The Second Key
By Be Boring
Chapter 17: Clash of the Titans
Kay had just headed out the door of the building when the shot rang out. The first thing she did was instinctively look down and check her body for a wound, then once she was satisfied she hadn't been shot she looked around for the shooter. The sound had come from above her, so it had probably been one of the soldiers guarding Terminal City. He must have seen a transgenic out in the open. Kay didn't know why she cared, but she looked around the corner and tried to see who had been shot. Her heart stopped at the sight.
Sandeman was crumpled in a heap on his side, his body trembling slightly. Kay rushed to the fence to get as close to him as she could, then tried to call out to him.
"Sandeman! Are you alright? Where did you get shot?"
His head lifted off the ground at the sound of her voice. She felt a surge of relief, he couldn't be that bad off if he could respond to her. Then again, the Familiars had a habit of staying mobile and coherent up until they actually died. He opened his mouth a little, as if he was trying to speak, then shut it again. He moved his arm off his side, letting her see that he had been shot in the ribs. Kay's heart stopped again, that must have hit his left lung and maybe even his right if it went all the way through him. She felt like throwing something at him when he started to crawl towards her.
"Are you really so stupid? You shouldn't be moving after getting shot like that, it'll make you lose blood faster."
The old man made his way to the fence, then slid something through a tiny opening in it. "I'm already as good as gone. Get...this...to....." His voice started to fade out as he came close to losing consciousness. Kay grabbed what he held in his hand before he dropped it. It appeared to be a vial full of blood.
"Who do I get this to?"
"Max," he gasped out, then his lifeless body collapsed completely. Kay stared down at him for several minutes, then got her ass in gear. She pocketed the vial, she would get it to Max later. Right now she had a crazed cult to stop. In her hurry she never noticed her follower disappear. It was time for him to get started.
Max jumped as the silence of the room was broken by Thula slamming the door open. Her eyes were blazing as she glared at Ames, and Max saw her slipping a syringe into her pocket.
"You started it, you fucking bastard!" She threw a hard punch at him, but he just smiled and dodged it. He had the advantage at the moment of being a little more level-headed than her right now.
"Started what?" he asked innocently. She tried to hit him again, but once more he evaded her.
"What do you mean 'started what'?" she almost shrieked. "They barely had time to make enough of the virus to kill half that stadium, and you sent everything into play?" She pulled the syringe out of her pocket and shoved it in his face. "They were in the middle of taking yet another injection from me when they got the news that people are headed for Terminal City to bring out the transgenics. What could possibly make you do something so suicidal? That's what it is too, suicide. I just hope they give me the pleasure of killing you."
"You'll never get the chance," he hissed, then pulled out the gun he had hidden in his jacket earlier and slammed her over the head with it. He may not have been stronger than her, but he was more than strong enough to knock her unconscious.
Max stiffened as he approached her and lifted her up easily so he could slip the chain of her handcuffs off the hook it was hanging on. Slinging her over his shoulder, he shoved the door open the rest of the way and stepped out into the main basement room. Lenore was the first one to make a move towards him, but she found herself with a bullet in her forehead before she could take two steps.
Hearing something near her, Max lifted up her head enough so she could see Isaac standing right in front of her, which meant he was right behind White. As much as she wanted to see White die right now, he was the one carrying her out of here. She tapped the back of his leg hard enough to get his attention.
"Turn around, dumbass," she snapped. Ames managed to turn around just in time to avoid the knife that came slicing through the air at his chest. Thinking quickly, he leaned forward and brought Max into his arms in front of him then swung her out so her legs connected with Isaac's ribs. The force of it was enough to send Isaac flying sideways, which gave Ames the time to get the hell out of that basement.
Max rolled her eyes as he set her down on her feet. "I may have been made to be a weapon, but I don't think Manticore quite intended for me to be used like that."
"Didn't they teach you to use whatever's handy?" he quipped as he pushed her in front of him all the way outside. Finding the first car with keys in it that he could, he shoved her into the passenger side. He was getting to that stadium before the fun began, he needed to make sure that Kay could see Max clearly when she arrived. He was sure she would come, she always seemed to show up where she could cause the most trouble.
Ray couldn't have been more relieved when he looked out the window of his grandfather's house and saw Kay approaching. He thought Logan was okay, but he got along with Kay better. She was like a big sister to him. The expression on her face was worrying him though.
Logan tensed when the door swung open and he saw Kay standing there. He still wasn't quite over everything she'd done. "What are you doing back here? Did you find Max?"
