The next morning everyone was packing up their things. Sawyer got cleaned up last night. Washing out her hair, washing her face, and changing out her clothes for cleaner ones. She had changed into a pair of gray skinny jeans, cleaned off her black combat boots, put on a black v-neck, and she did manage to beat off some of the dust on her leather jacket. But she had also worked late into the night on her bike too, so she had grease staining her hands, a smear of it on her cheek, and some on her jeans. She didn't care too much about her appearance and despite the lack of sleep she was still filled with energy. Tom liked to say she was like the energizer bunny, always ready to go.

She got her bag strapped down to her bike and strapped her assault rifle onto her back before straddling her bike. She watches as Scott struggles to get his car going. A grin comes to her lips as she watches it. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was amused nonetheless. "The car is in need of replacing." Anne says as she walks over to Sawyer.

"It'll run a bit longer." Sawyer grins. "Want a ride?"

"On that death trap? I'm good, but thanks." Sawyer shrugs. "You good?" Sawyer glances over at Anne, eyeing her over.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know… you just…" Anne sighs. "I worry about you. Going out on those runs-"

"Anne, we talked about this."

"I know. You feel more useful out there then stuck at camp tending to the injured. All I'm saying is that I care about you. You, Uncle Scott, Aunt Kate… you're really the only family I got left."

"Ah, look at you getting all soft." Sawyer grins. "Seriously, A, I'm fine."

"When's the last time you got laid?" Sawyer burst into laughter, staring up at Anne with a grin.

"It's been awhile. Why, you offering?"

"Oh, yeah, totally. Come join me in the back of Uncle Scott's junk on wheels."

"That sounds so wrong in so many ways." The two giggle. Sawyer eyes Anne over. "While we're on the subject… you wouldn't be an asshole if you moved on, Anne. It's been a long time and he'd understand." Anne's smile fell. "Tom's a great guy. He could make you happy."

"Not you?"

"Hey, Anne I love you, but-"

"I meant you and Tom." Anne chuckles.

"Nah, it'd be like going with you. I'm not interested in incest." Anne snorts.

"We're not actually related."

"In my mind we are. Blood doesn't make family. Love does."

"Alright! Move out!"

"Last chance on that ride." Sawyer says.

"I'm good. I'll let you take all the risks."

"Sure thing sunshine." Anne smiles before moving off to start walking. Sawyer sighs, starting up the bike and riding off to the front.

They stopped at the next shop available and started scavenging for food. The place smells like death warmed over. There were flies buzzing around, rotting food sitting on shelves, decaying animals that had wandered in looking for shelter before eventually dying. There was also a few dead survivors laying around, looking to have been here for a long time. Sawyer wrinkles up her nose as she steps over a corpse. "I wish there was more food." Anne says as Sawyer passes her with her assistant beside her, Lourdes.

"Just get what you can." Sawyer says. "Hopefully the next stop will be better. I'm going to run ahead and talk to Weaver and Tom and see what the next stop will be."

"Okay." Anne says as she pulls her scarf backup to cover her face, the smell of the place really getting to her.

"Dad, S." Hal says as he stops his bike by the door. Weaver, Tom, and Sawyer all turn to look at Hal. "Every food store and cache between here and Acton's picked clean." He calls over the motor of his dirt bike before revving it and driving ahead.

"There's too many of us." Weaver mutters as he pulls out his map. "If it was just the fighters, we could stretch our provisions."

"Well, it's not, and we need food." Tom says. Weaver makes a face, causing Sawyer to frown.

"We got to feed everyone, Weaver." She tells him.

"So it's one of the ShopSmarts, then-" Tom cuts in, trying to not start any fights. Sawyer glares at Weaver. She understands his concern. There were a lot of people, but she wasn't about to just let him drop the civilians. They need to take care of everyone. "Either the store in West Newton or the Distribution Center in Watertown."

Weaver glances at the map and then looks around. "We can't go back, not with this group- Too many, too slow."

"Maybe half the vehicles, half the fighters go back." Tom suggests, trying to get some even grounds with Weaver, but Weaver was just dismissing everything Tom offers up. "Get the food and then they catch up?" Weaver chuckles at that.

