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Enjoy!!
Impressions
Fang's Blog, 11/12/2019
You know, sometimes first impressions really do tell you something about a person.
For example.
I landed roughly on the cold stone floor as my breath whooshed out of me. With a groan, I sat up, brushing myself off as I glared balefully at my captor. The whitecoat shut the door with a metallic clang. Without a word, he spun on his heel and stalked off, his white lab jacked billowing behind him.
"Jerk."
I impatiently shoved my overgrown black hair out of my eyes. I shivered my black wings to settle them more comfortably into my back. Leaning back against the metal bars of my cage, I closed my eyes and pulled the tattered rags of my clothes more tightly around me.
Silence.
Then, I heard a swift movement. I cracked one eye, to see the form of another person in the cage beside me.
Huh.
That's new.
My eye drifted shut again. I could feel their eyes on me, and I rolled over, hoping to ignore the prickle. They practically bored a hole between my shoulder blades. Aggravated, I spun around to face this new person.
"What do you want?" I growled irritably.
She (it was a girl) didn't look all that taken aback. She simply looked at me, her clear brown eyes slowly looking me over. She had wings too, brown, and slightly larger than mine. After a few minutes, she opened her mouth to speak.
"You need a new jacket. You look cold."
I stiffened in protest. "I'm fine."
"Sure." I could tell that she didn't believe me in the slightest.
"Look, kid-" I started impatiently.
"I'm older than you."
"10."
"10 and a half."
I sneaked a look at the personal information sheet stuck to her cage.
Darn.
"Whatever. Look, Max," I said, reading her name quickly from the tag, "Some of us need to sleep. I'm running the maze tomorrow."
I waited for the horrified sympathy.
And got none.
"Me too." She said calmly.
Well, that was a shocker. Slightly disgruntled, I rolled over and pretended to go to sleep.
She looked at me for a second longer, then I heard material rustling. A heavy layer of fabric landed on my knee from where if flew through the bars. Startled, I looked over to see Max "sleeping" with her back to me.
She wasn't wearing her coat.
With a sigh, I pulled it over my shoulders, feeling slightly humbled.
I collapsed into my break chair, breathing heavily. I had just finished my first run through the mazes. From where I was sitting, I could see Max standing by the entrance, perfectly still. She wasn't moving an inch. As I watched, a whitecoat approached her with a timer. At an unheard signal Max took off at a dead sprint into the maze. I settled back to wait my turn.
Sooner than I had expected, Max bolted out of the maze, coming to a dead halt as the whitecoat stopped the timer. She glanced up at me and nodded slightly before walking to her seat.
"Experiment 002."
That's me.
I shoved myself out of the chair and to the starting line.
As I watched Max stumble out for the 5th time, I felt a swift flash of pity. She was obviously exhausted, and was still trying her best. She leaned heavily on the wall as the wave of dizziness that always accompanies the completion of the maze washed over her. I shook my head at what was still to come.
I raced through my turn as quickly as possible, only to find myself shoved back to the starting line.
To stand beside Max.
I shot her a look. "What are they doing?"
"Racing us," She answered bluntly. A whitecoat interrupted before I could demand any more answers.
"Experiment 001 and Experiment 002, you will race to the end of the maze. The second to emerge will be shocked with an electric charge to persuade you to improve your performance."
My eyes widened.
Well, crap.
Max shot me a knowing glare. "Run fast or I'll stop right were I am."
I ignored her.
"Ready."
We both tensed.
"Go."
It was like shooting a bullet from a gun. Feet flying, we raced into the stifling walls.
Left. Right. Jump. Right. Duck. Left.
Max was still beside me, panting. Suddenly I recognized the sight before me.
"Max! There's-"
I never got to finish my sentence. She hurtled onward, about to crash through a false floor. There was nothing else to do. I barreled forward, leaping at Max. I slammed bodily into her, my momentum carrying her safely across the death trap.
Unfortunately for me, I was thrown off balance and my back slammed straight into a wall of red–hot metal coils.
The roar of pain surprised even me. The agony almost overwhelming me, I forced myself to my feet as Max struggled upright, horrified.
"Your back!"
I grabbed her arm. "Run." I grunted through the haze of pain. We stumbled along, and I could see the end in sight. Max was dragging me by the arm, her breath sobbing in her throat. As we approached the exit, I made an unconscious decision.
I shoved Max out of the maze ahead of me.
"Experiment 001 has won."
I felt the electric shock that was my punishment beginning, and my body couldn't take it anymore. My head spun, and I crashed unfeelingly to the floor.
I stirred slowly, painfully dragging myself through the waves of blackness back to consciousness. I mentally ran through a checklist of my limbs, checking for major damages.
Arms? Fine.
Legs? A little bruised.
Head? Fine.
I realized that I was lying on my stomach, one arm pillowing my head and the other lying beside it. Someone had taken my shirt off.
I continued my mental rundown.
Chest? Never better.
Back?
Wings?
I winced.
Not so much.
I opened my eyes slowly, immediately spotting Max curled up in the corner, arms around her knees.
"Well, this sucks," I croaked, pushing myself up onto my forearms.
She didn't smile, just buried her face into her jeans. Immediately (and uncharacteristically) I was concerned. I struggled up onto my elbows.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I demanded in my raspy voice.
She shook her head. "I'm not hurt." I frowned at the infliction.
"Are you worried about me?" I asked incredulously. "It's not that bad, is it?" I strained my arm around my shoulder to feel the damage.
She scrambled over and caught my hand to stop me from touching my back. "No, it's not that."
I lay down on my side so that I could look at her without injuring my back further. "Then what's wrong?" I asked with a hint of frustration. I didn't get this girl.
"It's my fault you're hurt," she finally flung at me. "If I hadn't been so dumb and had seen the trap, you wouldn't have had to save me."
I just looked at her.
"And why the heck did you make me win? If you had won you wouldn't be hurt as badly."
I rolled that one around for a while. "You helped me," I finally muttered. "I guess I wanted to return the favor."
She stared at me thoughtfully.
"Well, then, thanks, I guess."
I flashed a crooked grin at her.
"I guess you're welcome."
Fang's Blog (contd.)
So, there you have it. That's how I first met our beloved leader, Miss Maximum Ride. Sometimes, I guess first impressions can be important. For us (Max and I) it was the start of everything.
-Fang
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