*hugs you all!* I love getting these reviews! I'm glad so many of you like my story =)
Disclaimer: Falling Skies is not mine =(
I heard the approach of dirt bikes and instantly hurried out of the school to find Tom and Weaver talking. "What'd you find?" Weaver asked.
"Nothing. This map is wrong."
"What are you talking about?" Weaver questioned and I frowned deeply.
"Oh, it's rural alright, but we didn't see anything close to Clayton's sanctuary." Tom explained. "Still no sign of the third?"
"No."
"Escorts aren't back yet?"
"No, still not back…" Weaver growled and I narrowed my eyes. "Damn it… Clayton had no reason to lie to us…"
"Then why is it not one thing he told us is holding up? We need to organize a search team. Kids on foot couldn't of gotten that far." Tom said insistently.
"No way. Our orders are clear. We are to hold-"
"Orders relayed by a man we barely know." Tom cut him off sharply.
"In a dicey situation where we don't have clue one about what might have happened." Weaver barked, following Tom as he returned to a dirt bike. I moved forward as well, looking between the two men and Dai uncertainly.
"You know that something's not right!"
"All I know is what I've been told. We wait." Weaver commanded, but Tom looked at him defiantly.
"You wait. I'm going back out. It'll be daylight soon." Tom said and I stepped forward before anyone else could say anything.
"Wait. Let me come with you." I said and all three men frowned at me. "I'm quicker than all of you. If you guys find something, it might be in a situation where both of you will be needed since you're fighters. If it comes to that, I can just run back here for help instead of one of you getting left stranded in a bad situation, or both of you having to come back and us losing them." I explained seriously. When they all stayed silent and I could see Tom preparing a denial, I went on quickly.
"You want to go so desperately because your sons are out there, Tom. Well, the girl I think of like a baby sister, who I helped raise, is also out there… Besides, you can't deny that my logic is solid." I said sternly and Tom sighed.
"We don't have another bike." He said.
"That's fine. I'll ride on the back." I said swiftly and Dai skeptically looked at the back of Tom's dirt bike, since it had the larger back. Tom just nodded and without hesitation, I leapt onto the back of the bike, sitting very uncomfortably seeing as it was tiny without any cushioning. I grabbed the back of Tom's collar tightly. "Better not do any crazy stuff, sir, or I'll strangle you." I said lightly and Tom chuckled softly before he and Dai took off.
It was only an hour and a half later when we slowed to a stop for the fifth time, looking around. "If this war is coming, it sure is taking it's sweet time." Tom said with a sigh before frowning.
"Hey, is that-" I began, seeing a figure moving towards us.
"That looks like Ben!" Tom said, climbing off the bike quickly. I followed, as did Dai, as Tom ran forward. "Ben!"
"Dad!" Ben shouted back, running towards us as fast as he could. He slowed to a stop right in front of Tom.
"Where's Hal and Matt?"
"They're with the others!" Ben said, his breathing heavy. "They don't know Clayton's coming."
"They're not at the sanctuary?" Tom questioned sharply.
"No, no. Said it was a sanctuary? We left and they started shooting at us!" Ben said quickly.
"Wait, Clayton?" Tom asked.
"Yeah… I think Mike's dead." Ben added and I flinched.
"What?" I asked, but Tom's question overpowered my voice.
"Is anybody else hurt?" He asked, his voice a bit softer than before.
"Not when I left." Ben said and Tom nodded.
"Alright. I need you to tell me everything." Tom said firmly, and Ben launched into his story about what happened at the 'sanctuary'. Once he was finished, my anxiety had spiked greatly and my arms were trembling. I folded them across my chest to hide it, frowning at Tom. "Alright, Ben. You and Alyssa go back to the base and get backup." Tom instructed, but I instantly protested.
"Wait, what? No." I said quickly. "I know how to shoot a gun, Tom, and Ben is old enough to be able to go back there on his own. You'll need all the help you can get if he's right about their numbers."
