Chapter 16 The Uncertain Everything

It was cold. I could feel the cold flowing through my body, seeping through my skin and straight into my bones it felt like. My body didn't shiver or react to the cold though, my mind simply accepted that it was cold and refused for my body to move. Moving meant pain, and I had already felt enough of that in my short life span.

When I first woke up I realized that I was in the clinic again. I groaned, remembering how much I just hated this place. The next thing I noticed was that there was something strapped to my face, restricting the movement of my mouth and forcing something down my throat. I began to panic and cough as I tried to get the tube out of my throat. Hands came from all angles and forced my own hands off of the mask. Voices followed telling me not to take the mask off, that it was helping me live. I didn't listen as fear ran through my entire head and I fought back against the hands. A sudden pain in my chest stopped my struggle and my head flew back in pain. I felt tears come to my eyes and then a prick into my veins as everything went black again.

The second time I woke up it was only for a few seconds. My brain realized that the tube was still in my throat and accepted it like the cold temperature. The second thing it realized was that Ben was sitting next to Ben. He said something but I passed out again before I could respond.

The third time I was able to keep my eyes open at last. The tube had been removed from my throat but the mask was still there pumping oxygen into my nose and mouth. It was dark outside so there was only a desk light to illuminate things which allowed me to notice Ben sitting next to my bed. He smiled when he noticed me staring at him, "Hey."

I tried to smile, hoping it didn't come off as a grimace. "Hey… how you….how you doing champ?" I asked, breathing deeply in between what seemed each word. My chest was burning and every breath felt like my last. I hope they weren't.

"Champ?" Ben asked, slightly amused. "I didn't do anything really 'champ' worthy today."

"Don't make… don't make… don't make me slap you." I said, "You… you saved u-us."

"But you got hurt." Ben said sadly. "You weren't protected."

I laughed but it came off more as a rude grunt, "Ben… I can't e-even protect myself." Ben nodded his head, not really believing what I said. "Wha-What happened t-to me?"

"I can answer that." Dr. Glass said, stepping out from the darkness of the clinic. She smiled at me, "I'm glad to see that you up now Michael. You gave us one scare too many for the past few hours."

"Sorry." I managed to say.

"It's ok. Though it's a bit sad how this place is becoming like a second home to you." Dr. Glass said, and ironic smile forming on her face.

"Very. What's wrong with… me?" I asked.

"You were out fighting when you shouldn't have been." Dr. Glass said, all humor lost from her face and her tone dead serious. "I told you not to do anything to stressful and you decided to go and pick up a gun. While you were blasting that thing off the recoil hit you in the rib cage at one point, shattering one of your ribs again. You would have been fine and I could of treated that but Ben told me that an explosion went off which knocked you to the ground. The explosion caused your rib to puncture through your skin and into your lung partially, filling it with blood. The tube that was down your throat was to help your breathing since it was still eradicate after the surgery I had to perform on you."

"God…" I said, at a loss for words. Dr. Glass's anger also disturbed me as I felt like I had truly upset her. I did ignore her but can't she see it was for an important reason?"

"You could have died Michael! We were so lucky that we were able to realign your ribs and seal up the lung before you lost the lung completely." Dr. Glass said.

"I'm sorry… I just had to fight. I just had to do something!" I said ashamed.

"I know you did Michael, but there are other ways to help besides fighting." Dr. Glass said. "Which you'll have to be doing from now on."

I looked at Dr. Glass. "What do you… you mean?" I asked. Dr. Glass's stare was unmoving so I looked at Ben, who wasn't looking me in the eye. "What do you mean?"

"I managed to fix you lung but barely." Dr. Glass began, "There is still a lot of damage in that area. Damage that will never fully heal as long as we're in this war with our fundamental medical tools. Michael I'm sorry, but you continuing to be a fighter just isn't possible anymore. You've damaged your body too much and you'll never be able to reach your physical peak."

