Disclaimer: I own the warehouse and the batteries! Yay!
Fang decided that Cassy walked faster than any normal human he'd ever met, not that he'd known a whole lot of them. He could match her pace, of course, but not with the ease he was used to. There was a stiffness that had claimed his muscles, from a mixture of cold and fatigue, that slowed his gait and made his legs ache with effort. He could see the misty clouds of his breath and hear the slight strains in his breathing. Cassy kept her head down and didn't speak, her shoulders hunched under her thick jacket.
Fang had last seen the exterior of the town in the early hours of the morning, but it looked even more defeated in the daylight. If anything, it had lost its mysterious, haunted air and looked merely run down. People in tattered clothing sat with their backs against the fading brick walls, their sunken eyes trailing Fang and Cassy as they hurried down the center of the street. There were no cars on the road, and the parked vehicles by the sidewalk looked unused and were coated with a film of black dust. The pavement was cracked and littered with potholes.
The walk was long, and eventually Fang's body was completely numb from the scathing wind. Finally, Cassy turned towards an old warehouse, her long legs increasing their speed on the final stretch of their journey. She knocked on the peeling red paint of the door, turning back to Fang as she did so. "This is it!" she shouted against the wind.
A man who looked suspiciously like an Eraser in human form opened the door and ushered them inside. Fang knew the Erasers had been wiped out years ago, but that didn't keep a prickle of paranoia from running down his spine, chilling him even further. Something about this town evoked his old fears. The Eraser-man slammed the door shut and locked it, quieting the violent whistling of the wind from outside.
"This is it," Cassy said again, rubbing her hands together to generate warmth. It wasn't much warmer inside the warehouse, but the lack of wind chill was a relief. The place was bare, with high concrete walls and only a few small windows to let in light. The result was a dim, almost spooky atmosphere. As Fang's eyes explored the room further, he took in the huge piles that lined the walls. There were heaps of blankets, unorganized stacks of coats and clothes, canned food, bottled water, a haphazard pile of batteries, and, most alarmingly, a large area of the concrete floor was devoted to firearms.
Cassy watched him with a smile on her face. "Yep, we've got it all," she said. "He won't sell all of it, either. Says he's saving up, in case things get worse." Her smile fell.
"Who's he?" Fang asked, intrigued by this sinister prediction.
Cassy shrugged. "The boss. We don't know his real name. He came from one of the outside cities and took charge when no one else would. We don't ask questions."
A door opened from the back of the room. Fang's eyes flicked to the corner where he could make out a familiar form: lean and dark, with a mess of brown hair. His clothes were dusty. It was the man who had been in Cat's house during the night: Jasper. He seemed to be unhappy, and turned back to whoever was in the room, but was ushered away by another Eraser-like guard. Jasper turned back and stalked across the room towards the door, his face dark with rage.
"Ignore him," Cassy whispered, looking alarmed. "But we can see the boss now." She set off to the door in the back of the room, walking past Jasper with an air of indifference. Fang followed, and made the mistake of glancing at Jasper's face. The man glared back, his eyes searing with what felt like an accusation. But then he was gone, and Cassy was ushering Fang forward. He stepped through the door after her.
The office was bland, but not as much as the rest of the warehouse. The floor was covered with a cheap cream carpet, which, judging by the tracks of mud, had not been the wisest choice of color. The walls were dark green, the paint chipping in places. It was so dark you could hardly see the man sitting at the desk. He was large, slightly overweight, and the silhouette of his face had a distinctly hook-shaped nose. It struck Fang as slightly pathetic that this man- the boss, presumably- needed to shield himself in the darkness like this. It seemed as though a truly effective leader could rule his subjects in the open. But Fang knew better than to voice his judgments out loud.
"Who is this?" asked the man. His voice was smoother than Fang had expected, persuasive. He could see how a man like this could control people.
"This is, uh, Fang," Cassy quavered, stumbling over his name. She seemed genuinely afraid.
The boss laughed, which sounded sounded surprisingly like a dying duck Angel and Gazzy had once tried to rescue in Central Park. "Fang, eh?" he spat. "And that's your real name?"
Fang decided not to dignify this with a response, which only prompted another laugh. He suppressed a shudder at the sound.
"Fine," the boss said lightly. "Fang it is. And I assume he'd like to… help us out?" Fang nodded. "Cassy?" the boss spun in his chair, his voice suddenly biting. Cassy jumped.
"Y-yes?" she stuttered.
"Have you filled him in?" his voice was smooth again, but almost mocking.
"Yes," Cassy said again, her tone stronger as she composed herself. Fang felt a pang of sympathy for the woman's obvious humiliation.
"Alright," said the boss, his voice becoming brusque and rough as he turned to Fang. "Just to make sure she didn't leave anything out, here are the basics. You go off to the empty cities. You take all the leftover stuff. You bring it back; you give it to me. You don't keep it for yourself. Ever. Got it?"
The question was so sudden that Fang answered immediately. "Yes."
"So it can talk," the boss noted, and then laughed at his own joke. Cassy giggled nervously, but stopped when the man shot her a searing glare. He continued. "You bring the stuff to me, and I pay you for it, and you get a discount on anything you want to buy. And if you ever try to sneak something off for yourself without the middleman, my guards will rip your limbs off. Got it?"
