Subject 219: Maxine Caulfield
Notes: HERE WE GO
CHAPTER NINETEEN
PRESENT
Chloe started unstrapping Max, who shook her head and protested, "Chloe, no. Stop. This is a bad idea!"
"I think I can deactivate their cuffs remotely." Mikey's voice came over the radio. "Just give me some time."
Max didn't move after Chloe had finished unstrapping her and moved on to Daniel. This was not a good idea. So much could go wrong so fast. Her face and body were still bruised and recovering from Dr. Jefferson's less than gentle questioning.
Daniel was uncertain and hesitant as he crawled out of the stretcher and hopped onto the floor. He was chewing on his bottom lip and fiddling with the fabric of his hospital gown, which looked to be just a few sizes too big.
"Max, come on. I'm getting you out of here." Chloe grasped Max's hand and put an arm about her shoulders.
There wasn't enough fight left in Max to resist as Chloe guided her off the stretcher.
"The cuffs should be powering down soon. You guys have to move fast and get the others out. Before the night shift guards and staff catch on. Or worse... Jefferson." Mikey's warning came through the radio at Chloe's hip.
"We're on it." Chloe said.
The green light on Max's cuffs were starting to beep and transition into red. She could feel her body regaining access to her power.
But she wasn't sure if she was ready to use it.
She wasn't sure if she was ready for this at all.
FLASHBACK; CURRENT TIMELINE
The pain was unbearable. Her hands were soaked with blood as she pressed them against the hole in her stomach.
Her head felt heavy and foggy.
"Max!"
Through bleary eyes, Max could see a young Chloe come running over, catching Max just as her legs buckled under her.
"Dad! Dad, get over here!" Chloe's voice broke as she eased Max to the floor. "Dad, please!"
It was hard to breathe through the blood clogging up her nose. Hard to see through the tears in her eyes. Hard to keep her trembling hands pressed against the heavily bleeding wound.
"Ch-Chloe..." Max heard her own voice come out breathy and shaky. "I'm sorry."
"What's going- Shit." William paused at the hallway, at first too stunned to move.
Chloe was trembling as she cradled Max. "Dad, do something!" She sobbed into the top of Max's head. "It just happened- It came out of nowhere and-"
"Okay, okay." William snapped out of his shock and wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders and hooked the other under her knees. He lifted her up and hurried down the hall. Chloe scrambled to open the door and grab the keys to the car.
Max was dimly aware of being laid down in the backseat. Of Chloe crawling in next to her and cradling her head. Of William swearing under his breath as he started the car and began to drive.
"Must've been a stray bullet or something." He was saying. "But I didn't hear any gunshots."
If there was anything Max had come to learn about the universe, it was that nothing came easily. Nothing turned out the way she hoped. That expecting the worst was the best course of action. That everything was just going to go to shit eventually.
Just as she heard the loud honk of a horn, Max forced power out of her hands, stopping time just moments before a tanker could smash into the car.
She couldn't even breathe through her nose anymore and her vision was so blurred she could barely make anything out other than blobs of vague shapes and colors. Her head was pounding. Her stomach was agony.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, Max wound back time as far as the pounding in her head would allow.
It took every ounce of her strength to untangle herself from Chloe, open the car door and throw her out.
One down, one more to go.
Max felt her stomach lurch and her throat tightened as she gagged and retched and spat out chunks of blood. She stopped time again.
Chloe was out.
William was still in.
Max forced herself to crawl out of the car and landed in a heap on the road. The truck was so close to hitting William. If she could just open his door and pull him out. If she could just find the strength to keep time still and stay conscious and pull him out, then everything would be fine.
But darkness ate at the edges of her vision just as the tanker smashed into the car. Fire and debris and flying metal was the last thing Max saw before everything faded away.
PRESENT
This was actually happening.
This was real.
Max was still in shock, but she felt some of her drive returning as it began to hit her that they were really, actually doing this. Even if she was still sore and weak, Max found herself able to keep up with Chloe as she led the way down to the guard's locker rooms.
She had Daniel and Max wait just by the door and did a quick sweep of the area before ushering them inside.
"It'll be hella easier to sneak you guys out if you're in uniforms. Kid, this is the smallest one I could find, so it'll have to do." Chloe handed a uniform over to Daniel, who was obviously going to look awkward in it. He hesitated and seemed to consider arguing, but thought better of it and walked over to one of the stalls to change.
"Are you sure about this?" Max whispered, accepting the uniform.
"No." Chloe admitted. "But I can't just keep watching them fuck you up."
Anything could go wrong at any moment.
A guard could walk in and see them and it would all be over.
Before she could allow her mind to go down a rabbit hole of terror, Max pulled Chloe in for a hug.
