Chapter 37
Max's pov
Less than three minutes after Nudge walked into the surveillance room, she walked back out, announcing, "It's all set up! I just wanted to make sure we were all ready Max. Are we? Do we need to do anything else, because as soon as it sparks they will know? Any last minute things?" she finished. I rolled my eyes at her ability to ask the same question fifty different ways.
I shook my head and held up a finger, telling her to wait. "You guys checked the basement well, right?" I asked Fang, knowing that I hadn't checked it because the door to get in was in Fang's section to check.
Fang shook his head. I nodded and turned, heading for the door. "Then we'd better check it out," I responded. We walked down the stairs in sync, not as quiet as we could be, but still subdued.
The walls had plywood over them, and there was wooden beams half a foot thick holding up the ceiling. The basement was typically storage, but sometimes we would hear noises coming from down here, hinting at something more.
We took our time exploring, and when we found nothing, I called everyone back to the center. The basement wasn't all one open room; it had several dividers separating it. Angel was the last to arrive, and she seemed somewhat pale.
Catching where my thoughts were headed, she shook her head. 'I'm fine,' I heard in my head. I gave her a stern look. 'I'm fine, really,' she thought. After a moment I nodded, knowing she just needed out of there.
"I guess there isn't anything down here," I stated bluntly.
"Thanks Captain Obvious," Iggy jested. I narrowed my eyes, knowing full well that it would have no effect on him.
"Anyhow," I began, "as soon as we send that signal," I stopped speaking abruptly when I heard a slight thump. I looked to Iggy, hoping he wouldn't be staring at the ceiling like he was. If he had heard it, then there was no way I imagined it. His face was turned upward, looking in the direction of the faint noise.
I threw my hands up in the air, holding one finger on each hand up, signaling to the others to be absolutely silent.
The others eyes grew wide. "Iggy?" I whispered, nearly silent. Not even Fang heard me, and he was standing right next to me.
He shook his head. "I think footsteps. Walls are thick, hard to hear anything," he mouthed. I nodded. Taking three deep breathes, I looked around. There were no windows.
I closed my eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink. What had I gotten us into? How stupid had I been, thinking that just because the surveillance room was cleared out we weren't being watched?
A sudden desperate thought struck me. Maybe it was just a group of normal teenagers breaking in to vandalize? It was possible, kids did that all the time, didn't they? And plus, this would be the perfect area. If the kids were local (as local as you get when you live in the desert), then they had to have heard about this place. I'm sure it was talked about, being as secretive as it was they were just bringing it upon themselves. Now that it was abandoned, it would be the perfect place to explore and to sabotage.
I allowed an ounce of relief to flood me before I realized another problem. We had randomly thrown bombs all over the ground up there. Even if this was just as group of teens, they didn't need to get a hold of a bunch of bombs. My eyes snapped open.
"Guys," I whispered, getting everyone's attention. "It might just be some people checking the place out or…" I hesitated to say it aloud, "maybe Itex knows we are here. Even if it is some kids just looking to wreck the place, there are bombs everywhere up there! But if it's Erasers we're trapped."
I was at a loss for what to do. 'Max, it's not kids,' Angel thought to me. A second after she spoke the words, they sunk in. Not kids. We both knew that meant it was Erasers. I nodded, thinking to her that she needed to tell the others.
A moment later, Fang's face hardened. "Nudge?" I whispered every so quietly, asking if she had alerted them in that one word. If not, then this was even worse.
"I didn't do it, I was waiting for your okay," she spoke in an undertone. I took a deep breath and swallowed.
"Then they know we're here," I said. I ran through two plans in my head. In the first, Iggy sat out just in case we needed medical help. If he was available immediately, we would suffer less. In the second option, we all fought. We wouldn't get helped as fast, but we had a better chance of getting out of here. Plan two it is.
I pulled my shoulders back and raised my chin. Looking at every detail of the basement, I noticed a few things. Under the stairs there was a separate storage area. It reeked of damp mold in there, and we wanted nothing to do with it. Now, it gave us the advantage.
I pointed to it, "If we find something heavy, when they come down we can break the stairs," I said. Gazzy's eyes hardened when I said 'when' instead of 'if'. I wasn't going to sugar coat this for them; the odds weren't in our favor.
