"You piece of shit!" Maddy explodes in a fit of rage as soon as Ken slips away. She storms toward Curran who's cradling his leg while scooting away from them toward a vehicle. She slaps him across the face so hard her hand burns, its image printed in red on Curran's face. She gestures wildly to the bodies littering the area. "How many people have to die? You self-centered-"
Josh pulls his sister back from kicking Curran.
"That won't bring back Ken," Josh says lowly. He turns to Curran. "But it sure will give him some form of justice." Josh takes his turn railing into Curran until Mark separates them. He finds a communicator in the car that Curran was reaching for. He glares at the Shannons, understanding their anger and heartbreak but realizing they need to be smart about this.
"You're going to tell us what we need to know," Mark tells Curran who merely rolls his eyes. Mark rips his rebreather off his face and tosses it in the car, causing Curran to cough every few breaths. "Did Jim escape Golad before you raised the alarm?"
"Let's cut a deal," Curran responds. And Mark takes his turn to roll his eyes. "You were right earlier, okay? I don't want to die. Not now. Not like this. I can help you guys, but you have to show a sign of good faith first."
The irony isn't lost on any of them, but Mark needs answers and he needs them quick. Thunder booms in the distance and rain clouds move in. The last thing they need is to be stuck outside in a storm too. Wailing sirens get nearer, and Mark concedes, dropping his weapons and kicking them away.
Curran nods. "Jim escaped," he says shortly. "We lost the tail on Elisabeth and Reilly when they were leaving the bank. Reilly made them and took out two of our guys, disappearing with Elisabeth."
Maddy breathes a sigh of relief, and Curran makes eye contact with her. "For what it's worth," he offers, "I really don't know what Recruitment wants with you beyond handing you over to someone named Mira upon arrival. I was just following orders to make it out on top. You can't look after anyone but yourself now adays if you really want something, if you want to survive." With his words, Maddy's eyes flirt instinctively over toward Ken's body.
"You know how to disable the GPS on this thing?" Curran asks her, head tilted toward the car, and Maddy nods curiously. The sirens are just around the corner now. "Help me and I'll help you."
They pile into the car and take off, Mark behind the wheel, and Maddy next to him messing with the computer on the dash. Curran is cuffed in the back, guarded by Josh and stared down by a wide-eyed Zoe. "You hurt Ken, he is a hero," she states matter-of-factly, arms crossed, and nose scrunched up into what can only be interpreted as a mean look.
"Keep driving toward Hope Plaza until the GPS is off. Now, hand me the communicator," Curran instructs Mark, ignoring Zoe which only irks her more. She spits at him and sticks her tongue out to which Curran glares. Josh touches her shoulder lightly, a gentle warning. She can't see the slight smile on her big brother's face.
"I don't like this," Mark says to no one in particular before warning Curran that if he leads them into a trap, he's dead.
"Trust me, that's been well established," he retorts. "I genuinely couldn't care less what happens to you guy as long as I walk away from this shit."
"What a gentleman," Maddy mutters. She reluctantly hands Curran the communicator and holds her breath as he connects with someone.
"Finally," an exasperated woman's voice filters through the device. "What took so long? We're tracking you now and will be waiting for you when you arrive at the plaza with the girl."
"There were some … complications," Curran replies.
"Meaning?"
"I can still bring you the girl if you want but ... you should know what you're asking for."
The woman huffs. "What do you mean if we still want the girl?" she asks irate. "In what universe wouldn't we want the girl? What the hell is going on?"
"I'm en route right now don't get me wrong. She's in the back," he lies smoothly. "It's just that you're probably going to want to get in contact with Mira to tell her not to start a war at the portal quite yet."
"How else do we plan on getting Madelyn to her then?" the woman snaps, her patience obviously thin.
"One of the idiot soldiers I was stuck with wasn't careful enough. Let's just say that one thing led to another in the crossfire and …" Curran trails off.
For the first time, the lady is silent, apparently out of quick comebacks and demands.
"Is she … Is Madelyn okay?" And if Maddy didn't know better she would think the voice held genuine concern over her wellbeing.
With a thumbs up from Josh, Maddy cuts off the car's GPS, Mark swerves off of his current path toward Hope Plaza, and Curran grins at Maddy when he replies, "She's dead." Then, he ends the call.