The Second Key
By Be Boring
Chapter 4: Moving Home
Kay slid one hand under the pillow and gripped the sheets in her hand. She didn't want Ames to see her doing this, hopefully he was occupied enough with putting the cream on her back. She had felt it before, but she was feeling it stronger now. She squeezed the sheets as hard as she could, flexing every muscle in her arm. I knew it! She should have suspected it sooner, but her back had kept her attention preoccupied. Ames had forgotten to give her another shot.
Right now Kay could have easily flipped him off her back and killed him, but there would have been no point considering the fact that there were several Familiar soldiers positioned in the hallway. She would have been taken down immediately. No, she'd have to come up with a plan of some sort. Her best opportunity would be when they were a good distance away from the other Familiars. When would that be though?
"Is it hurting?"
Kay turned her head to look up at White. "What?"
"You're tense, is the cream hurting?"
Kay realized her hand was still gripping the sheets tightly and quickly relaxed her grip. "Not really, it just feels weird." Well, she wasn't really lying with that one, it did feel weird. The cream felt soothing at first, then seemed to make her back numb. That was a definite improvement in her book. The next improvement was when White finally climbed off of her. She immediately pulled up the blankets to her chin and kicked away the rest of the robe, she wasn't so cold anymore. White went back to his bed and lay down. Kay made her breathing become deep, letting him believe she was asleep. When she heard his breathing do the same, she slid out of the bed, picked up the robe and put it on, then crossed the room to White's coat. With her abilities back, she was almost completely silent. Unless he was listening hard, he would never hear her.
The case was easy to find, she felt the hard bulge right away. She opened it up and looked at the syringes. She pulled one out and held it up to the bit of moonlight coming in through the window, the strength-sucking liquid inside was completely clear. This was almost too easy.
Kay shot another careful glance at White, he wasn't moving in the bed and his face was turned away from her. His breathing was deep, but he could have been doing the same thing she had been. She kept herself low and out of his line of vision, then made her way to the bathroom with the case. She squeezed the last bits of the drug out of every syringe, then filled a glass with water and sucked it up to fill the syringes to the point they had been before. When she was done, she was more than satisfied with her work. She had been careful not to leave sloppy fingerprints all over the needles, that would have been a dead giveaway that they had been tampered with.
Kay silently made her way back out to the coat with the newly filled syringes, keeping an eye on White the whole time. She had no doubt that he could get more of these if he needed them. She slid the case back into the pocket it had been, in as close to its original position as possible. When she finished, she took off her robe and slipped back into bed. She would have to wait until morning to find out if her plan worked.
Max was carrying Original Cindy, Zack was helping along Sketchy, and Brin was walking next to Logan. They were almost to the edge of Terminal City, and Brin was getting herself ready as she walked. She was loading her gun and positioning her ammo to a place where she could reach it easily. Logan helped her a little bit when she needed it, but he needed to keep his focus on walking and Brin knew it.
The six of them finally reached the area in Terminal City known as Freedom Pass. It was only for people who absolutely had to go out, maybe to get supplies. Right now Gem stood guarding it from inside the nearest building. Freedom Pass was a hole they had cut through the electric fence during the first blackout after they were trapped inside. It was the best place for the opening because directly above it on the other side was an overhang that blocked the view of it from the soldiers above. The only problem was getting to the fence without being seen. That was what Brin was preparing for. Once they reached the building that Gem stood guard in, Max gave two quick knocks to the window beside Gem's head, then another knock after a short pause, then three more. As soon as they saw Gem remove her gun from the window, Brin went inside.
Brin made her way to the roof, being careful that they didn't see her through the windows as she went up. The whole point of this was that they needed to be surprised when they saw her shooting at them, that way Zack could get the three humans through Freedom Pass before any of the soldiers had the sense to look down. As soon as she was on the roof, she pulled out the gun and started shooting. She wasn't aiming to kill, but they didn't know that. The soldiers on the other side reacted almost immediately, firing back at her. Brin could hear the bullets hissing past her head and started moving back and forth so quickly she was hardly more than a blur to them. She felt a bullet graze her arm, but she kept her grip on the gun firm. She could still aim perfectly while she was moving and she didn't want something as minor as a tiny flesh wound causing her to accidentally shoot someone. The only reason it wasn't Max up here was because Max refused to shoot a gun, even if she wasn't aiming to kill. It would have been better if it was Max, because then Brin could have gotten out too. Still, Zack had told her it was probably better for her to relax with her sister for a while. It was what she needed.
