We were flying again, but longer. We were tracking a train to hop onto so we could get to Virginia. Yeah. Virginia. Turns out if you backtrack DNA samples and blood tests, you can find where your birth parents were born. And that was Virginia. Washington D.C. to be exact.

"I don't see the train!" Speck called over the wind. We now had a more secure system just in case she fell now. She hooked her backpack straps to mine, and tied the remaining strap things in a knot, and I was holding her for extra measure. It was like a baby carrier but for large children.

I dipped a little bit lower to get out of the line of clouds, searching for the tracks. All I could see was flat nothingness. A small town here or there, but no train.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked. We did a search for possible ways to get to Virginia without flying by plane, and the closest thing we could get to was by taking a train to Chicago, then hopping a couple more trains to get to Virginia. It was a little bit of a detour, but it was better than carrying this sack of potatoes around. She was quite heavy. Gotta lean her off the bread crusts some more.

"I'm sure," she crossed her arms. I was starting to see more of her personality now. She wasn't just the small kid in the cage next to me anymore. She was spunky, had a bit of an attitude, and tried to protect me to the best of her extent. But all in all, she was just a kid. With a knife. And with a brain that can hack into any server you can imagine. I wondered what she would've been if she weren't mutated.

With my head in the clouds, literally, as I could only see white, I didn't see what was flying below me. Speck slapped my hands to ask me what those things were, so I went even lower. I gasped.

It was a swarm of flying Erasers. No wait, robots. Or, both? It was weird. They were in a formation, buzzing, no, it was more like humming, and they were headed straight towards us.

"What the h-" a bullet barely missed me and Speck screamed. And with that, the flying robot army was upon us. Speck screamed again as even more bullets seared past us. I clung to her, feeling a couple raking my skin. I couldn't defend myself like this. I couldn't defend her.

"Hold on!" I shouted, tucking my wings in as we fell straight down like a rock. Speck shrieked, turning and holding onto me as tight as possible. The robot things weren't fast enough. They sputtered and ran into each other before dropping after us. Wind roared in my ears as I covered Speck's face with my fingers. Free fall was usually a fun sensation you get during a roller coaster ride. But this wasn't fun at all. I knew this because I had to time it right. If I didn't unfurl my wings quick enough, we would go splat. The ground grew at a rapid pace; Speck's screams faded into the rushing air. I had to open my eyes.

We were closer to the ground now, and I was able to spot out some large cacti. But we weren't close enough. Speck screamed in my ear, "Amber!"

The ground grew more. I was starting to see more detail on the ground, the small bushes and plants were easier to see. "Amber!"

I could now see some rodents scurrying off, anticipating our demise as we hurtled even closer- "Amber! Amber!"

I could see ant hills, scurrying off to fetch food for their quee- "AMBER! AMBER!"

I unfurled them at last second, wafting up sand into my eyes as I tried to level myself out along the earth. My wings angled just perfectly, but if felt like I ripped them at the sudden unfurling. I winced as I powered through, beating my way parallel to the ground. A sickening crash happened behind me and I glanced back to see the robot things crashing down, some exploding shards and scrap metal. Some even exploded bits of fur and blood.

"Gross gross gross!" Speck screamed, slapping the bits and pieces away as quickly as possible. Some were able to avoid their demise, but I was still determined. My ear perked up to the sound of something honking. No, that wasn't honking, that was-

"The train!" I shouted. It was nearby. All I had to do was get there without these things trailing us. I couldn't think of anything. All I could think of was keeping Speck safe. I shook my head. There was no doubt about it.

With another beat of my wings, I darted up, higher to spot the train. There! I could see it just a mile away, blaring its whistle and spewing smoke. More bullets rained from the sky, indicating they were above me now. I slammed my wings forward, stopping myself at the last second and almost losing Speck in the process, then went the opposite direction. More crunching metal was heard. They weren't fast enough. But I was sure they were as fast as this train.

"Amber!" Speck cried out as I aimed towards the train again. She stared over my shoulder at the things, trying to make sense of them. They had to be from ITex, but it seemed weird. Why robots? Why not regular Erasers? They hand plenty back in New Mexico. Was this another round of their supposed attempt at new grunts?

