"I can hear you, you know." "Yeah, yeah." "You scrape your heels when you walk." "My mom said the same thing." " She was right." " I doubt she was giving pointers on how to survive an alien invasion." " Maybe not." "But as your partner, I'm asking..." "Pick up my feet." " At least when we're on patrol." " Yes, ma'am." " How'd you know I was here, anyway?" " You weren't in your tent and this is where you've been coming almost every morning." "What?" " You spying on me or something?" " Not exactly spying." "I'm just..." " Spying." " No." " I'm keeping an eye on my partner." " Whatever you say, Hal Mason." "Ha, ha." "Whatever you say." "What's up?" "So Weaver wants us to scout pharmacies and hospitals." " Dr. Glass is low on supplies." " Good." "Been in Richmond for a week." "I'm going stir-crazy here." "Could use a..." "They're coming!" " Matt, what's going on?" " Don't know." " Orders?" " Take the rest of the Berserkers." "Get on a flank position." "I'll come find you after I talk to Weaver." " Slow down." " Sorry, Dad." "No, no." "It's okay." "Just stay close to me." "Captain?" "Sentries spotted mech fire one klick out." "More than that, we don't know." " Headed our way?" " We don't wanna get caught with our pants down." "All units on advanced defensive perimeter." "Get your Berserkers up on point." "Recon the situation." " Okay." "Question." " Make it quick." "Somebody's getting hit hard." "If that's another resistance group, we should send a unit to assist." "We'd want them to do the same for us." "Take your Berserkers." "I'll go with Hal." "We'll flank the area, suss it out." "But we're not doing anything to jeopardize the 2nd Mass." " Okay." "Understood." " You move out in 10." " Okay." "Hey, where's Ben?" " Thought he was with you." " Matt, you up to guarding the med bus?" " Yeah." "Stand your post." "Keep Dr. Glass safe." " Lf Ben shows up, tell him I said to stay put." " Yes, sir." "Dad." "What the hell happened here?" "These some messed-up aliens." "What do you think?" "Hit-and-run attack?" " We ever do one this good?" " Nope." "Not really." "No skitters, no resistance." "It's like a ghost town out here." "Let's investigate this mess." "Check for humans." "See if there's anything we can salvage." "These are all mech hits." "There's no shell casings anywhere." "No humans involved in this at all, looks like." "So these bastards are shooting each other now?" "That would be different." "Ben?" "Ben." "Dad!" "Over here!" "Dad, get him off." "Get him off." "Get him off." "Okay." " Rick." " It's Rick." " What the hell's he doing here?" " It's Rick." "I removed a huge chunk of shrapnel from his shoulder." "He bled a lot, but he's stable." "Thought we'd seen the last of him." "As soon as he's awake, give me a call." "So you can do what, interrogate him?" "Affirmative, Dr. Glass." "Rick took everything he knew about us and gave it to the enemy." "We can't have that happen again." "He didn't do anything." "They kidnapped him, put a harness on his back that made him do things he would never do otherwise." "They did it, not him." "Point taken." " Just please keep me posted." " Of course." " Are you okay, captain?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "It's nothing." " Can you sit down over here?" " I told you, I'm..." "Sit down." "Please." "Lourdes, the kit." "Looks like those antibiotics you gave me are losing the battle." "We can give you some topical relief at least." " You are one tough lady." " Please." "Three-year-olds used to throw up on my head." "This is nothing." "So that's right about there, right?" " Hey." "Ben show up?" " No." "Checked all the back roads." "I don't know where else to look for him." "You gotta tell him what you told me earlier, Hal." " Tell me what?" " Tell him." " Tell me what?" " Last week, at the place the harnessing facility..." " Yeah?" "...Ben's spikes lit up." "Lit up?" "What you do mean "lit up"?" "They were glowing like Rick's when we found him." "It was like he was making contact with one of those skitter harnesses." " You didn't you tell me?" " He begged me not to." "He felt like everybody was gonna go crazy and so I promised him." "L..." "All right." "Has it happened before?" "I think so, but he wouldn't tell me anything else." " I should have told..." " Yeah, you should have." "Get your unit." "I'll get the Berserkers." "We'll make one more