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Hal wasn't sure what exactly had woken him up. The only noise he could fully make out was the screaming, both close by and faint, and he had gotten used to that quite awhile ago. He also wasn't really in any pain, which was a first. He could hardly remember the last time he woke up and there wasn't any part of his body that was aching. Maybe it was the absence of pain that woke him. Was that possible?
Taking a deep breath to try and clear his foggy head, he smelled something strange. Smoke. Instantly knowing that something was wrong, Hal forced his eyes open. He was a little taken aback when he saw he was in a different room, but then remembered that he had woken up here once before and proceeded to look around. Surprisingly, he was completely alone.
Deciding to take advantage of that, Hal pushed himself off the metal table he was lying on, pulled out the IV in his hand, then started making his way to the door. His muscles protested with every movement, but he continued anyways. As he got closer to the room's exit, he spotted his torn and bloodied camo jacket on the ground beside the door. He glanced down and saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The only thing covering his torso and arms were the bandages wrapped around his injuries. He reached down to grab his coat and slipped it on before making his way out of the room.
If the unlocked door wasn't enough to make Hal very suspicious about what was going on, the complete lack of skitters and harnessed kids sure did. He was starting to wonder if this was all a dream, but he continued nonetheless. If it was a dream, he'd wake up eventually, and if it wasn't, then it was a perfect chance to escape. Once he got out of the building though, he froze in horror and confusion.
The entire place was on fire. The other building trapped in the alien-electric fence was burning, as was the trees in the area, even the grass. Other prisoners were running around yelling at the top of their lungs. They were actually attacking each other too. Some were running straight into the fence, not even caring that touching it turned them to dust.
The sound of a nearby scream quickly had Hal turning around, before his eyes widen at the sight of a person on completely on fire running straight for him.
Hal shot upright in his bed, a loud gasp escaping his lips. His brown eyes were open as wide as they could possibly be, though he wasn't seeing anything. The nightmares, the memories were still playing his in mind clear as day. He wasn't sure how long it took, it could've been hours or minutes, but eventually, the young man felt his body start to calm down as his brain registered that he wasn't in any danger, that he was safe.
The young man looked around the room in habit, just to make sure that there was no one else around. While he had always had complete privacy in his bedroom, he always felt the need to make sure that no one could have seen him having his nightmares. Hal had no doubt that everyone had really bad nightmares, they were in a warzone after all, but he was pretty sure that nobody had them every single night and kept them from getting any more than two hours of sleep a night. And considering what he told his family about where he was, they would get mighty suspicious if they knew of his nightmares and lack of sleep. After all, as far as he knew, they weren't having nightmares about what happened to them in the ghetto.
Once he was 100 percent sure of where he was and that he was alone, Hal looked over to the window in order to get a sense of what the time was. Due to the fact that most buildings had no electricity and batteries were scarce, there weren't many working clocks in Chinatown, so the oldest Mason son had no way of knowing the actual time unless he got up to go find out.
Seeing that it was still dark out though, he laid back down on his bed. It was too early for him to get up, especially since he had no reason to be. Those that still believed he was probably a spy or something would get suspicious if they saw him walking around in the middle of the night. So he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get another hour or two of sleep in. Maybe.
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It felt like years for Hal before he decided that it was a decent time to leave his bedroom and go outside. For the last week, he had been completely aware of people staring at him, and he knew that it would keep happening for a while yet. Since he knew that it would be happening when he decided to come back to the 2nd Mass with his Dad and Weaver, he was actually a little surprised by how quickly he got annoyed with the staring and whispers. However, he did his best to ignore it and tried to act as normal and casual as possible, which turned out to be a bit harder than he thought it would be.
Ever since he arrived, he felt constantly on guard. Though Hal had kept himself on guard back when he was on his own, this was a little different. Before, all he had to worry about was that he stayed alive and hidden. Now, he was constantly on edge about doing anything that seemed just slightly abnormal. Because if anyone saw, and with how much attention was on him, someone definitely would, he had a feeling he'd be accused of being a mole. He was already certain that the majority of the 2nd Mass believed he was, but since there was no proof, they couldn't really do anything about it. Not without angering his Dad at least. So, he kept his head down, just like he had been doing since he arrived, and walked over to the food line to get some lunch.
"Hal!" The young man jumped slightly in surprise and immediately tensed up when he heard someone yell out his name. Turning around to see who it was, he quickly forced himself to relax at the sight off his youngest brother, not wanting him to see that he actually somewhat scared him. Hal knew he was too slow though when he saw Matt's excited expression turn to one of worry.
"You okay?" Matt asked, slowly his stride though he continued towards his older brother.
"Yeah I'm fine, you just startled me buddy." Hal answered with a grin as he reached over and ruffled the kid's short hair when Matt got close enough.
"Sorry." Matt apologized, actually looking more ashamed than just sheepish.
