(DMZ #9) - Matty passed out for a day from mental exhaustion and his illness, and Zee took care of him. She told him Liberty News announced he was dead at the hands of the FSA, and the US was preparing a retaliatory strike. Matty freaked out, but she said she was used to how the media distorted what happened in the DMZ. He was convinced he had a tracking device in his gut, but she told him he was just paranoid and mentally fatigued. At his home Matty talked to his neighbor Wilson and decided to enlist the FSA to help him make a broadcast, showing he was still alive. He also hoped they'd free Viktor so the US would have no excuse for the invasion. The plan went to pieces when the FSA commander informed him that a mole had taken Viktor and driven into the DMZ. They pursued, and Matty called Zee to set up a roadblock to hinder Viktor's escape vehicle. Military copters approached, and Wilson's grandson shot out the escape vehicle's tires. Viktor ran out of the car, but was gunned down by the US copters. Matty realized there was now no hope to avoid the coming invasion.

(DMZ #10) - The US spent a week shelling the DMZ in preparation of a ground attack, and Zee and Matty took refuge with a number of other civilians in the Times Square subway station. Matty was found by Kelly Connolly of Independent World News, and she intended to do the same job in the DMZ Matty was doing. Zee distrusted her, but Matty said she was a well respected liberal journalist, and he had fond memories of how IWN made his father insane with their left-leaning politics. Matty told her he documented the military killing Viktor, and she promised her news would publish the pictures. Matty made copies of the photos, and sent copies to Wilson, Jamal, and others. Matty called Eve and told her he was going to expose what the US had done, and she went into a tirade threatening him, telling him sacrifices had to be made in war, and threatened to have him killed. She was relieved as his contact by. Col. Harriman, who realized threats wouldn't stop him from exposing Viktor's death. Harriman was willing to negotiate with Matty, in exchange for not publishing the photos he promised a withdrawal from the DMZ. Kelly would have killed for the story, but understood Matty's need to protect his friends. Under pressure from Matty, Liberty reported that he was still alive, and that Viktor died in a friendly fire incident. With their intel deemed bad the US pulled out of the DMZ. The US awarded a contract to repair key parts of Manhattan to Trustwell, Inc. which the government had previously used to clean up Afghanistan and Iraq.

(DMZ #17) - Matty had Jamal and Zee hide a girl named Amina from Trustwell, and soon after Danzinger, a spy in Trustwell and a member of the FSA kidnapped a number of Zee's friends. Zee always attempted to stay below the radar, and demanded an explanation from Matty. In investigating Trustwell he found out they hired terrorist cells to force the UN out of the DMZ so they could have complete control of the area, and Amina was one of their pawns who could expose them. Matty managed to expose Trustwell without the FSA, using his ally Kelly Connolly to get the word out on IWN. Zee was incredibly proud of him.

(DMZ #19-22) - Matty covered the military trial for the Day 204 massacre where 198 civilians were killed. The party line was that one of the civilians had a gun, but PFC Stevens claimed that his jumpy Sgt. Nunez killed them with no provocation. As the trial wrapped up Matty met up with Zee with a plan to expose the truth. Matty photographed the site of 204 and Zee told him DMZ residents were touchy about talking about it, because everyone had lost a friend or family member that day. After Matty interviewed a number of witnesses, including Dina, the sole survivor whose life Zee saved, Matty told Zee he was no closer to the truth than when he started. As important as the event was, and the fact that it led to military withdrawal and the creation of the DMZ, she said maybe there was no truth beyond the fact that awful things happen in wartime. The tribunal ended with acquittals and dishonorable discharges. Widespread riots broke out in the DMZ after the acquittals. Matty tried to document the chaos, but he and Zee were attacked for their trouble. Matty stitched up Zee's head, wondering what his purpose in the DMZ was anymore, and losing themselves, they kissed. The military quieted the citizens by throwing Stevens the whistleblower into a crowd from a helicopter. The rioters tore Stevens apart, and Matty finished his story about the trials on that note. He talked to Stevens mother, and left her in charge of the manuscript. Matty wondered if a military culture that sent poorly trained young men into the DMZ was ultimately culpably for the 204 tragedy. Matty and Zee spent some more tender time together after all the horror.

(DMZ #50) - A young boy found a brightly colored explosive device, and was lugging it around like a toy. US soldiers only panicked him, but Zee was able to coax him into handing over the device.