"Yeah, that sounds great. Who's gonna lead them- you?" Sawyer bites her tongue at the condescending tone.

"Yes." Tom says after a moment. Weaver turns and looks at Tom.

"You want to go back?"

"Yes." The two men stare at one another.

"Alright." Weaver says slowly. "But I can only give you the pick up, Sawyer, and six fighters."

"Weapons?" Tom asks, folding his arms across his chest. He didn't like this, but Sawyer did understand Weaver's reasoning. He didn't want to send half their arm back in case they got attacked. They couldn't risk the lives of the fighters.

"What you got and as many mags as you can carry."

"One of the RPGs?"

"No."

"Some C-4?" Tom calls.

"No." Weaver calls back.

"Alright, we'll make do!" He yells, causing heads to turn his way. Sawyer rolls her eyes at his dramatics.

"Alright!" Weaver calls back. "The rest of us will follow the commuter rail west! We'll meet at the Littleton Bridge! Pick your squad! Good luck!"

"I don't like how he just shipped me in with you as if I'm not important. Take Sawyer and six fighters. As if I'm not a fighter."

"In his eyes you're the field medic." Tom points out.

"Fucken bastard." She growls.

"Are you sure about this?" Anne asks as she walks over. Tom's eyes fell on Matt who sat talking with Lourdes.

"Take care of Matt." Tom says.

"I will." Anne promises. "Take care of my sister." Sawyer grins at Anne and her term.

"Always do." Tom nods.

"Need a scout?" Hal asks as he walks up.

"I need you to stay with the group. You stay with Matt." Tom says.

"Weaver's more likely to get me killed than you are." Hal says.

"That's really comforting, Hal." Sawyer says as she nudges him.

"You need two scouts." Karen calls, causing Sawyer to sigh, earning herself a look from Hal. Karen was a pretty and sweet girl, but she's also soft and looking to prove herself. Sawyer doesn't dislike Karen, but she dislikes her being with Hal. Sawyer thinks Hal needs someone a little tougher, someone that can truly handle their own. Karen depends a bit too much on Hal at times. One of these days it'll get Karen killed or worse, caught.

"Yes, I do. Why don't you find Dai and Click and Anthony and one other. See if they'll volunteer." Tom calls. "You go with her." Tom orders Hal, who is quick to follow that order.

"You shouldn't let her go, Tom. She's smart and she is skilled, but she is also naive at times and soft. She doesn't have what it takes to fight out there."

"You're too hard on her, Sawyer. Not everyone is you." Tom says.

"That's the point. These women, they have to be tough like me if they wish to fight this war. It's not going to go easy on us because we're females if anything it'll go harder on us. She needs to be tougher than what she is."

"Come on, S, let's get ready." He tells her, choosing to ignore what she said. Sawyer sighs, running a hand through her red hair. As she follows after Tom she begins to rebraid her hair into a french braid, her standard hairstyle, it kept out of her face and tightly together. She does a tight braid. Maybe she is too hard on Karen, but she has to be. Their enemy isn't going to give Karen a break.

Anthony and Tom are detaching a water tank from one of the cars so that they can take it. Sawyer is standing off to the side knowing she'd just get in the way if she tried to help. She tilts her head back as she hears footsteps, it's nearly impossible for someone to sneak up on her. She has the ears of a bat as they like to say. "Thomas. Sawyer." Dai greets.

"Dai, you in?" Tom asks.

"Yep." He says. Sawyer liked Dai. He was a straight shooter, said it how it is. He's a tough bastard, but a good guy deep down. The two were good friends, although there had been occasions in the past that pushed that line a little. Dai had made his interest in her clear. He was only a year younger than her and he was a good looking guy, but Sawyer learned long ago never to get involved with a friend because if it went down hill then the friendship would be ruined. Still, Dai kept trying and she couldn't help, but admire him more for his determination.

"Weaver's keeping all the heavy stuff." Tom says.

"Is that right?" Dai asks before tossing a thing of C4 from inside his pants. Sawyer wrinkles up her nose and laughs. Dai gives her wink, his arm brushing hers as he walks by.

