Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I hope you guys like it! It's a little longer than normal, so enjoy!
Tori XM- thanks for the review! I appreciate it. I hope you keep reading and you like this chapter!
As the day wore on, the members of the medical trailer became decidedly more lethargic. Hal kept himself awake though habit. His body was in night guard mode and though he could sense himself growing tired, he didn't give in to the feeling. Maggie, however, stayed wide-awake, years of roughing it having trained both her body and mind to stay alert.
Lourdes was the first to nod off, no doubt due to the long and stressful hours at the medical trailer, closely followed by Ben. The new girl was next, somewhat surprising Hal. He had expected her to be like Maggie, wary of everything and everyone. But seeing her with her eyes closed and a peaceful look on her face made Hal see her differently. He still didn't trust her completely and knew that she could be dangerous. But as his eyes moved from the girl to his sleeping brother, he once again saw her as a just another scared kid with a horrible past waiting to be told.
Once he saw the girl had drifted off, Hal stopped talking. Silence filled the trailer giving way to an eerie feeling after such a long time of Hal speaking. Anne was careful not to make a sound that would wake up the three sleeping occupants. Maggie raised her eyebrows at Hal and he shrugged slightly, not quite meeting her gaze. Instead, he looked back over at Ben. The boy had his arms crossed on the table in front of him, his head in his arms. Hal's expression softened and he smiled down at his brother. Ben looked so quiet, more at ease than Hal had seen him since he got back. Maggie followed Hal's gaze and her face grew wistful as she caught sight of Ben. Hal wondered what she was thinking about but he would never have asked.
Sitting in the silence with nothing to do, Hal felt himself growing even sleepier. He kept himself awake, not wanting to sleep. But his body wasn't ready for this added watch. He was used to night patrol, but if he had been assigned to them he would normally have the entire day to rest up in preparation. He felt a nudge in his side and he looked up into Maggie's face.
She nodded at him slightly and murmured, "Get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."
Hal wanted to protest but he felt himself giving in. He blinked a few times but finally drifted off into grateful rest.
Hal suddenly opened his eyes. The trailer was brighter and he rubbed his face. Looking around, he saw that Maggie was sitting in a chair next to him looking bored.
"What time is it?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Six or seven I'd say?"
"Why didn't you wake me up?" demanded Hal.
Maggie looked unconcerned. "I was fine keeping watch. Besides, you needed to sleep."
"I was supposed to be helping you," said Hal, feeling guilty that he had left Maggie to keep watch alone.
"I didn't mind," she repeated.
Hal shook his head. "Weaver's not going to be happy."
Maggie gave a slow smile. "It'll be our little secret," she assured him.
Hal looked around. Ben and the girl were still asleep, though no one else was around.
"Where are Anne and Lourdes?" asked Hal.
"Anne went to go find Captain Weaver to update him on the medical supplies. Lourdes said she was going to church. To pray for our souls or something."
Hal thought he detected a scoff in Maggie's voice and he was uncomfortably reminded of Karen's thoughts about Lourdes's devout faith.
"You don't approve?" he asked tentatively.
Maggie pursed her lips. "What she does with her time is none of my business. I just think there are better things to do with mine."
"So you don't think there's a God?" asked Hal.
"If there is, it doesn't care about me," replied Maggie.
Hal was silent. "Her intentions are good," he finally said, referring back to Lourdes.
"I never said they weren't."
"Karen used to scoff at her," continued Hal. Suddenly, he felt a need to keep on talking. "It was the one thing I didn't like. Everything else about Karen was good. She didn't deserve what happened to her. But she would make fun of Lourdes. They were never close. They were around the same age, you'd think they would have been friends."
"She felt threatened by Lourdes," explained Maggie.
Hal looked at her. "How do you know?"
"I've been there," said Maggie simply. "Lourdes likes you and Karen didn't know how else to deal with that."
"Lourdes was just being nice," replied Hal, embarrassed.
