Bling stood just outside, the harsh words were filtered out by the door but by the sound of it accusations were being flung about. He shook his head, and walked away to find Kat just about to step out the door, Cole in hand.
"Hey, Kat, where are you going?"
"Bling," she was a little startled. They had never talked much for the short time she was there, "I was just stepping out to the store down the street."
"I'll think I'll head with ya, this place is getting too tense for me."
"No!" her answer was a little over eager, and she caught herself trying to sound normal again, "I mean, no, Lydecker's people are crawling around this place, if they find us I can get away, I don't know if you can…"
"Then should you be going out alone? Don't you want to lay low?" Bling was confused, he hadn't known her for much more than a day but she was definitely acting strange, contradicting her own words.
"I just..." she searched for an explanation that this guy would find acceptable but found none. "I just need to go... out. By myself. I need to be alone... with my son." Her sentences were choppy, signaling uneasiness, but she left no room for further questions as she opened the door.
"Bye Bling," Cole lingered a moment to say goodbye, but his mother tugged him kindly along.
Bling wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but for some reason he knew they weren't coming back. He was gonna miss the little guy. They had left him in the car with Cole for something like three hours at the hospital and he was asleep half the time. When he was awake Bling could tell he had a mind that matured even faster than his body. With childish words he spoke of a world through an adults eyes. It was truly a strange combination. And if Lydecker's men did find them, Bling feared for the worst.
A minute later Zack burst from Logan's room, making his way in a few brisk steps to the kitchen. The look on his face seemed, to Bling, to be a mixture of anger and despair. Bling didn't catch it before, but now as Zack leaned against the table, he clearly saw Zack's whole body was racked with convulsions.
"Hey, man, do you need some help?" Bling offered though he didn't know there was anything he could do
Zack glared at Bling, but caught himself. Bling deserved none of his hatred. Trembling, Zack forced his head to shake from side to side. Leaning on anything that would support him he slowly, on unsure legs, walked to his jacket on the couch. It looked like he had just barely learned to move his legs.
Finally, he delved into his pockets retrieving the small vile of tryptophan. In a show of defeat, Zack finally gave into his body falling onto his back on the couch. Every movement was a battle, every breath was labored, but eventually he brought four pills up to his mouth. He might as well have been trying to swallow a watermelon whole, the pills would not go down smoothly. Eventually after many tries he got them down, and lay there, willing his body to be still, waiting for them to take effect. Bling could see his jaw muscles clench and his fists try and fight their seizing.
*****
At times like these he was beyond helpless. Zack's body shook, no matter how hard he tried to stop. He hated when his own body betrayed him like this. But he hated the flashbacks even more. From what Zack understood, the decreasing levels of serotonin in his brain caused the nerves to shoot off at random, thus the seizing. The flashbacks were triggered in much the same manner.
"What do you think you were doing, soldier!" the commanding officer's voice came from behind him. Zack knew from before that this was actually a rhetorical question and he kept his mouth shut. They brought him once again to the small, glaringly white room. All faces of the almost cubicle room had a pristine glean that one would never suspect that blood had been shed here. From his own experience, Zack knew better. "You endangered the mission and 16 other operatives, for the sake of one soldier." The man was yelling in his ear now, but he did not flinch, for Zack knew it was when he flinched that the first strike would always come. Though really it didn't matter as the painful blows were inevitable. But this was a small battle he knew he could win.
"She was expendable. She was not necessary to complete the objective..." Zack mostly zoned out as they had gone over this lecture time and again. Even through the beating he let his mind wander onto other things, like how and when they would escape.
"You will not stray from the mission again." A hard metallic object struck him across the face with such force, turning his head to the side. He corrected himself and faced forward again awaiting the next blow.
"You will not assist X-5m again, unless she is essential to the completion of the objective." He was struck again, this time on the other cheek.
And this is how it continued, each command followed by a swift blow. Zack righting himself each time, no matter the pain, awaiting the next order and the pain that followed it. He knew why he couldn't ever bring himself to just snap the c.o.'s neck. He couldn't escape alone, and every time they brought him here to the White Room he reaffirmed his vow to himself that one day he and Max and the others would be free.
The flashback faded as the tryptophan was slowly absorbed into his bloodstream and made its way to his brain. Gradually his muscles stop seizing and he could fell himself once again regain control. He flexed his hands first, then, when he felt sure of himself, sat up holding his head in his hands.