Iggy nodded. "Iggy, map the place out," I said. He would fight better if he had a basic idea of where everything was. In the few precious seconds before the Erasers were upon us, we had to take advantage. "Fang, get something heavy," I instructed. "Angel, try to get them out. Nudge, Gazzy, you're with me. Find every weapon you can," I ordered. We fanned out, trying to find something to give us the advantage. We hadn't brought much, weapon wise, because we planned to blow it up from the air. We figured that weapons would only weigh us down when we fought the Erasers that were inevitably- we thought- in here. Now I was kicking myself for not bringing everything we could.
Gazzy called my name softly. When I got near enough to him, I saw that he had found a steel gurney. I nodded and we each picked up a side despite the wheels and put it in the center of where the stairs came down from. We wanted no noise, and who knows when these wheels were last greased. When we got it over there- it was relatively heavy- we tipped it on its side. A shelter, if you will. If the Erasers came down with guns, we would have a bit of shelter.
At that moment, I promised myself that no matter what, if the Erasers started shooting then the first gun I got a hold of would take lives. Swallowing deeply, I gave Gazzy a thumb up and continued looking. We found several more tables like that, and lined all but one in their sides, offering some protecting. The last we left on its wheels, with the breaks off, ready to crash into the first Erasers to set foot on the floor.
The footsteps were now more numerous. My breathing was becoming rapid, little breaths, preparing my body to fight. I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins, and knew that I was ready.
Just then, Fang returned with a pipe that was dripping smelly water. I raised my eyebrows, wondering how he had gotten that silently. He had clearly taken it from the piping, as it was dripping water. He handed it to me and turned without a word, running back from where he had come.
Iggy had mapped the place out in his mind and was just returning when Angel's voice entered my mind. 'They know we're down here! They're coming!'
Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge squatted behind the gurneys, ready to attack. I grabbed Iggy's hand and pulled him to the cupboard under the stairs. It would take both of us to break this wood, even if it was slightly rotted through. Just was I was about to open the door, I felt a warm touch to my arm.
I looked, and barely was able to make out Fang's disappearing form. He held a pipe in his hand and a grim smile on his face. I threw open the door to the closet before I had a chance to doubt it and grabbed the pipe like a bat with one hand. With the other, I positioned Iggy's hands on it. When we both had a good grip, I whispered, "Whenever you say 'go'".
I heard the door open, squeaking only slightly. In the dim light I saw Iggy tighten his grip. Following his lead, I readied my arms for impact. At the last second I thought to open the door so we could get out and I heard a halt in footsteps. I winced, knowing I had just given a bit of us away.
Hopefully they would think we were just trying to hide. The steps resumed, and I heard Iggy draw a breath. "Now," he whispered. We swung the pipe simultaneously, and it cracked against the rotting woods.
The impact jarred my elbows, but I had no time to recover. I grabbed Iggy's shirt and dragged him out of the closet just as the closet collapsed. Erasers tumbled down to the cement floor, crushing the ones near the bottom. I allowed a brief grin before I prepared for action again.
There was a massive roar when the Erasers figured out what happened, and they came charging down the stairs with renewed zeal. Just as I rounded the corner, I threw all my weight into the gurney we had left on its wheels, smashing it into the midsection of an Eraser, sending him flying into his fellow mutants.
There were melon like thuds every few seconds, and an Eraser would drop of seemingly no cause. I didn't give myself a chance to ponder it as I ran up to an Eraser.
Jumping at the last second and kicking with my heel, I hit my target. The Eraser fell, nose gushing blood. I slammed my foot onto his head, cracking it onto the cement, knocking him out. I turned in time to dodge the fist that zoomed inches past my temple. I stepped closer to the Eraser throwing the punches and elbowed him right in the chin. He groaned, and glared daggers at me.
Taking a risk, I stepped even closer to him and kneed him in the gut. He coughed, and blood spattered my legs and the shorts I was wearing. I interlocked my fingers and wrapped my hands around the back of his neck. I began to knee him repeatedly, not giving him a chance to recover or escape. Finally, after a good fifteen knees, I put my hand in a fist and smashed it on the top of his head.
I heard an all too familiar groan and turned to see Fang materialize out of thin air, holding a pipe similar to the one I had dropped. Before he fell to his knees, Fang knocked another Eraser in the head, and a dull melon thud rang out.
I realized that Fang had been blending with the surroundings and hitting Erasers with the pipe, which created the sound I had been hearing since the Erasers came down. One of them had gotten smart, and somehow managed to hit him, I gathered. I grinned at his wits, before rushing to help him.
