Two Schools Out - Forever

by James Patterson

  Fang took off, but the flock stayed nearby, hovering. The police sirens were getting closer.

  I leaned down. "Listen, Iggy," I said tensely. "I'm sorry about tonight. I know how disappointed you are. We're all disappointed. And I'm sorry you're blind. I remember when you weren't, and I can't even imagine what it's like to lose that. I'm sorry we're mutant bird kids, I'm sorry we don't have parents, I'm sorry we have Erasers and people trying to kill us all the time.

  "But if you think I'm going to let you give up on us now, you've got another think coming. Yes, you're a blind mutant freak, but you're my blind mutant freak, and you're coming with me, now, you're coming with us right now, or I swear I will kick your skinny white ass from here to the middle of next week."

  Iggy raised his head. Flashes of light told me the cops were almost on top of us.

  "Iggy, I need you," I said urgently. "I love you. I need all of you, all five of you, to feel whole myself. Now get up, before I kill you."

  Iggy stood. "Well, when you put it that way..."

  I grabbed his hand and we ran around to the back of the mall, then took off fast, racing toward the shadows at the edge of the parking lot. We stayed high, looking down to see two squad cars zoom into the lot.

  We turned and headed toward Anne's house, and I made sure the tips of my wing feathers brushed against Iggy's on every downstroke.

  "We're your family," I told him. "We'll always be your family."

  "I know." He sniffled and rubbed his sleeve across his sightless eyes.

  "Let's go fast," Total said.

  38

  "What is this?" I said without thinking. "I mean-looks good. Smells good." I sat down at the table and held my plate out. "Is that broccoli? Yum."

  Anne put a big spoonful of some casseroley-type stuff on my plate. I could identify peas and a possible carrot and something brownish that was probably of the meat persuasion.

  I picked up my fork and put a smile on my face. "Thanks for making dinner, Anne," I said, taking a bite.

  "Uh-huh," she said, giving me a wry look. "At least I made a lot of it. I'm learning."

  "It's fine," I said with my mouth full. I waved my fork in the air. "'S great."

  Fang passed Iggy his plate and tapped the table by his fork. Unerringly Iggy picked up his fork and started eating. I'd kept my eye on him since last night, but he'd been pretty okay today. At least, he hadn't blown anything up or set anything on fire, so that was good.

  All of us cleaned our plates. Twice. We'd gone hungry too many times to be picky eaters.

  Then, to add to the American domesticity of the scene, Anne brought out an apple pie.

  "I love apple pie!" Nudge said excitedly.

  "Do you have two of them?" Gazzy looked anxious, already mentally dividing it.

  Anne brought over another one. "I told you, I'm learning."

  Gazzy punched the air. "Yes!"

  "I'd like to talk to you guys," Anne said, dishing up the pie. "Sort of a family meeting."

  I kept my face blank, wondering whose family she thought she was talking about.

  "You've all done beautifully here," she said, sitting back in her chair. "You've adjusted better than I thought possible. And I find I'm enjoying it more than I ever imagined."

  I started to get a really bad feeling. Please don't let her say something horrible, like she wanted to adopt us or something. I had no idea what I would do if that happened.

  "I think we're ready to take the next step," she went on, looking around the table at us.

  Please no please no please no-

  "So I've enrolled you in school."

  Whaaat?

  Fang burst out laughing. "Whoa, you had us going there for a minute," he said.

  "I'm not kidding, Nick," Anne said quietly. "There's an excellent school nearby. It would be perfectly safe. You could meet other people your age, interact with them. And-let's face it: Your education has been spotty at best."

  Or nonexistent at worst, I thought.

  "School?" Nudge asked. "You mean, like, at a school?"

  There was that word again.

  "Going to a real school, with other people?" Angel looked concerned.

  "Holy frijoles," Total muttered from under the table.

  "You'll start on Monday," Anne said briskly, starting to gather empty plates. "I'll pick up your uniforms tomorrow."

  Uniforms?

  39

  Without a word, I shoved my chair away from the table and stomped over to the back door. I yanked it open and jumped down the steps.

