So sorry for the excruciatingly long wait. I know all my Benlee fans are just dying to know what happens next;) Haha but I have been so extremely busy so I take full responsibility for the late update. After we last updated I had to finish summer school, a show to do (while doing summer school. Me=staying up until one in the morning after rehearsals and the actual show to finish my homework), a nine day church thing I had to do, camp for exactly a week, and plus if I wanted to actually see my friends and what not. SO SORRY. I've literally had ten free days this summer. But anyways...OMG SEASON THREE IS OVER WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MYSELF FOR TEN MONTHS?! Oh yeah. I gotta fanficiton to write;) Haha. But Alyssa and I have some fairly big things planned for Season Three...most of which you will be aggravated about;) That's right bitches: more cliffhangers;D Anywhays, on with the story! -Parker

Heyyyy guys! What's up? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER ALREADY! But on the bright side, 12 episodes next time in stead of 10. So sorry it took forever to write but I think you guys are gonna love it! It's gets pretty intense! I am gonna try an write this next chapter ASAP, well for two reasons 1) to make up for the long wait and 2) because we start school in a week and we will be crazy busy! So I hope you all enjoy an sorry for this long wait! As always, please review! We love reviews! -Carter

Chapter 19-An Unwelcome Visitor

Alyssa's POV

Bed rest really sucked. We have been at the hospital three days now and the only time I have been allowed out of bed is to use the bathroom and it is the most horrible thing ever. Ben and Matt came to see me after Hal did and then Weaver. Anne says I'm not allowed to do anything for a few weeks because of my stitches. It's horrible and I want to get up and go on a scout or something. I try and tell Anne my stomach doesn't hurt and that I can barely feel it but she doesn't believe me. She is a really good doctor and sometimes I appreciate that, but other times, like now, it really sucks that she can see through all my bullshit. I can walk but anything more than that and, well every time I try, Hal has to cover my mouth because I start screaming out very bad words and once Weaver yelled at my about my language. Anne says my language is worse than a drunken sailor. She would know, her brother and father were sailors and when she was a kid she used to travel with them. She told me I cussed more than all the men on the boat combined. I took that as a compliment. I have always taken pride in my ability to create new cuss words.

"Knock, knock." I looked over to see Kaylee walking over to my bed. She looked very happy. It was kinda frightening.

"Wow. Nice of you to come see me."

"I've been busy."

"Oh, with things more important than your best friend, you know the one you live with? You know even Ben came to visit before you did. And that's sad considering they stay on the other side of the hospital. You didn't even have to walk anywhere."

"Whatever," she laughed a little.

"Well I see where I stand. Bitch."

"Slut."

"Thank you" I smiled.

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

"You're so stupid," she laughed.

"Not everyone can be accelerated like you."

"So how are you doing?" She became serious again.

"I'm fine. I can't do anything other than walk, but I'm fine. I want to get out of bed and like move but I'm not aloud."

"You know, there's this thing called taking cover. It's where you hide then run when aliens aren't shooting a gun at you. Or you least stay behind stuff, not ride your bike in front of the thing trying to kill you."

"Okay, you are the last person to be lecturing me about this. And I did learn one thing from this though."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Well you know that disease you have where you don't feel pain? I definitely do not have that. I felt that bullet from the moment it hit me. And it didn't feel too nice."
"Yeah, bullets generally don't feel all that great when they're injected into you. And I'm glad you don't have it. I gotta go. I have scouting duty soon, plus someone else is here to see you." What the fuck was she talking about? I was about to ask but she turned and walked away. As she left, Hal came in holding something behind his back.

"Hey, I brought you something," he smiled and sat down next to me.

"OOOHHHH! YAY! A present!" I smiled as he handed it to me. It was a green little frog, with a red heart in its hands that said 'get well soon' on it. It was so cute. "A froggy!"
He laughed, "You know sometimes it's hard to believe you're almost seventeen years old."

"Shut up."

"So did Kaylee tell you?"
"Tell me what?"

"She didn't tell you about her and Ben?" He looked confused. I shook my head. "Really? I totally thought she would have. Well I walked by and saw her and Ben kissing. I bugged Ben about it enough to get him to admit they are dating."

"THEY ARE WHAT?! AND NEITHER OF THEM FUCKING TOLD ME?! I'M GOING TO KILL THEM BOTH!" I jumped out of bed. Bad idea. "GOD! MOTHER FUCKING HELL! I'M GONNA DIE!" Hal reached over and caught me before I fell over. I stood up and he let go. "I'm good. I'm okay." I started walking over to the door. As soon as I was out the door I began looking for Ben. "BENJAMIN ANDREW MASON!"

"Don't you want to talk to Kaylee?"

"As if I could get her to admit anything. I can make Ben talk."

"Point taken. He is probably getting ready to go on a mission. Follow me." Hal led me to the front on the hospital, where I found Ben and Kaylee.

"BEN! WE NEED TO TALK! NOW!"

"Hello to you too."

"I need to speak to you in private." I looked at Kaylee. She didn't move. "Kaylee go like talk to Hal or something."

"No," she said.

"Thanks a lot." Hal rolled his eyes.

"I don't care. Hal needs to talk to you about….guns"

"I do?" I elbowed him. "I mean yes I do."

"We can all talk right here." Something I think Kaylee does this just to annoy me. Like its all fun for her.

"No. Ben's my friend too. I was friends with him before you, therefore I have the right to talk to him if I want. "

"Whatever." She walked over and Hal followed.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME YOU AND KAYLEE ARE DATING?! LIKE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW! I MEAN SERIOUSLY?!" I slapped him.

"Okay. Jeeze calm down. That actually hurt you know."

"GOOD! YOU ARE DATING MY BEST FRIEND AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! NOW I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE. SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND. YOU BREAK HER HEART I WILL BREAK YOUR FACE. AND DON'T THINK FOR ONE MINUTE I WOULDN'T DO IT. YOU KNOW DAMN STRAIGHT I CAN. I HAVE BEFORE!"

"Okay shorty."

"JUST BECAUSE I AM SMALLER THAN YOU DOES NOT MEAN I WILL NOT BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU. AND JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE FUCKING DATING MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T KILL YOU EITHER. JUST REMEMBER THAT BENJAMIN MASON!"

"I don't understand why you made them leave if you're just going to yell at me. They can hear you. You do know that right?"

"Yes I'm well aware. And I'm about to go yell at Kaylee."

"Jeeze now I get why Kaylee didn't want to tell you. You're so damn loud. Now the whole 2nd Mass knows."

"Good!" I said. "And just in case they didn't know," I smiled, he looked scared. "HEY EVERYONE BEN MASON AND KAYLEE PARKER ARE DATING! Now they all know. No more secrets. Now I'm going to go yell at Kaylee." I turned around and went and walked to a nonchalant looking Kaylee and Hal, who was cracking up. I think they over heard that conversation. "Thanks for telling me. Do you know how long I have waited for you to realize that guys like existed and you can talk and interact with them? A long time. AND WHEN YOU FINALLY GET A FUCKING BOYFRIEND, DO YOU TELL YOUR BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD? NO!"

"You make it sound like I was clueless."

"About boys? You still are. There was a time when I questioned whether you knew it was like possible to talk to guys. And now you're dating one. THAT'S KINDA A BIG DEAL."

"You didn't tell me about Hal."

"Yeah well that's different. Have I ever really told you about my boyfriends?"

"No they just kinda showed up and I was like oh, there's another asshole in her bed."

"Exactly! Heyyy. They weren't all assholes. Hal isn't."

"No, they all were...are."

"HEYYYY!" Hal said. She shrugged.

"Okay. Now I didn't walk across the hospital in agonizing pain to be lectured about guys. I came to lecture you about not telling me about YOUR FIRST BOYFRIEND not be lectured by you!"

"Fine. Next time I get first a boyfriend I'll let you know. Feel better?"

"Yes." I said. She and Ben walked away. "Hey wait!" They just kept walking. I decided I would fight with her later. Right now I wanted food. I hadn't eaten in three days. "Let's go get food"

"Okay." He grabbed my hand and we walked over to get food. On our way down there we saw Tom leaving his room. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Hal. Hi, Alyssa. Nice to see you up again, it's been a little too quite around here."

I smiled. "It is nice to be up and moving."

"So are you to heading out to scout?"

"Oh shit! I totally forgot. I have scouting today. Wanna come with me Alyssa?"

"Sure," I nodded. "But food first, then scouting." Hal and Tom laughed.

"She has her priorities," Tom said. We headed off to find food. I got a can of fruit and some water. Hal had already eaten his breakfast. Then we walked over to scout out behind the hospital. It was a forest. We walked around for a little, then decided it was safe and there were no skitters or mechs so we headed back. As we were walking back, I tripped over something and fell on my face. "Shit! That hurt."

"Alyssa! Are you okay?" He helped me up and I dusted off my legs.

"That didn't feel nice. What did I trip on?" I looked around. "It's a person!" Holy shit. Hal kneeled over the person.

"It's a deharnessed kid. It's dead." I looked around. There were bodies everywhere, covered in dirt and leaves.

"There's more. We need to check them all." We started checking the kids' pulses. I found one that had a pulse. "HAL! This one's alive." I rolled her over on her back as Hal walked over.

"It's Karen." Damn. I really shouldn't have said anything. She woke up right as Hal reached her. She gasped and looked around. She looked scared and confused. Hal picked her up and started rushing back to camp. It hurt my side to walk so fast.

"Hal I can't walk that fast. It hurts."

"Come on Alyssa. We need to get her back to camp." Yes I definitely should have left her there. We rushed back to camp. As we came in, we saw Matt. "MATT! Go get Dad. Tell him we found Karen." He nodded and ran away. A few minutes later Tom came walking up.

"We found her buried in the woods, along with a group of deharnessed kids. All dead except her," I explained to Tom.

