Roswell Fanatics

Thank you everyone for the wonderful feedback. Who the female is won't be revealed yet, although I will say that it's not someone from Max and Jondy's old unit.

A.N. Not entirely happy with this chapter but I’ve sat on it a couple days and changed a couple things so I’m as happy I’m going to get with it. Originally Liz’s reaction at the end was going to be the complete opposite of what I put, but I couldn’t do that to Maxie or Liz.

Chapter 10

“How—“ Max couldn’t seem to speak.

“Right there with ya Max.” She kept her arm around Alec’s waist but turned so they were both facing Zack and Ben. Zack had shot himself in the head to save her and Maxie, now he was there but he certainly didn’t look normal.

Metal made up one side of his face, his exposed eye was red, and his arm was incased in shiny metal frame. In the one normal eye there was no warmth as he looked toward her and Max. It was like he didn’t recognize them.

Ben on the other hand seemed to know who they were. His gaze would switch from Max to her then back again. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and Alec for long though. Her brother noticed how close the two of them were.

“This is all fine and dandy but can we get out of here?” The female that was huffing behind the others made her presence known. Much to her displeasure she was ignored.

Maxie was the first to break ranks but she stepped cautiously toward the two brothers she thought were dead. “This is impossible. You were both dead.” She whispered.

“What?” Jondy whipped her head around and looked at Max. “Ben was dead? When? How?”

Maxie turned and faced Jondy. “He was killing people, I couldn’t let him—“ She swallowed passed the lump in her throat. Blue Lady telling Jondy was going to be difficult. Jondy and Ben were so close growing up. Just like Max and Zack were. Where one was the other wasn’t too far behind.

“So you killed him?” Couldn’t there have been another way to stop him? Why hadn’t Maxie gotten a hold of Zack? He could call her and she’d go up there and help him. Hell Max even had her phone number, she could have called her.

“He asked me too. We had gotten in a fight and I injured him. Badly enough so he couldn’t walk without further injuring himself. Lydecker was coming—he didn’t want to go back.” Tears misted in her eyes but they didn’t fall. “So I snapped his neck.”

There was nothing in Jondy’s world at that moment except her and her sister. Alec who was pressed to her side giving her all the comfort he could didn’t register in her mind.

“You just…” She looked down at the ground not wanting to say the words. “You snapped his neck.”

“He wanted me too.” Max hated the way Jondy was looking at her. “Ben didn’t want to go back there, can’t exactly blame him on that.”

“How long did you know what he was doing?”

Maxie tightened her jaw and stared at her. “What does that matter?”

“Tell me.” Neither sister rose their voices above a loud whisper, always aware that too much noise could bring hell raining down upon them.

“A couple days.” She whispered to her.

“Why didn’t you call me? You know I would have come up and helped--”

Max stepped forward her fist clenched tightly. “Don’t you think I know that? When Ben showed up in Seattle—“

“What? What was so important in my life that you couldn’t call me and let me know what was happening?” She had given her cell number to three of her siblings, Zack, Max, and Tinga. Zack said it was too dangerous to give his or her numbers out to everyone in their unit. He didn’t like that she gave her number to two of her sisters, instead of just him. Complained it would compromise them.

“Because you had just lost Alex. How could I put you through more pain?” Max tilted her head in sympathy. Seeing her confusion at her knowledge of Jondy’s friend’s death she explained it to her. “Zack called to let me know.”

Zack had come to Roswell the afternoon after Alex’s death. He found her wandering around the desert her hands bleeding dripping blood onto the dusty ground. She had run out there and took her anger out on a rock; she got the worse damage.

Jondy breathed deeply Max had been protecting her. It cracked her heart; one sibling killed her other sibling. Both she was close too; she didn’t know whether to be angry or sad, hurt or sympathetic. So she decided to do the only thing that would make them okay again.

She eased away from Alec and brought Maxie into her arms. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

TBC

Next Chapter: Two people come upon the blazing inferno.

A.N. Thank you for the wonderful feedback. Here is the next chapter, I had so much fun writing it.

Chapter 11

“God dammit!” She paced back and forth toward the burning facility then back to her idling car.

