Way Back When
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Survivors
A/N: Hi, sorry this wasn't delivered on Sunday as usual. I was in Baltimore for my mom's elementary (primary) school reunion and the stupid hotel had internet access with uber-complicated system that, since it was me, I couldn't figure out. So on to the thank-yous, and then the story. Skylr: review: Thank-you, I really appreciate it! Hairbrush: review: What song? I'll travel a couple of years to bring them in when they can sorta talk. And I'm bringing them in together. XDIJSRMXD: review: Thanks, LOL. Silver: review: Well thank-you! HGW: review: That's a very good question. I have no idea. I'll look for an answer. Fang calls him Iggy in a previous chapter. So now I have to think of something. Aleria: review: HI IGGY! HI BELL! You're inspiration may not be forthcoming, but you're convos are to die for, so do continue! Kacey B.: Fav Story: Thanks! SoC: review: I can't really change the storyline so Angel won't be discovering her powers, but it's a good idea. Mayhap she will know something of them (because what is Angel without her creepiness?), but she won't learn Max's secret. The Voice is a jerk. Rehab: Thanks, and I can publish it for myself (like, one copy only for me) but not for anyone else b/c that's illegal. Nice to know I have future readers. When I publish, I'll tell you all my name so you can go buy my books! MC: review: Gazzy! Voices! Yes, almost forgot, thank-you! Thanks for the idea for the sibling clinginess as well. xAnon: review: Perfect sense, thank-you for your help! Glad you're back. Anonymous: Well ok, thank-you! Harry no. I'd do Ron: Story Alert, Fav Story, review: Thank-you so much! So if there are any award competion things you people know about (cuz I'm clueless) that you guys want to nominate me for, by all means, LOL! Wolfgirl: review: Thanks for the inspiration! And for my songfic, thanks as well. Ivy: review: I don't know what it was about Harry Potter, but I didn't love it, tho it certainly had moments. Virtual cookies for an update is more than an acceptable trade. Fuzzy: review: You gave me so many good ideas; it's amazing. I combined several ideas and I think what will promise to be another looong chapter. And I've got my idea for Gazzy and Angel's problem, so whooee! Sakura Mikan91: Fav Story: Thank-you! Raz: review: Exactly! Thank-you! Puffpopcorn: Fav Author: Thank-you! sunshine2006578: Fav Story: Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't friggin' claim.
Onward!
"We'll call you Nudge," I decided.
She beamed. "Absolutely! I love it! It's so-"
Well, now that that was taken care of…
We stacked again, of course.
And then it went white again as I traveled forward in time.
Of course.
Angel and Gazzy, here I come.
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I have come to a decision, I announced, When this is over, I am never wearing white again.
What about when you get married?
Well then I'll just-hey! Marriage? Who said anything about marriage?! I felt my cheeks try to turn red.
Well you never know…
I tried to roll my eyes, and snarled when I remembered that floating around in time-traveling nothingness leaves you immobilized. Stupid Voice. White is right up there with pink, buster, and it's your fault.
I apologize, the Voice murmured, doing its best to sound contrite.
You're not sorry, I scoffed.
There was a brief pause. You are right. I am not. This is an important task, Maximum, and we must take the costs that come with greatness. You must focus-
-On saving the Flock and the world, give it a rest already, I grumbled.
I do not think you are taking this mission seriously enough. The Voice was getting annoyed.
I am taking it perfectly seriously! See, I'm being serious. I waited to add effect. Veeeeeeeeeeery serious.
Your next task is going to be difficult, Maximum, and I do not know if you can handle I, the Voice cautioned.
That got my hackles raised big-time.
Excuse me?
The battle for your two youngest members may well be the hardest battle you ever have or will fight.
And this is because?
If I were to tell you that, you would have an advantage.
Well yeah, that's the general idea.
No. Just wait out the ride; we are nearly there.
