A New Life by angelinthecrowd
Chapter 1
I licked the last of my sixth hamburger off my fingers. "Amazing, as usual, Iggy."
Gazzy sighed. "I've never been so full in my whole life."
"You say that every day, Gas," Angel said.
Nudge nodded. "True that."
Dylan started in his chair. "Something..." He paused and stared. "I think Erasers are coming," he said blankly.
"Are you sure?" I asked. Dylan looked at me, grimacing.
I didn't doubt him; he'd been right about the future too many times. I just didn't want it to be true. Not since Fang is… I winced. It still cut my heart. I swallowed hard and pushed the pain away. "Flock, scatter!" But they were already against the walls, away from the window where the first Eraser's claws scratched the glass with a shriek.
Iggy extended his wings. "Not exactly sneaky, are they?"
The window shattered, spraying glass across the room. The monsters swarmed in. One lunged for my head. Laughing, I sidestepped the blow. I kicked it in the chest and finished it quickly with a stomp to the head. "Another one bites the dust."
I gave some hurt to another Eraser, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Nudge pinned. She was screaming and kicking, and with my bird's vision, I noticed a black smudge on her neck. Then I was thrown into the fight again.
Even with Dylan fighting at 200 miles an hour, they kept coming. I could sense the flock wearing down, losing energy. I didn't like giving in, but finally I surrendered to Gazzy. "GAS! Let's get a bomb!"
"Alright!" I heard his whoop from behind me. About five seconds later he yelled, "Clear out!"
When the Gasman says to get out, you do it, ASAP. I spread my wings as soon as I could and jumped out the broken window into the sky. Thunder sounded behind me and heat scorched my shoes. I looped back around to where the flock was standing on the roof, high fiving. "Did you SEE that?" Gazzy asked. "It was awesome!"
"Course I didn't see it! I'm blind! It was really orange, though, and it sounded awesome! The cleaners really increased the heat, don't you think?"
I cleared my throat loudly. "As much as we all love your bomb…Report."
"I have a lot of bruises and my ear is bleeding!" Angel announced.
"Alright, that's good. Fang? Uh, I mean, Nudge?" I hastily corrected myself.
"Stupid Erasers keep trying to break my ribs, and my arms are cut up." Nudge examined her injuries. I was reminded of the mark on her neck. I didn't want to see it, those simple numbers that could ruin my flock forever.
"Nudge, come here a minute." She moved to stand by me. I lifted up her black curls. What I saw made me gasp and stumble back.
"Max, what is it?" She looked at me, worry in her eyes. "Tell me."
"Nudge, you have an expiration date."
This is my first story. Thanks mysoapbox for the beta.