I stared at Dr. Glass, breathing slowly and trying to keep my face calm. Absent mindedly I brought my hand to my damaged side and felt how tender the skin was. There were also a number of stitches there, underneath a cotton bandage. I then tried to move and breathe heavily but felt major discomfort everywhere. I fell back against the bed, trying not to cry again.

Dr. Glass walked over to my side, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. She pulled out a bottle of pills and put them next to the light. Take two a day, once after breakfast and another after dinner. It will help with the pain; your recover will be based on how much you move. You'll be staying with Lourdes and I so you'll be leaving with us through the tunnel in about fifteen to twenty minutes." She looked me in the eye, "Michael I am truly sorry, but it is a miracle you're alive."

I nodded my head, not trust myself to say anything for fear my voice would crack. Dr. Glass walked away to the storage area to continue packing for our evacuation, leaving me alone with Ben.

"I'm sorry Michael." He said.

I breathed heavily, ignoring the discomfort, and just nodded my head.

"I told Dr. Glass that I'd stay with you though. Help her out and stuff." Ben continued.

I smiled, "Thanks Ben."

Ben looked really upset, more upset then he should actually be in my opinion. "Is something wrong Ben?" I asked.

"YOU!" Ben cried out, pointing at me, "You're my problem! It's my fault that your hurt! I could of protected you!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my breathing back under control and no longer stuttering.

"I should of protected you from that explosion Michael! I could of jumped in front of it and you could of run to the flag pole! I would have been fine because I'm a freak and my body would of healed itself! But you… you're done Michael. You don't have any more fighting days in you!" Ben shouted the last sentence as an accusation, and then he turned away from me to cry I think.

"Ben you had a job to do," I said, "You had to save us all with the frequencies. And you did do that!"

"I didn't save you." Ben muttered.

"Well then look at this as some divine justice for you." I argued, "I used you to get what I wanted, I hurt you to get what I wanted. And now I've paid for it Ben by nearly dying, only to live on without the one thing I want most." My statement mirrored my own internal thoughts as I tried to control my emotions. All I wanted was to become a fighter, but now that lost to me because I felt some sense of nobility to help Ben. Ben, the guy I had used the crap out of to get me to become a fighter. 'Karma's a Bitch.' I thought.

"This isn't divine justice! This is those aliens being the cruel, genocidal freaks that they are!" Ben shouted, fists clenched. "I hate them Michael… I hate them all. I want them all dead!"

"We all want them dead Ben." I said, shocked by Ben's tone. 'This is still the new Ben talking, the old Ben will come back soon.' I told myself.

It was quiet after that as neither of us were quite sure what to say. Finally Ben said something, "I'll forgive you for using me if you tell me one thing."

I looked at Ben, unsure what to expect. "Alright then." I said. I was laying in a clinic bed and had almost died, what did I have to lose?

"Why did it mean so much to you to become a fighter?" Ben asked, his voice betraying no emotion.

The question he asked wasn't something I was surprised to hear. I fact I had kind of expected it. Answering that meant indulging Ben in my dark secret, my secret desire that I tried to hide so well and then watched it disappear when I actually befriended Ben. But this was Ben, and he deserved the ugly truth.

"I wanted to help humanity," I said slowly, "but I was looking for a good way to die mostly. A way where my death would have some meaning."

Emotion rushed onto Ben's face and his stunned gaze forced me to look away from him. "You…" Ben stuttered, "You wanted to die?"

I nodded my head and Ben gasped, "I wanted to die, but not by an overdose or some kind of pathetic suicide. After everybody that died it seemed like a total waste for me to die without attempting to help out this world."

"Why?" Ben demanded, "Why would you want to do that to yourself?"

"Because I was alone in the world," I replied, "And don't say my aunt and uncle were there for me. My uncle was all for me running off and dying and my aunt wanted to deal with me as little as possible." I started to laugh, "I was like Harry Potter! Except no magic, more beatings, and no promise of a better tomorrow."

