Hate, Envy, Loss, Love

by Mrs.Mason2

Hate was easy, Envy was natural, Loss was hard to talk about, Love was nearly impossible. Welcome To H.E.L.L. On Earth. Follow the story of two girls as their broken worlds collide with those of the Second Massachusetts Militia Regiment. A Falling Skies Fanfiction.

9. E Is For Envy

What what whaaattttt?! Two updates in one week?! That's right: we love you guys!3 And Alyssa and I had no lives over our break so we decided to put our useless selves to some writing for our lovely readers! And I'm dedicating my POV of this chapter to our reviewer Kalou for giving me the idea of adding some more Kaylee/Ben stuff;) YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED!;p Just for random notice, I've already started writing Chapter 10:D Season One of H.E.L.L. is almost over guys!:O So yeah, leave a review, possibly suggest something you'd like to see, and who knows, maybe it'll happen;D Stay classy my viewers. -Parker

Hey guys enjoy the chapter! Don't forget to review!:)-Carter

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Chapter 9-E is for Envy

Alyssa's POV

I had a scouting mission.

Again.

As the attack got closer, the busier we fighters got. Hal and I were constantly paired up. Weaver said something about our personalities working together. I just nodded and acted like I understood. Kaylee and Jimmy were another pair that was always put together. The only difference is they actually could stand each other for more than a couple minutes. I mean, sure Hal is quite attractive, but he still annoyed the shit out of me. Today it was Hal and I, of course, but also Tom and Weaver.

"Well this is boring," Hal said. He is not wrong.

"Yeah but it's important," Tom replied.

"We've got to make sure everything is still okay. Gotta be as prepared as possible for the attack," Weaver said. Tom and Weaver were a few paces up head of us, talking about the attack. Hal stood next to me. He looked confused, like he was debating something.

"Alyssa." He looked at me.

"Hal," I replied.

"You confuse me."

"Most people don't understand me. And when I say most, I mean everyone but Kaylee. The main reason she really gets me is because she seriously understands what I have been through."

"How do you deal with it? Like when your mom died? How did you handle it?"

"After she died, my dad just zoned out, didn't come home for three weeks. I didn't go to school for a week either. I became harsh and bitter. But the school didn't know what happened since my dad didn't call. After a week they called Kaylee's parents, who came and found me and took me to school. I was depressed but I wouldn't talk about it."

"And for good reason," Hal pitched in, showing he understood.

"So that landed me in therapy for the rest of my life. And we just talked. I told my therapist about everything that was going on. And it helped. It was a non-violent way to express my feelings. Find someone who you trust or who can relate and talk to them. Don't keep your feelings bottled up. "

"Thanks Alyssa."

"Another way is to write down your feelings. That's a little of what Kaylee did. When her parents died, I tried to get her to talk, but Kaylee was never much of a talker. Especially when it comes to feelings."

"No shit." Hal and I laughed.

"So I made her write everything down and every night I read them, so I could try and understand her thoughts. Used to scare the living shit outta me, how violent her thoughts were."

"Wow guys. I'm proud," Tom turned around and said. "What? Is this like your second actual conversation without screaming and yelling and wanting to kill each other?" Tom and Weaver laughed.

"I think we might have some young love on our hands," Weaver teased and Tom laughed.

"Shut up Weaver," Hal said.

The two of them walked away, with Weaver muttering something about "more Sarahs". What the hell? Isn't Sarah that pregnant chick? Why would he be comparing me and Hal's 'relationship' to a pregnant chick? I thought about it…..why….oh….I get it now…my face turned bright red. From the look on Hal's equally red face, I could tell he figured it out too.

"What was that?" Tom asked and pointed towards some apartments. I didn't see anything. Until we walked down the alley to where Tom saw something and suddenly three gun shots rang out, one just barely missing my head.

"Get out of here before I blow your damn heads off!" A woman's voice warned us. What the hell?

"We're not gonna hurt you!" Tom stood up, his hands in the air. Sometimes I question his sanity. I seriously do.

"Yeah, well that's what they all say," the lady replied. "How do I know you're not with them?"

"Dad! Get down!" Hal whispered sharply.

"Hold on Hal," He turned his attention back to the window.

"Do we look liked skitters?" Weaver yelled to her.

"Yeah, it's not spacemen that bother me, it's the human trash. They're tearing up this city, stealing everything that's not nailed down!"

"We're with the resistance!" Tom came out of hiding and put his weapons in front of him to show he meant no harm. "We can help you!"

The owner of the voice turned out to be an older woman with red hair and a ton of layers on. "Nice, old lady with a gun," I whispered.

Hal laughed. "That's awesome."

"Help I don't need. You wanna talk? Let's talk."

We both walked slowly forward with Tom. The three of us slowly stood up and faced to lady. We walked over to her door. "I'm Tom Mason," he introduced, "this is my son Hal, our commanding officer Weaver, and one of our fighters Alyssa."

"Sonya, Sonya Reagon." She still had her gun pointed at us.

"This would go a whole lot smoother if you lowered your weapon," Weaver said to her.

She reluctantly lowered her weapon. "Well, I have to admit, you don't seem like those others."

"How long you been out here?" Weaver interrogated.

"I never left. You can come in if you like." This lady is seriously creepy.

Tom and Weaver turned to each other, considering the option. "We don't have time for this."

"If it's spacemen you want, I've been keeping my eye on them too." Sonya told us where her house was and began to lead us over there.

The three of us debated whether or not this could be a trap or a useful opportunity. Tom said that since she'd been living next to the structure for months, she might have some intelligence on it. Weaver thought it was a trap. Hal and I thought the woman was just plain crazy.

Nevertheless, Weaver allowed us to go while he told us he'd stand watch. So we went to Sonya's apartment. It was pretty nicely decorated, considering the entire city of Boston was bombed a couple of months ago. She poured us all tea and started going on and on about what the people of the complex used to do. I couldn't put my finger, but she seemed lost, off.

Then she said something that startled me. "Then they took me away. Just for a bit."

"The aliens?" Tom asked.

"Yes. They took me to a camp, very far from here. There were so many of us there at first, then only a few," she explained.

"How did you get away?"

"Oh I didn't. They let me go. They don't care about someone like me." We were all seriously interested now.

"Did you talk to them?"

"Just a little, through the children with the monsters on their necks."

"The harnessed kids," Hal said.

"Did they say why they're here? What they want from us?"

"No they wouldn't talk to us about that but after what they happened to us at the camp I know that they don't want us here. Not any of us," she said.

I looked out the window and saw something moving. "Guys. What the hell is that?"

"Is that Weaver?" Hal asked. We looked closer. It was Weaver. He ditched us. The three of us turned around and sprinted outside.

I glanced at our bikes. "He pulled the spark plugs"

"Where's he going?" Hal asked. Then he looked at me. "What?"

"The spark plugs. He took them so we can't follow him."

"Yeah, I heard that part. How do you know?"

"Kaylee loves guns, I love bikes."

Tom was thinking and looking around and muttering to himself about something.

"We can't catch him. And he knows it," Tom said looking at our bikes to see if there was anything we could do to make them work again. I fixed up my bike no problem, and listened to Tom talking.

"He did say he had family in Austin."

"I thought he lost them back in the attack?" Hal wondered out loud.

"And not knowing can be a strong incentive" I said.

"Exactly. What did he say? Across the river on Royal Street? Is that where he said he lived before the attack?"

"Are you leaving?" We turned around and saw the old lady standing there staring at us.

"We're gonna go look for our friend," Tom said.

"You'll be coming back though, won't you?"

"Just as soon as we can," By that time I had gotten the bikes fixed up and ready. We took off in the direction Weaver had gone. The three of us road around and found Royal Street rather quickly.

"This is Royal Street," Hal yelled over the engines.

"And that's his bike" I pointed.

We pulled up and slid off our bikes. "Hal, Alyssa stay outside and guard." Hal didn't want to, so of course he had to argue. They argued for a minute, but in the end Tom won.

"We're staying out here on watch."

"I figured that much," I said.

"'Kay smart ass, are you this mean to everyone? Or is it just me?"

"Actually I can be quite nice, you just really piss me off."

"Okay so it is just me."

"Yep," I nodded. I went over and sat on the curb. Hal followed and sat next to me.

"I feel like I don't know you very well. And I think we should get to know each other a little. If we are going to be paired up for missions, we should really get to know each other," Hal said.

"What do you suggest then?" I asked.

"Ever heard of 21 questions?"

"Yeah," I had heard of it. The game seemed pretty simple.

"Okay. Let's see, Favorite color? Mine's green," He started.

"Blue. Favorite sport? Mine's soccer."

"Lacrosse. How tall are you? I'm 5'11"

"5'1, what is-"

"Whoa whoa whoa wait! You're 5'1?" He started cracking up.

"You are so mean to me!" I hit his arm, but not that hard, and pretended to be offended.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, but still laughing.

"You better be. Remember I can take you in a fight any day," I said proudly.

"Yeah, but if I have a weapon you're screwed."

"Unless it's a knife. I can dodge a knife and punches all day long," I stated.

"Okay, you believe that."

"Thank you, I will."

"I have a question," He looked at me.

"You always have questions," I reminded him.

"How did Kaylee learn to build bombs? Like I know she was into guns but when they attacked, how did she teach herself? Just expand on her previous knowledge?"

"She knew all this before the attack. Her uncle taught her how to build a basic bomb when she was 11."

Hal chuckled and shook his head slightly. "You two are the weirdest girls I have ever met."

"I'm going to assume that's a compliment and not beat your ass."

"Thanks, and it was. You guys are different. I like that." Oh my god! My inside just exploded. It took everything bit of self-control in me not to break out into a smile.

"Okay next question" I said, spitting out words to get myself to not smile.

"It is your turn remember."

"Oh yeah. What was your favorite subject? Mine was Drama or P.E. I had sports P.E."

"Umm probably P.E. I had sports P.E. too. What's your favorite sport to watch? Mine's football," he said

"To watch on T.V., football, to actually go to a game and watch, soccer. What's your favorite memory before the attack? Mine is when I was a freshman, Varsity soccer won state, both boys and girls. I was the only freshman on the team. My boyfriend was the only freshman on the boys' team. It was pretty cool. I still have my shirt we got. It's back at camp."

"Boyfriend? Well my family was pretty busy all the time, but this one time we took a vacation to California and went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. That was really fun because for one the whole family was there. It was pretty cool. What's your favorite memory after the attack? Mine is Karen, and all the time we spent together."

"Oh. Mine is probably been our time here at the 2nd Mass. I mean almost," I looked at him,"everyone has been really nice. What's the best thing that has ever happened to you? Mine is Kaylee. She has helped me so much throughout my life, I don't know what my life would look like without her."

"Pass. What is-"

"Wait no! You can't have a pass!"

"Yeah I can! Everyone gets one pass."

"Fine but only one."

"Okay now as I was saying, state two random facts about yourself. Mine are that I tried-and failed-at being a vegetarian for a day, and Ben had to help me do my Math homework."

"Umm I don't drink soda, I stopped when I was twelve and I sing. Oh and about the homework thing, don't worry. Kaylee always had to help me with my Spanish homework and Math and English and Science. She was in almost all advanced classes."

"So she was in the same level you were?"

"Yep, she was a freshman I was a sophomore and we were in the same classes."

"Well now I don't feel so bad about it. Next question?"

"I can't think of one."

"Sing something; do your write your own songs?" Is he joking?

"Yes, I write my own songs and no I'm not going to sing," I said stubbornly.

"Please," he said "with a cherry on top."

"Fine but just this once," I cleared my throat quietly and begun.

"You're an angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun

Angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun

Get out your guns, the battles begun. You would die with your heart on a trigger.

They say before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for

If love is what they need, a solider you will be

You're an angel with a shotgun fighting 'til the wars won

You don't care if Heaven won't take you back," I looked at him, waiting to see his reaction.

