Chapter Three: To the Rescue

Chapter Three: To the Rescue?

Logan and Zach cautiously moved through the forest surrounding their intended target, wary of anything that seemed out of place. Logan's still healing leg ached fiercely both for the long drive and for the position he was now in, half crouched, putting all the strain on his quad muscles, making the scar tissue pull. The longer he was in this position the more profound his limp became. He tried to ignore it and concentrate on what was happening around him.

All was quiet, deathly quiet and that raked across Logan's already raw nerves. It was all adding to the sense of foreboding Logan had been feeling since approaching the town. There were no signs of anything out of place as they moved closer to the street, unless you considered that there was no one about.

Logan strained his sight and his hearing trying to catch signs of life. There was none, it was like they were walking into a ghost town. That did not jive with what he remembered of this town. It was a pristine place, another pocket where you could never tell that the pulse had hit it. Everyone who had been in this little mountain town was already prepared for hardship, dealing with the harsh mountain winters year after year had left them better prepared than most when the Pulse had struck. There was little adjustment required of them.

When he had come through the last time he found that they were very friendly and helpful, lacking the mistrust of most of the rest of America. But today the streets were empty, and he couldn't even hear the wildlife of the area. Not even a bird was singing.

They paused just a hundred yards from the building in which Tinga and those with her were being pinned. Zach and Logan glanced at each other in confusion, there was no contingent here guarding the place. No sign that Manticore had the place under surveillance much less siege, "I don't like it," Logan said, his stomach convulsing more intensely, "It's too quiet. It feels like a trap."

"We go in," Zach said stubbornly, "We have to be sure."

Logan took a deep breath, nodding once, remembering his promise to follow Zach's lead until this was done, not matter how much he didn't like it. Zach moved even more cautiously toward the small red house set just off the scrub that was providing them concealment. Logan moved more slowly, trying to see everywhere at once, still seeing nothing. That gave him no comfort.

Zach hugged the wall of the building moving around to the back door, still alert for any resistance to their progress. He stopped and plastering himself to the wall he reached over slowly and tried the knob, it was unlocked and he slowly pushed it inward. He paused a moment and then rushed in sweeping the nearest room with his assault rifle, while Logan remained by the door. Only part of his attention was on Zach's progress, the rest was on the surrounding town.

Logan's stomach convulsed again, so hard this time that he wretched dryly, "Damn it," Logan whispered to himself, now was not the time to fall ill. Why was it that when he was in a tight situation of late his stomach decided to get squirrelly? It was becoming a real annoyance. He'd never been prone to a weak stomach before a month ago. It meant something… he was just unsure what. His entire body had been topsy-turvy for three years anyway and something like this was only another anomaly to add to the list. Only this time he did not have Max to consult with about what it might mean for him. What new ability was he developing?

He moved inside the room behind Zach looking warily around. It was unfurnished, empty, dusty and covered in cobwebs from who knew how many years of desertion. There were scuffmarks in the collective dust on the floor attesting to someone's recent occupation. Zach moved through the small house quietly calling for Tinga. No one answered him as he quickly completed his rounds. Logan stayed put trying to quell his heaving stomach, it was only getting worse as they lingered in this room. Zach joined him shortly closely examining the tracks through the dust trying to ascertain what happened. He stared at them as if he could divine the events of the past few days from the dirt at his feet. Finally he looked up at Logan, "Lydecker must have gotten them," he stated grimly, "If they were still here we would have seen his people by now."

"Then they may be dead," Logan offered realistically, "Considering his standing orders when it comes to the X-5's."

Zach shook his head, "God I hope not," moving over by the window. Logan's eyes stayed on Zach as he moved, unsure what there was for them to do now. He swallowed hard as the anxiety he had been feeling came to a head behind his eyes. Something snapped and Logan reacted without thinking, shouting to Zach, "Get down!" even as he tackled him. The window Zach had been standing next to erupted into shards of glass and bullets holes marred the wall behind them. They both scramble to the relative protection under the windowsill.

"It's a trap!" Zach growled, "They were set up on us… waiting for us!"

"So it seems," Logan agreed favoring his right elbow from his landing, "How did they know we were coming?"

Zach shook his head perplexed, "They may have intercepted Tinga's call," Zach looked at Logan sidelong, "How? How did you know?" He panted.

Logan shook his head slowly side to side, "I don't know," He met Zach's gaze steadily, "Something just told me you were in danger."

"But how? You didn't see anything… hear anything?" He pressed, "I didn't."

"No it was more a sense of danger, a premonition, I guess you'd call it," Logan shrugged, as the pieces started to fall into place in his mind. The feeling was the same as the one that he had felt when Lydecker's men intercepted him and Max. It was the same way he had sensed Zach in his apartment when he hadn't heard him enter it, "Max's DNA is still working on my body… it could have something to do with it." He offered.

"But she couldn't do that… I can't do that," Zach insisted.

Logan shrugged again, "I can't offer you any other explanations besides that. It wasn't there a month ago."

Two soldiers appearing suddenly in their midst cut them off from further study of Logan's newest manifestation of ability. They both reacted simultaneously jumping up and running opposite directions. Logan took the one nearest him leaping high and catching the man in the chest. The man fell back the added momentum driving him back several feet into the adjacent wall. Reacting automatically he made sure that the soldier would not be able to follow them anytime soon. He then turned to Zach watching as he snapped the man's wrist, and followed it up by sweeping his left leg out from under him and hitting him with a hard jab to the chest. He retrieved the guns tossing one to Logan and slinging the other one over his own shoulder. He then quickly rooted through the man's pockets for extra clips tossing the ones corresponding to Logan's gun over.

