Hate, Envy, Loss, Love

by Mrs.Mason2

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

20. The Breaking Point

Heyyyy guys sorry it took so long, but it's extra-good so that makes up for the wait. I have been crazy busy, between soccer and field hockey and yeah. I'd start to expect new chapters once a month. So I was checking quotev last night to see if a fanfic I read has been updated(it was) and I became really happy, then I thought of you guys and how happy you would be if I wrote so I sat down and wrote and finished it! well enough of my ramblings, go read and as always, PLEASE REVIEW!-Alyssa

Yayyyy this wasn't my fault this time!:D Although it kinda was in a way...my career is starting to take off so I was pretty busy too and I was too lazy to yell at Alyssa to write...so yeah...really late update. But as I'm updating, it's 10:00 p.m. our time and in Advanced Placement and Honors student speak, it's like one in the morning and I'm sooooooo tired SO YOU'RE ALL WELCOME. I spent the past two ours editing and placing the POVs in the right place so if you find a few grammatical mistakes ignore them because I knew there were two I couldn't find and and whatever I'm tired and I don't know how I'm still alive. Alyssa and I are going to try and pick up the pace and finish Season 2 so that we can move to Season 3:3 I'm really excited for S3. Also Kyra Terry, SORRY. That is all:3 I love you all dearly. -Kaylee

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Chapter 20-The Breaking Point

Alyssa's POV

I woke up in a bed, hooked up to some machine thing that was beeping really loud. My head hurt really badly, so did my side and hand. My hand was bandaged up but in the trash can by my bed I could see a bunch of bloody wraps that looked like the one on my hand. "What the fuck?" I looked around it was the actual hospital part of our camp, the part where Anne took care of the sick and injured people.

"Alyssa you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I said but she didn't seem too convinced. I tried to get up but that wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had. I put my bandaged hand on the side of the bed to support myself but it hurt like hell and I pulled my hand up. As I did that, I lost my balance and I fell on my face, hitting my head and causing my side hurt really badly. "HOLY FUCKING MOTHER OF GOD! What did I do to myself?!"

Anne just laughed and helped me up and started to re-bandage my side, which by now was bleeding immensely. "Well I was gonna ask you the same thing. Tom found you laying unconscious in the psych ward where Karen-"

"That bitch!" At the mention of her name, it all came back. Me going to talk to her, her beating the shit out of me (which by the way I was pissed about), the gun shot going off, Ben running in, and then blacking out.

"I take it you remember now."

"I am going to kill her one day. Maybe two days, two months or two year from now but she is going to die and I am going to be the one to do it."

"DR. GLASS!" I heard the harsh, stressed out voice of Weaver. "Is she up yet we need all the- oh. Come on, Carter, let's go we have a mission and we need everyone we can get."

"What type of mission?" I asked.

"A rescue mission." Fucking shit. This is bad. Karen must have gotten away.

"Hold one. She's not fit to go out on a rescue mission. Not right now," Anne cut in.

I ignored her. "A rescue mission for whom?" I asked skeptically. Names started popping into my head. Hal? Matt? Kaylee? Tom(again)? Lourdes? Pope(probably not but you never know)? Tector? Dai? A civilian? Then it hit me. Who was the one person in the 2nd Mass the aliens wanted the most? The whole reason Karen came here in the first place?

"Ben," Weaver said, reading my mind.

"I'm in," I nodded.

"No you're not. You're still injured."

"I'm sorry, Anne, but I'm going to help Ben and that's it." Ben was like a little brother to me. He was like one of my first friends at the 2nd Mass, besides Kaylee. I was going on the mission, whether Anne like it or not.

Anne sighed. "No point in trying to stop you." Before she was even finished, I was out the door, Weaver right behind me.

"So what happened?" I asked and he explained everything. By the time he finished, we had gotten to the meeting room where Tom was explaining the mission. I took my spot next to Kaylee and Weaver went to the front of the room. Kaylee was literally vibrating. She was standing there, like not moving at all but at the same time her body was vibrating. It was the weirdest thing ever. "Chill out," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her from vibrating.

"I can't fucking chill out," she muttered, but without even moving her lips.

"Either chill out or stop moving so damn much. You look like you are gonna explode any second." She just hit my arm to try and get me to shut up. I turned around and slapped her as hard as I could.

"Fuck," she swore as she held her arm.

"Question, Kaylee?" Tom asked her and everyone turned around and looked at her. I was doing everything in my power to keep from cracking up.

"No sir. Just ready to go when you are," she replied.

"Alright. Let's go and let's make it fast." Tom said and we all started to grab our weapons and leave. I hauled ass out of there before Kaylee could find me and hurt me. I sprinted to my room, grabbed some knives and sprinted back to meet up the group. I hopped on the back of my bike.

"Alyssa, nice to see you up, I'm surprised Anne let you out." Hal came walking up and hopped on his bike.

"Yeah she didn't want to but I am pretty good at talking people into letting me do stuff. Plus I was not going to sit out this mission. Ben is like a little brother to me."

"Yeah I know. I'm worried. I should have listened to him. And you. And like everyone else."

"What did I tell you? I am always right." He laughed. "Come on. Let's go get your brother back."

"Oh and here, I was supposed to tell you that you have to take this." He handed me a gun. I just stared at it. "Captain's orders."

"Fine. Whatever."

"You're gonna need it." I put my shirt over the gun so it wasn't in my way when I was on my bike. Everyone headed out. We road down the path until we hit a trail and had to continue on foot.

"Footprints!" Lyle called out. He was leading the group. We all took cover and began to crawl under the shrubs on our stomachs, which was really easy for me, until we got as far as we could without being spotted. We could see Karen, Ben, an Overlord, a bunch of mechs and two skitters. They were talking but I couldn't make out what they were saying. That was Ben's job, to listen and tell us but that wasn't exactly gonna work so we just had to sit there and not know what they were saying which, in case you were wondering, is really fucking annoying. Karen had her harness back and was trying to put another one on Ben. I did notice that Karen walked with a bit of a limp and had some blood stains on her shirt and hands. That gave me great satisfaction. I had an okay shot to take her out but Ben was too close to her and I didn't trust myself with a gun yet. If I had a knife I could have taken her out easily but I couldn't reach it and my throwing hand is all bandaged up. I looked around and spotted Kaylee. She was under a bush and hand somehow managed to get way closer than the rest of us. Her gun was out and ready to be fired. I could see her finger on the trigger. She was debating on whether or not so shoot, with Ben being so close to Karen. If anyone here could do it, it would be her. I saw her move her gun slightly higher and pull the trigger. The harness in Karen's hand exploded.

As soon as she did that, the rest of us opened fire and the mechs opened fire back. Karen took cover but Ben, freaking Ben, just stood there in the middle of the battle field while everyone else was shooting. And as far as I could see, he didn't even have a fucking gun! Like come on dude, even I had a gun for this one. I was debating sprinting out there to go get him when I saw a full flash of black run for him and tackle him, getting him away from the gun fire. They landed five feet from us. While the mechs zeroed in on us, shooting at us, Tom crept over to the Overlord, who had been watching the whole thing, and pointed his gun at it and clicked it into place. The mechs noticed this and immediately powered down.

"What the hell?" Hal asked what we were all thinking. We all came out from our hiding places, guns aimed at the skitters. I put my gun over my shoulder and grabbed a knife with my left hand and aimed it at the Overlord. They all just froze; this whole situation was sketchy as fuck.

"They don't want to risk it getting hit," Tom explained.

"He's too important," Ben confirmed.

"Well then, I guess you're coming with us," Tom looked at the Overlord. He continued to hold his gun up to it as he walked it over to the truck. A few fighters hopped in back with it, guns raised the whole time.

I looked at Hal and whispered, "Its official, your dad has lost it."

"Definitely," he agreed and we headed back to the hospital. All that crawling did not do good things for my side. I went back to visit Dr. Glass (plus I didn't want to be around when Weaver saw our newest member. He was going to flip out). I could see the blood seeping through my shirt. She quickly wrapped my side.

"Geez, Anne, I can't walk, let alone fight. This thing is so tight."

She just looked at me "That's the point. I think you may have gotten a concussion and going out on that mission didn't help it." She was about to do a further examination on my head when we heard gun fire, more specifically mech fire. "What's that?"

"Looks like the aliens want their master back," I said. She just stared at me.

"You guys didn't do what I think you did, did you?"

"Yeah we did."

"I am going to kill Tom. The last thing we need right now are hostages." I got up to go investigate. I couldn't walk very fast and before I could get down there, the mechs stopped firing. As I turned the corner, I bumped into someone. I looked up to see who it was.

"Watch it, Mason," I joked.

Ben just smiled. "Whatever you say, shorty." I hit him in the arm and he hit me back.

"You wanna go?!" I got up on my tip toes to try and look him eye to eye. He just laughed. "I wouldn't laugh. I may be smaller but I will still whoop your ass in a fight anytime."

"Okay, Alyssa, whatever you say."

"You seem to have forgotten who taught you all your badassness in the beginning." He laughed for a little but then became serious.

"Alyssa, can I tell you something?"

I stopped smiling. "Of course. What's up?"

"I need to leave."

"No, Ben, you can't leave. We just went through that and last time you did that you scared us all shitless." What was he thinking?

"I mean like it's not safe here anymore. I need to leave soon."

"What do you mean? The 2nd Mass is heading out for Charleston in a few hours," I said.

"I mean leave on my own. Away from the 2nd Mass. By myself. I've known I had to leave for awhile now. Karen coming here just proves that I'm putting the 2nd Mass in danger."

"No, Ben. We're family. We keep each other safe. That's how a family works."

"Yeah and the only way I can protect you guys is if I'm not here. I need to be with people like me, I need to help the rebel skitters out. There are more of them out there and I need to help them. That's where I belong."

"Have you told your dad, or brother?" I looked at him intently. "Have you even told Kaylee?"

"No. You're the first person I came to. You were the only person who I knew would listen to me and hear me out. You were also my first friend here. I'm thinking of heading out tonight. Sneaking out while they are worrying about the aliens in the front." Just by looking at him, you wouldn't even know he was a fifteen-year-old kid. He looked so much older.

"NO. I will not allow that." He started to interrupt me. "Just hear me out. I don't want you to leave. You're like a little brother to me and I would hate to see you leave. But I also get why you want to leave and what you want to do. And I admire you for that because I don't think I could have done that when I was fifteen. I still don't think I could do that. But if you are going to leave promise me you will talk to your dad, Hal and Kaylee okay? Just tell them what your doing and why. Okay? Just promise me that."

"You know my dad he would never let me. And Hal, he would get all fatherly and say no as well and…I have no idea what Kaylee would do."

