A/N: Thank you for reading if you're still with me! Long time between chapters. Hope you like this one :)
Grace Mason belongs to jemmalynette, whose fics with Grace ("Heartbeat Away From Death and "Not Dead Yet") you can read here on FanFiction.

Chapter 32: Here We Go Again

Weapon's training was taking place on the second level parking lot. The uniformed Charleston guards were not-so-subtlety milling around in amongst the people from 2nd Mass. Casey noticed they had a large supply of weaponry secured behind even more impressive security cages. There were tables lined out with a variety of guns and ammo. Casey passed Grace and Hal at a table together speedily cleaning and reloading rifles in some sort of race. And the kind young man who had helped Casey with her food tray, Miles, was milling nearby.

Casey headed towards Pope and Lyle, who were feigning nonchalance at the back of the pack, when Lee curled around a corner with a spark in her eyes. "You're not gonna believe their artillery," she muttered excitedly as she pushed Casey forwards. "AT4s, GAU-17 minigun, heavy mortars. We're talking serious alien stir-fry."

Casey was impressed. "How do you know that?"

Lee shrugged as the pair arrived in front of Lyle and Pope. "I snooped," she said.

"No, how do you know what they are?" Casey asked. "The guns. What are they, labelled?"

"I know my shit," Lee said. "And I'm betting these Charleston phonies are just letting us see what they want us to see. I'll bet they have so much more hidden away."

Lyle scoffed. "Yeah, assuming they ever take it out of storage."

"Look," Pope said. "Remember we're just here to get a lay of the land, grab whatever the hell we can carry, and get the hell out of here."

"You're not still on about leaving," Casey asked them. "Really?"

"They took our guns and tried to separate us," Pope reminded her. "That's enough to get me pretty damn suspicious of what the hell they're planning. You really want to stay here?"

Casey tightened her first around the strap of her shoulder bag. Her paranoia —of which she had to admit, with Charleston, she did have some— swung in waves. But it all came down to Etta. And Etta was probably the safest she'd ever been in her short little life now that they had arrived in Charleston. Everybody in this place seemed committed to keep her safe.

And that meant Casey was staying put.

"Maybe they thought we'd storm this place and take it over," Casey offered to Pope. "And you can't really blame them for hesitating when they heard about Ben's skitter rebellion. You reacted the same way."

Pope paused. "Yeah, well, what else are they thinking about us?" He frowned. "Something about this place is very Stepford."

His glum expression jogged her memory. "I brought you something," from the front pocket of her shoulder bag she retrieved the teeth whitening cut-out she'd taken from her visit with Anne. She'd torn it so she just had the perfect smile part of the ad. Casey held it over her mouth unable to contain her own little grin beneath the paper.

Pope didn't look impressed.

"A smile." Casey said. She handed it to him and was a little surprised that he actually took it. "You could use it."

"Funny," he said—without smiling.

"You!" A commanding voice from behind them barked. "So-called Berserkers, fall in." It was Sergeant Clemons flanked by two officers Casey hadn't met.

"Oh, I'm not really a Berserker," Casey said. "Well, I sort of am. I guess but…" she drifted off when she saw the face of the soldier to the right of Sergeant Clemons. Last she'd seen him he was wearing torn jeans, muddy boots and a grease-stained leather jacket. Now, Tector wore what looked like a brand-new set of army fatigues.

Pope looked both amused and disappointed. "Oh, no."

Lee seemed about ready to spit on Tector's gleaming black combat boots. "What the hell is this?"

"Did I say to talk?" Sergeant Clemons snapped.

"I'm sorry, did I say 'kiss my ass'?" Pope flicked the collar of Tector's uniform. "Are you kidding?"

"You must be Pope, right?" Clemons strode forwards with the arrogant air of someone who loved to hear himself talk-and how he looked talking. He towered over Pope at least by a head though Pope was not intimidated. "I understand you think that you're smarter, faster, and tougher than just about any man in this outfit."

