Anne was a mess. Ben had run away. The last Mason child was gone. All that was left was Alexis, who is public enemy number one now that Ben's gone. Anne knew she only had one choice: Cochise. She knew where the Volm headquarters was, she just had to make it there and pray they had something, ANYTHING, for death.

Tom, Hal, and Matt were buried in the same grave in the woods. It was big, everyone in Charleston came. There wasn't a dry eye to be found.

Anne and Lourdes immediately began working on a treatment for death. Human technology couldn't match it. The word of Tom's death caught Cochise's eye, and he returned to Charleston to help with the cure before Anne could chase him down.

Anne was cleaning her supplies as Cochise worked endlessly to finish the cure. It's almost done, but whether it works is undetermined.

"I'm calling it a night." Lourdes announced as she finished arranging medicines on the shelf. "You should, too." Lourdes put a hand on Anne's shoulder, trying to convince her to rest.

"I will soon, Lourdes." Anne sighed, scrubbing away at medical scissors. Lourdes nodded, worried for Anne, and went to check on Alexis. She had been growing quickly, but was slowing down a little. She was about 12 now.

"Hey, Lexi?" Lourdes called out. Alexis stormed through the room, her curly brown hair bouncing. "Lex, what's up?" Lourdes chuckled at Alexis' middle school state.

"Hailey told me she liked Liam, then Liam told me he knew Hailey liked him and he was gonna ask her out, but then Hailey got mad and said she never said she liked Liam and he never asked her out, but then Dana said she told me Hailey liked Liam and just UGH!" Alexis huffed, falling back on the bed. "And nobody likes me because by next week I'll be in my twenties."

"Hey," Lourdes sat next to Alexis. "We're doing our best. But right now we have to get your dad and brothers back."

"Ben's not-" Anne ran in, cutting Alexis off.

"We got it."

Ben's life as king of the Espheni was going well for him. He was the most important of everyone. Even more than Karen was. He was in charge of every movement in the Espheni operation. He even learned to speak their language.

They'd never harnessed him, he volunteered to take his position, which gave him free will. He'd thought of going home, but what'd that do? Send him back to a life where he's a disformed freak?

"Master Ben!" A skitter screeched.

"What?" Ben snapped, while laying in his bed at an attempt for sleep.

"We need to plan another attack." The skitter screeched at him.

"Attack sector B, they're weak." Ben responded, sector B indicating a human settlement.

"Yes, sir." The skitter scurried out. Ben sighed and got out of his bed. His room was in the basement of a house, the most protected part. He went upstairs and out the door. Skitters had overrun the entire neighborhood.

"FORM UP!" Ben commanded. Every skitter and every harnessed kid was at Ben's feet in mere seconds. He had that power. "We're attacking sector B NOW, take no prisoners, show no mercy!" Parts of the group (the army part) broke off and followed Ben.

I guess you could say Ben transformed when he went to the skitters. He's no little boy. His shoulders are broad, his voice deep, his entire being claiming masculinity. Often he'd think about attacking the second mass, but he never could. There was still a sliver of emotion locked in a safe deep in Ben's heart dedicated to the second mass. But it was useless, his family was dead. There was nobody there to love. That's why love meant nothing to Ben, he never had to use it. He dreamt of the day where he meant the perfect girl and fell in love. He'd retire from his position, and she'd get over his alienated face. They'd love each other until the end of time.

Occainsonally, Ben's mind wanders to after the invasion. He'd be powerless. He'd be rejected by everyone because of his skin. He'd have to stay with Anne and Alexis, both of which he didn't favor. He wanted a sister from his mom, not Anne. And he was mad that Alexis hadn't joined him yet. He'd raise her to be his next of kin. She'd take over when he passes.

As you may have noticed, Ben's life is full of 'would's. He would do this, she would do that. This is because Ben can never have these things, but he imagines how life would be like. Choosing this lifestyle was one of the hardest decisions Ben has ever made, and there were consequences. He had to look people in the eye and kill them, which took an emotional toll on him. Another thing, the voices in his head seemed to get louder. They'd call him out of his bed in the night for no reason, and distract him from his work. Ben hated them.

Once they reached sector B, they full-on ambushed the place. They shot at everything that moved. Ben was on a roll, killing half of their overall killings. They had thought everything was dead.

Key word: thought.

A little boy, no older than seven, stood and aimed his gun at Ben. Ben whipped around and darted towards the boy. He stopped in his tracks, though, for an idea came to mind.

"When they boy shoots me, we'll go to the second mass for help." Ben screeched in Espheni. The boy was shocked and confused.

"An inside job?" A skitter responded. Ben was enraged, was that not what he just said? He faced the boy, and shot backwards, killing the dumb skitter.

"Shoot me, kid." Ben hadn't heard his English voice in ages, he only spoke Espheni. He was surprised he didn't mess part of it up. The young, terrified boy rose his gun and shot Ben in the stomach. Ben let himself fall, scraping his head on a nail that poked out from the ground. This was the first time Ben felt pain since he joined the skitters. He liked it. The boy who fired was dead in ten seconds flat.

The Espheni were about to take out the second mass.