Hey guys, not gonna spend much time talking.
I've had a major mind block lately, you know when the words just don't come.
So I finished this with much struggle.
Enjoy and Please Review! It means a lot to me when you do!
Chaos was the only thing filling my sight as the Eraser's charged forwards and the rest of my flock disappeared into the crowd. This was looking near impossible before it even began. I was getting attacked from every direction. Suddenly a much more powerful force was slammed into my stomach as I flew backwards, covering my head as I hit the ground. Huge feet were stomping all around me as I tried to avoid being trampled. Every so often I would see human shoes in the crowd, but soon they would disappear again. A huge furry paw suddenly grabbed the back of my jacket, pulling me harshly to my feet before a foot sunk into my back, sending me into the furry grip of the Eraser. He gnashed his teeth at me, a slight smirk on his face as I struggled to free my arms.
I felt a whoosh of air go by my ear as a metal dart sunk into the Eraser's neck. His grip on me loosened and I shook him off, turning to where the dart was shot from. Zen was standing on top of the cages, putting another dart into his metal gun. A harsh and ear piercing growl erupted from behind me and I whirled around again. Through the heads of Eraser's I saw Ari, aiming his gun above the crowd in the direction of the cages. Without even missing a beat I yelled loudly. "Zen, get down!" He did as he was told, dropping to his knees as a bullet flew over his head, going straight through the ceiling. I heard Ari snarl with disappointment as he turned again, looking for more prey. But the bullet had got me thinking.
The ceiling was supposed to be concrete, but it let an Eraser bullet go through it. Allow me to explain. Eraser bullets are bullets designed by the School. They aren't really supposed to kill unless they hit a vital organ from a point blank range. So an Eraser bullet normally would have dented and bounced off concrete. So if a bullet that weak went through the ceiling, it also meant a bird kid kick would.
"Scholar!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, desperate to be heard through the crowd. There was no answer and I was starting to doubt our chances of survival even further.
"Over here!" I heard suddenly and whipped my head around. A fist impacted with my face the second I did, forcing me to the ground onto my back. My eyes snapped shut as my head smacked down against the floor. A large weight suddenly slammed into my chest, forcing my air out. I opened my eyes, the sight blurry but clear enough to see the Eraser above me, arms raised and ready to pound me into the ground. Thinking fast, I rolled out of the way as Scholar appeared in my place, sending a backwards kick straight up into the Eraser's chin; her body bent flat against her other leg. As the Eraser flew back I jumped to my feet, her eyes meeting mine.
"Sorry, I was helping out the small blonde kid." She said, her voice panting and forced as she breathed heavily, beads of sweat sitting around her hair line.
"What small blonde kid?" I asked, now worried. My question was answered by a mini explosion going off across the room. Not some of his best work, but I guess he did have limited supplies. "His name is Gazzy. Do you know the names of any of my flock?" I asked with a very un-amused tone. She gave me a shrug as she responded.
"I pretty much spent my entire childhood in a cage and met almost everyone while in one." She told me, a small hint of sadness in her voice. "If it's alright with you I'd like to make do with the formalities when I have my freedom." Scholar nudged her head to the left and we both dodged that way as an Eraser came ramming past us like a bulldozer. It was like we were trying to have a regular conversation in the middle of a war, oh wait, that's exactly what we were trying to do.
"Three more static seconds and we're dead!" Scholar yelled just as a large crack sounded behind her. I noticed Jace bring his fist down on an Eraser's back, most likely as he tried to shatter its spine. I shook my head as a shiver went up my spine before facing Scholar again.
"Find a way to the ceiling, you need to kick through it." I explained as the Eraser Jace was fighting howled again, making Scholar wince. She looked up at me with her very rare, sensitive eyes. And I mean very rare. They stayed like that for about a millisecond before going wide with disbelief.
"What?" She yelled at me over the noise. I couldn't tell if she was asking because she didn't hear, but the 'are you insane' look on her face told me otherwise. "That's solid concrete! If I kick that I can say goodbye to my- Look Out!" I watched her duck and cover her head and I did the same just before Crest and an Eraser went flying over our heads, landing with a thud behind Scholar. I couldn't tell who was winning. But as I lifted my head I saw Crest slamming his foot into the side of the Eraser's head, knocking him out.
