Just Another 48 Hours -- Chapter 3

[parallax23]

Chapter 3:  Off Course

May 4, 2021 

He was avoiding her. 

Logan Cale was also a master of escape and evade, Max learned in the last twenty-four hours.  She hadn’t seen him since her confession.  In between meetings with several concerned transgenics, going over inventory with Alec and occasionally stopping to watch news broadcasts for possible threats of imminent doom, Max had really wanted to see him.  She wasn’t sure why though.  It would just be painful for both of them.  He had been so hurt and angry when she told him the truth.   

Guilt was still fresh in her mind.  She still loved him.  Those things didn’t just go away overnight.  No matter how long that night seemed. 

“There are still a lot of transgenics on the outside, hiding until they can get in here.  But we’ve got no way to get a message out to them that this isn’t the time to start looking for a family reunion,” Dix said.  “They can’t exactly stay out there either.” 

“Don’t worry, they’ll find a way in.  Any transgenic worth his genetic coding should find this a piece of cake,” Mole commented.  “A couple hundred armed guards?  Kid stuff.” 

“I’ve got a team working on it,” Max said, city-planning maps laid out in front of her on a large table in Command. 

Mole made a gesture with the cigar in his hand, as if this all just proved his point. 

They had found maps of Seattle in one of the abandoned buildings that once housed a city agency, but hadn’t really found a use for them until now.  Luke was really glad he hadn’t used them to power the generator last week when they were out of fuel.  Now they were plotting out the police and National Guard positions with military accuracy from the news feeds, which helped them to find weak spots where someone could slip through. 

How stupid did the humans think they were?  Highly trained bio-weapons with genius IQs and enhanced abilities, who spent a lifetime being trained in military strategy, were going to let themselves be bested by state police?  Lydecker would roll over in his grave in shame.  If he was dead.  Well, Sandoval was dead and he’d be pissed if they let that happen. 

Max stared determinedly at the heavily marked up map.  It displayed a technicolor picture of closed and guarded exits, available housing units, storage areas, video camera positions, and the like. It was all theirs and no one would be taking it away anytime soon.   

This was their life. 

It had taken some time to convince them of that.  That Max wasn’t just some idealistic 09er who didn’t know a damn thing about leading people, or dealing with a tactically disadvantageous situation involving trigger happy officers with really big guns.  It had started the night Sam crashed through town and Max had to make a deal with White, with Joshua and Alec there to back her up.  She had talked them into making a life together, making a better life out of this dump.  Tactic-wise, she had a point and they knew it.  Easy for her to say, she lived on the outside where she would pretend to be just another ordinary. 

The other transgenics had become used to her being their primary liaison with the outside world.  That was fine by them.  So many years out in the world, she was their best resource for it.  But allowing her to take the reins was a different matter.  Some had their doubts. 

The Logan situation didn’t win her many points among her fellow transgenics either.  Though they knew him well and considered him a friend, he wasn’t exactly one of them.  The emotionally volatile relationship they shared and her dependence on his approval was not something the transgenics wished to see in their leader. 

But there had been whispers going around when Logan wasn’t seen by her side all that day.  Or by anyone else really. 

She had sent him packing.  Some would miss him around, primarily those in Command like Luke and Josh. 

He finally decided he’d had enough of them all and was going back to his own. He wasn’t that bad of a guy, but this wasn’t his fight. 

Someone saw her and a certain former breeding partner looking a little cozy the night before.  What was the story there? 

Alec was a popular one around Terminal City.  He also followed her around everywhere.  What was up with that? 

These sorts of rumors shouldn’t have factored into her ability to lead, but this was politics.  Everything about a candidate was fair game for public opinion, from military experience to lovers to the kind of shoes she wore last month. 

The air was thick with suspicion about Max’s private life when they weren’t focused on being blown up.  They needed something to keep themselves entertained with after all, and this was the most interesting thing they had thus far.  Gossip made the work go faster.  And it was better than talking about when they would be blown to pieces.   

“Nobody’s made a single move since this whole thing went down yesterday,” commented Luke.  “Call me crazy but at least if they were firing at us, we’d know what to do.” 

“Well, we sure as hell won’t be firing back in the meantime,” Max stated firmly.  “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this will not turn into some sort of bloodbath.  Clemente’s bought us time by putting the heat on White for mishandling the situation, but we won’t be winning any sympathy anytime soon.  So I say we can wait til we’ve got to burn that bridge.” 

“Emergency evacuation plans are in the works in case things go further south than we’d like,” Alec told her discreetly.  Even though she’d been bent on staying, there was no reason not to have a back up plan just in case.  He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten wrangled into that one.  It had to be somewhere between when he was running after census polls and being chased after for supplies.  “Here are the committee sign-up lists.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to find transgenics with no opposable thumbs something to do?  Or how many of these guys want to be on the decorating committee?  I wouldn’t trust these guys with putting on their own shoes let alone to paint this place.” 

