Chapter 4
Max turned to him. "What?"
"We can't leave yet."
"Sure we can," I said. "Give me the keys. I'll show you."
"No," Logan said. "We forgot some people." Max and I waited. "The immigrants," Logan explained. "There are still some immigrants in the warehouse over there. I know it's illegal, but we shouldn't allow them to be brutally murdered by that madman. Many of them have jobs over here. They have lives. They've built something for themselves. They don't deserve to be abandoned."
"Yeah…" I said thoughtfully. "So Max, you wanna drive, or should I?"
Logan glared at me, but he turned to Max. "I know it's asking a lot after you rescued me. It'll be difficult, and it's pretty last-minute, but admit it: you wouldn't have my flashes of patriotism any other way."
"That, and the episode's running short," I added. "So they're going to add a climax that has little to do with the rest of the plot. Like the movie Speed."
Max thought for a moment. "Fine," she said. "But on one condition."
Logan frowned. "What's that?"
She broke into a grin. I became suspicious.
"Tomorrow night, you cook me the nicest meal I've ever eaten."
Logan's features softened into a smile. "I promise you."
Suspicion confirmed.
"All right." Max looked at me. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I'll probably need your help again."
"I'm not about to duck out just when it's getting good," I answered.
Max nodded. "Good. The quicker we can get out of here, the quicker I can go to bed. I've still got work tomorrow."
Facing the harbor was the warehouse. It stood a seemingly vast three stories high as we sneaked up towards it, looming up ominously against the sky with dark, broken windows.
Max paused behind a crate, and scanned the surrounding area. "I see eleven guards," she said. "You?"
"I think I see one over there, but I'm not sure. Say, you're not showing off, are you?"
"Perish the thought," Max answered, squinting. "I don't see any way in I like on this side. Come on." We sneaked around to the back, only to see several more guards roaming around. "This won't be easy. We'll have to get all the immigrants out without the guards seeing them."
"They're not immigrants," I said. "They're extras hired because they all have a darker skin color and black hair."
Max was to the point where she was ignoring my comments. "If those guards follow their patterns, three of them are going to leave in a few minutes to check the perimeter of the warehouse. We'll have about a minute before three more come around from the other side to replace them."
"A minute to do what?"
Max looked at me. "Fight."
"What? Fight? We'd be outnumbered three to one!"
"Grab a weapon," she answered simply. "Use that two-by-four over there."
I gaped at her. She had to be kidding. No one would be that stup-
"They're leaving," she hissed. "Go now!"
I shrugged and grabbed the board. Max ran out into he open, jumping into the air and kicking two guards in the stomach simultaneously with each foot. While they gasped for breath, she kicked the gun out of the hand of another guard, and grabbed a fourth by his hand, wrenching it sideways just as he fired his weapon.
In the fray, I saw one guard draw his own weapon. I went after him, swinging down hard on his hand. The gun fell to the ground. Unfortunately, I overshot with the swing, and that left me exposed. He slugged me in the stomach. I doubled over, wheezing, and fell to the ground.
He came after me, but at the last minute I swung at his legs, connecting with his right shin. He wavered on his good leg and fell on top of me, swearing. I tried to get out from underneath, crawling on my stomach, and he landed a punch in my kidney. My right arm was free, still clutching the board, and I swung back blindly, feeling it connect with something solid. I swung again and again, and he moaned. His grip on my leg loosened and I crawled away. When I rose, he was in the fetal position, clutching his head.
I kicked him twice in the stomach. "See how you like it, asshole!" Another whack with the two by four and he was out. I jumped away, glancing over at Max. "Ha!" I yelled with excitement. Max, did you see that? I kicked his ass…" I trailed off.
Max turned to face me. Seven guards were lying in a circle around her feet, completely still. "Did you say something?"
I looked down at my guard. "Uh, nothing. Forget it."
"Come on," she said. "We're gonna have three more very soon."
"Hold on," I said suddenly. "Let me try something." I grabbed the gun from one of the fallen guards, and threw it as far as I could off into the woods, where it made a nice crashing sound. I heard yells coming from around the corner, and dimly saw the three guards rushing into the trees. Max looked impressed.
