We Are Broken ➳ Falling Skies

≼ Chapter 12 ≽

I was in the room that both my family and the Mason's shared. Matt, Caden, Delaney, Maia and I were playing a game of Monopoly we had found in one of the classrooms.

Hal had gone out with Maggie last night, to search surrounding areas for drugs that we could use to take the harnesses off. I was still on rehab until we went to go get Ben and Jackson.

The past two days I had felt a little more relaxed and not as stressed, whereas Hal always seemed on edge. I told him he should get injured to take a small break like me.

"Hey, you rolled a five, not a ten!" Caden said to Del.

"So? I'm a princess. And we get our way. She giggled and moved her piece up ten, knocking over Caden's in the process.

"Just let her do it. She's having fun." I said to Caden.

"By making me lose." He grumbled.

"That's how she always played. I mean she used to try and run you over on that Winnie the Pooh car thing she had, and always try to stomp you with her plush horse, and anything else. Even when she pushed you down the slide." I said laughing.

It was good to remember more good things, and not focus so much on the bad. It made people smile and laugh and live a little more in the moment. I think it made the kids a little happier sometimes as well.

"I swear she hates me," Caden said, looking at her. Del stood up and gave Caden a big hug and a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Maia, Matt and I laughed at it and she giggled before sitting back down. Caden scrunched his face as he wiped his cheek off.

"I don't think so. I think she just likes to annoy you." I smiled. "So how'd it go with dad yesterday?" I asked.

"It was so awesome!" Matt exclaimed.

"Something awesome with your dad? Has to be a new world." Maia laughed.

"Basically is a new world already." I pointed out.

"We played Lacrosse for a little bit and then he found these old scooter boards and we took some rope and then we pulled each other around the lot out back! Then we would fly off into a pile of cardboard boxes we found too. It was so awesome!" Caden explained.

"He also taught us how to defend ourselves with anything we can find in the streets. But my dad won't let me get any closer to fighting than that." Matt said.

"I'm sure he just doesn't want to let go of his last little boy. Don't worry I bet both of you will be sniping Skitters soon enough." I said. "So, what are you guys doing with Uncle Scott? You've been with him a lot in the workshop."

"We figured out that the transmitters he found can pick up the signals that the Skitters use to communicate. But we can't figure it out from there." Matt said.

"Maia found Mr. Teddy for me, too!" Delaney exclaimed.

"She did?!" I said happily. I turned to Maia as Delaney stood up, going to her cot and grabbing her stuffed teddy bear.

"Yeah. We had a box of rounded up toys for the kids and I guess someone must've put her teddy in there. I spotted it this morning and took it before I got scolded by Ms. Brown."

"I even got him a new scarf. Maia helped me make it." Delaney handed me her bear and I saw it had a purple scarf with hearts in it, replacing the tattered blue one.

"How'd you make this?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"They had classrooms for almost every class. I remember we had some sewing class at our school so I found a machine got it to work manually and I cut some fabric that was lying around and made that for her."