Three Erasers were all taking swings at him, having figured out that he was the cause for many of their fallen comrades. Upon seeing me, he tossed the pipe into the air, and I caught it instantly. I swung it, smacking an Eraser dead in the head and hearing a crack. Either his skull or his neck had just been bashed in, but either way, he was gone.
Fang sprang to his feet and Karate chopped an Eraser's collar bone, breaking it. With his arms disabled, the Eraser couldn't even try to block Fangs kick. He slumped forward.
I turned, allowing Fang to handle the last one. My instinct told me I was in trouble, and I was right. A piece of fallen plywood was in the hands of a bloodied Eraser, creeping towards me. As soon as he knew he was caught, he abandoned all pretenses of silence and charged at me. At the last moment I sidestepped and stepped down hard onto the board, knocking it from his hand. He stumbled forward, and I chopped the back of his neck.
He fell, and I stomped on the base of his neck. In one fluid motion I grabbed the piece of wood and squatted down onto my heel. I spun around, and knocked down several Erasers. I swung the board down onto them, and they too were knocked unconscious. I took a moment to look up, and saw that Gazzy was in trouble.
I turned to run for him, seeing that he was in more than just normal trouble, he was in major trouble. He had about six Erasers, fully morphed, all attacking him at once. Rage more intense than that already filling me up bubbled. These freakin' Erasers had no humanity in them at all!
I charged, only to be stopped at the last second by a cuff to the left side of my face. I stumbled to the side, shocked by the strength of it. Then I whipped around, ready to kill. Gazzy needed help, and I was getting slowed down!
Giving the only immediate help I could, I called out, "Help Gazzy!" in a clear voice. Nudge immediately looked over and seen his predicament. I turned my focus to this sorry fellow. As I turned my gaze back to him, his fist hit me square in the jaw. A perfect uppercut, I noted. Blood filled my mouth, and I blindly kicked my foot out, hoping to find purchase. I hit the outside of his leg, but not as hard as I had intended.
He came back at me, this time hitting my check, square on the barely two-day-old bruise. Opening my mouth to make sure my jaw wasn't re-broken, I sprang forward. Tilting slightly to the side, I aimed in on his head and kicked with all my might.
Just before my foot hit him, he swung his arm on the outside of my leg and wrapped it under my knee. I stumbled as he pulled my leg higher and higher, with him grinning all the while. Finally, he reached his other hand and twisted my leg forcefully.
I cried out as the pop of joints rang out, popping my knee out of place. He dropped me leg, and I temporarily lost my balance, stumbling. My nerves seemed to be in a frenzy, and I couldn't control my leg. I bit my lip, knowing what I had to do. There were still plenty of Erasers left, and the flock couldn't fight them without me, and I couldn't fight them with a knee pulled out of my socket.
I bit my lip, trying to stifle my pain. I drew on a happy memory, of me and Fang in the woods and grabbed my leg.
Pulling and twisting at the same time, I nearly had to stop. The pain was almost too much. I made an animalistic grunt and bent my knee immediately after it was set. The pain would be less if I did this now, and I didn't have time to wait for it to stop. I had just re-set my knee.
The Eraser that had been leering down at me snarled and jumped onto me. My leg still hurt too bad to hold him off with, so I went into defensive mode. I balled up my fist, bent my elbow and braced myself for impact.
The Erasers chest slammed into my elbow and my knuckles were smashed into the floor by his weight. My breath whooshed out of me, and I grunted again. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, he formed a fist and hit me with the side of it.
Pain exploded in my nose, and I didn't even see his next move coming. He hit me again, with the side of his fist, over and over. A hammer fist.
He would raise his fist up not even a half a foot and slammed it back down. There wasn't much momentum behind it, only muscle. He continued hammering on my nose with one hand, and restraining me with the other.
Finally, after several minutes of being pummeled, I knew I had to do something quick. I was going to be knocked unconscious or killed if I didn't do something. Feeling a slight opportunity as the Eraser switched hands; I swallowed and brought my legs up like I was going to wrap them around his waist.
Instead, I positioned my feet right on his hips, where his legs met his torso and were bent slightly out from straddling me, and pushed with all I was worth. Pain shot up my knee that had just been put back in place, but I ignored it. It didn't even compete with my facial pain.
I pushed hard, and by the time the Eraser knew what had happened, he was unable to reach my face. He snarled and morphed into a hell-hound. His face elongated first, and his arms grew wiry hair. And then the claws came out.
