They watched helplessly in silence as the third and final missile landed in Philly, destroying the Republic and taking with it thousands of lives. Randall was sprawled out, motionless, on the floor. A pool of blood had formed around his head, as they watched drops trickle down to the wall which separated them from the only chance of saving the East Coast. Now, they were without a true form of government, but they had lights, and that's what they came here for.
Charlie looked towards Miles not knowing what was to come next, but the truth was, Miles didn't know. So there they stood, motionless; unaware of what they would do now. That's when she heard it; a faint trail of voices coming from outside the door of where they entered. At first, Charlie didn't believe what she was hearing. It sounded too much like-
"Jason?" she said quietly as she started moving forward towards the door. As she got closer, the voices grew louder and she could hear that it was Jason. But he was talking to someone. Tom.
"You promised," Jason's voice was calm, but getting angrier by the second.
"Well, things changed," Tom's voice was dark and Charlie could feel the malicious grin that spread across his face, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go check on the explosives to blow up this door." Charlie heard the sound of footsteps receding down the hallway.
"No," Jason's tone was scary, something Charlie had never heard before.
"No?" Tom asked as he spun around slowly, "Son, I don't know why you have such an obsession with that Matheson girl, but let me tell you this. The moment I get my hands on her, she will die, just like she should have on that train."
"You won't touch her," Jason said angrily. And with that, Charlie heard the first punch thrown and a body falling to the ground. That's when Charlie started moving quickly to the door. She knew she had to help and she wasn't about to leave Jason again.
Right before she reached the door Miles appeared in front of her making her stop abruptly. "Get out of my way, Miles," she said in a calm yet demanding voice. She kept eye contact with him, but he wouldn't budge.
"Charlie, you know I can't do that," Miles' voice was tired and she could tell he didn't want to argue, "There are Militia out there and I'm not about to let you walk out of here." Charlie could hear them outside beating each other, and then a body was flung against the door as she heard a cry of pain come from Jason. She rushed forward only to be stopped by Miles.
"Miles, get out of my way!" she screamed as she pushed and shoved.
"Why should I let you go out there and get yourself killed!?" he said holding her back, his voice growing with anger.
"Because I'm not leaving him again!" she shouted. And with that Miles stopped holding Charlie and she became quiet, "Because I can't lose him…not again". A tear formed in the corner of her eye and slowly fell down the side of her cheek as she looked away from him as if trying to hide the pain. Miles knew she wouldn't give up on this, and he could see how important Jason was to her. After a reluctant pause, Miles finally gave in.
"Fine," Miles said, "But you aren't doing it alone." He pulled out his gun and reached for the doorknob. "I must be crazy," he muttered while shaking his head. And with that, he flung the door open.
…
Jason was bleeding from the lip and had bruises starting to form around his ribcage, but Tom was in way worse condition. Receiving the first punch had caught Tom off guard, and he fell back breaking the glass covering a fire extinguisher. His back received many cuts, but the skin on his right arm was torn badly all the way up to his shoulder. Immediately he charged at Jason, flinging him into the door, his side receiving the door handle which crushed one of his ribs.
Jason let out a cry as he fell to the ground, and that's when he heard it. The sound of her voice rang out. He got up only to see his father swinging a fist at his face. He could taste the blood now coming from his lip as he lunged at his father bringing them both to the ground. Jason punched Tom in the face, leaving his father with a soon to be black eye.
As Jason began to punch him again, he heard Charlie's voice say, "Because I'm not leaving him again!" Jason knew who she was talking about and he felt relieved that she cared for him so much.
Unfortunately, the distraction caused Tom to take control and soon Jason was found lying on the floor with his father hovering over him. Tom came down with a hard punch to the left side of Jason's face, but before Tom could get another punch in, the door flew open, revealing Miles and Charlie. A smirk grew on Tom's face as he grabbed his gun from his holster and pointed it at Charlie. Jason saw what was about to happen and Tom was soon found pinned on the ground by his son. Jason threw another punch, knocking out his father. Finally, it was over.
The sound of Militia footsteps echoed down the hallway, and they knew they had to move fast. Charlie raced forward to Jason, flinging herself at him. He caught her, but first let out a small cry of pain. "Sorry," said Charlie as she started to pull away.