After everything- all the pain and sacrifice, all the tears, all the grief, all the suffering- it just felt like heaven to be back home in Chloe's arms, to be clutching her close and feeling her warmth and pressing teary eyes into her shoulder.
Chloe cleared her throat. "We gotta get moving. I'll grab several more uniforms. There won't be enough for everyone, but we can figure something out later. I also have to make some calls."
Still shaky on her feet but starting to feel a rush of adrenaline, Max took one of the uniforms and walked into a stall to change.
Her heart was pounding, and excitement was coursing through her.
This was real.
This was it.
She pulled on the pants and felt an embarrassingly strong rush of joy at finally wearing something other than the thin hospital gowns the subjects were all provided with. Buttoning up the shirt was surprisingly difficult as Max found her fingers struggling to find the dexterity to engage in such a simple task. It took several tries and a great deal of fumbling and muttered swearing to finally finish buttoning up.
The boots were even harder. Max felt her fingers starting to grow sore from engaging in tasks that hadn't been done in years.
Eventually, she figured it out and went to check on Daniel. She knocked on his stall. "You doing okay there, Daniel?"
"Uhhh..."
"Do you need help with the buttons or the shoelaces?"
There was a pause.
Then, Daniel answered, "Both... Sorry."
"I'm going to come in and help. Is that okay?"
"Yeah."
With Daniel's consent, Max opened the stall door and saw that the shirt looked baggy and flimsy on him while the pants seemed to just balloon around his small frame.
Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, Max set to work helping him out. "I had trouble with it too."
Though her fingers were aching with fatigue, she got them to cooperate. The muscle memory of buttoning up shirts and tying shoelaces was coming back.
It was frustrating to realize how much the facility had taken away from them. They couldn't even do these stupidly simple tasks after years of just wearing a flimsy gown and sitting in bed waiting for the next test.
"You guys okay?" Chloe asked.
Max nodded, not ready to admit to Chloe how unexpectedly difficult it was to dress up. "Yeah, we're good."
"Okay, let's go." With a bunch of uniforms piled into a bag, Chloe led the way through the halls of the facility, careful to dodge under windows where evening shift scientists were running tests in some of the labs. They sneaked around corners and waited for people to pass before piling into the elevator to get to the level where subjects were being kept.
Kate was the first person they moved to release.
When she saw what she thought were three guards at her door, she was terrified, immediately moving into position against the wall, hands behind her back.
"Kate, it's okay. It's us." Max opened the door and rushed over to Kate, pulling her away from the wall and holding her. "We're getting out of here."
The last time Max could remember really being able to hold Kate like this was many timelines ago, back on that damned rooftop.
"Max, I'm scared." Kate admitted. "And I know you are too."
"We'll get through this, okay?" Max pulled away just enough to be able to look Kate in the eye. "Soon enough, we'll be out of here and having pancakes in some diner, okay?"
"Guys, we gotta get moving. We don't have a lot of time." Chloe said, handing them a uniform for Kate to put on. "I'm going to go check on Steph. Daniel, keep an eye out for any patrolling guards."
Steph was thinner than when Chloe had last seen her, if that was even possible.
Did they really decrease her rations after her prank on Victoria?
"What do you want?" There was still a bite to Steph's tone even if she was clearly weak and drained as she stood at the corner of her quarters. "Is this another test with that bitch? Am I supposed to earn my food now?"
"Sshh, it's okay." Chloe tried to speak softly. "I'm not taking you to another test, okay?"
There was suspicion and anger in Steph's sunken eyes.
Moving slowly to avoid startling Steph, but still feeling the tension and urgency of the situation in her very bones, Chloe reached for her overstuffed bag and pulled out another uniform and a pair of boots. She laid them down at Steph's feet.
"I'm getting you out. Please put this on while I go check on the next person." Chloe consciously stopped herself from saying 'the next subject'.
Steph didn't move. "This is a trap."
"It's not." Chloe hesitated, then walked over to Steph with slow, careful steps. "You're gonna have to trust me. We don't have a lot of time."
Steph frowned at the clothes, then looked at Chloe. "Why now? What changed?"
"I couldn't take it anymore." Chloe reached over and took Steph's hands. She didn't resist as Chloe gave them a squeeze. "We were friends once. We used to hang out and we used to trust each other. Trust that now, I want to help my friend."
Blinking her watery eyes, Steph swallowed and looked away.
"We're getting you out of here." Chloe gave Steph's hands another squeeze. "Alive."
Moving one of her hands away, Steph used it to wipe at her nose with her wrist. "Okay."
