Yep, as per other POV, I didn't write this. IRL Isabelle did. yeah you get the name business by now. Let's get on with it then. I really like this chapter.
I POV-
I softly inhaled the chilly air of the small forest we were in as I awoke. I peeled my eyes open to look around me and gather the memories of what had happened in the last 24 hours. We were gone; we escaped. The Institute was behind us now. No more tortures, no more screams or computer beeps, no more abuse of the knowledge those blasted white coats possessed. We were free. Finally.
When my eyes focused I could see the sky was a light pinkish color above me: dawn. I lift my back off the hard, cold ground and stretch, roll my shoulders, pop my fingers. Man, grounds are /uncomfortable/. I'll have to tell Kam to steal us a Temperpedic mattress next stop.
I sit up and take a look around me. Lily and Ash were still asleep, and I saw that Krys wasn't next to me anymore. I throw the yellow blanket off of my legs and stand, looking for her. I see her sitting a few trees away from where Kam and Sparrow lie. I see how they are laying and say to myself "How cute." I'm not a hopeless romantic like Krystal, but I sure do find relationships interesting.
I find a lot of things interesting. If someone offered to tell me how doorknobs worked, I would immediately agree to a seven hour lecture. Science is half of all I think about. Okay, maybe a lot more.
I know you must be thinking, "Why does she love science so much if that is what made her the way she is?" Okay, maybe not that /exactly/, but that has to be along the lines of it. The thing is, I think what we are is ingenious. It's amazing, but cruel. Genetics can be a fragile thing to deal with. What has happened to us is awful, but you must admit, it's pretty awesome. Or maybe it's just me.
I tip-toe my way over to Krys as a smirk appears on her face as she looks at Kam. It must be because of Sparrow. I return her smile and sit next to her to where I can see her face. I see the backpack of food, an reach over to retrieve a candy bar.
"Have you already eat—"
I am cut off by the giggling of Krystal that she quickly tries to quiet.
"Oh my gosh, you didn't notice?" She asks me.
"Notice wha—" I say as I spin around to look at Kam. Then I see, Krys put make up on Kam. I spin around to stare at Krys disbelievingly. "Oh, my god, Krys!" I whisper.
"Isn't she pretty?" she inquires.
I turn again to look at Kam more closely. She is, actually. Kam has always been naturally pretty, but the make up makes her look older, more mature, like the leader she is. Her cheekbones more defined, her eyeshadow will bring out the blue in her eyes.
"Jesus, Krys, your skills come naturally, don't they?" I say, shaking my head in disbelief.
"Yup, maybe it should be my future career. Krystal, the Picasso of Cosmetics," she says while creating a fake sign with her hands in the air.
I laugh. Yeah, future. A reassuring thing to think about.
I stand and brush the candy bar crumbs off my new pants. "Should we wake them?" I ask, but just as I said that, a yell comes from my left and I turn my head to look.
Ash stands, hair and eyes wild, in some karate stance he must have gotten from the shows we would watch. A blanket strewn across his shoulder, giving the illusion of a cape. He sees me and Krystal and relaxes. I look over, and Krys raises an eyebrow. "Uh, Ash?" she asks.
"Hey! Stop being so loud when you talk. There are sleeping mutant bird freaks here!" he says throwing up his arms, and the blanket falls.
Lily begins to stir at Ash's feet and wakes up. "Breakfast," she mumbles.
I pick up the backpack and toss it to the twins. They both dig in to the food, and Krys walks away from me towards Kam and Sparrow. She uses the toe of her new shoes to nudge Sparrow's leg. I smile as he stirs and lifts his head off of her shoulder. The sudden movement causes Kam to wake as well. She looks at me and Krys and then at the shoulder her head rests on. Her eyes widen, but she quickly regains her calm composure. Sparrow looks at Kam and quickly looks away, a small blush she wouldn't be able to see creeping over his face.
"Uh, did you—uh, could you give me my hat back?" he stutters.
Kam raises an eyebrow and reaches behind her to grab the beanie from her pocket. She gives Sparrow a peculiar look and hands him the hat. He takes it without looking and walks a little too fast over to where Lily and Ash sit.
"What's up with him?" Kam asks us, turning her head our way.
I could tell Krystal couldn't contain herself anymore. She burst into giggles and fell to the ground, curling up while she laughed. I laughed to myself as I saw the demanding expression from Kam. I walk over to Krys' bag and pull out the mirror, and I walk over to Kam to show her her reflection.
Kam snatched the mirror from my hands and tore her eyes away from Krystal to see herself. I saw her expression go from stunned to slightly impressed to disbelieving to furious. "Krystal!" she screams.
As Kam and Krystal argue, I steal a glance over to where Lily, Sparrow, and Ash are eating. I see that Sparrow is smiling to himself, his face towards the ground. Lily and Ash begin rooting for their favorites in the fight.
"Krys, you know I don't care for cosmetics!"
"Oh, come on, Kam, you look great!"
"It's not my thing! And I don't care for my appearance, you know that."