He clawed at my abdomen, not enough to rip my guts out, but enough to cause intense pain. And then he slashed at my leg and I felt the fire run up my leg. I yelped and forgot why I was pushing him. I brought my foot up to his face and kicked him square in the snout trying to get him to leave me alone.
He growled and slashed with his claws, missing by barely an inch. I threw my arms back and dragged myself back, trying to stand up. I didn't dare look at my leg, knowing that I wouldn't like what I seen. Just as I thought that his attention had drifted, he snarled and lunged once more.
As soon as he landed on me, he morphed back into a human. Well, a human form, anyway. He grinned, and his teeth were red with blood.
"Welcome to my revenge, bitch," he snarled as he grabbed my hair and pulled it from its ponytail. He wrapped his fingers in it, pulling roughly and leering the whole while.
Confusion flooded me for a brief moment before he slammed my head down onto the cement floor. Stars exploded in front of my eyes and he hooted with laughter. He raised my head again, and this time I knew what was coming.
I sat up slightly and rounded out my shoulders, preparing for another collision. This time, although my head hit, my shoulders took the brunt of the hit. I groaned, hoping he would think that he was still smashing my head on the floor. His grin got bigger and he pulled his hands outward, yanking my hair, and pulled my head up again.
I tried to bring my feet back up to push him off, but he wouldn't have any of that. He shook his hips, not letting my get any purchase, and said, "Not this time Tinkey- Bell."
Just as he smashed my head down, I abandon my attempt at pushing him off and extended my legs as much as I could. If this didn't work, I would be in trouble. I bent my legs at the knee and snapped them onto his back; hitting him on the spinal cord. He howled in pain and all his limbs extended straight out and collapsed onto me.
I shoved him off and kicked him as hard as I could in the back of the neck, breaking it. I looked over to Gazzy and Nudge, not having forgotten why I originally began heading this way.
They were surrounded. Backed into a corner was Gazzy, and Nudge was wildly throwing punches, doing everything she could to keep them from getting to Gazzy. Gazzy was hunched over, holding his side, and his shirt was quickly being saturated with blood. I looked around, and saw Angel too was in trouble, though she was only fighting one at a time. Fang had her behind him, with the only way to get to her to pass him. She would be fine.
It took me a moment to find Iggy, and he seemed to have been trying to get to Gazzy too. He was on the ground, unconscious, getting punched repeatedly. I ran over to the Eraser pummeling him and swiftly kicked him in the back of the head. He turned his head, wondering what had happened, and I kicked him in the face. He keeled over.
I continued in the direction I had been head before I stopped to help Iggy and headed for Nudge and Gazzy. Iggy would be fine, and right now, whether or not they would be was up for debate.
Along the way I grabbed the gurney and wheeled it towards them. Knowing that this could potentially backfire and hurt me instead, I sprinted forward, slamming it into the Erasers backs. They jolted forward, and some fell to the ground. I flipped the heavy gurney onto them, ideally killing them.
Nudge didn't spare me a smile, only continued flailing. Gazzy's face was paper white, and I felt dread flood me. If he didn't get helped now, he would die of blood loss!
Thankfully, the Erasers that were plaguing Nudge turned their attention to me. I knew they would; I had ticked them off more than her, and I was an easy target. They would have to wait to get Nudge because the crowd around her was so thick. I was easy pickings.
They surrounded me and began the attack. I felt myself weakening with every passing second, and knew that I wouldn't last much longer. My leg was bleeding too heavily. I saw Gazzy slump to the floor.
I found myself kicking and punching madly, just as Nudge had done. Finally, a reprieve came. Iggy had revived and was stumbling over. I nearly told him to get out and find some help when I remembered we had no help. We had no bombs stored outside, waiting to be used. They were all with us, and yet we still couldn't use them. The roof would cave in on us if we tried. It wasn't a risk we could take. Instead, I yelled out,
"Iggy, help Gazzy! You two, get out of here!" Iggy looked in my direction, and I saw his eyes. Unseeing ice blue. It was the only way I could describe it. They gave the impression of ice getting shot into your blood.
Good. He bent over and picked up a pipe, most likely the one I had dropped earlier, and ran straight for Gazzy. He shouted the whole time he ran, shouted nonsense, making nothing but noise.
