Evolution/Episode 3

"Our Missing Family" is the third episode of season one and the third episode of Evolution overall. It was released on 16th March 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 medical supplies he and his small team were forced to work with a gang under the command of Rick Washington to raid a hospital just outside of Charleston in order to get the medical supplies they desperately need which lead to some interesting developments and very close calls. Now, with their hotel completely stocked with medical supplies, the group is one step closer to retaliating against their world invaders.

Synopsis
With the hotel refugees having learned that the President is alive, Dannisha is placed in charge of leading a rescue mission in hopes of being able to save the President from the Aliens before it is too late. Meanwhile residents of the Hotel step up to fill important positions within the hotel while the soldiers are away as William uses his forced time off to to search for his missing family which takes him on a trip down the memory lane.

Episode 3 - "Our Missing Family"
20th August 2049 - 13:15 - Hayes Hotel, America

There was rush around the hotel and despite the severe lack of a proper military presence, Dannisha having only counted a total of twenty soldiers out of their fifty-one, it felt like she was back in a functioning military complex rather than being in a hotel with a ragtag group of survivors.

It made her feel alive, a feeling she was grateful to still be having.

“Charlie, what’s going on?” Dannisha said to the rookie soldier as she came to be jogged by the side of him, raising her voice a bit to make sure he heard her as the two of them jogged down the corridor together, avoiding colliding into any of the civilians in their path.

“Not really sure ma’am. Danny just told me to get my ass to the military office stat.”

Dannisha nodded. The same had happened to her with William and she hadn’t got a chance to ask him what was going on before he had sprinted off. However she could guess that if William was sprinting around telling every soldier in sight to get to the office, whatever was going on must have been big.

She just hoped it wasn’t a bad kind of big.

Fortunately it didn’t take the two of them long to arrive at the makeshift military office, Dannisha thankful that she and her son had been friends of the Hayes family for a while, that resulting in giving her the perfect amount of time to memorize the layout of their hotel.

The moment the two of them got themselves into the office, their General, who had been standing at the opposite end of the office’s large table, looked up from the map that had been sprawled across it to finally address his soldiers, doing a quick head count to make sure every soldier was present before he coughed to break the silence and get any attention that might not have been on him already to its rightful place in preparation for what he was about to say.

“I know a lot of you aren’t fully rested or prepared for a mission but this is an urgent mission and is going to need all hands on board” Edward started, watching as mixed expressions went across all of the other people that had joined him in this room before he let out a sigh and nervous rubbed the front of his nose.

“We’ve received a radio transmission from the President approximately fifteen minutes ago but the bad news is the President is under attack and as far as we can tell, we’re the only ones who can bring in support to save her.”

Silence went across the room for a moment as numerous people shared glances and others looked down to their hands nervously. They all knew what this meant, they’d have to go out and fight whatever the threat level was in order to rescue their President. They had too. If they lost the President, this war was going to become a lot more harder.

“Are we aware of what kind of threat level the President is under sir?” Guzman asked from his position, eyes going between him and Edward as the General shook his head.

“We can only assume that it will be very high considering their target.”

Silence fell among the soldiers again and Edward debated pushing the topic forwards but decided to wait, let his soldiers take into full consideration on what was about to happen. A lot of them weren’t prepared to face the Aliens but as Dannisha spoke up, asking her own question, the time to continue this meeting came.

“What’s the plan?”

“We have no choice. We go in shooting and hope that we can take the Aliens off guard.”

“And how the hell are we going to do that?” Daniel asked, his voice clearly giving away that the plan sounded suicidal in his mind, a thought that Edward couldn’t fault him for.

“According to the soldier over on their side of the radio, the Aliens have them pinned down and surrounded in the military base not far from here” Edward said as he pointed down to the map in front of him, pointing particularly to the base he mentioned before circling around it with his finger “our best plan would be to move into the forest quietly in a circle around the Aliens, if possible, and see what kind of forces they have before opening fire from behind, hopefully taking them from surprise.”

“And if we don’t manage to take them by surprise sir?” Charlie asked as he shifted nervously upon his seat, the shifting motion making Dannisha herself feel nervous but she silently told herself off for that. She was one of the people these soldiers looked up to, she couldn’t appear weak at a time like this.

“Then we hope that the President still has enough forces to fight with us that makes them getting the surprise on us mean nothing to the overall battle.”

The General’s response caused some more silence in the room but William, who up until now had been silently taking this all in, and knew that they shouldn’t be given too much time to think this over otherwise they would get stage fright, stood up from his seat and nodded.

“Then everyone pack up your gear and move to the hotel’s entrance, be ready to head out when given the order” William told them all, all soldiers in the room nodding to their given orders and quickly taking their stands from the seats to make a move to the door, William and Dannisha about to move in order to join them until they noticed the General point his two fingers at the pair of them, silently ordering them to stay put for the moment as the rest of the soldiers made their exit.

“Danni, you’re in charge of this mission. Will, you aren’t going” Edward told them both once the three of them were alone, Dannisha biting her lip in question to this order and William quickly shaking his head against it.

“With all due respect Eddie, I can’t follow that order. We’re talking about rescuing the President here. I can understand not wanting to send me out on smaller missions but as you said, we need all hands on-”

“Danni, go to medical and make sure Nadia is ready to deal with any types of medical emergencies before you head outc” Edward told her, interrupting William mid sentence and earning a obedient nod from Dannisha who quickly made her own exit from the room, closing the door behind her and leaving her two superior’s behind.

“We both know that you are too important to lose Will. You aren’t going on this mission and that is final.”

“We both know that I can handle myself in the battlefield.”

“Can you?”

This retort from the General made any attempt of argument William had go out the window as the two old soldiers stared at each other for a moment before Edward sighed and rubbed his eyes, softly speaking now “Will, in your condition I cannot risk you to go out on battles like this, sending you out on missions at all is risk enough.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“My decision is final Will. I’m sorry but it's not only for your best interests but also everyone else’s own.”

From the other side of the door, Dannisha could hear as William sighed and accepted what the General had ordered which caused Dannisha herself to quickly make her way down the corridor, not wanting for the two men to discover she had been listening into the conversation. ---  20th August 2049  - 13:55 - Hayes Hotel, America

“Watch yourselves, don’t get hurt” Nadia said lightly as she smiled, stepping to the side as a small group of children ran past her and down the corridor, shaking her head and continuing to make her way down the corridor.

She was trying to keep her mind off of where all the hotel’s soldiers were right now. Every time she came to think about it she would just be more stressed and with good reason. This wasn’t fiction, this was real life.

Some of the people she had come to see as friends in the past few days wouldn’t be coming home.

She again forced these thoughts out of her mind. Today would be bad enough without causing herself unneeded stress, Instead she kept walking down the corridor until she arrived at her destination, an entire wall dedicated to missing family and friends of the hotel’s current residents.

She didn’t want to begin counting the amount of photos on the wall.

For a few moments she just stood there, silently looking over each photo, nobody else entering the corridor for this entire time, giving her a void of peace until her skin nearly jumped off its bones when she heard the voice of William near her, Nadia having not noticed his approach.

“A little something you put together doc?”

She shook her head “no, some of the civilians got together to patch it up. I think they’re hoping you soldiers can keep your eyes peeled for them while you’re out on your missions.”

William nodded in understanding to that “I had a feeling. Every time I walk into a room with any one non military I can see it in their eyes they want to ask me if I’ve seen someone or another but they don’t. Probably don’t want to be a bother.”

“So will you? Keep your eyes out for them?”

“Sure. Although we aren’t exactly being picky. Anyone we meet out there is going to be invited back, as long as they don’t cause trouble.”

After he said that, the two of them fell into a moment of silence, both looking over all the photos of the people that were possibly out there now, staying away from the Aliens that were putting all their lives in danger.

That was until William interrupted the silence again.

“So who are you missing?”

This confused Nadia as she turned back to look at William “What do you mean?”

William offered her a soft smile, a smile that told her she could stop the conversation going any further if she wished too as he spoke “The same look I see in everyone else’s eyes I can see in yours. I don’t know who they are but you’ve got someone or some people out there you want to find.”

She bit the bottom of her lip, debating whether or not to continue this conversation, it was a touchy subject but then she decided that was a selfish thought for her to have. Nearly everyone in the hotel right now had missing people. It wasn’t only her.

“My husband, son and daughter” Nadia said after letting out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding while one of her hands reached into her pocket, taking out a photo of her and the rest of her family to show William.

“You think they’re still out there?”

She shrugged, putting the photo back in her pocket “I’m not sure. I hope they are.”

