Episode XXI
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:19 am
Aftermath of War Episode XXI
When Nicholas placed his hand on the king’s head, Max felt the burning invasion and bravely fought back anyway he could… which, as it turned out, wasn't much, much less enough. It almost felt as if Nicholas's fingers were inside his brain, sorting through his brain cells for the ones that stored the location of the Granolith. The longer this went on, the less able Max was to fight. Nicholas smirked down at him. "Give up, Max. You're never going to rule again."
Liz had tried to race over when Ava had been pulled from her perch but Zan had held her back. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other raised in ready to fight. He had seen Ava fall as well but he knew she could take care of herself. A thundering of feet behind him made him whirl, throwing Liz around with him like a rag doll. It was just the humans running for cover in the cars. Whirling back to the action, he approached the alley slowly but determined to end this once and for all. Liz had no choice but to try and keep up because Zan would just pick her up and set her on her feet when she lost footing. Isabel, Michael and Rath raced up behind the buildings shouting but they were too far away for him to make out what they were saying. He had just edged around far enough to see Nicholas mindraping Max and his sister just standing there when Liz let out a scream. "No!"
The explosion sent a bright light over everything, stealing sight and hearing. It grew brighter and louder, stunning every until they couldn’t even feel themselves being knocked off their feet. Debris rained down on everything and everyone. Kyle came to first; he had landed inside his car in the back seat. He threw his arms over his face, even as he struggled to breathe air not contaminated by dust and skin flakes. Then he panicked; he’d had Maria's hand just before he had gone flying through the air. Through pain and blindness, he managed to pull himself into a position to see outside the car. He could see Alex lying on the ground nearby but he couldn't find Maria. Panic was the only thing in his heart and mind when he couldn’t find her anywhere.
Max gasped for breath, when his eyes opened, Liz was hovering over him. He couldn't hear a word she said though he could hear the muted rumble of the explosion settling. The smells of singed hair and flesh met his nostrils but not the scent he had smelled through the whole ride up to Copper Summit. There was a flurry of activity around him that he could hear but not whatever words were pouring out of her mouth. He could feel the ash falling on his skin and the pain in his leg but not the touch of her hands on his skin. Then she was gone. "Liz?"
Zan knelt over Liz and tried to wake her up. He kept talking but he couldn’t even hear himself speak much less make sure she could hear him. When he had come to, she had been clenching his arm very tightly but laying very still. His ears rung and his body was using a lot of energy to heal any injuries he had accrued during their short flight to the ground. If only he could get Liz to wake up. "C'mon. Get up. Get up. Hey, Sweetness. Wake up." There was nothing wrong with her that he could see but she wouldn't move. Suddenly, after several long, worrisome minutes, she gasped and opened her eyes to his sweaty, dirty face. "On your feet, Sweetie. We got some work to do."
"Where's Max? He's hurt." She rasped out as loud as she could muster just to be heard in her own ears. Her head rung with a hum she knew could not really exist. Flexing her jaw, she tried to get rid of it.
"Well, come on." He got them to their feet and once more tucked her into his side. He had to hurry. It looked as if Nicholas was recovering… not to mention all the Skins stumbling out of their hiding places. There, against that building, Max had a scythe sticking out of his leg but that would have to wait. Zan moved over him and stomped on Nicholas's hip. The boy groaned but nothing happened. "What the fuck?"
"You really think I'd design my husk the same as everyone else's?" Nicholas laughed and attempted to get up. "You might have stopped everyone else but you'll never stop me."
"You really think I'm that stupid?" Zan reached back and ripped the scythe from Max's leg and whipped it deep across the alien leader's chest. There was a tiny gasp of air before he disintegrated before their eyes. "I got skills, kid." He marched onto the street and took in all the groggy skins standing in the midst of the fallen debris. "Rath! Let's get busy. No Skin leaves alive. Max dies and you ain't goin' nowheres." He bent and gripped Lannie's arm. "Git up and fight or I'm killin' you now." Moving forward, he let loose seven blasts in all directions to keep the Skins off their feet. "Ava! Get the other one and work somethin' special for me, babe!"
Liz watched in horror as the fighting began. She had been unable to reach for Max when she had the chance and watching Zan dispatch the alien leader had stunned her into quick compliance in whatever Zan wanted her to do. Clinging to Zan as he used both hands to simultaneously attack and defend, she watched it all. When she could gather her thoughts she would look up at Zan and wonder what exactly he and Max had talked about that he was so unwilling to let her out of his sight. If anything, Zan should be closer to Max. She should be back with Maria, Alex and Kyle… not in the middle of the battle field. The only thing she could figure was that all these things that Max knew… he hadn't shared anything he knew about her with her. When she had been about to point out the lack of strategy in her presence up front, his eyes locked with hers and he shook his head.
The smell of sweat called her attention to the hard body she clung to, too afraid and too trusting to run away from him. Zan swore like one pushing their limits. The sweat poured down his face, darkened his shirt. Liz stared up at him, realizing for the first time what a physical toll these powers took on her friends. Every once in a while, those fierce amber eyes met hers to make sure she was fine but didn’t dare linger too long on the concerned brown eyes. She turned her head to look at Max and her vision blurred, her head spun and she was falling. Zan lowered his shield without thinking to pull her back to him and barely regenerated the green shimmer to save them both from a deadly blast. “Don’t you move, Swee’ pea. Stay wit me, hold on tight.”
Rath and Michael threw huge blasts into the Skins to weaken and kill off the closer ones. No matter what, they kept advancing. Not to be outdone by his dupe, Michael kept his feet planted beneath him and did his best to keep the enemy from getting too close for comfort. Michael looked towards Zan and saw how hard the guy was fighting and didn't miss the fact he seemed to be specifically protecting Liz. The thoughts of the future couple in his apartment fueled him to fight even harder. He'd be damned if he left Liz to the mercy of this Zan and Rath and the sooner this got done, the sooner they could check on Max.
Lannie used her mind to pull heavy objects from behind the Skins to hit them across their seals. Flakes flew into the air and settled over them all. Every once in a while she cast a glance at her brother and how protective he was over Max's girl. Nicholas was gone but that didn't mean there wasn't wiggle room. Nobody left in Copper Summit was even close to being next in line to Nicholas but she knew the plan… but right now being on Zan's good side was a good idea.
Isabel stood just behind Zan and threw energy against anyone she felt got too near to them for safety. She created a barrier against anyone trying to get to Max, who still lay amongst the debris bleeding and moaning. She wanted so much to get to him and see what she could do but it was more important to keep him safe. It wouldn't do any good to be right next to him when the sneaky Skin got them unaware. She met Lannie's eyes only once and she didn't like what she saw in those scheming eyes. Not knowing what else to do, she did her best to protect what she felt was the front line on her side of this war.
Ava was ready. She and Tess knew exactly what they had to do. There was only one chance and they had to do it together. Taking their places on either side of Zan, they gathered their energy. Eyes closed and hands out, the tiny girls bowed their heads in concentration. Liz couldn't believe her eyes when an inferno erupted in front of her without burning a single thing. Something so intense that it popped the seals on the remaining Skins but left all flammable objects untouched but for the blasts erupting from Rath and Michael.
With the immediate threat removed, Ava and Tess sank to their identical knees in complete exhaustion. Tess had taken her cue from Ava; she could barely comprehend her part in committing genocide. Her eyes found the pink-haired girl and just stared. How much did the girl know about the powers they shared? How had she learned? What exactly had they just done?