When the shooting started, Zack made sure no guards were looking down, then he and Max carried Sketchy and Original Cindy across to the hole. As soon as they dropped their charges on the other side, they came back and Zack grabbed Logan. He was considerably rougher when he dropped Logan on the ground than when he had let go of Sketchy. Logan grunted when he hit the ground, then checked his exoskeleton to make sure the drop hadn't damaged it in any way. When he was satisfied that he was good to go, he climbed to his feet and grabbed Sketchy's arm while Zack picked up OC. They hurried around the corner of the building from the overhang and went about a block to Zack's car, or rather one that he had stolen earlier. Logan helped Sketchy into the front seat, then he climbed into the back where Zack handed off OC to him. Logan felt a nervous pang when he looked down at the young woman, she didn't look good at all.
Max watched as they drove away, feeling more lonely than ever now that three of the people she was closest to were gone. She just hoped they would recover fully and that Logan would call her on the video phone as soon as he could. She leaned back against the wall and waited until Brin came back down.
Brin could see the look on her sister's face and put an arm around her shoulders, instinctively knowing what Max was thinking about. She had thought it in the past during her own troubled times. "He'll call, and don't you worry about any of them, they'll be fine."
Max forced out a smile and nodded, but it didn't stop the pain. She and Brin walked back to her room, and both women jumped when they saw Joshua standing next to the door as they turned the corner. He smiled sheepishly at Max, then looked at Brin questioningly. Max smiled at him to reassure him.
"She's okay, big fella. She's my sister."
Joshua's face split into one of his all-out grins as Brin held out her hand to shake his. He ignored her hand and stepped forward to wrap her in a tight hug. Brin gave out a squeak of surprise as he hugged her tight enough to make it nearly impossible to breathe.
"You're Max's sister, then you're my friend."
Brin awkwardly patted his back and managed to worm her way out of his grasp. Her ribs ached from being held like that, but she could tell by his face that he hadn't meant to hurt her. He was so innocent-looking, it was like staring at a large, dog-like child. She tried not to wince as they walked into Max's room, then allowed herself a tiny grimace of pain when his back was turned. She was relieved that he had at least seemed to not recognize her.
"You have to tell me what you've been up to all these years," Brin insisted. Max had heard quite a bit about her, but Brin didn't know anything about Max.
"Well, you might want to sit down, it's a long story."
Kay groaned and rolled over when White shook her by the shoulders. "Go away, I'm tired," she grumbled. It had been the first good night's sleep she'd had in a few days since her back wasn't keeping her up. Unfortunately, Ames wasn't planning on going away without her.
"Get up, we're leaving."
Kay finally rolled onto her back and looked up at him blearily. "Where we goin'?" she asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes and quickly looking down to check that her blankets were still up high enough.
"We're heading for Seattle, we've been here too long."
"Where are we?" In the last couple days, Kay hadn't even bothered to find out where they were. They could have been in Italy for all she knew.
"We're still in Gillette, so I want to get going while it's early."
Kay looked over at the clock. "You woke me up at 5:30 in the morning? You really are an asshole! Getting a recovering girl up at the crack of dawn, would you have gotten your kid up at a time like this?" She didn't even flinch at the last words, although she knew he did. It didn't really bother her because she knew perfectly well Ray was alive. So what if his dad didn't know? The kid was better off with his aunt.
Ames threw some clothes in her direction, they were brand new. "Put these on and let's get moving."
Kay looked at the tags on the clothes. "Did you look on my other clothes to get my size? That is another asshole thing to do! Hell, you even got me new underwear. That's just gross. Will you at least have the decency to give me some privacy while I change?"
He rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom to leave her alone. "For your information, I wasn't the one to go through your things. I left that to one of the guards."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Kay snapped sarcastically as she pulled on the clothes and kept her eye on the bathroom door. She doubted he would look, but she didn't want to chance it.
"Glad I could help," he quipped back. Kay rolled her eyes and finished pulling on the shirt, which was a black t-shirt stating "I went to Hell and back and all I got was a lousy t-shirt!" I'm not quite out of hell yet.