She should have known something like that would happen. Did she listen to her instincts? No of course not, he stormed in and told her what to do. Oh what she would do if she were in charge for one day. Her boss would be dead that’s for damn sure.

“Calm down Ren.” His cold voice made the bitter wind even harsher.

“Calm down?” Renfro went around her car and stood in front of him, the car door the only thing separating them.

“Yes.”

“You told me to move the breeding partners into the same room, it’d make them a little happier so they wouldn’t rebel.” She shouted at him. “What the hell does this look like.”

He stood there gazing at the blazing inferno; the roof had collapsed as they stood there. The sides of the building were charred beyond recognition, whoever set the fire wanted to make sure nothing could be salvaged.

“Guess they were mad.” He smirked and shook his head.

Renfro turned back to the shell of a building. “They are not going to happy.” She growled, his bosses probably wouldn’t let her boss live for long after this issue was brought to their attention.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re where we want them.” Although he didn’t think they’d break away so soon it didn’t change their plans. “Come on let’s get out of here.” He ducked back into the car and closed the door.

“Are you telling me they wanted this to happen?” She shouted through the closed door. The man inside however didn’t answer her only stared hard at her, the black glint in his eyes piercing right through her.

Angry Renfro straightened her suit and hurried over to the driver’s side. Once inside she turned to her passenger. A glint of silver caught her eye. Before she could back up in horror the knife was at her throat and sliding across opening her neck like butter.

Blood oozed out, she tried to gasp but it was no use. She brought her hands up to try to slow the bleeding but there was too much, they slipped and she couldn’t find the slash. Red, warm blood coated her hands and arms. The liquid could hardly be seen on her black suit jacket, but her white blouse showed the richness of color pumping from her throat.

“You’re no longer of use to us Dr. Renfro.” He calmly wiped the blood that gathered on the knife into a handkerchief. He tossed the bloodied fabric in the backseat then slid the blade into the sheath under his suit jacket.

As if he hadn’t just killed someone he causally left the car and walked toward an SUV that was waiting for him. The man waiting in the driver’s seat turned as his boss opened the back door and slid in. “Are you ready sir?”

“Not yet.” He pulled out a small black item in the shape of an oval. His finger pressed down on the dark gray button and Renfro’s car blew up. The blast lifted the car off the ground a few feet before falling back down. “Now we can go.”

Aaron, the driver of the SUV, started the engine and backed up till he made it to the road. Once he was on the road he switched to drive and sped away from the blazing fires.

TBC

A.N. Don’t know if I’m satisfied with this chapter but I hope everyone likes it anyway. Some lines might be from ‘Some Assembly Acquired’ don’t know since I haven’t watched it for a couple months but the words sound familiar.

Chapter 12

“If you—snapped his neck how is he still alive?” She whispered to Max.

A lone tear fell down Maxie’s cheek. “I don’t know.”

Once Jondy pulled back from her sister she dragged Ben into her arms. “You’re coming with us, ok?”

Alec stood off to the side watching the siblings reunite, a bit of jealousy pierced his heart. He didn’t want to be jealous of Ben and Jondy, after all they didn’t have a romantic love, it was sibling affection, but she was still hugging a man that looked like him. Would she be attracted to Ben eventually the same way she was to him?

“You mean we’re not splitting up?” Ben spoke for the first time that evening.

Ben sounded so hopeful that he wouldn’t be off by himself again. “No, not completely anyway.” Jondy pulled back. “Some of us are headed to where I hid the first time, while Max, Joshua, Biggs, and Scheg are headed for Seattle where Max hid.”

Zack stepped forward next to Max. “We shouldn’t be here, we should find the rendezvous point. The other units should be there too.” He spoke without any warmth.

Max stood in front of Zack. “No, we’re not going back to Manticore.”

“Why not?” Zack asked.

“It’s not safe. Manticore isn’t safe.” Max spoke passionately.

Zack stared down at her. “It’s our home.” He didn’t understand why they were standing around not heading to a checkpoint to be moved to another facility.

“Not anymore. We have a different home.” Max touched his forearm. She watched his normal eye, he didn’t show any sign of recognition. “Do you know me, us?”

Zack only looked at her with confusion. “Should I?”

Max turned around and flipped her hair up, giving Zack a good look at her barcode. “452, you’re in my unit.”

