Island Time

Chapter 36

"Fang!"

"Hey, Angel," he greeted as he came into the tactics room. As promised by Nudge, the whole flock was there along with Max's mother and half-sister. Fang looked at Dr. Martinez. "Send anyone off to be killed recently?"

"What?"

"Ari told me," he said as the Eraser, Nudge, and Rapture came in behind him. Fang made Rapture leave his shoes outside though, due to the poop situation. "He told all about how he contacted you-"

"Fang, we don't have time-"

"No, you shut up, Ari," Fang said, stepping passed Angel, who was staring at Max's half-brother in shock, and advanced on his girlfriend's mother. "You lied too. And now Max is out there, on that island, with Royce and Jamie."

"Jamie's alive?" Nudge spoke up from the back of the room. When Ella gave her a look, she quickly said, "Not that I was worried or anything."

Ari frowned. "What? You and…Man, things sure are fucked up around here."

Rapture went over to Fang. "No yelling, Fang."

"Shut up, Rapture." He didn't stop glaring at Dr. Martinez. "God, you had Ari on this ship? You had to have, for him to tell you everything. Did you never stop to think that he could hurt Max? Or Angel? Or anyone? Are you that dumb?"

"Fang, what's going on?" Iggy, who was been dealing with a hangover by lounging in a chair at the table, asked. Gasman was next to him, all of the zombie comics he owned spread out, studying them. He planned to cure the island all on his own. "Why are you bugging out? And what's up with you bringing Ari here?"

"Me?" Fang shook his head. "Ask to doctor. Or should I say the Whitecoat?"

"Fang, you don't understand."

"Fuck you." He went over to the table and slammed himself down into the chair next to Gazzy. Rapture ran over and climbed into his lap. For once, Fang just let him, too concerned with calming himself down to care.

Ella, who had been standing next to her mother, frowned. "What's he talking about? Why have you been helping Ari?"

"Could we all do this later?" Ari asked, still standing by the door. "We have more important things to worry about than Fang's anger issues."

He got a finger for that from Fang, which made Rapture laugh, also holding up his middle finger. Fang would have smiled, if he possessed that ability. Oh, and if he didn't feel like shooting everyone in the room in the head. Well, not everyone. Everyone who was over the age of fifteen.

"Did you finish what I asked you to do?" Ari asked. It took Valencia a moment to realize he was speaking to her.

"Almost," she said, gesturing for him to follow her out of the room. "Come down to my lab. I have most of the vaccinations ready."

After they left the room, Ella following, it was just the flock. As soon as the door was shut, Iggy said, "Alright. Tell us what's going on, Fang. Now. Where's Max? And where have you guys been? The island's gone to hell!"

"You don't think I know that?" He huffed, looking at Rapture. The little boy smiled at Fang, but he didn't return it. "Jamie drugged Max-"

"Are you sure?"

"Nudge, you're about to get kicked out," he said without looking at her. "Anyways, Max and I were being kept in this room together. They have Dylan too. So, Ari came to spring us-"

"Why? I thought you said that he wanted to kill you?" Angel asked as she sat on the table too, though she was on the opposite side from the boys.

"He does. He's sick though. He knows that Dr. Martinez is his best shot of getting a cure. So he's going to help me get Royce and then-"

"You're just going to trust him?"

"I didn't trust him, Angel. Max did. And then I get here and find out that he was a liar."

"Where's Max?" Rapture asked, still looking up at Fang.

"She's on a different island," he told them all. "I left her and Dylan there-"

"Idiot. Why did you leave them?" Gasman looked up finally. "If we're all going to stop this apocalypse before it begins, we're all going to have to stay together."

Nudge finally came to sit down next to Angel. "So if Max is over on that island with Royce and…Jamie, why don't we just go get her?"

"It'd be a waste. Max understands how things work." Fang made Rapture shift his position, but kept the boy in his lap. Rapture leaned back against him, sighing a little bit. "She gets that I have to cure the island."

"She doesn't even know that she's bait," Nudge said.

"Bait?" Angel frowned. "Max is bait?"

"Like a fish!"

"Shhh, Rapture," Nudge said, glancing at him, but quickly turned back to Fang. "Then what do you want us to do?"

He ran a hand over his face. "I don't… Is everyone on this ship? Everyone?"

"Except for all those people I told you about before."