sweep." "Weaver's orders were to scout pharmacies and hospitals." "Dr. Glass is low on supplies." "Okay, then I'll trade you Tector and Crazy Lee for Dai." "He's a better tracker." " Sure." " Eyes peeled for signs of your brother." "All right." "Dad." "Dad." "Rick, he's awake, and he's really freaked out." "Captain Weaver wants you to meet him at the med bus." "You hear me?" "Rick?" "I tried to question him." "All I get is this." "He woke up disoriented and panicked." "He needs rest." "We don't have time for rest." " Is Ben with you?" " No." "No, he's not." "He's in danger." "We're all in danger." "How, son?" " Was he with you?" " Yeah." "And he's hurt, hurt real bad." " Where is he?" " I don't know." "I can find him." "What do you think?" "Is he well enough to move?" " I suppose." "But..." " Hold up." "Wait, wait." "We do not know enough to follow this boy wherever he says to go." "He could lead us directly into a trap." "If my son's at risk, it's a chance I'm willing to take." "Alone, if I have to." " Go." " Okay." "All right." "What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" "Don't know." "Maybe that." "Rick's spikes are glowing." "He's near." " Ben?" " Yes." "Ben's near too." "What do you mean?" "Ben's with somebody else?" "This way." "Here." "Ben?" "It's Dad." "Are you hurt?" " Dad." "Just go away." " Ben." "It's me, Rick." "I brought them here." " Why would you do that?" " Because he needs their help." "Otherwise he'll die and everything that he worked for will be lost." "Okay?" "I'm not gonna let you hurt him." "Hurt who, Ben?" " No." "That's not possible." " No!" "No!" " Lower your weapon, professor." " I know this skitter." "He was on the ship." "He tried to kill me." "I saved you, professor." "I saved you from death." "You know this to be true." "We must talk." "It is urgent you understand." " So put down your weapon." " Dad, if we don't help him, he's dead." " He's dead." " I know it is difficult to understand but we are fighting the same enemy." "Anger, hate, these I feel too." "But until we defeat the overlords we cannot hope to..." " Stop!" "Stop talking!" "Many lives have been sacrificed, Tom Mason." "Many more will..." "No." " Move out of the way, son." " Dad!" "Dai, get Rick." "Take him out of here." "It's time to send this cockroach back to the hell it came from." "No argument here, captain, sir." " Please." " Wait, wait." "No, no, no." " Wait, wait, wait." " Ho!" "What?" " We need him as a prisoner." " No way." "The only good skitter is a dead skitter." "It was there when I was interrogated." "They trusted it." "It might know something." "It might know everything." "I think the military in Charleston would be interested to know what we can get out of it." "And if it doesn't talk?" "Then it's of no use to us." "We dispatch it to hell, just the way you said." "Step back." " Any luck?" " Just a couple bags of cotton balls." "Bottle of dextro-metho-something." "Should probably take that from her before she drinks it." "That's two hospitals down, one to go." "Isn't looking good." "Cover, cover." "Get down." "Here." "Go, go, go." " Get down." " What?" "Get..." "Stay calm." " Stay calm." " I'm calm." " You calm?" " Very calm." " I've never been so calm." " Yeah, me neither." "If you ask me, we ought to throw that shrimp on the barbie." " Ooh, maybe a little beer batter." " Yeah." "Stand clear." "This isn't a town hall meeting." "Back to your posts, people." "Anne, he needs your help." "Please." "I don't have enough supplies for us." "Why would I help?" " He's different." "Please." " Why would you?" " You need to trust me." " I wish I could." " Why won't anyone listen to me?" " Ben." "Anne, we just gotta keep it alive long enough to question it." " All right." "I'll try." "Lyle, Boon, keep an eye on Rick." "Don't let him out of your sight." "Find me when the skitter starts talking." " Got it, boss." " Ben, I want to talk to you." "Let's get this thing out of here." " You need to help me here, Ben." " I'm trying to explain." "By telling some crazy story about a skitter rebellion?" " Yes." "And he is their leader." " How long have you been in communication?" "Since Jimmy died." " Your spikes glowing?" "How long?" " Who told you that?" "Hal told me..." "It doesn't matter who told me." "How long?" " Around the same time." " Why wouldn't you tell me?" " I didn't want you to