A sharp pain entered my side and I yelped, my hand flying to it. Something liquid-y spilled from it, and Speck stared at it in horror. I was hit. And I was bleeding. Crap! I angled myself even lower, reaching up with the train and trying to look for an open car. All of them were closed, no windows, which meant that it was just cargo, no passengers. Good, now all I have to do... I started untying Speck from myself.

"Amber!" she shrieked, still clinging to me. "What are you doing?" Another bullet shot past us, nearly hitting her.

"Trust me!" I finally untied her, and reached for the backpack hook. She stared up at me with wide eyes as I unlatched it, her thin arms squeezing me to no end. "When I say, let go, you let go!"

"What?" she screamed. "Are you crazy?"
"Just do it!" I glared at her. "I have to lose these guys and I'm not going to risk your life while doing it!"

"Oh, and this is not risking my life how-"

"Let go!" I screamed, almost a yard away from the train.

She did as she was told, screaming as she tumbled down, grasping at the air until she landed straight in an open bed of hay. Her body got wedged just perfectly between two big barrels and she opened her eyes to fist bump the air. She yelled, elated, until she pointed up at me with wide eyes and shouted, "Amber! Watch out!"

One of them barreled right into me, making me lose my balance in the air. I tumbled, almost crashing down against the train's side before gaining height at the last second. A few of them crashed into it, leaving sparks as I flew out of their range. But there were more. A lot more. At least ten. I glanced back at them as I held my side. I could do another dive, but I couldn't hurt my wings again. If I did, I would surely go splat. So instead, I dove down towards the front of the train. I didn't bother to hide myself. All I wanted was to get rid of these guys. I dove at the last second and the front left of the train nicked my foot, making me wince as I flew alongside it. I heard a big crunch, then another crunch, and then a crash as three of them got plowed over. At first I was worried they would derail it, but it seemed okay. I tried another tactic as the remainder tailed me. I dove down at the last second, straight at the side of the train, then shot up as hard as I could. The side grazed me, making me catch my breath as I went towards the front again. Four more down. Their bits and pieces clanked across the ground as the train kept going.

Once I aimed down towards the front again, a blow from one of them caught my chest, and I hurtled backwards towards the ground. I heard a muffled cry in the wind as I scrambled for breath. Instead, I landed hard on the roof of a train car, grappling for something to hold onto. Instead, I tumbled back, the wind against me now as I struggled to grab hold of something. A felt a crack in my hand, then my elbow, which made me shriek and stop trying. I hit my head, my side, everything hurt as I struggled to stay on the train. I finally reached with my other hand and grabbed hold of something, and I gave myself a little cheer in response. But once I thought that, a large creature landed in front of me and glared at me.

Its eyes were laser red, and had the motions just of a robot. But it looked like an Eraser; skin, fangs, and everything. I gasped as it pressed a boot on my fingers holding on. I shouted at it, trying to pull myself closer to it to fight, but the wind again picked me up and I was holding on by my fingers. No! I was not going to let this thing-
"Aaah!" a sickening crack hit the robot over the head, making it crumple at the knees. I breathed heavily at Speck holding a large metal rod over her head. She quickly pulled me back onto the train and I noticed that we were on the last car. Thank god I held on. I turned to give Speck a hug, when I heard their buzzing (humming?) noise again. I gasped as the remaining two aimed their guns at us, well, they were actually flame throwers attached to their arms. I ducked at the last second and Speck pulled me into the car. I felt the heat lick me as Speck slammed the door shut.

"We should be safe-" but as soon as she said that the door busted in, robot flamethrower guys in tow. How in the world do we defeat them? I quickly looked around and saw a row of cans labelled: KEEP AWAY FROM HEAT. Perfect.

"Speck! Help me with this!" I grabbed one, rolled it over and kicked it towards them. Speck kicked another one just as they started to flame it up. Big mistake.

The blast was enough to throw me off my feet, but I held onto Speck as tight as possible as the explosion hurtled us towards the front of the car. I lost consciousness for a second, but as soon as I opened my eyes, I stared in awe at the broken half of the car we still managed to stay on. The back half was gone, as if somebody blew a hole in it. We did that. And there was no robot in sight. Wind blew through our hair, tousling mine the most as we stared at the train tracks disappearing in the distance.

I adjusted my position and let go of Speck, pain still registering for me but faint at the moment, and made sure I kept towards the front of the car. Speck was in much shock as I was, holding onto the handle of the other door I didn't see before. Her chest heaved:

"We are not flying again."