"That was about Kaylee wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was," I admitted. I wrote that song not too long ago actually.

"Alyssa that was amazing." I'm glad it was dark out so he could not see how much I was blushing. "Sing something else," he asked.

I really don't know why I did, but I did.

"What would you do if I told you that I la la la la loved you?

Do if I said it tonight. What you do if I told you I la la la la love you?

'Cause you know that I la la la lie. You're like a song a beautiful symphony

To my eyes. I'm not like the other girls, 'cause with you I got no choice

You make me wanna lose my voice," l finished the chorus.

"Wow. You're really good. Who is that about?"

"I'm not gonna tell you."

"Why?"

Because it's about you, I thought. "It's not about anyone you know," I lied.

It was kinda cold tonight. I shivered a little. "Cold? Or are you getting sick?"

"I don't know; it is kinda cold tonight. What's talking them so long?" A big gust of wind blew and I shivered again. Wow, it was a cold night. And I didn't have a jacket on, only a tee shirt. We weren't supposed to be gone this long. I was starting to get really cold. Hal put his hand up to my forehead. His hand was freezing!

"Alyssa, you have a fever," Hal said, "Here. Wear this." Hal draped his jacket over my shoulders.

"Thanks." By now my teeth were chattering. Did I really have a fever? That meant I was getting sick. Shit.

In the distance, I heard the faint sound of a mech coming our way. "Do you here that? The mech? "

"Yeah, it's coming our way." Right as he said that the mech turned the corner and headed down the street straight to the house. "Come on," Hal whispered. The two of us ran over to a playground up the street and hid under the slide. "That mech wasn't on a regular search. It was sent. Did you see how it went straight to the house?"

"Yeah, I noticed that. Do you have any C4? I don't."

"No, but my dad does."

"Let's hope they can get away. Maybe we should go in for them, help them?"

"I think they have things under control; they are our leaders anyway. You don't need to make yourself sicker. They can handle themselves, if not I'll go in and get them." Sure enough, there was an explosion and they came running outside.

"Hal?! Alyssa?!" Tom yelled.

"Over here! Dad that was no regular patrol. That mech was headed straight to the house. It knew."

"The only person who knew we were here was that lady," I pointed out.

"We then let's go talk to her," Weaver said.

We hopped on our bikes and headed out. On the motorcycle, even with Hal's jacket, I was so much colder than I had been seconds before. My teeth started chattering. We pulled up to the lady's apartment and knocked.

"Who is it?"

"It's the people from earlier." Tom said.

"Oh, come in."

"We need to talk," Weaver said. He doesn't beet around the bush.

"Aright, please, sit down."

A knock on the door interrupted us before Sonya could start. She looked through the little hole on her door. "Oh um it is you," Oh my God this lady is a horrible actor. She would never make it in the industry.

"We brought more food. Do you have anything to tell us?" She looked at Tom and he was shaking his head, mouthing to her what she was supposed to say.

"Uh no. I haven't seen anyone since those people earlier today." Why did that persons voice outside sound so familiar? I was trying to figure out who it was when Hal ran over to Tom

"Dad," Hal pushed his way and looked through the whole at the person.

"We couldn't get them. Do you know where they've gone?"

"No," the old lady replied. Tom and Weaver both were holding Hal back.

"Dad, it's Karen!" Hal whispered. That's who it is!

"We can't help her right now!" Tom whispered back.

"We can't leave her here!"

I stood up and walked over to him. "Hal, listen to me. What if Karen isn't the only one out there? Do you really want to risk all of us?"

"She has been coming here the last few days. She has a very pretty face. Do you know her?" the lady inquired.

"That's my son's girlfriend," Tom said. "The aliens took her three days ago."

"Hal," I said quietly trying to calm him down, "We can get her back. You guys got your brother and Rick and all those kids back. We can do it. Now is just not the time." He stopped fighting.

Tom walked over to the door and looked out there. He looked back at us and he looked scared. "There was something else out there. One of the things we saw earlier at the base. Those tall things"

Weaver walked over to the lady and kneeled down. "You told them about us didn't you? You gave us up to those things?"

She looked nervous. "They promised me they wouldn't hurt you," Sonya tried to defend herself.

"And you believed them after what they did to you?"

"The girl said that they would bring you back. And then I would have company again, the way it used to be before, and-and they always promised to bring them back," she recalled. I almost felt bad; she was just a lonely old lady that wanted to be with people again.

"Who knows how many people she's given up to them," Hal shook his head.

"That's why they let her go," Weaver said. Tom and Weaver started talking to each other. They were whispering about something. Probably whether we are going to take her with us or not.

"It's gonna be getting late soon. We gotta go; you're welcome to come along with us," Tom said.

"Oh, I don't think so. I should be here when Amy and Joel come back home." Yup, she is definitely crazy.

I had an idea "If you change your mind we're heading," Hal looked at me and shook his head so I gave him the I-got-this-bro-calm-down look, "North, we heard that Gloucester is clear"

"Gloucester? I heard that it's quite lovely," she smiled.

We smiled at her and then walked outside to hop on our bikes and head back.

"Gloucester? Since when are we heading to Gloucester?" Hal looked at us, very confused.

"We're not gonna be there but that's where the aliens will be looking," I smiled, proud of my idea.

"So can we go home now?" I asked after awhile of silence, praying the answer was yes.

"Yes we can. I think we have enough intel for one day," Weaver said.

"Oh yes we do," Tom said and we took off on the ride home. The ride was short and quiet. Soon the school was in site. We pulled up and I headed to my room but Hal stopped me.

"Alyssa, you should go see Dr Glass."

"I would say no but I'm pretty sure you would find a way to make me and I'm way too tired to fight you. Let me go to my room and change first because I'm freezing."

"Okay." Hal walked with me to my room and waited right outside while I changed. I grabbed a pair of Kaylee's track sweats and loosened the waist to fit me because she is so damn skinny since she's a runner. There wasn't much I could do about the length though. Kaylee had extremely long legs and I, well, didn't. I slipped on my one pair of Converse I had. I walked outside and handed Hal his jacket, he looked at my pants and tried to laugh.

"Laugh all you want, they're Kaylee's, but they are really comfy," I said, tripping over and fell right into Hal. "They're also kinda big."

"Kinda? Come here." Hal picked me up. "It's hazardous for everyone to let you walk. You are klutzy enough as it is, and you're sick, in too big of pants. That's an accident waiting to happen." He smiled as I tried-and failed-to get down. We walked into Dr. Glass's office and Hal set me down on her examination table thingy. "Dr Glass? Lourdes?"

"Dr. Glass isn't here at the moment," Lourdes looked at us; her hands were covered in blood. "Let me go wash my hands off real quick." She came back in a blink of an eye. "What do you need?"

"I think Alyssa's sick, we were on a mission and-"

"Okay mom," I cut him off. "I can speak for myself." I looked at him. "We were on a mission and I got the chills. Hal says I had a fever so he made me come see you."

"I'll check you out and make sure everything is okay. Hal, thanks for bring her here."

Hal nodded. "I'll see you around Alyssa." I waved.

As soon as he was out of the room and the door was shut, Lourdes started smiling. "You like Hal!" she yelled.

"Could you be any louder?! He just left!"

"Oh sorry. You like Hal," she whispered.

"NO!" I said. "Just his eyes." I looked at her, hoping she wouldn't see through my lie.

"LIAR!" Well fuck.

"Lourdes!" At that moment Kaylee walked in.

"Damn Lourdes you're loud. Don't let her talk you out of it; she likes him," Kaylee said, smirking at me.

"Have you told him? Who else knows?"

"No I haven't told him and Kaylee knows." I thought about it. "Oh, Pope knows."

"You told POPE, but not me?"

"Trust me I didn't want to but he has a habit of eavesdropping," I said.

"Okay. But still; you like him! That's awesome. I never would have guessed!"

Then, to make the situation even more perfect, Anne walked in. "Who likes who and Alyssa what did you do this time?"

"Alyssa likes Hal and Alyssa's sick," Lourdes said, summarizing what just happened.

"Whoa hold on a second. Alyssa, you like my brother?" Ben walked over from the other part of the office where Anne had been. Wonderful. Just fucking wonderful.

"Okay who else is in here? Because I wanna know before I continue talking!"

"It's just us," Anne said.

"So tell us everything!" Lourdes said excitedly. I just looked at Ben.

"Okay, I'm leaving. But don't think this is the end of this. You bugged me about," he looked at Kaylee, who was switching one of her pocket knives open and closed, not noticing Ben, "someone, now its my turn." Then he left. Just great I get to look forward to talking to Ben about how I like Hal. FUN!(Not).

So, I told them everything that had happened while on the mission, all the way up to the current point.

"Why are you wearing my track pants? Don't you have some soccer ones?" Kaylee frowned slightly and stared at her pants.

"Yeah but I found yours first" I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Alyssa and Hal. I could see you two as a couple. It works. I mean you being so short and him being tall and you're both athletes." Lourdes said and Anne nodded. I think Lourdes is more interested in this than I am.

"I missed a very important part of that conversation." We all turned around to see none other than Tom standing there staring at us.

"Just a bit," Lourdes said.

"Girls stuff," Anne explained.

"You don't wanna know," Kaylee added. Believe me he didn't.

"Alright. Anne, I need to talk to you. Alyssa…I approve." I don't think it was possible for my face to turn any brighter than it was now.

"Well Alyssa, you do have the flu, luckily it's minor. But be careful," Lourdes said. "You can have Hal take care of you."

I left followed by Kaylee. I went to go sleep but was intercepted by Ben. As soon as Ben appeared by my side, Kaylee disappeared. Weird how that always happens.

"Okay we need to talk, I was cooperative with you. Now you gotta cooperate with me," Ben said.

"Can't I just go sleep? Please?"

"No."

Hal's POV

I left Alyssa to be cared for by Lourdes. I really needed to think. I was starting to feel things I had never felt before, and I only seemed to feel those things around Alyssa. And I needed to know why.

Why? I know why idiot, it's because you like her. That's why!

I don't like her!

Yes you do! You're happier when you're with her. Even happier than when you were with Karen. Plus, she is really pretty and she is fun to be around. Yeah, but you might as well get over her, she doesn't like you stupid.

Whatever, just shut up.

Jeeze! What was with me? I was arguing with myself about Alyssa. She really has a way of wedging herself into my thoughts. I mean she is pretty cute. Its not really that thought that scared me, it's the fact that Karen is the one for me wasn't my immediate answer. I had to actually think about it. Everything was a question to me now: Did I even like Karen as much as I thought I did? What did I really see in her? She's gone now, so obviously we aren't together now… I'm so confused. But why? I mean there's no way Alyssa could like me in the first place. But…there should be no 'but'. Except there is.

But what if we get Karen back? But if I pick Alyssa then I shouldn't care about Karen, right? Damn, I've never been this confused about girls. I mean, I couldn't stand Alyssa at all. I was about ready to kill Ben the day he invited her to come back with us. I didn't understand how Kaylee put up with her then I heard her talking to Dr. Glass about her dad and my thoughts about her changed. I've began to understand her more and more. Recently I have started to consider her a friend. I get what people mean when they say you can't judge a book by its cover. So fucking true.

I was so lost in thought I ran right in to Uncle Scott. "Hey, Hal ready for the attack?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering. You seemed worried that's all."

"Oh yeah I'm cool. It's not the attack. It's something else."

"Oh, well, if you want to talk, you know where to find me."

"Thanks," I smiled, he continued walking. "Uncle Scott?"

"Yes, Hal?"

"What do you do if there are two girls and you can't make up your mind about either of them? How do you choose one or the other, and how do you know you made the right choice?" I asked. I hope he got that.

"Well son, just think about this. If you really love the first one, you wouldn't have noticed the second one," He nodded and walked off. Did he just quote Johnny Depp? It made sense though. I'd have to think about this some more, later. Right now I need to get ready for this attack.

