Hey everyone! So sorry for the long wait, school's been crazy and the two of us had to spend every bit of our spare time writing so we could get it up. Luckily, it's extra long to make up for it! We started our story approximately three weeks after the episode "Silent Kill" where the 2nd Mass rescues Ben and just before Sanctuary Part 1. We're following the storyline now, so it took us awhile to perfect it. Also we weren't sure how to split it, so we ended it a little early so it wouldn't be so freaking long;p Haha you guys get a little diversity of what happens in Parker and Carter's lives so it won't be repetitive too much. Enjoyyyyy!:] -Kaylee
Hi guys! SOOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait. I haven't been able to write a lot lately. So if you have any questions about the story or are confused, review the story and ask your question. One of us will respond ENNJJJOOOYYYY and as always PLEASE REVIEW! we love your reviews! ~*Alyssa*~
Taking A Turn For The Worst-Part 1
Alyssa's POV
Ben was actually a pretty good fighter and he learned really fast. First, I just showed him what the hell he was supposed to do because he had no clue, AT ALL. After that, it was pretty easy. I was actually starting to enjoy our daily fighting classes. Even if he was a good fighter, I could tell he's not so good with a gun. The look on Kaylee's face when she came back after their shooting lessons and the look on Bens face when I told him our fighting lessons were over and it was time to go to the shooting range told me that much. Ben and I were starting to become good friends. He was like my brother. We could tell each other anything. I guess that day when I found out about my mom and talked to him, I finally let my guard fully down and opened up.
"So, how do you like the 2nd Mass so far?" Ben asked randomly one morning during his lessons. He tried to flip me over but I ducked only to have him kick me in the gut. "I mean besides the part about the guy who killed your mom is here." I sent a punch at his face and he ducked.
"It's pretty good, I can't complain." He moved to attack me but I easily dodged. I grabbed his arms, spinning him around and pinning his arms behind him. I then disarmed him. Once I let go, he started laughing. "What's so funny?! I just disarmed you!"
"Do you really think taking my gun away is going to hurt me? I mean seriously." I couldn't help myself, I laughed too.
"Yeah, you do kinda suck. But what happens if your attacker uses your gun against you?" I challenged
"Okay, so I have to worry about that if I'm fighting anyone but you, because you kinda suck with a gun as well."
"Point taken," I raised my hands in defeat. We both started laughing again. Suddenly Hal walked in the room and both Ben and I stopped laughing immediately. I tried to hide my emotions from my face in front of Hal but I couldn't do it, I started laughing again, which caused Ben to start laughing at Hal's face when he saw me laugh.
"Look I don't even wanna know what the hell is going on here, I just came by to grab one of Kaylee's guns. We are going on patrol," Hal smirked at Ben.
"Why are you two going? Why don't you just go with Karen?" Ben asked, suddenly serious again.
"Well you know Kaylee and I have had a lot of time to talk on patrol. We're getting close. Did you know she invented her own explosive?" When Ben didn't reply Hal's smirk widened. "Didn't think so. You do know the reason she likes hanging out with me is because we can actually talk, and I don't blabber on and on like someone over here." Ben glared at him. "And we talk about weapons, how to make them, stuff you two wouldn't understand."
Okay, now I was starting to get pissed. I was angry and seriously confused. Why was Ben so mad about Hal and Kaylee hanging out together? "Why don't you just go? Why do you have to be such a jerk?" I said, back to my normal cold self.
"Isn't that what big brothers are for, messing with their little brothers when they get to this point in their lives?" Ben glared at him even more so than before. I was still confused.
"Just go, and take Karen with you. Get her out of our hair for awhile," I said before turning my back to him.
"I don't want to go on patrol. I want to stay here and bu- I mean watch you guys," Karen said on an obnoxious tone.
"There's no need to whine," I mimicked her tone, which earned me a glare from Karen and I pretty sure Hal as well.
"Listen. I'm done with your attitude okay? So if I were you I would lose the bitch act because people are going to start getting really fed up with it."
"Whatever, now If I were you I'd get going because Kaylee hates having to wait for people, especially when they have one her most prized possessions." Hal turned around and left, and Karen followed shortly after. Ben stayed for a little bit longer; we just talked about random stuff.
"So, do you play any sports?"
"I play soccer. You?"
"Sports were always Hal's thing. I was more of the math nerd," Ben said.
"Cool."
"Not really," He admitted.
"Why?"
"Because, no one wants to hang out with a geek. And Hal was the athlete in the family, so all his P.E. teachers loved him, and when I got all the same P.E. teachers he did, they hated me since they assumed I was just like my older brother."
"Well if it makes you feel better, I would've loved to have you at my school. I could have used a good math tutor," I said, hoping he would stop putting himself down.
"So what about you, soccer your only thing?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yep, I was the star soccer player on the varsity team since freshman year."
"That's awesome," Ben said, shocked.
"If you want, someday I'll teach you to play soccer."
"That sounds good. Hey look sorry to ditch you, but I'm gonna go work on my shot before Kaylee gets back."
"How are you doing in shooting lessons anyway?"
"Well, don't laugh but I'm getting closer to hitting the target." He exited the room and I got up and left a little while after that. I went to wonder around, after about an hour of wandering, I went and got some lunch and then I started roaming around some more. I was getting pretty familiar with the grounds. I wanted to know my way around just incase there was an attack by the aliens. After about another hour of wandering, I headed towards the hospital. Lourdes, Dr. Glass's assistant, was very nice. I like helping her out in the hospital. It was one way to fill my time. Dr. Glass was helping a family with a sick kid and Lourdes needed to go get some batteries from a supply room and since it was on the way to where I needed to go, I offered to walk with her. We walked in a comfortable silence. Soon we passed the room.
"Bye, Alyssa. Nice seeing you again."
"You too." I headed off to the room to find Kaylee.
I never really noticed it but our room was a way different side of the school from the hospital. I started walking to our room. Suddenly I noticed Hal walking out of the ammunition room and towards me. I immediately ducked into a small hallway before he saw me and was planning on waiting for him to pass before I started out on my way again. I was in a good mood and I didn't feel like having him ruin that. I was thinking of going to see Kaylee and go with her to Ben's shooting lessons when a man grabbed my arms with one hand and put one the other over my mouth. My first reaction was to fight back. I kicked him with my foot and elbowed him. My attacker turned me around to face him, and pinned me against the wall, with such force I couldn't move.
It was the man who killed my mom.
"That night, I told you never to make the some mistake your poor mother made. But you didn't listen to me, did you?" He said, in a rough voice. I stayed silent. "ANSWER ME YOU LITTLE HOE!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I spat at him. How dare he accuse my mom of not listening to him! Who does he think he is?! "You FUCKING ASS! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
"Now, now Alyssa, your mom could have lived but she ran her little mouth. One night, about eight months before I killed your mom, I had some business to take care of with another man, Aaron. Aaron owed me money and he knew it so he hid from me. But I found him, and I asked him where my money was. He said he didn't know what I was talking about. He had the nerve to lie to me. So I killed him, because that's just how it worked in the gangs. You owe money, you pay or die. All went well; I disposed of everything, never to be caught, except your mom just happened to be at the drug store that night. She saw me do it and she screamed, just once; it was enough to let me know she was there. I approached her, I told her she was not to tell anyone what happened or she too would be dead. Everything seemed well but then one day I was listening to the news and I heard of someone being wanted for murder, the same night and the same place where I killed Aaron. I had to do something, so I went and killed your mom. And I guess you know what happened from there."
That stupid sick fucking jackass. I glared at him and kicked him someplace no man wants to be kicked. I grabbed my knife from my boot and stabbed him in the arm. He screamed out in pain. He stood up and pushed me to the floor. I hit my head and heard my arm snap. He walked over to me and kicked me in the gut.
"YOU SICK MURDERING BASTARD! I WILL KILL YOU! I PROMISE I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" I yelled at him and I stood up.
"Hate to break it to you, but that won't work because I'm going to kill you, right here, right now. You told the police, your dad, and now that kid. I think I'll have to kill him as well. We can't have people in the 2nd Mass knowing that I killed your mom so I need to get rid of you."
