Chapter 29
He wasn't dead.
Anne did everything she could to stop the bleeding. As much as everyone would probably relish the idea of letting an Overlord bleed to death in their psych ward, it wouldn't do them any favours. Karen would quickly find out and her skitter buddies would be back to finish them all off. They couldn't cope with any more loss tonight.
That's why Grace was surprised when her dad revealed that inviting Karen back to get her master was part of the plan. It was risky. They had already underestimated Karen once, and she was more barbaric than they gave her credit for. Hal told her that she had executed Boon in cold blood, giving him the slightest glimpse of hope before violently extinguishing it with a spray of mech bullets.
"I can't believe I trusted her over Ben," Hal told her guiltily as they waited outside the hospital entrance. "The Karen I knew died a long time ago. That's clear now."
"You talked to him?" Grace asked, hoping he and Ben had solved their issues once again, before the next inevitable fallout.
Hal nodded. "We'll always be brothers. We've been tested a lot lately, but that'll never change."
She gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry about Karen. I know you loved her."
He paused for a long moment. "It's like she's here, but she's not really. We lost her like we lost anyone else. We're mourning all of them. She's just…gone."
She felt a lump in her throat at the sight of him so full of regret.
"It's okay," he chuckled after seeing her expression. "You don't have to give me that concerned big sister look. In a way, it makes things easier."
They looked over to see Karen in the distance, walking towards them. She was being escorted by two armed fighters. Other than that, she was seemingly alone.
"It makes this easier," Hal mumbled, before making his way down the steps and greeting Karen by grabbing her arm. She scowled at him before he pushed her up towards the hospital doors.
"I'll take you to your master," he muttered to her.
Grace held the door open for them, keeping her gaze on Karen who gave her a wry smirk. She wanted to punch that smirk right off her smug face. She still thought she was in control. Well, the Second Mass had a surprise for her.
Karen walked with confidence into the building, that ugly harness glowing on her back again. Armed fighters lined the hallways and watched her carefully. Hal and Grace followed closely behind, Hal occasionally pushing her into the right direction while Grace rolled her eyes at Karen's unrelenting evangelising.
"How can I make you understand?" Karen sighed. "You see, every living thing, every grain of sand on a beach, every star in the sky is linked by an intricate web of causality. If you can comprehend that web in its entirety, down to the movements of the smallest subatomic particles, then you can predict the course of events and alter them."
"Wow," said Hal sarcastically. "That's the most ridiculous load of crap I've ever heard."
"I knew precisely where and when to place the de-harnessed bodies of those kids so that you and Maggie would find me, Hal." Karen stopped walking and turned around, smiling unsettlingly. "I knew every word and gesture needed to get the desired response of you and Ben, up until the moment he ran away with me."
Grace snorted. "You're psychic now, are you?"
Karen then looked at Grace. "You and Maggie were even easier. You both had so many buttons to push, the only difficulty was finding which ones and in what order."
Grace's brow furrowed. Was blaming her for Fitchburg simply another one of those buttons? Was it a lie just like everything else, meant to rile her up like she did with Maggie? As much as that still sucked, she really hoped that was the case.
"Yeah, well, you must have missed a subatomic particle or two," Hal retorted. "'Cause things haven't really gone according to plan ever since, have they?"
"There are always unexpected variables that require adjustments. I made them, and now you're handing my master over to me."
"Well, I guess you got it all figured out, don't you?" Hal said, returning Karen's bitter stare. "Move."
She turned to see Ben waiting up the corridor, his arms crossed impatiently.
"Ben." She smiled at him and stopped in front of him. "I'm glad you're okay. I know this has been quite an ordeal for you, but it had to happen."
Ben simply stared at her, disinterested, whilst Hal kept his rifle trained on her. Grace stood beside Ben, watching Karen's every move. Every gesture. Every facial expression.
"You can't manipulate him anymore, Karen," Grace said. "He sees what you really are."
"He and I are the same," Karen said to her, offended. "One day he'll understand that-"
Suddenly, all the muscles on her face froze.
"Something's happened to him." Her gaze widened, gradually drifting from Ben and towards the door of the cell. "What have you done?"
She ran into the room, horrified to find the Overlord sprawled out on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. Devastated, she knelt beside him, reaching for him and gently touching his head.
"I'm here with you," she whispered, holding back tears as if she were leaning over a wounded loved one.