  From there I did a running takeoff, snapping out my wings, feeling them push against the air filling my feathers. A couple of hard strokes and I was airborne, rising above the apple orchards, above the barn.

  Once I was up high, I let the full range of my anger bloom. Taking a deep breath, I tried to remember how to fly really fast-and then, almost immediately, I was doing it, my wings seeming to move by themselves.

  Let's see just how fast I can get out of here, I thought grimly, and poured on the speed.

  Running away never helps, said the Voice in my head.

  "Yeah, well, flying helps-a lot!"

  Fang was waiting for me by an open window when I got back. He handed me a glass of water, and I sucked it down.

  "Gone a long time," he said. "How far did you get? Botswana?"

  I grinned wryly. "Just for a minute, before I had to turn around. They say hi."

  "How fast do you think you go?"

  "Over two hundred," I said. "Two twenty? Two forty?"

  He nodded.

  "Everything cool here?" I headed down the hall to my room, kicking off my shoes. The house was dark and quiet. My clock said one-thirty.

  "Yeah. Wrangled Gazzy into the bath. Total fell in. Angel made Nudge change her mind about what book to read, and I came down on her."

  I looked at him. "Sounds like you've got everything under control."

  "I managed."

  I sat on my bed, not knowing what to say.

  Fang sat down next to me. "Did you want to just keep going out there?" he asked. "Keep going and not come back?"

  I drew a shaky breath. "Yes," I whispered.

  "Anne's never gonna take your place, Max," Fang said, his dark eyes on me.

  I shrugged, not looking at him.

  "Anne's just a-depot," he said. He seemed to be getting more, well, comfortable with me lately. "We can rest up, eat, hang out, while we plan our next move. The kids know that. Yeah, they like not having to run or sleep in subway tunnels. They like having the same bed every night. So do I. So do you. Anne's been nice to them, to us, and they like it. We don't get a lot of down days, where we can just chill. They're enjoying the heck out of this, Max. And if they weren't, it would mean they were so messed up they couldn't be saved, ever."

  "I know," I whispered.

  "But they know who's saved their bacon too many times to count. Who's fed them and clothed them and chased away the nightmares. Jeb may have gotten us out of our cages, but you're the one who's kept us out, Max."

  PART 3

  BACK TO SCHOOL (THE NORMAL KIND)

  40

  You know how some kids get excited about the first day of school and have an outfit all picked out and a new lunchbox and stuff? Well, they're bleeping idiots.

  "Can we play hooky?" Iggy muttered as he scrambled eggs.

  "Somehow I suspect they're picky about that," I said, dropping more bread into the toaster. "I bet they'd call Anne."

  "I look like prep school Barbie," Nudge complained, as she entered the kitchen. She caught sight of me in my uniform and looked mollified. "Actually, you look like prep school Barbie. I'm just Barbie's friend."

  I narrowed my eyes at her.

  Our wings were retractable and pulled in pretty tightly to our backs, but you might say that we still looked kind of like a family of Olympic swimmers.

  Angel arrived, and she looked cute in her plaid skirt and white blouse because she looks cute in anyth
ing. She put some eggs and bacon on a plate, then ripped up a piece of toast and set it on the table.

  Total hopped up onto a stool and dug in, seeming almost doglike. "Woof!" he said, and chuckled to himself.

  "Angel?" I said, bringing her a cup of coffee. I lowered my voice. "No funny business with the teachers, comprende?"

  She glanced up innocently. "Gotcha," she said, taking a bite of bacon. I looked at her and waited. "I mean, unless I really have to," she added.

  "Angel, please," I said, kneeling to her level. "Nothing that makes us stick out or look different, okay? Play by their rules." I stood up and addressed everyone. "That goes for all of us," I said quietly. "Try to blend, people. Don't give anyone ammo to use against us."

  I got okays with various levels of enthusiasm.

  "Goodness-you're all up," said Anne, coming into the kitchen.

  She surveyed the production line of food, the flock packing it away. She smiled ruefully. "This beats frozen waffles. Thanks, Jeff. Oh, and Jeff-I meant to tell you. You and Nick will be in the same class. It'll help you get your bearings."

