Adam and Mason sat quietly staring at the array of screens that lit up before their eyes. Every screen depicted a different image. One screen showed Jesse creeping along the cliff wall with what appeared to be a beast following closely behind. One showed Shalimar and Emma after having left the compound. They looked scared, Adam thought. One showed Brennan in his ever continuing battle to keep breathing. He appeared to Adam to be struggling to get up again. Adam silently warned him to stay down. Others showed various areas of the compound.
"Oh my God," Mason whispered under his breath. "The crazy bastard has done it." Mason was too enthralled with what he was seeing to care about how Adam felt just then. He had worked for years to form an army. He didn't believe the ferals were the answer but this was a tough group. Mason wondered, however, how Draper managed to control them and keep them in the compound. "I wonder why they don't run off?" Mason whispered.
Adam just looked at him in disgust. "Don't you see what is happening here Mason? Draper is going to kill us all. We have to work together to get out of here!" Mason didn't even look at him. He was enjoying the show. He loved watching Brennan struggle and for once seeing Shalimar scared.
Adam was trying to figure out by the pictures the location of his kids. He realized that Jesse and Brennan were on the side of the cliff. He knew they were on the west side of the compound because the sun was going down. He also noted that it had begun to rain. He struggled against the ties that bound him. He had to get loose.
XXXXXX
Jesse didn't hear what hit him; he only felt it. The beast was too fast and came out of the woods in a flash. He only heard a growl from behind him and then felt a terrible blow to the back of his skull. He hit the ground with the world swirling around him. He thought he would throw up. He struggled to stay conscious but couldn't focus his eyes. He vomited. He choked Brennan's name in hopes his friend would hear - to no avail. The last thing Jesse saw as he rolled over were the red eyes of a horrible beast.
XXXXXX
Brennan heard a strange sound emanate from the direction Jesse had gone. "Jesse!" he called. He heard nothing. He managed to turn himself around so he could get to one knee. He used a tree to brace himself and get to a standing position. His head swirled from the loss of blood and fever but it was a blessing he could no longer feel his leg. Brennan squinted against the rain that was now threatening to take his sight of the nearby woods and cliff wall. "Jesse?" he called out.
Just then, Brennan thought he saw something flash – a light of some sort – in the woods barely 20 feet in front of him. It wasn't Jesse. "No," he whispered as the source of the flash showed itself. It was feral eyes he had seen and it was obviously Jesse he had heard. He watched in anguish as several beasts emerged from the woods. The one in front looked familiar to Brennan and worse yet, he was carrying Jesse. The beast smiled at Brennan's demeanor. It was Samuel. Brennan felt raw inside. "You killed him!" Brennan screamed as he blasted Samuel with a lighting ball. Jesse fell to the ground as Samuel lit up. Brennan blasted another at the trees behind the other beasts. Brennan did a double-take at Jesse who lay motionless at Samuel's feet. Samuel was stirring and began to regain consciousness by the time Brennan managed to crawl to Jesse's side. He didn't know whether he was alive or dead but he most certainly appeared to be dead. Brennan tried to rouse Jesse. He checked for a pulse and was glad when he found one.
"Jesse!" Brennan pleaded. "Jesse, please, wake up man." Brennan was struggling to remain conscious himself. His leg hurt again and his side was bleeding. He didn't care, he need to get Jesse out of there.
Samuel got up and crawled away from Brennan and Jesse. He was slightly surprised at the power he just witnessed.
XXXXXXX
Shalimar finally reached Emma and pulled her in, holding her closely. Shalimar did not feel comfortable and wished she would have remained in the room as Emma had originally urged them to do. "Emma," Shalimar said as she lightly shook her. Emma appeared in a daze and then began to cry.
"Emma, honey, what is it? What's the matter?" Shalimar pleaded with her friend. "Is it Draper? Emma, stop trying to link with him."
"No, it isn't Draper," Emma wept. "I don't know what I was doing before. There are so many emotions here. Each one of these creatures was human at one point. Each had a life and hopes and dreams and they are all gone now. They are so sad but at the same time angry and confused. They're insane."
