Author's Note: This was, originally, suppose to be a one shot. But... it has turned in to more. Please don't give up after the first chapter- I promise that all will be explained in time.
Everything was different. Different in ways nobody could have imagined. Creatures roamed the Earth that, two years ago, we didn't even know existed. I, myself, often felt like one of those creatures.
Of course I was afraid. I'd be stupid not to be. Lexie was growing at a rate we could not predict. The war effort had taken a horribly unpredictable turn, and everything seemed to be ending right back where it started: With an alien invasion.
"Ben," Hal called to me. Hal and Maggie were struggling. Maggie was the one who put Karen out, and I wasn't convinced it wasn't more of a jealous act than revenge. "I need your help with something."
"Ok, coming."
Lourdes was downright depressed. She hadn't been the same since Lexie took the bugs out of her eyes. Anne tries her best to cheer her up, but Lourdes has the deaths of dozens on her conscience. She wasn't going to be ok for a long time. I had to wonder if any of us were going to be ok after what we'd been through these last two years.
The fact was that the Volm gave us something we desperately needed: Hope. Before they came to our desperate little planet, we scrambled just trying to live one day to the next while fighting for something we always knew we couldn't win. Then, the Volm showed up. With their supreme weaponry, we were able to take the world by storm. We starting making headway, instead of always being ten steps behind. We took down the grid, had hoped that everything was coming to an end.
But, unpleasant surprises are even more unpleasant when they stripe from you the only thing you had been holding on to.
Karen's death did mean one thing, though: retribution. If we never gained a single thing again, at least we had gained that.
"Why so dark and gloomy?" Hal asked as I finally got up to see what he needed.
"The clouds don't ever go away."
"Metaphorical jargon, got it. You don't wanna talk? Thats fine. I need help getting this stuff into the truck."
"The clouds literally have not gone away for over three weeks now." I said, pointing up to the sky.
Hal shrugged. "So?"
I bent down and picked up one of the heavier boxes full of extra ammo. It felt light as a feather to me. "So, what's brewing up there? What are we not seeing?"
"I don't know. Maybe the Volm are planning an attack on the Esphani from the sky."
Or not. "Where's dad?"
"Sleeping."
"Still?"
"Yup. You know how it goes."
Right. "Matt?"
"He's fine. Seems to be the only one still holding it together." Hal slammed the tailgate of the truck shut as I slide in the last box. "I'm worried about you."
"Don't be, I'm fine." I shrugged, subconsciously looking down to the truck's tires.
Hal clapped me on the shoulder, "You always were a bad liar." But, he didn't push the issue any farther.
It got lonely. Most of the people still hadn't accepted what I was. They were afraid of me, afraid of what I could do. Even my own family seemed to fear me. I can't say I blamed them- when you only weighed 150 on a good day, and yet it takes a 2 ton car before you start to grimace with struggle, fear is bound to be produced somewhere. Maybe I was exaggerating a little. Still, I'm not exactly the most popular kid in 2nd Mass.
Spike Boy.
"Ben," It was Maggie. "I need to talk to you."
Strange. "Ok, about what?"
"Karen." I cocked my head to the side, intrigued.
"What about her?"
"Not here." Maggie said, pointing behind her. "Come with me."
She started walking, entirely too quick. What was this about? Her heart rate was incredibly high- I could hear it. We were headed for the woods, to the clearing where Karen had been gunned down and, eventually, buried.
"I don't understand," I said, jogging to keep up with her.
"She's gone, Ben."
"What do you mean she's gone?"
I stepped forward to the grave as we entered the clearing, and shock filled my chest as I looked down into a big, black hole, collapsing in on itself. You could see finger marks from where she had squirmed away, the smell of blood was almost overwhelming.
"I shot her, Ben. Put half a mag into that pretty little face of hers. She was dead when we buried her."
I was standing close enough to the grave now that the dirt was beginning to fall in. No matter how long I starred in wonder, the grave remained empty.
Another scent overwhelmed my senses.
Abruptly, I whipped my rifle around and held it fast against my shoulder, ready for whatever carried that smell. Maggie followed suit, and pulled her own pistol from the holster at her side. "What is it?"
"I smell blood." I said, unable to place the direction it was coming from. I can't hear anything. Though I strain my ears and turn to and fro, no sounds leave the woods to greet me.
Then, I hear a droplet of liquid hit the ground, a steaming hiss emerging as soon as it touches. I found the location, and saw that blood dripped from a small branch, and where the drops landed, the grass was black, as if it had been burned.
I turn to Maggie. "Who else knows about this?"
"Just you and I," Maggie said. "I was hoping you could tell me why it was empty."
"Best I can think is that the Skitters came in the night for their fallen leader." It wasn't true. The ground had been dug up from the inside of the grave, evident by the way the dirt had fallen. Karen was alive, and somewhere out there. I didn't like to worry people too much though.
"What do you think, Ben? Do you know where they took her?"
"No," I said. "I can't tell."
"Well, they can't have gone too far. The Volm have spread them too thin."
"Not nearly thin enough," I mumbled. "We should head back."
She nodded, then led the way back to camp. I wracked my brain as we walked, trying to decipher the code left by this whole mess, and trying to decide if I should tell somebody. Colonel Weaver and Dad might be able to help. We could gather a group of soldiers we trusted, and go searching for Karen. But, what continued to baffle me the most was a single question: How?
The Volm forces have made a mess of what little planet we had left. Entire fields could be seen for miles around that were thick with black smoke. Distant fires in the large cities left the air in a constant cloudy state, and the smell of it was the worst. What greens the world had left were dying slowly. Before the Volm set us free to let us continue the fight, we had stated clearly what our intentions were. That was before. We were beginning to wonder if the Volm intended to leave anything for us to live on.
Volm planes flew overhead, patrol ships. We knew they had been keeping tabs on us, but we didn't know why. The day after we killed Karen, Cochise and his father came for a "Friendly visit". Though dad never told us what they had said, we knew they were far from happy with us.
"What did you and Hal fight about?" I asked Maggie as we broke free of the tree line.
"Nothing in particular." Maggie replied, clearly somewhat annoyed with the question.
"What did she say, Maggie?"
"Who?"
"Karen." She had refused to tell any of us, and Hal, in turn, refused to talk about any of it.
Maggie stopped dead and looked me in the eye with a cold stare. "What happened that day wasn't right." She said sternly. "Killing her wasn't right. I wasn't right. But what came out of her mouth was just another deceptive bargaining tool that she had up her sleeve. And Hal was falling for it."
"But why kill her when she was already dying? Already dead?"
"I told you, I wasn't right. I'm a cold, callous bitch, and that's all there is to it. Are you done interrogating me?"
I nodded. We walked the rest of the way to camp in silence. I looked back to the clearing every once in a while, still trying to work out in my head how Karen was still alive, and where she could have gone. After a few more steps, however, something else happens...
I heard the patrol ships flying back before I saw them. They made a particular whirring sound that was somewhat disturbing to hear. At first, I thought nothing of it. They made passes over our camp so frequently that it had become a part of our daily lives. A different sound escaped, though. A peculiar "Pfft".
My eyes went wide as I figured out what it was. "No!" I turned around in time to see a great ball of blue flame on a course straight for camp. I started running before I knew what I was doing, shouting the names of the people I loved. Maggie was hot on my heels, shouting for Hal.
When the bomb hit, the explosion was immense, and all consuming. I was thrown backward, arms flailing, hot flames touching the skin of my face lightly.
Author's Endnote: I promise, Karen is not a zombie. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation in the next chapter. Please keep watch for Ch. 2!