"Hal!"

"Dr. Glass, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you, but first go find Alyssa. I need her too. Oh and Kaylee and Jimmy!"

"Okay, I'll go get them."

"Thanks," she turned and left. I headed off to go find Alyssa, Kaylee, and Jimmy. I started to head back to her office, and I heard Ben bugging Alyssa. He wanted to talk to her about something, I don't know what though. She seemed aggravated. I sighed, and filed away everything I was thinking into a folder in the back of my head, considering never taking it out to look at it again.

Alyssa's POV

"Ben leave her alone. I need Alyssa right now."

Ben looked at me. "We will talk about this."

"Whatever." As he left, I looked at Hal. "Thanks, I really wanna go sleep." I turned to leave but Hal caught my arm.

"We gotta go. Anne wants to talk to my dad and us."

"About what?"

"No clue, let's go." Hal pulled me away and we headed over to where the Mason family was staying, and in there was Tom, Anne, Kaylee, and Jimmy.

"Lourdes told us that Weaver came to her for some meds to help him sleep and wake up which, according to Anne, is a classic addictive cycle. If he's been abusing those drugs, he could lose it again like he did in Boston today," Tom told us all. "I'm going to see what I can do about this, and I'll keep you all in the loop. Meeting adjourned."

I left and went straight to my room, hoping and praying not to run into Ben. He was absolutely determined to talk to me about Hal. I mean I guess I can see why; I did bug him about Kaylee. I'll just have to hope luck is on my side and avoid him.

"Hey, Alyssa."

Luck is so not on my side. Ugh.

"Hi Ben." Kill me now.

"So you still owe me an explanation. That's all I want. I just wanna know when and why. I could let it accidentally slip-"

"Okay, okay. Well I think I first noticed when we were looking for supplies. You, me, and him. Why? Well I honestly don't know," I admitted.

"Okay. Now I feel better that I have something to give you shit about. We're even."

"I'll shoot you if you try."

"We both know you have about a good a chance at actually hitting something with a gun as a fish does living out of water."

"I'll do something to make you regret it. Now excuse me I must go sleep."

"You sleep a lot," Ben noted.

"Doctors orders." I turned on my heels and headed of to go sleep. I was exhausted and cold and just plain felt like fucking shit. I felt like I was going to puke and die.

I walked in to find the room empty. Thank the Lord. I really didn't want to be social right now, even though if Kaylee was here she wouldn't be talking. My stomach was starting to hurt. I slipped into my sleeping bag and pulled my blankets up and feel asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

---

"Alyssa, wake up," I looked around trying to see who it was, but I couldn't.

"No."

"Come on. Dr. Glass sent me to wake you up. She said you have to eat."

"No." I really did not wanna get up.

"You don't wanna make me go talk to Hal about some things you know, a certain conversation I heard between you Lourdes and, well Kaylee didn't really say much but she was there."

"I'm up." I sat up really fast.

"Good girl."

"Fuck you, Ben."

"Nice to see you too."

"Why am I up again?" I looked outside. "And what time is it?"

"You fell asleep and it's dinner time now. Let's go. If you don't eat something, I'm gonna get in trouble."

"I hate you."

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"I feel like shit, I feel like Imma puke, my head hurts, and yeah I just feel like shit."

"Okay well if you puke, don't do it on me."

"Whatever. Let's go eat."

"After dinner we're having movie night. Uncle Scott found some old movie and I don't really know what he did but we're having movie night."

"Okay." The two of us walked over to the gym and got dinner, courtesy of Pope. It was a pre-attack dinner. I only felt like some water, but Ben made me eat a roll too. We sat down at a table with Hal and Matt. The three brothers immediately started talking and messing around. We were the only ones there.

"Hey you alright Alyssa? You don't look too good."

"I feel like shit. I must have gotten a bug. It is flu season after all." They laughed.

"You know, I got the feeling in a post-apocalyptic world we wouldn't have a flu season. Apparently I was wrong," Hal said.

"Yeah, I just hope it doesn't affect my fighting tomorrow. We're gonna need all hands on deck and we all need to be on top of our game," I said.

"You're still gonna fight?" he asked.

"Like Weaver would let me do anything else."

"She has a point," Ben said. "He has been acting kinda weird."

"I wish I could fight," Matt said, sadly.

"Your time will come, don't worry Matt."

"I want my time to be now!"

"Why do you wanna be a fighter so bad?" I asked him.

"Because Hal and Ben are. And my Dad. And you and Kaylee; everyone is fighters and I don't get to do anything but sit here and hope you guys come back," He looked so sad, it broke my heart.

"We'll come back Matt. I don't care what it takes. We'll all come back tomorrow. With your Dad leading us, and Weaver, and I think Kaylee is leading a group, too. All the fighters are in good hands." I didn't want to promise anything, because I couldn't ensure I could keep that promise. And if I promised him that, and anyone didn't come back I would feel terrible.

"Okay, I'll be here waiting."

"I know you will" I smiled. I don't know what it is about Matt but I feel the need to protect him. "Now I believe we have a movie to go see don't we?"

"Yeah!"

"Well then, let's go."

The four of us got up and headed over there. By the time we got there it was about to start and so the only seats were sitting on the floor in the front. There were some rows of chairs set up and a few blankets in the front. Ben found Jimmy, who had saved him a seat. I followed Matt and sat down next to him, Hal sat next to me. Once we sat down Uncle Sam started the movie. It was some old kiddy movie I remember seeing when I was as young as Matt. Everyone was laughing and having a good time; it was a well deserved break. I looked around at all the faces of the 2nd Mass and thought about how we were like a family, a dysfunctional one, but still a family. They only people who weren't here were Weaver, Danner, Kaylee, Tom, and Dai. Dai was out on a mission and the others were making battle plans. About half way through the movie I looked back and saw Tom run over to Dr. Glass. He seemed panicked. I nudged Hal and pointed that way. He saw what I was pointing at then looked at me, I nodded.

"Matt when the movie is over go straight to the room and wait for us," Hal said and then the two of us turned and walked out. As soon as we left the room, we started sprinting in the direction they had gone. It took me all of about two seconds to figure out they were going to the medical room. We arrived there seconds after they did.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I was told Dai is back and he is injured." Oh shit.

"How in the hell are you not out of breath?" Hal asked, in between breaths. I shrugged.

"Will one of you go get Lourdes?"

"On it," I turned around and sprinted away. I ran as fast as I possibly could. Dai couldn't die, not now. I was about half way to where Lourdes stays when I ran into her. I didn't say anything, I just grabbed her hand, turned, and started running again.

When we got back, Dai was laying on the table. He looked injured pretty bad. There was blood everywhere. Dr. Glass was sewing his leg back together. I looked around and didn't see Kaylee; she doesn't like to be around stuff like this, not since her arm. All the blood was making me nauseated, my head was starting to hurt and I felt like I was gonna puke-for multiple reasons.

"Guys I appreciate you wanting to be here for Dai and all but you can always visit in the morning," Tom said. Anne needed some space to work, so Hal and I left. Now I was seriously starting to get feel sick. My head hurt so fucking bad it wasn't even funny. I had a headache earlier, add all that blood. Not a good combination.

"Why so quiet?" Hal asked.

"I don't feel too great that's all"

"That blood didn't help did it?"

"Not one bit."

"You know, some fresh air might help clear your head. Wanna come with me on a walk?" Oh. My. God.

"Sure why not."

The two of us headed outside through the back way, not wanting anyone to see us. If we were caught, we would be in trouble and neither of us would be allowed to fight. We started walking and pretty soon I realized where we were going.

"Remember this place?"

"How could I forget? This is the place we went on our first scouting trip."

"Yeah and I scared the shit outta you" as he said that, the lake came into view. It looked the same as it did last time. We had been with the 2nd Mass for a while now; my life was so different. Everything had changed, but that lake hadn't changed a bit. It was still dark and creepy looking, but it was also very pretty. Almost mystical. We were right on the water's edge now.

"Boo!" Hal came up to me and pushed me into the water, but he grabbed me before I fell in.

I screamed, "HAL MASON DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

"Relax, I wasn't going to let you fall. I got you."

"Jack ass." It was hard to sound mad because I was laughing.

"See? It's funny."

"No, its not!" I said.

"Yeah it kinda is."

"I will get you back Hal Mason. I promise." We were both laughing now.

"I have a question for you."

"Do you ever not have questions?"

"Did you and Kaylee ever play like Halo or Black Ops or Fear or anything like that?"

"Kaylee played, I watched. I'd like to hope that if I did, I would have better aim."

"I would expect you to have good aim anyway, I mean your best friend's Kaylee. I like to think she would have taught you something."

"She tried. It did not work at all."

"How hard can it be? I mean come on she taught Ben to shoot! I didn't think that was possible!"

"Hahaha, well Ben is eager to learn. I was a bit harder to teach."

"I could totally see that. You know I'm pretty decent shooter, I could teach you."

"Really?" I questioned him.

"Sure, why not? I even have a gun with me now. Here," he tossed me the gun, it looked just like the one I had. "So show me what you can do." I held the gun and aimed for a rather large tree buy the lake and shoot. The bullet hit the tree, which is good.

"You were aiming for that tree right?"

"Yeah," I smiled. It was a lone tree. All the other trees were in the forest about fifty yards to the right.

For another hour, we practiced shooting. Hal showed me how to use the little thing to aim with. I was actually getting good. I would need to practice every day though if I wanted to get even better. "You know, I am much better with a knife. That is my best weapon."

"Okay, prove it," I turned around to face the forest. The trees were the ones where you could chip the bark off in little pieces. I walked over to a tree about eighty yards away, picked a piece of bark and carved a little hole in the trunk.

"I'm gonna hit that little circle," I said.

"No way." I lifted my knife up and threw it with ease. It hit right in the dead center of my circle.

"Bulls eye," I smiled proudly.

"Oh shit! Alyssa it's 1:30 in the morning, we should get home. Go grab your knife. "I ran over grabbed it and ran back. "I'm going on the mission tomorrow and you need to be ready to help pack and stuff so when we get back, we can leave."

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm going on the mission tomorrow too!"

"No. You're sick. You should stay back."

"And let you have all the fun. Hell no. I'm going. You won't change my mind." What the fuck is he thinking?!

"You're sick and could get worse."
"Did Dr. Glass say I couldn't go? Nope. Unless she says I'm not fit to go, I'm going."

"Alyssa, you gotta rest up. There's gonna be other battles."

"God, you're worst than Kaylee. You know if she's in the room when I get there, then I am dead?"

"Sorry."

"It's cool; she'll just yell and threaten me. And when I hurt my knee, she came to see me. First thing she did was slap me to death. But it's cool,'cause I slap her all the time."

"You two have the weirdest relationship, you know that?"

"Yeah." The school was in sight, so we had to be quiet so we wouldn't get caught. We snuck in and walked straight to our rooms. When we came up to my room I said good night to Hal and went in, praying Kaylee wasn't awake. "Are you awake?"

"No," Shit, "I just coincidently sleep talk at the same time you ask me questions."

I rolled my eyes. "Well what are you doing?"

"Thinking."

"About what?" I really didn't want to know. Sometimes her thoughts scared me. I just thought it was good to ask if she wanted to talk; it took the subject away from Hal and I.

"Where have you been young lady? I believe its past your bed time."

"I am a year older than you," I smirked.

"But I'm ten inches taller than you," I was about to punch her, but she dodged it by a millimeter.

"Were you out with Hal?"

"No," I lied automatically.

"I am calling bullshit on that. Why else would you be out?" She was getting her high tops on to go out again.

"Where are you going?" I asked to change the subject.

"Gonna go see what I missed at the night meeting with the squad leaders. Weaver made me get some sleep first." Of course she was.

"Okay cool."

