"Sir…someone's trying to hack into our system," the soldier said, looking up at the General.
"How close are they to getting through?" The General asked.
"It'll be another day, maybe," the soldier replied.
"Good," the General stated. "I have one more test, and then we'll move him to a new location."
Max was slow coming back to consciousness. She remembered getting shot, but then it was just nothing. Her chest felt tight, but she figured she was being pumped full of painkillers since she wasn't in too much pain. She had no idea how long she'd been there and she really didn't know where she was. She figured they had taken her to the hospital since they didn't have the equipment to deal with this kind of injury.
Her eyelids felt heavy though, and it was difficult for her to get them open. She settled for listening instead. She could hear two heart monitors in her room. She figured one of them was hers since it matched the beat of her own heart; the other one she wasn't so sure on.
She could also hear the breathing of three other people in her room. They sounded normal and she imagined that whoever was in there was just sitting and waiting. She figured that Alec was probably sitting next to her. He probably hadn't left her side since he'd gotten back from his run and she imagined he would be exhausted. She didn't know how long she had been there, but she knew Alec would be worried.
She found that she really couldn't wait to see him. She had been really worried before she'd gotten shot since he hadn't been back from his run and she wanted to make sure he was ok. She fought to get her eyes to cooperate so she could see him. She just wanted to look at him and see his green eyes looking back at her. It was enough motivation to get her eyes to open a crack.
"Hey Max," a girl said when she noticed Max was starting to wake up. Max recognized the girl's voice and it only took her a moment to figure out the girl was Original Cindy. She was surprised that her best friend was there, but she was happy too.
Max tried to say hi back, but she couldn't really get her voice to work. She looked past OC and saw another person lying in the bed next to hers. Her heartbeat picked up when she realized that Rocky was the one next to her; Max didn't remember him getting shot.
"He's alright," Original Cindy instantly reassured. "He woke up just a little while ago. He asked how you were doin' and stayed awake for a few minutes before he got tired again."
Max relaxed again, and then let her gaze move over to the other side of her bed. She was surprised to see Lucky sitting in the chair that Alec was supposed to be in. She really hadn't talked to Lucky that much and it was weird that he was there. She really wondered where Alec was supposed to sit since Lucky was in his chair. She looked back over to Cindy in alarm and barely whispered, "Alec?"
Original Cindy gave her a sad smile, and then shot a look over to the corner. Max looked over and saw Bear appear from the shadows. That wasn't right. Bear was supposed to be with Alec and Alec was supposed to be sitting with her. Something had happened. Max felt tears prick her eyes, but she blinked them away and focused on Bear.
"Max…" Bear started out softly. Max shook her head in denial at Bear's tone, but Bear kept going. "He's still alive, but he's been taken by the General and the Mayor."
Max found that she was having trouble breathing and started to sit up, but Bear moved forward to keep her lying down. Alec had been captured and there was nothing she could really do about it.
"I'm still looking for him," Bear quickly reassured. "I just came by because they told me you would probably wake up today, and I needed to be the one to tell you. I'm going back out right after this."
Max started to get up again and breathed out, "I'm going with you."
"Don't be stupid," Bear refuted. "You'll just hurt yourself more and you need to be well for when I find him."
Max knew Bear was right, but she couldn't stand the thought of him being where he was. She wanted him here with her, safe and whole. She felt like she was missing something without him there. She wanted to be with him; she wanted them to have a chance together.
"Find him," she suddenly ordered.
Bear nodded once, and then promised, "I will."
Alec woke up and found that he was in his room. Well, it was more like his cell, but it was better than the interrogation room or the examination room. His room was like Heaven compared to those other two rooms. He actually got a break in this room, even if it was just a short break.
It'd been three days since he'd been captured. He'd been tested a few more times, but had been tortured every time he was conscious again. He could barely move he hurt so bad. They'd used the electricity the most on him so far, but he'd been beaten a few more times too. He was a mess, but he was still alive so he still had a chance.
