Riley called back to Lilja and Shiva, "There's a gas station up ahead. We'll stop there for food and water."

The two heard him just fine but were engaged in a conversation of their own. Shiva said, "Why would they want to take you?"

"I don't know…" Lilja replied, "From what I saw, it was the only thing that tripod cared about. It didn't use its rays because it didn't want to risk striking me."

"You think they wanted you for like… experimentation or something?"

"Right now, I'm the only thing that can disrupt their shields. They are smart. They like to learn. If they had me, maybe they'd be able to find out how I am what I am."

"And use it to their advantage," replied Shiva dourly.

"It makes sense," said Lilja, "Humans wanted to experiment on me, and they did. Why wouldn't they want to do it, too?"

Shiva raised a brow at a small part of that statement, "Humans are a 'they'? You do know you're human, too, right?"

"Barely." Lilja stated quick.

"You saying I'm not human? You're not the only psionic, you know."

Lilja glanced up to Shiva and shot her glare back to the path. "It's different with you."

"Then what? My abilities are child's play compared to what you can do, right? Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before. I have beta abilities. You're on alpha OP energy."

"I have no idea what you're saying, and no." Lilja sighed, "I'm not saying you're weaker than me. You are just as strong. But… it's in your own way. You haven't done what I've done."

Shiva went inward herself, knowing exactly what Lilja was insinuating. "You were just a child. You're still a child. And you had your reasons."

Lilja walked a little faster ahead, saying lowly as she passed Shiva, "No reason good enough."

Riley opened the door to the abandoned convenience store and called, "Hut-two, ladies. Let's go."

Shiva groaned as she caught to the door with Lilja, "Would you relax? We're gonna be walking in the dark, anyway."

"Can't blame me for wanting to get back into commission and out the woodlands." He kept the door for the two as he ranted, "Here I am, stranded with Piccolo and Carrie, no communications, no weapons, no nothing. Excuse me for wanting to speed up a little bit."

"Thank you for reminding me you're a man in his mid thirties who watches Dragon Ball Z." Shiva mocked.

"Piccolo is from the Dragon Ball series, actually." He quipped back.

Lilja asked, "If she's Piccolo. Who is Carrie?"

Riley explained as the bell chimed on the door, "Oh, Stephen King? You never read it – she's this crazy girl with telekinesis who…"

"Kenneth!" Shiva snapped, "Shut it before I shut it for you."

"Right. Sorry."

Lilja, Riley and Shiva glanced around the dark store shelves. Seeing an abundance of food stuffs, essentials and other goods. Lilja's attention surprised to all the new things, she was excited to dive in and discover.

"Five minutes, guys. Grab what you need, use the shitter, meet back at the door. No leaving the store for any reason unless we're leaving together."

"Whatever you say, Sergeant." Shiva said drolly, already wandering into the chip hall.

Riley took a bite of offence to that and said to himself dejectedly, "I'm a Lieutenant."

Lilja wasn't hungry as of yet, even if she was, the new foods she had never seen before were off putting. Instead, she marvelled at the designs on the chip bags, the unique logos and titles. Simply going through junk food isles like she was in a museum. Meanwhile, Shiva was loading bags of Doritos and pretzels into her rucksack. Happily throwing away her bagged rations. Being able to purge grocery and convenience stores was far more appetizing than the gruel in MREs. After loading up with junk food, she plucked an apple from the shelves and took a bite – figuring she'd make her haul somewhat healthy.

Riley grabbed a flashlight and batteries, as well as a few lighters and a first aid kit. He indulged himself by breaking open the cigarette cupboard and taking a carton, as well. He didn't say it, but he'd been itching for one for days. He pulled one out and lit it up, striking Shiva's attention.

"Really?" She asked dryly.

He held one up, "Want one?"

"Trying to escape death and here you are killing yourself slowly."

"I'd rather do it to myself than someone else." Riley said muffled with the cigarette dangling off his lip, "You used to."

"Yeah, then I got…"

"Thrown in a lab. I know. You've mentioned it a few times. I walked right into that one."