"I don't understand-"

"She's barely breathing. We have to get her to Dr. Glass"

"Wait, wait, wait," Tom said, trying to stop Hal. Thank God someone else found it slightly suspicious.

"Dad-"

"Wait." Tom had his hand out, trying to stop him. A crowd was starting to form.

"HER HARNESS IS GONE! Please, let her stay!"

"No. Don't let her stay." We looked up to see Ben standing on the stairs with Kaylee. "She's still connected to them."

"How do you know that Ben?" Tom asked.

He looked embarrassed. "I can hear it."

"Dai, you and Lyle take her to the psych ward. Put her in a secure room"

"Dad-"

"Your dad's right. Its better this way. Until we can be sure." Lyle came up and took Karen and everyone followed them. Tom said something about getting Dr. Glass. I was mostly focused on Hal. As we walked by Ben, Hal gave him a murderous glare and I wanted to make sure he didn't punch Ben or something. Anne, Hal, Lourdes, and I waited until she woke up. It was about an hour later. Lourdes cleaned her up and changed her clothes. When she woke up she freaked out and hid in the corner. Everyone ran towards her except me. I stood back and watched Hal, who was watching her.

"Where am I?!" she asked.

"It's okay. You're with the 2nd Mass now. It's Dr. Glass, remember me?" I was the only one who saw Ben and Kaylee walk in.

"Don't talk to her. I told you we can't trust her."

"Thank you, Ben," I said.

"Ben, Alyssa," Anne glared at us.

"She isn't one of us," he argued.

"That's alright, Ben." Tom walked in. "Hello, Karen."

"Oh you're alive. Thank God." Tom was staring at her like he really didn't believe her. She started to cry. "It's the most horrible thing I have ever experienced. Watching them torture you. Not being able to do anything about it." She is so full of bullshit it's not even funny. I am mentally beating myself for not letting her die in the woods.

"We're glad you're back, Karen," Hal said. I also made a mental note to slap him later.

Kaylee fake-coughed. "You're glad she's back." I fist pumped her when Hal turned away from giving her a look.

"We do have a few questions for you," Tom stated. "And a few concerns."

"Sure." She was still hiding in the corner.

"The ones you were found with, the dead kids, were they on the ship with you?"

"Maybe but I don't remember." BULLSHIT!

"What do you remember?"

"I was on the ship, in my pod and when I woke up I saw Hal's face. That's all. Look I understand how crazy this might sound but-"

"How was your harness removed?"

"I'm not sure but I can only guess…"

"What?" Tom looked at her.

"That I had served my purpose."

"Well, get some rest and try to get your strength back. I'm sure Dr. Glass is going to want to run some tests." He turned to leave.

"Can I get some food?" She was staring at my can of fruit I still hadn't finished eating. Hell no she can't have any of my food. "I don't think I have eaten anything in a really long time."

"I promise you will be very well taken care of. All I ask of you is that you don't leave this room. Until we've had a chance-"

"To make sure I'm not a threat."

"Yeah pretty much," I said.

"To make sure you're healthy," Tom corrected, giving me a look.

"Yeah I understand." He turned to leave. "But I'm really happy to be home. All I ever wanted was to be back to the 2nd Mass, with you and Hal."

I sneezed and started coughing. Everyone looked at me. "Sorry. I'm allergic to bullshit." Hal glared at me. "Just calling it like I see it."

"Get some rest. We'll talk more later." Tom walked out and looked at Dai. "I want a guard on that door twenty four seven." Kaylee, Ben, Hal, and I followed Tom out.

"Dad, I want to stay with her," Ben said. Hal was glaring at him. He needs to calm the fuck down.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" You could tell Tom was questionable of the idea.

"I have a better chance than anybody else of finding something that's not right." Ben made a point with his advanced senses; he was at an advantage.

"Alright, fine," Tom agreed. "But I still want a guard on that door."

"I'll do it." I totally forgot about Kaylee. Tom nodded and left.

"Hey, Ben!" Hal called. This was not going to be good. Hal was pissed at everyone but mostly Ben, Tom, and I. Ben for saying we can't trust her, Tom for believing Ben, and me for being a smart ass. I turned and followed Hal, ready to step in between them. I looked at Kaylee and I could tell she was thinking the same thing. "So what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean all the suspicion, all the 'bad feelings', whatever that is. That is Karen."

"So you say. I knew the old Karen, Hal. That thing in there is not Karen."

"So why are you any different then, huh?"

"I guess I'm not. Which is exactly why I can handle her. You won't be able to resist her manipulations-"

"Would you listen to yourself, bro? Look at her! She was half dead when we found her! She's scared and she's freaked out! How's she gonna manipulate me?"

"It's already started." Ben looked at me. "If I were you I would keep him as far away from her as possible. It won't end well." Hal turned around and walked off. I ran after him.

"God you can be such a-"

"Freak?"

"I was gonna say tool. But if you like freak, then sure, we'll stick with that."

"Boy, he can be frustrating."

"Yeah but he is also probably right."

"Seriously? You're siding with him?"

"All I'm saying is can't be a coincidence she showed up, less than a click away from camp, the only one alive."

"Okay so?"

"The Hal Mason I know would be questioning it if it was anyone but an old girlfriend okay?" He rolled his eyes. "Just think about it okay, and try and keep your distance from her. Say Ben's right. It's not out of the realm of possibilities."

"THAT IS KAREN!"

"Yeah, it is and she is going to play you because you have a soft spot for her and she knows that. She is a little actress. And a fake and a liar. Trust me I would know, I was forced to room with her for awhile, in case you forgot." He walked away. I headed down to my room. I didn't feel like arguing with him right now, my side didn't feel good and I needed to rest. I didn't want to bug Anne, since she's busy taking care of Weaver. I hoped he was feeling better. I went back to my room, sat on my bed and started playing with my knives. Sharpening them, twirling them, throwing them at the wall. I did this for a few hours. I was trying to focus more on knives and less on the pain in my stomach. Eventually I feel asleep.

I woke up and it was night time. I heard people rushing around outside so I walked to the front of the hospital to go see what was going on, when I got there I saw people pulling someone from the back of the truck. It was Pope, and Anthony was with him. Pope was unconscious and Anthony was being interrogated by everyone about what happened. I guess Tector and Lyle had found them while out scouting.

"Hey, Tom!"

"Not now, Alyssa."

"I just have a question. Real quick."

"What?"

"Can I have century duty tonight? I want to take Kaylee's spot."

"Yeah sure," was all he said before he ran off. He was really busy.

I know Kaylee was supposed to have century but she probably wanted to be with Ben. They were watching Karen until the morning. I ran to my room and picked up a gun, just in case, then I headed up to the roof of hospital to stand, or sit, guard. It hurt to stand so I sat down. I was watching everyone down below. Trucks coming and going people running around; it was almost like we were a miniature town. It felt nice to be able to do something, to have a responsibility. I hadn't been able to go be on guard duty for a while and this morning was the first time in a few days I went scouting. I sat there watching everything and everyone. I was thinking about Hal. He needed to stay away from Karen. It was not going to end well. She is such a bitch and Hal couldn't see that.

Before I knew it, it was morning and another fighter came to take my spot. I went down to go find Hal and talk to him. I headed out to the back of the hospital and found Hal by the stairs that lead to the woods.

"Hey. I have been looking for you."

"We have got to help her Alyssa."

"Who? Karen?" He nodded. "What are you talking about?"

"Something bad is gonna happen if we don't help her." What the fuck is wrong with him?

"No. You have it backwards. Something is going to happen to the 2nd Mass if we don't do something about her, i.e. get her as far away from us as possible."

"It's Ben." He was thinking. "DAMN IT!"

"What?"

"It's that stuff he's doing with the skitters, with his spikes glowing. He's doing something to her. It's like he is trying to recruit her or something."

"Listen to yourself. This is Ben we are talking about. What makes you think that?"

"I walk in this morning, a few minutes ago and they were holding each other, like almost kissing and their spikes were glowing and it was really freaky and then Ben ran off and Karen said she felt him doing things like trying to connect them."

"Karen said this and Karen said that. Did it ever occur to you that she is lying? Where's Ben now?"

"I don't know."

"You need to find him. If anyone is in trouble, it's him." He tried to argue. "HE'S YOUR BROTHER, HAL! Go find him. NOW!" Hal turned and ran to go find him; I headed back down to where Karen was staying. I needed to talk to her. When I got there, John, another fighter was on watch. "Shift's over John, I can take it from here."

"Okay," he said then he left. I waited until he was out of ear shot to grab my knives and head in there for a nice friendly chat.

"Listen bitch we need to talk."

Kaylee's POV

"You've grown into such a beautiful young lady, you know. Although I have to say your uncle rubbed off on you much more than I thought he would."

My eyes opened to an all white background that blinded my eyes. "Whose voice is that?" I asked, trying to shield the white light from my eyes.

"You mean you don't know? Such a shame you don't even recognize the sound of your own mother's voice, especially with all of that time we spent working on your voice."

My mind stopped turning and my heart stopped beating. "Mom?"

"Yes, dear, it's me. My, how you've grown. And your hair has gotten so long! I knew you'd grow it out since you hated having it so short before. Why are you wearing such dark colors?"

"You know me, Mom. I've never been a girly-girl," I smiled, staring out into the white space. Just hearing the sound of her voice made me grin beyond belief. Our voices sounded similar but mine was much lower than hers. She had always had that classy elegant tone to her rhythmic voice.

She chuckled at me, her laugh sounding like tinkling bells. "We miss you so much, lovely. How's your brother been?"

My smile faded. "I don't know. After you and Dad died we stopped talking to each other and he started living with his friends. After the invasion, I spent a ton f time tracking down his friends' houses but all of those neighborhoods are deserted."

"Invasion? What invasion?"

A small smile spread across my lips. "As crazy as it sounds, over a year ago aliens invaded Earth."

"You're joking."

I shook my head, despite not being able to see my mom's face, which had become a faint blur to my memory. "I wish I was. They invaded during the middle of school."

