Chapter fourteen – the fight a.k.a. going insane
What if, in the escape of '09, Max hadn't escaped with the others? What if Jondy had tried to save her when she fell in the ice, but in the end they both got caught?
…
'10
Zack walked down the back streets of Portland, avoiding sight where possible. The Pulse had hit Portland hard, and it was a ruins at the moment. The perfect place for an escaped X-5 to hide. Well, apart from the fact that there were already three X-5's here, which was too many for one town.
He headed down an alley, and found the warehouse that he was looking for. Quickly scaling the side, he found a skylight to look through. Looking down, he saw one X-5 lying underneath a table, another on top of the table and the third was curled up in half of a wooden box.
Stupid he thought to himself. Never go to sleep without having a lookout, you never know who might come knocking. But as he thought this, a movement caught his eye. There were at least two other X-5's in the building, acting as the lookouts.
Zack was furious. He'd told them not to be in any more than a pair, but five? Five was just over the top. He couldn't handle it. He had to get in there, and talk to them and try to get some of them to go away. Now. Or else someone was going to get killed. Or he would just go in and kick all their asses, and send them on their way. But that wasn't nice.
To hell with being nice he thought all of a sudden, as he jumped through the skylight, landing nimbly on his feet. The three sleeping X-5's woke with a start, and saw their CO standing in the middle of the room, glass all around him. And from the stance he took, and the set of his jaw, they could tell that he was furious.
The two that were on lookout duty came running back to the sleeping area, to find out what was going on. They took one look at Zack, before running around him to join the other three. Instead of fighting them, however, Zack started to talk.
"Tinga. Krit. Syl. Micah. Star. What are you doing here? Together?"
"Well..."
"Umm..."
"You see..."
"No excuses!" Zack yelled before attacking them. He had Tinga and Syl on the ground with two simple kicks, before the other three could react. He quickly elbowed Micah in the stomach, and then in the head, making him fall down as well. It took just one kick to the knee to send Krit to the ground, making a pile of four X-5's jumbled up on the floor, too tangled to get up.
Star moved away from her brothers and sisters, drawing Zack's attention away from them. She took up a fighting stance, and waited for Zack to make the first move. Sure enough, he leapt forward, sending a punch toward her face. She quickly blocked it, and brought her knee up into his stomach. He backed off, before coming in again with a rapid series of punches, aimed this time at around her chest. She blocked most, but one managed to clip her right eye, and another caught her in the stomach. Having just eaten, she threw up what was in her stomach, making sure that Zack caught the brunt of it. Wiping it away from his face, Zack kicked out at her knees, and hit just below, breaking her left leg. She went down, but sent out her right leg, making Zack fall down too, on top of her. She quickly rolled them over so that she was on top, pinning him down. She backhanded him across the face, hard, knocking him unconscious.
Trying to get up, Star managed to place her weight on her right leg, before attempting to move her left. She couldn't move it, and fell back down, her landing cushioned by Zack's unconscious body.
"Nice to know you're good for something," she murmured to him, before trying to get up again.
Placing all of her weight on her right leg, she stood, and gently placed her left leg on the ground. Biting her lip in pain, Star started to walk. She managed to walk over to the others without crying out in pain, and, once there, she rested her weight on her right side, but made sure that the others couldn't tell that she was hurt. Waiting for them to untangle themselves, she looked back to make sure that Zack wasn't moving at all. Satisfied that he was dead to the world, she turned to face the others again, who had gotten up, and were waiting for her to speak.
"You all alright? Nothing hurt seriously or permanently? Star asked.
"Nothing wrong with me or Tinga, he just got us while we were still half-asleep." Syl replied.
"Nothing wrong here either." Krit commented.
Micah gave a wince, "Just a bit of a sore head for me. Nothing major. What about you Star? You fought with him most, are you ok?"
"Me? I'm fine. Nothing wrong with..." Star trailed off, before collapsing.
Micah caught her before she hit the ground, and lifted her onto the table. Motioning Tinga to come have a look at her, he stepped aside. Tinga ran expert hands over Star's head, arms and torso, before looking at her legs. As soon as she saw her left leg, she winced, and called Micah over.
"Look at her left leg. Zack broke it. I can't believe that she was able to walk on it."
"You know Star though Tinga. She'll still be walking around when she's dead she's that stubborn. You can't expect something as little as a broken leg stop her."
"Little?" Tinga half-screeched. "Zack broke her leg and you call that little?"
"I don't. But Star would. You know that Tinga. She doesn't let anything or anybody get in her way. Now, what are we going to do? I mean we can't exactly go to the hospital can we?"
"No. But I have some things here. I can strap it up and put it in a splint. But we might have to risk going into the hospital. I don't know how bad this is."
"I suppose. But if we do, neither Star nor Zack will like it."
"I don't care how much they might not like the idea, it might be our only choice."
"I understand Tinga."
