We Are Broken ➳ Falling Skies

≼ Chapter 19 ≽

When I walked in I saw Jackson sitting on his cot reading a book.

"Hey, Jay," I greeted him as I walked in. I walked over to my bag and unzipped it.

"Hey," He replied in a mumble. I looked through my bag until I found the jacket I wanted, pulling it out. I slid my jacket on, being careful of my wound.

"So, what did you do the rest of the day?" I asked. I turned around, moving my blanket over so I could sit down on my cot. He shrugged.

"Nothing much. Helped Uncle Scott a little, came back here to read and here I am," He said. I chuckled.

"I never thought I'd see you reading voluntarily." He didn't react to my banter. Jackson, you can't just sit in here forever," I sighed.

"I can if I want to. I have less of a chance getting shot in here than I do if I go out there," He retorted.

"People may be stupid enough to pull a gun out to you but nobody is stupid enough to actually shoot someone around here, especially since Weaver seems to have eyes in the back of his head. You also can't go around thinking that everyone is afraid of you or thinks you're a threat. "

"Yes, I can." I sighed standing up from my cot. I reached over grabbing his book from his hands and tossing it across the room. He sat up looking at me. "Hey! I get it you can be mad at me, but you don't need to take things away from me."

"To get your attention I do. Now get your ass up, we're going to dinner," I demanded. "Time you try to act a little normal again."

"Fine." He slowly stood up and followed me out of the room. "So what happened to your arm?"

"Nothing much. Just a little Mech fire, the usual."

"Usual? So you get hit by Mech bullets a lot?"

"It's more common than getting hit by our own fire," I responded. "Just before we left our last camp, I got hit by a couple bullets in my leg and back, the guy next to me fell dead so I nearly escaped that one. I was on crutches for a while too. And then when we were trying to rescue you guys the first time, a Mech caught us and stunned us and I apparently hit my head hard, I have stitches in my head but should get those out soon."

"You've really been through a lot..." He replied with a frown.

"It's nothing I can't handle now. Plus, it's not as much as some others. But there's always more I have yet to experience as a soldier." I said.

"It's weird, I mean you are only 14 and a soldier. We should still be in school."

"Well, you were basically like an alien slave. Plus, Jimmy is our youngest, he's 12. But he's damn good at what he does. He used to hunt with his dad. Said he thinks of everything like shooting a deer or bear. But he might be gone now... The bus got destroyed..." I said, my voice falling to a hush at the end.

"That's one way to think of it I guess. I kinda miss being on the front with you, Ben, Maia, and Hal." He said. I patted his back.

"Don't worry, I'm sure eventually you'll be back fighting with us soon. I mean not Maia, but... Maybe Me, You and Ben will be back as a team. Hal might get reassigned with Maggie. I'll stick with them for a while until another change comes along." I said.

We walked into the gym where Ben came over to us. He nodded to Jackson before giving me a tight hug.

"Hey to you as well." I laughed.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He said letting go of me.

"A couple bullet wounds, but nothing I'm not used to. I'll survive." I said. We went over to the food line waiting to get dinner.