Remember how I said we were going to take a break? Yeah that didn't happen;D We're just so excited to write the second season so we wrote this all;D Enjoy th Battle of Fitchburg my viewers!:D (BTW I'm working on Chapter 12 right now;D Little surprise: Ben is going to have his POV in the next chapter!:DD YAY) Oh! Shoutout to ElySnow for being freaking awesome! -Parker
HI AGAIN! HOW IS LIFE? Well here is another chappter! So if you wanna know where we are getting these ideas, go to the falling skies website and look at the comic! It's the Battle of Fitchburg, which happend between Seasons 1 and 2! So yeah! check it out! Oh and I wanna give a special shout out to ElySnow for being an amazingly awesome fan! You're awesome! -Carter
Chapter 11-For Better Or For Worse
Kaylee's POV
Weaver was devastated. Hell, we all were. I was more surprised that Tom Mason, second in command of an alien resistance group, would willingly step onto an alien spaceship without once questioning it. Once he announced that, the entire 2nd Mass simply stood in our places. None of us moved or spoke for a good five minutes, and I know that something right then changed within each of the Mason boys.
But the one who took it the hardest was Ben.
He was standing next to me as Weaver told the crowd what Tom had done, and when I looked at his eyes, I saw the same thing that was in my own when I found out that my parents had died: brokenness. Complete and utter brokenness. Like all hope in the world had disappeared and nothing could bring it back. The hatred and anger was slowly building in his green-blue eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Ben Mason was turning into Kaylee Parker. And I was not okay with that.
He was the first of the three to storm off, but was soon followed to their own tent by Hal and Matt. We agreed to let them cool off together, however the uneasiness in my stomach was growing by the millisecond. What was going to happen to the three happy Mason brothers? The people everyone in the 2nd Mass knew had an extraordinary light that radiated off of them because they had so much hope. But now that their dad was gone, would that light start to dim?
The following day, the usual happy talkative Mason brothers were silent at breakfast. The air around them seemed to be dark, and the aura around Ben was even darker. I had no idea how to approach them. I was the quiet one, so going over there to strike up a conversation was out of my abilities. When my parents died, all I wanted was to be left alone, so I decided to go that route and give Hal, Ben, and Matt some space. Alyssa and I had eaten a few tables away from them with Jimmy and Weaver.
"What are we going to do now?" I had asked Weaver.
"We gotta take the main road and move farther south," he told me, "just as soon as we move out of Fitchburg. The fighters are running low on ammunition and guns and there's an army base down there that could have weapons. We're gonna need to stock up on supplies and continue to clean these bastards off our planet."
And four weeks later, that's exactly where the 2nd Mass was. But we were in rough shape. We made it to Fitchburg just fine, but by the looks of it, not all of us were going to make it back out. The 2nd Mass was miles away from the army base and we had tons of mechs watching the streets for us. Skitters lined every building around here too. No matter how many we seemed to kill, ten more replaced the alien while we ran lower and lower on ammunition and good guns. I had shared all of what I had left with the fighters, so I couldn't even supply us with more. Of course I had my own stash, but it wouldn't help trying to distribute them all to the fighters. I had been using my knives as much as possible in order to ration what I had left. My grenades were gone, as was my C4. I had saved as much as I could of the mech bullets Pope and I made a month ago and was surprisingly loaded with a lot of them. Weaver told me to use my bullets as a defense and not as an attack because I was the only fighter with more than twenty rounds of ammunition left.
I was exhausted to say the least. The entire 2nd Mass was afraid of what could happen to us, and I was afraid that if I had to keep calming down hysteric people I would explode. Since Tom had been taken, the 2nd Mass was frantic with fear. This was going to be a tough battle, and I still could never be sure if we could make it out of this. Even Weaver was skeptic about the 2nd Mass's chance for survival. Anne was short on everything, food was diminishing, and more and more people weren't making it back from missions. The 2nd Mass was slowly starting to fall apart, although none of us wanted to admit it.
Alyssa's POV
So much for that happy family. A few hours after we were all set up and ready for the night, Weaver showed up. But only Weaver. Where the hell is Tom? Instantly I thought of the worst possible scenarios in my head. Worst one, he was killed, second worse he was taken by the aliens. Now that the little bastards have Karen, they know exactly how the 2nd Mass works. They'll know how important Tom is to holding the 2nd Mass together. Without him the 2nd Mass would be nothing. And what better way to permanently tear something apart than eliminate the glue that holds it together? One look at Weaver's face and I knew he had no good news.
He gathered us around and told us what happened. Tom and Weaver were walking back to camp and a ship came and stopped them. Basically the aliens said Tom was to go with them or they'll continue to let the transformation on Ben continue. And Tom did the only thing he thought possible: he went with them. Just hopped on their ship and flew away.
I looked at Hal, who was so tensed up. His fists were balled up and completely white and his mouth was in a line. He was more that pissed, he looked frightening. Matt didn't know what to do. The news hit him hard. I looked at Ben and instantly I saw Kaylee. He had that same look she got when she lost her parents. The three of them turned around and silently walked over to their tent to calm down.
Part of me wanted to go over to them and help them and tell them everything was gonna be okay. But the logical side of me didn't want to. I couldn't promise it was gonna be okay. I didn't know if it would all work out or not. I also knew that if I was in their position I wouldn't want anyone to talk to me. I would want to be left alone. So that's what I did.
"Hey Weaver," I said.
"What do you want Carter?" He looked lost, like he was trying to wake himself up from a horrible dream.
"Just wondering if I have permission to go on a little ride. Just to cool off. I'll be back, well I don't know when. Just tell Kaylee I'm on a scouting mission."
"Yeah, go ahead." I ran over to the tent Kaylee and I shared, grabbed my hoodie and hopped on my bike. It was almost dark now. I took off in the direction of the school. I don't know what exactly I planned on doing, but I was going to do something. It was a bad habit I had picked up when I was five or six. Whenever things were bad at home, I'd hop on my bike and run away. I thing the longest I was away was a week. I used to scare the shit out of my mom. She would immediately call Kaylee's mom and see if I was over there and most of the time I was. But sometimes when I really didn't want to talk, I would go somewhere no one could find me. I would hide. I don't thing I realized it at first but I was going there again. I was running away and hiding when times got hard. My spot was a lake my mom took me to when I was little once. It was about twenty miles from my house. It was a really pretty lake, not too far from here; I could see it in my head. I was almost there, and things started to look more and more familiar. Not familiar as in I remember it from a long time ago, but I as in I had seen it recently, after the attack. Then it hit me. That lake was the same one Hal pushed me into on our first scouting mission, the same lake we hung out at just a few nights ago. That's why I love that lake so much. I was so fascinated by it because it calmed me, just like when I was younger.