The atmosphere only got worse, a mix of my pity and bloody bandages with Ben's pain wasn't a good combination. Silence had fallen over us as I let the news sink in for Ben and waited for him to say something. Ben seemed to be at a loss, but finally asked the ultimate question.

"How did you parents die?"

I looked at Ben this time, seeing the angst and sadness clearly on his face. I smiled softly, unsure which one of us I was comforting. "They died protecting me."

I started at the beginning of all my nightmares for Ben. I told him about how I waited with my Mom and Dad for my uncle's RV to arrive, how the EMP went off, how my family and I found the wrecked RV, how we saved my horrendous relatives, how the Mech had appeared and started to destroy everything around it, how my dad sacrificed himself for us, how his blood sprayed over my body, and how I fainted on the bloodied grass. The retelling of the events made me feel like I was reliving them and soon I was immersed in my own hell…

Cool water hit my face and I was brought back to reality.

"Get up Michael!" I heard my mom scream, her voice clearly choked up and tears rolling down her face. "I won't let you die! Not you too!"

I groaned as my mom began shaking my body violently. "Mom?" I moaned out, to which she stopped shaking me and started to hug me and cry into my shoulders.

"I'm so happy your alive!" She choked out, "I'm so happy!"

"Mom… Dad… he's"

"I know sweetie, I know. I know." She said, unable to stop herself from crying which brought tears to my own eyes. My dad was dead, an emptiness had entered me which made me feel half dead. I looked at my arms and saw that my dad's blood was still fresh on them. The image of my dad exploding into blood and seared guts flashed through my head and I threw myself away from mom so my vomit wouldn't hit her.

My mom came over anyways and held me tightly. My stomach felt empty but I was still throwing up God knows what while shaking violently. When I finished my body was beyond weak, everything was spinning and my frail body wasn't able to handle itself. I wasn't able to process it anymore since my aunt came running into the room. It was only now I realized we had moved into a neighboring house, with us currently in the kitchen.

"Samantha," My aunt said, desperation in her voice. "We have to go now! James pried open the backyard fence, we can take that to the back roads and escape from that monster!"

"No!" I pleaded hysterically, tears rolling down my cheeks, "We have to stay and bury dad!"

My aunt looked at me with annoyance, "There isn't enough of your father to bury."

Images flashed through my head and I started to cry and vomit again, "CINDY!" My mom cried, "HOW DARE YOU!"

"We need to get out of here damn it! We have to survive!" My aunt insisted, not paying attention to my mom's annoyed and rage filled look. From the backyard I could hear my uncle yelling for Aunt Cindy to hurry up. "Last chance Sam!" she said to us.

My mom's face was as hard as stone, but she wasn't as lost in grief as I was. Slowly she got both of us up on our feet and we followed Aunt Cindy out to the back. When we stepped outside I could see and smell smoke, near and far, while also hearing people screaming from ranges of fear to tormented pain.

The sounds made me stop moving, losing myself in my head. I could see my mom pleading with me to keep moving, but all I could hear were people screaming. I heard a new scream and I realized it was from an alien ship flying across the sky. It was gone quickly and soon houses a few blocks away exploded into clouds of blue and purple fire. More screams of suffering followed the bombing and the ground began to tremble around us, causing plant vases in the yard to fall around us.

"Let's get a move on it!" My uncle shouted, his face filled with a mix of fear and rage. The explosion brought me out of my mini coma and I followed my mom to the fence which my uncle had pried open. It was a tight fit for the adults and Terry, but Bethany and I fit through easily with our skinny bodies.

We ran through the yard of the new house and out onto the other clock. This block was slightly better than the one my dad died on, but signs of chaos were still present. A car had crashed into a telephone poll, garbage was littered across several yards, and at the end of the street was a police car with broken windows and a trail of dark leading into one of the houses nearby.

