-five days later-

'Abby?' Abby heard Anne's voice calling her from what seemed like a great distance. 'Abby, honey, can you hear me?'

'I think she's waking up,' came Lourdes's voice. 'Her eyes are moving.'

With great effort, Abby forced her eyes open, squinting against what seemed like an incredibly bright light, and found herself staring up into Anne and Lourdes's concerned faces. 'Where am I?' she croaked.

'Waverly, Virginia,' Anne replied as Lourdes disappeared briefly, only to return with a cup of water and straw. 'In a hospital. The 2nd Mass spent time here before, and we stopped by on our way to Charleston.'

'So we're close?' Abby said, struggling to sit up.

'Yes,' Anne nodded, assisting her to a sitting position.

'That's good,' Abby smiled weakly. She raised a hand to the back of her neck and ran her fingers over the spikes there. 'What happened?'

Anne and Lourdes traded glances. 'You don't know?' Anne asked cautiously.

'All I remember is heading out for patrol with Ben,' Abby replied. 'How long ago was that?'

'Five days,' Anne replied. 'How do you feel?'

'Okay,' Abby shrugged. 'Really hungry, but I think I'll be fine. It was my spikes, right?'

'Yes,' Anne nodded.

'Something was wrong…' Abby murmured to herself.

'Abby, I have to go check on my other patients,' Anne said. 'I'll send Jimmy in to talk to you.'

Abby nodded, watching Anne and Lourdes leave. Seconds after they were gone, Jimmy entered, true to Anne's word. 'Morning, sleepyhead,' he grinned at her.

'Morning,' she smiled. 'Did something happen to Dallon and Harlem?'

'We think so,' Jimmy nodded seriously, pulling up a chair next to her bed and sitting down.

'Did it get all of you, too?' Abby asked.

'Yeah,' Jimmy replied. 'We were out for about two days.'

'Okay,' Abby nodded. 'I'm guessing no-one knows what happened to Dallon and Harlem?'

'No,' Jimmy sighed. 'But definitely nothing good.'

Abby sighed, then flung off her blanket. 'Let's go. I'm tired of lying around. I want to explore this place. Have you seen my shoes?'

'Over there,' Jimmy pointed, laughing. 'Hold on, I'll get them.' he stood and fetched the shoes from across the room, as well as Abby's backpack. 'Here. I'll wait outside while you change, then I can show you around.'

'Awesome,' Abby nodded, opening the backpack and digging around inside for clothes. Jimmy waited outside until she joined him, dressed in a sky-blue long-sleeved t-shirt, light blue jeans, her heavy boots, and a thick grey hoodie.

'Ready?' Jimmy grinned at her.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Abby laughed, following him outside. They stepped out into the hospital's main corridor and Abby raised her eyebrows. 'Oh.' The corridor, running down what had probably once been the center of the hospital, showed a large crater where the other half of the building had once been. 'What happened?'

'What do you think?' Jimmy shrugged. 'Espheni. Well, actually I think that'—he pointed towards a partially intact, burned section of building—'was the professor.'

'Oh,' Abby nodded. 'Okay.'

'Come on,' Jimmy laughed, leading her to the front of the building. 'Everyone's out here. We're getting ready to head to Charleston.'

'Cool,' Abby said, adjusting her backpack on her left shoulder.

'Hey there!' a grinning Hal called, waving at the duo as they exited. They walked down the steps outside and joined Hal next to a beat-up green station wagon. 'Welcome back to the land of the living, Sleeping Beauty.'

Abby rolled her eyes. 'Your nicknames are always so original, it floors me. How do you come up with them?'

'Okay, princess,' Hal rolled his eyes. 'Whatever you say. We're leaving in half an hour. Where are you two riding?'

'Don't know yet,' Jimmy replied. 'Do we have assigned seats?'

'Check with Weaver,' Hal suggested. 'There's a few people he wanted in certain places, but it's pretty much just wherever you can find a seat. Just check to make sure.'

'Okay,' Jimmy nodded. 'Do you know where he is?'

'That way,' Hal pointed to his left. 'I think. That's where I last saw him, anyways.'

'Thanks,' Abby called over her shoulder as she and Jimmy headed in the direction Hal had indicated.

'You're welcome, princess!' Hall called back, earning a glare from Abby.

Jimmy and Abby found Weaver standing next to a faded orange pick-up and talking to Tom. 'Abby, good to see you up and about,' Tom smiled warmly at the girl.