I sat down next to the river and closed my eyes and let my mind wander. As I sat there, it was all most like this was a bad dream. That I was gonna wake up soon, in our room back at the school with Kaylee sitting there. I just sat there most of the night. Then around four in the morning I got up and headed back. Out of habit I started heading back to the school. It still felt like a dream and when I rode up to JFKHS. Tom would be there and Weaver would have another mission for Hal and me. The school came into view and I stopped and stared at it. I looked at the school, our home, just sitting there. It was eerie and quiet, empty. That is when reality finally hit me. I realized this wasn't some nightmare my mind dreamed up, this was real life. I headed back to camp, the sound of my bike splitting through the air. I arrived back at camp around five. I slept for about an hour and was back up at six a.m. for breakfast.
The Mason boys were usually the highlight of every meal. Their brotherly bickering entertained everyone. Today they sat isolated and silent. No one knew what to say or how to comfort them, so we all just let them be. I sat with Kaylee, Weaver, and Jimmy a few tables away.
"What are we going to do now?" Kaylee asked.
"We gotta take the main road and move farther south," Weaver said, "just as soon as we move out of Fitchburg. The fighters are running low on ammunition and guns and there's an army base down there that could have weapons. We're gonna need to stock up on supplies and continue to clean these bastards off our planet." Hell yeah! I'm all for that last part!
That was a great plan to dream about, but when you actually put it into action, not so good. Four weeks later and the 2nd Mass was not at our best, to say the least. The fighters, the few we had left, had barely any ammunition. We made it to Fitchburg but we were having a hard time resisting. There were so fucking many of the little bastards. It was crazy, it was like if you killed off one, twenty or more appeared in its place. We were losing fighters on a daily basis, and Hal and I were right in the middle of all the action. And that brought us to present day time.
I saw some commotion off to the side, by where Kaylee Jimmy and Ben were. Hal and I ran over to see what exactly was going on.
"What happened?" Weaver asked a hunched over Dai. "Where's the rest of your patrol?"
"Nobody else," he took a breath, "made it back…"
Oh my fucking God. TEN FUCKING PEOPLE WENT WITH HIM!
"The whole western approach is crawling with skitters and mechs. Way too many of them."
"Too many for your patrol?" Weaver asked.
"Too many for the 2nd Mass." So this could be the end. I tried to not think like that, I mean we made it one month right? All we needed was a few more days to make an escape. The 2nd Mass seemed indestructible. We had to have enough fight left in us to make it a few more days.
"There's a hundred mechs out there," Dai said, "maybe more."
"Did you have any contact with the other patrols out there?" I asked
"Some, but we lost them. They're still out there, too. I know they had similar sightings of skitters and mechs all along the north and south." Oh…not exactly the answer I wanted to hear.
Weaver frowned and it was obviously not the response he wanted either. "So the 2nd Mass is being hemmed in." Weaver turned to the 2nd Mass, taking his rightful position at the head of everyone. "Everybody listen up!"
Any little muttering ceased at once. "We need to go to ground. Stay out of sight. Hide in buildings. Don't go outside unless it's absolutely necessary. We can't be spotted. Most of you know we've been heading through Fitchburg in order to reach an army base that…we think might have an untouched cache of weaponry. That mission is aborted until we can find a way out of this mess. Everyone who's able, help move the sick. We need to keep them safe. So get the wounded and as many important supplies under cover."
Weaver wanted the most experienced fighters out there only. He looked around and I waited for him to pick Kaylee. Instead he picked me. Kaylee and were both equally surprised about this. Kaylee has just as much experience as me, and more experience with guns that I do.
"You alright, Parker?" Kaylee wasn't even bothering to hide how pissed she was.
"Just fucking sick of waiting around to die. I want to come with you so I know you're okay."
I hugged her. "Please be safe," she told me.
"I will be, I swear." I walked over to Hal and Griffin who were on the bikes. "Give me like five seconds to run to my tent." I turned around and ran over.
"One Mississippi. Two Mississippi." Hal yelled.
"Shut up Hal," I yelled back. He laughed. I ran into our tent and started looking through my bag. It was getting cold lately and I didn't wanna get sick like last time I was out late. Ben opened up the tent.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "Aren't you going on a mission?"
"Yeah, but I need to change my shirt, I want a long sleeved one." By then I had given up all hope of finding a shirt in my bag and started rummaging through Kaylee's bag.
"You're a fifteen nearly sixteen-year-old fighter in a post apocalyptic world, getting ready to go on a mission, and you're worried about what shirt you have on. Some things never change. Typical girl."
"I am not!"
"What then? Trying to impress your boyfriend?" he smirked
"No. And you're one to talk Mr. I-am-in-love-with-Kaylee-and-want-to-impress-her-so-I-started-wearing-black-too."That wiped the smirk off his face.
"I'll be back." He was back in a few minutes, holding a grey old long-sleeve Metal Militia shirt. "Here, it was Hal's. Matt made him keep it, because since we're the Second Massachusetts MilitiaRegiment and it's a MetalMilitia shirt."
"Oh I get it." I threw it on over my tank top. It was way too big though, so I had to take a rubber band and tie it up in the back. The sleeves went way past my arms. It was very warm though. I had that and my usual dark denim shorts and boots on.
"Hey what's taking you so long?" Hal popped his head in. "Is that my shirt?"
"I let her borrow it," Ben said.
"Why?" He was confused.
"Because apparently neither Kaylee nor I have long a long sleeve shirt and I needed one."
"You should just borrow one of Matt's, it might fit you better," he said, laughing at his own joke.
"Ha ha," I said sarcastically.
"Okay, let's go." I grabbed my knives and we headed out. It was just us three, Griffin, Hal and I. I grabbed my knives. But when I was walking over to the bikes, I slipped on some wet grass and fell on my ass.
"Did you just fall?" Hal laughed.
"No. I attacked the floor."
"Backwards?" he questioned.
"I'm just that fucking awesome."
"Sure okay. You believe that."
"You're just jealous," I smirked.
"Come on you two! Let's go!" Griffin yelled. We jogged over to him and headed out. We didn't see any activity for the first few blocks and then things got bad, really fast. One block there was nothing, and then the next there were hundreds of them. We had to abandon our bikes and proceed on foot. It was almost scary; we had to be extremely quiet. I had my gun out and ready to shoot. I also had a knife in my hand. About thirty blocks from camp, we had our first encounter.
