Falling Skies : between friendship, love and fight [TOME 1]

Chapter 5 : A new allie

- Drop it or die right now ! Drop it !

- I-I just want to get my family the hell away from here. 

- Well, from what I could hear , that's the offer on the table, as long as you leave that behind. 

- Who the hell is out there ? Ask Weaver.

- Terry Clayton, 7th Mass ! Is that Dan Weaver ?

- Yeah !

- Well, come on up, says Clayton to Weaver before talking to Jeff. I'm gonna give you 5 seconds, and then you're dealing with them.

When Clayton finish his sentence, the Roussell family hurried up to give him the bag of medicines of the 2nd Mass and leave quickly. ONce that Tom, Weaver and Mike joined Clayton, Mike wanted to purchase the family but Weaver stops him cause they wanted to leave the 2nd Mass. But Clayton adds that we're still in a democratic country.

Weaver and Clayton had a happy reunion. They know each other from the army, they both served in the army, as did Mike who also knew Captain Terry Clayton. Tom knew him from the beginning of the invasion.

- Always had good timing, says Mike.

- Mike, you're the sight. Tom, How are the boys ? 

- They're good. You're a long way from home. Last word was the 7th Mass was holding tight outside of Wilmington.

- Yeah, we were. The 7th Mass is gone. 

- Is gone ?! Ask Weaver.

- Yeah. Game's changed. Skitters hit us, and they hit us hard. They're coming this way next. 

Tom, Weaver and Mike looked at each other in disbelief, wondering how they were going to save everyone, civilians and soldiers alike.

Tom, Weaver and Mike took Clayton back to the second division to get him some food and drink. It must have been a long journey here. So he explained what happened to the seventh division. Captain Weaver and Tom had asked that Hal, Ben, Elisa and I be there. Of course there were also Mike, Dai, Anthony and Maggie. Clayton explained to us that Phillips, his second in command, grabbed his daughter Megan and tried to pull her off the crawler's legs but another crawler came up from behind. He went on to say that the crawlers had taken all the children and ordered the Mechs to shoot all the adults. He paused and then told us that he had run away and that he would never forgive leaving his group behind. Mike tried to reassure him that there was nothing else to do.

- How many of you got away ? Questionned Daï.

- 8 fighters, half a dozen civilians. And we just kept moving until we holed up at a farm right here, he says showing us the place on the map, secluded, in a valley, hills on three sides. Skitters have already swept the area twice, so we think we're in the clear for a while. 

- Why do you think they're coming this way ? I ask.

- Re-etablished contact with Porter last week. He thinks the aliens are stepping up construction on their structures, looking for slave labor. Skitters have been sweeping through here and here, he says showing us on the map.

At this right moment, Weaver understands that the skitters come to our way. Clayton explains how the aliens had done to destroy the 7th Mass. First, they sent a reconnaissance team composed by a skitter and a meca before coming back in force.

- What are our orders ?

- Regroup. The 3rd Mass is right here. 

- That is .... right in between us and the last attack.

- And they're running light on fighters and ammo. There's no way they can survive an attack on their own. Porter has ordered them to join up with you. Now, you're to hold this position until they arrive, and then everybody pulls out together. 

- How long ? Ask Anthony.

- I'd say 72 hours, give or take. 

- 72 hours. That's a long time to sit tight with a skitter attack coming our way. 

- Yeah, that's how Porter sees it, too. So you're supposed to send anyone under 20 ahead of me. 

- With you ?!

- Be safer at the farm. And if you do have to engage, you won't have to be worry about the kids. After the 3rd rendez vous with you here, you're to meet us there, and we'll just find everybody a new place to live. 

- I hear what you're saying, and I appreciate the threat, but I'm not ready to give my kids up. 

- I'm just conveying the orders, Tom. 

- All right. Mike, we neeed to double up on perimeter security. Daï and Elisa ....

- Bike recon ? On it.

- Tom, you need to talk to the parents, start preparing them, just in case. 

- I don't think anybody's gonna go for this. 

- I'm not dragging anybody's kid away yet. But if our patrols tell us an attack is imminent, a head start could save lives. You might try explaining that to these people. 

- I'm not exactly impartial.

- Which is exactly why you're the right one to do it.

WHen Tom comes out of the room, I watch Ben and Hal and start to worry. But after all, I understand the logic of Clayton and Weaver. But this worries me all the same, the parents wouldn't want to let their kids go like this.