leave me" Nancy told him with a look that told him that it was the end of the discussion, Zackery considering taking the argument further for a few moments before he just shook his head and exited from the room, rudely leaving her door open as he proceeded to stomp down the hallway.

This also caught the attention of Edward Grey who had been passing by, the General taking a moment to look over Nancy and her room carefully to make sure no damage was done before he looked up to Nancy herself "everything alright here ma'am?"

"Oh yeah, everything is completely fine. Just trouble in love paradise" Nancy said, offering the old General a warm smile, as usual thankful it didn't take much to come up with a complete bullshit story before she nodded "an Alien invasion going on kinda causes most people to become tense. Not you I see though, I hear you're handling yourself quite well."

The General gave a chuckle to the compliment he was given, moving towards the doorway and standing there as he gave a nod "Well thank you, we're all trying our best. Which is why I wanted to come to you at some point" he said, pausing for a moment and causing Nancy to look at him curiously.

"Well what is it that I can do for you General? We're all in this together of course."

"Right...correct me if i'm wrong but you were a reporter when the Aliens invaded, right?"

"That is correct General. Although, no offense to your plans but, i'm not really sure how me being a reporter will help you?" she asked curiously, earning another chuckle out of the old General who offered a smile.

"You'd be surprised. See, once we are in a better position to defend ourselves, we're going to want to be able to rescue as many civilians who are possibly listening into the radios out there. Someone who is used to speaking out to many people such as yourself would do a good job of that."

Nancy considered this for a moment, thinking about how it would work. Right now she knew it was terribly risky with likely to no benefits but that was right now, maybe in the future it would be better. It wouldn't really matter, the General was right, they needed to save as many people as they could. So she smiled as she gave her answer.

"Of course, i'll do whatever it takes to help get people to safety. Although i'm not superwoman so we'll have to just see how much that really is."

Edward gave a smirk to that comment, moving his hand down to the door handle in order to begin closing the door "then I shall keep you in the loop of what is happening" he told her, giving her a respectful nod before closing the door completely, leaving Nancy to herself as she sighed and sat down on her hotel room's chair.

She had to take what Zackery said into consideration. What WAS she planning to do? ---  20th August 2049  - 08:01 - Hayes Hotel, America "So we're babysitting?" Brian asked with a chuckle as he walked beside both Victoria and Nathan while Victoria was leading them down one of the hotel's corridors, a book with all the resident's names in her hands as she kept an eye out for certain doors.

"Yep. Makes a change from having to babysit you all the time" Victoria teased in response to him, giving him a sly smirk before she came to a stop in front of one of the doors, reading the book in her hands for a moment to make sure it was the right door before she gave it a few knocks "Hello? Kyle Hawkins, are you there?"

It didn't take long before her knocks were answered and Kyle Hawkins himself opened the door, coming to stand in place of where it had been while he raised his eyebrow in question "Uhhh...hello?"

"Kyle, you're a newbie to the hotel, aren't you?" Victoria asked, a very confused nod being Kyle's response which caused Victoria to smirk "then you are invited to the hotel's backyard in thirty minutes. Hope to see you there" she finished, flashing him a wink before she continued walking down the corridor, followed by Brian and Nathan who were both chuckling, Nathan being the one to say what they were both thinking.

"So you're going to leave them totally confused on what is going on?"

"No! I'm teasing them for something great that is to come" Victoria told him, going back to look through the residents book in order to search for the next teenager they were going to recruit to their meeting while Brian just gave a look of doubt.

"Are you seriously telling me you have something planned already when it has just been like half an hour?"

"Duh."

Victoria's blunt response brought her two male companions to look at each other with a shared look of doubt and confusion while Victoria herself found the next teenager to make aware of the meeting they were invited too.

"Do we at least get to find out what you're planning?" Nathan asked but Victoria's smirk only grew wider as she turned around to walk backwards, tapping the side of her nose in order to tell them both they wouldn't learn anything from her before she suddenly stopped and knocked on the next door.

"Are you present Zoey Bailey?" Victoria called out just as the door opened, the present Zoey looking at the three in confusion as she nodded very hesitantly.

"Then you are hereby invited to join a meeting in about half an hour down at the hotel's backyard. Hope to see you there" Victoria told her, giving her a wink before walking down the corridor again, leaving Brian and Nathan to exchange awkward smiles with Zoey as they followed Victoria.

"So exactly how many are we inviting?" Nathan asked, shoving his hands down into his pockets and watching as Victoria flicked through the pages, not giving the boys a response until she suddenly came to a stop and turned to face them both again.

"Only three more which is perfect" Victoria said, writing somethings down onto two sticky notes as both Brian and Nathan watched in silent confusion until she handed the two sticky notes to both boys "you two go off and tell these people about the meeting and I shall handle the last one and meet you down in the backyard? Okay? Okay!"

With that Victoria left them both before they could give an answer, a smile on her face as she nodded to the people who passed her by in the corridor, walking and walking until she finally came to the right door and stopped in front of it, giving it a few knocks as she called out "Nico, are you in there?"

Victoria waited for a few moments but there was no response, causing her to push her lips together in a pout as she gave a second set of knocks.

Still no response.

At this point Victoria decided that Nico must not be present and was about to exit from the area before the door suddenly opening caused her to stop in her tracks, turning around to see Nico look at her with a blank, uninterested, stare.

"What is it?"

"Uhh, hey Nico" Victoria replied a bit hesitantly as she could just get the sense from looking at him that he didn't want to have this conversation, moving to stand in front of the door again as she offered a smile "you've been invited to join a meeting in about half an hour."

"Not interested."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah" Nico replied flatly as he moved to close the door in between them again, Vicky pursing her lips a bit as she tilted her head to look through the closing gap of the door and the doorway.

"Well the meeting is down in the hotel's backyard if you cha-" Victoria didn't get to finish her sentence as he finally closed the door, a sigh escaping from her as she gave a little nod "okay then" she told herself, eyeing the door in curiosity for a few moments, thinking it over on whether she should continue to try but quickly deciding to just leave him to himself and go back to walking the corridor.

On the other side of the door Nico sighed as he went back to sit down on his bed, his back pack next to him as it had all of his belongings that were worth taking still inside of it, Nico looking it over for a moment before looking down to the ground.