"Just try okay. You never know what your dad might say. All he wants is what's best for you and if you can show him this is what's best for you, he'll let you. And as for Hal, I'll talk to him. But keep in mind he does all that because he doesn't want you to get hurt. He wants to protect you and Matt."

"And Kaylee?" he looked up at me, pain in his eyes.

"Talk to her, tell her what you told me. It's not like you are leaving forever. And I guarantee when your ass shows back up in Charleston in a few months to check in, she'll forgive you. Trust me on that one."

He nodded.

"Just know I'm here if you ever need advice. I have done enough stupid shit to help you out and tell you what not to do. But I won't ever make you do anything. It's up to you to learn some things on your own. I just give advice."

"Thanks, Alyssa."

"Welcome." I gave him a hug. "Now go talk to your dad first." He nodded and headed off to go find Tom.

Kaylee's POV

I don't think I knew what the definition of speed was until I was sprinting around the hospital gathering everyone Tom designated for the "rescue" mission for Ben. I didn't know what worry was until I could feel every second going by without knowing where Ben was or what was going to happen to him. I've never had a panic attack in my life, and I sure as hell didn't know what panic was in the first place. That is, until this precise moment. Now I was utterly familiar with the term and emotion.

"Chill out," Alyssa reached up to put her hand on my shoulder.

"I can't fucking chill out," I replied crossing and recrossing my arms as I stood painfully in place as Tom went over the plan for the mission. I know that winging it got people killed, but the fact that Ben could be turned over to the aliens or gave up all his knowledge about the rebellion was a lot more agonizing than one might think. I suppose I know what Diego felt like back in Richmond.

"Either chill out or stop moving so damn much. You look like you're going to explode any second."

I slapped her arm to get her to shut up and she slapped me back four times as hard. That's what you get with Alyssa: poke her arm and she'll slug you across the face. "Fuck," I muttered under my breath.

"Question, Kaylee?" Tom asked and the entire unit turned to look at me.

"No, sir," I said quickly. I could hear Alyssa laughing as quietly as she could. "Just ready to go when you are."

He nodded once in my direction. "Alright. Let's go and let's make it fast."

We all ran to our vehicles (some took the bikes and some were in the car) and went in the direction Hal said Karen and Ben were headed the last he saw them, after Tom found him unconscious on the roof. This meant that either Ben or Karen strangled him to make sure he didn't follow them, and considering all that's happened, my money (or maybe ammunition since we don't have money anymore) was on Ben. All Hal told us was that Ben said they "had to go" and their spikes were glowing.

And that wasn't everything that shorted out my control fuse.

Pope came back. Yeah, Pope. And he relayed to us that Karen was still very much in contact with the Overlords, who were looking for Ben. Apparently, word had spread about Ben's work with the rebel skitters and the Overlords caught wind of it and immediately sent Karen out to find him. The only minor setback was the fact that Karen found Pope and Anthony before she found the 2nd Mass. She found us from there, and even brought her own props for a full performance.

So you could imagine how much I was panicking.

And Kaylee Parker doesn't panic.

Ever.

What if Karen still hadn't given herself up yet and was going to collect everything on the rebel skitters? Or what if she had and she did something to Ben? He did not deserve to get thrown back into the hell he fought so hard to get out of. If he did my heart was going to break. Or at least what's left of it will.

"Footprints!" Lyle, who was leading the unit, whisper-yelled to us all once we all got out of the vehicle and onto the trails and pointed at the tracks of sneakers and boots, which were the shoes Ben and Karen were wearing. So we all turned that way and took cover in the shrubs and trees. Everyone was crawling on their stomach to get further down the path without getting spotted since we began hearing voices awhile back. The closer we crawled, the clearer the voices became and the clearer the opening became. I could see Ben and Karen, along with a bunch of mechs, two skitters, and an Overlord.

Ben really got himself into serious shit this time.

Karen turned around, and I ducked lower into the shrubs and held my breath. The two of them could hear and see anything, and if I blew our cover I could get Ben killed. She hadn't seen me, so I silently let out my breath and aimed my gun at her. It was already clicked into place; I just had to pull the trigger.

It was then I realized she had a harness in her hand and one on her back again.

"C'mon, Ben. Don't be like this." Karen got close to him again. This time, it burned to see her that close to him. I don't think there was ever a time that I wanted to pull the trigger as badly as I did then. It was killing me.

A skitter grabbed Ben's forearms as he took a step back from Karen and the squealing harness. He turned back for a few split seconds at the skitter and I saw how terrified he looked. I think since Jimmy passed away, Ben's always tried to keep calm and composed around everyone and especially me. Seeing how afraid he actually was for once tore me to pieces. "You remember what it feels like. Being connected. Completely, fully." Karen got even closer to Ben so that she was a fraction of a centimeter from kissing him again. "There's so much I want to show you," she whispered not that quietly, "teach you. We're going to do things together you can't even imagine." She slowly brought the harness closer and closer to Ben, until I couldn't fucking take it anymore.

I shot the harness out of her hand and took out the skitter that was behind Ben. The mech opened fire at the bushes and honestly I felt some bullets graze my arm. Tector, Lyle, Dai, Hal, Tom, and even Alyssa started firing at the mechs and skitters while I was about to aim for either Karen or the Overlord. Before I could lock onto a target, I saw a mech start whirring again which meant it was changing its weapon. Which also meant we were in deep shit. My eyes connected with Ben's frozen body and I took off sprinting faster than I've ever, ever ran in my life before and tackled Ben to the ground, just as a mech released a missile close by and opened fire right where we were standing two milliseconds ago.

I landed hard on Ben's chest. "Kaylee?!"

My breath finally caught up to me. "How many times do we have to go over this? You can't stop in the middle of a battlefield and not expect to get injured."

Ben broke out into a smile I hadn't seen in a really long time. "You're not really the best person to be saying that."

I smirked and punched his shoulder. "Nevertheless, I did save you in Fitchburg, the bridge, now, and plenty of other times I'm sure you'd rather not have me name."

His smile got bigger. "As embarrassing as this is, I'm really glad you're here."

I smiled too. "Just doing my job." I got off of him and helped him up. We took cover again as the mech blasted two more missiles near us and helped by shooting at the mechs. Tom crept up to the Overlord who was standing there observing and aimed his rifle at the alien. The mechs immediately stood down and powered off.

"What the hell?" Hal was uneasy as he joined his dad and kept his aim on the nearby mechs. Ben and I joined them too, my gun drawn and Ben's hand on his.

"They don't want to risk it getting hit," Tom explained, looking from the mechs to the Overlord.

"He's too important," Ben confirmed, staring straight up at the tall alien. His spikes were glowing again, and he must have been talking to him.

"I guess you're coming with us," Tom stated.

It kinda freaked me out at how willing the Overlord went into the back of our car. I mean, he was pissed and everything, but he did it without being violent towards us. That was pretty freaky but we had something of major value that could give us a huge advantage in the war. I just hoped he didn't kill anyone or brutally destroy something. He probably wouldn't since he seemed really calm however it was still something to watch out for.

While Lyle, Dai, Anthony, and Tector tied down the Overlord, Ben came up to me. "Did you take your bike here?"

"Yeah. Do you want to ride with me?"

"I'm driving," he smirked at me.

"Hell no it's my bike." Ben blinked once and then ran full speed towards where the bikes were parked and climbed onto mine and revved the engine.

Sometimes I really wanted to kill him. Like really, really badly.

"You know, maybe I'll just ask Alyssa for a ride back," I called over to him and started walking to where Alyssa was with her bike.

"Do that and this bike will be crushed in seconds," he called back.

"You're bluffing," I said automatically. He was totally lying.

"Am I?"

"Yeah, you are."

"Are you willing to take that chance?" Ben asked, smirking with his eyebrows raised.

I sighed. "No." That was a nice bike, and if he did wreck it I'd be pissed as hell. So I slid onto the back of my bike and propped my feet up on the sides.

"You better hold on."

"I'll take my chances." Ben stared at me over his shoulder. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around his chest and he smiled at me.

"Thank you."

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath.

"Sorry, what?"

"Just drive," I pointed forward, even though they were still securing the Overlord in place.

Ben turned around, put his hand on my cheek, and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked, smiling. Whenever I was around him I just started to smile for no reason.

He smiled too. "For saving my life." He kicked the kick stand and gassed the bike forward. All the way to the hospital, I was thinking about the fight we had earlier, and how bad I felt about what I said. Sure he might not precisely relate to the situation but he listened. And that's all that mattered to me. I was a quiet person, but when I did find the words to say or open up, having some listen to them meant the world to me.

The hospital was a lot closer than I thought; probably because I was scared of what might happen to Ben or what Karen could be doing to him so I was only focused on that and not the distance. We pulled up to the hospital after literally five minutes tops and parked in a space no one else was using since all of the 2nd Mass was getting ready for Charleston. Ben stopped the bike right next to the car and both of us got off it and ran towards the back of the car with our guns aimed at the Overlord.

"I brought you something else," Tom told Weaver as he led our captain, who I was thrilled to see up and about but at the same time concerned to see out of bed, to the back of the car.

"Whoa…" Weaver said astonished. I've never seen Weaver surprised about anything. "I understood the objective was to recover your son, but instead you bring back a fish head?"

"We had no choice; this may be our only ticket out of here."

"Tom, we need to get on the road to Charleston now!" Weaver yelled at him. "That was the order!"

"Change of plans. We'll take him to Charleston; they'll love him at Charleston. But I think we got bigger problems," Tom said looking around to find where the incoming mech fire was coming from. It got closer to us with each second, and it sent us all into our 'fighter' mode.

"Anthony, Dai, lock that big bastard down in the psych ward. Tom! Tector! On me." All of us took cover under the barricade we made outside and tried taking down the mechs that were circled a few yards away from us.

"Mechs must be hung over. They can't hit crap!" Crazy Lee screamed over the noise. She has gotta be my favorite Berserker, along with Tector too.

"They don't wanna risk hitting their Overlord!" Hal yelled back. Just as I was about to let loose on my trigger, Captain Weaver yelled for us all to conserve our ammo and forget about shooting them.

"There must be some reason they're shooting," Tom told Weaver. I peered over the barricade at the mechs to get a better look, and they shot more bullets in my direction which I barely missed. Mechs really, really don't like me.

"All this noise is to keep our attention on them!" Weaver shouted to Tom.

"While they sneak in the back door?" Weaver nodded. "I'll check it out."

"No, I'll go," I told Tom standing slightly. "As much as he's gonna deny it, Weaver needs you out here." I turned to my captain. "Permission to go in Tom's place, sir."

Weaver frowned at my earlier remark, but agreed. "Permission granted. Be careful, solider."

I nodded. "Someone cover me!" I shouted at the fighters and when I saw four or five heads nod back at me, I ran for the back entrance to the hospital.