"Crest!" I called to to him. He looked up at me and gave me a very pure and strange expression of 'what the hell do you want?" It was like he was playing Call of Duty and I'd just stepped in front of the screen. It seemed that the more time these kids spent in a cage, the more angst they were building up. But I guess seeing as it was me, I didn't really have much higher ground to stand on. Ignoring his look I yelled at him again. "Get Scholar to the ceiling!" He gave me a confused too before running over to us, ducking under a flying Eraser in the process.
"Get who to the where now?" He asked with theatrical shock as Scholar rolled her eyes.
"I'll explain." She moaned and I gave her a supportive nod before turning to find another stupid Eraser to pummel. With a room full of them, my guess was that it wouldn't be that hard. "I hope you know you're insane!" I heard Scholar calling after me.
"Just trust me!" I yelled back with not idea whether they'd heard me or not.
My plan, if you didn't think about it too hard, was simple.
Step one, keep the Eraser's busy and away from Crest and Scholar while they find out how to get Scholar's powerful kick to the roof.
Step two, round up the flock and get them into the air vents before running for an exit.
Step three, fly for our damn lives and get to safety before any of us get killed by murderous dogs.
See simple right? I decided to get a head start on step two while Scholar and Crest worked away. I ran in the direction of the cages, hoping that getting a bit higher would help me to find all the kids in the crowd. I would've flown up, but the hallway was too narrow for me to spread my wings, not to mention the thirty plus Erasers standing around me. I climbed onto the top of the cage scouring the chaos and caught sight of Crest and Scholar where I had left them. I saw their mouths moving as they conversed while fighting back to back. As I scoured further I saw most of the taller people; Jace, Fang, Iggy and every so often I would catch a glimpse of the younger ones.
Something bright suddenly caught my eye as I looked down the hallway where the chaos stopped at a distinct line. My eyes caught sight of Caige as he threw a bolt at another Eraser, but that wasn't the light source. It was a head full of bright blonde ringlets that was running towards the fight with a strange gleam in her eye. I was just about to shout for cage when Angel stopped dead in her tracks, looking at her feet with a surprised look on her face. The small metal dart from Zen's gun sat a few inches in front of her as Zen stepped out from the crowd. He made his way towards her, plucking the dart from the ground and reloading it into his gun. They seemed detached from the group of fighting Erasers and I couldn't help but watch as they spoke.
They were too far away to hear but both their fists were curled at their sides. Angel screamed something at him but the only word I could manage to make out was the last one. "Dead". I saw Zen stagger backwards for only a second as Angel's eyes glowed. I knew the look anywhere, the one she had whenever she was controlling someone. And I could only watch as Zen crumpled to the ground in front of my eyes. And that image of him lying there, completely motionless, was burned into my brain. What the hell did Angel do?
My eyes were wide as I stood on the cage, my fingers going numb. I faintly heard someone call my name as I scoured the crowd once again, seeing a big annoying nine year old fixing his gun on me. Fury was heating my blood as I clenched my fists. I had another step to my plan now. Get to the other side of the battle and rip every curled piece of hair out of Angel's scalp, whether she just killed my kid or not. Did she even have that kind of mind power? I couldn't be sure, but with a yell I jumped forwards off the cage, straight into the battle.
I felt unstoppable as I entered the crowd, making my way through it with every punch. Suddenly I saw a waft of light brown hair run past me. Crest rammed into the Eraser in front of me, making me stagger as I nearly ran into him. "Hurry up!" He yelled. I looked around, finally spotting Scholar a few feet away, smacking away an Eraser before turning an annoyed glare on him, her eyes filled with numbers.
"Shut up, Crest!" She yelled, running at him. He crouched down lower, his hands in a ready position. I didn't really get concept of their plan until he put his hands on top of one another, palms up, to make a small platform. How he'd convinced Scholar to let him launch her into the air, I had no clue. But he was strong enough, it would work. I started to side step my way around them when I spotted an Eraser charging at Crest from the other side.
"Move!" I yelled but by the time Crest turned to the side, the Eraser was already running into him, knocking him over and into me. We fell to the ground beside each other, my head aching as I struggled to sit up. An Eraser was now charging Scholar head on. I expected her to stop or dodge out of the way, but she kept running full speed at the mutant. "Scholar, get out of the way!" I yelled before a foot sunk into my stomach and I fell to my side. She disappeared behind a wall of Eraser's but soon she was rising up out of it. In a swift movement, she leaned forward, placing her hand on the charging Eraser's shoulder so she was in a one handed head stand. With a burst of energy, she pushed upwards, flying upside down towards the ceiling, her foot breaking the thin tile as she sailed through it, disappearing inside the ceiling.