He had his plan on what to do if he was too sneak out of the hotel. Now he just needed to figure out on how he was going to get to that point and as he silently sat there, thinking to himself, he came to a realization that the meeting he had been invited too might actually prove to be useful.

Maybe attending that meeting was actually a good idea. ---  20th August 2049  - 08:01 - Charleston Outskirts, America "Was hoping i'd never see this place again" William said under his breath as he laid across the ground, binoculars in his hands and raised to his face as he looked over the hospital in the nearby clearing, Logan laying next to him with his shotgun at the ready.

"Well, if we can get as many medicals as we can carry, we shouldn't need to come here again. Any sight of Aliens?"

"None at all big man."

"Clear to move in then?" Anthony asked as he came to join his two best friends, laying down on the other side of William as all three of them looked over the hospital's surrounding area while Dannisha remained at the truck, testing their handheld radios with the long range radio they now had back at the hotel.

"Not at the moment. I want us to wait a bit, this hospital is on the map so I don't get why the Aliens wouldn't have it locked down...unless if they have already taken the supplies within" William theorized as he offered the binoculars over to Logan who proceeded to have a look himself while Anthony gave his own thoughts.

"Yeah but the Hayes Hotel is also on the map. If we were going by that logic, wouldn't the Aliens come for the hotel as well?"

"A hospital full of medical supplies is a bit more important than my hotel Ant."

"Yeah but a hotel would offer sanctuary for any few that escape from their initial invasion. Surely they would take that into consideration.

"Ant has a point Will" Logan said, finally breaking his silence as he offered the binoculars back to William who took them without any words as he thought it over for a moment. Anthony was right, yet they hadn't had a single Alien in the range of the hotel.

"Well radios work perfectly fine" Dannisha commented, interrupting William's thinking process as she joined the three men at the edge of the clearing, crouching down as she nodded towards the hospital "if all looks clear, when we moving in?"

William was about to answer Dannisha but the sudden sound of a twig caught all their attention as the four of them quickly aimed their guns towards where the sound had come from, their eyes peeled and ready to react to trouble coming into view.

That was when they came to realize their mistake.

"Don't move a single muscle" said a female voice from somewhere in the woods, the four members of William's squad sharing glances with each other as out from behind the trees came two men, wielding guns that were pointed directly at the four.

"This doesn't have to get ugly" William warned through gritted teeth, glaring to the two men that was approaching them which caused a red laser to come and flash across William's face, warning him that the gun that it belonged to was pointed right at him as the woman from the woods gave a soft chuckle before her response.

"No, it doesn't. So drop your weapons. We aren't going to bring harm to you if you just comply."

"If that's true why don't you just introduce yourself instead of threatening us?" Dannisha demanded, a growl escaping from her throat as she had a much more fierce glare on her face, about ready to explode until William brought out his hand and lowered her gun, giving a nod to Anthony and Logan in order to do the same which they complied with before he asked the strangers the most important question.

"What is it you all want?"

"What we want is a little business" a new voice came out from behind the four, a chuckle following that as he casually walked towards them through the forest, his fingers tapping on the revolver at his side while he grinned at the four "the name's Rick Washington and now we have your attention, we have a proposal."

This brought some interest to the four friend's faces while Dannisha was the one to give a response "what kind of proposal?"

"The kind you can't refuse" Rick said with a growing smirk "but let's not do this here. Better to go to a more safer place" he continued, offering a wink as he holstered his revolver and gestured for the four of them to get moving with it, leaving William and his friends with only the option to comply.

"And where is this "safety"?" Dannisha asked, glaring at Rick while two of his group came over to grab the dropped weapons of Will's squad while two others walked out from the woods, one a woman and the other being a fourth male while Rick's smirk grew more as he gave a teasing wink.

"Now that would be telling." ---  20th August 2049  - 08:41 - Hayes Hotel, America “So is that why people nickname you Bri? Because you identify as a girl?” Brian’s current companion asked him as they was walking through the hotel, heading towards the meetup Victoria had set up causing Brian himself to chuckle as he looked to her.

“Correction, I identify as both male and female and nah they called me Bri before that, it was more of a teasing thing. Although I guess the main point of teasing me with it was it sounded feminine. Maybe mommy knew her little boy would turn into a little girl from the get go?” he offered, earning a laugh from Alexandra who just shook her head at him.

“Well they do say mother always knows best.”

“Is that where you got the nickname Alex from? Mother knew?”

“Hey” Alexandra said as she pointed an accusing finger at Brian “YOU are the first person in my entire life to nickname me Alex.”

“Pfft. I don’t believe that, you are nineteen. One other person at least had to have called you Alex at some point.”

“Nope.”

“Why you already lying to me? Our friendship just started.”

“I wasn’t aware we had started a friendship.”

That caused Brian to let out a mock gasp as he grasped at his chest, acting as if he was in heavy pain “oh, your words, they wound me!” Brian said in his most painfully sounding voice that he can do, earning a push to the shoulder from Alexandra as the two of them finally arrived at the meeting point, greeted by Victoria who was stomping her foot as everyone else, who had already come to attendance, waited to learn what their meeting was about.

“And where have the two of you been?” Victoria asked, the look of a mad mother in her eyes while both Brian and Alexandra shared a brief look, having to resist the urge to chuckle as Alexandra moved to sit down while Brian gave her a wink as he came to stand in front of Victoria, allowing a cocky grin to be on his face.

“Better to be fashionably late than never.”

“You, fashionable? Don’t make me laugh Bri.”

“HEY” Brian said, clearly offended as he gave his jacket a shrug to get it back in the appropriate place, looking at her with a glare “don’t you dare insult my fashion sense” he told her, earning a eye roll from his friend as he moved to sit down with the others, Victoria letting out a sigh before she turned to address the gathered teenagers, eight of them in total, including her.

“I’m glad you’ve all come to join us for today’s session. Before any of you think we’re kidnapping you, I shall reveal why you are here” Alexandra said with a grin, crouching down in order to open the large box that she had some of the soldiers bring her, revealing a bunch of musical instruments to be inside “the five of you that were invited, excluding my idiot pals” Victoria said, gesturing to Brian and Nathan who gave her mock glares “were invited to a welcoming party due to you all being newcomers to the community.”