It was a huge maze down here with crates of medicine and medical instruments and oxygen tanks. The second I stopped in front of the metal door meant for delivery trucks, a mech tore it down and stomped in. I fired a few shots at it to get its attention on me, and once the blue lasers focused on where I was standing, I dashed out of the way. It destroyed the wooden materials that I was standing next to and while it was still breaking them I fired more shots. The mech returned the lasers towards me and I ducked cover way too slowly. The laser grazed the sleeve of my hoodie and burned a hole through it.

My attention was directed towards the long hallway that was to my right, so I fired more shots at the mech and ran down it. Guess what?

Dead end.

"Shit," I cursed and ran even faster down it, trying to decide what to do. When I looked back, the mech pretty much decided for me since it fired a missile down the hall. I dodged it by a millimeter and threw myself to the side where I had about two inches of cover. "Ugh," I groaned at how painfully my ribs throbbed, "that's not as fun as it used to be." The missile landed in the wall and set it on fire, so at least it was a little easier to see down here. That way I'll be able to see when I DIE.

I dragged myself off the floor and covered my back against the small wall. Think Parker, think. Quickly, I looked around the corner to see if there was a chance I could run around the mech when it got close enough (which gave me about a five percent chance of survival, but hey, I'll take five over zero) and then I spotted the oxygen tanks. And when I looked up again, there was a conveniently lit lantern hanging next to me. The angels of all fighting are looking down on me today.

I yanked the lantern off its hook and gripped it tightly. My adrenaline was pumping through the course of my veins and the fact that this could go horribly wrong was consumed by the amount of energy I was feeling. Once I looked around the corner again the mech was as close as I needed it to be so I chucked the lantern at it as hard as I could, shot the oxygen tank, and took cover again with my arms over my head to try and protect my face and hair from catching fire. The mech shot forward and through what I finally realized was not a wall but actually doors and obliterated everything it went through. It was impossible to see even partially through the wreckage.

My airway took several deep breaths to try to get my racing heart back under control. Yeah, I've had plenty of near death experiences before however this was the first time I actually encouraged it. Adrenaline was cool, but that was cutting it extremely close. Nevertheless, I'd totally do it again.

I made my way back outside over the wreck in here and jogged back out to the barricade. It was completely silent out here; you would've never guessed that a huge shooting spree just went on all of ten minutes ago. "What happened?" I asked, still out of breath.

"They backed off after the explosion. What ever you did back there seems to have settled them down." I nodded and still tried to regain my composure. This asthma is going to be the death of me, I swear.

"Are you alright, solider?" Weaver asked, concerned.

I nodded again. "Just the asthma."

"I want you inside then."

"Captain-"

"Not another word. Get inside," Weaver looked at me sternly so I turned around and ran into the hospital. I didn't really know what to do or where I should go, but because I had been running around for the past six hours, I couldn't sit still anywhere. I needed to be up and moving or do something useful. So I ran all the way up to the psych ward to help out with watching the Overlord.

Dai, Anthony, and two other fighters I've worked with were standing in the room with their guns pointed at the alien through the barring on the window, and also through the convenient hole I made earlier. "What're you doing in here, Kaylee?" Bryan, a thirty-year-old rifle enthusiast whom I've gone on missions with, asked.

"Weaver sent me inside and I figured being up here was more useful than sitting around doing nothing." My hands gripped my Calico tightly as I aimed it at the Overlord who was chained in the corner.

"Are you all set for Charleston?" Anthony looked at me briefly before turning back to the window.

"Yeah. All I have is a backpack and a few other things. You think that there are really survivors there?" I asked.

"I'm hoping so," Dai said and Anthony nodded. "It's time the 2nd Mass got something nice."

Bryan and the other man, Lawrence, decided that with the three of the best fighters in the room, they weren't needed in the psych ward and left to go assist at the barrier downstairs or in other parts of the hospital so we could move out as soon as the mechs cleared. If they cleared.

"So, you and Ben, huh?" Anthony grinned at me as he saw how immediately awkward I became.

"What's the whole situation there?" Dai asked and also grinned.

"Since when do you two care about what goes on in my life?"

"We're just trying to keep tabs on our youngest fighters," Dai said, "Weaver's orders."

"Because Weaver totally wants to know about my relationships with people," I agreed sarcastically. "If you want to keep tabs on the youngest fighters, go talk to Matt. He's pretty high up in the ranks."

"He's not official yet. Until then, part of our jobs is to keep an eye on you two," Anthony smirked.

"Greeeaaatt," I rolled my eyes and stared straight at the Overlord, who was staring at me intently, which I'll admit, freaked me out a little bit. His eyes were like black holes that sucked information out of you and just flat out terrified you. I couldn't even imagine being in Ben's shoes and being vulnerable to losing all of the valuable information that he has in his head.

Just the way that the Overlord appeared was freaky. Tall and lanky, tight gray skin that had splotches of darker gray, mouth permanently pulled into a frown, and black eyes with an almost silver iris. Skitters were ugly and creepy, but the Overlords' appearances were…eerie. Almost as if how they looked showed how capable they were of destroying and how much power they had. And I'm sure there were plenty more secrets to how they work then we humans would ever figure out in a lifetime.

You know, if we ever did win this war or not.

Weaver came in moments later with some Berserkers and dismissed me from working with Dai and Anthony. Now I really had nothing to do, so I went back to the room Alyssa and I shared for the past eight days to pack up both of our things, as well as the bed sheets and pillow and other miscellaneous items in the room for Dr. Glass. I grabbed all of my things and hers and walked out to where all of the cars were (taking extreme precaution of course with the mechs still out) and tossed all of our belongings in the truck.

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Alyssa since earlier in the night when we went to get Ben back, who I also hadn't seen since then. Alyssa was probably off with Hal somewhere doing some kind of mission for Weaver. Ben on the other hand, was harder to guess when it came to his whereabouts. Especially now though, with all of this chaos going on and people running around to stay safe and get their things in the cars so we could book it to Charleston as soon as we could.

When I went back inside, I made my way down most of the hallways to make sure the civilians didn't need help with anything while keeping my eye out for Ben. All of the civilians were packed up and ready to go, so it was just a matter of the waiting game, since Karen and her band of mechs had us surrounded and would stay like that until we gave her back her master. I really, really hoped that Tom and Weaver had some kind of plan that would actually work out in our favor.

When I turned down a hallway, I saw Ben and Hal at the end of it which connected to the hallway that led to the ICU. I stopped in my tracks and leaned against some crates to stay hidden from them but still hear their conversation.

"I should've left weeks ago; I knew it. Now everyone's in danger because of me!" Ben shouted at Hal. Left…?

"Hey, it's not your responsibility! That was Karen, alright? She played us both," Hal said trying to calm him down.

"They tried to kill the leader of the rebellion. They were bound to come after me sooner or later, I knew that!" Ben yelled again, trying to get them to understand.

"Hey," an approaching Tom and Hal both said at the same time. Hal continued further. "Cut yourself some slack. We're gonna get through this." And he left.

"If we do, I'm gonna have to leave the 2nd Mass," Ben said to his dad with a calmer voice.

"No," Tom shook his head.

"Dad-"

"We'll figure something out-"

"STOP trying to hold on to me!"

"I'm not!"

"Dad, I'm leaving, accept it," Ben's voice started rising again.

"You're coming to Charleston. You're gonna tell them about the rebellion."

"Yeah, 'cause that worked out so well with you. YOU THREW THEIR LEADER IN A CAGE, WEAVER TRIED TO SHOOT HIM, YOU THINK THEY'D BE THAT MUCH MORE BETTER IN CHARLESTON, I'M DOING THIS MY WAY!"

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!" Tom shouted at Ben.

"Fifteen-year-olds fought in the American Revolution. Why can't I?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY SON!"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I HAVE TO DO THIS," Ben yelled back and took a few breaths. "The other reason is down there."

"The Overlord?"

Ben nodded. "When he was near me in the woods, he was trying to worm his way through the spikes in my back, trying to get inside my head."

"Trying to find out what you know. Did he get anything?"

"No. But I don't know how much longer I would've been able to hold him out. But, Dad, he's scared," a slight smile spread across Ben's face, "This rebellion terrifies him."

Tom nodded and then looked down the hall. "Keep your distance, son." Tom then set off into the direction of the front of the hospital and Ben stood in his place, thinking.

I ran the other way out of my hiding place so Ben wouldn't see me and all the way back around to the front of the hospital, only to be dragged by Alyssa to wherever she was going. "What's going on?" I asked.

"You need to come with us to the basement."

"Why?" I questioned and looked at Weaver, Tom, and Hal who were walking with us.

"Some kind of spider like skitter things that are the size of my hand were down in the tunnel we wanted to go through. Weaver wants you and Ben to come check it out. Where's Ben?"

"Here," Ben announced as he caught up with us. All of us power-walked to the basement to see whatever Hal and Alyssa were talking about. A 'spider like skitter thing'? Hopefully it wasn't as weird as it sounded. But if Alyssa Jane Carter, who can talk for hours and describe things spot on, can't clearly describe something then it must be pretty freaky.

"It's right there," Hal pointed to a twitching body of the little spider thing. It looked like a skitter shrunk down to the size of a tarantula. It didn't look all that dead to me. Hal hit it again with his heel.

"First skitters, harnesses, eye ball worms, now these. What'll the bastards his us with next?" Weaver asked.

"It was a tough mother," Hal shook his head. "I had to hit it fifteen times to kill it." Holy shit. I'd take spiders any day.

"We can't let crawlies get past our defense system. Hal and Alyssa, you get the construction boys to seal all access to the basement. Every vent, every drain-"

"Captain, Anne and Matt are still in the basement with Lourdes," Tom reminded him.

"Jamil went to get them; they're back by now."

"Cap," Pope's voice traveled down the hallway. "You might need some help killing these roaches."

"You seen Anne and Lourdes upstairs?" Tom asked him.

"No," Pope shook his head.

"Ben, Kaylee, you're with me!" Tom called over his shoulder and started running ahead, us close behind him.

"Mind if I tag along, Professor? I'll follow your lead. You have my word," Pope promised. Pope following orders? That's new.

"We'll see what that's worth," Tom stated and kept running. Tom, Pope, Ben, and I turned down another hall and continued jogging down it. I didn't know where Tom was taking us, but he probably knew how to find Matt, Lourdes, and Anne through a hall down here. "Let's go! Keep moving," he called to us. I switched on the light on my gun and pointed it out on the path in front of me to light up the hall better.

It felt like we kept running and running for the longest time. This hallway went on forever and there were a bunch of twists and turns that were bound to confuse anyone. I honestly considered that we might've gotten lost, but Tom slowed down once we got to a staircase leading down to continue the hall. I guess this was the actual basement of the hospital, since there was a door there that must've led somewhere else too.