"No, but we've got other things to worry about. I went to the guard buildings around Terminal City to see if any of the soldiers were talking about what was going on, and I found out that someone decided to start it early. You'll probably get your chance to see Max in a couple hours, if it even takes that long."
Logan was confused when she shoved a vial into his hand. Why did it look like it was filled with blood? "We also lost Sandeman. For some reason he was hell-bent on getting this to Max, so I'll leave that to you. By the way, you're going to be my ride. We need to pick up the others if we're going to put a stop to this."
"There's no way we can take all those transgenics to the stadium, they wouldn't make it a mile without getting killed."
"We'll tell them to wait a half hour. In about ten minutes the news will have gone around that there's going to be a massacre and anyone that hates transgenics, which is about the entire population of Seattle, is going to go to the stadium. In a half hour there's going to be almost no normal person walking the streets of Seattle, there'll be a swarm of people headed out of town to watch a mass murder. They'll get what they asked for, but it won't be my people who are dying. It'll be those damned Familiars."
Ray's head snapped up. "Can I come?"
Kay looked down at him nervously, maybe she shouldn't have said anything like that around him. "Sorry kiddo, but this is a job for grownups. I want you to stay here, okay?"
"Fine."
She nodded her head in satisfaction. "Good. Logan, let's go."
As they climbed into Logan's Aztec, neither one of them noticed Ray slide into the back.
Zack frowned as the volume of the screams outside increased. There were usually crowds of protesters out there, but it seemed like they had multiplied by 50 since the last time he's listened to them. He sure hoped Logan was right about the attack being on Thursday, but it would be just his luck if they came today.
Jondy was pacing nervously around the Rec Center, never ceasing her movement. Alec had been sitting there watching her for the longest time, but decided it was better to let her have at it. It might just be the last thing he ever did if he interrupted her train of thought. He knew how worried she was about Max, he was worried too, but it was different for Jondy. She had just gotten her sister back, now she had lost her again.
Brin shot her sister an annoyed look, the sounds of the pacing were starting to really bug her. Walking behind Alec, she gave him a sharp pinch on the shoulder. "Go get her to stop."
He rolled his head back so he could look up at her from the chair he was sitting in. "Are you kidding? She'll kill me!"
She snorted. "That's why I want you to do it."
"Gee, thanks," he grumbled as she headed towards Zack and left him to deal with Jondy. "I'm not going to die, I'm not going to die, I'm..." He froze as he came up behind Jondy and she turned to look at him, her eyes as cold as ice. "Going to die."
"What do you want?"
He choked on his own breath for a moment, Jondy could be terrifying to look at when she was angry. "I want to help you calm down."
"If you wanted to help, you could have left me alone. I'm handling it on my own," she growled. Just as she started to turn away from him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a kiss. Her body stiffened for a moment, then she relaxed and kissed him back.
"That's not going to help anything, it's just going to distract me."
"Hey, if it keeps your mind off things."
Zack scowled as he watched the two of them share another kiss. He didn't like the thought of his sister being with Alec, that guy was the type to use women and leave them. Jondy was more delicate than she looked, he just didn't want her to wind up getting hurt.
The screams were getting louder outside. Brin walked over to the door of the Rec Center and peeked out, then drew her head back in just as a loud explosion was heard. Her face was dead white as she turned to face the others. "They just blew up part of the fence."
Zack's long legs carried him quickly towards the door. "Let's go. Now."
Max grunted as Ames roughly strapped her to a pole in the center of the football stadium. She was now a good fifty feet off the ground, the steps leading up to where she was hanging went rather high. It gave her a good view of the entire area, but it also gave others a very good view of her. She had the feeling that was the purpose.
"I hope you enjoy watching the others die, it should be a good show."
"Is that why you started everything early? Couldn't you handle the wait?"
He shrugged as he finished securing her legs. "I knew they would find about my times with Kay, and I knew they would lock me away. That would mean I wouldn't get my son back. They probably would have retrieved him, but they wouldn't let me see him. That's something I simply can't deal with. Starting things early puts things under my control."
"And just what are you going to do once you get Ray back? It's not like you can keep going with your life in the cult."
"That doesn't really bother me. I'll just take Ray away after I get him back. The cult never needs to know where I am."
Max laughed. "There's just one little problem with that, genius."
"What's that?"
