Today might seem a bit tame after shooting Max and Alec, killing half of Terminal City, and knocking down a building, but on we go…
Day Thirteen
The smell. It was all Max could think about. It was everywhere. It was in the air around Terminal City no matter where she went, no matter which way the wind was blowing, even if it rained. It clung to her clothes, her hair. It was maddening.
The bodies in the rubble were rotting.
They were beneath two stories of collapsed brick and mortar. Terminal City didn't have any equipment. They would have to move the pile brick by brick and with so few of them left, it just wasn't feasible. Not to mention, there were soldiers just on the other side who would shoot them if they went anywhere near it anyway.
Max had talked to Colonel Glaze. He had been curt when they'd spoken. Max hadn't been any more talkative. She'd demanded to know why the Transhumans had been put down like rabid dogs. The colonel had said that wasn't what happened. Max had thrown a copy of the surveillance video over the fence to a news crew. Maybe they could show people what the soldiers had done. It had been two days now, though, and it hadn't been shown, so she was losing hope. Either the military had confiscated the tape, or the newsies had refused to show it. As far as the media was concerned, they were still the evil, soulless animal creations of the government. There were a few naysayers, but they were few and far between.
Max looked around Command. They'd lost well over half the population of Terminal City in Mole's escape attempt. The few that were left were jittery, exhausted, and starting to look gaunt from lack of food.
The thing was, now more than ever, she had no idea what to do. She certainly couldn't let anyone leave if half of them were going to be shot regardless just because they were Transhumans. Yet, if they stayed, they were all going to starve to death.
Max glanced around the room again and saw that Alec was in deep conversation with Fido. They were both frowning fiercely, but it didn't seem that they were angry with each other.
Max sauntered closer. "So that's it?" she heard Alec ask.
"That's it," Fido answered. He shrugged, a jerky frustrated movement. "I'm not a miracle worker and they took almost everything. It's either blown up or under so much rubble, it doesn't matter either way."
"What's up?" Max asked.
Both Fido and Alec looked up guiltily. Fido glanced her way, but refused to make eye contact. Finally, he said, "I'm gonna… go somewhere else." He glanced back at Alec. "Tell her, don't tell her. It makes no difference. We're still screwed."
Fido quickly left, hurrying out of Command. Alec glared after him, then turned to Max. "For some reason, everybody likes telling me the bad news so I can pass it on to you."
"They think I'll take it better from you?" She shifted from one foot to another, uncomfortable with the idea.
"Funnily enough, the others think you're a little… unapproachable." He smirked. "Personally, I prefer the term prickly. It's just fun to say."
"Prickly?" she asked, her voice headed toward shrill.
Alec's smirk turned into a laugh. "See what I mean? Prickly."
Max sniffed in disdain. "So why do they tell you instead?"
Alec waggled his eyebrows. "They know you've got a soft spot for me."
"I'll show you a soft spot," she said, but it was an empty threat and they both knew it. The bones in Max's shoulder must have been shattered by the bullet because they were taking longer to heal than a clean break. Her arm was still in a sling and it felt like she had gravel beneath her skin when she moved. Alec was worse. He looked like death warmed over and Max was beginning to worry that something had been badly damaged when he was shot.
"So what were you and Fido talking about?" she asked.
Alec sighed heavily and then suddenly looked a little light-headed. Max grabbed his arm and pulled him toward a couple of dilapidated stuffed chairs a few feet away. Alec sank down onto his, while Max took the other, settling gingerly so it didn't jar her shoulder. The movement was enough though to send a wave of pain through her body. She hated broken collarbones. "Now talk," she said through gritted teeth.
"Fido was working on something to use small amounts of explosives to either remove the barricades in the sewers or to blast a new tunnel, or blow a giant hole so we could make a break for it while they were trying to figure out what happened. He used all of it to close the breach Mole's people made and now there's nothing left. He's scrounged everywhere in Terminal City, every nook and cranny, and he can't find enough to make more than a pipe bomb or two."
Max just shook her head. Mole and his people had made everything so much worse. They'd taken most of the ammo and raided the food supply to take it with them, so almost all the remaining food stores had been blown up or were under the rubble along with the people.
Alec's mind must have been heading in the same direction because he said, "As of tomorrow morning we're completely out of food. So… no food, barely any ammo left, and no way out," he summed up.
"If we surrender, they'll kill any Transhumans who are left, maybe just kill the rest of us, too," she said.
"Or load us up and cart us off to who knows where." He ran his hand over his face in frustration. "I really don't want to sign up to play lab rat for the Ordinaries again."
Max tried desperately to think of what they could do, something, anything. The thing was she couldn't. She had no clue.
It must have shown on her face because Alec just shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Day Sixteen
The real problem with being under siege was that there was so little to do. Some of them spent time scrounging through Terminal City for anything useful. So far they'd come across some leftover electronics, a couple of old cans of food, some furniture. That was about it.
