All of Us -- Chapter 52

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Only a few more minutes and the shit will go down, Max thought as she, Zack, and several other transgenics sat in one of two vans parked a few blocks away from the warehouse where the confrontation would take place. She glanced over to one of the computer monitors and saw the time in the corner of it. Fifteen more minutes. That’s all.

“It’s me,” Becky’s voice said suddenly. They all turned to where it was coming out of the speakers that were near where Karen and Felicia were sitting. “All systems are in place.”

Max smiled and put a hand to her earpiece. “Great work, Becky. Head to location A and wait for Alec and the rest of his group to meet up with you.” She turned the earpiece off and looked over at Karen and Felicia. “Everything’s running smooth?”

“Absolutely,” Karen confirmed. She gestured to the monitor that was in front of her as well as the one that was in front of Felicia. “The surveillance system is running as smoothly as can be. As soon as you give us the signal, we’ll turn on the recordings remotely and start projecting the appropriate sound bites.”

“Perfect,” Max said. She took a deep breath. “Everybody has everything he or she will need and in perfect condition?” Everybody nodded. “Everybody ready?” Again, everybody nodded. “Good, it’s showtime. Move out.”

They all got out of the van and waited for the transgenics in the second van to get out before they all started to move to their positions. Zack turned to Max and gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. “This is it, Maxie.”

Caroline sat on her couch, her eyes glued to the cordless phone that sat on the coffee table in front of her. She didn’t move at all when Dennis sat down next to her. “Hey.”

“It won’t make it happen any faster,” Dennis pointed out. “Becky won’t call us before it’s over.”

Caroline turned her head to look at him and smiled faintly. “You’re at least as worried as I am. Can you blame me?”

“Not at all, but you’re going to strain your eyes,” Dennis said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s still only ten minutes to eleven, Caroline. It hasn’t even started yet.”

“I know that,” Caroline said. She looked back at the phone again. “I almost feel like I did years ago on the day that Chris died. Mom and Dad and I were just sitting in the living room together that afternoon just waiting for somebody to call to let us know if Chris was going to be okay or not. We just spent hours just sitting there and waiting and when that call finally came…” She sighed. “I hate to say this in a way because it almost sounds disrespectful to Chris, but this feels even worse. Zack is my son, my child and…”

“I know,” Dennis said. “Wherever Chris is right now, he knows and he understands and he’s going to be keeping an eye on Zack and on Becky as well.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “He has to get through this. We’re only starting to get to know him and Becky. It wouldn’t be fair if something happens now.”

“It wasn’t fair when Chris died at almost the same age,” Caroline reminded him quietly.

“He won’t die,” Dennis promised quietly but fiercely. “We’ve got to believe it, Caroline. Zack will be fine.”

“I believe it, but I’m still terrified,” Caroline said.

“Me too,” Dennis admitted. “So am I.” He took a deep breath and they held each other’s hand tightly as they sat and waited for Becky’s call.

Becky stood quietly at her assigned spot until she saw Alec leading a small group of transgenics heading towards her. Alec walked up to her and handed her a rifle and started to make gestures and they spread out along one side of the building, some of them going inside the building next door, some of them simply hiding behind things on the street. Becky followed Alec inside the next door building and they entered a room walked over to the windows that faced the warehouse and opened them just enough for them to poke the muzzles of their rifles through. Becky looked around. “Everything looks clear from here.”

“I agree,” Alec said. “Alpha Group, do any of you see any sign of White or any other Familiars yet?” He and Becky waited, but none of the other group members saw anything, either. “Biggs, does your group see anything?”

“Beta Group doesn’t see anything, either,” Biggs reported. “I—“

“I think I might have him,” Becky said quietly, cutting Biggs off. She zoomed in. “Grey sedan heading towards the warehouse. The car matches the description my parents gave me of the car that White last drove to the military camp outside of Terminal City.” She blinked and zoomed back in on the car. “Two people in the car, both appearing to be male…yes, it’s definitely White and his friend Stephen. Max, we’ve got a positive I.D. on them.”