He was lying on his cot, but he barely turned his head to see which guard was in his room this time. If it was Freckles then he had a few more seconds of peace, but if it was Meathead then he would be drug out of the room as soon as he noticed that he was awake. He always hoped for Freckles.
But he was surprised to see that neither of his guards were in his room. That was different… He looked down at his hands, his wrists were bloody and raw and there were deep gouges where the zip ties had cut into him, but he wasn't bound by the ties this time.
This was a test. He knew right off that they were testing him to see what he would do with this freedom. They probably wanted to see if he would take the chance or not, and if he did, they wanted to see how far he would get.
He didn't want to play into their trap, but he couldn't ignore a chance of freedom. There was a possibility that they would underestimate him and he might be able to get out of this place. But first he would have to get up.
He managed to get his feet on the floor and he tried to stand up. He got up, but his legs immediately collapsed under his weight. He stubbornly pushed himself back up, but closed his eyes to try and get the room to stop spinning. He didn't know if he was dizzy because of the pain or because he hadn't had anything to eat or drink for a while. He opened his eyes again after a few seconds, and then took a few tentative steps.
The adrenaline started pumping though and made him push past all the pain. He limped over to his door, but he had to keep his arm wrapped around his ribs to brace them. This was going to be a disaster.
The halls were quiet as he walked around silently. He tried to figure out if they expected him to go back to the entrance, or if they thought he would make his own exit. He wanted to do the opposite of whatever they thought he was going to do, but he expected they had planned for either option.
He decided to try for his own exit since he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He pushed open the first door he saw and prayed for a window. He was lucky because there was a window in the room, but it was pretty high up. It was high enough that he couldn't reach it standing which was going to make things difficult. Normally, he could just jump up to it, but now he wasn't in the best shape and he didn't know if he could make it up there. He decided that he had to try though.
He bunched up his exhausted muscles and leaped up to the window. He barely managed to grab onto the ledge, but he almost let go at the strain this put on his already messed up shoulders. He clenched his jaw though, and pulled himself up.
He had to take a break once he was up on the ledge. He was exhausted and he was hurting, but he had to keep going. He pushed on the window, but it didn't budge. He had to turn and balance on the ledge so he could bust the window open with his elbow. He groaned at the extra pain, but then turned and knocked out the rest of the glass.
He peeked over the ledge and immediately wished he hadn't. It was a long way to the ground and if he hurt himself dropping down then it was going to be even more difficult to get away from this place.
Alec tried to take a deep breath, but gave up on that pretty quickly when his ribs protested the movement. He groaned in frustration and felt the urge to hit something. This whole situation was his fault and he needed to just forget about the pain and do what he needed to do. He got himself into this mess and now it was time to get himself out of it.
Without thinking too much about it, he swung his legs over the ledge and jumped. He bent his knees to lessen the impact, and then rolled and he was shocked that he didn't hurt himself too badly. He forced himself back to his feet and scanned the area.
It looked like he was at the back side of the building since there wasn't much back there except for an empty parking lot and a fence with barbed wired at the top. Woods surrounded the area which meant he was definitely outside of Seattle.
There was a guard patrolling the fence and Alec really wished he had a gun. He would feel a lot better with a gun. At the very least he wished that he had some clothes so he could blend in better. Right now he was pretty visible with the sun shining down on his pale skin.
Since there was only one guard at the fence, Alec figured he had a better chance against him than if he went to the front. There was no telling how many guards would be at the entrance, but he knew there would be more than just one.
He snuck around the side of the building and crept closer to the guard. If he could take out the guard then he could steal his weapon and that would just increase his chances. It was funny since this felt like just another training exercise at Manticore instead of an actual escape attempt. Either way it was a life or death situation that he had to get through.
He was almost to the guard when another one suddenly walked up. He knew in the state he was in, he wouldn't last five minutes in a fight against two guards. One he could probably deal with, but not two. He had to abandon his chance at a gun and instead he decided to just jump over the fence.