The white lights flying past me were slowing down, becoming more distinct lines slicing across my vision. I could make out a fuzzy darkness ahead, but wasn't sure what it was. What's going on?!
Hold on to your hat, Maximum, it is going to be a bumpy ride.
VOICE!
And then the white light disappeared and I was thrown into a black cloth bag smelling strongly of sweat.
Real pleasant.
My body was bent into an awkward U-shape, scrunched against the bottom of the bag, which was dangling in the air. I bumped against something periodically, and realized I was being carried. I wriggled around until I saw a teeny hole near my left elbow. Sticking my finger in it, I widened the hole, angled my neck, and peered out.
We were walking down a dimly lit corridor. All I could see was the black linoleum floor and gray-painted walls. Whatever lights were around were on their lowest setting. Shadows arched up the walls, showing me a huge wolfy baddie carrying a lumpy bag at his side. Me. And my new best friend.
I tried to see if the others were with me but the hole in my bag had way limited visibility. I listened hard, and thought I could just hear multiple pairs of feet walking behind us, but I couldn't be sure. Everything was very quiet, so whatever was nearest me drowned out everything else.
The Eraser carrying me snuffled and shifted me to his other hairy paw. I sank back and closed my eyes, thinking.
Voice? What's going on?
Nada.
He-lloooo out there? Extraterrestrial being? Omnipotent life-form? Parasite? You listening?
Nothing.
The Eraser stopped abruptly, and I heard a tinny beeping as he punched in a code. There was a whoosh of air, and I pressed my face to the hole eagerly.
What I saw made me want to vomit.
We were outside in the training yard. It was a bright, sunny day but there were clouds gathering above the trees, which were bare of leaves. A fine layer of frost graced the ground, meaning the dirt was going to be really hard when you hit it.
The chain-link fence had been built up, barbed and electric wire lining the top. There were black plastic tubes, mounds of dirt, and other excellent places for hiding scattered around. It was an ideal exercise area-or fighting ground.
In the center of the field, directly in my line of sight, was a large group of mutants. Some were older, maybe ten or eleven years. Others were barely able to stand-whether that was because of age of the nature of their DNA, it was hard to tell. All were scared-and lethal. And standing off to one side of the pack, huddled close together for warmth-my two babies.
Gazzy, grubby brown wings spread wide to form a barrier, shivered, throwing specks of sunlight on the white spots highlighting his feathers. He had his arm around a little girl about two years old, with greasy blonde curls and little white wings with feathers bent out of place. Their hungry blue eyes darted about, scanning the other mutants warily.
One scaly boy lunged toward Gazzy, teeth bared, forked tongue flicking hungrily. I shrieked and kicked out at the bag enclosing me. Angel gave a little squeak of terror as her brother punched the bigger boy in the gut, then grabbed his sister's hand and fled. It took a minute to get the three back under control.
By that time, my bag had been dumped onto the ground. I rolled out and stood up, instantly finding Fang, standing up as well. He caught my eye and flicked his gaze to Iggy, who was standing uneasily, turning his head this way and that to catch all the new sounds. Nudge hopped up from behind me a moment later, and we all convened near our blind guy, snapping out our wings to form a circle around us against the biting wind.
"So…any ideas?" I murmured.
My friends stared at me. I looked back. Fang and Iggy seemed about ten years old, and Nudge had just hit seven. They looked tough-but scared.
I glanced over my shoulder. The group of mutants were watching us curiously-some with outright hostility. But no one moved.
"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Iggy demanded lowly.
"Well we're out here in the c-cold facing a b-bunch of p-p-people mutified like us and we're just standing around-"
"Is mutified a word?" Fang asked me in an undertone.
I gave him a just-go-with-it look, and he quirked a half-smile that made my heart do flips.
Iggy moaned, squeezing his eyes shut tight. "My ears are bleeding!"
Nudge covered her mouth with her hands, but her eyes sparkled. I jumped in.
