After an encounter with an alien who appears to him as his late wife, Tom makes a miraculous return to Earth with a newfound vengeance. In his absence, Anne tries to step up and lead the 2nd Mass.
After the camp's food supply is accidentally destroyed, the members of the 2nd Mass grow more desperate by the hour. When Ben, Maggie, Pope, and Sara go in search of supplies, they discover a family torn apart by the Espheni invasion.
Pope and Sara go in search of the source of a seemingly endless supply of Skitters that is amassing near the 2nd Mass camp, which puts Sara in a precarious position. As Tom works to unite militias around the world, Maggie and Hal defy him to chase after a young girl and her Skitterized brother.
Tom and Dan lead a small team to procure weapons and fuel, but run into unexpected trouble. Anne proposes a way to save Cochise's life after learning he is gravely ill, and a disgruntled Pope confronts Tom.
Pope recruits a new group of people to fight with him, while taunting a desperate Tom about the hostage Pope is holding. Meanwhile the 2nd Mass comes under fire from a fellow survivor while on the road, and Dan is taken prisoner.
Tom finds him recovering from injuries on a farm where a family has kept themselves and their children away from the war -- giving him a glimpse at the world he is fighting to recover. Meanwhile, the 2nd Mass discover a piece of enemy tech that could give them a strategic advantage.
After the 2nd Mass finds a safe haven with the 14th Virginia in Norfolk, Tom and the others soon begin to suspect that their leader -- an old flame of Dan Weaver's -- has an agenda other than defeating the Espheni.
With Tom and his family sentenced to a summary execution, Weaver tries quietly to rally support against Captain Marshall -- who he suspects is somehow under the control of an Overlord.
As Tom's new ally reveals her endgame for destroying the Espheni, the 2nd Mass is shocked by the return of someone they believed was dead -- who may pose a unique threat to their hopes to end the war. Ben risks his live to gain intel on the head of the Espheni forces, and Pope launches his own assault on his former compatriots.
The 2nd Mass must find a way to penetrate the enemy perimeter in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to take out the Espheni queen and end the war once and for all.
