The Fall

32. Cease-Fire

2.11.21

Benji's POV

I walked down the stairs with Connor by my side, and the feeling of winning brought all of my previous fears away. I can't believe how well my plan worked; I had expected things to go south. I know that I shouldn't be bringing myself down, but I tend to think through ways that everything could have gone wrong. I remember that there was a feeling of dread when the cannon fired. I knew that they had more war supplies than we did because we only had what we could ransack. Still, I overlooked the possibility that they could bring more than just guns. It was naive of me.

"Benji, I know what you're thinking about over there. Stop it," Connor commanded, but I shook my head. What if it hadn't gone our way? People could have been seriously hurt, and it would have been my fault alone. I can't let this happen again. If I underestimate the humans, we will fail. I need to work on my restraint not to. I know that a lot of the humans lack the basic knowledge to plan, but also that some do. Those people are the ones that are the most dangerous for us.

"I let myself forget about the danger that humans could bring. I'm the reason that 3 died from that cannon's fire. I neglected memories of the weapons they had. I knew that we could stop a bullet, but something that large and heavy was never on my radar. I shouldn't have let us have the chance to be surprised. I should have been on that roof in the first place so we could predict the ball coming in."

"Please don't be too hard on yourself for that. Benjamin, you thought that the best way to protect them was to fight with them. Just because you can't see the future doesn't mean that you're a bad person."

"But, people died, Connor!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a war. People are going to die, and it isn't your fault. They came here knowing that life is unpredictable, and they acknowledged that some of them may die. They still came here to stand together with everyone else. If people are put off by a few dying, then they can leave. You can't prevent every single danger; you're only one person."

We walked into the infirmary, and the doctors were working their asses off to heal all kinds of different people. I saw a man with a puncture straight through his chest and two others working to keep him from bleeding out as a third healed his organs. The room smelled of metallic blood and sweat, and I almost vomited many times. Is this what all medical wards smell like with this much use?

I went to the top doctor, and he was currently trying to extract a bullet from a man's skull. He didn't allow my presence to distract him until he was done with the surgery, and only then did he turn to me. "What can I do for you, Benji?" he asked while walking to the next person in need of his assistance, and I followed close behind.

"I would like a report on the casualties."

"There are 5 dead, 289 minorly injured, and 39 majorly injured."

"How is that compared to what could have happened?"

"Very positive. A lot of our numbers are still able to fight just in case the humans attack again."

"Alright, thank you, Claide."

The man dipped his head to me before moving on, and I went back to Connor. He was waiting patiently for me, and we continued our journey through the hall. "Connor, I know that you were looking forward to celebrating, but can I take a rain check? I want to check up on Mikey."

"Of course. We can't all have trash marriages, can we?" I waved briefly before going to find the man I loved, and it didn't take me very long at all. He was sitting in my office with the same idea I had, and I remembered how we always seemed to be on the same page. I like that he sometimes knew what I was thinking before I even said it. I miss all the time that we spent together, but it has been good for us.

"I had a feeling you would be looking for me, so I figured I would come to your main area."

"How have you been?" I asked while striding across the room. He pulled me into a tight hug as soon as I got close enough, and I leaned into him immediately. Nothing could give me more comfort than his arms around me.

"I've been good; how are you?"

"Well, I've been pretty stressed out with all of these lives riding on my shoulders."

"I can imagine how hard that would be. I'm very proud of you for pushing through the stress rather than shutting down and doing something reckless. You've really changed a lot since you were a teenager. I feel like you can go into fighting without trying to be a martyr every two seconds."

"Well, I would die for the cause. However, I know the difference between when I have to die and when I can drop it. I'm not going to jump right into a pit of snakes without a game plan."

"That's progress."

"I know."

"Hey, Benji..?"

"What's up?"

"How do you think Mason is doing with those people?"

"I'm sure that he's perfectly alright. I forced Oliver to put him in one of the secure sections of Hell, and he does have adults watching him. I don't think that the humans are going to try and invade Hell any time soon, though."

"I'm not so confident. Humans are starting to become very ballsy. I don't know what will happen, but I'm sure they aren't very far away from trying to take somewhere important. I don't know where yet, but they did try and fail to do it here."

For the first time since I walked in, I noticed that his arm was wrapped tightly in bandages. He wasn't bleeding through them quite yet, but I could tell that he had been hit by something. "Did you get shot?"

"Yeah, I did. I know that there wasn't really another option, but you did leave us warlocks open to attack pretty much the entire time. The humans seemed more focused on the runners, but we were a wide-open target. If they were any more intelligent, we would be dead by now."

"I know that my plan wasn't perfect, but I was coming up with it on the spot. Give me some slack."

"You wouldn't want me to give you slack on other human lives. I'm letting you know that there was a weakness in your plan so that you think about it next time. I'm not trying to discredit the achievement you made but just trying to let you know what to think about for next time."

"I get it. Thank you for giving me some food for thought."

"Speaking of food, want to go to the dining hall together to get some grub?"

"Sure!" We went down there together, and I felt more relaxed than ever... I hope that this never ends.