Shadows of the Flock-Chapter 28
By MyNameIsCAL
Home wasn't exactly where I wanted to go. We might lead more erasers there to attack us, but Fang kept on insisting we go home, so I called Mom.
"Max!" Mom exclaimed.
"We're going to come home. We'll probably be there in a few hours," I told her.
"Oh, that's great. I'll have food waiting for you." I could almost see her smiling.
We said our goodbyes and I put my phone away.
Fang was sitting on the curb, his hand on his shoulder. There was a dark stain forming and there was blood on his hands. Oh crap.
"Max, we gotta get home," he repeated.
I bent down to look at his shoulder, but he pushed me away.
"Let me see!" Now I was frustrated.
He started to stand, but struggled and sat back down. The blaring sirens were getting closer. We needed to get out of here.
"At least let me help you get out of here," I insisted. "C'mon the cops are coming."
I slung Fang's arm around my shoulder and ducked into the alleyway. We crossed the street on the other side. The other people we passed gave us strange glances. It was only a matter of time someone saw the news and made the connection with us. We ended up in another alleyway. There were a couple of empty crates next to a dumpster. Fang sat down on them heavily.
"We're not going to make it home," I said. "It's like a two hour flight from here and you can't fly."
I grabbed his hand and moved it away from his shoulder. He winced. There was a hole. A gunshot wound. But the eraser had been shot to. I didn't understand.
"The only way we were both getting out of there," Fang said through gritted teeth, "was if I shot the eraser and myself when he had the gun against me. I just had to make sure I wasn't going to kill myself in the process."
He jerked his arm away from my hand and began to press on the wound again. It wouldn't be long before he the blood loss would overcome his pain. I'd take him to a hospital, but then there would be a lot of explaining to do. My options were running out. Fang was right. We needed to get to Mom.
"There's a convenience store on the corner. Go get a first aid kit." Fang leaned against the side of the building. "Bandage me up and we'll get on an airplane."
I didn't have any other choices, so I listened to Fang.
It took a while to pay for the first aid kit. It was around lunch time, and impatient people waited to pay for sodas and snacks. I wondered why out of all the places they could go, they had to choose here.
I returned to Fang, his eyes closed, still leaning up against the wall. After tearing open the first aid kit, I began to undo Fang's shirt. The bullet had gone through cleanly, it looked like. Usually blood didn't bother me, but I felt queasy as I tried cleaning the wound. Ever time Fang moved his arm, blood seemed to ooze out. We eventually got his arm out of his sleeve so I could start bandaging him.
"Stay still," I muttered. "Or you're gonna end up bleeding more."
He winced as I began to wrap the bandages around his shoulder. It took several minutes to bandaged and get his shirt back on. After that, we were out of the alley and heading towards the airport.
We sat on the plane, only a half hour away from landing. Mom would be waiting for us at the airport. Fang's bleeding had slowed. He drifted in and out of consciousness.
"Max, you better be careful."
I looked across the aisle to see Iggy was there, sitting in the empty seat.
"Why?" I whispered. Fang didn't stir this time.
"Because it's not safe," Iggy replied. "Whatever happens, avoid the cops and the paramedics. Go to Mom."
"I…I don't understand." But Iggy is gone.
"This is your captain speaking. Flight attendants, please prepare for landing."
Fang is awake now, but I feel like his entire bodyweight is leaning against me. I hope he'll have enough strength to get off and walk. But what really bothered me was what Iggy had told me. There was this sense of danger that was getting worse and worse.
"What's wrong?" Fang asked weakly. Even when he was hurt he could tell something was off.
"Iggy told me something." I paused to think of what to say next. "He sorta alluded to something bad happening."
Fang let out a grunt and that was the end of our discussion.
I never liked airplanes. They felt claustrophobic. Especially this one because it was small. At least the plane had started descending. We should be touching the ground in any minute. When we do, I let out a sigh of relief. It was good to be on the ground.
But I relaxed too soon because suddenly there was a huge crash and I felt like I was spinning. The people around us were screaming, but Fang and I just held tight, trying to not fly out of our seats. There was baggage falling from the ceiling. I managed to avoid a purse that seemed to come from the other side of the plane.
The plane stopped moving after what seemed like hours. People were trying to get off in a panic. Some of them were bleeding. A couple of them stayed in their seats, too shaken to move. Someone opened the doors and a large group of people started pushing to get out. I grabbed Fang by the arm and joined the line. We had to get out before someone grabbed us. Now I got the feeling Itex was behind all of this.
It was chilly outside. Ambulances and cop cars were already at the scene. I continued to drag Fang past them. We had landed in a small airport just a few minutes from where Mom lived. Getting away without being noticed was easy.
Mom was waiting for us, like she said she would. We got in the back of the car and headed home. Fang leaned against me, his hand reaching for mind.
"Don't let me fall asleep," he said.
I gripped his hand and began explaining what happened to Mom. Eventually she decided she'd take us to her office so she could operate on Fang properly, even though technically we weren't the kind of animals that should be at vet offices.
