Chapter 37- Kalgoorlie
Max's POV
"This is a bad idea," I hissed to Fang, scanning the area around me for any signs of danger.
"You'll do fine," he assured me with a smirk.
I glared at him, but he ignored me.
"We've been caught thousands of times, but we still manage to escape. I promise nothing will happen to you," he said, grabbing my hand and rubbing soothing circles into the back of it.
"So what- I just walk in there with this ridiculous lab coat"- I pointed to the white coat I was wearing and grimaced- "and pretend like I'm some fancy scientist? And then I grab the information and we escape? Great plan, Fang," I said sarcastically.
"Iggy will be out the back, ready if you need extra firepower. If you call out to him, he'll know what to do. I'm going to be watching over the front. You'll be fine. I trust you," he said, pulling me closer to him with his arm.
I sighed and studied the large building in front of us. It had taken a while to get to Kalgoorlie, but we finally made it and now we were planning to infiltrate it. I just knew something was going to go wrong. Nothing ever went right for us.
"Max," Fang whispered, getting my attention by grabbing my face softly and forcing me to face him. "I won't let them capture you. Just say the word, and I'll be in there after you. I will not let them take you away from me."
I nodded my head and threw my arms around him in a giant hug. His hands wrapped around my waist and he pulled me tight against him. I breathed in his scent and felt safe for the first time in ages. He lifted me up off the ground and pulled me against him. I gave out a startled cry and wrapped my legs around his waist. He held onto my legs and grinned at me. Then he pressed his lips to mine and we stood there, kissing. Well, he was standing, I was clutching onto him.
When we finally pulled apart, I felt brave enough to enter the building. Fang let me down and we grinned at each other. Then my face grew serious as I readied myself to enter the foreboding building.
"You'll be fine," he said one last time.
I nodded and with determination, marched purposefully towards the gate entrance.
The security guard, being quite dopey, allowed me through the gates without a second glance. I had to admit, I looked a lot older in my white lab coat, but I didn't know if the scientists inside would be so easily fooled. They had to be smarter than the guard. Well, that's what I thought. You never knew in a place like this.
I followed the path to the huge sliding doors and entered the building.
So far, so good.
I navigated the corridors and fortunately didn't run into anyone. I didn't really know where I was going, so I opted for peeking into random important looking rooms. It was strange that no one had noticed me yet.
"Are you new?" a voice said behind me.
I tensed and turned. Why did I have to jinx myself?
"Yeah?" I said nervously.
The woman had a big smile on her face. Huh. Maybe Australian scientists were nicer than American ones. Or maybe scientists were nice to other scientists. I mean. They are human beings, right?
"Where are you headed?" she asked sweetly.
"I was looking for the place where you keep your recombinant files," I said, kicking into survival mode (a.k.a. liar mode).
"Sure, I'll show you the way."
Okay, this is really weird, I thought as I followed the woman down the corridor, watching out for anything strange. Why didn't anyone suspect me? Why was I getting away with this? I should have been running for my life right about now.
I decided right then that I liked Australia. There were fewer maniacs. Well, that's what I presumed.
"This is where we keep all our files. The more recent ones are on the computer. Do you need any help?" the woman asked pleasantly.
O-kaaaaaaay, things just got a whole lot weirder.
"No, I'll be fine, thanks," I said, using as much charm as I could muster.
"Okay, just call me if you need any help," she said, leaving the room.
I stood, frozen, for a moment and then started laughing quietly. There had to be a catch! I was alone in the room full of files and important looking computers! What on earth was going on? What had I done to get this lucky!
Without any more hesitations, I headed to a computer and started work. I typed as many search words as I could think of and finally came up with some stuff that related to us.
It read:
HUMAN-BIRD RECOMBINANTSExperiment N88034gnh (Monique/ Nudge) is being held in the Arizona Itex lab. Her memory has been restored for convenience and she is currently being tested.
I didn't have to read any further. They had Nudge in America. And her memories had been restored! So we had to get her. But first was the issue of Angel and Gazzy. I hastily printed the info off and then searched for Angel and Gazzy's names.
HUMAN-BIRD RECOMBINANTSI scanned the writing and came to what I was looking for.
Location: 18 Seagull Road, Perth, Australia.
What was wrong with this place? Was this all a trap? Why would they give me all the answers like this? There had to be something wrong. I quickly wrote down the address and pocketed it. I stood up, arranged everything so it looked like no one had ever been on the computer and stealthily made my way over to the door.
I looked around the corner, expecting a swarm of Flyboys to be waiting.
Ha, guess what, I was right.
Standing very quietly and in half hidden positions were Flyboys and a number of scientists. I could see the woman who had let me in at the front. How had she known? They were obviously waiting to ambush me. So how could I get out?
My eyes swept the file room, but there were no windows. None at all. Why hadn't I noticed that before?
I was starting to panic, so I took deep breaths and thought over things sensibly.
It seemed like the only way out was through the Flyboys. I glanced up at the ceiling and noted that it was pretty high up. Possibly high enough for me to stretch my wings.
Without thinking it through too much (not at all, actually), I started running out of the room and down the hallway. It was such a shock to the waiting Flyboys and scientists that it took them a minute to react. I jumped into the air and quickly snapped open my wings. I pushed with all my might and sailed over the top of them, clipping a few in the head. That's when the shooting started.
I ducked and weaved as much as the confined space would let me, and I was lucky enough to escape getting hit. Within seconds I was out of range and headed towards the back door. Unfortunately the Flyboys were quick to follow.
I put on a burst of speed, nearly decapitated myself, and flew through the outside doors.
"Iggy!" I yelled, warning him about the approaching storm.
I saw him fly out from behind a nearby stand of trees, well stocked with firepower.
Before I could even blink, there was a searing pain in my right wing. I cried out in pain and stopped flapping. I immediately crashed to the ground.
My head hit the ground with a sharp crack and everything went dark.
Fang's POV
"Iggy!" Fang heard Max yell.
Uh-oh. That couldn't be good.
Without hesitation, he was flying towards the back of the Itex building in search of Max. He needed to make sure she was all right.
Within minutes he was at the back. A swarm of Flyboys were racing towards a crumpled figure on the floor a while away. Iggy was bombarding them with bombs.
He squinted at the crumpled form and gasped. Max was unconscious, surrounded by blood. The Flyboys would reach her at any moment. And if they didn't, Iggy was sure to hit her with a bomb.
Blocking out the sounds of explosions and the alarms, he dived down to get Max.
He reached her quickly enough and crouched down next to her. He scooped her into his arms and drew her close against him.
He jumped into the air just as the Flyboys reached him. He kicked one in the face, causing it to topple backwards.
Soon enough he was high in the air. Signalling to Iggy with a shout, he started flying away from the wreckage.
He really hoped Max would be all right.
A/N: It was a bit fast and not very detailed, but I figured you'd want an update sometime this year. Lol.