“Do you love them all?” was what he asked, causing more confusion for Nadia.

“Of course. Why?"

“Because if you love them, then you’d feel when they’re no longer with us, no matter the distance. It can’t be explained but if they died somehow, you’d know down in your heart so if you still hope that they are out there, that means they are out there. It’s why i’m heading out with Anthony and Logan soon, going to look for our missing family.”

Nadia wasn’t sure how to reply to what she was just told. It sounded like something out of a fiction story but for some reason she felt like he was right. She decided to leave it there though when her mind caught up processing on what he had just said.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, meaning to sound calm but her voice came out alarmed which caused a bit of a smirk to cross his lips as he reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

“You’ll be fine. You got my hotel, plenty of supplies.”

“Yes but you are one of our best soldiers if not our best” this statement brought a brief pause to Nadia’s thought process “wait, why aren’t you on the mission with everyone else?”

This question caused a sigh to escape from William as he rubbed his eyes “he believes it’s in my health’s best interests not to go, to take a little break.”

“So he gave you the go ahead to go out on this mission instead?”

“No but he doesn’t have much of a say. The mission to rescue the President he can stop me from going on due to it being an actual military operation whereas the trip i'm going on isn’t so unless if he has me shot for desertion, he has no say in it.”

This caused Nadia to raise her eyebrow as she looked at him questionably “you know for a soldier, your honor is very questionable. No offense” she added which caused William to chuckle.

“I never did follow the rules” William told her so casually with a smile before he gave her a respectful nod after he saw Logan down the end of the corridor waiting for him “we’ll be in radio contact and a few hour’s drive in an emergency. Good luck to you doc.”

That was the last thing the two of them said to each other before William made his way back down the corridor, meeting with Logan on the way and making his exit from the area, leaving Nadia to silently look over the photos as she thought about what he had said to her about missing family. ---  20th August 2049  - 14:10 - Hayes Hotel, America

“You are aware I do not approve of this?” Edward asked as he stood to the side and watched as Anthony loaded the last of the trip’s necessities into the back of William’s truck before Anthony turned to look at him with a soft smile.

“I’m aware. You know us though General, we need to find our family and the longer we wait, the less likely we are to find them. Same goes for everyone else’s missing relatives.”

Edward sighed. Anthony wasn’t wrong but he didn’t like the idea of sending anyone out on search parties like this when they were still so little prepared.

“Anyway, we’re not going to be far. We’ll be within a few hours if we’re needed.”

“And if that is still too long? I know family is important but the three of you are useful here.”

Anthony offered a soft chuckle as he crossed the short distance between the two of them before raising his hand to pat the General on the shoulder “we see where you’re coming from General but you can't convince any of us. Us Hayes family members stick out for family and I have a wife and daughter out there to find.”

It was then that Edward decided Anthony was right again, there was no use in arguing for the three of them to remain at the hotel so he sighed and gave an accepting nod “I know Anthony. I do hope that you all find your family, nothing i’d rather see that for that to happen. I just worry as we aren’t fully aware of what is going on out there.”

“I understand. You haven’t got anything to worry about though General, you’re talking about the Hayes family here” Anthony said, flashing the General a grin before he saw William and Logan finally coming to arrive out of the corner of his eye and turned to address them “about time Will, thought we’d never leave.”

William just gave him a hand signal of brushing this teasing off that caused Anthony to smirk as he watched his long time friend move towards the driver’s seat of the truck while Logan came to stand by Edward with a similar smirk on his face “Come to see us off General?”

“Don’t have much of a choice” was Edward’s reply as he gave the big man a light smile, earning a chuckle from Anthony and Logan as the two men moved to get into the truck, Logan climbing onto the bed of the truck but before William could enter into the driver’s seat, Edward caught his attention by calling out to him “you be careful out there Will. I know you want to find your family but if things get too bad, you return here. Understood?”

“I’m always careful” was the reply William gave, sending a wink to the General as he dodged his acknowledgement of the order he had been given before entering into his truck, quickly getting it started up as Edward let out another sigh and moved towards the gate, getting it open in order to allow the three friends to exit from the hotel’s grounds and drive down the road, leaving Edward standing there alone and silently watching them disappear down the road.

That was until a certain reporter came to be standing by his side and broke the silence by speaking “so where are they off to?”

“Sadly Ms. Morales, military business is classified.”

She chuckled at that “I’m an expert reporter General, I can tell that they aren’t going on a military operation, not when all the other soldiers went off not too long ago which by the way must be really important, us civilians are going to start getting curious as to where our protection has gone.”

“You mean you haven’t got curious already?” he asked in a light tone, not mad at Nancy for doing her job as a reporter but also not really happy about it, he had been hoping that she wouldn’t act like this though. He didn’t like keeping secrets from civilians but he believed it would be best to only tell them about missions after they are over.

Fortunately Nancy seemed to pick up on this and offered him a light smile, the hand in her pocket switching off her voice recorder before giving him a nod “I’ll let this be, for now. Civilians will want answers though” she told him before turning as if making her leave, only for her to stop and turn back to look at him, biting onto the bottom of her lip as if she was nervous, as if she wanted to say something but was debating how to phrase it.

“Whatever you want to ask, you can just ask. I don’t like to beat around the bush Ms. Morales.”

She sighed and nodded “look I don’t know what your overall plan is but it doesn’t take a genius to take note of how few soldiers you have and I’ve been listening into conversations between us ordinary civilians, some of us want to take up arms and fight with the soldiers.”

“Out of the question, a lot of you don’t have any type of training.”

“Then train us. There’s no harm in making sure we are prepared to fight, whether we will ever need to or not. A lot of us are scared right now sure but give us weapons training, let us know how we can help and we’re all going to be in a better situation both mentally and physically. If you keep over protecting us like this, we’re never going to come out of our shell if needed.”

Edward wasn’t too sure how to reply to this, he stood there thinking it over quietly and this gave Nancy the message so she once again turned to make her exit, only this time actually leaving him to be alone.

He didn’t like it but Nancy was right. The civilians would need to learn to fight, what if all the soldiers he sent out to rescue the President never came back? What if they all died?

He needed to at least give them the opportunity to train. ---  20th August 2049  - 14:20 - Charleston Military Base, America

Dannisha could practically hear her heartbeat as if her ear was pressed right up against it, even with the sounds of their multiple humvees driving down the road.

She was nervous. She had been in charge of military operations before but this was mission was different. Currently she was in charge of an operation to rescue the President against unknown odds.

A lot of pressure was currently riding on her shoulders.

“So what’s the game plan when we reach our destination? If we have one?” Daniel asked as he leaned forward from the back seat, interrupting Dannisha’s nervous thoughts which she was thankful for before giving her response.

“It's exactly what the General said. We try to get as close as we can to the fighting zone in order to see what we’re up against, then we adapt our battle strategies to what we find.”

“And what if we’re too late in arriving?” Ashley asked from beside Daniel, making the nervous thoughts return to Dannisha’s head just as she saw the sign on the road that made them aware that they were coming close to the military base, making her sigh as she gestured to the side of the road.

“Pull over now Guzzy. We keep on driving any further than this and we’ll be spotted” was the command Dannisha gave, earning a nod from Guzman who quickly came to pull their humvee to a stop at the side of the road, all of the humvees behind them also joining them in their full stop.

The moment all of the humvees were pulled over, the true tension began as each and every soldier got out of their vehicles, keeping their rifles close to their chests as Dannisha raised her finger to her lips, silently telling everyone to remain quiet from now on until she said otherwise before then gesturing for them to move into the woods, everyone quickly spreading out between the trees as they moved to the destination they all knew.

The first thing that Dannisha was able to note was also the worst thing depending on how you looked at their situation. There was no Alien ship, if there was not only would they have seen it already but they would have likely heard it. She didn’t bother noting that there was no sounds of combat, the Alien weaponry didn’t sound all too loud, even when you were close to it.

“Get down” Butterfield suddenly said in a quiet but alarmed voice, causing everyone to drop down to the ground as quickly as a person could blink just as they watched two Aliens walking past them as if on patrol. Fortunately they didn’t seem to notice any of them and instead just continued their conversation.

“How much longer do you think the Humans can last?” one asked to the other as they seemed to be patrolling around the area, Dannisha tilting her head and listening in carefully along with everyone else that was close enough to hear them.

“If they know what’s good for them, not much longer. If this takes just a few more hours, the Lieutenant is going to request a bombing.”

“A bombing? I thought we wanted the President alive so we don’t risk things like that?”

“No Human is worth this amount of us dying to get them.”

