Chapter 6 Hollywood Action is a Farce

The shots from the Mechs had ripped through most of the engine area of the bus and destroyed the front. I was still on the ground shaking, trying to get a hold of myself, but the memories kept coming back.

I remember the blood covering me, my dad's blood. How he exploded when one of those Mechs fired at him and sacrificed himself for mom. For all the good it did! I was useless then, all I could do was cry and pray that it was all a bad dream.

Jimmy wasn't doing much better than me, clearly never being under fire from a Mech. He did say he was a scout and scouts are not fighters. They scout and stay out of trouble and sight. He was curled behind one of the rows of seats, clutching his gun.

The firing stopped and the Mechs let out a low rumble and began moving again, no doubt ready to break the barrier. My entire body was still shaking with fear as I continued to think about the last time I saw one of those things. All that blood, being completely useless.

Then I thought about everybody inside of the school, all the civilians. They would feel the same way as I did when I first saw that thing, scared and feeling utterly useless. But more to the point I thought of my uncle smiling smugly, saying that I never had it in me. I thought about me being just like him, dismissed after my first round of duty. I won't let that happen, and I won't let people die just like my parents did. I wasn't completely useless now.

I have a gun.

I cocked the rifle just like they should me in class and moved to the front of the bus and got a view of the area from behind cover. Turns out the 'Mechs' were actually just a Mech which gave me a boast of courage.

"Help me Jimmy!" I shouted, not even bothering to lower my voice. But Jimmy looked at me with such fear in his eyes; I knew he was out of it. I cursed and removed myself from cover when the shots stopped, aiming my rifle. Unsurprisingly my first few shots missed, but I hit the thing twice around its eyes. I went back undercover when I saw it raising an arm to fire, and I shrunk down to as small as I could be. I heard the shots being fired, though it didn't sound like they were hitting the bus. It then dawned on me that it was shooting at the barricade, making a pathway for it to get in.

The shots stopped and I hissed again at Jimmy to help me, but he began to move his body towards the exit. I cursed several times and then raised myself again out of cover only to be hit with a bright blue light. My stomach dropped and all the blood drained from my face when I realized that I was going to die, but instead of the light killing me it moved all over my body and then disappeared.

I was to frozen in fear to begin firing at the thing, so I just stood there scared. I saw another flash of light as the Mech's eyes changed from a light blue to a deep yellow color. I didn't know what was happening, but then I saw the Mech's gun disappear and in its place a claw like hand appeared. Realization struck me when I realized what was happening.

Instantly I began to back up with Jimmy as the Mech crashed through the remaining barricade and charged towards the bus. It rammed into the bus which caused the entire thing to shake and us to fall over. I hit the ground hard and a shot of pain went up through my right arm starting near my elbow.

Jimmy seemed to have come out of his coma like state and was now firing rapidly all around. "Knock it off Jimmy!" I shouted, "One of those things is going to backfire and hit us!"

"It's going to get us!" Jimmy shouted almost deranged, "It's going to get us and put those things on us! I don't want it! I don't want it!" Jimmy continued to fire, wasting shots into the ceiling and side windows. There was nothing that I could do to stop him, so I began planning a way to get out of here.

We couldn't go back to the front entrance since the Mech was there and had blocked the way off with rubble, and the side exits were out of the questions. The only way out was back the way we came in, and Jimmy wasn't letting me by with all that constant firing he was doing.

"Jimmy! Cool it on the firing!" I shouted, "Jimmy that's enough!" Just then a Mech smashed into the side of the bus, caving in the roof and sticking its mechanical claw in to grab us. Both Jimmy and I began screamed in fear and now I began to fire my rifle widely as Jimmy reloaded his machine gun.

The Mech pulled its arm out of the bus under the fire of both of our guns and let out another mechanical moan. My gun was out and I didn't even bother to try and reload it, throwing it aside instead. Rifles were strong weapons but they took a while to reload.

"Jimmy! Get to the exit in the back of the bus!" I shouted before he began firing again. He began to crawl towards the exit when one of the Mech's arms crashed through the bus in front of him, sending him crawling backwards into me.

The thing tore its arm out of the bus and smashed another arm behind us into the bus. The side of the bus was ripped out causing the windows to break and the rows of seats to fall out the side. Jimmy was out of ammo and we were both screaming as the Mech threw the rubble to the side and reached out with both claws towards us.

Suddenly gun fire began to sound and the cling of it against the Mech's exterior armor became louder. The Mech turned its head to see where it was coming from. I wanted to know too, but right now we need to get off this bus.

