The fight in the old warehouse was bitter and heated. Max found herself battling a large group of White's henchmen. Battling was not quite the word. More like barely fending off.
Left and right, she only saw fists coming at her, and kicks flying toward her. Using her transgenic speed and agility to the maximum, Max barely dodged them, and only pushing off her, though she could not prevent some hits from landing. She winced and absorbed them painfully. She was getting increasingly tired. Not a good sign.
Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Alec was not faring much better. Actually, worse, it seemed. White and two other Familiars were backing him into a corner, and Alec seemed to be breathing heavily, with one side of his face covered with blood from a head gash.
A shot suddenly ran out.
"OWWWWWWW!!" Max screamed suddenly. Her brief distraction cost her, and she found herself, suddenly on the ground, clutching agonizingly at her knee. The pain was agonizing, and for what seemed like eternity, all she could see was black as she veered toward the brink of unconsciousness.
What happened in the next moments Max could barely piece out. Alec seemed to have been spurred by Max's screams to make a grab for White's gun. Another gunshot exploded, though barely audible to Max through her pain.
In the following seconds as Max's vision cleared, to her horror, Alec laid crumpled over on the floor. And White was walking towards her.