Good, a lot of them are dying was the happy thought that crossed through Dannisha’s mind before she saw out of the corner of her eye as Charlie came to be crouching next to her and whispered “so what Will was saying is true. They do speak our language.”

“They do indeed. Doesn’t matter much though, we have to end this before they call in a bombing” was Dannisha’s reply before she reached to the ground and picked up one of the small stones, using it to gain Daniel’s attention by hitting him in the shoulder with it before giving him the “slitting the throat” gesture and pointing to the Aliens.

“So we’re going all out fighting?” Charlie asked, Dannisha being able to hear the slight fear in his voice as she watched Daniel and Guzman making their way over to the two Alien patrollers and killing them quickly through a stab to the back of the head with their knives.

“No, first we go through these woods, quick and silent and get rid of any and all Aliens patrolling, then we kick some Alien ass.”

“Yes ma’am.” ---  20th August 2049  - 14:25 - Hayes Family Home, America

“It's a wonder this rustbucket is still functional man.”

“Don’t you start. Already got everyone else on about it to me.”

“I mean it's true. You could have a number of flashy vehicles and yet you choose this old thing which you’ve had it for at least the entire thirty-two years I known you.”

“Ya’ll will never understand. This old girl has charm” William told Anthony as he was driving them down a hidden road inside of a large forest, Logan still sitting in the back, enjoying himself by lounging back and resting his eyes as he waited until they reached their destination.

“I guess I have to become an old man like yourself to understand an “old girl’s” charm” Anthony teased, a smirk appearing to his face as he went to look out his window side but then he noticed a similar smirk on William’s own face, causing confusion to go through Anthony but before he could question it, William turned the situation on him.

“I’ll make sure to tell Bella that when we find her.”

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t mean her.”

“Oh? Now you're accusing me of cheating on the love of my life?”

Anthony just sighed in defeat as William chuckled, reaching with one hand to give his shoulder a reassuring patting before he brought his hand back to join his other as he finally brought his truck to a stop, the Hayes family home in front of them.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s home” was Anthony’s comment, the mood of the three men having quickly changed while Logan got himself off the bed of the truck and carried his shotgun as he made his way over to the house, going to make sure it was indeed empty as William and Anthony sat in silence, Anthony having expected William to reply to his comment.

However William was too lost in thought to recognise what Anthony had said, having barely even noticed Logan going towards the house as he stared blankly at the area in front of him, his mind coming to project a scene that was not the present as if it was actually happening in front of him.

“‘Bout time you returned with the drinks for your Queen” Bella teased as she laid out on the front of the truck, her arms behind her tilted head as she watched her boyfriend finally come back out of their new house, carrying two drinks in his hands as he sent her a playful glare.

“I ain’t your servant” was William’s protest although his tone clearly gave way he was only teasing as well, earning the sight of Bella sticking her tongue out at him before she grabbed one of the drinks and slide over on the truck hood so William himself could take a seat on it as well.

“You will be if you plan to stick with me” Bella continued, her eyes glimmering with playfulness as she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, the kiss shared between the two only being short but also being full of a lot of love that the two wanted to express between each other until they pulled away and William chuckled.

''“Mmm, I probably should. I owe you for not being able to take you to the actual fireworks show in the city.”''

“Meh, it would’ve been nice to see them closer but if we had gone you would have been bombarded with people seeing you as their hero” Bella replied with a shrug, about to take a sip of her drink before she smirked and gave his shoulder a little nudge “hey, I wonder how many fangirls you have that want you to sign their breasts now that you’re going to be a big celebrity for saving America.”

''“Oh please, I didn’t really save America. It wasn’t like I took down the entire undead horde on my own” William said with a roll of his eyes before he did take a sip of his drink, Bella only allowing her smirk to grow as she took a sip of her own drink, the first firework going up into the sky all of a sudden gaining both their attention as it exploded.''

“Ooh, that was a pretty one” Bella observed, carefully putting her cup beside her before she laid back on the truck hood “I wonder how many fireworks they got planned to release” she mentioned just as the second and third firework was shot up into the air at the same time, showing off their beauty to anyone who was watching the skies.

''“Knowing Eddie, probably a lot. Wouldn’t be surprised if he had all these fireworks ready to celebrate before the recent week” William told her but as he turned to look at Bella he could quickly tell she wasn’t interested in that, instead she was bringing herself closer to him with a smile on her face.''

There was no need for any more words, quickly the two connected at the lips again, this time the kiss being much more heated between the two, a lot of passion suddenly rising between the pair of them as Bella rolled to get ontop of him, pinning him down beneath her and accidently knocking their drinks.

Neither cared though as they were desperate to show as much affection to the other as they could, their hands trailing along their bodies, their lips only parting when William tilted his head to kiss along her neck, leaving a trail along it as Bella started gasping his name, clearly more than ready for what William was going to give her.

“Will...Will...Will. WILL!”

It was at that moment William’s mind was separated from his memory when he came to realize it was actually Anthony that had been calling him, his hand shaking his shoulder. For a brief moment William cursed himself silently for allowing his memories to get the better of him, he should’ve been able to tell it wasn’t real.

Although it was on a truck, not a bed.

“You alright man?” Anthony asked, interrupting the light joke William gave himself in order to make him feel better about the memory, a worried expression on his face as William just put on a smile and nodded.

“Yeah i’m fine, was just thinking.”

“Must have been some really good thinking, I was trying to get your attention for a few minutes” Anthony began but he just shook his head and changed the subject “They’re clearly not here so why did Logan even go in the house?”

“‘Cause we wasn’t expecting them to be here. Logan is looking for anything that one of the others may or may not have left behind as a clue to where they actually are. That’s the deal we all had if we ever got separated.”

“Oh...I forgot.”

“Yeah, I figured” was William’s reply but he didn’t mean it in any harsh way, a light tone in his voice and the smile slightly growing on his face but just as he was going to joke further, the two men could see as Logan made his way out of the house and jogged over to them, briefly stopping at Will’s side to hand him a piece of paper before he climbed into the back of the truck.

“What’s it say?” was what Anthony asked, watching with curiosity as William started the truck up again with a big grin on his face, turning to look at Anthony as he started to back the truck back down the road they came from.

“Our destination.” ---  20th August 2049  - 14:40 - Charleston Military Base, America

Dannisha grunted as she pulled the last dead Alien scout that was in her immediate viewing area into a hiding spot, away from any wandering eyes. The Aliens were heavy and the fact that no one that was human could possibly touch their weapons in order to carry them out of view was a pain in her backside.

“All of the Alien scouts are dead and hidden” Daniel reported as he joined Dannisha, hooking a radio back onto his belt, Charlie coming up behind him while Dannisha gave a nod, thankful as Charlie quickly came to help her finish dragging the dead Alien into hiding.

“Alright, let everyone know to move in close but remain hidden at the edges of the forest, lets see what we’re working with” Dannisha said, Daniel nodding before he unhooked his radio, beginning to relay his message as Dannisha made her way over to the forest edge before Charlie wound up interrupting them both.

“Uhh, what’s up with that blinking thing?” Charlie asked, gaining both his superior’s attention as he pointed to a small device that was at the top of the dead Alien’s chest, currently blinking as all three of them gathered around to look at it.

“I hope it ain’t something about to blow up in our faces” was the statement that first came out of Daniel’s mouth, his voice more aggravated than worried at his thinking process while Dannisha just shook her head as she gave her answer.

“I doubt it. I haven’t a clue what it i-CHARLIE NO” Dannisha interrupted herself as she reached forward to try and stop Charlie, seconds too late as Charlie’s finger pressed on the blinking device and an Alien voice soon joined the conversation.

“About time you responded. What is going on, why did you take so long to reply to your superior officer?”

The three humans shared worried glances with each other but Charlie, quickly deciding they couldn’t make the Alien wait too long before they got a response, decided to try and play it cool.

“Uh, everything’s under control. Situation normal. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you superior, sir.”

“What happened?”

“Uh, we ran into some wildlife sir, was making quite the mess and getting in the way of our duties so we had to take care of it.”

“I’m sending out a squad to make sure everything is fine.”

“Hah, negative, negative. We’re completely fine here sir, the wildlife has been dealt with and we were just heading back to do our duties when we noticed you were trying to get in contact with us sir.”

There was a pause on the other side of the Alien communication device and both Dannisha and Daniel were looking at Charlie as if he was going crazy, Charlie only offering a thumbs up to them until the Alien voice gave its reply.

“What is your name soldier?”

Charlie didn’t need to reply though as the three of them could see as several Alien soldiers were now charging out of the military base and heading towards the forests, Dannisha quickly taking the radio away from Daniel and yelling her orders into it “Open fire, launch the attack, now!”

