Chapter 15 The War Hits Home (Again)

Mr. Mason was running ahead of me, not even bothering to look back and see how I was doing. I can't say I blame him though, no father would be happy to hear that their son can hear invisible radio waves that almost pushed him over the edge.

When I finally got caught up to Mr. Mason he was already in the room with Ben who was lying down on a cleared off table with a rag over his head. Dr. Glass was also there, checking his heart rate and doing other doctor stuff.

Ben looked a lot worse than when I left him. His body was covered with sweat, his hair and clothes sticking to his body while his breathing was sporadic. His skin even looked paler and bags had started to form under his eyes. To say I was shocked is a bit of an understatement, I had never imagined that the frequencies could take such a toll on Ben's physique. I also felt sick, sick that I actually enjoyed watching Ben wiggle in pain as the frequencies power was increased by me. Then I was thinking about getting back at Ben for breaking my ribs, but now I was only thinking about the guilt.

Mr. Mason's face no longer had the calm look I was used to. His face had molded into something truly frightening, displaying a look of murderous intent. It didn't help much that Dr. Glass looked distressed by Ben's condition.

"Tom, I'm so sorry-" She began, but Mr. Mason's hard glare up at her cut her off.

"How did this happen?" he asked. When nobody answered he shouted "HOW?" which caused all of us to shake.

"I- we were working with the radio and suddenly Ben began to hurt and it just…" Scott tried to explain but he too was cut off when Mr. Mason took threatening steps towards Scott. Scott held up his hands as a sign of peace, "I don't know what happened I swear!"

"It was my fault!" I shouted out. "I did this to Ben." Dr. Glass and Mr. Mason looked at me shocked while Scott looked relieved that I had confessed. I don't know if Scott would of ratted me out and I glad that I would never have to find out. I wasn't so happy when Mr. Mason stood in front of me, anger all over his face.

"Why?" Mr. Mason said plainly.

I had no words, I couldn't think of anything that could explain what I did. All I could do was simply say "I'm sorry."

Mr. Mason wasn't happy with that though, his body shaking. "That's all you have to say for yourself!" He shouted at me. I cringed away from Mr. Mason but that didn't stop him, "My son looks dead and all you have to say is that you're sorry! What kind of friend are you!"

"I… I'm sorry!" I begged of Mr. Mason. I thought for a second Mr. Mason might actually hit him but a voice broke through the tension, feeble but loud enough to be heard.

"It's not his fault dad…" Ben said. Scott gasped and Dr. Glass immediately began taking his pulse. Mr. Mason ran to his son's side, grabbing his hand and holding on tightly. "It's not his fault…" Ben repeated.

"What happened Ben?" Mr. Mason asked of his son.

"I… I could hear things…" Ben said, his voice shaky and cracking, "I could hear things and… and I wanted them… I wanted Michael to help me… help me listen to them…" Ben began to cough and make noises of pain. Mr. Mason held his son's hand tightly as I tried to sink into the wall that Mr. Mason had forced me against.

"Why?" Mr. Mason asked again.

"Because!" Ben said louder with strain in his voice, "Because it hurt me. And… and… I thought that… thought…" Ben's body began to slump over and his eyes closed again. Mr. Mason's face returned to a look of fear. He looked at Dr. Glass for an explanation.

"He's alive though unconscious." Dr. Glass said, "I'm not sure what happened, but based on the REM he's going through, his brain hyper activated and began emitting electronic pulses that became too much for his nervous system. His earlobes were strangely effected, though I suspect it was because of their close proximity to the brain. Look," Dr. Glass said, pointing to something near Ben's ears, "There are traces of blood build up around the ear."

Mr. Mason was silent for awhile, simply staring at his son's face. Finally Dr. Glass said something, "Tom I've never seen or heard about anything like this before. And I know that you don't want to hear it but the only hypothesis that could possibly make sense of this is that the harness aftereffects had something to do with this."

"But why?" Mr. Mason asked again, "Why would he do this to himself."

"Because he wanted to help the 2nd Mass." I said, finding my voice. Dr. Glass and Scott looked to me but Mr. Mason's vision was still focused on Ben.

"Help the 2nd Mass?" Dr. Glass asked.

I nodded my head, "Ya. Ben though that if he was hurt by the radio signals then the skitters and Mechs had to be as well."

"Where the hell did that idea come from?" Scott asked.

