Wake Me Up When September Ends -- Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Devil’s Advocate
June 2021
“I don’t like this,” Nico said bluntly.
Alec nodded with his eyes set on his coffee cup. He looked up at Nico and Dalton who were standing beside him in the Command Center that morning.
“Yeah, but it’s not like we’ve got a bunch of options,” Alec replied.
He glanced over to Max and Joshua having a conversation with Mole that under no circumstances were they to greet their guest with “friendly fire.”
“I don’t trust this bozo that’s coming in. I think he’s going to sell us out and we’ll be in Manticore Redux before the week is over,” Nico went on. “I’d rather die than go back there.”
“We’re not going back there,” Alec told him.
Nico was particularly paranoid about being sent back in a cage since he had been rescued from White, and Alec knew from experience that the X5 reacted badly when he felt cornered.
After trying to exterminate them like vermin, the government was extending an olive branch? Something didn’t feel right about it. Years in Manticore taught Alec to be skeptical about anything and everything involving the feds and their motives. He was also worried about the motives of the other transgenics. Would they use this as a chance to avenge their years of torture? There were a lot of transgenics carrying around bottled up hostility after their loyal comrades were killed in the name of confidentiality, some of whom wouldn’t hesitate to maim and murder with their newfound freedom.
There was a ticking time-bomb on its way to Terminal City.
Did Max really know what she was doing?
“Max nervous?” Joshua asked as Mole skulked off to count the stuff in the armory.
“A little bit,” Max said quietly.
He smiled and threw this arm around her. “It’s okay. We got your back.”
“Thanks,” Max said and smiled back at him. She could do this.
Then she glanced down at her watch to check the time. Her face hardened and she stood a little straighter.
“Listen up people, T-minus twenty minutes til show time,” Max announced. “Everyone to their posts!”
“I can’t believe we’re going along with this,” Nico muttered and swallowed the rest of his tea. “That bitch-”
Before he could get another word out, Alec grabbed him by the collar and pulled the other X5’s face close to his. Alec could smell the peppermint tea on his breath. “Let’s get a couple of things straight, Nico. 1) I’m the only person allowed to call Max a bitch. 2) We’re all a little tense right now, but pull it together… 3) Get your own damn pick-up lines, I overheard you with that X6 Ella last night.”
Nico sneered and pushed Alec back. If Alec wanted a fight, he was going to get it.
Dalton quickly stepped between them. “Now’s not the time.”
Alec gave Nico a look that said that they would finish this later. Nico needed to remember his place before he ran out and did something stupid.
“You coming?” asked Max as she walked by them to the exit.
“Roll over and play fetch too?” Nico mocked him.
“Careful, my bite is just as bad as my bark,” Alec warned him coolly as he followed Max.
Dalton wanted to be at the gates with Max and Alec, but he was guarding the supply building with Nico. It was moments like these that Dalton admired Alec who was on the frontlines, instead of guarding beer and baby formula.
“Hey rugrat,” Nico said, waving a hand in front of Dalton’s face. “We have to get to our post.”
Dalton scowled. “Don’t call me that. At least I don’t have to resort to hitting on an X-series lower than me.”
“As sure as I am that you’ve probably never even been with a woman and shouldn’t be one to talk, get your ass in gear,” Nico said, pushing him out the door. Then he mumbled, “X6s. Can’t take orders for shit, but you can’t have a military coup without ’em.”
“That’s what I say about all you Xs,” Mole said as he locked and loaded his favorite shotgun.
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Max drew a deep breath as she stepped out of the building and strode toward the perimeter fence. It was another cloudy day in Seattle with the potential for rain at any given moment.
She could hear angry protesters shouting ‘Not with my tax dollars!’ and ‘Die freaks!’ and ‘Will no one think of the children?’ while she was still behind the door. Beside them, Max saw the militia, sector cops and TV news crews bristle when they caught sight of her. She forgot the nervous gnawing in her stomach and was now amused by how uneasy she made them. It almost made her want to smile. Almost.
Alec was standing right behind her, quietly observing everything. He was ready to give the signal to the hidden snipers if anything seemed off. His casual stride hid his true thoughts.
“Make way! Make way!” Clemente’s voice cried through the chaos.
The crowd began to part as two heavily armored soldiers with large machine guns pushed their way through. The two men stood side by side with the most determined expressions on their faces. Max could feel Alec grinning behind her. He was probably imagining how easily either one of them could have taken these tools down.
Finally, the soldiers came to a stop in front of the fence.
Alec unlocked the giant padlock and removed the chains. Cameras feverishly flashed at the sight, while the protesters had stopped their chanting. Everyone was watching.
“Hello boys,” Max greeted them with a mischievous smile. “Which one of you will be needing the grand tour?”
Neither of them said a word. They took two large steps to the side away from each other that left an opening in the middle for the negotiator.
Max blinked twice to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. The quick flash of Alec’s surprised expression verified that she wasn’t seeing things.
“Nice to see you’re still breaking every rule I ever taught you about war,” said Colonel Donald Lydecker, giving his former recruits a disapproving look.
Max eyed him warily. “Some things don’t change. You still know when to show up at the worst possible moment to mess up my day… or in this case, my hostile takeover of a Seattle sector. Congratulations on not being dead. I guess.”