Wake Me Up When September Ends -- Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Still Standing
June 2021
There was a tense, hushed pause as all of Command awaited Max’s response. Behind the cold, decisive demeanor she kept for negotiations, she was being torn apart for an answer.
When the weekly webcam session with the City Council commenced for the fifth time since they made Terminal City theirs, Max had been prepared to respond to their usual demand that she and the others to come out with their hands up to be loaded into a government issued truck and swept under the rug of history.
This time it was different. The person on the screen wasn’t Mayor Brooks or one of the usual city council members. It was the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Jacob Martin Wade was a middle-aged man with a stern face and well-fitting suit who could have passed for any other politician in America. To the transgenics, he was one of the characters in their childhood nightmares. During his younger years, he had been a liaison between the CIA and Manticore, selecting which soldiers would be sent into the field for covert missions. With his supervisors hovering behind him, he would go from cell to cell, barrack to barrack with his clipboard and cheap pen, making notes and snide comments. Over the years, he had moved up the ranks and it was clear that though he still resented Project Manticore, but he knew exactly what the transgenics were worth. And just how much damage they were capable of.
“Do you accept our offer or not?” asked Wade impatiently.
“Let me get this straight, you’re going to send in a glorified baby-sitter to make sure we behave?” Max replied.
The expression on Wade’s face indicated that he didn’t like his offer to be mocked. “Since you are a bunch of misguided children, I guess a military negotiator would seem like a baby-sitter. You are to stay within the confines of Terminal City unless otherwise directed by myself or the negotiator assigned to you. That is a direct order. Any transgenic found outside of Terminal City will be exterminated on sight. Do I make myself clear?”
Max gave him a measured look, assessing every word he said. “You really know how to sweet talk a girl, don’t you?”
Unfortunately, this was the best offer they had received thus far that didn’t involve the words ‘Come out with your hands up…’ Max hated the idea of letting in some government suit watching their every move. Wade was offering a Trojan horse and they both knew it.
“I take that as a yes?” Wade inquired with his face as stiff as his suit.
“Apparently,” Max answered dryly.
“All right then, we’ll be sending our man in tomorrow at 0900 hours,” Wade informed her.
“What about food? We’re running low on food supplies and baby formula with the lockdown in place,” Max said, trying to milk this opportunity for all that it was worth.
It looked like the word ‘no’ had formed on his lips, but someone off camera seemed to command him to answer otherwise. “Fine, we’ll give you what we have available. But we don’t anticipate this being a long term set-up.”
“Funny, neither do we,” Max said, ending the transmission. She turned back to face the residents of Terminal City, who would not be please with her decision to let a spy into their midst.
“Government food supplies? They’re really trying to make us feel right at home,” Luke said in a mocking tone, adjusting his headset.
Mole pushed the other transgenic aside and pulled the cigar from his mouth so Max could hear him loud and clear. “Are you outta your mind? Letting the enemy in through the gates is the oldest trick in the book!”
“Calm down,” Joshua said, stepping between Mole and Max, and then he placed a reassuring hand on Mole’s shoulder. “Trust Max. She’s gotten us this far.”
Taking a step back, Mole removed himself from Joshua’s grasp.
Max looked around at the crowd in Command and drew a deep breath. She could see the doubt in their eyes, sense their fear and taste their desperation. Usually, Alec would take a moment like this to make a sarcastic remark and cut the tension in the air. But he was still sleeping off last night’s adventure outside when Max had left the apartment.
“We know he’s a spy. They know we know he’s a spy. But we’re going to play along. We can’t keep living like this,” Max told them. “We need to show people that we’re not the monsters they think we are.”
“Easy for you to say,” huffed a transhuman with too much cat in her cocktail. “You X-series look just like them. You’re all very appealing by their standards. What about the rest of us who don’t have that luxury?”
“This is not the time to start thinking like that,” Max spat. “We’re all in this together. The minute we split up they’ll pick us off like sewer rats. Now we’re going to prepare for this guy… They can’t find out how big our arsenal is or about the supply line. We’ll need to keep a constant eye on this loser. And nothing, I mean nothing, is allowed to happen to him. If he so much as sneezes, I need to know. Are we clear?”
A wave of skeptical nods followed.
“Sure, just one question,” Luke said. “Does his place have to have electricity and running water?”
She thought for a moment. “Set him up at 63 Oak Street. It has water but no electricity. We don’t want him thinking it’s the Ritz Carlton or something.”
“Gotchya,” Luke said and did a small salute before scurrying off to set up lodgings for their human guest.
