"How could you tell?" Storm asked, tightening the muscles in his legs to
prevent them from moving away. He would not retreat, not back away from
these morons.
"There are differences" the man smiled.
"Oh"
"Yeah." Spoke another one, grinning. "One thing you can do, is break their arm, or shoot them. They don't feel pain, you know."
Storm felt a chill wash over them. Were these morons serious? "So, if you think you've got a transgenic, you figure it out by shooting them?" he asked. Now, he would back away. Screw this. these were sociopaths, not humans. The man saw him backing away, and grinned evilly. Storm turned and walked slowly away, resisting an urge to touch his barcode, check it was still covered. And they wanted to save these people? Keep them alive? At least familiars had a reason for what they were doing, a messed up, alternate-reality reason, maybe, but at least they had a reason. Humans were just plain evil.
Neil left the room, and Alec's head slumped back down against the pillow. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on breathing for a few seconds. Max watched him, concerned, but also kind of relieved. Glad that he was finally comfortable to allow his true feelings to show around her, to let her see the pain he was feeling. Max put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly, and he finally opened his eyes, looking up at her.
"So, this revolution you're planning." He commented, smiling lightly.
"I keep remembering that day" she told him, looking across the room, her eyes not really seeing anything, just remembering. "When we stood on the rooftop, raised Joshua's flag, proclaimed ourself to be something."
"Freak Nation" Alec laughed, then sobered quickly.
"Yeah. Our home. A place to be free. But, we still aren't. those militia outside the gates, they're stopping us from doing anything. we need food, medical supplies, other such essentials."
"Want me to go kick them out?" he offered.
"Take me seriously" she told him, finally looking down at him. she moved her hand to his neck, and pushed downwards lightly.
"Fine. First thing we need to do, is take out their eyes" he told her, reaching up to take her hand, and move it slightly, so that it was around the side of his neck, and not choking off his windpipe.
Max nodded, understanding him instantly. "Target practice" she suggested. Alec laughed, and she punched him lightly. "What?" she asked him he shook his head, laughing too hard to answer.
"I'm scared to ask" Mole's voice came from the doorway. "Max." Alec started to tell him, then shook his head, clenching his fist to try to stop himself laughing.
"Max. what?" Mole prompted. Max sighed. "Start issuing low calibre weapons to people. Pass the word, any hover- drone that comes overhead, shoot it down. Right now, they're getting to see too much of what we're doing." Mole nodded, then glanced at Alec, confusion on his face. It wasn't that funny. It wasn't even vaguely funny. It was just a good, sound plan. So why was Alec almost hysterical? Was there something in that IV drip?
"Max wants to lead from the front" Alec finally choked out.
"Oh." That helped. A lot. But, it kind of did. He remembered a conversation he had had with Storm before the mission. "Okay" he told them, glancing at Alec and nodding slightly. "So, I'll prepare a bunch of handguns, several boxes of ammunition, and what? A pile of rocks?"
Alec howled, and Max hit him again. "He said it, not me" he complained, rubbing his shoulder, a wry expression on his face.
"Yeah, but you're closer" she told him. Mole laughed at that, and gave Max a mock salute. "On it."
Shay pulled his cap further down onto his face as he curled up against a wall in an alley. It was cold, and the clothing he wore was almost useless. His camo gear would have been much better, but he had left that in a dumpster. Well, several dumpsters, to be honest. He pulled his knees up harder into his chest, shuddering as a gust of wind swept through the alley. This sucked. He missed terminal city, hell, at this point, he missed Manticore. At least it was warm there. He couldn't go back, though, not yet. It wasn't safe at night, and he was drawing attention to himself being out on the street alone. Identify the target, then observe. That was what he had been taught. If Alec was with him, then he would have risked it, gone straight through the human mob and leapt the fence. Damn the consequences. But he wasn't, and he just didn't have the confidence. So, he fell back on Manticore training. Tomorrow. He would find a way to the fence, and over it.
Mole whistled as he went about his work. He stripped yet another rifle, expertly removing the bolt, and laying it on a rag. He ran a cloth through the rifle, cleaning it, then picked up the bolt. He picked up the bolt and disassembled it, oiling it before putting it back together. He snapped the bolt back into the rifle, and grinned. He loved his work.
"Hey Storm!" he yelled, seeing the young boy walk into HQ.
"Huh?" Storm replied, distracted, wandering over.
"Reckon you're a better shot than me?" he challenged.
Storm smiled slightly "Wouldn't take much. what we aiming at? Tin cans?"
