Max woke up when Alec came into the room she shot him a fake smile. "Joyce is taking good care of us," he whispered while he crawled up into the bed next to her. "She said that breakfast is from six to nine, and she'll cook us about anything that we would like to eat."

"What happened to my bike?" Max asked him, as she rolled over so that she was facing him.

"It's in a nice dry safe place. Go back to sleep. Breakfast is early tomorrow." Soon they both were sound asleep.

Max woke up around five thirty and slowly got out of bed. She shot a glance back at Alec to see that he was still asleep and she headed off for the bathroom. She found it and took a warm shower. Dressed in her usual black attire, she took off in search of the food that she could smell.

Max was just at the bottom of the stairs when a small toddler blurred by. She jumped back in shock and slammed into Alec, causing him to fall back on the stairs. He pulled her with him in his fall and she landed in his lap on the stairs. "Did I just see that toddler blur?" he asked Max, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Please tell me that it was just my eyes."

Max's eyes stayed on the boy and her eyes focused on the back of his neck when he stopped at the end of the hall. There at the back of his neck was a bar code, and they both were shocked. "That's new," Max said, as she looked back at Alec to see that his face was full of shock as well. Alec was dressed in black attire also and his hair was standing up.

"Sean," a voice called out, and they turned to see a young woman, their age, coming from the kitchen. She wore baggy, black pants, a green t-shirt, and black shoes. She had her long light brown hair loose and it was in her bright green eyes. "Sean, stop!" Alec then watched as the toddler stopped and stood at attention. The woman then jogged down the hallway and picked up the toddler. "Good, boy." She ruffled his short blonde hair as she turned to face Alec and Max. "You must be Alec and Max. Joyce told me there were new comers. Breakfast is ready."

"Thank you," Alec said, as she and Sean went back to the kitchen. "Okay, that was too weird."

"Let's go see who else is here." Max got to her feet and Alec followed her towards the kitchen. "This looks like a halfway house." They entered the kitchen to find it full. There was Joyce, Sean, the woman, and four other teens, with bar codes on the back of their necks. The names soon went around as Carmen, Keith, Spike, Sara, and the woman was Zero.

They ate their breakfast in silence, and then went on their ways, before Max and Alec finished theirs. "They are all like that," Joyce said, as she started to clean up the table. "They stick together pretty good, except for Sean and Zero. The others treat them like outsiders most of the time."

"You don't say," Alec said, as he got to his feet. "Let me help you with those." He took the plates from her hands and followed her into the kitchen. "What else can you tell me about them?"

"It doesn't make any sense," Carmen, 795, said, as she came into Zero's room. "Who the hell are they? Keith saw a bar code on Alec's neck. Why are they here?"

Zero had gone straight from breakfast to her room where she stood looking out the windowShe then looked up from the window and stared at Carmen. She and the others were so much alike. Even her son was more like them, but she was not. She had been made different because she was the daughter of Sandeman. She was one of the firsts. So she didn't have a bar code or a designation number. She was all alone. "I think they just stopped here to rest," Zero said to Carmen, as she headed for the door. "I'm sure that they won't bother you."

"Yeah, like you can judge character." Carmen went in search of the others, to see what they thought of Alec and Max.

Zero, finally bored with the birds, made her way downstairs and out to the front porch in her search for her son. She found Max sitting on the porch railing watching as Alec, Spike, Keith, and Sara spared off. Max shot Zero a smile as she pointed over to the swing and Zero saw Sean sleeping there. "Thank you," Zero said to her, as she came up beside Max to watch them. "He's pretty good at that."

"Yeah he is," Max said, as she turned to look at Zero. "But not as good as me." That got a small smile from Zero. "So where you guys come from?"

"A place far from here. You?"

"Seattle, and originally from a place called Manticore." That got Zero's head to snap up. "Yeah, you have been there. So have they." She pointed to the group as the all took on Alec.

"I know."

"So want to tell me what's going on?"

"Not really. Now isn't the time."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because of them." Zero pointed out at the drive way and went to grab her son.

Max turned her head to see a van pull up and White and his men get out of it. "You have got to be kidding me."

TO BE CONTINUED

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