Now. Before. After.

"Now. Before. After." is the nineteenth and penultimate episode of season two of The Last Ones and the thirty-fifth episode overall. It was first published on March 12th 2018.
==Plot==
The residents of Victoria are forced to deal with the horde of undead released into the complex by Donna. Meanwhile, Blaine concocts yet another deadly plan. Elsewhere, Shiro and Lorna decide to take matters into their own hands.
==Synopsis==
===Now.===
Blaine stands idly on the outskirts of Midway. He doesn't move for several moments until a huge explosion destroys the town. Blaine smiles in satisfaction and calmly walks away.
===Before.===
Alexis and the other residents of Victoria are panicked and horrified by the massive amount of undead pouring in through the gate Donna drove through. Alexis tells Coleman she's left Stephen alone and he would've woken up due to the noise. She begs for his help in getting to him, but he says he's no good with a gun and it was always Steph who dealt with the undead. Alexis reminds him that Steph is dead and Stephen will be too if he doesn't help. Coleman is still unsure, but Alexis reminds him that if he still feels guilty about Catelyn then saving her son will help make it right.
In Midway, Elaine asks Henry if he's coming back to bed. He says in a moment. He talks with Peter about Donna. Peter says they should send a group out to find her, but Henry disagrees. Peter insists they can't abandon her, but Henry says while he finds Donna irritating, she's loyal and been a good friend to Shiloh but if she told Georgie not to send anyone after her then they should listen. Peter says he hopes she makes it out. Henry says if there's anyone who can pull a stunt like that and make it out unscathed, it's Donna.
In Summerlyn City, Donna wakes up and finds herself in a small nest camp on the roof of a building. She spots her gun, grabs it, and runs at a man who is staring out onto the streets. She tells him to turn around slowly. He does so and calmly says that's not a polite way to treat the person who saved her life. It's revealed to be Jesse, who was last seen saving Aimi in the woods in the episode Safe and Sound, just a day or so after he left Eli's camp after refusing to be a part of his group. Jesse introduces himself to Donna and tells her he unloaded her gun. He asks if she would like a hot dog.
Alexis and Coleman leave the house and begin killing the undead as they make their way for Alexis's quarters. Coleman's aim is all over the place and Alexis tells him to get it together. Matt begins to help taking out the dead from his doorstep and asks what the hell happened. Alexis says they will discuss it later. They make it to the door of Alexis's quarters but the large amount of undead closes in on them. Coleman orders Alexis to go inside and save Stephen and leave him, but she is hesitant. Suddenly, multiple zombies are taken out at once as Blaine, who was previously banished, returns to help. Little does Alexis realise as the three of them continue to try and reduce the horde, a lone zombie has made his way upstairs and is heading right for Stephen's crib. 
Blaine wonders if someone should lead the horde away. Coleman says he can't see anyone volunteering. Blaine runs towards the houses and says he will handle it. Coleman tells Alexis to get inside. She panics as she spots the zombie just inches from Stephen. She is forced to tackle the zombie to the ground upon discovering she's out of bullets. It gets on top of her and for a moment it appears it might get the upper-hand until he is shot dead by Coleman, who is amazed he got the shot. Alexis picks up Stephen and says he is OK, thanks to Coleman.
Victoria residents Monty, Paul, Lawrence, Howie, and Yvonne watch from their house as the undead pour in. Paul says they may have to make a run for it but Howie doesn't agree. Paul tells Howie to wake up.
Blaine goes down to the basement where Zahra and Trudy are being held prisoner. Trudy asks what's happening. Blaine replies it's a long story, but Zahra's about to get filled in on the situation. He pauses, seemingly remembering about her need of a cane to walk. He therefore says to Trudy it will have to be her, and he marches her upstairs.
In Midway, Angie struggles to sleep in her hut knowing Javier's bed is lying vacant. She visits Georgie, who is also awake. The two talk about Javier and Calvin and about what they've lost. Georgie says the four months she spent with Calvin were the happiest of her life.
