Hal stood slightly hunched next to a tree, trying to stay out of sight. He'd seen signs of skitters about half a mile back. They were probably still in the area.

He took his binoculars out of his pack and looked through them, scoping out his entire vicinity. Everything looked pretty dead. The ground was littered with dry, broken leaves and ice. There didn't seem to be any skitters or mechs nearby for the time being.

As Hal put his binoculars back in his backpack, he heard the faint sound of mechs. He held his breath involuntarily and listened closely. They were definitely heading his way, and fast.

Hal searched for a hideout quickly and settled for a fallen tree trunk. He threw himself on the icy ground quickly and waited until they were right above him. Hal's body tensed, but he made himself peer up.

They were heading straight into the area where the 2nd Mass was camping. And the mechs weren't alone. There were at least twenty harnessed kids with them, following mindlessly. Hal felt a twinge of pity for them. Ben had been one of those kids, months back. His instinct was to help them, mechs or not. But he knew he couldn't, so he fought his heart.

Hal watched as the mechs and kids disappeared down the trail, and after about ten minutes he felt it was safe enough to stand up and start heading back to camp. Hal ran back to his tipped over bike and sped towards camp, taking every shortcut along the way.

"Everybody take cover!" Captain Weaver shouted. Everyone simultaneously ducked as mech-fire unleashed hell on the area. Hal saw a few fighters blown back by the blasts. Some didn't get back up. He clutched his semi-automatic tightly and waited anxiously for the Captain to give the order to open fire.

"Fire!" Weaver yelled. Hal immediately jumped to his feet and unloaded on the mechs. He knew his shots were doing little if any damage to the bastard drones, but he held his weapon steady and aimed to kill.

Hal glanced over at his father, who was shooting viciously at the bots. Hal saw a whole different side of Tom Mason during combat than the loving, optimistic father who still tucked Hal's baby brother in every night. When they were fighting, Hal saw all of the hate his father had for these beasts, all of the pain he felt.

It enraged Hal, to see his father so hurt, so vicious. Hal turned his attention back to the mechs, hatred coursing through his veins. He shouted as he shot, mech-fire landing so close to him he barely stayed afoot.

He shot, thinking of his mother, of Ben, his father and Matt, and Maggie. He was so captured by his burning hatred that he didn't even see the mech-fire as it landed right in front of him. Suddenly, everything went black, and all of Hal's hatred and anger and pain seemed to disappear, slowly and comfortably.

Hal's eyes slowly opened. His head and chest were killing him. He rubbed his temple and blood came back on his fingers. It was dark, and so cold.

He was lying on the ground. His back was damp from where the ice had melted from his body heat. He slowly and painfully worked himself into a half-sitting position.

A light shone in his eyes suddenly. He squinted and shaded his eyes as best he could. He hadn't head anything come up on him, which means it had been there, waiting for him to come to.

The lights dimmed enough for Hal to see a mech and a human figure standing in front of him. He struggled to get to his feet, wheezing and collapsing as he did so. He finally managed a slightly standing position, ignoring the bursts of pain in his head and chest.

Hal looked at the human, unable to distinguish any specific features. He couldn't even tell if it was male or female. He glanced around briefly. Where were the others? Where was he for that matter? This definitely wasn't the campsite, or the barricade.

His eyes finally adjusted and he nearly choked on his own breath as he looked at the person standing before him. Karen. Hal stumbled back a step, not taking his eyes off her for even a second.

Karen smiled at him, but not the smile Hal had once loved so passionately. This smile twisted Karen's face evilly. She was almost unrecognizable. She had malice in her eyes, and Hal shivered.

"Hello Hal." She said, still smiling. "I've missed you so much. I never stopped thinking about you, not even for a minute. You still think of me, too, don't you?" She sounded so much like the old Karen that Hal nearly fell for it. But he knew Karen was gone. She was one of them now.

"What do you want?" He managed to say, making his voice as strong and loud as he could.

Karen's smile faltered slightly, but she held it up as she turned to the mech. "We've brought you here. To show you."

Hal hesitated before answering. "Show me. Show me what?"

Karen turned back to him quickly, smile bigger and more devilish than ever. "To show you what we we're capable of, silly. What we'll do when you resist us."

Hal swallowed tightly and watched carefully as several harnessed children emerged from the dark. They lined up robotically in front of him, their faces emotionless. Hal looked at them. They were all so young, one girl probably no more than five or six years old.