The Overlord grunted as he lay on his side like a dying animal. It was far from the image of the colossal ogre who dominated the room with his self-righteous speeches not long before.
Tom was waiting on the other side of the room, watching Karen's grief unfold. He knew she would do anything to save her master.
"Doctor Glass did what she could to stop the bleeding," he explained coolly. "I don't know much about his physiology, but I don't think he's gonna last much longer."
Karen scowled at him. She paused for a moment, and then she leapt up, shrieking like a wild beast as she launched towards him.
She was quick, but Grace's instincts took over. She stepped in front of her father and felt the full force of Karen's face hit her fist. Karen fell back, screaming. Ben caught her before she could recover.
Grace shook the pain out of her hand whilst Hal raised his eyebrows at her, impressed.
Karen hissed, one hand over her sore eye and the other still attempting to grab at Tom as Ben wrapped his arm around her neck, holding her back.
"You ready to listen?" Tom asked her angrily.
She breathed heavily, glowering at him.
"Good, 'cause you can still save him."
"How?" she demanded.
Hal calmly explained that the entire place was rigged with plastic explosives. Enough to take out the entire floor. Two guys had the detonator and one of them was Pope, and everyone knew how he'd revel in blowing Karen and her master straight to hell. Karen tried to threaten them with an airstrike, but she could only do that if she was willing to let her master die.
"But we don't have to go down that road," continued Tom, barely blinking as he stared intently at Karen. "You let the Second 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 wrinkled her nose with disgust, but it was clear she had no choice. Her loyalty to her master appeared to be greater than anything else. Begrudgingly, she agreed.
And once again, it was time to go. Karen was true to her word and called off her Mech guard dogs as the Second Mass packed up what remained in the hospital as quickly as they could. Sadly they weren't able to salvage the medical supplies from the basement - not with those creepy crawlies down there - but Anne was able to pack up some useful supplies from the other floors and load them onto the med bus.
Unfortunately, it also meant they couldn't retrieve Jamil's body. He had to stay down there, alone, eaten alive by alien bugs. As Grace dropped Matt off on the med bus, she clocked Lourdes lying on the couch at the back of the bus, her gaze empty. She almost looked dead herself. Grace wanted to say something. She knew what it felt like. But she didn't want to upset Lourdes any further. The girl blamed her. She needed to blame someone, other than their unrelenting enemy. If that made her feel somewhat better, Grace could take it. She just missed her friend.
"Give her time," Anne whispered to her as she strapped in her final patient. The bus was fully packed up with meds and sick people, waiting to be transported to safety.
Grace smiled unsurely at her, appreciating her kindness. She knew time healed, but it only did so much. She still felt her heart plummet whenever she thought of Jimmy, or her mother. Even with all these distractions, the grief was always there, deep down. It was like a ball rolling around inside her gut, collecting the grief and growing larger. One day she would burst.
She cleared her throat and turned her attention to Matt. "Hey, Peanut. I'm proud of what you did for us earlier. You were so brave."
"You saved our lives, Matt," Anne added gratefully.
"Just doing my job," Matt said humbly, barely even cracking a smile.
Grace expected him to be beaming, just like the time he helped Tector and Boon lead some skitters into a trap, but there was no excitement on his young face this time. She supposed the reality was setting in for him. Being a fighter wasn't meant to be fun. Being brave wasn't meant to make you feel good. It was just necessary to survive. The novelty wears off quickly, especially when people die on your watch. And it had been a long and tough night.
"Get some rest, okay?"
Grace gave him a quick kiss goodbye before heading back out to her bike, ignoring the giant motionless Mechs who stood by their convoy, waiting. It was strange seeing the machines so close up. Usually she was blowing them up or running for her life. She half-expected them to snap back to life and start mowing them all down. But she knew Karen wouldn't risk it. Her Overlord's recovery was much too important.
The Second Mass drove until morning, until the sun illuminated the convoy along the dirt roads, and then they paused for a much-needed break. Captain Weaver went over the route with some of his fighters while others refuelled the vehicles or shifted equipment and supplies up and down the convoy. Grace parked up her bike, feeling the need to stretch her legs, when she saw Casey and Etta chatting to the Beserkers by their quad bikes.
She had almost forgotten. The Beserkers had lost Boon. No matter what Grace thought about them, they'd lost a friend too.
She abandoned her bike and shuffled towards them. Tector was standing with a jerry can in each hand, a morose look on his rugged features.
"I had the shot. Boon might still be alive if I'd have taken it."