"Griffin!" Hal yelled "BEAMER IN THE AIR!"
"TAKE COVER!" We ducked into a building as fast as possible. "This is bad. They called in air cover." Thank you Captain Obvious. We went back out and continued to walk around.
"There is a building up the block, did anyone else notice it?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's covered with skitters, all sides, even on the top. I wonder what's up with it," Hal thought out loud.
"And we are located too damn close to it," I said.
"Thank you Captain Weaver for sending us into another skitter fest. Like they don't get enough target practice as it is," Griffin muttered hopelessly.
"Enough Griffin. Let's just finish this and get back to camp," Hal said.
"Look, we've made it too far to quit now," I said. The three of us ducked onto an old open building as another beamer came over head. We were on the side of the building facing a dead end ally. There was one way in and one way out. Probably not the smartest decision on our part. Once we were sure the beamer was gone, Hal popped his head out.
"See anything?" Griffin asked.
"A stack of girly magazines-maybe we should grab them for Kaylee-and a nice acoustic guitar."
"If you bring her those magazines, she'll use them for target practice, but she would like the guitar though. She was pretty good at it," I remembered.
"I meant did you see anything alien related?" Griffin sounded slightly annoyed.
"Oh, no I don't see any." The three of us stepped out of the building. As soon as we did, we heard the unmistakable sound of skitters. As if on cue, we all looked up. They were everywhere, on top of the buildings, on the fire escapes.
"Really now? No skitters out here?" Griffin asked.
"Shut up and don't move. Our best bet is to try and make it out to the other end of the ally and run as fast as fucking humanly possible." As I said that, a mech came around the corner, blocking our only exit. "Okay, new plan. Shoot those little bastards and don't die. One, two, three, FIRE!"
I took out my gun, and tried to remember everything Kaylee had ever told me and I let loose. I had killed about three skitters when I was empty. SHIT! I quickly pulled out my knives and started killing them that way. I had one shot with each skitter, because if I hit them anywhere but the top of their mouth, it would just piss them off. Soon I was out of knives as well. I took my out other gun and started shooting, I only had about a half a round in there to start. In seconds, I had nothing. For the first time I looked around; what I saw was something I never wanted to see again. Griffin was lying on the floor, with a big hole in the middle of his stomach. Hal was literally in the hands of a skitter with his gun was lying on the floor. Hal was about to die and there was nothing I could do to help him. I frantically looked around for something, anything I could use to help him. I saw a skitter I had killed with my knife hanging out of its mouth. I needed to get to it, the only problem was the skitter holding Hal was standing over it. I looked around for another skitter that had a knife in its mouth, but I couldn't tell. I glanced at the terrified face of Hal and decided what to do. I sprinted over to it and laid a perfectly placed kicked to the side of its head. In shock and pain it dropped Hal and turned to face me, but that's exactly what I needed. I ran towards it and right as it tried to grab me, I ducked under it and come out behind it, at the same time grabbed the knife from the other skitter. It barely had enough time to turn around and face me when I sent the knife straight into its mouth.
"Holy shit," I looked at where Hal was facing. The mech was aiming its fire straight at me. "ALYSSA GET DOWN NOW!" Just as it fired, I ducked out of the way, missing the bullets by a fraction of a millimeter.
"Hal we have to move, fast!" Between us three we managed to kill all the skitters, but there was still the mech. We hid in the building again.
"Do you notice how the mechs take time before they shot? The need a still target."
"Okay so we don't give them one. We keep moving," I told him.
"Exactly." We started sprinting. Hal went one way I went the other, we made it around the mech but there wasn't much time to celebrate because the mech was following us. Suddenly the mech exploded, just exploded.
"Where is Griffin?" I have never been so happy to hear Weaver's voice. We turned around and saw him and Dai behind us.
"He's dead," I said.
"And your bikes?"
"Just over there." You could see our bikes from where we were standing. We hadn't made it that far before encountering skitters and the mech. Hal and I ran over to our bikes and the four of us headed back to camp. Camp was supposed to be a safe heaven. Once you made it back to camp you were safe. Everyone felt safer at camp. That's just how it was. Yeah well, not today. We had been back at camp for a total of maybe two minutes when it hit. The skies were empty one moment then the next there were balls of fire falling on us. Before the fire hit the ground, the 2nd Mass was up and running. Getting things together, packing up tents and loading cars. We couldn't go far, but we managed to get the civilians in a big building far enough away. For a while we thought we were safe, apart from the fire. About an hour later we had the cars outside and I was sitting at a table with Weaver, Dai, Hal, and a few other fighters. We lost a bunch of cars and other stuff but all the people made it out alive which was good.
Kaylee's POV
"Is my aim alright?" Ben's voice dragged me out of my head to present time.
Ben had asked me and Jimmy to give him lessons everyday ever since his dad was taken. Four weeks of both our combined knowledge of weaponry had fused together and was etched into Ben's head. He was improving every single moment we worked with him and he seemed to remember everything Jimmy and I told him. Ben realized how serious this was now; no one was guaranteed safety and not everyone was going to make it out alive. That's why he was so determined to become the best fighter he could be, and I couldn't blame him for it either. He wasn't just doing this for his dad or for himself. Ben was doing this for the civilians, like I was. He was stepping up to be a fighter and to start helping others instead of needing help himself. I think he was also trying to prove to the people who still doubted whether he was trustworthy or not that he was against the aliens as much as they were.
So Ben Mason knew how to use C4 properly, launch grenades with his eyes closed, and was doing okay with shooting. Jimmy and I noticed he still had a lot of work he needed to do on his firing skills, but we were really impressed that he had everything else down perfectly. Four weeks was a short time to learn so much, let alone be a master at it all.
Jimmy, Ben, and I were on top of a house where some members of the 2nd Mass were staying. The house's roof was flat and made of wood; another section of it was raised a few inches and then had an actual slanted roof. I was sitting against the raised part of the roof with my knees propped up and my head leaning against the roof. My wrists were resting on my knees and my gun was lying next to me.
I glanced at where he was pointing to. "Yeah you're good. Loosen your grip a little."
Ben's now gloved hands relaxed a little, so little that the average person would not have noticed. I don't even think Ben noticed either, but his posture was perfect now. Jimmy showed him some different ways to position himself and to find what was comfortable for him. Comfort lead to ease, and when you felt eased you had a better aim.
