Finally Found You - (Ben Mason Love Story)

Part 7

            “Hey dad, Kali had an idea about the plan.” Hal says interrupting their conversation.

            “I was thinking; what if instead of an adult soldier goes in, one of the younger ones does it. Unlike the adults, we can fit right in if we have a harness on. We could strap on Ricks harness, go in Ben’s room, kill the Skitter, and we’d be home free.” I say pointing on the map while explaining my idea.

            “There’s one problem, how are you supposed to kill it?” Tom asks.

            “We were hoping you’d have that answer.” Hal said.

            “It’s a good plan but who’s going in?” Weaver asks.

            “I’ll do it.” Hal and I both say.

            “It was my idea in the first place; I should be the one to go in.” I argue.

            “Kali you just got off being on crutches, you can barely walk and besides; we all know about your poor sense of direction.” Hal says. I sigh frustrated and cross my arms.

            “Alright then, it’s settled. I’ll go in with Ricks harness strapped to my back I’m going to pretend to be one of them.” Hal says.

            “Absolutely not.” Tom says.

            “Dad come on, it’s the best chance we’ve got at getting Ben back. We’ve gotta take risks as a family. Me going in is no different than you or Kali going in. You going in is not different than me going in. If we had more time then maybe we could make up the perfect plan but we have to get Ben now.” Hal says. Tom starts to shake his head rapidly.

            “Tom, if Hal goes in, he has a better chance of getting out than you do. If he goes in, it might work but if you go in it will not work.” I say in Hal’s defense.

            “Making yourself invisible to the enemy is a basic tactic Tom. I think it’s your best shot but, it’s your call.” Weaver says. We all wait for Toms answer as he looks back and forth between Hal, Weaver and I.

            “We still don’t know how to kill one of these things without making any noise so until we figure that out I don’t have to make a call.” Tom says throwing his hands in the air and walking out. Hal and I follow him into the infirmary to go talk to Anne to see if she knows any way to do kill the Skitter without making any noise.

            “Without making any noise? Do you think it’s going to be sleeping in some sound proof chamber with its head in a gelatin?” Anne says.

            “Probably not.” Hal answers her.

            “There is one thing.” Anne says. She starts to walk over to the Skitter in the cage. “Mike hit him, it, in its mouth the other day and seemed to knock it unconscious. We know that there’s a soft pallet. If the nerve center is in there, we know it’s connected to the base of the brain stem. That means theoretically,” Anne picks up the water bowl and a scalpel and puts it in her pocket. “Can you open that?” She asks.

            We all look at her strangely and walk over to the Skitter. Hal opens the small part of the gate and backs away as Anne puts the bowl down.

            “Anne?” Tom asks as he and I raise our guns.

            “I’m not going to let Hal risk his life over a theory.” Anne gets the cattle prod and zaps the Skitter. She opens the door and walks in the cage. We all raise our guns but I could tell by the look on her face, she knows what she’s doing.

            Anne grabs the Skitter, shoves the knife into its mouth and shoves it up into the soft pallet. She releases it, and the Skitter falls to the ground dead. Anne slowly turns around to face us, drops the scalpel, and looks straight at Tom.

            “Okay that worked.” She says. She runs out of the infirmary and Tom chases her while Hal and I are still standing there, amazed.

            “Damn.” I say out loud looking at Hal. He looks back at me and nods. We go out to see Tom standing by the missing board, staring at Anne walking away.

            “Well now at least we know how to kill them.” Hal says.

            “Yeah, let’s go get ready for tonight.” Tom says. We walk to go load up for tonight and within a few hours, we’re hiding a couple hundred yards from the ER entrance behind two cars.

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