I was about to fess up and say that it came from me, but considering how mad Mr. Mason was at me already I decided to not say anything. "I don't know. He just told me that because he's a razor back, what hurts him must hurt the skitters."

If Mr. Mason was offended by me calling Ben a 'razor back' he didn't show it. Instead he looked up to Dr. Glass, his face stoic now. "Bring Ben to the clinic. Get him under control and do whatever you have to do in order to get him stable. Afterwards get him to the tunnel with the other civilians and get the hell out of this school."

Dr. Glass looked like she was about to say something but Mr. Mason turned to Scott and continued talking. "Get that transmitter back on once Ben's cleared in the tunnel and start transmitting whatever it was you were transmitting earlier. I want to make sure that we can get the civilians out of the tunnel without any trouble."

"But Tom I don't know what frequency it was!" Scott protested.

"Well figure it out." Mr. Mason said.

"I can't, not without Ben! He's the only one who can hear the frequency." Scott said.

"A frequency that can did this to him!" Mr. Mason shouted, pointing to his son at the same time. "He's leaving this school and getting as far away from that signal as possible."

"Ben is in no condition to travel Tom." Dr. Glass said, "His body is too weak and the conditions that we'll be under while travelling will only make him worse."

Mr. Mason was at a loss for words and I felt like I should say something on Ben's behalf. "Ben would want to help"

I had once again managed to say the wrong thing as Mr. Mason turned to me again, a calm fury in his eyes. He stood up straight and looked me dead in the eyes. "Michael, you almost killed my son. I don't give a damn what you think; and don't you dare presume that you know what my son wants." He said in a monotone voice.

My courage was gone at that instance and I averted my eyes away from Mr. Mason. I felt weak again, just a kid trying to make it to the adults table at a family dinner. I never liked the kids table then and I certainly don't like it now.

"Get Ben to the clinic now." Mr. Mason said.

"I need help to carry him." Dr. Glass said plainly.

"You'll have to manage it yourself; Scott needs to get that frequency back."

"I can't do it without Ben!" Scott repeated.

"I don't care, figure it out." Mr. Mason said agitated. Dr. Glass looked agitated as well.

"Tom your being unreasonable." Dr. Glass stressed, crossing the table to stand by Mr. Mason's side. "Ben is needed here, you know that. I can bring him back to my clinic, get him patched up and then we can get him to find the signal."

"He's not coming back here." Mr. Mason growled.

Dr. Glass looked exasperated and gave up fighting with Mr. Mason. She turned around and lifted Ben off the table, holding him cradle style. She wasn't able to move well so she dropped Ben's legs to the floor and supported him with her body. She gave Mr. Mason one more stern look and began limping out the door with Ben in tow.

Mr. Mason turned to Scott who nodded his head and began working with the transmitter. Mr. Mason turned to address me but Scott said something first. "There's something wrong."

"What? What's wrong?" Mr. Mason asked.

"It's the generator, it looks like it's run out of gas." Scott said. "I told those kids down at motor pool to fill it up! But do they ever listen? No!"

Mr. Mason looked at me, "Looks like you have something to do." He said, "Go grab a spare can from the storeroom and bring it to motor. Once your done with that why don't you come back here and help out Scott since you seem to love playing with that transmitter so much."

"I'm sorry!" I said again for no other reason but to stress that I truly was sorry. Mr. Mason didn't respond or look at me and instead moved out the door to go who knows where. I looked up at Scott who was staring right back at me.

"Thanks for not ratting me out." I said.

Scott nodded to me, though still looked stern. "I don't know what the hell you were trying to do to Ben, but I agree with you. Ben would want to stay and help."

I gave a small smile, at least we agreed on that much. "I should go grab that spare can so we can start working." I said, moving to leave the room.

Scott nodded his head again and turned towards the transmitter. Before I left I think I heard him mutter something under his breath about it 'not mattering'. I moved as quickly as I could down the hall ways towards the storeroom, eager to grab the can and get back to Scott. I thought about going to check on Ben before Scott but decided not to since Mr. Mason would probably be there.

I grabbed the can and made my way down to the motor pool and awkwardly asked for them to fill up the generator. The head mechanic, a woman probably in her late 40s, wasn't too happy to be taking orders from me but once I said I was here on Mr. Mason's behalf she at least became civil. As I was leaving I heard somebody cough 'razor lover' and some soft snickering.

