Hell Followed With Us

The next morning, Benji is rudely awakened by Cormac and told to join Nick and the others to meet the Vanguard for more supplies. At the meeting, Cormac gives the Vanguard 14 ears, and in exchange, they give the Watch food, water, clothes, and medical supplies. In the middle of the transaction, an infected girl appears nearby, threatening to infect everyone present except Benji. Cormac moves to shoot the girl, but Benji insists on trying to reason with her because he pities her and sees himself in the girl. Benji approaches the girl, who is already rotting from the inside out, and tries to tell her to leave. Instead, the girl slowly melts and explodes all over Benji, dying on the spot. Benji insists that he can’t get infected, but the Vanguard looks at him like he is a threat. As a result, Cormac berates Benji for compromising the ALC’s relationship with the Vanguard. In a moment of anger, he also tells Benji that Nick has been calling him an “it.”

The Watch brings the supplies to the ALC, and Benji chases after Nick to ask him if what Cormac said is true. He finds Nick in his room alone and confronts him directly, but Nick refuses to talk about it. Benji presses Nick, getting in his face and snarling at him with his jagged Seraph tooth. Nick relents and writes “I’m sorry” on a piece of paper, and Benji knows it means that he did in fact call him “it.” Benji announces that he is a boy and a human being, gives Nick back his bobby pins and knife, and leaves, feeling betrayed and hurt.

Wanting to escape the ALC for a while, Benji sneaks out and finds Theo still at the church. Theo tells Benji that he’s still himself, despite the changes occurring in his body, and kisses him. Benji feels shocked that Theo would be willing to do so. Theo then offers to give Benji oral sex, and Benji feels like it’s just how things used to be. When he says that he has to get back to the ALC, Theo doesn’t want to let him leave and grabs his arms tightly. Benji is instantly reminded of the night when Theo attacked him, and he escapes by telling Theo that he went to the bathroom.

Benji arrives at the ALC and finds it engulfed in flames. He recalls several Bible verses that talk about God’s wrath. Benji runs inside the building, frantically trying to figure out what went wrong, and sees Angels, Graces, and ALC members all over the place, many of whom are already dead. Benji commands the Graces to attack the Angels and leave the ALC members alone. He goes into a room and finds Cormac trapped, and together they help each other out of the flames and to safety. Benji sees Nick on the way out, who almost immediately runs back into the building to find more people—but not before handing Benji the apology note again. Benji and several others sit outside and attempt to recover from what they just experienced.

The ALC members find a nearby bank where they can stop to rest for a while. Erin asks Benji to hug her, desperate for comfort, and Benji obliges. Eventually, Benji gets tired and goes to be alone in a small room. He falls asleep and awakens briefly to see Nick standing in the room nearby. When Benji awakens again later, Nick is back as well. Nick readies himself for what he’s about to do by stimming, waving his hands and rocking back and forth, and Benji pretends to be asleep to avoid embarrassing him. Benji has his eyes half closed and watches as Nick removes his shirt and begins cutting it up. When he turns around, Benji sees that Nick has Angel wings tattooed on his back and realizes that Nick escaped the cult and survived. Nick sits down beside Benji and starts wrapping his arm in the cut-up shirt, covering up the wounds from the fire. Benji tries to force himself to forgive Nick for calling him “it,” knowing that fighting will not do anyone any favors.

Benji and Nick count up 15 bodies in the aftermath of the fire, eight of which are their own ALC members. They find a Grace in the gym hovering over a dead body, and Benji believes that the Grace is trying to protect it. Benji asks Nick about being in the death squad, and Nick answers that he doesn’t think it matters anymore. Benji apologizes to Nick using the same piece of paper that Nick handed him and hopes that he and Nick can move forward from their conflict. Benji asks Nick again why he referred to him as “it,” and Nick admits that he didn’t want to see Benji as a person because it made watching him turn into a monster less hard to swallow. Benji and Nick soon end up laughing over shared memories of growing up and going to Sunday school, including one particular teacher who brought a strange crucifix of a nude Jesus to class.

Later on, everyone sits and contemplates what to do now. One of the boys is particularly upset and angry and tries to insist that the group needs to leave the area. Salvador tells the boy that he can leave, handing him a backpack, and the boy leaves on his own. After a stunned silence passes, Alex uses her makeshift radio to contact the Vanguard, who demands 20 ears as payment for more supplies. Benji sits in utter guilt, certain that his presence is what caused the attack. He thinks about Theo and suddenly realizes that Theo was the reason the Angels knew where to find everyone.

Benji feels like he was made for vengeance and that by seeking vengeance against Theo and the Angels, he will be doing God’s will. In the night, he heads out toward the church in the hopes of finding Theo there, full of rage and quickly losing his old skin, replaced by Seraph’s form. Feeling immense physical pain, Benji wants the transformation to be over. On his way to the church, he comes across a death squad standing around two bodies and cursing them. Benji decides that these people do not deserve kindness and walks toward them.