I pounce on Levi, grabbing his slimy waist and trying to wrestle him to the ground.

He doesn't lift an arm against me, just standing there. I keep fighting for a bit before  I realize his beady black eyes aren't even looking at me, they're looking right at Elissa.

All of a sudden, her body seizes and she falls to the ground, she writhes on the floor for a bit, before it seems to stop.

Then, she shudders and her body jolts again. So focused on Elissa I don't  realize Levi has snuck up behind me.

He puts his arm around my neck and my attention is immediately pulled away from Elissa. Alarm bells ring through my head, I want to help Elissa, but I can't if Levi kills me first.

His tentacle tightens around my neck, putting me in a chokehold and well... choking me. My breaths come out short, I feel like I'm trying to inflate a tire with a hole in it. I gasp for air, but can't seem to actually get it in my lungs. Slowly, it gets worse and worse the hole keeps getting bigger. 

I realize he's not trying to kill me he could have if he wanted too already. And Levi's never struck me as the kind of person to wait for what he wants. He's trying to knock me out, whether it's just to incapacitate me, or if he has an ulterior motive I'm not sure. At the moment, I don't really care. He might not be trying to kill me but he could totally do it on accident. 

I manage to grunt out a joke, because if I'm going to die, it's going to be fucking sick. I try to suck in air and fail, so using my last bit of air I have, I whisper, "kinda kinky, don't you think?"

A smile lifts on my face, as the world starts to fade again, it turns foggy, then like a curtain had been pulled shut, the world goes black, and I feel Levi's tentacles loosen around my neck, as I fall to the floor.

Right before I pass out completely, I whisper one last thing, "it's o...k.. w-w..e.. don't... kin..k sha....ame... he..re." Then my body goes limp and I'm gone.

X

Sam stares at the body on the ground. His breathing rapid and uneven. A million thoughts going through his head at once.

'W-what? S-She ca-can't be dead.'

 A girl named Liana is lying on the ground. A girl who everyone had loved. She had a friendly smile all the time even when she didn't understand what was happening. 

She was around Daisy and Aurora's age, so they had all bonded very quickly. In turn, Sam had grown close to her, since he was always with his sister, and Daisy was always with Liana.

He quickly realized he was falling into memories, when he should have been figuring out a plan.

Problem was, normally Alex and Elissa came up with the plans and he just controlled the kids and made sure the plans happened. He was the jokester, not the planner.

But, Alex and Elissa should be back soon, as long as everything went to plan.

To be fair though, when did it ever?

Sam just needed to do what he did best. Play pranks. Tell Jokes. And Piss People or Aliens Off.

Sam knew the kids must be freaked out right now, and as the oldest and though somewhat debatable, the most responsible person there, it was his responsibility to get them all out.

Sam started to think, the problem was, he was pressed for time. Considering the alien counting down from 15, its tentacles, fingers, who knows, were counting down fast.

As the fingers reached 7, Sam had the best plan he was gonna get. So he waited,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Tw-

"RUN!"

Sam heard the alien move quickly trying to get his tentacles back to the gun.

So he guessed correctly, the alien hadn't been expecting them to run.

Sam took his chance and shouted again, making sure all the kids actually ran.

They knew where to go, they'd worked out a meet up spot before, he just hoped they all made it.

'Where the fuck are they?' Sam thought worriedly as he tackled the alien to the ground.

The alien grunted as Sam punched him in the gut, or where he thought the gut was, he couldn't really tell.

He managed to steal the gun from the alien, and shot it in the head quickly. The alien kept thrashing for a couple more seconds then went completely still.

Sam stood up and kicked the alien once more in the face for good measure.

The purple blood from the Eb staining the boots he was wearing. He guessed it didn't really matter, but they had gone through all the trouble of stealing these from the Ebs and he'd even gotten the nicer ones cause he was older, so he was a little pissec. 

'Seriously where the fuck are they?! I don't wanna go back there and get them. I already got stuck as the damn babysitter!'

Suddenly, he heard the cocking of a gun from behind him, and then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Sam crashed to the ground, his stomach feeling like.. well.. he'd just been shot.

The pain radiated through his abdomen, a searing pain unlike anything before. The blood gushed out of his stomach, staining his once white uniform red and brown.

He still had the gun in his hand, but he didn't know if he could muster the strength to shoot it.

'Shit. What the hell?'

He gripped the gun tighter, finding the trigger, the alien that had shot him hadn't seemed to notice what he was doing yet, focused on his comrade and Liana. Taking a deep breath, he aimed the gun, and letting out his breath, he took the shot.

The alien fell to the ground immediately, purple blood gushing out of his head. Sam chuckled victoriously, excited to finally have gotten a bit of revenge.

Problem was, he'd still been shot and Alex and Elissa still weren't back yet. Sam knew he had to do something, feeling a sort of obligation for them. He was relieved that even though he was losing blood he hadn't actually died yet.

He guessed that meant that he hadn't been hit in any vital organs or arteries. He silently prayed to whoever had helped him, sending thanks.

Sam was still lying on the ground, from when he'd flopped on the ground after shooting the second Eb. His stomach kept aching, but taking a deep breath Sam pushed right through it.

