The Angel Experience
By Holly-Batali
Disclaimer: All credit for everything but Kat goes to James Patterson, and again, if I make mistakes with any Mandarin tone marks or Latin endings, I apologize. Formal enough?
Authors Note: I should probably put this on the end, and I will, but some of you might not read it. So, with that in mind--Huge thanks to Jayde3, aviator301, FateBreaker7, Eyeofthetiger, Snowleopard24, Bella's Mom, and PolkaDotFeathers for reviewing this. Also, thank you to all the 1,083 people who have read my story. You all get buttery toast! Extra buttery toast.
Chapter 13: "What Do We Have?"
Kat sat in her cage, brooding over the cruel irony of it all. She was right back where she started, and this time with three little kids, one of which would not shut up! Maybe the antiseptic smell had gotten to Nudge and killed one too many brain cells, but whatever it was, if she didn't shut up soon, Kat would do something drastic; well, as drastic as you can be when you're stuck in a cage.
She heard multiple scientists come into the room, maybe three of them. She rolled her eyes; she was in a foul mood already, and this was not helping. "What do you want?" she snapped at them as they approached the cage she was in. They just started stupidly at her, and she silently counted to ten. "Well, you obviously didn't come here for a walk." They exchanged glance and approached her, reaching out to grab the handles on the cage. "Oh goody, she muttered sarcastically, "a kennel-ride in the car, just what I love best."
"You're in no position to make jokes," growled one of them.
"Oh, well why don't you just cut me and pour iodine on it; you have plenty of it kicking around this dump anyways." She looked at him and notices long scars on his face, not yet healed. "Hey," she said, a spreading smile on her face. "I know you; you're the idiot who brought me to the basement when I was here last time. Nice to see you kept the souvenir," she added, nodding at his scars. "I'm touched," she sneered, "really." She could hear one of the flock--most likely Iggy--snickering in the background.
The scientist shot one last glare at her, then wheeled away her cage. He pushed the cart towards the room with the swimming pool; Kat thought how ironic it was that she was practically repeating the route of her escape.
After a rigorous swimming exercise, Kat was asleep by the time they brought her back to the room where the flock was. While she slept, the flock discussed any plans that would help.
"We need the layout of the building," said Max. "Either we get it through one of the scientists via Angel, or we get Kat to do some kind of visual layout."
"Layout's not the only thing we need," said Iggy. "I've got a few charges left, but they're not going to do any good until we have an actual plan. Max, that's usually where you come in."
"So what have we got?" asked Fang, stretching as best as he could in the confined space. "Not a plan and not a layout."
"We need to do something soon, or we'll be too exhausted to do anything at all," Angel put in.
"Yeah," said Nudge quietly. "Kat was telling Gazzy, Angel, and me how she escaped last time, and she barely made it."
"Hey!" said Gazzy suddenly, "maybe we could do what Kat did; escape through the vents!"
"First of all," said Max, "she didn't actually escape through the vents, she went through the loading bay. And secondly, I don't think all seven of us will fit in the vents, they would collapse."
"What if," said Iggy slowly, leaning back against the bars, "we set off some charges in the vents or something, then ran the other way. Kat picked her lock, maybe she could get the others."
"Oh come on Iggy," said Max. "I don't think--"
"That's actually not a bad idea."
They all turned to look at Kat, who was now wide awake, leaning up on her elbow.
"Yeah," she continued. "That might work. Listen..." she went on to explain her plan.