Chapter Eight: …And Back Again

Chapter Eight: …And Back Again.

Tinga and Zach came back through the encampment with a vengeance. They lay two tents and most of the soldiers who had remained behind upon their escape to waste. Most were still searching the woods for the two of them and would continue to do so until they felt it was time for them to be found, and that was never. Surely they would hear the explosion echoing through the woods and return to defend the fort, only it would be too late.

Tinga smiled inwardly at the irony of it. She and Logan had come through here stealthily, quietly rooting out where Zach was being held, and had gotten out only to be discovered as they had disappeared into the forest. Manticore knew that they were still in the area, though would probably have never thought that they would come back to the scene of the crime.

This time it was all or nothing, and there was no need to make it a quiet trip. They surgically took out what was obviously the communications tent disabling any attempt to call in reinforcements. Spots of gunfire were heard as the grunts worked to regain some semblance of order within their quickly thinning ranks. Each tent that they passed they cleared and checked before moving on unsure where Logan might have gone in his quest for vengeance. Surely he had been captured, his moves were good but not nearly as good as X-5 soldiers, not nearly good enough to take on what was left of the soldiers here. Tinga wondered silently if he had come up against the two younger Manticores they had heard were on this establishment.

Zach and Tinga moved quickly between the tents covering the open ground between them and their objective with and ease that spoke of years of practice. They quickly dispatched any that showed themselves. As they moved past the medical tent Zach was grabbed from behind and physically yanked back. Zach, reacting quickly, planted both feet somersaulting backwards, landing in close to the soldier that had assaulted him. He hooked his foot around the leg of the man pulling it back at the same time he hit him with a quick succession of punches sending the assailant into the dirt. He only noticed the barcode after he had ensured that the young man wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

Zach quickly checked him over for weapons taking everything the young boy had, "Damn," He said to no one, "Were we ever this young?"

Tinga smiled but was facing away from Zach covering what was ahead in case of any other attack, "I never felt that young if that's what you mean."

"I don't think any of us did," Zach agreed in a low tone stepping up next to his fellow X-5.

They continued on until they were about half way through the encampment, before they could go any further another young Manticore soldier stepped out of the large tent that was central to the camp. She was aiming an assault rifle directly at Tinga, icily eyeing the both of them. The redhead said nothing just covered them. Stepping out of the tent behind the girl was Lydecker aiming his pistol at Zach, "Well, well," Lydecker said smiling crookedly, "What have we here?"

"Lydecker," Tinga said in one quipped word.

Logan barely heard the voices outside but they were familiar and were a boon to him. At the same time he wished that they had never risked capture to come back for him. He didn't feel he deserved that kind of attention, not after the stunt he pulled. Lydecker had followed the young redheaded Manticore out the flap as if they sensed the approach of the rescue team. Logan wished that he could help them out somehow, only he couldn't see how.

Logan blinked several times as a glint of light caught his good eye. At first he was unable to focus on the source of the light he had noticed, but amazingly his augmented vision kicked in giving him a good close up view of the small key that lay there. The keys to the cuffs, he smiled to himself not even regretting the pain that caused him. Lydecker must have dropped it when Logan had given his last-ditch effort to get the man off his leg. Now the problem became how to get to it. It lay about six to ten inches in front and to one side of where he was sitting.

Experimentally he tried shifting around the pole, grimacing and fighting off the screaming pain that moved through his stiff and sore body. But he kept on, because another thought had occurred to Logan, it was an old thought really, that Lydecker would find out exactly what happened to him, what he was capable of. Lydecker would then add him to the "To get" list that he seemed to keep. That possibility loomed in his mind right now and he would rather die than see that thought come to fruition. So he continued to pivot around the pole until he was in a position he thought stood the best chance of him being successful, his head swimming, his stomach roiling both threatening to gang up on him and send him into the abyss yet again.

Sliding down the pole a bit he stretched his shackled arms back behind him carefully feeling for the key he could barely see as he looked back over his shoulders. He sighed in relief as one finger brushed against it and he snatched it between his thumb and forefinger. Fumbling slightly and holding his breath he worked to get the key into a position where he could insert it into the lock. His whole pain wracked body visibly sagged as he heard the faint click and felt the pressure on his left wrist ease as the cuffs opened up.