Adrenaline feeding the desire to destroy, Michael followed Rath into the nearest building to hunt for any cowardly Skins that had hidden during the battle that could officially be called over and won by the forces of good. This power, it scared Michael and it scared him even more to see that Rath looked so completely at ease with the turn of events. They were both covered in sweat but Rath managed to look as if he had no problems breathing. Michael let the dupe take point while he made good work of double checking the rooms.
Isabel paused to take in all the destruction. It brought tears to her eyes. The town was beautiful in its own way but now it would be forever haunted by the memory of war. Snapping to, she raced for her brother’s still body. So much blood pooled beneath his leg. His skin had faded to a pasty sort of yellow. Tears spilled down her face when his shuddering breaths reached her ears. “Oh my god, Max…” His eyes fluttered but he did not make any other response that could be interpreted as consciousness. Kneeling, Isabel’s hands hovered over his torn, bleeding leg, not sure what, if anything, she could or should do.
Liz stared up into Zan's face. His is jaw was set, face hard, and his eyes scanning the carnage and breathing heavily. She could tell he didn’t see the wood splinters and crushed cars anymore, eyes still a little wild as the adrenaline faded. Sweat ceased to pour continuously down his face, but she knew, somehow just knew, that he was less than okay after so much exertion. His shirt was drenched with sweat, soaking her shirt as well since she had never moved after he had ceased fire. "Zan, are you okay?"
"I's level, sweetness. Just need to catch my breath." Suddenly, he sagged and Liz had to rush to keep him from falling completely to the ground.
"Somebody…" Liz called back. Lannie came to the rescue but Zan shrugged her off and struggled to stay on his own feet while Liz led him to Max.
The pool of blood had grown considerably under Max's torn leg, the damage just as much from the scythe landing as from Zan yanking it out to fix the Nicholas situation. Isabel was crying and her hands continued to hover between Max's leg and her mouth. "Liz, I don't know what to do. Nothing like this has ever happened."
Easing Zan to the ground, Liz looked over Max’s would than at Max’s face. A sheen of sweat covered the pale features. She couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, or if he was even aware of anything around him anymore. "Max? Can you hear me? Can you fix this?" His eyebrow twitched upward but other than that, there was no sign that he had even heard her. "Zan, give me your belt." When he didn’t move, her eyes shifted to Max’s dupe. Zan was fading quickly as the adrenaline allowed his heartbeat to slow and his body to process the damage of the day. Reaching over, she grabbed Isabel’s hands to hold Max’s gash closed. “I need you to hold that together. Can you do that?”
When Isabel nodded and did as told, Liz turned to Zan and made him look her in the eye. “I’m going to take off your belt, okay?” He nodded and managed to hold his shirt out of her way. Talking aloud but to herself, Liz tried to pretend that she wasn’t the only one moving on. If she didn’t take charge, no one else that could be trusted could or would. “I’m going to try to stop the bleeding with a tourniquet. The least we can do is stop Max from losing anymore blood,” She explained as she wrapped the belt around Max’s thigh and pulled it tighter than she thought she should after Max let out a pain-filled moan. Liz grimaced when she realized how high up the scythe had actually entered his leg. She might not be able to cut off the circulation the way she would have liked. "Max, try and stay with us." Yanking off the shirt she had on, she ripped it to long shreds, cleaning the wound as well as she could before fashioning a crude bandage over the gaping injury. She had Isabel hold the dressing in place as she slid the belt to the top of the bandage and pulled it as tight as she could before wrapping the excess around his thigh. She instructed Isabel to fuse the strap to itself to secure the bandage. Taking inventory of her able bodies, she realized she would need help to get her patients to the cars. "Kyle! You still back there?"
"I can't find Maria!" Kyle’s panicked voice called back.
The tears fell; Liz couldn't help it. Max could die from blood loss, Zan was out of commission, as were Ava and Tess, and now Maria was missing and Isabel was incapable of doing anything more than exactly as she was told. She couldn’t trust Lannie or Rath anymore than she could lift them. That only left Michael, Kyle and maybe Alex, the latter of which she had heard nothing about, yet. Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself to take the lead. They had to take what they could now and worry about what could wait later. Triage, wasn’t it? That’s what they did in the field during a war. "Come help please! We'll find Maria in a minute."
Kyle and Alex came running. "What happened to him?"
"Let's get him into one of the cars, whichever will be most comfortable and we can keep his leg elevated." Liz's mind raced with all kinds of first aid information but she was missing something, she was sure. "Be careful with him." Wiping the tears from her face, smearing blood on her cheeks in the process, Liz rose to her feet. "Let's get Ava and Tess into the cars."
Isabel nodded and went to help the nearest of the girls, after a moment Lannie went for the other one. Pulling Zan to his feet, Liz struggled to get him back to the cars. When they finally made it out, Max had been put in the back of the Mustang and Alex had begun the search for Maria. "She couldn't have flown much farther than either one of us."
"I landed in the car." Kyle stripped off his shirt and gave it to Liz to cover her body more modestly. "Alex against it. Maria's light, she would flown farther than any of us but those woods don't look too inviting."
Zan lowered himself into the Mustang with Max and took his time glancing around when his vision allowed it. The sun had begun its descent to the horizon already. He had no clue how long he had been sitting there when Liz showed up with two glasses of water. She vanished and appeared with two more. He watched as she nursed the four of them the best she could. Ava and Tess joined the search as the aching in their heads lessened thanks to the re-hydration. How did Liz know that would work? Occasionally, he heard the distant and muffled blasts from within the nearby buildings. He must have dozed off because as the red filled the sky, a pained voice reached his ears.
"Ow, ow, ow. Watch the leg please. I said watch the leg!" Maria screamed as she tried to direct Kyle to the Jetta without upsetting the splint on her leg.
"Zan…" Max whispered from the backseat. Zan hadn’t even realized that Max was with it anymore much less able to assess their situation any better than he could. "Get everyone together. We've been here too long. Stragglers not in town will come soon enough."
"Sweetness!" His voice sounded hoarse and strange to his own ears. "Get Mikey and Rath back here. We gotta go!"
--
Michael checked building after building with his counterpart always nearby. They didn't talk and moved as quietly as the creaky floorboards allowed. One more building and the hours of tiresome work would be done and he would begin to feel the effects of the day's work as soon as the adrenaline in his body slowed. The second he saw Liz out in the main road through a window, he raced down to find out what she wanted. "What's going on?"
"I just sent Kyle, Alex and Ava to the nearest hospital with Maria." She called out to him, wearing Zan’s shirt. What had happened to hers?
"Maria?" Michael's heart stopped. What had gone on while the rest of them were on the main street? He thought of what Future Liz had said. In order for Michael and Liz to fall for each other, Max and Maria would have to die. That’s how it started. It couldn’t happen so soon. He nearly threw Liz’s hand off when she reached out to reassure him.
"Broken leg, maybe a sprained wrist… I don’t know, I’m not a doctor” She shrugged helplessly. “Max needs to get someplace safe where he can rest. Zan is so out of it." She wiped at her face but all she did was make the dried blood more noticeable to herself. She supposed she could find that sink again and wash her face but it didn’t sound like a good idea in the failing light. She got closer to the doorway that Michael stood in so she could lower her voice a little more. "Isabel is standing watch… we need to hurry. Lannie… has been too quiet and way too helpful. Let's get going."