"C-4? Where-where did you get this?" Dai just grins, causing Tom to sigh and pocket it. Dai bends down and begins to help Jimmy tape his clips correctly. Jimmy had to be just a year younger than Ben and already he's fit for war.

"Thanks." Jimmy says as Dai unrolls the tape off the clips. Sawyer smiles and brushes her fingers through Jimmy's hair. After Jimmy's parents died in the invasion he joined up with the 2nd Mass. Sawyer took a real liking to the boy. He was a strong kid. After everything he went through, losing his parents, he just kept pushing forward, determined to beat those aliens. Sawyer took the boy in, claimed him as her own, and she looked after him. She was the one to teach him how to shoot and she's the one that got him Nemo, his dog that is often used for supply runs. Dai has taken to getting on Jimmy's good side in order to win points with Sawyer. She liked Dai, she did, but she wanted to be his friend, nothing more. She didn't want to ruin their friendship and she really didn't see him as more than just a friend.

"Are you okay, Jimmy?" Sawyer asks as she continues to run her fingers through his brown hair. It was getting a tad long, but he refused to let her cut it. "Not nervous are you?" He bites his lip and keeps his eyes on Dai.

"So you think there will be a lot of them?" Dai finishes the clips and hands them to Jimmy.

"It's okay to be nervous, Jimmy." Sawyer says reassuringly. "Just take a deep breath and don't worry. We'll be there. We'll have your back, okay?" Jimmy nods.

"Come on, Jimmy." Dai says, patting the boy's arm.

"It'll be okay, kid, remember, I got you." Sawyer says, ruffling up his hair, causing him to laugh.

The squad split up from the others and began to look over the map on the hood of a truck. "We think there's food here and here." Tom says, pointing to two different spots on the map. "There's a store in West Newton and a food Distribution Center in Watertown. They're both ShopSmarts. If there's food in them, they're probably traps. The main invader force is either gonna come up River Road or Blanchard Road. We need to know which one. I don't want a bunch of Skitters and Mechs coming up behind us. So, Hal and Karen, you guys got to check that out. You got to let us know which way they're coming…"

"Mm-hmm." Karen nods.

"So we know where to go." Tom adds. "And we'll be waiting at the train station."

"Got it." Karen says as she pushes off the truck and starts for her bike.

"Hey, Hal." Tom calls, stopping Hal from following Karen.

"Six-seven months ago you didn't let me ride over to Julien's because I didn't have a bike light. And now you're giving me extra amo." She hears Hal say.

"Things change." Tom tells him. She looks down at Jimmy and gives him a smile.

"Yeah."

"Relax, kid, we'll be fine. Karen and Hal's the best scouts we got. Plus, like I said, we'll keep you safe."

"I know you will." Jimmy says as he looks up at Sawyer. "I got to be strong, right?"

"Right." She ruffles his hair earning herself a groan from him that made the others laugh. His cheeks pinken, causing her to grin.

"Stop." She just smiles.

"Somethings don't." Tom suddenly calls to Hal. Sawyer looks over and smiles as Hal quickly hugs his dad, looking a little embarrassed, but still happy to do it.

Once they're gone, she takes a seat beside Tom. "They'll be back, Tom. He'll come back." She promises. He suddenly stands up, causing her to frown. "Tom?" She follows him and they see a young kid, about the age of Ben and Jimmy, laying on his stomach on the ground with a harness partially off him. It looked as if someone tried to pull it off him only to end up killing him. Then they left him there.

Sawyer swallows hard at the sight and Tom lets out a shaky breath, taking a step back. They both look up to see a statue of a nin above the boy. Sawyer blinks to fight back the emotion that wants to consume her. She can't imagine being a parent and losing your kid to the aliens… Just the idea of losing Jimmy…

She feels a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn and see Dai standing there. She takes his hand, needing the comfort he was willing to provide. "Somebody tried to take it off him." Tom says. "Killed him. He's about the same age as Ben… My son." He turns and makes his way back to the group, leaving Dai and Sawyer alone.

"Just a few years older than Jimmy."

"Nothing's going to happen to Jimmy." Dai says, squeezing her hand. "I'm going to make sure."

"Dai." She sighs, pulling her hand free.

"Sawyer-"

"Dai, we've talked about this." She sighs. "We're friends that's it."

