Max steeled against the brick wall, waiting for the impact. She knew the gangster's intentions as he raised the gun and pointed it toward Alec. Red-Gun, or whatever stupid name he had chosen for himself, had threatened Alec that he would shoot Max if Alec didn't give them what they wanted. But he didn't have what they wanted. Neither transgenic even knew what a Honey Dollop was supposed to be. They could only guess.

"Max," Alec whispered, "Get ready to move."

How does he have a plan? she asked herself. We are outnumbered, held up against the wall by a gang with the leader of the gang pointing a very real gun at my very real head, and he thinks he has a plan.

The gangster squeezed the trigger and the bullet shot out. Max immediately began running, even with her hands cuffed behind her back, she could still blur. With her eyes open wide, she tried to see where on her body they had hit her, but nothing appeared to be shot. Suddenly, she heard him.

"Go to that place we used that one time," Alec rushed. It was a kind of code between them. They had grown accustomed to going on Eyes Only missions together. Better in numbers, he had said. They'd been working together for just under a year.

He was referring to the empty cabin in the woods they stumbled across last summer after the yacht job. They had to lay low for a day or so while Logan found a way to extract them. They could do the same thing this time.

They both blurred into the deep thrush, branches and bushes and twigs snapping as they ran, slapping them in the face and arms as they passed, eager to get to safety.

She noticed his breathing getting heavier, deeper, as they neared the structure.

When they reached the door, she turned so her hands could grasp the knob and muscle the door open. She saw he was bloodied. He wheezed sickly, slamming his shoulder into the doorway.

Inside, she closed the door behind them and sat on the floor, bringing her cuffed hands around under her legs and out in front of her. She immediately attended to Alec.

"Where!" she shouted. "Where were you hit?"

Alec winced and lowered his head in the direction of his wound. Max raised his shirt and saw the bullet hole, blood trickling out. "Spinning. It's all part of the joyride."

"What?" Max asked, getting ready to extract the bullet and clean him up.

"I'm really dizzy," he said, his eyes rolling back.

She helped him lay flat against the floorboards. "You blocked that bullet. Why?"

"I'd spin around you forever."