Glancing at Gasman, Fang said, "Alright, Gazzy, this is your time. If Dr. Martinez's cure doesn't work…God I can't believe I'm saying this, but…How do you kill a zombie?"

The Gasman smiled widely, like the Cheshire Cat. Interlacing his fingers, he them popped them all. "Alright. Let's get down to business."

After stitching Dylan up, Royce took us further into the cave, to cages. I resisted of course, I always resist, but Dylan was still weak so even if I did escape, I couldn't leave him. So, now here Dylan and I are, stuck in cages. It was kind of funny, really. After everything in the world that's changed, I still end up in a cage. They say that change is the only constant, but I beg to differ.

"So what exactly do you plan to do with us?"

Royce at the moment was walking passed my cage and, though he did look up, quickly kept moving.

"First tell me where your lover boy is."

"Okay, first of, ew. Second off, where's yours?"

"Ooh, touché." Royce just shook his head before continuing on. The next time he passed, I called out to him again.

"I have to pee."

"Oh, do be serious, Max. What? No more gay jokes in your arsenal? I like those better than you trying to trick me into letting you out."

Dylan, who was slumped over in his cage, glanced up. "What if she really does have to pee? Are you gonna watch her? Because then I'd have to kick your butt."

We both looked at him for a moment before looking back at each other. Royce held up a walkie-talkie to my cage, showing it off for some reason.

"So what? You splurged at Dollar General and got a toy. Big whoop."

He shook his head. "Guess who has the other one, Max. Go on, guess."

"Jamie? Jacob? I don't know."

"Come on, Max," he taunted. I leaned back against my metal cage, frown when it swayed slightly. "You know, don't you? You know exactly who has the walkie-talkie."

I stared into his eyes for a moment. "Ari."

He nodded a little bit. "You know what's funny, Max?"

"What?"

"That's not all I have on him."

"What do you mean?"

"You-"

"Royce! Royce!" Jamie suddenly came running into the back of the cave. "Royce!"

"What?" He turned to look at him. "What do you want?"

Jamie didn't look so good when he got to us. He seemed exhausted. "I…I…"

"Why are you so out of breath? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just…I'm sick for some reason…most have caught something…"

Royce didn't bat an eye. "Is that all?"

"No, no, I came to get you because someone's here."

"Here?"

"Yes. It's Nudge and Gasman."

I frowned. Why would they send those two back for me? And how did they know I was here? Or…Had they even come for me at all?

"Alright then," Royce said, pocketing the walkie-talkie. "Capture them."

"Cap- What?" Jamie looked even more ill, if that was possible.

"Well you didn't think I would do it, did you?" Royce rolled his eyes. "Besides, you had relations with that one, yes?"

"Well, not in that way…relations implies…I mean…"

Dylan, who was still in pain, gave Jamie an exasperated look. "Dude, you freaking taunted Fang about Max and you couldn't even score with a girl younger than you? Come on."

He got a glare. "Oh yeah? Like you have so much experience?"

"I don't flaunt around like I do."

"Silence!" Royce frowned over at Dylan, who really didn't look like he could give two craps. "Go, Jamie. Now."

He looked torn before running off. I leaned back in my cage again, sighing though I was actually very concerned with Gazzy and Nudge's arrival. No need to let Royce know that though.

Royce walked back off after that, never explaining what was so important about Ari having a walkie-talkie. Honestly, I couldn't careless. I was personally more concerned with the fact that two of my flock has somehow made it to this island. I only hoped that the rest were faring well.

"What do we do if the zombie is someone we know? Do we kill it?"

Fang frowned over at Ella. She had come back from being with Ari and Dr. Martinez to find that Gasman was telling them how to kill zeds. Of course she thought that meant that she was a part of mission Kill Zombies. Of course.

"You don't," Fang told her simply.

That had been hours ago, Gazzy's briefing. Now he and Nudge were off to rescue Max. Er, well, at least help. Or something. It was Ari's idea. As much as Fang did not trust him, he did want the two of them gone, if only because that meant that part of the flock was safe. Angel was staying behind, because Fang wanted her with him, so he could personally watch over her. They had lost Angel before; no need to do it again.

"What do you mean? Don't kill them?"

"No," Fang said slowly while continuing to rip apart chairs and desks. They were going from room to room doing this, preparing things to use to destroy the brain of the zombies.

