Chapter 36
Fang's pov
The sick feeling had reappeared in my stomach, just as it did every time I returned, or thought of returning, to this Hell. I looked upon what used to be my constraints, holding me in this prison.
None of us really wanted to be here: we all hated returning. But we all knew that once we left, we would feel better than if we hadn't returned. So was swallowed our revulsion and landed just outside the fence.
We sat for a moment before Nudge voiced what we were all thinking. "There aren't any Erasers. I mean, they couldn't know that we were coming, so it's not like they could have them all inside waiting, right?" she asked quietly.
I thought about it. Max and I came to the conclusion at the same time, "It's possible," she said.
Gazzy snarled, "Well it won't matter. We'll still get 'em!" he vowed. He was beginning to fight before the battle even began. I nodded my agreement.
Iggy and Gazzy had taken care of the basement last time we were here, blowing it up. This time, we had a grander scheme planned.
"So how do we get in?" Angel asked, not sounding half as scared as she undoubtedly was. The last time she was here, they nearly killed her off from exhaustion. They wanted to dissect her, and would have, if we hadn't came and got her. And that was just this particular school.
"Guess we've got to fly in," I answered. There would be cameras on the roof, no doubt, but there would be cameras everywhere.
Max nodded. "Put some bombs, and move on. Just put them as we go. By the time they catch us, we have to be on our way out. If we just set off one, the rest will follow. No more School, right?" Max assured, looking to Iggy for confirmation.
He nodded stiffly. "We'd best be fast, he said.
We landed on the roof and immediately fanned out, putting bombs as we went. Every second that we weren't swarmed by Erasers surprised me. All of us were surprised, that was for sure, but none of us slowed to question it.
When nothing happened, we ran to the door that lead to the upper floor of the building. The padlock was rusted through, so I grabbed a rock I had put in my pack before we flew up here and bashed the lock. The lock disintegrated, and I threw the rock back in my pack, sure I would need it again.
We were silent as we streaked through the hallways, not stopping as we carelessly laid bombs in our wake. We didn't look in rooms as we went; this was the beginning of experiments section. Everything here was still in a test tube, or wasn't yet created.
Randomly opening doors and throwing bombs in, I kept alert. The flock stayed together, not wanting to split up here. Every memory was more pungent when we were separated.
When I came to the last door in the hallway, I held up my hand. "Cameras are here," I gestured to the door. This was where the security for the second floor was. There would be a guard, but if we took him out, or if he was dozing and hadn't alerted anyone yet, we may be able to get away unnoticed. For now.
Max nodded, not sure what I was doing, but trusting my instincts. This was more than instincts. I had been to this room before. I was going to break us all out, and I came here first, thinking that this room controlled all cameras. I didn't make it all the way before I was caught, and as I was punished, the Eraser told me that I had been stupid. That room had nothing to do with the cameras on the first floor.
I grabbed Nudge's wrist and dragged her with me. She was good with computers and other electronics; maybe she was good with cameras too.
"Cover us," I said. I hoped that there was only one entrance to this room, and if we didn't get interrupted than we may be able to get a few spare minutes before we are found. Max nodded and turned away, scanning the hallway.
As soon as we got into the room, I knew something was wrong. I whipped my hand back, hitting Nudge in the stomach, effectively stopping her. I shook my head vigorously, and scanned the room again. There was no guard, and wires were hanging out of the wall.
"Something's wrong," I breathed, knowing that if we were being monitored, I would be heard anyway. She nodded, and began backing out of the room. I threw a bomb into the center of the floor and turned to walk away. Before I closed the door to that room, I tossed another bomb inside. By the time I got out of the monitoring room, Nudge had explained the situation.
Max's eyes were dark with anger. She nodded. "Downstairs," she whispered, and streaked off towards the elevator. Next to it was a set of rarely used stairs.
Max turned the handle slowly, and then swung the door open with enough force to knock over any erasers that may have been there. The door glided open, and revealed an empty set of stairs.
I didn't know her plan, but she had one. She wouldn't lead us down to where there could be legions of erasers without a plan. As we raced down the stairs, Gazzy tossed bombs after us, ensuring that every last cinder block would crumble. Max didn't bother turning the handle on this door, she just kicked it open. She didn't want to give them any warning that she was coming, as turning the handle would do.
We all were in our fighting stances, and Iggy had bombs already in his hand. He knew his way around, a little, from memory. He knew enough to know that we were about to fight like hell.
Except nobody was waiting for us here either. "This is weird," Gazzy said, sounding worried. We all felt the same. Something was off.
But Max was already running down the hallway, throwing open doors with reckless abandonment of noise. About five doors down, she stopped and turned to us.