"Yeah. The type that fly through the air. Bet I can get more hover-drones than you"
"Deal" Storm laughed, shaking his head. Stuff the humans, this was where he wanted to be. He grabbed a rifle off the table and cracked it open, checking it. "Can you shoot as good as you clean?" he asked, grinning.
"Better than you, boy" Mole threw a box of ammo at him, and grabbed one for himself. "Last one to three 'drones buys the beer"
Alec was dreaming. He was standing on a beach. He had neve stood on a beach in his life, but he was there, and he could feel the sand beneath his feet, the way that the wind blew in circles, the salt spray on his face. He looked around, slowly, and saw two people casually walking down the beach, arm in arm. The guy spoke to the girl, and she laughed, hugging him as they walked. His eyes tracked them as they walked past him, ignoring him. from his pocket, he pulled out a gun, and fired four times, twice in the heart of each of them. They both fell to the ground.
The tide moved closer towards them, and as he watched, the waves began to lap over the bodies, cleansing the sand of the blood that had stained it.
Alec sat down on the sand and watched while the waves curled over the bodies. Then he turned the gun towards him, and looked down the barrel.
He gasped, sitting up in bed, frantically trying to draw breath. His hands ran over his face, checking for blood, or something. He threw the covers off him, and stood up, leaning most of his weight on his uninjured leg. It felt like he couldn't breathe. He crossed the room, and left it, letting the door slam behind him. In the waiting room was a large window, and he shoved it open, leaning out it, sucking in cold air. He stood there for several minutes, shivering, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't want to favour his bad leg, but it hurt. Finally, he turned, and slid down the wall to sit on the ground, folding his good leg under the other to help support it. He closed his eyes.
Twenty minutes later, the nurse walked through the front door, and shivered. It was colder inside than it was out. She pulled her jacket closer around her, and opened the door to the waiting room. a gust of icy wind greeted her, and she caught sight of a window wide open. Then she saw Alec, sitting beneath it. She moved quickly towards him, shutting the window then kneeling beside him. he was shivering uncontrollably, and his eyes were shut. She pulled her jacket off, and draped it over Alec's bare chest. He muttered something, and kept shivering. The nurse moved closer to Alec, slipping her arms around him to try to keep him warm. "Wake up" she spoke loudly, touching his neck, and feeling for a pulse. Alec's eyes opened at her touch, and he looked at her. "What the hell?" he asked softly.
"There are differences" the man smiled.
"Oh"
"Yeah." Spoke another one, grinning. "One thing you can do, is break their arm, or shoot them. They don't feel pain, you know."
Storm felt a chill wash over them. Were these morons serious? "So, if you think you've got a transgenic, you figure it out by shooting them?" he asked. Now, he would back away. Screw this. these were sociopaths, not humans. The man saw him backing away, and grinned evilly. Storm turned and walked slowly away, resisting an urge to touch his barcode, check it was still covered. And they wanted to save these people? Keep them alive? At least familiars had a reason for what they were doing, a messed up, alternate-reality reason, maybe, but at least they had a reason. Humans were just plain evil.
Neil left the room, and Alec's head slumped back down against the pillow. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on breathing for a few seconds. Max watched him, concerned, but also kind of relieved. Glad that he was finally comfortable to allow his true feelings to show around her, to let her see the pain he was feeling. Max put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly, and he finally opened his eyes, looking up at her.
"So, this revolution you're planning." He commented, smiling lightly.
"I keep remembering that day" she told him, looking across the room, her eyes not really seeing anything, just remembering. "When we stood on the rooftop, raised Joshua's flag, proclaimed ourself to be something."
"Freak Nation" Alec laughed, then sobered quickly.
"Yeah. Our home. A place to be free. But, we still aren't. those militia outside the gates, they're stopping us from doing anything. we need food, medical supplies, other such essentials."
"Want me to go kick them out?" he offered.
"Take me seriously" she told him, finally looking down at him. she moved her hand to his neck, and pushed downwards lightly.
"Fine. First thing we need to do, is take out their eyes" he told her, reaching up to take her hand, and move it slightly, so that it was around the side of his neck, and not choking off his windpipe.
Max nodded, understanding him instantly. "Target practice" she suggested. Alec laughed, and she punched him lightly. "What?" she asked him he shook his head, laughing too hard to answer.
"I'm scared to ask" Mole's voice came from the doorway. "Max." Alec started to tell him, then shook his head, clenching his fist to try to stop himself laughing.