Crest's firm hand latched onto my wrist, pulling me to my feet. He gave me a slight nod which I returned before he started charging for the opening. "U and A!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I watched Crest jump at the opening, Scholar's hand grabbing his as she hoisted him into the ceiling with her. Bird kids started emerging from the crowd left and right, all being trailed by Eraser's. They would be fine, they would get out. I started to make my way against the crowd towards the end of the hallway, heading straight for a blonde head that stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb.
I dove at Angel, pinning her to the ground. I was sick of asking her why's, so I only snarled three words into her face. "Where is he?" I hissed, surprised by the edge of my own voice. She looked up at me a mix of hatred and fear swirled onto her face as she struggled, trying to get her arms out from my firm grasp. I pressed them hard down into the ground. "I said, where is he?" I repeated my question more furiously. If she had done anything to Zen, there was going to be hell to pay.
"Try opening your eyes." A mocking voice snarled from in front me. I snapped my head up to see Ari, a triumphant grin plastered across his smug face. He stood a few feet away, but he wasn't what I was focused on. Zen was in his grip, being held up by the back of his shirt, making his head droop down low, the gun still held limply in his hand. Ever so slightly, his shoulders rose and fell with small breaths and I felt a shudder of relief go down my back.
I didn't move from where I had pinned Angel who had now gone still under my grasp. "Let go." I demanded, my voice close to a whisper as scowled darkly. But Ari only grinned wider.
"Or what?" He mocked carelessly. With that I moved my hand to Angel's throat.
"I'll crush her windpipe." I snapped, pressing down a bit to prove I wasn't bluffing. My eyes couldn't look down at Angel, but I could practically feel her shaking in my palm. Ari's grin faded slightly but soon reappeared as if he had come up with some brilliant plan. And I had no choice but to agree.
"Then I'll put a bullet in his head." He said and kneeled down, putting the barrel of his gun against the side of Zen's head, tilting it slightly. "Now we're even." I swallowed and struggled to keep my hand on Angel's throat.
"What makes you so sure I care?" I snapped keeping a straight face as I struggled to keep my voice from shaking. "He did betray me after all."
Ari smiled a bit as he shrugged. "Well you were just looking for him a second ago." He snarled, moving the gun away from Zen's head. He suddenly brought it up again, this time bringing the barrel up harshly under Zen's chin, raising his head upwards. I flinched as Ari's finger's danced on he trigger. "But if you don't want him I'll do you a favour." It was like he was dying to shoot someone. The bullet would kill from that distance, there was no doubt.
I was almost too tense to move but slowly I got to me feet, pulling Angel up by her neck. I thrust her backwards towards Ari and let my arms hand loosely at my sides until she stumbled back behind the beast. I held my right hand out with my palm up. "Now give him to me." I snapped slowly as Ari lowered the gun, Zen's head dropping back down. But Ari only gave me a bigger grin.
"I don't think so." He snarled as he got to his feet, pulling Zen up until his feet only brushed the ground. "See unlike you we don't take kindly to traitors." He snarled as my outstretched hand curled into a fist as Ari pulled Zen up, catching him under his arm like he was weightless. He raised the gun at me now with a cruel smile on my lips. "Don't even worry about it, he won't feel a thing." He snarled. "But you might." I was frozen to my spot as he pulled the trigger, a large sound erupting in my ears. I expected to feel a huge weight throw me back, or even a bit of pain, but I felt nothing, and nothing left the barrel of Ari's gun. He looked at it with a confused stare. The idiot had used up all his bullets.
Thinking fast I ran at him as fast as I could, adrenaline pumping into my blood. He glanced at me with wide eyes and started to panic. Suddenly he ripped the metal gun from Zen's grasp and pointed it quickly at me, not even aiming properly before pulling the trigger. But it still hit me just underneath my left collarbone. I stammered forwards, my feet stuttering to a halt underneath me. Someone distantly called my name but I wasn't paying attention. I only watched as black spots appeared in my vision and Ari turned, still carrying Zen, along Angel, both of them running down the hall and away from me. My knees buckled and I started to fall forwards. I blacked out before I even hit the ground. And just like that, I'd lost yet again.