“So you plan to welcome us by playing us music?” Kyle asked in a playful mocking attitude, earning chuckles from the majority of everyone gathered, Victoria noticing that Nico was trying his best to stay quiet and partly separate from the rest of them.

“No Kylie, we are going to be working together to start our own little band” Victoria said, sending a mock smirk over to Kyle who blushed in embarrassment to his feminine nickname as the others gave their laughs at him before allowing Victoria to continue “and we are going to pratice creating a song together so we can do a little show for everyone else in the community.”

“And what if we have absolutely no experience with musical instruments in the past?” one of the gathered teenagers asked, Victoria recognizing her as Reyna Bullard, earning a chuckle from Victoria as she sent her a grin.

“That’s why we’re not going to rush practice” Victoria told her, earning a grin in return from Reyna before Victoria continued, gesturing towards the musical instruments box “for this session we’re just going to pick instruments at random and try them each out on our own terms. Each of us have a go and find what instrument works best for us.”

With that, Victoria reached down into the musical instruments box and quickly picked out a guitar, already knowing that was her best instrument, before she took a seat, testing out the strings while watching out of the corner of her eyes as everyone else of their little group took their own instruments, some more confident in what they choose while others took some time deciding.

Suddenly she was taken by surprise when Reyna came to sit by her side, a guitar in her arms as well as she shifted awkwardly before turning to look at Victoria with a nervous smile on her lips “Heh, I’ve..ah...always wanted to learn the guitar and you seem pretty knowing of it...do you think you can teach me?”

The question brought a small grin to Victoria’s lips as she shared her gaze for a moment before turning her attention back to her own guitar, still toying with the strings to test it out “Well Rey, I can try to teach you. Its success would depend on your learning abilities though.”

“Wouldn’t it also depend on your teaching abilities?”

“Shhh, I don’t want to be taking any blame if this fails” Victoria said which caused the both of them to laugh lightly before Victoria reached to begin testing Reyna’s guitar’s strings for her while the rest of their little class began to experiment with their own musical instruments.

They all sounded terrible at first but they had time to become better. ---  20th August 2049  - 08:41 - Charleston Outskirts College, America They had spent about half an hour walking from the moment bags were placed over their heads to shield their eyes from seeing wherever they were going and the present moment was what William had counted in his head as he was led in some kind of direction.

William wasn’t sure where but he could tell none of their hands were tied so he trusted this gang for now. It was clear this Rick Washington only had their eyes covered for their own guaranteed safety rather than a threat.

“Alright, we’re here. Keep a careful eye as you lead them in Katherine and Lucius” came Rick’s voice as William could hear a door opening as one of the other gang members slightly turned him so he wouldn’t be walking into a wall, William hearing his friends being led in the same direction behind him before someone put him to a stop and the bag on his head was suddenly removed, revealing to William that they were currently in a smallish classroom as the same happened to the rest of his friends.

“Half an hour walk, clearly wouldn’t risk getting closer to the Aliens so I take it we’re currently in the college not too far away from my hotel, huh?” William asked, giving Rick a confident grin to having worked out where they were while Rick chuckled as he made his way behind the teacher’s desk and sat down on its chair, bringing his legs up to lay them on the desk itself

“Welcome to our little temporary home” Rick offered them in an attitude which made it clear he didn’t really care too much for pleasantries, gesturing for everyone else in the room to take a seat as he continued speaking “so you’re probably wondering why you have been brought here at this point?”

“Nah, I was actually wondering when the tea party starts” was Dannisha’s reply which caused her and her three male squad members to smirk as they leaned back on the classroom seats, all four of them looking calm and confident considering that they had been kidnapped not too long ago and were currently being held hostage.

“You really gotta be a sarcastic, huh? You’re lucky we didn’t kill you straight off the bat so why don’t you hear the boss out be-” the gang member that stepped forward, his rifle held up and pointing at Dannisha didn’t get to finish his sentence as Rick slammed one of his feet down on the teacher’s desk, bringing all attention in the room back to him.

“That’s enough Brad. Let them have whatever attitude they like, we’re clearly not going to kill them so don’t bother threatening them.”

“Goddamn it Rick, you know we can’t-” Brad’s speech cut short when he turned to face Rick who sent a glare over to Brad, bringing him into silence as he lowered his gun and made his way over to the other side of the room, remaining in silence now as Rick sighed and began pouring himself some wine.

“You’ll have to forgive Brad. He’s the type that are still blaming the military for all the tragedy that our previous Zombie apocalypse brought. Even though half of the people that were in the military back then have retired” Rick said as he finished pouring his wine, sloshing his glass around a bit as William leaned forward in his seat, looking directly to Rick as he brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“As much as I appreciate the no arguments here we are pressed for time. You clearly want us alive and you clearly want that to achieve a certain goal. You ambushed us when we were scouting out the hospital. Looking to get your hands on the medical supplies too?”

Rick didn’t answer right away as he instead kept sloshing around his wine, thinking about it for a moment before he sighed and put the wine down, looking to the four soldiers currently in his company “Just like you, we thought it was clear. We were wrong. The hallways inside are crawling with Aliens just waiting for some poor assholes to enter the parking lot. We managed to escape, clearly, but without any of the supplies hidden inside.”

“So it is a trap?” Anthony asked curiously with a tilt of his head while Rick gave a simple nod as he shared a few glances with his gang members currently in the room before looking at William directly as he continued speaking.

“Our gang is larger than what is present in this room and we can pull the Aliens into chasing us and leave the hospital vulnerable but clearly they’re going to leave some of their soldiers inside which brings in your people. You rally as many of your group as you can to move into the back entrance of the hospital to get what you can and get out quickly” Rick revealed his plan but William shook his head as he gave his response.

“We can’t rally anyone else, this is all you’re going to get.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? We know where you are, how many soldiers you have.”

“Yes but we’re not sending out everyone at once until we have enough medical supplies to deal with a seriously bad mission gone wrong.”

“But you aren’t going to get said medical supplies if you sit in your hotel like a bunch of PUSSIES.”