"That's right! You are…or were in high school now!" Her voice sounded so happy and full. "And Cory only has a year left before college! Oh, well I suppose he had only a year more before this invasion. Tell me more about it. Is Alyssa still with you?"

"Yeah, we've been together this whole time. The first six months it was just the two of us on our own, getting food supplies and gas for the motorcycles we rode to get around-"

"Motorcycles?!"

"Yeah, Mom. They're the best transportation in a post apocalyptic world, as of now anyways."

"You are definitely your uncle's niece, alright. Continue with this story of yours."

"Then one day when Alyssa and were both looking for more food, these two boys found us and told us they were apart of the 'Second Massachusetts Militia Regiment' and offered to take us with them to join the resistance against the aliens."

"And do these two boys have names?" My mom's teasing voice shone through her regular tone.

"Hal and Ben. Hal's Alyssa's age and Ben's mine."

"And?" she asked expectantly.

"And what?" I laughed.

"What's the deal with all of you?"

I laughed again. "Hal and Alyssa ended up dating and much, much later Ben and I did too." I let out a breath of air. "It's such an amazing story, Mom. I wish I could tell you all of it, but I have to get up soon. I'm a fighter now, in the resistance, and I'm fighting for other people's lives now."

"I'm so proud of you, dear. Ever since you were a little girl I knew you were destined for great things. I love you so much, sweetheart. When you find your brother, tell him that for me too, okay? Oh, and Karen says hi. She wants you to let Alyssa know she's proud of her and loves her too. Goodbye, Kaylee girl. I love you."

My eyes snapped open and it took me a few moments to remember where I was.

Oh yeah. Earth.

I shifted slightly, and realized my right hand was locked around the necklace I never took off, and once I let go there was a dark imprint of the pendant in the palm of my hand. Mom's symbol.

I let out a sigh and flipped off my cot in the now hospital room Alyssa and I shared. She was completely knocked out (which I wouldn't blame her considering the shit she's been through the past few days) and sprawled out over her cot. She'd been resting a lot since she got shot three days ago, and Hal had been in here nonstop. So I had made a point to stay out of the room all day.

I subconsciously pulled on my hoodie and my sneakers as I let my mind wander freely. That dream had felt so real. It seemed like I could recognize my mom's voice anywhere at anytime. Strangely enough, I hadn't had a lot of time to think much about my parents. That was a good thing for me, since I didn't need past scars to become wounds again. But I'm glad they passed away before this war, because I wouldn't have wanted to see them experience this hell. And if I had them to look after too, it would only end up messy. I guess something that made me braver was knowing I had no family to lose or hurt if I died. Knowing Alyssa had people to take care of her if I was gone made me stronger and braver too.

Once all of my weapons were on me and my sneakers were laced up tightly, I combed out my knotted hair and fixed it to how it should look usually. I rarely had time to even consider my appearance, apart from hygiene which I never neglect I'll have you know. I'm referring to rarely brushing my hair, my torn-up jeans, and the holes that kept appearing in my bloodstained jackets. Not to mention the countless bruises, scrapes, and scars that were all over me.

My mindless thinking was good for me sometimes, but other times it wasn't the best thing. Bad things included being upset all day, angry all day, quiet all day, bad thoughts, and not paying attention to the real world, such as now for instance. This caused me to trip over a medical cart and onto the stairs that led up to the roof.

"Fuck!" I cursed under my breath as my side hit some steps. Shit, I don't know if I can get up on my own. I gritted my teeth and tried to grab the railing on the wall but couldn't reach it by a millimeter. My fucking ribs.

"Kaylee?!" a voice whispered.

I looked up to see Ben rushing over to my side and putting an arm around my waist to help pull me up. "What did you do?!"

I groaned painfully as I leaned on Ben and fully stood up. "Tripped and landed on my ribs. I guess they're still healing."

"Are you alright?"

I nodded, just wanting to forget about falling. The two of us went up the stairs and I felt Ben looking over at me often, making sure I was okay. "Ben, I'm fine, I promise. It's not like I was blown off a bridge or something."

I saw him smile and shake his head. "Sounds like something you would do." The two of us opened the door to the roof and walked out to the edge where we sat down. In a way, we weren't being totally useless; we were still watching the skies and the road for the 2nd Mass.

We sat in silence for a bit, before I leaned back and laid on the rooftop. "Back in Boston the skies were never this clear." I stared up at the stars shining back down at me. It was truly the most beautiful thing to see, apart from city lights. I always had a fascination with city and star lights.

Ben leaned back too and stared with me. "You're right."

"Where did you live again? Near Acton?"

"Somerville, which is about five miles northwest of Boston."

"Did you come to Boston often?" I looked over at him as he continued staring at the stars.

"All the time. There was so much to do in Boston that you couldn't do in Somerville. Plus there were always great concerts around the city on the weekends."

I smiled. "I went to those all of the time. That's probably one of the number one things I miss." We were quiet again, just enjoying the company of each other. The night was so peaceful that for a few moments, I forgot where I was and what was happening at the present moment in time. Moments like these were the ones I cherished, moments where I could pretend all the bad things in my life never happened and where I could shut my eyes and let go.

I let out a breath and opened my eyes again. It was about two in the morning, judging by the sky and stars and we had at least three more hours before we had to report back to Weaver's new room. The stars had never been so easy to read for me; maybe that was thanks to the countless nights I had spent on century duty staring up at them and that we had moved from smoggy Boston to someplace in Virginia I think. I could be wrong but I had no idea where we were.

"My mom owned this music shop in Boston," I said out of nowhere. "I went there everyday after school and all day on the weekends and watched my mom give voice lessons and instrument lessons. When the shop closed, she'd teach me piano, guitar, drums, and work on my voice with me. I practically lived there, from when I was two until I was eleven."

"You play the drums too?" Ben looked over at me.

"Does that really surprise you?" I smirked at him and he smiled back. I looked back to the sky. "It was on Huntington Avenue, which was like the heart of music in Boston. I remember there was this stage in the park right across the street, and I was always telling my mom how I would sing on that stage when I was older. That was the only dream I had when I was a kid," I laughed to myself at how different I was back then.

"Wait, Huntington Avenue?" Ben's eyebrows creased.

"Yeah, why?"

"Renee's Music Shop?"

My heart stopped. "Have you heard of it?"

"I used to go there with Matt and my mom, all the time."

"You're totally screwing with me right now," I shook my head at him. There was no way.

"I'm dead serious. Matt used to play the trumpet, and he took lessons with your mom. I would come down with my mom to look at the instruments and hear this girl play the piano every time we were there," he said staring at me with a tiny smile on his lips.

"That girl was me," I grinned, so widely that I almost started laughing.

"Now you're screwing with me," he looked at me disbelievingly.

"I'm not even joking I played that grand piano from the second I walked into that shop until I left. My mom told me that her customers liked it so she continued letting me play."

"So we saw each other before the attack," Ben grinned back at how crazy this was.

"We did. Although you look nothing like your younger self. I never forgot any of my mom's customers."

"That's probably because I wore these huge glasses that were the dorkiest things ever."

I laughed. "Ben Mason with glasses? I thought something was missing from your appearance."

He laughed too. "I was always wondering if that was your mom this whole time. I knew her name was Renee Parker but I figured it was just a coincidence."

"A lady who teaches voice, instruments, and happens to ironically have the same surname as me. Gee, it just wasn't your day was it, Mason?"

He gave me a look. "Shut up, Parker." I smiled and looked back at the stars again. "What happened to the shop?"

My smile went back to a straight line. "I don't really know. After my parents died, I never went there again; too painful you know? And after the invasion, I didn't want to know. I thought that I was doing myself a favor by leaving it how I remembered it to be, as opposed to what it looks like now." I kept my eyes looking up forward, trying to think of something else besides the music shop. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.

Ben's hand gently intertwined with mine and I felt him gently kiss my forehead. "Thanks for sharing that with me."

I smiled. "Thanks for listening."

By morning Ben and I made our way to the front of the hospital for a mission that we were supposed to be going on with Dai and Tector for food or something along the lines of that. I wasn't all clear on the entire layout of the mission since I've just been blocking a lot out today. Not really sure why, but I'm just a little shut down I suppose. I'm tired and I've been thinking way too much today. And all I've been thinking about is my parents and the music shop. Being someone with depression issues, that wasn't the greatest thing for me to be doing at the moment, but I couldn't stop. Ever since that dream I had I felt like I had a wake up call or something. Like I haven't been spending enough time thinking about my parents. I've been trying to move on and shut it out since the day they died, but I just can't. And there was no way I would talk about it with anyone since I absolutely loathe talking about my feelings and my past, so I guess I would be stuck in this stage for a really long time.

"You alright? You've been brooding all day." Ben's eyes flickered over to mine as we pushed open the front doors of the hospital.

"Just been thinking about a lot of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Just stuff," I said looking around at the people getting geared up to go on other missions.

"Like your parents?"

I frowned. "Can you hear my thoughts now, too?"

Ben cracked a smile. "Believe it or not, Parker, I'm starting to figure out how you work."

"I highly doubt that," I smirked.

"BEN! WE NEED TO TALK! NOW!" Alyssa burst through the door and screamed. Hal and Alyssa approached us fast.

"Hello to you too," Ben said calmly, looking at the two of them.

"I need to speak to you in private," Alyssa told him, and then looked at me. When I staid put, she said, "Kaylee go like talk to Hal or something."

"No," I stated simply.

"Thanks a lot," Hal glared at me.

"I don't care. Hal needs to talk to you about….guns," she lied.

"I do?" Hal asked Alyssa. She jabbed him in the ribs. "I mean yes I do."

"We can all talk right here," I stated, just to make Alyssa irritated.

"No. Ben's my friend too. I was friends with him before you so therefore I have the right to talk to him if I want."