In Summerlyn, Donna asks Jesse why he bothered saving her. He says she got lucky as she was making his way out of the city when he saw what she did. He reveals that he feels like he knows the people of Victoria as he's been watching them afar for months, and he gathered that they are not good people. Donna asks if he's been living rough. Jesse disputes that and says he has grown fond of his little nest and he only decided to leave because the number of undead is growing. He says he best hit the road. Donna invites him back to her camp but he politely declines and says he wants to check on his parents, who live down South. He jokes he's only bothering to do so now as there's less of a chance of the "bigoted assholes" being alive than there was at the start. Donna thanks him for saving her life. The two part ways.
Blaine tells Trudy if she leads the horde out of Victoria and diverts them away, she will be allowed to return and her previous transgressions will be forgotten. A stunned Trudy is terrified and doesn't move, until Blaine makes it clear she doesn't have a choice. She runs into the crowd of undead and successfully leads them out. Paul and the others watch in horror upon realising what Blaine has made her do. Coleman is also disgusted and is annoyed further when Alexis says he didn't have a choice. Coleman remarks that something Jenson said to him once is starting to resonate: Blaine will be the end of Victoria.
In the morning, Alexis heads outside just as Blaine and the others finish the tidy-up of the fallen undead. Blaine tells her he understands why she banished him and says in spite of everything, he respects her and always has done. He says being a leader doesn't appeal to him and he's made that clear since the start, but says if he had thought she wasn't strong enough or capable to leave he would have taken her out. He says what happened the night before is on him and he intends to make things right, and if Alexis wants to banish him for good after that then that will be her choice and he will honour it. He says once their rivals at Midway discover they survived the horde invasion they will strike again, and he says Alexis won't make it through that without him and his people. He says if she agrees to let him stay, he wants to handle them his way and take them out for good. She reluctantly agrees.
Paul, Yvonne, and Lawrence clash with Carlos, Reginald, and Laurie as they attempt to leave Victoria. Blaine approaches and makes it clear nobody is going anywhere, but a furious Paul insists they are leaving. He says he's done living in fair of Blaine and tells him he's sick and Victoria is fucked. When Reginald refuses to step aside, Paul raises his gun at him. He is stunned when Blaine shoots him in the chest. He collapses to the floor and dies, much to the shock of Yvonne and Lawrence. An enraged Matt and Coleman ask Alexis if she's going to allow this, but she walks away without replying.
Donna returns to Midway and tells Mark to fuck off after he scolds her for worrying Henry. She heads into Georgie's hut and finds her sleeping next to Angie. She jokes that she didn't expect the two of them to "gay it up." She tells them what she did and Angie is disgusted and says there are innocent people in Victoria. Georgie agrees with Donna and points out the people there have a chance of escaping, unlike Calvin, Dwayne, and Aimi, who couldn't avoid the bullets. The three head over to Henry and fill him in. Henry says while he intends to make Alexis pay for what she did, Donna was wrong not to clear it with him first. Donna says it wasn't spur of the moment and she wanted to do it, and was prepared to die if it came to it. Henry says he hopes she did a thorough job and it doesn't end up blowing up in their faces.
Blaine reveals his drastic plan to take out the people of Midway to Alexis, but she is hesitant. He convinces her by saying they can't bring the fight to them as they're up high and will have an advantage so the alternative is they will bring the fight to them, and with one gate down already they will be vulnerable. Alexis says Matt will never agree to the plan and when Blaine says he won't be given a choice, Alexis makes it clear he is not to be hurt. Blaine heads over to Matt and reveals his intentions: he wants Matt to build him a bomb.
Angie, who is angry about her friend's desire to go to war, tells Bobby they should have left with Javier. Bobby agrees that they have to fight and reminds her that Aimi died. Angie says the fact Aimi is dead should persuade them that further violence isn't the answer, and wonders how Beatrice would cope if Peter died, or if Henry had to watch Shiloh die, or if Bobby was left without her. Bobby agrees but says they can't live peacefully all the while Alexis and Blaine are still out there. Angie says she's going to find Javier, but Bobby tells her she's not recovered. Peter enters and says he will go out and look for him. Bobby decides to go with him to track.
