Chapter 6

Grace hardly felt like sleeping when she returned to her tent. The first thing she did was take the empty rifle out of Matt's bed. She didn't care if he insisted on sleeping with it, Hal should never have given in and let him. It was one of the caveats she had set when she agreed to let him use a gun - no unnecessary handling of weapons. This she considered pretty unnecessary, even if it was unloaded. Luckily he was sound asleep, so she placed the gun at the edge of the tent and collapsed onto her cot. If he wanted to contest it, he could argue with their dad tomorrow. She supposed he would have final say now he was back.

Of course the events of that morning kept swirling around in her head. She was worried for her dad, as well as angry at him for putting himself in danger yet again. She admired his courage and willingness to do the right thing, but did he have to always risk his life at the same time? She tried not to let her anxiety keep her awake. She thought she had got used to him going out on missions and assignments, but she supposed this time was different. This time he was dealing with the Berserkers. They were more unpredictable than their alien enemy. She hoped Casey could keep them in line for the time being.

She wondered what she would have done to them if Jimmy and Ben hadn't turned up at the right time. It was serendipitous, her bumping into them, miles from camp…

A loud thud from across the hangar made her jolt. It was bright and busy outside the tent; she must have fallen asleep. She looked over to see Matt's cot was empty. He was probably up playing with the other kids already. Yawning, she made her way to the canteen for breakfast.

The selection was less than appetising. Oatmeal, baked beans, or old crackers. Grace grabbed a couple of crackers and a cup of coffee before spotting Jimmy on one of the benches.

"Did you get any shut eye this morning?" she asked him as she sat down beside him.

He shrugged. "A little. Not much. Still a little buzzed after what happened with your dad and the Berserkers. I heard he's taking over as their leader. Brave move."

"Mmm," said Grace, biting into her breakfast. Dry. She washed it down with a sip of coffee. "I think he's crazy. I wish Weaver would just banish Pope and be done with him."

"I guess he does have some value. He and the Berserkers really came through getting us that stuff from the military base back at Fitchburg."

Grace swallowed hard, pulling a disgusted face. "One good deed doesn't make up for a life-time of bad ones."

"Sure," replied Jimmy, spooning up the remainder of his oatmeal. "For what it's worth, I wouldn't worry. I think your dad has made a pact with the universe or something. He's definitely a survivor!"

"I wish that made me feel better," Grace sighed, resting her elbow on the table. "I just keep thinking how things were when he was gone. I don't think I could go through that again."

Jimmy watched her, those blue eyes of his taking in the sadness in her features. "Hey. Ben and I are going on patrol again tonight. Wanna come?"

She looked over at him, confused. "You and Ben are on perimeter again?"

"We're not patrolling the perimeter," said Jimmy. "Trust me, it'll be fun. I think it will cheer you up."

She raised her brows at him curiously. If they weren't patrolling the camp, what was it they were doing? She noted the hopefulness in his young face. Sighing, she smiled in defeat. "Okay. Maybe it will help take my mind off things."

She watched Jimmy's face light up and she giggled before they were interrupted by someone calling Jimmy's name from across the hangar.

"I gotta go," he said. "See you tonight."

"See you tonight."

She watched him get up, flashing her a smile. Turning back to her miserable breakfast, she wondered just what she had agreed to.

Grace met Jimmy outside his tent that night, locked and loaded and ready to go. He beamed when he saw her, like a boy seeing his prom date in her dress for the first time. It made her chuckle. His smile really was infectious.

"Okay, I'm ready," she grinned. "Where are we going?"

"Follow me."

Jimmy led her outside the airport and into the surrounding forest where they met Ben. Her brother's face fell instantly when he saw her.

"Jimmy, why did you bring her?"

"It's okay," Jimmy said. "I thought this would do her some good."

Grace looked between them, bemused. "Okay, what are you two up to?"

"Nothing," muttered Ben. "We're just patrolling."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright. Lead the way."

"Stay close and don't make any noise," Ben added, already skulking off into the trees.

