Even as the CPFs were drawn away from me, my vision was going hazy and I knew I couldn’t do anything to help the battle. Max was going crazy, slowing and speeding up time, darting this way and that, sending limbs flying as much as he could without blacking out.

The blinking became more frequent as my eyelids grew heavier. Either that was Max rippling through time and space, or just me hallucinating as the weird fluids sluggishly pounded their way through me. Either way, CPFs were falling this way and that, but there were just too many. Max was suddenly hit with another dart, and he cried out, grunting with effort as he tried to wrestle them off him.

As the battle ensued, I dimly registered the squeal of tires from behind me. Smoke entered my nostrils. Someone had arrived – good or bad?

The CPFs on Max all looked up. “It’s here, go!” one shouted hoarsely.

Rough hands jostled me onto a metal surface. The last sight I registered was Max running for the back doors of the truck as we sped away.