Chapter 19

They left Rick's body in the warehouse. There was no time for ceremony, no time for any words. All Grace managed to do was put a piece of cloth over the boy before they joined Weaver and the rest of the convoy fleeing Richmond before the skitters attacked.

Hal and Maggie had found an abandoned hospital in Weaverly where the Second Mass could lie low for a while. Unfortunately, Maggie had been wounded by a Mech attack on the way back from the scout, but Anne had managed to stitch her up before they got to the hospital. She was on immediate bed rest and Hal was taking good care of her.

Meanwhile, the Second Mass quickly settled into their new home. The William Harrison Hospital was a large facility which appeared to be mostly untouched by the war. There were several rooms for the survivors to sleep in, a vast amount of medical supplies and equipment for Anne and Lourdes to utilise, and a generator Jamil had managed to get up and running to keep the hospital's power going. It was no wonder they had been here for almost two weeks. Grace never thought she'd be so happy sleeping in a hospital bed for so long. They had beds, heating - Grace had a room all to herself. It was comfortable. Too almost felt normal - and that, ironically, was what was so strange.

It was like people had forgotten about Charleston already. Grace kept asking her dad when they were moving on, but he always fobbed her off with a vague answer: Soon. Don't worry, I'll talk to Weaver about it. Right now we're getting some well-earned rest.

What happened to 'plenty of wars have been lost by idleness'? she thought to herself, remembering Tom's resistance to Weaver's plan of hiding in the Catskills a few weeks prior. Of course, she told herself, plenty had happened in between then and now: Jimmy was gone; they were hanging on to Ben by a thread; Captain Weaver had learned that his daughter was alive and out there somewhere, surviving. Motivations had changed.

And she couldn't blame her dad for wanting a break. The last few months had been an emotional journey, and right now everyone seemed to be in a pretty good place. Hal and Maggie were bonding and taking care of each other, Matt was settling well into his sentry role, Ben was still a little distracted but he was safe – for now. And it was hard not to notice how Tom's mood had improved since arriving at the hospital, how blissfully serene he was when he left his room in the mornings. Grace wasn't the only one who noticed Tom was sharing a room with Doctor Glass. Even the boys had noticed by now, even though nothing had explicitly been said about their relationship. Everyone just accepted it.

It was, however, causing problems in a professional manner. Grace glanced at her watch for the fourth time as she and a bunch of other fighters sat in the column of chairs where Captain Weaver was due to deliver his 9am briefing. Her father was late - again - and the captain was visibly impatient. Grace played dumb when he asked her where Tom was. Of course, he was probably with Anne, but she didn't divulge this to their leader.

When Tom finally walked in, Weaver pointed out that it was complacency like this that would lead to their downfall.

"I can see it already in the neglected chores and the sloppy drilling, the tardiness," said Weaver in his strict, gravelly voice, circling back around his desk with his coffee cup and shooting a look at Tom.

"Captain, with all due respect, the Second Mass has been through quite a lot these last few months," Tom spoke up from his seat. "A little R&R can't be a bad thing."

"I disagree, Tom. It can be the death of us," Weaver retorted, standing behind his desk. "We cannot afford to let our guard down for even one single day. Now, the whole reason, the point we stopped here was to restock and prep for the long haul... haul to Charleston."

Grace watched the cup in Weaver's hand begin to tremble as he attempted to place it down on the table. His speech drifted as the violent shaking became too difficult to ignore and he suddenly fell against the table, sending the contents of the cup and the papers on Weaver's desk spilling to the floor.

"Captain?" Tom rose from his seat, concerned.

Dai, who was standing behind Weaver, took a step towards him, his arms outstretched as if ready to catch his captain.

But Weaver waved them off, steadying himself against the table. "Hold on, I'm fine."

The captain rolled his sleeve up, examining his left arm as his entire body started shaking. Suddenly, an invisible force seemed to push him against the window behind him.

"Captain Weaver?"

Weaver cried out as the force hit him again and he clawed desperately at the blinds, flailing as he hit the ground. Grace gasped and rose from her seat along with all the other fighters, watching with horror as they witnessed their leader panting and convulsing on the floor. Tom and Dai ran to Weaver's side and knelt beside him, trying to figure out what was wrong, until Tom pulled down Weaver's shirt to reveal a large red patch on his chest, covered with bulging purple veins. Tom pulled back the captain's sleeve and found the same rash of red and purple veins cascading up his arm.

"Somebody get Doctor Glass now!" screamed Tom, holding Weaver down as he began to spasm uncontrollably, those dark veins seemingly crawling up his neck and bulging as he threw his head back in a helpless fit.

