Echoes of the Past - Chapter 5

“No!” she protested vehemently as she was yanked up roughly and tossed over the shoulders of one burly militant like a sack of flour.

She tried to kick out, but found to her dismay that every little motion was a struggle. All she could do was to watch as the militant’s boots kicked up clouds of dust as he raced across the desert.

They were heading towards an open-top jeep, Max realised with trepidation. The familiar sound of the chopper was getting closer, she could hear, but it was probably still too far for them to see her. No, she was not going to let the militants take her. Not when help was so close.

The second her back landed on the hot, hard surface of the back of the jeep, she tried to roll herself off. Desperation fuelled her body, allowing her to move in spite of her multiple injuries.

She did not get far.

A fist slammed into her face, breaking the tender skin inside her mouth. As her own blood filled her mouth, she glared at the scowling militant.

Then she spat.

The frothy red spit connected with the militant’s face. She could see the rage in his eyes before he snarled in some foreign language, gesturing at her.

The man at the front of the jeep turned back to look at them and said something in an eerily calm voice. The militant near her gritted his teeth and pulled out a dirty piece of cloth from his pocket. As she grimaced in disgust, he tied the cloth over her eyes, obviously to prevent her from seeing where they were going.

And then she felt a violent impact against her skull before she passed out again.

The darkness swirled around her like a thick, viscous ink. She could not breathe. Her lungs felt constricted and her limbs felt like they were no longer a part of her. With great difficulty, she forced her eyes open to be greeted by more darkness.

The blindfold.

They had tied a cloth around her eyes to prevent her from seeing where they were going, Max thought, her fury mounting. The jarring movement under her told her that they were still on the road. How long had she been out? How far from the ruins had they travelled? Where were the rest of her unit?

She tried to swallow, but her mouth felt like it was filled with dry sand. There was a coppery tang in her mouth. Blood, she thought absently. She tried to move her hands, but they were numb either from being tied together so tightly or because of her injuries.

The vehicle stopped suddenly, throwing her to one side. She let out an involuntary groan as her injured shoulders hit the side of the jeep.

She could hear some commotion around her. They were speaking in a language she could barely understand. Some dialect of the Middle East, she guessed with mounting fear. It probably meant that she was in the hands of the very people that Manticore had aimed to destroy. As injured as she was, it was going to be hard for her to escape.

She felt herself yanked off the jeep and tossed to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself not to cry out at the pain of being dragged up by her injured shoulder. They prodded at her with something hard, the barrel of a gun probably, and kicked her forward until her senses told her that they reached some place indoors. Each step felt forced, her weakened body pushed beyond its limits.

The whole thing felt surreal, like it was happening to someone else. Like it was a bad dream.

Blindly, she staggered on for a few more minute, before she heard a door slam behind her, the reverberations echoing around her. Her mind replayed her steps back to her, allowing her to reassure herself that she would be able to get out once she healed a little. There was no way she was going to be able to make it out in her present condition.

Provided of course, that she was still alive to even attempt it.

She knew what they wanted. The militants would no doubt want to know who ordered the attack on their headquarters. But she was not going to tell them and start an international incident.

She heard the rattling of some chains just before she felt herself hit a cold, grimy wall. To her dismay, her legs gave out under her, letting her slide bonelessly down to the ground. She tried to struggle, but her limbs refused to obey her orders. Before she could pick herself up, she found herself pulled up and her wrists and ankles shackled to the wall.

The blindfold was ripped roughly from her face, allowing her to see for the first time in who knew how long. She blinked, but everything around her seemed hazy and blurred. There were three dark figures in front of her, but she was unable to focus long enough to make out their features. Her head sagged down, the effort of holding it up seemed too much all of a sudden.

One of them spoke harshly in a heavily accented voice. “Tell me who you work for.”

“No one,” she croaked.

A fist slammed against her jaw, flinging her head back painfully. Blood spurted out of her mouth and her head spun. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

“I ask again. Who you work for?”

