Lia looked around as she stood outside. It had been four days since Anne had been attacked and Jess had gone running off after the man who had stolen off her, and the man that had saved them - Clayton his name was - had told them that his entire division had been killed, and the kids had been stolen. He had also mentioned that a small reconnaissance team consisting of one skitter and one mech, which had come through before, and a week later the 7th mass had been decimated.
The 2nd mass had begun preparations against the attack, turning over cars and stringing together barbed wire in order to stop the mechs from getting too close. She sighed, turning around and walking back into the school, trying to avoid the thoughts that if the skitters saw her they'd try to take Jess and herself back. She kept walking for what seemed like ages before Hal stopped her, calling her name, she felt her heartbeat pick up and her hands became slightly sweaty as she turned around and met the smiling boy who she had taken such a liking to.
They had grown closer in the week that Lia had been here, Weave had named them partners, she hadn't brought anything up about 'Karen' but she knew that it was a touchy subject, especially if Anne was warning him to sort out his feelings before doing anything with herself. She smiled brightly as he approached, before blowing her blonde fringe out of her face angrily, to which Hal laughed at. "Shut it." she said, shoving him a little, he just laughed and shook his head, reaching out and pushing her fringe away from her face, gently tucking it behind her ear.
Blushing profusely she looked down, his hand still against her face. "Come with me." he said suddenly, pulling her away and outside, sitting on one of the back ovals of the school and watching the sun sink further into the horizon. She knew what he wanted her to say, and she didn't know if she was ready to say it. "It's been a week." he whispered, turning to look at her. She sighed deeply, nodding and smiling a little, "I still cant believe yo remembered." she whispered, shivering a little and drawing her knees up.
He sighed, "I like you… so I want to know more." he said, she blushed and smiled, pressing her face into her knees, "But it's more than that, you seem on edge all the time, like you're waiting for something to happen or for something to pop out and grab you." she winced, thinking back to all the times Hal had to grab her to steady her racing heart whenever someone came around the corner, or when someone would ask her why she was in the hospital, she knew people were beginning to get curious, especially about Jess, who was always looking around nervously and pulling down her sleeves, and had run after a man with a gun with no second thoughts when she was only 15. And then there was her friendship with Ben.
Lia smiled to herself, loving the fact that Jess had finally found someone who could at least sympathise with her, Jess needed someone who she could run to when she wasn't around. "I know… I just, if I tell you this I cant help feeling like you'll treat me differently, you're going to hate me I just know it." her voice broke on the last syllable, and before she knew it her tearstained face was being pressed into Hal's strong shoulder. She felt her heartbeat speed up and butterflies rise in her stomach as she clenched her hand around his t-shirt, this was all she had ever wanted - a nice, handsome boy who she could run to, who she could lean on, but she couldn't want what she'd never had… right?
"I can promise you" he began fiercely, "that I will never think of you differently and I will never hate you Lia, you're funny and smart, kick ass with a gun" she laughed at that, trying to forget the tears. "And you're beautiful." he whispered, looking down at her, she drew in a short breath in surprise, before she looked up at him. Karen? her mind whispered, has he forgotten her? She smiled shyly, looking back down as he smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "you're not so bad yourself Mason." she whispered into his neck, feeling him shiver at her words.
"But… I have to ask." Lia whispered, laying her hand flat against his chest, feeling the corded muscle there. "Karen?" he whispered, pain very evident in his voice, she bit her lip and nodded. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." she whispered, looking up at him and at the deep blue eyes filled with agony, her words were torturing her she could see the inner debate as he questioned whether or not to tell her. "I want to… it's best if you know." he whispered, she began to pull away so they could talk properly, but he pulled her closer, laying down on the grass, staring at the now dark sky.
She smiled and pressed herself closer to him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and softly stroking her hair, while he entwined their fingers on his stomach. Lia smiled to herself, knowing that she felt more comfortable right here with Hal then she did anywhere else in the world. "Karen was my girlfriend, we um… we were close, I thought we were in love but really all I knew was that I cared about her a lot, she was perfect to me. But when we went to try to grab Ben for the first time she was taken by the Mechs, I have no idea where she is now, or what they've done to her." Lia sighed, squeezing his hand as his voice became strained. "I'm sorry." she whispered, she felt him smile.
