16.
The cool ground felt soothing after the fire. Max had no recollection of passing out, but waking with his face in the dirt suggested that's the way it went down.
Rubbing the soil from his cheek, he unsteadily climbed to his feet and looked out on the landscape. Things had changed. Wild flora grew in sunbursts of red, yellow and orange beside him. A few feet away, purple flowers bloomed, their petals so dark they appeared black. Tall plants with red and blue veins and wide red canopy leaves took root between the rocks. Beneath their shelter, red and white saplings curled around the rocks like ivy.
Life. All of this sprang from his hand. He was one of them! Max whirled excitedly. "Did you see?"
"We saw – amazing," Vincent called behind him, but the voice seemed subdued.
Then Max saw Noah's eyes stared up lifelessly into the starry night sky. It took a few seconds for the reality of his friend's death to sink in. "I thought I could help him."
"You did," Jamie said. "He lived to see you come alive. It's what he wanted."
As if in answer, a black bird flew by, settled on one of the plants and then took flight once more. "And now," Vincent said, digging in the earth with a sharp rock, "he'll lie with our home around him forever."
Max and Jamie found large stones and did the same. Despite time minutes ticking away, no one felt rushed as they dug Noah's grave.
After they laid Noah to rest, Vincent stood over the fresh earth. "Noah, you made me laugh. You made all those cold, rainy nights bearable. And you did what you wanted to the end. We'll see this through for you and miss you every step of the way." With that, Vincent threw a handful of dirt on the grave. "Let's finish this," he said.
Max spotted a mini-bottle of Jack Daniels that must have fallen from Noah's pocket. A slight grin sneaked across his lips, knowing Noah had stolen it from the train. "Wherever home is, I hope you find it and find peace. Safe journeys, my friend," Max said, opening the bottle and pouring a bit onto the grave. Then they all took a sip in salute and tossed the bottle down the mountain. He took one last look at his creations and ran his fingers along the tiny purple veins of a newly born leaf. Like the butterfly emerging from its cocoon, he had spread his wings for the first time. The storm had begun.
*
It was just past midnight when they made their way down the switchback toward the lab compound holding the cloud seeding device. No one had spoken about Noah's death after they got in the van. Max wasn't sure what to say either. All he could do was keep playing the brief moments Noah had made him laugh over in his head.
He turned to look outside. Shadowy rock formations jutted out like anguished faces trapped in frozen screams. Max pushed the thoughts away. He couldn't allow everything that they'd endured this far be in vain.
Jamie sat up front with Vincent. Max sat on the van's floor in back as they motored down the switchback. With each bump and turn he was lifted in the air or thrown to the sides. The first few times Vincent apologized. After that, there didn't seem much point.
The compound glowed in the distance. There were no other signs of civilization in the area. As they neared the entrance, Max clocked two guards stationed at the gatehouse. They came out, moving to opposite sides of the van. Vincent just stared ahead impassively.
One guard tapped Vincent's window. Vincent lowered it. "A little late for a delivery," the guard said, his hand resting on his belt above his holster.
"That's not why I'm here," Vincent said.
"This is private property. You're going to have to turn back," the guard said, looking at his partner for guidance.
Worry raced down Max's spine. He'd never given thought to how they were getting the device or who would suffer along the way.
Vincent glanced at Max and put a finger to his lips. "Relax, it's not what you think," he said, and then turned back to the other guard. "We've come too far to turn back."
Jamie jumped out of the van.
The guard drew his gun. "Miss, please get back in the vehicle." The second guard drew his gun, pointing it at Vincent, who didn't seem the least bit disturbed.
Jamie focused on the nearest guard. He looked confused. His eyelids grew heavy. Then he eased the gun back in his holster.
The second guard kept his gun on Vincent while moving around for a better view. "Jack, what are you doing?" Panic crept into the guard's voice.
The remaining guard holstered his gun as well after one look in Jamie's eyes. They both appeared to sleepwalk back to the guardhouse and pick up the intercom. "We have a delivery for Doctor Tsang." He clicked off, and then raised the gate.
