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Chapter 10: Mimic

POV: Annabeth

Three days. Three whole days in this stupid cage. How had Twitch lived most of his life like this?

My muscles were cramped, my back hurt, and I was hungry as hell. The only upside was when I found out that I'm not an Eraser. They are fifty percent wolf but apparently, I'm fifty-two percent wolf. It changes my look slightly from normal Erasers and messes with me enough that I'm not classified as one of them.

I look like a wolf head on a person with pawish hands and my legs have a bend to them like they were built to be on all fours instead of upright. I also have a tail now and even more fun news, I can't turn back and look human like Erasers! That's pretty much the worst part. I'm stuck looking like this for the rest of my life.

I spend most of my time using my claws to scratch at my cadge in an attempt to escape while Maniac sleeps in his cadge next to me.

"Why are you just sitting there!?" I scream at him one day. "You can at least try and get out!"

He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"I've been in one of these places before." He said gruffly. "There's no getting out without a raid party or a well-planned ambush with a lot of luck on your side."

"So let's start planning." I told him. "how did you get out with Twitch and the others?"

"A dog like monster ambushed the Erasers that were trying to execute us." Maniac answered. "Gave us just enough time to escape."

I growled in frustration, only slightly taken aback by the actual growl that came from my mouth.

"Then how did you get out when you were with the squad?" I asked him.

Maniac stared at the floor of his cadge, lost in thought.

"They tried to turn me on the others," He began. "Use my nature against them."

"What?" I asked. "How is that an escape plan?"

He shook his head and continued to stare at the floor.

"They tried to combine Erasers and Bird-kid to make a better guard but wound up with uncontrollable mutts that were too strong for erasers to control and too impulsive for their own good." He said. "The experiment failed when they rebelled. Only one's still alive, as far as I know."

"You escaped during the rebellion?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"There was fifty mutts." He said. "With all the confusion I slipped out with the Squad and never looked back."

"What happened to the last mutt?" I asked him. "You said one's still alive."

"Not gona help us get out of here." He said. "Maybe a few years ago it would have made a difference but not now. Too much time has passed, age catches up with us all, I guess."

"What do you mean?" I asked, very confused.

"I fought in that field in Montana against nearly a hundred Erasers on my own." Maniac continued. "Now I can barely fight six."

That's when it dawned on me. He was the last mutt.

"Ares interfered with that fight though." I said. "you're not done yet, so how do we get out of here."

He shook his head again.

"The plan is to sit and wait." He said. "Maybe one of us will get out of here someday."

I was about to blow a fuse. He had given up?! What had happened to the Maniac I had heard of who took on an army in Montana, The Maniac who fought a tank in Alabama and led raids all though out the country.

"So that's it?" I asked in a dangerously low voice. "You're giving up? After everything we've been through? What about Stealth? She lost the squad and now you and your giving up?"

Maniac finally looked up at me and made me cringe under his death glare.

"Don't you dare." He warned. "Don't you dare say that again."

"Well what are you going to do about it?" I demanded. "Kind of hard to hurt me from inside a cage!"

He snarled.

"My whole team is dead!" He screamed. "My brother, Talen, died in Alabama! I have no idea if Stealth is ok or not! You think I don't want out?! Do you think that every fiber of my being doesn't want to tear this cage apart and fly to her as fast as I can?! They build these things to contain us so if you want out play it smart and wait!"

He was screaming so loud that it woke some of the other experiments in the room.

A lizard boy was curled into a ball in the back of his cage and his slitted eyes peered at Maniac.

"Boss?" Came a voice from a cage on the opposite side of the walkway two cadges down from me.

A boy's face with brown hair and brown eyes appeared in the cage, craning to look towards us.

"Boss, that you?" he asked.

Maniac's head snapped up.

"No," He muttered under his breath. "Can't be."

He crawled to the front of his cage and peered down at the brown-haired boy.

"Sarge?" He called out to the boy. "Bomber, that you?"

"Hay, Cap!" The boy called back. "Good to see you, I heard you were dead!"

"Yah," Maniac said in a quiet voice. "I heard the same about you."

"How's the squad?" The boy called to Maniac.

Maniac frowned.

