Sam's Story

Sam

"Shit!"

The adrenaline began to kick through Sam's veins. They were running, running as fast as they could for their very own lives. The steady rhythm of her pulsing movements unfolded into an accelerated pattern as she took off on the side of the highway. The rise and fall of her chest became quicker, signaling the anxiety that had been curling inside of her. Her head whipped around, looking back at the forest they had now paced through. The rocks pushed into her bare skin when she skidded to a hault.

"Flynn!" Her eyes met the dark headed boy who had jumped onto the now swerving car. Her eyes widened in shock when the fear crept over her body. "Hold on Flynn, I'm coming!" Her foot pressed against the steaming asphalt, pushing forward to now continue running. Breathing heavily again, Sam dodged the nearby cars that had been honking crazily as she strided alongside the onlookers. "Flynn!" Her voice choked in anguish as an abundant arm wrapped around her chest, causing her breath to shorten into a gasp of air.

"Heh..." The deep voice chortled in sarcasm. "You're not going anywhere, Experiment #467!" Her back pressed against his bare chest as he pulled her in tighter, making it hard to exhale even more. She flinched, trying to pulse forward away from his clutches, though all efforts of her strength failed. Erasers... Fuck.

"Get the hell off of me!" Sam pressed her arms upward, trying to break away from his grasp while his fur dragged against her fragile wings tucked inside of her pale shirt. She wasn't an experiment now, not this far into the plan. She heard him snarl when he took her wrists, swapping her face around to meet his. Teeth clentched, the beast before her took in heavy breaths as he curled his strong hands around her own. It was truly disgusting: another experiment like her used for the evil of mankind. Well, it wasn't really a man.

"You're going back home..." The brute growled, creating an abominate smile across his face. Sam wasn't going back home, it wasn't even home, the School was pure hell.

Sam returned the smile that was now inching across her face. "Not today." Forcing her head down, Sam widened her mouth and bit her teeth into the rough skin of the eraser's hand. It let out a deep roar as she sped away, heading twards the nearby cars once more. Her muscles tightened when the roar echoed through her ears. Flynn? She ceased to a hault, taking in the sight before her. Many cars had stopped to observe the ongoing scenario before them. A man lay to the side of the road, holding his knee in pain. She assumed the car that had a colossal hole in the windshield belonged to him. Turning her head in a different direction, many humans began staring at her with confused and odd looks. Sam shrugged, now looking up at the sky. There, flew Osprey and Flynn with grins across their faces. Sam let out a small pang of laughter as she studied them, wings spread out and free as can be. The sun reflected across Osprey's face, making her hair glow to match her angel like features. "Having fun up there?" Sam smirked again as she watched their wings swish through the atmosphere. A piercing scream rang through the air as all of their eyes widened. Sam's knees locked as she spiraled her head around to the highway. Other erasers began running towards her with their gravid footsteps. The members of the flock were scattered around the street, now meeting Sam's eyes as she gave a slight nod. Indi, Gabe, and Evain returned the notion. Sam's gaze met the sky, looking up at the clouds.

It was time to break free.

Her bare feet pressed against the surface, jolting her body forward up into the air as her wings arranged into the ambience. She curved them into the atmosphere as her feet lifted off of the ground. The wind begin to flow around her body, pressing against her skin. She looked below her, observing the now violent picture. Her eyes met an eraser, who snarled under his breath.

"Let's go everyone!" She swirled through the air, the flock following close behind.

Plan A= Success.

The blonde watched Sam raise up into the sky, before feeling something gently brush against his arm. He looked down and saw a young boy, no more than about four years of age. He was saying something, and his shoulders shook as if he were giggling. Indi couldn't help but smile at the kid, the smile on the kids face apparently infectious. "Cute kid." He said out loud, though it didn't seem to distract the kid at all from the display. However, there was something that did. Indi let out a little yelp as a claw raked down his back, just between his wings and causing his feathered barn owl wings to jitter outwards. He was sure that the foe was saying something to him, but didn't bother to even look at his lips to read it. All he really did notice was the sudden drop of the little kid's chirpy care-free smile. Tears began to form in the pits of the kid's eyes at the sight of such a scary monster.