see me as the enemy." " The enemy?" "Never the enemy." " Damaged, then broken." " I would have tried to help you." " Help me now!" " How?" "Just believe me!" "All right." "Sit." "A skitter rebellion." "How is that even possible?" "We know they were harnessed too." "Yes, but some of them have been able to resist the harness." "They've been trying to overthrow their overlords for 100 years." "They've been fighting, resisting." "They failed every time." "But they have a chance with us." " That one tortured me and others." " He had to so they wouldn't question his loyalty, so he could gain access to their plans and most importantly, so he could find others like him." "That doesn't add up." "History is full of excuses like "I was only following orders."" "There's no excuse for murdering innocent people." "He didn't kill you." "You're alive." " He saved your life." " Why?" "Why would he?" "Because he believes the human race and our resistance movement is the best chance they have, that the only way to form an alliance is through people like me and people like you and countless others around the world." "This is it." " So damn bony." " I'll bring you a pillow next time." "You know, my first car was a Civic." "It had 212,000 miles on it." "Nobody understood why I wanted it but I had just started dating this girl, Rita." "There weren't many places we could go, so that car..." " Was like your bachelor pad?" " You gotta love tinted windows." "Heh." "Gave us our privacy." "Rita." "What's wrong with Rita?" "It's kind of an old-lady name." "Okay, Margaret." "She was no old lady, I'll tell you that much." "She was a dancer, jazz." "They would do these shows for school." "And she would wear these, like, stretchy dance pants." " A leotard?" " No, no." "This wasn't a leotard." "This was like, some..." "This was like a special, like, jazz pant." "First time I saw her onstage dancing, I was in love." " Like love at first sight." " Love at first sight ofjazz pants." "I've never met anybody that talks like you." "Not even Rita?" "There weren't a whole lot of words between us." "Ha, ha." "Or Karen?" "I didn't really get a chance to find out." " I'm sorry." " No, no, no." "It's okay." "It's okay." "I think we're okay to move out now anyway." "My problem is I don't know how to stop myself from going too far." "Like I said, it's no big deal." "It is." "I mean, it has to be." "So I'm ajerk for going there and I'm sorry." "I should have just stuck with trashing Rita." " I mean, we good?" " Always." "All right." "Guys, ever notice how you never hear crickets at night anymore?" "Or traffic?" "Orjets in the air?" "Or Mr. Omanski's TV next door, Rangers game blaring away." "Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, and the sweet crack of the bat crack." "The crowd goes wild." "Ha, ha." "Sorry." "I just miss that stuff, is all." "Well, maybe they have baseball in Charleston." "Yeah, maybe a TV." "Heh." "Can it talk?" "Yes, I can." "We don't have time for shenanigans." "We need answers and we need them now." "Of course, and you will get them." "First I wish to address Professor Mason alone." " We're not going anywhere." " As you wish." "It's okay, captain." "Everybody out." "Let's leave them here." "Come on." "You have a remarkable planet, Professor Mason." "I'm not in the mood for platitudes." " I understand." " I wanna know what you know." "You wanna know why your son is so important to me." " Yes." "Above all, I wanna know that." " I will try to answer to your satisfaction but there's just so much to tell you and very little time to tell it in." " I've got all the time in world." " I'm afraid not." "As we speak, there's a death squad on its way to kill me and everyone in this camp." "Clean sheets." " I haven't seen that in a while." " We got bandages, antiseptic, aspirin." " That's enough stuff to load up for a while." " Hey, hey." "Pharmacy." " Nice." " Ha, ha." "Yeehaw!" "You gotta do that?" "Just expressing some positivity, jefe." "Nice." "Let's grab what we need." "We'll catch a couple hours of sleep on those beds you were talking about." "You earned it." "We'll head back to camp tonight." "I'm gonna go let Maggie know." "You okay?" "Tector and Craze are packing up and they're gonna bed down." "There's real beds in there, clean sheets." " Why don't you come inside?" " No." "Not in a hospital." "Because of