The rest of Command resumed its normal hustle and bustle when Max made it clear that there was no discussing it. As Max observed the reluctant crowd, wondering if she had made the right decision about asking them to stay, she caught a glimpse of disheveled blond hair. It was strange how she could pick him out of a crowd so easily these days. He could tell from the look on her face that she was laughing at his hair, so he ran a hand through it as she made her way towards him.
“Decided to grace us with your presence, Sleeping Beauty?” Max quipped.
Alec yawned sleepily, causing Max to cringe at his mid-afternoon morning breath. She didn’t hesitate to smack him across the back of the head for opening his mouth.
“Gross!”
“Ow!” he exclaimed. “This is the last time I cut into my midday nap for you.”
“What’re you doing here lookin’ like something the cat dragged outta bed?”
He waved his cell phone in front of her. “Someone sent me a text message saying that we’re having guests. Okay, it was at least fifteen someones and I couldn’t find the phone to shut it off, then when I did find it, I was already awake. So I wanted to see if it was true.”
Max rolled her eyes at his explanation.
“So it’s true?” Alec asked coolly.
She sighed. “The Secretary of Defense requested we take in a negotiator as a sign of good faith.”
“Max also talked him into giving us government food rations,” Joshua chimed in enthusiastically.
“Great, I haven’t had any of that wet-sock flavored cheese and stale crackers in so long,” Alec replied in a biting tone. “But do you really think it’s a good idea letting some suit come in and spy on us?”
“Well, it’s not like there were a whole lot of options, so I just went with Door #2,” Max told him.
“What happens if behind Door #2 is White?” Alec demanded. “Last time I checked, he was the Special Agent assigned to our case.”
“We’ll deal with it,” Max groused, mentally kicking herself for not contemplating this possibility.
Before Alec could get another word in, the computer began beeping. Someone was trying to start a connection. There was only one person who made incoming web sessions. The trio went over to the computer monitor and started broadcasting.
“Hi Logan,” Joshua said as he adjusted the camera. Alec stepped out of the way so he wouldn’t appear on the screen.
“Hi Josh,” Logan replied happily. His gaze turned to Max. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself,” Max replied.
“I hear you’re having company over. Should I be jealous?” Logan asked, a playful smile dancing on his lips.
“No more damn dirty apes,” Mole shouted from the lower level.
Max ignored the lizard man. “News travels fast.”
“Any idea who this guy is?”
“Probably some overpaid hostage negotiator or another,” Max shrugged. “Alec thinks it could be White.”
“White doesn’t strike me as the type to throw himself into the lion’s den… but you never know,” Logan said cautiously. “It could also be another Familiar, so you’ll have to keep your guard up.”
Max nodded and stole a glance at Alec’s stony expression.
“So I guess this means Saturday night dinner is off then?” Logan went on, trying to hide his disappointment.
“I suppose it’ll have to wait,” Max said, doing little to hide her displeasure about the situation.
“One of these days…” Logan’s voice trailed off, when he realized he didn’t know how he wanted to complete the sentence. One of these days they would what? Eat dinner together? Have a non-work related conversation? Find a cure for the virus? He couldn’t find the right words. “Well, I’m sure you’ve got to get the place ready. Take care of yourself.”
“I will,” Max promised solemnly and ended the transmission.
She was left with a vague feeling of incompleteness as she walked back to her office. Ever since Logan found out that she and Alec weren’t an item, things between them seemed more strained than before. Max and Logan hadn’t really talked about it or what it meant that she had lied to him. He just held her hand on the roof that morning, which felt like enough at the time but now became an empty attempt at reconciliation. Now was hardly the time to be focusing on her messed up love life on top of everything that was going on, but her mind couldn’t help straying down that dark and winding road for just a moment.
“Max, you can’t really think that taking this guy in will improve anything?” Alec’s voice cut through her thoughts.
She hadn’t noticed that he followed her into the office and had shut the door behind them.
“And what do you suggest? Sitting on our hands waiting for the other shoe to drop? The Familiars are out there and they’re not going to strike at us with the world watching.”
“You know they’ll never accept us. They won’t just let us have Terminal City and live out the rest of our days as if we weren’t made in a lab.”
“No, not everyone. But if we let that stop us-”
“We’re just buying time.” Why couldn’t she see that letting an enemy in their midst would only create a disaster?
“We’re holding our ground!”
Alec didn’t reply. He just stared intently at her, as if sizing her up in his mind.
Max shifted her weight just in case it really did come to blows between them. She was just itching for a fight now. He could tell. That was why he turned and walked away from her.
They had fought hundreds of times before. They would both say things that they would go about pretending they didn’t say later, get the job done and call it a new day. But this time was different. His silence cut her deeper than anything he had ever said to her face.
The door slammed behind him and Max was left standing alone in her office, unsure of what had just happened.