That's what the Gasman's big topic was. Dismember the brain.

Of course, there were other tips and suggestions too. A lot of it was just fictional garbage, but Fang knew that the main idea would be to crush the only power source the zed had, which was the brain. As long as they did that, they were good.

Of course, Gazzy put up a huge fight; he wanted to stay and fight zombies too. Which then made him whine and moan about how they never let him do anything and treat him like a baby as usual. Bleh. Finally, Fang promised that he would take Gazzy with him when they went to cure the rest of the world, but that he had to go with Nudge for the time being.

"Then what, Fang?"

"You," he began, glancing over at where she was standing by the door. "You are going to stay locked up with your mother and a gun. If anyone tries to get to the cure, shoot them."

Ella frowned at him. She had followed Fang from the tactics room to this room, not really sure why. Iggy had gone the other way and Angel hiding in the bedrooms with the other island inhabitants, but she had chosen to go after her half-sister's boyfriend. There was something…about Fang. Foreboding. Foreign. Forbidden. And okay, maybe she had been the one drinking with Iggy earlier. So what? Max wasn't here to find out anyways.

"Why should I stay on the ship?"

"Because, Ella," he started, now done. All the wood and metal would be distributed to older kids on the island, who would then use it to dismember the brain of the zeds. "Max isn't here to make sure that you guys are safe."

She took a step closer to him. As the room was so small, Fang noticed this and took his own step back, thinking that she was coming into the room to help him. When Fang looked at Ella, the most he ever saw was his girlfriend's little sister and Iggy's…whatever they are that day. Nothing else. Never. He was loyal if he was anything.

"So you want to keep me safe?"

"Not really," Fang told her in full honesty.

"W-What?"

"You constantly have been causing friction with Max, yourself, and Nudge, you play Iggy all the time-"

"He cheats on me!"

"And if you didn't like that, you'd break up with him." Fang finally looked at her. "Quite honestly, I've never been that fond of you anyways."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "You're not my type."

"You-"

"Now," Fang said, turning to look at her. "I need you to go to rooms A1-A5 and have them pick through the wood and metal I ripped apart for weapons. Only kids eleven and up though. Make sure. I don't want any little kids getting hurt out here. Oh, and find Angel. Tell her to come and find me, alright?"

"But-"

Fang just pushed passed her and out of the room, now headed to the lab to check on the progress of Ari and Dr. Martinez. When he got to the lab, he immediately did a check for Rapture. He couldn't remember exactly who his little buddy went off with, but knew that he was supposed to be hiding with the really little kids somewhere. He had hoped that someone would show him where, but you never knew.

"Where's Rapture?" Fang asked Ari.

"Who?"

"That little kid."

"Oh, your son?"

"He's not-"

"I had Iggy take him to that diaper room."

"Diaper room?"

"That's what I call the room with the kids under seven."

Fang rolled his eyes. "You do realize that if he was my son, I would have had him when I was ten or eleven, right?"

"Hey, you and Max's life is your life." Ari looked back at the vet, who was bent over a cabinet, looking into a microscope. "Eh, Granny?"

"The two of you would find it best to be serious right now, as this situation is serious," Dr. Martinez told them. "Fang, have you begun-"

"Yeah, the kids are picking their weapons." He leaned against a wall. "You think Nudge and Gasman are there yet?"

"Probably," Ari said. "Royce hasn't contacted me yet though."

"Contacted you how?"

Ari reached into his pocket, pulling out a walkie-talkie, shaking it a little. "Distance shouldn't be messing it up, so I guess everything's okay on their end. He should have at least told me that he caught Max."

"Maybe he hasn't," Fang said, looking around, just to be sure he wasn't going to pummeled by Rapture. The little freak seemed to pop up out of nowhere. "Max is very resource."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the huge boner you have for her."

"You little-"

"Enough." Dr. Martinez finally turned to face them. "Now, Fang, you said that the others will be ready to attack if the cure does not work, right?"

"Yeah." He crossed his arms, now angry with Ari.

"Alright." She turned and grabbed a clipboard before facing him again. "Okay, according to Royce's clipboard that Ari brought me, batch 2-4 will not be curable with what I have. You can recognize them because they are tinted green, have dark eyes, and will smell of rotting flesh. Batch 5 and 7 will be affected, well, hopefully, but 6 is not. Those are almost all the same. They are like, from what Ari told me, Jamie is. Normal looking except for their eyes, which will look dead. Those are the only batches I know of. If worse comes to worse, well, just kill them. Okay?"