“I copy,” Max said. “Zack and I are in position. You guys know what to do.”

White drove up to the front of the warehouse and parked the car. He and Stephen just sat in there, staring at the building. “It really is an amazing feeling,” White said. “To know that you’re about to walk into history. To know that you’re going to change fate for the better.”

“I know what you mean,” Stephen said, sounding almost awestruck. “Just a few more minutes and we’ll have saved the planet for our Family. Can anybody say that? Nobody can.”

“Yeah,” White agreed. He blinked and tried to focus. “We still have work to do. Do you have your gun?”

“Of course I do,” Stephen said. He took his nine-millimeter out of his pants pocket and looked it over before putting it back. “It’s got a fresh clip loaded in it and it’s ready to go. I’ve got an extra clip if I’ll need it. Do you have your gun?”

“Absolutely,” White confirmed. He took out his own gun and looked at it and smiled before he put it away. He turned to look at Stephen. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Stephen nodded. “I’m ready. It’s time to go make some history.”

“I couldn’t have said it any better myself,” White said. They got out of the car and walked into the warehouse and stood inside. It was pitch black inside and neither of them could see any sign of Becky. “405? I’m here. I even had the courtesy of showing up right on time. Where are you?”

A few lights came on, lighting up the main area of the warehouse well enough but leaving plenty of shadows surrounding it. “Oh, I’m here,” Becky’s voice said. White looked around, but he still couldn’t see Becky anywhere.

“This isn’t the time to be playing hide-and-seek, 405,” White growled. “I’m here all by myself. Where are you?” He looked at Stephen, who nodded and stepped back into some shadows.

“You need to relax, Ames. Tense isn’t your thing,” Becky’s voice said.

“I don’t have time for anymore games,” White stated. He put his hand on his gun and looked around again for Becky. “Where are you? Show yourself right now.”

“Actually, I’m not here,” Becky’s voice said. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

White blinked. “Excuse me? You’re not here? What kind of a game are you playing? Get out here right now where I can see you.”

“She’s not here. I am.”

Max smiled to herself as she heard Becky’s voice being projected through the warehouse and White’s replies get angrier. She looked at Zack and made a quick gesture. Zack gave her hand a squeeze and silently moved away to another corner of the warehouse. Max took a deep breath and stepped from behind the crate that she had been hiding behind.

“Excuse me? You’re not here? What kind of a game are you playing? Get out here right now where I can see you.”

“She’s not here,” Max spoke up. “I am.” She smirked at the surprised look on White’s face. “Let me guess: you were expecting somebody else.”

White smiled cruelly. “452. What happened, did 405 turn tail and run like the little freak that she is and you are?”

“Nope,” Max said. “One, Becky is far from a coward. Two, she was never the one to meet you here. She’s not The One. I am.”

“You are?” White repeated skeptically. “She’s physically better than you are.”

“Well, I guess that answers the question of whether you prefer blonds or brunettes,” Max remarked.

“This isn’t the time to be getting smart with me, 452,” White snapped. “405 is The One. She’s got perfect DNA and she’s physically superior.”

“Becky isn’t The One,” Max countered. “What can I say? Being older does matter after all.”

White was silent for a few moments. “So it’s you. The whole time, it was you after all.”

“You win the prize,” Max said.

“This is going to be easy,” White said. This will be even better than confronting 405. 452 is a close match for me but with Stephen here, there’s absolutely no way that 452 will come out of this one alive!

“Easy? I don’t think so,” Max informed him.

“But I do,” White said. He started to smile when he heard Stephen cock his gun but it turned to shock as Zack blurred over and knocked Stephen to the ground. “What the fuck is going on here!”