"No, it's ok," replied Jason as he held her even closer, "Thank God you're alive."
"Alright lovebirds, let's get a move on," said Miles as the sound of Militia footsteps approached. They quickly got up and headed for the door, however, the Militia were already turning the corner. Two men appeared with guns drawn. "Run!" exclaimed Miles. Jason led Charlie ahead with Miles trailing behind. They had already begun firing, barely missing the three of them. Miles whipped out his gun and began firing back as the three of them were headed for the door. Within seconds both men were dead on the floor, but before they fell, one last shot rang out hitting Charlie. Charlie fell into the room, with a cry of pain as Jason caught her. The door closed behind them and Miles rushed to her side to examine the damage. Luckily it only grazed her leg, but the pain was extreme.
"We have to get out of here," Miles exclaimed, "Aaron find a way out. We have to get Charlie help."
"Yeah, slight problem Miles," replied Aaron, "There is no other way out."
"What? Who the hell designed this place?" asked Miles as he looked around searching for some sort of exit.
"Apparently my code that the DOD stole. Assholes," Aaron muttered. Jason moved Charlie over to a wall so she could sit up, but her leg was still searing with pain. Rachel came over to inspect it, but as she touched it, Charlie let out a cry of agony. Charlie pulled her leg away and quickly looked the opposite direction when Rachel tried to console her.
Rachel got up to join Aaron and Miles in search for an exit. Just then they heard something bang against the door. "Blow it up!" said the familiar voice of Tom, still out of it a little. Then there was more noise of TNT dropping at the foot of the door.
Miles grabbed a few guns and tossed them to Jason and Rachel. "Time for some fun," said Miles, "Jason, move Charlie back here, she's too close to the-"
The door blasted open, sending shards hurling towards the five of them. Jason received a hard blow in his left arm while covering Charlie, but he ignored it as he checked to see how she was holding up. Blood trickled down from her head as her eyes were closed shut. She was unconscious. "Charlie?" Jason whispered, "Charlie!" He screamed her name over and over, hoping that she might wake up.
Miles ran over and helped move Charlie back to safety. Jason still lingered over her in hopes that she would come to. But it wasn't over yet.
The Militia entered, guns ready, with Tom Neville, leading the way.
…
The lights were extremely bright as Charlie slowly opened her eyes. She felt a dreaded pain in her right leg and as she went to grab it, she felt a stronger pain growing in her head. She let out a moan of anguish; only to see that Miles had ran to her side. "Charlie? Oh thank God," he said as he hugged her gently.
"Miles," she managed to choke out, "What happened?"
"Militia blew up the door and something must have hit your head pretty hard. You blacked out while the rest of us got to beat the crap out of those assholes, except damn Neville, he somehow got away." A smirk grew over her face as she was reminded of how awesome her Uncle is. She began to say something before she remembered-
"Jason," she exclaimed sitting straight up feeling the pain hit her everywhere.
"Relax," said Miles, "Loverboy has been sitting in that chair over there for the past 12 hours. Hasn't left." Charlie glanced over to see Jason, five feet away, sleeping while hunched over in an uncomfortable looking chair. A smile grew across her face because she knew he was alright.
"Where's Aaron and my mom?"
"Aaron is in the next room talking to Grace and your mom is off walking the hallways."
"You mean your letting my mom walk around while Tom Neville is out there somewhere?"
"She insisted that she wouldn't go too far and she has a gun."
"Miles," said Charlie with a concerned look, "This is my mom were talking about. Like she would keep that promise?"
"You're right. I just wanted to make sure you were okay first."
"Well I am. And thank you. Now go find her."
"Alright, alright." And with that, he left the infirmary. Charlie was left alone with a quiet Jason in the corner. She didn't want to wake him, but she did want to talk to him.
"Jason," she said somewhat quietly. All of a sudden, he woke up and jumped out of the chair. When he realized it had come from Charlie, he smiled his adorable smile she loved so much, and made his way towards her.
"Well look who decided to come to," he said as he walked over towards the side of her bed. She still couldn't sit up without pain, so she lay down with him hovering over her, the smile still across his face.
