A/N: Thank you for the reviews you guys, I have homework to do and must hurry and update!
Thank you to Greg as always for beta-ing, you're awesome. Read and enjoy people.
XXXVIII.
It took Jimmy several seconds to realize the four teens across from him, readying their rifles, were no longer focused on him but staring past him at something in the distance. He spun round and lifted his own rifle, scouring the horizon for any signs of movement.
"Skitters are coming this way," Douglas whispered, "What should we do…?"
All eyes went to Jimmy.
"Uh…find cover," Jimmy stammered out the obvious, hurriedly leading the way off the side of the road into the trees and bushes.
They ducked into the overgrowth, and waited. It was several more minutes before the Skitters appeared, there were an innumerable mass of them, they flooded by as if beckoned by a Siren's call, and if they heard the five teenagers hiding on the side of the road, they weren't interested. Not a single Skitter broke its stride.
After the last Skitter was out of sight, Jimmy motioned to the others to stay hidden until he gave signal. He mentally counted up to one hundred then back down again five times, then gave a low whistle, and gestured the four gather near.
"I don't know what that was about…I really hope those Skitters weren't headed for the 2nd Mass, but we need to stay off the roads in case more are coming," he whispered to them, "Follow my lead, stay close. We're going to move at thirty count sprints, meaning count to thirty as you sprint, take cover in between, I'll signal when to move again. If any of you hear anything, hoot like an owl."
"Hoot like an owl? Lame," Doug muttered and Gia smacked his shoulder.
"Let's move," Jimmy told them, rolling his eyes. If this 'mission' didn't get him killed, it would be a fucking miracle.
The four teens apparently had the Skitter gifted grace and athletic ability, not so much as breaking a sweat during their quick pace, though Jimmy was haggardly gasping for air by the end of the run, he really did need to quit smoking, and a bead of sweat across his brow despite the chilly weather. Sprinting in bursts got them to their target in five minutes less time than Jimmy predicted, and they only had to hide from one more slightly smaller rush of Skitters along the way, though it took them over half an hour from when they'd left the truck.
"Where do we go now?" Roman wondered, as they crept through the streets of the downtown district on high alert, rifles at ready.
"We should go to the top of one of these buildings," Jimmy suggested, gesturing to some of the taller structures around them, "From a roof, we should be able to get the lay of the land and find that alien structure."
They picked out one of the tallest buildings nearby and Jimmy led the way inside, and up the stairs. He instructed the four not to discharge their weapons unless they absolutely had to, the sound of gunfire would announce their presence if the Skitters weren't already aware of them.
The building was twelve stories and they had to climb the stairs. By the time they reached the roof access, Doug and Roman were obviously wearing down, each having the most bulk to carry around, and all of them were slightly exhausted and breathless, their earlier sprint starting to catch up to them. Gia and Doug were left to watch the door while Jimmy, Roman, and Kelsey crossed the roof to opposite ends, studying the landscape.
Spotting the alien structure was easy, it was large and its translucent surface glistened golden against the high noon sun. Jimmy used the scope of his rifle to map out a path towards the structure, and get an enemy count. He scowled, catching sight of an odd mass of Skitter movement, stopping, and doubling his scope back to get a better look at what the chaos was about.
There seemed to be a cluster of Skitters gathered down one alleyway, and more rushing to the location. Jimmy attempted to count the enemy, stopping somewhere short of fourteen when he caught sight of a flash of black cloth splattered in crimson and the all too familiar movements of a heart-wrenchingly battered figure.
…
Skitter body parts rained from the sky, Rick wrestling with his pursuers overhead, as Ben struggled against his own opponents on the ground. He felled one Skitter, slashing the blade in his right hand clear across the back of its neck, only to be tossed across the alleyway into a brick wall by another. He landed squat on the ground, and rolled out of the way of another attacking Skitter. He lashed out with the blades in each of his hands, clumsy with his left and graceful with the right, attempting to sever Skitter legs at the joint.
