by Captain Sammitch
2118 hours
back in the garden:
Realizing that both Smith and Fisher had left the scene, the three factions quickly shouted orders to cease firing and took off in search of both the MAW director and the Unidentified Man. A few stayed behind to look after their wounded comrades and wait for ambulances to arrive.
Now this would take some serious explaining.
They found Fisher lying unconscious on the ground next to his car, which looked to have been shot up from within. Fisher was revived using his own smelling salts. "He's running," he said as he slowly drifted back to consciousness.
"We know," Hall said. "We're on it. But you are gonna have to get some medical attention, and then you're gonna have to explain all this to the Bureau back in Washington." He called some of his men over. "Watch him," Hall ordered. "And make sure none of his people stir up any more trouble." The agents nodded, and Hall walked over to where Gant and Patterson were waiting.
"He's gotta be skipping town," Gant said. "We're going after him."
"Everyone is going after him," Hall said. "I think we'd better get clear of this one. It's gonna hit the fan pretty quick."
Gant shook his head. "He's my suspect. I'm not letting him leave this town."
Hall shrugged. "Suit yourself." He handed a safetied MP5 to Gant. "Just watch your back out there."
the road
Phil and Gabi had gotten out of the lawn without further incident, but now they were on the narrow maintenance road with their pursuers not far behind.
"We're gonna make it," Gabi reassured Phil. "We can shake these guys, then get to the airport and catch the first flight out of the country."
"If we live long enough," Phil said.
Gabi grabbed his arm. "What kind of attitude is that? Twenty-four hours ago, you strolled into The Barrage and swept me off my feet. We got away from the cops, we spent the most incredible night of my life together, you saved me from that huge gunfight, and now you're convinced we're gonna die?" Gabi smiled at him. "This is the last leg of the race. The home stretch! We've done it! We get out of here and we start a new life. You and me. Anywhere we want." Gabi touched Phil's face gently. "I'm yours now, Phil."
Phil could only nod. He was too busy trying to follow the twisting road with his lights off.
Suddenly, sirens pierced the night air. Phil looked in his rearview and saw a swarm of flashing lights, some red, white and blue, some only red, and some green, of all colors. "I think they've caught up to us," Phil announced.
Gabi frowned. "We gotta lose 'em!"
"I think you're right." Deciding that concealment was a moot point, Phil switched the headlights on. "I gotta shake these guys somehow." He looked around. "How do we get out of here?"
"I don't know!" Gabi lamented. "Just find a road they can't take!"
Phil took a left onto a narrow bike path winding along the bank of the Hudson. He hoped the narrow, twisting trail might discourage some of his pursuers.
But the farther he drove and the closer the path got to the river, the less sure he was about his choice. The Explorer almost left the ground several times, and Gabi screamed in terror each time as Phil fought the wheel to regain control.
But one by one, the number of pursuing cars dropped off until there were only a small handful.
It was working.
Patterson's car
"We're lost," Gant insisted.
"We're not lost," Patterson argued. "I know this guy had to come in on a service road. We're on one of the main ones. He's gotta go past us to leave this way."
"I just don't like being so close to the Hudson," Gant said as the trail started uphill with the Hudson on his left.
"You were the one who said we had to track him down," Patterson reminded him. "If we're gonna do this, then we gotta go all-out for it."
"All right," Gant conceded as the car continued uphill.
Phil's Explorer
"I think we lost them!" Gabi rejoiced.
"I hope so," Phil replied. "If not, do we have a backup plan?"
Gabi shook her head. "I can't feel my power working," she said, pointing to her head. "I probably only have enough to move one thing." She smiled. "But it's okay, because we're clear of them now." Gabi stroked Phil's hair. "We did it."
"Gabi?" Phil asked after a long moment.
"Yeah?"
"If we get out of this..."
"What?" Gabi looked at him intently.
"Will..." Phil hesitated. "Will you...marry me?"
Gabi laughed.
Phil frowned. "Bad time to ask, huh?" He returned his eyes to the road as the trail started uphill with the Hudson on his right.
"Perfect time to ask, honey," Gabi said, beaming at him. "Of course I'll marry you." She kissed Phil on the cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too," Phil replied. He squinted. "I see lights."
"It's New York, baby," Gabi told him. "If you didn't see lights, I'd be worried."
