Max P.O.V.
A/N First tragedy I'm ever writing for any story. Anyway, happy ending still. I think.
The song is 'Me Against the World' by Simple Plan. It is italicized.
Chapter 1: Me Against the World
The Flyboy swung a stiff kick into my face, and due to its limited movements, the leg didn't follow as I ducked it. Suddenly, five Flyboys were on me, all at once.
I glanced around desperately. I could handle two Flyboys. Three, if I were lucky. But five?! I didn't know if I could. I guess I was about to find out. Flinging a scissor kick at one of them, I punched another in the lower back at the base of its spine.
More Flyboys came. It's like they were trying to capture or hurt us instead of killing like usual. Now there were seven on me. I felt myself crumple up inside. Seven?!
Then a flying kick at me back caught me off guard, and another Flyboy connected its fist with my nose. I think I felt it crack. From the corner of my eye, I saw a Flyboy aiming its booted foot at my head, and another's claws at where my heart was. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the impact.
Nothing, but I heard a faint 'oof' from in front of me. I opened my eyes in horror as I saw Fang drop like a rock straight down into the canyon below. The Flyboys were leaving. I guessed they had done their job. Kill one of the flock.
Still, I wanted his body, dead or alive, and there was no time to put up a 'wanted' sign. I went into a steep dive, fixing my eyes on Fang's body, feeling my blood turn cold at the thought of him dead. Fang, dead. It cannot happen. It just can't. Fang just cannot die.
I caught him with a few feet to spare, and fell with him on me on the ground. Quickly, I scrambled out from under him, checking to see if he was still alive. I caught a few shallow gasps. Iggy landed beside me, followed by the rest of the flock. His hands gently went over the wounds; a large gash over his heart (and maybe in his heart) and a cracked skull.
"Oh man, this is bad…" he whispered, barely audible to Angel, the last to land. "I know," I choked out.
"Hospital," he said decisively. I looked at him and said, "Okay." Tell me this wasn't a repeat of the Ari situation. Fang had ended up in a hospital then, where we got interviewed by some FBI agents.
Iggy lifted Fang by his feet, and I grabbed his hands, Fang suspended between us. We took off to the nearest hospital in who-knows-where. Cold sweat broke out. What if Fang didn't make it?
The paranoid person I am, the moment we landed in the hospital, not caring whether anybody saw our wings or not, I did a 360 scan. So far so good. Or as good as you can get with an almost dead Fang. Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to save my life? I couldn't live without him and he needed to know that.
Well, he probably did, after the crazy moment before I admitted 'I love him' while lying valium induced on an operation bed meant for an animal. And no, I'm not considered an animal even though I have wings. Animal as in a hundred percent animal, not two percent bird DNA thrown into a human baby. The bed was meant for a big dog.
The doctors took a look at Fang and immediately transferred him to a stretcher, the kind with wheels. I made to follow the bed as it got led into the OR, but one of the doctors stopped me, "Sorry, but you can't go in unless you're an authorized personal."
So I had to wait outside like a fool, dreading what was going to be let of Fang after the operation. I know he's the strongest of the flock, but even the strongest fall, and I'm not sure when Fang's fall is coming. I just hope it wasn't soon.
--------------------------------------------------
Fang came out in one piece, and was placed in the ICU. The doctor had told me, "He has a very slim chance of pulling through the night. Brace yourself for the worst. If not, he might be in coma for the rest of his life." Angel had given him free hospital stays. The kids and Iggy were sleeping on a random patch of floor in Fang's very large hospital ward. Since, I couldn't sleep,
Fang himself was worse off than ever. His hair was in complete disarray, his face was bruised and he looked like a lumpy blueberry pie that had been left out in the open for too long, and his usual black shirt was replaced with a striped light blue hospital shirt, so was his jeans.
I stared at Fang's closed eyes, wondering what we'd be doing now if he weren't almost dead. Maybe having one of our late night talks with their awkward silences. But anything at that moment was better than him dead. Just then, a song I had heard over a radio in Anne's house entered my head.
We're not gonna be
Just a part of their game
We're not going to be just the victims
They're takin' our dreams
And they tear them apart
'Til everyone's the same
Itex, the School, whitecoats, Flyboys, Erasers, the Institute, everything was overwhelming. Fang had once said to take myself out of the equation, to quit playing their game. I had told him I couldn't. My world was falling apart, piece by piece, first, Angel was taken away, she was never as happy as before anymore. Next, Iggy fell out with his real parents. This time, Fang was going to die. Can't the whitecoats just leave me and my flock in peace? But in the first place, there was no dream, they tore it. Piece by piece, hearing our silent screams of pain but choosing to ignore them.
I've got no place to run
I've got nowhere to hide
They'd love to watch me fall
The think they know it all
Everywhere we go, the Flyboys just keep tracking us over and over again. I can just imagine the whitecoats in their white coats laughing evilly to themselves, watching me just fall apart. They think their smart, what with the entire by-half plan. I'd say they didn't know anything at all.
I'm a nightmare a disaster
That's what they always say
I'm a lost cause not a hero
But I'll make it on my own
I'm gonna prove them wrong
Me against the world
Me against the world
I'm an experiment gone wrong. I wasn't even supposed to live. I was their worst dreams, a hurricane in disguise. I'm a failure, unlike what Jeb had always said, a savior. But I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of watching me fall. I'm going to show them what I'm made of. Even if Fang's gone. Well, maybe not. Most probably not. But still.
We won't let them change
How we feel in our hearts
We're not gonna let them control us
We won't let them shove
All their thoughts in our heads
And we'll never be like them
They're not going to do anything about what Fang is in my mind. They're not extracting him from my memory. I'll remember him. They can control my brain for all I care. I'll follow my heart. I'll follow Fang. They can say I've hated Fang since the start of my miserable existence, but somewhere deep inside, I'll know it's him. The person who saved my life countless of times.
I've got no place to run
I've got nowhere to hide
They'd love to watch me fall
They think they know it all
I'm a nightmare a disaster
That's what they always say
I'm a lost cause not a hero
But I'll make it on my own
I'm gonna prove them wrong
Me against the world
Me against the world
Life is just so unfair. Of all people, Fang. What did he do to deserve this? What did I do to deserve this pain? This hurt. It wasn't that bad when Angel got kidnapped. What did I do? Basically, what did we do? Except, well, except—
Now I'm sick of this waiting
So come on and take your shot
You can spit all your insults
But nothing you say's gonna change us
You can sit there and judge me
Say what you want to
But we'll never let you win
Now did someone make this song with the flock in mind?! It's getting uncannily like our life. I can't take not knowing where the trouble is, I can't stand waits, they've been trying to brainwash us for a long, long time, but we're not giving in. At least not yet, while Fang's sleeping on the hospital bed. Not Angel, not Gazzy, not Nudge, not Iggy, not me. Fang.
I'm a nightmare a disaster
That's what they always said
I'm a lost cause not a hero
But I'll make it on my own
Me against the world
I'm a nightmare a disaster
That's what they always said
I'm a lost cause not a hero
But I'll make it on my own
I'm gonna prove them wrong
They'll never bring us down
We'll never fall in line
I'll make it on my own
Me against the world
I could almost snort at the last sentence. It's more like the world's against me, not vice versa. Then I remembered something very important and dug through Fang's backpack.
A/N Happy ending… I think.