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Chapter 3: Aftermath.
When Noah reached home, he fumbled with his house keys, hands shaking as he tried to get inside. His heart was still pumping madly, adrenaline pushing him to near panic. He'd almost died...that EVO...it could have killed him.
He thought of his mother, away on a business trip, oblivious to her son's plight. He couldn't leave her alone. He wanted to hole up in his house and never come out, never to see another monster again...but he knew he couldn't. His dad wouldn't have wanted him to.
Finally, the boy managed to get the door open, and he rushed inside, hand blindly flipping on all the lights in the house. He threw his backpack to the floor, stumbling into the living room, before collapsing on the couch.
He was home.
He'd never been that close to an EVO attack. Sure, he'd seen them on television before, and a couple from a distance, but never that close. He'd never been near enough to an EVO to smell the tang of nanites in the air, or to get caught up in the panic of fleeing men. It was terrible...almost unbearable.
Noah leaned over, reaching for the phone resting beside the couch. He numbly dialed his mother's number, hands still quaking, heart still beating too fast. He needed to hear her voice. He didn't want to be alone right now.
"Noah?" Her voice called over the line.
"Hey, Mom."
"Are you okay?"
Not really, he wanted to say. I feel dirty and grimy, and I want to throw up. But, he didn't. That would only make her worry.
"There was an EVO attack...I'm fine, but...kind of shook up."
"An EVO? Oh God, Noah. Are you sure you're alright? I can come home-"
"No." The boy replied. "You have to do this trip. I'm fine."
Just a little shook up.
There was no way to prevent an EVO attack. They could happen at any moment, to any one. Plants, animals, humans; all were capable of becoming a monster. Noah tried not to think about it most of the time, but right now, his mind was whirling.
"Is there any way I could come out and see you?"
"You let him run off?!"
White Knight was furious, but Six had taken the brunt of many a superior's anger before. He was used to it.
"His actions were unpredictable." The man replied.
"Is it true that he eliminated the target when he failed to cure it?"
Six nodded.
"That is a level of violence we cannot allow." White Knight growled. "His orders are to help us contain the EVO should his abilities fail. He's gone too far, Agent Six."
Six kept his mouth shut. White was acting like Providence had never killed an EVO in cold blood before...however, the agent knew that arguing would only make things worse for Rex in the long run. Maybe he should have stopped the boy...maybe he should have tried...but Rex's behavior was becoming erratic, violent. At Providence, he was trapped, treated more like an animal by most of the staff than as a human being.. No one deserved to live that way. He wasn't a prisoner...his only infraction was something buried deep within his mind.
So, Six had let him go.
"You don't seem to realize how dangerous he is." White continued. "It's like letting an armed maniac loose on the streets. If we don't find him soon, who knows what kind of chaos he could cause."
"I understand, Sir." Six replied with a nod of his head. "I'll get a team working on bringing him back. He'll be returned by the afternoon."
"He better be. Your job's on the line, Agent Six. Make sure you don't disappoint me."
"I won't." The agent growled, his voice tinged with ice.
He could remember a time when they had been equals; White a hardened government soldier, Six a mercenary hired for some extra muscle. The Event had changed both of their lives, mixed things up, forced them to become partners, and for a while, they had been as thick as thieves.
But, things never stayed the same, not in this world full of nanites and monsters.
Six almost stormed out of the briefing room, fuming silently behind his glasses. All his life he had followed orders; been the very poster child for a good mercenary; but then, Rex came along, and he found himself bending the rules again and again, always with disastrous results. It was his fault that White was stuck in that room forever, hiding away instead of being out on the field again. Because Six had made a poor decision.
But...not one that he had ever regretted.
The agent found Holiday in her lab, waiting for Rex, no doubt. It would be near time for his daily checkup...but there wouldn't be a check-up today. Not with Rex on the loose. Six reached into his pocket, pulling out the EVO's treasured goggles. Someone had to tell Holiday what had happened...and it looked like that someone would have to be him.
