"Hey
B*tch! You forgot this!"
Brin
looks up from Max just in time to see 700lbs of Harley Davidson flying at her
sideways like a gigantic boomerang.
I
don't know if it's luck, chance, or my subconscious getting in the way, but the
rear tire makes contact with her mid section, sending her flying with the bike
bouncing after her.
I
want to go over and make her eat the damn thing… but Max is laying there in sad
shape, and the bike crashes over on top of Brin, pinning her.
I
quickly check Max out to see if she is still among the living. She's breathing
regular. A little stressed, but regular.
I
hear the dull clonking sounds of the bike moving. I look back and see Brin is
still pinned but taking aim with the shot gun again.
The
world moves in slow motion. Brin is still hurt pretty bad, so the gun wobbles
as she aims. If I can dodge a Manticore aiming at me, a real gamble considering
they can track faster than I can move, Max will be hit from this angle.
I
scoop Max up in my arms, risking moving her with unknown injuries, and tuck
myself up into a ball in the line of fire. The shotgun blast slams into my
back, knocking me forward onto my knees and a little on top of Max.
My
gamble paid off… The shotgun was loaded with heavy buckshot and not slugs.
Still hurts like hell, but my Kevlar vest plate, built into my jacket caught
most of it.
I'll
have to dig the three pieces of shot that hit ME out. Later.
I
look up and see the rear door of the cabin burst open as Logan almost flips
himself over, trying to take the step that was evidently not modified for
wheelchair access yet.
He
can cover Max while I subdue Missabitchy!
I spin around, facing Brin who's trying to wiggle out from under the Harley. I
launch myself, panther-like at her.
It's
too much ground for me to cover in a single bound, so when my hands hit the
dirt I use my momentum to flip.
I'm
low and I ball up tight as I spin picking up speed. When I land, my feet send
clumps of dirt and sod flying at Brin's body as she finally pulls herself from
under the bike.
I
know from my tussle with Max when we first met that Manticore love to do those
pretty high jumps to get away from adversaries. I'm close enough to the Harley
to rip out the chain from the motor's drive mechanism. With the same motion, I
slash the chain high into the air.
Surprise
b*tch. Speed is great! Skill is better!
Brin was already turned around and sending a kick at me. Not only do I manage
to block it, mostly by chance, but Mr. Bike Chain slashes her upside her head
and across an eye.
As
she lands on her feet, holding her face, I see she's a little crumpled over to
one side where the rear tire hit her.
My
turn!
I
brace the arm with the bike chain on the ground and swing my body into the air.
Both feet push kick her in her 'soft' side.
She
lets out a surprised yelp as she flies through the air out of control.
She
lands on her other side, on her shoulder, and twists again…letting out a
wailing moan this time.
It's the shoulder where I hit her back at the hotel. Guess I tagged her harder
than I thought.
I
snap back up onto my feet. She crawls herself back into a crouched kneeling
position and looks at me wide eyed. I see fear run over her face for the first
time.
She
wheezes a little as she draws a breath, and coughs as she exhales. A trickle of
bright red blood runs down her lip and drips onto the ground.
She
regains her composure and glares at me as she wipes her bottom lip. But it
falls apart as quickly as it came when she sees the blood on her hand.
I
slowly start to advance on her. She slowly backs up until she's at the corner
of the house.
Her
eyes are locked on me until and she starts dragging herself upright along the
side of the house.
From
around the corner Lydecker run out. Gun in hand. He points at Brin.
I figure, we got her. I figure wrong.
He
looks at her, still a little drunk and fuzzy…
"Baby
Sister?" He turns the gun at me… "What are you doing you psycho! I should've
know you were working for Lydecker."
I'm
sure Lydecker is a good shot, as is Zack, but between the alcohol and the
normal human senses I have no trouble dodging him. Brin look totally confused
now.
"It's
me, Zack, I've had plastic surgery to look like Lydecker! Get out of here, I'll
hold this guy off."
Brin
stares at him. There is no way the look on her face could be anything but
skepticism.