"Max. what?" Mole prompted. Max sighed. "Start issuing low calibre weapons to people. Pass the word, any hover- drone that comes overhead, shoot it down. Right now, they're getting to see too much of what we're doing." Mole nodded, then glanced at Alec, confusion on his face. It wasn't that funny. It wasn't even vaguely funny. It was just a good, sound plan. So why was Alec almost hysterical? Was there something in that IV drip?
"Max wants to lead from the front" Alec finally choked out.
"Oh." That helped. A lot. But, it kind of did. He remembered a conversation he had had with Storm before the mission. "Okay" he told them, glancing at Alec and nodding slightly. "So, I'll prepare a bunch of handguns, several boxes of ammunition, and what? A pile of rocks?"
Alec howled, and Max hit him again. "He said it, not me" he complained, rubbing his shoulder, a wry expression on his face.
"Yeah, but you're closer" she told him. Mole laughed at that, and gave Max a mock salute. "On it."
Shay pulled his cap further down onto his face as he curled up against a wall in an alley. It was cold, and the clothing he wore was almost useless. His camo gear would have been much better, but he had left that in a dumpster. Well, several dumpsters, to be honest. He pulled his knees up harder into his chest, shuddering as a gust of wind swept through the alley. This sucked. He missed terminal city, hell, at this point, he missed Manticore. At least it was warm there. He couldn't go back, though, not yet. It wasn't safe at night, and he was drawing attention to himself being out on the street alone. Identify the target, then observe. That was what he had been taught. If Alec was with him, then he would have risked it, gone straight through the human mob and leapt the fence. Damn the consequences. But he wasn't, and he just didn't have the confidence. So, he fell back on Manticore training. Tomorrow. He would find a way to the fence, and over it.
Mole whistled as he went about his work. He stripped yet another rifle, expertly removing the bolt, and laying it on a rag. He ran a cloth through the rifle, cleaning it, then picked up the bolt. He picked up the bolt and disassembled it, oiling it before putting it back together. He snapped the bolt back into the rifle, and grinned. He loved his work.
"Hey Storm!" he yelled, seeing the young boy walk into HQ.
"Huh?" Storm replied, distracted, wandering over.
"Reckon you're a better shot than me?" he challenged.
Storm smiled slightly "Wouldn't take much. what we aiming at? Tin cans?"
"Yeah. The type that fly through the air. Bet I can get more hover-drones than you"
"Deal" Storm laughed, shaking his head. Stuff the humans, this was where he wanted to be. He grabbed a rifle off the table and cracked it open, checking it. "Can you shoot as good as you clean?" he asked, grinning.
"Better than you, boy" Mole threw a box of ammo at him, and grabbed one for himself. "Last one to three 'drones buys the beer"
Alec was dreaming. He was standing on a beach. He had neve stood on a beach in his life, but he was there, and he could feel the sand beneath his feet, the way that the wind blew in circles, the salt spray on his face. He looked around, slowly, and saw two people casually walking down the beach, arm in arm. The guy spoke to the girl, and she laughed, hugging him as they walked. His eyes tracked them as they walked past him, ignoring him. from his pocket, he pulled out a gun, and fired four times, twice in the heart of each of them. They both fell to the ground.
The tide moved closer towards them, and as he watched, the waves began to lap over the bodies, cleansing the sand of the blood that had stained it.
Alec sat down on the sand and watched while the waves curled over the bodies. Then he turned the gun towards him, and looked down the barrel.
He gasped, sitting up in bed, frantically trying to draw breath. His hands ran over his face, checking for blood, or something. He threw the covers off him, and stood up, leaning most of his weight on his uninjured leg. It felt like he couldn't breathe. He crossed the room, and left it, letting the door slam behind him. In the waiting room was a large window, and he shoved it open, leaning out it, sucking in cold air. He stood there for several minutes, shivering, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't want to favour his bad leg, but it hurt. Finally, he turned, and slid down the wall to sit on the ground, folding his good leg under the other to help support it. He closed his eyes.
Twenty minutes later, the nurse walked through the front door, and shivered. It was colder inside than it was out. She pulled her jacket closer around her, and opened the door to the waiting room. a gust of icy wind greeted her, and she caught sight of a window wide open. Then she saw Alec, sitting beneath it. She moved quickly towards him, shutting the window then kneeling beside him. he was shivering uncontrollably, and his eyes were shut. She pulled her jacket off, and draped it over Alec's bare chest. He muttered something, and kept shivering. The nurse moved closer to Alec, slipping her arms around him to try to keep him warm. "Wake up" she spoke loudly, touching his neck, and feeling for a pulse. Alec's eyes opened at her touch, and he looked at her. "What the hell?" he asked softly.