"One SOS for Billy Timmons coming up." Chaos says and shuts the door to the bus. He guns the engine toward The Battle Ground while beeping out a pattern.
As they approach the cluster of buildings a dune buggie with Lee, Barney and Toll Road pulls up along side them.
"School bus really?" Lee shouts to Chaos, after Chaos has pulled the bus doors open.
"Dune buggie really?" Chaos mimics, "I'm doing the best I can."
"We need to get to Billy." Lissa shouts, "He has a dead chip in him."
"He's up ahead." Barney shouts and then stands up in the moving dune buggie. He times it right and jumps onboard the bus. "We'll get to him." He assures her, "Lee, we might need you to cut it out. No one is better with a knife than you."
"Dead chips have a range on them. You get far enough away from here, it won't work." Toll shouts as he begins to move from the passenger seat to the driver seat as Lee climbs onboard the bus. "Go fast. I'll cover your six." He reduces speed and falls behind the bus.
Chaos looks to Lee, "I might be able to hack into the signal for the chip. Take the wheel." And just as quickly as Lee and Toll switched seats in the dune buggie, Chaos and Lee do it with the bus. Chaos rushes a few seats past Lissa where he drops down pulling a laptop out of a bag.
Barney looks to Lissa, "You okay?" He asks taking note of the blood on her hands and her swollen eyes from crying.
"Derek's dead." Lissa tells him.
"I'm sorry."
"So am I." Lissa then shakes her head trying to force the thoughts of her mind, "We need to save Billy." Her gaze goes out the windshield and out of the cloud of dirt from blowing wind she spots Billy. He's standing there in full gear with his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. "Chaos get into that signal!" She shouts.
Lee just slows the bus as they approach Billy nad opens the doors, "Get on." He orders.
Billy jumps into the bus and Lissa finds herself grabbing him. Relief floods through her as his arms wrap around her. "I'm here, its okay." He tells her, "I came as fast as I could. Once I heard Lincoln and Chaos mention New York I knew it was real. Though this time, instead of you saving my parents' house from foreclosure, like the last time in New York, I figured I'd save you."
"There's a dead chip in you." Lissa cries out. "We have to find it. If Chaos cant' shut it down and Lee can't get us far enough away, you're going to die."
Billy sees the fear in her eyes and right away hands his rifle off to Barney and pulls the bullet proof vest he's wearing over his head, dropping it on a bus seat.
"Chaos." Lissa shouts as she grabs ahold of the collar of Billy's long sleeve thermal shirt. She yanks down as hard as she can and the material rips. Billy tries to help her get the shirt off of him, but mostly his hands get in the way. Once it's free from him she throws it out open of the open windows.
"Still tracking." Chaos tells as he looks up from the laptop perched in his lap. One hand is typing furiously on the keys while the other is braced against the seat in front of him. "I'm trying to shut it down."
"Try harder." Lissa screams at him and grabs a hold of Billy's belt, yanking it free, it goes out the window with the shirt.
"Lissa." Billy says trying to calm her down. But it's no use, this is life or death. If he was in her shoes he'd be doing the same thing.
Lissa's hands work on the button of the pants Billy is wearing. If her mind wasn't on the single track mission of saving Billy's life she might feel embarrassed or at the very least awkward striping Billy down in front of Barney, but it doesn't cross her mind now. Lissa lets out a cry that is a mixture of frustration and distress, "We'll find it." She says, "We have to."
Barney steps in and offers a hand to Billy as Lee swerves the bus yet again.
Billy takes Barney's hand and works with Lissa to get his pants off and they go out the window too. Now he's left in just socks and boxers. He's not letting the desperation show, but he doesn't think there is a way to stop this. He hasn't had any unexplained cuts or aches, which means the chip isn't in the surface of his skin. It has to be somewhere deep inside him, somewhere only a surgeon in an OR could reach. Which is a place he doesn't have time to get to.
"Still tracking." Chaos says, "It keeps rewriting, I don't think I can shut it down."
"Lee?" Barney shouts.
"Still too far out. It's not like this is a race track, there's no clear path." Lee shouts from the front of the bus.
"Check between his fingers." Lissa demands Barney as she starts patting down Billy's chest, looking for any bump, cut or red spot. Her hands shake as they move. Tears are clouding her eyes and she's breathing quickly. This can't be the end, she can't let it be.
Billy closes his eyes and tilts his head towards the ceiling of the bus. He takes in a deep breath and holds it for a few seconds. He then looks to Barney and shakes his head. It's one gesture that says it all. They can't stop this. It's clear at the rate Lissa's emotionally unrevealing, she can't see this. She can't watch him die. "Lissa." Billy says softly.
She doesn't hear it and her hands move down to his thighs, in search for the chip. She must see out of the corner of her eye that Barney hasn't move and she looks at him, "Do something!" She shouts.
"Lissa." Bill says softly and reaches down, pulling her up to her feet, "I love you. I love you more than anything. You are the best thing that's ever –"
"Don't." Lissa says and the tears fall from her eyes, "Don't you dare say goodbye to me. It's not over." She looks over to Chaos with desperation written on her face, "Tell me you've stopped it."
"I am so sorry." Chaos says looking up from the laptop, "The program is just too good. Derek wrote it too well."
Lissa flinches at a noise she hears. It sounds like a wounded animal crying out in pain. It takes her brain a few seconds to realize it's her making the noise.
Billy wraps his arms around her, "I'm not going to let you watch me die, Liss." He tells her, "I love you too much for that. When you think of me, I want you to think of me like this. Alive, with you in my arms and a smile on my face. We've speed our way down to the road to hell and back so many times now and this time, I'm not finishing the ride. Instead this is my stop. But know I'll always be looking out for you. When you hear your favorite song on the radio, it's me. When one of those perfect warm days comes in the fall, it's me. When a weapon that should jam doesn't, it's me. I'll always be right next to you." He promises and kisses the top of her head.
Billy releases her from his arms and Barney steps from the side, taking Lissa into his. It's less to comfort her and more to keep her from chasing after Billy.
Lissa stands there shaking and sobbing. The overwhelming dread has left her frozen in place. She can't speak, can't move and even breathing is hard. All she can do is cry.