He slowly pulled himself over to the first dead Eb, doing a sort of army crawl, but on his back. He still had the gun in one hand, so before going any farther he decided to check how many bullets were left.

The gun chamber only had one more bullet in it worrying him. That was bad. Sam hoped that he wouldn't run into any more Ebs and if he was lucky hopefully Alex and Elissa would come out on their own without him having to interfere.

But, if they didn't he would have to be prepared to go get them as their family. So, in preparation, Sam sucked in a deep breath and ripped the coat of the Eb into strips and took two of them and tied them tightly around the wound to put pressure on and stop the bleeding.

He wasn't sure exactly what to do, but he figured this was good enough. Then, he started to look around and see if anything could help with his pain when he saw a Moushaw plant.

Pulling himself over to the plant, he stripped a branch of its leaves and shoved them in his mouth.

When Sam was little, he and his dad had been camping at a nearby National Park. They had been hiking in the woods, when Sam had tripped and skinned his knee. Compared to what he went through now it didn't seem that bad, but to seven year old Sam it had seemed like the end of the world.

His dad had looked around and found the Moushaw plant, giving him the leaves to chew on.

The numbing properties didn't work as well now as they had then. Considering he'd been shot, not just skinned his knee. Sam laughs in his head at the stupid comparison.

But, they had helped a bit. So he slowly pushed himself up, a flaring pain going up his side as he collapsed again. Sam screams out in agony, reaching over and stripping another branch shoving them in his mouth.

As he does, there's a rustle next to him in the bushes, as a head pops out the top of the bush.

Sam breathes sharply, before realizing that it's just Daisy and Lucas.

Daisy gasps, "Sam are you ok? What happened? A-are you d-dy-."

She can't finish so Sam stops her, "of course not, once Elissa and Alex finally get out here they'll help me. Don't worry, I'm okay. "

Lucas didn't say anything yet, just staring at Sam and the blood all over his stomach. Sam manages to crack out a joke trying to lighten the mood. "Dang, I know I don't look perfect right now, but no need to judge and stare."

Lucas just keeps staring, and and Sam realizes he's just trying not to lash out at anything. His fists are clenched tightly, it looks like his nails are trying to get stuck in his palms. 

Suddenly, Lucas opens his mouth, "STOP JOKING ALL THE TIME, ITS NOT FUNNY, YOU'RE DYING AND YOUR HAPPY ABOUT IT!" Then he turns around and walks a couple steps away.

The smile fades from Sam's face as he walks Lucas storm away. He whispers out a small "I'm sorry, I don't want to die, I-I just like jokes." The smile comes back a little bit when Lucas turns his head back towards Sam, and Sam throws a wink his way. 

Then, Sam coughs disrupting the small peace they'd had as blood spills out of his mouth and his head immediately flops back on the ground.

Sam feels like he's choking on his own blood. He knows that laying on the ground makes it worse but he can't muster the strength to sit up himself. Thoughts race through his head as his life flashes before his eyes.

He didn't really want to die.. or maybe he did. It's not like there was much worth living for in this world. All he had was the other kids.. his family. 

The kids... 

He couldn't die. There was so much left he had to do. He had to find his brother, and make sure the other kids got out ok. Make sure that Daisy was actually ok. He had to survive. There were reasons to be alive, but not enough for him. 

All the fight slowly drained from his body leaving him limp. He guessed he wasn't as at peace with dying as he thought he would be. He'd envisioned this moment many times before, but in all of those dreams he was happy. This was not happy, it wasn't fun, it wasn't anything. It was just empty. Even the pain was gone. 

Alex and Elissa would take care of the others. He could die thinking that. He trusted them. Then, he thought, really thought about what dying meant. He would never see Daisys bright smile again. The way her lips would curl around her teeth, her eyes crinkling into a squint as she looked at him with that sisterly love. He would never have another piece of pizza, never read his favorite book again. Never find his brother, who he had been longing to see the whole time they were gone. He would never get to have the chance to watch all the kids grow up, the chance to help Elissa find her family, Alex to find a girlfriend, and for Lucas to finally take charge like he should. 

Lucas and Daisy... they were gonna have to see this. He hoped they had just left him, it felt like it had been awhile, his thought had been racing for what felt like forever. 

He really didn't want to die. 

But, death waits for no one, not the sinners or the saints, the rich or the poor. It felt like the blood had completely closed off his airway. He thought for a second he could see someone above him, but he couldn't be sure. He blinked trying to clear his vision, but the lack of air made it hard to even do that.

Slowly, he couldn't breathe at all. He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch as the world faded away. 

His final thoughts still trying to lighten the mood. Even if he never finished the thought. 'Well.. hope my jokes were funn....' 

So ummm bit of a dark chapter there. The boys and Elissa really suffered a lot in this chapter so vote to give them all a hug! I know I've been gone for a long while, but I'm very proud of this chapter and hope you guys enjoyed. It's really long for me, definitely the longest I've ever written, but I put a lot of work into it. 

Like the title says Freedom. .but at what cost? 

Please leave a comment and vote it lets me know you enjoyed it! 

Words: 2.3k

Love you all! 

-A/N