"If the Familiars succeed with the Coming, you won't be able to go into hiding! It'll only be Familiars and transgenics left, and neither one of them will accept you! Did you ever thing of that?"
Ames was caught completely off guard. The truth was that that had never entered his mind. He had just been so set on getting Ray back that he hadn't bothered to see anything else. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he was going to have to do something about it. What the hell was he going to do about this? Should I ask the Conclave for forgiveness? Hell no, they'll laugh in my face. The only other thing I can do is stop the Coming, but that's as good as suicide! Wait, there is one other thing. Shit, I can't believe I'm doing this.
He pulled out one of the several syringes in his pocket, everyone had been given the equipment just in case more of Thula's blood was needed. This way anyone who was nearby could take it. Max tried to jerk away as he pushed the needle into the vein in her arm and filled the syringe with her blood. He proceeded to do this with every syringe, which meant he removed quite a bit of blood. There had been several syringes in his pocket, at least five thick ones and about ten slimmer ones. He accidentally dropped an empty one as he worked, but that didn't matter. He definitely had enough.
Max was stunned as he reached up and loosened one of the cuffs. It was just enough for her to squeeze her hand through while still looking like she was securely chained up. She couldn't help but feel suspicious. "Why are you doing this? You may as well just completely untie me."
"I don't want it to be too obvious. Besides, I figured all you would need is one arm. There is only one thing I expect from you, you will wait to free yourself until Kay arrives. I will be waiting somewhere in the stands with a gun just in case you decide to disobey me. Just know that I am a very good shot."
His eyes held a meaningful look. He was right, she could get herself loose now when she wanted to. She watched as Ames walked away, his head slowly going back and forth to make sure the others hadn't arrived yet. She sighed and leaned her head back against the pole. This was going to be a long wait.
Logan couldn't believe it as he sat in the Aztec, waiting for Kay to come back out of Foggle Towers. Why hadn't he thought of this before? It wouldn't have been hard at all to get all the transgenics into his old apartment building, it should have occurred to them earlier that this was where Kay had taken them. He caught a glimpse of her talking to Joshua on the first floor. He felt a little relieved when he saw that Joshua was holding Tahira. At least the baby was okay. In fact, she might have been the first to die if she had been in Terminal City when the attack came.
Horror suddenly hit Logan. Why hadn't he called Zack at Terminal City to warn them things were starting early? Kay had dragged him out the door so fast that it hadn't occurred to him then, but now it was the first thing on his mind. They needed to be prepared for the attack. He pulled the glove compartment open and grabbed his cell phone. They needed to know now, even though he worried that he might already be too late.
Just as the phone started to ring on the other end, his door flew open and Kay ripped the phone from his hands. He looked up at her in shock. "What did you do that for?"
"You were calling Terminal City. I couldn't let you do that. We couldn't give them time to prepare a defense, we need them to be taken to the stadium if we're ever going to face the cult out in the open."
"I don't care about the damn cult, I want the people in Terminal City to be safe."
"You may not care about the cult, but I do. I'm just doing what I was made to do, I'm going to kill my real people."
"What do you mean 'your real people'?"
She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you ever wonder why I was so much stronger than the rest? I'm a hybrid, more-so than the others."
Logan couldn't believe it. "You mean you're a Familiar/transgenic crossing?"
"Yep. I wasn't just created in a lab like the others."
Logan's face went pale. "You're Thula's sister. I noticed the resemblance once, but I didn't really give it more thought."
Kay smiled a little. "I'm impressed, for being an ordinary you're pretty smart."
Logan turned in his seat as she took her place on the passenger side. He was surprised to see the transgenics pouring out of the building. "What's going on? I thought you were going to tell them to wait."
"After all the people we saw on our way over here, I don't think they're going to run into trouble. Things are going to go much faster than I thought they would. We're looking at maybe an hour here, not even. We'll have to get going fast if we're going to end this thing before the Coming is set off. Pull over, there's someone I have to talk to."
Logan obediently pulled over, watching as she got out and walked into an alley. He could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes peer out at him, but they were gone before he could get a good second look.
Kay hopped back into the Aztec. "Let's go."
Kay's follower made his way into the small house he'd been living in. He heard a grunt of pain come from the living room. He made his way to it, his eyes taking in the scene he'd come home to every day now for the last two months. His roommate lay flopped across the couch as his body convulsed. The doctor had said this would be normal until he recovered, that his mind needed to get itself sorted out again. The only thing he had to do was carry out his friend's wishes. That meant they would have to go to the stadium. As he carefully helped his friend climb to his feet and walk towards the door, he wondered if his friend would be coming back from this with his mind still intact.