"We will finish this later" then she left. I really was not looking forward to later. I was too hyper to sleep, so I just sat there thinking. But then I got bored, so I started walking around my room. That wasn't very entertaining though, so I'd decided to go for a run. I changed into my running shorts I brought and my converse. I was going to do a short run. I always liked running. I wasn't the track star like Kaylee but I could usually keep up with her when she ran. I had to be in pretty good shape for soccer.

Whenever I ran I just shut my mind down. No thoughts, nothing. I just looked at the scenery and ran. I ran through the forest, not too far from camp. It was nice, I ran back over to where Hal and I had been moments ago. I looked at the trees, noticed all the details of them and I watched the lake. For some reason that lake just mesmerized me and I don't know why. I was heading back to camp when I heard gun shots. Then voices I heard voices; the familiar voices of Ben and Kaylee. I ran up and sat behind a tree and watched them. It was a shooting lesson. I watched Ben shoot and I realized he was actually getting pretty good. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but I could tell they were talking. After a couple minutes I got up and snuck back to the school. Once in our room, I changed into my one pair of pajamas and lay down in the cot. I started counting sheep and fell asleep at 220 sheep.

Kaylee's POV

It was only one day until the attack. The 2nd Mass was frenzied with excitement about the upcoming destruction of the aliens, especially myself. I've gotten so many pats on the back and high fives from civilians and fighters, I lost track after thirty. Of course, that made me smile inside and out knowing that these people appreciated four months of frustrating research. Finding out what those mechs were made of was not an easy task to put it lightly. But this was something that had the 2nd Mass amped up, so it made it all worth every second.
Uncle Scott had gathered all civilians and fingers in the gym to watch an old movie he had found in JFKHS's library. He had set up a projector and a screen and by the laughter blaring down the hall, they were all enjoying themselves. I had hung back from going since Weaver wanted Danner and me to stay in his office to go over the plans he had for the attack. Was I mad about that? Not in the least. I had seen enough movies to last me a lifetime, and this was the perfect time to watch Weaver. Now that the destruction of the structure was only twenty-four hours away, he seemed more paranoid about everything.
"You're late," Weaver scolded me when I entered his office.
I frowned, glanced at the clock, then looked back at my captain. "It's 8:02."
"And I said to be here at 8:00."
I put up my hands in surrender. I did not want to get on his bad side when he was this stressed. Danner wasn't one to irritate either. He was brain washed by Weaver; he did whatever the captain said and believed everything he said was right. Danner was one of those "I was in the army and saw so much combat even though I'm twenty-five" kinds of guys, which was one of many things that piss me off. He honestly just needed to shut the fuck up.
"This board has our road plans on it," Weaver pointed to a clear board that had roads drawn and a structure drawn at the top right hand corner. We had several other optional routes in case the others were blocked. But Weaver's first choice wasn't the best. "We're gonna ride up on Second Street and go down the main road until we reach the West Leg. Clear?"
"You're just gonna ride up in plain sight and hope the aliens don't see you?" I asked. Okay, maybe that was a little rude, but come on. Zero common sense was put into this.
"You got a better idea?" Danner raised his eyebrows, clearly not thinking a young fighter who wasn't nearly as experienced as him could possibly think of a good plan. Douche.
"Well yeah. I lived in Boston my whole life; there's a safer way you could go through to get to the leg."
"West Leg," Danner corrected.
"Do you want to be shot in your sleep tonight?" I was losing my patience with this guy. Thankfully, Danner shut up before I punched his face in, and allowed me to continue.
"There's a back lot that's by the structure that is pretty well hidden from view. If you go down Route 29 and make a left, you'll get there safely."
Weaver was pleased that I knew this, while Danner looked infuriated. Kids know a lot too, dipshit. "Alright. Thank you, solider," he told me and turned back to the board to show us the new plan. "We don't want anyone caught up in here, this is a high spot right here. I'm very clear of this being the one way-"

"Dan." Tom Mason interjected politely. I didn't even hear him open the door. Must be the laughter coming from the gymnasium.

"Sounds like Scott's throwing one hell of a party," Weaver said to Tom.

"Well, we've been working them pretty hard. It's a good way to blow off a little steam."

Weaver continued to stare at the board. "Don't let it go on too long; I need these people sharp as razors by tomorrow."

Tom nodded, reading the diagram. "They'll be ready. No word yet from Dai?"

Dai had left to check in with Porter that the 2nd Mass was still a go for the bombing of the West (happy Danner?) Leg. Porter's HQ was a few miles south of Boston, and Dai had left around two hours ago. He should be back by now; it doesn't take nearly that long to get there and back, especially now that traffic is a factor of the past.

"He should be back from Porter's headquarters anytime."

Tom gave Weaver a look. Weaver was short-answering all of Tom's questions and not really giving him the chance to have a real discussion with him. Danner and I glanced at each other awkwardly, not really knowing what to do in this situation.

"Any last minute changes I'd like to run past the squad leaders tonight?" Tom tried one last time to be helpful.

"Lieutenant Danner and Parker are already on it." Well that's news to us.

"Told them to expect adjustments. After the word we'll be good to go," Danner informed Weaver. Okay, maybe it's just me then.

"Get to duty you two. I wanna go over the field assignments one more time."

I set my gun of the day down on the small circular table aways away from Weaver and Tom, focusing on the little maps we had. Danner and I began to study the routes because it was most likely that we would be among the few that would lead the troops into Boston. Tom was aggravating Weaver, and from what I could hear Weaver really wanted no part of him as of right now. The Captain brushed past Tom and rejoined Danner and me.

"There's a problem here," Danner pointed at wrongly marked route.

"See, I'm not too sure about these alleyways here. Did you see them before you left?" Weaver asked me.

I took a closer look. Alyssa and I used to walk by those alleys to get to school everyday. After the bombings, we made a few trips down there to see what the local supermarkets had left. "As of six weeks ago, they were still cleared and no alien activity was around. They could be safe but I'm not guaranteeing anything."

"Did you see any skitters or mechs around after Boston was attacked?" Danner glanced at me again.

"Not when I walked by them. My friend and I only went by every so often."

"Captain!" Anthony rushed in, concern all throughout his tone. "Dai's back! Sir, he's wounded really bad. Please come!" Always so formal.

As we rushed down the halls, Weaver ordered Tom and me to go get Dr. Glass to wait in the infirmary so they could get Dai fixed up as soon as he was in there. I hope he's not hurt too badly; Dai's one of the coolest fighters we have here. It would really suck to have lost someone with his skill and bravery.

I passed on being in the room with Anne sewing Dai's bloody leg back together and decided to wait outside the infirmary. After the incident with my arm, I'd rather not have to live through that pain again by seeing the stitches sewn in. Dr. Glass had taken the stitches out of my arm a few days ago, and it was already scarring despite the monstrous scab that covered it. Nasty right?

I propped my foot on the wall and crossed my arms, leaning on the wall. The laughter was still loud; it made me smile though, knowing that the civilians I was fighting for were enjoying themselves and relaxing. I hoped they felt closer to normal, because I had been lately. I guess that this, fighting and making bombs and stuff, was becoming my new normal. And I didn't mind it at all, I loved it. This new life I have is by far better than the one I had before, and I'm going to live each second of it to the fullest.

"Solider?"

My eyes snapped up to Weaver standing before me. "Sir."

"Why don't you turn in for the night? I'll debrief you in the morning what we talk about tonight."

I shook my head. "I'm fine. How's Dai?"
"We're not sure yet. But I'm not kidding. You need to get some rest before this attack," Weaver ordered sternly. It's crazy to see how different Weaver is with civilians and then fighters. Especially Jimmy and I. I really think we've grown on him, the way he's grown on us. In an unnoticeable way to others, Weaver had a fatherly instinct in him. Jimmy and I agreed that he was like our father figure now.

"Captain-"

"That's an order. I can't have my best weapons forger exhausted, especially with a bombing coming up in twenty-four hours. Now go!"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Sir, yes, sir," I said jokingly and saluted him with two fingers. Weaver rolled his eyes back at me, since I saluted him all the time. I don't know why, but it amuses me to see his reaction when I do it.

I pushed myself off the wall and went down the hall to the room. It was weird how much spacey-er it seemed without Karen here anymore. Someone even took her small bag away too. What used to be Karen's corner was now just a plain cot. I still feel responsible for what happened to her, and I don't think I would ever feel better about it.

But, I pushed the thoughts from my head while I slipped out of my sneakers and put some guns down. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't slept all that much since we were at the Sanctuary. I think the most sleep I've gotten after that was maybe an hour? An hour and a half? I don't know I just wasn't tired as much as I used to be, probably since I was adjusted to this lifestyle now. Alyssa and I had totally swapped; she slept all the time now and I rarely slept. And now I had to have Weaver reminding me to do stuff, like eating and sleeping. See, Weaver was definitely a father figure to me. I knew that his youngest daughter died and he isn't sure about his ex-wife and older daughter, but I sorta feel like I'm taking on the daughter figure to him and Jimmy was taking on the son Weaver always wanted figure. We had talked about it on one of the patrols we went on in the past few days. It was cool to see how an officer cares about his people.

I probably got down two hours of sleep tops. I lay awake and alone in the room, just thinking about everything. About Weaver and his drug problem we learned about a few hours ago. About making bombs and bullets in the morning. About Jimmy. About the attack. About the 2nd Mass. About whether or not we could kick these damn aliens off our planet. About my family. And lastly, about Ben.

Chill out, not like that. I was thinking about his spikes glowing on the first scouting I'd been on. The way he fought me to get up and go after the other harnessed kids still confused me. He was there one moment and gone the next. But he seemed fine now, nothing like he was that first week. And that's what startled me the most.

The door of our room opened. Alyssa had finally come back from the movie, which should've ended like an hour and a half ago.

"Are you awake?" Alyssa asked and turned the lantern we had on.

"No, I just coincidentally sleep talk the same time you ask me questions."

Alyssa rolled her eyes but ignored what I said. "Well what are you doing?"

"Thinking."

She sat on her cot and looked at me. "About what?"

"Where have you been young lady?" I turned the tables on her. "I believe it's past your bedtime."

"I'm a year older than you," she reminded me.

"But I'm ten inches taller than you," I riposted. Alyssa was about to punch me, but I stood up swiftly and dodged it by a millimeter.

"Were you out with Hal?" I slid back into my sneakers and geared back up. I was going to go see what I had missed for my two hours of sleep.

"No."

"I'm calling bullshit on that. Why else would you be out?" Even in the dim fluorescent light, I could see Alyssa blushing. Gotcha.

"Where are you going now? It's like two in the morning." Smooth way to change the subject.

"Gonna go see what I missed at the night meeting with the squad leaders. Weaver made me get some sleep first," I played with the doorknob while I waited for Alyssa's response.

"Okay, cool."

"We're finishing this later," I smirked and closed the door. There's no way in hell she ever got out of anything with me.

So I padded through the halls until I reached Weaver's office. Danner was outside, with a bunch of cases of my mech bullets. He looked totally and utterly confused. And when I saw him open a case and reach to look what kind of bullets they were, I shut the lid close before he could touch one.

"What the hell are you doing?" Danner asked.

"Making sure my bullets aren't ruined by a stuck up asshole. What the hell are you doing with them?"

Danner's face reddened at my insult. "Weaver wanted us to distribute them but since you were taking a beauty nap and being a lazy ass like most of the fighters, I decided to get a jump start."

I grabbed the collar of his uniform and shoved him against the wall. "Look, I really don't like you. And I really am beginning to despise how much you look down on us fighters. But I'm willing to endure my growing hate for you if you stop treating me like a girly girl and start treating me like a fighter."

Danner looked like he was going to piss himself. I took that opportunity to let go of his collar and to stop being a bitch. "I'll take care of all the bullets. I know who has what gun and the bullets they need."