“Yes, I’m Max. This is Jondy, 371, and Ben, 493. We were all in your unit too.”

“And the others.” He moved his gaze from one transgenic to the other till he rested his eyes back on Max.

“Not in our unit, but they are friends.” Sirens sound off in the woods. “We can’t stay here.” Max told the others worried that they had stayed in one place for too long.

“Finally someone’s thinking.” Mole hissed. “What are we waiting for. Let’s move it.”

Jondy nodded. “You’re both right.” She hugged Zack tightly. “I’m so happy you’re alive.” She whispered. “I’m sorry we can’t stay.” Jondy pulled back and turned to Maxie. “I know I don’t have to say this but…”

Max smirked. “I’ll take care of him.”

“Take care of yourself too.” In a few moments she and Max would be separated again. Living in different city, living different lives, it was nothing they weren’t used to but after seeing Max regularly she hated having to go back to how they were before.

“As long as you take care of my niece or nephew.” She gently rubbed Jondy’s belly. There were very few people who could touch her slightly protruding stomach without getting their hand ripped off, she was one of the few.

With one more quick hug they split up into their separate groups. Alec and Biggs shook their hands; they’d keep in contact when they got cell phones. Biggs and Alec took the driver’s seat and within moments they were hurrying down the road and continuing to freedom.

TBC

Next Chapter: What has the Roswell gang been up to this last year?

Also I'll be apart of the Support Stacie Chatathon/Author Chats that's going on this weekend at Roswell Heaven. I'm going to be on at 2 p.m. (Central Time) on Saturday, May 10. There are going to be a lot of great authors there to chat with. Hopefully I'll see some of you there.

A.N. Thank you everyone for the words of support during my mass deletion. My depression didn't last as long as I thought it would, which I am thrilled about, I hate being sad. Currently I'm working on pulling funds together to get a new laptop. The one I had previously was a used that Mom got me for Christmas about a year and a half ago. From the first day we had problems with it, namely porn kept popping up. So in the long run it'll be cheaper to get a new one then to keep fixing the one I have.

I started rewriting this one a couple days ago and I've been writing ever since. I know that there are some things I had in the original, that I loved, and but couldn’t remember what I wrote. Now that can be a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t really know right now. Anyway I started re-writing this a lot sooner than I thought I would but thankfully I'm mostly happy with the rewrite…and I didn’t kill any characters…how about that. Oddly enough this is longer than the previous chapter 13 was.

Chapter 13

Roswell

Maria Deluca hurried around the corner, books in hand running toward the bus stop. The Jetta was still in the shop and her Mom left with Jim on their honeymoon last night. She shivered with disgust; there was no getting over that. Kyle had spent the night at Isabel’s that night so he wasn’t there to take her to school either. Some stepbrother he was becoming, she sarcastically thought.

As she raced closer to the bus stop she came upon the Crashdown…or what used to be the Crashdown. Slowing for the first time that morning she looked at the once bustling establishment turned run-down, graffiti on the walls, and dust on the tables hole in the wall.

It had been almost a year since the Parker’s went missing. First Nancy and Jeff disappeared, although no one noticed until Liz disappeared a week later. Liz had told Maria two days after her parents had left that they were at a convention. Although during an investigation it was revealed that no such trip had been set up.

Many members of their town believed that Liz had something to do with her parent’s disappearance and then when it was obvious she couldn’t keep the lie up she left town too. Those people were the same people who believed that Liz killed Nancy and Jeff. She was one of the few who didn’t believe the rumors.

Maria knew her best friend; she loved her family and if something happened to them then she could bet that Liz would try to solve the mystery. There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in her mind that Liz had found a clue linking someone or something to the disappearance of her parent’s and she got in too deep.

Max was the one who had realized first that something wasn’t right with the situation. He had gone to tell Liz he was leaving the planet with Tess because his son, growing inside her, couldn’t breathe on Earth. When he went into her room through the window there were clothes strewn everywhere, but to him it didn’t look like anything except a shirt and a pair of pants was missing. It disturbed her how much Max knew about the clothes Liz wore.