Jondy leaned against Alec, curling herself into a ball as she heard the sounds of people crying outside. The four of them were hiding in a cubby-hole they had found the other day. It was the only place they could hide to avoid being caught. There were more people attacking than they had thought, there were nearly 2,000 out there. That was more than enough to overtake the transgenics. Children could be heard crying outside as their parents were ripped away, gunshot after gunshot rang out to silence their screams. Jondy shuddered with every blast, she couldn't believe she was hearing this.
Zack felt almost dead inside. He had always thought of himself as a good leader of the X5s, but in all his years of protecting them from Manticore he had never prepared himself for this. Although these people weren't his responsibility, he still felt like a coward for hiding away while they were dragged out of the place they had come to think of as home.
"Chelsea," he whispered almost too low to be heard. Brin, who was sitting closest to him, just barely managed to catch it. She realized that the little girl was probably at the house they shared with Sandeman. There was no chance a little girl like her could have gotten away, she was either dead by now or being dragged away to be killed.
"We'll get her after the people are gone, but we aren't going to be any good to these people if we get caught," she whispered back to him. She was just loud enough for him to hear, they were trying to keep this quiet from Jondy and Alec. Brin wrapped an arm around Zack from behind and kissed his cheek. She felt his muscles relax slightly, but not much.
Everyone jumped as something fell hard against the opening to their hiding place. Luckily, the door didn't open, but it was enough of a scare for them to cause Zack to shove open the door. He was sick of hiding, and he planned on going after them before they came after him. Still, he immediately regretted opening that door.
Alec squeezed Jondy tight against him as Luke's body fell into their hiding place. He felt her body go stiff like a board in his arms. Sliding so he was between her and Luke, he managed to get them both out of their little hole. His eyes met Brin's as she looked down at her sister with concern. They both knew how Jondy could be. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she was probably the most emotional out of any of the X5s.
Most of the other transgenics had already been dragged away, so the area they stepped out into was almost empty. Whoever had shot Luke was already gone, apparently they had decided to head for the stadium now. Zack grabbed Brin's hand and gestured for Alec to bring Jondy along as he headed for the new large opening in the fence. The only time they stopped was when they passed his house, but Chelsea was nowhere to be seen inside it. His only consolation was that there was no blood in any of the rooms.
Once they were out of the city, looking back at its emptiness, they forced themselves to keep going for the stadium. This had to end now.
Max watched as more and more people filled the stadium. She heard catcalls in her direction, along with some boos. "Immature idiots," she muttered. She was sore from staying in this position for so long, but it wouldn't be wise to free herself until Kay made an appearance. Right now she would be killed by the mob if she tried to break loose. Besides, she wanted to put a stop to the killing.
The Phalanxes, all except for Ames, walked into the main arena. Max noticed with some pride that Isaac was walking a little offbeat. Apparently the blow Ames had used her to give had made some dent in his perfection. Maverick stalked across the arena, his sharp eyes open to see if the people had arrived with the transgenics yet. He couldn't see anybody, but he could hear them coming. The shouts and protests of the transgenics were easy for his ears to pick up and he turned to smile triumphantly at Thula. She even indulged in a rare smile herself, she finally didn't have to hide and be protected behind thick walls anymore.
Max tensed as she saw the transgenics being led in. They were chained in rows, and anyone that was too tired to walk was being dragged by the others who weren't allowed to stop. She felt tears burn her eyes as Chelsea came into her view, badly beaten and struggling to stay on her feet. She recognized nearly every transgenic that was led through the door on the sides of the stadium, but some were missing. There were a few here and there that could have possibly just gotten away on their own, but she noticed that Zack, Alec, Brin, and Jondy weren't among the chained prisoners. She felt a surge of hope. If they had gotten away, there was a chance for them all.
The cheers from the stands was almost more than her sensitive hearing could take, but Max endured it. She couldn't get loose just yet, Ames was by now hidden in amongst the people in the stands and had a good view of her. He could shoot at any moment. For all she knew, he would shoot her as soon as he found a way to stop the Coming.
The crowd went silent as Thula stepped up onto a podium set up not too far from Max. "Ladies and gentlemen, you requested the chance to show these freaks what you think, but time and time again you were denied by blind, soft-hearted fools who don't know what these things are capable of! Now, we are giving you the chance to show them." She smiled slightly at one of the many camera crews that was nearby, she wanted to give the entire country as good a view as possible.