He nodded slightly, still shaken up. Bad thing was, I didn't feel bad about that at all. Adults need to be stood up to every once and awhile, especially ones like Danner. I'm sick of people like him pushing me around. A small selection of the fighters treated me like that. I think it's because I'm young and they believe that I'll do whatever the adults tell me. More like the opposite.

Danner left to probably tell Weaver about what a juvenile delinquent I am (no new news there) and I scooped up all the cases he had taken out of the weapons room to take back to where Alyssa and I were staying. On my way there, I bumped into a lone figure.

"Sorry," I said softly and recognized who was out right now. "What are you doing up so late?"

Ben Mason shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same reason."

He looked at all the cases stacked in my hands. "Do you need help with those?"

"Yeah, that'd be awesome," I admitted and let him take two of the four cases in my arms. Normally I would've said no, but Ben is one of those over-gentlemanly kinds of guys so he would've irritated me until I said yes.

All of the classes are so close together that it took us a few seconds to drop the load at Alyssa (who was of course sleeping) and I's classroom. When I shut the door again, pure boredom hit me immediately. What was I supposed to do for another three and a half hours?

I also realized at that point that I haven't given Ben a lesson in awhile. "Do you want to go practice at the range?"

Ben raised his eyebrows. "At two thirty in the morning?"

"We're gonna be doing missions in the dark anyways. It's probably better to learn to shoot when the sky is black than when it's light."

"Okay," he agreed. I loaned him my Heckler and Koch so he wouldn't have to go back to his room and possibly wake up his family getting his own. We were quiet walking outside. It was a little of awkwardness and a little of not really knowing what to say type of quiet. I guess we were going to have to work on that too.

"So where are you going to be for the attack?" I asked, coughing slightly to ease the unbearable awkwardness. I genuinely didn't know, since Ben was kind of a mixture between a fighter and a civilian.

"I'm staying here at the school. I'm going to be more of a helper than a fighter though."

"So like delivering more bullets and stuff to the other fighters?"

"Yeah I suppose so. My dad wasn't really all that specific about it." We both laughed a little. "Where are you heading?"

"To the structure. I'm making the bomb we're using so it'd probably be best if they knew how to make it blow," I smiled slimly.

"Aren't you scared? It's gonna be tough to make it back."

"Nothing scares me anymore," I said sincerely.

Ben pushed open the doors for us and we approached the ranges. "You're lying. Everyone is scared of something, especially girls." Sexist much?

I smirked and aimed for a target. "I'm not like most girls, Ben Mason." As I shot, Ben smirked back.

"I think you've made that obvious."

"Good to know. Now shoot," I instructed.

Ben slid the strap over his shoulder and rather rapidly aimed for the target I shot at and almost hit the bullseye.

"Impressive," I observed.

"Really?"

"No." I tried not to laugh at how obvious Ben's face fell. "Dude, I'm kidding. Have you been practicing?"

He nodded. "As often as I can. If I want to be good, I need to practice everyday."

I smiled. "Words of a fighter right there."

Ben returned the smile and kept shooting at the targets around us. I couldn't believe my eyes honestly. Ben Mason…not horribly failing at shooting? Add that to my lists of accomplishments. I was proud that he really wanted to get better at this and he was making the effort to go out and practice everyday when he didn't have to. That's a sign of dedication.

I studied him as he targeted a tree instantly and shot. The way he was aiming and firing was something recognizable, but I wasn't sure why. I tilted my head sideways a bit to see his eyes analyze the tree and shoot it directly in the middle. He was pinpointing particular degrees on the tree to aim at. And the bullet indentations were all in an arch shape. Then I understood why what he was doing looked so familiar.

"You were a math kid before the attack, weren't you?"

Ben laughed. "How'd you guess?"

"You're shooting on the degrees of a protractor," I pointed at the arch he was creating.

"How did you notice something like that?" Ben asked lowering the gun.

I grinned. "It's an old tactic I did when my uncle was teaching me to shoot. You just aim for the degrees on an imaginary protractor and then fill in the other degrees to make an arch. You're doing the exact same thing I used to do."

"It's nice to know I'm not the only math geek around."

I laughed. "Likewise. Keep going, it looks cool."

Ben continued filling in the spaces, shooting at ninety degrees, eighty-one, and seventy-six. "I never pegged you for a math person."

"Just because I wear black and love blowing things up doesn't mean I'm not into math," I told him.

"Why do you wear all black?"

Probably one of the most asked questions of my life. "Lots of reasons."

"Such as?"

"Loosen your elbow."

"How do I loosen my elbow?" Ben looked awkwardly at his right elbow.

I sighed, grabbed his hand, and fixed it on his elbow. "Feel how tense it is? It'll eventually throw off your aim and hurt like hell after practicing. Just take a breath and relax every muscle in your body."

Ben inhaled and closed his eyes momentarily and I felt his elbow calm down from the tightness it was in. "Good. Take your shot." He pulled the trigger and it made it straight into the heart of the tree. His face lit up when he saw the dead on shot he just made.

"When you're in combat, it's important to make sure you're relaxed as much as possible. Soon enough you'll learn how to do it in five seconds or less," I notified him. "And congrats on the flawless shot."

Ben smiled. "I think that deserved an answer from you."

"What do you want to know?" I asked. It dawned on me that I really haven't told him much.

"What's something that no one knows about you, not even Alyssa?" Ben looked directly into my eyes.

I paused briefly. "I like guns."

Ben gave me the are-you-fucking-serious look. "Try again."

"There's a reason no one knows," I brushed my bangs out of my eyes.

"So many secrets for one person," Ben said, staring at my eyes as if that's where I stored them all.

I shrugged.

"How come you're so quiet?"

I sighed and put my hands in my pockets. "After my parents died, I lost the reason to use my voice." Gospel truth.

Ben's expression softened. "When did your parents pass away?"

"When I was eleven." My insides clenched uncomfortably. I don't like talking about my past with other people. It made me sick to my stomach.

"Wh-"

"I really don't want to talk about it," I cut him off.

"Talking it out might make it better," he lightly pushed.

"Yeah, I don't do the talking thing very well," I smile slightly, hopping he'd just drop it before I had another random outburst of anger like I did earlier.

Thankfully he did, and he began to shoot again. I gave him pointers every now and then throughout the whole time we stood there. The sun did in time come up, and the school buzzed with life of the 2nd Mass. I told Ben that I had to distribute all of those rounds, and that I'd see him around later on. So I sprinted back inside to grab the cases to drop off to different fighters. I started with Anthony and his group of friends, then moved my way to a collection of fighters in the gym, and then stopped at the Mason room.

When I knocked on the door, Hal called out, "Who is it?"

"The pizza man," I called back.

Hal opened the door smiling at my idiotic joke. "Mech bullets?"

"Yup," I set a case down and unloaded a couple of rounds for Tom since he wasn't here. I remembered my unfinished conversation with Alyssa earlier this morning, and thought this would be the perfect time to see if I could get any information out of it.

"How was the movie last night?" I asked him.

"You know, just an old kiddy movie. It was nice to see a movie again, I have to admit."

I nudged him in the side, giving him payback for doing it to me all the freaking time. "Oh please. You totally loved it."

Hal cracked another smile. "Shut up. Where were you? I didn't see you anywhere."

"Weaver wanted me to be in his office so Danner and I could pass along the plans to the squad leaders," I said. "Anyways, do you know where Alyssa was earlier this morning? She came into our room at like two and didn't tell me where she was."

"Oh yeah, we were talking after the movie. She wasn't feeling well so we went for a walk outside to get some fresh air." Whoa, hold up. Did I just see a blush on Hal's face?! I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked at Hal's eyes. Holy fuck. They were lit up brighter than a thousand Christmas trees.

"You like Alyssa don't you?" I grinned.

Hal shushed me and then shut their door. He sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "I don't know, but I think I might."

My smile must've gotten bigger, because Hal chuckled. "What?"

"You like my best friend. How else am I supposed to act?"

"You cannot tell her. I'm still trying to sort it all out. We saw Karen on our scouting yesterday, and that's why I'm not sure yet. And I don't want to distract her from the attack later. Okay?"

"Dude you're blushing."

Hal's hands felt his cheeks. "Am not."

"I'm the one that can see your face, bro. And unless you got sunburned by the clouds yesterday, you're blushing," I smirked. "I won't tell her though. You have my word. If you ever need advice, feel free to ask."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I'll see you later."

I gave a short wave and walked back to the weapons room since I was out of the bullets. As soon as I entered, I was shocked at the huge group of fighters waiting inside, helping out and making hundreds of bullets by the minute. Did Weaver do this? Or was Pope cooler than I thought?

"Look who decided to show up," spoke Pope. He smirked at me, because I was grinning at how awesome this was.

"Did you get all of them here?"

"Sure did. Even Mason over there wanted to help," he pointed toward Matt sitting at a table cleaning the bullets.

"We'll get this done in no time then," I said, still taking in how incredible it was to see everyone working together.

"We just have a few hundred more to make and then we'll be done," Pope confirmed, "but we just gotta get the bomb finished."

I stepped over to where Anthony was working. He was piecing together the bomb, but failing at doing so. He didn't crimp the inside of the explosive, so if they tried to use it at the structure, it would fall out and possibly explode on them. I was going to speak up and tell him that, but Pope beat me to it.

"Two arms, two legs, no brains. Welcome to the Second Massachusetts."

Anthony stood from his seat and stared down Pope. "You want to try that again, convict?"

Pope stared back at him, taking the wire and dangling it in his face. "You didn't crimp it." He gave it a shake and the started work fell onto the desk. "Gravity, Newton, apple tree, do it again." Pope watched Matt shining the bullets and told him that quantity, not quality, was what mattered. While they talked, I took a load of the bullets Matt was cleaning and filled a case full of them. And when I came back, Matt was yelling at Pope.

"So what's it like," Pope asked, "walking around with that sweet Mason brand?"

"What's it like, having hair like a girl?" Matt countered.

"Told you," I said to Pope and high fived Matt.

Pope looked at him menacingly and Matt cowered slightly, thinking that Pope would hurt him. Pope only laughed. "We're gonna have to work on your insults kid."

"No worries, Matt. I can help you with that," I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He smiled back up at me.

"Twelve hours!" Pope shouted. "Which is half a day!"

One of Weaver's messengers poked his head through the door. "Parker, Weaver wants you in his office." Oh fuck, I'm in trouble.

I let Pope know I had to go to the captain's office and that I'd see him later on today. I picked up the case that had Weaver and Danner's rounds in it and walked to the office in remorse. Danner probably told Weaver about our little "incident" this morning and I was most likely in deep shit right now. But I reminded myself that Weaver needed me just as much as he needed Danner, so nothing that bad could be happening, right?

So I was beyond surprised when I went inside and Jimmy was there too. I guess I wasn't in trouble after all. I slid my M16A4 gun to my back and stood next to Jimmy in front of the clear board. Danner was standing there as well, and he was telling Jimmy some stuff to write down. Jimmy handed me a notepad and a pen so I could start writing stuff down too. Weaver was sitting on his little couch, staring at a piece of paper.

"I need sixteen soldiers advancing at the South Leg. Then we're going to rendezvous with the 4th here," he made an "x" on the diagram, "and if there's no contact from the 3rd or 4th, we fall back to Plan B," Danner circled the fallback plan. "At southwest-"

"Captain? I'd like a word in private." Tom Mason said over Danner's voice. Jimmy and I looked at each other then at Tom. Was he going to confront Weaver about his drug problem?

"I thought I told you to set up an OP at the five mile line. What are you doing here?" Oh shit, he was pissed.

"I sent Hal and Alyssa," Tom said softly and non-threateningly. "They can get it done."

"That's not your call! I give you an order, I expect it to be followed out!" Weaver stood up, anger building by the second.

"Captain, I'd like a word in private," Tom said again, this time more firmly.