I made my way back to Scott's workshop and was shocked to see the condition of it. Parts looked like they had been tossed everywhere, glass on the windows was cracked, and small pools of blood were on the floor. It was then that I noticed Scott on the ground and I ran over to him.

I lifted him off the ground and checked for his pulse. I was relieved to feel it and I gently put Scott back down on the ground and ran out the door.

"HELP! Somebody help!" I shouted. Luckily there were two fighters at the end of the hallway who came running towards me.

"What is it?" one of the asked.

"It's Scott, he's been hurt!" I said, pointing to Scott. The fighters saw the condition of the room and drew their guns, advancing in slowly. I wasn't too happy with how slow they were moving so I rushed passed them and began lifting Scott off the ground. The fighters eventually got to me and helped me pick Scott off the ground, actually take him out of my grasp and rushing him out of the workshop. I was alone again and I suddenly felt a sense of dread and fear. 'Who would attack Scott? What were they looking for?' I asked myself.

Besides everything that was thrown around it didn't look like anything was stolen until I saw the transmitter. It looked like somebody had smashed the protective cover off of it and grabbed something from the inside. I didn't spend too much time thinking about it and left the workshop, heading for the clinic which is no doubt where Scott was taken.

I arrived and saw that the two fighters were standing guard while Scott was now sitting up on one of the beds while Dr. Glass treated his wound in the back of his head. Mr. Mason was already there talking to Scott.

"Rick was just hanging there like some sort of bat! Don't ask me how, but he was!" Scott said flustered, "He leaped towards me and the next thing I know I'm waking up here!"

I wasn't quite sure what to think about that last statement, and apparently neither did Mr. Mason or Dr. Glass who looked at Scott with curious stares. "He was hanging like a bat?" Mr. Mason questioned.

"Yes!" Scott insisted, "Before he knocked me out though he attacked the transmitter, smashing the cover off it!"

"Something was stolen from the transmitter." I spoke up, "It doesn't look like the whole thing was busted, just the outside of it."

"I can't believe he would do this." A voice said behind me. I turned around to see Ben propped up on one of the hospital beds, looking considerably better. I don't know what Dr. Glass gave him but whatever it was she's got to be the best doctor in the planet, not that there are many left I guess. Or perhaps it wasn't even her; maybe it was just the harness remnants healing Ben in some way.

"It doesn't matter what might have happened or did happen," Mr. Mason said, "We need to find him and get that part back before he damages it."

"If he hasn't destroyed it already- OW!" Scott said, cringing in pain from the anti-bacterial rag Dr. Glass was dabbing the back of his skull. She looked at Mr. Mason and gave him a sideward glance and handed the rag to Lourdes. They both moved to the side and began talking quietly while Scott began groaning in pain. I looked over at Ben who was staring right back at me, his face neutral.

I decided now would be a good time to check on Ben and walked over to him. "Hey." I said weakly.

"Hey." Ben repeated back.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked.

Ben shrugged at me, "I guess. I no longer feel like my head is going to explode."

"Ya." I said awkwardly, "Ben I'm sorry for doing that to you."

"It's ok, you had to make sure that the frequencies would have a strong enough impact." Ben said, giving a small smile.

"No," I said not wanting to keep anything from Ben anymore, "It wasn't that Ben. I wanted-"

"To help the 2nd Mass." Ben said, giving me a knowing look. I realized that Ben knew exactly why I hurt him, but decided to move past it. I nodded my head in appreciation and we both sort of stood and lay there silently. Mr. Mason came over to us, or to Ben I should say since he ignored me entirely.

"I have to go find Rick." Mr. Mason said.

"Are you going to hurt him?" Ben asked, "Because it's not his fault that he's like that!"

"I know Ben, I know." Mr. Mason said, though I doubted that he fully did. "But regardless of that Rick is a danger to the 2nd Mass and himself. We need to find him and help him."

'Just like you've helped him since you've found him.' I thought, wanting to say that out loud. That would be the wrong thing to say since I think Mr. Mason would hurt me, though Ben would probably start liking me more.

"Now stay here Ben. I'll be back with Rick unharmed." Mr. Mason said, stressing the 'unharmed' part for his son's benefit. Ben reluctantly nodded and Mr. Mason left, not even giving me a look as he left. It was silent except for the moans for Scott and I thought about what I could say to Ben. Before I had a chance to say anything though, Ben jumped off of the bed and attempting to balance himself.