Karen looked at Hal again, watching him closely, then she turned to the mech and nodded slightly.

It was so sudden. Hal barely had time to register the gunfire before the first child fell to the ground, lifeless. He watched in horror as they fell dead, one by one. The he watched the little girl collapse in a pool of blood.

"No! Stop! Please!" He begged, his heart wrenching. "Please!"

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Hal." Karen shouted over the last of the gunfire. "But now you know what happens when you resist us."

Hal wasn't sure when Karen and the mech had left him in the darkness, or when he had started to wander off down this street. He noticed he couldn't feel much. The pain in his head and chest had disappeared almost as soon as the last of the children had fallen dead.

He stumbled along the barren street, unsure of where he was going. He was probably heading away from camp, but he couldn't make himself care. He was so weak and tired.

Hal heard something in front of him. It sounded like someone was there. Normally by now he would have been diving behind something for safety and aiming to kill, but he was so tired he couldn't make himself do anything but walk mindlessly on, dangerous or not.

"Hal?" He heard someone call out. The voice sounded familiar. Hal slowed his pace a little, waiting for the stranger to speak again.

"Hal!" Dad. What was his dad doing here? How did he know where he was? His dad raced to Hal and grabbed him by the shoulders, carefully inspecting him. Hal stared at him silently, his face expressionless.

"Hal, are you okay?" His dad sounded frantic and scared.

Hal blinked, then spoke. "Dad?" He whispered.

His dad looked at him, relieved and sad all at once. "I'm here, son. I'm here." He pulled Hal into a tight embrace.

Hal let himself collapse in his dad's arms, his legs finally giving out. "Dad." He breathed weakly. He slowly wrapped his arms around his dad's back, clinging to him desperately. Then, suddenly, he was crying.

Hal's sobs were weak and faint, but they were definite, and his dad held him tighter, stroking his hair gently. "Dad..." Hal whimpered. "What is it, Hal?" His dad whispered, sounding a little shaken. "They killed them," Hal choked out.

His dad pulled back and looked at Hal closely. "They killed who, Hal? Who did they kill?"

Hal looked at his father pathetically, struggling to speak. "The kids. The harnessed kids. Karen was there. She... She wanted me to watch, Dad. They wanted me to watch." He wheezed in tightly, the pain in his chest coming back quickly and fiercely. "They were so young. One was younger than Matt, Dad. She was so small, and I couldn't help her." Hal crumpled in his dad's arms, letting the sobs rip through him angrily.

"Shh." His dad breathed shakily. "It's okay, son. I'm here. It's okay." But it wasn't. And they both knew it.

Hal had a few broken ribs and some pretty bad bruises on his head, but luckily no concussion, according to Doctor Glass. She gave him some painkillers and told him to rest as much as possible. Hal had quietly agreed to rest, his mind still reeling from watching those kids be slaughtered.

Hal walked back to his family's tent slowly. His dad had been called off to a meeting with Captain Weaver almost as soon as they had gotten back to camp. He ducked through the opening in the tent, groaning a little as he did so. Ben wasn't there. He didn't sleep much, since they had taken the harness off.

Hal saw Matt curled up on his cot, sleeping. His heart started pounding as he thought of the little girl back with the mech.

He hurried to Matt's side and knelt down slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. He stroked Matt's head gently, his hand getting lost in Matt's endless curls. He smiled softly, looking at his brother sleeping. He was safe.

Hal watched his brother for a long time, scared that if he looked away something would happen to him. Matt's eyes slowly opened, and he looked up at Hal, his eyes so big and innocent.

"Hal?" Matt's voice was sleepy and small.

"Hey, buddy." Hal whispered back. "Go back to sleep."

Matt propped up on one arm and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Dad said you were taken..." Matt said after a moment. "Did they... Do stuff to you...? Like they did with Ben...?"

I pulled him close to me and held him in a tight hug. "No. They didn't do stuff to me like they did Ben," I whispered into his hair. He hugged me back as hard as he could, instantly sensing something had happened, but asking no more questions.

"Hal?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" He asked after hesitating.

I smiled and kissed the top of his head like dad always did. "Of course you can, little man." Hal tried to look strong and confident for his little brother's sake, but inside he was terrified. He promised himself to never let anything happen to Matt or Ben, and he intended to keep that promise.