A/N: Oooh Im sooooo evil! mwhahahaha! sorry, I knew that would happen! he he but I just could help it! I'm gonna thank everyone who reviewed again, but i also want to give a shout out to Gabby510 and everyone else who are being evacuated from their homes in New Orleans. We're praying for you Gabby!
wingedfighter- ehehe... and i loved your forth chapter on Truth or Dare at a Cave, absolutely brilliant!
the-Upside-Of-Down- yes... (don't stab me)
chloe-bee-123- agreed, cliffies are awesumly evil! but about max...don't break out the champagne just yet... :P
fanglver- I do my best!
Kitkino86- was it that bad?! O. LOL
Gabby510- no need, you got more things on your mind than my crappy story.
Mrs. Jake Blk- by hollaback do you mean... LIKE THIS!! i feel so bad about the max thing though... sorry!
and finally... Fluffy Otters- ...you are awsome! sometime i feel like you should be writing this story! but yeah.. four people in america really do die from firearm accidents per hour according to a 2007 US firearms statistic thing i read. here in Australia we have to have a proper gun lisence, and be like 21 or sumthing... i dont know what you need to do to get a gun in the US, but i thought there would be some sort of training? idk. the pack are generally around 11- 20 years old, which is old for erasers i think, but ill explain that later :P okay, fang thinks he's evil because he thinks he's uncontrollably violent, and thinks that the pack are the only ones that are strong enough to keep him from hurting anyone he cares about. you'll see what's happening with the pack very soon... and of course you would break down into big cry fests and hug him to death! who here wouldn't!! I mean its fang!! ehe he he...
As for max... sorry everyone!! oxoxox
"What? You been smoking something, brother? Remember me, Nemo?"
I mentally slap myself. Of course it's Nemo. Why the hell would Maximum be in Australia? And if she was, how and why would she find me? We don't exactly keep in touch any more. I doubt she'd be 'fond' of what I've become, either. In fact, I'm sure I'd be lucky to get away with my head in tacked. This thought doesn't merriment me at all.
"Nemo, sorry. I'm fine," I mumbled, scratching the back of my head uncomfortably. I glance at her, appreciating the indifferent nod she gives me. To my credit, the sixteen year old is a spitting image of Max. Tall, blonde and strong, with the attitude of a lioness. It sounds clichéd, but nothing else could describe both women perfectly.
It's not like they're twins or something. There are differences between the two. Nemocan't fly. Max couldn't snap a man's neck in five different places in a second, using just her bare foot.
See? Differences.
"Venting?" she asks casually, prodding one of bodies with the toe of her boot. I smile weakly, dropping my hand to my side. She means, "Are you working out your anger issues through fighting these Erasers to the death, instead of just killing them quickly, which I know yo can do?" But she doesn't say that. Erasers trying to sum up all of what they want to say in one word. Failing that, a simple shrug will do.
I shrug.
"Right… well, Alpha and Ebony are looking for Pup. He took off after you sounded the alarm, little craven runt," she mutters, leaning on the gum tree I'd just attacked the two Erasers from, with her arms folded over her chest.
I nod absentmindedly. I don't blame him. The night we found the last and youngest member of our pack, he nearly died from slash wounds. Itexicon used him as target practice for the stronger Erasers. Pup either wasn't willing to or couldn't turn into an Eraser. The Erasers called him a runt and a mistake. He was six when we found him bleeding in a cage in Colorado. Now, he only trusts the Pack.
"I'll find him. He's gonna think Alpha's angry at him," I say, staring Nemo. She pushes off of the trunk, palms up.
"Knock yourself out. Alpha says we're gone by dusk, so hurry your arse up," she states uninterestedly, before walking back to the petrol station. Passed her, I can see Alpha and Ebony walk out of the shrub. Alpha shrugs at Nemo as he walks up to her, and they stop to talk with Ebony. Ebony looks at me and smiles.
Ebony is our black wolf. She's a HalleBerry look alike; tall, thin and stunningly beautiful. "She has the face of a freakin' angel," Alpha always likes to put it. "And the temper of a wild mongoose on heat," I always retort. Don't get me wrong, she is attractive, but she's no angel. Besides, there'll only ever been one angel for me. And she's killed a whole lot less people than Ebony.
With the sun glaring down on my back, I set off into the scrub land. As I walk with my hands in my pockets among the scattered bushes and patches of off green grass, all I can think about is those black eyes belonging to the dead Eraser. What made me any better than him? I was faster, stronger, maybe smarter than him, but I have nothing to show for it- save a few battle scars. At least when I was with Max, my existence had a purpose. It had meaning, and I was happy. Now, I live only for the sake of living.
I shake my head, trying to get the thought out of my head. Instead, I turn my mind to Pup. Erasers have many neat little tricks. Our sense of smell is almost fifty times that of an average human. Probable two times better than Iggy's, I think to myself. I get a prang of remorse as I think of my blind friend.
"Stop it," I mutter softly to myself. I close my eyes and inhale slowly. I catch Pup's scent, and my eyes snap open. The red landscape gazes back at me gently. He's not far away; so where would he hide out here?
I stroll forward, following my nose towards his scent. Passed a few old gums, I could smell him strongly. I stand still and breathe in for a few seconds, eyes closed. I smile softly, and turn to a dead tree trunk in front of me.
"Hey Pup," I say, sounding seemingly insane. For a few second, I get the awkward feeling that I really did just speak to a dead tree. Just as I'm about to turn away in embarrassment, the tree started to move and morph. It twists and changes, until finally the tree is replaced by a tall boy of eleven.
Oh, did I mention Pup was a shape shifter? The others aren't patient enough to look for him properly; it seems like it's always me looking after Pup. In the Flock, we all did what ever we could for the kids. I did it with Angel and the Gasman and now it seems I'm always there for Pup. The Pack calls it 'Flock fever'. We look out for our own, but we don't tolerate childishness.
"What gave me away?" he mumbles disappointedly. I give him a sympathetic smile, and walk over to him. He sits on a bolder and stares up at me as I approach.
"Probably the foot prints in the dirt. Or I could be the fact that they don't have dead oaks in Alice Springs," I say, smirking at him. He gives me a small smile and kicks a bit of red dirt around with his foot. As well as shifting his body into different things, he can change his appearance.
At the moment he has black hair and eyes similar to mine. Nemo always says that he looks up to me. I think that's pretty depressing. I can count the number of friends I have with one hand, and the only girl I've ever had any relationship with ran away, or rather, flew away every time I tried to kiss her. Now that's pathetic.
"Let get back to the van," I say, holding out a hand for him to take. He looks up at me smiling, but then his eyes widen.
"FANG!" he screams at me, jumping up. I spin instantly, looking for an attacker. There is a whizzing sound, like an arrow flying through the air and suddenly I feel a sharp pinch in my neck.
My muscles give way and I hit the red earth heavily. In my last few seconds of consciousness, I see my attackers running towards me triumphantly.
"Pup... run," I wheeze out, before the blackness falls over me.
Fang has left the building.
