So let's see if we can't cause just a little more trouble for our friends today…
Day Ten
Max slammed the phone down. Her heart was racing and she closed her eyes as the last little bit of hope she'd had for safely getting them out of Terminal City died.
"That good, huh?"
Max opened her eyes again to see Alec, sitting cross legged on the floor a few feet away, looking up at her. Beyond him were dozens of faces all watching her expectantly. They were in Command, and it was so full that the few chairs had been given to those who were hurting the most. They'd had a good rain a couple of days back, so the water was holding out, but the food was running thin and being tightly rationed.
"That was Colonel Glaze," she said, raising her voice so everyone could hear. "He's the one in charge out there. He says there are no terms. Nothing. We come out and they get to do whatever they want with us. We don't want to come out, he says he and his men will stay outside the walls until we're all dead from starvation and then he'll go home to his wife and kids."
There was a collective shuffling of feet at the news. This was the first contact with the soldiers stationed outside the walls and it was anything but good news. Not that they'd really been expecting anything else. Their luck had always been awful.
That idea had been driven home just the day before. The new tunnel had been their last grasp at freedom, but the military had apparently placed seismic activity monitors around Terminal City. They'd figured out where Mole and the others were digging and a few well-placed charges had taken care of that plan.
"I think we should go. Now," Mole stated, loudly so his voice would carry. "We're not getting any stronger sitting here. If we want out, we're going to have to fight our way out before we're too weak to get the job done."
"So now you think a full frontal assault is a good idea?" Dix asked. "You shot me down when I said the same thing."
Mole puffed up angrily. He'd run out of cigars and it hadn't improved his mood any.
"Well, now we're out of options."
"And how many are you prepared to lose?" Max snapped. "They're armed to the teeth and they're just waiting for us to bolt. They'll shoot us down like dogs."
"Hey, now," an X-4 named Fido said, his canines showing through the smirk on his face. She'd seen him hanging around with Alec a lot lately, although she wasn't sure why.
"You know what I mean," Max said.
"You got any other ideas?" Mole demanded belligerently, jabbing his finger in her direction. "We're in this mess 'cause you wanted us all to stick together. Well, guess what? We're all gonna die together if we don't make a break for it."
"We'll all die together if we do make a break for it," Max shot back.
"Ok, ok," Alec said, getting to his feet. "This is the same fight we've been having for a week and I'm tired of listening to it. What else did the guy say?"
Max huffed in frustration. "He says we won't be harmed as long as we go peacefully."
"Where have we heard that before?" Mole snarled.
Almost everyone in Command nodded their heads at that. They'd all had a lifetime of Manticore promises that ended with them looking down the barrel of a gun.
"They said they'd let the civilians out either way. They need medical care and they're free to leave."
Mole slammed his hand down on the nearest console making the entire metal framework shake. "So your Ape boyfriend gets to go free while the rest of us sit here and rot. That's perfect." Mole stormed toward the door and well over half of the others followed, stalking out into the daylight angrily.
"That went well," Alec observed.
"Shut it, Alec."
She expected Alec to snap back, but instead he only sidled closer and leaned down. "I'm about the only friend you've got left, Maxie, so… try and be nice, ok?" He gave her a forced smile that implied what he was saying was more important than he was letting on. It stopped her in her tracks and made her wonder what exactly had been going on while she was spending time in the makeshift infirmary.
Finally, Alec straightened and took a step back. "Come on." He nodded toward the door. "Let's get Logan, Sketch and OC ready to go." He turned toward the others and raised his voice. "We're gonna need some help carrying the Ordinaries."
There was a brief hesitation before finally several people stepped forward, mostly those who'd worked at Jam Pony before this mess started. She supposed it was only natural since they knew Sketchy and OC personally.
Together, they all trooped toward the building where Logan and the others were. They'd chosen it because it was the farthest from the source of the contamination and therefore, hopefully, the best place for them. They had no way of knowing, but it was the best they could do.
"The Colonel said to leave them just inside the gate," Max said. "His people will retrieve them. Temporary cease-fire as long as nobody does anything crazy."
"You think he was lying?" Alec asked.
Max shook her head. "He seemed like a pretty straight up guy, actually. Not a jerk, but not messing around either. He'll do what he says."
"Meaning leave us in here to starve."
She nodded. "Yeah. But he'll let these three go."
"Must be nice to be an Ordinary," Alec said cynically.
"Be grateful you're not or you'd be dying from the toxins, too," Max countered.