We dragged our guards behind some crates. "I can't believe you took on seven guards and won," I stated. "I'm surprised at least one didn't have time to shoot you down right where you stood."
"I guess I just got lucky," she answered.
I could see she wasn't getting the point. "When it happens episode after episode, it's not getting 'lucky.' It's suspension of disbelief."
"Whatever," Max said. She pulled out the little tool and worked the door open. She stepped through, holding the door for me until I could reach it. "Careful not to let it close while-"
Click.
Max didn't bother looking back, but her shoulders slumped. "You let it close."
"You didn't warn me fast enough."
"It locks from the outside," she explained. "We can't open it from inside here!"
We turned to view our surroundings. There were about forty immigrants, ranging from older men to baby girls, watching us with fascination. They looked pale and ghostly, and I wondered how long they'd been in here without food or water.
I stepped up to the nearest one. "We're here to get you guys out of here."
His brows furrowed in confusion, and he shook his head. "¿Que?"
"Great, Spanish," I muttered.
Max peered back out the window. Behind her I could see the three guards come in from the woods, and she ducked out of view. The guards began prowling around, and I saw one of them walk behind the crates. "Oh…crap."
He gave a cry of alarm, and the other two rushed over. The talked briefly, gesturing wildly, and before long two of them ran off, probably to get help. Which means this place will be crawling in no time.
The last guard raised his gun and looked suspiciously around. He slowly walked up to the window and peered inside. His eyes locked on mine for a moment, and widened in surprise.
Suddenly Max jumped up. She punched through the glass, grabbed the guard, and pulled him into the door. His head collided with the wall, and he fell to the ground.
Several of the immigrants stared with amazement. "Big deal," I said. "They use tempered glass for that effect."
Reaching out through the broken window, Max fiddled with the locked door until it opened. She whirled around and began gesturing outside. "Come on, people. Come on. Let's move it!" Slowly they began filing out. "Lead these people out of here," she directed to me.
"What about those other two guards?" I asked. "They're going to get help."
"I'll take care of them," she answered. She bent over to pick up the fallen guard's gun.
Wow…
Max turned around to glare up at me. "Hey!" she snapped. "If you don't stop staring at my ass, you'll be lying here next to him."
"Sorry."
I was given the weapon and the dirtiest glare yet. "Here. Shoot at anything that fires first."
"If they fire first, I'll already be dead." Nevertheless, I led the immigrants out into the darkness. I didn't really know where to go, of course, but I tried to make my way towards the woods on the far side, where they would have less of a chance of being cornered.
Suddenly I heard shouts from somewhere in front of us. I realized that they must have finally discovered Logan was missing. I could now see several more guards streaming out of the building, and I looked frantically around. To my left was a particularly large stack of crates, and I pointed over to them. "Come on!"
They didn't need to understand me to know what the plan was. We rushed across the docks, and they started trying to find places to hide. With the harbor nearly thirty feet behind us, we had a relatively good hiding place.
"Hey," a voice said beside me.
I jumped and turned. Max was already crouching beside me. "Can't I even trust you to get these people to safety?"
"Cute," I answered. "But look around you. Our situation is getting worse by the moment. I think they've discovered Logan's missing.
"Well," Max said, shrugging, "at least things can't get much worse."
"You're asking for trouble with that line," I commented. "Now things will get worse, because it'll seem funny." Just then, a gunshot rang out, striking the ground a few feet behind us. "See?"
"That didn't seem funny," Max said.
"Because I spoiled the joke."
"I can try to draw a few of the guards away." She peeked over a crate. "Take them down the docks into the woods."
"There's twenty guards down there," I hissed. "How many are you planning on drawing away?"
Max gave me a sidelong glance. "I'm even hotter in person, remember?" She grinned wickedly.
I smiled back. "Yeah you are."