"Sorry, but I don't think you can do that because if you kill her, I'll have to kill you." I have NEVER been so happy to hear the voice of Hal Mason in my life!
"What the fuck is going on?" I heard Kaylee ask in a confused voice. This whole situation did look pretty weird.
"Go get Weaver," Hal said sternly.
Kaylee started sprinting to get Weaver.
The man grabbed me and I screamed. Hal punched him in the face and they started fighting. I was in terrible pain and I couldn't move. My arm was most likely broken and my head was spinning. I almost just died and Hal came to save me. I got the impression he wanted me dead and would be happier if I was dead. He pushed Hal to the ground and from the look of things he was seriously hurt. I tried to get up to help Hal but that coward put his gun to my head.
"Don't move or I'll kill you both," he knew he could easily shoot me and then Hal. Hal was in no position to defend himself; he knew that yet he tried to stand any way.
"Don't hurt yourself anymore." I went to stand up but I couldn't. My stomach hurt; I felt like I was going to pass out.
"I will have the joy of killing you, the little girl who almost got me caught," The man had an evil grin on his face. Just then Kaylee ran in, followed by a very out of breath Weaver, Ben, and Tom.
"What do we do we have here?" Weaver asked. Thank God! They got here just in time.
"I want you out of here. You're no longer welcome in the 2nd Mass. If I find you're still here, I will personally kick your ass straight back to hell." Everyone focused their attention and Hal and I.
"Are you alright, Hal?" Tom asked his son.
Hal looked really bad. I felt worse than he looked; Hal got himself hurt over me. I hated when I was the reason people got hurt. It just wasn't fair. Other people shouldn't suffer for your mistakes. I learned that lesson a long time ago. I was stupid to hide in an unfamiliar place.
Kaylee helped me up. "You okay, Carter?" Unable to talk I shook my head and tried to stand up. I looked at Hal and saw two Hals. One is bad enough! Even though he just saved my life, I'm not sure I can handle two of him. Suddenly I realized there was two of everything. Wow, I hit my head hard.
"Parker, take Hal and Alyssa to Dr. Glass, stat. Terry Clayton of the 7th Mass is in my office waiting for us. Let's go, Tom," Weaver turned and left.
"I'll look out for him." These people need to shut up; all their talking is hurting my head. "I promise I'll bring you the news as soon as Dr. Glass takes a look at him."
Tom left and Kaylee started to help me and Hal to the hospital. Ben came up and started helping Hal. Kaylee rolled her eyes at him.
The walk back was long and quiet. I refused to let anyone help me and made them both help Hal. He was in worse condition than me. Ben and Kaylee helped him walk in an awkward kinda way that was very amusing. If I wasn't in pain and seeing double, I would have laughed. It took us awhile just to walk through the doors of the infirmary.
"What happened?!" Dr. Glass practically screamed.
"Great question." They all turned to look at me. Where do I begin?
"Well, umm…" I tried to move but it hurt too much. "Owwww," I moaned.
"Never mind, then. Put Hal on the bed there. Alyssa I want you to sit down. Ben, Kaylee, take Matt out of here, please."
Matt spoke for the first time. I didn't even know he was there. "Kaylee, what happened to Hal and Alyssa?"
"Kaylee and Ben take Matt out of here," Dr. Glass repeated. Dr. Glass went to work doing whatever it is she does. Matt didn't want to leave but Kaylee somehow talked him into it. The three of them left.
"I don't know how she does it," Hal said. He sounded like crap. His voice was all weird and groggy.
"Do what?" I was too tired and in too much pain to think.
"Get Matt to leave. He is extremely stubborn sometimes and lately he has been very protective of Ben and me, with all that's happened," Hal explained.
"Kaylee always did have a way with kids." Kaylee walked back over to me.
"Stay strong Carter." We hit our arms together. She left. I saw Ben walk up to her after and the look on her face looked like she wanted to kill him. That boy is seriously going to be the death of her, I don't get why she hates him so much though. He's not actually that bad. Once you get to know him, he's real fun to hang out with. I really enjoy our daily fighting lessons.
"OWWWW FUCK! That hurts!" Hal said. I looked at him. He was gripping the edge of the bed like his life depended on it.
"Hold still. You definitely have some bruised ribs and a concussion." She concluded after poking him a couple times and shining a light in his eyes. How in the hell did she do that? I mean I would have looked at him and said 'You're hurt, go rest' and that's about all I could do. She comes up with a bunch of stuff that's wrong with him. She is awesome! She moved to me and did the same thing she just did to Hal to me. Stupid light! It was really bright. I didn't like it at all.
"You have a sprained arm, a concussion and possibly bruised ribs. I don't have the resources here to be certain though. I'm going to wrap up your arm."
"Okay," was all I said. She wrapped my arm and it hurt really badly. My right hand is now immobile, but luckily I was ambidextrous. I can do everything with my right hand as well as my left. It's going to take some time to get used to though. After a while, I fell asleep. Suddenly something hit me in the leg.
"Owwww," I groaned. I looked up to see Hal smirking at me.
"Really, you had to throw something at me. You couldn't have just said 'Alyssa, get up'? That works just as good!"
"Last time I tried that you threw a knife at me, and I don't know about you, but I like having my head attached to my body!"
"Let me rephrase myself. Yon only need to say 'Alyssa get up' once! It works just as well."
"I was in a rush!"
"Whatever. Why did you wake me up? You just made all the pain come back again."
"I dunno, I was bored."
"I hate you." REALLY!?
"I know."
"So why did you wake me up?"
"Because I was bored, and you already hate me so I figured what the heck." He smiled.
"I hate you, jerk."
"Look who's working on her vocabulary."
"Fine. I hate you, jackass. Now leave me alone, I'm going back to sleep." I said and started to lay back down when Dr. Glass came in.
"Good, now that you're awake, I need to talk to you both," Dr. Glass said softly. Just when I was about to go back to sleep too! "Hal, let's start with you."
"I was heading back from patrol with Kaylee when I heard a scream, I turned the corner and saw that man pointing a gun at Alyssa. I heard him say 'And now I will kill you' and I couldn't just let him do that so I cut him off. Just then Kaylee came, so I told her to go get Weaver. That guy was pretty strong though. He punched me in the stomach before I could react, then he threw me to the floor. Alyssa was on the ground and attempting to move. She tried to stand up but couldn't. I just hoped Weaver got there soon, or he really was going to kill her, and me. Kaylee got there first, then Weaver then Ben. Weaver kicked him out of the 2nd Mass and had Kaylee and Ben brought us up here. That's it."
"Why did the man threaten you, Alyssa?"
"I think we are all wondering that same thing, at least I know I was." Ben walked in.
"Yeah, that I don't know." Hal said they all looked at me.
All eyes were on me. Now it's my turn to explain. "Dr. Glass, remember when I came in here the other day, when I first got here, about my dream?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well that man who tried to kill me-"
"Oh my god, Alyssa does this have to do with the man you told me about?" Ben interrupted.
"Yes, it does actually. That man I told you about and the man who attacked me are the same person."
"Oh my God," Ben and Dr. Glass said at the same time. That was weird.
"I am so fucking confused." Hal said. I forgot he was there. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Hal, what did you hear of my conversation with Dr. Glass the second day were hear?" I asked.
"I heard all the way up to the point where you explained how your mom died."
"Okay, well, the person who killed my mom and the man who attacked me is the same person. He was planning on killing me because I knew he killed my mom and he didn't want the people of the 2nd Mass finding out." Hal just stared at me.
"I don't even know what to say," Hal stated simply.
"Well, I think these two need to rest. We can't lose fighters. Everyone out." Ben and Dr. Glass left.
That's when things got awkward, like really awkward. We just sat there in silence. I know I should thank him, but I don't know how. I knew Kaylee would make me thank him anyway. I was never one for thank yous, so when I have to I suck at them. I'm still pissed at myself that he got hurt over me. What I didn't understand is why he did it. I thought he wanted me dead. I'm so confused. He was brooding about something. I didn't want to interrupt his thought, but I wanted to ask him why he did it. I wish he would say something, so I would have something to retort back. I wish he would give me a hard time about not being a good fighter so I could say the same to him. I wanted him to snap out of whatever shock he was in and go back to being his normal Alyssa-hating cocky self.