--
Michael kept his eyes on a 6-point check on the drive to the next town. Right side, left side, straight ahead, rearview mirror, and over his shoulder at both backseat passengers. Tess seemed to be resting next to him. Still, there was no way he wouldn't heed Liz's warning about Rath and Lannie. He looked ahead to the car in front of him.
Isabel drove but she was more concerned with how Max was doing in the backseat. They had covered him with blankets and told him to rest. Liz kept her fingers over his wrist to make sure he wasn't too far gone. Zan seemed to be regaining his strength. Turning worried brown eyes to Zan, Liz adjusted her posture so that she wasn't sitting so much on his lap. And so her arm didn’t touch so much of his bare upper chest. She had given Kyle his shirt back as not to seem suspicious at the hospital but Zan had quickly offered his up, making her just a little uncomfortable while sharing a seat with him. "What's going on, Zan?"
"Don't know what you talkin' bout." His eyes drifted to the desert passing by.
"You should have left me with Max or with Kyle but you pulled me into the middle of it all. Why did you do that?" When he didn't answer, Liz turned to Isabel, who shrugged. "Zan, how did Max know all the things he knew?"
"I's not the one to ask. Mikey and Tess know." He ducked when her legs swung over his head and she slipped down beside the backseat with Max. "How's he doin'?"
"He's still got a pulse." Liz hissed bitterly and reached to mop up the sweat that had formed on his face with the edge of the blanket they had tossed over him.
"By 'time we get to town and get 'im in a bed, I should be able to do somethin' for 'im." He tried to reassure her before he looked to Isabel. "That should fix 'im up enough for you do somethin' for him. You can, right?"
"Yeah. I can do minor." Isabel nodded, her uneasiness with her brother’s dupe lessening as the drive wore on. "Your sister… she's not nice."
"No, she's not."
--
"We could take them out from here." Rath suggested without even a hint of discretion.
"You still don't get what you wanted." Michael butt in immediately. "You need one of them to make anything work."
"What you know about it?" Lannie leaned forward, meaning to touch and flirt the way she controlled her lover, surely the same tactics applied to his dupe.
"A hell of a lot more than you do." He shrugged off her hand and then nudged Tess awake to even the odds a little. "I suggest you halt all plan making until I'm out of earshot. A threat on Max is personal to me."
--
The motel was seedy at best, the nearest hospital being in the next town, only a greasy spoon to provide sustenance and the local law enforcement just a blur on the highway. Liz made a mental note to call the hospital when she got a chance to see about Maria. Sitting in one of the two chairs in the sparse room, she stared at Max’s still form. He lay there so pale and covered in sweat.
Thinking about all she might never get to tell him shock took over. She hadn’t told him the truth and he could die thinking she and Kyle had gone to bed together. He could die thinking she couldn’t be in love with him. The thoughts sent her into the dark recesses of her busy mind.
Isabel found her second wind and set about cutting her brother’s jeans away from his wound. She had to clean him properly so he wouldn’t get any worse. She had soap and water and many towels liberated from the maid’s cart. Once his wounds were cleansed and he began to feel warm, too warm to her touch, the tears sprang to her brown eyes anew. The sweat increased the higher his temperature rose. His whole body had heated with the fever.
Zan had taken up residence at the little sink where he guzzled the bitter-tasting water like crazy. Every glass he drank had him feeling so much more energized after his near-faint at Copper Summit. Re-hydrating his body had him feeling more than able to keep his promise to do everything he possibly could for his dupe and he intended to make that promise a reality. When he was nice and thoroughly water-logged, he took a cup to the bed and used it to wet Max’s mouth. Water had helped him and it would help Max. He let the water trickle down Max’s throat to help re-hydrate the fallen and weak man, for that was what Max was now. A man who had risked his life to buy them some time, who had been injured in the line of duty, who put himself between the enemy and his friends and family.
Somewhere in her mind, Liz knew she should be up and helping but now that they were away and safe for the moment, but she couldn’t budge. Curling up into the chair, the tears fell silently while Isabel mopped up blood and Zan made Max drink water. She could not move a muscle. The horror of the day had sunk in and evil movies played in her head. The scythe deep in Max’s flesh. The sounds of metal leaving flesh and striking through an alien husk. That sound Nicholas had made as he died. It all played over and over before her unseeing eyes.
Beyond her sight, Zan laid his hands on Max’s leg and set about healing the would but quickly found that it was much harder to do that he thought it would be. A fraction of the damage had been repaired when he was spent. Frustrated, Isabel replaced him but she too was too weak to do something as power-consuming as healing. They looked at each other with heavy hearts knowing they would have to leave him and pray that Max made it through the night and that a night’s rest restored their depleted energies.
Before Liz knew it, she lay on the other bed in Zan’s arms. She realized quickly that both Isabel and Zan had exhausted themselves and that Max was still in a very bad way. Zan’s arms tightened around her body and she couldn’t even process that she should make him go away. She fell asleep in the circle of his arms, letting his body warm her cold soul from the outside in.
--
Red sunlight burned Lannie’s eyes where she stood at the water cooler facing the window in the waiting room. She had nearly drained the jug throughout the night. The Jetta sat in the parking lot below her. All alone in the parking lot because the town was so small and nothing ever happened. It was a stupid little car belonging to a stupid little girl. That Mikey had dragged the whole lot of them to the hospital after making one phone call at that dive Zan was holed up in. All of it was very stupid. All over what? Some Skins? Dead Skins. They were dying anyway… well, in another fifty years after their new husks had died. A step ahead? Hardly. They had just killed off everyone with any clue about the home world and how to get back there.
She had sent Rath to keep an eye on the little sweet tarts. What they needed was some dirt to really turn the tide. So long as he didn’t do anything stupid, it was all good. The timing was great, actually. Zan was out for the count, weaker than he had ever been before. Max was nearly out of the picture. Once Zan used the last of his reserves to heal Max, they would both be defenseless and completely harmless.
How to do it, oh how to do it. First, she needed some sleep and that much needed dirt to work with. Tess was a prime suspect. None of the humans seemed to like her much; they did take Ava instead after all.
--
Michael watched everyone sleep around the semi-private room. Kyle and Tess occupied the second bed, Alex a chair by the window and Ava lay on the floor with a blanket in the corner. He knew Rath was nearby but his priority was Maria. Once he could see for himself when she was awake that she was fine, he would go back to worrying about everything else. Maria’s leg was in traction and a thin cast covered her arm, her hair was matted to her head where a large bump had given her a concussion initially.
He must have dozed off. He had sworn he was only going to close his eyes for a few seconds but now the sun burned brightly around the shade and Maria was busy digging into her hospital food. There weren’t any clocks but Michael knew it was well on to noon. Her green eyes sized him up while she gnawed on a dry-looking chicken strip. “Is it done?”
“Think so, hope so.” He sat up and moved his chair closer. “We could call it a victory if we wanted… but I… I won’t until I know that Max is going to make it… if he doesn’t, I don’t see the point in anything we did yesterday.”
“Max? What happened to him?” She stopped eating. She had been so wrapped up in her personal injuries that she didn’t even think anyone might be hurt. How selfish was she? She just figured they had stayed behind to make sure they had got them all.
“He’s pretty bad off. They got him set up in a motel not too far from here. We’ll take you when they release you.” He rubbed a hand over his face. Maria’s food made him nauseous but he couldn’t remember the last time he ate something. “They call your mom?”
“Yeah… she wasn’t there… and the machine’s busted.” Maria swallowed thickly. Michael had not said one word about Liz and that worried her. She didn’t remember seeing her at the car where she should have been. “Liz? What happened to her?”
