Josh's right shoulder exploded in pain as he registered the bullet's impact. Without hesitation, he shot back twice, though he couldn't see if he landed any. His vision had gone temporarily white with fierce hot pain traveling up from his shoulder to his neck. He thought he screamed, but that might've been Ryan. It felt like a fire poker stabbing every nerve ending in his shoulder.

The man shot again, the bullet this time clinking against the bumper. Josh shot him back, this time right in the chest. He didn't even flinch, just grinning, though he dropped his weapon.

"Oh, shit."

A blanket of warmth made him dizzy and Josh fell straight back like a dead tree, hitting the passenger seat. He fumbled to grip the inside of the door, unable to move as the man fired again. Silver flashed in front of him. It took him a split second to recognize Tyler's metal arm wrapped around his front, lifting him into the seat.

The van's door slid open, and Hayley opened fire on the man. He jerked like a marionette, freezing before crumpling without strings.

Tyler turned Josh around, inspecting his shoulder. A warm stream of blood ran down his arm, tickling the inside of his elbow. Josh didn't know if it was shock or if he was used to being shot, but he was calm. So was Tyler, though his regular hand shook as he tore the fabric of his shirt to get to the wound.

"Ryan, drive!" Tyler demanded.

"I'm blind!" Ryan retorted, but from the way the van lurched forward and away, he had done exactly what he was told

Josh nearly blacked out as Tyler jabbed the back of his shoulder. He did kick him, hard enough to crack something.

"Okay, the bullet went clean through. Shit, shit! He's not healing."

Hayley's head appeared beside Tyler's. "What- what do you mean he's not healing? He has to heal."

Tyler shook his head, a deep red crawling up from his neck to his cheeks. "I'm going to snap his head clean off-"

"Ty." Josh raised his good hand to Tyler's face, which burned hot with rage. "Can we focus on the closest dying man? I don't want to bleed out in this shitty van."

He thought that he made Tyler laugh, but he wasn't sure, because he unconscious before he could process anything else.

If he dreamt when he passed, Josh didn't remember it. He just woke up to a soft arrangement of pillows surrounding him. The walls were floral, and the bed seemed like an ocean, expansive and taking up a big part of the cramped bedroom.

Josh didn't recognize the room. He panicked for a moment when he found himself alone. Surely, this wasn't Gerard's doing. If he'd finally caught up with the four survivors, he would've killed them, not give Josh a recovery room for elderly women.

The door cracked open, and Hayley poked her head in. She looked like a kid again; no blood or dirt to smear her soft peachy complexion, and she wore jeans with a crisp grey hoodie hanging loosely off her. He forgot how much younger she is than the rest of them.

"Oh, good," she sighed with a smile. "Just in time for breakfast."

"H... how long?"

"Just through the night. Long enough for us to get to- well, I can just show you."

Josh didn't think he'd ever seen Hayley... happy before. Sure, she smiled and laughed with them, but true happiness? It was rare, if not obsolete. But she glowed as she helped Josh out of bed, walking him through a small hall into a living room decorated like a grandma's house.

Tyler was up against a wall, fiddling with the inner workings of his arm. Ryan and a woman with blonde-gray hair and an ageless face chatted about nonsense. The three looked up in as Josh stepped in.

"Josh," Hayley began, getting him to the couch, "meet my mom."

"Are you the one who brought my baby back?" Hayley's mother asked him.

Josh looked at her, then to Hayley. "I-"

He didn't get to squeeze out any more excuses before the older woman leapt, hugging him tightly enough to break his ribs.

"Thank you, so much," she whispered, relinquishing him when a pulse of pain ran up his shoulder. "I- I've waited for this for years."

"It wasn't-" he glanced at Hayley, caught the glowing grin across her face, and recanted his statement. "It was my honor to bring her back, Mrs. Williams."

She hugged him again.

"Oh, poor thing, you haven't eaten," she shrilled, standing up to head to the kitchen. "I'll get you something to eat."

Josh began to tell her that it was okay, he wasn't hungry, but his stomach growled with the intensity of a man who hadn't eaten in days. He let Hayley's mom fix him a plate that made him glad he hadn't protested.

Scrambled eggs, hash brown, and a stack of pancakes beside them. She asked how he liked his coffee, and he gratefully told her.

By the time it brewed, Josh had already devoured everything on his plate. He slumped back into the dining chair with a rush of warm calm, Tyler smiling softly at him from the couch.

"It's been a while since we've been able to relax like this," he mused, cradling his own cup of a steaming drink.

"I missed this." Josh sighed. "I haven't been able to eat like this since-"

Since before Dallon's death. When he and Jenna lived together, bickering and on each other's nerves, but alive. The full realization that they were all that was left hit Josh full force and he suddenly felt nauseous.

"This is it," he said, earning confused looks from his friends. "We're all that's left."

"Yeah," Ryan responded.

He'd been quiet since Josh had walked in, and it was obvious that he was having it the worst, even though Josh got shot. Ryan lost his fiancé, his friends, his eyesight, and the only family he had left. Josh still had Tyler and his sisters, and Hayley had her mom.

"We need to leave soon," Tyler said, standing up while sipping his coffee. "We can't risk the Templar following us here."

"Where do we go now?" Hayley asked. "We've hit all of our bases, family wise. Is there really anything else we can do?"

"Take Gerard down," Ryan snarled, his hands clenched hard enough to pop blood vessels.

Josh placed his plate into the dish washer. "I agree. We won't stop running while he's still alive. Even with a handful of loyalists left, look wha he's been able to do. He needs to die."

"That's a bit harsh," Hayley mom mumbled as she loaded the rest of the dishes in.

"Momma, this man tortured us all," Hayley explained, sparing glances to them to ensure it was okay to breach the topic. Josh nodded. "He made us... less than human. He's a monster in every definition of the word. If we don't kill him, he'll kill us, and then everyone we love."

She gently took her mother's hand, who had tears pricking her eyes. "We just need to finish this, and then it's over. I'll come back, I promise."

Her mother sighed, pulling Hayley into a tight hug, and then looked around the room at the rest of them.

"Bring my daughter back," she said with demand only a mother could muster. "Please."

Tyler nodded. "Yes, ma'am."