Title: In The Days Before The End

Summary: It was least stand, the desperate cry of a broken people as we watched our leader dissolve in a flurry of golden particles. This world, our world, is ending, but with the New Year will come a new beginning, a change in the war and hopefully a change in time.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize including the random obscure references.

Authors Note: Hey! Sorry about the late update; I was very busy. Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Oh, and warning for slight amount of torture and I torture.

In The Days Before The End

Chapter Eight - My Interagation

Yesterday JD asked me if I understood what was at stake if we failed to stop the Plur. He told us that we would have to kill.

I have known John Dorian for less than a year, but I can't believe that I didn't notice the changes until recently. The man who has taken his place is so different from him that it sends shivers down my spine. He has killed, he has that look in his eyes that only men who have seen war possess.

I can't begin to imagine the horrors that he is seen, and done. War changes people and JD is no exception.

Now that he had stopped acting, is so obvious that this man is not the JD I knew. He fell into the role of leader of our little group so easily but I can believe that he led a rebellion, I can believe that he created the technology to come here, because the man who says he is JD is dangerous and I don't think that we have seen just how much so.

- From the Journal of Carla Espinosa, June 21, 2006

Carla handed me piece of paper. "Here are the wilderness areas and parks I found in Washington state." She moved to walk away.

"Hey Carla, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered not meeting my eyes.

"I know I'm practically a stranger to you, but I want you to know that I've known you for decades." I took a breath. "I'm not asking you like me Carla, but for me you have been my friend for a long time. You were there when I was sent back here; you, Turk, Dr. Cox. You guys were the last people I saw and the reason I came back."

She stopped and turned to look at me. "Really?"

"Yes. Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's wrong?"

"It's just, I don't think that Turk has thought of it, but," she paused and looked up to meet my eyes, "the other JD, the one whose place you took. He is never coming back, is he?"

I had known that this conversation was coming, and had been slightly surprised no one had brought it up yet. But that didn't mean that I wanted to have it.

"No, he's not. This was a one-way trip."

"I thought so." She looked away and when I tried to meet her eyes again she turned around and left.

The blank was fast, but I was faster. Whipping out my gun, I aimed at the back of her right knee and shot. It hit just to the left of the middle and she went down at a tangle of arms and legs.

I ran up to her, gun at the ready and kicked her gun out of her hand before she had a chance to shoot.

The Plur had started the war by sending loved ones to massacre their friends and family. The woman in front of me had, in my time, killed twenty nine people.

She groaned and I knelt beside her. Pulling a zip tie out of the pocket of my hoodie I wrenched her arms behind her and barely dodged a well and kick to the face.

"I'll never tell you anything!" She hissed between clenched teeth and I brought the butt of my gun down on the back of her head.

"We'll see about that."

I searched her for other weapons and found another gun in a pocket on the inside of her jacket. Making sure the zip tie was secure I fished a syringe out of my pocket and uncapped it with my teeth. The vein on her arm was easy to find and I pushed it in. It was just a mild sedative, and would keep her under for about forty five minutes. I estimated about ten until the cops showed up because someone would have heard the gunshot.

I opened my backpack and cut her jeans into shorts so that there would be no blood on them. Rummaging around in my bag I pulled out a triage kit that I put had together earlier that week. I couldn't very well get on the bus if she was bleeding all over the place.

I threaded a needle and sewed up the entrance and exit wounds with quick and practiced movements. I glanced at my watch, three minutes until the cops showed.

Next I wiped down her leg with a wet wipe and wrapped it in plastic wrap which would keep the blood from soaking through the ace bandage that I put over that. Looking down at my work, I slipped off the medical gloves that I've been wearing to protect against fingerprints.

I stuffed everything back in my bag and slipped it onto her back. Hoisting her onto my my back, I cut the zip tie and stood up. To anyone who didn't know what was going on I look like a young man carrying his girlfriend, who had had too much to drink.

Carla answered the door when I rang the bell. My keys were in my bag and I didn't want to put the blank down to get them.

"Who's that?" She stepped back to let me in as Turk walked over to see what was going on.

"Whoa! Who's that?" He asked standing behind,

"It's a blank. I caught her trying to speak in her family home."

"What? But she's just a kid!" Carla exclaimed. "She can't be much older than twenty one!"

"Yeah, well she was going to kill twenty nine people."

Turk looked taken aback. "What happened to her?" He asked looking at her knee.

"I shot her so that she couldn't get away, and gave her a dose of sedative."

"Why did you bring her here? I thought you could fix them." Carla asked, helping her set the girl onto a chair. I zip-tied her wrists to the arms of the chair and her ankles and legs.

"I can't, but she's going to tell us where the base is."

"Am I the only one who is not okay with this?" Turk spoke up. "I don't think that kidnapping her was a good idea! Won't the cops be looking for her?"

"We need the information, there are too many places that the base could be." I looked over to the girl, no, [blank]. If I thought of her as a person I would be up to do what I needed to do.

"How do you know that she'll even talk?"

Truth, I told myself. I promised to always tell them the truth. "I can be very convincing."

"You're going to..." Carla let the sentence hang.

"What?! JD, no!" Turk looked disgusted, and I flinched.

"We need the information she has. You guys can leave if you want to." I kind of hoped they would, I didn't want him to see me like this. I didn't like torture in fact I hated it.

The blank groaned from chair as she regained consciousness.

"JD, I don't like this." Carla said.

"Neither do I, but I need to."

Turk glared but said nothing. I stood and faced the blank. "Carla can I have a bowl of cold water?" I saw her nod from the corner of my eye and spoke to the blank.

"Where is the base?"

"Fuck you."

I raise my hand and struck her across the face. Turk flinched from beside me.

"Where is it?" I asked again but she stayed silent and closed her eyes.

Carla returned from the kitchen and handed me a pitcher of water. "Turk, would you take the dressing off her leg?"

"JD..."

"Turk, do it!" I snapped and he glared but knelt beside me.

"Where is the base?" I asked again. The blank just stared at me petulantly.

"JD, why is there plastic wrap on her leg?" Turk asked looking at me questioningly and Carla raided an eyebrow.

"So that the blood wouldn't show. I took the city bus home." I picked up the water and splashed in in the blank's face.

"Cold. Was that supposed to make me talk?"

"No. I just wanted to make sure you were awake."

I glanced down to her leg to see that Turk was finished. Reaching down to the shattered joint, which was swollen and purple, and ignoring Turk's protest I pushed my finger down.

"Where. Is. The. Base?"

"Fine! Fine!" The blank yelled her tongue darting out to wipe blood from her bottom lip. "I'll tell you!"

Turk and Carla came in from the other room and looked at the blank with wide eyes. I couldn't really blame them, she looked horrible.

"Ross Lake National Rec. Area. Washington state!" She gasped "Now let me go". I rummaged around pack for another syringe which I jabbed into her neck. I turned to Turk and Carla who had twin looks of horror on their faces and tried to lighten the mood.

"Who's up for a road trip?"

Author's Note: ... Don't hate me. I'm sorry I had JD do that. Was it horrible? I think maybe I went too far. But they had to find the base somehow. I don't really like this chapter. Writing has been really hard for me lately 'cause my brain is all like 私は日本人です! (I'm Japanese!) and I have trouble writing in English.

Sorry that the journal entry on this chapter was short..

PLEASE COMMENT! I haven't had comments for a couple chapters and that makes me sad! Also my motivation to write goes downhill fast...

ありがとう (Thanks) for reading!