There were banging noises coming from the air vent nearest to us. It sounded like something was moving up them. Pope went in front of us and stopped to try to see in, but it was useless. He then stood back up and took his gun off of safety. "Let's give these critters something to think about." Once he loaded his gun, a cry came out from the vent. It was Matt.

Tom lowered his gun instantly. "Matt?!" Pope awkwardly pulled his gun behind him. Tom and Ben ran to the vent and yanked off the covering as quickly as they could. Matt's fists appeared in the light of my Calico and Tom pulled him out of the vent.

"They're after me! The crawlies are after me!" Matt exclaimed. So we weren't the only ones who had a run in with our newfound friends.

"Where are Anne and Lourdes?" Tom asked him frantically.

"In the blood lab," Matt said, still completely freaked out.

"Alright, get him upstairs," Tom instructed Ben and me.

"C'mon," Ben told Matt and I put a hand behind his back and pushed him lightly towards the opposite end of the hallway. The Masons and I ran back up the stairs and down the hall.

"Are we going the right way?" I shouted over the gunshots to Ben.

"Hopefully," he shouted back and the three of us kept sprinting throughout all the halls we turned through. I grabbed Matt's hand as we took a sharp left and kept holding it all the way through. There was no way in hell that we were losing him, especially after the brave thing he just did.

Ben probably started hearing the voices of everyone upstairs, because he slowed down a little and then picked up speed swiftly before running to the right and up the stairs to the main floor. Thank God we were above ground again. I felt way safer upstairs than down.

I knelt down and gave Matt a hug, because I know how badly he needed it. He was almost in tears. "You are so brave, Matt. So brave."

Matt hugged me back. "I was scared the whole time though."

I held his arms and looked him straight in the air. "Courage is when we face our fears, and that's exactly what you did, Matt. I don't think I could ever crawl through an air vent to get help, let alone one with crawlies in it."

Matt smiled a tiny bit. "Really?"

"Really. You're becoming a fine solider, buddy."

His smile spread wider. "One day, I'll be as brave as you and Alyssa. You'll see."

I laughed. "You better. I'm counting on seeing that." Ben and I made Matt stay with the other kids his age in the rooms with the civilians in them just to make sure he didn't get lost or run into trouble again. Once Matt was safe with the others, Ben and I stood a little farther down the hall near the entrance, waiting for Anne, Lourdes, Pope, and Tom to come back.

"Are you really afraid of small spaces?" Ben asked curiously. "Or were you just saying that to make Matt feel better?"

"I actually cannot stand to be in an enclosed space longer than I need to be. The thought of being trapped in an air vent or being crushed to death freaks me out."

"How long has this been going on?" He wondered with his eyebrows raised.

"Since the time when I was with Alyssa in a crowded elevator and it stopped working for an hour," I shook my head. "I didn't really like small spaces that much, but it got a lot worse after that."

"That seriously happened?"

I nodded. "If I had to do what Matt just did I'd be hyperventilating the whole time. I'd do it if I had to save someone, but never anything else."

"I'm afraid of drowning," Ben admitted. "Swimming that river was terrible."

"But you can swim well, right?

"Yeah, but I'm afraid of getting dragged under or being forced to drown, you know? But I did it for the 2nd Mass."

I thought back to that night. That was the first time I got to see how close Ben and Jimmy were, and it was the first time the three of us went on an actual mission together. And it was the last time, too.

"Wait; you might need this," Jimmy slipped the compass Weaver had given him off from around his neck and gave it to Ben.

"Weaver's compass?" Ben asked surprised.

"Yeah, just don't make me come after it," he said trying to die down the unmanliness that resulted from him giving Ben his compass. "That water's freezing."

Ben grinned. "It's invigorating." He began walking down into the river, Jimmy and I laughing behind him. "INVIGORATING!" He yelled back to us smiling like the old Ben. In that moment I knew what he meant by friendship, and just how great of friends we would always be.

I smiled at the memory I'd never forget. Sometimes I feel like if I close my eyes, Jimmy's still on my right side like he always was on patrols, and Ben was on my left laughing about something one of us had said. Ben and I have both moved on, but it was still something really hard to talk about. Both of us tried to not bring up the night we lost him, but honestly I wish we had talked about it, at least more than barely touching on the subject.

And what was Ben talking about earlier? About leaving? Why wouldn't he tell me something like that? I wanted to ask him about that too, but I obviously couldn't at this time. A piece of me was hoping and praying and begging that I misunderstood him and that he wasn't going anywhere, and the rest of me knew that it had to be true. He's taken on a bigger roll in the rebellion and has been in contact with the rebels almost frequently so I knew that something was going on. I just didn't want to accept what was right in front of me.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" I heard Weaver screaming and Ben and I ran back to the door to the basement to be ready to help him out. Anne, Tom, Lourdes, and Pope came running up the stairs and the second they were on our floor, Hal, Alyssa, me, and Ben shut the door as Weaver instructed and propped up a huge wooden plank over the door.

"What happened to Boon's patrol?" Tom asked Weaver suddenly, slightly panting to catch his breath.

"They didn't make it," Weaver replied somberly. He had pain written all over his face. Weaver then looked around randomly and then back to Anne and Lourdes. "Where's Jamil?"

Anne let out a huge sigh. "He didn't make it either."

Are you telling me that we lost at least four people tonight? One of which was a valued mechanic and the other a Berserker? I looked to Weaver and he looked ready to break down. Captain was always strong for us, but I knew how badly it hurt him when we lost fighters and civilians. "Lourdes…I'm sorry." Lourdes picked her eyes off the ground and tearfully glanced at all of us before running down the hall, Anne going after her.

Tom began walking down the hall. "Where are you going?" Weaver asked him.

"To pay a visit to our honored guest."

"Dad!" Ben called and headed after him. I stood uncomfortably in place.

"Kaylee, I want you upstairs in the ward. Anthony and Dai are gonna need backup in case things go wrong," Weaver nodded at me.

"Yes, sir," I said gratefully and ran after Tom and Ben all the way up to the psych ward. The more time I spent in here, the more I hated this place.

Tom and Ben were already where the Overlord was in. The Overlord towered over them, free from his chains, and the door was wide open. My hands instantly pulled my Calico to the front of me, and clicked it into place. Ben was right in my line of sight, and his spikes turned bright blue. "At last we have the chance to speak again; I've been looking forward to it, Professor Mason."

"Ben?" Tom tore his eyes away from the tall alien and to his son, who was under the control of the Overlord.

"I'm afraid he can't hear you," Ben stared at Tom eerily.

Tom looked back at the alien. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"Peace." Haha that's adorable.

"I didn't think your kind had a sense of humor," Tom spat out, "how does genocide equal peace?"

"Tom, if we had come here to commit genocide every last one of you would be dead. We have no interest in annihilating your people. Think of it as…a correction."

"A correction?" Tom raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Yes. Your planet, like so many we've been to, is, to put it bluntly, spiraling out of control. You fight to the death for dwindling resources while your population continues to-"

"We don't need your help solving our problems, thank you."

"Of course. Once our task here has been completed, we will move on from your planet-"

"What task? Why are you here?" Tom voiced the question that every single damn human still alive has been wondering since the day they came. It's been close to two years since they came and still we were no closer to solving this question than anyone else.

"That is none of your concern, but, disrupting our operations and continuing to obstruct the inevitable can only result in more pain and more suffering," Ben moved his eyes to Tom again and Tom continued staring at the Overlord.

"Except we're not alone anymore in resisting your occupation."

The alien paused and took a step forward, and if it was possible, the permanent frown on his face deepened. "Are you referring to the so-called rebellion?"

"I am. And they scare the hell out of you, don't they?"

"We will…defeat them."

"Perhaps but you haven't even managed to defeat us yet. And we will continue to bleed you every single day that you're here." Can I get a HELL YEAH?

"You don't have the strength. The fanatical will to prevail against us. You're weak, crippled by sentiment. Case in point." Ben's spikes faded out and he collapsed to the floor coughing and shaking like the way I did when I was shot. Without even thinking, I ran in the room and was at his side instantly. He was making gagging sounds to try to catch his breath and blood was draining from his nose. I slid my left hand under his head and tried to tilt it back to see if it would somewhat stop the bleeding, but it seemed to just make it worse. I grabbed his hand with my right and held it tightly. "Tom," I looked back at him warningly. Tom held his gun at the Overlord and tried to look at his son at the same time. "TOM!" I shouted as Ben's breaths got weaker and his eyes looked ready to give up.

"Stop it. PLEASE!" Tom shouted to the Overlord. Ben's heavy breathing stopped as well as the blood gushing from his nose. He looked back up at Tom, still speaking for the Overlord. "Sentiment. Weakness. You are in over your head, Tom Mason. Now release me before it's too late."

Tom got back up from his kneeling position beside me. "Okay. Alright. I understand now." Tom yanked out his handgun and shot the alien dead on in the chest. The Real Ben winced at the blow and began coughing drastically again. I held his head up and looked down at him, probably looking absolutely terrified and weak. Ben continued heaving until everything went back to normal for him. I put my arm underneath his shoulders and neck and helped him sit up normally. He couldn't seem to calm down, or maybe he just couldn't grasp what had just happened. Sometimes I think that Ben believes that he's indestructible since he has improved speed, strength, vision, and hearing, and I suppose that this was somewhat of a wake up call for him. No one can cheat death, not even someone with improved chances. Especially in a war where extra terrestrials have the upper hand.

"I'm here," I whispered softly, remembering how much those words calmed me down after the bridge incident, and how much he needed to hear them too. Ben leaned over and hugged me tightly, shaking slightly. I kissed his forehead and hugged him back even tighter, holding him until he was ready to let go.

It was moments like these when I realized how much I relied on Ben. I can't imagine how many times he's sat there, listening to me rant about pointless things and dealing with all of the shit that has happened in my life without so much as a blink. Now with the tables turned, I was surprised by how different the feeling was, being relied on instead of relying on someone else. Makes you feel pretty important.

"We should get you cleaned up," I said quietly and pulled back so I could face him.

He nodded in agreement and I helped him up onto his feet only to have him nearly collapse back onto his feet again. My arm instantly shot around his waist and Ben let out a forced breath. "This really sucks," he said.

I chuckled. "You'll get used to it." I helped Ben all the way down the hall until we reached a family bathroom where paper towels were luckily still there. I unscrewed the black canteen at my side that was filled with water and I poured it onto a few paper towels. Ben reached for them, but I quickly pulled them out of his grasp.

"I can do it myself."

"You need to catch your breath."

"I'm fine, Kaylee."