Shiva nearly perked a smile as she scanned the feminine products for her and Lilja. Riley wasn't oblivious to it. It was the first time he managed to make her smile. Seeing it was encouraging. He had to remind himself not to over do it. As he walked out from behind the till, he caught her eyes staring a little too long. He knew the stare well. It wasn't a scowl and wasn't condescending, either.

"You know," he said light-heartedly, "You look good bald."

Shiva's gaze vanished in a moment, "Shut up."

"I mean it!" Riley chuckled in his throat.

"You looked better in Baghdad."

"No way. I didn't have this beard back then." He proudly stroked his scruff, and Shiva scoffed a side smile, turning her eyes away. It was another step in the right direction for Riley.

There was awkward silence for a moment. Only Lilja's small footsteps echoing deeper into the store isles. Riley sighed, feeling like she wouldn't see it as genuine, but for him it really was. "I am sorry, Shiva. I am. I can make all the excuses I want to justify it, but the only one who got the shit-end of the stick was you. I was torn in a situation and I… was hoping for the best. I didn't think it through. I panicked and… I should have told you about what the guys were saying. Allowed you to make your own decision."

Shiva finally interrupted him, "Ken. I think right now, this is possibly the worst time to even consider talking about this. We got bigger fish to fry, Lilja made that very clear."

"Well," he said sullenly, but still keeping a smile. "Just in case we got hours or days left, I wanted you to know that I…"

"I know." Shiva said, her eyes fluttering back to him. Her voice falling back to the sweetness he remembered too well. It said everything she didn't in words. "You know, too. Lilja called us stupid, remember?"

That wasn't all she said, and Riley knew that. He also knew that's what Shiva was getting at.

Deeper in the store, Lilja was too busy to overhear or mind the conversation up at the till. She was looking through each item, discovering how it worked, what its purpose was. She picked up a bottle of lotion, never hearing the name before. She was so proud to finally learn how to push up the cap of the bottle. When she did, a lovely smell filled her senses. Sweet and fresh, like fruit. Like the fruit cups she'd eat as a snack in the lab. She stuck her tongue a centimetre and squeezed the bottle up to get a taste. As soon as she did, her face grimaced against a strong bitterness. She set the bottle back to the counter, and gazed around for more interests. Hoping the taste would go away after a while.

Lilja saw a small Christmas decoration. Of course she didn't know it was a Christmas decoration. She didn't really know what Christmas even was. She saw a penguin (she certainly knew her animals) wearing a red sock on its head. Standing on a wooden plate with bells in its fin. She took to it excitedly before it started to sing loudly when she grabbed it. Flailing around and ringing the bells like a fish on land. Lilja almost jumped from her boots, tossing the penguin away and using her powers to thrust it even farther from her. She stared frozen and startled for a moment before moving on to something else. The things were becoming overwhelming to comprehend. Why others would have a need for these objects. What would they even use them for? Her mind was swimming, and despite her confusion, she wanted to see more. To learn more. Discover why these things are here and what their uses are.

She came across some magazines and movies. Kids her age, or appearing her age, were the main focal point. She had no idea she was considered to be a teenager. It was illustrated like an entirely different breed of human. Misunderstood by other ages and living a free-spirited and rebellious lifestyle. Wearing paint on their face, wearing funny and colourful clothes, riding on boards with wheels, a blonde woman named Paris Hilton carrying a small dog that looked more like a rat. The most glaring of all, the obsessive need for a girl to be with a boy. In every movie, every magazine, every picture, they were always together. Holding hands, laughing together. Is that what people my age are supposed to do? Is this what a human does?

A picture caught her attention and froze her. She was alarmingly curious to understand why a boy and a girl would touch their mouths together. Kissing? Is that what it is? Her mind was tossing and turning in the idea. Is it a show of love? When a boy and a girl meet, are they meant to do this to greet each other? Is that how Riley and Shiva met? Does it feel good? The more she stared, the more she wondered. Entertaining the idea for herself. Would a boy kiss her? If a boy met her, why would he kiss her? Would she like it? The boys were entrancing to look at. Big pearly white smiles, wavy and shaggy hair, tight shirts and clean warm skin. How would a boy like that think of a girl like her?