He also noted a large chest that he had never seen before was broken open and all the contents in it were gone. Then Max called Maria to tell her that there had been a problem at Liz’s place and he thought she should get over there.

Worried she drove as fast as she could from Michael’s place and went to the Crashdown, Michael came with her knowing she’d need someone to lean on if in fact Liz had been hurt. Alex’s death had only been a few weeks previously; she wouldn’t have been able to lose another friend so suddenly.

When the duo got there and saw the mess that was Liz’s room she had collapsed on the floor. Michael lifted her up and carried her to the bed. “No, I can’t lose Liz, I can’t.” She kept mumbling more to herself then anyone in the room.

Taking note of the time Max tried to get Michael to go with him but Michael faced Max and with authority that normally would have turned her on, even if she didn’t admit it out loud, he told Max no. That he was staying there with her and they’d find out what happened to Liz.

For a second Max looked like he was going to argue but instead he only nodded. Maria although angry that he could leave without even trying to search for Liz she could still see the pain and anguish he felt for leaving.

Having calmed down she along with Michael and Max searched the room for twenty minutes. In a desk drawer Maria found, underneath a pile of papers and tucked way in the back, an envelope with her name on it. Instead of giving her answers the letter enclosed only served to give her more questions. She pocketed the envelope without telling Michael or Max. Where it was hidden told her that it was for her eyes only.

Michael suggested that they call the police and let them know what had been found…or not found considering Liz had vanished. Max at first was reluctant but eventually gave in after she told him that if they sat on this, suspicion would be directed at them, and while Max may not be there to care, both she, Michael, Kyle, and Jim would be.

Max dialed 911 and told the man on duty that something happened in the apartment above the Crashdown. Within ten minutes Sheriff Hanson along with two of his deputies showed up. He questioned the three of them, asking them why they were there, what had they been doing, the basic cop questions.

All they could tell Hanson was that Max had shown up wanting to talk to Liz, he omitted the part about him climbing up the fire escape, and then told him that the front door was unlocked and slightly ajar. It was a lie; the front door had been locked when she and Michael arrived.

After he saw Liz’s room, which was the only room that looked like a tornado went through it, he called Maria at Michael’s. Maria picked the story up from there and said that Max called to see if she knew where Liz was, worried she and Michael rushed over there, which was when they called the Sheriff’s department.

Max during the whole question and answer portion kept looking at his watch. There was still a few hours left before the ship took off, he had given himself plenty of time to talk to Liz before leaving Earth.

A few moments later Sheriff Hanson gave them permission to leave the residence, telling them to stay in town in case he had some more questions. Until that time though they should head on home, he and his team would search around the home for clues.

Reluctantly the trio left the police in the Parker’s home. Once outside Max asked Michael if he was sure about staying. Her beloved Spaceboy didn’t even hesitate in his answer; he told Max that he was sure. The brother’s hugged and Max went to the alley only to speed out making his way toward his own home. He and Isabel had one more thing to do before they left.

Meanwhile Michael took Maria back to her place, she needed to be alone for a bit and process everything. She’d call him in the morning. As she heard Michael’s motorcycle roar away back to his apartment she went into her room and ignored Sean who was snoring on the couch. While in her room she read Liz’s note.

A few hours later she got a phone call from Michael, telling her she better get down to his place. A problem happened and they were calling a meeting. She could only imagine what else could happen. Questions only continued to pile in her mind when she saw Kyle, Jim, Michael, Isabel and Max sitting in Michael’s living room.

Maria stared up at the Crashdown logo; Liz had been gone for almost nine months. Nine months without either of her best friends, one dead, the other unknown. It wasn’t fair.

She could still recite the note Liz left by heart, she’d read it enough times trying to figure things out but it only gave her a headache.

Maria,

If you’re reading this…God that is so cliché, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Obviously you found my letter if I'm not there. There’s no way you would have found it if I had been. Anyway back to what I need to tell you.

First off, I'm sorry I couldn’t tell you I’d gone. With Alex, this is the last thing you need. I can’t say much without putting you in danger but I had to go, my family needs me.

Second thing, it’s real simple.

Don’t look for me.

If you do it’s likely that you’ll be killed or worse. There are things worse then death and I couldn’t stand it if they were done to you.

