Whilst on his first journey to the mainland, Spike notices a large fire in the distance, which his father Jamie claims to not know anything about. After returning to Holy Island, he tells fellow resident Sam about what he saw, with the latter remarking it is likely Dr Kelson and that he is surprised he is still alive. Spike is shocked at this comment, having been told by his father that there are no more real doctors left in Great Britain. When confronted, Jamie tells Spike that before his birth 15 years prior, he and several scavengers came across Kelson's compound on the mainland, and saw he had collected hundreds of dead bodies and was burning them in a fire, but greeted them with disturbing nonchalance. The scavenger group fled, and to date nobody from Holy Island has returned to that area
Wanting to try and cure his mother Isla of her mysterious illness, Spike takes her to the mainland and tries to get her to Kelson. They are joined on the way by Erik Sundqvist, a Swedish NATO soldier and the sole survivor of his team who were forced onto the mainland after their ship, the HMS Öresund, sank. Sundqvist is killed by Samson, an Alpha infected, after observing an infected woman give birth to a seemingly uninfected baby. Kelson is able to disable Samson with a morphine laced blowdart. He takes Isla, Spike and the baby, as well as Sundqvist's severed head, to his compound, an elaborate Bone Temple constructed from the sterilised bones of deceased humans, both infected and uninfected, intended as a memorial to their lives and humanity
He processes and sterilises Sundqvist's skull, and upon hearing he saved them has Spike place the skull within the Bone Temple as a final resting place. When Spike tells him the baby was born from an infected, he remarks it is probably due to it having been protected by the placenta, something he had theorised previously but never observed. After being informed of the symptoms of Isla's illness, he performs a series of diagnostic tests and comes to the unfortunate conclusion that she has terminal cancer, which has metastasized to both her lymph nodes, breasts and brain. After coming to an agreement with Isla, he tells Spike that there are "many kinds of death", with some being "better than others", specifically those that are peaceful and in the presence of those who you love. After drugging Spike with a low level of morphine, he fulfils Islas wishes and euthanises her with an overdose of the same. Like Sundqvist and countless others, he processes her body and gives Spike her sterilised skull, which he places at the very top of the Bone Temple just as the sun rises
The next morning, he hides himself and Spike in a reinforced metal box under the Bone Temple when Samson returns. The Alpha is able to reach through the metal grates and proceeds to attack Kelson, but is subdued by Spike who stabs him in the hand with a morphine dart. Kelson thanks Spike for saving his life, and recommends he returns to Holy Island with the uninfected baby