She sneaked off. In a few moments there was a loud commotion off to the right, and I could barely hear her yelling. Sure enough, many of the men broke off and headed in the direction of her voice. Even better, she distracted the guard that had shot at us long enough for one of the women in the group to sneak up and lay him out with two punches and a kick.
We all made it into the woods in relative safety, and they seemed to understand that they'd been freed. They thanked me many times (I think; despite three years of Spanish I hardly know anything about the language), and I watched them vanish into the woods, honestly feeling good about myself.
I knew immediately to head back to the car. With the gun in my hand I started back in its direction. I sneaked quietly across the docks, trying to stay to the shadows as Max had suggested. Just then another guard came out from a crate in front of me. Just as I raised my gun he raised his. We both froze, with the guns steadily trained on each other's face. It was a standoff.
"Great," I said. "One of these."
"Who are you?" the guard demanded.
"Stephen," I answered. "You?"
"Eric," he answered. "If you put the gun down now, I might be able to convince my friends to let you live."
"Thanks," I answered. "But you know you can't win. You're a measly extra. I'll bet your name wasn't even shown onscreen during the first few seconds of the show when they list the guest stars." Suddenly I gave him a sly look. "In fact, you probably owe me one now. If it wasn't for this part with us standing here, you'd probably have no speaking lines in the show."
We were slowly circling each other now. "Is that so?" the guard asked, smiling. "Well, regardless of what you did for me, I'm still going to shoot you."
"You shoot me, I shoot back." Assuming I know how this thing works.
"No you won't," He answered. "Your gun has no clip. You're empty." He laughed out loud.
"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Well, in a second you're going to be unconscious. So there."
"What?"
Wham. The guard crumpled to the ground.
"Thanks, Max," I said, putting my arm down.
"I always seem to be saving your ass," she said. "And he's right. You had no ammo. Tell me you didn't lead the immigrants around with an empty gun."
I grinned weakly.
She sighed. "You don't even know how to handle a weapon. Hand it over." She took the gun and gave me the now-unconscious guard's weapon. "I don't use them," she added by way of explanation.
"But I do."
We whirled around. Standing there was Walter Erhardt, and he raised his gun to my head. "Drop the gun."
"And what if I don't?" I demanded.
"I call a maintenance man to come down here and mop your brains off the dock." He cocked the gun.
"You don't scare me," I said defiantly. "That's only a prop!"
He fired a shot into the ground. I jumped back.
"You may have let Eyes Only escape, but you're also going to bring him back." Walter held up a microphone. "Logan!" he shouted into it. "I have your friends! If you don't come out, they'll die! Do you hear me!? They'll die!" He grabbed me and held it in front of my face. "Say something," he snarled.
"Okay," I said uncertainly. "Um…" I leaned up to the microphone "Nana Visitor, by accepting the part of Madam X, risks typecasting herself as an actress who can only play roles in science fiction series!" I looked up at him gratefully. "Damn, it felt good to get that off my chest."
Walter stared at me, then shook his head and held the microphone up again. "Go back to the building and meet me in the front. You have five minutes. " With the gun thoughtfully jammed into the small of my back, Walter forced us toward the building.
~~~~~
When Logan heard the announcement, fear clutched his heart. Oh my God, he thought. Max? I can't let her be hurt! Pause. Oh, yeah. And that, uh, Stephen kid. Maybe I can save him too. He opened up the driver's side door. There was blood on the seat and parts of the windshield. There were also signs of a struggle in the back. "Certainly looks like Max's work," he said. She'd had enough foresight to keep the guards' weapons, and he selected one.
He knew there was no way he could make it through the woods with his wheelchair. He had little choice, he realized, other than to crawl back to the docks. It filled him with humiliation, crawling like an animal on his hands out to where Walter Erhardt stood with his friends at gunpoint. Probably part of his sadistic games, he thought bitterly, to have me drag myself before him. But Logan knew he had to put his pride aside; Max was in danger, for God's sake. He couldn't see himself without her.
Knotting his brows in determination, Logan Cale set off for the docks.
~~~~~
Erhardt stood looking at his watch. "Five…four…three…two…one!" He held up the microphone. "Time's up, Mr. Cale! Which one shall I shoot first? The woman or the boy?"