(DMZ #26) - Zee informed Matty that his old flame Kelly Connolly died while reporting on the DMZ. Since she had no close relatives her funeral arrangements were left to her co-workers and Matty. They saw her off with a Viking's funeral off the west end, and reflected on how she made them feel alive.

(DMZ #29-31) - Matty and Zee started dating, and she suggested they move in together. Matty was unsure, and left soon after to cover the negotiations between the FSA and US to create an interim government after a vote. Uptown activist Parco Delgado interrupted the talks,, saying neither the US nor FSA stood for the DMZ, and Matty secured an interview with him, and announced his run for candidate. Liberty rejected Matty's coverage; he threw a fit, and Zee told him it was because his piece was more or less an op-ed supporting Delgado. Matty was considering joining the Delgado Nation, and his mother came to speak to him. Mrs. Roth met Matty in the DMZ, and he introduced her to Zee and Wilson. He'd told Wilson he hadn't talked to her since the beginning of the war, and he expressed his disapproval. His mother was there because the Delgado Nation reached out to her, and Matty was embarrassed to see her hail a cab, which was actually their Nation pickup, and act as though nothing had changed in NYC. At Delgado's rally the Nation assigned Zee security, and she was less than pleased, reminding Matty that she'd saved him numerous times and could look after herself. She also noted that his mother refused to share a car with her, and said it was a hard choice for her to enter into a relationship after being alone for so long, and she didn't want it to end abruptly. Matty couldn't convince her to stay, and he was scooped up for a news interview, with the station bashing Delgado and saying that the US envoy was the official representative of Manhattan

(DMZ #32-34) - Matty woke up Zee, telling her Delgado had been shot by a sniper. She said an election was a stupid thing to die for, and wondered if the election even mattered before she fell back asleep. The next day Zee showed Matty the new phone Liberty had sent him, and Mr. Roith called him, saying he was on forced leave, and that he suspected the US was going to disrupt the upcoming election. Violence rocked the polling stations, but Delgado still won by a landslide. Matty was excited that the DMZ had a chance at a fresh start, but Zee was still unconvinced, and went about her business administering medical care to those who needed it.

(DMZ #37, 41) - Delgado ordered the US and FSA militias as well as Trustwell out of the DMZ. Delgado Nation had set up checkpoints around the city, and required residents to have ID cards, and Zee reached her breaking point, not wanting anything more to do with the Delgado Nation or Matty. She left the Nation's sphere of influence, walking uptown until she found a quit block on the upper side where she could be alone with her thoughts. Her peace was interrupted by Trustwell agents left behind who lived in the floor above her, and she heard the cried of Martel, who'd been shot in an altercation. Against her better judgment she patched up Martel, but said she needed to go to a hospital. She staid to watch over Martel, but made it clear that she had no love for Trustwell or how they'd ravaged the DMZ. Martel's crewmates angered the locals after a raid, and were followed back to the apartment and shot. Zee told the locals Martel wasn't with them, and determined to look after the woman.

(DMZ #46-49) - Zee and Martel watched, disheartened, news reports about Delgado possessing a nuclear device to ensure the DMZ's independence. They drove to a checkpoint to enter Delgado's green zone, with Zee hiding in the trunk. Matty practiced sniping, and was surprised to see Zee through his scope. The US military entered the DMZ to search for Delgado's nuclear weapon, with violentce erupting sporadically. Delgado called Matty and told him to deal with the situation. Matty drove out into the city, but soldiers killed his driver, and gave him a severe beating, so he called his security detail, and told them to start killing every soldier they saw. Zee and Martel came across him, and Zee asked him what he'd just done. Zee begged Matty to call off the attack, but he said he didn't need her telling him what to do. Angel misheard the order, and his men fired at the first people they saw, a civilian wedding party. Matty was horrified, and told Zee happened. She told him to disappear forever. Matty went home, calling Delgado, then Wilson and his parents, but found himself a pariah. The US located the nuclear device at Indian Point, and dropped a bomb, detonating it.

(DMZ #55) - The US commenced bombing the DMZ to retake it, and Zee and a number of locals sought shelter in a subway tunnel. A man with an assault rifle named Cal Foster found them, and Zee checked him out, telling him she recognized him as a soldier, but was choosing not to blow his cover. Cal was exhausted from combat, and another woman recognized him and calmed him down. He slept peacefully but when he awoke he saw she'd lost her legs in the fighting, and ran away. Zee told him he could just stop what he was doing, and he said he couldn't.

