Chp. 73 “The Final Chase”

Max’s head was in my lap as we pulled him carefully into the Tahoe. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but Max was bleeding, bad, and he had done this saving Avery. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I ordered Gage, “We need to get back to the Bureau!”

I felt a strong hand grip me, and I looked down at Max whose eyes were looking at me with confusion. He shook his head, “No, follow Pearce.”

I shook my head, “Max, we need to get you to the Bureau.”

He nearly yelled as Avery continued to press on his wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding. There was blood everywhere, especially on me, but I couldn’t stop staring at Max. I yelled at Gage, “You better fucking bring us to the Lab, now!”

Gage’s eyes were transfixed on his brother, and he was battling internally over what he was going to do. I looked down at Max who was struggling to keep his eyes open, and I realized his skin was much paler than it had been.

He managed to speak, “Andy… I’m going to die anyway. You have to… follow Pearce.”

He was panting from the pain, and I knew he was suffering, and he was probably right. But he was my best friend, and the more we drove away from the Bureau after Pearce the more likely he was going to die.

I watched as Gage and Max exchanged glances, and for a second I saw a look in Gage’s eyes that agreed with Max, like they were speaking telepathically. Then Gage nodded, throwing the car into high gear as we raced through the runway after Pearce who had disappeared down the road before us.

Avery whispered, “Max, keep your eyes open.”

Her voice was urgent and scared, and her hands were covered in blood as she continued to apply pressure to his stomach wound. Max pulled his eyes away from me and then looked at Avery, looking as if he wanted to say something to her.

“Don’t tell me… what to do.”

I couldn’t help but allow a sad laugh escape through my lips as I watched Max in my lap, wondering why he was making us do this. I knew he didn’t want Pearce to escape, he wanted to save the world; it’s what he’s always wanted to do. He knew if we went back to the Bureau we would most likely never get another chance to finish him, and we would risk the world’s future.

I felt the car jerk into a higher gear, and I remembered the day Walker had followed us from Monroe. That had been one of the scariest days of my life, but right now this was by far the most terrifying, because I was sitting here watching my best friend bleed to death.

I whispered, “Max…”

He looked up at me, forcing a smile, “Andy, you know… this is the right thing.”

I felt tears rim my eyes as the painful lump in my throat formed, causing me to almost lose my cool and break down right here. I knew I needed to be strong but it was so hard. I cupped his face, “Max please…”

He shook his head, “A million lives are more important… than one… Andy.”

Then I heard shouting as Roger spoke, “That’s them!”

I looked up, seeing the black car racing away from us, and Max spoke to me, “Finish this…”

I nodded, laying his head gently on the seat as I watched the scene unfold before me. Roger had his gun pointed out of his window as an Agent in the other car fired towards us, hitting the front windshield and causing a bullet to zip right past my head.

I screamed to Avery, “Stay down with Max!”

She obeyed as I opened my window, hanging myself out as I fired a very strong bolt towards the car, only for it to swerve out of the line of fire. I cursed, knowing I would have to focus to hit them, and with bullets zipping past my head I found that extremely hard.

It was getting dark too, and it was getting harder to see the car as Gage’s headlights swerved and tried to stay with them.

And I realized we were approaching a large bridge, and I understood this would be my one and only chance to finish this once and for all. I pulled my head into the car, yelling to Gage, “Get on the side of them!”

He yelled back, “Are you trying to get us killed?!”

I spoke, “Trust me!”

His eyes were confused and nervous, but I knew he would listen to me. I had a plan, and I needed him to go along with what I was saying so I could finish this.

I hung myself out the opposite window, the one that was closer to the other car as we began approaching it slowly. I pulled into myself, reaching for the “arm” I knew so well, knowing I would have to focus a lot to accomplish what I wanted to do.

I pulled it, stretching it along the side of the Tahoe and thickening it, like an invisible shield as I protected us from the oncoming bullets. I glanced down the road, seeing the bridge approach us quickly as we barreled down the road at over 100 miles an hour.

If Gage and I timed it right we would end this together, for Max, because this is what he wanted.

I saw heads in the car we were approaching, and guns fired, but my shield held up pretty well, and the bullets ricocheted off of it, falling to the ground. Gage had swerved slightly out of fear but then realized what I was doing.

He screamed, “Don’t drop the shield, we’re almost there!”

I nodded, focusing and thickening the shield so I could protect us and myself as I hung out the window of the Tahoe. My hair was whipping horribly around my head as we flew through the night, and the summer air suffocated me as it slapped against my face.

I hadn’t realized how fast we were going until now.

I watched the bridge approach within seconds, and I held up the shield, trying my best to keep it up for just enough time to do what I wanted. Then the bridge was under us, and I heard the change in road as we were now on the side of the black car.

I peered in, seeing two men and Roger yelled, “That’s him!”