"Neither."
I looked up with relief. Propping himself up on the ground lay Logan, with his gun aimed at Walter Erhardt's face. "Let them go."
Erhardt laughed. "The mighty Eyes Only indeed!" he cried. "Look at you! Sprawling on the ground like the broken little man you are! How pathetic." He sneered.
"Let…them…go," Logan said menacingly.
"If you shoot me, I'll take one of them with me," Walter said. "Which one will you have me take?"
"They're prepared to die," Logan said.
"Now wait just a damned minute here…" I trailed off when Logan flashed me a look.
Walter ignored my outburst. "Do you think you're man enough to fire that weapon?" Walter asked. "Do you think you're man enough, that you can take me down with one shot?"
I could see Logan's arm begin shaking. Walter saw that also, and he latched on to it. "And do you think you'll escape? My men will kill you on sight. You'd be difficult to miss."
"Knock it off, for Christ's sake," I snapped. "He's more of a man than you are."
Walter's head turned sharply to me. "What did you just say?" he growled.
"You heard me."
"You'll pay for that." He swung out and hit me in the jaw. I stumbled back and fell to the ground.
"And you'll pay for that," Logan said.
He fired.
But not for Walter's head or chest. The bullet struck Walter's gun, and he dropped it in surprise. Max slugged him in the stomach and knocked him down with a high-kick to the head. She kneeled down and started beating him the face. "If you ever…" - whack - "…say anything…" - whack - "…like that again…" - whack - "…I'll kill you." He didn't move.
I pulled myself up. "I'm sorry, Logan," I gasped. "About that whole 'he's more of a man than you are' thing. I know it was clichéd. I just couldn't think of anything else to say. I hope you'll - damn…" I saw Walter lying on the ground.
Logan smiled at me. "So you didn't mean it?"
"No!" I said. "I mean no, I did mean it. It was just really corny dialogue. It's been done to death. I must be spending too much time in here."
"We have to go," Max said. "We still have guards out here." She looked awkwardly at Logan. "You'll need some help."
Logan knew what she meant, but it didn't seem to bother him as much now. For all of Walter Erhardt's comments, Logan had still won. He'd outsmarted him. As he felt himself lifted up, he had what could only be described as a new respect for himself and his capabilities.
And as I looked at him, I saw the world begin to dim. Max and Logan were oblivious. "What?" I yelled. "What kind of resolution is this? Max and Logan need one of those rainy, illuminating late-night conversations they always have. Talk about a copout!"
Logan watched me yelling to the skies, and glanced at Max, shaking his head.
And the world faded to black.
Credits
In a flash, all the power came on in my house at once. I was sprawled on the floor in front of my TV, which were listing off the executive producers of the show. I sat up and looked around. I was back in my room again. I could hear the rain outside.
Maybe it was a dream, I thought. That sucks. It was pretty good, too. Maybe I can write a story about it. No one will be believe me, of course. So I'll just say it's fictional."
I climbed to my feet, and shifted the couch back to its former position. All of a sudden I heard my Mom's voice calling from downstairs. "Stephen, we're home!"
"Hi," I called downstairs, then my face twisted in pain. "Ah! Damn it!" I rubbed my jaw. "I wonder why the hell that hurts?"
"Feline DNA take the ultimate soldier..." I looked up. The preview for next week's episode was beginning. "Next Tuesday on Dark Angel…" "I'm in heat again," Max whispered. "…It will make her the ultimate sex kitten."
"Oh, no…" I whispered. "Story of my damned life."
"Can Max resist the call of the wild?" Original Cindy hits Max. "Thanks, I need that," she said. "This is the episode…" "Ready?" Logan asked. "Never readier in my life," Max answered. "…you must not miss." "Take off your clothes," Max instructed. "I hope you're as good as you look, solider. 'Cause I'm not a girl who takes disappointment lying down." "At 9/8 central next Tuesday, on Fox."
I rolled my eyes. "Maybe there will be something else on."