Grace scoffed quietly, surprised by Ben's attitude. Did it really bother him that she was crashing their little friend-date? She couldn't help the feeling that they were hiding something. She shrugged it off for now, following him and Jimmy to god knew where.

After a short while of walking, Grace noticed they were straying from camp again. They were getting further and further from the perimeter, and that made her nervous.

"Ben," she called ahead to him in a hushed voice. "We're too far out. We should head back."

Ben barely turned around. "We can't. We have to go farther out to find what we're looking for."

She watched him, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean? What are you looking for?"

"Skitters," Jimmy answered a little sheepishly, walking next to her.

"Skitters?" Grace repeated. "You're looking for skitters?"

"We're hunting them," Ben said, turning to face her.

"You're hunting skitters," Grace said again, as if she couldn't believe they were this stupid. She looked between Jimmy and Ben, surprised and disappointed. "So that's what you've been doing. When you found me last night, you were on a hunt."

Ben didn't respond, but he held his sister's dismayed gaze. "Get it out of your system, Grace. Tell me how irresponsible we're being."

She was almost speechless. "I think you know that already." They were both staring at her, waiting. She looked behind her, seeing the trail back to camp. "We have to go back. Now."

Ben shook his head. "No. I'm staying."

"Excuse me?" She turned to Jimmy, expecting some sort of back-up, but he looked just as adamant. "You're going along with this?"

"Sorry, Grace. I know Captain Weaver wouldn't approve but...we're helping the resistance."

She shook her head, exasperated. "Look, I get it. But this is dangerous. You could get hurt."

"We haven't yet," Ben pointed out. "We know what we're doing. So you can either go back to camp alone, or help us rid the earth of some alien cockroaches."

She stared at her brother - he was deadly serious about this. He'd had a taste of killing skitters and now he couldn't stop. How had she missed this? He had been so full of rage lately, it was consuming him. But she did understand. This was a way of releasing some of that anger. An act of revenge. If she had been in Ben's shoes, she would have wanted to do the same thing. She looked back up at his unwavering stance, a determined look in his eye. She wasn't going to change his mind. At least if she went with them, she could make sure they were safe.

"Alright," she sighed, taking her rifle from her shoulder. "Let's kill some bugs."

Grace felt different now she knew she was looking for skitters. She felt nervous, alert, but also, excited. She usually got a bit of an adrenaline rush when gunning down aliens, but she had never considered hunting them for fun. This time they were the ones getting the drop on them and there was something about that that made her feel powerful for a change. To not be the prey, but the predator. She hated to think it, but no wonder the boys were doing this.

Jimmy was walking beside her, rambling on about their previous successful hunts. She had to admit she was impressed. It sounded like they had taken a fair few skitters out of the fight.

"And check this out," he continued, taking a shotgun shell out from his pocket. "One of the Berserkers' pyrotechnic rounds. We get to light these roaches on fire."

"Now that is cool," Grace said. "You guys come prepared, huh?"

"I'm not just a pretty face," he joked, shoving the round back in his pocket. "I promise you'll get quite a show tonight."

She chuckled. "If we find any skitters."

"We will," said Ben, falling back a bit to join them. "Jimmy - can you lead for a bit? I need to talk to my sister."

Jimmy nodded and took Ben's position up ahead.

"He's just showing off for your benefit," Ben mumbled to her, rubbing his hands together to keep warm. "He's usually the one warning me not to come out here."

"He doesn't need to show off," Grace told him. "He's got a smart head on those shoulders. That's more important than being tough or getting revenge or whatever it is you're doing."

"I'm doing what has to be done," argued Ben. "Especially if we're just going into hiding all winter. What good of a resistance will we be if we're not fighting?"

She snorted. "You sound like Dad, which is weird for you."

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he softened, looking over at her with a glint of concern in his eye. "Are you going to tell him? About me and Jimmy hunting?"

She considered it for a few seconds. "I'm not sure." She looked ahead of her, through the trees, wondering what was lurking out there. "If Weaver gets his wish and we retreat to the Catskills then there'll be no more hunts anyway. I guess there would be no point in telling him." She smirked at him. "As long as this is the last one."