Logan slowly brought his arms back around to the front laying them in his lap for a moment letting the circulation return. Trying not to move his arms too much, he switched the key to the other hand and unlocked the cuff on his right wrist. Logan flexed his fingers and then rubbed his wrists. He then set his hands on the ground either side of him and leaned forward. Logan brought his right leg up under him and attempted to push himself upright. Somehow Logan managed to gain his feet, and remain conscious, though a wave of nausea nearly overwhelmed him.

Logan experimentally put weight on his left leg, nearly biting the lining of his lip clean off when white hot pain shot through his body, "Damn it," Logan whispered, but he was not to be deterred. Slowly, painfully he moved toward the entrance of the tent, intent on getting free of here and living, "To a ripe old age," he thought ruefully, kicking himself for ever having given up on the idea.

"Lydecker," Tinga said quietly, angrily, "We've come for our friend," She said loudly, "Let him go."

"Demanding aren't we?" He said tilting his head up slightly, "But I don't know what or whom you're talking about."

Tinga knew this ploy coming from Lydecker, he was stalling giving his scattered troops time to regroup and surround them, she wasn't about to give him that advantage. Without thinking and without giving away her intention she swiftly rolled toward the young girl under the aim of her weapon and putting her in the line of fire of Lydecker. It only took the girl second to recover but it was enough, Tinga pivoted on her hand swinging her leg out catching the girl at the ankles and sending her to the ground. She then flipped up sending an elbow crashing hard into her face. She went limp and Tinga jumped up headed for Lydecker. It was unnecessary Zach was already there, and she watched as he freed the gun from Lydecker's grip and in the same motion twisted the arm up behind his back. That done Zach nodded toward the tent and Tinga nodded moving quickly toward the flap. Zach was closer but they made it through the flap nearly at the same time.

Both of them stopped short at the sight that greeted them, three sets of eyes glued to the man standing before them. Logan's face was swollen, caked with a combination of drying blood and dirt. One eye was now completely swelled shut. His infiltration suit was more gray than black covered in dust with a dark smudge here and there that could only be blood. One of the pant legs on his suit was raggedly cut away giving them a good view of the nastiest wound any of them had ever seen. There was a combination of blood and green ooze running down his left leg from the fester, and angry red streaks were visible under the blanched white skin on his leg. Tinga could follow Logan's trail back to where he had been incarcerated seeing a similar pool of the stuff near a pole at the center of the tent. Then her eyes came back to him wondering how it was that he was able to remain on his feet in his condition.

Zach had nearly run Lydecker into Logan as he had hastily entered the tent. Both parties stood frozen for lingering seconds when without warning Logan punched Lydecker in the face with enough force that Lydecker was torn from Zach's grasp, crumpling to a heap on the floor. Logan nearly lost his footing and awkwardly recovered. Logan produced a gun he had retrieved from Lydecker's desk raising it shakily to aim at Lydecker's head. Slowly Logan shifted his gaze to look into Zach's startled eyes, his aim still amazingly steady on the temple of Manticore's leader. Logan's eyes were hard and cold and one corner of his mouth quirked up.

Logan's gaze suddenly shifted and with quickness Tinga would not have credited with Logan's condition he brought the gun up seemingly aimed at Zach himself, "No!" Tinga yelled what was wrong with him? Logan pulled the trigger, the bullet traveling just over Zach's shoulder penetrating the tent wall. The tent shook violently as a body crumpled against the fabric rolling off it to land on the ground with a grunt, it was followed by silence. Zach looked over his shoulder shocked at the action of the man before him. Slowly Zach returned his attention to the older man realizing what had just happened, "Premonition?" Zach said simply his eyebrows raised over his still wide eyes.

Logan nodded minutely, "Yeah," He answered barely audible. Slowly, as Zach watched, Logan's legs crumpled and it was all Zach could do to grab him before he joined Lydecker on the floor.

"Let's get out of here," Zach said grimly throwing Logan's limp form over a shoulder and holding a gun in the other.

"I'm all for that," Tinga agreed automatically taking point.

Getting out was easier than either of them had expected and they could not pinpoint just why that was. It could have been that they were tasked with getting the flammables out of the range of the raging fire that had been started or the equipment. It could have been that they had worked through more of them than they had thought. Either way they were thankful for the reprieve. Within a couple of hours they were back in Logan's vehicle and headed away.