A/N: *grins* Okay, here's the confrontation you guys have been waiting for. Both Max/Zack and Alec/Erin are gonna be more open with one another than they have been for awhile. Will sparks fly? *smirks* what d'you think?
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Chapter forty-three: Fool For Life
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'Men. Dogs. No difference. (Bites into a hotdog)'
-Original Cindy (The Berrisford Agenda)
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'Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become
Bring me to life'
-Evanescence (Bring Me To Life)
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Erin was beginning to panic as she scanned the room with the torch. The place was solid. No windows, thick walls. However, there was another thick steel door that led into the freezer next to them.
"You tried that one?" Erin asked Alec who had been watching her silently the whole time.
Alec nodded "We aren't getting out of here so I suggest you make yourself comfortable."
Erin immediately narrowed her eyes as she remembered the reason she'd gone looking for him in the first place.
"Hey Max" Syl grinned as she spotted Max walking out the cafeteria with Jondy and Lee. "I've got something to show you."
Max smiled and followed her "What is it?"
"Hey, Soldier Boy" Cindy walked up to Zack as he left HQ.
Zack looked up "Hey."
"Cindy's got something to show ya" Cindy grinned at him and headed off towards Sector D. Zack followed.
"What's that?" Alec said suddenly after Erin had slid down the wall beside him.
"What?" Erin listened intently but heard nothing.
"Someone's moving outside" Alec stared at the door. "They've opened the other freezer."
There was a distinctly female shout and then they heard a door slam.
Alec and Erin looked at each other. Syl and Cindy had kidnapped Max.
Several minutes later, the same sounds reached them, this time; it was a male shout they heard. Zack.
Alec closed his eyes and leant his head back. "I think this is one of the most idiotic plan anyone has ever come up with."
"Idiotic but effective" Erin continued to examine the room.
Alec nodded and sighed "I think they must've seen us together."
"Not my fault, Pretty Boy" Erin glared at the door. If she looked at him she wouldn't be responsible for her actions. As it was, she didn't know if she wanted to kill him or kiss him. She knew what the most attractive one of those was.
"Well, it wasn't like you were trying to stop me!" Alec turned to glare at her.
"Would it have made a difference?!" Erin turned to face him now "It's not like you can control yourself around me now! You know that as well as I do."
Alec simply glared at her, his anger rising. How was she able to piss him off so easily?
"You bit me" Erin glared at Alec "You bit me and you marked me as yours. You never even gave me a choice!" Erin's own anger was building now.
"I couldn't help it!" Alec was fighting to keep his voice level. "It's not like I can easily switch my instincts off, Erin!!"
"Why not?!! Zack can ignore his instincts for Max, why can't you ignore your instincts with me?!"
"Zack can do that because he's used to it. He also doesn't realise that Max likes him back!"
"What? So you're saying this is my fault now? Because I admitted that I thought you were hot, you couldn't control your impulses?!" Erin stared at him in disbelief.
"No!" Alec ran a hand through his hair, partly in frustration and partly to keep himself from shaking Erin like a rag doll.
"Then whose fault is it then?!" Erin felt like she was going to explode. "I didn't ask you to do this to me!" She pulled down the collar of her jacket to reveal the bite mark on her neck.
Her eyes met his and Erin swallowed. Maybe showing him that wasn't a good idea.
"Damn it Erin!" Alec growled, his eyes practically glowing in the torch light, and then they were kissing.
"Do you think we should've done this?" Cindy looked at both doors before turning back to Syl sitting across from her at the table.
Syl simply shrugged "They weren't doing anything. Something had to be done. True, they'll be pissed at us, but at least everything will be out in the open."
"You think this'll work?"
"Of course. We'll let them out in an hour or two" Syl grinned and went back to cleaning her gun.
Original Cindy shrugged and went back to filing he nails.
"Zack?" Max spun around as the door was opened and Zack was pushed in. He spun around immediately to bang on the door but Syl had already locked it.
Sighing, he turned back to Max who was stood in the middle of the room. "Hey Maxie, they get you to?" He looked half amused, half annoyed.