"No," Phil argued, "it looks like..."
Patterson's car
"Lights," Gant warned Patterson.
"I see 'em," Patterson replied as they neared the top of the hill. "I got it handled."
"But what if it's-"
The Explorer crested the hill not a hundred feet away.
Headed right toward them.
"Watch out!" Gant shouted.
Phil's Explorer
"Watch out!" Gabi cried as the unmarked cruiser sped up the hill at them.
Phil jerked the wheel to the left, knowing there was nowhere to go.
Patterson jerked the wheel to the right, knowing there was nowhere to go.
Phil saw the imminent collision and did what his reflexes told him, whipping the Explorer back to the right, towards a tree protruding at a low angle from the embankment high above the rushing river.
The Explorer slammed into the tree at about forty miles an hour. For a brief instant it looked like the SUV might stop there. Phil slammed on his brakes, but with two wheels in the air, it was a futile gesture.
Patterson slammed on his brakes, but Newton kept the Crown Victoria Interceptor skidding forward just enough to brush fenders with the Explorer, which was sliding up the tree trunk off the edge of the embankment.
That extra nudge was all it took.
The tree groaned in protest as the Explorer tried feebly to come to a halt perched across its trunk.
Phil knew there was no way.
The Explorer pitched forward and to the right and slid off the tree and the embankment.
Phil saw the Hudson river rushing up to meet him.
"I'm sorry, Gabi," he breathed.
And the Explorer plunged into the frigid, rushing waters.
The impact imploded every window, and the river poured into the Explorer rapidly. Phil struggled against his seatbelt, but the impact had engaged the emergency lock on the pulley, making it impossible to remove the belt. At least to remove it in time. The lights had gone out in the SUV, and there was no light to be seen in the water. Phil couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
The water was almost up to Phil's lap as the Hudson continued to fill the Explorer with its icy fare. "Gabi!" Phil called. "Gabi!"
He heard Gabi coughing and sputtering next to him. She was fighting her own seat belt. Phil shoved the deployed and now flattened airbag out of his way as it began filling with water itself. He couldn't see Gabi at all, but he could still hear her fighting for breath as the water continued to rise higher.
They were sinking.
"Gabi!" Phil cried. "Get out of here!" He had almost freed himself from his seatbelt but switched to working on Gabriela's.
Gabi coughed a few more times and finally spoke.
"Phil?" she managed weakly.
"Yeah?" Phil was frantically trying to release Gabi's seat belt.
"I love you," Gabi breathed.
The world around Phil flickered, then vanished.
Gant
Gant leapt from the cruiser and aimed his flashlight at the water below. He saw the Explorer foundering, fighting to stay afloat. But he saw the water pouring in and knew it was futile. He couldn't see anyone getting out of the car, though. "SMITH!" he shouted. "Hold on!"
But it was too late. The SUV rocked back and forth a few times before disappearing beneath the Hudson.
In a flash, Gant removed his jacket and his bulletproof vest and stepped toward the edge, but Patterson grabbed his arm. "Don't do it, Rob. You can't save them."
Gant looked down. The river was lined with sharp, jagged rocks, and this stretch was a deceptively deep one that moved surprisingly fast for its depth. More than a few swimmers had been lost here in the long history of Central Park, and it was obvious that Patterson didn't want Gant joining them.
Patterson had his radio out. "We've got a 10-50. Suspect has 10-50'd at Finnegan's Run, off the bike trail. Request divers and medevac units ASAP." But he knew as he looked down into the turbulent waters that there was no way anyone could have survived.
Phil
Phil's eyes fluttered open. He looked around slowly, trying to piece together where he was. Shapes and colors coalesced together around him until it became clear.
He was in a train station.
Phil jumped up. His clothes were dry. It was morning.
Phil tried to figure out what might have happened. Of course! Gabi must have managed to teleport Phil out of the sinking SUV, sending him here.
But Gabi wasn't with him.
Phil's heart sank as he remembered what Gabi had told him. I probably only have enough to move one thing.
Back in the Hudson, Gabriela had chosen to teleport Phil with the last ounce of her power, transporting him, rather than herself, out of the sinking vehicle. So Gabi had saved him - at the expense of her own life.
Phil slumped down on a bench and wept.