"But you haven't won anything. This is gonna get real ugly, and this is way over my head now. These people's lives depend on the decisions that you make right now. I pray you make the right ones...Max." – Freak Nation.

~~~~

Her agonised prayer lay unheard, as violent seizures took hold, savaging through his body. Each new wave more powerful than the last. His hips slammed into hers, bruising tender flesh. "Alec..." She brushed her fingers against his chest, caressing the warm flesh. "Alec please… I’m so sorry. Stay with me"

A sad smile touched his lips. "You should go" His voice cracked. Please Max, you shouldn’t be here, not like this, not for me. His soundless plea broke across his face, shattering his peaceful features. He gritted his teeth, forced his lids shut. Waiting for a new wave of seizures to savage through his body, waiting for death to follow. By the time the seizures came; he was to gone to care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days earlier…

"Norms don’t now what they’re talking about. TC’s a condemned hellhole. The place looks like a ship sailed through one side and out the other." Mole grunted. A layer of smoke passed through his thin lips. His vision found Dixs just as the white skinned Transhumans’ thick features looked up; laughter breaking across his eyes.

"Yeah, we have holes the size of Texas running through command."

"You now what I call it, a bloody conspiracy, their trying to make us think we have the advantage. As soon as our backs are turned. BOOM!" The cigar pinched between his teeth collapsed under his tightening jaw. "So watch’ ya have?" Mole asked. His green scales rubbed against the television grey bulk, as he turned Dix’s attention from the reporter’s static broken voice.

"Alec told me to list everything in categories, you know essentials i.e. food and water, most important to least. That sort of thing." Dix flipped through the pages; but his shaky hands failed to grip hold onto the thin edges. Dehydration was finally starting to push through the Transgenics strengths, creating another weakness. Still, pushing aside the dizziness he continued. "Other groups were survival, which included ammunition, the crappy cameras, COM links, weapons, even the computers. Then maintenance, stuff to keep this place from falling apart. Again running water, wood, metal, even paper."

"What at the top of the lists"

"I put water at the top. The camera’s are pretty important but then again so is ammunition, but what’s the point of being able to fight but not being able to see it coming"

"Pretty crap the other way round"

"Yeah, but if you can see it coming even with no ammo, we can still defend our selves. We would have to improvise but a surprise attack is the worst that could happen"

"I’ll talk to Alec"

"Not his decision, told me to give the list to Max, said it was her choice."

"That’s bloody crap"

"Year, well she’s the boss" Dix kept his voice low, hiding the ever so slight tremor that clipped the faint sounds that passed his lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hay, is Joshua back with Alec yet" hands on hips; Max leaned against broken metal. The smooth surface pushed up against her slight back.

"Sorry Max" Dix pushed past, picking up scattered papers that patterned the grey floor.

She wet her lips, moving forward, her chapped skin screamed as moisture touched the broken surface. Bending down she began picking up the crumpled sheets.

Dix watched her, but his gaze caught sight of a second pair of eyes, Logan’s. He noticed as the norms’ vision dropped, meeting with Max’s lower form, like spirits protecting it people. Scavengers laying ownership to its pray. Dix diverted his eyes to the ground, watching Max’s hands fumble with the thin sheets. She trailed her hand along her neck. Then moving towards her face, her fingers lightly brushed loose strands of hair away from her beautiful eyes.

"What Max, cant keep track of your boyfriend" Mole spat.

"Look, I don’t think that’s any of your business!" Logan shot back.

"I wasn’t talking to you norm! I was talking to our great leader"

"Yeah, well maybe she doesn’t have anything to say to you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How long do you think they can keep this up?" Dix folded his fingers around the last of his disarrayed sheets, while Max continued to fumble with her. He caught sight of her trembling fingers. "Hay you OK"

"I’m fine" she smiled, but her eyes showed a deep sorrow. "Tired I guess" she signed, the smile faded from her pale lips. "Look arguing isn’t doing any one any good, and Mole my private life has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, well I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to. I might get contaminated by the norms ideas." Mole grumbled. "And if you stay any longer, he’ll start contaminating your leading skills"

Max bit back a harsh remark, infuriated by Mole questioning her leadership, how dare he. If it wasn’t for her… ‘Asshole’, but the word never made it past her lips. The Transhumans scaled bulk stormed out of command. While on his harsh retreat, his overpowering body slamming into Xs.

Satisfied, Max flicked her vision down towards the white sheets that lay pinched between her fingers.

"Are these what Alec asked you to do for me."

"Yeah, but there pretty vague"

Dix was a good friend, smart and emotionally aware of other people’s feelings. A common trait he shared with Alec. She smiled at the thought of his name.

"Doesn’t matter." She replied. The papers still pinched between her fingers crumpled under her flexing fist.

Straitening, he caught Max’s eyes.

"The X5s are panicking over the water shortage."

"Yeah, I now."

"Were dying aren’t we?"

"Some more than others"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alec," heavy hands brushed up against his flesh, settling on the bars rapped by his fingers "It’s beautiful." Alec’s white knuckles relaxed, as Joshua’s friendly presence stepped out from the shadows, resting next to his tired body.

"What is?"

"The sky"

"Well I never really…"

"Don’t think, just look."

Alec hesitated, before allowing his gaze to tilt towards the grey mass, thinning above Terminal City.

BEAUTY, a word that described so many things. But never in his short, Manticore free existence, did Alec think he could look other Seattle and think, BEAUTY. He looked closer.

Blue specks slowly pushed through the fading night, chasing away the grayness. Seattle’s backdrop of metallic landscapes sparked under vivid white that flickered through the shadows. A small smile touched his features.

"You know, when you take time to look at it, it is rather..." stumbling over the right word,

"magnificent."

He moved his hands, placing them over Joshua’s. Watching in silence as more sky broke through.

"Little fella wants you downstairs."

"She sent you up here?" Alec diverted his attention towards Joshua’s face. The half dog’s eyes showed an emotion and understanding Alec had long ago come to love. But it didn’t mean he didn’t receive pleasure from watching panic cross the large pupils.

"Max said, Joshua get Alec, important. Told me to get you off your lazy ass,"

"Hey Josh, don’t panic."

"She didn’t know you were up here."

"Yeah, well she thinks my social life consists of strippers, playboy magazines and junk food. Guess she was right." Alec laughed at his own confession. Blue sky continued to dance over the growing landscape. Welcoming heat touched their skin.

"Beautiful,"

Alec looked once more from TC’s roof, signing "Yeah, It is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hatted the corridor, the only place in Terminal City where the light no longer reached. He found himself listening to the slow humming of broken electrically that flickered through the shadowed hall. He turned it out, as the untamed light stung at his sensitive eyes.

He laughed into the darkness, comforted by the stillness, emptiness, and total lack of life, that at one stage in his life, he would easily have called home. Alec took the final few steps towards Max’s door. And an odd sense washed past him. The door, cracked open slightly, looked odd and out of place. Max never left her door open. It wasn’t in her character to be the sort of person to quote ‘My door is always open’. More of a ‘if it slams you in the butt, I’m not opening if for you’.

Alec placed his hand against the doors’ frame. Pushing carefully, the door swung open slightly, revealing a lone figure submerged in disarray.

Not moving into the room, his spare hand grasped the small cell phone within his leather jacket. A recorded number dialled itself, and a familiar voice cracked to life. He replied, "Mole, prepare the transgenics for bad news… No stay where you are… Look I’m going to need their complete co-operation… No not yet, I’ll have the details within the next half-hour… I... I cant say, … I call you back." He hung up, leaving Mole’s confused voice on the other end. So many of his questions left unanswered. Alec nudged the door open full, sliding in, he faced Max’s broken appearance.

"Max?"