Terminal City had been coming together in the weeks before the Siege.  They hadn’t officially made it their home then.  There had been the occasional sprucing up of the area, making it livable.  But now it was important to know the who and how and why in order to keep things running.  If there was anything that a lifetime of military strictness had taught them, it was the necessity of organization and a chain of command. 

The surveillance committee was headed by Dix.  They were in charge of maintaining the cameras around the sector and keeping sentinels hidden around the perimeter to keep tabs on the slightest movements of their captors.  At the moment, Dix was attempting to hack into a military signal for more information. 

Mole wanted to head the weapons committee, which organized their current arsenal in preparation for battle if push came to shove.  And boy, did he hope that someone was going to shove.  He was itching to see some action. 

The housing situation along with utilities maintenance was left up to Luke.  Residents were currently squatting wherever the roof didn’t threaten to collapse and there wasn’t a draft.  They deserved better though.  And maybe some more warm running water because Max had to take a freezing cold shower that morning.  There were some things a girl could not live without. 

Joshua found himself left in charge of food distribution.  He took the title of Head Chef of Terminal City, since he made the best mac and cheese ever as far as they were concerned.  That and he was the only transgenic that could cook without needing to keep a fire extinguisher handy or give them food poisoning. 

An X5 with extensive field med training by the name of Ken had been living in Terminal City for some time, and was nominated to head the infirmary.  Gem had been eager to help as well, and the two agreed to share the position.  It was going to take a lot of man power to collect all the supplies necessary, handle pregnant X5s who knew nothing about birthing, and the on-coming swarm of new denizens. 

Alec made notes on a clipboard [he’d found] about all of these developments.  It was no laptop spreadsheet, but it would have to do.  He had been with Max when she kept coming up with things she needed help with.  Suddenly the clipboard became an extension of his soul. 

The things he did for that girl, he thought as he walked out of Med Bay with Ken and Gem arguing over where to put the gauze and bandages.  He made a mental note to start a bet in two months as to how long it would take for those two would jump each other’s bones once Gem healed from having the baby.  They grated each other’s nerves a little too much.  He decided to write that down next to the medical supply checklist after all, two months would be a while and he could forget.  Ken screamed out in pain and there was a large crashing sound.  Gem’s baby started crying.  Scratch that, Alec was sure this wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. 

Rome may not have been built in a day, but Terminal City was. 

Just went to show what a couple billions dollars worth of R&D could do. 

_________________________________________________________

 
It was during the last session of food rations for the night that Alec spotted Logan in line waiting for some crackers and juice.  They had mostly dry, pre-packaged foods stored up.  And truth be told, transgenics had a shameless affinity for junk food.  What good was a high metabolism if you didn’t use it to eat whatever you wanted?  Especially after having spent a lifetime locked in a cage being fed government issued health sludge.  That was Alec’s take on the situation. 

He hadn’t seen Logan all day, though he wasn’t exactly looking for the guy either.  They hadn’t been on speaking terms since that day at Joshua’s house when Alec didn’t bother telling him that the whole hooking up with Max thing had been a lie.  Alec had seen Cindy helping Gem out with the baby though.  Sketchy had spent the day following anyone who didn’t threaten to kill him, chronicling what he called ‘The Great Seattle Siege.’  Alec hoped that Logan hadn’t spent the day moping about instead of helping, but it didn’t make a difference either way.   

He and Alec were not friends. 

Though Logan wasn’t exactly his favorite person, Alec had come to respect him and at one point thought of him as an overbearing older brother, even if he would rather die than admit to it now. 

“Got those lists!” Dalton announced as he rushed over to join Alec in line.  There wasn’t much of a crowd since most of the transgenics preferred to eat as soon as possible, so no one cared that Dalton had cut in front of them. 

Alec couldn’t help but smile.  The kid was hell-bent on proving his worth around there.  He had been following Alec around since he got out of Med Bay, looking for things to do.  When Max started shouting out errands, he found a good use for the X6.  Dalton was also excited that his new job put him in close proximity to Max.  Alec had noticed the boy asking him too many questions about their new… CO?  President?  Mayor?  Empress?  Alec made a mental note to ask Max what she wanted for a title, but Dalton may have been hoping for Girlfriend.  Alec made another note to tease her relentlessly for it later. 

Logan had overheard them, and turned around to see Alec standing behind him.  Dalton was dismissive of his presence, waiting anxiously to hear Alec’s approval of his work. 

“Great job buddy,” Alec told the boy and ruffled his hair, not really reading the reports but pretending to.  “Too bad this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Hey there, Logan.” 

“Alec,” Logan replied uneasily.  He still wasn’t sure how to react to him since he learned the truth.  Was he supposed to be relieved that the two of them hadn’t slept together?   

“How’s it going?  See that the bio-toxins and what not haven’t eaten away at your flesh yet,” Alec said casually. 

