Disclaimer: I wish I were awesome enough to own Maximum Ride, which belongs to James Patterson, by the way.
Fang and I were what you'd call instant companions. After I got over the shock of meeting someone else like me, he asked my name.
"Maximum Ride." I said, making it up on the spot.
He cocked one eyebrow but said nothing. Yeah, good idea on not making fun of my name, Fang.
He told me he was transferred to this area of the school last week. Why had I not meet him earlier? They would knock us out and have us switch back and forth, and we never knew we were sharing the same bed. This was the first time they didn't take him when I came back.
"So, you got any family?" He asked two days later. My heart sank, and tears sprung to my eyes. I lowered my head, hoping he wouldn't notice the betraying tears.
"N-no." I felt the awkwardness, and suddenly, I felt an arm around my shoulder. I looked up at him, noting the tone of his voice. He sounded upset, too.
Suddenly, the cage door opened, and the light momentarily blinded me. All I could see were the outlines of Erasers throwing something into the cage, then closing the door before the spots disappeared.
I felt Fang tighten his arm around me protectively, and pulled me toward the corner. I complied, keep my eyes on the unmoving lump on the floor.
Suddenly, the figure moved, and I realized it was a person from the moaning as he sat up to puke. He was hurt.
Automatically, I went over to the retching person, or thing, and started to put an arm around them, but as soon as my fingertips touched his back, he flinched away and looked up.
And I stared, horrified, tears threatening at the edge of my already-red eyes.
He looked fine from the neck down. But when you looked at his face, you saw a blood streaked face, and eyes covered with gauze wrapped around his head. Oh My God. This was my fault, I realized with horrible realization.
How, you ask? Think back. Remember that surgery the whitecoats wanted to do to enhance my vision, but I had been 'saved' from it by Jeb? This kid must've been my replacement. Oh No.
I sunk to the floor, crumpled over, and sobbed. I felt the stares of Fang and the new boy on my back, and felt Fang come over to rub my back. "What is it, Max?" Fang asked, his voice careful.
I just shook my head. I couldn't let the new boy hear. It would kill him. I felt the new boy inch his way careful, saw his hands searching desperately just to crawl, and I sobbed even harder.
"What's going on?" The boy asked, his voice light and airy, but tinged with the pain he was trying to hide. Fang turned to him, putting a hand on the boy's hand so he knew where to crawl.
"Look, kid, we need to stick together, simple as that. First off, what are you?" Fang asked, all serious. The kid sat on his knees and tried to look in the direction of Fang's voice. "I'm Iggy. I have absolutely no clue what I am." Iggy raised his eyebrows, which barely peeked out from under the bandages.
Fang stared at him the same way he had stared at me when we first met, then his eyes widened. "Oh god. No...." Fangs voice trailed off. I looked up to see what was going on.
Iggy.....he had wings, just like us. I swallowed. "Another person to screw up, eh?" I thought acidly.
Iggy apparently felt our stare, because he fidgeted uncomfortably. "What, never seen wings before?" He said, trying to joke, but it came out too shaky. I nodded at Fang, and he helped me sit up.
I took Iggy's hand, and he clasped it like it was his only chance at survival. And it was probably true now, thanks to me. "Iggy," I choked out, but cleared my throat so he wouldn't be worried. "You know you have wings right?" He nodded slowly. "Iggy....you need to feel this."
I pulled myself closer to him until I could put my arms around him, hugging him. At first, he hesitated, but slowly, his hands crept up my back carefully to hug back.
Then his hand brushed against a feather lightly. But it was enough to make him freeze. "Iggy..." I whispered. "It's okay." His finger were shaking as they slid up my back more, probing at my wings.
He felt the area were my wings connected to my shoulders, making sure they were real, I'm sure. He leaned forward more, trying the follow my wings, feeling the soft feathers. I felt him lean his head on my shoulders, and he was shaking, crying silent tears. "Shh...shh....it's okay Iggy....." I breathed.
He looked up, not staring at anything in particular. "What are your names?" He said, his voice strained.
I swallowed back the lump forming in my throat again. I could never feel sorry for myself again. I was no responsible for Iggy; I had to protect him, no questions asked.
"Max." I said, hugging him again before I pulled away, but I made sure my fingers were still touching his.
"Fang." I looked at Fang, and he seemed to realize that I had just made a secret promise to myself and Iggy. I flushed. Fang was good at reading emotion.
Iggy's head swerved over to the direction of Fang's voice. "Do you....?" Iggy inquired, his hand eagerly twitching as he reached into the air.
Fang sighed and crawled over to him, turning so his side faced Iggy. Iggy's fingertips brushed Fang's shoulder, and he scooted closer then started feeling Fang's back. As he reached the point where Fangs wings connected to his back, Iggy sucked in a sharp breath.
He pulled away, then half-smiled. "So, it's, like, we're the school's merry band of mutants?" I almost smiled. "I guess so, Iggy." And we all laid down to sleep, hoping to awake from this nightmare.