Not wanting to let them see the trepidation she was feeling, she smirked. The movement hurt her jaw, but she managed it anyway. The one who spoke came closer to her, so close that she could actually make out the evil gleam in his eyes. Her fear spiked. What was he going to do to her?

He grasped her chin roughly, forcing her to meet his eyes. “You are stubborn,” the man said coldly. His face was close to hers. Too close. Her overly sensitive sense of smell revolted at the stink of his breath. Glancing over his shoulders, he shouted something at the other two men.

Unable to focus for long, her mind wandered off randomly as her eyes fluttered shut. Did any of her family survive? She did not remember sensing any of them near her. Perhaps they were in another room. Surely it was not just her? Or maybe Manticore had arrived before these guys managed to get the rest?

She felt herself being roughly shaken awake. Blinking, she opened her eyes. Someone was standing in front of her holding something in his hand.

Then it began.

The first lash hit her suspended arm. She hissed in pain, but refused to scream. They were going to torture the information out of her, but she had been trained to resist this. She could take what they dished out.

The air around her sifted just a moment before the second lash impacted her midsection with a loud thwack. Swallowing a scream of pain, she tried desperately to remember what she was meant to do in these sorts of situations. But her mind refused to cooperate.

The sound of the whip slicing through the air reached her ears again. Her legs buckled under the impact. Still, she refused to scream.

The fourth, fifth and sixth lash came in rapid succession. And after that, she stopped counting. She could not think past the pain in her body. Her entire skin felt like it was on fire. She locked her screams inside, swallowing them, not letting them escape past her lips.

 It was all she could do.

She did not know how long it lasted. The blows seemed endless as the mocking laughter echoed in her ears.

Finally, she let out a small whimper.

With an agonised groan, Max broke away from her memories. She shut her eyes briefly, trying to dislodge the horrifying images from her mind. It was useless. They kept coming back to haunt her. Every time she thought that she had it under control, it came back to torture her.

She could not remember how long it had taken for her to regain consciousness once she was back in Manticore. But when she had awoken, she had been bombarded with questions. She had answered some, painfully reliving the memories, but some, she just could not answer.

That was how she had came to the conclusion that part of her memories were missing. Something nagged at her, telling her that it was important. But what could it be? All her attempts at trying to regain those missing parts had only resulted in more nightmares.

She supposed that Lydecker and Sandoval could have sent her Psy-Ops to help deal with those nightmares. Max snorted inwardly. There was no way she was going to let Psy-Ops mess with her memories, taking away what she remembered of Unit 2. That was all she had left of her family, and she intended to keep it that way. Even if it meant that she had to deal with the nightmares.

Strangely enough, Lydecker and Sandoval did not even mention Psy-Ops in all this time.

“Max?” Biggs finally ventured softly.

She lifted her eyes to find Biggs watching her, concern etched over his handsome features. They were sitting on her bed, both deep in their own thoughts. She had hesitated over the decision to let him in, but Biggs had been persistent. But at least it was only him and not the entire unit. She had heard him telling them to leave, and for that, she was grateful. In her state, she was in no condition to greet a large group.

“It’s nothing, Biggs. Just bad dreams.”

Biggs nodded slightly and placed a hand over hers. “Get them often?”

Looking down at his larger hand enveloping hers, she shook her head mutely. It was strange that she did not feel like pulling away. Maybe she needed more human contact than she had realised. A bitter smile graced her lips.

“You shouldn’t lock your door like that,” he chastised her gently.

“It’s safer,” she replied quietly.

His brows shot up. “For what? And why?”

She hesitated, unsure whether she should tell him. Finally, with a sigh, she relented. “For you all. The dreams… they’ve caused problems before.”

“Back in Wyoming?”

Turning away from him, her eyes adopted a faraway look. “I never used to lock the door. But once, I had a dream. When I finally came to my senses, I was holding a guy, a member of my unit at that time, against the wall. I had beaten him up so bad that he was pronounced unfit for assignments for the next one week,” she finished, her disgust with her own actions unhidden.