A whole Skitter fell half-dead with a sickening thud behind Ben and he staggered forward in surprise, swept off his feet by another Skitter and slammed back into the wall, the spikes in his back ripping partway through the fabric of his t-shirt and chipping away red brick on impact. The Skitter's claws dug into his shoulder and he gasped in pain or startle, it was difficult for him to tell those days when he felt numb to most things. He drove one blade straight through the Skitter arm holding him in place and as it screamed surprise he drove his other knife into its mouth and back through its throat, its warm blood spilling out over his arm.
Another Skitter was on Ben before he'd even pushed the dead Skitter body aside, and he struggled to dodge its blows, stumbling back into another couple Skitters, as Rick's last Skitter pursuant dropped dead to the ground onto another Skitter, Rick following it with his knife poised to strike, landing on that other Skitter, stunned by the blow of its dead fellow, and dead within moments by the knife of the boy landing on its back.
One of the Skitters wrestled Ben to the ground, and he slashed away three of its legs, before severing a claw and plunging his knife up through its chin. He staggered to his feet and stumbled back to back with Rick, a slew of Skitters circling round them on the street and crawling up the walls.
"There's too many of them," Ben gasped, he didn't recall so many Skitters being here last time, and getting through the streets had been so easy before, it was almost as though this time they'd been ready and expecting him and Rick, and he couldn't help wondering with a sour taste like bile in the back of his throat, if sneaking off on those intel ops, leaving dead Skitters lying around, might be the reason for such a heavy, alert force waiting.
Ben spat a blood clot to the ground and rushed at one side of the Skitter circle as Rick leapt towards the other. Ben's knives slashed and flurried, he dropped several Skitters, losing his left blade in the process. He was slammed around, claws ripped into his flesh, blood and sweat mingled on his brow. He caught glimpses of Rick out of the corner of his eye; the other boy was faring better than himself, but just barely. They would be overwhelmed in a minute or so.
Again, Ben slammed against a wall, his feet tugged out beneath him and the back of his skull cracked against the ground, ringing in his ears. He struggled against the onslaught, striking with his fist and legs, and jabbing out with his blade where he could. He reached for his handgun at his side, the gunfire would only attract more Skitters and possibly Mech, he knew, but he was growing desperate as blood seeped into his eyes, blurring his vision, a Skitter claw on his throat, its body heavy on his chest, crushing the air from his lungs.
The world was darkening and, for a split of a second, Ben thought of Jimmy.
Through the blur of pain and mess of reaching Skitter claws, soft smile flitted across Ben's bloodied lip, as the other boy flashed into mind: a shy smile, a dark scowl, a hot kiss and a warm body relaxed in Ben's arms.
Somehow, even though rationally Ben knew Jimmy was miles away back at camp fighting against a full-force alien assault, he felt as though Jimmy were near, as if an angel guarding Ben from above. There was a strange comfort in the feeling, it put Ben at ease, and somehow, he felt he could close his eyes, drift away, and everything forevermore would be okay. In his mind was Jimmy and he was at peace.
Kap-pa-Squick.
Skitter brain splattered into Ben's face as the head of the Skitter holding him down burst into bits. Seconds later, another Skitter's head popped, and then another and another. Ben tightened his clasp on his knife, struggling to his feet as the Skitters around him scrambled in surprise at the sudden attack from nowhere.
Seemingly rejuvenated by whatever miracle was occurring, Ben and Rick gained their second wind, adrenaline kicking hard through their veins, and they slashed, sliced, and slaughtered the beasts around them with a sudden ease. Ben recovered his second knife, wielding it with an adeptness he didn't have before, as Skitters dropped at random.
Moments later, most of the Skitters were dead, others were retreating or scurrying in search of the gunman who, concernedly, had stopped firing several tens of seconds prior. Ben wiped the blood – a mix of his and Skitters', slick and warm, from his eyes with his sleeve and glanced at Rick, both of them listening intently for the location of their savior.
