Night had fallen on the city of Seattle. The darkness was heavy and thick with the damp promise of rain. The streets and sidewalks were crowded with the normal Friday night traffic. Alec deftly wove a path amidst the cars. He moved along at breakneck speed with the wind whipping his hair back from his brow. His dark shades were firmly in place, protecting his eyes from the grit of city air. Behind the dark lenses his eyes scanned the night for any trace of Max.
He was finding it hard to track her on an instinctual level simply because he couldn't tell what the hell was going on in her head. His underworld contacts hadn't helped very much. Every scrap of information had led him to either a dead end or a trail that was barely lukewarm with her passing. The whole day Alec had felt always a few crucial steps behind in a race to just keep up. And, although he didn't know what exactly was happening to Max, he had the distinct and disquieting feeling that time was running out – for both of them.
Beneath the rumble of the motorbike, the smaller buzz of his mobile phone came to Alec's sensitive ears. He immediately pulled over and drew the phone out of his leather jacket.
"Yeah," he answered with his usual curt word. A petulant sigh came through the receiver.
"I'm bored."
At the sound of the familiar feminine voice, he sat up straighter. "Max?"
"It's time to play, Alec. Meet me at Savage Garden."
"Wha—" The line went dead. Alec threw up his hands and spoke to the passing traffic. "Oh sure. She's bored. That explains the psychosis." He gunned his engine and drove recklessly out into oncoming traffic. He paid no attention to the outraged drivers around him as he used speed to release some of his frustration.
Even with breaking all legal speed limits it still took Alec a full twenty minutes to get to the roughest sector in Seattle. Surrounded by abandoned and condemned factories, Savage Garden was a gutted warehouse that served as an open dance space. The expected storm had arrived during Alec's drive, soaking him and the streets. But the rain did nothing to dampen the unmistakable pulsing of tribal beats that echoed among the tightly packed buildings of the seedy district. Nor did it deter the crowds waiting to get into the club. Then again, if the very high risks of mugging and general assault didn't keep them out of the neighborhood, a little rain wasn't going to send anyone running.
Alec had no intention of waiting in line with the masses. Especially given that he was damn sure psycho-Maxie wasn't a patient woman. She must have found an alternate entrance, so he would too. He hid his bike a few blocks away from the club – no sense in leaving his stolen property out in the open to get jacked by someone – and then approached the warehouse from the back. He crept through the dark alley, effortlessly and unconsciously keeping to the shadows. A back door to the club slammed open and a club employee emerged hauling several large and unwieldy garbage bags. It seemed Lady Luck hadn't totally abandoned him after all. While worker approached the dumpsters lining the back wall of the warehouse Alec slipped inside unnoticed.
He moved swiftly through a dim hallway that ended at the very rear of the club beside one of the many long bars that lined the walls. Alec immediately dilated his pupils so that the darkest corners of the club were exposed to his sight as if fully lit. Unfortunately, only a few seconds passed before the harsh flashing of the strobe lights that spun upon the rafters of the warehouse started to affect him. It felt like daggers were being directed into his skull through his eyes. His eyes reverted to day vision. He would have to rely on his other senses and his instincts to find Max in this maelstrom of writhing bodies.
The air inside the club was drenched with the scent of human sweat. Dancers moved one against another oblivious to the heat and damp. The odor of hundreds of humans masked Max's presence from Alec. But he knew she was there somewhere amidst the crowd. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. After a few moments he moved out into the rhythmic sea that covered the floor of the warehouse. He moved with predatory grace. The bodies around him were merely environmental obstacles in his mind. His eyes moved rapidly, scanning over the landscape. But there was no sign of her.
As his search continued, Alec thought he was catching small glimpses of her. He would move toward a glimmer of slender shoulders or a flash of long dark hair only to lose the his target again. He'd been over every inch of the club and was becoming increasingly frustrated. That frustration translated into a feral glint in his eyes and a barely suppressed growl that wanted escape from deep in his chest. He was practically vibrating with barely contained volatility. The ordinaries around him instinctively opened paths for the predator in their midst.
