Ok so here it is, the story is almost over now, but as requested this chapter is longer and something does happen. Once again I say enough thank-you's to everyone for all the support, I hope you enjoy this next chapter, they've all been fun to write, even the slow ones.
Chapter 9
They walked side by side down the corridor, neither of them turning their back on the other or completely turning their attention away to examine the surroundings.
Max could smell the sewer, it was somewhere near by but so far she hadn't seen way of getting to it. Maybe there would be another gap in the wall they could slip through.
The silence between them was anything but comfortable. 'You always this chatty?' Max asked.
Ames looked at her, did she really expect him to talk to her? 'What would you like to talk about the weather?' He asked pointedly.
Fine, she had tried, she couldn't be bothered to make nice with the guy, he was after all trying to kill her, maybe not at this moment in time, but you could bet once they were out of there things would be different.
Max reflected that it was probably a good thing he had pulled the gun on her back there rather than once they were out in the open. At least now he didn't have it.
White stopped suddenly beside her, in fact it took a moment for her to realise that he had stopped. Most people made noise, even when they weren't moving, they shuffled of fidgeted. White made no noise, she had to look at him to be sure he was still there, she couldn't even hear his breathing, and in a confined space like this with her ears she should have been able to.
It made her wonder what his training had been like. Ray hadn't been through anything too terrible before she had got him out other than the whole initiation thing which had almost killed him, but by all accounts all of these psychos went through it. That meant White had been through it and survived. Obviously the real training started after the initiation. Maybe they weren't so different after all, except of course for the fact that he was a psycho, couldn't forget that little detail.
'What?' Max asked, she couldn't hear anything.
'Shh!' He held up his hand.
Max concentrated but all she could hear was the sound of the blood rushing inside her head.
White wasn't moving, if she hadn't known better she'd have sworn he wasn't breathing either.
She decided to try it, why not? She let her breath out slowly, not holding her breath but rather simply not breathing in. She could still hear her blood rushing in her head, but there was something else rushing nearby as well. 'Water?' She asked.
Ames nodded, distracted for a moment. 'Could be.' He nodded. He just wasn't sure which direction the sound was coming from. Water wasn't the only sound he could hear, there were footsteps too, very faint, they were still a long way off but he was sure he could hear them.
'So lets check it out.' Max shrugged. She realised that White wasn't following her. 'Now what?' She demanded.
Ames looked at her. 'Nothing.' He shook his head. It could be his team up ahead, or it could be 452's people, either way he didn't want her to know they were there. If they were his people then he might be able to trap her yet, if the backup was hers, he didn't want her knowing. She would hear them soon enough though, some noise was called for.
He started moving forward again. 'If the sewer is up ahead there should be a number of ways out near by, shouldn't take long to find one of them.'
'Pity you lost the cuffs hu? You could probably have used them when we get out of here.' Max said sarcastically.
'True.' Ames nodded.
Max looked at him, she wasn't sure what she had expected him to say, something sarcastic, or a threat maybe, but frankness was not something she had come to expect from Ames White. Insults and threats seemed about all he said to her.
'What couldn't come up with anything witty to say White?' Taunting him she reflected probably wasn't a good idea, but hey, she'd said it now.
'Right now 452 I couldn't care less.' He spat.
'My name's Max.' She said forcefully.
'You don't have a name, people have names, you're property, not people 4-5-2.' He said the numbers slowly to make his point.
'What does that make you?'
'Superior.' Ames truly did believe that. He walked on past her, the footsteps up ahead were louder now, if he didn't keep her distracted she would hear them. There were three of them, one seemed to be moving differently from the others, stopping and starting, turning corners then going back again. Ames had no idea what they were doing.
'Look 452 I don't like you, I don't like your kind, you're an insult to everything I am and everything I believe in.' He said forcefully, and he meant it. 'If you didn't have my son to hide behind I would have killed you by now.'
They were standing very close to each other now.
Max took a swing at White and connected solidly with his jaw, he was on the ground spitting blood before he had even seen her move.
'What makes you think he even survived what you did to him?' She questioned. She still had a hard time believing that anyone, even Ames White could do that to his own child.
'Ray is strong. He would have survived if you hadn't interfered.' White got back to his feet still spitting blood. The look in his eyes was pure hatred, hatred of her and what she had done. He kept his distance from her now, he hadn't known she could move that fast, it felt as if she had loosened a few of his teeth. Obviously the strength was returning to her arm.
Ray was alive, and he was healthy. He wasn't going to be trained to be a killer, or turned into a monster like his father. No matter what White did she wouldn't give up Ray, he deserved a life and she wasn't going to let anyone take that away from him, least of all his own father.
They began circling each other once more, Max knew her arm was getting better, unfortunately White also seemed to be better, he no longer favoured his leg although he was still being careful with it. They were both stronger now, if they fought, it would be bloody.
Max knew that White would do just about anything to get Ray back, but she wasn't sure why. Was it because she had taken him and his pride was hurt, or did he really care about the boy, she just wasn't sure. On the one hand, if White did care why would he have allowed his son to go through that ritual that almost killed him. She'd answered that question herself earlier, White was zealot, he believed in his faith, whatever that was with such conviction that he would sacrifice his son if it was necessary.
Max was about to say something when she heard a howl up ahead. It was a howl, she hadn't been hearing things.
Ames stopped still, it was one of 452's people, not his own. They were next to useless at times he reflected.
'Joshua.' Max breathed softly and turned to look in the direction the sound had come from. A human may not have heard her but she was betting that White had.
'Looks like you win this one.' Ames said softly spitting more blood, his lip was well and truly busted, and a few of his teeth were definitely loos.
Max jumped and gritted her teeth, she hadn't heard him come up behind her. She really was going to have to get a bell for him. He was standing close enough that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck as he spoke.
'Back off White.' She snarled spinning round. Their faces almost touching for an instant.
Ames smiled and took a step back.
'Better?' He asked still smiling the blood had begun to dry at the corner of his mouth.
'Like you care.'
'You'd better go, wouldn't want your friends to leave without you.' He pointed out.
Max looked at him, she got the feeling that turning her back on him right now was the last thing she should do but what other choice did she have? It was either that or stand here all day glaring at White. It might have been worth it if it bothered him but he didn't seem in the least put out. He was looking at her the way a grown up looks at a child sometimes. Not with love or patients, but with the knowledge that one day they would grow up.
Max didn't like feeling that she was being looked down on, but since it was White, it didn't really matter.
452 still had a lot to learn about war. She may know about combat but war was an entirely different ball game. In war there are many battles and it didn't matter how many battles you won or lost, it was the war that counted. 452 could think she'd beaten him if she wanted, but in the end all she had done was buy herself a little more time. He was going to win the war, and even if she survived it, she'd wish she hadn't.
When the war was over only the Familiars would be left.
Max turned and walked away from him, there was nothing else she wanted to say to him, and nothing she wanted him to say to her.
As he watched her walk away he considered drawing his backup gun from where he kept it in an ankle holster. He had no doubt that he could bend down and draw it without her hearing him but for some reason he didn't want to. He let her walk away knowing that he would get another chance at her. For some reason he didn't want to shoot her in the back. He didn't know why, it couldn't be respect, she was nothing more than an animal and a dangerous one at that. Respect was something you felt for those equal to you. 452 was not equal, he didn't know what she was truthfully, but she could never be an equal, his faith wouldn't allow him to see her as such.
