The Second Key

By Be Boring

Chapter 9: Battle Plans

Kay was watching the scene in the Rec Center this week with vague interest. She was in her usual spot, an old vent in the ceiling where she could watch without anyone noticing her unless they knew where to look. She had been hiding out at various points in Terminal City for fifteen days, and she knew that Zack thought she had gotten to the outside. That had been her original plan, but she had different ideas now.

Something had come back to her from one of her conversations with Sandeman. He'd said that the Familiars' one major weakness was that they tended to become cocky when they knew they were about to succeed at something. That explained to Kay why Thula had been at the crime scene a couple weeks ago. Although the Conclave didn't know that Ray was alive, they assumed that next year all the children would survive the initiation and it would be time for the Coming. That meant that the Phalanxes could be a little more careless. They weren't being completely reckless though, they were still protecting Thula fiercely.

It was time to change that. Kay knew the only way to stop the Coming would be to kill Thula and get rid of her body completely. Sandeman had made sure that Kay didn't hold the virus like Thula did, he'd added some of Max's blood to Kay as an infant to neutralize the pathogen. He had also told Kay that as soon as the Conclave had found out about her mother's betrayal, they had killed her. They had Sandeman as the leader for a brief period of time, until he was kicked out. Despite the fact that they were still in their early teens, Ames and Thula had been added to the group simply because the Phalanxes needed to be complete.

Sandeman was the only person Kay had been in contact with since she had gone into hiding. It was easy for her to sneak back into the house and talk to him, it never occurred to Zack that she might still be here. She had needed to speak to him so she could come up with a plan that would stop the Coming now, even though it probably wouldn't happen for another year. Even Sandeman didn't know everything that was going on in her head, it would have scared him.

Kay planned to get the Conclave started on the Coming right away. The reason for that was that Thula would be in the open much more often and she would be easier to get to. How Kay planned to get the Conclave started on the Coming was what Sandeman would be against. She didn't know quite how she was going to do it, but she planned to make sure the Familiars found out that Ray was alive.

Sandeman had also asked for her help in getting Ames out of here, but that didn't interest her at all. She would only do that if it could benefit her, but she didn't see how it could. Poor Sandeman would just have to figure out a different way to get his precious son free from his creations. The only thing on her mind was finishing off making her plans and then getting started on them. Lucky for her the only person other than Sandeman she figured could help her was also the only other one that knew she was here.

Even though they hadn't spoken face to face since he had seen her, Kay knew Mole had seen her spying on Jondy and Alec when they were talking. She had also heard about many of his plans to get out of Terminal City. So far they were coming along nicely. Zeke and several other psy-ops soldiers went out on a daily basis and did odd jobs, the majority of which were illegal and made a quick and large profit. The lot of them had raised nearly $100,000 since they had started going outside, which was quite the accomplishment these days. They had also been able to tell the easiest route out of Terminal City for a large group, which was through the sewers. It was normally too dangerous for one or two people to get out through the sewers because they would quickly be overwhelmed by the sector police waiting for them, but a large group would be able to get past them easily. The police would most likely run off when they saw the group approaching.

The only problem for Mole that Kay had noticed was that as soon as the other transgenics heard that the psy-ops were getting out with them, they lost interest and decided to stay unless Mole could come up with a secure plan. That was where Kay planned to help.

Going out into the real world meant having the ordinaries hate them, but Kay knew that could be avoided if the ordinaries' attention was elsewhere. It would have to be something big, and Kay planned to make sure it was the news about the cult coming out. The only problem with that was how were they going to prove it to everyone beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Familiars existed? They had done an almost flawless job of staying hidden for the past few millenniums, how were a few transgenics going to change that?

Kay watched as Mole walked into her sight, nodding slightly to let her know he could see her. He had done that every time he'd come in, basically to invite her to talk to him. He had some ideas for her as well. He knew that it would have to be someone other than him or the psy-ops to convince others to get out with him, and she was as good a choice as the next person. Even better, she would be more likely to agree. Kay decided to finally talk to him, he had been waiting patiently enough.

