HIVE: Otto's Past: Chapter Eleven
A chill ran through Max as she heard the familiar 'chop' of a helicopter. She jumped up from the forest floor and stared up through the trees. The black air craft was flying over the dense forest on top of the cliff.
"We're safe in the valley, right?" Gazzy whispered. The Flock just stayed motionless, hoping that the helicopter would pass over.
But there was no such luck.
The helicopter stopped flying and hovered above the cliff.
"Scatter!" Max yelled. Everyone sprinted off in different directions.
"The scientists know we're here!" Nudge wailed as she dived behind a tree. Gazzy plunged into a bush, dragging a petrified Angel with him. Fang helped Iggy behind a broad oak tree. Max however leaped into the air and spread her wings. She flew up to a tree where the leaves offered lots of cover. Max tucked her wings in and dived into the green mass. Once in, she hugged the trunk, praying that she and her Flock wouldn't be seen.
Otto started when he saw a black looming shape block out the sunlight above him. He stopped rolling in the dirt and sprang up – because the helicopter was hovering over the tree tops above him.
"Can they see me?" Otto wondered, poised to flee. What happened next answered his question. Ropes dropped out of the helicopter. They fell through the trees and touched the ground a few metres away from Otto. Erasers then appeared from the helicopter and started to slide down them. Otto's pulse quickened, and he fled.
Shouts and the pounding of footsteps alerted Otto to the Erasers landing as he tore through the undergrowth. Otto dodged numerous tree roots which jutted out to trip him, and he ducked under a number of low branches which threatening to send him flying. Literally. Birds squawked and small wildlife scattered as he sped over the earthy ground.
Otto had no idea where he was going, but quick glances over his shoulder at the Erasers a few metres behind him, told him that he had to keep running. But Otto's lungs were starting to burn, and his feet felt like lead. He realised with dread that the Erasers were too fast – they were catching up. Otto almost felt like he was going to collapse, when he spotted light ahead of him. This encouraged more energy, so he sprinted faster through the trees.
Suddenly, there was no more ground.
Otto skidded to a halt, screaming as his feet went over the edge. He scrabbled for a hand hold and managed to grab a young tree. Otto stopped sliding. He looked down fearfully. A hundred metres below him the ground sloped down into the valley, which was dotted with pine trees. On the other side of the valley another cliff rose up. Otto dragged himself back up – to meet ten Erasers blocking the way into the forest.
Otto jumped up, peering over his shoulder at the drop.
Then a thought occurred to him, "This is so like my dream." And in Otto's dream only a few weeks ago, he'd fallen off the cliff, telling himself to do something. Now he knew what to do. He understood.
"Come quietly and no harm will come to you," one of the Erasers sneered, smacking his hands together in eagerness. The others cackled and started to close in. But Otto wasn't the least bit scared. He smiled at Mr Littleton, who was peering out of the helicopter hovering above him.
"What if I don't want to come?" Everyone gaped as Otto turned and leaped off the cliff.
He dived towards the valley, grinning at the cool wind blowing past him. Otto fanned his wings out, they caught the air perfectly and he rose up towards the sun. Otto admired his wings. They were as white as snow, and his feathers moved in the summer breeze. Otto laughed and flapped his wings so he would soar over the valley. He'd never known how exhilarating flying was! The feel of the sweet sun on his skin, the weight off his feet, the cool breeze ruffling his hair, the eagles as they swooped past him and the clear blue sky above. It was paradise!
Completing forgetting about the scientists, Otto finally swooped down towards a patch of trees. This was the biggest patch in the forest, and had a clearing with a small stream running through it. Otto realised that this was the clearing he'd seen from the helicopter. He touched the ground lightly, and folded his wings. Otto swayed on his legs; they felt like jelly!
"Probably from flying," Otto told himself. He looked around the clearing, and eventually found a small rock sitting by the stream. Perched on this, he started to think.
He was in Canada. How close was that to HIVE? Otto didn't know, he didn't even know where HIVE was.
"I have a vague idea," Otto murmured. "It's somewhere in the tropics." He could fly there and scour the area until he found HIVE! But what about the scientists? they were probably circling the valley, searching for Otto. Otto put his head in his hands and groaned. What was he supposed to do? He didn't have his Black Box.....
"Black Box!" Otto cried, jumping up in excitement. Every HIVE student was entitled to carry their Black Box around with them at all times, because it was a way to communicate to everyone at HIVE, and it had a tracking device. He'd had it when the scientists had captured him.
Otto checked the hidden pockets in his black jumpsuit and slumped back down onto the rock. The scientists must have taken it!
"It might be in the helicopter!" Otto exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "The scientists might have kept it and not disabled the tracking device!" His face fell, the scientists were too clever, surely they would have got rid of the tracker. But it was still a communication device! He would be able to talk to Nero! Otto stared up at the sky. Somehow, he needed to get into that helicopter....