It was then that he realized he passed the guestroom and it was empty. Even then it took some time for his groggy head to put two and two together. There was no way Kat would leave them now, not with Max still recovering from the bullet shot by her own hand. Or would she? With a start he lifted his head, and the dull ache behind his eyebrows threatened to explode into a full out migraine. Currently he didn't care, pain always faded. "Where is Kat?"
Bling looked up from his meal, "She left, about a min-"
Zack cut him off, "Did she have Cole?"
"Yeah, she said she wa-"
"Fuck," Zack cursed, again cutting off Bling's sentence, not needing to hear the rest. Seeing his son fight earlier that morning... If they got a hold of Cole's DNA…He would be better off dead than in Manticore.
*****
Logan could not bring himself to move after Zack made his exit. The experience left him shaken. After all the years living a life avenging the downtrodden, he had never fought so passionately for anything. But that was not what left him in this state. As they had locked defiant glares, Zack's hand began to tremor. The muscle convulsions moved slowly up his arm, so much so that Logan could watch their progress. It was like an infectious disease, spreading throughout his body. It was obvious he was trying to fight them back, but to no avail. Zack did not want to break the eye contact first, but he could no longer stand on his unstable legs. Forced to seek out his tryptophan he stalked angrily out of the room.
When Max's body began to seize, Logan saw her weakness, it made him want to hold her and protect her. But seeing Zack this way, weak and vulnerable, truly shook him to the core. For all the time he had known Zack, he saw no dents in the armor. To see Zack lose control of his own body was like seeing Superman falter at the sight of kryptonite. Such a strong man brought to his knees by something so trivial.
He put the thought past him, as he saw Max's hand twitch. Her eyes moving below their lids, her brows knitted in a worried frown. It looked as though she were trying to awaken. Quickly, he was by her side and holding her hand, imagining his strength flow into her, much as Zack's blood did moments ago. Some nights he almost forgot that she was not invincible, sending her off to do some grunt work. All this time he had taken her assistance for granted, it was part of the deal. He would find the others, she would do his leg work. But he didn't care about the deal anymore. He just wanted her to be okay.
If she was trying to awaken before, she had given up now, as her body once again fell slack. She was probably just dreaming. Besides, she needed her rest now, no point in waking her up, she would rise when she healed.
*****
Back in the city, Raven began to construct her plan of action in her mind. She had given Major Mathews the objective of her mission, not needing to give him specifics, but now she wondered what exactly she would do. This was unlike any mission she had been sent out on before. Previous objectives were mainly assassinations or reconnaissance, in both cases all timeframes and locations were specified clearly. Now she was alone, to plan and plot by herself. But she was up to the challenge. She needed to find out what Lydecker was talking about that morning. He was speaking of their genetic codes, and it's source. Ever since the beginning she believed that she and the rest of the X-6 were spawned from each other. Only until she was ten, when her operations began, did she begin to question her origins.
As a Manticore operative she would pose as the child of two undercover military officers. Being in the real world she realized that every child had a mother and a father. Every baby was born from its mother's womb. This all left her confused but she never brought it up. How could she? With the rigorous training schedule at Manticore there was no time to ask questions. In the classrooms speaking of any kind besides a direct response to the instructor was expressly forbidden. How would she inquire about her origins without being struck down for her insolence? There were no questions asked at Manticore, only commands given.
She admitted to herself when she was assigned this mission that she never wanted to avenge Lydecker. That was not the purpose of seeking out the X-5. What she wanted was answers. Like why were the X-5 loose anyway? What exactly did the world give them that they would prefer over Manticore? At Manticore there was structure, there was purpose, there was order. In the world outside the chain-linked fence chaos ruled, with people aimlessly living their lives. If they weren't helpless drifters living their lives the only way they knew how, they were predators who took advantage of all the others. Raven had seen so many cruel and heartless people, typically the people she was sent to assassinate.
Raven was proud of the work she had done, assassinating tyrannical leaders, killing terrorists, effectively foiling their plans. Once she and the rest of her squad broke up a drug deal taking down a whole ring of smugglers. Her short life had more purpose and fulfillment than the hundreds of people she had done recon on. Why would anyone want to escape the life of a savior?