"Whatever." I walked a few feet away with Hal.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME YOU AND KAYLEE ARE DATING?! LIKE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW! I MEAN SERIOUSLY?!" Alyssa shouted at Ben's face.

My eyes burned into Hal's. "You fucking told her?"

"I thought you had already told her!" He threw his hands up, sheer terror written all over his face.

"GOOD! YOU ARE DATING MY BEST FRIEND AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! NOW I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE. SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND. YOU BREAK HER HEART I WILL BREAK YOUR FACE. AND DON'T THINK FOR ONE MINUTE I WOULDN'T DO IT. YOU KNOW DAMN STRAIGHT I CAN. I HAVE BEFORE!"

"I fucking hate you, you bastard," I hissed through gritted teeth.

"JUST BECAUSE I AM SMALLER THAN YOU DOES NOT MEAN I WILL NOT BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU. AND JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE FUCKING DATING MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T KILL YOU EITHER. JUST REMEMBER THAT BENJAMIN MASON!"

Hal looked ready to shit himself.

"I don't think I've ever hated you more than I do now."

"You've hated me?" Hal asked surprised.

"HEY EVERYONE BEN MASON AND KAYLEE PARKER ARE DATING!"

"Fuck you," I said calmly, and I saw him swallow.

Alyssa came stomping up. "Thanks for telling me. Do you know how long I have waited for you to realize that guys like existed and you can talk and interact with them? A long time. AND WHEN YOU FINALLY GET A FUCKING BOYFRIEND, DO YOU TELL YOUR BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD? NO!"

"You make it sound like I was clueless." I talked to guys, I just never cared about dating them.

"About boys? You still are. There was a time when I questioned whether you knew it was like possible to talk to guys. And now you're dating one. THAT'S KINDA A BIG DEAL."

"You didn't tell me about Hal," I pointed out crossing my arms.

"Yeah well that's different. Have I ever really told you about my boyfriends?"

"No they just kinda showed up and I was like oh, there's another asshole in her bed." Hal and Ben started laughing.

"Exactly! Heyyy. They weren't all assholes. Hal isn't."

"No, they all were...are," I glanced at Hal.

"HEYYYY!" Hal exclaimed. I shrugged nonchalantly at him.

"Okay. Now I didn't walk across the hospital in agonizing pain to be lectured about guys. I came to lecture you about not telling me about YOUR FIRST BOYFRIEND not be lectured by you!" Alyssa's cheeks were red with anger.

"Fine. Next time I get first a boyfriend I'll let you know. Feel better?" I pulled Ben's arm and we started walking over to the truck to leave for the mission.

"Yes," she said. Once she finally realized what I said, she yelled out, "Hey wait!"

Well, that was probably the most embarrassed I've ever been in my entire life. And having Alyssa as my best friend, that's really saying something.

Just as I was about to hop into the bed of the truck, I saw something moving. When I looked up, I saw a woman standing, watching me. And a man was standing next to her, too.

I jumped and immediately pushed back off the truck bed and backpedaled a few feet. Holy fucking shit.

"What's up?" Ben put a hand on my shoulder.

I said nothing but stared back at the man and woman, brows slightly creased and my eyes squinting slightly at the two. Once my eyes confirmed my suspicion, I whipped around and started climbing the stairs to the front doors again.

"Kaylee! What's wrong?" Ben grabbed my forearm but I just kept walking. "Talk to me!"

"I can't go on the mission," I stated and weaved my way around people.

"Why? You never bail on missions."

"I just can't, okay?" I moved out of the way of someone carrying a handful of boxes to the cafeteria.

"Talk to me, Parker!"

"I'm not mentally…able to, alright? Just trust me on this, Ben. I'll see you later." I kissed his cheek and ran down the hall into the main wing Dr. Glass was in.

"Kaylee? Is everything alright?" She asked, alerted by how fast I ran into the door.

"I think I'm having hallucinations again."

Alyssa's POV

"What are you doing?" Karen was staring at my knives. That's right bitch, you should be scared of me!

"I just want to have a nice friendly conversation, a little girl talk. Just clear up some stuff," I smiled at her. "I just want to let you know that Hal is my boyfriend now. Not yours so you need to stay away. Because if you don't you'll regret it."

"What are you gonna do?"

"You remember Kaylee don't you? And all her guns? She didn't like you either and I'm sure she would be more than happy to help devise a nice long and painful death for you."

"Hal would hate you."

"Who said anything about Hal knowing it was me? It'll look like a freak accident."

"Is that all you wanted to talk about? About Hal? That's what this is all about?"

"Yeah, it's about Hal. And Ben, and Tom, and the whole 2nd Mass and how you are going to crawl back to your new alien friends and you are going to leave us the fuck alone. Do I make myself clear?"

"So it's the two of us now, Alyssa. Poor innocent Alyssa Carter with a heart of gold. I pity you; you have spent so much time pushing people away. Now you're pushing him away too. I know about your little arguments and all that. You don't think you deserve him. And you're right, you don't. Your just another whore who fell for him and when he gets bored, and trust me he will, he will leave your for his next girl."

"Just like he left you for me? He gave up on you. Stopped looking for you and went to me. So suck on that you fucking bitch."

"You know, I used to feel sorry for you, for the things you said about your dad. But I think you actually liked the attention you got from it."

"You don't know anything about me."

"I think I do. And maybe that life you had before the invasion…maybe that's the life you deserve."

I got my knife ready and as soon as I released them she jumped up the wall and flipped around and ended up behind me. I spun around and was able to duck out of the way of her kick. I jumped back and grabbed my knives and threw them and her. One hit the top of her arm and the other hit in the thigh and she let out a scream of pain. As she staggered back I jumped and hit her in the head. She fell over and I kicked my stomach into her gut, as I did she grabbed my foot and pulled me down so my head slammed into the ground. She stood up and stood over me and put her foot in my stomach, I tried to push her off but she was so much taller and bigger than me.

"Get the fuck off of me right now you mother fucking bitch or so help me I will kill you."

"Well, you don't really seem to be in a position to be giving out threats do you?" She took my knife and put threw it into my hand. I yelled out in pain. HOLY MOTHER FUCK THAT HURT LIKE A MOTHER FUCKER! I lifted up my hand and could see the handle of the knife in on one side and the tip of the blade on the other side, and then she picked me up and grabbed me by the shirt and threw me against the wall. I could feel my stitches ripping. I fell to the ground and hit my head again and I could barely keep my eyes open. I saw one of my knives lying on the floor so with my good hand I grabbed her ankle and pulled her down so she landed her back landed on the knife. She screamed. I tried to get up but she beat me to it and she pulled the gun from my pocket and pointed it at me. As she pulled the trigger I kicked her leg so she ended up shooting the gun into wall.

"KAREN!" I heard Ben yell. "What's happening?!" Apparently we aren't the only ones down here anymore. Karen threw herself into the wall and fell down, right as Ben burst through the door. Seeing Ben with his gun out and ready to shoot was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

Kaylee's POV

"Has this been happening for awhile now?" Anne looked up at me from her scratched up clipboard.

"I think it started a few weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it but when I saw my mom and dad in the parking lot I realized it was a lot worse than I thought it was."

"How much sleep have you been getting?"

"One, two hours a day."

Anne's eyebrows creased and her lips tugged down into a frown. "One or two?! You know that you're supposed to have a minimum of eight a day right?"

I nodded. "I know. If I sleep longer than two hours, I have nightmares."

"When did you realize this?" she asked writing what I had said down onto the paper on the clipboard.

"About a few weeks after Fitchburg," I said, trying to remember how long ago that was. Five months ago? Six?

"What were the nightmares about?"

"Dr. Glass, I need to know how I can fix my hallucinations, not my sleeping problem."

She sighed. "Give me a few hours, okay? You have a very complicated case and I have other patients I still need to attend to."

"Okay. I'll come back later tonight then." I picked my Calico off the counter next to me and slung it on my back before opening the door to the office Anne was using. Since I wasn't going on the mission with the others, I was going to have to go to a mandatory meeting in Weaver's office. Those who were out on missions were excused from going, and those who were not were required to go to them. Everyone except for Alyssa, of course. She's not really all that clear on what the word 'mandatory' means.

Nearly the rest of the fighters were here, apart from the ones on watch and scout. The sad thing was there used to be a lot more of protectors than there were sitting around me now. The numbers have dwindled even lower than they have before.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves, and I realized that not all of us were here for the meeting. Weaver has this policy that until everyone was here, the meeting wouldn't start and he would keep us as long as it would take for everyone to show up and for the actual meeting.

"Hi. Sorry." Tom came in quickly and sat down at the empty seat in the front row.

"That's twice this week, Tom," Weaver said sternly, staring straight at Tom.

"Yes, sir," Tom nodded and awkwardly looked about the room.

"Well I just underlined some pointers for a discussion we're going to have this morning. Fact is this whole company has become too relaxed. Too complacent. I can see it already in the neglected chores, sloppy drilling, tardiness," he paused and looked at Tom who slowly moved his eyes to the floor and back at Weaver.

"Captain, with all due respect, the 2nd Mass has been through quite a lot these past few months. A little R&R can't be a bad thing."

Weaver shook his head. "I disagree, Tom. It can be the death of us. We cannot afford to let our guard down for even one single day." Weaver took a few shaky breaths. What was up with him? "The whole reason we came here was to restock and prep for the long haul…" The coffee in Weaver's hand started spilling out of his cup as his hand started shaking violently. "On the road to Charleston," he finished as he set his cup down with his hand still shaking.

The moment he collapsed to his knees, one thing came to my mind and that was the harness biting his leg two weeks ago. And he had stopped by Anne's a numerous amount of times since then.

"H-hold on. I'm fine!" Weaver tried to say convincingly while his whole body started shaking. "This was the uh-" And then he slammed into the blinds covering the windows and crashed to the floor.

