CHAPTER 4

The School

Max was listening to everything around her. She heard White talking on his cell phone, "... Yes, I have finally captured 452... she is here with me...". Max tried to get a hold of herself. Max you were trained at Manticore. You can do this! Max struggled with the ropes on her hands.

"You know Max, struggling won't help." White snickered, hanging up the phone. Max stopped struggling and was silent. All of a sudden she heard the familiar click of White's gun.

"I could shoot you right now you know."

"Then why don't you?" Max shot back.

"I would rather catch all of you at the same time, Alec, you, whoever else comes to save you. It's less of a challenge." He toyed with the idea and smiled to himself. Max continued to struggle to release the ropes. She finally loosened them several minutes later. At this point, White had already left the room. Max took off the blindfold to find one of White's men standing in front of her.

"White, she's loose!" The man yelled. Max stood up and punched him in the face.

"Well don't just stand there you idiot, CATCH HER!" White yelled from down the hall, running towards the room they had stashed her in. Meanwhile, Max had punched out and kicked most of the men in the room as she headed for the door. White came out of his office and stopped Max dead in her tracks.

"I'm not letting you get away this time." White exclaimed getting out his gun again, finger holding strong to the trigger. Max was motionless. She stood up straight and acted like she was giving up the fight. White lowered his hand and walked toward Max. As soon as White lowered his hand, Max was back in the fight, kicking and punching White, still trying to get out the door. White barely flinching at the weak punches Max was giving him, getting a clear shot of Max, he raised the gun and pulled the trigger

"Did you hear gun fire?" Cindy said as she shot up to a full standing position.

"Yes." Alec replied. They both headed for the door while Alec dialed Logan's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Logan answered on the other end.

"Hey Logan, its Alec here. Original Cindy and I just heard some gun fire, can you meet us in the driveway of the school?"

"Yes, I'll be right there." Logan replied stepping on the gas pedal as soon as he dropped the phone down on the seat next to him.

Back at the warehouse

Max lay motionless on the floor in front of White; Blood running out onto the floor. White admired his work and walked back to his office. "I have killed 452." White happily announced, and then hung up the phone. White came back out to the front door where Max had been laying, but she was gone. There was blood smeared across the floor and was in the direction of the front door.

While White had been on the phone in his office, Max had managed to pull herself up and drag her lifeless body across the floor and out the front door. She was now outside the school, which she now recognized, but she had no way to contact anyone. She forced her body to move as she walked down the street. While she walked she groaned in agony still holding her side. Suddenly some headlights started towards her. She waved the one arm that was free and the car screeched to a halt. Original Cindy, Logan and Alec climbed out to see Max falling to the ground.

"Oh my god Max, what happened to you? Help me get her up!" Original Cindy yelled as both of them came around the car. They lifted her up and put her in the backseat, barely getting in the car themselves, Logan sped away towards the hospital.

The Hospital

They arrived at the hospital in record time; Logan had floored it almost the whole way there. Original Cindy had been gripping the seatbelt just to stay in her seat. Alec and Original Cindy carried Max out of the car and walked her into the front emergency center. Logan went up to the front desk, "I NEED TO SEE DR. CARR NOW!"

"What is the emergency please?" The woman asked getting a form out. Logan didn't reply, he just pointed to Cindy and Alec who were holding Max up. The woman frantically grabbed the intercom and called the doctor, "EMERGENCY DOCTORS TO THE FRONT DESK!" The woman announced in a panic. The doctors flooded down the hall with a stretcher waiting to go. Max's doctor, Dr. Carr had just been seeing a patient in the same hallway, and came out when he heard all the noise. He saw Alec and Original Cindy, as they placed Max on top of the stretcher and watched the doctors' race away. Original Cindy started to go with them, but the receptionist stopped her,

"I'm sorry but you can't go down there right now, there are visiting hours later." She said as she pulled Cindy away from the folding doors.

1 hour later…

They sat for, what felt like hours before Dr. Carr came out with any information. They all got up and waited for the results.

"There's some bad news...she has lost a lot of blood as I'm sure you figured out." Dr. Carr said as he looked at all of them and took a deep breath, "You know her blood type and it's hard to come by, would any of you be able to contact someone who'd have it?" He whispered.
Alec looked at both Logan and Cindy, and then at the doctor, "I may have her blood type."

"All right, we should get you tested right away." Dr. Carr replied. Alec left them waiting in the waiting room, following Dr. Carr to the exam room.

Drawing the blood, they rushed it to the lab, and Alec was told to go back to the waiting room until they had run the tests and knew whether they would need more of his blood or not.

A short time later, Dr. Carr came running down the hall, not wanting to waste any time in getting Max better, "I have some good news, you do have Max's blood, so we can get more of it now, this way." Dr. Carr replied excitedly. They took his blood and he went back out to the waiting room. Logan had been pacing and Cindy was sitting in a chair with her head down.

"They said they don't know how long it's going to be." Alec announced.

Meanwhile...

White was on the phone with his boss again, "Look, I know she got away, but I won't give up!"

"You'd better hope you catch her! Call me when you've actually completed your task." Click. White hung up his phone and whispered to himself, "How did you escape me Max? How?"

Back at the hospital

By the time Max's surgery was complete, Alec, Logan and Original Cindy were all asleep on chairs in the waiting room. Dr. Carr walked over and shook them awake.

"What? What's happening? She's fine right!" Logan pressed for answers. Alec and Cindy opened their eyes to see Dr. Carr there.

"Is she all right?" Original Cindy asked rubbing her eyes.

"She's fine, surgery was a success, although she needs rest for a good week at least." Dr. Carr chuckled as he remembered the last time she was shot, and how she wouldn't stay still for more then 10 minutes at a time. "She wants to see you now." He replied walking toward the door. They all walked over to Dr. Carr, following him down the hall towards Max's room.

In her room, Max was already trying to get out of bed. They all rushed to her side and tried to get her back into a laying down position at least. They were a success in getting Max back down on the bed, when Max finally gave up the struggle.

"Hey you guys, how's it going?" Max said groggily, awkwardly gazing at Logan.

"We're fine, what happened to you is more the question." O.C said as she walked over and held Max's hand.

"I don't remember a lot. I remember being tied up and being in a van with White. I also remember being blindfolded and shot, I barely made it out the door without..." Max dropped her head. She was afraid to finish that sentence. Original Cindy squeezed Max's hand tighter.

"Don't worry boo, we're all here for you." She expressed.