Live And Learn by Allison McDonnell

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Danziger didn't dwell on the fact that he was literally sprinting through pitch black passageways and switching tunnels without the slightest reservation. At the moment, his mind was consumed with getting back to his friends and family before the ZED could hurt them. Failure was not an option and he was more than ready to engage in the fight of his life.

As he closed in on the light at the end of the corridor, John could already hear several of the Edenite's petrified screams echoing throughout the chamber, including his daughter's. He somehow found the inner strength not to barrel full speed into the room and forfeit the element of surprise and quite possibly meet a quick death, depending upon the ZED's positioning. Instead, the mechanic lined his body along the cave wall and inched forward, careful to remain hidden in the shadows as he peeked around the corner to survey the frightening scene playing out.

The ZED was currently standing only a few feet away, facing the opposite direction and it appeared to John that it had only just arrived. A brief sense of relief washed through him as he looked beyond the warrior to confirm that no one had been injured or killed. The majority of Eden Advance had huddled together along the wall or in the corners of the enclosure. Bess was tightly hugging a very scared True and Morgan had taken it upon himself to shield the pair from possible harm using his own body.

The ZED's concentration was clearly centered near the sunstone campfire where Uly stood. Much like Morgan had done, Devon had placed herself directly in front of her son to safeguard him from the ZED as best as she could. As an added mode of protection, both mother and child had been encircled by six very unhappy Terrians.

"You will step aside," the soldier commanded without a hint of emotion.

The ZED's unusual voice drew Danziger's attention and, for the first time, he studied its physical characteristics, at least what he could see of them from his vantage point. This cyborg, although still quite imposing, was a smaller build than the one he'd encountered before. Its head-to-toe, charcoal colored body armor was much thicker and the weaponry appeared to be more state of the art, as if this was a newer prototype. Coarse, almond hair was cropped short and slicked back away from its face. And there was one more glaring difference from the first ZED.

It was a woman.

Danziger continued to watch and learn while Devon held her ground. "I will never give you my son!" she spat, clutching Uly even closer to her. "Never!"

"Then you will die," the soldier calmly informed her. It didn't feel the need to elaborate that it planned on killing all of them very soon anyway.

As the ZED raised its weapon, the Terrians' trills escalated into angry screeches.

"Your threats mean nothing because I wear the bones of your brethren," it said, completely unaffected. "You will surrender the Hybrid willingly or I will take him by force."

"You don't need to do this," Alonzo called out from his place along the wall. "You have no idea who you work for! Your boss isn't even human! It's nothing but a soulless computer!" He halted, realizing that he was basically talking to the very same thing.

"Who or what issues my orders has no bearing on my mission," the ZED responded impassively. "I will finish my task."

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you won't," came a deep, resolute voice from behind them.

Everyone, including the Terrians, turned their attention to John as he stepped into the room.

Although Danziger's grenade launcher was pointed toward the ground as he entered, the ZED's gun was aimed directly at Danziger.

"Advance and be killed," it stated, mildly annoyed by the latest intrusion. Clearly this group of humans didn't know what they were up against. Fools.

The mechanic ignored the warning and, instead, diverted his focus toward the other members of Eden Advance.

"I want you all to listen to me, all right?" he yelled. "When I say so, I want you to run!"

His eyes briefly met Solace's. "Alonzo, lead them out as fast as you can."

As glad as Devon was to see him, she was equally perplexed by his instructions. "What are you doing, Danziger?" she asked in a strained, apprehensive tone.

Great, even now, the woman has to argue with me, Danziger inwardly scoffed. As if I don't have enough problems already.

"Just do as I say, Adair!" he snapped, breathing hard. "And don't stop until you're out of the cave, do ya' hear me?"

Devon was struck dumb by his words, as well as by the almost crazed look in his eyes. It was obvious that whatever he was planning to do would be drastic and was very likely something she'd normally object to. However, she also couldn't ignore that, at the moment, their options were in short supply and John was in the best position to help them escape. Plus, though she may not always approve of his methods, there were no doubts in her mind that, no matter what the circumstance, Danziger always had their best interests at heart and she trusted him completely.

A small, trembling voice echoed out of the semidarkness. "Daddy?"

John let out a deep exhalation and pivoted toward True. "It's gonna be okay, Baby," he reassured her in a tone that was firm, yet gentle at the same time. "You go with Bess when I tell you to."