"When she was first taken, I thought I was going insane. I felt her everywhere, saw her face in such tiny things, even heard her laugh in the mess hall once. And then." he stopped, tensing a little, debating on whether he should tell her or not. "And then?" she prompted, feeling his hand tighten around hers once more. He sighed deeply, "and then I saw you in that hospital, scalpel dug into you bone and yet you were still moving around, forcing yourself to undo the cuffs, even pull that damned thing out of your leg… which was still a bad idea by the way." she giggled, rolling her eyes slightly to try and mask the fact that her heart was desperately trying to break out of her chest.
"I thought you were-" he was cut off by a girl's voice, yelling for Lia. "Jess!" she screamed, panic taking hold of her system, "Lia!" came the voice, Lia scrambled up, helped by Hal who was looking worried and slightly upset. She ran to where the voice was coming from, ignoring the fact that her veins had begun to light up slightly, the blue pushing forward on her bare arm. "Jess." she whispered, taking her face in her hands and turning it, looking for any signs that the withdrawal was coming.
"It's fine.. I'm fine." she whispered as Hal came up behind them. "Ben's been looking for you Hal, we've been looking for the both of you. You should come to the gym, I think there's something you might wanna hear." she whispered, Lia sighed deeply as Jess walked away, sending a small wink in Lia's direction. Her heart began to calm down, "you were frantic… what happened?" Hal asked, turning her to face his eyes. "I'm sorry." she whispered, feeling the lump rise in her throat before she could stop it, and soon she was bawling.
Hal pulled her into his chest and put his chin on top of her head, stroking her back lightly. "It's like you said Hal… I'm always waiting for something, but i'm not so worried about the skitters coming to take us back. I'm worried about the second mass ousting us as freaks. I'm forever waiting for the experiment to come to light through Jess." she pulled away and wiped her eyes, ignoring his confused face and pulled him away towards the gym to find out what was so important.
"This is a temporary measure!" Clayton was saying when Hal and Lia finally stepped into the gym, they pushed through the crowd to get through to Ben and Jess, who were standing very close to one another, arms brushing and throwing glances at each other every so often. "How cute" Lia whispered to Hal, who winked and smiled at the two, who nodded back. "Until what? We're attacked?" Mike said, stepping forward. "Then what Terry?" another man stepped forward, moving into Clayton's face.
"Yeah! Do you think the Skitters are just gonna give us a pass!" he yelled, Tom Mason stepped forward before it could get out of hand. "Hey!" he yelled, pulling the other man out of the way of Clayton, "hey whats going on?" he said, looking between Clayton and Mike. The man took a deep breath and turned to look at the crowd of civilians and fighters who were standing and watching the exchange. "I know that a lot of you have lost your children… don't think my heart doesn't break for you, but think for a moment, if you had your children, would you let anyone take them away from you?" he cried, "Hey!" Tom said, "that hasn't been decided yet" he looked to Clayton and pointed, almost like he was telling him to back down.
"Everybody here wants the same thing, our kids to be safe." Tom said, the man scrunched up his face. "They'll never be safe, safe is over!" the man cried, Lia saw Jess reach down and take Ben's hand as his face became pained, Ben smiled at Jess slightly as if to say thank you and squeezed her hand back. Hal was looking at the man seriously, as if trying to make a decision on what to do. "We could die any day." Lia tensed at this, thinking back to the threats of the overlords.
Hal felt her tense and moved closer to her, taking her hand and rubbing circles into her palm, making her calm instantly, she smiled her thanks. "And if that day comes… i'm gonna be by my daughters side." Tom shook his head, "I don't want anyone to die, this is about what it's going to take to survive." the man man shook his head and moved his hand to the knife in his pocket. "Yeah? Well I swear to God, if anyone tries to take my little girl." Tom grabbed his hand, pushing the weapon back away. "Don't you forget who the enemy is here!" he whispered angrily, staring into the mans eyes with such emotion that he backed down and nodded.
"Everyone here has had to make hard choices just to make it this far. And we're gonna make more." Jess and Lia tensed at the same time, both remembering exactly the same thing. The Mason boys looked at the girl confusedly, but didn't say anything. "But if we fall apart now, and keep turning on each other, then it doesn't matter when the attack comes, because we've already lost." the man shook his head, "and whose going to decide what happens if they do attack? Weaver?" he asked, Tom shook his head. "No, I will."
Jess and Ben walked away quickly, but Lia lingered, studying the faces of the people who could ultimately lead to her death. Shaking her head she tried to push away the feeling that Clayton was bad news, she knew he wasn't here because of the reason he said, he had something to do with the Skitters. His eyes turned to meet hers before they widened in shock, his mouth whispered the words 'Lia Morgan.' That was all she needed, she let go of Hal's hand and sprinted from the room, punching it to go after Jess.
They were all going to die.