Max coughed, and a smile broke out onto her face. The man looked at her as if she were mad, then he released pressure slightly.
"What's so funny?"
Max stared squarely into the man's dark face, then she laughed.
"You don't get out much, do you? Even if I did scream, no one would come running. It's a depression, no one really cares!"
The guy now stepped forward, and Max could see that he had deep-set blue eyes, and a strong jaw, with slight stubble on the chin.
"I need to stay here, this place is out of the way"
Max laughed again, harder, and pulled herself up only to feel the barrel of a shotgun pressed against her neck.
"Oh yeah, staying in a mansion won't attract any attention!"
Max could she that further teasing would only get her in more trouble, so she lowered her voice and put a kind look on her face.
"Who are you hiding from?" She asked, and in a bold move she pushed the gun away.
The man moved back slightly, to sit on a chair. He continued to point the gun at her head, but she noticed his body had relaxed.
"That is not your concern..."
"Look. I'm a pretty easy-going person, hey I'm not even freakin' out when I have a double-barrel shotgun pointed at my head. I will help you, but you've got to trust me. Shooting me won't help, sooner or later someone at work will notice I've gone and come around here. No matter how 'good' you are, I am betting that you won't be able to hide my body, or yourself for that matter, while cops swarm all over this place, do you understand what I'm saying?"
Max could see that the guy was in a tight spot; he hadn't through this whole hostage thing. She thought she had won, but the man kicked back the chair, dropped the gun and picked Max up by her neck. She was slammed against the wall, Max marvelled at this guy's strength. At this point she realised he wasn't any old fugitive off the streets.
"What's your name?" He asked.
Max strained for breath, but instead she blacked out.
Max smiled at the memory. She was impressed with the way she handed it, after she woke up Logan spilled everything. Funnily enough, Max wasn't all that surprised that the US government had invested in human gene manipulation. A perfected soldier could do the work of ten, maybe twenty in battle; someone would of thought of this sooner or later. Max guessed that the Crash provided the perfect cover for an operation such as this, with things like the internet down it would be hard to track down and spy on it. So here she was now, two years later. Logan turned out to be a nice guy, but he had a temper that was quick to flare up and hard to cool down. She often pissed him off, especially when she was late to meet him.
Max's computer flashed at her to say that it had separated out only two entries out of the many hundreds that were there. Max opened the files, only to be told that fragments of them had been deleted. Max cocked her head slightly, was this a cover up? It would make sense, these archives were open to practically anyone, and if there had been reported sightings of the fugitives from Manticore the operation maybe under threat from discovery. Max tried to open the record, but the computer refused to open it. Max dumped the file, and then moved onto the other. This one wasn't as badly damaged. Max's fingers flew over the keyboard as she transferred the file to her computer, and she quickly opened it before the computer could refuse to. Max gave a triumphant cry as it started to open, but her happiness was interrupted as the computer screen blacked off, and the lights went out.
"Ah, s**t!" Max muttered, and slammed her hand down on her computer desk. "D@mn blackouts..."
She kicked her computer once, then moved over to the couch. Max tried her phone, but that was out too. She reached for her mobile, deciding that she didn't want to be alone in the middle of the night when there was a blackout.
"So, you found something?"
Logan kicked his shoes off into a pile of papers, and lent back next to Max.
She nodded as she sipped on a lukewarm cup of tea she had managed to boil up in a pan over the fire, which burned and crackled in the fireplace.
"Yes, though one of the records was damaged so much that retrieval was impossible, the other was just about okay...I'm thinking cover up, you agree?"
Logan sighed. This was a sight she didn't normally see, Logan always seemed so...unemotional.
"I want to know something Logan"
His exterior hardened again, as he turned to look at Max.
"What?"
"What was Manticore like?"
Logan turned his head away from her. He got up, and walked over to fireplace, where he rested his arm against the hard stone, then placed his head on his hand.
"It was hell."
Max stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. She wished she could his face, but he was keeping it hidden.
"It was the same day in, day out for all of my childhood. We had hand-to-hand combat training, we were forced to kill criminals from the age eight...then instruction on the use of firearms...we were disciplined, our serial numbers drilled into our heads, along with who we were loyal to...I lost most of my life to Manticore, I still have trouble believing I am home free..."
"After so long in Manticore, why did you quit? It was your whole life...from what you've told me they drilled loyalty and discipline into your head pretty hard..."
"I dunno...something just snapped into place. You're right, Manticore was my whole world, I was such a mindless soldier that I didn't think of what was outside of the fences just beyond Manticore forest. But after being released on a mission I found that there was so much out there to be explored, so many different people walking around that I didn't feel that...that...I just can't put it into words. It's like I wasn't being looked for all the time, I was just another face in the crowd. There was no schedule, no people to tell me what to do, I could be my own person," Logan paused, and muttered to himself, "and I didn't have to kill..."
Logan turned back to Max, and sat down at the PC. He started to speak again, but the lights flickered back on, breaking the mood.
Max, suddenly uncomfortable, stood up and shooed Logan from off the chair.
"I'll get back on that file thing, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
Logan nodded, and put his shoes back on. He headed for the door, but stopped when Max said:
"Sleep well"
"I don't sleep" Logan replied, and started to smile. He caught himself before Max saw, and he walked out.