“We are NOT getting any more soldiers to leave our hotel. You want to work together for the medical supplies? You’ll have to be happy with just us helping you.”

Both William and Rick went back and forth in argument, both clearly getting raised anger at each other but before Rick could argue any further, another member of his gang stepped forward and raised his own gun, pointing it at William but as he yelled “Brad was right, you can’t trust the fucking military”, Logan took a stand from his seat and blocked any threats being made in William’s direction, causing the one aiming his gun to cower a bit while the rest of the gang, except Rick, got themselves ready for the current situation to go bad.

“You’ll want to put that gun away buddy” Logan said casually, no fear in his voice as he towered over the threatening gang member who looked at Logan with quite a bit of fear, clearly having come to the realization if he was to take Logan on it wouldn’t be much of a fair fight but thankfully for him, Rick came to his rescue by slamming his foot down on the desk again.

“ENOUGH Mikayla. If you’re going to be stupid and cause some violence that is not needed, at least do it in an area away from us so when the Aliens come down on your asses, we don’t get killed along with you” Rick ordered, Mikayla gritting his teeth together but eventually backing down and returning to his seat while Logan waiting for a approving nod from William before too sitting back down, sending a smirk over towards Mikayla as he did while Rick just continued.

“You don’t want to get more soldiers? Fine. However please do tell me how you plan on getting as many of the supplies as you can with so few people.”

To that statement, William grinned as he leaned back on his seat and crossed his arms “I have an idea. I hope your gang are good at the “cat and mouse” game though” was William’s reply, earning some confused glances from Rick’s gang while Rick himself leaned forward curiosly as his feet touched the ground again, giving his own reply.

“Why don’t we find out?” ---  20th August 2049  - 09:10 - Hayes Hotel, America Edward could feel the breeze picking up just a little, nothing that bothered him but it was something he was a little curious about as not too long ago on this same day it had been completely stable, no wind at all to be felt.

He shrugged this thinking process off his shoulders however as he continued to observe as the two soldiers that were currently on duty, Butterfield and Guzman, walked back and forth along the hotel’s surrounding walls, something that Edward was grateful the hotel owner had put in before the invasion began.

To the corner of his eye he could see Daniel standing at the gate, clearly waiting for William and his squad to return as he was sure Daniel wasn’t currently assigned to gate duty. It didn’t take long before Edward was walking over to greet Daniel, giving him a nod which Daniel returned as he came to stand next to him, grateful Daniel wasn’t the type of soldier to salute him all the time.

“Hey there General. What can I do for you?”

“Just checking in on you Danny as I know you’re not supposed to be on duty right now.”

This caused a sigh to escape from Daniel as he raised one of his hands to grab onto the gate, holding it while his other hand continued to hold his rifle, his eyes not moving away from staring out at the road that led down to the hotel “Sorry General, I just can’t sit in my room doing nothing while people are out there risking their lives. Doesn’t sit right with me.”

Edward nodded in both understanding and agreement of this statement “I understand that feeling, hell, if I was several years younger than what I am then you could bet i’d be out there fighting every damn minute but you know how it is right now, can’t risk too many people at once without the supplies for patching them up. However you also know that once we get those medical supplies, every abled person is going to be leaving this gate every day in missions that will help the residents of this hotel.”

“I know General.”

“And you, Daniel Pratt, are a good damn soldier. Someone who is very useful so when we do get them medical supplies, I want you in your best shape. So go get some rest” Edward told Daniel in a light command which caused Daniel to pause, thinking it over for a moment before he gave a nod and sighed as he began to move away from the gate.

Although just as Daniel was turning around, he came to a stop and, along with Edward who also noticed, watched curiously as Ashley Porter, the soldier charged with handling the radio, was running towards the both of them.

“What’s wrong Ash?” Daniel asked as she finally reached the two men, taking a moment to have to regain her breath, having clearly run all the way from the radio room to find the General before she stood back up and addressed the General with a worried look on her face.

“Sir, William’s squad haven’t reported in over half an hour. The rules were that, no matter what mission conditions they were under, they would report in so I came to alert you” Ashley replied to the two of them, Daniel looking between her and the General with a now equally worried look on his face while Edward thought about it for a moment before sighing as he reached and patted Daniel on the shoulder.

“Go get Charlie and two other soldiers and get out there looking for them and do me a favor by not getting yourself fucked over out there. Understand Danny?”

“Of course sir but a question, you said no more than one squad being sent out at once, you sure you want me to take three other soldiers with me?”

“Well I’m not sending you out on your own and do you see any of the civilians who would volunteer for the job?”

At first Daniel was going to be quick to say no but then he thought for a moment and smiled as he offered a nod to the General “I do” was all Daniel replied with before he rushed off towards the inside of the hotel to recruit the ones he had on his mind for the mission, leaving Edward and Ashley to watch him go with worried expressions crossing their faces. ---  20th August 2049  - 09:20 - Charleston Outskirts Hospital, America The hospital corridors were cramped close together as the lone Alien soldier walked its assigned route down them, unable to see William, Dannisha, Anthony, Logan, Rick, Brad and Mikayla all lined up against the neighbor corridor’s wall while William had his head barely poking around the corner to watch the Alien, waiting for the perfect moment before he gestured with his hand, leading to Dannisha, Anthony and Logan to quickly make their way across the gap in the corridor to the other side without being seen by the Alien.

They all knew their plan and so far it had been working, a few Alien bodies laying in their previously taken path while William waited for the soldier to turn again before he silently rushed forward and brought his large military knife up to strike the Alien through the back of its head and straight to its brain, thankful the Alien skulls were soft enough to easily do it.

It reminded him of the days of the Zombie apocalypse.

“That’s this floor clear. Just one more to go” Dannisha said in a hushed speaking tone as William nodded, looking at the Alien body now crumbled to the floor before he turned his attention to the group “Dannisha, you Logan and Anthony can start gathering medical supplies from this floor down for when we have it clear. Rick, you bring your people with me.”

