by: iluvaqt@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: As per default chapter.
iluvaqt's Notes: Lexie, you know me too well. Although, I'm thinking this time I might even surprise you just a little. This wasn't supposed to be up until Friday but I couldn't hold it back. Thank you, Lexie, hay, Rose and SuperBlonde for reviewing. I really appreciate it.
Epilogue -
In a darkened room, somewhere
Wednesday, August 5th, 2020
A figure lay asleep, his blond hair tousled and sheets bunched around his waist. One arm overhung one side of the bed, the other rested across his chest.
An ugly metal plate covers one half of his face, and a tiny red dot shone in place of an eye. On the unmarred side of his face, his eye was moving beneath his eyelid. The man was dreaming.
Zack lifted the gun to his temple. Cold steel pressed against his skin and for a moment, he felt a tremor near his left eye. A tear slid down his cheek and he stared past his enemies.
"X5-599, I have a heart for you." I'm sorry Jondy. I'm sorry for everything…
The last sound he ever heard was the click of the trigger. The last feeling he ever felt was the pain in his chest that nothing would ease. The last picture he ever saw was of a woman lying lifeless on the table, tubes running across her face, the dried blood from her nose, her skin so pale and the monitor showing her flat-lining.
He saw her again though. This time she was alive. She was with another woman. The one he felt hatred for. She had a cruel smile, and her almost white blonde hair, gave her an even more sinister look. The woman with dark hair looked sad. But she didn't share that look with the blonde woman. When she addressed her, she seemed to hate the woman as much as he did.
Did she know what he did for her? Did she realize the sacrifice he'd made?
He blinked, wondering if he was remembering things in sequence. His brain gave him confusing signals. Images seemed disjointed. Was he remembering something that happened, or was it all a dream?
Where was he?
The scenery changed and he found himself standing at a train station. It was deserted. That was until he noticed a woman sitting alone. She wore a bulky coat, and her red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. She looked up and he saw her eyes. She had the most unique eyes he'd ever seen. They seemed so familiar to him. Beautiful. Just by looking into her eyes, he could see gentleness and love in them.
Looking back at her, he realized she was looking past him. He turned around, trying to find what she was looking at. He found it. On the wall on the other side of the tracks there was a poster. It said, "Are you searching? Is there something missing in your life? We help you find what you've lost." It had a picture of a couple happily reunited, a child hugging a father, and in the bottom corner, a shot of a friendly looking woman. Beside the picture was the name, "Renee Dickson - PI."
He turned back to the woman and she looked away. Who was she looking for? Was she searching for someone?
When she doubled over, Zack tried to go to her but he couldn't move. His feet wouldn't operate.
"Are you alright?" he called. "Is there someone I can get for you?"
She didn't seem to hear him. She tried to get up and stumbled forward. Again, Zack tried to go to her.
The woman started crying. She put a hand to her stomach and for the first time, Zack noticed that it was swollen. She was pregnant.
White teeth cut into soft lips and a trickle of blood started to fall from the corner of her mouth. Zack's heart pounded in his chest. She was in pain. He could see it on her face.
"Somebody, help," he yelled. Nobody came.
She leaned against the wall, hunched over. She was groaning and heaving. It was a wonder she could stand up.
His whole being shook with tension as his brain fought the paralysis of his body. Why couldn't he move?
Her eyes met his and his heart skipped a beat. She was looking right at him. Tears welled in her eyes and she gritted her teeth, stubbornly refusing to give into her pain.
"I'm sorry, Zack," she said. "I don't care if you hate me for it. I don't care if think I'm a fool, but I love you."
Hearing her words, he felt moisture on his own face. Reaching up, he realized he was crying. This woman loved him.
A horn bleared and light filled the dark tunnel.
Zack jackknifed in his bed. A sheen of sweat glistened on his skin, and his breathing came in gasps. He lifted a hand to his face. His fingers trembled as he touched the plate in his skull. The dream, was it real? It felt real. He wished he could see what he looked like. Then again he was afraid. If he shot himself in the head, he should be dead. If Manticore had some how managed to bring him back, he must look like a monster. It felt like he only had half a face.
There were two women in his dream. He'd shot himself for one. The other he couldn't even help. She said she loved him. He knew she was telling the truth, he could feel it in her voice. He could read it in her eyes. Why couldn't he remember who she was?
