It's been 4 months since the Volms came and lots of things have changed since then. We actually have a real solid chance of winning this war, with their advanced technology and the help of the rebel skitters, we'll be able to cause great damage against the Esphemis. We'll finally get the revenge we've been yearning for.
The 2nd Mass decided to settle in Charleston after the Volms laid out their plans to defeat our common enemies. Dad's been elected as the president which I think is great since he can pretty much change this place and encourage the residents to fight for our planet.
Also, lots of de-harnessed kids like me have flocked to Charleston along with their group of rebel skitters. One of them is a girl named Deni, I can see a lot of myself in her since before the spikes happened, we're nothing but nerdy geeks with an unstable health. But now, we're fighting bad aliens.
"Hey dork" I heard a female voice said and I turned around and saw Deni standing behind me.
"Whatchu doing?" she asked.
"Nothing, just ... thinking" I replied.
"Don't stress yourself so much .. here, have a chocolate" she said and then handed a whole Hershey's chocolate bar.
"Where'd you get this?" I asked as I took the bar and opened it quickly.
"Our patrol stumbled upon a massive truck full of chocolate down a secluded road 15 miles away from here. Now we've got enough supply of chocolates for the next 3 months."
"Sweet!" I said.
"Sweet it is .. hey your Dad told me you're not grounded anymore which means we'll be able to go on patrol tomorrow" she said.
"Finally..." I thought to myself. I've been grounded for over a week now, since that night I tried to lift that 2 huge RVs to see how strong I am now.
"It's been silent lately" she said.
"What do you mean?"
"No fights .. no signs of skitter groups ... no Mechs or airships .. it's good but it feels weird."
"Maybe they're planning something"
"And what could that be Benji?"
"I don't know ... and stop calling me Benji . I hate it."
"No, you love it when I call you Benji."
"Deni?"
"What?"
"Do you trust them? the Volms"
"50/50 I guess. I'm just wondering, what took them so long to go here?. They said they've been following the Esphemis for a hundred of years now .. going to every planet that they've invaded and then rehabilitating it or as they say "Liberating" it. But don't you think it's kinda weird how they came only after you destroyed that large laser gun that those damn fish heads are building"
"Yeah, Do you think they might have a secret agenda?"
"I don't know, but I'm not gonna stop fighting until this planet is alien free"
"You go Deni" I said and then smiled at her.
"Stop smiling, you're creeping me out" she said and then we both laughed.
"Hey!! Suckerfish!! Dad's been looking for you!!" I looked down and saw Matt.
"Just a minute!!" I said and then jumped 2 stories high to join him.
"Deni!! Stay there!!"
"Okay Benji!! but bring me more chocolates!!" she shouted back.
After we went inside, Matt asked me a very awkward question. "Do you like Deni??"
"What?" I replied to him.
"Do you like Deni?" he repeated.
I replied with a "No" but he didn't seem to buy it so I just gave him half of my chocolate bar to distract him and then we went to Dad's office.
After we got inside and closed the door, we ran towards Dad and gave him a tight hug. "My boys" he said and then hugged us back tightly.
"So Ben, how are you?" he asked.
"I'm fine .. why?"
"Nothing, it's just that I've been doing a lot of things lately as president. And you know, Anne's pregnant so I have to check on her every now and then. Are you sure you're your alright?"
"I'm fine" I said and then smiled at him.
"Suckerfish is fine" Matt said.
"Just eat that Chocolate" I told him.
"Whatever" he replied and then went out of the room.
"Ben , did Deni mentioned that you're not grounded anymore?"
"Yep"
"Did you learned your lesson? You scared a lot of other people that night"
"I'm sorry okay? I didn't realized that some kids are still awake"
"That's not the point Ben. You lifted two giant vehicles at the same time, you could have hurt yourself"
"I'm strong Dad. I'm even stronger than Hal so no need to worry about me"
"Stop comparing yourself to your brother. You got grounded because of your lack of understanding and respect for yourself and to other people"
This argument will not end anytime soon so I decided that it's best not to say anything. I just want to leave this room right now.
So I got up and told Dad that I still have to do something. He gave me a tight hug and said that I should take care and be more responsible.
"Yeah" that's all I said and then went out of the room.
After I got out of Dad's office I saw Hal coming towards me. "Hey Ben" he said. "What?" I replied to him.
"It'll be Matt's birthday 3 days from now. I was thinking that maybe you could come with me and check out that Bakery Shop downtown, maybe they still have ingredients that we can turn into a cake or something"
"Can you believe it? He's 11 now."
"Yeah and he's becoming more mature than you" he teased
"Shut up Hal. We have morning patrol tomorrow. You could come with us and then we'll go to that Bakery you said"
"Woah. Morning patrol? Who's with you?"
"It's Wednesday tomorrow right? Deni and the other de-harnessed kids"
"Ben" he said firmly and then looked straight into my eyes. I know he's still uncomfortable around them.
