Big break between chapters. If you're still with me, thank you. If you're new, hello! Enjoy :)
Grace Mason belongs to the lovely Jemma 3
Chapter 30: Zigzag
When the 2nd Mass took off again, Casey was joined on the medbus by another couple of Masons. Tom and Grace climbed aboard after Ben left the 2nd Mass to go off on his own. From what Grace told Casey, Ben was worried that since the skitters could track him through his spikes, staying would put his family and the 2nd Mass in danger. He also wanted to go out searching for other deharnessed kids just like him and spread the word about the burgeoning skitter rebellion.
Casey could tell Ben's decision clearly bothered Tom, because he spent the first hour of the supposed twelve-hour final push to Charleston just staring out the window into the black night. Grace sat beside him holding his arm and resting against his shoulder. Casey just kept back with Etta. It seemed the Masons weren't up to talking and she was happy not to bother them.
Anthony was behind the wheel so Anne could tend to her patients. Matt scribbled in his journal sitting in the seat behind his father and sister. Lourdes was resting in the back seat again and Casey had wedged Etta's basket between two seats so the baby wouldn't jostle about while they drove. To pass the time, Casey ferreted through her shoulder bag and took out the box of her mother's photographs. She missed her parents, but seeing their faces kept their memories floating through her mind and Casey found comfort in that.
Casey stopped in her flipping to stare at a photo of her parents in front of a waterfall. Judging by her father's hair and potbelly, Casey guessed the photo was taken a year or so before his death. In the photo Casey's mother was grinning at the camera with her arms tight around her father's neck, while Casey's father simply looked at her mother in that seemingly unintentional way he did. It was rare for Casey to see this look on her father because most of the time he seemed to realise what he was doing and set his face back to stoic. But this photo captured it. That way her father looked at her mum like she was the only thing he could see.
The abrupt motion of the bus slowing jostled Casey out of her memory.
"Seems like we're stopping," Anthony called unnecessarily from up front, then he abruptly hit the break.
Casey's box of pictures rocked forwards and toppled off her lap. "What the hell, Anthony?"
"Sorry," Anthony said over his shoulder. "Weaver's out there. I think he wants us."
Casey got down on her knees and tried not to aggravate her back as she picked up her scattered photos. She could hear Grace talking to her father.
"What if it's Karen?" Grace asked. "She could have followed us."
"I'm sure it's just a flat tyre, or something," Tom told her. "Stay here with Anne and your brother, okay?"
Out of the corner of her eye Casey saw Grace nod as her father exited the bus with Anthony. Casey reached under the seat and grabbed a flyaway polaroid.
"They your folks?" Grace asked.
Casey looked up and saw the girl plucking a photograph up off of the bus floor. Grace turned the picture around and Casey saw it was the waterfall one she'd just been looking at. "Yeh, Mike and Thea."
Grace slid into a seat. "They look happy."
"They were," Casey took the photo back from Grace and stashed the box away in her bag.
"Were you married?" Grace asked.
Casey looked at her and must have had a strange expression because Grace instantly apologised.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"No, it's fine," Casey smiled. "And no, I've never been married."
"Ever been close?"
A brief memory floated in and out of Casey's mind. "Yeah… once upon a time."
Grace seemed to get that Casey didn't want to speak about it. "I saw Lee before," she said instead. "She looked better. Losing Boon like that," she shook her head. "Horrible way to go."
"Karen will pay for what she did," Casey said. "And Ben will come back. Safe."
Now Grace gave Casey an odd expression, but she smiled appreciatively and looked down at her lap. Then suddenly the bus door crashed open and startled both of them.
Tom climbed aboard. "Anne?" He called. He was sweating.
Anne stepped away from her patient. "What happened?"
Tom gestured for her. "We need you out here."
Grace stood up. "Dad?"
"Stay inside," Tom told his daughter. "The scouts found a harnessed girl."
xxx
"Absolutely not!" Casey stood her ground outside the medbus blocking Tom from getting back on board. Anthony was standing beside him holding an unconscious girl in his arms. Casey could see that the girl, who looked about Matt's age, still had a harness attached to her back and scaling creeping onto her face.