"What have they done to me? What have these damn aliens done to me, Tom?!"

Grace covered her mouth, certain he was dying.

She felt like she was holding her breath the whole time Doctor Glass was examining him. She waited outside the room, pacing the halls, wracking her brain to think when the aliens could have done something to him. It had to be an alien thing, she had seen nothing like it before. The only occasion she could think of was at the harnessing facility, when the harness bit his leg. But that was weeks ago, how could the infection be affecting him now?

"Doctor Glass says it's been spreading for weeks," Tom explained to her later as he left Weaver's room with Dai following behind him. "He swore her to secrecy, the fool! I could have done something!"

"I'm sure Doctor Glass did everything she could," Grace said reassuringly. She could tell her dad was on edge, nervous. "Dad…is he going to be okay?"

Tom took a lengthy pause, mirroring her apprehensive gaze. "At this point, it's hard to tell. That's why we've got to get him to Charleston ASAP." He started hurrying back towards the briefing room, Grace and Dai in tow. "I'm going to brief the troops about it now. Do you think you can start getting everyone packed?"

"Sure," Grace replied, a little surprised by the sudden decision.

"Oh, and Grace? Find Jamil, I need him for the briefing."

"On it."

She paused in the hallway as Tom and Dai pressed on towards the briefing room to break the news to the other everyone with such short notice was going to be no easy feat, especially now everyone had settled so comfortably here. But if Weaver's life was at stake, she was certain she could corral everyone into following Tom's orders.

Whether it was the right decision or not.

The Second Mass were distressed and confused by the orders to move out to Charleston.

Suddenly, everyone was on high alert again, packing up their things and throwing them into vehicles. Word had already got around about Weaver's condition and so anxiety levels were high. What would they do if Weaver didn't make the journey to Charleston? By the sounds of it, he was at Death's Door. Charleston was still four hundred miles away; there was no way he'd make it.

Getting to Charleston was all Grace had wanted for weeks, but Weaver's sudden illness had dampened her enthusiasm. Suddenly, she was hesitant to leave. But her father had seemed adamant, and now he was briefing the soldiers and Jamil to see how possible the journey would be. She rarely doubted her father, but on this occasion she thought he might be being a little too optimistic with what they could achieve.

Grace was passing through the corridors to start loading up the armoury when she heard shouting from outside. Dashing down the steps of the hospital's entrance, she saw a crowd forming around two figures who were approaching the building.

"Hal?"

Her brother was being swarmed by a group of people as he steamed towards her, Maggie hurrying to keep up. As they came closer, Grace realised Hal was carrying a girl in his arms. She was unconscious, filthy and naked apart from a dirty old blanket wrapped around her body. Hal looked determined to get her into the hospital, whilst the crowds around him seemed scared and angry.

And then she could see why.

The weak, helpless girl in Hal's arms was Karen Nadler.

Karen was a limp mess of blonde hair and dirty flesh in Hal's arms. Maggie explained they had found her buried in the woods while on patrol, along with a dozen or so dead de-harnessed kids. Grace held her breath at the sight of her. The girl was pale and covered in mud, half-dead, and her harness was gone.

The last time Grace saw her was on the alien ship, leading her dad to the Overlord that controlled her - which was exactly why everyone was so suspicious at her sudden reappearance, including Tom, who had already caught up to them, questioning them, attempting to stop Hal from getting any closer to the hospital with Karen.

"Dad!" Hal pleaded. "Her harness is gone! Please."

"Don't let her stay."

Grace turned around to see a crowd had formed on the steps behind her, including Ben, who was staring intensely at Karen.

"We can't trust her," he added ominously. "She's still attached to them."

"How do you know that, Ben?" Grace asked him softly.

"I can hear them," he admitted, frowning.

"All right," Tom decided. "Dai, you and Lyle take her to the psych ward, put her in a secure room."

Hal had a look of betrayal on his face as Lyle took Karen from his arms. "Dad…"

"Your dad's right. It's best this way," Maggie said. "Until we know."

Hal was speechless as Karen was taken away and rushed up the steps to concerned chatter all around. Tom, Tector and Maggie quickly followed, leaving Hal to trail behind. Grace caught the icy look he gave Ben as he passed them on the steps.

"You can really hear that?" Grace whispered to Ben as they watched their furious brother chase after the girl he used to love.

Ben nodded softly. The look on his face told her he wished he didn't, but he knew otherwise.

Grace thought back to poor Rick, and the strong connection he had with the skitters even months after he was de-harnessed. A connection so strong it eventually led to his death.

"I believe you," she said.