Thought about waiting till tomorrow to write this one but, as usual, I changed my mind….
Chapter 17: Crash
Alex and Jack pulled over to the side of the rode. Alex got out of the car and motioned for Jack to follow him.
"Is this it?" she asked, incredulously.
"No, it's further away. Past this field here," he said as he gave Jack a second glance, "You up for it?"
"Yeah," said Jack, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her head, "I'll be fine."
Alex nodded and the two agents walked out into the field, right past the "No Trespassing" sign.
After a while the ground gave way to dry, desert like terrain. Soon, an old shack appeared on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set and glared at them from the side. They put on their sunglasses as they approached the shack, guns in hand.
Alex pushed back the curtain that served as a sort of door. No one was inside, but they had been, and not long ago by the looks of it. There was some rope and a fresh splashes of blood on the floor.
"Looks like there was a struggle," muttered Alex.
"Whatever Scofield was planning apparently didn't turn out so good," agreed Jack as she walked over to the rope and chairs, "Looks like someone was tied up. Didn't meet their end of the bargain I'd guess."
Alex glanced over at a nearby table and saw two small tubes with clear liquid inside of them. He picked one up, removed his sunglasses, and studied it.
"I thought some of the other agents took Scofield's stash of that stuff back at the Botanical Gardens," said Jack.
"They did."
"Then what's that?"
"Scofield either got his hand on some more, or he faked it."
Alex set the tube down and turned to investigate the rest of the room. Soon, he saw a couple of bloody footprints near the entrance to the shack. They were headed at a sharp and deliberate angle.
"Jack," called Alex.
Jack stepped over the rope and blood and walked over to Alex. He pointed down at the footprints.
"Looks like we've got some more walking to do."
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Eventually, the agents saw a ridge ahead. Alex motioned for Jack to stay quiet and pulled out his gun. He began to stalk up the ridgeline, body poised and ready for anything. Jack moved to the right and began to walk up along the ridge.
Alex was the first to appear on the other side. Instantly he saw Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and Burrows Sr. They saw him too and quickly ducked behind some nearby rocks. Alex began shooting immediately, but could not get a good angle. He began to skirt the rocks, trying to find a better position to shoot from.
Jack, meanwhile, lay in wait. If the cons tried to move at all from behind the rocks, she was in perfect position to fire her weapon.
Burrows Sr. grabbed Sucre's weapon and started yelling at the cons to go for the car. The second the cons moved, so did Jack. But Burrows Sr. saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to shoot several rounds at Jack. Jack hit the dirt and cursed angrily.
By now, the cons had reached the car and threw it in reverse to pick up Burrows Sr. Burrows Sr. glanced over his shoulder and saw that the car was close enough to try to make a run for it. He leapt up and ran towards the car.
Jack moved quickly and fired her weapon several times. She saw him stumble slightly, but he still made it into the car.
She and Alex cursed at the same time. They had been so close…
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Alex and Jack had made it back to their car and were speeding down the road. Alex was talking urgently on the phone to some agent back in Chicago.
"Yeah, I want you to organize an alarm on a dark blue Sedan, license plate number AE9268. We're forty miles southeast of Los Crusas. Do it…now!"
The second Alex hung up the phone, it rang again.
"Oh, come on!" he said, patience no longer in existence, "What?!"
Jack saw Alex's face relax slightly as he listened to whoever it was on the other end of the line.
"What hospital?"
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Alex and Jack strode into a local hospital. Apparently there was a man here who had been in the shack with Michael and he wanted to talk to some feds. Alex approached the man, calmly. He lay on a hospital bed with all kinds of wires and cords connected to him and other machines.
"Heard you wanted to talk to me," said Alex.
"I got some information the feds want," replied the man, "Information about Michael Scofield."
A dangerous glint danced in Alex's eyes.
"I heard he's catching a ride," continued the man.
"And where would that be?" inquired Alex.
"It's not just the where…but the when. And that when is coming up soon. But I want to cut a deal first."
Alex smiled with amusement. Jack rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Of course," she muttered.
"Sure," said Alex, "Let me make a quick phone call. Jack? Stay with our friend, would you?"
Jack nodded reluctantly and sat down in a nearby chair while Alex stepped outside to make the phone call. Soon, he strode back into the room, looking confident.
"Here's the 'deal.' All charges dropped and the government picks up medical costs until you're fit to be deported. This is of course all contingent on your information being accurate."
"No deportation," retorted the man, "I want citizenship."
"You've got to be kidding me," sneered Jack, "Alex, we don't have time for this."
"Citizenship, or no information," snapped the man.
"Citizenship?" asked Alex.
"Yeah, just a little incentive. And I want it in writing."
"Oh, I am so tired of playing games. Aren't you Jack?" he asked, an odd twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, yeah," replied Jack, "Very tired."
Alex sauntered over to the machines that whirred beside the man's hospital bed and began to unplug some cords.
"No external pace maker," he said, nearly enjoying what he was doing, "Oh, here's a good one…no morphine drip!"
Just then a nurse stormed into the room.
"What do you think you are doing!?" she cried.
Jack pulled out her badge and stalked menacingly towards the door.
"FBI! Out!" she yelled as she kicked the door shut in the nurse's face.
"What are you doing!?" screamed the man as Alex pushed some more buttons on the machines.
"Just giving you a little incentive," sneered Alex as he watched the man begin to squirm in pain.
"This shouldn't take too long," murmured Jack as she walked over to stand beside Alex.
Alex gave her an approving look and turned to watch the man writhe in pain.
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Before long, Alex and Jack had the information they needed and were driving away from the hospital.
"Get back on with Border Patrol," barked Alex into his cell phone, "Call the Navy Reserve Air Station in Dallas. They've got planes on alert. We need an interception of a white, single-engine A-36 Beech, heading towards the border. Call Mexico; get clearance for an international pursuit. Tell them if they have to take the plane down, just do it!"
Alex hung up the phone. Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from overhead. Alex and Jack glanced up and saw the white plane, Scofield's getaway plane, flying overhead.
"Where in the world are those jets!?" screamed Alex.
As they sped further down the road, Jack spotted something.
"Alex! That's Burrows and Scofield, dead ahead!"
Sure enough, Michael and Lincoln were standing outside of a car on the side of the road. They saw Alex and Jack's car speeding down the road towards them and jumped back in their car. They made a quick U-turn and sped away.
Alex slammed on the brakes.
"What are you doing!?" asked Jack, in shock, "They're going to get away!"
"No, they're not," said Alex, "We're going to cut them off."
Alex turned the car around and headed down another road.
An hour later, the sun had finally gone down and it was pitch black outside. They were nearing an intersection when Jack saw headlights coming down the other road.
"That's them!"
"Jack," said Alex, in an all-too-calm voice, "I need you to hang on."
Jack shot Alex a startled look. Then, she suddenly realized what he was going to do.
"God help us…" she whispered as she braced herself.
Their car slammed into the side of Michael and Lincoln's car just as it passed through the middle of the intersection. The two cars careened wildly to the side. Michael and Lincoln's car instantly burst into flames. Pieces of both cars flew all over the road.
Once the cars came to a stop, the two brothers stumbled out of their car. Jack opened her door and stepped out. She was uninjured, but disoriented. Finally, Alex stepped out of the car, gun in hand, and approached the two brothers.
Michael was trying to reach for something on the ground, but stopped when he saw Alex. Jack walked unevenly up beside Alex and drew her gun as well.
"Gotcha."
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Wow…Jack's finally beginning to toughen up a bit!! I even surprised myself with that one!
PLEASE REVIEW!!