So don’t look for me. There’s nothing you could do anyway. And don’t roll your eyes and say ‘the hell there isn’t’. It’s unlikely that I’ve been killed. The people who we’re going up against don’t want me dead but they want me back along with my family.

There are some things that are being sent to you on May 22, 2021. It’ll be sent to that place we went to with those girls that one time after those two days. In there is another letter that explains why I left you those things.

Take care of yourself. I love you Maria. I couldn’t have asked for better friends…you and Alex welcomed me and I never forgot that. I didn’t do much hoping before I met you and Alex, but I hope that I see you again, if not soon then someday.

Liz

Glancing at her watch Maria saw the time. “Crap.” She hurried down the street just as the bus was turning the corner barreling toward the bus stop she was running too.

She frantically waved at the driver praying that it was a nice driver today. As soon as the bus stopped she knew it was the driver that normally had that route. Breathing a sigh of relief she ran to the open doors, paid, and sat down settling in for the twenty-minute ride to the school.

TBC

Next Chapter: On the road with Liz/Jondy's group.
Chapter 15: On the road with Maxie's group.
Chapter 16: Back in Roswell with Maria and the gang.

KiaraAlexisKlay: Don't worry you'll find out in this chapter who the female is.
Maiqu
lilah
Mel1307
Touch of the Wind
roswellian love: In chapter 16 it'll be revealed why Iz and Max didn't leave in the ship. They might have found out about Tess but it might also be something completely different.
tinie38
polar vixen
pandas2001
Synera: Nope, didn't miss who the female was, it'll be revealed in this chapter.

A.N. Thank you everyone for the amazing feedback. This is another chapter that I had to re-write after the mass deletion. It was a little harder to rewrite then the previous part but I think I got the majority of what I had in the original in there. And yes, who the female transgenic is will be revealed.

Chapter 14

Speeding through the woods Alec expertly followed Biggs in his SUV. In a short while they would separate from one another. Biggs's group had an hour drive; his group had a few days drive.

Jondy stared at the extra passenger in the backseat on the driver’s side. In her excitement and wonderment of Ben and Zack being alive she forgot about the new female that was with the group as well.

She glanced over at Ben who stared out the window, watching as the trees went passed. She wanted to talk to him, ask him so many questions about what happened, why he was alive, but most of all she just wanted to hold him.

However neither she nor Ben would be all that comfortable airing their personal feelings with everyone in the SUV. It was one thing with Max when she knew it might be a while before they saw each other again but not right then.

Instead Jondy turned her attention back to the female transgenic. “You’re not looking so good.”

“If it weren’t for 452 I wouldn’t have been in that infirmary and would have been with my unit instead of with all of you traitors.” She fumed.

“Yea, Max really kicked your ass.” Jondy smirked. The female had a split lip that had puffed up around the injury. She could tell by the way she favored her left side that her ribs were damaged, not to mention the various cuts and bruises on her arms and legs.

X6-185 jutted her chin out in annoyance. She fought the urge to play with the hem of her shorts. While in the infirmary she had been given different clothes to wear, it’d help the doctors during their efforts to monitor her healing process.

Noting her nervous gestures Jondy decided on a different path of conversation. “There are some things we all need to discuss before we reach our destination.” She addressed the all the occupants.

“Like what?” X6-185 questioned.

“Like from now on my name isn’t Jondy. It’s Liz.” She swallowed holding onto Alec’s hand as he silently listened. “Where we’re going, the people there only know me as Liz.”

“Which means,” Alec spared a glance at the girl in the back next to Ben. “You’re going to need a name. Calling you by your designation is only going to bring attention to us.”

“Why can’t I be called by my designation. It’s who I am.” 185 frowned.

Alec stared at her curiously. “In the world outside of Manticore people have names, not numbers. We need to come up with a name for you.”

185 rubbed her arm, the older female, Liz, could see right through her. She had lied when she said she’d gone on missions at such a young age; she’d never even left the base. They weren’t sent on solo missions until they were at least sixteen, she was barely fourteen. It was even a rarity for a group to be sent out, the higher ups were afraid there would be another incident like the 09’ers.

“I can think of a few names.” Liz mumbled. Although the names she was thinking of weren’t appropriate she’d get a kick out of hearing 185 introducing herself as one of those naughty words.

