Chapter 5 – Free Bird
Ding.
By the time the elevator reached the roof, I was shaking with anticipation. That and being stuck in a claustrophobic metal box. The doors slid open and bright light poured in. I stepped out, covering my eyes with my hands.
I had never seen the outside world before, never breathed fresh air. As my eyes adjusted, I stood in awe. The landscape around me was a mix of brown with green vegetation. Rolling hills, flat land dotted with shrubs, a few trees stood tall. The School was just a long rectangular building with several smaller structures around it, all surrounded by a tall wire fence. The entire complex itself sat right in the middle of a ring of tall, colourful mountains, perfectly hidden from the world. Only a single winding road stretched away from the main gates into the distance.
I glanced upwards. The sky was clear blue with only a few fluffy white clouds from beyond which the sun shone pure gold.
"It's…beautiful," I gasped.
I heard shouting from below. I sprinted to the edge of the roof, adrenalin still shooting through me. I was surprised to find I was perhaps ten stories high, judging by the amount of windows. I looked far below me onto the School's yard and saw utter carnage. It was filled with whitecoats and erasers, some of which were sporting injuries. Many lay on the ground, either withering in pain or unconscious.
In the centre of this chaos I spotted a group of empty dog crates, one of which was mangled over Ari who was cursing loudly. The flock must have escaped! I scanned the horizon. Over there! I could just make out a large group of specks in the sky. The flock of bird kids just like me. Well, sort of…
I heard angry yells and looked back down to see a few of the whitecoats and erasers were pointing up at me. Feeling that raw adrenalin flowing through me, I started sprinting across the roof, towards the flock. I must have looked a real sight from down below; a tall boy wearing white lab clothes running across the roof in bare feet. Well if that surprised them, what I did next must have blown their minds.
In all my life I had never done the one task I had been created for, the soul purpose of my existence, the reason my wings itched night and day, and what my body yearned for more than anything in the world.
To fly.
As I carried on running with adrenalin-fueled power, I unfurled my wings. They pressed up hard against my T-shirt before bursting out, ripping through the weak cotton. I stretched my wings fully for the first time in my entire life.
Magnificent.
It felt glorious as the sun warmed them, as the wind rustled through my feathers. I spied the flock soaring into the distance. Oh god, how I wanted to join them, to fly with them. Just go! Get to them, now!
I flapped my wings, up and down, up and down. My shoulders felt so powerful as my muscles pumped my wings, their grey tips brushing the concrete roof. More shouts from below, more snarls from the erasers. As I reached the end of the building I leapt out, towards the flock, towards the sky, shouting with joy.
"Freedom!"
Bang!
A single shot rang out into the air…