Mole nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around and saw Kay sitting in the shadows of the corner of the room. He had been wanting to talk to her, but he'd never expected her to come down. Well, it was just his lucky day. He walked over to the corner where she was sitting, making sure no one could see past his body to her.

"How nice to see you again. The last time I saw you, you were a blonde."

"I had to change the hair, blondes have more fun than I was interested in."

"Hmm, I think the red fits your personality better."

"Oh, how sweet."

Mole grinned, she was still the same person as last time, but something in her eyes had changed drastically. Something in them had been sweeter, for lack of a better word, the last time he'd seen her, but now that was gone completely. She had become hardened since then.

"I don't suppose you could help me with something."

"Only if you help me."

"Anything, as long as I get what I want."

"I want your help in catching Familiars."

"Catching them? Are you nuts? The whole lot of them will come after us! I don't want to go from one suicide mission to another!"

"I don't want a lot, just a couple. Enough to prove to people that they exist."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"It'll take the heat off us, won't it?"

Mole shrugged. "That's true, I guess. What are you going to do with the ones you catch?"

"Maybe some blood tests or something like that so people can see how they're different. Having a few of them will show that it isn't just a fluke or something like that."

"When do you want to get started on this?"

"After we make sure they know Ray is alive."

Mole's eyes widened. "Now you're getting a little too far ahead of me. Why would you want them to know that?"

"Because I want them to get started with the Coming. That'll draw them out into the open a lot more, especially the Phalanxes. They're the ones I want to catch."

Mole couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you fucking nuts? I've fought those guys, they're not exactly what I'd consider easy prey. How do you plan on doing this? Remember, it has to be good for me to agree with it."

"I'm much stronger than you think I am. I'll go after Thula first, the rest will stick around to try and protect her. I just need you and your people to hold them off long enough for me to knock her out, then I can help you guys with the rest of them. Don't look at me that way, I'm more than strong enough to do it. It's what I was made for."

"So you're telling me you were made to fight these people and stop their whole take-over-the-world plot?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure that's not just your ego talking?"

"Pretty sure."

"'Pretty sure' doesn't cut it for me."

Kay rolled her eyes and gestured towards the door, indicating that she wanted him to go outside with her. If he wasn't going to believe her, she would prove it to him. She pulled up the hood of the jacket she had stolen as they headed for the door, making sure no one saw her that could recognize her. Mole followed along behind, not knowing what was coming.

As soon as she had led him around the corner of the building so they were completely alone, Kay whirled and hit him so hard his feet came off the ground as he was sent flying into the brick wall. He heard a couple ribs crack as he hit the wall, and his head snapped off it so fast he had to work to stay conscious. He looked at her in shock as he slowly eased himself away from the wall to see if he could still walk.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"To prove I could. Did any of the Phalanxes get a hit on you like that?"

"No," Mole admitted. Now that he was getting over the shock of being hit that hard, he was impressed. Not only had she sent him flying when he had to have a good fifty pounds over her, but she had used her left arm to do it. Maybe she could pull off everything she was talking about.

"Now you have to help me," he said matter-of-factly.

Kay smiled sweetly. "What can I do to help a big tough guy like you?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "You have to convince others to leave with us. That means you need a good plan to give them so they'll feel safe leaving here."

"Fine."

"Oh, and I also want to be in charge of making sure the cult knows that kid is alive."

Kay didn't like the sound of that. "Why? I can do it fine on my own."

"Yeah, but if we can get things rolling as fast as possible, that'll be best. You'll be busy with the other transgenics, you won't have time to do anything. You may as well let me handle it."

Kay studied his face. She knew he could do it, but did she trust him enough for it? He might take things a little too far, or go about it the wrong way. She wasn't quite sure how he could do that, but knowing what little she did know about him she was sure he would find a way to screw things up. From what she had heard about him from the others during her time of spying, he had a long, sad history of making big mistakes.

"You'll have to tell me what you're going to do before you do it though, you got me?"

"Yes, mother."

"You have no idea how glad I am that I'm not your mother."

"Don't be a smartass. I can handle this and you'll know what I do beforehand, ok?"