"We could all die tomorrow, S. You really want to live with regrets?" Her eyes met his and she gave him a sad smile.

"Dai, you're my friend and I like you, but… I don't have regrets saying no to you. I'm sorry, really, I am. I wish I had feelings for you. It'd make all this so much easier. You're a great guy and I'm stupid for not wanting to be with you, but…"

"But you only see me as a friend."

"I'm sorry." Dai looks away.

"Don't be. You can't change how you feel. You don't got to worry. I'll still stick around. Can't let you have all the fun, can I?" He smiles, causing her to relax.

"I am sorry."

"I know." He shrugs. "We're good, S." He bumps his shoulder into hers before heading back to the group. She took a deep breath and followed Dai.

"Hey, Sawyer, when will the others be back?" Jimmy asks as he walks up to her.

"Hal and Karen should be back soon. They just got to scout the roads ahead. We'll be back with all the others before nightfall."

"Okay." She wraps an arm around his shoulders.

"Just stick with me, okay, kid?"

"Yeah, sure." He grins. "Do you think we got time to do some target practice?"

"Can't waste the bullets."

"Oh, right."

"Sorry, kiddo." She squeezes his shoulder. "Next time, okay?"

"Okay." She leads him over to a picnic table and the two sat down.

"Want to play some cards, while we wait?"

"Yeah. Can we play uno?"

"Can't really play with a regular deck."

"Each type can be a color. Spades, hearts, diamonds, cloves. Then the face cards can be draw 4's."

"What about skips, reverse, and the others?"

"Oh…."

"Why don't we play goldfish? That's pretty fun."

"Sure." She shuffles the deck and begins to pass out the cards. Dai comes by and sweeps up a stack of shuffled cards.

"I'm going to beat your ass." He grins at Jimmy, causing Jimmy to grin back.

"No way. I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

"Ooh that sounds like a challenge." Click grins.

"Count us in." Anthony adds as everyone takes a seat at the table, keeping their guns close by them.

"Alright, Jimmy, you're the youngest so you get to go first." Tom says.

"Um, okay… does anyone have any fours?"

"Damn it." Anthony huffs before handing out a diamond four.

"Sweet." Jimmy grins. "S, do you have any queens?"

"Go… fish…" She says slowly with a grin.

"Damn." Jimmy sighs, causing the others to laugh.

"Alright, any threes?" Sawyer asks, looking around.

Dai held one up, causing her to grin. "You are lucky." He says as he hands it over. "I was about to ask for yours." The group all laugh. The game helped ease the tension and everyone began to relax. The game was fun and light-hearted, more than a few laughs were shared around the group. They played three rounds, Sawyer winning the first and second before Jimmy came in and stole the third round. They were starting a fourth round when Hal and Karen came zooming into the park on their bikes.

"Which way are they coming?" Tom asks as he stands up and heads over towards the couple.

"Ben's alive. I saw him." Sawyer's eyes widen and she stands up in shock.

"What?" Tom asks.

"He's harnessed, but he's alive." Hal says. He is breathing heavily and he looked upset. Sawyer could understand, they all weren't sure if Ben was alive or not. He went missing during an attack and they never found him. They searched for him and all the other kids that were missing, but they never found any of them. There were a few kids they managed to reclaim, but none had been the first wave of the missing kids.

"Are you sure it was him?" Tom asks, looking as if he was hoping this wasn't a trick.

"Dad, he's alive." Hal says. "Come on, we got to go get him." Sawyer bites her lip, looking at the others. They needed to get that food for the others. They had almost three hundred people counting on them for that food. Without it, the group will not make it. She wants to go after Ben just like Tom and Hal, but they had others to think about.

"Tom." She says, causing him to turn and look at her.

"We'll screw this food thing. We got to go get him right now." Hal says and Sawyer could see the understanding hitting Tom.

"Whoa. Wait, wait, wait, wait." Tom says, grabbing Hal before he could head for the bike.

"Dad, it's Ben. And we got to go get him."

"I'm in." Click says.

"Me too." Anthony says.

"How many skitters? How many mechs?" Tom asks.

