by Kevin George
“You wouldn’t,” the guard said. “You know what the Board would do to you.”
Billy shrugged. “They might end up doing the worst to me anyway. At least I could die knowing I told them how you forced me to ruin any chance of making a useable version of Aviary Blast.”
The guard lowered his weapon. “Fine, but the girl has to stay. Those are our orders.”
Emma fought to remain conscious, fought to take breath after breath to regain the strength fading from her limbs. But no matter how much she concentrated, the world around her continued to swirl and the voices of guards and scientists faded into the distance. She barely noticed when the old man handed her over to one of the guards, nor did she notice when that guard dragged her back into the lab and placed her onto another dented metal table, upon which she promptly lost her battle to stay awake.
Will struggled to keep pace with Billy, who strode down the white hallway with the utmost confidence.
Or the utmost foolishness, Will thought, always amazed that his oldest son refused to be intimidated or frightened, regardless of circumstances. Will didn’t know if that was one of Billy’s best qualities or one of his worst. Either way, the old man glanced back to see the Descendant being shepherded back into the lab.
The guard following them glared and wiggled the gun in his hand. “Eyes forward. The girl’s no longer your concern.”
Will wanted to argue otherwise but knew that would be pointless. He could only hope his son and he were successful in the next part so the poor girl wouldn’t need to be tortured again. Though if we are successful and thus we serve no further purpose, who says the girl or Billy or I won’t be disposed of once they have our knowledge?
Will had little time to ponder that before the guard pointed him and Billy toward another non-descript door and punched in the code on a nearby keypad. Before the door opened, Will heard frantic, high-pitched squawks coming from within. They walked into another lab, this one not much different than the last, just as dirty and poorly lit and unsterile. The entire Board waited inside, the Aviaries becoming noticeably agitated upon the scientists’ arrival.
“What’s taking so long?” one of them snapped.
“So long. . . so long,” another echoed, leading to another round of violent squawking and hissing, a frenzy of flying feathers drifting to the floor.
Will hurried forward and held up his hands, hoping to quell their fury, but didn’t have a chance to speak when his son snapped back at their captors.
“This place is filthy, as was the blood lab,” Billy said, unable—or unwilling—to hide his disgust. “Such conditions could contaminate the Blast before we even begin. This entire level should be cleaned thoroughly before proceeding.”
If his warning had been meant to sober members of the Board, it had the opposite effect. Though Ms. Van Horn remained calm, the rest of her followers barely stopped from swarming the two new humans. Only a sharp glance from their leader kept them back, though nothing could quiet their threats. Will sought a moment of calm to ensure the Aviaries they were all on the same team—that they all had the same goals—but Billy’s chuckle only incited them further.
“You’ve already failed to create a proper version of Aviary Blast on your own,” Billy called out over the frenzy. “As far as I’m concerned, you need us more than we need you.”
Ms. Van Horn smirked at the humans, turning to her followers with a simple nod. At once, the Board bunched together and surged forward, encircling Will in less than a second. Several Aviaries snapped sharpened mouths and dagger-like teeth at the old man, who closed his eyes and covered his head, expecting to be torn to shreds. But nobody made contact with him and a squawk unlike any other—loud and booming, deep and threatening—echoed throughout the lab, instantly quieting the others. Will opened his eyes to see the Aviaries swarm back behind Ms. Van Horn, who slowly closed her mouth and returned to her usual serene expression.
“It appears your family needs you more than we do,” she told Billy. “If you’d like a please, then here it is: please do as we say and He will reward you upon His return.”
Will, who finally remembered to breathe, stepped forward on wobbly legs, wishing he had something to hold onto for balance. The Aviaries hissed in unison, their heads jerking in his direction, but Ms. Van Horn held up a feathered hand.
“Who is this He you keep mentioning?” Will asked.
