The Fall

12. Time

1.16.20

Benji's POV

At the end of the day, I felt as if my head was killing me slowly. Our city had quickly taken over the status of being the most controllable one, and we had spent pretty much the entire day to build up the entrances' defenses to make it a safe place for our capital. All of the council members were either running their own won cities or continuing to fight for them, and I was eagerly awaiting news on the other countries. The 6 o'clock news is coming up, and I was looking forward to seeing the results. Not only of other conflicts outside of the borders, but also words on the ones in the United States. I don't know much about it.

"Benji, come take a break. You haven't stopped working since 7am," Mikey invites, and I went over to sit next to him on the couch.

"You know that I can't help it. It won't take long for the army to regroup, and when it does, we're toast if we haven't prepared for it. The plan relies on Newfolk as a hub, and I have to make sure that it stays that way."

"I understand where you're coming from, but you still need some relaxation to be at your best. I know you've been waiting to watch the news, so just sit next to me and we can view them together, okay?"

"I would like that." I plopped down onto the couch next to him, and he put his arm around my shoulder. It's been a while since we sat like this, and I have to say that I had missed the feeling quite a lot. My eyes were drifting a little bit, but I didn't allow myself to sleep. I have to make sure that everyone is alright before I can allow myself to fully relax; it's just kind of how I roll. I know absolutely nothing about what I would do if they weren't, but it makes me feel a bit more comfortable to just make sure.

The opening tune played through the living room, and I snapped my attention to the screen as the newscaster began to give a brief opening statement before launching right into the action of the day... "About 25 hours after the initial attacks on our nations, thousands of other uprisings similar to it have popped up around the rest of the world. Here in America, while we may have had a few losses, our gains are greater. We have collected numerous supernatural prisoners from Dallas and Washington, and we are prepared to do whatever it takes to them to get our peace back. Those of you who have control, I beg you; give up, or there will be serious consequences."

I felt like they knew I was watching, but they probably didn't. For all they knew they could be talking to no one at all, but we just so happen to be sitting here watching the broadcast. "Dallas, isn't that were they sent Connor since you both live here?"

"Oh shit, you're right. I hope he didn't get hurt..." They had began to show some disgusting footage from a few of the cities, and I could tell that they were more geared to make them look better; it was all showing the monstrosities our side did without even portraying the reason we were so harsh on them. Sometimes the way that they bias everything they say makes me super mad, but I suppose it is something those who run the country would want. They would make it look like there was a very bad force to unite against in order to get more people for their precious army: despicable.

"Well, call him, see if it works."

"What if he's hiding and shouldn't be getting phone calls that aren't totally necessary."

"He really should have his phone on silent if that's the case."

"Alright, calling now." The phone rang a few times before the other end picked up, and I felt my heart soar a bit before taking a huge plummet towards the ground.

"Who is this," a gruff voice that definitely wasn't Connor's asked, and I had to call upon what to do quickly. I couldn't say who I was or they would track the phone to our current location, so I thought all of the way back to my teenage years and simply just began to speak Spanish. My voice sounded kind of weird in the foreign language, but I ignored it to focus on speaking very swiftly but still sounding as if I knew what I was saying. I'm pretty sure I was having a conversation about pickles with this poor man, but the goal was met. He was totally confused, and eventually just hung up on me. Now, that would have been rude if I was a real person.

"What was that?" Mikey inquired, and I looked down at the floor. This can't be good, I have to go help him get out... But how?

"A man that wasn't him picked up, and I didn't know what to do so I just did that. I figured that he would get annoyed with trying to understand me and just hang up at some point; I was correct. I don't think that he recognized my voice either which is pretty good."

"I mean, he is a cop in Dallas, why would he recognize your voice?"

"He probably wouldn't, but I'm kind of nervous about it. I don't want them to be able to find me just from the location of my cell."

"I think they know exactly where you are, you did get up on the stage and motivate everyone to fight. They would know where all of us are, actually..."

"At least nukes were outlawed in 2066; we don't have to worry about them."

"They could bomb the city with normal explosives though which would still be pretty deadly."

"Only time will tell."

"Let's just hope that we're safe."

"Yeah."

I walked out to the kitchen to get a hot cup of milk, and the silence felt too weird and foreign. After living with our son for six years, I had gotten used to the house never being super quiet. There was always either a tantrum or a game being played to break the horrible absence of all sound, but I didn't hear that now... I just hope that wherever Mason is he isn't hurt. I guess that only time will tell...