"She's right, Tom." Dai cut in before he could protest. "We'll need the help. Besides, she's quick, and our best bet is to tail them back to their base. If we get caught, she can get away probably before they even know she was there, and then double back and continue following." Dai said and Tom sighed heavily.
"Alright… Take the smaller bike, Ben. It's quicker." Tom instructed and Ben nodded, jumping on the dirt bike Dai had been on. "Come on, and remember to be quiet."
"Really? Here I was under the impression we were going to just run in screaming." I mused thoughtfully and both Dai and Tom looked at me oddly. "Kidding… but you know, that's what they always do in war movies." I sighed dramatically. "No sense…" I grumbled under my breath as we sped into a run, hurrying down the roads.
"Stupid plan, stupid plan, stupid plan." I whispered to myself as I walked out beside Tom, both of us holding our hands in the air.
"Shh!" Tom hissed and I silenced myself, but chanted the words in my head. I didn't understand why in the hell Tom made me go out with him instead of letting Dai do it, or just going out himself so Dai and I could both follow, but there I was. I guess he figured it'd be easier for one spy to not get caught, and that I'd be able to get away if it came to it. Yeah... Judging by the amount of guns pointed at us, I'd have to say that not even my speed would get me out of this one.
"We're not taking any prisoners today, Mason." Clayton called to us as we approached.
"Well, you might want to think about that one. Everything you told us is a lie." Tom said, and we were only a few feet away now. "I know you haven't talked to Porter… because I have and he's on his way." Tom said smoothly and I had to fight to show no reaction. I knew that was a lie, and him saying that caught me off guard.
"So what, then? You're going to offer yourselves up as hostages, then?" Tom nodded in response to Clayton's question. "Why?"
"We don't want them to get hurt." Tom answered, jerking his head towards the house.
"… Grab their weapons." Clayton commanded.
"What makes you think he's telling the truth?" One of his men asked.
"Because he's smart enough to understand that if I even suspect he's lying, I'm going to take it out on his boys." Clayton replied with a glare towards us, and I fought the urge to jerk away when the man pulled my handgun from the holster at my hip. "Alright, Tom, you call them out." Clayton ordered sharply once our weapons were removed… Most of them, anyways. The man did a pitiful job of checking me, as I still had my knife hidden in my sleeve.
Well, not exactly. Hiding knives in sleeves is just stupid. I had a pocket knife, with one end of it tucked into my glove, the rest of his concealed by my cargo jacket. "Hal, Matt, come out. It's over." Tom shouted towards the house, being ushered forward by the man who took our weapons while Clayton walked up next to me.
"Don't try anything, little girl." He hissed, grabbing me by my braided hair. I ground my teeth as he tugged on my hair, glaring at him defiantly. A moment later the doors of the house opened and Hal led the group of children out of it. Stupid plan, stupid plan, stupid plan. I chanted in my mind, my heart pounding and my hands shaking with minor tremors. The group surrounded the children, taking all the weapons from Hal and Jimmy.
Cecilia looked at me with wide, fearful eyes, but I smiled reassuringly at her, even though I didn't feel too reassured myself. Hal was talking to Tom, but I didn't hear anything, all too aware of the gun pressed against my back. I bared my teeth in a snarl at Clayton as he began to lead us down the road with him and I in the front, his hand grasping the back of my neck tightly and his gun forcing me forward.
"Alright," Clayton said, raising his voice as we entered the ranch. "Get all the kids in the stable, now." Clayton commanded but tightened his grip on my neck. "You're going last." He hissed in my ear and I glared icily at him from the corner of my eye.
"No!" Matt cried out, struggling in Lourdes' grip. "I'm not going! Dad!" He shouted, and Tom moved toward shim, but one of the guards raised his gun at Tom. Before he could fire, a gunshot sounded from the house and the man fell to the ground, Weaver and several others walking out of the house.
