Disclaimer – Still own nothing, unfortunately. So reminder, this chapter has a major cliffhanger at the end of it, and I'm sure some of you will hate me for it. Warning you all right now. If you guys hate cliffhangers, wait until chapter 14 to get posted before reading this chapter. You have been warned.
Chapter 13
You Stood Tall
While Hal did nothing in the bus besides lie down on the couch, and actually managed to sleep every now and then, the rest of the trip passed by much faster than he thought it would. Before he knew it, they had arrived on the outskirts of Washington.
Before they entered the city though, they sent Ben, Anthony, Tector, and Deni out to check out a safe space for them to stay while they continued to prepare for the final battle, as well as wait for Cochise and the Volm to arrive with the weapon, and hopefully the machine that could save Hal's life.
When the group came back, they reported that the area they were planning on going into was clear, and that there was hospital. When Anne and Tom had heard that, it was decided that the hospital shall be the main base. So, much to Hal's annoyance, he was officially moved to a hospital room, and now truly felt like a patient. He now knew why Maggie hated it so much.
Hal was again, reminded that he supposed to stay in bed, but as the sun set, he looked out the window, and saw a full moon rising. He got off the bed and walked over to the window, and closed his eyes as a memory, a good memory washed over him.
"You see that Hal?" Rebecca asked, sitting on the window seat, 10-year-old Hal sitting right in front of her, leaning against her chest. Hal looked up, and saw that his Mom was pointing at the full moon.
"Yeah." Hal answered.
"Well, if you ever get lonely, just look up at the full moon, because odds are, someone else in the family, whether it be me, or you Dad, or Ben, maybe even Matty will be looking up too."
Hal opened his eyes. The moon was still there, but his mother was gone. Despite that, the moon still comforted him, just like it did when he was in the ghettos. Hal pulled the chair that was in the corner of the room to the window and sat down. He kept his eyes on the moon, watching it slowly rise into the sky, and all other thoughts disappeared from his mind.
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
Maggie walked into the room, carrying a mug in each hand. Her eyes went to the hospital bed, then widened in surprise when she saw that the bed was empty. She looked around the room and found Hal, sitting in chair by the window, staring up at the night sky.
"Hey." Maggie said, Hal turned his head in shock, he didn't hear her come in. When he saw though that it was Maggie, and not his Dad or Anne, a small smile came upon his face. Maggie probably wouldn't be as upset that he wasn't lying down and sleeping like they would be.
"Hey." He replied back. Maggie walked over to him and handed him one of the mugs, then asked, "What are you doing over here, Anne said you're supposed to stay in bed."
Hal wrapped his hands around the mug, the heat warming his cold fingers, "I'm sick of lying in bed or on a couch or just lying in general. It's all I've been doing for two days." He answered, turning his head back to the window. Maggie pulled another chair on the opposite side of the room to the window across from Hal and sat down.
Hal took a sip of the drink, expecting to taste the bitterness of coffee, and was met with instead, the taste of what he assumed to be some kind of tea. He looked up at Maggie who had an apologetic smile on her face.
"Sorry, Anne said you shouldn't have caffeine, and tea was all I could find." Maggie explained, bringing her own cup to her lips and taking a sip.
"It's fine." Hal said, drinking some more. He was not a big tea drinker, but it did help warm him up, so he was fine with it. His gaze shifted from Maggie and back out the window.
"What are you looking at?" Maggie asked, looking out the window herself, trying to find what could've captured his attention.
"Full moon." Hal answered, nodding his head towards the sky. Maggie looked up and saw that there was indeed a full moon. She looked back over at him and saw a smile spread wide across his face.
"When I was about, 10 years old, I had gotten into this sports camp. It was a couple of hours away, and lasted the entire summer. I had never been away from for so long, and was a little scared. The night before we left, my Mom came in to say goodnight, and she could tell that I was scared. So she took me over to the window and there was a full moon, and said that if I ever feel lonely or homesick, to just look up at the moon, because odds are someone else in the family was looking up at it too."
Maggie smiled as Hal finished his story. The entire time he was talking, his smile never left, and he never took his eyes off the moon. It was nice to know that despite all the terrible things he was obviously remembering, he had gotten at least one good memory.
"I still have no clue how she did it. How she could just, tell whatever was on my mind, and knew exactly what I needed." Hal commented.
