Chapter 11
The Aftermath
The next thing I know I am being pulled from the car by emergency services. The light is burn my eyes and my head feels like it is splitting in half. My vision is very blurry but I am able to make out a few different vehicles and some flashing lights, but I can't tell color or anything like that due to my head ache and blurry vision.
The medic looks me over and begins to start cleaning all of the blood off of me and patching me up. I'm sure I look like I just lost a cage match to a rhino and it feels like it too. Thankfully nothing is broken and I just have some cuts and bruises. Before long I hear Jackson's voice call out.
"No, I need to see her. That's my wife."
Did he just say his wife? I'm sure it was just to get through faster. When I look up to see him Agent Shafter isn't far behind. Jackson looks so worried and almost heartbroken. Shafter looks a little concerned but I'm sure that's more about the Mother Cell then me.
"Hey, hey. Are you okay?"
Jackson places his hands on my knees and kneels down in front of me, since I'm on the bumper of the ambulance. As my gaze meets his I shake my head and begin to cry.
"No. I'm not okay. I lost it."
"You lost what?"
"Leo and I were driving back. He had the Mother Cell out in the woods somewhere. It took forever, but he was telling me about the boat he was gonna buy. And, somebody just rammed into us. The last thing I saw was a man reach into the car and grab the Mother Cell."
Tears begin to roll down my cheeks and my voice begins to crack as I continue on. Jackson moves to the bumper with me and pulls me into his chest as I cry.
"Hey, that doesn't matter right now. I couldn't give two shits about the Mother Cell right now."
He kisses my forehead.
"If I lost you, I think I'd look forward to the animal uprising. At least then I'd know I wouldn't be without you for very long."
Shafter looks around.
"Did you see the man's face? Did he look like Evan Lee?"
I clear my throat.
"Uh… A little bit, i think it could have been him."
"Are you sure."
"It would make the most sense, wouldn't it?"
"And he took the Mother Cell?"
I nod. As Jackson shakes his head in protest.
"We'll deal with it, later. It's gonna be alright."
I scoff.
"On what planet is it gonna be alright?"
Shafter begins to walk away from us.
"I'm gonna call this into the Marshal's Office."
Jackson is still trying to console me.
"It's not your fault. Alright? You're… You're okay. That's the most important thing."
I shake my head.
"No it's not, Jackson. I had the key to ending this in my hands and now Evan Lee has it. God only knows what he's going to do with it."
It doesn't take long for the medic to clear me to leave the scene and I am all too happy to do so. I never want to come back to Mobile Alabama, again, after we leave. Shafter, Jackson and I get into Shafter's car, the same one he had driven us to the boat dock in the day before. Jackson gets in the back with me and Shafter drives away from the scene. As soon as the vehicle starts moving I can feel Jackson's eyes on me. When I look over he is scanning my body up and down to make sure that I am really alright and didn't just try to act like I was okay to get out of there,
"Jackson, really I'm fine."
"Yeah, well, I'm just making sure. Do you remember when you fell out of the caravan and broke your ankle. You wouldn't let me or my mother look at it and you ended up being laid up for twice as long."
Agent Shafter laughs.
"You broke your ankle getting out of a caravan?"
"She hit the ground pretty hard too. We parked on some rocks and she was the first to get out. But graceful here forgot to look at her feet before she stepped out."
"Hey, I looked at my feet okay? It was just the loose rocks."
"Uh huh… you still aren't helping your case babe."
I sigh and turn to Jackson, letting him look me over and make sure that nothing is injured more than I am letting on. Before long Shafter glance back at us in his rear view mirror.
"Hey, you guys wanna get some breakfast? There's a nice little coffee shop at the hotel"
"Sounds good to me."
I nod in agreement.
It doesn't take us long to get into town or to the coffee shop at the hotel. Once we are there, Shafter starts asking me if I can remember anything about Evan Lee. As he does Jackson goes to get us something to drink. Jackson walks back to the table we are at, a little excited, and not in a good way.
"Hey, do you have a recent photo of Evan Lee?"
"Just on the fugitive notification."
Shafter pulls up a picture of Evan Lee on his phone. Jackson takes is and begins comparing it to the one he has of Evan Lee and his father.
"Look at his eyes. They appear normal. And then here, his pupil is blown. Sometime after meeting my father, Evan Lee suffered the same mutation as those animals."
"Jackson, what are you talking about? The mutation hasn't affected anyone."
Shafter looks a little confused.
"So you are telling me this is the reason he attacked?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
I shake my head and look at the picture of Evan Lee for a moment.
"He was wearing a light-colored shirt. I remember because everything was so dark."
Jackson looks over to me.
"You didn't mention that before."
Shafter shifts back in his seat.
"You know, Katherine, there's a chance I can help you remember if, uh, if you're willing to try."
I glance over to Jackson, then back to Shafter before nodding.
"Yeah, let's give it a shot."
"Alright, we will try when we get back to the hotel room."
The three of us finish our breakfast quickly before heading back to the hotel room. When we get there Jamie is in the hall, leaving her room. When she sees us, she runs up to us.
"Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?"
She looks over my face and all the cuts on it.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just got into a car accident. But I promise i'm fine."
Shafter moves past us, as Jamie pulls me in for a hug.
"Come on, let's get into your room so we can get started?"
Jamie looks confused.
"Started on what?"
"Agent Shafter thinks that he can help me remember things about what happened, like the car, plate number, stuff like that."
The four of us make our way to the room Jackson and I were sharing and Shafter pulls out two chairs, sitting them in front of one another and sits down. I sit across from Shafter, Jackson on the armchair behind me, and Jamie on the bed.
"Now, I want you to relax, and breathe."
I nod and close my eyes, taking deep breaths, as Shafter continues.
"You've been in an accident. But you're okay. Now, what do you see?"
"I was hanging, because we were upside down. And uh… and the steering wheel was kind of bent towards me."
"Then you hit your head on the passenger window."
I hear Jackson's voice from behind me, before Shafter continues.
"That must have hurt."
"Yeah, and my chest, from the seat belt. It hurt to breathe."
"What else do you remember?"
"The… the side mirror was broken. It was kind of just hanging. And then Evan Lee crouched down. He asked 'where is it?' and then reached across me in the car and took the Mother Cell. and he walked around the front of the car. And the windshield was, it was cracked. And then i looked over and I saw Leo."
I take a deep shaky breath.
"When you looked over at leo, could you see Evan Lee through the window?"
"Yeah, he went and he got into his car."
"Car or truck? When he got into the car did he step up or down?"
"He… stepped up. He stepped up. It was a truck. It was green."
"Good."
"And I was afraid he was gonna ram us again, but he just pulled in front of us and drove off."
"Which means you would've seen the license plate"
"I'm not sure."
I feel Jackson's hand on my shoulder.
"Its okay."
"Just try to remember those plates. They would start with letters. Three letters."
"K, KLL. KLL. like Kill"
I open my eyes and Shafter nods before he stands up.
"I'm gonna go run those plates. Hey, we're gonna find him."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I'll see you three later."
Shafter starts for the door, as does Jamie.
"I'm sure you want to rest, I'll see you guys later."
The two of them leave as I stand. As soon as the door closes I feel Jackson wrap his arms around me.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah I am."