Chapter 26

AN: hey this is getting easier…And guess what you're almost finished reading it.  Are you disappointed?  Did you want more?  How about less?

            "They are still there." Zack noted as he used his enhanced vision to spot an X-7 scouting the perimeter. 

            "I don't like this." Tinga informed.

            "Gee I wonder why." Alec smart mouthed but his comment went unnoticed by the two, concerned x-5's trying to come up with a new plan.

            "Logan.  What do you have on the cameras?" Zack asked speaking into his radio.  Logan sat at his computer set up watching the video footage from the cameras located inside Manticore that he'd hacked into.

            "There isn't much movement inside.  A few of Lydecker's lackeys but it doesn't look like there are any transgenics besides the X-7's outside." He answered Zack becoming concerned that Max hadn't done her job.  It could only mean one thing, and that was something that he didn't want to think about currently.  He couldn't afford to if he was going to keep his head in the game.

            "The x-7's are enough." Zack muttered.

            "Think we can bluff our way in?" Tinga asked scanning the fields to count the number of X-7's.  There were eight.  Too many for just the three of them.

            "I was just wondering what you guys wanted on your tombstone.  It's suicide to go in now.  We should wait." Alec offered.

            "Its now or never." Zack argued.

            "That doesn't sound like the voice of reason to me.  Lydecker's probably got engraved invitations for us as we speak." Alec argued back.

            "Do you guys think you could cause enough of a distraction to allow me to sneak past them?" Zack asked clearly bent on continuing anyway.

            "Sure we'll just walk out of the woods guns blazing and offer them some excuse hoping they don't shoot first and ask questions later." Alec smart mouthed.

            "Knew I could count on you." Zack smiled and disappeared before Alec could argue back.  He turned to Tinga with a look of incredulity, still not believing that Zack had just run off.

            "Hey it was your idea." Tinga offered rising to her feet.

            "You know I really should just learn to keep my mouth shut."

            "We're going in Logan." Tinga spoke into her radio and pulled Alec up off the ground.  "If we are going to make this believable I'm going to have to hit you."

            "This is so unfair." Alec whined pulling Tinga into the open.  "Hey you!" he yelled to one of the X-7's "Yeah, you, bat boy. Come help me with this one.  She doesn't seem too happy to be coming home." Alec offered.  Tinga took the opportunity to spring to action and knocked Alec off of his feet, grabbed his gun and took off running.

            Six of the eight x-7's went running after them. 

            Amateurs.  Zack smiled.  Lydecker should have spent more time with them. Jumping over the fence he landed softly on the other side and dropped to a crouch.  Quietly and quickly he made it to the building only having to take out one of the two remaining X-7's. 

            He quickly made his way to the X-5 barracks.

            When the world stopped spinning so much, Alec pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his other gun, which was actually Tinga's but he could live with that.  Quickly noting three X-7's on the ground he ran after Tinga admiring her marksmanship and "accidentally" shooting one more X-7 before Tinga let him catch her. 

            The other two X-7's quickly caught up and helped Alec subdue Tinga with a blow to the head.  Alec couldn't help but smirk.  Much as he needed her conscious, it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one getting hit on the head during this attempt.

            The group made their way to Lydecker's office.

            "Zack?!" Brin questioned in alarm as Zack swung open the door and gestured for her to follow.

            "Come on.  We're leaving.  I need you to play lookout for me.  I'm going to get the others." Zack ordered and Brin jumped off her bunk to help Zack gather the others in their unit.  "Be careful…there are still some X-7's out there." Zack commanded as he watched his unit file out and slip down the halls silently, just as they had been taught.  Zack slipped out after them to head to the next units bunks.  Brin hung back making sure he wasn't followed.

            "So nice of you to stop by 494, and for you to bring me 656 as well.  It must be my lucky day." Lydecker commented as Alec stood at attention in front of him.  "Where is Zack now?  I assume he went to his unit first, to 'rescue' his 'family'." 

            "I did not locate 599 sir." Alec bluffed.  At this point he knew it was worthless to bluff because Lydecker obviously was on to them but he tried it anyway.   Lydecker gestured for a soldier to open the door and a lone x-7 entered to prove Lydecker's point.  Zack had been seen.

            "I really must thank you for making this so easy.  Now I don't have to go find any of you."  Lydecker smirked and dismissed the X-7. 

            Tinga, who had been lying on the floor at their feet, stirred and Alec knew it was now or never.  Nudging Tinga with his foot, he signaled for her to grab Lydecker.