"You catch on quick," Pope said to Sergeant Clemons without looking at him. "Tec, you just gonna stand there in your new jammies, sucking your thumb or what?"

"Name's Gunnery Sergeant Murphy, Pope," Tector recited. "Now fall the hell in."

Casey couldn't hide her surprise. He sounded just like Weaver. Was this his life before? She'd pictured Tector as a mechanic or machinist with how good he was with cars and bikes. Him having a military background hadn't crossed her mind. But he looked almost at home standing ramrod straight beside Sergeant Clemons.

"I think you and I are gonna have a lot of fun together," the Sergeant sneered at Pope. Then he addressed the group. "Grab some iron. Let's see if you Massachusetts cry-babies know how to shoot."

Clemons and Tector lead them all to an area set up for practice shooting. There was a foldout table layered with a small collection of weapons and strung up on the far wall were four target posters.

Casey's insides twisted and her heart hammered as she unlooped her bag and set it under the foldout. She had been bundled in with the Berserkers, but she was well aware her expertise was definitely not in league with theirs. She knew she had an eye for targets, and using her revolver made her frugal with bullets. But there wasn't a revolver on the table.

"Take the sniper rifle," Lee muttered, gesturing to a slim, silver gun with her elbow. "It's loud, but that one's light." She chose a much more impressive looking weapon for herself.

Casey nodded and picked it up. One thing Casey sort of knew about sniper rifles was that they only fired one bullet at a time as opposed to the rapid-fire of a machine gun or assault rifle. So, Casey knew she at least wasn't in danger of losing control as though it were a deadly, out of control garden hose.

What she didn't know was how to load the damn thing. But Lee came to her rescue.

"It's easy," Lee picked up a magazine cartridge and flipped it over in her hand. "Slam this into here," she clicked the magazine into place. "Make sure it catches. You'll hear a click. You don't get as many rounds as an assault rifle but these babies," she held up a long silver bullet and let out a low whistle. "Pack way more of a punch. You headshot a skitter with one of these and it'll be dead before it hears the bang."

Casey glanced over her shoulder, wondering if Clemons could see she had no idea what she was doing. But he appeared to be delighting in explaining something to the irritated pair of Grace and Hal. It was Tector she saw looking very straight-backed and serious. He knew Casey was a fledgling with any sort of gun. Would he blow her cover to keep in line with Clemons?

"He said he was a Sergeant," Casey said.

"Gunnery Sergeant," Lee rolled her eyes.

She was trying to play it off like she was just irritated by Tector, but Casey could tell she was hurt. "Did you know he was in the army?"

Lee nodded. "He told me when I first joined up with the 2nd Mass. Said that's why he survived; his training kept him moving."

"How'd these people make him switch back?" Casey asked.

"I think he's just trying to be a good soldier boy," she scoffed to herself. "They stomp that loyalty into them."

Casey stared down the scope of her sniper rifle. It was awkward to hold but she hoped no one noticed how foreign it must look in her hands.

"Don't hold your breath in," Lee said. "Breathe out before you fire."

Casey did as she said and lined up one of the paper targets in the crosshairs of her scope. Her arm swayed slightly making the burn on her back sting. She exhaled again and pulled back on the trigger, fired, and almost dropped the damn gun. It had less recoil than she anticipated, and she almost fumbled it anyway.

"Nice try, sweetheart," Clemons sidled up beside her. "But in this war, we actually want the bullets to hit their target."

"Okay, well is this war against people or skitters?" Casey argued. "Because that person poster is not a skitter. My bullet would have hit a skitter leg." Maybe, she thought.

"Want us to bring the target closer?" Clemons leant in close to her.

Casey stood firm. He was trying to intimidate her. She hated pathetic men like this. "Maybe you should stand down there and be a target for me," she said.

Clemons laughed. "Ha, now that's not what I was hoping you'd ask me to do for you, sweetheart."