"The ground is hard from frost. There's good hiding places around; the closest is at three o'clock-a black plastic pipe big enough for all of us. There's a group of mutants at nine o'clock, maybe thirty of them. Some look pretty powerful, like that scaly guy," I pointed to the one who'd snapped at Gazzy. "He's got nasty teeth and looks pretty flexible. But there are others that we won't have to worry about." I studiously avoided locking eyes with a girl curled on the ground in a ball. She had gills, and was melting the frost into water to get oxygen, but it wasn't nearly enough. She wouldn't last long.
Iggy frowned. "That's all well and good, but why are we out here?" He crossed his arms over his chest surreptitiously, not wanting us to realize he was cold in his thin blue t-shirt and ripped jeans. I rolled my eyes, walked over, and briskly rubbed his arms.
"That's the question of the century."
Fang lightly kicked my ankle and jerked his head back towards the School. I turned, and tensed.
A group of whitecoats had walked out, bundled up in gloves and parkas, the hems of their lab coats visible underneath.
Did they ever take those things off?
The bottom half of each scientist's face was covered by a muffler. One man had a really big nose, and it stuck out over the top of the muffler, emitting puffs of frozen air.
Another scientist, a woman, had tucked her hair into her hood, but it blew back out quickly. Irritated, she tossed her head, throwing her hood back to reveal a stern, unfeeling face framed by loads of waving blonde hair.
"Wow, talk about Botox Barbie much?" I muttered.
Fang snorted. He didn't know what Barbie was at this point, but Botox we'd heard of, and that was really all you needed to know.
While BB was tossing her pounds of gleaming hair, two other men were watching her, grins spreading across their faces. One tripped and dropped his clipboard. She pierced him with one icy glare. He shrank back and didn't look her way again, even after he'd fumblingly picked up his papers.
The last member of the group seemed different than the rest. He walked calmly, assuredly, but without any noticeable pride. His glasses reflected the winter sunlight, making it impossible to see his eyes. When the other whitecoats began to lose concentration, he called over his shoulder, his deep voice muffled by his-well, muffler, and they stood at attention at once. The scientist with the big nose gave a loud sniff as a drop of mucus threatened to slide off the tip and hit his boot.
At last they reached our little group.
"Go stand with the others," the blonde woman ordered. She snapped her fingers-how she did that with gloves on I'll never know-to make us move faster. "Let's go!"
We shuffled over to the big group of mutants. I contrived to get us near Gazzy and Angel, who spared us a cursory glance before returning to the whitecoats.
The man with the clipboard poked his buddy, who jumped, then walked around prodding everyone into a tight group.
"Ugh," Nudge squirmed uncomfortably, "ever heard of personal space?"
The man with the big nose and the man in the glasses stepped forward.
"Order!" Big Nose called, then louder, "ORDER!"
We stopped shuffling and whispering and listened up.
The man with the glasses approached, and lowered his muffler so that we could hear him better.
In spite of myself, I gasped.
I should have known it was Jeb. Didn't everyone? Wasn't it obvious?
"You are here today because you have been chosen to perform an experiment," he began, speaking just soft enough that we had to be silent to hear him. "This is, for some of you, your final test here at the School."
"Isn't that how it always goes?" Demanded a voice from the back of the group. There was anxious whispering, and I turned around to get a better look.
It was a girl mutant, with an elongated face and thick black hair. Her hands were shaped like hooves, and her legs were long; built for running distance. She looked like she had some horse DNA. Her voice had a braying quality to it, almost like a donkey.
She looked around at all of us with liquid brown eyes. She seemed to draw strength from all our gazes. "I mean really, all we do here is eat, sleep, fight, and die. Of course some are going to die in this test. They always do. What's your point?" She faced Jeb boldly, putting a hoof on her hip. Despite how ridiculous she looked, I found myself admiring her courage-and wishing she'd shut up so she wouldn't get hurt.