"I don't know." Hal shrugs. "There was like half a dozen… in front. With Ben and the other harnessed kids."

"We can't just go running in, Hal. We have to think rationally or all of us will be killed." Sawyer cuts.

"Sawyer, it's my brother!" Hal snaps.

"And more coming up after them." Karen cuts in. "You said hundreds and airships."

"Who cares? Alright, it's Ben!"

"I'm in, let's go." Karen says, all too ready to follow Hal even when he isn't thinking straight.

"Hal, I understand it's your brother. Trust me, I do." Her hand went to her dogtags. "I want nothing more to go in there, gun blazing, and save your brother with you, but it's more than just Ben we have to think about. We have all of the 2nd Mass to think about. Those people need food. They are depending on us. Not only that, but if we go rushing in there with no plan then we will die." She says the last part slowly.

"Sawyer's right. It's too risky. It's too many. That's way too many." Tom looks around. "No, no. We got-we got to stick to the mission. We got to get the food, we got to take it back to the group, and then I'll get Ben."

"No." Hal says, his voice cracking. "I'm going to get him right now with or without you."

"No." Tom shakes his head. "Hal!" Tom grabs a hold of Hal just as he got on the bike, pulling the teen off the bike or trying. "Hey, no!"

"Let go of me!" Hal snaps, pulling away. Tom grabs him from the back and yanks him off, throwing him to the ground. He pins Hal down on the ground to keep him from fleeing.

"You think I don't want to go get him right now?" The others watch, keeping out of the fight. Sawyer wants to step in and break it up, they all did, but she knew they needed to handle this between themselves. "He's my son! And you're my son. And Matt is back there alone!" Tom yells. "Ahh!" Tom grunts, struggling to keep Hal down. "Do you think I want him to hear he's lost his other brother and his father?" Hal stops struggling. "We do it the right way or we all die!" The two pant in exhaustion and over emotion. "We get the food, we bring it to the group, and then we'll get Ben- Together, you and me."

"Alright." Hal says after a long tense moment. "We'll do it your way." Tom let's Hal up and he fixes himself, brushing the leaves from his hair and heads towards his bike, but this time not rushing after Ben. The group is silent. The earlier relaxing, happy, fun moment was over. The tension was back ten folds.

"Which way are they coming?"

"Blanchard." Karen says.

"That's the Watertown Shopsmart. I know it." Tom says. "Click, grab that box." Tom kneels down on the grass as Click grabs the empty box that was just laying around. Tom sighs and takes the box. "That's the building." He says as he tosses the box down onto the ground after taking it from Click. "There's a road here." He draws with his finger. "There's a road here." He draws near the other. "We're gonna do our recon from here." He points to the corner opposite of the first road. "We'll wait for it to get dark. Then I'll go in first with Dai, Sawyer…. And Hal." Hal doesn't answer, still upset and refusing to look at anyone because he doesn't want them to see him like that, weak. "If it's clear, then you guys come in, we get the food, we get the hell out of there."

"If it's not clear?" Jimmy asks.

"If it's not clear? If it goes bad? Then I want you guys to take off at the sound of the first shot. Don't wait for us. You go and you go fast. Take the bike, you take the truck, and you go to Upland Park. If we don't show up in one hour then you go to the Littleton Bridge."

"But w-what of it's a trap?" Jimmy asks.

"Well, we'll see."

"Dover was." Click says. "That was a skitter and two mechs."

"The grocery store in J.P." Anthony says. "Had three mechs and two skitters."

"Not helping." Sawyer says before kneeling in front of Jimmy. "Look, Jimmy, I have never lied to you and I won't start now. It could be really bad. It could be extremely dangerous. We could be walking into a trap and we could die, but I want you to be brave and to stick with Tom's order. If it looks bad then do not play hero. I want you to get out of there, okay?"

"S-"

"No arguing, Jimmy. You're a tough kid and I know you'll make in this fight, so don't be making any decision based on your feelings, okay? Don't risk your life and the other's lives for me or for the guys, okay? Don't risk the group for a handful of fighters." Jimmy nods, looking upset. "Hey, for all we know, this could be a walk in the park." She grins, bumping his chin with her fist gently. He swallows and wraps his arms around her.

"Be careful."