"You can come out, I'm decent."
White came back out of the bathroom with a syringe in his hand. Kay hadn't even noticed before that he'd been wearing his coat. He really must be in a hurry. Well, now was the time she would find out if her plan had worked. If it had, she would still be at her regular strength. There was always the chance though that he had heard what she was up to and went to get the drugs replaced while she was asleep.
He jabbed the needle into her arm, which she pretended to try and pull away from him. She didn't want him to get suspicious at this point. Her best opportunity to attack him and get away would be while they were traveling. She doubted the other Familiars would be as close as they were now, unless they were all traveling in the same vehicle. Of course, that turned out to be the case.
The car they were riding in barely fit them all in, making it a tight squeeze for Kay who was sitting in the back with the Familiar guards. One of the guards was in the front seat next to White, but the other two were in the back with her. Placed right in between the two men, she wasn't exactly comfortable. Whenever they looked at her it was as though they were staring at something disgusting. She wished she could just punch them and wipe that look off their faces, but she wouldn't do that unless she felt particularly suicidal. Oh boy, this is going to be a long ride.
Not bothering to pick up the junk he was walking through, Alec walked through his apartment, heading for the door. He wasn't really a tidy person, and this was the first time he had come through the place with the intention of leaving. Since Jondy had pretty much taken up his favorite thinking spot, he had done his thinking in his home. It wasn't as good as being up high, but a hot bath made it come in a close second.
Alec never would have believed it if someone told him a year ago that he would lock himself up alone after losing an X5. At Manticore, that was just something you had to deal with. Others got killed, life went on. It was as simple as that. Of course, at Manticore Alec had never bothered to become friends with the other transgenics. There wasn't really an opportunity to make friends with how they were all separated, which was mainly because the people in charge of the operation were afraid of a group revolt like the escape of '09.
When he had gotten out and ran into Max again, Alec allowed himself to make friends and care about them. He let himself become involved in their lives and let them become involved in his. In the beginning, he had been slightly more cautious, but as time went on he couldn't help himself. It was nice to have someone to depend on and be able to count on to help you if you needed it without asking anything in return. Of course, Max would ask but she wouldn't hold it against him. Kay had been someone he was sure would have helped him without asking questions if he ever needed her. It was nice just to know she was there, and she had been more than fun to hang out with. Despite being more careful than he was, she had the same secretly mischievous nature and loved causing trouble just to watch the waves. Even if she didn't do it as faithfully as he did, he liked how her eyes lit up when he caused trouble at the hospital.
Now he felt so sure that letting himself get that close to another person was a mistake. The pain of realizing that that person wasn't there anymore and never would be was almost more than he could bear. He hadn't been taught at Manticore to deal with his emotions, and emotions like these were far beyond his grasp of understanding. If it hurt this much to lose someone he rarely saw, what would it feel like if Max or Joshua died? That would kill him, he was sure it would. It was why he hadn't been out to see anyone, he didn't want to see them. What would happen if they were suddenly taken away from him? It was better to distance himself from them so it wouldn't hurt so much when something happened to them.
Alec stepped out into the hallway for the first time in 36 hours. He wasn't disappointed that there was no one there, he would rather not see anyone right now. He just figured he may as well let everyone know he was alive. If he didn't, Max was likely to come charging through the door. He wandered aimlessly down the hall, not bothering to move out of the way as someone came rushing out their door and ran straight into him.
"Watch where you're moving, dumbass!"
Alec turned to look down into Jondy's eyes. "Hello to you too."
Jondy recognized him instantly and rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's you. Well, you're still a dumbass."
Alec turned away from her and kept on going down the hall. After a moment, he glanced to his side to see that she was walking next to him. "Do you have to follow me?"
"Don't flatter yourself, we just happen to be going in the same direction."
They walked downstairs and out the door, then walked into Max's building. It wasn't until they both reached her door that they turned to face each other.
"Ok, you've got to be following me," they both said simultaneously, then frowned at each other. Alec felt nothing but sour dislike for the lovely, sharp-tongued X5 standing in front of him. She was more of a nuisance than anything.
