Temporary Hiatus! | Wings | Fleeting Feathers Book 1

Chapter 5 | An Understanding

It took three trips just to get all the supplies into the back of the truck and Peafowl and Falcon had to search around before they found a suitable mattress that was then dragged down the stairwell and lifted by everyone, even Canary, into the back of the truck. Luckily whomever had owned the truck left behind a tarp that was used to cover their supplies. Luckily Falcon had the foresight long before they'd settled at the apartment complex to gather all sorts of puzzles for the car ride, including Word Searches, Mazes, Riddles, and even a few Rubix Cubes, along with pencils, markers, and even erasers, not that anyone knew where he'd gotten them while they were traveling but they were grateful for it.

Luckily for Owl's remaining brain cells, the trip out of the city was quick and easy, the others would say it was due to her maps, but Owl saw it as what remaining luck they had draining away and was hoping it would hold out until nightfall so she could relax for a little while.

Unfortunately for her, they had used up the last of their luck and came upon a washed-out bridge, which would set them back by several hours. Not only that, but they were barely an hour into their journey and Canary was already complaining about being cooped up in the back of the truck, despite the numerous games of eye-spy, tic-tac-toe, and even Uno, nothing would quell her desire to run around and Owl's temper was frayed even further, resulting in her hopping out of the back of the truck, walking over to the washed-out bridge and screaming at the top of her lungs, it wasn't even words, just a simple scream that in the city, would've been deadly, but in the middle of nowhere covered in snow and frost, might as well have been a cougars cry in the middle of the night.

The result, however, was Canary quietly sitting beside Falcon and Peafowl and playing tic-tac-toe until she inevitably fell asleep wrapped in blankets and curled with her head on Peafowl's lap.

* * *

Despite the peace in the back of the truck where everyone but Peafowl had fallen into an uneasy sleep ̶(̶e̶x̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶a̶r̶k̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶p̶s̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶d̶u̶l̶t̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶o̶m̶e̶)̶, the inside of the truck was anything but.

There was a sort of tension between Eagle and Buzzard. Buzzard didn't know much about Eagle, all he knew was Eagle knew a lot more about their new world than they did, after all, all they knew was to live you ran, and that only adults seemed to turn.

"So, what's it like everywhere else?" Buzzard asked, hoping to get to know their newest member better.

"Bad," Eagle responded, looking at the map.

"Anything we should know about Strongholds?" He asked.

"High security, probably made with chain-link and cement. Not afraid to use guns if they feel the need to. Some adults don't like our immunity and wanted to make kids take on all the work. It- those places were the worst." Eagle told him, rubbing his arm as if rubbing at phantom pain, and for all Buzzard knew, he probably was.

"Oh. You speak from experience?" Buzzard asked, awkwardly.

"Yeah, Ashton Stronghold, named after the founder. The founder didn't like risking himself, he saw kids as weapons, he wanted us to lure in other groups and lead them into traps so members of the guard could come and rob them, do whatever they wanted- we had no choice, you obeyed or someone you cared about died. At one point one of the kids turned eighteen, everyone thought he turned seventeen, but he let himself get bit and told the kids to not return, he turned inside the Stronghold and killed everyone." Eagle replied, his voice cold and distant, like he wasn't there.