June 2021
There was a tense, hushed pause as all of Command awaited Max’s response. Behind the cold, decisive demeanor she kept for negotiations, she was being torn apart for an answer.
When the weekly webcam session with the City Council commenced for the fifth time since they made Terminal City theirs, Max had been prepared to respond to their usual demand that she and the others to come out with their hands up to be loaded into a government issued truck and swept under the rug of history.
This time it was different. The person on the screen wasn’t Mayor Brooks or one of the usual city council members. It was the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Jacob Martin Wade was a middle-aged man with a stern face and well-fitting suit who could have passed for any other politician in America. To the transgenics, he was one of the characters in their childhood nightmares. During his younger years, he had been a liaison between the CIA and Manticore, selecting which soldiers would be sent into the field for covert missions. With his supervisors hovering behind him, he would go from cell to cell, barrack to barrack with his clipboard and cheap pen, making notes and snide comments. Over the years, he had moved up the ranks and it was clear that though he still resented Project Manticore, but he knew exactly what the transgenics were worth. And just how much damage they were capable of.
“Do you accept our offer or not?” asked Wade impatiently.
“Let me get this straight, you’re going to send in a glorified baby-sitter to make sure we behave?” Max replied.
The expression on Wade’s face indicated that he didn’t like his offer to be mocked. “Since you are a bunch of misguided children, I guess a military negotiator would seem like a baby-sitter. You are to stay within the confines of Terminal City unless otherwise directed by myself or the negotiator assigned to you. That is a direct order. Any transgenic found outside of Terminal City will be exterminated on sight. Do I make myself clear?”
Max gave him a measured look, assessing every word he said. “You really know how to sweet talk a girl, don’t you?”
Unfortunately, this was the best offer they had received thus far that didn’t involve the words ‘Come out with your hands up…’ Max hated the idea of letting in some government suit watching their every move. Wade was offering a Trojan horse and they both knew it.
“I take that as a yes?” Wade inquired with his face as stiff as his suit.
“Apparently,” Max answered dryly.
“All right then, we’ll be sending our man in tomorrow at 0900 hours,” Wade informed her.
“What about food? We’re running low on food supplies and baby formula with the lockdown in place,” Max said, trying to milk this opportunity for all that it was worth.
It looked like the word ‘no’ had formed on his lips, but someone off camera seemed to command him to answer otherwise. “Fine, we’ll give you what we have available. But we don’t anticipate this being a long term set-up.”
“Funny, neither do we,” Max said, ending the transmission. She turned back to face the residents of Terminal City, who would not be please with her decision to let a spy into their midst.
“Government food supplies? They’re really trying to make us feel right at home,” Luke said in a mocking tone, adjusting his headset.
Mole pushed the other transgenic aside and pulled the cigar from his mouth so Max could hear him loud and clear. “Are you outta your mind? Letting the enemy in through the gates is the oldest trick in the book!”
“Calm down,” Joshua said, stepping between Mole and Max, and then he placed a reassuring hand on Mole’s shoulder. “Trust Max. She’s gotten us this far.”
Taking a step back, Mole removed himself from Joshua’s grasp.
Max looked around at the crowd in Command and drew a deep breath. She could see the doubt in their eyes, sense their fear and taste their desperation. Usually, Alec would take a moment like this to make a sarcastic remark and cut the tension in the air. But he was still sleeping off last night’s adventure outside when Max had left the apartment.
“We know he’s a spy. They know we know he’s a spy. But we’re going to play along. We can’t keep living like this,” Max told them. “We need to show people that we’re not the monsters they think we are.”
“Easy for you to say,” huffed a transhuman with too much cat in her cocktail. “You X-series look just like them. You’re all very appealing by their standards. What about the rest of us who don’t have that luxury?”
“This is not the time to start thinking like that,” Max spat. “We’re all in this together. The minute we split up they’ll pick us off like sewer rats. Now we’re going to prepare for this guy… They can’t find out how big our arsenal is or about the supply line. We’ll need to keep a constant eye on this loser. And nothing, I mean nothing, is allowed to happen to him. If he so much as sneezes, I need to know. Are we clear?”
A wave of skeptical nods followed.
“Sure, just one question,” Luke said. “Does his place have to have electricity and running water?”
She thought for a moment. “Set him up at 63 Oak Street. It has water but no electricity. We don’t want him thinking it’s the Ritz Carlton or something.”
“Gotchya,” Luke said and did a small salute before scurrying off to set up lodgings for their human guest.