Jondy felt basically nothing more endearing for the tall, good-looking man in front of her. She felt he was nothing more than an arrogant, self-absorbed child in a grown up body. To think he actually believed she would spend her time following him! If it weren't for the fact that she was more excited about knowing Brin was here, she would have burst out laughing. He sure was full of himself.
Brin was the one who answered the sharp knock Alec gave to the door. Alec rolled his eyes in disgust when the women practically squealed and Jondy brushed him out of the way as she and Brin hugged for the first time in ten years. He crossed his arms at the scene.
"You know, normally my dirty mind would be working overtime right now, but I need to see Max. You don't think there's a possibility I could cut through this little family reunion here and talk to her, do you?"
Alec immediately got nasty looks shot at him by both of them. He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, I'll come back at a more convenient time." He turned and sauntered off down the hall, wondering who he could talk to now. Well, there was always Joshua.
The Rec Center was practically deserted when he reached it, there were only a few transgenics sitting around. Alec spotted Mole and made a beeline for him. At least he was someone who wouldn't want to get started on an emotional discussion. Mole nodded his head briefly to acknowledge Alec's arrival. Alec looked down at the pile of guns Mole was assembling.
"In the past few days, doesn't this add up to about 300 guns? You keep going like this, there'll be enough guns for everyone in Terminal City, except for Max of course."
"Well, that's the plan. I don't care what little miss I-Won't-Hurt-Anyone-Cuz-I'm-Better has to say about this. If we're not out of here by the time I'm done making enough for everyone, I want to break out. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, so I should have no trouble gathering up enough of us to pull it off. Personally, I hope Max gets shot while we're leaving. She would be an okay kid in the outside world, but here with us she just comes off as prissy. By the way, how are you holding up?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, I heard something about that girl Kay dying. I met her once a couple months ago. It was because of her that I'm even here, without her White would have taken me apart. She was a good kid and I heard you were pretty close to her. So, how are you holding up?"
Alec was inwardly groaning, Mole was the last person he had expected to ask him about his feelings. "Fine, I guess. We weren't really that close. We were more acquaintances really."
Mole raised an eyebrow, but went back to his work. He had heard that Alec and Kay had been good friends and that really didn't surprise him. He remembered her sense of humor perfectly and it made her someone he could picture Alec getting along with. Leave them alone too long though and their stubbornness and urge to be leader would make them tear each other apart. That was one of the reasons Max and Alec didn't get along all the time.
Alec wasn't surprised when Mole shoved a pile of gun parts in his direction. "As long as you're here, you may as well make yourself useful. I assume you know how to do this?"
Alec rolled his eyes and started assembling a gun. "Yes, I know how to do this. I could have done it with my eyes closed when I was five." He threw himself into putting the guns together, it was better than thinking about anything else.
The car rolled slowly through the streets of Seattle, Kay's eyes taking in everything that might be able to help her later. She wanted to make sure she knew where she was so that she could get to safety quickly. Everyone had been completely silent during the ride, which was rather unnerving. The quiet was starting to get to her, she wished she could just scream or something to break it. The only positive thing was that her body strength had remained the same. She would be able to get away as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, that didn't look like it would be happening anytime soon.
Her eyes wandered over the houses on the street they were going down. Wait a second, we're going down Joshua's old street! I wonder if Logan is out of Terminal City yet. She hoped he was, maybe there was a signal or something she could give him to let him know she was trapped. She could see the house coming up, but they weren't close enough for her to see if there was a car or anything out in front. As they moved closer, she saw a car parked on the street in front of the house. When they were almost right in front of it, Kay could see the people getting out of it. Sketchy was leaning against the car, Logan was pulling OC out, then she saw Zack. That was perfect!
When the X5s had been young, before Kay had had her run-in with the Nomlie, the X5s had discovered something they could do that the adults couldn't. It was a high-pitched sound in the back of their throats that was somewhat similar to a dog whistle. Only people with really high frequency hearing could hear it, and that was what the X5s had. It was how they called each other out in the woods so the others would come. Manticore hadn't even known about it.
Kay wasn't sure if the Familiars would be able to hear it or not, but she was willing to take her chances. She tightened the muscles in her throat, barely opened her lips, and let the high-pitched whistle out. She could still do it perfectly, despite the fact that she hadn't used it in at least fifteen years. The others in the car didn't react, apparently their hearing wasn't as advanced as the rest of their bodies. She glanced out the window without making it obvious. Zack didn't appear to have heard her, he hadn't reacted at all. Kay's shoulders slumped slightly and she settled back into her seat. Well, so much for that shot.