Max simply looked around her in reply.
"So…" Zack slid down the wall to face the door "You have any idea what this is about?"
"I have a good idea" Max growled and slid down another wall so she had Zack on her left and the door out on her right. She'd already tried the other door.
Zack stared at her, waiting.
"It's just Syl and Cindy trying to mess with my life is all."
"And… how did I become involved in this?" Zack moved to sit next to her. Before his trip to the farm, he'd have been plotting murder right about now. Instead, he thought it was simply annoying.
Max closed her eyes and leant her head back. Zack watched her cautiously. There was something wrong with Max, he had no idea what but he was going to find out.
"It doesn't matter, Zack. We just need to sit this out until they decide to open the door."
"Max, what is this about?" he replied slowly, "if you don't tell me, I'll get it out of Syl after this is all over."
Max opened her eyes slowly but she didn't turn to look at him. "They just got something out of me is all" She said in a calm even voice.
"What?" Zack didn't take his eyes from her. He watched her neck as she swallowed, and suddenly began to fidget. Max was nervous.
Max took a deep breath "My life is just so messed up right now. Correction, it's always been messed up. I was raised in a secret military base, escaped at nine years old, hunted for the next ten years, captured, shot, killed, brought back to life, tortured, I escaped again, and released everyone else out into the world, got hunted by an insane lunatic who is a member of an ancient breeding cult, told I have no junk DNA and am destined to save the world, transgenics got exposed to the public and are now hunted by them too, figured out I don't love Logan, figured out I like you instead, got given the job of being leader of our freaky little nation, have been having strange dreams about a mysterious yet overly sarcastic British girl and am now locked in a freezer because my so called best friend and sister decided on making us their new project." Max took another deep breath after her rant and glanced at Zack "Do I come across as bitter?"
Zack stared at her. Had she finally gone off the deep end? Then, his brain finally caught up with her words.
"You like me?"
Max had the deer in headlights look then. "Kinda?"
Smiling slowly, Zack leant towards her until his breath was fanning her face and he could actually feel her shiver. "Kinda?" He said quietly, his hand reaching out to play with a strand of her long hair.
Max swallowed again and nodded silently.
He moved forward, watching her eyes close in anticipation. However, when he was mere millimetres away from actually kissing her, Max jumped up; almost head butting him in her haste to get away.
"I think we should work on the other door. Maybe the door in the other freezer or whatever it is, is unlocked?" She said in a rush, straightening her clothes and moving to the interior door.
Sighing, Zack stood up and started to work on the door with Max. Then, a smile broke out on his face. Max liked him.
A loud cough caused Alec and Erin to spring apart. Max and Zack stood in the doorway that linked the two freezers together. They were openly grinning at them.
"Enjoying yourselves?" Zack walked in and sat down against another wall.
Alec and Erin stared at each other as Max moved to sit against another wall. "I knew something was going on!"
Erin's eyes narrowed as she apparently came to her senses. Her hand lashed out and hit Alec hard upside the head. "You did it again, you moron!"
Erin moved away quickly and sat against the only unoccupied wall.
"I told you it isn't my fault!" Alec rubbed his head and glared. (Do they know any other expressions?!)
"Like hell it is!" Erin folded her arms and turned away from him.
"Okay, what have we missed?" Max watched her two friends in amusement.
"THIS!" Erin showed Max her neck and Zack gave a low whistle.
"You guys are mated?"
"It's not like I got asked if I wanted to be!" Erin sat back, pushing hair from her face in irritation.
"I told you! It's not my fault!" Alec practically yelled now.
"It bloody well is! You're the one who friggin bit me! I even try to avoid you and look how that turned out!"
"Children, calm down" Zack smirked "It's happened, you guys are mated. There's nothing you can do about it now, besides the obvious."
Erin and Alec simultaneously turned their glares on him. Max was trying her hardest not to laugh right now, and Erin suddenly turned to look at her, an almost evil smile on her face.
"How about you Max? You told Zack about your own little… dilemma?"
