"How can I help you, sir?" one of the nurses asked, as he approached the desk.

"I'm looking for Donna Novak's room," Eric replied, glancing around uncomfortably, he hated hospitals.

"Are you family?" the nurse asked, as she accessed the computer.

"Her son."

The woman nodded, "Kara," the woman called, to a redhead nearby, who immediately came running, "Please show Mr. Novak here to room 318."

"Of course, right this way, sir," she said, a British accent prominent in her voice.

"Eric, you can just call me Eric," he told her.

"Alright, Eric it is. I'm Kara, one of the volunteers here," she said brightly.

"Nice to meet you, Kara," he said, "How long ago did you move to America?" he inquired.

"I didn't, I'm here visiting family. My cousin was volunteering too this summer and talked me into doing so as well."

Kara led him into the room marked 318 and Eric froze. When he'd received the phone call that his father had been killed in a car accident and his mother was in critical condition, he'd been granted immediate leave from basic training. He'd enlisted in the Army two weeks prior.

"Do you know what her condition is?" he asked, eyes transfixed on the wires and tubes connected to her.

"I don't, I'm sorry. I can get the doctor for you, though," she offered.

"Please," he said, turning to face her briefly.

"I'll make sure he's right in," she said, leaving the room.

Eric let out a sigh as he thought back to that day. That week had been both the best and worst of his life. He'd lost his parents, his father killed instantly, and his mother dying from an internal bleeding three days later, but he'd met Kara. She hadn't had any idea the impact she'd had on him. Neither had he, until he'd found himself moving to England after completing his first year of enlistment in America.

He'd enlisted in the British military, his time split between training and searching for Kara, who he'd managed to track down six months after moving to England.

"Novak, yo, Novak," a voice called, a hand waving in front of his face.

Snapped from his thoughts and caught off guard, he grabbed the persons wrist and flipped them to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?" Jason Mattison asked from his current position on the floor.

"You of all people, should know not to startle a soldier," he said, pulling him up by the wrist he still held, "Did you need something?"

"There was a creature sighting, no anomaly though, or no alert anyways. Caspar wants me, you and Maria to go provide backup, the Captain is already there."

"Right," he said, heading to the armory to get an EMD.

"What had you so distracted?" Mattison asked, following him.

"Just thinking," he replied.

"Always Mr. Cryptic, aren't you?"

"Yep," he said, grabbing his EMD and heading to the trucks, leaving Jason trailing behind him.

When they reached the truck, Maria was waiting on them.

"Evening boys," she called.

"Maria," Eric said with a nod, "How are you?"

"Good, you?"

"I'm good," he replied, as they all scrambled into the truck.

The ride was filled mostly by Jason and Maria's chatter, Eric adding input occasionally as he drove. Just as they pulled into the location, Jess' voice came over the coms.

"Corporal Novak, Becker's location is three kilometers west, 5 kilometers north, he's spotted the creature, what's your ETA?"

"We just pulled up," he replied, grabbing equipment from the truck, and tossing EMDs to Jason and Maria, before taking off in the direction Jess had indicated.

"Don't bother waiting for us or anything," Maria griped from several paces behind.

"Keep up!" he bit back, sharply.

When they reached the coordinates Jess had given, they were greeted by the sight of Becker surrounded by several dodos. Eric couldn't help but laugh, drawing Becker's attention.

"We were expecting something a bit more ferocious," Eric called.

"I was expecting a creature, not seven," he retorted sarcastically.

He heard Jason yell he was going back to the trucks for a couple transport crates as he and Maria moved in closer.

"Make sure the EMD's are on low, we don't want them killed," Becker said, "Just good luck catching them."

"And don't let them bite you," Jess' voice came over the coms, "I just checked Connor's database, apparently we had a parasite issue with some dodo's a long time ago."

"Alright, thanks Jess," Becker said, firing at one, just as a second darted underfoot, causing him to trip and fall, flat on his back, "I hate these things," he muttered, getting to his feet.

Eric could hear Maria laugh this time, and it was honestly everything Eric could do not to. By the time Jason got back with the crates, they had managed to take three of them down. Jason and Eric laughed as one came up behind Maria, who was crouched trying to get to one in a thicket of bushes, and began tugging her hair with it's beak. Eric watched, EMD readied as Jason snuck up and grabbed it, tossing it in with the other three. This was one of the most amusing creature incursions yet.

"Four down, two to go," Jason sighed.

It didn't take them too long to get the other two rounded up, and then they were headed back to the ARC. Eric had Jason drive so he could text Kara and let her know he'd be later than planned, now that they had to get the dodos squared away. The truck was mostly silent, the three team members too tired to do much talking after the days events. It was something Eric was glad of as it seemed every time he was alone with his team members, they had used it to question him about his past, something he didn't like talking about. It had taken him months to even open up to Kara.