"Okay fine, after the patrol I'll go with you"
"Now that's what I wanna hear" he said and then ran away from me when he saw Maggie going to the Cafeteria.
I was about to go to my room to change clothes before heading back outside when Deni came rushing in towards me.
"You have to come with me" she said and then ran outside again. I followed her all the way to the Rebels camp, which means that something bad is going on or will about to happen.
When we arrived at the camp, the leader talked to me through Deni. "Ben, it appears we have a situation" it said.
"What is it?" I replied.
"One of our spies that's in the ranks had informed us that they're leaders have a plan to attack Charleston"
"How's that possible? We're supposed to be invisible"
"Only to radars and other tracking devices, but all the missions that we've been doing for the past 4 months have been tracked down and now they already know that we're hiding under the protective blanket made by the Volms"
"So what are we going to do?"
"Preparing is the best thing to do, we made an obvious damage on their forces. And they are now keen on getting their revenge"
"When will this happen?"
"We don't know yet. But that's not the worst news"
"Then what's the worst?"
"The Overlord that your father killed on that tower have already been replaced. Rumor has it that the new leader is far more vicious and more relentless than the last one."
"Is that all?"
"One more thing, the new Overlord is not of their kind. It's not an Esphemi"
"Then what is it?"
"Human"
"Karen?" I asked
"We don't know yet. But this must have to stay as a secret between us"
"Why?
"We must confirm first the date of the attack. Or if it's true that they're gonna attack at all. And if this news already spread out, I assure you that inevitable tension and chaos will arise in this haven" it said and then it removed the connection to Deni.
"What did it say?" she asked me.
I just there, with my heart pounding more than ever. We are in for a big fight, possibly bigger than the last one.
"Deni, they're going to attack" that's all I could say and she too, was shocked.
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Hal's P.O.V
"So even the great Margaret Thryhart can't resist chocolates" I said as I saw her come out of the cafeteria holding 3 chocolate bars.
"It's Chocolate, It's like beer for older people" She said and then threw one bar to me.
"Oh. Hershey. Tector's troop made a nice catch" I said as I put that first block of chocolate in my mouth.
"Chocolate makes everything better okay?" she added and then laughed.
"You are a one big baby"
"Shut up" she said and then playfully punched my left arm.
"So, what's gonna happen now?" She suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Are we gonna turn this war completely to them?"
"We're gonna beat them Maggie. We have the Volms now"
"Yes, but after we beat them. What's gonna happen? Will the Volms leave? will everything go back to the way it was?"
I stopped walking and then hugged her tightly, I can feel that she's scared of everything that happened lately. "It's gonna be alright. Trust me" I said and then kissed her to remove all the doubts that clouds her mind.
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*the morning after
"Benji!!" I can hear Deni calling from outside the door. I got up and opened it and then she went inside.
"Are you trying to sleep?" she asked and then looked at me like I'm a total freak. She's trying her best not to laugh at me. I can't blame her though, she hasn't slept for almost 2 years now. Actually, that's also the last time I was able to sleep so that just means that we've been harnessed at the same period of time. But now that we have a permanent address, I guess it's just okay to wear pajamas at night and just lay in bed with my guns and knives. I don't sleep, I just think the whole night long.
"So?" I asked back to her.
"Nothing" she said and then laughed a bit. "You better get ready, we're leaving in 30 minutes" she added.
"Okay" I said.
"Fine, I'll meet you at the camp. We're gonna wait there"
I nodded and then she went out.
*at the camp
"Let's go?" Adrian , the other kid asked.
"Let's go" I said and then we went out of the camp to go downtown. After 30 minutes of walking, we decided to split into 2 groups to be able to search the area much faster. Me, Deni, John and 3 other kids along with half of the rebel Skitters went to the woods to search for possible sources of water and for possible survivors or aliens while the other group went to the grocery store to check if there's still supplies that can be used or salvaged.
While we're trekking the woods, I realized how undamaged it was. It's still pretty, yes there's no animal left but the trees are still here.
"So .. Benji. When are you planning to inform Mr.Mason about the attack?" John asked.
"Murich wants it to be a secret as of the moment"
"Why?" he asked then.
"They need to confirm the attack first before preparing for it" Deni said.
"Is that true Benji?"
"Yeah" I said and then looked at the rebel skitters. They nodded back.
"See Deni? Ever since you started calling me Benji everyone joined in" I said.
"You love it" she replied and then laughed.
Suddenly, we all sensed the presence of another skitter. It's not a rebel that's why we brought out our weapons, the rebel skitters that are with us are also ready to fight.
"Who's there?" I called out and someone stepped out behind that huge tree that's 10 feet away from us.
"Hello Ben" she said.
I pointed my gun at her, my heart's beating fast. "Hi ... Karen".