"Well, here you are Maxy! The Aztec is safe and sound!"
Logan and Max climbed out, and Cindy followed. She walked up to the shop to visit the restrooms while they sorted out the car. Max hugged Logan and thanked him for getting her back in one piece. They laughed together, and looked up at the sun, which was setting. They held hands for a moment, but their peace was disturbed by a helicopter soaring above and the noise of police cars and jeeps approaching. Logan ran up the slope to find Cindy, but proceeded back down as a gun was placed to his head. Max screamed for Logan who yelled for her to get back into the car and drive away. His blue eyes were full of fear and sadness as he motioned her to get into the Aztec. Max jumped into the car and pulled out one of Logan's shotguns. She fired it in Cindy's direction, but missed twice. Logan, with tears in his eyes, told her to get out of there. Max witnessed as Logan knocked the gun out of Cindy's hands and punched her in the side. Somehow Cindy pushed him off and grabbed the gun. There was a shot, and Logan fell to the ground. Max screamed again for Logan to get up, to keep on fighting but as the gun was raised to her head Max jumped back into the car and drove away, drove faster then she had ever done before. Hot tears cascaded down her face and her heart cried out for Logan, his corpse was the last thing she saw before the Manticore units appeared. The lights of the cars streamed out into the night, marking a spot where a hero was neutralised. Logan had a dream that now he wouldn't be able to accomplice, the dream that one day his brothers and sisters would be free to walk around as they wished. Max continued to drive, her body numb and her mind aching. Her head tingled and thumped; her eyes were red and her lip raw from biting it. She felt so stiff, so lifeless, as if when Logan died part of her did too. It couldn't end like this, it couldn't…but she was one person, one person alone against the evils of the world around her. Alone…
Max wanted to turn back, but something told her to keep driving, to get home in one piece…she didn't eat and only drunk to quench the aching in her throat. Her heart beat and her breathing was erratic. Logan echoed through her mind like a shadow of a dream, the aftermath of something fictional. Max felt tears come to her eyes again, and her body swayed. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't give in. Max drove for two days with only a brief stop to sleep, which she couldn't because of nightmares of Logan's corpse floating around in her mind and the expression on Cindy as she held up that gun…so she was right, Cindy had been placed there as bait to reel Logan or the other escapee in…the other escapee in, that's what she would do. Find the other SMS of Manticore…
When Max finally reached home she got out of the car shakily, and opened the door with the last bit of energy she had left. She went upstairs and fell onto her bed, crying and holding her pillows to her face. She curled up into a ball and wept until all her energy gave out, then Max slept.
At times Max would wake up in a feverish state, and that's when she would see Logan again. As a spirit who came and wiped her brow, telling her of how much he loved her. Logan would smile at Max and kiss her forehead so lightly it felt like a feather had tickled it. Max reached out for him, but he would melt away. Max then fell into a fit of tears, hating herself for allowing Logan to continue on…like a doomed soldier entering a battlefield where he knew he could never win. He once said that life was a game of survival, that some were born to watch the fight and others to fight the battle.
Max slept for a day, and woke up in the early morning when the birds were chirping. She climbed into a bath, and scrubbed her dirty body clean, ridding herself of the past. The warm seeped into her pores and again she cried, not for Logan but for herself. There was a duty she had to do, before Manticore found out who she was and came after her. Max climbed out of the hot water and drifted downstairs to the kitchen and made coffee without thinking. Her brain felt frozen and she sat down in front of the TV in a bathrobe. It switched onto the early morning news, and showed Max what other people were going through just like her. But then she came across a news article, which spoke of eyewitnesses to a shooting on the state highway involving unmarked military units. They reported that a felon had been caught and neutralised, at that point Max smashed her hand down on the controller and threw it at the TV, which blinked off. Max cried quietly, and noticed that her answer phone was flashing a red light at her, indicating that someone had called her. Two messages were from Herbal, which she deleted, but another was from a woman, who withheld her number. It was recent too, left yesterday night.
"Hi Max. I saw what happened on the news. I know whom you are and that you're involved with Logan, or were. I'd like to meet. I can't tell you my number now, and I know that you may have a hard time trusting me after he's gone, but please. We share similar interests…"
Bleep. End of message.