The doctor spotted him as he approached, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
"How'd the last mission go? Is Rex alright?"
Six hesitated a moment, his fingers tightening around the goggles in his fist.
"Rex took off." He said. "He couldn't cure the target, so he eliminated it, and ran."
Holiday's face fell, her eyes wandering to the empty examination where the teen should have been. Six could tell that she was taking the news badly, so he held out Rex's goggles, motioning for her to take them, not wanting to see her cry over something so trivial. Rex was fine. There was no indication that he was in any danger, and it had been proven time and time again that the boy could handle himself.
After a few moments, the doctor took the offering, running her fingers over the deep scratches and scrapes pressed into their surfaces from years of fighting EVOs.
"I told you this would happen." She said, her voice growing cold, sorrow turning to anger. "You told him that you would help him...but you never did."
"Where was I supposed to start?" Six asked, his eyes narrowing. "We don't even know where he came from, or even if Rex is his real name. Thousands of people died in the Event...how do we even now his parents are still alive?"
"You could have at least tried!" Holiday cried. "That's all he wanted. You couldn't even do that?"
"No." Six murmured. "I was ordered not to."
Holiday glared at him, holding Rex's goggles tighter in her hands.
"You don't always have to listen to him." She said. "You can make your own decisions."
"I know that I am capable of thinking for myself Holiday." The agent spat. "I make my own decisions all the time. Remember when I decided to save Rex, and almost got White Knight killed? Or the time I decided to let him go solo in Hong Kong, and he hooked up with that gang? Or just today, when I decided to let the kid go? I might lose my job now. I might lose everything because of that EVO."
The two stood in silence, Holiday's hands clutching at Rex's goggles, fingers moving in nervous patterns.
"Six–" She began, fumbling over her words, unsure of what to say The agent sighed, taking a few steps forward, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. She really was beautiful. More beautiful than she could ever know. He couldn't stay mad at her...
Not when she was right.
"I'm just a mercenary, Rebecca," Six continued, softening his voice. "No one likes a man for hire that they can't trust. If I lose this job, I will never get another."
"White wouldn't fire you."
"Why wouldn't he? We're not friends anymore."
They'd never be friends again.
Racing through the desert, dust trailing behind him, Rex fled Providence, not daring to stop, knowing that if he did, it wouldn't be long before they caught up with him and dragged him back. He wasn't sure where he was going, blindly tearing through the wasteland, but he had to keep going.
He couldn't stop. Couldn't stop.
But, he was tired, his hoverbike rattling as he struggled to keep it together. The further he went, the harder it became, until he found himself swerving and weaving around, using all of his remaining energy just to keep going.
And then, he couldn't do it anymore.
His build fell apart, throwing him to the blazing sand, chunks of broken metal following. Rex coughed, gloved hands scrabbling for purchase as he attempted to stand, only to collapse again, his body tired and worn out. He rolled onto his back, staring into the hot sun, baking in his Providence uniform.
What now? If he continued to lay here, Six would find him. He couldn't go back. Not now.
Painstakingly, Rex managed to stand, dragging one foot after the other, overheated in his uniform. It wasn't long before he unzipped the back and pulled the suit down to his waist, tying the arms to keep it up. Even in his undershirt, the sun was hot, burning his exposed skin as he shambled on. There were no signs of civilization in sight...no hope that someone would happen upon him...unless that someone was Six, or Captain Callan. No water, no food. His rash attempt at freedom suddenly seemed pointless.
He was going to die out here.
Then, he saw it...a road, winding through the desert. Suddenly finding new energy, Rex, raced towards it, his boots finding purchase on the boiling blacktop. If he followed it, he'd eventually come across someone or someplace.
If he only kept moving...
Just had to...
Keep...
Moving...
Rex fell to his knees, collapsing in a heap on the burning road.
