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 Chapter 5: This is For Your Own Good

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�Excuse me?�

Zack quickly crossed the room towards Max, and grabbed her shoulder. �Come on Max, we have to go. Now. We can�t get caught.�

Max pulled her shoulder back, wrenching free of Zack�s grip on her. She narrowed her eyes, and looked right at him. �How do they know we�re here Zack?�

Zack pulled himself to his full height, and raked his hand through his hair as he almost nervously looked towards the window. �I don�t know Maxie, but they do. The only explanation is the one that I have been telling you for awhile now. Making ties with people will only get you in trouble, and it looks like your ties with Logan have served to not only get you in trouble, but it has served to get Jondy and I in trouble as well.�

Max stood up, shoving her chair back in the process, and got right in Zack�s face. �This has NOTHING to do with Logan at all. He had nothing to do with this. I have no idea how they know we�re here, but that doesn�t concern me now. What concerns me now is that we have to get out of here, and we have to get out of here fast. We can continue this discussion later.� Max pushed past Zack and began making her way to Logan�s bedroom to warn him and to get him out of there before they were all caught.. Before she made it to the door and before she knew what was happening, she could feel a prick in her arm. As the world began to fade away, the only thing that came to her ears was Zack�s voice. �This is for your own good Maxie.� Then, the world went dark.

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Jondy was pacing around her room, deep in her own thoughts as she heard a chair fall in the kitchen. Snapping back into the real world, she realized that something was going down, and because of it, Max and Zack were practically screaming at each other. Jondy quickly walked to the door, and as soon as she turned the handle to open it, she could hear Zack whisper. �This is for your own good Maxie.� Jondy ripped the door open to see an unconscious Max laying in the arms of Zack as he knelt on the floor. �Zack! What the hell are you doing?�

Zack looked up at Jondy, who had her hands on her hips, and was looking thoroughly pissed. Her stance didn�t bother him in the slightest, and without answering her, and calmly gathered Max up in his arms, and stood up. Finally looking at Jondy who was now impatiently tapping her foot on the floor, he spoke. �Lydecker is setting up outside. We have to move. Now.�

Jondy was taken aback with this bit of information. Lydecker�s set up outside? How did he know we were here? I thought Max said no one knew about this place. Maybe Zack was right in saying that this Logan couldn�t be trusted. I mean, what do I really know about him? No Jondy, Max trusts him, so that means I can trust him too. But like I said earlier, a good soldier always knows her surroundings, and that includes the people in them. I�m not a soldier, but I still don�t know enough about this Logan to make any judgments. Jondy shook her head to clear her mind as she once again focused in on the unconscious form that was in Zack�s arms.

Zack glared at her, and spoke crisply and authoritatively, going right into full CO mode. �Jondy, we have to go. No questions. I�ll update you when the time is right.� Zack turned towards the door, but then abruptly stopped. Instead, he looked up at the open skylight, and readied himself for the jump.

�Zack! What about Logan?� I may not fully trust him, but Max does, and she�ll be pissed if he�s not with us.

�No questions.� Zack looked again at the skylight, and effortlessly made the jump. He turned and began to run across the rooftop. Behind him, he could hear the silent footfalls of Jondy as she followed him. Together, they jumped across the buildings until they made it to the end of the high-rise district. Silently jumping off the final building, they ran along the streets, keeping to the shadows, in search of a car. After a few minutes, a small brown sedan could be seen sitting alone, with no one to protect it. Zack wordlessly commanded Jondy to hotwire it as he carefully laid Max down across the backseat. Jondy nodded her confirmation that the car was operational, and with her affirmative, Zack climbed into the driver seat, only waiting for Jondy to slide in next to him before speeding off. Neither of them looked back as the city faded behind them.

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Jondy leaned against the car door as she looked out the window at the passing scenery. She and Zack had only stopped once after getting in the car, and that was after they had safely made it out of Seattle. During that time, the two of them had had a screaming fight, and had tied Max up so that she didn�t kill either of them when she woke up. Jondy sighed, thinking back to what had transpired during that argument.

As the city faded into the distance, and the open roads of the north spread out in front of them, Zack finally pulled the car over to the side of the road. Thankful for a release from the tension, Jondy ripped open the door and bolted out of the car. She slammed the door behind her, and began to walk down the road away from the car. Adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, and thoughts were screaming through her head. As she heard another door open, Jondy turned to face the car, and pushed her hands through her hair to get it out of her face. She tucked the loose strands behind her ears, and while clenching her fists, she stormed back towards the car, her crystal green eyes glowing with rage. As she neared Zack, he turned to face her, and she roughly pushed him against the car. �Alight Zack. Spill it. Just what in the hell do you think you�re doing? I can�t believe this! What exactly is going through your little military brain right now?�

Zack pushed Jondy off of him, and walked around to the front of the car. �We were going to get caught Jondy, I couldn�t let that happen. Not again.�

�So you drugged Max? What exactly brought that idea on?�

�She wasn�t willing to leave. She wanted Logan to come with us!�

�And why is that a bad thing exactly? I think I would want my boyfriend to come with me if I was in trouble, especially if the people I was running from were going to be invading his apartment in a few minutes.�

�Because he�s the reason they were invading his place. He�ll be fine. He works for them, and I don�t think that they would dispose of someone who had gained the absolute undying trust of an X5.�

Jondy turned around in a circle and once again ran her hands through her hair in disbelief. �There is no way that you can actually believe that that is true.�

Zack pointed at Jondy. �You said it yourself little sister, I drank that water and so everything I say must be true.�

�Zack, that is such a lie! I know you had that water but the effects have more than worn off. I mean come on! If we were still experiencing the side effects of it, do you really think that we would be able to jump across Seattle�s high-rise district? Do you really think that you could overpower Max? What�s your real reason for doing this Zack, and you better have a damn good reason, because Max is going to want to know it when she wakes up, and trust me, there isn�t a reason good enough to justify what you did to her.�

�We needed to get out of there, and she was letting emotions control her judgment. I did the only thing possible that made the most sense at the time.�

�So knocking her unconscious was the thing that made the most sense? How do you figure that?�

Zack angrily walked away from the car, and then back towards Jondy. �Don�t you question me soldier. I�m the CO here, and I make the decisions.�

Jondy scowled at Zack and shook her head. �Cut the crap Zack. Right now, all I want to know is how this all started from the beginning. I�m not positive, but I�m pretty sure that Logan had nothing to do with this, and for all we know, he�s at Manticore right now, or even worse, dead. And all of this happened for a reason, and I want to know what that reason is.�

�Lydecker knows where Max hangs out. He wants to capture her. I didn�t want him to get three of us in one shot, so in order to make things go faster, I drugged Max so that we could leave. End of story.�

�That still doesn�t explain Lo...�

�End of story Jondy. End of story. Now let�s go.�

�No Zack, that�s not �end of story.� How did Lydecker know where to look for Max? He�s not that good of a guesser.�

�Maybe he finally figured it out.�

�I don�t think so.�

�Jondy, he�s been close to finding her for almost a year now. Sooner or later he was bound to get her.�

Jondy narrowed her eyes. �Sounds feasible, I guess.� Jondy then smiled up at Zack. �Change of topic here...not to point out your mistakes or anything, but don�t you think you should tie Max up or anything? I mean, I�m not one to tie up my siblings, but I really don�t want to die in a car accident that will be caused when she wakes up and strangles you.� Jondy looked at Zack and almost started laughing when she saw his face. She needed something to lighten the tension between the two, and that comment worked for her at least. Jondy stood off to the side, her arms crossed across her chest as she watched Zack rip one of the seatbelts out of the chair in the back and use it to tie Max up with. Another one was used to gag her so that she wouldn�t be able to start a commotion if she happened to wake up while they were at a gas station or any other public place. As soon as Zack was done, without even glancing at Jondy, he climbed into the car, and started the engine, creating a silent hint that he was ready to leave. Sighing, Jondy walked towards the car, rounded it to her side, and climbed in to the passenger seat, thus willingly allowing Zack to take her God-knows-where.

Jondy continued looking out the window. She almost sensed Max waking up before she actually stirred. It could have been her enhanced senses, it could have been her sisterly intuition, or it could have been the fact that she was looking forward to this moment ever since they climbed into the car in the first place. As Max began to stir, Jondy shifted a bit in her seat. Every fiber in her being wanted to loosen the grips on Max, but there was no way in hell she was going to take Max�s wrath that should be only dealt out to Zack. Jondy stole a glance over at Zack and almost laughed. He was visibly tightening his grip on the steering wheel, almost as if he was getting himself ready for what was to come. Jondy stared straight ahead on the road, and couldn�t contain her laughter any longer when a muffled stream of expletives started emanating from Max�s mouth. Expletives that were meant entirely for her big brother. This was going to be an interesting conversation to say the least.

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Logan stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and genuinely better than he did earlier in the morning. It was almost as if the water had managed to cleanse some of his worries away. I should apologize to Max about this morning. But what do I have to apologize for? Everything that I said was true. She does need to start asking for help once in awhile. It�s just not safe doing everything on your own all the time. Sooner or later, that independence will backfire. After drying himself off, he put on his robe, and walked to the mirror. After towel drying his hair, he ran some gel through it, making sure that it was nice and spiky, just how Max liked it. Logan ran his hand over his stubble, trying to decide whether or not to shave. Deciding against it, he quickly brushed his teeth, and looked at himself once more before heading into his room to find something to wear. I�m sure Max is waiting for the bathroom. Knowing her, she�s probably out there complaining to Jondy that there won�t be any hot water for her, and that she�ll kick my ass the second I come out. Logan had to chuckle at that thought. She�d never go through with it. Logan crossed the bathroom to the door, and as soon as he pulled it open, he was faced with a small contingent of men, all of whom were pointing very large guns at him.

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�What do you mean we can�t get into Seattle?�

The man stepped back in fear. Not only fear for his job, but fear for his life. �There...there...there�s a military lockdown of the city. No one can get in or out at this point. It was just set up a few hours ago.�

Lydecker leaned forward in his chair. �We�re the military! Who authorized this?�

�I...I, don�t know sir.�

�You don�t know?�

�It�s no one from Manticore sir. This is someone else. We have no control over whoever they are.�

Lydecker stood up quickly, and slammed his fists on his desk. �Well, find out who these people are, and why they�re in Seattle. Get control over them, and get our people in there. I�m close to the X5s and I want them home now!�

�Yes sir. Right away sir.� The man quickly stood in salute, and turned to leave, almost running out the door. There is no way I�m going to find information on these people. They�ve never turned up anywhere before. No one�s even heard of them.

Lydecker watched the soldier run from the room. Nothing good ever happens to me. Who are these people, and why are they suddenly after my kids? I have to get in there and see what�s going on.

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Chapter 6