Logan and Max climbed out, and Cindy followed. She walked up to the shop to visit the restrooms while they sorted out the car. Max hugged Logan and thanked him for getting her back in one piece. They laughed together, and looked up at the sun, which was setting. They held hands for a moment, but their peace was disturbed by a helicopter soaring above and the noise of police cars and jeeps approaching. Logan ran up the slope to find Cindy, but proceeded back down as a gun was placed to his head. Max screamed for Logan who yelled for her to get back into the car and drive away. His blue eyes were full of fear and sadness as he motioned her to get into the Aztec. Max jumped into the car and pulled out one of Logan's shotguns. She fired it in Cindy's direction, but missed twice. Logan, with tears in his eyes, told her to get out of there. Max witnessed as Logan knocked the gun out of Cindy's hands and punched her in the side. Somehow Cindy pushed him off and grabbed the gun. There was a shot, and Logan fell to the ground. Max screamed again for Logan to get up, to keep on fighting but as the gun was raised to her head Max jumped back into the car and drove away, drove faster then she had ever done before. Hot tears cascaded down her face and her heart cried out for Logan, his corpse was the last thing she saw before the Manticore units appeared. The lights of the cars streamed out into the night, marking a spot where a hero was neutralised. Logan had a dream that now he wouldn't be able to accomplice, the dream that one day his brothers and sisters would be free to walk around as they wished. Max continued to drive, her body numb and her mind aching. Her head tingled and thumped; her eyes were red and her lip raw from biting it. She felt so stiff, so lifeless, as if when Logan died part of her did too. It couldn't end like this, it couldn't…but she was one person, one person alone against the evils of the world around her. Alone…
Max wanted to turn back, but something told her to keep driving, to get home in one piece…she didn't eat and only drunk to quench the aching in her throat. Her heart beat and her breathing was erratic. Logan echoed through her mind like a shadow of a dream, the aftermath of something fictional. Max felt tears come to her eyes again, and her body swayed. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't give in. Max drove for two days with only a brief stop to sleep, which she couldn't because of nightmares of Logan's corpse floating around in her mind and the expression on Cindy as she held up that gun…so she was right, Cindy had been placed there as bait to reel Logan or the other escapee in…the other escapee in, that's what she would do. Find the other SMS of Manticore…
When Max finally reached home she got out of the car shakily, and opened the door with the last bit of energy she had left. She went upstairs and fell onto her bed, crying and holding her pillows to her face. She curled up into a ball and wept until all her energy gave out, then Max slept.
At times Max would wake up in a feverish state, and that's when she would see Logan again. As a spirit who came and wiped her brow, telling her of how much he loved her. Logan would smile at Max and kiss her forehead so lightly it felt like a feather had tickled it. Max reached out for him, but he would melt away. Max then fell into a fit of tears, hating herself for allowing Logan to continue on…like a doomed soldier entering a battlefield where he knew he could never win. He once said that life was a game of survival, that some were born to watch the fight and others to fight the battle.
Max slept for a day, and woke up in the early morning when the birds were chirping. She climbed into a bath, and scrubbed her dirty body clean, ridding herself of the past. The warm seeped into her pores and again she cried, not for Logan but for herself. There was a duty she had to do, before Manticore found out who she was and came after her. Max climbed out of the hot water and drifted downstairs to the kitchen and made coffee without thinking. Her brain felt frozen and she sat down in front of the TV in a bathrobe. It switched onto the early morning news, and showed Max what other people were going through just like her. But then she came across a news article, which spoke of eyewitnesses to a shooting on the state highway involving unmarked military units. They reported that a felon had been caught and neutralised, at that point Max smashed her hand down on the controller and threw it at the TV, which blinked off. Max cried quietly, and noticed that her answer phone was flashing a red light at her, indicating that someone had called her. Two messages were from Herbal, which she deleted, but another was from a woman, who withheld her number. It was recent too, left yesterday night.
"Hi Max. I saw what happened on the news. I know whom you are and that you're involved with Logan, or were. I'd like to meet. I can't tell you my number now, and I know that you may have a hard time trusting me after he's gone, but please. We share similar interests…"
Bleep. End of message.