Before she could answer, he turned and walked away. Kay still didn't feel quite right about this, but she didn't have a lot of choices. She turned and headed for Sandeman's house, she would have to tell him she was leaving sooner or later.

Mole waited until she was out of sight, then he followed along behind. He made sure to stay far enough back at all times so that she couldn't see him. He wanted to know who she had been going to for help, there was no way she could have stayed hidden by herself. After several minutes, she came to stop next to one of the houses near the edge of the city. Taking position, she leapt up and grabbed the windowsill of a window on the second floor. A few moments later, the window was opened and she climbed inside. Mole stood just below the window so he could hear what was being said.

Sandeman stepped back to give Kay room to climb through the window, still marveling at the ease with which she pulled herself in. Sometimes he worried about what he had turned her into, she might be too strong for even him to handle.

"What brings you here?"

"I figured I'd better tell you I might be leaving soon."

That was news to him. "Where are you going?"

"Just out of this place. If I'm ever going to do what you made me for, I'll have to get out."

"What about Ames?"

"What about him? I never said I would help you get him out. Why would I want to? I've had my share of bad times with your son, I don't feel like setting him loose in the world again."

Sandeman couldn't help feeling a little desperate. She was his only chance to free his son, if she wouldn't do it then Ames would most likely be killed by Zack. Zack had been angry enough lately to do it.

"Please consider helping him."

"I might, but don't hold your breath. Chances are he's not ever getting out of that basement." Kay had absolutely no interest in letting Ames out. It would be stupid of her to let an enemy loose just so he could turn around and shoot her in the back. That would be just like him too.

Sandeman sat down on his bed, his mind off wandering. No one else would help him, that was for sure. As much as he cared for the transgenics, creating them definitely had its downsides. They had almost no loyalty to him, but he didn't blame them after how they'd been treated.

Mole walked away from that particular side of the house and wandered around until he found a basement window. Squatting down he stuck his head in, it was already broken from Max, and saw the man sleeping while chained up in the corner. He smiled to himself, he had just figured out the perfect way to get his part of the plan done.

Max sat back and watched as Ray walked around the computer system in the Rec Center, his young eyes completely fascinated. This place really isn't kid friendly, too bad there isn't a Playstation 4 here for him. She hadn't been able to get any more out of him than Alec had already told her. All she knew was that Julie had been chased until she crashed, and that sounded like something the Familiars would do. The last thing she needed was for them to find out Ray was alive, she needed more time to figure out what to do about the Coming. She had dissuaded Logan from announcing the news about the cult over an Eyes Only broadcast simply because she worried that might cause them to start the Coming regardless of thinking Ray was dead.

Brin had been a remarkable source of comfort for Max, she'd been there whenever she was needed. Jondy on the other hand was more of an annoyance. She kept telling Max that Mole couldn't be trusted as the guard of Freedom Pass, that he was planning an escape. Alec kept bugging her about that too. She found that ridiculous. Mole wasn't exactly a passive person, but he was a great help to her. He seemed to be the only person on good terms with both the freaks and the psy-ops soldiers. She didn't know how he had become friends with psy-ops, but she figured he could be some sort of peacemaker if there really was a need.

Zack had been someone she had avoided whenever possible. She couldn't believe he had done what he did to Kay. True, she was just as angry with Kay as he was, but she would never do that. Maybe Zack didn't understand because he didn't have heat cycles like the women, but to have someone take advantage of you when you were in heat was a very painful thing. The fact that he was family and had put her with the enemy was even worse. Even though Kay had slept with White willingly, Max had seen on her face that she hadn't been happy about it the second time. Max knew how she felt, it was one thing to do it of your own free will but to be thrown in with them when you couldn't control yourself was unthinkable.

Zack had thankfully kept to himself the past couple weeks. Jondy was the only person who talked to him, but then again she was the only person who didn't know what he'd done. Max had told Alec and Logan what had been happening with Kay and had dealt with their anger on her own. Logan had sat in shock when he heard what happened, then hung up the phone. The next time he called he hadn't even mentioned what she'd told him. Alec had taken it a little differently. If Max had told him where Kay was staying, he would have torn her apart. He had dealt with White before and it hurt him that she could do something like that.

