WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!
While having a few drinks at a bar, Charlie is attacked by a group of men. Monroe bursts in and kills the group, saving Charlie. The people of Willoughby, Texas try to return to the level of normalcy after U.S. soldiers saved them from Titus Andover and his gang. Rachel wakes up after recovering from her injury. Miles tells her and Aaron about the U.S. soldiers calling themselves Patriots, which is the same word Randall used before he killed himself and about how they are trying to restore the United States. Going over the recent events involving Randall Flynn, Rachel immediately suspects something but Miles calms her down and tells her that the town is on lockdown because of Titus’ army. Miles plans to leave the town to check on them, leaving Rachel behind. While the town enjoys its moment of relief, Rachel decides to check up on the Patriots until Patriot soldiers find her in the office. Gene takes her back to the house. Rachel tells her father about the Patriots real agenda. Gene chews her out for wanting to put herself in harm’s way for the sake of the world. He blames himself for Rachel’s stubbornness. After, the man who was found outside the town is brought before Gene and Rachel where they are told that the Andover clan killed him. Elsewhere, Monroe tends to Charlie after rescuing her from the ruffians at the bar. She asks him why Monroe is being kind. He tells her a show of good faith. However, she doesn’t buy his story of wanting to change himself. While looking out the window at a group of children, Aaron has a vision of Miles at Andover’s hideout. There, he finds Titus who aims a gun at him. He tells Miles about Judas taking the rest of the gang and how his wife death is his fault. Then Titus attacks Miles with a knife only to be made to stab himself instead.
Rachel still has her suspicions about the Patriots. Her childhood friend talks with her about her recent behavior. After talking with her, he has a time wrapping his head around about Rachel story about the bombs and the U.S. Government being behind it. Ken decides to help her out but first he takes her to the basement of his store to get more wine. It is then that Rachel notices that same symbol on a pile of papers as the one belonging to the Patriots. Realizing that Ken is one of them, she tries to escape but Ken knocks her out. He takes her to the storeroom where he is digging a grave. He tells her that the government has been working restoring the country for some time. Rachel tells Ken that she will leave town but he doesn’t believe her and threatens to kill her. She manages to knock Ken down and pull her hand through the cuff and stab him with the knife he was going to use on her.
Neville detains Cook in a room at a whorehouse. He demands to know where Jason is, however, he doesn’t believe Cook when he tells Neville that he has no information on Jason whereabouts. No longer useful, Neville gives Cook an overdose of a sedative. Back in Willoughby, Rachel buries Ken in the basement of his shop. Cynthia is greatly concerned for Aaron after he passed out earlier. Elsewhere, Miles tracks down the members of Andover’s gang. When he is found out, Miles tries to escape but he is caught by two soldiers. Suddenly the soldiers burst into flames. In the Plains Nation, Monroe and Charlie are on their way to Willoughby.
Even in a post-apocalyptic world, the U.S. Government still likes to screw the people around. Following the destruction of Philadelphia’s Monroe Republic and the Georgia Federation in Atlanta, the U.S. Government returns to America from Cuba ready to reestablish the country. The people who have been living in fear of the militia groups that have taken over are amongst the happiest to see the return of the government. However, they are unaware of the secret their saviors are hiding. Rachel, unlike the rest of Willoughby, is not so quick to jump on the Unites States bandwagon. Once she learns from Miles that the soldiers are calling themselves Patriots, she immediately suspects that they are up to something big and decides to investigate. Miles has the same concerns and conducts his own investigation. Rachel searches the room of the soldiers and sees a pyramid symbol like the one Randall had on his ring. Meanwhile Miles searches the compound where he was held to find Titus there who tells him that a man named Judas betrayed him and took his “children”. Miles fights and kills Titus and then tracks down the rest of Titus’ followers who were being held on a train. Patriot soldiers are there. They begin executing each member.
Rachel slowly begins uncovering the secrets that the Patriots are hiding. She feels that she has to do something since she failed at stopping Randall at the Tower six months prior. Her father Gene is quick to be against the idea since he just got her back after so much time apart but Rachel is too driven. She learns just how much of an influence the Patriots have when she confides in her childhood friend Ken about what they are up to only to find out that he is already a team player. Ken tells Rachel that the U.S. government has been recruiting members and occupying towns for some time. After killing her former friend and freeing herself, she takes this news to Miles who is not surprised by this but something else that happened during his investigation. Rachel’s story coincides with Neville. He knows full-well that the government is responsible for the bombs that were dropped on Philadelphia and Atlanta, killing his wife. He made his first step toward destroying them by killing one of the soldiers who captured him and Jason. Tom has seemingly won the favor of Secretary Allenford but he’s got a way to go before he wins her full trust. The Patriots have shown that they are out for more than just restoring the United States. The fact that they could be a more dangerous militia than the now defunct Monroe Republic is illustrated when they kill a man and blame his death on Titus Andover’s clan and then they kill several defenseless members of the clan with the intent of making themselves look like heroes to the people.
Aaron hasn’t been the same since his return to the living and the vision of Ben Matheson he had a day ago. He feels something is not right with him that he cannot explain. For some reason, he has some sort of connection with the insects. He was able to keep track of Miles as he searched for Titus. Through the eyes of a pair of insects, he is able to see Miles’ every movement. He saw Miles again when he was detained by a pair of Patriot soldiers. Then the soldiers suddenly burst into flames. After returning to town, Miles tries to piece together what happened to the soldiers. Rachel has no answers for this occurrence. One thing is certain, whatever is happening to Aaron and the insects, the nanites are somehow involved. But what does this mean for Aaron?