Still, as he starts shooting at me, she takes the opportunity to run.
"YOU
IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I yell at him.
"Protecting
my sisters!" He fires off a few more shoots! "Dammit! I'm never this slow!"
His
gun is empty and he runs around the corner after Brin.
I
stop and look back at Logan.
"Go.
I'll take care of her!" he yells.
I
grab my busted up Harley and start pushing it like a scooter.
The
Hummer had to spin around before Brin could make a run for it. I coast down a
small hill on an intercept course with it getting up enough speed to catch up.
My
timing is perfect. I pop a small wheelie at just the right moment and wedge the
front wheel of the Harley into the front wheel well of the Hummer. Metal and
rubber twists and mangles on both vehicles, and my momentum throws me half way
through the passenger's side window. Tinga is still in the back! My Harley
whips end over end slamming my legs as the untied vehicles start to spin out of
control.
Brin
panics and the lets go of the wheel to fight with me.
Tinga
comes to, with all the bumps and bangs. She sees Brin and grabs her.
Through
the windshield I see what's left of my Harley flying over the hood of the
Humvee.
Then
the whole car begins to flip over…
Brin is slammed up against the drivers side door as the passenger side raises
in the air dropping me head first on top of her. Tinga fairs a little better in
the empty back seat. Arms, legs and little military gadgets are flying
everywhere.
All
I can do is brace and wait for everything to stop rolling.
Point of View: JONDIE****************************************
When
we finally reached Logan's apartment, I felt like I had been walking for hours.
My foot was screaming for relief, but I continued to ignore it. It was a little
trick that I'd found very useful at Manticore. All the other X-5's had their
physical strengths except me. Max had excelled in escape and evade, Zack in
hand-to-hand combat, but none of them had a stronger mind than I did. I could
suppress my emotions, ignore extreme amounts of pain, forget everything I knew,
and recall it with ease. It had been my mind that had gotten me through the
hell of Manticore. Whenever I wasn't good enough for 'dear old dad' I'd just
push away the frustration, ignore the pain, and focus my anger on the
objective. I might not have been the strongest little soldier, but I was the
most intense.
The
sight that met our eyes when we walked into Logan's apartment was something
that neither of us expected. The entire apartment was trashed, and there was a
person-sized hole in one wall and liquor bottles scattered around the kitchen.
"What
in the world happened here?" I ask in amazement surveying the damage.
Despite the mess, I've never seen anything this nice in my life. Obviously Cale
has some money. Zack merely grunts some kind of reply as he begins methodically
checking the apartment. "Always the soldier," I thought and rolled my
eyes.
"It's
gone," he says looking slightly surprised as he walks back into the living
room where he left me.
"What's
gone?"
"All
of Logan's computers and equipment. They're gone."
"Do
you think Lydecker was here?"
"No.
He wouldn't have any need for Logan's computers. They must have come back here
and gotten them."
"Where
would they go?" I ask and watch Zack's face go through a spectrum of
emotions. He's obviously remembering something, but I decide that it's better
not to ask.
"Cale
has a cabin a little ways outside of the city," he says tersely. Suddenly
he looks at me his face filled with concern. "Can you make it?"
"Of
course I can," I answer, pushing away the pain in my foot.
"C'mon.
It's time to save your big sister," he says leading the way out of the
apartment.
Point of View: LOGAN****************************
Bling
is finally reviving when we hear the gunshot. Kendra and Cindy jump, Cindy
looks like she's about to start outside. Kendra looks like she's about to
panic.
I
know the feeling. Max is outside with a psychotic X5, a delirious X5, and a drugged
Lydecker, and one of them just got shot.
Logic
takes over. "Stay here," I tell Cindy and Kendra. "Help Bling.
We might need him."
More
crashes coming from somewhere outside. I yank open a cabinet near the door,
grab the gun and clip concealed in the back.
I
try to get out fast, but it's not easy. Godd*mn chair. Godd*mn step.
I
barely get down before Tread tosses Max into my lap and turns back to Brin.
