Season Two: Episode Four (Young Bloods)

Ericka had been sticking close to Hanna, making sure she was ok. Not only that, but Ben was getting quieter and distancing himself from not only her but everyone. The two girls were sitting down on the grass, pretty far outside of camp. She knew they shouldn't have gone out there, but Hanna wanted to get away from everyone; and a part of Ericka did too. Jimmy's death had gotten her thinking a lot. Were they all going to die this way? Was there even a chance of fighting? All of a sudden, Hanna spoke up, filling the silence. "I don't think I'll ever get over him." she whispered. Instead of telling her that everything would be ok or Jimmy would want her to move on, she just nodded; because Ericka knew that that wasn't what she wanted to hear. If something happened to Ben, Ericka wouldn't want to hear it either. She felt sympathetic. Hanna had no one except Ericka and Jimmy. Though she had only been dating him for a few months, Hanna really liked Jimmy; maybe even loved him.

Hanna whipped her head around; fresh tears had formed in her icy blue eyes. She looked at Ericka for a long time, and then turned back around. A sudden, soft laugh escaped Hanna's lips. "Did I ever tell you how I met him?" she asked.

Although she couldn't see it, Ericka shook her head. "No." she replied. Now, she was curious. How did they find Hanna? How did she meet Jimmy? Ericka realized that there was a lot she didn't know about Hanna.

"I was in the middle of Algebra class when the ground started to shake. I looked around and saw that everyone else had noticed it too. A few of us had seen the spaceship land, just outside the window. I tried to run, but I was knocked out before I could make it to the door." she started to explain. Hanna kept her eyes trained on the horizon.

"When I woke up, everyone was gone. I guess they thought I was dead and left me." Hanna shrugged, causing waves of bleach blond hair to fall off of her shoulders as if it were no big deal. "I stayed at the school for about 3 months. I still can't remember anything of my life before that day. That horrible, awful day is all I remember of my life before." she stated. Ericka looked at her, concerned for her Hanna. "What about your family?" she asked. Ericka didn't know how she would go on not being able to remember her family; not remembering how Aaron liked to try the strangest combinations of food or how her dad and Chris would scream, lighting up the entire house with energy, every time their favorite team scored a touchdown, or how her mom loved to bake different kinds of cookies. She was brought out of her nostalgic thoughts when Hanna spoke. "I remember having a mom, a dad, a twin brother, and a little sister; but other than that and a few other things, I can't remember anything about them." Hanna answered. She paused, taking a deep breath before she continued. "Back to how we met., I was harnessed. One time I had slipped up and the Skitters caught me. Anyways, I guess some fighters were around and they killed those creatures. When I woke up, I was with the 2nd Mass. The first person I saw was Jimmy. He had waited up all night to see if I was ok." explained Hanna. She didn't give Ericka the rest of the details about how her spikes were gone in a day or how she pigged out on food. They sat there silently until the girls heard a twig snap. Both of their heads turned, trying to locate the noise. They stood up; Ericka pulled out her gun and aimed. It was a good thing she carried it with her. "Who's there?" Ericka shouted. Everything was quiet. Maggie emerged from the bushes, hands raised in surrender.
Hanna sighed with relief. "You're a little far from camp." commented Maggie. Ericka lowered her gun. They followed her back to camp, though both of them knew the way just fine.

…

"They're going to be harnessed." Ben said in a mysterious tone. Ericka couldn't take her eyes off of the little boy who was crying. Aside from the crying, it was deadly silent. "We have to get them back." Ericka spoke. She was hoping for just a normal, back and forth kind of trip. Diego looked furious. Everyone looked away from the crying boy. Hal didn't know what to say to him, no one did. Ericka stepped forward and squatted down to his level. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We will get them back; it's going to be ok." Ericka whispered. He nodded and furiously wiped away his tears.

…

Ericka didn't even bother to listen to the fight between Diego, Jeanne, and Captain Weaver. She studied the map. They didn't know much about anything. How do we get in without drawing any attention, she asked herself. "Captain, if you're finished, I think I have any idea." Ericka spoke up, getting everyone's attention. Captain Weaver nodded for her to continue. "Why don't we just do something simple like sneak past them." she suggested with a shrug.

They were all dismissed and sent to prep.

After Tom was done talking to Ben, she walked over to her boyfriend. "You going to be ok?" she questioned. He scoffed, "First dad, now you."