"Always am, kid. Always am." She kisses his forehead before standing up to follow Tom. As she walks away she hears Jimmy say to the others,

"We're never going to beat them, are we?"

"They die, just like us." Dai says. "Just got to get close." Tom turns back and heads over to Jimmy.

"Listen, I know that you're scared and I know it doesn't seem like it, but we can beat them. We don't have to kill them all. We just got to kill enough of them. If we can make it too costly, too painful for them to sway, then they'll leave. They're wolves, we got to be porcupines. If we can hurt them, they'll leave."

"It hasn't worked so far." Jimmy mutters.

"Well, it will, 'cause it has before. History is full of inferior forces creating so much trouble that the invading army leaves-" No one looks convinced. "The Athenians at Marathon, thee, uh, Scots against the British at Stirling Bridge, and our revolution fought right here…." Still no one looked changed. "Red sox/yankees, '04." Karen laughs. The others grin. "We can beat them."

That night the four of them went in like Tom said. They moved as quiet as possible, undoing the chain on the dock's door. They all had their guns ready, going down different aisles. It was hard to see in the dark, but Sawyer kept her eyes opened and her gun ready. She kept her breath even and her hands unshaken.

The four met up at the end of their aisles, all of them holding their breaths. Tom nods and holds up his flashlight towards the exit, flashing it with the signal. The others push in the truck using neutral, not daring to start the truck and have it running. "Alright, Anthony, you and Jimmy guard this entrance," Tom orders as the four regroup with the other four. "Load the food as it comes in. You guys come with me. Karen, grab that cart."

"Okay." Karen whispers.

"Come on. We can do this. We'll be alright." They all move quick, loading up carts of food, bringing them back for Anthony and Jimmy to load.

"Alright, D, catch." Sawyer whispers as she climbs a ladder and begins to throw down big boxes of food. Dai catches them and sets them down gently before catching the next box. "Move quicker Dai."

"Keep throwing, I'll catch them." He says, causing her to nod. She picked it up a little faster and he does manage to catch them and set them quickly. She grabs the last in that row when a skitter pops up. She gasps, jumping back and falling off the ladder.

"Sawyer." Dai rushes forward and catches her in his arms.

"Skitter!" She calls. Hal rushes in from the next aisle, the skitter jumping down on top of him. Dai sets Sawyer down and kicks the skitter off Hal just as Tom rounds the corner and opens fire.

"Hal, Sawyer, Dai, get out of there." The three rush forward and out of the fire range.

"Fuck, Mech." Sawyer curses as they see the mech's light. "Fuck, fuck."

"S, are you okay?" Dai question. "Sawyer?!"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. It scared the shit out of me, but I'm fine. If you hadn't caught me I might have ended up with a concussion or a broken bone, but I'm fine. We got bigger things to be concerned about." She says as the mech begins to open fire on Tom.

Her eyes widen as Hal jumps out. He nearly gets shot at by the mech, but jumps out of the way just in time. He uses the c-4 that Dai brought and places it in one of the cart's before pushing it towards the mech. The mech turns just as Hal pushes the button to ignite it.

"Did he get it?" Sawyer asks. She hears the skitter and looks to see it advancing on Tom. She grabs her gun and begins to fire at it along with Tom. Tom's gone clicks and Sawyer rushes forward with Dai. Dai gives the killing blow. Using his shotgun and aiming it at the back of the skitter's head before firing. Tom lets out a relieved breath. "You okay?" She asks as Dai pulls him up off the floor.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Are you?"

"Yeah, got a bit of a fright, but I'll live. More than I can say for this bastard." She says as she looks at the crying alien who was withering on the ground. Everyone surrounds it as it groans weakly.

"I wonder what it's thinking?" Jimmy says as it dies.

"Nothing now." Tom says. "Let's go."

"Tom's right. We need to pack as much as we can before more show up. Let's move it." They all rush to pack up the rest that they could before deciding to bring along the dead skitter.

Hal and Karen lead the group, the truck honking to alert everyone that they were back. Everyone ran towards them excited. "Sawyer, are you okay?" Anne asks, causing her to nod.

