Chapter Twelve: Escape and Find and New Path

Just as Max and I are about to step out of the cage, Angel pulls us back. We stare at her in confusion and annoyance. She points outside of the cage, so I look around. That's when everyone noticed the guns that are pointed at the cage. I'm taking a guess but I think those motion sensors on the ground are there to set the guns off. I look up and sure enough, there are motion sensors there too. I look over to Angel and raise an eyebrow.

Um… Jump over the ground sensors, but under the higher ones? I have taken care of the camera people and the Erasers outside, but guns and motion sensors? Can't do anything about them, sorry.

I sigh, but I have to nod. There has to be a way out of this cage! I look around the cage and suddenly see a small gap in the bars that's larger than the rest and just big enough for skinny bird-kids on the other side. I look outside of the cage and see no motion detectors or guns on that side! I grab Angel, turn her, and point to the little gap. She smiles and nods before her face goes blank meaning she is talking to everyone else in their heads.

I go to the gap and just manage to squeeze through it without touching the bars. Everyone else follows with Max and Angel in the lead. Now that we are out of the cage, we notice another door on our side of the room. We rush over to it, open it, and I look around on the other side. It's a hallway. We all go into the hallway and see Erasers on either side of the door, knocked out. Angel's doing. We start rushing to the right because Angel points that way. We rush past rooms, but none of us take even a glance into them because we are trying to get out of here as fast as possible.

We get to a certain place in a hallway and suddenly Angel stops and points up. We all look and see the vent we used before. I fly up, with everyone else following. Once we are hovering above the building and thinking about if we should destroy it somehow, Max II and her Eraser friends come along to play. Aw great, time for some fun.

The moment we see all of them, we all attack without a second thought. Kicking and punching them as hard as we can. Our group ducks and dodges so easily that the Erasers have no chance to hit us. It is actually pretty funny (though I'm not laughing) until they decide they have had enough of this and bring out guns! Uh-oh, this isn't going to be good.

We all freeze for one quick moment and then Fang kicks a gun out of the hand of an Eraser. He grabs the gun, turns the safety off, and shoots down five Erasers before anyone else moves. The rest of my Flock and I kick guns from the Erasers without thinking, even me, which shows that I wasn't thinking because I hate guns, and turn safety off, but don't fire yet. Max and her Flock follow suit because Icarus, who had been holding onto Iggy's belt, copies what Iggy did.

All of us stand in a circle, our backs to each other. We all point our guns out at the Erasers. With a nod, we all start to shoot at the Erasers, as fast as possible. We only leave the circle to get fresh guns from the dead Erasers, and even then we only do it one at a time. After what feels like a day, we have killed all of the Erasers. Max II looks furious.

"You killed every Eraser on this branch of Itex! How could you freaks kill the main defense we have?! What did those Erasers do to you that was so bad that you felt you had to kill them?!?! Just get out of here!" She isn't just furious, she's frightened.

I go over to Iggy and whisper in his ear, "Do you and Gazzy have enough big bombs to destroy this building?" He has an evil look on his face while he nods. "Give two to each of us without Max II noticing. Once we are far enough away, we can throw them down and watch a show, or, at least, most of us can." As I finished, he slips two good size bombs into my pockets.

As we fly away, he and Gazzy give bombs to everyone else, telling Max's Flock how to work them. By the time we are five hundred feet away and five hundred yards up from the clearing, we are all ready to throw. Max and I are next to each other as everyone looks to us for the signal to throw. Max nods at me, giving me the honors.

"Ready?" Everyone turns on their bombs and then nods. "Throw!" We all throw our bombs right at the Itex building. "3…2…1…" BOOM!!!! We all watch – except for Iggy and Icarus who listen and feel – as the building bursts into red and orange flames, burning up this branch of Itex.

As we watch, enjoying the sight, sprinklers suddenly come up out of the ground and start letting out water. The good thing is that the water from the sprinklers doesn't go on the building. They're just there to keep the trees from catching fire, or at least, that's what they want us to think. I guess I'm right because suddenly the fire is out and water is coming form the ruins of the Itex building. I guess the sprinklers outside activated the ones inside and they put out the fire, but too late to save the building.

I motion for everyone to follow me away form the Itex building. I am quite surprised right now because not only does my Flock follow me without question but Max's does too. Before they used to as Max for permission before doing anything. This could mean many things but I hope it means they have earned a new respect for my Flock and me.

We all fly towards Weston and I watch the swamplands fly fast underneath me. I know I want out of here! I really don't want to come to this swamp again. I don't know where or what we are doing, but getting away from South Florida sounds great right now.

Max? Tomorrow is Gazzy's Birthday. We should do something for him. I know we are on the run and all again, but it's his 9th birthday!

Okay Angel. I get the point. I'll talk to Fang and Max about it everyone, that includes you, is asleep.

Yay! Thanks Max!

Sometimes I do too much for these kids. Well, either way, they earn it. Hm, maybe Total can give us a good place to go. I look around to see who has Total and then realize I haven't seen him since we were at Max's house and I was unconscious.

"Hey, guys, where's Total?" My Flock starts looking around wildly and suddenly, almost as if they hadn't realized he was gone like I had. That's when I see Max and her Flock all have guilty looks on their faces. "Max? Where's Total, our dog?"

She reluctantly replies, "We left him at our house. We stole him from you while mind-controlled. I think he's in the basement lock up and just being given a little food and water. At least… that's what we gave him before we left, but I don't know what our parents will do. We kind of were forced to put something on your backs so that you wouldn't notice he was gone until he popped into your heads with a normal thought. We are really, really sorry."

By the time she's done, her entire Flock looks sad and are nodding in agreement with the last statement. I realize she means all of that and I know it wasn't her fault. I look into the eyes of everyone in my Flock and see that they all forgive them just as I have. I also see that they all want Total back as soon as possible, no matter what it takes.

"We all forgive you. We just want Total back." They still look very sad and guilty. Wait a second, she said she thinks Total is still at their house. Does that mean he is going to be moved somewhere? "What did you mean by you think he's at your house still? Do you mean he is going to be moved somewhere else?" She can only nod because of her guilt. They have Total! Total! "Where…Is… He!?!?"

"I…I don't know! They told us they would come to get him sometime and take him…I don't know where! I think I saw a name though, but I don't remember what it was, so don't hurt my Flock or me!" She's scared as well as guilty. I guess she really has no idea, except…

Angel! Look into her memory and try to see where they came from or a name of some kind!

There's a pause before she responds …Canada? That's weird, but I think its Alberta, Canada.

"I think we're off to Alberta, Canada everyone!" They all seem shocked for a minute and then look at Angel as everything clicks.

"Sweet." "Cool." "Okay, I guess."

We fly off towards our new destination, and Total.

I might be a little slower in updating because I've run out of chapters! I'm going to be writing as much as I can, but if I don't update until the middle of the week, you now know why.

Thank you DalDal1, Wings are me17, and STR97 for actually reviewing on chapter 11. I'm glad you liked it.

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Thanks everyone who reads and even more to everyone who reviews!

Edited: 10/10/09