"I wouldn't get close to her if I were you, pal," Pope said from the end of the row. "There's a reason we don't have her shoot when she's out with us. Casey, there?" he grinned. "She likes going face-to-face with skitters. Daggers. Blades. Anything sharp," he made a swift stabbing motion. "She skewers those scaley bastards one after the other."

Casey wide-eyed him over her shoulder wondering what the hell he was doing, and his smile told her that he was having too much fun. Then Lee and Lyle joined in.

"Oh, man," Lyle shook his head. "Girl gets bloody. The mess don't even bother her anymore."

"And they call me the crazy one," Lee said. "I can't hold a candle to her when she's got skitters in her sights. Almost makes me pity the damn bugs."

They were all very convincing liars. Casey had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. And she thought, for a second when she glanced over at him, that Tector was clenching his jaw extra tight to keep from doing the same.

"Who do you think cut these?" Pope showed Clemons his necklace of skitter claws. "I keep them as a reminder. Stay clear of Casey- or something's gonna get sliced."

Clemons glanced from Pope's necklace back to Casey. Not wanting to break the façade, Casey just smiled because she couldn't hold it in anymore. She realised that actually might sell this "psycho-skitter-stabbing-Casey" idea even more.

Whether he believed it or not, Clemons backed off. "Why don't you all just get back to practice?" He ordered as he left. "Eyes on them, Murphy." He added to Tector who saluted in response.

"Very funny," Casey said to her friends as she adjusted her grip on the rifle. "You're all hilarious."

Training continued into the evening. The guards called dinner at around six, according to Lee's watch. But first the 2nd Mass were put to work sweeping up shell casings and spent bullets. No one was allowed to leave until Clemons cleared their area and personally dismissed them. And he was taking his sweet time letting them go. Casey and Lee were batting a shotgun round back and forth with brooms like a pathetic game of hockey when Tector put a stop to it. He got between them and stood on top of the casing.

"Clean," he said curtly. "This ain't playtime."

"Why don't you help?" Lee tilted her broom handle towards him, but he didn't take it. "Didn't think so."

"Just do what you're asked, Lee."

Lee scoffed and stared him down until walked away. "Asshole."

"He'll bounce back," Casey said hopefully. "Being in Charleston is weird for all of us. We have shelter, safety… maybe it's not so odd that this is his reaction."

"He's not a moody teenager, Casey."

Casey gave a threatening jab of her broom towards Lee. "That's Killer Casey to you."

Lee snickered and they went back to sweeping. A familiar laugh made Casey turn and she saw Grace sitting on the bench beside the fire escape rubbing her wrist with Miles crouched in front of her. He said something else that made Grace smile, then stood and knocked her shoulder gently with his fist and went to join the rest of the Charleston soldiers.

Casey finished up with Lee and went over to check on her young friend. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Grace shrugged. "Just tweaked my wrist. I guess I just got used to being careful with bullets I'd forgotten the wear and tear an automatic can have when you're firing it for over an hour."

"What did your soldier boy have to say?" Casey said with a smirk.

"Just to alternate ice and heat on it," Grace said quietly.

"He's sweet," Casey said, noting the pink flush to Grace's cheeks. "And cute."

Grace gave her a withering look, but her face reddened. "As if we don't have a million other things to think about."

"Lee sure likes the look of him," Casey teased.

Grace flicked her hair away from her face. "I saw her teaching you with the sniper rifle. You looked… steady with it."

Grace was clearly trying to deviate the conversation away from Miles, so Casey relented and as the pair made their way upstairs to the cafeteria she instead told Grace about Pope's new nickname for her and the story the Berserkers concocted.

"That idiot Clemons?" Casey shook her head. "I think he actually bought it. At least, for a second. Me, a skitter killer. Can you see it?"

"Sure," Grace nodded. "Daggers in each hand, Etta strapped to your back in a bullet proof vest, Pope watching your ass." She paused, then grinned broadly. "I mean, not literally…"

Casey shot her a glance, irritated that her face felt warm. "Don't you start."

