Alicia was off of the bike before it even stopped, and in the building. Zack was still there, unconscious, but breathing. She looked up at Max who had just zipped in. She didn't know what to say, but she couldn't deal with losing Zack. Not like this.
Max whipped out her cell phone, extremely grateful that Logan had convinced her to take it. She had told him that her pager was fine, but he'd asked her to do it for him. She had him on speed dial. Bling picked up on the first ring.
"I need you ASAP," she said. She gave him the address. Fate had decided that enough was enough, and showed them a bit of mercy. Logan was running some errands, and had been planning on dropping by Jam Pony. He was just a few minutes away from there.
Max hung up. She looked at the blonde leaning over Zack and took a shot in the dark. "Jhondie?" she called.
Alicia looked up at the sound of Max's voice, but Max misinterpreted it as acknowledgement of the name. Max's face lit up. "It's about time he brought you here!"
"Well, he didn't mean to," Alicia said. It would be easier to explain who she was later after Zack was safe. "We hooked up in LA, and tracked the Reds to Seattle."
Max's phone rang. "Yeah?" She paused. "I'm OK, Cindy, all's cool. You OK Boo?" She listened again. "Tell Normal it was some of those art guys he played." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll be there." She hung up.
Before Max could question Alicia more, a black van pulled up. Not again, Alicia thought as she immediately backed into a defensive stance, but Max ran out to greet the arrival. A lone man got out of the van. Early thirties or so. Definitely not a Red. Max grabbed him by the hand and led him into the building.
Within minutes they were in the van, heading back to the penthouse. There was a back entrance that could be used to get Zack to the apartment without anyone seeing. He had stirred once, but didn't become full conscious. Alicia was scared. She knew Zack didn't have the regenerative properties that she did. He was still bleeding, and getting paler by the minute. When she had something to do, it was easy to push all of the emotion to the side, but now she had to wait and let others take over.
Max had introduced her to Logan as they raced to the penthouse. She had been introduced as Jhondie, but it still wasn't the time for corrections. Logan had called Bling and told him the situation. Bling told him that he would have everything ready. Logan figured he must be one of the few people that kept a trauma unit in his bathroom. Everything from sutures to IV's was kept at the apartment. It took all that to keep Max bandaged up on a regular basis.
They took Zack upstairs. Alicia was shocked at the place. It was huge compared to her own home. She knew some wealthy people lived like this, but she'd associated them with oil sheiks and royalty and the like. It wasn't garish, but decorated tastefully and with a great deal of quality.
Bling was waiting for them. He started to work on getting Zack cleaned up. The wound was deep and bloody, but it hadn't hit any organs. He started to suture the wound while Alicia checked his blood pressure. It was way low. Bling saw it too.
"He's going to need some blood," Bling stated. Max's arm was out before another word could be said. Alicia was grateful she offered before any questions were asked. She hooked the IV into Max's arm, and the other end into Zack. Bling finished quickly as Max's blood flowed into Zack.
Bling only let her give maybe a pint and a half. It was enough to get him out of the danger zone. Max tried to protest, but Bling cut her off.
"If he needs more you got another donor right here, right?" he said firmly.
Alicia didn't say anything. She knew she couldn't give Zack any of hers, but she wanted Zack conscious before she said anything. He would need to back her story.
Zack groaned softly, and his eyes blinked a few times. They opened, and Alicia felt a rush of relief. He tried to sit up, but winced as pain sliced through him, and dizziness swarmed his head. Carefully, she pushed him down again.
"Zack," she said. Max had jumped off of the couch and was standing on the other side. "Zack, you got cut, but you're going to be fine, OK? But, you can't move right now."
He lay quietly for a moment trying to throw off the dizziness. He could vaguely see Max standing there, and was glad to see her. He felt something tighten around his arm, and tried to pull away.
"Bling's checking your BP," Max told him. "You chill and let the man do his job."
"It's still low," Bling said. "He could use another pint." Alicia could feel all eyes on her. Time for the truth. Truth sucked.
"I can't," she said, hoping Zack could stay awake long enough to verify what she had to say. "My blood would kill him."
"Jhondie," Max began, but was cut off.
"Alicia. My name is Alicia."
"There wasn't an Alicia in our group," Max said harshly. Alicia could see her tensing up. "Who are you? Who sent you?"
"I'm X-6. Lydecker sent me to keep the fivers safe from the Reds."
"Max," Zack said weakly, "it's okay…"
He didn't get a chance to help explain. Max had already leapt over the table, hands outstretched. She caught Alicia, and they both hit the floor. After that things began to happen very, very fast.