  Iggy's face flushed.

  "Can Total come?" Angel asked.

  Anne came over and straightened Angel's collar. "Nope." She walked over to the cabinet and took down a mug.

  "I'll be fine. Chase some ducks or something," Total whispered, and Angel patted his head.

  "This uniform is so uncool," said Nudge.

  "I know. Fortunately you'll be surrounded by a whole bunch of other uncool uniforms," Anne said. She frowned. "Ariel, are you drinking coffee?"

  "Uh-huh," said Angel, taking a big sip. "Get jump-started for first grade."

  I felt Total's black eyes boring holes in me. Sighing, I got down a bowl and fixed him some coffee with milk and two sugars. He lapped it up happily.

  Anne looked as if she was having some "pick your battles" thoughts and in the end decided to let it go.

  "Okay," she said, putting her mug in the sink. "I'll bring the car around front. Wear jackets-it's chilly this morning."

  41

  The ride to school was short and silent-much as I imagine riding in a hearse would be.

  When we pulled up to the building, I realized we'd seen it from the air. It looked like a great big private house, made of cream-colored stone. Ivy grew up one wall, and they'd let an OCD gardener have his way with the grounds. Extremely tidy.

  Anne pulled into the drop-off line.

  "Okay, kids," she said. "They're expecting you. All the paperwork is done." She looked back at us, sitting tensely in the rear seats. My stomach hurt from nerves, and I was pulling my wings in so tight that they ached.

  "I know it seems scary," she went on gently. "But it'll really be okay. Please just give it a chance. And I'll have a treat waiting for you at home this afternoon. We clear on how you'll get home?"

  I nodded, feeling as tight as a coiled spring. How about by way of Bermuda?

  "It's about a ten-minute walk," Anne confirmed. "And here we are." She pulled up to the curb, and we piled out of the car. I took a deep breath, looking at the poor lemmings filing in through the big double doors.

  "Here we go," lemming Max muttered, then I took Nudge's and Angel's hands as we walked into the school.

  42

  "Okay, they're here," Ari said into the mike clipped onto his collar. He refocused his Zeiss binoculars, but the hated mutants were already out of sight, inside the building.

  He'd have to switch to the thermal sensor, one of his favorite toys. He pulled the headpiece on and slid the lenses over his eyes. Inside the school was a wash of red: warm human bodies streaming through the halls.

  "There," he breathed, as six orangey yellow images emerged from the red river. He grinned. The bird kids ran hotter than humans, hotter than Erasers. They were easy to pick out.

  "Wanna see?" Ari pulled off the headpiece and handed it to the person sitting next to him. She put it on, smoothing her hair under its straps.

  "Cool," she said. "Did you check out those goofy uniforms? Jeez. I'm not gonna have to wear one, am I?"

  "Maybe. How do the freaks seem to you?" Ari asked her, as she continued to watch them.

  The girl shrugged, her hair brushing her shoulders. "They don't suspect a thing. Of course, this is just the beginning, really."

  Ari grinned, revealing his canines. "The beginning of the end," he said, and she grinned back. They slapped high fives, the sound like a rifle shot in the quiet woods.

  "Yep. It's gonna be great," said Max II, and she popped a piece of gum into her mouth. "Now everything gets doubly interesting."

  43

  The distinct lack of an antiseptic smell was slightly encouraging, I decided. And the interior of this school looked nothing like the School, our former prison.

  "Zephyr, is it?" A tweedy, teachery woman smiled uncertainly at us. She said her name was Ms. Cuelbar.

  "Yeah?" said Gazzy. "That's me."

  The teacher's smile grew. "Zephyr, you're with me," she said, holding out her hand. "Come along, dear."

  I nodded briefly at Gazzy, and he went with the woman. He knew what to do: memorize escape routes, gauge how many people there were, how big they were, how well they'd be likely to fight. If he got the signal, he could burst through a window and be out of here in about four seconds flat.

  "At least he's not Captain Terror anymore," I murmured to Fang.

  "Yeah, Zephyr's a big improvement," Fang said.