When they'd located him, they didn't bother exchanging a single word or glance, darting down the street at a breakneck pace. Skitters and Mechs were already converging on the location of their would-be rescuer, from the sounds of things there were several guns going off, though the pacing of the bullets that had saved Ben and Rick moments before had suggested only one sniper.
They came upon the building, a few dead Mech collapsed on the street, Skitters scrambling up the staircase inside, and, pulling out their handguns, keeping a knife out in the opposite hand, they began shooting and hacking a path to the top.
Ben couldn't say he was surprised to find Jimmy at the other end of the stairs attempting to shoot his way down, there were only a few members of the 2nd Mass that could've made those kinds of shots moments before, though Ben was a little furious to see the four teenagers that were with Jimmy. Together, the seven teenagers barely managed to kill a pathway through the thick of enemies, rushing down the stairs and out into the open street, firing on oncoming Skitter and a couple more Mech the entire way.
"Come on, this way," Ben called at the head of their party, racing down a street and round the first right corner, as he began to recall the geography of the surrounding area.
The streets twisted and wound before them, and Ben sprinted seemingly at random round corners and cut through narrow alleys, they clambered over a fence, burst straight through several stores, in the back door and out the front, then cut into another building and though they'd seemingly lost the enemy, as precaution they barricaded themselves into the small, dead freezer of an abandoned restaurant to get their bearings straight. It reeked of rotting foods, must, mildew, and stale refrigeration chemicals.
Immediately, Jimmy was at Ben's side with a knapsack, digging out first aid kit items: gauze, iodine, bandages, some of which he passed off to Rick.
"Why the fuck are you here, Jimmy?" Ben demanded, gaping at the other boy in angry disbelief.
"You're welcome for saving your life," Jimmy muttered in return.
Ben sighed, the adrenaline from battle abruptly fizzling out and leaving behind nothing but fatigue and distant aches. He grabbed ahold of Jimmy by the shoulders and dragged him forward into a hard kiss. Most of the others averted their eyes, shifted awkwardly, Roman made a face, and Rick just stared apathetically at the two boys.
"Ben," Jimmy groaned, pushing Ben away and darting wary looks at their company, he muttered, "You're covered in blood and Skitter gunk."
"So…then…probably…don't do…this?" Ben swiftly wrapped Jimmy in a tight embrace, sure to smash him against the bloodiest, goriest parts of his body.
"Gah…ack…get off, Ben," Jimmy cried, struggling out of Ben's grasp and attempting to wipe some of the transferred ichor from himself. He jabbed Ben in the side, "Why do you always…ugh…gross…you are such a jerk!"
Ben grinned proudly at the other boy, the adrenaline from their recent battle, now that they were somewhat 'safe', beginning to turn into excited restlessness, which had more than a little to do with Jimmy's miraculous appearance. He absently rubbed the spot where Jimmy's fist had connected, peeling his shirt away to start working on cleaning some of the most severe injuries.
"I really am happy to see you," Ben admitted sheepishly, "Considering moments ago I thought I'd never see you or anyone for that matter ever again..."
"Why are you all here though?" Rick questioned. His eyes bore into the unharnessed four. Some of them had been watching Ben and Jimmy's exchange with mild amusement and they shook to attention at Rick's stern voice.
Jimmy attempted to help Ben clean his injuries, pausing only briefly to glance at the other four teens curiously. He'd asked the same question before but their answer hadn't exactly been satisfactory, he got distracted arguing with Roman, and then they all ended up hiding from the stampede of Skitters heading, most likely, for the 2nd Mass.
"That's not your business," Roman growled warning. Ben faltered in wrapping a bandage around his side to fix a glare of his own on the older boy, letting Jimmy finish tying the bandage off.
