Written for the prompt "Freedom".
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
I don't know how long it's been since I've seen the sky...it's so hard to tell when they stick you in an underground prison cell with no windows or skylight. Seriously, you'd think one of these days there'd he a hell prison with a freaking skylight in it just for variety or something!
...oh who am I kidding? It's not like there's anyone around to really appreciate my snark anymore; Angel was taken away somewhere like I was, I don't know what happened to Gazzy and Iggy, though by now it can't have been anything good. I remember Nudge flying away from those weird super soldiers that attacked us, but without the Flock she wouldn't try anything drastic like rescuing us. I can only hope she's made a good life for herself somewhere...
Fang died during the fight, got shot in the back. After that, I just gave up; there was nothing left for me to fight for. Fang had become the only thing in the world I really cared about over all else. He was my solid rock, my Right Wing...my heart. ...It still hurts thinking about him after all this time.
Now my existence consisted of sitting in this cell, eating the meager scraps of food I was brought, and doing whatever pointless tests the damn Whitecoats thought up fro me. Why bother though? Why bother keeping me in shape if all if all I'm just gonna sit in my little cell and eat? It serves no purpose! Why not just let me rot already!
Sigh, every day just fades into the next, never-ending, just reminding me that I'm trapped here. I think that's probably the worst part of all this, not being able to see the sky anymore, not being able to wheel and dip and loop and just fly. It's like...part of me has been smothered some much that it's practically not there anymore. On paper 2% might not seem like much, but when that 2% is hardwired right into your very being, and it's smothered and choked and suppressed so much it's practically dead...it's like a painting that someone scraped portions off, but left the sketches underneath to remind people what used to be. It doesn't feel good, let me tell you that.
Oh look its "feeding time". Joy.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
The guard slid his keycard through the reader, unlocking the cell door after a short series of beeps. It slid into the wall, light now filling the small room and illuminating its sole occupant. Clad only in a flimsy shirt and pants, the young woman slouched against the far wall, hardly even reacting to the sudden change in brightness.
"Here you go Number 6," the scientist said, placing a tray of meager food in front of her, "Eat up, there's another test coming up. You up for it?"
There was no reaction from "Number 6"; she just stared blankly in front of her, her eyes dull and listless, not even registering man's white lab coat almost obscuring her vision of all else beyond it. While it was ideal for the maintenance of the specimen, the scientist wished that she would at least acknowledge him in some way; it was harder to gather data when the only answer the specimen gave was grunts. Ah well, at least some of the other recombinants were more accommodating.
"Hurry up," the guard said impatiently, "you're not gonna get anything out of that one anyway."
"Well, be blunt about it why don't you; there's always the chance something will change one of these days." The guard was unimpressed.
"Unlikely," he said, "she's one of the oldest specimens in this place; she was like that when we brought her in, and for every day since then. I'll bet you money she'll be like this a week from now too."
"Done!" the scientist agreed cheerfully. As he left the cell he turned back, "Don't forget about the tests!"
Again, nothing.
"I'll never understand scientists," the guard said, reaching for his keycard.
"And that's why you're guarding the cells instead of doing the actual important work," the Whitecoat sneered. "Besides, you've only been here for a few weeks, how do you even know about what these specimens were like when they were first gathered?"
"They briefed about all of them when I started. Still, somethings about this place don't make any sense."
"Such as?"
"Such as why there aren't any locks on any of the door outside of the cells here?"
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
I leaped at the guard, a sudden strength I forget I had surging through my body. It was like I was the old me again, fighting off whatever baddie was trying to take over the world that Tuesday. It was exhilarating, it was wonderful, it was...hope. That's it word, hope. The one thing I'd lost that I'd never been able to get back since...that day. I tackled the guards into the wall outside my cell, banging his head into it until I was sure he was knocked out.
Once he was taken care of, I turned my attention to the scientist cowering to the side. There were so many emotions running through my mind as locked my eyes on his terrified form; my early memories of the School, Jeb taking me and the rest of the Flock away, his betrayal, all the other times I'd been captured and tested on at the hands of these soulless humans who cared only for their precious test results. Everything came rushing out at once as I calmly walked up to him, grabbed his head, and gave it a sharp twist. What did it even matter anymore that I'd just killed, him? There was no one around anymore to be perfect for, no one who looked up to me, no one I was willing to be a better person for.
All that mattered now was getting free of this hell I'd been in for so long.
I sprinted along the corridors, trying to find my way out. The sterilized smell of hospitals was nauseating after being in the same room for years, and in musty dog crates when I was being moved to whatever test they had in store for me, but the prospect freedom of overrode every other reflex I had as I rushed ahead. I passed by other startled scientists and soldiers, but did pay them any mind, they were inconsequential to my goals unless they directly got in my way.
After what seemed like an eternity I was finally at the exit, my desire for freedom multiplied now that I was so close. The exit was a heavy metal door with a simple deadbolt sliding across it. I threw it to the side and push the door with all my might. After another short eternity it was open and I sprinted out as fast as I could.
I was outside now.
I stopped, just taking in the thing that used to be so familiar to me but was now foreign. Slowly things began to register; trees, grass, flowers, rocks, birds, a deer, the sky...
The sky, I felt an instant connection with it. I felt it calling me, beckoning me into its welcoming embrace.
Slowly, I unfurled my wings. They were a bit stiff from not being used probably for so long, but that didn't matter. All my old muscle memory was coming back to me, driving me upward to the great blue expanse. Thank God I still stretched them out from time to time in that hell. Satisfied I was able, and more that ready, I leaped into air, beating my wings eagerly.
I was finally free.
Suddenly, I felt pain exploded in my chest. I quickly looked down and saw a red stain on my meager excuse for a shirt. I'd been shot, right through the heart it seems. Strangely, it didn't stay painful for long, and I could feel myself falling. Heh, how ironic that I finally get a taste of Freedom after years and it's cut short by a lousy bullet. As I fell, I could see the infinite sky above me, slowly becoming engulfed in a brilliant white light.
I finally put 2 and 2 together; I'm dying.
Hey Fang, I'll see you in just a minute, I thought as I closed my eyes and let the light engulf me.
fin.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
OK, that was a bit less cathartic than I thought it would be. Still, I had to get this idea out. Like it or hate it, it doesn't matter that much to about this one.