It was so nice where
she was. Somewhere far away there was
gunfire, but it was unimportant. She
had been hurting a few minutes ago, but now she felt just fine. It was warm and comfortable. She wasn't sure how she got here from lying
on the floor, but it wasn't important. She was so relaxed. All around
was a nice dark nothing. Nothing was
good. No pressure, no fear, no anger,
just the peace of nothingness.
She had a feeling
there was something more to the nothing. But that was far ahead, and she could stay here forever. She felt like, well, almost like she did
after she and Zack had made love for the first time. The only thing that was missing was the feel of his body pressed
against hers. Zack. Was he going to be here soon? She hoped so. He would like it here too.
Far away someone was
calling to her. It was so distant, and
she could feel herself drifting away from the voice. It came again, and she could place it. Zack. Was he here? No, he
was there. Calling her to go back.
She tried to tell
him, no, it was OK. He didn't need to
worry about her. It was so nice
here. But she couldn't let him know she
was fine. He sounded so worried. She didn't want to go back there, wherever
it was. It would hurt again. Somewhere vaguely she heard him again,
"Please, I love you, don't leave me like this."
Did he really say
that? She'd have to go back to him to
know for sure. It would hurt. Suddenly, she wanted to be with him more
than this wonderful nothing. If she
could just have a minute to feel his heartbeat under her cheek one more time,
then she could let go. Just a minute to
let him know what he meant to her. One
last good-bye. With every bit of
strength she turned away from the nothing and towards Zack.
Zack felt his heart
start beating again when her eyes opened slightly. She was still barely breathing, but she was conscious. A tiny smile touched her lips when she saw
him. "Zack," she barely whispered. Her eyes shut again, and he shook her. They opened.
"Stay with me," he
ordered. "You're going to be fine, just
stay with me."
It hurt. Her body ached terribly, and she was
exhausted. The gunfire had died, and
she thought there were more people around her. What was happening? Zack
shouldn't be here at all. She wanted to
just go to sleep, but he'd asked her not to leave him. There wasn't any time left at all, but she'd
stay as long as she could.
Other faces swam
into view close to her. She felt
herself being laid back onto the floor. Cole was there. Shawna was
behind him. She could hear Cray. Why had they come for her? She told them to stay away. There was something else that nagged at
her. Something she'd forgotten.
"Cole," she
gasped. Shawna was kneeling next to her. Shawna's words were blurry as Alicia tried
to remember what she had to tell him.
"We have to get the
poison out of her," Shawna said. "But I
don't see how, unless…"
"Unless what?" Cole
and Zack yelled in unison.
"Rage turns the
blood itself into poison! The only way
to get it out is to drain the blood. No
blood, you die!" she yelled back, frustrated. An idea occurred to her. Maybe
it would work. More than likely not,
but it was an idea.
"We drain her from
one end, and start filling her at another," she said firmly. Cole looked doubtful. "It's the only thing I can think of! I monitor, the four of you do three pints
each. You might pass out, but it won't
kill you."
"No," a firm voice
said. Alicia gasped for another
breath. "Traitor," she gasped. They all could hear a whining as rotor
blades started. "Get him," she
hissed. She groaned as a sharp pain cut
through her. "All costs Cole," she
whispered. She knew that he knew what
she meant. "Go now!"
Her eyes shut. The sixers were frozen for a second.
"Help her!" Zack
half-shouted.
Shawna looked at
him. "Our commander just gave us our
orders," she said simply.
Now both Max and
Zack truly realized what they would have become. Alicia's chest rose once, lowered, and then didn't rise again.
Zack never realized
that losing someone could cause that kind of physical pain. He was sure he was going to throw up as his
stomach clinched when she stopped breathing. His eyes met Cole's. "Help her,"
he said coldly, and leapt to his feet.
"Max!" he
shouted. She was standing right behind
him. She knew what he was going to do.
"Right behind
you!" They both headed towards the
sound of a helicopter.
Cole unfroze. His commander had given him an order. Well, he seemed to be into breaking orders
this week.
"Cray, start CPR!"
he ordered. "Shawna, start the blood
drains! Xander and Lon, help me get
needles into her!" Shawna looked at him
with hesitation.
"Norms can't go
after him," she said. "We were ordered
to!"
"They're not norms,"
he snapped. Her eyes widened as she
realized what he meant.
Within a second they
were all busy. Shawna cut into her neck
to get to her jugular as Cray began forcing oxygen into her body. The other three got the needles set and
ready to be turned on. One went into
her arm, and the other two into her femoral arteries. Shawna made a long slice in the vein, and a pool of bright
crimson began forming beside Alicia. Lon and Xander had Alicia's feet propped on their kneeling legs to help
force the poisoned blood to flow out of her body.
"Don't touch that
blood with your bare hands!" she ordered. She had to keep an eye on the amount pouring out. If she lost too much, Alicia would die
anyways. "OK!" she shouted, turn it
on!"
They all released
the clamps and let their blood flow into her body. Shawna let her continue bleeding as fresh blood began flowing
through her. Finally she used a
cauterizing wand to heal the break in the vein, and prevent further bleeding
from the incision.
"Cray, start blood flow. I'll take over the CPR!" Cray jumped away, and grabbed a needle and
tubing. He slipped it into Alicia's
other arm, praying that this would work. Shawna began doing chest compressions, praying the whole time that they
didn't make a mistake. If the traitor
got away, Alicia might die for nothing. They should have obeyed orders. Alicia had sacrificed herself to protect them, and they had practically
thrown it all away.
Minutes ticked by as
the four men bled into their sister. Xander and Lon were turning an interesting shade of white. "Turn it off," she ordered them. It was either enough or it wasn't. She still wasn't breathing. Cole unhooked and started helping
Shawna. Please, he prayed, please don't
let her die like this. He was on the
verge of passing out himself. The other
three had fallen back, too lightheaded to move.
Shawna stopped and
took a pulse. Nothing. She got back to work. It's not going to work she thought
dejectedly. She's dead and it was all
for nothing. She did another set of
chest compressions and checked the pulse again. It was time to let go. They had lost another one. Her
fingers pressed against Alicia's neck.
The others jumped
when Shawna screamed. There had been a
twitch under her fingers. She grabbed
Alicia's wrist, and there it was. Weak
and thready, but a pulse. Cole did two
more breaths. Her chest fell with the
last one, and the slowly, painfully, rose again on its own.
As if to help celebrate an incredible explosion lit up the night sky.