"Ben!" I said shocked.

"I have to find Rick." Ben said, his face molded in concentration as he walked forward. He didn't make it far as his legs gave out and I had to catch him before he hit the ground.

"You need to get back in that bed." I insisted.

"Not now. I need to find Rick!" Ben whispered back fiercely. I shushed him and looked over to see if anybody had seen Ben get out of bed. Dr. Glass was gone and Lourdes's back was to us along with Scott's. I looked at Ben who was starting to look a lot better than about ten minutes ago, color returning to his face and the droopy eyes disappearing.

I sighed to myself. "Fine, if you want to find Rick let's go find him." Ben nodded to me, happy that I yielded. I looped Ben's arm around my back, supporting his body on mine, and then with my free arm grabbed the curtain around Ben's bed and closed it. "But if something happens to you I'll kill you." I said.

Ben chuckled, "What if I die?"

"Then I'll kill you again." I said, sneaking out of the clinic before anybody could stop us.

We snuck through the corridors, moving slowly due to me having to carry Ben and not wanting to be discovered by somebody who might know that Ben was suppose to be in the clinic. Things got easier the more time that we walked around as Ben seemed to slowly be recovering from his ordeal. After about fifteen minutes of wondering around Ben was able to walk as fast as I could, which still wasn't that fast due to be injuries.

I thought about asking him how he felt, but thought better of it. That question would lead to more questions which would eventually lead to the topic of the razors in his back. Since I was still recovering my friendship with Ben right now after almost killing him, perhaps that wouldn't be the best topic to talk to him about.

After another ten minutes I had to say something. "Ben we've been searching for almost a half hour, if we or the fighters haven't found Rick then I think we should give up."

"We can't, not until we find him." Ben said stubbornly. He was now able to walk by himself and was moving faster than me, causing me to trudge along slowly after him. My entire body was aching from all this walking and I wanted nothing more than to just lie down and sleep for awhile.

"Ben I need to rest." I finally admitted, leaning against one of the lockers nearby. Ben turned around to me, some annoyance showing in his face.

"We don't have time, we've got to find him!"

"You go on ahead then." I said, "I'll catch up with you later."

"You won't be able to find me though." Ben pointed out.

"Just go Ben and find Rick. I'll be fine and if I don't find you I'll just head back to the clinic." I said, getting exasperated with Ben now. Ben sighed and set off on his own, leaving me to recover. For once I was hoping for my life to be like the movies where the main character has a ton of energy and isn't slowed down by old battle wounds. Of course as with everything else in reality I was hurting badly and if this was a movie the skitters wouldn't have nearly killed off all of humanity.

After a few minutes of leaning against the lockers I heard shouting and running footsteps. Two fighters came running down the hallway, screaming about finding Mr. Mason. "Mason's freak kid has found the other razor back!" one of them shouted, "Were is Mason?"

"Outside in the front." Somebody told the fighter who only grunted in response and then set out running for the front. I followed behind them and when I heard a gunshot I began running faster through the now screaming crowds of civilians fearful of a skitter attack.

When I reached the front I saw Ben being lead back inside the wall by that chick Maggie who was followed by Uncle James's pissed off friend. "I didn't mean to hurt the razor back!" he protested, his face contorted into hatred. "I only meant to protect all of us."

"Some hero!" Maggie spat back, sitting Ben down and checking him over. Uncle James's friend looked pissed.

"Give me back my gun bitch!" he shouted, reaching for the extra gun Maggie had around her shoulder. Maggie stopped him before he grabbed it, instead grabbing his arm and then slamming her fist into his face. He groaned and fell to the ground as everybody else looked stunned.

"Under Tom Mason's orders I relieve you of your duty soldier." Maggie said in a clear and authoritative tone. She turned to some other fighters standing by, "Get him out of here and make sure he's somewhere he can't do any harm."

The two fighters she was looking at seemed stunned by her actions but recovered and dragged that bigoted asshole away from everybody else. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that Maggie was in charge.

"Ben!" I shouted, limping towards my friend. Ben looked at me shocked, gasping when I grabbed him by the shoulder. "Is he ok?" I asked Maggie.

"He should be, just a bit stunned by that ass and his damn shooting." Maggie said.

"I didn't mean to hurt anybody." Ben muttered to himself. "I don't get why he was shooting at me."