"Casey," Tom said. "She's hurt—"
"So was Abigail!" Casey yelled. "Have you forgotten? Skitter girl who stole Etta? Knocked me out?"
"Gotta agree with her, Tom," Weaver said. It was he and Tector who had picked up the girl after almost running her over. "We can't be sure this girl's not a mole of Karen's."
"No, we can't," Tom agreed. "But we can't be sure that she's not just another scared kid who broke free from the skitters. Maybe she heard of Ben's rebellion. Maybe he sent her to us."
Anne touched Casey's shoulder. "What happened with Abigail won't happen again. We're all looking out for Etta. You know that."
Casey knew she was fighting a losing battle. "I don't want her near Etta."
Weaver nodded. "Agreed. We need to get back on the road," he said. "Anthony, Tom and I will ride the medbus with Anne and the girl." Weaver turned to Anthony. "Get Lee and Lyle onto that bus. Keep a wall between that girl and the baby, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir."
xxx
Not content with leaving Etta in her basket, Casey held the baby in her lap to ensure she wasn't out of her sight for a second. She couldn't shake her anxiety about the harnessed girl. What if the skitters knew what happened with Abigail and sent this new girl to finish what she started? That would mean the skitters wanted Etta, but why would they want a baby?
Abigail had taken Etta because she was lonely. There was nothing to suggest the skitters were after Etta. They harnessed kids, but infants? The whole thing made Casey's head ache. She was glad she had Lee keeping her company.
"She shouldn't be on board," Casey muttered. She could see Matt sitting beside the harnessed girl. She'd revealed her name was Jenny after Matt had given her some food and water.
"She's got soldiers, rifles and shotguns between her and MB," Lee said to Casey. "Don't stress. One wrong move and any of us can take her down."
"She still shouldn't be on board."
Lee nodded towards the end of the bus. "Mini-Mason seems to like her."
Casey couldn't deny that Matt looked quite comfortable chatting with Jenny. He was even showing her pages in his journal. He didn't seem bothered by her at all. Not even after she told him she had a brother who wasn't really a brother, but a sibling she'd gained after being harnessed to the same skitter, which she called a "Guardian". Everything the girl said made Casey more and more uncomfortable.
"Pope would agree with you, though," Lee said.
The morning after Pope had fixed Casey's bandage, he had gone on a scouting and petrol run with Hal and Maggie. The trio were meant to rendezvous with the 2nd Mass the following day. "Pope would just do it to disagree with Tom," Casey said.
"Nah, anything to get back into your good books," Lee said.
Casey adjusted Etta's blanket so it kept the cold away from her neck. Etta was sleeping, happily oblivious to all the guns and soldiers protecting her.
"You know he's not like you think, right?" Lee said suddenly.
Casey's jaw tightened, and her suddenly burn itched.
"What he was like with Maggie and all those assholes?" Lee shook her head. "That's not who Pope is. I know it. And you know it, too."
Etta made a noise in her sleep and rolled into Casey's body. "Lee, I don't trust him."
Lee gave her an unimpressed smile. "But you trust me."
"Dad!" Matt's frantic yell filled the medbus. "Skitter!"
Lee jumped to her feet in front of Casey. Anthony and Tom fled to Matt's side of the bus with their guns ready. Casey cuddled Etta closer to her and strained to look around Lee to see what was going on. It was just for a second, but Casey saw it. The skitter clinging to the side of the bus.
xxx
The 2nd Mass pulled to an instant stop. Tom, Anthony and Lee charged off the bus to secure the area. Grace came back on board to guard her brother, Casey and Etta, Anne and Jenny. Had she not been so on edge, Casey would have left Etta with Matt and gone out with her own gun. But there was no way she would leave the baby alone with the skitter girl. The furthest Casey could get from Jenny was sitting behind the driver's seat so that's where she sat. Out the bus door she could hear Tom and Anthony talking.
"Whatever it was," Tom was saying. "It's gone now."
"The girl says it's her brother, Tyler," Anthony said. "He's here for her."
"He's here for Etta!" Casey shouted as she moved to the top of the steps leading off the bus. "This is a big scam!"
