"He's got a chip in 'is neck there. There where the stiches are," Red said to Jed when the deed was done. "Could ya please retrieve it, Jed. I'm sure he's bein' tracked, so we don' want 'im not movin' fer too long. We need it anyway ta see if we can get any information off it." Cherry just stood there looking at him, her thoughts a jumble of emotions. Red's voice was still a bit shaky as he gave Jed the instructions. There was a single tear threatening to trail down his cheek. Truthfully, Cherry didn't think Red had it in him to cry. At least not very often...but then maybe she was comparing him to herself. It was just like Jed said. A chip in them. But what had transpired between the mutant and Red to put that expression on his face and make him like he was now? Red was a tough little bastard - of that she had no doubt - but to see him come apart like that shook her. Intuitively, she knew it meant something that was important to all of them, but Red didn't seem inclined to talk about it at the moment. He looked over at her sidelong. "Not 'til I know you're accepted. Then I'll talk about it Cherry." "Huh?" This wasn't the first time he'd said something to her as if being able to read her thoughts. She'd blown it off before, but suddenly everything was different. "Ya heard me, Miss Cherry. How far are we from the rendezvous point?" he asked as Jed stood up from his work and pumped two P32 bullets into the mutant with his silenced side-arm. "If it's where I think it is, maybe between a mile an' a mile and a half. We should be there within a half an hour to forty-five minutes...if we don't run into anything else." Jed handed Red the chip. He pulled the box from his pocket that he'd kept Sarah's ring in and put the chip in there, then returned it to the inner pocket of his coat. "Thanks, Jed. I can't tell ya how much I appreciate what the two of ya did here. I...I couldn't do it, but 'tis what he wanted. That I'll tell ya sure." "It's alright, Red." Jed patted him on the shoulder. He had a niggling feeling he half knew what it was about, but he wasn't going to ask. He'd heard what Red told Cherry. He turned and looked back at the corpse. The P32 was doing it's job. "Let's get out of here. Let's get where we're goin'," Jed said. The going wasn't easy. Between them and the rendezvous point wild growth had sprung up with a vengeance, as if to say Mother Nature was reclaiming this little corner of the world. Luckily, Jed had brought along his machete-like knife - Army issue. He led the way, hacking through the undergrowth, while Cherry went between him and Red. They came out of the trees and Cherry was finally able to tell where they were. She pointed over to a large steep-gabled building silhouetted amongst the remnants of once mighty oaks and chestnut trees. It was surrounded by a high wall. "That should be it," she announced, "the old Brabant Mansion. We used to come here when we was kids an' just stare at the place," she laughed. "We all thought it was haunted." "Heh," Red laughed half-heartedly, "it is now, if it weren't before. Lemme up front Jed, since I'm the one expected." Jed stopped and held out his arm for Red to pass, then extended his other to Cherry. "Hey...we made it, thanks to you Cher'." Red kept walking, not wanting to waste any more time. Cherry made a rude sound with her lips and shook her head. "I'd say it was more of a team effort." She leaned into Jed's shoulder as they walked up the broken drive to the gate. "That was just the weirdest scene back there. Never saw anything like it, in all my life." "There's things about Red you don't know yet, but I suspect you will real soon." ***** Thank you so much for your comments on Part 02 of this and to those who took the time to read especially. For some of us, writing is also part of our 'art'. Your time, comments and faves are always appreciated. May you have a wonderful weekend dear friends! There will be a Part 04 and then maybe you'll find out what's up with Red ;) Just a simple one tonight as I had a lot to do today. Ray