*****
On still unstable legs Zack put on his jacket, grabbed his helmet and once again left the apartment. This time he wouldn't let Kat take Cole to Manticore, he would demand that his son stay. There was no other option. Even on his motorcycle Kat was gaining ground on him, no doubt. His arms and legs had still not recovered from before. Every turn he made, every gear he shifted, sent intense throbbing protests up his limbs. That was the strongest seizure he had to date and it couldn't have been at a worse time.
Just as he locked horns with Logan he could feel it begin. First his toes would always go numb, then it would feel like he needed to shed his skin. Then the tremors, god damn those tremors, they would inch slowly up his body. He dreaded that feeling. The shivers would swallow him whole and he could feel himself lose power over of his own muscles. As much as he hated how he could not control those around him, he loathed it even more when he couldn't keep his own body in check.
The last thing he wanted to do was reveal his only true weakness to his competition. But Logan was being unreasonable. He couldn't just back down and let Logan think he had won that round. Zack had tried to clench his fists and strain his muscles to calm their misfired nerves, but his weakening body forced him to leave the room. He would not collapse in front of Logan.
The sun was about to lose its battle today, dying in a red blaze of glory. Soon the night would cloak the streets and Zack would be wrapped in its darkness. As much as he welcomed the cool breeze of night, he knew he was running out of time. After dark he would have no hope of finding Kat and his son and he refused to run to Logan for help. It didn't matter that Logan's computer could probably narrow the possibilities of where Kat was an exponential amount. It was all a question of pride now, and in this Zack refused to falter.
She would be headed toward a military facility. There were only three in and around the city that had received military convoys. One of which was under Colonel Sanders, that is, until Lydecker put a blade through his chest. He would check there first. Deck probably gutted the place and was now using it for his own purposes. Manticore setting up camp just outside Seattle was even more reason for Max to leave. Zack would force that fact down Logan's throat if he proved his suspicions right.
His muscles began to involuntarily tense up again as he sped off in the direction he hoped he would find Kat. He tried to focus his thoughts but he could feel his toes go numb again. Four pills could not even soothe the soreness of his muscles afterward, let alone ease the seizures now. That was a not a good sign. He needed to find something new, and he needed to find it quickly. With a grimace he tensed his shoulder anticipating another onslaught of tremors. It would be dangerous trying to ride while his body lost control but he was edging on desperate now.
"Hey, Kat, where are you going?"
"Bling," she was a little startled. They had never talked much for the short time she was there, "I was just stepping out to the store down the street."
"I'll think I'll head with ya, this place is getting too tense for me."
"No!" her answer was a little over eager, and she caught herself trying to sound normal again, "I mean, no, Lydecker's people are crawling around this place, if they find us I can get away, I don't know if you can…"
"Then should you be going out alone? Don't you want to lay low?" Bling was confused, he hadn't known her for much more than a day but she was definitely acting strange, contradicting her own words.
"I just..." she searched for an explanation that this guy would find acceptable but found none. "I just need to go... out. By myself. I need to be alone... with my son." Her sentences were choppy, signaling uneasiness, but she left no room for further questions as she opened the door.
"Bye Bling," Cole lingered a moment to say goodbye, but his mother tugged him kindly along.
Bling wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but for some reason he knew they weren't coming back. He was gonna miss the little guy. They had left him in the car with Cole for something like three hours at the hospital and he was asleep half the time. When he was awake Bling could tell he had a mind that matured even faster than his body. With childish words he spoke of a world through an adults eyes. It was truly a strange combination. And if Lydecker's men did find them, Bling feared for the worst.
A minute later Zack burst from Logan's room, making his way in a few brisk steps to the kitchen. The look on his face seemed, to Bling, to be a mixture of anger and despair. Bling didn't catch it before, but now as Zack leaned against the table, he clearly saw Zack's whole body was racked with convulsions.
"Hey, man, do you need some help?" Bling offered though he didn't know there was anything he could do
Zack glared at Bling, but caught himself. Bling deserved none of his hatred. Trembling, Zack forced his head to shake from side to side. Leaning on anything that would support him he slowly, on unsure legs, walked to his jacket on the couch. It looked like he had just barely learned to move his legs.
Finally, he delved into his pockets retrieving the small vile of tryptophan. In a show of defeat, Zack finally gave into his body falling onto his back on the couch. Every movement was a battle, every breath was labored, but eventually he brought four pills up to his mouth. He might as well have been trying to swallow a watermelon whole, the pills would not go down smoothly. Eventually after many tries he got them down, and lay there, willing his body to be still, waiting for them to take effect. Bling could see his jaw muscles clench and his fists try and fight their seizing.
