A/n: Thanks for the reviews, guys, especially X-318. I'm also very impressed that I got reviewed by my favourite fanfic writer ever, M/L only. Anyone here who hasn't read 'Ties That Bind' yet should do so right after they review this.
Chapter 4: Where Now?
Thula piloted the chopper herself, wanting to make sure the prisoner made it to the medical facility without any mishaps. After the Jam Pony siege, she harboured a distinct grudge against 452, over and above her inbred hatred of transgenics. This captive could be the key to finally getting rid of them, once and for all.
When she arrived, she put the chopper down as close to the remains of the command centre as possible. A space had been cleared for her to land when the crane was brought in. It was currently lifting the huge girder to release the man trapped underneath. Eventually, he was free and strechered to the waiting helicopter.
"How bad is it?" Thula asked.
"Not good, ma'am," said one of the medics. "So far, we have multiple fractures in both legs, one arm and about ten ribs, a punctured lung, severe concussion, suspected internal bleeding and probably bruising on internal organs too. That's just a spot diagnosis. If he were human, he'd have no chance."
"Do we know his designation yet?"
"No, ma'am. We don't want to risk moving him more than necessary. He's going to need nanocyte treatment as it is." Thula glanced over at the face of her unconscious prisoner. Manticore really knew how to make 'em pretty, she thought. Shame he's a freak, really. Even comatose, with numerous abrasions and a thick layer of dust on his face, the transgenic was strikingly handsome. He looked vaguely familiar to her, and she flew the chopper towards Highview she puzzled over where she had seen him before.
"Damn!" One of the medics exclaimed from behind her, unexpectedly.
"Take over," Thula said to her co-pilot. She got up and moved towards the patient. "What's wrong?" The team had been removing the man's clothing in order to treat him. The shreds of his brown leather jacket and blue T-shirt already lay on the floor, and Thula couldn't help admiring his muscular chest and arms. They had begun to cut off his tan combats, but had stopped when they saw the metal underneath.
"He has some kind of metal brace on his legs, ma'am. I've never seen anything like it before." With even more caution, the medics pulled away the cloth and revealed the mass of scarred and twisted metal.
"Why would a transgenic need a leg brace?" Asked Thula.
"I have no idea, ma'am. A severe injury, maybe, or some kind of genetic defect?"
"Perhaps that was why he couldn't escape with the others."
"Perhaps. I understand someone was trying to hack into the communications systems, to stop the attack. He could be the transgenic's computer expert."
"That makes him all the more valuable to us. He must have been high up the chain of command in Terminal City if he was trusted with trying to keep it safe from the bombers. This freak can be very, very useful."
The transgenics were sitting about in the abandoned office building, none of them knowing what to do next. With Max still on the roof, trying to overcome her grief, and Alec unconscious, the lead fell to Dix and Mole. The only problem was, neither of them knew what to do. Mole wanted to attack the ground troops, but knew it was suicide without weapons and most of the troops wouldn't obey him anyway. Dix wanted to run, but the same problems applied. It was a stalemate. Joshua just sat beside Alec, looking intently at the flag he had rescued from the ruins of Terminal City.
As morning came, the displaced community was downcast, lethargic. There was no leadership and no purpose to their actions. Until Max walked down the stairs, closely followed by Jondy.
"Ok, enough sitting around," she said, assertively. "Mole, gather all the supplies we have, food, money, weapons, whatever, and bring them in here. Dix, go gather all the X – series we have and have them meet me downstairs ASAP. Joshua, how's Alec?"
"Still sleeping, little fella."
"Ok. You're in charge of making sure him, any other wounded, pregnant females and mothers all get out safely."
"Get out? Where are we going?" Jondy asked.
"We're leaving Seattle. We're going to make good our disappearing act."
Ames White met the helicopter when it landed outside the conclave's headquarters.
"How's the patient?" He asked Thula as she got out.
"He crashed twice on the flight. The medics brought him back, but it was close." The team unloaded their prisoner and White got his first glimpse of his face. He froze.
"Oh, this is good. This is better than good."
"Why? Do you recognise him?"
"You don't? This is one of 452's closest allies. He was at the Jam Pony siege, in fact wherever she shows up he seems to follow."
"I thought he looked familiar. Do we know his designation?"
"No, but from his age, probably an X3, X4. Get him inside. Whatever he is, we need him alive."
Dozens of shadows swooped down on a truck stop just outside Seattle that night. The trucks were swiftly broken into, and those containing useful materials or just enough capacity to carry a lot of people were swiftly stolen. They headed out into the night, leaving behind a lot of very pissed off truckers.
Max braked her gas tanker to a halt at the transgenic's rendezvous point, an abandoned hydro electric power station on Keechelus Lake. The site was perfect; close to Interstate 90, surrounded by dense forest, and less than two hours drive from the city. The enormous concrete dam overhung the whole site, and derelict buildings were scattered around its base. The forest encroached closely on all sides; this place had been abandoned since the pulse. She climbed out of the window onto the hood.
"Ok, people, listen up." The transgenics scrambled out of their trucks and gathered around. "This is going to be our new base. We can cannibalise the site buildings and build some more of our own. Anything we need we can hijack from trucks on the interstate. We can probably get the power station going again, and we have all the water we could ever use, plus infinite fish and wood resources. Anything else we need, we can make theft runs into Seattle for." Joshua passed her his flag, dusty and torn, and Max held it above her head.
"Welcome to New TC, everyone."
White and Thula stood watching the prisoner in surgery through a large window. The doctors were working on rebuilding his shattered legs like a jigsaw puzzle. The bone was so badly damaged that it had to be wired together so it could heal in the right shape.
"If he lives through this, it'll be a miracle," remarked Thula.
"A miracle? Strange word coming from you," White replied, smirking.
"We need what he knows to get to 452. I can only assume there is a purpose behind this freak surviving. Therefore, a miracle."
A lab tech bustled up to the two familiars. "Sir, ma'am, the prisoner's test results just came back. I don't think you're going to like them."
"Really." White glanced, amused, at Thula. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's human. No trace of genetic enhancement at all."
White's jaw practically hit the floor. "No. No, that can't be. I saw him at Jam Pony, jumping far further than a norm ever could."
"The leg brace…" said Thula. "It must be some kind of electronic supercharger."
"By the looks of his MRI scan, that's not all it does."
"What do you mean?"
"We've found evidence of a severe spinal injury at the eighth thoracic vertebra. There's actually still a bit of shrapnel in there, so probably a gunshot wound. Whoever this guy is, he's paraplegic."
"Let me get this straight. We thought we had an injured transgenic computer expert. What we actually have is a crippled human who probably won't survive the nanocyte treatment."
"Pretty much, sir."
"Still think it's a miracle, Thula?"
"Oh, yes, even more so. It'll be much easier to get the information we need out of a human." Thula turned back towards the window, watching the surgeons go about their bloody work.
Short again, I know. Still, let me know what you think. In case anyone's wondering, yes there is a Keechelus Lake where I've described it and yes, it does have a HEP station.