Max breathed a sigh of relief. If nothing else, at least this was going to end without a rising body count.
Then both guards cried out, bodies squeezed as if they were being crushed within an invisible fist. They fell to the ground.
Max lunged, grabbing Vincent. "What are you doing? They're not a threat."
Vincent looked at him like he was deranged. "They're fine, just unconscious," he said, disengaging Max's hands and climbing out. "Can't worry about what's behind us." He propped the bodies up in the guardhouse. "I'm trying to do this with minimal damage. We really are the good guys. But no one's going to just hand us our lives. We have to take them. Or did you not notice that on the train?"
Max satisfied himself that both guards were subdued rather than dead. Maybe there were no good guys to be found here. Reluctantly climbing back on board, he felt each step closer turned the trio farther apart. Vincent must have seen it.
"I'm not after bloodshed. No one gets hurt unless they strike first. But we can't stop," Vincent said.
They rumbled forward toward the monolithic compound and arrived in the lit circular driveway. The main structure was three stories, but went back a far distance. It was white, with dark slivered windows. A well-cultivated desert garden stood before a sign – ARIZONA WEATHER LABS. Two more guards sat by a security desk.
As the van neared the entrance, the elevator bank opened. A portly Chinese man in his late fifties with graying temples and gold-rimmed glasses approached the desk.
Vincent and Jamie jumped out. Max followed. Inside, the guards stared curiously at Vincent as he approached the doors. Then both guards convulsed as they were gripped by his vise hold. Like a triumphant general returning home, Vincent swept through the doorway beside Jamie.
Max raced through the entrance on his heels to make sure no more damage took place.
All eyes turned toward the doctor running for the emergency exit on the far side of the lobby.
Doctor Tsang never made it. He stood frozen in place. Vincent somehow paralyzed all muscle function in the terrified man mid-stride.
Max checked on the two unconscious guards behind the desk. Their pulses were weak. "You nearly killed them."
Vincent stared back coolly. "They'll live. More than Noah." Then he strode over to Doctor Tsang. "I have no interest in harming you. While the rest of your body is paralyzed, the muscles controlling your eyes still function. Blink once if you understand," Vincent said.
Out of the corner of Doctor Tsang's eyes, he watched Vincent moving around him. He blinked a single time.
"You possess an experimental device, the ARX-17. Take us to it and you live. Deviate from that path and tonight will be your last. Understood?"
Doctor Tsang blinked again. Even paralyzed, his body trembled in terror.
Vincent released the doctor who stumbled, but remained upright. When he recovered, Doctor Tsang took a last glance at the unconscious guards, and then went to the elevator.
"Jamie, make sure no one follows. Max, with me," Vincent said, moving beside the doctor as the elevator doors opened.
Part of him wanted to run, but the Doctor and anyone else below had a better chance of survival if Max were there to contain Vincent's simmering rage.
Doctor Tsang's breathing calmed as the elevator shot silently down. "Who are you?" he asked tentatively, not wanting to provoke further violence.
"The next phase in evolution," Vincent answered, checking his watch.
As if triggering his memories, other moments played over in Max's head, like Vincent talking about the cruel joke of being so powerful but having to hide it and how they were gods among men. "What's in the liquid?" Max asked, feeling increasingly certain he and and the others had been manipulated – the only question was whether the Eye or Vincent was pulling the strings. "What happens if we release it?"
Doctor Tsang glanced back at Max, as if sensing an ally in him.
"Eyes forward," Vincent said sharply. Then he lowered his head as if exhausted from the journey. "We're so close to the end, Max. Don't lose faith now."
The doors opened on a long, white corridor. There was a single door at the end of the hallway. Vincent motioned for Doctor Tsang to proceed.
"The seeding device is experimental. There's no black market for something like –"
Vincent cut him off, "I didn't ask."
Doctor Tsang stuffed his hands in his lab coat and led them on. Vincent walked on Tsang's side. Max saw Doctor Tsang's fingers curl around a small pen-like device in his pocket. He'd seen something like it in a tech magazine. If Max was right, Tsang held a panic button that would set off some kind of defense mechanism. Then he caught sight of a hair thin microscopic laser that went across the hallway.