"K.I.A." Maniac shouted back. "Only Stealth and I made it, she said you caught one in Montana."

"I did." The boy shouted. "Got hit in the right shoulder and chest during the evacuation. Next thing I know I'm waking up here. I heard some Bark Breaths saying they wiped out the squad, so when you turned up I was hoping it wasn't true."

"Well, it is." Maniac said.

"Dam," Bomber muttered, shaking his head. "I just remember falling back as you Doc and Tech held the field. Then looking to my right and seeing Stealth talking with Talen." He paused. "Then all the fire and we hit the dirt. I look to my right again and then the round hit my shoulder. I rolled with the momentum of the shot and another one hit my chest."

I frowned, confused. He said he left Maniac with Doc and Tech but when I heard the story on the quest Ares said it was Gunny and Slash.

Maniac apparently caught on as well because he frowned slightly but didn't say anything so I kept my mouth shut.

"With both of us here this should be a cake walk, right boss?" Bomber called to Maniac.

"Yep," Maniac answered. "Should be just like Missouri, minus the Tank."

"Yah," Bomber laughed.

"Talen blew that tank to hell pretty good, didn't he!" Maniac said with a laugh.

"Hell yah!" Bomber answered. "So we bust outa here and find a safe place to lay low for a while. Then we bring the fight back to em! Make em hurt like ol' Talen did in Missouri!"

Maniac smiled and nodded.

POV: Change!

POV: MAX

Ever since Annabeth and Maniac diapered the camp has been on high alert. We found signs of a fight in the control room and by the amount of damage done it was a safe bet to say Erasers. The flock took Maniac's disappearance hard. To the younger ones in our group it was like being told Rambo was captured. It just seemed impossible. To us older ones it was terrifying to think that he was captured, the same guy who taught a hole team of demi gods to fight Erasers. Stealth freaked out and started searching map after map of known labs to try and figure out where they were taken. Twitch on the other hand grew distant. Flying off to the forest to be alone more often then not. I don't even think he's been around the rest of the flock. He just goes from his cabin to the forest and takes walks around camp.

I tried asking Angle to find out what's eating at him but she said his thoughts are even more all over the place than usual and are even unfamiliar to her more often than not. Whatever the white coats did to him really messed with his head.

I just hope we find Maniac and Annabeth soon, for every ones sake.

POV Change!

POV: Annabeth

"So when the Bark Breaths come back it goes down." Bomber said with a smile. "We got this one boss!"

"Bark Breaths?" I asked Maniac.

"It's what the squad called Erasers." He told me. "Thought we were insulting them."

I nodded.

"Don't get cocky, Bomber." Maniac told his old friend. "We're not out yet."

Bomber nodded.

Later that day the Erasers came in to pull Bomber out for testing. When they unlocked his cage he kicked one in the knee, causing the Eraser to scream in pain as Bomber made a desperate dash for Maniac's cage and unlocked the door.

Maniac sprung out and knocked out the two Erasers.

"What I tell ya?" Bomber asked. "Piece of cake."

Maniac nodded and let me out.

"Yah," He agreed. "Real easy."

We then worked our way through the lab, looking for the SUV's so we could make a quiet getaway.

We found them ten minutes later, only meeting light resistance along the way, they probably didn't know we escaped yet.

We made it about fifteen miles away from the lab when Maniac braked hard and pulled over.

"What's up boss?" Bomber asked from the shotgun seat. "We need to keep moving."

"Everyone out now." Maniac ordered, turning off the car and getting out.

"You think their tracking the car?" I asked as I got out too.

"Something like that." Maniac said as Bomber got out too.

"Well, what do we do now?" Bomber asked as we gathered in a circle on the side of the road. "Annabeth can't fly and…"

He never finished his sentence. Instead Maniac clocked him hard with a right hook, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm only going to ask this once." He said coldly to his old squad mate. "Who the hell are you?"

Bomber looked up at him in shock as I took a step back in surprise.

'What's going on here?' I thought.

"Cap," Bomber began. "You know me, we've been through hell together!"

"No we haven't." Maniac growled as he launched a kick into Bomber's gut. "I know you're not who you say you are."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I shouted at Maniac.