Max hadn't told Jondy because she had the feeling she wouldn't be the most kind person in the world about it. She was the type to hold it over someone's head, and even though Max was angry with Kay she didn't want her sisters fighting like that. She'd probably find out anyway, she and Alec had been getting closer lately and he was bound to tell her. Max just didn't want to be around when that happened. What worried her though was that Alec and Jondy had just gone off together a few minutes ago.

Max looked up as Mole sauntered into the Rec Center, whistling cheerfully. She wasn't used to seeing him so happy, something really good must have happened.

"What's up?"

Mole was startled out of his happy thoughts by Max's voice. His eyes lit up when he saw that Ray was with her. "Nothing much, I guess I just woke up on the right side of the bed for once. What's going on here?"

"Ray was getting bored, so I brought him here to look around. He seems to like computer stuff. I bet that's what they were going to train him in," she said absent-mindedly, glancing towards the door to see if Jondy and Alec had come back yet. Mole noticed her gaze.

"Is there something you need to take care of?"

Max shrugged. "It's not a really big deal, it can wait. Besides, I need to watch Ray."

Mole made his face look as though he'd just gotten a brilliant idea. "Hey, why don't you let me watch him? I've met him before, even if it was only for a couple minutes. Besides, I don't think he's going anywhere." He gestured to where Ray was still running his fingers over the computer equipment.

Max sighed, he was right. "In that case, maybe I'll go take care of my business. Just don't let him out of your sight, ok?"

Mole gave a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

Max walked away, still feeling uneasy in the back of her mind. Mole had been almost too happy. Oh well, she wasn't going to worry about that now. How could he possible screw up babysitting a six-year-old kid?

Mole chuckled to himself as he watched Max's back moving away from him. She was far too naive, she should have realized long before now that he wasn't faithful to her. Now she had left him with exactly what he needed. He turned and walked over to Ray as soon as Max was out of sight, catching the boy completely off guard as he put a hand over his mouth roughly and pulled him to him.

"Don't make a sound," he hissed in Ray's ear. Making sure no one was looking, he pulled Ray out of the Rec Center and headed for Freedom Pass.

Jondy couldn't help but keep glancing at Alec with concern. He had been so quiet lately, and that definitely wasn't like him. He and Max had had a talk about two weeks ago and he'd been like this ever since, and she was getting sick of it. Why wouldn't he tell her what was going on? Sure, they weren't best friends, but they had gotten considerably closer. The things that made them hate each other were slightly out-ruled by the other things they had in common. Unfortunately, one of those things was not sharing their feelings.

She finally stopped and grabbed his shoulder to make him stop. "Ok, what's going on? And don't tell me nothing because I've been able to tell."

Alec turned and looked down into her large blue eyes. She wasn't trying to be annoying, she genuinely wanted to know what was going on. He just didn't know if he should tell her. Part of it was his pride, he didn't want to tell her what Kay had done after he had spent all that time defending her to Jondy. Jondy was just the type of person to never let him forget that.

"You have to promise you're not going to say something like 'I told you so', ok?"

"Why would I say that?"

Alec sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, he was starting to lean towards telling her. He needed to talk to someone, and he just didn't consider Max, Brin, or Zack any of the people he would want to have a heart to heart with. Jondy would understand if he didn't want to talk about what he was feeling.

"It's about Kay."

That wasn't what Jondy was expecting. "Ok, go on."

"She's alive and she is, well was, here in Terminal City."

Now Jondy was completely confused. "Why wouldn't you be happy?"

Alec wasn't quite sure how to say this, then decided the frank way was the best. "She fucked White. And before you ask, no, she wasn't in heat and he didn't force her. She did it of her own free will."

Jondy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was angry inside at Kay for doing something so much like treason to the transgenics, but she decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Alec didn't need her flying off the handle. She just remained silent as he continued.

"That's not all, either. Zack dragged both her and White here and kept them locked up. I don't know if he meant it as revenge for him being thrown with Brin when she was in heat, but when Kay came into heat he threw her down with White so she slept with him again."