Rick gave a nod, clearly not happy with following orders for a change but he knew this was his only good chance to get at least a good portion of the medical supplies so he gestured for Brad and Mikayla to follow him before he made his way down the corridor to the set of stairs that would lead them to the final floor while Dannisha stayed standing with William in the corridor as Logan and Anthony themselves began to enter the rooms in search of any supplies that can be brought with them and would be useful.

“You sure you want to trust those three with watching your back up there?”

“It’s not the most perfect idea but they’re not stupid enough to cause violence in Alien territory.”

“You sure about that?”

Dannisha’s response caused William to grin as he sent a wink her way before he quickly made his way to follow behind Rick and his own friends, being careful that he didn’t make too much noise as he jogged up the metal steps and keeping himself crouched as he entered the final floor, quickly joining Rick, Brad and Mikayla against the wall.

“Same technique” William mouthed to his current companions, peeking his head around the corner slightly in order to make sure the coast was clear before he quickly crossed the gap, barely avoiding the detection of an Alien soldier who suddenly appeared into view and had been looking at where William just crossed.

William would be glad when this mission was over, this was cutting it too close. However just as he was letting out his next breath, William could see out of the corner of his eyes as an Alien rounded the corner to face the corridor William and the rest of his companions were currently at, being able to see as the Alien’s eyes widened at the sight of a human in the hospital and the alarm having not gone off.

William had to act now.

William charged forwards, fortunately not knocking over anything as he grabbed the Alien’s rifle that had been aiming upwards and used it to slam his throat harshly, bringing a choke out of the Alien that clearly interrupted it from yelling for help before the two of them began to wrestle for control in their newly started fight.

They struggled together for a few moments, William was too busy using all of his strength to slam the rifle against the Alien’s throat every time the Alien was about to yell out for help but this soon turned useless when the Alien managed to get a shot from his rifle off, sending a loud laser across the corridor that barely missed Rick who nearly tumbled to the floor in his attempt to dodge before it struck the wall.

The Alien managing to fire off a shot, ruining the entire mission as far as he knew, distracted William enough for the Alien to get the upper hand and shove William against the wall instead, grabbing onto William’s throat but unable to do much more than that as Rick quickly gained his balance and rushed over, unholstering his revolver and point blank shooting it into the Alien’s head, sending blood splattering all over William’s face as the Alien itself quickly fell to the ground, dead.

Saved by the gang leader, William found himself with a moment to regain his breath, sending a thankful nod over to Rick who holstered his revolver again, Brad and Mikayla quickly rushing over with both confused and terrified looks on their faces but William just offered a chuckle “wanted to start a wrestling match with my new friend here” William joked as he gestured down to the dead Alien “no big deal.”

Just as he said that, loud banging could be heard as Dannisha, Anthony and Logan bursted out from the stairway, all their weapons ready to be fired as they stared to the four men all standing together, William looking over to them “What’s up? We got it handled” was what he told her which brought a look of severe confusion to Dannisha’s face as she observed the scene.

“Got it handled? That was a gunshot and you’re covered in blood.”

“I’m not dead though” William replied with a cocky grin, earning a groan from his three friends before he turned to face Rick as he gestured to the radio on Rick’s belt “as long as you’re two twins haven’t run off with my truck, contact them on that and tell them we’re ready for pickup” William told Rick before he gestured for everyone else to follow him as he exited from the floor and made his way back down the stairs. Now alone, Rick reached down and grabbed the radio at his side, turning it on as he raised it to his mouth “Katherine, Lucius, you there?” Rick asked through the radio as he leaned against the wall, letting out a breath he wasn’t sure how long he had been holding for as he got a quick response.

“Lucius here. Everything ready for pick up?”

“More or less Lucy so you can tell Kat to bring the truck round here and hurry. How’s the situation with the rest of the gang?”

There was a pause as Rick could hear Lucius sigh, even being able to hear as Katherine started up the truck and began driving towards the hospital with how silent Lucius was before he gave his answer to the question.

“It’s fucking bad Rick, they’re not even sure how many of them have died, they just know it's a goddamn shit ton.”

“Then radio them and tell them all to run and escape once Katherine has the truck parked outside the hospital” Rick told him before he switched the radio off and clipped it back onto his belt, quickly making his way back down the stairs to join the others, a few moments passing before one of the room doors opened and a Alien soldier poked out its head, looking at the area where the group had just been standing. ---  20th August 2049  - 09:20 - Hayes Hotel, America Walking towards the makeshift medical room, Spike knew he was late for when the doctor had wanted him to arrive and it made him feel like he was about to get in trouble, maybe he could try using the excuse it's a bit of a struggle to walk on his foot but he doubted the doctor would believe that.

"I'm sorry that i'm late doc, in completely honesty I was lazy tis morning" Spike admitted out loud as he opened the door and slightly limped his way inside of the room. However he soon discovered that Nadia herself was nowhere to be seen which made him grin as he moved to take a seat.

Maybe he could get away with it was his thinking process until Nadia's voice came from the same room and made him jump.

"I can forgive you, this time" Nadia said in a teasing scolding tone as she stopped up from having been crouched behind one of the beds, having been collecting a few papers she had accidently dropped on the floor, before walking over to his position.

"Remove your slipper for me Spikes, i'll have a look at it"

That caused Spike to look down at his foot for a moment, clearly embarrassed by the dinosaur slippers that he was wearing but Nadia had told him that the softness of the slippers would be better to heal his foot than normal shoes so he decided not to argue and carefully removed the slipper from his foot.

"So how has your foot been feeling?"

"Uhh...pretty good."

"Pretty good, are you sure?"

"Yeah...why wouldn't I be?"

"You got a glass shard stuck in it that had to be removed" Nadia said bluntly, offering him a slight smirk as she knelt before him, carefully unwrapping the bandage she had wrapped around his foot, Spike offering a soft chuckle as he tilted his head slightly to look down at it.

"So how does it look doc?"

"Not infected, very clean. As long as nothing else happens to it, it will be fine. I'll just have to keep it bandaged up" Nadia told him, reaching down to her side in order to grab the new bandages she had brought over and began to apply them to his foot while the entrance door opened behind them gaining Nadia's attention as she addressed whoever had entered "take a seat and i'll be with you in a second."