"Why did you do it?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"What?" he asked.
"Save me, I mean you could have easily walked past. I thought you wanted me dead."
"I don't want you dead. I mean sure you get on my nerves but that's horrible to want you dead. You're part of my team. We look out for each other, and we need to trust each other. Remember what Weaver said on the first day?"
"Yeah. He said we need to build trust and watch each other's backs."
"Exactly. Plus you would do the same thing if the situation were reversed." More silence. I thought about that. He saved me, because he was being a good partner. He was right; I would do the same thing. No matter what.
"Take these," I heard Dr. Glass say. Good, she's sending someone in. No more awkward silences. Kaylee walked in. She had guns on her, more than usual.
"Are you on patrol tonight?" Shit, my voice sounded weird. That's not going to convince her I'm okay.
"Yeah. South Point. As of right now, I'm heading down alone."
"Are you going to be okay?" I forgot Hal was Kaylee's partner.
"Without your incredible fighting skills? I think I'll be just fine."
Hal laughed. "Damn it, Parker, don't make me laugh. It hurts like hell."
"Just doing my job. Your dad's really worried about you. Matt too," Kaylee said. I wanted to point out that even she can't cover how worried about us she is as well.
"I'm fine. It could've been worse; the guy could've shot me in the stomach or something. I'll be walking around by tomorrow, just you wait." I sat there. I can't believe he got injured so badly. I don't know what I would do.
"I'm glad you're okay," She sat next to me. I hugged her. I wanted to cry, but I held it together and settled for a hug. I finally accepted that what happened was not a dream but in fact reality. I realized then how much the whole incident scared me.
"It's going to be okay, Carter. We'll make it through this, together." I just sat there, like a scared little girl.
Too soon, Kaylee spoke again. "I gotta get going. I'll see you in the morning." Shit, she had patrol.
"If you do anything to yourself I swear to God, I'll make sure you don't live to see fifteen." I threatened. Hal laughed. I couldn't handle her getting hurt as well. Knowing that I was the reason she got hurt, because I am the reason Hal, her partner is not with her. "I'll be fine now that I don't have a dumbass slowing me down."
"Me slow you down? You sure you're not getting your words twisted?"
"Says the guy with the concussion." With that she left.
"Oh, burn." I laughed, which inflicted pain.
"Shut up," Hal said laughing as well.
Just then Dr. Glass walked in. "You two seem to be getting along better. That's good because I want you to spend the night here." Hal and I groaned in unison. She laughed. "Go to sleep."
That actually sounded really nice at the moment. We did as we were told. Tonight was the first time in a long time where I actually slept with no nightmares to wake me up. Next thing I knew, I was being woken up by Hal. It was the middle of the night.
"Alyssa get up. Alyssa get up. Alyssa get up. Alyssa-"
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT ONE TIME BEING ENOUGH?!" Hal laughed.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but-" Tom said, I didn't even notice him standing there.
Oh, no. My mind went to the worst situation possible. "Please tell me this doesn't have to do with Kaylee."
"I would like to, but I'm sorry. Dai went to relieve Kaylee and Jimmy twenty minutes ago and they weren't there." Hal and I both sat up immediately. We got up but Tom stopped us. "You two need to stay here."
"No, you don't understand. I need to go find her," I said.
"Alyssa you need to rest. We already sent out a search party."
"Dad, at least let us come wait with you. Please." Hal and I stared at him hopefully.
"You aren't going to back down are you?" Tom asked, realizing he already lost this fight.
"Nope," I said. Hal nodded.
"Number one thing they teach you in parenting school. Pick your battles. Let's go. By the way, you should really start paying attention to my parenting tips, you might need them soon," Tom said to his eldest son.
"Dad, really? Was that necessary?" I started laughing. "Shut up Alyssa."
"I got to go talk to Clayton. You two can wait at the front where the scouts will come in if we find them. They will be brought in through there," Tom left.
"I wish my dad was like that," I said.
"It gets embarrassing," I laughed, then Hal started laughing.
Out of no where, Weaver turned the corner, then Kaylee's friend Jimmy who Ben told me about today, then Kaylee herself. I noticed she was holding her arm. Not like she was hurt, but she was hiding something. Then I saw the blood running down her arm, and there was a lot of it.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"
"What?" Hal asked with the most confused look on his face.
"No, not you, YOU!" I pointed to Kaylee.
Hal walked over to her and grabbed her arm to check out the cut. It started by her wrist and ran all the way down to the middle of her arm. And judging by the way her arm tensed when he grabbed it, it was bad.
"I'm fine, it's no big deal," she stated, then turned quickly to an impatient Weaver and a scared looking Jimmy. Dr. Glass ushered them inside and closed the doors.
"I'm going to kill her. She is so dead. I am going to let her get better, and then I'm going to kill her."
"Kill who?" Ben asked. I swear he can appear out of thin air. It's kinda creepy.
Ben looked inside then window and then snapped back to us. "What the hell happened to her?!"
"I don't know, but at least she's alive." Hal said relieved. He must really care about her.
"Yeah and that Jimmy kid. I don't know him, but Kaylee seems to really like him. She trusts him and is open with him, which isn't usual for her. She needs someone in her life like that," I said. Ben muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "I can be that person" but I don't know. I am going to have to talk to him about this at a later date.
Weaver walked out "Let's go you three. Meeting you're not gonna wanna miss." We all reluctantly followed Weaver. Just then Karen popped up and fell in sync with Hal and Ben and I slowed down.
"Ugghh."
"I know right."
"What? Oh shit, did I say that out loud?"
"Yeah you did." we both busted up laughing, but we shut up when we realized the gym was silent except us. As we walked in everyone started to stare. I hid behind Ben. "Gee, thanks," Ben said about me taking cover behind him.
"Welcome." We sat down. Karen got up to go somewhere and Ben went to find Matt. It was just me and Hal.
"So what is this meeting about?" I asked.
"A couple days ago, Terry Clayton from the 7th Mass showed up. 7th was wiped out and the people who survived believe the skitters are coming here next. He wants to send all the kids up head to a sanctuary they have hidden somewhere. His meeting is probably my dad telling us whether we are actually going or not."
"Oh, okay."
Tom, Weaver and Clayton took the stage. "I've decided to send Matt and Ben along with Lieutenant Clayton. It'll put our kids a few hours ahead of whatever else is coming and I think that that's a good thing."
Hal stood up, about to protest.
"And if everything goes as planned, we'll be reuniting with our kids by tomorrow night."
Some random guy spoke up. "We just got hit by a skitter. If they're still out there how are you gonna get through?"
"With a small group on foot. We'll be ahead of the main skitter force, way under their radar," Clayton clarified.
"And if you're not?" the man continued with the whole "worst case scenario thing."
"And they're gonna have a security detachment with them," Tom cut in. "O'Brian and Fuller!" He announced the fighters that were going with us.
"I'd like Mike to come too if that's alright. We go back," Clayton spoke up.
"Okay," Tom agreed. "We know the skitters aren't after the youngest ones. The rest'll go because our kids are our future and their safety has got to come first. So pack 'em up. They leave in an hour." Oh my God.
Hal and I walked over to Tom. "Alyssa, I'd like you and Kaylee to go with Ben and Matt." Hal had mixed emotions on his face, but he didn't say anything. There are just those time when you gotta trust your parent. You have to believe they know what's happening and they are making decisions that are in your best interest. I thought this was one of those times, we all did. Except we were all very wrong.
Kaylee's POV
The next few days were filled with patrols, patrols, and more patrols from Weaver. Since I told our captain that Alyssa was teaching Ben how to fight, he teamed up Hal and me for constant scouting of the perimeter together. Weaver wanted Karen to help around the kitchen since they were shorthanded, so I only had to see her at night. She learned to stay out of my way, and we rarely spoke the times we did have to see each other.
So that brings us to the present. Hal and I were both walking on the outside of the school, looking for any signs of the skitters or mechs. Luckily we hadn't seen them around in awhile, but they were bound to show up soon. They always did.