"He should have known that I was with Gunny and Slash in Montana!" Maniac screamed. "And he should have known that Talen died in Alabama so he never even got to fight in Missouri!" Maniac loomed over the fallen boy, a death threat written in his eyes. "Finally," He began. "The tank was in Alabama and it wasn't Talen who took it out. It was Bomber. Something he never let any of us forget so I highly doubt he would forget about it and let Talen take the credit for it."

The boy on the floor just stared up at us and shook his head.

"Dam," He muttered. "And I thought I was prepped for this mission."

He launched a snap kick into Maniac's knee, knocking him to the floor, and rolled onto his feet.

"Guess we're doing this the hard way." He said, kicking the boy in the head. "Who the hell are you?!"

The boy chuckled and spat out blood.

"No one." He told Maniac, staring at the dirt. "Just a clone sent to try and capture more demi gods."

"Clone?" I asked. "They can do that off a guy that's been dead for years?"

The boy nodded.

"Re-animate the dead, clones, even create a new human being from scratch." He said with a nod. "Itex has more power than you think."

Something in that last statement put me on edge. I couldn't put my finger on it but I just knew it was staring me in the face.

Maniac approached the boy on the ground and knelt on him, placing his knee on the clone's throat.

The boy's eyes went wide as he clawed at Maniac's knee, despite for air.

"Maniac, stop!" I shouted. "Your killing him!"

"And what do you think he would have done if he made it to camp?" He asked me coldly as he choked the life pout of the boy. "You think he would have let us live peacefully?"

"You don't have to do this." I pleaded with him. "You can be the bigger person!"

Maniac snarled.

"Bigger person?" He sneered. "It was people like him that got my squad killed! Mutants that have free choice to run away and fight back or roll over and help the whitecoats! There was nothing stopping him from joining us and telling us all of their plans and secrets once we escaped. But he kept pretending to be Bomber and went along with their plans!" He paused before continuing in a dangerously quiet tone. "As far as I'm concerned he's no better than a whitecoat."

The boy was weakening now, his eyes starting to roll back into his head.

"I SAID GET OFF HIM!" I roared with a growl in my voice as I charged and tackled him off the clone.

Maniac seemed stunned as I stood over him and the clone gasped for air and coughed.

"He's a threat, Annabeth!" Maniac screamed as he got to his feet. "He's working with the Bark Breaths!"

I glared at him.

"Don't go there Maniac." I warned. "This fight ain't what it seems." I finished, quoting what Aris said around the campfire.

Maniac paused, remembering the warning about the fake quest.

"What does that have to do with this?" He demanded as the Clone stood up and looked around nervously.

"He's born and raised to follow their orders." I said. "Brainwashed since birth but we can help him."

"You can't fight what they make you!" Maniac screamed. "Or ells there would be no Erasers! They would all quit and rebel!"

I shook my head.

"The School tried to make you a guard." I said. "And you became their worst nightmare."

He paused at that, clearly not likening me using the fact that he's a Mutt against him.

"That's different." He said.

"I don't see how." I said as I turned to face the clone.

"You're free to go." I told him. "But I would like you to stay. You're not their property to push around and give orders to. You're a person with the ability to make your own decisions. Maniac thinks you're just a mindless drone but I'm risking a lot on the idea that you're a person, actual and whole. So, if I'm wrong then you better just kill me right now." I paused, taking in the uneasy look on his face. "But if I'm right then we can help you find your own path. To take control of your life."

The boy seemed conflicted for a moment before his face became set as he made up his mind.

He reached into his back pocket and slowly drew a knife.

Maniac went to tackle the boy but something about the boy's posture said he was no threat so I stuck out an arm to stop Maniac.

"Don't," I told Maniac. "This one's on me."

I heard a growl escape his lips but he nodded, understanding that if this went south I would be the one to handle it.

The clone raised the knife it his fight hand and stabbed his left forearm and pulled the knife out with a little mettle devise skewered on the tip of it.

He then dropped the bloody knife and pulled out a radio ear piece and put it in his ear.

"Base, this is agent 2," He spoke. "There was a car accident after the escape, my marks are dead and I'm bleeding out." He paused. "Broke my arm in the crash, transmitter's shot and I don't know where I am. Got a pipe in my gut and probably will be dead in fifteen minutes or so. Mission report is failure."