"Oh, it's fine. I can come back later if that would be better?" Gabriella replied which caused Nadia to turn around briefly, noticing that it was the pregnant woman she had seen before and causing her to shake her head before she returned back to working on Spike's foot.

"Nah just take a seat. Just dressing his foot up" Nadia told her leading to Gabriella giving a nod before she gently took a seat, watching as Nadia was able to quickly finish dressing Spike's foot before she stood up and gave him a nod "alright. Come around same time tomorrow and on time. Understand?"

Spike gave a nod, offering a nervous smile before he placed the slipper back on his foot and made his way outside of the room as quickly as he could, leaving both Nadia and Gabriella alone in silence for a few moments as Nadia put everything back to its proper places until finally turning around to address Gabriella with a smile on her face.

"So what's your name?"

"Gabriella...you can call me Gabby though."

"Alright Gabby what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping you could do a check up on my baby for me. With things getting pretty stressful around here I wanted to check up on her" Gabriella admitted, looking up to Nadia with a nervous look causing Nadia to give Gabriella a reassuring smile while reaching to give her shoulder a gentle rub.

"Of course I can. I can assure you though, you look rather healthy considering so everything will be fine" Nadia told her as she walked over to the other side of the room, having a quick look through the cupboards in order to search for a stethoscope "so have you thought about a name for her?"

"My husband liked the idea of naming her Rosie but..." Gabriella trailed off a bit, lowering her head to face the ground while a tear trailed down her cheek "I don't know. Now he's gone I can barely think about him and not become upset...never mind using the name he wanted."

Hearing this Nadia gave a little sigh as she turned to grabbed onto her stethoscope and closed the cupboards behind her, walking back over to Gabriella and coming to crouch in front of her so they were face to face while offering a soft smile "you should. Rosie is a nice name. I know it hurts to think about him but it's going to be like that no matter how little you do of him. As your doctor I recommend naming your daughter Rosie so when these Aliens are pushed back into their holes as corpses you can teach Rosie about how much her father loves her."

Gabriella remained silent for a few moments while Nadia got the stethoscope ready before she reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks "you really think we can beat them doctor?"

"I know we can beat them. Humanity always pulls through. Now, shall we listen to this baby of yours?" Nadia asked as she offered the listening part of the stethoscope up to Gabriella who took it with a nod and a soft smile as Nadia placed the receiving end to her stomach, giving a light smirk at Gabriella's gasp at how cold it was "can you hear her?"

"Yeah. It sounds really beautiful" Gabriella said softly, smiling down to Nadia who gave her a smile back, leaning up to give Gabriella a very unprofessional but warming kiss on the forehead which was accepted with a smile before taking turns with the mother to be to listen to the baby's heart beat. ---  20th August 2049  - 09:30 - Charleston Outskirts Hospital, America “And we’re here” Katherine said as she pulled the truck to a stop outside of the hospital, still parked in the forest but now closer to the hospital in order to get more supplies than they had originally hoped for and looking to the back exit of the hospital, Katherine could already see the bags of supplies the group had brought out in preparation.

“Tell the rest of the gang to call off their distraction and then get your ass out of the truck to help me and quick” Katherine told her brother, sharing a grin with him before she exited from the truck and quickly ran towards the hospital, grabbing whatever she could carry it and running to the back of the truck with it while Anthony and Logan were bringing the next lot of supplies from inside the hospital.

“Hey! How many more bags?” Katherine called out to the pair as she dumped what she was carrying in the back before running back over to the hospital, grabbing what she could while Anthony and Logan shared a look before they too began carrying things over to the truck, Logan being the one to answer.

“We can’t check as thoroughly as we’d like but we’re making some good progress, got a lot of supplies on their way down here.”

Katherine smirked at Logan as she passed him, giving a wink “That’s good. Surprised we didn’t make off with your man’s truck?” she teased, earning chuckles from both Logan and Anthony while Logan shook his head as he gave his response.

“I would’ve been more surprised if you actually made off with it, the thing is a bit of a rustbucket.”

“Eh, it’s not too bad.”

“Please don’t tell William that, he’s already determined as it is to prove his point on it not being a rustbucket” Logan told her, earning equally shared laughs from the three of them as they finished loading up the medical supplies that had been brought down into the back of the truck before Anthony and Logan made their way back into the hospital to get more which left Katherine to stan there and wait as Lucius finally exited from the truck.

“You shouldn’t get too friendly with them Kat. We’re not going to become friends with them. This is all just business.”

“Oh come on Lucy, this is the end of the world as we know it, again, i’m going to have laughs with whoever, wherever and whenever I can. I refuse to die like a sad sack of shit.”

“You’re not going to die.”

“Pfft” was the noise Katherine made in response to that but before Lucius could argue with her, Anthony and Logan returned with the next lot of supplies, Katherine and Lucius quickly making their way over to them in order to help carry what they can over to the truck.

“Hope there is enough to share” was what Lucius muttered, causing a few glances to be shared between Anthony and Logan which Katherine observed, now coming to question whether the supplies would actually be shared between their two groups or not but before she could open her mouth to give a reply Lucius muttered something again, this time muttering “oh fuck.”

It didn’t take the other three long to figure out what he was cursing at as just a simple observation of the surrounding area was needed before all four of them could see and watch as a formation of Alien soldiers began walking out from the forests that were facing the front of the hospital, the four of them quickly going into action.

“Anthony, warn the others. You two fend them off with me” Logan quickly commanded as he dropped all the medical supplies he had been carrying and aimed his rifle up, beginning to fire in the direction of the Alien soldiers with Lucius and Katherine quickly joining them in giving suppressive fire, Anthony himself following the orders from his friend and running into the hospital to warn the others.

“ALIENS, THE ALIENS ARE HERE!” Anthony yelled as he ran up the stairs to the second out of four floors, thankful that it was a small hospital and quickly the rest of the group were able to respond as they shoved whatever medical supplies were closest to them into their bags before joining Anthony at the stairs.

“Alright, we’ve got more supplies than what we could hope for, now everyone get to the forest!” William commanded, not having to give the order twice as everyone quickly started moving down the stairs, now able to hear the gunfire of their friends on the outside as they desperately tried to keep the Aliens suppressed long enough but William himself took longer as he got out his second bag and went into an unsearched room for more medical supplies.

