They pulled into a small house in the outskirts of a small town, of which Max didn't know the name. She stepped out onto dirt below her feet, and saw miles of crops stretching out behind the house.
Jace picked up a bag of groceries from the boot of her car and walked toward the door. A guy appeared at the window, who then unlatched the door as Jace walked up to it. He gave a big smile and kissed Jace on the lips as she approached.
"Max, I'd like you to meet Zane. Zane, this is Max"
Jace walked over to Max and whispered in her ear;
"He's my boyfriend"
Max gave a quick smile at a thought that popped into her head, along the lines of who picked up. But she suppressed it as an awkward silence fell upon them.
"Come on, we have work to do" Jace said.
The bright light pierced into his eye…noises were everywhere…he clung onto a picture of Brinn that remained in his mind…
The commands flooded into his head, drowning her face…the light was switched off…Zack closed his eyes…Manticore had won again…
"Here's a plug in for a telephone line…you do have your laptop?"
"Yeah"
Max placed her bag onto the desk, and saw a picture of two guys and a girl. Max picked it up, and turned to Jace.
"Who are they?"
Jace took the photo and stared at it for a moment. Her body language and facial expression gave away nothing, but her eyes spoke in louder volumes then her voice did.
"They are three members of my family…we had it done before I…left…The girl on the right is Brinn, my youngest sister, then one with the blonde hair is Zack, he's my older brother and the one on the end is Dennis"
She put it down and looked back at Max.
"I suppose you wanted to know why I escaped?"
She wished that this woman wouldn't read her like a book. But Max nodded, and they sat.
"When I was ten years old I tried to escape from Manticore, it was in a fit of madness and wouldn't have been my choice if I was thinking straight at the time. So I was reprogrammed. It was a quick, over in a night. When I came back, I felt very…empty. The only memories I had were of my orders and whom I answered to. There was a void where my independence should have been, but something told me to fill it up with other thoughts, like tactical operations and instructions. In a way they did me a favour though. I've seen what they can do, and what they will be doing right now. And I know who I behind this whole operation and who controls Sketch Lydecker like a puppet. Her name is Renfro. She's the chairwoman, and evil personified. What drives her is seeing me and my family being the mindless soldiers we were meant to be…that's why she took me under her wing and personally oversaw my instruction. In a way, her cruel nature is what awoke me to what was really going on around…I stopped seeing the people who trained me to fight and yelled orders at me as my superiors, but as faulty human being and in fact they were weak and pathetic. I could bring them crumbling to their knees…but yet…Renfro, she intrigued me. She was strong, so focussed and frightening. Logan and the others didn't know who she was, and I didn't care to tell them…they had their hands full with Sketch, I was content with letting them believe that Sketch was their only enemy in life. Renfro was my fight. She was my tormentor, the Norm with an attitude and a deep fire inside. I swore to myself that I would one day grab her by the neck and break it…but it occurred to me when I was fifteen that I could hurt her deeper by going AWOL. That would hit her harder; fill her with anger in believing that I was a good little soldier. Now…now I wish that I had told Logan and the others of her, they would just be finding out now…
So after playing soldier for a couple of weeks on the outside, I missed reporting in one time and just left the area I was meant to be searching in. There was no trace of me anywhere, I was fortunate that I was on separate order from Renfro and wasn't gathered up when Logan disappeared. You see, Logan didn't think of the consequences when he left. The others weren't given a chance to escape…though I don't think they would have anyway…"
"Why do you say that?" Max interrupted. Jace's eyes told the story for her; they were swimming in tears that had been held in for too long.
"Sketch and Renfro had managed to place breakages in our group, which meant that one soldier would have to stay back and help another. Brinn lost Cindy to Manticore, Brinn in turn looked for comfort and found Zack, she became dependant on Zack who in turn relied upon Logan and Logan was always looking out for each of our group…so when he left it all must have broken down. Dennis however, it is my fault that he had no chance to run when Logan did…he believed that I was going to return to Manticore, and somehow he knew that he was my lifeline to the real world. So he stayed…and when I left…"
Jace stopped and turned away from Max, raising a hand to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Zane stepped in at this point, and muttered that a room was upstairs for Max to sleep in. As Max exited the room she watched as Jace folded herself into Zane's arms. Logan…he came into her mind again…Logan I'm sorry…. she thought.
