Free, for now

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Chapter 3

In which Fang and Max discuss the end of the world, or half of it, anyway

Fang's face didn't change, not even the slightest change of expression or flicker of emotion in his dark eyes. Instead, he seemed to freeze; his whole body completely still, a blank mask firmly in place.

I remembered what Iggy had told me this morning; that Fang had noticed I was acting differently. Maybe now hadn't been the best time to tell him that I had discovered plans to end half of the world, not when he already thought something was wrong with me. Then again, would there ever be a good time to tell someone that half of the world's population was going to be murdered?

I shook my head and tried to focus on the more important issues that had to be faced right now.

Fang still hadn't moved, which was getting a little scary, to tell the truth. He was just standing in the doorway, watching me.

"Fang?" I asked, feeling a little concerned with what staying so still could be doing to his health, both physical and mental.

He stared a while longer, dark eyes searching my face. I squirmed uncomfortably; it was like one of the inspections from the School, but with Fang instead of a Whitecoat.

"Lunch is ready." He told me again and went to walk out the door.

I jumped to feet and grabbed his arm, halting his movement. "That's all you have to say, 'Lunch is ready'?" I asked, incredulous and more than a little angry. Well, this was the end of the half the world we were talking about, or we should have been talking about, Fang didn't seem to find the topic particularly concerning or worth discussing.

"No," He said slowly, "It's not all I have to say but if that really is going to happen, I'm guessing you don't want everyone else to know just yet, in which case, we should go downstairs and eat lunch as normal before talking about this."

I glared at him and his stupid logic before I released his arm and walked past him out the door.

I walked downstairs into the kitchen and picked up one of the plates of sandwiches from the bench. I sat down on one of the stools and began to eat, not really tasting the food at all.

Fang silently joined us a moment later, just as Iggy was asking if I had found anything interesting in the room upstairs.

I shrugged nonchalantly for everyone else's benefit, "Not really, just some old papers about the house." I made my self sound bored in an effort to discourage the younger ones from thinking that they might be able to find something interesting up there.

"There's a room up in the attic? How come I didn't know about it? When did you find it, Max? What's in there? I bet it's really dusty up there, is it dusty?" Nudge paused and took a bite of one of sandwiches.

"Yes, there is a room up in the attic. You didn't know about because I only found it this morning and you hardly ever go up into the attic." I paused, trying to remember the rest of her questions. "It is pretty dusty, so I don't want you to go in there until Fang and I finish cleaning it up." I told her, using my 'leader' voice. I looked over at Angel and Gazzy who were sitting side by side on the kitchen stools, "That goes for you two as well."

"What about me?" Iggy asked sarcastically. "Am I allowed in the attic?"

"Only if you want to help clean." I told him, knowing that this would keep him downstairs.

He shrugged and went back to eating. I saw Fang smirking on the other side of the kitchen and allowed myself a brief smile.

I immediately felt guilty; how could I be smiling when half the world was going to murdered? No, they wouldn't be murdered, I would find a way to stop the Director and Itex, I had to.

The rest of my lunch suddenly seemed unappetising and I stood up and put in the bin before rinsing my plate clean at the sink.

"What? Isn't my cooking good enough for you?" Iggy asked, how he knew I hadn't eaten all of it, I don't know.

I ignored him. "Cleaning beckons," I told Angel, Gazzy and Nudge. "But if you need me, just stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell, okay?" Normally I don't appreciate yelling but, considering how badly I don't want them up in the attic today, I think I'll be able to endure. They shouldn't yell that much anyway; they're pretty independent and seem to pretty much look after themselves.

The way they act so much older than they are makes me sad sometimes, it's as if the Whitecoats robbed them of their childhood, making them into adults far too soon. No kid should have to experience what they've gone through, what everyone in this house has gone through.

I waited for Fang to finish and then we walked upstairs together. Once we were in the room, I shut the door behind us but decided not to lock it because, knowing my luck, we would get stuck in here or something.

Fang sat on the floor and I joined him. He looked at me expectantly, "Tell me how you found this place first."

I don't really like being told what to do but decided to let it slide just this once.

"Well, I was sweeping the hall when I noticed the door," I told him the whole story, only leaving out the parts where I tried unsuccessfully to open the door and also the brain attack or whatever the hell that had been.

"So you think this was Jeb's office?" He asked after I was done recounting the tale of my morning.

I shrugged, "Seems like the most logical explanation."

He nodded and picked up one of the maps, frowning when he recognised the School.

I handed him the document I had been reading when he interrupted me. "This explains most of it."

Fang took it and started reading, whilst I walked over to the filing cabinet that was now looking a bit worse for wear. Shuffling through the files, I managed to find the one marked 'Subject 6' which I recognised as my 'name' from the School and the year 1991, the year I was born.

I admit, I was a little curious; what would be written in here? Would it reveal who my parents were? We had occasionally talked about trying to find everyone's parents but I hadn't thought we had a very good chance of ever getting any information.

I glanced over at Fang, who was still reading, and he looked up to meet my eyes. He actually looked a little worried, which led me to believe that he had read the section dedicated to the 'By-Half Plan' or whatever they were calling it.

"Max," He hesitated, not a good sign, "What are we going to do?"

Author's Note: Hello everyone, sorry that I didn't update sooner but the Velcoraptors got me. Well, not really but I did watch Jurassic Park yesterday.
Anyway, to write of more important things, thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story and thank you to everyone who has read it. I hope you like the story and will keep on reading it as I update, which should be a bit more frequently from now on.