"Kinda like you sometimes." Maggie told him. Hal looked back at her, saying, "I don't know about that."
"Trust me, you do. With Matt, with your Dad, with me." She said, her voice going quiet at the end. She turned her eyes down, staring at the cup in her hands.
Hal reached forward and cupped her face in his hand. Maggie looked back at him, letting her head lean against his hand, suddenly feeling a giant pressure against her chest as she remembered that he wasn't out of the woods yet. The was still a chance she could lose him. A lone tear slipped from her eye lashes and fell down her cheek, hitting Hal's hand.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Hal asked, moving his hand to brush her hair out of her face.
"I'm, uh. I just, um." Maggie wanted to hit herself when she heard how choked up her voice was. She was the one who supposed to be strong right now. She looked up and saw Hal's concerned eyes watching her every move.
"I can't lose you okay. Not again." She told him, looking back down at her lap.
"Maggie, look at me." When Maggie shook her head, Hal lowered his hand to her chin and gently lifted her head, making her look at him.
"Hey, everything's going to be okay. You're not going to lose me." Maggie closed her eyes and nodded. Hal reached forward even more, putting his hand on the back of her neck. Maggie opened her eyes, Hal slowly pulled her towards him. Both of their eyes closed as their lips meet.
*Knock Knock*
Hal and Maggie pulled back as soon as they heard the noise. They looked to the door, and there stood Anne with an amused look on her face.
"Hope I'm not interrupting." Anne said as she smiled knowingly. Then she realized where they were sitting.
"Hal, I told you to stay in bed. You shouldn't be doing anything to make your headaches worse." Anne scolded.
"Don't worry Anne, I'll make sure he gets back into bed." Maggie assured the doctor. Anne looked skeptical, but nodded and left, leaving the door wide open.
"I guess she doesn't trust us." Hal concluded.
"I think right now, she's trusting me more than you." Maggie said. They both looked at each other, and leaned forward, their lips meeting again. Before it could go any deeper, a loud explosion made them pull apart. They looked out the window, and saw a fire explode at the edge of the camp.
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
Hal and Maggie ran down the hall and down the stairs to the main floor. Many of the fighters, including Tom, Weaver, Ben and Tector were there.
"What's going on?" Hal asked as he and Maggie approached them.
"We're under attack. Skitter, hornets, even harnessed kids." Weaver informed them.
"I thought the area was clear." Maggie remembered.
"It was, till now. Hal what are you doing up?" Tom asked, just noticing his son's presence.
"Are we really going to argue about me being on bed rest right now?" Hal answered with his question.
"Fine, go with Ben. Maggie, go with Tector. Be careful." Tom told them as they headed for the doors with the rest of the fighters.
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
"Still don't think you should be out here!" Ben yelled over the gunfire and explosions has they slowly made their way closer to the front lines.
"Not your decision!" Hal yelled back, firing his gun, killing a skitter that was in front of them, before ducking behind an overturned car with Ben. After making sure they had both gotten there safely, they started firing at any oncoming skitters that managed to get through the barricade. They stayed behind their shelter, until Ben caught sight of a skitter making its way towards the hospital.
"Not today." Ben muttered to himself, standing up and ran out from behind the safety of the car.
"Ben!" Hal called out when he saw his brother running towards the skitter. Ben easily took out the skitter, but didn't notice the harnessed kid until he was turning him around and they started wrestling to the ground, Ben's gun falling from his hands.
Hal felt his heart jump into his throat as he watched Ben fall to the ground, fighting with the harnessed kid, the same harnessed kid who had stabbed his neck with a needle, the same harnessed kid who worked with the Overlord who had tortured him.
Without thinking twice, Hal pulled his gun in front of him, walked out of their hiding spot and starting firing at his brother's attacker. The harnessed kid fell to the ground, dead. Hal looked over at Ben who was lying on his back, and starting to sit up.
Suddenly, a look of horror came upon Ben's face as he yelled, "HAL! LOOK OUT!"
Hal turned and before he could even process, an Overlord, the Overlord, had plunged his knife that had shot out from his hand into Hal's chest.
AN – Before you guys say anything, remember, I warned you. Luckily for you though, this is my worst, and might be my last cliffhanger in this story. So if you guys can get through this one, you will all be just fine. I will get chapter 14 up as soon as I can. I don't want to torture you all too badly.