I rubbed my eyes with my fingertips and pushed my bangs from my eyes tiredly. The last time I had gotten more than thirty minutes of sleep was the night Tom had stepped on the airship, when I was asleep on Jimmy's shoulder. Weaver had me on patrol every day and almost every time I was on century duty. I was up until five in the morning or longer everyday and if I was lucky I got forty or fifty minutes of sleep until six. Anne was dying with more exhaustion than every fighter in the Second Massachusetts combined, so I offered to help Lourdes out in the mornings so Dr. Glass could sleep a little. Weaver was peeved that I was spending time with the wounded when I should be out watching the skies or watching Fitchburg, but I didn't care. Anne needed extra help and so did Lourdes. They were working harder than all of us by keeping what was left of our fighters alive. And I knew that it was the right thing to do to help them out (if you're wondering about my arm, it's completely healed now, although the scar left over suggests otherwise. It doesn't bother me anymore, since I had plenty of other scars to match it that I got from the cuts in battle. Nothing too serious; I guess I just easily scar or something).
After I was done helping out Lourdes and Anne, Jimmy and I trained Ben on the patrols we went on the rest of the day, minus the breaks we got for food. Alyssa and I rarely saw each other anymore, since her and Hal were still always paired for patrols and for the more "dangerous" missions than Jimmy, Ben, and I were. Weaver thought that since the three of us were nearly two years younger than Alyssa and Hal (Alyssa's birthday was next week), we needed to stay here with the 2nd Mass to be safe. That kind of pissed me off, but I wasn't going to call out my captain on that. He was engulfed with stress, and I certainly didn't want to add on to it.
"Hey-there's smoke over there," Ben pointed down at the city.
"Where?" Jimmy asked. I looked around the whole area and didn't see a thing. It must be his improved vision or something. He told me that he was starting to hear every whisper someone muttered and see for miles. It was something to do with his spikes.
"And someone's coming on a motorcycle. Shit, guys it's Dai!"
Jimmy looked through the telescope we had up here. "Yeah I see him! He looks hurt, and the rest of his squad isn't with him. He's not alone."
"Damn it," I groaned and stood up. I dusted off my black jeans, picked up my gun, and searched for Dai until I found where he was coming from. Two skitters were hot on his tail.
Jimmy loaded his gun and started aiming. "Ben, can you get a shot on the other one?"
"I think so," he said unconvincingly.
"Take the shot Ben," I commanded uneasily. The skitters were closing in on Dai and Ben still wasn't firing at them.
He still wasn't shooting. "Ben, take it!"
Ben's hands tensed tighter on the Heckler and Koch I had given him and he aimed. He was afraid of hitting Dai. Fucking damn it.
I loaded my IMI Galil MAR Carbine and instantly took out the skitter that was just about to attack Dai. Jimmy shot the other one as soon as the bullet I shot hit the first skitter. "What the hell happened, Ben? Why didn't you shoot?" I asked.
"I-I couldn't get a clean shot," he remarked ashamed. That fragileness that Ben had always had was still there. It was dissipating quickly, but there were moments when it came back. "Don't worry; I'll do better next time-"
"Save it for later. We gotta go see what's up with Dai," I cut him off. Dai was more important than a mistake, and we knew that. I hurried down the ladder that was propped up on the side of the house, followed by Jimmy. Ben jumped off the roof and was the first to reach Dai.
"Dai?" Dai pulled himself off of his bike and practically collapsed onto me. It took both Ben and me to hold him up. Fighters and civilians were gathering around to see what had happened and soon someone got Weaver.
"What happened?" Weaver asked. "Where's the rest of your patrol?"
"Nobody else," he panted slightly, "made it back…"
What?! Ten people went with Dai on patrol and no one made it back? Holy shit there are more skitters and mechs here than I thought.
"The whole western approach is crawling with skitters and mechs," he explained. "Way too many of them."
"Too many for your patrol?" Weaver asked.
"Too many for the 2nd Mass." A chill went down my spine. This could be it for us. This time…we might not make it out. At all.
"There's a hundred mechs out there," Dai continued, "maybe more."
"Did you have any contact with the other patrols out there?" I took this moment to be damn grateful that Alyssa was next to me now and was not off on one of those patrols. Thank God.
"Some, but we lost them. They're still out there, too. I know they had similar sightings of skitters and mechs all along the north and south."
Weaver's eyebrows creased. "So the 2nd Mass is being hemmed in." He looked at the crowd of civilians and fighters he was in charge of and closed his eyes briefly. He needed Tom now more than ever. Weaver opened his eyes and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Everybody listen up!"
Once he had our attention, the captain continued. "We need to go to ground. Stay out of sight. Hide in buildings. Don't go outside unless it's absolutely necessary. We can't be spotted. Most of you know we've been heading through Fitchburg in order to reach an army base that…we think might have an untouched cache of weaponry. That mission is aborted until we can find a way out of this mess. Everyone who's able, help move the sick. We need to keep them safe. So get the wounded and as many important supplies under cover."
Weaver assigned one of the experienced fighters, Griffin, to go out on a patrol with him. Alyssa and Hal were going with him, and I didn't like it at all. When Ben offered to go too, Weaver shot him down and told him that he wanted more experienced men in the field which pissed me off. Alyssa had seen just as much battle as I had, so why couldn't I go too?
"You alright, Parker?" Alyssa asked me once she saw the scowl on my face.
I nodded. "Just fucking sick of waiting around to die. I want to come with you so I know you're okay."
Alyssa hugged me tightly, and I seriously hoped this wouldn't be the last time I saw her. "Please be safe," I said softly.
"I will be, I swear." Alyssa waved slightly and walked over to Hal and Griffin over to the bikes.
Jimmy, Ben, and I moved inside where it was "safe" to be and looked out the windows. Fitchburg was one of the cities that was near a place that was bombed, so there was a lot of patches of nothing around. Nothing but ruins of the city and destroyed houses. There were a lot of buildings still standing too, but the city was wrecked up to the point where if we did survive this, Fitchburg would be a city that was nearly impossible to fix.
"Why couldn't you shoot? When the skitter almost had Dai?" I head Jimmy ask.
"I've never killed anything before. It's harder than it looks," Ben protested.
"Did you not see me shoot Clayton at the Sanctuary?" I questioned, reflecting on the past. It had been so long ago, two months to be precise. "It was easier than it looked."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Well you've gotten used to it by now. I'm still learning this. 'To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.' My dad used to say that. It's Sun Tzu, I think. " What the fuck was he talking about?