Right then and there I was on my feet and running to Dr. Glass's office faster than I have ever ran before. Thank God her office was close to Weaver's and that I didn't have to run far to find her. "Dr. Glass!" I shouted as I skidded into her office. "It's Weaver." Before I could even continue, she sped out past me and ran to get to our fallen leader to assess the damage.

"Get a room ready!" Anne shouted to me, "Lourdes will know what to do!"

After dashing to the wounded wing and getting Lourdes, we found a room in the ICU of the hospital and Lourdes started setting it up and whatever else medics do to a room. I stood outside and waited until I saw Tom and the male fighters carrying a spastic Weaver out of the office. I motioned for them to come to this room and as soon as they saw me they ran him into the room. I knew it wasn't my place to be inside somewhere hectic, so I turned around and walked away from the working medics and just stayed in a relatively quiet hallway where I could see outside the front of the hospital and the room Weaver was in.

This was scary. We've obviously lost fighters before, but if we lost our leader, the man responsible for keeping the 2nd Mass alive, all hope would be lost. Captain Weaver was the spark that ignited our fire and the reason we still have people left in the 2nd Mass. Tom would obviously take over if Weaver didn't make it, but our odds of surviving would still diminish greatly. Tom and Weaver balanced each other out perfectly, which is why the 2nd Mass is so well led. Tom thought of the people's needs and Weaver thought of the battle strategies and together they were phenomenal. It would be taking the yin away from the yang or vice versa.

We gathered back into the meeting room about an hour later with me thinking about how bad this situation was for every minute of it. Nothing was great about the meeting, and in fact, things were just getting worse. Tom told us all that Weaver's condition was extremely serious, and that so far Dr. Glass has yet to find a solution to it. Then once Tom declared that everyone needed to get packed up for the road to Charleston, Jamil spoke up.

"Like when?"

"We should be ready to leave by tonight," Tom nodded.

"Uh, well that might be a problem."

"Okay," Tom said in a tone that asked for Jamil to continue.

"Well on Captain Weaver's orders I've been draining the fuel from the vehicles and running them on diesel to keep the hospital generator going. We don't have enough fuel to get to Charleston," Jamil stated.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

"I mean, we barely had enough to get here from Richmond."

"Captain Weaver knew about this?" Tom asked Dai who was standing silently in the corner.

"We've tried sending scouts to depots for weeks and haven't had any luck," Dai said and some fighters around the room nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, which is why the captain had me using the diesel for the generator. We have a bigger problem; I've already drained the diesel from the trucks and we only have enough fuel to keep the generators going for twelve hours, max."

And every last bit of hope left in Kaylee Parker's soul just flew out the window.

"When were you going to give Captain Weaver that news?" Tom questioned him.

"He knew. Everything." Tom took that fairly hard, as he was quiet for a few moments. He made his way to behind the desk Weaver used and sat in the plastic chair.

"Alright. Obviously first order of business is to widen the search for fuel. Dai, send out three scouting parties: one to the east, one to the south, and one to the west. Give them enough fuel for four hours out, for hours back. Jamil, if we shut down all the power except to the ICU where Dr. Glass is working, how much more time will we have on the generator?"

"I'm guessing roughly double."

"Okay, that's good, let's do that. The rest of us, we gotta get packed and we gotta get loaded for Charleston. There's no time to lose."

I stood up and got out the door first, since I was in the back. My feet carried me to the front of the hospital swiftly, where I found Ben standing on the stone stairs. I was about to relay the Captain Weaver incident when I realized his eyes were glued forward and he was still. "What's up?" I asked curiously.

"She's here."

"Who?" My eyes followed his and I saw the Berserkers, Dai, Tom, Alyssa, and Hal all walking towards us in a large group. Hal had something in his arms, and when I focused hard enough, my heart dropped in my chest because my eyes were showing me someone I thought I would never see again in my wildest dreams.

Karen. Karen Nadler. The girl who was captured by skitters, courtesy of me.

She was back.

She was alive.

"Dad her harness is gone, please!" I heard Hal shout at his father.

"Don't let her stay," Ben said with an uneasy tone to his voice. "We can't trust her; she's still attached to them."

Tom whirled around. "How do you know that, Ben?"

He paused, and by the way his fingers twitched I could tell he was unsure if he should share what he was thinking. Nevertheless, he did. "I can-I can hear it."

Tom blinked and then turned back towards Hal, Dai, and Alyssa. Ben and I were pretty far away from them, so I couldn't hear all of which they were saying, but I did make out 'psych ward' and 'secure room.'

Tom, Hal, Alyssa, Dai, and Lyle ran past us into the hospital with Hal glaring at Ben as went by. Remember how I said that reading people's eyes was my sixth sense? Ben's were the second easiest for me to read, Alyssa's being the first because we've known each other since I was born. Ben and I have spent so much time together it was second nature to me. So I automatically knew how much Hal's glare bothered him. Hal and Ben still hadn't cleared up whatever ongoing tension they had. I didn't know if any of this really had an affect Hal, but I knew it cut straight through Ben. He was still struggling to find out who he was and how to deal with people constantly reminding him he was different than the rest of us. And I couldn't imagine how that must feel coming from his own brother.

I clutched his forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze letting him know that I was there. His green eyes turned to mine instantly and he gave me an appreciative smile. He extended his hand toward me and took my hand in his. Ben squeezed my hand lightly and then led me into the hospital. The two of us went to the psych ward immediately and waited outside, watching Lourdes and Anne fix up Karen and soon enough, the ex-solider of the 2nd Mass woke up. She began gasping erratically and Ben and I opened the door right then.

"Where am I?!" she asked terrified. Karen started breathing harder and thrashed around.

Anne was at her side in a blink. "You're here at the 2nd Mass. Look at me; it's Dr. Glass, remember me?"

"Don't talk to her," Ben shook his head and looked at Hal. "Told you we can't trust her."

"Thank you, Ben," Alyssa said and nodded in his direction.

"Ben, Alyssa," Anne said in a scolding sort of tone.

"She's not one of us," the middle Mason stated.

Tom entered the room. "That's alright, Ben. Hello, Karen."

Karen's breathing and thrashing ceased the moment Tom said her name. "Oh you're alive. Thank God."

Tom shrugged nonchalantly. "As you can see."

Tears filled in her misty blue eyes. "It's the most horrible thing I have ever experienced. Watching them torture you. Not being able to do anything about it." And that's when I stopped believing that she legitimately was scared to be here.

"We're glad you're back, Karen," Hal announced, making the brutal mistake of thinking that we were indeed happy with the return of a lying bitch that Alyssa and I had to endure for months.

I coughed to get his attention and then murmured, "You're glad she's back." Hal looked over his shoulder and through a menacing look at me, and when he turned forward again, Alyssa fist bumped me.

"We do have some questions though," Tom continued. "And a few concerns."

"Sure," she nodded, cowering so she appeared more innocent.

"The ones you were found with, the dead kids, were they on the ship with you?"

"Maybe, but I don't remember." Ha ha that's cute.

"What do you remember?"

"I was on the ship, in my pod and when I woke up I saw Hal's face. That's all. Look I understand how crazy this might sound but-"

"How was your harness removed?"

"I'm not sure but I can only guess…"

"What?"

"That I had served my purpose."

A mutual silence fell about the room until Tom spoke up again. "Well, get some rest and try to get your strength back. I'm sure Dr. Glass is going to want to run some tests." Tom turned to leave.

"Can I get some food? I don't think I have eaten anything in a really long time."

"I promise you will be very well taken care of. All I ask of you is that you don't leave this room. Until we've had a chance-"

"To make sure I'm not a threat," Karen finished.

"Yeah pretty much," Alyssa said exactly what I was thinking.

"To make sure you're healthy," Tom looked at Alyssa disapprovingly.

"Yeah I understand." Tom attempted to leave again. "But I'm really happy to be home. All I ever wanted was to be back to the 2nd Mass, with you and Hal."

Alyssa sneezed and pretended to cough. "Sorry. I'm allergic to bullshit." It took all of my self control to refrain from laughing. "Just calling it like I see it."

"Get some rest. We'll talk more later." All of us walked out and Tom told Dai, "I want a guard on that door twenty four seven."

"Dad, I want to stay with her," Ben told his dad.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Tom frowned.

"I have a better chance than anybody else of finding something that's not right," Ben pointed out.

"Alright, fine," Tom nodded. "But I still want a guard on that door."

"I'll do it," I offered. I had a thing or two to say to Karen, and plus I needed to keep an eye on Ben, too. We had no idea what kind of stunts she was going to pull.

"Hey, Ben," Hal called, storming up to his younger brother. Oh God this wasn't going to end well. "So what's going on?"

Ben slid his hands in his pockets in a casual manner. "What do you mean?"

"All the suspicion. All the crap about those 'bad feelings,' whatever that is. That's Karen," Hal pointed through the windows.

"So you say. I knew the old Karen, Hal. That thing in there is not Karen."

"So why are you any different then, huh?" Hal got closer into Ben's face.

Ben's eyes hardened. "I guess I'm not. Which is exactly why I can handle her. You won't be able to resist her manipulations-"

"Would you listen to yourself, bro?" Hal finally exploded. "Look at her! She was half dead when we found her! She's scared and she's freaked out! How's she gonna manipulate me?"

"It's already started." Ben glanced at Alyssa. "If I were you I would keep him as far away from her as possible. It won't end well."

Hal stormed off. "God you can be such a-"

"Freak?" Ben called to him from down the hall.

Hal stopped and faced him. "I was gonna say tool. But if you like freak, then sure, we'll stick with that." And he walked down the hall with Alyssa at his side.

Dai and Lyle stood there, slightly shocked at Hal's harsh words as if they never heard them before. "I think we're good, guys," I told them and motioned for them to go help somewhere else." The two of them reluctantly left the psych ward and I looked at Ben for a moment.

"Don't," he said icily. "Don't say anything."