"Last time, I think it was you who was hurt lying down on a hospital bed," she said with a smile.
"I think you're right. That is where we first kissed too," he said as he slowly leaned down taking her face in both hands. He kissed her gently, and Charlie became enveloped in the kiss. Everything around her stopped. She didn't feel the pain in her leg or her head. It was just her and Jason, just how she wanted it to be. She had finally opened her eyes only to find that he had already stopped kissing her. She felt embarrassed, but he just smiled and let out a soft laugh.
She couldn't help but stare into his eyes, and smile. But everything slowly came back to her. The day where she had betrayed him and showed that she didn't trust him and then when she left him outside the Tower. A wave of dreadfulness descended over her. He saw the change in her face, and the smile dropped into confusion. "Jason," she started, "I never apologized for everything I did. I'm so sor-"
"Stop," said Jason lightly, "You don't have to apologize for anything."
"I do though!" she said as she started to sit up, the pain rushing through her body. He caught her as she almost fell back in pain. "Jason I knew that you didn't kill those people. And I am so sorry that I didn't say something." He tried to stop her, but she cut him off with a look of sorrow. She stared into his eyes and said, "I know that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I trust you with my life." A tear started to fall down her cheek as he sat down on the bed next to her. "You've saved my life like what? Eight times or something?" She let out a short laugh. "Jason, I really am sorry. And I didn't want to leave you out there when the doors were closing. I should've stopped Miles!" She was crying harder now. Jason held her close as she cried into his chest.
"Charlie, it's not your fault. I don't blame you one bit. Shh. It's okay," he said as he held her as tight as he could.
"I just don't want to lose you again," she said through tears.
"You won't," Jason replied as he kissed the top of her head. They sat there like that for a minute before speaking. "Charlie?" Jason said.
She looked up as he wiped away the last of the tears. He looked deep into her eyes, "I love you."
A smile grew across both their faces as she said, "I love you too." Jason leaned down again to kiss her. Their lips met sending a tingling sensation throughout her body. She was once again lost in him, but this time he didn't pull away after a short while; instead he kissed her and held her close for what felt like an eternity. But he was hers, and she was his, and she couldn't have been happier.
…
Miles made his way through the silent hallways in search of Rachel. He knew that even though she promised to stay close, that the promise was hopeless. He set out rounding corners and exploring random corridors. Finally, he rounded a corner to see the shape of Rachel walking down the hallway 15 yards away.
"There you are," he said loud enough for her to hear, "So much for staying close." She turned around at the sound of his voice, with a smile across her face.
"Sorry, you know I don't like obeying the rules."
"Trust me, I know."
"Charlie?" she asked quietly finally reaching him.
"She just woke up," he said as a smile of relief grew on her face, "You really should go talk to her."
"Right, like she wants to talk to me at the moment. She hates me if you don't remember."
"She doesn't hate you. She might not be fond of you, but hate is too strong a word," He said trying to cheer her up, but the sorrowful look she wore made him know that he hadn't. "Hey," he said as he pulled her in for a hug, "Relax. She's your daughter, she can't hate you."
And that's when he saw her do something he hasn't seen her do in a long time. The strong façade came down and she began to cry and hold onto him tighter. "Miles," she said through the tears, "I'm a horrible mother. Hell, I'm a horrible person."
"No you're not. Rachel trust me, I've done worse things than you." Rachel then looked up at Miles and softly laughed. She stared into his eyes for a while until finally he leaned in and kissed her. It was the best feeling in the world. It reminded her of the times they shared before Miles left the Republic. It was perfect.
All of a sudden a shot rang out in the distance. They both looked at each other and whispered, "Charlie." And with that, they ran back to the infirmary. When they arrived Jason was ready with his gun pointed at the door in case anyone came in. Charlie was sitting up hiding behind Jason.
If it wasn't in this room then-
"Next door," said Jason to Miles.
"Stay with Charlie," he said to Jason as he headed into the next room where Aaron and Grace were. He entered and saw Grace lying on the floor, a bullet hole through her head. Standing in the corner was Aaron with his hands up, as Tom pointed the gun at him.
"How nice of you to join us Miles," Tom said with a smirk across his face.
