1

Part 1

No Parents

No School

No Rules

Sweeping, swooping, soaring, air current thrill rides- there's nothing better. For miles around, we were the only thing in the infinite, wide open, clear blue sky. You want an andrenaline rush? Try tucking your wings in, dive bombing for about a mile straight down, then woosh! Wings out grab an air current like a pit bull, and hang on for a ride of your life. God, nothing is better, more fun, more exiting.

Okay, we were mutant freaks, we were on the lam, but man, flying-- well there's a reason people always dream about it.

" Oh my gosh! " the Gasman said excitedly. He pointed. " A UFO! "

I silently counted to ten. there was nothing where the Gasman has pointed. As usual. " That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy. " I said. " It's getting old. "

He cackled, several wings spans away from me. There's nothing like an eight year old sense of humor.

" Max, how long till we get to DC? " asked Nudge, pulling up closer to me. She looked tired-we had one long, ugly day. Well, another long ugly day in a whole series of long ugly days. If I ever actually had a good easy day, I'd probably freak out.

" Another hour? Hour and a half? " I guessed.

Nudge didn't say anything. I cast a quick glance at the rest of my flock. Fang, Iggy, and I were holding steadily, but we had mucho de stamina, especially compared to dinky little nonmutant humans. But even they gave out eventually.

Here's the deal- for anybody new on this trip. There are six of us, Angel, who's six, Gasman, age eight, Iggy who's fourteen and blind, Nudge, eleven, Fang and Me ( Max ), were fourteen too. We escaped from the lab where we were raised, were given wings and other asorted powers. They want us back- badly. But were not going back- ever.

I shifted Total to my other arm. Glad he didn't weigh more than twenty pounds. He roused slightly, then dropped himself across my arm and went back to sleep, the wind whistling through his black fur. Did I want a dog? No. Did I need a dog? Also no. We were six kids running for our lives, not knowing where our next meal coming from. Could we afford to feed a dog? Wait for it-- No.

" You okay? " Fang cruised up alongside me. His wings were dark and almost silent, like Fang himself.

"In what way?" I asked, I mean there was a headache issue, the chip issue, the voice-in-my-head-constantly issue, my healing bullet wound..." I mean, can you be more specific? "

" Killing Ari. "

My breath froze in my throat. Only Fang could cut right the heart of the matter like that. Only Fang knew me that well, and went that far.

When we'd been escapingg from the Institute, from New York, erasers and white coats had shown up, of course, God Forbid we should make a clean gateway. Erasers, if you don't know already, are wolf like creatures who have been chasing us constantly, since we escaped from the lab, or school as we call it. One of the erasers had been Ari. We'd fought, as we'd fought before, and then suddenly, with no warning, I was sitting on his chest, staring at his lifeless eyes, his broken neck bend at an awkward angle.

That was twenty four hours ago.

"It was you or him." Fang said calmly. "I'm glad you picked you. "

I let out a deep breath. Erasers simpled everything up; The had no qualms about killing, so you have to lose your squeamishness about it too. But Ari had different. I'd recognize him, remembered him as a little kid back at school. I knew him.

Plus, there was that last, awful below from Ari's father, Jeb, echoing after me again and again as I flew through the tunnels.

" You killed your own brother! "

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