I rolled my eyes. "Can you just let me help you for once?"

Ben rolled his eyes back at me. "Whatever."

"Hardass," I muttered while I knelt next him sitting on the floor and gently swiped away the blood from his upper lip and cheek. Ben stared at me as I cleaned him off, and it got to the point where I was moderately creeped out by it.

"What are you staring at?" I asked him as I skimmed the wet paper towel across part of his nose that was red.

"Do you know that you have the most beautiful pair of eyes I've ever seen?"

Despite how cheesy the compliment was, I smile spread across my lips and my cheeks felt warmer then normal. "Is that so?"

"I'm serious," he looked directly at me with his green-blue eyes. "They're so pale they're almost silver, but they have a sapphire ring around the outside."

"I don't know whether to be creeped out that you stare at me so much to know that or to be complimented at your observation."

Ben laughed. "You're the only one that always seems to forget that I can see better than almost everyone here."

"Right," I smiled, "because you totally don't spend every moment of the day staring at my eyes."

"I don't!"

"Way to crush my ego," I frowned jokingly.

Ben sighed overdramatically. "I can never win with you."

"It appears that way." I laughed and grabbed some dry paper towels to dry him off. "You have pretty great eyes yourself.""

"Is that so?" he mocked in my voice, which was only a few octaves higher than his.

"I'm serious," I mimicked him back while sliding the towel across his cheek. "Every time I see you they're a different color."

"I got them from my mom," Ben grinned slightly.

"What was she like?" I asked gently, afraid to bring up a sore subject. Ben wasn't there when his mom died, so I couldn't exactly take a guess to how he felt about it. I think he's somewhere on the same page as I am; okay, but scarred.

"Well," he said softly, remembering his mom, "she had reddish blond hair, almost like yours actually but more red, which Matt and I got. And her eyes were exactly like mine, and I'm the only Mason without brown eyes, which is cool I suppose. She was always supportive about anything any of us did, and she was always breaking up the fights Hal and I had about whatever it was. She was the reason Hal and I learned to get over the petty rivalry we had." Ben paused briefly with a smile on his face. "My mom was always happy about something…No matter what she had something to smile about or something to be grateful for."

"She sounds a lot like you," I smiled.

He nodded and chuckled. "I've never really realized how much alike we are." Ben looked at me. "What about your mom?"

I thought for awhile; it was really hard to pull a picture of my mom from my own memory. "She had this dirty blond hair and brownish green eyes. She was also really tall, just a few inches shorter than my dad actually, and that's where I got my height from. She had the most incredible voice in the world…She actually used to sing me to sleep every single night, even when Alyssa stayed over. My mom had the most amazing musical talent and both my brother and I inherited that from her. We fought a lot, but we were still extremely close. She was always super precise about everything and how things should be. She was pretty crazy too, but most musicians are," I grinned slightly.

"Is that necklace hers?" Ben pointed at the one that's been on my neck, every single moment since the day she and my dad passed away.

I nodded. "She let me wear it the day she and my dad died because I wouldn't stop begging to wear it for a day. She finally gave in after my nonstop pleading and now," I clutched the pendant gently, "it's the only thing I have left of her."

Ben perked up all of the sudden and looked around.

"What is it?"

"Karen's coming back into the building."

"We should probably go back out."

"Yeah," he nodded and put a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks for sharing that with me."

"You too," I smiled again and we helped each other off the floor and outside to the main hallway.

"Yeah? Well you must have missed a subatomic particle or two, 'cause things really haven't gone according to plan ever since have they?" Hal said, and appeared to be pretty calm but I knew better. Karen was standing in front of him, turned away from me.

"There are always unexpected variables that require adjustments. I made them and now you're handing over my master to me." Oh, just wait until you see what adjustments we made to your master.

"Oh, I guess you got it all figured out then don't you?" A few moments of silence passed, and he spoke up again. "Move." Hal and Karen continued down the hall until she stopped in front of Ben.

"Ben," his eyes directed towards her. "I'm glad you're okay. I know this has been quite an ordeal for you, but it had to happen. I hope you can understand that-" Just as I was about to reach out and slug Karen across the face, she stopped immediately. "Something's happened to him." Her face instantly went from collected and robotic to infuriated and maybe even terrified. "What've you done?!" She darted into the psych ward.

Tom, Hal, Alyssa, Ben, Dai, Anthony, and I all enclosed around the psych ward as well as bordered the exit. "Dr. Glass did what she could to stop the bleeding," Tom told Karen, whose eyes shot up at the sound of his voice. "I don't know much about his physiology but, I don't think he's gonna last much longer."

Karen looked back down at her master and then back up at Tom. She slowly stood up, and my hand flew to my gun as she ran across the room, making some kind of inhumane screeching sound. She was about to lash out at Tom, but Ben grabbed both of her arms and tightly, and by the looks of it, painfully, put them behind her back as well as secured her neck into place. Alyssa had to have taught him that, since I totally recognized the move from something similar she taught me awhile ago.

"You ready to listen?" Tom asked with some aggression in his voice. He received no response. "Good! Because you can still save him."

"How?" Karen spat out the word. My focus shifted to Ben momentarily and I could read how scared he was right now. Probably because this bitch nearly screwed up his life all over again.

"See this? It's plastic explosive. There's more outside, enough to take out the entire floor. It's connected to a detonator controlled by two of our guys; one of them is Pope, and I believe you remember him. And he'll have no problem blowing you and your master straight to hell." Hal's cold stare never left Karen's this whole time. And damn, was that a cold one.

"If he does, our airstrike will kill you all," she attempted to threaten back. Sweetheart, if you're going to try and make threats, don't do it when a fifteen-year-old dude has you constricted. Doesn't give the full affect.

"And your Overlord dies with us," Tom pointed out, staring right back at her. "And so do you. But we don't have to go down that road. You let the 2nd Mass evacuate and once we're clear you're free to leave. And if you hurry, you might even be able to save his life." Karen struggled to get Ben off of her, but there was no way in hell he was going to let go until we had an answer. He looked over at me, silently begging for this to be over.

"Fine," she spat out. "But know this, Tom Mason. My master will live to see another day. However, you and the 2nd Mass will not."

Ben released her instantly and Karen dropped to the floor to be with the Overlord, trying to see what she could do about his injury. All of us evacuated the building and yelled down every single hallway to all of the lingering people get in the vehicles and move as fast as you possibly could. I grabbed my backpack and the other things I carried with me that was left outside of my room's door and began running until I made it outside. So many of the civilians were running around, but now, they were running to pick up the speed instead of in panic.

There were mechs all around the hospital grounds, but they stood down with their lights still shining on the 2nd Mass. In the moments I was standing in the freezing cold and staring at all of them, I forgot which vehicle I was in and where the hell I was supposed to put my stuff. And by now almost everyone was in their places. Shit.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ben shouted from the huge car I was supposed to obviously be in, head sticking out the windows. "Get your ass in here!" I laughed and jogged over to the truck, threw my things in the trunk of it, and opened the door to slide in. Ben and I were in the back seats with Lyle and Crazy Lee in the front. They were both extremely quiet, so something must've happened while I was inside the building instead of at the front line. Of course I didn't want to ask them and bring whatever happened up again, but I needed to know if it was something huge.

Oh my God. I'm such an idiot. It was Boon.

"Holy shit," I muttered to myself and skimmed my hand over my forehead.

"What?" Ben whispered back. Even in the car, his breath was visible in the cold weather.

"We lost a lot of people today," I breathed, trying to mentally count how many. At least four, including the patrol that went with Boon. Four might not seem like much, but to the 2nd Mass it might as well have been Fitchburg all over again. We kept losing more and more numbers of people that it was starting to throw me off my edge a little.

He nodded and put his arm around me, rubbing my arm to warm me up. "Yeah, we did."

I slightly leaned into him. Damn, how was he this warm all the time? Must be a deharnessed kid thing. "I almost lost you, too." And I still could.

Ben took both of my hands in his, one like all the cliché relationships have when the guy puts his arm around his girlfriend and holds her hand, and the other with his left hand. "You're not going to lose me. Do you get it? Never. No matter what happens."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, my voice only a hair above audible to me.

He kissed my temple and rested his head on mine. "Because I can feel it in my heart. I know that you and I are going to survive. 'Dorky Best Friends Survive an Alien Invasion,' remember? You gave me hope when you weren't even conscious. Now finally having you here, right here, alive and breathing makes me certain that we'll live. I just know it."

I was so overwhelmed by what he just said that I just leaned over and buried myself into a hug that I needed so, so badly. All of this, fighting, figuring out alien strategies, Karen, the Overlord, hell the last twenty-four hours, were just too damn much for a fifteen-year-old to handle. Thinking about a world without aliens was nearly impossible to me know, since it has been pretty much two years of forgetting the old way of life and focusing on being a solider. A life where I didn't have to constantly worry about everyone and everything, without always having to watch my back as well as tons of other people's, a life where I could just be a kid again, sounded so wonderful that I couldn't even allow myself to think about it. Survival is not guaranteed, as I have mentioned so many times. Too much hope leads to less focus and carelessness, which ultimately results in death. I couldn't think about the future, when I still have yet to survive the present.

Ben and I sat like that, with me hidden in his chest and his arms around me tightly, for hours and hours. Whatever the reason, I couldn't let him go. I physically could not let him go. He said himself that he was leaving soon, and if that's true, I need to spend as much time with him as I can. This could be the last time I would spend in his arms. This could be the last time I could hear his heart beating, feel his fingers running through my hair, and feel whole. This could be the last time he kissed my head, the last time I held his hand, the last time I would actually be able to be in his tight embrace that I loved so much, and the last time I could ever feel bliss in a world full of sorrow.

One of my biggest mistakes I've ever made was not repeating that enough and not choosing to accept the fact that I couldn't hold onto Ben forever. Because little did my seemingly strong heart know, that was the last time I would spend with Ben.

Alyssa's POV

I wasn't really sure what to do because I couldn't find Kaylee or Hal and I couldn't go out front. Dr. Glass and made sure that with the wrap on my stomach so I wouldn't be able to fight. I decided to go pack up all of my stuff and load it up; I will probably grab Kaylee's as well because she seemed busy. I walked down to our room but when I went in there all our stuff was packed up and gone. I jogged, or attempted to jog, down to the cars and slowly and carefully made my way to the cars. I looked in and found Kaylee and I's bags. Apparently Kaylee felt like being nice. I ran into Hal, who looked frustrated. "Hey, Alyssa, my dad wants us to go check out the basement. He said Matt, Anne, and Lourdes are down there."

"Okay cool let's go." I tried to make my walking as normal as possible but it was hard to do that. We went down and were barely down there for a few minutes when we heard a weird screeching noise. We both froze. "It's coming from inside the wall."