Matt tells Blaine he worked in bomb disposal to save lives, not take them. Blaine says he respects that as a former military man but claims it's a new world. Matt disagrees and refuses adamantly to do as he says, claiming that Blaine wrongly assumed he would roll over and keep quiet over what he did to Jenson, but he didn't, and no matter what he does to him, he will not do as he asks. Believing him, Blaine asks where the bomb Eli planted outside Victoria the night he did is. Matt claims he destroyed it after disarming it, but Blaine can tell he is lying. When Matt refuses to tell Blaine what he wants to know, he beats him, only stopping when Reginald enters and reveals he has found the bomb and believes it's functional. Blaine tells Matt he's off the hook and goes to leave. He smiles as Matt begs him not to go ahead with his plans. Reginald tells Blaine they will need a shock wave from a detonator to set it off, which he can arrange. Blaine is thrilled. He tells Carlos and Laurie he has somewhere to be and asks them to gather the residents and train them on how to use a gun, as Victoria will need an army going forward. Alexis watches as he leaves Victoria to "put one more domino into place."
When Jasmin continues to be distant with Luke, his suspicions grow further. He approaches Bernadette and asks her what she meant when she said she believed to be compromised. Bernadette tells him she thought it was obvious what she meant. Luke says Jasmin hates Alexis, but Bernadette points out Jasmin hates her more, and how did Blaine know where the meeting with Noah's group was going to take place and how did he get into a position to take them out without being seen? Luke is upset at the possibility of Jasmin's betrayal as he believed she cared about him and Daniel. Bernadette says she may have made a deal to protect them both. Luke admits Jasmin asked him not to go the meeting. Bernadette tells him she will handle Jasmin. Meanwhile, Jasmin leaves Midway and heads to the meeting place she established with Blaine's group. She says she will wait.
Drew approaches Jai and asks if he can reach out to Shiro, who is standing on a bridge in Midway and refusing to come inside. Jai approaches him and asks if he's thinking of jumping over the side. Shiro responds if he's going to die he wants his death to mean something and not to be a splat on the ground. Jai says he has been patient and understanding but he's angry that Shiro is even considering dying. Jai says he had moments of wanting to kill himself after the death of his wife and daughter but instead of allowing the despair that tried to force him to his knees to have its way, he picked himself up and helped Ollie save a survivor: Aimi. Shiro says maybe he shouldn't have bothered. Jai says Shiro has every right to be upset and mourn, but his behaviour is petulant and selfish and he should stop it as it's beneath the man he's watched him become.
Lorna approaches Georgie, who says she heard she's decided to stay. Lorna says it's too cold to be out in the open, but doesn't respond when Georgie asks if that was the only reason. Lorna says she wanted to say she was sorry about Calvin as he seemed like a good guy. Georgie thanks her, and then says the step Lorna has taken to stick around took guts, as it's always easier to run away. An appreciative Lorna smiles.
On their way to find Javier, Bobby asks Peter about women and if it gets easier trying to understand them, as Lydia-Jean confuses him. Peter says he thinks she likes him. Bobby then asks if Peter likes Angie. Peter doesn't respond and says they should keep moving.
Blaine finds Jasmin waiting for him. Thrilled, he says he was about to leave a note but here she is. She raises her gun and reveals she's been coming here, waiting for him. She confronts him about the ambush and says Alexis promised her there would be no killing. He says it was his call and he even killed Jenson to make it happen. She tells him he's deluded if he believes he can put things right with her. When she demands to know how Shannon is, Blaine is taken aback, and realises Shannon didn't make it to Midway. Blaine plays along and says Shannon is fine and refuses to take Jasmin to her as she's his insurance. Jasmin is furious and says he's sick for using a child like this. He tells her not to be hysterical and says in spite of what she might think, he doesn't want to harm Shannon, and suggests she lower the gun. Jasmin asks why she should trust him after last time. Blaine says he has grown to like the kid and her cries for Jasmin has made him feel guilty, something he's not used to feeling and he doesn't like it. Jasmin does lower the gun and asks Blaine what he wants.