There was a moment of silence before Biggs spoke. “Hey, it’s not that easy to take us down, you know?” he joked lightly.

She gave him a pained smiled. “Still…I don’t think I want to take the risk.”

He looked thoughtful. “Now that you’ve told me, I could be more careful. I’ll just prod you awake from a safe distance. With a pole or something.”

Max felt her lips twitch. Biggs attempt at making her feel better was actually working. And he had not shied away from her.

Yet.

What about the rest? They were bound to be curious. Max sighed, wondering how she should tell them. She felt like she owed it to them.

“It is okay if I tell the rest?” Biggs asked carefully. “Locking the door is not a good idea, by the way. Makes us think that you’re locking us out. Very antisocial, you know.”

Max gave him a sharp look, the gentle admonishment not lost on her.

Biggs raised an eyebrow. “So, what do you say?”

Closing her eyes briefly, she nodded wordlessly.

The warm summer months slowly faded, giving way to a colder, crispier autumn. Leaves began to flutter off the trees surrounding the facility, littering the ground with a carpet of yellow, orange and brown.

Almost three months had passed since she had joined Unit 6, the thought flitted through Max’s mind as she headed towards Lydecker’s room. Now, it seemed that they finally would go on an assignment. She was surprised that it took so long for Lydecker to assign them a job.

She was looking forward to it. Looking forward to getting out there. She missed having the adrenaline pumping through her veins, her legs pumping the ground, stretching her skills and taking down the bad guys.

But a part of her still feared. The part which remembered the way her old unit had been scattered lifelessly around the ruins. She blinked and strengthened her resolve. She was not going to let the same thing happen to her new unit, she vowed fiercely.

And provided the new assignment was not in a desert, she would be fine.

She lifted a hand and knocked on Lydecker’s door. At his call to enter, she opened the door and went in.

“You wanted to see me?”

Looking up at her from his seated position, Lydecker nodded. “I take it you heard about the mission.”

“Yeah.”  She hesitated for a beat before she asked cautiously, “It’s not a desert run, is it?”

Lydecker shook his head. “Far from it.” He stood up and walked towards her. “How are things going?”

Max frowned at the uncharacteristic question. “It’s okay,” she replied warily.

He looked into her eyes. “Your unit treating you well?”

She nodded. “They’re good.”

Lydecker looked thoughtful. “Nightmares still bothering you?”
 

Max sighed. “Don’t they always?”

“Do you remember anything else?”

She shrugged. “No. Just the same old ones.” Giving Lydecker a suspicious look, she asked, “What’s going on? Why all the questions?”

“I’m just concerned about your wellbeing.” He quirked an eyebrow, but the innocent look on his face did not fool her. The man was up to something, she could tell.

“What is it, Deck?”

Sighing, he returned to his desk and shook his head. “I told you. It’s nothing. We have a briefing in a short while. You should head to the briefing room.”

He changed the subject. Frowning deeply, Max deliberated whether she should push the issue. And then, noting the uncompromising look on Lydecker’s face, she relented and gave him a curt nod.

Stepping out of the door, she realised that this was not the first time she had been asked those questions. Sandoval had occasionally prodded her about it when she had been based in Wyoming. It was odd, she thought as she made a beeline towards the briefing room.

When she finally arrived, she found that a few of her unit was already there. The small, windowless room has a projector up front. It was already running in anticipation of their arrival. Her eyes locked with Alec’s briefly before she took her usual seat beside Biggs.

She twisted around when Biggs nudged her side and pointed to the screen. “Looks like we’re heading for the tropics,” he remarked happily.

Her eyes went to the front of the room, noting a map of South-East Asia projected onto the white screen. At that point, the rest of the unit turned up.

“Looks like it,” she replied.

Biggs rubbed his hands in glee. “Hope we’re going to be staying in a good hotel.”

“We’re going on a mission, Biggs,” Alec pointed out dryly from the other side of Biggs. “And knowing Lydecker, he’d probably make us camp in the rainforest.”