Tom looked at her and for a second he seemed about to argue. But he didn't. "We can't believe the girl," Tom said quietly. "But we don't have enough ammo to defend the convoy. I'll go talk with Weaver. Stay inside."
Casey nodded and pulled the handle of the bus to close the doors. Then she sat in the driver's seat. Lee came up and stood guard next to her, and trailing up the aisle behind her came Matt.
"Jenny's not here for Etta," Matt said to Casey.
Casey smiled at him. Whether he was saying it to calm Casey or to defend Jenny, it was a sweet gesture. "Matt-"
"She just misses her brother," Matt said. "And he misses her. That's all. You don't have to be scared of her." He didn't wait for Casey to answer, he just turned and headed down the aisle to Jenny in the back seat.
A half hour of travel later and Lee had fallen asleep against Casey's shoulder. Etta was awake and babbling to herself while she chewed on Casey's thumb. The convoy was at another stop. Word travelled back to the medbus through Grace that they had come to a fork in the road and Weaver was trying to make a decision which way to go next. He must have decided because a chorus of engines shook Lee awake.
"Looks like we're moving again," Anne said from the driver's seat.
"Charleston, here we come!" Matt whooped from the backseat.
"We there yet?" Lee grumbled.
"I think this is our last last push to Charleston," Casey said.
Lee groaned and messed her hair over her face. "So why'd you wake me?"
"I didn't, Anne's driving did. But you really shouldn't sleep with a shotgun in your lap."
"Pfft," Lee leant her leg up over the back of the seat in front of them. "It's not loaded," she cracked her gun open to show Casey. "Oh, wait, yes it is."
"Well, that's comfortin-"
A shuddering crash from behind made Casey whirl around in her seat. The shadow of a skitter loomed across the barred back window of the bus. In a flash Jenny was on her feet and shoving Matt out of the way.
"Matt!" Casey thrust Etta into Lee's arms and burst forwards but Jenny shot past her. The girl barely grazed Casey with her hand and Casey went flying sideways into the wall of the bus. Her head smacked solidly against something metal, the echoing thud the last thing she heard before she hit the ground.
xxx
Casey woke to daylight warming the side of her face. A persistent ache pulsed at her temple and her back was stinging. Casey could see roof of the medbus above her. The 2nd Mass must have stopped again for some reason. Had they got to Charleston? But it was so quiet. Casey had expected tears and cheers when they finally made it to their destination.
A quiet sniffling caught Casey's attention. She turned her head and saw Grace's staring out the window.
Fear vice-gripped Casey's insides. "Etta?" She called out. Her throat was dry. "Did Jenny take Etta?"
"No, she's fine," Grace stood up and turned to face Casey. She was holding Etta against her body. "She's just fine. How are you feeling?"
Casey gave her a dismissive wave of the hand. "Is Matt okay?"
"He got knocked out like you," Grace came over to Casey. "But Anne says he'll be okay."
Casey exhaled and pulled herself up into a sitting position on the gurney. "Then where is everyone?" Her eyes noticed Grace's sunken frame. "And why are you crying?"
Grace held Etta close and rested her lips against the baby's head. "Charleston," Grace closed her eyes. A tear drifted down her cheek. "It's gone."
xxx
Casey was surprised to see so many of the 2nd Mass outside of the bus when she climbed off. They were all gathering around Weaver, who seemed to be preparing for a speech, but everyone was so quiet. It was eerie. Scuffing footsteps sounded strangely loud, no one laughed or spoke. Etta's little baby noises provided a sweet accompaniment to what looked like a mass of depressed survivors.
"Gather round," Weaver was saying as he climbed up onto the back of a truck.
Everyone gathered together sharing solemn glances and disappointed expressions. Tector stood on the ground by Weaver's side, straight-backed and stoic, with Dai and Anthony behind him. Tom and Anne walked forwards holding hands. Lourdes was at the front of the pack with a few of the scouts. Casey stood next to Lee with Etta as Grace made her way through the crowd towards her father.
Casey looked at Lee who gave her a non-smile and nudged her elbow.