Max
is breathing but she's dead weight. I'm trying to inventory her injuries while
keeping an eye on Tread and Brin. Max has blood dripping down the side of her
face. Looks like the bullet skimmed the side of her head, enough to knock her
out but thank God not enough to kill her. The rest of her is not in much better
shape.
Brin's
not looking too good either, and Tread is a match for her, so I focus on trying
to stop Max's bleeding.
Until
the gunshots resume and instinctively I try to cover Max.
"YOU
IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Tread yells. Lydecker is shooting at him, covering
for Brin. Fortunately he's a lousy shot when he's drunk. When he runs out of
bullets he runs around the corner after Brin.
Max
moans. And oh God, starts to shake.
Tread
looks over. "Go. I'll take care of her!" I yell.
Somehow,
I will never know how, I get Max and myself up the step and into the cabin.
Bling is standing and looking only slightly disoriented. "What's going
on?"
"She's
been shot, she's beaten up, and she's seizing."
From
outside there's another crash.
Point of View: LYDECKER*************************************
I'm
not sure what's wrong with me, and quite frankly I don't care right now. I must
still be having after-effects from the anesthetics used during the plastic
surgery. That could be the only reason why I'm this slow.
I
didn't trust that psycho from the start, and as I watched him attack my baby
sister, I knew he was working for Lydecker. I heard the fighting and came
around with my pistol in hand. Tread was supposed to be protecting Max, but
there was Max in pretty-boy's lap, and nutcase was attacking Brin. B*stard!
"Baby
Sister?" I call out to her. She looks rather skeptical. No wonder since I
didn't even know myself after the surgery. I pointed the gun at Tread. "What
are you doing you psycho! I should've know you were working for Lydecker."
I
fired several times, but the monster must have had as good of training as us.
He managed to dodge every shot. Damn! Brin was totally shocked.
"It's
me, Zack, I've had plastic surgery to look like Lydecker! Get out of here, I'll
hold this guy off." I yelled to her. She wasted no time running like hell. Good
girl, I thought.
"YOU
IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he yelled at me.
"Protecting
my sisters!" I shout, and fired the rest of my clip at him. "Dammit, I'm
never this slow!" I take off after Brin rather that do some hand-to-hand
with Tread.
Brin
is gaining ground on me easily. She's heading to the hummer. She jumps in and
starts it. She sees me, and I veer off a little, reloading my gun. Everything
is so wobbly right now. She had to go uphill a little to whip around, and pick
me up, but Tread was suddenly flying down the hill on his busted up Harley. For
a second I was sure my heart was going to stop as the two vehicles collided,
and then suddenly began rolling down the hill.
I'm
after them in a second. They roll over and over, landing upside down. I ended
up tripping (a first for me) and rolled half-way down the hill, ending up
splashing into the ice-cold stream meandering down the hill. The coldness makes
me feel way more alert as I run the last few yards to the hummer.
Tread
is trapped, half of his body in the hummer, his legs pinned under, stuck
through the window. The only thing keeping him from being crushed alive was the
Harley was jammed in the wheel well, giving him some support. He's pretty
dazed, and somewhat unconscious, but I know he'll be ready for action way too
soon.
Tinga
is struggling in the backseat. She looks shocked to see me, but that's
acceptable. "It's me, Zack," I tell her. She looks doubtful. Damn,
this was good surgery. "When you were ten you had a puppy named Mr.
Sparkles," I say quickly. That was something Lydecker wouldn't know. Her
eyes widen, and she lets me help her out of the car. We get Brin out, and I
realize that we only have seconds before Mr. Ugly is back in the game.
Tinga
looks like she wants an explanation, but I pick up Brin and make a hand
gesture. Escape and Evade. She hesitates, and I give her my best CO look. She
knows what I mean. We start running through the woods. I can't believe it's so
hard to carry Brin. It must be the anesthetics. Tinga takes her from me, and we
slip through the forest.