Others had taken to making artistic bits of this and that. Some chose whittling of all things and it was just weird to see trained killers carving horses and cats out of scraps of wood. Others used bits of plastic and cloth. Joshua had become a supervisor of sorts and Max was happy to see him enjoying working with other like-minded artistic types. Mostly she was just happy he hadn't been killed with the other Transhumans in the escape attempt.
Some had chosen to search for things to decorate their places to live, and she used that term loosely since they were practically living like homeless people. They had mattresses and blankets that had been brought in before the siege closed them off, but other than that it was just scraps of things they'd found. Terminal City had been industrial, so there really wasn't any proper living space. She and the others had just staked out an area and called it home.
Alec and Dalton's "room" was only a few feet away from hers. Dalton slept on a pallet and Alec took the floor. He never complained about it, which surprised her. When she'd asked, he'd just shrugged and said Manticore wasn't fond of giving out mattresses and he was used to it. She hadn't believed him, but she'd nodded in understanding. She wasn't exactly sure why Alec had taken Dalton under his wing, but he had and he took his duties seriously.
At the moment, Alec and Dalton were sitting cross-legged on the ground across from each other, both staring at the dirt between them. Max guessed they were playing a game. Alec had used a stick to scratch out a box and draw something inside it. They were using rocks, bits of broken concrete, and scraps of metal as place holders.
Max decided they were playing some kind of battle strategy game because Dalton suddenly let out a whoop and said, "Ha! Eastern Europe is mine!"
Alec snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You're a brilliant strategist. I'll be impressed when you get past the Rhine."
Alec was holding a protein bar and Max had to wonder where he got it. Since Mole's group managed to get most of their food supply blown up, they were dead out. She wondered if Alec had been squirreling food away and had just opened her mouth to yell at him when Dalton stopped her.
"Whoa! Where did you get that?" Dalton asked wide-eyed.
"Found it this morning in some guy's old office. He had a whole box of them in a drawer." Alec shrugged. "I don't even want to tell you what the expiration date on these things was, but hey…" He shrugged again. "Food."
"Awesome." Dalton smiled happily. "I'm so hungry I could eat anything."
Alec opened the package and took a small bite. He then tore off a piece and handed it across the "game board" to Dalton. The kid looked thrilled with so little. He sniffed it first, then began to chew. It must've been like shoe leather, but he wasn't giving up.
They kept playing, laughing back and forth, and it took a second for Max to grasp what was really happening. As Alec and Dalton continued to play, Alec pretended to eat his portion of the protein bar while distracting Dalton with the game and periodically handing over another piece.
Alec must have realized they were being observed. He looked up and caught Max watching them and his expression turned slightly embarrassed at being caught red-handed. As usual though, he chose to shrug it off. He winked at her and went back to playing his game, continuing to hand over his meager bit of food until Dalton had eaten it all.
Max found the small exchange both heart-warming and terrifying. She'd often thought of Alec as one of the most selfish people she knew, but she couldn't think of him that way anymore. They'd been working too closely to keep everyone fed and, if not happy, then as close as they could manage given the circumstances. She had a feeling he'd been doing even more behind the scenes than she was aware. She definitely knew he'd taken up the slack when she'd been sitting with Logan.
Max had seen this side of him too often lately and it scared her for several reasons. One, he was going without when he badly needed what little sustenance was available, especially since he'd been shot and was trying to heal. Two, she was relying on him and he was going to go downhill faster than need be. In short, she was both counting on him and she was worried for him. Three, she knew there were others making the same selfless choices. It was gratifying and it was painful to see that it was necessary and… on and on. There was just nothing good about their situation.
Alec threw something at her, pulling her out of her thoughts, and Max caught it one handed. "What's this?" she asked.
"I already handed out the rest of the protein bars I found," he explained. "Not enough to go around so everybody gets half. I gave Gem her half of yours."
Max glanced down at the opened wrapper. It looked like he's given Gem closer to two-thirds of the bar. She looked up at him and nodded in approval. Gem was breast-feeding and badly needed the food. She wouldn't have allowed Alec to give her the entire protein bar and thus short someone else. He'd very wisely managed to fudge it, allowed Gem to keep her pride, and still get just a little more food in her.
For a moment, Max felt a little lighter, really feeling like she had a partner in trying to keep them all going, someone who understood. "Thanks," she finally said, taking the remainder of the protein bar from the wrapper and beginning to chew. It was definitely old and tasted like sawdust, but it was edible, just.
"Wanna play?" Alec asked. "The kid's killing me, here. I can admit defeat and we'll start over."
Max hesitated. She felt like she should be doing something else, something more important than playing games. The problem was that there wasn't anything to do, nothing but try to keep each other's spirits up.
"Sure," she said at last and scooted forward.
Alec smiled happily as did Dalton. She supposed that would have to be added to her job description, keeping them smiling in the face of disaster. The problem was that it was getting harder and harder for her to fake her own smile.
More soon…