"It's ok Ben, he's just an idiot." I said, unable to come up with any other comforting words.

"The skitters are coming! He was right about that!" Somebody shouted amongst the fighters, "And now we're one man short!"

Maggie's expression showed annoyance now, "There must be somebody else we can call on."

"Everybody else left with Captain Weaver." Somebody else said, fearing showing in their eyes. I looked around and saw that most people seemed scared. Now I was scared, scared because of what some people might do because of their fear. One person had already tried to kill Ben, who would be next?

"I can fill in." I said as confidently as I could. "I was trained as a fighter so I can help."

Maggie looked at me skeptically, but Ben jumped in before she could say anything. "He's telling the truth, he can fight. My dad I'm sure will agree to it also." Ben said. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; Mr. Mason didn't want me near his son let alone a gun. But Maggie seemed convinced at that point, or at least less skeptical.

"Alright," she said, pulling the gun off her shoulder and handing it to me. "Your first job is to get Ben to Dr. Glass to make sure he hasn't got anything wrong with his brain. Then report back here to prepare for guard duty."

I nodded my head and helped Ben up, who didn't really need help and once again helped me limp away quickly before Maggie could change her mind. As soon as we were out of sight Ben asked if we could go to Scott's office instead. That was fine with me since I didn't want to spend any more time near the clinic.

We got to Scott's workshop, who hasn't returned yet from the clinic himself. "What are we doing here Ben?" I asked as I sat down on a seat nearby.

"We're going to help the fighters outside defend us if the skitters come knocking." Ben said calmly. "You were right Michael, I am a weapon."

I looked at Ben, concern on my face. "Ya well screw what I was saying. Ben the last time we did that radio signal thing you almost died."

"Well it will be worth it if I can use that power that save a bunch of lives." Ben countered.

"It's not a power Ben," I said, "and you shouldn't be hurting yourself like this."

Ben laughed, "Oh, so now your against hurting me? Earlier you were all for it and for using me as a weapon."

I looked away from Ben, "That was different." I said. 'When I still hated you and didn't see you as my best friend.' I thought.

Ben was about to say something but Scott came in, surprised to see us. "Ben! And Michael. I think you boys should leave before we get into any more trouble with that radio."

"No, we need to use the radio Uncle Scott." Ben said, "You can program it to the frequency that can harm the skitters and I can tell you what that frequency is. And yes, I know it almost killed me and I don't care! I want to help people and not feel useless!"

Uncle Scott looked at me accusingly, "Did you plant these ideas into his head?"

"No." I stated.

"Scott," Ben said, stepping towards him. "If this works then my dad will make sure your research and work receives top priority and isn't consider to be just an old man playing with scrap."

That did it for Scott, who nodded his head. "Alright, but the transmitter won't work without the part that Rick took."

"That's fine, my dad is chasing him down and will be back with the part that you need." Ben said confidently.

While Ben and Scott began working on the radio I looked at my friend stunned. Ben had changed a lot from the shy, scared kid that I had met in the library two months ago. Here stood a Ben who was willing to endure pain and suffering just to help people, people who hated him and considered him unnatural. And the thing is that they were right, Ben was unnatural and I have the scars and stories to prove it. But Ben had accepted that unnatural statues and was willing to live with it anyways now, or at least for the moment. This new Ben… I wasn't sure what to think of him.

About an hour later Mr. Mason returned with Rick and the part that he had taken from Scott. He was pleased to hear that the man who had shot at his son was no longer on duty, but I don't think he was happy to hear that I had replaced him. Mr. Mason didn't say anything but gave me a look that made all his feelings clear. I just smiled and hoped I didn't let him down at any time.

He also brought back bad news that a Mech attack was imminent. He didn't tell anybody how he knew but most people guessed that Rick was somehow the cause of it. I don't like playing stereotypes, but I'd have to agree with this one. Rick had probably screwed us over.

Mr. Mason didn't waste anytime though and he organized his fighters while preparing for the civilians to escape through an underground route. Mr. Mason looked pretty stressed out by having all that control, but he was actually doing a pretty good job at commanding. Perhaps even a better job than Weaver?

One thing that added to Mr. Mason's stress was the fact that he had to deal with his two remaining kids with him. Matt, being the little kid he was, evacuated without question. Ben though was a different story. "I can do this Dad!"

"I know you can but I don't want you here when the attack comes!"