            Swinging her foot around, Tinga knocked Lydecker to the ground and placed a few strategic punches, knocking him out while Alec took out the two bodyguards Lydecker traveled with.

            "That really wasn't fair. I didn't hit you that hard." Tinga complained, coming to her feet and rubbing the back of her head.

            "Come on we have to go warn Zack."

            Once inside Manticore the group had decided on radio silence unless it was unavoidable.  Logan knew it was only because Zack resented working with him and felt that they could do better without him.  But Logan wasn't the only one who found it to be more then a little stupid.  Both Tinga and Alec had sided with Logan but Zack refused to listen. 

            So when Alec's voice came over the radio, Logan felt his heart drop to his feet.

            "Logan, need you to keep an eye out for the bad guys for us.  Things just went to hell." Alec commented lightly.  

            "Got your back.  Zack isn't going to like you breaking orders like this." Logan added.

            "Well, screw Zack.  He needs to get a real life." Alec commented and Logan couldn't help but smile at Alec's accurate assessment. They all needed to get a real life.  That was the objective here.

            Zack ran into Tinga and Alec just before reaching the next barrack.

            "Gigs up. We have to get out of here…as in now." The words rushed out of Alec's mouth betraying him.

            "Not until we find Max." Zack ordered.

            "Shit, she wasn't with the others." Tinga asked, knowing that she hadn't expected her to be.

            Brin chose that moment to come running down the hallway.

            "Most of them are out but there's been a contingent of 6's let out.  We have to leave now or we won't be going anywhere." Brin reported.

            "Guess our friend woke up from his nap." Alec commented.

            "Do you know where Max is?" Zack demanded of Brin.

            Brin answered him with a smile.

            "Basement, cell c-12." She reported.  Tinga smiled and Alec clapped her on the back while Zack merely nodded.

            "Good job soldier, now get out of here." He ordered and the group made it to the basement.

            "Max?" Zack hissed through the bars on her door.

            "Zack, get out of here. There is no way I can make it out of here." Max bit out as alarms started sounding.

            "Nope sorry sis, not happening." Tinga volunteered.

            "Hey you need this?" Alec asked holding up a key he'd acquired from a guard who was currently catching up on his beauty rest, courtesy of Alec's fist.

            Max smiled and felt tears flood her face in an unexpected burst of emotion.

            "How many people you got out there?" she asked as Zack opened the door.

            "That's nasty Max." Alec gestured toward her gruesome looking leg with its white bones sticking through the skin in a disturbing manner.  "And you look like hell." He continued to inform.

            "Damn why does everyone keep telling me that?" Max couldn't suppress a smile. Awful as she felt, it was more then a little nice to have people here who were going to help her, who loved her. 

            "We should set it before we move you." Tinga offered.

            "There is no time." Max ordered and the group nodded in agreement.

            "I'm not going to lie, this is going to hurt like hell." Alec informed as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.  Max gritted her teeth but couldn't contain a slight screech.

            "You didn't lie." She managed fighting the urge to scream with every step he took.

            "Guys, company is coming." Logan broke over the radio.  "Ten of them. X-6's I think."

            "I think that's our cue to get out of here." Alec offered and the group took of at a jog.  Max quickly learned that there were many levels of pain and that some were best experienced unconscious. Following her new theory, she quickly settled back into darkness.

            Guns blazing, the group made it to the perimeter fence without injury.  Clearing the fence, Tinga turned to catch Max as Alec climbed the fence and lowered his injured friend down in front of him, earning himself a quick trip to the ground when a bullet hit him square in the back. 

            "Love these vests." He commented after he'd caught his breath and made his way to his feet.

            "This isn't anytime to be laying down on the job, Come on." Zack joked as he landed beside Alec.

            "Report." Lydecker ordered to an X-6 who had chased the escapees.

            "Fourteen got away sir." Lydecker turned away from the soldier and rubbed his head where 656 had hit him.  He was going to have one heck of a bump.

            "Names?" he asked.

            "X-5---" Lydecker cut him off.

            "No their names."

            "Zane, Krit, Syl, Tinga, Brin, Ben, Alec, Zack, Max, Jhondy, Jace—" again Lydecker cut him off.

            "But most of the 09 attempters?" he questioned.

            "Yes it was the same group sir."  With that Lydecker dismissed him and turned to his desk to make the phone call he dreaded.  Renfro would be laughing her ass off right now.  She always had a strange fascination with seeing him fail.

            Well she got her wish.