"What are you thinking about now, Miss Silence?" Hal smirked.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Sometimes I really just want to shoot you."
"But you'd miss me too much," he said nudging my shoulder. He had a habit of doing that a lot.
I smiled. "I wish I had you for a brother. Ben and Matt are extremely lucky to have you as an older sibling."
"Do you have any siblings?"
I kicked a rock with my sneaker. It landed in a pile of dust, causing a cloud of dirt to form. "A brother. He's your age actually."
"Small world. Did you guys hangout often?"
"We weren't close. The most we'd talk to each other would be a simple 'Hi' or 'How was your day' and pretend what we said mattered to the opposite."
"At least you didn't fight with him. Ben and I were always at each other's throats. My mom had to break us up countless times," Hal replied thoughtfully.
"I'd take fighting over silence any day. We would walk by each other in our house's hallway and not even acknowledge each other."
"Wow…"
I narrowed my eyes a bit as the sun's rays became apparent after passing a group of trees. "You remind me of him. The two of you have a ton in common."
"What would that be?" I could tell that he and I were becoming fast friends. Hal was a nice guy, and he seemed like he genuinely was curious about me. Like he wanted to get to know me because he cared.
"Both of you were jocks, headstrong, and ladies men," I winked at him.
Hal shook his head. "I played lacrosse. The football players got that kind of attention."
"Oh please. You were definitely a ladies man."
"How would you know?"
"You're cocky, arrogant, and have way too much pride. It's written all over your face."
Hal was shocked. "What? I am none of those things."
"Yeah, you are. That was one of the first things that I noticed about you: how cocky you were. Like you didn't think two girls could take you down when you first put guns to our skulls."
Hal was quiet for a moment, processing what I had just said. Yes, I did notice that the moment I turned around when we first met. I have a superior judge of character; instead of wasting my time talking, I spend my time analyzing people. You find out a ton of things about them that way, and it's amusing to catch them off guard by saying that.
"Is that what you do when you're quiet?"
"That or I'm drowning in my own thoughts."
A round of mech bullets basted loudly, interrupting our conversation. On instinct, we took cover below some shrubs. Déjà vu came to mind as I saw a group of kids with harnesses, mechs, and skitters. It was a gruesome sight; the mechs shot a few of deharnessed kids. Their spikes were the same eerie blue color that Ben's were the night we ran into the aircraft. Slowly, the lights went out as the each took in their last breath.
Why did they take the harnesses off those kids? Didn't they need them to collect the scrap metal or whatever? Things were not adding up. We continued to watch the group walk along the path north, to wherever they were stationed. I couldn't help but clutch my gun a little tighter. They ruined my life, killed my only family, and made my whole world come tumbling down. I wanted nothing more than to just kill them all right then and there, but we would blow our cover, and lead reinforcements straight to the 2nd Mass.
"Let's go," Hal whispered. I slid out and stood up, dusting my black jeans off.
We began the two mile walk back to the high school. We had completed our perimeter lookout and had to report the alien sighting to Weaver. I was thinking again, and Hal was doing God knows what as we started down the road.
"Have you noticed anything weird about Ben?" I asked randomly.
Hal frowned at the question. "Besides the fact he's got three inch spikes sticking out of his spine, I haven't. Why?"
"When we were on patrol the other night, Ben, Karen, and I, we ran into some mechs and skitters. His spikes were glowing the same color as those kids' were, and I had to force him to stay down since he was fighting to get back up."
Hal's frown deepened. "That's weird." I nodded in agreement. It was something bizarre, and something I hoped I wouldn't see again. It was downright creepy.
We were silent again, the only sound coming from the crunching of the gravel beneath our feet. My fingers found their way to my knife and began opening and closing it. Hal was clicking and unclicking his gun's safety, thinking about something. More and more landmarks looked familiar as we drew nearer to the school.
"So before the invasion, were you obsessed with making weapons this much or what?"
"Sort of. I ran cross country and I was normally out running whenever I had the chance. Or crafting some kind of gun."
"Ah, a jock and a nerd. Looks like you have some Mason in you after all."
I punched him in the shoulder. He rubbed it a little and gave me a scowl. I laughed as we finally walked up to the front of John F. Kennedy High School.
"I better go put my ammunition back in the armory. I'll see you at dinner."
"See you," I smiled as I turned into our room.
I collapsed onto my cot and just stared at the ceiling. I was fingering the necklace I wore around my neck, tracing the emblem. I was exhausted, and I was not in the mood to go and teach Ben more shooting. He's doing a little better since starting his lessons with Alyssa, but he was taking his damn time with learning. Guns were his weak point, and he wasn't going to make any major progress for a fair amount of time.
Even though I wanted to crash, I forced myself up before I could close my eyes. I got out a few rounds of bullets to take with me to Ben's lesson, since he probably didn't remember to reload his gun after yesterday. It was highly frustrating trying to teach him to shoot, since it was easy for me and my patience was very, very low.
Karen walked into the room as I was putting a few extra weapons on me.
"Haven't seen much of you lately," she remarked sitting on her bed.
"Thank God for that," I said and walked out of the room. I was not in a good mood, and she irked me in ways that were unexplainable to even me.
The bulletin board outside our room was getting more and more stocked with pictures of kids. I have no idea how their parents could be holding up like this, knowing their kids were now slaves to the enemy.
One of the boys I saw just an hour ago was on the board. He was one of the deharnessed kids that had been shot at by the mechs. Should I tell Weaver? Or would it just be easier to let the parents think their kid was still alive out there? Everyone needed as much hope as they could get, and by telling them their kid was dead put out every ounce of hope they could possibly have.
"I knew that guy back in school."
My eyes shifted to the boy beside me. He was the youngest fighter that I had met my first day here. "I saw him earlier on patrol with some skitters and mechs. He didn't make it."
"It's a shame. He was a nice kid."
"I'm Kaylee Parker," I introduced myself. I was done talking about dead kids, at least for a bit.
"Jimmy Boland. I see you're a fighter," he looked at the gun at my waist.
"What about you? Aren't you the 2nd Mass's youngest fighter?"
"That's me. I only turned fourteen a few months ago."
"Wow. Do you know a thing or two about guns?"
Jimmy nodded. "I taught myself, but I'm pretty decent."
"We're going to be great friends then," I smiled.
He laughed. "Let's go on watch sometime. That way we can talk about guns and stuff."
"That'd be awesome. It's tiring listening to Hal all the time," I chuckled a little. Jimmy seemed like a down to earth, straight to the point kind of guy. And anyone who's got a thing for guns is definitely on my good side. I like this kid.
"What are the extra rounds for?" He nodded to the rounds in my hands.
"I'm teaching Ben how to fight. I figured he wouldn't have remembered to reload his gun so I'm bringing some extra."
"How'd you get stuck with a job like that?" Jimmy laughed.
I shook my head. "Honestly I don't even know why the hell I agreed to it. It's practically impossible."
"I feel you. I don't have the patience to teach people anything."
I shook my head. "Me either. That's why I hate it so much. It's hard trying to explain how to do something you love to other people and expecting them to understand it."
"Seriously. Finally someone who understands," Jimmy smiled.
"Finally," I agreed. "I gotta go though. Duty calls."
"See you on watch!" Jimmy called as I walked down the hallway.
There were screams echoing down the hallway, the sounds of guns loading along with them. I've known Alyssa since I was a few hours old, and we grew up with her abusive dad, so it didn't take me long to realize those screams belonged to her.
Hal had a gun pointed to a man who had a gun pointed to Alyssa. Shit, what did Alyssa get herself into now? I stopped and looked at the three people before me. "What the fuck is going on?"
Hal turned. "Go get Weaver."
I frowned and began sprinting down the hall to Weaver's office which was on the opposite side of where Hal and Alyssa were. And to make matters worse, Ben stopped right in front of me as I was running.
"I can't talk, I need to get Weaver," I said moving around him.
"What's wrong?!"
I turned around while running backwards. "Just…stay," I put my hand out and kept running all the way to the history classroom. People were giving me bizarre looks as I shoved past them and ran in and out of them. I didn't care; I needed to get Alyssa and Hal help.