"I'm sorry Tom but he's right! This is our one shot and if they change the frequency after Ben's left I won't be able to find it again."

Mr. Mason sighed deeply and looked like he was in deep thought. He then began shaking his head furiously, refusing to leave his son in the crossfire's. Ben looked aggravated himself and moved up next to his, "Dad I know what their saying about me and Rick. How we're infected by these harnesses. But if I can use it against them, if I can become a… a weapon against them, then I can use what they did to me to get back at them. You have to let me!" he pleaded.

Mr. Mason looked at his son with a mix of love and worry. He looked at Scott and even at me before turning back to his son. Maggie ran up to the door, sticking her head in the room. "Hey, Scouts have Mechs spotted within a mile." She then ran off with a bunch of other fighters following her.

Mr. Mason turned back to his son, "If I say run you run." He said and began moving out the door. "Michael, you're with me out front."

My body stiffened as I realized I was going to be out on the front lines literally. Ben turned to me concerned but I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine." I said, my doubt pretty evident.

"You'll hurt yourself out there shooting off all those rounds." Ben said.

"And you'll get hurt finding that signal won't you." I said, smiling. Ben smiled too and actually hugged him. I was shocked by the gesture but returned it quickly. We broke apart when he heard shouting outside and I ran out front, following Mr. Mason's path.

I made it out front and was quickly assigned a position to hold. I was positioned to the left of Dai, with a flag pole directly to my left. Mr. Mason was located in the center of the barricade, and I noticed Jimmy and Maggie nearby, the former looking pretty concerned. I couldn't blame him though, I probably looked the same as him and everybody else. Except for Dai, Maggie, and Mr. Mason none of the other fighters are considered to be real fighters. There mainly just patrol people who never got much experience with fighting actual alien targets. I think one of them actually vomited when they heard the Mechs signature moan coming from around the block.

"Here they come!" Mr. Mason shouted, "Wait for my signal before shooting!"

"God I hope these bullets Pope gave us work." Dai muttered to himself. I had never even considered that aspect and suddenly grew even more concerned. I saw Maggie lean forward and whisper something into Jimmy's ear. Jimmy suddenly looked a lot more confident, holding his gun tighter.

"Easy!" Mr. Mason shouted. A single Mech came into view, it's loud steps echoing through my head. It was no longer moaning, but seemed to be examining the entire area.

'Come on Ben.' I thought to myself, 'Why isn't it stopping?'. I looked up at Mr. Mason who also seemed to be having the same thoughts.

The Mech was now close enough that the ground was actually shaking around us. The barricade began to shift violently, sending a wave a panic through some of the fighters. The Mech stopped right before our barricade and let out a deep moan which made several people gasp, including myself. The moan ended the dreaded sound of the Mech loading and preparing its gun assaulted our ears.

"OPEN FIRE!" Mr. Mason roared, shooting off his bullets first. There was a massive commotion as fighters got up from hiding and began shooting through the barricade and the roof. I readied my gun and began firing, bracing my body for the pain of recoil from the gun. It did hurt, but it could have been much worse. A lot of bullets were missing the Mech but the ones that actually hit it seemed to be doing some damage. The Mech actually began taking steps back and began to try and shield itself from the barrage of bullets

The Mech wasn't falling over dead and instead pulled up its gun and began firing back at us. Its own bullets assaulted the front of barricade first, forcing everybody there including myself to duck behind cover. A couple of the Mechs shots managed to get through the barricade and two fighters feel down, clutching their wounds in pain as blood flowed from them. The Mech changed its weapon of choice and fired a rocket at the right side of the barricade, injuring three people and causing a lot of people to fall to their knees.

I was the first back on their feet, but I was dazed and my head was ringing. I stood up from behind the barricade and fired at the Mech. The only problem was I didn't prepare properly before I shot and crutch of the gun dug into my rib cage. When I fired my gun the recoil bounced off the gun and onto my still mending rib cage, which sent massive waves of pain through my body. I cried out in agony, tears actually coming from my eyes, and hit the ground hard.

From the ground I saw that Mr. Mason and the others were fighting again, shouting profanity at the Mech and firing away. I looked over to where the Mech had launched its rocket at us and saw two corpses with massive burn marks on them. One person who was burned badly was still alive and they were screaming in agony and begging for something. The person's eyes suddenly went wide and soon their body seemed to relax. I closed my eyes, knowing that person was dead.

