Between Us – Chapter 6

By MyNameIsCAL

DAY 11:

"Max…wake up."

My eyes fluttered open. Fang's eyes met mine, briefly, and then he lay back on his back, pulling his arm around me. As weak as he was, I felt like he was crushing me against him.

"Fang, what's wrong?" I asked, trying to settle my head against him.

"Mom came down when you were sleeping last night." He had to talk into my ear so I could hear him, but he was speaking more fluently than yesterday. "The results…They were…They were negative, Max. You're gonna be okay. We're…gonna be okay."

I closed my eyes, tears starting to dampen Fang's shirt.

He smoothed out my hair, repeating, "We're gonna be okay."

DAY 12:

Fang was weak, no doubt, but he had some strength back. He had never been the one to talk much, but now that he could, we spent a lot of time talking. Until he was clear of all symptoms, we would be stuck behind this wall so the others couldn't accidentally get infected. It was hard, but it felt better to know that we were going to be okay.

The rest of the flock sat on the other side of the glass. There were still other things to worry about.

"Jeb is going to come back," Angel reminded me. "And he'll think that you're dead or dying."

"Then what do you suggest?" I questioned.

Fang was trying to sit up, but I put a hand on his shoulder. He coughed a few times, no longer producing blood as he had a few days ago.

"What if we like, faked Max's death?" Gazzy suggested.

Nudge rolled her eyes. "That's a stupid idea."

"Hey, that's enough guys," Iggy snapped.

Fang cleared his throat and I leaned down so he could speak without straining his voice. "I think…it'll work."

"What did he say?" Iggy asked.

"He says he think it'll work," I reiterated.

Nudge let out a sigh.

Angel had her eyes on Fang. "I know what he's thinking. Should I tell them, Fang?"

He nodded.

"Fang thinks if one of us contacts Jeb and says that Max is dead that he'll leave us alone, at least long enough for us to get away," Angel told us. "We'll all have to act upset, of course, and then once he's gone, once Fang has recovered, we'll go."

"But where will we go?" Nudge frowned. "I like it here. I want to be normal, Max."

"We don't get to live that life where we get to be normal," Gazzy pointed out.

She let out a sigh.

"It doesn't matter where we go." I looked at all of them. "It matters that we're going to be together and we're going to be safe."

DAY 13:

There was an empty cabinet in our confinement that was big enough for me to fit in. Mom knew our plan, and she stuck around today to make sure when Jeb came, he wouldn't stick around too long.

Through the small crack, I could see Fang on the bed. He sat up, arms shaking as he did.

"Jeb just pulled in the driveway." That was Angel's voice, but I couldn't see the other side of the glass.

"Alright," Fang said.

"I'll stay here?" Angel asked.

Fang nodded and I heard the scraping of a chair through the speaker system. It wasn't long before the basement door opened, footsteps coming down the creaky wooden stairs.

"Where is she?" That was Jeb's voice.

"Well, Jeb, she's dead," Fang's eyes were on the floor. "And you killed her."

"She killed herself!" Jeb shot back. "Because she cared about you too much."

Fang's eyes flickered to Jeb. "You shouldn't have tried to kill me. Maybe things would have worked out."

Jeb let out a laugh. "You're joking, right?"

"Your plan backfired anyway," Angel remarked.

That made Jeb mad. "Where is Max?"

"Why, you still think you can save her, Jeb?" Fang let out a deep breath. "She died faster than I was going to. She wouldn't let us give her medication, she wouldn't eat. Max slipped into a coma before I could even say goodbye."

"Where is she?" Jeb repeated.

"Why the hell do you want to know where Max is?" Iggy suddenly roared. "She's dead and we need to move on. Wherever she is, it's better than being here."

"Then what did you do with her body?" Jeb questioned.

"We burned it." Fang laid back, no longer able to sit up. "She's gone, Jeb."

I heard footsteps and then the basement door slam. Fang sat back up, grabbing the keys off the table and staggering towards me. He kneeled down with a loud thud and unlocked the cabinet.

"Jeez, Fang, you could have waited for Mom to come," I told him, helping him up.

He had his weight on me. "Nah, I'm okay, Max."

"C'mon, let's get you back to bed," I said.

The flock came down after eating lunch. It was like Jeb had never come at all. I thanked them for making it seem like I was dead, but they told me that this was for me just as much as it was for them too.

"You know Jeb will find a way to find us even after we leave here," Angel sighed. "He'll still want to keep tabs on us, he'll eventually find a reason to need us."

"I know." It wasn't like we could all pretend to be dead.

"We'll just have to keep our act together," Fang said quietly.

"So where are we going to go?" Nudge questioned us.

"We'll get out of here first, then we'll worry about where we're going," I told them. "But for now, let's enjoy the rest of our time here."

They all seemed to be in agreement with that.

Thanks for reading! I'll be away this week to visit some family. But Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate! For those of you who follow my other stories, you can expect updates to resume on Saturday. If I get the chance though, I'll definitely post new chapters though.