Jondy just couldn't believe this. Her first thought was that it wasn't a big deal, Zack had never liked Kay. Then she had to remind herself that that wasn't true, he had cared a great deal about her after seeing her when he lost his memory. If he could do that to someone he cared about, what would he do to the rest of them if they pissed him off? She couldn't care less about what had happened to Kay, but the fact that her brother was capable of something like that worried her.

Her attention was drawn back to Alec as he slammed his fist hard into the hallway wall. "Now I don't know whether I should hate her or feel sorry for her! She took off after her heat, so she must not have been very happy about it. Still, the fact that she willingly had sex with that bastard is one of the worst things a transgenic could do."

Jondy wasn't quite sure what to do, and it even surprised her when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. That was one thing about their friendship, there was absolutely no touching unless they got in a fight. She wasn't sure how he would take a hug, but he leaned into it and put his arms around her as well. They stood like that for a few minutes, Jondy just letting him feel what he needed to feel while holding someone. Even though he wasn't crying or anything like that, he was still shaking with anger and was unconsciously digging his fingers into her sides. She just bit her lip and didn't let it show that he was hurting her.

Alec wasn't quite sure why he did it, but he pulled his head back and kissed her. It wasn't a light kiss either, it was long and deep. He was searching for any kind of comfort he could get from her, and his body demanded this. He needed to feel close to someone and if she was willing then he would do it.

He pulled away from the kiss for a moment. "Are you sure about this?"

Jondy was completely breathless, she had never expected him to do that. The only problem was that she wasn't angry with him for doing it. This was more than she could have imagined. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. She had slept with guys while she was in heat, but never when she wasn't.

She surprised herself when she felt herself nodding. "Yeah, I'm sure."

That was all it took. He shoved open the door behind her, she hadn't even realized the entire time they'd been walking they'd been heading for his apartment. She couldn't help feeling nervous as he removed her jacket.

Alec felt her stiffen and he eased off his kissing slightly, making it much more sweet and gentle. He had the feeling she wasn't a very sexually active person, and he didn't want to scare her. That was what would happen if he just lost control like he almost had. He had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't just another girl he picked up at a bar, he needed to go easier on her.

Jondy relaxed when he stopped kissing her like he was attacking her mouth, that was what had made her nervous. She wanted to be with him, but not if he was going to take out his anger on her. Now she could tell he was more aware of what he was doing. That was when she reached behind his back and shut the door behind him.

Max walked to Alec's door, she had already been to Jondy's place. They hadn't been there, so Max just assumed they were here. She was about to knock on the door when she heard strange noises. She pressed her ear closer to the door, then pulled it back sharply as it hit her what she was hearing. She couldn't help but smile to herself. Well, if that was Alec's way of dealing with his pain, so be it. It felt a little strange to know it was her sister in there, but she had to remember that none of them were family and they had never considered Alec as part of the family.

Max turned to head back to the Rec Center. She wondered how Mole was doing with Ray. There was no way they could have gotten into a lot of trouble, but she felt the need to check on them all the same. That little boy was her responsibility now.

The Rec Center was nearly empty, save for Luke and Dix. "Hey guys," she called out to them. "Where's Mole and Ray?"

Luke looked confused. "Were they here? I haven't seen them."

"But I passed you not too long after I left here. You must have gotten here only a minute or two after I left!"

Dix shrugged. "That's true, but they weren't here when we got here. There were only a couple people in here, but it wasn't either one of them."

Max couldn't believe it. "Oh God, where'd they go?" she murmured to herself.

Mole looked out the window. He and Ray were in an old warehouse near where Julie had crashed into the wall. It was the easiest place to hide for now, especially seeing as how it was empty and near Terminal City. He would need to go back in tonight for the other part of his plan. He turned and looked down at Ray, who he had knocked out as soon as the kid started trying to get attention from soldiers watching the city.

Poor kid, he wouldn't like this part of the plan. Mole wasn't too concerned about it. Kay had said the cult needed to know he had survived the initiation, but she hadn't said they needed the kid back alive to start the Coming.