Born Fighter (Falling Skies Fan-Fic)

Chapter 17

"Come on, we can go to the kids bunkers." Ben said walking up to me and my brother. I nodded pulling away from him long enough to give him a reassuring smile. With a nod from him, I grabbed his hand and started following Ben down the road. Hearing the blasts go off was nothing compared to seeing the damage they left behind in their wake. Buildings destroyed, cars caught on fire as adults helped others who were trapped in rubble. As I walked behind Ben, I noticed eyes glaring in my direction, the hate I knew many of them carried seeming to resurface. It had been weeks since the last time anyone paid mind to me but now, insight of the recent attack, I was sure all eyes would be on us. There was no doubt they still thought me and Ben were working with the enemy. 

"Are we almost there?" I said turning my attention back to Ben hoping my brother hadn't noticed my sudden worry. With a nod, Ben turned on his heels and started walking backwards.

"Just up here." he said before turning back around. As we finished rounding the corner, I noticed a smaller building, windows covering every other wall and rotted brick encasing whatever was on the inside. When we finally entered the building, I noticed the long hallway with doors on either side, each room holding a number in rusted metal. It almost reminded me of the old one story motels I had seen in movies that held run aways and criminals.

"Here, you can stay with my brother. I promise, he's nice." Ben said offering my brother a reassuring smile as he opened the door to one of the rooms. The room was small, barely enough for the two slim beds on either side of the room, a small dresser across from the beds provided the only known place for any clothes. As we got further into the room, I noticed how clean one bed was compared to the other who's sheets had been tossed about as if they were loose pieces of paper.

"I'm sure he'll be okay with u borrowing a few clothes... let's see..." he trailed off walking over to the dresser and ripping open the top drawer before riffling through it, the loose fabric hitting the sides of the drawer like waves.

"Ah ha!" Ben exclaimed holding up an army green shirt and throwing a pair of dark wash jeans over his forearm. Once he shut the door, Ben walked over to us as I sat my brother on the edge of the cleaner bed.

"These should fit. You and my brother look the same size." Ben said kneeling before my brother to hand him the clothes. With a weak smile, my brother took the clothes and looked up at me as if to tell me to get the hell out.

"I got it, I got it. We're leaving. But we'll be just outside the door if you need us, call." I said patting his shoulder before motioning Ben to follow me outside. The moment I had, I knew this was going to be weird. After last night, Ben had never seemed as happy as he did now but knowing that he was as big of a distraction as he was, I couldn't keep leading him on with hope that that night magically fixed everything. I needed to come clean and I needed to do it now. As we stepped out of the room, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to face him. The door echoing in pain before silencing as it clicked shut.

"Ben last night..." I said avoiding his eyes.

"Don't. Dont do that." He said hurt and anger raging starting to appear behind his words. He knew where this was going.

"Do what?" I questioned

"Don't try to tell me that last night was a mistake. I know you Grace, I felt what u felt, we connected. That look in your eyes, the way your heart raced, the feelings between us.... you can't honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that was a mistake." He said his eyes becoming red with every effort to hold back how he really felt. The idea that he would hate me forever, the feeling of knowing I was going to lose him would kill me and bury me alive. But I couldn't. As much as I wanted to believe that this was going to work, that I could balance him, my brother, and the apocalypse, I knew in my heart of hearts I couldn't. If I was going to find the rest of my family and save the whole damn world, I needed to focus on what was important. What I thought was right.