Max suppressed a grin at Biggs deflated expression. “Cheer up,” she said, nudging him lightly.

“Tropics with no air conditioning,” Biggs sighed dejectedly. Then he looked at her beseechingly. “Perhaps you’d care to share a sleeping bag with me, you know, to keep me safe from the tigers.”

Max gave him a light punch. “There won’t be any tigers,” she retorted, purposely skipping over the sleeping bag part.

Biggs had taken to making these sorts of comments lately, and she did not know what to make of it. Was he joking, or was he trying to tell her something? Biggs by nature was the easygoing, lighthearted type, which made it even harder for her to tell if he was serious.

Yeah, like it was any easier to read her CO. Alec was just as bad. Come to think of it, Alec possessed the same sort of character, but it was tempered by something. She could only catch glimpses of the carefree Alec on rare occasions. Perhaps being a CO made him feel as if he should control himself more than the others.

She shook herself inwardly. For a while now, for some unknown reason, she had been prone to falling into these musing sessions on Alec. Was it because of Ben? Was it because she missed her family and Alec looked like Ben?

She had to stop thinking about him. It got her nowhere and every time she associated Ben with Alec, she felt the approach of a headache.

The door opened. Lydecker stepped in and nodded at them. Picking up the controls, he began to outline the mission.

The extraction mission was simple.

Two expatriates from the States had been captured by the opposition militant group not only for ransom, but to create enough chaos in the already shaky governing body of the small South-East Asia country. From the intel provided by the ruling government, who was unable to do anything without jeopardising their own backsides, Manticore learnt that the opposition was holding the two expatriates deep in the forest.

Unit 6 would be based on a small, private resort owned by one of Manticore’s sub-firms. The resort was close enough to the rainforest hideout occupied by their target. Alec already had it all planned and had ran his strategies past Brain. With the Battle Processor Unit’s approval, they were all set to go. All they had to do now was to finish packing, Alec thought as he glanced at the rest of his unit in the Armoury.

They were picking their own choices of weapons, inspecting each with practiced ease. Alec’s eyes automatically went to Max, as they tended to do of late, whether consciously or otherwise.

Biggs, again, was glued to her side, pointing out the pros and cons of each weapon. Alec grimaced. He was sure that Max did not need her Second in Command to tell her which weapon to use. Her training and mission data sheets had told him confirmed that she was more than capable of selecting the appropriate weapons.

And Biggs knew it, simply because he was there when Alec had gone through Max’s technical background when they were strategising. The guy was obviously more than smitten with Max, Alec thought, trying to push away the feeling of disgruntlement at the idea.

“Biggs,” he called out sharply.

Biggs snapped around to look at him questioningly. “Yeah?”

Alec tossed him a file. “Can you fill in the weapons sign-out?”

Biggs caught the file. Looking down, he frowned. “But that’s Thena’s-”

“She’s busy,” Alec interjected quickly, gesturing at Thena, who was sitting at the bench inspecting her guns.

Wearing a mildly puzzled expression, Biggs just shrugged and moved away from Max.

Turning his attention back to his own packing, Alec busied himself loading his backpack with the necessary items. It was not long before his eyes homed in on Max again. Surprise flashed across his face when he noted what she was packing.

“What are you doing?” Alec asked as he followed her movements. Why was she stuffing so many grenades in the backpack?

The rest of them paused and looked on curiously. Max carried on as if nothing was out of place.

“Getting prepared,” she replied without looking at him, her absent tone grating on his nerves.

Alec scowled. He knew they were not best friends, but the least she could do was to look at him when she spoke to him.  Then he stopped his thoughts short. Come to think of it, she had been doing that. Just not today. It seemed to him that the closer they approached the assignment, the more withdrawn she was becoming.

“Gee, Max. It’s not like we’re going into a war zone or something,” Ren commented in an uncertain voice. “We’re up against a small group of pissed off politicians.”