"It was only once, I just wanted to see how you would look. And just look at how talented I am!" Krystal jokes, yet smiles proudly as she pinches Kam's cheeks.
Kam tears away and eventually smiles. "Okay, this one time. That's it. No more wasting your talent on me," she tells Krys, and she nods.
"I don't regret it!" she informs Kam.
"Didn't expect you to!" she replies.
I smile and go sit next to Lily and grab another candy bar. We really got a surplus of them.
I sit back and look at the birds flying above us. "I wonder what different breeds of birds they used for each of us. I mean, we have different colored wings and all. What bird has huge, strong, blue wings like Kam's and yours." I direct at Sparrow. "And /what/ bird has wings like mine? I mean, this has no means of camouflage, even for jungles. Of course, there is the whole "attacking a mate" deal, and both are crucial means of survival. And Lily? Your wings colors are magnificent. But /what kind of bird/?
"Lord, I'm blabbing on again. I could go on for hours about this whole experiment crap. I'm sorry."
Sparrow looks at me funny. "Well, what I wonder is how much time did it take to perfect this experiment?"
"Who ever said it was perfected?" I ask. We might as well die in two hours for exceeding our maximum lifespans.
"Well," Sparrow seems to not know what to say.
"I know this may not be important to you guys, but I'd like to find this out more than our parents." By this time, Lily and Ash stopped listening and began discussing another invention of theirs. "What are the odds of them accepting us, anyway?" I lower my voice. "I happen to enjoy this whole, 'being on the run' fiasco. It's fun."
Sparrow replies,"But it's no life. Could you imagine the day where we are all more than eighty-years-old, flying around with emergency walkers we have to carry?"
I smile, and shake my head. That ends the conversation. I thought I was we'll rested, but I eventually drift off to sleep.
When I wake, it is near afternoon. I hear Kam's voice coming from a short distance away.
"Okay, we can't stay here forever, obviously. So, we need to be leaving soon. It's about 11:30 right now, so we'll leave at noon," Kam says.
"But it seems pretty peaceful here. I didn't see people for a few miles of our radius," Lily says.
"I know, but it's not like we are in the middle of nowhere. People could come hunting or whatever it is they do in the woods," she replies.
I stand up and join them around the pile of backpacks in the center, flattening my brown hair as I go. "Planning without me?" I ask, but with a smile.
"You seemed pretty peaceful over there. We didn't want to disturb you," Krys informs me.
"Kam is right," I say. "Civilization almost never leaves places as livable as this one with no human population. We can't stay here forever."
"See? Now pack up your things. We are flying out of here," Kam says.
"Alright," half the group mutters in reply.
Everyone gathers their things and puts them in their packs. Krystal looks at her new clothes she is wearing that have already gotten dirty with grass stains and dirt, and looks at her fresher outfit in her bag.
"Next stop, could it /not/ be wilderness? Let's break into a house where there is a bathroom," she asks the group.
"We'll try our best, Krys," Kam answers.
"It's better than cages," I mutter to Krystal.
"Thanks you, Izzy, for your smart mouth," she says sarcastically.
"It's a gift God has blessed me with," I say and spread my arms wide to gesture to myself.
Krystal rolls her eyes and zips up her backpack. Kam walks in the center of the group and looks around. "All packed?" she asks.
"Yeah," I say.
"Yup," Lily and Ash say together.
"Ready," Sparrow says.
"Done," Krystal says with a smile.
"Let's go, then," Kam orders.
Pretty soon, we all have our packs on our backs, lined up on the edge of the clearing to give us room for a runnings start. Sparrow goes first, so he cautiously pulls his wings through the flaps Kam cut into all of our clothes. His blue wings expand into about a fourteen foot wingspan. He retracts his wings and begins running. Halfway through the clearing he flashes his wings out again and takes off. Next is Krystal, then Lily and Ash, then me. My heart pounds as I begin running, but I try to focus only on my speed and timing. If I lift too early I might not have the altitude I need, and if I lift too late, I will most definitely hit the treetops. I increase my speed as I reach where I am going to lift off. I push my feet off the ground hard and expand my fiery wings. I pass peacefully over the trees and join Krys and the others. Kam soon joins us and we begin flying Southwest.
Flying freely has been the best experience of this whole escaping deal. I get to feel the wind. Smell the air. Have room to move my wings. It's wonderful. I take a moment to turn invisible as we fly through some light clouds. The moisture is thick and the temperature, cold. But it's peaceful. When we leave the clouds a wide open, blue sky waits for us. The sun is bright for the afternoon, and we can see miles of greenery stretch outwards.
I quickly turn visible again, so Kam doesn't worry. We had to keep my power a secret from the white coats to keep them from experimenting further on me. It was hard, though. I sometimes turn invisible out of fear or nervousness or excitement. It was a challenge to keep them from seeing—well, /not-seeing/—me.
But, now we don't have to worry about that. We are free. For now. They could most certainly send Erasers to attack us, and I predict it will happen. We could have trackers implanted in our necks, or arms, or backs. I would be surprised if they didn't.