"Believe what you want," said Maggie unconcernedly with a shrug.
Ben began to stir, putting an end to the conversation. He raised his head and blinked sleepily.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"Six or seven in the morning," replied Hal.
Ben looked at the still sleeping girl. "Has she woken up at all?"
Maggie shook her head. "She slept as soundly as you two did."
"What are they going to do with her?" asked Ben quietly.
"We can't keep guard over her forever," replied Hal.
"What are you saying?"
"If she talks to us and makes it clear she's not going to hurt us, I'm sure Weaver will let her go about the camp like the rest of us," said Maggie. "But until then, he has no choice but to keep her like this."
Ben was silent and Hal watched his brother cautiously. But Ben still seemed tired and not focused on anything in front of him.
The girl finally stirred and Hal tensed. Maggie shifted slightly and Ben was now wide-awake.
She opened her eyes and looked around.
"Good morning," said Hal carefully.
She didn't answer.
"Still not talking?" asked Hal.
She wouldn't even meet his eyes let alone respond. She didn't looked panicked though, which was a hopeful sign.
"How are you feeling?" asked Ben quietly.
Just for a moment, her eyes flickered to meet his. Still she said nothing.
"We should tell Dad she's awake," said Hal in an undertone.
Maggie nodded but before she could move, the door to the trailer burst open and Anthony came hurrying in.
"Hal," he said, completely out of breath.
"Anthony, what's wrong?" asked Hal, startled.
"They're coming. Our patrols spotted them just north of here. They have reinforcements and they're coming fast."
"I knew the Skitters being gone was too good to be true," said Hal, rolling his eyes.
"Now we know what they've been up to for the past few weeks. They've been gathering their numbers and getting ready to attack us," added Maggie.
"Do you think…?" Anthony trailed off as he looked at the girl.
Hal shook his head. "No. They knew where we were. They didn't need a mole for this."
The noise of people shouting outside floated into the trailer. "We need to go," said Anthony urgently.
"What about her?" Maggie nodded towards the girl who, despite sitting quietly, she would have bet was taking this new information in.
"We're taking her with us," said Hal without hesitation.
"It would be better to chain her here," argued Maggie.
"We need to go," interjected Ben with a worried look as the shouting continued.
Hal made a split second decision. "Come with me," he said, grabbing the girl forcefully and not giving her time to react.
She didn't fight back the way she had with Anne, but then again, it was clear that Hal had enough of a grip on her arm to break it if need be.
The five of them hurried out of the trailer into throngs of people rushing about to herd children to the basements and gather what arms they could find.
Hal didn't know what to do. He was running on pure instinct. He, Anthony, and Maggie needed to get to the front lines, but there was nothing to do with the girl. The memory of Ben doing 100 pushups nonstop crept into his mind, but he pushed it away uncomfortably. Ben wasn't nearly strong enough to control her.
As they passed some hastily thrown up tents, he saw the girl reach for a gun lying on a table.
"Absolutely not," Hal said sternly, taking it from her.
She had a steely look on her face but didn't do anything in response.
An idea suddenly came to Hal and he changed course. He dragged her into the school and down a flight of stairs. It was quiet there, the commotion above muffled by the slabs of concrete making up the building.
He steered her to a thick metal pipe coming down the wall and took a metal chain from his jacket. She jerked her arm away, clearly understanding his plan. He took her arm back roughly and tied it to the metal, winding the chain like a figure eight around the pipe and her arm. He clicked the lock in place and looked at her.
She was staring at him, a mixture of emotions on her face. Anger, shock, despair, fright.
"You're going to be fine," said Hal, pushing away the voice in his head asking Is she really, Hal? "They won't find you down here."
She glared at him, no doubt his words not bringing much comfort. He started to walk away. The voice in his head persisted, now accompanied by the slightly guilty feeling in his gut. Just at the door he turned around, frustrated.
"I don't know why I'm doing this," he said, loudly so that she'd hear. "I don't trust you and I don't know you." He shook his head. "I really don't think they're going to find you. But just in case, I'm not going to leave you here as an easy kill."