"Don't worry about it." Hal told him with a more serious smile. Matt looked a little unsure, but ultimately nodded. Deciding it was time to change the subject, Hal said, "You seem excited," remembering how his brother sounded only seconds earlier.
"Dad's letting me go on patrol with Anthony and Tector today." Matt told him, regaining his smile.
"Sounds like fun." Hal remarked with a grin of his own as the two reached the line.
Before either of the two could say anything else, their other brother, who was already in line, asked, "How come you haven't been assigned to go on patrols yet?"
The only response Hal gave at the moment was a quick shrug of his shoulders as they had now reached the table with the food. In silence, the three siblings quickly filled their plates while the oldest thought how to best answer his younger brother. He wasn't really sure why Ben was asking that since he had only been back for eight days and there had only been two patrols during that time. Maybe he was wondering why he wasn't diving right back into the war like he probably would've been, even though he had been on sentry duty three times, with others of course. They weren't trusting him that much, not that he blamed them.
"You'd have to ask Dad." Hal told them as the three brothers took their plate of food over to an empty table. What the raven-haired young man neglected to mention though, was that he himself had not asked about why he hadn't been on any patrols, nor did he have any intention of asking anytime soon. Going out on patrols and doing food or weapon runs could be dangerous, and he knew that was the last place he should be.
Bang!
Everyone, including Hal snapped their heads over to the gate where the sound of a gun firing came from. One of the people on sentry duty right by the gate immediately yelled 'sorry' once he saw that everyone was looking at him. It took a few seconds for it to sink in that there was no danger, that it must've been an accident or something, but when it did, the members of the 2nd Mass that heard the shot turned back to whatever they were doing. Everyone, except Hal that is. Ben and Matt both immediately noticed that their older brother was still staring, and was tense enough that he was actually shaking slightly.
"Hal? Hal?" The young man flinched as he felt a hand suddenly touch his arm and snapped his head to the side. Seeing that it was only Matt, and that he was again giving him a worried look, Hal quickly pulled himself together and said, "What?"
"Are you okay? You completely zoned out on us." Ben asked. While his facial expression may have looked a bit emotionless to the others, the oldest sibling could clearly read the concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Hal replied with a somewhat confident, half grin.
Ben stared at him, and though the dark-haired, young, man couldn't see it, he could feel Matt's eyes on him as well. After a few seconds, Hal decided to just ignore his younger brothers' attention and started to eat his lunch. A few more seconds later, Ben and Matt both started doing the same thing, though they did shoot Hal a few concerned glances. What all three of them were unaware of however, was that a certain Colonel was watching them from the sidelines, staring in particular at Tom Mason's eldest child before he walked away.
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Less than ten minutes after leaving the cafeteria area of the camp, Weaver was walking through the main building towards the office that Tom had set up. He had been wondering what the other leader of the 2nd Mass was planning, as they hadn't been on any missions or anything. While it had been nice to have a little break from the fight, everyone knew it wouldn't last long. And, well, after what he just saw, he was a little concerned about Tom's oldest child.
"Weaver." The former history professor greeted the Colonel when he saw him enter the room.
"Tom." Weaver said, closing the door behind him. As he walked over to the leader, he asked, "What's going on?"
"Cochise said that the Volm won't be ready to make another attack on the Espheni bases around us for another few weeks. I was thinking that we just do some food and weapons runs until then. Stock up on everything we need in case we get hit by another skitter attack. We might have to stay in Chinatown for a while if we do." Tom filled him in as the Colonel sat down at the table on his left side.
"Sounds like a solid plan. I'm surprised that we haven't been attacked much since we destroyed the base where they were building parts for their new weapon." Weaver commented.
"Same here, but I think it might be because that was such a large base, there just aren't that many skitters or Overlords around to attack us. Or maybe they're focusing on protecting their other bases right now." Tom theorized, not really wanting to question how quiet it had been lately. It gave them time to think, plan, and prepare for whatever was going to happen next. When Weaver didn't say anything, the former history teacher looked up and saw a somewhat nervous expression on the older man's face.
"What?" Tom asked, wanting to know why his friend was looking at him like that and what was going through his head.
"Nothing." Weaver responded, though the look didn't fade. Tom stared at him for a few more seconds, knowing that there was indeed something that the military man wanted to say. When he stayed quiet though, Tom turned his attention back to the map, marking places that should be checked for food, weapons, and medical supplies.
"How's Hal doing?" Weaver finally asked the father after almost two full minutes of silence.
"Good, I think." Tom answered with a convincing tone, though the way he slightly tensed up told Weaver he was a lot more worried about his oldest son than he sounded.
"Has he said anything about what happened yet?" Weaver then questioned, hoping his tone didn't sound like he was pushing for answers.
"No, but I haven't asked either." Tom revealed. Seeing the look on his friend's face, he immediately explained, "I just, want to give him time to settle back in and for people to calm down about his sudden reappearance before I ask again. He's already so guarded right now."
