Zack's Perspective

I stand in front of the man and introduce myself as Zack. Right now I'm going to try and build some trust. I need to figure out what they did to Max, then I can get on to what they know about the genetics lab. The man seems surprised that I would be this friendly towards him. The situation is going the way I want for now. The man introduces himself as Vriel. He seems to lighten up a little bit, but I can still see the fear in his eyes. I tell him I will not hurt him if he can help me. He doesn't respond; he just stares back at me with a blank look on his face. I tell him I know about genetic engineering. I notice a glimpse of hope in his eyes as he pulls a vile from his pocket. He tells me to give it to my friend after he leaves. I take the vile and turn to look at Max. When I turn back to thank him and ask him about the lab, he is already gone.

Off in the distance I can hear the roar of a truck leaving the area. I pick up Max and climb up the rest of the hill. I see military vans speeding down the road in the opposite direction of the cabin. I can't help but wonder who those people were and what the strange marking on the back of their neck meant.

It's strange that all it took was for me to say I knew about genetic engineering, and Vriel was willing to trust me. I can't help but think I'm missing the bigger picture. I think he knew more than he was letting on. Perhaps he assumed that I was genetically engineered, or perhaps he accomplished his mission after all. Either way I need to get some answers.

I lay Max down on the ground and brush the hair out of her eyes. Her beauty extends beyond perfection. When she is asleep, I can see through the bad@ss attitude she has. I can see her innocence; I love her even more when I see this tender side of her. I give her the antidote and she begins breathing normally again. I sit there holding her as she begins to wake up. I can tell she is disoriented as she opens her eyes and looks up at me. This is the second time I could have lost her.

Max's Perspective

I wake up and Zack is holding me. I don't know where I am. I'm scared, but I feel a sense of protection from Zack. I lay there in his arms as the memories come flooding back. The last thing I remember was being afraid because I couldn't move and then looking up at the back of the guys neck that shot me and seeing an image I didn't recognize. I can't get the image out of my head from the back of the guy's neck. I can't help but wonder who he was and what he wanted. I needed answers to those questions, and I needed them fast. I had a feeling that this wasn't going to be the last time we would run into them.

I look up into Zack's eyes and I see concern. The same concern I saw the morning after Logan was killed. He never talked to me about that night or that morning. He always managed to change the subject. It's like he feared what I would do if he brought it up. He looked at me then as he is now. As someone who needs to have tabs kept on her.

I'm not a little girl that needs protection; I can take care of myself. For some reason, Zack has decided that it would be his responsibility to take care of me. He's are leader so I don't have a problem with it for the most part, but he looks at me different than he does the others.

I hear voices off in the distance and I slowly return to reality. I tell Zack we need to get moving, and he helps me up. He acts like he is afraid I might fall apart into a million different pieces if he's not careful. He tries to pick me up to carry me back to the cabin, but I step away from him. I stumble a little as I start down the path; the drugs must still be in effect. Zack takes my arm and offers his help. I gladly take it. I don't want to hurt myself to bad trying to make it down the hill, and right now Zack's hand is more stable then my own feet. When we get back to the cabin, Zack helps me to the couch and tells me to stay put. He then pulls up a chair as he looks over Johndy's shoulder. I look around the room and see Jace talking to a guy and Tinga making some tea.

I try to get Zack's attention, but he ignores me and tells me to get some sleep. I try to tell him about what was on the back of the guy's neck, but he cuts me off and tells me he knows. He saw it too. I ignore Zack and walk over behind Johndy; she's doing a search right now to see if she can find anything. Zack give me a dirty look for ignoring his order, but right now I really don't care. If only Logan were here; he had a lot of contacts. We probably would have found something already. Johndy is good at what she does, but she will never be as good with computers as Logan. A single tear runs down my check as I remember the times I could have told Logan I loved him but didn't. I passed up an opportunity and I've regretted it every day sense.

Tinga's Perspective

I move off to go and find the others. I run into them not far from where I left them. They are involved in hand to hand combat with the enemy. I see Kladu involved in the fighting just as much as Jace and Johndy. He almost has as much skill as we do, if you don't take into account our strength. Jace knocks out the guy she is fighting the same time as Johndy knocks out her guy. I jump in and help as more approach the scene. I tackle the nearest enemy I can find from behind. I notice he also has the strange marking that the other one had.

