He sat there, shards of metal and splinters of wood fell to the ground around him. As the dust cleared he could see them as they flew flawlessly away, they looked like birds smoothly catching updrafts on their feathered wings. With them, his orders flew away also. Capture them all, do not fail me. Do you understand? His team retreated when the bomb went off. "Cowards!" He called after them. Now he was just standing there by himself, hating the world in general. He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the walkie-talkie in his left hand. Then he turned and, with power far surpassing his age, threw the devise at a large nearby tree where, on impact, it shattered; bits of plastic shrapnel flying in different directions and electrical components sparking. He definitely did not want to return just yet, not wanting to face the punishment that awaited him for failing yet another mission. Grimacing he unfurled his unnatural patched on wings and flew up to a branch high in an elm tree behind him. There he sat, his seven year old brain trying to make sense of everything that had happened to him. In the distance he could still see them, the Flock, as they made their escape. Soon they would be nothing but specks on the horizon.

"That's all that I am, aren't I?" I said to no one in particular. "Just a speck." My body ached mercilessly and without end. Opening the bag attached to the belt around my waist I poked around blindly inside until I found a white unmarked bottle. Popping the cap with one finger, I easily downed three of the pills without any water. I sighed as the pain eased and eventually ceased. I had to double up on the pain killers since they grafted theses damned wings on my back. And what use are they!? They still get away! And there is no use going after them considering the fact we are clumsier in the air and could easily fall to our deaths. I looked down to the ground below me. "With one slip of the foot it could all be over. I could ease myself off this branch and end it all……" I shook my head. What was I thinking? No I have to catch them before I die. I just cant leave them alone. I need it. I want it. I need to feel their bones break beneath my hands. And I want Max to look at me with that fire in her eyes. To hate me, to fear me, to want me dead. Nothing compares to the feeling I get when I fight her, the adrenalin rush of free falling at five thousand feet in the air can't even compare. When she looks at me, she looks at me with such fire in her eyes, such hate. At least she is looking at me. I want what they have. To have someone actually care when your hurt, or when your gone. For someone to cry when you cry, and to fear when you fear. A family. But no, Jeb took them away and left me with those bastards! They turned me into what I am. This, this freak! Before I die I want to hold Maximum in my arms as she dies. Do you remember me Max!? I'm the one that daddy left behind.