Rating: R (language)
"Shit Max, you dislocated my shoulder, and I think my arm might be broken ..." Zack groaned. I winced as he popped his right shoulder back into place. We'd been up for awhile, just staring at the ceiling, and identifying broken, sprained, and injured body parts. The whole hotel room had been trashed, nothing left unbroken. Half of what had happened the previous night had been a blur, and the half that I did remember....I grinned to myself, and turned to Zack. I was still slightly 'suffering' from the heat, but the worst had been dulled with Zack's help.
"That's too bad, cause I'm still in heat...maybe that guy at the front desk would be interested...." I trailed, and before I could even shoot a sarcastic look toward him, he was at my side.
**A few hours later...**
"You think we can make it to Seattle by tonight?" I asked Zack, who was speeding across the highway; at least twenty miles per hour over the speed limit in yet another stolen car. We'd made a hasty escape from the hotel. As we were making our way down fire escapes, a woman happened to be gazing out her window. She nearly had a heart attack watching us soar past her, down to ground.
"If you drive," He responded, "not all of us can sleep two hours, and stay up all night after handling your heat."
I snickered at his serious tone. "Handling my heat? You make it sound like a chore. Take care of the others, handle Max's heat, complete the mission at hand..." I scoffed. He rolled his eyes, but I saw him smirk slightly.
After nightfall, Zack and I had traded places, and I was driving into the darkness. Almost there, I thought, as I haphazardly floored it through another checkpoint. Zack always insisted on stopping and showing the sector police our fake papers. I, however, preferred getting us the hell out of whatever city we were in, and into Seattle. Reckless my ass, I just prefer to get this bitch over with so I can see Krit and Syl again.
There it is, the Space Needle... It was around 3:00 in the morning, and Zack was awake and alert. He refused to sleep any longer knowing that he had to take care of the 'mission'. Personally, I thought of finding out the dealio on Krit and Syl was more like an attempt at a short-lived family reunion.
The sudden realization of seeing Logan abruptly sunk in as I parked in the lot behind his place. I kept opening and closing my fists nervously as Zack and I took the elevator to Logan's floor, after much debating on Zack's part about taking the window. I figured if we were going to just drop in on Logan, we should at least have the decency of not doing it literally. How mad could he be? I called him a couple days ago, he's probably cooled down.
I just kept telling myself that as I did the honor of picking Logan's lock. Pushing open the door, I listened for any sounds indicating Logan or the others were around. I heard computer keys, and slunk into his computer room. A lump formed in my throat as I realized only Logan was there. He shuddered, noticing our presence, and snapped his head around to meet my eyes.
"Hey..." I said, trying to push away the awkwardness that filled the room. He didn't want to see me, and I'd really come here to get my stuff, and help out my brother and sister. Our future friendship was pretty much up to Logan, and he didn't seem too interested.
"Hey Max." He murmured, eyes back on the computer screen.
Zack strode further into the room, standing close enough to Logan to intimidate him. "Where are Krit and Syl?" He demanded.
"They're at Sebastian's helping me out on some Eye's Only info. Syl insisted that they should stay here; said she knew you'd come back to Seattle...so, I put them to work." He replied, meeting Zack's eyes coldly.
"Who the hell is Sebastian? Does he know about us?" Zack pressed on.
"Sebastian is a friend of mine, he's helped out on Eye's situations before. And yeah...he knows about you." Logan answered slowly, eyes still locked on Zack's.
"So now you're just telling all your 'friends' about us? Since when have you-?" Zack started.
I interrupted, "Zack!" He turned to face me curiously, and I shot him a look that clearly said, 'Shut up!' He narrowed his eyes and frowned, but did stop grilling Logan. "I know where to find him, let's go." I urged. Logan glanced at me, and added, "Sorry...gotta blaze."
Zack made sure to wrap his arm around me before walking out the door. I'm sure it was more for Logan's sake than it was mine. After getting back to the car, I got us to Sebastian's. Zack barged through the door. It was apparent that, in his opinion, a friend of Logan's was an enemy of his. True to Logan's word, Krit and Syl were both standing beside Sebastian. Syl's gun was drawn, and aimed toward us. Krit was hunched over the computer screen, reading some information as Sebastian explained something to him.
"Max!" Syl cried, lowering her pistol, and walking over to me. After greeting the two, Zack cut in with the plans for 'operation relocation.'
"How cute, it even rhymes." I retorted, less than ecstatic with his putting a damper on our first real chance to talk with our 'siblings'. The first time we'd been reunited wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for, after all.
Zack frowned at me, and I shut up for his sake. "Ok, you're going to get out of Seattle ASAP, and relocate. Krit, your previous location was secure, so you're to return there. Syl, you've been in the same place for over a year, so you're going to settle in Southern California. Is the mission clear?" He asked.
"Zack...Manticore is gone, I'm not about to leave a place that I've actually become used to. I have friends, a job, a nice place...how can I just pick up and leave? As long as we're not all settled in the same place, we should be fine." She pointed out.
"Are you questioning my orders soldier?" He growled, then paused. Contemplating the situation, he reluctantly gave in, "Fine, but if an X7 settles in your area, you are to move, no questions asked. Understood?"
Syl answered him with a curt nod, and Krit broke in, "When are we leaving?"
"Now." He replied, looking from Syl to Krit. They said nothing, but Krit told Sebastian to call Logan and fill him in on the info they'd come up with. I wanted to punch Zack in the face right about then, but I shoved my hands into my pockets instead. We watched Krit and Syl head off in opposite directions after saying goodbye to me, and shooting Zack dirty looks.
"You couldn't wait until tomorrow?" I sighed.
"It had to be taken care of." He answered simply.
"You know, I'm serious about the whole 'X5 reunion' thing. You can't keep us all apart forever."
"I can try. Anyway, I'm already risking a lot on taking you with me. I'm already having nightmares about the day when you meet up with Jondy or Zane..." He groaned.
"Have they changed much?" I asked curiously, grinning at some flashbacks of Manticore. I'd always remember those nights after showers where we'd sneak around to each other's beds and just talk; almost like normal kids. Jondy and I would stay up all night, just staring out of one of the small windows, and imagining what it would be like to be free. We knew the good place wasn't inside the walls of Manticore. Zane would sometimes attempt to stay up with us when we'd just sit on one of our bunks talking. He never lasted long.... "What?" I questioned Zack, missing his reply.
"I said, a little. Jondy's almost as rebellious as you are, and Zane's still gotta screw loose." He returned, grinning slightly.
"Where are we going first?" I implored excitedly.
"Probably Jondy's, she's not too far. Syl and Krit are the closest to Seattle, but we know their status. Before we do anything though, you need to get your stuff, and I need to check the contact number."
"Can we meet back here in two hours? I need to tell Cindy what the hell happened, and say goodbye to everyone else....and I should probably see Logan."
A/N: Ok, I fell asleep halfway through typing this, it's like 4 something now. You see what you people do to me? I have to be at weight training in two hours! Actually, by the time this is posted, it'll be like 5:00 tonight. Ok...review, and I'm going to do something really crazy, like try and sleep. I'll try to get chapter 7 up on Friday if I have time.