"WEAVER!" I yelled as I skidded into his office. Tom was in there too, as well as Dai and Anthony.
"Calm down, Parker. What's wrong?"
"Hal and Alyssa are in trouble. You gotta come with me," I said turning to run out the classroom door. I heard Weaver's heavy footsteps behind me and the scuffle of Tom's boots as we ran down the hallway. If something happens, I will never forgive myself.
"Slow down, solider!" Weaver called. My pace slowed considerably, but I was still running fast. That man looked entirely sketchy, and by the looks of it, he beat up Alyssa pretty bad. And even Hal couldn't fend off a man that big.
The moment we rounded the corner, Weaver saw what I meant by "trouble."
"What do we do we have here?" Weaver asked as he stared at the man. No one moved to say anything. Alyssa was in too much shock, Hal was focusing on the man's every move, and the man was still aiming for Alyssa.
Weaver approached the man and disarmed him in one fluid motion. "I want you out of here. You're no longer welcome in the 2nd Mass." The man didn't seem like he cared, which bothered me. He had black eyes that were so dark, you couldn't even see the pupils.
"If I find you're still here, I will personally kick your ass straight back to hell."
He stalked off, turning the hall, hopefully never to be seen again. My attention focused back to my terrified best friend and my almost brother. Hal was blinking profusely and clutching his rib cage. His other hand was on his temple, trying to soothe whatever was going on up in his head.
"Are you alright, Hal?" Tom asked his son.
In response, Hal's legs wobbled from underneath him. I ran to his side and helped him stand before he fell. Tom was next to me in an instant, trying to get Hal to open his eyes and talk to him.
I reached out to Alyssa. "You okay, Carter?" She shook her head and stood up.
"Parker, take Hal and Alyssa to Dr. Glass, stat. Terry Clayton of the 7th Mass is in my office waiting for us. Let's go, Tom," Weaver began the walk back to the classroom, however Tom was not following.
"I'll look out for him," I told Tom, repeating the words he said when we first talked to each other, "I promise I'll bring you the news as soon as Dr. Glass takes a look at him." Tom gave Hal a hug and smiled gratefully at me. With one last look, Tom turned to follow Weaver. I was about to start helping lug Hal back alone with Alyssa by my side, when someone grabbed the left side of Hal.
Take a fucking guess. I didn't even notice he had followed me back. I gotta start paying attention more often.
The four of us were quiet as we walked back to the infirmary. Alyssa told me the guy who killed her mom was here, but I wasn't expecting him to look like that. And to have Hal come and save her no less. I have to thank him for that as soon as he gets better.
"What happened?!" Dr. Glass exclaimed as we walked with Hal into the lab. Matt was here too, and he nearly freaked out at the sight of his brother. Dr. Glass had a cut on her lip that wasn't there when I saw her early this morning. She seemed like she was under a ton of stress as it was.
"Great question," I said looking at Alyssa waiting for her to explain.
"Well umm…" She moved around, but instead winced in pain. "Ow."
"Never mind, then. Put Hal on the bed there. Alyssa I want you to sit down. Ben, Kaylee, take Matt out of here, please."
"Kaylee, what happened to Hal and Alyssa?" Matt's big eyes widened larger.
"C'mon bud," I said and put my hand on Matt's back, gently leading him out of here.
"I don't want to!" Matt said turning to his injured brother. "I wanna stay with Hal!"
I kneeled down to his height. "Hey. That girl over there has been my best friend since I was born," I nodded my head to where Alyssa was sitting. "And as much as I want to stay here with her too, I can't, and I really hate that. But sometimes we gotta do things we don't like, no matter how much we don't want to."
Matt sighed and gave Hal one last look, then walked out the door. Before I left, I walked over to where Alyssa was sitting. "Stay strong, Carter."
Alyssa smiled faintly. "Always." We put our arms together, like fist pounding only with the side of our palms and balled up fists. We decided that handshakes were too mainstream, so we came up with that instead.
I took a deep breath as I set foot out of the infirmary. I need to kill something.
"So are we still doing a shooting lesson?"
Or someone.
"I'm not really up for it," I said honestly. "I'll give you two hours tomorrow to make up for lost time."
"That's understandable. I'm worried too, you know."
I could feel the frustration and worry building up inside me. Even though I couldn't have known that the guy would be there waiting for her, I was holding myself responsible. If I had made her come along on patrol with Hal and me, she wouldn't be in this mess. She'd be her regular, sarcastic, juice box-drinking, nunchuck-using, Hal-hating self. Just an average over protective best friend for you.
"You're blaming yourself," Ben stated, staring at me. His jade eyes were glimmering with sympathy, which made me want to slug him across the face.
"Seems to be something I do often."
"Well, don't. Stop living in the past, there's nothing worth going back for anyways. The future's a brighter place."
"You're way too positive sometimes," I remarked.
Ben laughed at my statement. "Which means you need to stop being so negative."
"Yeah, when aliens invade," I smiled and walked away. That was similar to when people say 'when pigs fly,' for those of you who failed Sarcasm 101. Alyssa and I passed with flying colors, if you haven't noticed already.
Weaver wanted me to report to his office to get my patrol assignment for the evening. I had been taking as many shifts as I could, just because I needed to get my mind off my past, like Ben said. Killing skitters sounded fairly nice right now, and I was in dire need to kill something. Especially now, what with Alyssa's incident and everything. I can't even explain to you how much she means to me; she's the only family I have.
Weaver's office was rearranged for the millionth time. The chairs were stacked in the corner and a table was placed in the middle. There was papers strewn all over; maps, notes, pictures coated the table. Captain noticed me a few seconds after I came in and said, "Parker, just in time! I need you at the South Post tonight. There's a school bus in the west parking lot that you'll be stationed at."
Terry Clayton was staring at the two guns at my side I hadn't bothered to conceal. He didn't look like the type of guy you would want to anger, so I ignored his gawking eyes.
"Alone?"
"We're short on the rotations without some scouts. If you don't want to be-"
"No it's fine. I need some time to think anyways," I said referring to earlier. Weaver got my subtle message and was about to continue speaking to Clayton, but was interrupted by the 7th Mass's leader.
"Who might you be? You're pretty brave for a young girl."
Ugh, stereotypical adults. "That there is Kaylee Parker. Fighter and weapons forger for the 2nd Mass," Weaver introduced me. He gave a thin smile. I raised the corner of my mouth in return. He may be my commanding officer, but I was starting to think of him as a father. He cared about a lot of the kids in the 2nd Mass, and he had taught me so much the past week I'd been here.
"Weapons forger?" Clayton repeated surprise thick in his voice. Not so much of a "lady" am I?
"That's me."
"Impressive," Clayton complimented.
I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans and shrugged. "My uncle was in the army so he taught me a thing or two."
"Go get some food, soldier. You need a good meal," Weaver ordered.
I nodded and briskly walked out of the office. Clayton creeped me out, and I hadn't eaten anything for awhile. Weaver must've been an awesome dad.
The gym here was what could fool you the most into thinking aliens hadn't taken over the earth. There was the scratched up bleachers from angry parents kicking them when a point was scored on the opposite team, the many posters cheering on the various sports teams, and the beat up baskets hanging on the backboards. And that's when reality settled in. We had turned the gym into a makeshift cafeteria. There was still the loud chattering of the people sitting around, the long table of what foods we had, and of course, the agonizing long line that no one wanted to wait in, just like high school. I smiled at the thought; Alyssa and I had made a joke about that back when we were still in school and waiting in the cafeteria line. It felt like forever ago, when in actuality, it had been six months.
Since we had a minimal amount of food, the line went by much faster than it would have in high school. They had a rice cake type thing and juices lined up for us. I thanked the two women reloading the juices and took a bottle of water with a rice cake. I know that a fighter should probably have more to eat than that, but as a fighter, it was my job to look out for the civilians here. They need it more than I do, especially with the resources dwindling down.
It was only a matter of minutes before my "meal" was gone, and my water finished. I was sitting on the ground with Matt, who was unusually quiet. He was thinking about Hal, that much I knew, and by the frown lines on his forehead, he was worrying too.