the cancer?" "You know, you never did tell me what kind of cancer you had." " No, I did." " You said you had the "bad kind."" "Like there's a good kind of cancer." "Brain tumors." " More than one?" " Yeah." "They operated on me three times." "I have actual holes in my skull." "Here." "You feel that soft spot?" " Doesn't freak you out?" " No." "When I went in for the third operation I remember thinking, "If I don't come out of this if I just die on the table, I'd be okay with that."" "Wow." "It was that bad?" "It's like you're out." "Out of life." "You're at your last little drop." "So if it just drips away, wasn't much left anyway." "I'm glad you got it back." "I didn't get it back, not all of it." "Maggie." "Don't." "Just don't say anything." "Forget it." "There's nothing you've said to me that's convinced me any of your claims are real." "Twenty of my fallen comrades in this morning's battle wasn't good enough?" "I don't pretend to know what this morning was about." "I don't really give a damn." "But a revolution?" "A resistance movement?" "I don't buy that." "Doesn't make any sense to me." " So how can I convince you?" " You can give me a reason." " A credible one." " I owe you that at least." "Strange as it may seem to you, my planet was much like yours once." " We lived in relative peace and tranquility." " Go on." "Then they came and laid waste to everything we hold dear." "We were pressed into slavery, made to do their bidding." "The chemlock was infused in our spines as children the same way they had us do yours." " You talking about the harnesses?" " Yes." "We tried to fight back, but they were too powerful." "And then we came here." "And we saw you, how your species fights." "Even after you were almost wiped out, you refused to capitulate." "Don't you see, professor?" "Together, we could do what neither of us could do alone overthrow our oppressors." "It's an interesting story." "I can see why my son likes it." "He always went in for fairy tales." "But the problem is I've watched your kind." "I've seen how easy it is for you to destroy to rip a person to pieces." "When you kill, there is no regret." "There's no remorse." "I have much regret and only remorse, professor." "So you cannot begin to understand the depths of my sorrow." "The evidence speaks to the contrary." "Perhaps, but the point of the matter being your weapons are substandard." "You do not understand their strategies, nor their tactics." "So you can join us and survive or fight alone and die." " Man, I forgot what a bed feels like." " Ha, ha." "Very bouncy." " Hey, Maggie." " What?" " I just wanted to..." " Look." " Just..." " Look." "What's important is I know you got my back and you know I got yours." "We're partners." "That's what partners do." "We watch out for each other, but that's it." " There's nothing else here." " I want there to be." "Yeah, well, we all want a lot of things." "But this?" "No." "There can't be." "So just stop." "Now." "Almost home, people." " What is that?" " It's as I feared." "The death squad caught on to my trail." "They will kill us all." " Anybody see where that came from?" " Hell no." " Where's Maggie?" " Go!" " Get the hell out of here!" " Cover me." "Why?" "We got nothing to shoot at." "Go!" " What are you doing?" "Get out of here!" " Can't." "I gotta haul your butt back to camp." " Come on." " Idiot." "Hold on." "Get away from there, Tom." "The bastard has led them directly to us." " No." "No." "That's not it." " Wait." " Lyle, Dai, get those kids away from the cage." " There's something you need to hear." " You stand down." " This isn't the way." "I'm giving you an order." "No." "You stand down now, damn it." "No, no, no." "Don't shoot." "Rick!" "Rick." "All right." " I got you." " There." " Is she gonna be all right?" " We don't know yet." "We've gotta move." "Can you find me a driver?" " Hal." " Yeah." "Yeah, I got it." "I got it." " You got her?" " Yeah, we got her." " Slow and steady, Hal." " All right." "All right." "Slow and steady." "Slow and steady." "Ben." "Ben, it's okay." "Killing this one person doesn't matter." "We'll win it." "I know it." "Just talk to your father." "You have a father, Ben." "Ben, make him believe." "I mean, make them believe." "You can do it." "Ben." "He needs my help." " He needs my help." " Ben." "He needs me." "He needs me." "He needs me!" "We need you." "We need you." "We need you." "I need you." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It doesn't look like there are bullet fragments." "It missed her lung." "Dr. Glass thinks she'll be fine." "I'll give you guys a little time." " Why'd you come back for me?" " Why?" " What kind of question is that?" " You could have gotten yourself killed." "And you would have died out there." "There's people who depend on you, Hal." "There's people who need you." "Same with you." "No." "I need you, okay?" "I need you." "You said it yourself." "We got each other's backs." "We look out for each other." "We take care of each other." " Lf anything ever happened to you, Maggie..." " Hey." "What is this?" "It's just that I know you're gonna say this is crazy and stupid but when I saw you laying there on the ground I..." " Hey." " What?" "Nothing." "I just..." "What?" " Can you do me a favor?" " Anything." " Sit down." " Okay." "And can you just stay here till I fall asleep?" "I can do that." "Third time you've stuck me with a needle." " What the hell is this one for?" " To help you sleep." "You mean like a sedative?" " You tricked me." " Oops." "Good to finally have the proper tools and medicines." "Back in the day, the surgeon would have cut your leg off and hoped for the best." "Well, I guess I should be thankful for small miracles." " You wanted to see me, captain?" " I did, Tom." "Doc, could you give us a moment?" "All right." "Not too long." "I need you off that leg and resting." "You have my word." "There's no roundabout way to say it." "I'm pissed as hell at you." " Understandable." " Forget the danger your actions put us in." " You disobeyed a direct order." " I know." "And for that, I'm sorry." "Your apology is accepted but..." "And this is big." " I'm worried about Ben." " I have been ever since Jimmy's death." " Me too." "I'm not talking about worried about his well-being." "I'm concerned about the risk he poses to the 2nd Mass." "No, you're right." "I've been concerned about that too." "He's my son, Dan." "I don't know what to do." "I understand." "I do." "The point is hard choices have to be made sometimes." "I agree." "And when the time comes, how will you be with the hard choice?" "I don't know." "I honestly don't know." "Fair enough." "But I'd just as soon not have to make it for you." " Understood?" " Understood." "Fine." "I gotta lie down now." "Doctor's orders." "Yes, sir." "Tom." "When Porter first put us together, I didn't like you very much." "Really?" "Couldn't tell." "I don't mind telling you that the feeling was more than mutual." "I can be a stubborn son of a bitch sometimes." "Sometimes?" "I didn't ever see how some professor was gonna be any use in battle." "But Tom I've come to respect you." "I feel the same way, Dan." " Is he out?" " Completely." "Probably more sleep than that man has had in four months." "I have three new antibiotics to try on his infection." " I'll have a better feel tomorrow." " Lucky we found this place." "Got another two weeks of rough road before we get to Charleston." "This will give us all a chance to recharge." "Amen to that." "How's Ben?" "He's, you know..." "He's a typical teenager." "He's having trouble relating to his father and he wants to change the world." "You may not be that far off." "No matter what else is going on, he is a teenager." "He's just so damn sure of himself." "Ahem." "It's like he knows exactly what he's doing." "He's more sure of himself than I am." "Just be there with him." "You'll be fine." "Yeah, I suppose so." "I hope so." "That's all we have for now." "Looks like Jamil got the hospital's emergency generator going." "Now if we can just get him to work on running water." "We gotta have something to look forward to in Charleston." "I suppose." "Still." "There's a lot of rooms around this place." "You notice that?" " It was the first thing I noticed." " Really?" "Really?" "Not afraid of heights anymore?" "No." "Don't feel scared of anything anymore." "That's impossible." "Why?" "Just because." "That's not much of an answer." "No." "You're right." "It's not." "It's not." "Matt, if I?" "If I told you something, you think you could keep it a secret?" "I think so, yeah." "I..." "I have to go away, at least for a while." "Is it because of that skitter?" "Something like that." "When?" "I don't know, Matt." "I don't know."