In Midway, Carlos and Laurie begin to teach the townsfolk how to shoot as Alexis, Matt, and Coleman watch uneasily.
Peter asks Bobby if he's getting any good at tracking since Charlotte began teaching him. He says he's not lost Javier's trial thus far. They come across a wall with a dead zombie close-by. On the wall, written in blood, is a message from Javier telling Angie to turn back and go home. Peter says they should go back to Midway and expand the search tomorrow. Peter apologises to Bobby for cutting him off earlier. Bobby says he understands, as he was prying. Peter agrees when Bobby says things are complicated because of Lorna and Javier. Peter says Lorna told him their marriage is over, and that it hurt, but it made sense after what happened with Milo as neither of them were the same, but now she's decided to stay at Midway, he doesn't know where she stands. He then admits he thinks he's falling for Angie.
Blaine returns to Victoria and asks Noreen if there's any updates. She reveals Reginald can get the bomb to blow, much to Blaine's excitement. She asks how it went on his end. Blaine smiles and says it couldn't have gone better. At the same time, Jasmin returns to Midway and is asked by Luke if they can talk, but she refuses. She's angry to spot him with Bernadette and asks if they're chums again now. Luke says it's not like that but Jasmin storms off. Bernadette tells him they will confront her tomorrow. Furious, Jasmin says to herself "fuck these people!"
Peter and Bobby arrive back at Midway. Bobby says he fell for a dummy trail. Charlotte tells him to go easy on himself as Javier knows what he's doing. Peter asks Charlotte to come along to help tomorrow. She agrees. Angie thanks Peter and Bobby for trying. Bobby tells Peter what he said to him earlier is safe with him. Charlotte is touched when she realises Shiloh is offering to let Ben stay with Georgie for the night as he heard she has been struggling to sleep since Calvin died. Georgie is appreciative and gives Ben a hug.
Henry is approached by Elaine. He admits he's scared that they might lose the impending fight with Alexis and Blaine.
Lorna, who is sitting alone, once again hallucinates Eli's presence. He goads and cruelly teases her, and says she has no real intention of ever committing herself to Peter and Beatrice again and so she's giving them false hope. Lorna denies this. Eli smiles and says she will hurt Peter more than what he ever did. Just then, Shiro approaches and asks if he's interrupting. Lorna pulls herself together and says no. Shiro tells her he's sick of waiting around, and that the two of them can take action and end things themselves. He suggests they sneak into Victoria and take out as many of Blaine's people as they can. If they die then they at least would have given the others more of a chance. Lorna asks what they would do if they were caught and used against Henry. Shiro says they won't let that happen as they'll kill themselves. Shiro sees that doesn't scare Lorna and says it doesn't scare him either and asks why they don't just do it. After, Shiro returns to his hut. Drew asks what he was talking to Lorna about but Shiro doesn't respond, and instead kisses Drew passionately. The two have sex.
A nervous Alexis remains unsure of Blaine going ahead with his plan. He says if she's unwilling now needs to be the time to say. She gives him the go ahead. After he leaves, Matt approaches Alexis and says it's not too late as he can still catch up to Blaine if he was to leave now. She admits she doesn't want Blaine to do it, but she has no choice, as she has to think of Victoria and the safety of Stephen. Matt suggests if he kills Blaine, they will be able to convince Midway to agree to a truce, but Alexis doesn't believe it's possible. Matt insists he can fix things, but Alexis says it's too late. Angry, Matt walks away as he tells Alexis she's not the woman Jenson said she was.
During the night, Lorna sneaks into Peter's hut and looks over the crib at a sleeping Beatrice. She says she's sorry and bids her goodbye. Likewise, Shiro stares at a sleeping Drew, picks up his gun and walks outside. The two leave Midway together.