"He's going to be okay, trust me," I murmured. "Hal is a strong guy."
Matt made eye contact with me. God, he looked so much like Ben and Hal. He had Ben's blond hair and Hal's dark eyes. He looked more like his brothers then he did his dad. The nine-year-old ambushed me in a hug, resting his head on my shoulder. I lightly kissed the top of his hair and rubbed his back. This kid has been through hell and still has a smile on his face at the end of the day. I don't know how he does it, but I sure admired it.
"I'm not standing in line with this razorback," A loud voice boomed throughout the gym. "Ones like him are the reason the skitters are coming!" My head snapped up to see an irritated Ben facing a man proclaiming he knew all about the preharnessed kids.
I swear, Ben is worse than Alyssa.
"I'm going to check on your brother," I told Matt as I stood up.
"Which one?" He questioned.
"The one that's about to get his ass kicked," I muttered to myself.
I walked swiftly in between the man and Ben as he was about to punch the Mason boy. I shoved the man away from Ben and stared straight at him. I may be fourteen and this guy was most likely around forty, but I was eye level with him. And armed. He grumbled and shoved me back.
"You got a problem?" I asked frowning slightly.
"No problem," he replied trying to sound like a know-it-all, "just glad we're not bringing these harnessed kids back to the 2nd Mass." He raised his hands every now and then, as if showing he was a badass or a tough guy. That only irritated me further.
"No one's stopped anything. As soon as we get the drugs Dr. Glass needs, we're going to rescue as many of them as we can." The man's face was getting flushed with anger as he saw how unphased I was by his threats and his size. Ben didn't deserve to hear this; he thinks he's a freak enough as it is, let alone having an adult telling it to his face. He tried punching me in the shoulder, but I grabbed his arm and bent it back, almost near breaking point. The only reason I didn't snap his arm was because Dr. Glass was helping out two of my greatest friends and I was not going to be the cause of more stress on her part. The man jerked away painfully, and despite all of the dignity he just lost by letting a freshman in high school put him in his place, he continued to embarrass himself shamefully.
"You're just inviting a skitter attack."
"And you're just trying to make an argument out of anything possible," the mass of people around us smirked at my choice of words. He must do this often. The guy's face turned darker red. "And if the skitters do come," I loaded the Calico around my neck, letting the sound of the chk bounce off the walls, "they'll answer to me."
I turned and walked out the door connecting the gym to the school's main hallway. I was downright sick of people, and I couldn't wait to go on patrol in a few hours. I just needed a break from the world.
I walked to the infirmary as quick as I could to go and check up on Hal and Alyssa. Tom was too busy preparing barricades with the other fighters of the 2nd Mass to see how Hal was doing, so I felt obligated to do it for him. The walk was a quick one, since the gym and the chem lab were just a few doors down.
"How are they?" I asked as I entered the room. Dr. Glass was organizing some medicine in the cabinet and Lourdes was attending to the other wounded.
"Hal and Alyssa both have a concussion and bruised bones, but their stable. My guess is they'll be up and about in a few hours tops." Dr. Glass locked the cabinet and set her hands on the desk. She must've had a long, long day.
"What did you do?" I motioned to her lip.
Her fingers moved to her lip. "A man and his family tried to steal all of our medicine this morning. I tried fighting back, and he hit me with his gun." I'm surprised that hadn't happened sooner. Dr. Glass was a very innocent, non violent type of woman and could easily be pushed over again like she was today.
I slid out a silver revolver I had and set it on her desk. "Keep it. You'll need it if something like this happens again."
"Oh no I-"
"You'll feel safer just knowing it's around. And if it interferes with some hypocritical oath, you can stitch up the bad guy after you blast him," I smiled. Dr. Glass smiled back and continued to look at the gun.
"If you need a lesson, I'm around. Otherwise it's basically point and shoot."
"Thank you, Kaylee." She picked the gun up and turned it to look at it some more.
"Can I see them?"
"Sure. Just be sure not to talk loud; they aren't in the best of moods. Actually can you take them these?" She raised a bottle of painkillers.
"Not a problem." I never spoke loudly as it was. I clutched the pill bottle and stopped in front of the two teens.
Hal was lying on a cot with a wrap going up his waist and Alyssa had a wrap type of splint for her arm. Both were utterly miserable, and you couldn't blame them.
"Take these," I told them and handed them each two tablets. Hal swallowed them immediately while Alyssa, still getting used to the whole one arm thing, took a little more time. She's going to really hate having her arm sprained.
"Are you on patrol tonight?" Alyssa asked softly, wincing at the sound of her own voice.
"Yeah. South Point. As of right now, I'm heading down alone."
"Are you going to be okay?" Hal asked. Even though he was the one with the bandaged side and throbbing head, he was concerned about my safety too.
"Without your incredible fighting skills? I think I'll be just fine," I smirked.
Hal laughed but stopped abruptly and groaned in pain. "Damn it, Parker, don't make me laugh. It hurts like hell."
"Just doing my job. Your dad's really worried about you. Matt too," I added, remembering the scene from earlier.
"I'm fine. It could've been worse; the guy could've shot me in the stomach or something. I'll be walking around by tomorrow, just you wait."
Alyssa was quiet, remorse practically shouting from her eyes. She was pissed that Hal had gotten hurt from the man who was intentionally trying to only injure her, no one else. She takes hits too hard sometime.
"I'm glad you're okay," I told her and sat next to her. She gave me a hug; that's when I knew she was dead scared. Alyssa isn't the touchy-feely type (another reason we got along great) and only hugged me when I needed it or when she did. She was petrified from the attack, which only made me feel worse about it. I wish I had been there for her. "It's going to be okay, Carter. We'll make it through this, together."
It was something we both had to convince ourselves of. The hope that we would live to tell the tale and the hope that one day we'd get our planet back.
I noticed Hal watching us. He was probably shocked to see Alyssa so open. She didn't have those moments much; this was one of those rare occasions. Maybe he'll stop ragging on her so much now. Hal's the best, but he could really lighten up when he was around Alyssa.
The light outside was getting darker and darker. The sun was nearly finished setting, and the moment it turned pitch black is when my "shift" started. I still had to pass along the news to Tom, and to load up on some extra ammunition. I always, always brought along spare ammo, even if I had at least two pounds on me now. You never know, that ammunition could save my life one day.
"I gotta get going. I'll see you in the morning," I told my Alyssa.
"If you do anything to yourself I swear to God, I'll make sure you don't live to see fifteen." There was my best friend again.
"I'll be fine now that I don't have a dumbass slowing me down," I looked at Hal.
"Me slow you down? You sure you're not getting your words twisted?"
"Says the guy with the concussion."
Tom was coming up the hallway when I was about to turn into my room. "Hey, Tom."
"How is he? Is he going to be alright?"
"He's fine. Dr. Glass told me he had a concussion and a few bruised bones but other than that he's stable. Hal will be up and around by tomorrow at the latest."
"Thank God. Thank you for checking in on him. You have no idea how much it means to me," he said thankfully. Tom must thank his lucky stars everyday for being able to be with all of his kids despite the circumstances.
"I'm on South Point tonight, so I'll see you in the morning," I smiled.
Tom nodded and replied, "Be safe. I'm going to go see Hal."
I grabbed a bag of titanium bullets out of the room and took out the gun in my sneaker. It had to be readjusted, so it was dead weight to me at the moment. I hid my two handguns and put an extra knife in my pocket. I was all set for a night alone in an abandoned school bus.
It was black outside, so naturally I camouflaged perfectly. I had to jump over a few barricades to get around to the parking lot that the bus was in. According to Clayton, a wave of skitters could be heading our way any day now, so there was a possibility I could be exterminating some aliens tonight. Clayton seemed a little off though, like there was something deep down that was wrong with him.
The back doors of the bus were pried open and waiting for me. The bus was relatively small, but it was better that way. If I had to make a run for it, a long aisle was going to be difficult to get out of. I swung myself into the vehicle and landed without a sound. The beauty of high top sneakers.
