A/N: Not long now peeps…
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Chapter thirty-nine: The Sound Of A Bullet
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Max: (Did Logan) find White's place?
Alec: Of course he did. He always does stuff like that.
-Max and Alec (Gill Girl)
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'I dreamed that the world was crumbling down
We sat on my back porch and watched it
I dreamed that the buildings all fell down
We sat on my back porch and watched it
In my head I heard the sound
Like fifteen strangers dancing'
-Matchbox Twenty (Busted)
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"They're coming!" an X5 male sprinted in "we have a breach in the fence on the east side!"
The music was turned off and the sound of gunfire reached them.
Alec and Erin immediately stiffened and pulled away from each other as everyone began to move at once.
"Tighten security of all other perimeters- hook up with weapons, mics' and headphones!" Max yelled at the top of her lungs "do NOT shoot to kill! I repeat- do NOT shoot to kill!"
"I want 3 teams with me" Alec yelled now "let's lock and load people!"
"Joshua!" Max yelled as everyone began to move as once- Max, Alec and the others hadn't been idle over the last few weeks. They had teams set up for dealing with breaches in security, an armoury prepared, rationing, escape plans, a communication network set up and countless other things had been arranged.
Joshua appeared out of nowhere by her side. "Yes Max?" He looked like he was itching to do something.
"Activate a lock down, get others to help you. The one's who can't fight and the ones that are too young like 7s and 8s- get them on the upper floors of the garage and hurry!"
Joshua nodded and ran off taking some anomalies with him.
"Dalton!" Alec searched for the X6.
"Yeah?" Dalton yelled from a group of other X6s. He pushed his way to Alec.
"I want you to grab a weapon and look after Cindy, Sketchy, and Erin on the 6th floor. They are not allowed to leave until we say so, got it?"
Dalton looked like he wanted to protest. After all, he was a soldier and he wanted to be out there with his unit and the others.
"Dalton" Alec gave him a meaningful look "they're important to Max. They're important to me."
Dalton nodded and went in search of a gun.
"Where's Logan? Someone get him to the 6th floor!" Alec walked away, fitting a headset as he was given a gun. Then he stopped as if remembering something, walked back to Erin who was stood by herself in the middle of the chaos, and hugged her. He kissed her forehead "I'll be back." And then he was gone.
The transgenics worked efficiently and smoothly, falling into the units that had been assigned to them for this specific purpose. Each unit was armed and met up at specific locations and moved off to wherever they were assigned to protect. They shot to injure only and most of the traps Mole and Zane had designed were only made to incapacitate. Large amounts of rubble had been strategically placed to act as obstacles to slow down the enemy and as a place to take cover behind.
'I was going to kiss her' Alec moved silently in and out of alleys and buildings with his unit. 'I was going to kiss her and I haven't even found out how she feels about me.'
Alec caught sight of an enemy soldier with his sights on a transgenic. Blurring, Alec tackled the man rather than shoot him. The soldier struggled to get a grip on his now dangling gun but Alec knocked him out with a single punch.
'It will NOT happen again." Alec stood up and a unit member grabbed the unconscious soldier and carried him away. They would leave him near the fence after he had been relieved of weapons.
'No, it won't happen again. Not unless she feels the same about me.'
That's what he kept telling himself the rest of the battle at the same time as keeping his head in the game.
They'd been on the 6th floor for over an hour and still they could hear the gunfire. Sketchy and Original Cindy were huddled on the couch and Logan still hadn't been found.
Dalton was stood near the door patiently waiting. Many of the children and pregnant females were on this floor but it was almost silent. They'd heard gunfire before.
"How can you be so calm, boo?" Cindy looked over to Erin who had broken her tradition of no exercise to do sit-ups on the cold floor. Her ribs were a lot better so it didn't hurt.
"I'm not calm" Erin stood up and rotated her shoulders "I just look it."
Erin looked around her at the children sat together in groups. The youngest looked scared because they were the least used to this kind of situation.
"I have to keep busy" she told Cindy and Sketchy "If I don't keep busy- I'll panic and I really don't wanna run around like a headless chicken."
Sticking two fingers in her mouth, she whistled loudly. The kids looked up immediately and Erin gestured for them to come over to her. Cautiously they did.
"Hey" Erin smiled down at them "do you guys know any games?"
One X7 boy raised his hand "Like Escape and Evade, ma'am?"
"No, I mean normal games. Not military exercises. Oh, and call me Erin, not ma'am." Erin thought for a second before smiling "Have you guys ever heard of Scarecrows? Some people call it Stick in the Mud?"