“I’m sure they have back-up,” Max said flatly.

Alec stepped next to her, his hand stilling hers as she was about to drop another grenade into the bag. “Ren has a point. We’ve got guns and a couple of grenades each. That should be enough.”

Max looked up at him. “How sure are we that it’s not going to turn out like a war zone?” she asked calmly.

Taken aback, Alec just stared at her for a second before he managed to reply. “Well, the intel suggests nothing of that sort.”

Max snorted. “Yeah, and the intel’s always accurate, isn’t it?”

Frowning, Thena laid a hand on Max’s arm. Alec’s eyes narrowed as Max froze at the touch. And then he relaxed when he saw the apologetic look Max gave to the other X5. Good, she did not hurt Thena’s feelings.

“Max, the extra grenades will weigh us down,” Thena said, concerned.

“The extra grenades might save our lives,” Max said firmly.

Biggs held out his hands. “Hey, it’s only a couple more grenades each, right? It’s no big deal,” he said with a forced laugh.

“Yeah,” Alec muttered uncertainly. Was she being extra cautious because of what had happened to her unit? He looked her over, noting the tense line of her shoulders. That must be why she had been behaving stranger than usual today.

Max sighed heavily. “Look. It’s just an extra precaution, alright?”

“Why not bring the rocket launcher as a precaution as well,” Ren grumbled good-naturedly. “Wipe out the entire place with one blow.”

Max pointed at a black box which contained the rocket launcher. “Yeah, that as well,” she said deadpanned.

Ren stilled, his eyes bugging out. “What?”

Alec watched with surprise when Max’s lips curved. “Just kidding.”

Biggs grinned. “Hey, you’re developing a sense of humour.”

Max glowered at him. “What are you trying to say, Biggs?”

As they began to bicker lightly, the rest joined in, breaking the tension. Alec shook his head in resignation.  Well, so long as they were prepared. Right?

It took them more than half a day to fly to their destination. Once there, they met up with their local Manticore contact and were issued the necessary information before they retired to their respective rooms.

The resort was beautiful, Max thought as she walked past the pots of pink and yellow bougainvillea lining the two sides of the bamboo framed outdoor walkway. The midday sun was blindingly bright, bathing her surroundings in an almost unnatural glow. A small monkey jumped in front of her, looking at her curiously before it jumped away again, making her smile.

She glanced up at the rest of her unit. The humid heat meant that all of them were dressed very lightly. Involuntarily, her eyes went to Alec.

He was wearing a fitted light blue sleeveless top with black shorts, displaying the well-formed muscles of his arms and his calves. When her eyes landed on his firm backside, Max quickly tore her eyes away. All her wayward thoughts of Alec were most disconcerting.

She continued to follow the rest until they turned the corner. In front of her, there was a large, single storey building. Pushing the entrance door open, Alec gestured for them to go in. There were sixteen rooms, split by a central corridor, Max noted as she stepped in.

To her surprise, Max found her room situated next to Alec’s. She looked up to find him staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“Get some rest. We’ll be regrouping in five hours,” he told her gruffly before he disappeared into his room.

Shrugging, Max went into her room and prepared herself for the night ahead.

Fourteen hours later, Max found herself elbowing her way along the damp forest floor beside Silt.

It took them exactly three hours and seventeen minutes to locate the hideout and twenty-nine minutes to extract the prisoners.

Simple.

Until one of the militants who were guarding the place raised the alarm.

Then everything became chaotic as Alec gave the order to evacuate.

Three miles away from the hideout, Alec and his team approached a small waterfall. Dawn was approaching. They should be here by now. He looked around and exhaled a breath of relief when he saw the shadowy shapes of Biggs leading the other team to the rendezvous point.

“Everything okay?” Alec asked, looking over Biggs’ team as they ran past him, merging into a complete unit again.

Falling behind to join Alec, Biggs nodded. “We got two.” He gestured at a man and a woman in the midst of his team.