The front window was cracked open, leaving a jagged mess at the driver's seat and a ragged hole to see out of. I situated myself on the bigger seat and propped my feet up slightly. There was a chess board on my right from when the previous scouts were stationed here last. The pieces had been rearranged from their starting position since the fighters hadn't bothered to put them back. The night was peaceful and quiet. The stars were glowing and the moon gave off a beautiful silver essence. Despite all that the aliens had done to Earth, it still managed to pull of stunning scenery. I almost didn't want to run into skitters, but I still wanted to take my frustration out on something.
My admiration for the scenery in front of the bus was interrupted when clatters from behind caused me to whip around, load my gun, and aim for whatever had entered the bus. My feet were planted on the ground, ready to support me if I needed to take cover.
"Hey!" Jimmy said calmingly as he stepped onto the aisle way. "Take it easy, Parker it's just me." I released a breath and unclenched my hands on my gun.
"Damn it, Boland you scared me," I confessed and turned back around. I was actually glad I had someone here with me, especially if something like that happened with an alien.
"It's pretty creepy out here, huh?" Jimmy asked and sat down next to me, taking the holster off of his neck.
"Yeah. That's the feeling of skitters headed our way," I joked.
"No, I was talking about you." I raised my eyebrows at him and he grinned.
I playfully punched his shoulder and put my feet up on the plastic basket in front of me. "Did Weaver send you down here?"
"Yeah. He told me you were gonna be down here alone so I decided to keep you company."
I smiled. "Thanks. It's been a rough day."
Jimmy smiled back. "Of-"
The chessboard began to rattle. I frowned then looked up at Jimmy's deep blue eyes. And then the mechanical footsteps pounded against the ground and started getting louder by the minute. A bright light shone through the giant hole; a mech stood before us. Jimmy's eyes widened when the mech stopped in his tracks. Immediately, the mech started shooting at the bus. The ear splitting sound of breaking glass rang throughout the bus.
Jimmy and I ducked just in the nick of time, and tried to cover ourselves from the flying glass everywhere. The mech moaned loudly and stomped towards the bus. I opened my eyes to see Jimmy's terrified ones. The mech hit the bus and made us shift a bit. But that's when all hell broke loose.
I struggled to my feet and ducked while running down the aisle. "Jimmy, come on!" I yelled through the screeching of the roof of the bus being torn right from its hold. I heard Jimmy's footsteps behind me, so I kept running. The mech slammed the bus so forcefully, I lost footing and slammed into the side of the bus, hard. I pushed myself up again and jumped out the back of the bus, running into the school.
Now, I was scared. No one was around, and no one seemed to hear my frantic calls for help. "MECH!" I yelled through the corridors of the school. I was twisting down the three flights of stairs searching for Weaver. Where the hell was he?! Here I was, running down the halls for the second time today. Except I was in the basement of the school, and totally lost.
"We gotta find-" It was then I realized that Jimmy wasn't behind me like I thought he was. Oh shit. If I only I could find my way back to the stairs! I was running in circles and circles but just couldn't seem to find them. Damn it damn it damn it! He left his gun behind too! Fuck, I'm the worst patrol partner in the world. Everything seemed familiar one moment, then extremely different the next. I couldn't concentrate when I was frustrated, so I just got more and more lost. I angrily kicked a cardboard box and stopped running. This couldn't be happening. This can't be happening. I would not be responsible for someone's death, not tonight.
Calm down, Parker. Breathe, think. Take in your surroundings, I thought to myself.
"SKITTER!" A voice screamed. Gun shots blasted and the horrid screech of a skitter followed as if proving it was there. It was Jimmy!
"JIMMY!" I shouted and followed the sounds of where the bangs were coming from.
"SKITTER! HELP!" He yelled as loud as he could. His volume was increasing, so I could only imagine I was getting closer.
Suddenly the gun shots stopped and the skitter screeched again. I rounded a corner with the Calico in my hands and froze. A skitter was advancing toward Jimmy while he was trying to shoot but he was out of bullets. What did I say about having extra ammo? Jimmy gave up and raised the gun to throw it at the alien's head.
I aimed at the skitter's brain and pulled my trigger as quick as possible. The invader fell to the floor, blood sputtered everywhere. I blinked back the puff of smoke that resulted in my shot, and looked at a petrified Jimmy. My gun was slung to my back as I stepped around the skitter mess and towards my patrolmate. He sat there, frozen with fear, trying to catch his breath. Must be his first near death experience.
"Jimmy?" I asked softly. His eyes were watering as he tried holding back his tears. He was taking in short breaths, still unable to move.
I lowered my hand to him. "Jimmy?" I was trying to get him to do something other than stay put. He put his gloved hand in mine as I pulled him up. His breaths were getting shallower as he tried harder not to cry. "Are you alright?"
Jimmy wrapped his arms around me and started put his head into my shoulder. That caught me totally off guard. I stood there for a second, not knowing how to react, but honestly, I was freaked too, and in dire need of a hug. I pulled him closer to me by putting my arms around his neck and set my chin on his shoulder. He was shaking violently, and clutching my hoodie. If you asked me how long we stood like that, just trying to calm each other down, I wouldn't have been able to answer, because truthfully, I don't know myself. They say that everyone needs a little touch by other people to feel loved, or accepted, and my guess is that Jimmy hadn't had that in a long time. Neither had I, at least in a way like this. I felt really warm inside, and I felt safe. Jimmy's shaking was beginning to subside, but I could feel the cold tears on my jacket.
"It's gonna be alright," I whispered to him, "it's gonna be alright."
This was another example of how kids have had to grow up too fast. We had to pretend to be fearless and brave, but deep down, we were so vulnerable and scared. C'mon, we were kids! We are supposed to be standing down and watching the adults win this, but even we knew that they couldn't do it alone. And as much as I love being a fighter, I wish I had the opportunity to be a regular teenager in a regular world.
"You two alright?" Weaver's voice made both of us jump; after what we had just gone through, I think we deserved a little leeway.
"You're arm's bleeding," Jimmy whispered to me.
"Really?" My attention focused on my left arm, bloody and cut. So that's why it felt wet…
"Let's get you two to Dr. Glass."
Jimmy and I, shoulder to shoulder, followed Weaver to the top level of the school in silence. My arm was starting to drip, which was looking really tacky on my part. I was cut on the inside of my arm where less skin was, so it was a deep gash. I had fallen onto that pile of glass and onto that arm, meaning I most likely had a few shards in my arm. However, I was more concerned about the boy next to me. Jimmy was still in shock of how close he came to death, and I wouldn't blame him. This whole fighting-at-fourteen thing wasn't easy.
Alyssa and Hal were outside the chem lab, talking. Without screaming or hitting each other. That's a first. I was attempting to hide my arm from Alyssa since she'd go ballistic, but she was the first to notice my bloody arm and Jimmy's facial expression.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" she screamed.
"What?" Hal looked totally confused.
"No, not you, YOU!" Alyssa pointed at me.
Hal came next to me and grabbed my arm to see the damage. Okay, that hurt. My arm tensed and I winced at the shot of pain went up and down my limb.
"I'm fine, it's no big deal," I muttered to Alyssa while turning away before she yelled at me for doing something stupid, like I promised not to do. I was hoping she wouldn't be here to see this since she was already having a crappy day, but she did, and she was pissed.
Jimmy was seated on the makeshift stretcher seat while Dr. Glass was starting to test his blood pressure. When I walked in, her jaw opened and her eyes widened.
"Kaylee?! What did you do?!" Dr. Glass ran over to me in a blink of an eye and started examining my arm.
"No, don't. Jimmy needs you more right now; go check on him."
"Kaylee-" I raised my eyebrows and waited patiently for Dr. Glass to walk back to Jimmy.
"So what happened exactly, Jimmy?"
"Kaylee and I were on the bus and the mech came and started shooting the windows. We made a break for it, but got separated. And I was running and i-it was right behind me so I ran inside-" Jimmy sputtered between short breaths.
"Steady," Dr. Glass warned. "Let me check your arm."
He swallowed and nodded before continuing. "And I knew I had to pull out the gun. So I-I pulled it out and fired bang bang bang and I was out of bullets. And then I-I got out…I can't stop talking. Am I in shock? I bet I'm in shock."