His throat was raw as he opened his eyes again…there were three people standing over him…two he knew but one…one was a woman he didn't recognise…
Logan blinked once, the haze in front of his eyes refused to clear so Logan tried to lift a hand to wipe them…his limbs refused to move and slowly his strength gave out again…so he collapsed back onto the bed…still with the people standing over him…
Jace picked up a bag of groceries from the boot of her car and walked toward the door. A guy appeared at the window, who then unlatched the door as Jace walked up to it. He gave a big smile and kissed Jace on the lips as she approached.
"Max, I'd like you to meet Zane. Zane, this is Max"
Jace walked over to Max and whispered in her ear;
"He's my boyfriend"
Max gave a quick smile at a thought that popped into her head, along the lines of who picked up. But she suppressed it as an awkward silence fell upon them.
"Come on, we have work to do" Jace said.
The bright light pierced into his eye…noises were everywhere…he clung onto a picture of Brinn that remained in his mind…
The commands flooded into his head, drowning her face…the light was switched off…Zack closed his eyes…Manticore had won again…
"Here's a plug in for a telephone line…you do have your laptop?"
"Yeah"
Max placed her bag onto the desk, and saw a picture of two guys and a girl. Max picked it up, and turned to Jace.
"Who are they?"
Jace took the photo and stared at it for a moment. Her body language and facial expression gave away nothing, but her eyes spoke in louder volumes then her voice did.
"They are three members of my family…we had it done before I…left…The girl on the right is Brinn, my youngest sister, then one with the blonde hair is Zack, he's my older brother and the one on the end is Dennis"
She put it down and looked back at Max.
"I suppose you wanted to know why I escaped?"
She wished that this woman wouldn't read her like a book. But Max nodded, and they sat.
"When I was ten years old I tried to escape from Manticore, it was in a fit of madness and wouldn't have been my choice if I was thinking straight at the time. So I was reprogrammed. It was a quick, over in a night. When I came back, I felt very…empty. The only memories I had were of my orders and whom I answered to. There was a void where my independence should have been, but something told me to fill it up with other thoughts, like tactical operations and instructions. In a way they did me a favour though. I've seen what they can do, and what they will be doing right now. And I know who I behind this whole operation and who controls Sketch Lydecker like a puppet. Her name is Renfro. She's the chairwoman, and evil personified. What drives her is seeing me and my family being the mindless soldiers we were meant to be…that's why she took me under her wing and personally oversaw my instruction. In a way, her cruel nature is what awoke me to what was really going on around…I stopped seeing the people who trained me to fight and yelled orders at me as my superiors, but as faulty human being and in fact they were weak and pathetic. I could bring them crumbling to their knees…but yet…Renfro, she intrigued me. She was strong, so focussed and frightening. Logan and the others didn't know who she was, and I didn't care to tell them…they had their hands full with Sketch, I was content with letting them believe that Sketch was their only enemy in life. Renfro was my fight. She was my tormentor, the Norm with an attitude and a deep fire inside. I swore to myself that I would one day grab her by the neck and break it…but it occurred to me when I was fifteen that I could hurt her deeper by going AWOL. That would hit her harder; fill her with anger in believing that I was a good little soldier. Now…now I wish that I had told Logan and the others of her, they would just be finding out now…
So after playing soldier for a couple of weeks on the outside, I missed reporting in one time and just left the area I was meant to be searching in. There was no trace of me anywhere, I was fortunate that I was on separate order from Renfro and wasn't gathered up when Logan disappeared. You see, Logan didn't think of the consequences when he left. The others weren't given a chance to escape…though I don't think they would have anyway…"
"Why do you say that?" Max interrupted. Jace's eyes told the story for her; they were swimming in tears that had been held in for too long.
"Sketch and Renfro had managed to place breakages in our group, which meant that one soldier would have to stay back and help another. Brinn lost Cindy to Manticore, Brinn in turn looked for comfort and found Zack, she became dependant on Zack who in turn relied upon Logan and Logan was always looking out for each of our group…so when he left it all must have broken down. Dennis however, it is my fault that he had no chance to run when Logan did…he believed that I was going to return to Manticore, and somehow he knew that he was my lifeline to the real world. So he stayed…and when I left…"
Jace stopped and turned away from Max, raising a hand to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Zane stepped in at this point, and muttered that a room was upstairs for Max to sleep in. As Max exited the room she watched as Jace folded herself into Zane's arms. Logan…he came into her mind again…Logan I'm sorry…. she thought.
His throat was raw as he opened his eyes again…there were three people standing over him…two he knew but one…one was a woman he didn't recognise…
Logan blinked once, the haze in front of his eyes refused to clear so Logan tried to lift a hand to wipe them…his limbs refused to move and slowly his strength gave out again…so he collapsed back onto the bed…still with the people standing over him…