A/N: Here's the next update. Sorry it took so long, but I've actually been using my urbanization class as a way to slowly update this story, so hopefully I'll have an update in the relatively near future. Thanks to those of you who took the time to read and review!

Chapter 2

"What'd you find?" Jason Thompson asked.

Jamie Thompson pulled up his right hand that had been hanging limply at his side to reveal a toy fire truck, no longer than a foot. His left remained securely fastened to the hem of his mother's shirt. The fire truck was missing a wheel on either side in opposite positions. A yellow stub slightly tainted with grim revealed the presence of another piece that used to move up and down, like a ladder. The rest of the truck looked like it had been played with in the mud too long. It seemed to be a permanent shade darker than the original color, but Jamie loved it anyway.

"Can I see?" Jamie shook his head and immediately brought the truck away from view as if its visual presence determined whether or not it actually existed.

"Let me see!" Jason whined as he tried to step closer to his younger brother. Jamie stepped back even farther, but found his movement stopped when he ran into a pair of soft unmovable legs.

"Hey watch it!" Mrs. Thompson looked at the man apologetically as she urgently put her hands on the backs of her boys to usher them forward.

"Jason, stop that!" His mother reprimanded as Jason made another move towards his younger brother.

"He won't let me see!" Jason protested.

"Not now. You'll see it later," his mother insisted, with a worried look at the man behind him and the long line in front of them.

With his mother's words, Jamie felt confident enough to bring the fire truck back into view. His brother glared, but made no movement to try and tack the fire truck away this time. Jamie took his little finger and spun the front tire that was present with the tip of his finger. Both brothers watched it spin.

A shadow fell across their vision and they left the tire spinning as they turned their attention to the source of the shadow. A group of four people, three men, and a woman with bright red hair walked passed them. They walked passed everyone, till they reached the front of the line being monitored by the sector police.

"What are you kidding?" The boys heard the policeman say, as Jason shifted with curiosity to the edge of the line to see everything happening. "You think your special or something? Get to the end of the line!"

The four line cutters looked at each other and grinned. "There's no mistake," the red-haired woman said as she shot her hand out and wrapped it around the officer's neck. Her three companions instantly jumped into the action by attacking nearby officers with smooth kicks and punches before taking their guns and setting themselves up in a line before the gates of the sector point.

"Time for you people to go home!" The woman barked. No one seemed to be able to move. All eyes were on the four people and their guns. The man standing behind the Thompson brothers stepped out.

"I don't know what you people want but I got a meeting in Sector 4 at two." The woman grinned before going down in a tuck and then shooting her body about ten feet in the air before landing right in front of the open mouth man.

"You're one of those mutants," he said starting to cower. Mrs. Thompson pulled her children closer to her as the woman stepped closer to the man.

"Name's Thula, nice to meet you," she said shooting out her hand and wrapping it around his neck. She lifted him off the ground by his neck. His legs dangled, making attempts to kick towards her. His face turned red as he struggled for breath. She tightened her grip on his neck. A loud crack seemed to rip through the audience before she dropped the man and he fell motionless to the ground.

Little Jason's eyes focused on the man's eyes, that were open in pain. As the woman turned around to walk by, she let her eyes rest on the little boy's for a moment before she nodded at the three men at the gate. A single gasp seemed to erupt from the crowd as the three men turned their guns on the people in the line. Those in the front row never stood a chance. Seconds later, dozens of people were taking off down the street. Some just dropped dead as their friends and relatives left them, fleeing for their own lives. Resting on the stomach of the man who first fell was the little red fire truck missing two wheels, it's owner no where to be seen.

2222

"Phase one's completed."

"Excellent, they knew?"

"Oh yeah, they knew. Didn't even have to show the barcodes."

"Well done. We'll give the media a day to pick up the news and then we move to make a more public display."

"I'll be waiting."

"Fe'nos tol."

"Fe'nos tol."

2222

"I've been looking all over for you." Max didn't even have to turn. She knew the moment his first step hit the cement floor.

"I needed to get away from it all, to think." Logan walked over to sit next to her. He didn't say anything. He knew she would tell him what she was thinking without asking.

"When White was holding me, he talked about Sandeman. He could read the symbols," Max said, looking at her arms as if they were still there. "He said that Sandeman created Manticore. That life is sacred. The people who aren't genetically engineered or selected by a breeding cult from the age of dinosaurs will inherit the earth and it's up to me to save them."

"Now look who's out to save the world," Logan said with a straight face, but also a note of seriousness. "But we don't know if that person is you."

"No?" Max asked. "It explains why Renford took a bullet for me during the takedown. It explains why White and his cult buddies want me dead. Sandeman created Manticore to take down the Conclave."

"But why you?" Logan stated. "Manticore existed long before you did. As far as we know, Sandeman went into hiding long before you came along. How then could he alter your genes to give you this assignment?"

"Believe me, that's one question I've got out of a long list for the guy," Max said with frustration. She fell silent. In the distance, shuffling from the cops moving around outside along with a low murmur of mumbled voices could be heard.

"Max, I—" Logan started.

"I need to tell you something," Max interrupted. Her gaze shifted from her hands to his eyes. His eyes met hers and he saw something he didn't understand. Sadness and love at the same time. The messages were directed at him. She seemed upset, but the love that he never thought she'd show for him since she started dating Alec seemed to be present in her eyes at that moment.