Almost instantly, Indi scooped up the kid and then took a running start, flapping his wings and then elevating slightly, going so close to the crowd that was forming that he could pretty much feel the air being sucked away from his skin from their multiple gasps. He dropped the cute toddler among the crowd, watching one of the adults catch him and then smiling a little to himself. How that kid got so far away from the crowd was beyond him... He flew a little higher, and then paused. He looked down to the crowd and their dropped jaws, their muttering lips passing on towards one another before a cheeky smile grew upon his lips. "HUUGGH!" He quite suddenly grunted, flexing his muscles forcefully, even though he had next to no muscles anyway. "MIGHTY BIRD PEOPLES ARE POWERFUL ALMIGHTY GOD'S!!" He said, purely '4 da lulz'. He flapped his wings with more gusto and was soon up with the rest of the bird-kids.

The cut between his wings started to sting a bit more, but he convinced himself it was nothing. It was more or less nothing. "Just like paper cut." He said to himself, not even able to hear it, but saying it anyway. He tried to let the sting slip from his mind. Instead, he closed his eyes and let the current of the breeze carry him away, he spiraled around, doing loop-de-loops and such as he tried to distract himself and also wait for the other two to follow up as well. Indi glanced down towards the others, still grinning at them. They were out. And from this height, there was no way the erasers were gonna catch them. "We rock!" He yelled down to the others, punching both his fists in the air.

Osprey flew in circles, taking in the sunlight and the flittering breeze on her wings. It felt so good. Suddenly, her bird instincts told her something was wrong. She opened her eyes and watched as Indi went spiraling to the ground. Immediately, she tucked her wings in, dive-bombing the ground, easily catching up to Indie. Close behind her was Flynn. She helped support his weight and together they sailed back into the sky before the Erasers could get another swipe at them. Her eyes darted around. "Sam! Indi's hurt!" she yelled, shifting her weight and flapping upward. She could see the gash marks in his back. The weird part was not seconds before, Indi was punching the air with his fists. Must be loss of blood. She shrugged and lifted him higher, scoping out the area.

"Fucking! Run!" Gabe shouted desperately hoping any member of the flock could hear his warning, although he was sure they were all running, because in the midst of the panic he could still hear their thoughts, all except for Osprey of course but he was sure she was following. But that wasn't the main reason he figured they were all running, as he could easily hear heavy footsteps crunching the twigs and leaves on the forest's ground, and a chorus of gasps for air of also filled the forest's background, he also could make out a few silhouettes in the forest moonlight. But what was really worrying him were the snarls of the Erasers which were right behind them, and were slowly but surely catching up.

But he couldn't think about them right now, he had to concentrate on running, and avoiding debris on the forest's floor. But it was hard when their thoughts were right in your head, and the last place Gabriel wanted to be right now was inside a Eraser's head as it isn't very pleasant, he knew from experience however: right now he was hearing several. Dashing through the forest, breathing heavily Gabe could hear the thoughts of the Erasers behind which had gotten louder and clearer, it wasn't words though more of several feelings: of violence, death, fun and a common goal, through the brief scurry of thoughts he also got an image of a Eraser sinking its teeth into Gabe's corpse.

Gabe gasped wincing as the familiar sound of static entered his ears, he stumbled over a log almost falling flat on his face, while another flock member leapt gracefully over it, he muttered incoherently. Gabriel was slightly fazed before he regained his balance. Gabriel quickly stuck his hand out, gripping the base of a tree stopping himself from falling. He quickly pushed passed it, before turning to see a the flash of fur whiz past the tree, his eyes widened and he felt a panic slowly rise, he began breathing more heavily before darting forward. He could see the forest's end and relief washed through him, as he made on final push out of the forest and out into the open. He fell to the ground fast, and when his head automatically looked up he noted that he and the others had emerged from the forest into a highway, "Perfect..." he grumbled quickly.