It served as a distraction, and he barreled through several Erasers before he slowed down. Then he swung the pipe madly, and continued to shout out. Erasers dropped around him, and he called out among the gibberish, "Nudge! Get Gazzy out of there!"
The Erasers tried to prevent her from moving at all; coming at her again and again, but eventually she threw Gazzy over her shoulders. Her knees bent to absorb his weight, and she staggered slightly. But she bent her head low and ran. Several furry paws reached out and swiped at her, but she barely seemed to notice them. As she ran, Iggy followed her covering her back and stopping for only a moment to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a bomb, and threw it.
I nearly told him not to, but I knew we were losing. There were six of us, and well over 40 Erasers knocked out on the ground, and more than that still fighting. It hit the ground and blew up.
I dived for a cover I didn't need. The bomb made barely more than a loud noise. I knew that was just a distraction and when I turned I saw Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy fly up the stairs.
Fang knew what that was about too, and he lunged for Angel. The second he touched her, their forms became hazy outlines, barely visible unless you looked close. And they were. Not allowing my shock to register, I pounded my fist against the drywall, and all the Erasers heads turned to me. I dashed up the stairs after Fang and Angel. Any Erasers that followed I kicked until they fell back down the stairs, blocking the only way up to me.
As soon as we all cleared the steps, Fang and Angel became totally visible. Fang was panting and bleeding profusely, as were Angel and I. I waved my hand, telling them to run. They obeyed, and we all took off, but not before I stuffed the rock Fang had under the door to stop it from opening.
I heard banging on it, and as soon as I cleared the door just behind Angel, I saw something arch over my shoulder.
The boom that resonated literally threw me off my feet and flying into the air. I landed in a heap and had enough sense to throw my hands over my head. When the noise finally stopped, the ringing in my ears continued. I looked over my shoulder and saw the hell I grew up in engulfed in flames. A bleak smile spread over my bloodied face.
I lifted my head, and saw Iggy limping from the edge of the fence over to me. He reached his hands out to me and rolled me over. He lithely ran his hands over me and stopped at my leg. He pulled the spare hoodie from his backpack that we had used to camouflage Nudge less than a week ago. He tore it into stripes and gently pulled my shorts up.
He grimaced. "Sorry 'bout that. I wasn't sure if they'd be trailing you so I wanted to kill those bastards before they could get out," he said, concentrating. I shook my head.
"Glad we got 'em. Gazzy?" I asked worriedly, ignoring my own pain.
His jaw clenched. "He got stabbed with something. Not those knifes with poison, because it has stopped bleeding. Mostly. He's bandaged, though. He'll be fine, but we can't fly anywhere. If we get him up too high, he won't have enough oxygen in his blood to breath and will suffocate. Nudge's clawed up pretty bad, but she's taking care of it. She said you ate some fist and needed help," he finished.
I scowled. "I didn't eat fist!" I said indignantly. He rolled his eyes. I was worried about Nudge, but I knew that he wouldn't leave her if she couldn't handle it, so I swallowed my worry.
"Check Angel. Then Fang, I think they're both fine, but just check. Fang especially," I whispered. Fang always tried to tough it out and act like he was fine, even when he wasn't.
Iggy nodded and muttered, "I'll be back."
As he walked away, I realized a new problem. Even if we had gotten out of the actual building, now smoldering behind us, we weren't home free. We couldn't fly, which made us sitting ducks on this flat landscape. Surely someone heard the building explode, and now everyone was after us. The American citizens, for killing 'police officers', the Cops, for killing fellow 'Law enforcement agents' and Itex, because, well, we had escaped.
The terrain for miles was flat and sandy, nowhere in sight to hide.
We needed to move, fast.
A/N. Alright, guys. I have no excuse for not updating, because I had the chapter done. My reason for not posting a week or two ago is this; I have only 12 reviews for the last chapter.
I got 251 people who looked at that chapter alone on the first day it was posted, and only twelve bothered to review. So, I'm going to be a bitch. I will not post until I have either 35 reviews for this chapter, OR twenty reviews for last chpater (8 more) and twenty for this chapter.
If you think I'm being horrible, I am and I know it. I'm sorry about that, I truely am, but I cannot post unless I know if you guys like the direction the story is going. What would be the point of me writing a story that no one liked? So I need to know if you like it, and I know that through reviews. So please, review.
(To the twelve of you who reviewed last chpater: if these wishes are not fufilled in the next week I will personally send you the next chapter as soon as it is done as a thanks. I appreciate your reviews greatly).