"More blood." I said to nobody in particular, fighting against the queasy feeling again. My mom heard me say that and put her arms around me. Bethany looked up at us holding each other and then ran up to hug us too. "Bethany come here." My uncle said. Bethany looked at us and then ran to her father, hugging him as her tears fell.

"We're going to be ok." My mom said comfortingly, "We can get through anything. You can get through anything. Because you're strong Michael, even if you don't know it."

I was about to respond when there was an animalistic screech followed by human screams. There was a commotion and then there was only one scream with the animal one. The human screamed turned into a gurgled sound and a body went flying into sight from a house nearby, landing about fifteen yards in front of us. There was a sickening crack and the person died in a bloody pool with bones sticking out of their body, the gender was hard to tell due to the mutilation of the body.

The screams from Bethany and Aunt Cindy only intensified when the creature appeared. It looked like a crab, with an insect head and armored body. Its body was green and limy with spikes coming from its back. It had two eyes from the looks of it, with an ugly retractable jaw underneath it like most insects. The most disturbing thing about the creature was the blood covering it, human blood. Both of the arms were drenched in red and one of the creatures legs was also covered in what looked like human skin and muscle. The jaw area also had red around it, possible from where the alien was eating.

"We need to move now honey. Come on." My mom said, moving us in the opposite direction of the creature. Uncle James was smart enough to follow my mom's lead and my entire family started to walk in the opposite direction towards the police car. The alien creature moved closer to the mutilated corpse, its head looking at it with sick interest. It touched the corpse with its 'foot' and gave off a squeal when more blood burst from the body in a cloud of red.

Bethany was about to cry out but my Uncle's hand covered her mouth in time, stifling her cry. We picked up our pace and luckily the creature turned its back to us as it continued to stare at the corpse.

Our luck didn't hold however as another human scream filled the air, but it didn't come from our group. It came from a young girl, probably a middle to late teenager in age, two houses away from the creature. We all looked at the house and saw a woman trying to quiet the girl with her. A lot of use that would do now.

The creature turned around and screamed, moving faster than I thought possible. It was quickly beside the woman, who was screamed too as the creature grabbed her and lifted her neck to its mouth. It bit into her neck and blood flew out of the neck area, which only made the girl scream louder. The woman was then thrown to the ground by the creature who quickly raised its leg and smashed it into the woman skull, ending her life. Now Bethany was screaming.

The creature turned to us and screeched, its arms held out like a challenging gladiator. "RUN!" My mom screamed, which we all started to do. The creature first turned to the girl who was crying and babbling now next to the dead woman, must have realized she wasn't a threat or something, and then ran after us.

Uncle James, who was the farthest ahead turned around and stopped. My mom and I kept running though, her hand tightly wrapped around mine. We stopped though right next to the police car when Uncle James called out "Its gone!"

Our abrupt stop after that statement caused me to trip. My mom caught me before I hit the ground and helped me upright. She noticed something in the police car and moved to open the door, but stopped when that hellish screech rang out around the neighborhood. Bethany was screaming again and to be honest I felt like doing the same exact thing.

The creature landed in front of us, between my mom and I and my extended family. My mom turned to me, "Michael ran now!"

"What?" I said shocked.

"I said run now! NOW! And don't stop!" My mom cried, pushing me away from her and the monster I started to stumble back, not wanting to leave my mom who was once again trying to open the door to the police car.

It turned first to Bethany and then eyed her entire family, looking at them hungrily. Terry and Bethany were now freely crying while Aunt Cindy looked like she was near tears herself. Uncle James was trying to look tough but failed too under the gaze of that monster. The creature raised its body up again and screamed but a voice cut through that scream, loud and slightly nervous.

"HEY!" My mom screamed, running towards the creature. "GET AWAY FROM THEM!"

The creature turned around and cried out in pain as blood exploded from one of its legs, causing it to fall to the ground. My mom stumbled back herself, hitting the ground hard with a shotgun in hand. I realized that the shotgun was what my mom was trying to get out of the car and I felt pride swell up in me. 'My mom can use a shotgun!' I thought happily.

