Capítulo 16: Sixteen
Max POV
The whitecoats reaction to our broken wristbands didn't go as planned. We were all sitting in the church tower balcony, going over escape routes, when all the lights shut off. We were left in pitch blackness and silence. We were on our feet instantly.
"Max, everything's black!" Nudge was panicking. "There's no sky, no sun, nothing!"
"I know, just everyone try to stay calm." I said quickly, scanning the area. Nudge was right. The sky was now a solid metal dome with metal walls sloping down, a giant cage. They were trying to take us by surprise. We had exceptional eyesight, but even we were at a disadvantage in the pitch dark. That's when Iggy touched my shoulder. I turned to look at him and saw his eyes closed as he listened to something. He opened his eyes and I saw fear, something that I wasn't used to seeing from him.
"They let out the Erasers." He whispered, knowing that we now had to be as silent as possible. I nodded and motioned to the kids to be quiet. I couldn't hear them, but watched Iggy as he moved to follow their sound.
"Should we U and A?" I said as quietly as I could. Iggy shook his head.
"They'll hear us. And then we wouldn't be able to land." He said. "There's 5 of them, they're in the trees."
"How could they find us this fast in ten miles of arena?" Gazzy squeaked.
"They know we use this tower as a base." I whispered, looking out over Dunderville. There wasn't anywhere we could take refuge either, we were stuck up here. I figured that so long as we stayed put, the Eraser's would be forced to climb the tower, thus giving away their position. Maybe we could overpower them one by one, but then we'd still be stuck in this arena with no way out. Damn.
"Max, they're coming." Angel whispered, taking my hand. I looked down at her and saw that she had her eyes closed. I heard the howl of one of the Erasers ricocheting off the metal walls, sounding like the call of death. He was close, I estimated roughly a mile off.
"They're flyboys…" Iggy whispered, making my blood freeze in my veins. Angel next to me nodded, still concentrating on something. She let go of my hand, hers falling to her side. Flyboys could reach us no problem, but they did have a weakness; a blow to their tailbone.
"How many?"
"All five." Iggy gestured to a large area of the forest. "They're moving individually."
"Then I got this." I said confidently. I was getting my family out of here today, be it alive or in body bags. I prepared to jump out of the tower when Angel grabbed my wrist.
"I have a plan." She said quickly, her blue eyes bright.
Jeb POV
Fang had recovered well during the night. I stood in front of his cell now, marveling at his appearance. It was like night and day. Barely able to stand last night, he was now pacing the cell, glaring angrily at me. He was amped on energy, at his most dangerous. I was having my next test assembled and was anxious to see the results of this drug.
The flock, in the meantime, were being hunted down in the arena. I had my set of drones go in instead of scientists. Max knew how to beat flyboys, their weakness, but these drones were a little different. Unbeknownst to the flock. I expected they'd be rounded up within the hour, and then I could test the drug in their systems as well. All except for Iggy, I had other plans and arrangements for him.
"Sir, they've found her." My fellow scientist informed me. I turned to face him as he held the door open for me. In one hand he held a tablet with the camera input from the lead drone. I took the tablet from him and walked towards the main lab. This way I could observe the hunt, even give instructions, if need be.
Max POV
We stood at the edge of the forest, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel, and I. Iggy was overhead, flying silently as he tracked the flyboys within the trees. He relayed messages through Angel, who then gave them to me via mental signalling. Everyone remained silent, only communicating through Angel like a radio tower, and only when absolutely necessary. Iggy's job was to single out the flyboys and lead them to us, where we'd take it out as a team. But that would only work if we could separate the flyboys.
'He's at the treeline.' Angel's voice in my mind said quietly. 'Something's wrong.' I peered into the dark trees. It was so quiet. Only the sound of my rapid heartbeat and the blood rushing in my ears. All that silence was broken by a dull, mechanical growl as the cyborg neared us. I saw it walking through shadows slowly, stalking us, down on all fours as it crouched. Beady, red eyes glowed through the darkness, large wolf like teeth glistened, and the mechanical growling sent shivers up my spine. It wasn't a flyboy at all.
'It's something else.' Angel's voice again. 'A robot, or drone of some kind. It has no mind of its own.' I saw Iggy dip down towards us and land carefully behind me, panting. The creature stepped slightly out of the treeline, its eyes fixed on us. It moved his head around slowly, as if gauging our distance. It walked on four legs, but each leg was metalic and ended in four large zygodactyl claws. The body was a mixture of wolf and lizard, like a raptor. Its head had an elongated neck with a long snout filled with dagger like teeth. Tucked along its back were a pair of wings with snow white me, it had death written all over it.