Danziger glanced at the Earth-res who silently nodded to convey that she would continue to keep her promise to protect his little girl and usher her to safety.

Meanwhile, the ZED watched those around it, bored by what it considered to be a pointless display of human emotions. But there was a part of its programming that was almost amused by Danziger's tenacity. Almost.

"You must be aware that any attempt to overtake me will only end your life sooner," the warrior felt the need to remind him.

The mechanic didn't hesitate in his reply. "Yeah, I know it does," he concurred, his jaw locked firmly in place and his voice eerily calm. "But it also raises the odds for everyone else. And you fail your mission."

The enormity of what was about to take place clicked into the heads of every member of Eden Advance at the same instant, yet none of them had time to react as John dropped his weapon and charged forward, rushing the cyborg and ramming into it with the full force of his weight.

"RUN!" Danziger hollered to the others as he shoved the ZED's gun skyward and it fired into the ceiling, sending a storm of rock and dust raining downward, barely missing the pair.

With an animal-like grunt, John continued to push with all of his might, shoving the ZED backward and trying to keep it from regaining its bearings. Devon and Uly were directly in their path and Devon grabbed her son and dove out of the way barely in time. The surrounding Terrians simply parted as Danziger and the ZED staggered past them. The creatures then turned toward one another and briefly conferred, their trills considerably more serene in tone than just moments before. After deciding that the threat to Uly had seemingly passed, they disappeared back into the ground in unison.

Despite John's brazen attitude, the ZED was caught off-guard and had never really considered that he would actually attempt to follow through on his intentions. As such, it continued to desperately remain upright as it continued its trek backward. Shots were fired wildly into the air with every few unstable steps, the result of which was an avalanche of debris falling from all corners of the room. It wasn't too long before the entire chamber began to quake.

As their skin and throats became caked with dust, the rest of the Edenites scrambled toward the exit. Alonzo was the first into the tunnel with Bess and a now screaming True close behind. Morgan and others promptly followed and when Julia made it to the threshold, Devon handed Uly to her and literally pushed them into the shaft before her son could offer any words of protest. The leader wasn't planning on going anywhere. At least, not yet.

Through the quickly waning visibility, she could barely keep the mechanic within her sight. Although Devon had no plan of action in mind, she tried to make her way back across the room toward Danziger, but was forced to stop at about the halfway point because of almost continuously falling debris. Devon's eyes caught sight of John's discarded grenade launcher on the ground nearby and she briefly considered picking it up and aiming it at the ZED before concluding that it wouldn't do any good. Even if she was lucky enough to get a clean shot, the ZED's armor could easily withstand a grenade blast and she'd probably only end up killing Danziger. And that was a chance which she was simply not willing to take.

Meanwhile, John kept moving, ignoring that the room was beginning to collapse in on itself, and he increased his speed as they approached the far cave wall. He slammed the ZED against the rock as hard as he possibly could, causing yet another discharge of its gun into the ceiling almost directly above them. Both were pelted with large chunks of debris as John pinned the warrior to the wall and began to punch the living daylights out of it with such intensity that he barely noticed the shattering of the bones in his right hand.

Unfortunately, the mechanic's efforts had only a minimal effect on the ZED and, once it had reclaimed its equilibrium, it casually cast its weapon off to the side and grabbed John squarely by the throat.

John was immediately struggling for breath and he felt his feet leave the ground as the soldier lifted him high into the air. It then rotated and roughly smacked the back of Danziger's skull against the rock facing.

As John experienced dizziness from the lack of oxygen along with the wet sensation of blood flowing from the newly created gash in his head, he was keenly aware that there was very little time before the ZED would crush his windpipe. Even as his skin began to turn a grayish shade of blue, his hands continued to flail in front of him.

The fact that Danziger was still trying to fight back only served to increase the ire of the ZED, who'd had more than enough of this human's ridiculous delusions of grandeur.

"I warned you that fighting me would only hasten your death," the cyborg seethed, tightening its grip on John's throat. It lowered its arm and angled forward until the two were almost nose to nose. "Did you really think that one man and a few falling rocks would be able to stop me?"

The ZED's close proximity allowed Danziger the opportunity to finally make his move. "No," he gasped, what little voice he had left practically drowned out by the booming sound of the earth caving in around them. His eyes never left the ZED's as his left hand briefly went to his side. "But this will."