"You want to know them? We're in a war here, Ben! Those things want us all dead-"
Ben interrupted Jimmy. "You don't get it. I do know them. I know they killed my mom, I know they took my dad, and I know what they did to me. I know them better than anyone. I hatethem. I hate them more than you could possibly know. And I'm going to kill every last one of them." The hate was growing inside Ben. The anger, the wanting to kill everything and everyone, even the silence was sprouting in his heart. The exact damn way it did with mine. Soon he was going to be engulfed with it, and it only made me hope that Tom would come back before it was too late.
The three of us stood there looking out the window for a few seconds, allowing the hatred in the air to settle down, and then Jimmy asked, "Do you guys ever wonder what we'd be doing if we were still in school before the attack?"
"I'd be studying for a math test that was weeks away," Ben chuckled to himself.
"I would be trying to get extra credit in a class I was failing," Jimmy answered his own question.
Oh yeah, I'd be expelled.
I was leaning against the corner of the window opening when I felt both of their eyes looking at me, waiting expectantly for my answer. I glanced at them, and then looked back out the window. "I try not to think about it."
"Why?" Ben questioned immediately.
"It's my past now. And that's a place I never want to think about again." I moved from the windows and walked away. My patrol started in a few minutes, and if I was late for the fifth time Weaver would have my ass. Then I realized that Weaver had gone with the others to their scouting mission to see if there was a skitter wall as big as Dai said there was. So I just waited outside, thinking about the past four weeks.
Let me tell you, a shitload can happen in a small amount of time. Especially when you live in a post-apocalyptic world where you have no chance of surviving the aliens that destroyed your planet. We had lost a lot of great fighters, and a few civilians as well. Danner died at the structure, and as much as I hated him he was one of the best fighters we've had. Same with Gibson; he died when Weaver and his group got bombed. Uncle Scott had a raging fever, and he was only getting worse. A ton of the 2nd Mass was coming down with sickness. It was a total nightmare.
On the other hand, Jimmy, Ben, and I had become pretty close friends. More than that, we were practically like the Three Musketeers. We were on patrol everyday with each other and we had really bonded too. We spent the long hours swapping stories and learning new things about the other. I actually did enjoy spending nearly all of my time with the two fourteen-year-olds, and for different reasons.
With Ben, there was rarely a moment when he didn't make you smile. Even though he's changing, he has this dry sense of humor and stupid jokes that make you laugh. And when you want to talk serious with him, you can talk serious with him. He's also a great listener. If either Jimmy or I was talking about whatever, Ben always made sure that we knew that he was paying attention. And of course, he always had our backs.
And with Jimmy, everything felt…normal. He was a caring guy who I loved being around. Jimmy also understood when I didn't feel like talking or opening up and I appreciated that more than anything. He respected that there was a lot of things in my life that I wanted to keep private and if I ever felt like talking about that he was there for me. He was sweet, funny, occasionally romantic, and loved guns. And he had a terrible sense of direction, which amused me for whatever reason. A week or two back, he had gotten lost and it took us two days to find him. Weaver had to give Jimmy his old compass so he would be able to find his way back to us. And you know what?
I think I liked him.
Kaylee Nicole Parker had a crush on James Michael Boland. And as much as I want to change that, I can't. Because I can never be sure that we'll both make it out okay, and I can't have a weakness. Neither can Jimmy.
I looked up at the sight of Hal, Weaver, and Alyssa running two of our men to Dr. Glass's. They were wounded badly, and by the looks of it, it would be a miracle if they recovered.
"What happened?" a voice asked from behind me.
Holy fuck Jimmy scared me. "Same thing that usually happens. We send fighters out, they return injured or don't make it back."
Jimmy's gaze that occasionally I had trouble reading stared at me. "You're losing hope, aren't you?"
I sighed. Not even Alyssa could pinpoint my thoughts so perfectly. Sometimes I appreciated him knowing what I was thinking or feeling so I wouldn't have to say it, other times (such as now) it annoyed the hell out of me. "I'm nearly fifteen, Jimmy. Hope doesn't come easily like it used to."
"Just because you're a couple months older than me doesn't mean you have to be more mature," he teased.
"I lost all immaturity when my parents died," I said, not in the mood for light heartedness. "Hope isn't something I'm all that familiar with."
Before Jimmy could respond to that, Ben and Rick came running out of the designated clinic the 2nd Mass had made. Weaver was behind them yelling, "Keep your heads low and do not engage the enemy! If you see anything, report back to me immediately!"
Oh hell no. Weaver's letting Ben and Rick go on a mission, but won't let Jimmy and I go on one?! Hell fucking no.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jimmy asked, slightly mischievous.
"Let's go," I nodded. Technically we weren't disobeying orders; even though we didn't ask to go, Weaver never said we couldn't go. Besides, Ben and Rick would get themselves killed if they were alone. If Ben couldn't shoot a single skitter from a safe distance away, he certainly couldn't kill tons of them that were merely inches away. What Jimmy and I were doing was completely stupid and foolish, but I knew Ben would be grateful that we decided to come along with him.
It was a piece of cake keeping up with their gait for me, but I couldn't say the same for Jimmy. He told Ben and me that he played basketball at school, and no matter how much they conditioned you with other sports, it wasn't the same as track and cross country. Runners only had to focus on their breathing pattern and increasing their stamina while running, so that it's easier to go long distances without stopping. But when you play sports like baseball and basketball or some others, you're focusing on the game and the skills needed in order to be successful. With running, all you had to do was put one foot in front of the other and make sure the person behind you stayed behind you. Intricacy with simplicity, my brother said when I had described it to him at eleven years old. He said that the many reasons I loved running had woven itself into an art that was simple. I never forgot that, and it still goes through my mind every time I'm running.
"Something's following us," I heard Ben say when Jimmy and I were around the corner of a building. It was really eerie out here in the ruins of Fitchburg, especially at this time of night.
"That would be us," I clarified stepping out into view with Jimmy.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Ben asked, slightly irritated and slightly relieved.
"What do you think? Making sure you two don't get into trouble," Jimmy stated.
Ben was about to go off on us, despite the apparent gratefulness in his eyes, when Rick sharply turned around and asked Ben, "Are you hearing this?"
He put his right hand onto his temple and closed his eyes, frowning. "I'm not sure. Feels like more of that low-level buzz-"
"They're coming this way," Rick spoke out. "We need to take cover. Over there, in that pharmacy."
Alyssa's POV
"What's the plan, Captain?" Hal asked.
"We have no way around these things. I think our only choice is to stay here and wait for the scouting team to get back and hope and pray they have some good news."