“She’s fine.” Michael reached for her water to reduce the lump in his throat. “She’s with Zan and Isabel taking care of Max. She really pulled through for us… I… She did.”
“Yeah. She does… all the time.” Maria smirked at him and shoved her tray away. He took that as an invitation to her dinner roll.
“But… I never knew she was so strong. She really stuck it out yesterday. I’m proud of her.” He shrugged when she smiled.
“Well, that’s my petunia.” They fell into an awkward silence. Things had been awkward between them since the Courtney incident but no one had brought it up since Max had become an alien prophet. “When did you get here?”
“Don’t know. Last night sometime? We came as soon as we knew where you were.” He chewed the roll slowly and hoped his body wouldn’t reject it. “I don’t trust…” He jerked his head to the door to indicate persons not present and unmentioned to that point.
"Yeah, nobody seems to. I wonder why with those glowing personalities. Where are Amidala and the clone?” She pushed her tray closer to him.
“Around.”
“You think they’re up to something?” She shook her head and cut him off. “Of course you do, you’re Michael. Everyone’s always up to something.”
“That’s because they are.” He managed a smile and helped himself to her green beans.
“Michael.” She folded her hands into her lap. “What’s wrong?” He didn’t answer. “What? What is it? Did Courtney break up with you or something?”
His head shook slowly in the negative. “When Liz told me they were bringing you here… I… I don’t know…” His fingers went to his eyebrow. “She wasn’t anything, Maria. I was trying to get as much information as I could from her. That’s all.”
It was her turn to shake her head. She didn’t want to talk about that. “Fill me in on the battle. Ava was out of it on the ride here and I was on drugs the rest of the time.” She listened and picked at her food as he related what he could. Finally, she had to stop him. “What in the hell was Liz doing in the middle of all that? Was Zan crazy?”
Rath sat up when he heard the direction they were going. He leaned closer to hear better. Lannie was going to love this; it was good dirt.
--
Lannie sucked down a cup of jello as they passed cart after cart of hospital food while she listened to Rath’s halting retelling of Michael’s story of time machines and alternate futures. So far, she was dead in two of them and she didn’t like those odds. If she weren’t an alien, she wouldn’t believe a word of it. She stole a sandwich off another cart and thought about it. Max’s little girlfriend was in the middle of it all. “Little precious is key, huh?”
“S’what Mikey said.” Rath took her sandwich and inhaled it between messy draughts from a little water pitcher in his other hand. “We take off now, we be there in a coupa hours.”
“You drive. I need my beauty sleep.” Lannie grabbed another sandwich and formulated a plan. All they needed was little precious, Rath could tickle her pickle and bam, they had ransom to get home.
--
Michael finished his story and his friends had questions about the parts they had missed but they could get it from Tess. He was tired of talking. The near empty hospital had been tolerant of the out-of-towners during the night shift but it was time to go when the doctor came in to check on Maria. Walking down the sterile corridors, Michael wondered if he could sneak a shower somewhere. The five of them were on their way to the cars so they could find something to eat when Tess’s eyes went wide. “Where’s the Jeep?”
Adrenaline coursed through his body, pumping fast when the implications set before his brain could process them. He never should have let Rath and Lannie out of his sight. He knew exactly where they were headed and what they were going to do. “Tess, go get on the phone and warn Isabel and Zan. You’re going to stay here with everyone else. You’re the last line of defense.” He grabbed Ava and steered her toward the Jetta. “We’re going to do some magic on this car to catch up to them. We have to get to them before they get to Max.”
--
Isabel’s sleep-addled mind barely processed the ring enough to pick up the bedside phone. It took three retellings for the warning to sink in enough for panic to wake her up completely. Tess’s voice rang again. “Isabel! Rath and Lannie are going to kill you guys. You have to get out of there.”
She hung up the phone and shook Zan awake. Liz didn’t even move. “Zan!”
“What?” He nearly leapt off the bed. He saw the panic in her eyes.
“We have to go.” She hissed but froze. “But we can’t.” She tried to explain the seriousness of the situation but Zan didn’t seem to be listening.
Zan’s mind wrapped itself around the dilemma. Max and Liz were no good. He shook her but she didn’t move. Her eyes opened but were blank. No good. Max was hurt. Moving him wasn’t a good idea. He was stationary and battle was ever moving. Zan could try healing him but he’d lose to Lannie and Rath in a battle and they would kill them both. Zan could save his energy to kill them but Max might die in the meantime. Trying Liz again, he forced his throat to make sound. “Swee’ pea?” Nothing, not that he had expected her to answer when he knew no one was home. He checked her out and she was fine but gone. Healthy but not present. He got to his feet, grabbing Isabel’s arm. “We’re on our own, darlin’.” He moved Liz to Max’s bed but continued to talk to Isabel. “You feelin’ strong?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. You do ‘xactly what I say and we gotta hold ‘em off ‘til Mikey shows up.” He strode with purpose through the door and out to the highway. The motel and restaurant were the only things for miles. So he walked toward the nearest town. They made four miles by the time they saw the Jeep. Zan had one last order for Isabel. “Darlin’? You leave my sista to me.”
--
Lannie had Rath pulled over the second she spotted her brother on the side of the road with his arm around her dupe. For the moment, her plans moved to the back burner. Something inside of her screamed at the outrageousness of what her eyes saw. “She’s not blood, Zan.” She yelled as she leapt out of the Jeep. The words were out before she could stop them. “I’m your blood.”
“Maybe.” Zan shrugged. “But she’s neva tried to kill me.” His gaze shifted to Rath and back to his sister. “Where are they?”
“Don’t know.” Rath rolled his shoulders. “Time to bounce, yo.” He hinted. If there wasn’t going to be a battle, they may as well move on. “Before we start turnin’ inta dweebs like them.”
“We ain’t goin’ back.” Zan’s arm shot up and the energy threw Rath back against the Jeep hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. Zan was never more grateful when he heard the screech of the Jetta as it halted and Michael scrambled out.
The fireworks were short-lived. Rath shooting at Michael shooting at Rath. Ava shooting at Rath. Lannie shooting at Zan and Isabel, who were shooting back. Zan did his best to weaken his sister. He knew this day would come but he had hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. He was two feet away and her nose was bleeding from the strain on her energies. They were all still so depleted from the battle the day before. It wasn’t much of a fight. Zan never saw Rath go down but the fire that erupted from the former commander’s body lit the afternoon shadows and threw everyone off their feet.
When he had recovered, Zan drug himself over to his sister’s weak body. He held onto her for as long as he dared before he did what he had to. “We’s blood. I love you, girl.” Hands on her chin and forehead, he whispered his apologies and twisted sharply. The crack resounded in his ears. The sound would haunt him for the rest of his life. He got to his feet and into the nearest vehicle before her body combusted. The Jetta was already back at the motel when he realized someone was missing. His eyes flew from Isabel to Michael who were staring straight ahead at the windows before them. Michael felt Zan’s imploring eyes and nodded stiffly. “Let’s get everyone in the same place… see what the total damage is.”
“Michael.” Zan pleaded. Where was she?
Michael hesitated just a moment before turning to the man in the backseat. “She had a plan. She… warped him to death. She… said it was her final revenge… or something, I didn’t quite understand. She died with him.”
Zan turned to the window and leaned his forehead against it, the tears flowing down his face already. He banged his head against the glass and kicked the seat. “Damn it, Ava.”