Danner, Jimmy, and I looked at Weaver and he motioned for us to step outside. All of us walked out of the room and stood outside. I put the notepad in my hoodie pocket and stepped a little away from Danner.

"You think he's gonna talk to him?" I whispered to Jimmy. Yesterday, Tom and Anne pulled us, Hal, and Alyssa into a room to tell us that Weaver had been abusing drugs he was taking to fall asleep and wake up. One of the possible side effects were paranoia, and Weaver seemed completely paranoid when Tom told him he wanted to speak with him in private.

"I think so. I just hope Weaver doesn't blow up on him," Jimmy whispered back. A few more moments of uneasiness dragged by, until we heard Weaver's voice getting louder and louder from the inside of his office.

"Fuck," I muttered.

"Danner, Jimmy, and Kaylee!" Weaver called.

The three of us stepped back in and Tom had a hand raised. "I'm asking you. Consider the lives of your fighters."

"That's all I am considering," Weaver glanced at Jimmy. "Jimmy, get the door."

Jimmy closed it, and looked back at me, fear present in his eyes.

"Parker, secure Tom's weapons."

I looked at Tom then at Weaver. "Captain-"

"Kaylee," Weaver raised his voice warningly.

Tom hesitated, and Danner took out one of my guns from my side belt and pointed it at Tom. What the hell, Danner? "Put 'em on the deck, please."

Danner took my gun off safety and aimed it at Tom's neck. Now probably wasn't the best time to remember that I had forgotten to take out the mech bullets I had in there for when I was practicing on mech pieces for the attack…

"Don't do this," Tom said.

Weaver stared at his rifle and his handgun and then looked at the floor, waiting for Tom to put them on the ground. "Hold him in the boiler room, until I tell you otherwise," the captain ordered.

"Yes, sir," Danner said, not moving my gun from Tom's throat.

Tom finally set his guns on the floor, slowly sinking down weighing his options in his mind at the same time. "It's a mistake," he said and stood back up.

"The only mistake I can see is not removing you from duty sooner," Weaver snarled back at him.

"You're making a mistake; these people are depending on you." Danner grabbed Tom's caller and pressed the barrel of my gun further into Tom's neck. What a fucking ass. He thrust open the door and dragged Tom out of the room, one of my favorite handguns in his hand.

Jimmy and I exchanged looks of "how the hell are we gonna fix this?" Then our attention turned back to our captain. Jimmy had more bravery than I did at the current moment, for he took some steps toward Weaver. "Captain?"

Weaver's expression went from angry to fatherly. "I don't like it, Jimmy. But we can't let Mason poison the ranks, not when we're hours away from a major offensive."

I stepped forward too, and Jimmy gave me a grateful glance and continued to make eye contact with Weaver. He had a look of defiance in his light eyes, and he simply stood there, staring at our leader. I hoped Weaver felt a little guilty for what he did, at least in front of us. Because both of us had no idea what the hell we were gonna do as soon as we stepped out of this office, or more importantly, who to tell. Hal and Alyssa were gone (and I took this moment to not be concerned that Alyssa was out working while she was sick), Anne was busy with Dai, Pope didn't give a fuck about anything unless it was killing skitters, Uncle Scott was busy with his transmitter or whatever, and all of the fighters would be on Weaver's side. We had hit a major road block.

"I hope I can count on you two," Weaver replied to our silence.

I nodded, looking straight into Weaver's eyes. He looked like he was instantly sorry for what he did, but I don't know if it was because his youngest fighters were in the room or if he genuinely meant it.

He sighed, and looked at me. "Kaylee, I want you to stay here for the attack. We've got enough fighters going and I-"

"What?!" I interrupted. "Why?! That's my bomb you're taking with you. My blueprints, my design, my materials. I know the layout of around the structure almost as well as I know how to make a gun. I'm not afraid of dying either, Captain."

"I know, I know. It's not safe for you, either of you. I need you to stay here and be ready to protect my civilians because they're what matter most. You are the future of this war, and I want to make sure you're here to rebuild this nation."

I was furious with this decision, but I refrained from arguing more. The last thing I wanted was to be cooped up here helping frantic people leave the school. This was just perfect. "Aye, Captain. If you'll excuse me, I have to deliver the last of the rounds to the fighters."

Weaver nodded. "Dismissed." Of course, I saluted him, which made him smile this time, and Jimmy and I left.

"At least we'll be fighting together now," Jimmy said to try and perk me up.

I smiled at the attempt. "True. But what are we going to do about Tom?"

"I think the only thing we can do is wait until Hal gets back to tell him. I'll wait by the lot where the bikes are for them, and once you're done with the bullets, come find me," he devised.

I gave a curt nod and then retrieved the last of the cases, and began handing extra out to others. I knew I had given all of the fighters at least ten rounds, and now I was giving out more just in case. There was one person I knew that had nothing, no protection whatsoever, so I passed by groups of people to make it to his working room.

I knocked on the open door with my middle finger's knuckle. "Scott?" He was working on his transmitter and Ben was in the room with him. Ben looked super scared, like something really really bad had just happened.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to drop off some mech bullets for you," I said and set the last case down. It had only two rounds in it, but Scott wasn't the type to go on a skitter shooting frenzy.

"I don't have a gun, though," Scott said while I slipped out the two rounds.

I pulled my Beretta 92FS handgun out of my pocket and set it on the desk next to him. "Now you do."

Scott picked it up and examined it. "Well, thank you, Kaylee." I quickly demonstrated how to take it off safety and how to shoot before loading the first round into the gun. Scott seemed to understand enough of what I said to know how to defend himself, so I deemed that good enough and started to head out the door.

"Kaylee?"

I turned once I was outside. "Yeah?"

"We're sorta like friends, right?" Ben's eyes went back and forth between my own. I learned that this was what he did when he was freaked about something.

I turned my head slightly. "Yeah…" I looked at his hand that was clenched then back at him. "What's up?"

He paused, debating if he should continue or not. "Would you keep a secret…if I asked you, would you?"

"Ben what's wrong?"

He looked around then out of no where grabbed my arm and we ran. "Okay and we're running," I said a little taken aback at the randomness of it. We finally stopped at a remote area outside where no one was. It must be pretty serious if he's afraid of people overhearing. Or it must be related to him and his harness effects.

"Scott got his radio to work just a few moments ago. He was going through frequencies on the thing and…" Ben sighed and put his face on his hand.

"And what?" I pressed.

He stared up at me over his hand, and let it drop back to his side. "I heard it."

What. The. Fuck. Is this kid screwing with me right now? "You heard it?" I clarified to make sure I wasn't hearing things.

Ben nodded. "I know how weird that sounds, and you must think that I'm such a freak-"

"I don't think you're a freak," I cut him off. "And I never want to hear you call yourself one either. We need to focus on what's important, and that's figuring out what you heard and how it can help us. Didn't you say that skitters communicate through frequencies? Well find the right one, jam their system, and freak them out."

Ben looked at me in disbelief, like he couldn't process that I was on his side, not against him. Maybe he just thought I was crazy. "Having supersonic hearing like you do isn't a curse, Ben. It's a gift."

"You really believe that?" he asked skeptic.

"I really do," I said confidently. "And I think that you being harnessed is a huge benefit to the 2nd Mass. You're like our wild card or something," I chuckled a little.

He smiled at that. "Thanks, Kaylee. For listening."

"Anytime. And I hate to be rude, but I gotta go see if your brother's back. Something happened and I need to run it by him."

"Everything okay?"

As of right now, hell no. "Yeah, everything's fine," I lied. "See you later." I sprinted to the side of the school where people were preparing the vehicles for departure in a couple of hours. Jimmy was standing idly by, waiting for Alyssa and Hal. Weaver was camouflaging one of the school buses, Pope was loading the bomb onto a truck, Anthony was loading ammunition onto another, and basically everyone was doing something but Jimmy and I. Luckily no one noticed our lack of help, so we just continued to stand awkwardly and wait.

Jimmy was playing with Nemo when I first approached. I'd always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted a pet and Alyssa could never keep a goldfish alive for more than two days, so I didn't have a pet growing up. I kneeled down to the golden retriever and petted his head, earning a lick on my hand in return. I laughed slightly and looked up at a smiling Jimmy. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just cute that Nemo likes you already."

I grinned, but before I could respond, the sound of motorcycles rang out. Hal and Alyssa came riding up to report the news to Weaver. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it didn't seem like good news. Weaver waved them off and Hal and Alyssa just looked at each other, confused and concerned. Hal came storming by us, and that's when we stopped him.

"Hal," I said. Both Alyssa and Hal stopped and turned to us.

"Wait up," Jimmy told him. "We gotta talk to you guys and Dr. Glass. Something happened while you guys were out. Let's go." The four of us dashed inside to Dr. Glass's to tell her what went on when Jimmy and I were in Weaver's office. We explained everything in a rush, since we were losing time by the second, and Anne got everything we said.

"I don't believe this. Weaver's holding Tom in custody?"

"Danner's watching him in the boiler room. Tom was asking about the drugs he was taking and he lost it," Jimmy explained.

"I'm not surprised," Anne shook her head. Hal was super pissed about this, and he looked like he wanted to punch something.

"I don't think Weaver wants to hurt your dad. I don't know why he's doing this, but he's a good man."

"Good man or not, he's endangering the lives of everyone here," Alyssa pointed out.

"We gotta get my dad out," Hal finally said.

"Maybe I could help," Jimmy offered.

"Dr. Glass?" Lourdes called to her. Dai was shifting on the bed, so I hoped that he was waking up and would recover quickly.

"Okay. Hal, when you get Tom bring him here," Anne instructed and went to go help Lourdes with Dai.

Jimmy's plan was crazy; however it had the slight chance that it might actually work. Hal and Jimmy were going to go get food from the kitchen to be a decoy so Jimmy could get into the boiler room. When Danner opened the "cell," Jimmy would drop the food, allowing Tom to escape and then get Hal from outside to help pin down Danner. Alyssa and I were going to stay at the infirmary in case Dai came round so we could find out what his report was and pass it on if he went unconscious again. Alyssa was in deep thought about something (I'd bet my life that it was Hal) and I was thinking about this crazy plan, hoping that it was working and that maybe Weaver would come to his senses and realize what could happen to his fighters if we go through on this.

I slipped out a sigh of relief when I saw them walk through the doors with Tom moments later. Dai was awake, and Anne said that he would pull through. Thank God.

As I turned to see what Dai was going to say, I felt a cold tap on my shoulder. I looked and Jimmy was smiling at me, with my gun in his hand!

"How'd you get it back?" I smiled excitedly. I think this was the second gun I'd ever made.

"We tied down Danner and I took it back," he grinned, a spark of mischievous in his eyes.

I gave him a one armed hug. "Thank you, it means a lot."

"No problem," he hugged me back and then turned his attention to Dai.

"After I reached Porter's post, skitters and mechs hit. Porter was pinned down, probably dead by now," Dai winced a little from the pain in his leg.

"Dead?" Jimmy asked bewildered. The man who brought the entire Massachusetts Regiments together was…dead?

"Dai this is important. What were Porter's orders?" Tom asked.

"The other Regiments, they never reported in. Others went out, never came back. Porter said that without confirmation the 4th and 5th were alive, the attack should be aborted." Holy shit. Weaver is fucking up bigggg time.

"You told that to Captain Weaver?"

"All of it. This mission is no good." Dai closed his eyes, and began resting again.

"So were in this alone?" Alyssa questioned. "Weaver sure doesn't have a problem with tall odds."

"It's not like him to disobey an order from Porter," Anne said. "What is he thinking?"

"He's thinking he's gonna go ahead with the mission, facts on the ground be damned," Tom shook his head.

"So how do we stop him?" Hal cut to the real question. "He's got all the fighters and all the weapons."

"Most of them," his dad replied, "not all."

I'm really not in the mood for another crazy plan right now. Why can't we all just talk to Weaver about it and not do all this other shit to make it complicated and crap?