"What's so funny?"
Max stared squarely into the man's dark face, then she laughed.
"You don't get out much, do you? Even if I did scream, no one would come running. It's a depression, no one really cares!"
The guy now stepped forward, and Max could see that he had deep-set blue eyes, and a strong jaw, with slight stubble on the chin.
"I need to stay here, this place is out of the way"
Max laughed again, harder, and pulled herself up only to feel the barrel of a shotgun pressed against her neck.
"Oh yeah, staying in a mansion won't attract any attention!"
Max could she that further teasing would only get her in more trouble, so she lowered her voice and put a kind look on her face.
"Who are you hiding from?" She asked, and in a bold move she pushed the gun away.
The man moved back slightly, to sit on a chair. He continued to point the gun at her head, but she noticed his body had relaxed.
"That is not your concern..."
"Look. I'm a pretty easy-going person, hey I'm not even freakin' out when I have a double-barrel shotgun pointed at my head. I will help you, but you've got to trust me. Shooting me won't help, sooner or later someone at work will notice I've gone and come around here. No matter how 'good' you are, I am betting that you won't be able to hide my body, or yourself for that matter, while cops swarm all over this place, do you understand what I'm saying?"
Max could see that the guy was in a tight spot; he hadn't through this whole hostage thing. She thought she had won, but the man kicked back the chair, dropped the gun and picked Max up by her neck. She was slammed against the wall, Max marvelled at this guy's strength. At this point she realised he wasn't any old fugitive off the streets.
"What's your name?" He asked.
Max strained for breath, but instead she blacked out.
Max smiled at the memory. She was impressed with the way she handed it, after she woke up Logan spilled everything. Funnily enough, Max wasn't all that surprised that the US government had invested in human gene manipulation. A perfected soldier could do the work of ten, maybe twenty in battle; someone would of thought of this sooner or later. Max guessed that the Crash provided the perfect cover for an operation such as this, with things like the internet down it would be hard to track down and spy on it. So here she was now, two years later. Logan turned out to be a nice guy, but he had a temper that was quick to flare up and hard to cool down. She often pissed him off, especially when she was late to meet him.
Max's computer flashed at her to say that it had separated out only two entries out of the many hundreds that were there. Max opened the files, only to be told that fragments of them had been deleted. Max cocked her head slightly, was this a cover up? It would make sense, these archives were open to practically anyone, and if there had been reported sightings of the fugitives from Manticore the operation maybe under threat from discovery. Max tried to open the record, but the computer refused to open it. Max dumped the file, and then moved onto the other. This one wasn't as badly damaged. Max's fingers flew over the keyboard as she transferred the file to her computer, and she quickly opened it before the computer could refuse to. Max gave a triumphant cry as it started to open, but her happiness was interrupted as the computer screen blacked off, and the lights went out.
"Ah, s**t!" Max muttered, and slammed her hand down on her computer desk. "D@mn blackouts..."
She kicked her computer once, then moved over to the couch. Max tried her phone, but that was out too. She reached for her mobile, deciding that she didn't want to be alone in the middle of the night when there was a blackout.
"So, you found something?"
Logan kicked his shoes off into a pile of papers, and lent back next to Max.
She nodded as she sipped on a lukewarm cup of tea she had managed to boil up in a pan over the fire, which burned and crackled in the fireplace.
"Yes, though one of the records was damaged so much that retrieval was impossible, the other was just about okay...I'm thinking cover up, you agree?"
Logan sighed. This was a sight she didn't normally see, Logan always seemed so...unemotional.
"I want to know something Logan"
His exterior hardened again, as he turned to look at Max.
"What?"
"What was Manticore like?"
Logan turned his head away from her. He got up, and walked over to fireplace, where he rested his arm against the hard stone, then placed his head on his hand.
"It was hell."
Max stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. She wished she could his face, but he was keeping it hidden.
"It was the same day in, day out for all of my childhood. We had hand-to-hand combat training, we were forced to kill criminals from the age eight...then instruction on the use of firearms...we were disciplined, our serial numbers drilled into our heads, along with who we were loyal to...I lost most of my life to Manticore, I still have trouble believing I am home free..."
"After so long in Manticore, why did you quit? It was your whole life...from what you've told me they drilled loyalty and discipline into your head pretty hard..."
"I dunno...something just snapped into place. You're right, Manticore was my whole world, I was such a mindless soldier that I didn't think of what was outside of the fences just beyond Manticore forest. But after being released on a mission I found that there was so much out there to be explored, so many different people walking around that I didn't feel that...that...I just can't put it into words. It's like I wasn't being looked for all the time, I was just another face in the crowd. There was no schedule, no people to tell me what to do, I could be my own person," Logan paused, and muttered to himself, "and I didn't have to kill..."
Logan turned back to Max, and sat down at the PC. He started to speak again, but the lights flickered back on, breaking the mood.
Max, suddenly uncomfortable, stood up and shooed Logan from off the chair.
"I'll get back on that file thing, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
Logan nodded, and put his shoes back on. He headed for the door, but stopped when Max said:
"Sleep well"
"I don't sleep" Logan replied, and started to smile. He caught himself before Max saw, and he walked out.