"It's empty. All of it, empty!" she shouted. I was about to shush her when her words soaked in. Slowly I walked towards her, looking in every door I passed.
I passed rooms that had drains on the floor, which looked as if they were meant to have to spray it down. I passed rooms that had padded floors, these were meant for training. My mind was reeling as I came to the last door, passing Max. I had been here only once.
The memory flashed vividly through my mind. I was about five, Itex wanted me to kill. They put me in a room with a few emaciated dogs. They were thin and beaten, and let out a pathetic growl as I approached. When I refused to lay a hand on them, an Eraser came in. He told me to kick the dog, or he would kick me.
I refused again, rebelling against a full grown Eraser for the first time. He transformed into his hound form, and growled at me. The message was clear, hurt the dog, or I hurt you. I refused again, and the Eraser pounced. He tore me up, and when an elderly Whitecoat came in and told him to give me one more chance, the Eraser didn't stop. Only the use of a stun gun stopped that Eraser. The next day, I was dragged back, and told to kill the dog. I didn't move, didn't speak, and refused to show them that I was afraid. That was the first time I hid what I felt. When I didn't kill the dog, they did. It was ripped to shreds in front of me, its blood spattered me as it tried to fight back. It didn't have a chance.
The rooms' walls were made of mirrors, so every detail was amplified tenfold. My bile duct raged, and I struggled to hold my last meal. I opened the door, and the room was just as I had remembered.
I remembered the feel of the warm blood soaking my hair, and when I looked into the mirror, I saw my five year old self; scared, weak, with only hints of defiance.
My throat burned for only a second before I was hunched over, retching. Max ran into the room after me, fists curled, ready to fight. When she saw me alone, she understood. We all had memories that would incapacitate us in one way or another. This was one of my many. She said nothing as she walked forward. The glanced at the mirror, and deciding that it was what had triggered the source of this memory, she kicked it. It shattered, leaving a blank wall behind it.
I nodded my gratitude, and tossed a few bombs in, and grabbed her hand. We walked out of the room, and Nudge pointed to another room.
"It looks like an office," she said, pointing to the empty shelves on the walls. The wood was a dark color, not metal, like it would be if it was for lab work.
Max nodded. "I think you're right," she slowly said. "But it's cleared out."
Gazzy opened his mouth. "Maybe because we know where it is," he said. I felt deep lines forming on my face. I didn't like this. I didn't know what was going on, why it was empty. I didn't like not knowing.
Iggy shook his head, "No, we knew where it was when we first got out, and they didn't do anything to cover their tracks."
Gazzy nodded, "True, but we didn't know much back then. I bet they never even thought we would be a threat. They probably thought we were going to be dead soon anyways. Plus, now we know names of the higher ups. The director, Anne, all of them guys, we know all them. If we were to tell someone, back then no one would believe us. Now, people know us. Your blog," he jutted his chin to me, and continued, "and we've been in the news a few times. They might investigate now," Gazzy finished.
Max nodded. It did make sense, but still.
"Alright, we are going to search. Gazzy, Angel, with me. You three, search everything on that side. We've got this one," she said. Nudge was the only one to respond.
Max grabbed Angel's hand and Angel grabbed Gazzy's as they walked into another room. I nodded.
"Be ready, guys," I said. I wasn't convinced we were alone. After years of torture here, I couldn't think of it as safe; couldn't think that nothing here was going to hurt us.
Iggy nodded, and reached out for Nudge's hand for guidance. We crept in near silence down the maze of hallways, checking every room. Nothing was left, not a single sheet of paper, a single scientific instrument. Nothing was left behind.
I cursed as we left the last room. Gazzy was right, that had to be the reason nothing was left. That blew our plan out of the water. Now we wouldn't get this little revenge, nor would we get to instill the fear that the ambushes were supposed to create.
Nudge looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. "We can still do it, you know," she reminded me. And she was right. We would just have to alert Itex of our presence. But now, we would only take care of Erasers, not the equipment or Erasers in training. That would have been a bonus for us and a devastating loss for Itex.
I nodded. "Take it you've got an idea?" I asked her. From her tone of voice, she had some plan cooked up and it was most likely not one that I would understand. She tilted her head.
"Maybe, if there are any wires left in the security rooms. I could send a spark, and chances are that the main Itex building will get a signal telling them. They would want to monitor what happens here. They will know someone is here, and I'd bet that they will send Erasers. By now they probably won't assume anything; they'll be expecting us. I think," she finished uncertainly.
"Well then we'd best go find Max and check," Iggy said. My response was walking back to the hallway. I heard Nudge's quick sure footsteps and Iggy's slower shuffle.
'Are you guys ok?' I thought, hoping it would reach Angel. I knew it would, she was surely listening for danger.