The sounds of gunfire quickly filled the forest between both Humans and Aliens as the battle began, Dannisha standing up and stomping down on the Alien communication device in order to destroy it “boring conversation anyway, come on.” she told both of the men with her before she made her way to the forest edge in order to join the battle, both Daniel and Charlie quickly following after her.

“So we’re improvising?” Charlie asked as the three of them came to the edge of the forest, quickly aiming their weapons and firing at the first Aliens that were to enter their scope, all three of them quickly being able to see that more Alien soldiers had exited from the military base.

“There’s way too many to take head on like this” Dannisha pointed out, ignoring Charlie’s question, as the Alien soldiers seemed to just flood out of the military base as if they were clows exiting from a car for a circus.

“We don’t got much of a choice Danni, rifles are all we got for combat like this” Daniel told her as he continued firing, Dannisha being able to see the small grin on his face but she didn’t make any deal about it. She knew he had been eager to fight like this for a while, there was no way she could convince him to back down even if she had too.

He was right though. They had no superior firepower that would easily turn the tide in their favor before the battle went too far, instead they were stuck in a shootout across the “battlefield”. At least they had the advantage of being in the cover of the forest whereas the Aliens were out in the open.

“Danni?!” Ashley’s voice came through on the radio “we got some company coming from behind” she continued causing Dannisha, as well as Daniel and Charlie, turn just in time to watch as an entire line of Alien soldiers marched through the forest heading right for them.

“Shit, it looks like a goddamn trap!” Daniel yelled but Dannisha had no time to reply as the marching Aliens soon opened fire, the three barely having time to dodge out the way and avoid the lasers being sent in their direction.

“Ma’am, those lasers go through trees, what are we going to do?!” Charlie asked, his voice showing he was clearly terrified as he ducked his head down to the ground when multiple lasers went straight over his head. Dannisha didn’t blame him for his fear as she turned back to face the military base and could see as the Aliens there were moving towards the forest as well, they were pinned and with lasers raining down on them, they couldn’t even defend themselves.

It was at that moment that the Aliens that were marching forwards from the military base suddenly disappeared in an explosion and once the smoke had clearly, Dannisha and her two friends could see as multiple soldiers, that had been not apart of her unit, were shooting into the forests in an attempt to hold off the rest of the marching Aliens.

“Everyone, get inside, NOW” yelled one of the soldiers, someone Dannisha quickly came to recognise as a familiar face in the military command, General, and current Chief of Staff, Vernon Paxton, as he shot at the Aliens himself with the revolver in his hands.

Now wasn’t the time to think about his pistol though, instead Dannisha quickly grabbed and yanked both Daniel and Charlie in the direction of the military base as she ran for it herself, able to see a few of her own soldiers making a run for it herself. She could count a few, Butterfield, Ashley, Guzman but there wasn’t as many as they had come with.

She had no time to think about that either though as she got into the base and took cover, everyone else that was outside and alive making their way inside as well before closing the door behind them, just as the marching Alien soldiers came to arrive at the edge of the forest.

“Well soldiers” Vernon said after a few moments of everyone gaining their breaths “welcome to the battlefield.” ---  20th August 2049  - 14:40 - Hayes Hotel, America

Han couldn’t believe the amount of food this hotel had, enough for them all to still be having three meals a day. Sometimes slightly unusual meals but still meals nonetheless. Fortunately their welcoming owner had kept it stocked before shit hit the fan.

“So you’re settling in well then?” the woman who had came to his aid in finding the dining room after he got lost in the hotel, yet again, which caused him to turn his attention away from looking around the spacious room to put his attention on her as she sat opposite him.

“Better than well. The accommodations are quite amazing” he complimented before nervously shifting at his food using his fork “uhh thanks for helping me get here again by the way, miss…?” it was at that moment he had realized he didn’t even ask her name yet but she she just smiled at him.

“It’s Nina, Nina Simms and you’re Han right? I heard you were one of those two guys who helped Will get the generator, rather brave for someone without military experience.”

Han chuckled a bit nervously at that, reaching behind him with his hand to awkwardly rub the back of his head as his eyes shifted to look around the room, anywhere but the woman in front of him “it's no big deal. Didn’t even run into any trouble getting it, apparently the Aliens had decided to move out rather quickly.”

“Oh? Well don’t tell the kids that, you’ll spoil their story?”

“Their story?”

“Yeah, a few of the kids are beginning to make up stories about our brave soldiers riding off in their efforts to help the hotel grow, pretty sure some are making up stories that the hotel will one day grow into a kingdom or something.”

“Heh, I don’t think Will could handle that. I might not know him much personally but looks like he can barely put up with being a celebrity, never mind owning a kingdom.”

Nina smirked at that but just as she was opening her mouth to give a reply, something caught her attention from behind Han and when Han turned to look he could also watch and see as their resident General Edward Grey as he hung up a notice on the room’s wall before leaving, looking like he was lost in deep thought.

“I wonder what that says” Han said out loud but Nina had already risen from her seat in order to cross the room and have a look at it, coming to stand next to Jeff who had already approached it and began reading it, Han quickly coming over to join the two as well.

“It says the military are allowing open recruitments for any who wish to join” Jeff soon told them, saving the two the bother of reading through it as he finally looked up from reading the notice to address the two of them.

“Open recruitment? Didn’t think the General would allow such a thing in the present situation. Do you think it might because they are desperate to get more soldiers?” Nina asked the two men, Jeff giving a simple shrug while Han shook his head.

“I doubt it. If they were desperate, the General would get more personal, gather us in a meeting or something to explain that. I’m thinking it's more for our own benefits. Get us actually trained properly” Han reasoned which Jeff gave a nod of agreement to as he muttered “sounds about right.”

“Well either way, desperate or our benefit, i’ll sign up. I don’t want to be sitting on my ass all day either doing chores or just waiting as people are out there fighting. Either of you two going to join?” Nina stated as she turned to face the two men, both of them giving a glance to each other before they nodded, earning a grin from Nina as she turned back to the notice and pointed a single finger at it.

“Awesome. It says we should attend a meeting in the military office at 18:00. See you boys there.” ---  20th August 2049  - 14:45 - Charleston Military Base, America

Dannisha couldn’t help but be taken aback by the presence in the base. Sure she should’ve just assumed they would have a good fighting force by the fact they were protecting the president but the fact they were trapped in one area and were under near constant attacks from the Aliens had given Dannisha the impression they were in a worse spot.

“We have fewer soldiers than we’d like. A total of sixty-nine of us” Vernon told Dannisha as he led her down the corridor, Dannisha able to see as they walked past rooms both her soldiers and the base’s soldiers mixing together in order to be prepared for the next Alien attack “we had been forced into a single room by the Aliens and if you’d had come any later, we’d probably be dead but you came at the right time and forced them to exit out into the open. Guess we’re even then huh?”

Dannisha gave him a nod, her mind a bit too focused on her surroundings as well as recovering from nearly losing the entire mission not too long ago. Vernon could see this through her eyes so he sent a respecting nod her way before gesturing to a nearby door “once you have gathered yourself, meet me in that room. I’ll fill you in on the plan then.”

Dannisha gave a second silent nod, however just as Vernon was taking his leave from their interaction, she caught his attention again “Uhh, I have to ask this...is the president still in good health?” she asked nervously, praying for the answer she wanted and with the smile she gave him, she was instantly relieved.

“She is alive and active. She’ll want to see you when you’re ready.”

“Oh? Then I really shouldn’t keep her wa-”

“No. She will wait. Get your head cleared, have a drink, sort out your soldiers. The plan can continue without your immediate presence” Vernon told her, resulting in the two sharing another nod before they parted ways, Dannisha taking a few breaths before she walked down the corridor in order to find her soldiers.

“This was practically suicide. Why did we even think this was a good idea?!” Dannisha could hear from Ashley somewhere in the upcoming rooms.

“We need to stay calm Ash.” came from Butterfield next.

“Stay calm?! Jon, did you not see how close those lasers were to our heads? We are NOT prepared for this.”

“Jon is right. We’re here now, to get out of here we must remain calm” Guzman told Ashley just as Dannisha walked around the corner to find the three as well as the ten others, ten of them present, clustered around together although she came to note that both Daniel and Charlie were missing despite knowing the two made it into the base with them.

“Ma’am!” Ashley said once she noticed Dannisha’s presence, trying to hide her previous fear beneath professionalism as she gave a salute but Dannisha just smiled and gently took Ashley’s hand in order to lower it.