Alec smirked at her keeping a hold of her hand. “What you’re thinking would cause far more attention then her number.”

“So? It’d be an accurate name.” She defended. Getting back to the topic at hand she turned back to the girl. “What were you good at in Manticore?”

She lifted her head up and spoke with pride. “Underwater ops, best swimmer in my class, and an expert at swords.” Manticore wanted experts in everything, from firearms to wooden sticks. They wanted to make sure every weapon was covered even if it was unlikely they’d be used.

“Okay choose from Ocean, Lake, or River.” Liz told her.

“Why only those?” Mole asked. “There are plenty of other water names.”

“Yea but I don’t think she wants to be named Stream or Pond or Flow or Wave. Those three are some of the most normal of water names.” Liz told him.

185 thought it over a second before answering. “I like Lake.”

“Lake it is.” Liz nodded. “We’ll say you’re my cousin, my uncle or your Dad, is the brother to my Dad. So you’ll be Lake Parker. Ben obviously you’ll be Alec’s twin brother.”

“Where will we be staying?” Ben wanted to ask where would he be staying, it wouldn’t surprise him that since hearing about how he murdered people Jondy…Liz wouldn’t want him around her.

“Well, you’ll be staying with us, my parents had a restaurant before they were killed and there’s an apartment above it.” She assured Ben. “Lake,” Liz spoke her new name to get use to it, “will stay us as well since it’d be a little odd to live on your own since you’re only fourteen.”

“What about me?” Mole spoke up from the back.

“It’s up to you. You can stay with us or if you prefer you can find somewhere else.” Liz shrugged. She didn’t want to make Mole’s decision for him.

“He’s staying with us.” Alec answered for his comrade.

Mole glared at Alec through the review mirror. “Do I not get a vote?” Irritated that he wasn’t included in the choice of whether he stayed with the group or went off on his own.

“Mole we’re going to be in a new town, we don’t know how transgenic friendly they are—“

Liz snorted. “Wouldn’t expect a warm welcome if they knew.”

“Until we know what we’re dealing with we should stay close.” He explained. “I'm not going to make you but I might not always be there to protect Liz, I need you to be there when I'm not.”

Mole was the only other person, besides Liz, that he trusted. Ben was a loose canon, last time he was on the outside he killed people. His child and Liz were not going to be victims of his. And as for the X6 that joined their group…if he didn’t trust Liz’s brother he sure as hell didn’t trust someone whom he hardly met.

Mole thought it over for a few seconds. “Ok. Protecting your woman and kid is what I came here to do. Next time ask though.” Now that he was out of Manticore he didn’t plan on taking orders.

“Kid?” Ben questioned. His sister was having a baby? And his look-a-like was the father.

Liz smiled at Ben. “Yea. You’re going to an uncle.” She was happy but a little nervous at his expression.

“An uncle?” He stared at her stomach in awe.

“Yea.” Liz gave him a watery smile. “Of mine and Alec’s baby.”

“Are you happy?” Ben asked.

Liz nodded. Turning completely around he grabbed his hand and looked in his eyes. “I'm even happier with you here with me.” She had to let her brother know that she wanted him as apart of her new family. Ben needed reassurance that he wasn’t alone in the world anymore.

A small smile formed on his lips but before it could grow into a full-fledged smile he turned away and stared back out the window. He didn’t know what to do with the well of emotions he had bubbled up. When he killed people he made himself not feel remorse or guilt. The only emotion he let himself feel was loneliness.

Seeing her brother close off she turned her attention back to Alec. “When we stop can we get two motel rooms?”

“Why two?” He figured they’d share one so her and Ben could stay close.

“I need to be alone with you for a little bit.” She looked down at the seat. “With everything…”

Alec saw her chin quiver. He knew what she didn’t want to say with the others present. Liz needed to break down and she needed him there to put her back together. “Yea, we can do that.”

TBC

Next Chapter: On the road with Maxie, Biggs, and company.
Ch 16: More with Maria and the gang in Roswell.