“Kill as many as you can but start running, get that truck going!” Dannisha yelled out as she exited from the hospital, quickly pointing her rifle in the direction of the incoming Aliens and opening fire while the rest of the group, missing William, kept running towards the forest for cover “how many of them can you count Logan?!”

“Too many for us to handle on an all frontal attack, we need to retreat NOW” was Logan’s reply, doing his best to yell over all the gunfire that filled their ears while behind him Anthony got into the driver’s seat of the truck and started its engine, quickly pulling the truck in reverse as members of the group threw their bags into the back and Katherine got into the passenger's seat, clearly making sure Anthony wouldn’t be taking all of supplies off without first splitting them between the two groups.

Dannisha herself was about to make her way to escape through the forests but she quickly realized William wasn’t with them which caused her to yell “WILLIAM, WE HAVE TO MOVE” as she made a move to enter the hospital again only to be stopped by Logan who wrapped an arm around her and began pulling her towards the forest.

“Goddamn it Logan, let me go, he’s still in there.”

“William is a tough fucker, he knows what he is doing and will get out, now let’s go!” Logan demanded, something Dannisha decided to quickly oblige to otherwise the two of them would soon get themselves killed, running into the forest and praying the lasers being fired in her direction wouldn’t hit her as Logan quickly followed behind her, the two of them quickly disappearing into the forest.

This was the moment William came running out of the hospital himself, barely avoiding the lasers which went by his head as he himself prayed he would make it to the hospital with all of the supplies that he was carrying on his back, nearly tripping a few times as he heard each laser being shot at him.

Suddenly William fell to the ground but it wasn’t because he tripped.

Instead Rick had pulled him into the mess that was the forest bushes as the laser that was just about to hit William instead hit the nearby tree and caused an explosion to happen just as William fell to the ground, making it look like William had been the one that had been shot while the laser fire suddenly all came to a stop, leaving both William and Rick to stare in silence as all the Aliens gathered together.

“Hold your fire” one of the Aliens called out to the others, surprising both William and Rick with its apparent ability to speak english but they remained deathly silent as they watched the speaking Alien walk in front of the saluting Alien soldiers while yelling towards the hospital “COME OUT NOW SURVIVOR!”

Both William and Rick were even more confused now but their confusion was soon answered as an Alien soldier exited from the hospital, giving them their answer to how the Aliens were so quick to find out what had happened but the last thing they were expecting happened as they were soon watching as the Alien leader of some kind unholstered it own revolver and coldly shot the Alien soldier through the head, killing it without mercy before the leader turned to face the forest.

“Take this as a warning humans. We have no mercy for failure in our kind and we will have no mercy for failure in your existence. Right now you hide away in the nature, a barrier we refuse to take conflict into but know this, the moment you step out of this brief safety behind nature, we will find you and we will destroy you.”

With that statement, the Alien leader holstered his revolver again and began walking away, leaving his Alien soldiers to follow him obediently as both William and Rick shared glances with each other before Rick rubbed at his eyes a bit “I don’t know about you hero but that’s enough shit for one day.”

“I have no trouble with agreeing to that.” ---  20th August 2049  - 09:45 - Charleston Outskirts, America “Hey, sir...I ah...just wanted to thank you for bringing me along.”

“It’s fine Jenkins.”

“I-I know we don’t really get along too well and you don’t think much of me but I’m going to prove myself on this mission today sir!”

“I’m hoping you don’t need to Jenkins.”

“I..I know, i’m just-”

Charlie’s next thing to say was interrupted mid sentence by Daniel’s sigh as he turned to look at Charlie while they both crouched down in the bushes, Jeff, who was remaining silent, at their side as Daniel patted Charlie on the shoulder.

“I get what you’re saying Char but right now is not the time. Go and make sure Han is doing fine over there” Daniel told him, earning a salute from Charlie before the recruit himself began silently moving through the forest’s bushes towards Han, leaving Daniel and Jeff alone in silence for a few moments before Jeff spoke, being the one to interrupt said silence.

“You got a problem with him?”

“No, not really. It’s just...he’s determined and loyal but he’s a few screws behind everyone else.”

“At least he’s trying.”

“Do you think trying is enough?”

“Sometimes trying is all you can ever have.”

Before Daniel could ask what Jeff meant by that, the silence become invaded as the sound of a truck got closer and closer to them, Will’s infamous truck soon appearing in the small clearing in front of them and coming to a stop before the four of them could watch as Anthony and Katherine stepped out of the truck, the rest of William’s group and Rick’s gang coming out of the forest behind the truck.

Daniel didn’t want to wait long enough for anything bad to happen.

“Everyone, move in!” Daniel ordered as he aimed his rifle towards the strangers that he didn’t recognise among the nine people, his three companions following in suit and aiming their rifles towards Rick’s gang who all quickly brought out their own weapons in defence while William quickly moved himself to get between Daniel’s squad and Rick’s gang which caused Daniel to growl out at his superior officer who was now in the way. “The fuck you doing Will? Who are these people?”

“Allies? You went dark on the radio for longer than ordered.”

“Yes Allies. We got off on the wrong foot but in the end it was due to their help that we were able to get all the medical supplies that are currently in the back of my truck” Will said as he used his thumb to point to the truck behind him, Daniel able to tilt his head and some of the supplies that were indeed there but before he could give another reply, Dannisha started talking.

“Although now that you’re here Danny, we’ll be taking the medical supplies for ourselves. We have people that will need it more than some common gang” Dannisha said bluntly, earning glares from every member of Rick’s gang while Rick himself was the one to give a response.

“Take it for yourselves? Some of my people gave their lives to get these medical supplies!”

“We are soldiers who are going to be taking to war against these Alien bastards! You’re just a gang who are going on your own little crusade!”

“Enough!” William yelled, interrupting any response that was going to come from Rick or any other members of his gang as he looked around to everyone “All of you, lower your weapons. We had a deal and our ALLIES deserve some reward for helping us. They can take all that they can carry” Will told them all, setting down the rules as he looked to each person, waiting for anyone to argue but there was no protests as everyone lowered their weapons.