"Actually it is our business," Ben retorted sharply, "It's our op that you and your friends are here jeopardizing."
"Jeopardizing…? We just saved your sorry asses and the op, last I checked," Roman shot back.
"No, Jimmy saved us," Ben returned, and Jimmy flushed somewhat at the intonation, "Because I find it hard to believe that a guy who can barely hit a Skitter from twenty feet away suddenly developed the ability to expertly snipe a Skitter almost a hundred yards away."
"Of course, Jimmy wouldn't even be here if it weren't for us," Douglas quietly mentioned.
Ben perked a brow at that, glancing down at Jimmy silently taping gauze to his side. That brought the conversation back to the very interesting question of why were those four teenagers there and, more importantly, why was Jimmy with them?
"They were coming here one way or another…" Jimmy stammered explanation, "I didn't actually…intend…to come…it just sort of turned out that way."
"I saved his life," Roman proclaimed proudly.
"Skitters attacked camp…I was out in the open," Jimmy clarified, shrugging, "He drove some of them off me, we got in the truck and took off…"
"You left camp during the attack," Rick noted just as Ben demanded, "Why were you out in the open?"
"Like I said, I didn't intend to leave. Kelsey was driving, I had no control over where we were going," Jimmy insisted, and darted a dangerous look at the four, "I was out in the open because I saw them leaving and went to stop them when the Skitters attacked."
"Okay, I see…so you saved his life from the danger you put him in, in the first place, you asshole," Ben seethed, reeling on Roman again.
Roman shrugged, said nothing, and actually looked almost abashed about the accusation.
"It isn't important why we're here," he grumbled, "We just are and we can't exactly get back to camp. There are Skitters everywhere outside of this door, and they've got camp overrun..."
"Overrun," Ben repeated, stunned, he turned to Jimmy, "How bad was it? How bad did things look?"
Jimmy shrugged, eyes downcast, and voice appropriately solemn, "There were a lot of Skitters…Mechs…I didn't see much but they were hitting us hard."
"My brothers…?"
"Matt was barricaded inside the community center with the rest of the civilians, Hal was at the head of the defense line," Jimmy answered, "They pulled the perimeter pretty tight around that building but Weaver wants getting the civilians out of there priority one. The 2nd Mass should be fine with the first wave…"
"Fire wave?" Rick interjected, brow perked.
"We came across two more packs of Skitters on our way here," Douglas explained, "We had to hide in the bushes…I got thorns in places you don't want to know about."
"It's pretty clear they intend to take out the 2nd Mass today," Rick stated calmly.
"We have been hammering them hard this past month," Roman noted, Kelsey sidling up next to his side.
"Not really," Jimmy scoffed, "We're more like a pesky fly they finally decided to swat."
"Shit," Ben murmured, shaking his head, "We need to get back to camp. Coming out here was a stupid idea…"
"No, it wasn't. It was smart," Jimmy returned gently, "If we had more time…"
"Which we didn't from the start and Weaver knew it…I really thought that I could…" Ben mumbled, balling his hands in fists at his side and glaring at the floor, "And now my brothers are pinned down and we're pinned down…"
"Why go back? Why don't we continue with the mission?" Roman suddenly suggested.
Everyone turned their attention on him.
"At the meeting, they said they thought the enemy retreated after the warehouse, because one of those things…that structure thing that's here…was in the warehouse and you destroyed it, right, brat?" Roman continued, Ben snorting softly at the 'brat' comment but remaining silent and seemingly placid, "If they're right, destroying the one here may be the only way to save the 2nd Mass."
"He's got a point," Rick said.
"We don't have anything on us to destroy it with," Ben argued, "Weaver just sent us here to see if we could destroy it."
"By any chance, you idiots didn't think to grab any C4 from the armory when you were lifting those clips and rifles, did you?" Jimmy questioned, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the unharnessed four. They lowered their eyes and shifted uncomfortably. That would be a 'no'.
