Chapter 7 – Who are you?
Pain. Excruciating pain.
I peeled open my eyes and was surprised to see two young girls in front of me. One was small with curly blond hair, whilst the other had caramel skin. Her eyes widened when she realized I was looking at her.
"Oh my god, your awake. This is great," she squealed happily "Angel, go get Max."
The small blond girl, the one the whitecoats called 'Subject Eleven', ran out of the cave.
I sat up slowly, holding my stomach. I looked down to see a bandage wrapped around me. I glanced outside, seeing bright daylight and realized I must have slept a long time. It looked like it was a new day.
"Wait, don't stand up. You've got a bad injury but we, well you, urm… just don't move too much," said the girl, helping me sit up straight, and I nodded weakly.
"I'm Nudge, by the way," she added, smiling at me.
"Hi," I croaked before launching into a series of deep coughs.
Nudge passed me a bottle of water, which I emptied in seconds. The small girl appeared beside me again. "This is Angel," said Nudge, pointing to her.
"Hi," I said again, this time without erupting into a coughing fit.
"Girls, go outside and play with Gazzy and Iggy for a moment please," I heard another voice say.
Angel and Nudge left and I saw the tall girl walking towards me, followed by a tall boy wearing all black clothes.
"Right, who are you? How did you find us?" the girl fired at me. "How did you get here?"
That was a good question and one that I couldn't answer. I thought back, searching my memory. Then I remembered; the injections, running down corridors, the roof, leaping, flying. I remembered the burning pain in my side and looking back to see Ari aiming a gun at me. The pain, the energy; I could vaguely remember following the flock.
I cleared my throat and spoke slowly and clearly. "I was at the School, and I heard that you were going to be executed. I managed to escape and saw you guys flying away so I came after you, but I got shot."
By this time, the rest of the flock had gathered around me. I looked between all of them. Did they believe me? I looked into the tall girls eye's, searching her face as she considered my story.
"Ok," she said, after a while. "I believe you."
I turned to the tall boy wearing black. His look gave nothing away but he nodded slightly.
"How did you escape?" asked the smallest boy.
"They were doing an experiment on me, but I broke out and ran. I just, ran…" I trailed off.
"How did you end up at the School?" asked a tall, pale boy.
"I-," I stuttered, trying to think.
Visions flashed in my mind. Whitecoats. Cages. Needles. Blinding lights. A woman crying. I felt weak and my throat was dry. I turned to face the tall girl and she read my face.
"Ok guys, let him rest," she said, herding the flock away from me.
I leant back, thankful, and closed my eyes.
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I watched as the boy rested, breathing deeply in his sleep.
"Angel," I whispered and she came over to me. "What can you read from him?"
She closed her eyes and focused in on his thoughts. A minute later she reopened them and I saw a tear roll down her cheek.
"It's all so blurry and messy," she said, "I can't see anything clearly, but I can feel his pain, Max. A lot of pain, and anger, and confusion...and loneliness."