The Kill Order

A crowd surrounds Mark and Alec, and Mark uses the Transvice to clear a path toward the house from which Lana emerged, hoping to find Trina and Deedee there. Mark and Alec fight their way into the house and are chased down hallways by the gathering crowd. Mark ends up in the basement, where he finds Trina and Deedee. Trina is ill.

Trina is confused and does not know who Mark is. As Mark struggles to convince Trina to go with them, someone throws open the door to the basement and comes rushing toward them. A couple of men also attempt to break through the windows to get to them. Alec and Mark sandwich the girls between them and go up the stairs. When Alec’s group reaches the top, Alec tries to clear a path with the Transvice, but it does not work. The crowd continues to press forward, and the group is pushed back down the stairs.

Trina talks to the infected and inexplicably, they listen to her. To the group’s surprise, the crowd backs away and allows Mark to lead Trina, Alec, and Deedee out of the house. Several of the infected make comments about Deedee and Mark. Halfway up the stairs, the crowd suddenly surges again and steals Deedee away.

Mark lunges for Deedee and loses his Transvice. He tries to recover it, but it disappears in the crowd. He rushes after Deedee and tackles the woman holding her. He manages to get Deedee free and rolls down the stairs with her in his arms. Mark sees someone firing the Transvice and realizes it is not Alec. He calls out a warning, then takes Deedee and Trina into the dining room where he breaks the bay window with a lamp and charges through it, still holding Deedee. Trina and Alec follow. As they run, a man fires at them with the Transvice from the porch. Mark briefly thinks of the house filled with children but continues fleeing without going back.

When they return to the Berg, Mark and Alec are rattled by what they have seen. They both acknowledge that they likely have the Flare, and that Trina clearly does. However, it is evident that Deedee is immune. Mark remembers the workpads and searches through them as the others sleep, finding a file called “Kill Order.”

Mark reads some correspondence between the members of the PFC’s Population Control Committee (PCC) that show how they concluded that the virus was the only way to deal with concerns over limited resources. Mark is angered by what he reads. He decides they need to go to the PFC bunker in Asheville just like the infected from the Berg headquarters.

Mark dreams about the past. He remembers how after leaving the Lincoln Building, they travel all night and hide during the day, avoiding the crime ridden streets and accepting that their families had died. They come across some caves just as thunderstorms begin, and they remain warm and safe as they wait out the storms. During that time, Trina and Mark are finally able to reveal their affection for each other. In the present, Mark wakes up and searches for Alec; he finds the older man sick and preparing to die.

Alec tells Mark he wants to do something meaningful before he dies. He insists that they take Deedee to Asheville so PFC can use her to manufacture a cure. Mark agrees, and Alec readies the Berg for flight, sending Mark to check on the girls. As Mark makes his way to the barracks, he hears a man laughing. When Mark finds Trina and Deedee, they tell him several men have gotten inside the Berg.

Mark retrieves Alec’s Transvice and begins searching for the invaders. He finds a man and two women. Mark kills one woman with the Transvice and knocks out the man. Mark and the second woman fight, as the man regains consciousness and approaches Mark. Mark manages to free himself and kills both people with the Transvice. Mark directs Trina and Deedee to the cockpit, telling them they are going somewhere safe. Another man appears in the rafters above him. He jumps down and manages to yank the Transvice out of Mark’s hands.

Mark takes Deedee and Trina to the cockpit and tells Alec what has happened. Alec is clearly not doing well, and he insists on teaching Mark how to fly the Berg. As they discuss it, Deedee runs off, and the infected man grabs her. He accuses Deedee of being a demon, and Mark tells the man that Deedee might be the answer to a cure. Mark attacks the man and wrests the Transvice from his hands. Mark drags the man down the hallway, aware that he is losing his connection with reality.

Mark takes the infected man to the broken window and pushes him out of the Berg. The man holds on to Mark and pulls him out, too. Mark hooks his legs on the frame of the window, holding him and the man against the side of the Berg as it lurches several times. Mark’s legs release from exhaustion, but he manages to grab onto a maintenance bar on the side of the airship. The man climbs up Mark’s body and hangs onto his back. Mark is exhausted, but he makes his way down the side of the Berg while the man clings to his body. When he gets close enough to the thrusters, Mark manages to get a grip on the man’s throat, choking him until he lets go. The infected man falls into the thrusters. Mark climbs back into the Berg.

Mark returns to the cockpit, where he finds Alec on his last legs. Meanwhile, they approach Asheville and locate a building that houses the Flat Trans. Alec lands the Berg, and Mark locates Deedee. Mark, Trina, and Deedee go into the building, where they see an odd object with two metallic rods in front of a gray wall. They witness people step between the rods and disappear, and Mark realizes this is the Flat Trans. Mark scribbles a note stating that Deedee is immune to the Flare and places it in her hand. Deedee hugs Trina then walks into the Flat Trans. As the infected begin to rush the building, Trina runs into Mark’s arms and kisses him just as Alec crashes the Berg into the building.

Two years later. A young, infected woman waits with her son for visitors to come take the boy away. The visitors tell the mother that her sacrifice will not be forgotten and that the boy will play an important role in helping them find a cure. One of the visitors notices a light bulb glowing in the room and suggests they call this child Thomas.