"To the back!" I screamed at Jimmy, who nodded his head and began crawling towards the exit. I saw out of the corner of my eye the Mech backing up quickly and heard the shouts from the fighters closing in on the bus. The Mech didn't seem to have a problem firing on adults and proceeded to do so as it retreated.

Jimmy reached for the handle and opened it, opening the door and jumping out. But the door swung back and hit me, sending me back a couple of steps. I saw Jimmy running towards the school and Mr. Mason charging towards the bus, shouting orders at the other men around him.

A bright light filled the entire bus and I saw Mr. Mason shout something, but I couldn't hear him from the ringing of gunfire. I shoved open the door and heard a wail coming from the Mech, who I realized was now in front of the bus. I froze for a moment in shock, remember that exact wail as the same one those things made before they blasted my dad apart.

Frantically I shoved the door open and jumped out just as the Mech fired its mini bomb into the bus. I tried to close the emergency door in mid air but failed as the blast shot it off its hinges and into my left arm which I had raised to protect my face. Unimaginable pain shot through my arms and I cried out in pain, but I was silenced when part of the door hit my head and made my whole body go numb.

I hit the ground and I guess it hurt, but I couldn't really tell since everything felt numb. I was blinking rapidly now trying to clear my vision. I saw some bright colors in front of me, which was probably the bus on fire. Everything seemed to be slipping away from me and for the second time in less than a week I blacked out.

Later

I could hear voices when I began to open my eyes, but they seemed so far away. That groggy feeling I felt several nights back when I woke up outside room 117 from Uncle James's head blow was back, and it was worse than ever. For some reason I felt like I was missing part of my head.

Shock rocked through my body as I frantically reached up to touch my head, only to have a shot of pain go up my arm. I looked at the arm that I tried to use, only to find that it was bandaged up tight with red blotches soaked into the bandage. I tried to move but pain shot up my body again, causing me to let out a loud groan of pain.

I heard a chair move next to me and a familiar voice follow. "Michael?" Ben asked, "Michael?"

My vision began to clear and I saw Ben sitting to my left, next to the arm that was bandaged up. I looked around and I saw that his older brother Hal was there as well along with his younger brother, Matt I think.

"I got the whole Mason family to cheer me up." I smiled weakly, coughing a little bit. I tried to adjust myself to sit up straight but another shot of pain rocked through my body and I groaned loudly again. Ben and Hal rushed forward and helped me adjust. "Thanks." I said.

I heard voices, or a single voice, ranting and panting. I turned my head and saw Jimmy sitting on one of the beds on the other side of the room, with Dr. Glass using a heart monitor on him. I was surprised to see that Captain Weaver was there, and I think he said something about whisky.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, hoping it didn't come off as insensitive.

"I couldn't wait to hear how your night on guard duty went." Ben said smiling. I tried to smile also, but it hurt too much and it probably came off as more of a sneer.

"Ben was concerned about his boyfriend so he had me escort him to the hospital since everybody but the fighters are on lock down." Hal said, wrapping his arm around his younger brother. "Matt didn't want to be alone so he tagged along." Ben looked a little uncomfortable, and I had to laugh a little at that.

"Wait, what's that about boyfriend?" Matt asked, his voice confused. Ben gave Hal an accusing look, but he just shrugged.

"I don't think I'm his type." I said. Hal laughed and all the Mason kids sat down nearby. I absent mindedly used my good arm to touch my broken left one. Then I reached up and touched my skull, only to find a large bandage and wads of cotton covering my left temple.

"Dr. Glass patched you up pretty good." Hal said.

"Is it broken?" I asked, indicating my left arm.

"No, but the tendons were damaged. Luckily it wasn't too bad and missed the major arteries." Ben explained. "You have a pretty nasty cut though."

"Ladies love the scars." Hal said, wiping his pistol down.

"What about me head?" I asked.

"You got a pretty deep gash that will take a while to heal. You'll be able to still do stuff, but you'll probably have a nasty head ache for the next few weeks."

"Your left eye is all red." Matt said. Hal hit him softly, telling him to shut up.

"Cool," I said, "I've always wanted a different color eye. I would have taken green or gold, but red works I guess."

"What was it like?" Matt asked.

"What was what like?" I asked, "The Mech? The explosion?"

"All of it!" Matt insisted, leaning closer like I was about to tell him the greatest secret in the world. Hal looked a little uncomfortable with this and Ben looked curious like his brother, though he was better at hiding it.

I thought about it for a little bit, groaning a little from the pain. I could tell them about the fear or how it brought back memories of my dead parents. I could even lie and say I was like Rambo.