If
Max is working with Tread, then she must be in league with Lydecker. It makes
sense now. She took crazy chances around me so that I would get caught. I'm the
gateway to the other X-5's. No wonder Lydecker never raided her boyfriend's
place despite his problems keeping things classified. They probably had drinks
there all the time. The thought of a drink causes something to flash in my mind
like when you try to remember a dream when you wake up, but can't. Irrelevant
to the mission at any rate.
Point of View: KENDRA**************************************
Original
Cindy and I are trying to revive Bling when Logan comes in the door. The sound
of him entering scared the crap out of me. I'm just glad it's not that crazy
girl with the shotgun. Dam I can't even remember what her name is.
A
little bit later I heard a gun go off. My first thoughts jump to Max. I hope
she is okay; however she seems like she can take care of herself. Then Logan
starts yelling. He tells me to stay here. He's got nothing to worry about, I
for one, am not going to wonder out there with that girl on the loose. She
scares the sh!t out of me.
Just
as Logan gets down the stairs, this guy puts Max down on his lap. I am going to
have to guess this guy is Tread. Max looks like she is really limp. For a
moment I think she is dead then I see her start to shake. I run over to Logan
to see what I can do to help. I'm not a doctor or anything but I did work at
the hospital for a while.
Point of View:
MAX***************************************
The
last I can remember is Brin standing over me, as what sounds like a Humvee
drives up. Someone's yelling . . . sounds like Logan . . . And then there's a
loud crack that splits the air and everything goes black . . .
I'm
cold. It's dark here.
I
have no idea where I am. Everything is so far away. I hear a voice, but it's
faint. So far away . . . "She's been shot, she's beaten up, and she's
seizing."
Are
they talking about me? I don't think I've been shot . . . I don't feel it.
Something Zack told me once at Manticore comes back to me: "You never hear
the one that gets you."
Well,
I'd heard the shot . . . or I'd heard *one*
Max,
snap out of it! I have to give Logan those papers I found in Tread's
saddlebags. I feel awareness returning to my body. And it hurts like a b!tch.
Before fighting with Brin, I'd put them in my shirt to keep them safe. Are they
still there? I reach a hand tentatively towards my body.
"What
is she doing? Keep her still." A strong hand clamps down on my wrist.
Another hand takes my chin and raises my head. What are they doing? Something
touches my lips. "Take the pills, Maxie, they'll stop the seizing."
I
press my lips together. I have no idea who these people are. I don't take candy
from strangers.
"Max,
please," a voice near my ear whispers, "take the pills." It's
Logan. I open my mouth and allow him to 'force-feed' me Tryptophan.
"Good
girl." I can feel him relax. "Bling, get the first aid kit. We need
to tend to her injuries."
Injuries?
That doesn't sound good.
"Let
me help," Kendra says. Now, I love Kendra. She's a great roommate, and
bless her heart, extremely generous. But I WILL NOT let her attend to my
injuries. I try to sit up, but Logan holds me down. Good thing actually, my
head is throbbing.
"The
papers," I croak.
"What?"
"Manticorny.
Classified papers."
"Where
are they?"
"Down
my shirt. And if you don't free my arms, you'll have to fish them out."
Did I just say that? OhGOD! Please let me be delusional.
Logan
looks like he's about to actually do it when the door bursts open . . .
My
head still isn't clear. I get the First Aid kit. Between all the wounded and
beaten around here it's running really low.
A
moment ago it sounded like a small war went on outside.
Cindy and Kendra take the First Aid kit from me. Kendra look at me a moment.
I see some concern on her face.
"Are
you going to be okay?"
I
try to smile and nod.
She
drifts back over to Max, Logan and Cindy and starts to help.
Max
starts talking about "papers", I'm trying to follow, but my head is outside the
cabin. Tinga is out there. And in spite of everything that's happened,
everything she's done… I'm can't seem to get her out of my mind.
Man…
Some one should hit me in the head again I guess!
All
of a sudden the door burst open! I grab for a nearby hand gun.
I'm
a second away from shooting when I see a tall Asian woman and little girl rush
inside and hide.