Unfortunately I wasn't right about that statement. My mom wasn't trained in using a shotgun and wasn't ready for the recoil it delivered onto her chest. She was lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while trying to cock the gun again for a second use. The creature was getting back up, anger flashing across its shark like eyes. I looked directly at my extended family and shouted "HELP HER!"

My uncle did the exact opposite and forced his family to run the opposite direction of the creature. My mom looked up at me, "RUN!" She shouted and fired off another blast. The creature swerved its torso to the side, causing the shot to miss the creature entirely. My mom was no crawling backwards while trying to reload the shotgun with another round. Fear hit me hard when I realized she didn't know how to reload, and horror penetrated me deeply when the creature grabbed her with one of its claw like hands.

It raised my mom up to eye level with itself and stared into her eyes. My mom raised the shotgun and tried to hit the creature with the butt of it, but the thing caught it in its other arm and threw it to the side. Silence descended over us as I stared at both of them, praying for a miracle, while they only stared at each other. The creature screamed and raised my mom above its head before it slashed her across the stomach with its claws, causing blood to come pouring out and hit the street with a sickening splat.

I didn't hear myself screaming and didn't feel myself shaking or falling to my knees. I didn't feel the tears going down my eyes and didn't smell the stench of my mom's blood forming a pool underneath her dying body. I only heard the creature scream one more time before throwing my mom against the front of the police car. I also heard the crack in my mom's back as she hit the car and saw her roll forward into her own blood.

I was paralyzed. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. My mind screamed at me to run but it wasn't translating properly to the rest of my body and I couldn't move. The creature walked past my mom and stood right in front of me. It looked at me with some sick interest and then lowered its hands to me as if to grab me. Its hand never touched me though as it exploding into a million pieces.

The creature reeled back screaming and turned to the side. It didn't finish its second scream as a blast went off and half of the creatures face was blasted off as well. It fell back groaning and bleeding heavily, wiggled a little bit, and then went silent.

I knew I had some of the creature's blood on me, I could now feel that running down my face. I turned slowly towards the direction where the creature had been looking and saw a police officer standing there, a shotgun in hand. Her uniform was torn and she had some bruising on her face along with a huge blot of blood on the front of her shirt which matched the color of her red, shoulder length hair.

She looked at me and lowered the shotgun, her face tired but friendly. "Are you ok?" She asked.

I couldn't respond and when she began walking towards me I started to crawl backwards. "It's ok." She said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

'She's not going to hurt you.' I told myself, 'She's not going to hurt you.'

"I'm Officer Scully. What's your name?" she asked, still moving towards me.

"Mi-Michael." I said, my voice making me sound like a four year old.

"Michael. That's a nice name." She said, pulling something out of her back pocket. It was towel. "Here, you can use this to wipe the blood off your face."

I grabbed the towel and simply held onto it, wanting to believe that it could protect me like I thought it would when I was little. The officer pulled out a set of car keys from her pocket and turned off the alarm which went off when my mom hit the car. The thought of my mom sent bolts through my body and I was up and running towards my mom.

"Hey wait!" The officer shouted but stopped when she saw my mom's body. I dropped to my knees, soaking them in her blood, and touched my mom's body.

"M-M-Mom?" I said, feeling her neck. "It's Michael. Ar-are you ok?"

The officer was now standing next to me, grim and silent. She bent down touched me on the shoulder, but I shrugged her off. "Mom?"

"Michael-" the officer began.

"NO!" I shouted at her, teary eyed. "SHE ISN'T DEAD! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD! SHE SAID SHE WOULDN'T DIE! SHE SAID SHE WAS STRONG! SHE SAID WE WERE STRONG!"

"And you are sweetie." My mom moaned. Both the officer and I recoiled in the shock as my face turned her face to look at me. A small smile was on her face and I felt so much better, even though half of her face was covered in her own blood.