"It's just that—Alec and I," Max stuttered. She didn't understand why she couldn't just say it. Her eyes shifted down and then she looked up and saw Logan waiting expectantly. "We're—"

"Max!" Max felt her stomach plummet as Alec's bellowing yell echoed through the warehouse. Any confidence she had just worked up to tell Logan the truth disappeared. She wanted to curse Alec and thank him at the same time.

"I should see what he wants," Max said distantly no longer meeting his gaze.

"Right," Logan responded in a monotone voice. Max stood up and headed towards the door. She paused for a moment, at the doorway and paused thinking that the confidence would suddenly arise and her confession would come out of her mouth on her own, but it didn't happen.

"Logan," she called. He looked up, hoping that she would say what she had planned on saying. That she would give him good news and tell him that she wasn't dating Alec and her heart had always belonged to him and only him.

"I'm glad you're here," she said. The words were truthful, but they seemed to be missing the inclusive emotion that would have come if she had told him the truth.

"Me too," he responded with the corner of his mouth rising in a half grin. He didn't know what she wanted to say, but he figured his opportunity to hear it wasn't over.

"Max!" Max winced with an annoyed look before leaving the room. She headed down three flights of concrete steps and then walked down a long hallway that finally opened as a balcony over the entire command center.

"Max, finally!" Alec said as he yelled up from the ground floor.

"I'm here. I assume you wanted me to kick your ass?"

"No one knew where you were," Alec said with a shrug. "And I figured you'd want to know."

"Know what?" Alec made a motion to someone who was apparently standing under the balcony that Max was standing on. Max recognized that dark sandy colored hair before he even turned around to show his face.

"Zack," she whispered, without any regard to his previously established alias.

"We need to talk, Max."

2222

"It's freezing," Ralph whispered from their position in the bushes. A swarm of condensation chased her words in a cloudy white haze to emphasize her point.

"Shhh," Fixit whispered back. The five of them were crouching in front of the entrance to Sector 7. They'd been waiting for the opportunity to try and sneak over the sector point without being noticed, but the entrance to Sector 7 was being monitored more closely than the US border or any of the other sectors. Not only were very few people allowed admittance, but every person going through had been examined for barcodes. Even though they had been waiting for over an hour, none of the officers had taken the opportunity to go inside to get warm and taking the cops by force would be out of the question.

"There's no way we can get past these guys," Bullet whined. "Not peacefully anyway."

"We could make a run for it," Zero said doubtfully. "But I don't like the idea of facing five guns."

"Look," Bugle pointed. Everyone's gaze turned to the sector point and watched as three of the cops waved to the other two and made their way to the booth.

"This is as good as it's going to get," Zero said nervously. "We'll do intervals. Two seconds. Meet up around the block and what ever happens, stay on the defense." Zero did a quick nod and took a deep breath as soon as he was assured the others knew what was going on. He glanced at the three cops inside. Their guns rested against the wall by the door. The television was on, but there really was only enough room for two of them to sit. They wouldn't have much time before those cops caught on. The first three would have an easier time getting over the fence then the last two. Zero still wasn't that comfortable with the idea.

"Zero," Bugle said taping his older brother's shoulder.

"Not now," Zero answered, shaking him off, his eyes periodically going back-and-forth between the guards in the booth and the ones tracing the perimeter.

"Zero," Bugle whispered more urgently.

"What, Bugle?" Zero demanded harshly, finally turning his attention away from the sector police.

"Over there," Bugle pointed. Zero looked in the direction Bugle was pointing, and noticed a dark shape near the ground, but he was unable to determine what the object was. Relaxing his eyes, his pupils rapidly dilated and the object came into focus.

"Good job, Bugle," Zero commended. He did quick hand signals to the others to tell them to follow him and stay low and quiet. The five of them began making their way through the bushes. Unfortunately, with bushes comes a significant amount of undetectable debris, even for transgenics. Zero felt his heart stop as well has his forward motion at the sound of twig snapping. No one moved and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

"What was that?" One of the cops asked. He turned the bright white light that rested on the barrel of his gun on and focused it on the bushes.

"I dunno," the other cop said, also turning on his light. He stayed at the perimeter while the other cop crept forward. Zero looked at the cop and then looked at the distance to their destination, the sewer.

Using silent signals once again Zero faced the group telling them they were going to make a run for it. Everyone nodded. The cop was about ten feet from the bushes when Zero took off. Their speed blurred because of their fast pace. If there had only been one figure, the cop may have been sure that he'd been imagining things, but there were several, and as a result he began firing. The three cops in the booth immediately heard the shots and loud banging and shuffling could be heard as they attempted to find out what the commotion was about.

Zero led the five of them in a long arch into the shadows near a brick building. The four of them remained crouched in the darkness as Zero dodged bullets and made his way to the sewer cover. He lifted it quickly and easily and then used it for cover. He could hear the dings and feel the force of the bullets pushing against it, but he only had to hold it for a few seconds.

As soon as the cover was established, the others emerged from the shadows one at a time to make their way down into the sewers. As soon as everyone had made it in, Zero crept his way over to the sewer, still using the lid for cover. Once he reached the edge of the whole, he came out of his crouch slightly, just to get enough momentum, to jump into the sewer. He let go of the lid as soon as he felt it click into place and landed in a crouch in murky water.

"We're almost there," Zero concluded, still listening to the movements going on on the surface. The others looked at him. Ralph nodded, but he knew they were thinking of the same thing. Once they got to Terminal City, then what would happen?