Words really can't describe flying. Its majestic, and yet simple at the same time. Grace, nimbleness, and agility mold into one in flight. Flight is…its not really even an 'it'. Kind of an ability…well, not exactly. Flying isn't anything in particular.

Flying just is.

My name is Duke, by the way. And as you may have guessed, I can fly. Yeah, I know, you're all insanely jealous.

Now, amid your torrential envy of me, I'm sure you're wondering how I can fly.

It's very simple. I have wings.

No seriously. I'm sure you're all rolling your eyes at me, and muttering under your breath "Uh-huh…and how do you fly with a straitjacket on?"

Actually, it's true. I'm not at all crazy. In fact, if you want to meet a bunch of mad idiots, go find the scientists who grafted avian DNA into our genetic makeup. While I love being able to fly…there are times when I wish I could grow up with your average, everyday sitcom-style life. A mom, a dad, a suburban home…things so many teenagers take for granted.

This is a tale of adventure, of love, of friendship and of courage. And no matter what you think, this story will open your eyes to the evils in the world. So whatever, you do, keep reading.

Lives depend on it.

" HOLY CRAP!! SO COLD, SO COLD!"

I nearly fell out of the sky laughing, my sandy-tan wings barely holding me aloft.

My brother Ace emerged from the cloud he'd ran into, coughing violently. He was splattered with water, and still managing to grin at me like a daredevil. The fact that his hair was naturally spiked didn't help his crazy appearance, either. It was brown like mine, but sometimes stuck up in ways I could never understand.

Ace was my best friend, my companion in every way. He and I looked faintly alike, with the same skin tone and hair color, but he was younger and shorter. Also much more hyper. Hence the cloud thing.

In fact, when we planned our flock's escape, we did it together. We had a communion cell-all four of us. Ace, Eve, Jovi, Locke and I. None of us could imagine life without the others. Even though we'd been tested and confined and experimented on for all of our lives, we found the time to become fast friends. We were all around the same age, give or take a few years.

Three years ago, we learned that our entire flock was slated for termination at the School, where we'd been engineered. We fled that very night and we've been wandering the world ever since.

As the oldest, it was my responsibility to look after the others. I'm fourteen, and technically I'm not old enough to drive, vote, or work in fast food.

And yet I have to take care of my mischievous younger brother, a teenage girl who thinks it's her duty to bug the heck out of me, a six-foot-something birdboy and a kid who abuses his powers of telekinesis on a regular basis.

Ah, America, the land of opportunity, right?

"Yo, Duke?" Ace called over the wind, riding a thermal and managing to soar beside me.

"Yeah?" I said, still wishing I had had a camera for the whole "cloud-bust" moment.

"Are we gonna land soon? It's freaking freezing up here!"

I shook my head. "It's just you, buddy. Colliding with a cloud doesn't exactly give you the warmest feeling."

"Shut it." He growled at me, but Ace couldn't stay mad at me for long. It was too boring, I guess.

"Please! Can we land now?" Jovi pleaded. He was eleven, but looked twelve, and apparently, was just as cold as the rest. After all, I think we were flying over Michigan. But I wanted to get over the state border soon, so we had to press on.

"Sorry guys, I think we better keep going." Jovi pouted silently, but gave up quickly.

I was satisfied. Finally, they were beginning to listen. Now if I could only…

WHACK! A well-placed acorn catapulted against my scalp.

"OUCH! Damn it, Jovi!" I shouted, and then berated myself for such language. But, Lord, that hurt…and the kid had perfect aim, considering he'd used his mind. Stupid telekinesis.

After hearing several annoying snorting laughter at my expense, the flock persuaded me to touch ground near a little forest. It wasn't quite cold enough for snow, but still chilly enough for us to zip up our jackets and shiver like mad.

Eve crossed her arms and glared at me. She was the only girl in our flock, and was sure to complain about it every hour of every day. Like it was out fault a bunch of freak show scientists chose more boys than girls.

Like I said, she glared at me. "We should've gone somewhere a little, oh, I don't know…WARMER!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Uh, you do know where we're headed, right, Eve? Chicago, Illinois?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, what's your point?"

I shook my head at her. "Are you a girl or not? Chicago. Land of malls. And stores."

I waited about half a nanosecond before looking at her. "Any questions?"

Eve unfurled her wings, and spread out her arms in a questioning gesture. "Why are we here? I have shopping to do!"

The others giggled, leaving Eve nonplussed.

I guess this would be a good time to mention what we look like, in case you see any flying teenagers in the sky, and you can recognize us.

I was taller than Ace, who we estimated was about a year or so younger than me. The whitecoats never told us we were related, but it was obvious after a while. I also had light brown hair and blue eyes, which I secretly very proud of. I am so any girl's dream.

Well, admittedly, dating is a little less common when you're constantly on the run…er, fly…

Jovi had only a code to identify him that the School-JVI. Thus, he came up with the name. Later on the entire flock became obsessed with Bon Jovi, which made him rather proud. I guess it's a cool, random coincidence. The kid was pretty cool, but his telekinesis was a little annoying sometimes.

Jovi wasn't the only one who'd discovered some strange side effects of the avian DNA. Sometimes, I get a feeling…a vibe, sort of, and I can sense when something bad is going to happen. Or I'll notice something no one else will, because I can kind of feel it. I call it my exrasense. It only happens once in a while, and it would be a heck of a lot cooler if I could control it.

Eve was a blonde, and because of this, very fun to tease. Enough said.

There's one more flock member I haven't mentioned too much yet. He's pretty funny, and sometimes quiet. Probably knows more about things then we do, but if he does, he doesn't talk about it. After all, he hasn't talked once in the six hours we'd been flying. His name is Locke, after a philosopher he read about somewhere. Go figure.

So that's him. Tall, dirty blonde hair, and as unassuming as a huge mutant can be. Seriously, he's like, six-foot-six or something.

"What's for dinner?" Jovi asked, sitting on a stump and using his powers to rub two sticks together for a fire, while Locke searched the nearby forest for firewood.

"Uh, not to depress you guys, but I think we better settle for some forest mouse special. Sorry." I said apologetically. I heard a chorus of groans from behind me.

"Wait!" Ace said, rummaging through his pack and coming up with a dozen tins of ravioli.

I stared at him. "You stole that, didn't you?" I said, trying to keep the accusatory note out of my voice.

He looked up at me. "Come on, we've got to eat, Duke!"

I relented-he had a point. I hated stealing-but without it, we'd have one pair of clothes each, no food, no basic supplies…it was a pretty long list.

Spearing a noodle with a stick, I started to roast it over the fire. The smell was delicious. I-

I stopped in mid-thought, dropping my ravioli to the ground. My extrasense was acting up in the same way my sense of direction did. Something was about to happen. Something big.

I whirled around and stopped, frozen in place.

"Duke? What is it? What's going on?" Locke followed my gaze, and sucked in a shaky breath of fear.

There were Erasers on the horizon.

End note: How did you like it? The only parts we're considering for editing is the extrasense thing-we don't really like it. Who knows, though. Please review

-AAW-