Jeb paused for a moment. I grinned. She'd made him lose his place. I was liking this girl. "This test is a bit different than the rest in that very few of you will survive. Only six of you, in fact."
Everyone became very still.
I glanced at the horse-girl. Her eyes were narrowed, sweeping up and down the ranks of mutants. She locked eyes with me and I saw her decide: ally. I winced, shook my head a little, letting my gaze sweep over my family. So? Her eyes asked, you're four altogether. Let's make five and take him. She jerked her head at the scaly kid with the forked tongue, who gave me a wave, then narrowed his eyes at Iggy. Ditch him, his eyes said, he's useless. I glared, and shook my head again. Their faces closed off: enemy. I looked away.
Gazzy was whispering to Angel, who was crying against his shirt. He was panicking, I knew instantly.
To protect his little sister, Gazzy had kept the other mutants at bay, consequently not making any friends. Now he and his sister were alone-and definitely targets.
I caught his eye, indicated our little group-our wings. His eyes widened for a moment, then his face crumpled and he shook his head and broke contact. Mentally I roared. He had to trust somebody!
He does not know you are safe to trust, obviously. He does not know you.
Oh, there you are. Back from the Bahamas?
The Bermuda Triangle, actually, but nice try, Maximum. Listen to Jeb now like a good girl.
"…When the buzzer sounds, you will be fighting for your lives. We will let you go until there are six left, and then the buzzer will sound again and you will cease and desist fighting immediately. You will be the survivors, and the most powerful experiments alive by default.
"I don't recommend making friends. Friends are liabilities. A word to the wise." Jeb's eyes found mine. Now it was my turn to look away.
"You really expect us to kill all of these guys?" The horse girl brayed again. "It's stupid! Why don't you just kill us yourself-"
There was a bang, and several screams rent the cold air. Several mutants in the front line stumbled backwards, away from one on the ground.
It was the fish-girl I'd noticed before, pressed to the frost to get water for her gills. Her face was blue, and blood spread thickly from a wound in her chest.
"That's one down for you," the blonde scientist slipped her gun back into her parka pocket. "She wouldn't have survived anyway. Any other questions?"
Silence reigned.
"Well then," said Jeb, "let us begin."
We watched the group walk to a small shed next to the School. There was a large tinted glass window in the front of it. They could see us, but we couldn't see them.
My heart pounded in my chest. I grabbed Nudge and pulled her behind me. Iggy slipped up next to me, one hand lightly on my shoulder to steady himself. Fang glided silently into position-next to me and, I noticed, a bit in front of me.
"We defend, not attack," I ordered. "We kill in self-defense only. Is that clear?"
My guys nodded grimly.
I sought Gazzy's eyes again. I caught him watching me. He flushed. Join us, my eyes pleaded, be safe.
He looked down as Angel stood on tiptoe to whisper something in his ear. He stroked her hair, and then met my gaze again.
He nodded.
I grinned, beckoning them over.
"Max, what are you doing?" Fang hissed.
"I've decided we're the six who're going to be saved," I answered, not taking my eyes off the two littles walking towards me. "They're like us, and they're strong. Besides," I lowered my voice.
"Snake-boy and Horse-girl have it out for at least Iggy and me, and if I'm busy someone is going to have to help him-"
"I heard that. I don't need help!" Iggy snapped.
I whirled, opened my mouth to explain to him once again that he was blind-
When the buzzer went off, pandemonium broke loose, and Gazzy and Angel disappeared into the mob.
I made a snap decision.
"Breaking ranks," I announced, and tore into the chaos that was thirty mutants trying to kill each other in search of my little trooper and my baby.
You are making a mistake, Maximum!
Yeah, yeah, you always say that. You know what? Shut up.
Won't be able to update till the end of the week (like next Sunday) I'm afraid, so you're stuck with a cliffie. Sorry my loves! I meant to get the entire battle in this chapter, but it's long already and I need to pack because I'm going to Boston! Whoo!
Read and review!