“It’s fine Ash, I understand. I’m scared too” Dannisha admitted, gaining looks from all the other soldiers present in the room “we’ve been forced against heavy opposition sooner than we expected. However we do have a duty to protect the President which we will succeed in doing, understood?”

“Yes Ma’am!” was the chorus of replies Dannisha received from her soldiers which earned them Dannisha’s nod of approval. However before she could continue to inspire them, an easily recognisable voice called out to them, causing them all to turn and look as the President herself stepped into view.

“Sorry to interrupt but are you the one in charge here?” Madam President Jeanne Winters asked as she held out her hand, Dannisha nervously accepting and shaking it as she gave a nod.

“Yes Ma’am. Lieutenant Colonel Dannisha Sinclair at your service!” was Dannisha’s reply causing a light smile to appear on the president’s lips.

“No need to be professional Dannisha, we’re all in this together. Can you follow me?” Jeanne asked which Dannisha gave a nod in response to, turning to give her soldiers a wave to acknowledge they can return back to relaxing before she followed the President out of the room, leaving all her soldiers to their own.

“So where are you leading me Madam President?”

“I’m bringing you to meet the man who’s going to get us out of this mess.”

That brought a relieved smile to Dannisha’s face as the two of them walked down the corridor towards where Vernon had told Dannisha to meet them when they were ready. However in another corridor not too far away from the one they were walking down, things weren’t so happy.

“Do you realize how badly you fucked up?!” Daniel asked as he roughly slammed Charlie against the wall, his hands gripping onto the rookie soldier’s jacket as he glared into his eyes “next time we’re in a situation like that, you let your superior officers do it!”

“But if I hadn’t done it, we would’ve wound up in the same situation” Charlie protested, looking at Daniel fearfully but Daniel just ignored this as he slammed Charlie against the wall a second time, this time causing pain to go through Charlie’s back.

“NEXT TIME you stand aside and let the superiors do it unless if you plan to be apart of the casualties for your stupid decision. Understood?”

Charlie remained silent for a moment, fear in his eyes so Daniel slammed Charlie against the wall a third and final time in order to get a “y-yes sir!” from Charlie before he let him go and walked away from the scene, leaving Charlie to slowly slide down the wall and into a sitting position on the floor.

Daniel had no regrets, the kid needed to learn and if he had to be the one to teach him, so be it. 20th August 2049 - 14:50 - Hayes Hotel, America

“You know i’m starting to think we should’ve left earlier” Kyle admitted to his companions, Nico and Zoey, as they made their way out of the forest clearing and came to reach the outskirts of Charleston city.

“What, you becoming a pussy Kylie?” Zoey teased, turning to walk backwards so she could face him and send a smirk his way.

“What? No. It’s just getting so dark we’ll soon barely be able to see the fun we’re having.”

“Sure Jan” was Zoey’s reply, rolling her eyes before she turned back around so she could walk a bit faster in order to catch up with Nico who had been walking in front of them in complete silence this entire time “so what about you Nic? What fun are you planning to have ‘cause if Kylie is going to start bitching out, we could dump him to keep it between us.”

“I’m not bitching out!”

“Sweety, the brave ones are talking” Zoey told him, again turning around with this time being to raise her finger to her lips in a motion to tell him to be quiet. However before she could properly turn around to address Nico she wound up bumping into him and once she turned around she came to realize he had stopped “what’s the matter?”

“Do you two want to alert any Aliens in the area before we’ve at least got the cover of the buildings?” Nico bluntly asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Zoey as Kyle used this as an opportunity to catch up after having lagged behind, speaking up before Zoey could.

“No?”

“Then you’d best not start arguing while we’re walking out in the open, at least wait until i’m not near you before you screw yourselves through Aliens.”

“Alright, geez mr. party pooper” Zoey replied after a few moments of pause before she nudged her way past him, continuing to make her way towards Charleston with Kyle on her tail, leaving Nico to stand there alone, silently looking over the city before him before he turned his head to look towards the sign.

In truth, he wasn’t here to have fun. That was just an excuse for him to have some backup when he escaped the hotel. Nico had come back to this city for one reason and one reason alone and once it was over and he had accomplished his goal, he could die happy.

So that’s why Nico had to get himself separated from his two companions. Nothing can get in his way. ---  20th August 2049  - 15:05 - Charleston Military Base, America

“I hope this man of yours is worth the wait. We’ve been out here for a few minutes now.”

“He’s different from people such as us. He gets quite distracted easily. All for a good cause however.”

“...he literally told us he’d let us in “in a minute” like five minutes ago.”

That caused a chuckle to escape from Jeanne as her and Dannisha stood outside the military base’s secondary garage, the two woman having been standing in front of the door for a bit longer than she expected but Emmett Bourne was generally a unpredictable person.

“I’ll give another knock if you're so impatient for our saving grace” Jeanne told her in a teasing way, surprising Dannisha since her mind hadn’t quite caught up to the fact she was talking to the President as if they were best friends, but as she moved forward to knock on the door, it suddenly opened, revealing a man to be standing there who quickly looked between the two women rather nervously.

“Uhh, sorry for keeping you waiting Madam President. I got distracted and with the pressure on me…” Emmett trailed off as he reached up to push his glasses further up his nose before standing aside “come in, come in. I’ve made some great progress” he said, watching as Jeanne entered the room before being caught off guard as Dannisha came to stand next to him and offered her hand for him to shake.

“Name’s Dannisha, nice to meet you?” Dannisha offered but she was met with silence for a few moments as Emmett nervously stared at her hand, both of his own hands deeply shoved into his coat pockets as if they were threatening to leave him.

“Emmett Bourne. Nice to meet you” he stuttered out finally, giving her a respectful nod before moving away, leaving Dannisha to stand on her own as he moved further into the garage, coming to stand in front of a tank. Another surprise for Dannisha, she was beginning to think it was her birthday with so many surprises. Although it sadly wasn’t a very good one.

“He’s not a very people-person” Jeanne whispered to her once Dannisha had come to stand next to her, Dannisha giving her a nod of acknowledgement before they turned their attention to Emmett as he had his back turned to them, fiddling with something on the side of tank that neither of them would have any idea of what it was. Dannisha decided to be the one to break the silence between the three of them.

“So what is it he is creating?”

“A shield for vehicles.”

“It’s an energy fueled solid projection that will act as a defense from the type of weaponry the Aliens have. At least in small bursts, it is very unlikely it will survive a blast from a UFO but fortunately we have no need to worry about that today” Emmett said, going into more detail about the answer the President had given but once he turned around and saw the raised eyebrows on both women’s faces, he let out a sigh “yes. It’s a shield.”

“Cool. Surprised you could rig something up so quickly” Dannisha observed as she explored the garage a bit, noting on the nearby tables that every bit of equipment that he assumed Emmett was using had been set up to be in perfect spots, put in groups of different groups. All of them were tidied up which usually wouldn’t surprise her but right now they were under attack, felt weird to make sure things were tidy in such a situation.

“We’ve been in development of it for a few years actually. Completed it a year ago, now it was just a matter of using it on objects. Originally we were planning to use it as armor for soldiers but the situation calls for vehicles” Jeanne told Dannisha, giving her a slight warning look not to touch Emmett’s equipment before she turned back to face the man himself “so the process is completed?”

Emmett didn’t answer right away, instead he just smiled, finishing up with whatever he was doing on the side of the tank before he closed the hatch and moved away “see for yourself” was his reply as he grabbed a device from one of the tables and pressed its button, nothing happening for a few moments which gave the two women doubt.

“Are you-” Dannisha didn’t get to finish her question as her doubt faded away when a blue energy pattern appeared over the entire tank, covering it completely which not only surprised both women present but also gave Vernon quite the jump as the General walked into the room, a grin soon appearing on his face as he admired the work.

“Well, well, well. Nice work smarty pants” Vernon approved to Emmett, alerting the three others to his presence while he reached to his belt, grabbing onto his revolver and pointing it towards the tank before he fired, the bullet traveling through the air and hitting the shield which quickly rejected the bullet upon contact, causing it to fall down to the ground “I had my bets you would create it successfully” he said, putting his revolver back in its holster.

“I appreciate it. Although it isn’t perfect” Emmett admitted as he clicked the button again, turning the shield off “on top of the fact the tank only has enough room for six at most, the shield can only last a certain amount of time before needing recharge and the more damage it takes, the quicker than time runs out so we can’t take it into full combat yet. However, as long as the Aliens don’t have a surprise heavy weapon up their sleave out there, it’ll guarantee six people out of this current situation.”