“He is the man that made this all possible,” Ms. Van Horn said, her voice taking on a dreamy, deferential tone Will and Billy had never heard from her. “He is the man that envisioned a future where weak humans like you could turn into strong Aviaries like. . .”—she turned to the other Board members and frowned—“. . . like we will soon become. Strong Aviaries that will fly out into the world.”
Billy joined his father’s side. “I thought it was our ancestor that—”
Will shook his head and for once, his son followed the unspoken warning for silence. The lab door opened, and the Board hissed at the arrival of Quentin Bowie, one of their own in feathered form only. He pointed to the syringe still clutched in Billy’s hand.
“You were able to retrieve the marrow?” he asked.
“Yes. It wasn’t easy and it caused the Jonas girl great pain and suffering,” Will said. “I was afraid she might not survive the extraction process.”
“We’ll tear her limb from limb for every ounce of marrow if we must!” snapped a Board member, the awful sentiment agreed upon by the others.
Will stepped forward, wanting to explain how bad of an idea that would be, but Quentin made eye contact with him and shook his head a single time. Though Quentin looked like the others, Will could sense something different in him, a humanity not shared by Ms. Van Horn or the Board. Instead, Will turned to his son, who stared at the others with a mix of fear and defiance. Will nodded toward the syringe, furrowing his brow in another unspoken request. Billy sighed and stepped forward.
“If I’m to be forced to work under these conditions, I must insist you vacate my work space,” Billy said.
In unison, the Aviaries jerked their heads toward their leader, but Ms. Van Horn’s eyes remained narrowed on the young man. Billy sighed, but Quentin brushed his way in front of him before Billy could get himself in more trouble.
“The fusing of marrow and Aviary Blast is a difficult process, trickier than it was when we tried using blood,” Quentin said. “Please, don’t rush the process this time and risk everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve. I’ll stay with the scientists and make certain they proceed as quickly as is safely possible. With the potential invasions of The Mountain, it sounds like the Board has plenty of other problems to worry about.”
Ms. Van Horn glared at Quentin for a long moment before turning to the Board and nodding. In single file, they swooped past their leader and the two scientists and headed out of the room. Ms. Van Horn was last to leave.
“I want updates every step of the way,” she said.
Quentin nodded before escorting Will and Billy toward the back of the lab, where they retrieved the latest sample of Aviary Blast from the refrigeration unit to be used in the next phase of creation.
CHAPTER TWENY-EIGHT
Carli twisted and turned in the sky, barrel rolling abruptly one way and then the other, speeding in and out of clouds as if guided by an invisible hand. She didn’t need to glance back to see if Love was following her; she could hear the powerful thwapping of his wings behind her. Unfortunately, she also heard the high-pitched buzzing of whatever contraption was chasing them, though the popping of its gun had been blissfully quiet since Carli and Love had taken off from the ground.
The ground, she thought, looking down again. She tried to spot Wyatt’s body among the infinite whiteness—or even the splash of red near the base of The Mountain—but ultimately couldn’t decide where the falling snows ended and the snowy ground began. Besides, Carli had no idea in which direction she’d flown and where Wyatt’s body had been left behind. She knew with ut
ter certainty that she’d never see him again, a realization that almost made her want to release the jetpack’s power button and never push it again.
She closed her eyes and leaned her body from one side to the other, going through the motions of trying to save herself despite feeling hollow. Flying had become second nature to her and allowed her to think about Wyatt, to think about everything they’d endured to reach The Mountain, to think about how unlikely it was that he’d survived the Comm HASS severing and the months spent on the surface and their trip through Snow City. He’d come so far under such great odds, just to come up short outside of the—
“Watch out!” Love yelled over the rushing wind.
Carli’s eyes snapped open and she saw herself speeding toward a section of Mountain wall. She leaned her body hard to the left, certain she wouldn’t avoid catastrophe, but Love swooped in between her and the rocky wall, bumping her onto a clear path. A moment later, Carli heard shattering rocks and Love’s grunt, watching as part of his wing crashed against The Mountain. Her stomach sank at the thought of costing someone else their life, but after unleashing an angry squawk of pain, Love continued flapping his wings and flew beside her.
