Chapter 4: …And the Turns
Back in sanctuary, Jesse rubbed a hand over his jaw on hearing Shalimar's news. "Damn." He wanted to send his fist through the wall – a massed fist, so he could do a lot of damage. Shit. It was always hard when a mutant died, especially when there had been a chance to save them. There was no time for grief now. There was important news to relay to the team in the field.
"Listen, guys, there's not a lot of time. I need you guys back in the air."
Shalimar and Brennan glanced at each other, curious, but started making their way back down the stairs, hearing the urgency in Jesse voice. "What is it, Jesse?"
"Tyrone was contacted by his friend Don – they guy Ariah was going to. He said that someone's been following him for the past three days, but it wasn't until this afternoon that someone took some shots at him while he was walking up his front porch. I need you guys to pick him up and bring him in."
"Got an address?"
"I sure do." Jesse rattled off an address 10 miles from their present location.
Brennan frowned. "This makes three mutants in three days. What's going on, Jess? Any connection?" Brennan asked as he and Shalimar exited the tenement and turned toward the Helix.
"I don't know, but I'm already on it. Good luck."
Within ten minutes, they had arrived at the address Jesse had given them. They hurried from the landing site to the house, both of their minds still on how close they could have been to saving Ariah. Every second had counted then; it counted now. And so they ran.
At last, they reached the address, a neat, split-level condo painted a gray-blue with white shutters. They passed the garage door as they moved up the walk to the front door. Shalimar ran her fingers over a line of bullet holes marring the garage door's metal surface. She glanced at Brennan and he nodded. She didn't have to tell him to be careful. Anyone using a weapon that left a trail like that on a metal door meant serious business. Shalimar put her hand on the doorknob, testing it. Dan was smart. The door was locked. But he obviously hadn't had been worried about security for long. The old door only had one lock, which Shalimar easily bypassed, giving it a hard push with her feral strength. Entering cautiously, Shalimar scanned the room, all senses wide open. Brennan stood ready with a ball of sparks in his hand. After what had happened earlier in the day, neither was taking any chances. Shalimar held up one finger, and then pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. Brennan increased the intensity of the sparks and they both moved closer.
Shalimar reached for the door. She held up three fingers, then two, then one. She then jerked the door open.
And was surprised to find a shotgun barrel aimed directly at her face.
Instantly, she had her hands in the air, indicating that she meant no harm. The man with the gun looked to be her own age, perhaps a little younger. His hair was dark, almost black, with a slight wave to it and his eyes were a muddy green. And they were full of fear, not malice. She had seen that instantly, which was why she hadn't moved to disarm him yet. "Easy, we're not here to hurt you."
"Who are you?" The barrel of the gun darted to Brennan, then back to Shalimar.
"Easy, man. We're here to help you. I'm Brennan, and this is Shalimar. We're from Mutant X. Tyrone sent us. Are you Dan?"
He nodded. The hands holding the gun relaxed, but did not lower the weapon. "Tyrone. He said he'd send someone. Have you found Ariah?"
Shalimar looked at the floor for a moment before looking back at Dan. "I'm sorry," was all she said.
And it was enough. Dan understood. A mist spread over his eyes and his face crumpled for a moment before he stoically straightened his features. His voice broke for a moment when he spoke. "We were all at Genomex together. Been friends ever since."
Brennan reached out a sympathetic hand towards Dan. "I'm sorry. Why don't you put that gun down and we'll get out of here."
Dan lowered the gun to his side, his movements reminiscent of a man surrendering to defeat. "Yeah, okay. You guys got a plan? You know where we're going?"
"We're going to make you disappear for a while. We've got a friend who's really good at that," Shalimar told Dan, ushering him out of the room and back toward the front door. The sooner they got out of there, the less time they were exposed to whoever was tracking Dan and the more control they'd have over the situation.
They were in the living room when the hail of bullets penetrated the front window. At least a dozen bullets sailed over their heads as they all instinctively dropped to the floor.
"That's an automatic assault rifle!" Brennan shouted over the noise of shattering glass and splintering wood. "There's no way to tell how many guys are out there."
"They'll have to pause to reload! Dan, is there another way out of here?"
"Back to the other room. There's a balcony window that opens into an alley. That leads to the old park down the street."
"Perfect," Brennan said, crawling on his belly, army style, across the room and back to the hallway. "That's where we parked our ride." He stopped crawling. They didn't have they time to crawl all the way down the hallway. The assailants could storm the building before they got out. "We're gonna have to run. You ready?"
Dan nodded, and three seconds later, when Shalimar gave the order, the three of them quickly rose to their feet, and, ducking low, ran back the way they had come. Just before they rounded the corner, their assailant resumed fire, and Shalimar heard Dan cry out.
She paused and looked back to see him still upright, but staggering. She doubled back and lifted one of his arms over her shoulder, helping him along.
They made it through the window, and with both Brennan and Shalimar helping Dan along, the three of them made it back to the Helix without further incident. There was no one chasing them. Whoever had been shooting at them was either content that his attack had already succeeded or didn't care enough to pursue them. Shalimar doubted the latter, not with the kind of firepower he'd had, and hoped it was the former, rather than a third reason she couldn't fathom.
While those thoughts raced through her head, Brennan jetted into the pilot's seat and launched the aircraft immediately, engaging the stealth camouflage at the first possible moment. Shalimar helped Dan into one of the seats and looked him over. The scent of blood was clear, but with Dan's dark clothing, it was hard to spot the source. Finally she found the source, a small round hole in Dan's chest, just under the ribcage. She quickly put pressure, staunching the flow of blood. As gently as she could she leaned him forward, checking his back, and found the exit wound. Surprised at his silence during her ministrations, Shalimar looked at his face. Dan's eyes were closed, and his features were tight. His body was tense; he wasn't unconscious. He was fighting the pain, depending on her to help him. Shalimar found her resolve tightening.
Shalimar swore under her breath as she reached for the jet's medkit and contacted Jesse over the comm. system, telling him to have medbay ready. Settling back down by Dan's side, she opened and applied pressure bandages to Dan's wounds. Dan was entrusting his life to her and Brennan. And she damn well wasn't going to fail again.
