Kapitel 30: Thirty
Max POV
"Damnit!" I cursed. I punched the steering wheel and the horn wheezed lifelessly. With just under an hour left to go until we hit Chicago, our front left tire had exploded into shreds of rubber. I managed to keep control of the old van but now we had no ride. We were parked on the side of the icy highway with wind and snow still bearing down on us. The van sat awkwardly on its bare metal rim and bumper. Fang got out as I shoved the door open, yanking the keys out of the ignition.
"It's a lost cause, we don't even have a spare or a jack." He sighed, his breath forming a cloud in front of him, whipped away by the wind. His black hair ruffled and was full of snow flurries. I kicked the door shut, leaving a dent behind. "We're better off walking."
"You want to walk there? In this?" I asked, gesturing to the sky. "It's easily 10 below out here."
"You got any better ideas? The snow won't melt in an hour." Fang turned on his heel and slipped his hands into his hoodie pockets. He began walking away down the side of the empty highway. I sighed heavily. Nothing could ever be straight forward. I grit my teeth and pulled my hood over my head, shielding my ears from the icy wind. Fang had done the same and I quickly caught up to him. The sky was white above and the ground white below. We followed the road in silence.
Some time later I looked behind us. The road kept going until it disappeared against the horizon; a line I couldn't make out anymore. The ground and sky blended together in a wall of white. I shivered in the frigid air and I cursed the winter season. I was freezing, hungry, tired, and angry. My watch read just past noon. It didn't feel like it. I felt like today had been a blur of all this week put together. I noticed Fang shivering as well, his black wings folded against his back tightly. His feathers and hair were dotted with white specks, making him look very much out of character.
"How much farther?" I groaned but Fang remained silent. It was pointless to ask, we both knew that. I was just bored and wanting to pass the time. Fang slipped suddenly, his feet sliding out from under him. His wings opened just enough to keep his balance.
"Careful, black ice." He said casually, not even looking back. I carefully maneuvered over the area. A car flew past us going over 70 miles an hour and melted slush from the pavement narrowly missed us. I looked out at the horizon, past Fang, and at the faint outline of buildings in the distance. At last, we were somewhat close.
Just walking into one of the busiest cities in the country right off the highway is a lot easier said than done. One has to avoid every car imaginable, all the chaotic foot traffic, expertly evade all the construction zones, and navigate through the numerically ordered streets. I was ahead of Fang by several strides, moving quickly with renewed energy. The sidewalks were thoroughly salted and slush free, but the roads were full of black snow and debris. People bustled past Fang and I expeditiously, carrying Starbucks and other various coffee brands. Some wore huge backpacks as they walked to school, others waved down taxis, and car horns filled my ears.
"Look for a library." I said to Fang as I weaved through the throngs of people. The constant noise was enough to drive anyone out of their mind with anxiety. Between the car horns and constant onslaught of human contact, I pulled over to the side of a large building to take a breather. Fang stood next to me, his hood down now and his hands in his pockets. He watched everyone walking by carefully, his eyes tracking everything calmly. I panted as I leaned against the wall and tried to focus my mind.
"I wouldn't stay out in the open for too much longer, kids." A man said suddenly, stopping to stand next to Fang. He wore a heavy winter coat, his hand holding onto his young daughter's small mittened one. "There's forecasts of a heavy blizzard coming in this evening."
"Is that why everyone is in a rush?" I asked, standing up straighter.
"Gotta get that shopping done beforehand." He smiled and nodded goodbye at us. Fang watched him hurry off.
"Why would he stop and warn us? Do we really look that out of place?" I looked over at Fang.
"Could be, or he was just a nice dude." He shrugged and began walking down the sidewalk. I moved next to him, my eyes still searching. But Fang seemed to know where he was going. I looked farther down the road and spotted a massive red brick building. It had huge arches with windows on each side of the building and a large, green blue roof overhead with more windows. One side was nothing but a wall of windows and winged creatures sat on each corner of the roof. The Harold Washington Library Center. I don't know how we didn't notice it sooner.