Emma broke down and cried in Shalimar's arms. "Shh, it's OK, now," she comforted as she stroked Emma's hair. "Emma, I know it's hard for you but you have to help us now, sweetie. We need your help – your friends – us – we need your help." Shalimar held Emma at arms length and looked into her eyes, which were now again a beautiful shade of green. She looked at the looming sky and remembered what Jacob had said earlier in the caves about the rain and the storms. She knew that they could not survive long where they were standing and she was bound and determined not to leave without the team
"Emma, can you find Brennan or Jesse?"
Emma shook her head to confirm to Shalimar that she could. She closed her eyes and searched her mind. She crawled through the minds that were near her. They were screaming and laughing, some were crying. Others were just plain mad. But then, she reached him.
"Brennan," Emma whispered in the recesses of Brennan's mind. "Brennan."
XXXXX
Brennan didn't know what was happening but felt Emma with him. He had felt her frequently in the past 24 hours and now was even more grateful to feel her. Brennan noticed that the beasts had pooled away from them and Samuel was trying to speak. The others were shocked at the display of power from Brennan. They had only seen Draper perform this task in the past and had no idea that anyone else had such a capability. Samuel noticed his minions take aback at Brennan's display and turned to them.
"What is the matter with you?" he snarled.
"He – he's like Draper, out leader. He has powers magnificent powers!" One of the others yelled as he looked at Brennan with a wild admiration. The beasts were growling as much as they were talking. Brennan tried to understand them and then again tried to rouse Jesse. Emma was there, however, he knew it. He decided that he needed to try and reach her. They needed help.
Brennan took advantage of the beasts' distraction to find Emma in his brain. He had never done this before while conscious but thought now was worth a try. He sent to her what he was feeling – a message that they needed help and that Jesse was hurt now as well.
XXXXXX
Emma looked at Shalimar when she received Brennan's message. The look of panic in her eyes was getting to be too familiar and she dreaded what Emma was about to tell her. "What, honey? What did you see?"
Rather than answer her, Emma threw Shalimar to her left with strength Shalimar had never before seen. She was shocked when she hit the ground. When she looked up, she saw why Emma had done what she did. Standing face to face with Emma was a beast and standing behind him, there were at least ten more. "Emma!" Shalimar cried. But Emma was deep in thought. Her eyes were black and her head glowed with an aura around it. Shalimar had seen this before.
"Emma no!"
But she was too late. Emma blasted everything within a 50-foot radius – including Shalimar, who now lay unconscious.
All fell silent around Emma except for the pounding rain. It was pouring now with distant flashes of lightening. Emma's hair was soaked. It hung around her face. Her clothes were torn and tattered. Her anger seethed. Her breaths were coming in a rhythmic heaving. Her fists were clenched in rage. She shivered at the cold. A single tear rolled down her face. The warm salient fluid mixed with the cold, hard rain on her cheek before falling to the ground and trickling away with the river of rain that now threatened the face of the cliff upon which they stood. But Emma was frozen still.
XXXXXX
Draper was busy. He had so much happening but needed to draw energy for the shields. This was it – his time. He couldn't let the shield fail now. He was going to need it to finish the experiment. He looked at Adam and Mason one last time watching it all play out. He didn't care if he saw it happen. While he did want to finally see Mutant X die and Adam fail, he knew he did not have to see it in time. After all, he had it all on tape.
Draper made his way to the powerhouse for what he considered would be the last time. He planned that once all of this was finished, he would move what remained to Genomex. He would create his dome there and his minions would work to take over. Oh how delightful it would all be. It was all too easy. Everything was just perfect.
Draper was just about to hook himself into the capacitor when he thought he felt a tickle. Something, yes, something, was crawling in his brain. He screamed as he felt it. Cold fingers crept like the legs of spiders. Draper grabbed his head in agony and screamed. He fell to his knees. He needed to gain control. Whatever this was, it was strong. But whatever or whoever this was, he recognized. The fingers were delicate and cunning. Yes, once he calmed down, he could tell who this was. Draper put on his most demonic smile and continued to strap himself into the powerhouse. He planned to give Ms. DeLauro the ride of her life.