Running • Iggy

Count

I shouldn't have enjoyed it so much. The sprint, the feeling of my hair flying behind me. Not in a chase like this, with a hoard of angry people wanting to kill me. They were after me, not my flock. I prayed they had gotten out by then, it had probably been 6 minutes. I shoved the door open, breathing cold air. I was in the barbed wire fenced garden, snow freezing my bare feet. I spun, facing the large container built directly beside the School. They had never let us near it because one wrong move and it would explode. It held chemicals they called Esedimene X, a genetic enhancer that made us all stronger than normal humans. The only downside was that when disrupted, even in the slightest way, would explode. I grimaced, knowing that I was either going to be dead or in a lot of pain in less than 30 seconds. I slid on the snow, picking up a large rock. Count to 4. I thought. Then 10 minutes will be up.

1.

I thought of how Iggy had looked on the morning Nudge was taken. His hair was messy and falling into his misty eyes. He looked like a dork as always, his shirt half tucked in, the silly infectious smile on his lips. I remembered how Nudge had crept into my room a few hours earlier, climbing under the covers with me and tucking herself against my chest the way she always had. I wondered if we would still be in the same position right then if things had gone a bit differently.

2.

I remembered how I stared out Iggy's window that night, thinking of silly messages to possibly send to my family through Angel one day. I hadn't slept that night, the mix of happiness and sadness making every cell in my body vibrate. Iggy woke up the next morning and practically fell out of bed in surprise when I spoke. I hadn't even realized the sun had risen, but I just said that I fell asleep on the floor and woke up a few minutes before not worry him. He had looked so much younger and scared back then, he was different now.

3.

I remembered staring up into Broghan's grey eyes at only a few years old, telling her how I wanted my family out of there, even if it meant I stayed in the School. I realized then that I had always been willing to sacrifice myself for them, as I spun on my heel, facing the angry mob chasing me. I would always do whatever it took to keep them all safe. I put my hand in my pocket, taking out the necklace Iggy had given me, holding it tightly in a fist to my chest. I'm sorry, everyone. For everything. I thought, hoping by some miracle they heard me.

4.

I threw the rock hard, over the heads of the mob. I didn't wait to see if it was going to hit, I just let my wings stretch and flapped as hard as I could. I burst into the sky, still holding the necklace as tight as I could.

.

.

.

Bang.

I was thrown across the sky, searing hot pain ripping through my body. I felt rubble fly past me and into me, knocking me closer to the floor. I couldn't really think, I just kept flapping. I didn't want to hit the ground, because I knew that would either kill me or leave me too wounded to continue. I was so disoriented that I almost flew straight into a tree a few moments later. I grabbed the branch hard, pressing my back against the truck. The stars in my eyes dissipated after what felt like years, and my hearing took longer than that. I stared at the ruins of the school, no signs of life anywhere in sight. I let my claws extend, ripping open the skin over the device in my arm, pulling the small black rectangle out and dropping it to the snow below.

I looked around, wondering where my flock had gone too. I knew they would have gotten out by then, hopefully far enough to not be caught by the blast. I focused my vision on the cliffs surrounding the School's rubble, and noticed 6 small figures on a cliff. I winced as I straightened my wings. I knew I was hurt somewhere, but I had to get to my flock before the adrenaline wore off. I bounced off the tree, speeding towards them as fast as possible. I knew where I was hurt now, a piece of glass had slashed across the entirety of my lower back, though it didn't seem deep enough to damage my spine in any way. When I was close enough to hear them, which was pretty far away for a human, I could hear crying and loud shouting.