Episode 1
TO
WHERE IT BENT IN THE UNDERGROWTH
Chapter Six
THE MEET GONE SOUR
< AZTEC
>
Max passed some pipes just on
top of the informant and Clemente.
She recognized the guy from the Seattle PD. She braced herself, ready
to pounce down on the men should anything go wrong.
Meanwhile, Logan was taken
aback by the person he’s facing. His
face not showing not giving his apprehension, he asked Clemente, “Here to
read me my rights?” He knew fully well that if the entire sector police is in
on this, he and Max may not be able to get out. He should have checked the informant’s identity more thoroughly
before coming for the meet, but he lacked the time. He had tried to do that as Max slept, but no other information
came up. He knew he had to play along
and just hoped that he and Max could escape should this meet go down the
drain.
Clemente asked, “Should I?”
Logan kept quiet and merely raised his eyebrows, challenging Clemente.
The informant coughed, “Uh…
sir? I’ll keep an eye out.” The man Logan spoke with on the phone went
to the entrance of the warehouse.
“Maybe we should walk.”
Clemente started walking towards the middle of the laboratory. Logan followed suit, walking side by side
with Clemente as he took note of all the different lab equipment. “You were asking about that Montana
address -” Logan looked at him and was about to say something, but Clemente
shook his head, “No. I know. I was not tracking you down. I have my sources. And I know what you’re
looking for…” As Clemente and Logan continued talking, Max decided to stay
put, keeping an eye on the guy with Clemente. She didn’t want this to go bad.
“…I can give you a place to
stay near the ranch, but the rest is up to you. The only things I know, I already told you. The ranch appears to be abandoned now - so
my good friend told me. It hasn’t
been used for 22 years. There are no known owners or at least no one claimed
it to be theirs. But you can at least
look into it. Sector passes.” Clemente gave two sector passes to Logan.
“You’re gonna need them.”
Logan reached for the sector
passes, staring at it. “Thanks.” He
didn’t know what to say.
“We’re all doing our
part. Eyes Only is doing a good job
of it. I’m only trying to help. Try to keep it low.” Clemente gave Logan a
level look, “…You and your friends… And tell Eyes Only - he has a friend from
the Seattle PD, if he didn’t already.”
Just then Max sensed
something. On full military alert she
shouted, “Logan!” as she jumped down gracefully from where she was
hiding.
Max immediately looked up to
see Clemente’s face in shock, “452. I should have known -“
The lookout guy ran to where
they were. Max stood up and said
cautiously, “- Someone’s coming. Let’s get out of here.” All three men looked at her strangely as
she led them to the entrance of the building. Logan immediately followed Max with Clemente and the lookout
guy in tow. Crouching behind the
building, they all crept towards the entrance of the building as Max signaled
Clemente to run to his car at her go.
Max momentarily looked at Logan and a look of understanding passed
between them. She looked out the
entrance and scanned the perimeter, silently berating herself for not
listening for any movements outside the building earlier. She should never
have listened in on Clemente and Logan.
She still couldn’t understand how anyone would know about their
location… unless Clemente spilled the beans, but she had sized up Clemente as
he was talking to Logan. He wouldn’t. He’s not the type.
Logan has been wondering about
the same things for the past 5 seconds.
Clemente is not the type of guy who would betray Eyes Only. But he
knew he could never be too sure. Just
then, he looked at the guy with Clemente and saw the fear and determined look
on his face. At that instant, Logan
knew who had betrayed them.
Seeing Logan’s look, the
lookout guy knew he was caught. He stood up and took out his gun just as
Clemente and Max turned, having gone to the same conclusion as Logan. Max
immediately seized the gun from him, but not before a fire had been
shot. Max bent the guy's arm and took
the gun breaking the guy’s arm, she then landed a kick to his chest. Suddenly, the back part of the warehouse
was blown open as soldiers entered, some the same way Max did earlier, firing
their guns all over the place. Max gave the signal and Clemente ran to his
car, backed up and made a 180-degree turn as he sped from the alley. Simultaneously, Max took one look at Logan
and they ran to his Aztec. Just as Logan was halfway though, a bullet cut
across his shoulders and he slumped into the Aztec. He immediately put the car into gear driving backwards making a
short 180 turn to drive out of the place, a soldier running after them, firing
his gun.
< AZTEC >
Logan winced as he drove full
speed ahead. Max looked over at him,
not knowing what to do, concern washing all over her face. Max stated more
that asked, “You’re losing blood.”