(DMZ #66) - The war continued, and Zee woke to find a note from Martel saying the city was dead, and she felt dead with Zee, so she'd left. Zee reflected on first meeting Matty, and knowing in her gut nothing good would come of it. She visited the New York Library, where she'd hidden his complete coverage of the DMZ over the past five years, and was irritated that he never came to retrieve it. She was done with people like Matty, because it was people like her who suffered the brunt of their actions, and she was ready to leave the DMZ until she saw a homeless man in distress. She helped him, and decided that walking away would invalidate what she'd done, and that helping people defined her no matter what others did.

(DMZ #65) - Matty had info from Parco that his nuclear bomb never went off; the atomic explosion at Indian Point was the result of a US airstrike. Matty didn't know what to do with the knowledge, and got the military to locate Zee so he could talk over the moral quandary with her. She said his pursuit of the greater good was abstract, and asked him what would result in more dead bodies piling up, telling the truth or letting the war wrap up. Matty contacted his father, who got him a meeting with the President. Matty agreed to hand over the drive, and after the war the footage he had of Viktor Ferguson's execution in exchange for Parco and his sister being relocated outside of the US. He didn't want Parco to know he'd saved his life, in fact he never wanted anything to do with Parco ever again. Matty's father said he was proud of him, and Matty was hoping that with the end of the war Manhattan could be rebuilt.

(DMZ #67) - The war ended and reconstruction started, and Matty told Zee he was still feeling immense guilt, but she said he helped ending the war, and that was a good start at making things right. Matty was set up in an apartment, and found Zee waiting for him. She gave him the complete collection of his notes and tapes she'd saved. Zee said he might not deserve it, but he was the only real witness from the outside world who understood the DMZ, and she didn't want the DMZ locals to go down as traitors and terrorists in the history books.

(DMZ #68) - Armistice Day saw the US President and the FSA Supreme Commander agreeing to peace. The new Manhattan was going to be redistricted, and it was being called the Five Nations of New York. Matty and Zee drove around to witness the reconstruction firsthand, with one of their stops being Ground Zero. They met a representative from the First Nation of lower Manhattan, who'd claimed massive swathes of expensive real estate. Zee called him a bloodsucker and a parasite looking to get rich off of the suffering of others, and he kicked them out. Zee introduced Matty to Oscar, who ran the only surgical unit in the former DMZ, and Matty talked to a former insurgent who said that he hoped lower Manhattan wouldn't push isolationism, because he'd already seen enough war. Matty boxed up his old notes, and sent them to his mother in France.

(DMZ #69-71) -Matty got a call from someone saying he'd never understand the people, and the caller then blew up a bridge. Matty and Zee went to Chinatown, the Second Nation, for Wilson's funeral. One of Wilson's close aides wanted Matty to know Wilson considered him a friend, and talked about him often. Zee told Matty he needed some time to process and grieve, but Matty blew her off. They interviewed Lau, Wilson's second-in-command, who said he was not ready to fill Wilson's shoes. Their new stop was Parktown, the Third Nation that was building around Central Park. Jamal ran reconstruction efforts to make Central Park a nature preserve again, and Zee was thrilled to see her old friend. Soames staggered up to them, suffering from radiation poisoning and babbling. Zee again told Matty he needed to grieve, and he said he blamed himself for the loss of his friends through events set in motion the day he entered the DMZ. He said he had to tell her a story about the towncar and what was going down in one week's time. Matty and Zee visited a building that once belonged to a paramilitary group of first responders, and Matty tried to convince the last holdout that the war was over. Matty asked Zee how she'd staid sane through everything, and she said she never tried too hard, she wanted to heal people, and not make things worse, but she wasn't driven by unattainable goals like "fixing" the DMZ. she told Matty he tried too hard since day one, and that's why he lost it. Zee said the soul of NYC was gone, and she planned on moving upstate to see if any of her family was still alive. They stopped briefly in Midtown, home of the east and west factions that made up the Fourth and Fifth Nations. Matty's time was up, and holding hands with Zee, he handed himself over for his military tribunal. He was charged with crimes against humanity, and pleaded guilty, earning a life sentence.