'Fine. And empty, there's nothing here. How about you guys?' she mentally asked.
'Same. Were coming. Meet us by the stairs,' I thought. That was about midway between where we were. Without saying anything I felt that she was fine.
Minutes later we arrived at the stairs. Max and her gang weren't there yet, so I leaned against the stairway door.
"Nudge, tell Max what you got?" I asked her. She nodded vigorously. Iggy rolled his neck from side to side, cracking it.
"It'll feel good to off this place," he said. I nodded my assent, even thought he wouldn't be able to see it. "I mean, they still have possible plants in Florida, New York, Virginia, and," he paused, "I think that's it." He looked to Nudge for confirmation.
As they discussed where other possible locations could be, I focused on Max. Now was not the time, not at all, but I couldn't get her out of my mind. I kept seeing her turning away from us, hiding her face. I knew she was humiliated about how it looked, as anyone would have been. The swelling had gone down, but the cuts on her lips weren't healing. Not the not healing like the school poisoned her so she isn't healing, but the not healing because she keeps breaking them open kind of not healing. The bruises had faded from purple and black to a dark green. She didn't like any of us looking at her, even when I still saw the same Max.
Even when she was beaten, I saw the same Max that I always seen when I looked at her. No matter what was marring her face, she still looked… well, beautiful. Even in her most down times, she had always been pretty. Now was no different, although of course I didn't tell her this.
When she finally came into view down the hallway, relief flooded me. I hadn't realized how worried I was about all of them until I finally saw them. That was when I saw the look on Angel's face.
She looked livid. Nudge opened her mouth beside me, surely to ask the same thing as me. Max shook her head, indicating that we were not to ask. Nudge slowly closed her mouth, looking uncertain. She had really matured lately, enough so that she could control her verbal diarrhea.
I noticed Gazzy's face next, the tight lines and stiff angles that were rarely present, as sign of anger. I noticed how his knuckles were white on Angel's hand. Max walked slightly behind them, on hand on each of their backs. Her face, too, is tight.
I am instantly on alert. Did they find something? Or were we not alone, as we suspected?
"We found something," she said. Silence followed her statement. None of us really wanted to know, yet we were dying to. She seemed to sense this, like she usually does, and continued. "We found some rats. Well, they used to be rats. They are all in one of the testing rooms. Dead. Just skeletons are left now," she finished. She didn't have to say it. We all knew that the rats were probably lab rats and were left for dead. There were no accidental rats here; it was too clean and precise. These were left because of their ability to be replaced without difficulty. I thought of the rats, slowly withering away. They were tested, and thrown away when they were no longer needed. Just like us.
Fury clouded me, over simple rats. Did rats have feelings? I wasn't sure. But the Whitecoats didn't know either, and they wouldn't have cared if they did.
I gently elbowed Nudge, and she jolted. When she looked to glare, she realized I wanted her to start talking. Break the silence.
She told them about how she planned to alert Itex to us being here, and everyone agreed. Gazzy felt that it would be better to just blow the place up, when the Erasers came blow them up too, destroying every last ash of this hell. I liked his idea, but it had some major flaws.
So, we sent Nudge to work.
A/N. Alrighty, school started for me. that is why it took so long (sorta. other stuff happened, but i'm sure you dont care so...). but here this is. i just want to tell you, that the next chpater will be another ambush. i'm sorry, but there will be action. lots of it, i just cant NOT have action. i love it, and expicially since i got super inspired to put... nevermind. there will be action, lets just go with that.
Thanks for editing to Miz636. When miromyth has finished, i will post the even more refined version. Thanks also for reviews, please review again.
Annonomus reviewers:
Samantha Windz- I haven't forgotten that they are super strong, don't worry. But at the same time, you have to think that most of the evil's that they are fighting are also uber strong. They have more muscle, and a different build, as do the erasers. And thanks for the author comment!
girludontknow- Sorry, I know that by this chpater, i kinda ruined the part about the loss of other avian humans. Sorry again, but i didnt think it was... fitting. Not for this anyhow, not for what i have planned next chapter. you will see, they dont have time to worry about others next chapter. oh shit, i'm beginning to give stuff away... thanks for reviewing!
Keri-I have gotten that comment from several people, so i think that is what i will be doing. sorta skimming, but sorta in depth. in between. thanks!
goldenwingchick- NO! Omega will never fall for max, it is WAY ooc! in the third book, he doesnt really have emotions, and is perfectly willing to kill her. that wont suddenly change, ever. not im my book. hopefully not in JP's either... Omega will come back into the story later, with a large part. as will several other possibly forgotten characters....
i think thats it for reveiws that i can respond to... most dont leave places for me to comment. thanks for the reveiws tho!