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It had been long since night had fallen, when Roxy finished her work for the day. The hallways were mostly empty as she walked to the cafeteria, hoping that there was still some leftover food from dinner. She couldn't hold back the small smile on her face, for she felt that Pope and her had done some serious progress in their fight against the invaders. They had agreed in telling the 2nd Mass about it the following day and, for once, the teenager was excited for the next morning.
Some people still sat at the tables in the cafeteria, though most of them weren't eating, instead staring into space like were miles away from the barely illuminated room. On a normal night, Roxy would probably be one of them. However, for once, the girl hummed a song to herself as she poured some soup into a plate, grabbing a slice of bread as well, before walking to an empty table. Once there, she looked around, trying to see if there was anyone she knew up at that hour, but she soon realized there were mostly middle aged parents, thinking about the children who had been ripped away from them.
The soup was cold, making her flinch as she gulped it down. That was what she got for skipping dinner to stay behind, helping Pope with his project. Forcing herself to ignore the temperature of her food, she ate a few more spoonfuls, before leaning back against her seat. Sweat coated the back of her neck, a result of the time she had spent crafting bullets with the former convict with only a bright lamp guiding them. It had taken them the whole afternoon, but they'd managed to create something that worked, and the feeling of doing something for someone that wasn't herself warmed her whole body.
She didn't believe she'd be able to properly rest, that night, but, for the first time since Earth had been invaded, it wasn't due to anxiety or overwhelming thoughts, but instead because she couldn't wait to show everyone what she had done. The 2nd Mass had been consistently achieving small victories, but this feat looked like their first big leap towards what would be the end of their suffering. She felt as if it couldn't go wrong; they'd strike the Mechs, leaving the Skitters with lower defenses, and all they'd have to do after that was take out the alien beings and find all the children who had been taken away from their families. For once, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Roxy had eaten half of her dinner when someone else dragged themselves into the cafeteria. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she watched Hal make his way to the food, his movements slow and his back hunched as he too got himself a serving of soup. She'd never seen him look so sad, and when he turned around and she was able to spot the tear tracks running down his cheeks, it only made her heart ache even more. The two teenagers met eyes, and she immediately gestured at her friend to take a seat at her table, which he did, even if he seemed somewhat reluctant.
"Careful," she was the first one to speak, "The soup is freezing."
Hal nodded his head, not making eye contact as he brought the spoon to his mouth. She chewed on her lower lip as she tried to guess what could possibly be wrong. Hal had been sent on a reconnaissance mission all the way to the infrastructure in Boston, along with his father and Weaver. It had been a fairly simple affair: they were meant to see how many Skitters loitered around the mothership, in order to estimate just how much firepower they would need, when the attack came. Had she not stayed behind with Pope, she would have gone with the three of them.
