Almost there! I hope you're all loving this, and I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I was on vacation.
Enjoy! ^-^
They took me to another room. This one was filled with whitecoats, milling around crowded lab equipment. I tasted bile when the stench of antiseptic doubled.
"This is where you will be studied," the bearded man said. He had accompanied me into the room.
I met his gaze evenly and made no move to follow him.
"Come, Maximum. I would hate to damage you before we examine you."
"Unfortunately, I don't feel the same way about damaging you," I retorted.
The man's eyes darkened. "You will come. Our scientists are mutants as well, so they are more than a match for you."
He strode ahead, not glancing back. I hesitated, wanting to escape but knowing it was a trap.
"Just try, winged one," whispered someone to my left. One of the whitecoats was staring at me with a persuasive smile. The lizard man, Don. "Try to escape, and we will see, yes? We will see who is faster. You," his forked tongue flicked out from between his teeth, "or I."
"That's all the incentive I need," I snarled, but before I could make a run for it, the bearded man turned around again and said one word.
"Guard."
The entire crowded room froze, and before I could process what was happening, the whitecoats leaped over desks with inhuman speed and agility to cover the exit.
The bearded man smiled calmly. "So, you see, much can happen to prevent your escape. Now, would you like to come forward?"
I had no choice in the matter. Feet feeling like they were made of lead, I dragged myself into the center of the room.
The next hour passed in a blur. The whitecoat-mutants spent the time making me do tests and run laps and so many other unspeakable things. It was just like the School.
Except for one thing. While I was exhausted physically and mentally by the end of the hour, at least they hadn't stuck poison in my arm or used especially painful methods of motivation. Like electric shocks or something. But I wouldn't put it past them.
The whole time, I took in details about the room. There would be no way to escape without somehow getting the whitecoats out of the equation. I couldn't do anything at the moment, but it was still a possibility.
"We are beginning the clones," announced the man with the white beard at the end of the hour. Apparently this was a big achievement, because he earned a round of applause.
"Clones, like what?" I asked one it had died down.
"We are experimenting," explained the man, looking down at me with a frown. "Soon, we will be able to merge our research with that of our second subject, creating a whole new life form."
Something he had said struck me. "Second subject?"
An unguarded figure came up behind him. My heart dropped. Angel.
"Hi, Max," she said in a tiny voice.
I glared hard at her, letting her know exactly how I felt about her in my mind.
"It's not so bad," she supplied nervously, reading my thoughts. "If you would –"
"Angel," I said through gritted teeth, "listen to me. I don't want people to go through what we do. I don't want to make clones."
"They're not clones!" she protested. "Soon there will be a whole new person with all new DNA. We won't be the only flock out there anymore."
I couldn't believe the insanity of that sentence. "Angel. I. Don't. Want. More. Flocks. One is all we need!"
Angel sighed, giving me sad eyes. "Maybe for you. But I'm alone."
That statement cut me deep. Angel, my angel, was tired with our life. She wasn't happy with the flock. But why?
"Oh, Max. I'm sorry, I really am, but you know our life is hard. And this would just make it a little bit easier."
"I'm not ever going to help you willingly," I choked out. "It will always be wrong."
The bearded man cleared his throat. "It is late. Don, please escort Maximum back to her sleeping quarters."
I was still staring at Angel as the mutant led me away.