The medic took Jimmy's blood pressure as Weaver said, "If you were a little older we'd give you some whiskey." I smirked at how serious Weaver was. Jimmy took a breath before trying to get up quickly but Dr. Glass pushed him back down. She finished instantly and rushed me over next to Jimmy.
"What did you do?"
"I fell into some glass on the bus."
She sighed while going over to wash her hands and get a scalpel. Oh crap. "This is going to hurt a lot, but as soon as I pull the glass out, you'll stop bleeding. Okay?"
I nodded and waited for her to grab her disinfectant and a little bowl to put the glass in. She was bringing out an IV drip, but I stopped her. "Save it for someone who needs it," I said sternly.
"I'm the doctor, you're the patient. Let me help you."
"Please. I'm sure there's going to be someone who needs it way more than I will."
Dr. Glass was about to protest, when more blood oozed down my arm. She gingerly grabbed it and toweled off as much of the excess blood she could, then started cutting further into my arm.
Fuck, this hurts more than I thought it would. My right hand was clenching the side of the chair as she started removing skin around embedded shards to be able to remove them. I couldn't stop wincing as my arm felt like it was burning and burning. My breaths gradually got shorter the more she dug into my wound. I was doing my best not to look over at her, but every once in awhile I'd look to see her progress. She slashed a little more forcefully once she hit a shard of glass. A large breath of pain filled my lungs and I concentrated on not screaming swear words. Holy fucking shit this burns!
A cold, pale hand slipped into my right one. Jimmy's eyes softened a ton as he looked back into mine. He rubbed the pad of his thumb across my first finger trying to distract me from the pain.
"Squeeze my hand when it hurts."
Dr. Glass pulled out the first bloodied shard and toweled off my arm again. It didn't do much of a difference, but it was nice not having an overload of blood dripping off my arm. She cut more skin again, and I squeezed Jimmy's hand a little. I didn't want to hurt his hand so it was a small squeeze.
"It's okay. You won't hurt me," he chuckled reading my mind.
She pulled out three small pieces of glass and dropped them in the little bowl. I hadn't realized how much glass she had put in there already. Did I really land in that much?
"This one is a really long one. It's going to burn really badly," she notified as she slowly pulled it out from my skin. I was probably crushing Jimmy's hand, but instead of trying to get me to lighten my grip, he gripped my hand just as hard. He was such a sweet guy.
"Shit," I cursed as she yanked out the red shard. She skimmed her gloved finger over the entire area below my wrist, feeling for any bumps. She found a few more, and moved to work. She took a pair of tweezers and ripped out several small pieces, making my whole arm wince in excruciating pain. Jimmy squeezed even firmer against my bone-crushing grip. What he was doing meant a lot to me; it did distract me from the blood covered pieces of glass coming out of my arm.
"Just one more and then I'm done."
I nodded and tensed my arm as she dug far into my skin with the tweezers. If there was ever a moment my cursing would be acceptable, now would be the appropriate time. It was taking every ounce of willpower in my soul not to scream out the word "fuck."
The shard slid out a lot easier then the previous ones, and Dr. Glass smiled triumphantly. "Now I just need to stitch up your arm and put some disinfectant on it and you'll be just fine."
I don't know where she got the materials to perform stitches, but I'm so damn grateful she had them since my arm would never heal properly if it wasn't patched up. And not to mention the disinfectant. As much as it stings like hell, it let me keep my left arm. Dr. Glass started sewing my arm back together carefully, and applied small amounts of disinfectant to the cut slowly. It felt like she was pouring lighter fluid on it.
"Damn," I breathed as she poured more in the deeper section of the wound. Jimmy held my hand tighter and continued to move his thumb along my wrist bone. We're going to be best friends, I just know it.
Finally, I looked at my arm to see a row of stitches and blood seeping out of little parts. It was completely gross to look at and very painful. This thing was going to leave a nasty scar. Dr. Glass held it out straight and took out her bandages.
"I want you to make sure you keep your jacket sleeve off of it because it'll irritate the cut and make it bleed again. Don't do any excessive work with it and I would lay off shooting for a few days." Oh hell no. That was not going to happen. She wrapped the bandage around my arm repeatedly then tied it off. Blood was already staining the white cloth, but it wasn't dripping off of it. I never ever ever want to experience something like that again. So fucking painful.
"You're good to go."
"Thank you, Dr. Glass," I said uneasily. I was still trying to catch my breath from the yanking and cutting and bleeding.
I hopped down off the stretcher along with Jimmy. "This has been an eventful day."
"Yeah, no kidding," Jimmy chuckled while shaking his head. "I'm glad you're okay though."
"I'm glad you're okay. You were almost skitter bait because of my carelessness to look over my shoulder."
"Do not take the blame for that. It was completely my fault. If I had stayed closer it wouldn't have happened," Jimmy countered.
I sighed. I was not in the mood to argue. "You, my friend, need to carry extra ammunition where ever you go. Always."
Jimmy laughed again. "Tell me about it." And as randomly as before, Jimmy gave me another hug. I smiled to myself and hugged him back around his neck.
"Thank your saving my life back there. I thought for sure I was a goner."
"I got your back," I whispered back to him, "and thank you for holding my hand just now. That means a lot."
Just then, Weaver walked in the infirmary, and Jimmy and I jumped apart. "How are you, Parker?"
"I'll be fine."
Weaver was about to say something else, but Tom and Clayton walked in saying how lucky they were to take out that mech. Weaver joined in and asked if they had saw any more skitters or patrol ships around out there.
"We might've dodged the bullet on that one, at least long enough for the 3rd Mass to get to us."
"Same thing happened to 7th," Clayton added, "one skitter one mech. Scout patrol sniffing us out."
Captain sighed and contemplated what our next move was. "How long to the next wave?"
"As long as it takes for them to figure out that skitter's not coming back."
"Alright." He turned to look at Jimmy and me standing there awkwardly. We were eavesdropping yes, but if they wanted a private place to talk they would have gone to Weaver's office. He directed the conversation to Tom. "We need to reconsider Clayton's safe haven. This skitter attack ain't theoretical anymore."
I'd heard about that. Apparently Clayton wanted people under twenty to go with him to a safe little farm the survivors of the 7th were stationed and meet with the adults in a few days or so later. Tom had argued saying that he was not going to give up his boys, but he agreed with Weaver now.
That's when our second in command gathered the entire 2nd Mass inside the gymnasium to announce the new decision. I saw Alyssa and Hal sitting at a tiny table talking to each other. She clearly needs to catch me up to speed on what happened between the two of them. Jimmy and I were towards the back since we were the last ones to arrive, but nevertheless, Tom spoke loudly for everyone to hear.
"I've decided to send Matt and Ben along with Lieutenant Clayton. It'll put our kids a few hours ahead of whatever else is coming and I think that that's a good thing." I noticed Hal stand up at this, not liking the idea of being separated from his brothers.
"And if everything goes as planned, we'll be reuniting with our kids by tomorrow night."
A bald man spoke up. "We just got hit by a skitter," Wow, news travels fast. "If they're still out there how are you gonna get through?" he asked Clayton. I'm pretty sure we were all wondering the same thing too.
"With a small group on foot. We'll be ahead of the main skitter force, way under their radar."
"And if you're not?" the man protested.
"And they're gonna have a security detachment with them," Tom interrupted before a fight broke out. "O'Brian and Fuller!" The two fighters stepped forward a bit and nodded.
"I'd like Mike to come too if that's alright. We go back," Clayton spoke quietly.
"Okay," Tom agreed. "We know the skitter's aren't after the youngest ones. The rest'll go because our kids are our future and their safety has got to come first. So pack 'em up. They leave in an hour."
Only we didn't know how much of a screwed up place the Sanctuary was. Everything was about to take a massive turn for the worst, and in the most cunning way possible.
Ohhhhh snapppp!:o Things just got serious. Like end of the world serious, oh wait. That already happened;D So if you guys dropped a review, it'd mean a lot to us since we worked our butts off trying to get this monster of a chapter written! It'd be amazing to know our work paid off:] Love you all! -Parker
Weeeeeellllll, there were some MAJOR turn of events. What do you think? I really wanna know! ~*Carter*~