He took the pistol that she had tried to take earlier out of his belt and placed it in her free hand.
"Try not to waste the bullets." He gave her a look before turning back around and walking out the door.
"You did what?" asked a shocked Ben outside the schoolhouse.
"I chained her to a pipe," said Hal, busily loading himself down with ammunition. "Down in the old basement."
"They're gonna kill her!" Ben protested. "If they get in there and she can't run-"
"She'll be fine," said Hal shortly.
There was a moment of silence. "Is that what you're gonna do to me?" asked Ben quietly.
"What? No. Why would you even…?"
"You don't trust me around the guns, why haven't you chained me up?"
Understanding came to Hal's eyes. "Ben, would you knock it off already?"
"You're just as bad as Dad and Weaver, you know that?"
Hal looked insulted. "I'm trying to do what's right. In case you haven't noticed, we're about to be attacked. I just want to get though this alive and then we can worry about her, okay?"
Ben shook his head. "Why am I different?" he continued to argue.
Hal looked up. "You're not, okay?" he said, frustrated. "Look, do you want me to chain you up? Because you've got about 30 seconds before I leave. So you better tell me right now."
"Hal…" Ben looked equally as frustrated.
"What?"
Ben just continued to stare at him.
"Oh stop looking at me like that," grumbled Hal.
"Whatever, Hal," muttered Ben, turning away.
The older boy sighed. "I gave her a gun," he said to the back of Ben's head.
Ben turned around. "You gave her a gun?"
"Did you not hear me the first time?" asked an irritated Hal.
"You gave her a gun."
"Yes, Ben, I gave her a gun," said Hal, exasperated. "Happy?"
"Well…how do you know she knows how to use it?"
Hal rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving," he said. "Goodbye, Ben."
He turned to walk away, slinging his gun over his shoulder. He didn't get very far before he heard his brother's voice calling him back.
"Hey Hal?" Ben's voice was unsure.
Hal turned back around. "Yeah?"
Ben shifted from foot to foot. "Be careful."
Hal gave a smile. "I'll see you later. Tell Matt I said goodbye."
He hurried to join a group rushing towards the gates with nary a backwards glance. Ben stood there and watched him, wondering for the thousandth time if he'd ever see his brother again. He paid no notice to the people passing by until a voice caught his attention.
"Ben, get inside. Find your brother!" called Maggie as she hurried past him.
"Come with me." Suddenly Lourdes was on Ben's other side and she fairly dragged him along as she hurried to join the other people who weren't leaving to fight.
"Where are we going?" he asked, trying to keep up.
"North end of the building. It should be secure there. They have weapons and even bikes if we need to evacuate."
"Hal chained the girl up," interjected Ben desperately, clearly only half listening. "She won't be able to get away."
Lourdes didn't say anything for a minute. Then: "He did what he thought was right. We need to hurry."
Ben jerked his arm away and looked at the young nurse with shocked eyes. "We can't just leave her!"
Lourdes spun around. "I agree. But we can't do anything about it right now. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Maybe God has a different path laid out for her than he does for us."
Ben shook his head. "I don't believe that," he said, backing away.
"Ben!" Lourdes grabbed him again. "Please," she said with forced calm. "Come with me. Come find Matt, he's probably scared out of his mind."
Ben didn't move. Lourdes looked distressed. "Look, I promise if we have to evacuate, I'll…I'll help you go find her. We'll take her with us. But you have to come with me right now."
Ben looked skeptical. "You promise?"
"Yes! Now let's go!"
Reluctantly, Ben allowed himself to be led over to the schoolhouse and into the dark rooms filled with the silent civilians.
Several hours later, Ben woke up with a start. Matt was asleep next to him, his head buried under Ben's arm. Lourdes was on his other side, her eyes closed and her head against the wall.
Though the darkness he heard a voice, meant to carry though the room but not so loud as to be heard outside the building.
