The Eraser Plague – Chapter 1
By MyNameIsCAL
-Max's POV-
We never had to stop the scientists from coming after us. They stopped themselves. It was an experiment gone wrong. One of the scientists must have been watching too many horror flicks. The repercussions were devastating.
It went down something like this: The scientists wanted to create stronger and more vicious erasers. Unfortunately, the only way to do that was to eliminate their ability to shift from human to wolf form and make them more wolf like. I guess you could say they were like werewolves, except without the whole full moon thing. Eleven days after you were bitten, you would turn into an eraser.
Erasers were running rampant mostly through rural areas. They were hard to kill because regular bullets really had no effect on them. In more suburban areas and the city, attacks were scattered and random. The erasers were smart though. Although driven by bloodlust, they still had all the knowledge they had when they were human. Angel said she could hear their scared thoughts when we were around them. It must be terrible feeling trapped and out of control.
But pretty lame, right? Erasers turning people into erasers? Sounds like a bad horror story because they're not even werewolves. Then again, once you meet one of these erasers, you'd probably laugh in a werewolf's face.
And guess who had to help put an end to all this madness. Yup, you guessed right. The flock and me.
For the past three years we had been moving place to place trying to help control the outbreak. We were stationed in New York City right now. My mom, Dr. M, and Jeb, were heading research funded by the government to find a cure for those who had been turned. Our job was to work with the FBI and the local police, which right now was the NYPD, to capture and monitor erasers around the area. Previous to this we had been in a suburban town and then a small town in the Midwest. We didn't stay there very long because the whole town had been destroyed by erasers.
Generally, erasers worked in packs. Not to sound inhumane or anything, but most of the time they killed their victims. At least they weren't trying to create more of themselves.
Right now we were sitting in a conference room with Captain Theodore Watson from the NYPD and FBI Agent Nicholas Rhodes. We were waiting for Jeb to come tell us what our goal was for tonight. So far we had been unsuccessful at capturing any erasers. He said he was going to figure out a way to make it easier.
I let out a sigh and looked around at everyone. Fang had his arm on the table and his head rested on it. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't asleep. He was holding my hand under the table. Iggy sat on the opposite side of me. Nudge had her head rested against him and he had an arm around her. Angel and Gazzy were at the other end of the table playing tic-tac toe. Unfortunately, Gazzy kept losing. He was somehow convinced that he could beat Angel's mindreading skills.
"It's going to snow tonight," Rhodes said with his British accent.
"That's what I'm worried about," Captain Watson replied. "There's a pack of erasers who are running rampant through the subway system. We've had to close it down. If Jeb doesn't get in here soon, he can forget about anything happening this weekend."
Rhodes let out a sigh. Apparently he and the captain knew each other very well. He said it was a long story how he had ended up here in the United States and he promised that if we had the time, he would tell us. But lately, when we weren't out there trying to figure things out, we were trying to catch up on sleep and eating. By the time we got to that, we were usually too tired to discuss anything.
Captain Watson was very wary of working with us too. Rhodes always said he'd warm to us, and I guess lately maybe he had. The agent was definitely more likeable though. When we did have the rare occasion of having some time to ourselves, he would take us to dinner. Rhodes said Captain Watson had seen too many people come and go and that had hardened him. I guess perhaps even we were more guarded after all the terrible things we had seen.
The door opened and Jeb stepped in. A couple of other FBI agents filed in after.
"I know we're going to have to move fast because of the weather," Jeb began. "I've got something for you though. We'll kill two birds with one stone. Maybe we can capture some erasers and we'll stop them from attacking people."
"They're killing their victims," Rhodes remarked. "It would be nice not to have to deal with that anymore."
"I know," Jeb sighed. "Anyways, we've designed some heavy duty tranquilizer guns. Just don't shoot any people with them because it'll probably stop their heart."
The agents started to open the cases. Rhodes, Captain Watson, Fang, and I were the only ones who got guns. I think Gazzy was upset he didn't get to be part of the action ever, but honestly I hated weapons. Fang frowned at his and holstered it inside his jacket.
"Let's go," Captain Watson grunted.
We filed into an armored van. It was strange to travel through the city and see so few people walking around. Once the sun went down, people used taxis to get around. They went door to door. Anything opened late at night had a security guard now to make sure erasers wouldn't come and cause trouble.
It was a quick ride to the subway station. Two policemen were waiting there for us already.
"We heard some movement down there," one of them said. "Good luck, sir."
Captain Watson relieved them of duty. They seemed eager to go home.
We followed Rhodes down the steps and through the turnstiles. Security cameras had picked up images of erasers only half an hour before we got here. I could smell them, but their scent seemed to be fading.
"I'm not picking up on anything," Angel whispered.
We came to a stop at the middle of the platform.
"Hey, are they running trains still?" Iggy asked.
The captain shook his head, and then remembered Iggy couldn't see. "No, why?"
"Because there's one coming."
As soon as Iggy said that, we could feel the ground below us shake. Rhodes pulled out his gun and I followed suit. The train roared pass us.
"Wha-" Before Fang could finish speaking a brown blur darted out from the end of the train.
The erasers had been waiting in the last cart for us. A fire battle began. The new tranquilizers seemed to be effective though. We had about three erasers sedated. Still, the one that had pounced on Fang was still putting up a fight. I hadn't realized Fang never pulled his gun out.
Fang and the eraser were wrestling on the floor. They were moving too fast though, and I was afraid I might hit Fang instead of the eraser. Then they suddenly went tumbling onto the track.
"Fang!"
We ran to the edge, but the eraser was sprawled on the ground with Fang sitting beside it, clutching his side. Fang had been clawed across the face and he was bleeding.
Rhodes and I leaped down.
"Are you alright there?" Rhodes questioned. "C'mon, let's get you up. We'll clean you up back at the lab."
Fang's eyes met mine. Something was wrong.
"Fang?" I put my hand around his wrist and moved his hand away from his side.
He had been bitten.
"Aw, shit…" Rhodes' eyes bulged. "We better get you back now."
I felt my heart sink into my stomach. No amount of Rhodes' cursing could describe how bad this was now.
PAGE BREAK!
"Max?"
I bolted upright as I felt someone take my hand. It was Fang. I had fallen asleep next to his bed.
"Fang…" I squeezed his hand, unsure of what to say.
"How bad is this?" he asked.
"Bad." I sucked in a breath.
He closed his eyes. "Max, do you remember when you asked me if I'd do what's best for everyone if something happened to you?"
I nodded.
"Promise you'll put me out of my misery if they can't find a way to fix this."
"It's not going to come down to that."
It took a long time for him to answer. "I-I hope not."
A tear trickled down Fang's cheek. I realized I had been crying already. He gave my hand a weak squeeze.
"You'll find a way," he managed to say.
I shook my head, sobbing now. "Not w-without you."