8
Roland ter Bocht smiled. Today was the day. I'll get them today. The flock had led him straight to the wretched kid last time they were in New York. After killing his son, Type 26-A had left with her "family" to go to Florida. That's where he had told Type 31 to go. All it took after that was a shot to the head, and life was made easier. She can't stop her destiny.
Looking through his heat sensor, he saw them. All six members of the flock, Types 26-A through 31, assembled here in the subway system of New York. And they were tired. Perfect. After flying for almost a full day to reach the city, along with fighting off the small group of Erasers he had sent to find them, they would fall easily.
Roland stood from his hiding spot in the alleyway and walked casually into the subway entrance, taking no notice of the "CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY" sign posted above the arch. He had already memorized the route to the crash site just by looking at the maps his Erasers had sent him. Down the south tunnel, take a right through the first door, down east tunnel, a left, and up the south tunnel about one hundred feet. And he was there.
So was the flock. Roland pulled a small handgun from his pocket as the flock turned and stared at him, anger and fear filling their eyes. "Hello, Section 2-A."
Well, I sure as hell didn't know what "Section 2-A" meant, but Jeb had a handgun, and he was alone. Which meant we had an advantage. I gently put Nudge on the ground and lay her head on a smooth piece of concrete, then stood up and braced myself, side-by-side with Fang. "Do you know anything about this, Jeb?" I shouted.
Then something strange happened. Jeb Batchelder pulled the gun up and aimed it straight at Gazzy. "Jeb? Oh right, I remember him."
Woah. Okay, so Jeb had to try and remember himself? "What are you talking about? Put the gun down, Jeb!" I unfurled my wings and the flock followed along. "Put the gun down...or we'll kill you."
"He told me you might do something like this." Jeb held the gun firm and pulled the safety trigger. Now he was truly ready to kill. "You would really watch Type 30 die, just to kill me?"
Of course I still didn't know what he meant by Type 30, but I realized he had a horrible point. That's not the Jeb you used to know, the Voice said softly in my head. In my mind I told it that I knew that Jeb was long since gone. This was a new Jeb. But the Voice had something else to say. That's not the Jeb you've ever known. Well this was certainly mind-wracking.
Nevertheless, I knew that whether this was Jeb or not, I couldn't let him kill any member of my flock, even if it meant getting revenge. I waved my arm so the flock could see, now that I was in front, and we all closed our wings simultaneously. "Jeb, or whoever you are, what do you want?"
Jeb pulled the handgun towards Fang this time. "I want you, Type 26-A." And he pulled the trigger.
Okay, so it wasn't a "killing" handgun, but instead a handgun filled with sedative darts. Fang gasped for a second, then fell forward with a small dart embedded in his neck. I let out a yell of rage and leapt at Jeb, ready to do anything necessary to tear him to shreds. But he was too quick, and before I had moved more than a few feet, I heard a whoosh sound and felt a small needle pierce my neck. My knees suddenly felt like jelly, and I crumpled to the ground without a sound. As I was falling unconscious, I heard the flock all around me, fighting off what sounded like Erasers that must've just shown up. I figured there was no chance with Fang and I out, but decided to pray for them anyway with my last bit of strength. Um...God? Please don't let us die. Not yet.
End of Part 1