"MOM!" I cried out, moving forward to hug her. The officer stopped me and I wanted to scream at her but realized why she did that. My mom's body was a mess, with her back twisted in a direction that shouldn't work and her organs visible for the whole world to see. Something was poking out of her side, something based off its location I assumed was her rib.

"Michael…" My mom said again.

"I'm here Mom!" I cried, "I'm here!"

"But you- cough cough- you can't be." My mom said, coughing up blood. "You have to go, you have to survive!"

"We'll all survive together Mom! You and me! We'll live!" I pleaded.

My mom smiled, "You're so sweet Michael. You're so sweet."

"MOM!" I shouted, "DON'T GO MOM! PLEASE DON'T GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"

My mom turned her head slightly away from me, something that seemed to take a lot of effort on her part. "Promise me…" She said, "Promise me that he'll be safe."

"What?" I said, turning to where my mom was looking and saw that my Uncle and Aunt had walked up with Terry and Bethany behind them. My aunt looked stunned along with her children but Uncle James's face was stern and harsh.

"I can't promise that." He said.

"Promise me!" My mother shouted, "Both of you! You'll look after him!"

"We can't do-" my uncle began but was cut off by his wife.

"We promise!" She said, "We promise!"

My mom smiled, "Thank you Cid. Thank you." My mom turned back to me, "Michael-Michael listen to me sweetie." I didn't want to because I knew what was going to happen when she stopped talking. "Michael look at me please."

I looked towards me mom slowly, seeing the pain on her face and her brave smile. "Mom please don't die!"

"It's too late for that Michael. I'm dying." My mom said calmly, "But I died to protect you, and that's what makes this bearable."

"NOT FOR ME!" I shouted.

"I know, and I hope you can forgive me for what I did." My mom said, a tear coming down her eye. "But I needed to protect you. Your father died to protect us, and now I die to protect you."

I wanted to shout a retort but I couldn't force any words out of my mouth and burst into tears and moans. My mom grabbed my hand weakly, "Be strong Michael. You're strong… you're strong even if you don't know it. Never lose faith Michael. Never lose faith." My crys had become louder and I was shaking uncontrollably and my mom spent the last of her energy to hold me tighter. "I'm so sorry Michael. I love you."

My mom's grip loosened and her hand fell to the ground. I cried out something, blabbing it out more likely. Just like that girl down the street if she was still there. I looked at my extended family, my new family, and saw my new 'parents' had stone faces. They were unprepared to take on another child and wouldn't ever fully adjust to having me around I knew. I let out a delirious laugh at that realization. The greater realization that came with it too.

I was alone.

I was alone in this new world of hell.

When I finished my story tears were rolling down my face again and through the darkness I could see Ben's face was filled with shock and sorrow.

"Michael I am so sorry." He said.

"Thanks." I said, sniffing and wiping away the tears.

Neither of us said anything. I was shocked though when Ben got up and hugged me in my bed, holding me tightly. "I'm sorry." He said again.

I laughed nervously, not wanting to cry into my best friends shoulder. "Tha-thanks." I said again. I didn't stop the tears though and actually ending crying into Ben's arms, happy that I finally had somebody that cared about me again.

Later

Ben had left the clinic to go talk to his brother who had returned ahead of Weaver and the rest of the fighters. I know his dad with Hal and that they were probably having a Mason family moment so I was ok when Ben left. I needed time to myself anyways to process everything.

I was no longer a fighter. That sucked. I had revealed to somebody else how my parents had died, which made me feel like crap. That sucked too. But what felt good was knowing that I had Ben as my friend again, and that my friend was more than adept at taking care of me.

I was smiling when Dr. Glass came by and was looking at me curiously. "I'm glad to see that you're in good spirits again Michael." Dr. Glass said. She sounded and looked really low spirited herself.

"I'm hanging in there." I said.