The kids shook their heads and Erin's smile grew. "Want me to teach you?"
Erin was good with kids. They'd picked up the game easily and she now had them running around laughing was the battle continued outside. It was kind of surreal. She even had Sketchy and Cindy playing even though they were really bad at it. Most of the time they had to stand with their arms out and legs apart because they'd been tagged.
Dalton remained at his post watching the door and Gem sat with her baby, keeping the other mothers and pregnant females calm.
About halfway through the children's 6th game of Scarecrows the shooting stopped. Everyone of the upper levels froze.
In the silence, they could hear someone run into the garage. There was a pause, everyone held their breath and then:
"Perimeter re-secured, I repeat, perimeter re-secured."
Everyone seemed to sigh with relief and began to move at once. Dalton relaxed his stance for the first time in hours, slung his rifle over his shoulder, waved at Erin, Sketchy and Cindy, and disappeared through the stairwell door. In no time at all, the 6th floor was empty and the rest of the garage filled the usual hustle and bustle of life.
"That was interesting" Sketchy spoke into the comfortable silence and he and Cindy re-seated themselves on the couch and Erin sat down on the floor.
"Yep" Original Cindy nodded in agreement "wonder what started it all?"
"Who knows?" Erin shrugged "I just hope that no one got hurt."
"How was I supposed to know how they'd react?!" Logan yelled as he pushed the stairwell door open and stormed in, followed closely by Max who looked pissed as hell. Logan headed for his shared sleeping quarters with Sketchy.
"Because we've explained to you that they don't want to negotiate! Not right now anyway!" Max looked like she was restraining herself from beating some sense into him.
"Why d'you think they carry the guns, Logan? Because they're shiny?!"
"Look Max, I'm sorr-" Logan was cut off by Max.
"Because of you- several transgenics were injured. Luckily, none of it's fatal! Whatever chance of us opening up negotiations has now been postponed because of your interference! Because of this, I've decided to restrict your access to TC."
Logan stopped, looking dumbfounded "What?"
"You're grounded, Logan. You can't go anywhere outside of the parking garage, understand?"
You're grounding me?" Logan stared at Max like she'd grown another head "You can't ground me!"
"I can and I have. Everyone will be notified of this by tomorrow. Goodnight Logan."
Max walked up to her friends and collapsed on the couch next to Sketchy.
"You okay, boo?" Cindy looked at Max worriedly. She was covered in scratches and dirt. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired. "You weren't hurt, right?"
"I'm fine- we're all okay. A few of us just got a couple of flesh wounds, nothing big" Max sighed and looked at them wearily "You guys cool?"
She got nods all around and she smiled tiredly "Good. I better go help Alec and the others clear up the mess," She stood up again and stretched.
"Anything we can help with, Max?" Sketchy watched his friend "We'll do anything."
"Nah" Max shook her head "It's okay. You guys get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
Next Chapter: With A Kiss…
*points at title, grins and wanders off*
A/N:*grins* Okay, from now on, I will not answer any questions to what Erin's abilities are, when they will see them, when she will speak and uh, yeah- I think that will do. It's just, I can't answer these questions cus it'll ruin the story. Sorry dudes. I've reached 200 reviews! I've reached 200 reviews!! *jumps up and down then falls off of chair* Thanks guys!
Marty: Sorry dude. It was either Mis-Teeq or Christina Aguilara (sp?). I think I chose the lesser evil :P Yes, I'm evil. What's wrong with that?
Sea Siren: Lol Thanks dude. Yep, it's ALL ferret guys fault. It'll be revealed later what he did exactly. But look! *points* He gets grounded!! *laughs manically*
Cat X5-989: Sorry, she doesn't find out what she can do for a few chapters yet.
Dominique: Thanks dude. Are you psychic? As you can see, they haven't kissed in this one. Did you read the title of the next chapter? *wiggles eyebrows*
Riley: Can't give you any clues about 'him' dude. *whispers* it's a surprise :P
Messymissy: *As usual falls off chair when seeing review* The answer is, Logan is a prick. He blames Max for him being in a wheelchair because she wasn't there to protect him. Yes, it's wrong. *grins evilly* It will all be sorted out later on. I'm not sure about the exoskeleton. I just wrote it to kinda draw attention to the fact that he isn't as great as he thinks he is. Erin is better than he is and she has no apparent special abilities… yet.
MaxCat452: No! *hugs huge German Shepard* Not Bonnie!
Elin: Read the chapter title for the next chapter dude. As for the abilities… give it time.