He nodded. "What batch are you, Ari?"

"3," he said before looking at the vet, clearly not wanting to dwell on that. "And you'll continue working on trying to cure the other batches?"

"Yes."

"What about batch 1?" Fang asked as he came closer.

"That's Angel's batch." Dr. Martinez shook her head a little bit. "There shouldn't be any of those out there."

"But what if there are?"

"Her cure was…special. It will be too complex to differentiate between hers and others. Just take these." She gestured towards the syringes that laid on the table. Fang made a face.

"You want me to get close enough to inject-"

"It is the only way, Fang."

He looked at Ari. "You ready for this?"

The dying Eraser coughed into his hand before nodding. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"God," the Gasman whined. "We've been walking forever."

"Shhh!"

"But Nudge," he continued to complain. "Shouldn't they have seen us yet? How are we going to capture Jamie if-"

"Would you be quiet?"

So he was…for about another ten minutes. "Nudge, I have to pee."

"God, why did you have to come with me?"

"I don't know," he said, bouncing a little. "I really do have to pee."

"Fine. Go in those bushes over there. That better be all you're doing."

He made a face before heading over there. "Well, don't look!"

"Trust me," she said, turning around. "I'm not."

As he relieved himself, Nudge looked around, listening carefully to hear if anyone was approaching.

"Well, hurry up, Gazzy. We don't have all day," she hissed. "You know, if it wasn't for stupid Fang listening to stupid Ari-"

"Ari's not stupid, Nudge. And don't say anything bad about him. He's back from Hell, you know."

"What?"

"That's what he told me. Remember? Before we left, I was talking to him? He mentioned to me that while he was dead, he was in Hell."

Nudge frowned. "Hell? And you believe him?"

"Don't you?"

"I-"

"Stop right there, Nudge, Gasman."

Gazzy glanced behind him to see Jamie coming upon them. "Sorry. Can't stop the pee."

Nudge groaned, but didn't turn around. "At least let him finish that, Jamie."

So after that was done and Gazzy turned to face the two of them, he said, "You do realize, Jamie, that I am the expert when it comes to zombies. That being said, I'll have to kill you dead you zed."

"Did you really have to rhyme?" Nudge groaned before looking at Jamie. "So what? We're just supposed to go with you? Did you really think that would work?"

He looked horrible, she observed. She wanted to take care of him, suddenly, nurse him back to health. Oh, God. Max would kill her if she knew that she felt that way, even if the person wasn't Jamie. Although, Max had been rather nurse like to Fang in the past. Many times, really.

"Nudge, do not ruin this for me," Gazzy said, frowning at her. This was, after all, his shining moment. He pulled the knife out of his pocket that Fang had given him. He asked for a gun, but was told by everyone that had been in the room no. It wasn't fair! He wasn't a baby!

Nudge crossed her arms as Jamie himself pulled a gun. "You won't shoot me."

"Wanna bet? Now come on."

"Yeah, you know what, Jamie, I do want to bet." She slowly began to advance on him. They were in the middle of the jungle and, as there were so many trees around, he had nowhere to move. Not that he was going to anyways, as he was the one with the gun.

"Stop it, Nudge. I don't want to hurt you," he said, holding back a round of coughs. He had begun to feel rather ill recently, but couldn't figure out why. "Please, just come with me. It'll be okay. I made Royce promise not to hurt you."

"Hurt me? And you think sleeping with Trustie wouldn't hurt me?"

"We're broken up."

"That hurt too."

"You're the one that chose them over me."

"You tried to kill Angel."

"For the good of all of us."

"Oh whatever."

The Gasman groaned, exasperated. "Guys, can we focus? I'm supposed to cut Jamie's brain out of his skull."

Nudge rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Gasman."

Jamie closed his eyes, having trouble regulating his breathing. "Please, would you both just stop talking?"

"You're sick, huh?" Gazzy shook his head. "Just like Ari. You know why, right?"

"I caught a cold or-"

"Nope." Gasman looked down at his knife. "It's because you're a zombie, Jamie. You know what a zombie is?"

"Please just-"

"A zombie isn't a dead person, but the undead. You know what that means? You're rotting. Your flesh, your body, all of it. Ari wants Dr. Martinez to cure him-"

"He what?"