"So, Charleston was a bust," he finally said. His voice was low. Sad. Just sad. "We thought we were gonna have paradise on Earth delivered to us right here on a silver platter," he shook his head and chuckled. "We should have known better." He put his hand to his chest. "I should have known better. It doesn't mean that the dream was bad. It just means that we are gonna have to work harder to make it happen. Now, the choice is simple. You can lie down and quit, curse God at the unfairness of it all." Weaver's misted eyes scanned the crowd. "Or...you can come with me."
The crowd began to stir.
"And find another place to live a place where we can build the community that we hoped to find here."
Casey felt the swell in her heart mirrored in the energised movements of the crowd. A smile crept to her face.
"So, here's what we're gonna do," Weaver announced. "We're gonna get back in those vehicles."
"Yeah!" Someone yelled.
"And we're gonna go on!"
"Hell yeah!" More voices joined the chorus.
"Even if it means we have to carry the damn things on our backs!"
A rouse of enthusiastic hollering and applause followed Weaver as he climbed down off the truck.
"So, I guess we're moving on," Lee muttered to Casey. She, unlike everyone else, didn't seem encouraged by Weaver's speech.
"We'll find a place," Casey told her. "If not here, then somewhere. It can't all be gone."
Lee scoffed. "Well, all I'm seeing is a whole lot of gone."
"Cheer up, Craze," Lyle gave Lee's shoulder a playful knock. "We've still got booze."
Lee gave him a shove, but smiled.
"Hold up!" A voice ahead bellowed.
The crowd instantly stilled and everyone with a gun stepped forward. Lee and Lyle crossed over in front of Casey and joined Tector up the front with Dai, Tom, and Weaver. Casey had to peer around Lee's wild hair to get a look at what was going on.
Weaver stood ahead of the pack. "Who goes there?!" he called. "Identify yourself!"
"Hold your fire," a casual male voice responded through the trees on the roadside.
A man in faded army fatigues stepped out onto the road. Behind him were a handful of younger men in similar outfits. "Colonel Porter, First Continental Army."
Casey tensed. Army? Here? Now? Why?
Then Weaver did the last thing Casey expected him to do.
He lowered his gun.
The Colonel stepped forwards, a warm smile on his face, and approached Weaver without hesitation. "Hello, Dan."
Weaver looked stunned. "Jim?"
"Heard the shot, and then I spotted your outfit," Colonel Porter opened his arms and Weaver clasped him up in a hug. The way they embraced suggested to Casey these two army boys had fought side by side.
Casey's body relaxed. The Colonel radiated calm and control. Where the 2nd Mass looked raggedy and tired, the Colonel and his men looked rested and strong.
"Hey, Tom." The Colonel shook Tom's hand. "You've been busy."
Tom smiled but looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Little legend building around you, Tom Mason."
Casey felt herself smile. News of Tom's survival from the alien ship appeared to have travelled the grapevine.
"Where'd you come from?" Tom asked.
Colonel Porter smiled. "We came from the new capital of the United States of America - Charleston, South Carolina."
"We were just in Charleston," Tom said. "There was nothing there."
Colonel Porter chuckled. "Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving, as you people from the 2nd Mass are about to find out." He clasped a hand on Weaver's shoulder. "Dan, let's get them all mustered. I want to get everybody settled before nightfall."
Weaver nodded. "Yes, sir."
Colonel Porter and his men spread apart and began to introduce themselves to the 2nd Mass. Casey shook the hand of a handsome soldier when behind him she saw three familiar faces.
"Oh, you had me worried." Tom's voice was filled with relief as he embraced his eldest son. Maggie was smiling beside him, and behind her, hanging back, was Pope.
"Colonel Porter's patrol found us," Hal said. "He wanted to bring us back with him.
I said, 'Hell no. The 2nd Mass is out there.'"
Casey smiled at Maggie and noticed redness around her eyes as though she had been crying. She seemed happy enough when Casey put an arm around her.
"Everything okay?" Casey forced herself not to look at Pope despite feeling his eyes on her. Her burn tingled in a not unpleasant way.
"Just fine," Maggie said gently touching the tip of Etta's nose. "Let's go to Charleston."