  "Nick? And Jeff? I'm Mrs. Cheatham. Welcome to our school. Come with me and I'll show you your classroom," another teacher chirped.

  I tapped the back of Iggy's hand twice. Watching him and Fang go down the hall was really hard. Teachers came for Angel and Nudge, and then it was just me, fighting my overwhelming instinct to get out of there.

  The teachers seemed okay. They hadn't really looked like possible Erasers-too old, not muscled enough. Erasers hardly ever made it past five, six years old, so when they weren't morphed, they looked like models in their early twenties.

  "Max? I'm Ms. Segerdahl. You're in my class."

  She looked fairly acceptable. Harmless? Whatever. Probably couldn't conceal many weapons under her skirt and sweater.

  I managed a smile, and she smiled back. And our school day had begun.

  44

  "Now, does anyone remember this area's name?"

  Angel raised her hand. She figured it was time to sound smart.

  "Yes, Ariel?"

  "It's the Yucatan. Part of Mexico."

  "Very good. Do you know anything about the Yucatan?" Ms. Solowski asked.

  "It has Cancun, a popular vacation spot," said Angel. "And Mayan ruins. And it's close to Belize. Its ports are some of the closest to America. So it's convenient for drug runners to siphon drugs up from South America, through the ports, and then on into Texas, Louisiana, and Florida."

  Her teacher blinked. Her mouth opened and then closed again. "Ah, yes," she said faintly, stepping back to the world map hanging in front of the whiteboard. She cleared her throat. "Let's talk about the Mayan ruins."

  "Tiffany."

  "Tiffany?" The teacher looked confused. "I thought your name was Krystal."

  "Uh-huh. Tiffany-Krystal." Nudge made a hyphen in the air with one finger.

  "Okay, Tiffany-Krystal. In language arts we've been working on some cross-media spelling words." The teacher pointed to a list written on the whiteboard at the front of the class. "Those were last week's. This morning I'm going to give a pop quiz about this week's words, just to see where everyone is and where we need to focus."

  "Well, all right," said Nudge agreeably. She waved a hand. "Bring it on. But just so you know, I can't spell worth crap."

  "Do you know where the dictionary is?"

  Fang looked at the girl who had spoken. "What?"

  "Our reference materials are over here," the girl said, pointing. "When we have free study time, you can walk around and do homework. If you need to look up stuff, the computers and other reference
s are over here."

  "Oh. Okay. Thanks."

  "No problem." The girl swallowed and stepped closer. She was shorter than Max and had long, dark red hair. Her eyes were bright green, and her nose had freckles.

  "I'm Lissa," she said. "And you're Nick, right?"

  What did she want? He looked at her. "Uh-huh," he said warily.

  "I'm glad you're in our class."

  "What? Why?"

  She stepped still closer, and he could smell the lavender scent of soap. Giving him a flirtatious smile, she said, "Why do you think?"

  "Watch this! I'm gonna fly!"

  The Gasman looked up with interest. Some spud from his class was balanced precariously on the top of the metal jungle gym, holding out his arms like wings.

  I hope he's got more than arms, the Gasman thought. Well, maybe he did have wings. After all, maybe there were more kids like them out in the world. No way to tell. That was one of the mysteries to be solved.

  "Yeah?" he said, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Let's see it."

  The kid looked a bit taken aback, then set his jaw. He crouched down a bit and jumped off the top of the play structure.

  He couldn't fly worth a nickel, hitting the ground almost instantly, landing in an awkward, crumpled heap. There was a stunned silence, and then he started wailing. "My arm!" he sobbed.

  Immediately the playground supervisor hurried over, gathered up the kid, and rushed him toward the nurse's office. Gazzy went back to making a nice collection of hefty rocks. Weapons, if he needed them.

  "What'd you do that for?" someone asked belligerently.

  Gazzy looked up. "What?"

  A larger kid was leaning over him angrily. "Listen, spaz, when some wingnut says he's gonna fly off of something, you tell 'im, 'Get the heck down from there!' You don't say, 'Let's see it!' What's the matter with you?"

  The Gasman shrugged, but he was actually a little hurt inside. "I didn't know."