Okay, all the chapters are done, so I'll post a new one every so often (Once a day or so) But I plan to be finished by Christmas, since I'll be visiting family.

Chapter Forty

Fang

Things concerning Jeb's death were getting more and more suspicious. Something about it just seemed…wrong. I'd been keeping an eye on the Itex investigation for at least two months, and they had yet to find anything. It felt impossible for him to be truly gone. So I decided that it was time for a little investigation of my own, since the regular police didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

So, in the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, I pulled my backpack out of my closet and soundlessly filled it with a few sets of clothes. My head snapped up when I heard someone clear their throat from my doorway. In it, Iggy was glaring daggers in my direction.

"You're leaving us again?" he asked sourly. I stared back at him, though I knew it was a wasted effort.

"I have to go investigate this Itex stuff for myself," I told him.

"You can't possibly think you can leave now, when Max's baby is coming in less than a month," he said. I felt my gut wrench. I knew he was right. I shouldn't leave with Max so close to having her baby. But I just had to. It wasn't a choice thing. It was a obligation thing.

"I know I shouldn't, but I figure that if anything goes wrong, she's taken care of."

"Bullshit!" Iggy exclaimed. "I know you don't believe that for a second. You just don't care, one way or another, whether this flock is safe."

I bit down on my lip to keep from shouting at him. I bit it so hard I could taste blood. "Everything you ever think about is yourself and how you want things to be," I said, keeping my voice as even as possible, although even I could hear the rage behind it. "I'm not leaving because I want to, I'm leaving to do what's best for the flock, and even the world. It may have meant nothing to you, but Antarctica really got me thinking about the world. I don't want it gone, and I'm going to do what I can to make sure it stays life-sustaining for as long as possible."

I pushed past Iggy and walked into the kitchen, where I stuffed some water bottles and food into my bag. Then I headed for the front door. I could hear Iggy was still behind me. I turned to face him.

"I hope that when I come back," I said, "you'll be less thick-headed and more concerned about the greater good."

With that, I took to the sky.

The whole way to California, I was tormented by thoughts of Max, and what an idiot I had been to leave her in such a vulnerable state. My brain just wouldn't stop nagging me. I'd been so lost in those thoughts that I almost didn't notice that I was descending. I couldn't explain it easily, but it was like I was being drawn there by some inexplicable force. Like the thread that pulled me to Max, only less…forceful.

I skidded to a halt on the sandy terrain, kicking up a dust storm behind me. When I finally stopped sliding on the dust, I looked around me. I was standing straight in front of a sign that claimed I'd landed in Ridgecrest. Population: 27, 000

I strolled casually through the partially barren streets, following my instincts more than the actual road. Was this tracking ability another one of my skills I'd randomly developed? I was brought to an alley near a red brick building with a tall ladder that I might've been able to use as a quick escape.

"Fang," I dark, familiar voice said from the shadows. I stepped toward it, which, I admit, probably wasn't the best move. I looked at the figure in the darkness.

"I knew you weren't dead," I said as I stared Jeb fearlessly in the eyes.

"Nice to see you, too, Fang," he said warmly. "How's the flock?"

"Better, without you interfering with their lives."

Jeb put a hand to his heart. "Fang, that's very hurtful. You know I only wanted what was best for the flock," he said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Yeah, if what's best for them is giving them to psychos to be poke and prodded and treated like animals," I sneered. Jeb closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"It was for science. We needed to find a higher being that could survive the end of the world as we know it."

"While you could have just spent all that time finding a way to stop the world from ending."

"We needed you and the rest of the flock."

"Yeah? And what about all those other 'experiments' who didn't go as well as we did?" I demanded. "What about them? The ones who died for your stupid research!"

"They were…expendable," he said. I could feel my rage burning inside my veins. My head was pounding painfully.

"How can you even say that!" I shouted. "People aren't expendable."

He let out a breathy, humourless laugh. "Those things weren't people." He said things like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Why aren't you dead?" I asked, changing the subject. "They found your body on the news and showed it to everyone."

"What they found was certainly Jeb Batchelder," he said, confusing me. This guy made no sense.

"Then what are you?" I asked.

"I'm am a clone of Jeb," he announced proudly. "The original Jeb was not satisfactory. He was too concerned about the environment and the well-being of the experiments. So, to replace him, they made me; a more…suitable version of the Jeb Batchelder you have known."

I shook my head, almost feeling sorry for him. Almost being the key word. "They must have rebuilt you with no heart," I said to him.

"Who needs a heart?" Jeb 2 said. "When you have the power to take over the world, a heart is useless."

Jeb 2 opened his mouth to continue, but I cut him off by kicking him to the ground and knocking him out.

Jeb 2 was extremely heavy for a guy his size. I knew that because I dragged him to an abandoned warehouse—because that's the best place to hold a person hostage—and tied him to a chair with some rope and stray duct tape. I waited in a corner for him to come to, but I fell asleep after maybe an hour. I'd flown all the way here from Arizona, which was about three or four hours, so it was surprising that I was so exhausted.

I woke up to see that Jeb was still passed out or asleep. I figured staying here would do nothing for me, so I went to roam around town.