LizNdAlec4eva: I'm definitely going to have fun in Hawaii, we're doing a lot of activities. Snorkeling, swimming with sharks (we're in a cage), horseback riding, going to Pearl Harbor, a dinner cruise, and then on our last day we're relaxing and possibly doing some shopping. I am very much lookin forward to this trip.

Chapter 15

Maxie smiled as the ‘Entering Seattle’ sign flew by. She breathed a small sigh of relief, she’s home. There was always a sense of security when she re-entered the city. Of course that sense of security quickly vanished once she saw sector cops at the checkpoints.

Biggs slowly pulled up behind the last car while Maxie twisted around in her seat. “Ok big fella stretch out on the floor and I’ll put this blanket over you.” She might be able to explain Zack but there would be no way to explain Joshua.

Joshua nodded eagerly like a happy child. Unbuckling his seat belt he worked his big body as best he could onto the floor. Max spread out the black and scratchy blanket before draping it over Joshua. She hoped it was dark enough so the sector police didn’t notice the big bump on the floor. The back windows were slightly tinted which would help dramatically.

Once he was secure she turned her attention toward Zack. His face was half covered with metal, how would they disguise that? At least with the arm they managed to cover it with a jacket Biggs brought and stashed in the back. When there were only two cars in front of them she got an idea.

“Zack.” Her brother continued to stare out the window. The same thing he’d been doing for the entire car ride.

Biggs glanced in the rearview mirror. “I don’t think he’s paying attention.”

“Yea, I can tell.” She muttered. Instead she tried a different tactic. “X5-599.” At that he finally looked at her.

“Yes?” His voice was still as cold as a machine.

“We’re going to pretend you’re a steel head.” When he stared at her blankly she elaborated. “Our mission is to get past this checkpoint without the sector police figuring out who we are. Understand?”

“I will succeed with the mission.” He nodded finally showing the slightest bit of life in his eyes.

“I know you will. We all will.” Max turned back around in her seat and buckled her seatbelt again. About a month before she and the other were captured there had been a small gang making a name for themselves. They were steel heads, and the members looked similar to Zack. Various bolts, chains, metal, and anything made of steel were placed on their bodies. With how Zack looked now it’d be the perfect cover.

The next car drove through the gates and then it was their turn. A uniformed officer came up to the SUV, a gun strapped to his waist. “Sector passes?” Biggs opened the glove compartment and handed him three sector passes, thankfully they didn’t need their pictures on the passes.

The sector cop flashed a light over the passes. While he was checking them over a loud sneeze came from the floor of the back seat.

Thinking fast Max pretended to sneeze really hard multiple times. “Oh excuse me. Allergies.” She sniffled and smiled shyly at the officer.

He narrowed his gaze at her but didn’t say anything. A driver two cars back honked his horn impatiently. The cop glared at the line. “All right. Get a move on.” He handed back the passes and waved them along.

Biggs took the sector cards and nodded, rolling up his window as he drove off. As soon as they were out of sight of the checkpoint Max twisted around and pulled the blanket off of Joshua.

“Sorry little fella.” He glanced up sheepishly. “Blanket itchy. Tickled.” Joshua smiled not looking the least bit dangerous.

“It’s ok. But we gotta be more careful next time.” Joshua took hold of her offered hand and maneuvered back into his seat.

Biggs turned the SUV down a main road. “Where too?”

“There’s a place, it’s not too far from here.” Max hoped she was doing the right thing. Should she bring this chaos on her friend again?

Biggs saw how nervous Max acted. “Are you alright?”

“Yea. No.”

“Which is it?” He teased.

“Both. I’m happy to be out but I don’t know if it would just be better to start over in a new town. At least that way my friends won’t be dragged back into my life. A life they should never have to be involved with again.” Over the last few months with Biggs she had become so close to him, she could tell him anything and he’d be there to help her through it.

Biggs shrugged his shoulders. “What would be worse? Your friends knowing you’re alive and out of Manticore and that you came to tell them yourself or be in pain thinking you’re dead only to possibly find out later you were still alive?”

“What if they never found out that I was alive?”

“Then your friends would forever grieve you. Granted it would decrease with time but they would never fully be over your death.” Biggs rationalized.

“Damn.” After thinking about it for a few more moments she pointed out the directions to where they’d be safe for the next few days. She hoped her friend was ready for this.

TBC