Suddenly, the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end. He whipped his head around just as the sea parted on the other side of the warehouse to reveal the woman he'd been searching for. She was a force of animal magnetism moving in the middle of the norms. Like moths to a flame, men and women turned towards her as she danced. Her hips undulated to the pounding beat, her arms, raised above her head, swayed to the electronic melody. Alec was struck by the sight of her slender fingers gloveless, naked beneath the flashing lights. Damp from the rain, her thick mane fell below her shoulders in face-framing waves and ringlets. She was no longer wearing her dark sunglasses, but her eyes were closed against the glare of the strobe lights.
In an instant his clear view of her closed as bodies surged back around her. He could have howled then. He pushed his way through the crowd as quickly and forcefully as possible. It took all his discipline not to draw attention to himself or Max by blurring or throwing people out of the way. When he finally reached his destination she was nowhere in sight. He knew that she wouldn't be, just as he knew that she'd been aware of him watching her dance even though her eyes had been closed. This was clearly all a game to her. One that he was getting really tired of playing.
Look up, the thought came unbidden to Alec's mind. His gaze flitted across the ceiling of the warehouse. Up above the rafters, beyond the colored brightness of the strobe lights, a shadow crouched at one of the windows lining the top of the walls. Before he could zoom in, the figure disappeared through the glass.
Damn it, Max.
There was no doubt in his mind of who the silhouette belonged to. Fighting alongside her for so many months had made her body's movements almost as familiar as his own. Besides, who other than a transgenic would consider a window stories above ground an acceptable exit? Alec made a beeline for the front exit. It was closer than going out the way that Max did.
Outside the rain had become a torrential downpour, so much so that the line of waiting club-goers had finally dissipated. The bouncers had also fled, abandoning their posts for the shelter of the warehouse. Ignoring the weather, Alec stood absolutely still and concentrated on extending his hearing to his utmost ability. He filtered out the sounds of rain and thunder around him in an attempt to get a clue to Max's direction. Very few moments passed before he heard it: the faint but unmistakable, meaty sound of fist hitting flesh trailed by the low pitch of grunts.
Blurring through the deserted streets, Alec followed the sounds of fighting. They led him around the corner of the warehouse, down four blocks, then to the right toward the docks. He finally found himself facing down a long alley, partially bisected by a rusted-out old car that looked like its better days had been years before the Pulse. Intermittent lightening barely penetrated the blackness of the confined space, and then only with small patches of misty illumination. Just beyond the forsaken vehicle a bloody scene played out in the shadows.
Even in the darkness, there was no mistaking the slender hellcat punching, flipping, and kicking her way past her challenger's guard. Alec scanned the area for other possible attackers. There was one body lying still atop a dumpster, its pale hair glowing murky-silver in the obscure light. By the lithe figure, it was clear that the body was a woman. He could tell she was alive by the minute rise and fall of her chest. He turned his attention back to the fight. Max's opponent was facing away from Alec. Only the stranger's build revealed that Max was fighting a man. A blow to the head whipped the man's face around, but, even with his enhanced eyesight, Alec couldn't make out his features through the blurring rain.
Her opponent was good, super-humanly so. One of White's creepy Familiars, perhaps? No, Alec knew this fighting style. After all, he'd been trained in it since the moment he could walk. Plus, judging from the stranger's speed, agility, and apparent level of expertise, he was an X5. What the hell would make Max fight another transgenic, let alone one of the same series? Alec grimaced as he remembered the numerous times Max had set about physically assaulting him. Then again, there was no way that this new X5 could possibly know how to annoy Max as well – or in as many ways – as he did.
Maybe this guy was some sort of defective or a rogue? Alec had a suddenly overwhelming need to lend Max a hand, but two things stopped him. First, she was kicking the other guy's ass. Her style wasn't anything that the other transgenic was used to. He was looking to defend against a standard, Manticore-trained X5 offense and Max was fighting well outside that box. She was keeping him off guard and off kilter, and he was having a hell of a time regaining either. Second, she was grinning. Alec realized that she was toying with her opponent, like a cat with a trapped mouse. And just like in such a contest, the outcome of this fight was predictable.