“Then it's good enough for now” Jeanne said as she walked towards Emmett and gently placed her hand on his shoulder “you’ve done well Emmett. Thank you” she told him, giving him a smile which Emmett gave her a nervous nod in return, Jeanne quickly getting the message and giving him back his space “get your equipment packed up Emmett. You’ll be one of the six riding in the tank and I want no arguments. We need you.”

“Y-yes ma’am” Emmett said, silently excusing himself from the other three people in the room as he went to work on packing up his equipment, Jeanne gesturing for Dannisha and Vernon to follow her as she made her way out of the room, Dannisha giving one last look to the tank before she joined the two, looking at them questionably as she asked the important question.

“So what’s our plan?”

“We fight our way out while teaching the Aliens we are not to be messed with on our way” Vernon told her, a look of determination on his face which seemed to give Dannisha a surge of enemy. For the first time since the invasion started, it feeling like they’ve got a decent fighting chance to win this war. ---  20th August 2049  - 19:15 - GeorgeTown, America

“Been awhile since I’ve been here” Anthony admitted out loud as stood in front of their destination along with William and Logan, the three men staring at the house in front of them after having managed to get through the mess of cars on the rest of the GeorgeTown street “was never really as close to the family as you were Will.”

“After her father died, Serena wasn’t much to talk too anyway, preferred being alone. Other than her daughter” Logan replied to Anthony, turning his head to keep his eyes on the street around them. He didn’t like being out in the open, he felt nervous, like they were about to get killed in a moment’s notice.

“Let’s just hope they’re okay. They clearly aren’t home” William noted, in a less defensive stance than Logan but only a idiot would think William wasn’t ready for combat at a moment's notice.

“Then what we doing here? Looking for another clue as to where they would’ve gone?” Anthony asked, earning a nod from William who then tapped Logan’s shoulder to let them know they were going in that led to the two men making their way towards the house, Anthony letting out a shaking his head and sighing “this is like a treasure hunt” before walking in with them.

“Quite a mess. They must’ve left in a hurry” Logan observed, taking a moment to look over the main room that had been left as a complete mess before he sighed “i’ll look upstairs. Let us hope they left an obvious clue.” was the final thing he said before he made his way upstairs, Anthony silently heading off to the kitchen to look in that area, leaving William alone to look in the main room.

However William wasn’t able to search far as the moment he stepped forward, he heard glass shattering under his boot, causing him to lift up his foot and see a picture, a picture of Serena Harlan and her late father, Edward Harlan. To normal people, accidently stepping on a picture wouldn’t do much but unfortunately for himself, it caused William to have another triggered memory.

''William pulled his truck to a stop outside of Edward’s home. He wasn’t sure whether or not the old man was still alive, it had been a while since he and Bella had last ran into him but after what Edward done for them, he had to find out.''

It didn’t take long for him to reach the front door which he gave a knock and then looked around at the empty street around him, still abandoned from the zombie apocalypse despite its end not too long ago.

''A while had passed and the sad thoughts that Edward had indeed not made it passed through his mind. However just as he shoved his hands into his pockets and began to walk away, the front door slowly opened to reveal a woman poking her head around the door nervously and looking at him questionably causing William to quickly decide he should start off the discussion.''

''“Uh, hey there. I’m looking for a older man named Edward?”''

She paused, looking him over cautiously before she answered “Why?”

''“I met him before, a while ago. He helped me along with some friends of mine by allowing us some of his supplies. I was hoping to return the favor” Will told her but he quickly got the feeling what he said pushed the wrong buttons for the woman as she glared at him with a harsh look.''

“So you’re the one who stole our supplies.”

''“Stole? I didn’t steal, He-”''

''“You convinced my father you were desperate and then forced him to give you our supplies” she accused him, at that point William recognising her as the woman in the picture Edward had shown him and Bella when the last time. He didn’t get a chance to defend himself however as a third voice soon joined their conversation.''

''“Is that him? I recognise that voice” came the voice of Edward Harlan as he gently pushed his daughter aside, despite her protests, while he came to face William, a large smile crossing his face “It is him! This is the kind gentleman I told you about Serena! Why haven’t you let him in?”''

''“She was just taken by surprise, not a usual thing anymore to meet your neighbors” William said, covering for a quickly grateful Serena, as he made his way over to Edward and shook hands with him, sharing the old man’s smile “it’s good to see you Edward. I’ve come bearing gifts.”''

“Gifts?” Edward asked in confusion, William’s smile growing as he nodded and gestured for the two of them to follow him, leading them around to the back of his truck where they were greeted with the sight of a lot of food and other necessities.

“This...this is a lot” was Serena’s reply as her and her father looked at what was being offered to them, Edward just being lost in thought as he looked over all of it as William held out his hand and placed it on the old man’s shoulders.

''“Your father here gave me and my friends supplies in a desperate time. Those supplies helped keep us alive and us being alive led to us helping save America so thinking of it like that, your father helped save America and now America is rewarding him for his service.”''

That brought smiles to all their faces while Serena reached up with one hand and rubbed away a tear “thank you stranger.”

“The name’s Will and it's the least I could do.”

Back to the present, William shook his head in an effort to clear his head out of the memory before he reached down to pick up the picture. However before he placed it down on a nearby table, a new thought came to his mind, a remembrance of what Serena’s daughter had said to him one day while visiting.

“That’s my favorite picture of mother and grandfather” Maggie said as she pointed to it “I’ll always make sure it never gets lost and i’ll have it with me forever!”

With this thought in mind, William carefully took the photo out of the frame and as he predicted, a note was hidden behind it, against the frame, which caused William to smile as he put the photo in his pocket and called out to his two companions “we have our next destination!” ---  20th August 2049  - 19:30 - Hayes Hotel, America

Nadia let out a sigh of relief as she lowered herself down onto her chair, leaning back in it and closing her eyes to take a moment to breath. She had been standing for the last three hours on her feet, having finally got around to doing a full inventory of her current medical equipment and medicine, said equipment and medicine littered around the room in a slight mess.

She knew she shouldn’t complain too much, she was in a much better situation that most at this current time but she couldn’t stop thinking about what William had said to her earlier before he had left. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she should be out there and looking for them, like William was looking for his wife.

Nadia let out a soft sigh and shook herself out of it for now, instead turning her attention to rising from her seat and resuming the process of putting away everything around the room, feeling like her youngest child for having left the room in such a state. At least when she was working in a hospital she had assistants to help her.

That was when the idea hit her on what she needed. An assistant to help with the burden.

“Hey doc, you in the house?” came a sudden voice that Nadia failed to recognise, causing Nadia to lift her head up from behind and watch as one of the teenagers entered into the room, one that Nadia thought she had overheard as being named Reyna.

“Yep, i’m here! What can I do for you?” Nadia asked, making a move to get up from behind her desk, only to wind up knocking over a bunch of papers she had forgotten she had put on her desk “shit” she then cursed to herself as she again bent down, this time to pick up the papers while Reyna quickly made her way over to help pick up the papers.

“I’m sorry. Did I come at a bad time?”

“No, no, not at all. I’m just clumsy is all.”

“It’s fine, I can come back at another time.”

“Nope! Just give me a second” Nadia said as she finished gathering the papers up, giving Reyna a grateful smile before moving to get up off the floor, only resulting in her smacking her head against the underside of her desk, leading to Reyna helping her get seated again before putting the papers back onto the desk as Nadia let out a sigh of defeat.

Once the mess of a desk was sorted out, Reyna perched herself on the edge of it as she offered a soft smile to the group’s doctor “having a bad day?” was the question Reyna asked, earning a nod from Nadia before the doctor leaned her head back on the chair and closed her eyes.

“I thought it would be mostly less stressful to run the medical side of things for a group like this than it was to be a head doctor in a hospital. Turns out that is not the case...I shouldn’t complain, I’ve just had a bit on my mind today.”

“What’s on your mind then?”

Nadia was about to open her lips and rant about her missing family but that was when her mind knocked some sense back into her and she realized she was about to rant at one of her patients who had came to her for something else other than watch her make a fool of herself.

Reyna seemed to pick up on this hesitation and reached forward to take Nadia’s hand “it’s alright, I can wait until you’ve vented” she tried to reason but it was too late, her duty to help her patient now came to the front of Nadia’s mind and she moved to straighten up on her seat and look her patient in the eyes.

“I’m fine, I’ll get over it in a bit. What can I do for you?”

Reyna sighed but she decided to not pursue the subject, instead she nervously shifted on her perch a bit before she revealed her problem “I have Asthma. Only a mild persistent so I won’t be too bad, only need to use my inhaler twice a week. Problem is my last one has run out.”