“Ooops,” Max said sweetly. “Did I forget to mention how fucking predictable you are, White? Did you really think that I wouldn’t figure out that while you might actually not bring in a large force of your Familiars, and don’t worry about that, we still have precautions in place just in case you still do, you wouldn’t be able to resist bringing your best friend along for the ride?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’d better buckle your seat belt because this ride is going to get really nasty for you.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” White vowed. He attacked Max. They fought hard, neither of them giving the other any breathing room. He swung at Max hard and smiled cruelly when he connected. “I’m sorry, 452, did that hurt? It’s really too bad that you freaks can feel pain like those pathetic humans.”

“No, it felt really good,” Max said sarcastically. She flipped over White’s head and knocked him down to the ground before he could react. She tried to kick him, but he grabbed her ankle and knocked her down to the ground. He tried to kick her in the stomach, but Max grabbed his ankle before he could and repeated what he had just done to her before she got up and they circled each other again. “If feeling pain makes me pathetic, I have never been more proud to call myself pathetic in my entire life.”

“Life…can you freaks really call yourselves alive? You weren’t born. You little animals were created,” White hissed.

“Um, yeah, we were born,” Max reminded White. “You’ve heard of surrogate mothers, haven’t you? They volunteer to carry children for somebody else. We were created, but weren’t you? I was put together in some lab in middle-of-nowhere Wyoming, but you were also created. It might have been by the old fashioned way, but you were still created and you were born.” She grinned wickedly. “Just like me.”

White narrowed his eyes in anger. “Not just like me. Never just like me.” He attacked Max again. “You freaks are nothing like me at all. We couldn’t be any more different from each other.”

“Oh, really? Pray tell,” Max said sarcastically as she connected with White’s face. “We have two eyes, two ears, a nose, two legs, everything else seems to be in the right place…” She let her eyes drift down to White’s crotch and smirked. “Those you seem to have certain shortcomings that I know that Zack doesn’t have. I guess that’s one of the drawbacks to selective breeding. That and stupidity.”

“We are not stupid, 452,” White insisted. “We are far smarter than you animals can ever hope to be.”

“Unless you were all bred to have higher than genius IQs and photographic memories, then get a freaking reality check,” Max said. “Either that or you can enlighten me.”

“I’ll be more than glad to enlighten you, 452,” White assured her as he kicked out at Max’s leg.

Max stumbled, but stayed on her feet and smiled cheerfully at White. “Do you say that to all the girls or only to the ones who are really special to you?”

“Very funny,” White said. “We’ve engineered a virus.”

“Big deal.” Max pretended to yawn as she attacked White. “What makes you so special? Not that it matters. Transgenics are immune to any and all viruses that anybody can come up with.”

“That may be the case,” White conceded, though the cruel look on his face didn’t go away. “And unfortunately, it is also the case with this particular virus, but the humans aren’t. When my people and I release this virus next month into the water supply and into the air, the humans will die. All of the humans will die. The only ones who will be left will be Familiars such as myself and Stephen and you filthy animals and we will get rid of you soon enough. After all, there are only a few thousand of you freaks and there are millions of us.”

Max was horrified. That must be what he meant by The Coming when Zack and I ran into him and Stephen that time. “That’s sick! Killing billions of innocent people because you have some kind of superiority complex?”

“We’re only doing what needed to be done,” White said. He took advantage of Max’s shock and backhanded her. “Just like we took care of Colonel Robinson’s daughter. Well, at least we tried to take care of her. It’s too bad she managed to escape in the confusion. It would have been perfect to be able to pin the blame on you freaks. As soon as we get the chance, we’ll properly take care of Colonel Robinson and General Murphy. Not that it’ll matter that much after we kill you, but it’ll still make it easier for us and harder for you.”

“You won’t touch them,” Zack said angrily as he kicked Stephen in the back. He was almost surprised at how furious that statement made him.

“I can and I will because you won’t be there to stop me, 599,” White told Zack calmly as he advanced on Max. Zack tried to make a grab at White, but Stephen recovered and went back at Zack again. White grinned and pushed Max back and whipped out his gun and aimed at her.

“Max, no!” Zack yelled. He took out one of his guns and aimed it at White’s head and fired, but Stephen shoved Zack down just as he pulled the trigger. Miraculously, the bullet still hit White’s gun and sent it flying out of the way. Max took advantage of this and attacked White again. The four of them fought for what seemed like ages.