When we walked inside, a huge wall of warm air hit us. I breathed a sigh of relief as Fang led us through the wide open walkways. The ceiling was so high, the flooring was made of black and white tiles, and it was surprisingly empty. I knew Fang was just as relieved to be out of the cold as I was, though he'd never show it. We followed the signs towards the computer lounge, and to my delight, only a few were taken. The room was deathly quiet, however, and I thought I could hear my own heart. We took a seat by a computer in the farthest corner away from anyone else. Fang turned on the dim white screen and we waited for it to boot up. I leaned back into my chair and signed, feeling the last of the chills leave my body.
Neither of us spoke, not wanting the other people in the room to hear us. Fang typed away on the computer. He pulled up several tabs about SOHF; Study of Human Flight, one for Dr. Munth, and another for Stam7. I read through the numerous articles and skimmed for various details. SOHF was established in 1994 by Dr. Munth, as we had previously read on the now fried USB we found a while back. Its goal was to better the physics of flight and further the understanding of ornithological anatomy. They even had permission to perform human experiments. The facility had full legal right to operate. Fang and I shared a glance.
Fang came across a folder that was password locked. Wishing I had Nudges ability to crack computers, I wracked my mind for possible answers. We tried Stam7, our names, the schools name, Dr. Munth, SOHF, and even 1994, but nothing gave way. Frustrated, I took the fried USB from my pocket and looked it over once again. Fang leaned against his seat, his eyes focused on the large red word INCORRECT displayed across our screen. I took the USB and plugged it into the thumb drive on the side of the keyboard. The screen instantly whirred into action. The folder unlocked and displayed hundreds of pictures of locations. Some were in the United States, others were in England, and a few were in Germany. They were all pictures of rural areas, places where humans had not populated.
"There." I whispered, pointing to another tab that had opened. Fang scanned through the information quickly as I absorbed as much as I could. It spoke of a new prototype, a human hybrid that would withstand future environmental catastrophes. The Stam7 project had been declared a success and had been approved to move onto further testing and reproduction. Fang's jaw clenched as he read the name of the creator; Jeb. It was also Jeb who was making these prototypes, these human embryos of the future. The man was literally making a new generation in case the world ended. None of these people seemed to have avian DNA, however. They were all just enhanced beings, stronger and more capable than ordinary humans. I wasn't sure if this was possible with Stam7 alone, or if they had something else other than avian genetics playing a part.
"He'll become the leader of the world." Fang breathed, careful not to make himself heard by the others sharing the room. It was so quiet I wasn't even sure if I had heard it. "He wants to eliminate all other human life on the planet."
"There's no way this will stand in the real world." I whispered, taking the mouse from him. I clicked on another article. The headlines read "Your Children of Tomorrow". Paragraphs of information panned out before me, all talking about the hundreds of thousands of people that were approving of this insanity. Jeb was literally convincing people that an apocalypse was imminent. The only way for humanity to survive was through his method of recreating life stronger and better. People were going so far as to riot in the streets and social media was bursting at the seams with the radical idea. Even through all his promises of a glorias future, Jeb had failed to mention just how he would destroy all inferior humans, and what apocalypse was coming. I had no idea how the man had gotten so much power.
"This can't be real." Fang said quietly, stunned as much as I was. I could only stare at the screen in disbelief. Jeb was rallying thousands of supporters, millions of dollars in donations, and had been given permission to reinvent the human race. There was no one in his way, no governmental figures, nothing could stop him. He had already made a lab solely for the production of human embryos.
"Redemption."
"What?"
"Here." Fang clicked on the final tab available. It opened with a picture of a blown up picture of a bacterial cell. "He calls it Redemption, it's his prediction of the apocalypse." There was going to be an apocalypse, but now by the forces of natural nature. Jeb planned on wiping out the human race with a bacterial and viral outbreak. It would devastate the world so severely, he would be able to start anew with his newly enhanced prototypes. Jeb wanted to end the world as we knew it.
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