Despite my wanting of a normal situation, Tom told all of us to wait here. He was going to go talk to Pope about Weaver to see if he had told my bullet making partner any news about the attack or anything involving the weapons. Alyssa, Hal, Jimmy, and I were all taking cover in case Weaver popped by and asked Anne about Tom's escape because he's bound to have found Danner tied up in the boiler room by now. Next stop he'll make is here because Dai's been coming in and out of consciousness and would know that Tom would come to see what the actual report was.

So the four of us were hiding behind the back tables and walls, planning on what we would say to Weaver once he came. I had nothing at all, but I figured that since I didn't know what to say to Hal when Karen was taken and it went well, that I could wing it and make it out okay. We planned to talk some sense into him for sure, but also tell him how much we needed him and how we wanted him to lead us to a new world.

"That makes sense then," I randomly said to Jimmy, "why Weaver wanted me to stay here with the civilians. He knew that it was practically suicidal to go to attack the structure and didn't want me going." I wish I had figured that out sooner.

"I'm glad he made you stay though," Jimmy said back, "because if you had died, who else would be my patrol partner?"

I smiled. "I'm sure someone would pitch in."

"But I'd be bored all the time."

"Glad to know I'm an entertaining person," I laughed.

"Captain Weaver," Anne's voice said a little concerned. Tom wasn't back yet, and as far as I knew, he was supposed to be here for the plan.

"Dr. Glass, I hear that Tom has been to see you. I need to know where he is."
I guess we were going to have to start our plan early. All of us got onto our knees and we were going to have to secure Weaver until Tom came.

"He told me what you've been going through. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you put that gun down." And that's when I, Hal, and Alyssa got up. Jimmy was going to be the real wake up call for Weaver, since we all knew that no one had a bigger soft spot for Jimmy than the captain himself.

Hal and I had our guns pointed, and Alyssa had her hand on hers. I could tell she was not going to like this at all, since she hates guns more than anything. Weaver aimed back at us, and that's when Tom popped out and pointed his gun at Weaver. Poor Alyssa, man.

"Don't," Tom warned. Hal walked up and took Weaver's shotgun and handed it to me, then took the captain's handgun to put in his pocket.

"What're you gonna do? Shoot me?" Weaver asked Tom. Hal and I put Weaver's weapons on an unused bed and then pointed our guns back at him. I could see Alyssa's hand tensing out of the corner of my eye. I wanted to just yell at the top of my lungs how ridiculous this was and that we should all just get our asses together and not waste our ammo on each other, for Alyssa's sake. She doesn't need to relieve her biggest nightmare again does she?

"I'm the optimist remember? I'm still hoping you're gonna listen to reason," Tom stated. "Now what's the operational plan? The real one?"

"Rendezvous with the 4th and 5th and launch a coordination for the attack!" Weaver yelled over Tom

"I talked to Dai! Your orders were to stand down!" Tom yelled over Weaver. This was getting no fucking where.

"That's not the way I heard it!" Weaver said sternly. "The mission's still a go unless the-" And they began yelling over each other to the point where you couldn't really understand what the other was saying; it just sounded like a giant jumble of words to me, until Weaver screamed, "DAMN IT! The aliens have to know we're not gonna lie down!"

"You think I don't want to fight 'em?! Move," Tom ordered and pointed to the caged area in the room with the gun. "This has to be done the right way. That means all cards on the table, with a commanding officer who's judgment hasn't been compromised." Hal, Alyssa, and I followed Tom, with two of us still aiming for Weaver's back.

"How far are you gonna go with this?" Weaver asked, voice lowered to a murmur.

"Pretty far. I had Pope diffuse the bombs. And if you don't back off I'm going to be forced to relieve you of your command." If he wasn't pissed as it was, that made him all the angrier. And I knew Pope just a bit better than everyone in this room, since we spent so much time making weapons, to know that there was no way in hell he would've diffused those bombs. Pope was a skitter killing degenerate who hated Tom Mason. I mean come on, was it that hard to put two and two together?

I turned once I heard his footsteps and the sound of his gun reloading. Pope had come by Weaver's order, or maybe he was outside waiting in case Weaver needed backup. But he was there, and he was loaded with a heavy duty shotgun.

"You're fast, Kaylee, but you're not that fast." Pope looked at everyone now facing him. I stepped a little more in front of Alyssa, by my force of protectiveness, and stared back at him. "Sorry," he said, "but you may want to reconsider that, Professor."

"Dad, what's he doing? I thought you talked to him," Hal said.
"I did." Tom realized his mistake in not thinking that Pope wouldn't have diffused the bombs under any circumstance. He gave his guns to the captain and Weaver took Hal's. I refused to hand over my guns, and Weaver didn't seem to mind. He thinks that I won't shoot my commanding officer. I lowered my M16A4, but kept a firm grip on it.

"My apologies, Cambridge. I couldn't bring myself to diffuse those charges. I figured I had the option of sitting around or killing Cooties and Cooties win. Every time. But you'll be happy to know that those bombs are beauts. They're gonna cause a lot of damage." Yeah, because I fucking designed them.

"No they won't," Tom replied. Uh, yeah they will. I used like ten pounds of RDX in there. "'Cause when Pope came to warn you, I took the blasting fuses. Bombs are out of commission." So that's where Tom was this whole time…

"Where are they?" Weaver demanded to know.

"The aliens can't kill us fast enough?" Anne asked. "We have to do it for them?"

Weaver loaded Tom's gun. "Where the damn fuses?" Just when I thought we could talk this out instead of blowing each other to pieces.

"Alright, you said that the only way this is gonna work, is if people have faith in their commanding officer. That works both ways; you have to have faith in them," Tom began.

"I'm doing this for them," Weaver glared him down. "For all of us."

"Alright, then tell them the truth! Tell them; Porter's gone! And this attack, whether we live or die, isn't gonna be just a command decision," Tom's rifle clattered to the ground. "We don't have enough people left for a suicide mission!" The barrel of Tom's gun was pressed to his chest by Weaver. "Go ahead and do it. Go ahead. If shooting me keeps the 2nd Mass together, go ahead and do it. I'm not going to be the one that pulls it apart. There's another way."

Weaver seemed to actually be listening now. "What?"

"You can trust our people the way they trust you," Tom said.

And going in for the kill, Jimmy stepped out. "Captain?"

That totally blew up all of Weaver's intentions in point two seconds. "Jimmy?"

"We wanna follow you," I contributed to this. "All of us." Weaver glanced at all of our faces and thought about that. "You just have to let us," I finished softly. That's when Captain Dan Weaver understood the love he had from the fighters of the 2nd Mass. It was true; we couldn't have had a more perfect officer to lead us. And I'm glad that Weaver knew that now.

"Put down your weapon," he ordered Pope.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pope asked.

"Lower your weapon," Weaver commanded warningly. Surprisingly, Pope did as he was told and put the gun to his side.

He then turned to his second in command. "I'm not saying you're right. But they deserve to know the facts of the mission."

"Call for volunteers," Tom told him. "They gotta hear both sides."

"And they will," he gave Tom his gun back, "'cause you'll be right there beside me. Jimmy, gather everyone in the gym. Ten minutes."

"Yes, sir," he replied, then ran out the door to get everyone. The rest of us followed to the gym, and I made sure to stick by Alyssa.

"You alright, Carter?" I asked.

She nodded. "It's still hard to be around, but it's getting a little easier to manage." I held up my arm and she hit it back and smiled at me. I had the most amazing friend in the world. I can't believe how lucky I am to have someone like her in my life.

I tuned out everything that Weaver and Tom said in the meeting. I knew what they were saying and how the mission had changed, but it still hadn't changed the fact that Weaver wanted me to stay here and not go with them. I had to keep reminding myself that it was my duty to protect the civilians first and foremost, and I knew that they day I signed up to be a fighter. As much as I wanted to go and fight these aliens, the people I was fighting for's safety was something that had to come first, and I was going to make sure it was my priority to keep them safe. Even if that meant taking a bullet for them, I would do it. That's what being a fighter was about. And it was a privilege to be the civilian's courage and hope in this war.

Once the meeting was dismissed, Alyssa and I went outside to go help with the ammunition and the loading of the vehicles. Tom was staying behind with us, however, his eldest son was not. I saw them hugging for a moment, and after Tom wished Hal good luck, I walked up to him.

"Be safe, big bro," I said and gave him a hug good bye. "Kill some aliens for me while you're at it too."

Hal laughed at the irony of my words. "Will do little sis." His eyes then moved to Alyssa and cocked his head at her. "What are you looking at?"

"Not looking, just thinking about how your ass is going to be blown to bits without me there," Alyssa smirked. "Good luck though, Hal." Hal leaned down to hug her goodbye (which was super adorable) and Alyssa hugged him right back. I could tell they both really liked each other, and I really hoped that things would work out for them because they were cute as hell together. Oh fuck, I need to get away from the sappiness they were infecting the air with before I lose my sanity.

They finally pulled apart and when Alyssa turned to look at me, she had a big ass smile on her face.

"Now would be the perfect time to finish that conversation," I smirked.

Alyssa's POV

I woke up this morning at descent hour, for once. I looked around and realized that today was it: the day we had been preparing for months now. I quickly changed into my usual shorts, tee-shirt, hoodie, and boots. I grabbed my belt that held all my weapons and threw my AK-47 rifle over my shoulder and headed out to go see what I could do. As I was walking out of our room, Tom caught me "Alyssa, I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"Weaver has me going to the five mile line to set up an Operation Post with Hal; right now I have other things to do but would you go with him, in place of me? Last night we got conformation," He looked around to make sure no one would here, "that Weaver is on drugs; and has been for a while now. Remember his melt down the other day? There's a possibility that could happen again."

"Sure, I'll do it."

"Thanks. Now come with me I'm going to go talk to Hal." The two of us walk over to find Hal. Once we spotted him, I stepped aside.

"I'll let you two have your talk. Just call me when you need me." I was far enough back where I couldn't hear what they were saying and Hal couldn't see me, but I could tell what was going on. As Tom and Hal started talking, I followed them.

I heard Hal agree. "All right fine. You stay here I'll go on this mission, but I need another rider. You got anyone in mind?" Tom looked at me and I stepped forward.

"He asked, I volunteered. No questions asked," I said.

"And you're sure about this?"

"I don't see any other way," Tom said. The two of us headed out to get our bikes. I really had no clue what we were doing, so I hoped Hal did. We hopped on our bikes and headed out. We were heading down Route 2. Suddenly Hal stopped. What the hell? It hasn't even been three miles! What was he doing? I stopped my bike and hoped off as well. "Hal? What's wrong?"

"Look. Over there, in the mud."

"Are those skitter tracks?"

"And mechs, yeah they are. I was out here just the other day and they weren't here."

"They weren't here last night, either," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Last night, I couldn't sleep so I went for a run because it clears my head. I ran out to the five mile line and back, up this exact path. I didn't see those. See those foot prints? That was me. And I'm positive I would have saw them."

"You went on a run in the middle of the night? Alyssa, do you realize how stupid that was of you? Do you understand what could have happened?"

"Yes, I'm completely, 100% aware, mom. I was fine. When I run, I don't make a sound."

"Just don't ever do that again. At least tell someone first so we know where you are. We can't bear to lose you, like we lost Karen." Like Karen? There he goes again. He still has yet to get over her. And the other day, in Boston when we saw her, well that didn't help. She is a traitor who wanted to kill us. That little bitch! If you think about it, they use the harnessed kids to collect scrap metal and shit. So why use her to be a little servant of the tall freaky thing? What did she tell them about us?

"Fine, I won't. Now let's go back. Tell Weaver what we discovered." We hopped on our bikes and left.

"Alyssa."

"Yes?"

"I don't want you to go on the mission today. I'm saying this in complete sincerity. Don't go. If something happened to you, I don't know what I would do. And think about Kaylee. What it would do to her, too."