"Wait who's on the scouting team?" I asked. I didn't seen Kaylee when I got back but she wasn't supposed to be out tonight.
"Well it was supposed to be Rick and Ben but Kaylee and Jimmy followed them out so I sent Jamil to go watch them."
"Why am I not surprised? Of course she would go with them." I groaned. Did she not realize how stupid it was to go out there?
"So we just wait here?" Dai asked.
"Looks like it," Weaver confirmed.
"I can go out and look for them," I volunteered.
"No," was all Weaver said.
"What if I go with her?" Hal asked. "We could go find them and get back."
"No. I need you guys here."
"We aren't doing anything good here!" I said. "We are useless here! We should be out helping."
"I agree with Alyssa. That's my little brother out there. I already lost my dad. I need to protect them. It's my duty."
"I agree with the kids," Dai said.
"No. I want you here. They will attack. It's an old military tactic, surprise the enemy, and round them in to-"
"Attack again, yeah I know. I have heard my dad say that. So we stay," Hal gave up.
"SKITTER!" I looked over to see Matt sitting by the window. The fighters got up and grabbed their guns and anything else we could use to kill skitters and ran outside. Our camp was still on fire but it was starting to die down. There was at least fifty or sixty skitters. All the fighters loaded their guns and opened fire. Some of the fighters were trying to get the civilians out of the building and on the road. As I watched I saw a girl about the age of ten walk out. She looked so much like my sister it was crazy. She had blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She was just as tall as me, like my sister. She stepped out of the building and before she had time to react the girl was hit by a mech. I saw that little innocent girl die and I lost it. I opened fire on any skitter I saw. After about an hour of that the skitters retreated. I stood there looking around at all the dead bodies. We went back inside and waited some more. This looked like it was it. We were going to die here and now, maybe not today or tomorrow but the 2nd Mass couldn't hang on for much longer. We seemed so indestructible, like we could do anything. But not now. We sat for another agonizingly long hour before the second round of attacks came. We all got up and started fighting. I think everyone realized we were done and it was all about to end. But we were the 2nd Mass and we don't go down without a fight. These aliens were going to keep attacking us until we were all gone.
Hal came up and stood behind me. "Hey."
"What's up?" I asked.
"You know we're going to die right?"
"Yeah. But we're going to die fighting."
"Yeah. So before we go out there, I uh, I've um wanted to do this for like a while but I didn't know if well you would like well if you would feel the same way, and uh-"
"What?" I was really confused.
"It's kinda hard to explain. Here let me show you." Then he leaned down and kissed me, on the lips. It was quick, like he was nervous. I looked at him, his face bright red. Hal Mason gets nervous?
I stared at him, completely shocked. "What was that for?"
"Good luck. I had to tell you."
"Why so quick?" I teased then I leaned him down and kissed him back. I was standing on my tip toes and he still had bend down a little so I could reach. His lips were warm and soft. It was the best kiss I've ever had. After I second I pulled back and looked at him. "And why did you wait until now to tell me?"
"I wasn't sure if you liked me or not and I couldn't die right now without telling you. I had to let you know/"
"Well I like you too. In case you didn't figure it out," I smiled. The skitters were advancing again and we had to go out and fight some more. Hal gave me a hug and we just sat there for a minute, wrapped in each other's arms. Then we heard laughing. I pulled back and looked to see Matt.
"How long have you been standing there?" Hal asked his youngest brother.
"Long enough to see you two kiss." He was still laughing at us.
"I want you to go and sit with Lourdes, stay safe and no matter what stay inside unless someone says. Okay?" Hal instructed.
"Okay." He ran off to go find Lourdes.
"Hal! Carter! Come here!" We ran over to where Weaver was standing, the he lead us up to a balcony. "They're advancing, quickly. And they're coming from all sides."
"Any word from the scouts?"
"None." Just then the manhole on the ground started moving. I pointed it out to Weaver. We all watched as Ben, Kaylee, Rick, Jimmy and Jamil got out. The three of us sprinted down there.
"Ben!" The two brothers hugged.
I ran and practically knocked Kaylee down when I hugged her. "Thank God you're okay," she said softly.
"I swear I'm going to kill you before you can even turn fifteen. You need to stop giving me fucking heart attacks," I replied as I slapped her.
"I could use some good news, guys," Weaver said as he walked up.
"We found a way out," Jimmy said.
We all walked back up to the balcony. "We can get out through the sewers. They're old, so they're big. It takes six turns, about twenty minutes, to clear the mech perimeter."
"But it's easy to get confused down there so we'll have to move in small groups. Ten, fifteen at most."
"We're going to have to hurry," Ben said quietly.
"What do you see?" Hal questioned worriedly.
"The mechs are coming." Fuck! We just kicked the first sets ass! Why more?! I mean we were doing well, but we were going to die if the mechs came! Weaver started screaming at everyone he saw. Hal and I ran in and started getting the civilians ready, sending them in groups to Kaylee, Ben, Rick, and Jimmy who lead them to safety. After all the civilians were out of the city safely, Hal, Weaver, Dai, and I headed back. We met with the others outside of the city, away from the mechs and skitters. I was standing next to Hal, he was looking at me. I grabbed his hand and we just stood there. We were safe, for now. Everyone was silent. Just by glancing at us you could tell we lost a lot of people.
"So how many did we lose?" Anne asked Weaver.
"Over a hundred." Oh. My. God. That's crazy. No one really knew what to do so we all stood there in silence waiting for Weaver to continue. He pulled off the hat he wore. "For those we lost, this is their funeral pyre. We honor their sacrifice. We did the impossible today, because of them. For them we do it again tomorrow, and the day after that. Until we damn finish what they started." Weaver put his hat back on and looked out at us. "We fight on." I looked at Hal and then over at Kaylee, Ben, Jimmy and Rick and I said a silent prayer. I was incredibly thankful that I still had people in my life that cared about me and I realized then how lucky I was to have these people. I looked at the grieving people of the 2nd Mass, who still had the strength to continue to fight, and who never gave up. Maybe we weren't completely indestructible, but we were pretty damn close.
Kaylee's POV
Okay, I'm not going to lie. It was really awkward hiding in an abandoned pharmacy with three other guys my age. Not because we were waiting for the skitters to pass by and had no idea what to talk about, but because we were all hiding under a counter in the pharmacy. And let me tell you, it was not spacious underneath that counter whatsoever. Rick and Ben had told Jimmy and me that a group of aliens were patrolling the area and could see us in the pharmacy window, so we all ducked under the counter and stayed absolutely silent. My shoulder was pressed into the counter wall and the other was pressed against Ben's. I was going to shoot myself in the face if we had to wait any longer.