He didn't need to be told to get up, as he pushed himself quickly off the ground narrowly avoiding being ran over by a car. Gabriel winced as a crowd has been drawn towards them, as they curiously wondered what was going on. But that wasn't the worst, Erasers had already began spilling out of trees, but they were out in the open now, and freedom was in their grasp he wasn't about to let it slip away so easily. One particular Eraser lunged towards him, Gabe raised his hand protectively, and instinctively a blast of telekinetic energy forced the beast backwards, but unfortunately that wasn't enough to bring the beast down, Gabe stumbled backwards as if the blast had seemingly affected him too, as the Eraser laughed and walked towards him Gabe made eye contact and spluttered the word, "Kneel..."

The Eraser struggled for a moment before collapsing to its knees, Gabe then violently punched the Eraser in the jaw, it knocked the beast down but in the process hurt Gabe's hand which he shook quickly trying to ease the pain. Now that his problem had been dealt with, he looked around noticing Osprey and Flynn had taken to the air, he noted Sam was below them and she casually asked "Having fun up there?" then a piercing scream ran through the air, Erasers began pouring out of the forest faster now, he locked eyes with Sam who had nodded he returned the gesture before, pouncing off the ground taking flight into the air.

As Gabriel sped past upwards, he laughed like a mad man still in awe of what had happened "We're home free, baby!" he yelled happily, punching the air with his fist, until pausing and coughing slightly embarrassed, it took him a second to regain his calm and practical composure. He flew forward and past everything, until spotting Osprey and Flynn appeared with Indi in their grasp, "Sam! Indi's hurt!" Osprey yelled, before Indi claimed that he was just tired and that he was fine, he then gave thanks to Osprey and Flynn, Gabe lowered his altitude before saying clearly, "That was close. Is everyone alright?" he asked curiously.

Osprey narrowed her eyes at Indi. Just tired? Okaaay. She slowly let go of him and hovered, her wings outstretched, her feathers ruffling in the breeze. Her wings were just barely moving, enough to keep her in the air. She looked over to find Gabe. "That was close. Is everyone alright?" she heard him ask. She inspected herself, to find a nice sized gash on her thigh. It stung a little, but other than that she was fine. "yeah, what about Sam? She in the air yet?" she asked, looking downward. She circled, and then twirled, so she was looking at the sky, still hovering. She leaned over, her head dipping to the ground, doing a little loop-the-loop, her eyes closed. "We are finally free," she said, listening to the chorus of exasperated howls from the Erasers below her. A thought occurred to her. "Where do we go now?" She asked. She wiped away the blood trickling from the cut on her thigh. "I don't suppose anybody has a bandage?" she asked.

Jubilee looked around, wondering where the others were. Some how they'd been separated during their escape and now she was stuck awkwardly hovering over the school. She wasn't sure if Avalyn was still around here or not, but she was careful not to fly very low. She didn't want to be shot down by the erasers, although they seemed to be retreating into the School. Was she really free? She craned her neck as best she could to look back at her speckled white wings. Yep, this was real- she was flying in the sky without a net above her limiting her to 100 feet.

She smiled happily but was still concerned about herself being lost. She was only about twelve after all and had well, absolutely no real life experience. "Sam!" she yelled, flying in a wide arch around the area she had last seen her friends. She spotted the group off in the distance. "Sam!" she yelled again, though it was likely that her small voice had been lost in the wind. Jubilee began to fly in their direction, taking one last glance down at the School and hoping she would never have to go back.

***

Jaron snarled as one of his fellow erasers held him back. "If I want to tear them apart and if you want their sorry butts back don't you think we should oh, I don't know- go after them?" he retorted, about to take off running as the flock got farther and farther away. If they got much farther now he wouldn't have any chance to catch up since they had the advantage of flight. He was roughly tugged back again by the alpha of their pack. "Jaron," he warned, as a flashback of just how brutal the alpha could be suddenly came to him.

The young hybrid simply nodded, lowering himself to all fours and slinking back to the facility with the rest of the injured erasers. He'd received a few good punches from one of the girls but he would be back in action soon. He couldn't stand being idle unless it involved food or sleep.

He growled at the passing scientists, warning them not to say anything about the erasers' loss. Jaron knew that all experiments were caught quickly and why should the bird kids be any different? Soon the scientists would track them down, after all they were one of the leading science facilities on the continent and quite possibly the world. Itex had a habit of keeping things under wraps and professional. He had learned enough about the company in his short life to know that they wouldn't give up unless the fight just wasn't worth it. That gave him an idea as he began to head towards some of the 'residential' area of the experiments to blow off some steam.