Shiva turned the corner, "Hey!" Lilja leapt with the magazine only an inch from her nose. She slapped it shut and wove it tight to her chest. Trying her best to hide it.

"We're leaving, come on."

Lilja nodded, "Okay." She let Shiva walk off first before setting the magazine back. She followed her towards the front doors. The skies were already starting to get dark. No sun rays anymore. Riley was waiting there with a cigarette.

"No snacks? Not even a tootsie roll or something? Don't kids love snacks?" Riley asked Lilja, who only shook her head to decline.

"Right, well, don't tell me your hungry later when it's too late to come back."

Shiva rustled her bag that was loud of chips and other junk foods. "I think we're covered. Thanks, Lieutenant."

"Okay, let's go. Stay close behind."

As they walked into the open air, the smell of rain was already strong. Judging by the dark clouds rolling in, it was to be assumed.

Riley grumbled, "That's just great."

The rest of their trek was on foot through thick and dead woodland. The canopy of the forest was barely a shield from rain. It was coming down vengefully and disorientating. Leaving the three without any words left. Just purely concentrating on getting through it, bearing the soaking cold. Hours of frigid struggle left them stiff and jaunt in movement. The most concern extended to Lilja, who was struggling to keep up.

Suddenly a tripod's battle cry was barely heard over the pelting rain, but it was obvious enough. Shiva asked, "How far was that? Lil?"

"Far," said Riley. "Have no idea where it came from. Sounded like it could be anywhere. Lilja, can you find it?"

She stopped for a moment to concentrate. She stayed for longer than usual, her face furrowing into frustration the harder she looked.

"Lilja?"

She let the rain dip down her lip and eye lashes as she grew a scowl. "I can't find it."

"What?" Shiva asked again, "Why?"

"I don't know." Lilja replied dishearteningly, "I should… I should be able to."

Riley rushed them then, "It sounded far. Far enough we don't need to worry. One gets close, we'll feel it's big ass stomping up, at least. Come on. We need to get out of this rain."

He used the flashlight he took from the convenience store to light their way. Without it, they'd surely be in complete, opaque darkness. The higher they trekked up the plateau, the lighter the rain became. Until it slowly started to turn to freezing rain. Another hour later it was fresh, falling snow. Light and fluffy. Lilja's first meeting with snow, and she found her neck hurting after staring up for too long.

"Keep up, Lil." Riley was exhausted and grumpish from their toil of travelling in the pouring rain. He struggled to say it with heavy breath. Lilja ran to catch up. As she did, the clap of rotors was coming up behind. It stopped all three dead in their tracks.

Shiva asked quietly, "You guys hear that?"

The three looked up simultaneously to an apache clapping overhead, blaring loud enough they couldn't hear their own thoughts. It whooped past with another coming up swiftly behind, both going the same direction they were. Towards the Hudson Ferry.

"Webb." Riley breathed a smile, "Finally. Let's go!"

The three walked fast, knowing they would be coming up to the ferry soon. The closer they got, they started to realize the cry of wind wasn't wind at all. Especially when it accompanied the harrowing and familiar crack of lasers. The winds turned to screams, rising and falling, some louder than the others. It was coming in the direction of lights through the grove. Riley knew it to be the Hudson Ferry. His heart fell into his stomach. Lilja stepped forward.

"Screaming," she whispered. She rattled hearing it. Her eyes staring vacantly ahead, expecting the worst. Shiva and Riley shot a mutual glare to one another before flurrying into a sprint up the plateau. All three ran as fast as their legs could carry them. The cold that was crippling moments ago wasn't existent now.

Their blood was warmed by fear. The screams of many, the sound of tripod laser rays, the Scouts 84 apaches. Nothing could prepare them for what was waiting over that hill. When they reached it, an air horn started to blare through the hills. Then their heads rushed. Their knees were fit to give out. Their horrors in New York and D.C. nothing compared to the massacre before them. Hudson Ferry was misted in terror and pain, surmounting over ten tripods preying upon refugees who were fortunate enough to escape New York, only to meet their end where they were sworn to be protected by the National Guard. The Scouts 84. The ferry was tipped and capsizing in the river. Tripods plucking people from the water like they had their pick of the litter. Destined for a fate unimaginable and unknown. On their side of the river to the far off plateaus and floodplains were battalions zapping racing and wailing civilians down a hill. The screams only growing louder and desperate when they could see more peer over the hillside. Coming around the bottom of the floodplain to stop any from escaping.