He almost didn't jump high enough, but he managed to clear the barbed wire and land on the other side. It wasn't very graceful but it got the job done. He took off at a painful jog through the woods, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and that place.
He was a few yards away when an alarm started to sound. They knew he was out of his room, but he hoped that they didn't know which way he'd gone. He should have tried to steal a car instead of make it out on foot. He couldn't move very fast and if they came after him, he wouldn't have much hope in outrunning them.
After a few more yards, Alec had to stop and try to catch his breath. He leaned against a tree, but he didn't let himself sit down. He knew if he did then he wouldn't get back up again. His sensitive hearing suddenly picked up the sound of footsteps running through the woods and his heart sank. If he ran, he might be able to stay ahead of them for a few minutes, but they would catch up with him eventually.
Instead of running, he looked up at the tree he was leaning on. He might be able to hide and wait for them to pass before he made his escape. He jumped up to the first branch, and then as fast as he could, he climbed up higher. He went as high as he could so he was a little more camouflaged, and waited.
A few minutes later a group of soldiers ran by. They spread out and started searching for him, but they were scanning the ground for his footprints and not looking up at the trees. Alec held his breath as they searched the area. He thought that as long as they didn't look up then he'd be fine.
His heart sank though when he saw the General walk into the group. He walked around the tree that Alec was in, and then looked back towards the compound. He stood there for a minute until one of the soldiers started to move out.
"You shouldn't go too far," the General called out. "He's not in any shape to be outrunning you." The soldier stopped and started to turn back. "Isn't that right?" The General asked, glancing up at him in the tree. "You made it further than I thought you would and it was very interesting to watch what you decided to do."
"I could keep going," Alec suggested with a small smirk. "Just leave really quick and give me a head start and you won't find me this time."
"I don't think we're done with you quite yet," the General replied. "Now, why don't you come down here before I have one of my men shoot you out of that tree?"
"I thought you weren't quite done with me yet?" Alec asked. "If you shoot me that sounds like the end to me."
"We've got tranq guns, so it won't kill you. But that fall is going to hurt. It might even break a few more bones…" the General pointed out.
Alec sighed, and then slowly made his way out of the tree and back to the ground. Two soldiers grabbed his arms once he was on the ground, but he didn't resist them. His chance at freedom was a failure; his hope of seeing Max again was gone.
Max tried to sit up, but she didn't make it very far. She knew she should just rest, but she couldn't stand the thought of Alec being in the hands of the Mayor. The Mayor had wanted to bring them in for testing and she couldn't even imagine what Alec was going through right now. She needed to get him out of there and bring him back to safety, but her bullet wound was making that impossible.
She knew she had been lucky; she should have died with that shot, but she hadn't. Somehow she had made it back, but now she couldn't do anything useful. She wanted to help but she couldn't even sit up.
"Max, you should take it easy," Logan said when he saw that she was trying to get out of bed again.
Lucky had gone back to Command to update Mole and OC had to go back to work. Joshua and Sketchy had visited her for a while, but then they'd let Logan have his turn at sitting with her. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the company; it was just the wrong company. It wouldn't be right until Alec was with her again.
"I need to find Alec," Max replied stubbornly.
"Max," Logan said on a sigh. He reached out to grab her hand, but she pulled away from him. She didn't want to hold hands with him; she wanted Alec to be here with her instead.
"Logan…we need to talk," Max started out slowly. Logan nodded and gave her a sad smile, but he let her say what she needed to say. "I like Alec. I know we were just in a fake relationship before, but then I started wanting it to be real. I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know," Logan said quietly. "I knew in the conference room that you were going to choose him. I should have just let you go, but I was worried about you." He was quiet for a minute, and then he said, "I'm going to try and look for where they're keeping him...and I'll let you know if I find something…"
"Thanks Logan," Max said quietly.
Logan nodded again, and then slowly got up to leave her room. She felt a little better, having cleared up one part of her life. Now she just needed to get Alec back.