“I guess so,” Logan said, moving forward with the rest of the line.  “Do you need something?” 

Alec kept a blank face.  “From you?  Nothing.  Just being polite, that’s all.” 

Logan wasn’t sure how or why, but something inside of him snapped.  Since that night Max let him believe that she was with Alec, his composure had been fractured and any patience reserved for the X5 had been used up.  He had bottled up his resentment, and now it had nowhere to go. 

“Polite?  Coming from you?  That’s rich.  Weren’t you the guy pretending to sleep with my girlfriend no more than twenty-four hours ago?” 

Alec wasn’t exactly sure what he’d been looking for when he spoke to Logan.  Forgiveness?  No, Alec was unapologetic. He had just opened his mouth without thinking as usual.  Now it was taking all his strength not to let his mouth finish the situation.   

He felt the strong urge to point out that Logan hadn’t allowed him to explain the situation in the first place, that he had just decided to believe what he wanted to without checking the facts.  No one had told Logan that he and Max had slept together.  Max had explained the whole thing that night about Logan jumping to conclusions.  Alec didn’t even touch Max in Logan’s presence.  All of what went on between them had been manufactured by Logan’s imagination. 

He considered enlightening him with this information because he was tired of being treated like he had wronged Logan, when he hadn’t done anything but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Story of his life. 

“You know, I didn’t take you to be such a whiny bitch, but whatever.  And if I wanted to sleep with her, you know damn well I could have,” Alec said and turned to Dalton.  “You may not know this yet, but Psy-Ops was a walk in the park compared to getting stuck in someone else’s melodrama.” 

“What?” Dalton asked. 

“You’re still new to the world.  You’ll get it when you’re older,” Alec told him.  “Trust me, the hot chicks are always more trouble than they’re worth.” 

Logan was a bit stunned by Alec’s assessment of the situation.  The guy had been out in the world for less than a year and suddenly he was an expert on human social graces?  Alec had a lot of nerve thinking he was the more mature person in the situation, rather than the immature sociopath that he was.  Logan’s distaste for the comment was from his own guilt if he was willing to admit it to himself.  Even if Alec had been seeing Max, there had been no justification for acting so petty towards him.  It was like an Eyes Only broadcast about the depth of his insecurity.  But he was good at hiding from looking too deeply at it. 

All day Logan had tried to stay out of everyone’s way, trying to figure out his place in Terminal City.  After Max’s revelation, he no longer saw himself as the man by her side.  He didn’t stand by the awe-inspiring woman who pulled her people together in this time of crisis.  Even if he had been by her side, he wouldn’t be able to keep up.  Not like Alec could and did.  Logan didn’t have the training, the superior genetics, or an X6 that worshipped the ground he walked on with the excessive need for his approval. 

That hurt even more than the thought of Alec in bed with her, Logan discovered that day from observation.

If it was just about sex, creature comfort, Logan could blame the virus and human weakness, two things completely out of his control.  Those were not his shortcomings.  But he fell short in the other categories that really mattered.  He couldn’t help with strategic planning the way Alec could.  He couldn’t run for hours on end and still look like a celebrity, let alone composed.  None of the transgenics answered to an ordinary the way they answered to one of their own. 

Oh, sure they tolerated Logan out of familiarity, but he wasn’t one of them.  Not a kindred outsider, living on the fringe of society with his pre-Pulse wines and an apartment in the sky.  Cindy and Sketchy had managed to blend in.  Cindy and Gem had bonded, while Mole was getting a swollen head from Sketchy’s attention.

Where did that leave Logan?

“So there you are,” Original Cindy said as she entered Joshua’s apartment late that night.

She hadn’t seen Logan all day either, but Max had found the time to tell her what happened.  O.C. figured that he would need some space.  However after an entire day under these circumstances, she was surprised to find him still sulking. 

Max wasn’t looking for him and had put her mind as far away from sulking as humanly possible.  The girl had completely thrown herself into the construction of Terminal City to hide from the emotional aftermath.  Alec was keeping an eye on her though.

“Logan?” she asked.

He had been sitting in the cramped living room by himself, tapping away at his laptop.  He turned away from it to look at her.  “Oh, hi Cindy.”

“What you been up to?”  She wasn’t going to prod him too much.

“Some files for Eyes Only.  He’s still trying to get back up.”

Cindy decided that he’d had enough revelations for the day and wouldn’t bother telling him she knew he was Eyes Only.  Or tell him that he had some nerve to be fussing with that when several hundred transgenics were busy trying to put a life together knowing very well that the military was ready to do them in at the drop of the hat.  This was his version of dealing with the situation the same way Max threw herself into Terminal City.

“You know, she didn’t mean to hurt ya.  You need to cut her some slack.  This whole virus shit ain’t been easy on her.  She didn’t do right by you, but she still needs your help.  And I know you ain’t the type to mope when things need to get done or when your girl needs you,” she dropped some wisdom on him before going to get some sleep.