"We did pass a hardware store on the way here though," Gia spoke up, and clarified when questioning looks went her direction, "I couldn't help noticing that most of this area wasn't looted, probably got hit hard during the invasion and the bugs settled in en masse…so, most of the stuff in the stores would still be there."
"Jimmy?" Ben glanced a question at the other boy.
"I've never built explosives," Jimmy cried, looking incredulous at the six pairs of imploring eyes suddenly turned on him.
"But you've talked explosives with Dai a lot; you know the basic concept behind it, right?" Ben pressed.
"Yeah…sort of…not really…"
"I've read a lot about making bombs…internet Anarchist's Cookbook type stuff," Douglas supplied awkwardly, receiving a few strange looks. He shrugged, stammering, "I was bullied a lot, was miserable…a little dark, very suicidal…I might've been planning a 'doomsday' at school before the invasion happened…yes, okay, I was that guy."
"Oh, God, Dougie…" Gia murmured, putting a hand over her face and appearing as though she might be sick.
"What? That was long before I met you, Gee, I wouldn't even dream about it now," Douglas whispered insistently to the girl, and she offered him a withered expression.
"So…then Douglas has the knowledge and, Jimmy, you have the experience," Ben continued, "Between the two of you, do you think you guys could build a bomb?"
Jimmy and Douglas exchanged a look, both pale and uncertain.
"Maybe," Jimmy mumbled, turning back to Ben, "But getting the supplies won't be easy and getting to that structure will be even less easy and then finding a place to build the bomb…"
"Not easy. We get it," Roman griped.
"Ben and I can handle gathering the supplies," Rick cut in, "We'll build the bomb here."
"No way," Jimmy cut in, suddenly glancing in alarm at Ben, "You guys nearly got killed out there. We all did. This is ridiculous…"
"And if we don't, we're all dead anyway," Ben replied sharply, then shook his head and grimly remarked, "Everyone is."
The group fell solemnly silent a moment, musing on that thought, then eyes turned one-by-one on Jimmy, waiting expectant. He scowled, groaned inwardly.
"Fine, but we aren't doing this the way Rick said. If we just run out there without planning things out perfect first then we might as well not even bother, we'll be dead before we even get the supplies. We'll only have one fucking shot at this; we need to take whatever precautions we can. First, we need to relocate," Jimmy decided, "And then we need to find a way to that structure before we start building any explosives."
"We should probably get to high ground then," Ben suggested, "A roof somewhere."
"Right," Jimmy agreed, "Then we'll figure out how to get to the hardware store. And then we'll build the explosives…
"We passed a parking garage on the way here," Roman mentioned, "It was five stories, looked like. Maybe there…?"
"No, it'll probably be crawling with Skitters," Jimmy muttered, "And Mechs can access a parking garage real easy. I saw some office building thing on the other roof, it was only about three stories but that'll work...can we get to it?"
"I think I know which one you're talking about," Ben said, "We should be able to reach it cutting through a few alleys…"
"Then…I guess…let's go build a bomb," Jimmy declared, and then murmured incredulously as the others readied to leave, Ben smirking mildly amused at him, "Jesus Christ, I can't fucking believe I'm about to build a bomb…I failed chemistry...twice."
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A/N: Right. Hah. Homework, breakfast, running. Let me know what you all thought please and thank you!
Reviewers: Typoonboom08, ah, two chapters in a row., awesome! Yeah, they're motivations aren't entirely clear. Glad you really liked the last chapter, hope this one was also to your liking. SassySavanna190, lol, oh you make me laugh, in a good way of course. I'm glad to see you're as emotionally invested in the chapters as ever. Yeah...I hope this chapter belayed some of your fears. Please, don't throw your phone, I don't want you to break it. And that is a good question. Caswiee, I'm sorry...when did you make it obvious?
Ah, so few reviews. Oh well. I'm going to go eat breakfast. See you all...Sunday!