They moved him. They had taken him back to the compound and he'd been beaten for trying to escape. He'd passed out after a while and when he'd woken up again, he was in a truck. He was blindfolded again and his hands were zip tied. It was just like when they'd brought him in the first time.
As soon as the truck stopped, they took him to a room, but they strapped him to a chair. They took off his blindfold and he saw that he was in a fairly dark room and he was sitting in the only chair in the room.
He wasn't surprised when the General walked in a few minutes later, but it was a shock to see the Mayor too. He hadn't seen the Mayor since the warehouse, when this whole thing had started.
"Well look who it is," Alec said with a small smile. He would have smiled more, but he really didn't have the energy to put on the full act. "Long time no see Mr. Mayor."
"You look a little worse than I remember," the Mayor said with a smirk.
"Yeah, you have some really nice friends," Alec replied sarcastically. "Your hospitality is just outstanding."
The Mayor smiled, "We are impressed with how you're handling this, but I was hoping for a few answers at least…"
"This isn't my first rodeo," Alec said. "And I have to say, I'm a little disappointed with your torture methods…very overdone."
"Well, we have something else in mind that might loosen you up a bit." The Mayor walked over to the door and grabbed something from outside. He came back carrying a syringe and he slowly walked towards Alec. "This is a new thing that the scientists came up with. We haven't really tested it yet, so I'm not sure what it will do to you…"
Alec just glared at him as he shoved the needle into his arm. Alec could practically feel the liquid go into his veins, and the effects seemed almost instantaneous. The stuff seemed to catch his blood on fire as it went through his system.
He had to clench his jaw and close his eyes tight to try and fight off the pain. His hands formed into fists, but there was no relief. Whatever the Mayor had injected into him, it wasn't good.
His heart was pounding and he thought he could hear someone talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He could barely hold his head up and he was trying really hard to stay conscious. He forced his eyes open and he tried to look over at the General and the Mayor. They were blurry when he finally got his eyes open, but movement behind them caught his eye.
He glanced over at the movement, but he was shocked to see a girl who looked like Max walking around.
"Max?" Alec didn't even realize he'd asked that out loud. But he couldn't believe Max was there somehow. He was probably just hallucinating. No one else seemed to notice her and they just ignored him when he spoke, so he didn't have much hope that she was there to rescue him. Not that he wanted her to actually be there. She would be in too much danger if she was.
She walked around the General and walked straight over to him. She crouched down in front of him and reached up and stroked his cheek. He leaned into the gentle touch and closed his eyes. His blood still felt like it was on fire, but it was a little more manageable with Max there with him.
She didn't say anything, but she stayed with him for a long time. He ignored everyone else in the room and just focused on her. He knew it had only been a few days since he'd been captured, but he felt like he hadn't seen her in ages.
He knew she wasn't really there since no one was doing anything to take her away, but he couldn't help the urge to talk to her. The only thing that stopped him was that he wasn't alone in the room. But if the pain got much worse, he might ignore that and talk to her anyway just to distract himself.
Max moved away from him and started back over to the General. Alec watched her curiously, and she looked over at him, and then at the General and the Mayor. Alec could see them talking to each other so he tried to focus on what they were saying.
"I still think my method is better," the General muttered.
"Either way, we aren't getting our answers…" the Mayor replied.
"I think we should just terminate already…"
"We could still use him to try and lure her out. It was obvious that they were together in that meeting and I'm almost positive she would trade herself for him," the Mayor argued.
"I guess you haven't heard yet…"
"Heard what?"
"There's another player in town," the General said. "She was shot. There's no word yet if she's alive or not, but someone beat you to the punch."
"We should find out who else is trying to kill her," the Mayor said after a moment. "But, we could still use him. There are a few more test we can run and I'd like to get another pint of blood before we terminate."
"Fine. As long as I'm the one to terminate, I don't care," the General replied. The Mayor shrugged, and then walked out of the room.
Max walked back over to him. She kissed his forehead, and then disappeared.
More soon...