"Everybody, wake up. Quickly!"
Blinded by the darkness, Ben shook Lourdes who immediately awoke.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"No idea."
Everybody was awake now and waiting for news of the fighters, waiting to hear they could all go back to their rooms and get some sleep before the new day began.
"The Skitters are coming," continued the man. "Everybody needs to get up quickly and quietly and go out the back. From there, proceed to the woods and start heading west. This is a direct order from Captain Dan Weaver."
There was grumbling as well as whispers of fear as everyone got to their feet and tried to stay together. Ben held on tightly to Matt's hand and Lourdes felt for Ben's shoulder.
"Do you still want to go?" she whispered.
Ben tensed. "Yes," he said shortly. He looked at his brother. "Matt, go find Uncle Scott. Hide in the woods, we'll be there soon."
"Where are you going?" asked Matt, his voice worried and his eyes round with fright.
"To…" Ben trailed off.
"We have to gather medical supplies in case anyone needs it when we're all together in the woods," filled in Lourdes.
"I want to come with you!" exclaimed Matt.
"No. Now go," said Ben, not wanting to waste time arguing. He pushed Matt in the direction of the moving people.
"Come on," whispered Lourdes. "If anyone asks, tell them we're collecting supplies for Anne."
Thankfully, this cover story was unnecessary. The chaos and confusion surrounding the situation meant that no one gave them a second glace as they slipped out the door. It was cold outside and the moonlight casting shadows didn't help the spooky atmosphere.
"Do you hear anything?" asked Ben, looking around.
Lourdes pulled her sweater tightly around her and shivered. "No. Let's just get this over with," she said.
They hurried to the South side of the building and opened the door cautiously. Lourdes was painfully aware that neither of them had any sort of weapon and if Skitters did find them, they were pretty much done for. She regretted making the promise to Ben, but now she had to keep it. Ben suddenly put out his arm to stop Lourdes.
"Listen," he whispered.
She froze. "I don't hear anything," she replied, terrified.
"I thought I heard something." And sure enough:
"What do you think you're doing!" came a voice from below. It was filled with surprise and anger.
Ben recognized it as Weaver's. "We have to get down there!"
"No we don't!" hissed Lourdes. "Think about this! We have no weapons, no backup. Just let him handle whatever is going on."
Ben ignored her. With a frustrated sigh, Lourdes hurried after Ben wondering who would kill her first if Ben died: Hal or Tom?
She and Ben flew down the stairs and as they rounded a corner they saw a window looking into a room with a light on. Ben and Lourdes skidded to a stop and stared at the scene though the window.
They could see the girl still chained to the pipe at the far end of the wall. There was a figure on the floor in front of her and she had the gun pointing straight out. Turning to his right, Ben saw Weaver outside the door looking in on the scene.
"Is that Jimmy?" breathed Lourdes, looking at the figure on the ground.
The young boy's face was terrified as he stared up. His mouth opened as if to say something but no words came out. Weaver had his gun out in turn but he looked disoriented.
"Put the gun down," they heard him say.
The girl made no response.
"Put the gun down or I will shoot," said Weaver steadily.
Lourdes was still shivering but Ben had suddenly noticed something. "Look at their eyes," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Lourdes. She focused in more closely and suddenly realized what he meant. She swiftly drew back, fear filling her face.
"Put the gun down now," Weaver was saying, shifting slightly. "This is your last warning."
"No," said Ben, putting his hand to the glass and turning to Weaver. "Wait!"
The girl looked up, her face tightened, and she pulled the trigger.
What'd you guys think? Review and let me know! I love hearing your comments.
I'm so in love with the first season of the show. Drew Roy, Connor Jessup, and Maxim Knight have all been doing such wonderful jobs. I honestly think Connor Jessup in particular has been given some really good material he's clearly making the most of once he's allowed the opportunity to actually open his mouth!
Let me know what you think, either about the chapter or about the show if you so choose!
~moviegal101~