Logan merely looked ahead as
he continued to drive them back to Joshua’s place. Finally he said, “It’s
just a scratch.”
Max continued to look at
him. She could smell his blood, she
thought sickeningly. She scanned
through his clothes to look for any other bullet wounds aside from his
shoulder, her eyes zooming in inside his open jacket on spot where his black
shirt was torn. She could hear his
heavy breathing as he drove them into Joshua’s. She saw his lower ribcage tightening, as blood oozed out of
that wound. The lookout guy had shot
Logan. She took one look at his face
and saw him biting his lower lip, his face still in a grimace as sweat ran
down the sides of his face. She took
out her phone and waited till she heard Alec’s voice at the other end of the
line.
“Max! What’s up? You and -”
Max’s ground out, “Cut the
crap. Bring Joshua to his place
fast. Logan’s in trouble.” At that, Max cut the line, still looking
at Logan. She knew he could drive
them back to Joshua’s in one piece.
Only at what cost? He’s losing
blood. The transgenics can handle
losing a lot of blood to a certain extent.
Logan was losing a lot and she didn’t know just how much blood Logan
can lose so he can hack it.
< TERMINAL CITY >
Alec called out to Joshua, who
was helping out Mole bring in crates of supplies, “Joshua! We need to go. Now!”
Joshua placed his crate on a
corner and reached up to grab the helmet Alec tossed to him, “Alec taking
Joshua for a spin?”
Alec walked towards his bike,
Joshua putting on his helmet as he followed Alec. “Logan’s in trouble. We need to get there fast.”
Joshua nods in understanding.
“Logan needs Joshua?”
“Yeah.” Alec hopped on his bike, Joshua hopped on
behind him, his hands holding under the bike’s leather seat. “Dalton! Toss me
that First aid! “ Alec indicated the
first aid kit used by paramedics, Dalton threw the kit and Alec caught it
with relative ease and stuck it in his jacket so it wouldn't fall onto the
road as he and Joshua sped to Joshua's old place, he then placed his bike in
gear and rode on.
Meanwhile, Logan was breathing
raggedly as he tried to control the burning sensation coming from his left
shoulder and lower left abdomen. He
focused on the road knowing that he could get them safely to Joshua’s. Trying to calm himself down as beads of
cold perspiration ran down the sides of his face, he gripped the steering
wheel harder and increased their speed.
Only three minutes more till we get to Joshua’s, he thought. His head started getting foggy as blood
continuously oozed out of his wound. *No! Dammit! We’re nearly there. *
He sped in front of Joshua’s, slammed on the breaks just as his eyes
closed and started losing his focus.
Max immediately opened the
door, tucked her hair under her jacket, rushed out of the Aztec and opened
Logan’s door. Seeing Logan’s eyes
losing its focus, she bent to help him out of the car, frowning as she held
onto Logan’s shoulder and immediately going to his right side and draping his
right arm onto her shoulders making sure only the covered parts of their
bodies touch - not their face, not even their hair. She helped Logan up the stairs into the house, knowing fully
well she didn’t need Logan’s wounded ego had she decided to just carry him
and put him on his bed. She should
have let him be admitted into a hospital, but she winced at the thought. She couldn’t risk having anyone recognize
her or Logan nor having White check all hospitals for men recently being
admitted with bullet wounds. She had
to believe that they’d be able to handle this. She’s a soldier for crying out loud! She knows what to do with a goddamn wound! Laying Logan on his bed, she got some
towels. She immediately tore one up
and tied it around Logan’s grazed arm.
The other one she used to apply pressure on the more serious wound on
Logan’s lower ribcage.
That’s when it hit her! She could not hear the exo! At no time during the whole ordeal did her
hearing abilities tell her that he was not wearing an exo! She looked alarmingly at Logan, her face
full of shock! She stared at Logan’s
legs and then at his face. She had
been so caught up in trying to find a way to tell him about the lie that she
had ignored everything else! No! It
was not that! She had been too caught
up with her thoughts on Logan – as always… the reason why she didn’t hear
“them” coming. All her senses were
into Logan – and it has placed his life in danger. “Dammit!” Max swore
under her breath pleading for Alec’s and Joshua’s immediate arrival.
Biting his teeth
together in an attempt to try and control the pain, Logan grunted as the pain
shot up to his entire body.
************
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