“Good. We got three. There were more than we expected, but I guess we couldn’t just leave them.”

“We need to speed up,” Ren said. “The chopper’s supposed to be at Point B soon.”

Alec nodded and looked around again, and then his heart stilled when he noticed that they were one short. “Damn it! Where’s Max?”

Hefting the injured politician up higher on his shoulders, Silt frowned. “I could have sworn that she was right beside me when you gave that order.”

 

A feeling of dread came over him. No, not again, Alec thought in apprehension. A feeling of deja-vu washed over him.

“Damn it! She’s supposed to be with you, Ren! Where is she? We got to move out.”

A flustered looking Ren replied, “I don’t know, Alec. She was here a minute ago. She was right beside me.”

Alarmed, Alec looked around the casino. The crowd made it hard for him to spot her. With a grimace, he told Ren, “Head out to the rendezvous point. I’ll find her.”

Silently, Ren nodded as Alec walked off casually.

He finally found her behind their target, a tall, distinguished Italian man who was busy tossing chips down on the table. His lips tightening, he strode towards her. She saw him coming and casually detached himself from the man with a flirtatious smile.

When she passed him, he hissed angrily, “You were supposed to stay with Ren.”

Her chin lifted stubbornly. “I had a good chance back there.”

He gave her an incredulous look. “We got to go. He knows someone’s here. His bodyguards are all over the place. What are you going to do by yourself, huh? Follow him up into his room?”

Her eyes flashed. “Why, you sound almost jealous, Alec,” she drawled coldly.

He gave her a warning look. “This is not the time for that, Sam.”

Her smile was bitter. “It’s never the right time, is it?”

“This is definitely not the right time. We’re on an assignment,” he gritted out.

She gave him a hurt look. “You’re the one letting it affect our assignments, Alec. What happened to being partners?” And then, without another word, she turned and walked away.

Alec shook his head, trying to clear the image of Sam’s expression from his mind. Keep your head in the game, soldier. This was no time for remembrance. This was a different mission. And he had kept Max close to him by assigning her to his team.

But where the hell was she now? She must have fallen behind or something and in the chaos, no one noticed.

Alec gestured back where they came from. “You go ahead. Get Payton, Brown and the women into the chopper and try to stop their bleeding. I’m going back to find her.”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Biggs declared resolutely, “I’ll come with you.”

 

Alec looked ahead to find that the rest was already some distance away. “No. Someone needs to lead.”

Reluctantly, Biggs assented and ran forward to join the rest.

Hoping that he was not too late, Alec went back on his tracks. The faint sound of gunshots served as a beacon. He blurred across the forest floor, hardly feeling the snap of branches against his body.

The sound was beginning to get louder. He was close.

Then his transgenic vision homed in on her in the distance.

Stood in a clearing, she was surrounded by the militants. There were eleven of them against her. But it did not seem to bother her. Even from that distance, he could see the smirk on her face.

He went cold with apprehension. What the hell did she think she was doing? Was she trying to kill herself?

The sound of rifles being reloaded spurred him into action. As he blurred towards her, the men released their rounds. A small, shaking figure at her feet came into his vision.

But Max had already dodged out of the firing path, taking the small figure with her. Then she spun around, taking down two men with a sweep of her legs. Grabbing their rifles, she aimed and shot another three in the head.

“Max!” he yelled to no avail. She carried on as if she had not heard him.

As he got closer, he could see the expression on her face. To his astonishment, apart from the expression of utter concentration, there was also a hint of wild determination in her eyes. Something feral. Like she did not care whether she lived or not.

As she rammed the butt of her now-empty rifle up into the jaw of one militant, another one caught hold of the small figure beside Max. A terrified scream pierced the air. A girl, Alec realised with surprise. In an instant, Max had the militant’s neck in her hand. A sickening crack sounded and the man slumped to the side, allowing the girl to escape.

Angry shouts in the distance signalled the approach of a fresh bunch of militants. As they got closer, Alec’s eyes widened in horror as Max pulled out two grenades.