Sam

"We rock!" Indi had met the flock now. Sam rolled her eyes when he muttered that they were "Mighty bird people..." She wondered, What is the media going to think about this? Avian-bird freaks on the run? Fear began to press against her chest though she pushed it aside. Her main priority at the moment was the flock, her family.

Sam couldn't help but have a tendencie to smile when something was accomplished. Her wings curled through the air in circular movements, causing her to swerve in different directions. Her eyelids closed as the wind whipped along her skin, making small goosebumps emerge.

"Guys, come on! Indi's hurt!" Sam's eyes flashed with a burst of anxiety. Hurt? What! He was fine just a second ago- She ceased to a hault in the air to then flap her wings in another path. Indi had a pattern to cover up things, he usually wanted to become positive with his natural bubbly personality. A burst of energy flowed through her veins as the rest of the flock flew alongside. A lump encroached in Sam's throat when she met Flynn, who was carefully lifting Indi.

"It's not that dramatic... really. I must just be a little... tired." Indi paused. Sam looked at him, studying him closely. She sighed, taking in a large exhale of the fresh air. She really was worried for everyone's safety. They were together now, the flock made a promise to stick together.

"Indi, tell us when you need help. I can't risk anyone now..." Sam turned her head, looking out at the flock. Everyone did look tired. Sam's eyebrows furrowed. She bit her lip, a natural habit when pondering about what to do.

"That was close. Is everyone alright?" Gabe, who also matched the now fatiuged group, stared at the rest of the flock with a stern expression. Sam gave a slight nod while scanning the group.

There were six. There were six. Only six.

A tight pound flickered across her chest, feeling as if she was being punched. How is this happening? Sam looked at the group again, taking in the familiar features. Her head met her hands again, now looking down at the clouds.

"Jubilee... Avalyn." Her head shot up as the anxiety returned once more. No, not anxiety, anger. "What if they got seperated from us at the School?" Jubilee... Avalyn. Sam shuttered in fear. What if the erasers have gotten hold of them? They couldn't be that far... She imagined the horror on the girl's faces, especially Jubilee- the youngest of the group, the girl who felt like a little sister to Sam. Avalyn too, she was strong, Sam knew they would protect each other. She looked up at Gabe.

"We need a plan."

Evain narrowed his eyes, putting his pale hand up to block what little sun there was in the forest. His hands and lower arms throbbed with pain, but he didn't dare mention it when Indi was hurt so badly.

Though the ability to go through walls was a useful one, Evain's little 'one-up' backfired when he discovered that the outer walls were electrically charged, singeing his wings and scorching his forearms. But he was otherwise unharmed, and made it to the current spot without any other major problems.

Scratch that. The loosing of flock members was a major problem in his book.

"We need a plan."

Evain looked at Sam. "Well do you have any ideas?" He swallowed, looking up. In response to the light filtering down between the trees, Evain's pupils were reduced to mere pinpoints. Plus he couldn't see in color.

"They probably got left behind at some point. Or at least, let's hope they did."

The alternative would mean recapture, or death.

Osprey looked around. Damn it! How could we loose flock members? Her eyes caught sight of a figure, far away, back in the direction of the lab. The naked eye wouldn't be able to see that, and most likely not the rest of the flock, but she could, eyes like a hawk. She kept her sights on the hovering figure and gentle elbowed Gabe behind her to get his attention. She pointed off into the distance and another figure caught sight in her view. They were each pretty far away, one clearly closer. "hey. I think I see them," she said, tapping Flynn, another one who was flapping nearby. "Jubilee and Avalyn." she narrowed her eyes in concentration. She could faintly make out their faces. "Yeah! It's -" she was cut short as another image dipped into her view. "Um, yeah we need to get out of here," she said, expertly twirling in the other direction with one graceful flap. "Now! They brought out the Chopper!" She yelled, grabbing Sam and Evian, now the closest to her, in the direction away from the chopper that she could hear now. The steady Wump, wump, wump. of the blades rotating round and round. It was coming their way. And the Helicopter was hunting for some bird kids.

Sam

"Well do you have any ideas?"