“At least some of the military have some heart” Rick muttered as he and his gang members moved to the back of the truck, each grabbing all that they could carry, leaving quite the heavy amount of supplies left for William’s group before Rick’s four gang members began making their way into the forest, leaving Rick alone as he stared down William for a few moments.

“I’ll look forward to seeing you around then Hayes, maybe next time we meet we can blow some Alien brains in.”

“There isn’t going to be a next time Washington.”

That caused Rick to chuckle as he began to make his own exit, walking backwards at first and sending a wink over to William “We’ll see about that” was the last thing Rick said before he turned around and disappeared back into the forest, leaving William’s group to stand there together for a few moments before Daniel broke the silence with a sigh that was followed by a statement.

“It’s about time we brought you back to the hotel. I’m sure you have quite the story to tell the General.” ---  20th August 2049  - 13:00 - Hayes Hotel, America “That does sound like quite the long day” Victoria teased as she leaned against the bar room’s outside patio railing, her father leaning on the railing himself beside her who quickly grinned as he shook his head in amusement.

“That’s one way of putting it” he said, running one of his hands through his hair for a moment as he looked out at the view before the pair of them before turning to face his daughter “how did it go with the rest of the kids your age? Hope they didn’t cause too much trouble.”

“Trouble? Nah. It’s clear that they’re missing their homes and don’t really want to be here but they aren’t going to be troublesome, they’re settling in decently.”

William chuckled at this, earning a look of confusion from his daughter until he made it clear what he was chuckling about by telling her “you’re already becoming too adult like talking like that Vicky, I was just expecting you to say something like “yeah, today was totally gay!”

“Dad, don’t even try, you can’t use the gay properly.”

William placed his hand to his chest at a mock sign of hurt before the two of them shared a grin and returned to looking at the view that was in front of them “I’m glad everything is going alright though” Will continued before he raised a curious eyebrow over to her “although I am curious about the little project I heard you were all doing. You teenagers bribing poor Butterfield into silence.”

“That you’ll have to wait patiently for. You’ll find out soon enough.”

William chuckled at this and gave a nod. He was sure he would. However before he could give his daughter a response, William saw Daniel leaning against a wall nearby which caused William to sigh as he turned back to look at his daughter “Mind if we continue speaking about this later? I have to address something with Daniel.”

Victoria nodded, pushing herself away from the railing and leaning up to kiss her father’s cheek as she gave him a teasing smirk “play nice” she told her father before walking off, leaving William to take a moment before he made his way over to Daniel who greeted him with a silent nod, leaving William to have to break the ice.

“Look, I know you’re mad that I didn’t bring you along and i’m not going to bullshit it, part of it is because you and me are having our differences but I don’t mean it in a way that I don’t think you’ll be good fighting out there or any shit like that.”

“Then how do you mean it?” Daniel snapped, keeping his tone low but it was clearly he was having a troubled time dealing with William who just sighed, looking at Daniel for a moment before shaking his head and reaching to gently pat his shoulder.

“You have the abilities to lead a squad Danny so the last thing we should be doing is arguing. You should’ve been spending today resting because Eddie himself knows you’re capable of being a squad leader and squad leaders need rest. I mean the only reason I took Danni was because she refused to let me go without her.”

Daniel kept silent, his head now turned to face away from William which, despite his wanted attempts to try and make Daniel realize the truth, Daniel didn’t want to talk. However just as William was about to move away, both soldiers could hear Ashley’s voice calling out “Sergeant William! Sergeant William!” in desperation as she ran towards them.

“What is it Ash?” William replied, looking at Ashley with both worry and curiosity while Daniel couldn’t resist the sigh that escaped from his lips, having already dealt with an urgent message from Ashley for today.

“Sorry sir but the General is resting and I figured I shouldn’t disturb him but this message is seriously urgent sir.”

“And why is the message important? Who is it from?” Daniel asked, both him and William looking at Ashley and waiting for her answer, tense silence falling between the three of them as Ashley debated over how she should phrase her next few words before she finally looked up to the two and took in a deep breath before she gave her answer.

“Its an urgent request for help sir...from our President.”

Significant Events Summary

 * William Hayes's squad and Rick Washington's gang manage to work together and recover a heavy amount of medical supplies from an Alien controlled hospital.
 * News of the President being alive, but being attacked, reaches the Hotel refugees.

Cast
Main Cast Guest Cast
 * Ryan Robbins as William Hayes
 * Emilia Clarke as Victoria Hayes
 * Danai Gurira as Dannisha Sinclair
 * Devon Bostick as Brian Henderson
 * Eliza Taylor as Alexandra Ryder
 * John Boyega as Nathan Sinclair
 * Dale Dye as Edward Grey
 * Moon Bloodgood as Nadia Dominguez
 * Lindsey Morgan as Reyna Bullard
 * Lauren Cohan as Nancy Morales
 * Luke Neal as Daniel Pratt
 * Colin Cunningham as Rick Washington
 * Unknown as Alien General 1
 * Minka Kelly as Rebecca Hayes
 * Unknown as "Hospital Alien Survivor"

Recurring Characters
 * Peter Shinkoda as Jeff
 * Steven Yeun as Han Seong
 * Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Anthony Alexander
 * Brad Kelly as Logan Goodman
 * Sean Murray as Charlie Jenkins
 * Charles Michael Davis as Mikayla Mullin
 * Ellen Hollman as Katherine Hunter
 * Norman Reedus as Lucius Hunter
 * Drew Powell as Brad Perkins
 * Jenna Coleman as Gabriella Mercer
 * Richard Harmon as Nico
 * Frank Dillane as Kyle Hawkins
 * Allison Miller as Zoey Bailey
 * Daniela Ruah as Ashley Porter
 * Elias Edraki as Zackery Jenkins
 * Daniel Newman as Spike Byron
 * Jon Johnson as Butterfield
 * Matt Scully as Guzman

Deaths

 * Numerous Counts Of Unnamed Members Of Rick's Gang (Both Onscreen And Offscreen)
 * Some Unnamed Aliens (Both Onscreen And Offscreen)

Trivia

 * The "episode representing image" for this episode would be Victoria and the other teenagers of the Hayes Hotel gathered outside as they begin to practice with their chosen musical instruments.