Alec found himself admiring Max's ability and the sheer beauty and ease of her movements. She whipped her leg up and around, snapping her opponents head back again and forcing him to retreat a few steps. Her coat billowed out behind her as she moved forward to deliver a combination punch to his chest and torso. The falling rain was stained pink where the blood from his mouth flew. Max dropped low and swept one leg out in a semicircle, a mini tidal wave splashing up in its wake. Her opponent avoided the maneuver by pulling himself into a back flip. But Max was quicker than Manticore could have ever imagined, standing before he could complete his somersault. With a solid roundhouse kick to the chest, she sent her opponent sailing down the alley to land in bone-crunching heap on the hood of the dilapidated car.
In the blink of an eye, she was standing on the car straddling him. She grabbed the stunned transgenic's jacket and hauled him closer. A growl pushed its way past Max's rosy lips as she reared back, hand raised to deliver what Alec was sure would be the killing blow. That knowledge spurred him into action. He blurred toward the car, launching himself into the air at the last possible moment. His shoulder connected with Max first, followed by the full weight of his body. They rolled away from her downed opponent in a tangle of limbs.
Alec immediately came to his feet and into a defensive crouch. He fully expected Max to turn her attack to him. But she just stood there with one hand on her hip and her head cocked to the side, alien eyes gazing at him.
"I knew I could get you to dance." There was laughter in her voice.
Before Alec could process her words he heard an all too familiar airborne whir. The dark disk of a hoverdrone came into view against the darker backdrop of the night sky. He watched the surveillance craft capture images of Max.
"Oh, that's just great," he groaned. But, before the hoverdrone turned to get him within its scope, gunshots rang out in rapid succession. Alec's hazel eyes jerked down from the sky to behold a vision that struck him speechless. One hand was on her hip, the other steadily gripped a shiny Glock 9mm gun, which she used with proficient and precise marksmanship. She was smiling the most amazing smile he'd ever seen. Gone was the usual bad ass bitch attitude that usually laced her grins. In its place was an expression of pure, mischievous joy.
Max emptied the entire clip and the hoverdrone came crashing to the ground in the space between them. Alec's breath left him in a rush as her hand moved between her legs reaching up under her skirt to remove the extra clip strapped high on her inner thigh. She calmly tucked the gun into the waistband of her miniskirt and pulled her shades out of her coat pocket, placing them on her face.
Finally he found his voice, "Max…"
"Alec." She smirked. Then she blew him a kiss, turned, and blurred away. Alec was just starting after her when a faint utterance brought him up short.
"494?"
Alec whirled around to take a closer look at Max's victim. His eyes widened in shocked recognition and he took a step forward.
"531?"
The defeated, dark-haired transgenic choked on humorless laughter. "They call me Biggs now." He grunted in pain as he managed to push himself to a sitting position on the roof of the car.
For a moment Alec was torn between going after Max and helping the beaten X5. Max had certainly done a number on the guy. The rain was washing away the blood from numerous abrasions on his face, but one eye was swelling shut and there was a livid bruise developing across his jaw. Alec inwardly winced at the thought of what injuries Biggs's clothes were hiding. It took a lot to damage one of them enough to leave a mark.
At the very least, Max had proven that she could hold her own – and that she had no compunction about using more than necessary force to do so. Alec wasn't even sure that White would be able to slow down the new Max. Besides, even if Alec hadn't felt some sort of comradeship toward Biggs, leaving the man defenseless and out in the open of the alley would be risking exposure for all of them.
Decided, he strode over to the bleeding transgenic and offered the man a hand. A wry smile tugged at his lips despite the situation. It seemed that his role and Max's had been reversed as he'd spent most of his time today cleaning up her messes.
Biggs waived Alec away. "I'll be alright. Help Cece." With a nod he indicated the woman still lying unconscious on the dumpster. Alec nodded back and changed direction. Once by Cece's side, he did as thorough and efficient an assessment of her injuries as he could given their current field conditions. He knew Biggs had come up behind him by the sound of labored breathing.
