Jack groaned. He felt like an aluminum wrapped potato on a grill. He coughed at the thick smell of burnt plastic. He reached out and felt an unmoving Mac. Jack fumbled until he felt a steady fast pulse. Jack frowned at the warmth of his friend. Jack reached across Mac to Riley.
"Riley, you still alive?" Riley coughed.
"I think so, Mac?"
"He needs to get some medical help soon. Everybody else alive?" He heard muffled groans of the other two men. Jack sat up. He was glad that everything was dark as he could feel his head split open and his brains slosh around. He put his hands on the side of his head and leaned back moaning.
"Jack?" Riley asked. Her voice fuzzed out for a minute. Jack blinked and opened his eyes. A sliver of light came in from the door which was pushed ajar. Riley sat looking down at him worried. Jack sat up and closed his eyes. "Jack?" Riley asked bending to look in his face. Dried blood stained the side of his head and a sizeable lump rose under the dark bruise on his scalp. He blinked his eyes and shook his head wincing. He patted Riley on the arm.
"I'm ok, kiddo." He turned to see the Flints pushing to get the door open. Jack blinked at the light and smiled. There was still a haze of smoke, and the stench was almost overwhelming, but there was no flickering or heat from the fire. "Whoo! We made it!" Jack yelled. The father and son team turned and smiled. Jack looked down at Mac and lost his elation. The white table cloth they had soaked through and Mac's skin was almost as white as it had been on the table. "We gotta get Mac out of here," Jack said pushing to his feet. Riley steadied him until he got his feet.
The door was almost half way open and while still fetid, the air outside was much cleaner than the air inside the makeshift fire shelter. They all stopped to look out in disbelief. The small settlement was raised. Everything was black and thick with carbon and creosote. Only piles of half melted siding and black smoking skeletons remained.
"Told you, Robocalype." Jack murmured. Riley shot him a sour look. Jack smiled and moved to help open the door. The metal frames of the tables and shelves had only dim glints of metal showing through the burnt mess of exploded cans and debris. Jack turned and knelt beside Mac. He pulled up the younger man's singed shirt and frowned. Where Mac had been sutured together was now a seeping line with ragged edges. The edges were hot with redness. Mac moaned and his eyes cracked open. Jack knelt closer. Sweat soaked Mac's grimy hair and ran down his cheeks and neck.
"Hey there, bud," Jack said softly. He glanced up as Freddy Flint knelt beside Jack. He had refolded the bloody white cloth into a thick rectangle. Mac blinked and squinted gasping with pain. He reached up a hand and grabbed Jack's shirt.
"Jack," Mac managed. His eyes roved the refrigerator and he managed a small smile and fist bumped Jack's fist. Mac's eyes landed on Riley and he looked at her worried. "You...k?" Riley rolled her eyes and offered the man a small smile.
"I will be as soon as we get out of this place." Mac smiled. His eyes were sinking low. Freddie motioned at Jack. Jack bent and lifted Mac to sitting. Mac cried out in pain, his fist curling harder against Jack's shoulder. Mac began to breath fast and blood started running out of his wound.
"This is going to hurt," Freddy said. Mac managed half a glare at him before the tall man wrapped his abdomen and tugged it hard. Mac's breath stopped, he closed his eyes and gasped. Freddy tied the bandage tightly. Jack cradled Mac's head in the crook of his elbow.
"Slow and easy, bro, slow and easy." Mac closed his eyes and forced himself to take deep breaths. He coughed and curled up huffing in pain. Jack bent down and hauled Mac up to his feet. Freddy caught the younger man on the other side and they both lifted Mac by his arms over their shoulders. Mac's head hung forward as he sucked in air. Riley frowned as she followed them out. She wanted to take a deep refreshing breath, but the air was even hotter and heavier than it had been before the fire.
They heard the buzz of a plane. Oliver looked up and waved, his face elated. The plane was dropping a solid spout of water. It hit them hard but felt wonderful. The plane waggled a wing then turned to pivot back towards the nearby airfield. They made their way through the charred town slowly having to pause to move around piles of smoking debris.
Riley frowned and had to admit Jack might be right about the apocalypse. The place looked like a picture of Hiroshima after Little Boy hit. She felt her stomach churn. A small clump of black ashes moved as Jack stepped over it. A metallic baby's crown came up from the dirt.