"What the…" We both looked around. The noise was getting louder and louder. It sounded like it was all around us, coming closer and closer to us. "Look," he motioned to a thing in the wall that looked like an air vent or something. He lifted his gun and I lifted my knife and he opened up the vent. Inside there were a bunch of these creepy robotic spiders or mini-skitter things running toward us, squealing and it was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life. Hal slammed the vent shut again but one got out. I screamed and jumped up in the air. As it was running toward us I threw my knife at it and hit it dead center but the little bastard was still fucking walking. It was walking with my knife in it! That cannot be normal, I don't care what planet you're from! Hal had to shoot it at least fifteen times before it died. Once it stopped moving, I stopped screaming.

"That was like a skitter slash mech slash spider slash the devil slash death all in one!"

"Yeah that is pretty much the most accurate description ever." He agreed. "We need to go tell someone." I nodded in agreement and we sprinted as fast as we could back above ground and out front.

"Did you guys find them?" Tom ran up to us. We shook our heads, trying to catch our breath.

"We found something alright, but not them. Alyssa, you explain."

"It was like a skitter slash mech slash spider slash the devil slash death all in one. And there were like a thousand of them"

Hal shook his head. "Closer to a hundred."

"Weaver, we have a slight problem." The captain came over. "These two have sighted either a hundred or a thousand-" Weaver just stared.

"Somewhere in between," I clarified.

"Skitter slash mech slash spider slash the devil slash death all in one type things." Tom finished. Weaver kept staring at us.

"Come with us and we

ll show you," I said and they nodded. As we turned to leave I saw Kaylee. I ran up and grabbed her arm

"What's going on?"

"You need to come with us to the basement."

"Why?" she asked, eyeing us suspiciously.

"There were these skitter slash mech slash spider slash the devil slash death things as big as my hand in the basement and they are terrifying as fuck. Weaver wants you and Ben to come with it when we check it out." So not exactly true but I wanted her to come because where ever she was, Ben will follow and I wanted to keep an eye on him.

We walked down to the basement and showed them the little thing. By the time we got down there, the thing was still moving! I stopped and wouldn't go close to it.

"First skitters, harnesses, eye ball worms, now these. What'll the bastards hit us with next?" Weaver looked around skeptically.

"It was a tough mother. I had to hit it fifteen times to kill it," Hal said. Yeah AND THEY THING STILL ISN'T DEAD!

"We can't let crawlies get past our defense system. Hal and Alyssa, you get the construction boys to seal all access to the basement. Every vent, every drain-"

"Captain, Anne and Matt are still in the basement with Lourdes," Tom stepped in.

"Jamil went to get them; they're back by now," Weaver assured him. I don't know, I mean Tom sent us too and look how that worked out.

"Cap," I heard Pope coming up behind us. When did he get here? Jeeze, you black out for a few hours and you miss so much. "You might need some help killing these roaches."

"You seen Anne and Lourdes upstairs?" Tom looked at Pope, and he shook his head.

"No."

"Ben, Kaylee, you're with me!" Tom called as we turned and started running.

Before he could get very far, Pope stopped him. "Mind if I tag along, Professor? I'll follow your lead. You have my word," he said as he held up his hand as if it made a difference.

"We'll see what that's worth." And they took off running. Quiet the interesting search and rescue team, Tom, Kaylee, Ben, and Pope. As they left, Weaver headed in the opposite direction.

"Hal, Alyssa, you're with me." He ran, but neither of us followed.

"Are you still thinking about Karen?"

"No." He said flatly but I just looked at him. "Yes, but not like that. It's just that I can't believe I let her get to my head."

"Yeah well she tricked most of us. I'm a little ashamed of how I let her get to my head and well that didn't end so well." I motioned to my bandaged hand.

"Yeah what happened with that?"

"Just promise me when to time comes, I get the honor of killing her."

"Yes ma'am," he smiled, then it faded again. "I can't get over the fact I used to hold her in my arms, kiss her, even thought I loved her."

"Do you still love her?"

He just stared at me "No," he said in a voice that sounded like 'how could you even ask that?' "I think I love someone else."

I leaned in a kissed him, differently that we have ever kissed. I can't really explain it but it felt different. I wrapped my arms around his next and his hands grabbed my waist and pulled my closer, so there was no space between our bodies. He was the first to break away, but his face stayed right by mine. "Remember the first time we saw Karen, after she had been taken, at that crazy lady's house and we were waiting outside playing 21 questions and you asked me, post-invasion, what was the best thing that ever happened to me?" I nodded. "Well if you had asked me that, one day before, hell one hour before and I would have said Karen but at that moment I wasn't so sure. I have come to realize that the reason I wasn't so sure is because the answer isn't Karen, it's you."

When he said that my heart melted and I don't think I have ever felt love until this point. "That same night, when I sang you that song, you asked me who it was about and I wouldn't tell you, was because it was about you." Hal smiled, and this time he leaned in and kissed me. I honestly think we would have stayed like that forever, had Weaver not yelled at us.

"HAL! ALYSSA! LET'S GO!" he yelled and we started running after Weaver. Hal glared at him for breaking up our moment.

"I'm a dad of two daughters, it's force of habit." The three of us ran out to the front of the hospital, where a barricade had been set up and mechs were firing and our fighters were firing back, that is until fucking Karen showed up. She actually had the nerve to show up here with a white flag, as if she meant she wanted peace. That little bitch. Hal noticed me tense up and he put his hand on the small of my back.

"TOM MASON!" she yelled in her squeaky voice.

"What do you want Karen?!" Weaver answered.

"Captain, one of your fighters has a message for you." As she said that, all the mechs turned on their lights and someone, I couldn't tell who, came out. Whoever they were, they were badly injured. The person was limping, with both legs and they were crouched over holding there arm. The person started walking towards us and as they got closer, I noticed it was Boon. At first I thought he was going to make it, but then I mech stepped forward and opened fire on him. Boon fell to the floor, dead. As she walked away, Karen yelled, "Consider it a warning Captain. You're out of time."

Weaver turned and motioned for Hal and me to follow so we did as we were told. Weaver led us to the entrance to the basement. "Are they still not out?" I asked.

"Not yet," Weaver shook his head, but as soon as he said that, Tom slammed the door open, Pope, Anne, and Lourdes right behind him. "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Weaver shouted. Ben and Kaylee rounded the corner; they must have heard Weaver screaming. Hal and Ben were shutting the door and Kaylee and I pushed the other one shut blocking off the door, and what ever spiders from hell thing were down there.

They were all panting. "What happened to Boon's patrol?" Tom asked. We all became quiet. It was Weaver who answered.

"They didn't make it." I looked around, someone was missing from the group, but I couldn't remember who. "Where's Jamil?" That's who it was.

"He didn't make it either," said Anne. First the patrol, then Jamil. The 2nd Mass really needs to get to Charleston. We're dropping like flies.

"Lourdes….I'm sorry," Weaver replied. She looked like she was about to cry, and right when she couldn't hold it in any longer, she ran away. Anne chased after her.

Tom turned around angrily and walked down the hall, gun loaded. "Where are you going?" Weaver yelled.

"To pay a visit to our honored guest," Tom spat, not even turning around.

"Dad!" Ben yelled as he chased after his dad as Hal, Kaylee, Pope, Weaver, and I stood in an awkward silence.

"Kaylee, I want you upstairs in the ward. Anthony and Dai are gonna need backup in case things go wrong."

"Yes sir," she nodded and ran after them.

"Hal, Tector, Alyssa, back on the line." The three of us nodded and ran back to the front of the hospital, guns (or in my case, knives) ready.

Nothing really interesting really actually happened. We just kinda stood there, ready to fire if necessary. Eventually Weaver and Tom came out, and they sent two scouts to go get Karen, they said they had a plan to get us out of here, safely. They wouldn't tell us, in fear that she may be listening. If Ben has super hearing, she must have it as well.

As the scouts walked up, Hal stepped forward and grabbed Karen by the arm. "I'll take you to your master." I could tell he was pissed as hell. I just hope if she tries anything he remembers his promise to me, that I kill her. If I don't get to kill her, I am going to be seriously pissed.

"I wish things had worked out differently." I squeezed my knife, and I felt a hand holding my arm back. I looked behind me to see Weaver shaking his head. So close. So fucking close.

"I doubt it," Hal said, completely monotone. "It took me a while to realize the Karen I knew died a long time ago."

"I suppose you're right; that Karen is long gone," she said. I'm not sure which Karen I hate more. "If only you could experience the things my master has taught me."

"Yeah, like how to betray your friends? How to shoot unarmed people in the back?"

"It's so much bigger than that. How can I make you understand?" Her voice was so calm, so knowing. It was like she thought she was one step ahead of us. Like she was better than us. It fucking pissed me off.

"We don't want to understand, so do us all a favor and shut the fuck up," I said.

She just glared at me. "You see, every living thing, every grain of sand, every star in the sky is linked by an intricate web of causality-"

"What point of 'we don't want to understand' don't you get?"

"That attitude would explain your intelligence level, Alyssa," she looked at me and continued, "If you can comprehend that web in its whole, down to the smallest subatomic practical that you can predict the chain of events, and alter them."

"Wow, that's the most ridiculous load of crap I have ever heard," I said and Hal nodded.

"I knew precisely where I was going to place those bodies of those deharnessed children so you and Hal would find me. I knew every needed gesture and words to get the desired response of Hal and Ben. Up until the moment he ran away with me."

"Yeah well you must have missed a subatomic particle or two 'cause things haven't really gone according to plan since then have they?" Hal asked.

"There are always unexpected variables that require adjustments. I made them and now you're handing over my master to me." Ha, that's cute. She thinks we are just going to give her master to her. I don't know exactly what the plan is, but I know there is a plan and if I have learned anything from being with the 2nd Mass, it's they will put up a fight until the bitter end. They definitely won't hand her Overlord over to her that easily. And she was commenting on my intelligence level.

"Oh, I guess you got it all figured out then don't you?" Hal asked. She didn't reply. For the first time she didn't have that smug I-know-more-than-you-so-I-am-better-than-you look on her face. "Move."

We approached the fighters outside, Ben being one of them. "Ben, I'm glad you're okay. I know this has been quite an ordeal for you, but it had to happen. I hope you can understand that-"Suddenly she froze and her face went paper white. "Something's happened to him." She completely dropped her act and the look on her face was half rage, half terror. "What've you done?!"

She sprinted to the room where her maser was. Tom, Kaylee, Ben, Dai, Anthony, Hal, and I circled around her, blocking the exit. The Overlord was lying on the ground, bleeding in the stomach, or what I'm guessing is his stomach. "Dr. Glass did what she could to stop the bleeding. I don't know much about his physiology but, I don't think he's gonna last much longer," Tom explained. Her face was pure rage. I just smiled.

