Gears of War: E-Day: How to Complete the Trapped Family Secondary Objective (Hold the Line)

In Act 2, Chapter 2: Hold the Line, you can take on the optional Trapped Family side objective. The family is locked inside the Last Dollar store by stuck security shutters; getting them out earns two weapon mods. Allow roughly four minutes, though there is no timer, so you can proceed at whatever pace you like.

Quick answer: Begin at the front shutter and deal with the Wretches. Go inside via the unmarked roll-up shutter at the building’s right end, then use X at “PUSH BUTTON” on the pillar next to the cash register to raise the grilles.

Where to find Trapped Family in Hold the Line

This objective becomes available early in Hold the Line, in the open Kalona district, while your main objective is “Secure Octus Way Station.” From Oria Stadium, continue a little farther past the dealership where The Vanguard, the first secondary objective, is located.

From the dealership, follow the main avenue past a sandbag barricade and under a concrete arch. On the far side is a parking lot with a “PAY PARKING HERE” booth, a pale green pickup, and several parked cars. The store faces the lot: a long green and yellow front carrying the sign LAST DOLLAR, with smaller signs reading “OPEN 26/10,” “SNACKS,” and “EVERY DAY LOW PRICES.” Every window is covered by a metal security grille.

Once you clear the arch, you hear people calling for help. A “SIDE OBJECTIVE DISCOVERED” notice appears at the screen’s left, and a diamond marks the storefront. The objective is only added to your display and map at this point; to start it, hold X at the shutter.

Rewards for completing Trapped Family

Finishing the objective grants two weapon mods, delivered as separate banners once the civilians are freed. You fit both at a Supply Cache. There is also a collectible on the route inside.

Reward	Type
Precision Long Barrel	Breechshot mod
Bayonet	Gnasher mod
A Letter Home	Collectible (War Journal)

How to complete Trapped Family

Clear the one or two Wretches roaming the parking area, then approach the grille at the front of the shop. You’ll see a banner reading “SECONDARY OBJECTIVE / TRAPPED FAMILY” and the instruction “HOLD X TO START.” Keep X held until the button’s ring has filled.

Trapped Family start prompt at storefront — Hold X at the front grille to begin Trapped Family. Shown at 121:44 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

Starting the task prompts the people inside to warn that the creatures are returning, and the instruction switches to “Eliminate all enemies.” Wretches rush in from both the street and arch, vaulting over road barriers and parked cars before closing for melee attacks. Fight in the lot’s open area alongside Dom, Lucas, and Mags; retreat as you shoot and fire a rifle on full auto. Roll backward if a Wretch jumps at you.

After the final Wretch falls, the instruction changes back to “Look for a way in.” You can’t open the front door or grilles from outdoors. Instead, turn toward the storefront and head right along the sidewalk, passing the corner pillar’s tall green sign: “DAILY SALES / DRINKS / SNACKS / LIQUOR.” A yellow taxi is at the kerb.

Beyond the sign, look beneath a small curved awning for a plain corrugated roll-up shutter; a low stone wall stands farther along. The objective diamond marks this entrance. Activate its prompt and Marcus will lift the shutter before ducking underneath.

Side roll-up shutter past the sign — The way in is the plain roll-up shutter just past the tall DAILY SALES sign. Shown at 123:26 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

Walk through the storeroom, which holds steel shelving, a green chest, a red tool cabinet, and a body against a cracked wall. Nothing attacks in here. From the back office, take the next doorway past a small desk with two old television sets and a “Red’s Coffee House” poster into a stock room with tall shelving.

A shelving unit blocks the aisle after falling over. Press A to have Marcus squeeze beneath it. On the other side, a narrow staff kitchen passage has glass-door fridges along one wall and a microwave with stacked plates opposite. Follow the passage until it opens behind the shop counter.

The control is a small box with a green button, mounted on the square pillar on the counter line right beside the cash register. Stand at the pillar until the prompt reads “PUSH BUTTON” with X and a hand icon, then press X. The grilles roll up and Marcus climbs over the counter into the shop.

Push Button prompt beside the register — Press X at the PUSH BUTTON prompt on the pillar beside the register to lift the shutters. Shown at 125:11 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

Approach the button from the rear rather than the shop side. Grilles block off the counter from the shop floor, leaving the kitchen corridor you used as the sole route to the pillar.

Grab the A Letter Home collectible on the way

In a small rear office off the storeroom, a few steps away from the direct route through a pale arched doorway, you’ll find A Letter Home. It appears as a framed letter and photo on the wall, immediately to the left of a grey filing cabinet topped with a boombox. Press X when the “PICK UP” prompt appears.

It files into the War Journal under Act 2, Hold the Line, bringing that chapter’s count to 1 of 27. The entry is a student’s letter to her parents from the capital, with a short note by Marcus underneath. Since it is right on the route, there is no reason to skip it.

How to know it worked

Inside the shop are the freed civilians, a man in a yellow jacket and a woman, standing among empty shelves. They thank the squad, and a few seconds into the talk a gold tick banner reading “TRAPPED FAMILY” appears, along with “OBJECTIVE UPDATED” and a checkpoint.

Trapped Family completed banner — The gold TRAPPED FAMILY banner confirms the objective is complete. Shown at 125:33 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

The rewards appear one after another along the top of the screen: “PRECISION LONG BARREL / BREECHSHOT MOD” and “BAYONET / GNASHER MOD.” Your objective list then switches back to “Secure Octus Way Station.” Marcus says the civilians will be taken to the stadium and radios Theta. Tai responds that Manu and Mako will split off to collect them. The family can leave through the open front window, which leads onto the lot now that the shutters are raised.

Nothing here counts down or fails on a timer, but other secondary objectives show a “LEAVING MISSION AREA” warning if you wander off mid-task. The safe move is to stay around the store until the gold banner appears, then carry on up the street toward Octus Way Station.