She was too close, he thought. It was going to hit her. “Max!!!” he yelled desperately. “Don’t do it!”

If she had heard him, she did not show it. Instead, she tossed the grenades at the oncoming militants. Wrapping herself protectively around the small girl, she threw herself in the opposite direction.

A large explosion rocked the ground. A few trees collapsed, pinning some unfortunate militants beneath its weight.

Looking around wildly, Alec continued his headlong rush forward. Come on, he urged himself. Then he exhaled a breath of relief when he saw Max staggering to her feet, cradling the girl in her arms.

He scanned the area. Four to go, Alec counted as he reached the clearing.

One of the militants spotted him. Alec zigzagged towards him, sidestepping the bullets. With a twist of his arms, Alec relieved the surprised militant of his rifle and smashed the butt over his head.

A bullet zipped past dangerously close to his ear. Flipping the rifle, he spun around and released two shots into the shooter’s chest. The sound of the shot echoed around them, and then the other man fell down with a thud.

Alec lowered his gun, but his entire body was still tense.

An ominous silence surrounded him.

The militants’ bodies littered the ground.  A quick scan told Alec that there were sixteen of them. But there was no sign of the one he was looking for. His eyes widened in alarm. Where was Max?

“Max!” he yelled, uncaring that his voice contained a hint of desperation.

“MAX!”

“We’re here,” her voice sounded some distance away.

She was alive, he thought, exhaling loudly. Brushing the branches out of his way, Alec ran in the direction of her voice.

He found her crouching over the still-shaking girl, holding her Manticore-issue water canister to the dirt-streaked girl’s cracked lips. He was sure that Max sensed his presence, but she did not look up. Her attention was solely on the girl.

Silently, he ran his eyes over her. No sign of damage, he noted with relief.

All of a sudden, he felt his anger rise. He did not remember ever feeling as angry as he did now.

Pushed beyond his limits, Alec shouted, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? NEVER run off like that by yourself again! Is that clear, soldier?”

Startled by his harsh words, the girl whimpered and shrank closer to Max.

Max turned around with a frown as she helped the girl up onto her feet. “I hear you fine, Alec. You don’t have to shout.” Her voice was calm.

Irritated beyond belief, he gestured back towards the clearing. “You could have gotten yourself killed back there. What the hell was that about? I specifically gave instructions to evacuate. We got what we came for.”

She did not answer. Instead, she started walking, the girl propped at her side.

Glowering, Alec stepped behind her. “I’m talking to you, Max,” he hissed in warning.

Her steps not faltering, she glanced over her shoulders at him. “Do you mind waiting until we get back to base before you lecture me?”

Alec glanced at the girl in Max’s arm and gritted his teeth. “Fine,” he relented grudgingly.

She leaned back against the seat and sighed in relief.

The girl was alright. The way she had been tied up against the wall brought back bad memories. Memories which she had fervently wished remained buried somewhere unreachable. The shackles, the dirty wall and the smell of blood and urine in the room. Everything had been almost identical to what she herself had been subjected to. The only difference was, someone had been there to save the girl. The girl did not have to fend for herself.

Max turned to the side to look at the sleeping girl. She was young, probably around seventeen. Max could guess what the girl had gone through. Thinking back to the wounds she had just dressed earlier, Max grimaced. No, she knew what had been done to the girl. How could those animals do that to the girl?

Her anger surged and she clenched her fists. The sudden tightening of her muscles delivered a shot of piercing pain through her upper arm and shoulders. She winced, knowing that she had damaged it when the impact from the grenade threw her against the tree. Her arm was not the only thing hurting. She knew without even checking that the pain in the fleshy part of her thigh could mean only one thing; a bullet lodged in it. And not to mention her head felt like it had been chewed up.

Now that the adrenaline had dissipated, she could feel every ache in her abused body. Great.

The sound of the helicopter blades and the thrumming of the engine were not helping.

She felt a pair of eyes on her but she refused to look in that direction. Who else could it be but Alec?

