Yay! This one turned out to be a bit longer.
As we gained altitude I did a silent head-check to make sure everyone had made it out in one piece. When all seven of us were accounted for I relaxed and took a deep breath. God, flying is amazing. I shook out my stiff shoulders and closed my eyes, feeling the cool breeze on my cheeks. I pushed my matted hair out of my face, reminding myself that I hadn't had a shower in about a week. Life on the run was tough.
"They'll be back, won't they?" said Nudge, bringing me back to the harsh reality of my life. It was more of a statement. There was no doubt in my mind that they would most definitely be back. We would always be on the run. Always hunted. Always fighting. We were freaks of nature, and someone always wanted us dead. I silently nodded as I looked up at her. Her brown, tawny wings were glowing warmly in the late afternoon light and she had a discouraged look on her face.
You see, that is the one thing the "thoughtful" scientists back at the School had given us. Wings. Yes, actual wings. Not to be boastful or anything, but my wings kick butt. They are a deep, dark brown, but they also have lighter feathers with speckles on them. Fang has black wings, Angel has pure white wings, and Iggy's wings are a creamy strawberry blond color that perfectly matches his hair. The Gasman's wings are a light shade of blond, and Total, our Canine American friend, has black wings. He just recently sprouted them, and won't quit boasting about them to Akila, the Alaskan Malamute who he met and fell madly in love with when we were on the Wendy K. in Ant-freaking-artica. If you've been keeping up with our crazy adventures you should already know all this. Besides, if I'm going to take the time to write these things down, the least you could do is listen to it.
"Where to?" I asked. My flock was unusually quiet. Maybe it was because lately our lives seemed to take on the role of a video game where you only have so many lives left. Forget I said that. It was a bad analogy. A quite depressing and very true analogy.
"Somewhere with food. Lots and lots of food," Gazzy said. He rubbed his stomach, and suddenly his face lit up. "Somewhere that'll have a nice, big, juicy double-cheeseburger."
"Mmmm… I could go for one of those right now," Total said, in agreement.
"While that sounds delicious and all, we still have a slight problem," I said, not afraid to rain on their parade. "Seeing as we're currently in the middle of the desert, I don't think there are going to be many fast food joints in this neck of the woods." I laughed at my cliché. God, I wished we could find some shade. We had only been flying for a half an hour and I was already getting dizzy from the heat.
"I think I hear people over there," Angel said, pointing to a place that was slightly off the course we were flying on. These were the times that I'm glad we're different. No, Angel doesn't have super sonic hearing, but she can read peoples minds. And send thoughts to other people. She can even control people's minds. Hello? We're talking about a six year old here! She can also talk to fish, and breathe underwater. Talk about hitting the genetic jackpot!
All of us have special "abilities." Nudge can draw metal towards her and hack any computer or technical device you throw at her. She's about eleven years old. Gazzy can imitate any sound with 100% accuracy. His other skill is unmentionable. He's somewhere around eight. Iggy can feel colors, Fang can disappear into whatever background he's near, and I can fly faster than the others. I also have a voice in my head. But that's something I don't like to talk about. All three of us are approximately fourteen, give or take. And then there's Total. He is a quite annoying, talking dog with wings, to put it simply.
Silently we changed course. All of us but one. "Ig, change course 35 degrees left," I said.
"Huh, what?" Iggy said, gazing in my general direction. I was used to this. He was blind.
"We're changing course," I said, "Normally you don't need me to tell you that."
"Oh," he said.
"Something wrong?" I asked, after flying a few minutes in silence.
"No," he said. He looked thoughtful.
We flew in silence again. I wondered what was up with him. He never acted like this. As we started to reach the outskirts of the small town he asked, "What town is this?"
"I'm not sure, but I think we're about two or three hours away from my mom's house."
"We should go back to visit after we find someplace to eat," he said.
"Yeah, we should," I said, starting to fly lower and lower, liking the idea of seeing my mom again. As we neared the ground it hit me. It was Ella.