"Wasn't going to," I walked around the corner to get a table and two chairs for us to watch Karen tonight. Lately Ben was having a hard time being vulnerable, which I totally understood because that was the worst thing in the world to me, but he was still lingering in the darkness of his heart sometimes. I thought for awhile that he was doing better, but whenever Hal said something to throw him off his edge, he plunged right back into that pool of darkness. It was hard remembering what Dark Ben was like, since he seemed to be Regular Ben again. Now I had seen a little bit of both lately.

The two of us were sitting in complete silence next to each other as we both stared at a sleeping Karen through the really old barred windows. Usually we were in comfortable silence, but this time there was a large amount of tension surrounding us. "Do Hal's remarks really mean that much to you?"

"He's my brother. He matters to me."

"That's not what I asked you," I said and looked at Ben who was looking forward. "Do you seriously let his idiotic remarks get to you?"

"You try having your own sibling think of you as a freak!" Ben shouted at me, eyes filled with anger and hatred.

"Been there, done that," I murmured and looked forward again.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, still extremely angry and fed up with Hal.

"My brother wouldn't even look at me when we passed each other in our house hallway when my parents died. Do you know how hard that was? Having the only person in the world who knows what you're going through ignore you and make you feel like an outsider and unloved?" Ben silenced himself instantly and I could see his green eyes regret speaking out so harshly. "It hurt. Like hell. So don't fucking tell me that I don't know what you're going through. You don't know the half of it," I said quieter after realizing how loud my voice had gotten.

Ugh, that was weird. I don't usually go spilling out stories from my past. Whatever.

Ben sighed. "I'm sorry. That was totally uncalled for and I didn't mean to blow up on you like that. Hal just makes me so frustrated and-"

"Why?" I asked softly. "Why do you let him get to you?"

"I'm supposed to let 'freak' and 'tool' pass by without affecting me?" he frowned slightly.

"You're supposed to work out whatever the hell is wrong with your relationship. You have a brother, Ben. I know Hal can be an ass almost ninety percent of the time, but you gotta understand that he loves you and cares about you. If I had a brother like that, I sure as hell wouldn't let him go."

Ben put his hand on top of mine and held it tight. "I know. It's just hard to try to find the words to say."

"I get it. Just try, alright? I'm sure he wants to fix it too."

Ben nodded and let out a breath. He was really, really upset and all of those angry emotions were making him even more frustrated. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a hug that he clearly needed. His breaths got a little shorter, and he held me tightly trying to reassure me that he was fine.

"When are you going to realize that you don't have to be so strong around me?" I whispered in his ear.

"The same time you realize that you don't need to be so strong around me. You know I've never seen you cry." He looked down at my eyes.

"That's crazier than aliens invading the planet," I smiled slightly. "Kaylee Parker doesn't cry."

"You know crying isn't all that bad," Ben raised an eyebrow.

"It's a sign of weakness," I stated, looking back up to him.

"It's okay to be weak you know," Ben tucked some hair behind my ear and gave me his 'I'm serious' look.

"The only weakness I have is you," I admitted quietly. "And you're something I don't plan on losing anytime soon."

Ben kissed me softly and then pulled me back into his tight embrace. "You're my weakness, too. And I'm never, ever letting you go. No matter what happens."

Ben and I took a breather before going on duty to guard the psych ward. Both of us agreed that the less time we spent in there the better, even though Ben would be helping the 2nd Mass by seeing if anything was wrong with Karen. Something was definitely off with her, and I knew for a fact that she was not the same girl I met a year ago when I first came to the 2nd Mass with Alyssa. That girl was a bitchy fighter who hated Alyssa and I. The girl inside acted helpless and didn't even notice the snarky remarks Alyssa and I made earlier in the day, which were spoken in a normal tone. If the Karen I knew was still there, she would've called us out on it, or at least tried to come up with a comeback. The Karen sitting there simply remained quiet and watchful.

That's how I know something's not right.

So Ben and I came in while she was still dozing just so we could have time to think of how this was going to work out. I decided that I would stay hidden in the corner because I wanted to see if she would react differently if it was just her and Ben in a room. I knew for a fact that if whatever plan she was forming was going to work she had to get Ben on her side in order for it to progress. Ben dropped a tray of food off in her room and sat back down in the chair that faced directly towards the window and waited patiently for her to wake up. I leaned as far as I could into the wall and silenced my breathing. I was good at blending into the shadows and being quiet. I just hoped that Karen didn't do anything…weird. Not going to lie, I'm a little uncomfortable being here. I'm not scared, but I'd feel better if I was out shooting a mech or skitter column than being in the same breathing space as alienified Karen Nadler.

I heard her wake up and begin eating the food in front of her automatically. Ben casually looked in the corner towards me for a brief moment and then back to the table where he was cleaning his Heckler and Koch to distract himself from the uneasy situation.

"It's good to see you again, Ben. I remember all the stories Hal used to tell me about you." Ben began putting his gun back together and continued to ignore Karen's mindless chatter. "I forgot what real food tastes like," she said with a ton of food crammed in her mouth. "Is that Pope guy still cooking or is Uncle Scott back in the kitchen?"

Uncle Scott. That's a name I hadn't heard in awhile. It was still a little hard talking about him and how he passed away.

"Pope's gone and Uncle Scott was killed when mech bullets tore him apart when he was trying to save a group of kids pinned down by a skitter column," Ben said bluntly. That image was still burned into my skull, and I'm positive that it would stick with me for the rest of my life.

There was a lot of silence from Karen's end. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "I liked Uncle Scott."

"Well, he's dead," Ben's eyes became dark and hollow, "along with a lot of really, really good people. People who were trying to fight your masters."

"They're not my masters. Not anymore."

Ben leaned back in his chair and stared at Karen. "You might be able to fool the others, but not me. I can hear you."

"You can 'hear' me…?" She sounded extremely confused. Oh bullshit, sweetheart. Even I can hear through your awful acting. "What're you talking about?"

"You're still connected to them. You can hear it too."

I heard her bed squeak. "I do hear something. It's kind of like a TV and a radio and static playing all at once; is that it? Is that what you're talking about?" Her voice was right by my ear now, and I assumed she had her face pressed against the bars of the window.

I saw Ben take a breath. "Yeah. Something like that."

"That's just noise," the sound of her voice was making me sick. "Distant noise. I for sure don't feel connected anymore 'cause I remember what that felt like."

"You do," Ben stated. She was obviously still connected to them so she clearly knows what it feels like.

"Yeah," she took in a sharp breath of air, "like a hand wrapped around my throat. Moving me around like I was a rag doll…hardly able to breathe. Forced to witness horrible things. Powerless to speak out. You must remember."

Ben's face grew darker than I've ever seen it. "I remember."

"And you were paired with the skitters," Karen seemed to find that amusing. "Imagine ten times that." I heard her footsteps move back to her bed and it squeak when she sat down again. When I looked at Ben, he had a face I'd never seen on him before. It was a look of reminisce and I could tell he was trying to push old memories from resurfacing again. I even saw him blink back the excess water in his eyes.

"Can I get some more bread?" Karen requested, making sure her voice sounded vulnerable and weak. This was pathetic.

"Yeah. Sure," Ben said in a 'whatever' sort of way, and he got up to leave.

You're time to shine, Parker.

I slowly moved out of my hiding spot and sat in the empty chair that was next to Ben's. Karen was smiling an eerie smile, and as soon as I was in her field if vision, her smile went back to a straight line and her eyes widened for a split second before returning to normal. I scoffed. "I knew there was something wrong with you."

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to know you're an awful actress." Her baby blue eyes remained still, but I could tell she was tense from me seeing her slip up.

She sat there, silently scrutinizing me. "You cut your bangs." I watched her, watching me and studying my every move. It's like she was storing data on me. "You're much quieter than I remember."

"I'm the opposite actually," I corrected while leaning forward in my chair. "But enough about me. I want to talk about you and what exactly you're planning to do with Ben and the 2nd Mass."

Karen cocked her head at me. "Ben is your boyfriend."

"Just like Hal is no longer yours."

Her eyes met mine directly and she slowly made her way to the barred window a few feet from my face. "You genuinely believe that Hal is of value to me still?"

"If what you're planning is to succeed, than yes. I believe so."

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about-"

"No, you're absolutely sure of what I'm talking about. If you wanted to make this believable, you wouldn't have been the only deharnessed kid who survived in the woods. You would've shared some unimportant intel about your time with the Overlords, or at least made it up, to seem like you wanted nothing to do with them any longer. Hell, you would've at least learned to lie better so that I couldn't see straight through it."

Karen took a few moments of silence for no apparent reason, or maybe just to freak me out. "I'll admit you have some fairly promising suggestions, however, that doesn't change the fact that Ben is already starting to lose focus. All it took was for me to connect with him in a way no one else can, and he was thrown off balance," she paced a little as she said this, eyes on me the entire time. She was waiting for me to show discomfort or terror.

I remained still. "You know, Karen, I hope that you're time with your masters really made you regret your decisions as a human."

"What are you referring to?" She stopped in place and made clear eye contact.

"If you weren't such a bitch to Alyssa and me, you would've had us in the palm of your hand."

She leaned in and pressed her forehead against the bars. "I'm like this because of you," she hissed at me. For the quickest millisecond, I saw the real Karen, upset and wishing that she never went on that scout with Ben and me so long ago. And during that quick millisecond, a chill of remorse went up my spine.

My composure was still well kept. "I have thought about how different my life would be had you not wiped out on your motorcycle. You'd still be going out with Hal, Alyssa most likely would still hate him, and the craziest thing: you and I would've been friends. I thought you had finally dropped your bitchy façade and actually started being a real person. A person I thought was almost…cool."

"It's pathetic to make up fantasies such as that," Karen said emotionless. Deep down, I liked to picture that the real Karen was smiling at that.