End Episode XXI
When Nicholas placed his hand on the king’s head, Max felt the burning invasion and bravely fought back anyway he could… which, as it turned out, wasn't much, much less enough. It almost felt as if Nicholas's fingers were inside his brain, sorting through his brain cells for the ones that stored the location of the Granolith. The longer this went on, the less able Max was to fight. Nicholas smirked down at him. "Give up, Max. You're never going to rule again."
Liz had tried to race over when Ava had been pulled from her perch but Zan had held her back. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other raised in ready to fight. He had seen Ava fall as well but he knew she could take care of herself. A thundering of feet behind him made him whirl, throwing Liz around with him like a rag doll. It was just the humans running for cover in the cars. Whirling back to the action, he approached the alley slowly but determined to end this once and for all. Liz had no choice but to try and keep up because Zan would just pick her up and set her on her feet when she lost footing. Isabel, Michael and Rath raced up behind the buildings shouting but they were too far away for him to make out what they were saying. He had just edged around far enough to see Nicholas mindraping Max and his sister just standing there when Liz let out a scream. "No!"
The explosion sent a bright light over everything, stealing sight and hearing. It grew brighter and louder, stunning every until they couldn’t even feel themselves being knocked off their feet. Debris rained down on everything and everyone. Kyle came to first; he had landed inside his car in the back seat. He threw his arms over his face, even as he struggled to breathe air not contaminated by dust and skin flakes. Then he panicked; he’d had Maria's hand just before he had gone flying through the air. Through pain and blindness, he managed to pull himself into a position to see outside the car. He could see Alex lying on the ground nearby but he couldn't find Maria. Panic was the only thing in his heart and mind when he couldn’t find her anywhere.
Max gasped for breath, when his eyes opened, Liz was hovering over him. He couldn't hear a word she said though he could hear the muted rumble of the explosion settling. The smells of singed hair and flesh met his nostrils but not the scent he had smelled through the whole ride up to Copper Summit. There was a flurry of activity around him that he could hear but not whatever words were pouring out of her mouth. He could feel the ash falling on his skin and the pain in his leg but not the touch of her hands on his skin. Then she was gone. "Liz?"
Zan knelt over Liz and tried to wake her up. He kept talking but he couldn’t even hear himself speak much less make sure she could hear him. When he had come to, she had been clenching his arm very tightly but laying very still. His ears rung and his body was using a lot of energy to heal any injuries he had accrued during their short flight to the ground. If only he could get Liz to wake up. "C'mon. Get up. Get up. Hey, Sweetness. Wake up." There was nothing wrong with her that he could see but she wouldn't move. Suddenly, after several long, worrisome minutes, she gasped and opened her eyes to his sweaty, dirty face. "On your feet, Sweetie. We got some work to do."
"Where's Max? He's hurt." She rasped out as loud as she could muster just to be heard in her own ears. Her head rung with a hum she knew could not really exist. Flexing her jaw, she tried to get rid of it.
"Well, come on." He got them to their feet and once more tucked her into his side. He had to hurry. It looked as if Nicholas was recovering… not to mention all the Skins stumbling out of their hiding places. There, against that building, Max had a scythe sticking out of his leg but that would have to wait. Zan moved over him and stomped on Nicholas's hip. The boy groaned but nothing happened. "What the fuck?"
"You really think I'd design my husk the same as everyone else's?" Nicholas laughed and attempted to get up. "You might have stopped everyone else but you'll never stop me."
"You really think I'm that stupid?" Zan reached back and ripped the scythe from Max's leg and whipped it deep across the alien leader's chest. There was a tiny gasp of air before he disintegrated before their eyes. "I got skills, kid." He marched onto the street and took in all the groggy skins standing in the midst of the fallen debris. "Rath! Let's get busy. No Skin leaves alive. Max dies and you ain't goin' nowheres." He bent and gripped Lannie's arm. "Git up and fight or I'm killin' you now." Moving forward, he let loose seven blasts in all directions to keep the Skins off their feet. "Ava! Get the other one and work somethin' special for me, babe!"
Liz watched in horror as the fighting began. She had been unable to reach for Max when she had the chance and watching Zan dispatch the alien leader had stunned her into quick compliance in whatever Zan wanted her to do. Clinging to Zan as he used both hands to simultaneously attack and defend, she watched it all. When she could gather her thoughts she would look up at Zan and wonder what exactly he and Max had talked about that he was so unwilling to let her out of his sight. If anything, Zan should be closer to Max. She should be back with Maria, Alex and Kyle… not in the middle of the battle field. The only thing she could figure was that all these things that Max knew… he hadn't shared anything he knew about her with her. When she had been about to point out the lack of strategy in her presence up front, his eyes locked with hers and he shook his head.
The smell of sweat called her attention to the hard body she clung to, too afraid and too trusting to run away from him. Zan swore like one pushing their limits. The sweat poured down his face, darkened his shirt. Liz stared up at him, realizing for the first time what a physical toll these powers took on her friends. Every once in a while, those fierce amber eyes met hers to make sure she was fine but didn’t dare linger too long on the concerned brown eyes. She turned her head to look at Max and her vision blurred, her head spun and she was falling. Zan lowered his shield without thinking to pull her back to him and barely regenerated the green shimmer to save them both from a deadly blast. “Don’t you move, Swee’ pea. Stay wit me, hold on tight.”
Rath and Michael threw huge blasts into the Skins to weaken and kill off the closer ones. No matter what, they kept advancing. Not to be outdone by his dupe, Michael kept his feet planted beneath him and did his best to keep the enemy from getting too close for comfort. Michael looked towards Zan and saw how hard the guy was fighting and didn't miss the fact he seemed to be specifically protecting Liz. The thoughts of the future couple in his apartment fueled him to fight even harder. He'd be damned if he left Liz to the mercy of this Zan and Rath and the sooner this got done, the sooner they could check on Max.
Lannie used her mind to pull heavy objects from behind the Skins to hit them across their seals. Flakes flew into the air and settled over them all. Every once in a while she cast a glance at her brother and how protective he was over Max's girl. Nicholas was gone but that didn't mean there wasn't wiggle room. Nobody left in Copper Summit was even close to being next in line to Nicholas but she knew the plan… but right now being on Zan's good side was a good idea.
Isabel stood just behind Zan and threw energy against anyone she felt got too near to them for safety. She created a barrier against anyone trying to get to Max, who still lay amongst the debris bleeding and moaning. She wanted so much to get to him and see what she could do but it was more important to keep him safe. It wouldn't do any good to be right next to him when the sneaky Skin got them unaware. She met Lannie's eyes only once and she didn't like what she saw in those scheming eyes. Not knowing what else to do, she did her best to protect what she felt was the front line on her side of this war.
Ava was ready. She and Tess knew exactly what they had to do. There was only one chance and they had to do it together. Taking their places on either side of Zan, they gathered their energy. Eyes closed and hands out, the tiny girls bowed their heads in concentration. Liz couldn't believe her eyes when an inferno erupted in front of her without burning a single thing. Something so intense that it popped the seals on the remaining Skins but left all flammable objects untouched but for the blasts erupting from Rath and Michael.
With the immediate threat removed, Ava and Tess sank to their identical knees in complete exhaustion. Tess had taken her cue from Ava; she could barely comprehend her part in committing genocide. Her eyes found the pink-haired girl and just stared. How much did the girl know about the powers they shared? How had she learned? What exactly had they just done?