He pulled out the ear piece and dropped it on the ground before stepping on it.

"We have twenty minutes before a search party comes looking for us." He said. "Stay off the main roads."

I nodded.

"Thank you." I told him.

He shook his head at my words.

"Did you really mean that?" H asked. "What you said about me being able to pick my own path?"

I nodded.

"Every word." I assured him.

"Then I should be the one thanking you." He told me before his eyes widened with fear. "We need to get to your camp now!"

Maniac growled.

"And why should we lead you there?" He demanded. "For all we know this is a trap!"

The boy sighed.

"I wouldn't believe me either if I was you." The boy said. "But the lab sent more than one clone. When they realized, the demigods were rescuing experiments they started to grow clones to try and stop you all. They already have one in deep cover inside your camp. I was supposed to meet up with the operative as soon as I got there."

"Who's the clone of?" I asked him. "Which demi god?"

The boy shook his head.

"They never said." He admitted. "Only that the operative would approach me and say 'My home is where you are from' And I was to respond 'The home says hello' to him."

He looked around.

"Look, we really should be going if we don't want to get caught." He said. "Please, I never wanted any one to get hurt but I was given a mission to get the demi gods and it never crossed my mind that I am out of the lab now and can do whatever I want."

I nodded and went to get back in the SUV.

"Wait!" The clone screamed after me. "The SUV has a tracker in it! We need to move on foot if we don't want to get caught."

Time Break!

Later that night the three of us were gathered around a camp fire as Maniac carved up some rabbits he caught in a trap for our dinner as the clone stared at the fire.

"So what's your real name?" I asked him out of curiosity.

"Bomber." The boy said. "They wanted me to be him, figured if I didn't have another name I would be more convincing."

"You're not bomber." Maniac growled. "You'll never be Bomber."

"I know." The boy said. "It's the only name I have though."

"You can pick a new one." I offered. "You're free now, so you can have whatever name you want."

The boy stared into the fire, clearly thinking.

"How about Mimic." Maniac said with a sarcastic grin as he pulled the intestines out of one rabbit. It was disgusting but for some reason it smelt amazing to me and made my mouth water. "Seeing as your whole life up until now has been trying to mimic Bomber's."

I was about to scold him for being mean when the Clone smiled.

"I like it." He said. "Mimic."

"Really?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Yah," He said. "I'm Mimic now."

Mimic leaned forward on his log as Maniac handed out the cooked meet.

I took it and thanked him before digging in and almost puking on the spot. The meet tasted horrible, like there was something wrong with it.

"What did you do to this?" I demanded as he and Mimic easily ate the meet.

"Just cooked it." He said. "Why?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know." I said, not wanting to insult his cooking ability's.

It was then that I smelt the raw entrails of the rabbits again and my mouth watered.

'Did I really want to eat raw entrails?' I thought to myself. 'If this is the doing of the wolf DNA in me I'm going to kill the whitecoats!'

Maniac saw me eying the raw meat and it seemed to click in his head.

"Guess they put too much wolf in you." He said with a chuckle as he scooped up a hand full of the raw meat and handed it to me. "At least you're not stuck eating nutrition paste."

I took the meet and sniffed it. Savoring the scent and hating myself at the same time. Then I took a bite and let out a content sigh. This stuff was delicious.

"So," Maniac asked Mimic, seaming completely at ease with me eating raw meet across the fire from him. "What do you know about this other clone in the camp?"

Mimic shook his head.

"Not much." He said. "Whatever's going on is top secret to the point where the whitecoats didn't even want me to know what was going on."

Maniac frowned.

"And why should we believe you without proof?" He asked the clone.

Mimic shook his head, clearly trying to think of a reason.

"I don't know." He admitted. "If I where you guys I wouldn't trust me either."

Maniac sniffed the air a few times and nodded.

I sniffed the air too but smelt nothing.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Just trying to see if he smells of stress." Maniac answered. "Unless he's a good liar, which he's not, he would smell of stress the moment he lies."

I nodded.

"Get some sleep." Maniac told me. "I'll take first watch; we leave for camp at dawn."

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