45. Worry

Benji's POV

When I heard the footsteps on the other side of the wall, my mind was going a mile a minute. What do I do now? What am I supposed to think of to get them out of here? I had made one for getting caught crossing the yard, but now that we're here by the wall, I had nothing... Unless Connor remembers what I told him before. I don't know that he does, and I'm scared he'll ignore it just to spite me. Instead of dwelling upon that, I just assumed that he did remember.

I stepped out from behind the stone with my hands up. To anyone else, it would seem to be a surrender. However, I knew that it was a lot deeper than that. The way that my hands lie is a signal. I just hope that I can talk long enough for them to get in the side. It would be horribly embarrassing if all of my plans were broken in two minutes.

"Seriously? Are you just going to give up that easily? I thought higher of you than that." The man who spoke was around 26 with short brown hair. His posture was strong, but I could see in his eyes that he was more nervous than he gave off. Good, I have the leg up. I know that all I have to do is talk the wrong way, and he'll run right back to his mommy. His beady amber eyes were focused, though, so I knew that it wouldn't be easy to just slip away without trying.

The second person beside him looked like a man at first, but I could tell that she was a female when she spoke. "Don't be so trusting Jared, this could be a hoax." Her blonde hair was obviously dyed because the roots were still a brownish color. She would be a bit harder to intimidate, but I think that I can do it if I try hard enough. Everyone has a weakness, including me. It would be way too easy to manipulate me if the lives of many others were on the line. I choose to keep that weakness hidden, though. The only people who know how passionate about the many I am are those closest to me.

"Look at his face, though. It looks so sad and defeated." That's true. My face would look very defeated to outsiders. I've made sure that it looks as close as possible so I can fool those who don't know me. There's a reason I wanted to be an actor as a kid. I'm ungodly good at projecting false emotions onto other people. I don't know why it's a strength.

"Fine... Now, do you surrender?"

"I think that it's the only way to solve this without any casualties." I've become known to humans as the person who does anything to keep people from getting hurt. I don't think that they know yet that I only protect when I can. This is war, and there are many dangers. Everyone in our group said that they were willing to be put into unsafe situations. We signed a contract that declared that we would be fine if we were to die. It was morbid, but I could throw away troops like hot garbage if I felt like it. I just have a better conscience than that.

"That was a yes or no question." Shit, this girl is much too smart... I just hope that Connor comes to find me, or this is going to get hairy. I hadn't mentioned it to him, but I was relying on him to come. I need him to help me not get killed. I don't want to take the small cyanide pill I have hidden in my watch. I want to see Mason again soon, and I definitely want to say goodbye to Mikey. I get the feeling that he's somewhere in this very same fortress fighting off evil.

"What I said should get you your answer, shouldn't it?" My mouth is definitely going to get me killed here. It's a game of mental chess between this girl and me. I don't know who is going to win it or how, but one of us will. It's all in the way we play our pieces. I can tell that she knows what I'm trying to do. It was at that moment that I saw the slightest movement around the corner. Unmistakable blue eyes stared back at me, and I felt relief come into my chest. Connor got everyone in, and now he's here to get me out of this blasted situation. "My arms hurt," I declared while putting them down. Neither of the two thought much of it. Good.

"I need you to give me a solid yes or no. Are you surrendering to us?" While she spoke, I was communicating with Connor using my hand. It was only signals that were basic since I knew he could piece a pan together using them. If I know him, he's got a whole unit behind him. I'm not focusing much on the two people in front of me. Still, I'm looking carefully in their direction. It's like in school when they tell you to keep your eyes on your own computer screen during tests. If they see my look elsewhere, they'll immediately suspect that something is up. Of course, the thing that I'm signaling would be all over if they found out about it.

Connor gave a curt nod once I was done before turning back around the corner to talk to his people. I gave the two talking to me a coy smile before responding with a simple, "Nope," and popping the p. As soon as I said it, the demons exploded from behind the wall. We instantly overwhelmed the two humans, and as expected, more came out from the shadows. I struck a man hard with a bolt of electricity before he could hit Connor. My friend had had my back, so it was my turn to have his.

I did my best to keep everyone safe, but there was a time when I noticed how unsafe it was. Everything is going wrong. Half of my men are either down or passed out. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up. Maybe it was a mistake to try and attack the inside of the fortress. Then again, the merpeople hadn't given me a choice. It's really a lose-lose situation. I had to try something offensive, or they would begin to underestimate me. It's my fault that it was a loss, but not entirely. I've never had to do this before, and I'm bound to make some mistakes. Hopefully, we can hold on just long enough for it to not be a total embarrassment. If we go down tonight, I want it to be with style. I know that we're going to get hosed, so why not go all the way with it?