Adrenaline feeding the desire to destroy, Michael followed Rath into the nearest building to hunt for any cowardly Skins that had hidden during the battle that could officially be called over and won by the forces of good. This power, it scared Michael and it scared him even more to see that Rath looked so completely at ease with the turn of events. They were both covered in sweat but Rath managed to look as if he had no problems breathing. Michael let the dupe take point while he made good work of double checking the rooms.
Isabel paused to take in all the destruction. It brought tears to her eyes. The town was beautiful in its own way but now it would be forever haunted by the memory of war. Snapping to, she raced for her brother’s still body. So much blood pooled beneath his leg. His skin had faded to a pasty sort of yellow. Tears spilled down her face when his shuddering breaths reached her ears. “Oh my god, Max…” His eyes fluttered but he did not make any other response that could be interpreted as consciousness. Kneeling, Isabel’s hands hovered over his torn, bleeding leg, not sure what, if anything, she could or should do.
Liz stared up into Zan's face. His is jaw was set, face hard, and his eyes scanning the carnage and breathing heavily. She could tell he didn’t see the wood splinters and crushed cars anymore, eyes still a little wild as the adrenaline faded. Sweat ceased to pour continuously down his face, but she knew, somehow just knew, that he was less than okay after so much exertion. His shirt was drenched with sweat, soaking her shirt as well since she had never moved after he had ceased fire. "Zan, are you okay?"
"I's level, sweetness. Just need to catch my breath." Suddenly, he sagged and Liz had to rush to keep him from falling completely to the ground.
"Somebody…" Liz called back. Lannie came to the rescue but Zan shrugged her off and struggled to stay on his own feet while Liz led him to Max.
The pool of blood had grown considerably under Max's torn leg, the damage just as much from the scythe landing as from Zan yanking it out to fix the Nicholas situation. Isabel was crying and her hands continued to hover between Max's leg and her mouth. "Liz, I don't know what to do. Nothing like this has ever happened."
Easing Zan to the ground, Liz looked over Max’s would than at Max’s face. A sheen of sweat covered the pale features. She couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, or if he was even aware of anything around him anymore. "Max? Can you hear me? Can you fix this?" His eyebrow twitched upward but other than that, there was no sign that he had even heard her. "Zan, give me your belt." When he didn’t move, her eyes shifted to Max’s dupe. Zan was fading quickly as the adrenaline allowed his heartbeat to slow and his body to process the damage of the day. Reaching over, she grabbed Isabel’s hands to hold Max’s gash closed. “I need you to hold that together. Can you do that?”
When Isabel nodded and did as told, Liz turned to Zan and made him look her in the eye. “I’m going to take off your belt, okay?” He nodded and managed to hold his shirt out of her way. Talking aloud but to herself, Liz tried to pretend that she wasn’t the only one moving on. If she didn’t take charge, no one else that could be trusted could or would. “I’m going to try to stop the bleeding with a tourniquet. The least we can do is stop Max from losing anymore blood,” She explained as she wrapped the belt around Max’s thigh and pulled it tighter than she thought she should after Max let out a pain-filled moan. Liz grimaced when she realized how high up the scythe had actually entered his leg. She might not be able to cut off the circulation the way she would have liked. "Max, try and stay with us." Yanking off the shirt she had on, she ripped it to long shreds, cleaning the wound as well as she could before fashioning a crude bandage over the gaping injury. She had Isabel hold the dressing in place as she slid the belt to the top of the bandage and pulled it as tight as she could before wrapping the excess around his thigh. She instructed Isabel to fuse the strap to itself to secure the bandage. Taking inventory of her able bodies, she realized she would need help to get her patients to the cars. "Kyle! You still back there?"
"I can't find Maria!" Kyle’s panicked voice called back.
The tears fell; Liz couldn't help it. Max could die from blood loss, Zan was out of commission, as were Ava and Tess, and now Maria was missing and Isabel was incapable of doing anything more than exactly as she was told. She couldn’t trust Lannie or Rath anymore than she could lift them. That only left Michael, Kyle and maybe Alex, the latter of which she had heard nothing about, yet. Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself to take the lead. They had to take what they could now and worry about what could wait later. Triage, wasn’t it? That’s what they did in the field during a war. "Come help please! We'll find Maria in a minute."
Kyle and Alex came running. "What happened to him?"
"Let's get him into one of the cars, whichever will be most comfortable and we can keep his leg elevated." Liz's mind raced with all kinds of first aid information but she was missing something, she was sure. "Be careful with him." Wiping the tears from her face, smearing blood on her cheeks in the process, Liz rose to her feet. "Let's get Ava and Tess into the cars."
Isabel nodded and went to help the nearest of the girls, after a moment Lannie went for the other one. Pulling Zan to his feet, Liz struggled to get him back to the cars. When they finally made it out, Max had been put in the back of the Mustang and Alex had begun the search for Maria. "She couldn't have flown much farther than either one of us."
"I landed in the car." Kyle stripped off his shirt and gave it to Liz to cover her body more modestly. "Alex against it. Maria's light, she would flown farther than any of us but those woods don't look too inviting."
Zan lowered himself into the Mustang with Max and took his time glancing around when his vision allowed it. The sun had begun its descent to the horizon already. He had no clue how long he had been sitting there when Liz showed up with two glasses of water. She vanished and appeared with two more. He watched as she nursed the four of them the best she could. Ava and Tess joined the search as the aching in their heads lessened thanks to the re-hydration. How did Liz know that would work? Occasionally, he heard the distant and muffled blasts from within the nearby buildings. He must have dozed off because as the red filled the sky, a pained voice reached his ears.
"Ow, ow, ow. Watch the leg please. I said watch the leg!" Maria screamed as she tried to direct Kyle to the Jetta without upsetting the splint on her leg.
"Zan…" Max whispered from the backseat. Zan hadn’t even realized that Max was with it anymore much less able to assess their situation any better than he could. "Get everyone together. We've been here too long. Stragglers not in town will come soon enough."
"Sweetness!" His voice sounded hoarse and strange to his own ears. "Get Mikey and Rath back here. We gotta go!"
--
Michael checked building after building with his counterpart always nearby. They didn't talk and moved as quietly as the creaky floorboards allowed. One more building and the hours of tiresome work would be done and he would begin to feel the effects of the day's work as soon as the adrenaline in his body slowed. The second he saw Liz out in the main road through a window, he raced down to find out what she wanted. "What's going on?"
"I just sent Kyle, Alex and Ava to the nearest hospital with Maria." She called out to him, wearing Zan’s shirt. What had happened to hers?
"Maria?" Michael's heart stopped. What had gone on while the rest of them were on the main street? He thought of what Future Liz had said. In order for Michael and Liz to fall for each other, Max and Maria would have to die. That’s how it started. It couldn’t happen so soon. He nearly threw Liz’s hand off when she reached out to reassure him.
"Broken leg, maybe a sprained wrist… I don’t know, I’m not a doctor” She shrugged helplessly. “Max needs to get someplace safe where he can rest. Zan is so out of it." She wiped at her face but all she did was make the dried blood more noticeable to herself. She supposed she could find that sink again and wash her face but it didn’t sound like a good idea in the failing light. She got closer to the doorway that Michael stood in so she could lower her voice a little more. "Isabel is standing watch… we need to hurry. Lannie… has been too quiet and way too helpful. Let's get going."