"Well come on, let's get you in this wheelchair. We're moving the last of the people through the tunnel to meet up with the rest of the 2nd Mass." Dr. Glass said, pulling up a wheelchair with Lourdes. It was slow but Dr. Glass finally got me into the wheelchair and started to push me out of the clinic, which was stripped bare of all the medical supplies.

We were half way to the tunnel when Ben came running up. "Hey, how you feeling?" He asked me.

"Better." I replied, "They don't have any ice cream though. That would of helped. Aren't hospitals suppose to have ice cream."

"Probably." Dr. Glass said, to tired for jokes.

Ben smiled at me, "If you guys want I can take him to the tunnel. I'm meeting Hal there anyways.

Dr. Glass didn't seem as phased as I was too hear that Hal was staying here. "Ok, I'll head back to the Clinic to finish up."

She left and Ben took her place pushing me. I looked up at Ben, "Why's Hal back?"

"It's a long story." Ben said, "But just know that Weaver and the others are attacking the alien structure now and my Dad ran off to help them with them."

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yep, that's my dad." Ben said, a slight edge in his voice. "Always willing to run head first into danger."

"Ya but he always comes out ok." I said.

Ben laughed, "Ok true. Still, I wish he didn't have to leave us all the time."

"He has to though, he has a responsibility." I said, "That doesn't mean he doesn't care about you any less though."

"I know, but still. Actions speak louder than words I guess is all I'm trying to get at." Ben said.

We reached the tunnel and followed slowly behind a group of fighters, who were still cheering about the victory a few hours ago. Some of them looked at us with just a passing glance, but some eyes lingered on us. They were mostly on Ben though, and now of them really screamed "thanks for saving us Ben! We love you!"

Then I heard that word muttered, that horrible word 'razor back' and knew that what Ben did didn't matter that much to other people. We moved past the group of fighters, who let us through, and went through the tunnel.

"Some people think I was actually trying to help the skitters." Ben murmured, "They thought that I was helping them. How could they think that?"

"Some people are just idiots Ben." I said, "I'm sorry Ben but I don't think you could get people to love you. But you can probably get them to tolerate you at least."

That made Ben laugh, "At least your back to your normal self. Glad your insulting me again."

"Oh right. Sorry." I said, laughing myself.

It was silent in the tunnel as we reached the end. Luckily there was a ramp and Ben pushed me up that towards the darkness outside. "What do you think is going to happen now?" Ben asked me.

"I don't know." I responded truthfully. "Hopefully we'll win at the structure and that will stop the aliens for a bit."

"Ya that would be nice." Ben said.

"It's really just an uncertain future Ben. Always has been since those aliens showed up."

"I'd like a little more certainty." Ben said slyly.

"I know. But hey, at least you have me." I said.

Ben looked at me funny. "Yes, you and your broken body. What a relief." We both began to laugh even though it was incredible stupid. We finally reached the exit and went out into the cold air. Besides that I noticed that most of the stars in the sky were visible, lighting up everything in sight.

I smiled, happy to see that some things (like the stars) never changed.

"I don't know what to expect in the future Ben," I said, "But I'm glad that you're my friend."

"I'm glad you're my friend too." Ben said, honestly filled in his voice.

I smiled, once again glad that I had somebody to face the terrible future with. And was going to be terrible, it was going to get a lot worse before things got better.

To say that I expected this story to take this long is an utter lie. I didn't expect this story to almost take a year, but it did. I want to thank all my readers and reviewers who have hung with me this entire time.

There were originally plans for a sequel that would follow the Season 2 storyline like this story did Season 1, but I got too annoyed with the 2nd Season and didn't finish it. Seriously, let down after let down. If you're interested, you can see my full rant on my profile. In my head cannon, Michael in his weaken state, would have been one of the countless members of the 2nd Mass who perished while they tried to flee the Boston region. This death affected Ben deeply, leading him to follow the path of needless teenage angst we see from him in Season 2.

So, with that in mind, thanks again for sticking with this story till the end. I hope you enjoyed it! And for the last time ever, PLEASE REVIEW!