Grace and Casey gathered Matt and Etta and then all four of them went to the cafeteria for dinner. It was a little hive of activity. People lined up with their trays waiting for food, others handing out water, and a little stall offering fresh clothes. Casey spotted members of the 2nd Mass sprinkled throughout the Charleston residents. It seemed that they were all at least attempting to adjust.

Etta whinged and rubbed her eyes. "She's tired," Grace said.

"And hungry," Casey added, reaching around her side for her pack. But she just grabbed at air.

Grace put her arm around her little brother. "You hungry, bud?"

"Starving!" Matt grinned. "Think we'll have dessert again?"

Grace gently flicked him under the chin. "Maybe."

"Crap," Casey shifted Etta up onto her shoulder and checked around her feet, but she didn't find her bag. Which meant she didn't have Etta's bottle. She'd been getting good at keeping an empty bottle or two in her shoulder bag just in case there was an attack and they had to suddenly flee again. Keeping important at hand was essential to survival in the Second Mass- of course, it helped if you remembered to keep your bag.

Casey then had a flash of where she'd left her satchel – under the foldout table where Lee had showed her the sniper rifle. Grace offered to hold Etta while Casey went back downstairs to get it. But as Casey hurried off she realised she didn't see her usual babysitter. And not only couldn't she see Lee, but Lyle and Pope were missing, too. Odd, Lyle would never miss hot food.

Casey had expected to run into someone on her trek back down, but the last person she thought it would be was Maggie. She was a few levels below, but Casey spotted her wavy blonde hair catch the light as she rounded the bend of the fire escape stairs.

"Hey!" Casey jogged to catch up and met Maggie as they arrived on the second level parking garage. "Where's the fire?"

Maggie froze. "What are you doing down here?"

"I forgot my bag," Casey looked towards the now folded-up tables where she'd been shooting with the Berserkers. She spotted her familiar slate grey shoulder bag crumpled next to a pillar. But she forgot about when she saw the concern on Maggie's face. "What are you doing down here?"

"You should go."

Something up ahead clattered. Something towards the direction of the armoury. "Maggie… what's going on?"

Maggie looked furtively over her shoulder. "Casey, just go."

A too familiar laugh caught Casey's ear. Lee's laugh.

As Casey made her way towards the noise, her heart dropped heavily into her stomach as she heard two more voices she recognised.

"We've got five minutes before the sentries come," Lyle said.

"Hurry up," said Pope.

Casey was surprised that she wasn't surprised at the scene she walked in on.

Somehow the Berserkers had got the armoury lockers open. Lyle had a shotgun under his arm and was stuffing shotgun shells into a bag. Lee was running her hands over one rifle with another already strapped to her back. And Pope was filling the barrel of a revolver. They all froze when Casey walked in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Casey barked at Pope. He was purposely avoiding her eyes, she could tell. "You're stealing?"

"Don't move," Maggie said from behind Casey. She had her pistols out.

Pope shook his head in disappointment. "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie."

"The 2nd Mass was welcomed by these people," Maggie told him. "I'm not gonna let an ape like you ruin that. Close it up, back off, and we'll pretend this never happened."

Suddenly the darkened parking garage was bathed in bright fluorescent white lighting. Hurried bootsteps rushed forwards and in a flash two uniformed soldiers blocked their exit. Casey raised her hands and noticed one of the soldiers was Clemons, and the other was Tector. His face showed no trace of emotion as he shifted his gun between each person in turn. A handful more soldiers jogged in behind them

Maggie immediately set her guns down and raised her hands. "Don't shoot."

Casey saw Lyle shift a second before he towards the gun locker, but before he could grab a weapon, Tector fired at Lyle. Blood sprayed Pope's face and Lyle stumbled back and dropped to the floor clutching his shoulder.

"Lyle!" Lee dropped to Lyle's side.

Casey stared at Tector, whose hardened expression seemed to falter as he saw Lyle writhing on the ground. "You shot him?!"

"You're lucky his aim was off," Clemons said. "I'd have put it between his eyes."