Nadia gave a nod and quickly stood from her seat “what one do you use?” she asked as she made her way over to a bunch of boxes in order to look through them, hearing Reyna mention blue from her perch on the desk “and when did you last use one?”

“Yesterday. I’ve had my two for this week but I thought it would be best I get my next one as soon as I could.”

Nadia nodded in agreement to that logic, hoping she was right in remembering that she had seen a few inhalers when she was previously doing inventory and as luck would have it her hand soon came to grasp around a blue inhaler which she brought back over to Reyna “have you got it all handled on your own?” Nadia asked gently, earning a nod as Nadia quickly wrote down in her journal as a note to remind herself that Reyna had mild persistent Asthma.

“So now it's your turn” Reyna said with a soft smile, earning a confused look from Nadia as she leaned back in her seat, raising her eyebrow in question.

“My turn?”

“You said you had something on your mind. It’s not good to let that build up, You should talk about it.”

“So you’re the doctor now?”

“If that’s what it takes for you to unload your stress” Reyna told her softly, Nadia trying to come up with a reason to protest for a moment, she didn’t want to unload on her patient, but couldn’t think of a reason so she wound up leaning back on her chair and sighing.

“It's not really anything special. I have a family out there, like most people do. It’s selfish I know but I can’t help it. My mind tells me I should be here, helping people but my heart wants to find them, is desperate to find them. It’s fine, it's nothing you can do to comfort me. I’ll just need to woman up and keep going.”

Although Reyna didn’t even get a chance to offer a response as the room’s door opened again, this time Victoria, Brian, Alexandra and Nathan all entered the room which caused both Nadia and Reyna to turn at them and look confused while Victoria looked directly to Reyna “hey Rey, been looking for you, have you seen the others? We’ve knocked on their rooms and been looking for them everywhere, they’re not around.”

The sudden change from confusion to worried on Reyna’s face caused equal worry to run through Nadia which soon traveled through them all when Reyna gave her answer “they told me you all got permission to leave the hotel for a while, I didn’t want to join in doing it though, sounded too risky even with the permission.”

“Fuck” Victoria cursed after letting out a sigh, quickly making her way out of the room and jogging down the corridor, leaving the rest of the teenagers to follow her while Reyna excused herself from Nadia and joined them in chasing Victoria down.

“Vicky, where are we going?!” Nathan called out to her as they jogged through the corridor, Victoria not only having a head start on them but also a lot of speed over them but they were able to keep up as she yelled an answer back to them.

“To get the General!”

“To get the General for what?” came the man himself’s voice from in front of Victoria, who was barely able to stop herself before she went crashing into the old man, a smile on Edward’s face as he looked over the group of them “I hope you youngsters aren’t planning to invite me to hide and seek, bit too old to go looking around for each of you sadly.”

“General we have an emergency” Victoria told him, causing a mix of confusion and worried to go across the old man’s face as she made him aware of the situation “Nico, Zoey and Frank have all left the hotel grounds. We need to get them back here before they run into trouble.”

“I’m sorry to hear that but I have no one to send out to look for them. All soldiers are currently on duty outside of the hotel, except for your father who wouldn’t dare ever follow my rules.”

“Then send me sir.” “Vicky, i’m not sending you out of the hotel to find and bring them back. You’re a teenager.”

“I can handle myself General. I can find them easily too, at least through the woods.”

“Vick-”

“General. I’m going.”

Edward sighed, reaching with one of his hands to rub the front of his face before nodding “fine but if you don’t return, I want you leaving your father a note to let him know I couldn’t stop you.”

Victoria smirked at that and reached up to pat his shoulder “don’t worry General, my father would already know that” she told him before turning around to face the other teenagers in her presence “so who’s up for heading out into an Alien overrun world to rescue three idiots?”

The group of teenagers with her all shared glances, really questioning whether they should do this or not but as they all looked to each other, they each came to the same conclusion. Victoria was going to do this with or without them so it would be best if she had some backup.

So they all gave nods of agreements which earned a grin from Victoria “then let's go to my room, I got some weaponry we can use for protection” she told them again before running off down the corridor again, leaving the rest of them to jog after her and Edward to stand there for a moment, wondering why he had to be the unlucky one to get mixed in with the Hayes family only to then come to a sudden realization, resulting in him calling out after them.

“What do you mean you have weaponry in your room?!” ---  20th August 2049  - 19:35 - Unnamed Location, America

The ride to their destination was being taken in silence for the most part. Although as William kept his eyes on the road ahead of them and drove, he noted that it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was thoughtful one.

The thing about their family was they knew each other deep down, they didn’t need to question how the other was feeling as they would already know, although it of course wouldn’t hurt to ask and make sure from time to time.

So as they rode in silence, William knew he had no reason to be worried. Although William did get the feeling if he allowed the silence to continue much longer, then he would have a reason, Anthony was the type who would let his feelings get to him if he was given the opportunity.

Fortunately for William, in the end it wasn’t him who had to break the silence.

“You know it still surprises me every time I think about how long we’ve all been together as a family. The ten of us together, feels like it’s only been half the time” Anthony spoke out as he stared out the passing view as they drove forward.

“Well, the cure for the zombie virus does cause us to physically age half than our actual age” William teased, a smirk on his lips while Anthony playfully rolled his eyes, turning to face away from the view outside the passenger side window.

“Ha, ha” Anthony replied, mocking his laughter of the joke, a pause of silence befalling the two of them before Anthony broke it by allowing his thoughts to turn into a question “We are going to find them all, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are Anthony” was Will’s reply, no hesitation in his voice as he reassured Anthony “no doubt in my mind we are going to find them and bring them home. Then we’re going to kick the Aliens off our world and go back to living old people lives.”

That earned a chuckle from Anthony who gave a thankful nod and returned to stare out his side’s window, leaving William to return to his thoughts as he stared out at the road before him. Again, however, his eyes were not on what was in front of him. Instead they were focused on the past, a memory of their family coming together close to the end of the apocalypse.

''William walked through the Charleston safe-zone, politely nodding and waving to residents who had sent such greetings his way. Everyone in the safe-zone was in high spirits. The end of the apocalypse was close and once it was over, they would’ve survived. Humanity would’ve survived.''

''That wasn’t the next thing William was going to do however. First he was attending a gathering with his family, the people he had come to care about and hold close to his heart. Although just as he reached the house where their gathering was being held, Anthony came jogging up behind him and stopped him from entering the house, causing him to raise a questionable eyebrow “what’s up Ant?”''

“I got a question for you, a really important one” Anthony said, looking expectedly at William as the man himself waited for Anthony to elaborate, only to realize Anthony was waiting for him causing him to sigh and gesture with his hand.

''“Well go on then, ask me” William told him and immediately Anthony reached into his pockets to grab something, a small box, which William soon came to discover held a ring, earning a chuckle from William as he gave a playful grin “maybe don’t ask me. I’m going to have to break your heart and say no, since Bella has already taken me.”''

''“You know I didn’t mean that” Anthony told him, obviously too nervous to take note of William’s statement being a joke as he held the ring box up for William to get a close look “do you think this would be good for Annie? I know we haven’t been dating too long but I really feel like we have a connection.”''

“I’m sure she’s going to love it Ant and i’m confident she feels the same way.”

“...do you have any advice?”

''William thought about that question for a moment before he sent a smile Anthony’s way and reached to give his shoulder a tap “ask her privately. Make sure she’s comfortable and tell her exactly how you feel. Don’t act like something you aren’t when asking.”''

Anthony nodded to that before he suddenly had to quickly hide the ring, as well as the box it was in, back in his pocket as he noticed Annie was making her way across the street and towards them, excusing himself from William before he went over to greet her, leaving William to smile out of happy confidence for his best friend before he turned again to enter the house.

It didn’t take long for William to find anyone else once he had entered the house, Maria and Jamie were both in the living room, sat with crossed legs as they played one of the video games on the xbox one, or perhaps the ps4, he didn’t much care about them to learn the difference, while Logan and Emily seemed to be having a drinking game between each other.

''As for Bella, she soon appeared by coming down the stairs with a smile on her face, greeting him by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the lips. William knew he was lucky to have what he had. A family to live for, perhaps not through blood but through experience, friendships and loyalty.''

''He swore then and there that nothing would get in the way of that. No matter how big of a threat or how determined whatever it was. Nothing would come to harm his new family.''

“Look’s like we’re here” Anthony pointed out, freeing William from his memory as he came to the realization that they were all lucky he had somehow managed to keep driving despite his mind being clouded with the memory in progress. Of course he wasn’t about to say that out loud and instead he gave a nod, turning to send a smile Anthony’s way as he pulled his truck to a stop.