She closed her eyes.

Alec was angry and she understood why. She had taken a risk, but she had made sure that all of them had left before she turned back to save the girl. Keeping the rest of the unit away from that risk had been something that she had consciously set out to do. There was no way she would let herself be a part of another tragedy.

He was still staring at her, she could feel it. She was surprised that he had respected her words enough to let it rest for the moment. He would tell her off later, she was sure of it.

It took them another hour before they reached the private resort. The chopper landed on the small landing pad at the top of the administration building, the decreasing sound of the rotors bringing relief to its occupants. Almost instantly, Silt and Laney opened the door and dashed out.

Alec turned to Ren, “Can you get the girl some help?”

Ren nodded, carefully lifting the sleeping girl off the seat into his arm. Alec watched intently as the girl moaned, but did not awaken. She left the chopper cradled in Biggs’ arm.

Alec turned around to find that Max was already on her way out. They were the last two. With a frown, he noticed that she was wincing as she walked. He did not realise that she had sustained damage.

“You’re hurt,” he stated flatly.

She glanced briefly at him. “It’s nothing. The medics can fix it easily,” she replied as she jumped off the chopper, staggering a little.

He followed behind her. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?” he asked, annoyed at her nonchalance. They could have patched her up in the chopper.

She shrugged as she walked gingerly across the flat roof, but she did not answer.

Alec’s eyes narrowed. “Is it so hard for you to just follow orders and procedures?” he asked, walking through the door and down the stairs behind her.

“I’m not being difficult on purpose, Alec,” she said wearily, her tone of voice instilling a feeling of guilt in him.

He hardened his resolve. “Then what is it? First, you just broke off from us, and then, you did not report your injury. What are you trying to prove?”

She halted mid-step and glared at him. “Look, Alec. First of all, I turned back because I can’t just leave her there. Can’t you understand?” Her agitated voice echoed through the empty stairwell.
 

Alec snorted. “I understand your reasons. But you can’t just go off like that on your own. It wasn’t hard to get one of us to go with you.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “It’s risky. There’s no reason to put everyone in danger.”

His eyes flashed. “So it’s okay for you to put yourself in danger? What’s wrong with you, Max?”

She stiffened visibly. “Look, I’m not going to apologise for doing something right.”

“Right? Doing something right?” His voice rose in disbelief. “What’s right about running headlong into danger? What’s right about disobeying a direct order?”

“You heard my reasons. I’m not justifying myself to you again.”

He grabbed her arm and leaned close to her. “Listen, Max. We’re soldiers. Soldiers take orders,” he hissed.

“Whatever,” she said disinterestedly, rolling her eyes.

As he bristled with anger, she snatched her arm from his grasp and continued to walk down the stairs. Alec growled. This was the second time in as many hours that he felt like he was going to completely lose his temper with the stubborn woman. If she thought that he was going to let her off that easily, she was sorely mistaken. His face set in determined lines, he strode after her.

“You’re not walking away until we’re done talking!” he snapped, his hands clenched into fists.

Ignoring him, she continued to walk.

His anger rose by several notches, hitting the limit of his endurance. Blurring down the stairs, he grabbed her arm again and forcibly twisted her around to face him.

“You’re going to obey orders whether you like it or not, soldier!” he snarled into her face.

“Let me go, Alec,” she gritted out, her voice carrying an unmistakeable hint of warning.

He shook her roughly. “Not until I make you see sense.”

“I said, let go!” she snapped furiously, trying to twist out of his grip unsuccessfully. Her small hands pressed against his chest.

Their eyes clashed, both flushed from the heated argument. Alec swallowed as his eyes landed on her slightly parted lips.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Before he realised what he was doing, his head swooped down to crush her lips under his.

t.b.c.

A/N: Anger makes people do uncharacteristic things…(:Grins evilly:)…I know, I know, this is a bad place to leave the chapter. Anyway, hope you’ll be kind enough to leave me a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! Thanks!

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