*****
At times like these he was beyond helpless. Zack's body shook, no matter how hard he tried to stop. He hated when his own body betrayed him like this. But he hated the flashbacks even more. From what Zack understood, the decreasing levels of serotonin in his brain caused the nerves to shoot off at random, thus the seizing. The flashbacks were triggered in much the same manner.
"What do you think you were doing, soldier!" the commanding officer's voice came from behind him. Zack knew from before that this was actually a rhetorical question and he kept his mouth shut. They brought him once again to the small, glaringly white room. All faces of the almost cubicle room had a pristine glean that one would never suspect that blood had been shed here. From his own experience, Zack knew better. "You endangered the mission and 16 other operatives, for the sake of one soldier." The man was yelling in his ear now, but he did not flinch, for Zack knew it was when he flinched that the first strike would always come. Though really it didn't matter as the painful blows were inevitable. But this was a small battle he knew he could win.
"She was expendable. She was not necessary to complete the objective..." Zack mostly zoned out as they had gone over this lecture time and again. Even through the beating he let his mind wander onto other things, like how and when they would escape.
"You will not stray from the mission again." A hard metallic object struck him across the face with such force, turning his head to the side. He corrected himself and faced forward again awaiting the next blow.
"You will not assist X-5m again, unless she is essential to the completion of the objective." He was struck again, this time on the other cheek.
And this is how it continued, each command followed by a swift blow. Zack righting himself each time, no matter the pain, awaiting the next order and the pain that followed it. He knew why he couldn't ever bring himself to just snap the c.o.'s neck. He couldn't escape alone, and every time they brought him here to the White Room he reaffirmed his vow to himself that one day he and Max and the others would be free.
The flashback faded as the tryptophan was slowly absorbed into his bloodstream and made its way to his brain. Gradually his muscles stop seizing and he could fell himself once again regain control. He flexed his hands first, then, when he felt sure of himself, sat up holding his head in his hands.
It was then that he realized he passed the guestroom and it was empty. Even then it took some time for his groggy head to put two and two together. There was no way Kat would leave them now, not with Max still recovering from the bullet shot by her own hand. Or would she? With a start he lifted his head, and the dull ache behind his eyebrows threatened to explode into a full out migraine. Currently he didn't care, pain always faded. "Where is Kat?"
Bling looked up from his meal, "She left, about a min-"
Zack cut him off, "Did she have Cole?"
"Yeah, she said she wa-"
"Fuck," Zack cursed, again cutting off Bling's sentence, not needing to hear the rest. Seeing his son fight earlier that morning... If they got a hold of Cole's DNA…He would be better off dead than in Manticore.
*****
Logan could not bring himself to move after Zack made his exit. The experience left him shaken. After all the years living a life avenging the downtrodden, he had never fought so passionately for anything. But that was not what left him in this state. As they had locked defiant glares, Zack's hand began to tremor. The muscle convulsions moved slowly up his arm, so much so that Logan could watch their progress. It was like an infectious disease, spreading throughout his body. It was obvious he was trying to fight them back, but to no avail. Zack did not want to break the eye contact first, but he could no longer stand on his unstable legs. Forced to seek out his tryptophan he stalked angrily out of the room.
When Max's body began to seize, Logan saw her weakness, it made him want to hold her and protect her. But seeing Zack this way, weak and vulnerable, truly shook him to the core. For all the time he had known Zack, he saw no dents in the armor. To see Zack lose control of his own body was like seeing Superman falter at the sight of kryptonite. Such a strong man brought to his knees by something so trivial.
He put the thought past him, as he saw Max's hand twitch. Her eyes moving below their lids, her brows knitted in a worried frown. It looked as though she were trying to awaken. Quickly, he was by her side and holding her hand, imagining his strength flow into her, much as Zack's blood did moments ago. Some nights he almost forgot that she was not invincible, sending her off to do some grunt work. All this time he had taken her assistance for granted, it was part of the deal. He would find the others, she would do his leg work. But he didn't care about the deal anymore. He just wanted her to be okay.
If she was trying to awaken before, she had given up now, as her body once again fell slack. She was probably just dreaming. Besides, she needed her rest now, no point in waking her up, she would rise when she healed.