I wanted to crawl away from all the violence, to hide from it, to escape with the rest of the civilians into the tunnel and never look back. But I knew I couldn't do that, that I had a responsibility to the 2nd Mass. Or so I keep telling myself. I get to my feet and while still crying out in pain ready my gun.

I stop when I realize that the Mech had hit the ground and a massive amount of smoke was coming from its body. The survivors on the barricade began to cheer out in happiness, hugging and patting each other on the back. Mr. Mason gave a small smile and began to chuckle. Jimmy was overjoyed and Dai looked happy himself. Maggie remained her neutral self, though I could tell she was happy about something. I smiled too, happy that we had done it even without Ben's help.

The happy mood on the barricade quickly dispersed when more moans were heard. Everybody's attention turned to outside the barricade, breath held, and guns being gripped tighter. Soon the barricade began to shake even more violently, a few people actually stumbling on top of their posts. One person actually screamed out "NO!" in a chocking tone when they saw the six Mechs marching towards the school.

"Everybody get down! Get Down!" Mr. Mason shouted. Everybody was quick to follow those instructions, though a few still remained standing, shocked by the amount of Mechs coming to attack.

"Ammo count!" Mr. Mason shouted next, checking his own. People began shouting out ammo numbers and it quickly became clear we didn't have enough to take on all the Mechs. Everybody was crouched over now, nobody saying a word as we all realized we were about to die. A few people on the roof ran away scared, not caring what Mr. Mason would do to them for their cowardice. Mr. Mason saw them leave but realized he could do nothing to stop them.

The Mechs stopped outside the barricade near where the dead Mech lay. They all let out their moans at the same time, the noise making it seem like our ear drums were about to break. The stopped and the Mechs once again began preparing their guns for firing. Everybody looked at each other, a wordless goodbye passed between everybody.

I looked over at Scott's workshop, thinking that I might get to give Ben a nod goodbye. I was stunned when I actually saw Ben climbing out of the window and running towards the Mechs with a pair of jumper cables in his hands. "BEN!" shouted in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Ben get back!" Mr. Mason shouted out, getting down from his main post. At that moment the Mechs open fired and people began to scream. Mr. Mason gave the order to fire again and angrily began to fire himself, unable to leave his post now.

I on the other hand didn't have to inspire courage so I jumped over the barricade to Ben's side. "We have a signal, we just have to make it stronger! We can use the flag pole!" Ben told me over the battle ensuing right next to us.

I understood what Ben was saying and I followed Ben out to the flag pole. An explosion lit up the area I was just stationed and I fell onto the ground, though Ben remained standing. "Do it already!" I shouted at him. Ben nodded and attached the cables to the flag pole, causing sparks to appear and an invisible sound to bounce off the metal.

The Mechs began to screech as Ben fell to the ground in pain. I crawled up to Ben and threw my body over his to protect him. Some people from the barricade were screaming they were out of Mech ammo and suddenly the fighting stopped. Ben was underneath me, writhing in pain, and I was afraid to look up at the battle just in case we lost. I finally summoned some courage and looked up, and a smile came to my face.

"Their retreating…" I said unbelieving. "Their retreating!"

Ben looked up at the scene, blood once again coming from his ears. He was shocked but quickly a smile came to his face. We both began to laugh as the defenders on the wall began to cry out in victory. Mr. Mason left his post and was already beside us. "Ben are you alright?" He shouted concerned.

"I'm fine dad, I'm fine." He said smiling. Mr. Mason hugged his son and I took a step back to give them their space.

I looked out at the battle scene and smiled. We had actually won, defeated the odds and came out on top for once. I began to laugh too when I thought of the victory celebration that was no doubt going to be thrown.

My laughter turned to wheezing quickly though and I fell to the ground. "Michael!" Ben shouted out shocked, running to my side. I kept gasping for breath, now facing Mr. Mason and Ben. Mr. Mason shouted something and things started to go black. I felt my chest constricting and put him hands to my sides were it hurt most. It felt warm there and I realized I was bleeding from something badly. Ben was screaming but I could understand anything he said.

Then I felt my eyes go wide and I breathed out heavily. Darkness followed and my body relax, my pain gone.


So I can't think of any excuse for my 6 month absence other than I was lazy and had a lot of work. The final chapter will be up in the next week, that much I promise.

Please stay tune and Review!