I don't own Maximum Ride or Erasers or Whitecoats, blah, blah, blah. (Is this as boring to read as it is to write? Geez.) I do, on the other hand, own Aspen and all of the characters thereof. (Sure, I share some with Goober, but whatever. You still can't steal them.) Because then I'd be a bit miffed. And I can't write when I'm miffed. Or do much else for that matter. I just sit around feeling... miffed. (Ooh... welcome to the redundant office of redundancy. How can we help to assist you?)

Sorry about the extensive delay... I'd like to say that I had a good reason like play rehearsals or something, but I don't have any good excuses. I just haven't felt like writing lately... except when I'd be in school taking a test or laying bed not able to fall asleep when I'd get an amazing idea. Then I'd forget it before I could write it down. It's getting harder for me to write, since this is the least-planned part of the story, so it'll be less often that I'll post chapters. Sorry.

-Deji

Chapter ten: Nice

I followed Conner and Robin, several paces behind them. They would occasionally look back at me or talk to me. Conner's face was always open and friendly, but Robin's showed traces of well-hidden mistrust. I'd have to be careful around her until I could escape without looking too suspicious.

I almost smiled to myself, seeing the dark humor in my situation. I, a trained Eraser, was being practically held captive by a couple of runaway experiments. Not just any runaways, but the very ones I was trying to capture myself. You have to admit, it couldn't have gotten more ironic. Or pathetic. I was never going to be allowed out of the Institute again, once I got back. There was no if about it. I would get back. Or die tr... I wouldget back. And I'd tell the Whitecoats where to find the runaways. No... I'd bring them back with me and become a hero! No Eraser had ever brought back two experiments single-handedly. Maybe they'd appreciate me so much they'd let me get a restraining order or something from Reuben...

"Aspen, what are you doing? We're stopping here." Robin looked at me strangely. I hadn't realized where I was going, and walked right past her and Conner where they'd stopped in front of an untidy stack of rotten planks.

"Sorry, I was, uh, lost in thought." I couldn't come up with a total lie right on the spot... a little more truth then. That was how you get people to trust you, right? You don't lie. Any more than absolutely necessary.

They turned and walked over to the pile of rotting wood behind them. Conner pulled on the biggest board on the side closest to me. What was he doing? Maybe he'd use it to build a shelter... but hadn't he said something about an abandoned wood shed...?

Oh.

I looked again at the pile of old wood and realized it was actually man-made. It was the most dilapidated structure I'd ever seen, probably full of rodents and various creepy-crawlies. The windows, where there was any glass left, were yellowed and cracked. The thing Conner was pulling on was the door. Cozy.

The door wrenched open finally, and Conner held it open while Robin walked in warily. I heard her shuffling around inside. "Alright, it looks fine," Robin called back to him. Conner held the door open further, gesturing for me to go in first. Judging by the way he chuckled as I passed him, he'd seen the look of confusion on my face.

"What's wrong, Aspen?" he asked jokingly. "Not used to the 'ladies first' rule?" My confusion deepened. "Ladies first? Why in the world are ladies first?" And since when was I a lady? I nearly added.

Conner stopped. "I'm not sure. It's just nice, I guess."

I snorted. "Nice? Why are you being nice to me? For all you know, I could be your enemy." I stopped, horrified. I was being way too open with him. Why? I'd never talked to anyone so openly. Of course, I never had talked to anyone that didn't already hate me beforehand. It made me sad to realize that even now that hadn't changed. He already hated me of course. He just didn't know it. There wasn't anyone in the world aware of my existence, that didn't hate me. (With Reuben taken out of account. I'd rather he hated me though... that should count for something in the matter.)

Conner snapped me out of my cheerless reverie. "I don't know... I just... hmm..." He looked frustrated, and just as confused as I was. Just not as depressed. He looked at me hard, as if expecting to pull the answers out of my face somehow. I stopped, uncomfortable under his gaze. I searched his face for answers of my own... did he know what I was? Had he guessed? His eyes were deep blue, and completely lacking in suspicion. I hadn't slipped up too badly, then.

Conner shrugged. "I guess it was just for the sake of being nice." But his eyes lingered on mine for a moment longer, searching for an answer that would have explained things better, or for one whose origin I wasn't aware.

He held the door open a little wider. "It's rude to linger in doorways," he whispered. I half-smiled as I walked in. I was too immersed in my thoughts to appreciate his joke.

Robin was laying a frazzled blue-gray blanket out on the floor. I recognized without surprise the uniform sheets that were put in all the experiments' "cells." They were more like cages; it was necessary to prevent exactly what these two had done. They had escaped.

I was supposed to fix that. And as soon as my wing was healed, I'd lead them right back to the very place they had run away from.

Was that absolutely terrible? Reply and let me know! Tell me everything that comes to your mind! I don't care if it's rude! I'm not posting till I have at least 30 reviews. Mwahahaha.

-Deji