--
Michael kept his eyes on a 6-point check on the drive to the next town. Right side, left side, straight ahead, rearview mirror, and over his shoulder at both backseat passengers. Tess seemed to be resting next to him. Still, there was no way he wouldn't heed Liz's warning about Rath and Lannie. He looked ahead to the car in front of him.
Isabel drove but she was more concerned with how Max was doing in the backseat. They had covered him with blankets and told him to rest. Liz kept her fingers over his wrist to make sure he wasn't too far gone. Zan seemed to be regaining his strength. Turning worried brown eyes to Zan, Liz adjusted her posture so that she wasn't sitting so much on his lap. And so her arm didn’t touch so much of his bare upper chest. She had given Kyle his shirt back as not to seem suspicious at the hospital but Zan had quickly offered his up, making her just a little uncomfortable while sharing a seat with him. "What's going on, Zan?"
"Don't know what you talkin' bout." His eyes drifted to the desert passing by.
"You should have left me with Max or with Kyle but you pulled me into the middle of it all. Why did you do that?" When he didn't answer, Liz turned to Isabel, who shrugged. "Zan, how did Max know all the things he knew?"
"I's not the one to ask. Mikey and Tess know." He ducked when her legs swung over his head and she slipped down beside the backseat with Max. "How's he doin'?"
"He's still got a pulse." Liz hissed bitterly and reached to mop up the sweat that had formed on his face with the edge of the blanket they had tossed over him.
"By 'time we get to town and get 'im in a bed, I should be able to do somethin' for 'im." He tried to reassure her before he looked to Isabel. "That should fix 'im up enough for you do somethin' for him. You can, right?"
"Yeah. I can do minor." Isabel nodded, her uneasiness with her brother’s dupe lessening as the drive wore on. "Your sister… she's not nice."
"No, she's not."
--
"We could take them out from here." Rath suggested without even a hint of discretion.
"You still don't get what you wanted." Michael butt in immediately. "You need one of them to make anything work."
"What you know about it?" Lannie leaned forward, meaning to touch and flirt the way she controlled her lover, surely the same tactics applied to his dupe.
"A hell of a lot more than you do." He shrugged off her hand and then nudged Tess awake to even the odds a little. "I suggest you halt all plan making until I'm out of earshot. A threat on Max is personal to me."
--
The motel was seedy at best, the nearest hospital being in the next town, only a greasy spoon to provide sustenance and the local law enforcement just a blur on the highway. Liz made a mental note to call the hospital when she got a chance to see about Maria. Sitting in one of the two chairs in the sparse room, she stared at Max’s still form. He lay there so pale and covered in sweat.
Thinking about all she might never get to tell him shock took over. She hadn’t told him the truth and he could die thinking she and Kyle had gone to bed together. He could die thinking she couldn’t be in love with him. The thoughts sent her into the dark recesses of her busy mind.
Isabel found her second wind and set about cutting her brother’s jeans away from his wound. She had to clean him properly so he wouldn’t get any worse. She had soap and water and many towels liberated from the maid’s cart. Once his wounds were cleansed and he began to feel warm, too warm to her touch, the tears sprang to her brown eyes anew. The sweat increased the higher his temperature rose. His whole body had heated with the fever.
Zan had taken up residence at the little sink where he guzzled the bitter-tasting water like crazy. Every glass he drank had him feeling so much more energized after his near-faint at Copper Summit. Re-hydrating his body had him feeling more than able to keep his promise to do everything he possibly could for his dupe and he intended to make that promise a reality. When he was nice and thoroughly water-logged, he took a cup to the bed and used it to wet Max’s mouth. Water had helped him and it would help Max. He let the water trickle down Max’s throat to help re-hydrate the fallen and weak man, for that was what Max was now. A man who had risked his life to buy them some time, who had been injured in the line of duty, who put himself between the enemy and his friends and family.
Somewhere in her mind, Liz knew she should be up and helping but now that they were away and safe for the moment, but she couldn’t budge. Curling up into the chair, the tears fell silently while Isabel mopped up blood and Zan made Max drink water. She could not move a muscle. The horror of the day had sunk in and evil movies played in her head. The scythe deep in Max’s flesh. The sounds of metal leaving flesh and striking through an alien husk. That sound Nicholas had made as he died. It all played over and over before her unseeing eyes.
Beyond her sight, Zan laid his hands on Max’s leg and set about healing the would but quickly found that it was much harder to do that he thought it would be. A fraction of the damage had been repaired when he was spent. Frustrated, Isabel replaced him but she too was too weak to do something as power-consuming as healing. They looked at each other with heavy hearts knowing they would have to leave him and pray that Max made it through the night and that a night’s rest restored their depleted energies.
Before Liz knew it, she lay on the other bed in Zan’s arms. She realized quickly that both Isabel and Zan had exhausted themselves and that Max was still in a very bad way. Zan’s arms tightened around her body and she couldn’t even process that she should make him go away. She fell asleep in the circle of his arms, letting his body warm her cold soul from the outside in.
--
Red sunlight burned Lannie’s eyes where she stood at the water cooler facing the window in the waiting room. She had nearly drained the jug throughout the night. The Jetta sat in the parking lot below her. All alone in the parking lot because the town was so small and nothing ever happened. It was a stupid little car belonging to a stupid little girl. That Mikey had dragged the whole lot of them to the hospital after making one phone call at that dive Zan was holed up in. All of it was very stupid. All over what? Some Skins? Dead Skins. They were dying anyway… well, in another fifty years after their new husks had died. A step ahead? Hardly. They had just killed off everyone with any clue about the home world and how to get back there.
She had sent Rath to keep an eye on the little sweet tarts. What they needed was some dirt to really turn the tide. So long as he didn’t do anything stupid, it was all good. The timing was great, actually. Zan was out for the count, weaker than he had ever been before. Max was nearly out of the picture. Once Zan used the last of his reserves to heal Max, they would both be defenseless and completely harmless.
How to do it, oh how to do it. First, she needed some sleep and that much needed dirt to work with. Tess was a prime suspect. None of the humans seemed to like her much; they did take Ava instead after all.
--
Michael watched everyone sleep around the semi-private room. Kyle and Tess occupied the second bed, Alex a chair by the window and Ava lay on the floor with a blanket in the corner. He knew Rath was nearby but his priority was Maria. Once he could see for himself when she was awake that she was fine, he would go back to worrying about everything else. Maria’s leg was in traction and a thin cast covered her arm, her hair was matted to her head where a large bump had given her a concussion initially.
He must have dozed off. He had sworn he was only going to close his eyes for a few seconds but now the sun burned brightly around the shade and Maria was busy digging into her hospital food. There weren’t any clocks but Michael knew it was well on to noon. Her green eyes sized him up while she gnawed on a dry-looking chicken strip. “Is it done?”
“Think so, hope so.” He sat up and moved his chair closer. “We could call it a victory if we wanted… but I… I won’t until I know that Max is going to make it… if he doesn’t, I don’t see the point in anything we did yesterday.”
“Max? What happened to him?” She stopped eating. She had been so wrapped up in her personal injuries that she didn’t even think anyone might be hurt. How selfish was she? She just figured they had stayed behind to make sure they had got them all.
“He’s pretty bad off. They got him set up in a motel not too far from here. We’ll take you when they release you.” He rubbed a hand over his face. Maria’s food made him nauseous but he couldn’t remember the last time he ate something. “They call your mom?”
“Yeah… she wasn’t there… and the machine’s busted.” Maria swallowed thickly. Michael had not said one word about Liz and that worried her. She didn’t remember seeing her at the car where she should have been. “Liz? What happened to her?”