'U and A?' Nudge voice came into my mind now, placed there by Angel.
'Now.' A second after I thought the word, we all jumped into the air. A blinding rush of feathers and wind, and a surprised bark from the creature. We scattered, peeling off in multiple directions. I glanced behind me and saw that not only had the creature gone airborne, but so had the remaining four. Now, each of us had a robot bird tailing us, and they were surprisingly maneuverable.
I flew in random patterns, arcs, and flips, yet couldn't shake the hybrid. I saw Iggy land in a tree below me and even dart in between trees on foot before taking off once again. The animal copied his movements, even anticipated some, and never lost sight of him. A scream made me look over at Nudge as she was grabbed by a pair of those claws. I grit my teeth and veered sharply, aiming straight for its back. I brought my feet forward and crashed into the creature full force. I heard several crunching sounds and a warbled cry as the cyborgs wings crumpled. It fell out of the air and crashed into the frozen river below.
"Aim for the back!" I shouted, dodging a clawed hand. Gazzy flipped in the air and grabbed onto the creatures left wing, pinning it against his side. They both fell towards earth but he let go at the last second, his wings unfurling wide as he glided out of harm's way. The creature he had grabbed hit the ground hard, unable to react in time. Three robo's were left, with the five of us. Things were looking good.
"Max!" Angel yelled suddenly, right as a stinging pain hit my back hard. I gasped as I felt my wings fold in and I was in a freefall. I couldn't get my wings to open beyond a few inches, enough to prevent my fall from being fatal. I still collided into tree branches, ice, snow, and eventually dirt. Stunned and unable to move, I struggled to breathe. I saw Iggy land next to me, standing over me as he fought off the creature. Nudge and Gazzy followed suit, standing around me like a protective ring. The stinging pain in my back refused to subside and I realized it must have been a paralyzing venom. The school had found a way to tranquilize us without darts, smoke, or drugged food.
"Venom!" I squeaked, feeling myself losing consciousness. "Don't get hit!" The three creatures had surrounded us, each screaming with mechanical whirs and barks. And faster than I could blink, one had struck Gazzy. He went down immediately. One jumped on top of Iggy, its claws flashing and its mouth open wide as it tried to bite his shoulder. Nudge was on top of it instantly, grabbing its head and bravely twisting it around backwards. A sickening snap resonated through me as its neck snapped and bent at an unnatural angle. Both Nudge and Angel were caught by another creature as it racked its claws across their arms. Iggy was the last to go down.
"Max, I'm impressed by your resilience." my breath froze in my chest as the voice of Jeb emanated from the lead creature. The remaining two stopped their assault, standing identical to one another in a standby position. My vision was fuzzy and unfocused, but I still made out the creatures turning and walking away. The lead remained, standing next to Iggy's unconscious form, his blood still on its claws.
"See you soon."
Jeb POV
"The specimen is ready to ship?" Dr. Munth asked, her gaze suspicious. I handed her the completed paperwork. She scanned over everything before motioning to her colleagues. They loaded the large crate onto a trolley and wheeled it out into the courtyard. Their van was waiting for them.
"I expect full documentation on him." I said sternly. "Frequent updates."
"Don't worry Mr. Batchelder. It's in good hands." She smiled and joined her men. I still wasn't sure if doing business with this corporation was a good idea, but they had provided promising results in their recent tests. I wanted the most data I could get with this new drug, as it could prove invaluable to many fields. I watched the van drive away. I had a tracker placed on it and Iggy, in case of failure.
I walked into the lab, seeing Fang on the ground once again, barely able to breathe, and shaking. This test run included intense heat, meaning that he was running in a room that was over 100 degrees in temperature. He had only lasted a mere 28 minutes, less than half of his previous time. The whitecoats strapped him to the recovery table and one dumped a bucket of room temperature water over his head. The water helped cool his system down and made him more alert. He coughed and struggled to breathe as the doctors rotated his table until it was standing upright. I slipped my hands into my sterile gloves.
"What is this supposed to prove?" Fang hissed, his eyes murderous as he strained against the straps. I readied a syringe and wiped his arm clean with an alcohol swab.
"Every brick and every stone of the world we made will come undone if we aren't proactive. I'm merely leaving a footprint to guide the next generations." I smiled, inserting the needle. The vial filled with bright red blood and I capped it off. The table was lowered back down and the doctors began to wheel Fang away to the recovery cell.
"Mark my words," Fang growled. "I'll kill you before that happens."
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