The stands went wild again as about ten transgenics were brought forward. Some people were pulled out of the crowd and a gun was handed to each of them. The transgenics were lined up against a white wall that had been set up, then were forced to turn around. Max wanted so badly to break loose and run down there, but she would be no good to these people if Ames shot her.
Kay shoved a gun into Logan's hands. "You're going in there armed, and if you have to shoot a few civilians in order to protect those transgenics then you're going to do it. I don't want anymore of my people to die."
He looked at her nervously, she was dead-set on this. If he made one wrong move around her, she was likely to blow his head off. All he knew was that he had to get to Max, to hell with the others. Normally he wouldn't have thought like that, but a part of him was being selfish. He suspected that the vial of blood in his hands was the cure to the virus between him and Max, so why shouldn't he feel the powerful need to save her and give their relationship a chance? Still, he knew that she would never forgive him if he let her kind die just so he could get her out of there.
A scream rang out from one of the transgenics that was waiting on the sidelines. It was one of the little kids, screaming because her father was out there. From her position Kay could see what was going on, and she didn't like it one bit. Slowly pulling out her gun, she took aim on Levanna, who was standing off to the side of the white wall. She was the first to fire a gun as Levanna made the countdown for the ordinaries. Counting down from ten, she had just reached three when she was hit straight in the head. Screams burst from the crowd as she slumped down to the ground lifelessly. That was when all hell broke loose.
The transgenics that had been hiding in Foggle Towers now poured from the stands. The freaks had been covering their heads with hoods, in the excitement no one had bothered to wonder if there were transgenics in the crowd. The psy-ops and X series leapt straight out into the middle of the arena, attacking any Familiars within arms length. Now the ratio was very different, the transgenics outnumbered the cult here by four to one.
Zack, Brin, Alec, and Jondy slid out in the midst of the confusion, going completely unnoticed by everyone in the arena. They headed straight for Max, who was still looking out at the mass of freaks around her. Where was Kay? As soon as her sister showed up, she could free herself and get her kind out of here.
Zeke, who had been watching everything from the stands, finally made his way out into the crowd that was gathering. He grabbed the first camera he could get to, making the cameraman run away in terror. Signaling one of the other psy-ops to do what he was doing, he turned the camera back on and focused it on Thula. This whole thing would be worthless to them unless the public found out what they were doing here.
Soon every camera in the stadium had been taken over by transgenics. They all had theirs focused on the Familiars that were in their sight. Transgenics that were near the cult members tore at their sleeves, making sure the Caduceus could be seen on every left arm.
Thula pushed her way through the crowd. They had to set off the gas, it had to be done before all the ordinaries ran out of the stadium. This could still happen, and she intended to make sure it did. That was when she realized she was being followed.
Max and Ames both looked in the same place at the same time. As soon as Max spotted her sister by Thula, she pulled her hand out of the handcuffs and leaned down to free her legs. It took a little while, but she managed. By the time she lifted her head again, Thula, Kay, and Ames were nowhere to be seen.
Thula was nearly out of breath, she had run the entire way into the heat room where they were storing the gas. This stadium was made so that there were heaters under everyone's feet, this was because the games here became so cold that not many people were going. This stadium was supposed to take care of that problem. Of course, it also provided the perfect way to distribute the Coming.
Kay slid into the room behind her real sister. She could see Thula reaching to open one of the tanks that held the diseased gas. That was when she attacked. Thula barely even knew what hit her as her head was sent crashing into the tiled floor. Regaining her composure almost right away, she stood up and took a defensive position. Her eyes widened when they landed on Kay. Although they didn't look completely alike, there was definitely a resemblance.
Kay grinned when she saw the look on Thula's face. "What, are you jealous Mom gave the looks to me?" At the horror that could be seen on Thula's face, Kay grinned and attacked. Move for move, they matched each other. Kay didn't let everything out just yet, she wanted to study her opponent. Thula was a good fighter, there was no doubt about that, but she had some flaws. She didn't have the agility that Kay did, nor the speed. Their strength was probably equal, as was their determination. Neither one planned to lose this fight, and neither one planned to let the other one leave this room alive.