“She’s fine.” Michael reached for her water to reduce the lump in his throat. “She’s with Zan and Isabel taking care of Max. She really pulled through for us… I… She did.”
“Yeah. She does… all the time.” Maria smirked at him and shoved her tray away. He took that as an invitation to her dinner roll.
“But… I never knew she was so strong. She really stuck it out yesterday. I’m proud of her.” He shrugged when she smiled.
“Well, that’s my petunia.” They fell into an awkward silence. Things had been awkward between them since the Courtney incident but no one had brought it up since Max had become an alien prophet. “When did you get here?”
“Don’t know. Last night sometime? We came as soon as we knew where you were.” He chewed the roll slowly and hoped his body wouldn’t reject it. “I don’t trust…” He jerked his head to the door to indicate persons not present and unmentioned to that point.
"Yeah, nobody seems to. I wonder why with those glowing personalities. Where are Amidala and the clone?” She pushed her tray closer to him.
“Around.”
“You think they’re up to something?” She shook her head and cut him off. “Of course you do, you’re Michael. Everyone’s always up to something.”
“That’s because they are.” He managed a smile and helped himself to her green beans.
“Michael.” She folded her hands into her lap. “What’s wrong?” He didn’t answer. “What? What is it? Did Courtney break up with you or something?”
His head shook slowly in the negative. “When Liz told me they were bringing you here… I… I don’t know…” His fingers went to his eyebrow. “She wasn’t anything, Maria. I was trying to get as much information as I could from her. That’s all.”
It was her turn to shake her head. She didn’t want to talk about that. “Fill me in on the battle. Ava was out of it on the ride here and I was on drugs the rest of the time.” She listened and picked at her food as he related what he could. Finally, she had to stop him. “What in the hell was Liz doing in the middle of all that? Was Zan crazy?”
Rath sat up when he heard the direction they were going. He leaned closer to hear better. Lannie was going to love this; it was good dirt.
--
Lannie sucked down a cup of jello as they passed cart after cart of hospital food while she listened to Rath’s halting retelling of Michael’s story of time machines and alternate futures. So far, she was dead in two of them and she didn’t like those odds. If she weren’t an alien, she wouldn’t believe a word of it. She stole a sandwich off another cart and thought about it. Max’s little girlfriend was in the middle of it all. “Little precious is key, huh?”
“S’what Mikey said.” Rath took her sandwich and inhaled it between messy draughts from a little water pitcher in his other hand. “We take off now, we be there in a coupa hours.”
“You drive. I need my beauty sleep.” Lannie grabbed another sandwich and formulated a plan. All they needed was little precious, Rath could tickle her pickle and bam, they had ransom to get home.
--
Michael finished his story and his friends had questions about the parts they had missed but they could get it from Tess. He was tired of talking. The near empty hospital had been tolerant of the out-of-towners during the night shift but it was time to go when the doctor came in to check on Maria. Walking down the sterile corridors, Michael wondered if he could sneak a shower somewhere. The five of them were on their way to the cars so they could find something to eat when Tess’s eyes went wide. “Where’s the Jeep?”
Adrenaline coursed through his body, pumping fast when the implications set before his brain could process them. He never should have let Rath and Lannie out of his sight. He knew exactly where they were headed and what they were going to do. “Tess, go get on the phone and warn Isabel and Zan. You’re going to stay here with everyone else. You’re the last line of defense.” He grabbed Ava and steered her toward the Jetta. “We’re going to do some magic on this car to catch up to them. We have to get to them before they get to Max.”
--
Isabel’s sleep-addled mind barely processed the ring enough to pick up the bedside phone. It took three retellings for the warning to sink in enough for panic to wake her up completely. Tess’s voice rang again. “Isabel! Rath and Lannie are going to kill you guys. You have to get out of there.”
She hung up the phone and shook Zan awake. Liz didn’t even move. “Zan!”
“What?” He nearly leapt off the bed. He saw the panic in her eyes.
“We have to go.” She hissed but froze. “But we can’t.” She tried to explain the seriousness of the situation but Zan didn’t seem to be listening.
Zan’s mind wrapped itself around the dilemma. Max and Liz were no good. He shook her but she didn’t move. Her eyes opened but were blank. No good. Max was hurt. Moving him wasn’t a good idea. He was stationary and battle was ever moving. Zan could try healing him but he’d lose to Lannie and Rath in a battle and they would kill them both. Zan could save his energy to kill them but Max might die in the meantime. Trying Liz again, he forced his throat to make sound. “Swee’ pea?” Nothing, not that he had expected her to answer when he knew no one was home. He checked her out and she was fine but gone. Healthy but not present. He got to his feet, grabbing Isabel’s arm. “We’re on our own, darlin’.” He moved Liz to Max’s bed but continued to talk to Isabel. “You feelin’ strong?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. You do ‘xactly what I say and we gotta hold ‘em off ‘til Mikey shows up.” He strode with purpose through the door and out to the highway. The motel and restaurant were the only things for miles. So he walked toward the nearest town. They made four miles by the time they saw the Jeep. Zan had one last order for Isabel. “Darlin’? You leave my sista to me.”
--
Lannie had Rath pulled over the second she spotted her brother on the side of the road with his arm around her dupe. For the moment, her plans moved to the back burner. Something inside of her screamed at the outrageousness of what her eyes saw. “She’s not blood, Zan.” She yelled as she leapt out of the Jeep. The words were out before she could stop them. “I’m your blood.”
“Maybe.” Zan shrugged. “But she’s neva tried to kill me.” His gaze shifted to Rath and back to his sister. “Where are they?”
“Don’t know.” Rath rolled his shoulders. “Time to bounce, yo.” He hinted. If there wasn’t going to be a battle, they may as well move on. “Before we start turnin’ inta dweebs like them.”
“We ain’t goin’ back.” Zan’s arm shot up and the energy threw Rath back against the Jeep hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. Zan was never more grateful when he heard the screech of the Jetta as it halted and Michael scrambled out.
The fireworks were short-lived. Rath shooting at Michael shooting at Rath. Ava shooting at Rath. Lannie shooting at Zan and Isabel, who were shooting back. Zan did his best to weaken his sister. He knew this day would come but he had hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. He was two feet away and her nose was bleeding from the strain on her energies. They were all still so depleted from the battle the day before. It wasn’t much of a fight. Zan never saw Rath go down but the fire that erupted from the former commander’s body lit the afternoon shadows and threw everyone off their feet.
When he had recovered, Zan drug himself over to his sister’s weak body. He held onto her for as long as he dared before he did what he had to. “We’s blood. I love you, girl.” Hands on her chin and forehead, he whispered his apologies and twisted sharply. The crack resounded in his ears. The sound would haunt him for the rest of his life. He got to his feet and into the nearest vehicle before her body combusted. The Jetta was already back at the motel when he realized someone was missing. His eyes flew from Isabel to Michael who were staring straight ahead at the windows before them. Michael felt Zan’s imploring eyes and nodded stiffly. “Let’s get everyone in the same place… see what the total damage is.”
“Michael.” Zan pleaded. Where was she?
Michael hesitated just a moment before turning to the man in the backseat. “She had a plan. She… warped him to death. She… said it was her final revenge… or something, I didn’t quite understand. She died with him.”
Zan turned to the window and leaned his forehead against it, the tears flowing down his face already. He banged his head against the glass and kicked the seat. “Damn it, Ava.”
End Episode XXI