= = =CHAPTER 13= = =
SEATTLE – METRO MEDICAL – ROOM #312
MAY 5, 2020
1:15 AM
"Max," Logan's voice barely came out. He took in the sight of the IV and the unit of AB blood hanging on the metal tree-like IV hangers around the bed.
Her eyes were closed and she looked deathly pale. The abrasions on her face stood out in stark comparison to her pasty skin. A blanket was pulled up to her bust line leaving Logan to guess how bad she was underneath it.
Zack cam through the door five seconds later. His expression was the same as Logan's when he saw Max's condition; but he masked it a second later. "Get that fuckin' IV cath out of her arm!" His voice was urgent, the order of a commander. "We can only be transfused with X5 blood. These idiots are gonna kill her with that shit."
Logan wasn't moving fast enough so Zack took over and pulled out the catheter from Max's forearm. The feeling of the needing being removed caused Max to jerk in a semi-level of consciousness.
"It's okay baby," Logan reassured in a breathy whisper. "I'm going to get you out of here." He pulled the blanket of her legs and lifted her up in his arms careful not to jar the bandages and rods he discovered immobilizing one of her legs. Her weight of 105 pounds was so light to carry that it was difficult to imagine her being able to kick anyone's ass.
Zack took the lead out of the room pressing himself flat against the hallway, the M-20's mouth aimed in front of him.
The hallway was as silent as they were before and there was no sign of Ginny. She had taken off the second Zack had disappeared down the hallway.
"Now what?" Logan asked. He didn't want to admit to Zack that he had run out of ideas but Max's unconscious form against his body reminded him of the urgency of the situation. "There are soldiers all over the hospital."
"I don't give a fuck if it's World War III out there I'm not leavin her here," Zack hissed.
"This hospital was built after the Pulse when the government mandated secret exits at the back end of all medical facilities."
"Fantastic Cale but we're still up on the third goddamn floor!"
"The exits are all accessible on each floor by an elevator built to look like a biohazard waste dump shoot."
15 feet ahead of them sat something built into the wall that resembled a laundry shoot except for the yellow metal caution sign warning:
Biohazard material emptied daily. No hospital linens permitted down shoot.
Logan searched on the white wall for the hidden call button he knew would have to be there. He found it a second later – a small circular disk painted the same color as the wall; only decipherable from its surroundings if someone looked incredibly close at it. He freed one hand from his hold on Max and pressed the switch. The biohazard chute opened up like the mouth of a hungry dinosaur revealing a walled metal lift interior of an elevator. The group quickly stepped inside the metal box.
"Who knew you were actually good for something?" Zack quipped.
"You don't have to thank me Zack," Logan reassured sarcastically watching the doors closed. "Your smart ass sarcasm is enough."
XXXXXXXXXXX
METRO MEDICAL – GROUND FLOOR
Lydecker burst through the automatic sliding entrance doors. But his arrival attracted little notice because the people that once filled the lobby were either staking out the hospital grounds with the resistance militia or had ducked down behind any kind of furniture that they could find, praying that they wouldn't be shot by a power crazy soldier.
To the casual observer the lobby would look completely deserted. But Lydecker wasn't a casual observer; he would notice if there was a new scuffmark on the hospital's already scuffed up floor.
The receptionist who had ducked down behind the circular desk wasn't aware of Lydecker's presence when she peaked her head up to check if it was safe. A gasp caught in her throat when she caught sight of Lydecker's stern brown eyes staring down at her.
"You," Lydecker called out.
The receptionist crawled out of the desk and started to run.
"Hey!" Deck pulled out his black Beretta and aimed it at her retreating back. "I have a loaded weapon pointed at your back Miss; if you don't stop right now you'll go from hospital employee to hospital patient."
The receptionist stopped in a dead halt at his words and she gave another gasp – audible this time – upon seeing the Beretta aimed at her. "Please," her voice was a desperate plea. "Don't shoot me."
"Relax ma'am; I don't have time to shoot a civilian," Lydecker stated factually but still didn't lower his weapon. "I need information from you. The sooner you give it to me the sooner this will all just be a vivid nightmare flashback."
The receptionist lost control of her emotions then and a small sob burst from her mouth.
Deck didn't care how upset she was he was going to get what he wanted out of her. "Your Paramedics brought in an MVA about 5 hours ago; a women, Guevara. I want to know where she is."
"I don't memorize patient records," the woman insisted in more of a cry then an actual voice.
Deck became more upset and jammed his gun into her neck. "Do you think I'm stupid Miss? Nobody would memorize the damn records. But this is a woman that would leave a lasting impression the second she was carted through those doors. Every damn male employee in here could tell me what room she's in so why the hell can't you?" His speech was agonizingly slow and deliberate, making certain that she grasped the severity of every word.
The receptionist cried out again and bit down on her lip so hard that she split the first thin layer of skin.
"I'm only asking this again," Deck ordered shoving the maw of the gun right next to her bulging aortic vein. "What room is the patient in?"
"312, at the very end of the hall, right side," the receptionist finally answered in a feeble voice.
Deck shoved her back after hearing those words. She landed hard on her right side on the tile and scrambled back to the desk as soon as she got her bearings.