Marshaling all of his energies and with lightning speed, Danziger pulled out the pistol which he'd hidden in his waistband. He reached around until it was pointed at the ZED's single weak spot, the epidermis located at the tip of its spine, and fired a single round.

The result was instant and John thought that he could almost see a hint of the human that the ZED once was as its eyes registered a look of shock at what he'd done. Then, without a further response or fanfare of any kind, the ZED exhaled a final breath and loosened its grip on Danziger's throat as both slowly slumped to the ground.

Danziger was also surprised. Forgetting that the cyborg's shell was impenetrable, at the angle at which he'd fired and because of the short distance between them, he'd expected the bullet to go straight through the ZED and explode into his own face. He wondered how long that bullet must have bounced around in its skull until it at last settled in a mess of wiring or perhaps in the remnants of leftover human soft tissue.

As John tried without success to push the warrior off of him, he noticed that, in addition to the burnt wires jutting out of the hole at the back of its neck, there was a steady stream of blood pouring out, further evidence of the ZED's prior incarnation. In a way, Danziger felt sorry for the cyborg. After all, much like Yale had been, ZED units were nothing more than those deemed criminals by the government who had been unwittingly transformed into Council controlled killing machines. It was unfortunate that, because of the ZED's programming, Danziger had no choice but to kill it. However, he found a bit of comfort in the hope that whatever small human part that was left of the ZED would finally be at peace. And as Danziger's eyes drew to a close, he knew that he would be at peace very soon as well.

However, just as he began to surrender to the bliss of unconsciousness, a frantic voice returned him to his senses.

"Danziger! Answer me, dammit!"

The mechanic could not believe his ears. "Devon, what the hell are you still doing here? I told you to run!" he screamed, gripped with fear at the possibility that perhaps she, too, was trapped in the cavern and would meet an identical fate. And what if she wasn't the only one? Oh, God, what if everyone didn't get out in time?

At this point, John was slumped against the wall, weighed down by the ZED which was partially draped over his lower torso and legs as well as by plenty of rubble which was getting thicker and heavier by the second. Unable to move, he squinted through the dust and dirt kicked up by the tumbling rocks and could barely make out a single silhouette about twenty feet away from him.

"I'm not leaving here without you," came Devon's unflinching reply, still trying in vain to close the distance between them.

Jesus shanking Christ, John reflected, the woman will never ever listen.

Thankfully for them both, Yale, the final person in line with the exception of Devon, had also stayed behind and was waiting at the exit. It pained the tutor to acknowledge that, although Danziger was only about forty feet away, it might as well have been forty miles and there simply wasn't enough time or manpower to reach the mechanic and free him. However, there was someone who could still be saved.

"Devon, we cannot stay here any longer!" he called out to his former charge.

Finally, the voice of reason. "Yale, get her outta here!" Danziger implored, unsuccessfully trying to disengage himself from the crushing mass of debris, if for no other reason than to go over there and knock some sense into Devon.

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was another major shift in what little was left of the cavern, this one causing the most sizable tremors to date. Cracks crept across the floor and an avalanche of rock began to tumble from above and all sides.

Fully understanding that it was now or never, Yale rushed back into the room and scooped up Devon, who had lost her balance and plummeted to the ground.

"No! Wait!" Devon cried, wildly writhing and kicking as Yale dragged her backward toward the passageway. "Let me go!"

As Devon was pulled into the corridor against her will, Danziger breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, despite his world literally collapsing around him, the mechanic felt nothing but contentment. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do and the cost of his life was more than worth it, especially when compared to the price of knowing that the ZED was no longer a threat and that True, Devon, Uly and the other members of Eden Advance were safe. In a strange way, Danziger felt like the luckiest man on the face of G889.

His thoughts were filled with visions of True and the confident, optimistic woman that she would likely become under Devon's loving tutelage. He barely reacted when the roof above him caved in.

Devon was still only a few feet inside the tunnel and had continued to fight tooth and nail as she tried to break free from Yale and return to the cavern. As such, she was still close enough to witness firsthand when the room itself was completely destroyed and she watched, mortified, as Danziger was entombed under a massive pile of rock.

"John!" she shrieked, so swept up in her emotions that she ignored the dangers and the futility of the situation as she desperately struggled to get back to him. Yale tightened his cybernetic grip on her forearm and proceeded to yank her deeper into the tunnel and out of harm's way. Despite nearly choking from thick dust, Devon continued to scream the mechanic's name well after the faint glow lighting the chamber had been extinguished.

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