Riley lost his breath, but he managed to whisper, "Dear God…"

Shiva felt as if she was pulled into a waking nightmare. A horror movie. And Lilja let her shame curdle down her spine.

"Where…" Shiva stammered, her eyes fixed perilously to the massacre. It was impossible to look away. So mortifying it was captivating. "Where is… where are the Scouts? The National Guard…"

"They wouldn't have been able to stop this…" Riley said lowly. "We saw them coming over the hill, but the apaches were likely acting as recon. Assessing danger. When they saw this… they knew it would be pointless." He glanced to Lilja and Shiva, tears swelling in his eyes. "Especially without you two."

Lilja's expression was void and dead-pan. Yet the anger was there. Clawing in her throat. "They left them all to die."

"No." Riley assured shakily, "In matters like this, the army is just as defenceless as the refugees. Scouts 84 is on a specific mission. A mission to kill tripods. How are they meant to do that without you two? Which is why we need to find a damn radio right now."

"Were we supposed to be here, Riley?" Lilja asked with a wave in her voice. She fought her tears with all she had. "After New York… were we meant to be here?"

Shiva glanced to Riley then, fearing the answer. Renick looked away from the carnage to his seldom relief. Only to join the shame Shiva and Lilja were in. "Yes." He hushed. "After New York. We were meant to come here to oversee the refugee's evacuation from the city. Defend… if needed."

"It was needed," dejectedly said Shiva. "We failed them."

"There was nothing we could have done."

Lilja muttered, "I couldn't see them up the hill. This many tripods in one place. I should have heard them before you two. I didn't. They know I'm tracking them and they're hiding. I don't know how they're hiding from me." Her voice started to fall as she spoke. As if she was saying it to herself. The screams brought nightmarish memories. Memories she desperately tucked away to never be visited again. Until now, and they came with a raging storm. She felt a burning inside her chest that climbed up to her head. Like a punch that needed to come out. It rang in her ears. All she wanted in that moment was to throw it at one of the machines. Watch it fly back and hit earth, making it surrender and cower just as they'd done to their victims.

Riley pained to look up to the massacre again. The hill rolling with pillows of ash like smoke, clothes falling through the air a haunting reminder they failed. Three tripods convoying east together as soon as they deemed the population was wasted away. Riley bit down the inside of his cheek, he too only fuelled with hatred to see their malice. They stalked and preyed. He wondered if they were ever a species to have it done onto them. Doubtful. Perhaps that is why they were so unsympathetic. Then an idea sparked.

"Lilja… you see those three? Walking up the incline?"

She followed his eyes to the three tripods going east. "Yes."

"Can you track them?"

Lilja let them leave out of sight behind the hills. Her face changed as she used her telepathy. Strangely enough, she could see them clearly. See where they were over the hill and where they were going behind her eyelids.

"Yes… it's strange. It's as if they planned this attack… they didn't want me knowing about it. These must be the same machines in New York. The ones who got away. The ones who chased us."

"What about those three?"

"No… they're different. They are going somewhere… where they know humans will group together. It's like they're mapping where small groups of us are heading. They know as humans; we like to stick together. To pack. When three or more refugee parties come together, they march on them. It's… unbelievable."

"That's their strategy?"

"Yes. Like we're…"

Shiva said coldly, but her voice in disgust, "Livestock."

Riley curdled to think of it. The tripods knew humans through and through. As a soldier who worked with refugees plenty, it was exactly human instinct. The tripods were taking a sickly advantage. He said with scorn, "Yeah, so they think. You're going to track those three tripods. We're going to follow from a distance. They go where the refugees are. As do the Scouts."

Shiva said in a realization, "The tripods lead us to the refugees. Where the refugees are, we'll find Scouts 84."

"And we can rejoin the fight," uttered Lilja. "Our own strategy."

Riley declared with a darkness in his voice, "And send them howling back to Hell."