"What's her status, 494?"
"Alec." He lifted one of the blonde's eyelids. "Her pupils are dilated. Probably has a mild concussion. That left leg's broken in two places. Bone came through the skin, but missed the femoral. Her blood loss is steady but slow. Not fatal." He took the belt that Biggs offered and used it as a tourniquet to cut her bleeding. "Why the hell were you fighting Max?"
"The female? Fuck if I know! Cece had point when we came around the corner. Next thing I know she's fully engaged with an unknown X5. The whole thing was over in less than two minutes. I would have thought the hostile was in heat, except that my nose was telling me different and this Max attacked me after Cece was down."
Alec mulled that over silently as he gently hoisted Cece up on one shoulder. He turned to look at the other man. "We need to take cover. I give it ten minutes tops before some sector cop comes to investigate that downed hoverdrone. Have you got a place nearby?"
Biggs shook his head. "We just arrived in Seattle. Headed for a place called Terminal City. A lot of units – at least what's left of them – have regrouped and set up camp there."
Alec raised an eyebrow, but only asked, "Vehicle?"
"On foot."
Alec squinted up into the storm. "Alright then. Take the high ground." He jerked his head behind them and continued, "About three blocks away there's a blind alley where I hid my bike. You won't need a key. Terminal City is about 25 klicks north-northwest."
"What about Cece?"
"I seriously doubt that you're in any shape to balance her and handle two wheels. I'll take her. I know Seattle's sewer system pretty damn well…unfortunately. I'll make better time on foot down there than up here."
Biggs looked anxious. "Are you –"
"Here's my sector pass," Alec cut off the protest, unclipping the badge from his belt and shoving it into Biggs's hand. "We'll meet you there." Biggs knew an order when he heard it, so he simply nodded in resignation and began climbing up the nearest fire escape as quickly as his injuries would allow.
Alec didn't stick around to watch the other man disappear over the roof of the building. He was already moving toward the next block where he saw an elevated storm drain similar to the one he and Max used when they were searching for the Gossamer. He lifted the heavy grating and began to descend the ladder. The shaft was large enough that he was able to maneuver himself and Cece with minimal effort on his part and with minimal jostling of the unconscious woman. He touched down at the bottom of the sewer with a thick splash.
"And here I was starting to miss the feeling of sludge in my shoes." He shifted Cece's weight more securely on his shoulder and blurred toward Terminal City.
Alec grunted as he climbed the last rung of the ladder to the surface of a parking garage. Cece was dangling below him. This exit from the sewer was much narrower than the one he had chosen for their entrance. As a result, he'd had to hold onto Cece by her wrist, her body trailing behind his as he pulled her up and out of the steel and concrete tube. Once above ground, Alec quickly replaced the unconscious woman on his shoulder. He chose a direction at random and began walking at a brisk pace, knowing that he'd eventually encounter another transgenic here inside Terminal City.
At least it stopped raining.
He went a full ten steps before he heard the pumping of shotguns. From the sounds he discerned that there were two challengers, one at his back and the other to his right.
"Don't move," came a gruff voice from the man behind him. The second man at Alec's side moved out of the shadows to face him head on. He had pallid skin that was nearly hairless, except for a few wispy strands of white hair that hung on his malformed skull. There seemed to be some sort of fleshy mass on the right side of his head that was banded over by the black strap attached to an oversized monocle. Alec couldn't begin to imagine what was in this guy's DNA cocktail.
"Well, it looks like I'm in the right place."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." It was the speaker behind him again. Alec took a step to the side and angled his body so that he could see both of the sentries. The speaker was a cigar-chomping, lizard-man dressed entirely in desert fatigues.
"I'm X5," Alec declared. "I've got an injured soldier here." The pale sentry slowly lowered his weapon, but the lizard-man kept his stock still and trained on Alec.
"Oak Street is two klicks thataway," he responded and jerked his head to the right. "Your kind are pretty fast. Shouldn't take you too long."
