The encounter part 6

    Zack and Max crawled through the dark woods on their stomachs. Their clothing and hair were wet from a recent rain shower and the forest was covered in a hazy fog.

    Max and Zack were glad of both, the rain made the ground and the fallen leaves wet so they made no sound when walked over. The fog obscured the X-5s from the soldiers' view but not the soldiers from the X-5s' view.

    Zack put his hand up for max to stop and she obliged. He quickly stood up and rushed into the fog-shrouded forest. The trees quickly obscured him from Max's view but in less then a minute he was back. He quietly lay down on his stomach beside her. "Mantacore is about 500 feet straight ahead. I have not seen any soldiers but I say we scout the perimeter fence for about 4 hours to see if we find anything."

    Max stared into the forest and shivered as is if she could feel the evil of Mantacore. "Where is the perimeter fence?" Max asked wiping sweat off her brow despite the cool weather.

    "About 200 feet straight ahead."

    Max closed her eyes and dreamed of being back in Seattle. It was hard for her to imagine that just 48 hours ago she had been kissing Logan goodbye and he had given her a small bag of computer equipment. She even remembered their conversation.

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" he had asked her.

    "No," Max had responded taking the bag, "but I'm sure I want answers so I have to do this."

    Logan had pulled her close to him and kissed her longingly. "Be careful," he had said breaking their embrace.

    "I always am," Max had said leaving with tears in her eyes.

    "Max," Zack said pulling her out of her trance.

    "What?" she said and edge of anger in her voice.

    "Come on. If we hurry we can be out of here in 6 hours and back in Seattle by tomorrow."

    That comment gave Max renewed energy as the two kids took off towards the perimeter fence. For the next 4 hours Max and Zack patrolled the fence. Max had seen 2 guards standing by the main entrance and luckily she had overheard their conversation.

    "What in the hell are we doing here?" the youngest one had asked.

    "Guarding the base, although I don't know how Lydecker expects us to guard it with only 10 guards and no security system."

    The younger man had shrugged and his CO had sent him back off to his duties.

    Max had hurried to tell Zack the good news. "Okay," Zack had said when Max had told him, "there is no real way to form a plan without the proper information so I say we just jump the fence and wing it."

    Max smiled at his relaxed spirit. "Okay then lets go," Max said crouching poised to jump.

    "Wait," Zack had hissed at her. Max turned to him with a questioning look on her face. "Lets try the back door," he said turning away and walking. Max followed looking sheepish.

    When they reached the back of Mantacore they both silently jumped the tall fence topped with sharp razor wire rusting from years without care.

    Max circled the building to her left and Zack to his right. The both snuck up behind the guards and Zack slammed their heads together. The both collapsed to the ground in a heap.

    Zack was picking up the soldiers weapon but Max handed him hers. "I'm not planning on using it," Max said answering his unasked question.

    Zack nodded, he had gotten used to Max not using weapons, probably because of the death of Eva. Zack pulled the M-16 off his arm and laid it on the ground. "Then we fight together," he said but Max had noticed that he kept his Glock on his waist.

    Max kicked open the front door and the two ran down the hallway. As they turned the corner they stopped short and stared into 6 m-16 barrels.