'Thanks, professor,' Abby smiled back.

'Colonel, Hal said we should check with you to see if there was anywhere specific we were supposed to ride,' Jimmy said, turning to Weaver.

'Nowhere in particular,' Weaver shook his head. 'There's space in here, if you need it.'

'There's also a few seats in the med-bus, and I think one with Hal,' Tom added. 'Ben is riding with Hal, and Deni's in the bus,' he added, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

At the comment, Jimmy's face visibly reddened, earning a laugh from Abby. 'We'll keep that in mind, thanks,' she joked. 'I'm going to go ask Anne if she wants me to keep an eye on the kids. Jimmy?'

'Can I just ride with you, Colonel?' Jimmy mumbled, his face reddening further.

'Sure,' Weaver replied, hiding a smile.

'See you later,' Abby grinned, turning and making her way back towards the med-bus.

'Abby!' Colm squealed as she approached. He broke away from Korinne, who appeared to be babysitting him, Alexis, Mariah, and Amanda, and streaked towards Abby, throwing himself into her legs. 'Hi,' he giggled, grinning up at her.

'Hey, buddy,' Abby grinned. 'How are you?'

'I'm good!' Colm laughed. He grabbed Abby's hand and started towing her towards the bus. 'Are you riding with us?'

'I don't know yet,' Abby replied. 'I need to talk to Anne. Is she here?'

'Abby!' she turned to see Ben striding towards the bus. 'Hal wants to know if you're riding with us.'

'Um, I don't know,' Abby replied. 'I wanted to check with Anne and see if she wanted me on the bus to watch the kids.'

'There's not a lot of room on the bus,' Korinne said. 'I can watch the kids. Why don't you just go with Hal and Ben, okay?'

'Sure,' Abby shrugged. 'Okay, Colm?'

'Okay,' Colm sighed exaggeratedly. 'I'll see you later.'

'You bet,' Abby grinned. She ruffled his hair before releasing his hand and following Ben back towards the green station wagon Hal stood next to.

'So, you're stuck with us, princess?' Hal called teasingly as Abby and Ben approached.

'Looks like, Gaston,' Abby retorted.

'Did you just call me the villain from Beauty and the Beast?' Hal asked.

'Yep,' Abby nodded, placing her bag in the open trunk.

'Why?' Hal asked.

'Because you remind me of him,' Abby shrugged.

'And why is that?' Hal rolled his eyes.

'Because if Gaston were a high school student in the pre-invasion world, he would've been a dumb jock,' Ben suggested.

Hal swiped at his younger brother, but Ben easily dodged the blow. 'Hey, break it up,' Maggie called. She approached from the opposite side of the station wagon and glared at the boys. 'This better not be one of those stereotypical family road trips with you guys fighting the whole time.'

'We won't,' Hal said innocently as he managed to get Ben in a headlock.

'We'll see,' Maggie said skeptically.

'Load up!' Weaver called, striding along the small caravan of vehicles. 'We're making one long push to Charleston! No more long stops, so get used to sleeping in your cars!' He bellowed the last line as he reached his pickup and swung into the driver's seat. Jeanne sat in the middle, and Jimmy sat on the passenger's side.

At Weaver's shout, Hal had slipped into the passenger seat of the station wagon, while Maggie climbed in the driver's side. In the back, Abby sat behind Maggie and Ben behind Hal. 'Ready?' Maggie grinned in the rearview.

'Sure,' Ben laughed, and Abby shrugged. Maggie rolled her eyes and started the station wagon. She waited until the vehicle directly in front of her—the Berserkers' beat-up old convertible—started to move before shifting the wagon into drive and stepping on the gas. Behind them came the roar of the med-bus starting up and the creak of its brakes being released.

'That doesn't sound good,' Abby observed, peering through the back window at the bus.

'It's an old bus,' Hal shrugged, keeping his eyes forward. 'It'll make it to Charleston, don't worry.'

'I wasn't worried,' Abby replied.

'Okay, one rule,' Maggie said. 'No bickering, no arguing, no anything back and forth. Only civil conversation. If I don't like it, it stops, okay?'

'Yes, mom,' Hal grinned cheekily at her.

'And no sarcasm,' Maggie mock-glared at him for several seconds before returning her eyes to the road.