Bernadette, who is sitting around the campfire, asks Angie if she can't sleep. Angie says she's going to try. Bernadette says they have something in common: they both loathe Alexis. She wonders who hates her more.
Jasmin approaches Mark, who is on-watch, and says she's going to take over. He reminds her she's not due to start for another two hours. She says she's offering. He concedes, glad to go to bed and get out of the cold. As Jasmin takes position on the watch-post, Blaine, observing from a distance, approaches the town. As the residents sleep, Blaine enters the building and plants the bomb.
In the morning, Peter asks Charlotte if she's ready to go. Shiloh offers to tag along, but Charlotte declines, telling him he has laundry to do. Angie approaches and tells them they don't have to go out and look again. Bobby reminds her they're not just doing this for her, as they care about Javier too. Peter says they just want to make sure he's all right. Shiloh suggests they take Ben as he can smell and hear the dead long before any of them can. They agree.
Jai enters the infirmary and spots Felicia. He apologises and says if she's busy he can come back later, but she insists that's not necessary. She says she knows she wasn't welcoming to him when he first arrived at Midway, and apologises for that. He says she's a perfectionist and had her own thing going so it's understandable. Felicia asks Jai if he would like to get dinner later. Jai declines by saying that even though his wife is dead, he still considers himself married. Felicia understands. Jai says he would be honoured to join her for dinner as a friend and colleague though. She smiles.
On their route to Summerlyn City, Lorna and Shiro stop for a break. Shiro says he knows she was talking to somebody the night before. Lorna insists she's not crazy. Shiro reminds her he never implied she was. He tells her about the time he and Ollie first killed living people. They had teamed up with another pair of survivors and all agreed to ransack a supermarket together, but they were betrayed and left to be overwhelmed by the undead. Furious, Shiro shot one of the men in the back and Ollie killed the other before he could retaliate. Shiro says while he felt good about it at first as he believed he knew he had what it took to survive, he eventually started to see the man everywhere he want. He said it only stopped when he realised he wanted to see the man as his guilt had manifested itself in a different way. Sometime after, Lorna wonders if anyone would have noticed they were missing. Shiro admits he put a sedative in Drew's drink as he doesn't want anyone coming after them.
Peter, Bobby, Charlotte, and Ben successfully find Javier in spite of his best efforts to cover his tracks. Javier says he's not going back as he needs to be alone, much to Bobby's anger. Javier says he can't watch anyone he cares about die anymore. Bobby says after the weeks they spent together alone in the city, he thought Javier was the bravest man he ever met and that he looked up to him. He says he was wrong. Bobby walks away. Charlotte follows. Javier asks Peter if he's going to shout at him too. Peter instead apologises for their differences in the past. He admits he didn't trust Javier when they first met as he couldn't see past the tattoos and the fact Javier was a convict. He says he's glad he pushed all of that aside and gave him a chance as he's a good man. Javier asks Peter why he's telling him this. Peter says if it's truly the last time they see each other, he wants him to know. Javier says he'll never be as good of a man as Peter is. Peter tells him he should think higher of himself, as he does. As he leaves, he tells Javier there will always be a home for him with the group.
As Blaine gets ready to blow Midway up from afar we see things happening in very quick succession including Lydia-Jean eavesdropping as Luke and Bernadette confront Jasmin about being in league with Blaine; Henry telling Shiloh and Donna that he wants to take a group to see Noah so they can make a plan on taking out Alexis; and Drew finally waking up and telling Henry that he believes Shiro and Lorna have left for Victoria. Jasmin is horrified when she discovers from Luke and Bernadette that Shannon is actually dead. With Lorna and Shiro's intentions clear, Henry enlists Georgie and Angie to go and find Peter. Georgie leaves Beatrice in the care of Lydia-Jean. As Henry, Shiloh, Donna, Drew, Rachel, and Jai leave town to go to Noah's and Angie and Georgie leave to try and find Peter, Jasmin herself rushes down to safety after telling Lydia-Jean to do the same if she wants Beatrice to live. Luke chases Jasmin and upon realising that something is imminent, he rushes back to try and find Daniel. As he hurries to find him, Waylon passes on a message to Elaine from Henry: goodbye. This leads her to go down to try and catch Henry before he leaves. Jasmin is stopped by Henry and the others and demand to know what the commotion is upstairs. Bernadette comes down and tells them that Jasmin is a liar. Felicia is upset and tells Penny she thinks Jai has stood her up. Mark comes over and wonders if they know why everyone is acting strange.