"Hollywood action scenes make battle look great and exciting. It isn't, it sucks." I said truthfully. Matt looked a little disappointed with that answer, though Hal seemed to agree with it and Ben looked thoughtful.

"But were you-" Matt began.

"That's enough Matt." Hal said, "His skull was almost cracked open and you don't want to give him a headache." I nodded appreciatively at Hal who nodded back. He was looking at me with a new found respect that I feel I haven't actually deserved. All I did was yell a lot, waste ammo, and nearly get blown to pieces.

Mr. Mason walked in and was now talking with Captain Weaver and Terry Clayton, whispering amongst themselves. Jimmy was still talking to Dr. Glass, though his voice seemed to be more controlled now.

"How is he?" I asked the Mason boys.

"He's banged up mentally, but he should be alright. I heard he took down a skitter by himself." Hal said.

"Seriously?" I asked. I felt a little jealously there, if the door hadn't slammed shut on me in the bus maybe I could of helped take down the skitter. Hell, I was the reason that Jimmy was even alive!

"Weaver killed that skitter." Ben said plainly. Hal looked at his brother and shrugged.

"Still a dead skitter and Jimmy was there. Knowing Weaver, he'll probably give Jimmy the credit."

Ben looked passive right now, but I could tell he wasn't too happy. I doubt that he wanted Jimmy to die, Ben was too nice for those thoughts, but he probably wasn't happy about all the attention that Jimmy was getting. The positive attention he was getting.

Mr. Mason and Dr. Glass came over smiling at us. "What are you guys doing here?" Mr. Mason asked his sons.

"Ben wanted to check on his boyfriend." Matt said. Mr. Mason and Dr. Glass looked a bit taken aback and Hal was laughing. Ben was red again in the face.

"Um…" Mr. Mason said, unsure of what to do next.

"It was Hal, dad." Ben said, pointing an accusing finger at his older brother. Hal shrugged with innocence. Mr. Mason nodded in understanding and turned to me.

"How you doing Michael?"

"Had better days." I muttered. Dr. Glass approached me, holding out a needle. "Ah, I've never been good with needles. Don't you have pills?"

"Not for the condition that you're in." Dr. Glass responded. She lightly grabbed my arm and lifted the needle towards me. I winced a little as the needle punctured my skin. "I'm going to hold you for overnight watch, just to make sure you don't have any severe head injuries. I'm doing the same thing with Jimmy, so you'll have some company tonight."

"Joy." I muttered softly.

"I was going to contact your aunt and uncle Michael," Mr. Mason said, "but Ben told me not to. Do you still want me to contact them?"

"No." I almost shouted, shocking everybody there. "No," I said more calmly, "I'm ok. I wouldn't want to disturb them."

"I don't think you'd be-" Mr. Mason began.

"It's ok, I would be." I said. Mr. Mason's face was passive and emotionless and he just nodded.

I was starting to feel tired all of sudden and everything seemed to be going dark. Fear gripped me again as I thought I was blacking out again. I tried to move around but Dr. Glass held me still. "That was some anesthesia I just gave you. Relax, it makes the whole process more comfortable."

"We should probably get going guys." Mr. Mason said to his sons, his voice becoming slurred. "Ggivvve him sooooome reesssst."

"Seeeee youuuu latterrr, dooon't diiiie on usss." I thought I heard Hal say. I felt somebody put something in my hand and closing my knuckles around it. I couldn't see who did it, but I tried to nod a thanks.

"I'llll coooome byyyy in the morrrn-" Ben began, but I was already gone before he got a chance to finish. Before the drug took full effect I prayed for pleasant dreams of no skitters, Mechs, or blood.

'I have enough of that in store for me in the future.' I thought, and then I passed out.


Thanks to all you reviewers and people who alerted to this story. Please REVIEW! There were very few last chapter.

Children soldiers are a common tactic used in wars throughout ancient history. They help make a military group look larger and usually the children are excited about fighting, since it has been glamorized by the culture or through propoganda. This raises morale for everybody and give people good thoughts about the outcome of the war. However, children are not prepared for the horrors of war, which is why Michael and Jimmy were not total bad asses fighting off a Mech. The fact that Jimmy managed to escape a Mech and Skitter with little to no injury in the canon series is blind luck in my opinion, Michael however was not so lucky.

Not to go all preachy, but there still are children soldiers today in Africa. They don't have a choice in fighting however, and are impressed into service by the adults. They die instead of the adults, and the 'adults' are usually the murderers, tyrants, and rapists. Those that do survive become the next generation of murderers, tyrants, and rapists.