First Chapter

Max stared, un-interested, at the bum across the street. 'He looks so inncent', she thought, taking a closer look with her better-then-normal eye sight. 'Until you turn around and your wallets gone', she sighed as some poor sap lost his ratty leather wallet, then turned her attention back to the street. The traffic had died down so she peddled the rusty bike across the street and down a couple more blocks. She stopped at apartment buildings on some street, the sign was to bent had to-many-to-count bullet holes in it. She went in and walked up the stairs, carefully looking at the numbers on the door. At about the middle of the building she found the lucky 3 digit number, 153. She nocked hard and quick twice. She heard the tv, some news broadcast, and the sound of thick soles slapping against the floor. She waited impationtly she really had to blaze. Logan paged her about 3 minutes ago, but then she had no idea that there would be a traffic jam and so many stairs to climb. She was almost ready to drop the package and leave when someone opened the door. It was a kid, about 12 years old. He had short choppy blond hair, cloudy blue eyes, and a lop sided smile. She had no time for to waste on a kid, but she needed someone to sign the package. If he signed it no one would no the difference, she smiled at her little thought. "WHAT DO YOU WANT", shouted a man coming out from behind the boy. He looked old, probably much older then he actually was, and he seemed cruel. He shoved the boy hard away from the door, sending him falling to his feet. The boy, evidently hard edged from the shoving before, didn't react. He just stood up and walked out of the room, to a back one Max couldn't see. She quickly thrust out the package and made sure it hit the man in the chest, although when he looked at her she quickly faked it and put on an innocent face. He took it and signed the paper quickly. It was evident on his sour face that he had no idea what this package was, and that he didnt get mail often. She left running down the stairs towards her bike. She was almost to Logans house when her bike hit a peice of metal and got a flat tire. She swore under breath and decided her motorcycle would have been the obvious choice for today. But, she remembered, her baby needed its rest. She had been using it all week and she didnt have much gas left, not to mention it gas was hard to come by. Thank god Logan was there, in less then a day he could get her 3 tanks full of gas if she needed it. She grabbed the handle bars of her bike and kept walking toward Logans. She threw the bike near the buildings steps and started up. When she got there she didnt even knock just entered. It was a ritual now. "Logan", she called, waiting for his usual response of "In here", or "Hang on a minute". Instead she got "Max where have you been i was worried". She wished he would stop with the worried crap, i mean i think a soldier from manticore can go for a bike ride with out being killed, in 3 minutes. Then again she loved the protectiveness he had over her, it was like he really cared. She smiled at him and nodded out the window. "Traffics bad today", she said, not really anwsering his question, but at the same time clearing his mind of whatever bad thoughts of what happened to her that were in it. "Yeah well i got a letter from Jace", Logan said with a slight smile on his face. "You read it didnt you", she yelled at him playfully. "Now why would i do a thing like that", he said, the grin getting larger. Then he added, "Actually i didnt read it, i wouldnt do that Max", when he said this all traces of his earlier smile were gone and he seemed almost serious. "Let me have it". Logan slowly reached in his desk drawer and for dramas sake seemed to make the letter linger in his fingers. Max reached for it, anticipation was high. Max had been hoping for a letter from Jace, it was high time. She must have had her kid by now she thought. I hope its a girl, she wished silently. She tore open the thin paper and found a few paragraphs of writing. She took a quick breath and started reading.