While Tinga and Micah strapped Star's leg and placed in it a splint, Syl and Krit tied up Zack. Bringing him over to where Tinga and Micah were, they placed him on a chair, and then re-tied his hands behind the chair.
"What are we going to say to Zack when he wakes up?" Syl asked.
"I don't know, but let's hope Star wakes up first. He might listen to her." Tinga replied.
"Yeah. Star is the only one who can get Zack to change his mind on anything. Or get him to back down. Well...except for Max." Micah put in.
Syl winced. "I wonder what happened to our baby sister Maxie. And Jondy. Zack never even told us if they got out. I miss them."
"So do I Syl. I think all of us do." Krit commented.
"I miss them all. Not just Maxie and Jondy, but Trix and Blak and Sef and all the others too." Tinga said.
Syl nodded. "That's how we all feel Tinga. We weren't playing favourites or anything. It's just that..."
"I know what you mean." Tinga interrupted. "I just had to say it out loud. I guess that I still haven't gotten over the fact that we got out of there, and left the others behind. And that we might never see those still in there again, that they might be dead for all we know."
"Who's dead?" Star asked weakly, trying to sit up on the table. Micah quickly went to her side, and helped her.
"Nobody's dead at the minute. We were just thinking about the escape."
"Oh. Is Zack awake yet? Actually, how long have I been asleep?"
"Not long baby sister. But long enough for me and Tinga to strap and splint your leg. Why didn't you tell us that it was broken? And why were you walking on it? You could have damaged it even more!" Micah's voice was nearly a scream.
"Shh Micah. I'm fine. It's only a broken bone; it's not like I'm dead or anything. I'm fine."
"You see, Tinga. I told you she wouldn't think this was major, didn't I? Does anybody care that Zack just broke Star's leg?" Micah screamed.
"Calm down Micah. Please?" Star asked.
"What? Our CO just broke your leg and you're asking me to calm down? Am I the only sane person here?"
"You really need to calm down Micah. I've broken my leg before. It doesn't hurt that much and it won't take long to heal. I've had worse before."
"You still don't see my point. Our CO..."
"I know Micah. I know that Zack just broke my leg. But what can we do about it? He told us not to gather in any more than pairs, and there are five of us here. He's just trying to protect us."
"Protect us? Hardly."
"Micah. Shut up. Now." Star ordered.
"Why..."
"Just shut up."
"Where...where am I?" Zack called from behind them.
Tinga, Syl and Krit turned around to face him, while Micah gently helped Star off the table, and onto the floor, to stand up in front of his chair.
"What are you doing Star? Why do you have that splint on? Did Lydecker find you? Is he onto us?"
"No Zack." Star replied. "You did this. You came in through the roof and attacked us. You didn't hurt Tinga, Syl or Krit, but you gave Micah a nice bump on his head."
"What about you? What..."
"You broke my leg."
"I what?"
"You broke my leg."
"But...how? Why?"
"I don't know Zack. Why don't you tell us why?"
"I...I don't remember any of this. I can't..."
"Sure you can Zack. It's a simple matter of thinking about it. Then you open your mouth and talk. You know, make a sound that makes sense to other people?"
"I know that, but...I don't remember any of this. I didn't do this. I can't have. Please tell me that I didn't."
"Much as I'd love to Zack, I can't. Because you did do this."
"But..." Moaning, Zack lowered his head into his chest.
"Zack? Zack?" Star called, but Zack wouldn't lift his head. Instead, Tinga walked over to him, and, placing a hand under his chin lifted his head to face Star again. With a jolt, Star realized that Zack was crying.
"Zack?" she asked gently.
He looked her in the eye for one moment, before the tears began flowing again. Star waited for them to stop, before asking anything else.
"Zack?"
"I hurt you. I didn't mean it Star. I didn't mean to hurt you baby sister. I promised that I would never hurt any of you, and then I broke your leg. I didn't mean to do it."
"I know Zack. I understand. But we need to know why you're here."
"I hurt you, even after I promised myself that I wouldn't. That I would never hurt any of you, in any way. I'm you're CO! I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have hurt you. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry Star. I'm sorry for hurting you, for everything. I just so sorry."
"I know Zack, and I understand. But please. You need to try and remember why you came here. Please?"
"I'm sorry." Zack whispered before closing his eyes, and letting his head fall backward.
"Star? What do we do?" Krit asked.
"Well, first we need to untie Zack, and put him somewhere more comfortable. I don't know what's wrong with him, but maybe he hit his head while I was fighting with him or something. But I want some one watching him at all times, and the other three can get some more sleep. We should get out of here tonight. It's not safe."
"What about you Star? What are you going to do?" Micah asked.
"I'm going to be lookout. I've already had some sleep today. I should be fine. But you need some sleep Micah, and then it's out of you three who watches Zack and who gets some more sleep."
"I'll watch Zack." Tinga offered.
"Good. Krit, Syl, Micah, I want you guys to get some sleep. We leave at sunset."
"Where will we go?"
"I don't know Micah. I don't know."