"Got it," Fang replied quickly, but kept his voice calm. He seriously doubted any human's ability to mutilate his limbs.
"Good," said the boss, then continued to stare at Fang. His face was still concealed by the dark. Fang didn't look away, and finally the other man did.
"Cassy," he barked suddenly, as though to regain the authority he had lost during the staring match. She didn't jump this time, but nodded at her name. "You here for money?" the boss asked.
"Please," Cassy said, trying to sound casual.
The boss's gaze flicked back to Fang. "Out," he ordered. "And I expect you to have some goods for me by the end of the week. I don't care which city you go to, as long as bring a good amount back."
Fang nodded and left the room, catching Cassy's miserable gaze as he exited.
After Fang left with Cassy, I sat in the corner and closed my eyes, trying to fight off and inevitable headache. But in our current accommodations, there was no such thing as privacy.
"Max?" Nudge's voice encouraged another shot of pain, which rippled through my skull. I winced.
"Yeah?"
"Can we talk to you? Me and Gazzy and Angel?" She sounded uncertain.
"Of course," I said, inhaling deeply and then slowly letting the breath out with a hiss of air. When I opened my eyes, the three of them were watching me. Did they expect me to get up and come to them? Of course they did; Angel was practically comatose. I mentally slapped myself for being so self-centered and stood up slowly, my legs aching.
A wave of dizziness overcame me temporarily and I swayed, then stumbled, catching myself against the wall. The flocks' eyes widened as they watched me slowly make my way to the opposite corner. I was not looking forward to this discussion, as I wasn't quite feeling up to explaining my condition. It was bad enough with Fang watching my every move, the younger ones shouldn't have to worry.
Nudge opened her mouth, thought better of it, and then shut it again. There was a brief pause, during which the three of them stared at me, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation. Then Nudge cleared her throat.
"Max?" she asked timidly.
"Yes?" I smiled to encourage her.
This seemed to give her all the confidence she needed. "We want to help," she blurted out matter-of-factly. Gazzy nodded vigorously.
I attempted to wrap my mind around this. "You are helping," I said, even though it wasn't really true. What could they do?
Hey, said Angel in my head, clearly offended.
Sorry, I thought, but I was relieved that they weren't worried about me. I felt self-centered again and dismissed the thought. Out loud, I said, "We're all just trying to get through this, one step at a time. There isn't much anyone can do except help when they're needed and do their best to stay positive."
"No, Max," said Gazzy. This was the first I'd heard from him in a while. It was good to hear his voice again, even if he was deliberately disobeying me. But that was what Gazzy did, after all. "We want to get money to buy food and stuff. Like Fang." His blue eyes were wide as he stared at me, pleading.
"You want to…" And then it dawned on me. They wanted to be scavengers. I imagined them flying off one their own into the darkness, leaving me behind. "No," I said firmly. "No. And that's all I'm saying."
"Why not?" he whined. "We're old enough, we can go together-"
"We're not splitting up again." I interrupted.
"But Max…" Nudge protested.
"It's bad enough to let Fang go off, but we need that. I'm not sending you off when I don't need to. We need to stay together right now."
Nudge looked pensive and nodded thoughtfully, but Gazzy was still adamant. "I want to-" He suddenly went silent. I immediately looked at Angel. Her eyes were fixed on Gazzy's with a concentrated look. Nudge and I shared a quick, worried glance. I thought of scolding Angel, but couldn't summon the energy for another argument.
Angel squinted tightly, and then her face relaxed. Gazzy's eyes lost their anger and he slumped back against the wall. My breath caught in my throat, but then he took an audible breath and his eyelids fluttered.
"Angel?" Nudge squeaked, nervous. "Wha- What did you do?"
He's calm now, she assured us. He voice sounded pained inside my head. But my head hurts now.
You rest a while, I thought. She nodded and closed her eyes. Gazzy was slumped against the wall, 'calm' being a bit of an understatement. Nudge bit her lip and looked at me, worried. "Max," she said, and it wasn't quite a question. It was more like a plea.
"It'll get better, Nudge," I said, reaching out to pat her hand. She nodded, still biting her lip. She opened her mouth, her breath catching in her throat.
"I was just thinking-" she broke off, looking confused. "I don't know how to say it."
"I never thought the day would come," I joked. Nudge laughed, but without feeling. "It'll be okay," I said again, but I didn't really believe it.
Author's Note: Okay… I know. I didn't update. I'm sorry. But I don't really have an excuse either. I decided I didn't like the chapter I already had written, because it was all about Cat and it really wasn't as good as I thought it was when I initially wrote it. So I didn't post it. You don't want to read it, trust me. So really, I did you a favor.
Okay, that was a bad excuse. But I update. I hope you didn't all forget about me. I'm going to try to write a bit more tomorrow, and maybe get a chapter of Betrayal up, since I haven't really been inspired to write that lately. But I can always force inspiration.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed: bbaluver3, therealme1123, Someone aka Me, senoritasophia13, disneydork, Yunahampton, hocky-iz-fun (x7), Jayde3, dreamsarefordaytime. 14rosestar15, FallingisFun, and Kristin. I am not thanking SavetheFlock because I do not appreciate spam, thank you very much. You've got a good cause and all, but why don't you spam on the forums, where people will be happy about it?
So… If you didn't like this chapter, as it is slightly bland, I apologize, but coming up is some depressing fax. Yay!