And then the door of the pharmacy opened.
The four of us were even quieter, to the point where none of us were breathing normally. I gripped my gun a little tighter, and found myself in the same position I was in four weeks ago when I risked my life by shooting at the mech that had come to the school. Except this time I wasn't scared. I was ready, and I was going to do it again.
I slowly inched myself out of the hiding place, getting whispers of 'what the hell are you doing?!' thrown at me. Ben put a hand on my shoulder to try and pull me back, but I simply shrugged it off. If we're gonna die, I don't want my last feeling to be fear. I want it to be pride, pride that I had given my life for the 2nd Mass.
I crouched a little, since there was still a little section that connected to the cash register to hide behind. When I rose up, I stuck the muzzle of my gun between the register and a little sign that was next to it. The moving had stopped, and I still couldn't tell where the skitter was because it was so dark. I couldn't turn my gun light on because that would give away my position, and if I fired just randomly it would do the same thing. Damn it.
Just make this easy for me. Either make another sound so I can kill you, or find me and kill me.
A loud thud echoed the pharmacy, followed by the crashing of items. The fuck? I turned on my gun's light and aimed it where the crash sounded.
"Jamil?!"
"Kaylee?"
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I moved around the counter and helped up one of the new people we had found after we left the school. He was a dreadlocked mechanic who seemed to have a thing for Lourdes.
"Weaver thought you and Jimmy would've gone after Ben and Rick, so he sent me to find you four. He thought it was a little stupid sending four teenagers alone on a dangerous mission without having someone look out for them."
Jimmy, Ben, and Rick were all by my side now. "Next time you should make a human sound or something," I said, "I nearly shot you."
Jamil chuckled a little. "Let's just get out of here and go back to camp."
"We haven't found a hole yet. I'm not going back until we find one," Ben replied soldierly.
"That makes two of us," I gave him a nod. Ben sent me a thankful glance.
"I'm staying," Jimmy said.
"Me too," Rick agreed.
Jamil put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright. Then what are we standing here for? Let's go!"
The group of us stayed quiet as we walked along the sidewalks of Fitchburg. Jamil, Jimmy, and I followed the two preharnessed boys to where they thought might be a place where the aliens couldn't find the 2nd Mass. It was strangely quieter than usual outside. There were no airships, no skitters, and no mechs. Which was really weird since there was about twenty minutes ago. What happened?
As if to answer my question, a giant ball of fire came down from the sky, and landed a mile or so from the alley we were by. Since it was so close to us, we felt the heat and the wind that resulted from the explosive that had been dropped on us. It was loud as hell too, and if we had been any closer it would've busted one of my ears.
Flames swallowed the area that had been bombed, and it took me all of two milliseconds to realize that that was where the 2nd Mass was stationed at.
No. No, this was not happening to me. Not fucking again.
"Was that-was that the 2nd Mass?" Rick breathed.
"Are they…" Jimmy trailed off, not wanting to speak everyone's thoughts out loud. That would make the situation too real, too possible, and none of us wanted that.
"I had a feeling this would happen," Jamil whispered.
All I could do was stare at the huge fire, wondering if all the people I had come to love were truly dead. I pushed previous memories that were trying to surface away from my eyes, and kept on staring. My decision was that they weren't dead unless I had proof that they were. And I hoped that I wouldn't find any.
A few moments slipped by until Ben couldn't take it anymore. "C'mon, we have to go."
"Go where? They're all dead!" Jimmy exclaimed angrily.
"Hal's gone, Matt's gone, they're all dead," Rick said bitterly.
Ben grabbed Rick by his collar. "Hal is not dead. Neither is Matt, Weaver, Anne, Uncle Scott-Weaver gave us a job to do and we're going to do it. The 2nd Mass needs an escape route and we're going to find one." How could he be so positive?
"Ben, I'm sorry, but we're too late. We can't help them now," Jamil spoke. I was a little surprised that the adult wasn't even trying to raise our spirits or convince us that there is a possibility that the 2nd Mass was still alive.
Ben led us out of the alley and down the deserted street. "When I was harnessed, I was as good as dead. The 2nd Mass didn't give up on me and I am not giving up on them."
The next three hours were filled with countless thought about Alyssa and the rest of the 2nd Mass. I never spoke about that chunk of time, and I try my best not to remember it. The agonizing pain of loss in my stomach was the only thing I couldn't push away from my memories; that was something I had everyday. Except this time it was worse because the pain burned more than it has in four years. But I won't talk much about those moments, because they are irrelevant now.
"Ben, it's been hours. We haven't heard any gunfire, seen any signs of life. The 2nd Mass is gone." Ben kept walking and refused to listen to Jamil. "Look around. This is what's left. And if you don't face it, you're going to get Jimmy, Rick, and Kaylee killed for nothing."
The scuffling and stopping of footsteps made all of us turn and look at Rick. He had a hand cupped around his ear and his eyes shut. He was hearing something.
"It's skitters, isn't it?" Jimmy said knowingly. "Where?"
"They're close, dead ahead."
I looked down at my feet and then I saw something gleam in the light of the moon. It was a manhole cover. I nudged Jimmy and pointed at the lid. We ran to it and lifted it to see if the underground was still intact. The lid moved over and revealed the steps down into the sewers. This was it. This was our way out.
"Try and stop me," Ben shoved Jamil (quite far actually) off of him.
"We don't have to go through them, Ben," I called to him. Ben walked over to see what I was talking about.
"We can go under them," Jimmy motioned to the hole, our only hope left.
Jamil, Jimmy, Rick, Ben, and I made our way down into the sewers. I'm not a prissy girly-girl, and nor have I ever been, but it was pretty damn nasty walking down there. It was dark, damp, and musty as hell. I had expected it to be disgusting, what with it being a sewer and all, but none of the waste had been filtered in seven months. So you can imagine how putrid the stench was in a rotting sewer. I just hope it's worth it because this is so fucking sick.
Ben and Rick were turning left and right and after the sixth tunnel we turned, they stopped abruptly in front of a rusty metal ladder on the sewer wall led up to another manhole cover. On my way up the ladder rungs, I heard the all familiar sounds of gunshots and motorcycle engines from above. The 2nd Mass was alright! Thank God they had managed to cover in time before the airship dropped the bomb. Ben helped me out of the hole and looked over at the building where the fighters were hiding in from the skitters. Judging by all the dead skitters and mechs, the 2nd Mass kicked alien ass. At least for now.