Just as the battle is starting to get interesting, a voice comes on over the radio, "Ziya, this is Vriel, time to pull out." A girl appeared from the bushes behind me and gave a hand signal I didn't recognize, then our enemy just left. They were there one second and gone the next. In that brief second we were distracted, they managed to disappear. I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I thought of who they might be.

I motioned for Johndy to take the others back to the cabin and make sure nothing was trashed to bad. I went up the hill to see if I could find Zack and Max. As I approach my destination, I see Zack setting Max down on the ground and holding her as he gives her something. He looks down into her eyes as she drifts back to reality. I help but feel a twinge of jealousy for the way he is looking at her. Sometimes I fee he cares about her more than anything else. I quickly push my feelings out of they way as I holler for Zack and tell him the enemy pulled out and we are all meeting back at the cabin. He nods and then starts to help Max get up. I quickly make my way back to the cabin and see Jace talking to Kladu and Johndy sitting in front of the computer running a search on the people we just fought. I start to make some tea as Zack brings Max in and lays her on the couch. Zack goes over to the computer and looks over Johndy's shoulder as she does the search. Max and Zack have an exchange of words and I can tell Zack is annoyed at her, but he pretends like nothing is bothering him. I give Zack and Johndy a cup of tea, then I motion for Jace and Kladu to follow me out side. I leave the cabin and go to the cliff outside. They come up behind me and we stare off into the late afternoon sun.

The silence is broken when Jace starts talking about her child. We all sit there with her in silence as she cries to us. I put my arm around her and tell her we will get her baby back. She continues crying, but I see a spark of hope in her eyes.

Zack's Perspective

That girl never listens. If she would stay on the couch and get some sleep, she would recover a lot faster. Instead, she thinks she needs to be part of the action. I look over and see a tear run down the side of her emotionless face. She must be thinking about Logan again. I feel jealousy come across me and then quickly push it away. Max looks up at me and then calmly says she's going outside. I think that's for the best if she gets some fresh air, maybe it will help her clear her head. She really needs to get a reality check. He's dead and not coming back. The best thing she can do is move on.

As Johndy continues the search, she tells me about Jace's child. I feel more anger come over me. Manticore is endangering my family, and they never stop coming, but once again we were not top priority in the mission. Jace was left there without a second thought this seems similar to the situation that happened a month ago with Max. Manticore must be trying to start a new operation or something. Whatever it is, I bet this genetics lab that Kladu spoke of has something to do with it.

I am brought back to reality by Johndy taping me on the shoulder. Our computer has just been called directly. It appears that the people who attacked us earlier set up a connection. They have sent us the information we needed on the genetics lab in order to attack it. I try to send a message back to them, but our computer has already downloaded the information and the connection has been terminated. I look at the information with Johndy. We were sent blue prints of the lab, and the location of Jace's baby. From looking at the blue prints, I can tell this lab is definitely part of a Manticore operation.

Max's Perspective

I walk out side and see the others on the cliff. Jace is crying about loosing her baby and Tinga is doing the best she can to comfort her. This is another reason why the sooner we take out Manticore the better off we'll all be. We may not be in as much danger as we used to be, but the ones we love are being attacked. I want to go to her and hug her, but right now I have problems of my own I need to deal with.

Every time I think of Logan my stomach aches with pain beyond belief. I want to move on and be able to help my brothers and sisters, but I always manage back in the same spot, wishing he was still here beside me. I head into the woods; when I'm in this mood, I don't want anyone around. My brothers and sisters are the reason I'm still living. They need my help to take out Manticore, then I can have my peace.

I hear a sound and I turn to see a squirrel dive into a bush. I envy the squirrel; it has nothing to worry about. It goes about it's day collection nuts and berries with no worries, or fears. It runs free with no one following and telling it what to do. I may have escaped from Manticore, but really I'm not free at all. I'm on the run, constantly being chased. I'm being ordered around by Zack who doesn't want me to live my own life.