“Almost there!” he called out, pointing through the clouds.
The mysterious entrance loomed through the clouds, but it no sooner came into sight than the drone dove from above, its guns flashing. Bullets sparked against the rocky walls beside Carli and Love.
“Evade!” Love yelled before banking away from The Mountain.
Carli watched the drone for another second, hoping it would turn as well, but seeing it come straight for her. She leaned hard to the right, dipping back down into the nearest clouds. She spotted Love flapping wildly ahead of her. With a full press of the jetpack’s power button, she rocketed forward, catching up to the flying man within seconds. Together, they glanced back at the drone, which was easy to spot with its guns still flashing. Love turned to Carli and stared into her eyes, jerking his head to the side. She knew exactly what he wanted her to do.
Love peeled off to the right at the same time Carli flew left. One of them was going to escape, and Carli found herself strangely relieved to watch the drone turn and follow her. Still pushing the jetpack to full speed, Carli groaned as she arched her back to shoot skyward. A glance down showed the drone still following when it suddenly cut away and raced off in Love’s direction. Carli leveled off and slowed, watching the drone for a moment before staring at the empty landscape before her. It was the same direction from which she and Wyatt had come, the same direction toward Snow City and their downed HASS. Their trip had led to nothing but pain and death, and Carli considered escaping before the drone focused on her again.
And go where? I have nowhere else to go and nobody to go there with, she thought. I owe it to Wyatt to see this through, to do whatever I must to reunite our people with whoever else might’ve survived, whether they’re trying to kill me or not.
The drone continued to chase the flying human, bullets flashing toward him. Carli followed the action from several hundred feet up, watching with amazement how the man could fly, his body so majestic within the clouds, his wings so powerful as they flapped furiously, blowing apart any section of cloud through which he flew.
He’ll never have to worry about his jetpack breaking, Carli told herself, though as soon as that thought entered her mind, she watched one of the flying man’s wings suddenly spasm and retract, his body plunging into a downward spiral. Carli was certain she heard his squawk of agony. Unless a bullet hits him. . .
The drone dove after him, and though Love’s injured wing reappeared and continued to flap, Carli could see he didn’t have the same strength. His speed decreased, and he listed to one side. Carli knew the drone would catch him and shoot him out of the sky in a matter of seconds. Without thinking, she mashed her power button, zipping toward the drone, uncertain what she intended to do. As she got closer, she noticed red liquid spraying in Love’s wake. Despite his obvious pain, he gave no less effort to evade danger, though the drone kept firing more and more bullets as it approached him.
Carli kept her power button pressed all the way down, as she approached the deadly flying machine. She let go just before smashing into the drone, her entire body jarring as she knocked it off course. Luckily, her helmet protected her head, and though she plunged immediately after the collision, she remained clear-headed enough to look up and see the flying man racing farther ahead. Unfortunately, the drone didn’t stay back for long. Worried it might turn on her, Carli was more upset to see the drone regain its flight path and continue to chase Love. She reengaged her jetpack’s engine, halting her freefall before leveling off and continuing to follow the chase, panicking at her inability to do anything to help.
Love flew closer to The Mountains walls, barely dipping above and beneath rocky protrusions. Carli was certain the flying man was cutting it too close and would crash at any moment, but it was the drone that eventually clipped the wall and caromed away, dropping through a section of low-hanging clouds, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. Heaving a deep sigh within her helmet, Carli sped up until she reached Love, who began the long, laborious climb toward The Mountain’s cliffside entrance. Blood continued to drip from the tip of his wing. But despite the grimace of strain and pain etched on his face, Love forced a smile when he saw Carli pull up beside him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Carli couldn’t hear him inside her helmet. With her free hand, she carefully raised the visor of her helmet, a swirl of freezing wind striking her face.