"You shot him!" Lee rounded in on Tector and gave him a solid shove. "You sonuvabitch, you shot him!" She took a swing at Tector, but he blocked her. Another solider held her back but she kept struggling in his grip. Two soldiers came in and gathered up Lyle off the floor, another pushed Pope forward and held his hands behind his back.

"Put them all in lockdown," Clemons ordered.

For the first time Casey realised how this must look for her. "What? No, Maggie and I had nothing to do with this." One of the soldiers snatched up Casey's wrists and pinned them behind her back. The movement caused her burn to sear like someone had dragged a knife across it. "AGH! Don't touch me!" She tried to wrench herself away but that just made her burn scream.

"This isn't what you think," Maggie said to Clemons, but he ignored her.

Instead, the soldier smiled at Pope as he was lead passed him. "Told you we'd have some fun."

Pope sneered at him. "I'm gonna wish you into a cornfield."

The group were escorted quickly back upstairs but out of sight of anyone else. Lyle was taken to medical and, though he was still bleeding, managed to walk on his own so Casey hoped he was okay. Despite him being a part of whatever the hell exodus Pope had roped him into, she didn't wish him dead. Maggie, Pope, Lee and Casey were lead to an area of the mall Casey figured had been some sort of storage space pre-invasion. But the Charleston folk had transformed it into a lockup with a half dozen wire holding cells and armed guards.

Casey had figured she would see Weaver or Tom or Anne or someone from the Second Mass who she would be able to ask for help. But the Charleston soldiers were much too clever to allow that to happen. Instead, Casey tried to reason with Clemons. He watched, arms crossed, as his recruits separated Casey and her friends each into individual cages.

"Wait! I have a baby, remember?" Casey caught Clemons eye but if he was moved by what she said he wasn't showing it. "She'll be hungry!"

"Should have thought of her before you and your friends tried to steal from us." Clemons said, looking proud as all four cells were locked up tight.

"I wasn't stealing anything," Casey kicked the base of her cell which only made her feel worse. "You better let me out of here!"

Clemons shook his head. "We won't be doing that."

"C'mon, man," Lee said. "Don't be a tool. She wasn't involved. Really gonna keep her from her kid?"

"Can you at least bring Etta to me?" Casey asked. She sounded desperate. She was. Etta needed her.

Clemons smiled. "Nah, we won't be doing that, either."

"Tector," Casey spotted him and tried get his attention he stared straight ahead like he couldn't even see her. "Come on, you know I'm not part of this bullcrap." Her words came out all shaky and breathless.

"Sergeant Murphy," Clemons cut in. "Double check those locks then report upstairs."

"You really are a prick," Pope spat at him.

Clemons nodded politely. "Goodnight to you, too."

"No, wait," Casey called to Clemons again, but he'd already turned around. "Please bring Etta down here." Her voice shook, but Clemons made no sign that he'd heard her. "Hey, you can't keep her from me!" Casey threaded her hands through the wire cage and gave it a violent shake which made her burn scream with pain. She could tell it was bleeding again. "You bastard, you can't keep her away from me!" Casey gave the cage a final kick but it just shuddered back into place.

Clemons and Tector left and two sentries stood guard at the top of the stairs. They seemed as immune to Casey's yelling as the others.

"Someone will get her," Lee told Casey through the wire of their cages. "One of us. Mini Mason won't let them take her anywhere."

"One of us?" Casey spat at her. "Now it's one of us?! You weren't thinking of the Second Mass as an 'us' when you were stealing those guns."

"Hey," Pope said, catching Casey's eye. "It's all bluster, Case. They're not gonna do anything. They're just flexing what little-"

"Why did you have to do that?" Casey snapped at him. Her eyes blurred with furious tears. Her hands shook and her body seemed to vibrate with a rage she didn't recall ever feeling before. "Are things so bad here? Are we such awful people that you can't wait to escape us? You put everyone in jeopardy because you're upset they took away your toys? You assholes deserve to be kicked the hell out of here!"