"You don't know that for sure," reassured Casey. "It's not your fault."
"Remember what you told me?" Crazy Lee asked him, putting an arm around him. "Never ask 'what it?' and never look back."
Grace cleared her throat, prompting Casey to greet her with a small smile.
"Grace. I'm glad you're okay. Things sounded pretty intense down there."
"Yeah. For you guys too. I'm sorry about Boon." Her gaze awkwardly fleeted between Tector and Lee. It felt against her instincts to make nice with Beserkers. Every time she looked at them, she remembered every shitty thing they'd ever done. But now wasn't the time. It's like she said to the Overlord: one of the best parts of being human was connecting with other humans, not fighting with them. They had suffered just like anyone else here and despite their callous attitudes, they still felt pain.
"He seemed like a nice guy…I mean, the only time I ever spoke to him, I was yelling at him. But he seemed well-meaning."
"He was," Casey smiled, holding a sleepy Etta close to her chest. "He was a good kid."
"Played his string right to the end," Lee nodded.
Tector's jaw stiffened, looking away sadly. "Brave kid."
"Ten minutes, then we roll!" Captain Weaver announced, hobbling along with his cane as his usual entourage followed him. "We're gonna keep rolling come hell or high water all the way to Charleston! Five hundred miles! Got just enough gas and supplies to get there." He nodded at Grace and the Beserkers as he passed them. Again, Grace had to admire the man's tenacity. Limping with an injury that almost killed him and he looked well and ready to go back into battle. His confidence and positivity was infectious.
"This is the final push" he continued loudly down the convoy. "We're gonna high-ball it down that black ribbon of highway 'till we see the blue water of Charleston Harbour!"
There was a wave of cheers and chatter down the convoy, some animated by the promise of Charleston's safe haven, and others still apprehensive. Anthony was excited by the rumours of fresh fish and lobster, while a shivering Dai was enthused by the idea of warm cognac in a tulip-shaped glass. By now, people had formed their own ideas of what they hoped Charleston would be. Grace hoped they all wouldn't be disappointed.
Pope, however, seemed to be counting on it. The man appeared to have recovered from his injuries, and was now back to his asshole self. He fit right back into the pessimistic, lowlife, jerk-shaped hole he had left.
"Oh, yeah. They got day spas, ice-cream parlours, theme parks, strip clubs made out of gingerbread," the ex-con said sarcastically from his bike. "Charleston's gonna be a paradise on earth!"
"If you think it'll be a bust, why are you even going?" Grace challenged him, walking towards him.
"I have my reasons, princess. Not that I'd share it with you and your alien buddies," he spat, narrowing his eyes at her. "What's your death count at now?"
"Shut up, Pope," snapped Maggie as she secured some fuel containers to the back of a truck. She shot Grace a brief smile, obviously feeling much better since her run-in with Karen.
"Yeah. The real reason is because he has nowhere else to go and no one else will have him, right, John?" Anthony mocked.
Grace couldn't help but smirk at that.
Since they were leaving soon, she decided to check on her brothers and eventually found them all the way at the back of the convoy. Hal and Matt at least. Ben was nowhere to be seen. Matt was recounting to Hal his heroic moments the previous night and what he planned to do next time he encountered one of those crawlies.
"I'm gonna, like, turn around and go 'ba-bam!'" Matt yelled, pretending to fire off his rifle.
Hal chuckled. "All right. Now you're a real Mason."
Grace smiled. "Kid's got guts, I'll give him that."
She was surprised when Matt threw the rifle over his shoulder and caught her in a hug.
"Woah - what's that for?"
"For trusting me," Matt grinned up at her. "It means a lot." He released her, his expression suddenly turning bashful. "I know it was hard for you. I'm glad you're my sister."
"Woah, woah woah," Hal interjected, pretending to be offended. "Where are my compliments?"
Matt giggled. Grace laughed too, then Hal. Suddenly that feeling of rejection faded away. As long as she had her family, she knew she belonged. Second Mass or not. She'd always be a Mason.
Her eye caught their dad emerging from the forest behind them. They all turned to watch him and as he approached, their smiles faded. He had tears in his eyes. She looked behind Tom, suddenly noticing the absence of their brother. The look in Tom's face as he joined them made her fear the worst.
She swallowed hard, fearing to ask the question.
"Where's Ben?"
Tom's dark eyes glistened as he drew in a deep breath. "He left."