Max stopped laughing and suddenly found herself the centre of attention.
"Max has a problem?" Alec grinned at Erin as she nodded her head with a slightly gleeful expression on her face. If she had to suffer, Max would too.
"Extremely similar to our problem as a matter of fact. Only, they haven't got to the biting part."
Zack's face was blank, yet Alec could see his mouth twitching.
Max looked like she was thinking up ways to kill Erin.
"Interesting" Alec grinned "Yet, she still thinks it's okay to laugh at our problem?"
They hard what sounded like a growl from Max and Zack spoke up quickly. He didn't want a fight to break out.
"Okay, how about we play a game or something to pass the time?" He looked at each of them. Erin and Max both nodded.
"We were perfectly fine before you came in" Alec grumbled, getting another glare from Erin.
Zack rolled his eyes "Okay, how about, uh, rock, paper, scissors?"
The games got boring about 2 hours later and now, each of them sat against a wall doing nothing.
Max was sat cross-legged, plotting revenge on Cindy and Syl.
Zack was sat with his arms draped over his bent legs, trying to figure out how he'd gotten into this mess and also trying to figure out this thing with Max.
Alec sat cross-legged counting to 1000 in every language he knew to stop himself from going to Erin. Good job he knew a lot of languages.
Erin had no problem with the boredom but she was having trouble with something else. She'd tried to go to sleep but that wasn't working. She'd tried to make up song lyrics in her head, but that wasn't working. She'd tried to think of home but that wasn't working. She'd even tried to come up with ways to get revenge of Syl and Cindy but even that wasn't working. Every time she closed her eyes, Erin would see the past and that was bad. Problem was with her eyes open, it wasn't any better.
'It's not the same room' Erin chanted in her head, 'it's not the same room.' Her eyes darted about 'see! Alec, Max and Zack are here. Nothing can hurt me.'
They'd turned off the torch to preserve batteries and Erin could barley see the others' outlines but they could see perfectly. Erin had her arms wrapped around her legs tightly, her head on top of her knees.
"Why is this room so small?!' she tried to calm down by regulating her breathing. Another set back of her bad past- she absolutely hated the dark. Combine that with a small windowless room and Erin was in seriously bad shape.
'It's not the same room' she told herself again 'it's not the same room.'
'Yes it is' said another voice in her head. It came out as a whisper 'it's going to happen again and there's nothing you can do to stop it.'
'It's not!!' Erin yelled mentally back 'it's not!' That's when the flashbacks began to happen.
Breathe in. 'It's not the same room' Breathe out.
"Don't leave me!"
Breathe in. 'Not the same room' Breathe out.
"Hope you're not scared of the dark." Horrible grating laughter.
Breathe in. 'Not the same room' Breathe out.
"Time for a little fun, girl."
Breathe in. 'Not the same room.' Breathe out.
"How much pain can you take?"
Breathe in.
Alec glanced over to Erin when he hit 1000 in Russian, "Erin?"
Max and Zack looked over at her when she didn't move.
"Erin?" Alec tried again. Still, no answer.
Her eyes were closed and her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs. She was shaking.
Alec stood up quickly and walked over to her. She didn't move. "Erin?" he spoke quietly now, reaching out to touch her hand. She jumped but still didn't make any other movements.
Her mouth was moving. 'Not the same room. Not the same room. Not the same room.'
"What's wrong with her?" Zack stood up quickly, followed by Max as they moved to stand beside the kneeling Alec.
"Turn on the torch" Alec spoke quickly.
Max did it immediately and pointed it at Erin.
"No!" Alec grabbed the torch from her and pointed it away from Erin "We don't want to startle her out of it. This needs to be done slowly. I should've known…"
"PTSD" Zack said quietly, watching Erin shake. "She must've been through some shit."
Max was looking around her now. 'Not the same room' the room from Max's dream. The room with the thick metal door and Erin and the boy Jake behind it.
"We need to get that door open now" Max stood up quickly, Zack following her immediately.