"Sarcasm, how refreshing," Alec muttered under his breath. "Relax, buddy," he said a bit louder. "Put down the shotgun and get a medic."
"You two don't belong here." His voice was cold and decisive. Alec's jaw visibly ticked as he clenched it to keep from howling in frustration. Less than an hour ago he'd had Max standing in front of him and he'd had to let her go. Now he was looking down the barrel of a shotgun while time ticked by and Cece bled on his jacket.
"Next time I ask you to lower that shotgun it won't be nicely," Alec said very quietly. The tension spiked dangerously.
That was the exact moment a new friend decided to make an appearance.
"Oh, hey Alec!" A grayish, vaguely rodent face accompanied the cheerful salutation. The newcomer popped up almost exactly between Alec and his hostile challenger.
"Luke." The X5 gave the smallish transhuman a slight smile.
Luke smiled back, pleased that Alec remembered his name. He patted the barrel of the shotgun still pointed at Alec's chest. "Guys, he's alright. He and his partner Max saved my hide today." Luke paused and tilted his head to the side, staring at the woman on Alec's shoulder. "That's not Max."
"No, it's not. Can you get a medic?"
"You got it, Alec." Luke looked from one sentry to the other. "Take 'em to Central, guys. I'll be back in a jiffy." With that, Luke jogged away.
The pale fellow with the monocle nodded at Alec. "Follow me."
Alec nodded back and shifted Cece so that he was carrying her in both arms across his chest instead of on his shoulder. Since they were in relatively friendly territory Alec didn't need to worry about keeping his hands free for defense and the new position was better for Cece's wound. He could hear Lizard-man grumbling faintly behind him.
Alec's guide spoke up. "I'm Dix. That's Mole."
"Pleasure," Alec responded with a wry smile. He took a minute to look around as they walked. Condemned buildings rose starkly into the night sky above them. Behind the wooden planks used to board up windows were glimpses of jagged glass like thin, sharp icicles. As he scanned over the buildings he noticed moonlight reflected in a slight variation of color that suggested movement. He focused his eyes and saw that it was the lens of a rotating camera. The residents of this forsaken district of Seattle were more organized than he'd expected. "So what's the deal with Oak Street?"
"Well, it's sort of every freak for himself out here," Dix answered. "There are about ten different groups holed up in TC. Everyone tends to stick with their own kind. Freaks with freaks, X's with X's."
"And we like it that way." Mole pushed his way past the other two and stomped into the large building just ahead of them. Alec rolled his eyes – a trait he most definitely picked up from Max – and followed Dix into Central.
Once inside the building, Alec noticed a bank of television monitors and computers on a platform raised a low story above the main floor. Most of the monitors were displaying the video feed coming in from the surveillance cameras placed around the neighborhood, but a couple showed programs from various local networks. There was a quiet buzz of conversation coming from the transhumans and anomalies scattered in various small groups throughout the room. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some clearly showed their mix of animal DNA. Others could have passed for one of the X-Series, except for the errant pointy ear, odd shade of skin, or razor-sharp teeth. Several stopped in mid-sentence when Alec walked in and glanced his way with more curiosity than hostility.
"Medium Fella!" The jubilant bark startled several of the transhumans standing in a recessed room off to the right of the main entrance. The large, lumbering figure paid them no attention as he made his way toward the X5.
"Heya Josh." Alec smiled at the big guy as Dix led him over to a relatively clear table toward the back of the floor. He placed Cece on top and tried to keep his voice nonchalant, "You make it here okay?"
Joshua nodded. "Just followed nose to new friends."
Dix quietly asked, "You two know each other?"
"Old friends," came Alec's answer.
"Where's Lil' Fella, Alec?"
"I dunno."
"You don't know?"
"I lost her."
"You lost Max?"
Alec sighed. "It wasn't entirely my fault, Josh. She pulled a gun and shocked the shit out of me."
"But, Lil' Fella doesn't use guns. Doesn't like guns."
"Yeah well, Maxie Version 2.0 doesn't seem to have a problem with them." He loosened the belt on Cece's thigh and rechecked her vitals.