"I think most people are okay with Hal coming back here despite the circumstances, or at least, are getting there. It's Pope and his crew that are the problem." Weaver informed him, frowning when he brought up the former criminal and his gang.
"Tell me about it. Even though I told him Anne checked Hal over and found nothing, he still keeps insisting that there's something going on." Tom told him, raising a hand to rub his temples.
"You know, he's probably right." Weaver replied. When Tom's gaze immediately snapped back to him, clearly about to defend his son, the Colonel quickly added, "I'm not saying Hal is a threat to us, but you and I both know that there is something going on with him. Why else would he stay away, wear a mask, and want Karen to think he's dead?"
Tom stared at him for a few seconds before he nodded and quietly admitted, "I know."
"Is that why you haven't been letting him go on any patrols or anything like that?" The Colonel wondered.
"Part of the reason. The other part is that, Hal hasn't said or shown any desire to do anything like that, to become more involved in the fight." Tom answered.
"That's strange." Weaver commented. From the expression on his friend's face, he knew that he found it weird too.
"I know. When the invasion first happened and we joined the group in Boston, he was chomping at the bit to get into the fight. Now, nothing."
"Well, it could simply be he wants a bit of a break from fighting. I mean he escaped a ghetto while the aliens were destroying it, he's been alone for months. If anything were to happen while he was alone, he'd have to do all the fighting. He'd never be able to let his guard down. Now here, with a group of people, soldiers, protected by a barrier, he can somewhat relax." Weaver tried to explain to him. Having been a soldier for many years, the Colonel easily understood that, and he knew that Tom should be able to understand it after fighting the alien invaders for the last two years.
"And," Weaver started, not fully sure if he should continue. When he saw Tom staring at him, waiting for him to finish, he knew he had too, "he might just want a break from fighting Tom. He's been through a lot in the last few months."
"We all have." Tom quickly pointed out.
"I know, but everyone has their limit. Maybe Hal just reached his." Weaver countered, knowing first hand what it was like reaching your own limit. Tom stared at him for a minute before realizing what his friend was getting at.
"You mean PTSD?"
"Maybe not quite that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was happening too. I'm pretty sure I've already seen him show some signs of it." Weaver replied, causing Tom to look back down at the table. Though he wanted to deny it, he couldn't. He had seen the signs too.
"I'll try talking to him again later." Tom informed him.
Weaver felt a little guilty for bringing all of this up right now, but a lot of tension was building up in the 2nd Mass with the sudden reappearance of Hal Mason. Even though he had been checked over, rumours were flying about the young man, going from him being bugged again, a spy, or even a clone and that the real Hal was dead. It was starting to get ridiculous, but Weaver knew that until all the information came out, they wouldn't stop. They could try and wait for it to pass, but considering that he had been bugged and controlled by the aliens before, he wasn't sure that it would. They had to know, they had to make sure that everything was okay with Hal, that he wasn't a threat.
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Hal laid on his side on the cold, hard, floor. Staying down, hoping that he'd pass out soon was all that he could do. Any movement whatsoever caused pain to spread through his entire body. No, not pain. It was worse than that, it was agony, excruciating agony. Besides, even if moving didn't hurt, he still couldn't, he didn't have the strength too. Even breathing was hard, and it hurt too.
The sound of the door unlocking and the loud, squeak of the hinges as it was pushed open broke through the slight ringing in his ears. For a few seconds, he tried to think of who was coming into his cell. He hoped it wasn't the skitters to take him back to that room again. They just dumped him here minutes ago. At least, he thought only a few minutes had passed, but he had no idea. The only clear thing that was registering in his brain was agony his body was in.
Suddenly, small, gentle hands and fingers touched his shoulder, causing Hal to gasp as the pressure made the aches worse. It was then he tried to move, wanting to get away from whoever was touching him, but the person made a quiet and calming 'shh' noise before gripping his shoulder and pulling him back into the position he was in. Then, one hand disappeared only to reappear a second later under his head. The hand was cold, which made Hal flinch slightly, but the person ignored it and lifted his head up before lying it down on what felt like someone's lap.
"It's okay Hal, it's alright." A gentle voice told him as the hand that had lifted his head was now running through his hair. It took a few seconds, but eventually he realized that it was Karen who was beside him, "I know it hurts, I do, but all of this will be over soon."
Hal didn't have the energy to say anything, even if he wanted to risk making the pain he was already in worse. While under normal circumstances, he would have pushed her away, would have told her to stay away from him, and there was a part of him that still wanted to, her comfort actually felt nice. It was gentle and caring, like how she used to be before she was harnessed. So he let her stay, slowly but finally drifting off to sleep.
Just before everything turned black, Hal heard Karen say, "And when it is over, you'll be glad we did this. You're going to be a powerful weapon Hal Mason."
With a gasp, Hal shot up in his bed, soaked with perspiration as the memory continued to swirl in his head. Above him, the uncovered light-bulb suddenly turned on and started glow brighter and brighter until the entire room was white. Then, it shattered.