"A few bumps and bruises, but I'll live. I gotta go talk to Weaver with Tom, but I'll fill you in when I get back, okay?"

"Okay, you promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." She smiles before following Tom with a box of supplies. Tom walks in and the two drop their supplies on the table as Weaver stands up.

"Well, what took you so long?" He says, causing Sawyer to chuckle, she had to admit, it was a tad funny. He didn't want to say thanks or to admit that he was wrong, she could respect it. She hated doing the same, but still… "How much did you get?"

"A truckload, enough for a few days."

"Hmm."

"Hal, why don't you stay? You guys wait outside."

"Me too?" Tom nods, causing her to nod in agreement. She turns and waits outside, knowing this was personal and he needed to do this without her.

Tom heads out with them and they begin a little party for Matt before they need to get on the road. Anne got him a cupcake and put a match as a candle in it. "You gotta blow it out fast because it goes out quick."

"You already know the wish. You sure that's okay?"

"Yeah." Tom reassures. They light the match, Tom holds his hands around it to help Matt before he blows it out.

"Yay." Anne cheers with a smile. Jimmy and Sawyer clap their hands for Matt.

"Happy birthday, kiddo." Sawyer grins.

"Happy birthday, Matt." Jimmy grins.

"Happy birthday." Anne smiles before taking out the match. "All yours." She hands over the cupcake. He takes a huge bite of it with a smile.

"Matt, I'm sorry. I don't have anything-"

"Dad, what's the matter with you?" Hal asks.

"What?" Hal asks.

"You forgot the thing-the thing you got for him." Sawyer smiles at Hal, feeling herself warm at his sensitivity. He may be tough on Matt, but he loves his brothers so much. Matt hands the cupcake to Tom before dusting his hands off and taking the package from Hal. "You're going senile. It's from dad." Sawyer wraps her arms around Hal.

"You're so sweet." She whispers to him. "And a great big brother. I'm sure your mom would be so proud." He hugs her back, his eyes a tad watery.

"Thanks, S. I think she'd love you."

"Oh, I'm sure. We'd embarrass you together no doubt." He smiles and kisses the top of her head.

"I know what this is." Matt says as he undoes the wrapping. "A ripstik." Tom pats Hal's shoulder in appreciation. Dai shows up with a helmet, clearly he was in on this. Sawyer shoots him a look, but he just grins. He places the helmet on his head and Matt gets it situated and clipped on.

"Ride, fool. We only got ten minutes." Hal says, causing Matt to smile and hop on. The other kids came over to watch him. It was truly a sight. A little boy getting to be a little kid for his birthday, happy and relaxed. Enjoy time on his new toy. It was something not many got to see nowadays. What shocked Sawyer the most wasn't everyone stopping to watch, but Matt getting off to let the other kids try. It was his birthday, but he was willing to share the toy with the others. Sawyer has to look away to wipe a tear at just how emotional the scene makes her. Everyone starts clapping. It reminds everyone just what they're fighting for.

Weaver looks at his watch and Sawyer could see the regret on his face as he looks at Tom, causing Tom to nod. "Alright." He mutters.

"It's time to go!" Weaver calls. "We're moving out. I want to make the Great Meadow by dark. We're gonna set up camp there. There's good cover there."

"Karen! You're forward! Hal and Sawyer! You're flank! Let's go!" Sawyer climbs onto her bike, pulling on her helmet, her bike was a triumph and it was more powerful than the other bikes, so she would rather be safe than sorry. She waits in the back for the others to pass as Hal pulls up beside her.

"Softy."

"Shut up." They share a grin. "You think he's happy?"

"Oh, yeah. That kid will love you… for a week." Hal laughs.

"You had a brother, right?"

"Yeah… Jonah. He was five years older and thought he knew everything and that he was so much smarter than me. Was a real jerk." She smiled. "Until I turned sixteen. He enlisted, but came back to find boys all over me. Then he became over protective and barely left my side." Her smile slipped. "I missed the bastard." She sighs. "But he died doing what he promised he would do. Protect me. I can't fault him for it. I just wished he didn't have to." Hal squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry."

"It won't end that way for the three of you. I'll be damn sure of it. You three will be together again and you will survive this." He smiles and the two start after the others.