Sam narrowed her eyes and gave a slight sigh. Her gaze drifted towards the flock, all looking tired and worn.

"I suppose we could make camp-"

"Yeah! It's -" Osprey stopped in mid-sentance. Sam furrowed her eyebrows looking into the direction where she now observed the threat. They brought the damn chopper! "Um, yeah we need to get out of here-" Shit.

"Indi, Gabe, Evain, Osprey, Flynn, fly to the nearest-" A gush of wind rushed above Sam, who was now looking up. Osprey? She was circling through the air in a fast paced motion. "Osprey!" What was she doing? Another rush of air encircled Sam as Indi, who was now hurdling himself towards something, bursted through the atmosphere. Sam's mouth gaped open. "Ok, another change of plans!" She exclaimed, flapping her wings quickly through the wind. "Evain, Flynn, and Gabe, fly this way, i'll make sure the others catch up!" Ussuring what was left of the group towards the right, Sam followed behind the wings in front of her that were now pulsing in a hurried manor. The beat of the chopper faded as they flew faster and faster, Sam still looking to see if the rest of the flock was following behind.

They weren't.

Jaron growled at one of the kids in their cage, an ugly child mixed with who knows what. "I hear you aren't doing so well," he hissed menacingly. "Maybe I'll get an extra meal for once." He grinned, his sharp teeth shining. A few specks of blood from the fight were still on his teeth, making the kid cry out and scamper into the back of his cage. He laughed and began spinning the cage around, creating a loud screech that echoed throughout the room. The other experiments looked away and covered there ears as the poor kid began crawling in circles to try and avoid the big bad wolf.

"Jaron!" a male voice rang out, causing the wolf boy to cringe and turn. His father had entered the room, looking as professional as ever with his usual clipboard, etched in precise numbers and statistics that Jaron did not understand. "Shouldn't you be trying to catch the escaped experiments?" he asked calmly.

"They got away and the alpha is not to be fought with," his son replied, looking at the ground at his father's feet.

"Jaron, they just took the helicopter up. Why weren't you-?" Before he could finish, his son had left the room and came storming through the hallways, knocking over people and equipment. In a fury, he did not open the door but rather busted through it with all his might before looking to the sky and seeing a helicopter had left and taken off. Without him. He roared angrily and charged out into the open, running faster than he ever had before in a desperate attempt to catch up and rip those bird kids apart.

***

Jubilee stopped mid wing-beat as a helicopter appeared, sending the other flock members in the distance scattering. She also saw a noticeably lower figure with dark hair falling quickly as another began zooming towards her. She screamed and immediately began flying the other way, trying to avoid contact with any scientists or Erasers. But if she flew away, how would the flock find her? She reluctantly turned back around and hovered as best she could, trying to decide what to do. Before she knew it though her wings had stopped beating and she was falling. Oopsie.

She quickly started flapping her wings again, not realizing that she had to focus so much on flying. She had thought she was pretty good, but obviously growing up in an enclosed area had more of an affect on her than she'd thought before. Ju looked below her and froze, seeing an eraser approaching her, trying to jump up in the hopes that she would continue falling. And for the time being, she was. She desperately began lifting herself up again, but she had dropped enough that the Eraser below her had scratched the bottom of her foot.

The young girl quickly soared up and away from him, away from those terrifying and bloodthirsty eyes that seemed just too familiar. She looked down again at the dark furred Eraser, before looking up just in time to see a dart heading straight at her. However it was far enough away that she was able to dodge it easily. "Sam!" she yelled again, trying to figure out what they were doing. Her friend seemed to be leaving her behind while the others continued to twist this way and that. She was utterly confused and just kept dodging darts, slowly getting closer to her friends and the helicopter while an angry Jaron howled from below.

It was then that she saw another fall from the sky, dropping like a shooting star. Without a second thought, Jubilee darted towards her friends, turning and flailing like a drowning fish to avoid being shot by a dart or a bullet. Knowing their luck, one of the Erasers probably had a missile launched too.

***

Jaron had successfully drawn blood from the youngest bird kid. It was then that he saw another kid begin to fall up ahead. He left his current target in the hopes that he wouldn't be too late to sink his teeth into some fresh bird-kid meat.