Syl n Krit's house, Wallace, Idaho/ Jondy's apartment, Las Vegas
Thursday, August 13th, 2020
She had put it off long enough. Things had kept her busy for months, but now there was no excuse. She had finally taken compassionate leave from school, and Lydecker had given them a break from all his propaganda and special 'favor' ops.
Syl reached for the phone and dialed. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her hand from shaking. "Damn it," she cursed. "Stop!" A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away angrily. She wouldn't cry. Crying didn't fix anything.
"Hello?" A voice cheerily greeted.
"Hi," Syl mustered calmly. "Is Jondy there? It's Syl."
"Just a minute," she said in reply. There was a clutter, then the woman yelled, "Dee, phone."
There was silence for a while and then she heard soft footsteps. The phone was picked up, and Syl heard her sister's voice.
"Hey."
A lump lodged in her throat and it took several silent coaxes to loosen it. By that time, Jondy sounded concerned. They hadn't talked in so long.
"Syl? Are you okay?" Jondy asked.
"Lydecker…We took down Manticore," Syl managed. She heard Krit come through the front door, and she jumped off the bed and ran for the bathroom.
"That's good…isn't it?" Jondy said hesitantly.
Shutting the door behind her, Syl collapsed against the bathroom cabinet. She wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her knees up close to her body. She knew she had to tell Jondy, she had a right to know. If she knew how to contact the others, she'd be calling them too, but she didn't. The more she thought about it, the more upset she got. They were dropping like flies. First Brin, then Ben, Tinga, Zack, Max...who was next? Lydecker warned that now that the base was destroyed, the men behind Manticore would like nothing better to pretend it never existed. And that meant getting rid of all the evidence. Not matter what the cost. No more capture and reindoctrinate. It'd be shoot on site. How long could they hide? How long could she keep pretending that she had a normal life?
"Syl, tell me what's wrong," Jondy demanded. She was getting the feeling that Syl had something big on her chest. And it had to be something bad because she sounded like she was on the verge of crying. "What is it? It is Krit? What?"
"Max and Zack are dead." Technically, she wasn't sure if Zack was dead. But she knew that their Zack was. Lydecker had made sure they understood that. Even if he survived capture, if they ever saw him again, they'd be strangers to him. Manticore would make him the enemy.
"What?"
Jondy's voice was barely a whisper. And in the background, Syl could have sworn she heard a baby crying.
"Dee, you…" she wanted to say that Jondy kept the baby, but a loud thud on the other end of the line, cut her shot. "Jondy?" she called frantically.
Krit threw open the bathroom door, and saw Syl sitting there crouched against the cabinet. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms. She went willingly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Jondy?" she called again.
"Dee!" a woman screamed in the background.
Syl yelled into the phone, "Someone pick up, please!"
Jondy lay on the floor, the cordless phone still in her hand. Carmen picked her up by the shoulders and cradled Jondy's head in her lap.
The baby continued crying, nobody coming to collect him. He lay in his cot, howling. His little fists thrashing the air, and his tiny face, red with effort. His thirty-seven-week-old body was sobbing with all its worth. It was as if he could sense his mother's distress. Or perhaps on some level, he shared the loss that she was grieving. His perfect, striking blue eyes were awash with tears, and only when he felt his mother's touch, did he settle.
"I'm okay, Syl," Jondy said quietly. She was still reeling with shock, but there was a little one who needed her. She couldn't allow her pain to stop her from functioning.
Their son needed her.
Just like he had six months ago. Lying there on the operating table, she'd felt him. Fighting the drugs, she'd stilled the doctor's hands. "Wait," she whispered. "I can't do it. He needs me."
She didn't know how she'd known, but she had. Her precious little boy had arrived less than twenty six weeks later. He was just over one week new to this big world. But he had someone who loved him. She would be there for him always, and she would never give him up. They'd have to wrestle him from her death grip first.
Jondy knew she would face all her fears thousands of times over, if it meant that her baby boy would have the best life she could give.
Knowing Zack would never see his son, and died thinking she'd done what he had ordered, made her feel sick. Just remembering how close she'd come to going through with it sent a chill down her spine. Swallowing back her tears, she smiled down at her son.
"I think we should visit with Aunt Syl. Would you like that, little sir?"
Syl sobbed and wiped her nose. An unladylike snort left her throat, instead of the chuckle she'd thought would.
"What do you think, Syl?" Jondy asked quietly.
Her eyes sparkling through her tears, Syl looked up at Krit and smiled broadly. "I can't wait."