Zack kept his eyes on Sketchy as he went to help him into Logan's house, trying not to let on to what he had heard. It had been many years since he had heard that call, but he recognized it immediately. He didn't know who had sent it, but he had seen that car go by out of the corner of his eye. Whoever had called him must have been in there. As soon as it turned onto another road, Zack grabbed Logan's arm.
"There's something I have to do. Can you get them in just fine?"
Logan was surprised that Zack was asking him for help, or even trusting him enough to leave him alone with his charges. "Yeah, we'll be fine. What's going on?"
Zack didn't even bother to reply, he just jumped back into the car as soon as Sketchy was no longer leaning on it and took off. He didn't care that he nearly ran over OC's leg, this was one of his X5s calling him, they were the only ones that knew that call. Whoever was in trouble, they came first in his mind.
Once the other car was in sight, Zack slowed down and stayed back far enough to not be suspicious. The car was heading for Logan's old area in town, which was mostly made up of apartment buildings and hotels. Well, if they were going to a hotel he would just have to get a room next to them.
Kay didn't notice the vehicle following theirs, she was pretty much just accepting the fact that if she was going to get out of this, she'd have to do it herself. She noticed the neighborhood they were in, they'd be reaching Foggle Towers any minute. A short time ago this would have been good news for her, but now that Logan no longer lived here it was pretty much worthless. Hey, maybe if I can get away I can hide out in Logan's old penthouse! Well, that wasn't too bad of an idea. She knew her way around that building better than White did, even if he did shoot up Logan's old place.
The hotel they pulled up to was no more than a block from Foggle Towers, so the possibility of her hiding out there was still open. Tonight would be her best chance, they might have plans for her tomorrow. White went in without the others, leaving Kay alone with the Familiar guards that most obviously didn't like her. She didn't move a muscle while he was gone, out of this entire group she was more comfortable around him. At least with Ames she could be a bitch and not get her head shot off. Slapped maybe, but not shot off. She didn't see Zack's car as it pulled into the parking lot and parked on the other side of it from them. She also didn't see Zack crouch down in the car when White came back out and motioned for them to come in. Kay kept her face pointed down as the man on her left roughly pulled her out.
Ames smiled a little as he saw the group coming towards him. It was nice to see 358 with her head down, he'd wanted her to be submissive ever since he had first met her. Of course, he was also aware that it was all an act. She wasn't submissive to these men, she was just letting them believe she was because at the moment she was at a disadvantage. He had learned about tactics like that when he was in training and he was sure she had too. Still, as much as he liked seeing her look so humbled, he preferred it when she was lively. She was much more fun that way.
Zack's eyes widened as Kay walked past the car. His head snapped up so quickly that it nearly hit the horn on the steering wheel. He jerked his head back down right away, he didn't want White to see him. He didn't need to be recognized before he even got the chance to help. So much for Kay dying after taking him out, they were both alive as could be. No wonder he hadn't been able to find her after the explosion. White had most likely already taken off with her. Zack just hoped she hadn't been hurt too badly in the process. He wasn't sure how the morals of these people were. If they had touched her in any wrong way, they were as good as dead.
Kay was relieved when Ames told the guards they could go to their rooms, he could handle her himself. As soon as they were out of sight, she came to life.
"Is this arrangement going to be as lovely as our last?" she asked with sickening sweetness. A strangely amused smile spread over Ames's face as he pointed out the door down the hall that led to their room.
"Actually, it's worse."
Kay raised an eyebrow, then groaned when he opened the door and she got the chance to look inside. "One bed? You've got to be kidding me!"
Ames chuckled and walked in to throw his coat on the one queen-sized bed in the room. "No, I'm afraid we'll be sharing a bed tonight. You're always welcome to sleep on the floor if you'd rather do that."
Kay looked down at the linoleum that was on the floor. It was cold under her feet, even through her shoes. Even worse, it wasn't completely flat. It was almost lumpy. She sighed and shoved his coat off the bed as she sat down.
"I'd rather not. Well, tonight's bound to be interesting."