"Eyaaah!" Jack squawked then kicked the skull off of the tiny Android. Mac moaned as he was jolted. Jack returned to his place at Mac's side and visibly shuddered. "Robots man...eww." Looking over at the doll sized metal skull Riley had to agree. As she watched the lidless eyes rotated to look at her. She closed her eyes and scooted past as quickly as she could.
"What if more robots are still working?" Riley asked, a quiver in her voice. Jack shot her a dirty look.
"Just had to go and say that didn't you." He muttered.
"I mean will they come out here and clean up this place?" Riley asked. Oliver turned his eyes scanning the wasteland the canyon had become.
"No, they'll just leave this for the ghosts...again." The older man said philosophically. Quite a few urban legends would be raised about this place. Riley shuddered she'd never watch it on youtube, that was for damn sure.
The dirt road to the airfield was still intact, unlike the trees that had lined it. As they passed the toxic pond Riley wrinkled her nose. The top scum had been burned off, but a thick oily blackness floated on it instead.
Riley grinned as she heard the nearby hum of motors and voices. Jack smiled down at her relief in his eyes. It wasn't until they heard the cheers of the pilots and crew buzzing around the planes, that Riley realized it was finally over. She closed her eyes, her shoulders slumped and she was suddenly very tired. She felt herself wobble. The kind face of Oliver bent over her as he dipped her arm over his shoulder.
"Easy, girl. We made it." Oliver said from far away. The next thing Riley knew she was on the larger plane roaring toward the Flints. She coughed and realized that she had an oxygen mask on. She blinked and sat up fighting a yawn. Her chest was burning and ever muscle hurt like hell.
Jack sat across from her holding his mask on. His eyes opened at her movement and he managed a smile around a roll of harsh coughs. Riley looked toward the front of the plane and saw Oliver and Freddy sitting on seats behind the crew sucking in air on their own oxygen masks. Freddy turned and smiled at Riley.
"Good morning!" He called moving the oxygen mask so she could hear him. "We land in about an hour, go ahead and get some sleep." Riley nodded then turned. Her heart fell as she looked aft. Mac was on a stretcher resting on a pallet. Two red-headed women were bent over him. He also wore an oxygen mask and a flaccid clear fluid IV bag hung on a pop-up rack on the corner of the pallet. The women had Mac's abdomen exposed and looked like they were taping his belly back together. Their faces were grim. Riley tried to stand up and fell back coughing. She waited for a second to catch her breath then tried again. Leaning against the cabin wall, she wobbled to Mac's side.
He really didn't look good. Riley never really knew what pale as a ghost really meant until now. His lips were bloodless and sweat ran freely off his face. Riley reached down and winced at how clammy his body felt. She looked up nervously. The older woman, obviously a Flint sighed and shrugged. Riley reached out and grabbed Mac's flaccid hand. He had to make it, she silently demanded
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Mac slowly opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and broke off coughing. He clutched his hand over his abdomen as pain seemed to crush his middle. He sucked in air. After the pain floated down to manageable he slowly took in his surroundings. He was laying in a child's room, a girl's room. He laid in a canopy princess' bed and the walls and furniture were all shades of pink and purple. Mac sighed. He'd woken up in worse places He closed his eyes. He hurt everywhere. He realized that his shirt was off. He felt his abdomen and was surprised to find thick bandages taped to his abdomen. He frowned then realized that this far up in the arctic circle hospitals was probably scarce.
A rustle of movement beside him made him look over into the wide leaf colored eyes of a red-headed girl about owner of this room, Mac guessed. Mac groaned and put his hand on his head thinking of Valerie. What day was it? Could they still make the judging? Mac felt like he'd totally let the girl down. Mac looked up at a mobile of purple glittering stars and unicorns and sighed. It had taken seven times to get the win, he'd just have to help Valerie until she got hers. The girl stood up. Mac smiled at her weakly.
"Hi." He croaked. She gave him a winning smile then lifted a stuffed pink bunny from behind her and handed it to him. He took it and winced almost dropping it. He barely had the strength to hold it. The girl giggled reached forward, took the bunny from his hand and nestled it in the crook of his arm. Mac smiled down at her. "Thank you." She hopped, turned then ran out of the room yelling as she went.