Having had enough of waiting, Blaine sets off the bomb just as Elaine arrives at the bottom of the ladders and as Luke and Daniel begin their descent. Henry, Shiloh, and the other residents safe below watch in horror as a giant explosion destroys Midway, killing Felicia, Penny, Waylon, Mark, Dolly, and presumably Lydia-Jean and Beatrice instantly.
===After.===
The explosion is heard from afar by both Angie and Georgie and Peter, Charlotte, and Bobby. The two groups rush back towards town and run into each other. They are horrified to see Midway burning.
Donna raises her gun at Jasmin and demands that she start talking. Elaine, who was blasted to her feet, tells everyone she's all right. Jai is devastated about Beatrice while Rachel cries for her friends. Peter and the others arrive and Peter and Georgie are mortified when Jai says he didn't see Lydia-Jean and Beatrice come down. Miracously to everybody's relief, Lydia-Jean approaches with Beatrice, and says she followed Jasmin's advice to get out of town. Peter rushes to Beatrice and embraces her. Jasmin asks if Luke and Daniel are all right. Shiloh rushes to their bodies and says Luke has a pulse but Daniel is dead. Jasmin begins sobbing. Bernadette tells everybody what she and Luke figured out about Jasmin being in league with Blaine, and that it was her who told him where the meeting with Noah's group was taking place. Jasmin insists she was tricked. She explains Blaine lied and said Shannon was alive and that he would give her back, but Henry, uninterested, shoots Jasmin in the chest and walks to look at his burning town. He falls to his knees. Elaine walks over and tells him it's gone and as zombies begin to approach she says they need to go. The survivors walk away, carrying an injured Luke with them. 
Bernadette remains behind. Jasmin tells her she wanted to save Shannon and get her away from all of this. She says she knows she's going to her grave knowing the role she played in all of this, but she asks Bernadette about when her time comes, and if God will fall for her fake motherly persona. She says her and Blaine have lied and manipulated people to try and cause a war. She says "got what you wanted, haven't you?" Bernadette raises her gun and shoots Jasmin in the head, killing her for good. Bernadette then walks away to join the others, leaving Jasmin's body and Midway burning in the distance.
==Deaths==
*Paul
*Waylon
*Felicia
*Penny
*Dolly
*Mark
*Daniel
*Jasmin
==Trivia==
*Last appearance of Jesse.
*Last appearance of Trudy. (Alive)
*Last appearance of Paul.
*Last appearance of Eli Loche. (Hallucination)
*Last appearance of Waylon.
*Last appearance of Felicia.
*Last appearance of Penny.
*Last appearance of Dolly.
*Last appearance of Mark.
*Last appearance of Daniel.
*Last appearance of Jasmin.
*Last appearance of Midway.
*This episode marks the twenty-fifth appearance of Bobby.
*The original name of the episode was "The Calm Before..." and was set to be followed by "The Storm" which was the title for the twentieth episode and the season finale, but that title was also changed.
*Jesse makes a one-off return in this episode, having last appeared in Safe and Sound, twenty-two episodes prior.
*As of this episode there are only six survivors left from Midway before the main group joined. They are Donna, Drew, Rachel, Elaine, Shiloh, and Henry.
*The title of this episode refers to how the story is split into three parts via title cards. Now which shows the moment Midway is destroyed. Before which shows the lead-up to the explosion happening. And After, which shows the fallout from the town's destruction.
**The colour of the words used in the title card changes. Now is red, Before is orange, and After is green. The same colours primary used in traffic lights.