"Perhaps," I nodded in agreement, "it has given me closure on what happened to you though. I felt personally responsible, like you mentioned just now. But I'm happy with how things turned out. My best friend is dating the best boyfriend she's ever had and karma reigned supreme for an ass like you. An alternative to my 'fantasy' would you still being a bitch, and how much annoyance you'd add to our lives. Everything really does happen for a reason."

Karen stood quietly, still without emotion on her face. "You really are as heartless as they say."

I frowned and looked at her, confused as to what she meant by that.

"Have you forgotten how the harness effects improve hearing? I can hear just about every conversation going around, and a lot of people find you heartless and cold. You just proved that to be true."

Ben opened the door then with more bread in hand for Karen. She put back on her 'help-me-I'm-scared' face and smiled gratefully at Ben when he gave her the food through the slit in front of the table. All I could do was sit back, stunned at what she said. Did people really see me as heartless? Cold? They couldn't could they? I was a fifteen-year-old girl who was risking my life to save civilians well over my age from death. I took bullets for a kid's life, got blown off a bridge so the 2nd Mass could get across it, went on missions without complaining, and always, always had the safety of the 2nd Mass on my mind before I ever did something.

But people still saw me as heartless?

Have you seen those skate parks? The filthy, graffiti covered ones with all of the guys that you're parents would never let you even look at? There was one of those by my high school in Boston, and it was the place I called home for ninety percent of my free time. I knew every skater there by name and they knew me as the only girl brave enough to even try skating at a skate park with all boys around. I was close with a few in particular, who all knew my story.

"Well if it ain't Little Miss Parks herself." My closest friend of the three I had here at the skate park, Ashton, came up to me with his board in hand.

"Hey, Ash," I smiled and we did a weird handshake that us and our other two friends, Cole and his twin brother Logan, came up with because for whatever reason we thought it was cool.

"Parks!" Cole called and Logan came running up to Ash and I.

"I don't come to the park for a day and you act as if I've been gone for a week. Damn," I laughed a little.

Cole and Logan's matching green eyes twinkled. "You're part of the group; when you don't show we worry."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I came to skate. And I'm out, too. Xander around?"

Ash nodded. "He's where he's always at. Let's go."

"You don't have to come with me every time, you know," I gave him a look. Ash was pretty protective of things, especially with friends.

Ash laughed, showing off his set of straight white teeth. "Kaylee. No matter how of a tomboy you are, you're still a girl. There are some rough dudes in that alley and I don't want them giving you second glances."

I rolled my eyes and started walking out of the gates to the skate park, Ash, Cole, and Logan behind me. The three of us got a running start, threw our boards to the ground, and hopped on. What I loved about skating like this was the speed of flying down streets and sidewalks and enjoying the pure simplicity of it. The only other time I felt like this was when I was running, and this was a lot less work to do than running was.

The four of us turned into the nearby alley that everyone at the skate park knew about. I wasn't certain if everyone came here since it actually was a little rough here and since it was Boston and everything. But it was a popular joint for us skaters, although no outsiders knew about it since we all kept it on the down low.

"Look who decided to show up. It's been awhile, Parks." Xander Lexington, a junior at our school, sat behind an old dresser and other beat up furniture near it, including several couches occupied by fellow skaters.

"Been doing double shifts at the store," I nodded, referring to the record store I worked in to pay for anything. The only way I had gotten it at fourteen was because the manager was a close family friend of my mom's and he agreed to let me organize the records, file, type, and answer calls, for ten dollars an hour.

"That's what I like to hear. What can I get you?"

"The usual," I nodded.

Xander filed through the beat up dresser drawers until he got to the hidden section of the dresser he told me about when I first came here. "How many do you want?"

"Three."

Xander spread three vials on the top of the dresser. "Fifteen."

"Damn, Xander. You've gone up." I gave him an irritated look and pulled out a ten and a five from my pocket.

"You're a valuable customer, Parks. I have to get a certain supply just for you, and when you don't come to get it, I have leftovers," Xander's dark eyes stared straight at me, slightly pissed and slightly annoyed.

"It's heroin, Xander. There's no difference in the 'supply' you have to get, so stop whining like you have to go through so much to get it," I rolled my eyes and swiped the vials into my hoodie's pocket. I set the money in the Xander's hand and stood next to Cole, who always came just to be with his brother. Cole refused to take anything.

"You gonna get anything?" I asked, just like every other time.

Cole shook his head. "The day I take drugs is the day I die."

"Why is that?"

"Because it's not smart, Kaylee," his emerald eyes tore into my soul as he said that. "Why don't any of you get that?"

"I stopped thinking smart a long time ago," I told him, digging my injector out and filling the vial contents into it. I had gotten so good at this that I didn't have to tie my arm off to find my vein anymore. I glanced over to see Ash and Logan getting their usuals, too. Pot and cocaine.

"Aren't you afraid of what it'll do to you though? That it could kill you?" Cole's facial expression grew solemn at the sight of the needle.

"Nah, I'm not scared." I half-smiled as I injected the mixture into my system. An unexplainable warmth, otherwise known as feeling, spread through my arms and my system and I felt recharged and unstoppable. I felt like I could run a marathon without panting, skate a thousand miles without stopping, and smile like it meant something.

"I'm as good as dead, anyways."

I woke up gasping for air. It literally felt as if someone had ripped the oxygen from my lungs and I was suffocating. Was I having an asthma attack? An actual one this time? Whatever it was, I felt like I was dying or going to die if I didn't get air into my system soon.

That memory felt so close in time, like it was only a few days ago.

It really actually wasn't all that long ago.

"Kaylee?! What's going on?!" Ben's distant voice reeled me from going back into that nightmare and to the present moment in time.

"Can't…breathe…"I choked out. I fell out of my chair desperately gasping with my hands around my throat as if that made it any easier to breathe.

The next few minutes I didn't remember at all, but a few of the seconds I remember Ben yelling at someone to cover our post and him running downstairs. A couple moments later and I had something in my mouth and someone squeezing my hand. My eyes opened again and I started coughing uncontrollably to catch air back into my lungs and to get whatever tube thing was in my mouth out of it. It took about two minutes for my eyes and ears to adjust back to normal, but when they did I noticed I was in an actual hospital room Dr. Glass and Lourdes used with Dr. Glass hovering over me and Ben holding my hand tightly.

I can breathe, I thought, taking in a huge breath of air and letting it go.

"What happened?" Dr. Glass asked calmly and concerned.

I breathed another breath of glorious oxygen and released it. "I was sleeping and then when I woke up I couldn't breathe." Ugh, my voice sounded awful again.

"Your heart was beating really fast," Dr. Glass wrote stuff down on her clipboard.

"I had a bad dream," I clarified. "Could that have caused whatever to happen?"

"I think you may have had an asthma attack. Sometimes rapid increase of heart rate can cause that to happen."

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, "this asthma thing is starting to get serious now."

"Luckily for you, I found an inhaler here that meets the prescription you need," Dr. Glass smiled and put a white inhaler in my hand. "It's basically just press and inhale and you should be good to go. Whenever you feel short of breath or your chest tightening, use it."

I coughed a little. "Thanks, Dr. Glass." With Ben's help, I got off the bed and out of the room, almost without wobbling. My chest felt really tight and I had to take deep and heavier breaths since I seemed to have forgotten how to get oxygen into my lungs. I rubbed my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. I was so sick of me getting injured or having problems with fucking asthma. Sometimes I had trouble breathing after a race or something, but it was never this bad. And what better timing for this to happen than in the middle of an alien invasion where I need to be running long distances without stopping. Fuck this.

Ben sat me down on the steps of the front of the hospital. "What's going on with you?" he asked in a gentle voice, tucking the hair blocking him from seeing my face behind my ear.

"I don't know," I said, my voice cracking slightly.

Ben put his arm around me and turned my face toward him so I would meet his eyes. "Talk to me, Kaylee."

I looked away from his piercing eyes and out at the trees in front of us. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Why don't you start with what happened yesterday before we went out on that mission?"

And because I honestly couldn't keep anything from Ben anymore, I told him. Everything. I told him about the hallucinations, the dreams I had about my parents, and I even explained to him the one I had last night about my previous skater friends.

"An alley?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That's how you got drugs in Boston. At least from my part of the neighborhood. You joined a skate park and asked them where they got their supply, or if you were lucky, you could find your own alley."

Ben sat there mulling that over in his head. "How many times did you go there?"

My eyes were redirected towards the stars. I never talked to anyone about my heroin addiction. Hell, no one even knew I did heroin. Except for Ash, Cole, and Logan. We never discussed why we did the drugs we did either. So it was a really difficult subject for me to open up about. "More than I can count."

"Why heroin?" I noticed Ben's eyes were towards the stars too, which made me relax.

"Back then, I stopped feeling. I was numb and empty 24/7. So my three friends hooked me up with the drug dealer, who recommended heroin because it gives you a 'rush.' I tried it, and when I realized that it made me feel warm and happy inside, I started getting more of it. Next thing I knew, it was part of my routine. Wake up, get ready for school, shoot some heroin, go to school. I guess it was a poor choice as opposed to coffee would've been."

Ben cracked a small smile, despite the subject not being light and easy to take in. "How'd you stop? I read somewhere that heroin is next to impossible to get off of without some other kind of drug help."

"You know, I have no idea. I think that I just woke up one day and realized that this wasn't helping me and would eventually hurt the others around me. Could you imagine what Alyssa would do if she found out? I've always wanted her to know that she raised me right and I turned out okay. She would lose it if she knew that and blame herself for not realizing how broken I was. So I got my shit together and quit. I turned to music every time I thought of doing an injection or I would drink water to try and make myself let go."

"I'm glad you did," Ben took my hand in his. "You deserve a better life than what you had."

"Thank you," I said softly, gently squeezing his hand.

What the hell did I ever do to deserve someone like Ben?

Ben and I were stationed at the psych ward again in the morning. Karen was being especially quiet today, which put me on an edge. What was going on in her psychotic head? What was she planning on doing? If she was trying to leader the Overlords to the 2nd Mass then they would've already made it here. So what the fuck was she trying to do?

