When the Skies Fell: A Ben Mason Fanfiction

Silent Kill

To my diary:

Our new camp was at an abandoned school called John F. Kennedy High School. It kind of reminded me of the school I used to go to, so it brought back some nostalgic memories of everything: my teachers, friends, and even those horrid school lunches that everyone used to hate, though I would kill to have one of those again. We had been here for a couple weeks, but I haven't really been settled in until now.

A lot has happened in these past few weeks. One of the most major events, though, was that Hal and Tom found a gang of some sorts hiding out in this abandoned building, where they were keeping a skitter captive. The two people who came back from the gang was a man and a girl. The man's name was John Pope, the leader of the gang. He acts like he's a badass and has to work in the kitchen now to pay back for what he did to his submissive gang members. The girl, on the other hand, rebelled against Pope to help save Hal and Tom from the gang. Her name's Maggie, and she's replacing Karen as Hal's partner.

And then there's Karen. What happened to Karen? When her and Hal were on a mission to try and save Ben, Hal's little brother, she got taken away by the aliens. We haven't seen her since. Hal's really torn up about it, and I feel really bad, but all he wants now is to get his brother back home safe... which is exactly what we're trying to do now. Before Karen was taken away, Hal spotted Ben out at an abandoned factory not too far from here, and we've been plotting his rescue ever since. However, on that rescue attempt for Ben when Karen was lost, we actually managed to rescue this kid named Rick. His dad, Mike, is one of the fighters of the 2nd Mass, so he was really thankful that we could rescue him. Anne was able to remove the harness from Rick without killing him, but Rick is acting really strange. Mike says that Rick used to be happy all the time and chirpy, but now Rick sits around and mopes all day, not talking to anyone. I hope this doesn't happen to Ben...

"Autumn."

I looked up to see Hal standing in the doorway of the infirmary. I like hanging out in here because Anne and Lourdes are here to keep me company. I closed my diary to talk to Hal.

"Hey, what's up?" I said

"So, we have a new plan for saving Ben," Hal replied. "And we're doing it tonight."

"Tonight," I repeated. "Well, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to have Rick's harness strapped onto my back, and I'm gonna sneak into the hospital where the skitters are keeping Ben, and save him."

"Hal, that sounds crazy."

"Don't start on me, my dad already said it was fine... He just needed a little persuading," Hal explained.

"No, the plan is fine, but..."

Hal stared back at me. "But what?"

I took a deep breath and said, "I think it would be better if I was the one to sneak into the hospital and save Ben."

Hal looked at me like I was insane. "What the hell are you talking about? Do you know how dangerous that would be?"

"Even more dangerous if it was you!" I shouted back at him. "Hal, I'm 14. You're 17. The skitters capture kids my age, not your age. I would blend in better with them."

"They captured Karen! She's my age! Why wouldn't I blend in with those kids?" Hal said angrily.

"HAL, LISTEN TO ME!"

Hal's heavy breathing started to slow down. "Okay, I'm listening."

"You have a father and a little brother here at camp. You also have a great battle partner who cares about you. If you died while on this mission, think about how much it would affect all of them. You're a fighter, Hal. The 2nd Mass needs you. But me? I don't have any family left. I don't have a battle partner, and I don't even battle," I said. "The 2nd Mass would be affected more if they lost you than me."