"Ben!" Hal called out to his younger sibling. I was watching the two hugged for a moment until I was ambushed in a hug by Alyssa.
"Thank God you're okay," I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I swear I'm going to kill you before you can even turn fifteen. You need to stop giving me fucking heart attacks," she said, followed by a slap to my arm.
"I could use some good news, guys," Weaver called out to us.
"We found a way out," Jimmy announced.
Weaver led us up to the balcony of the crumbling building while Ben explained on the way. "We can get out through the sewers. They're old, so they're big. It takes six turns, about twenty minutes, to clear the mech perimeter."
"But it's easy to get confused down there," I made clear, "so we'll have to move in small groups. Ten, fifteen at most."
"We're going to have to hurry," Ben said softly while staring out in the distance of Fitchburg. Shit this can't be good.
"What do you see?" Hal asked worriedly.
"The mechs are coming." Fuck. Pope was driving on his motorcycle blasting more and more skitters that popped up and we rushed back down to the lower ground, Weaver throwing out commands to every person he saw.
"Rick, take the first group! We'll lay cover fire!" he shouted. Jimmy and I got in a window and began firing at the advancing skitters with the other fighters. Where the hell were all these things coming from anyway?
The pads on my thumbs had been blistering badly since I've had to make myself new knives and use my gun twice as frequently as I used to, which was really bad considering how much time I spend shooting. So it was semi irritating having the blisters rub against the coarseness of my gun as I shot. I took out a skitter with a head shot and glanced to my right to see if Rick had taken the group of civilians away yet. The last of the group was going down to the sewers, and was about to get attacked by a skitter until Jimmy and I took it out.
"Nice job," I high fived him.
"Jimmy, your group! Go, go, go!" Weaver shouted. Jimmy and I jumped through the window and ran over to the hesitant civilians. They were literally running through a battlefield, and I don't blame them for not wanting to run to their deaths. But if two of the youngest fighters can do it, they can do it too.
"I got your back," I reminded Jimmy.
He smiled at me. "I got yours too." Both of us took a breath, and then we all ran like hell.
Most of the other fighters were preoccupying the skitters that were trying to attack, so for the most part we didn't have to worry about getting killed. But I did kill a few skitters here and there while the civilians were climbing down the hole. Jimmy went down to start escorting them out of here and I stayed above ground to help buy time for the others to escape. We had three more rounds of civilians to bring down, and we were running shorter and shorter on time.
Rick's second group came sprinting from the building and I made sure to shoot the nearing aliens away as they descended into the sewer. Anne, Jamil, Matt, Uncle Scott, and two civilians that I didn't know came running down. Matt and Jamil made it safely down inside, but a mech came stomping in the fighting square and aimed in on the two civilians. Uncle Scott blocked the kid and the mech fired on him.
That's something that I'll never, ever be able to erase from my mind.
And then of course, Ben being the dipshit that he is doesn't move when the mech turns around and starts aiming the laser pointers they have to stun him.
"Ben, run!" I yelled, racing over to his nonmoving figure. I swear to God, this kid wants to die.
Just as the mech was about to open fire, I tackled Ben out of the way and we both hit the ground a lot harder then planned. And then Hal set off a missile gun and took out the mech, causing a giant explosion to burn to life around us. I dragged my sore self off the ground and pulled up Ben instantly. Another explosion erupted, and Hal was knocked to the ground. His gun skidded a few ways away from him, just as a skitter came forward to him.
At first I didn't know who had shot that skitter, since all of the different fighters shooting at the same time made the shooter hard to find, but it shocked me when I saw the small puff of smoke coming from Ben's gun. If he could just do that during target practice he would be totally fine.
"Go down into the sewers with Jimmy and the civilians. I have to get two more groups down and then I'll meet you guys at the other side," Ben instructed me.
"Since when do I take orders from you?" I teased him.
"Since you became one of my best friends. Now go," he pointed to the manhole. I rolled my eyes at him and then ran to the hole to climb down the ladder. Jimmy ran over as soon as he saw me and gave me a huge hug. He even did that stupid cliché twirl thing, which made me want to punch him for doing it. It was really cute though I have to admit.
"You're happy to see me," I noted, unable to contain my smile.
"I was worried that you were gonna get yourself shot or something."
"Please," I scoffed, "Kaylee Parker never gets shot."
Jimmy chuckled and shook his head. "God forbid the day that happens. Are you alright, though? You're pretty scraped up."
"Had to knock Ben out of the way of a mech," I explained.
Jimmy cracked another smile. "When will he ever learn?"
The last of the civilians began to climb down the ladder. According to Ben, the other fighters were going to set Fitchburg on fire so that they could escape while killing the aliens in the process. It was a stupid plan, but as long as they made it out okay it didn't matter.
Our plan was to rendezvous with the other fighters at the outskirts of the city. Ben and Rick took the front crowd of the civilians and Jimmy and I stayed at the back to make sure no one got lost. I kept thinking about how alike the army and the 2nd Mass were. Both fought to protect people, both had young and old fighters, both had experienced and inexperienced fighters, and both were close with the other members. In a way, I had gotten what I had always wanted. And I'd rather be killing aliens than killing other people who may have families of their own. I didn't mind killing Clayton, since he had no family, but I think I would mind if I had to kill someone with loved ones and people who love them. I know what it's like to have the people you care most about ripped from your lives and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even someone as horrible as Clayton.
The survivors were gathered outside of Fitchburg. The other team had made it through the fire, and the remaining civilians were unharmed. Alyssa and Hal were standing by each other, and Jimmy, Ben and I were next to each other. To break the silence, someone had asked Weaver how many people we lost in the dreadful city.
"Over a hundred."
I was absolutely stunned. One hundred more innocent people the aliens have killed. I had no idea whether to feel better that I had managed not to get myself killed, or worse that the majority of that number was civilians, the people I was protecting. Damn, one hundred fucking people.
Weaver pulled off the hat he always wore. "For those we lost, this is their funeral pyre. We honor their sacrifice. We did the impossible today, because of them. For them we do it again tomorrow, and the day after that. Until we damn finish what they started."
Weaver placed his cap back on his head, and looked across the brave survivors. "We fight on."
SSOOO WHAT DID YOU THINK!? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THERE LITTLE KISS?! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW! MORE TO COME SOON! -Carter
Until I see you next, Keep The Resistance Strong And Falling Skies On. -Parker