"You
people are insane!" she hollers as she covers the little girl.
I
go over to the door still wide open and peer out. At the bottom of the hill is
a smoking Humvee on its side with a motorcycle stuck into it at several places.
I
can see the foliage across the road moving. A sign that some one just ran off
that way.
"This
b1tch is finished." Cindy says as she tosses the First Aid kit aside.
Logan
calls to me.
"Bling,
How's it look out there?"
"Quiet.
For the moment."
"Three
and a half genetically engineered killing machines out there and it's quiet?
That's probably not good."
I
know the sound in his voice. He want something, but he doesn't want to ask me
to put myself in danger.
"What
do we need Logan?'
He
pauses.
"There should be another First Aid kit in the back of the Humvee."
"Right"
I nod.
"Bling!"
He calls to me.
"Tinga
may be back there too. Be careful."
I
nod to him.
I
start making my way down the hill toward the wreckage.
When I'm closer I start to feel …something. It's a little like being watched,
or walking through a graveyard at night.
I
stop dead in my tracks when from under the Humvee I see two metal tipped
Motorcycle boots sticking out.
I
take one step closer, then that weird feeling comes on strong!!! I wince,
almost by reflex!
THERE'S
A ROAR FROM INSIDE THE HUMVEE!!!
Its like part lion and part person screaming.
Two
hand prints are punched into the top of the Humvee. Then two fist prints punch
into the hand prints and the metal rips a little. Two hands finally punch
through folding back the metal roof making a hand hold. The entire time there
is sub-human growling mixed with grunting.
I
point my gun at the Humvee, mostly out of reflex!
There
is another ROAR as the Humvee moves and shudders. The hand holds rip even more
and trickles of blood start streaming down from the hands poking through.
One
of the legs underneath twists, like it's part of a rag doll being yanked from
the other side.
The
hands disappear for a moment and there is a third ROAR coupled with a cracking
sound, one I know all to well as a physical therapist. It's a dislocated joint
being snapped back into position.
I
consider going to help, but that weird feeling holds me in my tracks… paralyzed
by fear.
I
hear heavy breathing. Growling. The two hands stick through the holes again.
This time the Humvee lifts higher and the other leg drags loosely underneath.
Before
the vehicle can fall back to the ground, the bloody hands appear underneath,
and the Humvee tilts over revealing the man the parts belong to. He's crouched
in the space that was the Humvee's window.
When
I was young there was this toy, it was a man made out of little pieces of bead.
He was strung together with a tight string. There was a plunger at the bottom,
and when you pushed it the man collapsed as all the strings loosened. When you
released the plunger, no matter how disarrayed the pieces were, the man would
pop back into the upright position. I played with it for hours as a child… but
I never thought I would see it happen to a human being.
I
watched… this… man?!?! pull himself back together coupled with the sound of a
thousand knuckles cracking. I considered running when he lurched into a
crouching position looking directly at me. His eyes were solid Black on White.
No iris color what so ever. His face, the most fearsome thing I had ever seen.
Like the face of the devil itself! I knew if I moved, he would tear me apart. I
slowly drew a breath into my lungs. Slowly… so it wouldn't make a noise.
"Tread?"
My voice cracked as I said it.
The
thing forced itself to blink once. The second blink was less forced. Then he
shook off that look, and I noticed the green back in his eyes, and the weird
"terror" feeling subsided, as he seemed to become a person again.
"Bling.
The butler." He finally said.
I
was too relieved to be offended. I took a deep breath and started to talk to
him.
"That's
right, we haven't met but I'm Bling, I work with Logan and…"
In
a single move he twisted and leaped on top of the Humvee, now turned upright.
There was another growl, but this time it was more of a comment than a
statement. He faced the direction where I saw the trees moving before.
"What
are you looking for?" I asked as a walked around to see his face again.
His
tongue was stuck out and curled. He was sucking air over it. He pulled it back
in and made a little slurp to moisten it again. He looked at me
"I'm
going after them."