Karen slowly stood up and the she screamed, or more like screeched, and ran towards Tom. Kaylee had her gun up and ready in seconds, but Ben stepped forward and grabbed Karen and twisted her arms back and pinned him to the wall. I taught him that. She tried to get out of his grasp but I knew it wasn't possible. If Kaylee has a hard time getting out of my grasp when I pin her down like that, then little Karen isn't getting out of his grip. Ben was really strong.

"You ready to listen?" Tom asked. She just glared at him. "Good, because you can still save him."

"How?" She was pissed now. Good.

"See this? It's plastic explosive. There's more outside, enough to take out the entire floor. It's connected to a detonator controlled by two of our guys; one of them is Pope, and I believe you remember him. And he'll have no problem blowing you and your master straight to hell." Hal was glaring her the whole time. Like honestly, I don't think I have ever seen him show so much hatred toward someone, even when we hated each other. And trust me, our hatred was pretty strong.

"If he does our air strike will kill you all," she spat.

"And your Overlord dies with us." Silence. "And so do you. But we don't have to go down that road. You let the 2nd Mass evacuate and once we're clear you're free to leave. And if you hurry, you might even be able to save his life." More silence. She was so lost without her master to tell her what to do. It's almost like she can't think for herself.

"Fine," it sounded like a growl. "But know this, Tom Mason. My master will live to see another day. However, you and the 2nd Mass will not." She dropped down to be with her master and all of us ran like hell to get out of there. Just about everyone and everything was loaded up but there were still a few more people so we got them all evacuated and everyone in cars and we were off to Charleston.

"I want to drive," I whined as Hal and I walked over to the truck we were driving.

"No." Hal said, for like the fiftieth time in the past minute.

"Whyyyyyy?"

"Because I actually want to be alive tomorrow," he said and laughed as he got in the front of the truck and I stomped over to the passenger side. He just laughed. "Maybe later."

"Fine." I shut the door and grabbed a blanket from my backpack that I had with some of my stuff. "If you won't let me drive, I'm going to sleep." I laid my head down on his leg and closed my eyes. "You know you make a pretty good pillow." He laughed and said something but I don't remember, because I was already asleep.

---

"Alyssa, get up. Alyssa, get up. Alyssa, get up." He was shaking his leg trying to wake me up. "Alyssa, get up. Alyssa, get up. Alyssa, get up-"

"Stop moving. I'm trying to sleep."

"Naptime is over. We're making a quick pit stop. Time to walk around, stretch out our legs, we got 500 more miles to go." I looked around and realized it was bright; we must have been driving all night. The truck needs more fuel so I grabbed a barrel and head over to fuel it up, at the same time I saw Kaylee walking over. Everyone was talking about Charleston. We were all really excited.

"Yeah, I heard they got fresh fish," Anthony said. "Even lobster. Aw man, I can taste it now. Swimming in butter!"

"Warm Cognac, in a tulip shaped glass," Dai smiled.

"Count me in." That sounded good. I hadn't had some Cognac in awhile. "Can't wait to see my sister," I added, "and do you guys think Charleston has juice boxes?!" They all laughed. I don't see how it was funny. There is nothing funny about juice boxes. I take my juice boxes very seriously.

"What about you, Parker?" Anthony asked Kaylee.

"Hot showers." Amen to that.

"Oh yeah, they got day spas, ice cream parlors, theme parks. Strip clubs made out of gingerbread. Charleston's gonna be a paradise on Earth," Pope said in his smart ass voice.

"If you think it'll be a bust then why are you going?" I questioned him.

"It's 'cause he's got no where else to go and no one to have him. Isn't that right, John?" Anthony smirked at Pope and kept walking with Dai. Everyone laughed. Pope hated it when we used his first name. He glared at all of us.

Kaylee smiled and turned to leave. "In case I don't see you later, I'll see you in paradise," she laughed.

I smiled and grabbed my barrel and yelled back, "See you in paradise, Parker."

"Hell yeah you will!" I couldn't wait. I walked back to the truck and gave the fuel to Hal. "So when are we setting out?"

"As soon as my dad and Weaver finish talking with that guy." He pointed over to where Tom and Weaver were talking with a guy. I couldn't really see the guy because Tom was blocking him, but then he shifted his weight and moved slightly to the right. I saw the man's face and my heart stopped. I had to do a double take.

"Oh my God. No." I muttered. I grabbed Hal by the arm. "Come on, let's go." We walked over to them.

"You're welcome to come with us if you like and-" Tom was explaining.

"No. No he's not." I said to them, then I looked him straight in the eye and gave him the best glare I could. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Alyssa Carter! This is a civilian in need of our help-"

"No he isn't. He is a fucking cowardly ass whole who doesn't deserve the help of the 2nd Mass." I looked back at him "You need to turn around and leave. Walk away and never come back. And don't you dare show your face at Charleston ever. If I find out you do I will personally ensure you die a pain-"

Hal's hand went over my mouth because I was starting to yell. "I don't know what's up with her," he apologized and tried to explain my behavior.

I got out of his grip. "NO! He deserves to hear this! I should kill him right now! HE DESERVES TO BURN IN FUCKING HELL!" I yelled. Tom, Weaver, and Hal looked appalled.

"Now, now, Alyssa, is that any way to speak to your father? I haven't seen you in how long and this is how you treat me?" They all tensed up when they realized he was my father. They all remembered hearing about my dad.

"So you are her dad?" Tom asked.

"Biologically yes, but that's it. He was a pathetic drunken excuse for a dad."

"How dare you speak about me like that!" he reached up his hand to slap me, but Hal stepped in front of me and grabbed his arm.

"Don't even think about it," he said.

"And who might you be?" Jay, that was his name, asked.

Hal pushed his arm back and stood in front of me. "I happen to be her boyfriend, Hal," he said.

"Oh, so did he knock you up too?" I tried to get passed Hal but him and Tom held me back so I didn't beat the shit out of him.

Weaver stepped up "I think it may be best you leave now, and don't come around here again, or I can't promise Hal and Tom will hold her back."

"And next time I'll get Kaylee to help me." He flinched. Kaylee always scared him. Hal dragged me away from there and back to our car. "I can't believe he is alive," I stated "I thought, hoped, he was dead."

"I get it, from what you said, he sounds like a jerk. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. But just think about seeing your sister." I smiled a little. We hopped back in the truck and I assumed my spot, sleeping on Hal's leg, one of his arms on the small of my back, the other on the wheel. I feel asleep again.

Kaylee's POV

"Wake up, kid," a familiar voice called me to the real world and out of sleep. My eyes instantly opened to see Tector staring at me with a forced smile on his face. Ben had already gotten up and out of the vehicle.

"How far are we from the hospital?" I wondered, slightly groggy.

"Five hundred miles 'til we hit Charleston."

I looked at Tector's clearly fake smile. "Tec, you're not fooling anyone. You'd look less sad with a straight face."

Tector's smile dropped instantly. "I'm just trying to make myself feel better about everything."

"You need to give yourself time to grieve first," I patted his shoulder and got out of the vehicle into the cloudy weather of wherever the hell we were. Outside, there was a huge line of all the cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles we had (I'm a gun person, not a car person) along the dirt road. Civilians and fighters were loading up on some supplies for the road and getting out to stretch their legs. A group of the fighters I primarily recognized were in a group together, minus the Masons. Maybe Weaver had assigned them all to something. Whatever.

I turned to Crazy Lee, who was organizing the stuff we had in our vehicle's trunk. "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

"You can take these gallons to the fuel over there," she pointed at where the barrels of gasoline and diesel were at, "get us filled up for the journey."

"Sure." She tossed down the canteens and Tector tried to take them from me.

"I can take care of these, kid."

"Tector, it's a gallon of fuel, not a hundred pound weight. I can take care of it."

"It's the least I can do-"

"Boon played his string, right to the end, Tec," Crazy Lee cut him off as she hopped down from the trunk. "Nothing we could do."

"I had the shot!" Tector exclaimed. "Boon might still be alive if I had taken it."

"Weren't you the one who told us to never ask what if-" I started, putting a hand on Tec's shoulder.

"And to never look back?" Craze finished raising her eyebrows at Tector.

"Ten minutes 'til we roll!" Weaver shouted. "We're gonna keep rolling, come hell or high water. All the way to Charleston. Five hundred miles." Weaver smiled over at me slightly. "Got just enough gas and supplies to get there. This is the final push!" He called out to everyone again, continuing to walk down the road with a group of the fighters. "We're gonna high ball it down that black highway, until we see the blue water, of Charleston Harbor!"

Craze, Tec, and I smiled at the thought of this, and how close we were to reaching possible survivors. Not to mention possible civilization. Charleston was farfetched to most of us, but we all secretly hoped it was true. The 2nd Mass seriously deserved some kind of good news, after the past few days we've had and not to mention the past twoish years (at least the year and half I was with them has been rough). We've had nothing but bad things happen from the start and this time I wanted to have something great be waiting for me for once.

"I'll fill up the canteens, Tec. Go help out Craze with the engine," I motioned to the Berserker who had popped the engine to make sure everything was in place. Tector sighed and handed me the canteens and turned to go and help Craze, because to be honest with you, I wasn't entirely positive if she knew what the hell she was doing. Badass she was, expert on car engines, not so sure.

I carried the canteens to the fuel barrels lined up and started loading them with diesel. Meanwhile, everyone was talking about what would be in Charleston.

"Yeah, I heard they got fresh fish," Anthony said with the biggest grin on his face. "Even lobster. Aw man, I can taste it now. Swimming in butter!" Dai listed some fancy wine I had never heard of, which Alyssa agreed on.

"Can't wait to see my sister," Alyssa smiled, "and do you guys think Charleston has juice boxes?!" All of us laughed. She must've run out of them a long time ago.

"What about you, Parker?" Anthony asked with that same grin I've never seen him have before.

I switched canteens once the other filled. "Hot showers."

"Oh yeah, they got day spas, ice cream parlors, theme parks. Strip clubs made out of gingerbread. Charleston's gonna be a paradise on Earth," Pope added in sarcastically.

"If you think it'll be a bust then why are you going?" Alyssa asked him.

"It's 'cause he's got no where else to go and no one to have him. Isn't that right, John?" Anthony smirked at Pope and kept walking with Dai.

I smiled at how accurate Anthony was with that statement and then I grabbed the filled canteens. "In case I don't see you later, I'll see you in paradise," I said to Alyssa and almost laughed at the word. Hadn't used that word in the longest time.

She grinned back. "See you in paradise, Parker."

"Hell yeah you will!" I called over my shoulder and kept walking over to the vehicle with Tec and Crazy Lee. "Where do you want this, Craze?"