I listened to him but as I stared into the car I realized what I was about to do, and I had about thirty seconds to do it.

Gage yelled, “Do it Andy!”

I pushed the shield towards the opposing car, but the driver knew better and swerved against it. I pushed harder, feeling beads of sweat roll down my face as I struggled to keep the shield from breaking.

I screamed in agony as the car swerved again, hitting it and almost breaking through it. I focused, or tried my best as I continued to push them towards the edge of the bridge.

Roger yelled, “Andy, focus!”

 I began crying, knowing that I had to do this, I had to kill them. This was it, this was what everything had been leading up to. I couldn’t let my friends down and I couldn’t let Max down, this was it.

I pulled more into myself, knowing I only had about five more seconds to finish the job. I released everything I had been storing inside me, screaming as I released a giant blast that pushed the opposing car through the side bars of the bridge and over the edge.

Gage slammed on his brakes at the sight of Pearce’s getaway vehicle disappearing over the side of the bridge, falling silently to the ground. It wasn’t long until it fell down the twelve story drop, and I squinted as it made impact with the ground, exploding into a ball of white light.

“Holy shit,” I muttered to myself as Gage switched positions with Roger. Then he immediately took off in the opposite direction after turning around and heading away from the crime scene.

We had done it.

I pulled myself back into the vehicle as I watched Max, seeing that he was really bad off. Avery had managed to hold down his wound but it wouldn’t be enough to save him. She was crying silently, and I joined next to her, whispering to Max.

“Max, I did it.”

His hand found my leg, and I knew he was weak from all the blood loss, but he managed to mutter a few simple words, “Thank… you.”

I allowed tears to fall now, and I sobbed, “K-Keep your eyes on me ok?”

He nodded slowly as Roger raced down the deserted road and back to the Bureau as fast as he could. I wanted to believe my heart that was saying we could save Max, but my brain knew better, and I understood this was what Max had wanted all along.

He wasn’t selfish, and he knew he was giving up his life to save millions, but right now I could care less about those millions, because I was losing my best friend.

I cried silently as I held Max’s head, hearing Gage’s weak voice, “Max… stay with us. Don’t close your eyes.”

Gage switched positions with Avery, pressing down on Max’s open wound as Avery leaned into me. I could hear her sobbing too from everything that had happened today, but to me this was the worst thing I had to face today.

Max whispered, “Gage… take care… of mom. Ok?”

Gage nodded slowly, allowing tears to stream down his face as he held Max’s wound, attempting to give him just a little more time with his brother. I felt the tearing of my heart as his eyes looked at Avery, and I was praying we were almost to the Bureau.

He whispered again to Avery, “Take care… of my sister.”

I felt the tears explode from my eyes as I gazed down at Max who was now struggling to mutter even a single word, and Avery nodded. She clenched her jaw in pain, fighting to hold back all the tears she was dying to release, “I will.”

Then he looked at me and smiled, almost playfully as he came to the realization that he wasn’t going to make it much longer. I felt the lump in my throat grow as his hand found mine, and I allowed more tears to flow down my face in pain.

He swallowed, as if trying to fight the pain that came with speaking, and he closed his eyes. I watched as tears fell down his face as he squeezed my hand, letting me know he was in massive amounts of pain.

Then he whispered, “Andy… take care of everyone.”

I coughed in pain as the lump in my throat threatened to explode, and I knew what he had meant by this. I felt the tears continue to burn as they ran down my face and dripped onto Max’s bloody shirt.

I nodded stiffly, understanding that Max wasn’t afraid of dying. He had never been afraid of anything, but in this moment he seemed to be letting death in after fighting it for so long.

He whispered, “I… love you guys.”

I could see in his eyes he was falling into the black abyss, and I readied myself for the low as best as I could. I knew what was going to happen, and how bad my body was going to react when he took his last breath.

Gage whispered forcefully, “Max… we love you.”

I watched in pain as Max smiled, tears falling slowly down his face as he began to let go. He looked at Gage one last time and smiled, as if the pain was finally fading away and he had entered a place where pain didn’t exist.

Then he whispered softly as he closed his blue eyes one last time, “Dad….”

Gage released a moan of pain as he crippled over, holding Max as I felt the familiar ripping pain in my heart. I screamed out in agony as Avery pulled me into her, and I felt the tear in my chest as if something was being ripped out of me from the inside.

The tearing inside my chest was unbearable, and I felt like I was drowning in my own tears. I held Max, burying my face in his shirt as I tried to comprehend and endure all the pain my body was going through. I felt the familiar pain I had felt when Taylor had died, and I cried out in more pain as I looked down at Max’s lifeless body.

The hot tears flowed down my face as I crashed into Avery, feeling the aching pain of emptiness surround me. I closed my eyes, praying that I would wake up soon, praying that this was all just a sick fucking joke.

But when I opened my eyes I realized it wasn’t.