“What?”
“The Descendant!” Love called out. “I have to get back to her!”
“Who?” Carli called back.
But Love didn’t respond. He flapped and he flapped, each time slightly less powerful than before, his strained grunts soon joined by pained groans. Carli had to ease up on her power button to let him keep pace. She made sure to stay slightly above him to avoid being washed in the blood continuing to stream off his injured wing. Carli wished she could suggest a place to rest—she even looked toward the cliff wall for an outcropping where they could land—but she was afraid that once he stopped flying, he wouldn’t be able to take back off.
When another drone emerged from the clouds and began to fire, Carli and Love separated without warning. Carli banked closer to the drone, hoping to entice it to follow her, but the flying death machine turned toward Love. Love attempted to lure it closer to the rocky outcroppings again, but the drone remained farther back, taking shots from a safer distance. Bullets pinged off The Mountain, some shots closer to Love than others. The drone’s aim left plenty to be desired, but Carli knew it would only take one lucky shot to fell the winged man, who was now her only remaining ally. At least I think he’s my ally.
When Love suddenly turned on a collision course with The Mountain, Carli couldn’t suppress a gasp. She was certain he’d splatted into the rock. She desperately scanned the area, ready to release her power button and plunge toward the ground if she had a chance to catch him. But the drone stopped to hover, and Carli did the same, at which time she saw a large, vertical crevasse cut into the rock. Within that nook was the movement of a large white wing, allowing Carli a moment to exhale. That moment didn’t last long. The drone began to fire at The Mountain, chipping away at the rock protecting Love inside his hiding place. As the drone drifted closer to The Mountain, its aim became better. Carli knew if she did nothing, Love’s reprieve would be brief and she’d have to watch the same thing that happened to—
She slammed the power button and sped toward the drone, slowing as she made her final approach. She lifted her body into a vertical position, nearly flipping upside down as she drove her feet into the back of the flying machine, kicking it off course. She’d imagined the drone crashing against the rocky wall and plunging to a fiery demise against the ground, but it quickly righted itself and turned toward her, its mounted gun flashing. Carli released her power button and twisted her
body, corkscrewing down and away, glancing up to see the drone turning in her direction. But it barely started toward her before suddenly spinning back toward Love’s nook.
More bullets destroyed more rock, exposing more parts of Love’s body. With only seconds remaining, Carli soared back up, lifting her visor once she hovered beyond the drone.
“You have to fly away!” she called out to Love.
Between the popping of gunshots and the high-pitched wind, Carli could barely hear her own voice and knew the flying man certainly couldn’t. Still, she assumed Love was aware of the danger and worried his injuries were so bad that he’d crawled into the crevasse to die. Seconds before enough bullets could break apart the rocky refuge, Carli was startled by twin blurs of movement streaking past her. At first, her stomach sank at the thought of more drones showing up, and instinct told her to speed away before becoming a target herself.
But the first blur headed straight for the drone and crashed into it just as Carli realized it was another flying human. Whoever it was wrapped his arms and legs around the drone and flapped wildly, holding on tightly for the wobbly plunge, crashing into the cliff wall several times along the way. The second blur—another flying person, this one much smaller, a young girl that looked far less physically formed than Love—stopped to hover a few feet from Carli. The little girl’s misshapen feathered face twisted in panic, and the voice that escaped her lips—although high-pitched—did not match her tiny body.
“Quinn, no!” the little flyer screamed, her words echoing across the sky. “You have to let go!”
Carli sensed movement near the rocky wall and turned to see Love emerge, his face paler than before and scrunched in pain, a line of red streaking along the length of his white wing. He spotted the little girl right away and then looked down, where the flying human remained attached to the drone. Love leapt from his hiding place, arching his back and wings into a steep dive. The little girl did the same, and soon they dove side by side, streaking toward what Carli imagined must be their friend. With nowhere to go, Carli released her power button and twisted her body into a dive, following the others.