~~~~

"Max…" She forced her face to move in its resting-place. Her lids flickered before resting on the blueprints that scattered her office floor. She had found the small room. Its broken appearance abandoned, alone, somehow drew her to it. So she had clamed it for herself. But even within the comforts of her own privet space, she felt no relief.

"The scouts came back. Alec… the pipe split. The concrete walls surrounding it couldn’t take the pressure. They collapsed, blocking the water tanks, completely destroying the first."

"Max… we couldn’t have known the piping wouldn’t hold." No soothing words calmed her numbing mind. Her eyes flickered towards Alec’s, his lean figure rested against the broken wall. Sorrow played over his features.

"Alec…Why didn’t we see this coming?" Her question hung in the air, but no answer formed itself. Alec slid down, defeat echoing throughout his hazel green eyes. His attention moving once more towards Max. She starred ahead, her features still. Her mind oblivious to his watchful gaze.

She was perfection, an X5. Manticore’s finest breed of soldier. They’re most powerful creations. Faster than all X’s, muscles that outdid even the strongest of the Transhumans. Mentally they were unstoppable. That’s why rebellion was part of their nature. Independence part of their very being.

But strength comes with flaws. It’s own set of rules. With their high metabolism, body fluids were burnt though faster than any of the other Xs. With no immediate water supple, they’re unable to replace the lost moisture being stolen from their bodies. Leaving nothing to feed they’re powerful muscles. They were dying.

The evidence lay in Max’s eyes. Her dark pupils looked dead against the whiteness of her whites. Her normally radiant skin looked dull and lifeless. Her tanned glow slowly fading under of the days of darkness that had touched her skin. Alec let his mind wonder back to her dark eyes. The brightness caught a glimpse of his own reflection. Her dull features mirrored his. Just like her dead eyes…

~~~~

"Everything that they’ve frown at us. Everything what we’ve been through. None of it matters, because at the end of the day, its dehydration that stabs us in the back, Whites going to be kicking himself over that one" He stumbled slightly, letting his eyes wonder the tiled floor.

"I’m going to go find Logan", Max said, suddenly uneasy by their closeness. She waited for him to say something, to move from his resting-place, hoping. But defeated by his silence, she signed, the door closing behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~