Ben sighed, but offered her a grateful smile. "Fine. This is the last one."

"Good."

For a moment, all Grace could hear was the wind and the crunching of the leaves beneath their feet when Ben spoke again, in a quieter tone this time.

"Jimmy...He cares about you. A lot."

"Yeah, I care about him too."

"No. You know what I mean. I just don't want to see him get hurt."

Grace slowed her pace, staring at him. She wasn't sure what to say. Then Jimmy's hushed voice beckoned them over.

"Guys! I see something!"

Grace and Ben rushed over to his position behind a large fallen branch. He was peering at something down the scope of his weapon.

"Check it out."

Grace stayed low, peeking over the branch and through the fog to see three skitters in the distance. They looked like they were communicating to each other.

"What are they doing?" asked Jimmy.

"I don't know," replied Grace. "It's like they're having a meeting, but why all the way out here?"

"And with no mechs with them," added Ben curiously.

Jimmy wrinkled his nose. "That's weird."

"That one with the red eye creeps me out," whispered Ben.

Grace squinted, just about making out the red patch around the middle one's left eye. He seemed to be the one in charge of the meeting, Grace surmised, as she watched the small flaps above its insect-like mouth move in apparent conversation. It all sounded like a bunch of hisses and clicking noises to her.

She noticed Jimmy reach into his pocket and load the pyrotechnic round into his shotgun.

"Careful, Jimmy," warned Grace.

"It's okay, Grace," Jimmy smiled. "The dragon breath round'll turn this thing into a flamethrower. They have no chance."

"Let's roast some cockroaches," Ben smirked. He then turned to the skitters and loudly cleared his throat, drawing their attention towards them.

They ducked back behind the branch. Grace felt her heart thumping louder as the creatures started screeching and scuttling towards them. Too late to turn back now. She held her rifle close, preparing to shoot.

"Wait for it," Ben whispered. They watched as the skitters hissed and came closer. They waited until the aliens were almost right on top of them. "Now!" Ben yelled.

Jimmy leapt up and fired at one of them. He wasn't lying: the skitter instantly blew up in a fireball, causing Grace to shield her eyes from the bright flames that engulfed it. He fired again at the other one, blasting it across the clearing.

But there was still one left. Red Eye. Grace jumped to her feet, but Ben had already shot out with his knife, lunging at it. The skitter drew back its massive claws and struck him down onto his back.

"Ben!" Grace ran out in a panic, firing her weapon. The skitter dodged her bullet, then raised one of its giant legs and kicked her with such a force it sent her flying. An explosion of pain throbbed throughout her skull. She groaned, rolling on her side. She had smashed her head against something. She could already feel the blood trickling down her face, the gravity pulling her down. Worse still, her vision refused to come back into focus. She could just about hear Jimmy's anguished scream as he ran for the skitter, his blurred form wrestling with it. And then a loud smack as he flew across the clearing.

"Jimmy?!" Grace shook her head, trying to force away the dizziness. She struggled to her feet. She couldn't even see the skitter anymore, but she could see Jimmy. "Oh, my God! Jimmy!"

As she ran towards him, she could quite clearly see he was impaled. A tree branch at least three foot long was sticking out of Jimmy's torso. Thick blood stained his shirt. He was pale, eyes wide as his gaze lowered to the wound. He started making short, pained noises like he was struggling to breathe.

"BEN!" Grace screamed to her brother, her eyes filling with tears. She reached for her knife to cut Jimmy free. The boy looked terrified."It's okay, Jimmy. You're gonna be okay."

She looked over to see what she thought was Ben dropping to his knees in front of the red-eyed skitter. Why wasn't he killing it? "Ben?" She stepped closer. Now it looked like the skitter was leaving? She swiped at her eyes. None of this felt real. Her brain was still playing catch-up. All she knew was that she had to help Jimmy. She called Ben again, in such a loud, desperate tone he couldn't possibly ignore it. Ben's head snapped towards her. Immediately, he pulled himself up and he ran to her.

"It's Jimmy," she sobbed, grabbing Ben's arm. "You gotta help me."