"-but she can't. What you guys don't get is that death can't be avoided. It can be put off, but it'll come for you. You're gonna die now, Jamie. If not from me, then from the fact that you're a zed. You're rotting away."

Jamie opened his eyes, now moving towards the boy. "You little prick! I'm not dying. I am dead! I'm the-"

"Don't touch him," Nudge said, moving to get into Jamie's path. Without the older kids around, she was the leader. That meant that she had to protect Gasman. She put her arms out, pushing Jamie back. Weak and dazed, Jamie fell back on his butt. Quick as ever, Gazzy moved to drag the zombie over to a tree.

"What are you doing?"

"Stand up," the boy ordered the older teen.

"No!"

Jamie tried to hit Gasman with his gun, as he wasn't sure that he could actually stand shooting the little boy, but he was too weak. Gazzy, who was used to the horrible smells that he excreted all on his own, made a face at how rank Jamie was. The smell of his rancid skin was intoxicating in a way that master of atomic farts had never experienced.

Nudge reached over and took the gun from him, quickly emptying the chamber of the handgun, before tossing it.

"Hey," Jamie complained as he was finally forced to stand by his ex-girlfriend. She stretched one of his arms up before removing a pair of handcuffs that Fang found on the ship. Then again, they very well could be the ones that had been used on him. Oh, the irony. She then cuffed one side to one of the tree branches, making sure that there were other branches there to block the cuff from sliding off, the other side to his hand.

"You know, you could have just asked if you wanted to tie me up," Jamie said, trying to be snarky, but his voice just made him sound weak. He was very sick. Nudge almost moved to stroke his stomach, to make him feel better, but then she remembered seeing him that day, ready to hurt Angel. True, Angel pissed Nudge off sometimes, but she would never hurt her. Also, the stench of him was a real turn off… Trustie could have him now.

"Shut up," she said before looking at the Gasman. "Okay, cut out his brain."

"Wait, what?" Jamie began to struggle then, fearful. "You can't do that! Nudge!"

"I'm not," she said, turning. "I can't…watch, Gazzy. You do it."

Finally, his time had come. Suddenly though, he felt very nasty. Looking down at the knife Fang had given him, Gasman realized what he had to do.

"I'm more of a book person," he said, moving back away from Jamie. "You kill him, Nudge."

"What? No! You're the one that was whining about not being able to kill zeds. Here's your chance."

"I can't," he complained.

"What do you mean? Just do it, Gazzy. It's in all those comics and graphic novels that you read."

"That's different." Gasman took an even bigger step back. "I don't want to kill him. I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then what are we supposed to do with him?"

Gazzy shrugged. "I don't know."

Nudge sighed, turning again to look at her ex. "Check his pockets for keys and things. Then we'll go get Max and Dylan."

"You'll never find them," Jamie taunted now that he knew that he wasn't going to be killed. Well, as killed as something that's already dead can be.

"Shut up," Nudge told him before beginning to walk away. "Come on, Gasman. Something stinks. And it's not rotting flesh."

"I want you to stay in this tree, Angel, and don't come out unless you have to. If you do, fly away, okay? Far away. I'll be right there, dealing with those zombies," Fang told her, pointing. They were now in the forest, observing a group of zed that had congregated to…he couldn't really tell what they were doing. Maybe they were talking. Could zombies talk? Ari could, but he always claimed to be a special batch.

"Are you gonna kill them first?"

"Nope," he told her, patting the bag on his back. "I have a bunch of syringes full of the cure. First I have to see if these are the right batch to use the cure on. Can you see them well? Read the clipboard and see if they match the batch we want."

Angel sat up a little bit straighter, feeling important. Max, Nudge, Iggy, nor Gasman had been chosen to help Fang with this. She had. So, ha, in your face Max. It was blatantly obvious who Fang cared for more.

"Mmm…they look like they're batch 5 or 7."

"Perfect. Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good." Fang stared at her for a moment. "Stay here, okay? I'll be back."

"If you need help-"

"I won't."

"But if you do-"

"You leave if I get overwhelmed, alright? I don't want you hurt, not again. The only reason you're out here is because I want to keep an eye on you." He reached out and tentatively patted her on the head. "Every time I take my eye off you, you seem to get hurt. I'm not going to let anything happen to you again."