"Drop 'em!" Weaver commanded sharply, and Clayton tightened his grip on my neck, making me feel a little light headed. Another guard cocked his weapon and Weaver snapped to the side, shooting him in the chest before I could even blink. "Who's next?" Weaver demanded, several of the guards lowering their weapons. The only one who didn't was Clayton, moving me in front of him like a shield. He wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me against him so my neck was pressed inside his elbow crease, limiting my air supply.
"Clayton… Let her go." Weaver said slowly, his voice hard.
"Why? So you can kill me?" Clayton demanded icily and I lifted my hand to my chest, pressing down and slowly wiggling it. I knew it looked odd as hell, but it was inching my pocket knife out of my glove.
"I'll only kill you if I have to, Clayton." Weaver said.
"Oh, really?" Clayton asked, clearly not believing a word of it. Stupid plan, stupid plan… "If you kill me, I'm taking her with me." He hissed, and my eyes widened at the sound of him cocking the gun against my back, finally portraying the fear I'd been hiding. My breathing increased to match my skyrocketing heart rate, and I felt tears in my eyes. I blinked rapidly to get rid of them, finally feeling the pocket knife slid out of my glove.
Maneuvering my hand slowly and carefully, I lowered it to my side. Then, with one quick and well time movement, my pocket knife dropped into my hand. Hal's eyes instantly dropped to it as I carefully kept it out of Clayton's sight and unfolded the blade. This time, Weaver noticed it. "Clayton." He said instantly, keeping the man's attention on him. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why am I doing this? Because someone has to survive this war to keep the human race going." Clayton said with a bitter chuckle, and I took the opportunity. I swung one arm behind my back, knocking his gun hand to the side just as I stabbed my knife into his ribs. His arm loosened around my neck at the same instant a loud bang sounded, and I felt a breath-taking pain in my side. Without hesitating, I shoved his arm off my neck and staggered forward.
Hal, being closest, caught me and pulled me quickly away from Clayton. He crouched on the ground, lowering me down so I was sitting in front of him. "Are you hurt?" Hal asked urgently, but I was staring wide eyed at Clayton, who was lying on the ground, gasping for air with my knife sticking out of his side. "Alyssa?" Hal's voice sounded distant to me. "Dad?" I heard him call in alarm, but I didn't hear anything else but the pounding of my heart as I watched Clayton's chest give one last, desperate heave.
His whole body stilled, his eyes staring up at the sky, unmoving. I killed him. Those three words echoed in my mind, over and over again. A sudden, sharp pain in my side snapped me from my daze with a cry of pain. I realized that Tom was kneeling on my right side while Hal was on my other side, and that Tom had lifted up the right side of my camisole shirt and cargo jacket, and was touching my flesh just above my hip bone. "What are you doing?" I asked, my voice a bit of a croak.
"The bullet missed you completely, but the side of the gun tip was touching you when he fired. It burned you, but it's minor so don't worry." Tom said, still feeling the skin around a crescent shaped burn.
"Oh… No wonder it hurts…" I murmured, my eyes automatically drifting to Clayton's unmoving body.
"We don't have anything to treat it with, so you'll have to suffer through the pain until we get back to base, unfortunately." Tom said with a sigh, lowering my shirt and jacket and standing up.
"Hal. You take her back on one of the bikes." Weaver commanded from where he stood a few feet away, turning back to his conversation.
"Come on, Alyssa." Hal said softly, his arm wrapping around my shoulders to grasp my right bicep, helping me stand. I winced at the pain in my side as we walked the few feet to the bikes. He sat on it and stood it up so I could climb on the back, which hurt like a son of a bitch as it tugged at my burn. Once I was on the back, I loosely wrapped my arms around his waist and he started the bike up, driving away quickly.
After a few minutes of numbly watching the world pass by, I leaned forward and pressed the side of my face to his back, closing my eyes.
Poor Alyssa's in shock from killing a human =( Don't worry, though, she gets over it and goes right to being a not-so-badass-badass.
Review please xD