"X5 alright?" Joshua asked, looking at the wounded woman.
"She will be once the medic gets here and gets some blood into her."
On cue yet again, Luke arrived with a female that Alec assumed was the medic. She had large luminous, almost neon blue eyes, fangs framed by naturally blood red lips, and disheveled auburn hair that was pulled haphazardly back from her face. They carried a litter between them and she had a medkit hanging by a strap from her shoulder. Just behind them, practically stepping on Luke's heels, came Biggs.
"Found another one of you guys," Luke indicated Biggs with a jerk of his head. "Said he was looking for you."
"Hey man," Biggs said a bit breathlessly, "Your bike's just outside the southern perimeter fence." He took Alec's sector pass from his pocket and handed it back.
"Cool."
Alec briefed the medic, who introduced herself as Eve, on Cece's condition and then moved aside to let her make her own assessment. Eve's hands moved gently but deftly over the X5's body while Biggs hovered over her and the others stood nearby.
"I see everyone's suddenly making chummy-chummy with the X-series." Mole made a point of shouldering none too gently through the group. "Maybe now we can all be one big, happy, freak family. You know, build a fire and sing camp songs." He blew a large dank cloud of cigar smoke at them all and stalked off to polish his shotgun near the television monitors on the platform.
"He's a real charmer," declared Alec.
"Don't mind Mole," said the monocled Dix. "His life's happiness depends on his being grumpy."
"We usually just ignore him," came the chipper interjection from Luke.
"Doesn't that make him grumpier?" Joshua asked.
Luke shrugged. "Who can tell the difference?"
Alec turned back to Eve, noticing her close examination of Cece's leg. "I take it you don't have a radiology lab at your fingertips."
"Nah. We'll cut her open and set the bones." She smiled, showing the true length of her fangs. It was a wonder she didn't cut her lower lip just by talking. "Nothing like living in the field. Is there a room I can use, Dix?"
"Yes. Luke just routed some of the generator's power to the second floor a few hours ago, and I think there's a room up there clean enough for your needs."
"Excellent. Come on," she said, grabbing at Biggs's jacket, "I'm gonna need a donor." He nodded and the three left to see to the still-unconscious X5.
Alec let out an explosive breath and dusted off his hands. "Well, my work here is done." He was opening his mouth to say goodbye to Joshua and Luke when a string of curses fired through the air, stopping everyone in their tracks. They all looked up at Mole standing on the platform watching the drama unfolding on one of the large television sets.
"Damn the Ordinaries. They got another brother." Central went absolutely still as everyone saw what had caused Mole's vehement words. It was a news special report playing the hoverdrone feed of sector police beating and gunning down the transgenic earlier that day.
The anchorman voice sounded over the footage. "Witnesses described the man with clearly superhuman strength as an animalistic mutant…"
"His name was Mule. He was in my unit," Luke said. The video zoomed in on the dead transgenic's barcode and the report went on to mention speculation about Manticore and a soldier breeding program.
Alec felt a heavy warm hand come to rest on his shoulder. "Gotta find Lil'Fella, Alec." He looked up at Joshua standing over him. Clear blue-gray eyes held the same anxiousness and fear that he was feeling. He turned from the monitors and started toward the nearest exit with Joshua following at his heels.
"I'm heading over to Logan. He was the last person to see her last night before she got in touch with her inner sociopath. Maybe he has a clue as to what's going on."
"Think that's a good idea."
"When I find her I'm bringing her back here. I think it's best if we all lay low together for now."
"But, she's X5," Luke interrupted. Alec hadn't even noticed that he'd left Central with them. "Your kind don't seem to have such a hard time blending in. Safe enough for you on the outside."
"Despite what you just saw, the men hunting us down don't give a rat's ass what we look like. Anyone with a barcode is fair game."
"Guess Joshua safe then, huh?"
Alec slapped his friend on the back. "Keep dreaming, big guy."
"See you soon, Medium Fella."
Alec nodded and ducked through a hole in the perimeter fence, heading for his bike and, he hoped, some answers.
TBC