*****
Back in the city, Raven began to construct her plan of action in her mind. She had given Major Mathews the objective of her mission, not needing to give him specifics, but now she wondered what exactly she would do. This was unlike any mission she had been sent out on before. Previous objectives were mainly assassinations or reconnaissance, in both cases all timeframes and locations were specified clearly. Now she was alone, to plan and plot by herself. But she was up to the challenge. She needed to find out what Lydecker was talking about that morning. He was speaking of their genetic codes, and it's source. Ever since the beginning she believed that she and the rest of the X-6 were spawned from each other. Only until she was ten, when her operations began, did she begin to question her origins.
As a Manticore operative she would pose as the child of two undercover military officers. Being in the real world she realized that every child had a mother and a father. Every baby was born from its mother's womb. This all left her confused but she never brought it up. How could she? With the rigorous training schedule at Manticore there was no time to ask questions. In the classrooms speaking of any kind besides a direct response to the instructor was expressly forbidden. How would she inquire about her origins without being struck down for her insolence? There were no questions asked at Manticore, only commands given.
She admitted to herself when she was assigned this mission that she never wanted to avenge Lydecker. That was not the purpose of seeking out the X-5. What she wanted was answers. Like why were the X-5 loose anyway? What exactly did the world give them that they would prefer over Manticore? At Manticore there was structure, there was purpose, there was order. In the world outside the chain-linked fence chaos ruled, with people aimlessly living their lives. If they weren't helpless drifters living their lives the only way they knew how, they were predators who took advantage of all the others. Raven had seen so many cruel and heartless people, typically the people she was sent to assassinate.
Raven was proud of the work she had done, assassinating tyrannical leaders, killing terrorists, effectively foiling their plans. Once she and the rest of her squad broke up a drug deal taking down a whole ring of smugglers. Her short life had more purpose and fulfillment than the hundreds of people she had done recon on. Why would anyone want to escape the life of a savior?
*****
On still unstable legs Zack put on his jacket, grabbed his helmet and once again left the apartment. This time he wouldn't let Kat take Cole to Manticore, he would demand that his son stay. There was no other option. Even on his motorcycle Kat was gaining ground on him, no doubt. His arms and legs had still not recovered from before. Every turn he made, every gear he shifted, sent intense throbbing protests up his limbs. That was the strongest seizure he had to date and it couldn't have been at a worse time.
Just as he locked horns with Logan he could feel it begin. First his toes would always go numb, then it would feel like he needed to shed his skin. Then the tremors, god damn those tremors, they would inch slowly up his body. He dreaded that feeling. The shivers would swallow him whole and he could feel himself lose power over of his own muscles. As much as he hated how he could not control those around him, he loathed it even more when he couldn't keep his own body in check.
The last thing he wanted to do was reveal his only true weakness to his competition. But Logan was being unreasonable. He couldn't just back down and let Logan think he had won that round. Zack had tried to clench his fists and strain his muscles to calm their misfired nerves, but his weakening body forced him to leave the room. He would not collapse in front of Logan.
The sun was about to lose its battle today, dying in a red blaze of glory. Soon the night would cloak the streets and Zack would be wrapped in its darkness. As much as he welcomed the cool breeze of night, he knew he was running out of time. After dark he would have no hope of finding Kat and his son and he refused to run to Logan for help. It didn't matter that Logan's computer could probably narrow the possibilities of where Kat was an exponential amount. It was all a question of pride now, and in this Zack refused to falter.
She would be headed toward a military facility. There were only three in and around the city that had received military convoys. One of which was under Colonel Sanders, that is, until Lydecker put a blade through his chest. He would check there first. Deck probably gutted the place and was now using it for his own purposes. Manticore setting up camp just outside Seattle was even more reason for Max to leave. Zack would force that fact down Logan's throat if he proved his suspicions right.
His muscles began to involuntarily tense up again as he sped off in the direction he hoped he would find Kat. He tried to focus his thoughts but he could feel his toes go numb again. Four pills could not even soothe the soreness of his muscles afterward, let alone ease the seizures now. That was a not a good sign. He needed to find something new, and he needed to find it quickly. With a grimace he tensed his shoulder anticipating another onslaught of tremors. It would be dangerous trying to ride while his body lost control but he was edging on desperate now.