"I'll get her food," Ben got up when the clock in the back of the room hit 8:00 a.m. I nodded once letting him know that I heard him and continued staring into space. I didn't sleep at all last night. I ended up walking the perimeter alone until the sun rose, trying to make sense of anything that had happened the past week. My mind was losing it and soon I was going to crack. I could feel it.

Karen stood at the window by her bed, looking at the trees and scenery outside of the hospital. I took one of my knives out and began clicking it in and out of the handle, waiting. Was driving us all insane part of her plan? It sure as hell was working. Or perhaps my impatience was getting the better of me. Either way I was getting angry with whatever was going on.

Once again proving how fast he is, Ben returned instantly with a tray of food for Karen. I noticed he glanced in my direction, but I ignored it and continued playing with my knife. He pushed open the door and once it set in place I looked up slightly at Karen to see if I could pick up anything. It was so weird; her eyes were practically dead looking but she still had this whole innocent persona going on. What the hell?

Karen was telling some life story about what she did in the summer before the invasion and asked Ben if he ever dreamt of what it was like before.

"Hard to dream when you don't sleep," Ben replied.

"Really? I don't think I ever slept as good as I did last night," she smiled.

Ben sighed and then walked over to a counter where he put the tray down. "Breakfast."

"Oh, thank you." Karen took the bowl on the tray and began eating automatically. "I can't believe how hungry I am all the time."

"Well it's not much I'm afraid but," he paused briefly, as if deciding whether or not he she continue talking, "running low on everything." He started making his way back to the rickety old door.

"Time for another food scout, huh?" I cringed at her reference to the first mission I went on with them.

Ben remembered too. "We're pulling some out anyway."

"To where?" she asked. Do you really need to fucking know?

"I don't know. They don't tell me that."

"Because of your spikes?" She looked up at him. "Guess I better get used to that, too." Uh, since when were you invited to stay with the 2nd Mass?

"Well, um, it's not so much fun being called razorback or coat hanger," Ben said jokingly.

Karen laughed. "Really? That's what they call us?" My fist clenched at how she said 'us.' Was I jealous of Ben being around another girl? No. I was jealous of how she was able to relate to a huge side of him that I couldn't. He never really talked to me about being harnessed or anything about his time with the aliens. I think he mentioned it once after Fitchburg when I was teaching him how to shoot, but that was so long ago that I doubt he remembers telling me that in the first place.

"Not to my face, but…yeah."

"But it's not all bad, I'm realizing."

"Yeah?"

"It's weird, but I can hear almost anything," she told him.

"Like what?" Ben asked, almost worried.

"Like conversations about the generator not having enough fuel. Or Captain Weaver being in a coma. I mean I assume you can too, right?" Was she here to collect intel on the 2nd Mass? It couldn't be just that. It had to be more.

I couldn't see Ben's face from where I was sitting, but I could hear his voice start panicking. "Yeah, s-sometimes."

Karen stood up. "When I was looking out the window earlier, I could see details I never even knew existed." She set her bowl on the side table next to her bed. "And then there's this." She picked up her bed with one hand and grinned over at Ben. Holy fuck. "You gotta admit that's kinda cool, right?" There were voices coming from down the hall, most likely some fighters making their rounds in the building. Whoever it was, Ben freaked out and ran to Karen to make her drop the bed.

Then both of their spikes started glowing.

I was on my feet immediately and my hand was on the doorknob in record timing. Only, since this psych ward was at least five thousand years old, the door was stuck in place. I pounded on the door but it still wouldn't budge. Karen got closer and closer to Ben and started kissing the corner of his mouth.

Before I could tell myself not to, I sent my fist into the glass of the window on the door, sending the glass flying everywhere and the barring over it to fall to the ground. Like I said, this place was really, really old. And after the bombings I doubt the bars were holing on by much. I reached through the jagged hole I just created and twisted the knob from the other side and kicked the door open.

"What the hell?!" Hal shouted from behind me. He ran right past me before I could even set foot in the room and Karen "collapsed" to the floor.

My knuckles on my right hand were totally split open and I had tons of glass stuck into my fingers. Great, as if it didn't hurt like hell getting glass in me the first time, now I have to go through it all over again.

Ben ran by me and out through the door to the outside stairwell.

"Ben!" I shouted before the door closed and through the opening and took the stairs two at a time. There was no way in fucking hell that he was going to leave without explaining what had happened.

He started running and I ran right after him. I barely managed to catch up with him, but when I did I grabbed his shoulder with my bleeding hand and yanked it around so he would look at me. "Will you explain what the hell just happened in there?!" I yelled at him.

"I don't know!" he yelled back at me.

"Was she trying to get inside your head? To find out what you know?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ben screamed at me and turned around to start running again, only I caught his sleeve and pulled him back.

"You do not get to run out on me. I told you everything wrong with me and my life last night. You always tell me that I 'never open up' and 'it's better to talk about it' and what not. WELL WHEN DID YOU BECOME SUCH A HYPOCRITE?!"

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked angrily.

"You never talk to me about what the hell is going on with you! You refuse to talk about anything the aliens did to you or what's going on now. How the hell is that fair?! You force me to talk about my life when you won't even acknowledge yours."

Ben stared at me, green eyes ablaze with rage. He didn't say anything, but took several deep breaths.

I stared back at him. "You know what? Whatever. You don't want to open up? Fine. Don't. I'm going to get this," I threw my red hand in the air, "fixed." I turned my back and started walking back to the front of the hospital.

"You wouldn't understand anything," he spit out finally.

I turned back and kept walking. "The same way you will never understand what I've gone through." And I turned again.

I didn't even know where to begin with what just happened the past fifteen minutes. My head just hurt. Really, really bad. So I picked up my pace and ran into the hospital, and into a room to find Lourdes or Dr. Glass.

Except the power was off.

Shit.

I ran down the halls into Captain Weaver's room to see Tom spinning some weird contraption and Lourdes squeezing the air bag into Weaver's mouth. "What happened?!" I asked.

"The generator went out," Tom answered without looking back at me.

"How can I help?"

"Wait outside for Tector and the Berserkers. They should be back with fuel any second now."

"What happened to your hand?" Dr. Glass asked, already doing an examination on it.

"I'll explain later," I called over my shoulder and ran out the doors again to the front of the hospital.

"When did the fuel scouts leave?" I asked a random fighter who walked by.

"About a two hours ago."

I ran past him and out to the road, just as the big maroon truck came pulling up. "WOO!" Tector shouted as he pulled to a stop. "We hit the jackpot, kid!"

"Did you get diesel?" I asked sprinting to the bed of the truck which was overflowing with containers of fuel.

"Yes, ma'am." He started telling me all of the certain fuels they got and how many they had, while I was looking for the container with diesel.

"There's more where this came from; we just couldn't carry it all."

"Where?" I asked as I spotted the container I was looking for.

"Uh, southwest I think. You know, I almost gave up right? But I had this mission, and my daddy always told me he said, 'Boy-"

"That's great," I cut him off and patted his arm when his face fell from me ignoring his story. "We gotta get this diesel to the generator. We lost power awhile ago and Weaver's still going through the treatment Lourdes and Anne are doing," I announced to the Berserkers and Dai who went to monitor them.

"Sure thing, kid," Tector nodded and him and Dai took a barrel of diesel and ran it inside.

By then my hand was dripping all over the place and stinging, so I ran back inside to Dr. Glass to have her patch it up. Once the generator was back up and running, she took out a kit of stuff and started working. "How did you do this?"

She took out a piece of glass from my first finger. "Déjà vu, huh?" I laughed a little. Still hurt like hell. "It's a long story."

"By the looks of it we have enough diesel for a few days. So go ahead."

"Tom, you better hear this, too," I said to our second in command who was focused on spinning the wheels on the device. He looked back at me with a puzzled expression. "Earlier when Ben and I were watching Karen and he went in her room to give her food, something…happened. I can't exactly explain it, but both of their spikes were glowing and they were holding each other. The door wouldn't open so I punched through the glass and opened it from the other side and then Hal came in and they stopped."

"Did Ben say anything to you?" Tom asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "Nothing. He just ran by me." I took in a sharp breath of air when Anne took out another shard of glass.

"Damn it," Tom muttered to himself at the same time the power came back on and the device started spinning itself. I started cursing as well when Anne started stitching up the two fingers she cleared of glass.

It took her about an hour or so more to finish my fingers and knuckles since the glass pieces were tinier and practically everywhere. Plus she had to stitch up the deeper gashes and disinfect both the small cuts and the deeper wounds. "I'm honestly starting to think that getting shot was less painful than this," I stated.

Dr. Glass laughed. "You're almost done."

"KAYLEE?!" A voice yelled my name from down the hall. Hal. He burst into the room and skidded in front of me. "Have you seen Ben?"

"Last I saw him was by the stairwell. Why?"

"He's gone. Karen, too."

So remember like a reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllly long time ago when Parker was shot and unconscious and there was a lot of Carter's POV? Since a similar situation occurred, there is a lot of Kaylee's POV. So if you were saddened by the lack of our comic relief, that is why. Anywaysssss...school starts in a week. I hate my life. So we will be pretty busy with our scholarly ways and what not. But I promise you guys that we will never abandon this story. We may not update for awhile, but we will never drop this. EVARRRR. PS, the anniversary of H.E.L.L. is coming up:3 I'm so happy with how far this story has come (and how much better it's gotten from the first few chapters O_O my God they're awful. We're going to fix them...someday...hopefully...;D It's on our To Do List. Right now finishing Season Two is on the top of it. But we want to say thank you to those who actually endured the awful chapters and have stuck with us. It means the world to us. So on August 25th, just know Alyssa and I will be smiling. We love you all:3 -Kaylee

Couldn't have said it better. And ooooooh cliffhanger! Mwahahaha. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave us a review and tell us what you thought! I am writing more today:) -Alyssa