The stiff led us down a series of corridors. Surprisingly enough, they seemed to be empty, which wasn't right...My instincts told me to turn back and go the other way but I stupidly followed the seemingly scared man. Apparently, he wasn't as scared as we thought he was. He stood in front of a metal grate, my ears picking up the sound of what was obviously a highway. I rounded on the man, striding up to him with a look of hate that I gave most coats. 'This is the way?' I asked, my voice dead of emotion. The man shrunk back from me as I was approaching, 'Y-yes,' He squeaked, 'Just through this grate and out onto the highway, easy as that.' I grabbed him by the collar and lifted up the grate, 'You better be telling the truth,' I said, 'And to make sure, your coming with us.' I gave the signal to the flock to move forward, thrusting the coat in front of me, his face had gone slightly pale. We were now in a tunnel of sorts, much like the sewer system back in New York, except this place felt more dangerous to me than back then...strangely enough. I pushed the coat a little further, his skin going paler each step he took. 'Whats wrong?' I asked him cruelly, 'I thought there was nothing to be afraid of, easy as that right?' I looked ahead, the tunnel obviously had a sudden drop, maybe this guy didn't know who we were...what we were. 'You idiot.' I said quietly before running for the exit and taking him with me. He screamed and it was as if his face had lost all its blood. I threw myself off the edge of the tunnel and took him with me, grabbing underneath his arms so I didn't drop him. The flock weren't murderous towards coats, we just wanted to cause them pain. As we fell I unfolded my wings, black as night, and left the warm currents gather me up into the sky. I almost smiled, it felt good to be flying again, it was the most exhilarating feeling, like going bungee jumping or skydiving except we could do it whenever we wanted without having to pay heaps of money. Not that I've (or any of the flock for that matter) gone bungee jumping or skydiving, but I'm guessing its like that. I struggled to keep the heavy coat in the air, instead I swooped close to the ground and dropped him, laughing slightly as he rolled and tumbled over the rocky road. I flapped hard and flew back towards the flow, Max was circling the flock, who were hovering in the air. I looked around and saw the cars flying past us, totally unaware of the 6 bird kids that had just shot out of the cleverly disguised tunnel. I looked at where we had just came from and noticed how bushes and trees covered the view of the highway. At this angle I could barely see the cars, and it must have been equally difficult for them to see us, or so I hoped. We didn't need guards coming after us on the roads, I took one last look at the coat and noticed he was smiling, a smile of victory that had been maliciously twisted into something sick. At the last moment I noticed his hand in his lab coat, he was slowly drawing something metallic out of it, but all too quickly he had aimed and squeezed the trigger. It all seemed to go in slow motion from there, the bullet, making its way towards me. An absurd amount of pressure lanced into my shoulder, the blinding heat of the metal searing its way through my shoulder seemed to go on forever. I looked over at Max, her eyes wide as my blood drifted quite visibly through the air, and all too soon my vision was blurry and faded, and then darkness. As dark as the feathers of my wings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I woke with a start, sitting up, but the shooting pain in my shoulder made me collapse again, back into the darkness. Since when had I been laying down?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I opened my eyes, making sure I didn't sit up this time. I saw a roof, a tin roof, and heard the flock muttering to each other beside me. I groaned as my shoulder throbbed painfully, at least it didn't hurt as much now, and sat up slowly. They all looked at me with concern written all over they're faces. 'Hey,' I muttered, 'What happened?' Angel scooted over to me on her knees and placed her palms on either side of my head, 'Close your eyes...' she said. I did as I was told. Blackness surrounded me again but this time I could hear the others breathing, I could smell the musty odour of mold that had been exposed to moisture too many times. A little screen popped into my minds eye, only it didn't feel like my own. Then I could see myself. And the little movie inside my head started playing, all my senses concentrated on this moment in my life, but by Angel...
Angel looked at Fang, she could smell the dirt that had just recently been kicked up by the coats descent. The cars whizzed past and she could hear the man shuffling to get up off the ground, but all her attention was focused on Fang. He had just helped them escape from the school! But, Max had let them down. Angel's gut dropped, it felt like she had been kicked in the stomach by an eraser, it sucked. The look on Fang's face changed suddenly, one moment it was the look of victory, and the next it was horror. Angel looked towards the coat, he had pulled a gun out and it was pointing at Fang, and all too suddenly, the man pulled the trigger. Angel screamed as she saw Fang's wings crumple and sag, he started falling, head first towards the ground. Angel hadn't been the only one who had screamed, Max and Nudge had as well. And although Iggy was blind he had the exact same look of horror on his face that Gazzy had. Max was the first to react, folding her wings in and dropping towards Fang, arms outstretched. She caught him a hair's breadth from the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks. Angel let out a sigh of relief, but now it was time to fly and find treatment for Fang. Angel turned to the coat, focusing her mind on him. Go run out onto the highway...it's a good idea isn't it? Just put the gun down and tell the cars about the bird freaks Angel watched the man drop the gun and run out onto the highway, cars honking their horns and trying to avoid him. 'We need to get him some real medical treatment,' Max choked once the man was gone, tears streaming down her cheeks, 'He's been s-shot, and needs medical assistance...' Angel zoned in on Max's wave length. He's going to die! Oh god look at all this blood! It's all my fault! I should have taken charge then I would have been the one shot, not Fang! Angel flew over to Max, 'It's not your fault Max,' Angel reassured, 'You may have wings but you cant stop bullets, and Fang isn't invincible...' Angel swallowed the lump in her throat, 'By the way, we are only a few miles from your mother Max...'
Angel stared at Max, her eyes lighting up a bit. Max beckoned Nudge and called Iggy over and got them to hold Fang's legs, Nudge was still crying while she helped Max carry Fang.
They needed to to get to Dr Martinez...fast!