"Thanks," Deck's tone wasn't cold or even enraged; it was emotionless. He walked away from the reception area without another word, heading for the elevator.
XXXXXXX
THIRD FLOOR
The hallway was abandoned when Deck stepped out of the elevator, or so he thought.
"Sir," an Attack Team soldier's voice reached his ears. The Attack Team Unit that had been positioned on the stairwell was now crouched around something on the floor.
Lydecker approached them and cursed when he realized what they were looking at. The Alpha Team Leader and the SIC lay on their backs with blood oozing out from bullet holes that riddled their bodies. The SIC had also been stripped of all his gear and the white undershirt and gray boxers that he had been left with clung to him sticky with blood.
Deck glared at the first soldier he could find – a scared shaven head middle twenty something kid. "Do you have conformation on who did this?"
"Negative Sir," the solider squeaked out in a pathetic attempt at a man's voice. "Commander Collins and the SIC abandoned the perimeter and entered the hospital. The rest of us held to the location until Sondaval gave the go ahead to deploy."
"Who is your Commanding Officer son?" Lydecker asked in a growl.
"You Sir," the soldier responded quickly.
"Then explain to me why the hell this entire unit decided to obey an order not given by me?"
"Agent Sondaval was very insistent Sir. He said that the command came straight from Director Renfro."
"Director Renfro has nothing to do with this mission," Deck's words were extremely cold. "You are only to obey orders that come from these lips-" he tapped his mouth quietly with one index finger. "Am I perfectly clear on that?"
"Crystal – Sir," the solider coughed out.
"Get these bodies out of here and establish a lock around this floor no one gets in or out without us knowing about it."
"Yes Sir," the solider replied, relieved to hear these orders because Lydecker's aggression was three seconds away from making him mess in his pants. The men dispersed in quick military order to surround the hospital floor.
Deck grasped at his weapon again and took hurried steps down the hall to Room #312. The door was wide open revealing to him a completely empty room. The hospital linens on the bed were mused up and a tube catheter leaked blood onto the sheets slowly wasting the supply it was tapped into. He lowered his weapon and stared into the empty room for a long second. Even though Max had managed to elude him yet again – this time while she was seriously injured – he wasn't surprised that it happened. He had actually expected it.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The elevator opened directly to the outside and the cool night air slapped Logan in the face although – as usual – Zack didn't seem phased by the temperature.
Zack screwed a silencer on his handgun and shot out the streetlights that illuminated the side parking lot. The pavement was now bathed in darkness that only bats and transgenic soldiers were capable of seeing in. But Logan didn't have time to complain before they reached his Aztec.
Zack still had Logan's car keeps and he wordlessly unlocked the door with the keyless remote.
There was an awkward moment for Logan while he tried to figure out the best way to lay Max in the back seat without hurting her but he finally got her in as comfortable as he could and climbed in beside her. He shed his black wool jacket and covered her to keep her warm because she was only wearing a flimsy hospital gown.
Zack jumped into the drivers seat and gunned the engine. "You better make sure she's still alive back there," he glared at Logan from the rear view mirror.
"I'll do better then that Zack," Logan insisted. He gently placed Max's head in his lap keeping one finger on her jugular vein to track her pulse. He cupped her forehead with his other hand to keep her from being slammed around from Zack's high speed driving but he also did it just to be able to touch her.
XXXXXXXX
A shrill ring from the phone made Anna Renfro stand up from her desk. She sauntered over to answer it like it was just a casual phone call from a friend. "What is it?"
"It's Colonel Lydecker-" Sondaval's voice was slightly above his normal monotone. "He had two Alpha soldiers breach the perimeter to personally hand him the girl."
"He what?" Renfro was outraged.
"The soldiers pulled out 15 minutes ago and haven't reported back."
"Have you established contact with Lydecker?"
"He turned his radio off."
Renfro sighed heavily. "I suggest you rectify this problem immediately Agent Sondaval."
Sondaval heard the deafening slam of Renfro's phone in his hear before he disconnected the call from his cell phone in the hospital corridor of Metro's third floor. He hurried down to Room #312 and stepped inside the white walled room. He was completely startled to see Lydecker sitting on the empty hospital bed flipping through a National Geographic magazine he had taken from the waiting room.
"You didn't surprise me at all Agent Sondaval," Lydecker informed not looking up from his leafing. "A cooperate bread 'yes man' was what you were hired for after all."
"Colonel Lydecker; Director Renfro ordered me to-"
"You don't have to explain anything," Deck cut in standing up and folding the magazine, laying it on the bed. He took slow steps towards Sondaval pulling out his Beretta – with a silencer screwed on it – and cocked it. "It's obvious to me what went wrong. You forgot who you work for." Deck shot of three rapid-fire rounds in Sondaval's chest. "But I didn't."
Sondaval gasped and choked on blood that was now clogging up his throat. He grabbed at the huge jagged hoes in his chest and fell on his knees on the linoleum floor.
"Don't bother coming into work tomorrow," Lydecker said dryly staring down Sondaval's writing form. "You're fired." He turned and walked out of the room as Sondaval dropped into a heap of his own blood and entrails on the floor.