"Okay," Angel whispered. With that, Fang jumped off the branch, landing on the ground. The zombies, who had not yet heard them, looked up at the sound. Angel settled in on her branch, praying that none of them were Jay. Or, if one of them was, that Fang could cure him. She didn't want her friends hurt, especially not him.

Fang approached cautiously, reaching behind him into his bag, pulling out a syringe. Man, he hated these, but according to his girlfriend's mother, there was no other choice. Looking at these zombies, he was glad that Angel was one of the first batches, because if her flesh really had been rotting, it sure hadn't smelt that way. These guys' smell wasn't overpowering like what batch 2-4 should be, but they still stank. God, even Gasman doesn't smell that bad.

"Come on, come on," he whispered as one of the zombies began to approach. "A little closer, a little-"

"I got you, Fang!"

He frowned as suddenly, on his back for the millionth time, was Rapture. God, that monkey that alcoholics talk about being on their backs are nothing compared to this kid.

"What are d- Whoa!" He jumped back as one of the zombies finally approached. It was a pretty normal looking woman. She would have been hot, had she not been drooling with what Fang could only assume was toxic spit.

"Get off me," Fang yelled, but Rapture just held onto him, now scared. Were those zombies? They didn't look like Ari, who had been nothing, but nice.

"Fang," Angel called from the tree. "Do you need help?"

"No," he yelled, moving his right hand, which held a syringe, up, ready to get the woman, with or without Rapture on him. When she was within distance, he shoved the already prepared needle into the woman and pushing down, filling her body with the cure. Well, the hopeful cure. Whatever was in the syringe caused her to fall to her knees, which Fang appreciated.

"Reach into my bag and give me more syringes," Fang instructed Rapture, who moved to do so. "And what the heck are doing here?"

"I came to find you." Rapture handed off the syringes with the hand that wasn't wrapped around Fang's neck. "I don't like being with the babies."

"We don't have any babies on the island."

"Might as well be babies."

"Then that would make you a-"

"I'm not a baby, I'm not a baby, I'm not a-"

"Okay, okay, shut the fuck up already," Fang commanded as more zeds approached, curious as to why their comrade had been brought to her knees. His son. Stupid Ari. Fang's son would never be this annoying. He'd know to shut the fuck up when he's told. Any kid of Fang's will.

As he began to inject the serum into other zeds, he began to realize that it wasn't working. The people he had injected first were on their knees only for a minute before they were back, running at him.

"Fang, it's not working," Angel called down to him. "Come back!"

Fang had gotten himself into a pickle though. They were surrounding him on all sides. He could always whip out his wings, but Rapture was on his back, pinning them down.

"Buddy? Can you get off me for a second?" He asked, trying not to sound panicked. "I'll pick you right back up, okay?"

Rapture frowned. "No!"

"Rapture! Now! I mean it."

"Why?"

Fang was afraid to touch the zombies, so he was really just spinning in a circle, holding out syringes at them. They seemed to have realized that they couldn't hurt them though.

"Because, Rapture, the zombies are gonna get us."

"In trouble?"

"We very well might be."

Rapture jumped down. Fang expected him to grab onto his jeans or something and wait to be picked up, but instead he ran off, into the crowd of zombies.

"Rapture!"

"Fang, do you need help?" Angel called again. "I can-"

"No," he said, it coming out harsher than he had planned. "Stay where you are, like I told you. Rapture, get your stupid ass-"

"I save the day." He suddenly appeared in the air, his wings out. Great. So he was going to fly on his on. Shrugging his shoulders, Fang opened his own wings, pushing through the crowd of zombies to gain speed before taking to the air also. When he got up there though, he had lost sight of his little follower.

"Rapture," he called. Suddenly, Angel was next to him, her white wings brushing his own. "Do you see Rapture?"

"Um…" She searched frowned the clearing for him. "There he is!"

Rapture was flying low to the ground, leading the zeds on a chase.

"What is he doing?" Angel asked, but Fang shook his head, going after him. "No, Fang, wait!"

"What?"

She had her eyes closed. "I'm in his mind. H-He has something he has to do."

"What?"

"I don't know, he-"

Then, once he was a good distance away from Fang and Angel, Rapture dropped onto the ground.

"Oh, hell," Fang whispered, though he was hesitant. What was he doing?