The wooden sign saying “Henderson Farm” in front of his truck as the farm’s buildings sat on the field not too far away. Neither the sign nor the buildings had been what grabbed the three men’s attentions however. Instead it was the presence of a few vehicles, showing that at least someone must be home.

“You were right Will. There was no doubt we would find them” Anthony said with an excited look on his face before he exited from the truck and quickly made his way towards the buildings, William sitting back on his driver’s seat and watching him for a moment as Logan also exited from the truck, however he came to stand by the side of William’s open window.

“You’ve been thinking this entire journey Will, what’s on your mind?” Logan asked, breaking the silence in the air and causing William to look up at him before sighing and looking back towards the farm’s buildings, Anthony getting closer and closer as he ran to reunite with his wife and daughter.

“I’m just thinking about what we’re going to do. We’ve already gone through a apocalypse. Now we’re going through an invasion and this time with our kids. I thought fighting Zombies would be enough after retirement, now we’re fighting Aliens.”

“You don’t think we’re all going to survive.”

“Do you?”

Logan paused, his eyes on the farm as well as the two men could see Anthony reach the farmhouse which caused William to get a grip of himself and finally exit from his truck, making sure it was locked before he made his way over to the farmhouse himself, Logan walking alongside as he came to give his answer “no but i’m not going to allow anyone to die before I do.”

“That’s funny. I had the same thinking process.”

“Don’t be stupid Will” Logan stated suddenly, grabbing onto William’s arm in order to hold him in place which caused confusion to run through William as the two men stared at each other “this family needs you. You brought us together and you keep us together. I’m not saying we can’t survive without you but you’re too important to lose. You’re William Hayes. A hero whether you like it or not, i’m not letting you go first.”

“Then I guess it’s a game to see which one goes first, huh?” William joked, no longer wanting to keep the subject going as he turned away from him in order to continue walking towards the farmhouse. However as both men turned they came to see a scene that they had missed.

Currently Anthony was receiving a hug from Emily which instantly put worry through the pair of them but the sight of something else was what William was mostly focused on. The sight of one woman running towards him with every bit of energy on her face. A woman with a large smile on her face and a certain sparkle in her eyes that lifted his spirits as hair blew in the wind.

The love of his life, Bella.

Before he could even think about the situation, William surged forward to meet her, wrapping both of his arms around her and lifting her up into the air as they immediately locked into a passionate kiss. Love taking over them as they had finally come to hold each other yet again, the scene making Logan grin as he patted William on the back while going past to catch up to Anthony at the farmhouse.

It felt like an entire lifetime had passed throughout the single moment they each other but eventually it had to end and William allowed Bella’s feet to touch the ground but their arms remained locked around each other as their eyes remained locked “so where have you been?” she asked with the smile gracing her lips growing even larger.

“Oh, you know, figuring out the plan of how i’m going to be the big hero saving the country again.”

“I’m not surprised.”

They both shared a laugh, everything wrong going on in the world suddenly feeling less weighty as the two of them now had each other again. Although their moment would soon be interrupted as the voice of Emily yelling “about time you got here” as she invaded the two’s personal space in order to receive a hug from William herself with Jamie not too far behind to share a fist bump with William as his hugs were already occupied.

“Gotta agree with mom on this one Will, took you a while, even for an old man” Jamie teased, earning a playful growl from William who reached to ruffle up the younger soldier’s hair which got a chuckle out of Jamie who then thumbed over to the farmhouse “Maggie’s in the house, sleeping so we decided not to-”

“Neither Annie or my daughter are here Will!” Anthony suddenly yelled, William having had failed to notice that Logan had been offering comfort to Anthony in the background until now “neither is Maria! Fuck Will, we have no clue where she is” he continued ranting on, everyone sharing worried glances while Logan went to take a hold of Anthony’s shoulder.

“You need to calm down a bit mate, we’re going to-” Logan tried to start but Anthony just shrugged him off his shoulder and crossed the short distance to William’s truck, yelling out in anger as he began to repeatedly kick the side of the truck, the rest of their group going to move forward to stop him but William held out one of his arms in their way to stop them.

“WHAT. ARE. WE. GOING. TO. DO!” Anthony yelled in between kicks until he gave one final kick and then fell to the ground, leaning against the truck and placing his head in his hands “I just need to find them. This ain’t like the apocalypse, okay? We have Aliens on the planet, killing us all...I just...I need to find them.”

“And WE will” William told him, causing Anthony to look up from his hands and see William standing in front of him, a hand offered which, after a moment, Anthony took and used to help get stood back up again “we’re going to find them, brother” William assured him before embracing his brother through loyalty, knowing his words wouldn’t matter if they, in the end, didn’t find their missing family.

However that didn’t matter. He knew they were going to find them. Family was all that mattered.

“Let’s get settled into the farmhouse. Discuss what we’re going to do” Bella reasoned, earning nods from the rest of them before they started making their way back over to the farmhouse, William and Logan serving as support for Anthony as his foot recovered from the bruising it received from kicking William’s truck.

“You know I think i’m going to stop insulting your truck man, my foot hurts like hell” Anthony joked in order to break their silence, chuckles coming out from all of them.

Significant Events Summary

 * Madam President Jeanne Winters and Chief of Staff General Vernon Paxton hold off against Alien forces while Emmett Bourne creates an energy fueled solid projection, aka a shield for a tank.

Cast
Main Cast Guest Cast
 * Ryan Robbins as William Hayes
 * Emilia Clarke as Victoria Hayes
 * Genesis Rodriguez as Bella Hayes
 * Danai Gurira as Dannisha Sinclair
 * Devon Bostick as Brian Henderson
 * Eliza Taylor as Alexandra Ryder
 * John Boyega as Nathan Sinclair
 * Moon Bloodgood as Nadia Dominguez
 * Lauren Cohan as Nancy Morales
 * Luke Neal as Daniel Pratt
 * Dallas Roberts as Emmett Bourne
 * Lindsey Morgan as Reyna Bullard
 * Dale Dye as Edward Grey
 * Doug Jones as Alien Lieutenant 1
 * Unknown as Alien Patroller 1
 * Unknown as Alien Patroller 2
 * Dick Van Dyke as Edward Harlan

Recurring Characters
 * Sean Murray as Charlie Jenkins
 * Peter Shinkoda as Jeff
 * Steven Yeun as Han Seong
 * Jessy Schram as Maggie Harlan
 * Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Anthony Alexander
 * Brad Kelly as Logan Goodman
 * Olivia Munn as Jeanne Winters
 * Stephen Lang as Vernon Paxton
 * Connor Jessup as Jamie Henderson
 * Richard Harmon as Nico
 * Allison Miller as Zoey Bailey
 * Frank Dillane as Kyle Hawkins
 * Jeananne Goossen as Nina Simms
 * Amber Heard as Emily Henderson
 * Rashida Jones as Annie Alexander
 * Rachel Bilson as Serena Harlan
 * Megan Danso as Ashley Porter
 * Jon Johnson as Jon Butterfield
 * Matt Scully as Guzman

Deaths

 * Some Unnamed Members Of The Hayes Hotel Refugees Group
 * Some Unnamed Members of The President's Military (Offscreen)
 * Some Unnamed Aliens (Both Onscreen And Offscreen)

Trivia

 * The "episode representing image" for this episode would be William and Nadia looking over the wall dedicated to missing family and friends of the current hotel residents.
 * The title of this episode being "Our Missing Family" and the next episode being titled "All That Matters" is a represent the known saying "Family Is All That Matters".
 * The saying being separated into two titles is due to both episodes in a way acting as two parts together due to their main storyline elements crossing between the two episodes rather than in a single episode.
 * In the original plot of the episode, there was a few differences.
 * Nadia was to go with Dannisha and the soldiers in order to rescue the President but this was scrapped in favor of the scene between William and Nadia about missing family as well as it came across as an idiotic idea for Edward to send the hotel's only doctor on such a big mission.
 * Nico, Zoey and Kyle were supposed to leave the hotel in one of the first scenes and the plot for the next episode that is related to their exit was going to happen in this episode while William, Anthony and Logan were supposed to be spending the next two episodes searching for their missing family but it was later decided to be changed to the current plot in order to not have too many plots going on at once.
 * Vernon Paxton was originally going to wield an Alien revolver he claimed from a deceased Alien but this had to be scrapped due to the fact it had been previously shown Humans cannot wield Alien weaponry.
 * Dannisha's group as well as the President's group were originally going to make their escape from the military base in this episode but it was later changed to be featured in the next episode due this episode already being long enough.