Chap. 27

Some are Trying to Get In, Some are Trying to Get Out

Gasman POV

They were coming.

They just HAD to be.

I was sure Max would do anything to get us out of here. We had tried to escape a few times, but it hadn't worked.

Whenever our 'escort' or a whitecoat came to see us, Angel would try to get them to unlock our cage. None of them knew how. They just came up to us, took a look at the lock, and opened it.

Angel was unable to pull anything about the place we were in from their minds. The whitecoats were so… mindless, unlike the others we had encountered in the past. Even the weird things that had captured us didn't think about where we were going.

Flashback

"See?" Nudge said, "Walking is JUST as fun as flying."

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled.

"Besides, we can stop at the stream we discovered on Sunday."

"Hey," Angel piped up, "where's Iggy?"

"Uh…"

We all looked around. No Iggy. We searched the bushes, behind the trees, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he just walked ahead and beat us to the stream," Nudge said.

"But he's never been there!" I argued.

"Okay," Nudge decided, "we'll split up."

We did. I couldn't find anyone. Even at our meeting place where we promised to meet after we looked for Iggy.

I sat there for a while, wondering what was taking Nudge and Angel so long.

"Angel?" I called out hesitantly. "Nudge?"

No answer. I figured the best way to find them would be from the air. As I took off, I heard a scream. To be specific, Angel's shrill, bat-like one.

I followed the noise back down to earth, and found Angel, Iggy, and Nudge all struggling. They were being restrained by these monsters; scaly, and furry at the same time. Their ears were pointed like a cat's, and it had whiskers, yet the long, thing, forked tongue that flicked in and out of its mouth made me think otherwise.

The biggest one, who was currently holding onto Nudge, grinned widely and whispered something in her ear that I couldn't hear. Then, it turned to face me, smiled, and let go of Nudge. Before I knew it, Nudge had bolted off and was flying as fast as she possibly could away from these monsters. I couldn't blame her, although I felt hurt that she would leave us. No matter. There had to be some reason.

The thing had launched itself at me. I went into full fighting mode: biting, kicking, punching, blocking, scratching; anything to survive. I used up every attack I could think of. Every move, every trap, every bomb.

Think about it. Me, an eight-year old against 5+ monsters.

I tried really, really, hard.

Guess what? I was captured and knocked out, and stuffed in a helicopter.

End of flashback

It was pretty chaotic that day, I reflected, the monsters managing to take Ig right under our noses, and then kidnap Angel and Nudge while I was looking for him.

Darn.

Still, we could only hope. Hope that Max and Fang and Nudge were coming to save us, along with the world.

Angel POV

Kick, punch, jump – dead. Kick, run, kick –dead.

I could her Max's inner voice (well, her thoughts) as she fought.

Max, I screamed-thought, MAX!

Kick – ugh, that one was easy. Hey, where'd Fang get to?

She couldn't hear me. Max! MAX! I tried again. MAX, LISTEN!

Geez, my head hurts. Feels like the Voice is back on rampage.

Max, it's me, Angel.

Max was having this total wtf? moment. Angel? Sweetie? Are you still there?

Yes! I cried out. Max! Where are you? Are you coming?

'COURSE! Except there's a lot of cat-snakes patrolling the area around the School. We can't get in. YET.

"Gazzy!" I whispered hoarsely. My voice was cracked and strained. We barely talked.

"Yeah, Angel?"

"They're coming."

Max POV

Max? Are you still there?

Yes, baby, I replied. Can you help us?

With what?

Getting all the cat-snakes out of the way.

Getting the what out of the way?

Cat-snakes. You know, because they look part cat, part snake… never mind.

I'll try my best, she told me.

Hopefully, Angel would be able to get them to go away.

The Voice had talked about the heat sensors and cat-snakes at night and cameras during the day, but did it mention that there would be a day guard? So much for the 'your pain is my pain' mantra.

That tiny, crucial piece of info was, so far, making it impossible to get any closer to Gazz, Angel, and Iggy. They weren't very skilled, but very high in numbers.

Another thing we've noticed. Cat-snakes travel in small group. We kill a few, and move on. Meet another 'cluster' of cat-snakes. Kill them. Move on. Meet another group. Move one. So far, we've done… oh, maybe 5 or 6 groups. That's – well, let's say 5 a group, 5 times 5 is at least 25.

At least.

This was FRUSTRATING. We were getting nowhere. I ached and itched to be flying, but I was pretty sure that the cameras would see us if we did. Us, meaning my mini-flock: Nudge, me, and Fang.

Got it, said Angel, you won't be bothered. I've 'convinced' all of them to temporarily believe they're actually really statues that don't move.

Freaky. Thanks, Angel. You're a real lifesaver.

Can I be an orange on?

Huh? An orange what? Oh – right – lifesaver. Orange-flavored lifesaver. Of course you can, I thought back. Only a kid could crack a joke at this time.

"Alright," I commanded. "Here's our deal: soon as we catch sight of the School, Nudge, you staring doing your screaming thing. Fang and I will start running into the school.

"Since we've heard your screaming a lot, I think we'll be able to handle it long enough to get Angel, Ig, and Gazzy out. If not, I brought earplugs. It won't completely drown out the noise, but help enough to get them on their feet.

"And anyways," I finished, "we start…" 3 seconds. 2 seconds. 1 second. "NOW."

Nudge sucked in a huuugeee breath and screamed. UGH. No mater how many times I hear it, the screeching still hurts my ears.

"GO!"

We took off, running – well, rocketing toward the brick building.

Running as fast as I could, I found myself hurling through the air, passing b y Fang, who is, no mistake, the Flock's fasted runner. Believe me, I am NOT on steroids.

I was moving so quickly everything seemed to be a blur. Sort of like I was doing my warp-speed thing.

Flying. GAH, how much I missed it.

I eventually slowed, and Fang caught up to me. Nudge was a few yards behind him.

"How the heck," Fang panted, "did you run so fast?"

I must have been really, really fast, because Fang has never lost to anyone in a footrace. He's a lot quicker on his feet than anyone else in the Flock.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

He gave me that, 'I don't believe you' look. "Riiight."

The doors to the school opened, and out rushed many, many more cat-snakes.

Damn.

A/N:
First and foremost, I would like to sincerely apologize about my EXTENDED absence as an author.

I'm so, so, sorry guys! You could say... I've been procrastinating. Along with school, parents, drama, and studying, you just can't find time to hang around the house with a paper and pencil anymore.

I'll try to keep it up: at the minimum, once a week/every other week.

Please leave some reviews! They make my tummy feel all good inside 3

Love you guys,

IceCweamWuver