By Valjean
Trail of Dead
A last second command from Musalla saved Alec's life. "Sharmute! ((Fool!)). He's priceless." The guard looked at his employer, then reluctantly backed away, still holding his gun ready in case the afreet tried to attack or escape.
Max began breathing again, even though she knew their ordeal had just begun. At least Alec was still alive.
Musalla apparently only had one secure compartment where he could store his prizes, an 8 by 8 metal shipping crate in the barn. He put both of them inside, unmindful that it was over 90 degrees in the shade with nearly 100 percent humidity. The ventilation grids along the top provided no relief.
"I thought he wanted to deliver us alive and in good shape," Max said under her breath. "Hey!" she shouted, pulling against her chains as he was closing the door. "How about at least giving us some water?"
"You'll be taken care of when you reach your destination," Musalla said. "I've been told that with two of you to contend with, I can't take any chances. You're to be locked in and left alone." The man was obviously shaken. Apparently when he'd checked in with his superiors they'd given him an earful about just how deadly X5's could be.
"Our destination?" Max yelled. "What's our fucking destination? "Iran, Syria, Libya? Do you think we can survive in here without food and water for that kind of journey?
Her pleas were ignored. The door of the crate closed, confining them in near-darkness.
Damn, it was sweltering, Max thought as she moved to Alec's side. He had shackles on his wrists and ankles as well, although they were hardly needed. He was in so much pain he could barely move.
"Hey," she said softly, touching his shoulder with her hand. "Are you with me?"
Alec nodded, although he was keeping his eyes closed. She brushed fingers against his cheek. His skin was cool in spite of the heat ... too cool for an X5. He was going into shock.
"This is gonna hurt some," she warned as she rolled him over as gently as she could so she could get a better look at his wound.
Alec whimpered in pain, his teeth biting into his lower lip.
"Come on baby, I've got to see." The arrow had penetrated just below his right shoulder blade. "Does it hurt when you breathe?"
He nodded.
"Stop holding your breath," she told him. "Breathe now for me. I need to listen to you breathe." She put her ear against his back. His heart was beating way too fast, but she could still hear the air filling his lungs. If there was internal bleeding, it was slow. The wound wasn't hemorrhaging externally much either.
"How bad?" Alec rasped.
"Could be worse," Max replied, her brown eyes darker than usual with worry. She touched his cheek again. "Do you want me to try and get the arrow out?" Such a procedure was going to be risky. Max knew she could do a hell of a lot more damage pulling the thing out of him than what it did going in. On the other hand, she wouldn't truly be able to stop the bleeding while the arrow head was lodged between his ribs. Alec's blood loss might be slow, but it was steady. She doubted he could last for a long journey.
Alec groaned.
"I know, it's gonna hurt like hell," Max said gently. "I know how much you hate this kind of shit. But Alec, I think we better get it out now. You can't even move with it in you, and we really need to get out of this box before Musalla ships us both off to some sheik's tent in the dessert. Not to mention you could bleed to death in the meantime."
Alec nodded. Do it.
Max tore a piece of cloth from her ruined t-shirt, wound it tightly, and gently placed it between Alec's teeth so he'd have something to bite down on. Then she wiped his blood from her hands and carefully took hold of the arrow shaft where it protruded from his back beneath the shoulder blade. Hating to do this, but knowing if she hesitated it would hurt Alec even more, she clenched her teeth and pulled as hard as she could. The arrow head moved with a sickening crunch in his flesh, then caught -- wedged tight beneath his rib.
Alec tried so hard not to scream. Max felt him trembling beneath her, his hands balled into tight fists, his breathing ragged as little sounds of agony escaped from his lips.
And suddenly there was a lot more blood, darkening his t-shirt and turning her hands crimson.
"Damn," Max swore as tears pricked her eyes. "That's a vein."
Alec was nearly unconscious. She didn't know if he could even hear her. Lying on his side, he was panting like a winded animal, his breaths short and shallow now, his skin not only cold, but clammy.
She'd done more harm than good. And now there was no way to get the arrow head out without surgical instruments or at least a knife.
Wadding up more of her own t-shirt, Max tried to staunch some of the bleeding. But in the end, all she could do was cradle Alec's head in her lap and stroke his hair.
It had been dark for awhile, near midnight Max figured. Musalla would probably be shipping them out at dawn. Or rather, he'd be shipping her out. Alec wasn't going to make it. "Maybe you're the lucky one after all," Max whispered as she held him close. "At least you'll be free from this hell we call our lives." She wondered something then. Did transgenics have souls? Would she and Alec ever be together on another plane of existence? Or would they be nothing but dirt after death, gone back to the molecular components the scientists had created them from?
"A spirit like yours can't just cease to exist," Max murmured in his ear. "That kind of fire doesn't just go out."
But then she remembered the trail of dead littering the path of her life -- Jondy, Ben, Zack in a way. All of them gone, their fires extinguished. And now Alec was going to join them. Max's only consolation was that she probably wouldn't be far behind.
A sound penetrated her thoughts -- a helicopter in the distance. She listened, and realized it was getting closer. Surely Mussala wouldn't be moving this crate by air?
She would have given a lot for windows, but all she could do was sit still and wait, listening, wondering what was happening. There was no doubt now. The chopper was getting closer.
Gunfire.
And for the first time in two days Max began to have some hope. But who would be rescuing them? Logan didn't have those kinds of resources, and certainly the U.S. government didn't care.
The battle didn't last for long. In less than two minutes the chopper was hovering directly overhead and she heard someone shouting outside the barn. She wanted to call out, but until she knew who it was, Max wasn't about to reveal their presence.
And then she heard a voice. "452? We've been sent to extract you. What's your location? Code 1190."
Max still wasn't certain if it was friend or foe. But Alec stirred, his eyes fluttering open. "Code 1190," he said weakly. "That's a Manticore unit out there."
"We don't know what they'll do to us," Max cautioned. "We can't trust them."
"Max," Alec managed. "We don't leave our own behind. Not ever."
Which meant they were either going to rescue them, or kill them. Max made up her mind. After all, what did they have to lose? "We're here!" she shouted. "In the barn!"
"They're coming," she said, looking down at Alec. But then she realized how heavy and still he'd grown in her arms.