It was nearly impossible to believe that the curled up shell of a human being in this cell was once an arrogant, hotheaded boy... was once basically a prince in this small town.
"Nathan." Max knelt down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder.
He was hugging his legs and pressing his head into his knees.
"Nathan, we're getting out of here."
In so many other lifetimes, Max probably would have said he deserved to suffer.
But seeing him here, seeing him now...
Even he deserved better.
Nobody deserved to be treated like this, to be used like this, to be stripped of their humanity like this.
"Nathan-"
"What's out there for me?" Nathan lifted his head and looked at Max. "My father put me in here because I'm a freak. My mother, the rest of my family- they didn't do anything about it. This is where I belong."
Max shook her head. "This is not where you belong. This is not where any of us belong."
"Don't I deserve this though?" Nathan asked. "In this universe, with the things I've done and said... And in all the other universes too. You would know. You've seen me in those other timelines. Seen the things I've done. Seen the people I've killed."
"You've done things." Max agreed. "And I have too. But after what we've been through in this shithole, I think we've suffered enough."
Nathan shrugged.
Then she heard it.
Footsteps down the hall. Max moved out of Nathan's cell and lifted one of her hands to stop time, but Daniel moved first, knocking the guards off their feet with a blast of power.
They didn't even have the chance to cry out as Max stopped time and approached them- Zach and Logan. They were among the more aggressive of the guards. They buckled straps too tight and shoved subjects too hard, laughing whenever anyone lost balance from being pushed around.
It was tempting to raise her fists and pound into them while they couldn't move.
But Max knew she had to conserve her energy. Her head was already starting to feel a pounding, constricting pain.
She instead moved quickly, using their own cuffs to restrain their hands behind their backs. Once they were securely cuffed, Max released time.
"What the fuck?" Logan squirmed into a kneeling position and glared at Max. "Who let you out?"
"Doc's not gonna like this." Zach twisted his body and fumbled until his hands could reach for his radio. Max grabbed at it before he could call for help, pulling it from his belt and doing the same to Logan's.
"SUBJECTS ARE OUT!" Logan started yelling. "CODE RED! WE NEED BACKUP!"
Panicking, Max put a hand over Logan's mouth, only for him to bite into her palm while Zach took over yelling. "NEED BACK UP DOWN HALL THREE! SUBJECTS ARE OUT!"
Chloe ran out of one of the subject's cells with shreds of a hospital gown and used it to gag Logan and Zach before they could attract any attention with their screams. With the help of Kate, Steph and Daniel, they were able to shove the two guards into one of the cells and lock the door.
From there, they moved more quickly, no longer bothering to dress anyone in guard uniforms, opting instead to just let people out, quickly explain the situation, and guide them down the halls until they had a small group ready to make their way into the elevators.
Max noticed Nathan was among the group of subjects waiting to get out, and they exchanged a nod.
Then Chloe's radio crackled to life and Mikey's voice came through. "Chloe, I-"
"Ms. Price." Dr. Jefferson's voice interrupted Mikey and Max felt her blood run cold. "You've had your little bit of fun, now could you please put the subjects back where you found them, and come meet me in the control room?"
Chloe brought the radio up to her mouth. "In your fuckin' dreams."
There was the familiar crackling sound of the tasers they often used on subjects. Then followed were screams from Mikey.
"I could do this all day, Price. I'm not sure if your little friend can, though."
"Fuck." Chloe muttered under her breath. She turned off her radio and paused.
Steph was the first to break the uneasy silence. "We have to help him. This is Mikey we're talking about. A fly could hurt the little guy."
"Okay." Chloe said, "I'll go." She handed a keycard over to Max. "Use this to get up the elevator to the lobby. Take everyone out of the building as fast as you can. Dana, Juliet and some people they trust have cars ready to help people get out. The protestors will keep the guards busy."
"No." Max pushed the keycard back into Chloe's hands. "I'm staying with you."
"Me too." Kate said.
"I'm not leaving Mikey." Steph added.
Chloe looked torn.
"Daniel, why don't you lead the way out with the keycard?" Max suggested.
Daniel hesitated.
"You told me you had a brother out there somewhere." Max put her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sure you'll find him. You just have to get out now. Use your powers and make sure you don't end up back in here."
Brow furrowing, Daniel nodded. "Okay." He and the rest of the subjects headed into the elevators.
Nathan stopped at the door and looked at Max, extending his hand. Max took it and squeezed.
"Thank you." Was all he said before he joined the group in the elevators.
Then the doors closed, leaving Max, Chloe, Kate and Steph.
Closing Notes: I'm stiiiiill hoping to finish this fic in time for the holidays, but WE SHALL SEE. I'm a bit swamped in the next few days coz yeah, holidays lol.