Ericka rolled her blue eyes; he really needed to get over himself. "Sorry for caring." she retorted. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you're going to have to let someone in eventually, Ben. Whether it's me or your dad or one of your brothers, you'll have to tell someone." Ericka added. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. A part of him knew she was right. He wanted to tell someone about his spikes glowing or how he could do things he shouldn't be able to do. She climbed up on the back of the truck and he followed. Hal was yelling for Matt, who couldn't be found. When she noticed the bikes were gone, she swore under her breath. They took off after their friends. Just great, she thought.

…

The warehouse looked like something in a horror movie. Every step made her cringe more and more. She counted down from ten, slowly in her head. When she reached zero, she exhaled shakily. Her head swarmed with all the possibilities of something going wrong. Get a grip, Ericka, she mentally scolded herself. "Dad!" it was Matt. They ran to where the scream came from. He was tied down, lying on his stomach with a harness crawling down to him. "Hey!" Tom shouted. Then he opened fire on it. It took a few minutes to get the Skitter down, but Tom killed it. He sped over to his son, taking the harness and killing it. Captain Weaver saved his daughter from the harness slithering towards her. The two men freed their children. A noise was made, as if steam were blowing. She looked for the source and saw Ben slowly walking towards it. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He got closer and closer to it, almost as if he were being drawn. Ben reached up to touch it. "Ben, don't." Ericka warned. He ignored her and touched the glass anyways. It almost appeared to be a fish tank. All of a sudden, his spikes lit up.

Ericka gasped, eyes growing wide. "Ben…" Hal whispered. Looking to her side, Hal had also seen. He lingered there until something came up against the glass. Backing away, Ben raised his gun.

He fired, shattering the glass and allowing the harness to slither on the floor. Water splashed everywhere; instead of shooting the glass, he shot the harnesses that seemed to have a mind of their own. Everyone joined in, killing those things as they crawled on the floor. The gunfire echoed in the enormous warehouse. Then they finished. She didn't know whether to be shocked or horrified. You don't have time to think, you've got to go, her head ordered. Ericka's blue irises met Ben's brown ones briefly. She pushed his glowing spikes to the back of her head and focused on getting out.

…

"I know, but you need to back off." Ben replied, walking past Hal. He took in what his brother just said. Ben was seemed so different from the boy Hal used to know. He had to keep reminding himself that the old Ben was gone. A lot of them have changed during this war, some for better and some for worse. He couldn't decide which one Ben was. "What about Ericka? She saw it too. You just going to tell her to back off?" he questioned, turning around to face his brother. "You can do this to me, Ben; but you sure as hell better not do it to her." Hal added, leaving Ben by himself to think. Almost as if on cue, Ericka walked up. She glanced back at Hal for a second, until Ben spoke. "What did you want, Ericka?" Ben questioned, staring off into the distance. His tone of voice sounded annoyed. "I wanted to see if you wanted some company." she told him, giving a small smile. Ben looked over at her. "I'm not talking about it." He replied.

"I'm not asking you too." whispered Ericka, inching forward. "Then what are you asking?" Ben questioned. She paused, mulling over what to say. She hadn't really thought this through. "I'm asking you…to…not give up on who you were. I'm asking you not to let the aliens change who you are." she said, taking his hand.

"You barely spoke to the old me, before this invasion." Ben said in a hushed tone. Not this again, she thought, mentally groaning. Just before they started dating, Ben and Ericka got into an argument; it ended with him saying that she was only interested in him because of his spikes. Sure, they were friends before the invasion, but they weren't best friends. Ericka stood up for him in school when Jett or one of the snotty cheerleaders made jokes, but they didn't really talk. "What am I supposed to say, Ben?" she shouted. "All I can say is that I'm constantly sorry I didn't get to know you! I hung out with the wrong people, I regret it, ok?! I regret not really getting to know you before all of this crap happened!" Ericka continued to rant. He noticed a tear fall down her cheek. "I'm sorry, ok. I'm so sorry for that, but spikes or no spikes, you're my boyfriend. I like you way too much to you lose you, especially now." she finished.

He took her hand and pulled her closer to him, wrapping her in a hug. Ericka hugged him back, closing her eyes.

Dedicated to Mrs. Dylan Authors! Happy late Birthday girl! You're a great friend and I hope you like the chapter. :)