Kay nearly cried out when Thula landed a hard hit on her gut. The strange, sharp pains that had been nagging her all day suddenly exploded. She saw the whole world turn several bright colors in less than a second. Sensing another attack coming, she jumped up and gripped the pipes above her. As Thula just barely managed to stop herself from moving forward with her original attack, Kay clamped her knees on both sides of her sister's head. Taking a deep breath and gathering her strength, she slammed her knees together as hard as she could. As soon as Thula dropped to the floor, Kay let herself come down from the ceiling. Her gut felt like it was being ripped in half. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming. That was when she heard a gun go off right behind her.
Max lunged down the stairs, heading straight for Maverick. He was holding up Gem by the throat and was about to snap her neck when Max took aim and kicked him in the groin from behind. Even though it wasn't a direct hit, it obviously hurt like a bitch. Gem was dropped to the ground in an instant as his legs buckled. Max couldn't convince herself to do anything more to him, but she didn't have to. Gem reached forward and snapped his neck without even blinking.
"Bastard," she grumbled as she headed for the next Familiar in sight. Max only remained stunned for a moment, then whirled around as someone grabbed her shoulder. Before she could get a good look at who was there, she threw a punch into his face. That was when the whole world seemed to stop.
Logan looked at Max in horror. "Max..." It was all he was able to get out before he collapsed to the ground. Her entire body shook as she looked down at him.
"Logan, oh God no!" She dropped down next to him and nearly burst into tears as her eyes fell on his gloved hands. He had just been trying to get her attention safely, and she had pretty much ensured his death. His eyes were bleary, but they remained looking up at her with all the strength that she associated with him.
"My pocket...cure," he managed to gasp out. Max was confused, but she reached down and started to dig through each pocket, making sure not to touch his skin in the process. Finally, her fingers closed on the vial and she pulled it out, nearly breaking it in her rush. She couldn't help but be completely confused. This was a vial of blood, how could this help?
"Cure..." he choked out again. Max heard and understood it now. She turned and took off back up the stairs to where she had been tied. She dropped to her knees on the tiny platform, searching all over with her hands. Finally, her hand found the syringe Ames had dropped earlier. Not wasting any time, she ran back to where she had left him. Her heart stopped as she reached the spot, he wasn't there. Where was he?
Kay looked down at herself to make sure there was no exit wound, then turned around. Ames stood there, his gun still held out in front of him. Thula's blood was pouring out over the floor from where he had shot her. Kay couldn't move for fear that her gut wouldn't be able to take it. The pain was steadily growing worse, why wouldn't it stop?
"What did you do that for?"
"Why do you think? Where do you have my son?"
"You think I'm really going to send him to live with you? That kid won't last a week."
He punched her in the stomach, making her cry out and collapse to the ground in pain. "I'll deal with you in a moment. First I have to do something."
Digging the syringes full of Max's blood out of his pockets, Ames carefully jammed each one into the hose connected to the tanks of the virus and emptied them, letting Max's blood run down into the tanks. Kay rolled her eyes.
"That's not going to do any good, you need the blood of the anti-key."
"Well, chances are whoever it is can be found somewhere around here. This couldn't hurt anything at least. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kay's eyes had widened as she looked up at him and realization hit her. Ames, Sandeman, C.J., Ray, the entire family was men. The anti-key would have been one of the original Familiars, so it had to be a Phalanx. Using strength that she couldn't believe she had left, she grabbed his arm and one of the syringes and jabbed the needle into his arm. She filled the syringe up, then jabbed it into the hose. Ames was completely caught off guard.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't you get it? You're the anti-key! Your father knew, that's why he gave some of his own blood to Max. He wanted to help her with her and Logan's virus. There's no other explanation. Didn't you ever wonder why you're second-in-command? It wouldn't surprise me if the anti-key is almost as strong as the key, so you're definitely it!"
Ames picked up Thula and slung her over his shoulder. "You know what, I don't care anymore. I had pretty much already decided to leave the cult, now that decision's been made for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get rid of this," he said sarcastically. He didn't let her see the pain in his eyes as he left the room. Finding out that you yourself are the enemy was not an easy thing to go through, especially for him.
Kay's body went into spasms of pain as she curled helplessly up into a ball. God, she'd never felt pain this intense before in her life. She didn't see the person who staggered into the room while being held up by her follower, nor did she see the follower leave. She lifted her head up slowly when she heard a grunt of pain as her visitor lowered himself to sit across the room from her.
No, wake up now Kay. God, no, go away. NONONONONONONONONONONO! The screams in her head raged on as her eyes landed on her visitor. This couldn't be happening, but it definitely was. God, everything was over now.