When all of the zombies had caught up, Rapture closed his eyes and was still for a moment, apparently oblivious to the fact that they were grabbing at him. Suddenly though, his eyes were open. Though they were typically dead looking, they were now alive, glowing from the irises. When he began to yell loudly, Fang moved to act, but Angel held onto his arm.

"He's hurt," Fang mumbled, staring at his little look-a-like. The only difference was his wings, which were a grey color.

"He's doing something."

Just then, a white…blast was the only word for it Fang could think of came from Rapture, knocking into the zombies. Then another. And another.

"They're disintegrating," Fang whispered.

"No," Angel said. "They're breaking apart."

"That's what…never mind."

After another minute of blasts, the zeds were all gone. All that was left was Rapture, who then collapsed onto the ground. Fang rushed to him.

"Ew, he's naked," Angel said, but Fang pulled off his own shirt, wrapping it around the little boy. "His clothes must have disintegrated too."

"Probably," Fang mumbled, looking him over. He seemed fine. "That must be his power."

"I guess so."

Rapture. What did that word mean? Maybe that's why he was named that. Fang looked at Angel.

"We have to get back to the ship and tell Dr. Martinez that her cure didn't work on this batch. Then we're going back out, to find a group that it does work on."

Angel finally landed on the ground next to him. "Is Rapture gonna be okay?"

"He's breathing," Fang said, shifting the little boy in his arms. "That's all we can ask for right now."

"I'm thinking of a color."

"Hints, Max, hints."

"It has three letters-"

"Red?"

"No."

"Tan?"

"No."

"Max, then what? There is no other color that has three letters-"

"Blue, Dylan. The color was blue."

"…Are you joking?"

"What?"

"That's four letters."

"Na-ah."

"B-l-u-e. Blue."

"…Okay. I'm thinking of a name-"

"Max!"

We both sat up. That sounded like Nudge. Dylan shifted in his cage.

"Max," she called out again. "Max, where are you?"

"Nudge?" Dylan yelled. "Hey, Nudge is that you? Nudge, we're in a cave! Can you hear me? Nudge!"

"Hey! Hey, Nudge!" I called back. "We're in here! Nudge! Nudge, come get me out! Come on, Nudge!"

"Max?" Gazzy asked from somewhere. "Is that you?"

"Yes! Come get us! Follow our voices."

"Yeah," Dylan agreed, rattling his cage door. "Hurry, please. Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine except for the fact that Gasman chickened out."

"I did not!"

"Tell us when you get here," I called out to them, frowning at Dylan. The point was for us to talk, not them. "Guys, come on. Can you hear us fine? Do you think that you're close?"

"Yeah. Yeah! I can hear you. Are you here?"

"Yes, yes, I can hear you more too," I answered back to Gasman. "Hurry, Gazzy, come on. Hurry!"

"I…found you!" He was suddenly standing near our cages. "Ha, Nudge, I am good for something!"

"Yeah, yeah," she halfheartedly agreed as she came into our line sight also. "Try those keys you took from Jamie and I'll look around the lab, okay?"

Gazzy got down on his knees to open our cages. Once he figured out which key was correct, Gasman set us both free. I hugged him quickly before joining Nudge in the front of the lab.

"Look at all these vials," she whispered.

"Look for one that says 3253FK," I said, searching them myself. None of them had numbers though, only letters. "What the heck?"

"Ari tricked you, Max. He explained it to us," she said, turning to face me. "There is no vial with that number."

Gazzy started to snicker. I scowled at him.

"What?"

"In cell phone letters, 3253 spells FAKE."

"What?"

"Yeah." He laughed a little bit more before Dylan elbowed him.

"Shut up. Let's get out of here before Royce shows up," he said. "Come on."

"We should take some of these," I said, making sure that the stopper was in all of them. "Nudge has a backpack. "Be careful with them, okay, Nudge?"

She nodded as I started to load her backpack up with them. Then we made our escape, headed down the island and then to the air.

"This was too easy," I mumbled to Dylan. "Do you think? Royce should have been all over us."

"Maybe he's left the island."

"What about Jamie?"

"We tied him up," Nudge told us, apparently eavesdropping. "The island's far away, but you guys should be able to make it. Beware though, we have to go to the ship. The rest of the island is infected."

"Is all of the flock okay?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Thank God," I mumbled, looking up at the sky. "Thank you."