Solace: Chapter Twenty - Search and Destroy

No one in the Flock was too thrilled when I had woken them up and explained that we were going out for a little while to destroy some experiments…

However, after telling Iggy that we were going to need a bomb, I watched as his unseeing eyes came to life with excitement.

We found the clearing with no problem and sure enough, there were nine experiments there, like the Voice had said. We had no idea what they were, though. Their skin was dark, like a rusty brown, and they all had yellow hair. Not yellow as in blonde… I'm talking big-yellow-school-bus yellow. That wasn't even the weird part. Their eyes were huge and had an amber tint… it was just plain creepy.

What I found to be interesting, though, was that there was one female amongst the group, and she was larger in build than all of the males…

We circled above them, scanning the surrounding area carefully, looking for any other surprises that might turn up. When I was satisfied by the seeming lack of any other freaky experiments sent here to kill or capture us, I shouted, "Now, Ig!"

Without hesitation, he raised a small chrome box above his head and then hurled it down towards the group of experiments with full force. I couldn't help but notice… the bomb looked like it was made from the outer shell of a toaster…

That's when I noticed that two of the experiments, the woman and one of the larger men, were sprinting away from the gathering, into the forest. "Fang, help me with them!" I shouted to him, pointing to the two escapees. He nodded and started heading towards them in pursuit.

I was following close behind Fang as I called over my shoulder, "You guys stay together and get back to the hotel, now!" I didn't wait for any responses. I wouldn't have heard them, anyway, over the noise of the explosion. It was larger than Iggy had led me to believe it would be. I made a mental note to scowl at him later for that.

For now, I had to find the runaways and do away with them… I hated to dwell on that fact. In the past when we were on the run, we had never set out with intent to kill. We only fought out of self-defense… even then, I usually only aimed to knock my attackers unconscious…

But then came the time when we made the decision to obliterate every single branch of Itex, taking down everything – and everyone – inside. At the first few establishments we destroyed, we had gone in and "rescued" as many experiments as we could, before blowing it to pieces… But we soon found out that the majority of those experiments were mindless, screwed up hybrids that couldn't live in the outside world… and the few "successful" hybrids had been trained as ultimate killing machines, definitely unfit for being released among the general public.

So we stopped the rescue missions…

The only reason I became comfortable with the mass murder of everyone inside of those buildings was by repeating to myself that it was best for the world… the world I was destined to save….

Yet, now, we were actually hunting down the experiments just because a voice in my head told me to do it? I shuddered. This isn't right. But what other choice was there? They were a threat to the world my Flock lived in, and my Flock was Priority #1, the world coming in at a close second, so there was no other option but to take care of this. And that's exactly what I was doing. The first seven guys were gone already, thanks to Iggy's toaster bomb… I just had to finish the task… with a little help from Fang, that is…

I glanced over at him. He had that determined look on his face as he used his hawk-like vision to scan the forest below. He turned his head abruptly and met my gaze, his lips twitching up into a slight smile, before turning his attention back to the search.

It only took another few seconds…

"There," Fang quietly announced, pointing to the two shadows running below us. We were about 300 feet up in the air, and on my command, we silently descended upon them.

As we landed, I motioned for Fang to go after the man, while I would attack the woman. With a quick nod, he raced forward in combat mode.

I ran towards the woman and immediately sprang into battle as well, sending a roundhouse kick to her spine, knocking her off balance as she hissed in pain. She didn't fall, though. She wheeled around and charged with a hard elbow jab to my ribs, which I blocked effortlessly, being the stealthy bird-kid that I am.

I thrust my fist up at her chin, but she blocked me while smashing her boot into my thigh before I could dodge it. I winced, but then brought my knee up high, smashing it into her chest and knocking the wind out of her. The gust of air leaving her lungs sounded unnatural, like an irritated humming or buzzing noise.

I hurtled myself into her, catching her off guard, and successfully landed a double-punch. I continued with a front kick, but she caught my boot and gripped it while her free hand knifed into my neck. I thought for a millisecond that I might pass out, but I sucked in a deep breath and yanked my foot from her grasp. She glared at me through her oversized amber eyes.

The woman's arms then became a flurry of movement as she swung at me viciously. I was bobbing and weaving just out of her striking range, until she landed just one brutal punch to my side with a flare of pain. I ignored it. Taking advantage of her stance, while her hands were lowered, I slammed a punch into her face, hearing a sickening crack. She stumbled backward, then fell forward and braced herself on the ground while crimson liquid began spouting from her nose.

I heard a low gasp come from behind me and immediately turned to look. Fang had been knocked to the ground on his side, his right hand clenched tightly over his left arm, just below his shoulder. I didn't recognize the look on his face, but it was almost a mix of pain and… bewilderment? I had an insane urge to dash over, scoop him up in a hug, and find out what that creep did to him, but I needed to take care of the woman first…

I whipped a glance at her and she was still on the ground, her hands now bloodied from holding them up to her nose. I turned my eyes back to Fang for a second…

From his place on the ground, he whipped out his leg and swiped the man's feet out from under him, sending him down to the ground on his back. Fang took the opportunity to lunge at him and connect his angry fist to the man's face several times, leaving an unsightly mess. Inwardly, I cheered for his victory.

As I quickly turned my full attention back to the woman, she was staggering to her feet, a murderous glint in her eyes.

I was out of patience. Throwing myself into a spinning snap kick aimed at her neck, I finished our battle and watched her drop down into a lifeless heap in front of me.

Without giving her body a second look, I whirled around and sprinted over to Fang.

"You okay?" I asked, trying not to sound frantic, but failing horribly when I noticed beads of sweat on his forehead where it wasn't covered by his bangs. And I know what you're thinking. So what if he's sweating a bit? He was just in a physically demanding fight. Yes, that's true, but he was fighting for less than five minutes. We bird-kids just don't get overheated that quickly…

"Fang?" He stood there looking at me strangely with his hand wrapped around his arm again, but finally he nodded. I stepped beside him and put my palm on his lower back, giving him a little push because it didn't seem like he was going to move. "Come on. Let's get back to the hotel."

He took three steps, then froze. I looked at him anxiously.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping it would sound like my no-nonsense-tell-me-what-the-problem-is tone.

"I don't feel… s'good," he stammered, half a second before bending over forward and vomiting…

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