Alec slowly sat down next to Erin and pulled her into his arms. She jumped again but made no other movements. Alec nuzzled his hair and began to speak comforting words into her ear, no idea if she could hear him in the hell in her mind.
"Scream and we'll kill him" the horrible voice whispered "we'll kill both of you."
Erin gritted her teeth and remained silent.
"Good girl… bet you think you're smart right? Bide your time until someone comes to rescue you? It's not gonna happen. They'll never find you. No one knows where you are- made sure of that. So, no matter how much you think you can survive, think again."
"Erin, come back to me."
Erin lifted her head at the sound of a voice. She got slapped in the face.
"I'm gonna take it to a whole new level girl- you're gonna beg me to kill you."
"Erin, you're safe."
There was that voice again. So calm, comforting. Erin knew that voice. Who was it? Where was it coming from?
Another voice, oh so familiar drowned out the sound of the other and Erin got sucked into the nightmare even further.
"Bet you like it rough, don't you? Playing the innocent. I know it's all an act. You're smart for your age. Brains get you nowhere in life, kid. Why would you be here?"
"It's in the past- you're in the past."
Erin struggled to get free but she couldn't move her arms.
"This is where family gets you. If it weren't for him you'd be okay. But then… I wouldn't be havin' this much fun now, would I?"
"Come on Erin! Listen to my voice- come back to me!"
"I'm trying!" Erin tried to scream but no sound came out. She had to get away. She couldn't stand it if they touched her again. Erin continued to struggle.
"Yeah, I think it's time for some more of that fun. Just think you should know- I can go for hours."
Bang. Bang. Bang.
What's that noise? Erin looked around her but she couldn't see anything different about the room she was in. It was still the same. The mattress, the men, the scalpels and syringes.
"Come here brat. Do as I say and if I like it- he lives. If not, I'll hurt him some more."
"Open your eyes- it's not happening again."
Erin got closer to the voice. She had to reach the voice. The voice would make all the bad things go away where there'll be no more pain.
"You're never gonna see the light of day again and you'll die alone."
Erin tried to scream.
Alec sighed with relief when Erin opened her eyes gasping.
"It's okay" he hugged her even closer to him and Erin held onto him tightly as if she was afraid he wasn't real. He pulled back and looked at Erin's face. He had never seen her really scared before. He didn't like it. She was pale, covered in a sheen of sweat and her eyes were wide as she looked at him, breathing heavily. He could feel her shaking slowly subside.
Just then, Zack and Max finally managed to kick the door down and it hit the floor with a loud crash.
Erin was on her feet in an instant and out the door before the transgenics could even move. Alec had never seen her move so fast.
Max was out the door a second later and was yelling at Cindy and Syl who looked slightly shocked, slightly angry and slightly annoyed all at once.
Zack sat down at the table, folded his arms and watched silently. When he saw Alec standing in the door way, he raised his eyebrows. "Shouldn't you go after your girl?"
Alec glanced at the open door and shook his head. "I'll give her a few minutes."
Next Chapter: I Want You…
Erin stared at Alec and suddenly didn't want to be alone anymore. Just for tonight, she wanted to feel normal, like she was wanted in this world.
A/N: Finally! Things are starting to happen between Max and Zack. Took me long enough. Uh, just in case you didn't know, PTSD is short for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Marty: You consider them shagadelic smoochies? huh. Okay. Dude, your review was total babble.
Messymissy: I got the book! *jumps up and down* It's SO long! Thanks for reviewing dude.
Elin: My site is at
Riley: Doesn't matter about Zero, it's kinda obvious Erin only has eyes for one transgenic at the moment *grins* Yep, Alec's gonna be pissed off when she talks.
Cat X5-989: YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE!!!
Dominique: Thanks dude. Hope you keep reading.
MaxCat452: England's okay. I'm finding it really boring right now. I've been doing nothing but exams *sniffles* lol, don't worry, Logan's gonna get his arse kicked. Sadly, it's in the sequel. I only included Zero and Bullet at the last minute. I watched Bag 'Em the other day and wondered what happened to them.
