Author's note: There is a slight change in chapter one. Zoe is nine years old now, instead of eleven.
Thanks for reviewing, everybody. Of course I will continue, as long as I get some feedback. It took me some time, to decide, where I'm taking this story, but now I found a way, after throwing several ideas into the waste. It's fun for me to write, and hopefully interesting enough for you to keep reading.
Chapter 2: The PursuitGillette, Wyoming
Manticore Headquarters
February 12, 2009
Two hours after the breakout
Colonel Donald Lydecker supervised the pursuit of the X5 units, that tried a breakout just a few hours ago. He was in a very bad mood. Two hours had passed and they still hadn't recaptured all of the X5s. Lydecker knew he would pay dearly, if only one of them could get away. He knew, his bosses would give him hell. But he also knew, that some of the kids would get away. And once they were far away from Manticore it would get harder to find them. So trouble was inevitable. Thinking about that, only helped to increase his cranky mood. He had to do something, go back to the action.
Two of his men just came back and gave their report.
"You already tracked X5 599 down, but then you allowed him to escape again? Can't you take care of an eleven year old in handcuffs?"
The men looked down miserably, the face of one was swollen and his left arm was dangling on the side limply. The other one had a broken nose and he seemed to limp. Lydecker knew, he was unfair. 599, the kids had called him Zack, Lydecker remembered, wasn't a normal eleven year old boy. He was the leader of small his unit of soldiers. He was one of the best. And Lydecker couldn't blame the men to get overwhelmed by an athlete with Zack's reflexes. That boy was somebody who would rather die, than give up his mission. Lydecker smiled without humor. He had spent the past nine years to train those kids and he had done a very good job on them. Maybe he had done a too good job. He dismissed the men and looked down at his list. 24 of his kids had tried to escape. Lydecker's men had captured only seven of them. Two were dead. The others were still out there. That was a very bad rate.
While Lydecker gave orders in his walkie-talkie, one of the snowmobiles returned and stopped in front of him. Two children lay on the platform in the back. Both of them seemed unconscious and bled freely. Lydecker didn't like to see his kids in such a state. He looked down on their faces. They were still children, but their complexion was hard. Lydecker knew the numbers of all of his kids by heart, even the names they had given each other. Somehow they were his children. And now two of them were lying in front of him, their faces pale and lifeless. Zen seemed to be dead. How could he let that happen? He knew it was his fault. He had allowed them to develop too much emotions and comradeship. Lydecker turned away and called some nurses to carry them away. He waited for the report of the driver.
"We had a hard time following them. They got over the fence. You gave order to use hard ammunition, once they get there, Sir," said the man, who stood to attention. "One of them is dead, the other one was still alive, but he is injured very badly, Sir."
Lydecker nodded and sent him away. On his list, he crossed out a number and checked another one. Thirteen to go, he counted, shaking his head. He would get in very much trouble.
The place in front of the Manticore building looked like a battlefield. Several cars stood there, along with some snowmobiles. People, mostly soldiers were going in and out of the house. On one side men were preparing the bodies of the two killed X5 to be moved to the morgue. They would be used as organ donators for their injured comrades. Behind Lydecker was a black military truck, like the ones used in the pursuit right now. On the hood was an unfolded map. Red and green lines, that usually didn't belong there, were drawn all over it.
Lydecker went to look at it, for what seemed to be the hundredths time, to check if he had really blocked up all the streets, bridges and other ways he could think of, that would help those kids get away. He had. Their only chance was to go through the woods, where Lydecker's men would have a hard time following them.
But even those kids had their limits. At some point the cold would get to them, even a X5 got exhausted. And they had weak spots. Lydecker knew, that this was probably the last chance to see any of the other children again.
An hour later, the last snowmobiles returned. They were of no use anymore. Lydecker had send out his men to patrol the nearby town and check all private houses in the woods for the kids. If they had gotten farther away already, they were out of his reach for now, and Lydecker would have to track them down one by one. And he would do so.
Another team returned to give a report.
"Sir, we followed two of the kids in the snowmobile. They were over the fence already and headed towards the river. We shot one, but the other got over the dam and we had to follow on feet. We couldn't catch up with her, Sir."
The man looked very exhausted from running.
"Where is the body of the one you got?"
"We couldn't find the body on our way back, Sir. But I shot her right in the heart, she is dead."
"If there is no body, she is still alive, Mr. Jensen."
"Sir she fell down the waterfall. And she was shot in the heart. Nobody can survive that."
"Don't underestimate those kids. I want to have her body."
"It is almost impossible to find it. There are the waterworks, right beneath the waterfall. The body must have gotten smashed into a thousand pieces."
Lydecker took a deep breath. He needed the body, but the man was right. It was impossible to find it, once it had gotten into the waterworks. Even if the girl still had been alive, she couldn't have made it out of the river before reaching them, if she was really shot into the breast.
"You are sure you shot her into the heart, before she fell? You didn't miss?" asked Lydecker, just to remove even the faintest doubt. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.
"I am sure, Sir."
"All right then, do you know who it was?"
"The other one called her Zoey."
Lydecker thought a long time, about what he just heard, until he made his decision. He took his list again and going over every single number on it, he finally crossed out X5 652 slowly.
"That leaves twelve," he told the man.
"And that is twelve too many," he added as an afterthought.
That's it for today. What do you think? Please review and tell me. Praises, flames, everything is welcome.