"Right over there's fine, kid," she pointed to the built in container on the passenger's seat side. I walked around the front of the vehicle and shoved both canteens inside and shut it closed. When I looked up, my heart dropped to my feet.

Ben was standing in the middle of the forest next to the road we were on.

With a backpack. A really large backpack.

My breath caught in my throat and my mind went in to panic mode again. He was going to leave? Just like that? Without saying goodbye to me, to anyone? There was no way in hell that would happen.

So I hopped out of the vehicle and walked through the mess of twigs and leaves scattered across the ground and leaned against a tree that was a little ways away from Ben. "So that's it then? No hug goodbye or a heartfelt speech about how you'll miss me more than anything?" I interrupted his staring at Matt and Hal, unaware of what was about to happen.

He turned to look at me sharply. Must've caught him off guard again. "Figured you would try and stop me."

I slid my hands into my pockets and walked towards him slowly. "Stop you? No." I stopped in front of him, trying to make my breathing go back to normal. "I would fall to my knees and beg you not to leave if I thought for a moment you'd actually consider that," I chuckled half-heartedly. I looked down and away from his softening green eyes.

I couldn't do this. I couldn't watch him leave. Watching him leave would be like watching him disappear from my life without returning. I shouldn't have walked over here so quickly, thinking that I could actually say goodbye without losing it.

I felt him take my hands in his and bring them close to him. "This is for the best," he whispered softly, "you have to believe that."

I allow myself to look back up at him, which was a mistake. Ben didn't have his tough façade on, and it made me lose mine too. "I'm trying," I said softly. "I'm trying to think of a way that this makes logical sense and I can't."

He dropped my hands but remained close to me. "He's going to keep coming after me. Again and again. And allowing you and the 2nd Mass to be put in danger is something I can't let happen."

My breaths start getting shakier and shakier and I can't seem to stop. The sensible side of me is trying to remind myself that this is really for the best and that Ben leaving could be useful to the rebel skitters, and could actually help the war move along in our favor. But the weak side of me wasn't having any of that. Losing Ben was something my heart couldn't handle. I don't even know if it's strong enough to handle it.

"Kaylee," he spoke soft and serious, "there are more kids like me out there. Kids who had their harnesses removed but still have their spikes serving with other resistance units. Someone has to reach out to them. Convince them that the skitter rebellion is the best chance we have."

"How can you be so damn sure?" My mouth spoke before I could stop it. Everything was welling up inside me and there was nothing I could do to make it stop.

He stopped and stared at me for a long time, sensing that something was going on. "When that Overlord invaded my mind, he couldn't keep his thoughts completely walled off. Two way street. I saw, felt what these aliens are all about." He forced me to make eye contact with him. "We have to beat them, whatever it takes."

I casted my eyes away again and nervously fingered the knife in my pocket, trying to decide if I was having an asthma attack or if I was just finally going insane after all the shit that I have gone through.

"Kaylee," Ben said again, pulling my chin to face him so he could see my eyes. "You need to tell me what you're thinking. Don't…don't shut me out right now," his voice cracked. The only time that happened was the day we went to see Jimmy, after his funeral.

I bit my bottom lip and tried to make the growing lump in my throat go away. But I couldn't hold it back anymore, and everything, and I mean everything I was thinking and feeling, just came spilling out. "I'm thinking about how unfair this is. I'm thinking about how mad I am at you right now for what you're about to do. I have lost everyone, Benjamin. Every single person I have ever cared about I've lost. My parents were ripped away from me, I don't even know if my brother is alive or not, Jimmy's dead, and now…now-" I cut myself off, trying to regain what was left of my composure. The lump in my throat is gone and replaced by a burning sensation in my eyes. "Now you're walking out. And the chance I won't see you again is bigger than the chance that I will. I am so fucking tired of losing people and losing you-" I took a deep, shaky breath and had to blink a few times. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle that."

Ben grabbed my hands again. "I already told you that you're not going to-"

I shook my head and looked away. "Don't. Please, don't. Do not make me a promise you and I both know that you can't keep."

"It doesn't have to be that way," he tilted my head up with his curled finger. "I'll be safe. I can look after myself."

"I know you can. It's just that-" I was cut off when I felt something dripping on me. I looked up at the tree next to us to see if it was sap or maybe it had starting raining through the leaves. And when I blinked, I felt another drip again. My finger swiped under my eye, and when I examined it, it was wet.

"Oh my God," I said while staring at my wet and shaking hand. "I'm sorry." I put my hand over my mouth and shielded myself from Ben. "I'm sorry."

I never, ever, ever in my life thought I would ever be saying this, but I guess I have to now.

Kaylee Nicole Parker was crying.

I was crying.

I have never cried in my life. Ever. Maybe that's why my lungs are so terrible.

"Why the hell are you apologizing?" Ben's shaky voice which was cracking terribly asked. I felt his bone crushing arms pull me into the tightest hug he's ever given me.

"I'm sorry," I said into his shoulder, trying so unbelievably hard for the wet tears pouring down my face to go away. Everything that I had been bottling up, every single thing that had been weighing me down the past four years was released. I guess that bottle had gotten so full that Ben pulled the plug and everything came draining out. I was choking out horrid sounding breaths and trying to relax, even though the more I tried to block out the hideous emotion I was feeling, it only made me feel worse.

"You're crying, Kaylee," Ben's voice whispered. "Crying is okay to do."

I shook my head, sniffling pathetically. "No it's not." My voice sounded watery and raspy, and I cringed at how weak it sounded. I felt something wet on my head and I looked up to see Ben's green eyes watery too. Seeing him cry again tore me to shreds. I gently wiped away some tears on his face. "Why are you crying?"

He shook his head and wiped the tears from my eyes. "As messed up as this sounds, your eyes look even more beautiful right now."

That made me laugh but when more water came dripping from my eyes, I stopped instantly. I was going to miss his stupid sense of humor that he had, even at times like this. I shook my head and vigorously wiped my sleeve over my cheeks. "This is so weird."

"Crying?" he looked at me, another tear sliding down his cheek.

I nodded, wiping it from him as quickly as it came. Ben pulled me into a hug again and rested his chin on my head. His body was shaking with sobs he was trying to control and I knew that the time we had together now was dwindling to an end. I stayed in his safe embrace for as long as I could, memorizing the beating of his heart, the feeling of being safe and protected, his breathing pattern, and the gentle touch of the kiss he laid on my forehead. I lightly pulled back, knowing that if I stayed in his arms any longer, I wouldn't let him leave. My hand went behind my neck, like it always does when I'm in an uncomfortable situation, and my fingers skimmed the rope that had been around my neck since day one of this hell. I hesitantly clutched it, and with one impulsive decision, I pulled the necklace from my neck. My eyes fixated on Ben's. "I want you to wear this for me," I told him while sliding it over his head and fixing it so it showed outside his shirt.

His red eyes widened slightly and he delicately picked the pendant up from his chest to look at it. Ben shook his head. "I can't take this." As he tried to pull it off, I took his hands and set them by his side.

"Yes you can," I coughed a little to try and get rid of the horrid sound of my voice. "It's going to be your promise to me that you're going to come back and give it to me, okay?" I tried giving him my best and most hopeful smile that failed miserably.

"But-"

"If you don't come and check in soon, I'll personally come find you and kick your ass, got it?" I half-smiled again. "You know how much that necklace means to me."

"Then why are you risking losing it?" he asked softly. Ben's eyes had never looked more sullen and serious, and I kept having to look away to hold the last bit of composure I had left.

"Because I need you," I whispered painfully, admitting the weakest part of my heart. "I've never relied on someone so much or felt more perfect with someone other than you. I need you to come back," I said so softly that I wasn't sure he heard me.

But he heard me. Loud and clear. Faster than I could blink, Ben brought my face to his and his kissed me with every force of might in his body, and I kissed him back just as firmly. His thumb was gently wiping the falling tears from my eyes and my hands did the same, shaking the entire time. Even though my heart was aching painfully, it felt warm and whole inside, and as soon as Ben ended the heart-pounding kiss, it felt cold and broken again.

"I love you," he whispered, meeting my broken eyes with his.

My heart shattered. Right then and there.

My fingers curled around his hands that were holding my cheeks. I leaned up and gave him a sweet kiss again and looked back up at him, finally allowing myself to let everything go. "I love you."

Ben lost his composure and tears started streaming down his face. He kept trying to wipe them away too. "I'm sorry you have to see me this way."

I laughed a watery, unhappy laugh. "It's nice to see you vulnerable." For the last time, Ben gave me the tightest hug that I felt all the way to the depths of my soul. "I don't want to leave you."

"You have to," I murmured, holding his head and skimming my fingers through his hair to calm him down. "As much as I need you here, they need you more. Just promise me you won't be stupid, okay?"

He looked down at me. "Promise. You, too. Promise me you'll be safe."

I nodded. "I promise."

Ben sighed and wiped the final tears from his eyes. "I love you, Kaylee Nicole."

I smiled, this time for real. "I love you too, Benjamin Andrew."

He grinned slightly. "It sounds better when you call me by my full name."

"You're such a dork," I shoved him and laughed.

"Since day one," he winked and my lips spread into this smile that only happens when he's around.

"There's that smile," his eyes lit up and his smile matched. He kissed my forehead for the longest time, hugged me, and started walking.

"Ben?" I called out and he turned around. "Kick some alien ass, okay?"

He grinned. "I won't let you down, beautiful." And with that, he turned and began walking down the road to whatever adventure laid ahead of him.

My knees gave out from underneath me and the rest went black, yielding the emotions and the weakness I had been fighting for the past years to finally dominate my mind and soul and memories I had put behind me to resurface again.

"Were you going to be in the military, too?"

"Well, that was the plan, if my career of choice failed, which was exceedingly likely."

"What was that?" How many questions was he going to ask me in one day?

"That's a story for another day," I said..

"What about your family? Wouldn't they miss you too much to let you go?"

Ben hit a soft spot in my heart. I refused to talk to anyone about them, even Alyssa. "You talk a lot."

Ben smiled at that. "And you are the hardest person to figure out in the history of the world."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

---

what do you guys think? About the HalxCarter scenes, the scene between Ben and Carter, meeting Carter's dad? o.O now that you have read it, review! -Alyssa

...um...yeah...SORRY. *hides behind Hal because Ben is gone* please don't wish death upon me. I did what I had to do. This is the second time I have cried/teared up writing this fanfic, the other time being Jimmy's death scene. TOO MANY FEELS. So like, tell me what you think cause I like really want to know. Just a heads up, next few chapters are going to be a lot darker, with both the characters. So prepare yo'selves. Love you all, and again, SORRY KYRA. -Kaylee