Chapter 11: Fang
By the time I'd unlocked all of the cages, the fight was well and truly over outside. What surprised me was that most of the cages were empty, save a few near the back of the room. The others soon joined me in the lab, leading the escapees out the door. One of them paused as he ran by.
"I remember you. You're the one who got out a few months ago. You had this whole place in an uproar, you know." The simple fact that one person could upset so many people made me smile.
"Yeah. That was me. I couldn't properly say goodbye to the people who did this to me then." I showed him my wings. He shook his head.
"I'm Nick, Nick Walker, but the others call me Fang. The white coats didn't know if you had survived the process, so they created the Erasers as security and repeated the experiment on us. Only five of us survived, the others didn't last much longer than a couple of days." I put my hand around his shoulder and steered him towards the stairs. They could be back any minute, and it looked pretty incriminating as to who had been here.
"We have to go. Now. Just follow that tiger," I said. He jumped, and looked around. "Don't worry, he won't eat you. He's friendly."
< Is that everyone? > Jake asked. I nodded. < Then let's get going. I don't want to be here when Visser Three finds out all of his experiments have escaped. The others are already outside. > We followed him back to the stairs, where I asked Fang a question that had been on my mind since I escaped.
"Was there anyone else like me? With wings, I mean." He smiled, and took off his shirt. Folded neatly on his back were a pair of shiny black wings, like a crow's, only bigger.
"The five, excuse me, six of us who escaped are like a mismatched flock of birds. We all have wings, but none are the same. The white coats did different experiments on us. That guy over there, we call him Iggy. Short for ignite because he made an entire cage explode using a paper clip, two pieces of gum and some dirt off the floor. They tried to improve his night vision, but failed. Now he's blind. The dark skinned girl over there is able to attract and move metal. She can talk the ears off anyone though, so we call her Nudge. It's the only way to shut her up. Then there's Angel and the Gasman, both siblings taken at the same time. Angel can listen to people's thoughts, and Gazzy can mimic any sound. Oh, and there's a reason why he's called the Gasman. Stay upwind at all times." I shook my head. What these guys had gone through is enough to make anyone go insane. It's a miracle they survived in the condition they did. Just then, Ax walked up behind us. Fang just stared.
< Max, Prince Jake wishes to remind you that we need to leave immediately. > I sighed.
"Yeah, we're on our way."