"She's going too; she most likely won't let me do anything. Just have me sit back and watch or be a runner so if anything goes wrong. I can go tell someone back at the school."

"Alyssa, Kaylee isn't going."

"What do you mean?"

"Weaver said she has to stay here and protect the civilians." I'm glad I wasn't there for that conversation.

"I'm still going. I want to fight Hal, and I'm going to today."

"Is there anything I can say to make you stay?"

"No."

"Please just consider it." As he said that we pulled up to the school. We stopped our bikes and ran to find Weaver. He was by a bus doing something. "Captain Weaver!"

"What are you doing back so soon?"

"We saw fresh signs of skitters and mechs. All down 1-19 and Route 2," Hal told him.

"They have redeployed. In that case we will just have to punch through."

"A convoys a tempting target, especially on an open road," I frowned.

"We'll take back roads or we'll crawl through the brush. You're dismissed." Then he turned back to whatever he was doing before. They two of us left and headed inside.

"Well this just keep getting better and better," I said.

"I've gotta go find my dad," Hal said looking around. We were about to go do just that when Jimmy and Kaylee stopped us.

"Hal," Kaylee said.

"Wait up," Jimmy told us. "We gotta talk to you guys and Dr. Glass. Something happened while you guys were out. Let's go." We ran to the infirmary.

They started talking and I couldn't figure out what was so important. Then I heard Kaylee say "he secured his weapons and relieved him of duty." Oh my God.

"I don't believe this. Weaver's holding Tom in custody?"

"Danner's watching him in the boiler room. Tom was asking about the drugs he was taking and he lost it," Jimmy explained.

"I'm not surprised," I looked at Hal. He looked like he was going to punch something, or someone. I took two small steps away from him.

"I don't think Weaver wants to hurt your dad. I don't know why he's doing this, but he's a good man." Jimmy said. He can't be serious?

"Good man or not, he's endangering the lives of everyone here," I said.

"We gotta get my dad out," Hal stated.

"Maybe I could help," Jimmy offered.

"Dr. Glass?" Lourdes called to her.

"Okay. Hal, when you get Tom bring him here." She ran over to help Dai.

The plan was actually pretty simple, but crazy. I just wish I could go help. Of course Hal wouldn't let me. Jimmy and Hal were going to go get Tom and bring him back. Kaylee and I were to wait. Kaylee looked slightly mad about that part. She hated missing an opportunity to possibly fight Danner, or just fight in general. Hal's reason we had to stay is because we needed to be here if Dai wakes up so we can get any information we could from him. I don't see why Anne and Lourdes can't do that. I was thinking about last night's little walk. What did that mean? Did he like me? It seemed like it, but then today, he was talking about Karen. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I might be a little envious of Karen. Karen. I don't know. I'm so confused. Hal was a confusing person.

The doors opened and Hal, Tom, and Jimmy walked through. The plan was a success. Anne told us that Dai was awake and going to pull through. We headed over to see him.

"Hey," I turned around to see Hal.

"Hey."

"So what did you guys do with Danner?"

"We tied him up."

"Nice." We focused our attention back to Dai.

"After I reached Porter's post, skitters and mechs hit. Porter was pinned down, probably dead by now," Dai winced.

"Dead?" Jimmy asked astonished.

"Dai this is important. What were Porter's orders?" Tom asked.

"The other Regiments, they never reported in. Others went out, never came back. Porter said that without confirmation the 4thand 5thwere alive, the attack should be aborted." Oh shit. Well that's not exactly what Weaver told us.

"You told that to Captain Weaver?"

"All of it. This mission is no good." Dai closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

"So were in this alone?" I asked. "Weaver sure doesn't have a problem with tall odds."

"It's not like him to disobey an order from Porter," Anne said. "What is he thinking?"

"He's thinking he's gonna go ahead with the mission, facts on the ground be damned," Tom said.

"So how do we stop him?" Hal asked what we were all thinking. "He's got all the fighters and all the weapons." When no one responded, Hal thought it over and got an idea.

"Okay I have a plan," Hal said. "Dad, you go talk to Pope, get him to defuse the bombs. Alyssa, Kaylee, Jimmy, and I will stay here and wait." Really? What is with Hal and making me do all the fucking waiting? "When Weaver finds out you're gone, he'll come straight here. And we'll be here waiting for him to talk some sense into him. Jimmy, you won't come out until later, if things start getting bad. Weaver has a soft spot for you and we all know it."

"Okay. I like it," Tom said. The four of us ducked behind tables and hid. It was a good plan and all, but I was trying to figure out how they planned to make Weaver stay and listen. What was stopping him from just leaving? I looked around and saw the others getting their guns out. That's when I suddenly understood. They were going to force him to stay and listen. I really didn't like this idea of holding Weaver at gun point. We were waiting and waiting and waiting. I was starting to get frustrated. Why wasn't Tom back yet? Had something gone wrong?

"Captain Weaver," Anne said.

"Dr. Glass, I hear that Tom has been to see you. I need to know where he is." Where is Tom? HE was supposed to be here. I looked at Hal and Kaylee; they were getting ready to come out, so I did too.

"He told me what you've been going through. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you put that gun down." Then the three of us popped up; Hal and Kaylee pointed there guns at Weaver, and I had my hand on my gun, ready to pull it out if it came to that. Then, Tom appeared with his gun pointed at Weaver too.

"Don't," Tom warned. Hal walked up and took Weaver's shotgun and handed it to Kaylee and put the other one in his pocket.

"What're you gonna do? Shoot me?" Weaver asked Tom. Hal and Kaylee put the guns on an unused bed and pointed their guns back at Weaver.

"I'm the optimist remember? I'm still hoping you're gonna listen to reason," Tom stated. "Now what's the operational plan? The real one?"

"Rendezvous with the 4th and 5thand launch a coordination for the attack!" Weaver yelled.

"I talked to Dai! Your orders were to stand down!" Tom yelled even louder.

"That's not the way I heard it!" Weaver said sternly. "The mission's still a go unless the-" Then they started yelling at each other. And Hal started in on the fight as well. "DAMN IT! The aliens have to know we're not gonna lie down!" Weaver screamed, and everyone shut up.

"You think I don't want to fight 'em?! Move," Tom ordered and motioned to the caged section in the room. "This has to be done the right way. That means all cards on the table, with a commanding officer whose judgment hasn't been compromised." We followed Tom.

"How far are you gonna go with this?" Weaver asked.

"Pretty far. I had Pope defuse the bombs. And if you don't back off I'm going to be forced to relieve you of your command."

"You're fast, Kaylee, but you're not that fast." Pope looked around. Kaylee stepped in front of me. "Sorry," he said, "but you may want to reconsider that, Professor."

"Dad, what's he doing? I thought you talked to him," Hal said.

"I did." Tom gave his guns to the captain and Weaver took Hal's. Kaylee wouldn't hand over her gun but she lowered it.

"My apologies, Cambridge. I couldn't bring myself to defuse those charges. I figured I had the option of sitting around or killing Cooties and Cooties win. Every time. But you'll be happy to know that those bombs are beauts. They're gonna cause a lot of damage."

"No they won't," Tom replied. "'Cause when Pope came to warn you, I took the blasting fuses. Bombs are out of commission." So that is what took him so long. Good idea.

"Where are they?" Weaver demanded.

"The aliens can't kill us fast enough?" Anne asked. "We have to do it for them?"

Weaver loaded Tom's gun. "Where the damn fuses?"

"Alright, you said that the only way this is gonna work, is if people have faith in their commanding officer. That works both ways; you have to have faith in them," Tom began.

"I'm doing this for them, for all of us."

"Alright, then tell them the truth! Tell them; Porter's gone! And this attack, whether we live or die, isn't gonna be just a command decision," Tom's let go of his gun. "We don't have enough people left for a suicide mission!" Then Weaver pointed his gun at Tom, aimed it right at his chest. "Go ahead and do it. Go ahead. If shooting me keeps the 2nd Mass together, go ahead and do it. I'm not going to be the one that pulls it apart. There's another way." No!

"What?" Weaver took Tom by surprise.

"You can trust our people the way they trust you," Tom said.

Then Jimmy stepped out. "Captain?"

You could practically see Weaver's heart soften up when he saw him. "Jimmy?"

"We wanna follow you," Kaylee added. "All of us. You just have to let us," Kaylee said. I could tell how much she looked up to Weaver and how genuine she felt about this.

"Put down your weapon," he ordered Pope.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pope asked.

"Lower your weapon," Weaver commanded warningly. Pope put down his weapon.

He then turned to Tom. "I'm not saying you're right. But they deserve to know the facts of the mission."

"Call for volunteers," Tom told him. "They gotta hear both sides."

"And they will, 'cause you'll be right there beside me. Jimmy, gather everyone in the gym. Ten minutes." Weaver handed Tom his gun back.

"Yes, sir." We all walked to the gym. Kaylee walked next to me.

"You alright, Carter?"

She nodded. "It's still hard to be around, but it's getting a little easier to manage." We did our little hand shake. It was nice, to be with Kaylee again, just her. We haven't really talked, just the two of us, since we got here.

I looked at Kaylee and realized she was tuning out what Tom and Weaver were saying. I was looking around for Hal. Once I found him, I slipped over next to him.

Weaver was telling everyone that if they still want to go on the mission, to head out to the front of the school. Slowly people did. Hal looked at me. I stayed right where I was. "So you're not going after all?"

"Nope. I'm going to stay right here and wait. There will be other fights."

"Thanks. It is good to know you'll be here, safe."

I slipped back over to Kaylee before she noticed I was gone and we walked outside to help load up. Tom was staying back with us. Hal gave his dad a hug and they talked a bit. The Hal came over to us.

"Be safe, big bro," Kaylee said. "Kill some aliens for me while you're at it too."

Hal laughed . "Will do little sis." Then he looked at me looking at him. "What are you looking at?"

"Not looking, just thinking about how your ass is going to be blown to bits without me there," I teased. "Good luck though, Hal." Hal leaned down and hugged me. I felt so small next to him. Hal and I pulled apart and he left.

"Now would be the perfect time to finish that conversation," Kaylee smirked at me. Oh fuck.

"Well I started to get sick at the sight of the blood. We were with Dai, so Hal suggested we go out and get some air. Now I have a question for you." Her turn to explain.

She raised her eyebrows.

"After that I went out for a run, and I ran by the shooting range and I saw two people who looked a lot like you and Ben. What were you doing out so late?"

She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep and neither could he, so I asked if he wanted to have another lesson since I haven't given him one in a while."

"Hal was giving me a shooting lesson," I countered.

"Was that the original purpose of you walk?" Her smirk grew bigger.

Fuck she had me there. "Well-"

"Didn't think so."

"That's all that happened when we were out there though! You tried to give me a shooting lesson but that didn't work."

"How could I forget that? I'm still traumatized by the bullet that when right by my face."

"I've told you a thousand times! I didn't know the safety was off!" She will never let me live that down. But I guess that's another reason why she's my best friend.

---

For the record, I am actually pretty good at Halo;D I've killed Alyssa enough times to prove it;3 I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter, and trust me, all of this is only the beginning of what we have lined up. Alyssa and I keep talking about how pumped we are to write Season Two! We have sooooooooooooooo many good ideas for it, stuff that'll keep you guys on the edge of your seats;p Or wanting to throw things at us for what we put down;p By the way, the two songs we used in this chapter were Angel With A Shotgun By: The Cab and La La By: The Cab. I highly recommend looking them up; they're worth the listen. SOOOOOOOOOO like us on Facebook and click that review button!:D

Keep The Resist Strong And Falling Skies On.-Parker

Soooo what do you think? Dose Hal like Alyssa or Karen? PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE US YOUR OPINON! What do you think of Hal and Alyssa's moments?:O

Let The Skies Fall. -Carter