If he let the doctor press the button, they might avoid other casualties. But it was more than likely they wouldn't get out of the lab with the device. Max might even be sentencing all of them to death. If he warned Vincent, how many innocents might suffer?
Gods among men...
He remembered a rainy afternoon at Hanover reading Lord of the Flies. As the rain ran down the windowpane, he'd been drawn in with increasing dismay as the fabric of humanity unraveled on the island. Yet, somehow through it all, Ralph never gave up on the better nature of man. Then again, had they not been rescued, Ralph would have ended up on the losing end of the spear. There was no cavalry coming here. Whoever had poisoned the train made very clear what their intentions were for the hybrids. Whatever salvation lay ahead, it was in Max's hands to bring about.
Tsang glanced Max's way; and in that moment, he saw that Max knew. Amazement followed when Max gave the faintest nod. The Doctor rushed forward as if eager to get this over with. Then he pressed the button.
A metal wall dropped at furious speed in front of Max and Vincent. The corridor shook from the impact.
Vincent whipped toward Max, sensing betrayal. Before he could say anything, an ultrasonic weapon shielded by the wall grates unleashed thunderous sound waves. It was a non-lethal technology meant to disable intruders. And it was wildly effective. Vincent covered his ears, but it wouldn't do any good. Soon their bodies would go into shock and shut down. But Tsang and potentially countless others would live.
Max screamed from the pain, but couldn't hear his own voice. He fell to his knees, hands pressed against his ears, but unable to stop the ongoing assault.
Vincent struggled to stay up while blood seeped down from his ears.
It felt like a nest of hornets furiously stung every nerve in Max's head. Consciousness faded as he sank down – the terrifying fear that he might be wrong was his last thought before he saw something extraordinary. He wasn't sure if it was an optical illusion. But no, the wall before Vincent began to melt. First a small portion in the middle, then the hole burned outward like a match dropped on the center of a page.
Vincent clenched his fists, closed his eyes and began to slowly push his hands out to the side. The two walls crushed inward in his invisible grip. The weapons within went silent.
Through the opening in the metal door, Max saw Doctor Tsang anxiously waiting for the fingerprint scan to finish. The man didn't even have time to take a last terrified breath. Every bone in the Doctor's body sickeningly cracked as he was crushed by Vincent's unrestrained rage. The horror lasted all of an instant. Then Vincent turned back to Max. He expected to see pure fury, but after a few seconds, all that remained was disappointment.
"You better open your eyes about who the real enemy is," Vincent said.
Jamie emerged from the elevator ready to take out any opponents, but all she saw was Max wipe a blood trail from his neck as Vincent approached Tsang's corpse.
"Thought I said to stay up top," Vincent said, as if there were nothing out of place.
"There was an alarm ..." Jamie trailed off, eyes moving to Max. Whether she read his thoughts and knew what happened or simply looked over the scene, her expression made it clear she'd never see him in the same light again.
Max looked away, shame and guilt overwhelming him.
"Show's over," Vincent said, putting an end to any further conflict. The lab door slid open. He dropped Tsang's mangled hand and motioned to Max, after you.
"They're going to hunt us down with everything they have after this," Max said.
"If nothing else, I'm glad you said 'us' this time." Vincent followed Max into the lab. "And yes, I'm sure they will. But I can only deal with one threat at a time."
Overhead lights flashed on as they walked in. The room was white and sterile with bare walls. The setting was temperature controlled to precisely sixty-seven degrees. It looked like a miniature planetarium projector with dual twisting ends and a central chamber where the broken down chemical would be released. For something that could save their species, it was comically small, about the size of a foosball table.
"That's it?" Jamie asked.
"Hope so – if not, we're screwed." Vincent ran his fingers along the surface, and then looked back at Max, "Let's put the unpleasantness behind us. The battle's done."
The real battle hadn't yet begun - though it would soon enough and he was hopelessly unprepared. Max had flapped his wings and summoned the storm, mistakenly believing he could control the ensuing chaos. Now it seemed far more likely he'd be swept away by it.