"He's awake, Grandpa!" Mac sighed looking down at the rabbit wondering exactly where the hell he was. He heard the thunder of running feet and Jack burst into the room, followed by Riley and Bozer. Mac took a deep breath in relief and grinned. Mac held out a weak hand and Jack slapped it.
"Glad to see you finally wake up," Jack said.
"Me too." Mac coughed. Bozer had tears in his eyes and flopped himself on Mac, careful of causing more injury. Mac hugged him back weakly.
"I thought you were gone…" Bozer sniffed. Mac patted him on the back. Riley held back a small smile on her face. Mac grinned at her and held out a hand. She gave him a gentle hug. He leaned into her ear.
"Thanks for getting me home, Ri." He said softly. She stood up and wiped her eyes turning away. Mac heard a click and turned to see Jack snapping a picture of him with his camera. The older man was grinning. Mac rolled his eyes. He yawned and sighed with sadness
"What's wrong, bud?" Jack said concerned.
"I feel bad for letting Valerie down." He raised an eyebrow when Bozer started laughing.
"Don't worry, Mac. I got reinforcements for Valerie, she's fine and made a new friend." Mac looked at him puzzled.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Jack held out a hand and helped a sore Mac out of the taxi. The older man shook his head but didn't waste any more breath arguing. Mac closed his eyes and wobbled. Jack held onto him while he paid the driver. Mac held his hand across his sore side as he climbed the sidewalk and walked toward the Seattle Convention Center. Riley and Bozer had taken the Phoenix jet back home. Mac had insisted on riding back with the Lawson's. Jack flew with him too, as he put it, save the street cleaners from picking his brains up off the sidewalk.
Mac managed to walk into the large building on his own only needing to hold onto Jack's arm. It had taken two days for them to get back. In Jack's opinion, the kid should be flat on his back for a month of Sundays. Of course, Mac had other ideas. He'd made arrangements for the Lawson's to stay the extra time if they wanted to. Valerie almost blew out Mac's ear drum with her squeal of yes. After that, Pete Lawson really had no say in the matter.
Mac looked up rubbing sweat out of his eyes. He was taking several horse pills for his infection and felt better, but it hadn't been long enough for them to do much of anything other than giving him an upset stomach.
"Mac!" Valerie yelled. Mac only had a second to brace himself before he was grabbed into a happy if painful hug. Mac hugged back, closing his eyes against the lightheadedness. Jack saw his partner's pain and decided to help him out.
"What about me? Don't I get a hug too?" He asked holding out his arms. Valerie laughed and gave him a short, dutiful hug. Mac chuckled at Jack's expression of hurt. "Why do they always hug you more? It just isn't fair."
"Maybe I smell better?" Mac offered. Jack shrugged and nodded. The kid had a point.
"I work harder than you do, that's all." He said. Mac shook his head and grinned as Valerie dashed off and came back hauling her reinforcement and new friend over to Mac. Mac grinned and hugged the smaller woman.
"Well, it's about time, Boy Genius," Frankie said. She stepped back to study her former MIT lab assistant and frowned. "Jeez, Mac. I died and looked better than you do." The woman joked. Mac chuckled and had to support his side with his hand.
"Thanks for coming out, Frankie." Frankie smiled and put her arm around Valerie's shoulders.
"I have to start training my new lab assistant." She said. Mac raised an eyebrow. Valerie was almost vibrating with happiness.
"How'd you do?" He asked.
"I got second!" Valerie squealed. "The only one that scored higher was a guy who put together a full Android, he did pretty well…" Mac and Jack shared a long-suffering look and led the way up to their suite. Valerie chatted oblivious to the slumped shoulders of the older men. As they waited for the elevator, Frankie sidled up to Mac's side.
"So I hear you are building a full Android at that think tank of yours." Mac grimaced and looked at her.
"I am, but I just might have to let my research breathe a little."
"Still didn't learn your lesson?" Jack said. Mac's knees went a little weak. Jack supported him with an arm around the waist. "Terminator, man, you guys are building Skynet, you got to let that shit go." Mac put a shaking arm over his partner's shoulders.
"For once, I almost agree with you." Mac sighed.