“This has to be over,” Stephen snapped. He found his gun again and managed to pistol-whip Zack, who fell to the ground, hitting his head when he landed and he lay there, stunned. Zack managed to grab Stephen as he was falling and Stephen also hit hard when he landed and was similarly stunned.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” White said. He hit Max hard and knocked her to the ground.

Max gasped for breath and tried not to panic when she saw Zack lying on the ground and not moving very much with Stephen half on top of him. You’ve got to stay cool, Max. Keep your head in the game! Just play possum for a few and you can take White down and then get Zack up and then we can finish this bitch. Play it cool.

“Oh, look what we have here,” White commented, grinning as he bent over and picked up Stephen’s gun. “452 and 599 are both down for the count. Is this my lucky day or what?” He looked Stephen’s gun over and then looked back and forth between Max and Zack. “Which one should I kill first? Should I kill 452 first or should I kill 599 first just to make 452 suffer that much more? That’s one tough decision.” He pretended to think about it. “Hell, I want to get as much fun as I can get out of this. 452, say good-bye to your precious boyfriend.”

Zack blinked and tried to get his legs out from underneath Stephen, but it felt like his body was moving as if he was underwater. He looked up and saw White standing over him.

“…452 first or should I kill 599 first just to make 452 suffer that much more? That’s one tough decision.” There was a brief pause. “Hell, I want to get as much fun as I can get out of this. 452, say good-bye to your precious boyfriend.”

Maxie, please go with this, Zack thought as he managed to reach into one of his jeans pockets with his right hand and slid something over to Max.

Max started to panic when she barely heard something slide over to her. Without any hesitation whatsoever, she smoothly picked it up, got to her feet, aimed, and pulled the trigger, hitting White dead-on in the side of the head. White didn’t have a chance to get away and his body collapsed in a heap. Max stared at White’s body for a few moments before she ran over to Zack and helped him out from underneath Stephen. “Zack, baby, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Zack assured her. “I just got my bell rung for a minute. I’ll be okay.” He looked over at White. “It’s over. He’s dead.”

“Considering you gave me your ‘just-in-case’ gun, he should be,” Max said. She handed the gun back to Zack before pulling him in for a kiss. “It’s over.”

“What the…Ames? Ames? What the fuck did you filthy freaks do?” Stephen demanded as he regained his senses and saw White’s body lying nearby.

“We did what had to be done,” Max mocked. “He was trying to kill us, remember?”

“He was only doing what was right,” Stephen said. He glared at them and gently took his gun from White’s cold hand and aimed it and Max and Zack. “That’s what I’m going to do right now.” He started to take a step towards them, but stopped and collapsed, screaming. “What the hell? What the hell is this?”

“Excuse me?” Zack said, genuinely confused.

“My head…my head…” Stephen gasped. “My side…my back…my leg…what the hell is wrong with me?”

Max suddenly understood what was going on with Stephen. A sentence from the prophecy and one that had appeared only the day before came to her mind. When The One has defeated The Dark One before the sickness can be unleashed, the shroud will be lifted, not only from the helpless but from whom The Dark One belongs to. Do not fear, for soon the world will be safe and the ones whom The Dark One belongs to will no longer be able to harm everybody. This must be what they meant! She smirked. “You know, men are such babies when it comes to dealing with pain.”

“What are talking about, 452?” Stephen demanded.

“If you’re as smart as you claim to be, you’ll figure it out,” Max said. “Zack, let’s get out of here.” She and Zack headed for the underground exit of the warehouse. “It’s me. We’re both okay. Maybe a little banged up, but we’re okay and White’s dead. Karen, make the transmissions to Dix and Luke and give them the go ahead to make the calls and transmissions necessary. Everybody else, fall back to your respective vans. As soon as Zack and I get inside our van, we’re out of here and back to Terminal City.” She grinned and turned to Zack and they headed through the tunnel. “Let’s blaze.”