More appeared from the back of the house having hidden in closets and hastily erected hidden compartments within the house, reinforcing the thought that this had been a set up. Zach mowed the first few down even as several more began pouring in through the window, leaving Logan to deal with them. Logan, not having the time to familiarize with the gun he was given let it slide on its strap to settle on his back as he stepped in quickly meeting the first before he had fully gotten his feet back under him. He lashed out with a right and then a left, the he stepped back round housing with a left foot sending the soldier sprawling.

Logan jumped up grabbing hold of the curtain rod and swung forward catching the next square in the chest and knocking him butt first through the window. The first soldier by this point had recovered and laid the muzzle of his rifle behind Logan's ear. Logan reacted quickly, faster than the soldier could elbowing him hard in the temple, grabbing the butt of the rifle as the soldier fell away from him. He quickly flipped the rifle catching it by the butt and pointing it at the man. He lay there unmoving and Logan slowly lowered the barrel.

"Nicely done," Zach said grudgingly to Logan as he stepped over to him, "We'll make a soldier out of you yet." Logan looked around to see the soldiers that Zach had dealt with lying in different places around the room.

"No thanks," Logan replied, "This is going to be my first and last Manticore infiltration operation," Logan smiled tightly knowing that was going to be true in more ways than one. He was actually surprised with himself. All of the training he thought he hadn't paid enough attention too was all coming back to him as if he had stored it in the back of his mind without realizing it. He was making it look easy, "So what now?"

"We have to find Tinga and the others," Zach said automatically.

"I told you they are probably dead," Logan said again, staring unfocused out the window.

"We don't know that for sure, they may have escaped and are hiding in the woods somewhere not too far from here."

Logan focused his gaze as he noticed minute movement. He refocused on the spot where he had seen the anomaly bringing a familiar black clad soldier into close-up. He was pressed against the frame of a second story window across the street. His gaze shifted counting mentally the dozens of black suited bodies in the surrounding trees and buildings. His face turned grim as he looked out several other windows seeing the same view as he had in the first, "Uh Zach," Logan said regaining his attention. Zach quickly moved over next to him staring out at the suddenly easily seen contingent of Lydecker's soldiers, "Maybe we had better worry about getting ourselves out of here first, we're surrounded."

"Damn!" Zach swore. Logan and Zach shared a glance, and Zach's brows furrowed in surprise as he watched Logan's eyes resume normal focus. Logan was the last person he expected to see that ability in. He had really been discounting Logan and his claim of Manticore abilities. He had no idea that his ability was so extensive. Logan's transfusion had been seven years ago, had Max's blood affected him that much? The last few hours aside he had considered Logan a liability on this mission, not necessarily because he was unable. Their fight in the apartment had proved to Zach Logan's ability. It was rather that he could see Logan's reluctance in the use of those abilities, and hesitation in a situation such as this was going to get one or both of them killed.

He raced to the back of the house, Logan backed himself against the near wall watching through the window of hallway him darting back and forth between rooms looking for a way out. Quickly he returned, "Get ready, this isn't going to be pretty. I'll stay back here, you going to be OK to cover the front?"

Logan nodded grimly, "I'll do what I have to."

Zach nodded too moving back down the hallway and taking up a position. Logan settled himself into a comfortable position at this end of the hall trying to watch all the windows and the door at the same time, wondering silently where the first assault would come from.

They sat in stalemated silence for nearly an hour before anything happened. Logan had felt little change in what he was now dubbing his radar, it was steadily working making him feel edgy but it got no worse so he knew there was no imminent attack. He was actually falling into a lull, knowing it was a dangerous practice, but unable to help himself. He shook his head as he did another touch and go, blinking several times trying to clear the exhaustion out of his mind.

Stiffly he pushed himself up to a standing position glancing around his area of responsibility. He stretched for long moments not letting his eyes leave the windows. He snapped into a position of readiness as he was warned simultaneously by his danger sense and the crackle of a Manticore's radio, "Tach team two move in, I repeat full breach," He heard as if it was next to him, it was Lydecker's voice.

He chambered a round into the purloined gun in his hands, bringing it up to his shoulder as he yelled behind him to Zach, "Zach!" He saw Zach's anxious face looking his direction; "They're coming!"

Zach nodded once grimly jumping to a crouched position, his attention all for the windows around his end of the place, "Pick your shots, Logan. Make your bullets last."

Logan nodded once without looking back as the remaining windows shattered and black bodies surged in through the broken panes. His weapon lit off almost without conscious thought and he watched in detachment as soldier after soldier went down before him. He could hear Zach's weapon behind him also firing in controlled bursts. The soldiers began to return fire, causing Logan to fall back to a more defendable position.

Soon the hall allowed only one or two entrance at a time and Logan slung his gun again and began to fight them hand to hand to save on ammo. The sheer numbers of them began to drive Logan back and he ended up in one of the side rooms and before he knew what had happened he felt himself falling. He hit bottom hard in the dark cracking his head on an outcropping. Logan had just enough consciousness to look up at the hole in the floor above him that had swallowed him whole. Then his consciousness faded.