Alec sighed. "True. I'd much rather be killing my liver with a nice malt."
"Manticore teach you to be that fussy about your booze?" she asked snidely. She knew her tone was unpleasant, spiteful even, but the closer they got to the infirmary, the less she could control her emotions.
Alec looked nonplussed at the question. "No need to get nasty. Pardon me for liking a drink that doesn't taste like battery acid."
"You could try beer like the rest of the world."
"Meh." Alec shrugged. "What really kills me is that whoever takes over my apartment is going to get my stash. Do you know how hard it was to find some of those? Not to mention how much they cost."
"Not really worried about money right now," she muttered.
They'd arrived at the door and Max led the way in. As it had ever since Logan and the others had fallen ill, the sight of them lying unconscious on their cots was like a punch to the face. Logan and Sketchy were now completely unresponsive and Cindy had taken an abrupt turn for the worse the night before. She was barely breathing. It was why Max had spent all morning trying to get someone on the phone to let them out. It was a minor miracle that she'd finally gotten someone to agree to get the officer in charge to call her back.
"Moping won't get them to help, Max," Alec said quietly. He brushed past her and hurried to the closest bed, which happened to be Logan's. "You'd better go with OC or Sketch."
Max just nodded. She'd already brought Logan to the point of organ failure. He didn't need her accidentally activating the virus as well.
The cots were too precious a commodity and needed to be given to others in poor shape, so they transferred Logan, Cindy and Sketch to blankets and then each took a corner. Wordlessly, they lifted them and headed for the door.
As they stepped outside, Max noted that there were several Transgenics standing by, all well-armed. She supposed it was wise that they had backup since this had the possibility of going horribly wrong.
They proceeded toward the gates until they reached the edge of the last building giving them any cover. Max took a deep breath and then stepped out into the open first. If the soldiers were using it as an opportunity to pick them off, then she wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt because of her.
As soon as she was visible, she saw several soldiers across the fence bring their guns to bear, but as promised, they didn't fire, only watched. Max heard Alec murmuring and saw the Transgenic guards take up positions that were defensible.
Max looked down at OC, who was still unconscious and then up to the others carrying her. "Everybody ready?" she asked. She knew she wasn't just asking if they were ready to move. She was asking them to take their lives in their hands by walking out into the open.
"Let's go," Fido urged. "The sooner we hand them over, the sooner we can hide again."
"Ok. Here goes nothing," she said, and began moving toward the gate. The others followed and it only took a few seconds before they were all within a few feet of the fence. They set the blankets and their precious cargo down and everyone but Alec hightailed it for cover. Max remained as well, wanting to be certain their friends were going to be cared for.
A tall, fair-haired man, about forty years old, stepped out from behind the other soldiers and moved toward the fence. He was in battle fatigues, like the rest of his men, but he had lots of nice insignia that said he was in charge.
"Colonel Glaze," Max said.
The man nodded. "Max?"
"And I'm Alec. Glad we could all stand here and get to know each other. Can we get this little exchange started before anyone gets shot?" His eyes were glancing from soldier to soldier and Max didn't like the looks of them anymore than Alec did.
"Tell your people to stand down," the colonel said, "and my men will retrieve the civilians."
"Nothing personal," Max replied, "but your guys are pointing guns at us. My people aren't going to quit pointing guns until we're out of the open and you're back on your side of the fence. They're kinda funny that way."
The colonel pursed his lips, and Max had a fleeting moment of thinking the colonel was amused. "Then if you will retreat to a distance that will keep my men from getting twitchy, we'll make this quick and we can all go back to our standoff. Sound reasonable?"
Max looked at Alec, who just shrugged. With a last glance at Logan, Max backed up and Alec followed suit. The colonel barked an order and several men hurried through the break in the fence. They picked up the pallets and hustled back across the line.
Almost as soon as the last soldier was on the other side of the fence, Max heard a shot fired, but it didn't sound close. It was in the distance to the south. The shot was followed by another, then a barrage of automatic gunfire. She looked toward the colonel and his men just to be sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, but none of them were firing.
As one, both sides turned to where the sounds were coming from.
"Mole," Alec said through clenched teeth.
"They're making a break for it," Max added. Her eyes met the colonel's and she hoped her horrified expression told him she hadn't known Mole and his followers were going to use the handover as a distraction. It didn't matter though. His men were already bringing their guns to bear and she and Alec were the only Transgenics in sight.
More soon…