'Well, I'm going to sleep, since I'll have to drive tonight,' Hal said, sinking down in his seat. 'You guys keep Maggie awake.'

'Okay,' Ben and Abby chimed.

Maggie glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled to find both Abby and Ben curled up and asleep in the backseat. Abby had fallen asleep with her head back against the headrest, her legs pulled up and tucked under her on the seat. Ben was sitting cross-legged and was leaning forward, but had sort of keeled over to the side and was resting against the window.

Maggie returned her attention to the road and gasped sharply, slamming her foot down on the brakes. She heard Abby and Ben fly forward and felt Abby slam into the back of her seat. Beside her, Hal was merely flung into his seatbelt, which locked before he could go far.

'Ow,' Abby groaned.

'Are you guys okay?' Maggie asked, concerned.

'Yeah,' Ben grunted, pulling himself out of the leg space between his and Hal's seat.

'What happened?' Abby asked, rubbing the back of her neck.

'I don't know,' Maggie replied grimly. 'Everyone stopped. I'm guessing either we've found aliens, or something broke down.'

Suddenly, Abby screamed as a dark figure appeared next to her and Maggie's windows and tapped on the glass. She gasped and her hand flew up to rest on her heart. Maggie rolled down the window and Tom peered in.

'Everyone okay?' he grinned at Abby.

'Don't do that!' Abby gasped. 'You scared me half to death!'

'Sorry,' Tom laughed.

'What's going on?' Hal asked, peering around Maggie.

'One of the SUVs,' Tom replied. 'Hit a bump, blew a tire, and wrecked the rim when they came down. You guys have a seat, right?'

'Yeah, if you don't mind squishing,' Ben called up.

'We'll probably have to put someone in here with you,' Tom said. 'Sorry about it, but there's nothing we can do. I'll be back.'

'Okay,' Maggie nodded. She shifted the car into park and rolled up the window. They waited for several minutes, watching people moving around in the headlights of the vehicles ahead of them. After about ten minutes, they saw Tom walking towards them, followed by Dr. Roger Kadar. Maggie rolled the window back down as they approached.

'Dr. Kadar is going to ride with you guys,' Tom informed them as Abby scooted into the middle of the back seat, pulling her discarded jacket with her and slipping her arms into it backwards. Kadar opened the door and clambered into Abby's vacated seat. Tom watched as he got settled before leaving.

'Do you want me to drive now?' Hal asked Maggie.

'Sure,' Maggie nodded. The two got out of the car and walked around the front, sitting on the opposite sides, Hal now behind the wheel. They shut their doors at almost the exact same time that the car in front of them began to move again.

Maggie didn't fall asleep right away, but almost everyone in the back seat did. Abby fell asleep with her feet propped on the center console, slouched down in the seat, and leaning against Ben. Ben wrapped his arms around her shoulders and fell asleep with his cheek resting against the top of her head. Kadar kept himself as far away from Abby as possible—about two inches—but eventually fell asleep pressed against the door. Maggie pulled her legs onto the seat, curling up like Abby had been earlier, and turned towards Hal.

'What?' Hal laughed, glancing briefly at her.

'Nothing,' Maggie smiled, resting her head against the seat.

'That's not a "nothing" look,' Hal teased.

'You're right,' Maggie sighed, glancing out the windshield. It had grown foggy in the few hours since they had stopped, and it was around three or four in the morning; the darkest time of night.

'What is it?' Hal prompted. 'Is something wrong?'

'No,' Maggie said quickly. 'Nothing's wrong.' Unable to help herself, she grinned broadly.

Hal glanced at her again and caught the grin. 'What is it?' he repeated with a laugh.

'I have news,' Maggie smiled even wider.

'What?' Hal demanded. He glanced at her. 'Seriously, what is it? What's going on?'

Maggie laughed.

Hal glanced at her again. 'No way.'

She laughed again.

'You're kidding!' Hal began to grin as well.

'Nope,' she grinned childishly.

'Oh. My. God.' Hal stared out the windshield. 'You're sure?'

'Uh, pretty sure?' Maggie laughed. 'Yes, I'm sure.'

'Oh my God,' Hal repeated. He stared out the windshield for several minutes without speaking, then glanced at Maggie again. 'How do you want to tell everyone?'

'How do you want to tell everyone?' she retorted. 'It's your family.'

'How about we get married?'

A/N BOMBSHELLLLL! woohoo! Yeah! okay, I'll stop.