The rest of Command resumed its normal hustle and bustle when Max made it clear that there was no discussing it. As Max observed the reluctant crowd, wondering if she had made the right decision about asking them to stay, she caught a glimpse of disheveled blond hair. It was strange how she could pick him out of a crowd so easily these days. He could tell from the look on her face that she was laughing at his hair, so he ran a hand through it as she made her way towards him.
“Decided to grace us with your presence, Sleeping Beauty?” Max quipped.
Alec yawned sleepily, causing Max to cringe at his mid-afternoon morning breath. She didn’t hesitate to smack him across the back of the head for opening his mouth.
“Gross!”
“Ow!” he exclaimed. “This is the last time I cut into my midday nap for you.”
“What’re you doing here lookin’ like something the cat dragged outta bed?”
He waved his cell phone in front of her. “Someone sent me a text message saying that we’re having guests. Okay, it was at least fifteen someones and I couldn’t find the phone to shut it off, then when I did find it, I was already awake. So I wanted to see if it was true.”
Max rolled her eyes at his explanation.
“So it’s true?” Alec asked coolly.
She sighed. “The Secretary of Defense requested we take in a negotiator as a sign of good faith.”
“Max also talked him into giving us government food rations,” Joshua chimed in enthusiastically.
“Great, I haven’t had any of that wet-sock flavored cheese and stale crackers in so long,” Alec replied in a biting tone. “But do you really think it’s a good idea letting some suit come in and spy on us?”
“Well, it’s not like there were a whole lot of options, so I just went with Door #2,” Max told him.
“What happens if behind Door #2 is White?” Alec demanded. “Last time I checked, he was the Special Agent assigned to our case.”
“We’ll deal with it,” Max groused, mentally kicking herself for not contemplating this possibility.
Before Alec could get another word in, the computer began beeping. Someone was trying to start a connection. There was only one person who made incoming web sessions. The trio went over to the computer monitor and started broadcasting.
“Hi Logan,” Joshua said as he adjusted the camera. Alec stepped out of the way so he wouldn’t appear on the screen.
“Hi Josh,” Logan replied happily. His gaze turned to Max. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself,” Max replied.
“I hear you’re having company over. Should I be jealous?” Logan asked, a playful smile dancing on his lips.
“No more damn dirty apes,” Mole shouted from the lower level.
Max ignored the lizard man. “News travels fast.”
“Any idea who this guy is?”
“Probably some overpaid hostage negotiator or another,” Max shrugged. “Alec thinks it could be White.”
“White doesn’t strike me as the type to throw himself into the lion’s den… but you never know,” Logan said cautiously. “It could also be another Familiar, so you’ll have to keep your guard up.”
Max nodded and stole a glance at Alec’s stony expression.
“So I guess this means Saturday night dinner is off then?” Logan went on, trying to hide his disappointment.
“I suppose it’ll have to wait,” Max said, doing little to hide her displeasure about the situation.
“One of these days…” Logan’s voice trailed off, when he realized he didn’t know how he wanted to complete the sentence. One of these days they would what? Eat dinner together? Have a non-work related conversation? Find a cure for the virus? He couldn’t find the right words. “Well, I’m sure you’ve got to get the place ready. Take care of yourself.”
“I will,” Max promised solemnly and ended the transmission.
She was left with a vague feeling of incompleteness as she walked back to her office. Ever since Logan found out that she and Alec weren’t an item, things between them seemed more strained than before. Max and Logan hadn’t really talked about it or what it meant that she had lied to him. He just held her hand on the roof that morning, which felt like enough at the time but now became an empty attempt at reconciliation. Now was hardly the time to be focusing on her messed up love life on top of everything that was going on, but her mind couldn’t help straying down that dark and winding road for just a moment.
“Max, you can’t really think that taking this guy in will improve anything?” Alec’s voice cut through her thoughts.
She hadn’t noticed that he followed her into the office and had shut the door behind them.
“And what do you suggest? Sitting on our hands waiting for the other shoe to drop? The Familiars are out there and they’re not going to strike at us with the world watching.”
“You know they’ll never accept us. They won’t just let us have Terminal City and live out the rest of our days as if we weren’t made in a lab.”
“No, not everyone. But if we let that stop us-”
“We’re just buying time.” Why couldn’t she see that letting an enemy in their midst would only create a disaster?
“We’re holding our ground!”
Alec didn’t reply. He just stared intently at her, as if sizing her up in his mind.
Max shifted her weight just in case it really did come to blows between them. She was just itching for a fight now. He could tell. That was why he turned and walked away from her.
They had fought hundreds of times before. They would both say things that they would go about pretending they didn’t say later, get the job done and call it a new day. But this time was different. His silence cut her deeper than anything he had ever said to her face.
The door slammed behind him and Max was left standing alone in her office, unsure of what had just happened.